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Unlike September, this is going to be a busy month with 10 matches to wear us down. Between 13 and 17 October we have three matches; one every other day. The youth go through a similar gauntlet with matches on the 3rd, 5th, and 7th.
Welp, Collopy has dug his own grave. He gets dropped to the U23s. Jose Parker on the other hand, though there was no report on him, did phenomenal. I give him an "atta-boy" and he asks that I consider moving him to the first team. Pretty darned cool. I grant him his wish.
Rae also has been pretty crap of late (not on the pitch). There are better youths than him and maybe it's time to show him the door. Er, window. Transfer window.
A big loss but that's just because we found those two kiddos for our defense of the future.
Still Untouchable, still 83%. It's too early in the season for much change.
Here's a shot of the team Dynamics pyramid. Nothing has changed.
Still can't believe the game generated a player named Chick Legg! Ahahahahahahaha So much laughter.
Oh wonderstuff! Mickey Morris is now Driven and has a Determination of 19! Another thing I notice about him is his place in the U18 pyramid. He's a Highly Influential Player there. The U18s have five of those, plus one team leader and 14 influential players. Pretty neat stuff you've done there, Myles.
More mentoring news: O'Shea and Barnes seem to go quite well in the initial meeting so I expect great things.
Watkins mentoring by Lemon seems to be going nowhere as his personality hasn't changed and his Determination is pegged at 13; it started at 11.
On the 1st Kevin Parker is between 2 and 4 weeks from recovering from his knee injury. I figure he'll probably just train until mid-November before getting in for 15 minutes at the end of easy matches. Hopefully I don't phuq this up.
I've finally done it. Collopy is now a member of the U23s.
More international friendly call-up emails greet me on the first of the month. Alan Coates for the England U19s, Mickey Morris for the Wales U19s, and Gareth O'Keeffe for the Ireland U21s.
Now onto some football! We beat them 5-0 in late August in league play but that was in Brixton. Let us see how we fare on their grounds, which by the way, are 55 miles to the southwest, almost on the coast very close to Portsmouth.
at Havant & Waterlooville, 3 October 2020
Formation: Front 424 (GK, DR, DC r, DC l, DL, MC r, MC l, AMR, AML, ST r , ST l)
Starting XI: O'Keeffe, Ferreira, Nightingale, O'Shea, Jefcoate, Lemon, Noulas, Watkins, McGregor, Macey, McLeish
Subs: Legg, Peers, Barnes, Smith, Rice, Davies, Harding, Robinson, Leary, Rae, Flitcroft, Roberts
We're up two at the half but Vice Captain Jefcoate is having a bad day. I give him some words of encouragement and it doesn't work. Doesn't matter, McGregor gets a long shot in after a corner and we waltz on into the next round. We do pop into a pub along the way so Glyn Davies can get his first goal of the season from a soft penalty. Things turn into a pub crawl as 12 minutes later Noah Harding pops in for a penalty shot too; it was from a much rougher penalty.
POM: Stephen McGregor 8.8 (1 goal, 1 key pass, 1 chance created)
We fared quite well on their grounds. Five-nil is a good theme to run with. To be fair, Jefcoate did manage to up his rating to a 6.6 but he failed to complete any crosses.
We've got cup draws, yes we do! We've got cup draws, how 'bout you? We play Hendon, yes we do! We play Hendon, how 'bout you?
Normally I don't report on the matches of the U18s but I gotta talk about this one. We clobbered Leyton Orient's youths 12 to 2. Striker Mark Marshall scored 6 of those goals. No other player had more than 1. Crazy stuff. Also of note, 465 fans came out on a Monday night to see this action. Pretty cool.
Seems like ages since we had a league match. Turns out it's been a month and a day since. Dover are eighth, just outside the playoffs zone, and if you don't know where they are, they're 64 miles to the east-southeast on the coast across from France, just north of the entrance to The Chunnel.
Ferreira and Coates are already away for international duty and O'Keeffe has a match in two days so he gets a breather.
at Dover, 6 October 2020
Formation: Front 424
Starting XI: Legg, Peers, Nightingale, O'Shea, Rice, Taylor, Roberts, Robinson, Leary, Rae, Flitcroft
Subs: Barnes, Smith, Harding, McGregor, Macey
A poor match that doesn't see us score until just a second before 67' when Rae taps an easy one in. Until then he was rating 6.3. I had to switch to Attacking at the half and after the goal I have to bring on people who don't have yellows as we picked up three in rapid succession after the break. After my changes Rae gets a brace; he showed great composure coming out of that 2/3-game's slump. Even after going Defensive, Flitcroft gets his first goal of the season, first competitive goal of his career.
