How many times will I quit? (FM16)

[Izulde]

I love the eggs every Easter and purple is a wonderful color. I see you all gasping in shock - Izulde taking over a semi-pro team?!?!

Don't get too excited. This is a club worth $2,000 at the start. Nobody signed on the roster. I as manager am making a whopping $34,000. We're projected to bring in... $13,320. How can we even make money?!

Well, to start, every player but one on my bare bones squad (11 starters, 1 reserve) is a loanee.

The guy who isn't?

GK Niklas Freund - 18 - German - $130 P/A, $2 clean sheet bonus, $2 unused sub bonus
He's my first ever Sweeper Keeper. Is he good? Who actually knows? I don't have any staff other than me to keep costs down. A lot of 10s in key areas, though.

As for the rest of the squad, probably best to talk about where they're loaned in from.

Altrincham
DR Alex Robbins

Chelmsford
MR Jack Barham

Lincoln
MC/AMR Sam Fewkes

Dag & Red
MC Darren Foxley (Team captain against his wishes)
ST Reeco Hackett-Fairchild
ST Alfie Moulder (Our gold star player in preseason)
DC David Nicol-Wilson
DL Jimmy Nottage
MC Kai Heather (The reserve - got beaten out by Foxley in preseason)

Bristol Rovers
MCR Elliott Green (Training and playing ML - he's orange there after preseason)

Hemel Hempstead
DC Colm Parrott

So we're basically the Dag & Red U18 team. Moulder and Hackett-Fairchild have been amazing up front, Nottage has been quality on the left side, and we went 4-1 in preseason, including upsetting the superior Shepshed Dynamo 1-0 and ripping apart our last two opponents 5-0 and 4-0.

As you might expect, we're bleeding money already, but hey, the regular season is about to start! I'll do monthly reports rather than game-by-game.

vs Bromsgrove Sporting
So we were favored to win. Attacking mentality and we're very quickly down 0-2. Switch to the counter and Reeco Hackett-Fairchild scores off a cross from Alfie Moulder. 1-2 at the half, I scream at the team, they get inspired. Darren Foxley scores a hilarious fluke goal when he launches a longball down the pitch intended for RHF. It's too far and the opposing keeper comes out and smacks the ball with his hands... only to watch in confusion as the ball bounces off his fingers and rolls a long, long stroll down the middle of the pitch into the net. I'm still laughing.

Then, Moulder feeds RHF into the box, and we complete the stunning comeback 3-2.

Oh, I'm running a flat, boring 4-4-2, with the only tweaks that Moulder is a Defensive Forward and Freund is a Sweeper Keeper, obvs.

We sell a grand total of 5 season tickets. So much for corporate sponsorship.

vs Boleshall
A frustrating 1-1 draw. Their keeper was in God mode - we should have won by at least 3 goals.

@ Lichfield City (1st)
Grey guy at DC because Colm Parrott was injured again, so I might hit the loan wire again. Freund is a baboon-brained fuckstick who doesn't want his $2, because the ball is right by him, but he doesn't go get it. No, he stands there like an arsed ninny and watches them kick it in. We get the equalizer back just before half on a Green-RHF-Moulder series of passes from the left.

Then we melt down in the second half and lose 1-4. Same thing happens next game, where we go up early, then implode falling 1-2.

All these 17-18 year old Chocolate Men are big mad and desperate.

I quit and go look for another team.

[Brian Swartz]

So is your goal to manage every club in the world within the same save or something?

[Izulde]

Originally Posted by Brian Swartz

So is your goal to manage every club in the world within the same save or something?

That would require me to actually win and qualify for top clubs. We all know that’s never happening.

[Izulde]

My intention was to bum around until the spring. But then I got bored and started applying to jobs. Lo and behold, I landed one. It's back to Amateur land we go!



Newton Abbot Spurs (team nickname Spurs, duh) has been around since 1938. They were pretty good in the immediate post-WW2 period and the '90s, but haven't done a whole lot since then in terms of league or cup trophies.

The club is based in Newton Abbott, a town of ~27,000 people in Devon in the southwest of England. The River Teign is part of the landscape (yay, bodies of water!). There's a few notable landmarks, the most famous of which is St. Leonard's Tower, the remnants of what used to be St. Leonard's Chapel (built in 1220, demolished in 1838 because of traffic congestion (which, weird flex,but okay).

Newton Abbot also houses the Devon County Football Association, which is cool, I guess?

Anyway, when I take over, the team is 18th of 18 teams in the South West Peninsula League Division One East. The Spurs hadn't won in something like 12 games and it was all grey dudes.

Cue me raiding the expired contract market, looking primarily for foreigners because you know I love a diverse squad. We did make one loan-in, but otherwise, they're actually inked to the club (and will probably be poached in the offseason).

The staff is terrible. But anyone who'd come work for free is also terrible, so I just keep what I have other than firing the Head of Youth Development to bring in an actual coach.

There's like $40 in the bank account when I arrive.

So what happens? Well, while I'm putting this squad together, we have a few draws. Everyone on the team wants to leave because we're at the bottom of the league.

And then we get our first win, a scrappy 1-0 win, but a win nonetheless. That ignites a 7 game win streak as of the time of this writing (We play the already clinched champion next game, so I'm sure we'll lose). It's youth pulls time, so I figured this was a good reporting standpoint.

Goalkeeper
Nathan Dennis - 20 - English (2*/5*)
6'4 (I like my goalies tall). 11 Aerial Reach and Reflexes. Raw prospect, but he's been progressing fairly well since joining us. In 8 starts, he has 5 shutouts. That's some pretty darn clean keeping. 4 goals allowed, half of which were when we nearly blew a 3-0 lead.

Defenders
DL Jamie Alexandrou - 21 - Cypriot (3.5*/4*)
DC/DM/MC Roger Lee - 24 - Bermudan (4*/5*)
DC/DR Oakley Hanger - 20 - English (1.5*/4*)
DR/WBR/MR Harrison Bell - 23 - English (4*/5*)
DR/MR Mark Muddyman - 26 - English (1*/1*)
DL Hesron Jeroe - Surinamese - 27 - (0.5*/0.5* - Ineligible due to work permit)

Bold = starter

The worst starter talentwise is Hanger, who also has an own goal in that 3-2 meltdown second half. But he's also 6'4 and both he and Lee have 11 Marking and Positioning, which have been huge for our backline's overall success. Alexandrou got hated on early by my board, but his 12 Acceleration and 15 Teamwork means dude has a motor and just flat out makes plays on the left wing. I really like him. Bell is a guy my staff found - 10 Acceleration and 10 Stamina. Doesn't have any real eye-popping ratings like some of the other guys, but he's not weak for this level in any area either. Muddyman - great name, physically talented, and brave (13), but he just never learned the technical parts of the game, relying on his sheer physical profile. Too bad. Oh, and he's 6'5.

