Gold, Green, and Orange: East Grinstead Mavericks (FM16)

[Izulde]

I felt like a break from Wildermyth - particularly since I'm already getting repeat quests/stories in the second campaign. I bit on EHM for $5 but it looks like a pain in the ass to navigate.

So I decided to go back to FM16 and we're running with East Grinstead Mavericks, who have the awesome name and logo seen above.

To make things more interesting, I can only acquire staff via advertisement. I also need to have some scouting on a player before I can sign him.

32 year old Paul Gilbert becomes my assman - 16 Adaptability, 12 Determination, 6 JPA, 5 JPP. He finds us our first Chief scout - a 17 Adaptability, 3 JPA, 3 JPP scrub I intend to get rid of as soon as possible.

Mr. Gilbert also clues us in to our first signings.

ML/AML Ollie Long - 20 years old
Former Kidderminster product who never saw a game. 10 First Touch and Pace, 12 Acceleration. That 13 Leadership is going to make him a prime candidate to captain this squad of presumed youngsters, too. 5'11, 167 pounds.

ST Jake Britton - 17 years old
At 6'2, 174 pounds, he has the size, Finishing (10), and Teamwork (13) to hopefully be a natural Target Man for us. That 14 Flair is a nice bonus, too. Scored 3 goals in 9 appearances for Bishop Sutton in the Western Premier a few years ago.

MC/MR Andrew Watts - 18 years old
11 First Touch, 12 Acceleration, 12 Pace marks him out as a right winger rather than playing in the middle of the field, where he's not as developed yet. A bit shrimpy at 5'8, 160. A couple cups of coffee with Kettering is his resume.

DL Nick Handley - 23 years old
Technical skills are nonexistent, but he's got that 14 Teamwork and 12 Work Rate mentally, and a comparatively blistering 12 Pace. 5'9, 154. Spent two seasons with Romulus and never saw senior time.

DLR/WBLR Matt Carter - 20 years old
He was a trialist for a much higher side but this 10 Tackling, 15 Teamwork, 10 Work Rate, 11 Acceleration, 12 Pace, Flair, and Leadership kid somehow decided to join us. On paper, he looks like the best player signed so far, and he'll hold down the DR slot. Skinny at 5'11, 143 but comes with bigtime pedigree, having been schooled in former Championship side Peterborough.

AMC/MC George Russell - 19 years old
11 Long Shots and Decisions, 10 Determination and Work Rate, 11 Acceleration for this 5'8, 154 pound product of League 1 side Yeovil has me putting him in an AMC Shadow Striker role, which I've never before tried. I'm hella intrigued to see how this goes.

DL(C) Alex Hoyle - 22 years old - 5'7, 145 pounds
So uh... we're forcing him to be a central defender even though he's not natural there. 11 Decisions and Aggression, 10 Acceleration will hopefully get him to be okayish there in time. Did come from Bristol Rovers if that means anything.

ST Ben Wickens - 20 years old - 5'7, 152 pounds
12 Composure, 12 Off the Ball, 11 Balance has him suiting up as the Advanced Forward in my three man scheme up front. The Chippenham alum is trash technically, but we'll see how this goes.

{b]GK Charlie Hyam - 19 years old - 6'1, 171 pounds[/b]
10 Aerial Reach, Handling, Reflexes, and Decisions. 13 Agility. That's a nice all-around set of keeper attributes. Staines is where he's from.

At the press conference where all these signings are announced, the lone journalist keeps nutting over Ben Wickens, even though I still hold that Matt Carter is our best player.

MC Warren Garcia - 24 years old - 6'1, 176 pounds
10 Determination, 13 Teamwork, 11 Work Rate, 10 Acceleration, with bonuses of 13 Leadership and 12 Flair. The oldest player at the club to date, his thankfully high Leadership means he'll take over the captaincy, with Long as the vice-captain.

DM/MLCR/AMLCR/ST? Sandro Sanchez - 18
English kid born to Spanish parents in St Alban's. I'm not going to go over his profile extensively because he's here to be a bench god I can put in a lot of different places. He's going to get work at becoming a true striker rather than just yellow.

