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It seems the "Continue" button issue has resolved itself. So relieved. We are down to our last matches of the year though the last one will actually be in June. Damn these long seasons. We have one league match to go and three cup finals. We also have a gap of two weeks early on and I plan to fill that gap with a friendly against a local Premier League team's U23 squad, preferably Chelsea or Fulham. That should keep us match fit and bring in a lot of money.
Dangit. McGregor tanks because he's playing so low in the Pyramid. Well, when Irish future transfer Chris Keegan joins us in two years, hopefully McGregor will still be with us to mentor him. McG may try to leave before then. Drat. With Peers declining it's even a more given that Pat Lawford will be DR1 next season.
Another month of losses, this time to the tune of £63,555. If we had stayed in the FA Cup a round longer maybe we would have made some more money this year. I guess I'll wipe my tears with the 12 million pound notes we made selling Kemar.
The board is fickle, I'm back up to 91%. Or maybe the fans are happy because I've been using the Diamond formation so much.
Back on 6 April Stephen McGregor moved up into Influential Player level. This is good news because I want to make him the new Vice Captain with Jefcoate departing.
No outstanding performances this month but I did take Ben O'Reilly (AMC) out of the U23s to replace Glyn Davies in the Seniors. Davies has seen no improvements in the last five months. Shameful.
Good news! Dean Rice's Bravery has recovered up to 10. Technical it's 9.6 but FM does the rounding thing to nearest whole number. Did I do that right? I don't math well.
Not reflected in last month's The Fourteen run-down is that Mark Marshall is now currently rated as "very well suited for Conference National." Awesome. Also, his mentoring by Macey is already paying dividends with his Determination now up to 17 from 15. Double awesome.
The loan report shows the players are slipping, except Garcia, but at least they are getting playing time? I've been tracking changes and nobody has been improving lately. Bummer. Nobody is in my future plans and the lack of changes reinforces my opinions.
We have a two-week gap in the middle of the month so I proposed a friendly with the Chelsea U23s for 14 May. We should bring in a sizeable crowd. InshaABBA.
My scouts point out central defender Daryl Sharpe who is left-footed and fast as heck, Pace 15 and Acceleration 16. He's not that tall, 180 cm, but has a Jumping Reach of 12. His contract expires on 30 June and I might just offer him a contract. Two things will determine this: If O'Shea leaves and if Coventry exercise his option year.
This is our final league match of the season. The league will continue to have matches as at this level, promotion rounds are introduced to see who else gets promoted. While that goes on we'll have three cup finals matches; Conference League Cup, FA Trophy, and FA Vase. The FA Vase final is actually on 2 June, which is a long way of saying May is going to be a quick month.
vs. Billericay, 1 May 2021
Formation: Diamond (GK, DR, DC r, DC l, DL, DMC, MR, ML, AMC, ST r, ST l)
Starting XI: Legg, Peers, Barnes, Smith, Rice, Ferguson, Robinson, McGregor, O'Reilly, McLeish, Rae
Subs: Ferreira, Parker K, Roberts, Leary, Macey
Oh yay! A wet and windy day. I was hoping for a large crowd and got one with 5,234 butts in seats.
Wow! Robinson almost gets a goal just 18 seconds in but Billericay's keeper does his best Superman and flies high to nab the ball. Not even a minute later we get a corner and in the melee that ensues their left centreback kicks high, hitting McLeish. New kid on the block O'Reilly gets to take the penalty but Superman is there to deny. Nary five minutes later a corner from the opposite side goes directly to O'Reilly who nods it on to Smith at the far post and he gets a goal. But he was offiside! We are jinxed, jinxed I tell you! Yet another five minutes and another opportunity but his time Peers' early cross from the midfield line finds Target Man Rae and his header goes in, no questions asked. Psych! Dammit.
