Return to the Lions Den - WWSM 2009

[BYU 14]

Will be taking another run with Millwall in WWSM 2009 and if my practice runthrough was any indication, it will be a challenge.


Radio 606
"And in other Football news, it has now been confirmed that Millwall have sacked current Manager Kenny Jackett and will be bringing in Anthony Crooks from the MLS. Crooks, a native Brit, raised in the US, is known for his innovative Diamond tactic, though it remains to be seen if it will work in England. Vivian Spivey, editor of the "Lions Den" is on the line and has some early reactions to the news. Good evening Viv."

Spivey "Ello David, I've got to say, this announcement 'as not been made club management the Bees knees in the eyes of the supporters."

Host "How so?"

Spivey "Well, its quite simple actually...What I've been 'earing is that this bloke, who nobody knows a daft pence about, is basically just an excuse for the club to wallow in swill, 'e's over his head and I reckon.."

Click

Damn, I haven't even cracked the door to my office yet and you would think I pissed on the crown jewells or something....

With that I complete the remainder of my drive into London in silence, already wondering if I made the right choice coming home.....to the Lions Den.

[BYU 14]

The next few days are frantic, being introduced to the media, the glad handing/ass kissing and all the accoutrements that come with it. I can't get to work soon enough and there is a lot of work to be done.

After 2 workouts I trim the bloated senior squad to 23. I will evaluate these players during friendlies, along with any others I bring in.....and there will be a few.

I also sack 2 scouts and 3 coaches. The scouts because I had 5 and don't need that many and the coaches just didn't seem to be a good fit with my philosphy. I do retain Joe Gallen as my assistant Manager however. He is outspoken and direct, but also open minded. All qualities I like.

In my first formal meeting with the board I request a feeder club and a parent club, stating that I felt we could shore up weaknesses and develop young players much better this way. I also brushed off their expectation of a mid table finish and announced that I planned to finish in the top half of league. After the shock of my bold prediction subsided, I was given an extra 8 k per month for salaries and another 40 k (240,000 total) for transfers. Hardly a mint, so I will basically look to spend it all on one of my needs and address the others through loans. And speaking of needs.....Time to meet the 2008 Millwall squad.

[BYU 14]

My first big score, a loan from Arsenal of 18 yr old AMC Mark Randall is quickly shattered, when he suffers a hop injury in training and will be out 2 months, effectively nullifying the deal.

I do bring on 3 new Coaches Alan Collin (Fitness) Wayne Curtis (Tactics) and Ben Clarke. (Attacking) All are in their early to mid 30's and will fit in well with my plans.

[BYU 14]

With one friendly to go before the season begins I have brought in some keys loans, especially Danny Rose, who will help. The squad seems to be picking up my tactic as our best performances came in our last 2 friendlies. (against the 2 toughest teams we have played to date) League One competition will still be a step up however, so I am optimistically cautious. I would love to get another good fast Striker, but apparently everyone else does to as there are no quality player out there I can afford.

[BYU 14]

A mixed bag, as we are sitting mid table, which I expected at this point. The good (or bad) news is it is our Defense that is keeping us competitive while the attack finds it's legs. I was actually worried about the Defensive line much more, but they have held their own. We land a big transfer, if for no other reason than leadership. Plus, he still has a big finish as well and gives us some flexibility up front.

[BYU 14]

August goal of the month away to MK Dons. Danny Rose gets on the end of a textbook cross from Smith and buries it top shelf on first touch.





I would like to figure out a way to get the quality is better.

[NoSkillz]

Originally Posted by BYU 14

August goal of the month away to MK Dons. Danny Rose gets on the end of a textbook cross from Smith and buries it top shelf on first touch.

I would like to figure out a way to get the quality is better.

Ugh...I know I'm picking nits but as a guy who is still waiting for the game, seeing that:

1. The 'Goal' text announcement still coming before it actually goes in the net is still there
2. No collision detection?? After the goal, a guy runs right through the net to celebrate and a few others walk right through the barricade billboards beside the field...