DC Stephen O'Hara - 22 years old - 6'0, 171 pounds
10 Marking and 10 Tackling make him our Stopper, though I have to say his 17 Natural Fitness is eye-popping. Kid with the Irish father is a freaking Greek god in his physique.

DC Josh England - 22 years old - 5'9, 154 pounds
Literally nothing remarkable about this kid, though he does have preferred moves of Playing Short, Simple Passes and Marking Opponent Tightly. Still, as a natural DC, he'll start over Doyle until the latter gets up to snuff at the position.

Coaching Thoughts
The staff views George Russell as our best player (4.5*). My own favorite Matt Carter is considered the second-best at 4*.

What the staff doesn't like - our strikers (2* for both).

Our Probably Shitlord First Tactical Setup


No TIs or PIs. Balanced/Fluid default.

The Coaching Staff's View

[Izulde]

vs Furngate
Welp, we go down 0-2 and then Josh England's stupid ass gets red-carded at 36 minutes in. In the 59th minute, Ollie Long draws the double-team and plays a perfect long cross into the area for Ben Wickens, the media favorite, to put away the debut goal. Sandro Sanchez goes in for Britton, then gets hit with a penalty whistle. Somehow our keeper stops it.

81st minute - Long goes long to Wickens outside the box. Keeper pushes away the cross and Andrew Watts runs in for the shot. Keeper tries to stop it but it rolls out of his hands on the ground and Sanchez redeems himself with the poke-in late equalizer!!!

Amazing 2-2 draw on a shorthanded field. My gut says the Counter mentality is actually the best for this tactic, so we'll switch to that. Ollie Long's 8.1 performance nets him PotM.

We *finally* get a coach. I pick the best fitness guy I can find among the applicants and now we're at least 1* in everything but goal coaching.

@ Heath Rangers (Parsons Challenge Cup First Round)
It's Alex Doyle in for England's red-carded ass. A dull 0-1 defeat that sees us out of the cup and no offensive highlights.

@ Cuckfield Rangers III (10th)
Sandro Sanchez gets the nod at MR for this one because Watts is out sick after eating some bad paella. Everyone suspects Sandro of shenanigans but nothing can be proven. It's all circumstantial.

34 - Four straight shots in a row blocked, and of course their one measly little shot goes in 0-1

73 - Perfect volley by Long for Britton to head in... and it clangs off the fucking upper crossbar. Fuck you, RNG.

87 - Flukeass roller ball ofc 0-2

vs East Grinstead Town III (3rd)
On the advice of my assman, Hadley is benched for Hoyle in this one.

7 - Back from poisoning is Watts, who splits two defenders with a ground pass to Britton just outside the box. The groundball inside sneaks past a couple more defenders and Wickens has the net at his mercy to score his second goal of the season! 1-0

51 - Hoyle with the clutch interception and pass to Britton in the middle of the park. Layoff to Wickens who beats everyone down the left side. Parks on the corner outside the box and sends it in, where Flying Shadow Striker Russell bangs in his first Mavericks goal!!!! 2-0

64 - Sanchez on for Garcia

80 - Three defenders circle jerk around one lone ass opposing striker so ofc he scores. GTFO Hoyle. Hadley is back in 2-1

Only 11 people came to our first win, but whatever. Ben Wickens PotM with 7.5, George Russell close behind with 7.4. I'm going to pause it here before we lose like 50 in a row.

[Izulde]

@Lindfield IV (1st)
Hoyle is still in at DL today.

We go down 0-2 by halftime on set pieces and I scream at the team. How dare they shame our orange creamsicle jerseys this way!

51 - Russell's longball screams as long and loud as I did at the break. Wickens runs it down to slam in his third goal of the year. 1-2

62 - Sigh. Subs in. 1-3

66 - Bullshit no-call on that foul of Britton.

88 - England sent off with ANOTHER red. PK. 1-4

90 - Way too little, way too late Britton first goal on a Wickens assist. 2-4

vs Scaynes Hill (Malins Challenge Cup First Round
Obvs Hadley back in at DL, Hoyle forced to DC.

