It's Football, Not Soccer! An American Adventure

Empty beer bottles littered the dimly-lit room, sharing the space with crumpled pieces of paper with formations jotted down on them, the television quietly showed some ****** version of rugby as I attempted to create a formation that incorporated a sweeper and a Trequartista, just for the laughs.

As my thoughts drifted from one drunken idea to the next, I noticed the screen of my phone light up and heard the familiar ring tone (Muse - Knights of Cydonia) pulse around the room. I dropped the pad I was working on and stumbled across the room to retrieve the phone, it was schoolfriend-***-landlord-***-agentish, Elis

Me-"Alright, mate?"

Elis-"I've got you a job interview"

Me-"I'm very well thank you, how are you?"

Elis-"Matthew, shut up, I've got you an interview"

Me-"But I've already got a job, here in Baltimore"

Elis-"Yeah, but this one's better"

Me-"How so?"

Elis-"Ever head of Dayton?"

Me-"No"

Elis-"Well, they won the PDL Midwest Division last season and their manager left to manage Louisville"

Me-"What's a Dayton?"

Elis-"Shut up, just meet me at the train station 10:00 tomorrow"

Me-"What's a Day-"

He hung up. Barsteward.
 
A Date with Dayton
As you may have gathered I have now left Baltimore and am managing Dayton Dutch Lions in the USL Western Conference, the division above the PDL where Baltimore are plying their trade

Dayton are a bigger club and are a professional club, which gives them a huge edge on Baltimore
Due to Dayton's professional status, I am also being paid! At long last!

I also joined just in time to see the latest crop of youngsters come through the ranks at Dayton, here's the full list


There's some pretty tasty players there, here's the top 3

Jim Cooks - 16 years old - Midfielder
View attachment 183784
Jim is the best youngster at the club and is, in my new assistant Chris Hernandez and I's opinion, the best midfielder at the club, unlike the players at Baltimore this kid can actually play, he's a hard-worker, he's determined and he can play a pass, perfect

James Scott - 15 years old - Central Defender
View attachment 183783
James' original dream was to be a doctor, not a footballer, James here soon realised how hard it would be to become a doctor and thus changed his dream to become a footballer, James, like Jim, is already first team quality and will slot in alongside Steve Yeisley at centre half, he's a team player, his core defensive stats are solid and I look forward to seeing him play next season

Steve Clark - 15 years old - Midfielder
View attachment 183780
Steve, like Jim is a midfielder, and he' not bad, he'll be pushing for a first team slot this season and will provide cover in that area. He has decent pace and stamina and is very determined, a good player

Others to look out for
John Hall - Right Winger
Sergio Baptista - Left Back



 
I love how you're mixing in some comedy lol
"Whats a Dayton "

how're you finding the American structure? or rather lack of lol
 
Seano said:
I love how you're mixing in some comedy lol
"Whats a Dayton "

how're you finding the American structure? or rather lack of lol
Click to expand...
Thanks mate

It's strange, I think the draft and things like that only come into play in the MLS on this database, I'm not sure though
 
The Fourth of March 2016
Dayton Dutch Lions are a professional American football club based in the city of Dayton which is the 6th largest city in Ohio, the state in which it is situated. Dayton play their home games at Dayton Outpatient Centre (Commonly referred to as Dayton O.C), which has a capacity of 3,000.

Dayton enjoy an unofficial partnership with Eredivisie side FC Twente, Dayton's colours are orange, white and blue, mirroring those of the Dutch National Team

Dayton is 474 miles away from Baltimore and is at least a 7 hour drive, which means that I have had to leave Baltimore and move into temporary accommodation in Dayton, alongside my now agent Elis, I have no idea how he got me this job


PRE-SEASON
View attachment 183615

Pre-season consisted of 5 games, including one against our Under 18s and one against my former club, Baltimore Bohemians.

Pre-season kicked off with a convincing 3-0 win away in Baltimore, Jacob Zarins and Brett Nix, two of the goalscorers, have now left the club

We followed the 3-0 win with a spirited display in a 2-0 home loss to Houston Dynamo, we were then steamrollered by Ohio's premier club, Columbus Crew, 4-0

We then won 3-0 away at PDL Northeast side Fredericksburg with promising youngster Jim Cooks getting on the score sheet, we ended pre-season with a comfortable 1-0 win over our Under 18s

Transfers In
Dayton are a professional club, that means professional players, that means money. Did we spend any?



