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A short month but a lot of games. I think it's possible that we can win the league by the end of the month and we may not even have to wait for other teams to falter. Just need to win all our league matches. We have one Checkatrade match, which is against Millwall, who should handily clobber us about.
Chris Keegan, the apple of my eye. What a month! So much green and his Finishing went up. Add to that his Marking, Penalty Taking, Technique, Concentration, Positioning, Balance, and Stamina.
Tasos. You know I could have sold you last month, right? But I kept you around cuz I like you and you do this to me? His Long Throws, Decisions, Vision, and Balance dropped. Sigh. Hoddle? He won't be around in six months.
Well, had we not bought Yossi Berkovic we would have turned a profit. Money ain't everything. Although last month it was negative five hundred and forty-five thousand, five hundred and ninety-two somethings.
Oh yeah! Getting into rarified air, back up to 95%. And of course I won Manager of the Month.
There was a fine bit of movement on the Dynamics front back on 17 January. First and best, Desmond Brizan moved up to Highly Influential, effectively cementing his spot as Vice Captain next year. Mark Curran is now an Influential Player. Sadly, Stephen Lemon dropped down to Others because of lack of playing time.
More recently, I think the drop in the Dressing Room Atmosphere is the departure of Adrian Lee and arrival of Berkovich, but mostly Marshall wants to move on to Birmingham. The atmosphere should improve over the month and people get used to the changes.
A very good month for our Goalkeepers.
Well, I don't know why (more matches? Lee gone?) but Chick Legg had a pretty good month for someone who is supposedly maxed out. His Agility and Jumping Reach went up a point plus he had green arrows with First Touch, Handling, Reflexes, Anticipation, Concentration, Leadership, Positioning, Vision, Acceleration, and Strength.
I don't know what to do about Pat Lawford. He still hasn't seen any improvements in his Positioning and over the last month not a single green arrow. I give him another speech, Assertive and of the stay-at-team variety and again he promises to do better. I For Realz™ have to drop him to the U23s if he doesn't get his act together.
Here's a fullback who gets it. Jordan Nickson had a good report plus his Marking is starting to improve. Also, his Determination went up to 19 on its own. His Leadership also went up. And Agility and Jump Reach; that was because he grew a centimeter. I call him in to give praise and his Morale improved from Superb to Exceptional.
Mark Curran is another fullback who just isn't giving his all. His Pace hasn't improved in 6 months. Another talk. This one Assertive and about staying at the club. He pays me the usual lip service.
Last month David Caffrey got a talking to for not having any improvement in Marking for 3 months. At first glance it looks like he didn't improve the past month but his Marking did go up but there were no green arrows. Weird.
John Burns continues to impress. To the tune of 16 green arrows, of which Crossing, Off The Ball, Positioning, Agility, Balance, and Strength increased by a point.
So we kick off the month with a press conference. Not for a match or a cup but because we acquired a new player. Usually I skip these as you get an opportunity FOR EVERY SIGNING. Even if it's just a scrub GK to round out the U18s. I actually attended and based on that experience, I doubt I ever will again. :-D
I have decided to go to the Spade again and drop the Arrow for a while.
Stevenage is around 30 miles almost due north. They are on a bad streak of form so should be in no mood to stop us even if we are using the second stringers and not anywhere near proficient with the Spade.
at Stevenage, 4 February 2023
Formation: Spade (GK, DR, DC r, DC l, DL, MC r (BBM), MC l (DLP), AMR, AMC (AM), AMR, ST c (P)
Starting XI: Legg, Nickson, Cosgrove, Cockbill, Sterling, O'Reilly, Noulas, Leary, Flitcroft, McGregor, Marshall
Subs: Barbier, Peers, Noel, Lemon, Debellotte, Keegan, Berkovic
Seems like our familiarity with the Spade is still there. Marshall, being very un-Poacher like, drops deep to get the ball, confusing Steven's defense and they forget Flitcroft. They don't see him split their defenders as he charges for goal, beating a one-on-one and putting in an early shot. We are controlling the match but we are off target, 2 of 7, but that changes just after 42' when the unlikely combo of Sterling and Leary combine, with a Sam cross to the right post, where the ball is met in midair by Gary's foot and he is accurate today. Marshall is looking Complacent so he's the only one who gets special words. I change our tactics to full Control and the game crashes. I went through a Windows 11 update recently and I wonder if something is permanently hosed.
So after a reboot the match is very much different. We were absolutely abysmal in the first half, accurate on 2 of 13 shots. Several of the shots were way off target, as was the passing. One segment saw three kicks by McGregor at point blank, hitting the goalie twice and the post once. Then they got us on a counter. But I use my first Aggressive half-time speech ever and it works, as we get two goals in 9 minutes. Flitcroft is miserable so Yossi goes in for him. The two goals were enough but we continued to be poor. Just 9 of 21 shots on the mark. Yikes!