It takes another corner and the aftermath for us to score when McGregor does a bunch of aimless dribbling around the box but ultimately finds McLeish by the spot and he does what O'Reilly can't. Our second is also McLeish who got a perfectly timed feed during a counter-attack set up by Robinson. Poor O'Reilly bruises hit foot at 49' so I bring him off for Liam Roberts. McLeish's trio comes from a deflection off a defender so it was kind of a cheap goal but we'll take it. Rae picks up a bruised ankle just before 84' and I'm looking at my bench and I don't have any more strikers and I can't go to the 4-5-1 as I only have two midfielders left. Well, Ferreira gets to be a Target Man for once! :-D
Holy shit! Just 90 seconds into injury time Connor Smith sends a prayer of a Route One shot towards Ferreira and his 17 Pace allows him to outrun the defenders and he beats the keeper with one hell of a powerful shot! What a way to end the league season!
POM: Derek McLeish 9.5 (3 goals)
Not reported above was that Legg had on hell of a match, rating 7.5 for routinely stonewalling Billericay's offense. He faced five shots, parrying four of them and smothering one.
McGregor's agent approaches but I dodge him like Bo Jackson in Tecmo Super Bowl. I don't dodge McGregor but he buys my "you've got too much time left" excuse and goes away happier.
We have two weeks off but at the end of the second week we'll host the Chelsea U23s. This should generate a full house and we should rake in some cash. The match against Billericay brought in £55,000 for comparison.
Gareth O'Keeffe gets called up for the England's team in the U20 World Cup. He'll definitely be gone from 22 to 30 May but conceivably be gone until 13 June if England does well. Shit. I was banking on him being between the post for our three cup finals.
This reminds me to check if Chick Legg's contract option got triggered. It hasn't. Maybe at the end of the league season, after the playoff final, it'll trigger when the program's maths happen.
On 4 May my scouts report another Sharpe player, this one named Keith who's a right-footed centreback. He's not that fast but has a lot of other great skills and is Natural DC, DMC, and MC. His contract is up soon and Stoke don't have an option. He is 4.5 stars so he's probably not good enough for Stoke, currently 7th in the EPL, so they may not resign him.
Our trouncing of Billericay 4-0 gets four players named to the Team of the Week. Legg (GK), Barnes (DR), Smith (DC r), and McLeish (ST r).
Our junior troops do the double, winning the English FA Youth Cup, beating Newcastle's U18s 6-2 on aggregate.
The scouts also think I should offer Jose Parker a new contract. He's on £130 right now, how much will it cost me? Woof. He settles for £1,000 per week plus a £300 appearance fee. There are some escalators and other costly clauses but seeing as he's League One quality right now he is definitely worth it. He agrees on 10 May.
Worcester, the team in second place in the league we just came from, want U23 DL Sam Sterling for a loan until the end of the season. It must be to secure their promotion to the Conference South as their starting left fullback is out with a knee ligament strain for the next 11 to 28 days. Sterling is coming off an abdominal strain and won't be fit for 4 to 8 days. I accept the loan offer in hope of getting him some starting time but only for one month. I hope he improves and doesn't further injury himself.
I get another glowing report on U18 right-foot central defender Jason Cosgrove. If he and Cockbill are ready for prime time maybe those Sharpe kids aren't needed?
The same day I get another glowing report on Mickey Morris too. He's adjudged to be League Two quality already. Excellent.
The next day is a progress report for Dean Rice. The squad's positive characteristics have had a favorable effect on him lately, with his Determination going from 9 to 10. I am pleased.
In Conference South playoff news, Dulwich Hamlet will host Billericay to see who gets promoted to the Conference National along with us. I think I want Billericay to go up.
The scouting report for the Chelsea U23s comes in and it's mixed bag. Some players who are awesome now and will be awesomer in the future. Some who are mediocre but will be awesome in the future. Some who are mediocre now and pretty good in the future. I wonder who they'll field.
Connor Smith's influence has declined due to declining ability and therefore he's no longer Highly Influential, just Influential. Well that is interesting...
Another player gets called up for another youth competition. This time it's Mickey Morris for the French Youth Invitational. The FYI is partly responsible for getting me into Football Manager again. I played FM2007 then had a long layoff until one year (2011? 2012?) I stumbled across the FYI on TV somewhere, somehow. I thought it was a pretty cool idea and got me dreaming again about finding that diamond in the rough wunderkind. You go on with your bad self, Mickey!
