Beavering Away With Hampton & Richmond Borough

[FM_TNSSO]

September 2019

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September 2019


Saturday 7th September 2019
Vanarama National League South
Bath City (Home)
Formation: 4-3-3 Wide

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We'd been firmly in control of this game without finding the net and then it looked like we might lose the game when they took the lead completely against the run of play. However, the lads showed great character as we came back with 2 goals of our own to kick off September with a win!


We'll go away to minnows, Potters Bar Town, in the FA Cup later this month.

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Tuesday 10th September 2019
Vanarama National League South
Hungerford Town (Home)
Formation: 4-3-3 Wide

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Hungerford have made a terrific start to the season and came into this game having only lost 1 of their opening 7 games. However, we doubled that tally with a great defensive performance here and a single goal combined with our first clean sheet of the season was enough to take the spoils!


Saturday 14th September 2019
Vanarama National League South
Dartford (Away)
Formation: 4-3-3 Wide

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A terrible game for the fans as neither side created any decent chances and the match fizzled out into a bore draw.


Saturday 21st September 2019
FA Cup 2nd Qualifying Round
Potters Bar Town (Away)
Formation: 4-3-3 Wide

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We made harder work of this game than it needed to be but got the job done in the end and progress to the next round.


Bishop's Stortford await us in the next round of the FA Cup next month.

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Wednesday 25th September 2019
Vanarama National League South
Farnborough (Away)
Formation: 4-3-3 Wide

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We were the better side here, but suffer our first defeat of the season after struggling in front of goal! Gutted as we definitely didn't deserve to lose this one!


Saturday 28th September 2019
Vanarama National League South
East Thurrock United (Home)
Formation: 4-3-3 Wide

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Again, we weren't overly convincing here but we got the win and bounce back immediately from the defeat at Farnborough!


September Review; Only one loss to our name this month as we keep up a good level of form. Our lack of goals scored is a slight concern, although it hasn't punished us this month with the defence being rock solid as we kept 4 clean sheets! We're up to 3rd in the league, but just look at how close it is all the way down to 13th/14th place! A couple of wins or losses either way and you could dramatically drop down or climb the table.

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Player of the Month
Ollie Cook

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We've been pretty sound defensively this month and Ollie Cook has been at the heart of the back 4 with some solid performances!


October Preview; We kick off October with our next game in the FA Cup and with lower league opposition we should be looking to progress there! After that, we'll play another 4 league games, which will include our toughest game of the season so far away at Maidenhead.

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[FM_TNSSO]

October 2019

October 2019

Saturday 5th October 2019
FA Cup 3rd Qualifying Round
Bishop's Stortford (Away)
Formation: 4-3-3 Wide

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We squeak by Stortford on our way to the next round. I did rotate a fair few players for this one, so I'm not too disappointed that we didn't tear them apart and only narrowly won...job done and that's what matters!


We will welcome National League side, Dover Athletic, to the Beveree Stadium in the next round of the FA Cup. It will be a tough game, but having home advantage means we'll have a chance!

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Incoming Transfer; One area of the squad I've been looking to improve for months now is the goalkeeper position. Tom Lovelock has done a decent enough job for us but his stats are not great and the fact my assistant only rates him as 2.5 stars says it all. But after months of frustrating searches through a pretty poor range of available keepers, I have finally signed 23 year old Charlie Grainger who joins the club on a free transfer after being released by Leyton Orient in the Summer. Grainger has signed a 1 year deal worth £350 per week.

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Tuesday 8th October 2019
Vanarama National League South
Maidenhead United (Away)
Formation: 4-3-3 Wide

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I can't be too hard on the lads after this one. Maidenhead are the best team in this league and sit at the top of the division, but we gave as good as we got for 90 minutes and had some spells where we looked really good. Unfortunately, Bradley Goldberg was on top form today and his first goal was an absolute cracker from 25 yards that we could have done nothing about, whilst his 2nd they caught us on the break when we were pushing more men forward for an equalizer which was always going to be dangerous when they have two of the fastest wingers in the league to counter attack with!


Saturday 12th October 2019
Vanarama National League South
Weston-super-Mare (Away)
Formation: 4-3-3 Wide

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So there was a bit of unfinished business for us here against the side that nicked the final playoff spot from us on the last day of the season last year. However, we weren't quite able to get revenge on them with a win, but a draw is respectable considering they put 5 past us last time we met.


Incoming Transfer; I wasn't specifically looking to add anyone else to the team at this stage, but my scouts presented me with a player that I couldn't ignore! That player was central midfielder, Liam Bellamy, who joins on a free transfer after being released by Dagenham & Redbridge in the Summer. He played 16 times for them last season in the league above and most of his 197 league appearances have been at a level above ours! So the reason I felt I had to snap him up...well just look at that work rate...I've made it clear I'd like to build my team around hard working midfielders and Bellamy fits he bill perfectly! He also has some good stats in other areas to compliment his hard working nature too! Liam has signed a 1 year deal with the club worth £375 per week.

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Saturday 19th October 2019
FA Cup 4th Qualifying Round
Dover Athletic (Home)
Formation: 4-3-3 Wide

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I'm absolutely delighted to make it to the 1st round of the FA Cup again and well chuffed with the lads for such a good win against National League opposition here! We were outstanding and although we rode our luck a couple of times as Dover missed some good chances, we gave them a game here and nobody can say we didn't deserve to win this game! The pick of the goals was a cracking strike from 20 yards out as right back, Marcel Elva-Fountaine scored his first for the club!


