Jason the Yank Posted March 10, 2014 Share Posted March 10, 2014 New computer, and the final FM "data update" (*cough*"patch"*cough*) means it's time to finally get an FM 14 career going. Nations loaded (all available leagues playable) Argentina, Australia, Brazil, China, Denmark, England, France, Germany, Indonesia, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Malaysia, Mexico, Norway, Scotland, South Africa, Spain, USA, Wales Database: Large Reputation: Sunday League Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jason the Yank Posted March 10, 2014 Author Share Posted March 10, 2014 Many jobs available at the start, but I got the only one I applied for: Finn Harps FC - Irish First Division I get a 1-year deal worth $500/week. The club is expected to finish in midtable. We're pressed up against the wage budget, with not much of a bench. With this being only a semi-pro club, training time is limited. I have the match preparation on Tactics Only until we get up to speed with the 4-2-3-1 I want to run. Pre-season went alright though. We started off with a deserved defeat to St. Patrick's Athletic, then blitzed Bohemians 4-1 before ending with a 2-2 draw against Dundalk in which we fought back twice. Friday, 1 March, 2013 Cobh Ramblers 0-0 Finn Harps (Irish First Division) The season begins on a rainy Friday night in Cobh, and neither team could do much of anything. There were a combined 10 shots, but just 1 of them tested a goalkeeper. Our pre-season friendlies had all been at home, so this was our first match in the more defensive version of the 4-2-3-1 I've set up. The worst part was I lost three players to minor injuries, and we don't have the depth to deal with this sort of thing. 3 March, 2013 We announce season ticket sales of 125. My left wing, who was on a non-contract, signs a deal with Dundalk. I won't lose him until the summer though, as the transfer window has already closed. Irritates me though because he looked quite the player in pre-season and is just 18. Friday, 8 March, 2013 Finn Harps 0-1 Wexford Youth (Irish First Division) The home opener, a time for hope and optimism. And because of injuries, I'm having to start a U19 pairing in central defense. And one at attacking midfield. We were unlucky not to get something from this match, having rattled the post in the first half and holding the ball for 61% of the time. But Wexford found the winner in the 77th minute when a shot rebounded off the post back to the shooter, who moved in for a second bite at the cherry and didn't miss. Monday, 11 March, 2013 Sligo Rovers 3-0 Finn Harps (League Cup) The stats say this was a pretty even game, but it really wasn't. The early pacesetters in the top division played us off the park. I'm not too bothered though, because a win was always going to be unlikely. And this cup would just be a distraction for us. Friday, 15 March, 2013 Salthill 4-1 Finn Harps (Irish First Division) We actually had the lead in this game. But then poor defending and a total inability to complete a pass caused the roof to cave in. Friday, 22 March, 2013 Waterford United 2-1 Finn Harps (Irish First Division) Fell behind early thanks to a comedy of errors between the goalkeeper and the defense, but we managed to get back to level terms 10 minutes from halftime off a corner. Unfortunately we were under pressure the entire second half and finally were breached in the 74th minute, when a counterattack was turned the other way on us. Friday, 29 March, 2013 Finn Harps 3-1 Mervue United (Irish First Division) Home sweet home as we start a run of five fixtures as the host. No time like the present to kickstart our season, especially since Mervue are struggling right along with us, trailing us on goal difference. A scrappy game as you'd expect from the two bottom sides, but we took the lead in the 25th minute. The game opened up a bit in the second, with us scoring on either side of Mervue's lone tally. More importantly, it's our first win of the season, which will help perk up morale. [b]Irish First Division (through 5 of 28 rounds)[/b] 1. Longford 13 ------------------ 2. Athlone Town 12 3. Waterford U 8 ------------------ 4. Salthill 7 (+4) 5. Wexford Yths 7 (0) 6. FINN HARPS 4 7. Cobh Rambl. 3 8. Mervue Utd 1 Manager's thoughts So my career definitely did not get off to as strong a start as I'd hoped. I take some solace in the fact that other than the Salthill match, we've been competitive in every league match. Still, we have the typical problems you find for a club of this level: No money, the players are a bit crap, and both mean that we don't have any depth when injuries hit. We're almost back to full strength though. Player of the Month Kevin McHugh - 6 appearances, 3 goals Our 33-year-old captain, his best position is striker, but I've been playing him as an enganche. After a slow start, he seems to be getting the hang of it, going on a 3-game goal-scoring run to end the month (with average ratings of 8.3, 7.1 and 8.4), culminating in him winning First Division Goal of the Month honors for his effort against Salthill. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nobby_McDonald Posted March 10, 2014 Share Posted March 10, 2014 Another Jason thread. Good luck bud. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jason the Yank Posted March 11, 2014 Author Share Posted March 11, 2014 Friday, 5 April, 2013 Finn Harps 2-0 Longford (Irish First Division) We were all over the table-toppers in the first half, forcing their keeper into 5 saves but we couldn't find the back of the net. Took the lead shortly after the restart, and though Longford finally started getting some opportunities, we put 11 shots on target in the match. An 83rd minute penalty sealed the win. 9 April, 2013 Five of our players selected in the First Division Team of the Week. Friday, 12 April, 2013 Finn Harps 0-3 Athlone Town (Irish First Division) Things don't get any easier, with the side sitting second in the table coming to town. And we proceeded to run out of our own stadium, as my defenders apparently decided that waving your arm in the air in an appeal for offside constituted "defending". Athlone scored all their goals inside the first 23 minutes and we never posed a challenge. Friday, 19 April, 2013 Finn Harps 2-1 Cobh Ramblers (Irish First Division) A bit of a mixed bag. Made four changes (three of them on the back line) in the wake of last week's abject performance. Took the lead on a penalty, only to be pulled back 10 minutes later off a corner. Cobh came at us pretty hard in the second half but we hit them on a counter attack in the 89th minute. Friday, 26 April, 2013 Finn Harps 2-1 Salthill (Irish First Division) Took plenty of shots but really had no idea where they were going. We fired 16 in total, but put only 4 of them on target. Took the lead when Salthill's left back made a hash of a back header that my forward pounced on. They equalized off a corner, but again it was the late show for us with an 81st minute winner off a goal mouth scramble. 1 May, 2013 I come third in Manager of the Month voting. [b]Irish First Division (through 9 of 28 rounds)[/b] 1. Longford 22 ------------------ 2. Waterford U 20 3. Wexford Yth 16 ------------------ 4. Athlone Town 15 5. FINN HARPS 13 6. Salthill 10 7. Mervue Utd 4 8. Cobh Rambl 3 Manager's thoughts So home cooking was definitely a good thing as we took 9 of a possible 12 points, and 12 of 15 going back to last month. We still need to tighten up a bit defensively, but now the team is getting acclimated to the 4-2-3-1, at least our more attack-minded version. I also need to figure out our attacking corners, as we're not threatening at all from those opportunities; our forward places generally hang outside the 6-yard box, but our corner takers tend to send the ball into that area. May will be more of a push, with all three of our league fixtures away from home, plus a cup tie with non-league side UCC. Player of the Month I'm going to give this to Kevin McHugh again. Three goals (2 of them penalties) and an assist in the month. Posted ratings of 8.6, 6.9, 8.6 and 6.4. Our assistant manager/goalkeeper was in the conversation as well with a more consistent month (three matches with a 7.1 or better), but his high ratings didn't come close to McHugh's. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jason the Yank Posted March 11, 2014 Author Share Posted March 11, 2014 Friday, 3 May, 2013 Wexford Youths 0-0 Finn Harps (Irish First Division) A bore draw. We had the better of the play for the first 20 minutes, but then it settled down into a slugfest. Friday, 10 May, 2013 Mervue United 4-1 Finn Harps (Irish First Division) Shades of Salthill away earlier in the season. We led after 2 minutes, but were undone by a couple of long shots (the second after my center back pushed up but failed to reach the ball). Mervue padded the lead in the last 5 minutes with a harshly credited own goal (my center back was racing to catch up to a parried shot that was going into the net anyway) and another quality shot. Friday, 24 May, 2013 Finn Harps 6-3 University College Cork (Senior Challenge Cup, Second Round) A very strange game. Facing a non-league side, I fielded a somewhat experimental lineup, moving players around and giving others a rest. I thought I'd struck gold when we raced out to a 2-0 lead after 12 minutes before making it 3-0 after 35 minutes, only to give it all back in the space of 8 minutes to go into halftime on level terms. McHugh came through with a free-kick goal on 48 minutes, then added another 2 minutes later from a free kick that apparently took a touch off a UCC player (I didn't see it), before finishing it off in the 87th minute. Friday, 31 May, 2013 Athlone Town 2-2 Finn Harps (Irish First Division) A back-and-forth encounter. I kept most of the experimenting from the cup tie, and it seemed to work great in the 13th minute as we went from our penalty area to hugging each other in two passes. But we failed to answer the bell after the restart, conceding an equalizer almost straight away, before falling behind in the 77th minute. A switch to an attacking mentality paid off with another clinical counterattack in the 81st minute to at least rescue a point. [b]Irish First Division (through 12 of 28 rounds) 1. Longford 23 (+7) ------------------ 2. Wexford Yths 23 (+5) 3. Waterford U 22 ------------------ 4. Salthill 17 (+4) 5. Athlone Town 17 (+1) 6. FINN HARPS 15 7. Mervue Utd 10 8. Cobh Rambl. 7 Manager's thoughts So 2 points from 9 in league play, as we still haven't won away from home this season. We're a real Jekyll and Hyde team, going 4-0-2 at home, but just 0-3-3 away. The promotion playoff is quickly getting out of reach for us, but we could get back into it if we could just get some away wins. Getting smoked by Mervue United was especially galling. Player of the month Nobody really stood out, but Kevin McHugh's 2 goals against Athlone make him the standout. For the past 2 games, I've moved him into the lone forward role, and shifted Carel Tiofack (all of 5'7") out to the wing. Depending on things go, I'll probably stay in this configuration. McHugh is only 5'6", but is a much better finisher and gets up to full speed quicker than Tiofack; his goals against Athlone were really poacher goals, just getting to 50-50 balls before the defenders could. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
AK22 Posted March 12, 2014 Share Posted March 12, 2014 Good luck Jason! Should just about avoid the sack this season Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jason the Yank Posted March 17, 2014 Author Share Posted March 17, 2014 Tuesday, 4 June, 2013 Finn Harps 1-3 Waterford United (Irish First Division) An abysmal performance that wasn't as close as the scoreline suggests. We went behind just 90 seconds into the game, and a couple more defensive breakdowns meant it was 0-3 after just 25 minutes. We even had to clear two shots off the line. Managed to get a consolation goal very late, but that's all it was. This was such a thorough beatdown, Waterford took 24 shots and put 10 of them on target, and had 5 clear cut chances. We only took 8 shots (2 on target) 20 June, 2013 Yeovil sign my 17-year-old backup goalkeeper. It won't go through until his contract expires 1 Dec. Friday, 21 June, 2013 Longford 1-2 Finn Harps (Irish First Division) So fresh off getting curbstomped, we start a stretch of three away matches (which have been trouble for us) with the table-toppers. I used the extra time between matches to really emphasize team cohesion in training. And finally it all paid off, as we got our first goal from a corner this season, and our first away win. Despite our conservative mentality, we were the side more likely to make something happen, taking 16 shots, 8 on target, as compared to 8-and-2 for Longford. 24 June, 2013 Three matches of ours are picked for live television coverage. Why Setanta/RTE would want to subject people to this shower of ***** is a mystery, but at least we'll get $30,000 out of it, which helps the finances a wee bit. Sunday, 30 June 2013 Cobh Ramblers 0-2 Finn Harps (Irish First Division) Holy crap, another away win! A lot of huffing and puffing until McHugh broke the deadlock in the 67th minute by blasting a free kick into the top corner. We put the game away in the 91st minute when McHugh broke the offside trap to score a "superb solo effort". Monday, 1 July 2013 McHugh and Mickey Funston finish 2nd and 3rd for Goal of the Month. I finish 2nd for Manager of the Month "having put up a close fight for the award." The club have pretty much got the hang of my 4-2-3-1, with only Mentality and Passing Style still at "Accomplished", so I'll start changing our match focus to Teamwork. Hopefully that means I can switch our general training back to Balanced. Our left wing Cathal McDaid leaves for Dundalk on a free transfer. After having looked a player in pre-season, he didn't put it together when league play started and found himself on the subs bench. [b]Irish First Division (through 15 of 28 rounds)[/b] 1. Longford 29 ------------------ 2. Waterford U 28 3. Wexford Yths 25 ------------------ 4. Athlone Town 24 5. FINN HARPS 21 6. Salthill 20 7. Cobh Rambl. 