Entering The Unknown

[kmitchell96]

Hi, I am starting this story using FM15 before I can afford 16 to start the first story on there. I had a few stories on the last version and this will follow a similar story to which I played through 6 years of on FM15.
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Recognise him? No? Not many people would.

That is Darren Wrack.

An ex footballer who played for 6 clubs throughout his career who came from Cleethorpes. Playing in a midfield role he struggled to really have a good career when he started off a Derby before a move to Grimsby. The side closest to his home town loaned him out to Shrewsbury before selling him in a move that kick started his career. A move to Walsall was the beginning of a period which not many people expected.

The midfielder went on to play over 300 games in 10 seasons for the Saddlers and it would've been more if not for an injury which left him out for a year. Whilst with the Midlands club he earned two promotions; firstly with the surprise side of 2000/01 who beat Reading in the playoff final in extra time under Sir Ray Graydon. The second was in 2006/07 when the Saddlers won the league 2 title under Richard Money (Dicky Dosh!).

After leaving the Saddlers he went on to play for non-league side Kettering over 60 times before moving on to Stafford Rangers where he would end his playing career.

Where is he now?
The ex-Saddler is now the "Scouting and Recruitment Manager" at Brighton & Hove Albion and has been there since April 2012 when he left Stafford Rangers.

The relevance of all this?
I will be starting a career with the midfielder. Starting off unemployed I will take him through a journey of management where he will look to become a bigger name in management than what he was as a player.

Starting off in July 2014 I will pursue a management career with him.

The next update will look at his managerial attributes.
​

 

[kmitchell96]

Management Style
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Having been promoted with 2 sides I set his playing level to National Level player as I feel this best suit. However the other side I set to national A license. Not knowing his true license level I worked off of the facts he coached for Stafford Rangers before moving to his role at Brighton.

The left hand side was complicated. As a midfielder he played in attacking and defensive roles depending on the game so I set both to the same level. Due to his coaching and current roles in the past I thought that the working with youngsters level needed to be higher than others.

The right hand side was fairly straight forward. He played in different leagues and had to adapt to different styles of play under different managers (including several in his 10 year stint with the saddlers). His current role with Brighton warranted his player and youngster knowledge as well as man management levels. Whilst his Determination and Motivation levels are based on the way he played; with his heart in the game at all times.

The next update will mark the beginning of the career where the real updates begin from Wrack's perspective...
​

 

[kmitchell96]

The Start of a New Beginning
Here I was. Sat in my home trying to figure out what to do. I had just ended my role at Brighton to pursue this management career and I had no idea where to start. I opened up my laptop to look through some news from lower leagues; maybe that is where I needed to start?

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Wow, as soon as I opened up my laptop the notification from my new account popped up and surprisingly it was from Barnsley. The Yorkshire based club had asked me to conduct an interview and without any other options I decided to go ahead with it.

The meeting went, okay. They seemed a decent enough bunch but I didn't agree with some of the philosophies. Defensive, direct football was not something I wanted to do. I wanted to attack, control the ball and games. I also asked about youth recruitment and attaining a parent club; two things they refused to do on the basis that it isn't under my philosophies. I just said okay and then ended the interview, I knew I would have to deal with things that I didn't like.

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When I had just got home from the Barnsley interview I received another email. This time Kilmarnock saying they wanted to conduct a video interview. I said okay and did so (mainly to save the hassle of travel) and conducted, shockingly to me, my second interview of the day.

This one went slightly better. Again they wanted to play the opposite style of football to me and seemed to not like the idea of using our youth system to produce first team players but they seemed happy when I suggested it. Like Barnsley they refused to upgrade any youth facilities but agreed to look for a parent club should I get the job.​

 

[kmitchell96]

My First Reply
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About a week later I received my first reply, and it was much to my surprise but Barnsley wanted to offer me the job! I thought I had f****d the interview up but they were happy to talk to me about the role.

Now favourite for the job (and also the Kilmarnock job) I took some time to think it over and eventually decided to go for it. It was the more promising job out of the 2 and it would allow me to kick start a career in the country I know best.

