FM Saddler's Managerial Journey

After a disappointing climax to my first season I knew I was going to need some fresh faces in the squad so I set about doing it from the end of the season. Originally working with no transfer budget at the beginning of the window I received a big boost through a sell-on clause of Troy Deeney which benefited the club with £1.1m (£475k was immediately put into the transfer budget with the rest set to be paid in installments).

So funded by Troy Deeney's move to Villa let's see how the transfer window went firstly looking at outgoings in this post...

Outgoings
View attachment 134269Only a couple of these outgoings really bothered me. James O'Connor had been strong in defence last year but wanted an increased role (Key Player) and for his wages to be doubled, with cheaper options in the market I decided to reluctantly let the defender go.

Isaiah Osbourne is somebody I was intrigued by but after being injured till January he fell behind multiple players (Mantom, Chambers, Flanagan and Gazo) in the depth chart. This is the same with Twardzik; signed last year he looked to be the keeper of the future but MacGillivray improved a lot over the year whilst Twardzik failed to improve so I moved him on to Zaragoza who will owe me 20% of any sell on.

Owen, Smith, King, Oliver and Sangha are all players I wanted to see develop but with no sign of improvement over the previous season it was hard to hand them improved contracts.

Jordan Cook and Andy Taylor were just backup players last season and neither really featured. Taylor was always second choice to Rico Henry and he never really impressed when he did feature. Cook on the other hand was way down the depth chart being 3rd choice winger on either side or 4th choice striker.

Finally was Milan Lalkovic. The winger left on a free after an unimpressive season at the Bescot. Loved by many for his personality I couldn't justify tripling his wages (to £3.3k a week!) in order to keep him. When he played he struggled to make enough of an impact to warrant the big contract and with cheaper and arguably better options on the market I saw no benefit in him signing back.

The next post will focus on incoming transfers where I will look at who we have added to the squad to move forward and have a more successful play-off push the second time of asking...
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So with a few backup players and a couple of starting quality players having departed I know I needed to make additions and improve the squad both in strength and depth. With the Deeney fund's available it would be an interesting window of ins.

View attachment 134268
Thomas McDermott - GK - 18 years old
The former Tottenham youth keeper joined on a free transfer as I looked to add more competition to the mix for the future goalkeeper spot. Currently nowhere near the first team he should be helping to push those in the under 21's to improve and provide a bright future in goal.

Christian Maghoma - CB - 18 years old
Another Spurs youth product is Maghoma. I needed depth at CB after O'Connor departed and that's what the youngster provides. He is more of a prospect as he has the physicals to be a top CB in this division (16 strength, 16 jump reach, 14 acceleration) but currently lacks the technical and mental skills a bit. With a strong coaching team and some tutoring the CB could feature before the seasons end.

Alfie Jones - CB - 18 years old
Another young CB this time from Southampton. Alfie is a player I had been looking at last season and provides strong cover this season at CB (4th choice). More rounded than Maghoma, Jones currently looks like the more immediate long term choice should he develop.

Denzeil Boadu - AMC/MC/ST - 19 years old
The former Arsenal and City man comes in as backup for Sawyers. Boadu currently has impressive attributes for his age but needs some refinement moving forward to really be a strong long term cover in the position. Most likely to play in the shadow striker role he has the current ability to do well when required.

Olufela Olomola - ST - 18 years old
Another prospect and a fantastic name joins from Southampton. Another player I had been scouting last season from our senior affiliate will come in and play in the under 21's. Constantly improving since arriving at the club the well rounded striker has the potential to be a key player in the future.

Charlie Owens - MC - 18 years old
Continuing the trend of signing teenagers in came Spurs product Charlie Owens. The only signing of the summer I wasn't 100% sure about as he has the potential but whether we needed him was another question. He has a year in the under 21's to improve.

Zenon Stylianides - MC - 18 years old
Another Spurs product as they continued to release young talent throughout the summer. This is why I wasn't certain about Owens cause Zenon is already suited to play in league 2 and has 5* potential. Hoping to send him out on loan the midfielder could quickly develop and come back next season and fight for a first team spot.

