Commanding "The Fleet

[JEinchy]

After my long term Southend game suddenly started to stop working (much to my dismay and extreme frustration), I've decided to start a new one with, once again, a local club. Except this time, the local club is a little more obscure and, for lack of a better term, crap.

Having been inspired by several other stories on this forum, I've decided to document my time as Thurrock FC manager. This is not only going to challenge my skills as a writer, but also my skills as an FM09 player.

Before I get started, here are the technical details:

Game: Football Manager 2009

Patch: 9.3

Leagues Loaded:

Argentina (First Division, Second Division)

Brazil (First Division, Second Division),

England (Premier League, Championship, League 1, League 2, Conference, BSN and BSS),

France (Ligue 1, Ligue 2),

Germany (First Division, Second Division),

Holland (Eredivisie, Eerste Divisie),

Italy (Serie A, Serie B),

Portugal (Liga Sagres, Liga Vitales),

South Korea (K-League),

Spain (LIGA BBVA, LIGA adelante ).

Database Size: Lagre

Game Start: England (July 2008)

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Tuesday 8th July 2008

The general area of Thurrock isn't too pretty. In fact, most towns in Essex aren't too pretty. So I can't say I was too surprised at the state of Ship Lane when I came in for my first day on the job.

Despite having a pretty good season last year (the club finishing 12th after a slow start, not far from a play-off spot), the previous manager had resigned. The state of affairs at the club were not good and chairman Tommy South was desperate to get someone in to stabalise Thurrock FC and build on the success of last year. It didn't matter who, so long as that person didn't get the club relegated like so many people are predicting.

In steps me, Jamie Dawkins, aged 21. No playing experience at any level. Managing took my fancy ever since I was a small lad; inspired by my dad who managed a small under 13's team in Basildon. I want to become a great manager someday, but like all aspiring managers, they have to start somewhere small.

So when the Thurrock job became available, I was the first to apply.

Predictably, Tommy South seemed skeptic. A young lad fresh out of college and with no real football experience (other than the Football Manager series, but he doesn't need to know that really), taking over a team where the majority of the players were older than him was a rather bizarre thing.

Tommy was honest with me and said he would wait for other, more experienced managers to apply before even considering handing me the job.

Even after a whole month, nobody else applied.

By default, I got the job. Happy days.

I was getting a bit giddy on the way to Ship Lane, already dreaming of taking Thurrock to the very top of the Premier League, lifting that famous old trophy. I would be the youngest manager to ever accomplish that.

However, I was quickly and painfully brought back down to earth once I saw my office... janitor's closet, I should say. It's no bigger than my old bedroom back in Basildon and my bedroom was tiny.

There was a desk and a simple wooden chair with barely any padding left on it. That's a start, I suppose. In fact, that was the only thing in the room. No filing cabinets, no cupboards, no water cooler, not even a broken coffee machine (not that I actually like coffee, mind you).

Fortunately, I've got my laptop with me. With any luck, there would be a plug socket for me to plug the charger in...

Just as I sit myself down, Tommy South himself swaggers into my office. Sort of like some fancy business man with the fancy suits, hairstyle, cars, and lots of money... just without the fancy suit, hairstyle, fancy car and lots of money.

"Comfortable?" he asks me, probably taking notice of me lounging in my chair slightly.

"As comfortable as I can get on this thing," I reply, resisting the urge to let him know that this chair is crap and that I demand a new one. Preferably a leather chair than swivels about.

"Good to hear," he flashes me a bright smile. He place a single sheet of paper on my desk, along with a pen, "I'm here to talk about your contract and what we, the board of Thurrock FC, expect from you this season."

I scan over the unimportant parts of the contract and get to what matters most: my wages. I'm delighted to see that I've been offered the very humble wage of £140 a week. For one year.

"Due to financial difficulties," he says. I did not miss how he stressed the word 'difficulties', "We can only offer you a limited sum at this time. It shouldn't be a problem, considering your mother still does everything for you..."