My First Job!
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And there it was! My first managerial role. The talks were rather quick as I just wanted to change a couple of the clauses but we were happy to agree on a 2 year deal at £1400 a week. How it happened so quickly I don't know but a week ago I was worrying I was making the wrong decision and now I am in charge of a football club!​

 

[kmitchell96]

First Day...
I had a lot lined up for myself today. As I entered the ground I was greeted by press and a woman who guided me to the board room for my first meeting as manager with them. They just had a general welcome before handing me over to the assistant manager.

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One thing they did do was send me details of the club. I had played against them a few times in my career but never really looked into them as a club. It was as expected; a few trophies, rivals with the Sheffield clubs. The one thing that surprised me was the quality of the facilities. They had really down played these in the interview but I was happy with the standards.

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My assistant manager then sent me reports on the squads. There were a couple of good prospects in the youth squads but my main focus was what I had to work with. There was a clear need for improvement at left back but the rest of the squad is strong enough for this seasons goal of a top half finish.

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Next was to look at the staff and on the whole it was okay. In the first squad I would need a better fitness coach and for the under 18's a new goalkeeping coach. I would also look to hire a couple of other coaches and scouts to bolster out the backroom set up. The current fitness and under 18's goalkeeping coaches contracts were terminated.

Rather than hiring a U18's goalkeeping coach I opted for an U21's instead. This would allow me to bring in another coach for the U18's who would better suit the needs of the club. I then found a replacement fitness coach and a couple other scouts as well as an U18's coach.

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The next update will focus on the tactics as well as pre-season as I begin my managerial journey

​

 

[kmitchell96]

Tactics
Tactic 1
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This is the main tactic I will look to use. It will focus on attacking the opposition from the get go whilst controlling the play by keeping possession and moving the ball around them quickly. The key to this is the wingers who will aim to beat defenders quickly and supply the lone striker.

The defensive midfielder will also be key. Holgate will be the main option for now until more players are brought in but he will sit in the gap and aim to break down moves by intercepting the ball, cutting passing lanes off and acting as what will basically be a 5th defender. He will then need to lay the ball off to the players in front of him who will spearhead attacks.

As you can see I have also found a fill in at left back. I am still looking to bring in a left back but for now Nyatanga will have to operate in the role as our strongest option.

Tactic 2
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Tactic 2 takes a different approach. It will look to win the ball quickly and then get the ball forward quickly. This will be used against stronger oppositions who we will be doing a lot of defending against. By sitting back and waiting to win the ball I hope to break quickly through Milan Lalkovic who will then get the ball into the box for the two strikers where one will be the target man and the other will look to clean up any half chances.

The key player is Lalkovic. Using his pace he will have to break down the wing quickly and beat the defensive line of the opposition in order to get the ball in quickly for the strikers. On the other wing Jennings will look to hassle the wide men of the opposition and win the ball back out wide and then feed it off to somebody else.
​

 

[kmitchell96]

Backroom Bulk Out
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As mentioned earlier there was a couple of staff members who weren't up to the standard I was looking for. I released the pair before going on a mission to bulk out the backroom staff so that I could get more specialisation and help on hand.

One important thing was the addition of 3 top scouts. My plan for them was to send them out to find what we need first (LB and DM) before asking them to find young talent in the lower leagues around the world. The 3 scouts I added will also add a global factor in as they all have experience elsewhere meaning our scouting range has improved from just England.
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The other big move was the upgrade at fitness coach. The previous fitness coach only had a rating of 6 at fitness coaching so it was important to upgrade this as a league one team as we face 4 competitions meaning an always busy fixture list.

The rest of the signings have just focused on improving the senior and youth coaching teams. They each have specialised areas and will hopefully help to implement a large improvement in training sessions.


​

 

[kmitchell96]

Promising Pre-Season
So pre-season had come to a close and it was a busy period. Despite only having four games a lot of work had to be done around the squad and the club. Tasks ranging from press conferences, to sorting scouting assignments and transfers to tactics.

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My first game in charge saw me travelling to Scotland for the first of 3 friendlies against Scottish opposition. The game saw the main tactic being used and it went alright. Twice taking the lead we couldn't hold on and it saw us pick up a draw to start of the friendly fixtures.

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Another game in Scotland which saw me pick up my first win as a manager. Playing the second choice tactic we managed to start well and went 1-0 up through Leroy Lita. A questionable penalty decision went against us which saw the home side equalise but then Sam Winnall regained our lead by slotting past the keeper.