We get another home draw in the next round of the FA Cup and will take on fellow National League South side, Slough Town.

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Monday 21st October 2019
Vanarama National League South
Wealdstone (Home)
Formation: 4-3-3 Wide

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We were lucky to get away with a draw here. We lacked creativity going forward and struggled to create any real good chances...luckily the defence did there bit and kept a clean sheet so we take a point when it could easily have been a defeat.


Saturday 26th October 2019
Vanarama National League South
Torquay United (Home)
Formation: 4-3-3 Wide (changed to 5-4-1 on 59 minutes)

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We were really poor in front of goal today and were punished by Torquay for failing to take our chances! The creativity is there, but the finishing touch really isn't at the moment!


October Review; I said at the end of last month that a couple of defeats could see you drop dramatically down the table and that's exactly what's happened to us here. We've gone from 3rd down to 11th after only picking up 2 points in the league this month! Our problems definitely lie in the attacking side of the game, failing to score in 3 of our league matches this month! I might have to look at the formation next month as clearly 1 up top is not working!

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Player of the Month
Marcel Elva-Fountaine

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Our right back has played well this month and with our attacking players struggling at the moment, the award was always going to go to a defender and Marcel has been by far the most consistent.


November Preview; Three league games to try to turn our form around next month and the first is likely to be the easiest of the three, so we have to treat that as a must win and will be trying a more attacking formation accordingly. We'll also take on Slough as we look to progress to the 2nd round of the FA Cup for the 2nd season in a row, whilst the draw for the FA Trophy will tell us who we'll play there next month!

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[FM_TNSSO]

November 2019

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November 2019


Saturday 2nd November 2019
Vanarama National League South
Concord Rangers (Away)
Formation: 4-4-2 Narrow Diamond

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Well that new formation worked a ****** treat! Both strikers scoring match ratings of 9+ and four goals banged in! Another positive is that even though we focused more on the attacking side of our game here, we still managed to keep a clean sheet and looked solid at the back! I'm well chuffed with this and I think I might just stick with the 4-4-2 narrow diamond for a couple more games ya know!


Incoming Transfer; I know both of my strikers just scored in the previous game, but I still wanted to strengthen the front line if possible...especially if I'm going to be playing with 2 up top for the foreseeable future. I've signed 21 year old Norman Wabo on a free transfer after he was released by Southend and the new man could be a great addition, based simply on the fact he can play pretty much every role up front. His all round stats are decent and again I'm going to point out that work rate as I continue to build a hard working side - I'm convinced hard work will outshine technical ability down at this level! Wabo has signed a deal to the end of the season on £325 per week.

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Saturday 9th November 2019
FA Cup 1st Round
Slough Town (Home)
Formation: 4-4-2 Narrow Diamond

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I fear we may have missed a massive opportunity to get through here. With home advantage and the fact we limited them to only 1 shot all game, if we could have just taken one chance we'd be in the next round now. Instead, we have to go to Slough for a replay and I don't think we'll have it all our own way at their place.


Saturday 16th November 2019
Vanarama National League South
Welling United (Home)
Formation: 4-4-2 Narrow Diamond

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One early goal was enough for us to win this game. One thing that has surprised me since I formed this new tactic is the defensive stability of it so far. I put a lot more emphasis on the attacking side of our play and expected to suffer a little on the defensive front but instead we've kept 3 straight clean sheets!


The draw for the 3rd qualifying round of the FA Trophy pits us against Enfield Town, a game we should be winning.

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Wednesday 20th November 2019
FA Cup 1st Round Replay
Slough Town (Away)
Formation: 4-4-2 Narrow Diamond

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I said we wouldn't have it all our own way in the replay and I was right. Slough pushed us all the way and although extra time is never ideal with the busy schedules down at this level, I'm pleased to have got through without the need of the dreaded shootout! Old boy, Craig Dundas was our extra time hero, popping up with a great half volley to move us into the 2nd round and bag another £18,000 in prize money!


We'll go away to National League North side, Guiseley, in the 2nd round of the FA Cup at the end of the month. They're sitting 7th in the table, having a similar season to ourselves and both sides will look at this tie as a winnable passage through to the 3rd round where the big boys come in!

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Incoming Transfer; With the extra money from the FA Cup success, I am taking a bit of a risk and taking us over the club's wage budget by £800 per week with this signing. It's another right back with a much more attacking nature in the form of 20 year old Joe Felix. Our new formation is very reliant on the full backs banging forward and providing the wide support to a narrow midfield and Joe is perfect for that role with good pace and crossing ability. He joins on a free, earning £210 per week, and has signed a contract to the end of next season.

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Saturday 23rd November 2019
Vanarama National League South
Oxford City (Away)
Formation: 4-4-2 Narrow Diamond

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Wholesale changes were made to the starting lineup after the exploits of 120 minutes played at Slough in midweek, and it definitely upset the team's fluency. Despite that, we still gave a decent account of ourselves and were unlucky to lose in the end.


Saturday 30th November 2019
FA Cup 2nd Round
Guiseley (Away)
Formation: 4-4-2 Narrow Diamond

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When you're down at this level and you make it to the 2nd round of the FA Cup and draw another National League North/South team, it presents both with a massive opportunity to make the 3rd round and play one of the big boys...an opportunity that hardly ever comes round! So with so much at stake, the question was 'which side would handle that pressure best and take the opportunity?'... And the answer was us!! A Ricky Wellard special was the difference between the two sides in what was a very even game, where both teams had and missed some good chances!


