My Journeyman Career

[Hunterishness]

After being unemployed for most of the 2009/2010 season. I was offered a job to keep Stenhousemuir, a 2nd division team in Scotland. With 8 games left to play and sitting 9th in the table, with 5 points between us and lowly East Fife it’s a bit of a challenge.

Stenhousemuir are a Scottish Second Division club. The club is located in the town of Stenhousemuir which is part of the much bigger area of Falkirk. As well as Stenhousemuir, East Stirling and Falkirk are the other big teams in this area. We currently ground share with East Stirling.

So starts my career as a journeyman manager. Will I save Stenhousemuir from relegation? Will I secure promotion and make a name for myself? or will i end up on the football scrap heap?

"The Footballing World Awaits"

 

[daniel_kg]

Good luck mate i'll be following.

 

[Hunterishness]

My start to my new career.
In a short statement the Chairman has announced that rookie manager Martin Hunter will be taking the Stenhousemuir hotseat with an aim of securing the club's Division 2 Status.

Looking at the league table its going to be a hard job but i'll give it my bet shot. Here goes.

 

[Hunterishness]

Ooops! Sorry i forgot to add the screenshots. I'm a bit of a noob at the old forum posts!! lol! Please have patience.....oO)

 

[Hunterishness]

March​

Stenhousemuir 2 - 5 Arbroath
1st game in charge. A home game against high flying Arbroath.
A poor start to the match, conceding a penalty in the 5th minute. Then to make things worse we’re two down 13 minutes into the game.
Craig O’Reilly pulls one back for us but we go in at half time 4-1 down.
Seconds Half kicks of and almost immediately we’re another goal down.
Iain Diack pulls another one back for us and the game finishes a disappointing 5-2 defeat to Arbroath. :'(
Still we come away with positives. We had most of the possession, but failed to convert our chances. Considering we had the same amount of shots at goal and shots on target as Arbroath but failed to convert highlights the need for some shooting practise.
Still despite the score a decent performance for us against a team much higher in the table.

Alloa 4 - 2 Stenhousemuir
We go into this game 2 points above East Fife after last weekend. They one their game last weekend and piled a lot of pressure on us to perform.
Again we find ourselves two down with 16 minutes gone. We don’t seem to start to well. But all is good as a brace from Andrew Brand means we go in even at the break. The only worry….East Fife are winning away from home. :S
Second half begins and again we concede straight away. The game presses on and we concede yet another. :S
Another defeat. This time beaten 4-2 away from home. Again we have all the possession but lack the killer touch to create and convert chances. Disappointing start to my managerial career. :'(

A change of tactics. Playing 3 at the back and having a defensive midfielder along with packing the midfield. Hopefully the way we control games will not change and with the introduction of new signing Marco Maisano on a free transfer maybe we can turn it around?.
​

East Fife 1 - 0 Stenhousemuir
Beat again…and this time it really hurts. Going down 1-0 to ten men is bad enough. But when you get beat by the team below you it’s a disgrace. Again we controlled the game but lack that cutting edge. A better defensive performance tells me I’ve got the back line sorted. Thoughts turn to maybe pushing a midfielder further up to sit behind the front two. Yet again though…we lose and early goal and the game.

So all in all a rather dissapointing month. No real highlights. My team are playing well but can't seem to score. Things better pick up or we're in trouble! :S

 

[rrrrrrrrrr]

Good luck, i hope you pick up!

 

[Hunterishness]

APRIL​

New Signings. Stenhousemuir manager is delighted to have added experienced strikers Gary Wales and Stephen McConalogue to his team. Wales once of Hearts is a particularly pleasing acquisition. Manager Hunter was quoted as saying “Gary adds a wealth of footballing experience especially to a club with a young team and a lack of substantial funds.

Stenhousemuir 0 - 1 Brechin City
Another game another defeat, same old story. We have all the play and concede another early goal. We’re now four points adrift at the bottom of the league. Two new strikers in Gary Wales and Stephen McConalogue still don’t improve our fortunes as we go down to an industrious Brechin City who currently occupy 5th in the table. :S

Stenhousemuir 1 - 0 Cowdenbeath
We’ve finally won . We’ve beaten Cowdenbeath at home. After a cagey game in which we had most of the possession and most of the chances we’ve won. We kept Cowdenbeath from getting a shot on target and new signing Stephen McConalogue popped up with our winner in the 92nd minute! A victory made even sweeter after the dismissal of Marco Maisano around the hour mark. A corner turned? oO) Lets hope so. XD
Although all is not so good. East Fife won at home and we’re still 4 points adrift.

Stenhousemuir 0 - 0 Dumbarton
Stephen McConalogue last weeks hero, misses a 15th minute penalty as we draw with Dumbarton at home. In a tightly contested game with few chances I guess a draw was a good result. Gary Wales was stretchered of in the second half with a twisted ankle.
Stenhousemuir’s Paul Stewart rallies the troops…and lets hope it works. We’re 4 points adrift at the foot of the table with two games left, two must win games. We’re off away to Stirling Albion. Its only a quick half hour journey down the M9 motorway but we must remain focussed. :S

So a semi-succesful month for The Warrior. 4 points from 3 games and two new signings. BUT...will it be enough to ensure we stay up?

 

[Hunterishness]

MAY​

Stirling Albion 2 - 1 Stenhousemuir
We go into this game having not conceded in the past two games. Stirling sit second in the league and have achieved a playoff place.
A disappointing result. Our goal keeper gave away a silly own goal and we’re one down. We fought hard to get back into the game with Andrew Brand equalising in the 79th minute.
After the fourth official holds up the board showing four minutes extra time the game looks to be heading for a draw. The four minutes pass still no whistle? Then Stirling score in the 97th minute.
“Martin Hunter is going berserk at the 4th Official” :O
We lose the game 2 - 1.
After the game the local press ask the Stenhousemuir manager for his view on the game.
“We played well and fought hard to make our way back into the game. To lose the game the way we did is a farce. How can the fourth official and referee allow seven minutes of extra time when we already have four? it’s a farce. There were no injuries or substantial stoppages. We’re effectively relegated.” :'(

Stenhousemuir 1 - 3 Peterhead
Well it was the final game of the season. We’ve lost again. A poor run of results for us. We just need to look to next season now. :'''(

Relegation.
I wasn’t able to save the club from relegation. Our result at the weekend was effectively the last nail in the coffin.
Warriors manager Martin Hunter is said to be disappointed at the club’s recent relegation. The Stenhousemuir manager who took control of the 1st team in March released a short statement to fans worried over the clubs lack of ambition and recent poor results.
“We’re obviously frustrated how our last 8 games went. We got stuck in a rut and paid the ultimate price. We’ll look to next season. We’ll look to rebuild and add experience and hopefully bounce right back up. Its not going to be an easy task but we have a never say die attitude at this club and we’re confident we’ll be playing 2nd division football after this season” :'(