POM: Mark Flitcroft 8.8 (1 goal, 1 assist, 3 key passes, 2 chances created)
Look at that! Our young striker-in-the-making went and got himself a Player of the Match award! Good on ya, Mark!
Also, that's a lot of yellow!
Some more proof of our awesomeness.
Let's keep in mind that West Ham is probably getting credit for Kemar Kirkpatrick. Still, we're pretty awesome.
Henson Debollette got his first cap for Grenada though he didn't perform well. Nonetheless, I call him to congratulated him. He's motivated to get his second so that's a good sign. He had a better match a couple days later, getting a 6.9.
Gareth O'Keeffe had a good match with the Irish U21s conceding no goals and saving four shots. That got him only a 6.8 rating though; I have no idea why it's so low.
Then Mickey Morris scored 3 goals for Wales U19 rating at a perfect 10.0. Can't wait for him to make it up to the Seniors.
The FA Vase...a competition the board don't care about but still a chance to stock my display case with pretty trinkets. I'll try to get the whole bench involved after an hour.
vs. Leek, 10 October 2020
Formation: Front 424
Starting XI: Legg, Barnes, Nightingale, O'Shea, Rice, Lemon, Roberts, Watkins, McGregor, Macey, McLeish
Subs: Webb, Peers, Parker, Smith, Jefcoated, Davies, Noulas, Robinson, Leary, Rae, Flitcroft, Harding
Stop me if you've heard this one before. We play down to the level of a semi-pro team getting our first goal because their defense made a mistake. And then Chicken Legg gives up an easy goal. Only for Macey to redeem himself after giving up the ball easily, repeatedly.
And that's when things go haywire. Macey has to come off in the 28th minute with a head injury. My mood turns to hopeful when McGregor lobs the keeper from the left corner of the box and we go into the half up two. Correction: Up three as McG got clobbered and we get a penalty from Watkins. (No way in hell I was gonna let O'Shea eff things up again.) Later, that fouler picks up a second yellow and the match closes out with another easy miss by Flitcroft. Ho-hum.
POM: Leek's Justin White 8.3 (1 goal, 1 key pass)
That's some bullshit! Macey had a goal, an assist, 3 key passes, and 2 chances created. Speaking of Eddie, he's out 2 to 3 weeks with a concussion. Effing lovely.
On a positive note, Jose Parker got his debut today as a substitute.
I think with Macey on the shelf the rest of the month I'm going to bring back the Spade formation. The thing to do really would to bring up M-I-C-K-E-Y but I want to hide him a little longer. And anyway, Lemon, Davies, and Harding still need time at AMC to become Natural.
If it's Sunday, it's a draw. Today is the FA Vase Fourth Round. We draw Coleshill Town who are up in the Midlands but are down low in the County Leagues so it should be an easy match.
The Conference South Team of the Week is announced and the only thing that is odd is Flitcroft being placed in the midfield. His only Natural position is AMC while he's Accomplished at ST, for now, and Awkward at MC. Oh well, I guess that's the game trying to shoehorn people into the 4-4-2.
Am I playing with fire? Yes. Do the Second XI and the U23s need Match Fitness? Yes. Do I put some heavies on the bench? Not really, just McLeish. So I guess I am playing with fire, times two.
vs. Tower Hamlets, 13 October 2020
Formation: Spade (GK, DR, DC r, DC l, DL, MC r, MC l, AMR, AMC, AML, ST c)
Starting XI: O'Keeffe, Ferreira, Nightingale, O'Shea, Rice, Taylor, Coates, Watkins, McGregor, Macey, McLeish
Subs: Legg, Peers, Barnes, Smith, Jefcoate, Lemon, Roberts, Robinson, Leary, Flitcroft, Rae, Noulas
Ruh-roh, Raggy! Only one action sequence in the first half and it was the Hamlets missing a free kick, just glancing off the top of the crossbar. On top of that, we're on target on 1 of 5 shots. Gulp. I read them the riot act and Andy Flynn, on his debut, scores spot-on 59'. Harding, having provided Flynn the feed, picks up a feed 12 minutes later from Leary and puts us up two. I then bring out the Cudgel, which works a charm as right at the 95:00 mark, there were five minutes of injury time, Kingdon lobs one forward to Target Man McLeish who gets an easy goal when he out-jukes the keeper.
