When They Kick At Your Front Door: A Brixton FC Story (FM18)

[BrixtonFC]

Rae hasn’t been used much recently so I’m giving him the start. He just mastered “Knock Ball Past Opponent” so I hope to see plenty of that.

Southern Counties East
vs. Chatham, 7 February 2018



Formation: Spade
Starting XI: Legg, Maguire, Spearing, Carroll, Al-Ziod, Barlow, Smith, Pearson, O'Donnell, Duckett, Rae
Subs: Webb, Parker, Day, Clark, Jefcoate, Nixon, McAdam, Jones, Taylor, Martin, Macey, Cullen

Nothing much at all happens until just before 40’ when Rae shows he’s good at being a Poacher. Barlow saw Rae standing between two centerbacks and knocked the ball forward perfectly for Rae to sprint and one-time the ball into the net. Beautiful! In the 53rd minute O’Donnell sends a free-kick into the box right to Smith who waits for traffic to clear before Frogger-ing the ball across the street to its rightful destination. I swap everyone out but Chicken Legg and Rae but then realized I missed taking Duckett off until the 75th minute. Luckily, Martin enters for a corner kick and immediately heads the ball in. What timing! Chatham pulls one back in the 89th off of one of those FM specials: A defender tries to clear a ball up-field only to have the ball hit a teammate which then bounces to an opponent in the box who is free-and-clear. Thanks, Myles! Turd.

(Frogger was fresh in my mind after hearing it discussed in the World’s Greatest 2nd Edition AD&D podcast, THACO’s Hammer.)

POM: Terry Barlow (1 assist, 4 key passes, 2 chances created)



Rae’s lack of sharpness bites me in the ass. He got a bruised thigh late in the game and is out 5 to 10 days.


FA Vase Seventh Round
vs. Pickering, 10 February 2018



Formation: Spade
Starting XI: Legg, Maguire, Spearing, Carroll, Jefcoate, Barlow, Smith, Pearson, O'Donnell, Duckett, Macey
Subs: Webb, Parker, Day, Clark, Al-Ziod, Cullen, McAdam, Jones, Nixon, Martin, Taylor, Donaldson

Pickering prove no slouches but after 13’ we are able to punch through their armor with a counter-attack culminating in an O’Donnell cross to Macey for an easy goal. In the 22nd, our tactic of Prevent GK Distribution FINALLY pays off when Macey robs their left central defender of a slow pass from the goalie. Never in any matches in this season have I seen this even attempted. Good work, Eddie!

At the half I make the rare Assertive “Don’t get complacent” talk and almost everyone focuses up; Maguire and Legg are the notable exceptions. I hope that isn’t a portent. Not two minutes into the second half O’Donnell beats his man and lifts a tight shot into the ceiling of the net. He totally baffled the goalkeeper. At 56’ Eddie again steals a distribution but this time kicks it straight at the goalie. Derp. Because a lot of the non-starters aren’t getting enough playing time I do a full outfield swap at 60’, Macey’s hat-trick be damned.

And five minutes later it bites me in the tookis as Pickering counter-attack and make Chicken Fucker look incompetent. But that’s all the excitement there is to be had and we’re onto the Quarter Final!

POM: Eddie Macey (2 goals, 1 key pass)



Another match, another agent, another nope. Sorry, Carroll, that 7.3 doesn’t matter when I have you signed until 2020.

[BrixtonFC]

The Days Between
The FA Vase Quarter Final draw happens on the 11th. Please not Dartford, please not Dartford, please not Dartford. YES! We get to host Hampton & Richmond, who are in the Conference South, so it’s not easy street but at least it’s not the team that last beat us again.
O’Donnell turned 17 on the 9th and I went to offer him a Full-time contract and he refused to negotiate. Says we couldn’t meet his ambitions or some shit like that. Luckily we have him until 2021 so either he eventually signs or we sell him at a healthy profit.

