FMHi11: Frog's back and he's gone mobile!

[FrogMan]

February 4, 2012
We play Ebbsfleet in the 3rd round of the FA Trophy. They're also a Blue Square Premiere side. This is Darryl Flahavan's debut with us, as Donnelly is again ineligible for it. It's also Dean Cox's debut.

We can't seem to get anything going in this one, and when we can, we'Re offside. Seriously, we only put one of our two shots on target and were called for 11 offsides. They got called for only one. We playd badly. Final Score: 1-2

Byron Hart scored on our lone shot on target.

February 8, 2012
We play 6th place Kettering at home. Kettering are 4th in forms over the last six match while we come in 5th place. This one is more what I expect to see from this squad. From Graeme Owens's goal on a penalty in the 24th minute, through Ashely Grimes's assurance goal in the 61st minute, we quietly control the pace of the game. Final Score: 2-0.

A clean sheet for Flahavan who gets rated at 8. They did put 6 of 9 shots on target while we went 9 out of 10. Grimes gets the MoM.

This was our second match on hand over Grimsby and with a second win in two games, we move back up to the top spot in the league on goal differential! Not much room for error though as we're still only 4 points away from 6th place but a reasonable 7 points safe into the playoffs zone.

Oh, and the board are back to being delighted with my management of the club.

FM

[FrogMan]

This is interesting. Looking at how different we were performing at home and away, I suspected we had a better record at home than away, but it's usually like that anyway. What I didn't know was how much better than everyone else are at home and inversely how much worse we are than everyone else away from home. Here's the overall table.

FM

[FrogMan]

Here's the table for home games, teams again sorted byt the overall table rankings. We're in fact unbeaten at home in league play this season.

FM

[FrogMan]

Here's the table for away games, teams still sorted by the overall table rankings. Only 4 wins out of 15. Barrow's still worse than us though.

FM

[FrogMan]

February 11, 2012
We play 16th place Histon at home. They have a goal disallowed in the 22nd minute because of a offsides but otherwise we are in control of this game. We catch a break in the 42 minute when Graeme Owens scores on a penalty. It's only 1-0 for us at the half but it's not because of a lack of pressure on our part. We've put 5 shots out of 10 on target to their 1 out of 1.

Grrr, Dominic Shimmin again leaves a game, injured, in the 65th minute. Turns out he'll miss about 3 weeks with a thigh strain.

Keigan Parker adds to our lead with a late goal while Darryl Flahavan gets the clean sheet, scoring some points in the race to become our starting keeper. Final Score: 2-0.

Oooh, Grimsby and a red hot Wrexham side were battling it out on Wrexham's pitch and Wrexham won it 4-2. Wrexham move up to 2nd place, still 3 points behind us and we have a match on hand over them. Rushden drew while Cambridge won their match. It's gonna be a tight race over the last 13 matches of the season.

Wrexham are first in the league for form over their last 6 matches with 6 wins. We come in second with one draw and 5 wins and Cambridge are third with 4 wins and 2 draws. Grimsby have a two game losing streak.

FM

[FrogMan]

February 12, 2012
Ashley Vincent resumes full training following his knee injury. With the recent addition of Dean Cox, I now have two decent wingers to complement Graeme Owens, our one sure thing starter. Vincent has been with us a bit longer and has averaged 6.94 in form rating this season to Cox's 6.66 average form, albeit only on 5 appearances.

February 15, 2012
We play 10th place Tamworth on their pitch. We're 4-7 favorites to win this game but this being an away game, it makes me really nervous.

For today, Cox gets the left winger spot while Vincent will play up front, taking the spot of Keigan Parker who's seen his condition dip a bit. He's at 88% before the game has even started.

We start out slow, typical of our away games but then we turn the corner about half way through the firt half and we start playing with confidence, putting tons of shots on target, 9 out of 12 in 45 minutes to be exact. It's 1-0 after 45 and 2-0 after 90. Darryl Flahavan gets another clean sheet and Kyl Nix gets the MoM with our two goals.

Grimsby and Cambridge won and we're still in 1st place, 2 points aways from Grimsby.

FM

[FrogMan]

I like the 10 points we have on 6th place, with 12 games to play...

FM

[FrogMan]

February 18, 2012
We play 24th place AFC Wimbledon on their pitch. Interesting thing is that I remember seeing just a couple days agao that they just appointed a new manager. Ohter interesting thing, pundits only give us a slight advantage over Wimbledon. Compared to how they saw the previous game, this is kind of odd...

They have a goal disallowed because of a offsides early and for us, on the road, it qualifies as a big break. We tend to get down on ourselves when suffering an early goal, especially on the road.

We turn around and score within a minute of that disallowed goal and we never look back. Up 3-0 at the half, we win it 5-0 and it's a new record for biggesta away win in the Blue Square Premier. We completely dominated them and even though they tried mounting a bit of an offensive push, they pulled back about halfway through the second half, simply trying to survive. Byron Webster and Keigan Parker both scored a goal while Ashley Grimes had a hat trick in the win but didn't even get the MoM. Dean Cox
did, supplying 3 assists and playing very well on the left wing.

Wow, their keeper rated at 1 in form. I don't think I'Ve ever seen a player rated at 1 in a game before. Stinks to be him right now...

Both Grimsby and Wrexham won but Cambridge only drew. We remain three points ahead of Grimsby, now 6 points ahead of 3rd place Wrexham. Even better is that we're now 10 points above 5th place, not only 6th place...

Looking at league records, I see that we could be challenging Luton's record of 95 for most team goals in a season that they set last season. Darlington's record of 89 for most team points in a season is also reachable. We have 75 right now with 33 more points still in play...

FM

[FrogMan]

February 25, 2012
We play 23rd place Newport County at home. You'd expect some sort of domination from us but we're down 0-1 at the half. We completely shut them down in the second half though and win it 3-1.

