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

[BrixtonFC]

Introduction
“When they kick at your front door, how you gonna come?”
That is the opening line to the song “Guns Of Brixton” by The Clash. I bet the writer, The Clash’s bassist Paul Simonon, never imagined that the line could be interpreted the way I have. “Kick” could be a reference to kicking the football and “front door” could mean football being played professionally right there in Brixton, on the former ground of HM Prison Brixton. And I hope the fans “come” in droves.

What is this all about?
This a Football Manager 2018 Dynasty Report inspired by my love of English music. I’ll discuss Football Manager later on.

Eh?
My long fascination with England is rooted in my love of bands from there. My two favorite bands are New Model Army and Carter the Unstoppable Sex Machine. Other English acts that I love are XTC, The Clash, Pop Will Eat Itself, Queen, Gary Numan, Billy Bragg, and The Streets.

There are many connections between Brixton and the music I listen to. First and foremost, the song I mentioned above, “Guns of Brixton.” Another reference you might be familiar with is Eddy Grant’s “Electric Avenue.” Many Carter USM songs make reference to areas like Tulse Hill, Clapham, Peckham, New Cross, and of course Brixton itself. Several musicians were born there (David Bowie, Mick Jones, Paul Simonon), lived there (Mike Skinner, Jimbob, Fruitbat) or spent time in Brixton Prison (Glenn Danzig, Mick Jagger).

Speaking of Brixton Prison, in the fictional story (in my head) of the team’s origin, their future massive stadium will be on the former site of the prison spreading up into Windmill Gardens, its name sake. (Brixton Prison was closed due to its upkeep becoming too expensive for the local government and the Brixton club owners agreeing to build a new facility outside the city.) Windmill Gardens is scheduled to open on 1 July 2022 and thus the club built a small stadium on the westside of Brockwell Park; it also functions as the training ground/reserve stadium and will remain so after the move in 2022. City Heights Academy in the real-world is where the Brixton Youth Academy is.

I’m not being too original but the nicknames for Brixton will be Mortars and Guns. I made Guns the second nickname because those bastards at Arsenal are already the Gunners and I don’t want too much confusion.

Other Inspiration
This Dynasty Report was directly inspired by three people:

Jim Gindin Of course it starts with him. In the late 90s he took sports simming to a new level. I guess over the years I spent around $150 on his products. From around Christmas 1998 to Halloween 2007 I played FOF or FOF:TCY (mostly TCY) just about every day. For 2 to 12 hours per day. Money very well spent. You’re a legend, Jim!

Scott Brown When I finally got my act together and stayed with FM for more than a month, I was struggling to understand position combinations. While researching I found this wonderful Let’s Play by accident and learned some stuff. More importantly, I was entertained. I’ve read it in full probably four or five times since October 2019. The style of this blog is an homage to Scott’s LP. I wonder how he feels about Wrexham getting two Sugar Daddies.

Loki Doki A YouTube personality (and what a personality!) who lives a simple life of playing Football Manager for profit and rescuing animals. Not a lot of profit, mind you. He’s always entertaining and keeps me out of the FM doldrums; I watch him to get a good laugh and get inspired to get back into the game.

[BrixtonFC]

Football Manager 2018
Welcome to Football Manager 2018. If you don’t know what Football Manager is, read the next paragraph. If you already have devoted your life and soul to Football Manager, skip the next paragraph.

Football Manager is THE premier sports simulation computer game for managing football clubs. Clubs not teams, I’m talking association football, or as us ‘mericans call it, soccer. You can choose to manage a club in your nation of choice, though for some of the smaller nations you have to download custom databases from Steam Workshop. Everywhere in the world except ‘merica the football leagues have a promotion/regulation pyramid structure meaning that bad teams get dropped to a level below and the good teams get elevated to a level above. To put it in U.S. terms, the Carolina Panthers and Chicago Bears would have been dropped down to Division 1 and Alabama and Michigan would be in the NFL.

Let’s Talk Pyramid Schemes
For this story I am playing in England in the 9th level of the English football league system. Essentially, at that level it’s a bunch of guys in their late 20s and early 30s trying to (re)capture that glory that eluded them. FM doesn’t come stocked with that many leagues for England (you can go down to the 6th level) so I had to download a databased called “England Level 10 and Cup Competitions” by danseakin. Mad props, dude!

Game Setup
However, because Brixton is a fictional club, I’ve had to add them to the database. The scenario I’ve chosen is that Brixton is owned by a Sugar Daddy who has pumped loads of money into the team, built a highest-quality Youth Academy, built a 7,000-seat Reserve Stadium (that will act as the Senior stadium for now), and is building a 25,000-seat stadium, which will lie on the grounds of real-world Windmill Gardens and HM Prison Brixton, set to open on 1 July 2022.

I’ve also granted Brixton a full complement of coaches because despite loving the endless scouting for players, I just cannot stand scouting for staff. I’ve got an assistant manager (hereafter known forever and ever as an AssMan), a head of youth development, two goalkeeping coaches, two fitness coaches, and five regular coaches.

I added Brixton to the Southern Counties East League, swapping out Rusthall because they had the lowest Reputation (150). I’ve given Brixton a reputation of 1 (out of 10,000) to make things somewhat realistic.

I added 17 players to the database for Brixton but all of them are 15 or 16 years old to simulate a new beginning of players graduating from the Youth Academy.

As far as other playable leagues, I added Ireland, Northern Ireland, Scotland, and Wales. I also added Belorussia so I could have a mid-March start in order to have enough time to find some slightly older players to act as mentors before the start of the season. So with a start date of 13 March 2017, it’s time to start the fun.

The Write Stuff
A note about my writing style: I’m a professional writer and editor. It’s hard work and taxes one’s brain agonizing over some of the smallest details. Sometimes I need to let my hair down and unwind. Therefore I’m not putting a lot of effort into editing, and I'm writing like I speak, all stream-of-conscious like. So if there is bad grammar, misspelled words, or weird sentence structures…well, I’m not gonna worry about it. :-) I hope it doesn’t detract from your experience.

[BrixtonFC]

First Update: Kids Are People Too

Let us meet the “Senior” team of Brixton’s first squad. These are the 17 players I mentioned earlier in the Game Setup section of the Introduction page.

GK

I added two goalkeepers as I wanted to make sure an injury to the best keeper doesn’t hamstring us.





Neither one is great and there is very little difference to the naked eye but my AssMan thinks Webb is currently better. At this point I have no idea which one will be better.

[BrixtonFC]

DR

I also added two right fullbacks.





Okay, so technically Peter Maguire isn’t a right fullback, he’s a centreback. But at only 178 cm I’m not too sure he’ll grow enough to ever be an effective central defender, even if he is only 14. (I’ll be keeping track of his growth to see how tall he gets. I want my DCs to be 182 cm tall at a bare minimum but 185 is the realistic bottom end.) Considering he has world class Acceleration (16 is considered world class in FM) and a 14 Pace, his future is only the wings, even if his Crossing is abysmal. He’s clearly better and I don’t need my AssMan to tell me that. (Can you believe his Stamina?!?)

Note: I capitalize certain FM terms to highlight that I’m referring to elements of the game.

[BrixtonFC]

DL

The real second DR is Kevin Parker whose Preferred Foot is Either so I’ll be working on getting his DL up to Natural.





Jefcoate is clearly the better player and I’m not even counting his 16 Pace. But of course Parker is going to get plenty of opportunities so he can be my utility fullback as at this level of the pyramid I will only be able to suit up 5 substitutes.

[BrixtonFC]

DC

I set up the database so I’d have one left-footed and one right-footed centreback. I didn’t set their heights so I’m glad both are tall for their ages.





I suppose they are alright for this level but Carroll’s Strength is a bit of concern.

[BrixtonFC]

DMC

I love playing with DMCs as I love the Regista role. FM2014 didn’t really institute the role well as it was the first year of its availability in the game; I’m hoping it’s instituted properly in FM2018.





Smith is my first choice and it has nothing to do with his tremendous height for a lad of only 15. He’s six-foot-five, for you Americans in the audience. If I can’t find some more centrebacks to relieve Spearing and Carroll then Smith can drop back and McAdam can fill his role.

I’ll be starting the season training the 4-4-2 formation with Standard mentality, which should get Smith ample time to get his MC up to Natural.

[BrixtonFC]

MC

I’ve got three MCs to choose from with Terry Barlow being the best option.







Barlow is the better MC so I’ll pair him with Smith in the 4-4-2, with Smith as the defensive-minded one and Barlow as the creator.

[BrixtonFC]

MR

I only have one right midfielder.



He’s not that good except his speed and Teamwork. I’ll look to find a better winger soon. I eventually will be using Wingers exclusively so I’ll start Pearson on improving his position there.

[BrixtonFC]

ML

Similarly, I only have one left midfielder.



Daniel is going to be around for quite a while. I’m sure he’ll get a new large contact in the future so he can get the duckets. (Anybody? Remember slang from ’87, ’88? Just me? Drat.)

[BrixtonFC]

ST

Finally, I have two strikers.





We’re in good shape with these two strikers. Obviously Ben is going to be an absolute beast this far down the pyramid and it’ll be a challenge to keep him. I imagine he’ll be gone before we make it to the Conference South, the sixth level of the pyramid. He’ll probably get unsettled by a lower-level Premier team and become extra pouty and start playing horribly. Hopefully not.

I plan on using Ben as a Target Man and I hope to bring in a captain who is also a striker and can mentor Ben, then Paul, to get their Determination higher.

[BrixtonFC]

Searching for a Captain and Vice Captain
I need a captain who is not only as a strong leader on the pitch but also a mentor. Initially I thought I would use one of the youths as a vice captain but quickly realized that might be foolish if the captain goes down to an injury for a lengthy amount of time.

While looking for that captain I ran across one of the funniest names I’ve ever seen in Football Manager: Chick Legg. Hahahaha. So much funny there. He’s a GK and I don’t need him so I don’t sign him though the temptation alone was almost enough.

I do find two good candidates for captains. Eddie Macey would be a great Advanced Forward but he wants at least £2,100 per week. The second candidate is a DC named Chris Day. He’d be better as our Vice and he would be cheap, at most £230 per week.

On 29 March I’ve still not found my captains but I did get notice of major clubs fixing to release youth players so I scout the hell out of them. Turns out all of them are either too expensive, most of them are in the £2,000 per week range, or have no desire to join us.

So on 2 April I offer a contract to Macey only to learn that my chief scout completely misjudged his wage demands. He asked for £900 p/w and I bumped it up to £1,000, and he signed immediately. Maybe the promise to make him Captain helped? Sadly, that Heading and Strength are going to be a major hindrance but he’ll be our chief penalty taker.



On 4 April I scout Chris Day again just to make sure I know everything I can about him. Like that he’s Inconsistent. :-( Whomp, whomp. I offered him a contract a week later and it took a week for him to make up his mind. The pleasure of his services will cost us £500 per week. That’s twice my scouts have been inaccurate on player wage demand assessments. I’ll have to keep an eye on this.

[BrixtonFC]

I made some more signings too. I picked up AMC Scott Thompson for some additional MC rotation but also I think I’ll eventually switch from 4-4-2 to 4-2-3-1 so I’ll need someone who can play Shadow Striker.



On 21 April I offer a bunch of young players trial contracts. I got 17 to accept but 27 rejected. Oh well. One of the rejectors is Chick Legg. And after all the work I put into writing poultry jokes!

