<![CDATA[Forum - All Forums]]> http://lowerleaguemanager.com/forum/ Mon, 21 May 2012 07:46:15 +0000 MyBB <![CDATA[Euro 2012 Fantasy league]]> http://lowerleaguemanager.com/forum/showthread.php?tid=516 Fri, 18 May 2012 16:36:56 +0100 http://lowerleaguemanager.com/forum/showthread.php?tid=516

http://en.euro2012fantasy.uefa.com/my-le...ce=message

if you want, a llm league can be arranged.]]>

http://en.euro2012fantasy.uefa.com/my-le...ce=message

if you want, a llm league can be arranged.]]> <![CDATA[Sepp's campaign for short shorts thread.]]> http://lowerleaguemanager.com/forum/showthread.php?tid=515 Thu, 17 May 2012 14:57:45 +0100 http://lowerleaguemanager.com/forum/showthread.php?tid=515
Women's Champions League final is tonight I see. Olympique Lyon, last year's champions take on Frankfurt, who apparently have won the women's version of the competition the most times.

Should all be very exciting then. If anyone's bothered (or just has a quiet evening planned), it's on Eurosport at 17:00.]]>
Women's Champions League final is tonight I see. Olympique Lyon, last year's champions take on Frankfurt, who apparently have won the women's version of the competition the most times.

Should all be very exciting then. If anyone's bothered (or just has a quiet evening planned), it's on Eurosport at 17:00.]]> <![CDATA[Following the Footsteps of Vikings]]> http://lowerleaguemanager.com/forum/showthread.php?tid=514 Wed, 16 May 2012 20:55:44 +0100 http://lowerleaguemanager.com/forum/showthread.php?tid=514 About The Save
FM2012 V12.2.2
Database Large
Leagues Loaded:-
• Denmark: Second Division & Above All Playable
• England: N-Power League 2 & Above View Only
• Germany: Second Division & Above View Only
• Italy: Serie B & Above View Only
• Spain: Liga Adelante & Above View Only

About Denmark
I decided to trust SI’s new Add/Remove League feature and started with only the Danish Leagues playable, i.e. Danish Superliga (rated 2.5*), Divison One (rated 2*), Division Two West & East (rated 1*).

The fourth tier of Danish Football (not playable) is the Danish Series and comprises three regional divisions. The top two of each Danish Series division are promoted to the most relevant Division Two according to geography. Division Two West comprises of 16 clubs from Jutland and Funen. Division Two East comprises of 16 clubs from Zealand, Copenhagen, Lolland-Falster and Bornholm. Three clubs are relegated from each division to the Danish Series and only one club from each division gain promotion to Division One. Match day squads must include three U21 players on the bench, regardless of however many you may have in the starting XI

The status of Division Two West & East clubs is a combination of amateur and semi-professional. After some deliberation I decided to approach amateur club Varde IF in Division Two West.

About Varde
Varde is a small town in southern Denmark with a population of just over 13,000, situated 20km north of Esbjerg. The club was founded in 1975 following a merger between Varde Gymnastikforening and Varde Boldklub. Its history is undistinguished, having spent the entire time in the lower leagues. Home games are played at the Sydbank Stadium which has a capacity of 3,500 (500 seated).
2011/12 Season: Vardely Surprising

Media Prediction: 10th
Board Expectation: Stay Clear of Relegation

Introduction
I am assuming that I must be self sufficient in funds (won the lottery perhaps) and jumped on board the Harwich to Esbjerg ferry to satisfy my life’s ambition of managing a professional football club. That ambition, however, is put on hold as only amateur club, Varde IF, decide to take a chance with this unknown Englishman. Varde are established in Division Two West, having spent the previous six seasons in lower mid table anonymity. The club is handicapped financially being £57K in the red with its main income being fund raising and sponsorship. And with only 25 season ticket holders it may be a challenge to raise match day revenues. Unsurprisingly the training facilities are fairly basic and youth facilities are minimal. I am surprised at the number of staff giving their time freely and since this is above the Board’s recommendation I decide to leave them in place apart from disposing of a useless youth coach.

Pre-Season
Of the 16 clubs in D2W this season 10 others are also amateur. The advantages and disadvantages of being an amateur club are quickly identified. I am able to immediately release some deadwood (5 players) without costing me a penny but find that it is very difficult to keep the better players once other clubs swoop for them. This means that there is a lot of player turnover in my first weeks at the club with another 9 players leaving and 13 joining us. I am particularly excited about a D C, Bongo Man and M R, Dribbling Swinger. We play six friendly’s W4D1L1 and quickly establish an attacking threat with a 21 yo ST, Mighty Striker.

Danish Cup
The expectation of reaching the second round is met after beating non-league Silkeborg 4-1 then losing to fellow D2W side Otterup 2-1.

League Part 1
League fixtures are played between August and November, then a mid winter break, restarting at the end of March and finishing around the third week of June.

The opening results of WDLLW(6-1)W(5-1) were encouraging however four successive defeats brought me swiftly back down to earth. Then Mighty Striker came of age scoring 9 goals (2 hat tricks) in five successive wins leaving us comfortably mid table going into the mid season break.

Mid-Season Break
I released a couple of players that were unlikely to feature in the first team. January arrived and the ‘fun’ started. I lost 7 players in the transfer window, including Dribbling Swinger and two other players that I had just signed pre-season! In came 7 including Krazy Boy Kaptain, an M RC, and My Vesper, a ST. I was left with just 1 GK and could not convince any others to sign. Finally, in desperate need, I brought in the oldest player I have ever signed in FM, a 38 yo GK, Herr Iceman during April. 8 youth players were released at the end of March.

League Part 2
With pretty much a new first XI in place I wondered how quickly we would pick up the pace in D2W 3 successive wins settled the nerves but I lost my only experienced GK to injury. Up stepped the best of a bad lot from the youths and we lost the next 2 before Herr Iceman took over the gloves and we returned to winning ways losing only once more before season end.

Season Record

Division 2 West 4th Pl. 30 W 16 D 5 L 9 GF 63 GA 41 GD +22 Pts 53

Conclusion
This was the best return for Varde since 1990 when they finished 2nd in D2W. We scored most goals in the Division thanks to Mighty Striker who ended the season with 21 goals, the best in the Division. No chance of keeping him now!

Remarkably the debt had fallen by £50K. Perhaps we could look to go semi-pro ourselves in a year or two if finances continued to improve.

Other News
Arsenal manager retires to be replaced by Portuguese ex Chelsea boss (not that One!)
England beat Norway 1-0 at Euro 12. (Italian ex England boss remains in charge)
Barcelona beat Man City 3-1 in Champion’s League Final
Man City are Premier League Champions.]]> About The Save
FM2012 V12.2.2
Database Large
Leagues Loaded:-
• Denmark: Second Division & Above All Playable
• England: N-Power League 2 & Above View Only
• Germany: Second Division & Above View Only
• Italy: Serie B & Above View Only
• Spain: Liga Adelante & Above View Only

About Denmark
I decided to trust SI’s new Add/Remove League feature and started with only the Danish Leagues playable, i.e. Danish Superliga (rated 2.5*), Divison One (rated 2*), Division Two West & East (rated 1*).

The fourth tier of Danish Football (not playable) is the Danish Series and comprises three regional divisions. The top two of each Danish Series division are promoted to the most relevant Division Two according to geography. Division Two West comprises of 16 clubs from Jutland and Funen. Division Two East comprises of 16 clubs from Zealand, Copenhagen, Lolland-Falster and Bornholm. Three clubs are relegated from each division to the Danish Series and only one club from each division gain promotion to Division One. Match day squads must include three U21 players on the bench, regardless of however many you may have in the starting XI

The status of Division Two West & East clubs is a combination of amateur and semi-professional. After some deliberation I decided to approach amateur club Varde IF in Division Two West.

About Varde
Varde is a small town in southern Denmark with a population of just over 13,000, situated 20km north of Esbjerg. The club was founded in 1975 following a merger between Varde Gymnastikforening and Varde Boldklub. Its history is undistinguished, having spent the entire time in the lower leagues. Home games are played at the Sydbank Stadium which has a capacity of 3,500 (500 seated).
2011/12 Season: Vardely Surprising

Media Prediction: 10th
Board Expectation: Stay Clear of Relegation

Introduction
I am assuming that I must be self sufficient in funds (won the lottery perhaps) and jumped on board the Harwich to Esbjerg ferry to satisfy my life’s ambition of managing a professional football club. That ambition, however, is put on hold as only amateur club, Varde IF, decide to take a chance with this unknown Englishman. Varde are established in Division Two West, having spent the previous six seasons in lower mid table anonymity. The club is handicapped financially being £57K in the red with its main income being fund raising and sponsorship. And with only 25 season ticket holders it may be a challenge to raise match day revenues. Unsurprisingly the training facilities are fairly basic and youth facilities are minimal. I am surprised at the number of staff giving their time freely and since this is above the Board’s recommendation I decide to leave them in place apart from disposing of a useless youth coach.

Pre-Season
Of the 16 clubs in D2W this season 10 others are also amateur. The advantages and disadvantages of being an amateur club are quickly identified. I am able to immediately release some deadwood (5 players) without costing me a penny but find that it is very difficult to keep the better players once other clubs swoop for them. This means that there is a lot of player turnover in my first weeks at the club with another 9 players leaving and 13 joining us. I am particularly excited about a D C, Bongo Man and M R, Dribbling Swinger. We play six friendly’s W4D1L1 and quickly establish an attacking threat with a 21 yo ST, Mighty Striker.

