Wingin' It - Starting At The Gulls

[FM_TNSSO]

Job Hunting!!

It was November before any interviews came my way, despite a couple of months of applying for every job that came up! Then within about a week of each other, I was offered interviews with 3 clubs who are all playing their football at National League South/North level!

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Following the interview process and a couple of weeks of waiting around anxiously, I was offered one of the roles! Keen to get back into management, I accepted the offer of £600 per week from Altrincham and it seems I'll be trying my hand at the National League North!

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[Danny21237]

Job Hunting!!

It was November before any interviews came my way, despite a couple of months of applying for every job that came up! Then within about a week of each other, I was offered interviews with 3 clubs who are all playing their football at National League South/North level!

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Following the interview process and a couple of weeks of waiting around anxiously, I was offered one of the roles! Keen to get back into management, I accepted the offer of £600 per week from Altrincham and it seems I'll be trying my hand at the National League North!

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Gutted for you mate. Surely given time you'd have been up there battling with the top teams

 

[FM_TNSSO]

Altrincham Town FC

So let's have a little look over my new club! Altrincham have spent the last 20 years hovering between the Vanarama National and Vanarama National Regional leagues, although in all that time they have never managed a finish above 14th in the National League!

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Altrincham are an even older club than Torquay, having been founded 8 years earlier in 1891. Their training facilities and youth facilities are pretty poor and the club holds a semi professional status. They have fierce rivalries with Macclesfield and Northwich, although neither of these local matches are derbies.

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They have a bulging trophy cabinet...compared to Torquay anyway, with 7 titles to their name including 2 FA Trophies and 2 National League wins, although neither of these wins has come since 1986!

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The club play their home games at Moss Lane, which was built in 1910 and has a capacity of 6,085!

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As I take a look at my new squad, I notice two things immediately. Players a bit thin on the ground with only 17 in the first team squad, but most of them are quite highly rated with a minimum of 3 stars!

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Right back, Joshua Webb, is one of the best players at the club, which is ironic as this was always my weakest position on the pitch at Torquay!

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30 year old Fabien Robert is also a bit tasty and is without a doubt, my best player in attack. He's also extremely versatile with the ability to play most roles going forward!

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The club has nearly £100k in the bank and have given me £15k to spend on my own players. More importantly, I should have the money to attract some new players to the club with nearly £2k remaining in the wage budget.

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It seems the players don't feel too strongly one way or the other about me following my appointment! Hopefully, if we can make a good start under my management, it won't take long to win them over!

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So this is the predicament we find ourselves in as I take over. Sitting in the relegation zone with only 3 wins from 18 games so far this season! Our attack is one of the worst in the league and only 7 teams have conceded more goals than us this season too!

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We're on a 9 games winless streak in all competitions, with our last victory coming 2 months ago against lower league Farsley in the FA Cup.

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Looking ahead, my first month in charge will throw up 5 league games, which we'll kick off against 14th placed Hereford!

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[FM_TNSSO]

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December 2019; Climbing Out Of The Relegation Zone

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Day one in the job and the board immediately show me that they're willing to back me by fronting the money for me to get my first coaching badge! No matter what happens from here on out, I will have at least taken something from my time at this club!

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The board have only one target for me this season....avoid the drop!!

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Hopeully this will be the beginning of a beautiful partnership as I hire James Constable as my new Assistant Manager!

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Saturday 7th December 2019
Vanarama National League North
Hereford (Away)
Formation: 4-4-1-1

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Working with the players I've got, a 4-4-1-1 formation was the best option for our opening game and it worked an absolute treat as we dominated our opponents! In my first game in charge I deliver our first win and first clean sheet in 10 games! Chris Ball has arrived in Altrincham ladies and gents!


Tuesday 17th December 2019
Vanarama National League North
Darlington (Away)
Formation: 4-4-1-1

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Darlington are in the playoff spots and have only lost 4 games this season, so this is a very respectable draw for us away from home! We worked hard to get something from the game and it paid off!


Thursday 26th December 2019
Vanarama National League North
Boston Utd (Home)
Formation: 4-4-1-1

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Another respectable draw against top half opposition and when you're fighting off relegation, every point counts!!


