From Grassroots...

[CCFCFAN]

Reckon you could get promoted?

 

[AndySams10]

Reckon you could get promoted?

No doubt it, got a few injuries at present, and maybe a twist coming up!!! maybe!!! Plus squad isn't strong enough to compete how I would want week in, week out.

 

[CCFCFAN]

Consolidate and push next season then?

 

[AndySams10]

Consolidate and push next season then?

Possibly, I'm torn between a decision at the moment, all will be reaveled in next couple of updates!!

 

[AndySams10]

FOREST GREEN 0 - 2 HUDDERSFIELD
The New Lawn. Att: 5,147

We were undone by our own bad luck this evening, as two own goals in either half consigned us to defeat. First Jeffrey Imudia, playing in place of the injured Chris Stokes, was in the wrong place as Lee Novaks' shot cannoned of the post, only to hit Imudia on the back and the ball rolled angonisingly over the line in the 25th minute. We had a few chances to get back level, but found Alex Smithies in fine form in the away goal. Into the second half and a similar incident to the first goal, saw Huddersfield pull two goals away, this time Ole Soderberg was the unlucky person, with the own goal being timed at 67 minutes.

BRENTFORD 2 - 4 FOREST GREEN
Griffin Park. Att: 4,506

Superb performance to bounce back from our midweek defeat and we had to do it the hard way coming from behind early on. Dominic Samuel(16') put the hosts ahead with a good finish. The goal seemed to fire us into action, Matt Tubbs equalised on 40 minutes, scoring from an acute angle. Just after half time Pat Baldwin(47') edged us into the lead with a fine strike on the turn. Tom Aldred scored a fine header in the 54th minute to give us a two goal advantage. Ten minutes later Andy Barcham raced clear and rounded Soderberg to reduce our lead. Despite the set back, we continued to play, and Matt Tubbs(74') sealed the win with another lovely goal.

WATFORD SACK THORN

​

Sky Sports News can confirm that Watford have sacked manager Andy Thorn following their 1 - 0 defeat to Brentford. Thorn, who joined Watford in April last year after leaving Coventry City, had endured a torrid time in the Hornets hot seat after relegation from the NPower Championship and despite the Watford board backing him in the transfer market to push for an immediate return, Saturdays defeat to lowly Brentford sealed his fate.
The bookies have placed out of work Gary Megson as favourite to take over, with ex Blackburn boss Steve Kean and former Brighton boss Gus Poyet also in the running.

FOREST GREEN 1 - 2 BRENTFORD
The New Lawn. Att: 5,033

*** Match Report to follow ***

**BREAKING NEWS**

SAMUELS MISSING FOR ROVERS

​

Sky Sports News understands that Forest Green manager Andy Samuels did not turn up to the clubs League One match at The New Lawn this afternoon, leaving assistant manager Martin O'Connor to take charge of the team, that ended up losing 2 - 1 to bottom club Walsall. Unconfirmed reports are rumouring that Samuels, who also missed training yesterday, has been struggling with illness and been ordered to stay away from the club by chairman Dale Vince.

Sky Sports Reporter: "We are delighted to have Forest Green assistant Martin O'Connor on the phone. Hi Martin, can give us the latest on Andy Samuels not being in attendance today?"

Martin O'Connor: "Hi guys, well it was very last minute that I got told I would be in charge for the game today. Andy wasn't well towards the end of the week, but was fully expected to be here."

Sky Sports Reporter: "Have you had any contact with Andy or what the next step is?"

Martin O'Connor: "I've tried calling Andy, but his phone is switched off. And at present I'm in the dark over what happens next."

Sky Sports Reporter: "Thank you Martin for your time. So we are still in the dark over what the current situation with Andy Samuels is, and what the next step for Forest Green will be. We'll have more throughout the evening."