Staff
Four of our coaches are given an opportunity to better themselves by working on coaching licenses; the club will cover the costs. Coaching courses are how the game determines if a staff member will narrow the gap between the Current Ability and Potential Ability.
I also added three scouts. I’ll have one chief scout who scouts Next Opponent and the other three will cycle through England, Wales, Ireland, Northern Ireland, and Scotland. None of the scouts are particularly outstanding but what can you expect for a club with a Reputation of 1?
I added a Physio too as I somehow forgot to add one when building the database.

Finances
On 1 April I get an email saying that we have a new main kit sponsor. This company lucked out as it will only cost them a staggering amount of £4,700 per ANNUM. Another ramification of having a 1 Reputation. At this time I looked at some more financial matters and discovered that our average ticket price is only £2. I foresee financial follies ahead.

Pre-Pre-Season
I dump the trialists into the U23s and hold scrimmages on 24 and 27 April. The “Seniors” won the first match but lost the second.

One of the weird artefacts of starting the pre-season so early is that I had to have an End of Season Team Meeting on 28 April and decide when the real pre-season begins, which will be 26 June.

Before everyone headed out, I signed three of the trialists: DC Joe Clark, MR Robbie Jones, and ST Alex Rae. I’ll post their Player Cards at the start of the pre-season. After Rae signed, Macey came complaining to me that he was worried I was trying to replace him. Dude, I made you Captain. Is your ego really that fragile? Kids these days…

On 5 May I get an email noting that Joe Clark is now considered “home-grown.” That will matter at some point I guess. Oddly, while looking at his Player Card to see if he had a second nationality I notice that his “Place of Birth” is “Unknown.” What the deuce?!

Also comes news that we were granted a lower youth category, from 1 to 2. I set up the database to have our Youth Facilities at 20, Junior Coaching at 12, and Youth Recruitment at 12. I thought these values would put us straight into a lower youth category but I suppose the game uses just the Youth Facilities number. I’m quite glad because I don’t need to see our youngins smacked about the pitch by the likes of Liverpool and the Manchesters.

[BrixtonFC]

From the Funny Names File
One of the great things about Football Manager is the random name combinations. Like the aforementioned Chick Legg. And Dick Pring. :-D It did not sign him.



Scouting
I of course continue scouting, looking for some cheap, good players.
Case in point: Sam Martin, AM (L). I’ll get his M (L) up to Natural then work on AM (R) as he’s already Competent there. A bit slow and can’t really cross but he is cheap!



Dynamics
On 13 June I get an email notifying me that Eddie Macey has moved up a rung in the team Hierarchy to “Influential Player.” You’d hope your Team Captain was influential! Squad Dynamics is a new facet of Football Manager that I’ve not had to deal with before. I like it though, adds to the realism. Not so keen on the Social Groups part of it though. At this point all 24 players support me.

Season Expectations
I meet with the board on 16 June to discuss season expectations. I tell them I will win the league and they give me a transfer budget of £843,000 and a weekly wage of £12,420. We are currently spending £4,288 per week. I think we’ll be alright.

New Arrivals
DC Joe Clark, MR Robbie Jones, and ST Alex Rae arrive.
Clark isn’t much to write home about but he does provide depth at DC and DR, which I’ll try to get up to Natural.



Jones won’t supplant Pearson but he’ll get plenty of game time even though he’s short for a Stormtrooper. I mean, he’s slow for a Winger. I’ll get his AMR and ML up to Natural, hopefully.



I needed some ST depth still so I signed Rae. He’s not an outstanding striker but I think he’ll make a fine Target Man. Except for the Bravery. And Strength. Why did I sign him?!



World Cup 2022
Well this is certainly interesting (it came in on 30 June 2017). I guess crime doesn’t pay:



Friendlies
On 31 May I set up 11 Friendly matches against teams that are in leagues below us as I want to build confidence as well as fitness so I chose a bunch of patsies. I won’t be making the Chairman money but that’s not my concern yet.

[BrixtonFC]

The Boys Are Back In Town

The Youths of Brixton return in good shape, raring to go.

I continue to work the lads learning the 4-4-2 Standard formation but also add the 4-1-2-3 DM Wide Standard. (In FM14 this formation was called the 4-5-1. I don’t understand the name change but I don’t think it’s an FM thing, it’s a global football thing.)

Trial Day
When you are in the lower leagues you will get invitations to Trial Days. We got such and I sent our chief scout to pick over the squads on 14 July.

There are some tasty morsels in there so I had my AssMan scout some of the more luscious treats.

One of Trialists is Captain Slow but he has no desire to play for us. Much like everyone else.



Cup Draws
The football gods are kind to us as we draw a team from one level below us for the FA Cup, March Town United. I go to look at their roster and that’s when I realize why we’ve been having an easy walk through the pre-season; all their player are The Greys; fake players auto-generated by the program to fill in empty slots on teams. This goes back to when I set up the game and did not select the “Add Players to Teams” option. Well drat.

For the FA Trophy, we host AFC Mansfield, a team at the same level of the pyramid as us. However, they are predicted to finish 18th in their league (of 22 teams) so I’m confident of this match too.

For the Southern League Cup, we travel to fellow Southern Counties East League crew Cray Valley Paper Mills. A company team? That’s interesting! I know that Airbus have a team in Wales. Back in FM2014 I managed to poach two good players from them.

Our FA Vase opponent, Loxwood, will visit us and again they are from the same pyramid level as Brixton.

Pre-Season Matches
• 1 July vs. Chinnor: 5-0. Macey and O’Donnell score before I sub everyone at 60’. Spearing gets one and Taylor gets a brace. Good stuff.

• 4 July vs. Penn: 5-0. Paul Taylor is the maestro in this match setting up goals and making key passes but Duckie gets Player of the Match (POM) for 2 goals in 30 minutes of action.

• 7 July at Farleigh: 3-0. Carroll gets a goal off a corner just 3’ in. O’Donnell and Rae get goals too but we are inefficient, going 9 of 20 shots on target.

• 10 July vs. Letcombe: 3-0. Our strikers are really clicking with Taylor, Rae, and Macey all scoring. Smith has been excellent in all matches stealing several balls.

• 13 July at Rayners Lane: 2-0. Macey gets two goals, coming at 28’ and 60’ after the team generally looked lazy.

• 16 July at Sheerwater: 5-1. Our first 4-5-1 usage. First goal was 7’ in and the second at 63’ after I did a full outfield swap. Our opponents got their goal off a Spearing penalty. Three of our goals came from our MCs.

• 19 July vs. Woodstock: 6-0. Macey gets his hat trick in 31 minutes and Smith continues his mid-field dominance. We are a budding juggernaut. Surprisingly, the game was not played in mud.

• 22 July at South Park Reserves: 4-1. We went on down to South Park, had ourselves a time. There were not friendly faces everywhere, especially as we were silky smooth in moving the ball and only slightly less so shooting the ball. We finally allowed a goal from open play but I’m fine with it. (Apologies to Les Claypool, and Stan and Kyle and Cartman and Kenny.)

• 25 July vs. Wallingford: 13-0. What can I saw about this ass-whooping? Four goals from Taylor, 3 from O’Donnell, 2 from Macey, and 2 from Rae. We are ready for the real games.

• 28 July at FCD Galicia: 2-1. They actually score first on a B.S. penalty. The team is putrid, especially Duckett, and the second team finally scores at 82’ and 42 seconds into 2 minutes of extra time. Hubris is a bad, bad thing.

• 31 July vs. Tring Corinthians: 5-0. A good bounce-back with mostly everyone playing well.

Well that was a successful pre-season. Our tactical familiarity isn’t wonderful but I think we’ll be alright. Everyone is Match Fit or better. Aside from Joe Clark missing two matches from a gashed head he picked up in the Penn bout, we escape the pre-season relatively unscathed. I have 24 fine players and no real gaps to fill. I’m feeling confident about the season.

[BrixtonFC]

It’s time to kick off the season FOR REALZ! I’m very confident of winning the league and the Southern League Cup. (Maybe. If I read the info tab on it correctly, all the 58 teams are either at our level or one higher. Maybe that’s hubris but if the teams above us are also just a bunch of Greys…) We aren’t going to last long in the FA Cup. Or FA Trophy. FA Vase should be ours too as the teams are at or below the 9^th level of the English pyramid.

Let’s get to those games!

The first match that matters is an FA Cup meeting. I quickly realize that something is fishy. I’m allowed 12 subs. This is peculiar. I should only be allowed 7 for an FA Cup match. I wonder if the England Level 10 database creator upped the numbers for shits and giggles. I take this opportunity to check the league rules and they too allow for 12 subs. It seems that all the leagues at level 6 and above are setup correctly, thankfully.

FA Cup First Preliminary Round
vs. March Town United, 5 August 2017




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

We start fast with a goal at 2:04 after some lovely clearance play and fancy passing. I knew O’Donnell would be our first scorer due to his massive talent for this level. It takes him less than 2 minutes go get his brace, both assists are by Duckett. At 15’, a long kick from Carroll finds O’Donnell alone on the left flanks and as he charges towards the goal he spies an advancing Macey who polishes his run off with a hard shot into the lower left corner. A counter-attack after a set piece sees more lovely movement from the left side culminating in a lovely low Pearson cross to the feet of Macey and we’re up 4-0 before 25 minutes. Barlow takes us to five because March forgot he was sitting on the far side after a corner and nobody was close enough to prevent him from blasting a shot in. I then switch to Defensive and nothing happens until 88’ when a surprising long kick reaches sub Rae entering the box and as he drives to goal he feeds Macey for a hat trick. Game. Set. Match.

POM: Eddie Macey (3 goals, 1 key pass)




The Week Between
We draw Whitley Bay for the next round of the FA Cup. It’s a very good draw as we are at home and they are at the same level of the pyramid as us. Unlike March, they actually have players. We also have the FA Trophy draw and will be playing at Haverhill, also at the same pyramid level as us.

I got an email on 8 August from my Press Officer, letting me know that the bookmakers think we’re an absolute shoe-in to win the league at 1-5 odds. Nearest competitor is Chatham at 7-2 odds. I feel confident.

[BrixtonFC]

Next we have another cup match but unlike our first match, this one should just be the beginning of our run to a cup title.

FA Vase First Round
vs. Loxwood, 12 August 2017



Formation: 4-4-2 Standard
Starting XI: Webb, Maguire, Day, Carroll, Jefcoate, Pearson, Barlow, Smith, Duckett, Macey, O’Donnell
Subs: Friend, Johnstone, Clark, Spearing, Parker, Jones, Thompson, McAdam, Martin, Taylor, Rae

Again with the long passes! SI still can’t get their programming right. Short passing means short passing! But at least this time when Maguire sends forward from deep in our territory, O’Donnell out runs the defense and we’re up just after 6 minutes. Ten minutes later we are up two after another long pass, this time from Pearson to Macey and uncharacteristically he gets it past the GK after shooting it right at him. Just before in 71’ Thompson steals the ball, feeds it to Pearson, who sees a streaking O’Donnell. Ben takes the ball into the left side of the box and as the defense flocks to him, fresh sub Taylor is alone near the far post and gets a goal on his debut. Less than a minute later, another steal and some fancy passing leads to a brace for Taylor. I switch to Defensive and see the game out

POM: Steve Pearson (2 assists, 5 key passes, 2 chances created)



The Week Between
The Southern League Cup draw comes in and we’ll be heading to Braintree, a Conference South team. I think we’re boned. And the FA Vase Cup draw too, we host Chasetown who are a league above us. We might have a chance.

