[FM19] The Realism Challenge

[TerminalPortugal]

THE REALISM CHALLENGE

I wanted to come back with Football Manager 2019, as I am not quite yet ready to let it go, and hopefully entertain you guys with another career story. This time however instead of a great end goal, the goal of this career will be to make the decisions that would be the most realistic to a manager. My avatar will be loosely based on myself, starting with no badges and a Sunday League experience and starting at a local club. We will see where we go in the years ahead.

I will loading England (Vanarama North/South), Scotland (League Two), Wales (these nations are loaded because I want to set up a natural periphery to where my story could continue. Then added to this I am loading Austria (Bundesliga), Belgium (Jupiler Pro), Czech Rep (Synot Liga), Denmark (Superliga), France (Ligue 2), Germany (2 Bundesliga), Holland (Eredivisie), Italy (Serie B), Portugal (Liga NOS), Russia (Chempionat Rossii), Spain (Liga 123), Turkey (Super Lig), Ukraine (Prem'er Liha), as these are the top ranked UEFA leagues.

If there are any changes in the coefficients in-game I may sub out leagues as they happen.
The goal of the story, is always to make the most realistic decision. I will try and provide my thought process at the time when any jobs come up.
 

RULES

A ruleset designed to play the game as realistically as possible.

1. If I get offered a job while managing somewhere I need to consider whether realistically I would move to the new club, accounting for the wages offered, the prestige of the job in comparison to my own, the chances of bigger success, any factors relating to the country i.e. would I leave the Premier League to manage in the Bulgarian First Division for example.
2. I must not resign unless I would be financially stable after resigning, but if I am rolling in money and have achieved everything at a club, then it may be possible.
3. I must not resign to force through a move to another club, since this would likely be deemed a breach of my contract and I could be sued.
4. If the club has a Director of Football then I must allow him to do the transfer business, however I will have a veto on any outgoing transfers.
5. The chairman is responsible for hiring the Director of Football, but I can if I choose to be in control of other playing related staff since many manager have a significant role in who is on the coaching team.
6. I must allow my staff members to do their jobs, so the assistant manager is responsible for running first team training, the chief scout is responsible for running scouting assignments etc.
7. Contract Renewals are always handled by the Director of Football or the Chairman, since they are responsible for the financial side of the club.
8. I cannot take a job miles away from where I live unless I can calculate that I could realistically continue to live on the wage, i.e. getting a new house, commute etc.
9. I must start at the closest club to where I live, that are in the lowest division in England. Vanarama North/South level. The closest team to where I live is Wealdstone. So I will be starting the save with them.

The Format for this Career Update will be half season updates, at the middle point and end of the season, which will allow me to go through what has happened in the last 6 months in time.

Next update we find out a little bit more about Wealdstone FC

[TerminalPortugal]

WEALDSTONE

CLUB SUMMARY

The club were formed in 1899, and have spent the last few years making steady progress up the leagues arriving in the Vanarama National League South, where they have remained for the last few years. The club are perhaps best known for a fan of theirs, whom went viral when he turned up at an away game and was video taped saying such classics as "you've got no fans" and "If you want some, I'll give it ya". As such the Wealdstone Raider as he would be called was promptly born a modicum of light celebrity status follows him amongst English football fans.

The club were actually the first alongside Barnet to ever have one of their games televised on British TV, back in 1946, and as recently as 1983, they won the Conference as it was known as then to arrive in the football league. The local rivalries are Barnet, Enfield, and Harrow Borough. Although the club are called Wealdstone they actually play their games at Grosvenor Vale in Ruislip, after moving from Northolt, when the ground share their ran out.

The media predicition for the club this season is 12th place, which would put the club very much in the middle of the pack in the division, however the board would like a top half finish we will see if this can be achieved.

MANAGER PROFILE

Our avatar for this game is Anglo-Portuguese native Vasco Carreira, whom is the new manager of Wealdstone for the 18/19 season. He has no coaching qualifications, so clearly that will be a priority, and the stats are not that great. 

He is on £550 per week, which is not bad and will probably do to rent out a one bedroom flat in the local area, just outside of London, and enough to get a car to drive around for the commute to the stadium.

This 1 bedroom flat, will probably be okay until, we can up our wages, at £1,200 a month, we should be able to save a few hundred pound a month, although finances will be tight.