4 - Watts absolutely belts the shit out of a free kick from midfield into the box. Russell beats everyone and lays off to Wickens. Guess the media was right to be on his nuts. 1-0

12 - Watts picks up a blocked Wickens shot outside the back and centers to Russell for the return feed in the box. Defender drills Watts, ball rolls towards the goal, and it's Britton barging forward to put it away! 2-0

42 - Garcia sprays out wide left to Long, who dribbles to the touchline and crosses. Brittons header clangs off the upper bar, but he traps his own rebound walks it in! 3-0

53 - Sure, we'll take that fluke goal by Watts. 4-0

70 - Sanchez subs for Russell

Literally everyone kicked ass today except for George Russell - 7s and 8s EVERYWHERE. Except, of course, Jake Britton's PotM-winning 9.4.

@ Burgess Hill Albion II (7th)

3 - The boys came in cocky and I smelled a letdown. Yep. 0-1

23 - Russell races down his cleared free kick and passes to Watts for the entry pass to Wickens and the media darling does it again. 1-1

56 - Out Britton; In Sanchez

92 - You motherfucker.... Hyam is a hambitch for that lazy ass kick and allowing them to score the winning goal with less than 20 seconds on the damn clock 1-2

vs Barcome II (Mid Sussex Junior Cup First Round
It's Sanchez starting for tired Garcia today.

19 - Russell kicks it back to Sanchez for the low arcing steamer into the box and Wickens yet again scoring. I hate that the media is right about him. 1-0

23 - Hadley intercepts the goal kick and immediately nudges it to Long for the dribble and long pass to Wickens in the box. Why can't we score like this in league play? 2-0

Everyone else has been meh at the half. Ben Wickens? 8.7.

66 - Longball by Hoyle that who else but Wickens runs down in the box. Defense is so focused on him, they don't see Britton sneaking in for the ground give and the score is easy. 3-0

78 - Sloppy, complacent defending on the corner. 3-1

Ben Wickens with the PotM 9.0; Ollie Long with an 8.4 and Sandro Sanchez netting a cool 8.0. That's two out of three cups we advance in.

But we're still in last place in the league.

On the bright side, Ollie Long and Charlie Hyam busted tail in training last month, and for the first time this season, we're in the black.

[Izulde]

vs Handcross Village III (2nd)
We need to get off the snide and start winning league games consistently. Garcia is back in the lineup. England is permanently benched.

21 seconds - Russell takes the pass from O'Hara and plays it up to Britton. He's triple-teamed ineffectively, so he simply lays off to Wickens in the half-circle. Medium Ben dribbles in and scores. 1-0

8 - Russell steals the ball to start a counter and caps it off by longing it to Wickens. Our true star player slams it in from 20 yards out. So fuiyoh! 2-0

30 - Watts with the corner. Keeper drops the ball and falls to the ground. Hoyle is first to it and walks in his first Mavericks goal! 3-0

34 - Garcia to Russell in the half-circle. Defender misses the interception on the tapper to Wickens, and there's the hat-trick!!! 4-0

58 - I screwed up in halftime and accidentally told Russell I wasn't happy with his 7.8 performance. Here, he runs down a cleared corner and passes to Garcia. Midfield is on him so he outlets to an isolated Watts. Booming cross and here's Wickens with goal #4 on the day. We're now at a big enough lead that England is in for Hoyle; Sanchez for Long. 5-0

How dominating was this win? Every single full-time non-goalie had 8.1 or higher and Ben Wickens (9.8 PotM), Andrew Watts (9.1), and George Russell (9.0) all broke the 9 mark.

We leap up to 5th on the back of that one, though there's games in hand behind us.

vs Barcombe II (Malins Challenge Cup Second Round)
They're spoiling for revenge after we whipped them last time. Sanchez is starting for Russell due to the short turnaround.

7 - Nice strip by Long to start a counter capped by Carter sending it down into touchline space for Britton to pick up and cross to Ben "Wonderful" Wickens for the opening score. 1-0

33 - Gave them too many shot chances and failed to clear there. 1-1

At half, Russell and England come on - the latter for O'Hara who is tired and having a bad day.