Tom Flanagan - CB - 24 years old
In my opinion our best capture of the season. Burton were reluctant to renew the 24 year old's contract so I quickly came in and snapped him up whilst I could. The CB is the perfect replacement for O'Connor and will fight it out with Matt Preston for the starting role alongside Downing all season.

Luke Amos - CDM/CM/CB - 19 years old
This is a deal that was completed as soon as the season ended. Spurs weren't renewing Amos's contract and there were over 15 teams looking at him. He was on loan at Crewe last year and was a bright spot in a disappointing season for them but he can come here this season to backup a strong midfield before having a chance in his second season to nail down a starting spot.

James Alabi - ST - 21 years old
Alabi joined from Ipswich on a free after having an impressive loan spell with Chester last season. Currently not good enough to be our number 1 striker he will likely go out on loan but he offers a long term solution to adding a physical striker should Bakayoko's development stall.

Ryan Seager, Sam Gallagher, Jake Hesketh, Josh Sims
The quartet return on loan from Southampton. Gallagher, Hesketh and Sims aren't listed above as they were all extended at the end of last season but Seager was drafted in as we suffered an injury crisis up front going into the season (Seager becomes by 5th choice striker with the first 4 all injured!).

Callum Harriot - AML - 22 years old
Another one of the signings I am extremely pleased with is Callum Harriot from Charlton. It was a signing that took months to complete as the winger initially asked for wages of over £5k but in the end he settled for a 2 year, £1.4k a week deal. An exciting option at this level who should worry defences all season with his pace and technical abilities. This is definitely one of the best signings of the summer.

Cedric Evina - LB - 24 years old
Those of you who know anything about Walsall will know that transfer fees are never paid. So when the Deeney money came in I made the most of it.

View attachment 134264
Breaking an almost 40 year old record I brought in the left back from Doncaster with the thinking that Rico Henry would be leaving (after bids from several premier league teams who all pulled out once the youngster got injured!). Evina will rotate with Henry or possibly nail the starting role down as Henry may move up to the wing to provide extra options.

Evina was part of the reason Doncaster avoided the drop after he was chosen in the second half of the season and provided more attacking ability and still strong defending. In my opinion he is just an older version of Rico.

View attachment 134263
So overall it was a good window and with another arrival or two expected with pre-season completed there is still room for additions. There is 1 deal close to complete which should see us bring in another quality option in midfield to give us a squad which was better than last season.

The next post will go over pre-season results ahead of a high expectation league campaign and show the misery of injury woes that we have hit going into the season opener with Doncaster...
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So with the transfers sorted we take a look back at the pre-season campaign and how we did in the season's warm up. We had to get players to gel and give everyone a chance to prove themselves in pre-season and that is exactly what I did.

View attachment 134243The first game was just a warm up as we looked to get fitness back into the side. We dominated proceedings having 60% possession and 10 shots whilst our under 21's had no shots at all. It took just 7 minutes for Josh Sims to make his mark slotting home at the back post for the only goal of the game.

View attachment 134242This was a rather disappointing result in all honesty. We controlled the game and once again we didn't allow our youngsters to get a shot on goal. We controlled the game again and showed threat going forward but just couldn't find the net past a stubborn Liam Roberts.

View attachment 134241Oxford are a good side and this wasn't an easy game so coming away from the Kassam with a win was big. Oxford started quick but our backup 11 came out and ran all over Oxford leaving us with some headaches in choosing our best 11. Sims made it 2 in 3 too.

View attachment 134240Once again it was a dominant performance but we struggled to make the most of our chances. The fantastically named Olufela Olomola got the only goal of the game just after the half fantastically running past his marker and smashing home.

View attachment 134239This was actually my favourite performance of the season. It was only a 2 minute brace for Pelle that set the premier league side apart from us. We were in the game for the 90 minutes and created as many chances as our senior affiliates but couldn't break past a stubborn keeper.