11 8. Mervue Utd 10 Manager's thoughts So a bit of a mixed bag, getting punched in the mouth at home by Waterford, but bouncing back with our first two away wins. The transfer window has opened, and there are a couple of players I'm looking at. None of them though meet our immediate need for some cover at left wing, and the loan market is dry in that area. July will be a tricky month with trips to Salthill and Waterford United, sandwiched around home games against Wexford Youths and Mervue United. So we get a team that's right on our tail, two of the top 3, and the bottom side. I could see another split that gives us 6 of the 12 points on the table. Player of the Month McHugh is in with a shout again, but I'm going to give it to Carel Tiofack. Moving him out to right wing seems to have paid off, as he notched a goal and two assists in our three matches, posting ratings of 6.5, 8.1 and 7.1. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jason the Yank Posted March 17, 2014 Author Share Posted March 17, 2014 Friday, 5 July, 2013 Salthill 1-2 Finn Harps (Irish First Division) That's three on the trot, all away from home. Unlucky to go in scoreless at the half as we had a few bites at the cherry in the 35th minute but couldn't cash in (to thoroughly mix my metaphors). Went ahead shortly after the restart when Jonny Bonner, a left back playing left wing due to injury and McDaid's departure, managed to surge forward and get in a cross that was headed in by the 5'7" Carel Tiofack. Salthill equalized when my left back's attempted to clear an interception, only to drill right into the Salthill player standing in front of him; the rebound caromed toward my goal where an onrushing forward duly punished us. But we found a winner just 4 minutes after that when Kevin McHugh seized on a horrendous throw-in in the Salthill half and cooly finished his one-on-one opportunity. Friday, 12 July, 2013 Finn Harps 3-1 Wexford Youths (Irish First Division) It's four wins from four now. The Wexford manager had a moan about the state of our pitch (and it is in a state), and that must have got into his players heads. We took the lead inside the first minute, and other than a defensive breakdown that allowed Wexford to equalize we played superbly. We've clawed to within a point of the playoffs and 3 off the top, pending the Longford-Waterford United match. Unfortunately, I've again lost left wing Michael Doherty to injury, this time a groin strain that will keep him out for a month. He'd just come back from a strained neck that had him out two weeks. Monday, 15 July, 2013 The draw for the Senior Challenge Cup gives us a home tie against Waterford United. Was hoping for one of the non-league sides, but oh well. Thursday, 18 July, 2013 Six of our players are named to the First Division Team of the Week. Friday, 19 July, 2013 Finn Harps 2-0 Mervue United (Irish First Division) The run goes on as we stretch our winning streak to 5. Mervue went down a man in the 28th minute, but we couldn't get the breakthrough until the 70th minute when we headed in a corner. Extended our lead 10 minutes due to an own goal (stemming from a goalmouth scramble). Otherwise we dominated the match, firing 21 shots (7 on target) and possessing the ball 66% of the time. We held Mervue to just 4 shots, only 1 of them on target. Results elsewhere didn't go our way though, so we're still 1 point out of the playoffs and 3 off the top. But with 10 matches to go, we've clawed our way back into the fight. Wednesday, 24 July, 2013 Five of our players are named to the First Division Team of the Week. Friday, 26 July, 2013 Waterford United 2-2 Finn Harps (Irish First Division) Well the winning run had to come to an end some time, but we showed some character in this match in having to fight back twice. We were somewhat fortunate to go into halftime down only 1-0 as Waterford dominated play. I went to our more attack-minded formation at halftime, and we leveled in the 61st minute. But I was getting ready to make some final changes, Waterford got a fortunate bounce off the inside of the post to take the lead in the 88th minute. But with us looking at defeat, we managed to get up the other end with Adam Clarke crossing to Carel Tiofack on the other wing. Tiofack scored a "well timed close range finish" from a tight angle to managed to salvage the draw in injury time. Wednesday, 31 July, 2013 The summer transfer window shuts with no business from us. We'll just try to carry on with the players we already have. Thursday, 1 August, 2013 We announce a new main kit sponsorship, worth $20,000 for one year. That makes for a profitable month of July, but we're still $21,000 in the red for the season, and projected to end up $124,000 in the red. Kevin McHugh wins Goal of the Month for his effort against Wexford Youths. I finish second for Manager of the Month despite again putting up "a close fight for the award". Basically the Athlone boss had an extra match count toward his tally. [b]Irish First Division (through 19 of 28 rounds)[/b] 1. Longford 34 (+9) ------------------ 2. Athlone Town 34 (+8) 3. Waterford U 33 ------------------ 4. FINN HARPS 31 5. Wexford Yths 29 6. Salthill 20 7. Cobh Rambl. 19 8. Mervue Utd 11 Manager's thoughts Well I can't really complain about this month, just one goal away from sweeping the lot. I still put us as the little horse (thanks, Jose) in the race but the past two months have put us deservedly in it. If we're going to have a chance, August will be the month to do it as we begin with three home matches (Athlone Town, Longford, Cobh Ramblers) before a visit to Wexford Youths. Then comes our cup tie with Waterford (and we're 0-1-2 against them so far) before closing the month with an away match against Mervue United. It's important to rack up some points this month because (and I'm looking ahead here), our last two games are away from home, and our final three are against the (current) top three. Would be nice to build up a margin for error. Player of the month It's Kevin McHugh. Four goals in the month, posting ratings of 7.1, 8.8, 6.1 and 7.1. He's currently the top goalscorer in the division with 14; the next most is 11. He's proving to be the straw that stirs the drink, and we'll need him to keep firing. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jason the Yank Posted March 17, 2014 Author Share Posted March 17, 2014 Friday, 2 August, 2013 Finn Harps 2-0 Athlone Town (Irish First Division) The buildup began with Athlone's manager praising our "very patient possession game". And we did just that, possessing the ball 60% of the time despite Athlone trying to kick us off the park (19 fouls). We took 13 shots, but took the lead in the 8th minute when Carel Tiofack's corner bounced past the goalkeeper. Bumpy pitches, ftw. I told the team at halftime not to get complacent, and they allowed Athlone barely a sniff at goal, before we were able to finish it off in the 80th minute. We're now level on points, but out of the playoffs on goal difference; we're two points off the top. Unfortunately Kevin McHugh has twisted his knee and will be out 4 or 5 weeks. That is not the news we wanted at this point. Friday, 9 August, 2013 Finn Harps 5-2 Longford (Irish First Division) A demolition, pure and simple. We're living a charmed life, as we took the lead in the first minute when my right back's cross floated into the back of the net. Longford equalized 7 minutes later, and I figured it was going to be a slugfest. But then Shaun McGowan (wearing the captain's armband in McHugh's absence) gave us the lead in the 23rd coming in late to clean up a corner. Two more goals followed in quick succession when Sean McCarron (who'd had a moan about me not playing him, but now getting his chance with McHugh out) scored a brace to send us into halftime up 4-1. My left back conceded an own goal in the 85th minute when he tried to clear a ball off the line, but made amends 4 minutes later when we earned a PELANTY! With Athlone getting stuffed at home by Waterford, we're now in second place. Tuesday, 13 August, 2013 Four Finn Harps players named in the First Division Team of the Week. Our physio says McHugh might be able to return in the game against Mervue United at the end of the month. The bottom side would be a nice way for him to regain some match fitness. Well, Longford's league form has turned sour, but they just beat Sligo Rovers to reach the League Cup final. They also knocked out Shamrock Rovers in the quarterfinal. Friday, 16 August, 2013 Finn Harps 2-0 Cobh Ramblers (Irish First Division) If I didn't ****ing hate her, I'd suggest we start playing Miley Cyrus' "We Can't Stop" after matches. We're now unbeaten in nine league matches, and this match wasn't as close as the score would suggest. We fired 13 shots, putting 9 on target, and held the ball 61% of the time; plus we had 3 clear cut chances and three half chances. Cobh took only 3 shots, 2 of them on target. And with Waterford throwing away two leads at home against Mervue, we're now top of the table (by a single point)! Friday, 16 August, 2013 With their early-season form a distant memory and now on a 1-3-3 run in the league, Longford sack their manager. Guess he should have focused on the league instead of the League Cup. Monday, 19 August, 2013 Wexford Youths 0-3 Finn Harps (Irish First Division) Fixture congestion has surfaced now, as this is the second of three matches in a week and forcing me into some rotation - which I don't want to do, because why would you change a team that's unbeaten in nine? No matter though, as we survived an early Wexford flurry before our short passing game went to work. We scored all our goals in the last 15 minutes of the first half and cruised from there. It's now 10 games unbeaten in the league, and with Waterford being held to a draw at Longford we're now 3 points clear at the top. Tuesday, 20 August, 2013 EIGHT of our players are selected in the Irish First Division Team of the Week, our entire backline and four of our midfielders (the Team of the Week is a 4-4-2 setup). Thursday, 22 August, 2013 The winner of the Finn Harps-Waterford United match will play the winner of Wexford Youths-Bray Wanderers in the Challenge Cup quarterfinal. Friday, 23 August, 2013 Finn Harps 0-2 Waterford United (Irish Senior Challenge Cup, Third Round) We've lost twice and drawn once against Waterford, so I'm not too confident about this meeting. And with us firing up the league, maybe it would be best if we lost. I just don't want it to go extra time, with us being semi-pro. McCarron picked up a knock in the Wexford game, so he's only at 79% fitness. McHugh is just about over his injury, but only 71% fitness. I'll have to name him to the subs bench just in case though. Anyway, it was a bit of an unlucky defeat, as we conceded a penalty in the 35th minute. We had more of the ball, but couldn't do anything with it. Waterford put it away in the 80th minute as we were pressing forward looking for an equalizer. Ah well, they can deal with the fixture pileup. Sunday, 25 August, 2013 Kevin McHugh returns to full training. I'll throw him straight back into the starting XI. Wednesday, 28 August, 2013 Another player in the reserves moans about not getting playing time. Listen, son. We're playing really well so prove to me you're not just a bit ****. Friday, 30 August, 2013 Mervue United 0-5 Finn Harps (Irish First Division) Time to get back to the league against the bottom side. I decide to wheel out our attacking formation even though we're playing away. And whoa! McHugh announced his return with a goal in the first 90 seconds before winning a (harsh) PELANTY in the 5th minute. Tiofack scores a brilliant goal that floats into the lower far corner, then McHugh sets him up just 3 minutes. Our left back completes the rout on 44 minutes with a free kick from just outside the penalty arc. We've now won 5 straight in the league, and are unbeaten in 11. Sunday, 1 September, 2013 I win the Manager of the Month award. Well with five wins from five (four of them clean sheets), I bloody well should! [b]Irish First Division (through 24 of 28 rounds)[/b] 1. FINN HARPS 46 ------------------ 2. Waterford U. 43 3. Athlone Town 38 ------------------ 4. Longford 36 5. Wexford Yths 33 6. Salthill 28 7. Cobh Rambl. 