Darren Trott's Managerial Journey!

Squandered
View attachment 211566A good opportunity to win and progress to the next round was squandered, and now we have to travel to Cheltenham for the replay.

As expected, we were the dominant force through out the match, rarely giving the away side room to breathe. When Straker gave us the lead in the 13th minute, I was expecting a drubbing. If not for Vadaine Oliver's wastefulness in front of goal, we should've had a 3 goal lead, at the very least, by half-time. Not only did he fail to hit the target, he also failed to use his physical presence and got easily out-muscled by the away defense. Oliver's failure to hit the target from 6 yards or so was particularly embarrassing.

Cheltenham drew level in the 69th minute when Jimmy Lee spotted Ingham off the line and decided to try his luck. From the right wing, about 30-40 yards out, he launched the ball hoping for the goal. Ingham didn't have enough time to get back and we conceded. Oh boy!
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We continued attacking after that but kept wasting chance after chance. While I didn't field my strongest XI today, we should've still won this game. ​
 
This is what they should be doing in real life! I'd be careful, if you start doing too well, they'll find you and offer you the managers job!
 
Marching on
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And we're through to the semi-finals in the North region. This was billed as a close encounter with us touted as slight favourites. And we lived up to the expectation. Thanks to Bellamy's brace and his movement, we completely outclasses Morecambe in the first half.

A bullet header from a corner and a right footed volley from Bellamy put the home side on the back foot. Morecambe came all guns blazing in the second half and halved our lead in the very first minute of the second half. But we regrouped after that and prevented them from scoring again.

The last few minutes were a bit nervy for me on the touchline as I brought on a third defender with 10 mins to go. I badly needed a win!!
DRAW FOR THE SEMI-FINAL
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A mixed feeling after the draw. Home draw is favourable but Burton are flying high in League one. They are 6th in League 1. But considering we're the only League 2 side in the draw, it was inevitable that we had to face a stronger side!
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The Alternate Conundrum
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Our last five games. We have really struggled to hit a consistent run of good form. And in the recent past, as indicated by the results in our last five games, we seem to perform only in alternate games. A thumping home victory was followed by a disappointing home loss, which was rectified with a dominant away performance. That was followed up with an inability to win against a lower league team at home and an away win in a knockout tournament. I really hope we don't continue this alternate pattern.

Russ Penn
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This fella! Penn's energy and tough as a nail mentality, combined with his intelligence makes him an automatic choice in my first team. But his reckless behaviour is a bit disappointing. He's already picked up 2 red cards and has been suspended for a total of 3 games. Now, he'll miss another game because of the bookings. That's four games in less than half the season. I'll wait and see what to do about this.
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Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm!

Plymouth are in the top four and if I were offered a draw before the game, I would've taken it. Now that we got the draw, I am a bit disappointed because we could've gotten the three points. We knew Plymouth would aim for a win and lined-up to counter them. We matched The Green Army in every area of the field. With 0-0 at halftime, I was content.

When Sawyer received a second yellow in the 50th minute, my eyes lit up. I thought to myself - we could win this! I relayed my message to the players and urged them to go for it. We switched from a counter attacking strategy to a slightly more attacking one. We did come close a few times but not close enough to trouble the Argyle defense.

Plymouth were content to defend in the closing minutes and we couldn't find a way past. Our grip on the game increased dramatically as the game came to an end but the scoreboard didn't reflect that as it finished 0-0.

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Had to win, right?
Our last game against Plymouth ended in a home draw, which wasn't exactly the best result considering the circumstances. So if the alternate pattern is to be believed, we had to win this, right?
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And we did win, quite convincingly too. I fielded a relatively weaker side, just like the first leg. Thankfully, there were no mistakes, and no surprises. And more importantly, no 40 yard goals. Reece Thompson scored a second half brace in his first game after injury, after Coulson netted us ahead in the 23rd minute.

Sinclair provided two assists with delightful crosses from the right wing. Considering the quality of crosses, it would be criminal if Thompson or Coulson missed. Sinclair deserves a lot of credit for his display because he came under severe criticism from everyone, including me for his recent performances. Nice response, I must say!

Through to the second round of the FA Cup, which was the board's expectation. Every positive outcome from here on is a sweet bonus!
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Margate are a side in the National South League. A very kind draw, I must say. I am expecting a win in this tie and progress to the third round. But it could prove to be tricky as Margate will be playing with no fear and we need to prepared!​
 
Breaking the Pattern...
View attachment 209893Finally...we broke the pattern. Leyton may be below us in the table currently but they have a superior side (media prediction: 4th) and are strong at home. We were expected to lose this game but I'm glad we beat the odds!!

While the scorecard may seem dull with no goals and no bookings, there was plenty of action. Both Leyton and us had atleast 2 very good chances but a mixture of good defending, good shot stopping and poor finishing ensured a goalless scoreline.

We dominated the game with greater possession and goal attempts, which was very pleasing. I'm glad that we finally got two good results in a row and put an end to the seven game streak where only alternate results seemed to go in our favour.
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Unlucky there mate! Still a decent away result though.
 
