Soccer Dad Goes Pro?

[jmckenzie]

I started coaching soccer (football) when my son began playing as a child in our local youth recreational leagues. As he grew, I took more coaching courses, and soaked up being on the side of the pitch during games, calling out instructions and reminding the boys what we had been working on in practices. I found myself looking forward to nights when we'd practice because it was a joy to teach the game to young minds.

Last year, my company gave me an opportunity I had to jump on, a transfer to London, England. This was an amazing opportunity, both for business, and football. To be in a place that has hundreds of huge clubs, where football is actually a sport played with a ball and feet and not with hands and and egg-ball (let us not get me started on the misnomer that is American football). Needless to say I accepted the transfer, convinced my wife that she could find a teaching job over there and prepared our family to immigrate back to the place of our forefathers.

As fate would have it we got all settled in and my new boss sat on the board of a small club semi-pro club out in Chelmsford Town, about an hour and a half away from the office, by train. He said they needed a coach, but that they couldn't really afford to pay someone with experience. I said I'd be interested and the next day was on a train to meet the Chairman; I had plenty of time to review the team on the trip, and there was a fair bit of talent, but they were projected to be relegated. During the interview I was asked if I would get the team to bravely face relegation. To be honest, I was so shocked that the chairman had already given up hope of a decent finish that I agreed to avoid relegation.

My hope of not getting relegated, along with my passion for coaching younger players must have shown through because I had a call back from Alex, the chairman, by the end of the week and the job was mine if I'd take 30K a year. I agreed to coach for half that amount, since the club was in dire straights with their finances. And so I begin my professional career in football as a part time manager of a Vanarama South Club projected to finish dead last.



(Sorry, Don't have any screenshots from my first season, but will recap it if there's interest.)

 

[jmckenzie]

First day on the job was a bit of a whirlwind. After getting out of the office and catching the train to Chelmsford I met with the staff that was already there when they hired me. The assistant manager seems capable, but the Director of Football, who is a nice enough guy, doesn't seem to see eye to eye with me on player evaluations. Unfortunately, he's tied to the board so I don't have any say over his employment. Turns out he won't be making any signings anyway, got a look at the books and we're already over salaries budget by 5K a year. I like Mr. Day the director of Youth Development, he reminds me of the coach that taught all my coaching classes back in the states. I'm definitely going to keep him around to run the U18s.

Out on the pitch watching my team practice I see a few players standing out, and I think I'm going to be able to build the team around them. I hope Christian Dibble can live up to his salary, as the highest paid player I'm expecting some clean sheets this season. In front of him I've got Rory McAuley and Vice Captain Mark Haines who look, to me like solid center backs. Captain Mark Hughes has the experience in the center field to really keep the boys calm, I think. Lee Sawyer has some great raw talent, but is a hot-head, I'm going to have to keep an eye on him. Luke Daley on the right wing, I'm on the fence about him, he seems okay, but not sure he's worth what we're paying him, especially since Lee can play on the right or in the middle. I may have to think about selling him to balance the books. Up top Billy Bricknell looks like the kind of striker that can really finish when needed.

Promising youngsters my staff said to look out for. Hugo Skepelhorn, FW; Connor Pearce, GK; Rob Girdlestone DF; and Ian Rees MF. I've also got Marvel and Marvin Ekpiteta as defenders that look like rotation players, I'm not going to lie, I'm going to have a hard time telling them apart. I'm definitely going to need to supplement my team from the loan market as we're weak on the left side and not sure if I trust the right back spot to the young Girdlestone. For that I'm also going to need to hire a couple of scouts because there aren't any on the payroll. Not sure why the board wanted to pay me so much when we're already out of budget. I'm going to see if any scouts want to work for free.

Now, that I've evaluated the team in practice time to start looking into tactics. I've promised the board to play defensive soccer so I think I'll start with a 5-4-1 and just try to park the bus as they say on this side of the pond. We only have one more practice this week before our first friendly, so we'll see how it goes.

 

[jmckenzie]

Away at Mildenhall was the first friendly scheduled. I decided to stick tot he plan of playing defensively and it was a decidedly droll match that ended scoreless after ninety minutes. Well, we're getting used to each other and getting back in shape for the season, so I'll let it slide, at least we kept the sheet clean.

