lolmappo
7 years ago
1 year ago
0
Premium
CHESTER FC - THE ROAD TO GLORY


https://pbs.twimg.com/profile_images/930794825632440321/vc-stc1C_400x400.jpg


Hello all! A few of you on here might remember me for the career I posted on these forums back in FM17, in which I attempted to take my local team Chester all the way up from the depths of the National League to the Premier League and beyond. Unfortunately that save had to be abandoned after a couple of seasons due to my old laptop deciding to call it a day and me losing motivation - and after a break from posting on here for a while, I'm back re-attempting the challenge for this year's game. A lot has changed for Chester since the 2016/17 season, with the team suffering relegation to the lowest playable division in the regular database and now having virtually an entirely different squad to boot, so I hope you'll join me in my quest to take my hometown club all the way to the top!

History

https://i.gyazo.com/6688a892cc1c9f315179236df8e9e2b4.png

Founded in 1885, the old Chester City FC (known affectionately as the 'Blues' due to their home colours or the 'Seals' in reference to former ground Sealand Road) spent most of their existence floating between the third and fourth tiers of English football. Despite few successes in terms of winning silverware, the club had its fair share of now-famous names pull on its famous blue and white shirt - Lee Dixon, Ian Rush, Cyrille Regis and Roberto Martinez to name just a few. Older football fans may remember the club's famous League Cup run in the season of 1974-75, in which the Blues managed to reach the semi-finals (beating then-champions Leeds 3-0 along the way) despite only playing in what is now League Two - but for the majority of supporters, Chester's best claim to fame is being one half of the infamous 'Cross-Border Derby' contested against Wrexham which regularly ranks as one of the fiercest rivalries in the country. Despite all this, the club began to fall upon hard times in the beginning of the 21st century due to various financial problems. Under the mismanagement and corruption of owner Stephen Vaughan, things quickly got worse both on and off the pitch - with the club relegated to non-league football and entering administration. The downwards spiral was complete in March 2010, when the club was expelled from the Conference and just a day later were formally wound-up in the High Court.

Soon afterwards, though, newly-formed fans' union City Fans United set about creating a new phoenix club to ensure that the city did not remain deprived of football. The fully fan-owned Chester FC were set up, with a new badge but retaining the old club's colours and continuing to play at the 5,000-capacity Deva Stadium, and were placed in the NPL Division One North (the eighth tier of football in England). It wouldn't be long before the new club began to make headlines - though this time for the right reasons as under the management of Neil Young they achieved an incredible three consecutive promotions, meaning they would compete once more in the Conference Premier. Life in the top division of non-league proved more difficult, however, with the team only managing to stay up in their first season there due to the financial problems and consequential expulsion of Hereford United. Several mid-table finishes followed, but last season proved to be one of nightmares as fans' nightmares began to come true again. A terrible playing season, which saw the reformed club relegated for the first time ever and culminated in then-manager Marcus Bignot being sacked in a car park, only told half the story with financial problems once again coming to the fore and much-publicised turmoil in the boardroom compounding fears that Chester FC could go bust just eight years after reforming.

However, things are now beginning to look up again. The club's finances are healthy once again thanks to a number of fundraising activities plus a donation of £1million into the facilities and infrastructure by a local businessman. After a drawn-out search for a new manager, popular duo Bernard Morley and Anthony Johnson were appointed in time for the new campaign having led Salford to promotion from the division last season. In the virtual world though, it's my job to take my hometown club from the bottom right to the top of the footballing pyramid!

Meet the manager

https://i.gyazo.com/e251392aa4c5befeff5ecbe06cba222b.png

Here we go then, the men upstairs have decided to take a gamble on a local lad with no prior playing or managerial experience to be the catalyst to turn their fortunes around. I've made just about everything up when creating my manager, making myself a more realistic age and looking like Mark Chapman's illegitimate son but I'm ready to prove the doubters wrong and show that a normal fella is capable of transforming his non-league team into powerhouses of the game. As far as my backroom staff are concerned, although Morley has left as manager his counterpart Anthony 'Jonno' Johnson has decided to stay and be my assistant! I'm in half a mind to get rid of him, though - a) to make things more realistic, b) because his stats aren't actually that good and c) because he's a top guy and deserves better than being someone's number 2.

