smp20 Posted March 11, 2014 Author Share Posted March 11, 2014 Lewes F.C. 2014/15 Transfers I had a busy summer with my intention to build a squad that had a combination of quality, depth and variety and I strongly feel that the squad I've created is good enough to win promotion from this league. The one downside is that I've gone well over the wage budget - I just offered all my targets deals and I was allowed to keep offering decent contracts. What's done is done now and with this spending I personally expect results...The board expect top half. Izzet brings bags of experience and has become our captain already. He's the bite we've needed in midfield. Brogan brings a lot of quality and I reckon he'll be amongst the top assist makers this season. Here he is...The Beast...The Monster...6'10'' Striker Millar is hopefully going to cause all sorts of problems with his aerial ability. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
smp20 Posted March 11, 2014 Author Share Posted March 11, 2014 That's FM for you, almost as crazy as England winning it. I've seen a Wales vs Ireland final before so it's not that crazy I guess Fantastic end to the season, very unlike you! Best of luck for the new season, always enjoyed my trips to Lewes. Cheers, I do like a happy ending I never knew, Kris... Are we all just a bunch of locals...? I was a temporary local from 2009-13 while at University, Lewes is a lovely town. No, just make the occasional visit when my side need three points and a boost to the Goal Difference!! Haha, poor old Lewes. As a Cambridge Utd supporter I remember our 2008/09 visit to Lewes which coincided with my University Open Day. We won 2-0, but I did really like the Dripping Pan so over the course of 09-12 I made 6-8 visits there...Lewes struggled most of the time. Well dome smp. cheers Nobby Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
smp20 Posted March 12, 2014 Author Share Posted March 12, 2014 Lewes F.C. Aug-Oct 2014 Update A decent start to the season. Our two rotating strikers (fitness + injury) Gethins and Keegan have been firing in the goals while Millar has been scoring with his head and getting valuable flick-ons. A record of 9-4-4 in all comps so far, hoping to keep it up. We're also through to the 1st Round Proper of the FA Cup, where we will entertain Yeovil at the Dripping Pan. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
TerminalPortugal Posted March 12, 2014 Share Posted March 12, 2014 Good start to the new season in the Conference Sth, seems like getting sacked from early on has done your career a world of good! Good career! KUTGW! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
smp20 Posted March 12, 2014 Author Share Posted March 12, 2014 Good start to the new season in the Conference Sth, seems like getting sacked from early on has done your career a world of good! Good career! KUTGW! Haverhill Borough / Romford was on an earlier save before it crashed, but cheers I'm happy with my start Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
TerminalPortugal Posted March 12, 2014 Share Posted March 12, 2014 Haverhill Borough / Romford was on an earlier save before it crashed, but cheers I'm happy with my start Oh right! Must have missed that! Still good start with Lewes. What's the long term plan with this save? I know you mentioned moving realistically, does that mean if you do get an offer from a bigger club you will take it? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
smp20 Posted March 12, 2014 Author Share Posted March 12, 2014 My plan is to get to the top, so if a bigger club wants me I'm very likely to go there. I've not really had a journeyman save so this will be a good way to do that. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
fmFutbolManager Posted March 12, 2014 Share Posted March 12, 2014 Not a bad start so far. I'd never done journeyman before FM14 either. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
smp20 Posted March 12, 2014 Author Share Posted March 12, 2014 Lewes F.C. Update Nov-Dec 2014 Update We've really found some fine form and we enter 2015 as league leaders. We're also through to the 3rd Round of the FA Cup to face Huddersfield after League One side Yeovil and Conference Halifax. Brogan is an assist magician, while Millar is on a great run of form - goals, assists, key headers and MOTM awards galore. The 6-1 thrashing of Eastbourne Borough away from home is a particular highlight of mine Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
kontermann Posted March 12, 2014 Share Posted March 12, 2014 YESSS! Great run of form! Looks like you will walk the league Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
fmFutbolManager Posted March 12, 2014 Share Posted March 12, 2014 Great set of results!! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
deltablue Posted March 12, 2014 Share Posted March 12, 2014 Good to see how well things are going at Lewes. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
smp20 Posted March 12, 2014 Author Share Posted March 12, 2014 Cheers kontermann, OneUnited and deltablue - I've always found I have an indifferent start then my form gets better as the season goes on. Here's hoping I can walk the league, but tere's still plently of competition up there. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
