Salford City

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FEBRUARY 2018


February is only a short month with just 4 games being played, all of which are in the league. 3 or 4 wins here though and we'll put ourselves right in the play off mix.


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What a way to start the month!

This really does rival the 6-2 win over Lincoln as our best performance of the season.

With Cosgrove injured too we stuck loanee Jack Ryan upfront for a rare start after failing to impress early on in the season, but boy did he impress today. A brilliant hattrick and man of the match performance.

Fabien Brandy got the other goal as we strolled to a 4-0 win which puts us into the play off spots, temporarily at least.



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Another game here which shows we're still short up front! Jack Ryan was back to his wasteful best despite his hattrick in the previous game.

This at least makes it 3 clean sheets in a row which still shows our defence is strong.



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A poor defeat here in the second game running we failed to score.

We’re looking really poor in-front of goal with Jack Ryan joining JJ Hooper in the treatment room for this one but thankfully he was only ruled out for a week or so.

With this defeat, we drop the play offs!


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A good win to finish the month strongly.

Despite the good result, we still looked wasteful infront of goal and really should have scored 5 or 6.

Despite our dominance, Ebbsfleet opened the scoring after Victor Nirennold conceded a penalty which was tucked home.

Fabien Brandy grabbed a brace though to pull the game around as he put in a great performance. David Fitzpatrick grabbed the other which means we can still challenge those top 5 positions.

​


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On the whole, it was a good month for us.

Our goalscoring form is giving me something to worry about but at least the defence has looked solid enough.

The only really poor result was the 1-0 home defeat against Macclesfield who are struggling in mid-table.


With us picking up 7 points out of 9 though, we remain in the hunt for the play offs.

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We close the gap by a further point which now puts us level on points with Forest Green who occupy the last play off spot.

With another 10 games to go, it still all hangs in the balance. 6 or 7 wins out of the last 10 would probably be enough!

​


Injuries seems to be the story of the season so far and we picked up another one here ...

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Young goalkeeper, Jay Vaughan was ruled out for 4-5 weeks which means he'll miss the majority of the run in.

This really could cause us a big problem here as it means we’ll have to play last year’s number one, Ian Ormson for the next month or so and possibly for the remainder of the season.

Vaughan has had a decent season and looks a good prospect with him still only being 18 years old and playing every game despite his age.

​


PLAYER OF THE MONTH

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FEBIAN BRANDY


A great period with 3 goals with an average rating of 8.80 for the winger during February.

His 3 goals here take his tally to 15 for the season as he’s become a really important part of the team. He was so good this month that he also won the league’s player of the month.​
 
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MARCH 2018



With 10 games to go, we're just outside the play off spots but only on goal difference. A good month here could change all of that with 5 league games coming up ...


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A good draw here against title challengers, Braintree.

Elliot Whitehouse scored his 6th of the season with a good strike from the edge of the box.

Febian Brandy also continued his brilliant form from last month by netting the all important second goal. Sadly though we fell asleep and allowed Braintree to grab an equaliser.

This goal for Brandy means he now overtakes JJ Hooper and becomes the clubs top scorer this season.



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A brilliant textbook win, without much drama.

Scott Garner opened the scoring from close range after their ‘keeper failed to claim an inswinging corner.

JJ Hooper then scored from, what seemed like, an impossible angle but it hit the post and went in to double our lead. We then had more success from a corner when Anthony Griffith made it 3-0 late on with a bullet header.

I was disappointed to concede a late goal when Scott Garner was beaten in the air but it was still a great performance as we never looked in any danger.



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The first diappointing result of the month with a goalless draw against mid-table Altrincham.

After a good performance against Maidenhead, we went back to looking poor in front of goal here.

We created enough chances but with Hooper being injured for such a long time it seems to be taking him a while to find his form again.




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We needed a win here to keep our challenge going after 2 draw already this month.

JJ Hooper had another frustrating afternoon infront of goal but goals from Jack Blake and David Fitzpatrick got us the win today in another good performance.


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A good win here to finish the month on a high.

The win here also ensured we finished the month unbeaten. Febian Brandy grabbed the only goal after an effort from Elliot Whitehouse hit the bar and fell straight to the winger who netted from close range.


​


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A good month on the whole and another one unbeaten.