83 - Carter has had a couple of good throw-ins this half and this one finds Watts for the pass to Russell. Double team closes in but the ball's already on its way to *just* onsides Britton for the late go-ahead score! 2-1

87 - Long intercepts, starting a counter that ends in Wickens blasting a horizontal ball all the way across for Britton to run down. Loft in to the box, and Russell is in prime position to punch in the insurance! 3-1

Sluggish start, but Jake Britton's 8.9 PotM outing and George Russell's 7.6 bench showing bailed us out and sends us to the quarterfinals.

vs Scaynes Hill (5th)
{b]2[/b] - A strip by Hoyle and the pass to Russell starts a counter with Russell getting the ball back and sending to Britton in the box. We appear to have finally smoothed down the rough edges. 1-0

58 - We're playing like ass despite the lead and sure enough, they knot it up. England for Hoyle; Sanchez for Wickens, who is having his worst game of the year. 1-1

68 - Russell sends it back to Hadley for the cross-pitch rocket to Britton by the box. Dribble, cross, and there's daisy-fresh Sanchez singing home the go-ahead! 2-1

PotM George Russell (8.7) and Jake Britton (8.3) carried us on a day when Ben Wickens just didn't have it for once.

We're now 4th and equally within striking distance of a promotion place and falling into the drop zone. It's that tight a board so far this year in the Mid Sussex Division Eight.

Given my history, though, you have to think a surge up is coming. We're playing really, really well the last few games.

[Izulde]

vs Copthorne IV (Mid Sussex Junior Cup Second Round)

25 - Russell has the free kick outside the box, but opts to tap it to Garcia. Dribbling by our central midfielder until he returns it to Russell on the right side. Our shadow striker passes it to Watts outside the box. Drive inside, shot, and score! 1-0

26 - Carter throws in to Hoyle who sends it out left side to Long. Huge pass into open space down the left flank. Wickens wins the race, goes into the box, and doubles the lead. 2-0

64 - Sanchez on for Britton

9.0 for George Russell and 8.2 for Ollie Long in a solid, yet unremarkable win to advance.

@ Crawley Panthers (6th)
Sadly, Doyle is out with a cold, so the Red Card Machine England gets the start today.

6 - Hadley has a beautiful ball to Wickens, but Ben got offsides.

64 - It's been a sloppy, ticky tack, rainy game between two teams who play counter attacking schemes. Sanchez in for Britton

82 - Long sends it back to Hadley, who boots the ball to Watts in the box. This time our DL won't be denied his assist, and we finally get an upper crossbar bounce to go our way. 1-0

89 - O'Hara slips trying to get the ball and the grass-stained orb rolls in for the own goal 1-1

I bitch the team out for this one. We played like ass.

vs Ashhurst Wood II (Mid Sussex Junior Cup Third Round)
We get Hoyle back for this game against the leaders of Mid Sussex Division Five (three rungs up).

56 - Long is tired, so I put Sanchez in for him

57 - Garcia utterly mauls the opponent to get the ball and it's a long, slow probing sequence because they're playing great defense. The ball gets back to Hoyle at the center line and he blasts a perfect rainbow at Wickens' feet. Our super scorer dribbles *around* two defenders to create an opening for himself and puts it away. So damn fun to watch Wonder Wickens. 1-0

62 - Hadley's long shot free kick is just barely pushed aside by the keeper and Wickens of course wins the foot race and quickly doubles the tally. 2-0

72 - Sanchez is getting triple-teamed, so he wisely outlets to Garcia for the round-the-horn pass to Watts. His delivery is cleared and Watts races his ass off to just barely beat the opposition. Pass to Garcia and upon the return, Watts delivers it to loosely guarded Britton, who pretty much seals this one. 3-0

Ben Wickens' 8.8 is PotM-winning as we really turned it on in the second half. But Andrew Watts got hurt and he's going to miss a couple weeks.

@ Barcombe II (3rd)
Obviously Sanchez is at MR. This is a must-win game to keep ourselves within striking distance of the top two teams in the league at the halfway mark of the season.

15 - They're doing work keeping our guys covered except for Hadley, who is all alone when he has the ball. Boot up and over, and the defender could have gotten to the ball first, but chose to try and block Wickens' shot instead. Only that didn't happen - he crossed to a charging Russell and took the assist. 1-0

62 - Hadley is having a mostly trash game, so Hoyle moves to DL and England comes in.