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The first win saw consequences and big ones for us though. The big injury is to Sam Winnall. The leading striker will be out for 6-7 months with a broken leg and I was hoping he would be a key player for us as we looked to fight for a playoff spot this season. The Jennings injury was also frustrating as it meant he would miss the rest of pre-season and possibly the first couple of games; he had been fantastic in the first two games.

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Another away game but a second victory. We dominated from start to finish but struggled to get used to life without Winnall as Lita struggled to take chances early on. We eventually went ahead to an own goal as an Alfreton player scuffed at a clearance before Nyatanga made it 2-0 from the corner. Lita finished the game off second before being subbed. We could have won by a lot more but it was a good game.

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My first home game as a manager saw us host Partick Thistle. We went 1-0 down to a fantastic free kick and once again we dominated but struggled to finish chances all game but loanee Lameiras equalised just before the half. The second half saw us have another couple of chances but no matter who played up top we couldn't capitalise on them.

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Another injury, this time to the young striker Waring. The loanee from Stoke won't be missed too much as he misses a few weeks but it will stunt development for the near future. How much he would've featured depends on the tactics I would have used.

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So we went unbeaten in pre-season. I would have liked to play an extra game or two but there was little time to play the extra games. The best game was against Alfreton. Dominating the game we managed to control the ball and create plenty of chances.

I am not sure how we will cope without Winnall. Lita and Hemmings are good strikers but neither seemed to be clinical in their finishing so that will be an important area to watch.

The next update will focus on the transfer activity before the season starts...
​

 

[kmitchell96]

Transfer News
So a short pre-season came to an end and with only a few days until we host Crawley I tried to wrap up my transfer business before the season.

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Incoming Transfers
Joe Dudgeon was the first incoming player as was a key signing for us. The left back will instantly come in and start and fills in the biggest gap in the squad. It also allows us to build up depth at CB as we were previously using our backup centre backs to fill in a back 4.

Callum Reilly was then brought in on loan and once again will be a fantastic option to have. The central midfielder can also play in a more defensive role; so another player brought in on loan who will fill a key gap in the squad. The 20 year old from Birmingham is strong at this level and will hopefully help to create chances for us.

Then came two signings for the future. Lopez will possibly feature in the first team sooner than what many think. The 19 year old winger could provide decent cover if needed but isn't ready to feature regularly. With his pace he could prove to be a constant threat but he needs to work on his technical side in order to really fulfil his potential.

Goddard was the other youngster and I took a bit of a punt with him. The 18 year old operates in the middle of the park and I saw my style of play in him when watching him play at the trialist game. He could develop into a future player for us or he could fail to fulfil the potential that Huddersfield saw in him and never make the senior squad.

Tommy O'Sullivan was next and the only paid transfer of the window for us. After scouting him thoroughly and sending 2/3 scouts to look at him we discussed his value and settled at about £80k for the young midfielder. We paid a little more than that but the 19 year old midfielder could become a key player for us if he continues to develop and will provide strong back up to the midfield.

Ian Vicars was the next signing and the 18 year old who was formerly at Blackburn was full of potential. Already a strong player in the youth system he could develop into a fantastic option for the first team in the next year or two and his versatility will help as he can play 5 different positions (RB, RWB, RM, CM & CAM).

Then the final signing of the pre-season was Lameiras on loan from Spurs. The 19 year old winger was brought in after the initial injury report on Dale Jennings was worse than first feared however the full report said he would only miss 2-3 weeks. The winger could win the left wing position permanently or could become a strong rotation option depending how he plays but scoring in the final pre-season game definitely helped his case to start.

Outgoing Transfer
There was only one outgoing transfer and it was of youngster Ryan Towner. The 18 year old midfielder had struggled to develop and I had put him into the under 18 squad initially before realising he was on £300 a week (more than anybody else for the under 18's and half of the 21's). I originally asked him for mutual termination but the youngster refused saying he was better than some of the "****" already at the squad.

After he said that I instantly released him and brought in Goddard who was a better prospect for the club.​

 

[kmitchell96]

Top 3 Signings
A busy transfer period saw us sign 7 players and having ranked the signings I have come up with the following rankings:

1) Joe Dudgeon: On Loan from Hull
2) Esteban Lopez: Free Transfer
3) Tommy O'Sullivan: £100k from Cardiff
4) Callum Reilly: On Loan from Birmingham
5) Ruben Lameiras: On Loan from Tottenham Hotspur
6) Ian Vicars: Free Transfer
7) Kedesh Goddard: Free Transfer

I will now give a more in depth look at the top 3 signings.