[Ronaldo Beckham]

@TerminalPortugal Did you take into account the money up front you would of needed to rent that flat, you are probably looking at nearly £2,400 or more up front. If you want to be really realistic you would of done a houseshare for a month or two while you saved the money lol.

[mrkilla22]

What skin are you using?

[TerminalPortugal]

3 hours ago, Ronaldo Beckham said:

@TerminalPortugal Did you take into account the money up front you would of needed to rent that flat, you are probably looking at nearly £2,400 or more up front. If you want to be really realistic you would of done a houseshare for a month or two while you saved the money lol.

Yeah I assumed an approximate £5k starting fund of savings.

[TerminalPortugal]

41 minutes ago, mrkilla22 said:

What skin are you using?

OPZ Elite, I believe it is called.

[TerminalPortugal]

WEALDSTONE

2018/19 FIRST HALF OF THE SEASON

TRANSFERS

Many of the players on the list were already purchased by the club before I arrived. There is a Director of Football at the club in the shape of Richard Johnson, the ex Australian international with one cap to his name. The first signing was Audrius Laucys the Lithuanian youngster whom has plied his trade in the lower reaches of English football since he started playing professionally, he is a good upgrade at centre back. Ben Tricker and Joy Mukena come in as well at centre back, both on loan from Parent club Watford. Deon Moore, a former Peterborough youngster also comes in upfront. Ben Cull, started his career at the famous Southampton academy before being released, so the centre back has plenty of pedigree to be of us. Terrique Anderson, was a bit of curious signing to some degree as he does not really fit our system as a high up out and out winger, he comes in from Charlton Athletic on loan. To complete the transfers of the first half of the season, it has been a recent addition in the form of Jordan Spencer, a midfielder on loan from Forest Green Rovers.

With regards to exits from the club, the Director of Football was able to offload Sam Cox, early in pre-season. He was hugely overpaid and he heads back to his native Guyana to Guyana Defense Force on a free. The second exit was backup striker David Pratt, whom was unhappy at the club and eventually we managed to offload him to Southport on a free transfer.

PRESEASON FIXTURES

The pre-season went off without a hitch, and there were some nice wins in their against the likes of Bromley, whom are a division above us. Certainly we got off to an unexpectedly quick start

LEAGUE FIXTURES

Well we have been a surprise package this season, as we lost only once in the first half of the league season, and to be honest that was a bit of an unexpected shock, as Gloucester City were not exactly pulling up any trees in the league. Great stuff so far.

FA CUP FIXTURES

The cup competitions inclusive of the FA Cup, were really an opportunity to get some much needed income into the club via prize money and hopefully some money spinning ties, however we have completely outdone ourselves. I backed us against Thatcham and Taunton, but though it might end against Sutton United, but they barely gave us a game. Darlington gave us a good few games but we got through them at home via a replay in the 1st Round and then a famous moment for us as we knocked out Northampton Town from League 2 at home 3-1. We face Oldham Athletic in the 3rd Round, and again I will give us a chance to get through that one, however it will be difficult.

FA TROPHY FIXTURES

The FA Trophy is another path to income for the club so getting past Weston-super-Mare and Eastleigh, is very much a good thing for us. We face lower league Warrington in the next round so I expect to at least get through the next round.

LEAGUE TABLE

Well we sit in the dizzy heights of leading the league, and to be honest up until recently the gap was tiny as Billericay Town. We look well poised to potentially get the top spot by the end of the season and automatic promotion but it is very much still a very long way to go until we will find out whether this will be the case.

SQUAD OVERVIEW

We have a core of players that have played most of the minutes this season; North, Obi, Sheppard, Laucys, Moore, Poku, Monakana, Tricker, Clark and Tyler. The front two strikers Ogo Obi and Deon Moore have put on a clinical masterclass up front, bagging 42 goals between them. Sheppard may not have the most assists but he gets so much of the ball from fullback and is key to our success. James Clark has been putting the goals on with 12 assists this season. The squad looks good and am pretty happy with how things are looking, we will have to see whether we can keep everyone fit and firing.

CLUB FINANCES

The finances are looking very healthy, it's mostly the cup runs that have provided the extra income. Considering we started on a bank balance of approximately £8k, we now have £230k in the bank, so that is very healthy for the future.