Saturday 28th December 2019
Vanarama National League North
Barrow (Home)
Formation: 4-4-1-1

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Barrow were 3rd at kick off, so this was sure to be our sternest test yet! It was very much a game of two halves as we were strong and competitive during the first 45 minutes and took a surprise 1-0 lead into the break. However, we looked tired in the second half as our small squad looked to be struggling with only a 2 day break since the game against Boston, and Barrow took full advantage as they ran rampant in the second half and in the end, recorded a big win!


My first signing for the club is left back, Liam Gibson, who joins on a free transfer. Gibson was released by Newcastle in the Summer and only has one competitive appearance to his name in his career to date when on loan at Gatesead back in 2016!

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Tuesday 31st December 2019
Vanarama National League North
Gainsborough (Away)
Formation: 4-4-1-1

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Getting thrashed by a team below us in the league is simply not acceptable and I had stern words with the lads after this game!


When you have such a small squad, losing two first team players to injury in one match really isn't good news! Finding out after the game that they're both out for a month is even worse!

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December 2019; Only one win this month in my first in charge, although the 5 points we picked up is enough to lift us out of the relegation places! If we can pick up 5 points per month to the end of the season, I'm confident we'll be safe from the drop!

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Player of the Month
John Rooney

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Our central midfielder is clearly the man that all our play flows through as he had two games this month where he attempted over 100 passes!!


January; The game against bottom of the table Braintree next month is absolutely massive for us and we've got to treat it as a must win!

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[FM_TNSSO]

January 2020; Playing Some Decent Football Without Reward

I kick off the New Year with a new signing. David Syers joins from Darlington for a fee of £2.2k and will bolster the centre of midfield. He has some decent all round stats and at 32, will add some valuable experience to the squad.

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Saturday 4th January 2020
Vanarama National League North
Braintree (Home)
Formation: 4-4-1-1

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The game that was a must win for both sides finishes in a draw which doesn't really do either of us any favours!


Saturday 11th January 2020
Vanarama National League North
Chorley (Home)
Formation: 4-1-4-1

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A simple case of us not taking our chances and being punished for it! We should have had this game put well to bed before they scored their late winner as we missed 3 really good chances to score! This was actually the best we've played under my management so far, so it was disappointing to take nothing from the game!


Striker, Jordan Hulme, has now gone an incredible 22 games without scoring!! A new striker is an absolute must ASAP!

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And I promptly acted to bring a new front man to the club! 19 year old, Charlie Jolley, is a complete gamble as he is yet to make a competitive appearance in his career, having come through the youth at Wigan and they released him in the Summer. However, he has a decent finish on him and some good pace, so I'm hoping he can make an impact down at this level!

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I follow up the signing of Jolley, with another one! Another youngster in the form of 20 year old centre back, Jake Barrett who has spent some time at both Manchester United and Huddersfield! Like Jolley, he is yet to make a first career appearance, but with some decent stats I will certainly be looking to give him some game time!

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As I continue to grow the squad for the second half of the season, it's a loan signing that comes in next! Jack Hunter comes in from Gateshead and can play a big role for us if I stick with the 4-1-4-1 formation as he is the only 'natural' DM I have in the whole squad.

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Saturday 18th January 2020
Vanarama National League North
Kidderminster (Away)
Formation: 4-1-4-1

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Again, we turn in a very good performance against the team sitting 3rd in the league, but come away empty handed! Barrett, Hunter and Jolley all went straight into the starting lineup...Barrett played well, Hunter gave a great performance, but Jolley's first ever competitive appearance will always be remembered for a sending off!


Another striker through the doors in the form of Micah Obiero, who was released by Huddersfield! The 19 year old immediately becomes our best offering up front and I hope he can bag some important goals for us in the second half of the season to help keep us up!

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Saturday 25th January 2020
Vanarama National League North
Chester (Away)
Formation: 4-1-4-1

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Another tough away game against opposition in the playoff places! Again, we play well, and again we have to settle for 0 points on the day! I am confident, however, that if we keep playing like this, the results will come sooner or later against weaker sides.


January Review; Only 1 point picked up this month and I have to say we were unlucky in all fairness! It's obvious where our problems lie - we're simply not scoring despite creating lots of chances! Hopefully our two new strikers that have joined this month will settle in quickly and rectify this issue!

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Player of the Month
Callum Preston

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Our goalkeeper turned in the most consistent performances this month, where as most of our other players followed a good game with a bad one, so Preston gets it for being the most consistent!


February; Next month throws up 5 league games and a couple of wins is the absolute minimum required to move away from the relegation places!

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[NashBigginss]

Can't believe how little time Torquay gave you especially considering some of the signings you made. Deneher and Campbell were gonna score bucket loads.I had Josh Webb on last years FM with Bath and he was class, quite tall for a right back aswell

 

[FM_TNSSO]

Can't believe how little time Torquay gave you especially considering some of the signings you made. Deneher and Campbell were gonna score bucket loads.I had Josh Webb on last years FM with Bath and he was class, quite tall for a right back aswell

You were right there mate...this is their stats for the season to date! Oh, and Torquay are 1st in the National South!!

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[NashBigginss]

Yeah I'm not surprised! I tried to get Daneher when he was leaving Man City on my save but to no surprise he wanted to play a higher level

 

[Danny21237]

The only way is up...

Big Job on your hands but one I think you'll smash, just a case of getting the players you want in there... ****** Torquay!!! Told you that you'd built a decent squad. Very cut throat in this division when it comes to managers!!

Side note... Look who is Top on your save haha.

 

[FM_TNSSO]

NashBigginss - "Daneher is turning out to be every bit as good as I expected...I'd love to sign him for Altrincham but highly unlikely I'll get him with Torquay being a bigger side, with better reputation as well! Plus he is worth about £30k now, so can't see them letting him go for less than double that!"

Danny21237 - "It is a big job, but kind of a relief not to have the high expectations that were upon me at Torquay...relieves the pressure a little. And yea, I had noticed Telford were having it!! Thanks for following mate"

February 2020; Now That's Better!!

Saturday 1st February 2020
Vanarama National League North
Ashton Utd (Home)
Formation: 4-1-4-1

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We played some really nice football here and were ****** good value for our 2-0 win, which realistically could have been 4 or 5! Ashton are chasing a playoff position, so this was a massive win for us!


Gavin Gunning has played 33 times over the past 2 seasons for Forest Green in League Two, so this is a massive signing for us to bring him down to this level! He'll surely become a huge part of my team!

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Tuesday 4th February 2020
Vanarama National League North
Leamington (Home)
Formation: 4-1-4-1

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**** yes!! Back to back wins - something the team haven't done since August! The new strikers did the business with Obiero scoring on his first start, before Jolley came off the bench to bag a brace! I love it when new signings pay off and today they certainly did! Let's hope it's not just a one off!


I probably won't make many more signings this season, but one area of the team that definitely required extra cover was out wide. I had no backups for if either of my wingers picked up an injury! However, the signing of Andy Dales fixes that problem and he has the ability to play down both sides which is an added bonus! Looking at his stats, he's good enough to push the 2 wide men for their starting spots too and could certainly feature over the next 13 games in the league!

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Sunday 16th February 2020
Vanarama National League North
Stockport (Away)
Formation: 4-1-4-1

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There's no denying that Stockport are one of the biggest and best clubs in this league, proven by the fact they are right up there in the title race! So based on that, this was a very good draw away from home...one we worked extremely hard for!


Saturday 22nd February 2020
Vanarama National League North
Stalybridge (Away)
Formation: 4-1-4-1

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This game was massive for both sides and effectively was a six pointer as both of us battle relegation! And both sides played that way, leaving it all out on the pitch as both teams put in maximum effort...and a bit more!! A draw was probably a fair result on the day, although both sides will be disappointed not to walk away with the win!


Saturday 29th February 2020
Vanarama National League North
Bradford PA (Home)
Formation: 4-1-4-1

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Another 6 pointer as we took on relegation candidates, Bradford PA! This was a much more nervey affair than last week's game against Stalybridge and both sides looked more focused on 'not losing' rather than winning! With the focus on defending (which both sides did very well to be fair), it made for a rather drab match which was settled only by a John Rooney penalty! A huge 3 points for us and caps off a very good month!


The annual youth intake is not the best...as you'd expect down at this level! Goalkeeper, David Siddall is the player that shows the most promise!