[BrixtonFC]

Before this match I get an email that says 700 of the 900 people expected to show up at Cray Valley are traveling Brixton fans. Interesting… It’s our first mid-week game and first away game. Their roster is old with 8 non-Grey players whose average age is almost 32. All this considered, I’m feeling confident in this one.

Southern League Cup First Round
At Cray Valley Paper Mills, 16 August 2017 (almost exactly 10 km almost exactly due east of Brockwell Park)



Formation: 4-4-2 Standard
Starting XI: Webb, Johnstone, Clark, Spearing, Parker, Jones, Cullen, McAdam, Martin, Taylor, Rae
Subs: Friend, Day, Maguire, Carroll, Jefcoate, Pearson, Donaldson, Smith, Duckett, Macey, O'Donnell

Well, our streak continues. Our streak of not scoring from a free kick! Not a single one even through pre-season. We had two wasted opportunities and its nada-nada at half. I Calmly tell the team I’m not happy and up the Tempo and switch to Attacking. Rae and Taylor have multiple opportunities but they botch them. And of course the wasted free kicks continue.

At 60’ I swap out some player, notably Taylor and Rae for Macey and O’Donnell. Or so I thought so. I brought in Duckett instead of Macey and he promptly crosses to Martin, who get’s his first goal of the season. I correct my error and send Duckett to MR. In the 78’ Cray-Cray get a free kick about 25 yards out and can’t convert so on the counter O’Donnell runs the ball down to the byline and sends a slow, low cross to the far corner for an easy Macey clean up. I switch us to Control and then Defensive at 80’. Ninety seconds into extra time we get some more O’Donnell cross to Macey to absolutely shut the door on Crazy Valley.

POM: Ben O’Donnell (2 assists, 5 key passes, 4 chances created)



History was made in this match. Because of Maguire’s appearance, he now holds the record for the youngest player ever in this cup at 15 years and 48 days. (Because no real records were brought over in the database, these are false histories really.)

FA Cup Second Preliminary Round
vs. Whitley Bay, 19 August 2017



Formation: 4-4-2 Standard
Starting XI: Webb, Maguire, Day, Carroll, Jefcoate, Pearson, Barlow, Smith, Duckett, Macey, O’Donnell
Subs: Friend, Johnstone, Clark, Spearing, Parker, Jones, Thompson, McAdam, Martin, Taylor, Rae

Despite having plenty of goals off corners in the pre-season, we’ve yet to score one this season. This trend continues today. Nothing much happens until 26’ when a lovely smooth attack begins from a throw-in deep in our territory. Jefcoate lobs it forward to O’Donnell, who dribbles almost to the 18-yard box and then sends in another low cross to the near post where Macey beats his man and sends in a low shot to the left. Our captain is awesome! Nothing really happens until just after 71’ when Whitley get a goal off a corner. I switch to Attacking and two and a half minutes later a right-side thrown in to Pearson gets booted ahead to Rae on a breakaway. His shot hits the crossbar and ricochets right to a trailing Macey who doesn’t miss. I quickly change things to Control to try to close the match out. There are some butt-clenching moments especially when Macey fouls a guy in our end with 10 second left in extra time but the ensuing kick gets booted up-field and we win our first close match.

POM: Eddie Macey (2 goals)



I took another look at finances before and after the match. Seems that the fans are spending around £9 on the concessions; we’re making £11 when you add in the ticket prices. That is not sustainable. Prices better go up next season significantly. I guess this is what I get for setting Reputation to 1.

The Week Between
It’s FA Cup First Qualifying Round draw time! We get to host Tonbridge, who are two leagues above us and predicted to finish 7th out of 24 teams. Hopefully we don’t let them play like we did Whitley Bay.

[BrixtonFC]

At this stage of the save I finally get my first prediction of future potential other than “A Lot”. Rae is predicted to be good enough for Conference South, the sixth level of the FA pyramid. I think he’ll be better but if by the time we get to Conference South his Pace is 11 or lower I’ll jettison him. Maybe I’ll keep him longer if he can get his Jumping Reach and Strength up to be a good Target Man.

(Pennington’s Judge Player Ability and Judge Player Potential are 13 (out of 20), hence my reluctance to fully believe him.)



For our Mansfield match I do some rotation to a) get Parker experience at DL, and b) Friend has yet to start a match.

FA Trophy First Round
vs. AFC Mansfield, 23 August 2017



Formation: 4-4-2 Standard
Starting XI: Friend, Maguire, Day, Carroll, Parker, Pearson, Barlow, Smith, Duckett, Macey, O’Donnell
Subs: Webb, Johnstone, Clark, Spearing, Jefcoate, Jones, Cullen, McAdam, Martin, Taylor, Rae

O’Donnell has a chance to put us in the lead at 14 seconds but his header goes wide. That would have been epic. Twelve minutes later he redeems himself as he and Duckett combine on a breakaway. Four minutes later Mansfield ties it up with a beautiful header off a lovely cross. Damnit. The scorer out-jumped Day, which is not a good sign. I swear the crosser’s name was Duffus. (rofl) At 31’ Pearson lobs a long-ball to Macey who is one-on-one with the keeper and manages not to screw things up. Phew! At 40’ Duckett sends in a prayer from the left corner that flies over everyone, but as it was a sky-high lob it gave Pearson enough time to fly in and get his second goal of the season. (Some luck was involved because Pearson crossed the field to Duckett and Doofus had a chance to head it but missed.)

My half-time speech is met with mixed review as I told the team to not be complacent and Duckett and O’Donnell give me the red thumbs down. Luckily six players including our captains respond positively so hopefully they don’t screw the pooch. I switch to Control and make the necessary adjustments. In the 68’ Cullen sends in a free kick way to the left almost at the byline. In the resulting melee the ball finds Jones near the top of the arc and he sends in a high, fast ball and the game is ours. Two minutes later another free kick from Cullen, this time from the right mid-area. It goes to the far post where Jones sends a header to the post but gets a rebound for an even tighter shot that goes in. I switch us to Defensive but in 86’ Parker hoofs it forward from deep to Taylor who waltzes on in for an easy goal.

POM: Eddie Macey (1 goal, 2 key passes)



The Days Between
For the Second Round we travel to Haverhill Rovers who are at the same pyramid level as Brixton and are predicted to finish 20th (of 23 clubs) in their league.
First league match today! Let’s go Guns of Brixton!

Southern Counties East
At Hollands & Blair, 26 August 2017



Formation: 4-4-2 Standard
Starting XI: Webb, Maguire, Day, Carroll, Jefcoate, Pearson, Barlow, Smith, Duckett, Macey, O’Donnell
Subs: Friend, Johnstone, Clark, Spearing, Parker, Jones, Donaldson, McAdam, Martin, Taylor, Rae

I actually manage to get a reaction from the squad from a pre-match pep-talk. About freakin’ time! Smith continues to be a dominant force and steals the ball at 6:00 just in front of our area. He boots it forward to a streaking O’Donnell who is alone, he rounds the keeper and our league campaign is off to a flying start. Just over three minutes later, history repeats but this time it’s Pearson and Macey, and Macey nutmegs the goalie. Just before half Jefcoate sends in a cross to the near post and Macey scoots past their DR to get us a trio.

Smith is hella tired so I pull him at half for McAdam. At 56’ Macey gets his hat trick with a power shot from the top of the arc. I bring in Spearing and Donaldson immediately thereafter to get them some Sharpness. At 65’ I take off Maguire and Macey for Johnstone and Rae. However, before the changes take effect we move the ball up the field methodically and Macey heads over to the right corner, sends in a low cross to the near post, and O’Donnell back-heels the ball in from a tight angle. Amazing! Should be the goal of the month. A few minutes later O’Donnell get his hat trick from a cross from Rae. Though I don’t like to take advantage of the 12 subs rule, I do bring Benny off for Taylor, and swap Rae to the left side. In the 79’ their left DC gets his second yellow; I maintain the Defensive game play. Needless to say, at a +6 Goal Differential, we are top of the league. Correction. Three teams have played two games already and won both. So we are “6th” for now.

POM: Eddie Macey (3 goals, 1 assist, 2 key passes)

[BrixtonFC]

The Days Between
I gotta figure out a way to make it not so easy to win. And I think it’s time to introduce a new formation. We’re starting to really click in the 4-4-2 Standard.



So I switched things up, adding the 4-5-1 and 4-2-3-1 Wide or as I call it, Spade. As part of this, to have my best players on the pitch, I’ve started training Ben O’Donnell on learning AMC, focusing on the Shadow Striker role.



Southern Counties East
vs. Erith Town, 30 August 2017



Formation: Spade (GK, DR, DC r, DC l, DL, MC r, MC l, AMR, AMC, AML, ST c)
Starting XI: Webb, Maguire, Day, Carroll, Jefcoate, Barlow, Smith, Pearson, O’Donnell, Duckett, Macey
Subs: Friend, Johnstone, Clark, Spearing, Parker, Thompson, McAdam, Jones, Taylor, Martin, Rae

It takes a while for the lads to settle in to the Spade but I’m not too concerned. At 34’ Erith get a free kick but mishandle the ball and O’Donnell steals it, sending it forward to Macey who dribbles it all the way to the byline to the left of the goal. His cross is errant but Pearson tracks it down and sends it to O’Donnell to the right of the penalty spot and his aim is true. Not three minutes later O’Donnell steals another ball which eventually ends up with Pearson on the far right flank. His cross meets Macey’s head just a few yards out and we’re up 2-0

At half I sub out Jefcoate not because he has a yellow, though that doesn’t help, but he’s a bit knackered. I also sub out Carroll because Clark is in serious need of match fitness. O’Donnell scores again at 56’ off some more great winger play, this time courtesy of Parker. Duckett and Pearson combine to take us to 4-0 just before 60’. I then make a giant sub fest with all five mid-fielders coming out. That doesn’t lessen our dangerousness though as we flood the box on a counter culminating with Jones sending a cross to the goalie who fails to handle the ball, letting it fall to a defender-less Taylor who blasts one in. At 70’ I swap out the rest of the outfield players and switch up to Defensive. But in the aftermath of a corner Clark feeds Jones who hits a long shot that had no right to go in but it does.
I’m disappointed that our home opener only drew 945 fans. But it was enough to make us £5,094 so I guess I shouldn’t bitch too much.

POM: Steve Pearson (1 goal, 2 assists, 3 key passes)



The Days Between
Just before the end of the month the report for Tonbridge comes in. They have a lot of good players, some as good as us. We might not win that match. The board expects me to make it to the Second Qualifying Round for the FA Cup and I might fail.

In Summary
We are off to an amazing start of the season! We’ve outscored our opponents 33-2 and have yet to concede a goal in league play. The easy lesson is that setting up the database to have 17 youths with high Potential Ability (PA) and great Youth Facilities is overkill. When setting up a database you can set a player to have a PA between 1 and 200. If you set it to 0 then the PA is random but confined by certain parameter related to your club (Reputation, League, Facilities, Coaching, etc.) You can also give them a value from -1 to -10 which will keep the randomness of the PA within certain ranges. -10 is the best and the PA will be between 170 and 200. Well, I did not give myself any players that good but I have all of them at -5 or better. Overkill. Lesson learned.

I think we’ll have a fine campaign so long as we don’t get hit by any major injury bugs. Also we’ll have to make it through the January transfer window. None of our players drew any interest in the August window. I’ve seen some indications that the game plays differently when you have four additional levels in England and I believe that means none of my players will draw interest from the top three levels of the pyramid as the game won’t have the top teams looking that low.

Stay tuned!

