The story of a failed footballer

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September roundup

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If I was to be completely honest I'd really rather avoid rounding the month of September up for you lot out there such was the nature of the beast. It's safe to say that we had a hellish month, our fantastic start to the season has ended with a bang, an explosion, in devastation. Six games lost in a row with thirteen goals conceded in the process, not good enough. After trying to stick with the formation we've played thus far this season but with some changes to it it's now getting to the point where we need to create something much better and fast. I'm not going to go into much detail other than to say that we had a shocking month and next month has got to be better or we'll be sliding right into a relegation battle, after the start we made to the season that would be awful. Thinking caps on for me and my assistant Simon Lappin as we look to halt this slide by coming up with a winning formula.

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Clyde look to end slump with signing of experienced duo​

Never one for sticking with a settled team throughout a season Clyde manager Christopher Burns has been on the hunt for some new players for his struggling side once again. After a fantastic start to the season the Bully Wee have went into freefall lately and Burns is looking to stop the rot by adding more quality to his team. In what was somewhat of a coup the manager has brought in a former Barclays Premiership player; Kevin McDonald. McDonald has been plying his trade down in England for the past eleven years after breaking through with Dundee in his younger years. Having mostly played in the Sky Bet Championship during his career McDonald found himself on the scrapheap this summer after being released by Fulham. So much so that he has been willing to drop down to the Ladbrokes Championship in Scotland just to get playing the game he loves once again. Joining him will be former Partick Thistle striker Kris Doolan who at the age of thirty-two still has a fair bit to offer to a team like Clyde. Doolan has been a prolific striker throughout his time with Thistle and should be able to oust the competition in search of a starting role at his new club. That being said, the club do have six strikers at present. In my opinion Clyde have pulled off a masterstroke with these lads as neither is past it and should be able to do a great job at the club.

 

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October roundup

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Despite adding to the squad with a couple of key new players in Kevin McDonald and Kris Doolan as well as changing to a 3-5-2 formation we were once again unable to get a win this month. We did however manage to get a point. It was against Queen of the South we got a draw and actually, we should have won. We took the lead and led the match right up until the 90th minute when the Doonhammers pulled level to break our spirit furthermore. In between that result came a couple of losses to Kilmarnock, once again, and Raith Rovers. Eight league losses, nine in all competitions, slaps us bang in the middle of a relegation dogfight very early on in the season. I have said it many times before but when our main man Steven Ross doesn't play well we don't play well as a team. That is simply not good enough as no team can rely on one man to win them matches, not even Barcelona with Messi or Real Madrid with Ronaldo. Now, enough talk about superstars it's time to work on dismantling Greenock Morton and resurrecting our season.

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William Hill Scottish Cup Third Round

Clyde v Livingston

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After a four game unbeaten run we went into this William Hill Scottish Cup third round tie against Livingston as the favourites. Given our recent turnaround and our apparent superiority over Livi we decided to throw caution to the wind and attack from the off. We named an unchanged line up from our 3-0 rout over Inverness Caley Thistle last time out and our new centre back Darren O'Dea's presence continues. As the first half kicks off the nerves are present by I have faith in the lads to see them off. Nothing of note to write home about in that half as both sides flatter to deceive. The chances are coming for us but we are just lacking a bit of clinical finishing at the moment. Hold on, fifteen to go and we have a throw in on the right, it's Lewis Kidd to Jack Blake inside the box passes it along to Aaron Reid, Aaron Reid let's rip..... GOAL! Has our left back won us the game with his second goal in consecutive games? Reid's goal is looking like the winner here as we run down the clock, four minutes left to play now. Livingston have the ball on the break now, Jordon Forster with the through ball to Josh Mullin down the right.. Crosses it in now and it's Greig Spence with the equaliser! Our former player comes back to haunt us and it is all over here at Broadwood Stadium. This one will go to the replay.

 

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November roundup

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As we slipped down to ninth in the league last month after a dismal run of form it was getting crucial that we managed to pick ourselves up and earn some points again. Our first two matches of November had me in two minds; firstly, at least we picked up some points and kept a clean sheet, secondly, we had still failed to win and we had still failed to score. However, those thoughts turned more positive after our next couple of league matches where we smashed in five goals in two games with Steven Ross breaking an eight hour goal drought to score three in two matches. Beating Airdrie and Inverness was a huge relief as we managed to climb back up the table again. We rounded the month off with a 1-1 draw to Livingston in the Betfred Scottish Cup as we fell to a late equaliser by the away side which will take the game into a replay. Now let's see if we can continue this run of form next month.

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[Brane_Orsou]

Good to have you back, although i'm sure after September you wished you'd not bothered, unbeaten month in November though is hopefully a sign that things are back on the up!