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February Review; Well, what can I say...an unbeaten month and a whopping 11 points gained in the league! After scoring only 1 goal last month in 4 games, we banged in 10 this month as the attack looked much more confident as the players seem to be getting to grips with my style of play. We've moved up another place in the league to 17th, but more importantly we have put an 8 point buffer between us and the relegation places! At the top of the table, AFC Telford still lead and it looks to be a two horse race for the title between them and Kidderminster now! At the bottom, nobody is doomed yet and there is still plenty to play for with 10 games remaining!

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Player of the Month
Joshua Webb

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Our right back has been in great form this month, turning in 5 solid performances one after the other. Although he didn't stand out with a man of the match performance in any of them, he has been a model of consistency which is what I want to see from my players right now. Worth noting that every single tackle he attempted this month, he won!!


March; It will be a month of playing teams in mid table obscurity, with all 4 of our opponents currently lying between 12th and 18th in the table! A couple more wins for us next month might be enough to see us to safety this year and achieve the one goal that was set by the board!

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[FM_TNSSO]

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[FONT=&quot]March 2020; Another Unbeaten Month!!
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Saturday 7th March 2020[/FONT]
Vanarama National League North
Spennymoor (Away)
Formation: 4-1-4-1

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A tightly contested game which ends in a bore draw. We were possibly the slightly better side and dictated the tempo of the game a bit more than them, but a point a piece is probably fair.


Saturday 14th March 2020
Vanarama National League North
Alfreton (Home)
Formation: 4-1-4-1

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One thing I have tried to work hard on is making us stronger defensively and this was one of those games which we won because of a stellar defensive performance! Alfreton tried hard to level things up and piled on the pressure after we went ahead, but my lads kept their heads, remained calm and defended very well to see out the game.


Jake Lawlor will probably miss the rest of the season through injury after coming off injured against Alfreton.

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I asked the board if we could set up a senior affiliate and they came back with 3 options...Walsall, Gillingham and Ipswich. I went with the Gills at Torquay, Walsall didn't have much to offer in the way of young talent, so I went with Ipswich and hope I can nab some decent youngsters off them over the next couple of seasons!

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Saturday 21st March 2020
Vanarama National League North
Brackley (Away)
Formation: 4-1-4-1

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With Brackley going down to 10 men inside the opening 5 minutes, I would have been disappointed had we not gone on to win this game! We did and it was probably one of the most comfortable 1-0 wins you'll see as Brackley failed to register a single attempt at goal!


I have decided to take goalkeeper, Jake Alley, on loan from new senior affiliate, Ipswich, until the end of the season. I'm quite happy with the way Callum Preston is playing for me, but I'd like to have a look at Alley with a view to bringing him back for the whole season next year.

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As we move closer and closer to safety, the board have offered to extend my contract for another year! I'm more than happy to accept and my wages are back up over £700 per week again!

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Saturday 28th March 2020
Vanarama National League North
Kettering (Home)
Formation: 4-1-4-1

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We were pretty poor here against a team below us in the league. However, on the plus side, it does extend our unbeaten run and it is another point towards safety!


Jordan Hulme (ST) and Adam Bale (MC) have both had to make way in the first team for my new signings and to be perfectly honest, neither of them are good enough to play for us anyway! They were eating up over £600 per week in wage budget and both becoming increasinlgy unhappy with their lack of first team football. Both players were offered mutual terminations which they accepted and leave the club.

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With Adam Bale leaving the club, it left the captain's armband available! I have handed it to one of my new boys, Gavin Gunning!

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March Review; Another fantastic month as we extend our unbeaten streak to 9 games! The goals dried up a little this month, but the defence was absolutely solid, conceding only 1 goal in 4 games! Our form has seen us move up to 16th now and put a massive 13 points between us and the bottom 3...I think it's fair to say we can look forward to National League North football again next season! At the other end of the table, Kidderminster have leapfrogged Telford into 1st spot and opened up a 4 point lead with only 6 games remaining!

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Player of the Month
Joshua Webb

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The right back takes it again as he continues his good form! Webb must be one of the best full backs in this league and with his contract expiring at the end of the season, I really hope we can keep hold of him! At present, he won't sign a new contract until we have guaranteed safety in the league.


