BOT Brad
10 years ago
4 years ago
166
So after losing 21 games worth of progress in my Norwegian save, I have decided to pack that in and move a little closer to home. Stourbridge play their home games at the War Memorial Ground which is around a 10 minute walk from my house, so a bit closer than Norway I suppose.

The Glassboys & Beyond
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/4/45/Stourbridge_FC_Crest.png

Stourbridge Football Club is an English association football club based in the town of Stourbridge, West Midlands. The club currently plays in the Southern League Premier Division. The club were founded in 1876, and play their home games at the War Memorial Athletic Ground. After a 2nd placed finish in the 2012-13 season, Stourbridge were knocked out of the promotion playoffs in the semi-final, in a 2-1 defeat to eventual playoff winners Gosport Borough.

Transfer Budget: £0
Wage Budget: £624pw
Current Wage Total: £624pw (£0 Left)

The Team
https://sortitoutsi.net/uploads/mirrored_images/TElT8nwjLXuJ0V7t8UhUE5dgNKSzTWNa93pzVgIl.png
Definitely need to increase the squad size and get in a few extra faces. Most likely will be loan players as the wage budget (all £624pw of it) is used up. Terminating the 2 highest earners (Louis Harris £200pw & Alex Hickman £100pw) would be too expensive for now, so will probably just let their contracts run and try negotiate lower deals later on, or let them go.

The Expectations
https://sortitoutsi.net/uploads/mirrored_images/HTKtjConidyzNsZt6LvTI4xoKL4Vktfx2nV46DNA.png
A 12th place, solid mid-table finish is expected. I have to admit, I have no idea if that is reasonable, and I am sure we will find out after the first few games.

What Next
Firstly, I plan on getting as many loan players in as possible, probably mostly Kidderminster Harriers players as we have a link with them already.

I will be posting updates hopefully every game-month, with results, the league table and any other interesting topics which crop up.
BOT Brad
10 years ago
4 years ago
166
Well, so much for signing players.

https://sortitoutsi.net/uploads/mirrored_images/im369syd2PgfY9W5AOjFhVn4By0tkH7qb0z7byXG.png

Please don't sack me, please don't sack me, please don't sack me, please don't sack me...
Dan
12 years ago
4 months ago
16,964
Good luck with this mate! Monthly updates are the way forward for these kinda saves I find
BOT Brad
10 years ago
4 years ago
166
Phew, I like this new board, as;
1. They haven't sacked me (yet)
2. They increased the wage budget slightly (From £624pw to £886pw)
3. They have me £18k to spend on transfers, which about 2/3rds was promptly converted into wage budget money!

https://sortitoutsi.net/uploads/mirrored_images/f5JeMiTACSSIQrZZ5LzOHOCzpf8uzkgfty5STf9H.png

So the wage budget is now a whopping £3,821pw!, with £5.5k left for paying agent fees, etc.
Obviously I doubt I will go ahead and fill this wage budget, as we would be losing far too much money each week. I plan on hitting the £1,500pw or so limit and stopping there. The new chairman has also invested £90k into the club, so running at £1.5k a week, we will be at around £80k total cost for the year in terms of wages. Hopefully some good cup runs will help offset this balance, but I really want to take advantage of this new-found 'wealth' to try and get as far as possible while it remains.
BOT Brad
10 years ago
4 years ago
166
Friendlies
https://sortitoutsi.net/uploads/mirrored_images/GnnJXd4qN15pPw2iFrFfpN103hN34yVrwU45vrpY.png

2 wins, 3 draws & 2 losses. Overall not great, but not bad either. We conceded 1 goal exactly in every game, which is astounding when you think we only just signed a goalkeeper, so Luke Benbow (a striker) was playing in goal, but the defense is almost entirely composed of new players, so will also take time to gel together.

Signings
https://sortitoutsi.net/uploads/mirrored_images/4Hkh7tAsgsuqUAVujsT5B34ixCORX7ZBH9MdbYwb.png
A lot of new players injected into the squad thanks to the increased wage budget (Currently using £1,879pw now, a bit more than I planned but oh well ).