POM: Ben O'Reilly 8.4 (1 assist, 5 key passes, 1 chance created)
Sure would have preferred that first match. Hopefully crashes don't become the theme.
We have secured a play-off spot, so at least we have that going for us.
Oh freak. Again with another week of only one player in the Team of the Week. Jordan Nickson made it in for his 8.4 defensive efforts.
We've not had a clean sheet in five matches. We face Accrington who have the third lowest amount of goals scored. I'd settle for a 1-0 victory.
vs. Accrington, 8 February 2023
Formation: Spade (GK, DR, DC r, DC l, DL, MC r (BBM), MC l (DLP), AMR, AMC (AM), AMR, ST c (TM-A)
Starting XI: Legg, Lawford, Evans, Brizan, Curran, Matthews, Caffrey, Keegan, Burns, Berkovic, Devlin
Subs: Newton, Noel, Sterling, Lemon, Leary, Flitcroft, Marshall
I like a fast start! Keegan crosses early to Devlin (I meant to change him to Target Man), he heads the ball to Burns, who scores because the goalie got hella confused; goal came at 2:09. After that things were quite shambolic with Devlin repeatedly misfiring on his heading attempts. (I had switched him to TM-Attack.) At 30' we go on the Attack and in less the 5 minutes Keegan crosses to Devlin, he heads it to Matthews but his shot doinks off the crossbar. Fortune smiles though and the ball goes right to Yossi for his first Brixton goal, easy peasy. It's not too long afterwards that they get an opportunity, a throw-in deep in our territory goes into the box but before their striker gets to it, Caffrey trips him and they are awarded a penalty. (Twas legit, David screwed up. I wonder if we'll get a question about it after the match.) The penalty taker is not in form today as Legg is able to block the shot and Curran clears it away. Phew! (Curran has been looking Complacent and Nervous all afternoon.) Turnabout is fair play, I suppose, as Burns is pushed down during a corner and he sinks the penalty shot. I was gonna praise the crew but several are looking Complacent now; that didn't blow up in my face! Things went from good to very good late as Brizan was able to redirect a Caffrey corner right into goal with his right foot.
POM: Yossi Berkovic 9.2 (1 goal, 1 assist, 3 key passes, 2 chances created)
Just what the doctor ordered. And what a lovely debut by Yossi!
Oh wow! That penalty taker has a 17 in Penalty Taking! For the denial, Legg rated out at 7.8. Amazeballs!
We get an unexpected conference on the Friday before the Lincoln match and I'm confused on why. And then the first question gives it away. "As things stand, the chase for the League Two title is in your hands. Do you believe you are favourites to go and lift the trophy?" For sure! Well, we win the league if other teams falter. I hate these press questions.
You'd think that facing another minnow at home we'd roll out some lesser players. But I've modified the Spade to slow it down and make the sole striker a Target Man in the Attack role, so we are a little "weakened" by resetting our Match Familiarity. Also, because Berkovic came to use quite Jaded, he gets to rest today and McGregor gets back in the fold.
vs. Lincoln, 11 February 2023
Formation: Spade (GK, DR, DC r, DC l, DL, MC r (BBM), MC l (DLP), AMR, AMC (AM), AMR, ST c (TM-A)
Starting XI: Legg, Lawford, Noel, Brizan, Curran, Matthews, Caffrey, Keegan, Burns, McGregor, Devlin
Subs: Crook, Evans, Sterling, Lemon, Leary, Flitcroft, Marshall
You'd think a Passionate speech about winning means going up to League One would inspire everybody but you'd be wrong. Only Caffrey and Keegan respond so I tell Devlin he's the key. That makes him happy! Two of the happy ones link up before 10' when Keegan crosses to Devlin for another easy tap in. Caffrey was involved too, slide-tackling just outside our box to start our attack. The other winger gets involved too for our second. Things are going quite well and then we get a "wow!" moment when Lemon does an almost clicking-your-heels kind of thing to redirect a Keegan free kick.
McGregor picks up a bruised ankle in garbage time but that's the only downside.
POM: Stephen McGregor 9.5 (2 goals, 1 assist, 1 key pass, 1 chance created)
Total domination! And we are 15 of 27 shots on goal. Turns out McG's ankle will be fine in 3 days.
AFC Wimbledon, Chesterfield, and Dag & Red all won so we have not secured our promotion. Dagnabbit!
Cool! My Head of Youth Development reports on 12 February that Keegan is improving dramatically and that the squad's general character is having a positive effect. Namely, his Determination goes up to 13. Additionally, he now has 10 matches under his belt and thus on £1,000 per week. Definitely earned.
Well, we have returned to having multiple players in the Team of the Week. I really thought we'd have more. Legg is the GK, fully expected, and Noel and Berkovic get in as the left-sided central defender and midfielder.