​

Driving through the pouring rain I knew I'd have to answer alot of questions and face a grilling from the chairman about me going awol, then missing and possibly costing us points in our game against Walsall. But sometimes you have to do what you feel is best, and act in the spur of the moment.
I pulled up outside the electric gates, punched in the code, and made my way towards the huge, scary looking in the dark, mansion that Dale Vince owned. Here I was about to face an angry chairman, but I knew i was well prepared and made my way to the door, dodging the puddles that lay on the drive.
" Ding Dong" sounded the old fashioned bell. I was greeted by the chairman who on opening the door, turned and walked towards the drawing room. I made my way closely following behind, and sat down opposite a dispondent looking man. "So what the **** is going on? " he demanded. "I've been in talks with Watford over their managerial vacancy, and remembering the clause in my contract, I needed to go and speak to them. I know I should've spoken to you first and got permission, but it all got arranged so quickly." I responded apologetically, "To say I'm disappointed is an understatement, you have made us look a laughing stock, which I'm not happy about. The media circus has been all over us this evening and I will not tolerate it. If they make an approach for you, they will have to pay a hefty compensation fee!!" Dale Vince, was not happy, each word he spoke, was met with a finger point in my direction. as I got up, knowing it was short stay I said "I never expected this to have caused so much publicity,and put the club in a bad light, I'm sorry."
Though I've had a small amount of success in a short time, I guess there's still areas of management I need to learn and improve on. With that harsh lesson instilled in my head, I made my way towards my car and drove the short distance home still not knowing what's around the corner. Will I still be in a job at Forest Green? Will I be successful with my interview at Watford?? or Will I be unemployed???



I woke the next morning to Louise calling out " Put on Sky Sports news, Put on Sky Sports news." Rubbing my tired, drained eyes I managed to find the Sky remote and switched on Sky Sports News..........

FOREST GREEN REJECT SAMUELS APPROACH
​

Straight away I thought to myself "Oh my god, more publicity thats not wanted". I kept listening to the reporter who was in full swing with the breaking news, "Forest Green chairman Dale Vince, has rejected a compensation package to release manager Andy Samuels from his contract to join fellow rivals Watford. The reported fee of £50k, is thought to be a long way off the amount required to take the young talented manager to Vicarage Road."..............Before the reporter finished I was on the phone to my agent, wanting to know the full story. "Hi Andy, Dale Vince has told Watford they must triple their offer if they want to install you as their new gaffer. I know he won't budge on the fee, what do you want to do?" My agent said to me, as I got dressed. "Leave it with me, you'll know shortly".

SAMUELS RESIGNS

​

Following a scathing attack on chairman Dale Vince, Andy Samuels has sensationally resigned as Forest Green Rovers manager. Samuels led the club to back to back promotions and led them to the final of the Johnstone's Paint Trophy, in which they were runners up after losing to Bradford City. In an exclusive interview Samuels had this to say to the clubs fans "I'm very thankful that Forest Green, gave me the opportunity to start my managerial career at The New Lawn. But after agreeing a new deal at the start of the season, I requested a clause written into my contract that if a club came in for me I would be allowed to talk to them, and if they made a formal approach for my services I would be allowed to leave on good terms. Unfortunately these terms have not been agreed, and following another talk with the board the previous week about securing more funds to help cement our great start, I was again declined any money to secure a deal I felt would take the club to another level. Having sat down with my fiancee and agent and discussed recent events, I felt the time was right to hand in my resignation, with the club sitting in a fantastic position in the league. I wish the fans all the best and I hope I have given them some fantastic times in the last two years".
The club posted a short statement on the official website saying "We are very disappointed that Andy Samuels tenure at the club has come to this conclusion and have reluctantly agreed to his resignation. We will not let this difficult situation over shadow the great work Andy did for us in his time at the club. We will begin our search immediately for a new manager."

 

[AndySams10]

League Table at Resignation for Forest Green.

 

[AndySams10]

WATFORD APPOINT NEW MANAGER
​

TALKSPORT can confirm in the last hour that Andy Samuels has been appointed the new manager of Watford Football Club with immediate effect, taking over from the recently sacked Andy Thorn. It is our understanding that Samuels, who reportedly resigned yesterday from Forest Green following a recent altercation with the chairman and board, bought out the remaining year and a half left on his contract so he could join the League One outfit.
We are hearing that Samuels who will be unveiled officially tomorrow, has sign a two and a half year deal.

​

Sitting in my study I went through the barrage of emails that awaited me following the public announcements of my decision. Most of them were complimentary from Forest Green fans thanking me for taking their club to a place they only dreamed of and a couple from Watford supporters looking forward to me in charge. But as always with the good and something I've grown up with, is you will always get those jealous people who want to hate you, so I deleted the odd abusive emails and took time out to reflect on a hectic last couple of days.

It was an extremely tough decision to leave Forest Green in the way I did, and in an ideal world I'd of wanted the club to have got good compensation for me, but after the talks with the board and being refused permission to sign a player I felt was needed to improve the team in a big way, followed the chairmans' refusal to budge on a gentlemans' agreement we had in place from the start of the season. The refusal a second time by the board showed me that, though the club was sitting in a great position in the league, I had a feeling we could be left behind. Yes, I know that some of you are thinking that we have made massive strides in the past two years, but I wanted to keep the run going and felt if I had been able to sign the player I wanted, not only would it have been a fantastic signing on and off the pitch, I may have still been in charge, but that's in the past now.