[BrixtonFC]

The training report comes in and I’m happy to see three players have Impressive Performances. I’m irked but not surprised Day has a bad report. I got a notice about a week prior that he was struggling and he has red down-arrows for almost all Attributes. I’ll have to have a talk, he’s our Vice Captain and must do better than that.



I had The Talk (not that talk!) with Chris Day and he promised to do better. You better!

Financial Matters
We lost over £122,000 last month. I knew this was coming but it still sucks to see it in black and red. This brings our season loss to almost £445,000. Oh well, luckily Brixton has a Sugar Daddy.


Now on to the match against Tonbridge. We are 6:4 odds so despite them being higher than us we’re favored. Okay. The FA Cup brings the boys to the yard, and I’m like, we’re better than you. And 2,580 fans agree. Yeah money! Amazingly, I don’t botch the pre-game pep-talk! Six players are motivated.

FA Cup First Qualifying Round
vs. Tonbridge, 2 September 2017



Formation: Spade (GK, DR, DC r, DC l, DL, MC r, MC l, AMR, AMC, AML, ST c)
Starting XI: Webb, Maguire, Day, Carroll, Parker, Barlow, Smith, Pearson, O’Donnell, Duckett, Macey
Subs: Friend, Johnstone, Clark, Spearing, Jefcoate, Cullen, McAdam, Jones, Taylor, Martin, Rae

In the 8’ Smith shoves a guy down in the box during a cross and doesn’t get called for it. Two breakaway opportunities for Macey lead to nothing. By half, three of their players have picked up knocks (plus one of their subs started that way with 69% fitness) so this should be a war of attrition we should be winning. Macey is sporting a 6.3. Drat.

With Macey and O’Donnell sporting a 6.3 and 6.4, respectively, I switch to the 4-4-2 and crank it up to Attack. Seven minutes later, Macey redeems himself with a weak effort 16 yards out. A few minutes later I bring on Cullen, McAdam, and Rae for Barlow, Smith, and O’Donnell. Then Jefcoate comes on at 75’. And shortly thereafter, Maguire sends a long ball up the right side, Macey crosses to the far post, and Rae puts us in a commanding position; I immediately switch to Control. Then a minute later Macey gets barged over in the penalty area and Duckett seals it.

POM: Eddie Macey (1 goal, 1 assist, 2 key passes, 1 chance created)



We’re on to the next round! I’ve met the board’s expectation so that’s a plus. Hopefully we get drawn against a creampuff. And we made £28,676! Sweet!

[BrixtonFC]

The Days Between
FA Cup Draw Day! And we get…a home match against Dartford of the Conference South, three rungs above us on the FA ladder. They are currently 17th so hopefully their poor form carries over.
We are in the hunt in four cups plus the league so we’ll continue to play a match every 3 or 4 days until 4 October then we’ll have a 10-day break. I kinda hope we lose all cup matches to end the congestion.
I’m going to give the Second XI starts in the 4-5-1 Counter just to get them experience and the First XI some rest.

FA Trophy Second Round
at Haverhill, 5 September 2017



Formation: 4-5-1 Counter (GK, DR, DC r, DC l, DL, DMC, MC r, MC l, AMR, AML, ST c)
Starting XI: Friend, Johnstone, Clark, Spearing, Parker, McAdam, Thompson, Donaldson, Jones, Martin, Taylor
Subs: Webb, Maguire, Day, Carroll, Jefcoate, Smith, Barlow, Cullen, Pearson, Duckett, Rae, O’Donnell

After 32 minutes of absolutely nothing I switch to Attacking just to get something to happen. Something does happen! Another failed corner by us. McAdam pulled his groin around 17’ so I sub him out at half. I Calmly tell the crew that I’m not happy with their performance.

From the restart we get an excellent chance to pull ahead but Taylor, in the clear, sends the shot wide. He tries to redeem himself 11 minutes later but this shot is even worse than the first; it left the 18-yard box before going out of bounds. Time to bring on the First XI and go to 4-4-2 Standard. In the 63’ Rae almost gets it done but hits the right post and Haverhill clears it to the sideline. On the throw in Rae redeems himself, sending in a cross to O’Donnell’s powerful left foot. Then at 80’ O’Donnell returns the favor and Rae gets an easy one. I switch to Defensive for the last 10 minutes.

POM: Ben O’Donnell (1 goal, 1 assist, 2 key passes, 1 chance created)



I just realized something. We haven’t had a single goal called back for offsides. Not in the regular season, not in any friendlies.

[BrixtonFC]

The Days Between
It’s FA Trophy Third Round Draw Day! We get to play at Sheppey, who currently are the top of our league. I think we have a fair shot.

FA Vase Second Round
vs. Chasetown, 9 September 2017



Formation: Spade (GK, DR, DC r, DC l, DL, MC r, MC l, AMR, AMC, AML, ST c)
Starting XI: Webb, Maguire, Day, Carroll, Jefcoate, Barlow, Smith, Pearson, O’Donnell, Duckett, Macey
Subs: Friend, Johnstone, Clark, Spearing, Parker, Cullen, McAdam, Jones, Taylor, Martin, Rae

I Assertively tell the team I expect nothing but a win. Ghost town. I rarely get much reaction out of this team.

We finally get things going at 19’ when Pearson unwisely passes it up the middle to a pack of defenders. Macey is the only one aware in the area and the ball somehow makes it to his feet and we are up. Our second goal comes off a Pearson to O’Donnell combo after Pearson literally kicks the calf of Chasetown’s left back. Shake my dumb head. I’ve noticed in FM18 that players more frequently come flying in from behind for sliding tackles. So far it’s been funny but I’m sure eventually one of my players will suffer a major injury. A third is added by Macey in 63’ off a subbed-in Martin cross. (Duckett wasn’t playing well.) A couple minutes later they pull one back on a corner. But no worries, Macey gets another hat trick at 78’. Not 3 minutes later, he gets his fourth, again coming from a Martin cross.

For those keeping track at home, we’ve conceded two goals off corners and scored none. Harrumph!

POM: Eddie Macey (4 goals, 1 key pass)

[BrixtonFC]

The Days Between
Another day, another draw. This time FA Vase Third Round. Drum roll please…We travel to Salisbury! A level above us but they are currently 19th in a 22-team league. I have hope.
The scouting report for Chatham comes in and they have a pretty darned good Striker, Dave Buckley, who’s scored 3 goals in 2 league games. We actually might face a challenge here!

Chatham are on a five-game winning streak, just like us. This might be The Clash of The (Midget) Titans!

Southern Counties East
at Chatham, 13 September 2017



Formation: Spade
Starting XI: Friend, Johnstone, Clark, Spearing, Parker, Cullen, McAdam, Jones, Taylor, Martin, Rae
Subs Webb, Maguire, Day, Carroll, Jefcoate, Cullen, Smith, Pearson, O’Donnell, Duckett, Macey

Well, it finally happened, 17 minutes in and the defense screws up royally, with a defender sending a weak back-pass to an unobservant GK and the ball goes in the goal. It happens pretty regularly in FM14 but I hadn’t seen it at all until now in FM18. Oh, Rae was the lucky guy. And finally we get a goal off a set piece, though from a free kick, kinda. Taylor sends in the freebie from way out on the left side and a Chatham DC heads it up field right to Donaldson, who sends a flier in from about 25 yards out. And just before half Spears sends an extremely long ball into Chatham’s half and Rae out runs the defenders and sends one in from 19 yards out.

Second half begins with another odd play. Chatham’s right central defender tries to lob one in from the halfway line but it bounces off Taylor who came charging in, the deflection went straight to Rae, who was busy watching the sky above the Chatham goal and when he realized what had happened, he ran after the ball, got a one-on-one and sent one in from 16 yards out. What in the wide, wide world of sports is going on out there?! And to cap things, off, Duckett sends in a free kick from the right to the far post where a lonely Taylor waits to get in on things. I switch to Defensive for the last 15 minutes but 6 minutes later Duckett puts an exclamation mark on matters and sends in a weak effort from the left corner of the 6-yard box. Jesus. A minute later, Rae makes is 7-0 with another breakaway. I guess my players just don’t understand not to boot things forward, no matter the instructions I give them.

That striker I feared? He was down as low as a 5.4 but ended the match with a 6.0 and “Very frustrated” Body Language.

POM: Alex Rae (4 goals)

[BrixtonFC]

The Days Between
A funny thing happened on the way to the forum. Since our real matches began, on each game day a grey GK would show up on the roster for the Senior team. I never put him on the team sheet and chalked up the event to the game thinking 12 subs MUST include two GKs on the bench. Well, I decided a third permanent GK couldn’t hurt. When I went looking for one I was reminded of Chick Legg.

Back in March I ran across him and thought the name was too funny but he wanted ridiculous wages so I moved on. But I am intrigued by his Driven personality and Unflappable media style so I decided to splurge and hopefully he can mentor Carl Friend. Plus, my players' names are pretty bland and hopefully I’ll be able to make some funny jokes along the way. (Fun fact: He was “born” the day I moved out of Alaska.)



The team report for Dartford comes in and, well, we’re boned.

FA Cup Second Qualifying Round
vs. Dartford, 16 September 2017



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

Well, I should have known. They get out on top at 21’ from a good cross. Nothing much happens for us so I switch to Spade. At the restart we are almost FMed as Day mishandles a back-pass and Dartford striker steals the ball. And sends it high. At 65’ I bring in Parker and Thompson for Jefcoate and Barlow as they are rating 6.2. I’ll give Macey 5 more minutes to do something. But before I can do that, Dartford’s right winger lobs a ball forward, it bounces off the cross bar right to their left striker. 0-2. This was started when Smith was pick-pocketed. So off he comes as well as Macey and Duckett.

Well it was never in the cards that we’d win. But I botch the post-game speech and 11 players “switched off.” So I’ve got that going for me. Oh, and we made £25,101 from the match.



Next up is another Conference South team, Braintree, who are 19th out of 22 in that league. So you’re saying there’s a chance?

[BrixtonFC]

The Days Between
English Southern League Cup draw sees us host Wroxham if we make it past Braintree. Yes, Wroxham, not Wrexham. Wroxham are near the east coast, northeast of Norwich. They are at the same level as us.
I also set up a U18 friendly against Farleigh’s youths so I could get some players more match sharpness, especially new-hire Chick Legg. I play everyone who didn’t start against Dartford. Everyone played exceptionally well with Legg coming in the lowest at an 8.1 rating. Rae got a hat trick on our way to a 9-1 slaughtering.

Well, Braintree’s squad report is not that much different from Dartford’s so we’ll probably lose. Sticking with 4-4-2 Standard as we are familiar with the position.

But before we get to that, it’s my favorite time of year! Youth Intake Day! In Ireland, not as good as in England. I send my three scouts there to look for kids 16 and under. Hopefully I find a couple.

Southern League Cup
at Braintree, 20 September 2017



Formation: 4-4-2 Standard
Starting XI: Webb, Maguire, Day, Carroll, Jefcoate, Pearson, Barlow, Smith, Duckett, Macey, O’Donnell
Subs: Legg, Johnstone, Clark, Spearing, Parker, Jones, Donaldson, McAdam, Martin, Taylor, Rae

For once I don’t blow the pre-match speech and everyone but Carroll and Webb “Seem motivated.” A counter-attack in 8’ led by O’Donnell gets us a goal off the foot of Barlow. YES!!! But 15 minutes later Braintree hoof one up the field and, Day and Carroll have a confab to determine who’s going to boot the ball out of the box so Braintree’s right striker takes matters into his own hands and embarrasses us all. After a two minute spell of hitting the bar three times, Macey finally puts one away off a deflection and we go into the half up one. At 63’ I have to sub out Maguire and Day cuz they’ve been horrible and Barlow cuz he’s getting exhausted. We still can’t score from set pieces but we manage to retain possession off of one in the 70th and Macey gets a goal in the box off a Smith pass. At 75’ Clark screws up and does a poor job of collecting a ball and it’s a one-goal game again.