Danish Cup
The expectation of reaching the second round is met after beating non-league Silkeborg 4-1 then losing to fellow D2W side Otterup 2-1.

League Part 1
League fixtures are played between August and November, then a mid winter break, restarting at the end of March and finishing around the third week of June.

The opening results of WDLLW(6-1)W(5-1) were encouraging however four successive defeats brought me swiftly back down to earth. Then Mighty Striker came of age scoring 9 goals (2 hat tricks) in five successive wins leaving us comfortably mid table going into the mid season break.

Mid-Season Break
I released a couple of players that were unlikely to feature in the first team. January arrived and the ‘fun’ started. I lost 7 players in the transfer window, including Dribbling Swinger and two other players that I had just signed pre-season! In came 7 including Krazy Boy Kaptain, an M RC, and My Vesper, a ST. I was left with just 1 GK and could not convince any others to sign. Finally, in desperate need, I brought in the oldest player I have ever signed in FM, a 38 yo GK, Herr Iceman during April. 8 youth players were released at the end of March.

League Part 2
With pretty much a new first XI in place I wondered how quickly we would pick up the pace in D2W 3 successive wins settled the nerves but I lost my only experienced GK to injury. Up stepped the best of a bad lot from the youths and we lost the next 2 before Herr Iceman took over the gloves and we returned to winning ways losing only once more before season end.

Season Record

Division 2 West 4th Pl. 30 W 16 D 5 L 9 GF 63 GA 41 GD +22 Pts 53

Conclusion
This was the best return for Varde since 1990 when they finished 2nd in D2W. We scored most goals in the Division thanks to Mighty Striker who ended the season with 21 goals, the best in the Division. No chance of keeping him now!

Remarkably the debt had fallen by £50K. Perhaps we could look to go semi-pro ourselves in a year or two if finances continued to improve.

Other News
Arsenal manager retires to be replaced by Portuguese ex Chelsea boss (not that One!)
England beat Norway 1-0 at Euro 12. (Italian ex England boss remains in charge)
Barcelona beat Man City 3-1 in Champion’s League Final
Man City are Premier League Champions.]]> <![CDATA[East... Always to the East...]]> http://lowerleaguemanager.com/forum/showthread.php?tid=513 Sun, 13 May 2012 15:33:07 +0100 http://lowerleaguemanager.com/forum/showthread.php?tid=513
I asked Paco his advice, and he sent me to...

[Image: Johor_mbjb.png]
Majlis Bandaraya Johor Bahru Football Club

Near as I could work out, there's about 5 teams in Johor and we're the worst playable one you can find. Good job Paco!


[Image: Johor_mbjb.png]
Majlis Bandaraya Johor Bahru Football Club
Season 2010/2011

Expectations
Predicted: 12th
Board: Avoid relegation

Transfers
IN - 15 players
OUT - Nil

Arrived to a club with no wide players on the books, and about a thousand central defenders. Sacked some shit staff, hired some slightly less shit staff. Sent my solitary scout out again and again and eventually found some good full backs as well as some young players that would help meet the minimum 1 u20 player per game requirement. Importantly I managed to nab Titan, a talented striker who was simply wandering around having been released by a lower league team. I stuck him up front and we began the season by scoring goals, ably assisted by a couple of ex-Super League veteran midfielders I had collected to complement my younger players.

We had a good run in the FA Cup, knocking out two Super League opponents before falling to eventual champs Kedah in the quarters. Meanwhile, back in the league we continued to surprise bigger sides and proved ourselves very tough to break down. We finished the season having only conceded 15 goals, the lowest in the competition, and while we didn't score too many it was enough to land us a very pleasing third place come the end of the season, finishing just outside the promotion places.

Malaysian Premier League: 3rd (10-8-4)
Malaysian FA Cup: Quarter Finals

3rd was a much better result than I thought we could achieve, and it tempts me to try for promotion next year. Unfortunately we're bleeding money at the moment even though I'm well within my wage budget, so my primary focus will first be to try and build up the young players that I've got whilst letting go of some of the old dead wood and reduce the wage budget. Should I get anything more, it's a bonus.



[Image: Johor_mbjb.png]
Majlis Bandaraya Johor Bahru Football Club
Season 2011/2012

Expectations
Predicted: 9th
Board: Mid-table safety

Transfers
IN - 1 youth candidate (Free)
OUT - 2 players (2.5K)

The goal this season was to cut the wage budget and yet stay competitive. As such when teams came calling for two of my better players I looked at the depth in their positions and decided I could make do without them, gaining 2.5K in the process and losing some wage costs. Doesn't sound like much but when your transfer budget is 5K, it is. Some of last year's younger players have shown they can step up to be first teamers, and I made sure I signed The Shah and The Dictator, two promising defensive mids, to longer term deals. Meanwhile I couldn't let anyone else go because they're all contracted - can't wait until next year when this 2-3 years worth of old lower division deadwood can finally be let go.

The season started well and we scored fifteen goals in our first five games - this included a 4-goal performance from Titan on the opening day, thank you very much! Unfortunately, Titan couldn't stay fit and we couldn't keep that scoring rate up. A mid-season slump saw us fall away from the top of the table, and soon we were scrapping with the rest of the also-rans for meaningless midtable position. We did however manage an excellent run in the FA Cup, all the way to the semi-final, losing by a single goal on aggregate to eventual champions Negeri Semblian of the Super League. Titan missed a lot of the season but typically was our best player and top scorer.

Also was entered in the Malaysian Cup this year, a competition with all 2 tiers of Malaysian teams split across three groups. Odd format aside, we didn't have any expectations for it, and well - it sucked arse.

Malaysian Premier League: 6th (8-7-7)
Malaysian FA Cup: Semi Finals
Malaysian Cup: Group Stage (dead last)

Looking forward, it's time to finally release some deadwood and maybe even look at bringing one or two new faces in. They'll probably want a bit of money though, so it will be interesting to see how squad management goes down in the offseason!



[Image: Johor_mbjb.png]
Majlis Bandaraya Johor Bahru Football Club
Season 2012/2013

Expectations
Predicted: 10th
Board: Mid-table safety

Transfers
IN - 4 players (Free)
OUT - 6 players, 6 loans (Free)

I was finally able to cut some of the players who would never, ever feature in one of my teams - and I cut the squad down further by loaning some others out. In came a promising 16yo centreback, plus The Sultan - a vastly experienced centreback with international experience to his name, and a pair of Indonesian attackers called Henry (AMC) and Allah (ST). This strengthened me up front, as Titan would be pulling on the boots yet again, but left me a little light in the middle - though I hoped The Dictator and The Shah could grow into these roles.

The season started with a bang, as we went 8 games unbeaten before cruelly going on on penalties to Kelantan in the second round of the FA Cup - apparently away goals count for nought in this competition. I feared morale would crumble as a result, but the wise heads of people like The Sultan prevailed, and we didn't lose a single game until four weeks out from the end of the season. The defence was solid as a rock and Titan was ably assisted by a young up and coming striker called Mammogram in attack. Unfortunately in the last four weeks we threw away all the good work and won only a single game, meaning that Kuala Lumpur overtook us to capture the Premier League title. This annoyed me immensely, but given people were talking relegation at the start of the season I will happily take second and the promotion that comes with it.

The Malaysian Cup was interesting - in a group containing mostly Super League teams, we took the initiative and lost just two games to top our group. This included a 4-1 thrashing of Kelantan, gaining revenge on them for knocking us out of the FA Cup. This only set us up for a Quarter Final matchup with Perak, who had finished 4th in the Super League. They promptly dispatched us 5-2 on aggregate, but we did ourselves no disservice in the process.

Malaysian Premier League: 2nd (13-7-2)
Malaysian FA Cup: 2nd round
Malaysian Cup: Quarter Finals

Wow. Despite keeping to my fiscal promises it was a great season, and we're going up. Now I'll have to deal with the promotion bonuses and wage increases that come with that. Assuming the board gives me enough money, I aim to stay in the Super League and build this team up using the young talent that we already have.]]>
I asked Paco his advice, and he sent me to...

[Image: Johor_mbjb.png]
Majlis Bandaraya Johor Bahru Football Club

Near as I could work out, there's about 5 teams in Johor and we're the worst playable one you can find. Good job Paco!


[Image: Johor_mbjb.png]
Majlis Bandaraya Johor Bahru Football Club
Season 2010/2011

Expectations
Predicted: 12th
Board: Avoid relegation

Transfers
IN - 15 players
OUT - Nil

Arrived to a club with no wide players on the books, and about a thousand central defenders. Sacked some shit staff, hired some slightly less shit staff. Sent my solitary scout out again and again and eventually found some good full backs as well as some young players that would help meet the minimum 1 u20 player per game requirement. Importantly I managed to nab Titan, a talented striker who was simply wandering around having been released by a lower league team. I stuck him up front and we began the season by scoring goals, ably assisted by a couple of ex-Super League veteran midfielders I had collected to complement my younger players.

We had a good run in the FA Cup, knocking out two Super League opponents before falling to eventual champs Kedah in the quarters. Meanwhile, back in the league we continued to surprise bigger sides and proved ourselves very tough to break down. We finished the season having only conceded 15 goals, the lowest in the competition, and while we didn't score too many it was enough to land us a very pleasing third place come the end of the season, finishing just outside the promotion places.

