Front Office Football Central - View Single Post - Oh Look. It's Another Izulde Try At FM (13)

Izulde · 02-04-2014, 05:25 AM

Izak Reid is complaining because he hasn't been moved yet. We offer him up again for a $2k asking price and Luton Town and Bradford City allegedly have interest.

We loan Gareth Lee to Leamington.

@Eastleigh (2nd)
GK Max Crocombe
DL Eddie Nisevic
DC Tom Sharpe
DC Garry Richards
DR Ryan Austin
DM Aaron Wickham
DM Sergio Sanchez
ML Dave Binns
MR Max Crocombe
ST Ashley Yeoman
ST George Bowerman

We win this, and we can maybe vault up to 2nd. Lose, and we could find ourselves out of the playoff spot yet again.

Just two highlights total in the first half, one for each team. Defenses are playing fantastically and nobody's even coming close to sniffing a goal. Binns is struggling today, so we'll put Brown in for him.

59 - Great run by Yeoman, but then he completely tanks what should have been a chip shot for him. Sigh.

62 - Amazing long shot by Sharpe to hit Brown, and this time Yeoman sinks the easy shot in. 1-0

71 - I'm groaning when Yeoman gets knocked down for a disposession, but the speedy Reid is there to pick up, run down to the six yard line, and put it up for a Bowerman header. Just like that, we're looking superb value for the 3 points. 2-0

77 - Solkhon on for Sanchez

81 - Yellow for Nisevic

92 - We darn near add a third goal, but it just misses. We'll take what we got though.

In a familiar story, all defenders have 7.2 or better rating, spearheaded by Sharpe's MoM 8.4. Props also to Bowerman and Yeoman at 7.7 and 7.6 respectively to round out the 7.5+. Just an absolutely balla performance on the road by our guys.

...LOL! Oxford City wants me to give them Tom Sharpe. They're not offering any money. I tell them to fuck off. I set an asking price of $150k so everyone else leaves me the hell alone. He made it to Team of Week by the way.

The Lithuanian goalkeeper wants his loan terminated. I tell him no.

Izak Reid changes his mind about wanting to be transferred now that we have a shot at promotion (We're 3rd, by the way). No problem, man. Glad to keep you around.

@Maidenhead (19th)
GK Max Crocombe
DL Eddie Nisevic
DC Tom Sharpe
DC Garry Richards
DR Ryan Austin
DM Tyrone Thompson
DM Sergio Sanchez
ML Aaron Brown
MR Izak Reid
ST Ashley Yeoman
ST George Bowerman

Injury to Wickham and Binns is ineligible because this is his parent club. Don't see us losing this one, however.

27 - Our offense has been for shit, and we're lucky they didn't score here, booting it in the air rather than line-driving it.

30 - I don't care if people trash him, Brown shows why he's one of my favorites by out-jumping his opponent and nodding it to the wide open Yeoman for the score. 1-0

I gotta be honest. It feels like we're lucky to be leading right now, and we need to step up our game in the second half.

45 - And then there's Bowerman, running down a backwards header by the hosts to shoot an easy one-on-one goal for the doubled lead. 2-0

52 - Absolutely aces job by Austin and Crocombe combining to stop an almost certain goal. Wow!

76 - I swear that was offsides, but ref says nope, nope, nope. 2-1 Mulligan and Solkhon on for Yeoman and Thompson

85 - Solkhon fights a scrum to play a beautiful pass for Reid who does a run and cross to the flying Brown, and just like that, we can take a breather. 3-1 Let's shut up shop eh?

86 - Fuck that immediate free kick answer. 3-2

This was one of our uglier wins, but 3 points is 3 points. Aaron Brown gets an 8.0, George Bowerman a 7.6, and Ashley Yeoman a 7.3. Eddie Nisevic really screwed up in the second half. He also ignores me when I'm talking after the game, so he'll sit next game.

With 6 games left, we're 1 point and goal differential away from 1st, yet still in 3rd. We've also opened up a 4 point lead on 5th - 62 points to 58 - so there's a small bit of breathing room there. But now that we're up this high, I want auto-promotion.

Good Trains
Stevland Angus
Sergio Sanchez
Ashley Yeoman

Sadface Trains
Dale Binns

I win Manager of the Month, which is awesome, and rightfully deserved, if I do say so myself.

Alan Cooke re-signs another year as our physio for a slight pay increase. We also sign Izak Reid to a two year contract extension that takes his pay from $35,000 to $30,500. Simply put, he was too valuable to let walk for nothing.

But then we lose Tom Sharpe for 2 months to injury. That's *really* going to hurt. Welling's head coach Simon Davey praises us to the press, so I give him some love in return.

