Better the second time around?

The past few decades have been a tough time to endure for the claret and blue half of Birmingham, The inside of the trophy cabinet is scarcely visible to to all the dust and cob webs which have accumulated since Villa's finest moment in 1982 when they triumphed over Bayern Munich to lift the European cup in Rotterdam. The following season they went on to defeat Barcelona for the European Super cup. Unfortuantly for the Villans their fortunes took a sharp downturn shortly afterwards and found themselves relegated just four years later.
Although they were founding members of the Premier League Villa have yet to win England's top prize in it's current incarnation, In fact they have not won a thing since beating Leeds 3-0 for the 1996 Coca-Cola cup unless the Intertoto cup is counted.

Things were looking up under Martin O'Neill who brought in a clutch of exciting talent including Ashley Young and James Milner which helped Villa to two Wembley appearances in 2009/10 where they were narrowly beaten by Manchester United in the Carling Cup final and then by Chelsea in the FA cup semi final, After O'Neill quit on the eve of the 2010/11 season Villa have found themselves regress at an alarming rate, Gerrard Houillier had to quit for health reasons leading to the appointment of former Birmingham manager Alex McLeish which provoked furious fan protests outside Villa park as the Scot had not only come from the arch enemy across the city but overseen their relation despite winning the Carling Cup that season.
Villa narrowly survived relegation themselves in 2011/12, leading to American owner Randy Learner sacking McLeish, Which brings us nicely to the present....

Objective

2012/13 - Remove some of the crap McLeish and Paul Lambert have signed as well as the players who are earning far more than their worth. and bring in some experience to give squad some backbone. Aim for a top ten finish.
2013/14 - Push for the Europa League places
2014-onward - Begin to try and mold Vila into a top Premiership side and do what O'Neill failed to do in qualifying for the Champions League.

The Squad


GK

Shay Given: The most capped Irish international of all time, Given is a reliable goalkeeper, his wealth of experience perhaps gives him the edge over the up and coming Guzan, but to be honest there isn't much to choose between them, as Given isn't what he used to be. He is on a rather high 52k per week, and on top of that is contracted until after his 40th birthday.

Brad Guzan: The American is paid less than a third as much as his rival for the No.1 jersey, but in terms of ability is more or less equal. He returned to the club in the summer after initially being released at the end of last season. At 27 years old and with 20 international caps under his belt he is hardly inexperienced either.

Benjamin Siegrist: The Swiss youngster has been at the club since he was 16, and could one day make an able No.2 one day, but he is unlikely to ever be good enough to be a serious first teamer.


RB

Alan Hutton: Hutton was a McLeish signing last summer from Spurs. He is average at best, and you would expect more for 45k per week. His poor positioning and marking make him a liabilty defensively, though he is relatively strong going forward.

Matthew Lowton: Plucked out of League One obscurity this summer by Paul Lambert, Lowton is certainly outstanding for a League One player, trouble is he is now a Premier League player. He is slightly more defensively sound than Hutton, but a little less of threat going forward. At least he is on sensible wages, and has some potential to expand into

Eric Lichaj: He is not Premier League standard and never will be despite being a US international.


LB

Stephen Warnock: A similar story to Hutton at RB, Warnock is an average player earning more than he should. He has been at the club for 3 years now and has had a mixed time, he went from being in the 2010 England World Cup squad, to playing in the reserves under Gerard Houllier.

Joe Bennett: Another Lambert summer signing, Bennett is not ready for Premier League football, though he does have to potential to one day get there. Would be ideal for a loan spell in the Championship if he wasn't the second best LB at the club.

Edna Stevens: He was signed from Shamrock Rovers last January, but already looks unlikely to ever make the grade, there is little doubt he is more suited to Championship level football.


CB

Ron Vlaar: Vlaar is a Lambert signing, and possibly his best. The Dutch international is a good all round CB without an obvious weakness, he is excellent in the air and comfertable with the ball at his feet. He is also one the outstanding candidates for the vacant captincy, despite his recent arrival at the club.

Richard Dunne: Own goal machine Dunne is 32, injured at the start of the game, and one of the clubs top earners on 55k per week. But he is also pretty good, and could potentially form a solid partnership with Vlaar, though his lack of pace is a serious concern.

Ciaran Clark: The 22 year old youth academy product is developing into a solid Premier League player, his versatility is a real bonus, he can play at LB or in midfield, but is most comfertable at CB. Given enough playing time he could turn into a real asset.

