Sunday League to Champions League

[Brane_Orsou]

So close to promotion to have it taken away, although some silverware and a little run in the FA Cup will hopefully give the team the confidence to go one further next season.

 

[NathanITFC]

Pre Season
​

I will kick it off with transfers...
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Keith Lowe and Bradley Clayton contracts had expired however have agreed non contract terms and will rarely feature this year. Jared Hodgkiss left to join Exeter, he wanted over a grand so I thought I could get a younger cheaper replacement. James McQuilkin was just surplus to requirements so I didn't offer him a new contract and Daniel Sweeney was a promising winger however I don't play with wingers so decided to not offer him a new contract.
Now meet the newbies...
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Harvey Rodgers arrives following his release from Hull City. He will partner Grogan at centre half and will improve throughout the season with already impressive stats.
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Rob Evans arrives in loan from Wrexham and will be part of the trio in central midfield, an all rounder with some impressive stats. Ben Hedley also joined for his third year with us!
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Josh Cogley arrives from Bradford PA for £110, the ex Birmingham City academy graduate will play right back and again is a player that is an all rounder with no real weaknesses as a defensive fall back and will improve throughout his time with us.

Pre season results went like this...
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100% record including impressive wins against division above Dagenham Redbridge and Macclesfield as well as 8 goals for Johan ter Horst.

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This is how I will start the season, same formation however with higher tempo and work the ball into the box due to my players last season holding onto the ball for too long and shooting from ridiculous range.

I feel my team and squad should win this league quite easily however I said that last season anyway third time lucky! Fingers crossed!

 

[NathanITFC]

August
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FC United - ter Horst carries on his goalscoring form from pre season with a hat trick but comes as a consequence as he is injured for the next 2 weeks.
Harrogate - Hatfield brace and Truslove, Clayton (replacing injured ter Horst) with the goals as we comeback to win 4-1.
Chelmsford - We hit four for the 3rd game in a row, 2 penalties for Hazeldine and another for Hatfield.
Stockport - 28 shots to their 4 shots, tells you how one sided this game was but we failed to convert those chances.
Lowesoft - Back to winning ways thanks to another goal for Hatfield and Truslove.

Undefeated and scoring aplenty is promising, however no clean sheets so far could be a little worrying. Hatfield won player of the month with a superb run of form coinciding with my decision to move him to a central midfielder with the license to get forward.
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3rd, 2 points off top but I'm sure we will fight AFC Fylde for top spot throughout the whole season. Boston, Nuneaton and Braintree will also be up there, I'm also expecting Altricham, Worcester and most notably Guiseley to start climbing the table and fighting near the top of the table in the coming months.

 

[Equal]

So far so good man. Keep it up!

 

[NathanITFC]

So close to promotion to have it taken away, although some silverware and a little run in the FA Cup will hopefully give the team the confidence to go one further next season.

Yeah fingers crossed, dont think I can hack another season in Conference North

 

[NathanITFC]

So far so good man. Keep it up!

Thanks mate

 

[NathanITFC]

September
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Guiseley - Kick off the month in emphatic style, smashing 6 goals past Guiseley, including 4 for Max Hazeldine.
Bradford PA - 1-0 flattered them, dominant throughout however another goal for in form Hazeldine.
Redditch - Dropped 2 points again despite being completely dominant however it took 92 minutes to break them down.
Blyth - Back to winning ways with 2 defenders getting on the scoresheet either side of a ter Horst strike.
AFC Fylde- First defeat in the season comes in the FA Cup 2nd qualifying round meaning no dream tie against the big boys however less matches to play this season, meaning we keep our attention on the league title.
Alfreton - Back to winning ways again hitting 5 past Alfreton including another hat trick for Hazeldine.
Tamworth - Score line suggests it was closer than it was, ter Horst joining Hazeldine with a hat trick in the month.

Somehow Johan ter Horst pipped Hazeldine to player of the month however I claim manager of the month.
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Top of the league by 4 points however Boston can reduce that gap if they win their game in hand. We maintain our unbeaten record in the league but crash out of the FA Cup, however I'd take that if it means we go up this season finally!

