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Fuuuuuuuudge. Now Bill Taylor is getting in on the act. Is it that I’m playing them too much? I’ve been watching videos and that’s the only thing that jumps out. Maybe I should go back to the use of all available subs again. Oh, and if a player is playing in too low of a league they can get stalled out too. Nothing I can really do about that.
We lost just a bit less than £9,000 last month. Not too bad in the grand scheme of things. We have four home matches this month so hopefully we make bank. With us in the FA Cup Second Round we’ll earn at a minimum almost £25k from that just in appearance fees. If we win that we’ll double the amount. Not to mention the crowd size. December should be good for us.
Up to 84% confidence with the board! Do a little dance.
No updates on this front.
Nightingale’s Determination is now up to 14. This is freakin’ awesome. O’Shea may not be the best central defender but he is getting the youths smarter. And even better news is that O’Keeffe’s is now up to 17.
Speaking of Determination, I know I’ve signed some Unambitious players with low Determination of late but I gotta stop doing that. Personalities can rub off and so far I’m been seeing success but if I keep bringing in too many scrubs, things can change quickly.
Freakin’ awesome, man! Kemar wins the Premier League Young Player of the Month award.
On 2 December I get an email about Ashley Hibbert’s progress. My Head of Youth Development thinks, and my AssMan agrees, that he is now a good player for most League One teams.
Oh, and here’s the loan report. Everyone is doing well but Friend. I’m really only concerned about Kemar and he’s absolutely killing it.
I knew things weren’t settled with Pilcher. On Monday evening, 2 December, he again wants to talk. This time it’s about a new contract, which I promise him will happen at the end of the season. I know he’ll cost a lot, what, with his Premier League ability and all, so I’ll try to stall for as long as possible. If we get an amazing DC in the youth intake then I’ll enact his extension and try to sell him off to a worthy team for a handsome price. If not, well, I guess I’ll break out the checkbook.
Marcus Thirlwell signs his new contract on the afternoon of 3 December. He’s kinda cheap now but in a few years the escalator clauses could make him expensive. He's definitely worth it though.
With a FA Cup match coming up on Saturday I’m starting mostly second-choice players on Wednesday against Tiverton. Priorities, man! Snow is in the forecast so it could be a sloppy game.
I’ve been meaning to get Nightingale trained up at DMC as my AssMan thinks he could learn. This necessitates Peter Maguire getting a start at right DC and I’m gonna go ahead and give Glyn Davies another shot at starting at AMC.
vs. Tiverton, 4 December 2019
Formation: 4-4-2 Diamond Standard (GK, DR, DC r, DC l, DL, DMC, MR, ML, AMC, ST r, ST l)
Starting XI: Legg, Parker, Maguire, Smith, Rice, Nightingale, Robinson, Leary, Davies, Thirlwell, Rae
Subs: O’Keeffe, Johnstone, O’Shea, Harding, Watkins, Pugh, Hibbert
Things start with Nightingale getting an assist from a Leary goal just after 10 minutes. That goal started with a Parker throw in on the right side. Almost exactly 5 minutes later we get almost an exact duplicate though Nightingale passed to Thirlwell who then passed to Leary. Strangeness. The goal even came from the exact some spot. At least Leary’s hat trick came out different: Solid build-up play then a cross from Rae.
After that the goals keep coming and we end the match comfortably. Things were going so well that I didn’t even make any subs. Nightingale, Maguire, and Davies all performed quite well with Mitchell getting two assists.
POM: Marcus “Thriller” Thirlwell 9.6 (2 goals, 2 assists, 3 key passes, 3 chances created)
Leary could have easily won POM with his 3 goals but I guess not because he “only” had those and no other noteworthy statistics… /eyeroll
Oh boyyyyy! Kemar scored another goal and is now tied for second in the entirety of the Premier League. Damn. I’m gonna go ahead and guess that 15 different teams will make offers for him in the upcoming January transfer window.
Mansfield Town are gonna kill us. They have a lot of good players and the only thing that might save us is they have a few injuries and a lot of tied players. Dammit.
