Thorney Redux (FM 14)

[Izulde]

Back in charge at Thorney, and I've made myself Unsackable after purchasing the in-game editor. I can't change the team color to orange in game, though, which is slightly annoying.

GK
Andrew Kemp (25) - 3.5/3.5
Ashley King (22) - 0.5/2

DL
Jake Betts (24) - 5/5
James Kay (24) - 5/5
Matt Wilkinson (19) 3 silver/4.5

DC
Jake Betts - 5/5
Ndiwa Lord-Kaganna (29) - 5/5 (Congolese)

DR
Paul Armstrong (27) - 5/5
Matt Wilkinson - 2/5

ML
Phil Dean (21) 5/5)

MC
Chris Peach (19) - 5/5
Mike Humphries (22) - 0.5/5
Max Sampays (24) - 0.5/5
Marc Orton (39) - 0.5/0.5 (Coach)

MR
Matt Wilkinson - 2/5

AML
Phil Dean - 5/5

AMR
Matt Wilkinson - 2/4.5

ST
George Landais (20) - 4.5/5
Adam Cornell (24) - 4/5
Nathan Egan (22) - 3/5

Obviously there's depth that needs to be filled in our 4-4-2 setup with 2 AM wingers, but we'll run with this for now.

Transfer In - AMLR Ben Flynn (19)
An upgrade over Wilkinson at AMR, and we're now able to use him as a valuable, versatile reserve.

@ Sutton Bridge United
G: Andrew Kemp
D: James Kay/Jake Betts/Ndiwa Lord-Kaganna/Paul Armstrong
M: Mike Humphries/Chris Peach
AM: Phil Dean/Ben Flynn
ST: George Landais/Adam Cornell

7 - Will we ever beat the Original Assholes? 0-1

36 - ...Nope. 0-2

55 - The ball bounces off the defender in the box, and Dean is right there to knock it in 1-2

73 - Sampays for Humphries; Egan for Landais and Armstrong moves to DL with Wilkinson on at DR.

84 - [b]Kemp]/b] kicks it to them like he got paid for it 1-3

Disappointing to lose to these guys AGAIN, but not unexpected. After all, we're picked to finish 16th, or last place in the league

15th vs Farcet United (8th)
G: Andrew Kemp
D: James Kay/Jake Betts/Ndiwa Lord-Kaganna/Paul Armstrong
M: Mike Humphries/Chris Peach
AM: Ben Flynn/Matt Wilkinson
ST: George Landais/Adam Cornell

10 - Kemp is going to get dropped 0-1

23 - We well and truly suck 0-2

35 - Heh. 0-3

60 - Egan for Cornell

84 - Flynn with a meaningless IDFK goal 1-3

Two sub 6.0s on the backline. I'm not going to panic, however - these guys need time to gel and learn the formation.

Jake Betts and Ben Flynn are appointed captain and vice-captain.

16th @ Ryhall United (8th)
G: Andrew Kemp
D: James Kay/Jake Betts/Ndiwa Lord-Kaganna/Paul Armstrong
M: Mike Humphries/Chris Peach
AM: Phil Dean/Ben Flynn
ST: George Landais/Adam Cornell

38 - Peach passes it up to Cornell, who feeds a low skimmer into the box for Dean. He runs past everyone and scores his second goal of the year. It's our first lead of the season, too. 1-0

39 - Flynn plays a long ball to Landais in the middle of the box. Layoff to Cornell, and pow! 2 goals in what is really 30 seconds! 2-0

75 - Sampays and Orton take the MC spots.

81 - Cornell is knocked out; Egan in.

*Finally* a win. 7.2 for Paul Armstrong 7 for Ben Flynn, 7.5 for Phil Dean, and 8.0 for PotM Adam Cornell, who we also lose for 4-5 weeks. We've had a player get hurt every game so far this season, missing at least one match.

Sure would like to stay healthy.

[Izulde]

Transfer In - ST Shiblu Miah (26)
Bangladeshi striker for depth.

Transfer In - MC/AMC/ST Martin Crawford (28)
From St. Kitts & Nevis, and he'll be an immediate starter in midfield, taking on a ball-winning midfielder role, which will be a change in our tactics.

Transfer In - ST Clive Murray (22)
From Grenada, and our first international to ever gain a work permit (conditional). My scouts hate him, but because he got a work permit, he's going to immediately start, and I love his mental attributes, which feature a plethora of double digits. Needs to really up his stamina, however, so he'll get focus on that.

11th @ Petersborough Sports Reserves (2nd)
G: Andrew Kemp
D: James Kay/Jake Betts/Ndiwa Lord-Kaganna/Paul Armstrong
M: Martin Crawford/Chris Peach
AM: Phil Dean/Ben Flynn
ST: George Landais/Clive Murray

27 - Smacked on a counter 0-1

47 - Ugh. Humphries in for Peach 0-2

81 - Simple long ball of Betts to Flynn, who shows off clean heels and scores one back. Sampays in for exhausted Crawford. 1-2

87 - Lord-Kaganna chases down a corner and scores a fluke longball goal! First time that's ever happened in favour of us that I can recall 2-2

88 - Fuck that bullshit 2-3

Transfer In - DC Ryan Weisberg (27)
Northern Irish defensive center who provides key depth at DC.

Transfer In - DC Blake Goodman (24)
A fellow American who becomes an instant DC starter.

13th vs AFC Stanground (9th)
G: Andrew Kemp
D: James Kay/Blake Goodman/Ndiwa Lord-Kaganna/Paul Armstrong
M: Martin Crawford/Chris Peach
AM: Phil Dean/Ben Flynn
ST: George Landais/Clive Murray

13 - Sigh. 0-1

20 - Flynn's shot is deflected, but Dean is right there to put away the rebound. 1-1

58 - Ugh. Give up free kick goal. Humphries for Crawford. 1-2

71 - We're awarded a PK! Peach peachily converts! Wilkinson for Flynn and Weisberg for Lord-Kaganna 2-2

I really don't like this setup. Not because of our results, but because our strikers aren't doing anything. That's not the kind of game I like to play.

14th vs Netherton United Reserves (7th)
G: Andrew Kemp
D: James Kay/Ryan Weisberg/Blake Goodman/Paul Armstrong
M: Phil Dean/Chris Peach/Ben Flynn
S: George Landais/Martin Crawford/Clive Murray

27 - We sure give up a lot of free kick goals 0-1

60 - Betts and Wilkinson in at DL and DR.

80 - Another free kick goal given up 0-2

90 - Bleh. 0-3

15th @ King's Cliffe (11th)
G: Andrew Kemp
D: James Kay/Ryan Weisberg/Blake Goodman/Paul Armstrong
M: Phil Dean/Chris Peach/Ben Flynn
S: George Landais/Adam Cornell/Clive Murray

25 - Flynn bounces a pass into the box for Murray, who muscles through the defense and *finally* scores. 1-0

51 - Sigh. 1-1

52 - Dean to Cornell with the long pass to Landais in the box. Jukes the D and hits the 1 v 1. 2-1

55 - Can't defend set pieces worth shit 2-2

63 - Betts for Goodman; Crawford for Peach

90 - 2-3

Transfer In - DL/ML Sam Young (22)
Our defensive left back has been performing like ass, so Young will start.

Transfer In - DC/DL Darren Craddock (28)
Or maybe he'll start. Lot of choices now along that side of the line.

15th vs Holbeach Reserves (9th)
G: Andrew Kemp
D: Sam Young/Darren Craddock/James Betts/Paul Armstrong
M: Phil Dean/Chris Peach/Ben Flynn
S: George Landais/Adam Cornell/Clive Murray

7 - I hate you Kemp. 0-1

18 - Flynn drives a ball into the box, where Cornell takes advantage of the keeper coming out to score 1-1

54 - Goodman for Betts; Crawford for Peach

59 - Carted off is Flynn, our best player on the day. Wilkinson in.

67 - Perfect goal kick from Kemp to Cornell, who dribbles and fires it in. 2-1

82 - Dick. 2-2

85 - Anyone surprised at this bullshit? 2-3

87 - Craddock sent off.

We keep falling apart at the very end. I'm beginning to hate this team.

[Izulde]

Time for another switch. We can't be any worse than we are now, so it's a 4-5-1 with Dean and Flynn as attacking midfielders, where they were great for us.

Transfer In - DC/DM/MC/MR Mark Drew (29)
Our defense needs help, so in comes a veteran defensive midfielder in our new 4-5-1 to take charge.

Transfer In - DC/DM/MC Theon Gordon (27)
Virgin Islander who was granted a work permit to come play for us a backup role.

16th vs Moulton Harrox Reserves (8th)
G: Andrew Kemp
D: Sam Young/Blake Goodman/James Betts/Paul Armstrong
M: Martin Crawford/Chris Peach
AM: Phil Dean/Ben Flynn
S: Adam Cornell

13 seconds - Peach with the long ball out on the far wing to Flynn, who crosses to Cornell for the quick header strike goal 1-0

11 - We really need a new DR. 1-1

14 - Fuck you. 1-2

18 - FUCK.YOU. 1-3

31 - Flynn on the corner to Betts head, and the knock down to Goodman is good 2-3

50 - Wilkinson for Armstrong; Gordon for Drew, who is pissed at being replaced.

54 - Young intercepts a goal kick and gets it to Dean. On to Cornell in the box, and *BAM* tie up 3-3

62 - Dean slams it all the way down the field and Flynn wins the race. Shot's blocked but Cornell is there for the hat-trick rebound goal!! 4-3

7.4 for Blake Goodman, 7.3 for Chris Peach, 8.0 for Ben Flynn and 9.5 for PotM Adam Cornell as we get just our second win of the year.

Just gonna sit back and go enjoy this one.

[Izulde]

Celebration time over. We're still in the bottom of the league.

15th @ Ketton (3rd)
G: Ashley King
D: Sam Young/Blake Goodman/James Betts/Paul Armstrong
M: Martin Crawford/Chris Peach
AM: Phil Dean/Ben Flynn
S: Adam Cornell

Andrew Kemp is a bust. Let's get that right.

23 - Horseshit. Flynn was onsides.

25 - Armstrong shoots the rocket down field to Flynn, who gets the ball stripped in the box. Too bad Cornell is right there to put it away 1-0

29 - Anyone surprised we gave up a free kick goal? No? Me either. 1-1

59 - Drew kicks it up to Flynn who pauses before passing it back to Peach outside the half circle. Long shot whistles in! 2-1

72 - Gordon in for Crawford; Flynn jumps to the left side and Wilkinson is on at AMR.

79 - CUNT ASS FUCKING FLUKE GOAL BULLSHIT! 2-2

83 - Knocked out is Flynn so Young moves up to AML and Kay comes in at DL.

91 - Young takes the pass from I forget who in the box, and slips it to Cornell for another late game heroic goal! 3-2

7.7 for Chris Peach, 8.8 for PotM Adam Cornell again.

14th @ Stamford Belvedere (5th)
G: Ashley King
D: Sam Young/Blake Goodman/James Betts/Paul Armstrong
M: Martin Crawford/Chris Peach
AM: Phil Dean/Ben Flynn
S: Adam Cornell

3 - Thanks for the own goal, bro. 1-0

Gordon in for the injured Peach at half.

50 - Flawless goal kick by King to Cornell, and he easily blows off the D on way to the goal 2-0

53 - HANG ON TO THE FUCKING BALL, KING. 2-1

80 - Flynn to the left side; Wilkinson at AMR.

7.0 for Paul Armstrong and 7.1 for PotM Adam Cornell, as we've put together a 3 game win streak with this new setup.

[Izulde]

Marc Orton develops knee tendinitis and is out 7 to 8 months. As a result, he's pondering quitting the game.

12th vs Langtoft United (15th)
G: Ashley King
D: Sam Young/Blake Goodman/James Betts/Paul Armstrong
M: Martin Crawford/Chris Peach
AM: Phil Dean/Ben Flynn
S: Adam Cornell

15 - That looked offsides as fuck. 0-1

30 - Peach with the corner Goodman's feet, and it's in. 1-1

36 - Dean centers to Peach who shorts it to Cornell. In the box to Dean again, who threads it between two defenders for the go ahead score 2-1

Cornell is looking complacent, so Murray replaces him at half.

55 - 2-2

69 - Gordon replaces Drew

Transfer In - GK Damien Stevens (25)
Is this finally the key goalie we've been trying to find all season long? He'll get a shot.

11th vs Peterborough ICA Sports Reserves
G: Damien Stevens
D: Sam Young/Blake Goodman/James Betts/Paul Armstrong
M: Martin Crawford/Chris Peach
AM: Phil Dean/Ben Flynn
S: Adam Cornell

23 - We sure get fucked over on these offsides calls.

Gordon for Goodman; Murray for Cornell at half.

11th @ Long Sutton Athletic (12th)
G: Damien Stevens
D: Sam Young/Blake Goodman/James Betts/Paul Armstrong
M: Martin Crawford/Theon Gordon
AM: Phil Dean/Ben Flynn
S: Adam Cornell

29 - Dean dribbles down the left side of the pitch, then cuts inside the box, whereupon he crosses to the waiting head of Flynn for the score 1-0

38 - GOODMAN, YOU DUMB FUCKER! 1-1

That own goal by my countryman cost us the damn win, and drops us in the standings.

[Izulde]

13th vs Warboys (16th)
G: Damien Stevens
D: Sam Young/Blake Goodman/James Betts/Paul Armstrong
M: Martin Crawford/Theon Gordon
AM: Phil Dean/Ben Flynn
S: Adam Cornell

I should note that I haven't been posting training updates or board happiness because, well, those things don't matter when it's all amateurs who will be gone next year, and I can't be fired.

27 - Crawford heads the goal kick to Cornell for a quick pass to Dean. Defense drawn and the floor cross to Flynn. Defense is burnt like toast and a score. 1-0

43 - Gordon with the pass to Cornell, who sprays it to Flynn. Shot fires... deflected. Flynn with his own follow through! 2-0

64 - Humphries in for Crawford

73 - Murray on for Cornell

Our entire backline was 7 or better, but the real hero was of course Ben Flynn with an 8.8 game.

And so at the halfway mark, we've overcome a sluggish start and a formation hunt to now be 8th in the table with 19 points. #1 and #2 both have 28 points, so it'd be tough, but it's not 100% out of the realm of possibility for the promotion in the first season if we play well and things break right.

8th vs Sutton Bridge United (10th)
G: Damien Stevens
D: Sam Young/Blake Goodman/James Betts/Paul Armstrong
M: Martin Crawford/Chris Peach
AM: Phil Dean/Ben Flynn
S: Adam Cornell

Can we *finally* beat the Original Assholes?

Wilkinson replaces the banged up Flynn at half.

Damn. We still can not beat these guys.

8th vs Ryhall United (6th)
G: Damien Stevens
D: Sam Young/Blake Goodman/James Betts/Paul Armstrong
M: Martin Crawford/Chris Peach
AM: Phil Dean/Ben Flynn
S: Adam Cornell

24 - Damn corner kicks 0-1

29 - 0-2

I rip the team a new one for playing like shit and Gordon goes in for Crawford at half.

72 - Murray jumps in for Cornell

78 - Dean dribbles down the wing and crosses. Murray's head finds the net 1-2

I accidentally tell Paul Armstrong I'm happy with his 6.1 performance when I meant to chew him out. That clusterfucks everything.

Meh, whatever.

[Izulde]

Transfer In - DR Carl Fitton (21)
Just here to push Paul Armstrong.

Transfer In - DR/MR Dan Starbuck (21)
Great physical attributes and he's going to immediately start for us because of that superiority.

Transfer In - DR/DC/MR/AMR Hayden Johns (25)
New Zealander granted a work permit, he's going to be a versatile backup for us, given that he can play 3 of our positions at any one time.

Theon Gordon is our latest international to gain British citizenship.

11th @ Farcet United (7th)
G: Damien Stevens
D: Sam Young/Blake Goodman/James Betts/Dan Starbuck
DM: Mark Drew
M: Martin Crawford/Chris Peach
AM: Phil Dean/Ben Flynn
S: Adam Cornell

54 - Johns in for Flynn; Gordon for Drew

80 - Crawford laterals to Peach, who mosey-twirls before feeding it in the box to Johns. The defensive split shot nets a debut goal! 1-0

81[/b] - Kay in for Young

7.1 for Dan Starbuck on his debut, 7.1 for Martin Crawford, and
[b] and a beautiful PotM 7.2 for Hayden Johns as a debut supersub.

Transfer In - DM/MC/AMC Jordan Wright (19)
He is a god. That's all there is to say, really. Instant starting MC. Or he could go DM. But yeah, MC for now because his passing is better than Mark Drew.

Transfer In - DM Brad Birch (23)
He can really awkwardly play the backline and MC, so I'm going to work on training him in all those positions. I kinda like him TBH.

Transfer In - AML Drew McCoubry (27)
I regret signing him now. Great mental attributes, but terrible everywhere else. Still, he's going to get a shot, because Phil Dean is dealing with a nasty virus.

9th @ AFC Stanground (12th)
G: Damien Stevens
D: Sam Young/Blake Goodman/Darren Craddock/Dan Starbuck
DM: Mark Drew
M: Jordan Wright/Chris Peach
AM: Drew McCoubry/Ben Flynn
S: Adam Cornell

2 - Drew gets it to Cornell, who holds up play, and then spin-moves a pass into the box for the flying McCoubry, who slams in the debut goal! 1-0

60 - Are you fucking kidding me?!?! Goodman didn't deserve a PK call on that, much less a red! Gordon for [b]Peach[b] after the conversion 1-1

81 - Johns for Starbuck, Murray for Cornell

My assman also thinks the sendoff was bullshit, and we appeal the ban.

Transfer In - DM/MC Michael Taylor (21)
A better backup than Theron Gordon, and younger to boot.

The FA denies our appeal, which is bullshit. Whatever.

[Izulde]

11th @ Netherton United Reserves
G: Damien Stevens
D: Sam Young/Jake Betts/Darren Craddock/Dan Starbuck
DM: Mark Drew
M: Jordan Wright/Chris Peach
AM: Drew McCoubry/Ben Flynn
S: Adam Cornell

We changed assmans because ours got a manager gig elsewhere, weirdly enough.

35 - Craddock is redcarded yet again, so he's off the team as far as I'm concerned.

Murray takes over at striker; Johns AMR with Flynn to AML at half. All reds at halftime talk, too.

75 - 10 on 10 after one of their guys gets a questionable red.

84 - One of their players gets a double yellow! 10 on 9!

Damien Stevens had the game of his life with an 8.3 to save us with a point. We still drop in the standings, however.

Transfer In - AMLR/MLMR Jed Vale (21)
Backup at the wing spots.

13th vs Peterborough Sports Reserves (4th)
G: Damien Stevens
D: Sam Young/Blake Goodman/Jake Betts/Dan Starbuck
DM: Mark Drew
M: Jordan Wright/Chris Peach
AM: Phil Dean/Ben Flynn
S: Adam Cornell

Nice to finally get Dean back from illness.

1 - Precision corner kick by Flynn to unmarked Goodman's feet and it's good for the early goal 1-0

38 - Flynn injury means Johns is on.

68 - Vale for Dean; Taylor for Peach.

7.4 for PotM Dan Starbuck, 7.3 for Blake Goodman, and 7.1 for Sam Young, as the backline bailed us out here.

Weird move by Stewart Heeps, who had the West Mid Police in a promo spot in Level 11... he drops down to Level 12 to take over a shit team in our division.

11th vs King's Cliffe (10th)
G: Damien Stevens
D: Sam Young/Blake Goodman/Jake Betts/Dan Starbuck
DM: Mark Drew
M: Jordan Wright/Chris Peach
AM: Phil Dean/Hayden Johns
S: Adam Cornell

Ben Flynn is out with injury, so Johns gets a start.

59 - Sigh. 0-1

61 - Miah replaces Cornell; Drew moves down to DC for Betts, and Taylor is at DM, while Johns moves to DR, and Vale jumps in at AMR.

