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What does this month hold for us? Hopefully we right our ways and get to reliable scoring and defending again, with a clean sheet or seven. Yes, seven matches in 30 days. Oof. (Not as bad as nine in the original timeline. Speaking of, I'm all caught up so I'll have no more, "In the other timeline, we blah blah blah…" biz from me.)
Oh what a relief!
Mickey Morris' performance is astonishing. Everything but Bravery, Leadership, Aggression (never changes), Natural Fitness (rarely changes), and Determination (it's already 19 for Pete's sake!) had green arrows.
Speaking of Morris, his third goal in the match against Maidenhead, the one in which he dribbled nearly half the pitch before firing it in, gets him the Conference National Goal of the Month. His Morale actually improved when I congratulated him.
We lost £262,956 last month but £211,213 of that is a corporation tax assessed on the final day of the month. The taxman cometh.
Back up to 81%, an improvement of 2% over last month. So I'm still "Untouchable."
Also, another Head Coach of the Month Award for Lil' Ol' Me.
(While I was looking at that Award email I noticed that the second place manager manages AFC Telford, who are labeled as a semi-professional team. I took a look at the rest of the league. Seven of the twenty-four teams are semi-pro. Did not expect that but I guess it makes sense for teams in English non-league football. I checked League Two and all the teams there are professional. Makes sense.)
As noted last month, Stephen McGregor is now a Highly Influential Player. Makes sense for your Vice Captain.
Not a lot of news on this front. Kris Newton and Gael Barbier continue to be awesome. Striker Allen West is starting to show signs of improvement from Rae's mentoring, with his Determination going up a point to 13.
Sean Peers hasn't seen any improvement in his Attributes in three months so he's really getting close to being dropped to the U23s for Jordan Nickson. January may see him transfer listed.
Dean Rice's Bravey is now up to 10.8. Getting closer...
Like the Youths, there wasn't much to report on the development front. It was all that damn fixture congestion, I'm sure.
The Team of the Week is another clean sweep across the middle, though Eddie Macey gets installed at ML. Sigh. Gareth O'Keeffe also is named.
We have the FA Cup coming up on Saturday so Tuesday will see a less-than-stellar starting XI. Gateshead are 16th in the league and have an Unhappy primary striker. He's still fast though, 15 Pace, and they play a single-high striker formation so I'll have my centrebacks splitting roles, one on Cover, one on Stopper.
vs. Gateshead, 2 November 2021
Formation: Diamond Attack (GK, DR, DC r, DC l, DL, DMC (DLP-S), MR, ML, AMC (AM), ST r (DLF-A), ST l (AF))
Starting XI: Legg, Peers, Evans, Collopy, Rice, Ferguson, Pope, Leary, Lemon, Macey, McLeish
Subs: Ferreira, Curran, O'Reilly, Caffrey, Rae
We're doomed! Doomed, I tell you! Only one highlight in the first half and it culminates in a Macey shot off the crossbar that nobody can be bothered to chase down. There were two highlights in the second 45 that amounted to nothing except our lost possession. But at 90:54 Leary finally gets a cross right and McLeish finally gets a header in the goal. Pathetic.
POM: Mickey Morris 9.8 (4 goals, 2 key passes, 1 chance created)
With Peers, Rice, and Macey rating as low as 6.2 I knew I was in trouble. Peers got back up to 6.7 somehow but the other two only made it to 6.4. Urgh!
In player development new, Tasos Noulas has moved from Fairly Determined to Resolute due to the squad's general character. No change in his Determination so it was all under the hood.
It's international duty news! David Doran gets a match with the Wales U20 team, Angelino Ferreira gets a match with the Angolan seniors, and Mickey Morris gets two matches with the Wales U21 team. Mickey will miss a cup match, the Conference League Cup. Dangit.
We aren't expecting a full house for the Dulwich match, only 5,000 fans expected, with 1,000 representing the visitors. Bummer. I want more money.
