FM19 - From Volunteer to the Premier League (Queen's Park/Morecambe/Middlesbrough) [Archive]

NoSkillz

11-12-2018, 03:44 PM

The minutes of a meeting held on July 9, 1867 begin with the words: “Tonight at half past eight o’clock a number of gentlemen met at No. 3 Eglinton Terrace for the purpose of forming a football club.”

They might not seem the most noteworthy comments ever made, but they are the prelude to possibly the most important moment in the history of Scottish Football. That meeting in 3 Eglinton Terrace on the south side of Glasgow saw the formation of Queen’s Park Football Club, and the start of Scottish Football.

The game had been played before then, in public schools where they had their own code and their own established rules. But it was Queen’s who really set the ball rolling. The club set about laying down the foundation of the modern game, adopting a passing style of play which employed skillful ball control. The team worked as a unit, utilizing team tactics, unlike that of their contemporaries of the day who played an ‘individualistic’ style of game which used kick-and-rush tactics, ‘dribbling’ with the ball, hacking and rough play.

It also took a decision that its players would not be paid, adopting the motto: “Ludere causa Ludendi” – to play for the sake of playing. That decision holds good today, with no Queen’s Park player ever having received a wage from the club.

That amateur status is just one of the many factors that makes Queen’s Park unique in world of senior football.

From the history section at www.queensparkfc.co.uk

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Well, after a two-year sabbatical from the dynasty forums here, I’m back with what I hope will be a reasonably entertaining foray into the newest version of Football Manager, FM19.

If you can recall, I wrote for a number of years about a long-term FM11 save using little Dover Athletic FC from the sixth tier of English football (that thread can be found here: FM – From Semi-Pro Minnows to Champions League Glory: Dover Athletic FC - Front Office Football Central (https://forums.operationsports.com/fofc/showthread.php?t=87750)).

I’d take that little club all the way to the top, winning multiple Premier League titles and three Champions League titles, in addition to countless other honours.

It was easily the longest time I ever spent with a save in any game I’ve played.

I played FM11 for over six years and finally broke down and bought FM18 a year ago but never really got into it…the scouting system was just too much for me and the game didn’t seem as fun anymore.

But great reviews for this year’s version of the game brought me back for another go. I started doing some research on finding a new team to manage and I’d eventually come across the fascinating story of Queen’s Park FC in Glasgow.

It looks like the club’s amateur status has been hardcoded into the game so you can immediately imagine the challenge of trying to forge ahead with a squad of volunteer, unpaid amateur players in a professional league, directed by a staff of volunteer, unpaid coaches.

It certainly won’t be easy but I’m guessing it will be a fun challenge.

The one difference from my Dover dynasty is this: while I always hoped I could get Dover to the top of European football, I have no such illusions about Queen’s Park FC. Therefore, I plan on handling this dynasty much differently and more like I would if I was an actual “Sunday Afternoon Footballer” trying to get into real-life management – I’d start at the bottom with a volunteer position and try to work my way into better paying jobs and bigger clubs as time moved forward.

So, if I have a chance to leave Queen’s Park for greener pastures, I will. I think my end game here is to work my way up the proverbial “management ladder” and eventually take the reins at one of the larger clubs in the world.

Hopefully I can take some readers along for the ride.

NoSkillz

11-12-2018, 07:41 PM

Queen’s Park FC – A Brief History

Queen’s Park FC is the oldest football club in Scotland, having been founded in 1867, and is also the oldest club outside of England and Wales.

The early years saw the club enjoy a great deal of success, notably winning the Scottish Cup 10 times, the third highest total of wins to this day, with only Rangers and Celtic having won more. Considered pioneers of the modern passing game, the team was a dominant presence in the late 1800s, especially in cup competitions. However, the team’s last Scottish Cup win was in 1893.

The club enjoyed a prolonged spell in Scotland’s top league during the first half of the 20th century but struggled against their professional counterparts, usually finishing mid-table or lower during that stretch. The team was relegated to the second tier in 1948/49 and would win promotion back to the top flight in 1956/57. Two seasons later, the club was relegated once again and to this date, have never been back in Scotland’s top league.

Queen’s Park, affectionately known as The Spiders, was relegated from League One in 2017/18 and begin the 2018/19 season in Ladbrokes Scottish League Two, where 45 year old Canadian NoSkillz begins his managerial career, replacing incumbent Mark Roberts.

Manager and Team Status

Upon my hiring on June 25, 2018, I have no status in the world of football, with a “Minimal” reputation (one half star) due to being a “Sunday League Footballer”. Queen’s Park, as previously mentioned, is a very proud Amateur club and doesn’t pay their players or their staff. We’re all here because we love the game but the ambitious among us obviously want to use Queen’s Park as a platform to display our skills to other professional sides and hopefully, earn a job that actually pays us a salary one day.

I have a National “B” coaching license and hope to take classes that allow me to improve my modest managerial skillset. I have a decent “Attack” coaching attribute of 10, have a “4” rating in Tactics, Mental, Adaptability, Man Management and Motivating, “3” ratings in Determination and Level of Discipline and “2” ratings in Working w/Youngsters, Player Knowledge and Youngster Knowledge. All other coaching categories see me with a lowly “1” rating.

There are a lot of negatives to managing Queen’s Park, most of them relating to our amateur status and inability to pay our players and staff. I imagine it will be commonplace to see top players and coaches getting poached by professional teams but having volunteers means we can have a larger squad then normal simply due to the fact we aren’t paying anyone.

Another positive, and a large one at that, is that we play our games in historic Hampden Park, a 51,866 all-seater right in the heart of Glasgow. Despite being the national football stadium of Scotland, Hampden is still owned by Queen’s Park FC but we’ve come to an agreement with the Scottish Football Association that will see them take ownership of Hampden upon the expiry of our lease in 2020 for a fee of £5 million. We will then move to Lesser Hampden, our current training facility and reserves stadium and play our matches there.

Our team has a “Below Average” reputation with an estimated value of £95,000, which ranks us third in our division and 27th (out of 42 teams) in Scotland. Our squad is deemed to be “Fairly Professional”.

We currently have a whopping 250 season ticket holders, no wage budget, no transfer budget and a paltry £1200 scouting budget.

The media predict an 8th place finish for Queen’s Park in the upcoming season.

I’ll chart the history of all these stats on a year-by-year basis, so you can see how things change during my stewardship.

NoSkillz

11-12-2018, 08:33 PM

Coaching Staff

-- Things look pretty bleak on the coaching front upon my arrival, with a goalie coach, a regular coach, a chief scout and a head physio on staff, along with a team doctor and two reserves coaches. I decide to let all of them go except for the doctor (who can’t be fired by the looks of it) and the two reserves coaches, with their jobs only saved due to the fact my board indicates I won’t be able to replace them should I let them go.

-- I begin my search for coaches and staff who are willing to work for free and I’m pleasantly surprised by some of the talented folks looking to get into football at the ground level. I make offers to fill the following vacant positions: Assistant Manager, Coaches X2, Head Physio, Physio, Chief Scout, Scout, Head of Youth Development, Reserves Manager, U18 Manager and a U18 Assistant Manager. I’m guessing I won’t be able to secure them all, but we’ll see what happens. I elect against hiring a Director of Football for the time being but may change my mind down the road.

Transfers IN

-- I’ll talk much more about my players in another post, but I get a note from the club’s Managing Director, Christine Wright, about some recent signings made by our predecessor.

GK - Jordan Hart (from Ayr) – 22 years old
GK - Jack Dunlop (Free) – 20 years old
DC - Gerry McLauchlan (from Cowdenbeath) – 29 years old
DC - Lewis Magee (Free) – 18 years old
DR - James Grant (Free) – 18 years old
DR - Gavin Lachlan (Free) – 26 years old
DM - Gregor Fotheringham (from Camelon) – 24 years old
MC - Jamie McKernon (from Glenafton) – 26 years old
AML - Smart Osadolar (from Clyde) – 27 years old
AMC - Kurtis Roberts (from Kilbirnie Ladeside) – 23 years old
AMR - Scott McLean (from Albion Rovers) – 20 years old
AMR - Adam Martin (from Alloa) – 20 years old
ST - Lewis Hawke (from FC Bulleen Lions) – 24 years old
ST - Josh Peters (from Forfar) – 21 years old

-- That’s a lot of new faces and you can bet there will be more once I start assessing the entire squad. Again, I’ll have more on these guys and the entire team in another post but it looks like we made some useful signings here.

NoSkillz

11-12-2018, 09:13 PM

Start of Season Expectations

-- Our board is hoping for a top half finish in Ladbrokes Scottish League Two play this year. Here’s the budget they’ll give us to attain that finish:

2018/19 TRANSFER BUDGET - £0
2018/19 WAGE BUDGET - £0

Oh right. I almost forgot about that.

-- We also take part in three Cup competitions: the William Hill Scottish Cup (similar to the FA Cup in England), the Betfred Cup (ie: League Cup) and the Irn-Bru Cup (I’m guessing it’s similar to the Checkatrade FA Trophy). The board expect us to reach the third round of the Scottish Cup and simply “be competitive” in the other two competitions.

Preseason Friendlies

-- One of my first orders of business is to set our preseason schedule. We’re likely going to need a lot of friendlies in order to get our squad accustomed to our new tactics and to develop a sense of unity amongst the players. Here is a look at our friendlies:

June 27th – Queen’s Park Reserves
June 30th – AT Brora Rangers (Scotland Non-League)
July 3rd – Motherwell (Ladbrokes Scottish Premiership)
July 7th – Oxford United (Sky Bet League One)
July 10th – Hearts of Midlothian (Ladbrokes Scottish Premiership)
July 14th - AT Knockbreda FC (Bluefin Sport Championship)
July 30th – AT Carnoustie Panmure (Scotland Non-League)

-- My plan to have a more comprehensive set of friendlies is thwarted by the fact that the Betfred Cup (Scottish League Cup) group stage takes place from July 18th through July 28th. We actually have a pretty decent draw in League Cup play, with home matches against Spartans (non-league) and Dumbarton (League One) and away matches at Airdrieonians (League One) and Kilmarnock (Premiership). As for the friendlies, we have a couple home matches against Premiership opponents that will help our bank account, I’m sure. Motherwell is a parent affiliate and a key part of the agreement allows us to schedule an annual preseason friendly at Hampden Park and keep all proceeds.

-- Our first game in Ladbrokes Scottish League Two play is a tough one: away against Peterhead, the bookies’ choice for promotion this year. That match takes place on Saturday August 4th.

The Search for New Blood Begins…

-- We are currently without scouts but I have a lengthy chat with our chairman, who delivers a pretty exhaustive list of potential free transfer targets and a shorter list of potential loanees. I plan on bringing in a few of the free transfer targets in on trial agreements for the next month for evaluation purposes and once I have a scouting team in place, I’ll start looking at the potential loan candidates as well. There are a couple of good looking Premiership youngsters that might be willing to play for us and even though they are technically professional, our chairman will allow loanees as long as we don’t have to pay for their wages.

NoSkillz

11-13-2018, 03:09 PM

June 27, 2018

-- I always start the preseason with a friendly with either my reserves squad or my U18s.

Preseason Friendly – Lesser Hampden
Queen’s Park 2 - 3 Queen’s Park Reserves
Queen’s Park Goals – Ali Miller (7.2), Izhaak Ahmed OG
Queen’s Park Assists – Ciaran Summers (6.9)
Other Notables:

Reserves Goals – Grant Savoury (7.1), Dylan Thomas (PEN – 7.0), Fraser Murdoch (7.2)
Reserves Assists – Ross McLaughlin (6.9), Paul Kennedy (7.1)
Other Reserves Notables -
Player of the Match – Fraser Murdoch

-- My Queen’s Park squad was made up of mostly second-team players while my entire Reserves squad was made up of players here on trial. Needless to say, our lads should be embarrassed by this performance, as they were outclassed in every respect by their hungrier opponents.

Tactical Approach

-- I’m still not really set on how I want the lads to line up this year. Looking at our current roster of players, along with their best positions and roles, I’ve isolated about four to five players that are the class of the team and therefore want to build around them and their strengths. I have what I consider to be top-level players for our division at the following positions: GK, DC, MC, AMC and ST.

I’ve always enjoyed playing a 4-2-3-1 formation so that would certainly work but I’m relatively weak on the wings. A 4-3-3 was something else I considered (or a 4-3-1-2 perhaps) and I may try it out during the preseason. A flat 4-4-2 is always a lower-league staple and something I’ll likely incorporate into training.

I certainly didn’t get any clarity in our inter-squad match – we played some horrible 4-4-2 football there and were unquestionably outclassed by our trialists.

Tactics are very much a work-in-progress at this point.

Coaching Staff Additions

-- After firing almost all of our staff, we’re starting to get some new blood into the coaching room, bringing in two new coaches (including a GK coach), a physio, two scouts (including a chief scout), a reserves squad manager and a U18 manager. We’re still waiting for word on a few other potential staff members, as we look to fill our assistant manager position, one more coaching slot (looking at a fitness coach), a head physio, a Head of Youth Development position and a U18 assistant. Again, keep in mind I can’t pay any of these people and that’s already cost me my #1 choice for an assistant manager, who took a paying job elsewhere.

Queen’s Park Captain to Leave Club?

-- Our team captain is 24-year old DC Scott Gibson, who has incredibly been with our club since 2012. He’s our leader and our top defender but with that come opportunities. Two teams in our league, Stirling and Berwick, have offered him a contract and Scottish League One club East Fife are also interested in his services. Money talks so I’m guessing he won’t be with us much longer. We do have some decent depth at the squad and I have some solid options with the club on trial as well.

-- Speaking of trialists, we have THIRTY such hopefuls that are with the club at the moment training with our reserves. Some are professionals here on temporary loan (including a few from Celtic) but most are street free agents looking to stay in the game, based on recommendations from our club chairman.

Next Up -

-- Our preseason begins in earnest with a trip to the Scottish Highlands, as we visit Brora Rangers FC

NoSkillz

11-14-2018, 03:49 PM

Sat. June 30, 2018

Preseason Friendly
Brora (Scottish Highland League) vs. Queen’s Park
Dudgeon Park, Brora, Scotland

Brora Rangers FC aren’t part of the Scottish Professional Football League, sitting one tier below us in the Highland Football League. They are a semi-professional club with salaried players so it will still be a decent test for us, I’m sure.

We elect to start most of our key players for the first time in this contest, as I look to find a tactic that works while also attempting to improve squad cohesion. I have one trialist in the starting lineup in 21 year old midfielder Dylan Thomas - he’s well suited to a deep lying playmaker role, which suits the tactic I’m trying for today’s match. We’re going to try a modified, “dumbed-down” version of a Gegenpress system. This is a very high paced, urgent pressing system likely more suited to better clubs but the ideal roles really match up well with our roster so I’m going to give it a go today.

Queen’s Park: 4-2-3-1 Gegenpress (Positive Mentality)
GK – J. Hart
D – C. Summers S. Gibson, D. Nimmo, J. Grant
M – J. McKernon, D. Thomas
AM – A. Martin, K. Roberts, S. McLean
S – J. Peters

Brora 1 - 2 Queen’s Park
Goals – Kurtis Roberts (7.1), Adam Martin (7.5)
Assists – Josh Peters 2 (7.2)
Player of the Match – Scott McLean (7.8)
Other Dover Notables - None
Attendance – 55 (25 away)

-- Actually, a pretty impressive start to the season, albeit against non-league competition. We’d fall behind in the 41st minute off a Brora corner but strike back immediately a minute later to pull level. The winning goal was scored when four of my attacking players closed-down a lone ball handler – he’d cough it up and an immediate cross into the box was punched home by Adam Martin, our left winger. We held 57% of possession in this one and had a 22-7 (6-4 on target) shot advantage. You can tell the Gegenpress system works better for players with more class then we have but we seemed to manage well with the demands required from the system, especially when out of possession.

July Update

-- We have an exceptionally busy month ahead, with friendlies remaining against Motherwell (home), Oxford (home), Hearts (home), Knockbreda (away) and Carnoustie (away). We also begin group stage play in the Betfred Cup (Scottish League Cup), with matches against Spartans (home), Airdrie (away), Dumbarton (home) and Kilmarnock (away). Nine games!!

Reserves Update

-- I’ve essentially split my squad into two full teams, with my reserves team being made up entirely of trialists. That trialist squad was good enough to beat my senior team backups in our first friendly so I sent them out against another side to see how they’d fare and they ended up walloping Clyde’s reserve team 5-0 at Broadwood Stadium in Cumbernauld. 16 year old midfielder Malky Breen scored twice, as did 19 year old fullback Kyle McDowell. Our 4-2-3-1 Gegenpress tactic was used here as well and our reserves held 66% of possession and outshot our opponents 22-3 (11-2 on target). Breen will likely be earning a contract offer after his performance.

Next Up -

-- We welcome our senior affiliate, Scottish Premiership club Motherwell, to Hampden Park for a preseason friendly!

NoSkillz

11-15-2018, 08:51 AM

Tue. July 3, 2018

Preseason Friendly
Queen’s Park vs. Motherwell (Ladbrokes Scottish Premiership)
Hampden Park, Glasgow, Scotland

Motherwell are our senior affiliate and as part of the agreement, we get to host an annual preseason friendly and keep all proceeds. So why not take advantage? Motherwell are starting their 33rd consecutive season in Scotland’s top flight and are pretty much a mid-table constant. They finished 7th on the table last year (out of 12) but had two wonderful Cup runs, finishing runner-up in both the William Hill Scottish Cup and the Betfred Cup, losing to Celtic in both finals.

I go with a squad that consists mostly of youngsters, with striker Josh Peters our only holdover – we have a huge squad right now, with about 20 players in on trial and I want to see as many as possible in game action before making any final roster decisions. Despite our classier opponent, I’ll stick with the same tactics and mentality as our last game.

Queen’s Park: 4-2-3-1 Gegenpress (Positive Mentality)
GK – J. McGovern (trialist)
D – S. Lidington (trialist), I. Ahmed (trialist), C. Foy, R. Gilmour (trialist)
M – M. Breen (trialist), J. McKernon
AM – S. Osadolar, D. McMeekin (trialist) B. Donaldson (trialist)
S – J. Peters

Queen’s Park 1 - 2 Motherwell
Goals – Jamie Stokes (8.1)
Assists –
Player of the Match – Ryan Bowman (Motherwell – 8.5)
Other Dover Notables – Joe McGovern (7.1), Ross Gilmour (7.0)
Attendance – 1539 (1014 away)

-- Another very promising game, as we hold our own against a team three divisions above us despite playing with a “positive” mentality. In fact, we held 53% of possession but shots were 10-19 (3-10 on target) – trialist goalkeeper Joe McGovern was excellent for us and will be offered a contract to become our backup this year.

Transfer OUT

-- We find out after the game that captain Scott Gibson has accepted a contract offer from Stirling Albion, one of our League Two competitors, and leaves with immediate effect. Gibson joined Queen’s Park in 2012 and spent six full years with our club – he was one of our highest rated players but he was a 5’8” DC, so I’m not entirely sure how effective he was in the air. That all said, he was an influential player and I’ll need to look for a new leader for the team.

Transfers IN - Senior Team

GK – Joe McGovern (from Cowdenbeath) – 24 years old, Northern Ireland
DC – Izhaak Ahmed (from Rangers) – 18 years old, Sweden
MC – Dylan Thomas - Free – 21 years old, Wales
MC – Malky Breen - Free – 16 years old, Scotland
AML – James Stokes (from Partick Thistle) – 19 years old, Scotland
AMR – Brian Donaldson - Free – 16 years old, Scotland

-- The biggest capture here is securing Izhaak Ahmed, a 3.5/4.0 DC who was released by Rangers. He’s a definite first-teamer. Dylan Thomas is perfectly suited to our deep lying playmaker role and fellow MC Malky Breen is very versatile – both will be rotational players at worst. 16 year old Brian Donaldson is very interesting – he’s a 3.5/4.5 winger and already our best option at the position but I hesitate to give a starting job to such a youngster…I’d like to see him in action a bit more before deciding whether he stays with the senior team or moves to our U18s. Stokes scored our only goal against Motherwell and is solid depth – we also have his twin brother Ian with us on trial as well. Joe McGovern was signed to back up our starting goalkeeper, the excellent Jordan Hart.

Transfers IN - U18 Team

DC – Tom McLaren - Free - 16 years old, Scotland
DR – Rhys Scullion - Free – 16 years old, Scotland
WBR – Craig McManus - Free – 16 years old, Scotland
ML – Mark Joseph - Free – 16 years old, Scotland
ST – David Fraser - Free - 16 years old, Scotland

-- I’ve always been a big believer in loading up on talent for the U18s – they could possibly provide depth for our senior team in case of injury and of the five players noted above, Rhys Scullion is rated well enough to play a role on the big team at some point this season.

Nimmo Upset with New Manager

-- I get a note from one of my players that 22 year old DC Daniel Nimmo is “not himself” at the moment. So I have a little chat with him and find out that he feels threatened by the addition of young DC Izhaak Ahmed to the squad. I see that Nimmo has a very low determination attribute so it’s obvious he doesn’t want to fight for his spot. Nimmo is a 3.0/3.0 rated player and at 6’ 4”, a prototypical centre back. I tell Nimmo that I’m never going to turn down opportunities to bring in players of that caliber and that doesn’t satisfy him whatsoever. I’ll have to monitor this but I was already upset with this guy, as earlier in the day, he turned down my request to welcome a couple of our other new players into the squad.

Next Up -

-- We host English League One club Oxford United here at Hampden Park in another preseason friendly.

NoSkillz

11-15-2018, 10:05 AM

Sat. July 7, 2018

Preseason Friendly
Queen’s Park vs. Oxford United (Sky Bet English League One)
Hampden Park, Glasgow, Scotland

Oxford United are a pretty fascinating team with a wild history – they seem to have hit their peak back in the mid-80s, with consecutive 1st place finishes in both League One (83/84) and the Championship (84/85) to secure promotion to the Premier League. They’d last three years in England’s top flight but for the last 30+ years, have bounced around between the Championship, League One and League Two. 2018/19 will be their third consecutive year in League One and they are coming off a 16th place finish last year, with the media predicting an upper mid-table finish this season.

I continue to look at trialists and will be going with a “C” level lineup today and once again will stick with the same tactical approach as our previous two games.

Queen’s Park: 4-2-3-1 Gegenpress (Positive Mentality)
GK – J. Hart
D – S. Robertson (trialist), R. Breen (trialist), D. Nimmo, K. McDowell (trialist)
M – D. Thomas, G. Fotheringham
AM – Y. Galantes (trialist), M. Stowe (trialist) G. Savoury (trialist)
S – E. MacPherson

Queen’s Park 0 - 1 Oxford
Goals –
Assists –
Player of the Match – Ricky Holmes (Oxford – 7.2)
Other Dover Notables – Jordan Hart (7.0), Sam Robertson (6.0)
Attendance – 652 (109 away)

-- The scoreline flatters us here, as we got spanked in all facets by Oxford in this one. We held 48% of possession and shots were 3-20 (2-9 on target) in their favour. There were practically no positive highlights all game, other than the fine play by our starting keeper, Jordan Hart. I’m starting to make final cuts in the next week and finalize signings so we’ll have stronger lineups in our last two friendlies before the Betfred Cup begins in a couple weeks.

Transfers IN - U18 Team

ST – Connor Higgins (from Partick Thistle) – 18 years old, Scotland

-- A 3.5/4.0 rated poacher that may start with our U18s but he certainly has the class to play with our senior team already.

Transfers IN - U18 Team

DC – Harry Granger (from Partick Thistle) – 18 years old, Scotland
DR – Cameron Lumsden (from St. Johnstone) – 18 years old, Scotland
DR – Danny O’Halloran (from Hamilton Academical) – 18 years old, Scotland
DR – Sam Robertson (from Aberdeen) – 18 years old, Scotland
DM – Kyle Devlin – Free – 15 yeards old, Scotland
MC – Kieran Balfour (from Ayr United) - 18 years old, Scotland
MC – Taylor Berry (from Dundee) – 18 years old, Scotland
ST – Jamie Docherty (from St. Johnstone) – 18 years old, Scotland

-- Just adding more depth where I can.

Players RELEASED

GK – Jack Dunlop
MC – Dean Kindlan
AMR – Dan Kindlan
ST – Euan East

-- All four of these players were offseason signings prior to my arrival and none have the class to feature on our senior team, so they are given their outright release.

Roster Update

-- We still have 42 players with our senior team, with 14 of them being trialists. Still lots of decisions to make before we start our season and I’m still not overly satisfied with our depth at certain positions, with attacking midfield being my biggest concern.

Next Up -

-- Yet another challenging friendly, as we host Heart of Midlothian, yet another Premiership mainstay.

NoSkillz

11-17-2018, 08:55 PM

Tue. July 10, 2018

Preseason Friendly
Queen’s Park vs. Heart of Midlothian (Ladbrokes Scottish Premiership)
Hampden Park, Glasgow, Scotland

Hearts are yet another Premiership mainstay, having spent 33 of the last 34 seasons in Scotland’s top flight. They finished sixth last season and the media predict a 5th place finish in 2018/19. Their captain, DC Christophe Berra, is considered their top player.

This has certainly been a very difficult preseason schedule and we’re in tough again today. That said, I plan on starting a number our prospective starting eleven today, including DC Izhaak Ahmed, DL Ciaran Summers, MC Jamie McKernon and AMC Kurtis Roberts. One of my recent finds, 16 year old AMR Brian Donaldson, will also start – he’s got great talent (3.5/4.5) but I need to see if the youngster can handle a starting job at such a tender age. Top striker Josh Peters is banged up but will come off the bench and hopefully put in 30 minutes to aid his fitness. Same tactics and mentality – again, I’m not overly concerned with results this preseason, especially against top flight opponents and simply want to work on our main tactics and our fitness

Queen’s Park: 4-2-3-1 Gegenpress (Positive Mentality)
GK – J. McGovern
D – C. Summers, C. Foy, I. Ahmed, R. Gilmour (trialist)
M – J. McKernon, D. Young (trialist)
AM – A. Martin, K. Roberts, B. Donaldson
S – B. Mortimer

Queen’s Park 1 - 3 Hearts
Goals – Brian Donaldson (7.2)
Assists – Ross Gilmour (6.9)
Player of the Match – Steven MacLean (Hearts – 9.4)
Other Dover Notables –
Attendance – 3542 (1683 away)

-- The score doesn’t tell the whole story here, as their striker Steven MacLean scored all three goals, with two of them off set pieces and the other on a penalty. We acquitted ourselves well otherwise, with young Donaldson scoring on a screamer from the edge of the area and our team winning the possession battle 52% to 48%. We also outshot our more pedigreed opponents 14-12 (5-7 on target). Another decent display.

-- Our top midfielder, Jamie McKernon, suffered a twisted knee and will miss up to a week of action. We have one more friendly coming up and start Betfred Cup play in seven days so McKernon will be questionable for that contest.

Loan IN

-- Our parent club Motherwell in the Scottish Premiership agrees to loan us 18 year old midfielder Kyle MacDonald for the balance of the season. He’s a very versatile player and can slot in anywhere in defense or midfield and will likely be a bench player for us. He’s a 2.5/4.0 talent.

Offers Come in for Ahmed

-- The perils of being an amateur club rear their ugly head once again. Just a week after signing DC Izhaak Ahmed, we get word that three Swedish teams have offered him a contract. Ahmed is Swedish so I fully expect that he’s a goner too, just like our former captain Scott Gibson. Ugh…I immediately bring in a couple more central defenders on trial.

The Press “Press” Me About Nimmo

-- A news story starts circulating about DC Daniel Nimmo and his unhappiness with me about Izhaak Ahmed possibly taking his starting spot. Of course, with Ahmed likely heading out the door after only a week or so with our club, I’m going to need Nimmo. I tell the press I expect Nimmo to be an important part of our team and hope he’ll show he’s equally committed to our team. That elicits a positive reaction, thankfully.

Transfers IN

DL – Kyle McDowell (from Ross County) – 19 years old, Northern Ireland
DL – Sam Lidington (from Stranraer) – 21 years old, Scotland
DR – Ian Stokes (from Partick Thistle) – 19 years old, Scotland
MR – Conor Langton (from Falkirk) – 19 years old, Scotland
AMC – Dominic McMeekin – 19 years old, Scotland

-- These are mostly depth signings at this point. Lidington has the best chance to get some first-team action out of this group.

Transfers IN – U18 Team

DL – Ross Fleming (from Partick Thistle) – 18 years old, Scotland
DM – Kyle Devlin (Free) – 16 years old, Scotland

-- Some depth for our U18s, with Fleming having some decent potential.

Next Up -

-- We head to Northern Ireland to face Bluefin Sport Championship side Knockbreda FC in our last preseason friendly before we begin Cup play.

NoSkillz

11-18-2018, 02:02 PM

Sat. July 14, 2018

Preseason Friendly
Knockbreda FC (Bluefin Sport Championship) vs. Queen’s Park FC
Breda Park, Belfast, Northern Ireland

Knockbreda are part of the Bluefin Sport Championship in Northern Ireland, the second tier of the Northern Ireland Football League. They finished in 10th last year (out of 12 teams) and they shouldn’t pose too much of a threat to us today.

This is our final warmup prior to Betfred Cup play (Scottish League Cup) and we will once again try to get as many starters in as possible. I decide to try a different formation today, going with a 4-4-2 narrow diamond formation but keeping our Gegenpress philosophy. This formation features no wingers, a DM, two MCs and an AM. I’m hopeful this helps our offense a little bit. I’m not starting DC Izhaak Ahmed, as I expect he will be signing with a professional team later this week. Trialist Amin Bouzaig gets a start at AMC.

Queen’s Park: 4-4-2 Narrow Diamond (4-1-2-1-2) Gegenpress (Positive Mentality)
GK – J. Hart
D – S. Lidington, D. Nimmo, L. Magee, J. Grant
DM – G. Fotheringham
MC – M. Breen, D. Thomas
AM – A. Bouzaig (trialist)
S – C. Higgins, J. Peters

Knockbreda 1 - 4 Queen’s Park
Goals – Ewan MacPherson 2 (8.5), Amin Bouzaig (7.1), Josh Peters (Pen – 6.7)
Assists – James Grant (7.9), Gavin Lachlan (6.9), Kyle McDowell (6.9)
Player of the Match – Ewan MacPherson
Other Dover Notables – Jordan Hart (7.3), Lewis Magee (7.0), Daniel Nimmo (7.6)
Attendance – 79 (31 away)

-- Trialist Amin Bouzaig got us on the board in the first half but despite dominating, we didn’t pull away until late in the second half, with our substitutes scoring twice in the late going. Striker Ewan MacPherson bagged a late-game brace and we held 61% of possession, outshooting them 27-9 (11-7 on target). Solid!

U18 Update

-- Our U18 team plays their first preseason friendly, knocking off Premiership Hamilton’s U18 team 3-0. Strikers Jamie Docherty, David Fraser and Kieran Moore score the goals and left fullback Ross Fleming is named player of the match.

Ahmed Makes His Decision…Another Player Considers an Offer

-- Recent DC signing Izhaak Ahmed received offers to sign a professional contract with three different clubs in the third tier in Sweden, Ahmed’s home country. Shockingly enough, my assistant manager informs me that he rejected all three offers and has opted to stay at Queen’s Park. This is excellent news – he’s my top rated DC at 3.5/4.0 and a certain starter from day one, with great speed for this level (15 Acceleration and 13 pace). He’s undersized at only 5’ 10” but I can pair him with the 6’ 4” Daniel Nimmo and we should be just fine. Great news!

-- I guess this is just something I’m going to have to get used to, as one of our U18 talents, DR Danny O’Halloran receives an offer from Civil Service and is considering a move. He wasn’t in my first-team plans so this isn’t a big deal but again, with all of my players here as volunteers, I just have to understand that any semi-decent players are going to be targets and could leave with little notice.

More Pressure from Nimmo

-- DC Daniel Nimmo is reportedly looking to leave our club due to his issues with me and the Ahmed signing, according to press reports. He won’t talk to me right now so my options are limited – if this continues I may have to just release him. But in the end, he’s my second best centre halfback and part of my starting eleven.

Reserves Update

-- I schedule a friendly for our backups and trialists and we win 4-1 over Cowdenbeath’s Reserves. Trialist Zidan Akers, Billy Mortimer, Smart Osadolar and Conor Langton score our goals and loanee Kyle MacDonald wins player of the match honours.

Transfers IN

DR – Ross Gilmour (from Stenhousemuir) – 24 years old, Scotland
MC – Derek Young (Free) – 38 years old, Scotland
AMC – Amin Bouzaig (Free) – 21 years old, Spain

-- Gilmour has been here on trial almost since my first day. He’s been solid in the games he’s played in. Young is at the end of his career but is still a 3.0/3.0 player and will definitely feature in the first team on a rotational basis. Bouzaig just arrived here on trial, scored in our last game and is a 3.5 rated AMC who will play behind stalwart Kurtis Roberts

MORE Attempted Poaching!

-- You have to be kidding me!? Just hours after we complete the signing of Amin Bouzaig, a couple of Spanish clubs offer him a professional contract. Oh yeah, and three MORE Swedish teams make offers to DC Izhaak Ahmed. This all just reinforces why I’m going to need a much larger squad then usual here at Queen’s Park.

NoSkillz

11-21-2018, 03:34 PM

Meet Your 2018-19 Queen’s Park FC Spiders!

-- We head into our season opening Betfred Cup match Spartans FC with 37 first team players, an absolutely ridiculous number and one that I will be looking to reduce by at least ten, if not more. Here's a look at a breakdown of our senior team along with notes on our reserves and key U18 personnel. Preferred starters are noted in bold.

GOALKEEPERS - 
Jordan Hart, 22 years old, 4.5/5.0
Joe McGovern, 24 years old, 2.5/4.5

IN: Jordan Hart (Ayr - Free), Joe McGovern (Cowenbeath - Free)
OUT: Jack Dunlop (Released)

Hart, who started 25 games for League One club Ayr last year, is arguably our best player. He will get at least 75% of our starts. McGovern is a capable backup who played well in our friendlies and was an upgrade over Jack Dunlop. Goaltending is a team strength, without question.

DEFENDERS -
Izhaak Ahmed - DC, 18 years old, 3.5/4.0
Cammy Foy – DC, 20 years old, 2.5/3.5
Ross Gilmour – DR, 24 years old, 2.5/4.0
James Grant - DR, 18 years old, 3.0/4.0
Gavin Lachlan – DR, 26 years old, 2.5/3.0
Sam Lidington- DL, 21 years old, 2.5/3.0
Lewis Magee – DC, 18 years old, 2.5/4.0
Kyle McDowell – DL, 19 years old, 2.0/4.0
Dom McLaren – DC, 21 years old, 2.0/4.0
Gerry McLauchlan – DC, 29 years old, 2.5/2.5
Daniel Nimmo - DC, 22 years old, 3.0/4.0
Ian Stokes – DR, 19 years old, 2.5/3.5
Ciaran Summers - DL, 23 years old, 3.0/4.5

IN: Izhaak Ahmed (Rangers - Free), Ross Gilmour (Stenhousemuir - Free), Sam Lidington (Stranraer – Free), Kyle McDowell (Ross County – Free), Dom McLaren (Kilbirnie Ladeside – Free), Ian Stokes (Partick Thistle – Free)
OUT: Scott Gibson (Stirling – Free)

Ahmed and Nimmo are the starters in the middle and we have capable backups in Cammy Foy, Lewis Magee, Dom McLaren and Gerry McLaughlan. At fullback, Summers and Grant will start and we’ve added tons of depth, with Gilmour, Lachlan, Lidington, McDowell and Stokes available as backups. We likely have two or three players too many right now and will need to pare this down a bit within the next couple weeks.

MIDFIELDERS -
Amin Bouzaig – AMC, 21 years old, 3.0/3.0
Malky Breen – MC, 16 years old, 3.0/4.0
Brian Donaldson – AMR, 16 years old, 3.5/4.0
Gregor Fotheringham – DM, 24 years old, 2.5/4.0
Conor Langton – MR, 19 years old, 3.0/4.0
Kyle MacDonald – MC, 18 years old, 2.5/4.5 (ON LOAN)
Adam Martin – AML, 20 years old, 2.5/3.5
Jamie McKernon – MC, 26 years old, 4.0/4.0
Scott McLean – AMR, 20 years old, 2.5/4.0
Dominic McMeekin – AMC, 19 years old, 2.5/4.0
Ali Miller – MR, 19 years old, 2.0/2.0
Smart Osadolar – AML, 27 years old, 2.5/3.0
Kurtis Roberts - AMC, 23 years old, 4.0/5.0
James Stokes – AML, 19 years old, 2.0/4.0
Dylan Thomas - MC, 21 years old, 3.0/4.0
Derek Young – MC, 38 years old, 3.0/3.0

IN: Amin Bouzaig (Free), Malky Breen (Free), Brian Donaldson (Free), Conor Langton (Falkirk – Free), Kyle MacDonald (Motherwell – LOAN), Adam Martin (Alloa – Free), Jamie McKernon (Glenafton – Free), Scott McLean (Albion Rovers – Free), Dominic McMeekin (Dundee United – Free), Smart Osadolar (Clyde – Free), Kurtis Roberts (Kilbirnie Ladeside – Free), James Stokes (Partick Thistle – Free), Dylan Thomas (Aberdeen – Free), Derek Young (Formartine United – Free)
OUT: Dan Kindlan (Released), Dean Kindlan (Released)

We have entirely too many players here but we plan on going with multiple formations this year, with some including wingers and some not. Still, I need to reduce our midfielder count by four or five players at least. Jamie McKernon and Kurtis Roberts represent excellent quality and we have a couple of other solid central midfielders in Malky Breen, Dylan Thomas and veteran Derek Young. We are very weak on the wings, with only 16 year old Brian Donaldson looking above average.

