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No preamble here today, folks, I'm way behind in updating.
What the heck?! Luke Matthews is a starter who got into plenty of matches. Why he gotta do me like that?! (Oddly, my AssMan has now noticed that Luke is Consistent and Enjoys Big Matches.) Gary Walker? Don't care.
Adrian Lee at least gets it. Plenty of starts and so many gains, getting back to where he was before his drops in May, and gets improvements elsewhere. Kris Newton's progress is amazing as not only did he have many green arrows but also medium greens and even one dark green. For the medium greens, Command of Area, Passing, Throwing, Composure, Concentration, Agility and Strength went up 0.6 or 0.8 points. Dark green Vision went up 1.2 points. He's got to be close to maxing out because he improves quite a bit every other month, sometimes two months in a row.
Evans had plenty of green arrows but only his Dribbling, Composure, Teamwork and Pace had numerical gains.
With those transfers out we managed to turn a profit, to the tune of £326,360. Excellent.
Huh. My board approval percentage is down to 85 but I'm pretty sure that was because Mickey Morris and Angelino Ferreira's departure upset the fans.
Nothing to talk about here.
Mostly good news in the Youth Watch.
Steven Thomas, summer hire in the central defense, has seen his assessments increase; my AssMan rates him at 2.0 and 3.0.
Pat Lawford got a lot of attention as the transfer window closed. Not surprising as he's awesome and now my AssMan thinks he's a 3.5/4.5 right fullback.
Here's an interesting development: Desmond Brizan is now recognized as a player who enjoys big matches. Good to know. Also, his assessment goes from 2.0/2.0 to 2.5/2.5.
First team backup right fullback Jordan Nickson didn't improve but my AssMan has upgraded his assessment to 2.5/3.5. Hmmm… maybe he'll stick around longer than I expected.
Mark Curran had some drops back in July (I some how missed writing about it) and though those haven't really recovered, his Work Rate is up to 15 now, making his Media Description change to "Enthusiastic full-back." Cool.
Tasos Noulas had a weird month. He turned 21 and had four Abilities drop a point but had no red arrows. Hrrrmmm...
Here is some phenomenal news: David Caffrey is up to 3.0/5.0, confirming he has Premier League potential. He also had plenty of green arrows. Crossing, Dribbling, Long Shots, Positioning, and Balance all increased a point. I give him some praise even though his Morale is already Perfect.
Mark Flitcroft went from Resolute to Light-Hearted. I'm not sure what this means. Hopefully he continues to rock and develop.
Rory Collopy has three red arrows, all in his Physicals. No actual drops, but... his development might not actually go up while at Wrexham. He's been in only two matches so far, only rating a 6.3 and 6.5. Ick.
Grenada beat Cayman Islands two-nil on 31 August, with Desmond Brizan and Henson Debellotte doing well, rating 7.2 and 6.9, respectively.
I said I would give new contracts to Ben Evans and John Burns. Let us start at the back of the field. Ben wants £1,700 which is a lot lower than I was expecting. I'll drop it some but give him a slightly higher appearance fee with clean sheet and goal bonuses. He wants the contract to go to 2024 and a £300,000 release clause. That has to go up to £500,000 and until 2025. I get that but he gets £1,600 per week.
On to John. This is gonna be expensive. Actually, not so bad. I just go straight to £2,000 per week, a £1,000 per month loyalty bonus, £400 appearance fee, £500 goal fee, and 10% and 20% yearly and promotion pay raises. I want him until 2025 and his agent wants a £245,000 release fee. Hmmm. Fine. And he signs immediately! Damn well worth it.
It's 2 September and a player I signed ages ago, mid-March 2021 or so, reports today. I signed him as an experiment because his Teamwork and Work Rate were only 2. His Work Rate is up to 3 now. Still gonna run an experiment to see how high we can get those attributes.
Aside from his Marking and Stamina, there's a lot to like about him. He'll start in the U18s only because he can as he just turned 18, two days under the limit. :-D
In international news, John Burns got his first goal for his national team, coming in his third cap. Pat Lawford and Chris Keegan both had good games too though neither scored.