So here is the team heading into the new season.
https://sortitoutsi.net/uploads/mirrored_images/c6Xo5amQwU6vddzcqqvG1GIn0p2TZIzob69JJPJp.png
I am happy with the squad balance, and am going with a 4-1-2-1-2 as it suits the players quite well. I don't plan on signing any more players as the wage total is already a little higher than I wanted, but we made a bit of cash from the friendlies which should cover the extra ~£390 a week (£20k pa) plus we are due to play in quite a few cup competitions also...
BOT Brad
10 years ago
4 years ago
166
August 2013
https://sortitoutsi.net/uploads/mirrored_images/81c4Fh8eF65LmhtAbj9hGn6ttnPMJH1kEmkzXMqT.png

An opening day defeat to Totton was fully deserved. The players were quite obviously still not quite on board with the new 4-1-2-1-2 tactic, and despite holding out until ht at 0-0, we conceded 2 quick goals in the 49th and 55th minutes of the game, and despite a good last 10 minutes, the game was lost.

With just 3 games until the St. Neots game, I decided to scrap the 4-1-2-1-2 and go with the standard 4-4-2 which the team were more comfortable with, despite having no true RM or LM players. It worked wonders, with 2 early goals from new signing Hicham Abdellah, before a 3rd from Ryan Mattos culminated in a solid 3-0 win.

The Chesham game saw me stay with the 4-4-2. A much closer game, with each team having about 10 shots on target, however clinical finishing was the order of the day, with 2 first half goals sealing a 2-0 win, but on another day it could have easily been the other way around.

Going to Redditch away was something of a respite, as they were bottom of the league at this point with 2 losses and a draw. I decided to go with the 4-1-2-1-2, and boy did it pay off. A scrappy 1st half finished 1-1, with neither side really able to get on top. Second half was undoubtedly the best half we have played so far this season. 66% possession, and almost every shot we took looked destined for the net. A superb win despite Redditch being pretty awful.

A bit of a break before the next game allowed the 4-1-2-1-2 tactic become much more familiar, and it showed against Bedford. A fantastic hat-trick from Hicham Abdellah sealed a 4th consecutive win. The game was pretty close, and we only had 4 shots on target all game compared to Bedford's 6. A good away win, despite Bedford being 2nd bottom from the league, they gave us a tougher game than Redditch.

The Table
https://sortitoutsi.net/uploads/mirrored_images/APwXd5aH248daEGbAauQzmC5oWY5QZHsy8WjReAT.png
And we are top! Admittedly, Cambridge have a game in hand, but 12 points from 5 games is a great start to the season, but there is still a long way to go!
Dan
12 years ago
4 months ago
16,964
Made a very good start here mate!
BOT Brad
10 years ago
4 years ago
166
September 2013
https://sortitoutsi.net/uploads/mirrored_images/kHaKEQtPSnCxWUUUrRmwnYagiQ9hsMDKMz1BKtSD.png

So after the good opening month, September saw us play 4 league games and a FA Cup 1st Qualifying game.

First up were Chippenham, who had lost their last 2 games after going 3 wins in a row to start the season. An early penalty, and then a great counter-attack from a corner saw us 2-0 up in the first quarter of an hour. We crumbled a little 2nd half and conceded a penalty of our own on 74 minutes. Some good defending saw us hold onto the narrow win.

Next up was a home tie against Burnham, who were sitting 10th with 2 wins from 7. The supporters only need have turned up for the first 38 seconds, as Ryan Mattos scored a great individual goal from kick-off to put us 1-0 ahead. And then basically nothing else happened for the remaining 89 minutes, with only 4 shots for BOTH teams for the rest of the game. Oh well, a win's a win!

Now we hit the FA Cup 1st Qualifiying Round. We had been drawn at home against Daventry Town, a team below us in the Calor Southern Division 1, where they currently sat in 16th out of 22. Annoyingly, we dominated the entire game, but went in 0-0 at half-time. Some motivational words were said ("Come on for fuck's sake!", and we promptly conceded 2 goals in about 8 seconds straight from the restart. Despite then re-dominating for the rest of the 2nd half, we only got 1 goal and promptly got dumped out the FA Cup before we had even bloody really entered the thing.