Sports Interactive are not that good of a company. They spend each year adding something new to the game that is supposed to be all glitzy and glammy. But they never fix the broken code. Case in point, I have my GK instruction to roll out the ball to central defenders. And he keeps trying to send long passes up the field. I had this problem in FM14 also, and the brief time I played FM20.

But this time it results in a goal for us at 89:18 by Jones. Oh well. We see out the game and I thank the lads but give the defense some curt words as too many had poor games, most notably Maguire (6.2) and Day (6.1).

POM: Eddie Macey (2 goals, 2 key passes, 2 chances created)

[BrixtonFC]

The Days Between
And the first Ireland youth scouting reports are in. The best player (who might actually come to us) is Mark Nixon, AMC. He’s better than Barlow by far but with a Stamina of 3 he won’t get to start many games, despite having 14 in Dribbling, Technique, and Flair and also really good other Physicals. I promise him “Rotation” and “Win the league this season” and he agrees to proceed to the contract phase.

Next up is Stephen Dunne, ML. He doesn’t seem to have a great future but I’ll eventually need bodies for the U18 and left-footed players are a premium, plus he can play MC a little. He has a 12 Penalty Taking but 9 Pace. I like his 15 Determination and 16 Natural Fitness. I promise him “Rotation” and “Win the league this season” and he agrees to proceed to the contract phase.

I also look at Martin Duggan, DC l. Again, he’s left-footed and I only have one naturally left-footed central defender. He’s tall, can jump, and knows where to stand. As far as negotiating a contract, is there an echo in here? Same as Nixon and Dunne.

Finally, there is Jesse Gilroy, ST. He’s tall, fast, determined, and knows how to shoot a ball. Probably going to be as good as Ben O’Donnell. Unfortunately, he refuses to discuss a contract. Drat.


Next up is a Sunday (!) match against an oddly named club/city. I have no idea why the game is on Sunday. Time for Legg to make his debut!

Southern Counties East
at Crowborough, 24 September 2017



Formation: Spade (GK, DR, DC r, DC l, DL, MC r, MC l, AMR, AMC, AML, ST c)
Starting XI: Legg, Maguire, Day, Carroll, Jefcoate, Barlow, Smith, Pearson, O’Donnell, Duckett, Macey
Subs: Friend, Johnstone, Clark, Spearing, Parker, Cullen, McAdam, Jones, Taylor, Martin, Rae

I bring us back to the Spade to get Familiarity higher. This is also Chicken Leg’s debut. I get four positive responses from my Calm speech about being favourites and leaving no doubt as to why. Macey is one of them, which is promising as his Morale has been lower than everyone else’s recently. In the first 12 minutes we have three great heading opportunities off crosses but they’re all to the goalie. Macey is looking a bit complacent so I give him a shout demanding more. Finally in the 18’ we get a free kick but play it short and work it into the box where Barlow feeds to Pearson for a powerful shot and it’s in. On the restart Macey finds himself alone in front of the goal because Ravensburg’s defense screws up. And he sends it right to the goalie, not even bothering to dribble around him with no defenders within yards. Eight minutes later and he sends another soft one right to the goalie.

We finally get a second when, in the scrum after a corner, the ball finds Day in the penalty area and he gets first goal of the season. I can’t count it as a set piece goal due to all the pinballing going on. So of course Macey picks up a yellow but a couple minutes later he becomes bait as he’s on a breakaway when Ratbirdtown’s right back hacks him down; said Ratbird was already on a yellow so now we have a man advantage. I read Macey and Smith the riot act at half as they are underperforming and not looking interested at all. Three other players, including Chicken Leg, are also already thinking about tomorrow but I don’t want to overdo the chastising.

Despite being a player up nothing happens in the second half. I let the team know their performance was unsatisfactory and Assertively tell Macey he was shit. I brought Rae in for him but he fared slightly better than crap.

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



After the match I give Macey an Official Warning. Can’t let a Captain get away with such play.

[BrixtonFC]

The Days Between
Another U18 Friendly is scheduled for the Yutes, this time at Rayers Lane on 1 October. I figure the Irish youth arrivals will need to get into shape.

Southern Counties East
vs. Beckenham, 27 September 2017



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

We have a good start with a Pearson-Macey combo getting us ahead before 10 minutes has elapsed. Ben O’Donnell almost gets on the board at 25’ but hits the post. Macey is still horrible beating one-on-ones so I’m going to put him on training to round the keeper. Holy Bat, Shitman! We scored a goal off a corner! Duckett sends it in from the left to O’Donnell who heads it down to Carroll, waiting patiently at the right post, and he sends it in silky smooth for his first career goals. I give a Calm pep-talk at half and for shits and giggles swap Macey and Benny around.

I bring Smith and Carroll off at 55’ because both are on yellow. Immediately thereafter my swap for Benny and Macey pays off with a lovely cross resulting in Macey’s brace. Chris Day on the other hand is still prone to dumb mistakes. Chicken Leg rolls the ball to him and Day just kind of starts looking around and gets robbed then the Beckenhammer sends it into goal before Chicken can react. The rest of the match sees me subbing everyone but Chicken at staggered intervals. This schedule is brutal and I need my lads fresh.

POM: Eddie Macey (2 goals, 2 key passes, 1 chance created)

[BrixtonFC]

The Days Between
Dunne, Duggan and Nixon sign. I’ll show you their Player Cards at the end of the month.

Glebe are a horrible team with only one non-Grey, a GK who is under a transfer bid. If we don’t win this I will absolutely lose my mind.

Southern Counties East
at Glebe, 30 September 2017



Formation: 4-4-2 Standard
Starting XI: Legg, Maguire, Day, Carroll, Jefcoate, Pearson, Barlow, Smith, Duckett, Macey, O’Donnell
Subs: Webb, Johnstone, Clark, Spearing, Parker, Jones, Cullen, McAdam, Martin, Taylor, Rae

Macey seems to be in form getting a goal in the 9th from 19 yards out after a long Benny lob from just inside our territory. At 40’ a long pass forward from the top of OUR arc by Carroll to Macey results in an easy goal from 3 yards out for O’Donnell off Macey’s low cross. At the half I have to tell Day, Smith, and Jefcoate to calm down as they already have yellows.

Nothing much happens in the second half start so after 10 minutes I take off the young offenders for Clark, McAdam, and Parker. I put Maguire at DC r and Clark at DR to get him some experience there. The rest come off at 65’. Eventually in the 84th we get a long ball to the right endline where Taylor crosses to the penalty spot for Rae, who shoots in a powerful shot for our third goal.

POM: Eddie Macey (1 goal, 1 assist, 3 key passes, 2 chances created)

[BrixtonFC]

New Signings
Stephen Dunne signed on 25 September, Martin Duggan on the 27th, and Dixon the 30th September. Here’s a look at said youths.

Stephen Dunne, ML


Martin Duggan, DC


Mark Dixon, AMC


In Summary
A pretty good month, I'd say. Aside from the blip against Dartford, which wasn't unexpected, I'm proud of our achievements. We're still in three cups and are on top of the league. We picked up three kids from Ireland with one of them having a serious chance of helping and having a long stint with us.

[BrixtonFC]

The training report comes in and I’m happy to see three players have Impressive Performances and especially pleased that Ben O’Donnell is one of them. I think he is the key to our long-term success.



Financial Matters
We lost almost £122,000 in September, a slight improvement over August. Oddly, the board insisted on meeting to discuss the transfer budget. It’s my first time being called into the principal’s officer so I’m a little worried that I’ve been losing too much money. Nope! They increase the transfer budget up to £5.8m. It had dropped to £837,280. What the hell am I going to do with an extra five million?!

Not-So-Friendlies
Also on 1 October we had a Friendly against Rayners Lane U18s. I only played my second stringers to get some more Match Fitness and integrate the three new players. We won easily five-nil. I used the Spade and Stephen Dunne got POM. The other new kids on the block did well with Duggan getting an 8.9 and Dixon getting an 8.1. Dixon was subbed out at 71’ a testament to his low Stamina.

Player Development
On 3 October I get an email on player development, this time for Terry Barlow and Steve Pearson. Barlow has the potential to be “League Two talent” according to my AssMan. More exciting, Steve Pearson has the potential to be a “League One Talent.” Hallelujah! I’ll offer them Professional contracts when they turn 17.

Remember back in the pre-pre-season when I brought on Alex Rae and Macey thought I was trying to force him out? Well on 4 October I get an email from my Player Liaison Officer that he now no longer feels that way. It only took him starting 14 matches (not including pre-season) and scoring 25 goals to get over that. Ingrate.


Now onto the October matches!

Our next match is against Whitstable who are second in the league with 5 wins and 1 draw. This could be a tough match.

Southern Counties East
vs. Whitstable, 4 October 2017


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

Four minutes in O’Donnell gets an assist and Macey gets a goal, though his first shot was right at the goalie and the rebound came right back to him. Whitstable likes to do a lot of slide tackles but it backfires on them. On a Macey breakaway from a long pass from our side of the circle their leftback slides in and sends the ball right to O’Donnell for an easy goal. Then five minutes later O’Donnell gets his brace from a penalty; Macey was shoved during a long free kick from Duckett.

Nineteen seconds into the second half and Benny gets his hat trick. He’ll be coming out at 55’ for sure. Three minutes later Macey gets his brace. Duckett is racking up assists like a man possessed. After some more slide tackling karma Carroll sends a great lob right to Rae and he makes them pay. (Hey, that rhymes.) And again 2 minutes later. And with two minutes to go, Chicken Leg rolls the ball to Day and it’s a repeat of the Beckenham game and they draw one back. I have Legg set to distribute via short kicks so of course SI programming makes this shit happens. Fuck you, Myles!

POM: Ben O’Donnell (3 goals, 4 key passes, 3 chances created)



In the post-game email dump I get a notice that Maguire is now a Natural at DR. I looked at his history and see that it only took him 22 starts and 7 sub appearances to do that. This happened much quicker than in FM14. Thank you, Myles!

[BrixtonFC]

The Days Between
Nothing much happens between the matches, just me looking for some more cheap, exciting young prospects.

FA Vase Third Round
at Salisbury, 7 October 2017


Formation: 4-4-2 Standard
Starting XI: Legg, Maguire, Day, Carroll, Jefcoate, Pearson, Barlow, Smith, Duckett, Macey, O'Donnell
Subs: Webb, Johnstone, Clark, Spearing, Parker, Jones, Donaldson, McAdam, Martin, Taylor, Rae

Interesting, the odds of us winning are even. I’ll have a say in that! Oh well, only Macey was inspired by my speech. Our first goal is Smith’s first career goal. It comes off a corner, kinda. It gets headed or kicked toward the goal four times so I don’t think it really counts as a set piece goal. The drought goes on. Four minutes later they pull one back on yet another horrible clearance by Chicken Leg. At 33’ we pull back ahead thanks to Macey, with Pearson providing the assist. Just before the half we extend our lead from a Macey cross from the byline to O’Donnell’s noggin.

Maguire picked up a bruised ankle early in the first so I sub him out to get Clark some DR time. Just over a minute later Barlow gets in on the action courtesy of a long pass from Macey to Benny and his low cross. The rest of the half goes smoothly and we’re on to the next round!

