wols dna ecin, kcab eht morf ti gnittih, dlrow eht dnuorA

[Mandy42]

It would appear I miss counted, there are 7 games this month *shudder* that's just insane! Anyway this is game 5 out of 7, we play Black Mambas, a team that came up from the lower division like we did. Because of the lower league structure, it being split into 3 separate divisions with the top team from each gaining promotion, I have never played this team before. They are languishing where we are supposed to be, at the bottom of the table not looking like they are going to be able to keep themselves up. Think it is also the 1st time all season I told the team that I expected them to win, because I did. This team is potentially who we could have been, newly promoted and unable to kick on to the next level. But we did, there is now a gulf of talent between us and them and I will be royally pissed off if we don't get a good result.

We kicked off, and because it is the season for amazon parcels arriving unexpectedly at your door, I missed the 1st action, I came back from signing for my 1000th Christmas present! to see that Masuku had smashed a 5th minute penalty and we were one goal to the good already fabulous!

The short corner routine came up trumps again on 29 minutes with the Machete taking up the spot that Nigel Chirinda had scored from, with the end result being exactly the same, 0-2. Then 3 minutes later a moment of madness, a Mambas corner comes to the edge of our box, where they attempt to shoot, the ball slams against one of our defenders and ricochets out into open play up near the halfway line. It bisects the two deep Mamba defenders and the Machete is onto it, one touch and he is clean through on goal. 10 seconds later and we are 0-3 to the good!  

10 minutes later we steal the ball in midfield and pounce, a short pass to the Machete who is on a hat trick sees him in a pocket of space in front of the Mamba defence. They crowd him, obviously expecting him to try get his hat trick. But selflessly he slides a reverse pass behind the defenders for Masuku to run onto. 1 touch to set himself and then a rising drive into the top left corner for 4 goals in the 1st half.

I am happy at halftime, even more so when I see this:

The wheels appear to be coming off at CAPS Utd

I am not so happy 3 minutes into the 2nd half, as the Mambas strike and pull a goal back. They do so again on 56 minutes, this time I demand more from the players as we haven't turned up in the 2nd half. The 50/50 challenges and stealing the ball in midfield just isn't happening, as such we aren't making chances and they think they are back in the game. A rather dubious penalty for a shove in the back during a free kick gives Masuku his hat trick and gives us a 2-5 win. But I am not happy we switched off for the majority of the 2nd half.

 

[Mandy42]

I feel quite good at the moment, which I hope is as shocking to you as it is to me! We have a small gap at the top of the table, we have 2 games left in this month from hell, both against struggling sides at the foot of the table. The result in the last game feels like a transition, we were the Mambas last season when we played Premier division opposition and they stuffed 5 past us. A year down the line, we are now a Premier division outfit and we've put 5 past a newly promoted team that don't look like they will stay up. Thus I remain optimistic for our next game, even if it is against Chapungu FC. The only team to beat us this season (a win on penalties in the 1st round of the cup)

I even feel upbeat having made wholesale changes to the starting 11, 3 of the back 4 are replaced, Matema plays for Maphosa on the left wing, Master Matore comes in for leading scorer Masuku. All changes are down to fatigue and the fact we are in the middle of 3 games in 7 days.

6 minutes into the game and Master Matore finds the ball at his feet just outside the 6 yard box, he dummies the defender into thinking he is going inside, and he side foots the ball in at the near post past a static keeper, couldn't be happier that Collen the binman retired!

14 minutes and a Matema free kick from the right comes in at the near post about in line with the penalty spot. Masusuyne our creative midfield player gets his head to it and turns it goal wards, the Chapungu keeper makes a fantastic save, clawing it off the line while he's in the net himself. However Masusuyne will not be denied and calmly slots home the rebound with the helpless keeper stricken in his own net.

26 minutes and Masusuyne has a penalty for a trip on Matore in the box, with no Masuku playing it falls to him to take it, he finds the bottom right corner to give us a 3-0 lead.

into injury time in the 1st half and Cecil Matema deserves a goal, he's had the assist from the free kick, he's had the ball in the net but ruled out for climbing on the back of the defender, another goal ruled out for offside, and he's hit the outside of the post. It does not seem to be his afternoon until the 46th minute, when a cross from the right evades everyone and falls to him, he places it past the diving keeper into the net. He looks round to see what could possibly rule the goal out this time but it stands 4-0 as we go in at the half.

The 2nd half we pretty much switch off, Chapungu hit the bar and the post but come no closer to scoring than that. We keep a clean sheet and chalk off another win!