After the humiliation of losing the last game, I wanted to get back to winning ways in the league. An aggressive approach to the next game, away against Hungerford was necessary. We were really struggling for the first 40 minutes and just as the ref was about to blow for half-time, their centre-mid scores a ridiculous shot from about 35 yards out. Another motivational speech at half-time saw us managed to nick a goal in the 2nd half, despite being 2nd best for the entire game, and take a somewhat lucky point.

The last game of the month saw us travel to St. Albans. They had dropped into 20th place and in the relegation zone, so I decided to try and dominate from the start. It worked, as we forced an own-goal on the half hour mark, before Broadhurst scored in his 3rd straight game around 10 minutes later. We went a little more defensive 2nd half as St. Albans tried to come back into the game, but their awful finishing meant we left with a clean sheet and the 3 points.

The Table
https://sortitoutsi.net/uploads/mirrored_images/RvMBGsyHUciUc1Si6ynKkQhxi06hMMs9OuYdThl1.png
Still top, and a bit of breathing space now as we are 5 points clear.
BOT Brad
10 years ago
4 years ago
166
October 2013
https://sortitoutsi.net/uploads/mirrored_images/Qd9tEQqRkToT8vmUVBuSApg4SVz3mXqXCKG561wZ.png

Following a great start to the season, and unbeaten since the opening day, a bumper package of 9 games, of which 5 were league games, and the rest cup games...

First up were Corby at home who were lingering in the lower mid-table. Yet another scrappy, boring game was interrupted by Abdellah sticking the ball in the back of the net on 22 minutes, but aside from that there was virtually nothing else of note. I'll take it!

Just 3 days after, a trip to Evesham, a team in the league below was on the cards. A pretty drab first half was followed by a pretty interesting second, where we went 1-0 up 2 minutes into the half. A penalty for Evesham just 3 minutes later was missed, and then in the same passage of play, we gave another penalty away! They subsequently scored this time, but within 10 minutes we were back infront, only to suffer the agony of late goal against, forcing a replay.

The replay was played on the following Wednesday, but we forgot to turn up. 1-0 down after 20 minutes, we nicked a fortunate goal on 32, but they were almost immediately back infront and scored late into the 2nd half to take a 3-1 win, and knock us out of another cup competition.

Following this, we had a lovely trip to arguably the best team in the league, Cambridge City (apart from us ). We were leading 2-0 going into the second half, but had struggled to control the game. This showed after the break, with Cambridge pegging us back to 2-2. Fearing the worst, I admit we went pretty defensive from the 70th minute onwards, but it worked and the rest of the game was a snoozefest. Good away draw.

Next in town were Redditch in the Red Insure Cup 1st Rnd, a team we had already beaten comprehensively away from home. However, they put up a good fight this time, but we went 2-0 up before they remembered they could shoot on-target. We just about had enough about us to keep them out 2nd half, and we finally won a cup game, HOORAY!

Poole Town came into the game just outside the play-off spots, and that's where they remained following a late, late goal to seal all 3 points. Yet another boring as hell game with only 3 shots on target all game.

A trip to Burton, to take on the Burton U21's was next on the cards, in the Birmingham Senior Challenge Cup, a competition I think we can win. 1-1 at the break, they dominated second half, but couldn't find the back of the net, but Mr. Broadhurst showed them where it was with a late goal to take the win. A very credible result!

To finish the month, we had Frome and Chippenham in the league, at home & away respectively. Another bore fest v Frome, where Frome played very defensively all game and limited us to 5 shots on target, of which we converted 2. They scored a consolation with virtually the last kick of the game. Chippenham are another decent team, yet they hadn't won in 3, and had dropped out the playoff spots too. They were low on morale and fitness, and it showed as we cruised to a 3-0 win.

The Table
https://sortitoutsi.net/uploads/mirrored_images/AOOoVtyJpD1gczOzeEMMrhHJlhCLx0tNhVC4XPBR.png
Shear domination in the league, and unbeaten in 13 league game, with 11 wins in that run. Manager of the Month in both September & October too!
Dan
12 years ago
4 months ago
16,964
Good to see you top and flying chap!
BOT Brad
10 years ago
4 years ago
166
Good to see you top and flying chap!