View attachment 134237Part of me was disappointed with the result but when you looked at the stats it is hard to be disappointed. Blackpool had 4 shots, all on target and scored 3 goals. We had 27 shots, 22 on target but Colin Doyle was unbelievable for the seaside team. I was happy to see our fight back and we came close to get level in the final 5 minutes hitting the post 3 times!​
 
As I mentioned before we had a bit of a injury crisis through pre-season and it has caused a few problems going into the first game. The first big problem is that Tom Bradshaw was injured in training up to the Euro's (as he was in real life!) and he will miss another 2-3 months! I have drafted in Gallagher, Seager and a number of other options to replace the striker but here lies the problem....

Gallagher will also miss the first couple of weeks possibly. He was injured in our first pre-season fixture and has struggled to get back to fitness. Alabi is currently our number 2 striker behind Seager which although both are good players I am not too sure they are going to be goalscorers.

Hesketh and Chambers also got knocks in pre-season and although available for Doncaster they are both struggling for fitness and won't feature at all.

Then another worry in the fitness of key players; Demetriou, Rico, Reece Flanagan and Preston were all injured over the summer and have all struggled for fitness. Demetriou will start against Doncaster as our backup, Kinsella, has struggled in pre-season. Flanagan is going to play but I am undecided on whether to start him but Rico and Preston who I was hoping could start will both be on the bench.

So although the below image includes all players at the club it is a worrying sight...

View attachment 134236​
 
Expectations
Firstly is the expectations for the season. In the league I have the same target as last season of reaching the play-off's and with the improved squad that should be doable. I know that if we can perform to the quality of our squad we could even challenge for the top 2.

The FA Cup the board want a 3rd round draw and after last year I don't see why not. We made it to the 4th round last year and challenged for the 5th round draw after losing 2-1 to premier league Swansea.

The league cup gives an expectation of the 2nd round. We have been drawn against league 2 Barnet so we should be able to achieve this target easily. I expect a win at the Hive and then a decent draw in the 2nd round could see us go further.

Finally is the JPT and to put it simply it isn't important. The board don't see it as a competition that's needed but I am keen to do well as it is realistically the only competition we have a chance of winning.
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The First 3...
So the season was underway and with plenty of transfer action going on around the club we tried to focus on our first 3 fixtures.

View attachment 134185It was a tough start as we hosted Doncaster. The first half had to be the dullest 45 minutes of a game ever with 50% possession and 0 shots for each side. Tactical changes for both sides saw the game open up though. The Saddler's went 1-0 up through Forde who met Harriot's cross at the back post but it was heart break in the end. An injury was ignored in the 86th minute where Evina was down on the floor for a couple of minutes and it saw Proctor through on goal to score the equaliser.

View attachment 134184A game that saw bigger news after than the result itself. Rico came back into the side and looked uninterested the full 90 minutes often leaving through balls to roll out rather than chasing them, it forced his half time substitution and after the game the acceptance of two bids for the left back.

It wasn't until late on that Barnet took control taking advantage of a tired Walsall 11 with 5 players coming in who featured in no more than 1 pre-season game. A couple of late knocks were picked up including Evina getting a broken finger.

View attachment 134183All I can say is that Amos will not be featuring for a while. After Gillingham took the lead from a corner the Saddler's took full control of the game and in the 34th minute Gallagher hit the back of the net, however the referee disallowed the goal as Amos had thrown somebody to the floor closer to the half way line!

It cost us at least a point and caused a worrying looking start to the season. Amos accepted his warning and after his fantastic performance against Doncaster I was looking forward to seeing him play more but this was the stupidest way to get sent off I have seen.

View attachment 134182So there it is....

A disappointing start as we were a referee decision away from a win at Doncaster and a stupid dismissal away from at least a point against Gillingham. I'm not too bothered about the loss in the Capital One Cup as I am focusing on league success for now but after this start I can't help but feel frustrated.

