QuizzicalEly Posted July 2, 2020 Share Posted July 2, 2020 (edited) Hi all, this is based on a save where I managed Notts County up until 2034 when I retired manager after winning the Champions League, the aim is to play as my fictional son in game and best his old man's achievements. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ROOKIE BOSS AT PENYDARREN Merthyr Town have today announced the appointment of former player, Aneurin Dafydd, as the club's new manager following the sacking of former manager John Harris Dafydd, 28, made over 100 appearances for the Martyrs before injury curtailed his career at just 24. He has since been part of the coaching setup at Penydarren Park as they attempt to return to the Football League. Dafydd, of course, is the son of Notts County boss Matthew Hawkins, 45, who expanded his trophy cabinet with his 4th FA Cup last weekend, beating Spurs 1-0 at Wembley Relations between Dafydd and his father are known to be distant, however Martyrs fans will be hoping that managerial magic runs in the family. Edited July 4, 2020 by QuizzicalEly Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
QuizzicalEly Posted July 2, 2020 Author Share Posted July 2, 2020 (edited) Life as the son of a football manager is a tough one, particularly when that football manager had you when he was a teenager, stuck around for a few years and then sodded off to Nottingham, before making millions as the manager of the best side in the country. Yes I'm bitter. I've always wanted to one-up him and this job at Methyr is just the beginning, so what are we working with? Background Not exactly the obvious candidate to challenge County's hegemony but this little graphic doesn't tell the whole tale. Merthyr Town are just the most recent incarnation of a football club in Merthyr, the original Merthyr Town were formed in 1909 and played in the pre-war Football League before going bust in 1934. They were replaced in 1945 by Merthyr Tydfil who were immensely successful in the Southern League but failed to ever get into the Football League by either promotion or election. They did win 3 Welsh Cups though, played in Europe and beat Atalanta at home. They were liquidated in 2010 though, which is where the current version of Merthyr comes in. The main rivals are Gloucester and Newport, the big Welsh clubs don't care. Swansea are too far away to care and Cardiff just take pity on us. Facilities Not much to work with here, although Penydarren Park is big for this level of football. Poor facilities aren't helped by Cardiff City being just down the road and nicking any decent player who stumbles out of the sizeable town of Merthyr (80,000 population) Staff Not much here either. I've put out some adverts. Squad Its... not that bad actually. Sure its a little thin in some departments but that's to be expected in the 6th tier. There's a few standout players like Josh Holmes, Darren Hughes and Anthony McCarthy which has both wings and centre half sown up with solid payers at this level. Josh Gardner is a player with promise aswell, sure improvements can be made but I'm fairly happy with the squad. Will we be able to make any improvements? Finances Yes, hopefully. I was pleasantly surprised by the financial state of the club when I looked at the spreadsheets. A few hundred grand in the bank and money to spend on transfers is the best I could have hoped for at this level and I got it. I expect that money to drain away though. Expectations Mid-table is all that's expected and really I should be getting that or better. This is a good squad who underachieved a bit last season by finishing 16th. Mid table in the Vanarama South seems to suit Merthyr though, they've spent the last 12 years bouncing between 9th and 20th in this division, threatening nothing but promising a fair bit if they can get their house in order All in all it seems a decent starting point from which I can begin my assault on my father's legacy and beat his achievements. Sure it'll take a while, but I have time on my side compared to him and I'm a lot more mercenary, I don't care about leaving clubs if I have to. First stop: National League South title and FA Trophy. I just need to hope he stops winning stuff to make my job a little easier. TROPHY CABINETS Edited July 6, 2020 by QuizzicalEly Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jimbokav1971 Posted July 2, 2020 Share Posted July 2, 2020 Any of the Welsh clubs in Europe are an attractive prospect just because, but Merthyr possibly the most attractive because of the starting level. Good luck. Will be keeping an eye out for your intakes. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
QuizzicalEly Posted July 3, 2020 Author Share Posted July 3, 2020 On 02/07/2020 at 20:39, Jimbokav1971 said: Any of the Welsh clubs in Europe are an attractive prospect just because, but Merthyr possibly the most attractive because of the starting level. Good luck. Will be keeping an eye out for your intakes. Cheers mate, I'm not sure if I'll stay at Merthyr the whole time Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
QuizzicalEly Posted July 3, 2020 Author Share Posted July 3, 2020 PRE-SEASON Its been a decent pre-season (wee I hope), we've had testimonials and money spinning friendlies, as well as bringing in a few quality players (for this level) Friendlies A good set of results with only one defeat in our pre-season friendlies. We tried out a whole load of tactics and trialists and they performed, well inconsistently. The pick of the results for are the victories over the Under 23 sides from Coventry and Barnsley and the easy win over local rivals Barry Town. The one defeat, against Watford U23s was expected and surprisingly close so I'm optimistic Tactics These are the two main tactics we'll be using throughout the season. This may be non-league, but we're in the 2030s baby, none of that lump it long stuff anymore, no more 4-4-2 Bassett style for us, we're playing sexy football with fancy shapes like 4-3-3 and 5-2-1-2. If these don't work we'll just lump it but I have faith (to be honest the only reason I've gone 5 at the back is so I can have 3 centre backs at corners) Transfers A lot of lads have come into the club, most of them just to bolster our fairly threadbare squad on non contracts, but there's a few lads who I'm excited about, let's meet them Denie Kirwan We had a couple of ok full backs at the club but none of them come close to Denie. He's young, he's an international, he's fast and can play at wing-back. What a man. Obi Aliyu He was here on loan last season and will go straight into our midfield this season. He can play in midfield or just in front of the defence and can pass the ball, which is hard to find at this level, believe me. The Strikers One of these three will go up top, don't know who yet. Might give them spears and they can decide amongst themselves Other news Ticket sales have SOARED!!!! Up next, the actual season. Despite being the equivalent of lads on a park with cans, there's some proper clubs down here who scare me, Eastleigh, Newport County and Ebbsfleet (Who spent £100k on 1 player!) are all down here. Let's hope I'm not sacked. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
QuizzicalEly Posted July 4, 2020 Author Share Posted July 4, 2020 AUGUST A first month in management, how did we get on? Results Not a bad start to life in management if you ask me! Unbeaten and scoring goals is fine by me, aswell as 4 clean sheets. Solid going forward and defensively, although it was disappointing to give away two leads against Eastleigh, we did come from behind at Torquay though so it balances it out. Other than that some good wins that you'd expect us to get if we want to go up, with the highlight coming against Bognor Regis. Game of the month Merthyr Town 3-0 Bognor Regis Town What a performance! We could have won 6-0 and there would no complaints. Excellent patient passing play was brought to the people of non-league and they are loving it as a massive 707 fans turned up too watch us comprehensively batter Bognor as we dominated from the first whistle. Lovely stuff. Player of the month Wayne Jones The player of the month in my view as he grabbed two from midfield including a wonderful goal which grabbed us the victory over Basingstoke, a free transfer from Plymouth in the summer he'l be key in our midfield if his performances this month are anything to go on League Table 4th in the league? I'll take that gladly, although Eastleigh's position does indicate it was 2 points dropped when we drew with them at the end of the month Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