We've now taken over £70,000 in prize money from the FA Cup competition this season, plus gate receipts! Which is lucky as I'm nearly £1k per week over our wage budget so that money is keeping our heads above water at the moment! Now we'd love a home draw to a Premier League side please in the next round to give the finances a real boost!

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November Review; The new diamond formation has worked wonders in turning our form around this month and we're back in the playoff positions after winning 2 of our 3 league games! Progress through 2 rounds of the FA Cup was also achieved and we eagerly await the 3rd round draw in the hope of a nice home draw!

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Player of the Month
Ollie Cook

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The centre back has taken to the new formation like a duck to water and seems to be thriving! The link with a defensive midfielder seems to be doing wonders for him and long may this level of form continue!


December Preview; We kick off the festive month with our FA Trophy match against Enfield, before 5 more league games as we look to cement ourselves as genuine playoff contenders this season.

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[alexburns1088]

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[FM_TNSSO]

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Cheers mate. It's always good to hear that you guys are enjoying my writing and story style. I'm loving playing this save and am determined to take Hampton & Richmond to new heights!

 

[FM_TNSSO]

December 2019

December 2019


We were handed a really disappointing tie in the FA Cup 3rd round draw. We got the home tie we wanted, but only against League Two opposition, Blackpool, and it's unliekly the fans will pack out the stadium to see them...no offence to Blackpool of course!

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Tuesday 3rd December 2019
FA Trophy 3rd Qualifying Round
Enfield Town (Home)
Formation: 4-4-2 Narrow Diamond

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I rotated a few players and thought we would still comfortably beat Enfield, but I was wrong as they proved much more resilient than I expected! The other right ******* about this game is that I opted for the extra time option so my lads played an extra half an hour and have still got to play a replay!


Saturday 7th December 2019
Vanarama National League South
Havant & Waterlooville (Home)
Formation: 4-4-2 Narrow Diamond

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Back to winning ways in the league and a solid performance against another top 10 side!


Tuesday 10th December 2019
FA Trophy 3rd Qualifying Round Replay
Enfield Town (Away)
Formation: 4-4-2 Narrow Diamond

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34 shots to 4 and we only managed a 1-1 draw after 120 minutes!!! We got the job done in the shootout, but it really shouldn't have come down to that! Our finishing must be better lads!!


We'll now take on Maidenhead in the FA Trophy 1st round. A tough tie and despite our home advantage we'll do well to get through!

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Tuesday 17th December 2019
Vanarama National League South
Woking (Away)
Formation: 4-4-2 Narrow Diamond

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Woking came into this game top of the league, so we had a chance to make a statement...and we did exactly that by winning the game with relative ease. The stats and scoreline suggested a much closer game than this actually was and Woking's goal was their only real chance, whilst we could have had 4 or 5!!


Saturday 21st December 2019
FA Trophy 1st Round
Maidenhead United (Home)
Formation: 4-4-2 Narrow Diamond

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We'd dominated this whole game, but it took right up til the 91st minute for Norman Wabo to get the winner to see us through to the 2nd round. This was a really good win against a decent side!


We go away to league leaders, Woking, in the 2nd round of the FA Trophy next month!

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Thursday 26th December 2019
Vanarama National League South
Chippenham Town (Away)
Formation: 4-4-2 Narrow Diamond

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A solid away win on Boxing Day keeps up our run of good form! Craig Dundas bags his 5th of the season as he continues to prove he can mix it at this level despite being 2 months away from turning 39!


Saturday 28th December 2019
Vanarama National League South
Hemel Hempstead Town (Home)
Formation: 4-4-2 Narrow Diamond

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With only 2 days between games, I had to do some major shuffling in the starting lineup again and worried about the risk of making so many changes! However, if you're going to have to play your 'second string' then you'd want to do it against a side in the bottom 3, like Hemel Hempstead! And we took full advantage of our struggling opponents and recorded a good win, with 17 year old Tony Bird scoring his first senior goal.


Torquay have offered me the chance to interview for their vacant manager's job...an offer I quickly declined! I'm all about the long term project here at Hampton & Richmond and won't be going anywhere!

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Tuesday 31st December 2019
Vanarama National League South
Chesham United (Home)
Formation: 4-4-2 Narrow Diamond

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Despite having the better of the possession and more shots on goal, it was Chesham who had the better chances in this game and we're actually quite lucky to walk away with all 3 points! Young Tony Bird managed to make it 2 goals in 2 games as he continues to justify my choice to put him in the starting lineup despite only being 17 years old.


December Review; Oh I do love it when a new formation comes together!! It's been an incredible month after switching to a narrow 4-4-2 diamond formation as we go undefeated and record 7 straight wins in all competitions. We were really struggling to find the back of the net last month, but 14 goals in December is a much better return, whilst we've also kept things tight at the back, only conceeding 6 in 8. It moves us up to 3rd place in the league and hot on the heels of the leaders, but more importantly we have put a 10 point gap between us and 8th place as we bid to establish ourselves as genuine contenders to make the playoffs this year.

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Player of the Month
Marcel Elva-Fountaine

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Two goals and two assists from a right back in a month is an amazing effort! Marcel picks up his 2nd award of the season and he's been absolutely sensational throughout December and seems to be thriving in his new more attacking role.


January Preview; We'll take on Blackpool and Woking in the the two cups next month and both will be extremely tough ties and there's a chance we could drop out of both competitions. As far as league action goes, we will play another four games as we look to continue our winning streak with the new formation!

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[FM_TNSSO]

January 2020

January 2020


I kick off the new year with an award of my own as I take the Manager of the Month for December!