The squad

https://i.gyazo.com/9271a783963c8902d277bdfb7c71a933.png

These are the players I've inherited, and the vast majority of them are recent arrivals having been signed under the 'Bern and Jonno' regime. Only two senior players (plus a few youth teamers who I've decided to promote to the first-team squad) remain from last season's disastrous campaign. As you can see, there's a lot of quality but also a lot of glaring issues I'll need to sort out in the transfer market - as things stand we've only got one natural striker and there's also a lack of depth and indeed quality at full-back. I'm not going to be playing with any real rules or gimmicks when it comes to signing or selling players, but one thing I do want to focus on is youth development - even though our in-game facilities aren't the best, in real life our academy is something we're proud of as a club (with numerous recent graduates now playing for league clubs) so I'll be looking to give our youngsters a lot of playing time when I can.

Here's a closer look at some of the potentially key players for the upcoming season:

https://i.gyazo.com/6713715b0a0acf14461c7b05c30fd659.png

Undoubtedly the most well-known player in the team at the moment, George Green's story has unfortunately come to be seen as a cautionary tale. Signed by Everton at just 15 years old, Green was touted as a star of the future and tipped to play for England one day, but he soon began to struggle with off-the-field issues. Plagued by mental health problems, his career began to spiral out of control and his freefall in the leagues began, eventually ending up in non-league. However, in recent times he's been able to get his life back on track and after a number of impressive displays in this division last season with Nuneaton he's arrived at the Deva looking to rebuild his reputation. With all that's said about him it's easy to forget he's still only 22 and at the moment he's ranked as one of the best players in the league with 4.5* current ability and five solid stars of potential. Sitting in the number 10 role, his creativity could be key if we plan on having a successful season.

https://i.gyazo.com/11991381470c572f33b64ac6594ecb35.png

The other joint-highest rated player in the team, Danny Livesey is one of a number of players brought over from Salford by Morley and Johnson. I wouldn't say he's quite as outstanding in real life as his stats here may suggest, but in-game at least he's rated as one of the best defenders in the league. He's got bags of experience playing at higher levels than this - having amassed over 300 appearances in the Football League. Unfortunately, at 33 age isn't really on his side and he isn't here permanently, but at least for this season I'm expecting big things from him and for him to be able to lead from the back. His contract is up at the end of the season, so if he impresses enough and his wage demands aren't too high then we may well be able to keep him here beyond then.

https://i.gyazo.com/7771346829a9e8ed10ecab6dc871edfe.png

Modern-day Chester legend Craig Mahon is the one of only two senior players still here after our relegation. The Irishman holds the record for the most games played for the reformed club, with 167 to his name so far, and despite struggling at times in the National League he should really be able to prove his class playing in a lower division - in real life, he's been back to his best so I'll be delighted if he's able to replicate that sort of form for me in-game. In my FM17 career he never really played a big part for me, but having unsurprisingly become a fan favourite due to his performances and his longevity he should be able to prove this season why he's seen as one of the most skilful players at this level.

https://i.gyazo.com/40b0ec6e444c97d1cee3c25e986704d4.png

The only other senior player who's stayed with us after last season is local lad Gary Roberts. Big things were expected of 'Robbo' when he became a first-team regular for Crewe as a teenager, but after struggling with drink and drugs his career has nosedived as a result. Now aged 31, he returned to his hometown club midway through the last campaign and after deciding to stick with us in the National League North I'm hopeful that he'll be able to add a bit of 'bite' and leadership into our midfield.

https://i.gyazo.com/dc05e5490477201bda2c9d9a75a69de7.png

Finally, Matty Waters is another player who you'll be familiar with if you read my FM17 career. Having been promoted from the youth team when I first took over, he quickly became a key part of my first-team plans and was able to lock down his place as first-choice left back even when we reached League One. In real life, things haven't been going so well for him - he's only managed to rack up a handful of appearances for the senior side, struggling even now to get into the team, and was actually still registered in the youth team when I started up this save. Because of this, I was somewhat surprised to see that he's rated more or less just as highly as he was a couple of years ago and with us currently having depth issues at full-back he may well end up starting the season as our first choice.

https://i.gyazo.com/779dd28211b7ffa45b063c55f85f4ada.png

This is the tactic I'll be using to start things off, along with a provisional 'strongest XI'. I tend to find that the simpler tactics work best when managing in the lower leagues, so I've tried to keep the instructions fairly minimal - as things stand I'm trying to get the team to play a simple possession-based game.