79 - Johns shorts the indirect kick to Miah, who launches a booming boomerang cross. The defense can't control it, and Dean puts it away 1-1

[Izulde]

11th @ Holbeach Reserves (9th)
G: Damien Stevens
D: Sam Young/Blake Goodman/Jake Betts/Dan Starbuck
DM: Mark Drew
M: Jordan Wright/Chris Peach
AM: Phil Dean/Hayden Johns
S: Adam Cornell

James Kay signed elsewhere, but that's okay. Darren Craddock moves to the bench, then.

24 - Peach boots a volley to Cornell. The striker dribbles into the box, where his short pass to Dean is cut out. No problem, as Dean picks up the loose ball and thunders a shot in. 1-0

51 - Taylor in for Peach; Craddock for Young.

89 - Ugh. They've been hammering us all game long, and finally sneak in a fluke corner kick goal 1-1

Frustrating, because we played great overall.

Youth Pulls
We have two players who are immediately ready to start on the backline, but only one will win a spot from the get go.

10th vs Ketton (4th)
G: Damien Stevens
D: Sani Amodu (Youth pull)/Blake Goodman/Jake Betts/Dan Starbuck
DM: Mark Drew
M: Jordan Wright/Chris Peach
AM: Phil Dean/Hayden Johns
S: Adam Cornell

Miah replaces Cornell at the half.

47 - Miah is knocked out with injury, and we're forced to move Wright up to an AMC spot, with Taylor at MC in a weird, strikerless formation.

79 - Johns is on the far right wing and he kicks a 20 yarder back to Starbuck just outside the box. Short pass in the box to Peach and the layoff to Wright for the open score! 1-0

Jordan Wright's 7.1 is good enough for PotM, though Sani Amodu pulls a 7.0 in his debut. Not bad for a 15 year old!

With an hour and a half left in the deadline, we swipe DM/MC Paul Nesbit, a 15 year old who posted a 7.7 in his first game. The kid's got an intriguing set of skills, and I promised him a first team spot over the profoundly disappointing Mark Drew.

9th vs Stamford Belvedere (3rd)
G: Damien Stevens
D: Sani Amodu (Youth pull)/Blake Goodman/Jake Betts/Dan Starbuck
DM: Paul Nesbit
M: Jordan Wright/Chris Peach
AM: Phil Dean/Hayden Johns
S: Adam Cornell

22 - Nisbet is injured, so Taylor comes in.

Flynn replaces Dean at the break.

58 - Ugh. 0-1

On top of it, Paul Nesbit is out 3-4 months. Just fucking great.

[Izulde]

Blake Goodman has good training in Fitness. Board is satisfied, blah blah money print.

Thorney Under 21s 4 Morecambe Under 21s 3
Ben Flynn wins PotG with a 7.8 rating and a goal. Nice to see us beat a superior league's side.

10th @ Moulton Herrox Reserves (7th)
G: Damien Stevens
D: Sani Amodu /Blake Goodman/Jake Betts/Dan Starbuck
DM: Michael Taylor
M: Jordan Wright/Chris Peach
AM: Phil Dean/Ben Flynn
S: Adam Cornell

6 - Bleh. 0-1

60 - Johns for Flynn; Crawford for Cornell

77 - Wright with a long free kick into the box that Johns latches on to and slots in. 1-1

10th @ Langtoft United (15th)
G: Damien Stevens
D: Sani Amodu /Blake Goodman/Jake Betts/Dan Starbuck
DM: Michael Taylor
M: Jordan Wright/Chris Peach
AM: Phil Dean/Ben Flynn
S: Adam Cornell

9 - Wright to Peach short pass leads to launch to
Dean just outside the left side of the box. Cross into the six yard box, and Flynn beats the defender with a header 1-0

13 - Dean is floored from behind in the box. PK and Peach converts! 2-0

Drew replaces the injured Taylor at half.

52 - Bleh. 2-1

58 - Goodman knocked out with injury, so Johns comes in at DC.

77 - Johns to AMR; Amodu to DC and youth callup Simon Stafford to DL.

92 - Our third injury this game sees Peach out and us forced to play 10 men in the final minute.

8.3 for Phil Dean as PotM; 7.3 for Ben Flynn as we rode our wingers to a win.

3 games left and not much to play for. At absolute worst, we have 14th locked up.

Good Trains
Blake Goodman - Defending
Darren Craddock - Fitness

Bad Trains
Marc Orton
Mark Drew

10th vs Long Sutton Athletic (14th)
G: Damien Stevens
D: Sani Amodu /Blake Goodman/Darren Craddock/Dan Starbuck
DM: Michael Taylor
M: Jordan Wright/Chris Peach
AM: Phil Dean/Ben Flynn
S: Adam Cornell

43 - Flynn kicks a beautiful bomb into space for Cornell to beat everyone and *finally* end his scoring drought. 1-0

61 - Flynn moves to AML and Johns comes in at
AMR.

72 - Amodu moves to DC, replacing Goodman and Stafford is in at DL.

90 - Cheap red on one of their players.

7.1 for Dan Starbuck and 7.2 for PotM Adam Cornell

As noted, we're already mathematically eliminated from promoting, but now we can't finish any worse than 11th.

BTW, that was a 20 match drought for Adam Cornell. A few times I almost pulled him.

Blake Goodman gets a report that he's trained well over the last several months, which we already knew, and why I'm sticking with him despite uneven form.

7th @ Warboys (15th)
G: Damien Stevens
D: Sani Amodu /Blake Goodman/Darren Craddock/Dan Starbuck
DM: Michael Taylor
M: Jordan Wright/Chris Peach
AM: Phil Dean/Ben Flynn
S: Adam Cornell

34 - Flynn and Starbuck exchanges passes on the right wing before Flynn near post crosses to Cornell's head for the score. 1-0

Amodu moves in for Goodman at DC and Stafford jumps in at DL at the half.

65 - Johns replaces Flynn at AMR.

70 - Craddock runs forward, intercepts, and jacks a 35 yard pass to Dean. Runs past the defense into the box, and there's a center for Cornell's second score. 2-0

90 - We get sniped on the counter. Stafford to DR, Amodu back to DL and Drew in at DC, while the injured Starbuck goes off. 2-1

8.8 for PotM Adam Cornell, but the rest of the team kind of stunk.

We'll finish somewhere between 4th and 9th. Not a bad way to end up, given how awful we were early in the year.

7th @ Peterborough Sports ICA (13th)
G: Damien Stevens
D: Sani Amodu /Blake Goodman/Darren Craddock/Dan Starbuck
DM: Michael Taylor
M: Jordan Wright/Chris Peach
AM: Phil Dean/Ben Flynn
S: Adam Cornell

15 - Cornell kicks it back to Peach for the 35 yard rocket to Deans feet. Dribble in the box, and POW! 1-0

26 - Wright laterals to Peach, who puts it up to Cornell. Turnaround pass to Wright in the exact same spot Dean scored from, and it's the same result. 2-0

45 - Stevens kicks it right to the opposition, and somehow they miss.

52 - [b]Taylor[/b is injured, requiring Drew on.

62 - Johns in for Flynn

7.8 for PotM Phil Dean; 7.5 for Jordan Wright 7.3 for Sani Amodu and Blake Goodman and 7.2 for Dan Starbuck.





Notable sub 6.6 regulars - everyone who started DM regularly, Paul Armstrong, Clive Murray, Theon Gordon and Matt Wilkinson.

Summer raids ahead.

[Izulde]

End season team meeting goes the best I've ever had. I start off saying mid-table, but when I increase to upper half finish, most of the players are happy with it, the lone unhappy one Mark Drew, who I hope leaves anyway.

Good Yearly Trains
Simon Stafford - Overall
Sani Amodu - Fitness
Paul Nisbet - Fitness
Dave Burns - Fitness
Dan Dodds - Overall

After all season being merely satisfied, the board loves me after our 6th place finish. Go figure.

$95k profit for the year.

Transfer Out
ST Nathan Egan - $3.1k
DC Don Dodd - $400
ST Adam Cornell - $4.4k
DC Ndiwa Lord-Kangana - N/C
GK Ashley King - N/C
AML Phil Dean - $11.5k
MC Chris Peach - $9.5k
DC Ryan Weisberg - N/C
DR Paul Armstrong - $5.25k
DC Jake Betts - $3.4k
GK Andrew Kemp - $3.5k
DC Blake Goodman - $3.6k
DR Simon Stafford - $400
MC Martin Crawford - $2.1k

Transfer In - ST/AMR/DR Will Muzvimbiri (21)
Zimbabwean who has a single national U21 cap. Raw player who might start, might not, depending on how the rest of the season shakes out. Either way, he offers 3 position versatility.

AMLR Ben Flynn is voted Player of the Year.

1st Season Top 11
G: Damien Stevens
D: Sam Young/Blake Goodman/Jake Betts/Paul Armstrong
DM: Chris Peach
M: Theon Gordon/Martin Crawford
AM: Phil Dean/Ben Flynn
S: Adam Cornell

Some weird choices there, but okay.

Transfer In - DR Conner Durkin (19)
Young prospect who will backup and work on training on the DL side.

We add the 4-1-3-2, keeping the 4-5-1 and 4-4-2 formations. I do tweak the 4-5-1, however, changing the DLF to a False 9 and the wingers to Inside Forwards.

We've changed leagues and are now in the Oxfordshire Senior Football League Division One, which has 10 teams, so 18 games total. We're 1-5 favorites to win promotion. Thanks for the pressure, guys.

Transfers Out
AMLR Ben Flynn - $13.25k
ST Dan Guppy - $400
DLC Darren Craddock - $28.5k - New record
DLC Sani Amodu - $400

Transfer In - GK Craig Johnson (29)
A backup.

@ Ketton
G: Damien Stevens
D: Sam Young/Mark Drew/Hayden Johns/Dan Starbuck
DM: Michael Taylor
M: Jordan Wright/Mike Humphries
AM: Jed Vale/Will Muzvimbiri
S: Matthew Leaver

So before the season, Matthew Leaver comes crying about not getting any senior PT last year. I was tempted to kick his ass, but he's genuinely our top forward, so I give the youth pull a shot.

12 - Starbuck kicks it up to Muzvimbiri, who runs horizontally before cutting forward inside the box. Short pass to Leaver, and the defender misses the interception. Payment comes with shot fired into the net. 1-0

74 - Gordon goes in for Humphries

77 - Wilkinson jumps in for Starbuck

Solid all around effort, with a 7.1 for PotM Matthew Leaver and a 7.0 for Jordan Wright.

Transfer Out - ST Matthew Leaver - $400
Fucker.

4th vs Sutton Bridge United (7th)
G: Damien Stevens
D: Sam Young/Mark Drew/Hayden Johns/Dan Starbuck
DM: Paul Nisbet
M: Jordan Wright/Michael Taylor
AM: Jed Vale/Will Muzvimbiri
S: Shiblu Miah

Mike Humphries is out 6-7 weeks with a sports hernia.

43 - BULL.SHIT. MUZVIMBIRI WAS ONSIDES!! FUCK THE ORIGINAL ASSHOLES!!!

Brian Gumbs, another last season youth pull, replaces Vale at the half.

61 - Gordon for Taylor

66 - FUCK THIS! 0-1

I rip into the team after the game. AGAIN WE LOSE TO THE FUCKING ORIGINAL ASSHOLES!

Transfer Out - DC/DM/MC Mark Drew - $7k
Raids continue. UGH!

Damien Stevens and Dan Starbuck are appointed captain and vice-captain for the season.

Transfer Out - AMLR/ST Brian Gumbs - $400
We're now running out of attacking wingers, and it's been impossible to sign one.

Transfer In - DLC Simon Bryant (17)
We need bodies in here something awful, and he'll start off the bat.

7th vs Ashridge Park (4th)
G: Damien Stevens
D: Sam Young/Simon Bryant/Hayden Johns/Dan Starbuck
DM: Paul Nisbet
M: Jordan Wright/Michael Taylor
AM: Jed Vale/Will Muzvimbiri
S: Shiblu Miah

5 - Bryant with a great interception and pass to Miah, who jacks it 35 yards downfield for Vale to get. A dribble down the wing and a cross that turns into a fluke goal. Cool. 1-0

6 - Raise your hand if you knew the immediate answer was coming. 1-1

54 - Wilkinson in for Muzvimbiri

62 - THAT WAS NOT A FUCKING PENALTY!!! 1-2

You god damned right I'm screaming at this team.

Transfer Out - DL Sam Young - $4.2k
Fucking Christ.

8th @ Long Sutton Athletic (7th)
G: Damien Stevens
D: Jordan Cunningham/Simon Bryant/Hayden Johns/Carl Fitton
DM: Paul Nisbet
M: Jordan Wright/Michael Taylor
AM: Jed Vale/Matt Wilkinson
S: Will Muzvimbiri

I call up the U21 guys who are upgrades over what we have, and after all the health issues are accounted for, this is our modified configuration.

38 - FKHSDFSHSOGHOGHOSHG 0-1

57 - McCoubry for Vale; Gary Harvey for Cunningham

91 - McCoubry back to Nisbet and the cross to Taylor at just past midfield. The launch to Muzvimbiri and he slams it in the box. FUCK YOUR BITCH WHINING ABOUT OFFSIDES! 1-1

Transfer In - ST/AMR Milo Shackleford (19)
He'll get a starting spot at striker for now, while Matt Wilkinson recovers from the injury he sustained.

Transfer Out - DLCR Gary Harvey - N/C
And the hits just keep fucking coming.

Transfer In - AML/ST Michael Rose (17)
Backup.

Transfer Out - ST Shiblu Miah (N/C)
Whatever.

Transfer In - DC Daryl White (17)
Replenishing our raped DC stocks.

Transfer In - DC Reece Edwards-King (18)
See White. Except he's going to start.

8th @ Farcet United (9th)
G: Damien Stevens
D: Jordan Cunningham/Reece Edwards-King/Hayden Johns/Carl Fitton
DM: Jordan Wright
M: Dave Burns/Michael Taylor
AM: Jed Vale/Will Muzvimbiri
S: Milo Shackleford

27] - FUCKIGN FLUKE CORNERKE RKSFGNASOAHGSOHAIGHASFUIOPG [b]0-1[/VB]

45 -O SHGOASHGODHG9PASYHG9PA8RGYR89E8Y-W35 0-2

60 - [b]Vale[l/b] on free kick and Taylor walks it in. I made a couple subs just before this, but fuck reporting them BECAUSE THIS TEAM IS FUCKING SUCKING COCK LIKE A DRUNK GAY SAILOR 1-2

WE LOSE 1-4.

I'M GOING TO GO FUCKING THROW SHIT!

[Izulde]

9th vs Ryhall United (10th)
G: Damien Stevens
D: Jordan Cunningham/Reece Edwards-King/Hayden Johns/Dan Starbuck
DM: Jordan Wright
M: Dave Burns/Michael Taylor
AM: Jed Vale/Will Muzvimbiri
S: Michael Rose

Milos Shackleford is out 3 weeks with injury, so yeah.

87 - Fuck this fucking game 0-1

On top of it, I accidentally deleted my 4-5-1, so I have to rebuild it and start all over. Since I'm unsackable, I'll use the time to work out a more complex tactic, and gradually build it.

Transfer Out - GK Damien Stevens - $15k
You knew it had to happen at some point.

9th vs Langtoft United (3rd)
G: Craig Johnson
D: Jordan Cunningham/Reece Edwards-King/Hayden Johns/Dan Starbuck
DM: Brad Birch
M: Jordan Wright/Michael Taylor
AM: Jed Vale/Matthew Wilkinson
S: Will Muzvimbiri

56 - McCoubry for Vale; Nisbet for Taylor.

88 - Wilkinson is hurt yet again, so Muzvimbiri to AMR; Murray at ST.

Transfer In - MC/AMCLR Nick Lowe (18)
Best first touch player who would sign with us. Crazy 18 flair.

Transfer In - MC/DM Liam Buchan (27)
Interesting player. Out two games due to a send off.

BTW I want to give a shoutout to Steam's cloud save. Power surge hit the apartment from somewhere, and I didn't lose more than a couple days.

9th @ King's Cliffe (2nd)
G: Craig Johnson
D: Jordan Cunningham/Reece Edwards-King/Hayden Johns/Dan Starbuck
DM: Brad Birch
M: Jordan Wright/Michael Taylor
AM: Jed Vale/Nick Lowe
S: Will Muzvimbiri

They go up 0-2 by half.

64 - Lowe kicks it up for Muzvimbiri, who converts the 1 v 1. 1-2

I dunno... maybe I'll dump this complex scheme and start over with something else.

[Izulde]

Transfer In - MC Vinny Philpott - 20
Will be a supporting Ball-Winning Midfielder in our role tweaks of the 4-5-1.

9th vs Ketton (6th)
G: Craig Johnson
D: Simon Bryant/Daryl White/Hayden Johns/Dan Starbuck
DM: Michael Taylor
M: Vinny Philpott/Jordan Wright
AM: Drew McCoubry/Milo Shackleford
S: Michael Rose

7 - Fucking fluke goals. 0-1

23 - WTFever. 0-2

59 - We've made a couple subs that I don't care about. Philpott passes it in the box, and Wright gets to it just before the touchline, passing left to Rose, who sinks it. 1-2

Transfer Out - DR Dan Starbuck - $4k
Really liked him, but this was expected.

Transfer Out - DR Carl Fitton - $9k
Our DR is our deepest part of the team, but it's getting hit super hard.

Transfer Out - DM Jordan Wright - $8.75k
That giant sucking sound you just heard is the air completely deflating out of our season. UGH. Our best, most consistent player, gone just like that.

[Izulde]

Transfer Out - DM Brad Birch (NC)
Meh.

Transfer In - MC Jason Jones (33)
A replacement for Jordan Wright in our attacking Advanced Playmaker MC spot. Given he's old, maybe he'll hang around longer.

Transfer In - GK James Foster (22)
Only marginally better than Craig Johnson, but he's young and and can grow into it.

Transfer Out - DR/AMR Matt Wilkinson - $6k
Not too hurt over this. Got some PT, but not enough.

9th vs AFC Corinthians (2nd)
G: James Foster
D: Jared Cunningham/Daryl White/Hayden Johns/Connor Durkin
DM: Michael Taylor
MC: Vinny Philpott/Jason Jones
AM: Jed Vale/Milo Shackleford
ST: Michael Rose

7 - I am Jack's complete lack of surprise 0-1

14 - Whatever 0-2

17 - Fuck you 0-3

30 - Taylor free kick goal. Yay? 1-3

33 - *shrug* 1-4

36 - Fluke goal by Vale. This game is stupid. 2-4

40 - Insane launching ball by Vale that bounces all over the pitch and into the box. Rose beats the keeper to the ball and puts it away. 3-4

55 - Bryant on for Cunningham; Muzvimbiri for Durkin.

58 - Bryant just totally fucked us. I'm cutting his ass after this game. 3-5

Transfer Out - DM Michael Taylor - $10.75k
Big shock. Not.

Transfer In - ST Ashley Harrison-Barker (25)
Our new starting lone striker once he comes back from injury. Can also play all along the left side.

Transfer In - DM Dane Harrison (17)
Raw prospect to perhaps start at DM - I have to sort through who all we have there.

Transfer Out - AMLR Jed Vale - $18k
Fucking hell!

I get a note that Dave Burns has blossomed into a star, so he'll get a start again.

9th @ Sutton Bridge United (6th)
G: James Foster
D: JordanCunningham/Daryl White/Hayden Johns/Connor Durkin
DM: Paul Nisbet
MC: Dave Burns/Jason Jones
AM: Drew McCoubry/Milo Shackleford
ST: Michael Rose

3 - You really think we're going to beat the original assholes? 0-1

34 - We need a new goalie 0-2

37 - Because this one really sucks 0-3

48 - Charitable own goal 1-3

We lose 2-4, and I think it's time to flip to one of our other formations. This one isn't working at all.