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Not quite a sell out for the upcoming game with Blackpool but not a bad turnout with over 3,000 fans expected. I really didn't think fans would flock to see Blackpool but it seems I was wrong and we should take some half decent gate money after all.

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Saturday 4th January 2020
FA Cup 3rd Round
Blackpool (Home)
Formation: 4-4-2 Narrow Diamond

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Ah if only Craig Dundas had put the **** penalty away!! I was expecting us to get a good hiding here but it never came and even without the penalty, we created the best chances and really should have won the game! I'm sure Blackpool will be a much better side in the replay at their place, but I'm happy to get another shot at them! This game brought in nearly £23,000 in gate receipts too...a massive boost for the club financially!


Saturday 11th January 2020
Vanarama National League South
Chelmsford City (Home)
Formation: 4-4-2 Narrow Diamond

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Our midweek game with Slough was postponed which gave us a welcome rest before this one! And how we didn't win here, I'll never know! My strikers have had an absolute nightmare in front of goal!


Wednesday 15th January 2020
FA Cup 3rd Round Replay
Blackpool (Away)
Formation: 4-4-2 Narrow Diamond

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I'm exceptionally proud of my lads after a sterling effort here. Over the course of two games, I'd go as far to say we were the better side and deserve to be the ones going through to play Bournemouth in the next round. However, it wasn't to be and our FA Cup adventure ends here this season!


Saturday 18th January 2020
FA Trophy 2nd Round
Woking (Away)
Formation: 4-4-2 Narrow Diamond

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After 3 games without scoring, we ran absolutely rampant here as we thrashed Woking to progress to the 3rd round of the FA Trophy. Fair to say that long balls over the top were the order of play today as centre back Ollie Cook bagged himself two assists!


We go away to Dagenham & Redbridge in the 3rd round of the FA Trophy next month! With Dagenham sitting rock bottom of the National League, their confidence might be low coming into the game and we'll fancy ourselves to cause an upset.

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Saturday 25th January 2020
Vanarama National League South
Salisbury FC (Home)
Formation: 4-4-2 Narrow Diamond

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We're firmly back to scoring ways again with another 3 here against relegation battlers, Salisbury! With us at different ends of the table, I'd have been disappointed not to win this one and I'm glad to get another 3 points in the bag!


January Review; With our final match of January against Slough Town postponed due to a waterlogged pitch, we finish the month in 3rd but with a couple of games in hand on the top 2! The question on everyone's lips is can the Beavers mount a title challenge this season?

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Player of the Month
Chris Bush

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My left back has been fantastic this month with some high match ratings, a couple of assists and even a goal!


February Preview; The lads are going to be absolutely ****** at the end of next month after playing 8 games in just 4 weeks! With 7 of those games being in the league, it's likely to be make or break on the title challenge front, whilst we'll have National League side Dag & Red to overcome in the FA Trophy!

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[FM_TNSSO]

February 2020

February 2020


Saturday 1st February 2020
Vanarama National League South
Bath City (Away)
Formation: 4-4-2 Narrow Diamond

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Disappointing not to get the win here after completely dominating Bath for 90 minutes! They scored their only real significant chance whilst we squandered a couple of good ones! Definitely a case of 2 points dropped here rather than 1 point gained!


Tuesday 4th February 2020
Vanarama National League South
Truro City (Away)
Formation: 4-4-2 Narrow Diamond

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Pleased to quickly get back to winning ways, but again we made hard work of it struggling to take our chances despite creating plenty! Thankfully, a solid defensive performance meant a single goal was enough to get the 3 points!


Saturday 8th February 2020
FA Trophy 3rd Round
Dagenham & Redbridge (Away)
Formation: 4-4-2 Narrow Diamond

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Although having to play another game is not ideal, I will take the replay here as I think we deserve another pop at them and I really think we can turn them over at home!


Wednesday 12th February 2020
FA Trophy 3rd Round Replay
Dagenham & Redbridge (Home)
Formation: 4-4-2 Narrow Diamond

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And I was right...we were able to topple the National League side with home advantage. Ricky Wellard had been rested for the last game, but back in the team he made the difference here with a great goal and a man of the match performance....a true captain!


At the end of the month we'll go away to another National League side, Bromley, in the FA Trophy 4th Round!

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Saturday 15th February 2020
Vanarama National League South
Hungerford Town (Away)
Formation: 4-4-2 Narrow Diamond

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We simply couldn't cope with Hungerford's attacking play here! A big defeat against a team sitting just behind us in the table!


Tuesday 18th February 2020
Vanarama National League South
Slough Town (Away)
Formation: 4-4-2 Narrow Diamond

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WHAT.A.GAME!! This literally had everything...loads of goals, some shocking defending, hat tricks, goalkeeping errors and sending offs! And after all that, it was us that came out on top!


Saturday 22nd February 2020
Vanarama National League South
Farnborough (Home)
Formation: 4-4-2 Narrow Diamond

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Farnborough obviously came here with a game plan of exploiting our dodgy defence/keeper after we conceded 4 in the last game, as they were shooting from all over the place (hence racking up 15 apparent chances). However, we were much more solid today and again devastating in attack, meaning we countered their tactics perfectly and recorded a nice big home win!


Tuesday 25th February 2020
Vanarama National League South
Dartford (Home)
Formation: 4-4-2 Narrow Diamond

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A game of two halves as we really wern't in the first and struggled to have any sort of impact on the game. However, after a good kick up the **** at half time, the lads did me proud in the 2nd and looked like a different team as we fought back to earn a good home win against another side battling to make the playoffs!