Season preview

https://i.gyazo.com/960fefdc99184dd1fc8fc1d785a0edd7.png

At the beginning of the IRL season we were one of the bookmakers' favourites to go up, so it's a little surprising that we're only actually down to finish eighth in this prediction and, indeed, the board's expectation is merely for a mid-table finish. That's no bad thing, as it means those running the club will be more patient with me if I do mess things up but really I'm personally looking for us to bounce straight back and win promotion in this first season. As you can see, there's a number of big teams in this league including York, Stockport, Darlington and Hereford (all of whom also played in the professional leagues not too long ago) so it's sure to be a competitive season for everyone. Chorley are the runaway favourites to win the league, no real surprise there given how well they've started in the real world.

And that just about wraps things up for this introductory post, I hope you'll join me in my journey to take Chester right to the top! Up the Seals!
Grimnir
16 years ago
2 months ago
2,727
I do like Chester, had a fun save with them myself a few years ago.

Hope yours goes well and will follow your journey up the leagues!
Dan
12 years ago
4 months ago
16,964
Good luck man, great to see you back
tongey
14 years ago
1 month ago
1,101
Chester, just down the road from me, my local team is Northwich Victoria! Had some great games against you in the past. Make sure you utilise John Pritchards left foot, absolute peach.
lolmappo
7 years ago
1 year ago
0
Premium
Thanks @Suffolk Seasider, I've also actually got something of a soft-spot for Blackpool this season as our former player Ben Heneghan is currently on loan with you guys.
Cheers @Dan, hopefully I'll be able to keep this going right throughout the duration of FM19 this time round.
Appreciate it @tongey, gotta love Northwich for giving us Ryan Astles a few years back!

PRE-SEASON 2018


https://pbs.twimg.com/profile_images/930794825632440321/vc-stc1C_400x400.jpg


The first pre-season of my tenure as Chester manager is done and dusted - transfers have been made, friendlies played and overall the team is looking in good standing as we prepare for what should be a very competitive NLN season.

Transfers

https://i.gyazo.com/aedec5d50ba5240fe41ad124fbe2bad4.png

One of the best things about managing in non-league is that there's no transfer window as such, so unlike in the professional leagues we're not bound to a certain registration deadline and you can expect us to continue to strengthen throughout the course of the season. As things are though, a total of six new faces have joined the club since the last update - all of them free agents as is usually the case in this division, but certainly not lacking in quality, and all-in-all they've left the squad looking a whole lot more balanced. Let's take a closer look at them:

https://i.gyazo.com/8af031aea9822f53064e4e62725d62ee.png

Bermudan midfielder Milan Butterfield holds the honour of being the first-ever player signed in the Lazurite era, and what a signing he looks to be. He appeared on the first scout report sent to me, meaning we were able to get the deal done just a few days into the pre-season. When I first joined we had some quality midfield players but few good young prospects in that area so I decided one of my goals in the market would be to reduce the average age in that area of the park, and Butterfield fits the bill perfectly. Despite never playing for his previous club Walsall, my assistant already rates him as a National League standard player so he should be a star turn in this league. Plus he's only 20 years old, so if we're able to keep hold of him then he may well continue to play a key role for years to come.

https://i.gyazo.com/1ecd3e06d8a3b7dc9408a5247c748c33.png

Northern Irishman Cal Templeton was our next addition, another young prospect who'll slot straight into the first team. I was a little surprised that he'd been without a club for a year given how good he's rated for this level, but other clubs' loss is our gain and I expect him to be able to shine for us despite his tender age. I brought him in primarily to be first-choice RB (a position I identified as being a weakness in the squad in my last post) but he's also more than comfortable playing centrally so he may be utilised there in a few games as well.

https://i.gyazo.com/55ff68708e493c12ab55114f5f00694c.png

The brilliantly-named Romario Vieira is another exciting midfielder who we were able to pick up after his release from Leeds. Sharing a name with two of the best players of all time, there's bound to be some pressure on his shoulders to perform and while he may never reach the levels of his namesakes, he certainly has the ability to be a key player for the Blues. He'll be playing in a youthful double pivot with Butterfield and I'm looking forward to seeing how the pair perform together.

https://i.gyazo.com/fd2070a11ffe7a09c91b39154206e6ff.png

I know what you're thinking, why on earth have we signed a 38-year-old who isn't rated anywhere near good enough for this division? Well, you'll be pleased to know that Kevin James will probably play a minimal part in any action on the pitch - rather, he's been brought in to be our new youth team manager. He had the best stats of all the applicants for the role, and when I saw that he was still playing I thought I might as well allow him to continue that part of his career in addition to his backroom duties. He's unlikely to ever play a game for us, but he's an influential figure in the dressing room and will at least provide some insurance should we ever have a terrible injury crisis.