POM: Nathan Kingdon 8.4 (1 assist, 4 key passes, 1 chance created)
I knew it would be a nail-biter so I won't really bemoan our performance. Pretty cool seeing some of the Less-Used get a victory and loads of pitch time. Also, pretty nice to see little-used Kingdon get the POM.
Wednesday are also draw days. Today's draw is for the FA Trophy Fourth Round and we draw Weston-super-Mare at home, a team we have faced many times before.
My Chief Scout must not have liked that I didn't offer Tommy Watkins a new contact as on the 15th he suggests I offer one to Andy Robinson. Sounds like a good idea as he's considered a "leading League Two player" so this could be expensive. Ugh. He wants £2,500 a week. Sorry buddy, I can't afford that. I may have to move him in January.
Sometimes in life you are presented with a problem and you take some time to puzzle it out. Padraig Murphy is a problem, getting demoted to the U23s after bad matches and a bad training report. Grantham, a team in a league below who we beat back in January 2018 want to take him on loan until the end of the season. They'll cover his salary so I agree. I doubt he'll take the hint, though.
This got me thinking about youths and I realize I didn't scout the Irish youth intake. Yikes! Gotta set up a calendar reminder.
Because we've been playing so many cup matches we have fallen out of first place in the league. What a strange feeling. Aldershot are on top with 25 points from 8 wins and 1 draw (they have 1 loss) while we have 24 points from 8 wins.
Today's match is another cup match so I think I'll use the second-choice players as we have a league match on Monday. Damn schedulers!
vs. Hendon, 17 October 2020
Formation: Spade
Starting XI: Webb, Ferreira, Parker, Barnes, Jefcoate, McAdam, Ferguson, Pope, Noulas, Leary, Flitcroft
Subs: Legg, Peers, Smith, Collopy, Sterling, O'Reilly, Kingdon, Flynn, Harding, Hollett, Rae, McLeish
Again, it takes a while, too long against mediocre competition but we eventually get ahead from Ferguson's first goal of the season and Barnes first goal ever for Brixton. Our third goal was late but it too came from a young centreback getting his first ever though from a header off a corner; Barnes' was a footer off a free kick. Set pieces won the day!
POM: Jose Parker 8.7 (1 goal, 1 key passes)
I think I need to start getting used to no more blowouts. We are in a real league now and even "lower" teams are always gonna look to be Davids versus Goliath. I'm not saying we are Goliaths!!!
Also good to see that we made £45,000 today.
Oh boy. This is not a good Sunday. For the FA Cup First Round we have to travel to a League One team, Preston. Might not go well for us.
Holy cow, Wealdstone are Tired! I have no idea how they are going to have anybody not gassed by the half.
Wealdstone FC is about 16 miles northwest of Brixton in the outer suburbs of the London metroplex.
at Wealdstone, 19 October 2020
Formation: Spade
Starting XI: O'Keeffe, Ferreira, Nightingale, O'Shea, Rice, Taylor, Coates, Watkins, Lemon, McGregor, McLeish
Subs: Barnes, Smith, Roberts, Leary, Flitcroft
The Stoners get FMed in the 18th when McLeish intercepts a DC's backpass to the GK. His second is much more impressive, rising above a DC to head in Watkins' cross. His hat trick comes from a less impressive shot, catching his own rebound when the GK can't handle the first shot. The build-up was impressive with several of our players getting touches in the 18-yard box, using precision passing to keep the Stoners off kilter, looking like Keystone Cops. Taylor closes things out late with a tidy shot into the lower right corner; Watkins had the assist.
POM: Derek McLeish 9.6 (3 goals)
Well that was a pleasing game with no negatives.
Wealdstone was Monday, Hungerford are Thursday, and Aldershot are Saturday. Aldershot are second in the league so I'm going to save the best players for that match, meaning a lot of rotation for the Hunger Games.
Our sole match of the last week was good enough to get five of our players into the Team of the Week.
You know, for a player my AssMan keeps telling me to ditch, O'Shea is having a pretty good season.
I ended up sending my scouts out to look at some Irish kids even after missing the true intake. As expected, very few are interested and those that are would be expensive. (Don't pay attention to the £300,000 last month!) One intriguing lad, Chris Keegan, comes up in the first batch of reports. A left winger who's right foot only? My scouts say he's extremely interested, would require no compensation for his current team, and would cost between £110 and £220 a week. He's weak but has no mental Cons while having some good Pros.
Being Irish, I won't get him for 21 months. But a left winger! Okay, he's only 3.5 stars but he can be just as good as or even better than McGregor. I think I'll offer a contract because with all those 12s and higher (14 Flair!!!) I'd be a fool not to. I offer £500 per week and 10% increase upon promotion plus a wage of £1,000 per week once he gets 10 league starts. We should be in League Two by then so we'll be able to afford it.