 

[NathanITFC]

October
​

We started the month with 4 injuries, Hatfield, ter Horst, Evans and Hedley, ranging from 2 weeks to 8 weeks so we brought in a new striker for the injured ter Horst...
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The ex Wolves man should be prolific in the Conference North and give healthy competition to our deadly duo up top.

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ARE WE GONNA THROW IT AWAY AGAIN!
Gloucester - Comfortable 2-0 win , goals from the deadly 2 up top.
Salford - A game we deserved to win but failed to convert our chances, ter Horst picked up his injury and in comes Cassidy.
Braintree - Worst performance this season and the result to match as Braintree deserved the 3 points and got them.
Gainsborough - 0-0 is the perfect result for what was a truly dull game of football, back to back games where we failed to score after being so prolific this season.
Worcester - Hatfield returned after being out for 2 weeks and scores a free kick inside 9 minutes. We manage to throw the game away letting in 2 goals in the last 5 minutes of the game to end the month with a draw.

/\ Worcester are clearly my bogey team in football manager!

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After being 4 points clear from AFC Fylde at the start of the month, we end it 2 points adrift from them! However we play AFC Fylde in our next game where 3 points is a necessity in what is already a 6 pointer!

 

[NathanITFC]

November
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Laptop wouldn't let me crop it further but...

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AFC Fylde - Top of the table clash and we come out on top thanks to Bradley Clayton.
Darlington - Typical! We then go and lose the next match 2-0!

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Failing to get a point against Darlington means we remain second however only one goal away from AFC Fylde at the top however we have Nuneaton in December which is surely another 6 pointer!

 

[mrdilpot]

Surely this is the season you go up

 

[Brane_Orsou]

Surely this season will see you promoted, despite some unlucky results you're still only 1 goal off top spot. KIU

 

[zyndar]

Keep it going, you will promote this season! How did your managerial attributes changed during the first years?

 

[NathanITFC]

Surely this season will see you promoted, despite some unlucky results you're still only 1 goal off top spot. KIU

Yeah Hopefully, definitely got enough goals in this squad to overcome the goal difference

Surely this is the season you go up

Yeah fingers crossed mate!

Keep it going, you will promote this season! How did your managerial attributes changed during the first years?

Thanks mate, I will screenshot the managerial attributes Monday evening for you as I'm away for the weekend so wont get a chance to update before then.

 

[NathanITFC]

December
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As requested here is my latest managerial stats, safe to say I'm no Mourinho, Pep or Klopp...
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Farsley - A weakened starting 11 comfortably win 4-2.
Nuneaton - Important game and we nick it thanks to a winner from Max Hazeldine.
Biggleswade - Another goal for Dunkerley and Clarke in the FA Trophy sees us run out 2-0 winners.
Boston - Another big game in the league sees another clean sheet and brace from ter Horst.
FC United - Somehow fail to break down FC United, 2 points dropped.
Altricham - another back to back game where we've failed to score meaning we lose top spot AGAIN!

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We remain second and are two points off top despite big wins against play off hopefuls Boston and Nuneaton, however we drop points stupidly against poorer oppositions in Altricham and FC United.

 

[NathanITFC]

January
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Harrogate - 4 goals for ter Horst kickstarts the month in fine fashion.
Chelmsford - Typical kiddy as we then fall to a 2-0 defeat to Chelmsford meaning I change tactics (see below)
Stockport - A goal crazy game, we we're 5-1 and decide to gift them 3 goals in the last 10 mins. Hatfield grabbing a hat trick from centre midfield.
Lowesoft - Cassidy, Hatfield and the first for a while for Hazeldine secure a 3-2 win.
Ebbsfleet - Deserved more from the game but fall to a 2-1 defeat against a team in the Vanarama National.
Guiseley - 3-1 back to winning ways, Cassidy scores against his old club and ter Horst bags a brace.


ter Horst grabbed player of the month with Hatfield finishing 3rd as I manage to grab the manager of the month award.