Legg is in goal today because he needs Match Sharpness and Tranmere are 19th in the league and are expected to finish 17th. Macey is coming back from his pulled groin so he isn't the fittest but I prefer him over Ben O'Reilly to start.
vs. Tranmere, 3 September 2022
Formation: Diamond Attack (GK, DR, DC r, DC l, DL, DMC (DLP), MR, ML, AMC (AM), ST r (DLF), ST l (AF))
Starting XI: Legg, Nickson, Evans, Noel, Sterling, Noulas, Dryden, Leary, Lemon, Macey, Flitcroft
Subs: Lee, Cosgrove, Cockbill, Matthews, Smith, McGregor, O'Reilly
Yep! Eddie Macey has still got it in him, cutting between Tranmere's two central defenders to receive a Flitcroft pass and put us in the lead at 5:29. Twenty go by before we get our second from the unique combo of Jordan Nickson to Mark Flitcroft. Tranmere's attack, two strikers and three attacking central midfielders, had been playing havoc with our defense but Chick Legg proves he too still has the magic even in his old age. Eleven more go by before a counterattack after a free kick in our area leads to a Chris Dryden cross to Flitty Flit and he gets his brace. I kid you not, there were five Rovers bearing down on him, not including the goalie, before he shot. I thought the second half would go quietly after I switched to Control but we seem to be really good at getting goals after set pieces, this time Dryden passing to Thamindu Noel for his first goal ever. From there on I do the staggered substitution thing to disrupt game flow and it totally works.
POM: Mark Flitcroft 9.6 (2 goals, 1 assist, 6 key passes, 4 chances created)
The ass-whooping has sent Tranmere to the bottom of the league. Yikes! Glad our less-than-preferred rotation could do that. Glad we made just over £50,000 from the match too.
Woohoo! On the evening of 5 September, just before the U23 and U18 matches, Evans signs his new contract. Should anybody else deserve one?
Those matches were polar opposites attendance-wise. We got 500 fans for the U18s but only 51 for the U23s. That means we lost £438, with £4,220 in Match Day Expenses being a significant expenditure. Gotta figure out how to get the U23s to use Brockwell Park instead of Windmill Gardens.
For the Team of the Week we get Legg in goal, Nickson and Noel and the right side of the defense, and Dryden and Flitcroft in the central midfield.
Swindon are out west of London, just south of the Cotswold, with a history of being a railroad hub that saw its population boom in the mid-1800s. The team there plays at County Ground, 71 miles west of Windmill Gardens. They were supposed to finish second in the league and present a major challenge for us but they are currently languishing in 16th. As we are in their house, I won't take them lightly. Our new striker Raymond Devlin gets his first start while Macey slides to the left to be our Advanced Forward.
at Swindon, 10 September 2022
Formation: Arrow (GK, DR, DC r, DC l, DL, DMC (Regista), MC c (BBM), AMR, AML, ST r (DLF), ST l (AF))
Starting XI: Lee, Lawford, Evans, Brizan, Curran, Noulas, Matthews, Smith, McGregor, Devlin, Macey
Subs: Legg, Nickson, Noel, Sterling, Lemon, Leary, O'Reilly
Again we give up one early but we claw back a victory behind McGregor's left foot, Brizan's forehead, and also Macey's head. Delvin's debut was strictly unremarkable, rating 6.7.
(Before the match I got to the list of league matches and then grabbed my awaiting hoagie. In doing so I must have hit the space bar as the game advanced to the match screen. Whoops! But then I just rolled with it, while enjoying my dinner. Therefore, the writing above was post-facto as my hands were too busy to write extemporaneously. Burp.)
POM: Swindon's Tadej Slivsek 8.4 (1 assist, 4 key passes, 4 chances created)
We were garbage, really. Oh well, a much tougher match is ahead and I needed to rest Burns and Caffrey so I had a weakened squad.