We also had to cancel the transfer of a central midfielder. He would've been the perfect partner for Mantom and provided a lot more quality as a number 2 CM than anybody else we had but the work permit was rejected. I'm also frustrated at the Rico Henry situation as it looks like he isn't going to play for his club forcing me to sell.​
 
View attachment 134181
I don't know what to say, it's a lot less than what I wanted but he wasn't wanting to stay at all and it was reflecting in his performances. £1.8m is a big sum of money for us and will help us out a lot. I have already looked at a couple of transfers including bringing in a backup left back for Evina who has impressed early on.

I also feel like we need to add a central midfielder. We currently have plenty but nobody up to the same quality as Mantom so I want a real strong partner in the middle who can add something. I've identified a couple of targets and with £1m in the transfer budget I could bring in high quality to replace.

The only worry is with the news of the sale teams seem to be asking big money for players and it isn't worth it...

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League Game 3​
View attachment 134180
Leyton Orient were nothing but dirty. That's the first thing I wanted to focus on as their first 3 bookings caused 3 injuries forcing me to make changes. Admittedly we didn't help ourselves as Amos's replacement, Gazo, got sent off within 33 minutes of his first start leaving us with further problems going forward.

All in all we played well. Without the sending off we at least get a point but we ended the game with Evina also injured but he had to remain on to give us any chance of pulling it back. With a game in just 3 days though these aren't things I wanted to see...

View attachment 134179View attachment 134178
There it was, 2 key players out for at least a couple of weeks. Mantom had been our best midfielder so far and Evina had been fantastic at left back but with both out I can see this next month being extremely tough.

With these set backs we currently sit 21st in the league but only 4 points off of the play-off's.
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View attachment 134177
There it is... Once again we break our transfer record using the Rico money this time. Grant is somebody with a lot of potential and the former Forest midfielder will step in a improve on our current options immediately.

View attachment 134176He is a well rounded midfielder but will mainly be used in the advanced playmaker role. He only has room to improve and he could end up becoming a key player for us this season and with the problems caused in the last two games by Gazo and Amos I am glad to see he has a fairly low aggression level.

Forest forced us to overpay a bit, I originally wanted him for £500k but they rejected the offer and when another deal fell through the funds were opened up to pay what they asked. He may not look like a world beater now but he has the potential to be and I can see him being a key player as we look to break our early season slump.
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View attachment 134172
The final signing of the summer comes in the form of versatile Bulgarian Kamen Hadzhiev. He has to be one of the most well rounded players we have in the squad and he will be used wherever he is needed.

View attachment 134171Physically he is good across the board, nothing special but good enough and that is the story across all of his attributes. He isn't anything special but he can offer consistent performances hopefully. Immediately he will step in a left back but after that he has the ability to start either in CB, CDM or even CM if required.

I think this is the best deal I have made. The Bulgarian arrives on a £220k move but is definitely the most promising signing we have made. Still only 24 he can still improve a bit and he is one of the most well rounded players I found for this level.

We have spent a lot this summer but it has all been covered in the transfer fee received for Rico and then the Deeney money is all profit. Moving forward the club is financially in fantastic fettle based off of this summer's transfer activity.
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View attachment 134170
So after a busy summer of activity I thought I would just give everyone a general idea of our best 11. I play a 4-2-3-1 attacking style and try to exploit the flanks but also keep possession. I think looking at the quality of players and performances so far this season that this is easily my best 11.

I can see that back 4 being hard to break down because of the all round ability of each player. Mantom and Grant could be fantastic pairing in midfield, Mantom will do a lot of the defensive duties but Grant has the ability to create chances from nothing.

The 3 attacking midfielders are all fantastic and it was extremely hard to pick. Harriot has outperformed Sims since signing and Forde has just been better than Morris since the beginning of pre-season but I could play either on each side and still have fantastic players on each wing.

Sawyers is by far our best player. When he played last season he was unstoppable because of his technical ability and we have been without him for a couple of games cause of international duty.

Then there is Bradshaw, his injury is huge for us as I am not too sure about Alabi, Seager or Gallagher to be goalscorers and after he scored 28 last season I don't know how that can be replaced. When we get him back we will be twice as good as what we are now.


