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We have entered a transfer window and I have a feeling we might lose a couple of players. I'm looking at you, Peter Smith. I also might depart with Adrian Lee and possibly Marshall if I can find a tall striker as Jethro Swain and Richard Phillips are just too small and weak.
First, I need to look at my Roster Management spreadsheet to figure things out. Like, who to sell and who to give new contracts to. I'm looking at you Luke Matthews.
O-M-G! We are finally playing a match on TV! It's for the Checkatrade Trophy against Tottenham U23. It's not much but I'll take any cash I can.
This is just bullshit. I hate how SI programmed the training module in FM2018. A player getting plenty of starts and match time shouldn't decline, even if it's in a league below their ability. Stagnate? Yes. Decline? Nope. I figure once we're in the Premier League I'll be able to get a better feel for what's going on.
All three of the offenders kept their Morale after my Assertive speeches, so at least that's good.
On the positive side, Chris Keegan had his Anticipation go up plus 12 green arrows.
I thought we'd turn a profit last month but we ended up losing £14,139. Not too bad. Still have made £495,466 so far this season.
What's this?! I don't win the Manager of the Month award?! Poppycock!
Still, I'm up to 91% approval rating with the board, a gain of 5% from last month.
On 27 December Stephen Lemon moved up to the Influential Player rung of the pyramid.
Kind of less-than-stellar month. It was bound to happen, I suppose.
I guess I'll put U23 bit-players here. GK Niall Crook had a good report with five green arrows and six medium green arrows. First Touch, Throwing, Concentration, Positioning, and Balance going up.
Despite being supposedly maxed out, Chick Legg continues to improve with his Command of Area, First Touch, and Strength going up a point.
Despite being injured, Adrian Lee continues to improve. His Anticipation, Composure, Balance, and Stamina went up a point.
Pat Lawford has a better month. Long Throws, Composure, and Natural Fitness have green arrows. Positioning hasn't budged.
Well, it seems The Declininging of Eddie Macey has begun. He's had several declines but at least acknowledged he could do better.
At least John Burns did well with his Anticipation and Concentration increasing plus 5 green arrows.
Raymond Devlin was named the League Two Player of the Month AND League Two Young Player of the Month. I remember the good ol' days when that was John Burns' business.
The lust for Brixton players kicks off in January with Peterborough linked to David Caffrey. They are League One so I should be able to stiff-arm them.
The first real offer comes in at 10:51 on the 1st. Millwall (League One) offer £150,000 for Ben Evans but it can rise to £250,000. His release clause is £500,000 so this is an easy rejection.
Oh wow. Our next opponent Crewe will be without their two lead strikers as they are majorly injured. Also, one of their defenders is down to 4% condition and is "Very tired." Never seen something so dire before. Will he die if he gets to 0?
More offers come in on the 2nd. Two Championship teams, Cardiff and Nottingham Forest, think Lawford can go for less than £50,000. Shove off! Oh, and Wigan (League One) think £110,000 is enough for Burns.
U18 GK Michael Stewart gets his debut today. Crewe are 16th on the table and have 5 regular starters out. Crewe is kind of a sweet spot between Liverpool, Manchester, and Birmingham, some 149 miles to the northwest.
at Crewe, 2 January 2023
Formation: Diamond Attack (GK, DR, DC r, DC l, DL, DMC (DLP), MR, ML, AMC (AM), ST r (DLF), ST l (AF))
Starting XI: Stewart, Nickson, Noel, Cockbill, Sterling, Noulas, O'Reilly, Keegan, Dryden, Marshall, Macey
Subs: Legg, Cosgrove, Thomas, Jenkins, Lemon, Leary, Flitcroft
The first 17 minutes sees Noulas and Keegan repeatedly misplacing passes, Cockbill and Noel picking up yellows, and not a single shot. Fortunately at 17:09 Macey's prayer-of-a-shot 22-yarder goes into the upper left corner out of reach of anyone but Andre The Giant. In the 38th Sterling picks up a yellow and it looks like all three offenders will have to come off sooner than I wanted. I dial us back to Control at the half in the hopes that our defenders don't get too aggressive and get the heave-ho. I begin taking players off at 60' with Noel going first, putting Cosgrove in. I feel an FM coming. Crewe have zero yellows. Sterling is next and on comes Kevin Jenkins at 64'. At 66' Crewe get a long throw-in but this time Dryden intercepts and hoofs it forward to Marshall on the right touchline. He's unmolested until the endline, allowing him to cross perfectly to Macey, who sends it right to the keeper. Off goes Cockbill at 68' and on comes Steven Thomas. After that there were no highlights until the bitter end. I tell them they were poor out there today and they all got fired up. At least that's a positive.