But first we have to have the press conference. We are 5-4 favored but the press questions make it seem like we’re doomed.
vs. Mansfield, 7 December 2019
Formation: 4-4-2 Diamond Standard
Starting XI: O’Keeffe, Johnstone, Pilcher, O’Shea, Jefcoate, Coates, Hibbert, Pugh, Taylor, Macey, McLeish
Subs: Legg, Parker, Smith, Harding, Watkins, Leary, Rae
Allll riiiight! Nearly 3,700 butts in the seats today. They get to see a team that forgot to put on their passing boots. We keep losing possession and make poor, long range passes. We also forgot our shooting boots as several shots are denied. In the first half we hold them to zero shots but only 2 of our 9 are on target.
I switch us up to a more attacking posture but things go from bad to worse as Macey is now rating 6.3 and then O’Shea injures his groin. I keep him in and switch us to the Spade after McLeish misses a wide open net. He comes off, Macey already came of, and Coates bow outs. Hopefully Smith, Harding, and Rae can make a difference.
And holy shit it’s Pugh and Hibbert to the rescue, with the former getting the assist and the later getting the easy goal. That was the 83rd minute and we were able to see out the match with no threats. I do chastise Macey and McLeish with their 6.3 and 6.4. We shouldn’t be relying on our wingers to score.
POM: Bill Taylor 7.8 (5 key passes, 2 chances created)
Well, that was taxing. I sweated off a few extra pounds on that one. Now we need to put it all behind us. At least O’Shea injury was temporary.
And now that we are on to the next round of the FA Cup we have a chance to face some mighty powerful teams. Hopefully we get to travel to a megabastard and rake in the bucks. Tottenham, Chelsea, and Arsenal get drawn early as does Huddersfield, so we won’t face Kemar. There goes Liverpool, Man City, and Crystal Palace. Man United is gone. Good bye, Norwich. And we get Sheffield Wednesday, of the Championship. It’s an away match so we should lose but make a pretty penny.
A cup match against a team below us on the pyramid who we beat twice in the past? Time to roll out the Second XI again! I’m bringing up Tasos Noulas to the bench to get him time late in the game at AMC, which he is being super slow in learning. This will also be his debut.
vs. Fleet, 11 December 2019
Formation: 4-4-2 Diamond Standard
Starting XI: Legg, Parker, Nightingale, Smith, Rice, Ferguson, Watkins, Leary, Harding, Thirlwell, Rae
Subs: O’Keeffe, Johnstone, Pilcher, Roberts, Robinson, Noulas, Hibbert
Before 2:30 my brilliance in team selection pays off courtesy of Thriller. So the slaughter begins. Thriller gets a quarto, Leary a trio, and Rae a duo. The only downside is Smith getting concussed at 66’, pulling Pilcher off the bench. Even he gets a goal.
POM: Marcus “Thriller” Thirlwell 10.0 (4 goals, 5 assists, 10 key passes, 4 chances created)
No miracle recovery for Smith. He’ll be our 2 to 3 weeks with that concussion. Dammit. Well, time for Ryan Collopy to step up.
Interest in Pilcher is once again on the rise, which makes sense seeing as we are nearing the transfer window again, with Chesterfield and Sheffield United leaking quotes about him.
Also, a team way down in the 10th level of the pyramid wants U18 GK Dan Gracie. He just turned 18 last week and in the last year of his contract with no renewal in sight. I approve the move.
Steve Pike is a WBL who I picked up on 13 July who was only Competent at DL. I just noticed that I made a promise to him that he would get a chance to play coming off the bench. I try to keep to my promises. I figure taking on this minnow of a team was a good time to give him the opportunity.
vs. Walsham-le-Willows, 14 December 2019
Formation: 4-4-2 Diamond Standard
Starting XI: O’Keeffe, Johnstone, Pilcher, O’Shea, Jefcoate, Coates, Hibbert, Pugh, Taylor, Macey, McLeish
Subs: Legg, Parker, Collopy, Pike, Roberts, Robinson, Thirlwell
McLeish hasn’t been impressive lately and that trend continues today, getting a beautifully headed goal waved off for offsides just after 5’. It takes another 25 minutes for any more action, culminating in a simple low cross from Hibbert across the mouth of the goal for a wide-open Pugh. The joy doesn’t last long as on the restart Johnstone heads the ball to Gareth but the weak effort is intercepted by a striker and launched past our goalie.