JOB OFFERS

None so far

MANAGER PROFILE

We are now studying for National C Licence, our win percentage so far looks very nice at 79%, I am sure it won't stay there forever, so I will enjoy it for now. Our contract finishes in about six months, so we will see whether we can get a new one, and if we can whether we can push up the wage a little bit.

MANAGER HISTORY

 Wealdstone (July 2018 - Present)

MANAGER TROPHY CABINET

None so far

MANAGER THOUGHTS

Well the results on the pitch have been pretty amazing and I am hopeful that we can get promotion this season, however financially off the pitch I am doing less well. I started off with £5,000 and after tax I get paid about £1,600 a month. So after I paid the deposit on the flat £2,400 and £90 handling fee, and then got myself a motor - specifically a Renault Clio 1.2 Campus 3dr with 30,000 on the clock, and paid the council tax etc, we are left with overall about £1,331 in the bank at moment, although we will get the £2,400 deposit back should nothing get damaged in the flat. We will definately need to assess whether I might need to move to something a little less pricey or 

The beast of a car if your interested

MANAGER ASSETS

Renault Clio 1.2 Campus 3dr (2007) - Value £700-850

[Ronaldo Beckham]

@TerminalPortugal Make sure you don't have any parties in your flat or you will probably lose your deposit lol.

I like how you go into details about renting flats, cars etc, makes it stand out from other career threads.

[TerminalPortugal]

WEALDSTONE

2018/19 SECOND HALF OF THE SEASON

TRANSFERS

There was not much activity in the second half of the season, but the activity that occurred was very important. Ogo Obi who was a non-contract player, got spotted by MK Dons and we lost him to them mid season. The Director of Football however did act quickly to bring in Ricky German, a young striker on loan from Crawley Town.

VANARAMA NATIONAL LEAGUE SOUTH FIXTURES

If we were good in the first half of the league season, we did not miss a step in the second half of the season. Again only one loss against Bath City, but we were pretty much flawless this half of the season.

FA CUP FIXTURES

We pulled off a big upset in the 3rd Round of the FA Cup with a famous win against Oldham Athletic, however in the 4th Round we ran into a brick wall as Barnsley knocked us out. Still a very good run for us, and very nice money for the club.

FA TROPHY FIXTURES

The FA Trophy ended before I'd like, we did beat Warrington comfortably but then we lost to rivals Barnet, a little disappointing but a little bit expected and we made up for it with a nice FA Cup run anyway.

LEAGUE TABLE

In the end we dominated the league. We had the league wrapped up with about 4 league fixtures to go. Billericay Town dropped off in a big way and in the end it was pretty obvious early on that we were not going to be caught. We ended up breaking the points record for the league which is some achievement as we got an amazing 106 points over the season.

SQUAD OVERVIEW

It was clear that we had a core group of players that got the majority of minutes this season. The stand out player was Jack Sheppard, as he was very good at linking up playing down the wing. However he will be leaving the club, joining Grenock Morton on a free transfer at the end of the season, again another player sniped from us based on his performances. Deon Moore, ended up with a very nice return of 29 goals, but he did suffer a bit when his partnership with Ogi was broken up. German came in and got a fair few goals to make up for what we were losing from the loss of Ogi. Overall the squad performed very well, but we will need to strengthen next season, and I hope the DoF does the job on this front.
CLUB FINANCES

We end up with a fantastic £500k in bank, not bad when we started the season with only £8k in the bank. The cup runs really helped us out this season.

JOB OFFERS

None so far

MANAGER PROFILE

We do now have the National C Licence and are working on National B Licence. We did get a new contract towards the end of the season in around May and our wage has been improved a fair bit up to £800 a week, which really does help us out with living expenses, we did try and negotiate our way into a few bonuses but the board threw them out, so we have to accept our nice little wage rise.

MANAGER HISTORY

 Wealdstone (July 2018 - Present)

MANAGER TROPHY CABINET

Vanarama National League South ( Wealdstone 2018/19)

MANAGER THOUGHTS

Well it has been a great first year in management as we manage to take the club up from the National League South at the first ask. It ended up being a bit unexpected, I was thinking at some point the results would drop off, and we would drop down the table. I am now looking forward to plying my trade in Vanarama National.