We sign Stuart Bimson to a 1 year contract to be our second scout. He really likes Kirk Millar,who we had on loan before.

vs Gloucester (18th)
GK Max Crocombe
DL Aaron Brown
DC Stevland Angus
DC Garry Richards
DR Ryan Austin
DM Aaron Wickham
DM Sergio Sanchez
ML Dave Binns
MR Izak Reid
ST Ashley Yeoman
ST George Bowerman

We should be able to crush these guys.

8 - Everybody's falling down like toy soldiers, and Gloucester misses a goal they should have had.

25 - Sensational job by their backline to lock out what I thought was a guaranteed goal.

Familiar story here. Struggling offense and not able to generate anything. Mulligan and Thompson come on for Yeoman and Wickham, both exhausted at the half. I tell them in no uncertain terms to get it in gear.

We get about 10 different chances where we should have easily netted a goal and won this thing, but no, we had to settle for a fucking tie. I emphatically let them know that's not going to cut it.

That's good enough to temporarily put us in 2nd, but we're now a full 3 points plus GD behind Welling, and Eastleigh and Oxford City both have a game in hand.

Ashley Yeoman's training draws plaudits again.

Away goes Garry Richards, his loan finished. That further damages our backline.

vs Weston-super-mare(13th)
GK Max Crocombe
DL Eddie Nisevic
DC Stevland Angus
DC Sergio Sanchez
DR Ryan Austin
DM Aaron Wickham
DM Brett Solkhon
ML Dave Binns
MR Izak Reid
ST Ashley Yeoman
ST George Bowerman

1 - Ugh. Dynamite ball from Reid to Bowerman, only to see the boneheaded shank of a wide open goal.

26 - Solkhon booms it to the moon and when it comes back down to Earth, Yeoman is there to get the ball, run forward, and show Bowerman how to not blow the easy ones. 1-0

37

1-1

Come on, guys. Stop fucking around out there.

66 - On come Thompson and Brown at DMC and DL respectively, replacing Angus and Nisevic after shifting.

68 - God damn I hate games like this from Bowerman. Get in there Mulligan.

74 - Binns finds Mulligan on a perfect pass, and our leading goalscorer picks up #20, because he doesn't have mental breakdown games like Bowerman. 2-1

76 - Mulligan loses the ball, but then backtracks to the half-circle and powers it in from that spot for the insurance! He wants that nice, new contract, but he won't get it. 3-1

What a difference a half makes. We go from sucking to everyone on the field having 7 or better at the end of the game. Naturally Gary Mulligan's 2 goals earn him the 8.5 and MoM honors, but Ashley Yeoman posted an 8.2, and Sergio Sanchez and Aaron Wickham round the 7.5 and up with 7.6 and 7.5 each.

Welling destroys my former club Staines so they stay on top.

With 4 games left, we're sitting at 66 points in 2nd place. 5th place has 61 points and a GD equal to ours, so we have a small cushion in terms of playoffs, but in order to get that golden ring...

...We have to beat Welling, and we play on their turf next.

Before that, though, it's time to vote for Blue Square South Player of the Year. Gary Mulligan is shortlisted, which I find interesting, as I don't think he necessarily deserves to be on there. I vote for Welling's DC. 11 Man of the Match awards and 7.80 average rating, both league highs.

@Welling (1st)
GK Max Crocombe
DL Eddie Nisevic
DC Stevland Angus
DC Sergio Sanchez
DR Ryan Austin
DM Aaron Wickham
DM Brett Solkhon
ML Callum McNish
MR Izak Reid
ST Ashley Yeoman
ST George Bowerman

The formula's simple - Win, and we're goal differential away and tied on points for 1st. Tie or lose, and you can essentially giftwrap the championship to Welling, who I've said all season long is the conference's top team and rightfully deserves to be here.

13 - Wickham takes a knock, but he'll shake it off.

25 - We fight off 4 Welling corners in a row.

35 - Yellow for Solkhon.

47 - Yellow for Sanchez, which is bullshit.

Look, Welling is still clearly the class of this league, and I count ourselves lucky to have held them to a draw to this point. Odds are we lose this game, but I'm proud of how we're holding our own thus far.

53 - It's a knock for Solkhon, who already was tired, and I'm not willing to take any risks. On comes Thompson.

65 - Solid ball forward by McNish in his first game back. Yeoman gets it and plays the give and go with Bowerman. Upon the return from his partner, Yeoman STRIKES HOME THE GOAL!!!!! 1-0 But our star ML is also looking tired, so Binns pulls off his warm ups and comes on in relief.

75 -

Welling get robbed by the goal line! Granted, that's happened to us before, but it sucks seeing it happen to them. Also great, because, well, we're still winning!

