Darren Trott's Managerial Journey!

Looking forward to the season

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Training and Initial Thoughts....​
5th August 2015: The season begins in 3 days. It's been roughly 10 days since I've been here. I am still getting used to the job. I'm not sure how long it'll take me to get used to all this.

Training went as planned today. Everyone fit was present and the coaches were working hard on the field. I was watching them train and was getting involved as much as possible. A part of me wanted to run onto the field and take part in the training. Thankfully, the other part of me knew that I was an old geezer who isn't nearly as fit as I was 10 yrs ago....

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Fitness Coaches, Where art thou?
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It's been over a week since the club placed an advertisement for a fitness coach on the website. Considering the relatively lower status of the club and the League, it's been hard to attract good offers. The ones that applied so far simply weren't good enough for the club.

I called the managing director of the club, John McGhee and asked him to extend the deadline by another 10 days. Fitness coaches....Where Art Thou?
 
7th Aug 2015

Almost there....
The season is going to start in two days. I am extremely nervous. The tactics are finalized and the players know exactly how to execute them. The teamwork and cohesion is not exactly at 100% yet but we're getting there.

We kickstart the campaign with a 4 hour journey to High Wycombe to play Wycombe Wanderers. Right now, I am trusting the scout reports to plan my tactics. But I want to be prepared, so I looked up where the teams finished last season. That should give me an idea as to what to expect from different sides. York finished 18th last season....

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Wycombe is a tough place early on. After that, it's kind of a mixed bag. I am not really setting any targets for the first few games. Obviously, we want to win but I still need to shake the player mentality and get into a managerial one.

Here's hoping I don't run onto the field due to over excitement.... I may have done that in a training session.
 
Succumbing to Wycombe Pressure
View attachment 216028Not quite the start I was hoping for, but the result wasn't hugely surprising either. Wycombe are a better side and were expected to win this tie at their home ground. And they did.

All in all, this was a game that left me with mixed feelings. The first half was completely dominated by the hosts but we did show a lot more character in the first 20 odd minutes of the second half. When the players tried to control the game, the passing and movement was sharp. At times, it was a joy to watch. Our goal just before the hour mark was superbly worked.

Unfortunately, good attacks only came in small phases, and rarely. We need to maintain the high tempo, high quality football for longer periods! However, the biggest disappointment was how we crumbled under pressure. Whenever Wycombe pressed hard, we lost the ball. At times, a single Wycombe player rushing to close in caused some of our players to panic and play pointless long balls. It was embarrassing.
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So many unnecessary long balls forward from out half is asking for trouble. I've only shown the full backs' passes that were intercepted in this post-match analysis screen and at least half of these were directionless long balls that resulted because of Wycombe pressure.

The ones highlighted in yellow are the very definition of being a troublemaker for your own side.

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Lowe's sending off in the last minute was just idiotic. You can't lunge into tackles like that when already booked. That's basic. While there is a lot of work to do, at least I know the areas we need to improve upon.
 
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View attachment 215934Keith Lowe:

After getting himself sent off in my very first official game in charge, I decided to take some action against Keith Lowe. I had a personal chat with him, and gave him an official warning for his actions. I told him that I might have to take more severe action if this sort of behavior repeats itself in the future.

Being an experienced player who has been at the club for 5 seasons now, Lowe accepted the warning. He'll miss the Capital One Cup tie against Preston North End but he'll be available for the League 2 game versus Hartlepool.





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Capital One Cup First Round
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We were written off even before the game started. And I can understand why. Preston North End finished third in the League One last season and are in the Championship now, two leagues above ours. Considering they were playing at home, Preston were heavy favourites for this encounter.
View attachment 215863Ooooooohhhh so close!!!!

I started with a defensive formation and we worked all week training on quick counter attacks. It worked well as Oliver put us ahead. Preston were enjoying the greater share of possession and were dictating tempo better, but we were still leading. However, their quality proved a bit too much for us as May equalized just after the hour mark.

After that, it was pretty even-stevens. The game went to penalties and while all five Preston takers converted theirs, Dave Winfield missed the spotkick for us. Preston go through to the next round while our participation has come to an end.