On the finances side we were losing money, until we got our new contract and we are now up to £2,333. This half of the season we only had one big expense that is not usual and that was to pay for the MOT and service for the car, which it failed but after a few fixes its running fine again. At the moment I have no plans to change the flat, we don't have the money to buy a flat, and can barely afford this one, at least we are not able to set aside a little money each month. However I am fearful that relegation will mean we are sacked or our salary is reduced again, so we need to avoid that.

MANAGER ASSETS

Renault Clio 1.2 Campus 3dr (2007) - Value £700-850

[TerminalPortugal]

34 minutes ago, Ronaldo Beckham said:

@TerminalPortugal Make sure you don't have any parties in your flat or you will probably lose your deposit lol.

I like how you go into details about renting flats, cars etc, makes it stand out from other career threads.

When we move out, we will find out how much of my original deposit I get back. Thanks for the nice feedback much appreciated.

[TerminalPortugal]

WEALDSTONE

2019/18 FIRST HALF OF THE SEASON

TRANSFERS

The Director of Football worked hard to get players into the club for the new season, but to be honest I am unsure the general quality was always what we needed. Mark Smith came in as competition at goalkeeper from Eastbourne Borough. Jaanai Gordon was a necessary replacement up front and he looked good value, as got him in from Tamworth. Sach came in primarily as a back up striker, picked up from Nuneaton Borough. Jacob Twyford was picked up from Stoke City, but he was not turning out so good and came in on a pretty hefty salary, and with not exactly elite quality for us at this level. Ryan Cluett came in on a free and looked a very capable centre-back, starter quality. Lyle Della Verde, at first looked a good purchase, but he could get in the team and he has a very bad attitude to be honest. Henry Barley came in on a free transfer and he was so disruptive at not playing that he was out later in the first half of the month offloaded to Hungerford Town. Ryan MacClean is a quality loanee midfielder from Watford and was a great addition to the squad. Alfie Rutherford came in from Havant and Waterlooville, but has had a minimal impact and I am not particularly convinced by him. Tyler Curran is a young centre back brought in on loan from Swindon Town, a good player who will definitely be in and around the first team. Dominic Hutchinson came in on loan from Watford, and again another very capable midfielder for us, although he came in pretty unfit and carrying an injury. Keenan Ferguson is a centre back from Chelmsford City, a decent player, but probably more of a backup in our squad. 

On the exits, barring Barley whom I have already mentioned. Jerome Okimo left for Hendon, he was the ex-captain of the club, but not a great footballer, so I was happy to let him go, especially because he had influence and was beginning to upset the side. Also out and much missed was Jack Sheppard whom had pre-agreed to join Scottish outfit Grenock Morton when his contract with us concluded.

VANARAMA NATIONAL LEAGUE FIXTURES

We had a very nice start to the season, it has definately been a step up in class but we were predicted to finish bottom of the table, so we have completely outdone all expectations of what we would be able to do in this division. September was probably our toughest month, but we got through and to be honest we have been pretty consistent and look good value for a playoff spot.

FA CUP FIXTURES

The FA Cup is always so important for the extra revenue so I am delighted that we have been able to get through the first two game and book at a 2nd Round tie against Maidstone United. On the way we beat St Albans City by a narrow 1-0 win and then beat National League strugglers Dagenham & Redbridge by 2-0.

FA TROPHY FIXTURES

Yet to play in this competition.

LEAGUE TABLE

We lie 4th in the table as we approach the half way point, and that has been a very good performance on our part.

SQUAD OVERVIEW

I think it is a credit to the players that we have performed so well this year, and it has really been a team performance both at the back and up front. We have had some bad results and some great results, but we seem to keep up a pretty decent consistency at the moment and I am pretty proud of the boys. Moore and Sach have been the main men up front this season with each bagging 11 goals so far this season. Gordon has been a little disappointing, hence why Sach has been favoured up front. Again we were predicted to go down this season, without a chance so you can see that right across the team everyone is pitching in.