Nathan Baker: Baker is another academy product and could develop into a decent Premier League player, though he is not ready yet he may suffice as back up.

CM

Karim El Ahmadi: Another good signing that Lambert has made during the summer, the Morrocan international is throughly dependable in a deep lying playmaker role. He is very good technically, but his tackling can let him down.

Stephen Ireland: Ireland can be a very good footballer, if he wants to be. He is another of the club's top earners, but if I can get the best out of him he may well prove to be worth the money. His excellent off the ball, composure, and anticipation stats mean that he is potentially a serious goal threat if played behind a lone striker.

Fabian Delph: At 22 years of age Delph is now in danger of not fulling his significant potential. Delph's problem is that he is a bit light weight for the centre of midfield at this level, He could make a decent deep lying playmaker, though he isn't a good enough passer for my liking and pace is his best asset, so I may try to develop him into a box-to-box player.

Barry Bannan: A very similar story to Delph, Bannan is an academy product, with the potential to be a decent player at the top level. If its possible Bannan is even more light weight than Delph, and so, although he is naturally a central midfield player, I think he has more of a future on the left wing. He is technically quite good.

Gary Gardner: Craig's brother is another academy product with the potential to become a first team player. He is a bit of a blank canvas in the sense that he is fairly well rounded with plenty of potential to grow into, so I should be able to shape him into whatever kind of midfielder I want, and he could be rather good.

Chris Herd: The Aussie is yet another one from the academy, he has great mental stats and is pretty versatile, so he could be decent as back up, though he just doesn't have the technical ability to ever really establish himself in the top league.

Ashley Westwood: Not one of Lambert's better signings from this summer's window, Westwood is better suited to Championship football, and is unlikely to have much of a role in the team.


AMR/L

Brett Holman: Alex McLeish's final contribution to the club was the signing Aussie Holman on a free transfer. He is a workhorse of a player, and will put in a shift if nothing else. Technically he is far from excellent, but he should do as a stop gap, I can look to replace him in the medium term.

Charles N'Zogbia: McLesih spent around £10m on the Frenchman last summer and he has been somewhat of a flop, he is undoubtedly talented but equally undoubtedly unreliable. If I can get the best out of him he is a potential asset, but that may well prove to be a big if, on top of that he is another of those players who is most probably overpaid.

Mark Albrighton: Another academy product with decent potential. Albrighton should thrive with a target man such as Christian Benteke as he is a good crosser of the ball. He is also a hard worker, though he lacks the yard of pace neccesary to become a real top winger.


ST

Darren Bent: Bent is the club's highest paid player, he is also, suitably, one of the best. Given the right service Bent should score goals, his high Anticipation and Off the Ball stats make him a real threat in the box. However he won't create many goals for himself or others.

Gabby Agbonlahor: Clinical he is not, he will miss plenty of one on ones. He can be deadly though, he is strong, and very very quick, Perfect for counter attacking football.

Christian Benteke: The last of Lambert's summer signings, the Belgian international has all the ingredients needed to develop into a quality target man, he is a decent finisher and can score plenty of goals in a poacher role as well.

Andreas Wiemann: The Austrian is potentially a decent poacher type striker, but he will need game time to develop so a loan move may well be on the cards.

There is no transfer money at all to spend so I will have to sell to buy, The problem is I only have a handful of players who are worth any decent amount of money, Darren Bent could fetch £15M or so but I can't see us been able to replace him with anyone of an equal of better quality. Stephen Ireland and N'Zogbia are more preferable options as is Agbonlahor if anyone will take him.

Wish me luck!

Here's a closer look at the club and it's facility's...




With such good facilities we should be able to produce some more high quality youngsters which will be my highest priority.

Our pre-season kicks off against Dutch side Den Haag before travelling to Germany for a three game tour there and returning home for a game with Valencia.

Tough challenge with villa loved the squad review at the start good luck !!!!

Pre-season has gone reasonably well, we suffered only one defeat and that was an injury time goal to Valencia.


The 7-2 win over Den Haag was a particular highlight, Darren Bent had secured his hat-trick within ten minutes which was encouraging, Unfortunatly he then failed to score again in any of the other games.

Transfer wise I have moved to trim the fat in my squad, Several no hopers have been moved on as well as big money players such as Alan Hutton and Stephen Ireland...


Incoming I am not finished yet, there are still several positions I want to strengthen, Here's a look at the new faces so far...