Warren Garcia picks up the PotM award, but honestly we didn't deserve to win this one.

Transfer In - DR Kashif Siddiqui - Pakistani - 29 years old
One of three players on Pakistan's national team, he has 10 Work Rate, 11 Acceleration, Pace, and Stamina. Wants to get into scouting when his career is over. Perfect! Our new starting DR.

@ Furngate (10th)

55 seconds - Wickens is wrecked but Long comes racing up to grab the ball and keep the drive alive. Cross to Britton and it's a quick opening score. 1-0

24 - Garcia with the give to Russell. Our shadow striker's being tripled team, so he finds Britton for the pass to Wickens in the box. The weaving doubleteam does nothing as our star's shot sings true. 2-0

35 - I forgot to mention Watts is back and he steals the ball in our own box resulting in a counter ending in Wickens on the left wing centering to Russell for the box entry pass. The defender's on a yellow card already, so delays going for the tackle until Britton's shot is already on its way in. 3-0

56 - Damn it. Russell goes out with injury, so we need to rely on Sanchez for who knows how long.

57 - Long is playing awfully loose and inattentively, but he pulls it together enough here after giving the ball away earlier in the sequence. His delivery to Britton in the half-circle results in the fireball for the hat-trick! 4-0

Total dominance. 9.7 PotM for Jake Britton, 8.6 for Ollie Long, 8.3 for Warren Garcia, and George Russell had an 8.1 going before he got hurt.

He'll be out at least a month.

The Heybridge Swifts are rumored to be heavily interested in me, and it's mildly tempting despite what usually happens when I make that big a jump.

I mean, we're in 1st place now and will likely not relinquish that the rest of the year...

[Izulde]

I decided to keep going for now.

Transfer In - AMC ST Hakeem Islam - Pakistani - 30 years old
Yep, we're bringing a second Pakistan National Team member. 10 Off the Ball and Work Rate, 11 Finishing, and 14 Stamina. Obvious candidate to take over the captaincy. He'll start in the Shadow Striker role while George Russell is out.

@ Crawley Panthers (Malins Challenge Cup Quarterfinal)

13 - Hadley throws in to Wickens near the left touchline. Short pass to Long just outside the box, and the cross to Britton turns into a goal when the wall of defenders fails to do anything. 1-0

14 - Islam laterals to Long on the left wing and while the defender steals the ensuing entry into the box, Wickens gets it right back and the keeper's following deflection rolls right into the net. 2-0

30 - Garcia to Islam to Britton to Wickens and the keeper is too slow to stop the near-post poke of our leading scorer. 3-0

35 - Hoyle with the sudden steal and on the counter, Wickens runs Long's longball to the touchline. Keeper intercepts the cross but can only push it away in the rain... right into oBritton's feet for the easy score 4-0

Sanchez subs in for exhausted Long at the half.

Matching 9.4s for Jake Britton and Ben Wickens, with the former getting PotM. Ollie Long netted an 8.9 before he caught a breather.

Transfer In - DLC/WBL/Yellow MLC Shabir Khan - Pakistani - 30 years old
Yep, all three of Pakistan's National Team are now Mavericks. 10 Teamwork, 11 Acceleration and Stamina make him our new DL, dropping Nick Hadley to a bench role.

Hakeem Islam wants to be an assman after his playing days; the other two scouts. I'm here for all three coming on board our staff, even if Pakistan is terrible in terms of its soccer success.

Fascinating article about the situation from 2020:

Pakistan is the largest exporter of footballs but the game struggles for popularity within its borders - Sport360 News

And I just have to include this cool screenshot:



The other of the top five players are also playing for English clubs and in their 30s. Peeking at the nation's youth rating, it's not exactly the place to go shopping for newgen talent, but it's a little better than I expected.

vs Cuckfield Rangers III (1st)
Making up a game in hand here.

4 - Garcia to Islam to Wickens and the long-range shot is deflected. Ball rolls out and Britton barges in to bang in the medium-range rebound. 1-0

6 - Fluke goal by Watts. Okay. 2-0

18 - Back line got caught sleeping there. 2-1

37 - This is bullshit. Their fouls get a talking to. Ours get yellow cards. One of them is Wonder Wickens, who in this sequence shorts to Watts, who winds his way into the box before passing back to Wickens for the score. 3-1

64 - Hadley subs in for Khan; Sanchez for Islam

90 - They should have scored there. The ref is completely biased, by the way - two PKs we should have been awarded and got neither one.

