Searching for success

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Harrogate have this evening announced the dismissal of Mitchell after just 5 months in charge at the club. He had failed to take the club out of the relegation zone but the dismissal came at an odd time.

With 2 wins, 2 draws and only 1 loss in their last 5 games many are questioning the decision by the board as they believed he was the person to keep them up.

The former Clyde, Ards and now Harrogate man will be looking for work but hoping to have a shorter break than he did last time round.

Wow...
I think it was unfair, the goals set were unrealistic and with my form compared to teams around me I think I had the best chance of survival. Hopefully I would be back in the game soon but not in England I don't think. I was hoping that the Harrogate job would get me into the football league but I don't think that is happening.

The lads seemed p****d about my dismissal as the directors called me in from the changing rooms and they all tried to stop them from doing what everybody knew was about to happen.

I would now likely have to look in Ireland, Wales, maybe the lower divisions in European divisions. I was determined to keep it going no matter what, I had my degree to finish so I am happy to wait it out but if an offer comes in then I will definitely consider taking the job.

Apparently my name had been linked with a couple of jobs back in Northern Ireland because of how well I did with Ards and the great state I left them in. They currently sat in 4th fighting for the promotion playoff space. Cahoon and Arthurs, two players I introduced into the team were the top 2 scorers in the country! I couldn't go back to anybody but Ards though.

It'd be tough waiting again but the search would continue and soon enough I will be back with a point to prove. Titles are needed and wins are demanded before returning to England to prove Harrogate's board members wrong and to show them that I should've been kept!​
 
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BBC Sport can today report that there are two clubs currently interested in signing K.Mitchell as their manager. This comes just 2 days after his dismissal from Harrogate Town in the Conference.

Mitchell has previously managed Clyde, Ards and Harrogate in the space of just under two seasons. His most successful spell was with Ards where he managed to take them from relegation favourites to a 4th place finish and a cup final.

The first of the clubs reportedly interested is league 2 Northampton Town who are currently in a relegation battle for football league survival. They are apparently interested in what they saw Mitchell do with Ards and Harrogate and the way he built the team as well as his tactics. Despite the interest Mitchell is still a outsider at 40-1 as Northampton are expected to complete the appointment of Tony Adams in the coming week.

The second club is CS Sedan Ardennes of the French 3rd tier. Again they are interested in his work with young players as they are trying to move into a new phase where they wish to promote youth. Still Mitchell is an outsider with Bernard Simondi favourite at 2-1.

Wow...
Two days after being sacked and clubs in a higher ranked division are interested in me! I was surprised with Northampton's interest as they are in a big relegation battle so I thought experience would be key, this turned out to be true as they told me they wouldn't be hiring me as one of their first choice options was close to a contract.

The French side quickly emailed me after seeing the article and told me that they had mentioned my name but there was very little truth behind the story as they were close to announcing their new manager.

In the meanwhile I would just finish university studies where I was in line to get a 1st with only a couple of months left. I mean if anybody comes to me and asks for me to manage them then I will say yes but I will step back and just watch until after this season and complete my course properly this time.​
 
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BBC Sport understands that former Clyde, Ards and Harrogate manager K.Mitchell has applied for the manager role at Aberystwyth.

The Welsh club just avoided relegation last season after going the year without a manager due to financial struggles and they are now looking to get their first manager in over a year in order to help fuel success.

It would be seen as a step up for the former Harrogate man as the Welsh Premier League is ranked higher than any division he has managed in during his short career with it being 98th in the division rankings.

There is also reported interest back in Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland as clubs are looking for new managers during their season including Cork City who are currently struggling in the Irish Premier.

We will keep you updated on the news and the future of Mitchell as speculation builds.

My View
I had applied for the job due to the fact that I didn't want to try England again just yet and I didn't fancy moving back to Ireland. I had finished my exams and results would be coming soon but my aim at the moment was to get a job.

I had been looking in Spain, France and also countries such as South Africa for a job in order to build experience before a return to England in order to get my career back on track after an unsuccessful period in England with Harrogate.

Harrogate ended up getting relegated, getting just 1 point from their final 6 games after I had got 8 in my final 5 games. I did send a text to one of the board members to take a dig and this wasn't received well as he came out and talked about it in the press, although from what I had heard fans found it funny.

My favourite club Walsall, had just been taken over as they got relegated from league 1 under John Still. They finished 21st and were relegated on the final day leading to the sacking of Still. A week later Joey Barton, the former QPR, Newcastle and Marseille player was announced manager.