23 8. Mervue Utd 20 Manager's thoughts What can I say? That I'm not happy? I'm ecstatic. We're firing on all cylinders and all but qualified for the promotion playoffs. That I was not expecting during our early season troubles. So the season comes down to four remaining matches: Home against Salthill, home against (ugh) Waterford, before closing out with trips to Longford and Athlone Town. Waterford is proving to be our bogey side, but if we can at least get a draw out of that we'll have a chance to be champions. It'll be a light run-in for us: Salthill and Waterford are our only September matches, and we'll have a 2-week break on either side of that duo. Player of the month Mark Forker. A new name in this spot, his best role is as a ball-winning central midfielder, but we've been playing him as an AMC. I decided to ditch the enganche role and have him play as a straight-up attacking midfielder. This more basic role seems to have suited him, as he scored 2 and set up 3 during the month. His ratings were 7.2, 8.4, 8.0, 8.3, 6.6, 7.8 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jason the Yank Posted March 17, 2014 Author Share Posted March 17, 2014 Tuesday, 3 September, 2013 Eight Finn Harps players in the Team of the Week again, and again making up all of the backline and midfield. Sunday, 8 September, 2013 The staff reports we need 10 points from the remaining 12 to be champions. Friday, 13 September, 2013 Finn Harps 3-0 Salthill (Irish First Division) Waterford played earlier in the week and won, so we're behind them on goal difference heading into this match. Will Friday the 13th prove the unluck of the Irish? Well, no. Forker and McHugh take it in turns to be provider and finisher in the first 15 minutes. Forker sets up another late in the first half for the left wing (who'd taken a slight knock earlier in the game), and we go into halftime up 3-0. I didn't even bother to say a word to the team at halftime, and we cruised to the deserved victory. We fire 16 shots, but only put 4 on target. No matter, we pretty much suffocate Salthill, as they see only 39% of the ball. The win means we restore our 3-point advantage at the top. Regardless, we've cliched a spot in the playoffs. We're also winners of six straight in the league, and unbeaten in 12. Good news, Waterford drew with Wexford, forcing a replay on Monday. Please go extra time... Monday, 16 September, 2013 Damn. Waterford won 5-0. Wednesday, 18 September, 2013 Six of our players named in the Team of the Week. Friday, 20 September, 2013 Finn Harps 1-0 Waterford United (Irish First Division) So here we are. A win will all but send the title to Donegal. We survive an early flurry from Waterford, but gradually take control of the match. Forker manages to turn and feed the ball to an onrushing Tiofack in the 24th minute. And despite a few nervous moments during the game, we managed to hold our composure and get our first - and most important - win over Waterford. We're now 6 points up with just 2 matches remaining. Monday, 30 September, 2013 Waterford United beat Athlone at home. Their chances are slim, but they're not going away easily. Tuesday, 1 October, 2013 Mark Forker wins the Goal of the Month I finish second in Manager of the Month voting. Okay. The board invites me to contract renewal talks. They're still looking for a top-half finish. Uh, have you seen how close we are? So I say we can win the league. They offer a 1-year deal on $550/week (a $50 increase), with a $2,800 bonus for winning promotion, and a 15% raise if we're in the top division. Alright then. Friday, 4 October, 2013 Longford 0-2 Finn Harps (Irish First Division) So we have two chances to win the league, both away fixtures. All we need is a point. Longford come after us from the whistle, but we slowly manage to get a grip on the game. We take the lead in the 25th minute when Mark Forker was played in by McHugh, and proceeded to float a shot to the far post past the keeper's outstretched arms. That knockes Longford back a bit, but after halftime they again come hard at us. Our goalkeeper/assistant manager makes a couple of great saves to keep it 1-0. It looks like it's going to be a tense finish, but Tiofack wins a PELANTY! in the 90th minute and McHugh lashes the spot kick. CHAMPIONS! Saturday, 5 October, 2013 Our six consecutive clean sheets is a new First Division record. Friday, 11 October, 2013 Athlone Town 0-0 Finn Harps (Irish First Division) Athlone need a point to guarantee a spot in the promotion playoffs. We had most of the play, but neither team could find a goal. It wasn't for lack of effort though, as we didn't have much (if any) dropoff from how we played previously. The winning streak stops at 8, but we close the season on a 15-match unbeaten run. Our First Division win brings $65,500 in prize money. [b]Irish First Division - FINAL[/b] 1. FINN HARPS 56 ------------------ 2. Waterford U. 50 3. Athlone Town 43 ------------------ 4. Wexford Yths 40 5. Longford 37 6. Salthill 34 7. Cobh Rambl. 29 8. Mervue Utd 23 [i]Athlone Town wins promotion/relegation playoffs; UCD relegated to First Division[/i] Friday, 1 November, 2013 I finish 3rd in Manager of the Month voting. Saturday, 2 November, 2013 Awards Kevin McHugh - First Division Player of the Year (18 goals, 8 assists in 25 games; 7.26 average rating) Kevin McHugh - Bronze Boot (18 goals; runner-up had 15) Carel Tiofack - Young Player of the Year (9 goals, 9 assists in 26 games; 7.06 average rating) James Gallagher - Goalkeeper of the Year (29 goals against, 13 clean sheets in 28 games; 6.95 average rating) Me - Manager of the Year (416 points; runner-up had 235) GK James Gallagher, DL Cieran Coll, MC Mark Forker, MC/ST Kevin McHugh, MR Carel Tiofack - First Division Team of the Year Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nobby_McDonald Posted March 17, 2014 Share Posted March 17, 2014 Great season Jason. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jason the Yank Posted March 18, 2014 Author Share Posted March 18, 2014 Finn Harps - End of Season Review 2013 From predictions of mid-table obscurity, we go on a stunning run in the second half of the season (undefeated in our final 15 games, posting clean sheets in the final seven) to go up as champions. I expect our return to the Premier Division will be a bit of a struggle, but six of the 10 holdovers up there are part-timers like us. (And Dundalk's finances are "insecure", so they might have to cut back, although they'll have Europa League football in the summer, which should help them) Irish First Division: Winners (Overachievers) Senior Challenge Cup: Third round League Cup: First round Average Attendance: 307 Top Goalscorer: Kevin McHugh, 19 (18 in league, Bronze Boot winner) Most Assists: Carol Tiofack, 12 (9 in league, most in division) Highest Average Rating: Kevin McHugh, 7.28 Fans Player of the Season: Kevin McHugh Other Notable Contributors: AMC Mark Forker (7 G, 8 A), DC Packie Mailey (7.00 average rating in 24 appearances), AML Michael Doherty (2 G, 6 A), GK James Gallagher (29 GA, 13 clean sheets, 28 games) I've signed new contracts with most of the first team squad. No doubt some of them won't be able to make the step up, but I'll have some bodies in place at least. At the moment I'm $129/week over the wage budget, but players being given their release have their contracts expire in two weeks. I'm looking seriously at 6'6" American goalkeeper recommended by my scouts (he was on the books at Waterford earlier this year), who's younger and at least as good as Gallagher. Will have to fill in some holes, but as long as I stay up this coming season I'll be happy with that. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
pezza1 Posted March 18, 2014 Share Posted March 18, 2014 Great run in at the end there! Stormed through the pack! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jason the Yank Posted March 18, 2014 Author Share Posted March 18, 2014 Finn Harps - Season Preview 2014 Board Expectations: Irish Premier Division: Avoid relegation Senior Challenge Cup: Reach the 3rd round League Cup: Not important My Expectations: Irish Premier Division: Avoid relegation, even if it's by the playoff Senior Challenge Cup: Do the bare minimum the board wants League Cup: Don't care Budgets: Transfer: 0 Wage: $6,500/week (currently spending $2,455) Balance: $9,895 Projected Balance: -$125,000 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jason the Yank Posted March 18, 2014 Author Share Posted March 18, 2014 Great season Jason. Came out of the blue, but it looks like everyone in the First Division is roughly on the same level when it comes to finances and talent, so if you get a few lucky breaks (for example we had injuries, but nothing major) you can power through. Great run in at the end there! Stormed through the pack! It was pretty amazing. Stayed up until 8:30 am because I didn't want to risk it by shutting off the game. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
AK22 Posted March 21, 2014 Share Posted March 21, 2014 Top effort there How confident are you of avoiding the drop in the Premier League? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
deltablue Posted March 21, 2014 Share Posted March 21, 2014 Well done surging to promotion Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jason the Yank Posted March 25, 2014 Author Share Posted March 25, 2014 Finn Harps FC - Irish Premier Division - Pre-season 2014 Bookies: 300-1 Media: 12th (last) Not the greatest of pre-seasons. I had a deal for an American goalkeeper agreed, but it collapsed when he couldn't get a work permit. Which is odd, because he was on the books at an Irish club last season (didn't make any appearances though, so maybe Immigration felt it wasn't worth giving him another one). Meanwhile, the other goalkeepers I was interested in all weren't willing to discuss contracts with us. Too wee, I guess. Not much in the way of match action. We had two games against non-league opposition that we cruised in, then lost to Derry City 0-2 in our final tune-up. Which wasn't great. The New Boys Dan Joyce, 21, MC/DR/DM - 1 year, $130/week, Free transfer He hasn't seen much action. Was on the books at Bray Wanderers last season but didn't make any senior level appearances. Managed 12 appearances at Bohemians over the 2011 and 2012 seasons. Has flair, but best role is as a ball-winning midfielder. Three of my coaches see him as potentially a good Premier Division central midfielder, though one sees him as merely a "decent" player at that level. David O'Neill, 23, MC - 1 year, $110/week, Free transfer Profiles as a box-to-box midfielder (ratings of 15 work rate, 11 stamina, 18 teamwork). Has bounced around the Irish leagues. Was on the books at Longford last season but didn't make an appearance. Also not credited with any appearances the previous three seasons in the Leinster leagues. Somewhat the opposite of Joyce among my coaches, the Joyce dissenter projects O'Neill as a "leading Premier Division central midfielder", while the three Joyce supporters see O'Neill only as a "decent" midfielder at this level. Johnny Breen, 22, SC/AM RLC - 2 years, $150/week, Free transfer Signed primarily as for cover, my coaches see him more as a left winger (even though he's right footed) in the future, with three projecting him as "good", and a dissenter seeing him as merely "decent". Does have experience at this level though, making six appearances last season for Drogheda United, and 40 for Dundalk over the previous two seasons. Danny Fitzpatrick, 19, SC/AMC - 1 year, $190/week, Free transfer Another "cover" signing, Fitzpatrick does have some finishing ability (rated as 10, with heading at 10 also), but isn't all there upstairs (Composure: 4, Concentration: 3). But my coaches all think he could become a "leading First Division" striker. Not what I'm looking for, but acceptable from a backup who's rarely going to get off the bench. Made one appearance for Wexford Youths last season, notching a goal and an assist. Stephen Relihan, 22, MC/DM - 2 years, $100/week, Free transfer Signed primarily as a backup, he's the understudy in central midfield. Some good ratings (for this level anyway), 11 passing, strength and work rate, 12 agression and bravery, 16 jumping reach, he's 6'4 and could give us some extra help against taller teams. Didn't catch on with a club last season, but made 54 appearances for Athlone Town in the First Division from 2010 to 2012. Three of my coaches see him as "good Premier Division central midfielder" in the future, with one dissenter rating him merely "decent". Best role is a ball-winning midfielder. Niall Corbet, 19, GK - 1 year, $110/week, Free transfer Landed my backup goalkeeper late in pre-season. Was on the books at UCD the previous three seasons, but didn't make any first-team appearances. More eccentric (11) than I want in a goalkeeper, and needs some work on his communication and handling, but is decent in his positioning and a good team player. My coaches are all over the map on him. My current goalkeeper/ass man thinks he could become a good Premier Division goalkeeper, two coaches see him as a decent Premier Division goalkeeper, and the remaining guy projects him as a leading First Division goalkeeper. So James Gallagher is going to remain between the sticks, while I have a promising 17-year-old Northern Irish lad developing in the U19s. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jason the Yank Posted March 25, 2014 Author Share Posted March 25, 2014 Top effort there How confident are you of avoiding the drop in the Premier League? Not very. Well done surging to promotion Can't say that I've experienced anything like it. Just could not be beat. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jason the Yank Posted March 29, 2014 Author Share Posted March 29, 2014 Friday, 28 February, 2014 Finn Harps 2-0 Shelbourne (Irish Premier Division) Finally starting the season. And woefully unprepared for it. About half the team was "nervous" or "very nervous", but we managed to take the lead in the 30th minute. It wasn't until the 69th minute though, when the nervous Mark Forker smashed home our second goal that everyone settled down. Survived going down to 10 men in the 90th minute when Kevin McHugh had to come off with injury. I also lose new signing Stephen Relihan to a groin strain. He'll be out 4 to 5 weeks. Sunday, 2 March, 2014 Announce final season ticket sales of 145. The total has "soared" from last season's ... 