https://i.gyazo.com/8d8fe916730f659d40747a084b60c4d6.png

With Templeton coming in to play on the right hand side of defence, I was also looking for a player to complement him on the left flank. I had reservations over signing Bob Harris initially as I was really looking for someone younger, but I decided to take him on trial and after putting in a number of impressive performances in friendly games and training I felt I had no choice but to offer him a permanent contract. In the end I'm glad I did because he turned out even better than my scouts rated him, and brings plenty of experience having actually been a regular in League One with Sheffield United not too long ago. He'll be used in rotation with academy graduate Matty Waters, which should free up Pritchard to play higher up the pitch where I believe he'll be more effective.

https://i.gyazo.com/7c2e145e3d5da313b3aa2a4886ba08db.png

Finally, George O'Neill is another player signed off the back of an impressive trial period. I was looking for another striker plus a backup attacking midfielder to cover for George Green, and we've managed to kill two birds with one stone as O'Neill is capable of fulfilling both those roles well. After three goals in two friendly games his contract effectively signed itself, and with him being on dirt-cheap wages he seems to be a great acquisition.

https://i.gyazo.com/c7f0f3905e67f2e788757f776eb65910.png

An update to the provisional 'first XI', with new boys Harris, Templeton, Vieira and Butterfield all adding to the quality of the team.

Matches

https://i.gyazo.com/24d32a0f14d1c2ff5257ab297b53f63d.png

I always like to schedule a lot of friendlies to ensure all our players are fit in time for the beginning of the season proper and that everyone has a chance to play and prove themselves. We've played nine in total here, and as you can see the majority of the results were very pleasing. Kicking things off nice and early at the end of June, we travelled to Welsh giants The New Saints and managed to record a pleasing victory against a professional side. George Green took just a minute to score his first goal in a Chester shirt from the penalty spot, though after they got a late equaliser it looked for all the world like we were heading for a draw before Matty Hughes netted a winner in injury time. We left it late again against Merthyr Town, Green getting his second in as many games but after going down to ten men on the hour mark we had to rely on another injury-time winner, this time from Mooney. And yet again it wasn't until the dying embers of the game that we were able to make a breakthrough against King's Lynn with two late goals from Butterfield and former youth teamer Marsh-Hughes - admittedly though we should've had things wrapped up before then as we dominated throughout. This was followed up by a narrow but respectable defeat by Cardiff's youth team, they actually played a couple of first-teamers so the fact that we were able to come away with a couple of goals thanks to a trialist we didn't end up taking on plus Dudley was reassuring. We went back to Wales and back to winning ways soon after, though, with a 2-1 victory over Newtown with goals from Mooney and Green - another game where the slender scoreline didn't really reflect our dominance. We finally managed to keep another clean sheet with a comprehensive 3-0 win against affiliates Airbus UK courtesy of yet another Green strike and an O'Neill brace, before our only other loss of pre-season - again, going down 3-2 to a Premier League youth team. Although the final scoreline against Palace was the same as the Cardiff match, it was a completely different game and we were actually the better team, unfortunately their counter-attacks proved lethal and their player Kaikai bagged a hat-trick. Finally, our last 'friendly' game against Gloucester was actually a testimonial for one of their long-serving players. I wasn't too bothered about getting a result since I didn't want to show the main man up on his big day, but nonetheless we ended up ruining the party thanks to a superb hat-trick by Matty Hughes.

And that just about brings things to a close for this pre-season review, we're jumping straight into the deep end with seven games in August against good oppositions. Let's hope for a successful season - hopefully you'll be joining me along the way!
Grimnir
16 years ago
2 months ago
2,727
Is that Bob Harris who used to play for Blackpool? Albeit, not much!

Some good looking signings overall and let's hope they help lead you to glory!
tongey
14 years ago
1 month ago
1,101
Tell you what! I wouldn't mind having Astles back in the Northwich team haha!

Heard good things about Cal Templeton, let's hope he can shine for you straight away!

Good luck for the season!
lolmappo
7 years ago
1 year ago
0
Premium
It is indeed @Suffolk Seasider! I'm not sure why he's played so little over the last few years, my guess is due to injuries but he hasn't had any problems here so far.
Haha @tongey hopefully you'll find another Astles sometime soon! Templeton has had a solid start to life in blue and white, certainly looks to be a good prospect.

