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Welcome to 2018! Things to look forward to: Youth Intake Day, winning the league, and winning two cups. Can we do it?! Let’s find out!
Day picked the wrong time to have a bad training report. I’ve decided to move Spearing to our starting right central defender, sorry Day. You can come on when it’s late and take the captain’s band when Macey comes off. I’m pleased that kinda-of-recent arrival The Real Slim Shadi Al-Ziod is doing well, though none of his Technical skills have risen.
I don’t remember when but I had Robbie Jones try to learn how to Knock Ball Past Opponents. I got an email on the 1st of the year saying he has mastered it. A great Trait for a Winger to have. Pretty useless trait for Winger to have.
We only lost £193,000 in December. This brings us up over £1 million in losses for the season. I wonder how long this is sustainable. Will we end up losing roughly £2.5 million per year? If we get consecutive promotions all the way until we’re in Conference South, will we be bringing in the crowds to make us enough money? I have serious doubts. At what point do I have to have a fire sale of our precious youth players?
We had an incredible 10 days between matches. I dropped the intensity of training for a bit then had us work on Fitness.
On 4 January 2018 I get an email from the board who want to discuss extending my contract. I’m currently on £625 per week but my contact expires on 30 June this year. The next day they offer £650 per week, which I’m good with, but offer only one year. I ask for two years and drop my Promotion Wage Rise 10%, leave in the 35% Relegation Wage Drop and bump the Managerial Compensation up to 90% because there is no way I’m leaving this club and it should make the board more agreeable to the extra year (the max I could ask for). To counter that, I ask for a contract extension upon promotion. The board immediately approve and there are drinks all around.
The team report for our next opponent, Grantham, comes in and they actually look like a respectable team. One thing struck me though; unlike FM2014, in FM2018, crappy players have crappy Determination. Of all the respectable players Grantham has, only two have Determination in the double-digits. I looked around some more and that seems to be pretty consistent across all teams.
This is our first match of the new year. Hopefully 2018 is as kind to us as 2017 was.
at Grantham, 9 January 2018
Formation: Spade (GK, DR, DC r, DC l, DL, MC r, MC l, AMR, AMC, AML, ST c)
Starting XI: Legg, Maguire, Spearing, Carroll, Jefcoate, Nixon, Smith, Pearson, O'Donnell, Duckett, Macey
Subs: Webb, Parker, Day, Clark, Al-Ziod, Barlow, McAdam, Jones, Taylor, Martin, Rae, Cullen
Spot on 13:00 Macey comes out of his slump. Duckett stole the ball from Lord Grantham’s right back and sent it into the box where a left-alone Macey struck as surely as ever. And exactly 41 seconds later Macey returns the favor; he received a long-ball from Maguire and took it out wide to the right to send a cross to Duckett at the far post and as simple as that we are in a commanding lead. The rest of our goals come at 15:23, 22:29, and 36:17, courtesy of Duckett, Duckett, and Macey. (Brixton’s newest law firm.) I do a complete outfield swap at half to keep the lads fresh for Saturday’s upcoming Southern League Cup match and get a recovering Barlow back to Match Fit. And in the second half we get goals at 45:30 and 75:10, courtesy of Rae and Martin. (Not a law firm.)
POM: Daniel Duckett (3 goals, 1 assist, 4 key passes, 1 chance created)
After the match I get another email from another agent. This time it’s Paul Taylor’s. Coming off a game in which he rated 6.7 and had one key pass in 45 minutes of action. Nope.
Before the match I got an email from Graham Rutherford again, this time to tell me that Peter Maguire is a “Potential Conference National Talent”.
vs. Weymouth, 13 January 2018
Formation: Spade
Starting XI: Legg, Maguire, Spearing, Carroll, Al-Ziod, Nixon, Smith, Pearson, O'Donnell, Duckett, Macey
Subs: Webb, Parker, Day, Clark, Jefcoate, Barlow, McAdam, Jones, Taylor, Martin, Rae, Donaldson
They have a good team but they are starting two injured players. Will that be a bad decision? Nothing happens until 15’ but that’s just Nixon sending in a long ball without a prayer. Finally we get a lucky deflection that ultimately ends up with an easy O’Donnell score. Weymouth just got FMed. The first half ends with us having 5 shots but only 1 on target. After a few subs in the back half, Macey puts us in a more comfortable position just before 58’ off a nice O’Donnell feed up the gut. What was amazing about it was he was 1-on-5 and he still managed to score. He only falters during 1-on-1s. And just to make it funner, Duckett to Macey rears its lovely head 90 seconds into stoppage time for an Eddie brace. Maybe I’ll just call him Eddie from now on in a nod toward Iron Maiden.
POM: Daniel Duckett, (2 assists, 4 key passes, 2 chances created)
It’s the drawings again! In the Southern League Cup we get to host Kings Langely, two rungs above in the ladder. For the FA Vase we get to host Pickering, who are at the same level as us. They are 2nd in their league so they might present a small challenge. Things could have been worse; Dartford and Bath were in both pools.
Another Player Development email came in, this time for Mark Nixon. In a twist though, Rutherford doesn’t assess which league he has the potential for; he believes Nixon will be as good as Ben O’Donnell. That is some high praise! I take it to mean he’ll be Premier League-worthy.