[Izulde]

Transfer In - AML/ST Dave Chitty (17)
Will become an immediate starter at striker for us.

Transfer Out - MC Dave Burns - $400
Sigh.

Transfer In - MC/AMC/ST Dave Sherlock (24)
Maybe he can solve the mystery of our suckiness. New MC starter.

Transfer In - DC/DM/MC Craig Attwood (26)
New DM starter.

Transfer In - GK Chris Rowley (26)
Absolutely insane physical stats, and a major, major improvement in the net.

Transfer Out - ML/AML Drew McCoubry - $3.9k
Don't care.

9th @ Ashridge Park (9th)
G: Chris Rowley
D: Simon Bryant/Reece Edward-King/Hayden Johns/Connor Durkin
DM: Craig Attwood
MC: Dave Sherlock/Vinny Philpott/Jason Jones
ST: Dave Chitty/Milo Shackleford

A lot of guys get suspiciously sick right before our games - in this case, it's Jordan Cunningham.

63 - I mistakenly kept Johnson in at starting GK and he gives one up here. 0-1

73 - Humphries for Jones; Harrison for Attwood. But before that happens, Sherlock strikes a free kick goal 1-1

77 - CHITTY WAS ONSIDES, YOU FUCKING BIASED ASS HOME REF!

Transfer Out - MC Mike Humphries - N/C
We just can't keep anyone.

9th @ Ryhall United (10th)
G: Chris Rowley
D: Simon Bryant/Reece Edward-King/Hayden Johns/Connor Durkin
DM: Craig Attwood
MC: Dave Sherlock/Vinny Philpott/Jason Jones
ST: Dave Chitty/Milo Shackleford

The Sacko Bowl of the league at the moment. We lose here, we're officially in last place. Media reports say the board's ready to fire me because they believe changing managers will fix all the problems.

28 - Booming free kick by Sherlock to Chitty's foot for the easy lay-in. Now can we keep the lead, our first in forever? 1-0

69 - Muzvimbiri at DR; Harrison-Barker replacing Chitty, who is injured.

75 - And right when we score again, FM 14 errors out.

Fuck this bullshit.

I have no idea how far back we'll be reset, either.

[Izulde]

Upon reload, we're 12 days before the Ryhall match. We still lose Mike Humphries, only this time we get slammed by Paul Nisbet having an attitude problem due to off-field incident. My talk with him does not go well.

9th @ Ryhall United (10th)
G: Chris Rowley
D: Simon Bryant/Reece Edward-King/Hayden Johns/Connor Durkin
DM: Craig Attwood
MC: Dave Sherlock/Vinny Philpott/Jason Jones
ST: Dave Chitty/Milo Shackleford

Again, Sacko Bowl, on the verge of fired if I wasn't Unsackable, blah blah.

2 - Sherlock slams it up the wing to Chitty, who cross shoots. Goalie comes out for a leaping deflection and the ball is in the air with him on the ground. Shackleford wins the header into the net. 1-0

19 - Durkin with the ball on the right wing, and he sends it up to Jones for the long, bouncing ball that hits the box. Chitty is there, and it's no trouble to put it away 2-0

34 - Durkin with the throw-in to Jones. Back to Durkin on the wing, and the cross is good for Shackleford to spear his second header goal of the game! 3-0

53 - Kind of figured Chitty was offsides there.

59 - Complete defensive brainfart 3-1

70 - Harrison at DM, Nisbet at MC with Philpott moving to the AP position and Jones taking a well-deserved rest.

80 - Harrison-Barker on for Shackleford

8.8 for PotM Milos Shackleford and 8.0 for Dave Chitty, his partner in crime, as we finally snap an 11 game winless streak. 5 games left and nothing to play for save pride.

Harrison-Barker has had a lousy couple months of training and regressed. Milo Shackleford is lost for the rest of the season to boot.

Transfer Out - DC/AMR Hayden Johns - $4.8k
That hurts. The New Zealander had adjusted himself fairly well to playing DC after starting off in an AMR role.

DR Connor Durkin is out until the end of the year himself with a training collision. Ugh.

Transfer In DCR Ian Penney (18)
Will step in to replace Hayden Johns in the middle of the backline.

Transfer In - DR Joel Kerwin (20)
And here's the replacement for Connor Durkin.

Liam Buchanan has been involved in two injury collisions now - Durkin, and now Harrison-Barker, which will scratch the latter from our next game.

9th vs Long Sutton Athletic (7th)
G: Chris Rowley
D: Simon Bryant/Reece Edward-King/Jordan Cunningham/Joel Kerwin
DM: Craig Attwood
MC: Dave Sherlock/Vinny Philpott/Jason Jones
ST: Dave Chitty/Clive Murray

60 - Nisbet comes in at BWM, Philpott switches to AP, and Jones heads off.

80 - Rose for Murray; White for Edwards-King

82 - Nothing to do about that perfect strike 0-1

Transfer In - AMC/ST Darius Morgan (24)
Immediate starter, even next season when Shackleford is healthy - presuming they stay of course.

Our youth players come in.

U21 vs Youth Candidates
A boring 0-0 draw. The strikers for both sides were lousy.

9th vs Farcet United (6th)
G: Conor Hunt (Youth Pull)
D: Simon Bryant/Craig Attwood/Jordan Cunningham/Joel Kerwin
DM: Justin Cooper (Youth Pull)
MC: Mike Tulloch (Youth Pull)/Vinny Philpott/Jason Jones
ST: Darius Morgan/Dean Ruddy (Youth Pull)

Four youth candidates make the starting team right out the gate, including Conor Hunt, who is the best goalie we've ever had here.

34 - Hoodwinked on the corner 0-1

47 - Kerwin gets a double yellow.

48 - They score and I spend all our subs 0-2

10th @ Langtoft United (3rd)
G: Conor Hunt (Youth Pull)
D: Simon Bryant/Craig Attwood/Jordan Cunningham/Will Muzvimbiri
DM: Paul Nisbet
MC: Mike Tulloch (Youth Pull)/Vinny Philpott/Jason Jones
ST: Darius Morgan/Dean Ruddy (Youth Pull)

47 - Just before half, Morgan sprays it out to Bryant on the wing, and the booming, diagonal cross finds Ruddy for the silky smooth score. 1-0

64 - Cooper in for Tulloch; Chitty for Morgan

7.5 for Jason Jones as PotM, but we're still likely to finish last in the league, a reversal from how my second year teams usually end up.

I'm cracking up laughing how I keep getting reports on how Ashley Harrison-Barker keeps regressing. I mean, dude is only 25.

10th @ AFC Corinthians (1st)
G: Conor Hunt (Youth Pull)
D: Simon Bryant/Craig Attwood/Ian Penney/Connor Durkin
DM: Paul Nisbet
MC: Mike Tulloch (Youth Pull)/Vinny Philpott/Jason Jones
ST: Darius Morgan/Dean Ruddy (Youth Pull)

30 - Oh look, a bullshit fluke goal! 0-1

70 - Sherlock for Tullock; Chitty for Ruddy

78 - Sherlock knocked out; Cooper in.

92 - Bryant to Morgan to Cooper, the last of whom is completely laid out in the box with no PK call, but that doesn't matter because he crosses it as he collapses, and Chitty is there to finish it off. 1-1

Our U21s tie Watford's U21s 2-2 on a late equalizer by Michael Rose, which is cool I guess.

AFC Corinthians and King's Cliffe, our final opponents, have already clinched going up next season. The Original Assholes are in 3rd place.

10th vs King's Cliffe (2nd)
G: Conor Hunt (Youth Pull)
D: Jordan Cunningham/Craig Attwood/Ian Penney/Connor Durkin
DM: Paul Nisbet
MC: Mike Tulloch (Youth Pull)/Vinny Philpott/Jason Jones
ST: Darius Morgan/Dean Ruddy (Youth Pull)

We didn't play badly, but still lost 0-2.

Just glad to have this fucking awful season over with. Worst ever.

[Izulde]

ARGH! Computer restart ate my post.

I don't feel like re-typing/copy-pasting it all over again, so we lost a bunch of guys, added a developmental striker and an attacking winger in case we use it again, and also added a 31 year old Jamaican DRC who will be awesome, I hope.

We also added Much Quicker Tempo, Shoot On Sight, and Short Passing instructions with Attacking mentality as we're simply going to overwhelm the opposition with shots and Law of Averages.

We're also in the Reading Premier League, a 6 team league that includes The Original Assholes.

Best 11
G: Damien Stevens
D: Jordan Cunningham/Simon Bryant/Hayden Johns/Dan Starbuck
DM: Paul Nisbet (Player of the Year)
M: Michael Taylor/Jason Joes
AM: Jed Vale/Will Mizvimbiri
ST: Dave Chitty

Also, as an example of how much roster turnover this is in an amateur team, Chris Peach leads the team all-time in appearances with 28.

Transfer In - DC/DM/MC Liam Nicell - 29
Look up physical beast in the dictionary. See this dude.

More Transfers Out
ST Milo Shackleford - $4.6k
DLCR Jordan Cunningham - $9k
DC Daryl White - $3k
FB Rob Clarke - N/C

Transfer In - DL Marc Mitchell - 17
New DL starter. Really concentrating on strengthening the backline this offseason.

We're 1-10 favorites to win the league. Next closest is Long Sutton Athletic at 1-5. Everyone else is 5000-1.

@ Langtoft United
G: Chris Rowley
D: Marc Mitchell/Liam Nicell/Ian Penney/Bradley Thomas
DM: Paul Nisbet
MC: Justin Cooper/Vinny Philpott/Jason Jones
ST: Darius Morgan/Dean Ruddy

35 - Penney sends it up to Jones, and the beautiful ball sees Ruddy sink one just outside the box! 1-0

41 - Jones gets the ball after I think it was Nicell made the takeaway, a pass up into space for Morgan, who beats the defense and also fires just outside the box for a score 2-0

45 - Assclwon Thomas own goals it. 2-1

61 - Suspect PK, but we'll take it and Philpott's conversion all day. 3-1

74 - Sherlock on for Cooper; Attwood for Philpott

7.7 for Jason Jones, 8.0 for Dean Ruddy, and 8.3 for PotM Darius Morgan. Excellent start to the year.

Dave Sherlock is hurt for the umpteenth time, and will miss the next game.

Jason Jones and Marc Mitchell are appointed Captain and Vice-Captain for the year.

Transfer Out - ST Dean Ruddy - $400
Well that's a damned shame. Expected, however.

1st vs Rhyhall United (5th)
G: Chris Rowley
D: Marc Mitchell/Liam Nicell/Ian Penney/Bradley Thomas
DM: Paul Nisbet
MC: Justin Cooper/Vinny Philpott/Jason Jones
ST: Dave Chitty/Darius Morgan

5 - Beautiful interception by Cooper and the lateral pass to Mitchell leads to a booming diagonal cross that the keeper jumps up to deflect. Assplant, and there's Morgan to put away the rebound. That's twice I recall us doing that to this particular keeper 1-0

30 - Mitchell saved a certain goal there with a rocket off the line.

54 - Atwood to BWM; Philpott moves to AP, and Jones sits.

71 - Philpott kicks it out to Thomas on the wing, who dribbles all the way down the pitch and crosses to an unmarked Chitty for the easy score. Aferwards, Morgan switches to the TM role and Carter comes on as AF. 2-0

This is the best backline play I've seen in ages. All defenders were 7.0 or better, keyed by Bradley Thomas with a 7.6, and Marc Mitchell's PotM 8.3. You have to go all the way back to our first season to find that kind of performance.

Side Note: Since transferring in Bradley Thomas and Marc Mitchell, another adjustment I made to the formation besides the three shouts outlined above was changing from automatic Fullback roles to Complete Wingback roles.

Also worth noting: Connor Durkin was our top rated defender last year with 6.63. Shows you how bad our backline was.

A DC prospect we never cared about is signed away on a youth deal. Nick Lowe, who doesn't have the physical stats in retrospect, leaves on a non-contract.

Our U21 squad loses 0-1 to Grimsby's U18 team.

1st @ Ketton (3rd)
G: Chris Rowley
D: Marc Mitchell/Liam Nicell/Ian Penney/Bradley Thomas
DM: Paul Nisbet
MC: Justin Cooper/Vinny Philpott/Jason Jones
ST: Dave Chitty/Darius Morgan

I set up a mentoring relationship between Vinny Philpott and Jason Jones, as I anticipate Philpott will take over the AP role for Jones at some point.

Big game here. Get a win, and we put ourselves in the driver's seat for promotion.

33 - Nicell makes an incredible takeaway and boots the ball down to Chitty. There's a backpass and buildup before Mitchell gets it on the wing and crosses to Morgan. The ball's knocked loose, but Morgan wins it back and centers to Chitty for the easy short score. 1-0

74 - Philpott to AP; Attwood at BWM, and Jones off. Bryant replaces Mitchell.

85 - Morgan gets knocked, so Carter comes on.

It's the kind of game where Bradley Thomas (PotM) and Dave Chitty's 7.1 are good enough to stand out. 7.1 for Liam Nicell, too. There have been other 7+ games in our first two wins, by the way, but I haven't noted them.

We've also matched all of our wins from last season already. Sweeeeeeet.

All three matches in league today were 1-0 affairs, by the way. Us and Long Sutton Athletic are both unbeaten through three. The Original Assholes and Ketton each have one win, with Rhyhall United and Langtoft United the punching bags.

Darius Morgan is questionable for our next game, which really sucks.

Liam Buchan takes a $2.3k deal, which is whatever. His greatest claim to fame will be injuring two of our guys last year in training sessions. And right when I say that, Chris Rowley will miss our next game after colliding with Ian Penney. Not good.

1st vs Sutton Bridge United (4th)
G: James Foster
D: Marc Mitchell/Liam Nicell/Ian Penney/Bradley Thomas
DM: Paul Nisbet
MC: Justin Cooper/Vinny Philpott/Jason Jones
ST: Dave Chitty/David Carter

Great. So we're up against The Original Assholes without our keeper and our star striker.

15 - Will we never beat these dicks? 0-1

Philpott to AP, Attwood at BWM and Jones off; Morgan in for Carter at the half, as I rip the team a new one, then cuddle them.

87 - Nisbet has the ball in the middle of the pitch and passes to Chitty. Two dribbles, and a shot outside the semi-circle equals a late draw rescued maybe. 1-1

And it does. We can never beat these guys. I want to go up just so I never have to play these jerkasses again.

And they took out Bradley Thomas for 5-6 weeks, which means 1-2 games. Like I said, The Original Assholes.

Some midfielder prospect signs elsewhere. So do James Foster and the suckitude of Ashley Harrison-Barker. Also leaving is Michael Rose, all three on non-contracts.

2nd vs Langtoft United (6th)
G: Chris Rowley
D: Marc Mitchell/Liam Nicell/Ian Penney/Joel Kerwin
DM: Paul Nisbet
MC: Justin Cooper/Vinny Philpott/Jason Jones
ST: Dave Chitty/Darius Morgan

I smell a trap game here.

49 - Nisbet heads it to Jones, who wins the ball, snakes past everyone, and fires just inside the box for the score. 1-0

59 - Jones is triple-teamed, but he gets it to Kerwin in the box. But it's a back center pass to Philpott just outside the box, and we've got the insurance! 2-0

72 - Chitty hauls it up to Cooper, who kicks ahead and dribbles to catch up to the ball, then crosses to the middle of the box, where in the sea of white jerseys, Morgan blasts it home. Atwood at BWM, Sherlock at BBM, and Cooper slides over to AP, replacing our two tired central midfielders. 3-0

Only three starters were lower than 7.1. That's how dominant we were today. 8.3 for PotM Jason Jones, 7.9 for Vinny Philpott, and 7.5 for Darius Morgan, as the light switched on after a pretty fucking awful first half.

Ketton beat Long Sutton Athletic, meaning at the halfway point it's:

Us - 13 points
Long Sutton Athletic - 10 points
Ketton - 9 points
Ryhall United - 7 points
The Original Assholes - 4 points
Langtoft United - 0 points!

We face Long Sutton Athletic both times on the back end, and that's going to be key in determining who wins the league. We've also tied the 13 points we got from all of last season in just 5 games.

But James Kerwin is our second straight starting DR to be injured, making him questionable for next game.

[Izulde]

In a fit of anger, I accidentally deleted my post.

The synopsis:

We completely shit the bed against Long Sutton Athletic after Chris Rowley is lured away on an $11k deal, losing by 3. We spank Ryhall United after bringing in a couple emergency keepers, and then melt down in a late loss to Ketton, where a win would have won us promotion and a tie would have required them to win out and us to lose both. After that, a bunch of people left, including James Jones and Darius Morgan (on a fucking N/C no less).

The Original Assholes have been on fire, and we were once again down to them (hence the accidental deletion), but we fight back to a draw.

The Youth Candidates embarrass the U21s 2-0, and that includes a number of actual starters on the squad.

Five new starters emerge from the youth pull - that's how great this crop looks. I'm so taken by them, I go on holiday until our final match, skipping the transfer deadline.

With everything left to play for it's:

Long Sutton Athletic - 17 points
Us - 17 points
Ketton - 16 points

(2nd) vs Long Sutton Athletic (1st)
GK: Leon Flavell*
D: Marc Mitchell/Liam Nicell/Ian Penney/Steve Gibbens*
DM: Paul Nisbet
M: Justin Cooper/Craig Attwood/Michael Laslett*
S: Jack Banks*/Mario Collins*

This is it. For all the marbles. I imagine Long Sutton Athletic will play not to lose, because then they promote no matter what. Ketton gets Ryhall United, the softest draw in the league just about.

6 - Flavell literally drops the ball. 0-1

38 - It's over. 0-2

91 - Salt poured in. 0-3

Now we just have to hope Ryhall United pulled off the upset for us.


















THEY DID, A 1-0 SHOCKER!!!!

THORNEY PROMOTES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Izulde]

We get $5.42k for our second place finish. Not that it's a huge amount, because we're rolling in the money.





Our roster was pretty devastated by all the late season defections, particularly Darius Morgan, whose 5 goals and 7.2 average rating were 2nd and 3rd respectively in the league. Oh yeah, and 4th in shots on target % with 36. And on a non-contract no less.

Losing Vinny Philpott hurt too - 4th in pass completion %, 10th in tackles/game (1.81). Most season crushing was losing Chris Rowley, of course, he of the league-leading 3 shutouts in 5 games We ask a lot of our wingbacks and advanced playmaker, I noticed - Marc Mitchell, Bradley Thomas, and Jason Jones were the top 3 in distance/90 minutes (7.18, 7.14, 6.74 miles respectively).

Ian Penney and Liam Nicell were great at the back most of the season, ranking 2nd and 3rd in key tackles, 3rd and 4th in key headers, and 3rd and 6th in interceptions made. Nicell also lead the league in 100% cross completion.

Paul Nisbet - another gem. 3rd in pass completion % (81), 9th in cross completion % (29), 10th in interceptions (45). And this despite not having the best fit to be an Anchorman.

Speaking of which...



That's the exact formation, team instructions, and player roles we ran all season long to promote. It was actually a lot of fun to watch, which those of you who read my FM dynasties regularly know is key to my enjoyment.

$85k profit this year, which is pretty good, considering how few games we had.

Transfer In - MC Stuart Pearson (29)
According to an old scouting report on him, he was supposed to be awesome, but he's actually just decent. Still a potential BWM starter next year, especially when raids hit.

Transfers Out
ST Jack Banks - $400
DR Steve Gibbens - $400
MC Michael Laslett - $400
DR Bradley Thomas - $7.5k
DC Liam Nicell - N/C

Transfer In - MC Nicky Greene (28)
Didn't mean to offer him, but I'm glad I did. Great technical and mental attributes, and his physical ones aren't the worst ever. The new BWM starter by far.