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My new tactic - 4-1-2-3. We go attacking and flexible, with looking for overlaps and whipped crosses. We simply try to outscore our opponents which so far has worked well, although we haven't kept a clean sheet yet which I'm not overly surprised about but our attacking prowess has got us out of that situation. We have two fit wing backs with decent crossing stats whipping it in for 3 forwards with good finishing, anticipation and off the ball stats. We then have Hedley sitting in front of the two centre halves looking to cover our full backs and prevent counter attacks with Croasdale also helping out in that department and Hatfield looking to assist the attacks and arrive late in the box to score some goals from midfield.


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Still second, a point off top however they have a greater goal difference. We can now focus solely on the league as we are out of both cups meaning less fixtures to the last two seasons which will hopefully work in our favour as we look to win the league this season.

 

[NathanITFC]

February​

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Bradford PA - We get our first clean sheet with our new tactic and a Cassidy winner seals 3 points.
Redditch - Another clean sheet and another brace for Cassidy who is in a rich vein of form.
Alfreton - We manager to outscore Alfreton 4-2 thanks to goals from Hazeldine, ter Horst (50th for the club) and a first for Harvey Rodgers.
Blyth - We see off the month with 3 points and a clean sheet, Cassidy again bagging a goal in a great month for him individually and as a team.


Surprisingly Cassidy wasn't even in contention for player of the month, however I swoop manager of the month for two successive months.
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We now close the gap to only two goals difference although we have a game in hand. Hopefully we keep this fantastic form up and AFC Fylde slip up allowing us to finally win promotion in the coming months. AFC Fylde are still in the FA trophy so hopefully they have their attention elsewhere.

 

[NathanITFC]

March​

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Tamworth - We fall to a 3-2 defeat to bottom of the Tamworth, who couldn't even buy a win, truly dreadful result!
Salford - More disappointment as we draw 2-2 against Salford who had 10 men for 60 minutes of the game.
Gloucester - Finally back to winning ways with another goal for ter Horst and Cassidy.
Braintree - Mr Reliable Will Hatfield sealed a 1-0 win.
Gainsborough - A game we somehow failed to win despite 3 clear cut chances including a sitter from substitute Charlie Dunkerley who managed to hit the bar with a header from 2 yards out in the last minute of the game.

Despite the defeat to Gainsborough...
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A decent achievement considering there are still 6 games remaining.
Although I'm hoping for top spot rather than play offs for the third year on the trot.
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Ours to lose now, 3 points ahead with one goal inferior to AFC Fylde, all we need to do now for the remaining games is either equal or better their results!

My remaining 6 games are against 6 of the top 8!!!
-My bogey team Worcester
-6 Pointer AFC Fylde
-Then promotion hopefuls
-Nuneaton, Darlington, Boston, Altrincham

What a nervous, exciting, intriguing end to the season this is going to be!

 

[NathanITFC]

April and May
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Worcester - Start the month in fine fashion, 3 goals and a clean sheet against our bogey team. Cassidy bagging a goal but also picked up an injury side-lining him out for 3 months.
AFC Fylde - Wasn't as close as it sounds, we dominated and thanks to a brace from Hazeldine and a goal for ter Horst we win this 6 pointers.
Darlington - We put there play off hopes to bed with a 6-0 thumping including another brace for Hazeldine and Hatfield.
Nuneaton - 1-1 come from behind to draw the game after another Hazeldine goal! As Boston in 2nd also drew, we WIN THE LEAGUE with 2 games to spare!
Boston - 1-1 We take the lead thanks to Bradley Clayton (replacing the injured Cassidy) although get pegged after Croasdale was sent off with 10 minutes to go.
Altrincham - We see off the season with a clean sheet and 3 goals thanks to a brace from Clayton and another goal in a superb run of form for Max Hazeldine.

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We end up winning the league by 8 points! 90 points altogether with plus 48 goal difference is a fantastic achievement!
Chelmsford ended up pipping Altrincham to a play off spot, Tamworth left it too late to recover from their horrendous start and are relegated as Guiseley just managed to drag themselves out of it.
AFC Fylde also got promoted alongside us as they beat Boston 2-1 in the final.