This year's youth intake certainly wasn't of the same quality as last season, but there's still a couple of players who could 'make it' at this level. Full back, Les Stuart, looks the most promising!

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Saturday 29th February 2020
FA Trophy 4th Round
Bromley (Away)
Formation: 4-4-2 Narrow Diamond

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It was Bromley who knocked us out of this competition in the 1st round last season, and again they conquered us here! A little frustrating this year though as we were definitely the better side, but a lapse in concentration late on enabled them to nick a winner!


February Review; Considering my team had to play a game virtually every 3 days this month, they coped with the busy schedule extremely well and we managed to have a really good month! Only one defeat in the league means we sit 2nd, 4 points behind Maidenhead but with a game in hand! We're a good 11 points clear in the playoff spots now, so unless we have a complete meltdown we should definitely finish in the top 7! At the bottom end, Bath City look extremely likely to be relegated after being predicted a 7th place finish at the start of the campaign!!

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Player of the Month
Norman Wabo

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My newest striker hasn't exactly set the world alight since joining, but this month has been a **** of a lot better as he seems to be settling into some decent form. Three goals and two assists is a decent return and I hope he can continue to improve over the last 11 games of the season.


March Preview; The stand out fixture next month is that huge game with Maidenhead!!

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[FM_TNSSO]

March 2020

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March 2020


Tuesday 3rd March 2020
Vanarama National League South
East Thurrock United (Away)
Formation: 4-4-2 Narrow Diamond

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Not the way I wanted to kick off an important month for us. We were not good enough today and both of their goals were far too easy for them as our defence had a bad day at the office!


Saturday 7th March 2020
Vanarama National League South
Maidenhead United (Home)
Formation: 4-4-2 Narrow Diamond

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That 91st minute winner from Momodou Touray could have massive implications on the title race as it moves Maidenhead 7 points clear of us at the top with only 9 games remaining! Are we simply playing for the playoffs now?!


Milestone; Our next game away at Wealdstone will be my 100th in charge of Hampton & Richmond Borough. At this stage, my record reads played 99, won 49, drawn 25 and lost 25. That's a win ratio of 49%!

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Saturday 14th March 2020
Vanarama National League South
Wealdstone (Away)
Formation: 4-4-2 Narrow Diamond

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This game had all of a sudden become a huge fixture after losing our last two games. Wealdstone were sat just behind us in 3rd at kick off and would jump us into 2nd with a win. However, my lads upped their performance from the previous couple of games and we grabbed a vital win that instead puts 6 points between us and Wealdstone in the table! Unfortunately, Maidenhead managed to win again though so stay 7 points ahead of us at the top!


Saturday 21st March 2020
Vanarama National League South
Weston-super-Mare (Home)
Formation: 4-4-2 Narrow Diamond

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Not sure how we only won this by such a narrow scoreline, but a win's a win and we'll take it all day long! Our football was brilliant at times here, it's just a shame our strikers aren't prolific in front of goal.


Incoming Loan; I've added 19 year old attacking midfielder, Morgan Roberts, to the squad for the final few games of the season. He will add a different dimension to our attacking play and we will certainly see him involved in some of our last few matches! Let's hope he can have an impact! Roberts joins from Northampton Town until the end of the season and will cost us nothing!

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Contract Signed; Another 1 year contract extension was offered and again I'm delighted to accept, even if I was a little disappointed to be only offered a 1 year deal.

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Saturday 28th March 2020
Vanarama National League South
Torquay United (Away)
Formation: 4-4-2 Narrow Diamond

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A poor performance and a poor result as well. We didn't create anything clear cut here, looking sloppy in attack, whilst they looked slick entering our half and created some great chances which they put away well.


March Review; Our form has taken a serious dip this month and it's left Maidenhead 8 points clear of us with only 6 games remaining. It's their title to lose now and we're probably playing for a spot in the top 3 to give us an easier ride in the playoffs now.

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Player of the Month
Ricky Wellard

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Everyone's individual form dipped this month and Ricky Wellard takes the player of the month after his goals and match ratings in only 2 of our 5 games this month!


April Preview; Five games coming up next month, three of which will be at home! The biggest of them all will be the Oxford City fixture which is likely to have a major impact on the final placings!

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​

 

[FM_TNSSO]

April 2020

April 2020


Saturday 4th April 2020
Vanarama National League South
Welling United (Away)
Formation: 4-4-2 Narrow Diamond

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After last month, it was important to kick off April with a win and the lads duly delivered! A really good performance away at Welling who are a decent side, albeit struggling a little this year! With my strikers struggling in March, it's good to see both White and Bremang get on the scoresheet immediately in April!


Saturday 11th April 2020
Vanarama National League South
Concord Rangers (Home)
Formation: 4-4-2 Narrow Diamond

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A nice big home win against a side that really came here to attack us with their 4-3-3 flat formation! Concord managed to create plenty of chances, but the narrow attacking formation they played left loads of gaps for us to exploit and we did it perfectly and helped ourselves to 4 goals!


With the win against Concord, we secured ourselves a guaranteed playoff spot! Now the aim is to ensure we finish in the top 3 to avoid an extra game and gain home advantage!

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Monday 13th April 2020
Vanarama National League South
Oxford City (Home)
Formation: 4-4-2 Narrow Diamond

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We were all over them for a full 90 minutes and even continued to dominate after going down to 10 men! However, we have strikers who have more off days than on, whilst they have Kabongo Tshimanga who only needs two chances to score two goals! The ******* has now scored a total of 4 goals in 4 games against us, and we've not managed to beat them yet in any of those 4 meetings!