Transfer In - GK Grant Beckwith (25)
Insurance against our youth pull goalie, who is looking awesome, getting raided.

For some fucked reason I can't understand, the fans don't recognize that we run a 4-1-3-2 with a flat three MCs, so it's magically a 4-1-2-2-1 setup and I'm like WTF ever. Better yet? Paul Nisbet is voted Fans' Player of the Year for a second year in a row, and doesn't make First 11 as a starter.

We're in the Teesside Football League Division One this year, with 13 other teams, which means a 26 game season. Cool.

Transfer In - DR Ryan Leggett (21)
Replenishing the stocks of our fallen DR squad. He's the first of two signings at the position, and a guaranteed starter.

Transfer In - DR Kevin Mbeleck (21)
Much more raw than Leggett, but at least we've got depth there now.

Another bug I've noticed - when you promote, you don't get your end of the year meetings, nor do players go on holiday. I'm hoping that's not why Liam Nicell took a non-contract, as it leaves a big hole in our DC spot to fill now.

[Izulde]

Other glitches I've noticed - after a couple seasons, even after you've scouted a player, it still says you need to scout player. And N/A/N/A appears sometimes for scouted players in current/potential stars - though this bug can be fixed by simply reloading the game.

Transfer In - DC/DM/MC/ST Jamie Hopkins (24)
Locked down as a starting central defender, though if need be, we can move him around different spots.

Transfer In - DLCR Luke Williams (24)
126 clubs were after him, and we won out. Although signed for the first team, he's probably more of a reserve.

Transfers Out
ST Mario Collins - $400
DL Marc Mitchell - $17k
ST David Carter - N/C
GK Leon Flavell - $400

b]All five of our super youth pulls who started the last game were stolen away. As an amateur team, you're basically a free breeder of talent for semipro clubs[/b].

Germany wins the Euro Cup. I'd love to do international management at some point, but we're a long way off from that in our tiny realm of England.

Wilmslow Albion are 1-10 favorites, followed by even odds us, Long Sutton Athletic, and Elton Vale.

Transfer In - ST Gaz Wilson (16) - From Coxhoe Athletic
Turned down $775 from Coxhoe, where he was a youth pull last season, to come play for us. I see this kid as a legit potential star in the making, the same way I saw Paul Nisbet and his intriguing skillset.

Interesting thing re: Paul Nisbet by the way. You'll recall that I snapped him up in the first season at the trade deadline with an hour and a half to go. His original team was Awesworth Villa, where, you may recall, he posted a 7.7 rating. Well, somehow, I don't know why or how he's made Thorney his favorite club as a player and even before we promoted, I was his favorite manager. In fact, I was his favorite even during the year before's last place shit fest. He's had offer after offer after offer, but has thus far rejected them, and won two straight Fan Player of the Year awards.

Transfer In - AML/ST Graham Carter (18)
Some real rockstar mental attributes, though he's currently in the subs list. I could see him starting sooner rather than later, however.

@ Nottinghamshire AFC
G: Jamie Evans
D: Luke Williams/Jamie Hopkins/Ian Penney/Ryan Leggett
DM: Paul Nisbet
M: Justin Cooper/Stuart Pearson/Nicky Greene
ST: Dave Chitty/Gaz Wilson

I feel like we're weaker overall than what we were at the start of last season, in spite of the additions, but we'll see.

59 - Cooper moves to AP; Pearson to BBM, and Attwood comes in at BWM. Hopkins slides up to DM and Bryant jumps in at DC. Bad game for Nisbet.

Fact of the matter is, we should have been able to win this one. But sometimes, no matter how hard you hammer at the goal and how often, it's just not going to go in.

[Izulde]

Transfer In - MC/MR Chris Dickman (31)
Able to play the AP role well enough that we can move Nicky Greene to the BBM spot and Justin Cooper to the BWM slot, though Justin's played the BBM role his entire time with us. Fact is, Justin has only been okay there, so maybe moving him inside will make him better.

9th vs Elton Vale (11th)
G: Jamie Evans
D: Luke Williams/Jamie Hopkins/Ian Penney/Ryan Leggett
DM: Paul Nisbet
M: Nicky Greene/Justin Cooper/Chris Dickman
ST: Dave Chitty/Gaz Wilson

63 - Carter for Wilson; Mbeleck for Leggett.

67 - Oh look, a bullshit PK call against us. 0-1

Our offense has been awful, so I need to look at how to fix that.

I've decided to put Paul Nisbet in his more comfortable BWM role at DM, and change from Shoot On Sight to Work The Ball In The Box.

13th @ Uppermill (12th)
G: Jamie Evans
D: Luke Williams/Jamie Hopkins/Ian Penney/Ryan Leggett
DM: Paul Nisbet
M: Nicky Greene/Justin Cooper/Chris Dickman
ST: Dave Chitty/Gaz Wilson

[b]1[/b[ - Welp. 0-1

It sets the tone for the rest of the game, and we get destroyed 0-4.

Transfer In - MC/AMC/ST/DM Vernon Francis (32)
We're going to experiment with an instructionless 4-1-2-1-2 that's Counter and Rigid, and Francis will be the Engache in that role.

Transfer In - MC/AMC Sam Mitchell (21)
Francis' backup.

14th vs Long Sutton Athletic (5th)
G: Jamie Evans
D: Luke Williams/Jamie Hopkins/Ian Penney/Ryan Leggett
DM: Paul Nisbet
M: Justin Cooper/Chris Dickman
AM: Vernon Francis
ST: Dave Chitty/Gaz Wilson

17 - Williams is knocked out; in comes Bryant.

19 - Leggett on the wing passes to Dickman on the box boundary. In to Francis, who holds up before centering back to Chitty for the open score! 1-0

24 - Nisbet has IDFK in the box and he short passes to Hopkins. Defense converges and the layoff to Penney nets the sweet, sweet insurance. 2-0

31 - The counter works to perfection as Francis cuts through the midfield and laterals to Cooper for the beautiful forward ball in the box. Chitty beats everyone and slams in his second goal! 3-0

59 - Francis to Wilson, who plays the perfect ball for Chitty to get 1 v 1, and he's so on fire HE GETS THE HAT TRICK!!!! 4-0

78 - Carter for Wilson; Mitchell for Francis.

87 - Oh well. They got one back 4-1

How dominant were we? Every healthy starter had 7.1 or better except Jamie Evans (6.8). Highlights: Ian Penney with 8.2, Paul Nisbet with 7.9, Gaz Wilson with 8.4 and PotM Dave Chitty with 9.6. The weirdest part? Chitty is 5 silver stars and Wilson is 1 gold star at the formation's AF and DLP, left over from the default 4-4-2.

Fluke, or sign of things to come? Who knows? But we climb out of the drop zone, which is the important thing. We also beat the team that gave us fits both games last season, so that's a feather in the cap, too.

Incidentally, two managers were in the stands to watch Kevin Parker, last year's Reading Premier League goal scorer, and if he's poached, that's going to be a disappointment for them.

[Izulde]

Realistically, my main hope this season is to avoid relegation. While I certainly deserved to be sacked in Year 2, to expect promotion the first season up has always been the bane of this mod, and so I don't feel any particular guilt over making myself Unsackable. Maybe I'll turn it off at some point.

Transfer In - ST Adam Cornell (27)
Yep, he's back! Came up as available in my scout's report, so I offered him the chance to return, and he took it. He's a perfect for the DLP role in our new formation.

11th @ King's Cliffe (13th)

53 - Chitty on for WilsonAdam Cornell

59 - Mitchell on for Francis

63 - Great. A double yellow for Cooper

78 - THAT WAS BULLSHIT PENALTY CALL! 0-1

84 - GRRR! FUCKING COOPER! 0-2

OH, WHAT'S THAT?! THE FA IS FUCKING SILENT OVER CRITCISM?! THAT'S RIGHT, BITCHES! YOU WERE FUCKING BIASED, FUCKING REF!

Transfer Out - GK Jamie Evans - N/C
Are you getting that sense of deja vu? BECAUSE I SURE FUCKING AM!

14th vs Stamford Belvedere (1st)
G: Grant Beckwith
D: Luke Williams/Jamie Hopkins/Ian Penney/Ryan Leggett
DM: Paul Nisbet
M: Nicky Greene/Chris Dickman
AM: Vernon Francis
ST: Gaz Wilson/Adam Cornell

26 - Bounce, bounce goes Beckwith's goal kick to Wilson's feet, who tries a long range pop shot that bounces off the turf and in! 1-0

47 - Just before the half, we're awarded a questionable as shit penalty. Cornell cooly converts! 2-0

52 - WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU DOING, BECKWITH?! YOU DON'T TRY TO SLIDE TACKLE!!! YOU'RE A FUCKING GOALIE, ASSWHITE! Bryant in for Williams; Mitchell for Francis 2-1

66 - WHAT THE FUCK, BECKWITH?! HOW DO YOU DROP THAT SHIT INTO THE NET?! 2-2



12th vs Yarnton (10th)
G: Grant Beckwith
D: Luke Williams/Jamie Hopkins/Ian Penney/Ryan Leggett
DM: Paul Nisbet
M: Justin Cooper/Chris Dickman
AM: Vernon Francis
ST: Gaz Wilson/Adam Cornell

20 - Gorgeous free kick hook shot by Wilson hits the net! 1-0

31 - Cornell is drilled in the box, and we get the PK. Despite having a knock, Cooper converts!!! 2-0

Dickman slides to BWM, Francis moves down to BBM, and Mitchell comes in at AMC at the half.

52 - Oh, we're going to start this shit again? 2-1

78 - Bryant for Williams

90 - BULLSHIT! FRANCIS WAS ONSIDES!

PotM Gaz Wilson (8.3) and Adam Cornell (7.5) carried the team to this critical victory. But we're still only 2 points out of the drop zone despite rising to 9th. That's how close it is this early in the season.

[Izulde]

Transfer In - DL Miles Mitchell (28)
Guys who are decent at Complete Wingback are hard to find. Miles will be an upgrade in the role over the disappointing Luke Williams.

Transfer In - GK Jordan Yorath (30)
*Finally* a good keeper to put in the net. Huge improvement and instant starter.

Remember when I was geeking about Gaz Wilson?

This just hit my feed:



You may remember Martin Crawford as the St. Kitts & Nevis central midfielder as the guy who posted a 6.61 average rating, but in actuality played better than that most of the 16 games he was in. He's been with Cadbury Heath since then, which has finished 5th and 6th the last two seasons in the Eastern Counties Division One. They're slated to finish in the promo spots, but are currently a poor 14th mid-table through 10 games. Crawford has yet to appear in any games this season, after 37 his first year, and 16 last season.

9th vs AFC Stanground (14th)
G: Jordan Yorath
D: Miles Mitchell/Jamie Hopkins/Ian Penney/Ryan Leggett
DM: Paul Nisbet
M: Justin Cooper/Chris Dickman
AM: Vernon Francis
ST: Gaz Wilson/Adam Cornell

57 - Unacceptable. 0-1

59 - Mitchell at AMC, Attwood for Hopkins, Mbeleck at DR.

75 - Mitchell to Cooper to Wilson. The shot is blocked, but Wilson gets the ball back and kicks it in, despite stupid ass calls of offisides 1-1

78 - Brilliant pushout by Nisbet deep in our end that starts a Cornell run down the pitch. The others catch up, and the end move is Nisbet to Dickman to Cornell in the box, who centers it to Sam Mitchell, and the 1 v 1 is good!!! 2-1

92 - One of their guys is red carded in the closing minutes.

So, really nice comeback win after I switched from Counter to Attacking at half, then Overload with Shoot on Sight. 7.4 for Adam Cornell as PotM, 7.2 for Gaz Wilson, and 7.2 for supersub Sam Mitchell, who might be pushing to get a start if he can keep that up.

8th @ Middleton Cheney (2nd)
G: Jordan Yorath
D: Miles Mitchell/Jamie Hopkins/Ian Penney/Ryan Leggett
DM: Paul Nisbet
M: Justin Cooper/Chris Dickman
AM: Vernon Francis
ST: Gaz Wilson/Adam Cornell

43 - Francis takes a potshot outside the box. It's pushed away, but Francis gets the rebound inside the box and crosses to Wilson, where all the goalie can do is watch the shot go by. 1-0

49 - Leggett with the crazy long throw to the box that's bounced away. Leggett gets the ball back and passes to I forget who. The cross to Wilson is intercepted, but it bounces in the middle of the box, and Cooper drills it home. 2-0

62 - Cooper slides back to DM to replace the tired Nisbet, and Kenny Collett, a youth pull last season who was waiting for his chance at the senior level, hops in at BWM for his debut.

77 - Collett slides to BBM, and Attwood comes on as the BWM, because now Dickman is wiped.

89 - And just like that, Collett is knocked out. Cue Wilson as BBM, Cornell switching to AF, and Chitty at DLP.

Vernon Francis's 7.5 is good for PotM, but just behind at 7.4 were Justin Cooper and Ryan Leggett.

The good news: With the win, we're 3 points away from 2nd place.
The bad news: Kenny Collett is out 3 months with a torn hamstring.

Transfer Out - DLC Simon Bryant - N/C
I'm surprised he stayed with us as long as he did. Played three seasons in a Thorney jersey, and totaled 24 appearances, most as a reserve.

7th @ Wilmslow Albion (13th)
G: Jordan Yorath
D: Miles Mitchell/Jamie Hopkins/Ian Penney/Ryan Leggett
DM: Paul Nisbet
M: Justin Cooper/Chris Dickman
AM: Vernon Francis
ST: Gaz Wilson/Adam Cornell

The heavy favorites to win the league have gotten off to a rough start, finding themselves in the drop zone. Which means they'll probably start roaring back here.

2 - In 2 minutes, Cooper gets a yellow and knocked out with injury. Dickman moves to BWM, Francis shifts down to BBM, and Mitchell goes in at AMC.

31 - Putrid free kick defending 0-1

38 - Francis lobs it up for Cornell and it's intercepted, but they don't hang on to it, and Cornell runs past everyone, steals the ball, dribbles, and sinks the perimeter shot. 1-1

54 - Sam Mitchell is stinking out there, so Francis and Dickman go to their original positions, and Attwood comes in. Mbeleck replaces the equally putrid Leggett.

78 - Dickman to Atwood to Francis, and then a beautiful ball in the box that Wilson gets to first and spears home. 2-1

84 - LOL. So Yorvath, who is playing with a knock, by the way, goal kicks it, and it bounces to the other goalie. He waits, and then lazily line drives it forward, where Wilson intercepts and sends it into the wide open net. 3-1

87 - Mike Mitchell hangs on to the ball too long and gets it taken away, and then everyone falls asleep on the cross, allowing them to literally walk it in. 3-2

But we hold them off after that. 8.3 for Adam Cornell, and 8.8 for PotM Gaz Wilson. Suddenly, we're up to 3rd - 3 points out of 2nd, 6 points out of 1st. Can we really pull the double promotion?!

But it's going to be tough. Jordan Yorath is out 2-3 weeks with a thigh strain, and will miss our next game.

[Izulde]

Always nice to see that. Weird thing is, Cornell isn't that great by the ratings. But he just produces.

3rd vs Royal Electrical & Mechanical Engineers (11th)
G: Jordan Yorath
D: Miles Mitchell/Jamie Hopkins/Ian Penney/Ryan Leggett
DM: Paul Nisbet
M: Justin Cooper/Nicky Greene
AM: Vernon Francis
ST: Gaz Wilson/Adam Cornell

Nicky Greene was crying about not getting a start, so to shut him up, I give him one here.

53 - Bullshit PK call 0-1

62 - Mbeleck at DR; Chitty for Wilson, and the strikers swap.

83 - Cornell just outside the box sends it to Mitchell on the wing. Pass to Chitty in the box, dribble, and the angled shot is authoritative and good. 1-1

88 - And we give it right back on a corner 1-2

Fucking pathetic performance.

7th vs Kirton Brickworks (8th)
G: Jordan Yorath
D: Miles Mitchell/Jamie Hopkins/Ian Penney/Ryan Leggett
DM: Paul Nisbet
M: Justin Cooper/Chris Dickman
AM: Vernon Francis
ST: Gaz Wilson/Adam Cornell

29 - 1-2 between Mitchell and Francis sees the latter get the pass in the box, and with only the keeper to beat, the shot is easy. 1-0

65 - Francis to BBM, Dickman shifts over, and Sam Mitchell comes on, while Cooper, who picked up a yellow and isn't doing great, hits the bench.

66 - Chitty on for Wilson, and striker swap.

83 - Our set piece defending is horrible. Corner surrendered 1-1

That's a game that by the ratings we should have won. We outplayed them, but just couldn't finish the job.

[Izulde]

Transfer Out - GK Matt Hayes - N/C
Lot of teams have been after him, and he finally went.

Transfer Out - DC/DM/MC Theon Gordon - N/C
Just didn't have the talent to make it on this roster anymore.

Transfer Out - AML Richard Dunphy - N/C
We don't use wingers in any of current tactical setups, so no loss here.

The board picks a fight with me over Luke Williams, which is pretty hilarious. First time I've ever had to hold a meeting about an amateur signing.

7th @ Hurst (4th)
G: Jordan Yorath
D: Miles Mitchell/Jamie Hopkins/Ian Penney/Ryan Leggett
DM: Paul Nisbet
M: Nicky Greene/Chris Dickman
AM: Vernon Francis
ST: Gaz Wilson/Adam Cornell

5 yellows means Justin Cooper sits this one out.

16 - Yep. Penney was offsides on that one.

43 - Greene intercepts a clearout with a great header to Cornell, and I didn't think the shot was going to go in, but it did! 1-0

57 - Chitty on for Wilson, who has really struggled lately, and striker switch.

70 - Francis to BBM, and Mitchell at AMC, Dickman getting a rest.

80 - Mbeleck on at DL for the tired M. Mitchell

88 - Nice central attack buildup caps off with Francis siding it to Sam Mitchell, and the forward pass to Chitty. Defense draws in, so the layoff to Cornell sees the long strike go home, and the win all but secured. 2-0

Just really solid performances all around, with the highlight being Adam Cornell's 8.8 for PotM. No full starter got less than a 6.8.

Nicky Greene skips a training session without telling anyone about it, and is then shocked when he's given a warning. I was going to give you an extended run in the first team after your last game, but forget it now, asswipe.

Takeover talks are back in the mix, and this time, it might get done.

Now Damien Stevens is chiming in with the Fuck yeah, Adam Cornell! chatter. So happy to have that dude back on the team.

5th vs Nottinghamshire AFC (3rd)
G: Jordan Yorath
D: Miles Mitchell/Jamie Hopkins/Ian Penney/Ryan Leggett
DM: Paul Nisbet
M: Justin Cooper/Chris Dickman
AM: Vernon Francis
ST: Gaz Wilson/Adam Cornell

43 - Pouring rain out. We give up a corner goal 0-1

I rip the team for playing like ass at the half.

62 - Chitty for Cornell; the usual swap around in the midfield and Mitchell comes in at AMC.

66 - Yeah, the team's game is off today 0-2

The whole squad shit the bed on this one.

Halfway through the season, we're 6 points out of 2nd, and 7 points away from the drop zone. We're in 7th overall. Still plenty of chance for this season to go to heaven or hell.

[Izulde]

Transfer In - DL/DC/MC Lewis Page (25)
We've had trouble getting consistent performances out of our backline, so Page will start either at DL or DC to start, and we'll see how things go from there.

Nicky Greene again skips training, and again I warn him. He's shocked yet again. At this point, he's starting to be more trouble than he's worth.

6th @ Elton Vale (12th)
G: Jordan Yorath
D: Lewis Page/Jamie Hopkins/Ian Penney/Ryan Leggett
DM: Justin Cooper
M: Nicky Greene/Chris Dickman
AM: Vernon Francis
ST: Gaz Wilson/Adam Cornell

Paul Nisbet got 5 yellows, so he has to sit this one out.

