Best of British... Making A Mark In South East England!

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April 2018 Update



April 2018 Update

We started the month well with back to back victories, but then suffered 2 draws and a horror final day of the season which saw us drop from 2nd to 4th in the space of 90 minutes. So with a 4th place finish, it means we don't get an automatic pass to the semi finals of the playoffs and will have to do it the hard way. However, I should really go into these playoffs with an open mind and no real pressure as we have already massively overachieved this season with us only predicted a mid to top half finish at the start of the campaign.

Torquay win the title by a clear 3 points in the end as they didn't finish too strong either. Hartlepool sneak the final place in the playoffs and join ourselves, Macclesfield, Dagenham & Redbridge, Gateshead and Aldershot to see who can gain promotion.

Two local teams to me, both Bromley and Maidstone, have been relegated. Dover Athletic and Solihull Moors will be joining them in the lower divisions next year.

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The Games...
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A tighter game than I would have liked but we come through it with a good defensive performance and a clean sheet as we scrape the 1-0 win. Bromley look in real trouble now in their battle against relegation.

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Another fantastic defensive performance earns us back to back 1-0 wins.

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The away game against Hartlepool earlier in the season was epic, ending in a 6-4 victory for us. This was a lot closer with both sides defending much better and I was pleased to get the well earned 1-1 draw against the most in form side in the league.

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On the face of it, this is a decent draw away from home. But unfortunately, this was the result which meant Torquay were confirmed champions of the National League.

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As we went into this game in 2nd place, we could still finish 4th if we lost this and Gateshead got a win against Leyton Orient. Now this was such a **** way to end the regular league campaign and we didn't deserve to be on the end of such a thumping after our overall performance this year. And to make matters worse, Gateshead beat Leyton Orient 3-2 to send us from 2nd to 4th on the final day, meaning we won't get a pass straight to the semi finals of the playoffs.

Player of the Month

Ross+Worner+AFC+Wimbledon+v+Northampton+Town+7_bRybvDip4l.jpg


Ross Worner
GK

Appearances: 5
Clean Sheets: 3
Assists: 0
Shots Saved: 8
Average Rating: 6.86

Nobody really shone this month to be honest so I've given my player of the month award to Ross Worner for his 3 clean sheets, although I have to give a mention to the whole defence who all played their part.

Three More Injuries!

With the playoffs looming, we really don't need injuries at the moment, but that's exactly what we've got as we lose 3 more first team starters.

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Playoff Draw

We've drawn Hartlepool in the first round of the playoffs. A really difficult draw against the team with arguably the best form in the final 3rd of the season.

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Playoffs



Playoffs

Only 6 minutes into this game, we lost left back Aswad Thomas to injury. With all our other full backs out injured, we had no direct replacement on the bench, so I was forced into major tactical changes unfamiliar with anything we had played all season. I'm not going to lie, I stood there on the touchline feeling a little bit sorry for myself and the team....all these injuries have come right at the wrong time and all together, and I had no doubt that was what had cost us any chance of progressing as Hartlepool raced into a 2-0 lead. A late goal from Moses Emmanuel gave us a glimmer of hope but it wasn't enough and we were beaten in the first round of the playoffs. Oh well, there's always next year!

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Aldershot gave Hartlepool a royal thrashing in the semis and Dag & Red edged out Gateshead on penalties.

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Dagenham & Redbridge win the playoff final and are promoted to League Two following a comfortable 3-1 victory over Aldershot.

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End of Season Update



End of Season Update

Despite the disappointment of losing in the playoffs, I have to look at this as a successful season as we seriously overachieved. We were predicted a mid table finish, and the board wanted me to achieve top half. So to finish 4th is actually very good and as it turned out, it's actually a new club record for their highest ever finish!

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Naturally, the board are pretty happy with the performance.

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At the end of season awards, Kenny Davis was named the fan's player of the season with 38% of the vote. Liam Wakefield was signing of the season and Tommy Wright took young player of the season.

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Tommy Wright and Kieron Cadogan both finished the season on 20+ goals. Cadogan also led the assists chart with 13, although Dan Spence weighed in with 12 from the wing back role. Tommy Wright and Kenny Davis also contributed with 10+ assists throughout the season. Kenny Davis, Tommy Wright and Kieron Cadogan also led the way in the highest average ratings.

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Tommy Wright also finished 3rd in the league's top goalscorer ranks. I feel he could have won this, had he not picked up an injury and missed the final few games of the season.

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English Leagues Review

English Leagues Review

Manchester City win the title. Great seasons for Burnley and Palace.

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Sunderland up as champions. Millwall the surprise playoff winners. Has to be one of the tightest relegation battles I've seen with only 6 points separating 17th to 24th.

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Blackburn win League One. Fleetwood win the playoffs. Biggest shock is probably seeing Bradford relegated.

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Coventry win League Two on goal difference from Cheltenham. Mansfield up via the playoffs. Forest Green Rovers just survive the drop and retain their football league status.

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Confirmation that Torquay and Dagenham will go up from our league.

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York City & Harrogate Town will join us next season from the north.

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Chelmsford and Whitehawk will come up from the south.

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Unlucky in the playoffs mate, hopefully you'll be able to bounce back stronger for next season.
 
Unlucky with the playoffs, but i'm sure you'll reap the rewards this coming season.
 
Russia getting to the fine! Quick best test them all for doping again!
 
Pre Season Roundup



Pre Season Roundup

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This year's pre season has gone pretty much exactly as expected. I set up six games in total, five against lower opposition in the hope we could string together some decent victories and get the lads confidence up before the start of the season. The other friendly was a money making operation in a home game against our parent club Aston Villa. As expected, we recorded 5 good wins against the lower league opposition and lost to Villa.