POM: Ben O’Donnell (3 goals, 4 key passes, 3 chances created)



The news on Maguire is as good as could be expected, out for 1 to 3 days. He’ll miss the FA Trophy match against Sheppey so Clark will get a start at DR. New arrival Martin Duggan will be our sub for left DC and Spearing will be the sub at right DC.

The Days Between
FA Vase Fourth Round Draw is today and we are the first team chosen from the pot and we get to face Soham. Mmm…ham… Soham are a level above us but are 17th out of 24 teams in the Isthmian Division 1 North. I feel confident.

I also look at the league stats page and evidently we’ve scored two goals off of corners. Go figure!

The Sheppey United team report comes in and they only have 4 non-grey players and one of them is injured. I think I’ll field my Second XI. Maybe even give the newbies some real match time.

FA Trophy Third Round
at Sheppey, 10 October 2017


Formation: Spade (GK, DR, DC r, DC l, DL, MC r, MC l, AMR, AMC, AML, ST c)
Starting XI: Webb, Clark, Spearing, Duggan, Parker, Cullen, McAdam, Jones, Taylor, Martin, Rae
Subs: Friend, Johnstone, Carroll, Smith, Donaldson, Duckett, Nixcon

And they’re off! Just before 4’ Martin sends a cross to the far post for an easy goal by Jones. But they pull one back 7 minutes later off a free kick that bounces around leaving their right CD alone with Webb. Why are we conceding so much recently?! Jones and Rae spend the rest of the half sending balls wide or off the crossbar. I tell the lads to get their act together. I have to bring off Cullen as he’s exhausted. I also switch the tactic to Attacking.

Six minutes in and Clark shows me he can play DR. He crosses from the right corner and it meets Martin a yard out from the far post and Martin puts in a nice header. I was hoping that Duggan would be the only one with a debut but with Rae doing nothing worth a damn I bring in Nixon as Shadow Striker and move Taylor up to Poacher. I really wanted to get Taylor a full game at AMC as he’s not improved at all in that arena. My changes pay off within 4 minutes as Martin feeds Taylor and we’re up 3-1. Thankfully the rest of the match passes without much happening.

Nixon had a good debut though he only rated a 6.7, which surprises me as he had a lot of good passes near the box. Duggan had a 6.4 so that was not too exciting.

POM: Sam Martin (1 goal, 2 assists, 6 key passes, 3 chances created)

[BrixtonFC]

The Days Between
So it is on 11 October 2017 that it is time to start working on my U18. I already had a U18 manager and noticed that the board will now allow me to have a U18 AssMan, U18 Coach, and U18 Physio. I put out adverts and wait for the applications to roll in.

FA Trophy Draw Day! And in the Fourth Round we face…Aldershot at their place on 7 November. They are in Conference National so I think it’s safe to say we will not advance to the Fifth Round. But first up is Rochester United!

Southern Counties East
vs. Rochester United, 14 October 2017



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

HOLY COW! Off some beautiful passing Macey scores 14 seconds in!!! It took five passes to get it to him and the goalie was caught flat-footed. Wonderful stuff! His second one comes just before 5’, this time courtesy of Duckett. Five minutes later we’re up 3 off a corner, Smith launched it from just inside the 18-yard box and it hit the crossbar, went straight down and then back up and then fully into the goal box. In the 28’ Rochester are patiently looking for a hole in our defense when Smith intercepts a pass, hoofs it forward to O’Donnell on the right who crosses it perfect for Macey to get his hat trick. Game over, man! /PFC Hudson

Macey got a yellow just before half so with that and his three-fer I pull him at 50’ along with Jefcoate who got his yellow less than a minute into the second half. Aside from Rochester embarrassing Legg nothing much happens. Why oh why is my defense a mess?! He’ll never get a clean-sheet at this rate! Well, at 85’ something does happen, Taylor gets a score. Off a long pass. Nobody has permission to pass long. FM…shake my dumb head. And it happens again (long pass) 5 minutes later but this time the scorer is Rae.

POM: Eddie Macey (3 goals, 2 key passes, 1 chance created)



The Week Between
Finally! Our first week with just one game! The players are resting nicely despite me putting the training at Fitness with High intensity.

Southern Counties East
vs. Cray Valley, 21 October 2017



Formation: 4-4-2 Standard
Starting XI: Legg, Maguire, Day, Carroll, Jefcoate, Pearson, Barlow, Smith, Duckett, Macey, O'Donnell
Subs: Webb, Johnstone, Clark, Spearing, Parker, Jones, Thompson, McAdam, Martin, Taylor, Rae

Ohh fiddle sticks! Not even five minutes in and Smith needs to be pulled as he has a serious foot injury. Cray are playing a really narrow formation so after 10 minutes of nothing happening I tell the lads to Exploit the Flanks and kick Early Crosses. Ten minutes later it pays off with Pearson launching from deep and Macey getting on the end of it for a tight-angled goal off the keep’s hands. Not 4 minutes later Macey gets goal number two, this time on an early cross by Jefcoate. And at 40’ Macey gets the hat trick with a low pass from Duckett.

Our fourth goal comes at 52’ from a fluke play by Duckett. He’s about two-thirds the way into Cray Valley territory up against the left side and just launches the ball towards the goal and it goes in. I think it was a deliberate shot as there was no one near the goal to receive a cross. Our final goal comes when I have us set to Defensive but Maguire can’t help himself, sending a long lob forward to Taylor. At least we got a clean sheet for Chicken Leg!

POM: Eddie Macey (3 goals)



The butcher’s bill comes in. Smith will be out 12-14 days with pulled ankle ligaments. Fudge. He should be back in time for the Aldershot match.

[BrixtonFC]

The Days Between
Back in April I asked Macey to mentor Scott Thompson and six months later it’s over and Thompson gained very little. Drat. His Determination improved but only from 7 to 9, which is a shame because Macey’s is 18. I get some more Player Development emails, one indicating that Robert Webb is a “Potential League Two Talent” and Simon McAdam is a “Potential Conference National Talent.” I can live with that. For a couple of years.
With Smith out, Jefcoate tired, and using the Spade, the only strong relationship on the field right now is Maguire and Pearson. Maybe I’ll emphasize exploiting the right side if things get off to a slow start. Now it’s time to tan some fine Corinthian leather hide.

Southern Counties East
at Corinthian, 25 October 2017



Formation: Spade (GK, DR, DC r, DC l, DL, MC r, MC l, AMR, AMC, AML, ST c)
Starting XI: Legg, Maguire, Day, Carroll, Parker, Barlow, Thompson, Pearson, O'Donnell, Duckett, Macey
Subs: Webb, Johnstone, Clark, Spearing, Jefcoate, Jones, Cullen, McAdam, Martin, Taylor, Rae

It takes almost 28 minutes but O’Donnell, having already missed several shots, manages to get the rebound off a Pearson cross that hit the near post. Nine minutes later the inverse happens, Duckett crosses to Macey for our second goal. Everything is calm until the 82’ when a generous Macey has a clear shot but passes to Pearson instead and he does not fail me. And once again, Legg gets a clean sheet.

POM: Steve Pearson (1 goals, 1 assist, 4 key passes, 1 chance created)



Now that I have enough U18 coaches in late October I go a-looking to stock the squad with players. Plus, there were just too many good Irish youth available. I offer contracts to six youths.

I don’t fully understand how the scouting packages work in FM18 and at some point in August or September I had blown the budget and no longer had any packages. So I don’t know how this Jordanian kid is even showing up in my list of players to scout. He was released on a free by Bristol Rovers on 30 June 2017. I’m signing him sight-unseen. Don’t care. He has great physicals and plenty of really good Mental Attributes.



He signs right before our next match and immediately goes on International duty.

[BrixtonFC]

Our next opponent is not Wrexham but Wroxham, who are currently Second in the Eastern Counties Premier league, which is at the same level as us. Lots of tired bodies today so we’ve had a bit of a shuffle. Notably Nixon getting his first start at AMC now that he’s Match Fit.

Southern League Cup Third Round
vs. Wroxham, 28 October 2017



Formation: Spade
Starting XI: Legg, Maguire, Day, Carroll, Jefcoate, Barlow, McAdam, Jones, Nixon, Martin, O'Donnell
Subs: Webb, Johnstone, Clark, Spearing, Duggan, Macey, Cullen, Donaldson, Dunne, Taylor, Rae

Well, putting in Nixon at Shadow trike certainly pays off quickly, 1:55 into the match to be exact. It came off a sneaky back-heel, no-look pass from O’Donnell into the box. Cheeky! Wroxham play a physical style, knocking many players off the ball, sometimes from behind, but no cards so far. Aside from that early strike, the rest of the first 45 the lads look like boobs, getting nothing done. Until 39’ when Nixon gets a powerful, up-close shot from 5 yards thanks to Martin’s impeccable cross from the endline. We go into the half feeling good so I slow things down a bit. I praise the team with a little extra for the defense because they’ve held the opponent with no shots on goal; they give me no reaction.

In the second half I get just what the doctor ordered: everything calm and peaceful until 2 minutes left when Donaldson get his second goal of the season off a Rae feed. And then 2 minutes later, Rae gets rewarded with a goal of his own. We’re on to the next round. In a rare move, I actually kept a player on who had a brace with the hope of getting the hat trick. Sorry, Nixon, it didn’t work. I did manage to do the right team talk at the end with six players being delighted. Also of note, Stephen Dunne finally makes his debut.

POM: Mark Nixon (2 goals, 1 key pass)



The Week Between
It’s draw time for the Southern League Cup. We’re going on down to South Park, gonna leave our cares behind. Friendly faces everywhere, humble folk without temptation. We’ll visit them on 9 December.
Shadi al-Ziod did well, rating a 7.8 for the Jordan U19 squad in a friendly against Yemen.




In Summary
A damn good month! Not a loss and we eventually improved on defense once Chick Legg settled in. I know our streak will end at the beginning of November when we face Aldershot. Our morale is high and the players are learning their craft pretty well. I am very satisfied.

[Chas in Cinti]

Fun read!

[BrixtonFC]

Again with the crummy training performances!



Financial Matters
We lost just over £200,000 in October, quite the increase over the previous months. The largest increase came from the “Other” category, which includes “advertising, supplies, and other general expenses.” No idea what would have caused that.


Okay, this is where our streak ends. Aldershot are in Conference National so we are well and truly fucked.



FA Trophy Fourth Round
at Aldershot, 7 November 2017



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

Just as I thought, we really had no chance. They score early and roughly 18 minutes later Day gives them a two-goal lead from a deflection off his shin. I encourage the team at half-time and switch to the Spade. We do manage to pull one back off the goalie’s suddenly-rocky hands thanks to Pearson, but it’s too little too late. Oh well, it was never really in the cards. Plus we made about £10,000 on the day.

[BrixtonFC]

The Days Between
Through late October into early November I signed several players to the U18s, very few of which are particularly talented or interesting. Well, there are two who are interesting-ish, the strikers. Their names are Declan McNulty and Derek McLeish. If they by some miracle become our leading strikers I will call them collectively The Mickey Ds.

One player, Andy Hodgson, costs us £10,000 to pry him away from Blackpool. He’s a fast right winger who might be better than Jones.


It’s Veteran’s Day and I feel comfortable that the Youths of Brixton will play like veteran footballers. Comfortable enough to put Webb in goal and get Al-Ziod his debut.