AUGUST 2018


https://pbs.twimg.com/profile_images/930794825632440321/vc-stc1C_400x400.jpg


The first month of competitive fixtures in my reign as Chester manager is in the history books, and it's certainly been a hectic start to life back in the National League North. Seven games, all against very decent teams, could we get off to a bright start and build up some crucial early-season form?

Matches

https://i.gyazo.com/541f46736f1a40685add983ee3fea54c.png

We certainly could, I could hardly have asked for a better set of results to kick things off with six wins from seven and things marred only slightly by the one narrow defeat. First things first we faced Spennymoor at home and absolutely smashed them thanks to a thoroughly professional performance from the whole team, George Green opened the scoring with a stunner after just a few minutes but the real story was Matty Hughes who scored his second hat-trick in as many games! We'd have to fight a lot harder to get the three points in the next game though, we travelled to Curzon Ashton just two days later and as a result had to field a virtually completely changed lineup. O'Neill, Livesey and Jordan all got on the scoresheet but after having initially taken the lead early on the home side pulled one back with a couple of minutes left to play, setting things up for a tense finish - fortunately, we managed to hang on and get the three points. In real life we suffered the ignominy of letting EIGHT in when we travelled to Blyth so in-game I was naturally delighted that we were able to take out our virtual revenge on them - again though it was far from easy for us as we struggled to finish our chances despite being by far the better side, fortunately though substitute Dudley found the net on 82 minutes and the Spartans were unable to come up with a response. Back at home, we were looking good after three consecutive victories but we were stunned by FC United who are one of the favourites to go down this season. Despite us going into the lead early on through Romario Vieira, the away side soon found a response and the turnaround was complete after 75 minutes with their player Willoughby who's currently top scorer in the league getting the decider. I was worried we might let our heads drop and that morale would slip but just a few days later we were back to winning ways against Kidderminster - another slightly concerning defensive display but the narrow scoreline didn't really reflect our dominance as they scored with pretty much the only two real opportunities they had. O'Neill bagged a brace but the real man of the match was Gary Roberts who had a hand in all three goals. It was a first vs second clash as we travelled to Telford and Green gave us the lead from 12 yards, the Shropshire club drew level before the break through a Scott Burton own goal but terrace favourite Mahon's first goal of the season proved to be the decider in the second half. Finally, we returned to the Deva to face off against fellow phoenix club Hereford and recorded yet another 3-2 win - man of the moment O'Neill scoring another two and Luke Jordan getting what would prove to be the winner. Again, perhaps some room for concern over the quality of our defending but at the same time we could have scored even more had we finished more of the chances that fell to us.

https://i.gyazo.com/914305ef1c1c092ba53ce2b023e7eeaa.png

All this has left the league table looking very good indeed after a month of football - I know it's early days but already being at the top is sure to be good for morale and given the form we're in everything's certainly looking rosy! The rest of the top 4 is all made up of nearby north-west clubs Altrincham, Southport and FC United while Bradford Park Avenue, Chorley (both of whom we play in September) and Telford make up the rest of the playoff places. Meanwhile at the foot of the table, north-east clubs Blyth and Spennymoor languish in the bottom two with Leamington joining them in the relegation zone.

Other news

https://i.gyazo.com/0b4ed07da9b1197d85abbda9f400fa45.png

Not particularly surprising if I dare say so myself, still though it's nice to be recognised for my hard work! I'm just hoping that I don't inherit the 'curse' often associated with awards like these.

https://i.gyazo.com/68cdf905d35ad2a0b41418a6efe9c617.png

And lastly, striker Lloyd Marsh-Hughes has become the youngest player to feature for our first team in our history, I'm not sure whether this record encompasses the old club but regardless it's a great achievement for the lad and testament to the quality of our youth setup. I have to say, even though I said I'd try to accommodate as many youth players in my squads as possible I've not really been able to do so given how many senior players are performing so well - nonetheless, we had various fitness issues with our first-team forwards in the build-up to the Hereford game so I thought I'd throw Lloyd straight into the starting lineup! I can't say he played the best game of his career but he certainly showed some promising signs.
Dan
12 years ago
4 months ago
16,964
Busy August but you've smashed that what a month to get the season started!
lolmappo
7 years ago
1 year ago
0
Premium
We've certainly had a good start @Dan, the key now is to keep it going throughout the rest of the season!