Up next, in order to really test the defense, and honestly help out our bottom line I've scheduled Leicester for a home friendly, it will probably be a bloodbath, but I explained to the team this was all about the Benjamins. Of course, there was a bit of confusion since Benjamin Franklin is only on U.S. currency, but eventually I got the point across. We worked hard and managed to hold Leicester to three points in the first half, they doubled the score before the final whistle. I consoled the boys after by saying they played well, which they did. We were severely outclassed by a premier side, but we profited 10K from the embarrassment. I let them know we'd be doing a few more friendlies throughout the year against big clubs to keep us from losing money.

We went away to Witham in the middle of the following week, and I decided to try out a 4-4-2 with Skepelhorn and Bricknell playing forwards. The result was a 3-0 win for the Clarets, the boys were excited and I was proud of the way they played. I'm also on the look for a left back, it's become obvious that's where we're currently weakest, a good fullback can change the way a team plays.

Up next is home to Sheffield United's U21's. Another one scheduled more for the cash inflow than for a hope of winning, but I think a challenge is good for the boys, and if all goes well I may be able to convince the board to do something about the pitch. I'm worried it's going to cause some injuries this season. Went back to a defensive stance and didn't manage to get a single shot on target while only creating four opportunities, and so I've decided I'm going to rip this tactic right out of the book and go with a more standard 4-4-2.

Final friendly before we travel to Oxford City to open the regular season is away to Potters Bar. This one was a close match the whole way, good battle for midfield, solid defending on both sides and we managed to lose on a last minute goal through the near-post. Could almost strangle Dibble for letting one through like that, but it WAS the 91st minute and he'd made lots of good saves already, I guess one was bound to get through.

So after five friendlies I'm starting to see why the board just wanted to avoid relegation. We've got a couple of practices before heading to Oxford to kick off the season, and I'm a bit worried how this is going to go.

 

[jmckenzie]

0-4 Oxford City 4-0 Chelmsford

Well I had high hopes and belief in my team, but a lackluster defense couldn't stop any break away. And the few chances we did create were shot so far wide I'm thinking of having Billy Bricknell's eyes checked. I'm glad I sent my boy into the stands with a camcorder to record the match. I've got some film to study to find out why we can't make the tactic work.

Chelmsford 2-1 Hemel Hempstead

Apparently the Vanarama south is fond of playing one game on the weekday and on weekends. The Monday after our thrashing in Oxford we are home against Hemel Hempstead. The board has decided to make the match a fan day and we have a great turnout expected for the match. I spent all night after the Oxford match studying the film and made a few tweaks. I've asked Haines and McAuley to stay back more and Hughes and Sawyer to attack any ball that comes near their zone. It worked! We managed to dominate the match but we still couldn't keep a clean sheet.

Chelmsford 2-1 Hayes & Yeading

Our good form at home continues on the following Saturday and we win in almost the exact same manner as before allowing a late goal to tarnish our clean sheet.

Bishop's Stortford 3-2 Chelmsford

In another Monday night game we experienced a hard fought loss at Bishop's Stortford, we worked hard for the whole ninety minutes, but just too much fatigue early in the season due to playing four games in a week. I couldn't fault the boys we created tons of opportunities to score just couldn't get the balls in the back of the net.

Whitehawk 3-3 Chelmsford

On the road again in the middle of the week we looked like we were on track to win this one, but two quick goals in the closing minutes made our dominance look like a mistake.

Chelmsford 1-1 St. Albans

Back at home on a soggy weekend. The pitch was basically mud and both teams played pretty badly with only a total of 16 shots on goal for both sides. I've decided that I need to ask the board if they will relay the pitch. We are sitting mid-table after a month so I'm hoping that will justify the expense.

Maidstone 1-2 Chelmsford

Alas, the board can't afford to relay the pitch, so I've scheduled a midweek friendly with a premier U21 soon, I figure if I can get our balance up the board can't keep refusing me. Nevertheless, we finish up the month in Maidstone with a loss due to another injury time goal. Going to have to start working on endurance training with the boys they keep letting their guard down after 90 minutes.

 

[jmckenzie]

Sorry it's been so long since my last post, but it will be even a bit longer before the story progresses, my dog knocked my laptop off the desk and shattered the screen so I don't have my history available to continue updating. Soon as my new screen comes from amazon I'll get back to updates.