Malaysian Premier League: 3rd (10-8-4)
Malaysian FA Cup: Quarter Finals

3rd was a much better result than I thought we could achieve, and it tempts me to try for promotion next year. Unfortunately we're bleeding money at the moment even though I'm well within my wage budget, so my primary focus will first be to try and build up the young players that I've got whilst letting go of some of the old dead wood and reduce the wage budget. Should I get anything more, it's a bonus.



[Image: Johor_mbjb.png]
Majlis Bandaraya Johor Bahru Football Club
Season 2011/2012

Expectations
Predicted: 9th
Board: Mid-table safety

Transfers
IN - 1 youth candidate (Free)
OUT - 2 players (2.5K)

The goal this season was to cut the wage budget and yet stay competitive. As such when teams came calling for two of my better players I looked at the depth in their positions and decided I could make do without them, gaining 2.5K in the process and losing some wage costs. Doesn't sound like much but when your transfer budget is 5K, it is. Some of last year's younger players have shown they can step up to be first teamers, and I made sure I signed The Shah and The Dictator, two promising defensive mids, to longer term deals. Meanwhile I couldn't let anyone else go because they're all contracted - can't wait until next year when this 2-3 years worth of old lower division deadwood can finally be let go.

The season started well and we scored fifteen goals in our first five games - this included a 4-goal performance from Titan on the opening day, thank you very much! Unfortunately, Titan couldn't stay fit and we couldn't keep that scoring rate up. A mid-season slump saw us fall away from the top of the table, and soon we were scrapping with the rest of the also-rans for meaningless midtable position. We did however manage an excellent run in the FA Cup, all the way to the semi-final, losing by a single goal on aggregate to eventual champions Negeri Semblian of the Super League. Titan missed a lot of the season but typically was our best player and top scorer.

Also was entered in the Malaysian Cup this year, a competition with all 2 tiers of Malaysian teams split across three groups. Odd format aside, we didn't have any expectations for it, and well - it sucked arse.

Malaysian Premier League: 6th (8-7-7)
Malaysian FA Cup: Semi Finals
Malaysian Cup: Group Stage (dead last)

Looking forward, it's time to finally release some deadwood and maybe even look at bringing one or two new faces in. They'll probably want a bit of money though, so it will be interesting to see how squad management goes down in the offseason!



[Image: Johor_mbjb.png]
Majlis Bandaraya Johor Bahru Football Club
Season 2012/2013

Expectations
Predicted: 10th
Board: Mid-table safety

Transfers
IN - 4 players (Free)
OUT - 6 players, 6 loans (Free)

I was finally able to cut some of the players who would never, ever feature in one of my teams - and I cut the squad down further by loaning some others out. In came a promising 16yo centreback, plus The Sultan - a vastly experienced centreback with international experience to his name, and a pair of Indonesian attackers called Henry (AMC) and Allah (ST). This strengthened me up front, as Titan would be pulling on the boots yet again, but left me a little light in the middle - though I hoped The Dictator and The Shah could grow into these roles.

The season started with a bang, as we went 8 games unbeaten before cruelly going on on penalties to Kelantan in the second round of the FA Cup - apparently away goals count for nought in this competition. I feared morale would crumble as a result, but the wise heads of people like The Sultan prevailed, and we didn't lose a single game until four weeks out from the end of the season. The defence was solid as a rock and Titan was ably assisted by a young up and coming striker called Mammogram in attack. Unfortunately in the last four weeks we threw away all the good work and won only a single game, meaning that Kuala Lumpur overtook us to capture the Premier League title. This annoyed me immensely, but given people were talking relegation at the start of the season I will happily take second and the promotion that comes with it.

The Malaysian Cup was interesting - in a group containing mostly Super League teams, we took the initiative and lost just two games to top our group. This included a 4-1 thrashing of Kelantan, gaining revenge on them for knocking us out of the FA Cup. This only set us up for a Quarter Final matchup with Perak, who had finished 4th in the Super League. They promptly dispatched us 5-2 on aggregate, but we did ourselves no disservice in the process.

Malaysian Premier League: 2nd (13-7-2)
Malaysian FA Cup: 2nd round
Malaysian Cup: Quarter Finals

Wow. Despite keeping to my fiscal promises it was a great season, and we're going up. Now I'll have to deal with the promotion bonuses and wage increases that come with that. Assuming the board gives me enough money, I aim to stay in the Super League and build this team up using the young talent that we already have.]]> <![CDATA[Match Day Set Ups]]> http://lowerleaguemanager.com/forum/showthread.php?tid=511 Sat, 12 May 2012 12:55:25 +0100 http://lowerleaguemanager.com/forum/showthread.php?tid=511 ]]> ]]> <![CDATA[The "Not All British Journalism is Junk" Thread]]> http://lowerleaguemanager.com/forum/showthread.php?tid=509 Wed, 02 May 2012 15:20:46 +0100 http://lowerleaguemanager.com/forum/showthread.php?tid=509
Why do great teams come to an end?

I really like this article. Some very good writing here and some interesting ideas.

I know it's sport, but figured the thread could be for any subject, hence the why I've put it in the lounge.]]>
Why do great teams come to an end?

I really like this article. Some very good writing here and some interesting ideas.

I know it's sport, but figured the thread could be for any subject, hence the why I've put it in the lounge.]]> <![CDATA[Ambition is critical - Pretty Shi**y City]]> http://lowerleaguemanager.com/forum/showthread.php?tid=505 Sun, 22 Apr 2012 00:45:47 +0100 http://lowerleaguemanager.com/forum/showthread.php?tid=505 Season 1 (2011-2012)
CD Mirandes – Spanish Second Division B2
[Image: 165px-CD_Mirand%C3%A9s_escudo.png]



I got my little boy to pick a lower league club for me he went with this one as he liked the badge. That was random enough for me so on to business.

Contract Expectations:
Top half finish in the Spanish Second Division B2
With £0 for transfer and 19k per week wages (and its nearly maxed 18,372)

Pre-season went well with us beating a team from the LIGA Adelente.

We went out of the Spanish Cup in the 3rd Rd in a great game with Badalona.
Plenty of action and the ref handing out cards like it was Christmas.
Finished 2-2 at full time and 2 late goals in extra time sent it to penalties at 3-3.
Lost on 3-4 on pens. They went on to play Barcelona. (well it would be a day out for their fans I suppose Smile)

But onto the more important league we go.

Not a bad first half of the season hovering around and in the play off zone.
I had to laugh every time the club organised a fan day we lost 1-0… if only there was a board request to stop fan days from happening Shrug
2nd half was a different story the run in was terrible and on a bad spell of form we were 10th with 10 games to go (8 points of play off spot).
In those 10 games we also had to play the top 5 clubs in the league.

League
Overall finished 12th in the table.
P38 W13 D11 L14 F46 A49 GD -3 PTS 50
Only 7 points above relegation zone. Not the best of starts but could be worse.

Cup(s)
3rd round Spanish cup

Other news
Was happy to see my real life supported club Cardiff City Finally get promotion to the Premier League via the Play Offs Celebrate
Germany won the Euro 2012.


Season 2 (2012-2013)
CD Mirandes – Spanish Second Division B2

[Image: 165px-CD_Mirand%C3%A9s_escudo.png]


8 players contracts were expiring and with the non-existent wage budget this was going to be difficult.


I asked the board to find a parent club and we got affiliated with Espanyol.
This helped as I managed to get 5 players on loan to fill the gaps of the players that left last season.

Had a great pre-season and this carried on into the league. We won our first 2 home games and drew away but then disaster.

In the next game we lost 2-0 and had 2 serious injuries (players out for 2 and 4 months) and 2 red cards. (That was one of the worst games I have had in FM)
So we lost the next 3 games and struggled to look dangerous with our best striker missing.

10 games in and we were mid table with 11 points.
It was that 10th game that the board had enough and sacked me. I was disappointed with this I had no warning and was looking forward to making a comeback when my team was back to full strength.

Anyway onwards and upwards (hopefully Thup ).
Had a look at the Job situation and right away there was one vacancy in the lower Italian leagues.
I applied for a job with Aversa Normanna (contract till the send of the season) who were just sitting in the relegation play-off spot in Serie C2/B.

Aversa Normanna
[Image: AversaLogoCalcio.png]


Ok so I had my work cut out for me here.
Same as before no money to spend and a tight wage budget
The Team was in 16th (Relegation Play Off)
P 13 W 3 D 3 L 7 F 10 A 19 GD -9 Pts 12


2nd game in my striker fractures his ribs and is out for 2 months. I’m beginning to think this save is cursed Banghead.
However we came back from a 1-0 down in that game to win 2-1.
Things were going well and I think to myself this team is not bad. I should know better this is FM when its looks like all is going well a nasty patch is just around the corner.
We struggled to find form.
We could have a great game and then lose the next 5. It was hard to identify what was going wrong with out the luxury of pre-season to play with tactics.
Frustratingly the losses we suffered weren’t that heavy they we normally 1-0 we were struggling with firepower up front.

10 games left and we were still hovering around the relegation zone / relegation playoffs. I needed to pull a good run out of the bag.
From nowhere the boys decide to start playing even my new 19yr old MR scores goal of the month. Things were looking good 7 wins 1 draw and 1 loss and on the last game we were clinging on to safety. The loss we suffered was against the already crowned league champions (2-1) so I couldn’t argue to much with the boys for not securing our spot in the C2/B before the last game.
Also this form gets me a vote of confidence from the board as they extend my contract for another year.

The last game of the season was tense we never took the lead and managed to pull a 2-2 draw. Luckily for us Fondi (the team just below us ) lost their match as well and we avoided the relegation playoffs.