This is the reschedule of the match that was postponed due to a water-logged field. Lettuce see what happens.

Southern Counties East
at Erith Town, 14 February 2018



Formation: Spade
Starting XI: Legg, Maguire, Spearing, Carroll, Al-Ziod, Barlow, Smith, Pearson, O'Donnell, Duckett, Macey
Subs: Webb, Parker, Day, Clark, Jefcoate, Cullen, Donaldson, Jones, Nixon, Martin, Rae, McAdam

No postponement this time despite a “Very Poor Pitch.” Hopefully we don’t suffer any injuries. Interesting formation they use, 4-3-3 with three strikers and three central midfielders.

Erith Town probably wish the match had been cancelled though. We get a penalty in the 9th minute and O’Donnell skies it. What the fuck?! Seventeen minutes later he makes up for his sin planting a score off a Duckett cross. It was just the two of them with nary a defender in sight and if they had botched it I was going to yank Ben. In the 32nd their right striker gets his second yellow and we are hopefully on Easy Street. Two minutes into extra time we get a Duckett goal (a beautiful tight-angle one to the ceiling of the net) in the aftermath of a corner.

At 60’ I sub out O’Donnell and Spearing who are on yellows. At 65’ I bring in Rae for Macey (on a 6.4) so he can get his fitness back up, and Cullen for Barlow who is stinking up the joint with a 6.3 rating. Just after entering extra time Maguire finds Nixon at the far post and the victory is sealed, as is Legg’s first cleansheet in two matches. Or so I thought. Duckett has been horrible the second half and passes the ball right to a Townie who Route Ones it up the field and Legg just stands there looking stoopid. And not another minute later their goalie launches one forward and they get a repeat.

POM: Daniel Duckett (1 goal, 1 assist, 5 key passes, 4 chances created)



I lamblast™ them and point out Clark, Barlow, Macey, and Rae specifically. I then hand out some fines and warnings. Barlow doesn’t feel the fine was justified, blaming his team-mates. That’s not good. Macey accepts his warning and Clark accepts his fine, he even gets a Determination bump.

A lot of players are in the high 80s in their Match Fitness so I have heavy rotation. Macey and O’Donnell are on my shitlist so they don’t even suit up today.

Southern Counties East
at Whitstable, 17 February 2018



Formation: Spade
Starting XI: Webb, Parker, Day, Clark, Jefcoate, Cullen, McAdam, Jones, Donaldson, Martin, Taylor
Subs: Legg, Maguire, Spearing, Carroll, Al-Ziod, Barlow, Smith, Pearson, Nixon, Duckett, Rae

The first action doesn’t happen until the 34th minute and Cullen does well getting the ball to Jones’ noggin but he just sends it softly to the goalie. Le Sigh. Amazingly not a minute later we get a penalty opportunity and Jefcoate of all people gets the opportunity. (Taylor is on the pitch but he too is kind of on my shitlist for his botched penalty.) Jefcoate does not disappoint and gets his first goal of the season. At 69’ I bring on Rae and Nixon for Taylor and Cullen who have done nothing to impress me. Also Jefcoate comes off for the Jordanian Prince as he’s earned a yellow. Just before 80’ when I was going to switch to Defensive due to our recent lapses, Whitstable get us with the Route One. That’s our weakness. Five minutes later the lads respond to my Overload change-up with a Martin-Jones-Rae combo for a goal. I switch to Contain and give as many players defensive instructions as possible. In the first minute of stoppage time of six minutes Parker gets doinked in the head and on comes Maguire. And then with 6 seconds left Jones scores off a corner and the squeaky-bum match ends with a Brixton victory.

POM: Robert Jones (1 goal, 2 key passes, 2 chances created)



Oh fuck me to tears. Parker has a fractured skull and will be out for 3 to 4 months. Fuuuuuuuck. One of our two DRs in the U18 is currently out for 11 days to 3 weeks for a twisted ankle so it seems the FM fix is in. Youth Intake is right around the corner and hopefully we get a good DR who can take Parker’s place.