The friendly versus the Chelsea U23s is gonna be a full house with 4,500 of the fans being Chelsea loyals. Mo' money, mo' money!
Friendlies are about fitness and perfecting tactics. And making money when you invite the secondaries from a Premier League club just miles away. I've included some U23s of our own and made the selections based on who needs match fitness the most.
vs. Chelsea U23s, 14 May 2021
Formation: Diamond
Starting XI: Webb, Parker J, Ferreira, Parker K, Curran, Ferguson, Pope, Leary, Davies, Macey, Rae
Subs: Legg, Peers, Nightingale, Barnes, Jefcoate, McAdam, Robinson, McGregor, O'Reilly, Flynn, Hollett, Kingdon
Well, that was unexpected. Two own goals had us locked at the half and we had several players with zero passion who gave the ball away too easily. Macey got us ahead after the break and Chelsea's goalie should be catching hell from his teammates for awhile after missing an easy shot. They did have a player get a straight red tackling Rae while he was on a one-on-one. U18 after-thought Ronnie Hollett was the recipient of another perfect Robinson cross and that sealed our victory. Those two almost connected again but Hollett's header was just an inch too wide. I kept us on attack the whole match because, fuck it! That paid off with U23 striker Andy Flynn getting a goal in stoppage time; the ball squeaked under the goalie and trickled across the line about two seconds later.
POM: Andy Robinson 8.8 (1 assist, 7 key passes, 2 chances created)
The players that played 6.4 or lower, looking at you Curran, don't catch any guff but boy was that first half concerning.
The Billericay-Dulwich Hamlet match ends with our nemesis winning and getting promoted along with us. Dammit. I'll have to face them twice next year. I hope we are a much better team then.
There is some relief when I get the email saying the Legg's contract will be extended a year because he got into 15 matches. Good.
The Conference League Cup final is expected to draw 22,000 fans to Wembley. Our in other words, mo' money, mo' money! Also, we are 6-4 favored to win.
Sweet! There are 23,130 fans to watch us today. Should be a tough challenge and I'll always back the lads. All the players with the "enjoys big matches" label get starts today; O'Shea, McGregor, Lemon, and Rae. I hope that gives us the edge.
vs. Leyton Orient at Wembley Stadium, 22 May 2021
Formation: Diamond
Starting XI: Legg, Peers, Ferreira, O'Shea, Jefcoate, Roberts, Robinson, McGregor, Lemon, Marshall, Rae
Subs: Webb, Parker, Nightingale, Barnes, Rice, Noulas, Pope, Leary, Flitcroft, Macey, McLeish, Smith
We're getting a lot of shots but none are connecting. Play comes to a halt at 14' as Jefcoate pulls up lame from a foot injury. On goes Rice. But we conceded from a build up on our right side. This is not good. But we have Andy Robinson and all he does is assist! This time he's in the middle for some reason but this must have confused the defense as they let Mark Marshall find room and he got a quick shot off that went under the goalie as he fell to stop the ball. Rae almost gives us the lead at '50 but he can't redirect Marshall's cross to a point where the Oriental keep can't reach. Drat. But we have Andy Robinson and all he does is score! He redirects a Rae shot that the goalie batted right at him. What's the opposite of "drat?"
I have a feeling of dread that this game is heading to extra time despite our lead; something FMed this way comes. So I go to the Spade at 68' and bring off Lemon for Flitcroft and Rae for Noulas. Also Ferreira is on a yellow so he gets the heave-ho too. I'm a tactical genius as there are no additional action sequences until the end of regulation. We were on target with 11 of 19 shots and they were just 1 of 7; annoying that we conceded that one.
POM: Andy Robinson 8.4 (1 goal, 1 assist, 1 key pass, 1 chance created)
I Passionately told the crew that I was super-proud of their comeback and they all beamed with joy. Except Lemon the lemon. We got another trophy!