6 - Wilson gets the ball from Dickman, and in the muddy rain, a defender slips trying to tackle our striker. A 25 yard pass into the box finds Francis all alone, and the 1 v 1 is easy. 1-0

25 - Wilson with the indirect free kick in the box, and we're awarded a penalty! Cornell converts the PK, even though it's nearly blocked. 2-0

29 - He was offsides!!! FUCKER! 2-1

39 - Greene with the smooth free kick, and Francis stays just onsides for the easy score 3-1

57 - Attwood on for Greene

65 - Mbeleck for Page, who has been making mistakes all day.

71 - We're forced to retreat back into our half of the field, where the rear guard spends some time passing and building up patience. Finally, Dickman short back passes to Atwood. The ensuing long ball finds Francis, and a beautiful pass just inside the box sees Wilson firing the diagonal spear to lock this game up 4-1

Every full-time starter netted 7 or better today, and Ian Penney (7.5), Justin Cooper (7.6), Vernon Francis (9.4 and PotM), and Gaz Wilson (8.6), broke the 7.5 barrier.

Takeover is closer to happening. No transfers allowed.

Nicky Greene misses training a third time, and now I'm just going to let him go.

A youth pull who never was going to crack the first team leaves. For the second time, the takeover bid fails.

Transfer Out - MC Andy Haynes - N/C
Got snowed under by our overload of central midfield talent.

Transfer Out - DC/MC/DR/AMC Kenny Collett - N/C
What an ass. Comes back from his 3 month injury, and leaves.

Transfer Out - MC Nicky Greene - $12.5k
Good luck dealing with that headache, Goole!

6th vs Uppermill (3rd)
G: Jordan Yorath
D: Lewis Page/Jamie Hopkins/Ian Penney/Ryan Leggett
DM: Paul Nisbet
M: Justin Cooper/Chris Dickman
AM: Vernon Francis
ST: Gaz Wilson/Adam Cornell

9 - Nisbet on the corner. Hopkins gets it and kicks, but the shot is deflected. Ball is sitting there all alone, and Penney is first there, putting it in the open net. 1-0

52 - Chitty in for Cornell

64 - I forget who, but someone made a great clearance, and Wilson *just* has enough speed to beat out the opposition for the ball. Dribble down the pitch, and just as a sliding tackle is coming in, he crosses to Chitty, who somehow stayed onsides in torching the defense for the wide open score. Attwood goes in for Nisbet, due to the latter's knock-related tiredness, despite a strong game. 2-0

73 - Don't collapse now... 2-1

82 - Mbeleck in for Page, who is still struggling to adapt to our setup.

We finally showed we could beat an upper-echelon team, and it was due in large part to PotM Jamie Hopkins and his 7.6 at the back. We haven't moved up in position any, but the top half of the table is very narrow - between us and the top team is a difference of 6 points - between 2nd and us, just 3 points.

To put it another way, between us and 7th is a 5 point gap. So the top 6 in the league are clearly a pack in and of themselves, with separation from there.

6th @ Long Sutton Athletic (7th)
G: Jordan Yorath
D: Lewis Page/Jamie Hopkins/Ian Penney/Ryan Leggett
DM: Paul Nisbet
M: Stuart Pearson/Justin Cooper
AM: Vernon Francis
ST: Gaz Wilson/Adam Cornell

Stuart Pearson wants first team opportunities, and he's good enough that I've opted to give him a shot in the lineup, particularly since Chris Dickman is 32, and could use a rest.

2 - Pearson immediately rewards me by taking the ball away, and passing up to Cornell, who sends it forward to Wilson. Defense is done, and the strike is sure. 1-0

23 - A vicious foul on Wilson draws the deserved red card!

28 - Page centers to Francis just outside the box. Like four defenders are around our AMC, so he sends it back to Page, who jukes the defender, strides in, and fires the angled shot to go home! That's one way to show he's more comfortable with our setup! 2-0

51 - Wilson is finally forced off, and Chitty comes in for him, with a striker switch.

73 - Attwood comes in for the mistake-prone Pearson, who has seen his brilliance marred by other dumb errors.

89 - Great interception by Francis, and the end move sees Cornell kick it back to Nisbet, followed by the sail forth to Leggett. The pass into the box finds Chitty, and the weaksauce strike *just* finds its way inside. 3-0

Vintage dominance. 8.1 for Ryan Leggett, who has really turned it on after struggling. 8.3 for PotM Lewis Page in his breakout performance. We finally move up, albeit to 4th, and we're now 1 and 2 points respectively out of the promotion places.

But it's a costly win. Gaz Wilson is out 5-7 weeks with a severely sprained ankle.

[Izulde]

Our efforts at landing a fill-in striker before the next game fail miserably, so we'll have to press on.

4th vs King's Cliffe (8th)
G: Jordan Yorath
D: Lewis Page/Jamie Hopkins/Ian Penney/Ryan Leggett
DM: Paul Nisbet
M: Stuart Pearson/Justin Cooper
AM: Vernon Francis
ST: Adam Cornell/Dave Chitty

46 - Mbeleck on for Page, who is playing nervously.

50 - Pearson is knocked out with injury, so Attwood is in.

69 - Carter on for Chitty, who is playing shitty.

We had a few shots, but just couldn't get it in. 3 way tie for 2nd place now, with the 1st place team 5 points up and 10 games to go.

We also can't get anyone to come in and help us with our title chase.

4th @ Stamford Belvedere (6th)
G: Jordan Yorath
D: Lewis Page/Jamie Hopkins/Ian Penney/Ryan Leggett
DM: Paul Nisbet
M: Stuart Pearson/Justin Cooper
AM: Vernon Francis
ST: Adam Cornell/Dave Chitty

16 - Nisbet with the long free kick. Chitty gets his head on it, but the defender intercepts and deposits it into his own goal! 1-0

57 - Attwood in for the nervous Pearson

69 - Francis shifts down to replace Cooper, and Sam Mitchell jumps in at AMC. In the same moment, Leggett is sent out with an injury, forcing Mbeleck in.

We didn't play that well, and honestly didn't deserve the win, but we'll take it, and the subsequent move up to 3rd place.

And then more injuries hit. Justin Cooper out 5-6 weeks. Jamie Hopkins out 3-4 weeks. I mean, we have the cover to fill in for those guys, but it's still bullshit.

Transfer In - DC/DM/MC Liam Nicell (31)
Yep, he's back again! Played 22 games for his semi-pro club and didn't do so hot (6.38 average rating), so he was more than happy to return to where he starred.

3rd @ Yarnton (10th)
G: Jordan Yorath
D: Lewis Page/Liam Nicell/Ian Penney/Ryan Leggett
DM: Paul Nisbet
M: Stuart Pearson/Chris Dickman
AM: Vernon Francis
ST: Adam Cornell/Dave Chitty

We still can't get any strikers to sign with us, so once again we're forced to run out with this lineup.

4 - Beautiful long ball by Leggett for Cornell, who is just about to take a shot, but then a sliding tackle by the defense comes in... and hilariously enough, the ball dribbles all the way into the net for an own goal. 1-0

8 - Flawless goal kick by Yorath bounces ahead. Chitty's there with no one in front of him, and he sinks it past the keeper. 2-0

14 - Phenomenal interception by Page to start a counter. It finishes with double-pressed Chitty laying off to Nisbet, and the ensuing rainbow arc hits Francis for the easy strike. 3-0

26 - Our defense is pressed back and back, until Nicell has to give it to Yorath. The long kick finds Cornell on the far left wing. He's being pressed by a single defender, so he sends it to Francis, who again has the defense beat, and our veteran Engache is just en fuego today! 4-0

My assman says at halftime, don't even say anything. It would just overcomplicate things, so I don't say a single word for the first time in my multiple FM editions careers.

59 - Chitty boots it out to Leggett on the wing. The following cross is intercepted, but Dishman counter-intercepts and heads it to Cornell, who with the goal at his mercy, sings the strings! 5-0

69 - Free kick goal given up. Watch me give no fucks. 5-1

88 - Nicell's free kick is blocked, but he recovers his own missed shot. The defender misses the tackle on him, and the tight angled second shot is in! 6-1

OH.MY.GOD! I HAVE NEVER, EVER SEEN A GAME LIKE THAT IN ALL MY YEARS OF FM!!!!





Leggett legged a late yellow, but whatever.

With 8 games left, we're in 1st place, tied on points, and 2 points ahead of 3rd.

[Izulde]

For the first time in forever, the board is pleased with me. That monster road win has a lot do with it, naturally.

Former player Chris Peach, still making that money at $14.25k, now from Reading, takes time out to praise Ryan Leggett, who has been hot lately after initially playing so poorly, we were hunting for potential replacements. Peach compares Leggett to Hayden Johns, the New Zealander who played a wide variety of roles with us before playing a few seasons with FC Romania and unexpectedly retiring at 28.

1st @ AFC Stanground (14th)
G: Jordan Yorath
D: Lewis Page/Liam Nicell/Ian Penney/Ryan Leggett
DM: Paul Nisbet
M: Stuart Pearson/Chris Dickman
AM: Vernon Francis
ST: Gaz Wilson/Adam Cornell

This right here is what you call a classic trap game. Worst team in the league, on the road, after an emotional, inspiring win. They pack in 3 DCs, 2 DMs, 2 WBs for 7 in the back, and have just an AML/AMR, and ST at the front. Craziest formation I've ever seen.

3 - Pearson with the long ball to Leggett on the wing. Header to Francis just outside the box, and he passes it in, where a streaking Cornell slots in the goal on his way out of bounds. 1-0

30 - Nisbet hits a free kick line drive screamer that bounces off the post and in! 2-0

52 - Missed interception makes us give one up. Sam Mitchell to AMC, Francis sliding down to BBM and Dickman off. Attwood on for Nicell, who has been trash in the second half. 2-1

63 - Pearson is doing phenomenal ball-winning work today, and here he sends it to Page for the pin-point pass to Wilson. A pop-shot hits the net, and good thing, because I was just about to pull him. 3-1

7.5 for Lewis Page and 8.3 for PotM Paul Nisbet, though weirdly Vernon Francis got signaled out by the announcers, despite a merely good 7.1 rating.

We're now 2 points ahead of both 2nd and 3rd, 6 points up on 4th and 7th with 7 matches left.

Oh, and this little gem pops up.



Be a damned shame to set the record and not promote.

I should also add with that last win, we've clinched non-relegation, so that's a nice bonus.

For the second year in a row, the Youth Candidates embarrass the U21s 0-2. But this time the only first team player to see any time was Graham Carter, who had a lousy 6.1 game.

And rightfully so, because this is an absolute banner crop of youth players. So much so, that they're going to displace some starters. Granted, I said the same thing last year or a couple seasons ago, and only Justin Cooper shook out long-term. But that's because everyone else got signed away.

1st vs Middleton Cheney (6th)
G: Jordan Yorath
D: Lewis Page/Jamie Hopkins/Kieran Wood (Youth pull)/Ryan Leggett
DM: Paul Nisbet
M: Justin Barron (Youth pull)/Chris Dickman
AM: Vernon Francis
ST: Gaz Wilson/Jason Porter (Youth pull)

Some other youth pulls probably could have taken lineup spots, but they were equal to what we already had, and in that case, I opted to leave the starters in for familiarity purposes.

16 - Page dribbles all the way down the left wing and crosses near post. Wilson wins the header, and secures the goal. 1-0

18 - Wilson is laid out flat in the box on a tackle, and Page fetches the loose ball. A kick back to Dickman, and the long range strike powers in for his first goal of the year. 2-0

28 - Fucking awful job defending that corner, and their own youth pull gets a goal. 2-1

35 - We're awarded a PK, and Wood is chosen to take it. He sinks it for the debut goal of his own! 3-1

49 - Despite being injured, Wilson is playing on, and he takes the throw-in from Page. An exchange of passes with Francis later, he's beat the defense and struck his second goal of the game. 4-1

56 - We get *another* PK, and Wilson stutter-steps to fake out the goalie. It works beautifully, and there's the hat trick!!! 5-1

88 - It's been a terrific debut for Porter as well, but he's carted off with an injury, and Cornell steps in the closing minutes.

Everyone scored a 7.3 or better, and the whole defense was 7.7 or higher. 8+ guys were Kieran Wood (8.0), Lewis Page (8.4), Chris Dickman (8.3), Vernon Francis (8.3), and of course Gaz Wilson, who had a virtuoso 9.6 performance!

Unfortunately, we're still just 2 points ahead of 2nd and 3rd, though we do have a 9 point cushion on 4th with 6 left. We're now assured of a Top 10 finish, by the way.

That PK goal made Kieran Wood the youngest ever Thorney player to score, at 15 years, 289 days, smashing Dean Ruddy's record by almost a year.

1st vs Wilmslow Albion (8th)
G: Jordan Yorath
D: Lewis Page/Jamie Hopkins/Kieran Wood (Youth pull)/Ryan Leggett
DM: Paul Nisbet
M: Justin Barron (Youth pull)/Chris Dickman
AM: Vernon Francis
ST: Gaz Wilson/Jason Porter (Youth pull)

Remember when Wilmslow Albion were the odds-on favorites to win the league? Well, they spent quite a lot of time as a relegation side in the early season, but have since fought their way back to 8th.

30 - That was a bullshit penalty, and that's twice now Barron has fucked up this game. Off he goes for Cooper. Ugh. 0-1

60 - Dickman to Francis. The cross to Porter is an easy goal, but three defenders tackle the ball away. Wilson is thankfully there on the loose ball for the rebound and puts it away. Time to get Cornell in, as our younger striker is playing like ass. 1-1

It was an ugly, ugly game. But Uppermill and Nottinghamshire played each other today, and they got draws out of it as well, so with 5 games left, it's still a 2 point separation.

Gaz Wilson broke Adam Cornell's old goal scoring record for Thorney of 12, now with 13 for the season.

The trade deadline makes me laugh, when a reporter asks if we're bringing in a left midfielder. I'm like Bro, have you seen our tactical setups. We don't use wingers!

A number of transfers are canceled at the deadline, including a young DC we were looking to bring in. That's fine, however.

Graham Carter and a couple unhappy youth guys sign to transfer out in June, which I'm cool with. They had no shot at ever advancing anywhere with us.

1st @ Royal Electrical & Mechanical Engineers Arborfield (13th)
G: Jordan Yorath
D: Lewis Page/Jamie Hopkins/Kieran Wood (Youth pull)/Ryan Leggett
DM: Paul Nisbet
M: Justin Cooper/Chris Dickman
AM: Vernon Francis
ST: Gaz Wilson/Jason Porter (Youth pull)

Both teams with a ton to play for. We're fighting to keep our promotion hopes alive, and they're trying their damnedest to get out of the drop zone. A win would keep us up top, and a win for them could get them as high as 10th.

Before the game, Damien Stevens appears in the news again, this time to praise Paul Nisbet. Whilst Liam Nicell is a far superior player talent-wise to Nisbet as a BWM DM, I have a soft spot for Paul.

This is further validated in the pre-game presser, where a journalist believes Paul's going to leave for a higher level in the offseason. We just have to make sure we get to semi-pro status ASAP and lock both him and Gaz Wilson down.

17 - WHAT HORSESHIT! WILSON IS HURT AND THE FUCKER DOESN'T EVEN GET A YELLOW CARD!!!! Porter goes over to AF, and Cornell comes in.

34 - Francis plays a gorgeous ball for Porter in the box. The striker lays off to Cornell, who shoots the ball off the legs of the defender, and the deflection bounces in. Nice pool shot! 1-0

54 - Wood switches to DL, and youth pull Chris Smith comes on for Page, who has made a ton of mistakes. Smith is actually a challenger to Dickman in the BBM role, but I wanted to put him here, just in case I needed to make adjustments.

62 - Wood heads it to Porter, who fights past three defenders around him to lay off to Francis for the unmarked score. 2-0

68 - Leggett sends it for Francis, who delivers to an open Cornell in the box. Dribbling, waiting, picking spot, and angled shot goes in! 3-0

8.8 each for Vernon Francis (PotM) and Adam Cornell. Jason Porter netted a 7.7, and three of our backline starters picked up 7.1 or better, Wood showing the bulk of improvement after he moved to the DL spot.

With 4 games left, we *finally* get some separation. Not between 1st and 2nd - Uppermill won, but we're now 5 points clear of 3rd, as Nottinghamshire AFC lost. We also now can't finish any worse than 7th.

More chatter about our bruising, physical style of play. That's down to having a lot of aggressive players, but I'm fine with it. That's actually the way I played IRL as a kid, and it made me far better than what my meagre talent level would suggest.

Can we do it? Can we actually pull off the double promotion?

Martin Crawford, now retired, is another one who praises Ryan Leggett to the media and compares him to Hayden Johns. I'm really glad I stuck with him, though the only real reason I did was because we couldn't find a suitable upgrade.

1st vs Hurst (4th)
G: Jordan Yorath
D: Lewis Page/Jamie Hopkins/Kieran Wood (Youth pull)/Ryan Leggett
DM: Paul Nisbet
M: Justin Cooper/Chris Dickman
AM: Vernon Francis
ST: Gaz Wilson/Jason Porter (Youth pull)

A win, or even a draw, here knocks Hurst out of promotion for this season. Lose, and things suddenly get much tighter for everyone. Nottinghamshire AFC is away at 6th place King's Cliffe, whilst 2nd place Uppermill hosts 10th place Yarnton, whom we hammered 6-1 away.

38 - Leggett is carried off, and Dennis Betts, a youth pull challenger for his spot, makes a debut.

Everyone is looking really nervy at the half, so after some exploration, I get them to relax (or so I hope)! I switch to Standard, and Play Wide, to try and get some more shots going.

59 - Cornell goes on for Porter; Dickman switches to BWM, and Smith comes on at BBM. It's blowing all our subs early, but we need to do something.

67 - Fuckers took out Dickman. Ugh. Down a man.

76 - SHIT SHIT SHIT SHIT SHIT 0-1

87 - Betts plays a long ball to Francis, and upon receiving the cross, Cornell walks it in the shorthanded goal. 1-1

3 games left. Hurst is now out of the picture. We're up by 2 points on 2nd still, and just 3 points up on 3rd.

Vernon Francis recorded his 11th assist, which broke the old Thorney season record of 10 set by Ben Flynn, who shockingly retired at 22.

One of my backroom staff tells me we need just 3 points to win the league. I don't think they can math. 3 points guarantees us promotion, but not winning the whole thing.

1st @ Kirton Brickworks (12th)
G: Jordan Yorath
D: Lewis Page/Jamie Hopkins/Kieran Wood (Youth pull)/Ryan Leggett
DM: Paul Nisbet
M: Justin Cooper/Chris Dickman
AM: Vernon Francis
ST: Gaz Wilson/Jason Porter (Youth pull)

Oh shit. I did the math wrong. There's 26 games in this league, not 28! So this is the last game of the season! We really need to play for the draw. AFC Stanground punched their automatic relegation ticket, by the way.

So we're 2 points ahead of 2nd, 3 ahead of third. I don't know who wins the tiebreaker between us and Nottinghamshire AFC, so I'd like to get the draw to make it a moot point.

Takeover talks again, on the eve of the biggest game of the year. Adam Cornell gets love from Phil Dean, who is making $14.25k at his second team in two years.

All we need to do is not lose. That's it. But you'll recall that we stuffed it up last year and backed into promotion. Will it be a repeat this season?...

Uppermill is hosting Long Sutton Athletic, who won our league last year. Nottinghamshire AFC plays at home vs Stamford Belvedere, and the opponents are ranked 8th and 6th respectively. On paper, we have the advantage, but the Brick dudes want to stay up, and have far more to play for.

Chris Dickman is freaked the fuck out. Everyone else is raring to go, and to prove they can finally win a colossal game.

12 - Dickman dishes to Leggett, who dribbles and passes to Francis in the box. First power shot is pushed away, but the awesome veteran is right there to fire in his own rebound!!! 1-0

59 - Porter moves to AF and Cornell comes in as the DLF. Wilson is tired, and both of our strikers are having a really bad day up front.

