The SAF Challenge

I decided to give this a go - as a Leeds United fan, I thought it would be good to beat the enemy!

I started with Cowdenbeath, purely for the reason that their nickname is the quite brilliant "The Blue Brazil".

My starting squad looks like this:



Needs strengthening in some areas to try and achieve the board's ambition of avoiding relegation. We should be okay, been looking desperately for a good goalkeeper but couldn't find one!

I've only been able to finalise one signing for the end of the pre-season friendlies - seventeen year old Ewan Saunderson who is a big one for the future of Cowdenbeath.

Friendlies:



Overall I was quite disappointed with the friendlies, especially losing to Forfar and drawing with Rob Roy - both games we really should have won. I don't have much depth in my squad so tiredness could become an issue and finances are a problem which means I can't sign many back-up players. Hoping for a good season to build my reputation and then maybe move on to another club at the end of the season.

Career Stats

I managed to sign Dean Horribine from Hibernian on loan for the season, which is a good deal as Hibs will be covering his wages. He is our best centre midfielder and should be good for us this season.

It looked like it was going to be a disastrous start to my managerial career when I went 2-0 down to Peterhead in the Challenge Cup within 13 minutes. A Scott Linton wondergoal took it to 2-1 at half time where the players were of course given the hair-dryer treatment! The second half started as bad as the first did - conceding within two minutes. This scoreline stuck until the end, and we were out of the Challenge Cup in the 1st round to Peterhead.

Next up we had Queen's Park in the League Cup 1st round, in front of 255 at Hampden Park for some reason! I was hoping for better in this competition than the Challenge Cup. Again, things didn't start well and we were 1-0 down after 4 minutes. John Armstrong got us back level after 7 minutes with a header from a corner. We then fell behind again to a Michael Keenan goal, some sloppy defending and sloppy goalkeeping at fault for this. Sean Burns again showed up our poor goalkeeping, slotting past Thomas Flynn with ease. 3-1 down after 19 minutes was not a promising start. In the second half we improved and this led to a goal in the 60th minute, Greg Stewart managing to finish a good team move. Lewis Coult then managed to tuck away a 3rd after a good run and pass by Marc McKenzie after 64 minutes. The game was level after 90 minutes after this turnaround and went to extra time. With 9 minutes remaining, some great passing between O'Brien and Ramsay set up Greg Stewart for his second goal of the game which put us through to the second round - a lucky escape.

After these, I looked more onto the loan markets for players who could be good to back up my first team squad, signing Robert Thomson from Dundee United on a loan - his wages again covered by his parent club.

In the League Cup 2nd Round draw, we were drawn away to Livingston.

Mixed feelings about August, far too many goals conceded which was mainly down to poor goalkeeping - a problem I desperately need to resolve. Thomas Flynn played the first three against Peterhead, Queen's Park and Raith and loanee Dan Twardzik stepped in for the next three against Dumbarton, Morton and Livingston where his performance was woeful. Might be time to give third goalkeeper Arnaud Gastal a chance!

Three draws out of three leaves us pretty mid-table. It's still very early but I'd like to get more wins under my belt soon.

Cowdenbeath's John Armstrong has got player of the month for August after three impressive league performances, including one game where the centre-back got two headed goals. The 25 year old has been a rock at defence and, despite his team shipping 6 goals in 3 games, has defended solidly as well as attacking well.

Armstrong has been looked at by bigger clubs such as Falkirk in recent times, however Armstrong seems happy to stay at Central Park.

October was a bit of a mixed bag really, our form seems to have started to pick up towards the end of the month, although we're still conceding too many goals.



That last game against Livingston was a real disappointment not to win, having hit the woodwork four times and had eight corners to Livingston's two.



Here's how the table looks after September:

Good luck mate, you should do well with Cowdenbeath, Lewis Milne is a great young talent, I've signed him twice in my career so far.

Thanks mate. Yeah, Cowdenbeath have a lot of good, young players like Lewis Milne, Dean Brett etc.

Wasn't the worst month we could have had, disappointed to throw away a late lead against Falkirk, conceding twice in the last 10 minutes. The win against Dumbarton was brilliant, although it's a pity we still haven't been able to keep a clean sheet - I need a better goalkeeper.



Doing pretty well in the table considering we're expected to finish 8th.

I've had my first player who's been playing up, Mark Ramsay has asked me to leave and I've told him I will look for a new club for him.