Grimes, Parker, and Hart all scored a goal with Parker getting the MoM.

Matt Somner again tells the press that I'm in no small part the contributing factor to his excellent form this season.

March 1, 2012
I'm the runner-up for the Manager of the Month award. The manager of Wrexham won the award for February.

The board are still delighted with the leadership qualities I am demonstrating.

March 3, 2012
We play 2nd place Grimsby on their pitch. With only 10 games to play, that's a HUGE one.

They come out attack and we contain them and even get a 1-0 lead on a Kyle Nix goal in the 24th minute. We play it close the rest of the way and that goal is enough for us to win it 1-0.

Huge, HUGE win, especially on the road where we've struggled this season.

Matt Somner got the MoM with a rating of 9 and we pull away now 8 points ahead of new second place Wrexham.

FM

[FrogMan]

March 10, 2012
We play 18th place Braintree at home. Wow, we totally obliterate them right off the gates. It's 2-0 at the half but we've already put 7 of 10 shots on target while maintaining a 65% possession rate. We had a third goal at the start of the second half and they go ultra defensive from there on out. Final Score: 3-0.

Grimes, Webster and Parker are the scorers and Parker got yet another MoM.


March 17, 2012
We play 13th place Hayes & Yeading on their pitch. What a frigging stinker this is. They score two quick goals around the 15 minute mark and we never recover. I even pull out keeper Darryl Flahavan when he lets in a third goal in the 46th minute. Final Score: 1-3.

Flahavan finished this game rated at 4.

We now have an eight points lead over second place Wrexham but they do have a game on hand.

AFC Wimbledon have officially been relegated from the Blue Square Premier.

March 21, 2012
3rd place Grimsby and 2nd place Wrexham both play and win the match they each had on hand over us. They are now both only five points behind us with seven gamaes to play.

FM

[Marc Vaughan]

Originally Posted by FrogMan

Well, it was no joke. Ryan Williams has retired and we've got nobody to man the right wing. Current wage total is at $22,951

In case you weren't aware for the future one of the more obscure additions in the last update was the ability to appeal against retirements - to do this click on the players retirement message (ie. where it says he's retiring on his profile).

[Marc Vaughan]

Originally Posted by FrogMan

We play Brighton at home for this 4th round FA Cup match. Peter Donnelly is again ineligible for this one so Richard Lee is back in the nets, and he delivers a stinker. Wow, we're with them all the way, controlling possession of 59% over the course of the whole game. Shots are also very even at 6 (3 on target) for us and also 6 (4 on target) for them. Still, Lee gets rated a wonderful 3 on form and we lose it 0-3.

Bear in mind that Brighton have a VERY strong team and irl are still in the FA Cup having just turfed out Championship side Watford (we're also top of our division with games in hand).

[Marc Vaughan]

Originally Posted by FrogMan

The good news is that youngster Byron Hart has won the Blue Square Premier Player of the Month award. Wow, well done! I had not realized but since he's been a starter, the 18yo has had some very decent outings with form ratings of 7-8-9-7-8 over his last five appearances. Funny thing is the kiddo lists me as his favoured person. He's only four years older than my own son. Heck, he could be my son...

Heh - in case you aren't aware one of the 'unlockables' in the game is actually you having a son promoted into your youth team ..... but you've a way to go before getting that yet

[Marc Vaughan]

PS - Hope you cling on for the automatic promotion spot, in some ways getting out of the BSP is one of the harder challenges as there is just the one spot for automatic promotion available ...

[FrogMan]

Originally Posted by Marc Vaughan

In case you weren't aware for the future one of the more obscure additions in the last update was the ability to appeal against retirements - to do this click on the players retirement message (ie. where it says he's retiring on his profile).

Good to know. As I'm sure you've read after that retirement, Williams was replaceable after all...

Originally Posted by Marc Vaughan

Bear in mind that Brighton have a VERY strong team and irl are still in the FA Cup having just turfed out Championship side Watford (we're also top of our division with games in hand).

So, more a case of the stats being somewhat equal but them getting much better chances and thus overwhelming my keeper. Interesting, although it still felt flat following our win over QPR...

Originally Posted by Marc Vaughan

Heh - in case you aren't aware one of the 'unlockables' in the game is actually you having a son promoted into your youth team ..... but you've a way to go before getting that yet

Yeah, I think I had read that somehwere. Interesting.

Originally Posted by Marc Vaughan

PS - Hope you cling on for the automatic promotion spot, in some ways getting out of the BSP is one of the harder challenges as there is just the one spot for automatic promotion available ...

Can only ask you to keep on reading...

But I agree, the lone auto promotion spot is a tough spot.

FWIW, season is over, will hopefully report the rest of it over the rest of the day or tomorrow...

FM

[FrogMan]

March 25, 2012
We play 2nd place Wrexham at home. Talk about another HUGE game for us! We come out strong in the first half but fail to score and it's still 0-0 at the half. We're awarded a penalty in the 62nd minute and after scoring on the kick, we had a second goal a minute later. They do claw one back in the 78th minute but it's too little too late for them. Final Score: 2-1.

Grimsby won their match so we're really one pulling away from one of the two clubs tied for 2nd place.

March 28, 2012
Grr, Dominic Shimmin is injured again! He will miss three weeks after twisting his knee in training.


March 31, 2012
Receiving a few reminders of players with only three months left on their contract. GK Alan Marriott, DL Kevin Sandwith, AMC Tyrone Thompson, DL Paul Stonehouse, DC Mark PreeceSC Conor Higginson will probably all end up free agents at the end of June. D/DM R Dale Knight, a product of our youth squad last season, is the only player I offer a contract to.

We play 19th place Accrington on their pitch. Hrm, rough game for us which is almost expected on the road. We end up winning is 1-0 but were outclassed on almost all statistical categories.