125. Monday, 10 March, 2014 Finn Harps 0-4 Derry City (Irish League Cup) The board don't care, and I don't care. But it's an opportunity to further our match fitness. And also a chance to toss in our backup goalkeeper and see how he fares. Except Derry City are our "fierce rivals". Meh, this is the second cup. Unfortunately we conceded a penalty on 6 minutes, and a couple of missed chances to equalize were duly punished as we were down 0-3 at halftime due to a hat-trick from a Derry forward (on loan from Birmingham City. Thanks for that) who was being scouted by the Northern Ireland manager. Derry extended the lead further in the 88th minute, but we pulled back a consolation goal when Kevin McHugh's free kick from about 40 yards out bounced past the goalkeeper. Friday, 14 March, 2014 Sligo Rovers 5-0 Finn Harps (Irish Premier Division) So no easy game to bounce back with, going away to the two-time defending champions. And against a professional side, no less. And we were duly played off the park. Down after just 3 minutes, it was 3-0 late in the first half when the referee added insult to injury by whistling a pretty cheap penalty. Sligo completed the rout in the 88th minute with a smug chip from the corner of the penalty area. ********. Friday, 21 March, 2014 Finn Harps 2-2 Limerick (Irish Premier Division) Woulda, coulda, shoulda. Changed out three defenders after the Sligo demolition and challenged the team to do better. Kevin McHugh put the team on his back with a brace inside 8 minutes. But we gave it all back before halftime. Had an opportunity to claim all three points when a Limerick player received a second yellow on 77 minutes. But we spurned a golden opportunity in front of the Limerick goal and had to settle for the draw. And our right wing Carel Tiofack suffered a facial injury and will be out two weeks. Tuesday, 25 March, 2014 St. Pat's Athletic 1-0 Finn Harps (Irish Premier Division) We've had a problem in these early matches with oppositing players racing past us, so I decided to try a 4-5-1 with a ball-winning defensive midfielder, and the two central midfielders as box-to-box. It mostly worked, though we didn't put any shots on target. St. Pat's scored in the 42nd minute on a free kick from the edge of the penalty area when one of our players was late getting into the wall. Unfortunately I lost my left wing Michael Doherty to a pulled hamstring. He's out 5 to 6 weeks. Friday, 28 March, 2014 Bohemians 0-2 Finn Harps (Irish Premier Division) Stuck wth the 4-5-1 and got a break early when a Bohemians player saw straight red in the 9th minute. We stayed conservative and went into halftime scoreless. I used the interval to switch to our attacking formation and encouraged the players to go looking for the win. The new boy Dan Joyce put us in front in the 52nd minute when he pounced on a loose ball after the Bohemians goalkeeper couldn't secure our attacking corner. He added another 9 minutes later off a nice bit of give-and-go action. [b]Irish Premier Division (through 5 of 33 rounds)[/b] 1. Sligo Rovers 13 2. Derry City 11 3. Limerick 9 (+3) 4. Shamrock Rovers 9 (+2) 5. St. Pat's Athletic 9 (0) 6. Cork City 8 7. FINN HARPS 7 8. Dundalk 6 9. Athlone Town 5 10.Drogheda Utd 4 ------------------------- 11.Bohemians 2 ------------------------- 12.Shelbourne 0 Manager's thoughts Some good, some bad. We're holding up better than I expected, especially after the hiding we suffered against Sligo. Depth will be a problem though, especially during any 3-games-in-7-days stretches like we just finished. It's a good thing Bohemians were down to 10 men, because by the end we had more than one player on only about 50% fitness. April will have one of those tough 7-day stretches, but otherwise it's a bunch of matches against teams around us: Home matches against Dundalk and Derry City, followed by trips to Athlone Town and Cork City before returning home against Shamrock Rovers. I'll be happy if we just tread water this month. I'm not asking for more than a season of consolidation. Fortunately Dan Joyce got himself on the scoresheet, as we were starting to look like a one-man team with Kevin McHugh. Player of the month This could go to a couple of players, but I'll give it to Joyce. Two goals on the month, a 7.00 average rating, and averaging 4.53 tackles per game. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jason the Yank Posted March 31, 2014 Author Share Posted March 31, 2014 Friday, 4 April, 2014 Finn Harps 0-0 Dundalk (Irish Premier Division) THIS! IS! FINN HARPS! A brave effort to gain a point. Our left back picked up two yellows in the first 33 minutes and it was all-hands-on-deck from that point on. Dundalk held the ball 63% of the time, fired 26 shots and got 9 of them on target; we took only 4 shots with only one on target. We blocked three shots inside the 6-yard-box, and I'm pretty sure we swept two off the line. Things got tougher in the 88th minute when Mark Forker went off with injury, taking us down to nine men. The news gets worse after the game though, when Kevin McHugh is diagnosed with a groin strain that will keep him out 4 to 5 weeks. Friday, 11 April, 2014 Finn Harps 0-0 Derry City (Irish Premier Division) A bit of a nervous performance against our fierce rivals, but we'll take the draw given that the pre-match analysis figured Derry would easily win. The fans were delighted with it afterward, so that'll work for us. It turns out we haven't conceded a goal in 318 minutes. Foreshadowing, surely. Tuesday, 15 April, 2014 Athlone Town 3-2 Finn Harps (Irish Premier Division) Yep, foreshadowing. Conceded just 2 minutes into the game but we fought back just before halftime. Burned by a magnificent effort in the 76th minute from Graham Rusk (who'd nearly punished us on a one-on-one earlier in the half) and then he completed his hat trick on 85 minutes as we were pushing forward looking for an equalizer. Carel Tiofack pulled us back into the match on 89 minutes, but we couldn't find the equalizer. A tough loss, as this is a club that got promoted with us. Not helped by Athlone kicking us off the park: Midfielder David O'Neill is out 2 to 3 months with strained knee ligaments, right back James Doherty is out 4 to 5 weeks with a twisted knee, and we had another player go off injured as well. Friday, 18 April, 2014 Cork City 0-2 Finn Harps (Irish Premier Division) So with our team looking like a MASH unit, we have our third game in seven days, and against a fully professional side. And we post a total smash-and-grab, hitting Cork on two textbook counterattacks in the 30th and 34th minute, our only shots on target in the game. Helped a little by Cork going down to 10 men in the 81st minute when our boys were pretty much gassed. Friday, 25 April, 2014 Finn Harps 0-3 Shamrock Rovers (Irish Premier Division) Had a pretty even first half, but then we bundled the ball into our own net shortly after the restart and things fell apart from there. Rovers extended their lead in the 80th and 90th minute as we were hunting for a goal. Friday, 25 April, 2014 Bohemians sack their manager after a 2-0 defeat at St. Pat's leaves them rooted to the foot of the table, having not won in their first 10 matches. [b]Irish Premier Division (through 10 of 33 rounds)[/b] 1. Sligo Rovers 25 2. Derry City 22 3. Shamrock Rs. 19 4. Dundalk 17 5. Cork City 16 6. St. Pat's 15 7. FINN HARPS 12 8. Limerick 11 (-3) 9. Athlone Town 11 (-7) 10.Drogheda Utd 10 ------------------ 11.Shelbourne 5 ------------------ 12.Bohemians 3 Manager's thoughts 5 points from 15 isn't a great haul, but it keeps our heads above water for the moment. Last season, 24 points would have been enough to stay up automatically, and we're halfway to that total. Realistically though, I can't see big clubs like Shelbourne and Bohemians staying down at the bottom (although they only finished 10th and 9th respectively last season, so maybe they are that poor). We've weathered part of the injury storm, with left wing Michael Doherty returned from injury and striker Kevin McHugh about to do likewise. May is another busy month for us, with four games in 11 days. We start off at home against Drogheda, before trips to Shelbourne and Limerick. Then it's home against Sligo in a match that was moved up because of their involvement in the All-Ireland Cup. An 13-day break follows before we're home against First Division side UCD (so I really can't give the kids a run out there) in the Senior Challenge Cup. We close the month with a trip to Dundalk, with a re-arranged fixture against St. Pat's in early June, leading into a roughly 5-week break for the World Cup Player of the month I'm giving this to our goalkeeper/ass man James Gallagher. Despite giving up 3 goals apiece to Athlone and Shamrock Rovers, he made a combined 8 saves in those games, plus 8 saves against Dundalk, 5 against Derry and 3 against Cork. He's kept us in every game. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
deltablue Posted March 31, 2014 Share Posted March 31, 2014 Good to have no real pressure on you for now. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jason the Yank Posted March 31, 2014 Author Share Posted March 31, 2014 Good to have no real pressure on you for now. Spoke too soon. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jason the Yank Posted March 31, 2014 Author Share Posted March 31, 2014 Wednesday, 30 April, 2014 Bohemians hire former Ferencvaros and Red Bull Salzburg manager Ricardo Moniz. Thursday, 1 May, 2014 We've eeked out a small profit of $3600 for the month. Small, but I think it's the first one we've posted. Friday, 2 May, 2014 Finn Harps 2-2 Drogheda United (Irish Premier Division)[/b] A missed opportunity for three points. Took the lead in the 39th minute when Michael Doherty, making his return, got three bites at the cherry: First he hit the post, then the goalkeeper parried, then he scored. In the 74th minute, Carel Tiofack got hacked down. PELANTY! And Mark Forker buried the spot kick. 2-0 up and we're on our way. Except Drogheda hit us on the break in the 82nd minute, then find the equalizer in the 87th. A costly 2 points thrown away. Oh, and Kevin McHugh lasted 12 minutes in his return before suffering fractured ribs. He's out 2 to 3 months. Tuesday, 6 May, 2014 Our 17-year-old prospect goalkeeper Michael Lynch gets called up to the Northern Ireland squad for Euro U19s qualifying Tuesday, 6 May, 2014 Shelbourne 1-0 Finn Harps (Irish Premier Division) A momentary lapse in defense, when both center backs dropped off the Shelbourne striker about 9 yards from goal, cost us the game. That makes just 1 point from 6 against two teams trailing us. Not good. Friday, 9 May, 2014 Limerick 3-0 Finn Harps (Irish Premier Division) Story of the match: Limerick, 12 shots, 5 on target, 3 goals. Finn Harps: 10 shots, 1 on target. Worse, we played 30 minutes with a man advantage. Even worse, it's another defeat to a team (that was) behind us in the table. Oh, and our central defender Keith Cowan suffered a torn hamstring. He's out 3 to 4 months. So the injuries are piling up again, and now they're long-term ones. Monday, 12 May, 2014 Finn Harps 0-0 Sligo Rovers (Irish Premier Division) Not looking forward to this, at all. With a bunch of tired part-timers, this could go really badly. So I basically play rope-a-dope, and despite a few nervous moments we were able to escape with a draw. It's 5 matches without a win, but we're hanging in there for now. Friday, 23 May, 2014 Finn Harps 1-3 U.C.D. (Senior Challenge Cup, Second Round) Well that didn't work out. A dodgy penalty in the 4th minute, failed to clear a corner in the 42nd, and poorly executed offside trap in the 71st. Pulled one back in the 88th but it was just a consolation effort. This defeat means we've failed to meet the board's expectation of the Third Round. That means it's 6 games without a win for us. I gave the team the hair dryer treatment after the match. Dundalk's win means our league fixture against them gets pushed back. Friday, 30 May, 2014 I call a team meeting in which I tell the squad that we've had a blip, but we can still avoid relegation. It goes well, everyone seems to be on the same page now. But just to help it along, I switch our training focus from balanced to team cohesion. Monday, 2 June, 2014 Finn Harps 0-3 St. Pat's Athletic (Irish Premier Division) When it rains, it pours. It looked like we were going to get into halftime scoreless, only for a comically bad clearance in which Forker banged it off a teammate STANDING RIGHT NEXT TO HIM, which deflected toward goal, which was picked up by a St. Pat's attacker for an easy goal. Again we were unable to clear a corner and were punished for that in the 65th minute. And then our defense made a shambles of offside again in the 89th minute. Thursday, 5 June, 2014 Kevin McHugh decides to retire at the end of the season. Saturday, 7 June, 2014 It's become clear that our forward options after McHugh are lacking. So I decide to sign 32-year-old forward Phillip Gorman on a free transfer. He scored 5 goals in 27 appearances for Athlone last season, and 6 in 23 appearances for Shelbourne in the 2012 season. His stats look good: Finishing 11, Heading 12, Anticipation 12, Bravery 12, Decisions 11, Strength 12. Best role is as a target man, but really we just need goals in any form. I intend to throw him straight into the starting XI, and hope he doesn't get hurt. Monday, 9 June, 2014 Dundalk 0-1 Finn Harps (Irish Premier Division) A poor game, but a WIN! In the jammiest way possible, thanks to a PELANTY! Adam Clarke got tripped in the box in the 68th minute, and our new signing Gorman buried the spot kick. Neither team put on much of a display of football, combining for 2 shots on target. But whatever, we've broken our duck right before the World Cup break. [b]Irish Premier Division (through 16 of 33 rounds)[/b] 1. Sligo Rovers 35 2. Derry City 32 3. Shamrock Rs 31 4. St. Pat's A. 26 5. Dundalk 25 6. Cork City 20 7. Limerick 19 (-4, 23 GF) 8. Athlone 18 (-4, 15 GF) 9. Drogheda Utd 17 (-5) 10.FINN HARPS 17 (-10) ------------------ 11.Shelbourne 10 ------------------ 12.Bohemians 9 Manager's thoughts A terrible month-and-then-some, picking up just 5 points from 18 in the league and crashing out of the cup at the first hurdle. But if we're going to be dragged into the relegation fight, it's probably just as well we're out of the cup. There's no doubt about it, we're awful going forward. We're actually middle of the pack in goals allowed, but our 13 goals is tied with Shelbourne and just one better than Bohemians. We are what the table says we are: An offensively challenged squad. If we stay up, that's going to have to be our primary focus in the close season, especially with McHugh deciding to hang up his boots. We're a different side without him, and by "different" I mean "pathetic." Our slide down the table has taken a toll on my job status. Before the awful run, I was "very secure". Now I'm merely "stable". And since I'm in the last year of my contract, it won't cost the board much to sack me if they feel it's come to that. We're off until July, so hopefully we can catch our breath and kickstart our season again. We'll start with a trip to Derry (though they're in the Europa League, so that could possibly be moved). Then it's a run of home fixtures against Bohemians, Athlone and Cork, presenting a chance to pull away from the bottom. We end the month with trips to Shamrock Rovers and Drogheda United. Player of the month (and then some) Nobody really stands out, so I'll give it to Gallagher again. 