AND WE PULL OFF THE MONSTER UPSET!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Every single player on the team had at least a 7 except for Thompson with 6.9, with our top getters Sergio Sanchez (7.8), Stevland Angus (7.7), Ryan Austin (7.4), and of course, Ashley Yeoman (7.3)

A passing note to say Truro got relegated a long time ago. With 3 games left, we're tied for the lead on points and hold a 7 point advantage on 5th place. So with one more win, we at least guarantee we'll be in promotion playoffs.

But it's going to be a tough road as we play again 2 days after the shocking upset of Welling.

vs Bath (12th)
GK Max Crocombe
DL Eddie Nisevic
DC Sergio Sanchez
DC Ryan Austin
DR Izak Reid
DM Tyrone Thompson
DM Lee Dixon
ML Dale Binns
MR Brad Varney
ST Gary Mulligan
ST George Bowerman

Yep, this lineup has been put together with scotch tape due to rest and injury issues. I don't know how the hell we'll scrape out a win with this crew, but it's our only shot, considering we have another game 5 days after this.

12 - Binns centers the ball, and Thompson picks the sweetest time ever to get his first goal of the season, his shot finding its way through a whole lot of traffic for the early lead. 1-0

13 - Great tackle by Thompson to start a counter, but Binns sees his shot *just* miss.

24 - In the miracle play of the whole season maybe, Dixon sends a gorgeous pass to his fellow youth class member Varney, who shoots WHILE HE'S RUNNING, and it bounces off the post and goes in!!!!!! 2-0

What a heroic first half! But our backline is playing on fumes right now, and we have 45 long, long minutes to go. I do have Solkhon in reserve, but he's a break glass in case of emergency sub.

57 - The pressure we're facing is immense, and the lead should have been cut to 1 here, but fortunately their striker is playing nervy as hell and not connecting the way he should.

60 - Yellow for Thompson

62 - You have to give credit to the staggering performance Thompson has put on. He makes a dazzling interception to commence an attack, then plays out a needle for Bowerman, who stares down the keeper and improbably tacks on his 10th goal of the season. I say improbable because of how exhausted we all are... but I'll take it! 3-0

80 - Absolutely world class performance from our worn out defenders and midfielders in stopping two straight corners. At this point, we're just going to try and run out the clock. Not getting cute with contain yet. I want to keep pressure on them.

This is probably the single most special game and victory I've ever had in FM. Two U18 players, a guy everyone wanted to give up on, an old loan-in... and we pull off an ass-whomping victory. Gary Mulligan has the team low of 7.0. Next lowest? 7.2, and it only gets better from there.

Tyrone Thompson, who was denigrated the same way Aaron Brown was, captures Man of the Match with and 8.8 rating. Sergio Sanchez, who played tired from the start, mustered an 8.6, and Ryan Austin netted an 8.1. Other 7.5 and overs: 7.7 for George Bowerman and Brad Varney, and a 7.6 for Dale Binns.

We secure a playoff spot with the win and are in first place following Welling's 1-0 loss to our archrivals Oxford City - the only time I may salute our foes.

2 games left. Like the NBA lottery, at absolute worst, we finish 4th.

Sergio Sanchez is named to the Team of the Week.

@Chelmsford (9th)
GK Max Crocombe
DL Eddie Nisevic
DC Stevland Angus
DC Sergio Sanchez
DR Ryan Austin
DM Aaron Wickham
DM Brett Solkhon
ML Callum McNish
MR Izak Reid
ST Ashley Yeoman
ST George Bowerman

Sharpe being out is killing our defensive depth. Sanchez is having to play tired again because I have no other options. It's going to be tough to win this away game, because they really, really want to play spoilers here, and we're not at 100%.

11' - Welling and Eastleigh take early 1-0 leads, and so do we after Yeoman receives a great pass from I think it's Wickham or Austin, runs forward, and times it for his liking. 1-0

36 - Funniest.moment.ever. I'd forgotten I set Crocombe to be the PK guy and so when we're awarded a controversial penalty, our goalie marches over to take the shot.... and it's in!!! Welling is up to 2-1 now after briefly dropping to a 1-1 tie. 2-0

41 - Whole lot of passing ends in Reid crossing to McNish, but the header is *just* outside.

A couple guys are playing on fumes, but we're in total control of this game at the break. Now do.not.let.up.

62 - Last I looked, Eastleigh was up 2-0 and Oxford City had a 1-1 tie. Chelmsford rightfully gets a disallowed goal due to an obvious foul by their heading guy.

65 - Fuck that dicksmurfing fluke fucking goal!

2-1

70 - Mulligan on for the dragging Yeoman.

71 - Brilliant ball by Solkhon for Mulligan, and only an astronomic stop by their goalie prevents the add-on. 2-2 Welling last I saw.