[BrixtonFC]

The Week Between
Awesome! Another Player Development email, this time from my Head of Youth Development, Harold Pennington. He believes that The Real Slim Shadi’s “potential could lead to him becoming a League Two left-back in the future.”


YEAH! It’s Ratbirdtown again!

Southern Counties East
vs. Crowborough, 21 February 2018



Formation: Spade
Starting XI: Legg, Maguire, Spearing, Carroll, Al-Ziod, Barlow, Smith, Pearson, O'Donnell, Duckett, Macey
Subs: Webb, Day, Clark, Jefcoate, Nixon, McAdam, Jones, Taylor, Martin, Rae, Donaldson, Cullen

Just before 2’ we march the ball up the field slowly, methodically and then pounce with a long ball to the left corner. Duckett sends in a low cross to the near post and Macey get us on the board. Anything you can do I can do better, says O’Donnell. He takes a Barlow feed up the middle and meets the ball near the right post and we’re up two. Oh my. In the 35th Maguire sends in a prayer that meets Duckett’s left foot near the left post and we score again.

We have a Cup match in 3 days so I do Ye Olde Outfield Swap at 60’. I try Donaldson at right back just for shits and giggles. And of course that bites me in the ass again. Same shit, different game, a Route One attack and Legg just stares at the attacker. And this is even after I dropped our line back to normal. I think it may be Day and Clark who are the problem. Rae does draw one back in the 84th and we see out the match.

POM: Daniel Duckett (1 goal, 1 assist, 2 key passes)



Duckett has been on fire of late. I need to check to see if he’s rating higher than everyone else the last 5 and 20 games. In the last 5 games he’s averaging 8.04 with Maguire the closest at 7.50. Over the last 20 games, he’ at 7.98, second to Macey (somehow) at 8.19.

I issue a warning to McAdam for a 6.3 rating. I don’t have the option for Taylor but he’s been on a bad steak recently so I have a sit-down with him. He admitted he didn’t do well. At this moment I notice he has a 3 in Teamwork. He probably needs to be shipped off if we get two good strikers in our Youth Intake Day.

Also another match, another agent, another no. Barlow, remind your agent about your Erith Town performance, please.


It’s been 5 matches since we had a clean sheet. I’ve no idea what the hell is going on. Let’s try to improve that against a team two steps above us in the English pyramid?

Southern League Cup Quarter Final
vs. Kings Langley, 24 February 2018



Formation: Spade
Starting XI: Legg, Maguire, Spearing, Carroll, Al-Ziod, Barlow, Smith, Pearson, O'Donnell, Duckett, Macey
Subs: Webb, Day, Clark, Jefcoate, Nixon, McAdam, Jones, Taylor, Martin, Rae, Donaldson, Cullen

It’s a pretty boring match with neither Macey or O’Donnell able to dial it in. We do get a goal at 38’ courtesy of an own goal though Duckett kind of got the defender and GK all a-panicky. In the second half we get a free kick that gets headed by Spearing to Pearson who strikes it true. A few moments later they draw one back but I can’t fault Legg this time, it was a long shot that went to the far upper left corner. And we strike back immediately with the Duckett-Pearson combo. I pulled Macey and his 6.4 rating for Taylor and switch to 4-4-2 Standard. And Taylor gives up the ball and Kings score on the counter. Fucking hell. But Taylor redeems himself with a goal in the 81st.

POM: Steve Pearson (2 goals, 1 key pass)



Six matches without a cleansheet. This is not what the doctor ordered.

[BrixtonFC]

In Summary
Another great month victory-wise but there has been a number of shaky performances and just one cleansheet. We’re semi-talented. I don’t know why the kids are faltering in dumb ways. Maybe I shouldn’t stick with the same tactic from match-to-match? But we’ve extended our league lead to 20 points and are still in two cups so I guess I shouldn’t complain too much.