Midfielders
ML/DL/AML Graham Mercieca - 26 - English (2.5*/2.5*)
MC/AMC Bradley Flay - 18 - Welsh (3.5*/4*)
MC Darius Covaci - 18 - Romanian (4*/4*)
MR/AMR/ST Mark Irvine - 19 - English (1.5*/4*)
DR/MR Mark Muddyman - 26 - English (1*/1*)
MC Jake Parrott - 24 - English (0.5*/2.5*)

3 teenagers and Graham, the latter of whom is solid all around physically and some decent mental stats, but weak technically. Flay is probably our most exciting midfielder - his 16 Flair as the supporting Advanced Playmaker is amazing to watch. Physical attributes are all double digits except Stamina and Strength (both 6), so he comes off a lot for Parrott, who plays fine when he's in. Covaci has 10 Decisions, 15 Teamwork, 15 Work Rate, 11 Stamina, which makes him the perfect fit for our defensive CM role. He doesn't play as well as his ratings overall suggest - a lot of games he's in that 6.5-6.6 range before turning it on in the second half. Irvine is raw, but has played well for this level. Nothing stands about him, though.

Strikers
ST/AMC Amir Geid - 19 - Israeli (4.5*/4.5*)
ST Supat Rungratsamee - 23 - Thai (3*/4.5*)
ST/AMR Nathan Hughes - 19 - English (1*/4* - Loanee from Hereford FC)

These are the true talents of the roster. Geid struggled initially, but I kept him in, sure he would break out. In the meantime, Hughes was banging in goals. Geid finally did snap out - he's amazing technically and mentally for this level, with no weaknesses there. The problem is that he's physically mediocre outside of 15 Jumping Reach and 14 Natural Fitness and can't accelerate at all (5). Rungratsamee, who has the best name ever, was a guy my staff found and I immediately signed him. Game 1: Our new Thai starter scores a debut goal in 3 minutes, 4 seconds, which ended up being the 1-0 margin of victory. Game 2, he scores in 4 minutes, 38 seconds, the first of two goals. 4 goals in as many games, and our offensive has just exploded. Here's the weird part: He's absolute trash technically, not great physically. But he has 15 Aggression, 12 Determination, Teamwork and Work Rate. Dude is an absolute bulldog in the supporting Defensive Forward role while the slow starting Geid is an attacking Target Man. The pairing just weirdly works.

Then there's Hughes. Our most complete physical all-around forward with 12 Teamwork and Work Rate. He was getting the goals early while Geid settled, and he's banged in goals galore when he comes off the bench. 2 in one game, 1 in another, and last match he had two more unfairly called back due to BS offsides calls. He's able to come in and take advantage of tired defenses.

U18s 2 Youth Candidates 1
None of the youth candidates impressed me. When you can't beat Mark Muddyman and a bunch of grey guys, y'all suck. Grey guy MC Jason Weaver dominates the game with an 8.5 rating for the U18s, so I sign him and promote him to the U21s. I think he has potential to be a 3 position backup midfielder, so I start him on ML. Then my staff is all, promote him to the senior squad, so I did.

We've rocketed from 18th place to 9th. Top team in the league up next. We'll have another summary at season end.

[Izulde]

We went gangbusters the rest of the way, dropping only a 2-2 draw when Harrison Bell had the worst game of his life. Roger Lee got called up by Bermuda, but didn't add to his 11 caps.

Sadly, that draw cost us 2nd place and the promotion spot since the champions weren't eligible to go up. Super frustrating, but we managed a Top 5 finish after being dead last when I came in. Naturally, the board is in love with me.

Amir Geid got hurt towards the end of the season, putting Nathan Hughes back in the lineup. Our offense wasn't quite as good, but we still kept chugging along. Then Supat Rungsratmee went out in the last game, forcing Mark Irvine to ST. Will definitely go striker shopping in the offseason.

Final standings:



I'm not super mad, though. If we'd promoted, that would have meant on the semipro hassles way too early, and we know that's where I usually fall down.

Speaking of which:

Current Bank Balance: $4,805
Season Match Day Income: $18,792
Season Gate Receipts: $6,711

I don't know if I add these two together or not, but let's say I do. That's a little over $25,000 that will be my actual total salaries budget when we do turn semipro.

No Best 11 announcement. Weird.

Stats:



In the summer we sign:

GK Bojan Tetek - Serbian - 18 (3*/4*
An immediate upgrade over Nathan Dennis and younger. The job is his, as he's much more well-rounded and our fans are absolutely stoked to sign him.



Signed because real pic! And I think he's better than my dumbass staff believes. He's inserted as the new starting MR, with Mark Irvine now coming off the bench.

MC Wil Babb - English - 18 (2*/4*
He'll punt Jake Parrot to the reserves. I see DC potential in him, so we'll train him up there. Some nice mental attributes, too.

Loan In - WBL/ML/AML Tom Higgs - English - 17 (4 silver*/4*) - From Bridport
Emergency loan-in after Jamie Alexandrou and Graham Mericieca were both hurt in preseason. He'll train up at DL. Raw as you might expect, but *shrug*.

I nearly screwed our finances. I thought we were going to play Bolton Wanderers and they ended up at our place instead. -$3,500 loss on that paperwork screwup. I blamed my secretary for fucking it up.

We're picked to finish 4th this season. I'll check in when I check in. Preseason was okay overall. I'm liking not doing game by game reports BTW.

[Izulde]

We've continued our hot form. That draw you see in the middle? We got killed on set pieces and went into the half down 0-2. I screamed at the team and it took everything we had just to come back for the draw.

Bojan Tetek has been absolutely incredible in the nets, with all starts so far. We got the short end of the stick in scheduling, with Tipton B getting an extra couple days rest. So we went Defensive in that match, keeping Tetek in, and ground out the 1-0 win. Weirdly, the board expects me to win the trophy with the piddling $750 championship purse, but only wants competitive in the league. *SHRUG*

On the backline, it's been... not great. No one is averaging a 7, which is pretty poor for a dominant team. My board and fans don't really like Oakley Hangar much. I wouldn't mind a complete turnover there.