Byron Webster headed in our only goal and Darryl Flahavan got the MoM with a clean sheet after facing 11 shots on target.

Grimsby won so we're still only 5 points ahead of them.

Newport County have been relegated from the Blue Square Premier

Woohoo, that win has assured us of one thing: we have locked in a playoff spot. No matter how hard we crumble, if we do, I'm sure that I'll have delivered what I promised!

FM

[FrogMan]

April 1, 2012
I have won the Blue Square Premier Manager of the Month award and the board are still delighted with the leadership qualities I am demonstrating.

April 3, 2012
Dale Knight, who is now presented as the strongest right back on the squad, ahead of Gary Silk, has agreed to a new contract.

April 5, 2012
We play 10th place Ebbsfleet at home. We already have a 2-0 lead in the 34th minute when one of their defenders gets sent off for a professional foul within their penalty area. It's get real ugly for them from there on out. from 4-0 at the half, we push it to 6-0 after 90 minutes.

We put 14 of 15 shots on target while keeping them to only 1 shots on target. We also controlled the ball 63% of the time. Keigan Parker had a hat trick and more, finishing the match with 4 goals in the win and Ashley Grimes scored the other two.

Once again, Grimsby equaled us and won. We're still 5 points ahead of them with only four to play.

We've now broken 4 league records this season: most team points in a season (93 so far), most team goals in a season (102 so far), biggest home win (this match, 6-0) and biggest away win (5-0 over AFC Wimbledon back in February).

April 14, 2012
We play 22nd place Gateshead on their pitch. Just like in our last game, our opponents see one of their players being sent off in the 15th minute. We don't take big advantage of the extra payer, or at least we use it just enough to squeak by and win it 1-0.

Really not an impressive win, but a win is a win, and for us, that's even more important for road games.

Grimsby destroyed Rushden 3-0 at home and remain only 5 points behind us with now only 3 matches to play. What's surprising to me is how far Rushden have fallen. They were once challenging for the league title and are now in 7th place.

FM

[FrogMan]

April 21, 2012
We play 5th place Cambridge on their pitch. This is another big one for us.

Grr, Dean Cox has to leave the match because of an injury in the 13th minute. He's played really well lately on the left wing.

We're in a rough spot at the half, down 1-3, but we play our way back into the game in the second. It's not pretty but we end up drawing with Cambridge, 4-4. Four difference scorers on each side. For us, it's Grimes, Owens, Parker and Nix. Nix scored the equalizer in the 90th minute.

Grimsby won and they are now only three points behind us...

Dean Cox will miss 2 weeks atfer suffering a stubbed toe. We got depth on the wings, hopefully we won't suffer too much and we won't have to play through the playoffs...

FM

[FrogMan]

April 23, 2012
Always on the lookout for potential addition to the team, I see 29yo forward Rowan Vine who's currently without a contract. The name's familiar to me from my time at QPR in another life. My scout thinks he is better than our current best striker Keigan Parker. The good news is that Vine is not too greedy. He's only looking for a weekly wage of $1.45k. I try to get him cheaper at $1.35k a week and he agrees.

With the kind of dribbling, technique, shooting, creativity and decision skills he's got, he could very well be our Chris Greenacre for next season...

FM

[FrogMan]

April 24, 2012
We play 22nd place York at home. Vine gets the start, relegating Parker to the bench. Parker has had some bad forms in the last few games while Ashly Grimes has been rock steady. The move pays off in the 28th minute as Vine scores in his debut. Graeme Owens will add to our lead at the start of the second half and we win it 2-0.

We had to win this one, as Grimsby also won. We're only three points ahead of them and while it's not made official, we have such a better goal differential that we should clinch the league title whatever happens in the last match.

April 25, 2012
The board are delighted with the leadership qualities I'm demonstrating but they add that despite the positives, the club's wage expenditure is still too high. Vine's contract, even though small compared to others at the club, is what pushed the total. I terminate Dominic Shimmin's loan deal and release Mark Preece and Tyrone Thompson on free transfer. All of these moves bring us back under the wage budget.

FM

[FrogMan]

April 28, 2012
We play 14th place Eastbourne Boro on their pitch. It's a struggle early on and we're tied 1-1 at the half. Grimsby are winning their game and a draw has us one points ahead of them.

NOOOOO! The ref awards them a penalty to start the second half and we go down 1-2. We never make it back.

It takes a couple seconds to sink in. Grimsby and us are tied in first place but our goal differential is better at 57 vs 51 for them! WE'VE WON THE LEAGUE TITLE. WE'RE MOVING UP TO LEAGUE 2!!!!!! ROCK ON!!!

The supporters are singing my name! The board are delighted and they say that credit must go to me for making this all possible. WOOHOO!

May 1, 2012
Graeme Owens has won the Blue Square Premier Player of the Month award.

May 5, 2012
Grimsby and Cambridge are tied 3-3 after first leg of the first playoffs semi final and Crawley are leading Wrexham 4-2 in the other semi final.

FM

[Marc Vaughan]

Woo Hoo - congrats on winning the photo finish - nice one

[terpkristin]

Lots of updates today! Did somebody have a day off?

Congrats on the league title!

/tk

[FrogMan]

Originally Posted by Marc Vaughan

Woo Hoo - congrats on winning the photo finish - nice one

thanks, sure got me nervous at the end. Didn't help that I didn't realize our goal differential was so much better only until the end of our last game...

FM

[FrogMan]

Originally Posted by terpkristin

Lots of updates today! Did somebody have a day off?

Congrats on the league title!

/tk

nah, just a diligent use of off time and coffee/lunch breaks. I type my updates in notepad, using lots of screenshots to remember what happened, and I post in bursts. I had something like 400 screenshots on my Touch for yesterday's updates. Actually didn't use them all yesterday, was up to the first friendly of the new season in playing time. New players are coming to town! More to come today.

