PaulHartman71 Posted February 15, 2017 Author Share Posted February 15, 2017 We could've done with a win, but considering we were 1-0 down at half-time it's not the worst result, although Hyde did spend the last 15 minutes with 10 men after a red card so we should've taken advantage of that really. It's all to play for on the last day. Hyde face Worksop who are now out of the race, whilst we play Sheffield who in theory have nothing to play for now either, as they've missed out on the title. Of course there's every chance I won't actually be here for that last day and will instead be manager of Port Vale. I would feel really bad for them if I left before the last day of the season and they missed out on the Playoffs! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
PaulHartman71 Posted February 15, 2017 Author Share Posted February 15, 2017 Incredibly harsh on poor Southport to ditch them at the last minute, but duty calls and I feel I've done well for myself in getting a move to Port Vale. I was actually expecting them to offer me a 2 year contract but they've just given me until the end of next season. I have been given a wage rise but it's just £25p/w, so I'm now on £350p/w, which in fairness is still the most I've ever been paid - and considering we're £180K in the red, probably a good thing that we're not spending more money on my contract. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
mjaferrie Posted February 15, 2017 Share Posted February 15, 2017 Good luck in the playoffs! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Black and Yellow Posted February 15, 2017 Share Posted February 15, 2017 I take it they aren't still professional? Or are they? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
mrdanbartlett Posted February 15, 2017 Share Posted February 15, 2017 Wow - what a great last few posts, huge news! What is the squad like? What sort of crowds do they get? HUGE potential I imagine, hopefully you can guide them up the leagues in the next few years. Loving this thread. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ceching You Out Posted February 15, 2017 Share Posted February 15, 2017 4 hours ago, PaulHartman71 said: Incredibly harsh on poor Southport to ditch them at the last minute, but duty calls and I feel I've done well for myself in getting a move to Port Vale. Scenes in Southport: 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
hasdgfas Posted February 16, 2017 Share Posted February 16, 2017 11 hours ago, PaulHartman71 said: Incredibly harsh on poor Southport to ditch them at the last minute, but duty calls and I feel I've done well for myself in getting a move to Port Vale. I was actually expecting them to offer me a 2 year contract but they've just given me until the end of next season. I have been given a wage rise but it's just £25p/w, so I'm now on £350p/w, which in fairness is still the most I've ever been paid - and considering we're £180K in the red, probably a good thing that we're not spending more money on my contract. Can you imagine the scenes if this happened in real life? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
PaulHartman71 Posted February 16, 2017 Author Share Posted February 16, 2017 16 hours ago, Black and Yellow said: I take it they aren't still professional? Or are they? Port Vale have in-fact still held onto their professional status, which is pretty good for me as having full-time players will be a big help. 14 hours ago, mrdanbartlett said: Wow - what a great last few posts, huge news! What is the squad like? What sort of crowds do they get? HUGE potential I imagine, hopefully you can guide them up the leagues in the next few years. Loving this thread. The squad does seem to be better than the one I had at Southport. They average 2,500 people, which for this level is really good as nobody else in the division is getting over 1,000. I think Sheffield will still be the favorites for the Playoffs, but we have a fighting chance and I have more of a chance here than I did at Southport - especially as Southport haven't qualified for them yet. 5 hours ago, hasdgfas said: Can you imagine the scenes if this happened in real life? Would get very nasty if Southport fail to make the Playoffs. I imagine if that did happen and we didn't go up, there will be some very tasty games next season between us Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
PaulHartman71 Posted February 16, 2017 Author Share Posted February 16, 2017 An hour and a half down the M6 and we're at our new home in Port Vale. Let's hope there weren't any angry Southport fans following us! By far the biggest club and the biggest stadium I have managed at so far in my career. They will also be the first professional side I have managed. I've loosely followed Port Vale's dramatic demise in this save, so it's kinda cool to now get the opportunity to help turn it around for them. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
PaulHartman71 Posted February 16, 2017 Author Share Posted February 16, 2017 I'm sure everything will be fine now Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
