PREV
GO TO INDEX OF UPDATES
NEXT
I just can’t get the hang of training. I don’t remember having so much trouble last year. It’s gotta be because I’m using youth too much. I cut back everybody’s training Intensity Level back to Average in hopes of not another repeat.
We lost almost £88k last month, which is not totally unexpected given that we are out of the FA Cup now. This brings our season total down to £845k in the green.
Still Untouchable but up to 91% now. Nice.
Nothing has changed since Duckett became Highly Influential early last month.
Before our first match of the month the youth that we found on 25 March finally signs with us. Meet Jordan Nickson:
He’s really just a filler and experiment. I’ll try to get his DR up to Natural as quick as possible. His Pace, Tackling, Marking, and Positioning makes me think he can be a U18 player for 3 years. If I get him Natural at DR and he has grown to 183 cm by then I’ll try to get his DC as high as possible. For his age his Jumping Reach and Heading are pretty good. Hey! We have a player from Jordan and a player named Jordan.
We still have five players out on International Duty (giggle, giggle) and quite a few players still a bit knackered from Saturday’s game, ergo, we’ll have a lot of rotation. Our previous match against Taunton was pretty easy though we allowed some late goals when we got sloppy. I’m confident of getting a good result today.
at Taunton, 2 April 2019
Formation: Spade (GK, DR, DC r, DC l, DL, MC r, MC l, AMR, AMC, AML, ST c)
Starting XI: Legg, Maguire, Nightingale, Day, Jefcoate, Thompson, Cullen, Hodgson, Barlow, Duckett, Thirlwell
Subs: Webb, Parker, Pilcher, Smith, Donaldson, Jones, Rae
Thirlwell has a clear shot just 12 seconds in but it goes just wide. Just minutes later he picks up a bruised knee. In the tenth minute his gimpy knee leads him to being easily dispossessed and we just can’t get things going. Just. At half I crank up the volume and go Attacking. I have to take Thirlwell off in the 68th along with Day (yellow) and Jefcoate (stressed by Assertive half-time speech) for Rae, Pilcher, and Parker. We’ve been passing poorly all day sending balls right to the opponent. Luckily, at 70:07 Barlow gets a shot from 10 yards out and we get a lead. I immediately switch back to Control. The game is sealed in the 77th when Cullen gets a free kick in the arc, just outside the box. The wall defends the try but it goes right back to Cullen who one-shots it in, past the stunned goalie.
POM: Terry Barlow (1 goal, 3 key passes, 2 chances created)
I give them the “We got away with that” speech, firing most players up except Barlow. As for Not-So-Thrilling, I gave him the, “You squandered many chances” speech and he acknowledge his faults. I wonder if he would have performed better if he hadn’t been hurt so early. (The injury cleared up by the end of the match, by the way.)
The biggest news is that I elevated midfielder Bill Taylor to the Seniors. I gave him a talking to first, telling him how impressed we are and he deserves to train with the older players. He thanked me and then the game automatically dumped him in the U23. Pretty neat addition to Football Manager!
Not much else happened in the days between. We are currently free of injuries. Probably the first time in around 7 months; I’m including the U18s in this statement. Some nice scouting reports on youth strikers came in but none are exciting or want to come to South London. There is one, Mark Marshall, who I might take a stab at if the upcoming Youth Departures lists don’t pan out.
Oh, these MoFoers again. The ones who erred in selling us Pilcher. Who we beat 3-0 back in late November. Who are currently the worst team in the league. Let’s send them home with more embarrassment! Carroll is coming back from his bruised jaw and will come on in the second half. And Bill Taylor gets his first start. I hope he does his family proud.
But wait! Before the match begins I get an email from my Player Liaison Officer who informs me that Spearing no longer wishes to leave Brixton, that he’s happy to stay. Evidently teams are no longer pursuing him. That’s somewhat of a relief. I still think I’ll bring in a DC in the summer to act as a mentor and a Vice Captain.
vs. Bristol MF, 6 April 2019
Formation: Spade
Starting XI: Legg, Pilcher, Spearing, Day, Jefcoate, Smith, Bill Taylor, Jones, Paul Taylor, Duckett, Macey
Subs: Webb, Parker, Carroll, Thompson, Cullen, Thirlwell, Rae
My pre-match speech only excites Bill Taylor so I’m hoping he puts in a star performance. It turns out though that the other Taylor has the magic touch, getting a goal before 10 minutes from a Jones cross. Jesus, in the 25th minute Smith pulls his groin and begs to come off. On comes Cullen. A few minutes later Macey gets fouled in the box and Bill Taylor of all people gets the shot, he does have a 13 Penalty Taking attribute though. HE SCORES ON HIS DEBUT!!! Macey then makes it three for me with a weak effort which was rightfully called an own goal by an MF defender.