Cheers. Having a lot of fun with this save so far, plus we have somehow made a small profit so far this season, even with a £2,000pw wage bill! No mean feat this far down the pyramid.
BOT Brad
10 years ago
4 years ago
166
November 2013
https://sortitoutsi.net/uploads/mirrored_images/T764hB99wJ4U3X5SaGNVYe0148DVHzPwIB4xc9L2.png
A rather comprehensive home win versus Hungerford to open the month, with Ryan Mattos grabbing a hat-trick, and becoming the leading scorer in the league.

A tricky away tie against Burnham followed. 2-1 up with our own late goal from Broadhurst, but a late free-kick conceded was eventually bundled into our net following a melee in the box.

Two rather comfortable wins over St. Albans in the Red Insure Cup 2nd Round, and Truro in the league saw us extend our lead in the league, and also advance in the Red Insure Cup....whatever that is.

A very scrappy away win over Romulus in the Birmingham Senior Challenge Cup 2nd Round followed, where we definitely rode our luck at times. Our keeper Dominic Comrie who has been great so far got injured right at the end, and was out for the last 3 games of the month.

Another scrappy 1-0 away win at Bideford, and although we don't really play amazing football, we do have a bloody good knack of grinding out wins regardless of if we dominate or get dominated.

However, we were brought back down to Earth after a 1-0 loss to Biggleswade Town, which ended our 17-game league unbeaten run. To be fair they are the other 'form team' of the division, and are on their own 6-game winning run.

Finally, a home 'banker' against Weymouth ended in a comfortable 3-0 win. It could have been 6 or 7.

The Table
https://sortitoutsi.net/uploads/mirrored_images/pRFKFvj5DyJxi6B8OncEgLNegO4aavny7gLSTRFM.png
It seems no other team is able to put a run of results together like we did, but Cambridge are theoretically only 6 points behind if they win all their games in hand, which they probably won't.
BOT Brad
10 years ago
4 years ago
166
December 2013
https://sortitoutsi.net/uploads/mirrored_images/QMuY7pFmKTBdXzGthTMSZapcLMsmpWKPKMh30w8r.png
Postponements across the league saw 2 of our games called off, so we have even more fixture pile-up next month which is great.

A shocking 2-1 loss to mid-table Bashley shows how our confidence dropped following the defeat to bloody Biggleswade last month. We went in level at the break, and despite playing well in the second half, we couldn't find another goal, and got hit with a sucker punch in the 81st minute to inflict our 3rd defeat of the season.

Arlesey were next, another middle-of-the-pack team. We played pretty poorly, which fortunately wasn't reflected in the scoreline as we rode out 2-1 winners. Their midfielder's own goal was bloody hilarious. We drifted a cross into the box, their defender headed it out, only for their midfielder on the edge of the box to attempt a backpass to the keeper, but he hit it a bit too hard, and produced a thunderous effort into the bottom corner.

Next were Bedford, and yet again another poor display, but 3 points. We played well for about 10 minutes from the 30th to the 40th minute, and we scored 2 goals in that time. They scored shortly after the 2nd goal but we rode our luck a little, and with thanks to some shoddy finishing from their strikers, managed to take the win.

Hemel Hempstead away was a game I was dreading. They were 7th in the league, but they have some good players as almost all my scouts ever seem to do is tell me how good their players are, and that I should sign them all. It might surprise you when I say the game was fucking boring as hell, with about 3 shots on goal all game. Abdellah scored a scrappy goal at the start of the game, but nothing else happened all afternoon. 3 points, whatever.

Next we play St. Neots, a team we beat 3-0 before. So obviously we go and lose. We played ok first half, and were 1-0 at the break. But second half we were atrocious, and conceded 3 goals in 25 minutes to record our 4th defeat of the campaign.

To be honest our play has noticably dipped since our streak ended. It's just a little fortunate that we had that streak to put us so far ahead in the first place, and that we have still ground out some wins that we need.

The League
https://sortitoutsi.net/uploads/mirrored_images/8Ury1QIMZepNS7sjHky0kt4m11W1Tm3859UHctxS.png
Again, although 57 points from 25 games is a good return, we also can thank the fact that no other team seems to win more than a few games in a row for our current position.
lemmiwinksrm
13 years ago
3 weeks ago
263
Premium
Enjoying reading this - which download are you using for the leagues?
BOT Brad
10 years ago
4 years ago
166
Enjoying reading this - which download are you using for the leagues?