"I live on my own, thank you very much," I huff. Not the most mature thing to do, but I'm not some kid who still lives with his parents... disregarding the fact I only moved out last year. He laughs me off. I've already thought of a few choice words to describe him.

"Regardless," he says, "This is what we're offering. No more, possibly less. Who knows. Take it or leave it."

"That's fine, it's not like I'm here for the pay check," I tell him, reading through the contract properly (you never know with these types) before signing on the dotted line. We seal the deal by shaking hands.

"Glad to have you on board," he tells me. What a lie, "We expect the team to avoid relegation. Unfortunately, we cannot give you any money for transfers. The wage budget is set at £3.5K. Again, we are unfortunately spending £3,585 on wages so you need to trim that down before bringing in any new signings... and we need a lot of new signings.

But that's no problem for you, is it?"

"Oh no, of course not," I lie. This is a big problem for me, having just had a whole lot of pressure dumped on me on the first day.

"Very good, Mr. Dawkins. I shall leave you to it," with that, he swaggers out of my office.

"******..." I mutter as he leaves, looking down at my laptop keyboard as I type in the password.

"Excuse me?" comes another voice. I look up to see another man, with blond hair and a friendly look about him. He looks at me inquisitively. Must've heard what I said.

"Oh, I didn't mean you," I tell him quickly. His look is replaced by a kind smile.

"Then you must've meant Tommy," he says, "Yup, that guy can a be a bit of an odd one. My name's Mel Davison, your assistant manager. Nice to meet you."

He seems like a nice fellow. I stand up and shake his hand, "Nice to meet you as well."

We sat down after that and got straight to business. Mel was here to discuss the team with me; who was good, who was not, where we needed to strengthen and all that. He runs through each player in detail and I make sure to take notes for future reference.

"So do you think this team can avoid relegation?" I ask Mel. He knows the team a lot better than I do, having been here for quite a while.

"In all honesty: no, I don't think it can."

Well that's a downer. I'm definitely in for a tough year.

We spent a couple of hours discussing a few more things, mainly, the staff here at the club. Turns out we have one scout, Brian Harvey; one coach in Jimmy Gilligan and one physio in Steve Taylor. Ideally, I'd want to bring in a couple more scouts, and maybe two or three coaches depending on the size of the squad. Of course this may be difficult due to money restraints. I make a note of it on my laptop. Afterwords, Mel offers to introduce me to the rest of the staff here.

Wednesday 9th July 2008

Had to be in for 9:00 am to meet with the local press. I was told that "The Non-League Paper" and "thenonfootballleaguepaper.com" would be present, along with the sports editor of Thurrock's local newspaper, simply titled "The Fleet" (which is also the club's nickname). Afterwords, it would be my first training session with the team. That will be fun.

The press conference was being held at Ship Lane. It was nothing spectacular, just three reporters, me and South sitting round a table with a broken leg being supported by the ever versatile Yellow Pages phone book.

The Non-League paper representative, also known as AJ, had the honour of asking me the first question. This is probably such a chore for them.

"We understand that you are a big fan of the club. As the new manager here, surely this must be a dream come true?"

"I suppose that's a reasonable thing to say. It's not really a dream come true, but I'm very pleased to be starting my career at the club I support." Yes, I kind of support the club but they're not my favourites. I'm a massive Arsenal fan, just to let you know. I can't say that though, as I found out Southy here beside me is a Spurs fan.

The next question comes from thenonfootballleaguepaper.com guy, whose name I was not told, "What is your overall approach to the tactical side of the game?"

I want to say: adjust some sliders in hopes it translates to what I want my team to do, but I'd probably get sacked for being a nut, so: "I favour a sensible approach to the game, where we attack when necessary and defend when necessary. I like my teams to be organised in their play and not be gung-ho."

Next is Sean Dixon of "The Fleet". Quite a large bloke in his mid-thirties with a deep voice. He'd be quite intimidating if I ever met him on the street: "What will you be bringing to the man management side of the game?"

"First and foremost, I want to make sure my players trust and respect my presence. Once we have established that, I can involve myself more with them."