Pilcher and Macey spent a good portion of the first half looking Uninterested but Shane got his act together so only Eddie got some stern words. Eddie doesn’t improve and gets subbed out at 68’ for Rae, who gets another sub goal with 10 minutes to play.
POM: Robbie Jones (1 assist, 2 key passes, 2 chances created)
The news on Smith’s groin isn’t too bad, out for 5 to 10 days.
On the morning of 9 April I get some more player development news but it’s all old news. It came from my AssMan but you can also get these emails from your Head of Youth Development. My AssMan is a better judge of ability and potential than my HOYD. AssMan.
Legg can tie the record for clean sheets in the league if he attains one in the match. Totton are currently second in the league but we destroyed them in our previous meeting. Lettuce continue that trend.
at Totton, 9 April 2019
Formation: Club (GK, DC r, DC c, DC l, WBR, WBL, MC r, MC c, MC l, ST r, ST l)
Starting XI: Legg, Nightingale, Spearing, Carroll, Parker, Al-Ziod, Barlow, Harding, Nixon, Macey, Kirkpatrick
Subs: Webb, Pilcher, Jefcoate, Thompson, McAdam, Thirlwell, Rae
The scoring starts in a weird way in the fourth. Nixon is out to the left just outside the big box and crosses it to Kemar but the cross was low and went into a defender and right under the goalie. A goal’s a goal, as my gramma used to say. That was the only action sequence in the first 45 minutes but in the extra minute Totton’s right centreback (with a 15 Long Throw rating) launches from the right sideline into our box but Legg rises above and immediately throws it to Carroll who manages to get it to Barlow. Barlow sends in a long pass from our half of the center circle. Macy and Kemar are in the clear with Kemar getting to it first. They run for the goal and Kemar opts for the shot on goal and succeeds beautifully.
As per usual, I swap out bodies at 65’ with Kemar, Harding, and Spearing bowing out for some chaps who need match fitness, namely Thirlwell, Thompson, and Pilcher. Shortly thereafter Parker gets a cross from the byline and Nixon seals his POM performance with a beauty of a header into the ceiling of the net. I switch to Defensive at 75’ after Totton get two corners and almost ruin Chicken Legg’s clean sheet. Woohoo! In the 87th Thriller sends a prayer of a free kick into the box where one of their strikers gets his grubby paws on the ball and Nixon gets his brace. Or so I thought. He was acting like an American football kicker and tried to put it through the uprights. Le Sigh. Despite that, he still gets POM.
POM: Mark Nixon (1 goal, 2 key passes, 1 chance created)
Chick ties the record for league clean sheets but I think I’ll give Webb the next league start so in theory Chick will break the record at the end of the month, on the 27th. Three of our next four matches are cups, and much to my dismay, I realize all of them are away. We’re gonna be in the red again this month. I also realize at this time that we haven’t conceded a goal in six matches. Damnnnnnnn…
The scouting report for Bath comes in and I am optimistic. I’d be more optimistic if we were at home but alas, that’s not the story. The media prediction then comes in and the subject lines reads, “Bath face difficult Brixton challenge”. They have 7-2 odds of winning.
I am going with a slightly unusual starting XI, with Bill Taylor as my Box-To-Box Midfielder and Teddy Cullen as my Deep Lying Playmaker. I’d rather have Terry Barlow and Mark Nixon on the field but they are a bit tired. Because of the importance of this match I want my Captain on the pitch so Macey gets the start as my right Winger. No way in hell I’m not going to have Kemar up top.
at Bath, 13 April 2019
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, Bill Taylor, Cullen, Macey, Paul Taylor, Duckett, Kirkpatrick
Subs: Webb, Parker, Pilcher, Smith, Barlow, Jones, Thirlwell
I gave the “let’s get revenge” speech and most of the kids responded favorably. I hope that carries through into the match. Aside from an early yellow for each team nothing happens until the 27th minute when Maguire gets a cross into Taylor in the six-yard box but his initial and rebound shots go right to the goalie. Ten minutes later Macey has to be immediately subbed for a potential foot injury. I swear we are cursed. On the restart Maguire throws it in to Paul Taylor, who has no business being on the sideline but he dribbles down to the byline anyway and sends in a cross to Duckett at the far post. Their right back is able to intercept the pass, heading it upfield. But Bath are cursed as it goes right to Bill Taylor who’s standing on the 18-yard line and his powerful shot goes into the lower left corner of the goal. Again, I’m a genius for moving him up to the Seniors. In the 43rd the newly-on Thriller also gets a long range goal after we counter-attack from a Bath free kick. Carroll was the beast who disrupted their play and sent the stolen ball upfield. This gave Carroll a thirst for blood and a minute later he boots one in after a corner kick. In the third minute of stoppage time we get a free kick down in Bath’s end which ultimately ends with Carroll passing to Kemar for a very short-ranged goal.