Biggest shock of the early season has been Graham Mercieca taking that captaincy seriously and turning into an amazing player out of the blue. His 7.7 average rating has topped the team and he has 4 goals and 3 assists already to his credit at ML. Darius Covaci has really stepped it up this season, too, netting a team-high 3 Player of the Match awards. Cedrick Mpadi has been okay.

We transferred in 19 year old Northern Irish central midfielder James McCarthy. He's a set piece god for this level (11 Corners, 12 Free Kicks) and with his 9 Crossing, my intention is for him to be an all position midfielder. Right now he's our Advanced Playmaker while Covaci is still our Ball-Winning Midfielder (I mistyped it as defensive MC a couple posts ago). McCarthy is still adjusting to our game, but I have really, really high hopes for him.

Amir Geid continues to be his wonderful self (5 goals, 4 assists) even if he does miss easy ones sometimes. He, Tetek, and Nathan Dennis have been busting ass in training. Supat Rungratsamee started off incredibly hot, picking up where he left off from last season. But he's been so cold and subbed out for Mark Irvine frequently. So I might look for a chance there. Our cool Thai dude did come off the bench to score the game-winner in the Walter C. Parson first round, though.

We're in 1st place in the league right now, 3 points clear of the 2nd place team who we play in a couple matches. Our next game is against the 3rd place squad, so we've a chance to put some real distance between us and everyone else.

[Izulde]

So we beat the 2nd and 3rd place teams in the first two games of this stretch, but BojanTetek had a complete meltdown in the second contest. We nearly blew a 3-0 lead and were only bailed out by Supat Rungratsamee's hat trick - the first by any Spur in my reign. Guess he got mad about my potentially looking for a new replacement.

That led to me starting Nathan Dennis for the first time this year next outing... and we promptly lose a 1-0 lead when they score in the 89th minute to be forced to a 1-1 draw. Super, super salty about that. Our 8 point lead narrowed to 6 and it's stayed that way.

On top of it, following the Liverton United game, team captain and career year Graham Mercieca tore up his ankle, putting him out 6-7 weeks. It just so HAPPENED to coincide with James McCarthy becoming an Accomplished ML, so fortuitous timing. Not so fortunate? Cedrick Mpadi going out with a 5-6 week hamstring injury the next game.

That means we're running a James McCarthy/Bradley Flay/Darius Covaci/Mark Irvine middle four. And yeah, we knocked off the team that promoted over us last year in Okehampton Argyle to advance in the Walter C. Parsons Cup. Buuuut we now have no backup striker off the bench, nor do we have a DL substitute handy. Furthermore, Jamie Alexandrou has been playing pretty damn poorly lately, so I'm thinking he needs some time off.

But that's not all! We've had our first defection. Roger Lee, the 25 year old Bermudan DC who has been maddeningly inconsistent this year? The one nonetheless closest to a 7 average rating (6.96)? He got snapped up by Dorchester Town, currently 4th in the Southern Premier and fighting one hell of an exciting race for a playoff spot. He's their new backup DC, making $12,500.... or more than the entire cash we have on hand here in Newton Abbot.

What this means is Wil Babb, who has been absolutely putrid when he's subbed in at DC, is now a starter there. And if you asked if that meant that we don't have a backup DC either, you'd be absolutely correct! I've been hitting up the free transfer and loan market, but no soap so far.

So yeah, things are looking a wee bit shaky right now. Good thing we've still got that two game edge.

[Izulde]

Things were surprisingly progressing nicely and smoothly despite the injuries to both our wings and the loss of Roger Lee. We picked up his replacement, Chris Abbot, a 22 year old Englishman who is supposed to have great Physical attributes and solid Mental attributes. He's struggled, though... a lot.

Then, Harrison Bell went off to Highworth on a $4,000 Key Player salary. He's been a lot better there, so kudos to him. For his replacement, we brought in Ian Sampson, a 25 year old Englishman. Great tackler for this level and supposed to be great physically. Terribly inconsistent, but I have hopes for him.

The big issue? Neither Amir Geid or Supat Rungsratasmee could find the net, resulting not only in our first loss in 27 league games, but a second loss. In came a pair of 22 year olds: Connor Collins, an Englishman with Flair (14) for days and great physical attributes bar the 4 Stamina; and Justin Koeries, a South African with some solid technical and physical skill, but that 2 Composure and 1 Concentration need a lot of development.

That didn't help the drought, so we tried a 4-3-1-2. Nope. Until I finally broke my no old man rule and signed 33 year old DM/DR/DC/MC Jake Ash, he of the 14s and 16s galore in Mental Attributes. Changeover to a 4-1-3-2 DM and we spanked favored Teignmouth 3-0 to snap the drought. In that new formation, everyone is doing what they were, except Ash as the DM, Darius Covaci as a supporting Ball-Winning Midfielder rather than a defending one, Amir Geid as a supporting Target Man rather than an attacking one, and Connor Collins as the Poacher.

The 3-0 squash - keyed by Geid's 2 scores - expanded our lead back to 9 points. So we'll run with this new formation for a while and see how long it takes our opponents to adapt to it.

[Izulde]

Quite a bit to discuss this time. First, we signed our second real pic guy literally the day after the last post:



He's amazing. 4 goals and 2 assists in 7 games - including a debut goal that proved crucial.

We had a number of transfers out that impacted the team.

Transfer Out - MC Darius Covaci - Willand - $12,500 salary
This one stung. Our 19 year old Romanian was our best central midfielder by far. Can't blame him for it obviously, but it still hurts. Key Player deal - in 5 games, he has 6.78 average rating, 1 assist, and 1 PotM nod. He's also got his new team into a playoff spot.

Transfer Out - DCR/DM Oakley Hanger - Shepton Mallett - $3,500 salary
Honestly shocked he took that little a money. Y'all know I love my tallboi and he was our go-to Long Throw guy. And uh, spoiler alert: We don't have one now. It also devastated our backline play, as I'll talk about a little more later. 7.17 average rating in 6 games, and a Key Player.

Now for the transfers in, besides Mr. Awesome up there.

Transfer In - DL/AML Ashley Checketts - English - 22 - From Bromsgrove Sporting
3.5/4.5* DL who was supposed to shove Cypriot Jamie Alexandrou, who was struggling, out of the lineup. Great first game, but the kid has stunk since then. Side note: We also got Connor Collins from Bromsgrove Sporting, so they really don't like us right now. With his 11 Crossing, Checketts should probably be a ML, so I'm training him there. Really, really bad physically however. Alexandrou has reclaimed the DL starting spot.

Transfer In - DC Billy Franks - English - 27
He's not very good. But we've been so awful, his 0.5*/0.5* represents an improvement. His play has been pretty bad, too. Made a stupid backpass that gave up a goal as well in one game.