POM: Eddie Macey (1 goal, 4 key passes, 3 chances created)
I knew I was playing with fire using so many second-teamers and those three yellow cards really messed with my plans to stay attacky and bring on attackers at the end. Oh well, a win's a win.
(Damn, 7 of 21 shots on target.)
We are still in an era where we get fewer players into the Team of the Week. This week it is only Devlin at right central midfielder and Macey at right striker. Hrmm.
So Peter Smith has a £200,000 release clause I couldn’t negotiate out and it has finally come to pass that teams are matching. On 3 January Barnsley (League One) pony up and sadly the offer is automatically accepted. Well, now that I know he can't stand the heat in the kitchen, and he's on £4,400 per week, I'm not too sad.
Just after that Brentford (Championship) offers £165,000 for Ben Evans, which is auto-rejected.
The scouting report for Bristol City shows that they far outclass us in ever facet of the game. Their goalies are phenomenal but they are both out with long-terms injures, out for one to two month each. They have only one other goalie on the roster but they do also have one out on loan at Maidstone. I wonder if they'll recall him. The one guy in the U23s who is health is crap. OMG. I just looked at the scouting report more closely and it appears they are going to field a Grey in goal. Man, I sure hope we can take advantage of this.
I scouted the one healthy GK and he's currently only Conference South quality right now. Please put him in goal, Bristol!
Okay, now Queens Park Rangers want Burns, if the rumors are true. Please, please ignore us, please.
Huddersfield Town have also matched Smith's release clause. They are Championship but are 19th there, only eight points above the relegation zone. Will he choose them?
Great. Millwall and Swansea (Championship) offer £74,000 for Burns. If Smith is worth £200,000 and Evans is £165,000, Burns must be... £3,000,000?
Delusional teams including Aston Villa and Cardiff (both Championship) think that only £40,000 is enough to secure the service of Pat Lawford. I think not!
What's a week without a press conference? (Really, they aren't that frequent. Wait until we get to the Premier League.) Am I confident? Maybe? Is their manager confident? No comment. Just three questions. Not too bad.
Okay, Millwall are serious. They offer £200,000 for Evans. Still not enough.
Notts Co offer £25,000 for Noulas. Maybe.
This is going to be a tough test despite their lack of quality keepers. We have met the board's minimum expectation for the FA Cup. We are at home. Add those together and we are going on the offensive. Go get 'em, lads!
vs. Bristol City, 7 January 2023
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, Cockbill, Sterling, Noulas, Flitcroft, Dryden, Keegan, Marshall, Macey, Lemon
The opening sequence goes on and on and Bristol go deep into our territory but when they cross, Evans is able to intercept and send it up field. Smith brings it forward and then gets barged out of bounds as we enter their third of the pitch. From the free kick Lawford sends it to the middle, right to Matthews' feet, he chips it out to McGregor who is 12 yards from goal and in open space. Instead of shooting though he passes to his right to Burns. I don't think even their best GK could have stopped John's rocket. One good turn deserves another. We get a free kick a few yards away from the arc and it's Burnsie taking it. Again, McG is alone on the left side of the box and when the pass reaches his feet he too rockets one in, though this one was from the 18-yard line. Oh jeez oh Pete. Our third goal comes at 7:50 and it's Burns again but the assist comes from Brizan who sent the ball forward from deep. (They started the U23 GK, not a Grey.) I get all Control freak on them and from then until the half we don't get another shot on goal and it takes us all that time to go from 30% possession to 48%.
I implore the gentlemen to shirk complacency and it's only Curran who's not motivated or gains focus. I stay with Control but plan to spring the Counter-Attack at 55'. I end that at 63' and start bringing off bodies. I start with Macey in for Burns, Dryden in for Smith, and Keegan in for McGregor. At 66' it's Noulas and Flitcroft in, and Caffrey and Matthews out. At 70' it’s the entire back line. And at 73' it's just Marshall on for Devlin. From there, one squandered chance for us and several from them.