In the second we get an early chance but once again McLeish botches matters. At least he can cross, enabling Macey to head a goal in, which is a miracle considering he still only has a 3 Heading. Those two do it again after the restart, taking only 40 seconds to give us a two-goal lead.
I throttle us back and return to the Control mindset. At 65’ I bring on Collopy, Pike, and Robinson. Of course Johnstone has to come off as he hasn’t improved since the midpoint, rating 6.1 before and after the break. Pilcher moves to his spot, a rare visit there for him.
POM: Eddie Macey 8.8 (2 goals, 2 key passes, 1 chance created)
I’d normally be inclined to say that we were hungover from the blowout against Fleet but there were no common players between the matches, at least amongst the starters.
A little financial update, we made around £9,500 for the match, bringing us up to £46,462 for the month.
It’s Cup Draw Sunday again! We get two for the price of one today; Southern League Cup and FA Vase. For the first, we get to host Totton, who I’m pretty sure we’ve beat before. (I checked later on, we beat them twice last year in league play by a combined score of 8-0. We also beat them in the Southern League Cup Final, 5-1.) For the second, we get to travel to Brantham. They are a creampuff. Maybe even worse than our last opponent.
GK Dan Gracie agrees to go to Enfield Borough for the remained of the season on loan. He gets a little lippy on the way out saying I’ll see the errors of my ways for undervaluing him. I paraphrase.
I’m putting Terry Barlow on the bench today. He featured a lot in the previous year but I’ve been slowly trying to phase out the initial set of youths as I think it’s a bit unfair that we were stocked so well from the get-go. I was hoping someone would put a bid in for him, at least for a loan spell, but the four League One and League Two clubs that are interested haven’t approached us yet. Plus, I really don’t have a third AMC to select on days like today, i.e., against a team we should be beating. (We beat them back on 21 August, 6-0.)
at Chesham, 17 December 2019
Formation: 4-4-2 Diamond Standard
Starting XI: Legg, Johnstone, Nightingale, Collopy, Jefcoate, Roberts, Watkins, Leary, Harding, Macey, Thirlwell
Subs: O’Keeffe, Pilcher, Parker, Ferguson, Barlow, Robinson, Hibbert
It takes a while but we get a Macey goal from another flukish play; right centreback tries to clear, hits left centreback on the tush, bounces right to our guy. At least the box was more congested and not the typical “empty spaces” ricochete. The second goal was much more typical. Slow build-up, crisp passing, Macey crosses low to Thriller, we’re up two.
Then they get a fluke goal. Well, it was pretty standard fare and Legg only has himself to blame. It was an easy stop and it went right through his hands. But have no fear! Liam Roberts is here! Harding found himself by the right post and while all eyes were on him, Roberts snuck into the 6-yard box, hitting Noah’s pass in stride. Very praise-worthy play, that one. After that it’s just pure domination with great crossing and even better heading. Even Liam getting his second goal from a Harding free kick. However...
For the second game in a row, one of our defenders goofs up, catching our goalkeep flat-footed allowing an easy goal. This time it was our Vice Captain, Jefcoate.
The game ends shortly after Leary has to be pulled for a pulled hamstring.
POM: Liam Roberts 9.4 (2 goals, 1 key pass, 1 key chance)
The Leary news is pretty bad; he’ll be out 11 days to 3 weeks. Dammit. It’s not like we’re flush with spare left wingers, especially ones who can play on the right too. I think it’s time to switch back to Spade, with a smattering of the Club.
I checked, this is the first time since 18 September that we allowed two goals. Not counting friendlies. (I totally mis-remembered this. I thought it had been ages.) Interestingly, the game blamed Legg for the second goal, not Jefcoate. He got a 6.3 in the second half so I had some sharp words for him in the locker room.