Okay, well, that early goal by Swindon wasn't enough to knock Lee from the Team of the Week award. Brizan is the only other Brixton player, named to the right DC position.
Colin Cockbill gets his first start today because Brizan is getting close to being Tired. Dag & Red are pretty good, fifth in the league, so I hope this doesn't come back on me. Or maybe I shouldn't worry because Burns is back? Dag & Red is really Dagenham and Redbridge. I'm sure there is a story there.
vs. Dag & Red, 13 September 2022
Formation: Arrow (GK, DR, DC r, DC l, DL, DMC (Regista), MC c (BBM), AMR, AML, ST r (DLF), ST l (AF))
Starting XI: Lee, Lawford, Evans, Cockbill, Sterling, Caffrey, Matthews, Smith, McGregor, Devlin, Burns
Subs: Legg, Cosgrove, Noel, Curran, Lemon, Dryden, Macey
Heavy sigh. No action until the 38th minute. It is in our favor though, with Caffrey scoring directly from a free kick. Welcome back, David! Nothing else happens in the first 45. Then we get a penalty in the second and Burns sinks it but up to then he was down as low as 6.3. Smith is at a 6.3 and McG is at 6.4. They get yanked and it's pretty much nothing-doing until stoppage time when Cockbill gets a bullroar penalty called against him. Lee blocks it and Lawford clears. I tell the team we got away with one and everybody but Burns and Devlin get fired up; they got stressed and demotivated.
POM: David Caffrey 8.5 (1 goal, 2 key passes)
Hrrrmmmm... How long will it take Devlin to score?
Ireland has their Youth Intake Day on 14 September and I send my scouts to scout them all. I need some good players and I know it will take probably a month to get through them all but I'm fine with that.
Accrington Stanley play, and I'm not making this up, in Wham Stadium. I poured over their roster and list of staff and found neither George Michael nor Andrew Ridgeley. Said stadium is way the hell out there to the northwest, some 185 miles away. They are at the bottom of the league so I don't mind fielding a weaker squad. This also means I switched us to the Diamond Attack.
at Accrington, 17 September 2022
Formation: Diamond Attack (GK, DR, DC r, DC l, DL, DMC (DLP), MR, ML, AMC (AM), ST r (DLF), ST l (AF))
Starting XI: Legg, Nickson, Cosgrove, Noel, Curran, Noulas, Dryden, Leary, O'Reilly, Macey, Flitcroft
Subs: Legg, Buckle, Cockbill, Sterling, Lemon, Walker, Carolan
The first 30 minutes don't see much happen, just Macey kicking right to the goalie, weakly, and Flitcroft hitting the left post. After 30, Flit is able to exploit the middle, passing right to Eddie and his magical right foot, firing in a super-powerful shot. They link up again for our second goal but this time Dryden first crosses to Flit at the far, left post, he heads it towards Eddie but it's off target and goes behind a defender. Doesn't matter, Macey slide tackles between the defender's legs, knocking the ball in. Nothing was happening in the final 45 until I brought Terry Buckle on, to get him some match fitness after his calf strain back in mid-August. He received a pass from Legg but couldn't control it and lost possession. The thief is a terrible shot so we don't concede.
POM: Eddie Macey 9.0 (2 goals, 3 key passes, 1 chance created)
It wasn't the most convincing of victories but'll have to do when using lesser players.
While reviewing the match I realized that Legg has yet to concede a goal in league play. Awesome!
The team report comes in for Fulham and my AssMan is pretty sure they are going to use a bunch of U23 players and bench-riding Seniors. Ergo, I'll go with the Arrow formation. Seems they don't care about the Carabao Cup.
The Team of the Week is better than last week. Lee gets in, as do Cockbill (DL), Caffrey (MC r), and Matthews (MC l).
Good news comes in later that day in an email from my Press Officer. A large crowd is expected with 10,000 Brixton and 6,000 Fulham fans spending a mid-week evening at Windmill Gardens.
After that bit of news I had to attend a press conference. Nothing too egregious going on but they did ask me about my relationship with their manager. Don't know him. Three of my defenders reacted positively to my remarks. I hope that goodwill carries over to their match performance.