Transfer In - MR/MC/DM/ML James Foley - English - 23 - From Bromsgrove Sporting
Brave (11) with great Work Rate (14). Bromsgrove is super mad. Only played one game so far (at MR), but he netted an assist. Not great technically and fairly ordinary physically, I'm giving him an extended run, because Cedrick Mpabi has been meh, Mark Irvine even worse.

Now to the results!



Devastating to lose that game to Plymouth Argyle Reserves. They were in 2nd place, and in consequence, our league lead has been cut to 7 points (We're 12 points up on the second place team). The weirdest win has to be that 4-1 win in the Walter C. Parsons Cup Quarterfinal - Wil Babb, Jake Ash, and Connor Collins all scored their first Spurs goals, with Collins scoring 2 and taking the match ball. We utilized a 4-3-3 third tactic in that one and took them completely by surprise.

Pretty proud of that 2-1 win over Budleigh Salterton - our entire B lineup (bar Alexandrou who is back in the A side) came away with that one. Nathan Dennis has 8 starts so far this year - more than my usual backup goalie usage. He might even break 10 appearances, which would be a record for a #2 keeper of mine.

What I'm not proud of - our DCs have been horrendous as I said. Chris Abbott and Wil Babb have stunk, Billy Franks plays like what he is, and Jake Ash is better suited to DR, but I have to play him at DC due to lack of options.

Graham Mercieca is a virus magnet - a cold and a flu in the same season. Luckily James McCarthy is a god, and he should be Accomplished at MR by season's end too. James Foley could train at ML to Accomplished too and we'd have a ton of Jamesian midfield diversity.

8 more games this season (including Cup final). Wil Babb is out 2 months, but I'm cool with it - he's had 25-26 appearances this year which is way too many.

I just wish we could find some good DCs. But there's none to be found anywhere, it seems.

[Izulde]

We clinched the title pretty early - with 3 or 4 games left in the league season. That 0-0 Sidmouth Town tie was due to the scrubs playing. The Walter C. Parsons Cup final was a barnburner. We went down 0-1 and then Supat Rungratsamee scored with 88 minutes ticked off to equalize. Then in extra time, our inconsistent Thai striker struck again and Amir Geid added one on for the insurance. Absolutely thrilling championship game and $750 in our back pocket.

The last couple games, it was trying to get as many young guys in as I could, though I pulled all the key players from the lineup. Smart thing, as it turns out. Connor Collins and Graham Mercieca both went down injury, though Mercieca scored 2 goals before being knocked out.





As you can see, Bojan Tetek clearly was superior to Nathan Dennis. But I'm good with those two in the net for the foreseeable future (unless of course they get swiped in the offseason). Defense was a huge problem once we lost everyone to signings. That said, Ian Sampson proved surprisingly effective at holding down the DR slot, so between him and Jake Ash, I think I'm okay-ish there. Wouldn't mind getting a young guy in,however.

We still desperately need DCs of any quality.



The most valuable player on this team is James McCarthy, and I'll fight anyone who says otherwise about our Northern Irish midfield stud. Bradley Flay, the young Welshman, continues to leverage his Flair into playing way better than he has any right to. I really like James Foley, and overall, we've got a strong, deep group at midfield. If only Graham Mercieca would stop getting hurt all the time.

Striker is weird - we have a ton of talent on paper, but it's maddeningly inconsistent. Amir Geid and Supat Rungratsamee both largely disappeared down the stretch, though the Thai picked the right spots to break out. I have very high hopes for Cameron Gill. Great goal-scoring rate, though a touch injury-prone.

Formation-wise, we ran the 4-4-2 essentially all season long, with now and again spot glimpses at other formations based on injuries and other items I've outlined before. It's a good, solid setup we have there.

Current Bank Balance: $26,525 (+$21,720)
B]Season Match Day Income[/b]: $31,128 (+12,336)
Season Gate Receipts: $20,672 (+13,961)

Huge gains in all three areas. I'm really happy about that. Gives us a nice buffer heading into what will surely be semi-pro status, followed by my usual frustrations once we get to that level.

Oh, if you care, Mark Irvine signed a P/A deal with someone at the transfer deadline. I don't - he was third string on MR by then, and he wasn't anywhere near as good as he was during last year's run to narrow miss on promotion. I'll be glad to see the back of Tiverton B. That squad gave us fits all season long, and we had to play them 3 times.

James McCarthy takes Fan Player of the Year with 47% of the vote. Second is Bradley Flay with 22%, followed by Amir Geid with 19%. That sounds exactly right to me. I'm feeling lazy so won't post Best XI. There was nothing surprising there anyway.

Yep, the expected semi-pro happens. The board is also drunk on money and wants to buy our 1,500 capacity stadium, unimaginatively titled Recreation Ground, from the Newton Abbott council. Sure, you do you. I take the $2,100 the board offers me on a one-year deal. I want to be able to print money with this club.

New Contract Signing - ST/AMC Amir Geid - Israeli - 20 (4*/4*)
PA: $75
Goal Bonus: $15
Unused Sub Fee: $3

It took some doing, but we finally locked down our top striker on a reasonable P/A deal for all involved. Figure approximately $5k for the season, which puts us at $7.1k + $4k = $11.1k after we sign Mark O'Dea, a fantastic fitness coach, after Geid complains about the training there. We sacked our old scrub coach (Fitness/Aerobics now 2.5* coaching).

Transfer Out - MC/DC Wil Babb - English - 19 - Mangotsfield - $4.5k salary
Had to play way, way too much last year. Wanted a ton of cash to stay, to which I said nope. Not worth it.

New Contract - DL Jamie Alexandrou - Cypriot - 22 (2.5*/4*)
Per Appearance: $50
Shutout Bonus: $9
Unused Sub Fee: $2

I could have bargained him down probably, but his demands were so perfectly reasonable I just accepted them straight off. Estimated $2.5k cost, so that's $13.6k in staff and player salaries so far.

We're 1-5 favorites to win the South West Peninsula Premier League Division. The board wants a repeat title in the Walter C. Parsons Cup and expects us to reach the fifth round of the FA Vase.

Very high expectations all around. Let's see if I can finally live up to them as a semi-pro team.

[Izulde]

This is the most successful I've ever been after a semipro turn. That loss against Camelford was an abomination, and the 1-2 defeat we had just before wrecking house in the second qualifying round of the FA Vase are our only defeats, but the 0-0 draw is probably the most irritating. OTOH, the 1-2 loss was one we didn't deserve, but neither should we have beat Stoke Gabriel 1-0.