I love these lower league stories, impressive start and should make the 3rd round of the FA Cup!
 
Upsetting the odds....BIG TIME!
View attachment 209317I'm still in disbelief over this win! Portsmouth were heavy favourites for this game, but we managed to come up with the goods for the win.

Like most games against bigger clubs, I set-up defensively. The back four and the defensive midfielder were instructed to not leave their positions and mark the Portsmouth attack out of the game. We started solidly and Bellamy gave us the lead with a finish from close range. A drilled shot by Lester was parried by the Portsmouth keeper but it fell kindly to Bellamy, who finished it from close range.

The very first move after the restart made it 2-0! Portsmouth attacked - as expected. But once we got the ball, a lovely long ball by Lester found Thompson in acres of space. A one-on-one opportunity was waiting but the Pompey defense caught up with Thompson. But then he unleashed a lovely shot that went past their keeper into the net. Woohoo!!
[video=youtube;ZtdBO0Ksxm8]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZtdBO0Ksxm8[/video]

Portsmouth had bulk of the possession after that, but to no avail.

"Don't get carried away - keep the momentum going," I kept reminding the players at the break.

After the hour mark, Diogo got sent-off for a dreadful challenge on Ellis Bellamy. I was glad that Bellamy was able to rub off the tackle without picking up an injury. It was a disgusting tackle and Bellamy was extremely lucky to escape an injury. 2-0 up with a man advantage. We're on top.

Portsmouth were still dominating the possession but never really troubled our defense, which was incredibly compact. Bellamy got his brace in the 81st minute to put the final nail in the coffin for the home side. A beautiful long pass by Reece Thompson released Lester on the right wing and his cross was put away by the left winger Bellamy. All three attackers involved - beautiful!
[video=youtube;tDs3KtJSBu4]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tDs3KtJSBu4[/video]

3-0 up with 9 minutes left. We made sure to keep the defense tight and didn't let Portsmouth sniff a way back in.

Quality over quantity. Portsmouth had better possession, more shots but it was us who won. 6 shots, 5 on target, 3 goals and a clean sheet against a team with 63% possession. Quite a joyful moment!
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After two decent away results, we are back home to face Accrington Stanley, who are in the relegation zone. With our defense holding quite strong in the recent games, I opted for a slightly more attacking approach.

Stanley played the first half exactly as I thought they would. Compact at the back, and trying to hit us on the counter. As I've been doing regularly this season, I told my full backs to hold their positions and this prevented our opponents from launching a counter.

More of the same followed in the second half - we were pushing forward in hopes of breaking the deadlock and Accrington were repelling our attacks with ease. A couple of misses by Hyde and Coulson didn't help our cause either.

I was urging the players to push forward. I gave my full backs the license to push forward, and provide overlap options for the attackers. 5 minutes left, still 0-0. A draw would not be entirely acceptable in my book as we are playing at home against a side on a poor run of form.

With just 2 mins of added time remaining, 26 year old James Berrett pulled a rabbit out of the hat! A throw in from the left resulted in a shot by Ben Godfrey which was deflected. The rebound fell to the midfielder who curled one into the top corner. Pandemonium in the stands and I was punching the air in excitement.
[video=youtube;LPL7tPoZqCs]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LPL7tPoZqCs[/video]

Magnificent goal by the Irishman. With 1 minute remaining, I knew that a careful finish will give us 3 points. And that's exactly what we did.
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View attachment 208943 Stat Attack
Internet technology has advanced to such an extent that there are dozens and dozens of websites that analyze the performance and collect stats of a team like ours, playing in the fourth division of English football!

I visited such a site and they had some interesting stuff for me to see. As a defender myself, one of my priorities at the club was to keep a solid defensive unit. I was a bit disappointed during my early days where we conceded way too many. I know we have been better recently but the statistics were a pleasant surprise.
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We've only conceded 4 goals in our last 10 games!! This is quite a contrast to my first 10 games in charge where we conceded 14. We've also kept 4 clean sheets in our last 5 games in all competitions, and have kept clean sheets in our last 5 League games!
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As cliched as this may sound, I'm not getting carried away. This is football - things change very fast. We just have to keep this momentum up and try to win more!​
 
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Injuries
The medical situation has been rather good off-late. With a lot of injured players coming back, we have a squad that is near-fit. However, Ellis Bellamy picked up an injury in our last game against Accrington. The injury will sideline the 18 year old for almost a month.

He joins Femi Ilesmani and Josh Carson on the injury list now. I asked Miller to compile a full report.
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Ilesmani has started training with the first team but only in limited capacity. Miller says he should be available for our next game. Carson is gonna be out for a long while, and he may actually end up missing the remainder of the season.

Bellamy will be out for a month or so. With just 18 years of age, Bellamy isn't a regular in my squad yet. But he has been playing consistently for the most part. It'll give me a chance to see Straker and Coulson in action on the left wing!
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