League
Finished 15th (out of 21)

P40 W15 D6 L19 F43 A55 GD -12 Pts 51
With me in charge
P27 W12 D3 L12 F33 A36 GD -3 Pts 39

We also got 1st and 2nd in the Serie C2/B goal of the year.

Previous Club
C.D Mirandes – Finished 16th (out of 20) and this meant Relegation Playoffs. They then went on to get relegated.
Hope you are happy with that CD Mirandes Board Tongue.

Other
Only because I follow them I’m including this- Cardiff just managed to stay in the premiership by beating Everton 1-0 away and this got Everton relegated! I would imagine they will be odds on favourites to come back up.
Also Swansea won promotion to the premiership (2nd in Championship) so the local welsh derby was back on at Prem level Celebrate.


Season 3 (2013-2014)
Aversa Normanna – Serie C2/B
[Image: AversaLogoCalcio.png]




I tell the Board I’m going for a top half finish (after the way we finished last season I felt confident – famous last words)
Media Prediction seemed to mirror my hopes - 11th

They increase my wage budget by a whopping £750 to help me obtain this. But still £0 transfer budget. Oh the dizzying heights of the LLaMa.

Happy with the Pre-Season got to try a few things out. Brought a few more youngsters in to fill the gaps – focusing on attacking midfield and strikers to give us some punching power.

10 games in and I’m seeing the benefits. We were 11th in the league but getting more draws than losses last year.

As the season continued we were hitting excellent form both in the league and the cup.
(The cup games allowing me to play my new keeper and stop him from moaning about not having enough 1st team football).

I got approached my Wrexham in December – which I was tempted with as it was a return to Wales Smile but I was enjoying the progress I was making with the Normanni. We were just outside the play offs and still in the cup so I had it all to play for.

Christmas had come early December was a great month as we had penalties, red cards for the opposition and own goals scored by the opposition. I think the mafia got involved somewhere it looked very biased.

We didn’t drop a single point and were now in with a shout for promotion – I decided in January to overspend slightly (£500 p/w) on wage budget to get 2 players in where I thought we were lacking strength. I was hoping the board would turn a blind eye based on our better than expected league position.

It just gave me enough flexibility and we went from strength to strength and finished 2nd securing promotion on the last day of the season.

Serie C1 here we come.

League
Finished 2nd (out of 20)
P38 W20 D11 L7 F56 A33 GD+23 Pts 71

Cup(s)
Made it to the Semi Final of the Serie C Cup but got knocked out by Crotone 3-0 (Agg).

Previous Club
C.D Mirandes – make their way back into the game and are back in Second Division B1. They still have faith in my predecessor.

Other
Manager madness as both RedNosedUnitedManager and MeltedCandleFacedSpudsManager retire from football and ItalianWithAPermanentlyRaisedEyebrow returns to Chelsea.
Argentina Win the world cup.

EDIT: Please remember the forum rules regarding player and staff naming. Thanks.]]> Season 1 (2011-2012)
CD Mirandes – Spanish Second Division B2
[Image: 165px-CD_Mirand%C3%A9s_escudo.png]



I got my little boy to pick a lower league club for me he went with this one as he liked the badge. That was random enough for me so on to business.

Contract Expectations:
Top half finish in the Spanish Second Division B2
With £0 for transfer and 19k per week wages (and its nearly maxed 18,372)

Pre-season went well with us beating a team from the LIGA Adelente.

We went out of the Spanish Cup in the 3rd Rd in a great game with Badalona.
Plenty of action and the ref handing out cards like it was Christmas.
Finished 2-2 at full time and 2 late goals in extra time sent it to penalties at 3-3.
Lost on 3-4 on pens. They went on to play Barcelona. (well it would be a day out for their fans I suppose Smile)

But onto the more important league we go.

Not a bad first half of the season hovering around and in the play off zone.
I had to laugh every time the club organised a fan day we lost 1-0… if only there was a board request to stop fan days from happening Shrug
2nd half was a different story the run in was terrible and on a bad spell of form we were 10th with 10 games to go (8 points of play off spot).
In those 10 games we also had to play the top 5 clubs in the league.

League
Overall finished 12th in the table.
P38 W13 D11 L14 F46 A49 GD -3 PTS 50
Only 7 points above relegation zone. Not the best of starts but could be worse.

Cup(s)
3rd round Spanish cup

Other news
Was happy to see my real life supported club Cardiff City Finally get promotion to the Premier League via the Play Offs Celebrate
Germany won the Euro 2012.


Season 2 (2012-2013)
CD Mirandes – Spanish Second Division B2

[Image: 165px-CD_Mirand%C3%A9s_escudo.png]


8 players contracts were expiring and with the non-existent wage budget this was going to be difficult.


I asked the board to find a parent club and we got affiliated with Espanyol.
This helped as I managed to get 5 players on loan to fill the gaps of the players that left last season.

Had a great pre-season and this carried on into the league. We won our first 2 home games and drew away but then disaster.

In the next game we lost 2-0 and had 2 serious injuries (players out for 2 and 4 months) and 2 red cards. (That was one of the worst games I have had in FM)
So we lost the next 3 games and struggled to look dangerous with our best striker missing.

10 games in and we were mid table with 11 points.
It was that 10th game that the board had enough and sacked me. I was disappointed with this I had no warning and was looking forward to making a comeback when my team was back to full strength.

Anyway onwards and upwards (hopefully Thup ).
Had a look at the Job situation and right away there was one vacancy in the lower Italian leagues.
I applied for a job with Aversa Normanna (contract till the send of the season) who were just sitting in the relegation play-off spot in Serie C2/B.

Aversa Normanna
[Image: AversaLogoCalcio.png]


Ok so I had my work cut out for me here.
Same as before no money to spend and a tight wage budget
The Team was in 16th (Relegation Play Off)
P 13 W 3 D 3 L 7 F 10 A 19 GD -9 Pts 12


2nd game in my striker fractures his ribs and is out for 2 months. I’m beginning to think this save is cursed Banghead.
However we came back from a 1-0 down in that game to win 2-1.
Things were going well and I think to myself this team is not bad. I should know better this is FM when its looks like all is going well a nasty patch is just around the corner.
We struggled to find form.
We could have a great game and then lose the next 5. It was hard to identify what was going wrong with out the luxury of pre-season to play with tactics.
Frustratingly the losses we suffered weren’t that heavy they we normally 1-0 we were struggling with firepower up front.

10 games left and we were still hovering around the relegation zone / relegation playoffs. I needed to pull a good run out of the bag.
From nowhere the boys decide to start playing even my new 19yr old MR scores goal of the month. Things were looking good 7 wins 1 draw and 1 loss and on the last game we were clinging on to safety. The loss we suffered was against the already crowned league champions (2-1) so I couldn’t argue to much with the boys for not securing our spot in the C2/B before the last game.
Also this form gets me a vote of confidence from the board as they extend my contract for another year.

The last game of the season was tense we never took the lead and managed to pull a 2-2 draw. Luckily for us Fondi (the team just below us ) lost their match as well and we avoided the relegation playoffs.

League
Finished 15th (out of 21)

P40 W15 D6 L19 F43 A55 GD -12 Pts 51
With me in charge
P27 W12 D3 L12 F33 A36 GD -3 Pts 39

We also got 1st and 2nd in the Serie C2/B goal of the year.

Previous Club
C.D Mirandes – Finished 16th (out of 20) and this meant Relegation Playoffs. They then went on to get relegated.
Hope you are happy with that CD Mirandes Board Tongue.

Other
Only because I follow them I’m including this- Cardiff just managed to stay in the premiership by beating Everton 1-0 away and this got Everton relegated! I would imagine they will be odds on favourites to come back up.
Also Swansea won promotion to the premiership (2nd in Championship) so the local welsh derby was back on at Prem level Celebrate.


Season 3 (2013-2014)
Aversa Normanna – Serie C2/B
[Image: AversaLogoCalcio.png]




I tell the Board I’m going for a top half finish (after the way we finished last season I felt confident – famous last words)
Media Prediction seemed to mirror my hopes - 11th

They increase my wage budget by a whopping £750 to help me obtain this. But still £0 transfer budget. Oh the dizzying heights of the LLaMa.

Happy with the Pre-Season got to try a few things out. Brought a few more youngsters in to fill the gaps – focusing on attacking midfield and strikers to give us some punching power.

10 games in and I’m seeing the benefits. We were 11th in the league but getting more draws than losses last year.

As the season continued we were hitting excellent form both in the league and the cup.
(The cup games allowing me to play my new keeper and stop him from moaning about not having enough 1st team football).

I got approached my Wrexham in December – which I was tempted with as it was a return to Wales Smile but I was enjoying the progress I was making with the Normanni. We were just outside the play offs and still in the cup so I had it all to play for.

Christmas had come early December was a great month as we had penalties, red cards for the opposition and own goals scored by the opposition. I think the mafia got involved somewhere it looked very biased.

We didn’t drop a single point and were now in with a shout for promotion – I decided in January to overspend slightly (£500 p/w) on wage budget to get 2 players in where I thought we were lacking strength. I was hoping the board would turn a blind eye based on our better than expected league position.

It just gave me enough flexibility and we went from strength to strength and finished 2nd securing promotion on the last day of the season.

Serie C1 here we come.

League
Finished 2nd (out of 20)
P38 W20 D11 L7 F56 A33 GD+23 Pts 71

Cup(s)
Made it to the Semi Final of the Serie C Cup but got knocked out by Crotone 3-0 (Agg).