It's just aesthetics, I know but

[NoSkillz]

Dola:

I'll be reading BYU! Keep it up!

[BYU 14]

Originally Posted by NoSkillz

Ugh...I know I'm picking nits but as a guy who is still waiting for the game, seeing that:

1. The 'Goal' text announcement still coming before it actually goes in the net is still there
2. No collision detection?? After the goal, a guy runs right through the net to celebrate and a few others walk right through the barricade billboards beside the field...

It's just aesthetics, I know but

I can live with #2, but the goal text announcement really bugs me as well. I would like to see the ball go in before it is announced, kind of kills some of the drama, not knowing it is going in before you get the visual.

[MJ4H]

Yes!! Following.

[BYU 14]

We come on strong making it all the way to the last match of the month before we lose, which leaves us one spot outside of the playoff bracket, though there is a long, long way to go. I am still looking to land a strong AMC which we desperately need as our goal production is not what it should be. The defense continues to be a bright spot though and looks like it will keep us in pretty much every match until we get the attack firing.

Highlight of the month was the 2-0 victory over Crewe after Fuseini got sent off in a nil-nil game. The lowlight, Leyton Orients back line. Their tackling was borderline thuggery and I had to use all three subs in that match replacing our strong striker position, which meant we basically played half the match with people out of position.

[BYU 14]

Short handed and clinging to a 1-0 lead, Trevor Kandol poaches an errant ball and beats the keeper short side to seal the 2-0 win over Crewe.

[ArlingtonColt]

I really like the newsletter style you got here... I will be following this one closely as Millwall are one of my Bradford rivals (in my Fm09 game

I was going to add that I have Seyfo Soley on my squad 4 seasons into the game. He has been really solid for me in my promotions from League 2 to the Championship. He still starts for my squad occasionally.

[NoSkillz]

Keep it up BYU...I always enjoy your writeups!

[MJ4H]

Were you listening to an internet radio station while recording that video or something? Weird.

[BYU 14]

Thanks guys, the monthly style makes it easier so I will likely stick to this one for a while.

ArlingtonColt - I picked Soley up on a free, great deal, but he is having some problems adapting to my squad. Hopefully he gets it sorted out.

MJ4H - Yes, I was listening to Bubba the Love Sponge and didn't realize FRAPS would pick up the audio from his show as well....Won't make that mistake again.

[BYU 14]

Another solid month as we advance to the quarters of the Johnstone’s Paint Trophy and go 4-1-1 in league, despite a rash of injuries. (More on that later) Even with the constantly juggled lineups, we seem to hit our stride attacking by months end as we put up 3 and 4 goal efforts over the final 2 weeks of October. The euphoria is short lived however, as we finish the month crashing rudely back to earth. Fatigue and lack of depth does us in as Southend blasts us, handing us our only defeat of the month. The schedule was brutal from the 15th on as we played pretty much every 3 days and the team was just banged up and worn out. It doesn’t get any easier to open November as we travel to Eiland road to take on Leeds United, far and away the class of the league.

[BYU 14]

This comes off a set piece in the draw with Hartlepool. McKenna places a free kick beautifully into space and Danny Rose sprints into the area to bury it.




Odds and Ends

[BYU 14]

Another solid month that sees the Lions climb to 4th in the table, as we string together 5 unbeaten, between the thrashing at Leeds and the end of month ousting from the FA Cup by Carlisle. The loss to Carlisle is galling as we had stifled them at home 6 days prior. Even in that loss however, I saw that Thirlwell was a definite danger in the midfield and he killed us in the rematch. This losing the last match of each month thing is getting old as well!! In terms of Leeds, we played them well for stretches, but they are just so explosive one missed tackle and you are done, as Becchio showed. They may not lose this season.

Our highlight of the month has to be the 2-2 draw away to Oldham. I started out with my control tactic and before you could blink we are down 2-0 inside of 3 minutes!! After that I switched to our Diamond attack (normally only used at Home) and we had them on their heels the rest of the match, drawing even despite being a man down. The moment of the month came in the 67th minute, when David Forde came up huge with the penalty save on Eardley, a good gritty match that we could have folded in, but didn't.