Andrew Watts takes PotM with an 8.0, followed by Ben Wickens with a 7.6. Workmanlike win rather than the whizbangers we've gotten used to.

Still, a vital victory.

@ East Grinstead Town III (9th)
We get Russell back. Hadley is in at DL for tired Khan.

3 - Wickens is facing heavy pressure in the box, so he lays off to Russell. The goalie leaps out to stop it, but the ball squirts loose and Watts sinks the rebound for his fifth goal of the season. 1-0

11 - So.much.bad.passing. Wickens picks up a loose ball and runs untouched to put away the doubler, his 20th goal. 2-0

64 - Sanchez for Britton; England for O'Hara because both those starters have been trash today.

George Russell shakes off the rust for a 7.9 PotM nod, with Ben Wickens and Warren Garcia just behind at 7.8.

We pick up a new sponsorship deal worth about $1.4k a year over two years. Okay. More money is good.

@ Fairwarp (Malins Challenge Cup Semi-Final)

21 - Great strip by Siddiqui to start a counter. Watts' pass to Britton in the box results in a return because there's no opening. The cross is intercepted and the defender taps back to keeper... who drops the ball. Wickens of course buries the error. 1-0

31 - Just a phenomenal shot. Couldn't stop that one. First time in a while we've drawn after scoring first. 1-1

34 - Watts, the master of the fluke goal, everyone! Half of his six scores this year have been unintentional, including this one. 2-1

43 - Long sends it to Wickens' head for the nod-on to Russell. Our Shadow Striker can't find the shot so he lays off to Britton, who takes advantage of the keeper's dare. 3-1

At half, O'Hara is pulled for England, Khan slides over to the other DC spot, and Carter comes on at DL. Both our centre backs have been shit today.

63 - Britton takes a knock, so Islam is in.

84 - Garcia passes to Watts on the right wing. Andrew's been eating their lunch all game and they don't have anyone on him. Stupid. Dribble, cross, and there's Islam's first Mavericks goal! 4-1

This was the Andrew Watts (9.2) and George Russell (8.2) Show. On to the Final!

Jake Britton is out a couple weeks. Not that it matters much thanks to Pakistan.

[Izulde]

vs Linfield IV
Obviously Islam starting in place of injured Britton for a couple games, giving us all three Pakistani-British team members.

We win 1-0 on Hakeem Islam's great charge after a bad clearance, but we absolutely did not deserve to win, so I ripped into the team after. Also, my initial write-up got eaten as I was trying to kill a fly.

@ Ridgewood (Mid Sussex Junior Cup Quarterfinal)

39 - Booming clearance by our defense finds Wickens in the other half of the pitch. He passes to Islam, who jukes the defense and sends it back to Wickens in the box for the score. 1-0

44 - Hoyle strips away a dangerous position and jackhammers it down to Wickens. Counter concludes with doubled Russell laying off to the completely open Watts for the run, center to Islam and score. 2-0

74 - Now it's Wickens who goes out injured. Britton comes on and Sanchez steps in for exhausted Garcia

This one was all about matching 8.3s Hakeem Islam (PotM) and Andrew Watts.

We'll be without our stud Ben Wickens for a month.

@Handcross Village III (4th)
Until Wickens is back, Islam as our AF, Britton in the TM role.

13 - A crowded box, but Islam fights through it for the opening goal. 1-0

17 - Sloppy defense. 1-1

27 - Watts to Britton to Islam for the easy score. 2-1

[b]35[/b[ - Just before the double-team closes in on him. Watts sends it to Russell in the box and this is all child's play. 3-1

64 - Islam to Russell outside the box. Everyone's eyes are locked on Britton when the entry pass comes, completely missing sneaky assassin Islam, who darts forward for the hat trick! 4-1

9.5 for PotM Hakeem Islam and 8.5 for George Russell. EZ Mode.

And a short time later, I change teams, because the slow grind is boring.