The calendar has played out that before the FA Vase games, we run out our backups, which means full strength for the cup. Which is a good thing - FA Vase wins = money, money, money. Our two victories have translated into $2.35k in winnings thus far, or paying for my salary this season already.

Bradley Flay took a big PA deal from Gloucester to be a backup, as evidenced by going from wanting a ridiculous $130 P/A to demanding an outrageous $575 P/A to come back. Yeah, no thanks buddy. You're good and an overachiever, but not worth making you the highest earner on the roster.

I *did* make an offer for $130 P/A to a DC, stretching our Key Player max, but then the dude got $23.75k guaranteed from another team and that was that. We keep putting in for DCs (and MCs after Flay signed elsewhere), but nobody wants to come play for us.

Amir Geid has $105 in goal bonuses so far, and I forget what Jamie Alexandrou has earned in shutout money. Mark Muddyman is getting way more games than he should (last year's Wil Babb essentially), but he hasn't been the worst. Graham Miercieca and Cameron Gill keep getting hurt. Connor Collins is mad he's not getting much PT. Biggest surprise has been the emergence of Billy Franks and Chris Abbott as actual, competent DCs. On the flip side, Jake Ash is looking like he's about to turn to ash at any second - I really think he's done.

Geid is earning every bit of that money, by the way, 7 goals, 5 assists, 3 PotM awards, and a 8.3 average rating. Our Israeli 20 year old is just killing it. Supat Rungratsasmee continues to be a boom-bust scorer and has 6 tallies to his credit in 10 games (6 starts/4 reserves).

We're also making actual profit month after month. Unfortunately, we're in 2nd place in the league 9 games, a point behind leaders Saltash. It's a narrow fight at the top, but there's still 29 matches to go. Anything can happen.

[Izulde]

Despite a raft of player movement that we'll discuss in a bit, we've managed to stay strong in league play. The victory over Saltash was huge - they were 3 points behind in 2nd place, and eking out that narrow victory at their place locked down a two-game cushion. Way back in 3rd is Camelford at 11 points behind before we make up our game in hand that I've paused before.

Exits
DC/MC Chris Abbott - Royal Wootton Basset - $5.5k salary
Significant hit to our already weak central backline, though we've made up for it in bodies that I'll talk about in a bit. He was our most talented player back there, and it stings to see him go.

GK Nathan Dennis - Pagham - $4.3k salary
Clearly lost out to Bojan Tetek and with us officially out of the cup races, it's not that big a deal. We have a gray guy backup keeper right now and I haven't bothered getting anyone else in. It's fine.

ST Cameron Gill - Gloucester - $12.5k salary
This is the second time this season Gloucester has swiped a starter from us. The other was Bradley Flay.But the Tigers are spending the money even though they're bleeding cash because their 8 year run in the Vanarama North ended last season, and while they're 17th in the Southern Premier this year, they're also just 2 points away from a double relegation. Quite a mess there for such a storied club.

Loan Ins
ML/AML Daniel Hale - 21 - Blackfield
Played a few games for us but then he got hurt, so I sent him back because I wasn't living up to First Team obligations anyway. They released him a few weeks later and he's on the market. Wasn't a good fit for our system anyway.

MC Ben Cousins - 18 - Paulton
Awfully physically, but he has 12 Passing and some terrific mental attributes. Right now, our third choice MC and he's done reasonably well there.

DCR Thomas Tozer - 17 - Tuffley Rovers
A scrub body.

DLCR Pete Alexander - 18 - Longlevens
Pretty scrubby, but he does have 14 Teamwork and some decent physical attributes. He's been a not awful sub at the DC spot, though I'm doing his future employers a favor by training him at DL to make him green across the backline.

And then there's the big money spend - the one I spent literally 3 real life days debating:



A whopping $275 P/A fee, $15 unused sub fee to steal him from Bodmin a level below on the West division. Here's the sneaky part - yes, he's $15k a year in salary estimated. But he's here to lock in our second promotion. Then I'll let him go in the offseason, because we lost money for the first time this month playing him, so he's not a long-term keep.

[Izulde]

What a frustrating stretch of games we've had. Exmouth and Torpoint are particularly galling - we were up 2-1 with 10 minutes to go in the former and melted down, including a last second goal to lose. We were 2-0 pretty much the entire match against Torpoint... and lost the win with 3 seconds left.

Part of it has been Bojan Tetek is out with injury. We had a couple games with a grey guy and loaned in Glyn Dunne, a 17 year old from Moneyfields. He's been terrible - 6.6 average rating, but it is what it is.

But wait, there's more! Jamie Alexandrou left us for a measly $5k from Brixlington and Ashley Checketts and Connor Collins both hied it to Welton Rovers on P/A deals after complaining about lack of PT.

Coming in: DC/DM/MC Ed Seward, 17, on loan from AFC Portchester, with decent mental stats and okay physical ones, and the following two big money players:

DC Seth Owens - English - 20 - From Bromsgrove Sporting (3.5*/4*
We *finally* land a quality DC! 11 Marking, 12 Bravery, 11 Decisions, Positioning, and Strength. He's pricey - $170 P/A, $15 shutout fee, but DC is the single hardest position to fill for us and in his first two games, he's been averaging a 6.9. Incidentally, yes, this is another former Bromsgrove Sporting guy we've stolen.

ML/MR/AML/AMR/ST Jed Harper-Penman - English - 24 - From Barnstaple (2.5*/3*)
On paper, $200 P/A and $30 goal bonus looks like a huge overpay. It is. But he's got 13 Flair, great physical attributes, and solid technical ones. More importantly, he allows us to make other rearrangements.

We've switched from our 4-4-2 primary to a 3-1-4-2 DM, with River Allen in the DM slot, Graham Mercieca at DL, James McCarthy at ML, James Foley and Ben Cousins at MC, and Harper-Penman at MR. If/when we switch back to the 4-4-2, it'll be Billy Franks at the other DC spot, with a McCarthy/Foley/Allen/Harper-Penman midfield. But Franks has just looked too slow and overmatched at this level in our 3 defender backline.

Despite these issues (and a current Amir Geid injury as well), we're 5 points clear of Saltash with 8 games left in the season, with Camelford back 12 points. We've been lucky that Saltash has a *ton* of draws, allowing us to either extend our lead back a bit or at least minimize the damage of losses.

This is going to be a tight race all the way down the stretch. Financially we're still holding okay. I wouldn't be surprised to see us ultimately lose money once the season's over, but we'll reassess when we get to that point. For now, it's essential we do everything we can to win that double promotion.