In my next update I’ll go over our 2018 Youth Intake Day. I think this is a good time to talk about my desires for the long-term makeup of the team.

A number of my desires are really not explainable; it’s just the way my age-addled brain works. I would like at least one American in my Starting XI but I’m not going to be a homer and make Brixton an U.S. exclave. To keep the Brixton motif alive, I would like one or two players from the Caribbean. For goalkeeper, I want a Pole. I want one of my defenders to be German, hopefully one of the centrebacks. Somewhere on the team I want a Japanese or South Korean player. I want the bulk of my players to be English or British or Irish. I probably won’t sign many, if any, Central or South Americans. I just don’t like the style of play in real life so that carries over into how I play FM. When we get to the Premier League and I can scout worldwide I’ll probably make those regions the last ones I explore. I guess maybe part of that is because of the whole agent “owns” a player thing.

Now onto my favoritest part of the game!

[BrixtonFC]

YOUTH INTAKE DAY 2018

Reasons to Be Cheerful

It’s that time of year now that spring is in the air and we get new gits with loads and loads of Flair. With apologies to Spitting Image.

We got one amazing player who’s ready to contribute but none of the others are anywhere near first team material right now.



Reasons to Be Cheerful, Part 1
1. Kemar Kirkpatrick: My AssMan has the audacity to claim he is going to be better than Ben O’Donnell. Poppycock! That’s ridiculi, beyond ridiculous. Oh my. Can play with both feet, but stronger on the right. He’s 193cm (6’4”) which is crazy for a 15-year-old. Not any Mentals below 9. No Physicals below 11 except Strength. Already “very well-suited to League Two football.” I have hit the jackpot!

2. Gary Leary: Already a Natural at MR and ML, and Competent at AMR. (And left-footed!) Should be my wing sub once we get to Conference South, where substitute numbers actually matter. (Big assumption there.)

3. Bill Taylor: Looks like a good Core player with great Teamwork and Work Rate already.

4. Ashley Hibbert: Can play a lot of positions on the right side and up front. And I get to make some Simpsons jokes!

5. Caribbean players: Aside from Kemar, we have another player born in Jamaica and a player born in Tobago. This fits my Brixton theme very well as it’s home to many Afro-Caribbean people.

6. Seven players who just might be rated at 5 stars on Potential Ability.

7. Everyone has a 9 or better Natural Fitness.

8. Eleven players have Determination in the double-digits.

9. Nine players have a good Personality.

10. Good spread of positions with none being over- or under-represented. (This one time in FM14, I got three GKs and four STs in one youth intake. /Hannigan)

Bonus: How I ended up with an Angolan kid is anyone’s bet. He has great physicals except Strength and Stamina. However, with a Marking of 2 and a Positioning of 1 he’ll never make it as a Fullback.

I’m not going to show all the cards, just the ones of the players I think might actually be with us for the full term of their first contract.

Kemar Kirkpatrick (ST, AMC)
Like I said, Brixton has hit the jackpot. There is nothing not to like except he will probably outgrow us before we are high enough in the pyramid to appease him.




Andy Robinson (AMR, MR)
He’s going to be better than Robbie Jones but whether he’s going to be better than Pearson is up for debate. I wish his Determination was better but I’m glad about his Corners starting so high.




Dean Rice (DL, WBL)
Good left fullbacks are hard to find. I have a plethora of them. Jefcoate and The Real Slim Shadi are real good and I think Dean Rice will eventually be nearly as good. This will help me sell off Jefcoate once Rice’s Determination gets Tutored up.




Mitchell Nightingale (DC)
He’s slow, he’s short but he has a lot of good defensive skills. I think I’ll be able to get him up to starter quality eventually.




Bill Taylor (MC, DMC, AMC)
I haven’t instituted my drive to make my central midfielders into what I call Core: being Natural at DMC, MC, and AMC. Bill Taylor will easily be able to become such a player. He has a weird spread of Attributes, not really being good at attack and being pretty crap with defense.