In the second half everything is calm and in the 64th I use my two remaining subs to switch out the midfielders who are the most exhausted. Within seconds we get another counter-attack, this time up the left side, ending with a Duckett-Jefcoate-Kemar triple play for our fifth goal. This Kirkpatrick kid with his headers…he might pan out some day. He gets his hat trick in the 72nd when Bath’s two central defenders try to play cute with the ball and he steals it and doesn’t cockup this one-on-one. We end the match with 28 shots on goal, 16 of them on target. Yowza!
POM: Kemar Kirkpatrick (3 goals)
We got our revenge on Bath but at what cost?! Macey. Poor Eddie Macey. Out 4 to 6 weeks for a Twisted Ankle. Damn this is bad. No Captain and our Vice Captain just ain’t that good. Dammit.
Thinking about Macey being out, I’ve mused about the following: We are down to four healthy strikers in the Seniors. I might promote Derek McLeish from the U18s. This would leave only one Natural Striker in the U18s in Jamie Hopkinson. Ergo, I’m going to train Tommy Watkins to be a Striker until he becomes Natural at it. Ashley Hibbert will remain training in AMR until that is Natural, then switch to Striker.
Oh joy. We get to face Totton again, this time in the Southern League Cup Final. Despite the 3-0 victory last week it wasn’t the most pleasing of games. Grrrrrr
My coaches recommend that Chick Legg get trained to remove the Trait “Avoids Using Weaker Foot” and I start his training on 15 April. Hopefully it’s relevant. He doesn’t make many mistakes and I’m not sure any of them have come from using his left foot but it doesn’t hurt to try.
Good news comes in about Robert Carroll! My HOYD thinks he’ll be Championship quality. I know I said earlier that my HOYD is not as good a judge as my AssMan but I still take this as an accurate assessment as he’s rated 5 stars.
Spearing again comes around asking for a new contract. I ask Carroll to resolve the matter and he does. (Carroll isn’t a team leader but he is Highly Influential so I guess that’s why the game engine chose him to have the talk. Not to mention that on the field they have a great partnership.)
Fairford are 17th on the table and if they win they could move all the way up 13th. I don’t see that happening. We’re going with the Spade again to get Hodgson some match fitness. For the same reason I’m giving Webb a start despite getting an email about Legg breaking the clean-sheet record.
vs. Fairford, 17 April 2019
Formation: Spade
Starting XI: Webb, Pilcher, Day, Nightingale, Parker, Donaldson, Smith, Hodgson, Nixon, Jones, Rae
Subs: Legg, Maguire, Jefcoate, Harding, McAdam, Thirlwell, Paul Taylor
Exactly at 2’ Hodgson crosses from the right to Day of all people and as if he were some kind of striker he sends in a screamer just above the carpet to the bottom right corner. Exactly 20 minutes later our second goal comes up the middle with Donaldson intercepting their GK’s long kick, sending it forward to Rae who then has such a perfect pass it leaves Nixon mano-a-mano and he beats the goalie. Our third is from a corner with Hodgson, Donaldson, and Rae doing the short, simple passing so perfectly, ultimately getting the ball to Jones’ right foot. Jones gets his brace early in the second and it’s a pleasant day in South London.
POM: Robbie Jones (2 goals, 2 key passes, 1 chance created)
Despite having already faced Billericay I still read the scouting report when it comes in. I notice that their starting GK doesn’t enjoy big matches. I plan to exploit that somehow.
We’re slight favorites against Billericay, with 6-4 odds. It took extra time at home to beat them last time and boy do I hope today’s match is easier.
at Billericay, 20 April 2019
Formation: Club (GK, DC r, DC c, DC l, WBR, WBL, MC r, MC c, MC l, ST r, ST l)
Starting XI: Legg, Pilcher, Spearing, Carroll, Maguire, Al-Ziod, Harding, Bill Taylor, Barlow, Thirlwell, Kirkpatrick
Subs: Webb, Nightingale, Parker, Smith, Hodgson, Duckett, Paul Taylor
Oh no. Carroll is Confused by my “you deserve to be in the finals” speech and when I directly address him to cheer him up he remains confused. Ouch. Despite all these instructions to play short passes in a Control mentality my players often just hoof it forward. Like when Harding booted one towards our opponents’ goal from about a third of the way into our territory. Luckily Thriller is able to direct the ball so it continues toward the goal, he then out runs the defenders to catch up to Kemar who had already beaten his man. Faced with the prospect of trying a goal or passing to Kemar, Thriller chose wisely and Kemar puts us in the lead. Twenty-two minutes later Kemar returns the favor and Thriller gets his goal, beating a one-on-one. Ten minutes after switching to the Diamond, the combo of Kemar to Paul Taylor gets a shot on goal but it’s blocked at point blank. This leaves the goalie completely out of position when Barlow bangs the rebound in. “Confused” Carroll finished the game with an 8.4 rating. Couldn’t have been too confused!