The two draws could come back to haunt us but the opening draw vs Braintree has to be classed as a decent point given their position in the league.


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If only the league finished here!

We're firmly in the play off spots now and are 3 points clear of Lincoln in 6th place.

We've still another 5 games to go but if our form can continue then we should finish comfortably in the top 5.

​


PLAYER OF THE MONTH

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JACK BLAKE


He’s been close to winning this award all season but this is the second time he’s won it.

A good month with a goal and an assist along with an average rating of 8.16. I really think he could get into any side in the division.​
 
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THE RUN IN, 2018



5 games remaining, 4 wins and we're in the play offs!


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A decent draw here given that we were reduced to 10 men.

Elliot Whitehouse was shown his second yellow and his marching orders deep into the second half. Jack Blake scored his second in 3 games to give us the lead before Morecambe equalised midway through the second half.

A draw isn’t bad here though and keeps us in the play off positions.


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​

Despite the draw, we're still holding on to 4th place and things still look good.

Another 3 wins should be enough now.






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We were shocking here as we pick the worst time to put in one of the worse performances of the season. We were never in the game as Southport thoroughly deserved the win and put our play off spot in real danger.


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Now we really are clinging on!

There's one point in it between us and Sutton!

As I said after the last game though, 3 wins and we'll be fighting in the play offs.

​


Just before the next game we were hit with some injury news ...

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Such a shame! He’s been our main threat this season and is currently the clubs top scorer with 17 goals. James Poole is the obvious replacement but isn’t quite in the same league as Brandy.

What a miss for the final 3 games when we seriously need to pick up our form.


​



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Another defeat as we look to be throwing promotion away.

It was a slight improvement on the Southport game but still not good enough. Elliot Whitehouse opened the scoring with a volleyed finish after James Poole put in a good cross.

Poole, earlier coming in for the injured Brandy, started wide right put in a decent performance but not enough to claim anything from the game.

Victor Nirennold made things even worse when he was shown 2 yellow cards in the space of 4 minutes and recieved his marching orders.

From this point we just couldn’t cope with only having 10 men as we allowed Eastleigh to first equalise and then score a winner late on. Looking back Jay Vaughan should have probably done better with both efforts.


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I can't believe this!

We were 3 points clear at the start of the month, now we're right down in 7th and 2 points adrift!

Even if we win both remaining games it might not be enough as we're now relying on both Boreham Wood and Macclesfield slipping up!


​


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Well that’s that then!

3 defeats on the bounce and are play off hopes are dead!

This is such a shame, we looked nailed on about 3 weeks ago but our performances have nosedived, just like our league position has. We looked decent going forward today but twice gave away a lead which we just can’t be doing!



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This ends the dream as we somehow drop right down to 9th!

We were 4th about 3 weeks ago!

Mathematically it's still possible as we're 3 points adrift with just the final game remaining.

However, we have inferior goal difference and also need Sutton Utd to lose and 3 other sides to avoid winning! Pretty unlikely.


​


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Another drab performance to end the season in disappointment. We were never going to finish in the top 5 but I’d have still liked a win to finish the season in style, instead we finish it in shocking form and on a real downer.

We couldn't even get our part done as we finish the final 5 games without a single win!

​


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The less said about this the better!

5 games without a win when challenging for a play off spot really hurts!

I guess the pressure got to the lads when it really counted.



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We finish right down in 10th place which after being 4th less than a month ago is pretty disappointing!

Despite finishing in disappointing fashion, looking back at the league table it was still an enormously successful season.

We were predicted to finish rock bottom so a play off battle and a 10th​ place finish has to be deemed successful, especially when you include our cup run to the FA Cup 3th​ round, beating League One Millwall in the process.


​
 
An unfortunate end to the season but you've still done a brilliant job. I'm sure next season you'll be in the thick of the promotion hunt!
 
Probably just one or two signings away from a guaranteed play off spot there mate. Them lower leagues are so tough
 
Unlucky with the bad run at the worse possible time but, at least it wasn't a relegation battle :)

Couple of decent signings and, from the looks of this season, not just play-offs but maybe even automatic promotion next year
 
PatrickLFC said:
An unfortunate end to the season but you've still done a brilliant job. I'm sure next season you'll be in the thick of the promotion hunt!
Click to expand...

