Beavering Away With Hampton & Richmond Borough

[FM_TNSSO]

Beavering Away With Hampton & Richmond Borough

Hampton & Richmond Borough is a football club based in the suburb of Hampton, in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames. Founded in 1921, they are quickly approaching their 100th year in the game! The club was known as Hampton FC right up until 1999, when they changed their name in an attempt to draw in a wider audience!

Hampton & Richmond Borough currently play their football in the National League South, the 6th tier of English football. Most of their history is in and around the lower regional leagues of English football, having spent a total of only 7 seasons at their current level and never going higher than the 6th tier. Last season was their highest recorded finish at 4th but they failed to get through the playoffs and gain promotion. Despite such a good campaign, the club nicknamed The Beavers, were predicted for mid table at best this year and in real life currently sit 16th in the National South!

I will be attempting to take over this little club and take them to new heights in the English game. Hopefully, to the very top! So, let's get started!

My new home is the 3,500 capacity Beveree Stadium! It might not look much, but this place could turn out to hold a very special place in my heart over the next few seasons...

The club's finances are in a decent state and at least I haven't joined a club in the red. The club have no outstanding debt and are in good shape.

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There is no transfer budget, but I do have a bit in the wage budget to play with and add some of my own players to the squad.

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Talking of the squad, it seems like I have a decent sized team with cover for most areas on the pitch, and my assistant manager clearly rates some of these lads too. It's a good foundation to work from.

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Although my Assistant Manager might have to go as his stats are pretty shocking! I do like to bring in my own assistant anyway, hopefully someone I can form a formidable partnership with for years to come!

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Going back to the squad, it's clear that my best players are in the attacking midfield and striker roles. We have strength in depth in these areas as well, so my immediate task will probably be to bring in some better defenders, especially in the full back roles.

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Striker, Ogo Obi, is definitely one of the best players here and could be our talisman up front for at least the next couple of years. Providing we can hold onto him that is...he's currently without a contract! Something I'll immediately address!

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One of the other stars of this team is Ricky Wellard! And I have to admit, I love the fact I have a centre mid with the name Wellard!! Although, I'd have expected his stats for bravery and aggression to be a bit higher with a name like that!!

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So I'm off to play some pre season and get acquainted with my staff and team and I'll be back with a pre season update soon! Cheers for reading!

​

 

[Danny21237]

Good luck mate. Welcome back to good old Blighty

 

[FM_TNSSO]

Pre Season 2018/19

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Pre Season 2018/19

Oh dear, Ogo Obi won't sign a new contract as he thinks he's bigger than the club! I can't pretend I don't agree with him and I might not have one of my star players around here for very long after all!

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I mentioned before that I was keen to bring in my own number 2 and Steve Taylor is the man I've brought in as Assistant Manager. He has a strong background at a higher level, having coached at Huddersfield and Derby, whilst his most recent role was Assistant Manager at Coventry!

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One of the first things on the agenda whenever you take over a small club is to ask the board to find you a senior affiliate and this was no different! My board came back with 4 options which included Coventry and Walsall, but I've opted to go with the biggest club on the list...Sunderland! Not only do they have an excellent youth setup that I can take advantage of as they bring through some young players over the next few years, but also it will bring in another £25k to the club year on year!

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Ricky Wellard will be my captain for this season, with centre back Simon Downer as his deputy!

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We played 6 pre season friendlies, recording 5 wins and scoring a whopping 27 goals! Yes they were against weaker opposition, but my boys have definitely had a confidence boost before the serious stuff begins!

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Player of Pre Season
Rhys Murrell-Williamson

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The left winger scored 3 goals and set up 5 in the 5 games he played. Along the way, he also recorded 3 match ratings over 9.0! I'll have some more of that in the competitive games please Rhys!


I've been playing around with the tactics throughout pre season and this is what I've settled on for now. It's a flay 4-4-2...

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The logic behind the tactic is this...


Goalkeeper - Set to not take any risks. The keeper's passing at this level is not good enough to be launching counter attack passes up field, without carelessly giving the ball away. Instead, I want him to distribute carefully, ensuring we keep possession.


Defence - Both my full backs are not the best dribblers, nor good crossers of the ball. So I basically just want them getting involved and supporting the midfield. However, I don't want them bombing down the wing only to waste poor crosses into the box. Instead, their job is to support the wide men in midfield and help maintain possession. The centre backs simply play to their best role which is a no nonsence role in the case of these two. I'd happily swap for a centre back role if I rotate the squad and the new CB has that as their most comfortable role.


Midfield - Both my wide men have decent pace but are not the greatest crossers of the ball. So having their position set as winger would be useless for their skill set. Instead, I have them set as attacking wide midfielders and set their player instructions to 'dribble more' and 'shoot less often'! This will ensure they focus on getting forward, but not on running out wide and getting crosses in! The centre midfielders compliment each other...I like a defensive role and a supporting one in midfield, so Wellard will sit deep but has good passing and vision attributes to play key passes into the final 3rd, whilst Da Costa will get up and down the pitch in the box 2 box role...although his player instructions are set to 'get further forward' to ensure he supports the attacking play!


Forward - Both my strikers have strengths in finishing and pace. They are not the best passers of the ball, nor are they the tallest or strongest so having them come deep and passing the ball around a lot would probably end up in them losing posession a lot of the time. Instead, I'd rather they both sniff around the box for goalscoring opportunities from the creative players in midfield!


These player roles will change if I rotate the players in the team to ensure people are playing to their strengths! As far as the team instructions go, I've got the defensive line low as my defenders are pretty slow so I don't want opposition strikers getting in behind. Also, I've instructed the team to keep a narrow compact shape and play a short passing game...with their low passing stats, there is no point asking them to play an expansive or quick passing game...the aim of the game here is to keep it simple and keep the ball!