Later that evening when we have our Pre-Match Tactical Briefing I tell the squad we are gonna Attack and be Flexible and that makes them all happy. Excellent.
Fulham are the closest "big team" to us, just slightly closer than Crystal Palace, 4.45 miles west by northwest. I think once we make it to the Premier League they will be our second biggest rival. We are attacking because they don't care about this competition. I just hope the lads believe in themselves enough.
vs. Fulham, 21 September 2022
Formation: Arrow (GK, DR, DC r, DC l, DL, DMC (Regista), MC c (BBM), AMR, AML, ST r (DLF), ST l (AF))
Starting XI: Lee, Lawford, Evans, Brizan, Curran, Caffrey, Matthews, Smith, McGregor, Devlin, Burns
Subs: Cosgrove, Sterling, Lemon, Leary, Macey
Well, right after 12' Devlin gets a chance for a Burns cross but he heads it to the left post. He may be jinxed. The jinx doesn't last much longer when Evans sickens of Fulham's attempts to get into our box. His long lob reaches Devlin, who despite being slower than your average Real Housewife, gets a breakaway and shoots the ball under the goalie's crotch. Sweet baby Cthulhu! I mellow out the instructions at 30' to give us a little respite and confuse the opponents. Despite a positive peptalk midway through I have to Calmly tell my wingers they are unimpressive. This demotivates McGregor. I can't believe he wants Keegan to take his spot. After using all our subs, in the 79th their left winger tries to murder Matthews and gets a straight red.
Devlin gets a second goal but I am mega-worried. Caffrey sends a corner from the left, deep to Leary. Gary shoots one in from around 30 yards out, it hits a defender, bounces to Burns' head, he nods it on to Devlin and in it goes. Why do I worry? Because the assist was credited to McGregor, who had his insolent ass yanked in the 65th, along with Smith. Is my savefile corrupted? And in the final minute Raymond "The Devil" Devlin gets his hat trick courtesy of Macey and Burns.
POM: Raymond Devlin 9.6 (3 goals, 2 key passes, 1 chance created)
What a way to get off the schneid!!! Maybe this Raymond kid will pan out. Also, we made £86,078 on the day.
Despite the banner at the top of the screen saying McGregor assisted Devlin, the assist was actually credited to Burns. Weird.
With a 6.4 following a 6.3 I have to call in Peter Smith to bring things to his attention. He acknowledges he's faltering and promises to spring back. McG managed to recover to a 6.6 but had a 6.4 in the match before that. He'll get a speech if he doesn't get 6.8 or higher in his next match.
After an amazing match we need to find out who we play in the Carabao Cup. Looks like there's only one pushover and one semi-pushover left so chances are we are gonna get a tough team. Half way through both easy teams are gone. Hahahaha We're boned. We travel to Manchester City. Oh well, it was a nice run.
The team report for our next opponent, Stevenage, shows that they will be without five starters, four from major injuries and one from suspension. Cakewalk?
So I'm going to go with second stringers not because Stevenage is weak but because the four matches after that are against 8th, 5th, 2nd, and 4th-placed teams. Oy vey iz mir. Let's get the firsties some resties.
So not only am I choosing second-stringers, I'm giving a debut to Chris Keegan (hint, hint, McG) and two U23 players on the bench. Lemon gets a rare start at DMC. I still have little confidence in him so hopefully he proves me wrong.