"Last question," Southy chimes in. He looks really bored, lounging back in his chair and checking his watch regularly. It's only been about five or ten minutes.

"How involved do you intend to be in the day-to-day running of the club?"

"Given the current state of the club, I think they'll need all the help they can get. I will be heavily involved in all areas."

I think I handled that pretty well. Southy doesn't look all that impressed, but he doesn't look disappointed either so I suppose it's a good start. He leaves without a word and I managed to get a glimpse of his car. I weren't all that impressed really.

--------------------------

At 11:00 am, the team gathers for training. I count 21 players. The majority are not looking pleased to be here. Team morale must be really low, and having a new manager that's younger than most of them probably isn't helping anything.

Their attitude needs to change though. We need the lads working hard for the long season ahead of us.

"Okay lads, my name's Jamie Dawkins. I may be younger than a lot of you, but that doesn't change the fact that I'm the one in charge and that I run the team. I expect you to work hard in training and earn your place in the team. Everybody starts on the same level. If you aren't prepared to work, then leave now. There's no room for laziness here."

Nobody leaves, which is a good sign, but nobody appears neither buoyed nor intimidated by my words. Either way though, I can't say I didn't warn them. I hand them over to Jim, who will be handling training until I get a better grasp of the players at my disposal. For now, I need to discuss some things with Mel.

"Nice press conference, by the way," he tells me.

"I'm surprised you actually noticed. Nobody else seemed to be too impressed."

"Give it a couple of months and things will look better," he assures me. I really hope so. But back to business.

"We have 21 players, but the lot of 'em don't seem up for it at all. That's the first thing that has to change," I announce to Mel. It's vital that we form a good working and person. He nods in agreement, "Going by your reports, about six of these lads aren't good enough and should be shipped out to free up some wages and bring in some better players. Of course I'll give them a look over today and make my decision on who should go."

Our first friendly is against FC Halifax. That's when I will most likely make a decision.

I look at the team training, and hardly any effort is being put in at all. I'm very tempted just to axe the lot of them.

[salkster2102]

An impressive start, though a rather lengthy first post. Enjoyed reading the opening and can't wait for more

[Offspring8]

Liking it so far, inchy if i was going to be really picky, I'd ask for the posts to be cut down a little bit but it's not essential and you can post whatever length you like obviously . I'm looking forward to seeing how you do with Thurrock, good luck and keep it going

[Terk]

Do you lot not have any attention span?

Good start, inchy And welcome to FMS.

[JEinchy]

Thanks you very kindly for the support so far. I know it's a bit long, but that's because I got a little too into it. This one is also long, but I'll try and shorten them.

Monday 14th July 2008

I spent the last three days or so trying to offload no less that 7 players, all of which were surplus to requirements at the club. Despite being offered for the whopping total of £0, there were no takers. So far, this means I can only sign players on loan for short periods and hope their respective teams pay their wages.

With some help with Mel, I also finallised my notes on the current roster of players. A mixed bunch, to be honest:

Goalkeepers:

Nedjet Hussein – The only senior keeper at the club and, to be honest, is not very good at all. Only here because we have no other alternative, should be offloaded as soon as two new keepers come in.

Full Backs:

Andy Sambrook (RB, aged 29) – Good tackler, but not so good ball skills. Very fit and has a high work rate. A decent player.

Lee Flynn (LB, aged 34) - Another good tackler and an excellent set-piece taker. Still has quite a bit of pace, but fitness is questionable. Seems to be a sort of leader in the team. Possible captain candidate, but shouldn't play every week due to age.

Phil Anderson (LB, aged 21) – Excellent defender, not so good attacker. Nonetheless, easily our best defender. Can also play centre back. Key player.

Centre Backs:

Kenny Clarke (CB, aged 19) – Very, very good work rate. Good maker, not so good at heading. Quite small for a CB. Decent prospect, though.

Rob Swaine (CB, aged 19) – Pretty below par all round. Should look to offload.

Wingers:

Matthew Paine (LM, aged 20) – Excellent all round player. Very strong mentally but lacks a bit of pace. Can also play LB. Key player, another captain candidate.