With the league campaign just around the corner, it's time to have a look at the preview! Billericay are favourites for the title with all their money, money, money!! Although we are only 7-1 to win the title, we are not expected to break into the top 10 this season with a whole host of teams apparently 'better' than us! I don't have any players in the dream 11 which is dominated by 5 Billericay players!

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Looking ahead, we will play 5 games in August, starting with an away day at local rivals, Dartford!

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Incoming Transfer; Before that though, let's take a look at my signings so far, starting with 16 year old James Opoku! The left winger looks to have some promising stats for such a young player and it's likely I will try to give him a handful of games this season to see what he can do, although most of his time will be spent playing for the U23s.

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Incoming Transfer; Rui Da Costa was the next player to come in on a free transfer, having been released by Norwich in the Summer. At 19 years old, he already has some good stats, but still plenty of room for improvement. Although none of his stats particularly stand out, he is a well rounded player with average stats across the whole board!

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Incoming Transfer; The third player to join on a free is centre back, Jack Cogwill, who played for Boston United in the National League North last season. He came through the youth at Barnsley and still has plenty to prove. At 6ft 3", he's a big lump and with our shortage of decent defenders, he has the potential to play a big part for us this season.

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I'll see you at the end of August once we've played some competitive football! Let's hope I can get off to a good start!
​

 

[FM_TNSSO]

August 2018

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August 2018

So here's what the board expect from me this season. A mid table finish in the league is deemed acceptable, whilst they'd like to see me get through a couple of qualifying rounds in both the cups as well!

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Saturday 11th August 2018
Vanarama National League South
Dartford (Away)
Formation: 4-4-2

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Just a short trip across London for our first game of the season and we started this game really brightly, creating a few good chances in the opening 20 minutes! But it wasn't until early in the 2nd half when we took the lead after Ogo Obi dispossessed their dithering goalkeeper and scored into an open goal. The Darts managed to draw level, however it was us who soon asserted ourselves scoring two goals in very similar fashion to go 3-1 up...they both came from Wellard free kicks which the keeper saved only for Dundas and Mambo to tap in the rebounds! A perfect way to start the season with a solid away win, especially when Murrell-Williamson added a late 4th!


With our first home game of the season approaching, it's announced that we've only sold 75 season tickets this year!

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Tuesday 14th August 2018
Vanarama National League South
Concord Rangers (Home)
Formation: 4-4-2

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This was every bit as easy as it looks on the scoreline. We completely dominated the Essex side from start to finish! The only disappointment was conceding late on, although it was a cracking strike from Sean Clohessy!


Saturday 18th August 2018
Vanarama National League South
Slough Town (Away)
Formation: 4-4-2

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Like us, Slough had won their opening two games of the season, so came into this in high spirits! And both teams played like they were full of confidence and put on an entertaining game of end to end stuff. Although it finished in a 1-0 win for us, this game could easily have been one of those 3-2's either way, but I'm pleased to get the win after taking advantage of the extra man in the 2nd half after Slough had a player sent off.


Transfer Request; Australian centre back, Sam Gallagher, has come to me to ask for a transfer as he doesn't want to be left in the lurch and be unable to play football when his work permit renewal is denied (which is more than likely). I understand the situation and have agreed to move him on.

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Saturday 25th August 2018
Vanarama National League South
Truro City (Home)
Formation: 4-4-2

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In a tight game, a Ben Harding free kick was the only thing that separated the two sides as we suffer defeat for the first time this season!


Tuesday 28th August 2018
Vanarama National League South
Oxford City (Away)
Formation: 4-4-2

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A hard fought draw away at Oxford. I'd have liked to get back to winning ways here, but Oxford were no pushovers and we'll settle for a draw.


August Review; It's been a decent start to the campaign with only 1 loss to our names in 5 games and we finish the opening month of the season inside the top 3! I'd have taken that all day long and it gives us a good platform to build on next month!

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Player of the Month
Ogo Obi

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It's been a great start to the season for our contractless striker, who's scored in 4 of our opening 5 games!


September Preview; It's going to be a ****** busy month ahead of us, with no less than 7 games planned to take place! Six in the league and we'll take our first venture into the FA Cup as well (awaiting draw).

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​

 

[FM_TNSSO]

September 2018

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September 2018


Saturday 1st September 2018
Vanarama National League South
Chelmsford City (Home)
Formation: 4-4-2

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Chelmsford are one of the better sides in this league, but have made an awful start to the season failing to win a game so far! And we kept up that unwanted record for them as we inflicted another defeat on them here and drop them into the relegation zone! Chris Dickson was the hero from the bench today as his first goal of the season secured us the win!


Saturday 8th September 2018
Vanarama National League South
Wealdstone (Home)
Formation: 4-4-2

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We missed A LOT of chances in this game and should have been out of sight really! Wealdstone piled on the pressure late on when we were down to only 9 men and in the end I guess we should be grateful for a point!


We'll take on Bowers & Pitsea in the FA Cup a little later this month!

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Tuesday 11th September 2018
Vanarama National League South
East Thurrock United (Away)
Formation: 4-4-2

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No real excuses here...we were just very, very poor!


Incoming Transfer; With Sam Gallagher's departure from the club imminent, or at least his work permit expiring and being unable to play, I desperately needed to add another centre back to the squad! My scouts have been out there looking for the last month or so and Ollie Cook is their recommendation that I've decided to go with. He joins on a free transfer from Merstham in the lower leagues and is immediately rated 4.5 stars and my best players in the whole squad...not a bad acquisition!

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Saturday 15th September 2018
Vanarama National League South
Gloucester City (Home)
Formation: 4-4-2

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Despite dominating for the entire 90 minutes, we only just managed the win here! It looked like we were going to have to settle for a disappointing draw when they drew level on 72 minutes, but with only 2 minutes remaining, right winger Matthew Whichelow popped up with a tidy finish to give us all 3 points!