Crawley's GK leads the league in clean sheets with 12. I hope to prevent him from getting 13. Our last match against them saw McG gift them a goal late and a stalled Brixton attack in the second half. At least McG won't be able to have a repeat performance today!
at Crawley, 14 February 2023
Formation: Spade (GK, DR, DC r, DC l, DL, MC r (BBM), MC l (DLP), AMR, AMC (AM), AMR, ST c (TM-A)
Starting XI: Legg, Lawford, Evans, Brizan, Curran, Matthews, Caffrey, Keegan, Burns, Berkovic, Devlin
Subs: Stewart, Cosgrove, Cockbill, Lemon, Leary, O'Reilly, Marshall
We pick up three yellows in the first 27 minutes. They pick up one. Then two, but it's the same guy who got the first one so we are a man up for over an hour. Within two minutes Keegan shoots one off the crossbar that finds Matthews and he can't miss with an open goal in front of him. We are repeatedly getting FMed with several more off the woodworks and slide tackles during scrambles to shoot the balls into goal. Eventually Curran is able to help Devlin to a header goal. On top of that incompetence, 4 on target out of 12 shots, Keegan picks up a yellow before half.
The second half has some fun action just 45 seconds in. Devlin advances a Caffrey feed into goal but it was odd in that a shot from 7 yards out went upwards to the underside of the crossbar, bouncing in the field of play before bouncing into goal. The odds are stacked against us. Things go from sad to humorous when a Leary cross goes to Raymond Burns, the strange amalgamation created by SI's lack of collision detection where two players are phasing through each other. Somehow neither of our strikers get credit from a goal because somehow the ball passed through them into a defender and into goal.
POM: Mark Curran 8.8 (1 assist, 2 key passes, 1 chance created)
I hate these paint by numbers games. Why SI gotta be all railroad-y?! Also, fourteen yellows?! That's just insane.
But at least we're getting promoted!
I think I'm going to stop using the Spade. Burns isn't getting many goals.
Wait. How about I train Devlin at AMC and swap between the versions of Spade? One match with Raymond as a Target Man, one match with John as a Poacher. Flip flop. Flop flip.
Ha! We get fined £1,000 for the seven yellows. Whatever.
Gaining promotion must have pushed us over a certain threshold as we are now allowed to add three more U18 coaches and one more scout. Delicious!
Jason Cosgrove gets a pay raise after his fifteenth match for us. He is now on £750 per week.
Excellent! Another player has his Determination go up due to the squad's general character. Ben Evans is the lucky one. Just wish his Stamina would go to 10.
And now for the press conference before Fleetwood because if we win the match we win the league. Six questions, two traps.
Well, I know it seems disloyal to field second stringers for a match that can see us win the league but we have Millwall on Wednesday in the Checkatrade Trophy South Semi-Final. I want the best for that match. Macey is available too as he works back into shape.
vs. Fleetwood, 18 February 2023
Formation: Spade (GK, DR, DC r, DC l, DL, MC r (BBM), MC l (DLP), AMR, AMC (AM), AMR, ST c (TM-A)
Starting XI: Crook, Nicholson, Cosgrove, Cockbill, Sterling, Lemon, Noulas, Dryden, O'Reilly, McGregor, Marshall
Subs: Legg, Lawford, Noel, Curran, Flitcroft, Leary, Macey
At 1:48 we learn that McGregor can bend it like Beckham. He was out near the left corner of the arc and the ball looked like it was going to go out near the upper right corner but it curved inwards and made it just past the goalie's outstretched hand. Almost 10 minutes later Lemon sends a corner kick to Noulas near the penalty spot and his shot is destined to go in but Cosgrove gets a toe on it so he gets the credit. Immediately afterwards I make my final two substitutions but before there is a stop in action to send them on, Stephen Lemon goes down in a heap, grabbing his ankle. Timing is everything. Our job is made easier when their midfielder Gordon Duncan picks up his second in the 81st. It's enough. We were mediocre but we won.
POM: Jason Cosgrove 8.3 (6 headers won, 3 tackles, 5 interceptions)
WE WON THE LEAGUE! Hot damn!
Lemon, the poor bastard. It's the second time he's twisted his ankle this season. The first one was also against Fleetwood. Could that have been his last start for us?
Oh poop. I forgot that Yossi Berkovic is "cup tied," meaning because he already appeared in the Checkatrade Trophy for Barnsley, he can't play for us. I'll start McGregor.
Guess what else I forgot? Yep, need four repeat players. Damn.
Well color me surprised. Seems we've faced our next opponent, Millwall, once before. I had to go way back in time to the 2018/2019 season. Back when we had Marcus "Thriller" Thirlwell (2 goals that day) and Kemar Kirkpatrick (6.3 rating that day). We won 4-0. Hopefully we can beat them again. They have one of our original strikers, Paul Taylor, but he's injured so we won't have to deal with him.