April; We'll play five of our last six games next month and there are a couple of real tough ones in there. Telford, Blyth and Darlington are all in the top 8 and present us with a hard few weeks ahead! It will be a real test to see just how far my team has come on in the last couple of months!

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[FM_TNSSO]

April 2020; Continuing The Good Form Against Some Of The Top Sides

Saturday 4th April 2020
Vanarama National League North
Blyth (Away)
Formation: 4-1-4-1

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Liam Hughes late goal earns us a draw away at Blyth and puts a small dent in their hopes of making the playoffs! One thing's for sure...at the moment, no team in this league will want to play us right now!


Saturday 11th April 2020
Vanarama National League North
AFC Telford (Home)
Formation: 4-1-4-1

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In our last game we may have put a dent in Blyth's chances of making the playoffs, but here we may have just put paid to Telford's chances of winning the league! A fantastic performance against one of the best sides in the league and that's now our 6th clean sheet in the last 3 months!!


The win over Telford confirms our survival from relegation this season! In the end, I met my one target from the board with relative ease!

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Monday 13th April 2020
Vanarama National League North
Curzon Ashton (Away)
Formation: 4-1-4-1 (Changed to 4-4-2 on 75 minutes)

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Ashton play their home games on an extremely narrow pitch and it was something we struggled to cope with through this match. However, a little bit of adapting on the tactics front worked a treat and a late switch to the 4-4-2 helped get us back in the game for a well earned draw.


With safety now confirmed, Joshua Webb was happy to sign another 1 year contract and I'm delighted to be keeping the right back here for another season!

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Saturday 18th April 2020
Vanarama National League North
Hereford (Home)
Formation: 4-1-4-1

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Hereford were the first team we played under my management and we recorded a win in that game back in December! We completed the double over them here with a very easy win. Hereford barely troubled my defence, whilst John Rooney took the match ball after bagging a brace.


Saturday 25th April 2020
Vanarama National League North
Darlington (Home)
Formation: 4-1-4-1

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Darlington bring our unbeaten run to an end after 14 games! An incredible achievement for my lads and to be fair, we didn't deserve to lose this game either!


April Review; Considering we took on some of the better teams in the league this month, it was another good one for us as we only recorded one defeat! Our form over the past 3 months has seen us push on further and further away from the relegation places and the gap now stands at an incredible 16 points, with 1 game left. Kidderminster were confirmed champions this month, meaning Telford will have to go up the hard way through the playoffs if they are to capitalize on their good season. There's still a couple of playoff spots available on the final day, whilst only 1 team has so far been relegated!

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Player of the Month
Jack Hunter

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The defensive midfielder has been excellent since coming in on loan from Gateshead and this month was probably his best yet, capped off by a brilliant game against Hereford where he got on the scoresheet twice! I'll be looking to make his move permanent in the Summer for sure!


May; We only have one game remaining and for us it doesn't mean much! However, there is a lot more on the line for our opponents, Boston, who can cement their place in the playoffs with a win!

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[FM_TNSSO]

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May 2020; Rounding Off The Season Nicely!

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Saturday 2nd May 2020
Vanarama National League North
Boston Utd (Away)
Formation: 4-1-4-1

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What a way to end the season...we smash 5 past Boston Utd and cost them their place in the playoffs in the process! I'm sure this is going to be a bit of a grudge match next season from their point of view!


The final league table shows that we climbed an extra place to 15th with our final day win over Boston, who dropped out of the playoffs and down to 9th! Leamington and Darlington took the final two playoff spots, whilst Bradford PA and Braintree go down with Stalybridge.

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The club's best eleven doesn't mean much to me this year having only been here 6 months. Hopefully, next season my own signings will have more of an impact on this!

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John Rooney takes the fans award for player of the season, beating Joshua Webb and Liam Hughes to the honour! Two of my signings, Liam Gibson and Charlie Jolley, pick up young player and signing of the season!

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The season review is full of praise for our mid table achievement after being predicted to struggle against relegation.

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The board are chuffed with me after leading the team well away from the relegation battle during the 2nd half of the season.

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The wage budget for next season is set at £8,000 per week. It gives me a little room for maneuver as I am currently spending £7.5k.

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Torquay went on to win the National League South pretty easily in the end! Maybe it was the right decision from the board to get rid of me?!

