As a member of the Not The Top 20 (NTT20) squad, we have come up with a challenge for the group where anyone interested in the squad are random given a National League North or South team (all different) to see who can do the best with their given squad. For my challenge I ended up being drawn Welling United.
So this is my manager stats ready for the challenge ahead. Went with the recommended stats for the league I am starting in. Now a bit about the team and the expectations.
So the expectations for me are to at least reach the playoffs. But with a lack of budget (£0 Transfer and £0 Wages) to spend, I will have to do with what I have unless I can move some players and free up some funds.
I like the look of the new feature in the game outlining supporters of the club. Really nice addition.
A preview of the season ahead and we are expected to be around 5th by the end of the season.
So this is the starting squad I have to work with. Looking over the players, I reckon we are looking at a 4-3-3 with DM and wingers, or a 4-4-2 diamond. The squad looks to have some quality in Payne and Azeez and has a lot of potential.
So the finances. Not much to look at but expected for this division. Will have to see what can be done as I would like to bring in a few players but nothing to work with.
So next update will be transfers and the start of the season up to August 2022.
So lets get the story rolling. We got things underway with pre season:
I left my assistant manager to go through these games and we did quite well although against lower opposition, mainly the 11-0 win against Newport Pagnell.
Now we move onto the transfers. I will actually able to make a few moves with 2 players being brought in and loaning 1 player out to free up some wages:
Firstly, the only player that left during the window. I was not planning on loan Dickens out but felt he be best off somewhere else for this season and Lowestoft came in with a loan offer and would be paying 100% of his wages, so this freed my up a little but not a lot.
Now to the transfers I was able to bring in, firstly:
Harvey Walkers comes in on loan from Aldershot and I don't have to pay the wages for this play. Very versatile, being able to play in many positions. Might not have the stats of Dickens, but free up some wages for the same backup role came in handy.
And now to my second signing:
I felt we needed another centre back and Kevin Joshua was brought in on a free using the wages freed up by Dickens leaving on loan. We are short of left footed players, especially centre back, and he comes in to help fill that role.
So we now move on to the nitty, gritty of the story, the matches.
It was a start at newly promoted Taunton. It was a game in which we dominated but could not take out chances and conceding sloppy goals. Our left back grabbing the first goal of my reign and Payne also getting on the score sheet. Just a shame that my defence fell asleep straight after we went 2-1 up and conceded straight away.
The next game was out first home game of the season vs Worthing
And it was a game where we again created plenty of chances and this time we were able to get the rewards. Another sloppy goal again to put us being in the 32nd minute but we responded well through Payne to go in 1-1 at half time. Then we kicked into the next gear and were quick out the blocks. A goal straight after the break helped pick up the momentum. Another goal during the half by Aransbia and Payne grabbing his second in stoppage time. That is now 3 in 2 games for Payne.
Next up for us was the lowest rated team in the league in Cheshunt and we had to work to get the 3 points. We creating plenty of chances in what was a very dirty game whih had 11 yellow cards. We fell 2-1 behind the second half but luckily Azeez got us back level and our loan signing Walker, who came on a second half sub, grabbed the win in the 90th minute to make it 2 wins in a row. Momentum is building........
Or so I thought. We came back to earth with a bang and a pretty devistating defeat. The goals we conceded we poor and really bad defending (ball over the top 3 out of the 4 goals and our players just walking back whilst their strikers sprinted past!!). What made this worse was they had a man sent off at 2-0 and still managed to score 2 more goals. Maybe a change to the formation might be looked at as I still learn my best formation.
Well we bounced back well after that defeat to win 3-1 back on our home turf making it 3 from 3 at home. We controlled the ball and created plenty, with the front 3 really working well. It still frustrating after 5 games and we are still yet to keep a clean sheet through sheer sloppiness and bad defending.
The last update of August and it was a great battle. 2-0 and a minute between each goal, we were able to get back into the game before half time. Had a word with the lads and couldn't have asked for a worse start in the second half as we concede within 2 minutes of the restart. Luckily, Azeez had his shooting boots on and got us back level with 2 great goals. We even had further chances and Payne smashed the bar from 12 yards near the end.
A new formation was tried this time due to fatigue and had a spare defender so tried 3 at the back.
So overall, not a bad start, with 3 wins from 6 and only 1 defeat. Results could have been so much better if the defence weren't so slopy. Our games would have been great if you were a betting man and loved a BTTS bet.
So after the first 6 games, we find ourselves sitting nicely in 6th place and I am quite happy with that start.
The board look to be ok with that start during my first few months in charge.
And the supporters even more so with transfers and formation looking like the right choices. They are however quite disappointed in how our club captain Dunne is performing so hopefully he picks up next month.
Lastly just a picture of the finances. Current balance sitting at just shy of £20,000 (down from £93,000) so money could potentially be an issue in this league and something I am going to have to keep my eye on.
Thanks for reading and next update, will look at how we got on in September.