Tim Morales - 15 years old - Attacking Midfielder - Free - Washington Crossfire
View attachment 183613
Tim's a decent player who should grow into a good one, given time, he's a team player and has good fitness, which is always good to have in a player, I hope to see him develop

Juan Morales - 16 years old - Attacking Midfielder - Free - Washington Crossfire
View attachment 183612
Tim's slightly older, much better brother, both players play the same position but it's clear who's better, Juan will be in and around the first team and will hopefully make a decent impact

Larry Bruin - 15 years old - Striker - Free - St Louis Lions
View attachment 183611
Larry is a top quality prospect who we were lucky to get so cheaply. He was wanted by a few clubs but luckily he chose to come to Ohio, a sign we are building something here. Larry is the best finisher at the club and will provide invaluable backup and could push for a first team berth

Tactics



Both tactics play to the team's strengths and will be deployed throughout the season


 
MARCH
View attachment 183584
This was my first month managing Dayton competitively, we are a recently promoted side, given no chance of survival by the media or the pundits, so let's see how we got on...

View attachment 183581

Pretty well is the answer to that question! 6 points from 4 games is good going for a newly promoted side with a new manager, I'm proud of the boys

​
Results
Dayton Dutch Lions 4-0 Real Salt Lake Monarchs
View attachment 183578
What a way to start the season! An emphatic 4-0 win over Real Salt Lake Monarchs is more than I could ever have dreamed of beforehand, 15-year-old centre-back James Scott gave us the lead 25 minutes in with a well-placed header on his professional debut, striker David Jackson then doubled our lead 8 minutes later with a tap-in before his strike partner Steve Jones scored a half-volley in the 41st minute, David Jackson completed the rout in the 45th minute with a long-range drive

Arizona United 3-1 Dayton Dutch Lions
View attachment 183575
Back down to Earth with quite the bump! Arizona striker Jonathan Top filled his boots as our defence allowed them too many shots. Midfielder Kyle Smith gave us an early lead 2 minutes in, it took Arizona 20 minutes to reply with Top's header, before a defensive error allowed him to double his tally 11 minutes later, he completed his hat-trick in added time as we threw the kitchen sink at them in an attempt to equalise

Vancouver Whitecaps II 0-1 Dayton Dutch Lions
View attachment 183574
A fairly convincing win with new signing Larry Bruin bagging his first goal for the club, a real poacher's effort 21 minutes into the game, quite a routine victory of one of the MLS' reserve sides

Portland Timbers II 2-0 Dayton Dutch Lions
View attachment 183573
A poor performance in a match where we were huge underdogs, Portland are tipped to do well this season and it shows


League Table
View attachment 183572
The league table's looking pretty decent, I'd definitely take 8th at the end of the season, if we keep up the average of 1.5 points per game, we'll end up on 51 points which would have won us the title last seasn, wishful thinking....

​
Transfers In
Adam McKendry - 28 years old - Defender - Free - Fredericksburg
View attachment 183566
Adam is a quality defender for this level, he can play right-back or centre-back and gives us lots of options and can provide great cover if needs be

Louis Greenway-Tambini - 21 years old - Striker - Free - Mississippi Brilla
View attachment 183565
Englishman Louis is a decent option to throw on up front and has some potential, he started his career at Leicester before being released and coming to America to sign for Mississippi where he bagged 9 goals in 36 games

US OPEN CUP DRAW
View attachment 183563
Of course...


 
About the draws I think it goes same way in USA hockey. There is draw only for NHL and there isn't draws in AHL, ECHL etc..
 
APRIL
View attachment 183270
Another month, another bunch of journalists under-estimating us, could we continue our decent form from March? Could we beat Baltimore in the cup? And would Luke Skywalker blow up the Death Star? I can't wait to find out...