POM: Kemar Kirkpatrick (1 goal, 1 assist, 5 key passes, 3 chances created)
The Whitehawk scouting report brings relief. I think we’ll be able to handle them, even though the pre-match hype machine says the odds are even.
I want another trophy and Whitehawk stands in my way getting to the FA Trophy Final. Go get them, gentlemen!
at Whitehawk, 23 April 2019
Formation: Club
Starting XI: Legg, Parker, Day, Nightingale, Jefcoate, Cullen, Smith, Hodgson, Nixon, Duckett, Rae
Subs: Webb, Pilcher, Al-Ziod, Harding, McAdam, Paul Taylor, Kirkpatrick
Rae has been in a slump since he signed that contract so I was a bit hesitant to give him the start. But 30 seconds (yes, seconds) in he receives a Nixon pass and gets a great shot off before the central defenders can crash in on him. Slump over! In the 24th minute, Day doubles our lead with a header directly from a Duckett corner kick. Whitehawk strike back 27 seconds after the restart but their right striker was offsides. Close call!
In the 67th Jefcoate gets called for pulling that right striker down in the box. Chicken Legg dives the wrong way and our lead is now in question. I had to make some changes, the two with yellows plus recent misfit Jefcoate, which pays off when Shadi feeds Nixon who again feeds Rae and I’m back on comfortable footing. We end up with 64% possession but I worry about the 7 on-target shots out of 25 attempts.
POM: Alex Rae (2 goals)
Whitehawk somehow managed to have 7 yellow cards but no player was sent off. Our opponents aren’t usually that adept.
Not much of anything at all happens until a couple hours before our match with Bideford. Our U18 squad is in their league final, hosting Stoke’s U18s. It’ll be interesting to see how many fans attend. Oh wow! 658 fans! And we won on penalties, after 9 rounds. Crazy stuff!
This match is kinda machts nichts to me. It’s a league match, sure, and we can keep our perfect record going but if we lose, we lose. Next week Legg with get his chance at home to get the clean-sheet record.
at Bideford, 27 April 2019
Formation: Club
Starting XI: Webb, Pilcher, Spearing, Carroll, Maguire, Al-Ziod, Harding, Bill Taylor, McAdam, Paul Taylor, Kirkpatrick
Subs: Legg, Parker, Nightingale, Thompson, Jones, Duckett, Thirlwell
It takes 15 minutes but McAdam gets a rare goal courtesy of Paul Taylor, fed by Bill Taylor (no relation) on a post-corner breakaway. Then seven minutes later it’s Shadi to Kemar. Then it’s déjà vu all over again with Bideford getting a goal after we fail to properly clear a corner. Then we strike back via Bill Taylor’s assist to Kemar.
My speech at the break is all about complacency and everyone get motivated except Spearing and McAdam, who actually gets stressed. And sure enough, 93 seconds after play resumes we give up a goal off a lovely cross to their striker’s head. Ping pong. In the 54th another Taylor assist and Kemar goal. Then not ping pong but more like punch to the gut. Kemar gets number four from a ridiculously long cross from Maguire, who was being swarmed by opponents.
Just before I can change up to the Diamond, Kemar picks up a twisted knee (see, we are cursed, another lower body injury!) and comes off. Despite being set to counter-attack, we manage to score our final goal off a free kick down on the left side, deep in Bideford territory. It was an interesting combo of Harding-Spearing-Thirlwell-Spearing.
POM: Kemar Kirkpatrick (4 goals)
That twisted knee for Kemar? Turns out it was merely a flesh wound. He had no red or orange “Inj” marker after the match.
Oh finally! An end to the two-matches-per-week biz. The lads can finally have some down time.
Another highly successful month with no loses and us still alive in all our remaining cups. Those victories were all fair and square, no gifting of opponents being sent off.
What took you so long?!
Life, man. Plus I realized I was playing these matches very quickly and not actually taking time to enjoy matters. Also, I spent a good amount of time setting up my spreadsheet of what I call Roster Management where I project the next couple years and where each player will be. I generally schedule things out to 5 or 6 years in the future. This becomes super-important when you are in the Premier and need to figure out if that new youth intake is going to start when he’s 18 or 21.
Here’s what my DR projection looks like:
