Journey to the top - Starting at Stockport County

[OAFCROWLEY]

Having read a few football manager stories I have decided to have a crack at doing one myself. In this story my aim is to start at the very bottom of the football league pyramid and work my way up to one of the top 5 European leagues and to win the biggest prize of the all - The European cup.

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I will be starting at the very bottom of the English league in the Vanarama Conference North with Stockport County. I have chosen Stockport as they used to be a fairly decent football league side however they now find themselves lingering in the depths of non-league football. Hopefully I will be able to resurrect them back to being a respectable football league side on my way to one of top European powers.

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I have opted to try and use a traditional 4-4-2 formation as I have seen that it is a tactic that seems to work well with lower division sides. I'll be looking for the full backs to get forward and help the attack while my centre backs will be expected to sit. I'll also be using a target man and a poacher for my front two due to the limited ability of non-league players, so I will be looking to play hoof all football for my target man to nod on to my poacher.

With a starting budget of a whopping £0 and marginally more for wages with £500 available the chances of bringing n fresh faces seems a little optimistic unless we can shift some dead wood so I may look to develop some youth players to blood into the first team.

THE FRIENDLIES

Before kicking off the campaign we have 4 very winnable fixtures in the form of scottish minnows Selkirk, semi -pro Dereham, Welsh Premier side Cefn Druids and former football league side Hereford FC. This should give me a good opportunity to try my tactics and cast my eye over a few younger players.
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Before the pre season games kicked off we were able to bring in a fresh face in the form of pacey 19 year-old centre back Brad Smith. Perhaps one for the future he has decent looking potential, however he will provide some much needed depth to our defensive options.

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Promoted from the Under 23 side is Jordan Downing. Like Smith, Downing is young at 19, but with a similar level of potential I'll be looking to give him games with the first team whenever possible to maximise his potential.

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Pre season Review

A slightly mixed pre-season despite managing 3 wins from 4 as we were unconvincing against weaker opposition.

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Selkirk 1 - Stockport County 3

We kicked of pre-season with a win away at Scottish side Selkirk. We went up 2-0 after just 20 minutes thanks to goals from Target man Jason Oswell and wide man Ben Mckenna before having our lead halved almost instantly. Our other forward Matthew Warburton restored our 2 goal advantage just before the break to leave us 3-1 up at half time. A particularly uneventful second half saw us fail to build on our solid first half however there was an opportunity to look at young centre back Jordan Downing who put in a fairly average display.

MOM; Matthew Warburton - 1 goal, 2 assists, 8.7

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Dereham 0-1 Stockport County

Our 2nd game saw us take on a Dereham side we were expected to beat without any issues. overall it was a poor showing with us struggling to create any clear cut chances as Dereham frustrated our side. A switch from standard to attacking with 20 minutes remaining saw us cause more of a threat to the Dereham goal and substitute Bohan Dixon was able to spare our blushes with a goal 2 minutes from time

MOM: Connor Hampson, 7.6

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Cefn Druids 0-1 Stockport County

Another hugely frustrating game saw us fail to capitalise on a highly offensive display perhaps highlighting a weak forward line with only 1 goal scored from no less than 17 shots attempted. The break through came after again switching to an attacking style of play with Matthew Warburton popping on late on to secure a third straight victory.

MOM: Sam Walker, 7.6

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Stockport County 0-1 Hereford

For our final friendly I decided to start with the attacking approach that turned out to be successful in our previous 2 matches and there was also a start for Jordan Downing to give him an opportunity to impress. Unfortunately it ended in disappointment as we were beaten 1-0 thanks to a late Hereford goal. The defeat came despite us dominating the shooting and possession stats as our side were wasteful in front of goal once again and Downing failing to impress with a measly 6.3 rating. We also received bad news in the form of an injury to forward Jason Oswell for 2 weeks depleting our already bare striking options. Much work to be done!

MOM: Stephen O'Halloran, 7.5

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Looking ahead to August

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The Pre-season odds see us priced at 80-1 for the league title and a surprisingly low prediction of a 17th placed finish. York have been installed as the early favourites after suffering two consecutive relegation and will be the team to beat for the coming season. The pre-season prep is now over however and the season sees us kick off our league campaign away at Spennymoor, with the away tie at Salford City standing out as our toughest fixture in the month of August.

 

[OAFCROWLEY]

As this is my first attempt please feel free to offer some advice to help me improve this thread. it would be much appreciated!

 

[Sammuthegreat]

Looks good to me buddy, I'll be following - Stockport are my go-to lower league side dating back to FM08 or thereabouts.

In terms of suggestions... I think you're good to go for the most part. All I'd suggest is keeping the text short and maybe look at the layout used in other successful runs - e.g. the Football Managing Mercenary and Dude, Where's My Club? As they're both very user-friendly and appealing to read.

Looking forward to following the run!

 

[OAFCROWLEY]

Looks good to me buddy, I'll be following - Stockport are my go-to lower league side dating back to FM08 or thereabouts.

In terms of suggestions... I think you're good to go for the most part. All I'd suggest is keeping the text short and maybe look at the layout used in other successful runs - e.g. the Football Managing Mercenary and Dude, Where's My Club? As they're both very user-friendly and appealing to read.

Looking forward to following the run!

Thanks! Ill take that on board and see if I can improve it

 

[OAFCROWLEY]

August Review

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Before the season kicked off we were able to bring in a couple of extra faces with 24 year-old right back Lewis Turner and 20 year-old forward Kasheme Walton both coming in on free transfers. Also arriving was Winger Max Harrop brought in merely to cover in case of injury. Finally Connor Finlayson was drafted in from Fleetwood one a one month loan deal as I wanted to take a look at him before deciding whether to take him for the season or not.