[b]

[Izulde]

U18s 1 Youth Candidates 2
For the first time in my tenure, the youth candidates not only won, but we got some guys worth signing. Here's a rundown of the four youngsters who will hope to break through.

GK John John - 16 - 4.5 silver */3.5*
He's got some great attributes already - 11 Handling, 13 Reflexes, 12 Decisions. We're not yet at the point we can sign cheap youth yearly contracts, so he gets $20 P/A, $5 shutout bonus, and $2 Unused Sub Fee. He's immediately our backup keeper and will get some looks next season.

DR/WBR Will Stuart - 16 - 3.5 silver*/3*
I forget his financial details, but that 18 Teamwork and 13 Work Rate are phenomenal. He'll keep working at the DR slot for now to get him better acclimated to being a Fullback.

ST Allen Browne - 16 - 2.5 silver*/3*
12 Finishing, 12 Teamwork. The least likely guy to see time his first season or two - we have a three man rotation we like up front. He's already a maxed out Target Man, so I'll get him going on being a Defensive Forward.

DL Terry Brown - 16 - 0.5 silver*/2.5*
I see a natural DC in him, so he'll train there. Talent-wise, not very good and not that high a ceiling. We just can't find good defensive linemen anywhere it seems.

I don't remember all the details, but every one of these guys is between $20-30 P/A with some sub-$10 bonuses thrown in (shutout, unused sub). Brown looked really, really good in the U18/YC game, so I'm hoping his talent reading is a misread. John John is hilarious a name and could blossom into our future keeper if Bojan Tetek gets sniped.

Matchwise we were holding steady with a 6 point lead, then fell behind 0-2 to Saltash on a bullshit PK call. We clawed back to 1-2, but fell just short of securing the draw that would have put us on Easy Street. (A win would have clinched it). Our lead got cut to 3 points. They won out to keep pressure on us, but we also won out - albeit barely in the last game, a nail-biting 1-0 win over Collington Town.

And so we got the double promotion!!!!



Shoutout to Ivybridge, who was dead last most of the season, but got hot late and managed to climb above relegation. Hard luck to Saltash, who frankly deserved to win the title. But all those draws sunk them and keep them down another year. I fully expect to see them go up next season.



Welp, Jed Harper-Penman and River Allen proved they've earned those boku bucks. Amir Geid is a damn steal at his price, and it wouldn't surprise me to see swiped this offseason. I trusted the South African 23 year old, Justin Koeries, more than I did our Thai hot or not Supat Rungratsamee. It seemed like Koeries was far more consistent. Too many times with the Geid/Rungratsamee pairing, we'd get shut out. All three proved quality goalscorers over the run of the season, however.

Ben Cousins played above his ratings, and I wouldn't mind getting him back here. Especially since he stayed in the central midfielder defender in our 4-4-2 setup that we reverted to after I just didn't like what we had with the 3-1-4-2 DM over the long haul.

Now the ugly part - that backline. Ian Sampson was solid, even with a slight regression. Billy Franks actually improved despite the tougher competition. But Seth Owens is out. I can't be paying $170 an appearance plus bonuses for that type of mediocrity. The money is better spent elsewhere. Graham Mercieca was an okay 6.8, but I'd really like to find upgrades at DL and DC that will stick. Maybe the youth guys get some play - I don't know.

Current Bank Balance: $25,965 (-$560)
Season Match Day Income: $27,462 (-$3,666)
Season Gate Receipts: $17,300 (-$3,372)

Weird to see all our numbers take a huge hit. But we flamed out in the Walter C. Parsons Cup. Here's the good news: Our game against Saltash drew 116 people, setting a record. Then we smashed it again in the season finale with 226 people showing up to the game. So there's hope for the future that we can get more butts in the seats.

Bonuses: $16,133
Staff Salaries: $5,279
Total Labor Costs: $21,412

That's going to shoot up next year with a full year of River Allen and Jed Harper-Penman, but at least we kept it under control for this season. Still a lot to worry about financially unless we do well in the cup games and pour in the cash.





Will Babb in the All-Time Best 11 feels super, super gross. He needs to get booted out of there pronto.

Amir Geid, James McCarthy, and Bradley Flay are all Favored Personnel by the fans. I continue to be disrespected, much to my annoyance.

Transfer In - DC/DM/MC Kerry Idzi - Welsh - 18 (5 silver*/4*)
The staff evaluation of this kid is all over the map. But $9 P/A and ZERO bonuses? SIGN ME THE EFF UP! Won't win any header battles (2 Heading) but does have 10 Tackling, 8 Marking. I'm excited to see what he can grow into. He was 6.38 average rating with Clevdon last time he was in the Western Premier, which we've promoted up to. But that was 2 years ago.

We're switching to a 4-3-3 Narrow to take advantage of our strength at central midfield. Jake Parrott left. No one cares.

The board expects the following:

Western Premier: Win (Thanks)
FA Cup: First Qualifying Round
FA Vase: Fourth Round (One less than last year, sweet!)
Western League Les Phillips Cup: Win (Probably a crummy tournament like the Walter C. Parsons

Note: We may switch off to the 4-4-2 if that's the weakest opponent formation, so it'll be a mix of strategies.

Big pressures in any case. But I'm not worried. If I get fired, I go back to the Amateur ranks and build up again. I did flirt with a couple higher level teams this offseason before deciding to stick with this build. Ironically, for a dynasty titled me quitting, it's resulted in the longest time I've been with a team since my French League run.

[Izulde]

So things got off to a super rough start. We were underachieving relative to expectations and we had three straight games where someone drew a red or double yellow in the first few contests. Which led to our early FA Cup exit (did have over 500 people show up, netting us $4,000 in gate receipts against Barkingside, though).

It was looking like this was going to result in my firing, especially after a key player left via transfer (more on that in a bit). Then I finally got off my butt and fired my freebie, terrible Chief Scout and Assistant Manager, paying out $5k in salary each to bring in massive upgrades. That kicked off a run that has seen us lift to tied for first on points and goal differential. (That [b]Shepton Mallett win was amazing. We came stampeding back from 0-1 to win 2-1 with literally seconds to play - the first time in my tenure we've actually had something break our way).

Transfer Out - DM/MC River Allen - Dorchester - $24,000 salary
On the one hand, our highest paid player just walked out the door for a huge financial savings. On the other hand, Allen was arguably our most talented dude, and with injuries and yellow cards, our central midfield took a massive hit.