View attachment 183269

Yes, yes and yes! 1 defeat all month is very good for a newly promoted side and we showed Baltimore who was boss in the cup with a comfortable victory

​
Results
Orange County Blues 1-1 Dayton Dutch Lions
View attachment 183268
A game between an orange county that was blue and a Dutch lion that was American, the Yanks are weird aren't they? Kim Seung Ju gave Orange County an early lead but fortunately for us striker David Jackson equalised shortly after half-time

Dayton Dutch Lions 1-0 Kitsap Pumas
View attachment 183267
A very boring game until our Georgian winger Irakli Khutsidze got on the end of a cross 88 minutes in to score a dramatic winner and to get us all three points

Dayton Dutch Lions 0-1 Tulsa Roughnecks
View attachment 183265
A poor performance from us allowed recently formed Tulsa Roughnecks to continue their good early season form with a 1-0 away win, their captain Steven Miller scored to break the deadlock in front of an attendance of 678 people, 35 dogs and a cat

Baltimore Bohemians 0-3 Dayton Dutch Lions - US Open Cup 2nd Round
View attachment 183260
A tearful reunion with my former assistant Mark Pulisic and a few of the players, but not the fans who slagged me off no end having left for Dayton at Christmas, an easy win at my old stomping ground as we humiliated Baltimore, it could have been 5 or 6 very easily

Swope Park Rangers 0-2 Dayton Dutch Lions
View attachment 183258
A comfortable victory over Sporting Kansas City's feeder club, Swope Park Rangers, Dutch winger Etienne Esajas gave us the lead with a cracking finish an hour into the match and substitute Larry Bruin sealed the deal 1 minute from time with a real poacher's effort


League Table
View attachment 183257
A very good month leave us 8th in the table, 9 points clear of the relegation zone, I expect that gap to widen
​

Transfers In
I have one last transfer to tell you about and he has been vital in this little run of fixtures

Dominic Provost - 22 years old - Goalkeeper - Free
View attachment 183256
Canadian goalkeeper Dominic joined us on a few days before the Baltimore game and replaced the inferior Charlie Carey in goal, Provost is better in every department and should offer a solid foundation to build the team around, a good signing


 
MAY
View attachment 182726
As all the other leagues came to a close, us fine folk here at Dayton, Ohio powered on, we also had a lovely visit from the local village idiot, President Donald Trumpet, how he got in, I'll never know

View attachment 182724

A decent month but results tailed off towards the end, hopefully that isn't a sign of things to come

​
Results
Dayton Dutch Lions 4-0 San Jose Earthquakes II
View attachment 182723
We kicked off the month in emphatic fashion, a very unexpected 4-0 victory over San Jose in a match that was surprisingly comfortable with San Jose remaining camped in their own half for the majority of the match, left winger Esajas scored the first then spread the wealth of goals as Steve Jones profited, right winger Irakli Khutsidze finished the job and banked all the credit

FC Dallas II 1-2 Dayton Dutch Lions
View attachment 182722
A comfortable victory over FC Dallas' reserves, they barely registered on our radar until Carter scored with minutes to spare, both of our strikers got on the scoresheet as we dominated from start to finish

Dayton Dutch Lions 4-1 Rayo Oklahoma City
View attachment 182720
Another dominant performance as we easily dismantled a side recently relegated from the NASL, English striker Louis Greenway-Tambini got us off to a flyer less than 10 minutes in before doubling our advantage just after the half hour mark, centre back James Scott sewed up the three points in the 45th minute, we conceded through a penalty

Colorado Springs 2-0 Dayton Dutch Lions
View attachment 182719
Two firs-half goals demolished us mentally and we just couldn't get into the game, a horrible performance from the guys

Dayton Dutch Lions 1-2 Orange County - US Open Cup 3rd Round
View attachment 182718
Greenway-Tambini gave us an early lead but it wasn't to last against the county that say's it is both blue and orange, James Scott scored an unfortunate own goal before they took the lead just before half-time, poor

Louisville City 3-3 Dayton Dutch Lions
View attachment 182715
1-0, 1-1, 2-1, 2-2, 3-2, 3-3. It was disappointing to lose the lead 3 times, especially to a penalty that was described as "harsh" by the local newspaper, a disappointing game but a fair result