mrdanbartlett Posted February 16, 2017 Share Posted February 16, 2017 This is a very exciting development for the thread, you can probably now poach any good semi-pro/non-contract players in the division and build a good squad for next season, defo see about getting a senior club for loans too as the rep and facilities should help a bit. What a massive chance this is for Mr Hart :@) Can't wait to see how it develops. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
mrdanbartlett Posted February 16, 2017 Share Posted February 16, 2017 PS I wonder what happened to the last manager at Port Vale? I guess the downside is they will probably expect you to win the league next season. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
PaulHartman71 Posted February 16, 2017 Author Share Posted February 16, 2017 A good win against Shaw Lane to kick-start my time at Port Vale on a high. Southport could only manage a draw with Sheffield, but Worksop managed to hold Hyde, which meant... They did make the Playoffs. We actually overtook Workington to go up to 3rd with my win, this doesn't actually effect who we get in the Playoffs, as in this league it is a completely random draw between the 4 sides. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
PaulHartman71 Posted February 16, 2017 Author Share Posted February 16, 2017 3 minutes ago, mrdanbartlett said: PS I wonder what happened to the last manager at Port Vale? I guess the downside is they will probably expect you to win the league next season. He left to join Oxford City in the Southern Premier League. They've made their Playoffs, but of course no guarantee to go up and they're a smaller club. He is earning £525p/w there, which is a lot more than what they're paying me, so assuming he was on similar, you can't blame him for going I guess. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
PaulHartman71 Posted February 16, 2017 Author Share Posted February 16, 2017 7 minutes ago, mrdanbartlett said: This is a very exciting development for the thread, you can probably now poach any good semi-pro/non-contract players in the division and build a good squad for next season, defo see about getting a senior club for loans too as the rep and facilities should help a bit. What a massive chance this is for Mr Hart :@) Can't wait to see how it develops. Port Vale seem to have set up a feeder club partnership with West Brom 5 years ago, so fingers crossed I can get some decent players on loan from them next season. They seem to flip flop between the Prem and the Championship - this season they're set to finish rock bottom of the Prem, so they will be a Championship side next year, but fingers crossed we can still get some good players. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
PaulHartman71 Posted February 16, 2017 Author Share Posted February 16, 2017 The draw has been made and we've been kept apart from Southport, thankfully we've also been kept apart from favorites Sheffield too. Workington will be a tough game for sure - however Port Vale haven't lost to Workington, with both games being 1-1 draws between them this season. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
PaulHartman71 Posted February 16, 2017 Author Share Posted February 16, 2017 An emphatic victory against Workington puts us through to the final. Workington were really poor and to be 3-0 up at half-time was mental. As expected, Southport failed to beat hot favorites Sheffield, who we will now face in the final. It will be a very tough game, but we're in good form and I'm excited to see how it goes. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
andychar Posted February 16, 2017 Share Posted February 16, 2017 Harsh that after that unforgiving season the playoff isn't even two legged! Oh well sucks to be them. Good luck in the final. If you don't go up this season I can imagine next season will be good. Things are finally looking good for our Adam! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
PaulHartman71 Posted February 16, 2017 Author Share Posted February 16, 2017 We gave it our best shot but Sheffield just had too much for us. I thought we could maybe launch a late comeback, however it wasn't to be as Sheffield really shut up shop at the end. I hope the players have learned from the experience this year and we can go up by winning the league next season. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
deltablue Posted February 16, 2017 Share Posted February 16, 2017 Good to see you get a break like that. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