It's hard to look at this season as a success but it definitely was. I was just so sure we'd finish in the top 5.

mark1reeve said:
Probably just one or two signings away from a guaranteed play off spot there mate. Them lower leagues are so tough
Click to expand...

Dalace said:
Unlucky with the bad run at the worse possible time but, at least it wasn't a relegation battle :)

Hopefully mate! They really are tough, it's the amount of games we have to play. We're probably playing about 60 games a season with all the cup qualifying matches and stuff.

Couple of decent signings and, from the looks of this season, not just play-offs but maybe even automatic promotion next year
Click to expand...

That's the aim :) We've got to go for the title really after being so close in the first season :)
 
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END OF SEASON REVIEW


So, after being considered the worst side in the division and being written off as nailed on for relegation, we had an impressive season, eventually finishing in 10th place.


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After a couple of days of reflection I can now looks at the season as a huge success.

We only finished 2 points behind the play off spots which, after being predicted to finish bottom, isn't bad!

Our aim has to be to bring in 2 or 3 new faces for next season and really go for the title.

​


Despite losing out on a play off spot, I was still keen to see how they went ...


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Boreham Wood were the eventual winners of the play offs and join Grimsby in the football league.

The play off's looked to be really good games for the neutrals with plenty of goals. Boreham Wood eventually winning the final in extra time.

​


END OF SEASON AWARDS

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Jack Blake continues to be a real fan favourite as he wins the 'fans player of the season' for the second year in a row.

Elliot Whitehouse came in second but still some way behind his midfield mate. Right back Reece Ford came in 3rd which I'm really pleased about as he's been a bit of an unsung hero this season!

Elliot Whitehouse did manage to win signing of the season though. He's been brilliant this season and his performances really have matched those of Jack Blake this season.

​

This proves my point really ...

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Elliot Whitehouse won the league's 'player of the season award'.

I guess this award showed there was some bias in the 'fans player of the season' which Blake won by some distance.

He managed 6 goals, which he should probably aim to beat next season, along with 4 assists and an average rating of 7.95 during the 33 games he played.

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Things just keep getting better for the lad.

He broke the record for his average rating of 7.95 after a seriously impressive season.

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There were more than just Blake and Whitehouse who impressed this season though ...

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The 4 best players in the league based on average rating!

Don’t think I’ve ever seen that before, especially for a side who only finished 10th.

Obviously Whitehouse and Blake led the way but Reece Ford and Febian Brandy weren't too far behind either.

This really bodes well for the squad as it proves that most of them can perform at this level and that only a few additions should be needed.

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Just before we end on a high though, there was one piece of bad news ...

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Gareth Seddon announced his retirement at the end of the season which brought an end to his 20 year playing career.

I think this is probably the right decision for him. He's been struggling of late and looked a long way short of level needed for Vanarama National.

He still looked quality on the ball but his just didn't have the physicals needed anymore and at 38 made the right decision.

He’s been a great servant to the club, scoring 74 goals in 114 games and helped the club to 4 promotions.​
 
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Pre-Season



We started pre-season with the worst possible news ...


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There's talk of one of our star players from last season, Febian Brandy, leaving the club.

He's got just over a year to run on his contract with it expiring at the end of the season.

The obvious next step is to try and renew this ...

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The conundrum now is whether to try and sell him this pre-season whilst he's worth some money.

After a really impressive display last season, scoring 17 goals and finishing as the club's top goalscorer, this might be a chance to bring in some money for him to help the clubs horrendous financial position.

I really want to keep him though as he could be the difference between promotion and another year in this division!

We'll try and keep him but if any decent offers come in then we'll have to consider them.


​


With that out the way, I could concentrate on some incomings ...


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The first player to join is a youngster who is still some way off the first team.

He's only 17 but looks to have the potential to grow. My scouts say he’ll grow good enough to play League 2 football but is currently more suited to Vanarama North level.

It’ll be a few years before he makes the first team so a loan spell is probably on the cards for him.

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The main position I wanted to improve was were the strikers. With Seddon retiring and a couple of the other frontmen leaving after their loan deal expiring, we are now really short up top ...


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Calvert-Lewin was the first striker to join and his stats are pretty impressive.

He looks like he really could be a star at this level!