You know, it’s been a while since one of the agents showed up randomly demanding a new contract when a player had a good game. I like this feeling. What? Who’s waiting for me in my office?! Effing Johnstone’s agent. Get the fuck out of here!
Leary’s injury and contract demands from agents got me thinking. I need to sign Leary to a new contract. I offer almost double his current salary and add two years to the contract, with an option for a third upon promotion.
And of course a cup draw is due. In the next round of the FA Trophy we get to host Harrogate, way up in the north of England. We faced them in the FA Cup back in October 2018 and won the day, 4-0. A year on, who will have improved the most?
But first is Worcester. For clubs that are not in the standard databases, Football Manager will create logos using the colors of the team plus a random, limited set of graphics. Worcester is landlocked but their logo is a three-mast ship. So…I gotta go get the real logo.
vs. Worcester, 21 December 2019
Formation: Spade (GK, DR, DC r, DC l, DL, MC r, MC l, AMR, AMC, AMR, ST)
Starting XI: Legg, Parker, Pilcher, O’Shea, Jefcoate, Harding, Coates, Hibbert, Taylor, Pugh, Macey
Subs: O’Keeffe, Johnstone, Nightingale, Ferguson, Roberts, Robinson, Thirlwell
Our post-Fleet clobbering hangover continues with nary an action sequence and the ones we do get end in missed Macey and Pugh shots. Right a 55’ though Pugh’s cross to Macey passes the outstretched leg of our captain only to find its way to Hibbert who is not misfiring today. We get a few more chances but nothing really close to getting that second goal.
POM: Meilir Pugh 9.0 (1 assist, 6 key passes, 5 chances created)
A bit of a down day, that one. A win’s a win, I suppose.
Yeah, winter holidays! The lads were gonna get Christmas and Boxing Day off but with the mediocre performances they’ll get no such break.
Leary signs his new contract on the night of 21 December. Now who else needs a re-up? Shit! Twenty-four players are nearing their end. Fourteen of them have options I can trigger. They’ll soon be entering the final six months of their contracts so foreign teams will be able to sign them. Some of them I’ll hold off on until I see what we get in the Youth Intake Day. Central midfielder Gary Ferguson is probably the best example. He’s League Two potential and I have a lot of good players in the middle. If we get an MC on YID who is far and above better I may just trigger his option and sell him off. Same goes for right midfielder Andy Robinson.
The first item up for bid is Shane Pilcher. He is Premier League talent and £2,000 p/w is a bargain, though he’ll earn twice as much as Macey, the only player on a four-digit salary, £1,000. He’ll also get a £450 appearance fee and the same for a clean sheet. I could have triggered his option year but then in one year’s time he’d be even more expensive.
We didn’t have a Boxing Day match but Huddersfield did. They got a gift of two Kemar goals, beating Middlesbrough. They’re up to 10th in the EPL now.
Our next opponent, Banbury, are 22nd in the league. Our match after that is St. Neots who are 6th. Sounds like a perfect time to run out the second stringers.
at Banbury, 28 December 2019
Formation: Spade
Starting XI: Legg, Johnstone, Nightingale, Collopy, Rice, Roberts, Ferguson, Watkins, Harding, Hibbert, McLeish
Subs: O’Keeffe, Pilcher, Parker, Smith, Taylor, Robinson, Rae
I’m back to uninspiring speeches so I specifically tell McLeish how much faith I have in him. He’s kind of in a slump so hopefully his turning happy portends good things. It takes over 12 minutes but his slump is over, managing to squeak one under the goalie. Johnstone booted an intercepted pass from the top of our 18-yard box and Derek blew past all the defenders. Big smile.
Banbury like to play out of defense and it works surprisingly well for them. Too bad their strikers are not dialed in. Also, too bad one of their defenders is a little grabby, pulling down McLeish so he can’t reach a Watkins cross. Harding is cool, calm, and collected, doubling our lead. The game is sealed in the 65th when Harding is the one receiving a long Johnstone ball then he crosses it at ankle height right to McLeish and he does not miss from 7 yards out.
Liam Roberts is the one who actually puts Banbury down for good with a goal with 21 seconds to play. Sometimes you see such a powerful shot that it goes right through the GK’s hands and deflect into the goal; that’s what the final shot was.