QuizzicalEly Posted July 4, 2020 Author Share Posted July 4, 2020 SEPTEMBER A solid first month in management, can that continue? I hope so. Results Another excellent month, Wealdstone game aside. We continued our unbeaten form deep into September with 5 wins seeing us shoot up the table. We were playing brilliantly but not quite getting the goals as we'd miss chance after chance. We should have been a few goals up in most games, particularly the cup match at Chichester, but we've found it hard to really put teams to the sword, meaning they stay in the game in spite of our dominance. The Wealdstone game brought us crashing back to earth as they dismantled us in a similar manner we'd dismantled other sides this season Game of the month Woking 0-1 Merthyr Town We showed off here. We went to the backyard of top of the table Woking and battered them, most of their shots were from long range, whilst ours were clear cut. We should have stuck more on them but it wasn't to be. This is the game that took us to the top of the table, would we stay there? League Table No. Its really tight at the top though a victory against Wealdstone would have seen us stretch our lead to three points over the chasing pack, led by our rivals Newport. Other news We've brought in another body to help our surprising playoff push. Canavan is an ex Shrewsbury winger who's better than current left winger Josh Holmes and will hopefully show that as we look to return to the top of the division Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
QuizzicalEly Posted July 5, 2020 Author Share Posted July 5, 2020 OCTOBER A big month as we look to continue our good early season form and try to prove the doubters wrong. And yes, I am living in a pub, its where the club told me to live. Results Not great, especially in the league. A brilliant start with the 7-0 destruction of Welling but a shock defeat at Bromley really brought us back to earth. Bromley used 3 strikers in that match and it ripped us apart, so I made sure to combat it in the game immediately after, deploying the 5-2-1-2 which worked a treat, ensuring passage to the first round of the FA Cup. hose draws against Hendon and Dartford are inexcusable though, particularly drawing with Hendon despite battering them all game, our strikers just can't find the net. Game of the month Welling United 0-7 Merthyr Town It had to be, didn't it? A fantastic performance in south east London as we comprehensively dismantled yet another side, but actually found the net. Phil Walker was the obvious standout, scoring a hat trick on his debut for the club as he ran riot on the right wing. Welling just couldn't deal with us physically or technically. League Table Our poor league form really hasn't helped us in the standings. 2 points from 3 league games is not the form of the promotion contenders we want to be and we really must improve if we are to finish in the top 7 this season. Its still tight at the top though, which does help us. Carshalton don't seem to be enjoying themselves this season though Other news Tomos Bevan came in on a free transfer to provide competition down the left flank Our FA Cup First Round match against League 2 side Preston North End will be televised Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
QuizzicalEly Posted July 5, 2020 Author Share Posted July 5, 2020 NOVEMBER Our huge FA Cup game against Preston takes precedent ahead of everything, we're on the tele! Results WE BEAT PRESTON! Sure, they're only a League 2 side nowadays, but still they're Preston North End and we're Merthyr Town! A fantastic performance which went alongside a fairly lackluster month. A defeat away at Bath kicked off the poor month league wise and a draw against Cirencester compounded matters, we really need to be beating teams like that. The draw at Stourbridge was also pretty humiliating, although the 5-0 thrashing made up for that. Still, we beat Preston! Game of the month Merthyr Town 2-1 Preston North End What a game! Connor Canavan wrote his name in the history books with a screamer five minuted from time to put us into the second round. We held our own for the most part but were hanging on at times. It would have been over at half time had Preston captain O'Leary not smashed his penalty against the post, but all cup runs are built on a bit of luck, aren't they? A shame only 2,553 turned up. We play Peterborough in the next round League Table The league form has been pretty shocking recently Other news Broken records, money coming in and a sour opposition manager. I love non-league Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
QuizzicalEly Posted July 6, 2020 Author Share Posted July 6, 2020 DECEMBER Did the festive period bring some good will and, more importantly, some good results? Results So close! Probably our best month since August as we lose just one league game and progress in the FA Trophy and come so close to finding ourselves in the FA Cup Third Round! We were the better team on the day at Penydarren Park but just couldn't force the ball over the line, leading to a smashing in the replay at London Road as only 4,000 fans turned up to watch our second round replay. Peterborough go on to play Notts County in the next round which is particularly annoying. Elsewhere we played reasonably well, picking up some key points in the league against Bromley and Weston but performing poorly in the first Welsh derby of the season at Newport. We never laid a glove on the Exiles as they breezed to a 3-1 victory. Fortunately we responded quickly, smashing Bromley 4-0. Game of the month Merthyr Town 4-0 Bromley Had we not battered Bromley, then the draw against Peterborough would have won the prestigious game of the month title, but we did batter Bromley. We switched tactics and were fantastic, embarrassing our fellow promotion chasers, being 3-0 up already at half time. We cruised through the second half, scoring a 4th to remind them who's boss. League Table Just two points off the playoffs. Exciting! Other news Ooohhhhh exciting Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fudal Posted July 6, 2020 Share Posted July 6, 2020 On 04/07/2020 at 19:00, QuizzicalEly said: Other news We've brought in another body to help our surprising playoff push. Canavan is an ex Shrewsbury winger who's better than current left winger Josh Holmes and will hopefully show that as we look to return to the top of the division I’ve never seen a model citizen this low down in the footballing pyramid Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
QuizzicalEly Posted July 6, 2020 Author Share Posted July 6, 2020 1 minute ago, Fudal said: I’ve never seen a model citizen this low down in the footballing pyramid Me neither! Its partly why I threw all the money at him! He'd even made a few appearances for Shrewsbury in L1 last season, he's yet to set the world alight for us though, but I'm still hoping Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fudal Posted July 6, 2020 Share Posted July 6, 2020 1 minute ago, QuizzicalEly said: Me neither! Its partly why I threw all the money at him! He'd even made a few appearances for Shrewsbury in L1 last season, he's yet to set the world alight for us though, but I'm still hoping He looks very good for this level and will be a solid mentor for the youngsters in the club. Also loving the updates KUTGW Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
QuizzicalEly Posted July 6, 2020 Author Share Posted July 6, 2020 JANUARY Season feels a bit pointless without the FA Cup, hopefully the FA Trophy and playoff push can fill the void! Results A bit of an iffy month to kick off 2036 as we pick up just 7 points from a potential 18. On paper it wasn't even the toughest month, making our poor form even more infuriating as we have tougher games to come. The 4-2 defeats to Hemel Hampstead and Eastleigh were particularly frustrating as these are both sides we really ought to be beating, whilst the 4-1 dismantling at the hands of Torquay was just humiliating. We did have some bright spots though, the 4-0 at Yate and the incredible 6-3 victory at Salisbury being the obvious highlights of an otherwise disappointing month. Game of the month Salisbury 3-6 Merthyr Town What can I say that the scoreline won't tell you? An incredible match as both teams went hell for leather throwing everything at each other in search of a win. 40 shots! The 605 people who turned up really got their money's worth out of that one, with these 40 shots not just being long range efforts, as evidenced by the 31 shots on target. A fantastic display of football where more goals were truly possible, the score could have been 10-7! League Table Not looking good, only 5 points off the playoffs as everyone else is just as inconsistent as we are, but we really need to capitalise on the chances being presented to us by the failings of our opposition Other news Young prospect James Gardner left us for Colchester for a measly £2,000. Fortunately we'll get 40% of any future deal and a friendly against Essex's second largest club Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nobby_McDonald Posted July 6, 2020 Share Posted July 6, 2020 (edited) On 02/07/2020 at 20:31, QuizzicalEly said: Finances Yes, hopefully. I was pleasantly surprised by the financial state of the club when I looked at the spreadsheets. A few hundred grand in the bank and money to spend on transfers is the best I could have hoped for at this level and I got it. I expect that money to drain away though. How the hell have you got so much money? Edit: Wait, that's Notts County. You have them mixed up with Merthyr Town. Edited July 6, 2020 by Nobby_McDonald Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