86 - Binns and Brown in, because McNish is wiped and Nisevic is looking nervous. We'll keep pressure on, though, because that's how Brackley fucking rolls!

AND WE HANG ON!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

7+
Ashley Yeoman - 8.0 (MoM)
Max Crocombe - 7.9
Ryan Austin - 7.8
Aaron Wickham - 7.6
Sergio Sanchez - 7.4
Stevland Angus - 7.1

I love the grit and composure these guys showed on the road, and really, all throughout the second half of the year. No matter what happens, I'm proud of them.

Ashley Yeoman isn't listening to me. Brat. But I don't care right now. You know why?

That's right. With Welling a 2-2 tie with Bishop's Stortford and Oxford City a 1-1 draw with Bath, we've officially clinched the Blue Square South title!!!!

Still one game to play, but I'll use that as a victory lap for my favorite players.

Obviously I want to stay at Brackley and grow them, similar to what so many have done elsewhere, but we'll see what happens.

Gee, considering I thought it was going to be Welling all season long, I think it's safe to say I didn't anticipate us winning, much as I hoped we would.

Fucking ecstatic of course. It's the best non-real life outcome I've experienced in the last few days. I seriously am sitting here wondering how the heck we pulled off this miracle run.

Sweet justice to see Max Crocombe in the Team of the Week.

Good Trains
Aaron Brown
Luke Dixon
George Bowerman

Bad Trains
Gary Mulligan
Dale Binns*

* - Note: Some dude in the reserves has popped up on good/bad trains through the season but I haven't listed him because he doesn't matter.

Obviously I win my second straight monthly Manager of the Month nod.

The board comes calling. They're willing to offer me a payraise to $60,000 from the previous $52,000 I earned before, but it's another one year deal. Hmm, that's fine. It'll give me a chance to show I'm worth even more next season if we stay up.

vs Eastborne Boro
GK Max Crocombe (Brought in at last year's transfer deadline)
DL Aaron Brown (My first ever signing with the club - taken from Bath)
DC Stevland Angus (Originally here)
DC Sergio Sanchez (Stolen in the offseason after Staines wanted him)
DR Brett Solkhon (Team captain before I got here - has kept that role)
DM Aaron Wickham (Brought in at last year's transfer deadline)
DM Tyrone Thompson (Offseason signing)
ML Callum McNish (Big offseason signing)
MR Izak Reid (Originally here)
ST Gary Mulligan (Originally here)
ST George Bowerman (Loan from Walsall)

Tom Sharpe would be here and Brown in place of McNish if Sharpe wasn't hurt. He's another original. I went back and forth between Mulligan and Ashley Yeoman, until I remembered the latter's highest wage on the club irked me because he didn't earn it.

Mulligan was also the single biggest reason we stayed up at the end of last season, and became the Fans' Player of the Year because of his 8 goals in 12 games. I also love how he overcomes his technical deficiencies with mental and physical grit. And, truth be told, it's probably his farewell song with us.

3 - Should have been a goal. Mulligan is playing a little too relaxed right now.

47 - While Mulligan and McNish both have taken knocks in the interim, that still should have been an easy score for the former. Looks like I'll put Yeoman in at the break.

Ashley Yeoman and Ryan Austin take their places at the half, allowing Mulligan and Thompson to take breathers and enjoy their season (Solkhon up to DMC). The two newcomers also played key roles in our title run.

73 - Yeoman passes to Bowerman in the box and a cool finish later, I'm wondering if Eastbourne had a shot of getting out of the drop if they beat us. 1-0

78 - Binns in for McNish, as not only our 1B big signing is tired and inefficient today, the 32 year old loan played a massive role down the stretch for us while McNish recovered from a nasty injury.

88 - Angus is hurt and has to come off. We'll play with 10 men the rest of the game.

7.5 for George Bowerman, 7.3 for Stevland Angus, and 7.1 for Sergio Sanchez.

Callum McNish is out a month, Gary Mulligan a little over that, but nobody really cares.

700 people showed up for that final game, which was our best league attendance all season long. Our best attendance? 1,215 people for the Peterborough friendly. Our best competitive attendance? 861 people for that epic 1-0 FA Cup upset of Oldham.

Last year's high
770 people for an Oxford friendly
League and competitive high: 300 vs Droylsden, 291 vs Bishop's Stortford 2nd

339 vs Weston-super-mare late in the season was our 2nd league best, but we broke the 300 attendance margin in 5 league games this season, so attendance really picked up towards the end of the season as we performed our title chase, as opposed to last year, which started off with the same rough attendance as this season, but tapered off when fans realized the team was just going to fight against the drop.

Incidentally, had Eastbourne Boro beaten us, they would have been safe and Gloucester would have dropped. Instead, they join Hayes and Yeading, and Truro as relegation teams.