We have drawn Alloa in the third round of the Scottish Cup. I'm hoping for a bit of a cup run to boost our finances a little bit.

November wasn't the best of months for us, Hamilton scored a 91st minute equaliser against us which was hard to take after we dominated the whole game. I wasn't happy getting knocked out of the cup by Alloa, a tie we really should have won. The win against Morton was the best result against Morton. John Armstrong scores a lot of goals considering he's a center back!



Doing well considering the pre-season expectations of avoiding relegation.

Good luck mate!

The only thing better than their nickname is there songs! "there was a coo" and "when the sun shines!"

Cheers, hoping for a good season!



Not heard any songs, but the nickname itself was brilliant!

Very good, unbeaten month here with some impressive results. The win against Raith was impressive for a number of reasons, the main one being that it was our first clean sheet of the season!!

We were very lucky to get anything from the last game against Morton - we were 3-0 down after 28 minutes and somehow managed to come back with the draw!



Well clear of relegation now so looking to build on a good first half to the season with The Blue Brazil!

In transfer news, reserve players Liam Cusack and Jamie Pyper have both been released from their contracts and left the club immediately after no appearances in the first team. Also, French defender Lionel Djebi-Zadi has signed a contract that will start at the beginning of next season, moving from Alloa to Cowdenbeath.

Some expected awards for my unbeaten month:



Greg Stewart won player of the month and Joe Mbu came third.

And manager of the month...



I believe that's 5 points to me!

Poor month. Not much else to say really. My game against Livingston was postponed for a waterlogged pitch so I have a game in hand on everyone.



Mark Ramsay has agreed a move from the club at the end of the season, moving to East Fife.

I've also signed a striker, Louis Longridge, on a 4 week trial to cover the injury of Greg Stewart, who is out for around a month.

Another really disappointing month. Hoping this poor form doesn't drag us down into a relegation battle. The last two games against Falkirk and Raith really shouldn't have been lost - discipline let us down against Falkirk as we played most of the match with nine men with Lewis Milne and Dean Brett sent off. Against Raith we dominated but conceded an 89th minute goal to lose. Hoping for better soon!



Still a good few points clear, but more losses and we could be closed down by those below us.

Another poor month, 3 points from 9. Hoping we can stay away from the play-off place.



David Cowan has rejected a new contract so looks like he will be leaving at the end of the season. Luckily, there's a lot of promising talent coming through in the new intake:



One of the most promising out of these is Liam Courts, perhaps the long term fix to The Blue Brazil's goalkeeper problem!

I've decided to stay at Cowdenbeath for a while longer to build my reputation a bit and to build a good team!

With that win over Airdrie, we have sealed our first division status for next season. Not the best end to the season but we've managed to stay in the division and we can hope for a better, more consisten campaign next season. Hopefully starting with signing a better keeper!!!



The last two games might be important for position to get some more money in the bank - in the financial position we're in, every little bit of money counts and with £10,000 between each position that £10k-20k could be important.

So, the season is over after a great last match:



The table ended like this:



A pretty average first season, but hoping for better next year!

Relegated from SPL: Dundee



Promoted from First Division: Hamilton



Relegated from First Division: Airdrie United AND Dumbarton



Promoted from Second Division: Queen of the South AND Forfar

Quick update on players leaving and joining the club:



A quick run through each player:

Djebi-Zadi: A good left back who can cover at centre back if needed. Signed mainly to cover for Kenny Adamson at LB.

McAlinden: A free loan who can hold things together well in the centre of midfield.

Doris: A good striker who should be a good partner up front for Greg Stewart.

Mills: A seventeen year old left back for the future.

Smith: A striker to cover for the first team, signed on loan until the end of next season.

McNeil: A seventeen year old striker with a promising future.

Taylor: Another promising seventeen year old striker.

Still: An eighteen year old defender with a big future.

Davidson: A centre midfielder who will provide cover for the first team - only nineteen.

Duguid: A good right back to fill the gap left by the departure of Cowan.

Antell: Maybe the solution to my goalkeeping problem for the season.

And players who've departed:



Had to free up a lot of wages which saw a lot of players released or loaned out.

A lot of my promising youngsters also going out on loan to get some experience.

Pre-season friendlies this year were mainly to build cash and a lot of revenue came in from the Celtic, Aberdeen and Everton matches. I was very happy with our performances in these games, despite losing to Celtic and Everton we put in great performances.



Out of the Challenge Cup in the 1st round, going down to Falkirk. We progressed in the League cup however, beating Berwick. Drawn next in the Challenge Cup... Falkirk!