Saturday 18th April 2020
Vanarama National League South
Havant & Waterlooville (Away)
Formation: 4-4-2 Narrow Diamond

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Our defence is a bit leaky at the moment and it has cost us here. We had 18 shots to their 5 but still have to settle for a single point after they managed to put 2 chances in the back of the net! We must do better at the back and maybe a change across the back line might be in order for the next game.


Saturday 25th April 2020
Vanarama National League South
Woking (Home)
Formation: 4-4-2 Narrow Diamond

View attachment 21785


This game had big consequences for both sides. Woking were 7th at kick off and the defeat leaves them 10th and virtually no chance of qualifying for the playoffs, whilst the victory for us means we're guaranteed a top 3 finish and will have to play one less playoff game. Henry Cowans was our hero this afternoon, coming off the bench to bag the winner!


April Review; Much better this month with only 1 defeat on record! Ten points taken ensures that we will finish in the top 3 and have an easier route in the playoffs! Maidenhead are champions and it will come down to the final game to see who finishes 2nd and 3rd between us and Wealdstone. Chelmsford and Bath have both had their relegation confirmed this month...two teams that were expected to finish in the top half of the table!!

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Player of the Month
Chris Bush

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The wing back has been in superb form this month with a goal and 3 assists! Defensively, he was quality against Havant as well, making 7 tackles in that game of which 6 he won!


May Preview; At this stage, we have just one fixture showing against 20th placed Hemel Hempstead who need something from the game to stay up! However, we know there will be more fixtures with the playoff game/s to come!

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​

 

[FM_TNSSO]

May 2020

May 2020


Saturday 2nd May 2020
Vanarama National League South
Hemel Hempstead Town (Away)
Formation: 4-4-2 Narrow Diamond

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A Joe White hat trick secured us victory on the final day of the season! Leaking another 2 goals to another side at the bottom end of the table is not good enough though!


Final League Table; Our final day win over Hemel Hemstead sees them relegated, whilst we leapfrog Wealdstone into 2nd place! It means we'll take on the winners of Oxford City vs Truro in the Playoff Semi Final!

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Bollocks...It's Oxford City that we'll play in the Playoff Semi Final. I say bollocks as we've failed to beat them in any of our 4 meetings with them, losing 3!

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Saturday 9th May 2020
Vanarama National League South Playoff Semi Final
Oxford City (Home)
Formation: 4-4-2 Narrow Diamond

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Get in there!! We end our run of 4 games without beating Oxford City and no better time to do it than in the playoffs! Jack Cowgill was the unlikely hero for us today as he scored 2 goals, both headers from set pieces! However, the most important action of the entire match from our point of view was an incredible double save pulled off by Charlie Grainger in the 94th minute, which ensured the game didn't go to extra time!


We'll play Wealdstone in the Playoff Final! Our record against them currently reads won 1, drawn 2, lost 1!

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Saturday 16th May 2020
Vanarama National League South Playoff Final
Wealdstone (Home)
Formation: 4-4-2 Narrow Diamond

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We have nobody to blame but our strikers for this final defeat. We created some brilliant chances and our strikers missed them all....even to the point where Norman Wabo missed a point blank free header from 2 yards, and an open goal!! A disappointing end to what has been a wonderful season!


Retirement; Last season's top goalscorer, Craig Dundas, has retired from playing football.

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A number of players were inducted into the overall best eleven this season, with Charlie Grainger, Liam Bellamy and David Bremang all going straight into the starting lineup!

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Awards; Chris Bush is the man the fan's voted as their player of the season this year and it was actually 3 defenders that all finished in the top 3!

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Season Review; It's been a good year and we've seen significant improvement on last season in all three competitions so some solid progress has been made, which is all I can ask for! Although disappointing to lose the playoff final, we will be back next year to have another go!

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Board Confidence; The bosses are again over the moon with my performance this season!

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Budgets; Again, there will be no transfer budget next season but the wage budget has been risen by £1,000 per week which should enable me to improve the squad!

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Affiliate; The lack of young talent available from Sunderland over the past two seasons has been a little disappointing, so I have decided to terminate the link with the Black Cats. The board have agreed to go find me a new senior affiliate so we'll see who they come up with!

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I've gone one better than last season and won the Manager of the Season award for the National League South!

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​

 

[FM_TNSSO]

English Football Roundup

English Football Roundup 2019/20


Premier League
Champions; Liverpool
Runners Up; Arsenal
Relegated; Derby, Huddersfield, Blackburn

Sky Bet Championship
Winners; West Ham
Runners Up (Promoted); Middlesbrough
Playoff Winners; Norwich
Relegated; Barnsley, Bradford City, Bolton

Sky Bet League One
Winners; Ipswich Town
Runners Up (Promoted); Sunderland
Playoff Winners; Burton Albion
Relegated; Plymouth Argyle, Walsall, Doncaster Rovers, Coventry City

Sky Bet League Two
Winners; Rochdale
Promoted; Exeter City, Colchester United
Playoff Winners; Swindon Town
Relegated; Ebbsfleet, Oldham

Vanarama National League
Winners; Tranmere Rovers
Playoff Winners; Chesterfield
Relegated; Boreham Wood, Harrogate, Dagenham & Redbridge, Solihull Moors

Vanarama National League North
Winners; Barrow
Playoff Winners; AFC Telford
Relegated; Farsley, Merthyr, Braintree

Vanarama National League South
Winners; Maidenhead United
Playoff Winners; Wealdstone
Relegated; Hemel Hempstead, Chelmsford City, Bath City

FA Cup
Winners; Manchester City
Runners Up; Manchester United

Carabao Cup
Winners; Arsenal
Runners Up; Manchester City

Community Shield
Winners; Arsenal
Runners Up; Liverpool

Checkatrade Trophy
Winners; Rochdale
Runners Up; Arsenal U23s

FA Trophy
Winners; FC Halifax
Runners Up; Hartlepool
​

 

[FM_TNSSO]

June 2020

June 2020

Affiliate; Our new senior affiliate is Birmingham City. Let's hope they have some decent players I can get in on loan next year!