Saturday 22nd September 2018
FA Cup 2nd Qualifying Round
Bowers & Pitsea (Away)
Formation: 4-4-2

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We're through to the next round. It wasn't pretty, it wasn't amazing, it wasn't a big and extravagant win...but it was comprehensive and job done!


Tuesday 25th September 2018
Vanarama National League South
Dulwich Hamlet (Away)
Formation: 4-4-2

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When you've been outplayed for 90 minutes and really don't deserve to win the game, is it wrong to then feel aggrieved that you haven't won the game when they score an injury time equalizer?! 'Cos that's pretty much how I feel right now!


We'll go away to Tiverton Town in the next qualifying round of the FA Cup next month.

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Saturday 29th September 2018
Vanarama National League South
Chippenham Town (Home)
Formation: 4-4-2

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We finish the month on a high with a good home win against Chippenham! Although the stats suggest they were on top, most of their 16 shots were long range hopeful efforts that caused us no problem at all! Ricky Wellard's goal for us was an absolute cracker from distance which flew straight in the top corner!


September Review; Other than that awful day at East Thurrock, it's been a solid month and another 11 points in the league has seen us move up to 2nd and only a point behind moneybags Billericay! I couldn't have imagined we would have such an excellent start to the season and although we won't get ahead of ourselves just yet, surely we have to now be aiming a bit higher than mid table obscurity!

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Player of the Month
Ricky Wellard

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Most of the team played pretty well this month, although nobody really stood out with any amazing performances. Ricky Wellard takes the award for maintaining the most consistency across the most games in September.


October Preview; Not quite so busy next month, with only 5 games scheduled. We will kick off with our FA Cup game at Tiverton, before 4 league games and a couple of tough ones in there as we take on Torquay and Woking! I think if we can take 5 points from the league games next month I'll be happy.

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​

 

[FM_TNSSO]

October 2018

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October 2018

Saturday 6th October 2018
FA Cup 3rd Qualifying Round
Tiverton Town (Away)
Formation: 4-4-2

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Just as it looked like we'd done enough to get through the FA Cup again, a lapse in concentration allowed them a late equalizer and we'll now need to play an unnecessary replay!


Wednesday 10th October 2018
FA Cup 3rd Qualifying Round Replay
Tiverton Town (Home)
Formation: 4-4-2

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We made light work of the replay and comfortably saw off our lower league opponents!


Another team from the regional leagues awaits us in the next qualifying round of the FA Cup in the form of Leatherhead!

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Saturday 13th October 2018
Vanarama National League South
Hungerford Town (Home)
Formation: 4-4-2

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A terrible result at home to one of the weakest sides in this league! Not acceptable!


Tuesday 16th October 2018
Vanarama National League South
St.Albans City (Away)
Formation: 4-4-2

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We bounced back from the defeat against Hungerford in the perfect way with an away win at St.Albans! Ogo Obi banged in a couple of good goals today and I'm grateful to still have him at the club and I have to admit a little surprised no other clubs have come in and poached him yet!


Saturday 20th October 2018
FA Cup 4th Qualifying Round
Leatherhead (Home)
Formation: 4-4-2

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What's better than playing lower league opposition in the FA Cup. Playing 88 minutes against lower league opposition with only 10 men! The sending off of Danny Gallagher only 2 minutes into the game made our task even easier and we cruised past Leatherhead into the 1st round of the FA Cup!


Tuesday 23rd October 2018
Vanarama National League South
Torquay United (Away)
Formation: 4-4-2

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Really disappointing to throw away a 2-0 half time lead and lose this game, even though Torquay are one of the best sides in the division!


National League side, Maidstone, await us in the 1st round of the FA Cup next month!

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Saturday 27th October 2018
Vanarama National League South
Woking (Home)
Formation: 4-4-2

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This was probably our best result of the season so far against 3rd placed Woking and we managed to leapfrog them in the table with the win! Craig Dundas is proving he can still do the business at this level, even at the age of 37, with his 5th and 6th goals of the season!


October Review; I set us a target of 5 points in the league this month and we actually achieved 6, so I have to be happy! Progress to the 1st round of the FA Cup exceeds the board's expectation in the competition too so all in all it was a good month! Despite losing a couple of games, we remain in the top 3 in the division defying everyone's pre season predictions.

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Player of the Month
Ogo Obi

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September was a bit of an off month for the young striker, but he was back with a bang this month, scoring 7 goals in 7 games and grabbing an assist as well!


November Preview; We kick off November with a tough game against moneybags Billericay, before taking on Maidstone in the FA Cup. Both of them will be really hard games for us and if we fail to get a result in either, I'm hoping we can get a result against Eastbourne as Bath are also flying in the league and will present tough opposition.

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​

 

[FM_TNSSO]

November 2018

November 2018

Incoming Loan; My first loan signing since I've been at the club is James Spruce, who comes in from Bristol Rovers. He will offer us another option up front and brings with him some good pace, excellent finishing and good off the ball movement. He can run at defenders and cause plenty of problems for any side with decent dribbling ability too!

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Saturday 3rd November 2018
Vanarama National League South
Billericay Town (Home)
Formation: 4-4-2

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Well I didn't expect to be so dominant against the league leaders and I'm well pleased with this win! Chris Dickson came off the bench with a point to prove following the arrival of Jame Spruce and bagged the winning goal!


Saturday 10th November 2018
FA Cup 1st Round
Maidstone United (Away)
Formation: 4-4-2

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A good performance away from home in the cup against a side from the league above! Shame we couldn't grab the victory, but we have earned ourselves another pop at Maidstone on home turf!