62 - Smith comes in for Hopkins, who just fucked up and gave away a goal, even though it looked offsides. 1-1

64 - HE WAS OFFSIDES, YOU ASS MAGGOT!!!! 1-2

The refs fucking gave them the game. But Long Sutton Athletic destroys Uppermill 4-0, and the answer of the tiebreaker is solved when Nottinghamshire AFC wins 1-0 over Stamford Belvedere and we're still #1.

THORNEY HAVE PULLED OFF THE DOUBLE PROMOTION AND WON THE LEAGUE!!!!! WE'RE FUCKING GOING SEMI-PRO, BABY!!!!!!!!!!!!

FIRST TIME EVER I'VE TAKEN AN AMATEUR SIDE TO SEMIPRO!!!!

[Izulde]

Sooo... bad news bears. Moving up to Level 10 isn't a guarantee of semi-pro status like I thought. It *can* happen, but it's not a lock.

Anyway, we get $9.3k for winning the league.





Talk about a dominant team all around. Love this squad, and really hope we go semi-pro so I can lock some of these dudes down.

Top 10 League Players
Gaz Wilson - 2nd goals, T-2nd PotM, 8th Shots on Target %, T-1st Offsides, T-2nd Key Passes, 2nd Average Rating

Adam Cornell - T-4th goals, T-6th Distance Covered/90 Minutes, 4th Key Passes, 4th Average Rating

Dave Chitty - T-9th goals, 5th Average Rating

Vernon Francis - T-9th goals, 2nd assists, 1st PotM, 1st Shots on Target %, T-10th Distance Covered, 2nd Distance Covered/90 Minutes, 1st Key Passes, 3rd Average Rating

Justin Cooper - T-2nd yellow cards, 2nd Pass Completion %, 5th Tackles/Game

Paul Nisbet - T-2nd yellow cards, 8th Pass Completion %, T-10th Distance Covered

Ryan Leggett - 5th yellow cards, 1st Distance Covered, 3rd Distance Covered/90 Minutes

Chris Dickman - 1st Pass Completion %, 8th Distance Covered/90 Minutes

Lewis Page - 1st Distance Covered/90 Minutes, 8th Cross Completion %

Dave Chitty - 6th Avg Minutes/Goal

Ian Penney - T-1st Cross Completion %, 3rd Key Headers, T-9th Interceptions Made

Jamie Hopkins - 2nd Key Headers

Jordan Yorath - T-3rd Clean Sheets

As you might expect, the bulk of our stardom occurred up front, and it was my decision to switch from 3 CMs to 2 CMs and an AMC with Vernon Francis is what turned our season around, and as you can see from the stats, there might have been no one more critical to our title than the 33 year old.

Oh, a look at tactical setup:



We actually started with an instructionless skinny 4-1-2-1-2, but after these three shouts by my assman during that first game led us to victory, I made them permanent parts of the setup from then on.

There's supposed to be an option to ask the board to turn semi-pro, but I can't find it anywhere in the board meeting, so I just walk out of the meeting with nothing to say.

...Oh. Right. Takeover talks.

We finally break the $100k profit margin.

Jason Porter is signed away on a $14.75k deal, but it takes place on June 2018... and it's June 2017. Mod bug?

So, the takeover collapses. And I guess Professional Status is where you can make a change, but it's greyed out.

Transfers Out
DC Kieran Wood - $400
MC Chris Dickman - $6.75k
MC Chris Smith - N/C
ST Chris Baker - $400

Man City takes over Man U as the most prestigious club in England. We're still a minnows side, but our reputation has crept up as a result of our double promotion.

Gaz Wilson is the Fans' Player of the Year, breaking the streak set by Paul Nisbet.

Best 11
G: Jordan Yorath
D: Lewis Page/Jamie Hopkins/Ian Penney/Ryan Leggett
DM: Craig Attwood (?!)
M: Justin Cooper/Chris Dickman
AM: Vernon Francis
S: Adam Cornell/Gaz Wilson

And then this happens:



FUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUCK YEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!



Only due to the glitches caused by the mod, my wage budget says N/A

After restarting the game and going through a negotiation, I discover that our wage budget is $150k. That's enough to sign 15 players to $10k/year deals, which is about the money our top guys are asking for.

Sooo I may have to let some of these dudes go. Anyone asking for $10,000 a year or more is automatically not getting offered by us. Unless it's a really, really fantastic young player.

My new contract is for one year, and $2.8k. Yeah. The players will be making tons more cash than me. But as part of the negotiations, I'm getting the board to upgrade our Poor training facilities.

Transfer In - AMC/MC/ML Reggie Pouncey (18)
Signing a 2 year deal that pays him $10.5k a season, he shoots to the top of the class, and makes Vernon Francis look like nothing at all. He's also our first player to be assigned a valuation - one of $2.3k. To mark that special occasion... his screenshot:



Lot of pressure riding on this young man.

Justin Cooper, Jamie Hopkins, Paul Nisbet, and Gaz Wilson sign 2 year deals shortly thereafter, with base salaries of $3.9, $4.6, $8.25, and $7k respectively. Nisbet and Cooper are our top valued players at $6.5k.

Ryan Leggett signs a Non-contract to get off the amateur status.

So between those 5 players, we've spent $42.3k of our $150.1k budget, because it factors in things like appearance fees, etc.

A sizable chunk of our allotment, yes, and admittedly we probably spent too much on retaining Nisbet and Wilson, and way overspent on Pouncey... but it's hard to find good Engaches at this level, let alone the 18 year old ones with fantastic technique and mental attributes.

Still more stuff to fill in. A note: The league actually has like 4 or 5 amateur teams, which is good. Because the Western League Division One has a nasty little draw. 13 teams, with not only just the winner promoting, but the bottom 3 relegate out.

We have a lot of careful spending and putting together of pieces if we want to stay up. We had a bead on a striker we thought would sign with us no problem, but he opted to take what was what originally a $2.75k deal elsewhere, but magically turned into a $400 youth contract when he showed up. Which sucks for him, since we offered $1.9k.

But I need to go eat lunch and do a last run through of research before a meeting I have to get to.

[Izulde]

People are trying to free transfer Gaz Wilson. I tell them to go fuck themselves. I set an asking price of $15 million to make everyone go away, because the offers keep coming.

And still these motherfuckers are offering cheap ass transfers of $0, with at most 25% of future sale. GET THE FUCK OUT.

Transfers Out
GK Grant Beckwith - N/C
AMC Vernon Francis - $7.25k (After he was asking $12k from us.. sheesh).
ST Adam Cornell - $9k

Transfer In - GK Alex Roden (16) - $400
Cool trick - if you sign 16 year olds, it doesn't matter your agreed contract - they automatically revert to a youth contract until they turn 18 I'm guessing. This is a steal of a deal, as he's rated a 3.5* keeper already, well above Jordan Yorath's 2.5*.

Transfer In - DM/MC Shaun Atkinson (16) - $400
Will challenge for a starting spot at MC, but even if that falls through, he'll be a good substitute player at two spots.

Transfer In - DL Kalijah Gibbons (18) - $13k
We splashed boku bucks on this kid over cheaper, lesser non-contract options because he's a 4.5/5 Complete Wingback out of the gate.

Hiring staff is proving a real asspain. Everyone wants to be a Youth guy, not a senior level coach/assman, which is fucking stupid.. and really, *really* irritating. We're able to ink our head physio and head scout to contracts, however.

Transfer In - DC/DM/MC Dwight Wright (16) - $400
Can be a starring midfielder or buff up our DC position. Incredibly talented player overall, and we continue raiding the youth pulls of the lower division clubs. Abuse? Sure, but other teams are doing it. He'd even smash Paul Nisbet at DM, by the way.

Promotion Odds - Western Division One
Old Vardeanians: 5-4
Nottinghamshire AFC: 6-4
Shotton Colliery Welfare: 7-4
Thorney: 7-4
Cargo Fleet: 2-1
Morris Motors: 5-2

Shotton Colliery Welfare has spent a ton of money putting a team together - multiple players making $20k base or more, so if they don't promote, it'll be a huge letdown for them.

Transfer In - DC Dominic Hughes (16) - $400
Volatile and Outspoken, but he has phenomenal central defender game for this level (3.5). He's also a 3.5* CWB at DL, so invaluable there, too. He and Liam Nicell strike up a tutoring agreement.

Transfer In - ST/DC/ML Andrew Grundy (17) - $10.75k
We had the cap space to burn, so I experimented to see if he would also revert to a youth deal. The answer is no. He's also not nearly as good as expected, but he'll be a starter anyway, because I don't want to abuse the Jason Porter glitch.

We lost $7.28k last month, the first time we've ever bled out. That's the price of having a semi-pro team, and that's with our carefully controlling the wage budget - a few lavish spendings aside.

@ Nottinghamshire AFC
G: Alex Roden
D: Kalijah Gibbons/Dominic Hughes/Liam Nicell/Ryan Leggett
DM: Paul Nisbet
M: Justin Cooper/Dwight Wright
AM: Reggie Pouncey
S: Andrew Grundy/Gaz Wilson

This will be a great test for us against the team we promoted with. They're promotion contenders as well, and they've broken ground on a new 11,000 seat stadium, the first match of which will be played today. I sure hope we did the same!

40 - The stands are packed, and Grundy plays it cool, passing forward to Pouncey, who lays it forward for Wilson to run the ball in the box. The strike hits home! 1-0

55 - Dennis Betts, a youth pull last season, comes on for Leggett

65 - Barron in for Pouncey

70 - Oh, look! A bullshit fluke goal! 1-1

We got robbed on that shit. Just totally and completely robbed.

[Izulde]

7th vs Shepton Mallett (6th)
G: Alex Roden
D: Lewis Page/Ian Penney/Liam Nicell/Dennis Betts
DM: Craig Attwood
M: Stuart Pearson/Shaun Atkinson
AM: Justin Barron
S: Jason Porter/Dave Chitty

Exhaustion issues require us to put in a reserve lineup for the most part.

10 - Blech. 0-1

25 - Pearson with the prime interception header on to Barron. Pass to Porter, and the perfect lay-in for Chitty to beat the keeper in the race to the ball. 1-1

53 - Betts moves inside, Attwood down to DC, as our central defenders are playing shit tonight. Mbeleck at DR, and Nisbet at DM, because I accidentally selected the wrong player to fill the DC slot off the bench this game.

64 - Going to burn my last sub and play with fire as Sam Mitchell is in for Pearson.

66 - Chitty crosses to Mitchell just past midfield, and the sub's rainbow finds Porter in the box for a perfectly struck left foot volley. 2-1

7.9 for PotM Jason Porter here, though not far behind were Dave Chitty (7.4), and Shaun Atkinson (7.3), in a critical league win. Actually, I may go ahead and simply include Porter whenever he's healthy, because a reporter asked me about how the team will react when he leaves after this season, so the game is locked in that he'll move to his new squad after this year, and not a moment sooner.

No new stadium, by the way. 88 people showed up. In comparison, 10,310 people came to the new Nottinghamshire AFC stadium, and over 600 people are due to show to the next match, which has a stadium of sorts. So the mod is pretty wonky in terms of the stadium logic, but that's part of dealing with the cards you have.

@ Hoddesdon Town (FA Cup 1st Preliminary Round)
G: Jordan Yorath
D: Miles Mitchell/Dominic Hughes/Luke Williams/Ryan Leggett
DM: Liam Nicell
M: Reggie Pouncey/Justin Cooper
AM: Sam Mitchell
S: Andrew Grundy/Clive Murray

Three days after our last match, and an away game against a team that's a level ahead of us. This is going to be an absolutely brutal game to watch.

21 - Cooper gets it to Nicell for the boot to Sam Mitchell just outside the box. Very short pass to Grundy, and the long range half-volley finds its way home! 1-0

31 - Leggett with the powerfully long throw-in to the box. Hughes wins the header and knocks it down to Williams for the easy walk-in! 2-0

65 - Wright in for Pouncey; Gibbons for Miles Mitchell.

7.5 for Luke Williams, 8.4 for PotM Dominic Hughes, and 7.3 each for Ryan Leggett and Andrew Grundy, in what has to go down as the biggest upset I've pulled off in my entire managing career.

That's a cool extra $3k in the bank for that win, too.

Unfortunately, we get screwed over again in the draw for the second round, playing at Barton United, who is in our league and on a three game win streak. Be nice to actually host one of these things.

Although it's dangerous, I replace Craig Attwood as captain with Paul Nisbet, keeping Jamie Hopkins as vice-captain. This pisses off Hopkins, who feels he should have been appointed Captain, but most of the rest of the squad is happy with the change.

vs Kings Langley (FA Vase 1st Round)
G: Alex Roden
D: Kalijah Gibbons/Ian Penney/Liam Nicell/Ryan Leggett
DM: Paul Nisbet
M: Justin Cooper/Dwight Wright
AM: Reggie Pouncey
S: Gaz Wilson/Jason Porter

22 - That was a little bullshit. Pouncey was onsides to me.

52 - Grundy in for the knocked Wilson.

62 - We're gifted an own goal. Atkinson on for Cooper, and the central midfielders switch spots. 1-0

76 - Porter is tackled from behind just outside the box, drawing a red card for their defender. I didn't see the red card until after the game, so failed to change tactics to take advantage.

It was the kind of game where 7.1 from Ian Penney gets PotM. Not a great game, and we could have just as easily gone to extra time or penalties. Still, a win is a win, and that's another $1.51k, making our cup money takings $4.51k thus far.

569 people showed up, which is pretty darned good.

[Izulde]

Insomnia hit, so I'm going to keep playing.

@ Kenilworth Town (FA Cup Second Preliminary Round)
G: Alex Roden
D: Lewis Page/Dominic Hughes/Luke Williams/Dennis Betts
DM: Liam Nicell
M: Justin Cooper/Dwight Wright
AM: Justin Barron
S: Andrew Grundy/Dave Chitty

I misread the message - the Barton United match was what got rearranged as a result of this one. This is an amateur team, so even though we're away, we should be able to win. But consider what happened the last round where we pulled the upset.

We're on time #4 of takeover talks, by the way.

Anyway, largely the B-list lineup, because league play is more important.

4 - Beaut of an interception by Page. Skip long ball to Chitty, pause, and then skip long ball to Barron, who breezes by for the half-circle shot and score. 1-0

31 - Awful backpass by Chitty and we give up a goal 1-1

33 - Nicell shoots it out to Betts on the right wing. The pass hits Chitty, who dribbles his way into the box and fires a shot that makes up for his mental lapse. 2-1

62 - Hopkins on for Hughes; Cooper for Pearson.

78 - Double yellow for one of their dudes. Time to open stuff up even more.

85 - Chitty gets the ball on the right wing and dribbles all the way into the corner of the pitch. Defense is buzzing around him, and he sends it back on a diagonal to Atkinson just outside the box. The strike is a good damn thing of beauty, and hits the net like I'd like to hit Kate Upton. 3-1

7.8 for Dennis Betts, 7.6 for Lewis Page, 8.3 for Shaun Atkinson, and 8.8 for PotM Dave Chitty.

That's another $5.53k in the kitty for the win.

4th @ Barton United (2nd)
G: Alex Roden
D: Kalijah Gibbons/Dominic Hughes/Jamie Hopkins/Ryan Leggett
DM: Paul Nisbet
M: Justin Cooper/Dwight Wright
AM: Reggie Pouncey
S: Gaz Wilson/Jason Porter

10 - Ugh. 0-1

16 - Wilson, who is already knocked, gets drilled in the box, and Cooper converts the PK. How the jackass who keeps going after Wilson still isn't carded yet, I don't know. 1-1

32 - We'll take that own goal gift, sure. 2-1

Grundy replaces Wilson; Nicell in for Hughes at the half.

68 - Pouncey sends the ball far down the left wing, and Grundy has the ability to get to the ball first. Dribble into the box, cross to Porter, and the insurance is easy. 3-1

79 - Miles Mitchell comes on for the knocked Gibbons.

87 - Wright's bounce pass *just* skips by the defense for Porter, and I think the soft shot is too weak to go in, but the keeper misjudges it, and it trickles in. 4-1

7.6 for Dwight Wright, 7.7 for Justin Cooper, and 8.9 for PotM Jason Porter, who really turned it on in the second half.

We'll be without Kalijah Gibbons for 2-3 weeks with a thigh strain. He hasn't been playing that well yet anyway, which sort of makes me regret spending all that money on him.

On the bright side? Sure it's only 3 games, but we're in sole possession of 1st place.

[Izulde]

All that prize money comes in handy, as we post a $14k profit for the month, but we're still currently projected to lose about $35k on the year when all is said and done.

1st @ Shotton Colliery Welfare (13th)
G: Alex Roden
D: Lewis Page/Dominic Hughes/Ian Penney/Dennis Betts
DM: Liam Nicell
M: Stuart Pearson/Shaun Atkinson
AM: Justin Barron
S: Andrew Grundy/Gaz Wilson

Remember how I said Shotton Colliery Welfare was spending the most money by far out of any team?



Yeah. Almost double. Granted, it's early days, but still, they can't be happy with their investment so far. They lost to Morris Motors 2-3 in their only Western Division game thus far, and were knocked out in the FA Vase 1st round replay. Their one saving grace has been also winning both preliminary rounds of the FA Cup, same as us.

Needless to say, this squad is looking to get the ship upright.

36 seconds - Betts gets the ball on the right wing and dribbles out farther still. Then comes the cross, which is beautifully dropped in the middle of three defenders, placed perfectly for Grundy's pitch-in. 1-0

17 - Barron on the corner... it's deflected, but Page is right there to spear in the diagonal! 2-0

62 - Off with injury goes Betts; Mbeleck to replace him. Attwood comes on for Nicell as well.

7.5 for Justin Barron, 8.1 for PotM Lewis Page, and every starting backline player got 7.3 or better, bar the goalie. Great win for a B-team heavy lineup over the most spendy team in the league.

These guys not only cost more, they're an average of 17 pounds heavier than our guys, and we still ran them off the pitch.

The win also sets a new Thorney record with six straight victories. Cool.

vs Billingham Town (FA Cup 3rd Preliminary Round)
G: Alex Roden
D: Lewis Page/Dominic Hughes/Jamie Hopkins/Ryan Leggett
DM: Paul Nisbet
M: Justin Cooper/Dwight Wright
AM: Reggie Pouncey
S: Andrew Grundy/Jason Porter

The FA Cup is worth more, so I'm putting our best side in, even though we're huge underdogs.

28 - Pfeh. Poor corner kick defense. 0-1

46 - Nice amend for an awful game by Page as he takes Cooper's pass and crosses to Pouncey for the head-in before half. He was at a 5.9 before that move 1-1

52 - Wilson is in for Porter

67 - Atkinson on for Wright

73 - Good offsides call, ref!

89 - ARGGGGH!!!!!!!!!!!! WE GET A PK AND COOPER FAILS TO CONVERT!!!!

Frustrating not to win that one. We had the opportunity right in our damn hands. Still, it was a good battling display against a difficult team.

@ Billingham Town (FA Cup Third Preliminary Round Replay)
G: Alex Roden
D: Miles Mitchell/Luke Williams/Ian Penney/Dennis Betts
DM: Liam Nicell
M: Stuart Pearson/Shaun Atkinson
AM: Justin Barron
S: Gaz Wilson/Jason Porter

Nobody gives us a chance in hell here, and that's perfectly fair.

39 - Barron's carted off, putting Sam Mitchell on.

64 - Ho ho ho!!! A perfect goal kick pass by Roden to Porter, who first touches the long shot and gets it in!!!! 1-0

67 - Attwood pops on for Williams, who is horrid.

93 - ZOMG!!! WILSON WITH THE PERFECT FLIGHTED FREE KICK!!! 2-0

7.6 for PotM Alex Roden, our youth contract goalkeeper never showing any signs of cracking under pressure, and 7.5 for Gaz Wilson. This upset tops even our first stunner upset in this cup run.