2 clean sheets against tough opponents (Sligo and Dundalk) Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jason the Yank Posted March 31, 2014 Author Share Posted March 31, 2014 2014 FIFA World Cup Group stage Group A Group B Group C Group D Ukraine 9 Colombia 6 (+3) Italy 5 (+3) Denmark 9 Brazil 6 Spain 6 (+3) Australia 5 (+2) Uruguay 6 ----------------- ----------------- ----------------- ----------------- S. Africa 3 Switzerland 6 (+2) Ivory Coast 4 Honduras 3 Iraq 0 Saudi Arabia 0 Sweden 1 Ghana 0 Group E Group F Group G Group H Greece 7 Germany 9 Bosnia & Herz. 9 Holland 9 Japan 5 France 4 Argentina 6 Russia 4 ----------------- ----------------- ----------------- ----------------- Croatia 4 Ecuador 2 Mexico 3 Costa Rica 3 Tunisia 0 Jamaica 1 Morocco 0 Paraguay 1 Second round Spain 2-1 Ukraine Colombia 0-3 Brazil Italy p1-1 Uruguay Australia 3-3p Denmark France 2-0 Greece Japan 0-2 Germany Bosnia & Herzegovina 2-1 Russia Holland 1-2 Argentina Quarterfinal Spain 3-0 Denmark Brazil 2-1 Italy France 2-1 Argentina Germany 2-0 Bosnia & Herzegovina Semifinal Spain 1-2e Germany Brazil p1-1 France Third place playoff France 0-7 Spain Laurent Koscielny got a 3.7 rating Final Germany 3-1 Brazil Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jason the Yank Posted March 31, 2014 Author Share Posted March 31, 2014 Sunday, 15 June, 2014 Irish Premier Division drops 11 places to 57 in the latest competition rankings. It now trails the top flights in Lithuania, Azerbaijan, Latvia, Iceland, Bosnia and Georgia. Sunday, 22 June, 2014 As I expected, the Derry City fixture was moved. We'll start with our 3 home matches, then follow with 3 away matches. Saturday, 5 July, 2014 Finn Harps 1-0 Bohemians (Irish Premier Division) A scrappy match as you'd expect from two teams at or near the bottom. Stephen Relihan pounced on a loose ball in the penalty area in the 21st minute to score his first goal of the season, a goal which could be crucial to our hopes of staying up. Gallagher came up with a huge save in stoppage time to preserve the win. Friday, 11 July, 2014 Finn Harps 5-1 Athlone Town (Irish Premier Division) Now that's more like it. Brought Kevin McHugh back to the starting XI in the AMC role as a shadow striker. And he scored in the first 25 seconds, setting a club record for fastest goal, as well as becoming the leading goal scorer in Finn Harps history with 160. Gorman followed up in the 6th minute, and Packie Malley delivered a thundering header of a corner in the 15th minute. Athlone got one back shortly after the restart and I feared an imminent collapse. But we got a fortunate own goal in the 52nd minute, and Adam Clarke completed the rout in the 74th minute right before being substituted. That's three wins on the trot for us now. Tuesday, 15 July, 2014 Eight of our players are named in the Premier Division Team of the Week[/b] Tuesday, 15 July, 2014 Finn Harps 2-1 Cork City (Irish Premier Division) It was the Adam Clarke show this one. We went ahead in the 24th minute when McHugh's header was parried right to Clarke's feet at the corner of the 6-yard box. He did not miss. 7 minutes later he was Johnny on the spot again, as Tiofack's cross managed to evade two Cork defenders and find Clarke all by his lonesome on the other corner of the 6-yard box. Cork pulled one back in the second half, but we managed to see the game out for our fourth win in a row. Friday, 18 July 2014 Shamrock Rovers 1-0 Finn Harps (Irish Premier Division) Decided to resist the temptation to tinker, other than to deal with players lacking match fitness. Unfortunately, Rovers star striker wriggled loose for a free header of a corner in the 10th minute and we were never able to mount much of a fight after it. My central defender Packie Malley suffered a bruised shin and is expected out 9 to 12 days. Sunday, 20 July 2014 AM RLC/STC Johnny Breen has a moan that he's not getting first team football. He's not that good, and he signed with us as a backup player. Our chat doesn't go well, so he hands in a transfer request. Saturday, 26 July 2014 Drogheda United 1-2 Finn Harps (Irish Premier Division) Very nearly contrived to again throw away a two-goal lead against Drogheda. We punched them in the mouth with clinical counterattacks in the 35th and 37th minute. A comical own goal (in which two of my defenders rush back even as my goalkeeper is seeing this cross all the way, resulting in one of the defenders knocking the ball into our own net) in the 68th minute made things a bit tense. We were still playing well though and I made a triple substitution in the 85th minute. Drogheda managed to find the goal in stoppage time, only to have it ruled out for offside. Whew! Unfortunately right wing Carel Tiofack suffered a gashed leg and will be out 3 to 4 weeks. [b]Irish Premier Division[/b] GP PTS 1. Sligo Rovers 20 41 (+20) 2. Shamrock Rovers 21 41 (+17) 3. Derry City 20 41 (+15) 4. St. Pat's Athletic 21 33 5. Dundalk 20 29 (+3) 6. FINN HARPS 21 29 (-4) 7. Cork City 21 28 8. Athlone Town 22 26 9. Drogheda United 22 23 10.Limerick 20 20 ---------------------------------- 11.Bohemians 20 18 ---------------------------------- 12.Shelbourne 22 12 Manager's thoughts Well that went about as well as we could have hoped for, picking up 12 points from 15 to pull ourselves away from danger. We're not out of the woods though, not with Bohemians experiencing a revival; they're 4-3-3 in the league since changing managers, including winning their last 3 on the bounce. The transfer window closes in a few days, and it looks like we won't be active in it. Of course, we have no money for transfers anyway, so any players we sign have to be free transfers. August will be a little tricky, but we can just about assure ourselves of staying up by opening the month with home matches against Shelbourne (whose last win was 6 May against us; they're 0-3-7 in the league since then, and including cup matches were on a 7-match losing streak at one point. Amazingly, they haven't sacked their manager and he only has "insecure" status) and Limerick. We'll follow that up with a brutal stretch of three away matches against Derry City, Sligo Rovers and St. Pat's Athletic before returning home to face Dundalk. Our surge back up the table has done wonders for my job security though. I'm listed as "Untouchable." Player of the month It's a new fella, winger Adam Clarke. He's left footed but can play equally on either wing, which fits well with my strategy of having the wings swap positions. He scored 3 goals and set up another in 4 appearances this month, turning in ratings of 6.4, 9.1, 8.8 and 6.5 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jason the Yank Posted April 1, 2014 Author Share Posted April 1, 2014 Friday, 1 August, 2014 Adam Clarke comes second in Player of the Month. Dan Joyce is third for Goal of the Month. I win Manager of the Month. Friday, 1 August, 2014 Finn Harps 0-2 Shelbourne (Irish Premier Division) Apparently we were too impressed with our press clippings. Shelbourne were up inside of 2 minutes and added their second in the 26th. We huffed and puffed but couldn't get anything going against a side that was winless in their last 10. It was so bad our fans started heading for the exits in the 78th minute. Friday, 8 August, 2014 Our game at St. Pat's is picked for live television coverage. We'll get $8,000 from this. Friday, 8 August, 2014 Finn Harps 2-0 Limerick (Irish Premier Division) A much better performance as we frustrated Limerick by holding the ball 65% of the time, resulting in them committing 31 fouls. THIRTY ONE! They didn't get a shot on target, and took only 3 all game. Monday, 11 August, 2014 Derry City 2-1 Finn Harps (Irish Premier Division) Ah, so close. All of the scoring was in the first half. We nearly equalized in stoppage time, but Forker could only hit the post after the goalkeeper had got down to make a save. Monday, 11 August, 2014 Limerick sack their manager. They're winless in their last 9 in the league, with 7 defeats. Friday, 15 August, 2014 Sligo Rovers 3-0 Finn Harps (Irish Premier Division) Pretty much as you'd expect. Friday, 22 August, 2014 St. Pat's Athletic 1-0 Finn Harps (Irish Premier Divison) We were on the back foot most of the game, but lost only because of a St. Pat's shot taking a deflection on the way toward goal. Friday, 29 August, 2014 Finn Harps 2-1 Dundalk (Irish Premier Division) Took the lead in the 20th minute when McHugh found Tiofack for a "sublime" finish from outside the penalty area. But we were pegged back 5 minutes later when a Dundalk player got a free header from a corner. Things didn't look good when we were whistled for a pretty cheap penalty (this ref had shown us 2 yellows in the first 2 minutes). But Gallagher came up with the save to keep it level. We took the lead in the 54th minute from a corner, when Dan Joyce pounced on a rebound and scored. Unfortunately Tiofack suffered a twisted knee and will be out 4 to 5 weeks. The good news is we don't have another game for 17 days, so he shouldn't miss too much time. [b]Irish Premier Division[/b] GP PTS 1. Derry City 27 56 2. Shamrock Rovers 27 52 3. Sligo Rovers 24 50 4. St. Pat's Athletic 27 43 5. Dundalk 27 38 6. Athlone Town 27 35 (-6) 7. FINN HARPS 27 35 (-8) 8. Drogheda United 26 32 (+3) 9. Cork City 26 32 (-4) 10.Bohemians 27 24 (-14) ---------------------------------- 11.Limerick 26 24 (-15) ---------------------------------- 12.Shelbourne 27 18 Manager's thoughts Not as good as I would have liked, as we really should have beat Shelbourne. Still, we've picked up enough points to almost assure us of safety from automatic relegation (we only 2 points to make that certain), and Limerick's downturn in form (although they did thrash Shelbourne at home. Unlike us) means we just need to find 8 points to avoid the playoff. Sligo and Shamrock Rovers are still in the Senior Challenge Cup, meaning there's a chance a Europa League spot could fall to the 4th placed team. But given that we're 8 points behind St. Pat's, it's pretty unlikely we could get there. Which is just as well, as Kevin McHugh's pending retirement means we have to sort out our attack, otherwise we'll be in huge trouble just staying up again. September is a comparatively easy month for us. Our first game isn't until the 15th, away to a resurgent Bohemians. Then it's home against Derry City, and away to Athlone to close the month. So not easy in terms of matches (I'd love to get one over on Derry, but they're just much better than us), but at least we don't have to deal with a 3-games-in-7-days stretch. Player of the month Nobody really covered themselves in glory, but Dan Joyce stepped up. He was ever present in midfield for us, bagging a goal and assist over the six games. His ratings were 6.6, 7.6, 6.3, 6.1, 6.8, 7.5 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