Sheff Utd released him after having 3 different loan spells in league 2, he only managed a combined 6 appearances though and only 1 goal.

He looks really quick though with decent finishing and decent mental stats, hopefully he can put the last couple of seasons behind him and push on from here.

His best position is as a main striker but he can also play on either wing or even as an attacking midfielder.



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Kayne Diedrick-Roberts was the other striker to join and should give great competition for places.


He impressed me by scoring in the England trialists game and we decided to sign him straight after that.

He was released from Man Utd after 3 years in their youth set up. He’s not made a single appearance throughout his career though.

It was important we signed another striker with us struggling in front of goal so much last season, especially when JJ Hooper picked up an injury.


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Tom Soares was the next player to join and a name that a few of you will recognise.

The midfield picks itself at the minute with Blake and Whitehouse performing brilliantly! However, the 3rd midfield spot is there for the taking with Anthony Griffith struggling towards the end of last season.

Soars prefers central midfield but can play as a defensive midfielder which gives us another option.

He also brings some experience after playing his whole career in the football league, including a couple of years in the Premier League.

​


We were then hit with some more bad news ...


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Our right back from last season, Reece Ford, decided to join York instead of us after being a free agent.

He had a really good spell for us whilst being here on loan last season. We made him an offer but we obviously just couldn’t compete with York though who have just been relegated from League 2 to join us in the Vanarama National.

It's a real shame as we'll now have to look for a replacement with the season only a couple of weeks away.
​


It didn't take us long to find this replacement ...


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Sadiq El-Fitouri becomes the final signing of this pre-season.

He's a former Salford man before impressive at a trial for Man U. He failed to break into their team and was released back in 2016.

Yeovil signed him from then but once again he failed to make a single appearance.

He’s 23 now and only has 4 appearances in his career, and there all for Salford in 9th division. A big step up for him here!

He doesn't quite look as solid defensively as Reece Ford but should be more of an attacking threat, especially with those physical stats.

​


That's us done then, no more signings with the season starting in a weeks time.

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Despite our 10th place finish, and play off run, last season the board still feel we'll be in a relegation scrap this season.

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Bizarrely, the predicted finish tells a similar story.

In their eyes, we've moved up one place this season, after being predicted to finish bottom last season they've now been generous and said we'll finish second bottom!



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Once again, we start the season with a really tough opener. This time facing Newport County away from home in the opening game, who are predicted to finish second.

The rest of the month however gives me some confidence. The only really tough game being Ebbslfeet away from home who are also predicted a play off campaign.​
 
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THE SEASON START


With all my transfer business done and dusted, we were ready for the start of the season with the main aim of winning the title (despite the board thinking it will be a relegation battle).

With the new recruits, this is how we'll line up for the first game ...


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JAY VAUGHAN - Continues in goal after a really good first season as number one. He's still only 18 but now has a bit more experience. He never let me down last year so for now, he keeps the shirt.

CHRISTIAN HILL - Similar to Vaughan, he never let me down last season and often provided a further threat going forward. If anything though he'll have to do slightly better defensively if we're challenging for the title.

ROD MCDONALD - Starts the season due to Scott Garner picking up a slight knock but once he's fit he'll more than likely replace McDonald. McDonald is really good cover though and I'm sure he'll be used regularly this season.

VICTOR NIRENNOLD - Hopefully he can continue his good partnership with Garner, when he returns. Probably our best defender and at 6'4 wins everything in the air.

SADIQ EL-FITOURI - Still got big question marks over him due to him never playing higher than the 9th division of English football, despite him being at Man Utd for 3 years. I'm hoping that his blistering pace will get him out of any positional issues he'll no doubt get himself into.

TOM SOARS - We change the midfield slightly as we remove Anthony Griffith from the holding midfielder and put in Tom Soars who pushes forward slightly to join Whitehouse and Blake.

JACK BLAKE - I don't really need to say anything here. He was a shoe in to start and I'm just happy no one's come in with a bid for him which is a little surprising. We just want the same again from him this season.

ELLIOT WHITEHOUSE - Asking for the same again from Whitehouse though might be a bit unrealistic. He broke the record last season for his average rating and won the divisions 'player of the season'. Hopefully our slight change of formation doesn't affect either his of Blake's performances.