Nigel returns to Villa Park after being released by Alex McLeish when he took over, The tough tackling midfielder spent last season with Bolton Wanderers but was released as a cost cutting measure following the Trotters's relegation. He his just the sort of robust and hard working player that I want to add some steel to my team.


Another hardworking lad who is also quite technically gifted and shall provide a useful option in midfield.


Signed on loan from Shakhtar for the season with the option to buy for £3.5M should I so choose. Thomas is a solid full back who continues my theme of adding hard working and brave players to compliment the young whipper-snappers in my squad.

As I mentioned there are still targets I want to snap up before the window shuts, Wigan's Gary Caldwell is currently top of my list, Moves for Blackpool's exciting starlet Thomas Ince and a Villa Park return for Peter Crouch are also possible if I can shift Charles N'Zogbia and/or Gabriel Agbonlahor.

I shall receive a baptism of fire in my first competitive game as Villa manager as we travel to the Emirates to face Arsenal before Everton visit Villa Park the following week. We then travel to New York!...New York Stadium, Rotherham to be exact for a Capital One Cup tie, A competition we shall be taking seriously in a bid to give Villa's long suffering fans something to cheer at last.

My first game in charge of the Villan's ended in defeat, There was however some signs of encouragement as we played reasonably well, Particularly in the first half....


I set up stall with a formation designed for counter attacking football which held well until Giroud eventually managed to penetrate our stubborn defence...


All three of my new players impressed me, Reo-Coker and Hubersman were solid in defense and Janssen created several chances for Darren Bent. Unfortunately as you can see from my subs bench the squad is still threadbare with Gabby Agbonlahor, Richard Dunne, Marc Albrighton, Carles N'Zogbia, Christian Benteke and Joe Bennett all out injured for at least a month or so, causing me to heavily rely on untested academy players. I will hopefully be able to add a new player or two before the visit of Everton next week.

i remember playing as villa last season, but i focused on the younger side of things and had a great young team trying to pull through the ranks, good luck with this

August 2012

After the aforementioned defeat to Arsenal we welcomed Everton to Villa Park for my first home game in charge and although we didn't manage to take all three points the players did put on a good performance and were unfortunate not to win...


There doesn't see much point in print screening the league table after just two games but for anyone who is interested we are 18th at the moment with the one point on the board, Hopefully we can take that tally to four against Fulham next.

Following Everton we made the trip to Rotherham for our League cup tie with the Millers which after ten minutes was threatening to go horribly wrong...

In fact the League Two side could have been several goals ahead by half time if not for some sharp goalkeeping by Brad Guzan, My decision to rest most of our big names looked to be a disastrous one. Thankfully we made it to the interval without any further embaresment and I was able to give my team the kick up the arse they needed to but the Yorkshire side back in their place.
Andy Weimann's rather speculative effort from 25 yards somehow found it's way past Rotherham keeper Andy Warrington to pull us level, It wasn't long before debutante Graham Burke put us into the lead when the Irish U21 was on hand to sweep home a cross from Fabien Delph. The 18 year old looks a bright prospect.
Weimann's second goal more or less made sure of the result before Ciaran Clarke put the icing on the cake late on. In addition to Graham Burke there were also professional debuts for striker Callum Robinson and winger Jack Grealish, aged 17 and 16 respectively as well as first start for Jordan Graham (17) although he did come off the bench late on against Everton.
We were later drawn to face West Ham at home in the next round.

Deadline day saw us make moves for several players, Although I was unable to broker a deal for my #1 target Gary Caldwell. Here's who I did manage to snare....

An exciting young Swiss international who arrives from FC Basel for £4M, My eventual aim is to sell Charles N'Zogbia once he has recovered fro injury, I think Stocker will be a more than worthy replacement for the lazy Frenchman.


Admittedly Kyrgiakos was not my first, or even second choice in strengthening my back line, However when I was unable to get Gary Caldwell or Ryan Shawcross I took a punt on the the 33 year old former Liverpool man. He is still an active Greek international and is brick wall at the back, He lacks speed but that can be compensated for if I partner him with Ciaran Clarke. Initially he is on a season long loan but I have the option to sign him for £150k if he impresses.

__________________________________________________________________________



Thank you, keep reading!



Thanks mate, I shall be making use of the club's youth system in the long term but for now I want to toughen up and make them an intimidating team to face, I'm not going to turn them into a new Stoke City but try and give Villa the backbone they have lacked in recent years.