Previous Club
C.D Mirandes – make their way back into the game and are back in Second Division B1. They still have faith in my predecessor.

Other
Manager madness as both RedNosedUnitedManager and MeltedCandleFacedSpudsManager retire from football and ItalianWithAPermanentlyRaisedEyebrow returns to Chelsea.
Argentina Win the world cup.

EDIT: Please remember the forum rules regarding player and staff naming. Thanks.]]> <![CDATA[Patience is a virtue, or so they keep telling me...]]> http://lowerleaguemanager.com/forum/showthread.php?tid=504 Mon, 16 Apr 2012 23:47:33 +0100 http://lowerleaguemanager.com/forum/showthread.php?tid=504
Season 1 - 2011/12

Truro City - English Conference South

My first glance at the squad had me very impressed. Truro were clearly a club with big ambition.Let's hope I could help them on their quest to climb the leagues!

This season went brilliantly, a now ageing former Fulham striker was very useful, and he formed a prolific partnership with a young striker, who scored 20 goals in his debut season.

Something to build on?

ECS 6/22 (Predicted 11th)
P:42, W:19, D:11, L:12, GF:61, GA:33, Pts:68

FA Cup: Oxford City (A) 2-1, Brackley (H) 2-0, Bromley (H) 2-1, Kettering (A) 1-2
FA Trophy: Basingstoke (H) 1-2

Season 2 - 2012/13

Truro City - English Conference South

A poor start to the season had me worried, but it seemed to be just down to integrating the new faces into the team, and we climbed the table very quickly once the new guys had settled.

We just tailed away slightly towards the end of the season, but managed to match expectations in the end.

ECS 9/22 (Predicted 9th)
P:42, W:17, D:11, L:14, GF:67, GA:64, Pts:62

FA Cup: Abingdon Town (A) 0-1
FA Trophy: Hendon (H) 4-1, Luton (A) 2-3

Season 3 - 2013/14

Truro City - English Conference South

A few out and a few in saw us have a poor start again. So much of a poor start that for 2 matches in a row, my fate was seemingly sealed with a defeat.

The fact we won both of these games as part 5 wins in the next 6 (including 2 in the FA Cup) was very satisfying, and showed that just like last season, we were settling into a team again.

Then, on the eve of our 4th Qualifying round FA Cup match at Luton, Darlington of the Conference Premier approached me. They were struggling in the league and are financially not well off, but the fact they were offering me a full time contract with a nice pay rise was enough to entice me oop North.

At time of leaving Truro:

ECS 16/22 (Predicted 8th)
P:14, W:4, D:3, L:7, GF:16, GA:19, Pts:15

FA Cup: Brackley (H) 3-1, Oxford City (H) 4-0
FA Trophy: Not yet entered

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Darlington - English Conference Premier

With 16 games played, Darlington were below expectations as they sat in 18th position, and I saw my first mission was to give the squad belief.

I failed that mission miserably. The previous manager had brought in 3 young players on loan, and they were all injured when I joined, and then came back for a couple of games before their loans terminated. None of them accepted the extension despite their clubs agreeing to it.

This left the squad very light on numbers and we drifted further down the table as the season went on, with us eventually finishing in a disappointing 23rd place.

Despite the relegation I was offered a new contract, much to my surprise. I accepted with some trepidation, as the financial situation was deteriorating badly, and the players were refusing to sign contracts that fit into the wage structure.

ECP 23/24 (Predicted 4th)
P:46, W:10, D:10, L:26, GF:42, GA:67, Pts:40

FA Cup: Blyth (A) 3-2, Burton (A) 1-1, Burton (H) 0-2
FA Trophy: Cambridge Utd (A) 0-6

Season 4 - 2014/15

Darlington - English Conference North

A difficult close season where we could only keep a few first team regulars meant that we had to play a lot of our youth players as first team regulars.

This was actually the kind of challenge I wanted and the chance to build a "production line" was a really tempting proposition. We started the season brilliantly, winning 10 and drawing 3 of the first 13 league games.

Our good form continued a little while, before the nerves/pressure started to get to the boys and they began faltering. We just stopped sticking the ball in the onion bag, and I got so frustrated that I walked with 1 league remaining, in the hope that someone else would get the team out of their poor form.

At time of leaving:

ECN 2/22 (Predicted 1st)
P:42, W:22, D:12, L:7, GF:68, GA:39, Pts:78

Darlington lost their last league game 1-0 to finish 3rd, but they did manage to get themselves through the play-offs.

FA Cup: Eastwood (H) 2-0, Altrincham (H) 0-1
FA Trophy: Hitchin (A) 2-0, Boreham Wood (A) 0-1

I was only out of work for a couple of weeks before relegated AFC Telford offered me the position of manager at their club. I look forward to seeing if I can get them promoted from the Conference North next season...]]>
Season 1 - 2011/12

Truro City - English Conference South

My first glance at the squad had me very impressed. Truro were clearly a club with big ambition.Let's hope I could help them on their quest to climb the leagues!

This season went brilliantly, a now ageing former Fulham striker was very useful, and he formed a prolific partnership with a young striker, who scored 20 goals in his debut season.

Something to build on?

ECS 6/22 (Predicted 11th)
P:42, W:19, D:11, L:12, GF:61, GA:33, Pts:68

FA Cup: Oxford City (A) 2-1, Brackley (H) 2-0, Bromley (H) 2-1, Kettering (A) 1-2
FA Trophy: Basingstoke (H) 1-2

Season 2 - 2012/13

Truro City - English Conference South

A poor start to the season had me worried, but it seemed to be just down to integrating the new faces into the team, and we climbed the table very quickly once the new guys had settled.

We just tailed away slightly towards the end of the season, but managed to match expectations in the end.

ECS 9/22 (Predicted 9th)
P:42, W:17, D:11, L:14, GF:67, GA:64, Pts:62

FA Cup: Abingdon Town (A) 0-1
FA Trophy: Hendon (H) 4-1, Luton (A) 2-3

Season 3 - 2013/14

Truro City - English Conference South

A few out and a few in saw us have a poor start again. So much of a poor start that for 2 matches in a row, my fate was seemingly sealed with a defeat.

The fact we won both of these games as part 5 wins in the next 6 (including 2 in the FA Cup) was very satisfying, and showed that just like last season, we were settling into a team again.

Then, on the eve of our 4th Qualifying round FA Cup match at Luton, Darlington of the Conference Premier approached me. They were struggling in the league and are financially not well off, but the fact they were offering me a full time contract with a nice pay rise was enough to entice me oop North.

At time of leaving Truro:

ECS 16/22 (Predicted 8th)
P:14, W:4, D:3, L:7, GF:16, GA:19, Pts:15

FA Cup: Brackley (H) 3-1, Oxford City (H) 4-0
FA Trophy: Not yet entered

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Darlington - English Conference Premier

With 16 games played, Darlington were below expectations as they sat in 18th position, and I saw my first mission was to give the squad belief.

I failed that mission miserably. The previous manager had brought in 3 young players on loan, and they were all injured when I joined, and then came back for a couple of games before their loans terminated. None of them accepted the extension despite their clubs agreeing to it.

This left the squad very light on numbers and we drifted further down the table as the season went on, with us eventually finishing in a disappointing 23rd place.

Despite the relegation I was offered a new contract, much to my surprise. I accepted with some trepidation, as the financial situation was deteriorating badly, and the players were refusing to sign contracts that fit into the wage structure.

ECP 23/24 (Predicted 4th)
P:46, W:10, D:10, L:26, GF:42, GA:67, Pts:40

FA Cup: Blyth (A) 3-2, Burton (A) 1-1, Burton (H) 0-2
FA Trophy: Cambridge Utd (A) 0-6

Season 4 - 2014/15

Darlington - English Conference North

A difficult close season where we could only keep a few first team regulars meant that we had to play a lot of our youth players as first team regulars.

This was actually the kind of challenge I wanted and the chance to build a "production line" was a really tempting proposition. We started the season brilliantly, winning 10 and drawing 3 of the first 13 league games.

Our good form continued a little while, before the nerves/pressure started to get to the boys and they began faltering. We just stopped sticking the ball in the onion bag, and I got so frustrated that I walked with 1 league remaining, in the hope that someone else would get the team out of their poor form.

At time of leaving:

ECN 2/22 (Predicted 1st)
P:42, W:22, D:12, L:7, GF:68, GA:39, Pts:78

Darlington lost their last league game 1-0 to finish 3rd, but they did manage to get themselves through the play-offs.

FA Cup: Eastwood (H) 2-0, Altrincham (H) 0-1
FA Trophy: Hitchin (A) 2-0, Boreham Wood (A) 0-1

I was only out of work for a couple of weeks before relegated AFC Telford offered me the position of manager at their club. I look forward to seeing if I can get them promoted from the Conference North next season...]]> <![CDATA[Words With Friends Tournament]]> http://lowerleaguemanager.com/forum/showthread.php?tid=503 Mon, 16 Apr 2012 22:15:43 +0100 http://lowerleaguemanager.com/forum/showthread.php?tid=503
If not you can get it free from Google Play or the App Store. Alternatively you can play via Facebook. The official Words With Friends page also has information regarding app purchasing and game rules etc.

I'm going to try and keep the rules of the tournament simple. Once we have a list of participants (ideally by Friday evening) people can begin their matches. Everyone should play each other twice (ie both having the opportunity to make the first move). The player making the first move (home player) should post in this thread that the match has commenced. Games should be played at a reasonable pace and not dragged out unnecessarily. It goes without saying that use of aids such as wordfinders and Scrabble simulators are not to be used. Upon completion of the match either party may post the result.