JOB OFFERS

We got job interviews from seemingly everywhere, our seemingly good start to the National League season had put us on the radar of a lot of clubs, to the point where it seemingly meant that we were almost certain to be leaving. A list of the clubs that offered us job interviews was as follows:-

AFC Fylde (did not offer us a job)

Dagenham & Redbridge (did not offer us a job)

Forest Green (Offered a Job, could not agree contract)

Halifax Town (did not offer us a job)

Ipswich Town (did not offer us a job)

Doncaster Rovers (never heard back)

Mansfield Town (did not offer us a job)

Peterborough United (did not offer us a job)

Wigan Athletic (did not offer us a job)

Woking (did not offer us a job)

Plymouth Argyle (offered us a job which we accepted)

In the end the prospect of Plymouth Argyle whom are having a terrible season so far, was a too much to resist not to mention the heavy increase in salary they were going to offer us and we decided that we would accept the deal and go down to Devon for the foreseeable future.

MANAGER PROFILE

Well we have now joined Plymouth Argyle, and we did manage to get our National A Licence, but Wealdstone would not at the time let us take the Continental C Licence, which was a little annoying. Something about needing me at training. We are now going to be on £1,200 a week salary which really helps us out.

MANAGER HISTORY

 Wealdstone (July 2018 - November 2019)

 Plymouth Argyle (November 2019 - Present)

MANAGER TROPHY CABINET

Vanarama National League South ( Wealdstone 2018/19)

MANAGER THOUGHTS

Well, we got a new job, so I am excited to start there. Plymouth are not exactly doing brilliantly so I am a little worried that we may have bitten off a little more than we can chew, but this is what football management is all about; moving up the greasy poll. I am little sad to leave behind Wealdstone, I hope they can at the very least remain in the division, and I would like to see them keep the run going and secure a playoff spot. The players and the fans, must feel like I am abandoning them, but that's life.

On the finance front we doing pretty well now with a bank balance of £6,040 in the bank and that is before I move down to Plymouth and start my new package there. We will also be getting the deposit back we put on the flat. I have one month on my rental agreement left, and I will not be able to cancel it, so next month is going to be expensive as I get a flat down in Plymouth and still finish up paying the tenancy on the one in Hayes. I have asked the landlord to come round and inspect it so we can agree the deposit return and hand him the keys back as I won't be needing them. The car is still running alright, although with the new salary and a bit of money in the back we may want to splash out a new motor.

MANAGER ASSETS

Renault Clio 1.2 Campus 3dr (2007) - Value £600-725

PROLOGUE TO PLYMOUTH

Plymouth are having a torrid season and we seriously need to stop the rut, as we find ourselves in a real battle to stay in the EFL League One.

Edited December 7, 2019 by TerminalPortugal

[Ronaldo Beckham]

Congrats on getting the job at Plymouth @TerminalPortugal.

Plymouth is a lovely place to live.

Here is a link to a lovely flat I saw that would suit your needs.

https://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-to-rent/property-75355318.html

[TerminalPortugal]

PLYMOUTH ARGYLE

2019/18 SECOND HALF OF THE SEASON

TRANSFERS

I was not at the club when the majority of these transfers were made so will not comment on them. The only person to come into the club was Connor Malley on loan from Middlesbrough. The youngster can play right across the midfield so he is a versatile addition for the remainder of the season.

EFL LEAGUE ONE FIXTURES

Well considering where we started I have to be very happy with the way we coped with the remainder of the season. At one point we looked decent value to push for the playoffs, but the away form was always a bit suspect for us all season. It does make me think if we had a full season at the club that we could have made the automatic playoffs. Again we managed to turn morale around very quickly and lay down a little bit of discipline on the team. We won more games than we lost and I think we immediately became competitive despite the early league position I found myself in. Very happy with the performances, we will need to reproduce this at the start of the season.

FA CUP FIXTURES

We were out of the FA Cup before I arrived, but that loss is pretty humiliating.

CARABAO CUP FIXTURES

We were not at the club when we dropped out of Carabao Cup, but were knocked out of this tournament in the 2nd Round against Huddersfield.

FA TROPHY FIXTURES

I was not at the club when these fixtures took place, but again another poor performance in the Checkatrade Trophy.

LEAGUE TABLE

Sheffield Wednesday and Shrewsbury Town make it to the Championship automatically. The playoffs will are still to be decided. I am very happy with a 10th place finish and a 69 point total considering where we started in the league. I think we can build on this for next season and in the end we were only 5 points off the final playoff place, so it won't take too much of an improvement to be well in the fold next season.