STRIKERS -
Lewis Hawke – ST, 24 years old, 2.0/4.0
Connor Higgins – ST, 18 years old, 3.5/4.0
Ewan MacPherson – ST, 19 years old, 2.5/4.0
Billy Mortimer – ST, 21 years old, 2.5/4.0
Josh Peters – ST, 21 years old, 3.5/4.0
Brendan Sharpe – ST, 21 years old, 2.0/3.5

IN: Lewis Hawke (from FC Bulleen Lions – Free), Connor Higgins (from Partick Thistle – Free), Josh Peters (from Forfar – Free)
OUT: Euan East (Released)

Josh Peters is the star up front and he plays the “Pressing Forward” role perfectly. MacPherson dazzled in our last pre-season game and will get a chance to ride shotgun in the early goings with Peters as a poacher in two forward formations. Young Connor Higgins is interesting but may need some time in our reserves or with our U18s before getting action with the main squad.

RESERVE TEAM -

None at the moment...we will utilize backups from the Senior Team and U18'ers for the reserves this season.

U18 SQUAD -

GK Elliot Anderson, DR Sam Robertson, DR Cameron Lumsden, DR Rhys Scullion, DC Harry Granger, DC Tom McLaren, DL Ross Fleming, WBR Craig McManus, DM Kyle Devlin, MC Kieran Balfour, MC Taylor Berry, MC Calvin McGrory, ML Mark Joseph, ST Jamie Docherty, ST Kieran Moore, ST David Fraser

We actually have some solid talent here, with all of these players being new signings. Robertson, Scullion, Berry and Joseph all have the ability to step in right now with our senior team but are blocked by better players at the moment.

PLAYERS AWAY ON LOAN -

None

-- Again, we will need to make some cuts here to get our squad down to a more reasonable number of players. I think we've made some improvements at key areas and we will be moving forward with two main formations this year: the 4-2-3-1 and a 4-4-2 Narrow Diamond (no wingers).

-- My main goal for the season is to be in the race for promotion in league play. I'm not overly concerned about cup play at the moment but we'll see what happens as the season progresses...

Next Up -

-- I make my official debut as manager, as we begin Betfred Cup group stage play (Scotland League Cup), hosting Lowland League club Spartans at Hampden Park.

NoSkillz

11-21-2018, 10:41 PM

Wed. July 18, 2018

Betfred Cup – Group E
Queen’s Park (0-0-0-0, 0 points, 3rd) vs. Spartans (0-0-0-1, 0 points, 4th)
Hampden Park, Glasgow, Scotland

Betting Odds: Queen’s Park: 4-5 (Favourites) Draw: 2-1 Spartans: 3-1
Past Meetings: 0W 0D 0L

Our season begins with group stage play in the Betfred Cup, which is the Scottish League Cup. We have a decent group, with Kilmarnock the stiffest competition and only Premiership team in our group. We have two League One teams in Dumbarton and Airdrieonians and one Lowlands League club in Spartans, our opponent today. We play each team once and the top point getter moves on to the next round, along with the best four teams who finish in second in their groups.

Spartans are coming off a championship season in the Lowlands League but lost out on possible promotion to League Two in a two-game, aggregate playoff loss to Cove Rangers FC. Interestingly enough, I see that they have signed GK Jack Dunlop, who I just released a couple weeks ago but it looks like he will be a backup in this contest. Spartans lost 2-1 to Kilmarnock in their first Group E game so they are already behind the 8-ball in this competition.

We’re favorites in this match and we really need to take care of business here because the last three games will be against teams in better leagues. We’ll stick with our two striker formation and narrow midfield that was successful in our last game. Ewan MacPherson scored two goals in that one coming off the bench and earns a start here. The disgruntled Daniel Nimmo starts alongside the guy that’s unsettled him in young Izhaak Ahmed. We also decide to start 16 year old MC Malky Breen after a solid preseason. Before the game, we name 26 year old MC Jamie McKernon as team captain. Positive mentality in this one.

Queen’s Park: 4-4-2 Diamond Narrow – Positive Mentality
GK – Jordan Hart
D – Ciaran Summers, Daniel Nimmo, Izhaak Ahmed, James Grant
DM – Gregor Fotheringham
M – Malky Breen, Jamie McKernon
AM – Kurtis Roberts
S – Josh Peters, Ewan MacPherson
Bench – Sam Lidington, Cammy Foy, Gavin Lachlan, Derek Young, Dylan Thomas, Amin Bouzaig, Billy Mortimer

Spartans come out in a flat 4-5-1 formation, overloading the midfield, which is probably a smart move. Their lone striker up front is Harry Girdwood. I tell the team to go out and give a good performance for our home supporters.

5’ – Spartans have the ball down the right wing and our left fullback Ciaran Summers makes a lovely tackle and strips the ball away. We counter quickly, sending a long ball up to Ewan MacPherson, who settles the ball down and fires a shot from just inside the area past the Spartans keeper. Quick strikel! QUEEN’S PARK GOAL 1-0

24’ – We have a throw in down the left side around midfield and move the ball to captain Jamie McKernon. He delivers a long ball up to a streaking MacPherson and once again, he makes no mistake. MacPherson bags a brace! QUEEN’S PARK GOAL 2-0

HALFTIME – Pretty solid, all things considered. We have a slight possession advantage (51%) and a 13-2 (7-0 on target) shot advantage. Let’s keep it going!

64’ – DM Gregor Fotheringham has a yellow so we pull him off, move Izhaak Ahmed into his slot and bring in DC Cammy Foy.

73’ – Another substitution, as we take out captain McKernon and bring in some veteran presence in Derek Young.

74’ – We cause a turnover almost right away through Young, who sends a ball up to MacPherson near midfield. Spartans are sending men forward and there is only one defender back, allowing MacPherson to feed a pass up to a wide open Josh Peters. He runs up the middle and blasts a shot past keeper Blair Carswell to give us the three goal advantage! QUEEN’S PARK GOAL 3-0

85’ – We make our last substitution, taking out right fullback James Grant and inserting Gavin Lachlan.

That’s it. A solid performance in game one!

Queen’s Park 3 - 0 Spartans
Goals – Ewan MacPherson 2 (8.8), Josh Peters (7.5)
Assists – Ciaran Summers (8.7), Jamie McKernon (7.7), Ewan MacPherson
Man of the Match – Ewan MacPherson
Other Dover Notables – Daniel Nimmo (7.8), Izaak Ahmed (7.2), James Grant (7.3), Kurtis Roberts (7.0)
Attendance - 412 (23 away)

Possession was dead even, as Spartans took advantage of their five-man midfield to hold a lot of the ball but they couldn’t produce anything with it, as we outshoot them 20-2 (12-0 on target).

-- Kilmarnock destroys Airdrie 5-2 and moves to 2-0-0-0 in Group E, not much of a surprise as the only Premiership team in our group.

O’Halloran Departs

-- U18 fullback Danny O’Halloran accepts a contract offer with Civil Service and departs the club. Not a big deal.

-- Another U18 player could be leaving, as Tom McLaren has three contract offers come in. Again, this is just something I’m going to have to get used to on a club that has no players under contract.

Ladbrokes Scottish League Two Promotion Odds

-- Peterhead FC are the overwhelming favourites for promotion this season, with the bookies giving them 1-5 odds to move up. Clyde, Edinburgh City and Stirling are all giving even odds to get the bounce. At odds of 8-5, we’re ranked 6th out of the 10 teams in the league to move up. We’ll look to exceed those expectations. Albion Rovers, at 20-1, are favoured to finish bottom of the table.

Ahmed Elects to Stay (Again)…Bouzaig Departs

-- Izaak Ahmed rejects three more contract offers and elects to stay with Queen’s Park. He’s one of our best players so I’m guessing he’ll continue to be a target. However, only days after signing with our squad, attacking midfielder Amin Bouzaig accepts a contract offer from Racing in Santander, a fourth-tier club in Spain. He was on the bench for our 3-0 win over Spartans but did not feature in the game. Tough loss – he was a very talented player but was behind Kurtis Roberts on our depth chart so we will survive.

Transfer IN

We sign Zldan Akers, a 19 year old right winger. This youngster started in Reading’s youth program before moving to Scotland and into Heart’s youth setup. A very solid 3.5/4.0 player who will definitely get a chance to play if and when we utilize wingers.

Next Up -

-- We face League One Airdrieonians in Betfred Cup Group E play in Airdrie.

NoSkillz

11-22-2018, 12:41 AM

Sat. July 21, 2018

Betfred Cup – Group E
Airdrie (0-0-0-2, 0 points, 4th) vs. Queen’s Park (1-0-0-0, 3 points, 2nd)
The Penny Cars Stadium, Airdrie, Scotland

Betting Odds: Airdrie: 4-6 (Favourites) Draw: 9-4 Queen’s Park: 7-2
Past Meetings: 0W 0D 0L

Airdrieonians are in big trouble in this competition, sitting 0-2 with losses to Dumbarton and Kilmarnock and are longshots to move on. They finished two spots ahead of us in League One last year but the media feels they’ll be stronger in 18/19, with a third place prediction. My advance scout feels they are a hard working club but they don’t look to have any superstars. They usually play a 4-1-2-3 with a defensive mid, two wingers and one striker.

We’re pretty big underdogs here and I’m going to go with a more balanced approach to start while maintaining our 4-4-2 diamond narrow formation. We make one change to our starting eleven, inserting veteran Derek Young at midfield in place of 16 year old Malky Breen, who looked overmatched in our first game. AMC Dominic McMeekin is on the bench in this contest, replacing the departed Amin Bouzaig.

Queen’s Park: 4-4-2 Diamond Narrow – Balanced Mentality
GK – Jordan Hart
D – Ciaran Summers, Daniel Nimmo, Izhaak Ahmed, James Grant
DM – Gregor Fotheringham
M – Derek Young, Jamie McKernon
AM – Kurtis Roberts
S – Josh Peters, Ewan MacPherson
Bench – Sam Lidington, Cammy Foy, Gavin Lachlan, Derek Young, Dylan Thomas, Dominic McMeekin, Billy Mortimer

As expected, Airdrie come out in their 4-1-2-3 DM with one striker, two goal man Darryl Duffy. Scott Gallacher is their keeper.

HALFTIME – A drab affair but we are the better club so far, holding an impressive 64% of possession and a 4-2 (2-0 on target) shot advantage. Their keeper made a stunning save on a Derek Young shot to keep things scoreless. I tell the lads they’ve been the better team and to keep doing what they’re doing!

60’ – We continue to dominate possession and Airdrie have made a change to try to get things going. We work the ball outside and fullback James Grant is up on the play and crosses into the box. Airdie attempt to clear but it’s headed to captain Jamie McKernon just outside the box. He one touches a pass to fellow midfielder Derek Young and he steps into a ROCKET that goes past the diving Gallacher and it’s IN! What a strike!!! QUEEN’S PARK GOAL 1-0

68’ – We are pressing again but fullback Ciaran Summers loses the ball and Airdrie send the ball long. They have numbers and the ball eventually works its way to a wide open Kyle Wilkie and he easily deposits the ball past Jordan Hart and level the score. Shocking defending. AIRDRIE GOAL 1-1

71’ – We make our first substitution, taking out an exhausted Summers and inserting Sam Lidington.

77’ – Another substitution, with Dylan Thomas replacing our goalscorer, the excellent Derek Young.

We hold them off for the balance of regulation time but this competition doesn’t see overtime…we immediately move into a shootout!

And it’s a wild one, as their first five players all score…but they are matched by Josh Peters, Kurtis Roberts, Dylan Thomas, Ewan MacPherson and Gregor Fotheringham! So we move to sudden death…

Jonathan Page scores for Airdrie. AIRDRIE SCORES 5-6
Jamie McKernon scores!!! QUEEN’S PARK SCORES 6-6
Kieran Miller scores. AIRDRIE SCORES 6-7
Fullback James Grant also scores! QUEEN’S PARK SCORES 7-7
Josh Edwards keeps the pressure on. Damn! AIRDRIE SCORES 7-8
Can a goalkeeper make a save? Up steps young Izaak Ahmed and he scores! QUEEN’S PARK SCORES 8-8
Mark Finlayson is up and JORDAN HART MAKES THE SAVE!!!
Stepping up with a chance to win is disgruntled centre back Daniel Nimmo and he rips one into the bottom corner!!! QUEEN’S PARK SCORES 9-8

What a win!!!

Airdrie 1 - 1 Queen’s Park (Queen’s Park Win 9-8 on Penalties)
Goals – Derek Young (8.3)
Assists –Jamie McKernon (7.0)
Man of the Match – Derek Young
Other Dover Notables – Jordan Hart (7.0)
Attendance - 570 (198 away)

A very impressive road performance against a team in a higher league, as we hold 59% of the ball and an 11-5 (6-3 on target) shot advantage. Their keeper made a couple of point blank saves in the second half to keep the score level but we score on all nine penalties to take two out of three points!

-- Kilmarnock continues to dominate, beating up on Dumbarton 3-0 to move to 3-0-0-0 in the group with only us to play. We are comfortably in second place with 5 points and Dumbarton is in third with 3. If we can squeeze out one more win against either of those clubs, I’d say our chances of moving on as a wildcard are very good.

U18 Update

-- Our U18’s defeat Montrose U18 4-0 in a preseason friendly. Kieran Balfour scores twice and we get singles from Kieran Moore and David Fraser.

U18 Transfer IN

-- We sign 18 year old winger Lewis Hutchison to our U18 squad. Hutchison comes over from Aberdeen and is a 2.0/4.0 talent.

Transfers OUT

DC Dom McLaren (Released)
MR Ali Miller (Released)
ST Brendan Sharpe (Released)

-- We release three players that were all surplus to requirements. We have much more roster pruning to do but this is a start.

Tom McLaren Stays On

-- U18 fullback Tom McLaren decides to stay on board and rejects overtures from three other clubs. I have a feeling stuff like this will continue all year so I’m not going to mention it unless the player elects to leave.

Next Up -

-- We face another League One opponent in Betfred Cup Group E play, as we host Dumbarton at Hampden Park.

NoSkillz

11-23-2018, 01:52 PM

Wed. July 25, 2018

Betfred Cup – Group E
Queen’s Park (1-1-0-0, 5 points, 2nd) vs. Dumbarton (1-0-0-1, 3 points, 3rd)
Hampden Park, Glasgow, Scotland

Betting Odds: Queen’s Park: 7-2 Draw: 9-4 Dumbarton: 4-6 (Favourites)
Past Meetings: 0W 0D 0L

Dumbarton are coming off a six year run in the Championship but a 9th place finish in 17/18, followed by a playoff loss, meant relegation to League One for this coming season. They have an interesting history and are one of only two teams who have won a league title in all four of the top tiers in Scottish football. Their key player is attacking midfielder Dom Thomas, who played for Premiership side Kilmarnock last year and their top goalkeeper is Grant Adam.

I contemplate making some changes to our lineup but we’re playing well and the lads seem up for it from a fitness perspective so I’ll stick with the exact same starting eleven and the same tactical framework.

Queen’s Park: 4-4-2 Diamond Narrow – Balanced Mentality
GK – Jordan Hart
D – Ciaran Summers, Daniel Nimmo, Izhaak Ahmed, James Grant
DM – Gregor Fotheringham
M – Derek Young, Jamie McKernon
AM – Kurtis Roberts
S – Josh Peters, Ewan MacPherson
Bench – Sam Lidington, Cammy Foy, Gavin Lachlan, Malky Breen, Dylan Thomas, Dominic McMeekin, Billy Mortimer

We’re underdogs so I play that fact up in my pregame chat with the players and tell them to go out and show them our abilities. Dumbarton come out in a flat 4-4-1-1.

11’ – Dumbarton are controlling play early and work the ball towards the top of our area. Their left winger Bobby Barr, a right footed player, hits a curling stunner into the far corner of the goal past a diving Jordan Hart and we’re down early. DUMBARTON GOAL 0-1

14’ – Our opponents continue to dominate the early goings and have a throw in deep down our left side. Jamie McKernon attempts to head the ball away but it’s intercepted and passed to their key man Dom Thomas, whose left footed blast is sent past Hart and we’re in big trouble already. DUMBARTON GOAL 0-2

HALFTIME – Not good. We have zero highlights in that first half and despite possession being dead even, Dumbarton have outshot us 8-2 (4-0 on target) and are causing all sorts of problems. I tell the team I expect much better in the second half.

58’ – Nothing is happening so I make a couple changes, taking out a tired James Grant and Derek Young, bringing on Gavin Lachlan and Malky Breen as replacements.

69’ – There’s a bizarre sequence that sees Lachlan send a long ball up the right flank to no one in particular but their defender Willie Dyer heads the ball right into the scoring area. It’s a 50/50 ball and a diving Dyer wins the ball but it is sent right onto the foot of Josh Peters and he calmly left foots the ball past their keeper and we’re back in this thing! Brutal sequence for their defender. QUEEN’S PARK GOAL 1-2

76’ – We lose possession in their end and Dom Thomas hoofs a long ball over our defense to a streaking Calum Gallagher, who makes no mistake punching one past Hart and we’re done. DUMBARTON GOAL 1-3

77’ – I make one more change after the goal, bringing on Cammy Foy, who moves to DC while Izhaak Ahmed moves up to defensive mid, replacing Gregor Fotheringham.

Lackluster.

Queen’s Park 1 - 3 Dumbarton
Goals – Josh Peters (7.3)
Assists –
Man of the Match – Dom Thomas (Dumbarton – 9.0)
Other Dover Notables –
Attendance - 528 (130 away)

Well, we’re not quite ready for the big boys yet but the final stats were respectable, with us edging them on possession with 51% of the ball and a 13-12 (4-7 on target) shot advantage. We pressed hard in the second half and controlled play while they sat back.

-- If we had any aspirations of moving on in this competition, they just were dealt a huge blow. Kilmarnock has already locked up the group and sits with a perfect nine points and the Premiership club will next host us in our final group match. We’ll need them to rest their starters if we’re to have any chance by the looks of it. That said, Dumbarton is now a point ahead of us as well and face the cellar-dwelling Spartans so we don’t even control our own destiny at this point. Not a big deal either way…I’ll likely do a bit of squad rotating for that Kilmarnock game just to aid the fitness of those who haven’t suited up yet.

-- I get word that star striker Josh Peters sustained a tight thigh while being tackled late in the game. He’ll miss a few days of training but should be okay for our season opening game in league play.

Transfer IN

-- We welcome 20 year old DC Kesi Omolokun to the senior team. Omolokun was out of football last year after coming up through Aberdeen’s youth setup. He’s a 2.5/4.0 talent and will likely move into our rotation at some point.

Transfers OUT

DC – Dom McLaren (Released)
DR – Gavin Lachlan (Released)
DR – Ian Stokes (Released)
MR – James Stokes (Released)
MR – Ali Miller (Released)
MR – Scott McLean (Released)

-- We release a number of players to get our senior squad number down to 31, still a high number. But we aren’t paying any of them so I don’t see this presenting much of a problem, at least for now. Of the cuts, Lachlan may be a surprise, as he’s already seen some time coming off the bench but we have some younger players with more potential that can step in at right fullback.

U18 Update

-- Our youth team plays to a 1-1 draw against the Kilmarnock U18s, a solid result. Striker David Fraser scores our goal and right fullback Rhys Scullion is player of the match.

Next Up -

-- We are massive underdogs, as we complete group stage play in the Betfred Cup by travelling to Premiership side Kilmarnock.

NoSkillz

11-23-2018, 03:57 PM

Sat. July 28, 2018

Betfred Cup – Group E
Kilmarnock (3-0-0-0, 9 points, 1st) vs. Queen’s Park (1-1-0-1, 5 points, 3rd)
Rugby Park, Kilmarnock, Scotland

Betting Odds: Kilmarnock: 1-8 (Favourites) Draw: 5-1 Queen’s Park: 12-1
Past Meetings: 0W 0D 0L

Kilmarnock has become a Scottish Premiership constant, with 2018/19 being their 25th straight year in the top flight. They are coming off a solid 5th place finish last year, their best this decade and media pundits feel they once again are destined for a mid-table finish in 2018/19. Most of their historical success came in the mid 1900’s but they did win the Betfred Cup in 2012, their most recent championship. I can only smile when finding out that their key player is defender Stephen O’Donnell, a name I recognize from a former life (ie: my Dover Athletic dynasty, where he was a member of our club for awhile). Jamie MacDonald is their main keeper. They have guaranteed qualification for the next round so I’m hoping they rotate their squad to give us even the slightest chance of getting a result.

Speaking of squad rotation, we are a tired bunch and I decide to make wholesale changes to our squad and also decide to go with a 4-2-3-1 formation, utilizing wingers for the first time in the competititon. Joe McGovern will tend goal, new signing Kesi Omolokun goes directly into the lineup and Billy Mortimer will be our lone striker. Despite being massive underdogs, I’m going with a positive mentality to start and hope to jump on them quickly.

Queen’s Park: 4-2-3-1 Wide – Positive Mentality
GK – Joe McGovern
D – Sam Lidington, Cammy Foy, Kesi Omolokun, Sam Robertson
M –Dylan Thomas, Kyle MacDonald
AM – Adam Martin, Dominic McMeekin, Brian Donaldson
S – Billy Mortimer
Bench – Kyle McDowell, Gerry McLauchlan, Ross Gilmour, Smart Osadolar, Zldan Akers, Malky Breen, Connor Higgins

Kilmarnock come out in a flat 4-4-2 and both O’Donnell and MacDonald are starting, so they aren’t taking this game for granted. Hopefully we can keep this one reasonably close. I tell the players the pressure is off and just go out there and enjoy the game.

2’ – Kilmarnock have an opportunity in our end but we steal possession and work a long ball up the left flank to Adam Martin. He sends in a low cross and it’s right to striker Billy Mortimer. His point blank shot is stopped by MacDonald but the rebound pops right back to Mortimer and he slams the ball into the net. WHAT A START! QUEEN’S PARK GOAL 1-0

19’ – Kilmarnock are pouring on the pressure and score off a rush but the goal is ruled OFFSIDES! Whew!

31’ – It’s O’Donnell with the ball down the right flank and his cross into the box meets the head of Greg Stewart and it’s past McGovern and in. KILMARNOCK GOAL 1-1

32’ – Wow. Kilmarnock send a long ball up field and a header and a little touch pass springs Eamonn Brophy and he rips one past McGovern and just like that, they have two goals in two minutes. KILMARNOCK GOAL 1-2

35’ – Oh my god. They spring a counter attack after a horrible kick by our goalkeeper and loanee Kyle MacDonald brings down their striker in the box. That’s a PENALTY. Chris Burke steps up and rips it into the net. KILMARNOCK GOAL 1-3

HALFTIME – Wow. Such a promising start but Kilmarnock is just destroying us on the break and our defenders are way too slow to stop them. Keep in mind, this is our backup crew playing today against a club three tiers above us so I can’t get too upset. Kilmarnock held 53% of possession and a whopping 11-3 (9-1 on target) shot advantage. Poor Joe McGovern! He’s playing well!

68’ – We’re doing alright but just miss a great opportunity to get within one, shooting wide. I pull off winger Brian Donaldson, who has a yellow, and bring in newcomer Zldan Akers.

72’ – I pull off our goal scorer, Billy Mortimer, inserting 18 year old Connor Higgins.

81’ – Young Connor Higgins shows some brilliant moves, eluding a defender’s attempted tackle and crossing the ball to a wide open Dominic McMeekin but he shockingly shoots wide on an open net. Oh boy. We pull off Adam Martin and bring in Smart Osadolar.

Kilmarnock get a couple late chances but we are able to keep them off the board in the second half. Five bad minutes cost us here.

Kilmarnock 3 - 1 Queen’s Park
Goals – Billy Mortimer (7.1)
Assists –
Man of the Match – Stephen O’Donnell (Kilmarnock – 8.4)
Other Dover Notables –
Attendance - 2827 (229 away)

All things considered, I’m happy with this performance. We get playing time for our second team and are quite competitive versus Premiership competition. In the end, possession was dead even and Kilmarnock held a 17-7 (12-1 on target) shot advantage. Our keeper was excellent.

McKernon Named Captain

-- We are asked to officially name our captains for the season and we keep Jamie McKernon in that role, with fellow MC Dylan Thomas named assistant.

Next Up -

-- We have one last preseason friendly against Carnoustie before beginning Ladbrokes League Two play.

NoSkillz

11-23-2018, 09:42 PM

Mon. July 30, 2018

Preseason Friendly
Carnoustie Panmure (Scotland – East Superleague) vs. Queen’s Park FC
Laing Park, Carnoustie, Scotland

Carnoustie Panmure are part of the East Superleague in the Scottish Junior Football Association. They shouldn’t put up much of a fight in this one.

We’re using this game to refine tactics and hopefully it will provide some confidence as we approach our first league game. We’re starting a mix of starters and backups and will go back to our narrow 4-4-2 formation.

Queen’s Park: 4-4-2 Diamond Narrow (4-1-2-1-2) Gegenpress (Positive Mentality)
GK – Jordan Hart
D – Ciaran Summers, Gerry McLauchlan, Izhaak Ahmed, Ross Gilmour
DM – Gregor Fotheringham
MC – Malky Breen, Dylan Thomas
AM – Kurtis Roberts
S – C. Higgins, Ewan MacPherson

Carnoustie 0 - 4 Queen’s Park
Goals – Connor Higgins 3 (9.6), Kurtis Roberts (8.3)
Assists – Ross Gilmour (9.0), Malky Breen (7.8), Ewan MacPherson (7.9)
Player of the Match – Connor Higgins
Other Dover Notables – Jordan Hart (7.2), Izhaak Ahmed (7.9), Gerry McLauchlan (7.6), Ciaran Summers (7.6), Gregor Fotheringham (7.5), Jamie McKernon (7.4)
Attendance – 65 (38 away)

-- We scored all four goals in the first half and then called off the dogs. 18 year old striker Connor Higgins looked like a superstar against admittedly poor competition but I may give him a shot to play in the first team at some point soon. We held 60% of the ball and outshot Carnousite 15-6 (7-4 on target). Honestly, I’m not super impressed…I’d like to see more shots on goal against such a poor team and we gave up too many good chances too. We need to be better when the games count.

-- Winger Zldan Akers has a tight hamstring and won’t be ready for our season opening game against Peterhead.

August Update

-- We hit August and we have a pretty reasonable schedule out of the gates, with four League Two games (Berwick Rangers and Albion Rovers at home; Peterhead and Annan Athletic away) and a first round Irn-Bru Cup match against Falkirk, a Championship side, in Falkirk. Tough draw.

Transfer OUT

-- Our worst nightmare comes true. After seeing him reject multiple overtures over the past month, stalwart centre half Izhaak Ahmed accepts a contract offer from Assyriska FF in Sweden’s third tier and departs with immediate effect. He was our best DC but now he’s making 250 pounds per week and playing professional football. A huge blow just before we start our league season.

-- After the announcement is made, fellow DC Daniel Nimmo, who has battled me since the day I signed Ahmed, comes out and says he wants to stay at Queen’s Park now that “his place in the squad is assured”. Give me a break – if I wasn’t desperate I’d cut him right now.

Transfer IN

-- We sign 20 year old defensive midfielder Ross Finnie, a 3.0/4.0 talent, on a free. Finnie comes from the Wolves youth setup in the English Championship so this feels like a huge deal for us. If he’s as good as I think he is, I’m guessing he’s a target for other teams as well. He’s better than incumbent starter Gregor Fotheringham and once fit, he’ll be playing.

Next Up -

-- Our regular season in Ladbrokes League Two play begins, as we travel to Peterhead to face the pundits choice for promotion.

GoldenEagle

11-24-2018, 08:17 PM

I am enjoying reading this.

NoSkillz

11-25-2018, 01:42 PM

I am enjoying reading this.

Thanks for reading GE!

NoSkillz

11-25-2018, 08:57 PM

Sat. August 4, 2018

Ladbrokes League Two
Peterhead (0-0-0, 0 points, -) vs. Queen’s Park (0-0-0, 0 points, -)
Balmoor Stadium Peterhead, Scotland

Betting Odds: Peterhead: 1-6 (Favourites) Draw: 5-1 Queen’s Park: 10-1
Past Meetings: 0W 0D 0L

Peterhead come into the season as the media’s favourite for promotion, coming off a second placed finish in League Two last season. They spent the previous three years in League One and had a third place finish in that league as recently as 2015/16 so I get why their chances are so good for promotion. They also finished as runners up in the Irn-Bru Cup in 2016. Their key player is striker Rory McAllister, who also serves as their captain and their starting keeper is Greg Fleming.

Perhaps against my better judgement, I’m going with a positive mentality despite being sizable underdogs. I simply want to see where our team stands against the best in the league on the road. With no Izhaak Ahmed, I’m going to try loanee Kyle MacDonald at DC and I’m going with Ross Gilmour at right fullback. 18 year old striker Connor Higgins will also start up front after his hat trick in our last preseason friendly.

Queen’s Park: 4-4-2 Diamond Narrow – Positive Mentality
GK – Jordan Hart
D – Ciaran Summers, Daniel Nimmo, Kyle MacDonald, Ross Gilmour
DM –Gregor Fotheringham
M – Derek Young, Jamie McKernon
AM – Kurtis Roberts
S – Connor Higgins, Josh Peters
Bench – Sam Lidington, Cammy Foy, James Grant, Ross Finnie, Dylan Thomas, Dominic McMeekin, Ewan MacPherson

Peterhead are in a 4-3-1-2 formation. Interestingly enough, they are starting 18 year old Ryan Gibson in goal. I tell the team the pressure is off so go out and play well for our travelling support.

26’ – Peterhead’s left fullback Paddy Boyle sends a ball up the middle to their main man Rory McAllister and he’s behind our defense. He’s in on goal and passes left to strike partner Derek Lyle, and his shot deflects off Jordan Hart and is in. PETERHEAD GOAL 0-1

34’ – Ciaran Summers sends a ball to the opposite flank to Ross Gilmour. He crosses into the box and there is Josh Peters heading it home for the equalizer! QUEEN’S PARK GOAL 1-1

45’+1 – We’re into extra time and Peterhead play a long ball up to Lyle. He gets into the area and his shot deflects off one of our defenders and rolls slowly toward the far post. Our keeper seems completely oblivious to what’s happening and there is McAllister tapping the ball into the empty net. Brutal. PETERHEAD GOAL 1-2

HALFTIME – That goal in extra time was a killer, as we were holding our own that half. We held 53% of possession and shots were 10-10 (6-2 on target) in their favour. I stress that the pressure is off in my half-time team talk and to go out there and show our abilities.

49’ – Peterhead have a free kick just outside the area and Jamie Stevenson sends in a cross that meets the foot of Cammy Eadie and we’re down two. PETERHEAD GOAL 1-3

60’ – I pull off Gregor Fotheringham and bring in new signing Ross Finnie.

70’ – Another change, as I bring in Ewan MacPherson for the ineffective Connor Higgins.

71’ – Stevenson has a corner kick and crosses into our area and it’s headed in by Lyle. That’s his second and we’re toast. PETERHEAD GOAL 1-4

76’ – We have possession down the left flank and Ciaran Summers sends a long ball up to MacPherson. It’s a perfect ball and he’s past the defense and one touches a shot into the far corner of the goal. Beauty! QUEEN’S PARK GOAL 2-4

78’ – One more change, as we bring on midfielder Dylan Thomas and take out Derek Young.

Oh well. Onwards and upwards.

Peterhead 4 - 2 Queen’s Park
Goals – Josh Peters (7.0), Ewan MacPherson (7.3)
Assists – Ross Gilmour (6.6), Ciaran Summers (6.6)
Man of the Match – Derek Lyle (Peterhead – 8.8)
Other Dover Notables –
Attendance - 752 (127 away)

We held 54% of possession and outshot them 17-15 (7-10 on target) – this tells me a couple of things: first, we have enough talent to hang around with anyone in this league. Second, we’re just getting exposed in the back due to a plodding defense that has little speed to keep up with quick opposing strikers. I need to tweak my tactics against favoured opponents, perhaps dropping my defensive line and maybe I need to hold off on pressing until our opponent gets into our half of the field to eliminate the long-ball goals against. We’ve also been terrible on set pieces and that’s a huge weakness with our tactics right now as well.

Season Ticket Sales Announced

-- Barcelona, we’re not. The Queen’s Park ticket office announces we’ve sold 250 season ticket packages for the year. Hampden Park will be looking pretty empty this season!

Loan IN

-- 17 year old centre-half Scott Glover joins Queen’s Park on a season-long loan from St. Mirren. This 2.5/4.0 defender is currently on the shelf with sprained knee ligaments and likely won’t be available for about a month but he may be able to help us later in the season.

U18 Update

-- Our U18 team opened up their season with a rousing 5-3 victory, propelled by goalkeeper Elliot Anderson, who SCORED TWO GOALS on penalties! Don’t think I’ve ever seen that before from a GK! We also got goals from Ross Fleming, Calvin McGrory and Taylor Berry.

Reserves Update

-- Our reserves team fell 1-0 to the Ayr Reserves in game one of their season. Right fullback Sam Robertson was named player of the match in a losing effort.

Next Up -

-- We welcome Berwick to Hampden Park in our home opener in League Two play.

NoSkillz

11-25-2018, 10:21 PM

Sat. August 11, 2018

Ladbrokes League Two
Queen’s Park (0-0-1, 0 points, 8th) vs. Berwick (1-0-0, 3 points, 5th)
Hampden Park, Glasgow, Scotland

Betting Odds: Queen’s Park: 6-4 (Favourites) Draw: 2-1 Berwick: 13-8
Past Meetings: 0W 0D 0L

We are the slightest of favourites against Berwick Rangers FC, who are coming off a season-opening win against Stirling, 1-0. This is Berwick’s tenth straight year in League Two and they are coming off an 8th place finish last year. They’ve had extended periods of time spent in League One over the past 40 years but their last year in the Championship was 1980/81. The media picked them to finish 4th this year and their key player is Maciej Dabrowski, their goalkeeper. I’m also told we need to watch out for striker Greg Hurst in today’s matchup.

As favourites, I’m going to go with our 4-4-2 narrow diamond one more time. We will make a few changes to our starting eleven, bringing in striker Ewan MacPherson to play up front with Josh Peters. Vice captain Dylan Thomas will play in the midfield today and I introduce some speed to the middle of my defense, brining in newcomer Kesi Omolokun. Right fullback James Grant also comes in to start and brings a bit more speed to our backline.

Queen’s Park: 4-4-2 Diamond Narrow – Positive Mentality
GK – Jordan Hart
D – Ciaran Summers, Daniel Nimmo, Kesi Omolokun, James Grant
DM – Gregor Fotheringham
M – Dylan Thomas, Jamie McKernon
AM – Kurtis Roberts
S – Ewan MacPherson, Josh Peters
Bench – Sam Lidington, Cammy Foy, Ross Gilmour, Ross Finnie, Derek Young, Kyle MacDonald, Connor Higgins

I tell the team in the room I expect a much better performance today. Berwick start with a 5-2-2-1 formation, with two wingbacks and Greg Hurst alone up front. Dabrowski, as expected, is in goal for Berwick.

1’ – We take the opening kick and our opening attack is deflected out for a corner. Kurtis Roberts sends the corner into the box and it’s left fullback Ciaran Summers sending a forceful header into the corner of the net. What a start!!! QUEEN’S PARK GOAL 1-0

31’ – We have an extended period of possession and send a ball out wide to James Grant. His low cross is to the near post and Josh Peters slides and boots the ball into the net! QUEEN’S PARK GOAL 2-0

HALFTIME – A pretty solid half of football. We held 56% of possession and outshot them 8-4 (2-1 on target). I’d like more chances but you can’t fault a 2-0 lead through 45. I tell the boys I’m pleased.

64’ – Things are pretty quiet. I pull off an ineffective Jamie McKernon and bring in Derek Young.

68’ – We have another corner and again, it’s Roberts with a beautiful cross to the far post and it’s headed in by Kesi Omolokun, his first for Queen’s Park! QUEEN’S PARK GOAL 3-0

72’ – We bring on youngster Connor Higgins, taking out goalscorer Josh Peters.

78’ – One more change, as we insert Ross Finnie in place of Gregor Fotheringham.

We hold them off the rest of the way. Super.