 

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Good to have you back, although i'm sure after September you wished you'd not bothered, unbeaten month in November though is hopefully a sign that things are back on the up!

Thank you mate! Had an extended break from the game haha I know I was so tempted to extend my FM break further! Perseverance though.. Hopefully man, cheers!

 

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William Hill Scottish Cup Third Round Replay

Livingston V Clyde

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Despite being the favourites in this round in our original game against Livingston we were unable to break them down and thus we have to go again. This time though, we have to get a much better result as progression from this point will mean a lot to the board, the fans, myself and of course the players. For the fourth game running we name an unchanged squad despite two 1-1 draws on the bounce against both Livingston and Ross County respectively. They say that in order to change the result you can't keep doing the same action.. Well I beg to differ. Let's play. We start with the ball, knocking it around wonderfully and Livingston look to be chasing shadows as a different Clyde seem to have showed up. We're getting all the possession here without the end product and as we head into the second half the lads have been instructed to keep up the good work and the result will come eventually. No sooner had I taken my seat and prepared to take notes we have a goal! Straight from the kick off it's Kenny Anderson with the through ball down the left for Steven Ross who whips in a peach of a cross for Dario Zanetta to score his fifth of the season. Get in. The lads are playing with a real swagger as the game continues with Kevin McDonald now to Jack Blake, passes it on to Anderson who looks to be lining up a shot from 35-yards, what is he doing? What has he done? He has scored a peach of a goal from 35-yards is what Kenny Anderson has done! Go on lad, what a hit son, what a hit. We have a corner now with twenty minutes to play and Blake sets down the ball before whipping it in and it's bouncing around here but Livingston can't clear it, falls for Callum Morris.. GOAL! It's 3-0 to The Bully Wee. As the clock ticks down now the match is ours and we have the win. In the fourth round we will face our Betfred Cup conquerors Queen of the South in what will be our fifth game of the season against the Doonhamers by that time. It's now on to more pressing matters for us as we entertain top of the table Kilmarnock next in the league and here's hoping we make it eight games unbeaten in all competitions.

 

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As I arrived home and walked in the door I was met with the usual clutter of junk mail and bills that greet me most days. Supermarket leaflets, takeaway menus, recycle bags for clothes all that good stuff alongside my many bills and whatnot. Interestingly there was a letter that stood out to me as it was handwritten with my name on it. I opened it curiously;


"Hi Chris


This letter will be really random and out of the blue for you to read but here goes. I have recently found out from my mum that you are my dad, I have grown up never knowing who you are until my mum got out of rehab not too long ago. She said that she thinks she seen you in there and it brought everything back for her which made her want to tell me about you two. She said that you met while you were both messed up and that yous were never really a thing. I know this will be a big shock for you and you might need some time but I was hoping that you would like to meet up and get to know one another properly. Sorry if I have wasted your time.


Hope to hear from you soon, Alex"

What the ....

 

[ConorDow]

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As I arrived home and walked in the door I was met with the usual clutter of junk mail and bills that greet me most days. Supermarket leaflets, takeaway menus, recycle bags for clothes all that good stuff alongside my many bills and whatnot. Interestingly there was a letter that stood out to me as it was handwritten with my name on it. I opened it curiously;


"Hi Chris


This letter will be really random and out of the blue for you to read but here goes. I have recently found out from my mum that you are my dad, I have grown up never knowing who you are until my mum got out of rehab not too long ago. She said that she thinks she seen you in there and it brought everything back for her which made her want to tell me about you two. She said that you met while you were both messed up and that yous were never really a thing. I know this will be a big shock for you and you might need some time but I was hoping that you would like to meet up and get to know one another properly. Sorry if I have wasted your time.


Hope to hear from you soon, Alex"

What the ....

Just spent a few hours reading the entire story inbetween working lol, what a story my friend!

Defo worth reading as the background story coming in and out takes it away from it being purely football manager. Glad to see you are still writing and will keep following. KIU.

 

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Thank you mate I appreciate you taking the time man. Wish I still had a job where I could do that lol! Aye I prefer to read a backround story myself so I like to incorporate one when writing my own. I enjoy the story writing part of it the most so I'm always thinking up new bonkers ideas! Thanks again.