PaulHartman71 Posted February 16, 2017 Author Share Posted February 16, 2017 Season 15: Port Vale A decent season for Port Vale, I obviously wasn't there for 99 percent of it, but I'm hoping this group has learned from almost getting promoted this season and will be hungry for it next year. Squad The squad looks a slight improvement on my team at Southport, with certainly more depth and better quality at youth level. Of the games I have played (just 3) I would say the striker Ryan Laird is the stand-out, I haven't really seen enough to say that much about anyone else tbh. Career History --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Season Club Division Position Achievements/Other --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2016/17 Ipswich Wanderers Eastern Counties Premier League 8th Eastern Counties League Cup winners 2017/18 Ipswich Wanderers Eastern Counties Premier League 11th Left in November --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2017/18 Coventry Sphinx Midland Football Premier League 13th N/A 2018/19 Coventry Sphinx Midland Football Premier League 10th Left in December --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2018/19 Carlton Town United Counties Premier League 8th United Counties League Cup runners-up. Sacked. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2019/20 Basildon United Essex Senior League 3rd Gordan Brasted Memorial Trophy winners 2020/21 Basildon United Essex Senior League 17th Left in November --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2020/21 Lincoln United Northern Counties East Premier League 11th N/A 2021/22 Lincoln United Northern Counties East Premier League 17th Left in December --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2021/22 Swindon Supermarine Southern League 1st Division S/W 13th N/A 2022/23 Swindon Supermarine Southern League 1st Division S/W 18th Left in January --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2022/23 Trafford FC Northern Premier League 1st Division N 7th N/A 2023/24 Trafford FC Northern Premier League 1st Division N 11th Sacked in November --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2023/24 Hythe Town Isthmian League 1st Division S 12th Joined in January 2024/25 Hythe Town Isthmian League 1st Division S 3rd Left in March --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2024/25 Canvey Island Isthmian League Premier Division 23rd Relegated 2025/26 Canvey Island Isthmian League 1st Division N 23rd Sacked in November --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2025/26 Farsley Celtic Northern Premier League 1st Division N 11th Joined in January 2026/27 Farsley Celtic Northern Premier League 1st Division N 5th Left in March --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2026/27 Stourbridge Northern League Premier Division 21st Relegated 2027/28 Stourbridge Southern League 1st Division C 5th Promoted via Playoffs 2028/29 Stourbridge Southern League Premier Division 15th Left in November --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2028/29 Lancaster City Northern League Premier Division 21st Relegeted. Sacked. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2029/30 Southport Northern League Premier Division 14th N/A 2030/31 Southport Northern League Premier Division 5th Left in April --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2030/31 Port Vale Northern League Premier Division 3rd Lost in Playoff Final --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Trophy Cabinet Eastern Counties League Cup x1 - 2016/17 (Ipswich Wanderers) Gordan Brasted Memorial Trophy x1 - 2019/20 (Basildon United) Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
mrdanbartlett Posted February 16, 2017 Share Posted February 16, 2017 Amazing end to the season, a Southport vs Port Vale final would have been insane! Imagine if you went and nabbed all the best Southport players in the summer Can't wait for the next update! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
PaulHartman71 Posted February 16, 2017 Author Share Posted February 16, 2017 Former Club Round-Up Ipswich Wanderers have remained in the Eastern Counties Premier League. They were runners-up in 2019 and 2023, but have failed to ever go up, although they did add another Eastern Counties League Cup to their trophy cabinet in 2024. Coventry Sphinx are still in the Midland Football Premier League, although they did briefly drop down to the 10th tier for 2 seasons from 2027-2029. Carlton Town have fallen down and now find themselves playing in the 10th tier in the United Counties Division 1. Basildon United are still a perennial Essex County League side, their 2nd place finish in 2024/25 is the closest they've got to making the 8th tier. Lincoln United have been stuck in the 10th tier for the last 3 seasons after being relegated from Northern Counties East Premier League. Swindon Supermarine remain an 8th tier Southern League 1st Div S/W side, although they did briefly drop down to the Hellenic Premier League in 2027. Trafford got promoted to the Northern League Premier Division in 2028, and you may have noticed in my updates that they remain there still. Hythe Town are still in the Isthmian League 1st Div S in the 8th tier, with their 2nd place finish just 2 seasons ago being the closest they'd come to promotion, before they won the Playoffs this season. So next season they will be in the 7th tier for the first time in recent memory. Canvey Island have plummeted down to the Essex County League following their financial turmoil. Their finances seem okay now and they've been averaging mid-table finishes, so maybe in a few years they can put together a decent side and go back up the pyramid. Farsley Celtic were promoted to the Northern Premier League 2 seasons ago and again, they're another side you might have noticed featuring every now and then in my updates in recent years in that division. Stourbridge have come close to promotion to the Conference N/S since I left, with a 3rd place finish just 2 seasons ago ending in Playoff defeat. They seemed to slip up a bit this season as they only finished in 11th place. Lancaster City have yet to be promoted back to the 7th tier after they got relegated during my time with them, they made the Playoffs both this year and last year, but lost both times. Southport of course failed in their bid for promotion after I left, as they lost to Sheffield in the Semi Final. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
PaulHartman71 Posted February 16, 2017 Author Share Posted February 16, 2017 Not the best start to the summer. Laird wants £1,500 p/w to stay which my board do not want to offer him. I can't blame them too much tbf as that is a lot of money for this level, money that we don't really have. Perhaps I'll have to raid Southport for one of my old strikers if he does go. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
mrdanbartlett Posted February 16, 2017 Share Posted February 16, 2017 Cool update. Maybe check the top scorers last year from other divisions and see if any of them are easily picked up. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
mjaferrie Posted February 16, 2017 Share Posted February 16, 2017 Looking forward to seeing you turn Port Vale's fortunes around! If you get the chance to stick around that is I wonder if you'll ever manage more than 2 years at a club! (I guess Stourbridge kinda counts as two?) Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
PaulHartman71 Posted February 16, 2017 Author Share Posted February 16, 2017 Arsenal and Allegri's 3 year stint as title winners is over, with Ancelotti's Chelsea pipping Mourinho's Man United to the title on goal difference. Mourinho wouldn't be too gutted though, as his side beat PSG to lift the Champions League a fortnight later. After just over a decade of falling short, West Ham have finally finished in the top 4 and made the Champions League. Maybe their manager, Nuno Esporito Santo can propel them to even bigger things now. Elsewhere down the Pyramid, there were jubilant scenes at Wembley as after losing in the Playoff final last season, Gareth Ainsworth's Doncaster Rovers have made it to the big time, as this time they beat a Reading side managed by Jeremy Newton, to make it to the Premier League! They will be joined by former Premier League winners Leicester City, who went up at the first time of asking after spending their first season in the Championship since the game started - their manager Cesc Fabregas was the mastermind of their promotion. League 1 saw a title win from Leeds United, with Andy Gray's side saving some face with the fans after an embarrassing relegation that had followed years of failed Playoff attempts at promotion to the Premier League. Cambridge United won the Playoffs in League 2, not all that interesting as they've been a League 1 side for a while now, but what is interesting is that they're managed by none other than Wayne Rooney. Further down the table, Southend United suffered the embarrassment of being relegated from the football league this season, they were joined by AFC Telford who finished rock bottom and were, quite hilariously, managed by none other than John Terry. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
PaulHartman71 Posted February 16, 2017 Author Share Posted February 16, 2017 11 minutes ago, mjaferrie said: Looking forward to seeing you turn Port Vale's fortunes around! If you get the chance to stick around that is I wonder if you'll ever manage more than 2 years at a club! (I guess Stourbridge kinda counts as two?) I came pretty close to 2 years at Stourbridge yeah, clocked in a total of 677 days there. I think my best bet of lasting more than 2 years somewhere is in a similar situation to where I've taken over at Port Vale, I take over a big club that has fallen down the leagues and will offer me more money than any of the other clubs in my division or the one above. Although in Port Vale's case they don't have the money to do that so it hasn't happened anyway. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
PaulHartman71 Posted February 16, 2017 Author Share Posted February 16, 2017 He's gotten a big wage boost (not as much as he wanted) and a Minimum Fee Release Clause, but thankfully Ryan Laird has agreed to stay on this season. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nobby_McDonald Posted February 16, 2017 Share Posted February 16, 2017 On 15/02/2017 at 23:01, Ceching You Out said: Scenes in Southport: Also in my house. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nobby_McDonald Posted February 16, 2017 Share Posted February 16, 2017 11 hours ago, PaulHartman71 said: An hour and a half down the M6 and we're at our new home in Port Vale. Let's hope there weren't any angry Southport fans following us! I will happily escort Southport fans through Burslum to Vile Park so they can show you their feelings. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nobby_McDonald Posted February 16, 2017 Share Posted February 16, 2017 How I'd like this season to pan out... Southport to clinch the title on the last day of the season at Port Vale, scoring the winner in the second minute of injury time. That and Newcastle Town winning promotion as they've been struggling a bit. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