Thanks for reading!

FM

[FrogMan]

Graeme Owens has won the Blue Square Premier Player of the Year award. Runner-Up was Keigan Parker. Wow, talk about a one-two punch!

Booooo, Ian Sampson of Grimsby has won the Blue Square Premier Manager of the Year award. I was the runner-up. I guess they were not expected to compete or something like that. Still, I got the ti-tle, na-na-na-na-na...

An odd little news tidbit comes up, maybe Marc can explain it. Subject is: "Loan restrictions to be abolished?" and the text goes: "In a radical shake-up of the current loan rules, the restrictions on loan transfers may be lifted." I'm not sure I understand the implications of such a news. You could loan as many players as you want? Or the loan windows would be abolished?

May 20, 2012
Wrexham and Grimsby play each other in the playoffs final and Wrexham win it 4-3. They will move up to League 2 with us.

May 26, 2012
Wow, Luton is playing in the League 2 playoff final. They lose is 0-3 to Northampton so we'll have a shot at playing them twice next season. I wonder if my board could have a "finish higher than Luton" line in the seasons expectations screen. I'd go for that and would be happy...

June 9, 2012
The season is officially over. Keigan Parker is the top goal scorer in the Blue Square Premier with 27 goals. That'S 10 more than the second best goal scorer, with whom Ashley Grimes is tied in 2nd place with 17 goals. Kyle Nix is tied for first in assists with 17.

The team's board of directors give us their initial expectations. They expect us to fight bravely against relegations this season. I tell them we WILL stay clear of relegation. The difference is small in budget, from $12k to $12.5k in transfer budget and from $30,459 to $31,993 in weekly wage budget. The next step would have been to promise a respectable league position and I just can't promise that in our first year up. Difference would have been about another $1500 in weekly wage budget.

Our current wage total is at $26,334 but that includes some dead weight that will leave when their contracts are over at the end of the month.

I circle a couple dates on our lixt of fixtures: October 13 and March 2. On these days, we will play Luton Town. First is away, second is at home.

FM

[FrogMan]

July 1, 2012
My first move as the transfer/loan window reopens is to try and get Graeme Owens back on another year long loan. Kilmarnock shoot me down, they now see Owens as an important first team player. Was worth a shot anyway.

July 7, 2012
Wingers Stephen Pearson and Danny Schofield are our first two new players in this offseason. Pearson is 29 and can play either the AMC spot or man the left wing. With pretty good pace and passing, he is seen as being as good as our current best left winger, Dean Cox. We got him to sign for us for $2600 a week. It's a two year deal.

I offer Danny Schofield a contract mostly because he came in cheap and accepted my offer at only $1250 a week. He's a straight left winger and will not the field much. At 32, I don't think I will renew his contract once his year with us is over.

FM

[FrogMan]

And here's Schofield's player card.

FM

[FrogMan]

July 10, 2012
Ivan Sproule is our third newest player. Described by my scout as being "a lot better than" our best right winger Ashley Vincent, the 31yo agrees to a one year deal worth $1500 a week which is fairly cheap. The guy is blazing fast and really aggressive.

FM

[FrogMan]

July 11, 2012
An enquiry to Crewe Alexandra leads us to the signing of a fourth players, a 27yo D LC named Jake Buxton. Crewe Alexandra told me that he was surplus to the requirements and that they would allow him to move for free if we could get him to signa contract with us. He wants $2400 a week but I offer him $2000 with a tiny signing on fee and he agrees to come play with us. He's not that impressive but I like that he can play both the center and the left side of the defence.

FM

[FrogMan]

July 21, 2012
We play Altrincham in a friendly match. They are currently in the Blue Square Premier. The final score of 1-0 in our favor doesn't really represent how much stronger we looked on the pitch. 63% possession tells a better story. Ashley Vincent scored our only goal.


July 28, 2012
We play Blue Square Premier side Ebbsfleet in a friendly match at home. Trying to decide what he's worth, I give Paul Donnelly the start in nets. Ugh, this is not pretty. The team plays well. We outshoot them 12 to 2 (6 to 2 on target) but end up stuck in a 2-2 tie. Donnelly gave up to stupid goals and ended up rated at 5. Rowan Vine and Kyle Nix scored our goals.

August 1, 2012
We play Championship side Doncaster at home in our last friendly. We are dominated and finish the game with our lone shot going on target, and at least behind the keeper. Final Score: 1-1.

Let's say we stayed in survival mode in this one, but Doncaster are two levels above us...

Coming up: THE 2012-113 SEASON!!!

FM

[FrogMan]

Squad review
We go into this season a bit thin at defense but otherwise with what I think is a good group of players. Here's the squad we have heading into the new season.

GK: Darryl Flahavan, Peter Donnelly, Richard Lee
Donnelly has disappointed me in the friendlies. He did play better in the third than in the second but he's prone to letting in some ugly goals from time to time and I can't have that. My assistant's assessment of Donnelly's value is now that he is unlikely to have enough potential to succeed at the club...

DR: Gary Silk, Dale Knight
Ugh, still stuck with Silk. Can't believe I've not found a replacement yet. Don't think Knight will ever be good enough to take over.

DL: Peter Gilbert, Jake Buxton
Pretty much status quo from last season.

DC: Byron Webster, Jake Buxton, Chris Smith, Anwar Uddin
VERY thin at that spot. Really need to adress that soon.

DMC: Matt Somner, Anwar Uddin, Sam Graham
Somner was great for us last year and Uddin was serviceable as his backup. Graham is an odd one. Primary position is SC but he is also able to play the DMC spot.

AMC: Kyle Nix, Stephen Pearson, (able to play position: Keigan Parker, Ashley Vincent, Ashley Grimes, Luis Briscoe)
Nix was outstanding for us in that spot last year. Pearson could possible challenge him, or indeed give him a breather when schedule congestion will occur.