League Table
View attachment 182711
Eighth. I like eighth, not too high not too low, we are also 17 points clear of relegation, a very nice position to be in

View attachment 182705​
 
JUNE
View attachment 182461
June 2016 was the month of my 25th birthday, did the squad give me something to help celebrate it? Let's see

View attachment 182460

No, no they did not, a very poor month from the lads verging on f*cking awful, a very disappointing month is this the start of a slide? I hope not
​

Results
Dayton Dutch Lions 1-3 Sacramento Republic
View attachment 182458
We did ok against Sacramento for the first 40 minutes until striker Justin Braun cancelled out Louis Greenway-Tambini's 18th minute equaliser and put Sacramento 2-1 up, we were poor in the second half and didn't put up much of a fight as they scored their third

Dayton Dutch Lions 0-0 Seattle II
View attachment 182457
A very, very poor match, I don't want to talk about it, let's move on

Los Angeles Galaxy II 2-1 Dayton Dutch Lions
View attachment 182456
An ok first-half followed by a poor second-half, much like the game against Sacramento, we had twice the amount of shots as LA but we just couldn't score, unfortunately they could

Kitchener-Waterloo United 1-2 Dayton Dutch Lions
View attachment 182455
A player I was interested in signing gave Canadian side K-W United the lead just before half-time, fortunately we rallied in the second half with Louis Greenway-Tambini scoring his sixth league goal in 13 appearances to equalise, midfielder Steve Clark scored the winner late on


League Table
View attachment 182454
Not the greatest month but we maintain our position in eighth, we are 18 points clear of the relegation zone so I think we're safe
​

NEW CONTRACT
View attachment 182451 View attachment 182450

I asked the board for a new contract so that we could "maintain stability" at the club (I wanted more money) and they gave me one! A healthy raise to $1,000 per week too! Score!

 
JULY
View attachment 181940
The start of July indicated the ending of the American transfer window and the end of bids made for our midfield maestro, 16-year-old Jim Cooks, Los Angeles went as far as $46,000 until the window slammed shut, ending their chances of getting their mitts on our Jimmy

View attachment 181938

A bit of a mixed bag this month with 3 wins, 1 draw and a solitary loss but quite positive overall
​

Results
Real Salt Lake Monarchs 0-2 Dayton Dutch Lions
View attachment 181935
A solid away victory against the team we beat 4-0 on the first day, Larry Bruin did well scoring whilst deputising for the injured Louis Greenway-Tambini, Steve Jones wrapped up the three points with a header in the final 10 minutes

Dayton Dutch Lions 0-0 Arizona United
View attachment 181934
The Americans don't like draws, much less score-less one so the lack of a post-match riot was surprising. We had chances, they had chances, neither side scored those chances. 0-0.

Vancouver Whitecaps II 1-0 Dayton Dutch Lions
View attachment 181932
A trip to Canada! YAY! A loss in Canada! Awh...

Dayton Dutch Lions 5-0 Portland Timbers II
View attachment 181930
We were 10-1 to beat Portland today, so we decided to beat them 5-0. Georgian right-winger Irakli Khutsidze got us off to a flyer before Portland right-back Alfonso Vargas was sent for an early bath because he was muddy. Jones, Esajas and Greenway-Tambini all grabbed first-half goals before a Portland own goal in the 84th minute wrapped up the match

Kitsap Pumas 1-2 Dayton Dutch Lions
View attachment 181928
A poor first-half allowed Kitsap to take the lead, luckily we rallied. Right-winger Sean Huddock scored a tap-in to equalise after coming on for the injured Khutsidze, Steve Jones' 90th minute header won us the match in dramatic fashion


League Table
View attachment 181926
We will forever be in eighth place it seems, which will be ok for this season, but not for next season when I hope to push on

View attachment 181925​
 
You've got a nice cushion between yourselves and LA Galaxy II, but a bit of a gap to claw to overtake Tulsa, but i'm sure you'll manage!
 