DAVID FITZPATRICK - This is now his 3rd year at the club and he seems to be developing nicely. He was our 6th best player last season based on average rating but only managed 5 goals. I'm hoping he can improve on this throughout the season.

FEBIAN BRNADY - Obviously keeps his place and will probably still be our main threat. Both him and Fitzpatrick have been pushed further forward slightly which should help us attacking wise. We struggled for goals last season so hopefully this will help as both can get more involved going forward.

DOMINIC CALVERT-LEWIN - Comes straight into the side as the main striker. He only just pipped Diedrick-Roberts who starts on the bench, this could all change throughout the season anyway. Calvert-Lewin's experience at a higher level could also help us.


​


The first game then, we take on Newport County who were only relegated from League Two last season and are predicted to challenge Stevenage for the title this season. A win would be great but we'd have to class a draw as a point earned rather than 2 dropped ...


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And it does finish a draw! Not a bad draw to kick the season off.

The only real disappointment was twice giving away the lead.

Jack Blake gave us the lead as his form continued from last season, he scored from close range after Febian Brandy had an effort from just outside the area. His effort was parried straight to Blake who was at the right place at the right time.

Newport then equalised after Hill was beaten in the air at the far post. It was a disappointing goal to concede and really should have been stopped further up the pitch.

Kayne Diedrick-Roberts came on as a late sub and immediately grabbed our second and what seemed to be the winner. It was a great header from a brilliant cross from Christian Hill.

There was only a few minutes left but we still allowed Newport back in it.

Newport scored a 90th minute leveller when Rod McDonald fell asleep and allowed the striker to get infront of him and head home from 6 yards out.


Looking back, it's a decent point and the performance really gives me encouragement as we were the better side against one of the top sides this season. Newport will have quickly realised that this division is harder than you think!​
 
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AUGUST 2018


After the decent draw against recently relegated Newport, the lads were in a confident mood for the remainder of the month ...


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We really should have won this!

Sadiq El-Fitouri scored a ridiculous own goal by playing a stupid back pass which the ‘keeper was never going to be able to control. This really put us on the back foot!

We got back into the game though through Brandy who latched onto a long ball forward and finished well.

We were only level for a couple of minutes though as Brandon Adams took everyone by surprised by scoring a long ranged effort for Eastleigh. In truth the ‘keeper should have probably done better with.

Jack Blake scored his second in as many games after playing a good 1-2 with Elliot Whitehouse and finished really well.

​


Just 2 games into the season and we're already talking about injuries ...


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This is a huge blow for us!

He was our best attacking threat last season and started this season much the same.

He’s becoming quite injury prone now with him missing the last 2 months of last season, he was then ruled out for 3 weeks during pre-season with a chest injury and now this injury will rule him out until the new year.

Dominic Calvert-Lewin can replace him but will then leave a gap up-front. The other option is to play James Poole who's still with us from the very start but I'm concerned he'll not be up to this level of football.

​


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Finally a win, at the 3rd time of asking.

We struggled to get a side out today with Febian Brandy, Dominic Calvert-Lewin, and Rod McDonald all missing out through injury. The only good news was that Scott Garner had recovered so went straight into the side at center half.

Kayne Diedrick-Roberts started in place of Calvert-Lewin up top and grabbed the opener after James Poole, who started in place of Brandy wide right, had set him up well.

Poole was again in the thick of things as he then set up David Fitzpatrick to make it 2-0.

Just as things were going so well though, Sadiq El-Fitouri gave away a needless penalty with just over 15 minutes to go. I think it’s fair to say that his Salford career isn’t quite going to plan after an own goal and a penalty conceded already!

We held out for the 2-1 win though to claim our first win of the season.


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Probably a game we should be winning!

It was a superb defensive display with Victor Nirennold and in particular Scott Garner playing out their skin to prevent Ebbslfeet having a single effort on target all game.

We had a few chances to win it and probably deserved the win. I’m getting more and more concerned about these draws though and this makes it 3 from the opening 4 games.


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Another brilliant defensive display!

This time allowing Aldershot just one attempt on target.

We weren’t as fluid as we had been in previous games but we just did enough to get the win which we really needed with 3 draws already.

Jack Blake got the only goal of the game with his 3rd in 5 games from midfield, he really seems to have found his shooting boots this season as he only got 6 league goals in the whole of last season and looks set to beat this record quite comfortably.