Further season review on next post.

02-04-2014, 05:25 AM	#35
Izulde Head Coach Join Date: Sep 2004	Izak Reid is complaining because he hasn't been moved yet. We offer him up again for a $2k asking price and Luton Town and Bradford City allegedly have interest. We loan Gareth Lee to Leamington. @Eastleigh (2nd) GK Max Crocombe DL Eddie Nisevic DC Tom Sharpe DC Garry Richards DR Ryan Austin DM Aaron Wickham DM Sergio Sanchez ML Dave Binns MR Max Crocombe ST Ashley Yeoman ST George Bowerman We win this, and we can maybe vault up to 2nd. Lose, and we could find ourselves out of the playoff spot yet again. Just two highlights total in the first half, one for each team. Defenses are playing fantastically and nobody's even coming close to sniffing a goal. Binns is struggling today, so we'll put Brown in for him. 59 - Great run by Yeoman, but then he completely tanks what should have been a chip shot for him. Sigh. 62 - Amazing long shot by Sharpe to hit Brown, and this time Yeoman sinks the easy shot in. 1-0 71 - I'm groaning when Yeoman gets knocked down for a disposession, but the speedy Reid is there to pick up, run down to the six yard line, and put it up for a Bowerman header. Just like that, we're looking superb value for the 3 points. 2-0 77 - Solkhon on for Sanchez 81 - Yellow for Nisevic 92 - We darn near add a third goal, but it just misses. We'll take what we got though. In a familiar story, all defenders have 7.2 or better rating, spearheaded by Sharpe's MoM 8.4. Props also to Bowerman and Yeoman at 7.7 and 7.6 respectively to round out the 7.5+. Just an absolutely balla performance on the road by our guys. ...LOL! Oxford City wants me to give them Tom Sharpe. They're not offering any money. I tell them to fuck off. I set an asking price of $150k so everyone else leaves me the hell alone. He made it to Team of Week by the way. The Lithuanian goalkeeper wants his loan terminated. I tell him no. Izak Reid changes his mind about wanting to be transferred now that we have a shot at promotion (We're 3rd, by the way). No problem, man. Glad to keep you around. @Maidenhead (19th) GK Max Crocombe DL Eddie Nisevic DC Tom Sharpe DC Garry Richards DR Ryan Austin DM Tyrone Thompson DM Sergio Sanchez ML Aaron Brown MR Izak Reid ST Ashley Yeoman ST George Bowerman Injury to Wickham and Binns is ineligible because this is his parent club. Don't see us losing this one, however. 27 - Our offense has been for shit, and we're lucky they didn't score here, booting it in the air rather than line-driving it. 30 - I don't care if people trash him, Brown shows why he's one of my favorites by out-jumping his opponent and nodding it to the wide open Yeoman for the score. 1-0 I gotta be honest. It feels like we're lucky to be leading right now, and we need to step up our game in the second half. 45 - And then there's Bowerman, running down a backwards header by the hosts to shoot an easy one-on-one goal for the doubled lead. 2-0 52 - Absolutely aces job by Austin and Crocombe combining to stop an almost certain goal. Wow! 76 - I swear that was offsides, but ref says nope, nope, nope. 2-1 Mulligan and Solkhon on for Yeoman and Thompson 85 - Solkhon fights a scrum to play a beautiful pass for Reid who does a run and cross to the flying Brown, and just like that, we can take a breather. 3-1 Let's shut up shop eh? 86 - Fuck that immediate free kick answer. 3-2 This was one of our uglier wins, but 3 points is 3 points. Aaron Brown gets an 8.0, George Bowerman a 7.6, and Ashley Yeoman a 7.3. Eddie Nisevic really screwed up in the second half. He also ignores me when I'm talking after the game, so he'll sit next game. With 6 games left, we're 1 point and goal differential away from 1st, yet still in 3rd. We've also opened up a 4 point lead on 5th - 62 points to 58 - so there's a small bit of breathing room there. But now that we're up this high, I want auto-promotion. Good Trains Stevland Angus Sergio Sanchez Ashley Yeoman Sadface Trains Dale Binns I win Manager of the Month, which is awesome, and rightfully deserved, if I do say so myself. Alan Cooke re-signs another year as our physio for a slight pay increase. We also sign Izak Reid to a two year contract extension that takes his pay from $35,000 to $30,500. Simply put, he was too valuable to let walk for nothing. But then we lose Tom Sharpe for 2 months to injury. That's really going to hurt. Welling's head coach Simon Davey praises us to the press, so I give him some love in return. We sign Stuart Bimson to a 1 year contract to be our second scout. He really likes Kirk Millar,who we had on loan before. vs Gloucester (18th) GK Max Crocombe DL Aaron Brown DC Stevland Angus DC Garry Richards DR Ryan Austin DM Aaron Wickham DM Sergio Sanchez ML Dave Binns MR Izak Reid ST Ashley Yeoman ST George Bowerman We