Queen’s Park 3 - 0 Berwick
Goals – Ciaran Summers (8.6), Josh Peters (7.4), Kesi Omolokun (8.4)
Assists – Kurtis Roberts 2 (8.3), James Grant (8.4)
Man of the Match – Ciaran Summers
Other Dover Notables – Daniel Nimmo (7.6), Dylan Thomas (7.0)
Attendance - 1038 (186 away)

We held 57% of possession and outshot them 13-6 (5-1 on target). A very solid defensive effort here, as they had very few highlights in this one. We move into fifth place on the table with the win.

-- In other League Two action, Clyde destroys Stirling 6-1 and sit top of the table with a perfect 2-0-0 record and a +8 goal differential. Edinburgh City, Annan and Peterhead all win as well and all have perfect starts to the season as well.

League Two Players of the Week

-- Two Spiders make the Ladbrokes Scottish League Two Team of the Week, with fullbacks Ciaran Summers and James Grant getting honoured for their fine game against Berwick.

-- Speaking of Ciaran Summers, league leaders Clyde have been sniffing around the last couple weeks and I find out that they have offered him a contract. Once again, it’s looking like I’m going to lose yet another of my best players to a professional club. This isn’t an easy job!!!

Next Up -

-- We face the impossible, as we face Scottish Championship side Falkirk in the first round of the Irn-Bru (Challenge) Cup.

NoSkillz

11-26-2018, 12:27 AM

Tue. August 14, 2018

Irn-Bru Cup – First Round
Falkirk (Scottish Championship) vs. Queen’s Park
The Falkirk Stadium, Falkirk, Scotland

Betting Odds: Falkirk: 1-6 (Favourites) Draw: 5-1 Queen’s Park: 10-1
Past Meetings: 0W 0D 0L

We “face the impossible” in our first round match in Irn-Bru Cup play (Scottish Challenge Cup), facing Championship side Falkirk, who sit two tiers above us on the Scottish pyramid. Like us, they are 1-0-1 in league play thus far and the media predict a mid-table finish for them this year. Falkirk has bounced around between the Premiership and the Championship for the last 40 years or so, with their last appearance in League One all the way back in 1979/80. They finished 8th in the Championship last year but were runners up two consecutive seasons before that. They were also runners up in the William Hill Scottish Cup as recently as 2015. Their key player is Ghanaian midfielder Prince Buaben and we’ll need to be mindful of striker Marcus Haber, who already has four goals this year.

We are huge underdogs here and while I’ll stick with our narrow diamond 4-4-2, I’m moving to a cautious mentality and will give them their side of the pitch, holding off on pressing until they reach our side of midfield. I’m going to rotate the squad heavily today, as league play needs to be my primary focus. Getting starts today include GK Joe McGovern, DC Kyle MacDonald, DR Sam Robertson (very speedy), DM Ross Finnie (his first start with Queen’s Park), MC Derek Young and AMC Dominic McMeekin.

Queen’s Park: 4-4-2 Diamond Narrow – Cautious Mentality
GK – Joe McGovern
D – Ciaran Summers, Daniel Nimmo, Kyle MacDonald, Sam Robertson
DM – Ross Finnie
M – Derek Young, Jamie McKernon
AM – Dominic McMeekin
S – Ewan MacPherson, Josh Peters
Bench – Sam Lidington, Cammy Foy, Ross Gilmour, Gregor Fotheringham, Dylan Thomas, Kurtis Roberts, Connor Higgins

Falkirk are in their standard 4-2-3-1 formation. Haber is their loan striker but Prince Buaben is on the bench today, a welcome sight! Robbie Mutch is their goalkeeper. I tell our boys to pick up where they left off in the Berwick victory.

4’ – McGovern throws a ball out to the right flank to Sam Robertson and he hoofs one over the Falkirk D-line and Ewan MacPherson has a half step. He gets to the top of the area and boots one low into the far corner and it’s IN! WOW!!! QUEEN’S PARK GOAL 1-0

16’ – Falkirk work up the right flank and cross into our area. Marcus Haber jumps higher than Jamie McKernon and heads it to Scott Wright, who blasts one past McGovern and we’re now tied. FALKIRK GOAL 1-1

HALFTIME – Not too bad. They’ve definitely been the better team but considering we’re resting a number of key players, I’m very satisfied with this scoreline. They held 52% of possession and outshot us 13-6 (5-3 on target), one of the rare times we’ve been outpossessed AND outshot this season. I tell the players they are doing well in the half-time team talk.

59’ – I take off a tired Ciaran Summers and bring in Sam Lidington.

69’ – A very measured and careful second half so far, with few highlights. Out comes Ross Finnie and in comes Gregor Fotheringham.

81’ – Sensing we have a chance to get a result, I take out Dominic McMeekin and bring in stalwart AMC Kurtis Roberts.

88’ – We have possession and work a ball up to Roberts and we have numbers. He sends a gorgeous through ball to Josh Peters and he’s in on goal. His rocket is STOPPED by Robbie Mutch but the rebound pops right back to Peters and he slots it IN. Oh my God!!! QUEEN’S PARK GOAL 2-1

I change to a completely defensive formation, pulling Roberts back into central midfield and Derek Young into the defensive midfield, forming a 4-2-2-2. Lets hold them off!!!

AND WE DO IT!

Falkirk 1 - 2 Queen’s Park
Goals – Ewan MacPherson (8.3), Josh Peters (8.0)
Assists – Josh Peters
Man of the Match – Ewan MacPherson
Other Dover Notables – Joe McGovern (7.3), Sam Robertson (7.3)
Attendance - 5219 (315 away)

Obviously, this is the biggest win in my tenure thus far, as we knock off a team two tiers ahead of us. We ended up edging them on possession 51% to 49% but they outshot us 21-11 (9-5 on target). Simply superb and we move on to round two!

Transfers OUT 

-- We lose yet another star defender in left fullback Ciaran Summers, who signs with current League Two leaders Clyde and leaves with immediate effect. Summers joined Queen’s Park last year from Stenhousemuir and leaves after 22 games. He already had a goal and two assists for us in only six games this year. This is a very tough loss – we have a couple of decent backups but they will be serious downgrades from Summers. Back to the free transfer market I go!

-- We also lose U18 striker Kieran Moore, who signs with Wick Academy. Thankfully this isn’t a big loss.

Irn-Bru Cup – Second Round Draw

-- After our thrilling victory over Falkirk, our name is pulled out first in the second round draw, locking up a home game. Our opponents? Northern Ireland Premiership champion Crusaders FC, who have already been through Champions League qualifiers (where they were eliminated in devastating fashion) and are now in Europa League qualifiers. Geez…seemingly a very tough draw again!

U18 Update

-- Our U18s drop a 1-0 decision to Greenock Morton U18, where midfielder Taylor Berry was our best player in defeat.

U18 Transfer IN

-- I pull off my first official transfer from another team, getting 18 year old left back Ryan Cairns on a free from Alloa in League One. He’s not very good (ha) but with the loss of Ciaran Summers earlier in the week, I need to add depth.

-- In a related move, I promote Ross Fleming from our U18s to the senior squad. He’s a 2.0/3.5 player and will likely be a rotational player going forward unless I find something better in the transfer market.

Next Up -

-- We head to Galabank in Annan, as we face the undefeated Annan Athletic in Ladbrokes Scottish League Two play.

NoSkillz

11-26-2018, 10:22 AM

Sat. August 18, 2018

Ladbrokes Scottish League Two
Annan Athletic (2-0-0, 6 points, 3rd) vs. Queen’s Park (1-0-1, 3 points, 5th)
Galabank, Annan, Scotland

Betting Odds: Annan: 6-4 (Favourites) Draw: 2-1 Queen’s Park: 13-8
Past Meetings: 0W 0D 0L

We are the slightest of underdogs as we face undefeated Annan Athletic in their home park. They’ve been impressive so far, knocking off Elgin City and Cowdenbeath in league play and played very well in the Scottish League Cup as well, getting results against Morton and Stranraer while losing on penalties to Queen of the South. The team is coming off a 7th place finish in League Two last year but generally have been a mid-to-upper table side for the last ten years.The media predicted a fourth place finish in league play this year and their key man is left back Lewis Strapp, an 18 year old who just joined the club from Morton.

This is obviously a winnable game but I’m going to go with a “balanced” mentality today, essentially in-between a positive mentality and the cautious approach we utilized against Falkirk to good effect. Jordan Hart is back in goal, Sam Lidington is in at left back for the departed Ciaran Summers, Kesi Omolokun is back in at centre halfback and James Grant is back in at right back. Also back in the side are midfielders Dylan Thomas and Kurtis Roberts.

Queen’s Park: 4-4-2 Diamond Narrow – Balanced Mentality
GK – Jordan Hart
D – Sam Lidington, Daniel Nimmo, Kesi Omolokun, James Grant
DM – Ross Finnie
M – Dylan Thomas, Jamie McKernon
AM – Kurtis Roberts
S – Ewan MacPherson, Josh Peters
Bench – Kyle MacDonald, Cammy Foy, Sam Robertson, Gregor Fotheringham, Derek Young, Dominic McMeekin, Connor Higgins

Annan are out in a flat 4-4-2 and it’s Andrew Stobie in goal. Max Brown and Aidan Smith are their strike force, with seven goals between them already. I tell the boys to go out there and have fun.

4’ – We gave up a really good chance in the first minute but Jordan Hart made a great save. A couple minutes later, it’s captain Jamie McKernon, very quiet thus far this year, making a brilliant pass upfield to Ewan MacPherson. He has a step on the defense and left foots a shot past Stobie and it’s in! Another great start men! QUEEN’S PARK GOAL 1-0

23’ – I like the way we’re playing right now but they take advantage of an opportunity. Annan recover the ball on the right flank and a Kyle Bradley cross is karate kicked past Jordan Hart to tie the game at one. ANNAN GOAL 1-1

25’ – We win a corner and Kurtis Roberts sends a cross to the near post. It’s headed by Kesi Omolokun and then headed again by Josh Peters and it’s past their keeper and IN! QUEEN’S PARK GOAL 2-1

27’ – Ugh…this game. We just are defending very poorly and turn the ball over up the middle and it’s Scott Roberts putting a shot off Hart and it dribbles past him and in. ANNAN GOAL 2-2

37’ – THIS GAME! Hart rolls one out to Daniel Nimmo who passes left to Lidington. He bombs one up field and there is that man MacPherson, behind the defense again and he rips a bomb that deflects off one of their sliding defenders and it’s past Andrew Stobie for our third lead of the half! QUEEN’S PARK GOAL 3-2

HALFTIME – What a crazy half of football! We score three goals and we also hit the woodwork three more times. In all, we outshoot them 11-8 (5-4 on target) and held 54% of possession that half. I tell the players to keep it up in the second half.

46’ – Right off the opening boot, we move up field and another gorgeous long ball from McKernon finds Ewan MacPherson and he takes the ball in strike and hits it into the top corner for his HAT TRICK!!! That took all of 12 seconds!!! QUEEN’S PARK GOAL 4-2

69’ – We take off the excellent Josh Peters and bring in young Connor Higgins. We hope some fresh legs up front can secure one more goal to lock this up.

76’ – We continue to look fantastic out there and off a free kick, we work the ball up to MacPherson. This time, he decides to be a playmaker, slotting a pass over to young Higgins and he throttles it past the beleaguered Annan keeper for his first senior level goal!!! QUEEN’S PARK GOAL 5-2

78’ – We pull off the excellent James Grant and bring in Sam Robertson.

86’ – Our captain Jamie McKernon gets a yellow so we pull him off and bring in Kyle MacDonald. McKernon’s best game thus far!

88’ – Our domination continues, as we work beautiful little passes along the right side deep in their territory. In the end, it’s Ewan MacPherson again with a lovely ball into the six yard box and there is Kurtis Roberts touching it home. His first at Queen’s Park and we are in complete command!!! QUEEN’S PARK GOAL 6-2

What a great performance!

Annan Athletic 2 - 6 Queen’s Park
Goals – Ewan MacPherson 3 (9.7), Josh Peters (7.4), Connor Higgins (7.2), Kurtis Roberts (8.5)
Assists – Jamie McKernon 2 (8.8), Ewan MacPherson 2, Kesi Omolokun (8.3), Sam Lidington (8.1)
Man of the Match – Ewan MacPherson
Other Dover Notables – Jordan Hart (7.2), James Grant (7.3), Daniel Nimmo (7.9), Ross Finnie (8.1), Dylan Thomas (7.6)
Attendance - 473 (120 away)

Boy was that ever fun! Every single one of our starting eleven get ratings over 7.0, MacPherson has five points and we may have something with our tactics now. I still feel that we give up too many grade-A chances but our offense is on tilt right now. Brilliant stuff. We end up holding 54% of possession and outshoot Annan 16-11 (9-5 on target).

-- We move up to second on the League Two table after the victory, one spot behind the idle Clyde due to goal differential.

League Two Team of the Week 

-- Our huge win over Annan brought accolades from the media pundits, with six of our players making the Ladbrokes League Two team of the week. Among the eleven players honoured were Sam Lidington, Daniel Nimmo, Kesi Omolokun, Kurtis Roberts, Jamie McKernon and, of course, Ewan MacPherson.

Transfer OUT

-- We release 29 year old DC Gerry McLauchlan from the team on a free. He was a peripheral member of the squad and a fifth choice option at best so I decide to let him go.

U18 Update

-- Our U18s drop another decision, this time losing 2-0 versus Fife Elite FA. No one performed well in that contest for us by the looks of it.

Next Up -

-- We’re back home and will host Albion Rovers, currently bottom of the table, in Ladbrokes Scottish League Two play.

NoSkillz

11-26-2018, 08:45 PM

Sat. August 25, 2018

Ladbrokes Scottish League Two
Queen’s Park (2-0-1, 6 points, 2nd) vs. Albion Rovers (0-0-3, 0 points, 10th)
Hampden Park, Glasgow, Scotland

Betting Odds: Queen’s Park: 5-4 (Favourites) Draw: 11-5 Albion Rovers: 7-4
Past Meetings: 0W 0D 0L

We are reasonable favourites against bottom of the table Albion Rovers, the only team in the league without a point thus far. In fact, they haven’t scored a goal in league play yet but did put three past league leaders Clyde in a 5-3 Irn-Bru Cup loss. Like us, they were relegated from League One last year and have flip flopped between those two leagues since 1989/90, their last season in the Championship. Albion basically did nothing in the transfer window and seemingly have lost many of their best players, with the media predicting a second consecutive relegation. Their key player is 26 year old midfielder Gary Fisher, who has played with the club since 2014/15.

We will stick with what works and make no changes whatsoever to our starting eleven. I’m going to use a positive mentality to start in this one as favourites at home.

Queen’s Park: 4-4-2 Diamond Narrow – Positive Mentality
GK – Jordan Hart
D – Sam Lidington, Daniel Nimmo, Kesi Omolokun, James Grant
DM – Ross Finnie
M – Dylan Thomas, Jamie McKernon
AM – Kurtis Roberts
S – Ewan MacPherson, Josh Peters
Bench – Kyle MacDonald, Cammy Foy, Sam Robertson, Gregor Fotheringham, Derek Young, Dominic McMeekin, Connor Higgins

Albion Rovers come out in a 5-2-3 WB formation, with one striker (Graham Gracie) and two wingers. Interesting to see Yrik Galantes playing AML for them – I had him here at Queen’s Park on trial during the preseason. He’s property of Hibernian in the Premiership and is obviously on loan at Albion Rovers for the season. Peter Morrison is their keeper.

3’ – We have a free kick just outside the penalty area and Kurtis Roberts sends a ball to the far post. Charging in is Daniel Nimmo and he heads it past Morrison and IN! Nimmo’s first goal at Queen’s Park! QUEEN’S PARK GOAL 1-0

12’ – On an innocent looking play, the referee calls a foul on us in our area and that’s a PENALTY. Bryan Wharton steps up and slots it into the lower left corner and Albion Rovers have their first goal of the year. ALBION ROVERS GOAL 1-1

14’ – We have possession off the ensuring kickoff and we send a long ball down the right flank to Josh Peters. He sees Ewan MacPherson running in the middle of the field unmarked and his cross is perfect, with MacPherson making no mistake. He’s on FIRE! That was TOO EASY! QUEEN’S PARK GOAL 2-1

15’ – Jamie McKernon is fouled just outside their area and again, Roberts takes the kick. This time, he bends a ridiculous shot around their wall and it’s into the right corner of the net. Two goals in two minutes!!! QUEEN’S PARK GOAL 3-1

24’ – Geez. Albion Rovers have a corner and it’s Gary Fisher, their key player, crossing into the box and Wharton outleaps our defenders and heads it in for his second of the game. ALBION ROVERS GOAL 3-2

35’ – This is ridiculous. They have extended possession in our end and an Aaron Reid cross is booted home by an unmarked Graham Gracie. They have three shots and have capitalized on all three. ALBION ROVERS GOAL 3-3

HALFTIME – Wow. This isn’t what I expected from an opponent that hadn’t scored all year. We only held 52% of possession and outshot them 9-3 (5-3 on target) but we did absolutely nothing in the last 20 minutes of that half. I peel paint in the dressing room during the halftime team talk. We need to be much better!

63’ – We need a spark of some sort and take off James Grant, who has a yellow. In comes Sam Robertson.

77’ – We have absolutely nothing going on. I pull off our goal scorer MacPherson and bring in Connor Higgins, hoping fresh legs up front will help us.

85’ – Still nothing. We pull off an exhausted Sam Lidington and bring in Kyle MacDonald.

89’ – It’s an Albion Rovers goal kick and we intercept the ball at midfield. Captain Jamie McKernon sends a long ball up the middle and the fresh legs of Connor Higgins are able to outrun their defender. He’s in all alone and SCORES!!! QUEEN’S PARK GOAL 4-3

We immediately move to a defensive mindset.

We squeak it out.

Queen’s Park 4 - 3 Albion Rovers
Goals – Daniel Nimmo (7.6), Ewan MacPherson (7.0), Kurtis Roberts (8.5), Connor Higgins (7.2)
Assists – Jamie McKernon (7.6), Kurtis Roberts, Josh Peters (6.8)
Man of the Match – Bryan Wharton (Albion Rovers – 8.8)
Other Dover Notables –
Attendance - 1490 (424 away)

Well that was an interesting contest – from ridiculously loose first-half play to a tightly contested final 45, we somehow find a late goal to grab three big points. In the end, we held 54% of possession and outshot them 14-7 (8-5 on target). I think the positive mentality is leading to an exorbitant amount of chances against so I may start utilizing more of a balanced approach in future contests. That said, one goal was scored on a penalty and another on a setpiece but still, our opponents are simply getting too many chances and we’re allowing way too many goals against.

-- We hold onto second place in the league, tied on points with both Clyde and Peterhead, who both sport perfect 3-0-0 records and play each other mid-week. We should be able to continue this run for another couple games, as we next face Cowdenbeath and Stirling Albion in league play, who sit in 9th and 8th place respectively on the table.

U18 Transfers IN 

-- We sign 17 year old DL Michael Thomson and 16 year old ST Danny Jackson to our U18 squad. Just provides some depth at positions where we have been poached by other teams recently, with Jackson’s 2.5/4.0 ratings providing some promise.

-- A couple of days later, I sign 18 year old AMC Mitchell Foy, who comes to us after spending two years with Inverness CT in the Championship. Again, this is a depth signing for us, as his 1.5/4.0 potential doesn’t really look good for his chances to play senior team football for Queen’s Park.

Reserve Team Update

-- Our reserve team run riot on Raith’s Reserves, winning 5-2 in league play. 16 year old winger Brian Donaldson scores twice and we get singles from Cammy Foy, Kyle MacDonald and Lewis Hawke. We ran with a 4-2-3-1 formation in this game, as I look to get our wingers some playing time, just in case.

Scottish League Two Team of the Week

-- Three members of Queen’s Park make the Ladbrokes Scottish League Two team of the week. Daniel Nimmo, Kurtis Roberts and Connor Higgins all make the squad. I notice that recently departed left back Ciaran Summers makes the team for Clyde, his new squad.

League Two Update

-- Peterhead and Clyde battle to a 1-1 draw, with both teams moving one point ahead of us to 10 on the year. We now sit third alone on the table.

Transfer Deadline Day

-- We get a note that the transfer window will be closing today and I’m asked if I’d like to take part in any media calls to discuss our plans. Of course, I have nothing really on the go but I decide to participate and get a couple questions asked of me. The really cool thing about FM19 that is different from what I’m used to on FM11 is the dedicated Transfer Deadline Day screen that details all of the deals being consummated that day, by league. It’s a great summary and looks fantastic. Kudos to the FM team…I’m sure this will be a lot of fun once/if I get to a top league where I can spend some dough!

September Update

-- We reach September and have four league games scheduled (vs. Cowdenbeath, AT Stirling Albion, vs. Edinburgh City, AT Elgin City) along with a second round Irn-Bru Cup match (vs. Crusaders FC).

Scottish League Two Monthly Awards

-- Clyde MC Chris McStay wins Scottish League Two player of the month honours and our very own Kurtis Roberts finishes in second, scoring two goals and adding three assists in four league games.

-- Meanwhile, Clyde’s Jack Boyle, an AMC, wins young player of the month, with Ewan MacPherson and Kesi Omolokun finishing second and third respectively. Nice!

-- Clyde pulls off the clean sweep, with Danny Lennon winning manager of the month. I finish in third behind Peterhead’s Jim McInally.

Board Confidence Update

-- The board is pleased with my management of the team, with the main positive being our convincing 3-0 win over Berwick in League Two play and the main criticism being our signing of U18 player Ryan Cairns. Ha!

-- We’re looking good financially too, turning a profit of ~£35K last month. Easy to do with no wages!

Next Up -

-- We host 9th place Cowdenbeath in League Two play at Hampden Park.

NoSkillz

11-26-2018, 11:04 PM

Sat. September 1, 2018

Ladbrokes Scottish League Two
Queen’s Park (3-0-1, 9 points, 3rd) vs. Cowdenbeath (0-1-2, 1 point, 9th)
Hampden Park, Glasgow, Scotland

Betting Odds: Queen’s Park: 6-4 (Favourites) Draw: 2-1 Cowdenbeath: 13-8
Past Meetings: 0W 0D 0L

We are the slightest of favourites at home against Cowdenbeath. “The Blue Brazil”, as they are affectionately known, are on a poor run of form in recent years – they were in the Championship as recently as 2014/15, were relegated to League One after that campaign and then relegated again the next year to League Two, where they’ve finished LAST each of the last two seasons, only staying up due to playoff wins. The media doesn’t think much of their chances this year either, with a 9th place prediction. Their top player is left fullback Jason Talbot; strikers Josh Skelly and Kris Renton are tied for the team lead with 3 goals apiece.

Once again, I’m sticking with the exact same starting eleven but I will pull back somewhat on our tactics, going with a more balanced approach as opposed to the aggressive pressing we did in our last game.

Queen’s Park: 4-4-2 Diamond Narrow – Balanced Mentality
GK – Jordan Hart
D – Sam Lidington, Daniel Nimmo, Kesi Omolokun, James Grant
DM – Ross Finnie
M – Dylan Thomas, Jamie McKernon
AM – Kurtis Roberts
S – Ewan MacPherson, Josh Peters
Bench – Kyle MacDonald, Cammy Foy, Sam Robertson, Gregor Fotheringham, Derek Young, Dominic McMeekin, Connor Higgins

Cowdenbeath come out in a 4-1-3-2 formation, with Skelly and Renton up front and David McGurn is their keeper. I tell the team to give the fans their money’s worth.

7’ – We have the ball out wide and cross it into the middle but Josh Peters is taken down. That’s a PENALTY! Peters steps up to take it and his shot to the right corner is STOPPED by McGurn. Oh NO!!!

10’ – We have a corner and Kurtis Roberts’ shot is headed away by Cowdenbeath but right to Dylan Thomas. He one touches a left-footed ROCKET past McGurn and it’s in! That’s Thomas’ first goal with our club! QUEEN’S PARK GOAL 1-0

HALFTIME – Well, that was pretty dull. I guess that’s what I wanted when I pulled back with our pressing. Not much in the way of chances, although Cowdenbeath had more opportunities late in the half. We’re dominating possession, with 60% of the ball and outshot them by a 6-4 (2-2 on target) total. I’d like to see more from my team here and I tell them they are capable of better.

65’ – I have to pull off Josh Peters – he’s getting tons of chances but he’s down in the dumps after missing the penalty early and his rating is brutal. I need some confidence in there and hopefully young Connor Higgins can find me another goal.

72’ – I pull out a “nervous” Ross Finnie and put in veteran DM Gregor Fotheringham.

78’ – We work some passes in midfield between Thomas and Jamie McKernon and it’s Thomas sending a long ball up field. Higgins has those fresh legs and beats the defenders to the ball but his shot rattles off the crossbar. Their goalie is down and attempts to scoop up the rebound but Higgins gets there first and punches it home. That’s three games in a row where Higgins has scored from off the bench! QUEEN’S PARK GOAL 2-0

89’ – I take out the excellent Sam Lidington and bring in Kyle MacDonald.

Hey, we can play defense too!

Queen’s Park 2 - 0 Cowdenbeath
Goals – Dylan Thomas (8.3), Connor Higgins (7.2)
Assists – Kurtis Roberts (7.8)
Man of the Match – Dylan Thomas
Other Dover Notables – Jordan Hart (7.1), James Grant (7.8), Kesi Omolokun (7.5), Sam Lidington (7.6), Jamie McKernon (7.4), Josh Peters (5.7)
Attendance - 772 (63 away)

Things opened up a bit in the second half and we got yet another key goal from substitute Connor Higgins to lock things up. We held 58% of possession and outshot them 19-11 (6-6 on target) – they had one sequence late in the second half where they had three point blank shots on Hart in succession and our keeper turned them all aside. Inconsistent efforts from our players in a “feast or famine” type of match, with seven of eleven starters getting ratings over 7.0 and the other four all at 6.5 or lower, topped by Josh Peters and his horrid 5.7 rating. He had plenty of chances but just lacked confidence after that penalty miss. Fellow striker Ewan MacPherson did absolutely nothing all game, a rarity this season. I’m very pleased with Thomas’ game today – I was *this* close to putting Derek Young in this game instead, as Thomas had struggled to produce this year, but I’m glad I stuck with the youngster.

-- Clyde continue to roll, winning 4-3 over Annan Athletic but Peterhead drop a heavy 4-1 decision against Edinburgh City, allowing us to vault into second on the table.

Reserves Update 

-- Our reserves win a 3-0 decision over Albion Rovers Reserves, with goals coming from Kyle McDowell, Connor Higgins and Billy Mortimer.

Scottish League Two Team of the Week

-- We have three players named to the league’s team of the week. Getting honoured are Sam Lidington, Kesi Omolokun and Dylan Thomas.

U18 Update

-- Our youngsters battle to a 1-1 draw against Elgin City’s Reserves team in a friendly. Newcomer Mitchell Foy was player of the game and loanee Scott Glover suited up for the first time since returning from injury.

-- The U18s play a league game a few days later, dropping a 2-1 decision to St. Mirren’s U18s. Striker Danny Jackson scores our only goal.

Next Up -

-- We head into the second round of Irn-Bru Cup play, welcoming Northern Ireland Premiership champion Crusaders FC to Hampden Park.

NoSkillz

11-27-2018, 02:27 PM

Sun. September 9, 2018

Irn-Bru Cup – Second Round
Queen’s Park vs. Crusaders FC (NIFL Premiership)
Hampden Park, Glasgow, Scotland

Betting Odds: Queen’s Park: 6-4 (Favourites) Draw: 2-1 Crusaders: 13-8
Past Meetings: 0W 0D 0L

This competition is pretty interesting, as we now face Crusaders FC, who are coming off a championship winning season in the NIFL Premiership (Northern Ireland), their third title in the last four years. That title earned them a spot in the Champions League first qualifying phase, where they matched up against Serbia’s Crvena Zvezda in a two leg tie. Unfortunately for the Northern Ireland side, they were squashed in both matches, losing 10-0 on aggregate and were dropped into the Europa League second qualifying round. There, they’d face Suduva, a Lithuanian side and again, they’d drop both games and be eliminated from the competition. Despite their exposure to European competition, we are favoured here, which boggles my mind. Their key player is their keeper, 18 year old Rory Brown.

I’m only making one change to our side that’s won four straight games, bringing in backup goalkeeper Joe McGovern. Otherwise, we’ll stick with our balanced mentality for this contest and our narrow diamond 4-4-2.

Queen’s Park: 4-4-2 Diamond Narrow – Balanced Mentality
GK – Joe McGovern
D – Sam Lidington, Daniel Nimmo, Kesi Omolokun, James Grant
DM – Ross Finnie
M – Dylan Thomas, Jamie McKernon
AM – Kurtis Roberts
S – Ewan MacPherson, Josh Peters
Bench – Kyle MacDonald, Cammy Foy, Sam Robertson, Gregor Fotheringham, Derek Young, Dominic McMeekin, Connor Higgins

Crusaders are in an Attacking 4-2-1-3 DM, with a lone striker in Matthew Johnston. They are going with goalkeeper Ian Scott today instead of their normal starter Rory Brown. I tell the team I expect them to keep our positive streak going and the lads seem motivated.

It’s raining pretty hard at kickoff but off we go!

HALFTIME – Nada. We are completely dominating in every facet but can’t break them down yet. We held 61% of possession and a 9-1 (6-0 on target) shot advantage. I don’t feel the need to make sweeping tactical changes but I’m going to engage our fullbacks a bit more and attack a bit more.

50’ – Their goalkeeper continues to impress but we finally break through. Our fullbacks are fully engaged in the offense now and it’s James Grant up the right flank, crossing low into the area and it’s Josh Peters knocking it home. QUEEN’S PARK GOAL 1-0

71’ – The Crusaders have turned it on here and I pull back with my tactics, as they’ve had a couple of solid chances go to waste in the last ten minutes. I pull out Kesi Omolokun and bring in Cammy Foy, as Omolokun had a yellow.

72’ – We have a throw in deep down the right side and Grant throws it to Peters. He threads a perfect ball into Dylan Thomas and he left foots home a blast for his second goal in as many games! We’re comfortably ahead now! QUEEN’S PARK GOAL 2-0

78’ – James Grant, who was excellent again today, comes off for Sam Robertson.

82’ – I take out Dylan Thomas and bring in Derek Young.

Super duper.

Queen’s Park 2 - 0 Crusaders
Goals – Josh Peters (8.0), Dylan Thomas (7.5)
Assists – James Grant (8.6), Josh Peters
Man of the Match – James Grant
Other Dover Notables – Daniel Nimmo (7.8), Sam Lidington (7.8), Jamie McKernon (7.1)
Attendance - 799 (105 away)

Two clean sheets in a row and we secure a win over a club that tasted European football this year. Not bad! We ended up with 59% of possession and a 14-3 (9-1 on target) shot advantage. This formation really allows our fullbacks to get involved in the offense and that facilitates some pretty impressive ratings when things go well. Grant was player of the game and deserved the honour.

Donaldson Impresses in Training 

-- A name you don’t see often is that of 16 year old AMR Brian Donaldson, who is earning praise from my assistant manager due to his diligent training. He’s a 3.5/4.0 player already but due to the fact he’s essentially my only solid winger, I’m not using a formation where I can utilize his talents and thus, he’s not featured on the side. He’s doing well with our reserves and I’m sure there will be a point when I bring out the 4-2-3-1 formation.

Irn-Bru Cup Third Round Draw

-- There are only 16 teams being drawn for this round and there are still some minnows available as opponents. Our name is drawn third, giving us another home tie but unfortunately, we draw Championship side Partick Thistle as opponents. That will be a toughie.

Transfer OUT

-- I get word from our captain that left midfielder Smart Osadolar isn’t himself and I meet up with him to discuss it. He’s adamant he deserves a first-team opportunity but when I tell him he’s going to have to wait his turn, he says he may have to leave the team for first-team football. I release him right after our meeting – too bad, I liked him but I can’t have anyone disrupting our chemistry right now.

Reserves Team Update

-- Our reserves drop a 2-1 game to Albion Rovers reserves team in the SPFL Reserve Challenge Cup. Connor Higgins continues his fine recent play with a goal and young midfielder Malky Breen is named player of the match despite the loss.

-- We get news after that game that AML Adam Martin suffered a hamstring strain and will miss 4-5 weeks. We release Smart Osadolar yesterday and now we lose our only healthy AML. Not the biggest deal in the world, since we’re exclusively using a winger-less formation at the moment but that could change at any time. Tough loss. QUEEN’S PARK INJURY – ADAM MARTIN (4-5 WEEKS)

U18 Team Update

-- Dundee United’s U18s defeat us 3-1, with Lewis Hutchison scoring our only goal.

Next Up -

-- We travel to Forthbank Stadium to take on Stirling Albion in Ladbrokes League Two action.

NoSkillz

11-29-2018, 05:56 PM

Sat. September 15, 2018

Ladbrokes Scottish League Two
Stirling Albion (2-0-3, 6 points, 7th) vs. Queen’s Park (4-0-1, 12 points, 2nd)
Forthbank Stadium, Stirling, Scotland

Betting Odds: Stirling: 13-8 Draw: 2-1 Queen’s Park: 6-4 (Favourites)
Past Meetings: 0W 0D 0L

We are favourites on the road for the first time this year, as we travel to Forthbank Stadium to face Stirling Albion. They are coming off a fine 3-2 win over Elgin City in their last contest and have moved up to 7th on the League Two table as a result. This is a club that has moved between divisions quite frequently in the past 30 years and were in the Championship (two tiers above) as recently as 2010/11. Last year, Stirling finished third but the media expects a bit of a fall this year, with a 7th place predicition. Their key man is 19 year old vice-captain Ronan Hughes, a right midfielder. With five goals, Mark Stewart is their leading goal scorer while Calum Ferrie is their top keeper.

I see no reason to make changes to a winning side, other than bringing our top keeper, Jordan Hart back in. Otherwise, we’ll stick with our balanced mentality for this contest and our narrow diamond 4-4-2.

Queen’s Park: 4-4-2 Diamond Narrow – Balanced Mentality
GK – Jordan Hart
D – Sam Lidington, Daniel Nimmo, Kesi Omolokun, James Grant
DM – Ross Finnie
M – Dylan Thomas, Jamie McKernon
AM – Kurtis Roberts
S – Ewan MacPherson, Josh Peters
Bench – Kyle MacDonald, Cammy Foy, Sam Robertson, Gregor Fotheringham, Derek Young, Dominic McMeekin, Connor Higgins

Stirling are playing a 5-2-3 WB Wide formation, with a lone striker up front in Mark Stewart, along with two attacking wingers. I tell the team to carry on the momentum we’ve built from the previous match.

HALFTIME – For the second consecutive match, we have a scoreless tie through 45 minutes. We had the better chances in the first half, holding 60% of the ball and a 9-4 (3-4 on target) shot advantage. Stirling getting all four shots on goal is not encouraging. Like last week, I’ll ask our fullbacks to push up more in the second half as we try to get a goal or two. One thing to watch out for is DC Kesi Omolokun, who seems to have taken a slight knock and I’ll likely have to take him out at some point in the second half.

65’ – We are not playing well right now and Stirling’s wingers are definitely taking advantage of the fact that our fullbacks are pushing forward. I take out Omolokun and bring in Cammy Foy at DC.

75’ – We need a goal so I take out Ewan MacPherson and bring on Connor Higgins. Can he come through again for us??

85’ – Last change, as we pull off left fullback Sam Lidington and bring in Kyle MacDonald.

We move to a positive mentality. Let’s score late!

Nada.

Stirling Albion 0 - 0 Queen’s Park
Goals –
Assists –
Man of the Match – Ronan Hughes (Stirling – 7.9)
Other Dover Notables – Jordan Hart (7.1), Daniel Nimmo (7.4), Kurtis Roberts (7.2)
Attendance - 693 (128 away)

Our six game winning streak comes to an end in a bore scoreless draw. Stirling were much more dangerous in the second half and we were pretty fortunate to escape with a point here. In the end, we held 57% of overall possession and a 16-13 (5-6 on target) shot advantage.

-- Clyde edge Albion Rovers 1-0 to maintain the division lead while Peterhead win 2-1 over Cowdenbeath to pull level on points with us in a tie for second.

-- We’ve been pretty fortunate to escape injuries thus far but Kesi Omolokun hurt his heel and will miss the next two weeks or so while recovering. QUEEN’S PARK INJURY: Kesi Omolokun -Damaged Heel (2 Weeks)

Reserves Team Update 

-- Our reserves team defeat Berwick’s Reserves 3-0, with goals coming from Dominic McMeekin, Malky Breen and Connor Higgins.

Injury Update

-- We get news on two more injuries suffered during training. DC Cammy Foy is dealing with a tight calf and will miss a couple of days. Bad timing, as he was in consideration to start due to Kesi Omolokun’s injury. I have to call up U18 DC Harry Granger to help out. QUEEN’S PARK INJURY: Cammy Foy -Tight Calf (1-2 Days)

-- The news is more serious for backup goalkeeper Joe McGovern, who sustains a hernia during weight training and will miss 5-6 weeks. QUEEN’S PARK INJURY: Joe McGovern - Hernia (5-6 Weeks)

U18 Update

-- Our youngsters continue to struggle, dropping a 1-0 decision to Partick Thistle’s U18s. Goalkeeper Elliot Anderson was our assistant’s choice as our best player.