​

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A quite underwhelming start to the season with too many draws.

We did at least stay unbeaten but 3 draws out of 5 can't continue if we want to be challenging for promotion.

We looked a lot more solid defensively as Scott Garner made his return to the first team for the final 3 games of the month.

​


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Early days but we find ourselves in 8th place after the first lot of games.

It could have been a lot different though had we won a couple of the games we only managed draws in.

Turns out I was wrong about Newport struggling to adjust to life in the Vanarama National as they went on to win their remaining 4 games of the month and are comfortably top of the league.

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PLAYER OF THE MONTH

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JACK BLAKE


You really can’t look past Blake for this award this month.

The defence has been brilliant (after the first 2 games anyway) and deserves a lot of credit but Blake is the one who’s scored the goals with 3 in 5 from midfield.

He only managed 6 goals in the whole of last season so is well on track to beat that target as he's halfway there after just 5 games.

He’s started this season brilliant, just as we knew he would.​
 
derringtondj said:
PaperClipFMer said:
Thanks mate :) I've put links below for facepack ect. Good luck if you have a go with Salford :)

TheFMEditor 14.12.2015 Update_B9D4CAE9-6301-48AA-BFC9-7BA226372169 - Database

hiya mate, was searching salford and i came across your story. very impressed. great layout too.

i have tried the link above as i wouldn't mind trying to emulate your success!? but it won't work? the media fire file has been moved/deleted?
Click to expand...

Thanks mate :) I've just seen the same! It was from Fm Scout if you just search their website, think there's a couple of different ones on steam too :)
Click to expand...
 
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After a decent start to life this season, I was shocked to see the next game was televised ...


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We take on 8th placed Bristol Rovers who have now been in this division for 3 seasons after relegation from league 2.

Our cup games between Millwall (twice) and Villa weren't even on TV so god know why this one is!

Anyway, let's bring you the game ...


​



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Jake Humphrey – So, here we have it, our first Vanarama National game of the season here on Bt Sport.
We see two in form sides take each other on as Salford in form Bristol Rovers.
How do we think the sides will get on today

Ian Wright – Well you’ve got to say that Salford will be slight favourites due to the home advantage but I’d still say that Bristol Rovers have the better players.

Rio Ferdinand – I’d have to go with my old mate and say Scholsey can pull off a shock and beat Bristol here. He’s done brilliantly in such a short space of time up here.

People turn their nose up at lower league football but not Scholes, he’s stepped up and now has some real experience behind him which will surely help if he moved on to a bigger side.

Jake Humphrey – Well the teams are now in, let’s see how both have lined up …


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Ian Wright – The Bristol team is very much the same as they played last season as they finished mid-table in this division. Will Hayhurst will be their main threat today and will 3 goals already this season he’s bang in form.

Rio Ferdinand – Scholes has been a tad unlucky with injuries recently. They’re without their center back and captain Scott Garner today as he misses out through injury. The main miss though is Febian Brandy who looks to be out until the new year now.

Ian Wright – Calvert-Lewin’s a decent fill in for Brandy though and allows Diedrick Roberts the chance to start up-front after impressing so far this season.



Jake Humphrey - The teams are ready, let’s see how they get on …

​


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Salford made a brilliant start with David Fitzpatrick netting a wonderful goal from a tight angle after coming back into the side after recovering from injury.

Jack Blake then scored yet again to net his 5th​ of the season already. He scored from just a couple of yards out after McDonald won the header from a corner and headed the ball across the face of goal.

This put Salford 2-0 within 10 minutes as we they seriously turned on the style in front of the cameras today.

Dagry Mantsounga got one back for Bristol Rovers before half time though as they hit Salford on the break. Jay Vaughan made a good save but the ball fell to Mantsounga as he beat the defenders to the loose ball and finish to bring them back into the game.

Salford managed to put the game to bed though and made it 3-1 when Elliot Whitehouse played the ball to Kayne Diedrick-Roberts around the penalty spot. With his back to goal, he turned and shot right into the corner with an unstoppable effort. This is his 3rd​ of the season as Salford claim all 3 points and move into the play spots.

​


Rio Ferdinand – That was a brilliant performance from Salford and really shows they could be title contenders this season which Scholes has been referring to.