As mentioned during my face to face with Dale Vince, the meeting with Watford was hastily arranged for a late evening appointment. Within five minutes of meeting Watford chairman Graham Taylor, who is a legend at the football club, I knew this was a step of my managerial journey that I could not turn down. He was so passionate about the playing philosophy's I wanted to bring to the club, and probably the most important factor was that he was willing to back me in the transfer market. Mr Taylor, who previously managed the team in the 70's and 90's, wanted me to aim for one thing and that was the team to gain an immediate return back to the championship. Having watched the Watford team a few weeks back, when they played Forest Green, I felt that even though they were in a false position in the lower half of the table, with the squad that would be at my disposal there is a great opportunity to achieve what the chairman wished, with maybe an addition or two.

WATFORD PRESS CONFERENCE

Sky Sports Reporter: "Good afternoon and welcome to First, Fast, Now. We are going live to Vicarage Road to join football correspondant Andy Burton, who is in attendance for the unveiling of the new Watford boss."

Andy Burton: "Thank you, and Hello. In a few moments we will be live with the Watford chairman Graham Taylor and new manager Andy Samuels."

*** Graham Taylor and Andy Samuels enter the room and sit behind the table at the back of the room ***

Graham Taylor: "Good afternoon and welcome, I hope we are all well. It gives me great pleasure to introduce Watford Football Clubs' new manager Andy Samuels. Please feel free to ask your questions."

Andy Burton: "You chose to resign from previous club Forest Green. Is that a decison you regret, on the back of the comments by their chairman?"

Me: "Not at all, I'm very happy with what I achieved their, but now I'm only concentrating and looking forward to working here at Watford."

Andy Burton: " Will you be making lots of changes to the playing and non playing staff?"

Me: "All the players will be given a chance, though their are a few who will not be featuring in my plans. Some staff will stay too, but one or two have left with the previous manager, but that will allow me to bring in a couple of new faces to frshen things up."

Andy Burton: "What will your aims be for the season?"

Me: "I think promotion is what the chairman and fans want, so that is my first priority. Also, we are going well in the Johnstone's Paint Trophy, so a trip to Wembley would be nice too."

Andy Burton: " Finally, you have a game tomorrow, what can the Watford fans look forward too with you in charge?"

Me: "Yes, in at the deep end with regards to preparing for the match tomorrow, but I feel once the group of players here are more confident and believe they are good players, our performances will show that and I'm confident come the end of the season, the fans will have something to cheer about. Thank you for your time, please excuse me, I'm off to meet the players and take a short training session."​

 

[CCFCFAN]

Why leave FGR for a team below you?Unless you got sacked

 

[AndySams10]

Why leave FGR for a team below you?Unless you got sacked

I didn't get sacked!! I resigned, plus Watford are a bigger club and I feel they have a better chance of promotion this season. And have a nice transfer budget, something I didn't think I would get at Forest Green.

 

[CCFCFAN]

I didn't get sacked!! I resigned, plus Watford are a bigger club and I feel they have a better chance of promotion this season. And have a nice transfer budget, something I didn't think I would get at Forest Green.

Aaaaah

 

[AndySams10]

​

Following the press conference, I made my way out onto the pitch, as I arranged to meet the players and have a short session before making the trip up north to Walsall. First we got going in a keep ball session, something I belive in, in a big way. I needed to get across to the team that with the ball, we won't lose the game, but without it we must work together to win the ball back quickly. This was then followed by soem small sided games, encouraging short, quick passes and when to break at pace on the counter.
Whilst waiting for the team coach, I felt this was the perfect opportunity to have a chat with the squad, to allow me to get across what is expected of them and also give them an opportunity to ask me anything that maybe concerning them.
With the coach pulling in, I finished off by stating that if they keep their heads up, start believing in themselves more and enjoy their football, then we will be in with a good chance of achieving promotion. This was then echoed by the club captain John Eustace who addressed the the team "Lets go and show the fans what we are made of and give them something to cheer come the end of the season. I believe we can do it." It was the exact response I wanted and for the club captain to back me and reiterate my thoughts was a great way to start my career at Vicarage Road.