Thanks . I am using THIS downloaded through Steam Workshop. It runs great, aside from the first few rounds of the FA Cup Qualifying taking bloody ages to process through!
BOT Brad
10 years ago
4 years ago
166
January 2014
https://sortitoutsi.net/uploads/mirrored_images/qqahTPQTIFM9DjxEFQz5LEXl8ZiKJs4LaorRY6e4.png
The league's whipping boys Banbury were easily dispatched 2-0 away, especially as they had 2 players sent off in the first half, making my job easier, but how did we not win by more than 2 goals?

Aylesbury in the Red Insure Cup 3rd Round were also easily beaten. Mattos with 4 goals just to take the biscuit as well as he has a high goal bonus.

Next were Truro away, who had somehow ventured into playoff contention. They gave us a decent game, and despite being the first 0-0 of the season, it was actually a good game with us having 17 shots on target...without scoring. Should have won in all honesty. Sean Geddes sprained his ankle and is out for 2 months though, my first real injury longer than a week.

Another cup game, this time in the Birmingham Senior Challenge Cup Quarter-Final. AFC Wulfrunians were the unlucky team who faced us, and the game was pretty comfortable. Two up early on, and despite a goal straight after we scored our 3rd, they never really threatened again.

Back in the league, and Bideford at home were our next victims. Or so I thought. They BATTERED us. 1-0 to them makes it sound respectable, but they took us to bits and could have won by 4 or 5. Our best rated player finished the game with a 6.1 rating. Our right-back James Dyson finished with 4.2.

Next up were Redditch for the 8th time this season (or so it felt). Again, for some reason I still can't quite put my finger on, we were attrocious! A comedy own-goal and a late goal from our centre-half earned us a point, but we were poor!

And finally, the bloody Biggleswade bastards came and robbed us. We played much better this game, as I switched to a more conservative 4-2-2-2 to try something different. It worked (kind of), as we dominated possession and should have been winning at half-time. After the break they came into the game more and more and scored a goal with only their 3rd shot on-target in the 88th minute. I hate Biggleswade Town.

The League
https://sortitoutsi.net/uploads/mirrored_images/mIG73eH3dZ24zjp4ZNq03Lmwhjex6UOR0ARGmo8f.png
Still top, but dropped a fair few points and others are catching up. A poor month for us in terms of the league, as we won 1, drew 2 and lost 2. 5 points from 5 games, not great.

Transfers
No signings or sales. Only Sean Geddes is out for the next month or so, but we have plenty of cover in midfield.
BOT Brad
10 years ago
4 years ago
166
February 2014
https://sortitoutsi.net/uploads/mirrored_images/WPwKMyj0cXWzS8PChzYCV5CyQPR5mb1f0lXfvT7w.png

So a trip to Weymouth, who were in 21st. We looked good for the first 45 minutes, then we looked like relegation fodder second half as we surrendered our 1-0 lead to eventually lose 2-1...

The Red Insure Cup 4th Round game against St. Neots was a tricky game, as they were now 2nd in the league and on a good run, and we were well out of form. It shows, as we got spanked 3-0.

Next up were Bashley, a decent team who have scored a lot of goals for a mid-table team. Fortunately we played quite well, and I was getting frustrated we hadn't scored, until Haworth scored right at the death to take all 3 points. Much needed.

Arlesey away was a tough ask, but another decent performance, but the goals have really dried up. Earlier in the season we would have won this 3-1, but I will take 1-1 for now.

The 0-0 against Hitchin was a non-event, so I'm not even going to talk about it.

A close game in the Worcestershire sauce Senior Invitation Cup against Kidderminster Harriers U21's saw us eventually nick a goal in the 117th minute during extra-time. We are in the final of a competition (how?!?).

Birmingham U21's were pretty good, and the 1-2 loss is probably a little favourable to us, as they carved us open quite frequently. We were close to the final though!