Ian Wright – I was very impressed with Salford today. They look to have a mean defence which was their strongest point last season, they’ve added goals to their game this season though which was arguably lacking last year.

Jake Humphrey - We can now welcome Salford manager, and former Bt pundit, Paul Scholes. Paul, how pleased are you with that performance?

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Paul Scholes - Delighted. We were strong defensively which we have been for a while now and we'e found a killer instinct in front of goal which was lacking at times last year.

Rio Ferdinand- Scholsey, with this result and performance then what's the aim for this season?

Paul Scholes - It has to be the title. We were really unlucky not to finish in the play offs last season and with the lads we've brought in we really should be challenging for top spot.​
 
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SEPTEMBER 2018


We started September in confiedent mood after the impressive 3-1 victory infront of the TV cameras. It was now time to see if we can continue this form.


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A great way to start the month.

Yet another fantastic defensive display, after conceding 4 goals in the first 2 games we’ve really sorted ourselves out and conceded 1 goal in the next 4 games.

Jack Blake grabbed his 4th​ goal in 6 games to clinch victory. I might have to think about playing him upfront with this kind of goal return!



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Back to our usual 1-0 wins here, the only surprise is that Jack Blake didn’t get the goal.

We’ve now had 4 clean sheets in the last 5 games!

The goal came as David Fitzpatrick put in a cross which David Atkinson turned into his own goal with Tom Soares waiting.

Dominic Calvert-Lewin should have scored a couple but Rene Gilmartin in the Stockport goal pulled off 2 or 3 really good saves as he still waits for his first Salford goal.



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A bore draw here in our game in hand.

We were far from our best today but yet again showed our defensive qualities. We were let down by some indiscipline from Tom Soares who was shown 2 yellow cards in the space of 5 minutes.


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A brilliant comeback here as Dominic Calvert-Lewin stole the show.

Lincoln took the lead when Connor Dimaio beat Sadiq El-Fitouri at the far post to net the opener. Dominic Calvert-Lewin then stole the show with a brilliant hattrick. He looked really good today and performed how I expected him to from the start of the season.



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Another good home win as we now have the best home record in the league with 5 wins and a draw so far.

Dominic Calvert-Lewin opened the scoring with his 4th​ in 2 games following his hattrick against Lincoln. Kayne Diedrick-Roberts then doubled our lead with his 4th​ of the season after Jack Blake had set him through. This now takes our unbeaten record to 11 games.


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A poor way to finish the month! We had plenty of the ball but couldn’t find a way through a good Gateshead defence.


​


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A good month here with just one defeat in 7 games.

The 4 Clean sheets we recorded was probably the most pleasing aspect of the month. If anything we struggled infront of goal too much, similar to last season.

​


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We're climbing up the league nicely as we finish the month in 3rd.

Newport dropped off slightly as we move to withing 4 points off top spot now at this early stage.

​


PLAYER OF THE MONTH:

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SADIQ EL-FITOURI

A much improved period for the new signing after a shakey start. He recorded an average rating of 7.68 which included 2 assists.
​
 
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OCTOBER 2018


After hitting some really good form I was keen to keep this up as we look to close the gap on top spot.


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We start October just as we finished September, with a defeat in a game we should have won.

This game reminded me very much of the Gateshead game as we once again had plenty of possession but another blank infront of goal is starting to worry me.




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A much better performance here against a side in the bottom 4.

The game was won in the first 10 minutes when first Dominic Calvert-Lewin got the opener after his effort went through the keepers net. Jack Blake then got back to scoring ways after going 6 without scoring, it was a good freekick from just outside the box.



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Another game in which we don’t score, that’s 3 out of the last 4 now! We were the better side here and just about deserved the win but once again we were poor infront of goal.



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It looked to be another frustrating game with the game goalless until the 78th​ minute.

Kayne Diedrick-Roberts came off the bench to grab a deserved goal when he connected with a cross from Calvert-Lewin.

The floodgates seemed to open then as David Fitzpatrick scored a quickfire brace. His second goal was a great strike from a wide left position, just inside the penalty area.



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This was horrendous as our Fa Cup dream dies before it’s even begun!

We made a few changes but still should have had plenty on the pitch to compete. I can’t explain what happened though as Sutton raced into a 2-0 lead after just 8 minutes.