POM: John Burns 8.8 (2 goals, 1 assist, 1 key pass)
I did not expect that. We gave them one hell of a 7-minute span and they could not recover.
Oh heck yeah! We had 7,500 of our own fans. This bodes well.
The post-match presser was mostly about Burns. Yes, he is very awesome.
Know what else bodes well? We got £129,620 in prize money and made £225,698 on the day.
Also, Caffrey is finally Natural at DMC.
Oh nice! Snow in the forecast when we travel to Tranmere in four days.
Interesting tidbit for the readers. I actually forgot to move Cosgrove to the U23s after I called him out for his lazy approach to training. On Sunday, 8 January I get an email from our Head of Youth Development. He's bounced back, most notably in his Determination, which has jumped up from 14 to 16. That's just the tip of the iceberg. His Finishing, Long Shots, Passing, Concentration, Flair, Leadership, Work Rate, Acceleration, and Jumping Reach have green arrows. But best of all, his Personality now is "Model Citizen." Amazing. Brilliant. You are in my good-graces once again, son.
Huh. Bristol City want to take on Lawford for a week-long trial. Nope.
Oh wow. Aston Villa wants Mark Curran for £250,000. Hmmm... I'll reject it but the reason I'll give is that the offer wasn't good enough. Can I get a million for him?
So now teams think £75,000 is good enough for Burns? Not even close.
Cup draw time! In the 4th Round of the FA Cup, we host Nottingham Forest or Barnsley. Championship or League One. Not too bad. Would rather travel to Arsenal. But strictly for the money.
Okay, I now know why Curran is getting attention. Our AssMan thinks he is very well-suited for Championship football now. Bravo!
Aston Villa and QPR return with unadjusted offers. It was "no" the first time, it's "no" the second time. This means now that Lawford's agent demands a new contract for his client. I say no and the player storms my castle. I tell him I'm not gonna give out new contracts every time a players gets a bid, don't be silly. He sees the lights and walks away with Perfect morale. Kids these days!
Welp, "Collapsible" Peter Smith signs with Huddersfield on the morning of 11 January. I didn't even get a chance to say goodbye. He Baltimore Colts-ed me. Damn. You know, that really does bother me, which makes no sense. :-D Getting attached to digital fictional people... Oh, he's now on £7,000 per week.
I was hoping he would choose Barnsley because my scouts found a player in December there who I was then gonna pilfer in return. He's an Israeli left winger named Yossi Berkovic. I know what you're saying. "Don't you already have good left wingers in Keegan and McGregor?" Well, here's the funny thing, which I kind of touched on some months back: Keegan's footedness is "Right Only" and Dryden is "Left Only". So, I could flop them, buy Berkovic, and everything will be hunky-dory. I know he'll be costly so I might just sign him at the end of the season when his contract expires. Let me get to the Tranmere match and mull it over some more.
Actually, I have to get a cup draw in. Checkatrade Trophy. It's the Southern Section Quarter Final and we'll host Bristol Rovers if we can beat Tottenham's reserves.
And then a further delay when news leaks that Lee and I had a row. That was a month ago so why is it bubbling to the top now? He needs just two more league matches to trigger a clause raising his wage to £1,000 per week. Hmmm… That damn injury kind of hosed him over some. I'm sure if I offered a new contract he would want three to four times what he's currently making. You know, I think our promotion is almost guaranteed. Should I sell him and just roll with Chick Legg, Michael Stewart, and Gael Barbier?
Here we go with another weak league opponent. They are 10th in the league and we've beat them twice before. Dryden becomes the new number one on the right wing. I have faith in him. Tranmere is across the River Mersey and down the banks a little from Liverpool. Their Prenton Park is 180 miles to the northwest of Brixton.