Che Stadhart (RW, aged 31) – Lots of pace, not so good with the ball. Pace alone will get him into the team though. Good player.

Fola Orilonishe (LM/LW, aged 22) – Decent back up, really. Hell of a name, so he shall be refered as Fola O from now on.

Central Midfielders:

Greg Lincoln (aged 28) – Best Cm in the squad by far. Key player and probable captain.

Darren Duporte (aged 20) – should look to offload. Strong, physical player though.

Arif Yozcu (aged 26) – Another one to offload. Not much to say about him.

Jon Docker (aged 22) – Better as an attacking midfielder. Good player and decent backup for CM.

Strikers:

Craig Hughes – Decent player. Good pace and finishing, but lacks composure.

David Bryant – The best striker by far. Key player.

Chris Taylor – Should offload.

Damian Yoxall – Should offload.

The team seems to have quite a good spine, but the players around that spine aren't so good. I had composed a shopping list:

2 goalkeepers

1 centre back

1 right back

1 right winger

2 centre mids

1 striker

Total: 7 players. Need to offload more than that. If I manage to do that then wages won't be a problem, but it's easier said than done. Of course some players can still change my mind in the upcoming match.

Surprisingly, the club didn't have a parent club. Had a quick meeting with Southy, requesting a parent club. He sort of gave a blank look, before finally remembering what a parent club was and told me he will look to find one right away. He better. We desperately need one, not for the annual money (thought it would be helpful) but for the players we can get on loan without paying their wages. All they get is first dibs on any youngsters coming through, but there isn't much chance of that happening any time soon. Win-win for Thurrock.

Also contacted Southend about young keeper Clark Masters and a possible loan move for 6 months. We were looking for them to pay his wages. They agreed, thankfully, and we are now waiting on the player to make his decision. Not like he has to travel far, which is another plus. Even if Southend is like Vegas compared to this place...

Brian Harvey came back to me with two scout reports on goalies, none of which would be worthwhile signings. I told him to go search through some League 1 and League 2 reserves and see who we could find and keep an eye out for possible bosmans. We need those keepers, because Hussein does not look at all impressive.

While he's focusing on the them, Mel and Jim are with the players again for another training session before the match later today. I should be joining them, implementing my new tactics and training regimes but I'm a little busy trying to get rid of a few of them and look for new staff. I've placed some adverts, and hopefully should receive some calls in the coming days.

In other news, the draw for the Conference League Cup South was today. We'll play Havant & Waterlooville at Ship Lane in the first round, and then either Eastleigh or Bognor Regis in the second round away from home. The board don't view this as an important competition, but I think we should go as far as we can in it. It would serve as a good confidence boost.

19:30

Time for the match. It's at home but I'm not expecting a big crowd. Ship Lane holds up to 4,500 people, but only 300 seats. We're going with a simple 4-4-2 to start off, with the following starting line up:

GK: Hussein

LB: Anderson

RB: Sambrook

CB: Swaine

CB: Clarke

LM: Fola O.

RM: Standhart

CM: Docker

CM: Lincoln

ST: Hughes

ST: Bryant

Honestly, I haven't got round to thinking up possible tactics and team selections. Some of these guys will have to play the full 90, due to lack of subs and players who can play in their positions. We should win this match quite comfortably, but I still expect a performance and a lot of effort. If not, then it's another five laps around the pitch.

THURROCK FC vs FC HALIFAX

First Half:

I didn't have to wait long for my first goal as a manager. Hughes shot was blocked but the ricochet went to Standhart, whose cross went through everybody and into the path of Fola. O for an easy tap from 6 yards.

There was some neat play from Thurrock as they probed the FC Halifax defence. However, Docker got a bit too excited and ended committing a foul and getting some stern words from the ref. I had to tell him to calm it from my technical area. Don't think he paid too much attention though.

FC Halifax's William blasts a free-kick high and wide. Their only chance so far. We've had most of the possesion so far.

Free kick to us a bit later on. Lincoln's free-kick is blocked by the wall and goes out for a corner. The corner comes back out to taker Fola O, who disappoints by putting his cross high over the cross bar.