PaulHartman71 Posted February 17, 2017 Author Share Posted February 17, 2017 15 hours ago, Nobby_McDonald said: How I'd like this season to pan out... Southport to clinch the title on the last day of the season at Port Vale, scoring the winner in the second minute of injury time. That and Newcastle Town winning promotion as they've been struggling a bit. Thankfully it seems both our home and away game with Southport will be done by Christmas. Our home game against them is actually our 3rd game of the season. With any luck we can draw Newcastle Town in a cup and show them who is boss Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
PaulHartman71 Posted February 17, 2017 Author Share Posted February 17, 2017 I didn't have a huge amount of wage budget to work with after renewing contracts, especially with Laird taking a big increase. Connal Gudger and Shaun Grant were brought in on free transfers to bulk up our back-line, with Danny Buckle, Brian Lowe and Greg Hancock signed on loan deals to help out the midfield. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
PaulHartman71 Posted February 17, 2017 Author Share Posted February 17, 2017 A strong start to the season saw us win our first 3 games. Ossett Albion proved no match for us on the opening day - I felt Worksop away would be a test as they almost made the Playoffs last season, but they were quite poor as well in all honesty. Southport gave us a game and were clearly up for proving a point against me, but Greg Hancock's 58th minute strike was enough to win it for us. Our only slip up this month was away to Congleton who have also been playing well, although we only lost to them because of a fairly late penalty decision that was pretty debatable. Hopefully that won't have knocked our confidence too much and we can return to winning ways quickly. So far so good though apart from that loss. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
mrdanbartlett Posted February 17, 2017 Share Posted February 17, 2017 Cool! Any WBA players available for loan? What are the boards expectations? I'm hoping being a pro club the improved fitness will be a major boost for you over the season, have you/can you get a good fitness coach? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
PaulHartman71 Posted February 17, 2017 Author Share Posted February 17, 2017 21 minutes ago, mrdanbartlett said: Cool! Any WBA players available for loan? What are the boards expectations? I'm hoping being a pro club the improved fitness will be a major boost for you over the season, have you/can you get a good fitness coach? Unfortunately none of the WBA players fancied dropping down to the 7th tier to join us on loan. The board want us to make the Playoffs which seems reasonable and pretty achievable, I've not upped that to promotion via winning the league as the minimal increase in budget wasn't worth the additional pressure. We do have a fitness coach and I can see noticeable changes in the fitness levels of this team compared to my previous teams. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
PaulHartman71 Posted February 17, 2017 Author Share Posted February 17, 2017 September A tad annoying to have to take a game with an 8th tier side to a replay, but thanks partially to superior fitness we had no trouble comfortably beating Tadcaster at a second time of asking. Unfortunately we got a bit of a bum draw in the next round as we got FC United of the Conference North, who only a few years back were in the Conference proper. I've never got to the 1st Round of the FA Cup but I thought if I was ever going to do it with a 7th tier side it could be with this one, but FC United were just too strong for us even in-front of 6,500 of our own fans. It's been a great month in the league though, with 4 wins and 2 draws. We did get very lucky at home to Whickham tbf but we came from behind to score two late goals to win the game in real style, we were also trailing against Farsley Celtic, but came from 2-1 down to win 5-2 which must've been embarrassing for my old side. We did slip up a bit in the middle of the month with two draws in a row to Halesowen and Halifax, but since then we have won two on the bounce against Rainworth and Mickleover. It is looking very good so far, but I think Congleton and Long Eaton will push us for the title this season. Long Eaton especially have a load of good players because most of the better players available for loan are all Long Eaton players, so they must have loads of talented players (unfortunately they refused to loan us anyone) - a quick look at their history shows that they're actually in their first season as a 7th tier side, it was just last season that they went Professional. They actually won a lower-league double last year, winning their 8th tier title and the Northern League Challenge Cup. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