[Editor's Note: After I yelled at my strikers, you'll see why, I hit the "Leave Match" button, my computer froze, made some gawd-awful noises, and FM18 crashed. The post-match image is correct but I'm keeping the original text.]
at Tranmere, 11 January 2023
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, Dryden, McGregor, Devlin, Burns
Subs: Legg, Cosgrove, Cockbill, Lemon, Flitcroft, Leary, Marshall
The action starts hard and heavy with almost continual highlights for around two minutes. Both teams get chances but the excitement fades away. Until just after 9' when an actual long throw by Lawford goes into the box. It takes about 20 seconds before McGregor can get a cross to Dryden for a point-blank header into goal. Around the 30th Devlin picks up a knock and Dryden gets a shot that was on target but gets deflected by a defender for an own goal. My strikers are bereft of ideas today so I tell them I'm not impressed with their accuracy. The rest get a warning against complacency. At least Brizan is spot on today, heading in a banger from a Dryden free kick. Oh no. Devlin is literally 5 feet from the goal as a floater comes towards his head. He doesn't even have to leap to reach the ball and the goalie is nowhere near. And misses it. His rating went immediately from 7.1 to 6.5. Lordy. Both strikers come off at 67' for Marshall and Flitcroft, and Lemon comes on for Matthews. McGregor and Flitcroft both miss several opportunities, Marshall is doing nothing, so it's a surprise that in injury time Brizan gets his second score of the match.
POM: Tranmere's Daniel Santos (4 key passes, 4 chances created)
After a reboot we got a victory again but we were mostly atrocious in the first half with Burns scoring a goal but getting stressed about my Complacency speech. Devlin got a good dressing down and then turned his performance about, scoring a header from a Burns cross. Also, the POM is a load of horse poop.
So this Checkatrade roster requirement is annoying. We have Swindon coming up and it'd be a great time to do a full starting XI swap but we have to reuse four player. So this Swindon match is gonna be a lot of overkill.
This match against Swindon will be my 400th in charge of Brixton. Damn. I wonder if I can make it to the EPL before…500? Maybe 600 is realistic.
There's been a number of offers over the last few days but I'm not noting them as they are repeats that never change. Thank you, Miles. rolls eyes/
Guess who gets a start today...Jason Cosgrove! Lots of turn-over because of that damn Checkatrade Trophy.
vs. Swindon, 14 January 2023
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, Nickson, Cosgrove, Cockbill, Sterling, Lemon, Matthews, Leary, Keegan, Devlin, Burns
Subs: Legg, Peers, Noel, Jenkins, Flitcroft, Young, O'Reilly
Turns out Leary on the right side is a pretty good place. He crosses to Burns and just like that we are up at 6:22. And three minutes later Burns has options and chooses a cross to Devlin instead of scoring; Raymond does score, spoiler alert. I immediately slow our roll as I want to keep the Dynamic Duo fresh for the next match. Our third is non-standard fare: Keegan with a free kick, gets the ball back, crosses, and Cockbill is the scorer. I do pull Burns early, at the half, but that's because he picked up a bruised ankle. Whomp, whomp. On goes O'Reilly and on goes Flitcroft for Devlin at 50'; Ben and Mark flop positions. Lemon moves up to BBM and Matthews goes off for Noel at 55'. All these swaps pay dividends just minutes later when Noel stops an attack at midfield, lays off to Leary, he crosses and O'Reilly scores. Bing, bash, boom.
POM: Gary Leary 9.1 (2 assist, 5 key passes, 3 chances created)
Wow. Clean sheet, four goals but on target only five times out of fifteen. Swindon were zero of seventeen. Ouch.
Burns is out for 2 days with that ankle. He's still starting.
In good news, Matthew is now Natural at MC! Hello!
Even better news, we are gonna have a good crowd for our Tottenham U23 match. It's kind of surprising that 17,000 of those fans will be cheering Tottenham on.
Aston Villa, I do not like you. Stop flirting with my squad. They now want Evans on trial for a week. As does Swansea for Lawford.
Holy moly! Bristol City straight up offer £425,000 for Caffrey. No, but that did give me a pause for a moment there.