At the end of the game, I told the players that they can hold their head high after a very determined display against a team who were better, and were overwhelming favourites!​
 
Injuries
Two key players at the club have gotten injured this week. Vadaine Oliver picked up an injury during the Capital One Cup clash against Preston. He'll be out for a month or so. Oliver is our best striker and offers a strong physical presence up front and his injury will probably force a slight change in tactics.
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As if it wasn't unfortunate enough, midfield playmaker Luke Summerfield also picked up an injury during training. It'll keep him out for 2-3 months. It is so depressing. Summerfield has been really important in making our midfield tick. And his absence will mean that other midfielders need to step up their game and fill the void.​
 
He's Signed!!!
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At the club, we have only one player who is suited perfectly for the rightView attachment 215651 winger position. So, I asked my scouts to do some searching for right wingers on free transfer. The moment they informed me of Chris Lester, I used some of my contacts at my old club Bolton Wanderers to tell me more about this young boy!

I heard quite a few nice things about the kid and had a chat with him about signing for the club. Considering that he was unattached to a club, he readily agreed to join us! A few discussions and a signature later, Chris Lester is now a player of the York City Football Club.

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The Wait Continues...
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Aggravating! This was a game we could've won with a bit more resolve. We dominated the first half completely and didn't allow Hartlepool to settle into any rhythm. I was hoping today could be the day where I get my first win.

When Straker scored, it looked good for us. However, like the Wycombe game we succumbed to opposition pressure. Hartlepool's midfield pushed forward and we conceded.

After that point, it was anyone's game for the taking. Despite having the home advantage, the players simply didn't produce the goods required for a win. The final few minutes were really awkward for us. Russ Penn, on a yellow card started performing foolish tackles out of frustration. I immediately took him off as I was worried about a red card.

I was quite critical with the players, telling them they need to step up the game and win games like these! I singled out a few players who I felt were rather poor today.
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Not the brightest of the starts to the campaign. I am still new to management and am still finding my way around. But surely I can't use that reason for every time we fail to win. We need to win soon. For now, the wait continues..........

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Another Signing!
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While the club has quite a few strikers, I feel that most of them are a bit sluggish. In Bellamy, I have access to a striker who is quick and at the same time, is good in the air. He's just 18 years old and will be a good prospect for the future.

Ellis Bellamy
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One Mistake, One Goal
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Watching the first half, I thought this game would result in a win for us. We absolutely dominated Yeovil in the first half - over 60% of possession and twice their number of shots. We actually came close to scoring as well - Bellamy's goal was disallowed for offside, a couple of penalty appeals were turned down and Lester, Hyde and Berret all came close to scoring.

Soon after the restart, Keith Lowe put us ahead with a thundering header from a corner. It was a good header by the central defender. Yeovil then got a bit frustrated and decided to try their luck from long range.

View attachment 215137And then a moment of ill-positioning by our central defenders cost us a couple of points. Up until the 72nd minute, the positioning was rather good but then Lowe and Hare (the centrebacks) left their defensive line and pushed forward a bit.

What followed that was training ground stuff. One pass from the centre to the right wing opened up our defense and soon, they were 2v1 up against our left back. I scratched my head in frustration. After that, it was cat and mouse stuff. Neither team really managed to exercise control of the game and it ended in a draw.

The defenders were on the receiving end of quite a ticking off from me after the game. "I am deeply disappointed about your positioning and the goal we conceded. You should've done better," I told in an assertive voice before heading out.


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Fitness Coach
After almost a month of advertising, two decent coaches came along and I had to choose one soon. A quick comparison between the two revealed the full story. Remy Tang was better at fitness coaching but Shane Nicholson is better at judging player's potential and is better at mental coaching.
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It was a tough choice but I decided to go with Remy Tang because he has slightly higher reputation and his references were rather impeccable. So, I offered Remy Tang the job and he immediately agreed to the terms of contract.
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Looking at Elis Bellamy's old club and surname I can't help but ask, is he Craig Bellamy's son?
 
Seven Wonderful Minutes
View attachment 215024My first win in a competitive game as a manager!! And I owe this victory to Emile Sinclair.

I brought on Sinclair in the 82nd minute of the game with the game at 1-1. Within 7 minutes, he completely changed the game. He gave us the lead in the 88th minute with a lovely goal! And just a minute later, he assisted Bellamy for our third goal which gave us some breathing space. Those seven minutes were superb after the game seemed to be heading for a third draw in a row.

Both goals were extremely well taken and were a treat to watch. Bellamy's goal in particularly was brilliantly worked!

[video=dailymotion;x3cxmen]http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x3cxmen[/video]

The game started with Russ Penn gave us the lead with a lovely free-kick early on that whistled into the net. But with the last 15 minutes or so left in the game, Exeter equalized. And then Sinclair happened to give us the win!

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