Saturday 17th November 2018
Vanarama National League South
Eastbourne Borough (Away)
Formation: 4-4-2

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This was the one game this month that I had marked as a must win, so I'm pleased to have come away with all 3 points! It would have been a much easier win as well if Sergio Torres hadn't banged in two absolute worldies from 30 yards!!


The draw for the 3rd qualifying round of the FA Trophy pits us against my local side in real life, Sevenoaks Town!

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Wednesday 21st November 2018
FA Cup 1st Round Replay
Maidstone United (Home)
Formation: 4-4-2

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From the first game, we knew we could beat Maidstone and the lads played with certain confidence and swagger about them as we took the game to Maidstone, going into a 2-0 lead. Unfortunately, we rested on our laurels for a bit from there and allowed them back into the game. However, an extra time goal from Ogo Obi saw us through to the 2nd round of the FA Cup and bagged another £40k in prize money for the club!


Injury; Central midfielder, Michael Corcoran will miss a couple of months after breaking his ribs against Maidstone!

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We invite League One outfit, Doncaster Rovers, to the Beveree Stadium next month for the 2nd round of the FA Cup.

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Saturday 24th November 2018
Vanarama National League South
Bath City (Away)
Formation: 4-4-2

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Bath are absolutely flying this season and sat just behind us in the table at kick off. I had little to no confidence we would pull off a result here as the extra time against Maidstone had completely taken it out of my team and everyone was shattered! However, with 7 changes made to the starting lineup including a debut for 19 year old Harrison Livingstone (from the U23s), we still managed to pull off a fantastic win away from home!


November Review; When I looked ahead to November last month, I predicted a really tough month and thought we might potentially only win one game. What I didn't expect was to go the whole month unbeaten!! Wow, well done boys, you've done me proud!! The results this month have also seen us reach the top of the table, somewhere nobody thought we'd be at any point this season!

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Player of the Month
Ollie Sprague

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When I started the season, Ollie wasn't even in my starting 11. However, he has worked his way in with some solid performances and is now a key member of the team, highlighted by his excellent string of games this month!


December Preview; We kick off December with two cup games of contrasting opposition. First, Donny Rovers from 3 leagues above in the FA Cup, before Sevenoaks Town from the regional divisions below us in the FA Trophy. We follow that up with another 4 league games, three of which are at home!

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[FM_TNSSO]

December 2018

December 2018


Saturday 1st December 2018
FA Cup 2nd Round
Doncaster Rovers (Home)
Formation: 4-4-2

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It was always going to be a big ask to turn over Donny and they were just too strong for us on the day! On the plus side, we did draw in a crowd of more than double our usual attendance so the gate money was good!


Tuesday 4th December 2018
FA Trophy 3rd Qualifying Round
Sevenoaks Town (Home)
Formation: 4-4-2

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I was able to rotate the squad a little here and we still comfortably got past our lower league opponents! The stats suggested the game was a lot more even than it actually was as a lot of our chances were pretty good ones, where as theirs didn't even warrant a single highlight in the whole game!


And we'll now take on another local side to me in real life, Bromley, in the next round of the FA Trophy later this month.

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Saturday 8th December 2018
Vanarama National League South
Welling United (Home)
Formation: 4-4-2

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Welling are a much better side than their league position currently suggests (14th) and they proved it here with a good performance against us and walk away with a well deserved 3 points! I can't have too many complaints to be honest, we were simply outplayed by a better side!


Tuesday 18th December 2018
Vanarama National League South
Weston-super-Mare (Away)
Formation: 4-4-2

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Like us, Weston-super-Mare are massively overachieving this season and find themselves in 3rd place, when they were predicted to finish in the bottom 6! Now this game looked like it would take something special to win it from an early stage, but that magic moment never came for either side and the game ended in a bore draw.


Saturday 22nd December 2018
FA Trophy 1st Round
Bromley (Away)
Formation: 4-4-2

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For the 2nd time this season we took on National League opposition in the cups, but this time it didn't have the desired outcome as we fell to defeat! What is frustrating is that their 2nd and 3rd goals came from defensive mistakes of ours and we virtually gifted them a 3-1 lead! From this point on, our focus will be solely on the league campaign now!


Wednesday 26th December 2018
Vanarama National League South
Hemel Hempstead (Home)
Formation: 4-4-2

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**** sake lads...that is absolute dog ****! Losing at home to a side battling relegation is simply not good enough and the team were given a firm kick up the **** at full time!


Saturday 29th December 2018
Vanarama National League South
Dartford (Home)
Formation: 4-4-2

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One name, three words...Rhys Murrell-Williamson!! He was simply sensational here as we end the month on a high!


December Review; All in all, it's been a pretty poor month as we crashed out of both cups and only picked up one league win! Despite that, we just about manage to hold onto top spot, although the three teams below us do now have a game in hand! The top half of the table is extremely tight with only 8 points seperating 1st to 12th! At the bottom end, it's no so tight as St.Albans and Eastbourne start to fall away and look up against it to remain in the division this year!

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Player of the Month
Rhys Murrell-Williamson

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The midfielder should get it just for his performance against Dartford alone! But it is well deserved after scoring against Welling and Doncaster Rovers as well!


January Preview; The first month of 2019 will throw up 5 league games including two against other teams in the top 6 in Slough and Oxford City.

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​

 

[dporter8999]

Holding up well at the top there mate, though that loss to Hemel was atrocious(isn't Darren Ward at CB like 38?). Good to see you jump right back into a good save.