SQUAD OVERVIEW

When I took over the squad, there was a lot of resentment at the league position and some players were playing very badly and we have done a bit of a turnaround. The two strikers managed to start putting the ball in the back of the net, in the shape of Freddie Lapado and Ryan Taylor whom bagged 18 goals apiece which is pretty good going. Graham Carey was the player of the season for me, as he contributed down the right hand side of the pitch. Got to mention the keeper Haugaard whom is a real asset at this level and did really well for us.

JOB OFFERS

No job offers over the period.

MANAGER PROFILE

We have managed to get our Continental C Licence and we have got a new contract at the club and got a very nice increase to £2,200 per week for an additional year at Plymouth Argyle.

MANAGER HISTORY

 Wealdstone (July 2018 - November 2019)

 Plymouth Argyle (November 2019 - Present)

MANAGER TROPHY CABINET

Vanarama National League South ( Wealdstone 2018/19)

MANAGER THOUGHTS

Well it has been a very nice introduction into league football, we managed to save Plymouth Argyle from relegation and I feel we have a good platform for next season. With the right additions we could be in the playoffs or better I think.

On the personal front, we moved down to Plymouth. In the end we only got £2,000 back from our deposit, because of some damage to one of the walls in the flat which I am sure was already there before. We looked around the town, and the value for money that you can get down in Plymouth is fantastic. We ended up choosing a lovely little flat in Plymouth and at a much lower rate than where we were before at just £975 per month with an £1,175 deposit.

In the end after I got to Plymouth I decided to trade up the Renault, in the end getting £500 for it. I splashed out and got myself 2011 BMW 3 series. Got to look the part now as a league manager, plus it is a good runner. It set me back £8,500, but it had a full service history and MOT had just been renewed so that saves a bit of money.

On the money front after all the expenses and outlays, but with my higher salary I now have £9,588 in the bank, and I think we may well look to lay down some roots in Plymouth.

MANAGER ASSETS

BMW 3 Series 2.0 320d Sport Plus 4dr - Value £8,000

Edited December 7, 2019 by TerminalPortugal

[TerminalPortugal]

42 minutes ago, Ronaldo Beckham said:

Congrats on getting the job at Plymouth @TerminalPortugal.

Plymouth is a lovely place to live.

Here is a link to a lovely flat I saw that would suit your needs.

https://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-to-rent/property-75355318.html

Cheers. In the end managed to find a cheaper property that looks pretty bloody nice.

[Nobby_McDonald]

Making very fast progress.

[TerminalPortugal]

PLYMOUTH ARGYLE

2020/21 FIRST HALF OF THE SEASON 

TRANSFERS

The Director of Football has been busy this off-season with  11 new faces joining the club. The first in was Portuguese Marcos Valente coming in from Portimonense for £97k, he is a centre back and can fill in at defensive midfield. He is definitely of the quality require to play first team football. Jose Matos was the second signing signed from Spanish side Cadiz for £105k. The Spaniard is again a step up at left back, and can also fill in at left midfield if required.

Charlie Wyke came in on loan from Sunderland, he is already 27 years old, so not a player looking to develop. He has some skills that could help us, but he is not a definite starter for us. Jiri Skalak was another player looking for first team opportunities, joining the club from Millwall. He can pretty much play on either wing and is a great addition. He also has 11 caps for Slovakia so brings in some great experience.

Arvin Appiah, is a loanee striker from Burnley, he has two good feet and I instantly liked him as an acquisition. Joao Nogueira, is a Portuguese right full back we got on free transfer from Estoril. A very astute addition from the DoF, this guy improves us down the right and again he can fill in at left back if required.

Cameron Thompson came in as a backup striker having been released by Fulham. He is a young player so definite room for improvement, but not yet ready to really help us much this season. Ingvar Jonsson, comes in as a backup keeper from Danish outfit Viborg FF. The Icelander is a capable deputy, and this one was initiated by myself, I had to ask the DoF to bring in a backup keeper as we were really lacking cover. Sam McClellen is another striker coming in from Sheffield United after being released. He is not ready for first team football, so we decided to send him on loan to local side Torquay United for a season long loan.

Anton Hooper came in after being released by Aston Villa. He is a very long way from being ready for the first team, again another striker brought in by the DoF. Sam Surridge comes in on loan from Bournemouth, he is another striker, but very much ready to help us in the first team picture, so I was happy to bring him in.