Blackpool was expected to finish 8th this season, having been relegated from League Two, but currently are in 21st. They sacked their manager and are fixing to poach my U18 Tactics coach. Dammit. He's good.
Oh darn! More international call ups! On 11 and 15 November the following will be busy: Gareth (England U21s), Pat Lawford (England U19s), John Burns (Northern Ireland U21), and Chris Dryden (Ireland U21s). I wonder if we'll get the option to postpone matches again.
We are favorites, we've owned them in the past, they are weak, we shall win. (Lordy, lordy, lordy, please let us win.)
vs. Dulwich Hamlet, 6 November 2021
Formation: Diamond Attack (GK, DR, DC r, DC l, DL, DMC (DLP-S), MR, ML, AMC (AM), ST r (DLF-A), ST l (AF))
Starting XI: O'Keeffe, Lawford, Ferreira, Barnes, Curran, Caffrey, Smith, McGregor, Flitcroft, Morris, Burns
Subs: Legg, Peers, Parker, Collopy, Rice, Noulas, Pope, Leary, O'Reilly, Macey, Marshall, Lemon
It's rare to see a striker get a yellow before a goal but that's just the way it is for Morris today, with the card at 12' and the goal coming at 13'. Because Mickey is playing as a Deep Lying Forward he's a little deep retrieving a ball and sending it off to the left wing. McGregor then passes to Burns in the arc who, with no Morris in sight, knocks it ahead so Flitcroft can kick it in for our second goal. McGregor's goal comes in the sloppy aftermath of corner where everybody's kicks are getting caught in traffic; the ball eventually bounced wide and Stephen put the ball deftly into a tight slot. Eventually Burns is able to dribble the defense drunk so that they forget Morris is arriving late, just in time to take John's pass and put a fourth on the scoreboard. What a way to cap the first third of the match! I thought that was all I would have to write about the first half but at 45:12 Mickey is fouled in the box and gets his hat trick the easy way.
I was thinking of pulling Morris at the half as he had his three and a yellow car but I figured I'd give him 5 minutes to pick up his fourth goal. He needed only 3:21 to do so. I take the opportunity to do Ye Olde Outfield Swap. Why risk an injury? It's a long season. Match fitness. Which every excuse you like. Our 7th goal was a thing of beauty with Macey and Pope overlapping so Ben could pass low, across the face of the goal to Gary Leary for the simplest of tap-ins. From there things are smooth but Marshall and Macey are slacking and rating poorly. So to continue with the theme of the match, Marshall crosses and Macey, he still of 3 Heading, uses his dome to get our 8th goal; 83 seconds into injury time.
POM: Mark Flitcroft 9.6 (3 goals, 1 key pass, 1 chance created)
We had 31 shots on goal, they had 5. We had 18 on target, they had 1. The victory was pre-ordained.
So how much did we make from that match? How about £91,821? Sweet! Of that, £34,568 came from FA Cup prize money. If we can make it past the next round we'll be raking in quite the money. If only we could avoid the Tax Man monthly...
Wait, a whole week off?! What shall I do with myself?!
Seems that Blackpool isn't alone in sacking managers. Wycombe and Billericay have put in bids for my U18 Coach Danny Upward. Looks like he's moving upward and out. But to whom?!
Are you ready for some cup draw news?! Glad you are! In the Second Round of the FA Cup, we travel to Scunthorpe or Billericay. I hope it's Billericay as Scunthorpe are League Two. But wait! They are last in their league so we should be good either way.
The scouting report for Gainesville comes in and they don't scare me even though their strikers are fast and know how to shoot. Their Determination, Teamwork, and Work Rate are very subpar though.
I've been informed by the authorities that we are not taking on the Gators but The Blue, better known as Gainsborough Trinity, as Semi-Professional team a league below us.
This week's team of heroes includes only Gary Leary, at ML. That Gateshead match was a real kick in the nards.
I get an annoying/weird email from my AssMan on 9 November. He reports on player potential by comparing a non-starter to a starter. This time he chose the three DLs in the Seniors and U23s who aren't Mark Curran. He notes that all three can be as good as Curran. Wow. Thank you. I now know who I'm going to keep. Now where's my "rolling-eyes" emoji?