QuizzicalEly Posted July 6, 2020 Author Share Posted July 6, 2020 (edited) 4 minutes ago, Nobby_McDonald said: How the hell have you got so much money? I've just realised I put up the wrong screenshot, that's my Notts County side from the Premier League not Merthyr! I'll edit the post now! I got that much money from buying a whole host of players when they were 15/16, loaning them with the sole intention of selling them 5/6 years later Edited July 6, 2020 by QuizzicalEly Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
QuizzicalEly Posted July 7, 2020 Author Share Posted July 7, 2020 FEBRUARY Some very winnable games this month as we look to make up ground and return to the playoff places, can we do it? Results What a month! This change to the 4-4-2 has worked wonders in both the league and cup as we score goals and lose just once all month. Two huge performances against Salford stick us into the 4th round of the FA Trophy whilst our league form sees us surge up the league. Fantastic! Basingstoke were top of the table and we took them apart in a convincing victory whilst routine wins against bottom of the table Salisbury, Bognor and Weston were all welcome. Jack Clements and Jake Wrench have formed a formidable partnership up front, scoring 12 goals between them this month. The only blip was an uncharacteristically poor performance away in Essex at Bilericay Game of the month Merthyr Town 3-1 Salford City It had to be. Salford may only be a Vanarama North side now but that late comeback was amazing. Two goals in two minutes from our wingers turned the tie completely on its head and saw Salford throw everything at us, allowing loaneee Wrench to score our third on the break, fantastic. League Table Despite all that, we're still not in the playoffs! Just as our opponents were as poor as we were earlier in the season they've hit form at the same time as us, only out on goal difference though and only 11 points behind leaders Newport Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
QuizzicalEly Posted July 7, 2020 Author Share Posted July 7, 2020 MARCH A huge month for both our playoff and cup ambitions Results A brilliant month in the league and one with highs and lows in the cup. We started the month dreadfully, going 2-0 down inside 4 minutes away at Wycombe before rallying and getting back on terms before the half hour mark. This was followed by a sensational performance at Penydarren Park to put us into the semis. This gave the boys confidence as we won 4 in a row in the league following our cup exploits, putting Sutton, Farnborough, Kingstonian and Cirencester to the sword. We then had the ultimate disappointment as, despite getting the easiest side left in the competition, we failed to show up home and away against Spennymoor. These disappointments sandwiched an excellent home win against Ebbsfleet. Game of the month Merthyr Town 1-0 Wycombe Wanderers We are a very lucky team. Daniel Downes put in his only good performance so far this season in goal, saving Curran's late penalty and keeping Wycombe at bay all game in a performance that should get him a contract somewhere else next season. On our side it was a calamity, with Doyle sent off in the third minute of two minutes of extra time to condemn us to 75 minutes of football with 10 men. Fortunately the backs against the wall performance paid off, with loanee Wrench bagging the winner one minute into extra time. League Table Our excellent form sees us into the payoffs and 8 points off top with 6 to go and a game in hand. Surely not? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
QuizzicalEly Posted July 7, 2020 Author Share Posted July 7, 2020 (edited) APRIL A big final month of the season, we could secure playoffs are even win the league. Let's see what we did Results An amazing start and a poor end. 8 goals in our first three had us dreaming of the National League, but poor performances against the top two sides in the division saw us fall short. The 3-3 at Hendon saw us go both 2-0 and 3-1 down, I admire the character in coming from behind but it is worrying going into the playoffs Game of the month Hendon 3-3 Merthyr Town 6 goals, what more can I say? League Table We're in the playoffs, a win in the first round will see us play Basingstoke who we've beaten home and away this season Other news So much for the "golden generation" In far worse news star striker and top scorer Jake Wrench broke his ankle on the final day at Hendon, ruling him out of the playoffs. He's been recalled by Bristol Rovers, looks like we' be relying on Ross Sharp, who's scored once this season. Edited July 7, 2020 by QuizzicalEly Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
QuizzicalEly Posted July 7, 2020 Author Share Posted July 7, 2020 PLAYOFFS 5th place means we have to do it the hard way. Three games stand between us and the National League VANARAMA NATIONAL SOUTH PLAYOFF FIRST ROUND Merthyr Town 1-0 Ebbsfleet United A simple win over our professional counterparts where the scoreline should have been much higher, a free kick from Johnstone got the job done but our strikers need to find their shooting boots. Good performance otherwise. VANARAMA NATIONAL LEAGUE SOUTH PLAYOFF SEMI FINAL Basingstoke Town 0-1 Merthyr Town After Extra-Time Party poopers! A massive 7,000 fans turned up at Basingstoke to watch a masterclass from everyone but our strikers. 21 shots is incredible and we really have Basingstoke's number beating them three times this season. Ross Sharp was the hero in extra time, coming on to score only his second goal for the club VANARAMA NATIONAL LEAGUE SOUTH PLAYOFF FINAL Newport County 2-1 Merthyr Town Devastated. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
QuizzicalEly Posted July 7, 2020 Author Share Posted July 7, 2020 SEASON REVIEW Despite the disappointment at Rodney Parade, it wasn't a bad season. We were predicted to finish 9th at the beginning of the season and in the end we managed to finish 5th, to me that looks like overperformance and the board agreed, giving me a new contract and a pay rise meaning I can finally move out of the pub. There is a part of me that's relieved we didn't go up, we're semi pro and are nowhere near being able to compete in the Vanarama National. We're a small club even by the standards of the Vanarama South, and there's some big boys in the division above who scare me. We only averaged 859 fans, Bradford finished 20th and managed 12,505 in the National. Despite this, I think if Wrench had been fit for the playoffs we'd have won. Ah well. Awards and stats Wayne Jones won player and signing of the season and rightly so. Scott Johnstone somehow swindled young player of the season despite being 24 and won goal of the season. Jack Clements wasn't our top scorer, Wrench was with 29 but his loan was cut short. Micky Traynor was a surprising winner of highest average rating as he was never really a regular. Clements and Canavan were top assisters and that shows just how good Clements was, 25 goals and 10 assists is a brilliant return for your first season of senior football. Yeah I'd go along with that I took Merthyr the highest they've ever been Review Yep, we over achieved. Interestingly both of our "important games" were against Bromley. So close in the FA Trophy, although Spennymoor eventually lost to Guiseley in the final Budgets Not bad, a few hundred quid extra. We'l be getting rid if we want to buy Exciting! Agreed, Ricky, agreed. AROUND THE LEAGUES Manchester United won the Premier League for the 24th time as Dad's old team Notts County finished 5th. Bournemouth, Bristol City and Blackburn were relegated. In the Championship it was a Midlands sweep as West Brom, Stoke and Leicester won promotion, Barnsley, Boston and Colchester were relegated. League 1 saw Charlton and Coventry promoted automatically with Sheffield Wednesday winning the playoffs, Stockport, Carlisle, Chester and Crawley dropped into League 2 where Preston won the league, going up with Southend, Oxford and Blackpool, Northampton and Maidstone went down. Teford and Port Vale went up from the Conference National as Morecambe, Curzon Ashton, Macclesfield and Accrington went down. Manchester United won the FA Cup, beating Premier League runner's up Everton in the final whilst Southampton won the League Cup. Elsewhere Hertha Berlin won their 7th consecutive Bundesliga title, Barcelona won La Liga, PSG won Ligue 1 and Celtic won their 64th Scottish league title In Europe, Hertha Berlin won the Champions League, Manchester United won the Europa League and Metz won the Europa Conference League. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