Amuses me that since week 5 people have been suggesting that our "slip down the table" is just around the corner, well we live in a round room so there! 

[Mandy42]

Final game of the hell month is Triangle Utd (they have a triangular badge and everything) away from home. They also are struggling near the bottom of the table and my confidence is growing that we can play and beat anyone, not just when we are seen as the underdogs. Players rotate in and out again, just finding 11 players that are both fit enough and eligible (haven't played for the U20s the same day) is becoming difficult.

10 minutes in and a throw in routine from the right finds Derby Duri on the edge of the area, he lasers a right footed drive into the far left hand corner for a 0-1 lead

On 32 minutes a looping free kick is half cleared to the edge of the area, Duri again pounces on it, this time left footed it sneaks into the top right hand corner when I felt for all the world it was going wide.

Near the hour mark a cross from the right again is only half cleared, this time Masusuyne drives straight and true from outside the area and makes it 0-3.

3 efforts from outside the box, 3 goals, good job as there has been precious other moments of quality created. We march on having made it through the 7 game month.

That leaves the table looking like this

We have a sliver of daylight between us and chasing CAPS Utd, there fate is no longer in their own hands as even if they beat us they need us to drop points elsewhere. Admittedly there is still just over half the campaign to go, but this is a world away from where I thought we would be! Speaking of where we are, I have taken a look at the league rules and noticed that the Champions get a spot in the African Champions League preliminary round. This has made me ponder, I don't have nor want an instant result button, I also don't want to spend years at a club in a nation winning everything to then take years to haul myself up to concentrate on winning continental competitions in every country. So I am modifying the rules, if I qualify for a competition I will not leave until I am out of that competition, and if I get into a league where there is a chance of me winning a continental competition then I have to stay until I win it.

The only downside of finishing this month is what is coming in June.

So yes there are only 4 games, however for some insane reason they are all crammed into the 1st 12 days of the month! Which means we have played 11 games in 34 days! Roll on the end of this month!!! 

[Mandy42]

Tis the season and all that, so i'm going back to a monthly review to have any chance of getting to do an update at all! 

Not really what the home manager should be saying but oh well.

We didn't play well, only 2 shots on target and it was a nervy afternoon!

Can't say more than that

In other news

What they get when they refuse to take me at the beginning of the season!

He is on 14, 15 is the record, 16 to set it on his own.

We haven't conceded many penalties this season, other than this soft one it was an even enough game. The number of fouls we are committing is creeping up!

Bounced back with a win, still far too many fouls, but we have played this way all season and have won so am remiss to change things too much.

 

With the last game of the month Masuku equals the club goal scoring record. We stay top of the table even after losing a game, and after beating them 0-4 Chicken Inn offer me an interview. But being top of the league I say no.

 

Only 2 games in July, though they are against 3rd and 4th respectively

 

 

Edited December 24, 2019 by Mandy42

[Mandy42]

Into July and the transfer window is open until the end of August, hopefully I have remembered to tie everyone down to contracts!

To be the better team for 89 minutes and lose is beyond annoying. Having almost as many fouls as % possession even more so. 

Dominant 1st half performance, Masuku now holds the club goal scoring record on his own. But 2nd sending off in 2 games sees us drop yet more points.

That puts us 2nd 4 points behind, still 30 points above where we were predicted to be but still, frustrating to have it in our hands and now have to catch up again.

4 games in the month, fingers crossed we can put some results together again

[Mandy42]

Into August, my birthday month, looking for a reaction to us losing our grip on top spot in the league and losing only our 2nd game of the league campaign last month.

I have started naming the screenshots by the number of fouls we "committed" in the game. They held onto the ball but did very little with it, their goalkeeper kept them in the game.

 

This was a squeaky bum game, was resigned to another draw when a Masuku free kick gave us the win and made me feel much better!

Frustrating to have a player advantage for a change, for all of 3 minutes, but even at 10 v 10 we were the better team. They pinned us back with the ole injury time worldie strike from the player who was more likely to hit the corner flag than the net for the rest of the game. 

One of the few times all season where we have been just poor, we didn't want it, we were lucky to not lose this game. Which is equally frustrating as before kick off CAPS Utd were held 1-1 by bottom of the league, meaning with a win we would have closed the gap. 

The gap is 5 points, which isn't insurmountable, we play CAPS in September which is a must win game if we still intend to win the league. Just need to keep reminding myself that we were 300-1 to win the title, and favourites to get relegated. Not sure I want to stay at Flame Lilly next season, will see what jobs are on offer when the season ends but the recent run of poor results has me worried that the team is plateauing.