-- The injuries keep mounting, as Calvin McGrory twists his ankle and will be out 5-6 weeks. QUEEN’S PARK U18 INJURY: Calvin McGrory – Twisted Ankle (5-6 Weeks)

Next Up -

-- We’re back home, hosting Edinburgh City in League Two play.

NoSkillz

12-13-2019, 03:13 PM

Despite not doing any write-ups on this career since November of last year, I've been continuing this save and have completed three seasons thus far.

It's been a fun and interesting game so I thought I'd offer a brief recap of my first three years of management within this universe.

------------------------------------------

2018/19 Ladbrokes Scottish League Two - First Half Results

Picking up where I left off, with the team sitting in a tie for second place and on a seven game unbeaten run. We'd drop a crazy 6-4 decision to Edinburgh City that would begin a rough stretch where we'd win only three out of nine matches and drop a couple spots on the table.

It would take a tactics change for us to turn things around. Earlier in the season, we were utilizing a 4-4-2 Narrow Diamond formation (a defensive midfielder, two central mids and a central attacking mid), which left one of our top players on the sidelines in young AMR Brian Donaldson.

We'd start utilizing a 4-2-3-1 formation in November, with three attacking midfielders joined by two central mids and while it took some time to get used to the change, those efforts finally bared fruit in December, as we'd close out the calendar year on a four game winning streak.

We'd reach the midpoint of the season in second place with a record of 10 wins, 2 draws and 6 losses, good for 32 points. That placed us four points behind leaders Edinburgh City.

Our 46 goals placed us second behind Edinburgh City's 48 but our defense struggled, with our 33 goals against placing us 7th in the ten team league.

January 2019 - Transfer Window

Due to having no wage or transfer budget, we knew teams would be tempting our amateur players with professional contracts once the transfer window reopened and that certainly was the case.

Transfers OUT

GK - Elliot Anderson - Free - Civil Service
DL - Michael Thomson - Free - Whitehill Welfare
DR - Rhys Scullion - Free - Inverness CT
DR - Cameron Lumsden - Free - Gala Fairydean Rovers
DM - Kyle Devlin - Free - Inverness CT
MC - Malky Breen - Free - Hibernian
MC - Calvin McGrory - Free - Cumbernauld Colts
ML - Matthew Rooney - Free - Whitehill Welfare
MR - Conor Langton - Free - Airdrie
AMC - Mitchell Foy - Free - Cumbernauld Colts
AMR - Brian Donaldson - Free - Dundee United
AMR - Keiron Campbell - Free - Cumbernauld Colts
ST - Ewan MacPherson - Free - Raith

The two biggest losses here were Brian Donaldson and Ewan MacPherson. The 17 year old Donaldson, a left footed AMR, was a revelation once I went to a 4-2-3-1 formation, scoring 8 goals in 17 appearances, while adding four assists along the way. He was uber-talented and would be impossible to really replace.

Also leaving due to the dollar signs was our leading goal scorer MacPherson, who left the team after scoring 16 times in only 27 appearances in '18/19, adding five assists as well.

The only other real contributor among the group noted above was midfielder Malky Breen, who made 11 appearances for the club, seven of which came from the bench.

Transfers IN

DL - Andy Mair - Free (from Civil Service) - 22 years old, Scotland
DR - Kieran Hall - Free (from Stirling University) - 18 years old, Scotland
MC - Gary Fraser - Free (Free) - 24 years old, Scotland
AMR - Sean McManus - Free (from Brora) - 19 years old, Scotland
AMR - Jordan Elliot - Free (Free) - 18 years old, Scotland
AMC - Kyle Clark - Free (Free) - 18 years old, Scotland
ST - Jai Holland - Free (from Gretna 2008) - 20 years old, Scotland

Mair is a very versatile piece with the ability to play any position on the left flank. The biggest addition is midfielder Gary Fraser, as he has the ability to step in immediately as a starter. Jordan Elliot should also be useful as a replacement for Brian Donaldson.

Loan IN

ST - Joel Macbeath - Free (from Ross County) - 17 years old, Scotland

Fleet of foot young striker that will offer some cover for our incumbents.

NoSkillz

12-17-2019, 10:09 PM

2018/19 Ladbrokes Scottish League Two - Second Half Results

We'd enter the second half of the season on a four game winning streak and extend it to six games until a scoreless draw away to Stirling.

The loss of right winger Brian Donaldson to Dundee United was a tough pill to swallow and forced us back into the 4-4-2 diamond formation for a number of games. Our only loss in January or February was a heavy defeat in Scottish Cup play, as our unbeaten streak in the league would run 12 games before an early March defeat against Annan.

Key players during this run were striker Josh Peters, attacking midfielder Kurtis Roberts, left winger Adam Martin and newcomer Gary Fraser.

We'd regain our swagger the next week in a huge 3-2 away win in Edinburgh City, our main rival at this point and we'd take the lead in the division as a result. We'd have a disappointing scoreless draw against Elgin City but rack up five wins on the bounce, with a 2-1 win over Annan in our third last game enough to clinch the Scottish League Two title!

We'd play youngsters in our final two games, losing 3-2 away at Clyde and battling to another scoreless draw at home to Peterhead but we'd finish the second half of the season with a scintillating 10-6-2 record (only two losses) to ultimately edge Edinburgh City by a single point.

QUEEN'S PARK WINS THE 2018/19 LADBROKES SCOTTISH LEAGUE TWO CHAMPIONSHIP!

We'd finish with a record of 20-8-8 (68 points) to edge Edinburgh City by a single point. Edinburgh would prevail in a four team playoff to get promoted to League One alongside us and deservedly so. Our +26 goal differential was second to Edinburgh City and we were also second to them in goals scored, with us scoring 80 and Edinburgh City scoring 86.

https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-hdkK3npJvhg/XfmlgqZ6z1I/AAAAAAAALJk/6D1pMYoVlpQvB1i0xuKCfbItylQbc1scwCLcBGAsYHQ/s1200/QPStandings18-19.png

Ladbrokes Scottish League Two 2018-19 League Awards

- Top Goalscorer: David Goodwillie, Clyde - 20
- Most Assists: Kurtis Roberts, Queen's Park - 13
- Highest Average Rating: Kurtis Roberts, Queen's Park - 7.39 (30 apps)
- Most Man of Match Awards: Graham Taylor, Edinburgh City - 6
- Scottish League Two Player of the Year: Kurtis Roberts, Queen's Park - 30 apps 10 gls 13 asts 7.39 avg

So yeah, Kurtis Roberts was pretty good for us this year!

Roberts led the league in assists and average rating and that helped propel him to League Two Player of the Year honours, a pretty awesome achievement.

There is no Manager of the Year award in League Two but I was named Manager of the Month on two occasions.

Scottish League 2 Team of the Year

GK - Jordan Hart, Queen's Park
DL - Sam Lidington, Queen's Park
DC - Conrad Baltoni, Edinburgh City
DC - Liam Henderson, Edinburgh City
DR - James Grant, Queen's Park
ML - Graham Taylor, Edinburgh City
MC - David Turnbull, Edinburgh City
MC - Owen Bell, Edinburgh City
MR - Craig Thomson, Edinburgh City
ST - Josh Peters, Queen's Park
ST - Blair Henderson, Edinburgh City

Perhaps a little more variety may have been nice here but Queen's Park and especially Edinburgh City dominate the team of the year, with us having four players make it and Edinburgh City has the rest. We'll take it!

Critch

12-18-2019, 09:58 AM

Big changes at real-world Queen's Park. After 152 years of being amature, they've decided to turn professional. Semi-pro, I guess.

Scotland's oldest side Queen's Park to turn professional after 152 years (https://www.skysports.com/football/news/12040/11861565/scotlands-oldest-side-queens-park-to-turn-professional-after-152-years)

Guess that'll change your future FM2021 career.

Chas in Cinti

12-18-2019, 10:44 AM

following along, again

NoSkillz

12-18-2019, 11:38 AM

NoSkillz

12-18-2019, 11:39 AM

following along, again

Thanks for reading Chas!

NoSkillz

12-21-2019, 09:01 PM

Cup Competitions 2018-19

Betfred Cup

The Betfred Cup is the Scottish League Cup and we've already summarized this earlier in our recaps. We fared decently, winning our first two games before dropping consecutive 3-1 losses to two teams ahead of us in the Scottish league system. We'd ultimately finish third out of the five teams in the group and would be eliminated in that group stage.

Group E
Queen's Park 3 - 0 Spartans
Airdrie 1 - 1 Queen's Park (Queen's Park win 9-8 on penalties)
Queen's Park 1 - 3 Dumbarton
Kilmarnock 3 - 1 Queen's Park

Irn-Bru Cup

We also did quite well in the Scottish Challenge Cup, edging Falkirk and Irish Champions League qualifier Crusaders before bowing out to Partick Thistle in the third round.

1st Round: Falkirk 1 - 2 Queen's Park
2nd Round: Queen's Park 2 - 0 Crusaders
3rd Round: Queen's Park 1 - 3 Partick Thistle

William Hill Scottish Cup

We had a solid draw in the Scottish Cup, getting non-League Inverurie Locos in round two, where we won handily. We'd prevail in round three against Elgin City before running out of steam in the fourth round against Premiership side Aberdeen, who ran riot in the first half to the tune of five goals to knock us out of the competition.

2nd Round: Queen's Park 4 - 0 Inverurie Locos
3rd Round: Queen's Park 3 - 2 Elgin City
4th Round: Aberdeen 5 - 1 Queen's Park

GoldenEagle

12-24-2019, 09:09 AM

Oh I didn't see this get bumped. I will have to get caught up.

Greyfriars Bobby

12-24-2019, 02:40 PM

It's good to see you back, NoSkillz. I'll be following.

You've also inspired me to give Football Manager another spin. :)

NoSkillz

01-07-2020, 11:09 AM

2018-19 Queen's Park Recap and Statistics

https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-52OK3nhxvbo/XhSqX7XCtXI/AAAAAAAALKY/CL1YNbGE6CMNGwuCluHMlICPMqEgP0dlACLcBGAsYHQ/s1600/QPYearlySummary18-19.png

2018-19 Queen's Park Best Eleven

GK - Jordan Hart - 40 apps 0g 6.90 avg
DL - Sam Lidington - 37 apps 4g 7.15 avg
DC - Kyle MacDonald - 30 apps 2g 6.87 avg
DC - Daniel Nimmo - 32 apps 1g 7.02 avg
DR - James Grant - 39 apps 1g 7.06 avg
MC - Dylan Thomas - 24 apps 5g 7.02 avg
MC - Jamie McKernon - 43 apps 4g 7.03 avg
AML - Adam Martin - 25 apps 8g 6.98 avg
AMC - Kurtis Roberts - 37 apps 10g 7.27 avg
AMR - Brian Donaldson - 17 apps 8g 7.24 avg
ST - Ewan MacPherson - 26 apps 16g 7.17 avg

Other notables: DC Stephen Welch 16 apps 0g 6.83; DC Kesi Omolokun 15 apps 1g 6.82; DM Ross Finnie 22 apps 1g 6.80; MC Gary Fraser 13 apps 4g 7.18; AMR Jordan Elliot 11 apps 2g 6.81; ST Josh Peters 37 apps 18g 7.05; ST Connor Higgins 12 apps 6g 6.84

Queen's Park Fans Player of the Year: Kurtis Roberts

https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-qvaCeHB0Rr0/XhSqaC6__mI/AAAAAAAALKc/PTWNqKGCX0wFlopZC4BRGx94FXWKq4c5ACLcBGAsYHQ/s1600/QPPlayerStats18-19.png

The stats shown above take into account all competitions with our senior team and include everyone who played at least one game for the big club this past season.
* - DENOTES PLAYER DID NOT FINISH SEASON WITH CLUB

Goalkeeping

-- The 22 year old Hart was our main keeper and one of our best players all year, while also being named to the Scottish League Two Best Eleven. He was very solid. Joe McGovern was a capable backup but only played a few low key league and cup games.

Defence

-- Daniel Nimmo led the way in the middle of our defence, playing the most games while also being the most effective. He had a bit of a feud going with me early in the season when he felt his job was being threatened but once a couple of our solid young players were poached by bigger clubs, he settled in and led the way. One of the turning points of the season was inserting on-loan defender Kyle MacDonald into the starting lineup - he is a very versatile player who can play just as effectively at midfield but he was ever-present late in the season at CD. We got solid contributions from Kesi Omolokun and on-loan defender Stephen Welch as well throughout the year. Losing captain Scott Gibson and talented youngster Izhaak Ahmed early in the season didn't help but we did a solid job with what we had.

-- Our top fullback option to start the year was Ciaran Summers but he was wooed away by a club that could actually pay him and that left us shorthanded, or so we thought. Thankfully, unheralded Sam Lidington stepped in and was incredibly effective, notching 12 points from the left fullback position. James Grant was ever-present on the right side, with Sam Robertson and Gavin Lachlan getting a few games in backup roles. Both Lidington and Grant were named to the league's starting eleven, a wonderful honour.

Midfield

-- The best player for Queen's Park last year was attacking central mid Kurtis Roberts, who scored ten goals and pitched in with 13 assists over the course of the year. He was the Scottish League Two Player of the Year and obviously our supporter's player of the year as well. Our captain, Jamie McKernon, was also extremely productive with 14 points (4 goals) in his 43 appearances. We also got solid contributions from Gary Fraser (4 goals in 14 late season appearances), assistant captain Dylan Thomas (5 goals in 19 starts) and holding midfielder Ross Finnie.

-- Early in the season, we went exclusively with narrow formations that didn't require wingers but we noted that 16 year old Brian Donaldson, a dynamic right winger, may be the most talented player in the squad. So we changed formations mid-season, moving to a 4-2-3-1 and Donaldson erupted for 8 goals and 4 assists in only 16 starts before getting poached by Dundee United early in 2019. It was a tremendous loss for us. The other big surprise out wide was on the left side, as unheralded Adam Martin scored 8 goals and added 3 assists in 24 starts. Jordan Elliot took over from Donaldson late in the year and was pretty effective as well.

Striker

-- We relied on our strikers to a great extent all season. While Josh Peters was likely the most talented forward, it was 19 year old Ewan MacPherson who impressed early and often, scoring 16 goals in only 23 starts, adding 5 assists along the way. However, like many of our other top players, he was a transfer target and having someone offer him money to play football was too enticing, as he'd leave in January for Raith FC. Peters would pick up the slack in his absence, ultimately leading the team with 18 goals on the season. Connor Higgins was a fine backup, scoring 6 goals in 20 appearances (including only three starts).

LOAN PLAYERS

-- We didn't loan anyone of note out to other teams this season.

U18 PLAYERS

-- Any of our best U18 players were put on to the senior team roster so nothing really to see here either!

Year-End Financials

I didn't note our final financial numbers but the team did exceedingly well due to the fact that we had no wage bill for players OR staff members. It doesn't hurt playing in a huge stadium like Hampden Park either!

Closing Thoughts

This season was an undoubted success, as we gain promotion to Scottish League One despite having a roster of unpaid players and a full staff of volunteers as well.

This career is meant to be much different from my past Dover career in that I plan on using smaller clubs as stepping stones in order to manage one of the world's biggest teams. It's a different challenge for me, for sure, but Queen's Park is definitely not a club I intend to stay at for long.

As such, I put my name out there as a potential hire and unfortunately get only one interview: it's with Dundee United from the Scottish Championship but my interview does not result in a job offer unfortunately.

It looks like I'll be heading back to Queen's Park for the 2019-20 season.

NoSkillz

01-07-2020, 11:37 AM

2019-20 Season Recap -

Preseason: Manager and Team Status, Yearly Budgets, Board and Media Expectations

https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-eTS0jNNeo6Q/XhS-kaNBudI/AAAAAAAALKs/tKkQakA3gpQL9_EHD1WJUtDXAEjb1y-xwCLcBGAsYHQ/s1600/ManagerProgression19-20.png

My reputation goes up slightly and a couple other ratings see minor changes as well. At the end of the day, the most important number is the big fat goose-egg in the contract column, as I continue to manage this team on a volunteer basis.

https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-vjJBjxMppZQ/XhTCZzcgFII/AAAAAAAALLI/6Dax6nzPI5EcMqgwVh7B0c9sDXLWX7-7wCLcBGAsYHQ/s1600/TeamProgression19-20.png

Our team's reputation improves to "Average" and our ticket prices see about a 20% increase due to us getting promoted. The wage budget is still zero for our staunchly amateur club - you'll notice above that the chart shows we had a £336 wage budget last year - that was just an in-game glich for year one, as one of our players (accidentally?) had a wage...likely a data error.

https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-9bsKE8vxWTs/XhTCZUWZQcI/AAAAAAAALLE/Kh7OJDFnCwc6MrP0S9w_J0tZ29Qc87Q1wCLcBGAsYHQ/s1600/StadiumProgression19-20.png

Queen's Park will be playing games in Hampden Park, a sprawling 51,866 all-seater, for the last season, as we'll be moving to our training grounds at Lesser Hampden for the 2020-21 season, a more appropriately sized venue for sure. We got our board to improve a couple of things last year, hence the slight increases in Junior Coaching and Youth Recruitment.

The pundits actually predict a sixth place finish for the coming season, a tad surprising considering the fact we just got promoted and don't have a wage allowance. My board ask me to fight bravely against relegation and I agree, which gives me the following transfer and wage kitty:

2019/20 TRANSFER BUDGET - £0 (Last year: £0)
2019/20 WAGE BUDGET - £0/week (Last year: £0/week)

Oh...right...

We will once again have to be very creative and flexible with our roster and carry extra players at all spots to ensure proper cover for when the bigger teams come calling with promises of real money for our players and coaches.

NoSkillz

01-07-2020, 10:32 PM

2019/20 Preseason: Roster Status

U18 Graduates

No one of note

Senior Roster

GK - We have last year's League Two goaltender of the year returning in Jordan Hart and he was backed up capably by Joe McGovern. Hart should be good at this level but I may need to look at upping the quality of our depth for the League One level.

D - Both of our fullbacks starred last year in League Two, with DL Sam Lidington and DR James Grant both impressing. I'm not entirely sure if they will match up well at the next level. At DC, Daniel Nimmo was ever-present in our lineup but he may not have the quality or speed for League One football. We have some capable depth in guys like Kesi Omolokun but I may need to look at loans here or bringing in new talent.

M - Midfield was a strength on last year's team and this year should be no different. League Two player of the year Kurtis Roberts returns and he will lead our offense from the attacking central midfield position. Captain Jamie McKernon should be fine in a box-to-box role but we can use a bit more of a creative spark in central midfield. On the wings, unheralded AML Adam Martin will be back - his talent for this level is suspect but as a right footed left midfielder, he's ideally suited to playing the Inside Forward position in our Gegenpress 4-2-3-1 system.

F - Main striker Josh Peters, our leading goal scorer last season, returns and should be fine at this higher level. We'll need to add reinforcements to help him out but we plan on utilizing one striker formations for the majority of the season so we won't need to go overboard on this position.

Overall, we need to up the quality of our depth in all positions as we look to stay afloat in Ladbrokes Scottish League One. DC, AMR and MC are the biggest concerns at the moment.

NoSkillz

01-07-2020, 11:04 PM

July 2019- Transfer Window

Transfers OUT

GK - Blair Penman - Cumbernauld Colts - £0
DL - Ryan Cairns - Clydebank - £0
DL - David Clougherty - Ayr - £0
DC - Lewis Magee - Brechin - £0
DC - Daniel Martins - Giwa FC - £0
MC - Aidan Kemp - Irvine Meadow - £0
ML - Paul Scott - Brighton - £0
AMC - Nathan Cuddihy - Morton - £0
AMR - Jordan Elliot - Kilmarnock - £0
AMR - Lewis Hutchison - Raith - £0
ST - Connor Higgins - Raith - £0
ST - Danny Jackson - East Fife - £0
ST - Kieran Dall - Whitehill Welfare - £0
ST - Jai Holland - Vale of Leithen - £0

Thankfully, we don't lose too many worthwhile players during the early transfer window. Of the 14 players listed above, only two of them played in games for Queen's Park: AMR Jordan Elliot and ST Connor Higgins.

Elliot joined us after serving time at Swansea and played 11 games last season for us after the departure of Brian Donaldson. He scored 2 goals and added three assists. Meanwhile, Higgins was a third choice striker for us most of last season after spending the previous two years for Scottish Premiership side Partick Thistle. Higgins notched 6 goals in 20 total appearances for our squad last year.

LOAN OUT

- None

RETIREMENTS

MC - Derek Young

Young was a long-time stalwart for Scottish Premiership side Aberdeen and was brought in to provide some veteran leadership last year. However, he had very little left in the tank at 38 years young and as such, only got into 10 games for us last year, scoring one goal.

RELEASED PLAYERS

GK - Joe McGovern
DL - Ross Fleming
DL - Scott Gray
DC - Cammy Foy
DC - Greg Forrest
DR - Ross Gilmour
DM - Gregor Fotheringham
ML - David Brown
ML - Liall Smith
MC - Mikey Hopkins
AML - Kyle Clark
AMR - Zldan Akers
AMR - Sean McManus
AMR - Dylan Weldon
ST - Billy Mortimer
ST - Jamie Docherty
ST - Jamie Penker
ST - Ally Wilson

Of the names above, Ross Fleming, Cammy Foy, Ross Gilmour, Gregor Fotheringham, Zlden Akers and Billy Mortimer made contributions to Queen's Park either last year or in year's past. None would help us in 2019/20 so they were cut.

NoSkillz

01-07-2020, 11:53 PM

July 2019 - Transfer Window

Transfers IN - Senior Team

GK - Paddy Martin - £0 (From Hibernian) - 19 years old, Scotland
DL - Jack Wilson - £0 (From St. Johnstone) - 18 years old, Scotland
DL - Michael Kennedy - £0 (From Forfar) - 22 years old, Scotland
DC - Josh MacDonald - £0 (From Vale of Leithen) - 20 years old, Scotland
DC - Jamie Hamill - £0 (From Stranraer) - 32 years old, Scotland
DC - Jason Krones - £0 (From Motherwell) - 20 years old, Scotland
DR - Craig Thomson - £0 (From Edinburgh City) - 27 years old, Scotland
MC - Jack Breen - £0 (From Hamilton) - 19 years old, Scotland
MC - Liam Miller - £0 (From St. Mirren) - 18 years old, Scotland
MC - Anton Eadie - £0 (From Partick Thistle) - 19 years old, Scotland
MC - Robbie Leitch - £0 (From Ayr) - 20 years old, Scotland
MC - Liam Brown - £0 (From Motherwell) - 19 years old, Scotland
AMR - Danny Carmichael - £0 (From Queen of South) - 28 years old, Scotland
AMR - Grant Nelson - £0 (From Brora) - 20 years old, Scotland
ST - Matthew Aitken - £0 (From Forfar) - 21 years old, Scotland
ST - Leeroy Makovora - £0 (From Hearts) - 17 years old, Scotland

Lots of depth and quality was added before the transfer window closed. Notable signings include Michael Kennedy, Jack Breen, Liam Miller, Danny Carmichael and Leeroy Makovora. All of those players could earn starting positions this season.

Loans IN - Senior Team

DC - Harris O'Connor - £0 (From Rangers) - 16 years old, Scotland
ST - Kieran McGrath - £0 (From Celtic) - 17 years old, Scotland

These are both outstanding pickups. Harris O'Connor should be very capable, even at 16 years of age while Kieran McGrath is one of Celtic's best prospects. He will hopefully provide capable cover behind incumbent starter Josh Peters

Transfers IN - U18 Team

GK - Jack Wills - Free - 16 years old, Scotland
GK - Brian Kinnear - Free - 18 years old, Scotland
GK - Sam Jackson - Free - 18 years old, Scotland
DC - Kane O'Connor - Free - 18 years old, Scotland
DC - Luke Lyons - Free - 18 years old, Scotland
DC - Conor Power - Free - 16 years old, Scotland
DR - Chris Finnie - Free - 16 years old, Scotland
DR - Joe MacPherson - Free - 18 years old, Scotland
DR - Marky Munro - Free - 18 years old, Scotland
DR - Josh Robertson - Free - 18 years old, Scotland
DR - Lee Duncanson - Free - 18 years old, Scotland
MC - Kieran Connelly - Free - 18 years old, Scotland
AMC - Scott Banks - Free - 17 years old, Scotland
AMR - Archie Morrison - Free - 17 years old, Scotland
ST - Niyah Joseph - Free - 17 years old, Scotland
ST - Kieran Shanks - Free - 16 years old, Scotland
ST - Jordan Northcroft - Free - 17 years old, Scotland

Lots of depth additions here. That said, I could easily see guys like Kane O'Connor, Luke Lyons, Conor Power, Scott Banks and Archie Morrison providing immediate dividends on the senior team as early as this year. Banks especially looks like a stud but he's blocked by our star AMC Kurtis Roberts.

Final Thoughts Before the Season Begins

We've done a pretty solid job of enhancing our roster for the jump to League One, with a good mixture of youth and experience.

We had great success moving to a 4-2-3-1 Gegenpress system in the middle of last season and our plan is to move forward with that as much as possible this year.

Jamie McKernon keeps the captain's armband while newcomer Michael Kennedy, our new starting left fullback, is named assistant captain over Dylan Thomas.

Due to Scottish League Cup action starting in mid-July, we're only able to get four preseason friendlies scheduled prior to the year starting, with the team going 2-2 in those games. We fought hard against Inverness CT and Motherwell, two Premiership sides but ultimately lost those games 2-0 and 3-2 respectively, while beating Darlington 3-2 and Civil Service 6-0 in the other two games.

As indicated, our primary tactic will see a Gegenpress system utilizing a 4-2-3-1 formation and a positive mentality. We will also utilize a 4-4-2 at other points of the season, I'm sure.

While our board will be happy if we fight hard against relegation, as always, I'm shooting for more.

Here is our starting lineup for our first Scottish League Cup match against Stranraer:

GK - Jordan Hart
D - Michael Kennedy - Jamie Hamill - Harris O'Connor - James Grant
M - Jamie McKernon - Liam Miller
AM -Adam Martin - Kurtis Roberts - Danny Carmichael
ST - Josh Peters

NoSkillz

01-11-2020, 09:15 PM

2019/20 Ladbrokes Scottish League One - First Half Results

Our first game in Scottish League One play would be against Airdrieonians in their stadium, where we would press and attack at will in a convincing 4-0 win.

We'd continue to play wonderful attacking football right through September, with our first loss in league play coming at home against Alloa 2-0. This was after a whopping eleven straight wins to start the season!

We'd continue to play inspired football through December, finishing the first half of the season with draws against Forfar and last year's League Two rivals Edinburgh City to finish the first 18 games with a phenomenal mark of 14 wins, 2 losses and 2 draws. That was good for a five point lead on the table over Edinburgh City!

Our 42 goals placed us second behind Edinburgh City's 48 while our defense shined, allowing only 12 goals in those 18 contests.

January 2020 - Transfer Window

We were in solid shape on the table and thankfully didn't have to worry too much about having top players poached this season. So the January transfer situation was reasonably quiet.

Transfers OUT

DL - Jack Wilson - Free - Airdie
DR - Joe MacPherson - Free - Leon de Huanuco
AMC - Scott Banks - Free - Ayr
ST - Matthew Laird - Free - Brighton

The two biggest losses here were Jack Wilson and Scott Banks, both new pickups this summer. Wilson split time at left fullback with Michael Kennedy and was a solid contributor, playing 14 games (10 starts) and giving us two assists along with a fine average rating of 7.25. Banks, thought to be a pillar of our youth team, became valuable when Kurtis Roberts had a brief injury spell. He ended up scoring three goals in 8 starts (13 total appearances) and his talent would be missed.

Transfers IN

GK - Neil Parry - Free (from Alloa) - 33 years old, Scotland
DL - Willie Dyer - Free (Dumbarton) - 32 years old, Scotland
DR - Kieran Swanson - Free (from Dunfermline) - 17 years old, Scotland
MC - Ewan McLevy - Free (from Falkirk) - 18 years old, Scotland
MC - Jordan Sinclair - Free (from Brechin) - 22 years old, Scotland
AMR - Innes Murray - Free (from Hibernian) - 21 years old, Scotland

Most of these players are just here to add some depth. Nothing really noteworthy, although Jordan Sinclair is a very capable looking player.

Loan IN

None

NoSkillz

01-11-2020, 09:51 PM

2019/20 Ladbrokes Scottish League One - Second Half Results

The second half of the season would start with a wild 3-3 draw away to Airdrie but we'd reaffirm our dominance with a scintillating 5-1 win on Boxing Day over Alloa.

We'd continue to play inspired defense and sprinkle in a number of low scoring wins along with a number of draws to control our own destiny as we headed into April. We'd beat Stranraer 2-1 on April 4th to set up a chance to clinch the League One title with four games to play in an away match against Montrose. There, we'd get a 40th minute goal from star winger Adam Martin and that was all that we'd need, as we'd prevail 1-0 to lock up promotion to the Scottish Championship!

We'd play youngsters and backups in our final three games, going 1-1-1 in that meaningless stretch - that 5-2 loss to Brechin was our only loss in the second half of the season.

QUEEN'S PARK WINS THE 2019/20 LADBROKES SCOTTISH LEAGUE ONE CHAMPIONSHIP!

We'd finish the season at 24-9-3 (81 points), with Edinburgh City once again finishing second to us with 69 points Our +46 goal differential was second to Edinburgh City's +47 and we were also second to them in goals scored, with us scoring 78 and Edinburgh City scoring 85, mirroring what happened last year in League One. Only this time, we're the only team getting promoted to the Championship.

https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-IuimTrbQIao/XhqVFIlqkoI/AAAAAAAALLY/kBZAm_D6l9cVv1ieft6Zf7RUdOs6fHvbwCLcBGAsYHQ/s1600/QPStandings1920.png

Ladbrokes Scottish League One 2019-20 League Awards

- Top Goalscorer: Blair Henderson, Edinburgh City - 26
- Most Assists: Sean Ward, Airdrie - 17
- Highest Average Rating: Blair Henderson, Edinburgh City - 7.67 (36 apps)
- Most Man of Match Awards: Blair Henderson, Edinburgh City - 10
- Scottish League Two Player of the Year: Blair Henderson, Edinburgh City - 36 apps 26 gls 9 asts 7.67 avg]

Blair Henderson was the unquestioned superstar in League One play, dominating in practically every category.

There is no Manager of the Year award in League One but I'd be honoured as Manager of the Month on three occasions (August, September and January).

Scottish League One Team of the Year

GK - Harry Stone, Edinburgh City
DL - Ruaridh Donaldson, Edinburgh City
DC - Jordan Armstrong, Edinburgh City
DC - Kesi Omolokun, Queen's Park
DR - Craig Thomson, Queen's Park
ML - Adam Martin, Queen's Park
MC - Antonio Diaz, Edinburgh City
MC - Jamie McKernon, Queen's Park
MR - Danny Carmichael, Queen's Park
ST - Lewis Smith, Edinburgh City
ST - Blair Henderson, Edinburgh City

For the second consecutive season, Queen's Park and Edinburgh City dominate all eleven spots on a League's Team of the Year. Five of our players are honoured this year, up from four last year.

NoSkillz

01-11-2020, 10:09 PM

Cup Competitions 2019-20

Betfred Cup

Last year, we'd finish 3rd out of the five teams and get eliminated in the group stage. We'd fare a bit better in 2019. We'd start the season with a shootout win over Stranraer before destroying Clyde 7-0 to take the lead in the group. A shocking 2-0 win over Scottish Premiership side Hamilton away locked up first place in the group, rendering our final group stage game meaningless. We'd lose on penalties in that last game against Dumbarton but move on in the competition.

In the 2nd Round, we'd have to travel to Premiership side Ross County and they would eliminate us from the competiton.

Group H
Queen's Park 2 - 2 Stranraer (Queen's Park win 7-6 on penalties)
Clyde 0 - 7 Queen's Park
Hamilton 0 - 2 Queen's Park
Queen's Park 0 - 0 Dumbarton (Dumbarton win 4-2 on penalties)

2nd Round: Ross County 3 - 1 Queen's Park

Irn-Bru Cup

We had a long, fruitful run in Irn-Bru Challenge Cup play in 19/20. A challenging win over Alloa on penalties in Round One set the table for a long run through the competition, as we'd make it all the way to the semi-finals, winning three times on penalties, before losing a heartbreaker away to Greenock Morton in the semi-finals.

1st Round: Queen's Park 0 - 0 Alloa (Queen's Park win 10-9 on penalties)
2nd Round: Queen's Park 1 - 1 Cork City (Queen's Park win 4-2 on penalties)
3rd Round: Arbroath 1 - 4 Queen's Park
Quarter Finals: Queen's Park 2 - 2 Edinburgh City (Queen's Park win 3-1 on penalties)
Semi Finals: Morton 1 - 0 Queen's Park

William Hill Scottish Cup

We'd start Scottish Cup play in the 3rd round, winning convincingly against Arbroath before losing to Falkirk in the next round.

3rd Round: Arbroath 2 - 4 Queen's Park
4th Round: Queen's Park 1 - 3 Falkirk

NoSkillz

01-12-2020, 01:01 AM

2019-20 Queen's Park Recap and Statistics

https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-78piyuogbNA/Xhqxf-FSOVI/AAAAAAAALLk/JXYdeJn3PFEv6O0GGRXmpGbQFwBGxiyGwCLcBGAsYHQ/s1600/QPYearlySummary1920.png

2019-20 Queen's Park Best Eleven

GK - Jordan Hart - 38 apps 0g 6.96 avg
DL - Michael Kennedy - 32 apps 2g 7.16 avg
DC - Harris O'Connor - 33 apps 2g 7.14 avg
DC - Kesi Omolokun - 39 apps 3g 7.20 avg
DR - Craig Thomson - 36 apps 4g 7.45 avg
MC - Jack Breen - 34 apps 5g 7.04 avg
MC - Jamie McKernon - 37 apps 7g 7.09 avg
AML - Adam Martin - 37 apps 8g 7.07 avg
AMC - Kurtis Roberts - 38 apps 13g 7.33 avg
AMR - Danny Carmichael - 39 apps 11g 7.17 avg
ST - Kieran McGrath - 23 apps 13g 7.22 avg

Other notables: DC Josh MacDonald 20 apps 1g 6.95; DL Jack Wilson 14 apps 0g 7.25; MC Liam Miller 19 apps 0g 6.77; AMC Scott Banks 10 apps 3g 7.23; AMR Archie Morrison 24 apps 3g 6.83; ST Josh Peters 31 apps 17g 7.09; ST Leeroy Makovora 15 apps 5g 6.78

Queen's Park Fans Player of the Year: Craig Thomson

https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-tlSAANFnY4g/Xhq-cGx9i9I/AAAAAAAALLw/3VZj4Ih6OjMZpWJZp7aCb0psejATNoZfACLcBGAsYHQ/s1600/QPPlayerStats1920.png

The stats shown above take into account all competitions with our senior team and include everyone who played at least one game for the big club this past season.

Goalkeeping

-- Jordan Hart once again was ever-present for our squad and he was even stronger this year despite the higher level of football.

Defence

-- It's interesting that we had an all-league central defender in Kesi Omolokun who barely could get on the pitch last season in a lower league. Needless to say, when he got his opportunity this year, he ran with it. Loanee Harris O'Connor paired up with him on most gamedays and he was also excellent. Josh MacDonald was our main backup and was also solid.

-- New signing Craig Thomson was superb at right fullback, garnering all-league honours in addition to our supporters choice as Queen's Park player of the year. He was a solid leader and equally impressive on both ends of the pitch. Michael Kennedy split time early in the season with Jack Wilson on the left side but Kennedy took over in the second half of the year when Wilson left the club. Last year's main right back, James Grant, was fine in a backup role.

Midfield

-- The straw that stirred the drink continued to be AMC Kurtis Roberts, who once again was sensational on offense, notching 13 goals and 7 assists sitting directly behind the striker. Team captain Jamie McKernon played our box-to-box role well and he was supported by Jack Breen in more of a holding role. Scott Banks was grabbing a bigger role as the season progressed but he was poached when the January transfer window opened. Liam Miller was the main backup.

-- We had impressive performances from both of our main starting wingers, with both Adam Martin and newcomer Danny Carmichael being named to the League One Starting Eleven. Young Archie Morrison was the main backup and played very well when needed.

Striker

-- We went with one striker for the majority of the season, with incumbent Josh Peters getting most starts early in the season. He was certainly solid but battled injuries throughout the year, which opened up an opportunity for young Celtic loanee Kieran McGrath. McGrath was sensational in the late stages of the season and could be an exciting player to watch in Scottish football. Matthew Aitken and Leeroy Makovora provided solid support.

Year-End Financials

I once again forgot to note our financials for the 2019/20 season but our balance sheet continued to be *very* strong due to having no wages for players or coaches.

Closing Thoughts

I must say I was surprised at how smooth this season went. I definitely figured guys like Jordan Hart, Kurtis Roberts or Josh Peters would be targets for bigger clubs but we were somehow able to avoid losing anyone important.