 

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December roundup

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December was as hectic a month as ever for us as we faced off against seven opponents. First up for us was Ross County and despite the stats during that game indicating that we walked all over them it was the goal tally that really counted and unfortunately we could only match them on the day. We followed that up with a couple of better performances though. Livingston were put in their place and knocked out of the William Hill Scottish cup at the second time of asking from us. It was top of the table Kilmarnock next and despite the fact that they were playing much better than us overall this season we went into the game with confidence and belief which subsequently led to us knocking them off of their perch. What followed was another couple of bore draws which although disappointing kept up our unbeaten streak. We had levelled our record streak without losing a game and were told that a win or draw in our next game would see us beat the current record. Our next game was against Morton who were second in the league. No worries. We smashed them! Start to finish we were in cruise control as Aird's 30-yard strike was added to by Steven Ross' double, taking his tally for the season to 22 goals, and Kris Doolan also got his second goal for the club. As is always the case in football our unbeaten streak was ended by a team lower down in the league than us. Raith Rovers played much better than us on the day as we seemed to let complacency set in. All of that comes during a month where some more personal information came to light out of the blue. Thankfully I have a lot on with running the club right now and will be using it as my escape as I try to come to terms with things. With us finally starting to bolt down a regular starting eleven we have a few players on the outskirts of the team complaining about regular football and as such we will see a fair few departures this upcoming window.

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William Hill Scottish Cup Fourth Round

Queen of the South V Clyde

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We go into this William Hill Scottish Cup tie on the back of three losses in our last four games which doesn't sit well with me. However we have had a fair few ins and outs in this transfer window which means the lads are just getting to know each others game right now. I am confident of our chances here and firmly believe we have what it takes to make it through to the next round. As we pass the fifteen minute mark here I feel like we have a firm grip of the game without having scored yet, we just need that goal to get some security. Queen of the South went really close there and this is shaping up to be a real end to end match up. Darren O'Dea picks out a great pass here and finds Steven Ross who's outside the box but he's lining up a shot... GOAL! What a goal it was too, 1-0 to the mighty Bully Wee. Queen of the South come out all guns blazing in this second half and after five minutes of play they have pulled level courtesy of a Callum McFadzean goal. What a miserable second half this has been for us and the referee looks at his watch and blows for full time. We will have to play another replay.

 

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January roundup

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As I've said previously, January was going to consist of a bit of player turnover for us as we ship out players wanting to leave and bring in better replacement's. As a result of this our form has dipped as the new lads look to mix in with the older ones. It started off brightly enough with us overcoming Airdrie in a tense and tight game decided by Steven Ross' goal. What followed was a poor, poor display of finishing against Dundee United as we had eighteen shots to their seven yet couldn't muster up a single goal. Worse was to come in our next match though as Inverness Caley Thistle, sitting bottom of the table, tore us to pieces. Once again we had more chances and possession but failed to make it count where it really does; scoring goals. Our William Hill Scottish Cup game didn't fare much better as we were yet again dominant statistically but were forced to a replay due to our lack of a killer instinct. The winner of our replay will face Aberdeen in the fifth round.

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January transfer window

In

Conor Bell - £10k from Berwick Rangers
Euan Leighton £12k from Celtic
Calvin Miller £20k from Celtic
Kieran Kennedy £6k from Falkirk

Out

Josh McDonald £30k to Dundee United
John Rooney £10k to Cambridge
Kudus Oneyunga £20k to Accrington
Theo Wharton £5k to Scunthorpe
Tam Scobbie £35k to Inverness Caley Thistle
Sean Crighton free transfer to Inverness Caley Thistle
Richard Foster released, now with Ayr
John Baird released
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Managers thoughts: I am thrilled with the business we have been able to do over the past month I have to say that there isn't a single transaction I'm not happy with. As you know Conor Bell is my cousin and was at the club on loan for a couple of years before returning to Airdie after his spell, we didn't pursue him after that as I felt he had to grow as a player first. He's now done that and after some great performances with Berwick Rangers I was happy to pick him up for £10k after Aaron Reid's loan expired. Leighton is a quality young prospect who should become a first team player for us within the year I have no doubts. Calvin Miller has had a tough time with Celtic having came through their academy he's never been given the chance to showcase his talents. He will get that chance here and will likely partner Steven Ross upfront. Kieran Kennedy has been brought in as back up for the central defence and right back position. He is a much more capable player than McDonald, Scobbie, Crighton and Foster. Of all of our outgoings there isn't a departed player that will be missed in all honesty, Wharton was a decent player for us and McDonald had some great potential at some point but as I've said; we've brought in more than able replacement's.

 

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William Hill Scottish Cup Fourth Round Replay

Clyde V Queen of the South

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This is our second William Hill Scottish Cup replay in consecutive rounds and it is becoming a ball-ache. I'm just hoping this one doesn't go all the way to extra time and penalties. Lewis Kidd gives Queen of the South an indication of how tough a match this is going to be by crunching through Callum McFadzean inside two minutes. Not too much to report from this second half and we head into the break deadlocked still. Finally the scoreboard has been breached! Lewis Kidd with the cross in for Kenny Anderson at the edge of the box he thunders a shot off of the crossbar which bounces back out to Stevie Ross which means it's Clyde one Queen of the South nil. Immediately afterwards Queen of the South run straight at our goal from kick off and go oh so close to equalising! Focus lads, focus. Sub time, Fraser Aird and Liam Burt on for Jack Blake and Kevin McDonald. What an impact!! Aird's been on the park two minutes and steps up to take a free kick and thunders one home! It's 2-0 and surely that is it. It is indeed and the mighty Bully Wee go through to the Fifth Round of the Scottish Cup for the first time during my tenure. Aberdeen await.