QuizzicalEly Posted July 8, 2020 Author Share Posted July 8, 2020 SEASON PREVIEW 2036/37 The best thing about football is there's always another game, this means we'll have plenty of chances to avenge the playoff defeat, if the board allow me to. Fortunately they will, giving me a new 1 year deal on £625 per week. Lovely stuff. We need to put the payoff defeat behind us and to do that we need to challenge. If we want to challenge we need new players. Last season's squad really wasn't good enough to go up and I knew we it. We only reached the playoffs on the back of a tactical switch and the fantastic partnership of Clements and Wrench who were responsible for over half of our league goals last season and managed 54 goals between them in all competitions. Clements is staying but Wrench is still out injured and probably isn't coming back. We need players. Unfortunately, we don't have money. The board extended the wage budget but it wasn't enough to revamp the squad, so we needed to let some players go. Hard decisions were made as some fan favourites were shown the door as we released 10 of the 13 players who we actually paid wages too. This is a proper rebuild The eagle eyed among you will spot most of our first team on this list. None of the loanees are returning either as we said goodbye to almost the entire first team squad. There are some very notable departures. Anthony McCarthy spent 10 years at the club after being released by Villa, scoring 114 goals in 350 league games. Thorniley played 43 league games last season and O'Loughlin and Doyle shared the left back spot all season. Josh Holmes was never really a starter, same for Guesbaoui, Idedavbo, Sharp and Archer as the 4 made 19 starts between them last season. Last is Scott Johnstone who made 60 league appearances for Merthyr These all left. None of them ever played for us. TRANSFERS IN Yes, that's a lot of signings and no, I won't take you through them all just the important ones. Due to the beauty of non-league only 6 of these are getting paid! ALAN SKINNER A bit of a black sheep as Skinner comes in as one of the few paid players. He's also the oldest player at a huge 30 years old. Prior to joining us, Skinner had only ever played in the Football League, bagging 95 goals in 347 games, though he only made 2 appearances for Wrexham in League 1 last season. I expect goals. KEVIN MERNAGH Another paid player 98 league appearances at 22 isn't bad though most have come in non-league. I like him, seems a nice guy. JACOB SPRACKLEN Like Mernagh, Spracklen was schooled at Exeter City. He played 20 times in League 2 for the Grecians last season but found himself without a club mid season as Exeter released him in January. Why that happened, I have no idea and how nobody else picked him up, I have no idea. TERRY WRIGHT On the transfer list at Burton all last season I was offered Wright so many times I grew sick of him. He's definitely an upgrade on the departing Johnstone and McCarthy. JOSLIN YOUSEF When the scouts recommended this guy we had to act fast as he's everything we needed in midfield last season. A hard worker with excellent passing and technique, the Norway Under 21 international has a future in the Football League, he's our new captain. RICHARD SMITH We went across Liverpool for this one as we brought in Richard Smith from Everton. His unambitious nature has to be worked on but this guy also has a Football League future if he works hard. MATTHEW LAKE Brought in from our affiliates Coventry, he's far too good for us, let's hope nobody tells him though. EXPECTATIONS A bit higher than the mid-table they wanted last season but this should be easily attainable with the squad we've put together. Outside of the highlights put together there are some promising youngsters brought in on non-contracts from Premier League clubs who will provide cover as we look to better last season. The bookies seem to agree with me as they put us 2nd behind Ebbsfleet as one of the favourites for promotion. Ebbsfleet rejected my job application so there's some added spice The people of Merthyr are clearly very excited Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
QuizzicalEly Posted July 8, 2020 Author Share Posted July 8, 2020 (edited) AUGUST Were we one season wonders? Will I regret bringing in so many players? Has everyone figured us out? Let's see. Results Amazing. 7 games, 7 wins and 23 goals scored. That's one way to banish last season's demons. We started away at Woking with a 4-4-2 that really is more of a 4-2-4 and we were far too open for my liking. Woking were always in the game and even had goals disallowed, I didn't like this and a tactical re-think was in order. One of the midfielders was dropped deeper to protect the defence more and the right winger was pushed forward to fit his preferred role better, making a lopsided asymmetric nonsense that's pretty much 4-1-2-1-2 with one winger and boy did it work. Only 3 more conceded but keeping up the goalscoring exploits as we stormed through the openinng month of the season, dispatching teams with ease. Bromley were the first to feel the force of our new tactic before we went on a run of goals, scoring 12 in 3 games embarrassing promotion rivals Billericay at their own ground. The new players have settled in brilliantly with only 2 of the players who featured on the opening day being at the club last season. Game of the month Merthyr Town 5-0 Salisbury Skinner and Lake are a lethal partnership Player of the month Alan Skinner It had to be! The old timer really hit the ground running at his new club, bagging 9 goals in 7 games as he tore the National League South a new one, showing why he's never had to drop this far down the leagues before. Amazing. League Table Edited July 8, 2020 by QuizzicalEly Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
QuizzicalEly Posted July 9, 2020 Author Share Posted July 9, 2020 SEPTEMBER Can we build on our perfect month? Results Another very good month although some worrying trends emerged. Firstly the positives, more wins and progression in the cup. A massive win away to kick off the month as Richard Smith bagged a brace from full back was followed by another away win and another goal for Smith. Next is the worrying trend. We started poorly against Dorking and were 2 down in 15 minutes, something similar happened in the defeat to Ebbsfleet and this poor start is worrying. Elsewhere there were more goals as we battered Greenwich. Game of the month Merthyr Town 5-2 Dorking Wanderers 40 shots! 40 shots! 40 shots! League Table Still top of the league! Hemel are looking good though Player of the month The goalscoring full back! What a month for this lad and he gets the most prestigious award in football Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
QuizzicalEly Posted July 10, 2020 Author Share Posted July 10, 2020 OCTOBER We faltered at the end of the last month, hopefully that doesn't continue Results We started the month brilliantly by smashing Harrow but the cracks started to show. A very disappointing defeat to our nearest challengers Hemel kicked it off before a shocking 3-0 defeat to Hendon. To lose 3-0 at home to Hendon is bad enough, but we just didn't turn up and were 2-0 down by the 8th minute. Shocking. However we showed good form in the cup, beating Vanarama National side Dulwich Hamlet in the replay to set up a First Round clash with Burton Albion. We managed to end the month well with another win but we need to improve. Game of the month Merthyr Town 4-5 Hemel Hempstead Town What a topsy turvy game this was. To be 2-0 down within 7 minutes was indicative of our poor starts but we managed to claw it back and go into half time 3-2 up. From there we really should have kicked on and made it comfortable, but we lost the lead, regained it, then lost it again in a shocking display of errors and complacency. To make matters worse they managed to win it late on. Not happy. League Table Player of the month The free transfer from Manchester City has been a revelation since joining and was great this month too, bagging a fantastic and surprising hat trick from midfield in the cup Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