AUGUST
There is a huge gap between eighth (our position) and ninth, unfortunately there is also a huge gap between us and seventh, rendering the remaining games pointless in my opinion

View attachment 181921

An ok month, picking up 7 points from a possible 12 with a few good performances mixed in
​

Results
Dayton Dutch Lions 2-1 Orange County Blues
View attachment 181919
We meet again! Our third game against Orange County this season brought our second victory over the Californian side, English striker Louis Greenway-Tambini gave us an early lead before target man Steve Jones doubled our advantage 13 minutes later with a volley. Walker bagged Orange County a consolation in the second half

Tulsa Roughnecks 3-0 Dayton Dutch Lions
View attachment 181918
A poor performance allowed Tulsa to run riot here, an injury crisis forced us to play a 3-5-2 system with Soscia playing as a sweeper! It was less Beckenbauer more Dejan Lovren unfortunately as Tulsa bagged 3

San Jose Earthquakes II 2-2 Dayton Dutch Lions
View attachment 181917
A good first half led to a poor second, like an M.Night Shaymalan film. Ragain gave San Jose an early lead before Steve Jones equalised 10 minutes later, Ragain put San Jose ahead 7 minutes before half-time with a powerful header only for Steve Jones to score his second to equalise just before the break. The second half was ****.

Dayton Dutch Lions 3-2 Swope Park Rangers
View attachment 181915
WAY to close for comfort against the division's bottom side here, Greenway-Tambini gave us the lead with a tap-in 17 minutes in before Max Turl's goal pegged us back 5 minutes later. Midfield maestro Jim Cooks scored his first goal for the club with a screamer from 25 yards to put us 2-1 up, Steve Jones doubled our advantage on 67 minutes with a well-timed volley. Marc Ortiz's 72nd minute goal for Swope led to a nervy last few minutes but luckily we held on


League Table
View attachment 181911
We are the immovable object as far as our league position is concerned, we've been in 8th place since the 28th of May!

View attachment 181910​
 
Seano said:
You've got a nice cushion between yourselves and LA Galaxy II, but a bit of a gap to claw to overtake Tulsa, but i'm sure you'll manage!
Click to expand...
Unfortunately we're too inconsistent to mount a serious challenge this season, looking forward to next season though!

Thanks for the comment!
 
SEPTEMBER
View attachment 181828
Only 2 games to bring you this month as the season winds to a close, it's gone quickly in a storm of euphoric victories and humbling defeats and we now enter the final slog of 8 games over 2 months

View attachment 181827

A 50% win ratio! That's decent, a disappointing defeat and an unexpected win? I'll take that
​

Results
Dayton Dutch Lions 1-3 FC Dallas II
View attachment 181826
A very poor performance from us ensured FC Dallas II an easy victory, the game was over within 50 minutes as Dallas bagged 2 decent goals, target man Steve Jones grabbed a consolation 6 minutes from time to make it 3-1

Dayton Dutch Lions 2-1 Colorado Springs Switchbacks
View attachment 181825
A relatively comfortable win that should have been more, Louis Greenway-Tambini finally made our first-half pressure count as he put us 1-0 just before half-time, only for Colorado to score straight from the restart! Larry Bruin who was in the side for the injured Steve Jones who's out for two months with strained cruciate ligaments, bagged a real poacher's effort to take all three points back to Dayton


League Table
View attachment 181823
Eighth with 6 games to go! I think this is where we'll stay

View attachment 181822​
 
OCTOBER
View attachment 181795
This isn't our last month, we have three games after the end of October (2 in November, 1 in December), it's ridiculous how long they're dragging this out for

View attachment 181794

A poor month, one win and two defeats, to be fair the two defeats were against the top two
​

Results
Rayo Oklahoma City 0-1 Dayton Dutch Lions
View attachment 181793
We started the month with a less-than-convincing win over Rayo OKC, we've missed Steve Jones in the striking department since his injury as Bruin isn't ready for USL West football yet

Sacramento Republic 2-0 Dayton Dutch Lions
View attachment 181792
A game that was decided within 25 minutes with a good goal and a penalty that was decided was "harsh" by the commentary team, still a poor performance overall

Dayton Dutch Lions 0-3 Louisville City
View attachment 181791
Another poor performance against the team in second, we weren't good enough again today and it showed as we were given the proverbial "D" by Louisville


League Table
View attachment 181789
Eighth, eighth, eighth, eighth!!!

View attachment 181788​
 
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