36 mins in Anderson's throw is intercepted and the ball is played to Corbett, who runs at the Thurrock defence before playing in Savage, who then fires his shot way into row Z. Note: Ship Lane does not have a row A, let alone a row Z. Sloppy play there. How hard can it be to find a team mate from a throw on?

Nearing halftime, Hussein makes a real hash of Dyer's free-kick. Dyer thumps it up field from just behind the half way line into the path of Hussein for an easy catch, but he parries it instead and Thurrock rush to clear the ball for a throw in. Hussein not doing himself any favours today and judging by his body language, I think he knows that as well.

44 mins – Hussein's goal kick luckily reaches Hughes, he passes to Bryant. Bryant switches flanks to Fola A, whose cross is met by the head of Bryant. The keeper saves and the ball is scrambled away for another Thurrock corner. Bryant looks really good up front.

45 mins – The ball comes out for Standhart, who is crowded out by four or five players. The ball comes out to Hughes on the edge of the area, who is then hacked down by Mo Bradley. Free kick for Thurrock in a dangerous area.

46 mins – The free kick comes to nothing and Hughes goes in late to pick up the first yellow card of the game. Needless tackle. HALF TIME.

Overall, we've had the better of the first half and Halifax are hardly threatening. However, we can play a lot better. I give out some encouragement to the lads and tell them to up the tempo a bit and grab a few more goals. No changes yet.

Second Half:

45 mins – GOAL! Halifax make three passes before the ball is threaded through to Corbett who had acres of space. A simple finish to put his side level. Poor defending. The gap between the two centre backs was massive.

52 mins – Heart in mouth stuff for Thurrock as keeper Hussein parries the ball directly in the path of Corbett. His shot is blocked and Thurrock break. Nothing comes from it. Hussein again. I'm almost looking forward to shipping him out.

Halifax have a brief spell of dominance before the game swings back into Thurrock's favour. However, few chances are created and the game fizzes out to a boring 1-1 draw. Most likely due to the fact that half the team looked ready to faint. Just another reminder that we need more players.

“Not good enough in the end, lads. If we want to do well next season, we need to be beating teams like FC Halifax and not conceding sloppy goals. We'll work on it in training on Wednesday.”

The players leave wordlessly, some grumbling. I was probably a little harsh, especially since it's only a friendly, but hopefully it will inspire them to do better next time. For now though, I can clearly see we need some reinforcement both on and off the pitch. Time to contact me scouts, me thinks, and time to get some serious work done on the training field.

[JEinchy]

Tuesday 15th July 2008

Brian came back with a report on Southend's Luke Thurlbourne, 18 year old central midfielder that we could possibly get on loan. I submitted an offer of 6 months, us paying 0% wages. With the ability to play as a defensive midfielder and as an attacking midfielder, Thurlbourne would be a valuable player to have.

Meanwhile, I finally got round to making a new training schedule. It focuses mainly on fitness, strength and tactics and includes some light technical exercise. At this point, I want to make sure the players are fully fit and ready to go. Our next game is in 8 days, which is a toughie against League One side Millwall at Ship Lane.

Wednesday 16th July 2008

Bad news. Clark Masters doesn't want to come to Thurrock for a loan spell, which doesn't give me any encouragement for the Thurlbourne deal, which has been accepted.

Thursday 17th July 2008

Wonderful news. Luke Thurlbourne has agreed to join us for a 6 month loan and will join us for training straight away. That means 6 more players to get. Now to try my luck with offloading some more players.

There was a knock on my office door.

“Come in!” I called. A guy about my age walks in, looking quite serious. I think I recognise him, “How may I help you?”

“I'm Aaron McLeish,” he tells me. Now I'm know him. He was on the reserves list, transfer listed. I wanted to offload him, “I'm here to talk about my future at the club.”

“Ah, right, I believe there's been a slight mix up,” I admit to him. He looks at me with confusion, probably fearing the worse.

“Mix up?”