QuizzicalEly Posted July 10, 2020 Author Share Posted July 10, 2020 NOVEMBER Some "easy" games on paper as well as some cup shenanigans, should be fun Results As with last month we kicked off the month away at Harrow Borough, however it was somewhat less convincing this time. We scored 4 once again but allowed them to grab 3 of their own. We went 2-0 up within 5 minutes but owed down and allowed them back into the match, still 3 points are 3 points. We went to Burton and failed to lay a glove on our League 1 opponents as they swatted us aside with ease before a cup hangover saw us draw with lowly Staines. We edged the game against Dartford before battering the home of Tesco in the FA Trophy, finishing the month with a routin away win in Cornwall. Game of the month Harrow Borough 3-4 Merthyr Town Goals, goals, goals League Table Back on top! Player of the month Terry Wright A solid month for a player who's grown in importance as the season has progressed Other news Jack Clements went to Southport for £10,000. A hero last season but he's made just 11 appearances so far this campaign due to Skinner and Lake Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
QuizzicalEly Posted July 11, 2020 Author Share Posted July 11, 2020 DECEMBER We need to keep going to retain our grip at the top of the table Results Another positive group of results but still some worries. Two defeats bookended the month as we lost away to Basingstoke and home to Farnborough. The Basingstoke defeat was horrible as we lead 2-0 in 72nd minute. Basingstoke scored 4 goals in the final 20 minutes to come from behind and beat us in a key game. Disgraceful. The Farnborough defeat was just disappointing, but not as ad as Basingstoke. Fortunately we responded, winning 3 straight league games and scoring 9 goals in the progress as well as some good cup progression against King's Lynn, though we shouldn't be conceding 3 goals to the likes of them Game of the month Merthyr Town 6-3 King's Lynn Town 6-3. What more can I say? Player of the month Joslin Yousef A fantastic month for our captain and Norwegian Under 21 international Yousef, his time at Liverpool really showing compared to the other cloggers in this league Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
QuizzicalEly Posted July 11, 2020 Author Share Posted July 11, 2020 JANUARY A packed month as we near the business end of the season Results A very good month as we continue our march toward the National League, and so close to a perfect month! 6 straight wins and cup progression sealed an excellent set of fixtures as we comfortably put aside all comers (except Torquay!). Our forwards were on song and the defence were fantastic, keeping 5 clean sheets from 7 games. The Torquay result was frustrating as it prevented a perfect month, but I can't complain too much Game of the month Bromley 0-3 Merthyr Town We always seem to do well against Bromley League Table On top of the pile where we belong, let's hope this doesn't change Player of the month Terry Wright A revelation this month as Wright bagged himself 5 of our 11 goals. Fantastic. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
QuizzicalEly Posted July 12, 2020 Author Share Posted July 12, 2020 FEBRUARY We're heading toward the business end of the campaign, can we keep it up? Results A VERY mixed bag of a month as we dropped points in a very disappointing fashion. The defence who kept so many clean sheets in January just didn't seem to function this month, conceding 15 goals in 7 games. The forwards did well, bagging a fantastic 17 goals but were let down by their counterparts at the back who parted like the red sea. We had done so well to claw ourselves into the lead against Billericay, only to throw it all away with a sloppy goal in the 89th minute. It was disappointing not to beat lowly Bradford, but penalties are a lottery. We bounced back against Salisbury but that Basingstoke defeat was disgraceful as they scored a 94th minute penalty despite only 2 minutes being added! We returned to winning ways by smashing Kingstonian but that draw against Staines was a shocker and could come back to haunt us. Game of the month Merthyr Town 3-4 Basingstoke Town Unfortunately Basingstoke battered us here and probably should have won by more than the solitary goal they won by in the end. Crabtree is fantastic and is pretty much single handedly sustaining their title push this season. To equalise in the 90th minute and then throw it all away in stoppage time is disgraceful League Table Somehow we're still top with just 10 to go Player of the month Nobody Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
QuizzicalEly Posted July 12, 2020 Author Share Posted July 12, 2020 MARCH We need to get over the disappointment of last month. And quickly. Results A poor start was saved by a very good finish as we picked up 7 from 9 to end the month which stared with 4 from 9. The first two games saw some uncharacteristic poor discipline as we saw red in each of those games. Defender Kevin Mernagh was sent off away to Bath whilst captain Joslin Yousef saw red at home to Truro. Bizarrely these are the games we picked up points in as we battled from 1-0 and 2-1 down at Bath and managed to squeeze past Truro. The Sutton and Dartford games caused despair as I saw our title hopes melting away only for super sub Fisker to strike against Eastleigh and seemingly reinvigorate our side ahead of the Braintree game. I don't care we didn't keep a clean sheet as we bagged a fantastic 6! Game of the month Merthyr Town 6-2 Braintree Town Pretty similar on each statistic except the scoreline as we showed our superior quality at home to Braintree. The three musketeers of Wright, Skinner and Lake struck to keep our promotion dream alive. League Table We play both Ebbsfleet and Hemel in the run in. Player of the month Matthew Lake 5 goals and 2 assists from 6 games Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
QuizzicalEly Posted July 12, 2020 Author Share Posted July 12, 2020 THE RUN IN We have to play both of our title rivals in this final month, can we hold on? Results What a last three games! I though we'd blown it when we lost away to Dorking but what a response to smash Harrow 6-0! Skinner and Wright are really turning up for the run in as they bag important goals. That win against Ebbsfleet was vital, had they beat us we'd already be out of the race. Just as vital was that win against Cray as it leaves us looking like this going into the final day.... We're top on the final day. We also play Hemel Hempstead leaving a few possibilities. If we win, we go up as champions. If we draw and Ebbsfleet fail to win we go up as champions, if they do win though Ebbsfleet go up as champions. If we lose, Hemel Hempstead go up as champions, unless Ebbsfleet win. Confusing? Let's do this. Final Day We play Hemel Hempstead, Ebbsfleet play Sutton. Let's see how it went. Ebbsfeet, the only professional team in this race, have blown it. A man sent off early on saw them lose to mid table Sutton. Could we capitalise? YYYYYEEEEEEEEEEEESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS!!!!! The best draw of all time. We played absolutely dreadfully. Hemel were all over us although we did take the lead through Terry Wright. They responded immediately and battered us the entire game. We ended up playing desperate, backs against the wall, turgid rubbish in the end. But we did it! Promotion! League Table A bit of a shame not to get 100 points, but who cares? 5 teams finishing on 93 points or above shows you just how high quality this title race was, Hemel, Ebbsfleet and ourselves all would have won the title last season with those points totals 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