smp20 Posted March 13, 2014 Author Share Posted March 13, 2014 Lewes F.C. Jan-Apr 2015 update We drove on towards the season finale with terrific form in front of goal. We were competitive against Championship Huddersfield (who as we speak are 2 points off top with 2 games to go) but we didn't quite have enough to fend them off. Towards the end of the season, when key man Millar was out injured, we hit a bad patch of form which meant we went in to the final game needing a point. We were at home to Kingstonian the 2nd place team and also the team who went up from the same league as us. Instead of settle for a draw, we destroyed them 5-2, winning the championship in style . As you can see it was our front four who were the top performers yet again - Suleiman and Brogan on the wings combining with the front two of Millar and Gethins. Brogan has been assisting for fun and Gethins finished 2nd top League goalscorer with 25 goals. In terms of my next steps, I have still not signed a new contract - I'm on the lookout for the best deal I can get and a good challenge to go with it. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nobby_McDonald Posted March 13, 2014 Share Posted March 13, 2014 Nice bit of cash from the FA Cup run. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
smp20 Posted March 14, 2014 Author Share Posted March 14, 2014 Nice bit of cash from the FA Cup run. Yes it was a good help, but we're well into the red again now. Player & Staff wages are pretty high compared to our gate receipts which we could cope with but I am leaking money through 'Other'....it's not scouting costs I've been screwed by that before. Soon I will be deciding whether to stay or go. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
smp20 Posted March 14, 2014 Author Share Posted March 14, 2014 It's been an interesting summer of personal negotiations. They proposed contract talks but didn't agree to increase the wage budget. Now the new budgets have kicked in and its been improved so I went to the board to re-negotiate my contract. Apparently they're not interested so I've leaked to the press. Lets see how this pans out. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
smp20 Posted March 14, 2014 Author Share Posted March 14, 2014 Lewes F.C. 2014/15 Best 11 Fan's Player of the Year - Paul Millar Conference South Player of the Year - Stephen Brogan Conference South Top Scorer Runner Up - Conor Gethins Conference South Manager of the Year - Sean Page Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
smp20 Posted March 14, 2014 Author Share Posted March 14, 2014 Breaking News: Dunfermline Appoint Page as New Manager So its time for a new era in my management career. My two seasons at Lewes were eventful and I will look back fondly on the double promotion I achieved there. But, after long disputes with the board over my contract it is time to move on. Whilst Lewes expected me to take a pay cut to continue at the Dripping Pan, Dunfermline offered me a great pay increase and some interesting board expectations. My aim is to build a young side that is good enough to take Dunfermline back to the SPL. I also have a 90% compensation waiver in my contract so that clubs are not put off coming in for me...of course I would only ever leave for a very good deal or challenge. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
kontermann Posted March 14, 2014 Share Posted March 14, 2014 Nice to see you take the Dunfermline job! Pretty sure you will do a great job there and get to the SPL in no time Maybe you can also poach some players from Lewes if they are good enough for that level... Keep us updated on how Lewes are doing without you Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
smp20 Posted March 14, 2014 Author Share Posted March 14, 2014 Dunfermline Athletic - Transfers & Key Players Summer 2015 I decided not to go crazy with signings and opted for a few first teamers and a few hot prospects. The familiar name will be Millar who was great for me at Lewes. His ability ratings may not be high, but I feel that it may be a gamble that pays off as he is still a great target man. Our biggest signing of the season came in for just under £50k - Ross Jenkins. We lacked defensive midfielders and Jenkins is exactly what we needed. Karim Brewster joins us from the Welsh Premier League and is billed to have a tremendous future in the game. Steve Lamont signs from Morton and is set to form a partnership with Jenkins in defensive midfield, but Casey Forster-Caskey will also be vying for that starting place and has top class potential. Not bad for a lad who's come through the ranks at Aylesbury United! I'd like to pick out Michael Fraser as the best player in the original squad - it's always great to have quality between the sticks! I'm also expecting Scott Linton and Ryan McCord to have significant impacts this season. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