Tottenham are close by, hence the 17,000 fans, and in the future will probably be our fourth or fifth level rival. We walked over a previous U23 squad in the cup so I hope we can do that again. The team report on them is pretty crazy. They have insanely good players. And don't forget this is our first ever televised match! The world shall know our awesomeness now.
vs. Tottenham U23, 16 January 2023
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, Dryden, McGregor, Devlin, Burns
Subs: Legg, Noel, Sterling, Noulas, Flitcroft, Leary, Macey
Amazing! They are fileting us alive but can't get shots on goal. Eventually they goof up just enough for Curran to intercept the ball and kick it from our box to their box, where it is picked up by Devlin and there is nothing their goalie can do to stop the sniper that is Burns. Does Burns get a second after he's tripped crossing into their box? You bet your sweet bippy he does! The FMing of Tottenham brings a hat trick to Burns. We were methodic carving them up and when Devlin went to slip the ball past the last line of defense to spring Burns, the ball was stolen. Their left MC though passed it back to no-man's land somewhere between the left DC and the GK. Burns was already lying in wait and sprung on it like a lion on a gazelle. He almost had a fourth just before 42' but his shot went across goal and not into. Uh-oh. My halftime speech carries no weight. I decide not to praise individuals out of fear it could switch someone off.
Just as I'm thinking of subbing off Burns with his three notches and tender ankle we get a corner. I'm not quite sure how it went in but it was either Matthews from 15 yards out or off a defender from that shot. Oh! It's an own goal for their left fullback; it doinked in off his noggin. I then do put Macey in for Burns and change the role to Defensive Forward. Not really feeling comfortable about it, I do switch to the Cudgel at 65'. I doubt they'll score four goals in 25 minutes but I would like to see a clean sheet. Noel and Noulas come on, the first a right DC, the second at central MC. It works! It absolutely, bloody works! They had one free kick, it went over the crossbar, but no other highlights. Wonderful!
POM: John Burns 9.5 (3 goals, 1 key pass)
The only responses I got from my Passionate post-match speech was from the subs that came on. Have I lost the team? Everyone has Perfect Morale except Devlin and Lemon, who are Exceptional. They're just tired?
I can't believe I've not told this story yet. Bringing on Thamindu Noel reminded me. I do know someone name Leon Bob Noel. Think about it. LEON BOB NOEL.
I just noticed that our next match in 5 days is against the 3rd place club, Dag & Red. Again, there is no rest for the wicked. I give the Seniors an extra day off. Damn! Then it's Bristol Rovers four days after that in the Checkatrade Trophy, so I'll be restricted on selection again. This month sucks.
Oh wait! The Rovers are 24th in League One so they ain't good and shouldn't be feared. Yes!
Oh, we made a very good amount of dough for the nearly-full stadium. We made £79,557. Plus another £40,000 in prize money. Can you say "profitable month?"
Okay, enough of that match. It's time for the Team of the Weeeeeeek! Well here's something different; it's Cockbill at left central defender and Leary at left midfielder.
On 17 January my AssMan informs me that he has confirmed that Caffrey is a Premier League Talent. I'm all smiles.
We also learn that we'll be facing Nottingham Forest in the FA Cup. I'm not surprised as they are 11th in the Championship and Barnsley are 11th in League One.
On the 18th I get a question from a journalist about taking a job at Dundee, in the Scottish Premiership. An unequivocal "No!" is my response. I am NEVER leaving Brixton.
Let's just get to this match.
at Dag & Red, 21 January 2023
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, Dryden, McGregor, Devlin, Burns
Subs: Legg, Noel, Cockbill, O'Reilly, Flitcroft, Marshall, Macey
Oh boy. Our first shot isn't until 14' and we've been repeatedly sending errant passes hither and thither. And we're easily dispossessed on top of that. And allow too many shots on goal, with one finally going in at 38:30. At the mid-way point we have two defenders rating 6.4 and one at 6.2. Curran and McGregor have yellows so come off at 68' and Matthews can't pass today so he too gets replaced. Within three minutes we finally get a methodical attack and Dryden proves capable of caring. Whoa! A minute later or so we get a corner that goes to Devlin at the arc, he sends it off to the right and Flitcroft is able sink one through traffic. (During the replay I noticed Brizan was offside but didn't get called for it. Oh well.) That's all that happens the rest of the match and in the locker room I want to lay into them but instead praise them for the amazing comeback. And only Flitcroft gets happy. But everyone did do better in the second 45.
POM: Chris Dryden 8.3 (1 assist, 1 key pass)
Somehow we were accurate on 10 of 14 shots.
Hey! We got 1,000 fans of ours to travel to that match. That bodes well.
Another match, another article in press talking about the rift between me and Lee. Great. At least two teams are interested in him now: Coventry (League One) and Derby (Championship). I'm listening, gentlemen. (Huh. I just noticed he is a Bournemouth supporter. He was born in London and came through our youth academy. This makes no sense.)