 

[FM_TNSSO]

January 2019

January 2019

Saturday 5th January 2018
Vanarama National League South
Truro City (Away)
Formation: 4-4-2

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Our first game of the New Year was meant to have been Concord on New Years Day but the game was called off because of a waterlogged pitch! It gave my team a little longer to recover after the busy Christmas period, although it didn't work in our favour as we were still turned over by Truro who complete the double over us this season! What really annoyed me about this result is that just before their equalizer, we had a 2 on 1 situation and if James Spruce had squared the ball to Obi, he would have had a tap in to put us 2-0 up. Instead, Spruce took it on himself and shot wide!! Might have been a completely different story had we scored a 2nd at that point!


Saturday 12th January 2018
Vanarama National League South
Slough Town (Home)
Formation: 4-4-2

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Our form has been indifferent of late, so this was a huge win against a team that were 2nd in the table at kick off! It was a proper ding dong battle, with both sides having the lead throughout the game, but it was an 83rd minute strike from Matty Whichelow that secured us a massive 3 points in the end!


Incoming Transfer; My latest addition to the squad is left full back, Chris Bush, who comes in on a free transfer. Chris has spent most of his career in the lower leagues playing over 250 games for the likes of Chelmsford, Ebbsfleet, Lincoln City and Welling, and brings some excellent experience to the team. He has some good stats and we might just be able to make use of that long throw he has to get balls into the box!

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Saturday 19th January 2018
Vanarama National League South
Chelmsford City (Away)
Formation: 4-4-2

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There's only one word I can use to describe our defending here and that's abysmal! We were an absolute shambles at the back from start to finish, looking disorganized from the very start! Some of the back 4 will certainly be getting dropped after today's performance!


Tuesday 22nd January 2018
Vanarama National League South
Concord Rangers (Away)
Formation: 4-4-2

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This was a bit of an odd game for us...we simply weren't in the game at all for the first hour but somehow found ourselves clinging on for dear life to a 1-0 lead. Then they scored the equalizer and all of a sudden we woke up and dominated the final 30 minutes, but couldn't find a winner!


Saturday 26th January 2018
Vanarama National League South
Oxford City (Home)
Formation: 4-4-2

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Really poor again and we were outclassed by Oxford City who were good value for their win! We've now only won 2 of our last 9 league games and a different approach may be in order!


January Review; Only 1 win in 5 this month as our poor form continues! We've dropped down to 7th in the league and remain in the playoff spots by the skin of our teeth! We need to turn this around quickly or we'll quickly drop out of the top 7 altogether with a whole host of teams breathing down our neck!

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Player of the Month
James Spruce

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The loanee striker bagged himself 4 goals in 5 games this month and with everyone else playing pretty poorly, this was enough for me to name him my Player of the Month.


February Preview; The shortest month of the year will present us with only 4 games and they're massive for us if we want to maintain a challenge for the playoff spots!

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[FM_TNSSO]

February 2019

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February 2019
Saturday 2nd February 2019
Vanarama National League South
Wealdstone (Away)
Formation: 4-1-4-1

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I tried a more defensive formation with the DM role and it definitely didn't work as we still conceeded 4 ****** goals! A great game for the neutral. but again our fans go home unhappy after another defeat and we really seem to be struggling for confidence at the moment!


Saturday 9th February 2019
Vanarama National League South
East Thurrock United (Home)
Formation: 4-2-3-1

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Another disappointing result after trying another tactical setup! I'm quickly running out of ideas and starting to feel grateful for our positive first half of the season which will save my job at this rate!


Outgoing Transfer; It was only a matter of time before a bigger club came in for the contractless Ogo Obi and he has finally made the move to Crewe! Losing our top goalscorer when we are in such a dire run of form is only going to add to our problems.

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Saturday 16th February 2019
Vanarama National League South
Gloucester City (Away)
Formation: 4-2-2-2

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We really are up **** creek!!


Saturday 23rd February 2019
Vanarama National League South
Dulwich Hamlet (Home)
Formation: 4-4-1-1

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I guess we have to see this draw against a top 6 side as a good result, considering our recent run of poor results! But it's still not enough to pick up the points we so desperately need to get us back into playoff contention!


February Review; Dear oh dear, it's been another terrible and winless month which saw us pick up only 2 points from a possible 12. This means we dropped down and out of the playoff spots for the first time this season and although we're still performing above the board's expectations it will be bitterly disappointing if we finish outside of the top 7 after such a great start!

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Player of the Month
Ricky Wellard

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Our main man in the middle of the park takes the award predominantly for good performances against Wealdstone and Thurrock...when the rest of the team plays so badly all month, only 1 really good game could be enough to win you this award at the moment!


March Preview; We've simply got to pick up at least a couple of wins next month to stay in the hunt for the playoffs and if we have another month like this past one, we'll probably be in a position to kiss goodbye to them!

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​

 

[FM_TNSSO]

March 2019

March 2019


Ricky Wellard's form last month was enough to earn him the Player of the Month for the National League South.

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Apparently, this year's youth intake has the potential to be a golden generation! Let's ****** hope so! There are six players here that have the potential to feature in the first team at some point in the future!

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At 16 years old, Paul Chambers-Brough is nearly good enough to get in the squad now...especially with how ***** my defence has been over the last couple of months!

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Tony Bird also looks like a decent prospect for the middle of the park! With a leadership rating of 12 already, are we looking at a future captain of the club?

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Saturday 2nd March 2019
Vanarama National League South
Chippenham Town (Away)
Formation: 4-4-2

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Back to the 4-4-2 with some slight tweaks and we pick up a point away at Chippenham in an entertaining end to end game that could have swung either way on the day! Full back, Chris Bush, bagged his first goal for the club!


Saturday 9th March 2019
Vanarama National League South
St.Albans City (Home)
Formation: 4-4-2

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We finally grab our first win in 9 games against bottom side, St.Albans, and in all honesty we absolutely trounced them, tucking away 4 of our 20+ chances on their goal! Craig Dundas took his tally to 15 for the season with a brace, whilst 19 year old Shadrac Malembe scored his first H&R goal in only his 2nd games for the club!