Interview! s?!
For some reason the Aberystwyth board wanted to do 2 interviews with me? I didn't understand why but I did it. The owner seemed a bit odd, he asked the same questions in both interviews despite it being just the two of us.

I think they both went well and he said that they were flattered by my interest when they received it meaning they must've been pleased with what I have done with my previous clubs. They have no goals at the moment but they just want their first manager in over a year to step in and improve the clubs position whilst doing well in cups.

It would take a lot of building due to the small squad but I think I would easily achieve with the club in similar situations to what I faced whilst at Ards.​
 
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I had been successful in my application and after going evens to get the job they gave me an offer. I had to go through some talks in order to increase my wage to a liveable one after they offered £100 a week with no accommodation but in the end they offered me £250 a week as well as finding me a flat to live in.


​
 
How's it going?
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Looking at the club I think this is my chance to succeed. They have a good squad, quite a bit of money after struggling for a year or two and a good youth set up.

My first job though was to replace the backroom which was poor. I sacked everybody and full replaced everybody. A new assistant manager, couple of coaches, couple of scouts and a Head of Youth to sort the reserves and U19's were brought in.

I then set up the tactics, same as what I had used at Harrogate. They had been good tactics to use and between the 3 of them there was a tactic for every game.

I have now started looking at transfers and with a spare £2300 in the wage budget and a transfer budget a little over £16000 I was ready to recruit. I started by giving everybody on non-contract terms a new contract. Then I looked at a few players on non-contract deals elsewhere. I found and set up deals with 3 central midfielders and then I was going back to talk to a left back if his contract was left to run out with Rhyl. More on transfers as and when they happen.

My biggest problems were within defence. I only had 1 central defender to work with and a 16 year old left back who was good but not ready for this level yet. I would aim to fill these gaps with freebies and then move on to finding a star striker who can help me to succeed.

The board had agreed to find a new senior affiliate and were going to get back to me on that one, hopefully they could link up with Swansea or Cardiff for me so I had an abundance of youth talent to loan in.
​
 
Transfers
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I needed to add to fill gaps. I would play a narrow formation, probably 4-3-1-2 to start with before introducing more tactics. I had set up a couple of others for back ups as well including the 4-2-3-1 from Ards and 4-5-1 from Harrogate.

Incoming Transfers
Charlie Gorman (CM): Strong midfielder from St.Albans on a freebie who will run the middle of the pitch
Mammadou Diallo (CM): Equally as strong as Gorman (4.5*, 5*!) and will be a playmaker in the middle
Liam Matthews (GK): Great young keeper, better than current options and room to develop
Robert Salathiel (ML/ST): Another young option, mainly play up front, good technical player
Dan MacDonald (ST): 28, good backup to younger options with a bit of pace to run past defenders
Adrian Tache (DR/DC): Good option at CB to fill a gap, could develop, cost £300
Einion Salathiel (ML/AML/AMC): Good young player, great prospect, cost £400
Ryan Astles (DC/MC): Great CB, already started for Rhyl in same league, cost £325
Ellis Redman (DR/DC): Another option at CB, needs technical development but great prospect at 19
Josh Roberts (DL): Big signing for £33.5k! Great prospect and likely to start now
Michael Burns (MC/AMC): Report was great, disappointing when arrived, backup option
Liam Benson (DLCR): Needs to develop quicker in order to become a starter
Ashley Stott (ST/AMR): Report deceived again but good backup, although fighting in pre-season to start
Darius Waters (DC): Great mentally and physically but poor technically
Luke Llewellyn (DL): Will fight for the starting left back role, young great option

Outgoing Transfers
Paul Walker (GK): Nothing important, backup keeper who never lived up to potential, currently out of work
Stephen Wright (DC): Great defender, tried everything to keep him, now at Crawley in league 2

Review
A lot of good incomings to bulk the squad out and add young talent who can develop. With all transfers I am expected to finish 9th, think the squad can challenge for top 4 though with the quality we have. Goal is probably to avoid relegation in the boards eyes though meaning little pressure on me.​
 
Pre-season
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I called them back early for pre-season, set up 8 games although my last one was cancelled with the west ham under 21's due to them arranging too many games for themselves.

Fixtures
W4-2 U19's: Redman, Tolley, Gibbs, Benson
W3-1 Merthyr Tydfil: R.Salathiel, Jones, MacDonald
W5-0 Reserves: Astles, Gibbs (2), MacDonald, Jones
L0-3 TATA Steel: N/A
L2-3 Partick Thistle: E.Salathiel (2)
L0-2 Port Vale: N/A
W1-5 Cardiff Met Uni: Stott (2), Tolley, Jones, E.Salathiel

Review
Easy win in the first 3 games which saw the new boys settle into the squad as we tighten up. The loss to TATA Steel was awful, nobody showed any care, even for a pre-season game it was poor and I expect more come the start of the season.