 

Which means when I was touted as the leading candidate for the FC Platinum job I ensured I let the world know I was interested.

I turned down the Chicken Inn interview, but I wasn't going to make that mistake again! 

Not going to lie, bit gutted, though maybe I shouldn't be surprised, going by the odds of me being favourite, the same people making the odds are those who have us facing the impossible every week.

[Mandy42]

The whole season is likely to come down to this month, the gap is 5 points so I don't hold out much hope, but we play CAPS Utd this month, so if we are to keep our destiny at least in our own hands then we have to get a result there. To add flavour to the pot, the CAPS game was moved from 1st in the month to 3rd due to it clashing with their African Champions League fixture. That meant we would play rock bottom Bulawayo Chiefs first up this month. Even more interesting! was the fact that CAPS Utd lost 0-2 away to Chicken Inn before we kicked a ball! If we could secure the win we would move back to within 2 points

Next up was Dynamo Harare, we need a win to keep the pressure on.

Well it's a win, but it wasn't the performance I wanted going into the nemesis showdown next week. The own goal was a comical back pass from outside the area that rolled in while the keeper looked the other way! A Machete hat trick (against his old club) had us in a commanding position, however we didn't just take our foot off in the 2nd half, we pretty much slammed it into reverse. On we go, the gap is 2 points, CAPS Utd await.

Think that is the nail in the coffin of our season, and therefore my time at Flame Lilly football club. Last game of the month against Harare City.

 

We keep the pressure on and with CAPS not playing again we cut the gap back to 2 points.

Nice to remember that despite my disappointment at throwing away top spot we are still having an unbelievable season, even compared to last year when we got promoted.

 

Never had this screen before, in fact it rekindled a small amount of hope, we have by far the easier run in of the 3 teams. *fingers crossed*

 

 

 

Edited January 4, 2020 by Mandy42

[Mandy42]

In the last post I said I had a small amount of hope, well, hope is what kills you, there have only been two games this month and it hasn't gone very well at all! First up is the day which will forever live in infamy and be known as Black Wednesday 

We didn't turn up, we have thrashed teams week in week out when we were facing the impossible, but every time it has mattered, every occasion we have needed a result, there's nothing there. Black Rhinos were playing CAPS Utd at the same time. They took the lead twice, but in the end lost 2-3 to a 90+2 minute winner from the league leaders.

Back to back defeats for the 1st time in my tenure here, the bubble has burst, I am over not being able to get anything out of these players when I really need to, and the discipline problems are beyond a joke,

last 3 games of the season, almost tempted to go on holiday! 

[Mandy42]

It turns out I was more than tempted to go on holiday, I checked in to Butlins at Skegness for the last 3 games of the season, November in that part of the world and the weather would probably suit my mood! We lost all 3 games, though as I had no part in them I am not posting any of the scores or results here (though they weren't pretty) Back off holiday we finished 4th in the table, and my job status is still "untouchable" even after I disappeared for the last month of the season. They did however wait till I got back to hold the awards night.

Am surprised that the Machete was beaten into 3rd place, as he scored 21 goals only 1 behind Masuku.

No surprises in the team of the year, that was my go too strongest team.

More interesting is the players that did (and did not) get into the all time Flame Lilly starting 11. The midfield is this seasons midfield, but there is no place for the Machete, or our Zimbabwe under 21 centre back Prosper Amidu.

Earned the over achiever title for the first time ever in my playing career.

Once again, I looked for jobs to take me away from Flame Lilly, and nobody was sacking, except Hwange, they were on their 3rd manager since I applied for them this time last year. So I knuckled down again after Christmas and looked at what I had to do to improve the squad and move the club forward. Another factor in me deciding to stay was that for the 1st time I have actually been given a transfer budget, its £14k for a mid table finish, which I think is attainable.

Frustratingly though, the players who would actually cost me any money didn't want to sign! So for all that transfer cash I only spent £100. Oh well, I got rid of a lot of dead wood released on free transfers. All of the signings above were made with the aim of improving the star rating of the 1st 11. In that regard, Shephard, Moses, Dexter and Keith are all defenders, a left back and 3 central defenders respectively. Samuel is a goalkeeper, and Captain Marvel (Marvellous is not the captain) is an attacking midfield player. I now have 7 players with 4 or more stars in the starting 11 and I am the happiest I have been with the squad.

Would appear the media once more do not agree with me, but oh well, they thought I would be at FC Platinum back end of last year!

Just the 2 friendlies in February, the yearly game against Fire Batteries is becoming traditional.

Edited January 4, 2020 by Mandy42

[Mandy42]

forgot to post this  time,  more points and a respectable finish. Must do better in the cup! 