should be able to crush these guys. 8 - Everybody's falling down like toy soldiers, and Gloucester misses a goal they should have had. 25 - Sensational job by their backline to lock out what I thought was a guaranteed goal. Familiar story here. Struggling offense and not able to generate anything. Mulligan and Thompson come on for Yeoman and Wickham, both exhausted at the half. I tell them in no uncertain terms to get it in gear. We get about 10 different chances where we should have easily netted a goal and won this thing, but no, we had to settle for a fucking tie. I emphatically let them know that's not going to cut it. That's good enough to temporarily put us in 2nd, but we're now a full 3 points plus GD behind Welling, and Eastleigh and Oxford City both have a game in hand. Ashley Yeoman's training draws plaudits again. Away goes Garry Richards, his loan finished. That further damages our backline. vs Weston-super-mare(13th) GK Max Crocombe DL Eddie Nisevic DC Stevland Angus DC Sergio Sanchez DR Ryan Austin DM Aaron Wickham DM Brett Solkhon ML Dave Binns MR Izak Reid ST Ashley Yeoman ST George Bowerman 1 - Ugh. Dynamite ball from Reid to Bowerman, only to see the boneheaded shank of a wide open goal. 26 - Solkhon booms it to the moon and when it comes back down to Earth, Yeoman is there to get the ball, run forward, and show Bowerman how to not blow the easy ones. 1-0 37 1-1 Come on, guys. Stop fucking around out there. 66 - On come Thompson and Brown at DMC and DL respectively, replacing Angus and Nisevic after shifting. 68 - God damn I hate games like this from Bowerman. Get in there Mulligan. 74 - Binns finds Mulligan on a perfect pass, and our leading goalscorer picks up #20, because he doesn't have mental breakdown games like Bowerman. 2-1 76 - Mulligan loses the ball, but then backtracks to the half-circle and powers it in from that spot for the insurance! He wants that nice, new contract, but he won't get it. 3-1 What a difference a half makes. We go from sucking to everyone on the field having 7 or better at the end of the game. Naturally Gary Mulligan's 2 goals earn him the 8.5 and MoM honors, but Ashley Yeoman posted an 8.2, and Sergio Sanchez and Aaron Wickham round the 7.5 and up with 7.6 and 7.5 each. Welling destroys my former club Staines so they stay on top. With 4 games left, we're sitting at 66 points in 2nd place. 5th place has 61 points and a GD equal to ours, so we have a small cushion in terms of playoffs, but in order to get that golden ring... ...We have to beat Welling, and we play on their turf next. Before that, though, it's time to vote for Blue Square South Player of the Year. Gary Mulligan is shortlisted, which I find interesting, as I don't think he necessarily deserves to be on there. I vote for Welling's DC. 11 Man of the Match awards and 7.80 average rating, both league highs. @Welling (1st) GK Max Crocombe DL Eddie Nisevic DC Stevland Angus DC Sergio Sanchez DR Ryan Austin DM Aaron Wickham DM Brett Solkhon ML Callum McNish MR Izak Reid ST Ashley Yeoman ST George Bowerman The formula's simple - Win, and we're goal differential away and tied on points for 1st. Tie or lose, and you can essentially giftwrap the championship to Welling, who I've said all season long is the conference's top team and rightfully deserves to be here. 13 - Wickham takes a knock, but he'll shake it off. 25 - We fight off 4 Welling corners in a row. 35 - Yellow for Solkhon. 47 - Yellow for Sanchez, which is bullshit. Look, Welling is still clearly the class of this league, and I count ourselves lucky to have held them to a draw to this point. Odds are we lose this game, but I'm proud of how we're holding our own thus far. 53 - It's a knock for Solkhon, who already was tired, and I'm not willing to take any risks. On comes Thompson. 65 - Solid ball forward by McNish in his first game back. Yeoman gets it and plays the give and go with Bowerman. Upon the return from his partner, Yeoman STRIKES HOME THE GOAL!!!!! 1-0 But our star ML is also looking tired, so Binns pulls off his warm ups and comes on in relief. 75 - Welling get robbed by the goal line! Granted, that's happened to us before, but it sucks seeing it happen to them. Also great, because, well, we're still winning! AND WE PULL OFF THE MONSTER UPSET!