Excellent! We get to face Billericay. Easy peasy.
Late on 9 November Danny Upward finally made up his mind. He's off to Blackpool. We already beat them 3-0 back in late August and we face them again on Boxing Day. Sorry, Danny, I'll make you rue the day you left Brixton for Cesspool. But have no fear, I do find a replacement of nearly the same ability. There was an amazing Italian U18 Coach but he wanted £1,000 per week while the board would only allow me to offer £475. Oh well.
More cup draw news! Supposing we get by the Sleastacks we'll travel to either Larkhall or Berkhamsted. I prefer Larkhall as they are four leagues below us while Berkenstocks are only two.
We have 6 to 1 odds of beating Gainsborough. That is why you'll see we have loads of turnover in the squad and a U23er getting bench time. Never mind the fact that we have a lot of players off with their national teams.
vs. Gainsborough, 13 November 2021
Formation: Diamond Attack (GK, DR, DC r, DC l, DL, DMC (DLP-S), MR, ML, AMC (AM), ST r (DLF-A), ST l (AF))
Starting XI: Lee, Peers, Collopy, Evans, Rice, Parker, Pope, Leary, Davies, Marshall, McLeish
Subs: Legg, Ferreira, Barnes, Murphy, Curran, Ferguson, Smith, McGregor, O'Reilly, Macey, Rae, Lemon
Thirty-two minutes, forty-four seconds before we get a shot on target and Derek McLeish is the lucky one who won't get a scolding at the half. So if Marshall is rating 6.2 from repeated hits of the woodworks it's only natural that he gets fouled in the box, right? According to SI logic, maybe? (Honestly, it looked like a flop.) Somehow he makes it in though. But then I relax when Glyn Davies scores directly from a free kick at 68:15. To the Cudgel! But at 83' Ryan Collopy injures his head. Gashed or concussed?
POM: Glyn Davies 9.1 (1 goal, 1 assist, 5 key passes, 4 chances created)
Ouch! Collopy has a concussion and will be out 2 to 3 weeks. How far will his Bravery tank?
Collopy's Bravery didn't drop. Interesting. I wonder if, when he's fully healed, it will go up because he "survived" a concussion and won't fear getting hurt in the future?
With the next round of the Conference League Cup we host Morecambe of the Confrence League North where they are 20th. Should be an easy game. Well face them on 1 January, a match that could see me holding people out so they can be transferred to a new club. I'm looking at you, Gareth, Pope, Peers, and Lemon.
Sleaford's training report comes in and I don't fear their roster.
I've got some more spontaneous player changes to report. Gary Ferguson's Determination went up to 14. This was brought to my attention by my Head of Youth Development who noted that the squad's character has rubbed off on him.
I've got some development assessment news! Adrian Lee is assessed to have Championship potential, according to my AssMan. I'm holding out hope for Premier potential though.
Sleaford are so low that if we don't win I'll sell off all the players and start from scratch. Or not. But I'll be surprised. Nickson gets a start today because I really am going to graduate him in January.
at Sleaford, 16 November 2021
Formation: Diamond Attack (GK, DR, DC r, DC l, DL, DMC (DLP-S), MR, ML, AMC (AM), ST r (DLF-A), ST l (AF))
Starting XI: Legg, Nickson, Ferreira, Barnes, Curran, Caffrey, Smith, McGregor, Flitcroft, Macey, Marshall
Subs: Lee, Peers, Parker, Evans, Rice, Ferguson, Pope, Leary, O'Reilly, Rae, McLeish, Lemon
It's always nice to see an early cross meet a striker's head right in front of the goal. It's even nicer when it goes in. Good job, Marshall! In other news...Let us have a count of hitting the woodworks! Macey, 1. Macey, 2 (this time from a header.) We do get a second goal in the first half. Flitcroft launches a missile from 22 yards out but it was horribly off-target. Doesn't matter, the Sleastacks get FMed as the ball deflects off a defender's head right into goal. After the second Macey woodworks hit he decided he'd just make soft shots right at the goalie, sending three right at him. Marshall joins the fun and sends two wide.