Results will be collated into a league table with positions determined by Result Points (2 for a win, 1 for a draw) and then Average Match Score.

Good luck.

Participants.
1. JP
2. keefa
3. deanashtonsfoot
4. Rodderas
5. walks
6. Trikstahz]]>
If not you can get it free from Google Play or the App Store. Alternatively you can play via Facebook. The official Words With Friends page also has information regarding app purchasing and game rules etc.

I'm going to try and keep the rules of the tournament simple. Once we have a list of participants (ideally by Friday evening) people can begin their matches. Everyone should play each other twice (ie both having the opportunity to make the first move). The player making the first move (home player) should post in this thread that the match has commenced. Games should be played at a reasonable pace and not dragged out unnecessarily. It goes without saying that use of aids such as wordfinders and Scrabble simulators are not to be used. Upon completion of the match either party may post the result.

Results will be collated into a league table with positions determined by Result Points (2 for a win, 1 for a draw) and then Average Match Score.

Good luck.

Participants.
1. JP
2. keefa
3. deanashtonsfoot
4. Rodderas
5. walks
6. Trikstahz]]> <![CDATA[Wakeing up in England]]> http://lowerleaguemanager.com/forum/showthread.php?tid=502 Sat, 14 Apr 2012 13:04:34 +0100 http://lowerleaguemanager.com/forum/showthread.php?tid=502 Leagues Loaded:
England (Regional First Div and above)
France (Ligue 1 only)
Germany (Budesliga only)
Italy (Serie A only)
N.Ireland (second Division and above)
Ireland (First Division and above)
Scotland (Third Division and above)
Spain (Liga BBVA only)
Wales (Principality Welsh Premier only)


Career History:
Wakefield:(10.7.2010-N/A)
Evo-Stick First Division North (2011/2012)
Evo-Stick Premier Division
-Runner up (2012/13)
Evo-Stick League President's Cup (2011)
Evo-Stick League Challenge Cup (2012)
- Runner up (2013)
West Riding FA County Cup (2012)
- Runner up (2014)
Blue Square North (2014/15)
-Runner up (2013/14)


Personal Achievements:
Evo-Stick First Division North Manager of the Season
- Runner Up (2011/12)
Evo-Stick Premier Division Manager of the Season (2012/13)
Blue Square North Manager of the Season (2014/15)


Career Stats:
[Image: wakefieldstats.jpg]


Career Records:
[Image: wakefieldrecords.jpg]]]> Leagues Loaded:
England (Regional First Div and above)
France (Ligue 1 only)
Germany (Budesliga only)
Italy (Serie A only)
N.Ireland (second Division and above)
Ireland (First Division and above)
Scotland (Third Division and above)
Spain (Liga BBVA only)
Wales (Principality Welsh Premier only)


Career History:
Wakefield:(10.7.2010-N/A)
Evo-Stick First Division North (2011/2012)
Evo-Stick Premier Division
-Runner up (2012/13)
Evo-Stick League President's Cup (2011)
Evo-Stick League Challenge Cup (2012)
- Runner up (2013)
West Riding FA County Cup (2012)
- Runner up (2014)
Blue Square North (2014/15)
-Runner up (2013/14)


Personal Achievements:
Evo-Stick First Division North Manager of the Season
- Runner Up (2011/12)
Evo-Stick Premier Division Manager of the Season (2012/13)
Blue Square North Manager of the Season (2014/15)


Career Stats:
[Image: wakefieldstats.jpg]


Career Records:
[Image: wakefieldrecords.jpg]]]> <![CDATA[Tales From Mount Rushmoor (Stadium)]]> http://lowerleaguemanager.com/forum/showthread.php?tid=499 Wed, 11 Apr 2012 23:55:15 +0100 http://lowerleaguemanager.com/forum/showthread.php?tid=499
I decided to start in England and picked a random team from the BSN and BSS excluding the top ten teams and ended up with Farnborough in the Blue Square South.

SEASON 1 - 2010/11
Team - Farnborough
Division - Blue Square South
Media Prediction - 11th

Pre-Season
A quick flick through the squad gave me an initial lift with very little dead wood and a few half decent players for this level. A good target man and a dead ball specialist CM looked especially tasty.

Pre season started well. We won the games we should comfortably and fought valiantly against higher league opponents. In the final pre-season game we beat League 2 Oxford 3-0 to send us into the season with high hopes.

Summer Transfer Window
With little room to maneuvore on the wage budget I managed to release a couple of non-contract players which allowed me to bring in a striker (on loan) and a new CB and CM (who looked awesome but very injury prone). I picked up another striker from the English Trials Day which once more maxed out my budget.


Blue Square South - First Half
We carried our pre-season form into the league, going six games unbeaten and sitting in second before a 2-1 defeat by Bishops Stortford.
This set the scene for the first half of the season as we lost only four games before the turn of the year (lots of draws though !) and sat comfortably in the play-offs. The only disappointment was that my first choice strikers hadn't worked out (including my impressive looking target man) so I had dropped them both, my loan striker was banging them in for fun though.

January Transfer Window
I managed to offload one of my mis-firing strikers which allowed me to bring in a new striker/winger and a CM. Both played three games and then picked up season ending injuries. Grrrr.

FA Cup
A comfortable run to the first round, beating lower league opposition, saw us face Stafford Rangers at home. Leading 3-1 with ten minutes to go we took our foot of the gas and ended up drawing 3-3. In the resulting replay we lost 2-1. Still we had achieved the Board's expectation.

FA Trophy
Knocked out 1-0 in the first round against Woking. Less said the better.

Blue Square South - Second Half
We experienced our first shaky period of form after Christmas, losing three on the trot and slipping out of the play-off places. My new injury-prone CM was, well, injured and we were struggling for goals. A quick tactical shake up seemed to do the trick and results improved. A 3-1 defeat by play-off rivals Chelmsford with a few games to go threatened to derail us but we won our final games to finish 5th and scrape into the play-offs.

P42 W20 D13 L9 F69 A46 Pts73

Play-Offs
We had the difficult task of Chelmsford in the semi-finals. They had narrowly missed out on the top spot and had beaten us only a few weeks before. We won a tight affair 2-1 at home thanks to a last minute 35 yarder from my Target Man (who had barely scored all season). We then survived a real nail-biting 0-0 away to make it to the final.

In the final we faced Woking, the team that knocked us out of the FA Trophy. We had already drawn with them twice in the league and that's how it finished here. We led twice, the second time with only ten minutes remaining, but were pegged back both times. No goals in extra time meant our fate was to be decided by penalties. My set piece specialist CM smashed in the first and set the tone from there. We scored our first three penalties, they missed them all and we were promoted to the Blue Square Premier at the first attempt !!

Other
A couple of decent looking prospects (two CBs and a Striker) were promoted to the reserves.

On the financial side we took a bit of a kicking, losing over £200k

Tottenham won the Premiership.]]>
I decided to start in England and picked a random team from the BSN and BSS excluding the top ten teams and ended up with Farnborough in the Blue Square South.

SEASON 1 - 2010/11
Team - Farnborough
Division - Blue Square South
Media Prediction - 11th

Pre-Season
A quick flick through the squad gave me an initial lift with very little dead wood and a few half decent players for this level. A good target man and a dead ball specialist CM looked especially tasty.

Pre season started well. We won the games we should comfortably and fought valiantly against higher league opponents. In the final pre-season game we beat League 2 Oxford 3-0 to send us into the season with high hopes.

Summer Transfer Window
With little room to maneuvore on the wage budget I managed to release a couple of non-contract players which allowed me to bring in a striker (on loan) and a new CB and CM (who looked awesome but very injury prone). I picked up another striker from the English Trials Day which once more maxed out my budget.


Blue Square South - First Half
We carried our pre-season form into the league, going six games unbeaten and sitting in second before a 2-1 defeat by Bishops Stortford.
This set the scene for the first half of the season as we lost only four games before the turn of the year (lots of draws though !) and sat comfortably in the play-offs. The only disappointment was that my first choice strikers hadn't worked out (including my impressive looking target man) so I had dropped them both, my loan striker was banging them in for fun though.

January Transfer Window
I managed to offload one of my mis-firing strikers which allowed me to bring in a new striker/winger and a CM. Both played three games and then picked up season ending injuries. Grrrr.

FA Cup
A comfortable run to the first round, beating lower league opposition, saw us face Stafford Rangers at home. Leading 3-1 with ten minutes to go we took our foot of the gas and ended up drawing 3-3. In the resulting replay we lost 2-1. Still we had achieved the Board's expectation.

FA Trophy
Knocked out 1-0 in the first round against Woking. Less said the better.

Blue Square South - Second Half
We experienced our first shaky period of form after Christmas, losing three on the trot and slipping out of the play-off places. My new injury-prone CM was, well, injured and we were struggling for goals. A quick tactical shake up seemed to do the trick and results improved. A 3-1 defeat by play-off rivals Chelmsford with a few games to go threatened to derail us but we won our final games to finish 5th and scrape into the play-offs.

P42 W20 D13 L9 F69 A46 Pts73

Play-Offs
We had the difficult task of Chelmsford in the semi-finals. They had narrowly missed out on the top spot and had beaten us only a few weeks before. We won a tight affair 2-1 at home thanks to a last minute 35 yarder from my Target Man (who had barely scored all season). We then survived a real nail-biting 0-0 away to make it to the final.