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William Hill Scottish Cup Fifth Round

Aberdeen V Clyde

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Going into this game we were blighted by a lack of a left back due to Conor Bell being cup tied, Matthew Russell and Daniel Harvie are also cup tied due to Aberdeen being their parent club. Fraser Aird is the man to get the nod due to his versatility. We also changed up our formation due to some advice from my assistant Simon Lapping. Lads I know this is uncharted territory for you all to have gotten to this stage of the competition and we are up against it facing Aberdeen here but I have every faith in your ability. Despite the 16 places separating us in the league I just want you to give it your all for our fans and I won't care if we go out, I just want to see you give your absolute all to the cause. I was pretty happy with my team talk going into this match and I just hoped my inspired words would help us pull off a miracle. Turned out I was more inspiring as I thought as we reached half time 0-0 and giving the Dons a right good game. It would seem that I spoke to soon and after just five minutes Adam Rooney put his side in front in the second half. Time to revert back to my own formation thanks very much Simon. Jack Blake and Euan Leighton come on for Kevin McDonald and Kris Doolan. No difference; Adam Rooney nets his second minutes later. Time to go all out attacking and hope for the best. It's all over without further ado here at the Pittodrie stadium as we just didn't have enough about is to reach the quarter final.​

 

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February roundup

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February was a really busy month for us as we played six games in twenty-nine days. Ross County were first to visit us and they didn't leave Broadwood stadium very happy as they succumbed to a Steven Ross inspired 2-0 defeat. We followed that up with another 2-0 win only this time it was in cup competition as we knocked out fellow Championship side Queen of the South to progress to the fifth round for the first time under my tutelage. We played long standing top of the table side Kilmarnock next in what was our first disappointment of the month. Despite Calvin Miller scoring his first goal in FORTY-FIVE hours we couldn't overcome Killie. Aberdeen saw off of presence in the William Hill Scottish Cup with a routine win which left us with just the league to focus on and focus we did. Calvin Miller ran the show against Ayr as he set up both of Steven Ross' goals in the match as well as picking up a goal himself, a man of the match award was a given. Despite the look of a close game due to the 3-2 scoreline it was only a late goal by Ayr that made it look better than it was as we overtook them in the league. With momentum building and confidence rising we took on Queen of the South once again knowing a win would take us level on points with Morton should they lose. Unfortunately Morton didn't lose but the combination of Calvin Miller and Steven Ross ensured we also won and kept close to the play-offs. After a great start then a major slump then some inconsistent displays inbetween this season.. Could we sneak into the play-offs and perhaps gain promotion? Only time will tell I guess. In the end of month awards I was named in the top three managers of the month for just the third time this season which is nice. Calvin Miller took the young player of the month award while Steven Ross took the player of the month. We have our play-off competition Morton in the next match and a win for us could see us leapfrog either them or Ross County up to as high as third place!

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March roundup

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With our recent upturn of form taking us to the verge of the play-off positions heading into March we had to have a right go of it this month to ensure we climbed above Ross County and Morton. Starting with Morton was as good a place as any and we absolutely dominated them on the day, I've no idea how we only scored two goals as we had thirty shots on the day. However, despite them scoring with twenty minutes to play we just about managed to stave them off although we failed to climb any higher in the table due to both sides above us having better goal difference. In spite of our good form and goalscoring exploits of late we've let in so many goals and in what was a shock we actually kept a clean sheet against Raith Rovers! Steven Ross grabbed a couple of goals for us which finally meant we had breached the play-off spots and climbed up to third. Ross scored his thirty-fifth and thirty-sixth goals of the season against Airdrie as he helped us run riot against the Diamonds. Kenny Anderson started off our scoring in our 5-2 rout while Calvin Miller and Dario Zanetta scored their third and eight goals of the campaign respectively. That win gives us a five point cushion over Morton in fifth place and it's looking good for a play-off spot now. We have Dundee United, Ross County and Kilmarnock in our next five games though so it is by no means a certainty that we will finish where we are. I was shockingly beaten to the manager of the month award this month by Inverness Caley Thistle manager Duncan Shearer, not amused by that to be honest. Steven Ross rightfully won the player of the month again after scoring five goals in three games. Final stretch is fast approaching and I would be delighted to remain where we are in the league currently.​

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[Brane_Orsou]

Good bit of form over the last few months, KIU