At least Macey's ineptitude eventually helps us out. He either crossed from the byline or shot on goal from there. Either way, the ball went of the crossbar (number 3!) and right to Flitcroft and he at least is dialed in today. I yank Macey at 60' for his 6.2 and then Marshall at 68' because he too gave up after his score. Somehow we see out the match with no additional hell.
POM: Mark Flitcroft 9.0 (1 goal, 2 key passes, 2 chances created)
What an annoying match. Macey, you're the Captain, you aren't allowed to suck!
I pull Macey into the office for some stern words and he acknowledges he screwed up. Good thing else I was gonna fine him.
So Whitehawk are 21st in the league so why is there a press conference a day before the match? Oh, I see. A question about how a defeat could tank our spirit. We gonna get boned.
Whitehawk are another team that generally aren't good but have two speedy strikers. One of theirs even has world-class Pace, which is 16. Oy vey iz mir. The rest of their roster? Not so good.
vs. Whitehawk, 20 November 2021
Formation: Diamond Attack (GK, DR, DC r, DC l, DL, DMC (DLP-S), MR, ML, AMC (AM), ST r (DLF-A), ST l (AF))
Starting XI: O'Keeffe, Lawford, Ferreira, Barnes, Curran, Caffrey, Smith, McGregor, Flitcroft, Morris, Burns
Subs: Peers, Parker, Lemon, Leary, Rae
Okay, maybe I'm wrong. Curran sends in a long ball to Flitcroft near the spot, he nods it on to Smith out right, he dribbles in and beats the goalie, right after 10'. But then the restart goes on forever and we can't deal with their long balls. Gareth didn't even dive for the shot. But we have Montgomery Burns and he buys a goal after I've gone hoarse shouting at them. It was a beaut, a powershot from the 18-yard line; Morris had the assist. It doesn't take long for Burns to return the favor, lofting up the ball to a place where only Morris could get it with his head.
In the final 45 I get to see my wingers combine, Smith sending a long, high cross to McGregor, who's at the left corner of the 6-yard box and shots it in, and we're on Easy Street again. I wasn't expecting another goal but Ferreira just stands his ground after a corner. So the ball gets passed from Caffrey to Smith to McGregor to Rae to Angelino and then it's in.
POM: Peter Smith 9.0 (1 goal, 1 assist, 1 key pass)
Good victory, just wish we got a clean sheet. For those keeping track at home, we made £31,710 from the match.
Ouch. Our next opponent Guiseley has two speedy strikers (is there an echo in here?) and they have high potential. Some others in their squad also have high potential. Yikes.
The Team of the Week is a mixed bag with six teams represented. Two were ours, Ferreira at DR and Caffrey at MC r. Not bad, not great.
Here's a spot of good news. My AssMan thinks Colin Cockbill has Championship potential. Yet his star rating is 3.5 now. Weird. I still say Premiership.
What with a the G teams?! Guiseley are mid-table and I do have some concerns as mentioned earlier. We are a bit tired so I'm gonna stay on the attack for only the first five minutes then go Control and slow things down. I hope it works.
vs. Guiseley, 27 November 2021
Formation: Diamond Attack (GK, DR, DC r, DC l, DL, DMC (DLP-S), MR, ML, AMC (AM), ST r (DLF-A), ST l (AF))
Starting XI: O'Keeffe, Lawford, Ferreira, Barnes, Curran, Caffrey, Smith, McGregor, Flitcroft, Morris, Burns
Subs: Peers, Rice, Ferguson, Lemon, Macey
The first five minutes go by quietly except they managed to get three shots in but none were on target. Matter of fact, the first 28 minutes go by quietly. That ends within 17 seconds as Curran's throw-in goes to Flitcroft, he nudges the onion bag on to Morris, and his pass to Smith leaves Pete one-on-one with the goalie, who just isn't up for the challenge. Brixton up 1. And it isn't too much longer before Barnes boots one out of our end up to Morris at the midfield and his Vision allows him to spot a charging Burns, who also has no troubles when left facing only the goalie. Brixton 2. I thought Morris was going to get a goal right at 50' but he gets tackled expertly at the penalty spot but too bad for Guiseley as the ball goes right to Smith's right foot and he gets a brace. Brixton 3. Our opponent had those three shots in the first 5 but only four more over the rest of the match.