ML: Dean Cox, Byron Hart, Stephen Pearson, Danny Schofield
Cox also played really well for us in that spot last year. Hart did well in most games he came in as a sub and Pearson could certainly be a starter in case of injury to Cox. Schofield is the insurance policy in case of injury rash like we had last year.

MR: Ivan Sproule, Ashley Vincent (able to play the position: Dean Cox, Keigan Parker, Louis Briscoe)
I hope Sproule will do a bit better than what Vincent did last year. Not that Vincent was bad, but he was a bit inconsistent. Sure, we had Graeme Owens last season so that wasn't as big a deal. Worse comes to worse, I could always move Dean Cox to the right side and start Pearson on the left if I wanted to shake things up.

SC: Rowan Vine, Keigan Parker, Ashley Grimes, David Middleton, (deep backups: Ashley Vincent, Sam Graham, Louis Briscoe)
A very strong front three headed by Vine whom I hope for bigs things this season. Given his skill set, he could be as big as Chris Greenacre was for us in the first half of last season.

Well, here they are, your 2012-13 Stags!

Now that I think about it though, there has not been one player to graduate from our youth squad this season. This seems odd, although possible. I guess not all season will produce three players like we saw last year...

FM

[FrogMan]

August 4, 2012
The 2012-13 season is finally here!!!

We open the season on the road, playing Macclesfield. Interesting thing, we're allowed to carry on 7 subs going into games with the right of using 3 of them. That's different from the conference leve where you can use 3 out of 5 from your bench. I like being able to have 7 different players on my sideline.

Wow, we open it up real strong, putting pressure on their backline early on in the game. We're ahead 1-0 at the half on a Byron Webster header of a corner kick. Shots and possession are in our favor though. It's more of the same in the second as we shut them down of any opportunity on goal. Final Score: 1-0.

The ice has been broken, we win to open our life in League 2!

FM

[FrogMan]

August 8, 2012
We play Championship side Wigan in the first round of the League Cup. I see that they have a few players unavailable due to being on international duty. Kyle Nix is unavailable for us due to the same reason. Well, this turns into a bloodbath. We'Re down 0-4 at the half and it ends with us losing it 0-6. Ugh...

Flahavan gets rated at 4 for this ugly game but the poor sap couldn't do anything as they put 13 of 15 shots on target. One can only hope our team morale will not be affected too much by such a disgusting defeat.

August 10, 2012
Blech, Anwar Uddin will be out for about a month after spraining an ankle in training.

Oh crap, Jake Buxton also got injured in today's training session. He will miss about 3 weeks with a twisted knee. Time to seriously shop for some defenders...

August 11, 2012
Okay, this one came out of nowhere. League 1 Portsmouth offer me $120k for keeper Peter Donnelly. Since they meet the criteria of the player's big club release clause, I cannot reject this offer. Honestly, I would have accepted it anyway, especially after the craptastic goals he's let in the few times I've let him play.

We play Aldershot at home. They also won their first match 1-0. We again control play in this game, not allowing them anywhere near our keeper. It's 0-0 at the half but their keeper comes a bit too far out on a corner kick in the 76th minute and Keigan Parker makes him pay. Final score: 1-0.

Byron Webster got the MoM which makes me feel a bit better about our defense although Buxton's replacement, Chris Smith only got rated at 6.

We're one of only two clubs to have won their two matches so far this season.

August 13, 2012
It's done, Peter Donnelly has accepted a contract offer from Portsmouth and he joins them. This gives us more money than I'd ever have hoped to get for what I practically considered a shaky backup. Niiiiiiiiiice!

With that $120k and the original $10k my board was allowing me, I now have $130k to find some better defenders.

So far, the players I do find are either out of price or don't want to drop down to a lower division once a transfer has been agreed to.

FM

[FrogMan]

August 16, 2012
I take a shot at signing a centreback before my scout has given me his opinion. The guy is Wayne Thomas, a 33yo DC who's played at some good level but is currently without a contract. He's looking for $2.4k a week but I offer him a one year deal worth $1.9k a week. He agrees and joins us. I like his overall skill set. He's got great leadership, aggression and is VERY strong. He also had good tackling and plays well as part of a team. My assistant seems him as close in skill to our other good central defender, Byron Webster. I'm really happy to welcome him to Mill Hill.

Not sure I've ever mentioned it but Mill Hill is the name of our ground.

With $130k in transfer budget, I take a shot at signing Graeme Owens. No dice, Kilmarnock won't let him go. I know we don't really need another winger, but it was worth a shot.


FM

[FrogMan]

August 18, 2012
We play Morecambe on their pitch. They're currently in 20th place after losing their first two games, albeit both by the identical score of 0-1.

We struggle to retain possession of the ball in this one but we do attack, early and often. Keigan Parker scores two and we get back home with a 2-0 win in our back pocket. We put all 10 of our shots on target, an awesome feat.

Rowan Vine got the MoM with a rating of 9 and an assist on each of Parker's goals.

Wow, a three game winning streak to open the season is way better than anything I'd ever expected. Guys are playing great right now.

FM

[FrogMan]

August 20, 2012
Still shopping for defenders, I spot this 28yo D RLC transfer listed by Plymouth, Lee Beevers. My scout seems to think he is a much better right back than our current best right back, Gary Silk. His skill set isn't that impressive, but still not all bad. I enquire to Plymouth about how much they want for the defender valued at $120k. They surprise me and say $52k which I offer them. True to their words, they accept and I get to negotiate for a contract with Beevers. Ugh, he is looking for a bit more money than we can give. He wants $3.8k a week and my board won't allow me to offer more than $2.6k. Thing is, he's currently earning only $1.35k week so maybe doubling his current wage will be enough for him, who knows...