PaulHartman71 Posted February 19, 2017 Author Share Posted February 19, 2017 October This month saw a successful trip to my old side Trafford in the Northern League Challenge Cup, with Ryan Laird's hat-trick helping us to a 4-0 win. The league did not see such great results, with 2 wins either side of the month, with a goalless run of 4 games sandwiched inbetween, including 3 bore-draws in a row and a 2-0 loss at Long Eaton. The worrying form wasn't completely vanquished by the Spennymoor victory either, as that game itself was a questionable victory, with Mark Pritchard's late strike preventing us from blowing what had been a comfortable lead for much of the game. We're down to 3rd and Long Eaton have a chance to put some real distance between us with their game in hand. We're obviously still in a good position, but another run like the one we've just had and we'll soon find ourselves out of the playoffs. It could be worse though. Southport are currently in 23rd place with just 8 points from 16 games. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
wattzy Posted February 20, 2017 Share Posted February 20, 2017 Hope you're able to get back to the early season form asap! Still a long way to go in the title race. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
PaulHartman71 Posted February 20, 2017 Author Share Posted February 20, 2017 November A comprehensive 4-2 win against Clapton in the FA Trophy, which saw a hat-trick for Mark Pritchard. Unfortunately our run did not last too long, as we lost 1-0 at home to Boldmere to go out in the next round. We barely scraped past Guiseley in the Northern League Challenge Cup, with the game being settled by a nervy penalty shoot-out. Overall a reasonably successful month in the league, which saw 2 wins, 1 draw and an unfortunate loss. We led for much of the Liversedge game and despite being largely the better team we ended up throwing away said lead, before getting a late red card which threw us off and allowed Liversedge to get a late winner. That wasn't the first red card of the month as we actually had 2 players sent off in the game at Trafford, they were both late 2nd yellow cards that came after our 3rd goal, but it was still quite funny that Trafford couldn't get a goal back even with 2 extra players for 10 minutes. The month ended with a less than convincing win at Hyde, the match was very similar to the previous game at Liversedge, except this time we actually managed to get the 2nd goal, but I was still very worried when Hyde got a goal back in the 87th minute and they did have the chances to get a 2nd. There's a lot of games in hand here there and everywhere at the moment, but we're still in a pretty solid position. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
mrdanbartlett Posted February 20, 2017 Share Posted February 20, 2017 Gosh Gateshead are in that division, not as big of a fall from grace as Port Vale but still......! Good to see an OK start to the season, would be nice to see automatic promotion, Im sure a side with the rep of Vale can nab some good players. Not sure what it's like this low down, but I used to find when managing in the lower leagues you can generally build a good XI for free each year when players get released. I tend to never give long contracts out either as I know the turnover can be quite high, as soon as I get a good replacement I offer the other guy out for £0 just to get rid ASAP. I know the wage budgets are always tight, you could maybe think about totally ditching the youth/reserves, I tend to do that to save money as TBH I never find youth at all worthwhile in FM, not until you get to the Prem and can buy in 16 year olds for 1-3m each then develop them. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
PaulHartman71 Posted February 20, 2017 Author Share Posted February 20, 2017 I probably won't get to sign anyone else anytime soon. I was £100 over the wage budget after the players I got in, but due to the poor finances the board cut my wage budget so I'm currently £450 over it Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
PaulHartman71 Posted February 21, 2017 Author Share Posted February 21, 2017 December We got a very tough draw against Long Eaton in the Northern League Challenge Cup, but to my surprise we actually managed to beat them, albeit after 30 minutes of unneeded extra-time. This puts us through to the Quarter Final and having beaten the favorites you have to say we have a decent chance at winning it now. 4 wins, 2 draws and 1 loss this month - not the worst form by any means, but not up to the level we need to win the league really. The loss at Workington was frustrating, but soon forgotten when we won our next 4 games on the bounce. The highlight of the month was the late winner at home to Congleton, especially as at the time they were top of the table so it felt like a really good win. I was disappointed we couldn't win against Nantwich and Whickham though, especially with Whickham who spent the entire 2nd half with 10 men after having a man sent off for a horror tackle on the 44th minute. We're in 2nd place and doing well, but Long Eaton are 4 points ahead of us and still have 2 games in hand. I think it will probably be too much to catch them now as they're looking very strong - all we can do is keep winning games and hope they drop points at some point. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