Lovely. Lawford wants to talk about leaving. I manage to convince him to stay by bring up how we have such a great, tight-knit crew. Maybe he gets a new contract February.
Or now. The next day his agent shows up with some demands. They are not unreasonable but I pump it up to £2,000 per week, £300 appearance and clean sheet fees, £600 goal bonus, plus normal increase so we can get another year out of him, to 2026.
Better news comes in the form of future AMC superstar Shaquille Bailey going Natural at MC.
I'm not really throwing this match but I am wielding a lesser squad. I want to use my best players in three days time in the FA Cup, even though we are going to lose. Rovers aren't better than us despite being in a league above.
vs. Bristol Rovers, 25 January 2023
Formation: Arrow (GK, DR, DC r, DC l, DL, DMC (Regista), MC c (BBM), AMR, AML, ST r (DLF), ST l (AF))
Starting XI: Legg, Nickson, Noel, Cockbill, Curran, Noulas, Flitcroft, Leary, Keegan, Marshall, Macey
Subs: Lee, Cosgrove, Sterling, Lemon, O'Reilly, McGregor, Burns
Oh yay, a Tunnel interview...but it's not about the match, it's about the transfer window. Ah, the beautiful combo of Macey and Marshall strike again! Macey uses his head to divert a pass right to Marshall's feet as he enters the box and slams it home from 12 yards out, just into the fourth minute. It happens again 7 minutes later with the same play except this time Eddie uses his foot. What a lovely couple they are. It's 14:21 when Mark gets his trick. Build up was from the left this time and when Keegan sent a cross to the far post, Marshall nodded the ball down to his feet, took two steps, and shot it in from one of those ridiculous angles you only see in the World Cup. Outstanding! They strike back almost immediately but it was a deserved goal from great passing and anticipation. Marshall almost had a fourth but this heading of a Keegan cross hit the crossbar. Leary was the only one performing meh so I gave him some lovin' and after the restart it took him 3 minutes to pass to Macey running at a weird angle, but weird enough to allow him to head a goal in from 6 yards out. (Still has a Heading of 3...) I do the normal thing when we are in the lead; start stopping the clock every 3 to 5 minutes to bring on subs and jumble up the opponent's attacks. I go: Marshall off, O'Reilly on; Keegan off, Lemon on; and Curran off, Cosgrove on. That last one there required Cockbill to slide left so Jason could be the left DC. That was doing the trick and I thought the night would pass quickly but just seconds before 90' their left MC played hackeysack with Lemon's ankle and got an early shower.
POM: Mark Marshall 9.5 (3 goals)
That was a pleasing day. Can't fault the lack of clean sheet as their striker is pretty awesome. And we made £65,427 on the day.
We now take on Millwall in the next round of the Checkatrade. Match is scheduled for 22 February. The trick is to remember those wacky squad rules.
Remember Alex Wainwright? An attacking midfielder who I signed back in July? I figured he could replace O'Reilly or at worst make us a pretty penny. That pretty penny day is today. Ipswich (Championship) offer up to £98,000 but I'm quite sure I can bump it up to £100,000. Ipswich say no. I think I'll keep him. For now.
The mentorings I set up on 1 August conclude on 28 January. I deem Brizan's of Noel a success as his Determination went from 10 to 15 and his personality went from Fairly Sporting to Fairly Ambitious to Fairly Determined. McGregor's of Matthews is a moderate success with his Determination going from 13 to 14 and his personality from Balanced to Fairly Sporting. Keegan didn't really get much out of Macey. His Determination only went from 11 to 12 and his personality remained Spirited.