Player Watch; Young striker Shadrac Malembe just scored his first goal for the club after I promoted him to the first team from the U23s, following the departure of Ogo Obi from the club! To score in only his 2nd game is a big achievement for the youngster and he might just be able to step up and do it at this level!

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Saturday 23rd March 2019
Vanarama National League South
Torquay United (Home)
Formation: 4-4-2

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After our game against Hungerford was postponed because of a waterlogged pitch, we had a 2 week gap before this game against Torquay! This was a close game and both sides created plenty of half chances although the only real clear cut ones were the 2 penalties that were both tucked away well!


Tuesday 26th March 2019
Vanarama National League South
Hungerford Town (Away)
Formation: 4-4-2

View attachment 22848


We were the much better side here in our rearranged game with Hungerford and created some good chances...we just couldn't take them and have to settle for a point that really should have been all 3!


Contract Signed; The board offer me a 1 year contract extension to stay on for another season and I'm naturally delighted to accept!

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Saturday 30th March 2019
Vanarama National League South
Eastbourne Borough (Home)
Formation: 4-4-2

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What a strange game this was...we went a massive 6-0 up, and then completely switched off for the final half hour and allowed them to get 4 goals back!! And although we take the win and scored 6, I'm still pretty ****** that the lads switched off so badly in the last 30 mins! On the plus side, young striker Malemdbe scored on his first full start for the club and continues to show promise, whilst a 38 year old Craig Dundas bagged his first hat trick of the season!


March Review; A couple of wins and an unbeaten month is exactly what we needed to get our playoffs challenge back on track! It's completely in our hands now with 4 of our final 6 games of the season being against teams above us in the league! At the top, it looks like it's Billericay's title to lose now, whilst Eastbourne Boro and St.Albans relegation should be confirmed within the next game or 2!

View attachment 22845

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Player of the Month
Craig Dundas

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Our veteran striker has done the business for sure this month, scoring 7 goals in 5 games!


April Preview; A really tough month ahead, taking on 3 teams that sit above us in the league! It's time for us to show what we're made of now!

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​

 

[FM_TNSSO]

April 2019

April 2019


Craig Dundas's excellent goalscoring form last month has earned him the Player of the Month award for March.

View attachment 22822


Saturday 6th April 2019
Vanarama National League South
Woking (Away)
Formation: 4-4-2

View attachment 22821


We were pretty poor here and getting the month off to a losing start was not what I was looking for. I can't complain with the scoreline as we deserved nothing from the game!


Saturday 13th April 2019
Vanarama National League South
Billericay Town (Away)
Formation: 4-4-2

View attachment 22820


It was always going to be a tough ask to get a result away from home against the league leaders, but this defeat sees our playoff hopes slowly slipping away!


Saturday 20th April 2019
Vanarama National League South
Bath City (Home)
Formation: 4-4-2 (changed to 4-5-1 on 65 minutes)

View attachment 22819


After two defeats, this game had become a must win for us and although Bath were the better side for large periods, I'm delighted that we managed to come out on top with a narrow victory! The only goal of the game was Craig Dundas who continues to prove that age is just a number, with his 20th strike of the season!


Monday 22nd April 2019
Vanarama National League South
Welling United (Away)
Formation: 4-4-2

View attachment 22818


With only 2 days since our previous match, plenty of rotation was necessary which wasn't ideal against the side that's 3rd in the league! However, my fringe players came in and pulled off an amazing result that I really wasn't expecting! Young Shadrac Malembe scores his first senior hat trick and is looking like a real prospect!


Saturday 27th April 2019
Vanarama National League South
Hemel Hempstead Town (Away)
Formation: 4-4-2

View attachment 22817


If we wanted to stay in the hunt for a playoff spot, we had to win this game and to their credit, my lads worked really hard to take the 3 points here! That man, Craig Dundas popping up with another big goal for us to take the spoils!


April Review; It looked like it was going to be an awful month for us when we kicked it off with 2 defeats. However, we came back strongly and recorded three straight wins to move ourselves back into 7th place with only 1 game remaining!

View attachment 22816

View attachment 22815


Player of the Month
Yado Mambo

View attachment 22814


I could have given the award to a few different players this month, but I've decided to award it to Mambo as his defensive performance against Welling and Hemel were crucial in getting us the wins! It's also testament to the players character who has struggled to get into my side over the past couple of months, but now makes himself one of the first names of the teamsheet for the final game of the season!


May Preview; You couldn't write it...our final game of the season is against 8th placed Weston-super-Mare and the winner will take the final playoff spot! All to play for in a massive game for two sides who have already massively overachieved this season!

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​

 

[FM_TNSSO]

May 2019

May 2019


Saturday 4th May 2019
Vanarama National League South
Weston-super-Mare (Home)
Formation: 4-4-2

View attachment 22786


What a game to finish the season on and both sides spent different periods of the game in front, but it was a lack of discipline in the second half that ultimately cost us as we gave away two penalties and handed the win to our opponents!


League Table; The final table shows that we just missed out on the playoff places, by just 2 points in the end as Weston-super-Mare pinched it from us on the final day of the season! Still, we overachieved on a pre season prediction of 13th and it has to be seen as a good first season in charge and definitely gives us something to build on next year! Billericay were crowned champions, with Slough pushing them all the way after a fantastic season of their own! It's Gloucester, St.Albans and Eastbourne who will be relegated to the regional divisions.

View attachment 22785


The fan's were pretty torn over who should get their player of the season award this year, but it was wide man, Matty Whichelow who just pipped it in the end.

View attachment 22784


Our season review suggests it was a good (if up and down) season and we're described as a club on the rise!

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Dynamics; The players are right behind me and their support is invaluable as I look to establish myself at this club for the long term!