But bad news as we lose Alex Roden for 3 weeks, and a lot of clubs have been sniffing around Jordan Yorath.

That's another big $9.32k in the bank for us.

[Izulde]

@ Romsey (FA Cup 1st Qualifying Round)
G: Jordan Yorath
D: Lewis Page/Dominic Hughes/Jamie Hopkins/Ryan Leggett
DM: Paul Nisbet
M: Justin Cooper/Dwight Wright
AM: Reggie Pouncey
S: Andrew Grundy/Dave Chitty

Lot of back and forth leading up to this one. I'd say we're significant underdogs. Also quite funny that we make it through the preliminary, but that just means we've made it to the qualifying stages.

20 - Bleh. 0-1

42 - We're sucking ass out there 0-2

55 - Nicell for Nisbet; Barron for Cooper

57 - Grundy heads it back to Wright, who passes it to Pouncey. Long ball into the box, and the keeper comes out, missing the grab. That's an easy tap-in for Grundy. 1-2

63 - Pouncey on the corner, and Hughes heads it in! 2-2

71 - [b]Miles Mitchell[l/b] tags in for Page

80 - FUCKING PATHETIC FREE KICK DEFENDING 2-3

Well, that's disappointing as fuck.

@ Market Drayton (FA Vase 2nd Round)
G: Jordan Yorath
D: Miles Mitchell/Liam Nicell/Ian Penney/Dennis Betts
DM: Paul Nisbet
M: Justin Cooper/Shaun Atkinson
AM: Sam Mitchell
S: Gaz Wilson/Jason Porter

Have to try and bounce back after that soul-crushing loss. And we're being forced to do it as huge underdogs.

11 - Booming clearance by Penney shoots out to Sam Mitchell, who holds up and lays off to Porter. A second long ball finds Wilson just beating the offsides trap, and slashing the net with a cross rocket. 1-0

43 - I can't believe they didn't score that. Horrid finishing effort.

51 - Barron replaces Sam Mitchell, who just blew an easy shot of his own.

60 - Pearson in for Atkinson and midfielders switch.

It was the kind of game where Gaz Wilson's 7.3 was enough for PotM, and we were solid overall, but kind of a meh win at best - one we could have just as easily lost.

Still, I'm damn sure not going to cry about beating a favored team, who additionally have the awesome name of The Gingerbread Men. Nor will I be disappointed out the $2.79k, though I'd rather have had the FA Cup money.

4th vs Morris Motors (5th)
G: Jordan Yorath
D: Kalilah Gibbons/Dominic Hughes/Jamie Hopkins/Ryan Leggett
DM: Dwight Wright
M: Stuart Pearson/Shaun Atkinson
AM: Reggie Pouncey
S: Andrew Grundy/Clive Murray

We're making up a game in hand in here, and it's going to be tough against one of the league's best teams and our not fielding the most ideal lineup in the world.

41 - We've been playing like shit all game. 0-1

56 - Chitty for Grundy; Cooper for Wright

59 - Pouncey's corner to Hughes is cleared away, but Murray is there to crack the long rebound, for what I swear is his first goal ever for us! 1-1

The post game team talk was a fucking disaster. Ugh.

2nd vs Copperas Hill (12th)
G: Jordan Yorath
D: Lewis Page/Dominic Hughes/Ian Penney/Dennis Betts
DM: Paul Nisbet
M: Liam Nicell/Dwight Wright
AM: Justin Barron
S: Gaz Wilson/Jason Porter

We need to start kicking it back in gear in league play. Cargo Fleet is owning everyone right now, and embarrassing all of us, because of how low their payroll is.

26 - Damn we suck at defending set pieces this season 0-1

36 - Knocked out - Porter. In is Grundy. Striker switch.

62 - Williams on for Page

That match was complete shit on our part.

We made $35.14k last month, probably due to cups stuff. Paul Nisbet's performances are now a thing to worry about. Which, to be perfectly honest, is fair. He's been shockingly mediocre this season, and it may be time to think about selling him while he still holds value.

3rd @ Chippenham Park (11th)
G: Alex Roden
D: Kalijah Gibbons/Dominic Hughes/Jamie Hopkins/Ryan Leggett
DM: Liam Nicell
M: Justin Cooper/Dwight Wright
AM: Reggie Pouncey
S: Andrew Grundy/Gaz Wilson

Jason Porter is out a couple weeks with injury. I'm fielding a strong lineup here despite the FA Vase in a few days, because we need to start getting back to winning in the league.

30 - WTF is with this team?! 0-1

48 - All of a sudden we can't beat ANYBODY! 0-2

53 - @$%%!@%!@ 0-3

58 - Grundy scores. I don't care. 1-3

66 - Cooper to Wright to Wilson, and suddenly there's a slim chance. Nisbet for Nicell; Williams for Gibbons. Probably not enough though. 2-3

This was down to the whole defense fucking bombing in the second half. Sub-6.0 scores for Alex Roden and Kalijah Gibbons, the latter of whom I'm very close to getting rid of.

I have a talk with him and tell him he really fucked up this one, which he admits. Roden I'll allow it due to his coming back from injury.

[Izulde]

@ Tow Law (FA Vase 3rd Round)
G: Alex Roden
D: Lewis Page/Liam Nicell/Ian Penney/Dennis Betts
DM: Paul Nisbet
M: Stuart Pearson/Shaun Atkinson
AM: Justin Barron
S: Andrew Grundy/Dave Chitty

9 - We're awful at defending corner kicks 0-1

55 - Atwood for Nicell; Murray for Grundy

57 - Atkinson passes to Betts just outside the box, and the lay-in pass sees Barron beat everyone with a perfectly placed shot. 1-1

Honestly, we were playing for the draw most of the second half.

vs Tow Law (FA Vase Third Round Replay)
G: Alex Roden
D: Kalijah Gibbons/Dominic Hughes/Jamie Hopkins/Ryan Leggett
DM: Liam Nicell
M: Justin Cooper/Dwight Wright
AM: Reggie Pouncey
S: Andrew Grundy/Gaz Wilson

3 - Wilson has the free kick outside the box on the right hand side. Everyone is scrambling in the middle, and he takes advantage of the confusion to strike a superior blast home on the spot free kick! 1-0

5 - I'm about to start swearing at Leggett, but his cross to Gibbons somehow manages not to get intercepted. The pass forward to Grundy in the box, and he dribbles to the far post, where he sits and waits. Pouncey, well, pounces forward, takes the center, and sinks it. 2-0

At halftime, Pouncey replaces the injured Wright, and the central midfielders switch. Sam Mitchell is in at AMC.

47 - Now it's Wilson who's knocked, but he plays on here, getting the ball and sending out to Leggett on the wing. A booming cross finds Grundy unmarked, and the shot is sure. I'm waiting for the offsides flag, but none appears!!! 3-0

62 - Murray in for the injured Wilson

83 - How unbelievably stupid of Pouncey. We've got this game in the bag, and he has to go and get himself a red on a double-footed foul.

Everyone other than Roden in the starting lineup got a 7 or better, and our backline was all 7.3 and up. What an amazing game. 7.8 for Ryan Leggett and Jamie Hopkins; 7.7 for Dominic Hughes. Despite the red card, Reggie Pouncey grabbed a 7.5. Our strikers were awesome - 8.2 for Andrew Grundy and 8.3 for PotM Gaz Wilson.

$3.41k for that win.

But it comes with heavy prices. Reggie Pouncey and Dwight Wright will both miss our next game, due to red card and injury respectively. And Gaz Wilson is out 3 weeks.

4th vs Old Varndeanians (11th)
G: Jordan Yorath
D: Lewis Page/Dominic Hughes/Liam Nicell/Ryan Leggett
DM: Paul Nisbet
M: Justin Cooper/Shaun Atkinson
AM: Justin Barron
S: Andrew Grundy/Dave Chitty

15 - We're awarded a somewhat generous PK in terms of its placement (really should have been a free kick), and Cooper converts. 1-0

33 - Awful goal kick and even worse defending 1-1

57 - Porter in for Grundy; Williams for Leggett.

Barron blows two easy shots, and this is frustrating, because this is a game we really should have been able to win.

Pouncey draws an extra 2 match ban for his sendoff.

The hits just keep right on hammering, as Liam Nicell gets a devastating hip injury. If we keep him at the club, it's 4 to 5 months. If we spend $1k, he can see a specialist and it'll be 2 to 3 months. We need him, so off he goes to the specialist.

There's no available players to sign anywhere on the market, either.

Oh right. There was a transfer embargo, as the fans tried to take over the club. That fell through, though, because the current owners were trying to make a buck on the deal, and the fans were pissed at the rape attempt.

So that's takeover attempt #5 or 6 that hasn't panned out.

May need to revisit the drawing board, but stuff to do and all that.

[Izulde]

5th @ Alder FC (3rd)
G: Alex Roden
D: Kalijah Gibbons/Dominic Hughes/Ian Penney/Ryan Leggett
DM: Dwight Wright
M: Justin Cooper/Shaun Atkinson
AM: Justin Barron
S: Andrew Grundy/Jason Porter

4 - What a beautiful, perfect long ball free kick deep in our half by Penney to all alone Grundy's head for the forceful score! That might be the prettiest goal I've ever seen. 1-0

53 - Williams in for Gibbons; Sam Mitchell for Barron

54 - Well, that worked out perfectly! Mitchell's corner hits Williams for the head-in goal. 2-0

76 - Atkinson wings it out to Leggett just outside the box. The cross mis-fires as the defense intercepts, but Porter gets it back, shoots. Deflection, and the rebound is good! 3-0

77 - We got lazy there. No fight on the header. 3-1

8.3 for Andrew Grundy as PotM. We're technically within 3 points of 1st now, but 2nd and 3rd place both have a game in hand on us, as does 5th, so overall, that run to 1st isn't looking a likely regain any time soon.

I transfer list Kalijah Gibbons after offering him to clubs nets no interest. He's upset about it, and gets angry when I tell him I don't think he's cut out for this level. So I tell him I'll take him off if he proves himself on the pitch, which he vows to do.

$1.61k profit for the month. Yay. Here's to hoping we can make money on the year.

Thorney @ Camelford (FA Vase 4th Round)
G: Alex Roden
D: Kalijah Gibbons/Dominic Hughes/Ian Penney/Ryan Leggett
DM: Paul Nisbet
M: Dwight Wright/Shaun Atkinson
AM: Justin Barron
S: Gaz Wilson/Jason Porter

24 - We weren't expected to even be able to compete anyway, but still disappointing to once again fuck up on a corner kick 0-1

Williams replaces Leggett at half.

54 - Pfeh. 0-2

60 - Chitty for Porter

81 - Nisbet steals the ball, and short passes to Barron for the pass to Wilson. The shot cracks off the bar, but Chitty is there for the rebound! 1-2

We have a few more chances down the stretch, but just can't convert another goal for the tie. Still proud of how we played against a vastly superior team. And hey, we pulled in $1.24k despite losing.

Nobody wants Kalijah Gibbons, even for free. I may have to cut my losses with him, and just release him outright. Dude has just been straight up lousy. At the very least, he's lost his starting job to Lewis Page.

5th vs Cargo Fleet (1st)
G: Alex Roden
D: Lewis Page/Dominic Hughes/Ian Penney/Ryan Leggett
DM: Paul Nisbet
M: Dwight Wright/Shaun Atkinson
AM: Reggie Pouncey
S: Gaz Wilson/Jason Porter

6 - Wilson's free kick cracks the crossbar, but Pouncey is there to pounce on the rebound. 1-0

8 - Fucking awful backpass by Leggett. Grr. 1-1

18 - Beautiful header by Penney on Nisbet's free kick. The dude just outperforms his ratings - hence why he's surpassed Hopkins on the chart. 2-1

34 - That sure didn't look like a red card worthy offense in my books, but we'll take it!

Williams is on for Leggett at the half.

53 - Giving up a short-handed goal is fucking stupid. 2-2

61 - Barron in for Atkinson, and midfielders switch.

86 - Chitty in for Porter

91 - Wright to Pouncey just inside the box, and just when I think he's going to shoot, he gives it to Wilson. The shot's deflected, and Wilson charges forth to put in his rebound! Cargo Fleet cries about offsides. Fuck off. 3-2

8.2 for Reggie Pouncey and 7.8 for Gaz Wilson, as their dude who scored both goals gets PotM. Not a brilliant win, but an important one to guarantee that we'll be in okay shape at the halfway point.

5th vs Roman Glass St. George (10th)
G: Alex Roden
D: Lewis Page/Dominic Hughes/Ian Penney/Ryan Leggett
DM: Paul Nisbet
M: Dwight Wright/Shaun Atkinson
AM: Reggie Pouncey
S: Gaz Wilson/Jason Porter

29 - We're awarded a PK. Much bitching is had, drawing a yellow on one of their dudes. Pouncey easily converts. 1-0

Barron replaces Wright at the half

63 - We're awarded yet penalty. Pouncey converts again, Chitty replaces Wilson, and striker switch. 2-0

71 - Chitty is forced out with injury, and we have to go with a sole striker, 2 AMC setup, with Barron as a support Attacking Midfielder. Attwood comes in as MC BWM.

8.2 for Ryan Leggett, and of course PotM and 8.7 goes to Reggie Pouncey. They did a good job of shutting us down outside of those PKs.

With everyone more or less sorted out in GP, we're 3 points back of 1st place. Dave Chitty is out 3 months with a torn hamstring, which is unfortunate, but also a blessing, as I meant to make Andrew Grundy our third striker and kept forgetting the switch.

[Izulde]

I have zero idea how, but we made a profit of $21.89k last month.

Transfer In - DR/MR/AMR Matt Wilkinson (23)
Signed to a two year $14.25k. Easily mops the floor with everyone as a CWB. Of course, we said the same about Kalijah Gibbons, but maybe it's time we gave Gibbons another shot again. ...Wait. We had Wilkinson before, and he was just a backup player for us. That's right.. now I remember. He was the backup AMR/DR our first two seasons! Kid has really grown up since then, however, having played for several semi-professional clubs since then.

3rd @ Wellington (7th)
G: Alex Roden
D: Kalijah Gibbons/Dominic Hughes/Ian Penney/Matt Wilkinson
DM: Paul Nisbet
M: Dwight Wright/Shaun Atkinson
AM: Reggie Pouncey
S: Gaz Wilson/Jason Porter

Barron replaces Wright at the half.

63 - Grundy in for Wilson

75 - Barron to AMC; Attwood flips in for Pouncey

87 - Porter gets the ball from I forget who, dribbles to just outside the box, and lays in the perfect box pass for Barron to strike home the late winner (or so I hope). 1-0

89 - Wilkinson with the booming long ball that Atkinson gets to first before far post crossing to Grundy for the thunder head-in! 2-0

7.5 and PotM for Dominic Hughes, but full credit also to our reserves, both of whom scored the game-deciding goals.

3rd vs Nottinghamshire AFC (11th)
G: Alex Roden
D: Kalijah Gibbons/Dominic Hughes/Ian Penney/Matt Wilkinson
DM: Paul Nisbet
M: Dwight Wright/Shaun Atkinson
AM: Reggie Pouncey
S: Gaz Wilson/Jason Porter

23 - Ugh.

35 - Out goes Porter with injury. Grundy in, and striker switch.

Barron on for Wright at half, who has fucked up so much lately, he's getting benched.

61 - Atkinson intercepts the ball and rather than push it, passes back to Roden. Long ball to Wilson sees a long shot strike home. 1-1

63 - Wilson with the short kickback to Atkinson. The wide pass hits Wilkinson, who deftly executes a pristine cross to Grundy for the header goal. They scream about offsides and draw a yellow. 2-1

Not a pretty win by any means, but one we'll definitely take. Keeps the pressure on Morris Motors at any rate, and we move into 2nd. Cargo Fleet has dropped a couple recently, including to us, and fall back to 3rd.

Transfer Out - GK Jordan Yorath
Knew it was only a matter of time. But after he got unseated by Alex Roden, he was never going to be more than a backup for us - certainly not one we were going to pay $10k to. He got $9.75k from Penlake.

Transfer Out - DC/DM/MC Liam Nicell
I'm slightly annoyed at this. We pay a thousand bucks to quicken his recovery time, and he takes a $7k offer to go elsewhere, when he was demanding $10.25k from us. Whatever. At least it solves a headache of who to play.

Speaking of which, I've taken Kalijah Gibbons off the transfer list. He's played well since being put back in the starting lineup.

2nd @ Shepton Mallett (13th)
G: Alex Roden
D: Kalijah Gibbons/Dominic Hughes/Ian Penney/Matt Wilkinson
DM: Paul Nisbet
M: Justin Cooper/Shaun Atkinson
AM: Reggie Pouncey
S: Gaz Wilson/Jason Porter

3 - Wilkinson with the throw-in to Porter. He gets it right back and crosses to Wilson, who kicks it in the open net with no problem. I think that's something like three games now where Wilkinson's crossing has netted us a score. What a key pickup! 1-0

8 - Atkinson with the long spike to Pouncey, who dribbles past the defense and then crosses to a flying Wilson. Goal #2 for us and Gaz! 2-0

30 - Gibbons loses the ball, but Cooper is there to back him up. Gets the ball back, and Gibbons pops it to Atkinson, who kicks it to Wilson in the box. Defense starts swarming, but the short layoff to Porter fools everyone, and we're just on fire right now. 3-0

40 - Fucking awful defensive work there. 3-1

59 - Williams in for Penney, Barron for Atkinson, and midfielder switch.

86 - There we go! Wilkinson and Cooper exchange passes, and the former has another fabulous cross, this time to Wilson's head for the hat trick!!!! 4-1

Matt Wilkinson tore shit up with a 9.0 rating, and Jason Porter bagged a 7.5, but you know this wasn't going to be anyone other than Gaz Wilson and his 9.7 getting PotM.

We lost $11.34k last month, but that's okay. We've had some good, strong months of money that we can afford to take those hits.

So uh, I found out that when you pay kids $400 on a youth deal, if you signed them to an originally bigger than that contract, they make the original contract - Dominic Hughes shoots up to $7.5k.

Transfer Out - DL Lewis Page
Got a $10.25k deal. Money well-deserved, and I did like him. It's just... yeah. You know.

2nd @ Copperas Hill (9th)
G: Alex Roden
D: Kalijah Gibbons/Dominic Hughes/Ian Penney/Matt Wilkinson
DM: Paul Nisbet
M: Justin Cooper/Justin Barron
AM: Reggie Pouncey
S: Gaz Wilson/Jason Porter

23 - Sloppy, sloppy, and just ugh. 0-1

32 - Nisbet finds Hughes on the corner for the kick-in amidst the muddy slop in this deluge. 1-1

Williams for Wilkinson and Wright for Penney at the half. The right side of the backline has been fucking hideous.

72 - Grundy for Porter and striker switch.

86 - Cooper fucks us over with a double yellow.

Morris Motors finally loses, and we can't take advantage. The good news is, by getting the single point, we can leapfrog them in the clear. Bad news? Cargo Fleet is now just a point back of us, and Barton United is within 3 points of us. After the Top 4 is a wide gap, however - 5th place Alder FC is 8 points behind Barton.

Gaz Wilson twists his ankle and is out 4-5 weeks. Just flipping great.

2nd vs Barton United (4th)
G: Alex Roden
D: Kalijah Gibbons/Dominic Hughes/Ian Penney/Matt Wilkinson
DM: Paul Nisbet
M: Justin Barron/Shaun Atkinson
AM: Reggie Pouncey
S: Andrew Grundy/Jason Porter

26 - HORSESHIT! PORTER WAS ONSIDES!!!!