Having some continuity with our roster certainly helped make my job easier, although injury concerns throughout the season meant that a whopping 49 (!!!) players played at least one game for our senior team in 2019/20.

We only lost two games in a row once all year...and that was in the preseason. We never had to battle adversity and our 4-2-3-1 Gegenpress system worked wonders all year, enabling us to earn our second promotion in as many years.

However, my mind was on furthering my career.

I've spent two years at Queen's Park, won two promotions but in the end, I'm just a simple volunteer at this staunchly amateur club.

I hoped that my two years of incredible success would open some eyes and more importantly, offer some opportunity.

Therefore, on May 3, 2020, the day after our season-ending 4-2 win over Edinburgh City, I went into the office of chairman Gerry Crawley, thanked him for believing in me and handed him my resignation.

It was time for a new challenge...

NoSkillz

01-13-2020, 02:40 PM

The Job Search Begins

It was certainly risky to resign from a role where I was guaranteed to be coaching a Scottish Championship club in 2020/21 but I felt this was the right time to look at turning this into a paying career. I guess I could have waited until a job offer came my way before resigning but I was a bit put off by the fact that my board at Queen's Park, obviously worried that I was going to be looking at other opportunities, rejected my request to take a coaching course while on summer holiday.

I thought that was ridiculous so I decided to take my chances and resign with immediate effect.

May 4, 2020

I was able to guide Queen's Park to two promotions in as many years and certainly was gaining respect as a result in the football world. That said, my reputation within the game was still considered "Nominal" at 30%, up considerably from June 2018 when I started at Queen's Park with a "Minimal" 5% rating.

I'd be concentrating my efforts on continuing my work in Scotland but I didn't want to go back to League One or Two...I felt I had earned the right to manage in the Scottish Championship or perhaps even the Premiership but we'll see what opportunities present themselves.

I'd also be considering moving to England if the right opportunity was available. I figured League Two in England would be an acceptable starting point.

So on the morning after my resignation from Queen's Park, my agent came to me with a list of potential openings in the job market:

- Dundee United (Scottish Championship)
- Norwich City (English Championship)
- Rotherham United (English League One)
- Newport County (English League Two)

The opportunity at Dundee United looked interesting. The club had just finished 8th in the Scottish Championship to barely stay afloat in that division. Manager Frank Nuttall resigned on May 3rd (just like I did) so this was a brand new job opening in the same division that I would have been managing in if I had kept the Queen's Park job.

Norwich City and Rotherham United sacked their managers (Frank Lampard and Scott Parker respectively) on the same day: April 18th. So these jobs had been open for a couple weeks, meaning they were likely already in the interview phase. Norwich is a pretty big club...maybe too big for me at this point but they are coming off a 20th place finish in the English Championship, good enough to stay in the second tier for another season. Meanwhile, Rotherham was 17th in League One.

Lastly, we have Newport County - they finished 19th in League Two and sacked manager David Wilson two days ago.

I decided to apply for the jobs at Dundee United, Norwich City and Rotherham United. I'd hold off on Newport County for now.

NoSkillz

01-13-2020, 03:09 PM

May 5, 2020

It didn't take long to hear back from one of the clubs - Norwich City sent thanks for the application but they had already found their man, hiring Carlos Carvalhal as the replacement for the sacked Frank Lampard. This was a definite long-shot so no surprises here...

I also get acknowledgements that Rotherham United and Dundee United have received my applications and they will let me know how things progress.

May 8, 2020

Well, it certainly didn't take long for my former club to find a replacement.

Word comes out that Queen's Park has hired Paul Hartley to take over as manager. Hartley is considered an icon at Hearts and had an impressive 17 year career as a player, spending most of his time in Scotland. After retiring from Aberdeen in 2010/11, he immediately went into management, taking over at Alloa Athletic for close to three years before moving on to Dundee. He'd spend three years there and most recently was at Falkirk for one season as manager. He's been out of management for close to two years so it will be interesting to follow my former club and see how things progress in my absence.

May 10, 2020

I get word from Dundee United - they want me to come in for an interview for the position!! I immediately accept.

I get grilled on a number of issues: specifically why I've applied for so many jobs (uhh, I'm out of work and need the money?!), what type of philosophies I'd have for running the club, budgetary needs, etc. I must say that some of the questions they asked made me think quite a bit. Honestly, I left the interview and wasn't super enthusiastic about how it went but would hope for the best.

UP-TO-DATE JOB TRACKER

1. Dundee United (Scottish Championship) - APPLIED - INTERVIEWED
<s>2. Norwich City (English Championship) - APPLIED - Hired Carlos Carvalhal</s>
3. Rotherham United (English League One) - APPLIED
4. Newport County (English League Two)

NoSkillz

01-13-2020, 03:33 PM

May 12, 2020

I get an email from Rotherham United, thanking me for the application but that they've decided to go in a different direction. I find out soon after that they have hired Neal Ardley to take over the job last held by Scott Parker. Another one bites the dust.

Later that day, I notice that Tottenham have fired manager Massimillano Allegri. Tottenham are coming off a 6th place appearance in the Premier League so they won't be playing Champions League football in 20/21 and will have to settle for the Europa League. While this is a job I'd love to have eventually, I know I have no chance so I don't apply for the position, instead just coming out in the press and declaring interest. Needless to say, the press report that comes out ridicules me, saying I have no chance of even being considered. Well, alright then!

May 13, 2020

This is a big day, as four managers get sacked across three leagues of interest.

The Queens Park Rangers finished last in the Championship and will be relegated to League One for the 20/21 season. They fired Tony Pulis as a result. Is this kismet? Leaving Queen's Park in Scotland only to end up at Queens Park outside of London? I immediately apply for the job.

Rochdale also announce that they've fired manager Keith Hill. They finished 22nd in League One and have also been relegated for the upcoming season. Colchester United also fire manager Keith Southern after finishing 12 in League Two.

Finally, Leyton Orient finished 8th in the Vanarama National League and fired Anthony Wright.

I decide to hold off on applying for those last three openings for now.

At this point, I'm the bookies choice to get the Dundee United job so I'm very hopeful to hear some good news soon!

UP-TO-DATE JOB TRACKER

1. Dundee United (Scottish Championship) - APPLIED - INTERVIEWED
<s>2. Norwich City (English Championship) - APPLIED - Hired Carlos Carvalhal</s>
<s>3. Rotherham United (English League One) - APPLIED - Hired Neal Ardley</s>
4. Newport County (English League Two)
5. Tottenham Hotspur (English Premier League) - DECLARE INTEREST
6. Queen's Park Rangers (English League One) - APPLIED
7. Rochdale (English League Two)
8. Colchester United (English League Two)
9. Leyton Orient (English National League)

NoSkillz

01-13-2020, 03:52 PM

May 20, 2020

So I've been out of work for a couple weeks now but I'm not panicking quite yet. I figure that as long as I can get into a job by the beginning of June, I'll have time to build a staff and bring some players in before pre-season begins late in the month.

I hear back from Queen's Park Rangers. They are looking for someone with much more experience than I have so I'm out of the running there. Disappointing - I loved that documentary on QPR that came out a few years ago (The Four Year Plan) and it would have been equally as cool moving from one Queen's Park team to another. Oh well...the search continues...

May 25, 2020

Another big day, as a new job opens up at Crystal Palace. They finished 5th in the Championship but obviously wanted better results, as they sack Sam Allardyce to open up that managerial spot. If I can't get a sniff at QPR after they've been relegated to League One, I'm guessing this job is out of range as well. I don't even say anything in the press about this one.

On the same day, Tottenham announce that Fatih Terim has been hired to manage the club.

May 26, 2020

QPR announce that they've hired Lee Johnson to take over from recently sacked Tony Pulis. Johnson will be tasked with getting QPR back up quickly from the depths of League One.

May 27, 2020

Two more jobs get filled: first, we hear that Rochdale have brought Paul Cook in to replace sacked manager Keith Hill. Rochdale were relegated to League Two for the 20/21 season so Cook will have his hands full there.

Next, we see that Leyton Orient will look to Simon Clifford in hopes of getting back into league football. Leyton Orient are mired in the National League at the moment after an 8th place finish last year.

I didn't apply for either of these jobs but with things still eerily quiet out of Dundee United, I'm starting to regret my inaction there.

UP-TO-DATE JOB TRACKER

1. Dundee United (Scottish Championship) - APPLIED - INTERVIEWED
<s>2. Norwich City (English Championship) - APPLIED - Hired Carlos Carvalhal</s>
<s>3. Rotherham United (English League One) - APPLIED - Hired Neal Ardley</s>
4. Newport County (English League Two)
<s>5. Tottenham Hotspur (English Premier League) - DECLARE INTEREST - Hired Fatih Terim</s>
<s>6. Queen's Park Rangers (English League One) - APPLIED - Hired Lee Johnson</s>
<s>7. Rochdale (English League Two) - Hired Paul Cook</s>
8. Colchester United (English League Two)
<s>9. Leyton Orient (English National League) - Hired Simon Clifford</s>
10. Crystal Palace (English Championship)

NoSkillz

01-13-2020, 10:05 PM

May 29, 2020

Devastation.

Word comes back from Dundee United - they thank me for taking part in the interview process but ultimately would prefer a more seasoned manager to take over their club.

We find out later that day that Carsten Jancker is hired to lead Dundee United in 2020/21.

What a kick in the teeth this is. No disrespect to Jancker, but he's younger than me (by a year) and has only been managing one year longer than I have. He started his managerial career at SV Horn in Austria and left there after a year to take the head job at Bradford City. He was sacked after 12 months in that job and six months later is hired by Dundee United.

He had a long history as a player, however, and his reputation must precede him...what a disappointment.

We also hear that Colchester United has hired Phil Brown to take over their managerial job after the club had sacked Keith Southern a couple weeks back. I did not even apply for that job.

May 31, 2020

Just when I thought I had run out of viable options, two more managerial jobs open up, both here in Scotland.

St. Johnstone just finished 5th in the Scottish Premiership and we find out today that manager John Toshack has retired after a 40 year career in management.

Also on this day, we find out that Barry Robson has left his role at Livingston, who he led to a 6th place finish in the Scottish Championship in 2019/20.

Both of these look to be excellent opportunities and I apply for both positions.

June 1, 2020

We have more openings!

Birmingham City finished 18th in the Championship and Gregorio Manzano resigns as manager. This is a very appealing job opening for me and brings back memories. In my old Dover career, I had a chance to leave Dover for Birmingham when things were going tough after a few years in League One but they never ultimately offered me the job. I'd stay at Dover, get promoted the next year and never look back, ultimately winning a bunch of domestic and European trophies.

I immediately apply for the position.

We also hear that manager John Sheridan has resigned at Portsmouth. Unfortunately, Portsmouth finished dead last in League One and will be relegated to League Two in 2020. I've thus far resisted applying for jobs at League Two clubs in hopes of getting offers in better leagues but I'm starting to think I've been a tad too optimistic about my prospects.

Portsmouth are a pretty big club, even though they are taking the drop and I decide to apply for the job.

Jobs also open up at Bristol Rovers and at Aldershot Town. Bristol Rovers finished 5th in League Two while Aldershot finished 10th in the National League. Neither of these jobs appeal to me at the moment, as I'd prefer to wait and see what comes out of these most recent applications.

June 3, 2020

A big day.

First of all, one more job opening presents itself in Barnet, who finished 2nd in the Vanarama National League but missed promotion. Manager John Still retired from the job and it's now available.

I hold off on applying, as I've received a job interview at Livingston!

This is my second interview and things start out similarly to my interview at Dundee United. They want to know why I'm applying for so many jobs and I simply tell them I'm just taking advantage of any opportunities that are out there.

I think I handle this interview a bit better than my previous attempt and I'm cautiously optimistic. The club has only been in existence since 1974 but spent time in the Scottish Premiership as recently as two years ago. I think this is a solid opportunity and I hope for the best.

June 8, 2020

Crystal Palace hire Dean Smith for their open managerial position. This job was likely unattainable for me so I didn't even apply. Smith takes over from Sam Allardyce, who was fired on May 25th.

UP-TO-DATE JOB TRACKER

<s>1. Dundee United (Scottish Championship) - APPLIED - INTERVIEWED - Hired Carsten Jancker</s>
<s>2. Norwich City (English Championship) - APPLIED - Hired Carlos Carvalhal</s>
<s>3. Rotherham United (English League One) - APPLIED - Hired Neal Ardley</s>
4. Newport County (English League Two)
<s>5. Tottenham Hotspur (English Premier League) - DECLARE INTEREST - Hired Fatih Terim</s>
<s>6. Queen's Park Rangers (English League One) - APPLIED - Hired Lee Johnson</s>
<s>7. Rochdale (English League Two) - Hired Paul Cook</s>
<s>8. Colchester United (English League Two) - Hired Phil Brown</s>
<s>9. Leyton Orient (English National League) - Hired Simon Clifford</s>
<s>10. Crystal Palace (English Championship) - Hired Dean Smith</s>
11. St. Johnstone (Scottish Premiership) - APPLIED
12. Livingston (Scottish Championship) - APPLIED - INTERVIEWED
13. Birmingham City (English Championship) - APPLIED
14. Portsmouth (English League Two) - APPLIED
15. Bristol Rovers (English League Two)
16. Aldershot Town (English National League)
17. Barnet (English National League)

NoSkillz

01-14-2020, 12:00 AM

June 9, 2020

The transfer window opens today...it's been five weeks since I resigned at Queen's Park and I'm still jobless. Still hoping for the best at Livingston.

June 12, 2020

I get word from three teams that they are not interested in my services: Birmingham City, Portsmouth and St. Johnstone all indicate that they appreciate my interest but that they are looking for someone more seasoned for their openings.

Ugh.

This is getting frustrating.

June 14, 2020

The news gets worse.

Livingston get in touch with me to say that despite having a good interview, they are going in a different direction and hiring Martin Canning for their managerial opening. Canning had a long playing career in England and in Scotland and spent two and a half years managing Hamilton in the Scottish Premiership. He was sacked in early December and takes over Livingston six months later.

Three other positions get filled on this day as well.

First, St. Johnstone hire Frank Nuttall to replace the retired John Toshack. I had applied for this position but the Premiership team was looking for someone with more experience. Nuttall, who resigned from Dundee United (my top job choice a couple weeks ago), offers just that. Understandable hire...

Next, we hear that Neville Roach was hired at Aldershot Town. I never showed interest in this National League job.

Finally, Portsmouth hire Jim Bentley to take over their role. An interesting hire - Bentley spent a lifetime at Morecambe in English League Two, first as a player from 2002 to 2010, then as the Reserves team manager until 2011 and then took over managing the Senior team on May 13, 2011. Morecambe finished 5th in League Two last year then won the playoff to earn promotion to League One next year. He now decides to leave that job and take Portsmouth's job, even though they are getting relegated to League Two.

Fascinating...Morecambe's managerial role is now open and I see that their financial situation is dire, likely the reason for him leaving.

I'm starting to panic a bit now. Only four potential job openings currently exist: Newport County in League Two (which has been open for over a month without being filled), Bristol Rovers in League Two, Barnet in the National League and now Morecambe, who are being promoted to League One.

I decide to apply for the jobs at both Newport County and Morecambe

June 15, 2020

More news comes in.

Birmingham City, who said thanks but no thanks when I applied for their position a couple weeks ago, ends up hiring Gary Bowyer to replace Gregorio Manzano. Bowyer resigns with immediate effect after spending a year and a half managing Gillingham in League One. This is another fascinating hire - like Jim Bentley, Bowyer took a team that finished 5th in league play and then wins the playoff to get promoted to the Championship. He sees an opportunity at perhaps a bigger club and takes it even through he had great success in a short time at Gillingham.

This obviously opens up the job at Gillingham but with them getting promoted to the Championship, I seriously question whether they'd be interested in me.

June 16, 2020

Bristol Rovers hire Joey Barton to take over from Dean Keates, who resigned on June 1st. I didn't apply for this particular position.

June 17, 2020

Another job is filled, as National League club Barnet hire Michael Flynn to replace the retired John Still.

June 18, 2020

Oh boy. I get asked to come in to interview for the Morecambe position!!!

As indicated above, long-time manager Jim Bentley resigned from Morecambe after being offered the job at Portsmouth. This despite the fact that he managed Morecambe to a playoff victory in League Two, thereby earning a promotion to League One for next season.

I can see that the club is struggling with their finances and much of our interview concentrates on the fact that their next manager will need to be very mindful of the budget and concentrate on bringing in young, cheaper talent. I just want work at this point so of course, I tell them that I'll be happy to work with whatever budget they give me and that I'd plan on keeping all current staff members intact in order to avoid any unnecessary termination wages. For the first time, I also tell them that I'd prefer to be judged on something else during my tenure, saying that I want to play an attacking brand of football and that seemingly gets a favourable response.

A pretty good interview!

June 19, 2020

Now I hear from Newport County, also want to bring me in for an interview!

This Welsh club has been around since 1912 but went into receivership in the late 80's and eventually went out of business in 1989. The club was reformed to start the 89/90 season and have slowly worked themselves up through non-league football in to League Two.

The interview goes quite well - I'm actually surprised that this job is still available, considering the fact that former manager David Wilson was sacked over six weeks ago on May 2nd. They also seem keen on signing young players and I also tell them my intentions of playing an attacking brand of football.

UP-TO-DATE JOB TRACKER

<s>1. Dundee United (Scottish Championship) - APPLIED - INTERVIEWED - Hired Carsten Jancker</s>
<s>2. Norwich City (English Championship) - APPLIED - Hired Carlos Carvalhal</s>
<s>3. Rotherham United (English League One) - APPLIED - Hired Neal Ardley</s>
4. Newport County (English League Two) - APPLIED - INTERVIEWED
<s>5. Tottenham Hotspur (English Premier League) - DECLARE INTEREST - Hired Fatih Terim</s>
<s>6. Queen's Park Rangers (English League One) - APPLIED - Hired Lee Johnson</s>
<s>7. Rochdale (English League Two) - Hired Paul Cook</s>
<s>8. Colchester United (English League Two) - Hired Phil Brown</s>
<s>9. Leyton Orient (English National League) - Hired Simon Clifford</s>
<s>10. Crystal Palace (English Championship) - Hired Dean Smith</s>
<s>11. St. Johnstone (Scottish Premiership) - APPLIED - Hired Frank Nuttall</s>
<s>12. Livingston (Scottish Championship) - APPLIED - INTERVIEWED - Hired Martin Canning</s>
<s>13. Birmingham City (English Championship) - APPLIED - Hired Gary Bowyer</s>
<s>14. Portsmouth (English League Two) - APPLIED - Hired Jim Bentley</s>
<s>15. Bristol Rovers (English League Two) - Hired Joey Barton</s>
<s>16. Aldershot Town (English National League) - Hired Neville Roach</s>
<s>17. Barnet (English National League) - Hired Michael Flynn</s>
18. Morecambe (English League One) - APPLIED - INTERVIEWED
19. Gillingham (English Championship)

June 21, 2020

Oh boy.

I hear from Morecambe…

They want to follow up on our interview, with their chairman inquiring about the other jobs I've applied for and expressing reservations about my commitment.

I give him the stock answer that I'm just trying to cover all bases at this point and he asks a question that stops me in my tracks. He wants to know if he hires me, will I promise not to seek out opportunities at other clubs for at least a one year period.

I don't really hesitate: I tell him of course, I'd be willing to make that promise. He says he'll get back to me shortly...

Minutes later, I get the call back.

Morecambe have offered me a one year contract to manage their club!

I'm being offered a salary of £1600 per week (£83,200 per year) to take the job. They indicate that finances are rough right now and that they can only offer a weekly wage allowance of £21,868 for 2020/21 and NO TRANSFER BUDGET.

Looking quickly at their team, I see they are right up against that wage budget already. They have a good looking, veteran team but some high wages that will need to be purged if I'm going to make this work. I can't see their financial figures but I know that their finances are considered to be "insecure" so that's an issue I'm going to have to deal with if I take the job.

The team plays in a new, cozy modern stadium (Globe Arena) that was just built in 2010 but only holds 6476 (and seats only 2173).

This team has jumped in early, knowing I interviewed at Newport County and obviously want me to make a decision.

At this point, I have one offer and it's to manage a newly promoted League One club. How cool is that?!?

I don't need any more time to think it over.

I accept the job and take over as Manager at Morecambe FC in Sky Bet League One with immediate effect

Izulde

01-14-2020, 11:58 AM

The Shrimps have one of the coolest nicknames and logos in football/soccer.

NoSkillz

01-17-2020, 01:00 PM

The Shrimps have one of the coolest nicknames and logos in football/soccer.

It is a great badge, isn't it?

NoSkillz

01-17-2020, 01:04 PM

Morecambe FC - A Brief History

https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-al0QUACSkTs/XiIEpUrhq_I/AAAAAAAALMQ/FV-svuKuohs-0elDM1SLLuZFKMGvgQIVACLcBGAsYHQ/s640/MorecambeBadge.png
Football has been played in in the town since the turn of the 20th century but it wasn't until May 7, 1920 that Morecambe FC officially came into existence.

They took a place in the Lancashire Combination League for the 1920/21 season. Football was popular in the town and the club drew well in those early years but the team struggled on the pitch in those early seasons. Their fortunes would dramatically change in the 24/25 season, when they'd win the league for the first time and follow that up with three more seasons with upper table finishes.

However, the rest of the 20's and the majority of the 1930's saw the team struggle both on and off the pitch, as results were few and far between and revenue was almost non-existent.

The post-war era saw an upturn in "The Shrimp's" fortunes, with steady progress throughout the late 40's and through the 1950's and foundations for future success were being built, including the formation of a supporter's club that helped fund many ground improvements. The club would win their second league title in 1961-62 and follow it up with three more league wins in the next six years. After their 1967/68 triumph, Morecambe FC were transferred into the newly created Northern Premier League. The fourteen year period between 1961 and 1974 is commonly referred to as the club's "Golden Era", one that culminated in a thrilling 2-1 win over Dartford in the FA Trophy final at Wembley Stadium, which to date remains their only major trophy win outside the five Lancashire Combination League victories.

A long and painful downturn in fortunes would follow, where results on the pitch suffered and supporters stayed home, with match attendance falling to averages of around 200 from highs of over 2000 in the early 1970s. A sharp reversal in form would come in 1985/86, with the team finishing in 3rd place in the league and that started a period of growth and optimism that would culminate in a tremendous 1994/95 season where the club would only lose four out of 42 league games, ultimately finishing second on the table to earn promotion to the Conference Premier League.

Their 12 years in the Conference saw the Shrimps become one of the best and most progressive teams in the league. The team had their greatest FA Cup success during this period, including wins over multiple league clubs. The Shrimps would make it to the playoffs twice (2003 and 2006), losing in the semi-finals in both years and after a fine 3rd place finish in 2006/07, they'd once again lock up a spot in the playoffs. They'd win the semi-final against York City to earn a spot in the finals, which took place on May 20, 2007. In front of 40,000+ fans at Wembley Stadium, they'd defeat Exeter City 2-1 to earn promotion to the Football League for the first time.

Less than two months later, Morecambe announced plans to build a new stadium that would better prepare the club for future success and ambition in league football. The team's last year in Christie Park was 2009/10, where they finished 4th out of the 24 teams, earning a spot in the playoff semi-final. They'd lose 7-2 on aggregate to Dag & Red but spirits at the club and amongst supporters stayed high, as the team moved into their brand new stadium, Globe Arena, in time for the 2010/11 season.

For the majority of the 2010's, the team was mired in the lower mid-table in League Two, with finishes as high as 11th but as low as 22nd out of the 24 teams. However, the historically cash poor club has been able to avoid relegation during that period while maintaining continuity with its coaching staff, retaining manager Jim Bentley for an astonishing 8 years, making him the longest serving manager in the entire English football league. His last hurrah came last year, as he led the Shrimps to a 3rd place finish in League Two to gain automatic promotion to League One in 2020/21, winning League Two Manager of the Year in the process.

Bentley would resign from Morecambe on June 14, 2020 after receiving an offer to manage at Portsmouth and I would be hired seven days later as his replacement, with aims of keeping the club up in League One as my primary goal in year one.

NoSkillz

01-17-2020, 01:54 PM

2020-21 Season Recap -

Preseason: Manager and Team Status, Yearly Budgets, Board and Media Expectations

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The big news with moving to a professional club means I actually earn a living wage, as I'm being paid £1600 per week to manage the Shrimps on a one-year contract. My reputation has grown considerably over the past 12 months and I'm up to a "Nominal" rating now. Most of my other statistics have increased as well, with the only noticeable decline in "Loyalty to Players", which isn't much of a surprise considering how much I had to turn the roster over last year after a promotion.

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The Shrimps have a "Decent" reputation as a club, currently ranked 82nd in England and have 698 season ticket holders, about twice as many as we had at Queen's Park. The most notable column here is our financial status - we're "Insecure" right now and if you can belive it, we have a cash balance of -£350,000 at the moment...yes, that's a considerable minus! The club is valued at £869,000, which ranks us last in League One and 85th in England.

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So it's a big change going from the massive Hampden Park to cozy Globe Arena but I'm happy to see this is a new stadium (built in 2010) and hope we can eventually fill our ~6500 seats in the coming seasons. We could definitely use some better youth and training facilities but we have no money to do that here at the moment.

The pundits think we're doomed and predict a last place finish in 2020/21. My board ask me to fight bravely against relegation and I agree, which gives me the following transfer and wage kitty:

2020/21 TRANSFER BUDGET - £0 (Last year: £?)
2020/21 WAGE BUDGET - £21,868/week (Last year: £?/week)

Our current roster already has a wage total of ~£21,500 so I basically have no room to add players as things currently stand. We'll definitely need to do some purging of the roster, where possible, to bring in some capable players for the League One level and to put my own imprint on the playing squad.

NoSkillz

01-17-2020, 03:00 PM

2020/21 Preseason: Roster Status

U18 Graduates

No one of note

Senior Roster

GK - Right off the bat, we're in big trouble. Morecambe legend Barry Roche just retired days before I took over management after an impressive 20 year career, including the last 12 seasons here with the Shrimps. He played 44 games last year at 37 years of age and only allowed 41 total goals, which is incredibly impressive. The only goalkeeper on our senior roster is 29 year old Mark Halstead, who played in 12 total games last year but is more of a backup player at the League One level. We need loads of help here.

D - Last year, Morecambe relied heavily on loan players on defense, with Bobby Copping (from Millwall), Ben Forrest (from Birmingham) and Canice Carroll (from Brentford) all playing major roles. That said, we do have some considerable talent here amongst Morecambe signed players, most notably central defender Sam Lavelle, a 6'2" 23 year old who started 49 games last season and seems to be one of our most talented players. Popular 28 year old right fullback Zak Mills is also solid but carries a hefty wage bill and looks to be the most marketable player to move off the squad if I'm looking to free up some money for other signings. 23 year old DC Stefan O'Connor and to a lesser extent, 19 year old DL Bailey Owen look like they can be serviceable at the very least. We will definitely need to shore up our depth here at the very least for the coming season but we have some pieces we can work with in defense.

M - Morecambe were led in midfield last year by a couple of 28 year olds in Aaron Wildig and team captain Alex Kenyon. Wildig scored one goal and added 4 assists in 46 appearances last year while Kenyon, a defensive mid, battled some injuries but still started 38 games, scoring twice and adding 6 assists. Both of these players have considerable wages and I'm definitely going to look at moving Wildig to free up some salary...I'm guessing it would be damaging to our locker room to move our captain so I'll try to avoid doing that. 21 year old Charlie Gilmour came to Morecambe on a free from Arsenal last year and was solid, scoring 4 goals and adding 3 assists in 42 total appearances...we'll definitely give him a look here. Perhaps our best central midfielder is 29 year old Andrew Tutte - he's a natural box-to-box defender (a quality I like), looks to be an influential member of the squad and also contributed 6 goals in 29 games last year. Looks like a keeper, although he's getting older and likely going to start losing skill and speed soon. We need depth in central midfield and I'll need to move out some more salary to help balance things somewhat. I also don't know what do do with captain Alex Kenyon - I don't usually line up with a DM so if I keep him around, I may have to re-train him to be a holding MC.

F - The team's leading scorer from last year was target man Jason Oswell, who provided 16 goals in 37 starts, a very impressive return. That said, he's a lumbering striker, with limited speed and is making quite a bit of money. I also plan on playing in our Gengenpressing 4-2-3-1 formation with one striker and he's ill-suited to that pressing role I need. Talented 30 year old A-Jay Leitch-Smith is perhaps our highest rated player at Morecambe and offers impressive versatility as a natural attacking central midfielder who can also easily adapt to the stiker position. He brought 8 goals and 2 assists to the team last year in 38 starts. 21 year old winger Carlos Mendes Gomes is also an impressive looking player - part of the youth setup at Atletico Madrid, he was signed by Morecambe two years ago and played 40 games this past season, cracking in 7 goals and providing 7 assists as well. He looks perfect for my inside forward role at AML with his strong right leg. Exciting! 25 year old Rhys Oates was the starter at AMR last year and while talented, wasn't very productive by the looks of it, with 4 goals and 2 assists in 39 games. I'd like to look for an upgrade at striker and right wing for sure, while adding depth where possible.

So, to sum up, we are desperate for a starting option in goal, could definitely use some added quality at MC, AMR and ST while also looking for better quality depth throughout the lineup.

All with no transfer budget and less than £500 available in our wage budget.

We have work to do!!

Coaching Staff Notes

With essentially no money to waste, I decide I'm going to keep any and all staff that still have term on their contracts. Our coaching staff is, bar none, the worst in the league and while I have a couple of open spots I can fill, I'm likely going to have to wait until next summer to truly have my own coaching team in place.

NoSkillz

01-18-2020, 12:48 AM

July 2020- Transfer Window

Retirements

GK - Barry Roche
AMR - Garry Thompson

Barry Roche retires from Morecambe as a team legend after spending 12 years wearing the #1 jersey. Roche, who spent his formative years at Nottingham Forest, played in 485 games overall for Morecambe and will be very difficult to replace. Roche is attempting to become a goaltender coach in his retirement.

Garry Thompson retires as a team icon himself and was a product of the Morecambe youth setup, starring for many years on the wing. Thompson scored in one of the most important games in team history, scoring the first goal in Morecambe's 2-1 playoff final win over Exeter City back in May 2007 that earned the team their promotion to League Two. Thompson retires after 770 games in his 23 year career, 402 of which were played for Morecambe over two spells. He scored an impressive 123 total goals in his fine career. Thompson will move into coaching and is looking for a job in youth development.

Transfers OUT

MC - Aaron Wildig - Billericay - £56,000
GK - Mark Halstead - Darlington - £0

The big move is getting a decent transfer fee for Aaron Wildig, a versatile midfielder who was simply making too much money to play a depth role on this team. Wildig joined Morecambe originally in March 2015 on loan from Shrewsbury and eventually was signed on a free when the transfer window opened that summer. He played in 189 games for Morecambe over a five and a half year period, scoring 10 goals and adding 6 assists.

Mark Halstead was originally part of the youth setup at Blackpool and bounced around on various loan assignments for years until moving to Shrewsbury in 2014. He'd spend three years there, moved to Southport for a season then joined Morecambe in the summer of 2018 on a free. In his two years here, he started only 15 games, providing the legendary Barry Roche with the occasional breather and played solidly but while his wage wasn't too onerous, I felt I could do better on the transfer and loan market to replace him.

RELEASED PLAYERS

ST - Kyle Hawley

Hawley essentially was the only player on the team who had an expiring contract so I was able to let him go to free up a bit of wage budget. The 20 year old was a part of our youth setup and spent four years with the club, making only 9 appearances with the senior team in that time, with no goals or assits on his record. He won't be missed.

Transfers IN

GK - Louie Moulden - £0 (Free) - 18 years old, England
GK - Lewis Thomas - £0 (Free) - 18 years old, England
DL - Tristan Cover - £0 (Free) - 18 years old, England
DL - James Morris - £0 (Free) - 18 years old, England
DC - Samuel Nsumbu - £0 (Free) - 18 years old, England
DC - Morgan Feeney - £0 (Free) - 21 years old, England
MC - Owen Beck - £0 (From Liverpool) - 17 years old, Wales
MC - Rafferty Pedder - £0 (Free) - 18 years old, England
AMC - Thierno Ballo - £0 (Free) - 18 years old, Austria
AMR - Harvey Neville - £0 (Free) - 18 years old, England
ST - Harvey Knibbs - £0 (From Aston Villa) - 21 years old, Jamaica

Lots of depth and some decent quality here. Owen Beck comes over from Liverpool in a pre-arranged transfer organized by my predecessor. He's part of the U18 setup for Wales and has potential but is very raw.

My first official signing was right winger Harvey Neville, who was part of youth setups at both Valencia and Manchester United and is the son of famed United star Phil Neville. I'm pretty excited about bringing him in, as he looks to be good enough to start with us right away. Perhaps the most exciting prospect here is Thierno Ballo, a dynamic attacking central mid who played youth football with Leverkusen and Viktoria Koln in Germany before being scooped up by Chelsea on a £180,000 transfer back in 2017. He'd spend three years in the youth setup there before getting released on a free this June. He looks to be a sensational signing and will offer capable support to incumbent AMC A-Jay Leitch-Smith. Louie Moulden and Lewis Thomas both come from the Manchester City youth setup and both were released on frees by the Citizens. Both have plenty of potential and could play for us this year if needed.

Other interesting players who could make impacts this year include Samuel Nsumbu (former West Ham U18), James Morris (Southampton U18), Raferty Pedder (Tottenham U18), Morgan Feeney (Everton U18) and Harvey Knibbs, who I was able to arrange a free transfer from Aston Villa, as he was transfer listed by request.

Loans OUT

GK - Louie Moulden - Wrexham - Free
DC - Tyler Brownsword - Ebbsfleet - Free
DC _ Di'Shon Bernard - Chorley - Free
DC - Morgan Feeney - Southport - Free
DR - Liam Hegarty - Dag & Red - Free
MC - Ben Hedley - Dover - Free
MC - Rafferty Pedder - Southport - Free
AMR - Stanley Asomugha - Harrogate - Free
AMR - Rhys Oates - Wrexham - Free
AMR - Reece Mitchell - Dover - Free
ST - Jason Oswell - Salford - Free
ST - Bradley Clayton - Scarborough - Free

We needed to move wages out by any means in order to free up money to spend on players who could contribute this year. So that means we move 12 players out on season-long loans, with each of the respective clubs thankfully picking up the full wage bill in the process.

Loans IN

GK - Jonathan De Bie - £0 (From Aston Villa) - 20 years old, Belgium
DC - Luke Woolfenden - £0 (From Ipswich) - 21 years old, England
DR - Corey Whelan - £0 (From Liverpool) - 22 years old, Ireland
MC - Lewis O'Brien - £0 (From Huddersfield) - 21 years old, England
MC - DJ Buffonge - £0 (From Manchester United) - 21 years old, Antigua & Barbuda
AMC - Matheus Santana - £0 (From Watford) - 22 years old, Brazil
AMR - Kyle McAllister - £0 (From Derby) - 21 years old, Scotland
AMR - Jordan Cox - £0 (From Liverpool) - 21 years old, England
ST - Jahmal Hector-Ingram - £0 (From West Ham) - 21 years old, England
ST - Oladapo Afolayan - £0 (From West Ham) - 22 years old, Nigeria

So yeah, this is very unorthodox but with essentially no money to spend and a small squad, I figured the only way I could get quality players was to hit the loan market hard. And that's what we did.

There is no limit to how many loan players I can bring in for League One football. However, I can only have a maximum of five loan players in the match squad for any league games so I'm limited from that respect.

Pretty much every player here is a starting calibre player. Jonathan De Bie looks like an exceptional prospect (3.5/4.5), as do DJ Buffonge, Jordan Cox and Jahmal Hector-Ingram. Corey Whelan is very versatile and can play DC or DR at a high level while Kyle McAllister and Cox can play both sides of midfield.

I'm really delighted with what we were able to accomplish here and in all of these cases, the parent club was okay footing the wage bill in hopes that they'd all see plenty of first-team action.

Final Thoughts Before the Season Begins

Lets just say that things got off to a very rocky start for me as manager of Morecambe. And that's before we even stepped on the pitch for a game that actually counted.

Needing to purge salaries and get some money off the books, hard choices would need to be made and my first thought was to sell popular fullback Zak Mills, as he was valued at well over £100,000 and teams seemingly were interested in obtaining him.

It pretty much blew up in my face.

While there was definite interest in Mills' services, the player himself had absolutely no interest in leaving the club and was quite clear about telling me so, while also letting his teammates know what had transpired.

Within a week I was perhaps the most hated man in town.

I ended up taking Mills off the market and while I promised him that I wouldn't sell him for the balance of the year, hard feelings remained for him and his fellow teammates. Support from my players was practically non-existent as we went through our pre-season schedule and I spent more time on man management off the pitch (ie: kissing player's asses) then I can ever remember.