Yeah, I don't see us getting past this match. I just hope we don't embarrass ourselves. We only have a half-full stadium but I'm sure we'll make a profit. I see in the pre-game message that Meiler Pugh is out with damaged cruciate ligaments. Poor guy. He came up through our ranks. Wish we could have faced him.
vs. Nottingham Forest, 28 January 2023
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, Dryden, Keegan, Devlin, Burns
Subs: Legg, Nickson, Cosgrove, Cockbill, Sterling, Lemon, Leary, McGregor, O'Reilly, Marshall, Macey, Noulas
My pre-match speech went over well! Let's hope this is reflected on the pitch. Well, Devlin was motivated and despite him looking like he's running through molasses, he manages to run up to Forest's GK before the dude can be bother to dispose of the ball. When he does, he kicks it right at Raymond and the deflection goes straight into goal. The FMing! He get's credit for the goal even. Oh wow! In the 28th Lee blocks two point-blank shots and Curran clears. Could we actually win this?! But five minutes later they get us on a counter. Dammit. Then we get FMed when Lawford sends a weak back-pass to Lee only for it to be intercepted. Urgh. Ooohhh! A corner right after 60' goes to Evans near the left post but he heads it up field to Keegan whose power shot goes in from 12 yards out. Yikes! Lawford is down to 5.8 but the whole defense is in shambles so I swap them out at 64' except Evans. Dryden goes at 68' after missing a sitter after another corner. Matthews goes out at 70' as he's getting a bit stressed. Evans finally goes at 80' after getting a yellow and now I'm wondering if I should got to Control and get a replay in the Forest. (Mo' money, mo' money!) Alright, I get all chickenshit and go to Control at 85' and take off ineffective Burns for Macey, so he can be a Defensive Forward. And he immediately pulls a knee ligament. There are 6 minutes of injury time and just before then Caffrey sends a free kick to Devlin but his header is wide and the whistle blows.
POM: Nottingham Forest's Kevin O'Sullivan 8.3 (1 goal, 1 key pass, 1 chance created)
I didn't really want to add to our congested calendar but we will make a bit of scratch in the rematch. Oh wow. Macey is going to be out for 2 to 3 weeks. Ouch.
Macey's injury isn't all doom and gloom. He'll get into matches again and this is a chance to bring up Jethro Swain or Richard Phillips from the U18 squad.
Or...that Israeli left winger who is also Natural at striker…
First things first though. I need to fine Lawford for that 5.8 rating. Curran gets an official warning for his 6.1.
I am gonna change things up for the rematch. We're going with the Diamond. I hope we catch them off guard. If that is a real thing...
So if by some miracle we get past Nottingham we get to host Sheffield Wednesday or Walsall. Neither are good options.
Oh joy. A press conference. Five questions and only the last one was a trap. I tell the press we are confident so long as we give it our best.
There's a lot of action going on during the transfer deadline day. It's all been covered before because offers don't improve. Of note though, Wolverhampton want Adrian Lee. But £75,000 won't cover it. I jack it up to £250,00 and they counter with £100,000. Sorry, gents, not today.
Whoa. Reading come in for Lee at £100,000. They don't like £250,000 but like £130,000. Nope.
Now we're in their house. It's a pretty house, some 111 miles north by northwest. At least the match is at 1500 so we will still have a few hours to find any replacements if important players go down. (When measuring the distance I noticed that Nottingham Forest and Notts Co are on opposite sides of the River Trent from each other. The stadiums are 730 feet apart.)
at Nottingham Forest, 31 January 2023
Formation: Diamond Attack (GK, DR, DC r, DC l, DL, DMC (DLP), MR, ML, AMC (AM), ST r (DLF), ST l (AF))
Starting XI: Lee, Lawford, Evans, Brizan, Curran, Caffrey, Dryden, Keegan, Matthews, Devlin, Burns
Subs: Legg, Nickson, Cosgrove, Noel, Sterling, Noulas, Leary, McGregor, O'Reilly, Marshall, Flitcroft, Lemon
Oh ho ho ho! Burns is out of place, way out by the left corner when he receives a Curran pass. He charges down the endline and sends in a pass to Devlin who's maybe a yard from the keeper. He gets the ball first and we have another lead on Forest. Twenty minutes later they get a free kick and I swear it went off the arms of two Foresters and then kicked in. It's total B.S. Great. Lawford, he's been grumpy since I fined him, is rating 6.3 and my two wingers are at 6.4 and 6.2. I tell the squad we can still win this but those three miscreants get stern words. But our old weakness makes things worse when after a corner kick we can't clear and the ball eventually makes it to the arc. Their right striker takes it back a little and has perfect aim on a 20-yard long shot.