smp20 Posted March 14, 2014 Author Share Posted March 14, 2014 Nice to see you take the Dunfermline job! Pretty sure you will do a great job there and get to the SPL in no time Maybe you can also poach some players from Lewes if they are good enough for that level... Keep us updated on how Lewes are doing without you Cheers, hopefully I can get them to the SPL in the 2 seasons I've committed to here. I've nicked one player from Lewes and they've appointed a former Dunfermline player Eddie May as manager. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
KDR Posted March 14, 2014 Share Posted March 14, 2014 Good going so far. Best of luck in Scotland! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
smp20 Posted March 15, 2014 Author Share Posted March 15, 2014 Thanks KDR. I have completed my season but I am off to football now so update will come tonight. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bliop Posted March 15, 2014 Share Posted March 15, 2014 Great read, keep it up man. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
smp20 Posted March 15, 2014 Author Share Posted March 15, 2014 Dunfermline 2015/16 - Road to the SPL League Fixtures Part 1 ~ League Fixtures Part 2 ~ Domestic Cups ~ Past Positions We got off to a great start to our campaign but we then fell into some poor patches which saw us drop outside of the play-off positions. However form was re-kindled towards the latter stages and we even had a title push and would have won it if we managed to beat Falkirk in the penultimate game. We finished in a very respectable 3rd place, but it was tight. In the cups we were going well until we were drawn against Celtic, who are just a cut above us at the moment. Our form had peaked at the right time and we entered the play-offs full of confidence. Hamilton were first in our way and we were lucky to come through it.We clawed back from 2 down and got the winner in extra time. Dundee were surprisingly easier opposition in the next tie who were destroyed by a magnificent McAlister. Our final stumbling block was SPL mainstays Motherwell and we continued our tradition of scoring late goals to win us a place in Scotland's elite. Incredibly, we finished the season on a 15 match unbeaten run. I'm ecstatic to have achieved promotion so early and from a personal point of view that's 3 promotions in 3 seasons - a big boost to my reputation which is now National . Here are our top performers and its the usual suspects in there - strikers and wingers. Rooney ended up the League Top Scorer despite being injured for 3 months while Millar, Smith and McAlister all comfortably reached double figures. I'm also pleased to see Fraser, Millen, Okuonghae and Linton up there as well, showing we had some defensive capabilities too. For the time being I'm going to stick it out at Dunfermline and see how I can do in the SPL. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
SRL88 Posted March 15, 2014 Share Posted March 15, 2014 Great work over the last few seasons. Looking forward to seeing what else you do with Dunfermline. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
smp20 Posted March 15, 2014 Author Share Posted March 15, 2014 Lewes watch - They struggled in the Conference and they really shouldn't have. 18th place is not good for them and the board decided to sack Eddie May and replace him with Shaun Derry. Cambridge United (my team) reached the play-off final for the 3rd consecutive season and finally won Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
smp20 Posted March 15, 2014 Author Share Posted March 15, 2014 Great work over the last few seasons. Looking forward to seeing what else you do with Dunfermline. Cheers, I'm thoroughly enjoying Scotland at the moment. First time I've really managed there. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
smp20 Posted March 16, 2014 Author Share Posted March 16, 2014 Dunfermline Best 11 2015/16 Jim McAlister, the ever present man, was voted as Fans Player of the Year Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
smp20 Posted March 16, 2014 Author Share Posted March 16, 2014 Breaking News: Forster-Caskey Joins Spurs in Record Deal Wow, what a huge fee for a youngster plucked from Aylesbury United. £3.5m upfront, £275k over 12 months and 40% of his next sale. We also get him back on loan for a season . Casey Forster-Caskey must have great potential for a club like Spurs to come in, I will be following his career throughout. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
deltablue Posted March 16, 2014 Share Posted March 16, 2014 Dunfermline, nice. And very good start to Scottish life. It suits you. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