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Fixtures Day; The league fixtures are released for next season's campaign and we'll kick off with a tough away day at Oxford City!

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Incoming Transfer; My first signing this Summer is centre back, Ajolabi Coker, who will join on a free from Hungerford! The 24 year old was in great form for them last season, playing 26 games in the league and recording an average rating of 7.13! Coker will earn £325 per week and has signed a 1 year deal.

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​

 

[NashBigginss]

Gutted for you mate! Good season nonetheless, a decent FA Cup run and a 2nd placed finish! I can picture how your play off final went already, I've seen how brilliant and infuriating Norman Wabo can be!

 

[FM_TNSSO]

Gutted for you mate! Good season nonetheless, a decent FA Cup run and a 2nd placed finish! I can picture how your play off final went already, I've seen how brilliant and infuriating Norman Wabo can be!

He is, without a doubt, the most frustrating player on my save so far!!

 

[FM_TNSSO]

July 2020

July 2020

Three players were released this Summer. Both wide men, Whichelow and Owusu, as they are not needed with our new narrow formation! Also Ricky Wellard, our captain, decided to retire from playing and only time will tell how much he'll be missed!

View attachment 21439


Incoming Loan; Newport County's 19 year old striker, Liam Bishop, joins us on loan for the upcoming campaign. He will add a little pace up front and has great heading ability despite his 5ft 7" stature. We won't contribute anything towards his salary for the year, but I hope he can make an impact here!

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Incoming Transfer; My second permanent signing of the Summer is Jamie Reynolds who joins on a free from Boreham Wood. He's a versatile player who is accomplished at both left back and central midfield which will make him a great squad player! Reynolds has signed a 1 year deal on £625 per week.

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Incoming Transfer; Well, we shouldn't get done by too many balls over the top this coming season with new signing, Tobi Omole in the team! This is a real coup for us, capturing the young Nigerian who has come through the Arsenal youth before being released by the Gooners last month! He might be a centre back, but just look at that pace and acceleration...he'll outrun most strikers and wingers in this league! His defensive stats ain't too bad either and he can even pick a pass! The 20 year old immediately becomes one of our best players at the club and has signed a 1 year deal on £775 per week.

View attachment 21436


Incoming Transfer; 18 year old Nathaniel Orafu can play both defensive midfield and central midfield roles and is a talented youngster with some great tackling and passing stats, combined with a good work rate! He was released by QPR after coming through their youth system and again I feel he's a really good signing for us! Orafu signs a 1 year deal on £400 per week!

View attachment 21435


The bookies have released their odds for the upcoming season and this year, we're predicted to be right up there and amongst the leaders in the division! With a 4th placed finish predicted and short odds of only 3-1 to win the league, the pressure is on to mount a challenge! The two relegated sides, Boreham Wood and Dag & Red are expected to lead the way!

View attachment 21434


Pre Season; Our friendlies have gone pretty much as expected...we recorded two good wins over lower league opposition, whilst the likes of AFC Wimbledon, Raith and Birmingham were too strong for us! On the other hand, that was a fantastic draw with a strong Bournemouth side!!

View attachment 21433


August; Looking ahead to next month, we'll have a week's rest before the competitive stuff begins! Oxford City will present very tough opponents on the opening day and with 6 games in the month, we'll should have a good indication as to how our new signings have bedded in and how the team is playing by the end of August!

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​

 

[FM_TNSSO]

August 2020

August 2020


With Ricky Wellard having retired, I needed to select a new captain for the upcoming season. The honour has gone to centre back, Ollie Cook, whilst Eddie Jones will be his backup!

View attachment 21246


With the season about to kick off, I thought I'd take a look at the media dream 11 for the upcoming campaign. The entire team is made up of Boreham Wood and Dag & Red players....easy to see why they are the two hot favourites for the title!

View attachment 21245


Expectations; The board have upped the pressure a bit more this season and are demanding a playoff spot after we finished runners up last season! They'd also like to see us get to at least the 1st round of the FA Cup again as well!

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Saturday 8th August 2020
Vanarama National League South
Oxford City (Away)
Formation: 4-4-2 Narrow Diamond

View attachment 21243


Oxford City have been a tough opponent for us over the past couple of seasons, but today was a different story! From the off, it looked like it was going to be a case of how many we would score after hitting the woodwork twice in the opening 15 minutes! As it happens, we only managed to score 1, but Jamie Reynolds late debut goal was enough to secure us an opening day victory!


Season ticket sales continue to rise, if only very very slowly!

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Tuesday 11th August 2020
Vanarama National League South
Concord Rangers (Home)
Formation: 4-4-2 Narrow Diamond

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Another completely dominant performance and another winning goal from Jamie Reynolds! Does this guy realise he's a wing back?!


Injury; Right back Marcel Elva-Fountainewill miss a couple of months after going off injury against Concord!

