Salford City

spireross said:
4 clean sheets and that close to play offs, it's looking promising. Hopefully the back end of the season can get you up there and we're looking at another play-off miracle from you!
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Thanks mate :) hopefully mate, didn't expect it at the beginning of the season though!
 
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FEBRUARY 2020



After a decent month last time out we had hopes of a play off spot, it's probably unlikely but a good run here and we'd be right up there.



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Once again we fail against one of the better sides in the division.

This is going to really harm our play off push as we only seem able to beat sides below us in the table. This was more a tale of injuries than anything else, Diedrick-Roberts was ruled out for 2 weeks while Febian Brandy was ruled out for between 4-5 weeks.


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Just before the next game, we had some disappointing injury news ...

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Febian Brandy misses the remainder of the month with a pulled hamstring. Dominic Calvert-Lewin is the obvious replacement, he can feel harshly done by to be out of the side anyway.

Brandy hasn't quite hit the highs of last season so this isn't such a major blow as it would have been recently.

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What the **** went on here!

Everything Accrington hit went in as we put in our worst performance of the season.

I would say this now ends our play off dreams as we start looking over our shoulder being only 9 clear of the bottom 2 and without a win in 5. Even worse, Dean Lewington was saw red here and will miss the next game through suspension.



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Finally we beat a team above us in the league!

It was a really special performance this which came at the perfect time as I’d started really worrying about our form.

We changed things up and went with a 4-4-2 formation here for the first time this season, and it certainly worked. Our job was made even harder when Jack Blake was shown a second yellow card as we were reduced to 10 men for the second straight game.

But substitute, Nathon Naylor, crossed the ball in for Jake Kenyon to grab the winner with 15 minutes or so left.



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Well that didn’t last long!

This was really disappointing though with Bury still in the relegation zone. Despite taking the lead through a very well taken goal from Calvert-Lewin we still let the lead slip with Bury running out 2-1 winners.

I think our lack of quality at this level is starting to show now.



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Another poor defeat where we looked really poor. So poor in fact that we failed to have a single shot on target all game! For the 3rd​ straight game we also had a man sent off, Kagisho Dikgacoi this time.



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Another shocker! I just want this season to finish now. Port Vale are another side in the relegation zone but another side that totally dominated us!

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What a horrendous month! I've never experienced form like this with only 1 win and 5 defeats during February.

I was hopeful of the play offs at the start of the month but we can wave goodbye to those hopes right now.


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We’re currently on 46 points which would be enough for safety 3 out of the last 4 years.

48 Points is the highest points tally to still be relegated since the game started. With 10 games still to play we should be fairly save.

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We also had one outgoing player this month ...

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He was unhappy with the lack of football and as he was on a rolling contract he decided to leave.

He’s been at the club for 5 years now and celebrated 3 promotions. He’s been a great servant to the club but like a lot of the lads, the club has outgrown them.
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MARCH 2020



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There we go, final a decent performance and a win.

It was actually a pretty even game but goals from Kagisho Dikgacoi, scoring his first goal for us, and Dominic Calvert-Lewin ensured we won for the first time in 4 games.



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We just can’t get a run together as we again lose to another mid-tabled side.

Chris Eagles once again tore us apart, just like he did in the reverse fixture earlier in the season. We deserved the defeat here as we seriously need to pick up some form.



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A much improved performance here as we can feel a bit hard done to not winning.

Dominic Calvert-Lewin scored a very good goal early on with a finish from the edge of the box, this brought us level after we conceded after just 5 minutes.

We then took the lead when ex Tottenham and Hull defender, Michael Dawson headed into his own goal. We couldn’t hang on to the lead though as Shaquile Coulthirst scored his second of the day.

This point takes us to the 50 mark which should see us comfortably safe.



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Based on this performance it’s obvious that some of the lads have already given up this season.

The only bright spark from today was a first goal in 12 games for Kayne Diedrick-Roberts who has been one of our poorer performers recently after a cracking start to the season.


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Another poor period with only 1 win from 4!

We just want the season to end now, we've not really got anything to play for as we should be comfortably safe from relegation. We now just have our pride to play for and starting places for next season.


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We're 9 points clear of relegation with just 6 games to go!