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Pre Season Odds

Our stature with the bookies has improved this year following our good showing in the league last year. They have us at 18-1 odds to win the title and are predicting us to be in the thick of it regarding the playoffs. Ebbsfleet United have been made favourites to win the division, with Hartlepool again expected to mount a serious challenge. Leyton Orient, who were disappointing last season, are expected to make amends and bounce back this year. Surprisingly, newly relegated Newport County and Morecambe are not predicted to finish inside the top 5.

Newly promoted Harrogate Town, Chelmsford City and Whitehawk are all expected to have a tough season ahead of them.

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Board Expectations

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I love my board...despite a 4th place finish in the league this year, they have kept the pressure off and again are only demanding a top half finish.

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Released Players

A number of players from the first team squad were released at the end of last season. I was happy to see majority of them leave, deeming them not good enough to play for us. The only one I did try to keep was Bradley Hudson-Odoi but he had decided his future lies elsewhere.

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Transfers

Four permanent transfers in so far and two season long loans. Two players have left the club on free transfers and I didn't stand in either of their way.

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Players In

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Ryan McGivern is a top centre back who can also cover the left back position. The Northern Ireland international has 24 caps and I really feel like he is a big coup for us at this level. He joins us on a free transfer after being released by Northampton Town.

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Barry Corr adds depth to our striker position and can hopefully offer some decent competition to Tommy Wright this coming season. He is a tidy finisher for this level and although he doesn't have a lot of pace, it shouldn't matter too much as we play with our men behind the ball rather than a striker playing off the last man running onto through balls. He joins on a free transfer.

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Bradley Wood joins us on a free transfer from Alfreton Town. He played 36 games for them in the National League North last season and was one of the highest rated players in that league with an average rating of 7.64. He bagged 13 man of the match appearances! Wood is an accomplished full back with good mental attributes combined with good tackling. He can cross a ball when getting forward and his long throws could be a weapon we could use this season.

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Billy Clifford bolsters our attacking options in midfield as he can play through the centre or both sides too. He has some pace and good dribbling skills, good passing ability and vision to pick out those passes. He joins us on a free transfer from Crawley Town.

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I'm really pleased to bring Donovan Wilson here for the season. He was the National League player of the year last year and was an integral part of the Torquay side that won the division, scoring 24 goals and contributing 16 assists! He joins us on a season long loan from Wolves.

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18 year old Jacob Badeau joins us on a season long loan from parent club Aston Villa. He is a pacey central defender with very good tackling, marking and heading ability. His positioning is excellent too. Probably be eased into the first team to start, but could easily become a first team regular this season.

Finances

The bank balance still looks pretty healthy!

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Pre Season Dynamics Update

Everything looks good here. Only striker Adam Coombes is a bit disgruntled at his lack of first team opportunities.

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Donovan Wilson is the standout signing for me, electric pace and a decent finisher.
 
NathanITFC said:
Donovan Wilson is the standout signing for me, electric pace and a decent finisher.
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Yes definitely! The fact he won the National League Player of the Season last year means I should almost be guaranteed a good season from him. Ryan McGivern is also a cracking addition to my back 4 which needed some improvement as we conceded a **** of a lot of goals last season.
 
August 2018 Update



August 2018 Update

We kicked off the season in excellent form with 3 straight victories including a win against league favourites Ebbsfleet, before being brought back down to earth as we were thrashed by Boreham Wood. Plenty of teams have made good starts thought with Aldershot and Leyton Orient boasting 100% records still, and we sit in 8th place after the first four games. A decent start nonetheless, and certainly something to build on as we move into September.

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The Games...

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A tidy away win to kick off the season against Fylde. Last year's National League Player of the Year, Donovan Wilson gets himself off the mark on his debut for us, as well as contributing an assist for the other goal too :-)

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Our first home game ended in a solid 1-0 win over league favourites Ebbsfleet United. A great win early in the season. The only goal of the game coming from new man Donovan Wilson again.

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Our first encounter with one of the promoted teams ended in a goal glut with us coming out on top in a thrilling 5-3 win. It looked like it was all over at half time when we were 4-1 up, Donovan Wilson contributing with a first half hat trick. Whitehawk got it back to 4-3 though before a late own goal sealed all 3 points for us.

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Ouch!! A nasty way to finish a good month with an utter thrashing from local rivals Boreham Wood. Matched them on the stats but they were lethal in front of goal today.

Player of the Month



Donovan Wilson
AMR

Appearances: 4
Goals: 5
Assists: 2
Key Passes: 7
Average Rating: 7.68

I was excited about this lad when he joined and rightly so. He proved in his first month with us that he could be absolutely pivotal to any success we may have this season. Turning in 5 goals and 2 assists in his first 4 competitive games for the club.

Wilson also cleaned up in the league awards, winning both Player of the Month and Young Player of the Month. A nice touch as he recognises the club for his achievements too.

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English Transfer Window Roundup

The biggest transfer in England this year was an outgoing one as Chelsea cashed in £30 million for Marcos Alonso who joins PSG. It was the North London rivals who secured the biggest incoming deals, as Romagnoli joins Spurs from AC Milan, and Julian Draxler trades PSG for Arsenal. Following last year's relegation, Watford sold four players for a total of more than £48 million, and must have a ridiculous bank balance as they have only invested £11 million of that back into new players.

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Season Ticket Update

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September Preview

A very busy month ahead with 7 league games in total. We start and end with potentially the toughest fixtures, against Hartlepool at home and then Leyton Orient away. We also take on the likes of Macclesfield and Newport County who will be tough opposition. Possibly the hardest month of my career to date up ahead.

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