Tasos Noulas (DMC)
Now here’s a player who too can be a Core player but with much better defensive skills than Bill Taylor. He speaks Greek so maybe in the future if he’s still around he can be Mentor for any Greek players I manage to sign.




Ashley Hibbert (MR, AMR, AML, ST)
I’m liking him more than Andy Robinson not just for all the positions he can play but also his high Determination, Flair, Natural Fitness, and Pace.




Youth Candidate Match
Nothing much happens until 40’ when Carey (DM) pushes Noulas (DM) to the ground during a free kick and Bill Taylor (MC) scores easily from the spot. McNulty (ST) has a chance at 50’ but sends the ball wide right from inside the 18-yard box. At 83’ Noulas tries an effort from 25 yards out but just misses the upper left corner. That’s it. Nothing else happened. I was really hoping Kemar would impress but he only managed a 6.7.

Scouting
I don’t have the budget to scout many teams and I don’t think any youths are going to want to come to Brixton anyway. Therefore, I’ll only scout four teams that are nearby: AFC Croydon, Bromley, Croydon, and Dulwich Hamlet. By mid-month all my scouting requests are processed. There are some wonderful kids out there but none of them are willing to sign. Those that are willing to sign are not going to be better than what we already have.

[BrixtonFC]

March 2018

The winner takes it all

Yeah! An excellent training report! I’m especially pleased to see Smith do well as I think he’s going to be a force for us for a good while.



Financial Matters
A slight improvement in our finances; we lost around £9,000 less in February.


Southern Counties East
vs. Glebe, 3 March 2018



Formation: 4-4-2 Standard (GK, DR, DC r, DC l, DL, MR, MC r, MC l, ML, ST r, ST l)
Starting XI: Legg, Maguire, Spearing, Carroll, Al-Ziod, Pearson, Barlow, Smith, Duckett, O’Donnell, Macey
Subs: Webb, Clark, Day, Jefcoate, Jones, Nixon, McAdam, Martin, Rae, Taylor, Donaldson, Cullen

In 17’ Pearson receives a long pass from Maguire off to the right of goal and has enough space to cross to the far post where his bestie is charging but instead of going for glory he nods it to Benny to his right who seals the deal. Between 31’ and 34’ Benny and Eddie have opportunities but are off the mark on long-range shots. Just after 40’ Benny receives a long boot forward by Pearson, he takes it to the endline, draws the opposition leaving Barlow alone at the far post to put in the low cross. Eddie is rocking it 6.4 style so I give him a pep-talk, let’s see if it works.

It took him 5 minutes and 20 second but Eddie makes it three. He and Benny had a fast break courtesy of Shady and with the option to shoot or pass he shot and it went right through the goalies legs. Rae was needing match fitness so I swap him in for Benny at 60’. Just before 78’ another hoof-it-forward sees Eddie on a one-on-one and he gets a brace. At 88’ Glebe almost get one in off a corner but luckily the defense is doing wonderful today and clear the ball upfield.

POM: Eddie Macey (2 goals)



Huzzah! We have a cleansheet again! In setting up this game I realized that I had been using the Spade since mid-December. Not a good idea.


The Week Between
Let us look at our finances on a per-game basis.

From the Glebe match we made £6,718. Match day income was £5,379 plus gate receipts of £1,659. Match day expenses were £320. Ah, but let us look at how much we paid in player salaries. For bonuses (goals, assists, clean sheets, appearance, etc.) we spent £1,250 and for salaries, for the whole team, is £8,589. So essentially we lose £3,121 ever week. More on weeks when we don’t play at home. Less when we have a game mid-week at home. We gotta increase ticket prices to at least £6 in the off-season.
Because of Parker’s injury I’m bringing up left DC Martin Duggan as I’m going to use Clark as the second DR until the end of the season.