I'm just wishing these 6 games to go so we can start concentrating on next season. A lot of the players still have something to play for though with a big clear out on the cards for pre-season.

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PLAYER OF THE MONTH

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ELLIOT WHITEHOUSE


It was a difficult decision here with the squad in such poor form. It was a decent month for Elliot Whitehouse though with the influential midfield recording 3 assists this month.

He’s closing in on winning the league's player of the season once again, just behind Tom Conlon of Exeter on average rating.
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End of season run in


With nothing left to play for in the final 6 games, the lads just had to perform to win the shirt for next season.


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We start the month with yet another defeat as our shocking form continues!

With just 5 games to go and us 7 points clear of relegation, we just want the season to finish.



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Finally a win! Our first in 5 games, albeit against bottom of the league Woking.

We actually played quite well here with goals from Dikgacoi and Tyler Harvey securing the win for us.



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Wow, 2 wins in a row, how unlike us!

I’m shocked at this win to be honest as Newport are still challenging for a play off spot. Dominic Calvert-Lewin got the only goal of the game which secured the win.

These 3 points put us mathematically safe but in truth we were never in any real danger of going down.



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This is more what we’re used to, a defeat against a side battling to stay in the division.

We took the lead through Tyler Harvey early on but couldn’t keep it as Southend beat us to every second ball and wanted it more than us. I’ve no doubt some of the lads are already on the beach.



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Yet another defeat as the season peters out with the lads hardly even trying anymore. Peterborough overtake us with this win but really they should be challenging for promotion in a disappointing season for them.



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A really tough challenge to finish the season with us taking on top of the league Pompy.

Portsmouth just won promotion back to League One before kick off but they still seriously impressed here today. Calvert-Lewin got the last goal of the season for us but in truth our season finished a long time ago.

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A poor finish to the season, especially defensively in the last couple of games.

We've not had anything to play for for a while now so just wanted the season to finish for us to concentrate on next season. As it stands, changes certainly need to be made!


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We finish the season in 20th place but a comfortable 10 points clear of the bottom 2.

We've never really been in any danger of relegation this season but to think the play offs seemed possible just a few months ago, this is a really disappointing season.



We'll now look forward to next season as we look to gatecrash the play offs.
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2019/2020 season recap


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We finished in 20th place which I'd have taken at the start of the season, however, because our finish to the campaign was so poor I can't help but feel disappointed by this!

A major re-building process is needed for next season which ever way you look at.

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As you'd expect, we don't feature too much in the team of the season, we have just one entry here with Elliot Whitehouse getting picked for one of the midfield places after another impressive season.


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Whitehouse continues to be one of the best players in the division, finishing with the 3rd highest rating throughout the league.

We won this award for the last two seasons but it's nice to know he's continued this form into the higher league and into the football league.

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Kayne Diedrick-Roberts was a contender for the top goalscorer this season but his form in the last couple of months really dropped off as he eventually finished 4 goals behind Kieran Agard of AFC Wimbledon.

He should have won this but 1 goal in his last 15 meant he finished a long way short in the end.

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In other news ...

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Midfielder, Jack Blake set the appearance record for the club.

This shocked me a little as he’s only been here 4 years. He’s been quite fortunate with injuries though, missing just 3 months of action last season. Other than that he’s played every game and been an influential player for us.

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I thought this would also be a good time to look into the finances ...


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I wish I hadn't though as they thoroughly depressed me!

We finished the season in nearly £1.5 million worth of debt. The prediction is for this to get even worse as well. Something has to happen or we'll be looking at possible liquidation if not.


The chairman must have been as worried as me as the very next message read ...


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This will certainly help as our debt reduces to around £600k rather than £1.5 million. It's good but probably not quite good enough!


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Despite us having a poor finish to the season, avoiding relegation was still a great achievement ... and one which didn't go unnoticed by other chairmen ...


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I guess this is what you can call 'inundated with job offers' with all 3 offers coming within a couple of weeks of each other.

Both Wigan and Burton represent a step forward as both will be playing in League One next season, Wigan only relegated from the Championship this season.

Doncaster however have just been relegated from League One so will be challenging us in League 2 next season.


None of them took my fancy though as I aim to keep climbing the leagues with Salford.

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With all the lads on holiday I now have to decide who can still do a job for us next season and who needs to be moved on.
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