Oh poops. Jefcoate has a broken foot, injured while being tackled. No card called on that play. He'll be out 3 to 4 months. He'll be leaving us this summer so it sucks for him as he'll miss all of pre-season so he might not get picked up by another club for a while.
Hot damn! Ferreira is now Natural at DC. Excellent. This will be important next year when I expect him to be the regular starter at right centreback.
So Lemon got a 6.4 and his agent wants a new deal for him. Ha! In that case, I'll issue an official warning first. That seems to have prevented him from storming into my office when I threw his agent out on his ass.
The next morning I unlock a Steam Achievement for winning the Manager of the Year Award. I told you I was great. :-D
The U23s Coach that I use to teach the kids Defending is about to be poached by Bradford City. I ask him to stay but he invokes the ghost of Fleetwood Mac and strolls out of my office humming, "you can go your own way."
Gareth got to face the Egyptian U20s and rated a 7.1, saving the sole shot he faced in their 4-0 victory.
Salford City is in the league above but only in 12th place. So easier than Leyton Orient? Nope, only 5-4 odds. But there should be 18,000 people to watch us.
vs. Salford at Wembley, 25 May 2021
Formation: Diamond
Starting XI: Webb, Parker K, Parker J, Smith, Curran, Noulas, Pope, Leary, Harding, Macey, McLeish
Subs: Legg, Peers, Nightingale, Barnes, Rice, Ferguson, Robinson, McGregor, O'Reilly, Rae, Flitcroft, Ferreira
Oh boy, I should have known the fix was in based on the press conference being all about mind games. And then my pre-match speech elicits zero response. Kids! Urgh! Yep! They totally dominate from the get-go and first 7 minutes when Webb lets in an easy shot. They continue to own us until the 12th minute when my strikers combine to get them on a counter-attack; Macey was a yard from the keeper when he shot and had two defenders on his back. What a beast! That was his 200th goal for us!
In the 58th it's the opposite: Smith with the long boot, Macey with the assist, and McLeish with the goal. I go to the 4-4-2 Control minutes later and the Cudgel at 70'. Five minutes on we get a repeat of goal number two and we win another trophy!!!
POM: Eddie Macey 9.0 (1 goal, 2 assists, 4 key passes, 2 chance created)
I wipe the sweat off my brow at the end of the match. Connor Smith and Mark Curran were playing poorly (as low as 6.3) and finally snapped out of it in the last 15 minutes. Curran has not lit the world on fire like I thought he would since joining us in late January.
Sunday morning brings news that U23 Coach Sander Bos will take over at Bradford City. There aren't a lot of good candidates out there to replace him so I'll have to a look later on in June.
Manchester United won the FA Cup, beating Swansea 3-2. That's a pretty good feat for Swansea as they are 17th in the EPL and avoided regulation by scoring four more goals than Bristol City.
Dangit! On 27 May my scouts report that the DC Daryl Sharpe who caught my eye is a 77 out of 100 in their assessments. I check his contract status and Coventry has exercised his option. He's too expensive to chase now. The other Sharpe kid, Keith, has signed a new contract with Stoke. Dabnaggit!
Later that day Smith and Robinson are pissed that I haven't offered them new contracts. Sorry gents! Connor, I have better options. Andy, you're way too expensive.
Oh dread. Connor Smith and Chick Legg are pissed I didn't give Robinson a new contract. I try to discuss the matter with them but there isn't an option that says, "He wants £6,000 a week! That's insane at this level! And we're holding him back, he's too good for us." So I opt for, "I think my stance is for the good of the team and that's all I ever try to do." They understand my perspective and back their way out of my office.
David Doran gets to join the Wales U19 team for international friendlies against Germany and Austria this summer. I hope he gets to play and it improves his mood. Second worse signing ever.
Late in the evening on 31 May Gareth O'Keeffe approaches me about leaving because Preston North End, in League One, are rumored to be interested in him. This would be a perfect time to send the Team Captain to talk him down from the ledge. But O'Keeffe is the one player I simply will not let leave. So I ask him what it will take to keep him here as I'm willing to break the bank. He responds he needs to be playing in League One and doesn't see a way we are going to get promoted there any time soon. I explain we have a loaded team with lots of youngsters and you all can grow together. He actually agrees! But sorta kinda gives me a one-year timeline. Whoops! By then we should be promoted from Conference National to League Two. Oh well, I'll guess we'll have another conversation this time next year.