I set up a pretty gruelling set of friendlies, eight in total, as we had many new players being introduced to the squad and also had a number of players in on trial during the month of July. I also strived to bring in some big clubs for the friendlies to help bring in some much needed money into the team. We hosted games against Celtic, Tottenham and Manchester United, losing 2-0, 4-1 and 4-0 respectively in those contests. Thankfully, we'd win matches against Kendal, Drogheda United, Hartlepool and Preston North End and draw against Fleetwood to give our team a slight bit of confidence prior to the start of the regular season.

The plan was to retain and utilize the 4-2-3-1 Gegenpress system that I introduced at Queen's Park a couple years ago in order to present some attractive football to the Morecambe supporters. We'll try to maintain a positive approach on the pitch but we may have to move to a more balanced or cautious approach if things start getting away from us early.

We decided to keep Alex Kenyon as captain and named fellow veteran midfielder Andrew Tutte as our vice captain, two choices that were popular among their teammates.

Some important players battled injuries in the preseason and fitness proved to be a major issue with our players due to some lackluster coaching and some undisciplined plays in practice. Key AMC A-Jay Leitch-Smith wasn't ready for the start of the season while a few others also dealt with some knocks in the early goings.

Here is the starting lineup for Morecambe's first ever official match in Sky Bet League One, an away tie against Rotherham:

GK - Jonathan De Bie
D - Bailey Owen - Stefan O'Connor - Sam Lavelle - Zak Mills
M - Alex Kenyon - Andrew Tutte
AM -Carlos Mendes Gomes - Matheus Santana - Kyle McAllister
ST - Jahmal Hector-Ingram

NoSkillz

01-19-2020, 05:06 PM

2020/21 Sky Bet English League One - First Half Results

My first official game at Morecambe saw our club travel to face Rotherham in Sky Bet League One play. There, we'd dominate in all facets of the game, winning 2-0, holding 59% of the ball and outshooting our opponents 25-3 (11-0 on target). Loanee Kyle McAllister and left fullback Bailey Owen scored our goals in a wonderful performance by the entire squad.

However, the results would soon start going against us despite our tendency to maintain a strangehold on possession. We'd drop our home opener 1-0 to a very strong Sheffield United side then get walloped in our next away contest, a heavy 5-1 loss to Luton.

Our struggles continued through September and October, where we'd only win three out of 11 league matches. We got hit with a transfer request during this period as well, as perhaps our most talented defender Sam Lavelle was looking for a new challenge and asked to be moved in the January transfer window to a bigger club.

I'd say we had two major "moments of clarity" during the season, with one of them coming in the midst of a three game winning streak in early November, our longest of the season to that point. The second of those wins was a bore 1-0 away win at Doncaster, where our team was outshot 16-6 and 6-2 on target but somehow came away with the victory. We'd follow that up with a win in penalties in Checkatrade Trophy play after a 0-0 draw in regulation. Our team wasn't scoring and our Gegenpressing 4-2-3-1 system wasn't anywhere near as effective at this level compared to the previous two years in Scottish League play.

So we decided to change it up, moving to a 4-1-4-1 attacking formation, utilizing a defensive midfielder, a rarity in my managerial career, along with two central mids, two wingers and a lone striker.

The formation change served multiple purposes: it got our captain Alex Kenyon on the field with more regularity and at his natural position. It also allowed us to start utilizing ultra-creative Manchester United loanee DJ Buffonge, who to this point had been held to spot starts and the occasional appearance off the bench. Our formation change also freed up our fullbacks and especially started to utilize the talents of unheralded DL Bailey Owen, a right footed left defender. We played both wide defenders as inverted fullbacks and asked them to push forward up the pitch and into the middle of the field, adding two more options in attack.

The changes paid immediate dividends. We'd win 6-2 away at Blackpool and follow that up with a 5-2 home win over Coventry and a 3-0 win home against Accrington. We were incredibly dynamic and everyone was getting into the mix offensively...it was beautiful football to watch!

However, we'd end the first half of the league season with losses to Bury and MK Dons and we would move into the second half of the season in 14th place (out of 24), with a record of 8 wins, 5 draws and 10 losses for a total of 29 points.

Our recent formation change and the resulting goals for allowed us to move into 3rd in the league in that department but our 35 goals against ranked us 14th, something that we'd definitely have to improve upon. On loan goaltender Jonathan De Bie was struggling immensely in the net and was actually being outplayed by U18 signing Lewis Thomas as we moved through December.

January 2021 - Transfer Window

We definitely needed some reinforcements during the January window. I felt we were safe from relegation but not comfortably so, sitting nine points above the line as we hit the midway point of the season. Goaltending was a major issue - on loan GK Jonathan De Bie was not proving to be reliable in net and while I was getting great performances from unheralded U18 keeper Lewis Thomas, I felt I needed a better veteran option going forward. You could definitely say that realization that De Bie wasn't good enough was our second "Moment of Clarity" this year.

I was hoping to find some reinforcements on defense as well - we did a fine job retaining possession in the first half of the season but had a shocking tendency to allow long balls to get over our head. Finding some pacey defenders could be a big help.

Of course, the biggest news was that I needed to try to find a home for disgruntled DC Sam Lavelle - he desired a new challenge at a bigger club but I wasn't going to sell him for anything less than our £160,000 valuation.

Transfers OUT

DR - Zak Mills - £65,000 - Exeter
MC - Charlie Gilmour - Free - Dag & Red
AMR - Stanley Asomugha - £67,000 - Luton
AMC - A-Jay Leitch-Smith - £75,000 - Portsmouth

Some interesting moves here.

If you recall, I tried to sell fullback Zak Mills in the summer and I almost lost the support of the entire squad and fanbase, eventually taking him off the market and promising him I wouldn't try to sell him. Well, in January, Exeter made an unsolicited approach for his services and I decided to accept - Mills was on an expiring contract, my influence was starting to rub off on the team to enough of an extent to where they didn't seem that upset to see him go and even Mills started to recognize that his playing time was dwindling due to the fine play from Liverpool loanee Corey Whelan. Mills would accept the contract and he was gone, leaving Morecambe after two and a half seasons, 88 total games, 3 goals and 18 assists.

The other big move was selling talented forward A-Jay Leitch-Smith to Portsmouth for £75,000, with clauses that could take the total up to £90k. Leitch-Smith was a complete enigma here - lots of talent but he simply couldn't stay healthy, spending four different periods on the shelf with various ailments. Importantly, when he was healthy, he didn't produce whatsoever, with zero points in 15 appearances this year. He leaves Morecambe after two and a half seasons, 94 total games, 12 goals and 6 assists. We wish him well at Portsmouth - if he scores 10 goals for them, we will get an additional £15,000 in the transfer. I won't hold my breath on that one!

I was elated to have Luton approach with an offer for the seldom used Stanley Asomugha - we actually had him out on season-long loan to Harrogate and with an expiring contract, it was a very easy decision to take the money and run when it was offered. The former West Brom U18 leaves Morecambe after scoring a single goal in 7 total appearances last year.

Finally, we decide to move talented prospect Charlie Gilmour out on a free to Dag & Red. This was solely a move to free up our wage bill - Gilmour, like Leitch-Smith, simply couldn't stay healthy here and only made two scoreless appearances off the bench for us this season before moving to the Daggers. The former Arsenal starlet played 44 total games for Morecambe, scoring 4 goals and adding three assists.

Perhaps the biggest shocker was the fact that the transfer-listed by request Sam Lavelle did not leave during the January transfer window. We actually found a buyer in Championship side Crystal Palace but they couldn't come to personal terms. Lavelle indicated that he was satisfied with my efforts to move him but still asked to be moved when the transfer window reopens in the summer. Lavelle still has a year and a half left on his contract with our club so I guess I'll try to find him a team after this season ends.

Transfers IN

GK - Conor Mitchell - Free - 24 years old, Northern Ireland
GK - Rory Watson - £21,000 (from Scunthorpe) - 24 years old, England
DC - Gabriel Osho - £30,000 (from Reading) - 22 years old, Nigeria
DR - Jordan Gabriel - £14,750 + Clauses (from Nottingham Forest), England
DM - Matt Dolan - Free - 27 years old, England
MC - Joe Pritchard - Free - 24 years old, England

The biggest move here is securing the services of talented GK Rory Watson, who came up through the Hull youth system before moving to Scunthorpe on a free in 2016. We get him for £14,000 plus clauses that eventually take the transfer to £21,000. He'll immediately take over the starting job from on loan youngster Jonathan De Bie. A week earlier, we picked up another keeper, 24 year old Conor Mitchell, who should be a solid backup option for us.

We add two key contributors to our defense, signing fullback Jordan Gabriel from Nottingham Forest and central defender Gabriel Osho from Reading. Both are starting calibre players right away and these were nice bargain buys as we had some money in our transfer kitty for the first time after selling players back in July and a few more here in January.

The last key move was bringing in defensive midfielder Matt Dolan - he's got wonderful leadership traits, something that our incredibly young team was lacking and he also brings great ability on set-pieces, something that was also an issue in the early stages of the season for us. He will get plenty of opportunities to play.

Joe Pritchard has some potential but is more of a depth option going forward.

Loans OUT

GK - Lewis Thomas - Harrogate - Free
DL - Tristan Cover - Gateshead - Free
MC - Owen Beck - Barry - Free
MC - Lamin Jagne - Bromley - Free

All four of these players actually served some time with our team in the first half of the season, most significantly GK Lewis Thomas, who actually outplayed his more celebrated counterpart Jonathan De Bie. The additions of Watson and Mitchell in January render him a surplus to requirements and I decide to give him senior football elsewhere rather than place him back with our U18s.

Cover, Beck and Jagne weren't featuring often and I get their wages off the books with these moves.

Loans IN

DL - James Hill - £0 (from Bristol City) - 18 years old, England
AML - Tyreke Johnson - £0 (from Southampton) - 22 years old, England
ST - Rob Harker - £0 (from Burnley)- 20 years old, England

First and foremost, we had two players in on season-long loan that asked to be returned to their parent clubs due to lack of playing time. AMC Matheus Santana and ST Oladapo Afolayan returned to Watford and West Ham respectively - Santana was part of our starting lineup in our first game but would only participate in six total games, contributing a single assist while Afolayan went scoreless in five appearances for us.

All three of these new players brought in are solid but will likely be backup options for our incumbents.

NoSkillz

01-19-2020, 06:14 PM

2020/21 Sky Bet English League One - Second Half Results

The second half of the season started ominously, with bore 1-1 draws against both Rotherham and Sheffield United, followed by yet another loss to Luton, this time 4-3, over the Christmas week.

The season would turn around considerably after a heavy loss in FA Cup play on January 2nd. We'd start making some moves in the transfer market (indicated above) and we'd start to go on a scintillating run of form, starting with a 3-2 win at home against Exeter. That started a 7 game winning streak and a ten game unbeaten run that wouldn't end until March 9th with a loss to Bradford City. After a three game stretch where we'd secure only one of nine points, we once again ran riot, winning six games on the bounce before losing a meaningless final league game to MK Dons, finishing the season with a record of 23 wins, 9 ties and 14 losses, good for 78 points and incredibly, locking up the last League One playoff berth.

We were the best team in the entire league in the second half of the season, going 15-4-4 for 49 points!

Overall, we finished in 6th place on the table, led the league in goal scoring with 105 while finishing second in goal differential with +37, behind only QPR's +39.

Peterborough took the League One title with 95 points and securing the second automatic promotion was QPR on goal differential. MK Dons finished tied with QPR with 90 points but they would face us in the League One semi-finals, while Barnsley and Mansfield did battle in the other semi.

Adding to the drama was the fact that our season-ending League game was also against MK Dons, a match we'd lose by a heavy 3-0 margin. Game one of the semi-finals was also home at Globe Arena and despite a 20-9 (8-5 on target) shot advantage, we could only come away with a 1-1 draw, as we headed to Stadium MK for the second leg.

And what a nail-biter that contest was! We'd fall behind in the 10th minute on agoal from striker Brandon Thomas-Asante but we'd pull level early in the second half, with young winger Harvey Neville putting one home. The game would go into extra time and those 30 minutes would solve nothing, forcing a penalty shootout.

Unfortunately, goals from captain Alex Kenyon and star winger Carlos Mendes Gomes weren't enough to offset shocking misses from Andrew Tutte and Matt Dolan, as we'd eventually lose 4-2 on penalties, allowing the Dons to move on.

They would edge past Barnsley on penalties in the finals as well to lock up promotion to the Championship.

Morecambe would be back in League One in 2021/22, with hopes of continuing the great momentum built up after a wonderful second half of the season.

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Sky Bet English League One 2020-21 League Awards

- Golden Boot (Top Goalscorer): Josh Maja, MK Dons - 20
- Most Assists: Henri Lansbury, QPR - 16
- Highest Average Rating: Leandro Bacuna, QPR - 7.32 (38 apps)
- Most Player of Match Awards: Alex Mowatt, Barnsley - 8
- PFA League One Player of the Year: Leandro Bacuna, QPR - 38 apps 14 gls 3 asts 7.32 avg
- League One Manager of the Year: Mark Robins, Peterborough

Maja. Lansbury and Bacuna dominated for QPR this year, with Bacuna getting named as player of the year. He scored an incredible 14 goals playing primarily at right fullback.

Robins deservedly earns manager of the year for winning the league with Peterborough. I'd be honoured to win the Manager of the Month award on three different occasions this season, taking the trophy in November, January and April.

PFF League One Team of the Year

GK - Arijanet Muric, Peterborough
DL - Colin Daniel, Peterborough
DC - Ben Wilmot, QPR
DC - Sean Raggett, Peterborough
DR - Leandro Bacuna, QPR
ML - Barrie McKay, QPR
MC - Josh Scowen, QPR
MC - Henri Lansbury, QPR
MR - Siriki Dembele, Peterborough
ST - Kazaiah Sterling, QPR
ST - Josh Maja, MK Dons

QPR and Peterborough dominate proceedings here on the Team of the Year. None of our players earn a spot.

NoSkillz

01-19-2020, 06:35 PM

Cup Competitions 2020-21

Checkatrade Trophy

The Checkatrade Trophy is the EFL Trophy, a competition that takes place between teams in League One and League Two.

We drew a spot in Northern Section - Group G to start group stage play, facing Lincoln, Oldham and Arsenal's U23 team. We'd be fortunate to edge Lincoln and Arsenal's U23 team on penalties while beating Oldham 4-2 to move on to the 2nd round. There, we'd face League One strugglers Accrington Stanley, who would prevail in a mild upset to knock us from the competition.

Northern Section - Group G
Morecambe 1 - 1 Lincoln (Morecambe win 6-5 on penalties)
Oldham 2 - 4 Morecambe
Morecambe 0 - 0 Arsenal U23 (Morecambe win 4-3 on penalties)

2nd Round: Accrington Stanley 2 - 1 Morecambe

Carabao Cup

We had a tough draw in the League Cup 1st round, a home matchup against Championship side Hull. In the midst of a heavy slate of league games, our tired team battled well and won the possession battle but didn't win the most important battle, the one on the scoresheet. One game and we're out!

1st Round: Morecambe 1 - 2 Hull

The Emirates FA Cup

Thankfully, we'd fare a bit better in the top cup competition in England, the FA Cup.

We'd enter play in the first round and edge Doncaster before drawing fellow League One side Mansfield in round two. We'd battle them to a 1-1 draw in Mansfield, meaning a replay was in order back in Morecambe. There, we'd win comfortably to move on to round three, where a difficult match against Wolverhampton awaited us. The Wolves were languishing near the bottom of the Premier League table but this was our first ever official match against an opponent from England's top league. Ultimately, we were no match for them, as they'd storm out to a 5-1 lead before pulling their foot off the gas, knocking us unceremoniously from the competiton.

1st Round: Doncaster 0 - 1 Morecambe
2nd Round: Mansfield 1 - 1 Morecambe
2nd Round Replay: Morecambe 3 - 0 Mansfield
3rd Round: Morecambe 3 - 5 Wolves

NoSkillz

01-19-2020, 07:34 PM

2020-21 Morecambe FC Recap and Statistics

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2020-21 Morecambe FC Best Eleven

GK - Rory Watson - 17 apps 0g 7.00 avg
DL - Bailey Owen - 41 apps 2g 7.13 avg
DC - Stefan O'Connor - 29 apps 3g 7.18 avg
DC - Sam Lavelle - 45 apps 2g 7.02 avg
DR - Corey Whelan - 39 apps 6g 7.25 avg
DM - Matt Dolan - 22 apps 7g 7.53 avg
MC - DJ Buffonge - 39 apps 12g 7.26 avg
MC - Andrew Tutte - 47 apps 11g 7.29 avg
AML - Carlos Mendes Gomes - 45 apps 13g 7.02 avg
AMR - Harvey Neville - 33 apps 10g 7.13 avg
ST - Jahmal Hector-Ingram - 46 apps 21g 7.13 avg

Other notables: GK Lewis Thomas 12 apps 0g 6.99; DL James Morris 21 apps 0g 7.13; DC Samuel Nsumbu 16 apps 0g 6.93; MC Lewis O'Brien 32 apps 7g 7.15; AMC A-Jay Leitch-Smith 12 apps 0g 6.72; AMR Jordan Cox 24 apps 7g 7.20; AMC Thierno Ballo 30 apps 2g 6.90

Morecambe FC Fans Player of the Year: Andrew Tutte

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- The stats shown above take into account all competitions with our senior team and include everyone who played at least one game for the big club this past season.
- Asterisk (*) means player did not finish season with club

Goalkeeping

-- Six different keepers played at least one game for our senior team this year, showcasing the issues we had in the first half of the season. We brought young Jonathan De Bie in on loan feeling he could lead the way but after a solid first month, he started to battle his confidence and continually let in bad goals. He was being outplayed by U18 keeper Lewis Thomas so we needed to make some moves in January to solidify the position, bringing in Rory Watson and Conor Mitchell. Watson took the starting job and ran with it, putting in a number of great performances and making the position his own. We should be in solid shape moving forward with Watson.

Defence

-- Our top fullback was Liverpool loanee Corey Whelan, who brought leadership, grit and talent to our back four. He also contributed 6 goals and added 7 assists, wonderful returns from a fullback. On the other side, the main man was natural inverted fullback Bailey Owen, who added two goals and seven assists on his own. January signing Jordan Gabriel performed very well upon his introduction to the team and will get the chance for a larger role next season. Young James Morris provided able backup for Owen on the left side.

-- Our top central defender is Sam Lavelle and he was just okay this year. He handed in a transfer request early in the season but could not come to terms with Crystal Palace in January and stayed with our team the whole year. He's got great intangibles and was very professional the whole season but didn't dominate the way I thought he would based on his talent. We are on very good terms at the moment but he still is looking to be moved in July. Stefan O'Connor was strong alongside Lavelle and January signing Gabriel Osho looked great as well and could be in line for more action should we move Lavelle. On loan defender Luke Woolfenden was average when called upon but I did like the look young Samuel Nsumbu gave us when used.

Central Midfield

-- We made a mid-season formation change to include a defensive midfielder, one that paid dividends right off the bat and likely contributed to our in-season renaissance. Captain Alex Kenyon was a solid leader off the pitch but wasn't very good on it - his contract is expiring and I will not be retaining his services going forward. However, January signing Matt Dolan was a revelation - his physical attributes are average at best but he brings great professionalism, leadership and technical ability to the club. He was a force on set-pieces, scoring about five of his seven goals from dead ball situations and really locked things down in a holding role.

-- In central defense, we were led capably by our supporters player of the year, Andrew Tutte. He's a very versatile player, equally adept at playing many roles and fit in well in our box-to-box role especially. The second half of the season belonged to Manchester United loanee DJ Buffonge - we couldn't find a spot for him early in the season but moving to three central mids allowed us to let him blossom in a Mezzala role. He was also clinical from dead ball situations and was a main component to our attacking style. Lewis O'Brien, on loan from Huddersfield, also played excellent football and was a common starter in the second half of the season.

-- Summer signing Thierno Ballo was perhaps our most intriguing addition but he was a victim of our formation change in December. Honestly, despite his immense talent, he wasn't making much of an impact offensively in a key role and his usage diminished greatly as the season progressed.

Forwards

-- We got impressive performances from our wingers this year. On the left side, incumbent Carlos Mendes Gomes notched 13 goals and added 9 assists while young Harvey Neville added 10 goals and 6 assists in essentially half a season, as he took the AMR starting role in December from on loan Kyle McAllister, who was largely ineffective and injury prone. Another loanee, Jordan Cox, proved more capable and we also got some late season help from Tyreke Johnson, another loanee.

-- Up front, we were led by young West Ham striker Jahmal Hector-Ingram, who led our team with 21 goals while adding 7 assists in 46 appearances. He was superb. No one else really made their mark at striker, although young Harvey Knibbs has some decent potential.

Year-End Financials

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Our finances were in rough shape when I came to the club, with a bank balance well into the negatives, no transfer budget and the lowest wage budget in the league by far.

Through some effective player sales, some smart scheduling with our friendlies and a tight lock on the wage bill, we were able to pull a decent profit in 2020/21.

We did require a small shareholders investment about mid-way through the season but I'm hopeful that another year of being in control will allow us to keep making improvements to the balance sheet as we look toward earning a spot in the Championship in the near future.

Closing Thoughts

Well, it's always painful to have a season end with a playoff loss but I am quite satisfied with how the season went, especially after our very rough start both on and off the pitch.

I'm hopeful that we've found something with our 4-1-4-1 attacking formation that allowed us to be the best team in the second half of the season in League One and most importantly, our finances are getting stronger and will continue to do so as some dead weight will come off the books at the end of June.

I was offered a one-year extension (at the same wage) late in the season and decided to take it, with hopes of using as much money as possible on new signings and a new back room team.

That is another key - because of our bleak financial outlook, I was forced to keep all existing staff members around until their contracts expired in June of this year. With that on the horizon, I can now put together a full team of backroom staff to propel our club forward.

Support from players, management and supporters continues to grow and I've settled into life here in Morecambe.

I look forward to putting my full imprint on the team in 2021/22, as we will look to improve upon our 6th place finish in Sky Bet League One.

NoSkillz

01-22-2020, 01:05 PM

2021-22 Season Recap -

Preseason: Manager and Team Status, Yearly Budgets, Board and Media Expectations

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My stats continue to edge up, with my reputation now up to "Decent" and a solid spike to my "Managing Finances" rating after handling our woeful budgets this year. One note about my contract - in August, I'd be given another one year extension and a small raise, with my salary moving up to £1800 per week (£93,600 per annum).

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We see some excellent progression here with our club as a whole - our estimated value more than triples to ~£2.7 million but we don't really gain any ground in that area versus our peers, as we actually fall to 88th in England (out of the 160 major clubs). Our finances are now considered "Okay" and we put through modest increases to our ticket packages this season as well. Season ticket holders increase by around 50%, from 698 to 1047, a wonderful bump and one that hopefully indicates that we are playing an attractive brand of football now. You'll also notice a nice, healthy bump to our Scouting budget and that allows me to send our scouts to visit Championship clubs to look for some additional talent.

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Not much change here, although we see slight regression in our Junior Coaching and Youth Recruitment ratings. That's very disappointing but likely related to our financial situation.

Media predictions vary: at the beginning of the season, they list us at 17th (out of 24 teams), which is pretty damned insulting considering our 6th place finish last year. However, that's modified somewhat to 12th as we approached the beginning of the league season - most of my transfer/loan moves were done in mid-July so I'm guessing the media predictions evolved with player signings during the summer transfer window.

My board expect a solid, mid-table resting spot - I contemplate setting the bar higher but that usually isn't smart. It's best to undersell on expecations unless you really need the extra money, which I don't at this point. Personally, I'm looking to finish in the top two in order to lock in automatic promotion.

Here is the budget that the board provides based on their expectations of a mid-table finish:

2021/22 TRANSFER BUDGET - £23,400 (Last year: £0)
2021/22 WAGE BUDGET - £29,609/week (Last year: £21,868/week)

We can definitely work with these figures. I plan on being smart with talent acquisition anyway, with most of my work being done in the free transfer or loan markets.

NoSkillz

01-22-2020, 02:12 PM

2021/22 Preseason: Roster Status

U18 Graduates

DC - Owen Mitchell 1.0/1.5
AML - Frank Boyle 1.5/2.5
AML - Liam Brook 0.5/1.0
AMC - Lyall Reynolds 1.5/3.0
AMR - Greg Pearson 1.0/1.5

In League One, we're required to have at least one locally-trained player in our match squad if we're to maintain a full compliment of substitutes. So it's good to keep a couple of the U18 grads around for that purpose. Frank Boyle and Lyall Reynolds have decent ratings but Boyle is way too tiny (5'2"!!!) and Reynolds is mainly an AMC, which I don't intend to use much this year after successfully switching to a 4-3-3 (technically a 4-1-2-2-1) last year. Last year, we used left fullback Cole Edwards as our primary home-grown player but he has literally no talent and only got in two bench appearances as a result despite featuring in almost every match squad throughout the season.

Senior Roster

GK - Returning to Morecambe this year was last January's prize pickup Rory Watson. He was excellent in backstopping us to the best record in League One in the second half of the season and he will be our primary starter for 2021/22. Another January signing, Conor Mitchell is earmarked for the backup role but we also have two youngsters we signed from Manchester City's youth setup that will push for that backup role in Lewis Thomas and Louie Moulden. We're in good shape here.

D - We're in pretty decent shape at defense on the surface but the black cloud hanging over our heads is still the transfer request handed in by talented central defender Sam Lavelle. I'm on excellent terms with him but he simply desires a new challenge. I'm sticking to my guns on this one point though: I want £200,000 for him, which would set a Morecambe transfer record and is fair value for a 24 year old workhorse DC. I've already spotted a potential replacement for him, a pacy and very tall DC who is transfer-listed by request with Gillingham. As far as current central defenders, we're in good shape with Stefan O'Connor, Gabriel Osho and youngster Samuel Nsumbu, even if none of them is quite "star material". At fullback, we were led last year by Liverpool loanee Corey Whelan, who isn't available for this coming season. That shouldn't be too much of a problem, as we picked up the excellent Jordan Gabriel last January and I expect him to lead the way on the right side. On the left side, we have the very underrated Bailey Owen - he's a natural inverted fullback, which suits our formation and system to a "T" and will be our top choice on most game days. We could use some depth on both flanks and I'll likely utilize the loan market for that.

M - We were pretty strong in the central midfield last season and utilized a 3 man unit all year, with an AMC for about half a season and then a DM for the second half of the season. One major change will see captain Alex Kenyon leaving without a new contract - he's got great intangibles but didn't produce much at all when in the lineup at DM. We will need to find someone either on the transfer or loan market to take his spot. A possible replacement is January signing Matt Dolan, who was superb when called upon due to his great dead-ball prowess and fine leadership abilities. Andrew Tutte will be the main man in our box-to-box role - he's getting up in age (he's in his age-31 season) but consistently produced last year. Our main creative force last year was Manchester United loanee DJ Buffonge. Unfortunately, United chose not to resign him and he's currently available on the transfer market. I'd love to bring him to Morecambe full-time but I think he's looking for a bigger stage than League One. We still have the talented Thierno Ballo on our roster - he's a natural attacking central mid but perhaps we can train him to play as a Mezzala more in the middle of the park. Regardless, we utilized loanees to a great extent last year and we'll need to up our talent level in addition to bringing in plenty of depth for all three key positions.

F - We have two key players returning on the wings in Carlos Mendes Gomes and Harvey Neville. Both are young and very talented and will be our main starters up front on the left and right side respectively. That said, the vultures are starting to circle Morecambe in the case of Neville - I've been rejecting transfer offers throughout June from Championship sides and while he has told me he'd prefer to stay with us, I can't guarantee that will continue to be the case. At striker, we will be losing our top goal scorer from last year in West Ham loanee Jahmal Hector-Ingram. Like DJ Buffonge, Hector-Ingram wasn't resigned by his parent club and heads into the free agent market looking to sign with a team in a bigger league. We only have Harvey Knibbs as a current option on the roster and we will definitely need to supplement this position in the loan or transfer market.

Summing up, we have a number of key things to address:

-- We need to find a home for top DC Sam Lavelle and hope to find a capable, talented replacement.
-- We need depth at both fullback positions
-- We need starting level talent at both MC (preferably a Mezzala) and DM (preferably a Deep Lying Playmaker) and depth at all central midfield positions
-- We need depth at both wing positions (likely the loan market)
-- We need a top level striker and depth as well

Ugh. That's quite a lot we need to take care of!

NoSkillz

01-22-2020, 10:11 PM

July 2021- Transfer Window

Retirements

None

Transfers OUT

AMC - Thierno Ballo - Sheffield Wednesday - £250,000

Thierno Ballo was unquestionably my most exciting signing last year: a supremely talented attacking central midfielder who had Premier League training (through Chelsea's youth academy) and played a position I valued greatly in my attacking 4-2-3-1 Gegenpressing system. However, he wasn't able to lead the offense as well as hoped and was only a marginal contributor in the first half of the season, a period of time where we struggled to score and stuggled to win. We'd change formations mid-season, employing a defensive midfielder and eliminating the AMC and that pushed Ballo into a Mezzala role in central midfield and then to the bench when he couldn't adapt. Getting £185k up front and up to £275,000 after future payments and clauses was impossible to turn down.

Perhaps the biggest news is who ISN'T on this list...

Top defender Sam Lavelle requested a transfer originally in January and despite getting an offer from Crystal Palace, he couldn't come to personal terms at the time. We kept him on the market and insisted on getting our full valuation of £200,000 for him. We had some offers between £120-150k along with a couple others that included clauses but I wouldn't budge. The window closed without a deal and Lavelle was pretty furious at first. Once I mentioned I'd definitely sell him to anyone bidding £200,000, he was okay again, feeling that was a reasonable amount. So he'd be staying with us until January and we'd try to move him out one more time before his contract expires next June.

We also had another controversial potential transfer offer to deal with - two teams were coming hard at young star winger Harvey Neville, with QPR and Crystal Palace seemingly trying to one-up each other in hopes of enticing me to sell. The bidding started at about £100k and kept going up, with me rejecting every offer. Eventually, in hopes of getting the clubs to stop with the offers, I set his value at £500,000, a figure I thought was high enough to scare everyone off.

A couple days later, Palace comes back to me with a non-negotiable £500,000 offer, with all the money up-front.

Holee shit!

I figure I can't back down now and after much thought, accept this unsolicited offer.

It wasn't minutes until I heard from a devastated Neville, who said he loved it in Morecambe and was very upset that I didn't feel he was good enough to be part of my plans. Whoa! Wait a second here!!! I *love* you my man but £500,000 is a hell of a lot of money! He indicates that he doesn't want to go and he wants me to cancel the deal AND promise that I won't look to sell him for at least another 12 months.

I think about it for a bit and decide to cancel the transfer and it barely takes a day or so for Neville to be back to 100% happiness. We certainly could have used that cash injection but we get to keep a very good young player...

RELEASED PLAYERS

DC - Di'Shon Bernard
DC - Tyler Brownsword
DR - Liam Hegarty
DM - Alex Kenyon
MC - Ben Hedley
MC - Owen Beck
MC - Lamin Jagne
AMR - Rhys Oates
ST - Jason Oswell
ST - Bradley Clayton

We've been waiting 12 months to clear a lot of these wages off our books so this was a positive day for our balance sheet. We had most of these players out on loan last season but the one name that stands out here is former captain Alex Kenyon. This fan favourite was a blue collar player without question - he was overlooked by all of the major clubs and started his footballing career with non-league clubs Chorley and Lancaster before finally opening some eyes at National League club Stockport. He spent one year there before Morecombe scooped him up on a free in the summer of 2013. Kenyon would spend eight full seasons with our club, playing 272 games, scoring 10 goals and adding 9 assists while providing leadership and stability in front of our defense. The fans will definitely miss him as will the boys in the dressing room.

Transfers IN

DL - Dale Sayers - £0 (Free) - 18 years old, England
DR - TJ Eyoma - £0 (Free) - 21 years old, Nigeria
MC - Lewis O'Brien - £0 (From Huddersfield) - 22 years old, England
MC - Paul Leach - £0 (From Manchester City) - 18 years old, England
MC - Greg Ganley - £0 (Free) - 18 years old, England
MC - Richard Baah - £0 (Free) - 17 years old, England
MC - Ming-yang Yang - £0 (Free) - 25 years old, Switzerland
ST - Austin Samuels - £0 (From Wolves) - 20 years old, England
ST - Robbie Shanley - £0 (Free) - 17 years old, England
ST - Ben Weaver - £0 (Free) - 17 years old, England

A few interesting pickups here and certainly one name that may be familiar to fans of Morecambe.

Our first transfer of the season was to bring Lewis O'Brien to Morecambe on a permanent basis on a free from Huddersfield. O'Brien spent last year with our club on loan and Huddersfield weren't planning on resigning him. We're delighted to add him to the roster - he is a natural box-to-box but can certainly play a number of different roles in the central midfield. The other big signing is to get Ming-yang Yang, a former member of Wolverhampton, into the club on a two year deal. Yang is a pedegreed central mid who seems capable of playing DM as well - that versatility could prove to be useful.

I'm perhaps most intrigued by the signing of Paul Leach from Manchester City's youth academy. This 18 year old is supremely talented (3.5 star potential) and I'll look to get him out on loan to further his development. That said, he's definitely good enough to feature in our side this year so that's an option as well. Sayers, Ganley, Baah, Shanley and Weaver are young players who developed at top academies that we're hoping turn into something while TJ Eyoma and Austin Samuels will provide depth for our senior team this year.

The one "big miss", if you will, was my inability to get imposing and pacy DC Ro-Shaun Williams from Gillingham. He was transfer-listed by request and we actually had a deal in place where I'd get him for a pretty bargain price of about £20k (plus clauses) but then a transfer embargo was placed on the team by their board, as they were in the middle of a potential sale. Of course, two weeks later the sale goes through and the new ownership took Williams off the transfer market and resigned him. I wanted him desperately as a replacement for Sam Lavelle, who likely would be leaving the team in January.

Loans OUT

GK - Lewis Thomas - Torquay - Free
GK - Louie Moulden - Dag & Red - Free
DL - Tristan Cover - Alfreton - Free
DL - James Morris - Tranmere - Free
DL - Dale Sayers - Blyth - Free
DC - Morgan Feeney - Aldershot - Free
DC - Samuel Nsumbu - Stockport - Free
DM - Matt Dolan - Torquay - Free
MC - Rafferty Pedder - Dover - Free
MC - Joe Pritchard - Tranmere - Free
MC - Richard Baah - Chester - Free
MC - Greg Ganley - Guiseley - Free
MC - Paul Leach - Dag & Red - Free
AMC - Lyall Reynolds - Solihull Moors - Free

I actually tried to move Matt Dolan out in the transfer market but there were no takers - he was making too much money and we were well over our wage budget so I was pleased to have Torquay offer to pay his salary while away on loan. All of these players had recall clauses in their loan contracts, just in case I decided I needed them.

Loans IN

DL - Lewis Gordon - £0 (From Watford) - 20 years old, Scotland
DL - Joe Anderson - £0 (From Everton) - 20 years old, England
DC - Reece Staunton - £0 (From Blackburn) - 19 years old, England
DC - Daniel Ballard - £0 (From Leicester) - 21 years old, Northern Ireland
DR - Aaron Lewis - £0/£1600 p/w (From Swansea) - 22 years old, Wales
DM - Jaimie Alvarado - £0 (From Watford) - 21 years old, Columbia
DM - Neil Furness - £0 (From Derby) - 18 years old, Ireland
MC - Sadou Diallo - £0/£1600 p/w (From Everton) - 21 years old, Wolves
MC - Tristan Nydam - £0/£3000 p/w (From Ipswich) - 21 years old, Zimbabwe
MC - Ethan Galbraith - £0 (From Burnley) - 20 years old, Northern Ireland
AML - Dion McGhee - £0/£325 p/w (From Sheffield United) - 20 years old, England
AML - Dion Pereira - £0 (From Watford) - 22 years old, Portugal
AMR - Sylvester Jasper - £0 (From Fulham) - 19 years old, England
AMR - Nathan Tella - £0 (From Southampton) - 22 years old, England
ST - Michael Fowler - £0 (From Burnley) - 20 years old, England
ST - Juanito Lopez - £0 (From Newcastle) - 21 years old, Spain

16 players in on loan!!!

Again, with us over our wage budget, we were forced to do whatever we could to add depth and quality to our lineup. The key names among the 16 include Aaron Lewis from Swansea, who can play both the left and right fullback slots with equal aplomb, Jaime Alvarado, a solid looking defensive mid, the midfield tandem of Sadou Diallo and Tristan Nydam and striker Michael Fowler from Burnley. Fowler, at 6'2", is a natural pressing forward and has every quality I desire in a striker, except for elite pace. The other additions are meant to be backups or depth - I was very direct with these loaning teams when it came to playing time expectations - I basically promised every team that these players would fit into a rotation at best as opposed to lying to them and saying they'd be key players. That meant missing out on a couple of targets but I much preferred this option versus having a mutiny against me mid-season when none of these guys are getting into the lineup. I was also careful to add clauses to all of these loan contracts that would allow me to send them back to their parent club if things weren't working out.