August 23, 2012
A couple days have passed and Lee Beevers calls me back. He's accepted our contract offer and will come play for us! As you can see, he's not real impressive on paper but he can play all three defensive spots and I'm sure he'll be able to do better than Silk. Or at least I hope so.

This last signing puts us $2300 over our weekly wage budget so I guess I'm done with bringing in any new player, unless I can get rid of some dead weight, but even then, the ones I have in mind (Briscoe, Silk, Knight, Middleton) are all earning less than $1000 a week. Silk is at $1150 a week but the next highest is Knight at $500 a week...

Switching the $72k left from the transfer budget to the wage budget would give me back maybe about $1300. I do that and I'm now only $1000 a week over the budget...

FM

FM

[FrogMan]

should add the interesting fact that the state of our finances is now "Okay". It had been at a red "Insecure" ever since I took over as manager of the club. That's gotta be positive, right?

FM

[FrogMan]

August 25, 2012
I'm getting a bit over the wage budget but the injury to Anwar Uddin has made me nervous about the DMC spot. Robert Milson is a 25yo DM C with an interesting set of skills. My scout seems to think there's not much difference between him and our best central midfielder, Stephen Pearson. Milson could come to us for cheap, only asking for $750 a week. I offer him that for two years and he accepts within the day. He'll be Matt Somner's primary backup and could see playing time at the end of games, just like Anwar Uddin did most of last season.

To free some money under the wage budget, I decide to bite the bullet and pay $20k to release Louis Briscoe on a free transfer.

We play 1st place Bury at home. This is our biggest match yet and short as calling it a must win only 3 games into the season, it's as close as it can be.

Lee Beevers makes his debut at right back in this game. It's a very close first half in which we looked a bit overwhelmed early on. We let one in at the 31 minute mark and will not recover. Final Score: 0-1.

Arg, tough one to take as we really put a lot of pressure on their back line in the last 45 minutes. Their keeper pulls of an amazing performance, getting the clean sheet and the MoM in the process.

Still, this game showed me we belong to this level of play. Sure, we will lose close ones, but we'll also win some and as long as morale stays decent, we shoul be able to stave off relegation.

FM

[FrogMan]

August 30, 2012
With the transfer window about to close, I keep seeing players that are more interesting than what we have on hand. Strangely enough, just like Milsom was, these are mostly players currently without contract. Latest one is 24yo AM/F RC Lewis Grabban whom my scout seems to think could have the potential to be a key member of our first-team squad. He adds that he is a lot better than our best forward Rowan Vine. He's looking for $1.6k a week and I know I'm over my wage budget so I try to get him cheap. A first offer at $1k a week is rejected but he agrees to a $1.1k a week offer, sweetened with a $15k signing on fee for two years. He's got pretty good pace, movement and dribbling. Hopefully he can create opportunities for others if he cannot bangs 'em in with a very average shooting skill.

As he shows up to the club house, my assistant tells me he thinks he is now the best forward at the club. He's also a bit younger than some of my other signings.

We're now back at $2755 over our weekly wage budget...

August 31, 2012
I agree to let David Middleton go on a season long loan to Barrow. They won't pay his wages but he's only earning $260 a week.

FM

[FrogMan]

September 1, 2012
The board are satisfied with my management of the team. I don't remember how it was in the PC version but in the iOS version, the satisfaction level of your board resets at the start of every season. Right now, they note the the positive atmosphere amongst the players as being a contributing factor to their satisfaction. I'm sure if we dip a bit lower in the standings that my control of wages will come back to bite me.

We play 14th place Yeovil at home. I juggle with it quite a bit but end up starting Rowan Vine and newcomer Lewis Grabban at the striker spots. It's not up front that we seem to have trouble though as Darryll Flahavan has a rough game. We en up losing it 0-2 and he gets rated 5 for form. We definitely could have, maybe should have won this game. It was at home and we ended putting 11 of 13 shots on target to their 5 out of 6.

Grabban rated at 8 and Vine at 7 so they were definitely not the problem...

September 4, 2012
Jake Buxton resumes training following his knee injury. Thing is, I'm not even sure I have a spot in the startting eleven for him anymore. Wayne Thomas has played quite well with Byron Webster in the centreback spot. Will have to see,,,

September 8, 2012
Anwar Uddin resumes training following his foot injury.

We play 3rd place Chesterfield on their pitch. We're currently in 5th place with 3 wins and 2 losses. Grrr, this game starts without us in it. I mean, a goal in the 5th minute is bad but when you have only 25% possession in the first 20 minutes, it's REALLY not good. We get back into it a bit but they add a second goal in the final moments of the game and Flahavan again gets rated at 5. Final Score: 0-2.

Ugh, 3 wins in a row followed by 3 losses in a row. Gotta try to stop that skidding. We're still in a nice 10th place overall and I am reminded by looking at the league table that only the bottom two clubs are relegated.

FM

[FrogMan]

September 15, 2012
Ugh, our top centreback Wayne Thomas will miss about a month after injuring his shoulder in training. Kinda lucky for us Buxton just got back.

The press are questioning whether Thomas will be able to regain his starting spot after recovering from his injury. I defend him and issue a press release stating that Thomas still has a lot to offer us. In a private meeting, Wayne thanks me as he acknowledges my support.

We play 3rd place Gillingham at home. We are in 10th place and lately it seems we're always playing teams in the top 3...

It's a scoreless first half in which we control play quite well. We put 5 of 6 shots on target while they did not even have one attempt, on or off target, but they hit bullseye on their first attempt only 2 minutes into the second half. Rowan Vine gets us back to level terms in the 66th minute and Robert Milsom, put in at the half in the spot of Matt Somner, even gives us the lead in the 71st minute with a nice goal. We relapse and let them back in only 3 minutes later. Final Score: 2-2.

Kinda disappointing but we at least stopped the losing streak. Vine got the MoM while Flahavan had yet another disappointing performance. We drop to 11th place with the draw.