On 6 March I get an email from Rutherford about player development. He believes DM Tasos Noulas can be much better than Connor Smith. I find that surprising. I’m also highly skeptical. Only time will tell.


Southern Counties East
at Rochester United, 10 March 2018



Formation: 4-4-2 Standard
Starting XI: Legg, Maguire, Spearing, Carroll, Al-Ziod, Pearson, Barlow, Smith, Duckett, O’Donnell, Macey
Subs: Webb, Clark, Day, Duggan, Jefcoate, Jones, Nixon, McAdam, Martin, Taylor, Kirkpatrick, Cullen

Just over 5’ in and our first corner sees a Duckett-Carroll-Spearing combo give us an early lead. On the restart Rochester try to stab our gut but Smith kicks the ball out to Pearson on the right wing and his long pass finds O’Donnell who sinks it from 7 yards out. Just before the 18th minute Maguire finds himself way too far forward, ends up with the ball at the endline and crosses it perfectly to Benny at the near post. Of course Benny has to hit the near post just for shits and giggles and the rebound comes right back to him and this time he got his act together and put us in a commanding lead. And. O’Donnell had a chance of a third but his header bounces off the underside of the crossbar and he fouls a defender trying to get to the rebound. Our inability to keep cleansheets rears its ugly head when Macey can’t make anything of being oddly alone to the goalie’s right. He fumbles around with the ball when a defender charges and kicks the ball way deep into our territory and Carroll let’s their striker pass him by and Chicken Legg just watches the ball go on by. But then 15 seconds after the restart Duckett sends in a prayer and Benny is able to outrun the opposition, one-timing the ball right under the goalie. He has his hat trick and will come off at half for Kemar’s debut. But not satisfied, Barlow times a perfect pass with a Benny run and he has four.

At 50’ Duckett gets pushed down in the box during a Pearson cross and he sinks the penalty. At 60’ I bring on some players who just need some match time. During the 73’ Maguire sends in another prayer and Kemar can’t beat the goalie one-on-one and sends the ball high and to the outside.
After the match I tell the lads that they did well and I was happy with their performance. Kemar, who squeaked out a 6.3 rating, was delighted. Nobody else had any kind of response. Jesus, kid, you need a lesson.

POM: Ben O’Donnell (4 goals, 2 key passes, 2 chances created)



Even though his Happiness is Perfect I still have a talk with Kemar. He acknowledges he sucked and promised to do better. His happiness did not drop.


The Days Between
Having elevated Duggan (temporarily) and Kirkpatrick (permanently) to the Senior team I wanted to check Dynamics to see what effect this had. I am shocked to see that everyone but Duggan in the Core Social Group. I guess Nixon moved up and Kirkpatrick was a natural to fit. This is cool. Macey and Day have not seen any increase of late though.

In FA Cup news, League One club Bury weren’t satisfied taking down Liverpool, they’ve now notched their belt again taking down Chelsea. Bury scored in 70’ and Chelsea had a man sent off at 81’ so the victory seems fair and square. Bury isn’t even top of their league, they are 8th!


Up next is the return of the Leathernecks. No, not the U.S. Marines, but English football club Corinithian. Mmm...sexy leather...

I am switching things up again to get players some Match Fitness and rest some important starters for the upcoming FA Vase Quarter Final.

Southern Counties East
vs. Corinthian, 14 March 2018



Formation: 4-4-2 Standard
Starting XI: Webb, Clark, Day, Duggan, Jefcoate, Jones, Nixon, Cullen, Martin, Taylor, Kirkpatrick
Subs: Legg, Maguire, Spearing, Carroll, Al-Ziod, Pearson, Donaldson, McAdam, Duckett, Rae

In the 7th minute Taylor get us ahead after we had some fancy passing off a free kick and Martin sends in a good cross. 8 minutes later Kemar shows what he can do as a Deep Lying Forward, sending a carpet level cross that bounces off Taylor’s foot for a slow-mo goal. Spot on 24’ Kemar gets his first career goal after a Martin cross pinballs off a falling Taylor. Almost 3 minutes latter Kirkpatrick feeds Taylor for his hat trick. Holy crap! A fourth from Taylor though he was offsides. I guess this low in the pyramid the refs aren’t that good either. A B.S. penalty in the 37’ is Corinithian’s only hope. Which really pisses off Kemar and Paul with the first one repeating that super low cross to Taylor for his fifth FIFTH!!! goal of the first half.