Joe Dudgeon
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The left back fills in the biggest gap of the squad and will instantly start for us. I am hoping the 23 year old can provide stability at left back for what I hope to be a strong back 4. Physically and Mentally he is one of the strongest in the league and will hopefully develop a bit technically for us.

The 23 year old can also provide cover elsewhere if needed being able to play in 7 positions although I am hoping he won't have to. With little competition at the position he should hold onto it for the season and be a key player. I looked at signing him permanently but Hull wanted over £500k for the defender.

Esteban Lopez
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A tough decision for where to place the young winger on the list but he goes to number 2 for a couple of reasons. Firstly is that he isn't too far off of being a rotation option for the first team but also his potential is by far the best of all the signings.

He will feature in the under 21's for now but if he can develop quickly he could feature for the first team as a back up option for either wing. With Lalkovic ahead of him on the right wing and Jennings and Lameiras on the left wing he will struggle to feature soon but if he can fill his potential he could be a big player for us after Christmas.

What made the signing best was getting him on a free transfer. Around 10 clubs were looking at the youngster including a couple of premier league sides who were interested in him for his potential. Whilst given the option to go to larger clubs where he would be paid more or to league 2 sides where he would be a regular starter he opted to sign for us and I was happy to see him sign the contract.

Tommy O'Sullivan
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What a signing this could be. The press and fans labelled it as a bargain signing as we managed to get him for £100k but I had tried to get him for around £70k originally but Cardiff weren't having it. Valued at £120k though it is still somewhat of a bargain signing.

The midfielder will offer two things short term. He will provide strong cover at central midfield whilst also offering an option to play somebody behind the striker. The original tactics don't offer this but with the injury to Winnall for 7 months we may require somebody to slot in behind the front man in order to create more clear cut chances.

Focusing on young talent was one of my necessities for signings and this fits that. The player has potential to be a fantastic starting option by the end of the season depending how quickly he can develop. With strong options ahead of him he will have to fight for his place and I am hoping this motivates him to work harder on improving.

​

 

[kmitchell96]

Game 1: Crawley (FL1)
So here I was ready to make my managerial bow. After a decent pre-season we were prepared to move forward and start what would hopefully be a strong league campaign. My biggest worry was fitness after having a short pre-season very few players were 100% ready for the beginning of the season and with 2 games in the first 4 days I would have to make some decisions.

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The first of these decisions was the starting line up. Using our stronger tactic I played our strongest line up. Jennings returned early from injury and Lameiras had a couple of bad training sessions so Jennings would start wide left. Reilly seemed the strongest option at CDM playing the anchor man role whilst Leroy Lita had won the starting striker job with Winnall out for 7 months. Big signing O'Sullivan would feature on the bench in order to provide a strong substitution option.

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What a start! We struggled to really get going in the opening 20 minutes but then Peter Ramage was set up by Nyatanga after a scrappy corner wasn't cleared. Crawley then pulled one back before the half as they were gifted a chance after a slip by Lalkovic let them hit on the counter.

The second half was a different story though. Leroy Lita hit home 10 minutes in after pouncing on a mistake by the Crawley back 4 before Hourihane made it 3-1 with a wonder goal after being teed up about 35 yards out he took one touch and hit it and it flew into the top left corner. With the game sealed and Crawley creating nothing loanee Lameiras hit home to make it 4-1.

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A fantastic first game for us to start off the competitive season and it showed everything I wanted to do as a manager. Controlling possession we created plenty of chances and remained strong at the back. The anchor man role was played perfectly and was the link between the back 4 and going forward.

We also showed threat from set pieces with the first goal coming from a corner and the final goal coming from a free kick being put into the box and once again Crawley failed to clear. I have told the team to not get ahead of themselves as there are stronger teams in the league but we now sit top of the table.

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When the team of the week came through I expected to see a Barnsley XI but somehow only Ramage made the 11. He earned man of the match from a fantastic performance in which he was solid at the back and scored the first of four goals.

​

 

[kmitchell96]

Game 2: Chesterfield (LC)
Game 2 saw us travel to Chesterfield for a league cup tie. It isn't a competition that I was bothered about as I see it as the least important of the four we are in. With the league being my priority I would also like to challenge for the JPT and then have a decent run in the FA Cup.