POM: Derek McLeish 9.3 (2 goals, 3 key passes, 1 chance created)
It was very pleasing to see McLeish return to form. I think he might be with us for at least 3 years and I want to see him to continue to develop.
The tutoring of Nightingale and Watkins ends on 29 December. Nightingale’s was a smashing success, with his Determination going from 10 to 15 and his Personality going from Fairly Sporting to Resolute. Awesome! Watkins on the other hand…he didn’t really get along with Macey. He went from 11 to 12 on Determination but there was no personality change at all. Not awesome.
Kemar scored another goal in Huddersfield’s loss to Arsenal, 3-1. He is still tied for second in the EPL with 15 goals. The top scorer has 16. His value is up to £6.25 million. Oh my. That isn’t even the best news though. On New Year’s Eve he is named the European Gold Boy for 53 goals in 44 appearances. I guess those goals at Brixton counted but it was only because he’s in the EPL that he got noticed.
With a lot of contracts coming up for renewal I trigger a couple of options, Webb, Hibbert, O’Shea, and Noulas to be specific. I’m still waiting for Pilcher to respond and I was hoping to only have one out at a time but I go ahead and offer Chicken Legg a new one. He’s fine with being a backup and taking a pay cut. His agent on the other hand wants £7,500. Dafuq?!
For our final match of the year we face St. Neots, the fifth place team in the league. Their right wing is occupied by Samuel Swift, who is second in the league in average rating, between Macey and Pilcher. He’s fast (14 Pace) but not as fast as Jefcoate (17 Pace).
at St. Neots, 31 December 2019
Formation: 4-4-2 Diamond Standard (GK, DR, DC r, DC l, DL, DMC, MR, ML, AMC, ST r, ST l)
Starting XI: O’Keeffe, Parker, Pilcher, O’Shea, Jefcoate, Coates, Hibbert, Pugh, Taylor, Macey, Rae
Subs: Legg, Johnstone, Smith, Roberts, Robinson, Leary, Thirlwell
The Saints get first dibs on the action, deep in our end but Coates does what he does best: Stealing the ball. We then slowly march up the field culminating with Macey getting a step on the central defenders but his shot goes just wide right. Shortly thereafter we get a series of corners, switching from left to right. On the last one, from the right, Coates sends one it but it is headed up field right to Hibbert. He controls the ball then fires it in from 25 yards out into the upper right corner. Holy moley!
The Saints have most of the action and when their right back sends a horrible pass into the box Jefcoate gets called for a penalty for tripping the Swift kid right before the ball goes out of bounds. Nobody was within 10 yards of the box. We’re getting FMed. Swifty sinks it.
Macey saves us some embarrassment a few minutes later, getting to a shabby Pugh cross before the goalie or the right centreback and tapping in the ball. Despite that, Macey keeps missing lots of chances and making bad decisions, like not passing to a wide open Rae. Not that Rae would have done much with it, he’s been awful today. That is, until the 58th minute when Coates The Regista spies Rae The Target Man with just enough space, sending in a lovely looping ball right to his left foot, allowing me to relax and dial back things.
The Saints almost got a legitimate goal when their DL launched one from deep and their right striker got past O’Shea. Unfortunately for them, O’Keeffe is pretty good on one-on-ones, batting the ball away right to O’Shea, who clears it out to the touchline.
POM: Alan Coates 9.0 (1 assist, 5 key passes, 3 chances created)
Alan Coates is my favorite player and it pleases me much to see him get the POM award.
The month started out on a high note culminating in an absolutely huge match in which we scored 11 goals. Then things started tapering off drastically with lots of sloppy play. Sure, we won each match but we gave up 4 goals in 5 matches. Just another day at the office.
Remember The Jordanian Prince? Shadi al-Ziod? I transfer listed him back 7 months ago then he signed a pre-contract with Aston Villa on 16 June. He is in their U23s where he is just one of many DLs. He’s had two starts and two sub appearances for them, averaging 7.27. He does not have any games with their senior team. He’s still with the Jordanian seniors though.