Not the most auspicious of starts... hopefully it's just bedding in the new faces and the adjusted diamond midfield

 

An instant response to going behind and our annual win over Fire Batteries. We also had 2 goals ruled out for offside. One final friendly game then into the season proper

 

[Mandy42]

 

Zimbabwe Premier Division: Season 3, March

Figured it was time to get all "professional" and mark my pages with cool animated flags and a heading so people know where we are and what is going on! Wow that flag is really going for it! (Ten minutes of staring mesmerised at the flag) So we have one friendly game left as our 1st game in March then it is into the season proper. I must admit I am conflicted, on the one hand I never put much stock in preseason, always being happy to tell the players it is about fitness and performance not the results, but I would like us to be laying down more of a marker that we actually mean business this year. Think that is because of the 2nd conflict, probably the biggest, I want to be moving on, this is a journeyman save for crying out loud!! When I got my inspiration from this save from reading threads like @Makoto Nakamura who has 10 leagues completed before breakfast, and @andychar who before settling in London would have conquered Asian destinations one after the other in a single season. I have the whole world to do! And I'm still in my 1st country at my 1st club 3 seasons in. The other side of that conflict is that I've brought players in and prepared the team for the new season because there were no jobs available during the end of season break, and part of me wants to see what those changes can do. 

So we thrashed Harare City last season and they were relegated, seems a bit strange to not be able to put them away in a friendly. I am happy our foul count is under 30! But again, not pulling up rocks with the season starting next week. We play Black Rhinos away, 2017 champions, 2018 runners up, 7-1 to win the league again this year, not the best place to go to settle our nerves on opening day. No prizes for guessing that we face the impossible!

Fouls are higher than I would like, but that is the only grumble, 1st player to get a red card this season isn't getting fined, they are getting castrated. Nice marker to lay down, however beating the big teams in the league was never our problem (except FC Platinum), maintaining our performance level when we played easier teams and were expected to win is why we fell short last season. Up next is one such fixture once more an away game in the Zimbabwe cup 1st round, yet another competition I need to win if I'm ever getting out of this country! We play lower division Makomo. Just before the game however, I became away that Black Rhinos had sacked their manager following our victory. He had been insecure all through the preseason build up, the bookies had me as the favourite and therefore. 

 

We will see what happens

Fouls are creeping up! Though The Machete has now scored 3 goals in 2 games! And that is my centre back scoring the penalty! No movement yet on the rhinos job, I am not applying, as one of the things that seemed to put the FC Platinum board off was me going to them instead of them coming to me, they didn't like me being in a job and actively searching for another, go figure. We come back to the league for the last game of the month, away again! This time to newly promoted Zim Saints.

 

When that 1st goal went in I will admit my bags were packed, I thought, here we go again, not up to performing when we are the favourite. However this Machete on fire! 3 goals in the league, 5 in 3 across all competitions, he's the 1st name on the team sheet. Seems the Black Rhinos decided to go with the Dynamo Harare manager, even though I was the bookie and fan favourite I didn't even make an interview. I contemplated saying something about the Dynamo Harare job, however once more the bookmakers and fans think it's going to be me.

 

Which is great, if it actually leads to an interview!

Though this is not so great, seems my conflicted self has a decision to make, do I want to move on and manage elsewhere, yes I would like to, do I have the confidence to jack in this job and be unemployed in order to make that happen? Hell no, I took my ass to the meeting. They wanted to know why I felt it was acceptable to be indicating I was interested in other jobs, FC Platinum and Black Rhinos make 2, and if they are psychic then they know I am side eyeing the Dynamo job. I told them I had my head turned but I saw it was a mistake, which is a lie, I didn't think they would come down on me like a ton of bricks. They wanted to know why they should keep me. BECAUSE WITHOUT ME YOU WERE NOTHING! NOTHING!!! Is what I said in my head, in reality I made it clear that I had done great things for the club and deserved a 2nd chance. They have given me that 2nd chance, I'm still the favourite for the Dynamo job, but my odds have doubled out to 4-1.

They went and made it public that they have given me a spanking!

Timing is everything, I got straight in there and tested my 2nd chance, if you want to keep me, cough up some training money!

Couple of interesting things! FC Platinum are bottom! Not convinced whoever they took instead of me will be there much longer. Yadah were lucky to stay in the league last season surprising to see them win 3 on the bounce!

More even split of home and away games this next month, though our 2nd round cup tie is once more away to lower league opposition. Will be interesting to see if that away game against Yadah is a top of the table clash by the time it comes around