“Yeah. When I came here, you were on the transfer list. Not knowing much about the players here, I'd assumed you were surplus to requirements and offered your services to other clubs. There were no takers,” I told him honestly. Not surprisingly, he looks a little appalled.

“So why was I brought by the club then?” He demands. I tell him to calm down.

“As I said, there was a slight mix up,” I said, “I've changed it so you're no longer on the transfer list. You feature in my plans, don't worry.”

He looks relieved after that. I've got his profile up on my computer (I made individual player profiles as well. Took a hell of a long time), and found out he came all the way from Bedfont Green... wherever that is. If I moved a long way only to find I wasn't wanted I'd be angry too.

“Thanks boss.”

“Sorry about that. I'll buy you a drink sometime.”

[JEinchy]

Sunday 20th July 2008

Nothing much happening this week. The five players I once again offered have no takers and it could be nearing the point where I terminate their contracts. The groundsman paid a visit and asked how big I wanted the pitch. The pitch is narrow and given that our wingers aren't great and play better in the centre, I don't see a need to change it.

Ah, the England Trial Day. I personally won't be attending but Mel and Brian will be. This is an excellent chances to sign some players, seeing as how they're right under a noses. The quicker we move, the more chance we'll get. There's bound to be a lot of competition amongst the lower leagues for their signatures.

Wednesday 23rd July 2008

Reports came back from the trial day. Out of seven talented youngsters, only one appealed to me. 19 year old Alex Flemming, formerly of Derby County, plays on the right wing and is a very athletic player, apparently. According to my report, his only weakness is his set-piece taking. Not bad, considering we have two or three very good set-piece takers at the club already.

I called him up, had a brief chat to straighten out the details and agreed, in principle, a contract where he would earn £20 p/w. We're still over the budget by £50 or so, but we still have to offload 7 or more players so...

The lads are here for today's match against Millwall. If they aren't up for this, then they won't be up for anything I'm afraid.

I've actually been training with the team these last couple of days and things still aren't looking too bright. The players listen to me though, which is a start. I've finally gotten round to designing a new tactic for the upcoming season and the players have handled it well. It's nothing complex, just some basic instructions with one or two specific player instructions.

THURROCK FC vs MILLWALL

Pre-match:

The lads weren't looking too confident, neither was I to be honest. Cricket scoreline predicted, the best we can do is go out and make a game of it; keep things tight, and have a go and getting a couple of goals. I wished them luck before we took the field. Slightly bigger crowd this time, due to the better opposition but still a small attendance.

I took my place in the dog-out next to Mel as the game got underway.

First half:

I was already sighing and sinking into my chair as Millwall took the lead in just 4 minutes. Neil Harris practically walked through the defence and slotted home with ease.

About ten minutes later, we actually managed to string some passes together and got some good tackles in. Thurlbourne eventually gives away a free kick though.

Not good news as Rob Swaine picks up an injury. 34 year old Lee Flynn takes his place as Anderson is moved into centre back. I use this brief interlude to tell the players to be a little more defensive and try counter attack if they can. A good workout and a respectable scoreline is what I want from this match.

Just as I say that, Fola O's corner ends up hitting the post! Millwall break but Hussein clears. Fola O puts it out for a throw, but we win the ball back and play in Thurlbourne who's through! However, rather predictably the offside flag is raised. His shot was saved anyway. Encouraging signs though.

Approaching half time, Millwall have had a few more chances but can't take them. The half time whistle goes and I'm quite pleased.

“Good performance so far lads. I'm pleased. Keep it up!”

Second Half:

Only one change at half time as Fola O is replaced by Aaron McLeish. Fola looks a bit knackered and he deserves some rest.

Only a minute after the restart and Millwall have a corner. The ball isn't cleared properly and Millwall hit the crossbar. The following shot goes flying over the bar.

More Millwall pressure followed, but we defend well and clear the ball to our wingers waiting for a counter attack. Our best chance comes on 58 minutes, where Thurlbourne does brilliantly to win the ball back and then plays a great ball for Hughes. Unfortunately, he lacked the pace to latch onto it. Millwall scramble it away.