Just before the match more information rolls in about Current and Potential Ability. Jason Cosgrove is now a League One talent. My AssMan also is telling me Chris Dryden has the potential to be as good as John Burns. I have serious doubts about that.
"You can do this, men! We've beaten them before, we can do it again! Never mind the fact that they are going up to the Championship." I sure hope my squad requirements goof doesn't bite me in the arse. The match is being televised so I don't want to embarrass myself in front of a nation.
at Millwall, 22 February 2023
Formation: Spade (GK, DR, DC r, DC l, DL, MC r (BBM), MC l (DLP), AMR, AMC (AM), AMR, ST c (TM-A)
Starting XI: Legg, Lawford, Evans, Cockbill, Curran, Noulas, Caffrey, Macey, Burns, McGregor, Devlin
Subs: Barbier, Cosgrove, Brizan, Sterling, Matthews, Keegan, Marshall
It's been a while since we gave up a goal from a corner but we did today, just before 2 minutes is gone. Dammit. And then again just after 20. But we are good at set pieces too. Caffrey squeezes one in low at the left post from a free kick. "We still can pull one out!" I tell the men at the half. I have to wait awhile for those words to sink in. Just before 80' Keegan proves too that he can bend it like Beckham, nearly exactly like the one McGregor did in the Fleetwood match. It doesn't take long for us to get that third goal. Marshall, in for Devlin, perfectly times a run to knock in a Burns pass. And then the roles are reversed just after 90'. I can't believe we did this!!!
POM: Millwall's Lachlan Edwards 8.8 (2 goals, 1 key pass)
Wow. I thought for sure we were gonna lose. My half-time speech was the most inspirational one I've ever delivered.
Ethan Foster, a DR in the U18s, is the latest in a long line of people who are experiencing improvements for just being here. His Determination climbed to 10.
We're facing a familiar foe and have a perfect record against them. I've cobbled together a roster. Some people are tired, some people are lacking match sharpness. Gael Barbier is getting his debut in. I hope our defense makes his job easy. Colchester's place, The Weston Homes Community Stadium, is fifty-four and a half miles to the northeast.
at Colchester, 25 February 2023
Formation: Spade (GK, DR, DC r, DC l, DL, MC r (BBM), MC l (DLP), AMR, AMC (AM), AMR, ST c (P)
Starting XI: Barbier, Nickson, Noel, Cockbill, Sterling, O'Reilly, Noulas, Dryden, Flitcroft, Leary, Macey
Subs: Legg, Cosgrove, Brizan, Matthews, Keegan, Devlin, Burns
I did not expect our first goal to come from Ben O'Reilly. Seems he likes being a Box To Box Midfielder and scoring from distance, about 19 yards today. Eddie also likes to score, pouncing on a loose ball during the second highlight, which didn't come until the 39th minute. Cockbill and Noulas picked up yellows early so Colin comes off at 62' and Tasos comes off at 65'. Keegan comes on at 68' for Dryden. Less than 5 minutes later Sterling throws the ball in to Leary and he promptly sends it to Flitcroft and he gets his first goal in a while. We should have had a clean sheet but Leary literally ran away from a ball he possessed leading to a counter-attack. They were able to slot it under Gael, who really should have stopped it.
POM: Ben O'Reilly 8.9 (1 goal, 2 key passes, 1 chance created)
Well, almost a perfect match that went by quietly. Really would have liked to got Gael a clean sheet on his debut but, oh well.
Add another player to the list of those with squad-induced Determination increases. This time the lucky fella is Luke Matthews. This also made his Personality change from Fairly Sporting to Fairly Determined. This also reminds me I need to offer him a new contract. He's been in 22 matches so far and we are getting promoted so that has triggered an extension. Still worth trying to get an extra year out of him for a moderate price. He's cool with an extra £500 per week and £200 per match. And we get him until 2025, 2026 if he gets into 10 matches and we don't get relegated.
With the news coming in mid-January that Caffrey has Premier League Potential Ability, it's no surprise his Current Ability should increase in February. Not clear on why Matthews current ability assessment went down. I mean, his Determination went up and he's had no reds. Is it because Caffrey's went up and he pales in comparison now, just a little? Phillips is really cementing his place to be Burnsie's understudy.
Nickson started the month beautifully but by the end he had red arrows everywhere. Why his scouting assessment went up is anyone's guess. I think my staff have finally realized what I only recently realized: Dryden isn't the answer at right wing.
With so little going on between matches if feels like this month flew by. It was a good month with what I believe was our first ever four-goal turnaround. We have a Very Determined squad and it really showed through. Our newest player seems to be fitting in well and that makes me even happier. And I really loved all those Determination increases this month!
But best of all, we are getting promoted! HOT DAMN!