Two more players will have a busy June. Henson Debellotte will play in two matches for Grenada and Angelino Ferreira will also have two for Angola. Pretty cool.
(I generally don't like to break up the month reports but I think I'll go ahead and put the final match of the season in with the rest of May. That way I'll feel like I can get down to business releasing players, scouting players, and signing staff. After Bos flew off to Bradford one of our scouts announced his retirement.)
Congleton, how do you have so many foreign kick-ass players? Are you gonna kick our ass? I sure hope not! At least your strikers aren't fast. I'm starting Curran again as I want him to have a good rating as the season ends. He's had only one match with a 7.0 rating and everything has been lower, all the way down to 6.2.
vs. Congleton, 2 June 2021
Formation: 4-4-2 Control MM (GK, DR, DC r, DC l, DL, MR, MC r, MC l, ML, ST r, ST l)
Starting XI: Legg, Ferreira, Parker J, Barnes, Curran, Robinson, Noulas, Roberts, McGregor, Macey, Marshall
Subs: Webb, Peers, Nightingale, O'Shea, Rice, Pope, Ferguson, O'Reilly, Leary, McLeish, Rae, Smith
My plan for Curran gets off to a good start as he gets an assist when he ignores my Control mentality, sending in a super-early lob to Marshall, who has the pace to create his one one-v-one and sends in a high shot into the upper left ceiling of the goal. Five minutes later the exact same play happens, EXACT!, except the shot gets knocked over the bar by the goalie. Marshall will not be denied as he tracks down Robinson's pseudo-cross (was it a shot or cross?) that bounces off the corner formed by the crossbar and left post, right to his feet. Second easiest goal in the history of football. Robinson gets another assist and Macey gets a goal after Andy hops over a slide tackle and passes to Eddie in the box. Funny stuff there. Congleton's hill to climb becomes more daunting when their German midfielder gets his second yellow right before the first half draws to a close. It gets even worse for them as they try to attack and we have a great counter that involves Noulas, Marshall, Macey, and Liam Robert of all people, playing in a Central Midfielder-Support role, breaks Congleton's back. Oh wow. Robinson wants in on the kicking a team when they're down, offering a high flying early cross that Marshall is able to head right past the leaping keeper. Ouch.
I make my trademarked Full Outfield Swap really early, just after 53', and the Newly-Ons are phoning it in. Just as I shout, "Show Some Passion!" Pope pops in a free kick that Ben O'Reilly, all 174 cm of him, leaps above everyone and heads in our sixth.
POM: Mark Marshall 9.6 (3 goals, 1 key pass, 1 chance created)
Mark Marshall, folks, he is the future. He and Morris together will be unstoppable. Andy Robinson could easily have been the POM as he had 3 assists, 5 key passes, and 5 chances created, bringing him to a rating of 9.4. He'll be greatly missed when he moves on.
Northampton's manager, in League One, was in the stands to watch Robinson in action. He has to be impressed.
McGregor's agent demands a new contract. Eff off, buddy!
I do not understand why Robinson is declining. I mean, he won't be with us long but still, kind of concerning. Look at that! Mark Marshall has improved. Not surprising considering how well he's been doing of late.
The Quadruple! There was no way in hell we were going to win the FA Cup so this is the best we could have done. What a weird statement. We only got four trophies. Baa!
Back in late November 2018 I declared that Noah Harding could have been the best signing ever as he had four POMs so far into that season. Later that season, in March 2019, I again praised his signing. Spoiler alert: He won't be with us much longer and I don't believe he's been the best signing ever. He had only one more that season, two in the next season, and one in our most recent season. He really fell out of favor as he became less dependable and I realized his single-digit Teamwork and Work Rate were really hindering him. The lesson here is that he was amazing for the leagues we were in back then but we outgrew him as we advanced up the leagues.