FA Vase Fourth Round
vs. Soham, 11 November 2017



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

A pretty hum-drum match. O’Donnell scored early and Macey got one off a penalty but he repeatedly kept kicking the ball right at the goalie. I chastised him at the half and 35 seconds in he scores. There were way too many yellow cards, including Macey’s third of the season so I brought him off for Taylor who too proved that strikers can pick up yellows. And we’re on to the 5th round!

POM: O’Donnell (1 goal, 7 key passes, 3 chances created)

[BrixtonFC]

The Days Between
FA Vase Draw time! We get Wellingborough who thankfully are at the same level as we are but unfortunately it’s an away game.

On the Good News Front, I get an email from my AssMan that Paul Taylor is a “Potential League One Talent” now. I also learn from the email that Macey is a “Highly Influential Player” now. Sadly, nobody has moved up to become an Influential Player.

Are you thinking what I’m thinking? If Taylor, with 4 stars is League One and Macey has 4.5 stars, he must be a Championship talent? Then that must make O’Donnell Premier League?!?!?! I sure hope so! And Chick Legg for that matter, too!


I’m rotating a lot due to fixture congestion and switch to Spade to get Nixon some more game experience.

Southern Counties East
at Deal, 14 November 2017



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

The players are timid and nervous until 26’ when Parker gets stuck on the left side in the aftermath of a free kick. He decides to take the ball up the left flank and finds Rae at the near post for a squeaky-bum goal. The lackluster performance continues until 73’ when we get a penalty and Clark gets his first goal of the season. (Yes, his 5 Penalty Taking and 1 Finishing made him the best choice.) On the restart, Day continues his bout of fuckery when he tries to hold up the ball on the 6-yard line only to be robbed and Chicken Leg loses his clean sheet pay. Five minutes later Martin and Rae hook up in the 18-yard box to give us a more comfortable lead.

POM: Sam Martin (1 assist, 4 key passes, 3 chances created)

[BrixtonFC]

The Days Between
I think it’s fair to mention that still, I may have overpowered things by giving us a Sugar Daddy and excellent facilities. Since 1 October the U18s have had six friendlies and not lost. They’ve outscored their opponents 21 to 1.

Southern Counties East
at Croydon, 18 November 2017



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

Remember how Staples used to sell those big “EASY” buttons? You’d press it and a semi-robotic voice would say, “That was easy!” I would have smashed it if I had one. Counter-attack, Barlow, Duckett, Macey’s skull, and we’re up. That was 3:15 in and then 3:14 later off a throw-in it’s Al-Ziod, Smith, Pearson’s skull. And 6:30 later a sliding tackle on Macey sees O’Donnell sink a penalty. And at 27:30 it’s the Pearson specialty of a cross to Duckett who embarrasses the goalie. Then holy shit, we get our first direct goal off a corner! Carroll gets the honor. After that everything is quiet and I swap out pretty much everyone but Legg, Carroll, and O’Donnell and then we get a second penalty at 68’ and O’Donnell does not disappoint.

POM: Ben O’Donnell (2 goals, 4 key passes, 3 chances created)

[BrixtonFC]

The Week Between
The mystery has been solved on why I could see Shady; he’s a dual-citizen of Jordan and England. Derp de derp. Don’t know how I missed that.


I’m trying something a little different. I’m putting O’Donnell on the right as an Advanced Forward and Macey on the left as a Deep Lying Forward in a Support role.

Southern Counties East
vs. Tunbridge Wells, 25 November 2017



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

Another quick start courtesy of O’Donnell and it was a well-placed shot. And then nothing. Just uninspired play. Carroll was nervous from the get-go, got a yellow in the first half and got a header in off a corner only for it to be called offsides somehow. I let them know that was a bit of a let-off and most players got fired up. Martin got stressed and also got stressed when I put him on and demanded a performance. So he has a low Pressure rating. Noted.

I guess my experiment of switching the strikers around backfired.

POM: James Jefcoate (4 key passes)

[BrixtonFC]

The Week Between
More good news rolls in with an email from my AssMan noting that Daniel Duckett is a “Potential League One Talent” now.

In Summary
Another easy month is in the book. We knew we were going to lose to Aldershot but in a few years’ time we’ll get our revenge in the Conference South and defeat them twice. I now have a full crew of U18 players and they are winning and getting great training, even if some of them will not be around long.

[BrixtonFC]

Going down to South Park, gonna have myself a time

Excellent training news! Spearing goes from zero to hero, being poor in November and excelling in December. Everything for him went up except Aggression, Determination, Natural Fitness, and Bravery, which is already 19. I’ve never seen Aggression increase. Not even in FM2014. I wonder if it can only change by one of those very rare emails where a player has some off-the-field event that changes them somehow. I received two such emails when playing FM2014, each time the Determination went up and there was a positive personality change.



Financial Matters
Another £200,000-loss month. This time “Other” went down. I have no idea what happened in October to cause that mysterious increase. Maybe it was the adverts for the U18 staff I put out?


I don’t want my starting XI tired for two cup games coming up on the 6th and 9th so I do a full rotation less Chicken Leg. Bearsted are near the bottom of the table with only 10 points through 13 games.

Southern Counties East
vs. Bearsted, 2 December 2017



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

Nine minutes in and Spearing gets his first career goal from a Nixon assist off a corner. Taylor gets a goal at 17’ after beating the central defenders to a Route One pass from Nixon. Nixon is doing well as a Box-to-Box Midfielder! Jones gets a fluke goal from a desperate long shot from 25 yards out. And just before half Rae makes it four.

Despite slowing things down Spearing gets his second just before 60’. And Rae gets his brace 10 minutes later. A much better performance than the last match, thankfully.

POM: Alex Rae (2 goals, 1 assist, 2 key passes)

[BrixtonFC]

The Days Between
Nothing happens between the matches. I’ve pretty much stopped scouting as I’m satisfied with the roster. No Player Development emails roll in so no additional news on finding the next Wunderkind. :-(

Southern League Cup Fourth Round
at South Park, 6 December 2017



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

A pretty drab opening until just after 11’ when Barlow feeds Macey up the middle, who sends it in from about 15 yards out. Then 11 minutes later Smith sprints after a free ball following a free kick in our end and launches forward to the right wing, finding Pearson. His first shot is blocked but the rebound comes right back to him and he doesn’t miss the second time. On the restart South Park manage to draw one back and the crowd finally gets animated. Their striker splits Day and Carroll who just watched him go by. Day is definitely a liability but with him being Vice Captain I’m going to keep him the starter unless we get an absolute phenom in our Youth Intake Day. In an amazing twist of being out of position, Maguire on a counter-attack takes the ball down the right to almost the endline and sends in a beautiful cross that Barlow heads in. I would have expected that from Pearson and Macey! The Barlow-Macey link-up strikes again just before 44’ with a deep pass up the gut to a lonely Ben. At this point Barlow is rocking a 9.3 rating.

The second half is tame and by 66’ I’ve had the whole outfield switched out but for Carroll. Immediately thereafter Parker lobs a desperate one into the box, somehow finding Jones’ head for our fifth. Taylor gets in on the act in the 78th with a low cross from Rae at the left endline.

POM: Terry Barlow (1 goal, 2 assists, 4 key passes, 4 chances created, 100% tackle won ratio)



The Days Between
Our U18s continue their winning streak. Eleven games, 43 goals for, 4 goals against. Sugar Daddies are way too powerful.


FA Vase Fifth Round
at Wellingborough, 9 December 2017



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

Well, this is a drab game with nary a chance in the first half. Everyone is off target and even Macey, left alone right in front of the goalie pings a Duckett cross off the underside of the crossbar from 4 yards out. I Assertively tell them to consolidate their feces at the half and finally the Duckett-Macey thing works 10 minutes in. Then 15 minutes later, after having swapped all the outfielders, McAdam gives us the comfort point. And another 10 goes by before Taylor seals the victory.

POM: Daniel Duckett (1 assist, 3 key passes, 2 chances created)



A strange thing happened after the game. Pearson’s agent emails me demanding a new deal for his client. Mind you, he got yanked for a 6.4 rating. And he’s under contract until 2020. To say I laughed is an understatement.

I also get an email saying that McAdam is now Natural at MC. Huzzah! Now if Smith would get his act together…

[BrixtonFC]

The Days Between
On Sunday we get the draws for the FA Vase and Southern League Cup. The first one we travel to take on Lord Grantham, the second one we get at home versus Weymouth.


Time to mix things up again, get some MC experience for Nixon, and Webb some first team experience again.

Southern Counties East
at Sevenoaks, 13 December 2017



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

Boy oh boy does the ref like some yellow. The crew aren’t playing well but in 28’ we get a penalty opportunity and Nixon does not disappoint. Taylor is averaging a shot every seven minutes and they are all defended well. That is until 44’ when finally he gets a header past the goalie. (He was offsides when Martin passed him the ball but the ref didn’t see it.) In the second half McAdam sends in a screamer but the goalie has another awesome save but can’t keep control allowing Rae to put us up three.

POM: Joe Clark (2 key passes, 2 chances created)




Southern Counties East
vs. AFC Croydon Athletic, 16 December 2017



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

Another game were I have all the regulars starting and they dick around for far too long. Before Macey scores in the 27th we already have three yellow cards. It’s not just us though so I guess the ref is a jerk. And then at 35’ Barlow gets hurt, potential foot injury. Luckily 5 minutes later Macey gets his brace so I’m not too mad at the half. Well, that and the Duckett-Pearson combo gets us a third at 46’. Two more yellows in quick succession sees me pulling all the young offenders off at 52’ and then newly-on Donaldson gets one. Luckily Day gets a header off a free kick and our victory is guaranteed. Croydon pull one back at 75’ and I berate the schmucks. And then another at 84’.

I Assertively give them hell for the Jekyl and Hyde performance. Spearing and Martin were particularly bad and I let them know specifically. Final yellow tally was seven for them and six for us. WTF?

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



(That is the longest post-match list I’ve ever seen!)

The butcher’s bill: Barlow is out with a twisted sister…er, ankle, for 3 to 4 weeks. Bad news but at least Nixon will now get some extra work at MC and hopefully goes Natural by the end of the season.

[BrixtonFC]

Southern Counties East
vs. Lordswood, 23 December 2017



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

Eight minutes in and O’Donnell is showing his work as a Shadow Striker. Two minutes later a rare Jefcoate-Pearson combo works wonders with Pearson getting the goal off a long-range cross. Almost a half-hour goes by before the famous Pearson-Duckett combo strikes with Pearson getting the assist this time. He’s been a man on fire of late. In the 73’ McAdam gets his first league goal off a wicked shot down the barrel from 12 yards out. An absolute blunder by their right back at 87’ give us another; he tried to pass back to the goalie who for some reason was staring off at the left back.

POM: Mark Nixon (1 assist, 4 key passes, 3 chance created)




The Week Between
Christmas comes and goes with no new toys for Brixton. That’s alright, our stocking was stuffed some 9 months prior. I don’t understand why we didn’t get a Boxing Day match though. Harrumph!

I do get a Player Development email though. This time it’s Teddy Cullen who is a “Potential League Two Talent”.


It’s our last match of the year. Hopefully we ring in the new year with a perfect league record.

Southern Counties East
at Sheppey, 30 December 2017



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

It takes us damn near 30 minutes to show signs of life and it comes off a lucky bounce from the goalie’s hands to O’Donnell’s foot right in front of the goal. At halftime I give Carroll, on a 6.4, and Macey the what-for. Macey hasn’t had a shot on goal and is rating a 6.7, which is how he ended the previous match. Four-and-a-half minutes into five minutes of extra time Jones gets an easy goal. It should have been Macey but he was lackadaisical and couldn’t be bothered to sprint for the ball. A two-nil win was not what I was expecting.