With regards to exits, Lameiras was surplus to requirements and allowed to move on to Scottish outfit Livingston. Sergio Molina, was not going to be getting much game time for us so we sold him back to Spain in the form of an £88k move to Real Jaen. Mike Cooper and Tom Purlington were players whom had significant potential for us, but with a combined deal of up to £1.7m it was well worth cashing in.

PRE-SEASON FIXTURES

Pre-season was not much of a challenge as we managed to win all games very comfortably.

 

EFL LEAGUE ONE FIXTURES

We have been extremely consistent this season, performing much better than last season and putting some of the bad times of last year behind us. Only two losses so far, really provides the measure of the improvement in the team, from when I took over. Along the way we have had some very nice wins, such as a 5-1 win at home to Ipswich Town, a 4-0 win against Peterborough and wining 5-0 at Kenilworth Road against Luton Town. The losses were both on the road and came pretty close together, both were tight losses first to Walsall and then two weeks later at Bristol Rovers. So far so good.

 

FA CUP FIXTURES

We managed to get through the first round against Harrogate Town 4-1, but face a tough test in the 2^nd Round against fellow League One outfit Coventry City at home.

 

CARABAO CUP FIXTURES

Coventry have already put pay to our Carabao Cup ambitions as we exit in the 1^st Round away by 2-1.

 

FA TROPHY FIXTURES

We were bad in the Checkatrade Trophy as we exited the group straight away, only beating Northampton and losing to League 2 forest Green and Chelsea U23s.

 

LEAGUE TABLE

I am very happy with our performance in the league as we top the league after 21 games. It’s fair to say we have made ourselves very difficult to beat and that has been the secret behind our success. Coventry and Ipswich are both sniffing around us and we could all end up on 45 points after 21 games when they catch up with games in hand.

SQUAD OVERVIEW

The squad has been performing brilliantly this season. Graham Carey, has been excellent in midfield for us getting himself 14 goals and 8 assists. In terms of finding the net Arvin Appiah has been the best up front with 16 goals from 25 appearances. Marcos Valente and Jose Matos have also been ever presents with some very nice performances all season. Matt Butcher also deserves a mention in central midfield.

 

JOB OFFERS

Here is the secret as to why only 21 games have been played. Suddenly in November we suddenly getting job offers. In the end we got three job offers, only from struggling Championship Barnsley and two from across the channel in French Ligue 2 outfits Lorient and Amiens.

Barnsley were quick to make there decision and when I saw the contract there was nothing really left to consider. We were moving to Barnsley.

 

MANAGER PROFILE

We now have the Continental B Licence and are already studying for the Continental A Licence. Our salary has taken a huge increase to £13,000 per week, which makes us positively rich now, and that is until the summer of 2022, so even if it is all goes wrong we should be quids in.

 

MANAGER HISTORY 

 Wealdstone (July 2018 - November 2019)

 Plymouth Argyle (November 2019 – November 2020)

 Barnsley (November 2020 – Present)

 

MANAGER TROPHY CABINET 

Vanarama National League South (Wealdstone 2018/19)

 

MANAGER THOUGHTS

Well we have done a great job at Plymouth, first saving them relegation and then putting the team in great shape to get promotion this season, as we lay 1^st in League One. However that is where our Plymouth adventure must end as we now move up to the Championship with Barnsley.

I was just about to look for houses in Plymouth and potentially finally get a mortgage with the money we had been saving, however the plans have changed. Thankfully the rental agreement was coming to an anyway. Looking around at my options in Yorkshire, Leeds looked like a good place to live and we pick up a rental agreement on a 3 bedroom flat on Carisbrook Road. For now we will continue to rent, just until we acclimitise to the surroundings. The BMW is still working fine so no need as yet to look for a new car or anything like that.

In terms of the bank balance, we now have managed to save up £27,671. So we are looking pretty good when it comes to the finances.

A quick preview of Barnsley this season

It is fair to say they are having an abysmal season, only 2 wins this season and already 10 points adrift of Shrewsbury Town in 21st. We are going to need to turn things round quick if we want to stay a Championship manager.