League wise September proved to be a fairly good month for us, defeat to Fulham was atoned for with our first win of the campaign at Sunderland and a point against Manchester United courtesy of a brilliant fight back.
Unfortunately our League cup hopes were dashed rather cruelly by West Ham despite us being dominant throughout.


I was hoping we would pick up our first victory of the league campaign at Craven Cottage however my defense's inability to get to grips with Berbatov or the insatiable Petric cost us dear. Full credit to Fulham they were the better side by a million miles.


Much better! We controlled the play well and could have won by more, Still I'm quite happy just to take the narrow victory. A massive relief to get that all important first win.


When we found ourselves 2-0 down to Man United at half time it seemed more a matter of how many Fergie's men would put past us rather than if we could come back. However Gabby Agbonlahor's goal against the run of play suddenly roused the crowd and indeed the team, Four minutes later Gabby raced clear of the United defense who just couldn't handle his pace, The former England international pulled the ball back for Darren Bent who was never going to miss as he placed the ball past De Gea. From there on it was us who ran the show, Although we didn't quite manage to snatch the points it was still a result to be proud of for sure.


How we managed to lose this League cup tie I will never know, We registered 18 shots on target to West Ham's three, However Christian Benteke who was returning from injury was wasteful with his chances. Former Villain Carlton Cole denied us late equiliser when he blocked former Hammer Nigel Reo-Coker's pile driver on the line to ensure they advanced at our expense.

So after five games we sit in 15th position, Not where we want to be but there have been signs of improvement this month.

October could really kick start our season with games against Wigan, Reading, Southampton and Stoke, All of which are teams I feel we should be aiming to beat.

Decent start mate unlucky against West Ham

really enjoying this story mate especially your high work rate signing policy, making my day go alot faster in work, keep it up!

Couple of things, how long is your Kyrigonous loan? He has stats in the right place but with his age looks like he could suffer a bad stat fall anytime! Also how has Stocker been? When I saw him I wouldn't sign him in spl so wasn't sure if he was PL quality?

Thanks mate, Yeah, I was fuming after that one!


Haha glad your enjoying it mate.

Kyrgiakos is on a season long loan and I have the option to buy him for £150k but I will wait until the end of the season to see if his stats begin to head south as you say. He is great as a limited center back, His lack of pace is a bit of a hinderence but Clarke and Vlaar are both quick enough to compensate.
Stoker has only really featured from the bench thus far as I have been using Gabby Agbonlahor on the left flank as an inside forward, A role I think he is more effective in than out and out striker. Stoker does look a talent though, I had my scouts watch him several times as well as watching one of Basel's Champions League qualifiers myself where he impressed me even though it was only against a Moldovan side. He has a four star potential rating from my coaches so his future could be bright.

October 2012

This month was supposed to be the kick-start to our campaign, However that failed to materialize and we have remained almost exactly where we were last month.


The month got off to a good start as we eased to a fairly comfortable victory over Wigan where we looked very much in control in all aspects of our play, Which certainly could not be said in the next game....


5-0 down after an hour!!! My fury at the team was such that I even hauled Shay Given off for his sh*t performance. This was the worst performance I think I have ever overseen in any FM save and had me swearing loudly at the laptop.
Having said that my squad suddenly kicked into gear after the fifth goal and pulled three goals back, It looked as if we could complete the most epic comeback in Premiership history but unfortunately the revival ran out of steam.


After the mauling by Reading we really needed to bounce back against another newly promoted side, However Southampton had other ideas, The Saints were on top for much of the match as my demoralized team rolled over and died on their arse's.


We started this game really well, carving out some excellent chances, However Kyrgiakos's red card saw Stoke take the momentum off of us, Peter Crouch and Michael Owen up front caused us no end of problems and in the end we were lucky to escape with a point. At least it brings the losing streak to an end.


So we remain in the bottom half after a poor month, Things may well get worse in November as we face Spurs, Chelsea and Manchester City in succession as well as West Midlands rivals West Brom who the fans will be demanding a win over.

November 2012

We only had three games this month due to our game with Man City being moved back for TV coverage, Of the three we picked up three points after beating rivals West Brom.


This derby looked to be heading for a draw until Darren Bent's late double saved us, The game itself was quite entertaining, Albion stubbornly refused to roll over and die and twice came back from behind. Thankfully we did manage to pip them in the end to a much needed three points.