Final Thoughts Before the Season Begins

We set up a ridiculous stretch of friendlies in order to get our squad on the same page. In fact, after a couple of late requests came in from other teams, we ended up with 11 in total, forcing us to split our squad for much of the preseason. We had a couple of big teams come in, namely Manchester City (2-0 loss), Middlesbrough (1-1 draw), Newcastle (4-1 win!), Everton (3-3 draw) and Deportivo from Spain (5-1 win!). In all, we went 7-2-2 in those 11 contests to set us up well for the start of league play.

We decided to go primarily with the 4-3-3 attacking system we implemented in the middle of last year, with a DM, two MCs, two wingers and a lone striker up top.

Since we didn't renew the contract of Alex Kenyon, we needed a new captain and the easy choice was made to promote Andrew Tutte into the position after he spent last year as our assistant. We don't have an awful lot of veteran influence on the team as it's currently constructed so our choice for vice captain is newcomer Ming-yang Yang.

While our board and the pundits expect a mid-table finish, I'm shooting for automatic promotion...I want to finish in the top two but of course, any playoff position will likely do. I've been able to clear out all of the contracts I needed here in year two and also have a full compliment of new staff members, coaches, physios and analysts.

This is now my team, through and through and it's time to make the next step forward.

Our season begins on the road with a date against the bookies favourite to get promoted - Swansea City:

NEW OPENING DAY STARTERS NOTED IN ITALICS
GK - Rory Watson
D - Bailey Owen - Stefan O'Connor - Sam Lavelle - Jordan Gabriel
DM - Ming-yang Yang
M - Tristan Nydam - Andrew Tutte
AM -Carlos Mendes Gomes - Harvey Neville
ST - Michael Fowler

NoSkillz

01-26-2020, 01:47 PM

2021/22 Sky Bet English League One - First Half Results

Our fine form that developed during our long preseason continued into the start of the League One season, as we'd march into Liberty Stadium and knock off the pundits' favourites for promotion 2-1 in the opening game behind goals from Carlos Mendes Gomes and Jordan Gabriel.

In fact, we'd dominate in the early goings, starting off with five consecutive league wins to immediately move to the top of the League One table.

However, a heavily condensed schedule in August, which included nine total matches due to Carabao Cup and Checkatrade Trophy play, helped contribute to a loss of form and the results started to drop.

Between August 21st (a 1-1 draw versus Fleetwood Town) and October 30th (a 2-1 loss to Oxford), we'd win only 3 out of 13 league games and we'd drop to 9th place on the League One table.

We'd hit rock bottom one week later. We'd get absolutely embarrassed by League Two side Newport in FA Cup play, as they'd wallop us 5-1 to unceremoniously knock us out of the competition. Confidence was at an all-time low and I needed to take a lot of blame - my team talks weren't working and our second half performances were a consistent issue, as our in-game form would seem to drop and we'd concede way too many late goals as a result.

We had a team meeting after the Newport game and I endeavored to be a bit more calm and positive in the dressing room. We'd squeak a narrow result in Checkatrade Trophy group stage play the next game against Rotherham and we started to gain more confidence, winning five games in a row in league play to hit the halfway point of the season with a 13-5-5 record, good for 44 points and a 4th place position on the table below joint leaders Sheffield United and Barnsley (50 points) and a resurgent Swansea City (45 points).

Our 44 goals placed us 4th in the league (Sheffield United had a league high 51) while our 28 conceded placed us eighth. We were definitely having issues in both areas - we weren't getting much production at all from our strikers (Harvey Knibbs and Burnley loanee Michael Fowler led the way with only four goals each). Meanwhile, goaltender Rory Watson was battling his confidence and we still had the looming transfer request from defender Sam Lavelle hanging over our head.

January 2022 - Transfer Window

I had a couple of major issues to deal with as we reached the reopening of the transfer window. Of course, I had to still try to move Sam Lavelle out of the club - this long-time lingering issue hasn't been too problematic on the pitch, as Lavelle is a very professional player and a good leader and has continued to play at a solid level throughout the last 15 months. Our relationship is solid - he just wants to move to a bigger club. Adding to the urgency is the fact that his contract expires in June and he obviously won't renew with Morecambe, so if I don't move him in this window, I will lose him for nothing. That said, I realize I have to move off of my desired asking price of £200,000.

The other major issue I'm facing is that we are currently over our alloted wage budget so I don't really have any money to make any moves as the window opens. Selling Lavelle could help somewhat but he's only making £1200/week so moving him will actually just get us under our board-alloted wage budget.

The January transfer window ended up being a lot more interesting (and infuriating) than I could possibly imagine...

Transfers OUT

GK - Conor Mitchell - Free - Tottenham
GK - Louie Moulden - £275,000 - Cardiff
AMR - Harvey Neville - £275,000 (£650,000) - Reading
ST - Harvey Knibbs - £49,000 - Walsall

Ok, lets start with the infuriating first...

If you recall, we had an offer in July for star young winger Harvey Neville for an all-cash, upfront sum of £500,000, a deal I accepted but then cancelled after Neville got upset and indicated his desire to stay. I relented and he stayed at our club. He'd continue his fine performances in the first half of the league season, booting home 6 goals and adding 8 assists in 23 total appearances before we received a complicated, multi-clause transfer offer from Reading. This offer had a much smaller amount of up-front money but included multiple clauses for games played, goals, etc that would take it up to a potential ceiling of £650,000 - our board of directors didn't even hear my opinion on the deal, immediately accepting it and Neville quickly came to personal terms and was gone.

What a slap in the face...

We only got £275,000 up front and would likely have to wait YEARS for this total to hit the sum I actually turned down months earlier. Just an awful piece of business from our board. When you add this to the fact that the board would not allow me to continue forward with improving upon my coaching classifications, I was not really happy with how I was being treated.

The board would step in for a second time, taking a full £275,000 offer from Cardiff to sell young goalkeeping prospect Louie Moulden. Moulden spent the first half of the season on loan at Dag & Red, allowing only 31 goals in 28 starts and I actually recalled him from loan after selling Conor Mitchell to Tottenham on a free in order to get his wages off our books. One week later, Moulden was gone as well but that's a hard deal to turn down, without question. So we'd have to go with another youngster, Lewis Thomas, as our goalkeeping backup for the balance of the season. Like Moulden, I'd have to recall Thomas from his loan at Torquay.

The final transfer in January was to move out underperforming striker Harvey Knibbs in a modest deal with Walsall. We signed Knibbs on a free from Aston Villa last year and he'd play in 53 games for our club (23 starts), scoring 9 goals and adding 3 assists during that time.

The one bit of positive news revolves around transfer-listed by request defender Sam Lavelle.

I wasn't getting any offers for Lavelle and my price kept dropping, going as low as £100,000 but I still got no offers. The window would pass and Lavelle actually came into my office and said that he wanted to reaffirm his commitment to Morecambe going forward and we would open contract extension talks with immediate effect. Within days we had Lavelle signed to a two year extension with no wage increase, an incredible about-face from a player who now might be captain material going forward. A very positive development, for sure.

Transfers IN

MC - DJ Buffonge - Free - 23 years old, Antigua & Barbuda
ST - Stephy Mavididi - Free - 23 years old, England

You may recognize the first name, as Buffonge spent all of last season here with us on loan from Manchester United and was arguably our most explosive midfielder. Buffonge was released by United and I attempted to sign him back in July but couldn't afford him. By the time we hit December, Buffonge was still unsigned and his wage demands were lowered and that allowed us to bring him in on a three and a half year deal. He will likely slot in at a Mezzala role alongside on-loan Tristan Nydam.

Mavididi is an interesting addition as well. The former Arsenal U18 moved to Juventus in Italy for a few years and actually played nine games for the senior team a couple years back, with the majority of time spent with the team's U23's. He was released and we pick up the talented English forward on a free but with the highest salary at the club now and a clause that guarantees him the largest wage moving forward. That's something I'll have to monitor closely. Still, a nice pickup.

We had one other contract offer accepted for talented right winger Uriel Antuna but we couldn't get a work permit approved for the Mexican native and we were forced to cancel the deal. We'd have to move forward at right wing with two loanees in Sylvester Jasper and the often-injured Nathan Tella.

Loans OUT

None

Loans IN

None

We did have a number of players who were brought in on loan back in July request to have their season-long deals cancelled due to lack of playing time.

Asking to be returned to their parent clubs were DL Joe Anderson (Everton), DM Neil Furness (Derby), MC Ethan Galbraith and ST Juanito Lopez. Of those four, only Lopez was one I contemplated rejecting, as he was starting to play a bit more often with the lack of goals from our top two early season choices of Harvey Knibbs and Michael Fowler. But with newcomer Mavididi joining the team, I felt I could let Lopez go without too much issue.

There was one player who requested to leave but I made him stay - DL Lewis Gordon certainly wasn't playing much but I felt I needed cover at left fullback just in case main starter Bailey Owen got hurt. Gordon spent the entire second half of the season upset with me as a result.

There was one more on-loan player that I elected to move out even though he was happy here - midfielder Sadou Diallo is supremely talented but he wasn't playing well when called upon plus I was paying half of his exhorbitant wages so it was an easy decision to send him back to Wolves to alleviate some pressure on our wage budget.

NoSkillz

02-06-2020, 11:47 AM

2021/22 Sky Bet English League One - Second Half Results

We battled to a couple of hard-earned draws to start the second half of the season, coming back from three goals down against Walsall in a thrilling 4-4 away contest that the neutrals would have loved. We'd follow that up with solid wins over Rotherham and Fleetwood Town before heading into a match away against Mansfield. They were sitting just below us on the table so frankly, we were expecting a hell of a tight game.

We'd set numerous league and team records in that contest, scoring at will in an incredible 11-0 (!) victory. It was an astonishing performance.

The good form would continue for the rest of the season. We were eliminated from both cup competitions early so that allowed us to get settled into a comfortable one-game-per-week routine in the second half of the campaign, which meant we could keep throwing the same team out every week, with a few changes here and there due to injury or poor form.

Our strikers heated up considerably, especially on-loan Michael Fowler and goals were plentiful. We'd lose only once in 20 games (a shock 4-3 loss away at Exeter) as we headed to Portsmouth in mid-April with a chance to lock up automatic promotion to the Championship with two games left to play. There, a 54th minute goal from star winger Carlos Mendes Gomes was enough to give us a 1-0 win to assure us of at least a second place finish in the division.

We were still battling Sheffield United for that coveted League One trophy and in the penultimate game of the season, Shrewsbury Town would score two goals in the last 10 minutes to shock us 3-2 at Globe Arena, meaning we likely had to win our final game of the season against Norwich to lock up the division crown.

We had a full lineup ready to go at Carrow Road and we left no doubt as to our ambitions, with midfielder DJ Buffonge scoring only three minutes into the contest to get us off on the right foot. That was followed by three goals in succession from our top striker Michael Fowler, his second hat trick of the season, as we'd win 4-0 to edge Sheffield United by a single point, winning the League One title!

MORECAMBE WIN THE SKY BET ENGLISH LEAGUE ONE CHAMPIONSHIP ! ! !

We dominated the second half of the season, impressively winning 15 games, drawing 6 and losing only twice. We'd finish the year 28-11-7, good for 95 points, just one ahead of Sheffield United and five up on third placed Swansea. Barnsley struggled in the second half of the season, falling to fourth on the table but they'd get past Swansea in the playoffs to move up to the Championship as well.

We scored a whopping 74 goals in the final 23 games and ended up with a League One record 118 goals overall. Our +62 goal differential was astounding. Our 11-0 win over Mansfield also set a modern day League One record.

Morecambe are headed to the Sky Bet Championship!

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Sky Bet English League One 2021-22 League Awards

- Golden Boot (Top Goalscorer): Nouha Dicko, Sheffield United - 21
- Most Assists: Sylvester Jasper, Morecambe - 14
- Highest Average Rating: Jordan Gabriel, Morecambe - 7.45 (36 apps)
- Most Player of Match Awards: Carlos Mendes Gomes, Morecambe - 6
- PFA League One Player of the Year: Jordan Gabriel, Morecambe - 36 apps 5 gls 8 asts 7.45 avg
- League One Manager of the Year: NoSkillz, Morecambe

Our own Michael Fowler finished third in the Golden Boot standings with 19 league goals in 30 appearances. We completely sweep the rest of the awards - Jasper was excellent in the second half of the season, taking over from the departed Harvey Neville and forming a great one-two punch with our left winger, Carlos Mendes Gomes. The star of the season was fullback Jordan Gabriel, who was ruthless in getting up into the play in our vaunted 4-3-3 system that utilized him as an inverted fullback, allowing him to get into the box on countless occasions to contribute to the offense.

I'd only win one Manager of the Month award (April 2022) but was honoured to be named Manager of the Year for the first time in my career.

PFF League One Team of the Year

GK - Rory Watson, Morecambe
DL - Bailey Owen, Morecambe
DC - Aristote Nsiala, Sheffield United
DC - Sam Lavelle, Morecambe
DR - Jordan Gabriel, Morecambe
ML - Callum Gribbin, Bradford City
MC - Tristan Nydam, Morecambe
MC - Andrew Tutte, Morecambe
MR - Xande, Sheffield United
ST - Carlos Mendes Gomes, Morecambe
ST - Callum O'Hare, Sheffield United

We place seven players on the starting eleven of the Team of the Year. They placed Gomes at striker, which likely works considering he played well up the pitch as a left winger for us in our 4-1-2-2-1 formation, essentially a 4-3-3.

NoSkillz

02-06-2020, 01:54 PM

Cup Competitions 2021-22

Checkatrade Trophy

In Checkatrade Trophy play, we drew a spot in Northern Section (Group F) to start group stage play, with Rotherham, Liverpool's U23 team and Crewe Alexandria also in our pod. We'd comfortably win all three games in group play to move on to the second round, where we'd get beat at home by fellow League One side Bradford City to knock us out of the competition.

Northern Section - Group F
Crewe 1 - 2 Morecambe
Morecambe 3 - 2 Liverpool U23
Morecambe 1 - 0 Rotherham

2nd Round: Morecambe 0 - 1 Bradford City

Carabao Cup

We once again enter League Cup play in the 1st round and needed penalties to get past Wimbledon at home after a scoreless draw in regulation. We'd be thrown into the fire in round two, as we were drawn away against Wolves, a Premier League side. We got smoked by Wolves last year in FA Cup play but battled hard this year, ultimately losing on penalties.

1st Round: Morecambe 0 - 0 Wimbledon (Morecambe win 6-5 on penalties)
2nd Round: Wolves 1 - 1 Morecambe (Wolves win 5-4 on penalties)

The Emirates FA Cup

As documented earlier, we had a decent draw in the 1st round of FA Cup play, with an away matchup against mid-table League Two club Newport. We were mired in a huge slump at this point and the resulting 5-1 loss was unquestionably the lowest point of the season for our club but also served as the wake up call we likely needed.

1st Round: Newport County 5 - 1 Morecambe

NoSkillz

02-06-2020, 04:04 PM

2021-22 Morecambe FC Recap and Statistics

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2021-22 Morecambe FC Best Eleven

GK - Rory Watson - 44 apps 0g 6.97 avg
DL - Bailey Owen - 35 apps 4g 7.26 avg
DC - Gabriel Osho - 27 apps 3g 7.16 avg
DC - Sam Lavelle - 42 apps 2g 7.10 avg
DR - Jordan Gabriel - 36 apps 5g 7.44 avg
DM - Ming-yang Yang - 42 apps 5g 6.96 avg
MC - Tristan Nydam - 40 apps 9g 7.16 avg
MC - Andrew Tutte - 41 apps 10g 7.25 avg
AML - Carlos Mendes Gomes - 38 apps 17g 7.32 avg
AMR - Sylvester Jasper - 34 apps 7g 7.26 avg
ST - Michael Fowler - 36 apps 20g 7.28 avg

Other notables: DC Stefan O'Connor 30 apps 1g 6.94; DR Aaron Lewis 30 apps 5g 7.25; MC DJ Buffonge 23 apps 6g 6.96; MC Lewis O'Brien 28 apps 4g 7.08; MC Sadou Diallo 18 apps 2g 6.87; AML Dion McGhee 14 apps 5g 7.33; AMR Harvey Neville 22 apps 6g 7.12

Morecambe FC Fans Player of the Year: Jordan Gabriel

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- The stats shown above take into account all competitions with our senior team and include everyone who played at least one game for the big club this past season.
- Asterisk (*) means player did not finish season with club

Goalkeeping

-- Incredibly, last year we had six different keepers who played at least one game for our senior team. Thankfully, we had much more stability this year. Our backup through the first half of the season was Conor Mitchell and he was decent enough but with a wage budget bursting at the seams, I decided to sell him on a free to Tottenham and go with one of our U18 graduates in a backup role. That said, I just rode Rory Watson hard for the rest of the season and he was ever present in goal, taking no nights off from the end of December right through until the end of the season. He had a pretty ugly mid-season slump but some solid performances in January got him back on track and he was great for the balance of the season. He's a solid keeper and should be more than capable in the Championship next year.

Defence

-- Our tactics put a lot of emphasis and pressure on our fullbacks, who are asked to play wide in defence and narrow in offense, cutting inside the wingers to offer options up the pitch. This inverted role leads to decent stats and right fullback Jordan Gabriel was sensational all season long, winning League One Player of the Year honours in addition to being the supporter's choice as Morecambe's Player of the Year. On the other side, the unheralded Bailey Owen excelled as well in that inverted role which is natural for him. On loan fullback Aaron Lewis provided excellent cover on both sides and was used in dead ball situations frequently throughout the season. TJ Eyoma and loanee Lewis Gordon played depth roles as well.

-- The two-year soap opera surrounding Sam Lavelle finally ended in January, when he ultimately decided to commit to Morecambe and resigned long-term at the same wage. His professionalism never wavered even when he was looking for a bigger challenge and he will likely get the chance to wear the captain's armband next season. Gabriel Osho and Stefan O'Connor evenly split time alongside Lavelle and both were solid. I wanted to utilize loanee Daniel Ballard more often but with stringent loan rules in place in League One, I often was forced to keep him out of the lineup as a result. Another loanee, Reece Staunton, spent the whole year at the club but was mostly used with the U23 squad.

Central Midfield

-- My preseason plan was to utilize on-loan midfielder Jaime Alvarado in our DM slot this season but the guy simply couldn't stay healthy. He got hurt on four separate occasions during the year, all for at least three weeks and he spent almost the entire year trying to get fully fit. In his absence, we were forced to use new signing Ming-yang Yang in that position, something that wasn't exactly natural for him but he was more than capable, especially with the physical and defensive demands of the role.

-- In central defence, team captain Andrew Tutte continued to defy Father Time, producing consistent offence and playing our box-to-box role to perfection. He was easily our biggest producer in the middle at 31 years young. Loanee Tristan Nydam was solid in our main Mezzala role - his stats don't necessarily reflect it but he was very influential when on the pitch. His main backup was mid-season signing DJ Buffonge - Buffonge spent last year on loan here from Manchester United and was incredible for us but he needed much more time to get his legs back this year after waiting until December to be signed. Lewis O'Brien is another player who spent last year here on loan and then was signed as a permanent member of the squad this season. He was a fourth-choice player for most of the year but consistently produced. Sadou Diallo was supposed to play more of a role here but didn't impress in the first half of the season so I sent him back to his parent club when the transfer window reopened in January to help our wage budget, as we were covering half of his salary while he was here at the club.

Forwards

-- One of the major strengths of this club is at wing, where we utilized loan players more than anywhere else. That said, our top producer on the wing by far is Morecambe's own Carlos Mendes Gomes, who notched a very impressive 17 goals from the left side. On the right side, it was a tale of two halves - in the first half of the season, Harvey Neville was excellent, scoring 6 goals and adding 8 assists. However, our board would accept a low-ball transfer offer from Reading and he'd leave our club in January. Sylvester Jasper took his place on most nights and ended up leading the entire league in assists. We also had solid depth options available in loanees Dion McGhee and Dion Pereira, with McGhee also performing well in a Mezzala role at select times.

-- Things were pretty bleak at striker in the first half of the season, as we couldn't replace the production from last year's top dog Jahmal Hector-Ingram. Thankfully, loanee Michael Fowler blossomed in the second half of the year and ended up leading the team with 20 goals, an excellent return in 33 starts. We picked up Stephy Mavididi in January and he was excellent in a backup role. Austin Samuels was our third option - I tried to loan him out to aid in his development but was unsuccessful, so he spent the majority of the year with our U23s. He didn't score at all in 12 appearances. Harvey Knibbs was a big signing last year but wasn't working out here at Morecambe - he requested a transfer in January when it became apparent that Fowler was going to lead the way and I was happy to move him out.

Year-End Financials

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Top line revenue was up a modest 4.5% over last year, with player sales being the biggest contributor to our financial success. It was essentially a break-even year (our profit was ~£1000) but at least our chairman didn't have to invest any additional money this year into the team. Attendance was down, mostly due to our lack of success in cup competitions but I'm guessing we'll see a healthy increase here when moving to the Championship next season.

Our chairman has given me a projected transfer budget of just over £1 million as we prepare to move into the Championship while our projected wage budget doubles to approximately £60,000 per week. These numbers still pale in comparison with other Championship clubs but it's nice to see some early commitment being made here so we can get to work early on potential additions.

Closing Thoughts

Our goal was to get automatic promotion and we exceeded that goal by winning League One. This makes three promotions in four years of management for me and I was guessing and maybe even HOPING that my name might come up with other clubs.

I was due for a small raise moving to the Championship due to a promotion clause in my contract but when the board told me for a second time that they were rejecting my request to improve upon my coaching classifications, I was red hot.

Add this to the fact that not once, but twice went over my head and accepted transfer offers for our players, one of which was significantly LOWER than one I had rejected months earlier and my loyalty to this club was starting to wane.

Still, I prepared for the year ahead...

2022 is a World Cup year, with the tournament taking place in Qatar in November and December. The Premier League and Championship seasons, as a result, are being pushed forward. Instead of training camps starting in early July, our players return from holiday in early JUNE, a full month ahead of normal and the regular season begins in mid-July.

This meant we'd have to scramble to find players and get them fit in time for the start of the season.

There was one interesting spot available on the job market: Juventus was looking for a new manager and I decided to apply for the position. I pretty much knew I had no chance, even with the slight reputation increase I enjoyed winning League One and it only took a couple of days before a representative from the team came back to me with their regrets.

A few days later, there was a press report out of Middlesbrough - their manager Ben Wilkinson, who had spent the last one and a half years at Boro, left the role in order to take the job at Brentford, who had just been relegated from the Premier League. I was named as the bookies and supporters' favourite to take on this open position at Middlesbrough.

Frankly, I was pretty excited - Middlesbrough are a mid-table constant in the Championship and are coming off a 12th place finish in England's second tier...in fact, they've finished 12th three years in a row and have only spent one year in the Premier League in the last 13 years, with a "one and done" season in the top flight back in 2016/17.

Prior to that, however, they were a pretty strong, mid-table Premier League side, with 11 straight years in that top division from 1998 through 2009. As a result, this is what I'd call a "Proper" football club - they have a beautiful, modern stadium that was built in 1995, with Riverside Stadium seating over 34,000 fans. Their training facilities are uniformly excellent and they have an established youth recruitment system.

Taking a look at their playing squad reveals a solid veteran core but not much in the way of exciting 20 year olds. Much of their top youth seems to get sold off but their U18 team looks excellent and there are a couple of good looking youngsters in addition to some great old vets.

I decide to apply for the position.

Interestingly enough, the next day, I get a phone call from Bolton, who would like me to come and interview for their open position...

Bolton is another big club (in my eyes) but the main negative with them, on the surface, is that they have just been relegated from the Championship and will be playing League One football next year. As a result, I didn't apply for this position when it opened up but they still have asked me to come in for an interview.

I figure why not...at least I can hear them out and maybe word will leak to Middlesbrough that I'm entertaining other offers.

The meeting goes well - this is a much bigger club than Morecambe but again, Morecambe is playing in the Championship next year and I'm not really keen on another year of League One football. If Bolton makes an offer, I don't think I'm going to take it...

But I don't get the chance to turn them down.

The next day, the chairman of Middlesbrough comes calling...not with a job offer but he's interested in knowing more about my plans for the team, mostly as it relates to their current coaching and support staff. He indicates that he's already spoken with Morecambe's chairman and they have agreed on compensation numbers for any Morecambe staff that I'd want to join me at Middlesbrough.

WOW. That's pretty bloody cool.

They have given me a whopping £1.2 MILLION compensation budget that will allow me to retain any existing Middlesbrough staff, release any existing staff OR recruit Morecambe staff. I only need to use about half that budget while going through the staffs at both clubs - I'd prefer to bring my physio staff with me if I was to move clubs, along with a couple coaches, one scout and my assistant manager, who I felt was key in helping with a "good cop, bad cop" approach on team talks last year.

I submit my list and thank them for the call.

A couple hours later, they call back...this time, with a job offer in hand:

A one year contract at £14,000/week (£728,000 per year). As a point of reference, I made £1,600 per week last year!

A transfer budget of £4.5 million and a wage allowance of £560,000.

My goodness...my current transfer budget with Morecambe is £1 million and our wage allowance only £60,000.

Middlesbrough's top earner, striker Andre Gray, earns £57k per week, which is almost Morecambe's entire wage budget!

Middlesbrough is a massive club with Premier League infrastructure, an incredible youth system and a rich chairman.

It doesn't take me long to make a decision...

It's time to take the next step in my career and I will be looking to take Middlesbrough back to the Premier League.

NoSkillz

02-14-2020, 04:22 PM

Middlesbrough FC - A Brief History

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Middlesbrough were formed in 1876 by members of Middlesbrough Cricket Club during a meeting at the Albert Park Hotel, with their first recorded game taking place in 1877 against the Teesside Wanderers.

The club played their home games in those early years at Linthorpe Road and would be elected to the Football League officially in 1899, joining Division Two. They'd win promotion to Division One in 1902 and one year later, the club would move to Ayresome Park for their home games, a stadium that would be home for the next 90 years.

The team caused a sensation in 1905, paying £1000 for centre forward Alf Common, the first ever four-figure transfer fee in football history. In 1914, Middlesbrough would finish in 3rd place in the First Division, which to date is the highest league finish in club history.

The post-war era saw a downturn in fortunes for the club on the pitch, as the team would be relegated into Division Two in 1953-54 and spent 19 of the next 20 years in that league, with the other year spent in Division Three.

The team would finally earn promotion back to Division One after a title-winning season in 1973-74 and they'd stay in the top flight through the 1981-82 season. During this successful period, the team won their first two trophies, winning the 1975-76 Anglo-Scottish Cup and the 1980-81 Kirin Cup.

The club went through its darkest days during the mid-1980s. A string of poor finishes in Division Two culminated in a 21st place finish in 1985-86 and resulted in the club being relegated back to the Third Division. Massive debts forced the club into liquidation in July of that year and with no money to pay the registration fee for Division Three, it looked as if the club was going to have to fold.

With the club locked out of their home at Ayresome Park and a registration deadline looming, Steve Gibson, a 28 year old board member at Middlesbrough and owner of successful local business Bulkhaul Limited, formed a consortium to save the club at the 11th hour. Boro would complete a remarkable comeback from being homeless and on the brink of oblivion by winning promotion from the third division that first year and they'd follow it up by gaining a second consecutive promotion the next year, finally moving back into the First Division.

The team would be relegated back to Division Two the next year but gain promotion again just in time for the 1992-93 season, becoming founding members of the newly rebranded English Premier League.

The team's fortunes changed significantly with the hiring of former England and Manchester United legend Bryan Robson as manager. He'd lead them back to the Premier League after another relegation and see the club move into the 30,000 capacity Riverside Stadium, the largest football stadium built in the UK over the previous 70 years. During the Robson era, the team would make it to three Cup finals, including the 1997 FA Cup finals against Chelsea, losing all three. They'd also open a state-of-the-art training complex at Rockliffe Park, which was acknowledged to be one of the finest in all of Europe.

Manchester United assistant Steve McClaren would take over from Robson in 2001 and the club continued to succeed in bringing in star players from all across the continent while performing admirably in both Premier League and Cup play. One of the highest points in club history took place in February 2004, when the club lifted its first ever major trophy in a 2-1 win over Bolton to win the Carling (League) Cup. This earned them a spot in next year's UEFA Cup competition (now known as the Europa League), where Middlesbrough made it to the final 16 and also finished 7th in league play, their best in the Premiership era, giving them a spot in Europe again the next season. The team would struggle in the league, ultimately finishing 14th but flourished in Europe. One of the distinct highlights in club history came on April 2, 2006, when the club came back from a 3 goal deficit, scoring four consecutive goals to earn a 4-3 aggregate victory over Steaua Bucharest in the UEFA Cup semi-finals, earning a spot in the finals against Sevilla. They'd lose that contest in decisive fashion, 4-0 and McClaren would be wooed away from the club to take over stewardship of the English National Team from Sven Goran Eriksson.

In 2008/09, after 11 consecutive seasons in the Premier League, the team would finish 19th and get relegated to the Championship. Middlesbrough would earn promotion back to the top flight for the 2016/17 season but finish 19th again and see immediate relegation once again.

Middlesbrough have spent the last five seasons in the Championship and after three straight 12th place finishes, manager Ben Wilkinson resigned from the club in order to take the helm at Brentford, who had just been relegated from the Premier League. On June 17, 2022, Chairman Steve Gibson announced that I was being hired as the 36th manager in the club's illustrious history...

NoSkillz

02-19-2020, 11:25 AM

2022-23 Season Recap -

Preseason: Manager and Team Status, Yearly Budgets, Board and Media Expectations

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Another promotion gives my reputation a boost up to "Okay" from "Decent" and that was obviously enough to entice Middlesbrough to bring me in. My stats continue to progress in the right direction but the biggest change here is in my salary, as I make the stratospheric leap from £1,600 per week to £14,000.

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Simply put, managing Middlesbrough is a major step up from leading Morecambe, even though they are in the same division. Boro is a massive club for the Championship level and the differences seen in every category above is substantial. Just as an example, Morecambe were prepared to give me a £1 million transfer budget (versus £4.5 million with Boro) and a £60,000/week wage budget versus the £560,000/week budget I currently have with my new club.

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Middlesbrough play their games at Riverside Stadium, a 34,746 all-seater that was built in 1995. Another massive step up from the cozy Globe Arena at Morecambe but still much smaller than Hampden Park in Scotland where our Queen's Park team played. Middlesbrough has a wonderful training setup - this is a club with a Premier League quality infrastructure and I couldn't be more excited about our facilities, which are uniformly excellent as you can see. I can see from the talent on our U18 team (and a couple of senior team youngsters) that the club is very good at developing from within.

Before I make any changes to the squad, media pundits predict a 7th place finish (out of 24 teams) in the Championship. That would place us just outside the playoffs.

My board are hoping for a mid-table finish, which is pretty surprising...I wonder if they lack ambition. It doesn't seem like it with the budgets I've been given...I'll certainly be expecting more out of our team but as usual, I elect to side with the board and keep official expectations in check.

Here is the budget that the board provides based on their expectations of a mid-table finish:

2022/23 SCOUTING BUDGET - £611,000 (Last year: £?)
2022/23 TRANSFER BUDGET - £4,500,000 (Last year: £?)
2022/23 WAGE BUDGET - £560,000/week (Last year: £?/week)

Very healthy numbers by the looks of it. Now, I'll need to take a look at our roster and see what we have to work with here at Middlesbrough...

NoSkillz

02-19-2020, 01:51 PM

2022/23 Preseason: Roster Status

U18 Team

I've mentioned how strong our development system here is at Middlesbrough and while many of our top prospects have either graduated to the U23 or senior squads, we still have a few notable prospects worth watching. Players to look at in the future include GK Sean Gregory (1.5/4.0), DL Martin Guest (1.5/3.5), DC Darren Moore (1.0/3.0), MC Jack Bates (1.5/3.0), AML James Wood (1.5/3.5) and our top prospect, 17 year old striker Matt Dickens (2.0/4.0).

U18 Graduates

DR - Matthew Gibbins 3.0/4.0
DR - David Hale 1.5/2.5
MC - Tim Liddle-Campbell 1.5/2.0
MC - Adam Miles 1.5/2.5
MC - Ben Stephenson 2.0/4.0
MC - Cain Sykes 2.0/3.0
ST - Ben Appleby 2.0/4.0
ST - Jake Simpson 2.0/4.0

It's an embarrassment of riches at Middlesbrough - I've never managed a club that has so many talented home-grown youngsters. Gibbons is unquestionably the most talented in the group of seven up above and looks like he could be a first-team option at 19 years old. Ben Stephenson, Jake Simpson and Ben Appleby are also excellent looking prospects. Very impressive...

Senior Roster

GK - Our starting keeper is up there in age but he may be the Championship's best. Darren Randolph (3.5/3.5) is a 35 year old Irish international and is heading into his sixth season at Middlesbrough after coming over from West Ham United in a £5 million transfer back in 2017. Randolph played in every single game last year so as you can imagine, the backup situation is bleak. Middlesbrough spent £300,000 to bring in Dillon Phillips (3.0/3.0) from Charlton last July but he only played in one game all season...as a substitute. Not a ringing endorsement! There are a couple of marginal keepers on the U23 team and a solid 16 year old prospect with our U18 squad but I'll likely have to look at the transfer or loan market for a backup to Randolph. Still, we're in good shape here as long as Randolph stays healthy.

D - Our central defense looks to be a strength on this team, with four very strong looking players in 28 year old Semi Ajayi (3.5/3.5), 32 year old Aden Flint (3.0/3.0), 30 year old Diego Polenta (3.5/3.5) and 20 year old Nathan Wood (3.5/4.0). I'm a sucker for pacy central defenders and Wood certainly qualifies - I'm loving our depth and quality here! Things are much more suspect at fullback - we have two solid veteran options on the left side in 32 year old Joe Bennett (3.0/3.0) and 34 year old vice-captain George Friend (3.0/3.0). Things are a bit bleaker on the right side - the aforementioned Matthew Gibbins (3.0/4.0) is supremely talented but just graduated from the U18 squad. That said, he's easily the best I've got at the moment. Harold Essien (2.0/2.5), David Hale (1.5/2.5) and Djed Spence (1.5/1.5) are replacement level players and I'll need to look for upgrades. I notice that last year, the club had 18 year old Newcastle prospect Aron Potts here on loan for half a season. I may look at bringing him back in, as he's a 3.5/4.0 player which would make him a star at this level.

M - Middlesbrough look pretty solid in central midfield with some excellent veteran talent. 33 year old Adam Clayton (3.0/3.0), 34 year old Jonny Howson (3.0/3.0) and 29 year old George Saville (3.5/3.5) are a fine trio, with Saville especially looking like a perfect fit for my box-to-box role. At defensive midfield, the team look to have a gem in 26 year old Norwegian Mathias Normann (3.5/3.5), a very versatile playmaker. There are also a couple of fine looking former U18 prospects in the aforementioned Ben Stephenson (2.0/4.0) and 19 year old Hussein Pirbhai (2.0/4.0). We could use a more dynamic presence for our Mezzala role but otherwise, we're looking pretty great in central midfield. It looks like Middlesbrough played either a 4-1-4-1 or a 4-4-2 last year, as the team has a couple of wide midfielders who don't look capable of moving up into the attacking positions I crave. One of the team's best players is 27 year old MR Grant Ward (3.5/4.0) - he may be a candidate for sale if I can't figure out how to properly use him.

F - At left wing, we have a couple of enticing options in 25 year old Polish international Bartosz Kapustka (3.5/4.0) and 19 year old Ian Barnett (3.5/4.0), who came out of our youth academy and was talented enough to spend his 18 year old season on loan with Southend in League Two. Kapustka is best suited as an inside forward while Barnett is a natural winger. I'm delighted with both. Things are bleak on the right side at the moment: we have 31 year old Jota (2.5/2.5) and 20 year old Joe Gibson (2.0/2.0), along with a bunch of strikers who can play the right wing in a pinch. We will need an upgrade here for sure. The club is blessed with some fine strikers, most notably 31 year old Andre Gray (3.5/3.5), a natural pressing forward who scored a team-leading 19 goals last season after coming over from Watford in a £2 million deal the year before. He's perfect for my pressing system but his age worries me, as strikers tend to lose their pace right around his age. Another interesting player is 24 year old Luis Suarez...not that one! This Suarez was another Watford prospect who joined the club in a £4.6 million deal only three weeks after they picked up his teammate Andre Gray in a separate transfer. Suarez hasn't been as prolific as Gray (he scored 12 goals last year versus Gray's 19) but he's a complete forward with solid credentials. There are also a couple of fine looking youngsters in U18 graduates Ben Appleby (2.0/4.0) and Jay O'Brien (2.5/3.5), along with an overabundance of veteran depth on the team ripe for sale in 28 year old Saido Berahino (3.0/3.0) and 31 year old Martin Braithwaite (3.0/3.0). We have additional depth pieces as well on the U23 team. We are incredibly deep at striker and if we use a one striker system, as expected, I'll need to start moving some of these guys out in order to bolster our numbers elsewhere.