QuizzicalEly Posted July 12, 2020 Author Share Posted July 12, 2020 (edited) SEASON REVIEW 2036/2037 Well what a momentous season for Merthyr. A league title and the club's highest ever finish has seen us go up to the highest level this club has ever played at. I'm a bit scared about what a poor semi-pro team can do in the Vanarama National, but let's not think about that right now Awards and stats Almost a clean sweep for Terry Wright and boy does he deserve it. The free transfer from Burton was magnificent this season, scoring 23 goals and getting himself 16 assists. Alan Skinner was a fair second as the veteran was just as lethal as his young counterpart, scoring 36 goals and getting 12 assists in all competitions. Joslin Yousef was third and ran the midfield all season averaging a rating of 7.45! Despite not scoring or assisting the most, Wright bagged himself the joint most MOTM awards and the highest average rating Canavan showed his quality by getting a massive 19 assists this season, whilst goalkeeper Williams was our best passer. A shoutout for loanee Matthew Lake who isn't on either list despite scoring 28 goals and grabbing 14 assists We were fortunate in being able to put outs this team pretty much every game. Our forwards were mesmerising this season with 4 players (Skinner, Lake, Wright and Fisker) getting double figures for goals. Our defence was pretty poor to be honest as we conceded 64 league goals (the 10th highest in the league), but our attack made up for it, scoring a huge 115 goals Wright won Player of the season and Skinner was top scorer, remarkably 4 of our players were nominated for player of the season! Official review Budgets and expectations £11,000 per week is our wage budget for next season, which is a lot more than I expected but isn't a huge amount. It comes out around £500,000 for next season. This would stick us firmly at the bottom of the wage league, which isn't that bad as long as the board are realistic.... Oh come on! The jump from Vanarama South to Vanarama National is huge and the board expect mid-table immediately! Last season's South champions Wealdstone were relegated straight back down alongside the huge Bradford City! There's some big clubs at this level and some big wage bills (16 cubs have an annual wage budget of over £1m). This may end poorly. So what next? The over the top expectations did dampen my mood somewhat, I don't fancy failing, getting sacked, relegated or both. With that in mind.... Around the leagues Manchester United won a second consecutive Premier League title, while Burnley, Norwich and Stoke were relegated. Bournemouth and Bristol City won promotion from the Championship alongside West Ham, with Nottingham Forest, Sheffield Wednesday and Charlton being relegated to League 1. League 1 was won by Plymouth who went up with Colchester and Bolton while Rotherham, Oldham, Burton and Preston were relegated. Telford United won League 2, going up alongside AFC Wimbledon, Scunthorpe and Crawley as Carlisle and Cambridge suffered relegation to non-league. Fylde and Fleetwood won promotion from the Vanarama National with Bradford, Wealdstone, Boreham Wood and Dover going down to the regionals. Hemel Hempsead beat Ebbsfleet United in the playoff final. Everton beat Arsenal in the final of the FA Cup while Manchester United won the League Cup. Barnsley won the EFL Trophy and Gateshead beat Warrington to lift the FA Trophy. In Europe, Hertha Berlin won a second consecutive Champions League, Notts County lifted the Europa League and Southampton won the Europa Conference League. Hertha continued their domination of Germany, winning their 8th straight Bundesliga. PSG won another title, Real Madrid won their first La Liga for 7 years and Celtic won their 65th title Edited July 12, 2020 by QuizzicalEly 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
QuizzicalEly Posted July 13, 2020 Author Share Posted July 13, 2020 SEASON PREVIEW 2037/38 I had interviews at Wigan, Hartlepool and Shrewsbury. All Football League clubs, all huge steps up. They all said no. Looks like I'm staying at Merthyr then. TRANSFERS Nobody important left, so let's look at who came in Like last year quite a few came in (though not as many). Let's meet the important ones. MARC BYRNE Last season's defence was absolutely rubbish so we needed some defensive improvements. In comes Marc from Man City, he should be good PETER BROWNE Another Premier League reject to bolster our midfield. Another Irish youth international. He should also be good. TOM POPE The most exciting signing of the window. Pope is fantastic for this level and really shouldn't be this far down, much like Lake last season, just 19 years old and bags of potential JAMES PARKINSON I'm yet to find a good keeper KENNY SWEENEY Our only loan signing, but boy is he a good one. He'll be in a midfield two alongside Yousef or Brown The bookies seem confident Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nobby_McDonald Posted July 13, 2020 Share Posted July 13, 2020 Very well done on promotion and looks like you're a decent bet for another one. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
QuizzicalEly Posted July 14, 2020 Author Share Posted July 14, 2020 AUGUST Our first ever season at such a high level, we're keeping everything crossed Results After the first two I was really fearing the worst, especially losing 3-0 on the opening day, but the results don't tell us everything. We outplayed Cambridge but their superior individual quality saw them through whilst we missed chances. There was a problem renewing Skinner's contract in the summer (he wanted over £1,000 a week) and that may have been a factor early on before he was properly tied down to a season long contract at £750 a week, rewarding us with a hat trick against Hemel. Tom Pope showed why I was so happy to sign him, weighing in with a key brace against Barnet to bag us our first 3 points of the season. A huge win over Hemel was overshadowed by a hard fought 2-1 win over (comparative) giants Gillingham. All in all a very good start to life at this level Game of the month Merthyr Town 3-0 Barnet Our first points at this level and a fantastic performance to boot, new winger Pope shone but last season's player of the season Wright was determined not to be forgotten Player of the month Tom Pope It had to be! 4 goals and overall fantastic performances in his first month at the club League Table Looking good Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
QuizzicalEly Posted July 14, 2020 Author Share Posted July 14, 2020 21 hours ago, Nobby_McDonald said: Very well done on promotion and looks like you're a decent bet for another one. Cheers mate, I hope so Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
QuizzicalEly Posted July 14, 2020 Author Share Posted July 14, 2020 SEPTEMBER A very good start in our first month at this level, can it last? Results Yes. It. Can! What a month! An unbeaten month in our first season at this level and just inches away from a perfect month as we draw just one. 3 goals in 18 minutes saw us dispatch Harrogate with ease and then sit back to ease to victory. We then became progressively better at scoring, scoring 2, then, then 4 to dispatch Chelmsford, Warrington and Kidderminster before we beat our close rival Newport easily. We should have scored more, but the 3 points will do. We played another rival in Hereford and only managed a draw. Disappointing. Terry Wright was a revelation this month, seemingly spurred on by his left wing counterpart winning player of the month and drove us on to victory. Great stuff. Game of the month Merthyr Town 2-1 Newport County A simple win against our closest rivals Player of the month Terry Wright 6 goals and 2 assists this month for last year's player of the season League Table We're top! It won't last Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
QuizzicalEly Posted July 15, 2020 Author Share Posted July 15, 2020 OCTOBER A thrilling start to life in the Vanarama National, will it continue? Results An ok month and the sort of thing that I feel will be more common as the season goes on. Some very good wins in there against clubs who really shouldn't be at this level as well as defeats against clubs who shouldn't be here either. Swindon and Northampton are huge compared to us and it was great to not only play but beat them. A shame to lose to Wycombe and Cheltenham, but like I say they're bigger clubs than we'll ever be. Yeovil was a shame but the Eastleigh defeat was unacceptable and to go out of the FA Cup before the First Round is shocking. Game of the month Merthyr Town 3-0 Swindon Town Just an excellent performance against a club far bigger than ourselves Player of the month Alan Skinner The evergreen forward Alan Skinner wins our player of the month award, 31 years old and showing everyone how its done League Table Despite an inconsistent month we lead the clutch of tiny clubs at the top of table Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