deltablue Posted April 1, 2014 Share Posted April 1, 2014 Well, you still haven't really been in deep trouble. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jason the Yank Posted April 1, 2014 Author Share Posted April 1, 2014 Monday, 1 September, 2014 Carel Tiofack comes second in Goal of the Month Monday, 15 September, 2014 Bohemians 0-2 Finn Harps (Irish Premier Division We survived an early storm from Bohs and took the lead in the 27th when center back Damien McNulty got on the end of a good for a close range header. We then focused on squeezing the rest of the match, and closed it out in the 74th minute when Adam Clarke crossed to an onrushing Kevin McHugh in the 6-yard box. Easy tap-in for Finn Harps' career goals leader. The result means we can do no worse than the relegation playoff, and we only need 2 points to stay up automatically. Friday, 19 September, 2014 Finn Harps 1-4 Derry City (Irish Premier Division) An awful performance as Derry just picked the lower far corner at will against us. They blew past my right back twice for their first two goals. We pulled one back just before halftime and it seemed like it would be a good fight. But then they blew past the left back for the third, and we fell to pieces, having two of our players sent off for second yellows; and my instructions are to stay on your feet! And not only are those two players out for next week, my fullbacks each picked up yellows also, putting them over the limit. Friday, 26 September, 2014 Athlone Town 3-1 Finn Harps (Irish Premier Division) Terrible result. We actually took the lead in the first minute and it looked like our makeshift team might actually pull this off. But then a horrible decision by my replacement right back led to an easy goal, and three minutes later we were punished from a corner when nobody decided to mark the guy at the near post. Athlone finished it off late in the second half on a header that caught my goalkeeper going the other way, and just as I was bringing on a forward for a defender in order to chase the game. On the positive side though, Bohemians could only manage a draw in their game, so we're mathematically assured of staying in the top division. [b]Irish Premier Division[/b] GP PTS 1. Derry City 30 65 2. Shamrock Rovers 30 61 3. Sligo Rovers 28 56 4. St. Pat's Athletic 30 46 5. Dundalk 29 41 (+4) 6. Athlone Town 30 41 (-4) 7. Drogheda United 30 38 (+3) 8. FINN HARPS 30 38 (-11) 9. Cork City 29 35 10.Limerick 30 28 ---------------------------------- 11.Bohemians 30 25 ---------------------------------- 12.Shelbourne 30 21 Manager's thoughts Well that stunk. We did what we had to do against Bohemians, but completely [expletive deleted] the bed in the derby. And that put us in a terrible spot against Athlone, missing four regulars because of various yellow card misadventures. Still, we've accomplished the goal of staying up. We still have a very faint shot at the Europa League, given that Shamrock Rovers and Sligo Rovers are in opposite semifinals for the Senior Challenge Cup. Realistically, I'd be happy to finish 5th or 6th, making it into the top half our first season back. Regardless, it's been a pretty good season for the club, as everyone had us pegged to prop up the table. The board are keen on extending my contract, but I've asked to delay it until the end of the season. It's possible I'll re-up in the end, but given our isolated location up in Donegal, I don't think this is a club that can really challenge for big things (even just Irish big things) without substantial investment in youth development, and we just don't have the money to do that. Because of matches being moved for various things (mainly Sligo making it into the Europa League group stage via the Champions League playoff), we're not back in action until the 17th of October. It's a reasonably favorable run-in though, starting with a trip to Cork, before finishing the season at home against Shamrock Rovers and Drogheda United. If we could get 6 points from those remaining fixtures, we've got a fighting chance to finish in the top half. Player of the month Again, nobody covered themselves in glory, but Kevin McHugh scoring two of our three goals this month means it should probably go to him. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jason the Yank Posted April 1, 2014 Author Share Posted April 1, 2014 Here's the gulf we face. 2013, the professional clubs finished 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 5th in the league. This season, they're currently 1st, 3rd, 5th and 9th. Although Derry City (1st) and Cork City (9th) are listed as "insecure" financially. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jason the Yank Posted April 2, 2014 Author Share Posted April 2, 2014 Friday, 3 October, 2014 Shelbourne sack their manager after a 4-1 defeat at Dundalk relegates them. Friday, 17 October, 2014 Cork City 1-1 Finn Harps (Irish Premier Division) We looked like a team that hadn't played in three weeks, failing to cash in on two gilt-edged opportunities in the first half. We paid dearly for it when Cork scored in the 8th minute on a header. Fortunately Cork would prove to wasteful, putting just 2 of their 16 shots on target. It wasn't much help though as we still couldn't breach their defense. But in the dying seconds of the match, a goalmouth scramble ended with the ball at Carel Tiofack's feet inside the 6-yard box, and he did not miss. Monday, 20 October, 2014 Finn Harps 0-0 Shamrock Rovers (Irish Premier Division) A bore draw in every sense of the word. The teams combined for just 3 shots on target. Monday, 20 October, 2014 Sligo Rovers' loss at Cork City means our rivals Derry City win the league. Bah! Sunday, 26 October, 2014 Finn Harps - Drogheda United (Irish Premier Division) With this match little more than a dead rubber (we can finish either 8th or 9th), I decided to bring in some of the younger players. The match was a little disjointed, but the young players responded well to their opportunity, with 18-year-old AMC Darragh Black scoring a goal in the 8th minute and setting up 18-year-old AML Jonny Carlin (who has gotten a few first-team appearances this season) in the 79th minute to put the game away. [b]Irish Premier Division - FINAL[/b] 1. Derry City 68 2. Shamrock Rovers 62 (+26) 3. Sligo Rovers 62 (+23) 4. St. Pat's Athletic 52 5. Dundalk 50 6. Athlone Town 45 7. Drogheda United 44 8. FINN HARPS 43 9. Cork City 42 10.Limerick 32 -------------------------- 11.Bohemians 31 -------------------------- 12.Shelbourne 21 [i]Bohemians win the promotion/relegation playoff and will stay in the Premier Division[/i] We received $44.73K for finishing 8th. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jason the Yank Posted April 2, 2014 Author Share Posted April 2, 2014 Finn Harps - End of Season Review 2014 I admit that I didn't think we had enough to avoid an immediate return to the First Division, but we did enough to stay up comfortably. We tended to blow hot and cold this season, which was probably to be expected. We crashed out at the first hurdle in both cups, which was a bit annoying but probably a good thing to avoid fixture pileups in the back half of the season. Airtricity League of Ireland Premier Division: 8th Senior Challenge Cup: Second round League Cup: First round Average Attendance: 516 (up 209) None of the roughly half-dozen players brought in had much of an impact. Although Dan Joyce did get 4 goals from his central midfield spot. And goals were a problem for us all season, as we finished with the second-fewest in the league, ahead of only relegated Shelbourne. It was our defense that kept us in matches, as we were middle of the pack for goals conceded, equal to champions Derry City (although they scored twice as many as we did, so yeah); our goalkeeper James Gallagher was joint top with 11 clean sheets. The priority for the close season (should I decide to return) will be up top, with Kevin McHugh retiring. I could probably also use an AMC, as Mark Forker has found the step up from the First Division a bit too much, in my opinion. The question there will be whether I decide to go outside the club, or sign youth player Darragh Black to a contract and give him the keys; it was only one game, but he looked like a force against Drogheda to close out the season. Top Goalscorer: Kevin McHugh (7) Most Assists: Carel Tiofack (6) Highest average Rating: Carel Tiofack (6.85) Fans Player of the Season: Carel Tiofack Other Notable Contributors: DC Packie Mailey (6.82), Adam Clarke (4 goals, 4 assists) Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jason the Yank Posted April 2, 2014 Author Share Posted April 2, 2014 So the board have returned with their contract offer. It's another 1-year deal, but on $475/week. That's a cut from the $650/week I'm making now (tbf, I think the last deal I negotiated included a pay raise upon promotion, which was achieved). The board have also set the initial wage budget at $4K p/w, down from last season's $6.5K p/w. So apparently we're busy trying to cut expenses. Though the contract offer the board is bringing back to me calls for a wage budget back at the $6.5K p/w level. Might have to think this over. As wee as our home town is ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ballybofey ), it's always going to be difficult to keep up with the Dublin clubs, plus Cork and Derry. As far as I can tell, we're the smallest municipality in the league. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
deltablue Posted April 2, 2014 Share Posted April 2, 2014 Thinking of maybe leaving? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jason the Yank Posted April 2, 2014 Author Share Posted April 2, 2014 Yeah. Not sure how well an American with 2 years of semi-pro managing plays though. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nobby_McDonald Posted April 3, 2014 Share Posted April 3, 2014 A good debut in the Premier there Jason. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jason the Yank Posted April 4, 2014 Author Share Posted April 4, 2014 Meanwhile, Finn Harps supporters often taunt the mainly-nationalist Derry fans by rhetorically asking in chant what it is like to have a British queen, as Derry play in Northern Ireland, while Finn Harps play across the border in the Republic of Ireland and have the common perceived pleasure of living life free of monarchy-rule. Along with chants such as You're Brits and You Know You Are and provocatively referring to the city as "Londonderry, United Kingdom", they also mock Derry fans due to their Brandywell ground's association with greyhound racing and, in response to the "sheep-shagging" taunts directed towards them, often imply that their northern counterparts are dogs or engage in acts of bestiality with dogs. The Baha Men's Who Let the Dogs Out? is a popular song amongst Finn Harps supporters on the day of a derby. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/northwest_derby_(ireland) LOL. Despite the close rivalry between the two teams, Finn Harps have managed only 3 wins in 58 meetings, with 12 draws and 43 Derry wins. The most recent meeting, in the 24th round of games of the 2008 Premier Division season, resulted in a 1-0 win for Derry at the Brandywell (following up their 2-1 win there earlier in the season and a 2-0 win at Finn Park). Oh. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jason the Yank Posted April 4, 2014 Author Share Posted April 4, 2014 Sunday, 23 November, 2014 Announce new main kit sponsor. One-year deal estimated at $25K, up from $20.07K. Initial wage budget set at $4K p/w. (down from about $6K p/w) Tuesday, 25 November, 2014 I decide to accept the offer of a 1-year extension on $475/week Wednesday, 4 December, 2014 Shelbourne want my 18-year-old M/AM C Jordan Toland (just signed to a full contract out of the youth team) on loan for next year, and are willing to pay all of his wages ($40 p/w). I have no plans to play him next season, so I accept it. Sunday, 7 December, 2014 Bray Wanderers want AMC/ST Darragh Black on loan for next season, and say he'd be a key player for them. I'd like to slide him into our AMC role, but a year in the First Division might be better for him to get his feet wet, so I accept it. Plus Bray are willing to pay all of his wages. Wednesday, 17 December, 2014 I suggest to the board that we find a parent club to get some extra money, and they agree to it. Tuesday, 30 December, 2014 Hibs manager Terry Butcher talks up one of my youth team midfielders when asked about rumors he wants to sign the kid. Wednesday, 31 December, 2014 The board says they can't find a parent club. Thursday, 1 January, 2015 Offers for 16-year-old MC/DM/MR/AML Damien O'Donnell (who only came through the youth ranks back in September) come in from Dundee United ($55K) and Hibernian ($64K over 30 months, 20 percent of profit from next sale, arrange friendly). We're currently $61,000 in the red on the bank balance, so I feel I should accept. I decide to accept the Hibs offer and reject the Dundee United offer. Although the Hibs money is spread out, it comes to more money overall, and there's the chance of an additional payday. Worldsoccer.com declares us the IPD's Overachievers for the 2014 season. Friday, 2 January, 2015 We're given $31.95K for Premier Division TV rights. Sunday, 4 January, 2015 O'Donnell agrees terms with Hibernians. On the one hand, I'm sad to see him go. On the other, he's completely unproven, so to actually be able to get money for him is very nice. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jason the Yank Posted April 4, 2014 Author Share Posted April 4, 2014 Finn Harps - Season Preview 2015 Board Expectations: Irish Premier Division: Avoid relegation Senior Challenge Cup: Reach the 3rd round League Cup: Not important My Expectations: Irish Premier Division: Stay clear of relegation Senior Challenge Cup: Do the bare minimum the board wants League Cup: Don't care Budgets: Transfer: $3,830 Wage: $3.98K p/w (currently spending $3,298) Balance: -$50,643 Projected Balance: -$330,000 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jason the Yank Posted April 9, 2014 Author Share Posted April 9, 2014 Finn Harps FC - Irish Premier Division - Pre-season 2015 Bookies: 100-1 Media: 12th (last) So once again everyone is rubbishing our chances (newly promoted Waterford United are 40-1). A pretty blah pre-season for us, as we won all three friendlies against non-league sides. Not very challenging, but I'm just getting us back up to speed and trying to ease morale along. Transfers In Mark Sandford Age 19, SC/AM RL. One year, $120 p/w. Free transfer He's already been bouncing around various Irish clubs. Split 2014 between Shamrock Rovers (no first team appearances, scored 10 goals in 19 games for their B team) and Wexford Youths (3 goals in 10 games on loan). Best role is as a target man. Some promise here with finishing of 11. Four coaches think he could become a star Premier Division striker, while the fifth thinks he could be good. Carl Walshe Age 21, SC/MR. One year, $170 p/w. Free transfer A bit pricier than I would have liked. Lacks stamina and strength, so he might more of an off-the-bench option. Finishing isn't as good as Sandford (7), but is a touch better mentally. Did have a three-year spell at Portsmouth around the turn of the decade. 