Well it wasn't a bad performance defensively but my forward players were ineffective throughout. Under O'Neill Spurs and Villa were locked in a battle for the fourth Champions League place but how far we have slipped in the short time since then because we just didn't look on the same level as Spurs in this game.


I was never expecting anything from this game but we did play some good counter attacking football, Particuarly in the second half, Benteke almost snatched a point late on but was denied on the line by Ashley Cole.

Things are not looking good for my career prospects at the moment...


I can't see Manchester City being eager to help me out next up, So results against QPR, Norwich and Swansea will be essential for me if I am to avoid this becoming a very short career.

Well after further defeats to Manchester City and a particularly lackluster display against relegation threatened QPR, Villa slipped into the bottom three and I slipped into the jobcentre que.

I'm so disappointed how my time with Villa turned out, I had grand things planned but they just weren't to be.

I take it this isn't the end? you will go in search of a new job now?

Yeah, It's got to be the right job though. I applied to Birmingham City as a parting swipe at Villa but was unsuccessful.

Good, didn't want this to end whats your rep?

National. But with only four wins in 16 games within my only job I can see why clubs might turn me town.

I had an offer from SPL side Motherwell but that didn't appeal to me.

unlucky mate, was always going to be a tough job though, hope you find a new job soon

I am now back in employment after four months of drinking Frosty Jacks whilst watching Jeremey Kyle in a snuggie....


And I don't even have to pull the kids out of school!
Coventry were a Premiership side just a decade or so ago but their decline in fortunes been even more shocking than Villa's and now find themselves in League One...

The previous manager was expected to take the Sky Blues straight back to the Championship but they have been disappointing, Languishing in mid-table. With six games left the play-off's are still reachable but I will have to find a winning formula right away if we are to qualify.

They certainly have a squad which should have walked to automatic promotion in League One but for whatever reason that hasn't happened, It is my job to find out why...


Of course my target it to reach and win the play-off's but I am prepared to spend the summer renovating the squad to my preference and then making a serious challenge for the title next year should we fall short this year.
As an added bonus the club are in the Johnson's Paint Trophy final against Swindon so I have a chance to win a bit of silverware within my first few games.

I'm off to a solid start with Coventry...

As with Villa I immediately dropped all the high earning prima-donna's who aren't willing to work hard and fight for the team, This includes the £1M rated Gary McSheffery who I will be looking to cash in on in the summer.
I found motivating y players was much easier than at Villa, Perhaps that was why things didn't work out for me up the M6.
The match performance it's self was adequate, Not spectacular by any stretch of the imagination but some of the players really impressed me, Especially Nathan Cameron who was great in the heart of defense.

I've already begun looking at potential signing for the summer, Walsall captain Andy Butler is currently top of my short list if I can lure him away from our West Midlands rivals for a reasonable price, I'm also considering trying to raid my former employers for Chirs Heard.

We suffered a heartbreaking extra time defeat to Swindon in the JPT final at Wembley...


We played reasonably well but just couldn't put the ball in the net.
We have to now put it behind us quickly as we have just two days to prepare for league leaders Brentford away with us four points outside of the play-off's with as many games to play.
Prior to the day out at Wembley we were held to a 1-1 draw by Crawley in League action.

Great to see a Coventry career, so will keep an eye on this one. We're a faltering side in real life, with appalling finances, so it'll be interesting to see how this game goes.

Good luck mate, enjoyed reading it so far!

The 2012/13 League One season has come to an end, did we manage to secure a play-off spot?


We left it late but eventually picked up three points on the road after coming from behind to sting the Bee's at Griffin park, Lifting us into sixth and thus the play-off places with two big games against Preston and Oldham left to play, Both were still in with a chance of winning the title, In fact we were also mathematically capable of snatching the crown, although it was an extremely long shot as all the teams above us would have to have lost their final two matches and we win ours.


A point with top of the table Oldham wouldn't have been a bad result, Unfortunately a rash tackle by right back Steiner Johnsen handed the Lactics the points as Cliff Bryne belted home their late penalty to see us slip out of the top six and needing to win against Preston in the final game.
We missed the threat of Lee Barnard up front as the strikers loan deal had expired and he had returned to Southampton.


Close but no cigar. When Preston came from behind to take the lead with six minutes to play I thought it was all over, But perhaps cruelly our hopes we suddenly raised again as Matt Sparrow thundered home his second of the day almost instantly to set up a nerve shredding final few minutes. Unfortunately our saving grace never arrived and we are doomed to another season in League One next year.