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With that in mind I made 9 changes from the opening day victory with only Ramage and Turnbull remaining in the starting 11. This was in hope that it would allow the key starters to regain fitness ready for Crewe in the league on Saturday.

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The result was expected. With what was basically a back up 11 I didn't expect to win and I made this clear to the players after the game. We didn't play badly but the back up brigade failed to really threaten the Chesterfield net. The first half was the worst of the two as we couldn't create anything and looked leaky at the back.

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That lead to these half time changes. With Chesterfield dominating the ball and the game I thought that playing our second tactic would be more beneficial. Making two changes for tired players was also key as the backup 11 weren't as fit and most were tired by half time.

That surprised me as we played better in the second half against a Chesterfield starting 11. Gary Roberts was the only player who threatened for them in either half and he made the most of his chances and ended the game with 20 minutes left. At 3-0 down we pressed more and were very unlucky as in the next 5 minutes after their 3rd we hit the post and had a header cleared off the line.

Once again we threatened from set pieces but today's game sealed what I feared which is that our backup brigade are a lot weaker than I would like to have thought. I would aim to go through all our squads and find the strongest options to back up what I think is an obvious starting 11.

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After the game we were given some awful news though. Young Mason Holgate would miss at least a couple of months after he was tackled badly in a challenge I was furious didn't see them go a man down. The youngster has played well since I have come in and has shown tons of potential so we can only hope that the injury doesn't affect what he could be in the future. ​

 

[kmitchell96]

Squad Changes
After finding the weaknesses in my backup squad on Tuesday night against Chesterfield I decided to make a few changes to my senior squad.

Promotions
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I made 3 promotions to the senior squad with 3 big prospects coming up for the first team experience. Summer signing Esteban Lopez was the first to be promoted as he was stronger than 2 of the other backup wingers who I had in the squad already.

Ian Vicars was next. The 18 year old can play in a range of positions including CAM. If we struggle to score goals like we did on Tuesday night then I will be looking at new tactics with a man behind the striker and whilst he may not be the greatest player yet if he progresses well he could play perfectly in that role.

The final promotion was James Bree. The 16 year old was in the U18's squad when I got here and wasn't rated too highly by the staff but since my arrival he has stepped it up and improved a lot. The kid will provide decent cover and hopefully the senior squad experience will help to improve his game quickly so he can develop into a key player for us.

Demotions
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The demotions were a little tougher. The only obvious one was of Mike Phenix. The 24 year old is too weak for this level and I will be looking to sell him with stronger younger options available.

The other 3 demotions weren't as easy to make though. Brad Abbot and Dominic McHale have plenty of potential but haven't shown it in their performances so far. Abbot gets demoted because of the amount of central midfielders in the squad meaning he will struggle to play. McHale was demoted because of a similar reason, with Lameiras providing cover for LAM there is no way the youngster will be getting into the starting 11 enough to develop. I will look to loan the two out in order to build their experience.

Finally was George Williams. The 21 year old is a player I am unsure about. In order to earn his place he will have to really show something special as there are younger options who I think can do a better job and have more potential. Once again I will look to send the 21 year old out on loan to see how he develops.​

 

[kmitchell96]

Game 3: Crewe (FL1)
After defeat in midweek I was determined to bounce back. I had experienced my first loss as a manager and just like as a player it is not nice at all. We would look to hit Crewe the same way we did against Crawley. Quick, passing, controlling and attacking football to create chances and score goals whilst remaining solid at the back.

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To do this I reverted to the same team that won the opening fixture. With a full 11 back out I would hope for a better result than Tuesday but I am not sure how it would pan out with confidence seeming knocked after a tough result to take, even if it was in an unimportant competition.

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Wow...

That could've gone either way. Early on we found out that Crewe have not got a back line. Playing their strongest line up wasn't good enough at the back as Leroy Lita was constantly allowed to sneak through and this was how he got his 2 goals. The first happened after we had been threatening for a while but Crewe regained possession but an awful back pass saw Lita pounce to make it 1-0. 17 minutes later we made it 2-0; Crewe's first real chance of the fame was ended and the cleared ball somehow bounced over an awful Crewe back 4 and Lita once again picked up on a defensive mistake to double his tally for the day.