QuizzicalEly Posted July 15, 2020 Author Share Posted July 15, 2020 NOVEMBER I'm still surprised at how well we've started, although the cracks started to show last time out Results A very poor month as we lose 3 from 4 and show some very poor discipline. It was admittedly a tough month as all 4 sides were in the top 10 at the start of the month, with 3 in the playoff positions, although as league leaders we should have been putting goals these sides. We took the lead and collapsed against Guiseley but managed to bounce back against Solihull Moors. Just another win would have made this month ok, but we proceeded to roll over against Dulwich Hamlet and 10 man Maidstone. Poor. There is no player of the month, nor is there a game of the month. It was all rubbish. League Table Still looking good up in 3rd spot despite a poor month, it'll do. Other news I'm a wanted man. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
QuizzicalEly Posted July 16, 2020 Author Share Posted July 16, 2020 With Merthyr in the promotion hunt to the Football League and a league title under my belt, I'm hot property. Meaning I need to make some decisions, I had interviews with Barnsley and Southend. Fortunately they made the decision for me by hiring someone else. I did have another interview with Wigan though, who rejected me in the summer only to sack the manager they hired ahead of me after just 6 months, and Wigan gave me a decision to make, offering me a job just before Christmas. Strangely enough they offered me less money than I was on at Merthyr, offering just £1,000 a week instead of the £1,100 a week. It'll be a long commute so I'd have to move which is a pain so it was a really tough dec- no it wasn't. I took the job. It wasn't really a decision to be made. Realistically, Merthyr aren't going any further than the Vanarama National, they've maxed out. They're a semi pro club sharing a catchment area with two Premier League clubs and it shows, in spite of the good form Merthyr are only averaging 1,561 fans per game, Wigan play in a 25,000 seater stadium. It just doesn't compare. There's the obvious historical differences. Merthyr have never been at a level higher than the 5th tier. Wigan have played in Europe (properly), the Premier League and won the FA Cup. There's genuine potential for growth. Not to mention they're professional. I had fun at Merthyr, but its time to go. I managed 150 games for them, winning 87 (58%) and scoring 307 goals in almost 1,000 days in the job. We won the league and were inches away from a cup final. Hopefully they don't crash and burn. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
QuizzicalEly Posted July 16, 2020 Author Share Posted July 16, 2020 WIGAN ATHLETIC Here I am. I think you'll agree its a step up. Its a bigger town and a bigger club and we're going to do big things. Wigan have had a tough time of it of late they've not been back to the Premier League and spent much of the 20s bouncing around League 1, their most recent relegation to League 2 came in 2035 and they've been there ever since. The last two seasons have seen Wigan finish 8th and 12th which isn't enough for a club this size. Their stock has fallen since their Premier League heyday, hopefully I take them back. This is a top club, as we can see in the facilities, a 25,000 stadium, good youth facilities and great training facilities. These facilities have proven fruitful recently The finances aren't looking too shabby either, a solid amount of money in the bank and the transfer budget The expectations aren't too bad either! I'm enjoying it already! SQUAD THIS is the problem. The squad ain't great. There's one or two decent players but most of these are just average League 2 players, this squad is going to need an overhaul, but let's see some highlights Bryan Carson Just 19 and Wigan through and through. A Wigan fan who came through the youth system and is probably the best at the club, he'll be key cutting in from the left. He's yet to really hit the goalscoring potential he has, we'll change that. Joe Murray Another Wiganer(?). Through the youth system and in the first team, there's a few others like this in the first team squad which implies a decent setup here. Murray hasn't hit the goalscoring heights either but that's about to change. Some talent in the youth team, especially these two And it looks like there's more on the way Why am I here? This is why. Some shocking recent form led to my predecessor's sacking and my appointment. Its seen Wigan slide to 17th in the league. Wigan Athletic lower than the likes of Aldershot, Maidenhead and FC United? That has to change. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
wesl Posted July 16, 2020 Share Posted July 16, 2020 Nice job at Merthyr. Hopefully you can have Carson and Murray banging in the goals for years to come. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
QuizzicalEly Posted July 16, 2020 Author Share Posted July 16, 2020 1 hour ago, wesl said: Nice job at Merthyr. Hopefully you can have Carson and Murray banging in the goals for years to come. Cheers mate, I certainly hope they do! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
QuizzicalEly Posted July 16, 2020 Author Share Posted July 16, 2020 (End of) DECEMBER Just the two games for me this month, how did we get on? Results Excellent! 4 points from 2 tough games as I try to implement a new style. 4-1-4-1 gegenpress is the way we're going with Wigan and it worked a treat against Burton as we did everything but score. We were dreadful in the first half against FC United, going 2-0 down in 16 minutes, but we rallied to grab my first win Game of the month Wigan Athletic 3-2 FC United of Manchester What a second half! FC United are a good side and showed it in the first half but sat back as we came into the game more and more. Ross Hogg was the catalyst, bagging a decent goal 11 minutes into the second half before Joe Murray got us back on level terms with a poacher's effort. Youngster Jack Lewis grabbed his first goal for the club with a late header to get us the points League Table Up to 16th! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
QuizzicalEly Posted July 17, 2020 Author Share Posted July 17, 2020 (edited) JANUARY We're in the land of professional clubs, so that means professional transfer windows. Transfers Out First up are the departures. Horgan and Lewis were squad players I'm not disappointed leaving, but Carson was a true shame. He kicked off that I didn't let him leave and with his contract up soon I decided not to risk it and cash in. £1m + a 50% of the next fee seems a decent deal but its a shame as he was our best player, home grown and only 19 In Yes deadline day was busy but none of these were panic buys. Stuart Read First up is the most expensive, Read is where the bulk of the Carson money went and I'm happy with it. For or system we need a lot of midfield bodies who can run and Read fits this perfectly. Leeds were sniffing around so you know he's good Lloyd Edwards A steal from the free agents list, Edwards has a proven goalscoring record at a higher level, bagging 24 in 39 for MK Dons in League 1, his career has faltered since then, hopefully he can revitalise it Mohammed Akpan Another free transfer but without the pedigree. He's bounced around the lower leagues at Fleetwood, Telford and Port Vale but never really settled anywhere, hopefully he can settle here as the replacement for Carson Wes Canavan Wes is another steal from the bargain basement costing just £13,500 and bringing defensive solidity Andrew Harrington A young Weshman who's never really fulfilled his potential, a bit like Edwards Panagiotis Vasilieou A cheap backup with potential James Tracey We were light on keepers and he was cheap Results An inconsistent month that was solid enough. We aren't a particularly good side at this level and every win is hard fought, so with that in mind 2 wins, 2 draws and 2 losses ain't bad. A pretty drab game with Forest Green kicked off the month which was followed by the opposite away at York. Two poor defeats followed that win though including a disappointing home loss to Port Vale where we just couldn't get near them, same goes for the game at Hartlepool. A draw at Stockport steadied the ship before another great win as we overcame Rotherham 1-0 to nick the points. Game of the month York City 2-3 Wigan Athletic What a turnaround! 2-1 down in the 90th minute and we manage to pull it out of the bag and get three points. An incredible cameo from Owen Robertson nicked us the points at promotion chasing York, great stuff. League Table Still 16th after our patchy form Edited July 17, 2020 by QuizzicalEly Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