Things got even worse when they made it 3-0 before half time. JJ Hooper gave is a glimmer of hope but Sutton made it even more embarrassing by scoring a 4th​ in injury time.



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Back to winning ways after the shocking defeat in the Fa Cup.

We needed a quick start and certainly got that! Dominic Calver-Lewin grabbing the opener within 40 seconds with a fantastic start to the game.

Scott Garner doubled the lead with a headed goal after Jack Blake whipped in a free-kick. Stevenage got one back before Fitzpatrick restored our 2 goal lead scoring from close range after Calvert-Lewin saw his effort saved. Stevenage then made it 3-2 after Garner lost his marker inside the area.

Their chances of getting back into the game dropped though when they were reduced to 10 men with Dale Gorman receiving 2 yellow cards. We weren’t great in the second half but did enough to claim all 3 points which maintains our title challenge.


​


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Another decent month here with the only really disappointing result coming in the FA Cup. After last years good cup run I wasn't that disappointed to be knocked out, I would obviously have liked a better scoreline though.

Another 3 clean sheets shows our defence is still standing tall.


View attachment 171665

We now move level on points with Braintree in top spot, although they do have a game in hand.

It's encouraging but we need Braintree to drop off a little after they recorded 4 wins and a draw in their last 5 games.


​


The real disappointment this month though was an injury to our star man ...


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Pretty much the worse news we could have received!

He’s recorded an average rating of 8.0, 7.84 and 7.75 over the last 3 years. He’s already matched his best goalscoring return of his career with 6 goals already.


This was quickly overshadowed with some news of Brandy making a full recovery ...

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We've missed him but not as much as I thought we would do.

He's recovered a lot quicker than originally thought as I didn't expect him to be fit until the new year.

​


PLAYER OF THE MONTH

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DAVID FITZPATRICK


A good month for the left winger with 3 goals and 2 assists.

He’s already bettered last seasons goalscoring record and has only played 16 games. The only disappointment with Fitzpatrick is that he’s only on a non-contract basis and won’t sign a proper contract, this means he can sign for a new club at any time.
​
 
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NOVEMBER 2018


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Once again we fail to win in the first game of the month.

Wrexham took the lead when Sam Joel got the better of Christian Hill at the far post to head from a cross. We got back into it though when JJ Hooper was fouled in the area for Elliot Whitehouse to smash home the penalty.

We can thank Scott Garner for earning us the point today with a magnificent defensive display.



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A routine win here with 2 early goals setting the tone.

Elliot Whitehouse with a brilliant strike opening the scoring before David Fitzpatrick with his 4th​ goal in 5 games sealing the win. We know now with our good defence that if we get into this kind of position, we won’t let the game slip.



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A top of the table 6 pointer here as 1st​ (Braintree) take on 2nd​ (us).

Sadly, we fall further behind after this disappointing defeat. We weren’t bad and the game was actually pretty even but two wonderful finishes won the game for them. We had quite a few chances to get back into it but all our efforts seem to go wide as we missed that killer instinct.



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Another top of the table clash as we take on 5th​ place Guiseley.

We were back to our best here after the midweek defeat.

Kelvin Douglas finally filled the void left by Jack Blake with 2 goals and an assist. His first goal was a special strike from just inside the penalty area into the top corner. His second couldn’t have been much different as he scored from just a couple of yards out after Guiseley failed to clear their lines following a corner. He then set up Dominic Calvert-Lewin just before the hour mark who finished well.



​


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Not a bad month where we had a couple of difficult games against sides around us in the league.

The obvious one was when we took on table toppers Braintree, the game was pretty even but Braintree showed their class by scoring 2 brilliant goals and extending their lead at the top.


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So with 21 played we drop down to 3rd after a couple of missed opportunities this month.

Wrexham overtook us and leapfrogged us into second.

We're still only 6 points off top though which isn't too bad at this early stage of the season.

​


PLAYER OF THE MONTH

View attachment 171314

ELLIOT WHITEHOUSE


I didn’t really have much choice with this one with Whitehouse also winning the league’s player of the month award. I wondered if his performances would drop slightly with his mate, Jack Blake missing but that hasn’t been the case. He recorded an average rating of 8.04 and also scored 2 important goals this month.
​
 
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