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Saturday 15th August 2020
Vanarama National League South
Havant & Waterlooville (Away)
Formation: 4-4-2 Narrow Diamond

View attachment 21239


H&W had also won their opening 2 games of the season, so this was set to be a good match up! However, it was actually a rather one sided affair in our favour and we cruised to a comfortable away win! Norman Wabo seems to have started the season in decent form and I hope he can maintain a higher level of consistency than last year!


Injury; With Marcel Elva-Fountaine already out, the last thing I needed was to lose my other right back, Joe Felix, for up to 6 weeks!!

View attachment 21238


Incoming Loan; Our injury crisis at right back meant I needed to dip into the loan market to bring in a temporary replacement. AFC Telford's Ross White has joined us on a 2 month loan and we will be covering 100% of his £350 per week salary for the duration! Let's hope he can step straight in and do a job for us!

View attachment 21237


Saturday 22nd August 2020
Vanarama National League South
Basingstoke Town (Home)
Formation: 4-4-2 Narrow Diamond

View attachment 21236


We keep up our 100% record with another solid home performance! We have made an impressive start to the league campaign this year, dominating all 4 of our opening games and I hope this is a statement of intent from my lads!


Tuesday 25th August 2020
Vanarama National League South
Hungerford Town (Home)
Formation: 4-4-2 Narrow Diamond

View attachment 21235


Again we get the job done with our 3rd straight 2-0 win! Hungerford offered very little in the way of attack here and they struggled to get anywhere near our goal as the new defensive additions look to be pretty solid so far!


Saturday 29th August 2020
Vanarama National League South
Salisbury FC (Away)
Formation: 4-4-2 Narrow Diamond

View attachment 21234


It was our clinical finishing that was the difference today. Liam Bishop came back into the starting lineup and finished off two chances with expert accuracy, whilst the 4th from Eddie Jones was a beautifully curling shot from just inside the box to cap things off! I feel a little for Salisbury as they didn't deserve to be on the end of such a heavy scoreline, but we were just great in front of goal!


August Review; Well in 2 years of being manager at this football club, I've just recorded my first perfect month! We kicked off the season in fantastic form, 6 wins from 6 and sit pretty at the top of the table! Early days I know, but this a statement and a half from us!

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Player of the Month
Jamie Reynolds

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One of my new signings has made a great start to his Hampton & Richmond career! Does this guy realise he's a ****** left back...he's scored 4 goals in 5 games and is our top goalscorer!!


September Preview; We kick off next month with a home game against newly promoted Carshalton, before an away day at 2nd placed Woking! We'll also have our first FA Cup game of the season next month!

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​

 

[FM_TNSSO]

September 2020

View attachment 21101

September 2020


With a 100% record, I win the Manager of the Month award for August!

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Saturday 5th September 2020
Vanarama National League South
Carshalton Athletic (Home)
Formation: 4-4-2 Narrow Diamond

View attachment 21099


We drop points for the first time this season and I can mostly put it down to the first half sending off of Liam Bellamy! Playing nearly an hour with 10 men is never ideal, so I have to be pleased with a point!


We'll go away to Barnstaple Town in the FA Cup later this month! A game against lower league opposition that we'll be favourites to win!

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Tuesday 8th September 2020
Vanarama National League South
Woking (Away)
Formation: 4-4-2 Narrow Diamond

View attachment 21097


Woking leapfrogged us to the top of the table after inflicting our first defeat of the season on us here! We were slow out of the blocks and after Woking raced into a 2-0 lead inside the opening 6 minutes, we were always up against it and never recovered!


Saturday 12th September 2020
Vanarama National League South
Welling United (Home)
Formation: 4-4-2 Narrow Diamond

View attachment 21096


We immediately bounce back from our first defeat with a good home win against a decent Welling side! Eddie Jones scored another absolute cracker here with a gorgeous free kick from 30 yards in the final seconds of the game!


Saturday 19th September 2020
FA Cup 2nd Qualifying Round
Barnstaple Town (Away)
Formation: 4-4-2 Narrow Diamond

View attachment 21095


I rested a load of players for this one and the fringe team that came in got the job done...just!! A single goal was enough despite us having nearly 20 shots!


More lower league opposition in the next round of the FA Cup, this time in the form of Hythe Town.

View attachment 21094


Tuesday 22nd September 2020
Vanarama National League South
Truro City (Away)
Formation: 4-4-2 Narrow Diamond

View attachment 21093


A solid defensive effort was what won us this game. The whole back 4 played really well and that clean sheet combined with a late goal from substitute, Shadrac Malembe, meant we took all 3 points!


Saturday 26th September 2020
Vanarama National League South
Slough Town (Home)
Formation: 4-4-2 Narrow Diamond

View attachment 21092


A great game for the fans...proper end to end stuff for 90 minutes! Neither team really deserved to lose so a draw is probably fair!


September Review; Our form took a bit of a dip this month, but we were still able to hold on to top spot in the table! The favourites Boreham Wood are gradually closing in and we'll have to play well next month to hold them off and retain 1st place for a bit longer!

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Player of the Month
Jamie Reynolds

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Reynolds takes it again after another great month! This guy is proving to be a fantastic signing for us and it's now becoming clear why I had to make him our highest paid player to secure his signature!


October Preview; We kick off the month with the next qualifier in the FA Cup before a busy schedule of 6 league games! On the last day of the month, we'll have a big clash with league favourites Boreham Wood and it's important to go into that game in decent form!

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​

 

[dporter8999]

MOTM curse struck, though you did well to win a couple and get through in the cup!

 

[FM_TNSSO]

MOTM curse struck, though you did well to win a couple and get through in the cup!

****** hate winning the thing sometimes as the curse seems to strike virtually every time!