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dissapointing to lose rico henry of course but im sure you will progress without him mate once the new boys fully settle
 
djs1 said:
dissapointing to lose rico henry of course but im sure you will progress without him mate once the new boys fully settle
Click to expand...

Yeah, wanted to keep him but had no chance. He originally complained saying he didn't start enough but he started every game when he wasn't injured! Then came asking for higher league football so had no chance when bids came in.

Thank this squad is better than first season but definitely needs time to settle. Not sure how long I'll get before being sacked if I don't turn things around quickly, just don't want to get sacked cause really enjoying being with Walsall and not sure how interesting the save may be if I move on.
 
So with a poor start and the transfer window sorted we had to move forward and push up the table. I could feel my job was in the balance but as injuries continued to pile up and cause problems it was tough to build any consistent form.

View attachment 134088The most frustrating result of the season so far. We dominated the full 90 minutes but without a proven goalscorer up front couldn't get the goal so when Southend scored their only shot of a game with Leonard converting from a corner I couldn't have been any more annoyed.

View attachment 134087FINALLY A WIN! But it didn't come with ease. We continue to have a poor record in the last 10 minutes of the first half as Sordell was let through by Flanagan to score. However Seager and Morris combined for both goals in the second half and we walked away with all 3 points against the 2nd placed U's. The bad news is that Forde misses a month.

View attachment 134086No Bradshaw. No Forde. No Demetriou. No Hadzhiev. No Evina. No Mantom....

Internationals truly screwed us over with all our fit full back options travelling back we had to change our style that worked so well last time out. Adelakun controlled the game down the left side and with no full backs available to shut down the wide areas he got a goal and an assist.

View attachment 134085It does not look good. After 6 we sit just outside the relegation zone but the only think keeping me positive is that we only sit 7 points off of the top 6. Hopefully with a full squad slowly becoming available we can push up the table as we seemed to find the winning formula against Colchester.

My only worry is whether I last long enough to see that happen. My security is currently listed as stable but I think if we are still in this sort of position after 10 games I will lose my job.​
 
For the first time in my career I was dealing with what was truly an awful run of form. Just one win in our first six league games had left us in the relegation battle and we needed to find form going into the thick of the season otherwise I could see myself being sacked before Christmas.

View attachment 134067In all honesty this was an unfair result. Oldham did nothing all game as we controlled play with the addition of full backs. It took us a while to find the goal but when it came it was fantastic as Downing flicked on a corner for fellow CB, Tom Flanagan to head home. However Murphy levelled minutes later after his shot took a deflection off of the referee to go in.

View attachment 13406338 minutes in I was furious. We'd got a win and a draw in the last 3 and were facing a Bolton side who were below us in the table. Sam Mantom returned was dismissed after just 38 minutes. Once this happened I was waiting for Bolton to score but we sat back and countered perfectly and with the introduction of Target Man Alabi in the second half we got the goal and the win!

View attachment 134062Last season saw 1-0 and 2-1 losses for us in the M6 El Clasico but this was our best performance yet. Controlling the play from the get go Coventry barely had a touch of the ball when Seager got the first goal after Evina played through Sims who crossed perfectly.

After this Coventry were visibly frustrated and with us moving the ball around quickly and precisely they couldn't win possession. This lead to Coventry not only giving away over 30 fouls in the 90 minutes but they also failed to register a shot until the 82nd minute which was a hit and hope from 30 yards after Seager doubled our lead.

The only bad news from this game were two injuries. Sawyers who had been hitting form twisted his knee after Sammon barged straight through him meaning that he will miss 3 weeks whilst Seager also picked up an injury meaning he will miss a few days.

View attachment 134056I use the larger screenshot this time round to illustrate that the table is extremely tight. There are currently just 8 points between 2nd place Colchester and 22nd place Bradford. Whilst we started poorly we seem to be gelling and finding form and with a few winnable games coming up we could be in the play-off places sooner than I thought.

We need to continue the consistent form though. Evina has been fantastic since returning and Seager seems to finally be finding his goalscoring ways. The highest ranked side we face before December is 10th placed Burton meaning we can hit a big run of form to push up the table.

