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The end is nigh! Of the season, that is. We got some matches in April that will determine how many cups we remain in. All the league matches are solely about pride and developing youngsters, I don’t care too much about winning.
Well, my AssMan wasn’t any better so I’m taking things back over.
Lost just a smidge over £100k, bringing us to £156,447 in losses for the year.
Still “Untouchable” but somehow slipped down to 90% despite winning the league.
No changes since last month, unsurprisingly.
How many months in a row is this that Angelino Ferreira has been an absolute star? I think I’ll def be using him as DR2 and DC5 next year.
Hibbert is Championship-level and his potential if five stars now so that means he’ll be a Premier League player. Delicious. Too bad I’ll have to sell him this summer.
Another good time of the year is when that email comes in highlighting youth players at Premier League clubs that are set to be released. I of course send my scouts a-looking. They are usually Championship potential with some being on the lower tier of Premier quality if they are at a huge club, like Chelsea, Liverpool, or one of the Manchesters.
On to the first match of the month! Some players came back from international duty a little tired, bordering on jaded. Also, a number of players are getting into the low 90s in Match Sharpness so they’ll be getting starts today. With Leary injured and Pugh gassed Hibbert gets the start at ML even though he has no ability there. Macey is starting to grouse about lack of starts so I’m appeasing him.
at Dorchester, 4 April 2020
Formation: Diamond (GK, DR, DC r, DC l, DL, DMC, MR, ML, AMC, ST r, ST l)
Starting XI: Legg, Parker, Collopy, O’Shea, Jefcoate, Roberts, Robinson, Hibbert, Harding, Macey, McLeish
Subs: O’Keeffe, Johnstone, Pilcher, Smith, Davies, Watkins, Thirlwell
Well, when your left central defender gets a card within the first three minutes you begin to worry. Well, I shouldn’t when I have great crossers and tall strikers who can play the Target Man role perfectly. Unfortunately Macey, who is “Very Consistent” keeps up with the Jekyll and Hyde routine, stealing the ball from the goalie only to send it into the side netting.
POM: Derek McLeish 8.8 (2 goals, 2 key passes, 1 chance created)
I fine Macey a week for his 6.0 rating and Jefcoate an official warning for his 6.3. You can’t have your Captain and Vice Captain both playing like Poop Doggy Dogg on the same day. Macey accepts his fine while Jefcoate feels I was harsh. Suck it up, gentlemen!
No news really. Scouting reports come in but it’s the same old story: Only crappy players are interested in us.
We won our last match against Chippenham in uninspired fashion, after the game crashed mid-match. I surely hope this time around we or the computer don’t crash and burn.
vs. Chippenham, 8 April 2020
Formation: Diamond
Starting XI: O’Keeffe, Johnstone, Pilcher, O’Shea, Rice, Coates, Watkins, Pugh, Taylor, Macey, Rae
Subs: Legg, Parker, Nightingale, Ferguson, Robinson, Davies, Thirlwell
The embarrassment of O’Shea continues, he misses easy chances early on. He redeems himself after twenty, evidently all it took was for Taylor with a free kick, not Coates. Another Bill Taylor free kick gets headed in by Alex Rae for his 100th goal for Brixton. When a Chippendale gets sent off at 72’ I know we have won.
POM: Bill Taylor 9.0 (1 assist, 6 key passes, 3 chances created)
Macey hasn’t scored in six matches. Time to have a talk. He agrees that he’s not done well of late and he’s confident he can turn it around.
Things have really tapered off. Just some more scouting of players with no future with us.
Come on, players, now, smile at your brother, everybody get together, try to play for one another right now!
vs. Bath, 11 April 2020
Formation: Diamond
Starting XI: O’Keeffe, Johnstone, Pilcher, Nightingale, Jefcoate, Coates, Hibbert, Pugh, Taylor, Macey, Thriller
Subs: Legg, Parker, Smith, Roberts, Harding, Robinson, McLeish
Oh yeah! At 2:22 Macey returns to form scoring on a one-on-one! Thriller gets in on the action too with a brace at 36’ and a triple right after the restart; it was a thing of beauty, a quick pivot-shoot from 25 yards out. His fourth is an easy tap in, all thanks to Macey.
One downside: Last month’s theme returns in force as Thriller hit the post twice while on breakaways.
POM: Marcus "Thriller" Thirlwell 9.8 (4 goals, 1 key pass)
Gotta love that Thriller is still thrilling!
Good news, everyone! My Head of Youth Development now assesses Tom Johnstone as a “good player for most League One sides.” Love it!