smp20 Posted March 17, 2014 Author Share Posted March 17, 2014 Dunfermline Summer 2016 Transfers The money generated from the Forster-Caskey sale has enabled us to build a top half SPL squad in my opinion. Greig Spence was one of the top performers in the Championship last season and he will become our first choice Advanced Forward. Mihael Kovacevic brings years of SPL experience. I see him as a pacey centre back, so I am training him there and working on his heading. My 'big money' signing was Luke Berry who is my favourite real life player at Cambridge United. Eric Lichaj is somewhat a coup for us, the former Villa regular will be a star SPL full-back. I wanted to keep a Scottish feel about the side and the signings of John Herron and Nicky Low will provide that as well as quality and room for development. Athde Nuhiu will be our new Target Man and this was the position that was hardest to fill - lots of other targets decided their futures were brighter elsewhere. The final signing was former wonderkid of previous FMs Mathias Bossaerts who still has bags of potential to fulfil and gives us another option at centre back. The other signings were 16-18 year olds who are worth keeping an eye on. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
smp20 Posted March 17, 2014 Author Share Posted March 17, 2014 Dunfermline August-December 2016 Update Fixtures Part 1 ~ Fixtures Part 2 We had a patchy start but some excellent form throughout the last couple of months helped us creep up the table and we're looking very good for a top half finish. Had it not been for an off day against St. Mirren we'd be on a fantastic unbeaten run. Greig Spence has been phenomenal in front of goal and is the SPL top scorer by some margin and performances have been good all round. Charlie Mulgrew joins us from the free market and he's an excellent addition giving us a left footed centre back, versatility and a set piece specialist. From a personal point of view, I was given a shot at my dream job, managing Cambridge United, but it was not to be. My demands for a better wage structure left them to pursue other targets. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
kontermann Posted March 17, 2014 Share Posted March 17, 2014 Congrats on promotion and on the great start in the SPL! (and Rangers are back too) Great dealing and wheeling there as well Good luck for the remaining season! P.S.: Lewes looks nothing without you Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
smp20 Posted March 17, 2014 Author Share Posted March 17, 2014 Congrats on promotion and on the great start in the SPL! (and Rangers are back too)Great dealing and wheeling there as well Good luck for the remaining season! P.S.: Lewes looks nothing without you Rangers were back with straight promotions as expected but were bitterly disappointing in their first season, somehow only finishing 8th!! The squad has quality, depth and variety so I'm very happy. We've just had our best result so far too . Lewes are struggling in mid table yet again - poor management Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
smp20 Posted March 17, 2014 Author Share Posted March 17, 2014 January 2017 - What a Month!! January could not have gone much better! We beat both the Old Firm on the trot and the only dropped points were away to a decent Dundee United side. We have a replay with Livingston in the cup however. But, one piece of bad news our top scorer Spence is out for 5-6 weeks. I actually have an outside chance of winning the league, but I do need to keep my feet on the ground I guess Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
deltablue Posted March 17, 2014 Share Posted March 17, 2014 Incredible year so far! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
smp20 Posted March 17, 2014 Author Share Posted March 17, 2014 Dunfermline February-March 2017: We're coming for you Celtic! Our amazing form continues and we're now just 1 point behind Celtic going into the Championship Group . I've now been manager of the month 3 times in a row - 2017 is certainly Dunfermline's year so far. Nuhiu was on the form of his life banging in 8 goals in a run of 3 games but of course sod's law kicked in and he's now injured for the rest of the season. This prompted me to include youngster Michael McLeod and he scored the winner at the Ibrox, not a bad way to kick off your professional career! I've had to re-train him to become a striker to fit in my system and at the moment his finishing isn't great, but I believe this boy could become something special. I guess its the luck of the draw but having both Old Firm games away from home could kill us - though we're the form team (only 2 losses in 28) and I reckon Celtic are quaking in their boots at the moment. Bring it on! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
smp20 Posted March 17, 2014 Author Share Posted March 17, 2014 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
smp20 Posted March 17, 2014 Author Share Posted March 17, 2014 Dunfermline - April 2017: It's Now or Never In the words of the last man to win the SPL outside of Glasgow - "It's Squeaky Bum Time!". Another fine month for us steering us neck-and-neck with Celtic and to a Cup final. Rangers beat Celtic 2-1 at the Ibrox in the last game so everything is in our hands now. Can we do it? My updates will be game by game from now on, what a finish this could be! I've also managed my 4th Manager of the Month Award in a row. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