It also meant our 3-1-4-2 DM secondary formation wasn't going to see the light of day again any time soon (barring a sudden transfer in). In fact, we'd also abandoned the 4-3-3 Narrow because the 4-4-2 we'd used from the beginning still played better.

Transfer In - MC Sean Elvidge - English - 19 (4*/4*)
Inked to a $170 P/A, $8 Unused Sub fee and was projected to immediately step in to the vacancy left by River Allen taking the 24 thousand reasons to follow others to Dorchester. In a sign of how our early season went, he tore a stomach muscle in training before his first appearance and got shelved for two months. 11 Teamwork, Acceleration, and Stamina, 13 Work Rate.

Transfer In - ST Lee Ellis - Welsh - 18 (3*/4*)
The fanbase went absolutely bonkers when we landed this kid on a $20 P/A, $3 Goal Bonus, $2 Unused Sub bonus contract. They love his potential (13 Flair and Acceleration, 14 Teamwork currently). He's slid right past Supat Rungratsamee as the third striker and could end up overtaking Justin Koeries in the starting lineup sooner rather than later, though I still prefer our South African (now 24) as Amir Geid's partner.

It's been a wild ride. And we just lost to Frome again, 0-1 in the Les Phillips Cup when their keeper put on a clinic. I'm quickly developing a reputation as the guy who can't deliver in trophy games. Super super disappointing, but we just have hard luck in those games and suddenly look awful - no matter what lineups we throw out there.

[Izulde]

We continue our ignoble run of flaming out in cup play. Why, I have no frigging idea. I'm putting my best lineups out there, but for some reason, we just completely collapse. So it goes, I guess. Still would be nice to put together some kind of run.

The league has been one hell of a firefight. We got up to 1st, then had the loss against Bridgwater to drop to 3rd and that ugly draw against Welton Rovers. Their tying goal was a BS roller by Ashley Checketts of all people. Still salty about that one.

Bojan Tetek has not been as good this year - quite a few flake games. John John has actually outperformed him so far, but I'm still not going to make that switch. I'll keep the Serbian as our primary and our youth pull as the backup in a logical rotation. Still feels a little weird to be rotating keepers, but it's made sense thus far.

The backline continues to be a hot mess. Ian Sampson is still doing okay at DR, but Kerry Idzi has been dreadful, Billy Franks is overmatched, and Graham Mercieca is just plain better at ML. Terry Brown has been surprisingly okay as our DL and I'm giving consideration to making him the second string guy there. Will Stuart has been our worst defender by far, and that's saying something.

Happily, help has arrived on the left side and got his first start last game.

Transfer In - DLC/ML Keith Moore - English - 18 (1.5*/4*)
Absolutely incredible mental attributes for an 18 year old, especially that 18 Teamwork. Also has 11 Stamina. I'm excited to land this kid - solid 6.8 in his debut - and the fans are thrilled too, believing he can become a future star for us. $25 P/A, $5 shutout bonus, $3 Unused Sub Fee. Worth every single penny.

Midfield has been.... weird. Sean Everidge is crying about PT and it's like dude, you were injured for almost two months. Of course you weren't going to get the starts. And you have a ways to go to get up to full match fitness. James McCarthy has been inconsistent at the ML spot. Ben Cousins is solid. Jed Harper-Penman I'm probably going to let go once I find a better option. Too prone to getting carded and way underplaying the big bucks he's getting (though he did just get us the key game-winner on a beautiful fakeout goal in the 1-0 win over Clevedon). Better at MR is probably James Foley - his performance is at any rate. Jason Weaver, former Gray Guy, has outplayed his ratings to this point, but definitely needs to be a reserve.

The strikers are who they are. Amir Geid continues to be an Israeli god, Supat Rungratsamee has games like the hat trick vs Melksham in the first half (the team nearly lost that one by playing like ass in the second 45), and matches where he just disappears. Both guys have reached the 50 career Spurs goals, which is neat. Justin Koeries has fallen to the 4th striker. At this point, the South African is who he is. Lee Ellis I'm not quite sure about yet. Right now I have him in the first string with our Israeli superstar, but might still be hunting for a partner.

We've been bleeding cash without the cup money, but we're still looking like we should be about where we were last year - either a slight profit or loss as we pour money into upgrades to try and claim the title.

Our hunt for two quality DCs, or hell, even one, continues. We've thrown out big money to ho-hum upgrades, but everyone keeps turning us down. Probably a good thing, considering our funds position. Still frustrating and I honestly can't wait to flush out the guys I have. Idzi's failures have proved especially disappointing.

[Izulde]

That 0-4 loss to Bideford was an absolute shitshow. We had 2 or 3 players under a 6.0 rating. Lots of draws in this stretch, too, and I noticed a lot of our guys were suddenly getting nervous. Pressures of the league title race, I suppose. So against my better, caustic, demanding nature, I'm a kinder, gentler, more patient Izulde. Weird flex, I know.

We had two departures that completely wreaked havoc on our already trash backline.

Transfer Out - DR Ian Sampson - To Longlevens - $4.5k salary
The 27 year old is not great. But he's been our most reliable, solid defender in a year where everyone has been the worst. So naturally he takes a cheap contract to join a team in a title fight. Hey buddy, you could have had that here.

Transfer Out - DR Will Stuart - To Broughton - Non-Contract
Uh, okay. YOU WOULD HAVE GOTTEN STARTS BY DEFAULT WHEN IAN LEFT, BUT NOPE, YOU BUGGER OFF. I wasn't that mad to be honest - dude has been the absolute worst of the worst. So yeah, take that guaranteed money and go sign with an amateur team in some scrub division. Whatever, man.

This, of course, led to a spate of signings to try and fill the cap, because I was going to be damned if Mark Muddyman was going to set foot on the pitch again.

Transfer In - DR Adam Diaz - English - 20 (1*/3.5*)
He's got terrible Acceleration, but great physical stats otherwise. Some okay mental ones I guess? $30 P/A, $5 Shutout/Unused Sub. He was a stopgap signing to get some starts in. I don't like him very much and I've yet to see a raw player of ours actually develop to our asstacular training facilities. But sure.

Transfer In - DLCR Graham Welch-Hayes - English - 20 (1*/1*)
I'm paying this ugly motherfucker $60 an appearance because he had us over a barrel and we desperately needed someone with 3 position versatility to come off the bench. Damn near cost us in our last game, too. I'll cut him as soon as I can.

Transfer In - DC Aaron Oakley - Welsh - 24 - From Royal Wooten Basset(1.5*/3*)
$110/$20/$8. Is he worth it? Not really. But he's the first thing that resembles a DC we've had since Oakley Hanger left (who by the way, netted the assist in one of our draws this stretch). 11 Decisions and Strength, 12 Jumping Reach. He's been pretty decent so far, too.