The Table
https://sortitoutsi.net/uploads/mirrored_images/phieuJffpVK6i60R4c8JDv09BlGrjJeZ3VDS6sSe.png
We are slowly limping over the finishing line of a 100m race with about 30m to go it feels like. Just 5 points between us and St. Neots who are in great form. We really need to find some consistency.
I'm starting to feel like the 17-match unbeaten run earlier in the season was some sort of hallucination I had.
Dan
12 years ago
4 months ago
16,964
February was a bit of a poor month but running away with it chap!
BOT Brad
10 years ago
4 years ago
166
March 2014
https://sortitoutsi.net/uploads/mirrored_images/6U3H7CTmOCGyBQx9QSGq9P6V7xuEaILeRUpXFaSH.png
So a trip to Poole Town to open the month. The highest scorers in the league, I decided to just try and nick a point. It was going well, as Mattos scored an early goal and Poole struggled. A goal for Poole on 68 minutes turned the game on it's head though, and Poole were now well on top. In typical fashion, we conceded a late penalty and it was promptly converted for a 2-1 defeat.

Next were Hemel Hempstead at home. We were dreadful, and were 2-0 down at half-time. Although better in the second, we could only nick a scrappy goal late on and still ended in defeat.

St. Albans was now a must-win game, and win we did. Abdellah with a glorious chip over the keeper sealed an important 3 points.

A tricky away game against Corby ended in a pretty unlucky 2-1 loss. We were controlling the game and both their goals came on counter-attacks. A late goal to level the game was disallowed, which resulted in some verbals aimed at the linesman.

Next up were Cambridge City, a team flirting on the edge of the playoff places. A rather drab first-half was contrasted with a second filled with chances. We struck first with a bullet header from Haworth in the 79th minute, but straight from the restart they got a half-chance and their striker managed to clip the ball of the inside of the post and in. I'll take the point!

Finally, Frome away was a game I was more than prepared to take a point from. They had won their last 2 games, against St. Neots & Poole Town, both decent sides. So obviously we go and thrash them 4-0. Abdellah with a 11 minute hat-trick, and then Haworth with a typical bullet header secured a vital 3 points.

The Table
https://sortitoutsi.net/uploads/mirrored_images/bXqonWLZH3A9GFjv9a2TH9JVawT1YUGxn0rt8dpW.png
Yet another poor month. We stay top for now, although most sides have a game in hand on us. We have 4 games left in the league, v Totton, v Banbury (who are now relegated), @ Chesham and then @ Hitchin on the final day. We also have the Worcestershire Senior Cup final against Worcester U21's too inbetween the Chesham & Hitchin games. It's tense!
Dan
12 years ago
4 months ago
16,964
Its going to be a tight run in for you chap, sure you'l come out on tpp though
BOT Brad
10 years ago
4 years ago
166
April 2014
https://sortitoutsi.net/uploads/mirrored_images/lQJGMMbz42RC9T4SC1d0ApMseAuXJEnva076U3Yc.png
We needed a good month, and boy did we do it!
A comfortable 3-0 win over Totton was well deserved, and Banbury proved little competition with an easy 2-0 win.

We were now 3 points clear, knowing that if we were to beat Chesham, we were virtually guaranteed the league as we had superior goal difference. We went 1-0 down within 7 minutes, but 3 late 1st half goals sealed a great 3-1 win. And what's better was that Biggleswade lost, meaning the league was won with a game in hand!

The pressure was off now, and we went into the Worcestershire Senior Cup full of confidence. Despite riding our luck, we rode out 1-0 winners to win a cup along with the league!

The final game against Hitchin was irrelevant, and we just coasted through the game and eventually lost 3-1, but I couldn't care less!

We are heading for the Skrill North/South, woop!

Table
https://sortitoutsi.net/uploads/mirrored_images/QMRkAGbaEAMHZYRWHWWAaAt3hVOgGPYcWFvu6NmN.png
We did it in the end, pulling our socks up and just about managing to win the league. Cambridge also got promoted via the playoffs, as they dumped Hemel Hempstead out on penalties, before doing the same against St. Neots.
Dan
12 years ago
4 months ago
16,964
Well done buddy! A massive leap forward
BOT Brad
10 years ago
4 years ago
166
Typical! The version of the edited DB I was using has a couple of crunching bugs when advancing into the 2014-15 season, and so despite now being in the Skrill South, only 1 team got relegated so the Skrill has expanded to 24 teams, and all the fixtures are messed up. If the thread could be closed please! I will probably start a new long-term save towards the end of the month once exams are done and dusted.

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