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Johan ter Horst claimed the player of the year, the golden boot with 31 goals and got the highest average rating followed by Will Hatfield and Max Hazeldine. Will Hatfield and Max Hazeldine share the most assists with 14 each. Mike Hall got a record number of clean sheets for the club in a season with 12 however is pipped by Dale Fenn of Chelmsford who managed 14 in the league this season. George Borg of Nuneaton won manager of the season.

Hazeldine won the fans player of the year, ter Horst runner up, despite winning the leagues player of the year, golden boot and got the leagues highest average rating and Hatfield coming 3rd. Hazeldine also claimed young player of the year. Josh Cogley won signing of the season at the club and ter Horst won goal of the season for his strike against Alfreton.

In my two full seasons here we have won the FA Trophy and the Conference North including a 3rd round FA Cup tie beating league one MK Dons in the process, two play off defeats and a FA Trophy final defeat, not a bad start to my managerial career!

 

[NathanITFC]

Pre-season
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We kickstarted the month with a few departures following Keith Lowe, Tyrone Williams and Arthur Gnahoua's contracts expiring, in the previous season they failed to make the first team with exception of the odd occasions. The latter joined AFC Fylde. George Forsyth was a youth player when I first joined the club and failed to make any real impression starting only in FA Trophy games. Sean Williams, with a year left on his contract and being reserve the majority of the time last season, we sold him to Boston United for £5,000. Robbie McDonnell joins Hemel Hempstead on a 6 month loan as a key player to get first team football and hopefully aid his development.

Now for the arrivals, Ben Hedley rejoins the club on a season long loan from Morecambe for the fourth time! Along with....
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Phil Egan, with bags of potential and only £325 a week, he was a given to be our back up central midfielder as his contract with Watford expired last month.

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Again cheap, young and bags of potential, Neil Brock joins following his release by Manchester City and will give healthy competition to our strike force.
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Results wise, we were 2-0 up against AFC Telford at half time and then capitulated gifting them 3 goals, maybe due to the 11 changes I made at half time. We reacted to that in fine fashion beating Brackley, Sunderland U23s and stuffing Torquay. We then faced a fully strengthed Fulham and matched them for the majority of the game however they were more prolific in front of goal as they ran out 3-1 winners. Another full strengthed Wolves side faced us next and we didn't play as well as the last game but still had bright patches however their superiority showed as we fall to a 2-0 defeat. I then wanted a confidence booster to end the season on so we played Loughborough Uni and

We will start the season as we finished it playing 4-1-2-3 attacking and see how we fair against stronger opposition, although we could adjust it to a standard 4-4-2 narrow standard diamond. Another option is a wide 4-2-3-1 due to our youth intake rich in young promising attacking midfielders and wingers however I feel our attacking options are strong and to only use one would be silly.
The board are expecting a top half finish and I would agree, targeting top half and potentially a play off push would be great in our first season back in the Vanarama National.

 

[NathanITFC]

August
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We started the month with a new addition...
View attachment 1094155 Tommy Hope signs following his release from MK Dons, he will be backup to James Hancocks at left back. Also Peter Kioso joined Guiseley on a 6 month loan.

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Boreham Wood- A game we fully controlled and should have won.
Dartford - another game we dominated but somehow failed to find a goal.
Torquay - 3-1 win with Phil Egan bagging his first professional goal coming on as a sub.
Grimsby - We were 2-0 down after 10 mins so I changed formation to a diamond and went standard with great affect as we managed to claw two goals back before a late winner denied us a well deserved point.
Accrington - A game we should have won again but failed to convert great chances, Max Hazeldine with a brace against his old club.

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We sit 12th exactly mid table on 6 points and a positive goal difference. I feel if we managed to convert more of our chances we would be atleast in the play off spots as we only managed one win and three draws in the opening month of the season but a decent base to build on.
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Straight after the Accrington game, we received confirmation that our youth player Mike Hall will be departing, £50,000 and 25% sell on fee was too good to turn down, so we will be looking for a backup keeper in the coming month.