 MANAGER ASSETS

BMW 3 Series 2.0 320d Sport Plus 4dr - Value £8,000

[TerminalPortugal]

BARNSLEY

2020/21 SECOND HALF OF THE SEASON 

 TRANSFERS

Only two transfers to discuss away from the club, as the others were conducted in the summer before I arrived. Gregoire Puel was a player I considered keeping but he was pretty much a backup so the £425k offer from Shrewsbury Town was acceptable to me. Two youngsters in Rosario Latouchent and Dan McBeam were sent out on loan to Bristol Rovers and Grimsby Town respectively to get some first team action. Ryan Hedges was in the U23s and was unlikely to ever make the grade here, so £44k to Ipswich Town, was a good enough offer for me to let him go. Jordan Green was a bit part player at the club already on the transfer list, so £9.75k to Oldham Athletic was acceptable.

The biggest transfer of the winter, was Jacob Brown, whom was having an awesome season for us, but Swansea City, were lurking for him. I tried to fend them off, or get serious money for him, so when they made a £10.5m offer for him, the board went over my head and decided to accept the offer and let him go. I was a little disappointed, but to be honest I can live with it. The money seemed a little outrageous for him, and we the DoF can invest it wisely in the playing staff.

CHAMPIONSHIP FIXTURES

Well the goal was to keep Barnsley up, and to be honest we very quickly were outstripping that target, as we picked up win after win. The key was getting a few performances out of the players and then once morale was up, we were pretty unstoppable for the remainder of the season, which bodes really well for next season.

We had some amazing wins, especially away from home as we won 5-0 at Hillsborough and 6-0 at The Hawthorns as two examples. Hope we can replicate this kind of performance next season.

FA CUP FIXTURES

We had a very nice little FA Cup run as we beat Premier League Wolves at their ground 2-1, to cause a major 3^rd Round upset, and then almost replicated it in the 4^th Round as we took Everton to a replay, where they eventually won the game 2-0.

A very nice FA Cup run for us all things said and done.

CARABAO CUP FIXTURES

We were out before I joined the club, but Everton were also responsible for our 2^nd Round exit in the Carabao Cup.

LEAGUE TABLE

Quite frankly we did an amazing job taking the club from 23^rd, to just outside the playoff places, and to be honest for a while I thought we might end up grabbing one of them, but we were just a little too far away and the final two games against the automatically promoted Brighton & Hove Albion and Bristol City made it a bridge too far for us, but I can see us pushing for the playoffs next season; this time without a huge disadvantage to come back from.

SQUAD OVERVIEW

We took over a squad that was down in the dumps, but with a little bit of work, we managed to coax some really good football out of the guys. Particular players of note are Callum Harriot, who did very well down the wing, Josh Clarke, who set up assist after assist and Kieffer Moore, whom was out of favour when we arrived but ended being our most reliable striker with 19 goals in 27 starts for us.

JOB OFFERS

No job offers

MANAGER PROFILE

Not much has changed really with our profile, we still are waiting to complete our Continental A Licence and our contract is still the same from when we signed it last November.

MANAGER HISTORY

 Wealdstone (July 2018 - November 2019)

 Plymouth Argyle (November 2019 – November 2020)

  Barnsley (November 2020 – Present)

 MANAGER TROPHY CABINET

Vanarama National League South ( Wealdstone 2018/19)

 MANAGER THOUGHTS

Well, I am beginning to feel a little bit like a lower league Sam Allardyce, call me in and we will save you from relegation. It would be nice to be able to spend the next season at Barnsley and see if we can push for a playoff place, but if the right offer comes then I will consider it. The players did really well, we need some additions and I will be looking at the Director of Football to make these additions.

On the personal life front, the 6 month rental agreement has just ended on our flat in Leeds and we were out shopping for a house. In the we opted a lovely 5 bedroom detached house in a little village just outside called Sherburn in Elmet. We laid down a £100,000 deposit plus fees and got a 25 year mortgage at £1,211 fixed for 5 years, around about what we were paying in rent anyway.

After our outlays, that leaves us with £98,495 in our bank account, which is looking very healthy.

MANAGER ASSETS

 BMW 3 Series 2.0 320d Sport Plus 4dr - Value £7,500

Low Street, Sherbert in Elmet, LS25 – Value £400,000 (Mortgage Principal Left £300,000)

Edited December 13, 2019 by TerminalPortugal

[Nobby_McDonald]

Progressing very fast.