[b]Transfer In - DRLC - Ben Sampayo - English - 26 - From Welton Rovers (3.5*/3.5*)
Highway robbery at $210 P/A, $40 shutout bonus. But we were desperate for anything, anything resembling a decent defender. And that's exactly what he is - decent all around. His start's been slow, but I got some satisfaction out of counter-raiding Welton after they stole people from us so many times. We were also able to dump Diaz, who has an average 6.47 rating.

Graham Mercieca also reclaimed his DL starting job back from Keith Moore, who has been horrid in his form. Most worrying trend - Amir Geid has been really, super bad lately. Went through over 8 hour goal drought before scoring and has frankly stunk since breaking the streak. Problem is, he's our best player with no one coming even close, so we have to keep running him out.

And yet, by some unfathomable mystery, we're 6 points up on Cribbs and Bridgport who are tied for 2nd, with 8 games left. That victory against Cadbury Heath we squeaked out was vital. It knocked the 4th place team back to 12 points and unless there's total meltdowns across the top of the league and they start a hot streak, we've pretty much eliminated them from the title conversation.

As always, I'm watching our youth pulls game. But the guy my assman is most excited about? 2.5* potential. Yeah. Nobody's getting signed.

Oh, and FUCK THE BOARD. They're spending $4,500 to send my assman on a coaching course, which guarantees that we will be in the red for the season. If they hadn't been such complete and total ninnies, we'd be on track for a repeat of small profit ($500 last season when all was said and done). But nooo. Now I have to re-sign the bastard for more money because of their incompetence.

So damn annoying.

[Young Drachma]

I wish I had the patience for lower division football, lol.

[Izulde]

Originally Posted by Young Drachma

I wish I had the patience for lower division football, lol.

I've never played a top team and would have no idea what to do, so we're on opposite ends lol.

***

We continued to have a cold run and actually dropped to 3rd at one point. Out of sheer desperation, I switched the 4-1-2-3 DM Wide persistently recommended by my staff. As it turned out, that was the right decision. We started righting the ship, and coupled with rough patches for our rivals, we clinched the title with two games to go. I switched back to the 4-4-2 and went on vacation.

At the transfer deadline, we picked up:

AML/MLR Kamaron English - English (duh) - 24 (2*/2*)
$80 P/A, $10 goal, $2 Unused Sub. Doesn't look great overall, but does have 12 Technique, 15 Acceleration, and 13 Pace, which is a quality trio of abilities to have on the wings.

Prior to that we lost:

MLCR/DM James Foley - 25 - To Truro - $29,000 salary (2*/2*
...Wow. Just WOW. $29,000 is a new record. I like the guy, but he was nowhere near worth that kind of coin. And that's the money he gets as a backup. Insanity.







The step up in competition definitely showed in the much lower average ratings across the board. Honestly, I'm stunned we managed to gut out a THIRD STRAIGHT PROMOTION!!! on the back of this group.

We have holes pretty much everywhere for the next level. I also really, really hate the way the 4-1-2-3 DM Wide looks in pitch play, even if it nets us wins. It's just an ugly setup.

Current Bank Balance: $16,658 (-$9,302)
Season Match Day Income: $23,406 (-$4,056)
Season Gate Receipts: $24,339 (+$7,039)

For the second straight season, our match day income plummets. I don't understand why this is happening. Logically when you promote up, you'd think that'd be higher.

Bonuses: $24,464
Staff Salaries: $16,172
Total Labor Costs: $40,636

So our labor costs were below our combined MDI and Gate Receipts by roughly $7,000. But that wasn't enough to prevent a $9,432 loss bath for the year.

We need to address that for next season. Who are our highest P/A wage earners? (Bonuses aren't as huge a deal). Here's the list of $75 or higher P/A guys:

Ben Sampayo - $210
Jed Harper-Penman - $200
Sean Elvidge - $170
Aaron Oakley - $110
Kamaron English - $80
Amir Geid - $75

English just got here, so I'm not going to cut him loose. Geid, despite his struggles on the back end of the season, is our best player and the lowest one here, so he's not going anywhere. Oakley needs more testing. Elvidge feels like he could go - we have a lot of MCs. Harper-Penman is a tougher call now that James Foley got that huge cash money. Sampayo I would LOVE to ditch... but you all know what our backline situation has been all year.

I'm honestly not sure where to go here. Probably just play it out for now. Maybe see if we can start offering guaranteed deals and lock guys in first.

James McCarthy wins Player of the Year 46% to Amir Geid's 35%, with Supat Rungratsamee a distant third at 12%.

So we're out of the Counties Leagues and into the Regional First Divisions. I do some scouring around in the job listings and spot a team that's dropping back down into the Regional First divisions. They can actually pay their players part-time contracts (I can't yet here) and are offering a much larger wage budget, with a bigger stadium that's owned by the club.

Might be time to jump. I've done brilliantly here with the Newton Abbot Spurs, but I might have pushed them to what I can achieve. On the other hand, they just got a $6.25k sponsorship deal - representing a $4.5k jump over the last deal. Still not enough to erase last year's deficit, but it cuts it by almost half.

I scout the club I'm considering. They have a lot better players than we do overall, though just about everyone who has a part-time deal (there's a lot of P/A guys) wants to leave due to the club relegating.

Ultimately, what decides it is that we can't find any good loan players in my time searching, and twice the board refuses to consider setting up a parent club link.

I was going to write about how it was going to be painful for a few seasons at my new digs, Trafford FC. Made some signings (not enough) and got set for the new season. Started off with a draw and a loss, then listened to my assman.

WHY THE FUCK DO THEY ALWAYS RECOMMEND THE 4-1-2-3 DM WIDE? WORST.FORMATION.EVER.

We lose 2-3 in Game 3 and are in danger of relegation when we're expected to make playoffs.

Quit: 2.5 (Hopping on to another team counts as a half-quit).

Time to go find some amateur side and build them up.

Newton Abbot Spurs is using that awful 4-1-2-3 DM Wide. They're a win and 2 draws, presently 6th in the corresponding Regional First Division level.

[Greyfriars Bobby]

Another fun read, Izulde.

What don't you like about the 4-1-2-3 DM Wide? That's what I'm playing with my Loughborough University side, and I have it working really well. I used to prefer a very basic 4-4-2, but some team I managed somewhere had a real boss who could only play DM, so I gave the 4-1-2-3 DM Wide a try and liked it.