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The board are happy with my performance, with their only concern being the financial situation surrounding the club.

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Finances; The club are nearly £40k in the red, despite some good cup money this season and it's something I'll have to monitor closely next season!

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Squad; Looking at the squad stats, it was 38 years Craig Dundas that caught the eye with his 21 goals this season, whilst Rhys Murrell-Williamson also reached double figures from the left wing. Our wide midfield players offered the most creativity and both Murrell-Williamson and Whichelow topped the assists chart. Young Shadrac Malembe scored 6 goals in 11 games towards the end of the campaign and has showed promise for next season! Disappointingly, only 5 players finished the season with an average rating over 7.0!

View attachment 22779


Dulwich Hamlet will be joining Billericay in the National League next season after beating Slough in the playoff final.

View attachment 22778


Neither of the promoted club's managers won the prestigious manager of the year award. Instead, it went to Oxford City's Mark Jones, whilst I was voted a respectable 2nd!

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Incoming Transfer; My first signing of the Summer is wrapped up and it's Henry Cowans who will join on a free after being released by AFC Telford. The central midfielder has some great passing ability and will hopefully be able to spray the ball about from the centre of the park and initiate plenty of attacking moves for us next year! He'll be paid £275 per week and has signed a 1 year deal with the club!

View attachment 22776


Incoming Transfer; I quickly followed up the Cowans signing, with another addition to the squad. Winger, Nana Owusu will join on a free after his release from National League side, Maidenhead United, for whom he played 20 games last season! He's unlikely to be a first team regular but will act as a good backup and rotation player. Owusu has signed a 1 year deal on £180 per week.

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[FM_TNSSO]

English Football Roundup

English Football Roundup 2018/19


Premier League
Champions; Liverpool
Runners Up; Chelsea
Relegated; West Ham, Burnley, Cardiff City


Sky Bet Championship
Winners; Stoke City
Runners Up (Promoted); Derby County
Playoff Winners; Blackburn Rovers
Relegated; Birmingham City, Rotherham United, Ipswich Town


Sky Bet League One
Winners; Portsmouth
Runners Up (Promoted); Bradford City
Playoff Winners; Barnsley
Relegated; Rochdale, Accrington Stanley, Wycombe Wanderers, Blackpool


Sky Bet League Two
Winners; Mansfield Town
Promoted; Lincoln City, MK Dons
Playoff Winners; Port Vale
Relegated; Macclesfield Town, Tranmere Rovers


Vanarama National League
Winners; Aldershot Town
Playoff Winners; Ebbsfleet United
Relegated; Maidenhead United, Havant & Waterlooville, Barrow, Braintree Town


Vanarama National League North
Winners; York City
Playoff Winners; Stockport County
Relegated; Altrincham, Curzon Ashton, FC United of Manchester


Vanarama National League South
Winners; Billericay Town
Playoff Winners; Dulwich Hamlet
Relegated; Gloucester City, St.Albans City, Eastbourne Borough


FA Cup
Winners; Arsenal
Runners Up; Fulham


Carabao Cup
Winners; Chelsea
Runners Up; Arsenal


Community Shield
Winners; Chelsea
Runners Up; Manchester City


Checkatrade Trophy
Winners; Luton Town
Runners Up; Barnsley


FA Trophy
Winners; Ebbsfleet United
Runners Up; AFC Fylde
​

 

[FM_TNSSO]

June 2019

June 2019


Contracts Signed; I handed new deals to Ricky Wellard, Yado Mambo and Matty Whichelow who will stay on for another season with us! A few other players signed new deals, but these were probably the most significant for me.

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My Assistant Manager, Steve Taylor who joined me at the start of last season, has been poached by Notts County and joins them as Chief Scout.

View attachment 22769


Nas Bashir also joined my backroom team last season as Director of Football and has also been poached by a bigger club in Port Vale. On the plus side, we do receive nearly £30k compensation for this one which is a healthy boost to the club's finances.

View attachment 22768


Damian Locke (Assistant Manager) and Phil Bater (DoF) are the guys who I've brought in to replace Taylor and Bashir.

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Incoming Transfer; One thing we were lacking last season was a real workhorse in the central midfield role and it was something I was keen to rectify this Summer. Eddie Jones is the man I've brought in and with a work rate stat of 15, he'll be our hard working midfielder to chase down the ball, support attacks and chip in with defending as well playing a box to box midfielder role. Eddie joins on a free from Oxford City and has signed a 1 year contract with the club worth £475 per week making him the 3rd highest paid player at the club!

View attachment 22765


Fixtures Day; We'll kick off the new season at home to Chippenham before going away to newly promoted, Chesham! The opening month of the season will also present us with tough matches against playoff finalists, Slough, and Chelmsford who thrashed us 5-1 in our last meeting.

View attachment 22764


July Preview; We'll play 5 pre season friendlies next month against a mixed opposition. Hopefully the games against Sunderland, Southampton and Barnsley will bring in some decent revenue for the club and ensure we kick off the season with a positive bank balance.

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[FM_TNSSO]

July 2019

View attachment 22761


July 2019

Incoming Loan; We finally make use of our affiliation with Sunderland, bringing in 18 year old centre back, Andrias Edmundsson, on loan for the upcoming season. He's got some great defensive stats in marking, heading and tackling and could be a great addition at the back. Because of the affiliation, we are paying nothing towards his wages all season either.

View attachment 22760


Incoming Loan; Another season long loan deal and this time it's for Coventry striker, David Bremang. The young striker offers us some good pace up front which could prove to be lethal down at this level. His low work rate is a bit of a worry, but if I play him off the last man with a view to just running onto through balls, then it shouldn't matter too much! We'll contribute nothing towards his salary for the season, so it's very low risk for us if he does turn out to be a flop.