We have a largely veteran roster that's solid in most areas but we still have a number of key things to address:

-- We need to find a capable backup in goal, preferably a youngster with potential to eventually take over as a starter.
-- We desperately need depth and perhaps a starter at right fullback along with a younger depth option on the left side.
-- We could use a more dynamic presence in central midfield, preferably a natural Mezzala to compliment our fine veteran core and perhaps a backup at defensive mid.
-- We need an injection of quality at right wing, along with depth at both AML and AMR.
-- We need to get rid of our veteran depth at striker, as we're carrying way too many for a team that plans on utilizing a one-striker formation.

Time to get to work...

NoSkillz

02-20-2020, 12:05 PM

Summer 2022- Transfer Window

Retirements

None

Transfers OUT

GK - Dillon Phillips - Hull - £115,000
DC - Nathan Wood - Southampton - £6,000,000 (£14.75m)
DC - Semi Ajayi - Crystal Palace - £3,100,000 (£3.8m)
DC - Jake Clarke-Salter - Nottingham Forest - £2,000,000
DR - Harold Essien - West Brom - £10,000
MR - Grant Ward - Aston Villa - £3,200,000 (£3.4m)
MR - Jota - Swindon Town - £1,900,000
ST - Saido Berahino - Reading - £50,000
ST - Martin Braithwaite - AEK - £2,100,000 (£2.6m)
ST - Luis Suarez - Ipswich - £4,700,000 (£5.75m)

Lots of action here...

Starting from the top and working our way down, we move out backup goalkeeper Dillon Phillips after only one year with the club and one single substitute appearance. I wasn't actively trying to sell him but Hull made an offer that I was fine with and we move on.

The sale that hurt the most during this transfer window was 20 year old DC hot prospect Nathan Wood. Southampton came calling and Wood basically forced me to make the deal with the Premier League squad. I probably could have fought harder on this one, especially since Wood was one of the top two or three prospects at the club but getting up to £14 million with clauses was too much to ignore. Wood is a home-grown prospect at Middlesbrough and played in 45 games over a four year period with the senior team, scoring twice and adding a single assist. This is a tough loss.

We also lost fellow DC Semi Ajayi to Crystal Palace a short time later. I had made a solid acquisition to replace Wood but Ajayi felt threatened by the new addition and asked to be moved. I wanted Ajayi to play alongside the new addition but I couldn't talk him down from his high horse so I moved him for £3.1 million plus clauses. Ajayi joined Middlesbrough back in 2019 for £2.4 million from Rotherham and played three full seasons for the club, playing in 78 games while contributing one goal and two assists. That's our top two central defenders gone...

We lose DC Jake Clarke-Salter and DR Harold Essien in separate deals. Clarke-Salter was injured the entire preseason so I was taken aback when offered £2 million for his services. That said, we had picked him up for £2.2 million from Chelsea back in 2020 but I don't see this as a big loss. He leaves after playing 24 senior team games with us over a two year period, contributing one assist. Essien is another home-grown prospect who was simply a surplus to requirements and leaves without ever having suited up for the senior team.

Grant Ward was a talented player but his inability to play in an attacking midfield position rendered him useless in my preferred setup so we moved him to Villa. Ward came up through the Tottenham system and had spells with Ipswich and Preston before coming to Boro in 2020 in a £3.7 million deal. We should recoup that full amount in this deal due to easily attainable clauses - Ward didn't produce much by the looks of it, playing 61 games for the club, scoring only 3 goals and adding 3 measly assists.

Like Ward, Jota was someone who excelled most in a non-attacking position in midfield so we turn a nice profit after scooping him up on a free from Birmingham last year. Jota played in 24 games last year, providing 4 assists but zero goals. See ya later...

We move the two veteran strikers as hoped, as Saido Berahino and Martin Braithwaite are moved to Reading and AEK respectively. It took some doing to get rid of Berahino and I had to eat some of his salary to move him - strikers who don't score goals aren't really in demand. Go figure. He spent just one year at Middlesbrough, scoring four goals in 31 games. Meanwhile, Braithwaite fetches a decent fee but not when you consider that the club paid a whopping £9 million for his services back in 2017 from Toulouse. It looks like he was a solid contributor for the club - he spent five years here, playing in 153 games and contributing 39 goals. However, he was on the wrong side of 30 and he was at best our third choice striker here.

Finally, we are forced to move another solid striker in Luis Suarez when Premier League club Ipswich come calling. We make a tiny profit after picking him up from Watford two years ago. He started alongside Andre Gray often in his two years here, playing in 72 games, scoring 19 goals and adding 3 assists. We'll look to find a capable replacement in the market to replace him.

RELEASED PLAYERS

GK - Aynsley Pears
DR - Ryan Shotton
MC - Alfie Payne
AML - Connor Malley
ST - Tyrone O'Neill

Not much to see here. Just clearing some expiring contracts out - none of these guys will be missed.

Transfers IN

GK - Peter Phillips (2.0/2.5) - Free - 18 years old, England
GK - Curtis Anderson (2.0/2.0) - Free - 21 years old, England
DC - Teden Mengi (2.5/3.0)- Free - 20 years old, England
DC - Jacob Bell (1.5/2.5) - Free - 19 years old, England
DC - Nathanael Ogbeta (2.0/3.0) - Free - 21 years old, England
DR - Dujon Sterling (2.5/4.0) - Free - 22 years old, England
DM - Tudor Baluta (3.5/4.0) - Free - 23 years old, Romania
MC - Joe Willock (3.0/4.5) - Free - 22 years old, England
MC - Hamza Choudhury (4.0/4.0) - Free - 24 years old, England
AMR - Dodi Lukebakio (3.0/4.0) - Free - 24 years old, Belgium

DC - Jonathan Panzo (3.5/4.0) - £1,800,000 (From Monaco) - 21 years old, England
DR - Ethan Laird (3.5/4.0) - £175,000 (From Manchester United) - 20 years old, England
AMR - Rabbi Matondo (3.0/4.0) - £350,000 (From Manchester City) - 21 years old, Wales
ST - Eddie Nketiah (3.5/4.0) - £3,900,000 (From Arsenal) - 23 years old, England

We are very tidy and efficient in the transfer market, making a number of key signings on a free while being smart about our cash outlays as well.

Phillips will play goal with our U18 side while Anderson is just a depth pickup and likely to head out on loan. At DC, I'm most excited by Teden Mengi, who came up through Man United's youth system but was just released. He's got size and speed and while raw, he will definitely be one to watch this year. Nathanael Ogbeta, formerly part of Man City's youth setup, is solid as well and I can see him contributing this year as a depth piece while Jacob Bell is added depth and a likely loan candidate. Dujon Sterling, just released from Chelsea, is a pacy and very versatile piece who can play up and down the entire right side.

At DM, I was thrilled to add Romanian international Tudor Baluta, who had just been released by Watford. He should provide competition with incumbent Mathias Normann in our deep-lying playmaker role. The two biggest free pickups are central mids Joe Willock and Hamza Choudhury. Willock, who wasn't resigned by Arsenal after coming up through their youth program, is a natural advanced playmaker but looks like he can adapt to the Mezzala role that I like to employ. Choudhury is a major find - he's got Premier League experience after spending his entire career with Leicester and he's versatile enough to play both the box-to-box role or even the Mezzala role if necessary. Finally, we pick up imposing right winger Dodi Lukebakio on a free after he was released by Watford. This 6'2" forward also has Premier League experience and should at least form part of a rotation this coming season.

We do very well with our cash outlays, as all four of these players were transfer listed by request, likely due to being blocked at their respective positions with their senior teams. Jonathan Panzo is an exciting addition - he came up through the Chelsea academy and moved to Monaco in 2018 for £2.7 million. He spent a couple of seasons at Fulham on loan and recently spent a little bit of time with the Monaco senior team but mostly was part of their reserves last year, which obviously opened up this opportunity for me to get him cheaply. He's 6'2", has excellent pace and is a natural ball playing defender and will be the odds on favourite to be a starter for us right out of the gates. Right fullback Ethan Laird was blocked at Man United and we get him for a pittance. He's a bit raw and may need time to develop at only 20 years of age but he's got great potential. Rabbi Matando is another very pacy but extremely raw prospect - he was frozen out at Man City and we get him for practically nothing - I expect him to work a rotation with Lukebakio at AMR this season. Honestly, I tried to get a more influential player for the right side but failed so we'll be forced to go with the two youngsters this year.

Finally, I splashed some cash to bring in exciting striker Eddie Nketiah from Arsenal. He's more of a natural advanced forward and on the small side so he's not the greatest fit for our pressing system but he looks like he can grow into the role. With last year's leading scorer Andre Gray returning, I can afford to let Nketiah slow cook a bit.

I think we were very effective in the transfer market, doing exceptionally well despite a limited budget. We still had a couple of holes that I'd look to fill in the loan market.

Loans OUT

DC - Teden Mengi - Chesterfield - £5000/month
DR - Matthew Gibbins - Sheffield United - £5000/month

GK - Sol Brynn - Dundee - Free
GK - John Turton - Forest Green - Free
GK - Curtis Anderson - Ebbsfleet - Free
DL - Terry Stephenson - Tranmere - Free
DC - Aron Ekpiteta - Forest Green - Free
DC - Andrew Wilson - Gillingham - Free
DC - Nicholas Hood - Torquay - Free
DC - Jacob Bell - Swindon - Free
DR - David Hale - Barrow - Free
DR - Djed Spence - Torquay - Free
MC - Kian Spence - Exeter - Free
MC - Isiah Cornet - Blackpool - Free
MC - Adam Miles - Torquay - Free
MC - Isaac Fletcher - Notts County - Free
MC - Tim Liddle-Campbell - Ebbsfleet - Free
MC - Hayden Hackney - Blackpool - Free
MC - Hussein Pirbhai - Colchester - Free
MC - Ben Stephenson - Crewe - Free
MC - Cain Sykes - Boreham Wood - Free
AMR - Joe Gibson - Leyton Orient - Free
ST - Alberto Balde - Leyton Orient - Free
ST - Jay O'Brien - Hull - Free
ST - Ben Appleby - Crewe - Free
ST - Gabby McGill - Tranmere - Free
ST - Stephen Walker - Oxford - Free

Most teams would keep the majority of their depth around for the U23 team but I'd prefer to have these guys get regular first-team minutes in hopes of developing. All of these players have their wages covered by the loaning team so that was helpful, even though I'm currently well under my wage budget.

The big prospects out on loan include Mengi, Gibbins, Pirbhai, Ben Stephenson, O'Brien and Appleby.

Loans IN

GK - David Burton (2.5/2.5) - £4,800/week (From Brighton) - 33 years old, England
DL - Joel Lopez (3.0/4.0) - £1,900/week (From Arsenal) - 20 years old, Spain
DR - Aron Potts (3.5/4.0) - £800/week (From Newcastle) - 18 years old, England
AML - Angel Gomes (3.5/3.5) - £6,750/week (From Manchester United) - 21 years old, England
ST - Mason Greenwood (3.5/4.0) - £10,000/week (From Manchester United) - 20 years old, England

We dabble in the loan market to add to our quality and depth. David Burton was essentially a panic addition - I had been trying for weeks to bring in a really strong looking young goalkeeper on a transfer deal with Chelsea but when I finally got down to negotiating personal terms, he was looking for way more money than I was prepared to hand out. Hopefully we don't have to use him too often! The other four players will get the chance to play on a rotation basis throughout the season. Lopez adds a youth element to the left side of our defense, which was sorely needed. Potts returns for a second consecutive season on loan from Newcastle and my plan is to rotate him with newcomer Ethan Laird. Gomes is a versatile piece whose natural position is AMC (a position I don't utilize in my main formation) but he's equally adept at AML and is accomplished in central midfield as well. Finally, we are able to secure the services of exciting forward prospect Mason Greenwood from Man United - he will rotate in at striker along with incumbent Andre Gray and new signing Eddie Nketiah. Greenwood also can play AMR, which could be helpful.

Final Thoughts Before the Season Begins

We had a challenging and very condensed pre-season due to the fact that 2022 is a World Cup year. Preseason essentially started about two weeks earlier than usual and that also meant our regular season was starting in mid-July as opposed to the normal start date of early August. I also had a bit of a skeleton staff to start the season - before I was hired, I was given the chance to bring some Morecambe staff members with me but at the time, I guess I promised that once I was done with my changes, that I wouldn't add to my backroom staff until after the new year. A minor nuisance for sure.

We were able to get eight friendlies set up and we did well in going 6-1-1, with a 2-2 draw against Scottish Premiership side Rangers and a 2-1 loss to Manchester United our only non-wins. The most shocking preseason result saw us embarrass Anderlecht 8-1 here at Riverside Stadium!

Similar to when I first got started with Morecambe two years ago, it took some time for me to find my way within a veteran dressing room. Some of my player sales did not go over well with the vets and the new, younger additions to the squad caused many to feel that their places were being threatened. As indicated above, I'd eventually lose Semi Ajayi because of this and I had another unhappy central defender in the towering Aden Flint, who was most worried about his spot being taken by Jonathan Panzo. He was right to be worried but when Ajayi was sold, I'd be forced to put the sluggish but well-tenured DC into the lineup right alongside his counterpart.

The lads seemed to adapt well to my 4-1-4-1 DM formation so my plan was to move forward with that once again. I maintained the same leadership group as my predecessor, with Flint keeping the captain's armband and left fullback George Friend being named vice-captain.

The media felt we'd finish just ouside the playoff spots in 7th place while our board hoped for a mid-table finish. I went along with them but deep down, I feel we can challenge for promotion this year and my goal is a top-two finish that would see us avoid the playoffs altogether and get the auto-promotion up to the Premier League.

Our season begins on the road, as we travel to face Cardiff in my first official game as manager of Middlesbrough. We had a seriously condensed schedule early on, with three games in our first week so I elected to go with a veteran squad for our first game and heavily rotate throughout the first week. We also had numerous injuries throughout the preseason and were especially shorthanded at striker, as both Mason Greenwood and Eddie Nketiah were on the shelf, requiring us to put transfer listed Saido Berahino on the bench. At this point, we also still had Ajayi on the squad so he was part of our opening day starting eleven, which you can see right here:

GK - Darren Randolph
D - George Friend - Diego Polenta - Semi Ajayi - Ethan Laird
DM - Mathias Normann
M - Adam Clayton - George Saville
AM -Bartosz Kapustka - Rabbi Matondo
ST - Andre Gray

BENCH: Joe Bennett, Jonathan Panzo, Dujon Sterling, Hamza Choudhury, Joe Willock, Dodi Lukebakio, Saido Berahino

NoSkillz

02-20-2020, 02:29 PM

2022/23 Sky Bet Championship - First Half Results

We would hold 56% of possession and outshoot our counterparts 20-7 (5-5 on target) but in the end, we couldn't break Cardiff down in a season-opening scoreless draw. That would be repeated four days later in our home opener, as once again we'd dominate in every stat except the one that counts...goals...in yet another 0-0 bore draw against Birmingham.

Luck wasn't on our side in those games but we were getting chances and that was reassuring. We'd stick to our gameplan and the wins would soon follow, with my first win in the Championship coming in our third game away against Aston Villa, as goals by striker Andre Gray and young fullback Ethan Laird propelled us to the 2-0 victory.

We started firing on all cylinders by game five, where we'd stroll into City Ground and destroy Nottingham Forest 7-2, with Gray notching a hat trick to lead the way.

The first half of the season went exceedingly well despite the very condensed nature of the schedule due to the 2022 World Cup taking place in Qatar starting in early November. We'd end the first half of the season on November 5th, crushing QPR 5-1 in their own stadium to finish our first 23 games with a wonderful 17-3-3 record, good for 54 points and a 12 point cushion at the top of the Championship table. Leeds and Millwall were tied on 42 points, Sheffield Wednesday was fourth with 41 points and Bournemouth was fifth with 40 points.

After going scoreless in our first two games, we'd start pumping in goals with regularity and hit the halfway point of the season with an incredible total of 62 goals with only 22 conceded, giving us a ridiculous goal differential of +40.

Key contributions were being made by goalkeeper Darren Randolph, who was playing almost every game for us, the central defending pair of Aden Flint and Jonathan Panzo, new fullback Ethan Laird, the central midfield duo of veteran George Saville and newcomer Joe Willock and we were led up front by striker Andre Gray, who showed killer instinct when in the box.

January 2023 - Transfer Window

There weren't many disappointments in that first half but we had a couple. Our biggest offseason signing, striker Eddie Nketiah, was injured to start the season and then battled incredibly poor form for almost the entire first half of the season, to the point where he couldn't even score with our reserves team. Hamza Choudhury was a slight disappointment as well, as he struggled to produce when called upon but I was hoping to give both players time to get settled before jumping to conclusions.

Unfortunately, Nketiah wouldn't give me the chance, as he handed in an official transfer request due to not getting enough playing time. I tried to reason with him and hoped that the one and a half month World Cup break would give him time to reconsider his stance but it was to no avail. That was something I'd have hanging over my head as we started back with some mid-December friendlies to get back to fitness before the second half of the Championship season would begin. I also had an unhappy Diego Polenta on the team, as he had become a backup option behind the tandem of Flint and Panzo.

As far as needs, I didn't have anything major other than depth issues, especially at striker. We were dealing with contant injuries and at one point in late December, just as the second half began, I had no healthy first team strikers available and was forced to use my top U18 striker, Matt Dickens a couple of times. With Nketiah likely leaving, I'd need some reinforcements. I was also looking for a potential backup goalkeeper, as David Burton, here on loan from Brighton, wasn't very good.

Transfers OUT

DC - Diego Polenta - £2,800,000 - Cardiff
MC - Adam Clayton - £350,000 - Sheffield United
ST - Eddie Nketiah - £5,500,000 - Cardiff

Both Polenta and Nketiah wanted out due to lack of first team football and both move to Cardiff in separate deals. Polenta joined Boro in 2020 and played two and a half seasons here, playing in 68 games, scoring four goals and adding three assists. I would have preferred to keep him but he deserves a chance to start at his age, without question. Nketiah just had no patience whatsoever and despite not producing felt entitled enough to demand playing time that I couldn't possibly take away from the prolific Andre Gray. The board and the fans are not happy with me at all but I was left with no choice, as the kid was causing issues in the locker room and I couldn't have that affect our growing chemistry. I make a small profit on him and insert some sell-on clauses just in case he blossoms at Cardiff. Nketiah leaves after scoring only two goals (one on a penalty) in 12 appearances and 3 starts. I wish he had given me more time but perhaps this is for the best.

The final transfer out sees 34 year old Adam Clayton leave the club in a modest deal with Sheffield United. Clayton was on an expiring contract and was, at best, our fourth or fifth best option in central midfield and as a result, was mostly bench fodder here this year. Clayton joined Boro back in 2014 in a £1 million deal with Hudderfield. He was a solid citizen here at Middlesbrough for many years and leaves after playing eight and a half seasons and 299 games (!), where he scored ten goals and added eight assists. He certainly wasn't prolific but we'll miss his leadership and defensive capabilities.

Transfers IN

GK - Dean Henderson (3.5/4.0) - £4,000,000 (from Manchester United) - 25 years old, England

The 32 year old David De Gea is still considered one of the best keepers in the world and has been blocking Henderson for years at United. He was transfer listed by request and we scoop him up at a slight discount as a result. After an incredible start where he had four clean sheets in our first five games, incumbent Boro keeper Darren Randolph started to see his form slip a bit, likely due to me overplaying him and I'm hoping that Henderson will provide him with some regular rest over the second half of the season, with thoughts of promoting him to first choice should he play as well as I hope.

Loans OUT

DR - Matthew Gibbins - Preston - £10,000/month
DR - Dujon Sterling - Derby - Free
ST - Ben Appleby - Plymouth - Free
ST - Jake Simpson - Cambridge - Free

I actually recalled Gibbins in early January due to some injuries and then loan him back out, this time to Preston for 10k/month. Appleby was recalled as well but this was because he wasn't getting enough playing time at Crewe. Hopefully he'd see more action at Plymouth. Simpson was playing for my U18 team and Cambridge was looking to give him a chance in the first team so I decided to let him go. Finally, Dujon Sterling was a third choice player behind the superlative Ethan Laird and Newcastle loanee Aron Potts so I send him to Derby in hopes of him seeing some first team action.

Loans IN

MC - Julian Rosales (4.0/4.0) - £25,000/week (From PSG) - 19 years old, Mexico
ST - Christian Keller (3.5/4.0) - £6,250/week (From Chelsea) - 19 years old, England
ST - Daishawn Redan (2.5/3.5) - £5,250/week (From Chelsea) - 21 years old, Holland

So I unknowingly made a big mistake bringing Rosales in - I needed some extra cover after the sale of Adam Clayton and my scouts turned me on to this new signing from PSG who they were looking to loan out for seasoning. This was my first look up close at a "Wonderkid" and I was thrilled when he decided to come over to Middlesbrough for our championship run. However, what I didn't know was that since he had played for both PSG and his hometown team Chivas in Mexico this year prior to arriving at Boro, he wasn't able to be registered with a third team in one calendar year. So Rosales would spend the next six months playing with our U23 team...very disappointing...and kind of an expensive mistake since I was picking up a good portion of his wages while here.

Keller is yet another Wonderkid and will provide able assistance to Andre Gray and Manchester United loanee Mason Greenwood. He looks like quite the prospect. Redan is a very speedy striker and I was just worried about the constant injury issues Greenwood has been having so he's decidedly a fourth choice option for us...maybe even a fifth choice behind our U18 superstar Matt Dickens, who is absolutely throttling the youth level this year.

We have a comfortable lead in the division and we're looking to push forward in hopes of earning that coveted spot in the Premier League next season.

NoSkillz

02-21-2020, 02:27 PM

2022/23 Sky Bet Championship - Second Half Results

France would win the 2022 World Cup and domestic leagues would fire back up again during the Christmas holidays, with the second half of the season starting on Boxing Day at Riverside Stadium as we'd host Cardiff. We'd continue our fine form after the long 7 week break, winning 3-0 on the strength of a Joe Willock brace.

Our league form was solid, if unspectacular through February - we were interchanging wins and draws but most important for a team at the top of the table was the fact that we weren't losing. In our eleven games in January and February, we'd win six and draw five to consolidate our position within the league.

We'd win our first three games in March to take our unbeaten streak in league play to an incredible 19 games, putting us within shouting distance of guaranteed promotion. We picked that exact time to lose our form, as we'd drop a shock 1-0 decision away to bottom half Millwall and then lose 2-1 to in-form Brentford to close out the month.

We'd head home for an early March game against Crystal Palace, knowing a win and some help would lock up second place at worst and an automatic promotion. We'd get that help and take care of our own business as well, dominating QPR 7-1 in our most one-sided win of the year to guarantee a spot in the top flight for 2023/24!

We had five games left to try to lock up the two points needed to win the Championship league title and a 4-0 win the following weekend against Sunderland allowed us to celebrate in front of our passionate and loyal fan base.

We are headed to the Premier League next season!!!

MIDDLESBROUGH WIN THE SKY BET CHAMPIONSHIP ! ! !

We'd call up some U18 players and play some depth pieces in our final four games, where we'd win one, lose one and draw two, ultimately finishing top of the table by nine points.

Second placed Leeds actually had the best record in the league in the second half of the season, with our 46 points finishing 3 points back. We'd finish with 30 wins, 10 draws and only 6 losses, good for an even 100 points, a Middlesbrough team record and only six points back of Reading's league record total of 106 set back in 2005/06. Most impressively, we ended the season with a +76 goal differential.

What a great season...

You'll notice in the screen cap below that my former club, Morecambe, finished bottom of the table and unfortunately would be getting relegated back to League One.

https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Nvzk8N5VF_o/XlA4FOp8_bI/AAAAAAAALQo/CVcMA__yios-LEiGny3nEvkX0iBypmh2QCLcBGAsYHQ/s1600/MiddlesbroughStandings22.23.png

Sky Bet Championship 2022-23 League Awards

- Golden Boot (Top Goalscorer): Rayhaan Tulloch, Sheffield Wednesday - 26
- Most Assists: Callum Gribbin, Millwall - 15
- Highest Average Rating: Joe Willock, Middlesbrough - 7.78 (38 apps)
- Most Player of Match Awards: Sead Haksabanovic, Sheffield Wednesday - 11[/b]
- Sky Bet Championship Player of the Year: Joe Willock, Middlesbrough - 38 apps 21 gls 12 asts 7.78 avg
- EFL Young Player of the Year: Ethan Laird, Middlesbrough - 33 apps 9 gls 6 asts 7.61 avg
- Championship Manager of the Year: NoSkillz, Middlesbrough

Joe Willock was sensational this year and he was essentially the engine that propelled our team on a game-by-game basis. We'll have more on his incredible exploits when I do a season-ending recap on our players. Not far behind him was fellow new signing Ethan Laird, who scored an incredible nine goals as a right fullback - our tactical setup allows him to get up into the play constantly and he was a menace for the opposition with his late runs into the box.

I'd twice be named manager of the month for the Championship (August and January) and would win my second consecutive manager of the year award as well.

PFF Championship Team of the Year

GK - Darren Randolph, Middlesbrough
DL - Harry Toffolo, Wolves
DC - Aden Flint, Middlesbrough
DC - Jonathan Panzo, Middlesbrough
DR - Ethan Laird, Middlesbrough
ML - Ian Barnett, Middlesbrough
MC - Joe Willock, Middlesbrough
MC - George Saville, Middlesbrough
MR - Ezgjan Alioski, Leeds
ST - Andre Gray, Middlesbrough
ST - Patrick Bamford, Leeds

We place an utterly ridiculous eight players on the league's team of the year. Again, more on each of these players' contributions in a follow up post.

NoSkillz

02-21-2020, 03:01 PM

Cup Competitions 2022-23

Carabao Cup

We made a spirited run in the Carabao Cup this year, starting with a easy 5-1 win against League Two side Notts County. We'd edge past third tier side Manfield 2-1 and then dominate Premier League side Brighton 2-0 at Riverside to move onto the fourth round. In one of our more impressive performances of the year, we'd march into Bet365 Stadium and knock off another Premier League side in Stoke by a 4-0 score and then duplicate that feat in the quarterfinals, knocking off yet another Premier League side in Watford by the same scoreline.

Heady stuff!

We'd move on to the semi-finals to face Premier League side Fulham and when West Ham pulled off a shocking 2-1 upset over Chelsea in the other semi, I should have really been smarter about my team selection for our own semi. The problem was that I had another huge Cup game coming up in three days against Man United and I almost immediately regretted not putting more emphasis on the Carabao Cup semi, one that we'd end up losing 3-2 at the Etihad. Fulham would end up winning over West Ham in the final to secure a place in the Europa League qualifiers for the next season...that could have been us. Oh well...a hell of a run for a Championship side regardless.

1st Round: Notts County 1 - 5 Middlesbrough
2nd Round: Middlesbrough 2 - 1 Mansfield
3rd Round: Middlesbrough 2 - 0 Brighton
4th Round: Stoke 0 - 4 Middlesbrough
Quarter-Finals: Middlesbrough 4 - 0 Watford
Semi-Finals: Fulham 3 - 2 Middlesbrough (Neutral Site - Etihad Stadium)

The Emirates FA Cup

We'd enter the FA Cup in the third round and get a tough draw away at Brighton, our second cup match against them this year. We'd edge them by a goal but that was only good enough to earn a financially lucrative home tie against Manchester United. In an emotionally charged, see-saw battle, we'd drop a tough 5-3 decision despite holding 57% of possession to fall out of the competition early.

3rd Round: Brighton 1 - 2 Middlesbrough
4th Round: Middlesbrough 3 - 5 Manchester United

One further note on cup competitions. Our U23 team would beat Chelsea's U23 squad 5-1 to win the 2023 Premier League Cup while our U18 team would win the U18 Premier League Cup after a 5-3 win over Liverpool's youth squad. So a fine season for our backups and prospects as well!

NoSkillz

02-21-2020, 08:58 PM

2022-23 Middlesbrough FC Recap and Statistics

https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-EwMazLA60MI/XlBJyt_D69I/AAAAAAAALQ4/crffk5n1XSgh7dgo2QI9QmiFoLwYuwT6ACLcBGAsYHQ/s1600/MiddlesbroughYearlySummary22.23.png

2022-23 Middlesbrough FC Best Eleven

GK - Darren Randolph - 40 apps 0g 6.96 avg
DL - George Friend - 21 apps 1g 7.39 avg
DC - Jonathan Panzo - 39 apps 5g 7.49 avg
DC - Aden Flint - 45 apps 4g 7.32 avg
DR - Ethan Laird - 38 apps 9g 7.54 avg
DM - Tudor Baluta - 23 apps 3g 7.19 avg
MC - Joe Willock - 41 apps 21g 7.73 avg
MC - George Saville - 41 apps 11g 7.33 avg
AML - Ian Barnett - 39 apps 8g 7.24 avg
AMR - Rabbi Matondo - 32 apps 6g 7.19 avg
ST - Andre Gray - 37 apps 25g 7.29 avg

Other notables: GK Dean Henderson 10 apps 0g 6.96; DC Diego Polenta 11 apps 1g 7.01; DR Aron Potts 24 apps 3g 7.33; DM Mathias Normann 35 apps 4g 7.26; MC Hamza Choudhury 33 apps 4g 7.03; AMR Dodi Lukebakio 29 apps 7g 7.23; ST Christian Keller 12 apps 8g 7.33

Middlesbrough FC Fans Player of the Year: Joe Willock

https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-cyus8GKFrK4/XlBN2oZUhuI/AAAAAAAALRI/sDZfOPN791Ea4s7w6gc-coUebDq89ntzwCLcBGAsYHQ/s1600/MiddlesbroughPlayerStats22.23.png

- The stats shown above take into account all competitions with our senior team and include everyone who played at least one game for the big club this past season.
- Asterisk (*) means player did not finish season with club

Goalkeeping

-- Darren Randolph was immense early in the season, garnering four clean sheets in his first five games but started to slow down a bit as the season progressed, likely from overuse. I brought in David Button on loan from Brighton but he did not instill confidence in our side or his manager so I rode Randolph like a bucking bronco for the first half of the season. I'd splash some cash on Man United backup Dean Henderson and he got about half of the games after the break, playing quite well except for one notably poor effort. U18 prospect Sean Gregory got a late season start when we had already locked up the division title. Overall, it was a strong year from our keepers and in Henderson, we likely have a player capable of taking over the reigns from the veteran Randolph as soon as next year.

Defence

-- As indicated in past posts, our tactical setup allows our right fullbacks the ability to move up and down the pitch at will and as a result, we usually get some solid production from that side. Young Ethan Laird, signed for the smallest of transfer fees from Manchester United, was sensational in his first full year as a senior player, scoring an incredible nine goals and providing a dynamic presence in transition. He's still a bit raw defensively but his playmaking abilities certainly make the little mistakes worth it in the end. He was backed up more than capably by Newcastle loanee Aron Potts, who was very solid when called upon. On the left side, we heavily rotated between veterans George Friend and Joe Bennett along with loanee Joel Lopez. The 21 year old Lopez became our go-to guy until getting injured in January and he'd miss over two months, giving the veterans a chance to get back on the pitch. All three were very good. Dujon Sterling wasn't used much in the first half of the season so I sent him out on loan in January while U18 prospect Martin Guest got two late season starts when we had the division clinched.

-- Our incredible depth at centre back was tested in the preseason when we were forced to move our two preferred options at the time in Semi Ajayi and Nathan Wood. We'd also have to move Digeo Polenta in January due to a lack of first team football. That was because towering veteran and Middlesbrough captain Aden Flint and dynamic new signing Jonathan Panzo were just too good to take out of the lineup. I was pleasantly surprised by Flint all season - he's a lumbering player but at 6'6" tall, he was a dominating player in the air and his lack of pace was made up for by his partner Panzo. Simply put, Panzo was a revelation and his development throughout the season was pronounced. I think he's going to be an excellent Premier League defender and I'm guessing he'll soon be an English international as well if he keeps it up. After the January departure of Polenta, we recalled young Teden Mengi from loan and he was very good when needed. He's got size and speed and could be an excellent complimentary piece for us going forward. Nathanael Ogbeta was our fourth choice DC and didn't hurt us when on the pitch. I'm worried about how Flint's lack of pace will translate to Premier League football but otherwise, I'm satisfied with where we're at here.

Central Midfield

-- We had two excellent defensive mids in Mathias Normann and newcomer Tudor Baluta and both played exceptionally well all season. Honestly, I'm not sure how Baluta made our team of the year over Normann, considering he played less games AND had an average rating that was less than him but perhaps it's due to the fact Normann, a very versatile player, spent some time in central midfield when we had injury issues. Regardless, both were superb and both are simply plug-and-play options with no warts whatsoever.

-- I don't even know where to start with the sensational Joe Willock. Okay, lets start with the goals - he scored 21 (!!!) goals from central midfield, with none of them coming on free kicks or on penalties. In all my years playing Football Manager, I've never had a central midfielder score that many and I haven't even talked about HOW he scored them. So many screamers from outside the area that I lost count...countless late runs into the box to give us victories. Amazing throughballs and excellent playmaking ability. He's a wonderful footballer and I think his skills will translate very well to the Premier League. 29 year old George Saville was hard to take out of the lineup despite us having a younger and arguably more talented Hamza Choudhury nipping at his heels. Early in the season especially, Saville was scoring big goals and making plays but he did slow down as the season progressed, allowing Choudhury to wake from his own early season funk. Choudhury really came on strong at the end and I think will be a fine complimentary piece in the future, especially due to the fact he can play all three of our midfield roles (Mezzala, Box-to-Box, Deep Lying Playmaker) with equal aplomb. We sold veteran Adam Clayton in January and Jonny Howson took over as the fourth choice midfielder, getting a few appearances off the bench and as a starter. 17 year old Jack Bates was excellent on our U18 team and still has another year of eligibility there so we'll continue to slow cook him in hopes of developing another solid senior team member. We got 54 goals from our defensive and central mids this year, a mind-boggling total.

Forwards

-- We'll start on the left wing, where young home-grown star Ian Barnett ended up getting the majority of starts over Polish international Bartosz Kapustka. Late in the season, I noticed that Barnett was being called a "Wonderkid" by media pundits, my first truly home-grown Wonderkid in all my years of management. I can't take any credit for this, other than giving him playing time...it's obvious that the Middlesbrough youth setup is among the best in English football and it's something I'm going to give even more attention to in years to come. Back to Barnett - he wasn't super prolific but I'm guessing the goals and assists will come. Kapustka was actually very solid playing a role that isn't exactly natural for him - he's a playmaking inside forward who was asked to play the wing and he still contributed 10 assists in only 16 starts, an excellent return. I was a bit worried about our two new signings on the right wing but the young and raw Rabbi Matondo developed quicker than expected while Dodi Lukebakio was a force in the air and scored a number of headers and a couple of screamers with his powerful left foot. Manchester United loanee Angel Gomez was a nice chess piece for us - his best position is attacking central mid but for us he slotted in capably as a left winger or Mezzala. He was especially good as a substitute, scoring a number of late goals at key times for our squad in relief.

-- Andre Gray is a grizzled veteran at 31 years of age but he's a natural pressing forward which made him a perfect fit in our tactical setup. He ran wild early in the season, scoring goals almost at will but those goals dried up considerably in the second half of the year, when he went on close to a two month goal drought. Thankfully, January loanee Christian Keller picked up the slack and the Chelsea Wonderkid was a dominant force at times. He's going to be a good one. July signing Eddie Nketiah was quickly sold in January due to lack of first team football - he never could get settled here and the board and fans certainly weren't thrilled when I moved him to Cardiff and he started off his career there with 10 goals in 12 games!!! Thankfully Keller and Manchester United loanee Mason Greenwood alleviated some of that pressure with fine play on their own. Greenwood couldn't stay healthy this year but was very effective when available. One name to watch out for in the future is Matt Dickens - this 17 year old home-grown striker scored an incredible 44 goals for our U18 and U23 squads and scored two more times in five appearances with our senior squad. He's got great speed and is a clinical finisher. He's still got one more year of youth team eligibility left but I don't know what more he can prove at that level. He may be good enough to play for us next year but I'm likely going to look to loan him out so he can begin his professional career at a league where he can dominate.

Year-End Financials

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There is a substantial difference in income and turnover once you reach the Championship and I know that the jump will be even more pronounced next year when we hit the Premier League. Our income was approximately 15x larger last year with Middlesbrough in the Championship versus our final year at Morecambe in League One. We made a decent profit and our average attendance was about 6500 less than capacity and ranked inside the top five in the league.

Closing Thoughts

We had a wildly successful first year in Middlesbrough and earn a convincing Championship title to gain promotion to arguably the biggest league in the world.

I'm honestly delighted to be at Middlesbrough and at this point, I feel I can accomplish a great deal at this club. We have a patient and seemingly rich chairman, incredible facilities, a loyal and fervent supporter base and a good mix of veteran and youth in our playing roster.

I've bounced around quite a bit in my first few years in management but feel I can set roots here with the goal of bringing a Premier League championship to Middlesbrough while hopefully seeing eventual success in Europe as well.

It looks like I'm going to be given a pretty healthy budget to work with next season and I greatly look forward to building a sustainable model for continued success here at Boro.