vs. Stevenage, 24 September 2022
Formation: Diamond Attack (GK, DR, DC r, DC l, DL, DMC (DLP), MR, ML, AMC (AM), ST r (DLF), ST l (AF))
Starting XI: Legg, Nickson, Cosgrove, Cockbill, Sterling, Lemon, Dryden, Keegan, O'Reilly, Macey, Flitcroft
Subs: Lee, Noel, Peers, Pike, Noulas, Leary, Devlin
Holy cow! Their goalie gets injured in the first three minutes and comes of in the fourth; a broken hand?! We are able to take advantage of the substitute, abusing him in the 12th, thanks to Lemon and Flitcroft. Seven minutes later we hit the right post. This has been very common this month. Two-thirds of our shots are on target and that improves just before the half when Sam Sterling makes an early cross to the far post and Eddie with his magical dome extends the lead. (His Heading is still only 3.) Dammit. He then picks up a tight Achilles in extra time right before half. He rubs some dirt on his wounds and goes back out but I yank him at 60' to avoid the risk; O'Reilly moves on up. We get a corner that goes from Lemon to Noulas to Cosgrove to Flitcroft, who sends it in, up high to the left. Doesn't take long for another goal as Dryden sends in a screamer from 30 yards out. Yikes! Woof. We let an easy one in because we stayed bunched up in the center after a corner; I really should spend some time fixing our set pieces... 'Tis but a small thing as we are able to get O'Reilly his first ever league goal from Keegan's second assist of the match. And that's enough to seal the deal.
POM: Chris Keegan 9.3 (2 assists, 7 key passes, 5 chance created)
What a wonderful debut from Keegan! I'll have to give the scouts a bonus for finding him. Eddie will be out for 1 to 3 days.
Yep, their goalie did break his hand. Out 6 to 8 weeks.
I like that our goalies can give up goals and still make the Team of the Week. Legg gets the nod, along with Cockbill (DC r), Sterling (DL), Dryden (MR), Flitcroft (MC r), and Keegan (ML).
So starts our long slog through the ranks of the good teams in League Two. We start in Lincoln, currently 6th on the table. Lincoln is a sizeable city up north, but not stupid north like Newcastle and Sunderland, and their stadium is 123 miles away from ours. Marshall makes his return and I hope to get him between 15 and 30 minutes of action.
at Lincoln, 27 September 2022
Formation: Arrow (GK, DR, DC r, DC l, DL, DMC (Regista), MC c (BBM), AMR, AML, ST r (DLF), ST l (AF))
Starting XI: Lee, Lawford, Evans, Brizan, Curran, Caffrey, Matthews, Smith, McGregor, Devlin, Burns
Subs: Legg, Nickson, Noel, Sterling, Noulas, Leary, Marshall
Oh yes, Ye Olde Slide Tackle by the defender leads to a goal. This time it was Lincoln the victim, and Burns and Devlin the lucky ones who get the glory. Other than that, we are lazy, off target, easily dispossessed, passing poorly, and just crap. Worst of all is Smith dipping as low as 6.3; seems our meeting back on the 21st didn't sink in. Okay, so he was listening. Forty-five seconds into the final 45 minutes his corner goes to Burns, he crosses to Brizan, he heads it to Evans, he skies the ball INTO the top of the goal. And I breathe again. The flood gates open when Lincoln get sloppy and Burns pounces on a bad first touch. He kicks it forward 5 yards to Devlin and some how the central defenders don't react; their goalie barely does. Then Evans lets a backpass bounce of his heels, right to an enemy and Lee can't react in time. FMed!
Let's check in on the wingers. Smith just dropped to 6.0 and McG is a 6.4. Def going to the Cudgel to see out the match. And immediately an action sequence starts and of course Smith scores. Now he's up to 8.0 but McG is down to 6.2 so off he comes for Leary. I bring off Burns at 70' so Marshall can work his was back to fitness. And of course in the 87th Evans gets called for a B.S. shove and Lincoln score. At the end I tell them it was a very good performance but don't let it get to your heads. The all react positively.
POM: Paul Devlin 8.7 (2 goals)
So weird to see Evans score a goal early on then completely fold. He ended with a 6.2 and got a stern locker room haranguing.
McGregor also gets a haranguing but he also gets called front and center. At least he has the common decency to acknowledge my words and promise to do better.
I'm a managerial genius. I have steered our squad through injuries and international departures and still have won every match this month. Including against a Premier League team! On top of that, we scored 23 goals while our opponents scored a measly 4. Need someone to bring your team out of obscurity? I'm your man.