POM: Daniel Duckett (6 key passes, 4 chances created)




In Summary
An excellent month! We went down to South Park and had ourselves a time. No losses and generally good cohesive play with a minimum of lazy players. We’ve extended our lead in the league table to 13 points. We are still in the hunt for trophies in the Southern League Cup and FA Vase.

[BrixtonFC]

January 2018

Don't stop me now

Welcome to 2018! Things to look forward to: Youth Intake Day, winning the league, and winning two cups. Can we do it?! Let’s find out!

Day picked the wrong time to have a bad training report. I’ve decided to move Spearing to our starting right central defender, sorry Day. You can come on when it’s late and take the captain’s band when Macey comes off. I’m pleased that kinda-of-recent arrival The Real Slim Shadi Al-Ziod is doing well, though none of his Technical skills have risen



Player Matters
I don’t remember when but I had Robbie Jones try to learn how to Knock Ball Past Opponents. I got an email on the 1st of the year saying he has mastered it. A great Trait for a Winger to have. Pretty useless trait for Winger to have.

Financial Matters
We only lost £193,000 in December. This brings us up over £1 million in losses for the season. I wonder how long this is sustainable. Will we end up losing roughly £2.5 million per year? If we get consecutive promotions all the way until we’re in Conference South, will we be bringing in the crowds to make us enough money? I have serious doubts. At what point do I have to have a fire sale of our precious youth players?

The Week Between
We had an incredible 10 days between matches. I dropped the intensity of training for a bit then had us work on Fitness.

On 4 January 2018 I get an email from the board who want to discuss extending my contract. I’m currently on £625 per week but my contact expires on 30 June this year. The next day they offer £650 per week, which I’m good with, but offer only one year. I ask for two years and drop my Promotion Wage Rise 10%, leave in the 35% Relegation Wage Drop and bump the Managerial Compensation up to 90% because there is no way I’m leaving this club and it should make the board more agreeable to the extra year (the max I could ask for). To counter that, I ask for a contract extension upon promotion. The board immediately approve and there are drinks all around.

The team report for our next opponent, Grantham, comes in and they actually look like a respectable team. One thing struck me though; unlike FM2014, in FM2018, crappy players have crappy Determination. Of all the respectable players Grantham has, only two have Determination in the double-digits. I looked around some more and that seems to be pretty consistent across all teams.


This is our first match of the new year. Hopefully 2018 is as kind to us as 2017 was.

FA Vase Sixth Round
at Grantham, 9 January 2018




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

Spot on 13:00 Macey comes out of his slump. Duckett stole the ball from Lord Grantham’s right back and sent it into the box where a left-alone Macey struck as surely as ever. And exactly 41 seconds later Macey returns the favor; he received a long-ball from Maguire and took it out wide to the right to send a cross to Duckett at the far post and as simple as that we are in a commanding lead. The rest of our goals come at 15:23, 22:29, and 36:17, courtesy of Duckett, Duckett, and Macey. (Brixton’s newest law firm.) I do a complete outfield swap at half to keep the lads fresh for Saturday’s upcoming Southern League Cup match and get a recovering Barlow back to Match Fit. And in the second half we get goals at 45:30 and 75:10, courtesy of Rae and Martin. (Not a law firm.)

POM: Daniel Duckett (3 goals, 1 assist, 4 key passes, 1 chance created)



After the match I get another email from another agent. This time it’s Paul Taylor’s. Coming off a game in which he rated 6.7 and had one key pass in 45 minutes of action. Nope.

Before the match I got an email from Graham Rutherford again, this time to tell me that Peter Maguire is a “Potential Conference National Talent”.

[BrixtonFC]

Southern League Cup Fifth Round
vs. Weymouth, 13 January 2018



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

They have a good team but they are starting two injured players. Will that be a bad decision? Nothing happens until 15’ but that’s just Nixon sending in a long ball without a prayer. Finally we get a lucky deflection that ultimately ends up with an easy O’Donnell score. Weymouth just got FMed. The first half ends with us having 5 shots but only 1 on target. After a few subs in the back half, Macey puts us in a more comfortable position just before 58’ off a nice O’Donnell feed up the gut. What was amazing about it was he was 1-on-5 and he still managed to score. He only falters during 1-on-1s. And just to make it funner, Duckett to Macey rears its lovely head 90 seconds into stoppage time for an Eddie brace. Maybe I’ll just call him Eddie from now on in a nod toward Iron Maiden.

POM: Daniel Duckett, (2 assists, 4 key passes, 2 chances created)




The Days Between
It’s the drawings again! In the Southern League Cup we get to host Kings Langely, two rungs above in the ladder. For the FA Vase we get to host Pickering, who are at the same level as us. They are 2nd in their league so they might present a small challenge. Things could have been worse; Dartford and Bath were in both pools.

Player Development
Another Player Development email came in, this time for Mark Nixon. In a twist though, Rutherford doesn’t assess which league he has the potential for; he believes Nixon will be as good as Ben O’Donnell. That is some high praise! I take it to mean he’ll be Premier League-worthy.

Barlow is finally well enough to start again. I have faith he’ll pick up where he left off. I also swap Webb into goal to keep his development going.

Southern League Cup Fifth Round
at Canterbury, 17 January 2018



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

Duckett to Pearson strikes again, this time in the 14th minute. After that it’s a pretty eventless first half. Duckett and Carroll are being complacent and Macey is skying his shots and has a 6.3 rating going. They all get a scolding. It seems to work with Duckett as he gets another assist with O’Donnell’s goal. Macey still ain’t doing shit. He doesn’t improve and gets yanked at 65’. I think his problem is that he’s at 19 league goals and gets a bonus of £2,000 if he makes 20. So I guess this means he has a low Pressure rating? We get a penalty call in the 82nd minute and Nixon bounces it of the left upright. Dumbass. But two minutes later Jones sends in a high lob to a tall Rae who doesn’t botch his attempt and we seal the bishop’s fate. Barlow rated a 6.8. Well, at least he’s healthy again.

POM: Ben O’Donnell (1 goal, 4 key passes, 4 chances created)



Nixon ends the match with a 6.3 and despite having promised myself not to fine these youths, a statement must be made. I fine him and Eddie each a week and Macey’s Determination jumps up one to 19 as well as his Work Rate jumping from 12 to 13. Nixon’s Determination went from 9 to 10 but his Work Rate remained the same. Who? Hahahahaha I slay me. (At least I didn’t make another Archbishop joke!)

[BrixtonFC]

The Days Between
Pearson’s agent came looking for a new contract again. This time at least he waited for a good game as Pearson scored a goal and rated a 7.1. The answer is still no.


Time for more up changing. Changing up? Eff it, time for the Second XI to get some starts.

Southern Counties East
vs. Hollands & Blair, 20 January 2018



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

In the 17th Donaldson get us on the scoreboard after a corner, it was the first action period of the game. Not a minute later they equalize when Legg can’t handle a header courtesy of a free kick deep in our end. Just before 58’ a long ball forward by Donaldson sees a Macey cross from the right side of the box to the arc where Taylor is able to get his hammer foot on it for a low shot to the left corner. Just wish it was Macey who would get off the snide. He does get a clean shot a few moments later but sends it in with a much force as a mouse fart.

And there it is folks! In the 73rd minute Macey gets loose between the two central defenders, jukes right, rounds the keeper and he gets his 20th league goal of the season. I thought that sealed the game but his sub, Rae, scores at 4 minutes and 10 seconds into 4 minutes of stoppage time. A good victory.

POM: David Donaldson (4 key passes)



In the post-game email dump I get notification that Parker is Natural at DL now. That is a relief. If the game/database rights itself next year and I can only use 5 subs, he’ll be a regular back-up for us.

The Week Between
We have 8 games (days) before our next match. It’s against Erith Town who are second in the league. I might use this week to change tactics again. I think I’ll switch the left striker to the Advanced Forward and the right striker to a Deep Lying Forward in Support mode. That way O’Donnell will become the star sooner. I do this knowing that Macey won’t probably be with us once we make it to the Conference South.

I want to try a new formation but I was hoping that Pearson, Duckett, and Jones were Natural as wingers by now. I’ll hold off. I haven’t got a name for it yet but it’s going to have 3 CD, 1 WBR, 1 WBR, 3 MC, and 2 ST. I want to try out the Mezzala role as I’ve not tried it. Maybe I’ll call it Candle because it looks like a candle holder? Because the Central Defenders are the bottom, the wing backs are the lip, the midfielders are the base, and the strikers are the top?

Southern Counties East
at Erith Town, 28 January 2018
Psych! Match postponed due to a waterlogged pitch. See, Erith, you need a Sugar Daddy who’ll build you a stadium that doesn’t suck. Fun fact: Erith Town don’t have their own stadium and have to play in Greenwich. I guess they’re never late for matches as they always know what time it is?

I am able to schedule a last-minute friendly with some team called Bicester. I’ll play the second XI and the U18s. Gotta keep the kiddos Match Fit!

The friendly goes as well as expected, 9-0. Both U18 strikers (remember the Mickey Ds?) got hat tricks and Paul Taylor got a brace.


In Summary
Another excellent, if truncated, month in the books. Like December, January saw no losses, still on top of our league by 13 points, and still in two cups. I’m looking forward to February as it’s a short month that culminates in Youth Intake Day. What was it the kids said like 10 years ago? Squeeeee!? It’ll be an action-packed month as we are scheduled for 7 matches. (Checks math) So one every four days. Joy!

[BrixtonFC]

February 2018

Semi-charmed kind of life

Now it’s Clark who can’t put in a good training month. What is up with my defenders? Well, okay, Carroll had a good month as did Shadi last month. It’s not like Clark is a long-term answer for us with his 1.5 to 2.5 stars of Potential Ability. On the positive side, O’Donnell made improvements in every Technical ability and almost so in Mental and Physical abilities.



Financial Matters
Our January loss is about the same as our December loss. I guess I’ll just have to be as patient as my Sugar Daddy will allow. Speaking of, my Job Security is rated as Very Secure. Club Finances is pegged at 100%, which has to be because I’m spending half of what I’ve been allotted for weekly wages.


Southern Counties East
at Beckenham, 3 February 2018



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

It takes 20 minutes but an early cross to a running Macey finds him alone with the goalie and again he rounds the keeper and gets us a goal. Our second goal comes indirectly off a corner with Spearing heading the ball away from the goal to a wide open Duckett who sinks it. His second comes off a fluke bounce off the goalie and into the goal, just before the half. O’Donnell is rocking a 6.4 so I give him the what-for and keep him in all game, eventually moving him up top in hope he scores. No, he gets a 6.1 and I give him an Assertive, “You suck!” speech. After the match I fine him a week’s pay, which he accepts.

POM: Steve Pearson, (1 assist, 4 key passes, 3 chance created)



After the match I get an email saying that Smith is now a Natural at MC. Huzzah! It took 36 starts and 4 sub appearances. I’m guessing that means he has a low Versatility. At this point I’d try to get his AMC going but with a Dribbling of 1, Technique of 3 and Off The Ball of 4 he’s just not gonna cut it. So I’ll probably eventually work on his DC skillz.

And of course another game, another agent email demanding a new contract. This time it’s Peter Maguire’s. At least he was coming off a good game, a 7.2 rating. Still a big fat nope. A funny thing about these emails is that the players don’t seem to mind, their Morale doesn’t drop after I reject the request.