He could've had 3/4 goals in the first half. But then again so could have Crewe. Whilst awful at the back they were fantastic going forward. Led by Dalla Valle they consistently created chances and it was only a heroic performance from Turnbull which kept the home side shut out.

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Whilst we dominated the game we showed that we were too easily hit on the counter. With Reilly often leaving his role to go forward and join the attack, something he didn't do in the first game. To keep a clean sheet was fantastic but I felt like the back 4 weren't always switched on.

The POTM award was given to Lita who could've had 3 or 4 goals but I would have given it to Turnbull who had to save every one of Crewe's shots and he pulled off some fantastic saves to win the game for us.

The good news after the game was that Lita wouldn't be out at all. He picked up a knock late on in the game which saw us close the game out with 10 men but the medical team said he would be fine. This was fantastic news with Winnall already out and Waring not only injured but arguably not ready to be a starting striker.

Somehow Turnbull and Lita were kept out of the TOTW but I made sure they knew I appreciated their efforts in the game as the two players seemed to win the contest for us.​

 

[kmitchell96]

Game 4: Gillingham (FL1)
After a hard fought win against Crewe we returned to Oakwell to take on Gillingham. Gillingham are doing quite well this season with 2 wins and 1 loss in the league so it wouldn't be an easy game but I was hoping we could push their back line like we did in our first 2 league games.

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Again, the strongest team we have to field is out today. I am hoping Lita can continue to score goals for us as I am becoming less and less confident in what our back ups can do after they have been poor in training.

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A draw is a result I would've taken before the game against a strong Gillingham side but we deserved a lot more. Way too often we were denied by goal line clearances and we dominated the game from start to finish. However, fair play to Gillingham. They came with a plan and that was to hit on the counter and win set pieces and they made the most of dead ball situations with 1 goal from a corner and 1 from a free kick.

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But this is the most frustrating thing! Not only did we give up leads twice but more frustratingly we had 26 shots (26!) compared to the visitors 5!!! The Gillingham back line may as well have just stood on the goal line for 90 minutes because we must've had at least 5/6 shots cleared off of the line including 3 from one corner!

We somehow held on though in the end as Gillingham had 3 good chances after Scowen got sent off for a stupid, stupid challenge but the Gills weren't as clinical with their final 3 shots as they were with their first 2 (luckily for us...).
​

 

[kmitchell96]

Game 5: Coventry (FL1)
Another big game for us. Coventry had won, lost and drawn in their opening 3 league games. After somehow failing to pick up maximum points in the last game against Gillingham I was hoping to get 3 today against an inconsistent Sky Blue side.

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With fitness problems there was a couple of changes to be made with Jennings and Bailey making way for Berry and Lameiras. There was also a chance on the bench for Bree who was recently promoted to the first team. He replaces Scowen on the bench who is banned for today's match.

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Dirty, dirty bastards! In the opening 8 minutes I was forced to take off Cranie (our captain) and Nyatanga. Two players who have been pivotal to keeping a solid back line. This set the tone for the game and with two substitutions seeing M'Voto coming on at CB and Bree making his debut at RB the back line wasn't set to be the same.

The main problem on the back line was an awful performance from Ramage who gave away a penalty to let Coventry take the lead. Then in the final minutes as we tried to pull it back he was caught wandering around and it let through Nouble who was more than happy to end the game as we piled on the pressure.

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One of the most frustrating things about this was that we didn't play badly. We had more shots and possession was almost 50/50. I am confident that if we had Cranie and Nyatanga leading the back line we could've at least won a point but the early injuries just didn't allow the back 4 to settle.

I was happy to play Bree who actually was one of the better players on the pitch. He created a late chance which saw Lita smash a shot against the bar just before Coventry countered and sealed the victory for themselves.

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However there is awful news for us. Key player and captain Cranie will miss 3-4 months with a torn hamstring. The challenge which saw him leave the pitch after 8 minutes was talked about after and some wonder why the referee didn't pull the red card out for it, or at least a yellow.