PaulHartman71 Posted February 21, 2017 Author Share Posted February 21, 2017 January 3 wins, 1 draw and 3 losses this month. Obviously the big take-away from this month was a bit of revenge for Southport as we lost 2-1 on our travels to my old stomping ground, a hard result to take but fair play to them they were the better side. That loss came following another 2-1 loss to Halesowen, in a game which we had once led. The month hadn't really started that well with a 1-1 draw at Farsley and a poor loss to Worksop, although we did beat Garfoth 3-2, though it's worth noting that was a far from comfortable victory. We got very lucky against a poor Rainworth side as they conceded two 2nd half penalties, which allowed Greg Hancock to score twice and win us the game. Our final game of the month was away to bottom of the table Mickleover, it wasn't hard to see why they're bottom as they offered very little as we strolled to a 4-1 win. We remain in 2nd place despite the less than perfect form and with 12 games to go we're in a good position. 7 points separates us from 6th, but we can't afford to get complacent as the Playoffs are far from confirmed just yet. Long Eaton aren't out of sigh ahead of us though, 5 points between us and them, they still have a game in hand, but if we can beat them at home in a few weeks then it would certainly set the stage for an exciting finish. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
wattzy Posted February 21, 2017 Share Posted February 21, 2017 Hope you do pick up a few wins this month to close that gap. They have to slip up somewhere! How are you enjoying making this? I can imagine it's been extremely frustrating at times! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
PaulHartman71 Posted February 21, 2017 Author Share Posted February 21, 2017 3 hours ago, wattzy said: Hope you do pick up a few wins this month to close that gap. They have to slip up somewhere! How are you enjoying making this? I can imagine it's been extremely frustrating at times! It's been fairly enjoyable so far. The frustrating parts were constantly changing club at the start and missing out on Playoff battles to join clubs more or less already down in the higher division. I don't think we've seen the last of that, but for now I think Port Vale still have a high enough reputation to put off clubs with lower reputation from coming in for me, fingers crossed anyway. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
PaulHartman71 Posted February 21, 2017 Author Share Posted February 21, 2017 February Boldmere knocked us out of the FA Trophy so we couldn't let them knock us out of the Northern League Challenge Cup too, thankfully Jackson Gordon's brace got us a win to put us through to the Semi Final. We didn't have the easiest run of games this month, especially with games against top sides like Gateshead and Long Eaton, but I would've liked to have done better considering both games were at home. To then go to Stourbridge and lose to make it 3 on the bounce was a real blow as well. We barely even beat relegation battlers Skelmersdale, relying on two late goals to give us the much needed 3 points. 8 games to go and rather than worrying about winning the league, our immediate concern is now just staying the Playoff places as it is getting very competitive and we're only 1 point ahead of 6th place now, with 7th place Hyde knocking on the door too. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
PaulHartman71 Posted February 21, 2017 Author Share Posted February 21, 2017 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
PaulHartman71 Posted February 22, 2017 Author Share Posted February 22, 2017 March An anti-climatic end to our Northern League Challenge Cup run, but we did get a difficult away draw against Hyde, where we unfortunately lost 3-1. I went into this month very nervous as we were in poor form and had a huge Playoffs 6 pointer at home to Workington at the end of the month. It started terribly with a 1-0 loss at Spennymoor, but thankfully we managed to beat Ossett Town and then got a huge win against Workington. We then ended the month with a solid 3-1 win against Trafford. Overall, a very good month of wins. This actually shot us up to 2nd place with 4 games to go. It's not over just yet because we still have tough games against Liversedge and Hyde to come, but thankfully both of those are home games. We also travel to Shaw Lane and Nantwich. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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