In the final we faced Woking, the team that knocked us out of the FA Trophy. We had already drawn with them twice in the league and that's how it finished here. We led twice, the second time with only ten minutes remaining, but were pegged back both times. No goals in extra time meant our fate was to be decided by penalties. My set piece specialist CM smashed in the first and set the tone from there. We scored our first three penalties, they missed them all and we were promoted to the Blue Square Premier at the first attempt !!

Other
A couple of decent looking prospects (two CBs and a Striker) were promoted to the reserves.

On the financial side we took a bit of a kicking, losing over £200k

Tottenham won the Premiership.]]> <![CDATA[To Continue or Switch?]]> http://lowerleaguemanager.com/forum/showthread.php?tid=497 Tue, 03 Apr 2012 15:49:15 +0100 http://lowerleaguemanager.com/forum/showthread.php?tid=497 <![CDATA[Foooods!]]> http://lowerleaguemanager.com/forum/showthread.php?tid=496 Fri, 30 Mar 2012 18:25:40 +0100 http://lowerleaguemanager.com/forum/showthread.php?tid=496
Seems that there's now a product on the market especially for us...

[Image: WP_000114.jpg]]]>
Seems that there's now a product on the market especially for us...

[Image: WP_000114.jpg]]]> <![CDATA[Kits for FM12]]> http://lowerleaguemanager.com/forum/showthread.php?tid=495 Thu, 29 Mar 2012 10:01:37 +0100 http://lowerleaguemanager.com/forum/showthread.php?tid=495 <![CDATA[Round 9 Tie Breaker Poll Part 2 ]]> http://lowerleaguemanager.com/forum/showthread.php?tid=494 Wed, 28 Mar 2012 23:50:41 +0100 http://lowerleaguemanager.com/forum/showthread.php?tid=494 <![CDATA[Round 9 Tie Breaker Poll]]> http://lowerleaguemanager.com/forum/showthread.php?tid=493 Tue, 27 Mar 2012 22:52:30 +0100 http://lowerleaguemanager.com/forum/showthread.php?tid=493 <![CDATA[Never Go Full Welsh...]]> http://lowerleaguemanager.com/forum/showthread.php?tid=492 Thu, 15 Mar 2012 00:49:32 +0000 http://lowerleaguemanager.com/forum/showthread.php?tid=492
Looking around at places I hadn't managed before, I decided to go a bit up the road and go full Welsh. Decided on Aberystwyth (thank god for Chrome spell check) Town FC.

Season 1, 2011/12
Aberystwyth Town FC
[Image: 6qzo0n.png]
Welsh Premier League (12 teams)

League
Threw together a freewheeling aggressive formation (that new creator thingy is brill), shored up the weak spots in the squad with some half-decent frees and got stuck in.

A solid start (4 wins) was followed by some atrocious defending still had us in the mix at the pointy end. Did a bit of tweaking and we tightened up at the back enough (though still not enough for my liking) to have the forwards gunning it in and we stormed away on a nice long unbeaten run.

We lost a few games in the run in but had done enough to take the title. Finished 9 points clear after some final day results went our way

Final record 19-8-5, 1st

Cups
Quarter finalists in the League Cup. Bah
Made up for it in the Welsh Cup though, taking it out thanks to a rather easy run, only facing WPL opposition in the SF and final.

Double \o/

Summary
I'm not sure if I've gone with a too strong team, a too even league or whether the difficulty of FM12 is just so much lower (as I've read) but an opening season double was a bit unexpected.

Need to improve the defence. Attacking is fine though


Season 2, 2012/13
Aberystwyth Town FC
[Image: 6qzo0n.png]
Welsh Premier League (12 teams)

Europe
Got smashed in the UCL qualifiers first up. Not happy. Getting flashbacks of my time at QUB

League
So with a title to defend I brought in some better defenders and some good youth prospects. Also tweaked the tactics during the friendlies.

New lads didn't gel very quickly and as a result we were always scrapping for top spot. Eventually we got sorted and solidified our position. It took us until the last 2 games to secure the title unfortunately, but a 4 point final gap was good enough for me.

Final record 19-8-5, 1st

Cups
Quarters again in the League Cup. Need to focus on this next year
Another charmed Welsh Cup run, with all our rivals knocked out early we took it home against Newtown

Another double \o/

Summary
Another good year and a bit better defensively. Good youth coming in also, so the future looks bright. Turning into one of the best squads in the division too.

Season 3, 2013/14
Aberystwyth Town FC
[Image: 6qzo0n.png]
Welsh Premier League (12 teams)

Europe
Knocked out first time out again Mad

League
Started to regenerate the midfield, with a couple of key veterans looking close to the end of their careers. Also poached a top striker from TNS

For once we had a cracking start to the season, winning 12 out of our first 15 games. TNS struggled without their forward and nobody else was good enough and we managed to win the title at a canter. Three in a row!

Final record 25-6-1, 1st

Cups
Big push in the League Cup, and we finally won the blasted thing.

Another season of rivals falling over themselves saw us in a 3rd straight Welsh Cup final. We were looking to make it a treble and suffered from some nerves, going 2-0 down to TNS early. A half time bollocking saw us turn it around and take it 4-2

Treble \o/

Summary
Broke the 100 goal barrier (in all comps) this year. Very potent forward line and an ever-improving defence. Loaded up some more countries (England, Germany, Spain) to see if there's any further horizons for me to jump to, but nothing as yet]]>
Looking around at places I hadn't managed before, I decided to go a bit up the road and go full Welsh. Decided on Aberystwyth (thank god for Chrome spell check) Town FC.

Season 1, 2011/12
Aberystwyth Town FC
[Image: 6qzo0n.png]
Welsh Premier League (12 teams)

League
Threw together a freewheeling aggressive formation (that new creator thingy is brill), shored up the weak spots in the squad with some half-decent frees and got stuck in.

A solid start (4 wins) was followed by some atrocious defending still had us in the mix at the pointy end. Did a bit of tweaking and we tightened up at the back enough (though still not enough for my liking) to have the forwards gunning it in and we stormed away on a nice long unbeaten run.

We lost a few games in the run in but had done enough to take the title. Finished 9 points clear after some final day results went our way

Final record 19-8-5, 1st

Cups
Quarter finalists in the League Cup. Bah
Made up for it in the Welsh Cup though, taking it out thanks to a rather easy run, only facing WPL opposition in the SF and final.

Double \o/

Summary
I'm not sure if I've gone with a too strong team, a too even league or whether the difficulty of FM12 is just so much lower (as I've read) but an opening season double was a bit unexpected.

Need to improve the defence. Attacking is fine though


Season 2, 2012/13
Aberystwyth Town FC
[Image: 6qzo0n.png]
Welsh Premier League (12 teams)

Europe
Got smashed in the UCL qualifiers first up. Not happy. Getting flashbacks of my time at QUB

League
So with a title to defend I brought in some better defenders and some good youth prospects. Also tweaked the tactics during the friendlies.

New lads didn't gel very quickly and as a result we were always scrapping for top spot. Eventually we got sorted and solidified our position. It took us until the last 2 games to secure the title unfortunately, but a 4 point final gap was good enough for me.

Final record 19-8-5, 1st

Cups
Quarters again in the League Cup. Need to focus on this next year
Another charmed Welsh Cup run, with all our rivals knocked out early we took it home against Newtown

Another double \o/

Summary
Another good year and a bit better defensively. Good youth coming in also, so the future looks bright. Turning into one of the best squads in the division too.

Season 3, 2013/14
Aberystwyth Town FC
[Image: 6qzo0n.png]
Welsh Premier League (12 teams)

Europe
Knocked out first time out again Mad

League
Started to regenerate the midfield, with a couple of key veterans looking close to the end of their careers. Also poached a top striker from TNS

For once we had a cracking start to the season, winning 12 out of our first 15 games. TNS struggled without their forward and nobody else was good enough and we managed to win the title at a canter. Three in a row!

Final record 25-6-1, 1st

Cups
Big push in the League Cup, and we finally won the blasted thing.

Another season of rivals falling over themselves saw us in a 3rd straight Welsh Cup final. We were looking to make it a treble and suffered from some nerves, going 2-0 down to TNS early. A half time bollocking saw us turn it around and take it 4-2

Treble \o/

Summary
Broke the 100 goal barrier (in all comps) this year. Very potent forward line and an ever-improving defence. Loaded up some more countries (England, Germany, Spain) to see if there's any further horizons for me to jump to, but nothing as yet]]> <![CDATA[Round 7 Tie Breaker Poll]]> http://lowerleaguemanager.com/forum/showthread.php?tid=491 Tue, 13 Mar 2012 21:36:39 +0000 http://lowerleaguemanager.com/forum/showthread.php?tid=491 Sparkyuk71 and Ben O'Bagels are tied at 3 votes each.
Poll closes tomorrow at 7 pm.]]> Sparkyuk71 and Ben O'Bagels are tied at 3 votes each.
Poll closes tomorrow at 7 pm.]]> <![CDATA[All the tea in China and all the coffee in Vienna (and elsewhere)]]> http://lowerleaguemanager.com/forum/showthread.php?tid=490 Mon, 12 Mar 2012 11:58:34 +0000 http://lowerleaguemanager.com/forum/showthread.php?tid=490
I will start . . . I enjoyed a Pear and Honey Green Iced Tea today, very refreshing.