Another match against a team that is doing well in the league and still in contention for promotion. I believe St. Neots will try to make our life hell today.
vs. St. Neots, 15 April 2020
Formation: Diamond
Starting XI: Legg, Parker, Smith, O’Shea, Jefcoate, Roberts, Robinson, Pugh, Harding, Rae, McLeish
Subs: O’Keeffe, Johnstone, Collopy, Ferguson, Watkins, Davies, Thirlwell
The first action results in…a ping off the left post for the Saints. Nothing else happens for the first 46, which is when they beat us on the slow break; their striker and our central defenders were moving glacially, it was odd. After 65 minutes of nothing for us I have to pull the front three and put in Davies, Watkins, and Thirlwell. Immediate dividends happen courtesy of the strikers with Thriller feeding Watkins. Five minutes later Robinson feeds Thriller who puts it in to the upper left corner from a good distance. Robinson doesn’t wait long to feed Watkins for a near-post goal. Their goal at 85’ comes from a deflection off the wall so Chicken Legg wasn’t actually to blame. Unregardless™ it was a lacking display.
POM: Andy Robinson 9.0 (2 assists, 4 key passes, 2 chances created)
Somehow we made around £22,000 from this match which is nearly double what we normally make. I have no idea why though. Le mystère!
I figured out the mystery of the extra money. It just happened to be when the £10,000 monthly fee from Huddersfield for Kemar’s loan came in.
Yeah! Leary returns! He’ll get about 30 minutes. Rice was out with a gashed head and missed the last two games so he too will come in late. Truth to tell, I won’t be all busted up if we lose this match because I worry that the final will be in June and I really want the season to be over in May.
vs. Nuneaton, 18 April 2020
Formation: Diamond
Starting XI: O’Keeffe, Johnstone, Pilcher, Collopy, Jefcoate, Coates, Hibbert, Pugh, Taylor, Macey, Thirlwell
Subs: Legg, Parker, Nightingale, Rice, Ferguson, Leary, Watkins
I switched up our Diamond formation from Standard mentality to Attacking. Let’s see if it works!
It takes a while for our crossing to work but once Pugh figures out to aim low to Macey we go up one. Thriller injures himself almost immediately but then gets a fast break only to hit the woodworks. Uh-oh. Then he completely misses a header. He may have to come off at 45. He stays in but Leary and Rice get their return at 55’ and within two minutes Pilcher heads a corner in with the back of his head while looking at our bench. Very Harlem Globetrotters-esque. That’s enough to secure the victory and I’m satisfied, despite Thriller’s 6.0 that didn’t improve despite my halftime haranguing.
POM: Eddie Macey 8.7 (1 goal, 4 key passes, 3 chances created)
Because I fined Macey for a 6.0 at the beginning of the month I too fine Thirlwell. I know sometimes when you fine a player or call them to the principal’s office you can shock them into increasing their Determination and I admit that’s what I’m going for. His is still at 9 and I want it up to double-digits.
Bummer, Thirlwell accepted his fine and his Determination remained the same.
Holy smokes! Huddersfield beat Manchester City even with Kemar making no impact; he rated 6.7 and was accurate on only 1 of 4 shots. The Terriers are up the 8th while the Citizens fall to 6th.
Speaking of the Premier League, I notice that Crystal Palace are bottom of the table. I can’t wait for them to become our major rival and if they drop it might happen sooner than expected.
Hibbert wants a new contract. I definitely have to sell him on this summer now. I ask Macey to handle the matter as I don’t need any distractions for the last six weeks of the season.
Wrexham’s scouting report indicates they are a pretty good team but I still believe we can win. I think Bill Taylor and Alan Coates will be too tired to play so I’m really hoping that Noah Harding and Liam Roberts can fill their shoes adequately.
Hot damn! Ferreira gets a call up for the Angolan U20s. I’m not 100% sure but this might be his first international duty.
I think I learned a valuable lesson: Don’t schedule a U18 friendly for the same time as a U23 league match when you only have four players in the U23s. I did that and my U23 manager ignored which subs were available to him and he had the strangest of substitutions. He brought off the right DC at 18’ and the left DC at 26; they weren’t injured as far as I can tell. Then the guy who was brought in at 18’, who was in the AMC spot, was taken off at 32’ and replaced by a right winger with no knowledge of the AMC position. Ain’t that some shit.
Yes! News come that Chick Legg is now a Team Leader! This will make it easier to move on from Jefcoate come the off-season.
Now on to another cup semi-final. Wrexham is in the news a lot these days in real life but to me their significance is being the subject of Scott Brown's Let's Play of Football Manager 2014, where he took Wrexham to EPL and Champion’s League dominators. Again, I won’t mind if we lose this match. Due to tiredness in all three squads I’m naming eight subs today.
vs. Wrexham, 21 April 2020
Formation: Shovel (GK, DR, DC r, DC l, DL, DM r, DM l, AMR, AMC, AML, ST c)
Starting XI: O’Keeffe, Parker, Pilcher, O’Shea, Jefcoate, Coates, Ferguson, Hibbert, Taylor, Pugh, McLeish
Subs: Legg, Johnstone, Nightingale, Smith, Harding, Robinson, Macey, Rae
Good crowd today with 3,330 butts in the seats. And this is when I notice that Wrexham’s form is Woeful, with three losses in a row, preceded by two ties.