Great start to the league season with the 3-0 win over Livingston and the 2-1 win over Morton. The game against Dunfermline started well with Lewis Milne scoring the opener, however Callum Antell made a mistake in goal and then we conceded an injury time penalty that they scored. I thought we were heading out of the League Cup when we were 2-0 down to Falkirk at half time, however I bought Jack Smith on and he did superb to bring us back level and Dean Brett scored from a corner in the last seconds. Against Partick Thistle we were really poor in the first half and again went in at half time 2-0 down.



You can't tell much from the table just yet, but I'm hoping to steer clear of relegation nice and early and put some points between us and the bottom part of the table.

We have been drawn against SPL side St Mirren in the 3rd round of the League Cup.

A quite superb month. Four wins from four in the league and a very good performance against SPL side St Mirren, sending the game into extra time.

Still not completely fixed our conceding problem, which is down to the goalkeeper and defenders but we're outscoring the opposition which is the important thing. Djebi-Zadi beat his best previous goal return in one game, scoring a marvellous hat-trick all from corners. Other players who have impressed are Greg Stewart. Scott Linton and Lewis Milne.

How the table looks:



Extremely happy with that!

Also, player of the month award:



And manager of the month:



That's me up to 10 points!

Another great month for us, still on this unbeaten run. Would have liked more goals against Morton after we were 3-0 up after 25 minutes but we still got the win in the end.

Here's how the table looks at the end of October:



Looking very good. If we can keep this up we may be looking at promotion into the SPL.

Here's how the awards went:



Very well deserved, been a defensive rock alongside Djebi-Zadi. Those two have really made the two centre-back spots their own.

Manager of the month:



Fifteen points now! I'm coming for you Fergie...

Another unbeaten month, but too many draws in the league to stretch our lead in the table. I was happy with draws with Partick Thistle and Falkirk though, they're sitting in 2nd and 3rd in the table so we stopped them closing on us.



Still top but now only on goal difference.

After two games against Queen of the South in a row, my next match is also against Queen of the South in the Scottish Cup 4th round replay. Win that and a potential game away to SPL side Motherwell is next in the cup.

We're through to the 5th round of the Scottish Cup after a convincing 3-0 win over QotS in the replay. Raith then ended our unbeaten run when we were disappointing away to them, but we carried on our impressive home record in the next four games, however very nearly slipped up against a Dundee side who hadn't won in any competitions since August but we pulled through in the end.



It looks like it's now a three horse race for promotion - between my Cowdenbeath side, Partick Thistle and Falkirk.

Three players have signed new contracts with the club, the most important probably being Lionel Djebi-Zadi who has been superb this season with an average rating of 7.68. He is also 8th in the goalscorer rankings, which I think is remarkable for a defender! Other players signing new deals were Ross Davidson and Thomas Flynn.

In transfer news, we have brought in young goalkeeper Glenn Daniels on a free transfer after his contract at Celtic ran out.

Good win against Partick Thistle and good to avoid defeat to Falkirk, and some brilliantt performances by Lionel Djebi-Zadi that saw him named player of the month.



Still top on goal difference, hoping to win more matches to try and pull away. I was never looking for promotion this year; I told the board I'd achieve a mid-table finish so to be this high up is brilliant.

Promotion would be brilliant for the club because our finances are low and we're losing money each month so need to try and start making a profit from somewhere.

In transfer news, I recieved an offer on deadline day for goalkeeper Thomas Flynn from Raith and decided to accept it because he hadn't been first choice this season and I had other goalkeepers capable of covering, especially after the signing of Glenn Daniels. I also have Arnaud Gastal to come back from loan, as well as young keeper Liam Courts who's doing wonders in the third division on loan at Albion Rovers.

We gave a superb fight against SPL side Motherwell and was gutted when they scored in extra time in the replay, especially when a potential quarter final at Celtic Park was on the cards! We have to now settle on trying to get promotion though. The match against Dundee was disappointing, although we had a lot of first team players needing a rest after the battles with Motherwell so it was understandable. Wins against Raith and Forfar were good and we've stretched the lead at the top of te table to 2 points.



9 games to go and 2 points ahead. This could go down to the wire, or the 29th March where we play Falkirk. That could be the decider.

I came second in manager of the month (I didn't think it was that good a month but ah well!) and Lionel Djebi-Zadi was 3rd in player of the month. He's been a real star since signing from Alloa.