Oh almost forgot the old joke for Ken to yawn at:

Englishman visits China (via France) and his Chinese host offers him a traditional Chinese tea. After the usual small talk about the trip and the weather, the Englishman states that while the Chinese invented tea, it took the English to perfect it.

The Chinaman sips his tea, considers the statement and asks the Englishman to explain. The Englishman gives the example of the tea cup, while the Chinese invented china and the tea cup, it took the English to perfect it by putting a handle on it so that you did not burn your fingers when you pick it up.

The Chinaman sips his tea, considers this example and then asks the Englishman "if the tea is so hot that the tea cup burns your fingers, why would you want to put it anywhere near your mouth?" Smile]]>
I will start . . . I enjoyed a Pear and Honey Green Iced Tea today, very refreshing.

Oh almost forgot the old joke for Ken to yawn at:

Englishman visits China (via France) and his Chinese host offers him a traditional Chinese tea. After the usual small talk about the trip and the weather, the Englishman states that while the Chinese invented tea, it took the English to perfect it.

The Chinaman sips his tea, considers the statement and asks the Englishman to explain. The Englishman gives the example of the tea cup, while the Chinese invented china and the tea cup, it took the English to perfect it by putting a handle on it so that you did not burn your fingers when you pick it up.

The Chinaman sips his tea, considers this example and then asks the Englishman "if the tea is so hot that the tea cup burns your fingers, why would you want to put it anywhere near your mouth?" Smile]]> <![CDATA["We are powered by a quantum singularity"]]> http://lowerleaguemanager.com/forum/showthread.php?tid=488 Thu, 08 Mar 2012 16:40:30 +0000 http://lowerleaguemanager.com/forum/showthread.php?tid=488
I added the levels 7 and 8 which means that there are two levels below BSN/S - 3 regional premier leagues and 3 regional first divisions. I was going to start in the regional first division. But who to choose? Which team would a somewhat geeky engineer want to play as?

Season 1 - 2011/12 - Romulus - Evo-Stik Northern D1S

We're based in North Birmingham. And across the Neutral Zone. Most of the team are on appearance money contracts only, which means no contract at all effectively (they can be signed as free agents at any time) so there's a lot of player churn. We ground share with Sutton Coldfield Town in the same league. The standard of play is obviously pretty low, but better than I am. Except perhaps at GK.

We were very close to the relegation zone most of the season but then got much better in the last few games and climbed to a respectable 9th.

We had some luck in the cups:
FA Trophy prelim - Ramsgate 4-1 (h)
FA Trophy R1 - Wealdstone 0-1 (h)
FA Cup prelim - Boldmere 2-1 (a)
FA Cup Q1 - Whitehawk 1-2 (h)
Doodson Sports Cup R1 - Leek 1-0 (a)
Doodson Sports Cup R2 - Grantham 4-2 (h)
Doodson Sports Cup R3 - FC United 2-1 (a, aet)
Doodson Sports Cup R4 - Mossley 2-1 (h)
Doodson Sports Cup QF - Nantwich 3-2 (h, aet)
Doodson Sports Cup SF - Chorley 0-2 (a, aet)
Birmingham Senior Challenge Cup R1 - Alvechurch 1-0 (a)
Birmingham Senior Challenge Cup R2 - Tividale 3-0 (h)
Birmingham Senior Challenge Cup QF - Walsall Reserves 0-1 (a)

P42 W16 D12 L14 +8 9/22

Notable highlight included an attendance of 18 for a league game.


Season 2 - 2012/13 - Romulus - Evo-Stik Southern D1C

Similar sort of season in a new league. Bounced along by the relegation zone but then pulled clear to finish 13th. Lost some quality players (for us) to higher league teams. Signed a Coach but as a GK Coach. Thanks for nothing, UI. He won't renegotiate his contract to something he can actually do, either, so I'm stuck with him for a while. Did manage to sign a decent assman and let him handle the press conferences. And we've apparently started the process of building our own ground. Money is very tight, with average attendance of around 60, so kept well within budget. Even so, the board had to bail us out repeatedly.

No joy in the cups this season.

P42 W14 D14 L14 -3 13/22


Season 3 - 2013/14 - Romulus - Evo-Stik Southern D1C

Moved to a slightly less attacking formation this year and it paid dividends. For some reason things clicked and we were as high as 2nd. But the last 1/3 of the season was horrible, as our form hit the wall and we struggled with suspension and long-term injuries. Fell down to finish a standard 9th.

Had one good cup run and seemed to save our best performances at the end for this rather than the league.

Red Insure Cup R1 - Redditch 1-0 (a)
Red Insure Cup R2 - Thatcham 2-1 (h, aet)
Red Insure Cup R3 - Ware 3-2 (a)
Red Insure Cup QF - Corinthian Casuals 3-2 (h, aet)
Red Insure Cup SF - St Albans 2-1 (a)
Red Insure Cup Final - Weymouth 0-0 (a), 0-3 (h)

Rode our luck many times, but survived to the final with crowds of 4000+ away and 2247 at home (nearly 2000 more than our previous highest!). Only a minor money-maker ultimately.

P42 W19 D8 L15 +4 9/22

Overall these leagues feel OK and a sensible place to start a career. There was a small editing mistake in that the Red Insurance Cup Final had the first leg played into extra time and penalties even though there was a second leg to come. But overall this feels like I'd expect the grass roots to feel.
The main thing you see is the gross disparity between teams. Our wage budget for the year was $25k, and we were 21st in the league. Top were Arlesey at $130k. Wow. They had the 'player on more than our whole team'. And beat us 4-1 and 5-1.
Obviously I haven't tested whether promotion or relegation is handled properly yet, but it feels nice here. I hope I can stay.]]>
I added the levels 7 and 8 which means that there are two levels below BSN/S - 3 regional premier leagues and 3 regional first divisions. I was going to start in the regional first division. But who to choose? Which team would a somewhat geeky engineer want to play as?

Season 1 - 2011/12 - Romulus - Evo-Stik Northern D1S

We're based in North Birmingham. And across the Neutral Zone. Most of the team are on appearance money contracts only, which means no contract at all effectively (they can be signed as free agents at any time) so there's a lot of player churn. We ground share with Sutton Coldfield Town in the same league. The standard of play is obviously pretty low, but better than I am. Except perhaps at GK.

We were very close to the relegation zone most of the season but then got much better in the last few games and climbed to a respectable 9th.

We had some luck in the cups:
FA Trophy prelim - Ramsgate 4-1 (h)
FA Trophy R1 - Wealdstone 0-1 (h)
FA Cup prelim - Boldmere 2-1 (a)
FA Cup Q1 - Whitehawk 1-2 (h)
Doodson Sports Cup R1 - Leek 1-0 (a)
Doodson Sports Cup R2 - Grantham 4-2 (h)
Doodson Sports Cup R3 - FC United 2-1 (a, aet)
Doodson Sports Cup R4 - Mossley 2-1 (h)
Doodson Sports Cup QF - Nantwich 3-2 (h, aet)
Doodson Sports Cup SF - Chorley 0-2 (a, aet)
Birmingham Senior Challenge Cup R1 - Alvechurch 1-0 (a)
Birmingham Senior Challenge Cup R2 - Tividale 3-0 (h)
Birmingham Senior Challenge Cup QF - Walsall Reserves 0-1 (a)

P42 W16 D12 L14 +8 9/22

Notable highlight included an attendance of 18 for a league game.


Season 2 - 2012/13 - Romulus - Evo-Stik Southern D1C

Similar sort of season in a new league. Bounced along by the relegation zone but then pulled clear to finish 13th. Lost some quality players (for us) to higher league teams. Signed a Coach but as a GK Coach. Thanks for nothing, UI. He won't renegotiate his contract to something he can actually do, either, so I'm stuck with him for a while. Did manage to sign a decent assman and let him handle the press conferences. And we've apparently started the process of building our own ground. Money is very tight, with average attendance of around 60, so kept well within budget. Even so, the board had to bail us out repeatedly.

No joy in the cups this season.

P42 W14 D14 L14 -3 13/22


Season 3 - 2013/14 - Romulus - Evo-Stik Southern D1C

Moved to a slightly less attacking formation this year and it paid dividends. For some reason things clicked and we were as high as 2nd. But the last 1/3 of the season was horrible, as our form hit the wall and we struggled with suspension and long-term injuries. Fell down to finish a standard 9th.

Had one good cup run and seemed to save our best performances at the end for this rather than the league.

Red Insure Cup R1 - Redditch 1-0 (a)
Red Insure Cup R2 - Thatcham 2-1 (h, aet)
Red Insure Cup R3 - Ware 3-2 (a)
Red Insure Cup QF - Corinthian Casuals 3-2 (h, aet)
Red Insure Cup SF - St Albans 2-1 (a)
Red Insure Cup Final - Weymouth 0-0 (a), 0-3 (h)

Rode our luck many times, but survived to the final with crowds of 4000+ away and 2247 at home (nearly 2000 more than our previous highest!). Only a minor money-maker ultimately.

P42 W19 D8 L15 +4 9/22

Overall these leagues feel OK and a sensible place to start a career. There was a small editing mistake in that the Red Insurance Cup Final had the first leg played into extra time and penalties even though there was a second leg to come. But overall this feels like I'd expect the grass roots to feel.
The main thing you see is the gross disparity between teams. Our wage budget for the year was $25k, and we were 21st in the league. Top were Arlesey at $130k. Wow. They had the 'player on more than our whole team'. And beat us 4-1 and 5-1.
Obviously I haven't tested whether promotion or relegation is handled properly yet, but it feels nice here. I hope I can stay.]]>