Later that night I then received a couple of emails. The first saying that with 4 international call-ups (Lalkovic, Dudgeon, Reilly, O'Sullivan) that we would postpone our home game against Doncaster which was set to be televised. The other was that Scowen had personally requested his red card to be reviewed (despite me saying no!) and it added 2 extra games onto his ban. This would probably end any involvement in the first team for him after a good performance from Bree who will keep his place on the bench for now.​

 

[kmitchell96]

Game 6: Yeovil (FL1)
This is a must win game, not because we need to win (well partly because of that) but because Yeovil have failed to pick up a single point so far this season and sit bottom of the league. We should be able to pull this one of easily.

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After the injury to Cranie I had to find a replacement at right back and the position was up for grabs all week. With Holgate out though I gave it to 16 year old Bree who had come in against Coventry and played well. I am hoping that he can quickly integrate into the back 4 and help us re find the defensive strength we had earlier on.

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We did not deserve that...

Yeovil were fantastic, how they are bottom I don't know. Early on they could've had 1/2 goals but Turnbull kept them out for 10 minutes before they opened up the scoring from a fantastic passing move. We somehow found an equaliser on the break.

Then after half an hour Bree picked up a knock which saw him limping around whilst Yeovil won a free kick. We didn't get the sub ready quick enough meaning he had to defend the long free kick which Yeovil floated the ball into the box and Bree couldn't jump high enough and they made it 2-1.

The second half we were better after a motivating team speech at half time but still the second best team. Our best moment of the game came when Dale Jennings started and ended a fantastic passing move in which he won the ball at the back and he must have been part of what was a 30/40 pass move before he slotted past a confused Yeovil goalkeeper.

Yeovil then went back to dominating the game and in all honesty should have taken all 3 points but they will be happy with 1. It isn't the way I wanted to end the month but the hosts deserved more so I will take a point which sees us without a win in our last 3 games.​

 

[dllu]

Looking good so far! KUTGW

 

[kmitchell96]

Looking good so far! KUTGW

Thanks I am hoping to keep this going until I can get FM16 which will be sometime around new year so it should be kept going for a while.

 

[kmitchell96]

August Review
So it has been a rollercoaster month. After a strong pre-season I wanted a strong start and that is what we got. With 2 wins in the first 2 league games we were flying and couldn't be knocked off of the top of the league where we started before the season.

However things started to drop after that. I think in part it is because of the injuries we seem to be picking up. With every injury you can see the players morale and confidence dropping and that started to show as they seemed to be less fluid in the way they played.

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I think the first two fixtures were must wins. Crewe and Crawley are two teams expected to struggle and I didn't want to lose to them early in the season as I knew it would knock confidence a lot. I think the Crewe game could have gone better but a win is a win.

In terms of the Gillingham and Coventry games I knew they wouldn't be easy games. Both are good sides and both will look to be around the same place as us come the season end. We did well to get a point from Gillingham and were unlucky against a dirty Coventry side.

The Yeovil game was the only real disappointment of the month and the fans agree with this. Although a couple of fans seem to think losing in the cup is worse but I and the mass of our fans seem to disagree with the minority. Yeovil hadn't won a point and were struggling a lot to create chances so we should've dominated and won that game but in the end we were just lucky to get a point.

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So at the end of the first month we sit in an "okay" position. Our aim from the board this season is to finish in the top 10 so it isn't all bad however we could have been higher. If we had been more lethal in front of goal against Gillingham and got 3 points we would've been in the top 5.

Ignoring the Coventry game because of the injuries I move on to the Yeovil game in which had we dominated as it looked like we should have that is another 2 points to tally on and we sit in the top 3. So we seemed to have dropped points which could've seen us sitting in the perfect place right now.

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So at the end of the month it isn't all bad as we see Leroy Lita top the goal scoring charts. We seem to be coping well without Winnall quite well so far but I feel we still lack that cutting edge at times that could turn draws into wins.

Sheffield United seem to be the dominant team in the league so far this season as they lead by a point with 4 wins and a draw. They have players in each of the top 4 in the 3 main categories. It is surprising to see Yeovil's James Hayter topping the assists at the moment as he provided the set up for 4 of Yeovils 8 goals so far.

Elsewhere in the league my former club Walsall seem to be having early struggles and sit in 17th having won 2 and drawn 3. The biggest shock in the league so far is the struggles of Bristol City who were early favourites for the title but currently sit in 20th with just 4 points. The biggest headline comes out of Port Vale though as they have only managed to score 1 goal in 6 games so far this season as they tally 4 points, even more shockingly is that the goal came on the opening day in a 1-0 victory against Walsall.​