The board now feel I should be performing slightly better. They point the recent poor form of the team as being a great cause of concern but the positive atmosphere amongst the player is at least a saving grace. If I can keep the player in good morale, we could achieve nice things once they all gel...

FM

[FrogMan]

September 22, 2012
We play 9th place Torquay on their pitch. We start this one strong and all the action apparently happened in the first half. Three goals, two for us. Final Score 2-1.

A win road is always nice.

Stephen Pearson who is now starting in Kyle Nix's AMC spot scored the first and Lewis Grabban scored the other. Nix was really struggling to pull out his usual stead performances of the Blue Square Premier. I guess the opposition is a bit tougher in League 2. Grabban is also one of our new starters, taking over for Keigan Parker who, while he had scored 3 in 5 appearances, was really streak and averaged a form rating of only 6.20.

We're now in 9th place after 8 games played.

FM

[FrogMan]

September 25, 2012
We play 14th place Stockport at Mill Hill. It's a very even first half but we come out ahead by one on another Stephen Pearson goal. We do explode in the second half and completely take control of the game while shutting them down to only one good chance. Final Score: 2-0.

Again, Lewis Grabban scored the second goal. Ivan Sproule got the MoM. I'm happy he seems to be breaking out of his shell a bit. Darryl Flahavan finally has a nice game, rating at 8 with a clean sheet.

We move up to 7th place and in a playoff spot with the win!

September 29, 2012
Hrm, this is interesting. Ever since joining the club, old man Flahavan had been listed as the best keeper at the club by my assistant. I guess his age - he is 35 now - might be finally catching up with him because now Richard Lee is listed as the best keeper at the club by my assistant while Flahavan is described as "a useful backup". This might be in line with the kind of shaky performances Flahavan has given us so far this season. I will start Richard Lee in the nets for our next match.

We play 6th place Hereford on their pitch. They are just one tiny point ahead of us.

Grr, they start the game on the attack and we don't react well to it, letting one in only 3 minutes into the game. Lewis Grabban sees one goal being disallowed for being offsides in the 17th minute but he is so dominating that he ends up scoring two within the next 15 minutes. It's 2-2 at the half and that's when we take control of the game. Stephen Pearson scores what would be the winning goal in the 67th minute and Robert Milsom adds one to really put the game away in the 90th minute. Final Score: 4-2.

We really turned it on in the last 45 minutes, sometimes having streaks at 75% possession. Grabban gets the MoM and Richard Lee does okay.

We move up ahead of Hereford with the win, up to 6th place. We're within 3 points of second place.

FM

[Marc Vaughan]

Originally Posted by FrogMan

An odd little news tidbit comes up, maybe Marc can explain it. Subject is: "Loan restrictions to be abolished?" and the text goes: "In a radical shake-up of the current loan rules, the restrictions on loan transfers may be lifted." I'm not sure I understand the implications of such a news. You could loan as many players as you want? Or the loan windows would be abolished?

This is one of the games 'unlockables' - there are a fair few of them hidden in there (this one is triggered by a loan player winning an award). Some of them are short-term effects (ie. the 'owe you one' unlockable gurantee the board accepting a request) whereas some like this affect the actual rules involved in the game/league you're in.

This one will remove any numeric restrictions on loans so you won't be capped capped at 'x' players per season or whatever.

(I quite like these sort of things myself and feel they change the dynamic of the game and the challenge involved somewhat - making things 'interesting' especially for experienced players - please note all are 'optional' in nature, you can decline them)

[FrogMan]

October 2, 2012
Lewis Grabban came in as runner-up for the League 2 Player of the Month award.

Today, we have a second round match in the Jonhstone's Paint Trophy and we face League 1 Walsall at Mill Hill.

I was a little nervous at the start of the game, being that we were playing a team one level higher than us, and these apprehensions get worse when we go down 0-1 after only 14 minutes. We do pick ourselves up and score twice before the end of the half and are ahead 2-1 after 45 minutes. Rowan Vine and Stephen Pearson were the scorers there.

Lewis Grabban gives us a two goal lead in the 64th minute but we're hanging by very little. They are a stronger club than we are and it shows a little. They take one back in the 79th minute and I tell the guys to go ultra defensive. We hold on to our lead for a 3-2 win. Well done guys!

Vine gets the MoM and their keeper gets rated at 4.

We will play League 1 Carlisle in the Jonhstone's Paint Quarter Final on November 6.

Next up in league play is a game I'm really looking forward to. We will visit Luton at Kenilworth Road. They are currently in 11th place.

FM

[FrogMan]

I had typed the update above last Friday but forgot to post it. I may streamline my updates today since I played a great bunch of games over the weekend...

And by a bunch, I mean up to January 23, 2013 or so...

FM

[FrogMan]

Originally Posted by Marc Vaughan

This is one of the games 'unlockables' - there are a fair few of them hidden in there (this one is triggered by a loan player winning an award). Some of them are short-term effects (ie. the 'owe you one' unlockable gurantee the board accepting a request) whereas some like this affect the actual rules involved in the game/league you're in.

This one will remove any numeric restrictions on loans so you won't be capped capped at 'x' players per season or whatever.

(I quite like these sort of things myself and feel they change the dynamic of the game and the challenge involved somewhat - making things 'interesting' especially for experienced players - please note all are 'optional' in nature, you can decline them)

this is interesting. In this case, is the effect on the league I was in or all leagues in England?

Also interesting is the fact that this season, I've not even brought in one player on loan and we're not doing much worse because of it...

FM

[FrogMan]

October 13, 2012
We beat 11th place Luton 2-1 on their pitch. Huge, HUGE win, for me more than for anybody else. Jake Buxton and Lewis Grabban scored our goals.


October 20, 2012
We beat 9th place Darlington 3-2 on their pitch. Another big win on the road in which we went down 1-2 before bouncing back up. All goals were scored in the first half. Vine scored two, Sommner and Pearson had the other two.