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Every single player on the team had at least a 7 except for Thompson with 6.9, with our top getters Sergio Sanchez (7.8), Stevland Angus (7.7), Ryan Austin (7.4), and of course, Ashley Yeoman (7.3) A passing note to say Truro got relegated a long time ago. With 3 games left, we're tied for the lead on points and hold a 7 point advantage on 5th place. So with one more win, we at least guarantee we'll be in promotion playoffs. But it's going to be a tough road as we play again 2 days after the shocking upset of Welling. vs Bath (12th) GK Max Crocombe DL Eddie Nisevic DC Sergio Sanchez DC Ryan Austin DR Izak Reid DM Tyrone Thompson DM Lee Dixon ML Dale Binns MR Brad Varney ST Gary Mulligan ST George Bowerman Yep, this lineup has been put together with scotch tape due to rest and injury issues. I don't know how the hell we'll scrape out a win with this crew, but it's our only shot, considering we have another game 5 days after this. 12 - Binns centers the ball, and Thompson picks the sweetest time ever to get his first goal of the season, his shot finding its way through a whole lot of traffic for the early lead. 1-0 13 - Great tackle by Thompson to start a counter, but Binns sees his shot just miss. 24 - In the miracle play of the whole season maybe, Dixon sends a gorgeous pass to his fellow youth class member Varney, who shoots WHILE HE'S RUNNING, and it bounces off the post and goes in!!!!!! 2-0 What a heroic first half! But our backline is playing on fumes right now, and we have 45 long, long minutes to go. I do have Solkhon in reserve, but he's a break glass in case of emergency sub. 57 - The pressure we're facing is immense, and the lead should have been cut to 1 here, but fortunately their striker is playing nervy as hell and not connecting the way he should. 60 - Yellow for Thompson 62 - You have to give credit to the staggering performance Thompson has put on. He makes a dazzling interception to commence an attack, then plays out a needle for Bowerman, who stares down the keeper and improbably tacks on his 10th goal of the season. I say improbable because of how exhausted we all are... but I'll take it! 3-0 80 - Absolutely world class performance from our worn out defenders and midfielders in stopping two straight corners. At this point, we're just going to try and run out the clock. Not getting cute with contain yet. I want to keep pressure on them. This is probably the single most special game and victory I've ever had in FM. Two U18 players, a guy everyone wanted to give up on, an old loan-in... and we pull off an ass-whomping victory. Gary Mulligan has the team low of 7.0. Next lowest? 7.2, and it only gets better from there. Tyrone Thompson, who was denigrated the same way Aaron Brown was, captures Man of the Match with and 8.8 rating. Sergio Sanchez, who played tired from the start, mustered an 8.6, and Ryan Austin netted an 8.1. Other 7.5 and overs: 7.7 for George Bowerman and Brad Varney, and a 7.6 for Dale Binns. We secure a playoff spot with the win and are in first place following Welling's 1-0 loss to our archrivals Oxford City - the only time I may salute our foes. 2 games left. Like the NBA lottery, at absolute worst, we finish 4th. Sergio Sanchez is named to the Team of the Week. @Chelmsford (9th) GK Max Crocombe DL Eddie Nisevic DC Stevland Angus DC Sergio Sanchez DR Ryan Austin DM Aaron Wickham DM Brett Solkhon ML Callum McNish MR Izak Reid ST Ashley Yeoman ST George Bowerman Sharpe being out is killing our defensive depth. Sanchez is having to play tired again because I have no other options. It's going to be tough to win this away game, because they really, really want to play spoilers here, and we're not at 100%. 11' - Welling and Eastleigh take early 1-0 leads, and so do we after Yeoman receives a great pass from I think it's Wickham or Austin, runs forward, and times it for his liking. 1-0 36 - Funniest.moment.ever. I'd forgotten I set Crocombe to be the PK guy and so when we're awarded a controversial penalty, our goalie marches over to take the shot.... and it's in!!! Welling is up to 2-1 now after briefly dropping to a 1-1 tie. 2-0 41 - Whole lot of passing ends in Reid crossing to McNish, but the header is just outside. A couple guys are playing on fumes, but we're in total control of this game at the break. Now do.not.let.up. 62 - Last I looked, Eastleigh was up 2-0 and Oxford City had a 1-1 tie. Chelmsford rightfully gets a disallowed goal due to an obvious foul by their heading guy. 65 - Fuck that dicksmurfing fluke fucking goal! 2-1 70 - Mulligan on for the dragging Yeoman. 71 - Brilliant ball by Solkhon for Mulligan, and only an astronomic stop by their goalie prevents the add-on. 2-2 Welling last I saw. 86 - Binns and Brown in, because McNish is wiped and Nisevic is looking nervous. We'll keep pressure on, though, because that's how Brackley fucking rolls! AND WE HANG ON!