At the half I take off Taylor, move Kemar over to the Advanced Forward and bring on Rae. A little jealousy must be in the air as Kemar nets his brace courtesy of Rae. And then he gets his hat trick. In the 68th the lads were patiently probing and Donaldson found Kemar all by his lonesome in the middle of the arc and his shot was soft but too high in the corner for the GK to have a chance. Just before 80’ we get a make up call from the ref and Jefcoate gets his second penalty shot of the season.

POM: Paul Taylor (5 goals, 1 key pass) And a perfect 10.0 rating!!!



(A couple of days after the match I was looking at Kemar’s Player Card to see what it was taking him so long to recover from the match and I noticed that he has the “Places Shots” trait. That would explain his “soft shot” to get his hat trick. I wasn’t able to figure out the fitness mystery though. His Stamina is 12 and his Natural Fitness is 14. Maybe because he’s only 15?)

The Days Between
The scouting report for Hampton & Richmond comes in and actually we have very comparable squads. I’m not worried about this match now.

Kind of annoyed that we are only drawing 919 spectators to a semi-final match in a cup. C’mon!


FA Vase Quarter Final
vs. Hampton & Richmond, 17 March 2018



Formation: Spade (GK, DR, DC r, DC l, DL, MC r, MC l, AMR, AMC, AML, ST c)
Starting XI: Legg, Maguire, Spearing, Carroll, Al-Ziod, Barlow, Smith, Pearson, O’Donnell, Duckett, Macey
Subs: Webb, Clark, Day, Duggan, Jefcoate, Donaldson, McAdam, Jones, Nixon, Martin, Rae, Taylor

Well it didn’t take long for the Macey to Pearson to O’Donnell triad to work, just 80 seconds. The rest of the half is barren excitement as we trade opportunities and Macey again shows his lack of Composure when he’s alone. Oddly though, when he’s in heavy traffic he sinks, like he did at 41:25.

Just before the half Duckett gets a bruised foot and I swap him out at the half for Martin. After 10 minutes I have to bring off Barlow who has a strained knee and right off the restart Macey feeds Benny at the top of the box and we have a comfortable lead. At 65’ I swap out all the Smith, O’Donnell, and Macey, and nothing at all happens for the rest of the match. A comfortable win and we are onto the Semi-finals! Unfortunately we will face a Conference South team as they all won. Dreaded Dartford is in that group. Le sigh.

POM: Ben O’Donnell (2 goals, 5 key passes, 2 chances created)



Of note, Barlow had 10 key passes. I’m not sure I’ve ever seen that many for any player before.


The Week Between
Oh praise Cthulhu, we get to host Poole Town, 20th in Conference South, and don’t have to travel to Dartford. Excellent.

On 22 March, our Tactics Coach, Defending Coach, and Attacking Coach bag the Continental Pro Licenses. Excellent, Smithers. They are all currently 4 stars rated, hopefully now they’ll creep up higher.


Southern Counties East
at Cray Valley, 25 March 2018



Formation: Spade
Starting XI: Legg, Maguire, Spearing, Carroll, Al-Ziod, Barlow, Smith, Pearson, O'Donnell, Duckett, Macey
Subs: Webb, Clark, Day, Duggan, Jefcoate, Nixon, McAdam, Jones, Taylor, Martin, Rae, Kirkpatrick

The scoring starts just after 5’ with another Macey goal amidst heavy traffic. The ball ping-ponged for a few seconds and I couldn’t quite track its course. Benny gets us number two right at 18’ from some fancy traffic negotiation. And spot on 31’ heavy traffic deflects a Barlow long-range shot right to a free Duckett at the left post and we get our third. Four minutes later Cray get FMed when one of their DCs slide-tackles Macey and the ball goes to Pearson who does not miss.