SEPTEMBER 2018


https://pbs.twimg.com/profile_images/930794825632440321/vc-stc1C_400x400.jpg


After a near-perfect August, we lay top of the table going into the month and looking to extend our advantage even further. Without any midweek games to hamper players' fitness and with our FA Cup journey also getting underway, would fortune continue to favour us?

Matches

https://i.gyazo.com/423a0374ed66b09b8461fc3eb4e4707a.png

A few more dropped points but overall still a decent set of results, it's looking like we might not just be one-month wonders! Kicking things off at Guiseley who are managed by former Blues boss Marcus Bignot, we were able to pick up another trademark narrow victory to ensure we started the month off on a bright note. We went 2-0 up after Green opened the scoring and Hughes got his first goal since his opening day hat-trick, the home side got one back shortly after but given that they didn't trouble our defence for much of the game I think the result was a deserved one. Back at home against high-flying Bradford Park Avenue we were full of confidence but ended up being held to an incredibly frustrating, if entertaining, draw. Despite having a fantastic season so far, George Green dropped one of the worst performances of his career as he missed a penalty and ended up being substituted at half-time and it looked for all the world like we'd be ruing our missed chances when Bradford scored what they'd have thought to be the winner in the 89th minute. As soon as their goal went in we went all-out attacking and I demanded my players to show me more and for once in FM they actually came up with a response! George O'Neill, who is in the form of his life right now, finished a nice move deep into injury time to salvage a point for us. However, he was unable to avoid us succumbing to only our second defeat of the season on the road against Boston - despite netting a stunning equaliser after we'd fallen behind early on, the Pilgrims were back ahead again shortly after with all the goals coming in the space of ten first-half minutes. I know I've said in the past that we should be winning our games by more given our on-pitch dominance but this match was actually the opposite - even though the stats suggested we were the better team and deserved to win the game, several of our players put in sub-par performances and we were lucky to only lose by the one. I was worried that a two-game winless streak would negatively affect morale but we bounced back perfectly in my first cup game as Chester manager, an impressive 4-1 victory over eighth-tier North Leigh securing our passage into the third qualifying round of the FA Cup. Lloyd Marsh-Hughes, who recently broke the record for our youngest-ever player, was the hero of the day as I fielded a few academy graduates in the starting lineup, with two goals and a man-of-the-match performance. Although I didn't get a news item about it and the records page only shows info from the beginning of the save, I also have a feeling that with his brace he's become our club's youngest-ever goalscorer. Other goals in that game came from Jordan (who himself is playing really well at the moment) and a screamer from Stopforth in his first game back following a spell out injured. With our confidence back we travelled to Chorley who are one of the favourites for promotion and absolutely blew them away, recording our joint-biggest win of the campaign so far and surely proving our title credentials. We were 3-0 up at half time thanks to Jordan, O'Neill and a Green penalty, and Milan Butterfield got our fourth and his first in a blue and white shirt in the second half. After one of their players was shown a straight red card with about half an hour still to play I was hopeful of us getting even more but even though we were unable to I can't really complain given the eventual scoreline anyway!

https://i.gyazo.com/085954675d066afb1893989eb42dbec6.png

In spite of those poor couple of results against Bradford and Boston we not only retain our place at the top but increase our cushion to four points over second place. At the other end of the table, Spennymoor remain rooted to the bottom and are the only team yet to win this season while Kidderminster are also having an unexpectedly tough time of things. Time will only tell whether we can make our lead even more unassailable - in October we're coming up against York who currently occupy one of the playoff places and are the bookies' favourite to win the league, so that'll be as good a test as any!
lolmappo
7 years ago
1 year ago
0
Premium
OCTOBER 2018


https://pbs.twimg.com/profile_images/930794825632440321/vc-stc1C_400x400.jpg


We went into the month of October with perhaps the greatest feeling of optimism at the football club for years, sitting pretty at the top of the National League North table and looking to kick on even further. We'd face four more league games, plus another round of the FA Cup, that would really test our credentials - let's get into it!