31 - Porter says fuck you, ref, by playing the 1-2 with Grundy, and finishing with a shot on the boundary-line. Not calling this one offsides, side dick. 1-0

67 - Williams on for Wilkinson

79 - He's been absolutely ass on goal kicks most of the game, but here Roden finally kicks one that the opponents misjudge, and it bounces to Porter, who dribbles to the half-circle and scorches home the half-volley. 2-0

7.5 for Alex Roden (Completely undeserved IMO), and 8.8 for PotM Jason Porter.

Once again we have an embargo on transfers, because once again, there's takeover talks... aaand once again, it collapses.

1st vs Shotton Colliery Welfare (8th)
G: Alex Roden
D: Kalijah Gibbons/Dominic Hughes/Ian Penney/Matt Wilkinson
DM: Paul Nisbet
M: Justin Barron/Shaun Atkinson
AM: Reggie Pouncey
S: Andrew Grundy/Jason Porter

The 1st is a lie. Morris Motors has a game in hand on us.

2 - Wilkinson retrieves his own cleared out throw-in *twice*, the latter a cross to Grundy that sees the defense miss the interception, and the shot easier than a $50 Vegas ho. 1-0

22 - Pouncey to Porter, who lays it in space for Grundy to grab, dribble, and kick in his second goal 2-0

34 - Betts in for the injured Wilkinson. Williams, who we kept as the reserve because of his versatility, got hurt last game, so Betts got back in the rotation.

49 - Damn. Both wingbacks injured this game. Gibbons is out, meaning Hughes shifts left and Wright slides in at DC.

71 - Jesus, these rich assholes play dirty. Porter injured, so Murray comes in.

79 - Grundy gets tripped in the box, and he converts the PK, thanks to the ball bouncing off the keeper, for a cheap ass hat trick. Guy should have gotten his double yellow, too. 3-0

90 - ANOTHER knock?! Fuck these guys. Instead of the Original Assholes, they're the Rich Assholes.

7.6 for Ian Penney, 7.7 for Dominic Hughes, and 9.5 for Andrew Grundy, who blows me off when I congratulate him on his second half brilliance. Oops.

Morris Motors finally loses, so even with the game in hand they have on us, we're authentically in 1st place with 7 left to play. We're also mathematically guaranteed to avoid relegation.

Huge break as the injuries are just of the 6-8 day variety, and they should be back for our next game, which is against Morris Motors. Easily our biggest match of the year in our quest to... well... you know.

[Izulde]

We lost $7.75k last month. A bid for Justin Cooper comes in that we consider, but when we ask for double his value, the offer's withdrawn. I mean, I'm not totally adverse to moving him, but it has to be more than 25% of the future sale price for me to consider it.

A similar 25% of future sale offer comes for Paul Nisbet. That one gets laughed out of the park.

We spend a lot of time in the transfer market, trying to find a replacement for Alex Roden, who keeps regressing every month, but thus far no luck.

1st @ Morris Motors (3rd)
G: Alex Roden
D: Kalijah Gibbons/Dominic Hughes/Ian Penney/Matt Wilkinson
DM: Paul Nisbet
M: Justin Cooper/Shaun Atkinson
AM: Reggie Pouncey
S: Andrew Grundy/Jason Porter

27 - Ugh. 0-1

38 - Gibbons kicks the ball down the flank to Grundy, but it's intercepted. A foolish backpass to the goalie gets intercepted by Porter, who comes out of nowhere to steal it and put the equalizer away. 1-1

Barron replaces the injured, ineffectual Cooper at half.

54 - A 20 yard pass downfield by Gibbons to the box for Grundy, who muscles off two defenders and slots in the tightly angled shot! 2-1

65 - Barron moves up to AMC and Attwood comes on at BWM, replacing Pouncey, who hasn't been great and also just got a yellow card.

72 - Double yellow for one of their guys!! Yes!!!

80 - Betts in for tired, nervous Wilkinson

88 - THAT WAS A BULLSHIT FUCKING PENALTY!!! SUCK A DICK YOU FUCKING CHODEFUCKSTICK WHOREFUCK REF!!! 2-2

91 - FUCK FUCK FUSDBNGSLBNOASHFGOIAHRTO9HAWEO9TH234T54PQ2349P2345 ARE YOU FUCKING KIDDING ME WITH THIS BULSLHIT FSHGOHASIOGHASF89PGAD 2-3

I throw shit and scream at the team. I'm still throwing shit and screaming in inchoate rage at the fucking bullshit game that we fucking HAD LOCKED DOWN.

1st vs Chippenham Park (11th)
G: Alex Roden
D: Kalijah Gibbons/Dominic Hughes/Ian Penney/Matt Wilkinson
DM: Paul Nisbet
M: Justin Barron/Shaun Atkinson
AM: Reggie Pouncey
S: Andrew Grundy/Jason Porter

I'm more pissed at losing that last fucking game than I am at my inability to find my keys after searching my apartment for over four fucking hours earlier today.

34 - Nisbet's indirect free kick to Gibbons sees the shot blocked, but Atkinson puts away the rebound. Still not fucking happy because Morris Motors has a game in hand and is 1 point back, meaning 1st place is a god damned fucking lie again. 1-0

57 - No problem, we'll just fucking bend over, get fucked up the ass, and fducking give Morris Motors the god damned fucking title. Betts on for Wilkinson's sorry runt ass and Wilson in for Grundy. Fuck all you bitches. 1-1

62 - THAT WAS SARCASM, YOU FUCKNOZZLES! STOP FUCKING BEING CUNTYWAISTS ON FUCKING CORNER KICKS! 1-2

78 - Double yellow for one of their dudes. Watch it not matter.

89 - Pouncey scores on an interception by Barron and pass from Wilson. I give no fucks. 2-2

93 - HOLY SHIT!!!! BETTS KICKS A CROSS THAT FLIES SO HIGH, THE KEEPER COMES OUT AND DEFLECTS IT... AND THE FUCKING BALL BOUNCES INTO THE NET ON A FLUKE ASS FUCKING GOAL!!! 3-2

Even better - Alder FC came back from behind to beat Morris Motors, so we're again cleanly in 1st place even with the game in hand!!!!

I tell Dominic Hughes he needs to get his shit together. He cost us the game against Morris Motors, and damn fucking near cost us that game against Chippenham Park.

Transfer In - GK Craig Lambert (18) - $0
We just paid this kid a shit ton of money - $15.75k a year in base salary, plus a ton of inducements, because he is a god of goalkeeping at this level - literally the single best keeper we've ever had put on a Thorney jersey. We stole him from a semi-pro club that's crashed all the way to Level 12 and is at the bottom third of the league due to a ton of injuries.

1st @ Old Vardeanians (9th)
G: Craig Lambert
D: Kalijah Gibbons/Dominic Hughes/Jamie Hopkins/Dennis Betts
DM: Paul Nisbet
M: Justin Barron/Shaun Atkinson
AM: Reggie Pouncey
S: Andrew Grundy/Jason Porter

We've suffered from poor play overall in the DC spots the last couple games, so I'm going to swap one starter out, and it's Penney, who simply has been mediocre even when he hasn't stunk.

12 - YOU HAVE GOT TO FUCKING BE KIDDING ME! LAMBERT IS HURT?! He'll play on, but fuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuck.

13 - Fuck you!!! Porter was onsides!!!!

28 - We've been knocking on the door literally all game here, but if a fluke corner kick goal by Nisbet is what it takes to break the tie, well game on, motherfucker. 1-0

43 - Atkinson sneaks it forward to Porter, who laterals to Pouncey on the half-circle. The long shot cracks in, with what looked like help from the crossbar. In the middle of this play, I see Morris Motors and Cargo Fleet are playing each other, and it's a 1-1 draw. Yes, a tie would be great. A tie would be fucking FABULOUS. 2-0

Porter gets knocked literally 30 seconds before the half ends, and it's bad enough that Wilson replaces him.

50 - That is literally the first highlight I've seen for the opponents all game. The shot cracks wide.

58 - That fuckup of a short pass in the central defense should have cost us a damned goal. As soon as I figure out who it is, I'm yanking his ass.

70 - We've been insanely fucking lucky this game. The woodwork denies what should have been a goal for them.

80 - Wright goes in for Hopkins, who I think was the guilty player earlier in the half anyway.

7.5 for Paul Nisbet and 7.7 for PotM Reggie Pouncey. Not the most auspicious debut for Craig Lambert, but it's fine. Cargo Fleet beat Morris Motors, by the way, so the pressure is still on there.

But with 4 games left, even if we completely implode, the worst we'll finish is 4th.

Jason Porter is out 3 weeks, which means he'll be a miss for our next game. That's kind of a heavy blow, but at least we have Gaz Wilson to step in for him.

Cargo Fleet and Morris Motors both win on a day we don't play, making up the game in hand for MM and giving us one on Cargo Fleet. We're still in 1st, so we know we hold the tiebreaker (for now).

U21 vs Youth Candidates
Finally a year the U21 team wins, 2-1, although Craig Lambert fucked up when he fisted a ball right to the opponent and they scored on him. Sam Mitchell was great.

It costs money to give players youth contracts, so I'm going to say you need to have a shot at the lineup for me to offer you a deal. Anyone this year fit that category? Oh, we lost Dwight Wright for 3 weeks in the game.

So yeah, I'm not impressed with any of the youth candidates, so for the first time ever, I don't sign any.

I release two U21 scrubs and Kevin Mbeleck on free transfers, because they weren't costing anything and all they did was whine. I did rather like Mbeleck though - he's just not cut out for this level.

1st vs Alder FC (6th)
G: Craig Lambert
D: Kalijah Gibbons/Dominic Hughes/Jamie Hopkins/Dennis Betts
DM: Paul Nisbet
M: Justin Barron/Shaun Atkinson
AM: Reggie Pouncey
S: Andrew Grundy/Gaz Wilson

They have the league's leading goal-scorer in Brewster Dale, so naturally we're going to be on him like white on rice - a cliche` I love despite its status.

4 - Lots of back and forth here, with Nisbet making a beautiful sliding dispossession of a ball intended for Dale. That starts a sequence capping off in Grundy getting the ball outside the box and holding up play. The feed is nicked away by the defender, but he's feeling too cocky, and Wilson makes him pay by swiping the ball right back and cracking it in the net. 1-0

32 - Grundy back passes to Pouncey. The slide out to Gibbons and cross right into the box where Grundy beats the defense, and sends a hummer in. 2-0

Hughes is rightfully pissed when I pull him at the half for Williams. Nisbet takes his pull for Cooper in stride. But those dudes are both sitting with yellow cards, and with our beating up Dale, I can't risk the double yellow.

54 - Two straight recoveries of clearances by Cooper, the second of which results in a pass to Betts in the box, who then finds Wilson for the short, thunder score. 3-0

67 - One of their guys gets a red card. Whoop.

77 - This is how dangerous Dale is. He beats the defense and would've scored but for the post, then scores anyway on the corner kick with three defenders in front of him. 3-1

8.0 for Kalijah Gibbons, 8.8 for PotM Gaz Wilson, and 8.3 for Andrew Grundy. This was a beautiful, important victory. WTF?! We drop to 2nd?!

HOW THE ACTUAL FUCK?! WE BEAT THEM THE FIRST GAME, AND WE HAVE THEM +24 TO +17 ON GD!!!

ARE YOU FUCKING KIDDING ME?! GOALS SCORED... GOALS SCORED?! THEY HAVE ONE MORE FUCKING GOAL THAN WE DO!

HEY CARGO FLEET, EAT MY GOD DAMNED HAIRY WHITE RAGING ASS!!!!

Making matters worse? Paul Nisbet will miss our next two games due to 10 yellow cards in a season. I mean, we've got some guys who can cover for him, but damn that's a shot to the solar plexus to lose our team captain. Especially since one of those games is against Cargo Fleet.

Still, with 2/3 games left, we've got Morris Motors sitting 6 back and us and Cargo Fleet locking horns. Everyone else is long since out of the picture. Basically, Morris Motors needs to win out and hope either we or Cargo Fleet implode.

The transfer deadline passes without our making any further moves.

3 games left. Have to win, at bare minimum, 2 out of those 3, with Cargo Fleet being one of the two.

[Izulde]

We lost money last month, but should still have a net profit for the year.

I discovered I screwed up last season, and didn't get the commitment to upgrade the training facilities like I thought I did (pushed wrong button). This year, the commitment goes through, and we're spending $325k, or almost all our kitty, on the upgrades. Sure, a stadium would be great, but without the training facilities (currently poor), it's not going to make a whit of difference whether we have a place to play or not.

I sign a new contract with a $300 payraise to $3.1k, and with a 20% promotion wage increase - they wanted me to stay at $2.8k with a 15% promotion increase.

Now I *really* want to promote. I want my extra $620, man.

2nd vs Wellington (10th)
G: Craig Lambert
D: Kalijah Gibbons/Dominic Hughes/Jamie Hopkins/Dennis Betts
DM: Dwight Wright
M: Justin Barron/Shaun Atkinson
AM: Reggie Pouncey
S: Andrew Grundy/Gaz Wilson

Why am I not starting Jason Porter? Because he gets nervous way too easily, and this is a big game.

4 - Atkinson to Grundy, and then there's a long pass into the box that I think was intended for Pouncey, but Wilson said fuck you, this one's mine, muscles Pouncey out of the way, and hammers in the early goal. 1-0

9 - I FUCKING HATE CORNER KICKS!!! DIE IN A FUCKING FIRE!! 1-1

11 - WHAT THE FUCK IS GOING ON?!?! 1-2

17 - I'M GOING TO BREAK MY FUCKING KEYBOARD I SWEAR TO FUCKING CHRIST!!!!! 1-3

25 - Wilson scores. I give no fucks.

I scream at everyone, and fill out my subs at half.

74 - Grundy hits this crazy fucking pool shot that richotets off the defender and bounces into the net on a corner kick clearance rebound. 3-3

88 - Grundy guts it down to Pouncey, who coolly centers it to Atkinson and Wellington never knew what hit them 4-3

They play a lot of dirty fucking pool down the stretch that they don't get called for, but we survive a total meltdown on the backline (seriously, Craig Lambert? WE DO NOT PAY YOU THE MOST MONEY OF ANYONE ON THIS TEAM TO PULL A FUCKING 6.0).

Luckily, we were bailed out by Gaz Wilson's 8.8 and Andrew Grundy's 8.3, validating my decision to bench Porter. Wilson won PotM by the way.

All Cargo Fleet could manage was a draw, so they're now 2 points back with 1 game left to play. Morris Motors won, but unless they score a shit ton of goals (we have +8 on them), they're not going up.

Gaz Wilson breaks his own Thorney season club record with 14 goals. Awesome to see, and even further validation of my trust in him.

Craig Attwood is unhappy at being a reserve, and only getting spot appearances, and our former team captain wants out. That's cool, if a little sad.

I do end up signing DR Kenny Bailey to a youth contract after all. A long way to go before he can compete in our setup, but what the hell? For $400 a year, I'll give him his shot.

Shaun Atkinson's $4.9k contract kicks in right about the same time, which I'm okay with. Dude went from being the top backup MC to taking over as the starting BBM. Perfectly happy to pay him that kind of cash.

1st @ Cargo Fleet (2nd)
G: Craig Lambert
D: Kalijah Gibbons/Dominic Hughes/Jamie Hopkins/Dennis Betts
DM: Dwight Wright
M: Justin Barron/Shaun Atkinson
AM: Reggie Pouncey
S: Andrew Grundy/Gaz Wilson

Literally the only thing we have to do in this game is not lose, and we can knock Cargo Fleet right out of the conversation. In fact, I think that also means we win promotion. Needless to say, we're playing defensive right from the get-go.

22 - Sigh... 0-1

30 - Fucking disaster 0-2

36 - Yeah, let's take Atkinson out with injury WTF not. Cooper in.

41 - FUCK THESE ASSHOLES. NOW BARRON IS OUT?! FUCKING HORSESHIT!!!!!

WE LOSE 0-4. I scream at everyone. I dream of destroying my keyboard.

Justin Barron and Shaun Atkinson will both miss the finale. FUCK CARGO FLEET AND NOW I WANT TO BEAT MY FUCKING KEYBOARD ON THE GROUND UNTIL IT FUCKING SPLINTERS!!!!!!!!!!!!!TNHIO3RYHTG9ERYHG89T7YH349999999TGRTPWR30895RTGH9378TYQ234097T7354JK

THE OPPOSING MANGER CNA EAT A GODO DMANED FUCKING DICK TOO TALKING ABOUT HOW I FUCKING SOULND'T SAY SHIT TO THE PRESS. FUCK YOU, ;YOU INJUIUY7R CJWSHFGOSAHGAIOHGF90AYSG90H9AWR89TY-03429

Barking wins the FA Vase. Hilarious sentence out of context.
Manchester United wins the FA Cup.

2nd @ Roman Glass St. George (9th)
G: Alex Roden
D: Kalijah Gibbons/Dominic Hughes/Ian Penney/Matt Wilkinson
DM: Paul Nisbet
M: Stuart Pearson/Justin Cooper
AM: Reggie Pouncey
S: Andrew Grundy/Gaz Wilson

Yep. This crazy, screwed up lineup is where it's at for the final game of the year.

6 - ARE YOU FUCKING KIDDING ME?! A FLUKE ASS GOAL?! 0-1

27 - They score. I throw my keyboard at the floor. My escape key goes flying somewhere.

Atsomepointearlyinthesecondhalf - I get pissed and swap out Wilson for Porter; Pearson for Sam Mitchell and Gibbons for Williams. Fuck that it's all my subs at once. I don't care - I just fucking don't.

80 - Mitchell hits a gorgeous long ball shot to out of nowhere get his first goal of the season, and give us a too little, too late faint glimmer of hope. 1-1

86 - Grundy runs all the way down the right flank and crosses to Porter. Predictably, the shot's deflected, but OMG OMG OMG THERE'S COOPER FOR THE REBOUND AND HE NAILS IT FOR WHAT I THINK IS HIS FIRST NON-PK GOAL OF THE YEAR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! CAN WE DO IT?!?! 2-1

88 - Oh I forgot to mention, Roden got the green cross knock shortly before our first goal. Here, he pushes away a first shot, and I'm just fucking abut to fucking throw up because here's the second shot... WIDE!!!

93 - They steal the ball after a Nisbet tackle and kick up on the right wing... there's a race on between the left striker and Roden... and just as they're about to collide, the whistle blows.

THORNEY WIN THE TRIPLE PROMOTION!!!!! THORNEY WIN THE TRIPLE PROMOTION!!!! WE FINALLY FOR THE FIRST TIME IN THIS GOD DAMN CAREER WIN A BIG FUCKING GAME AT THE END OF THE SEASON!!!!!!!

7.5 for Alex Roden, who played his fucking heart out, and won PotM; with 7.4s for Justin Cooper and Sam Mitchell, our goal scorers.

Honestly, despite the late-game drama, we had won once we scored that second goal.... or did we? Then the goals scored and goal differential would have been exactly the same for us and Cargo Fleet, and we split the season series. So who wins in that instance?! I have no idea, but I'm fucking glad I don't have to find out!!!

We ended up paying out a little over half of our $13.95k for winning the league in squad bonuses ($7k). I'm okay with that.

But now we have a long offseason ahead of us as we try to figure out what's next...

[Tellistto]

You, sir, make me chuckle. Then you make me laugh. Then you make me remember what it was like to play FM. Then I still don't find it in me to play FM.

Thank you.

Tell

[Izulde]

Originally Posted by Tellistto

You, sir, make me chuckle. Then you make me laugh. Then you make me remember what it was like to play FM. Then I still don't find it in me to play FM.

Thank you.

Tell

You're welcome and thanks. I should be less raging, admittedly (still haven't found my escape, function, or numberpad Enter keys), but FM just does that to you. And if we didn't promote after getting so close, I'd have felt like the whole season was a waste.

[Tellistto]

At least in the grand scheme of things keyboards are cheap to come by.


Perhaps a special gaming keyboard that costs less than 10$ so you don't feel guilty about destroying it at need?

Tell