Front Office Football Central - View Single Post - FM19 - From Volunteer to the Premier League (Queen's Park/Morecambe/Middlesbrough)

NoSkillz · 02-06-2020, 04:04 PM

2021-22 Morecambe FC Recap and Statistics

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

- 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

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.

02-06-2020, 04:04 PM	#67
NoSkillz College Benchwarmer Join Date: Dec 2002 Location: St. Catharines, Canada	2021-22 Morecambe FC Recap and Statistics 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 - 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 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. __________________ MY CURRENT FM19 DYNASTY - FM19: "Ludere causa Ludendi - To Play for the Sake of Playing" - Queen's Park FC (Scottish League Two) MY OLD FM11 DYNASTY - FM11: From Semi-Pro Minnows to the EPL - Dover Athletic FC My Personal Blog - Now on the Tee - Golf, Sports, Poker, Life 2006 GOLDEN SCRIBE AWARD WINNER FOR BEST 'OTHER SPORT' DYNASTY - EHM2005: Sharpening Swords in Buffalo Last edited by NoSkillz : 02-06-2020 at 04:14 PM.