Still, I'm happy with my start at Coventry City, I only lost one of my first six league games which is encouraging and I will now have the opportunity to begin molding a team into what I want them to be, Like I did at Villa I will be looking for hardworking and committed players to lead the clutch of decent academy players who I want to start bringing through.

P.S. - If you think we underachieved, spare a thought or Sheffield United's supporters!




Thanks mate

made an opkay start with coventry! definitely something to continue building on buddy!

nice to see you at coventry now!

Pre-Season 2013/14

As I promised I would, I have made heavy changes to my squad ahead of my first full season in charge at the Ricoh arena which has een no fewer than 28 players leave the club for pastures, The biggest name was Gary McSheffery who joins Burnley for £1M, He along with the sales of Frank Moussa and Jordan Clarke have almost got the club back in the black after being almost £2M overdrawn at the end of last season.


So who have you drafted in place of this mass exodus I here you ask?


Marlon's not the quickest forward in the world but he knows where the net and is a pretty good target man which is what I need for my usual 4-5-1 system. Signed on free transfer after his release from Barnsley.


On loan from my previous employers for the season, Gary is a useful midfielder who has a bright future in my opinion.


Although I didn't pursue David, Parent club Wolves sent him to me, He does look a good player who along with Garder could form an excellent young central midfield pairing.


Meet the new Coventry City captain! Jake joins for the bargain fee of £24k from relegated Derby County. He has all the attrivutes I prize in a player, Brave, determined and with an excellent work ethic.


Another loan signing, Leon should get plenty of goals at this level and will rotate with Marlon Harewood regularly.


My backup keeper to Joe Murphy, Unlikely to see much league action but he is solid enough just in case anything happens to Murphy. Irish U21.


Belgian U21 international who I snapped up after a successful trial, He will be backup to Leon Best and Marlon Harewood.

So here's a quick look at my squad as a whole...


The friendly games went pretty well aside from a mauling from parent club Wolves who have just won promotion back to the Premiership...


First up in the league is a visit to Valley Parade to face newly promoted Bradford, But first we have a League cup tie with now League Two Sheffield United at Bramall Lane to contend with.



Thanks Dan. Yeah I hope so.



Thanks chief, Keep reading!

Great to see Leon Best and Gary Gardner back at the club, both should do a great job for you in League One! Good luck this season buddy.

Surprised you got £1m for McSheffrey though, decent sale that!

The new season hasn't got off to as good of a start as I had hoped to be honest, Three defeats in our opening four games doesn't fill me with confidence going into the new campaign.


A good result at Bramall Lane where I had expected more of a test from the Blades, It took us until nine minutes from time to get a goal but we had been in control of the tie throughout.
So we advanced into the next round and were given a mouth watering derby game...

A grudge match in more than one way, We haven't faced my former employers since our relegation from the Premier League in 2001, Can we get one over on the old enemy?


Before we get too excited about cup upsets there were league matters at hand, Losing to newly promoted Bradford wasn't exactly the way I had hoped we would kick off the season.


That's more like it! The red card mid way through the first half obviously helped us out a lot but we'll take it.


Although Bournemouth are a good team this was still a poor result for us, I thought we might get back into it when Leon Best got his first goal since returning to the club but a last gasp penalty killed off any hope of an equalizer.


I was quite prepared for the fact that this was not going to be a winning return to Villa Park, However I was hoping we would show a bit of fight and give the Premiership club a bit of a game. However we spent the entire game entrenched in our own half as Villa knocked the ball around with consummate ease. Bitterly disappointing stuff.


How the hell we lost this game is anyone's guess. We were utterly dominant, enjoying 64% off possession and yet we just couldn't find the net for which we were punished with virtually the last kick of the game. My language was not pleasant.

I think I'm going to have to have a tactical re-think as having a lone striker just doesn't seem to be working, Perhaps partnering Best and Harewood together will finally get the goals flowing, either way something needs to change...


Things may not be going so well on the pitch at the moment but there is some sign of encouragement on the financial front for us...

Maybe the new owner will provide some cash.



Yeah I was quite surprised anyone offered my my full asking price, I was prepared to go down to £750k so that was nice.

Not the return to vill park which you would of desired but in many ways an early cup exit in lower league sides is perfect to focus on the league! sure it will piece together mate. Glad your still battling through this one, could have a serious length career here!