Also with the likes of Sawyers, Mantom, Bradshaw and Forde to return I can only see us improving over the coming months and pushing up the table. 3 games ago my position looked in the balance but all of a sudden things are looking up.​
 
2 more league games were coming up followed by our first game of the JPT after being handed a bye game in the first round. Finally finding some form we needed to keep pushing up the table and we could do so before looking to advance through the JPT.

View attachment 133802We continued our fine form against Notts County who joined the league this season. The first half was one of the dullest I've ever seen with nothing to note but a second half master class from our midfield saw us score 2 goals in 7 minutes to get all 3 points.

View attachment 133801Preston still had a very good side after getting relegated but it was a disappointing result as they sat below us in the league. We looked tired going into the final half an hour though and Preston hit us quickly on the break as we controlled play and had most of the chances but May and Reid controlled the final half an hour for Preston to hand us defeat.

View attachment 133800On the back of a big loss I wasn't sure how this would go but we controlled the 90 minutes and the Oldham goal never threatened our lead. The first 7 minutes saw us hit the post twice before Morris made it 1-0. Evina then scored superbly from outwide with what looked like a cross but was actually aimed to loop over the keeper to make it 2-0. Oldham got the goal but we continued to control play and Forde sealed the deal late on.

View attachment 133799Once again I place emphasis on how tight the league is. The top two are starting to pull away but we sit just 4 points from the top 6 as teams continue to struggle to pull away from the chasing pack. Colchester have slipped in form meaning we are just 5 points from 3rd and also 5 points from relegation.

At this point our next game could see us drop down to 19th or rise up to 8th so it is extremely tight in this division as it was last year so hopefully we can pull into the battle before Christmas.​
 
We continue to try push up the table but the competitiveness in the league is shown in how tight the league is. We could risk falling away from the top 6 in this run of games or we could pull closer to it.

View attachment 133788We were fantastic in the first 10 minutes and looked like we could have scored 3 more in the first half but somehow Burton pulled back into the game. Etheridge literally picked the ball up from the edge of the box and then dropped it into the net for the own goal (it was the stupidest thing I've ever seen on FM, seriously, it was ridiculous!). A late surge though pushed us to victory with Harriot and Seager adding the 3rd and 4th.

View attachment 133787How?! Bottom of the league Cambridge outperformed us. Dunk controlled the entire game for Cambridge and we couldn't stop him but goals from Sims and Seager earned us a point. We almost got a winner late on but in all honesty we didn't deserve a point.

View attachment 133785This is stupid! We shot ourselves in the foot at every opportunity and I am certain the team are trying to get me sacked. Seager fired a penalty straight at the keeper before Morris passed the ball into his own net. Luckily we had the super Tom Bradshaw coming off the bench to equalise as he made his first appearance for the season. We dominated the game from start to finish and Bradford didn't have a shot on target yet we still come away with just 1 point.

View attachment 133783If we performed against Cambridge and didn't screw ourselves over against Bradford then we sit in at least 9th but instead we remain 15th and 4 points off. This is frustrating but with Bradshaw returning I am hoping to have a more reliable option than Seager.

We currently have a problem with Demetriou who seems to be unhappy but also unfit but with Kinsella and Tonks both out on loan we have no other option at right back. I would play a back 3 for a game but it would seem unfair on Evina who has been nothing short of fantastic.

However the player of the season so far is Jorge Grant. The centre midfielder has been ridiculous since signing and has held others out of the squad with his form. Every game he creates chances and makes key interceptions defensively and without him we would be a lot worse off.​
 
With a cup double coming up we take a look at 2 league games that could see us rocket up the table or see our play-off hopes become all but dreams. We needed a win at least from the 2 league games which I expected against Port Vale but facing an in form MK isn't something we needed right now.

View attachment 133740I don't know how to make this game sound interesting. Nothing happened at all, seriously, nothing. All I can say is that between both sides there were 3 shots, non on target and it was 50/50 for possession.