The fans may have been perplexed at first when they saw that McLeish got the start but he ended up with a brace. They didn’t have to wait long for his first goal, at 6:48, while his second came at almost exactly 57 minutes later. We still have problems with crosses, giving up a goal just before the first whistle. The other downer was a Parker injury with 15 minutes to go.
POM: Derek McLeish 8.8 (2 goals)
Holy mother of gods. Parker is phuqqed. Out 7 to 8 months with damaged cruciate ligaments. I’ve never had an injury that bad before. Poor dude. His contract goes until 2021 plus he has an option. If he’s not fully recovered in a year I’ll activate his option so he can continue to rehab with us. He’s Conference National talent so he has a chance to contribute after his return. I have a chance to talk to him so I tell him we support him and encourage him to come back fighting. His morale increased. Pretty cool!
Silver lining? Now I can bring up Angelino Ferreira.
On the good news front, even with us in three cup finals, our last game is still 30 May. We face Worcester in the FA Vase Final and the next Saturday we face them in the final league match of the season. We barely beat them, 1-0, back just before Xmas but that was at their stadium.
I was hoping to give Ferreira his first start but he’s on international duty. So the start goes to U18 new youth Pat Lawford. Essentially, all of today’s starters are in the low 90s of Match Sharpness except Legg and Rae.
at Tiverton, 25 April 2020
Formation: Shovel
Starting XI: Legg, Lawford, Nightingale, Collopy, Rice, Harding, Ferguson, Robinson, Davies, Leary, Rae
Subs: O’Keeffe, Johnstone, Smith, Roberts, Watkins, Hibbert, Thirlwell
This was a boring match. Robinson crossed to Leary in the 14th minute and that was our sole goal. Rae and Thirlwell hit the bars three times between them; that theme wasn’t prevalent this month like last month but it was still hella annoying. Lawford did well, rating at 7.2.
POM: Andy Robinson 8.3 (1 assists, 3 key passes, 2 chances created)
Despite our poor showing I told the lads they did well and everyone reacted positively. Including Rae, he of a 6.3 rating. I was hoping to admonish him in the dressing room but I’ll save that for my office. He acknowledges he sucked and his morale remains Perfect.
Angelino Ferreira had a pretty good game for Angola, rating a 7.7 and assisting on a goal.
Kemar Kirkpatrick scores again in a Huddersfield loss to Southampton, which is still good enough for second place in the EPL with 25 goals. His value is now up to £15.25 million.
On the morning of the 28th I get a development email from my AssMan indicating that Colin Cockbill can be slightly better than Tom Johnstone. Now, I have to assume this means Cockbill’s PA is greater than Johnstone’s current CA. So that would mean high League Two or low League One. Also, his PA is now rated up to three stars. It’s also at this time I notice his Determination went from 9 to 10, showing that O’Shea’s tutoring is starting to work. In further proof of the benefit tutoring, he’s no longer complaining about training being too hard so even though his personality is still Balanced, I’m sure his professionalism is now 12 or above.
(In inconsequential news, I really don’t like Cockbill’s AI-generated face. The lighting is too dark on the right side of his face so I generated a new one.)
In more inconsequential news but nonetheless makes me chuckle, Chelsea lost to QPR, who are in the Championship, in the FA Cup. Hahahahaha
So here is my first version of The Fourteen image. Not sure if I like it or not.
On the positive side, Cockbill’s future assessment has increased. I think it will continue. On the neutral side, Nightingale and Davies saw their stars decrease but it’s not really that they’ve declined it’s just that other really good players have increased (like Coates and Kemar) but there is nothing above five stars so the stars for those two are just righting themselves, if that makes sense.
Another successful month under the belt. There wasn’t a theme though there was a fair sampling of previous themes: free kicks, woodworks, and slide tackles galore. We saw a significant injury to a winger and a devastating injury to our former preferred right fullback, who is also an important substitute on the left side. Well, you know, you take the good, you take the bad, you take ‘em both and there you have, the facts of life.
As I was looking for the next topic of TWTTIN (twat tin?) I was reminded that Kevin Parker had a previous bad injury. On 17 February 2018 he fractured his skull jumping during a match. He was projected to be out 3 to 4 months but ended up being out 3 months, missing 17 matches. Shortly after that, he gashed his head and I’m surprised he didn’t get a concussion. His scouting report doesn’t show that he’s injury prone but I’d have to say he’d have a 1 Luck score if there was such a thing.
Poor chap, he should give up on jumping.