smp20 Posted March 17, 2014 Author Share Posted March 17, 2014 Glasgow Celtic vs. Dunfermline Athletic - The Title Clash In a game that could have gone either way - WE DID IT !!! The man of match choice tells the story of the game, Fraser made some fantastic saves to keep the Hoops at bay and a 'dubious' penalty scored at the half hour mark was enough to take the 3 points. It seems Lennon let the occasion get the better of him, taking my bait in the media. However, the title isn't ours yet, we can't go into the final game complacent as we need a point at home to Hearts who won't roll over. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
smp20 Posted March 17, 2014 Author Share Posted March 17, 2014 Dunfermline - 2016/17 SPL Champions! SPL Top Scorer Greig Spence bagged a brace in a 3-1 victory which, thanks to the help of Inverness beating Celtic, meant we won the league in style, a first for Dunfermline. We had become the first non Old Firm side to win the SPL in 32 years, a feat last achieved by Sir Alex Ferguson at Aberdeen. The scenes in the stadium and around the town were incredible! We now face a deflated Celtic side in the Cup Final, could we do the double to end an amazing season? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
smp20 Posted March 17, 2014 Author Share Posted March 17, 2014 On top of the World! (Or at least the Highlands) The domestic double was on its way to Dunfermline to crown a fairytale season . We were average at best and we're dominated by Celtic but Greig Spence doesn't mess about when it comes to taking chances - great to get one over Lennon yet again albeit by the skin of our teeth. I've signed a new contract and unless a huge club comes in I'm going to see how far I can take this team. I'd love to emulate Fergie and win a European Competition. I've already snapped up David Wotherspoon and Danny Handling on frees as well as extending Forster-Caskeys loan deal for another 6 months. This is the start of a new era in Scottish football. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nobby_McDonald Posted March 17, 2014 Share Posted March 17, 2014 Excellent work at Dunfermline. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
smp20 Posted March 17, 2014 Author Share Posted March 17, 2014 Cheers Nobby and deltablue - I'm now trying to build a side that can compete in europe Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
smp20 Posted March 18, 2014 Author Share Posted March 18, 2014 Dunfermline 2016/17 Best 11 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
smp20 Posted March 18, 2014 Author Share Posted March 18, 2014 Dunfermline 2017/18: Shaping Up For Europe Lewis Gillespie - A lapse in attention to detail meant that I got excited by his 5* potential report...it was an old one. Nonetheless he will still be decent enough as an attacking left back. Darnell Fisher - Last seasons right-back in the SPL Team of the Year, for some reason he was available at a bargain price. Will provide competition for club captain Lichaj.Marc-Oliver Kampf - Despite never being given a chance at Frankfurt, Kampf still has the potential to be a star! Conor Coady - Bolsters the defensive midfield due to Berry being dissappointing last season. He will partner Forster-Caskey and be vice-captain. Liam Craig - last but not least, set-piece specialist Craig will provide competition on the left wing. We now have a first team squad of 22 players giving us 2 quality players for each position ready for a slog of games (hopefully). Transfers out of note were Kovacevic to Qatar SC for £100k, he never really recovered from his mid-season injury and was on the decline. Also, Murray Davidson failed to impress and leaves for Yeovil for £300k. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
smp20 Posted March 18, 2014 Author Share Posted March 18, 2014 Dunfermline Jul-Dec 2017 Premier League We had our usual early season woes and at one point, partly due to my unprofessional conduct in leaking to the press about a board request, I was given an ultimatum of 9 points in 5 games. Luckily I escaped a sacking and we found our form and we currently sit proudly top of the league. Though its tight at the top and I need to carry on the good form. Dunfermline Jul-Dec 2017 Champions League We managed to qualify for the Champions League - the old adage of win your home games draw your away games springs to mind. We were greeted by the group of death, but we were surprisingly competitive. United were able to thrash us, but tight affairs with Juve and a double over Monaco means we will be competing in the Europa League in the new year . We've been pitted against the current holders Spurs and on the off chance we manage to beat them we've been drawn against Man City (or Brugge) so its likely our time in the Europa League will be short-lived. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
kontermann Posted March 18, 2014 Share Posted March 18, 2014 Fantastic progress with Dunfermline! Congratulations on all well deserved success! Marc-Oliver Kempf is a great youngster with big potential I can guarantee you - (I´m an Eintracht Frankfurt supporter and I know this guy quite well) he wont disappoint you How´s Lewes doing btw? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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