Transfers

https://i.gyazo.com/32c296c93de6d0ea99c0d6b7fb421c63.png

Unusually for a career of mine I've abstained from making any new signings since the season started but as the window is open pretty much all year round in non-league, we're free to bring players in whenever we see fit so we've made good use of that rule here. Angolan international Erico Sousa is only on loan until the end of the season from Accrington but what a player he looks to be - able to play on both wings, he's more comfortable on the right but I think he'll find himself playing on the left hand side more often due to our lack of depth there. Given that my assistant rates him as a good player for most National League sides and he was wanted by a few sides in said division, our capture of him is a pretty significant coup and is proof of the type of player we're able to attract despite our low standing on the league pyramid. What's more, we're only paying a small fraction of his wages so our accountant won't be cursing me for bringing him in plus his contract with his parent club is up at the end of the season so if he manages to impress enough he may well end up joining permanently.

Matches

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More red and yellow dots than you're used to seeing here, and some pretty worrying performances to go with them - fortunately though we were able to get things back on track towards the end of the month. We started our round of games for October with perhaps the worst result of them all, a shock FA Cup exit at the hands of seventh-tier Banbury. At home, we were massive favourites and expected to put quite a few past them, but despite dominating pretty much from start to end we were held to a goalless draw with George Green missing another penalty. Frustrating though it was to not progress at the first time of asking, I was nonetheless still expecting us to put things straight in the replay but instead we were stunned as despite young Marsh-Hughes scoring again the Oxfordshire club not only knocked us out, they did so whilst being the better team over 90 minutes. The defeat means I've underachieved in the competition compared to the board's expectation for us to get to the first round proper - and while I don't think I'm in any imminent danger of the sack given our league form, it hurt for me personally since one of my aims for the season was to go on a good cup run to generate some extra income. Back at home and back in the league, it looked like we were set to put our cup troubles behind us after Jordan fired us ahead after fifteen minutes against Nuneaton Borough, but after Green missed yet another spot-kick and Bob Harris was sent off things started to get a little bit nervy and with just a couple of minutes left to play, the away side drew level from twelve yards and we were forced to settle for just a point. Winless in three, morale wasn't the best going into a huge match against title favourites York, and though it was one of the games of the season it certainly didn't end how we'd have hoped. We were 2-0 up within the first ten minutes thanks to Mooney and an absolute corker from Vieira, but incredibly we missed our third successive penalty, Matty Waters the culprit this time and the hosts were level by half-time! With the momentum now firmly with them, things went from bad to worse for us in the second half as winger Mahon was dismissed for a second bookable offence and they managed to complete the comeback shortly afterwards. We pushed forward, hoping for an equaliser, but with Howson also shown red we ended the game with nine men, killing any hopes of clawing our way back and seeing us hit with a fine for failing to control our players. With our winless run having been extended to four games, we needed a bit of inspiration against Alfreton and inspiration is what we got! We bounced back in style to produce a 3-0 win, the whole team put in a fantastic performance but the star of the show had to be our talisman George O'Neill who came up with a marvellous hat-trick! Finally, we recorded another victory albeit a narrower one in our midweek game against Ashton United. We went into the dressing room 2-0 up after a dominant first half in which we could've scored even more than we did, in the second half though it was a different story as the visitors spurned a number of chances as well as being denied numerous times by goalkeeper King (who's more or less displaced Shenton as our number one) and though they did manage to pull one back with a couple of minutes left with a pearler of a free-kick we held firm to ensure we didn't bottle another two goal lead!

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Our lead has been cut to just two points due to our dropped points against Nuneaton and York as well as the good form of second-placed Southport, but importantly we're still hanging in there at the top. Meanwhile, our former manager Marcus Bignot has been sacked by Guiseley who lie bottom of the table.

Other news

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I think the UK's decision to leave the EU was actually announced in September but I forgot to include it in the last update, now though some potential permutations are beginning to come to light. In all honesty I'm not sure a foreign player limit would affect us too much, certainly at the moment, if the speculation is confirmed - all I hope for is that the talks will go smoother in-game than they're going in real life! I'll be sure to keep you updated with any more news on Brexit when it breaks.
Dan
12 years ago
4 months ago
16,964
Not ideal in the FA Cup but going very well in the league still man!
lolmappo
7 years ago
1 year ago
0
Premium
Thanks for keeping up as always @Dan, the FA Cup exit sure is a bummer but fortunately our league form hasn't taken too much of a hit.

NOVEMBER 2018


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We're really getting into the swing of things now in terms of the season, and while we still sat atop the table at the beginning of the month there were plenty of teams breathing down our necks so staying focused is crucial. Somewhat quiet on the game front with only three matches being played, but there's also been a lot of off-the-field stuff to deal with so let's get right into it!