View attachment 133739After the bore fest against Port Vale this was much more interesting. Seager opened the scoring just 40 seconds in latching onto Harriot's through ball and slotting home. The 5 minute period between the 43rd and 48th minute was then ridiculous.

Callum Harriot first met Demetriou's cross to make it 2-1. However Joe Walsh then headed a corner home to equalise the score. At this point I saw MK pulling it back but 30 seconds after the whistle blew to start the second half Evina headed home a corner. In the next 2 minutes both sides hit the post twice!

The game then died down with us sitting back to defend the two goal lead and MK struggling to find a way through a fantastic back 4.

View attachment 133738And all of a sudden things are looking a lot better. Just 1 point off the play-off's and with the team finally gelling I can see us pushing into them over the next few games. The only problem is after a run of easy fixtures we have to face Wigan, Chesterfield, Fleetwood and Barnsley over our next 4 games.

However all 4 ties are at home so if we can take advantage of that I see no reason we can't come away with 12 points. But at the same time I just want to beat Wigan and Fleetwood and not lose to Barnsley.
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So here is the cup double I was talking about. We start with a FA Cup first round tie against non-league Dover where I expect us to get a big win and rotate a bit. Then we have a trickier Quarter Final in the JPT against Preston which I honestly don't know how to play with them beating us 3-0 last time round.

View attachment 133737In all honesty we were poor. Dover deserved more from this game and almost had the first goal just 10 minutes in but were denied by the post. From then on we woke up a bit and were better defensively but created nothing going forward. Morris got lucky to have a chance in front of goal and he took it to make it 1-0.

The second half was a boring but the difference in fitness levels between the football league and non-league stood out with Dover unable to keep up late on. Morris added a second beating his man and smashing home before Harriot knocked home a Morris cross late on to make it 3-0.

As always though there is bad news with good wins... Bradshaw started as he looked to return to full fitness, with 10 minutes left he got injured and will be out for 3 weeks with a twisted ankle.

View attachment 133736I just don't know how to beat Preston. No matter how I play they seem to play the perfect tactic to counteract mine. We looked to play our normal style of keeping the ball, moving it around and exploiting the flanks and they just attacked up the middle on the counter.

For the second half I changed it up so we were less focused on playing out wide (as our full backs and wingers had been poor) and we attacked up the middle, we also moved the ball around quicker and switched to 2 strikers but still Preston counteracted by attacking the flanks and keeping the ball. Eventually they found a way through and May got the winner.​
 
3 tough games were next up against teams around and above us. We needed to get at least a couple of decent results to continue to pressure that top 6.

View attachment 133687Wigan had more of the possession but they were poor in front of goal and we countered fantastically all game including when Evina and Harriot broke down the left to set up Seager to get the winner. The second half was mixed as both sides had chances but after making 3 subs Evina got injured and I expected us to drop the points but we stood stubborn defensively and were aided by a late sending off for Wigan.

View attachment 133685We struggled to control the game today again but Fleetwood couldn't create chances. Seager once again opened the scoring in the first half. In all fairness to Forde if he didn't attempt to clear it a Fleetwood striker would've tapped home from a corner so either way it was going to be 1-1.

View attachment 133684We were fantastic in the first half and deserved to be 3/4 goals up but Chesterfield who now sit top came out in the second half and ran the show. Controlling possession and the middle of the field we had no chance to pull it back after Lavery scored 3 in 5 minutes.

View attachment 133683After a mixed bag of results we still sit in the top 10. Our goal difference took a big knock in the game against Chesterfield but we can continue to fight for that top 6. Only 3 points sit between us and Orient and I see no reason why we can't catch up to them.

We face Portsmouth in the FA Cup 2nd round next before we face 4th placed Barnsley. After that we have a couple of easier games against mid-table Doncaster and relegation threatened Wigan. However we then face 3rd, 7th, 2nd, 6th and 5th all in a row.

I'd say we need to beat Portsmouth to get to the 3rd round before getting 3 league wins on the bounce to go into that tough run in good form and high morale. I think my worry at this point is those 5 games could see us drop right out of contention going into the mid-point of the season.​
 
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