WALSALL 1 - 4 WATFORD
The Bescott Stadium. Att: 4,326

Great start and better than I could've wished for my first game in charge. We started of very brightly and our first goal came in the 32nd minute, when the lively Francois Zoko fired the ball into the corner of the net. It was Zoko again who doubled our lead in the 53rd minute. Will Grigg(63') scored a free kick with the home sides only real attempt on our goal, and we continued our dominance with goals from Piero Mingoia in the 67th minute and an Own goal by Harlee Dean after 85 minutes, sealed a memorable win.

WATFORD 1 - 0 HARTLEPOOL
Vicarage Road. Att: 8,832

A nice way to start in front of our home support. Having gone over nine hours without a goal Neil Mellor grabbed the only goal of the game, and what a strike it was. In the 33rd minute, Mellor played a one two with midfielder Sean Murray, took a couple more touches, then unleashed an unstoppable strike in off the the underside of the bar. It was a goal worthy of winning any game.

WATFORD 3 - 0 FOREST GREEN
Vicarage Road. Att: 8,358

I didn't want to build up this game too much, but it was a scintillating performance, especially in the first half. Francois Zoko put us ahead after a minute, when he broke free of the last defender and cooly slotted the ball home. Neil Mellor then grabbed his second in as many games, firing home from inside the box after 7 minutes. We were on top for the whole game and the third game througha Mark Roberts(83') header from a well worked free kick.

WREXHAM 1 - 1 WATFORD
The Glyndwr University Racecourse Stadium. Att: 6,529

Our firstdropped points, but in the end I was glad we came away with a point as it could've been so different. Not a great first half, as both sides struggled to get hold of the ball. In the second half Wrexham were awarded a penalty after Lloyd Doyley was adjudged to have fouled the right winger. Billy Jones stepped up, but fired his left footed effort wide. This seemed to have picked the lads up and our dominance paid off when Ross Jenkins(76') lashed home his first of the season. But like so many teams have done in the past, we switched off and Wrexham equalised from kick off, when Nicholas Bignall(77') earned the home side a point.

Quarter Final
WATFORD 1 - 1 BARNET
(Watford win 3-0 on penalties)
Vicarage Road. Att: 3,718

Having not had much time with the whole squad, I used this game to play most of my fringe players, to see who did and didn't have a future at the club. It was transfer listed defender Dale Bennett(34') who headed home from a corner. Our play was very disjointed, due to the lads not playing together before and we were punished towards the latter stages of the game when Ricky Holmes(77') sent the game into a penalty shootout.
The hero was our young keeper Jonathan Bond, who saved all three Barnet penalties, and with our takers all hitting the net meant we didn't have to endure all of the shoot out.



​

A brilliant start to my career at Watford, with some very pleasing performances most notably against Walsall and Forest Green. But I know we can't get carried away and must ensure the players keep their feet firmly on the ground.
Hopefully we can get to the final of the Johnstone's Paint trophy and continue our good start over the coming months.

 

[AndySams10]

League Table in November(Including the four games since I took over.)

 

[AndySams10]

Aaaaah

Yep, just needed a change and hope with watford I can progress quicker. Oh and if I got sacked, I would've said!!

 

[CCFCFAN]

How are Watford mid-table though!!?

 

[AndySams10]

How are Watford mid-table though!!?

I don't know, just how the game has panned out, and the previous managers in charge haven't done well enough! Not entirely sure if that's what u mean?

 

[CCFCFAN]

Strange how you and Wrexham went up together

 

[ZeCarlos]

Good story mate, I'm still following silently!

 

[AndySams10]

Strange how you and Wrexham went up together

I appreciate feedback on my story, constructive criticism on the layout etc. But one thing I can't control is how the game plays out, if you are suggesting that I've cheated, I haven't as it would be wrong and pointless to write a story. If you aren't enjoying the story, you don't have to follow. A shame if that's the case as I felt you were someone who was taking a regular interest. I hope you are still keen on it.

 

[AndySams10]

Good story mate, I'm still following silently!

Thanks mate, hope you are enjoying.

 

[CCFCFAN]

I appreciate feedback on my story, constructive criticism on the layout etc. But one thing I can't control is how the game plays out, if you are suggesting that I've cheated, I haven't as it would be wrong and pointless to write a story. If you aren't enjoying the story, you don't have to follow. A shame if that's the case as I felt you were someone who was taking a regular interest. I hope you are still keen on it.

What?I'm not accusing you of anything I'm just saying it's funny that's all (not saying you've cheated or it's funny accusingly just found it good that my two favourite BSP teams went up)

I am taking regular interest