Kept it tight with Partick although should have grabbed the win as they played 88 minutes with 10 men. Lost to a better team against Port Vale but created chances and played well in patches and did well defensively.

Great win against affiliate Cardiff Met Uni with important players stepping up and E.Salathiel and Stott showing why they should be starting come the beginning of the season.

Partly due to the part-time semi-professional status of the club tactics were not picked up but I expected them to at least be content with what they would be playing but they seemed to play the tactics like they'd never seen them before despite playing 7 games using the same tactic!
Season Preview
First game is in Welsh Cup against Ton Pentre before facing relegation favourites Newtown in the league.

A couple of injuries were picked up: Gibbs, our best CAM will miss the first month likely with a twisted ankle and Diallo tore his hamstring and will be out for another 3 months after already being a month out injured.
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Tactics
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The Welsh Cup, at home to Ton Pentre, they are currently in the second tier of Welsh football so it should be an easy win.

I had decided on my strongest line up after the last friendly. Diallo and Gibbs would be in if it wasn't for the injuries but the line up is as follows:
GK: Liam Matthews
RB: Adrian Tache
RCB: Ryan Astles
LCB: Darius Waters
LB: Luke Llewellyn
RCM: Jamie Tolley
CM: Charlie Gorman
LCM: Derek Taylor
CAM: Einion Salathiel
RST: Robert Salathiel
LST: Mark Jones

The back 4 is simple, just defend and the wing backs should try push forward when they can to add something out wide. Waters will be the stopper whilst Astles will provide cover.

Tolley will be a deep playmaker whilst Gorman will aim to be a ball winner. Taylor will play a box to box role. E.Salathiel will be a shadow striker and try and score goals from behind the strikers.

R.Salathiel will play the poacher role trying to put any stray balls into the net whilst Jones will be a target man to put the ball down to both Salathiels.

Pearce, Redman, Roberts, Kendrick and Stott will be on the bench with Kendrick being the main midfield substitution whilst the two defenders will be rotation options in the defence as they are still fighting for their place.

The rest of the squad includes Benson as our only other defensive option.

Crowther and Diallo for central midfielder roles with Crowther being a backup and Diallo being a starter when fit. Kellaway is an option on the wing should we change formations but can also play full back if needed. Gibbs is our strongest attacking midfield option, especially as a shadow striker and will return to the starting 11 when fit.

MacDonald will fight it for the backup striker role with Stott and will feature when fitness is low.​
 
First Game
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Well that was just dreadful. The centre backs struggled with simple roles and dealing with simple moves from Ton Pentre and the forwards couldn't get anything going.

Waters who was the stand out worst performer on the pitch gave a penalty away just 6 minutes in which was converted, 1-0 to Ton Pentre.

Another poor piece of defending from Waters handed another easy goal for them on the half an hour. They played a simple pass and Waters should've dealt with it but let them straight past which saw them pass it across the box for the due goal.

E.Salathiel had a couple of chances to play a simple pass which would've given us the chance to go into the half level but decided to shoot which saw him sky the ball both times.

Things got better on the hour when I made my subs. Redman came on for Waters to help make the defence better, Kendrick came on for E.Salathiel who was poor and offered more going forward and Stott came on for Jones and added a lot in attack as he had 3 good chances pushed away or hit the post.

We could've tied it up late on but a Kendrick shot hit the inside of the post and bounced out whilst Stott saw a brilliant shot pushed brilliantly against the bar.

It was a poor performance but we improved in the second half. If we play like that in the league we will be destroyed week in week out so improvements are needed and we need to focus on tightening up as well as learning tactics.

Waters will definitely be dropped as well as E.Salathiel who were both awful and Redman and likely Kendrick will come in for them.

Aberystwyth 0-2 Ton Pentre
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The search is over. I lasted 20 games with Aberystwyth winning just 3 and losing 12! The board, fairly, sacked me but it ended my career.

I spent over a year searching for a job and got turned down by teams in the lowest divisions and I decided to use the degree I had earned.

It was a good, if not tough career and I wished it had gone further. It looked promising when with Ards but unfair dismissals lead to my career fizzling out.

Thanks for reading, I will start a new career in coming days so keep tuned for more.​
 
I was enjoying it but it wasn't meant to be. I underestimated the Welsh league and couldn't even play my best squad because of a an under 19 rule
 
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