He agrees immediately but he won't join until 26 July 2022, which should be the tail end of the pre-season. Hopefully his Adaptability is high so he acclimates quickly.
In other personnel movement news, Padraig Murphy gets the message I'm not happy with him and takes the offer from Grantham for a loan spell. His new team are 17th in a league below us so he won't be having the easiest of times but hopefully he shines and I pick up his option for next year.
So begins The Hunger Matches. Because Aldershot, second in the league, is up in two days I'm resting all the starters. It's also Rae's first start in five matches. Not by design, just that's the way the ball bounces. I bring this up because earlier in the morning my Chief Scout suggested transfer listing him. I think my Chief Scout likes the Wacky Tobacky; Alex has 11 goals this season!
vs. Hungerford, 22 October 2020
Formation: Spade
Starting XI: O'Keeffe, Peers, Parker, Smith, Jefcoate, Davies, Ferguson, Robinson, Harding, Leary, Rae
Subs: Barnes, Rice, Roberts, Watkins, Flitcroft
It's a wet, grey, dreary night in South London but moods are high early after Rae gets fouled just 44 seconds in; Noah Harding easily sinks the shot. It takes us 24 minutes to get Rae that chance he was denied earlier and he does not fumble to opportunity. Exactly 4 minutes later we get a second penalty shot after Leary gets hacked down; Harding sends it right to the goalie this time. Whomp, whomp. But have no fear, Leary is here! He knocks in a Robinson cross and a few minutes later a Robinson shot gets blocked right to Rae. He gets his brace and we close the first 45 on a high note. Well, that is after Robinson gets that goal denied earlier as Davies is able to head a loose ball on the 18-yard line right to Andy.
Smith does manage to fuck up O'Keeffe's clean sheet when he mishandles a pass, using his chest instead of backing up and using his foot.
POM: Andy Robinson 9.3 (1 goal, 2 assists, 2 key passes, 2 chances created)
I dialed things down after the break and it saved us some fitness but it cost us a goal. In the long run, I think it's better that way as we've been on a good streak of few injuries; Macey's aside.
When you only have one day off between matches it's hard to have newsworthy items to talk about. Well, we did get the team report on Aldershoot who do not have many good players. They have quite a few who can eventually be good, just not right now.
So if our second-stringers murdered the 10th-placed team, our first-strings will do the same to the 2nd-placed team? But For Realz™ I choose my bench to reflect that I expect a tough match and I'll probably go to the Cudgel late to protect a lead.
vs. Aldershot, 24 October 2020
Formation: Spade
Starting XI: O'Keeffe, Ferreira, Nightingale, O'Shea, Rice, Taylor, Coates, Watkins, Lemon, McGregor, McLeish
Subs: Barnes, Smith, Roberts, Leary, Flitcroft
Hot damn! Another early goal! This time only 36 seconds! You go, McLeish! He keeps a good thing going scoring again almost exactly 10 minutes later. I ease things off as we have another match in three days and want the crew rested as much as possible. As I watched the match tick into the 40-minutes I was thinking to myself that we hadn't seen a long-range score in a while. Bill Taylor must have been reading my thoughts somehow and sent a rocket in from 25 yards out. Dammmmnnnn...
POM: Bill Taylor 9.1 (1 goal, 1 assist, 2 key passes, 1 chance created)
Taylor's display didn't go unnoticed as the manager for Dunfermline, of the Scottish Premier League, was in the stands taking notes. Please make me a sizeable offer, Lee Fleming!
I experienced a first in this match: First time I've ever gone against a striker-less formation. They were hunked-down from the get-go but didn't change up once we got that super-early goal. They need to fire their manager.
Padraig Murphy gets off to an auspicious start with Grantham, rating at 7.2. Good on ya!
I did send my AssMan to take a look at Chris Keegan to confirm his 3.5 stars and he, with his better scouting skills, confirmed them. Oh well, I was hoping for better.
On Monday, 27 October the U23s had a league match and DR Kevin Parker got 32 minutes of action, his first since 21 April when we beat Wrexham in the FA Trophy Semi Final. He won't get into Tuesday's match but hopefully he'll get 20 minutes in Saturday's.
I'm gonna stop taking screen shots of the Team of the Week as I think this will be too often an occurrence. This week's team included GK O'Keeffe, DC l Peers, MC r Taylor, MC l Davies, and ST l Rae.