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Incoming Transfer; A permanent signing this time as right back, Marcel Elva-Fountaine joins the club on a free transfer. One of the weakest areas of our squad was the right back role, so I've been on the lookout for a new player for that position for the past couple of months and am happy to have finally secured Marcel's signature. He's immediately my best player in the right back position and at the age of 18, he still has some improvement in him too! Elva-Fountaine was released by Reading after coming through their youth setup, but is yet to make his competitive debut in English football. He's signed a 2 year contract with us on £450 per week.

View attachment 22758


Incoming Loan; Another addition to the front line this Summer is 20 year old, Joe White, who joins on a season long loan from Stevenage Borough. He spent half of last season at Chippenham on loan and scored 5 goals in 16 games and I'm hoping he can come on for that experience and bang in a few more for us this season.

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Title Odds; The bookies have us down for a top half finish this year, but expect us to just miss out on the playoffs again. We're only 5-1 for the title this year, in what looks like a much more competitive division without Billericay in the mix. It's recently relegated Maidenhead that they expect to top the pile!

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Despite the fact he is 38 years old, Craig Dundas is expected to be in the hunt for the top goalscorer award in the league this season!

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Whilst our new right back, Marcel Elva-Fountaine, is tipped to set the league alight this season and amongst the favourites to win the top player award.

View attachment 22754


July Review; Our pre season doesn't make for very pretty reading so far, with 4 defeats and a single win. However, we have to take into account that we've played much stronger opposition than we will be playing week in week out in our own division.

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August Preview; One more friendly to get out of the way, hopefully one we'll win against lower league opposition to give the lads a confidence boost before the competitive stuff begins! It's going to be a busy start to the campaign with no less than 6 league games to play in 3 weeks.

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​

 

[Hampus Silverholt]

That right back looks a very good signing. Is Steve Hornby a Maidenhead player or on loan? Must be very good to be predicted as the favourite to win the player of the year when he can't be older than 17!

 

[FM_TNSSO]

That right back looks a very good signing. Is Steve Hornby a Maidenhead player or on loan? Must be very good to be predicted as the favourite to win the player of the year when he can't be older than 17!

This is him...16 year old product of their youth intake last season. In 2 league games this season so far, he has 2 goals and 4 assists!!

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[FM_TNSSO]

August 2019

August 2019

Our final friendly of the pre season campaign ended in a nice big win to boost the lads before we get started with the competitive games again!

View attachment 22718


No changes to the captaincy for the upcoming season!

View attachment 22717


Again, we have no players in the media dream 11 for the upcoming season. Torquay are expected to be tough to break down this season as 3 of the back 4 play for them, whilst Maidenhead have both their wide men as well as a striker in the team.

View attachment 22716


Board Expectations; Despite the bookies fancying us for a top half finish this season, the board are keeping the pressure off me by only demanding a mid table finish!

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Saturday 10th August 2019
Vanarama National League South
Chippenham Town (Home)
Formation: 4-4-2

View attachment 22714


A fantastic game for the fans as the two sides created nearly 50 chances between them and scored some absolute crackers in the process. Ricky Wellard's 2nd for us was a 30 yard volley straight into the top corner and I'll be shocked if it doesn't win goal of the month! Either side could have nicked it on the day, but in the end a draw is probably a fair result!


We've picked up 3 extra season ticket holders on last year!

View attachment 22713


Tuesday 13th August 2019
Vanarama National League South
Chesham United (Away)
Formation: 4-4-2 (changed to 4-3-3 on 77 minutes)

View attachment 22712


Just like our first game, this one was end to end stuff for the full 90 minutes and one thing is guaranteed so far this season....come watch The Beavers and you'll see a good exciting game with loads of goals! Again, we have to share the spoils and again it's probably the fairest result for both sides on the day!


Saturday 17th August 2019
Vanarama National League South
Slough Town (Home)
Formation: 4-4-2 (changed to 4-3-3 Wide on 72 minutes)

View attachment 22711


True to form this season, there were loads of chances for both sides and the game ends in our 3rd straight draw. I guess this is a good result though based on the fact Slough made the playoff final last season after finishing 2nd.


Saturday 24th August 2019
Vanarama National League South
Truro City (Home)
Formation: 4-3-3 Wide

View attachment 22710


We have our first league win of the season and we were made to work hard for it by Truro. Finally, our defence was a little more stable and it was a winning goal from one of our own, 17 year old James Opoku who came off the bench to grab all 3 points for us!


Monday 26th August 2019
Vanarama National League South
Chelmsford City (Away)
Formation: 4-3-3 Wide

View attachment 22709


Last time we played Chelmsford, we were thumped 5-1, so this was a much better performance! Our tightest game of the season so far and our 4th draw in 5. However, it does keep us unbeaten!


Saturday 31st August 2019
Vanarama National League South
Salisbury FC (Away)
Formation: 4-3-3 Wide

View attachment 22708


We absolutely dominated this game, so it's a little disappointing that we only won the game by a single goal. A couple of defensive errors cost us, but luckily we were pretty clinical in front of goal ourselves and got the win that we deserved.


August Review; I'm pleased that we've managed an unbeaten start to the campaign, although a little disappointed to have only won 2 of our opening 6 games. We seem to be scoring plenty, but look fragile at the back and have failed to keep a clean sheet thus far! It's early days and the league is pretty tight and I'd expect our form over the coming couple of months to give more of an indication as to where we're at this season.

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Player of the Month
Ricky Wellard

View attachment 22705


My captain has made the most solid start to the season of any player, dictating games from the centre of the park and chipping in with 3 important goals as well.


September Preview; Another busy month ahead with 5 league games and our first qualifier in the FA Cup to play. The game against Hungerford stands out as they are, like us, unbeaten so far this season.

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