Transfers

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James Smith joins as our new backup CAM, this was the role O'Neill was initially brought into do but given his brilliant form he's ended up actually playing in the same XI more often than not, meaning that we've been a little short on options in the number 10 role coming off the bench. Smith has been out of football for a year after leaving West Brom in 2017 but I think he'll do a more than adequate job here whether it's coming off the bench or filling in in the starting lineup if any injuries spring up. What's more, he's on a dirt-cheap weekly wage and can also fill in a little deeper down the park if required.

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The inconsistency of our defence has cost us quite a few points recently, and in a bid to keep more clean sheets I've signed former Welsh youth international Billy O'Brien to be our new number one goalkeeper. Both Shenton and King have done decent jobs up to this point but O'Brien looks to be leaps and bounds ahead of both in terms of natural ability, with my assistant rating him as a good National League level player and he's certainly got the potential to star between the post for years to come! I'm still looking to take even more measures to tighten up our backline on top of this, so expect to see a centre-back or two coming in over the next couple of months.

Matches

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As I mentioned earlier we'd only play three games this month, not playing at all in the last couple of weeks due to reasons completely unbeknown to me, and frustratingly they'd all end in draws. Though it's my first winless month as Chester boss, it's also easy to take a more glass-half-full perspective and see that we're now unbeaten in five, nonetheless though there's been plenty of points dropped. First of all we travelled to Brackley who occupied a playoff spot at the time and played out a game which pretty much summed FM up to a T. All four goals came in a pulsating first half, we went 2-0 up through O'Neill and Hughes but the home side managed to draw things back level by scoring with two out of the four shots they had all game, both coming in the space of three minutes right on the stroke of half-time. In contrast the second half was a complete snoozefest without a single highlight, and though we pressed for a winner that our dominance would've merited we ultimately had to settle to share the spoils. Back at the Deva versus Altrincham it was a much more even contest, albeit one we were behind for a large portion of after they took the lead with half an hour on the clock. We kept pushing though, and eventually grabbed a dramatic late equaliser thanks to George Green with a contender for goal of the season. Our final game, and probably most disappointing of all our draws, was at relegation-battling Leamington. Again, we were the better side but were let down by poor finishing and when they took a surprising lead with just over ten minutes left it looked as though they were going to steal the three points. Once again though we managed to grab a late equaliser, this time courtesy of substitute Jordan, but taking just a point away is still an undeniably poor result given the standings of the respective teams in the league.

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Speaking of which, here's the league table and thankfully despite all our dropped points we remain top - not only that, but we've also got a game in hand over second-placed Stockport. We've got some massive games coming up over the festive period, playing four of the current top seven in December, so it's vital that we don't let our heads drop and hopefully we're able to seize the opportunity to extend our lead further. Rooted to the foot of the table are Curzon Ashton, who are now actually managed by Bernard Morley who I replaced as Chester gaffer, with Guiseley also continuing to struggle.

Other news

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Even though there's not been as much action on the pitch, there's been plenty of off-the-field issues to deal with. Starting positively though, I've acquired a Continental C coaching license after completing the course I began right at the beginning of the save. The stat boosts should provide a nice little helping hand in training, and I've immediately begun to study for my B license which I should complete by the end of the season.

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The internal club elections have been and gone, and with chairman David Harrington-Wright declining a new term the reigns have been handed over to Steve McPherson. I don't expect many, if any, sweeping changes to be made under his stewardship - especially since the club is still owned by the fans - but from what I've read it sounds like he did a decent job occupying a similar role at Hampton and Richmond in the past, plus he's already given me an improved wage budget so happy days thus far!

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Finally the news you've all been waiting for, what will come of football once we leave the EU? Well, more new details have been revealed and there's definitely some food for thought. The new foreign player limit is, as far as I know, very similar to what's currently in place anyway (and to be honest I can't really ever see us signing 17 foreign players in the duration of this career) but the big potential problem is the new work permit system - with foreign players having to be offered a minimum salary of £8,000 a week before they can play for a British club. I'm not sure whether this applies to foreigners who already play in the British leagues, and whether or not it only applies to the top divisions, but if not then the new rules could be very detrimental to our hopes of keeping the likes of Sousa beyond this season since £8,000 is the current total of our entire wage bill! It seems that FM are doing an even better job than the real-life media at proving how bad an idea Brexit was but hey, I'm not here to get political.

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