POM: Peter Smith 9.3 (2 goals)
Good, solid win. Both strikers performed well and our defense was tight. Very satisfying.
Chelmsford are just above the relegation zone and I hope to push them lower. Just like so many opponents of late, they have speedy strikers who can shoot the ball. Also, like so many of our opponents, the rest of the squad is gahbage.
Our U23s are in a league and in the latest match striker Andy Flynn scored all six goals. Naturally, he rated a 10.0. Too bad he has no Determination and is Unambitious else he might have a future.
The Team of the Week again has a good spread of teams represented. We offer up O'Keeffe, Smith, and Morris. Only Barrow has multiple player, at two.
Well, it's been a great month so let's end on a high, men! Chelmsford ain't got what it takes but it takes a hour and thirty-six minutes on a bus to make it to Chelmsford Sports & Athletics Centre, some 32 miles northeast of Brockwell Park. London traffic is a beast.
at Chelmsford, 30 November 2021
Formation: Diamond Attack (GK, DR, DC r, DC l, DL, DMC (DLP-S), MR, ML, AMC (AM), ST r (DLF-A), ST l (AF))
Starting XI: Legg, Peers, Parker, Evans, Rice, Noulas, Pope, Leary, Davies, Marshall, McLeish
Subs: Ferreira, Curran, Ferguson, Lemon, Macey
Hey, didn't we score a goal just after 5' in our last match?! (Nope. It was 5 minutes before our first shot.) Well, this time it was McLeish to Marshall up the center and once again we handle a one-on-one perfectly. The same duo link up again for our second goal, this time though Davies sends a through ball that McLeish takes out wide right and the defenders flock to him leaving Derek alone right at the right post. So for the record, Marshall's hat trick comes at 41:42 from pretty much the same way as the second goal but it was Pope's assist. Because we tapped the brakes after the break I didn't expect a fourth goal but our Captain will not be denied, easily diverting a low Leary cross into the goal in the 83rd.
POM: Mark Marshall 9.5 (3 goals)
Wow! What a great match. We were again on target and had a tight defense. They had all of three shots but due to our pressure none of them were on target.
Again, I think what we have here is some normalization with Gareth being so much better than everyone. I swapped out Davies for Flitcroft as Davies is at his max potential and Flitcroft isn't. Still hope to find a better AMC.
So it's safe to say we had a great month. We scored 27 goals while only giving up 1. And one of those goals came in the final seven minutes of the month! I finally got the Diamond to work again with reliable scoring and good defensive work. I am a very happy manager.
Okay, I'm hijacking this section to talk about nationalities. What nations are represented on Brixton's roster? Let's take a look.
We have 73 players at our club with 28 in the Seniors, 15 in the U23s, and 30 in our youth squad. By far the most players come from England, at 51, with Ireland coming in second at 7, then Scotland and Wales with 4 each, and Northern Ireland with 2. So for the British Isles that is 68. The remaining countries have one apiece: Angola, Greece, Grenada, Nigeria, and Trinidad. I'm glad with have a lot of Englanders but I wish I had more from the Caribbean. As for the starting X1, I should have more Englishmen, but we only have five. All but one though are from the Isles; Ferreira being from Angola is the only "non-local" starting.
In the future I want to have at least 6 starters from England and more Caribbean islanders. I also want a wider range of nations. I'd like a couple of Germans, though I know they tend to be more expensive so maybe some Austrians will do. It's more likely I'll get Scandinavians before them though.