0 goals in 31 appearances for Drogheda United over the past two seasons though. Coaches all see him as possibly a "good" Premier Division striker though. Best role is as a trequartista though, which doesn't really fit what I'm looking for. Out Jordan Toland Age 18, MC/AMC. Shelbourne, Loan Best as a ball-winning midfielder, he has 15 for teamwork. Hopefully he can get some good coaching and some experience at the First Division level. Darragh Black Age 18, AMC/SC. Bray Wanderers, Loan Was all set to hand him the AMC role when Bray came calling. Pretty promising player with dribbling and first touch both 12, 10 pace and 12 acceleration. This will get him some First Division experience as well. Damien O'Donnell Age 16, MC/DM/MR/AML. Hibernians. $64K over 30 months, 20 percent of next-sale profit, arrange friendly. Talked about this one up thread. Has made 5 starts already for Hibs' U19s. He's been a little shaky for them (only a 6.22 rating in the Scottish Reserves Group 1), but probably to be expected from a player only just graduated out of the juniors ranks. Released on free transfers MC David O'Neill (15 appearances, 6.71 average rating, 2 assists) GK Niall Corbet (0 appearances) ST/AMC Danny Fitzpatrick (14 appearances, 6.59 rating, 1 goal) MC/DML Jonny Bonner (29 appearances over two seasons, 6.51 rating, 1 assist) No major losses here, although I do like Bonner's Swiss Army knife versatility. Changed out some of the coaches as well, but I'm happy to report we were able to bring Kevin McHugh back as a coach. He's already trying to improve himself by taking the initiative to study for a UEFA B license. I also now have a manager and an assistant manager for the U19 squad, in hopes of that aiding our youth development. If we could sell an O'Donnell every year, that will certainly help our finances (even though we might still be scraping to find a competitive first-team squad) As far as the rest of the league goes, Sligo have gone all in to reclaim their title (they'd won it in 2012 and 2013 before Derry took it last season): They've spent $670K on five players (from Bradford, Falkirk, St. Mirren, Dunfermline and Shelbourne). They're also the only team in the Premier Division to actually spend money on transfers. Plus they have five other pending free transfers inbound (including one from Sheffield Wednesday) and an pending inbound loan (from Dundee United). Two years of Champions League revenue, plus a Europa League group stage appearance, gives you that ability, I suppose. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
pezza1 Posted April 9, 2014 Share Posted April 9, 2014 Good luck this year. The financial outlook looks bleak though! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jason the Yank Posted April 10, 2014 Author Share Posted April 10, 2014 Friday, 27 February, 2015 Shamrock Rovers 1-0 Finn Harps (Irish Premier Division) Unlucky not to get a point out of this. We were probably a bit more dangerous than Rovers, we just couldn't hit the target. Rovers got their goal when a shot deflected of one of my defenders into a space in the penalty area; the shot taker managed to get to it first and have another go. 1 March, 2015 Final sales figures show we've sold 145 season tickets. Exactly the same as last season. Tuesday, 3 March, 2015 Finn Harps 0-2 Sligo Rovers (Irish Premier Division) Pretty much as expected against a much better side. Sligo scored in the 10th and 12th minute and we never threatened them. Friday, 6 March, 2015 Finn Harps 0-2 Drogheda United (Irish Premier Division) Swapped out about half the team to deal with tired legs. It didn't help. Drogheda were more incisive with the ball; despite having just 44% possession, they outshot us 13-4 (6-1 on target) Monday, 9 March, 2015 Finn Harps 2-0 Cockhill Celtic (Irish League Cup, First Round) I'd just as soon punt this cup, but with morale slipping we could use a win in this. A lot of huffing and puffing: After an initial flurry in the first 6 or 7 minutes, literally nothing happened for the remainder of the first half. Just watching the minutes tick past. Finally went ahead in the 68th minute when Phillip Gorman headed in a corner, and we added to it in the 73rd when Johnny Breen connected on a scramble in the six-yard box. A bit scrappy, but I'll take it. Friday, 13 March, 2015 Limerick 1-2 Finn Harps (Irish Premier Division) FINALLY. We had to fight from behind, and I had to buck up the players' ideas at halftime, but Breen found Gorman twice in the second half. A few nervous moments near the end as we tired, but we were able to hang on for the win, and pull ourselves off the bottom. Friday, 20 March, 2015 Finn Harps 2-1 Waterford United (Irish Premier Division) An important win gained despite Waterford trying to kick us off the pitch (they committed 20 fouls). Gorman connected with a header in the 25th minute, but we were pegged back 6 minutes later on a comical sequence of a Hollywood pass being intercepted, our central defenders caught ballwatching over the top, and Waterford's forward rounding our goalkeeper. Johnny Breen put us back on top almost immediately before halftime when we were able to break forward. We got a break in the 66th minute when Waterford went down a man due to a second yellow card, and again in stoppage time when an injury took them down to nine. Monday, 23 March, 2015 Dundalk 3-0 Finn Harps (Irish Premier Division) And our run comes to a screeching halt with a pretty lethargic performance, as we repeatedly gifted possession. It was only 1-0 at halftime but could have been more. I made a double substitution to burn my last subs on 70 minutes, which I never do (I typically don't use the last sub until after the 80th minute), only for us to concede from a corner just as the two subs were getting ready to come on. The third was ruled an own goal. In general we were just flat and not ready to play. [b]Irish Premier Division[/b] GP PTS 1. Derry City 5 12 (+7) 2. Cork City 6 12 (+6) 3. St. Pat's Athletic 6 11 4. Dundalk 5 10 5. Sligo Rovers 5 9 (+4) 6. Limerick 6 9 (+2) 7. Shamrock Rovers 5 7 8. FINN HARPS 6 6 9. Athlone Town 5 5 10.Waterford United 6 4 (-5) --------------------------------- 11.Drogheda United 6 4 (-6) --------------------------------- 12.Bohemians 5 2 Manager's thoughts So not a great month, but not helped by getting some fixture congestion right from the beginning (3 games in the first 7 days, 5 in the first 14). The early fixture pileup means I've been having to do a lot of rotation, and it's pretty clear our bench is not very deep. Losing to Drogheda was a particularly bad result, as it's looking like they'll be in the relegation fight; if we'd even gotten a draw out of that, we'd be 5 points clear of the relegation playout already. But it is what it is, and a point-per-game ratio would have been enough to stay up automatically the previous two seasons. We didn't make a lot of changes in the close season, but our familiarity with my tactics has dropped off even with the few new players we're trying to integrate. No doubt being part-timers doesn't help with this. April is a slightly easier month, with an absence of fixture pileups until the end of the month. We start with home games against Athlone and St. Pat's before a trip to Cork. Then it's a home game against Bohemians to start another stretch of 3 games in 7 days, with a trip to Derry in midweek before returning home to face Shamrock Rovers on May Day. Player of the month Phillip Gorman - The veteran forward has been as close to ever present as possible, picking up where Kevin McHugh left off. 3 goals in 3+2 league appearances for a 7.25 rating, and he chipped in a goal in the League Cup game against Cockhill (tee hee!) Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jason the Yank Posted April 10, 2014 Author Share Posted April 10, 2014 Good luck this year. The financial outlook looks bleak though! It certainly is. Balance is now at -$101,000. And that's with a very small profit on the season-to-date. I'm still enough under the wage cap that I could bring in a couple of players if I had to, but I expect it won't be too long before the board starts pressing me to sell players. As much as I'd like to blow off the cups and concentrate on the league, we might need a good cup run or two to hold back the red ink. EDIT: And we just drew Sligo Rovers away in the League Cup. So that will be the end of that. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jason the Yank Posted April 12, 2014 Author Share Posted April 12, 2014 Friday, 3 April 2015 Finn Harps 2-3 Athlone Town (Irish Premier Division) Flat out gave this one away. We were all over Athlone early but kept misfiring until Carel Tiofack found the back of the net in the 16th minute. Then Athlone scored on their first two shots of the game. Coll got us back on level terms in the 52nd minute with a free kick. But 3 minutes later we were behind again when Athlone's forward had a forward ball bounce on his knee or thigh or something and trickle past our goalkeeper. We also had two goals ruled out for offside during the match. Friday, 10 April 2015 Finn Harps 4-3 St. Pat's Athletic (Irish Premier Division) What a game. Scored all of our goals in the second half, fighting from behind twice, getting pulled back to level terms, then finding the winner in the 90th minute. 14 April 2015 Well this does not help. Carel Tiofack has gone down with a sports hernia and will be out 7 weeks to 2 months. And on the same day, Adam Clark sustained a chest injury while lifting weights (uh, spotter?). He's out 4 to 5 weeks. Friday, 17 April 2015 Cork City 0-0 Finn Harps (Irish Premier Division) A bore draw (we held the ball 57% of the time, and took 2 shots, neither of them on target; Cork took 6 shots, 1 on target), and I'm happy to take it. Friday, 24 April 2015 Finn Harps 0-2 Bohemians (Irish Premier Division) Pretty typical really. Had a chance to take the lead only for Forker to miss an open net from 7 yards out. Gorman was played in only to shoot it straight at the goalkeeper. Bohemians takes the lead in the 30th minute when my goalkeeper parries to a Bohemian player on the far post, who calmly buries the gift into the open net. Concede again in second half stoppage time when my left back pushes up and leaves his man unmarked to receive a pass. That result drops us into the playout. 27 April, 2015 We're drawn at home against First Division side Wexford Youths in the Senior Challenge Cup. Tuesday, 28 April 2015 Derry City 1-3 Finn Harps (Irish Premier Division) We're going to get smoked, probably. So I'm going to experiment with a 5-3-2. Sure enough, we fall behind after just 3 minutes when Derry's lone forward beats my three central defenders for a cool finish. But Mark Forker streaks forward on the counter and we're on level terms just 2 minutes later. It's even until the 64th minute when our captain and centerback Damien McNulty heads in a corner to give us the lead! That might be the first we've even ever led in the derby. And then as Derry is reeling from that punch, Mark Sandford outruns their back line and adds to our advantage. Derry mount a few attempts, but our 5-man defense gets to almost every ball, and we've finally won in the Northwest Derby. WHO LET THE DOGS OUT!? [b]Irish Premier Division (through 11 of 33 rounds)[/b] 1. Dundalk 24 2. Sligo Rovers 18 3. Cork City 18 4. Limerick 15 (+4) 5. Derry City 15 (+2) 6. St. Pat's Athletic 14 (+2) 7. Waterford United 14 (-1) 8. Bohemians 14 (-2) 9. Shamrock Rovers 13 (-4) 10.Athlone Town 13 (-5) -------------------------- 11.FINN HARPS 13 (-6) -------------------------- 12.Drogheda United 5 Manager's thoughts So a pretty mixed bag really. Not happy about losing at home to Athlone and Bohemians, but that sour taste is washed away with a brilliant performance in the derby. As you can see from the table, it's exceptionally tight pretty much all the way through, with the exception of Dundalk at the top and Drogheda at the bottom (and that makes our loss to them in March even more bitter). Theoretically, a single win (like, uh, what we could have against Drogheda) could propel us all the way from the playout to 4th place. May is shaping up as a tough month. We start on the 1st with a home game against Shamrock Rovers, whose manager is under pressure. Then it's away to Drogheda and a chance to set the record straight their. Then back-to-back trips to Sligo in the league and League Cup, before coming home to face Wexford Youths in the Senior Challenge Cup. We return to league play to close the month with a trip to Waterford. We're still missing Carel Tiofack and Adam Clarke for much of the month, so we'll be hardpressed to get much. Wins against Shamrock Rovers and Drogheda and Wexford would be just fine with me. I don't expect to get anything out of the Sligo matches (although they're only 4-6-1 at the moment, which suggests all their new signings haven't settled in just yet), and Waterford has been my bogey side. Player of the month DC - Packie Mailey. Just got better as the month went on. Turned in a 6.6 in the Athlone game, then a 7.3 (plus a goal against St. Pat's, another 7.3 against Cork City, a 7.2 against Bohemians, before an 8.3 against Derry. He was a rock at the back for us; an absolute beast in the air, his "headers won" statline goes 4, 6, 11, 9, 8. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
deltablue Posted April 12, 2014 Share Posted April 12, 2014 Oh dear, not great so far! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