We were sitting in 5th after that win.


October 27, 2012
We lose 0-3 against 21st place Rochdale (21) on their pitch. Odd one as the score is not representative of the game. A bad first goal and a lucky goal to start the second half gave them more wings than they should have had.


October 30, 2012
1-1 draw against Shrewsbury (2) at Mill Hill. Uninspired play in a game we should have lost. Very lucky to steal a point there.

November 3, 2012
5-0 win in a FA Cup 1st round match at Bath (Blue Square South). Strange one here. We lost possession with 45% and shots were about the same yet we dominated them and were lethal with our shots on target. Goals from Nix, Cox (2), Webster and Grimes.

The board are now delighted with the leadership abilities I'm demonstrating.

November 6, 2012
We beat Carlisle 3-2 on their pitch in the Johnstone's Paint Quarter Final. They're a League 1 side and while it looks very close, we were leading 3-0 until about 7 minutes left in the match. They scored in the 83rd minute and on a penalty in added time.

November 14, 2012
This one's for terpkristin. Arsène Wenger just got sacked by Arsenal following a run of poor results.

November 17, 2012
We beat 21st place Bradfordat 2-0 at home in a pretty evenly split game. Lewis Grabban scored our two goals.

November 20, 2012
We beat 14th place Wrexham 3-0 on their pitch. It was also a pretty evenly split game but we just had some more dangerous shots.

We were still in 5th place by that time.

November 24, 2012
We destroyed Corby 6-0 at Mill Hill in this 2nd round FA Cup match. They're a Blue Square North side and just like Bath in our first round match, they were just no match for us. 59% possession and 13 shots on target out of 15 compared to 1 out of 4 pretty much told the story in this one. Grabban had a hat trick in this one.

FM

[FrogMan]

November 27, 2012
We beat Darlington 2-0 in the Johnstone's Paint Semi Final on their pitch. We trailed a bit in possession in this one but killed them on set pieces, two corner kicks to be more specific. Both goals came from headers by centreback Wayne Thomas.

December 5, 2012
We lose 0-1 to 4th place Southend at Mill Hill. We could have jumped a couple spots in the standings as we were only a couple points behind Southend. We were ahead in most stats and in possession but they got the break.

Tougher than the loss in the game was the loss of Peter Gilbert for a couple months due to a groin strain suffered in training right before the game. Jake Buxton took his spot in the game.


December 8, 2012
We lose 1-3 at 21st place Oxford. Ugh, rough one to take. 1-1 at the half, we put more pressure and play better in the second half yet they score twice. One of those games. Buxton struggled in the DL spot.


December 12, 2012
We lose 2-3 againast 2nd place Crewe on the road. Ugh, three losses in a row and you can guarantee that your team morale takes a big hit. It was another hard fought, close game though and not one in which we got outclassed.


December 15, 2012
We beat 13th place Burton at Mill Hill. Just what the doctor ordered, a home gain with which we can rebound. We didn't really dominate but we converted when the time came.

December 26, 2012
We win 2-1 at 7th place Cheltenham. After 11 days off, the crazy Christmas stretch starts. We were down 0-1 until the 79th minute in this one but two goals within 4 minutes of one another put us ahead. Good thing we did too, would have been frustrating as hell to lose a game where you outshoot your opponent 13 to 3 (10 to 3 on target).

December 28, 2012
We win 2-1 against 23rd place Barnet at home. Byron Hart scored the winning goal in the 62nd minute.

December 31, 2012
Quite a few players with their contracts running in June this year:
Byron Webster
Wayne Thomas
Peter Gilbert
Ashley Vincent
Keigan Parker
Danny Schofield
Ivan Sproule
Anwar Uddin
Matt Somner
Gary Silk
Chris Smith
Louis Briscoe
Darryl Flahavan
Richard Lee

Five of these are starters: Webster, Thomas, Gilbert, Sproule, Lee. I don't think any of them can't be replaced to be honest. Maybe Webster is turning into a nicer DC, and Thomas gives us stability at the back, but all the other could leave and I'd be able to replace them. Sproule is having a very good season on the right wing, but he's up to 31yo and I might be tempted to go a bit younger.


January 1, 2013
We draw 1-1 at 18th place Aldershot. Scores and stats very even in the one. A fair result.

The transfer window opens but I think this is the first one where I'm comfortable enough with our squad that I won't even attempt any move. That is unless some of our better players get lured away and I have some money to play with...

January 5, 2013
We lose 1-2 to Preston at Mill Hill in this 3rd round FA Cup match. Kinda mad at the result to be honest. We held our own, statistically at least, especially in the second half. It just was not enough I guess. Guys were tired and it showed against a stronger Preston side.

January 9, 2013
We draw 2-2 against 10th place Leyton Orient at Mill Hill. We had a goal disallowed because of an offside in the 8th minute. We were already up 1-0 at that point and I'm sure it would have been the end of them at that point. Instead, Richard Lee let in a bad goal to close the half and we had to score in the 89th minute simply to tie the game.

We're in 8th place at this point, tied in points with 7th place Hereford.

January 12, 2013
We beat 4th place Bury 4-3 on their pitch. HUGE win that we didn't really deserve. Down 2-3 with less than 20 to play, we scored two in 11 minutes to get the lead with 7 to play. Their keeper rated at 3.

January 15, 2013
We're down 1-3 after the first leg of the Johnstone's Paint Final against Oldham. That first leg was played on their pitch and we got dominated. At one point midway through the second half, we had something like 37% possession for the game. We did much better to end it but still will have to do something miraculous to cover that two goal deficit. At least the second leg will be at home.

January 19, 2013
We lose 0-1 at 20th place Yeovil in a game we never challenged for. Disappointing loss, although it was on the road. We're in 7th place following that loss...

FM