At the half I swap out everyone but Chick Legg and switch us to 4-4-2 Standard. I wasn’t hoping to score but Martin sends in a long shot from the left flank and totally surprises the goalie in the 57th. And at 67’ Rae gets in on things. After that I switch everything I can to a defensive posture just to see the match out without any injuries.
It was good to see that no player had multiple goals. Spread the love around a little, you know.

POM: Ben O’Donnell (1 goal, 1 key pass)




The Week Between
On 27 March another player development email comes in from my AssMan. This time I learn that James Jefcoate has the potential to be “League Two talent”.

On 29 March no less than 13 teams came looking to sign or take on trial Brian Carey, an Irish midfielder I signed back in late October to round out the U18 squad. I accepted the offers and by the afternoon he is gone. The next day another player, Aidan Collins, also a late October Irish find, draws interest from two clubs and I accept an offer. I make no money off these transaction but that is alright as they weren’t in my plans.
Also on the 30th two teams came sniffing around a left-footed Central Defender, Rory Collopy, but I need him for U18 DC depth so I say no.
Just before the U18 match on the 30th Alex Rae injured himself in training. A pulled calf muscle will keep him out 2-4 weeks. Kemar will get Rae’s minutes.

The Collins saga continues into the 31st as do more rumors about Collopy. C’mon, dudes, I’ve got a match to win!


Said win against Deal will see us winning the league. Despite that I’m going to start the Second XI as a lot of the players are losing match sharpness now that we are down to one match per week. Now we’re down to only 888 sold tickets. We gotta turn the beat around.

Southern Counties East
vs. Deal, 31 March 2018



Formation: Spade
Starting XI: Webb, Clark, Day, Duggan, Jefcoate, Nixon, McAdam, Jones, Taylor, Martin, Rae, Kirkpatrick
Subs: Legg, Maguire, Spearing, Carroll, Al-Ziod, Barlow, Smith, Pearson, O'Donnell, Duckett, Macey

The lads are a bit nervous. Despite dominating possession and a lot of activity in Deal’s third we just can’t accurate shots off. That is until 13’ when Martin leads a counter-attack down the left side and launches an early cross in hopes of catching out the goalie. The goalie was partially caught off guard and can’t control a bounce and the deflection goes right to Kemar and he doesn’t miss the wide-open net. Ten minutes later Kemar gets his second when an attack on the right flank see Day overlapping Jones and Day’s cross is perfect to the near post area where Kemar’s right foot eases my concerns. Afterwards Martin develops a case of the complacencies and I have to give a stern talk at half to not let your guard down.

The lads channel the spirit of Chuck Woolery and score in two and two, this time it’s Clark and his big foot sending in a cross to the far post where it meets Kemar’s big head, earning him his second hat trick of his 3-game career. At 70’ I throttle things back and decide to let the starters stay in for the full match. I hope this doesn’t affect morale.

POM: Kemar Kirkpatrick (3 goals)



Turns out I need not worry as everyone’s Morale is now Perfect.


In Summary
What a wonderful month! We won the league; there was never any doubt about that really. Our prize youth turns out to be fan-damn-tastic! In a weird development, teams way down the pyramid came looking for our players. None offered money so it wasn’t that hard to say no except the two I didn’t see having a future here.

Now I gotta think about the rest of the season. We have eight league matches to go and at least two cup matches. I’m normally inclined to give some of the U18s game time but I’m torn on whether to do that or not. Only time will tell.

[Chas in Cinti]

Congrats! Great league season...