AK22 Posted April 12, 2014 Share Posted April 12, 2014 Oh dear, not great so far! But he's only a win away from fourth place! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jason the Yank Posted April 12, 2014 Author Share Posted April 12, 2014 Oh dear, not great so far! But at least we've given the supporters a derby victory. But he's only a win away from fourth place! And fourth place is a trophy. It is. Kind of. It would get us into Europe. Contingent on the Senior Challenge Cup winner, of course. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jason the Yank Posted April 14, 2014 Author Share Posted April 14, 2014 Friday, 1 May 2015 Finn Harps 0-0 Shamrock Rovers (Irish Premier Division) Had to make an in-game switch in formations to counter Rovers repeatedly blowing past my defenders in the first 25 minutes. We were pretty toothless going forward (not helped by Phillip Gorman having to come off with injury just 2 minutes in), but at least manage to claim a point despite the poor performance. Friday, 8 May 2015 Drogheda United 1-1 Finn Harps (Irish Premier Division) Plenty of possession on our part (61%) but it led to little. Drogheda only got 2 shots on target, but one of them went in to take the lead in the first half. We were helped out in the 70th minute when Drogheda went down a man after a second yellow, but we couldn't much with it until stoppage time: Coll took the throw in, received the ball back, crossed into the box, James Doherty had it tackled away from him, but it landed in front of Phillip Gorman who lashed home the goal that salvaged a point. Athlone Town's loss meant we climbed out of the playoff spot, whilst Drogheda sacked their manager after the match. Monday, 11 May 2015 Sligo Rovers 2-1 Finn Harps (Irish Premier Division) I broke out the 5-3-2 again in an attempt to park the bus, only to concede a VERY soft penalty in the 33rd minute (which I complained about after the match, and the FA was silent about), and a second soft penalty in the 75th minute that saw me lose Packie Mailey to a second yellow. Carl Walshe managed to pull one back, but that was all we'd get. Monday, 18 May 2015 Sligo Rovers 1-0 Finn Harps (Irish League Cup, Second Round) Okay, that one was a fair result. Friday, 22 May 2015 Finn Harps 1-3 Wexford Youths (Senior Challenge Cup, Second Round) Just as bad as it looks, crashing out to a First Division side. Our backline fell asleep in the 10th minute, leaving the Wexford forward with a simple one-on-one. Johnny Breen pulled us back to level terms moments later though, and it looked we might get out of jail. But then the backline fell asleep again in the 21st minute. Did pretty much nothing in the 2nd half except for my goalkeeper (18-year-old Michael Lynch getting a run out) mishandling a soft header from a Wexford midfielder. Friday, 29 May 2015 Waterford United 4-1 Finn Harps (Irish Premier Division) A number of our regulars found themselves on the bench for this, but the biggest change was the return of Carel Tiofack. All to no avail though, as our defense left Waterford attackers totally unmarked on the first two goals. Tiofack pulled one back late but by then we'd already shipped three goals. And Waterford added another for good measure as a replacement defender couldn't handle a simple backpass. [b]Irish Premier Division (through 15 of 33 rounds[/b] 1. Dundalk 27 2. Sligo Rovers 26 (+10) 3. Bohemians 26 (+8) 4. Cork City 26 (+7) 5. Shamrock Rovers 21 6. Limerick 20 (+4) 7. Derry City 20 (+1) 8. Waterford United 18 9. Athlone Town 17 10.St. Pat's Athletic 16 -------------------------- 11.FINN HARPS 15 -------------------------- 12.Drogheda United 6 Manager's thoughts Well that month couldn't have gone much worse, as we take only 2 points from 12 to leave us stuck in the relegation playoff. We're playing stupid at the moment, playing Hollywood balls that are easily dealt with, leaving attackers completely unmarked, launching long throw ins to nowhere instead of teammates standing right next to the touchline. The worst part is we're doing this against teams around us in the table. It's one thing to lose to fully professional sides like Sligo; they're up near the top because they're a good team. It's another to scrape a draw against Drogheda and get blasted by Waterford, to say nothing of crashing out of the cup to lower-league opposition. The seat under me is definitely getting warmer at the moment. My job security is down to "Stable", and I'm 5-4 joint favorite in the sack race. June is a light month for us, starting at home against Limerick before getting almost three weeks off before a trip to Athlone. We end the month on the 26th at home against Dundalk. We could really use 4 points, and preferably 6. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jason the Yank Posted April 14, 2014 Author Share Posted April 14, 2014 Monday, 1 June 2015 Finn Harps 1-1 Limerick (Irish Premier Division) Went up shortly before halftime when Phillip Gorman broke free. The goalkeeper got a hand to his shot, but couldn't keep it out. We were pulled back shortly after halftime on yet another unmarked attacker on a corner; they scored one goal with only two shots on target. Despite us gaining a man advantage in the 83rd minute, we couldn't find a winner. 4 June, 2015 Ireland get an extra place in the Europa League through the fair play table. How far Nigel Adkins has fallen: He's taken the Derry City job. Midfielder Dan Joyce suffers a pulled hamstring in training. He'll be out 5 to 6 weeks. 7 June, 2015 How far Steve Kean has fallen: He's the new manager at Bangor City. Friday, 12 June 2015 Finn Harps 3-0 Lifford Celtic (Friendly) Scheduled this hoping we could get a win to boost morale. Friday, 19 June 2015 Athlone Town 2-3 Finn Harps (Irish Premier Division) Went looking for 3 points, and nearly threw them away. We needed three cracks at goal from inside the six-yard box in the 9th minute before a sliced clearance went off the goalkeeper. We extended the lead in the 18th when left wing Michael Doherty grabbed his first goal of the year. Phillip Gorman put us three goals to the good in the 71st minute off a corner. But Athlone pulled one back in the 78th minute with a free kick that got up and down over the wall, and a fluke goal in the 89th minute (a cross that went over the Athlone forward's head and bounced into the goal) gave us some nervous moments until we finally heard the whistle. Sunday 21 June 2015 I opt for some additional cover on the backline by signing D (RLC) Neil Harney (who'd been on trial for the previous four weeks) on a free transfer. Two years, $160 p.w. Pretty much the same player as James Doherty, but a better backup than Josh Mailey. Friday, 26 June 2015 Finn Harps 2-2 Dundalk (Irish Premier Division) Perhaps a bit of a break as Dundalk had to go extra time in their League Cup match on Monday. Turned into a back-and-forth battle. We went up in the 10th minute when Tiofack chipped a cross that found Gorman's head. But Dundalk pegged us back 7 minutes when their debutant forward broke free and score. We fell behind in the 81st minute when Dundalk's right wing hit the far post, and the deflection trickled along the goal line before finally crossing it on the other side. But we rescued the point almost from the restart when Forker chipped in Gorman for an equalizer that might well have been offside (it was pretty close; he stopped running when he found himself offside, and the Dundalk defenders were coming back. I think he was in line at that point, but it was close) Saturday, 27 June 2015 Stalybridge Celtic (sitting below the Conference Regional division) make an offer for left wing Michael Doherty. They offer no money, only a 25% of next sale clause. He's valued at $30K, but his contract is up at the end of the season. I decide to reject it. [b]Irish Premier Division (through 18 of 33 rounds)[/b] 1. Sligo Rovers 32 (+13) 2. Dundalk 32 (+9) 3. Bohemians 30 4. Cork City 27 (+5) 5. Waterford United 27 (-1) 6. Derry City 26 7. Limerick 22 8. St. Pat's Athletic 21 (0) 9. Shamrock Rovers 21 (-3) 10.Athlone Town 20 (-8) -------------------------- 11.FINN HARPS 20 (-9) -------------------------- 12.Drogheda United 8 Manager's thoughts Well I wanted 4 points, hoped for 6, and got 5. Very much a "treading water" kind of month. The bottom half is still pretty tight, so if we could get a good run of form going we could shoot up the table. They look cut adrift at the bottom, but I'm still looking over my shoulder at Drogheda. They sacked the manager in May, and while they haven't had the new manager syndrome, they have picked up 2 points from 4 games. Not an impressive haul, but they've been competitive (they have two 1-1 draws, an 0-1 loss to Waterford and an 0-2 loss to Limerick). I'm also concerned because July is not going to be an easy month for us. It starts with a home match agaisnt Derry, followed by trips to St. Pat's and Bohemians. Then it's home against Cork, before ending the month with a trip to Shamrock Rovers (who just sacked their manager). So a stuttering Derry that is full-time, and has Nigel Adkins as their manager now, two of the top four with Bohemians and Cork, and our "easiest" matches are away trips (St. Pat's in 8th and Shamrock Rovers in 9th). Although weirdly, we're doing better on the road (3-2-4) than at home (2-3-4). Player of the month Forward Phillip Gorman has to be the guy. Scored in all three league matches (4 goals total), plus scored in the morale-boosting friendly. Turned in ratings of 7.2, 7.2 and 8.8 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jason the Yank Posted April 15, 2014 Author Share Posted April 15, 2014 Wednesday, 1 July 2015 Forward Phillip Gorman wins Player of the Month for June. Friday, 3 July 2015 We sign 26-year-old journeyman goalkeeper Shane Redmond on a free transfer. $150 p/w until the end of 2016. Friday, 3 July 2015 Finn Harps 2-5 Derry City (Irish Premier Division) Awful, truly awful. Death by set pieces as Derry scored four times from corners. Limerick sack their manager after a 0-6 defeat to Athlone. Which didn't help us at all. Sunday, 12 July 2015 St. Pat's Athletic 0-4 Finn Harps (Irish Premier Division) And so our Jekyll and Hyde performances continue. After last week's abysmal performance (but St. Pat's got smashed 7-1 at Sligo), might as well throw Redmond in and see what he can do. I'm also starting a youth team defensive midfielder (whom my coaches think highly of) with Stephen Relihan out due to yellow card accumulation. I decided to take advantage of many St. Pat's players lacking match fitness (many of them starting at 80-85%) and in terrible morale by playing a higher tempo game. We struck twice in the first half on pinpoint crosses to Carel Tiofack. St. Pat's then kicked him and Dan Joyce off the pitch, forcing me into a double substitution before halftime. I told the team to not get complacent, and our left back Ciaran Coll responding with not one but two free kicks for goals. Importantly, the result leapfrogs us over St. Pat's and out of the relegation playoff. Tiofack suffered a twisted ankle and will be out 6 to 7 weeks. Ugh. Tuesday, 14 July 2015 Seven Finn Harps players are selected in the Team of the Week. Friday, 17 July 2015 Bohemians 3-2 Finn Harps (Irish Premier Division) And sometimes the Jekyll and Hyde performance is in the same game. Johnny Breen took Tiofack's place on the right wing and linked up with Gorman twice in the first 14 minutes. We went into halftime up 2-1, I told the team they were playing well and keep it up, they were all delighted ... and then apparently decided they didn't need to do anything more. And were duly punished. Friday, 24 July 2015 Finn Harps 0-2 Cork City (Irish Premier Division) Somewhat unlucky in this one. Cork took the lead in the 3rd minute when a shot was parried directly back to the man who took it. The second one came in the 87th minute when we were caught on the break. Monday, 27 July 2015 Swindon make an inquiry about D/MR Josh Mailey. His contract expires at the end of the season, and he's worth $24,500. My coaches generally think he can be a decent right back at this level. I try to negotiate in a 25% of profit from next sale clause, in addition to his suggested valuation. Tuesday, 28 July 2015 Swidon counter with $25,000. I decide to accept it, as I don't rate him that highly. We'll owe 4% in solidarity contributions, but with our finances we could use the extra cash. Plus it frees up some wage space that I can use to try to fix our defense. Thursday, 30 July 2015 Mailey agrees to move to the Swindon lot. As well you'd think he would. His salary goes from $100 p/w with us, to $1,300 p/w with Swindon. Unfortunately, pretty much every player on my shortlist is with a club now Friday, 31 July 2015 Shamrock Rovers 5-1 Finn Harps (Irish Premier Division) Yes, it was as bad as it looks. Shane Redmond has not been the answer in goal, conceding 10 in 4 appearances. After a clean sheet against St. Pat's, he's conceded 3, 2 and now 5. [b]Irish Premier Division (through 23 of 33 rounds)[/b] 1. Dundalk 42 2. Sligo Rovers 41 3. Bohemians 40 4. Waterford United 36 5. Cork City 33 6. Limerick 32 (+4) 7. Shamrock Rovers 32 (+3) 8. Derry City 29 9. Athlone Town 29 10.FINN HARPS 23 -------------------------- 11.St. Pat's Athletic 21 -------------------------- 12.Drogheda United 12 Manager's thoughts Well that was a pretty lousy month, picking up just 3 points from 15 and shipping 5 goals twice. Ourselves, St. Pat's and Drogheda have been cut adrift from the rest of the league now, so it looks like barring any collapses by teams ahead of us that the three of us will make up the relegation fight. We have a really tough run-in to end the season, so August is going to be key for us. We start with back-to-back home matches against Drogheda and Sligo Rovers, followed by a trip to Limerick before end the month at home against Waterford. We absolutely must beat Drogheda, IMO, and hopefully can nick some points off Limerick and Waterford (we'll get nothing against Sligo, most likely) Player of the month Phillip Gorman - He tailed off severely in the last two games, but set up two goals against St. Pat's, then scored two himself against Bohemians. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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