Accrington Stanley... Who are they?

[kmitchell96]

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I had dreamt of being a football manager my entire life. Having watched football from basically birth I had always enjoyed the tactical side of the game. I had been in some amateur and semi-professional coaching roles and was shocked when I got the call.
"Hi mate, Peter Marsden here. We have liked what we have seen throughout the interview process and we would like you to come in as soon as possible to finalise the contract and meet the board, backroom staff and players. Congratulations!"
Wow, I was not expecting that. A lot of good names had been linked to the league 2 side and I was the smallest of them all. I was happy to get the job though, it was my chance to show of my skills, maybe even surprise a few people.
It wasn't going to be an easy first job. Accrington were expected to fight against relegation this year with the likes of Cheltenham but I was hoping to do better than that. Maybe a mid table finish, possibly even a push for the top 6. High hopes but I am an optimist and I hope I can make the best of the squad.

Just 20 years old and following my dream. I am here. Accrington Stanley, The Crown Ground.

I didn't know what to expect as I came into the grounds parking in the taxi I had ordered. I would have to sort out some form of long term transport but for now I was happy to get taxi's up to the ground.

After the initial meeting I had been given the basic details of my contract; £850 a week, 1 year deal to start of with. Suppose it will be seen as a "prove it" contract before they can see whether they can trust me with the club. I am hoping that I can do well and move the club forward this season.

The owner had set up the bigger meetings later in the day with the board, backroom and players and hopefully I would be able to settle in quickly and get everything sorted with the set up so I could focus on doing well for the season.​

 

[kmitchell96]

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A busy first day at the club. After being told that I had got the job and the initial meeting to go over the details of my contract I was taken to the board room to meet with the directors who had general welcomes for me but also sent me sort of a "welcome pack" which I was told to go through.

Next I went to meet with my assistant manager. Jimmy Bell; he had set up a friendly between the senior and youth team which would give me a chance to go over the reports he had given me and look at what I had to work with.

I'd also asked him to work through the training sessions and sort out the general sessions for all of the squads. He had said yes. I had always struggled with setting up training, never been the best at sorting the best "sessions" out for each individual player so I decided to leave it to my right hand man.

I had then met the squad and was quite impressed. The general attitude and morale around the squad was good, they were happy when I said I would want to stay up. Keep it simple now, see how we start and then I may change my goals.

A decent first day, if not busy. I was tired; meeting after meeting had left me knackered so I was ready to go home and end the day before coming back and evaluating my squad tomorrow with the friendly and then I would look at the backroom staff and see what improvements could be made there.
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[kmitchell96]

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My first friendly was today against with the intra-squad friendly that the assistant manager had set up. I was hoping to get a few decent views of the squad as we built up some fitness quickly.

I'd spent the morning trying to sort out some extra backroom staff. I'd spoken to a few coaches and a few scouts to try and expand the backroom and would hopefully hear back from them in the next few days.

I'd also drawn up some tactics which I would like to use. They were all quite defensive or possessive for now. The squad looked like it could be one of the weaker ones in the league. A 4-1-2-3, 4-4-2 and a 3-1-4-2 which varied between defensive or counter long ball football or some controlling short passing games.

I'd then looked towards the affiliate clubs that were in place and scouted a bunch of prospects who would hopefully be available for loan. Liverpool and Burnley had the best options by the looks of it whilst Blackburn had little to offer but I would look to bring in some reinforcements through the loan system.

I'd then had my first press conference. Basic boring stuff. Wasn't much for press conferences but it is part of the job and I was happy to do it. The main questions were about the ambitions of the club and what I was hoping to do.

Just before the game I got some good news that the board had finalised the deal for one of the scouts I had talked to, George Rooney. Experienced scout who would hopefully be able to find some decent players.

This was shortly followed by the signing of a coach. Julian Monk. He had been a fitness coach for 10 years at Liverpool and was a fantastic addition for the club and would hopefully bring a lot to training.
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[Sandman01086]

Definitely following this one, best of luck mate!

 

[kmitchell96]

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After a busy couple of weeks I was happy with where we were heading. I had got my backroom sorted out; that was key. A small backroom involving just a physio and a coach needed to be expanded and improved and it had been including the signing of some scouts.

I'd also looked at the loan market and had found a few players from our senior affiliates who would add a lot to the squad. Liverpool had the best options but I feel they may be sent to larger clubs to play at a higher level whilst Burnley had a couple of options as well. Blackburn were short on any talent really that I could loan for now.

My first couple of games had passed in a busy first week. The under 21's squad played well but I managed us to a 3-2 win against the youngsters. McCartan performed brilliantly and scored twice in his bid to get the lone striker role whilst Naismith was brilliant in making it 3-0. A shaky second half almost cost us the game with a rotated 11 and they almost threw the game away after going into the half 3-1 up.

My next game was even more impressive in my eyes. Championship Blackburn visited the Crown Ground and Terry Gornell and Luke Joyce gave us a 2-0 lead with 10 minutes left in the first half. Once again though the starting 11 tired and gave away a stupid goal just before the half. A fully rotated 11 again saw us concede again but they clicked after the game and we were the better of the sides but couldn't score to change it from a 2-2 draw.

After the game I decided to let Anthony Barry return to Forest Green. I wasn't convinced in training and a poor second half performance showed he wasn't up for it so I sent him back to the conference side.

The next day I was greeted by some disappointing news. Jordan Ibe rejected the loan move without reason so in a last ditch attempt to get him I sent another bid out but this time told him he would be a very important and key player for the season. Hopefully the improved role offered would tempt him to make his move.​

 

[kmitchell96]

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After the rejection from Ibe I was hoping a loan offer would come through and the next day I was greeted at the training ground by Lloyd Jones. The 18 year old centre back from Liverpool was definitely below this level so I was shocked to see him but he would be a key player and would be a starter in the heart of the back 4

A day later Jordan Lussey rejected me in a similar style to Ibe. Once again I upped the role offered in an attempt to lure him to the Crown Ground to play with team mate Jones and hopefully Ibe.

However it wouldn't happen as Ibe once again rejected my offer believing he could break into the Liverpool team this season. He was a good player; league 1 or championship level, but I couldn't see him making an impact on the senior team this season with the likes of Sterling playing in his role.

I then sent my scouts to a trialist game that was going on whilst I prepared for the friendly against Doncaster. They came back with a couple of recommendations. Jack Rudge is somebody I had looked at personally but wanted a second opinion on. The central player impressed in the game and was offered a contract afterwards.

Tom Bender had also impressed. The former Colchester and Millwall youngster had failed to build on his potential and now at 23 years old was looking for a club. I decided to take a shot on him as a backup player as he could be used at left back and centre back when needed and was a strong option off the bench defensively.

The friendly was moved to the Sunday for a "family fun day" in an attempt to increase crowd numbers against Doncaster and hopefully I could end an up and down week on a high. On the Saturday I had sent out scouts to go look at a couple of options from Burnley again and Rico Henry from Walsall for loan moves.

Another strong performance. Doncaster went into the half 2-0 up but both goals were free kicks which were unstoppable and we were unlucky to be 2 down. For 15 minutes of the second half the starting 11 remained on the pitch to try impress before 11 subs were made on the hour. Shortly after a quick counter attack saw Gray break down the right and score. He was unlucky to not have two after 2 shots were cleared off the line late on.​

 

[kmitchell96]

Definitely following this one, best of luck mate!

Thanks, kept interested so far, been finding it hard to find a game to stick with. Will try update a couple of times a week on it until 2016 comes out.