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AFC Telford will go up with Kidderminster after beating Chester in the playoff final!

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The squad stats for the season show that only 3 players achieved an average rating of above 7.00 this season, all 3 of them being signings of mine! Goals were a real problem this year and our top goalscorer was a central midfielder, John Rooney, who bagged 9! Luke Wall got the most assists from down the left wing, but still only managed 6 all season and we might be looking for some better players out wide in the Summer.

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Managers Player of the Season
Jack Hunter

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Jack was a huge part of my setup this season and played the DM role for me perfectly. My only fear is that I might not be able to keep him around for next season!


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[FM_TNSSO]

June 2020; Strengthening The Squad

First bit of business this Summer was to sign up another striker. Welcome Jake Beesley to Altrincham. Jake has been with Salford all this season but failed to play a game for them in the National League and was released by the club! The season before though, he did score 17 goals for Bradford PA in this league and if he can replicate that for us next season I'll be happy!

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I said I wanted to add at least one more wide man to the squad for next year and I've done that in signing Lee Molyneux, who will join on a free transfer from Barrow. He barely featured for Barrow this season, but with some decent all round stats, he can definitely do a job for us next year!

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Taking advantage of our agreement with Ipswich, I bring in 21 year old keeper, Harry Wright on a season long loan for next year! He will push Callum Preston for a place in the starting 11!

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Our second loan signing from Ipswich for next season, is midfielder, Teddy Baker! The 18 year old is nowhere near the full package but he does offer something we didn't have this year...a centre mid with an attacking focus, great passing ability with good vision and a pukka first touch! He is the sort of player who can come off the bench to try to create something when we need a goal.

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We will kick off the new season with a home game against Barrow, before going away to Stockport...a difficult start! However, we follow that up with 3 potential winnable games!

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With Jack Hunter about to return to Gateshead and his contract about to expire, I tried to sign him up only for him to reject us as he felt we wouldn't be able to meet his wage demands! So it left me with no natural DM going into next season. I was quick to rectify this though, bringing in Aaron Chalmers from Ashton Utd! He's probably not as good as Hunter, but he did play 25 games for Ashton last season as they had a good year finishing 11th.

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Next month, we'll play through our pre season schedule which include 6 matches altogether. We have a couple against lower sides that we should win, but most of the fixtures have been set up as home games against bigger clubs to hopefully generate some cash!

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[FM_TNSSO]

July 2020; Pre Season!

I finally got my man! Jack Hunter has spent nearly a month looking for another club since Gateshead released him, with no joy! So I went in with another offer for him and he was willing to negotiate this time round, and I'm pleased to have snapped him up!

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Pre season has gone unbelievably well and we didn't lose a single game despite our 'better' opposition. Wins over Derby and Ipswich were the highlights, whilst the Derby and United games brought in good attendances which provided a welcome boost to the finances!

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Gavin Gunning keeps the captain's armband for another season!

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The season preview has us down for an 11th placed finish this year, although we're only 13-2 to win the title, so it's gearing up to be a competitive season ahead by the looks of it. None of our players made the media dream eleven! Favourites Chester have 4 players in that team and look the ones to beat this year!

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The action will be coming thick and fast next month, with 6 league games scheduled! Let's hope we can get off to a good start!!

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[Danny21237]

July 2020; Pre Season!

I finally got my man! Jack Hunter has spent nearly a month looking for another club since Gateshead released him, with no joy! So I went in with another offer for him and he was willing to negotiate this time round, and I'm pleased to have snapped him up!

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Pre season has gone unbelievably well and we didn't lose a single game despite our 'better' opposition. Wins over Derby and Ipswich were the highlights, whilst the Derby and United games brought in good attendances which provided a welcome boost to the finances!

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Gavin Gunning keeps the captain's armband for another season!

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The season preview has us down for an 11th placed finish this year, although we're only 13-2 to win the title, so it's gearing up to be a competitive season ahead by the looks of it. None of our players made the media dream eleven! Favourites Chester have 4 players in that team and look the ones to beat this year!

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The action will be coming thick and fast next month, with 6 league games scheduled! Let's hope we can get off to a good start!!

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Great end to the season there mate... It's a great feeling when your signings do the business for you.