I have to bring off the wingers and fullbacks at this time as they've all been crap. At 75' I bring off some tired legs: Caffrey, Noel, and Matthews. Evans picks up a bruised ankle in the 92nd minute and comes off. I might as well take off Devlin and Burns at this point. As the clock is winding down and we are under ridiculous pressure, Sterling boots one forward. Flitcroft gathers and lays it on to Marshall. He is inches beyond the defense, almost on a true one-v-one when he gets slide tackled in the box and the whistle blows. Bummer.
POM: Nottingham Forest's Freddie Davidson (1 goal, 3 key passes, 1 chance created)
Lawford was able to eek out a 6.7 but Dryden and Keegan ended with a 6.3 and 6.4, respectively. When I direct criticism at them Dryden gets stressed. Keegan gets Motivated. Methinks I have a problem to solve.
Thankfully Evans' bruised ankle is machs nichts, out 1 to 2 days.
The only silver lining is we made £155,297 from that venture north.
That problem that I need to solve? Dryden doesn't seem ready for prime time. I also don't think he'll be Premier-quality. I believe Keegan will though. I also think Keegan's right-footedness can be taken advantage of so I can move him over there. McGregor is good for us for the rest of the year but what about in the future. And that's why I think I'm going to pursue Barnsley's Yossi Berkovic.
Barnsley management are a bunch of unbudging a-holes. It takes 50% of any sell on fee plus £1,200,000. It's by far the most I've splashed with Brixton. He's worth it and we need him as I just don't see our Youth Intake Day being that great.
They accept and now I have to come up with a contract. We finally settle on £2,500, a £12,000 signing fee, £100,000 agent fee, so we can keep him until 2026. He has some clauses including £750 per match and goal, and his pay will go up to £4,000 per week after 30 games. Will he sign?
Before we find out, Reading up the offer for Lee to £170,000. Hmmm... At least they do increase their offer, unlike so many other teams. I'm on the fence on when to sell him now or in the summer so I jack up the fee to £250,000. THEY ACCEPT! Did not expect that. Should have asked for more...
And at 1845 Berkovic signs with us! Excellent. Now will there be any other departures?
I ask McGregor, as Vice Captain, to welcome Yossi to help him settle in quicker. McG's morale actually goes to Perfect after that meeting. Yossi is coming to us Jaded so he's going to rest for a while before getting in a match.
At 2145 Adrian Lee finally agrees with Reading. Again, due to shoddy programming, I don't get a chance to say goodbye.
Marshall wants to leave for Birmingham. I can't afford to let him go. He's our second Target Man and we'd be screwed without him. Sure, I can switch our tactics but I'm enjoying the Advanced Forward/Target Man combo. Ideally, we'd get a phenome TM in the Youth Intake but I'm not holding my breath. I'll find one this summer.
I like seeing all these improvements.
I really don't understand this Lawford rating. He's been less than stellar, he doesn't take training seriously, but somehow he improves? Okay. Keegan we know is a beast and Devlin too. No surprise here with John Burns being amazing. Will Cosgrove help me forget Evans some day? Almost certainly. It's also time to face reality that McGregor won't be here past the summer and the only other viable option is Gary Leary. Welcome back to my good graces, Alex Wainwright.
I'm glad Barbier is bouncing back. I truly believe that we can rock with Stewart as our main GK, local kid Barbier our cup goalie/back-up, and Kris Newton our U23 mentor for a long, long time. Stewart will only leave if we can get Gareth O'Keeffe back.
A busy month got busier and then we lost for the first time since late November. We lost two players that are really good and signed one that is very good. For him though we spent the most we've very spent. All that and we got our first television appearance! We made £20,820 for our troubles. Not quite enough to offset what we spent on Yossi Berkovich.
I was doing some writing when an episode of King of the Hill came on. It's the one where Bill joins a men's chorus and Hank won't let Dale make fun of him. Until Bill goes too far. It's Season 9, Episode 15, "It Ain't Over 'til the Fat Neighbor Sings". Here's my favorite quote when Hank finally allows Dale to unleash both barrels.
"Bill! Bill you have to be the stupidest man on the planet to think this is a good idea! Have you seen what you're wearing? That outfit makes you looks like a sequined train wreck! Look at you! You're part of a 12-headed jackass! This chorus is the feces that is produced when shame eats too much stupidity! You people make me envy the deaf and the blind! Underwear! Money! Fat!"
Find it, watch it, laugh.