Barlow is finally well enough to start again. I have faith he’ll pick up where he left off. I also swap Webb into goal to keep his development going.
at Canterbury, 17 January 2018
Formation: Spade
Starting XI: Webb, Maguire, Spearing, Carroll, Jefcoate, Barlow, Smith, Pearson, O'Donnell, Duckett, Macey
Subs: Webb, Parker, Day, Clark, Al-Ziod, Nixon, McAdam, Jones, Taylor, Martin, Rae, Cullen
Duckett to Pearson strikes again, this time in the 14th minute. After that it’s a pretty eventless first half. Duckett and Carroll are being complacent and Macey is skying his shots and has a 6.3 rating going. They all get a scolding. It seems to work with Duckett as he gets another assist with O’Donnell’s goal. Macey still ain’t doing shit. He doesn’t improve and gets yanked at 65’. I think his problem is that he’s at 19 league goals and gets a bonus of £2,000 if he makes 20. So I guess this means he has a low Pressure rating? We get a penalty call in the 82nd minute and Nixon bounces it of the left upright. Dumbass. But two minutes later Jones sends in a high lob to a tall Rae who doesn’t botch his attempt and we seal the bishop’s fate. Barlow rated a 6.8. Well, at least he’s healthy again.
POM: Ben O’Donnell (1 goal, 4 key passes, 4 chances created)
Nixon ends the match with a 6.3 and despite having promised myself not to fine these youths, a statement must be made. I fine him and Eddie each a week and Macey’s Determination jumps up one to 19 as well as his Work Rate jumping from 12 to 13. Nixon’s Determination went from 9 to 10 but his Work Rate remained the same. Who? Hahahahaha I slay me. (At least I didn’t make another Archbishop joke!)
Pearson’s agent came looking for a new contract again. This time at least he waited for a good game as Pearson scored a goal and rated a 7.1. The answer is still no.
Time for more up changing. Changing up? Eff it, time for the Second XI to get some starts.
vs. Hollands & Blair, 20 January 2018
Formation: Spade
Starting XI: Legg, Clark, Day, Carroll, Parker, Cullen, Donaldson, Jones, Taylor, Martin, Macey
Subs: Webb, Maguire, Spearing, Al-Ziod, Jefcoate, Nixon, McAdam, Pearson, O'Donnell, Duckett, Rae, Smith
In the 17th Donaldson get us on the scoreboard after a corner, it was the first action period of the game. Not a minute later they equalize when Legg can’t handle a header courtesy of a free kick deep in our end. Just before 58’ a long ball forward by Donaldson sees a Macey cross from the right side of the box to the arc where Taylor is able to get his hammer foot on it for a low shot to the left corner. Just wish it was Macey who would get off the snide. He does get a clean shot a few moments later but sends it in with a much force as a mouse fart.
And there it is folks! In the 73rd minute Macey gets loose between the two central defenders, jukes right, rounds the keeper and he gets his 20th league goal of the season. I thought that sealed the game but his sub, Rae, scores at 4 minutes and 10 seconds into 4 minutes of stoppage time. A good victory.
POM: David Donaldson (4 key passes)
In the post-game email dump I get notification that Parker is Natural at DL now. That is a relief. If the game/database rights itself next year and I can only use 5 subs, he’ll be a regular back-up for us.
We have 8 days before our next match. It’s against Erith Town who are second in the league. I might use this week to change tactics again. I think I’ll switch the left striker to the Advanced Forward and the right striker to a Deep Lying Forward in Support mode. That way O’Donnell will become the star sooner. I do this knowing that Macey won’t probably be with us once we make it to the Conference South.
I want to try a new formation but I was hoping that Pearson, Duckett, and Jones were Natural as wingers by now. I’ll hold off. I haven’t got a name for it yet but it’s going to have 3 DC, 1 WBR, 1 WBR, 3 MC, and 2 ST. I want to try out the Mezzala role as I’ve not tried it. Maybe I’ll call it Candle because it looks like a candle holder? Because the Central Defenders are the bottom, the wing backs are the lip, the midfielders are the base, and the strikers are the top?
at Erith Town, 28 January 2018
Psych! Match postponed due to a waterlogged pitch. See, Erith, you need a Sugar Daddy who’ll build you a stadium that doesn’t suck. Fun fact: Erith Town don’t have their own stadium and have to play in Greenwich. I guess they’re never late for matches as they always know what time it is?
I am able to schedule a last-minute friendly with some team called Bicester. I’ll play the second XI and the U18s. Gotta keep the kiddos Match Fit!
The friendly goes as well as expected, 9-0. Both U18 strikers (remember the Mickey Ds?) got hat tricks and Paul Taylor got a brace.
Another excellent, if truncated, month in the books. Like December, January saw no losses, still on top of our league by 13 points, and still in two cups. I’m looking forward to February as it’s a short month that culminates in Youth Intake Day. What was it the kids said like 10 years ago? Squeeeee!? It’ll be an action-packed month as we are scheduled for 7 matches. (Checks math) So one every four days. Joy!