My only real concern right now is the amount of Yellow cards we are gettting, plus the send offs. I think I will start ignoring assistant Joe Gallens suggestions to go in hard on certain players. Not a lot of movement at the top and bottom of the table overall, but there was a lot of jumping around mid-table as might be expected. At this point Leeds will definitely win the league and automatic promotion. I like our chances for retaiing playoff position and if injuries stay down as they did this month, maybe even a run at the second spot. I also have to think the change in physio's helped with injury frequency. We will see if that holds in December.

[BYU 14]

We begin December with some much needed downtime, which gives me time to search for a Pub with some good Shepards Pie and catch up on some mundane duties.

Meetings
First up, I meet with Assistant Manager Joe Gallen to go over the first team structure. He starts off by saying that he believes morale is good and that the players have a good understanding of the system and my expectations. He also mentions that we have good depth (When healthy) and we can execute with the players we have. Lastly he feels our weakest area is in goal. I don't completely agree with this. I feel 19 yr old Preston Edwards will become a fine keeper and I also think Forde has done some outstanding work at times when he has been hung out to dry by the back line.

Gallens picks for the top players on our squad
Attacking
Senior - Robbie Fowler
Youth - Lyle Taylor

Midfield
Senior - Danny Rose
Youth - Ashley Grimes

Defense
Senior - Paul Robinson
Youth - Darren Cowen

In theory he may be right on Fowler, but he has certainly not played like it. Robbie is a huge let down thus far. Robinson is solid and Rose is not flashy, but gets the job done. Grimes is the only youth player getting significant time on the first team and after a rocky start he has been a very pleasant surprise. If I don't get another AMC, I am no longer worried if we have to go with him and Fuseini all Season.

The Board
They advise me that they are happy with my management of the team and again commend my signing of Seyfo Soley on a free, who the fans are quite fond of.

They bluntly tell me the decision to sign Fowler was poor business. I have to agree at this time, though I hope he can turn it around.

In closing we lost $141,000.00 in November....Ouch!!! Transfer are at zero, wich is about my odds of squeezing any money out of them come January.

Rumor Mill
Coventry is said to be close to offering $400,000 for Paul Robinson. A tempting offer, but it would leave my back line thinner than Calista Flockhart. for his part, Robinson mentioned he is pleased with how we are performing, but did not rule out interest in a move, stating he was flattered that a club like coventry would be interested in his services.

David Martin told Worldsoccer.com that he has not asked to leave Millwall or requested that he be allowed to speak to Wycombe. This is all news to me.

Finally it is leaked that I am after Colchester DM, MC Dean Hammond, as is St Mirren from the SPL. If they want him go ahead. We are set at DMC and he is not a good fit for any other Midfield spot......who starts this garbage?

Around the World
England sits in 4th place in group 6 for the 2010 World Cup qualification at 6 points from 2 wins and 2 losses. Croatia leads the group with maximum points from 4 games, while Ukraine and Belarus also sit at 6 points, though both squads have only played 3 games and face each other next. England is facing a must win against Ukraine in April, with losses to Croatia (1-2) and Belarus. (0-1)

European Champions Cup
Chelsea, Liverpool, Man United and Arsenal all sit atop their respective groups, with Manchester and Chelsea already assured of moving on.

Euro Cup
Portsmouth, Tottenham and Everton are all assured of moving out of the group stage, with Aston Villa in the drivers seat as well.

Euro Vase
Aston Villa (Englands only entry) will be moving on to round 4 after a 7-1 aggregate win over Israels Bnei Sakhnin.

Euro Super Cup
Man U is the holder after their 1-0 win over Russia's Zenit.

Despite the National teams struggles, the EPL squads are having remarkable success in Europe to date.

It is December 6th and we are finally ready to get back at it against Tranmere at the Den, hopefully we get the month off to a flying start!