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Spennymoor 0-1 Stockport County

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A solid start to the season with 3 points in the bag despite an underwhelming performance against a side I felt we should have beaten comfortably.

MOM: Matthew Warburton, 1 goal, 8.3

Stockport County 0-0 Curzon Ashton

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A disappointing 0-0 draw followed our early season win seeing us make 5 shots on target whilst preventing Curzon a any shots on target, however our forwards were unable to find the back of the net.

MOM: Ben Hincliffe, 6.9

Stockport County 4-1 Harrogate

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We finally turn on the style as we dismantle early season the leaders with the game effectively over within 51 minutes. Jason Oswell was in scintillating form as he found the back of the net 3 times.

MOM: Jason Oswell, 3 goals, 9.5

Salford City 2-1 Stockport County

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We suffered our first defeat of the season away to Salford in what was expected to be our toughest test to date, falling behind 2-0 before Midfielder Harry Winter was able to grab a consolation goal for The Hatters.

MOM: Harry Winter, 1 goal, 7.3

Leamington 2-2 Stockport County

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The defeat at Salford was followed up by another disappointing result as we were twice pegged back by a side struggling in the relegation zone with only a point to their name before the tie.

MOM: Jason Oswell, 1 goal, 1 assist, 8.3

Stockport County 2-2 Gainsborough

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Another poor outing saw our winless run stretch to 3 games. One positive however was the character shown by the side as they battled back after twice going behind to salvage a point.

MOM: Jason Oswell, 2 goals, 8.8

Tamworth 1-3 Stockport County

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We managed to get back to winning ways on the last game of the month with a comfortable 3-1 victory over Tamworth. Top scorer Oswell managed to add to his tally for the season with young loan signing Connor Finlayson capping a fine display by grabbing a goal on his full debut. Tamworth's late goal however was a downside as it prevented us from being able to pick up a cleansheet.

MOM: Connor Finlayson, 1 goal, 2 assists, 8.9

August Review

August was a mixed month which only saw us pick up 2 wins from our opening 7 games. However there were many positives as we were beaten only once, find our selves as early promotion candidates sitting pretty in 7th and the outstanding form of Jason Oswell who picked up 7 goals and 2 assists from just 6 starts. We'll look to tie him down to a longer term contract next month to show our intentions for the future and to deter any would be buyers who will surely soon be circling. Overall a good platform for a promotion push dare I say it!


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Looking ahead to September

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6 games await in September with the potential to get a good run going with only table topping York City looking like a barely winnable fixture. We also await to the draw for the FA Cup 2nd qualifying round to see who will be facing. We will be hoping for a good run in the FA Cup this season to hopefully draw a tie against a big team and bring in some much needed revenue.​

 

[OAFCROWLEY]

September review

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Stockport County 2-1 Bradford Park Avenue

A solid start to the month against a tricky opponent to record our first back to back wins of the season with Connor Finlayson earning himself a loan extension with yet another goal.

MOM: Darren Stephenson, 1 assist, 7,5

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Stockport County 3-1 Southport

We continued our fine form against a Southport side that came into the game in 4th position but didn't cause us too much trouble as we comfortably secured the 3 points.

MOM: Connor Finlayson, 3 goals, 9.5

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York City 3-2 Stockport County

Our good run came to an end at the hands of early season favourites and table topping York. Although we were able to take an early lead we went into half time 2-1 down. we were able to pin York back again but it wasn't to be as the hosts backed up their pre-season predictions with a deserved win.

MOM: Matthew Warburton, 1 goal, 8.3

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Telford 3-1 Stockport County

Here we suffered an incredibly disappointing defeat away to Telford in a game I felt we should be winning if we are to be promoted. We found ourselves down by 3 goals before a consolation was found in added time this defeat consigning us to our first successive defeats.

MOM: Ben Mckenna, 1 goal, 8.0

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Stockport County 5-2 Felixstowe (FA Cup 2nd qual. Rnd)

Our FA Cup journey began at home to Felixstowe in what seemed a free pass to the next round, how wrong that was. We found ourselves 2-0 down inside 27 minutes and seemingly without any desire to win the game 3 changes and a tweak to tactics were made more from fury than tactical nous. What followed was a more professional performance as we put 5 past our visitors and breathed a sigh of relief as we progressed to the next round.

MOM: Matthew Warburton, 3 goals, 1 assist, 9.7

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Stockport County 4-2 North Ferriby

We returned to winning ways at home to North Ferriby who were languishing towards the foot of the table. The win saw us keep the pace with the sides at the top as we look to build on our good start to the season.

MOM: Matthew Warburton, 2 goals, 9.1

East Grinstead 1-7 Stockport County (FA cup 3rd Qual. Rnd)

The draw was again kind to us and seeing us having practically another free pass I took the chance to test a new tactic based more on possession and quick passing as opposed to our usual long ball style used in the league. It payed dividends as we demolished our much inferior opponents however it is too early to tell if I will try this tactic in the league yet as our players to not fit the correct positions yet.

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September roundup

As a whole plenty of positives this month with the good form of Finlayson, Progression in the cups and our first consecutive wins. However the 2 defeats did see us fail to progress up the table in the league leaving us clinging onto a playoff place heading into October.

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Looking ahead to October

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A much less busy month ahead in October sees us play just 4 league games and our 4th round qualifying FA Cup match. All that stands between us and the 1st round proper is the Vanarama National Leagues Bromley who should provide our toughest match of the season with Kiddiminster looking to be our toughest league game.
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