What are your feelings about the season ahead... is there a sneaky playoff push there maybe?

 

[FM_TNSSO]

Great end to the season there mate... It's a great feeling when your signings do the business for you.

What are your feelings about the season ahead... is there a sneaky playoff push there maybe?

I think we should be aiming high to be honest mate. We only lost 1 in 16 games at back end of last season and that has got to be title challenging form. If we can continue that then there's no reason for us to think the playoffs are within our reach this season

 

[FM_TNSSO]

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August 2020; Almost A Perfect Start!

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The board's expectations this season include a mid table finish in the league, and a small run in both cups although they're not expecting any miracles!

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Saturday 8th August 2020
Vanarama National League North
Barrow (Home)
Formation: 4-1-4-1

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Lee Molyneux came into this game with a point to prove to Barrow after they hardly played him last year, and boy did he prove his point! He was absolutely rampant for us, scoring 2 goals and putting in a man of the match performance on our way to an opening day win!


Jack Hunter will miss a few weeks after limping off during the game against Barrow!

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Tuesday 11th August 2020
Vanarama National League North
Stockport (Away)
Formation: 4-1-4-1

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Wow!! Even I wasn't expecting that! With this thrashing of Stockport, we've put everyone on red alert that Altrincham are not a team to be messed with this season! The four midfielders for me today were absolutely incredible as every one of them scored a match rating above 9.0!


Saturday 15th August 2020
Vanarama National League North
Cambridge City (Home)
Formation: 4-1-4-1

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Maybe all the other teams don't have to worry too much about us after all! After 2 great results against Barrow and Stockport, we labour to a poor defeat at home to newly promoted Cambridge City! I don't know if complacency set in or what, but this is a reality check for the lads not to take anyone for granted!


Saturday 22nd August 2020
Vanarama National League North
Solihull Moors (Away)
Formation: 4-1-4-1

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An entertaining game for the fans, proper end to end stuff and 5 goals between the two sides as well! It was us that come out on top and it's good to see some character from my team as we bounce back immediately from the defeat againt Cambridge!


Tuesday 25th August 2020
Vanarama National League North
Halesowen (Home)
Formation: 4-1-4-1

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Another home game against a newly promoted side and I was keen for the lads to approach this one properly and not suffer another shock result like the one against Cambridge City. The boys responded to my calls and did a much more professional job here as we cruise past Halesowen with relative ease.


Saturday 29th August 2020
Vanarama National League North
Alfreton (Away)
Formation: 4-1-4-1

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Alfreton have made a good start to the season, taking 10 points from their opening 5 games, so this wasn't going to be easy! And it wasn't as they made us work hard to get the result, but in the end a single Jake Beesley goal was enough to take the 3 points. He could have had a second, but missed a mate penalty, putting his strike wide of the post.


Striker, Micah Obiero, joined us on a free back in January and scored 2 goals in 15 games for us last season. It wasn't the impact I was looking for and this season, he is yet to play a single minute for us. So when Ayr came in with an offer of £15k, I was happy to take it and let him go!

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August Review; Top of the league after 6 games, with the defeat to Cambridge City the only blotch on our otherwise perfect record this month! There's a number of teams hot on our heels though and it's too early to be getting too excited!

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Player of the Month
John Rooney

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Our main man in the centre of the park has started the season in tremendous form! He played in 4 of our 6 games, scoring 3 goals and getting 3 assists as well! He's been simply awesome!


September; Next month looks like a really tough one on paper. Darlington and Leamington both made the playoffs last year and will be expecting to challenge again this season, whilst Boston will be all out for revenge after we cost them their playoff place on the final day of last season. Macclesfield are a massive club and shouldn't really be playing their football down at this level! On top of all that, we'll play our first FA Cup qualifier of the season!

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[Danny21237]

Great start to the season. Once I've done the obligatory Sunday family stuff I will be scouting Rooney myself!!!

 

[FM_TNSSO]

Went to load up my save this evening and got this....

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Seems I have no way to recover it, but I'm a bit ****** as I have no idea why this has happened?!

Either way, I won't be deterred and have started a new save and story here... Follow my journey in Finland!

http://www.fm-base.co.uk/forum/fm19...91-finland;-nordic-failures-nordic-force.html