Hughes is appealing for a pen, but I don't see it.

Millwall score again on 62 minutes. Hackett found himself in acres of space and finished accurately into the top corner. They passed through us and we couldn't get close.

Millwall are applying a lot of pressure, but a rare spell of possession for us find Stadhart on the wing, who does brilliant to get round their left back. However, his cross was a bit lacking. The ball comes out to Lincoln, who plays it over the top for Stadhart who cross from the byline. The ball ends up on Hughes head and it trickles past the Millwall keeper for a goal! Only a consolation, but we made a good game out of it in the end. The fans applaud us off as I shake the Millwall managers hand.

Post-match:

There's a distinctly happier atmosphere in the changing rooms after the match. Despite losing, it was a good performance all round and I tell them how happy I am. We can take confidence from this performance and go on to get a win this pre-season.

Thursday 24th July 2008

I sat in my office this morning with a cup of tea and an issue of “The Fleet”, reading an article on yesterdays match written by the one and only Sean Dixon. I have to say, the headline of “Millwall outclass wobbly Thurrock” couldn't have been further from the truth. I make a mental note to talk with Sean about it.

The lads have a deserved day off today while I look for more players and prepare for our next match against Blue Square North side Solihull Motors.

Friday 25th July 2008

“You alright, boss?” Mel greets me as he walks into my office. In his arms is the latest edition of The Non-League Newspaper.

“Not bad, yourself?”

“Good, good,” he says. Good to hear. He lays the paper on my desk, “Hey, have a look at this.”

He points to one particular headline on the odds for this upcoming season. Interested, I look for our odds for promotion and wasn't too disappointed.

“33-1. Not bad,” I say, “At least some people of the media likes us.”

“Yes, but I was more looking at what they wrote next to it,” Mel tells me, pointing to the phrase.

“Without significant changes to the first team squad, promotion seems unlikely,” I read.

“That is absolutely spot on. I was wondering if you had any more players in mind.”

“I'm still trying to get rid of a few but still now takers. I'm seriously considering terminating their contracts, but the compensation...

Mel sighs, “Yeah, I know. But still... we need some new signings. Any news on a new scout yet?”

“No one has responded to the advert,” I announce, “Might pop down to Southend again and see if there 're some possible loans.”

“Sounds good. Mind if I come with?”

“Why not. We can make a day out of it.”

On my way out, I bump into Southy. He still has that swagger, strutting around the place like some big shot. Seriously, he drives a bloody old banger that looks like something out of Chitty Chitty Bang Bang. He's fooling no one.

“Ah Jamie, I've been looking for you,” he stops me.

“Not that you have to look far,” I mutter, “What do you want?”

“Because of current finances... we can't afford a new coach. I'm sorry.”

[MANNAMAL]

Good read so far

Keep it up mate

[copperhorse21]

In your opening post, I laughed out loud three times! You've got a way of dropping one liners in that zing the reader with your humor. I envy that. "By default, I got the job. Happy Days."; the bit about the wages and living with your mother; and the "I'm a massive Arsenal fan, just to let you know. I can't say that though, as I found out Southy here beside me is a Spurs fan."

Write the posts how long or short you want. I'd read in the story forum that most folks have an attention span of 5 pages of double spaced word document (I use the Verdana Font, size 12 as a guide).

Anyway, the worst game I ever played on 07 was Thurrock. Never could figure them out. No one wanted to come either. And that budget...wow...that budget....keep up the writing. Don't get discouraged by how long it takes. Perseverance my fellow writer. Perseverance.

[Wimb The Barman]

Good start sir, always love a lower league tale kutgw

[JEinchy]

I must confess that the save I was using to write this story has been lost due to my last laptop crashing completely.

But what I will do is that sometime this week I'll start up a new one, get to around the same point and continue from there. I'll try, at the very least.

[tenthreeleader]

This one is also long, but I'll try and shorten them.

Post as long or as short as you like, as long as you post. That's the big thing. Welcome to FMS and enjoy your writing. Hopefully your save can be reconstituted (don't forget the writer's best friend, a flash drive!)