Macey makes his return, well, at least that's the plan. I'll probably bring him in around 65'. Welling are mediocre and I'll treat them as such.
vs. Welling, 27 October 2020
Formation: Spade
Starting XI: Legg, Peers, Parker, Smith, Jefcoate, Davies, Roberts, Robinson, Harding, Leary, Flitcroft
Subs: Barnes, Nightingale, Ferguson, Macey, Rae
We are not having a good day with our front four averaging 6.325 rating. Will my Assertive speech motivate them? Nope, so on come Ferguson, Macey, and Rae. Rae has a chance to win with 19 seconds left but sends the ball into the stands. How long has it been since we were held scoreless? How long has it been since I fined players?
POM: Andy Robinson 8.4 (4 key passes, 4 chances created)
Flitcroft and Leary get 1-week fines, neither are happy about it but I tell them to get their act together and they seem satisfied with that. Harding, I couldn't fine him but gave him an ass-chewing.
Oh yes, the "my player just performed a 6.7 effort so I need a new deal for him" agent demand. Fuck right off, Davies ain't that good yet, Mr. Matthews.
So here's a different situation: Connor Smith has asked for a new contract. No agent involved. I'm really supposed to be getting rid of the original players but just one wouldn't hurt, right? I tell him we'll work on it come the end of the season. Depending on the Youth Intake I may not actually do that. Chesterfield and Lincoln are both sniffing around him so if they make offers in January I may not have to worry about a new contract.
Now that Macey is back I'm going with a two-striker formation. Not wanting a repeat of last match's lackadaisical performance I'm going Attack. Welcome the return of the Diamond! Our opponents has a really weird name, Corinthian-Casuals. They are 9.25 miles to the southwest, inside the Ring Road that surrounds London.
at Corinthian-Casuals, 31 October 2020
Formation: 4-4-2 Diamond (GK, DR, DC r, DC l, DL, DMC, MR, ML, AMC, ST r, ST l)
Starting XI: O'Keeffe, Ferreira, Nightingale, O'Shea, Rice, Coates, Watkins, McGregor, Taylor, McLeish, Rae
Subs: Barnes, Smith, Noulas, Leary, Macey
Rae goofs a shot at 12' but McLeish sinks one at 24' so I'm minorly pleased. Watkins twists his knee before we hit the locker room and Rae continues his horrid play. Leary, on for Tommy, can't get his crossing on point. That is until 45:07 when two problems solve themselves, Rae heads in a Leary cross. That combo repeats itself two minutes later but it's a feed up the middle this time. Time to re-write my speech!
I shouldn't have. We come out too comfortable and let an early one in. McLeish restores the cushion and I begin to wonder what would happen if I sub off two strikers on tricks. Heck with it! Going to the Spade and bringing Macey in for 25 minutes of fitness restoration. Ass not bitten.
POM: Bill Taylor 9.0 (1 assist, 5 key passes, 4 chances created)
For a player who missed two point-blank goals I have no idea how he rated a 9.0. Watkins is out 3 to 6 days. Could have been much worse.
Patrick Murphy is tearing it up for Grantham. His ratings have been 7.2, 7.9, and 7.7 (with a goal). He may have made his way back into my good graces.
Oh, and Nightingale's agents wants a new deal for his client. URGH!
Cockbill may have gone down but I think because with Barnes onboard as a 5-star player Colin has been adjusted downward. I still have faith in him as his Marking and Tackling went up, along with almost all of his Physicals. Ferreira also had the same correction and Sean Peers has been deemed better than what my scouts originally thought. GK Adrian Lee kinda has the same thing going on as Gareth O'Keeffe is getting better. Ben Pope's "drop" is probably because Andy Robinson was one of the players who improved a lot over the month.
We made it through the gauntlet with only one slight hiccup. That Welling match was the first time we failed to score at home since our two-nil loss to Dartford in the FA Cup Second Qualifying Round back on 16 September 2017. We had some minor injuries to deal with but overall we've been on a good streak on that front.
Back in July 2018 I wanted to a player named Alex Brown who was Natural at all positions along the left side but he chose Tranmere instead. Well, Tranmere managed to get themselves up to League Two at the end of the 2018/2019 season, getting 3 goals from 39 matches from Brown. All told, so far, he has 83 starts and 7 goals with 12 assists. But if you look at his player card, he's hardly managed to progress on his Attributes. Take a look.
He should have improved more over 2.25 season, methinks. (Okay, to be fair, he did develop a new Trait.) I wonder if he'd look good in red and black. I'm sending a scout out to take a look-see. At a theoretical price of £36,500 he might be worth a shot.