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 7+ Ashley Yeoman - 8.0 (MoM) Max Crocombe - 7.9 Ryan Austin - 7.8 Aaron Wickham - 7.6 Sergio Sanchez - 7.4 Stevland Angus - 7.1 I love the grit and composure these guys showed on the road, and really, all throughout the second half of the year. No matter what happens, I'm proud of them. Ashley Yeoman isn't listening to me. Brat. But I don't care right now. You know why? That's right. With Welling a 2-2 tie with Bishop's Stortford and Oxford City a 1-1 draw with Bath, we've officially clinched the Blue Square South title!!!! Still one game to play, but I'll use that as a victory lap for my favorite players. Obviously I want to stay at Brackley and grow them, similar to what so many have done elsewhere, but we'll see what happens. Gee, considering I thought it was going to be Welling all season long, I think it's safe to say I didn't anticipate us winning, much as I hoped we would. Fucking ecstatic of course. It's the best non-real life outcome I've experienced in the last few days. I seriously am sitting here wondering how the heck we pulled off this miracle run. Sweet justice to see Max Crocombe in the Team of the Week. Good Trains Aaron Brown Luke Dixon George Bowerman Bad Trains Gary Mulligan Dale Binns* * - Note: Some dude in the reserves has popped up on good/bad trains through the season but I haven't listed him because he doesn't matter. Obviously I win my second straight monthly Manager of the Month nod. The board comes calling. They're willing to offer me a payraise to $60,000 from the previous $52,000 I earned before, but it's another one year deal. Hmm, that's fine. It'll give me a chance to show I'm worth even more next season if we stay up. vs Eastborne Boro GK Max Crocombe (Brought in at last year's transfer deadline) DL Aaron Brown (My first ever signing with the club - taken from Bath) DC Stevland Angus (Originally here) DC Sergio Sanchez (Stolen in the offseason after Staines wanted him) DR Brett Solkhon (Team captain before I got here - has kept that role) DM Aaron Wickham (Brought in at last year's transfer deadline) DM Tyrone Thompson (Offseason signing) ML Callum McNish (Big offseason signing) MR Izak Reid (Originally here) ST Gary Mulligan (Originally here) ST George Bowerman (Loan from Walsall) Tom Sharpe would be here and Brown in place of McNish if Sharpe wasn't hurt. He's another original. I went back and forth between Mulligan and Ashley Yeoman, until I remembered the latter's highest wage on the club irked me because he didn't earn it. Mulligan was also the single biggest reason we stayed up at the end of last season, and became the Fans' Player of the Year because of his 8 goals in 12 games. I also love how he overcomes his technical deficiencies with mental and physical grit. And, truth be told, it's probably his farewell song with us. 3 - Should have been a goal. Mulligan is playing a little too relaxed right now. 47 - While Mulligan and McNish both have taken knocks in the interim, that still should have been an easy score for the former. Looks like I'll put Yeoman in at the break. Ashley Yeoman and Ryan Austin take their places at the half, allowing Mulligan and Thompson to take breathers and enjoy their season (Solkhon up to DMC). The two newcomers also played key roles in our title run. 73 - Yeoman passes to Bowerman in the box and a cool finish later, I'm wondering if Eastbourne had a shot of getting out of the drop if they beat us. 1-0 78 - Binns in for McNish, as not only our 1B big signing is tired and inefficient today, the 32 year old loan played a massive role down the stretch for us while McNish recovered from a nasty injury. 88 - Angus is hurt and has to come off. We'll play with 10 men the rest of the game. 7.5 for George Bowerman, 7.3 for Stevland Angus, and 7.1 for Sergio Sanchez. Callum McNish is out a month, Gary Mulligan a little over that, but nobody really cares. 700 people showed up for that final game, which was our best league attendance all season long. Our best attendance? 1,215 people for the Peterborough friendly. Our best competitive attendance? 861 people for that epic 1-0 FA Cup upset of Oldham. Last year's high 770 people for an Oxford friendly League and competitive high: 300 vs Droylsden, 291 vs Bishop's Stortford 2nd 339 vs Weston-super-mare late in the season was our 2nd league best, but we broke the 300 attendance margin in 5 league games this season, so attendance really picked up towards the end of the season as we performed our title chase, as opposed to last year, which started off with the same rough attendance as this season, but tapered off when fans realized the team was just going to fight against the drop. Incidentally, had Eastbourne Boro beaten us, they would have been safe and Gloucester would have dropped. Instead, they join Hayes and Yeading, and Truro as relegation teams. Further season review on next post. __________________ 2006 Golden Scribe Nominee 2006 Golden Scribe Winner Best Non-Sport Dynasty: May Our Reign Be Green and Golden (CK Dynasty) Rookie Writer of the Year Dynasty of the Year: May Our Reign Be Green and Golden (CK Dynasty) Last edited by Izulde : 02-04-2014 at 05:27 AM.