QuizzicalEly Posted July 17, 2020 Author Share Posted July 17, 2020 FEBRUARY Our squad has taken shape and we have nothing to play for, fun! Results What a month! And what a start to life at Wigan for Mohammed Akpan! 3 wins from 5 is great and has propelled us from lower mid-table to the lofty heights of mid-table! A great start to the month as we smashed three past Tranmere before a tight 2-1 win against Havant who have been propping up the able for a while now. A slight stumble against Fylde was righted by a surprising 2-0 victory over promotion chasing Rochdale before we were brought back down to earth at home to Fleetwood Game of the month Tranmere Rovers 2-3 Wigan Athletic Another 3-2! Where are we getting all these goals from? Player of the month Mohammed Akpan An excellent start to his Wigan career League Table Up in 13th! Progress! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
QuizzicalEly Posted July 18, 2020 Author Share Posted July 18, 2020 MARCH A solid start to my career at Wigan, long may it continue Results 3 wins in 5 again! I'm enjoying this kind of form and we've bagged some big wins. Preston were vanquished once again as I embarrassed them at Deepdale by smashing them 1-0. A disappointing first performance against Aldershot was saved by Hartley's last gasp equaliser which set us up for a simple victory over Shrewsbury. We then battered Oldham with Akpan showing his quality and surprising us all with his goalscoring. We don't talk about Maidenhead. Game of the month Wigan Athletic 4-0 Oldham Athletic A big win against another local side makes the board and the fans happy Player of the month Andrew Hartley It was between him and Akpan last month and it was the same this month. Great performance League Table Just 5 points off the playoffs.... Youth Intake A bunch of kids turned up at the club saying they played for us, one of them was decent Meet Russell Dowilng, a good player. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
QuizzicalEly Posted July 18, 2020 Author Share Posted July 18, 2020 APRIL Last month of the season. Can we make the playoffs? Results No, no we can't make the playoffs. Two disappointing draws against two poor teams before losses against decent teams meant we fell way short in the end. We should have beaten both Stevenage and Grimsby but just couldn't stick the ball in the net before two poor performances against Crewe and Exeter put paid to our playoff dreams, ah well. No player or game of the month then League Table Not bad I guess Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
QuizzicalEly Posted July 19, 2020 Author Share Posted July 19, 2020 SEASON REVIEW 2037/38 I may have only joined in December but I think some pretty steady progress was made. I joined in 17th and ended the season in 13th which shows promise, I think. I managed 33 points from 22 games, an average of 1.5. Over a full season that would net us 69 points which would see us challenge for the playoffs. If you take out our horrific last 5 games that average shoots up to 1.8, which would get us 82 points and automatic promotion. Sure there's stuff to be done to the squad between then, but were in a solid financial position so I should be able to keep a hold of our best players and be able to bring in some good players to supplement the squad and challenge at the top end. But first, this season. Awards and stats Local lad Joe Murray won the Player of the Season award comfortably with almost half the vote while captain and fellow local boy Cotton came third behind the experienced Ricky Foster. Owen Robertson's last gasp winner against York was goal of the season while Tracey was a surprising winner of signing of the season. Murray picked up young player of the season. And here's why. Joe Murray was our top scorer with 12 goals, 10 more than free transfer Lloyd Edwards who was very disappointing after arriving in January. Academy product Hartley had the highest average rating with yet another academy product in Max Dean getting the most assists Review We were out of the cups before my arrival and the league positions over time shows my impact Team of the season Good to see new signings Akpan and Canavan in here, 5 of this 11 came through the youth setup! Next season Expectations have been heightened following the decent end to the season as the board expect playoffs, do I have the money to do it? Eh. Merthyr How did the boys in South Wales get on? Very badly. Alan Skinner is now an icon though. Around the leagues Manchester United won a third straight Premier League title while Leicester, West Ham and Bristol City went down. Burnley won the Championship, going up alongside Norwich and Blackburn with Luton, Pymouth and Bolton being relegated. Sheffield Wednesday won League 1, going up with Nottingham Forest and Charlton while Scunthorpe, Bristol Rovers, Telford and MK Dons were relegated. York won League 2, going up with Crewe, Rochdale and Fylde with Aldershot and Havant going down. Dulwich Hamlet won the National League and Northampton won the playoffs with Gateshead, Yeovil, Newport and Gillingham going down to the regional leagues. Bradford City, Macclesfield, Ebbsfleet and Bromley were promoted to the National League In Europe, Manchester United beat PSG to lift the Champions League, Southampton won the Europa League and Villarreal won the Europa Conference League. Hertha Berlin won yet another Bundesliga, Real Madrid won La Liga, PSG won Ligue 1 and Saint Johnstone finally broke the Old Firm dominance by winning the Scottish Premiership Madness. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
QuizzicalEly Posted July 20, 2020 Author Share Posted July 20, 2020 SEASON PREVIEW 2038/39 A promising end to last season has me confident of achieving the board's aim of a playoff spot and I'm even more confident after our summer business, which was buoyed by a lovely little sell on clause coming our way Some bloke I'd never heard of went to Norwich for £20m and we got £1m from it. Happy days. Transfers Out As well as the sell on clause we brought in £550,000 of our own. Off went backup right back Jones to Wrexham for £7,000 while centre back went Scott went to Barnsley for £500,000. First choice keeper Tracey went to Premier League Woves for some reason and is on £24,500 a week. Lucky bastard. We also released a LOT of players, freeing up a lot of money on the wage bill. Releasing this lot has freed up over £13,000 a week on the wage budget. Sad that a few went but I knew I could get better. Fellows, Pavon, Sharman-Lowe, Manning and Healey were stealing a living and freed up over £6,000 a week. Stoute, Spring and Peters were first teamers but I know better can be found while Robertson was shoved down the pecking order by Edwards and Vasileiou, meaning he went despite his heroics at York. Ah well. In I spent some money. Let's meet them. Adrian Barnett I can't believe we signed him. £450,000 up front and the rest in add ons and for some reason Fulham said yes. Fair play to the scouts for finding this gem a quick finisher at just 18, I'm loving it. Michael Hughes A good Gibraltarian! Hughes is the goalkeeper of a bizarrely good Gibraltar golden generation which has seen them shoot up the rankings to the 130s above the likes of Lithuania and Estonia. An international with over 100 Football League appearances at just 22. Get in the van. Josh Halliday My scouts have outdone themselves with this guy, a wing back with almost 100 League 1 appearances for less than £60,000. Yes please. Paul Smithson Guy's career has never really kicked on (just 58 league games at 25), hopefully it does here Wessel Boeve The heir to Ricky Foster for less than £2,000. 18 and eligible for both Northern Ireland and the Netherlands, he's going to be a star. Lewys Phillips Another who's never really kicked on. Part of the Cardiff City production line (they've just had two players go to Manchester City for a combined fee of over £200m) he's never really kicked on and was playing non-league last season, I have faith though Mason Farrell Midfield cover for nothing, my kind of guy. Shane Driver An old man has stumbled into the club. Over 400 appearances for the likes of Norwich, Leeds, Cardiff and Aston Villa. Not played much recently but he should be fine Theo Hopewell Another who never really kicked on (its a theme) after being touted for big things as a youth player at Watford who spent almost a £1m to sign him from Sheffield Wednesday as a teenager. He's never reached the heights and bounced around the Championship and League 1 as a backup for Leeds and Plymouth. Just 90 league appearances at his age tells you everything. Fans! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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