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TinakoFM
Wow, thanks for being supportive guys...
Bangor are very irritating, played bang average yet have beaten us twice... I'm not bitter.
tongey
Best of luck, I love the name of the team!
TinakoFM
Thanks, appreciate it! I'm the opposite if I'm honest - more cups, the better!
TinakoFM
Current Team: Lisburn Distillery (Premier Intermediate League) | Honours With Them: 0
This Season's (2019-20) Expectation(s): Reach Play-offs
Overall Team #: 1 | Career Honours: 0
Update 007: December 2019
2019 drew to a close in this update, as I took charge of my sixth month in charge of Lisburn Distillery in Northern Ireland's Premier Intermediate League. Coming up were four league fixtures and one cup tie, as our Irish Cup run began in the fourth round against domestic rivals Banbridge Town; who we'd face again in the league just seven days later.
Match Round-Up:
Result One:
Competition: Premier Intermediate League | Round: 10/20 | Opponent: Armagh City (NIR/III) | Their Position: 9/11 | Their Streak: DWLWL
Our Highest Rated Player: Nick Beta (NIR) - 7.1 | Our Position: 3/11 | Our Points Tally: 18pts | Our Streak: DWLDL
"Bad day at the office in Armagh, as we were easily beaten by the City club after goals from George Brown and Conor Hagan. As you can see, it was all rather self-inflicted as were down to nine men after just 58mins, following Daire Rooney and Stuart Moore both picking up straight red cards. We initially took the lead, too.. all the more frustrating!"
Result Two:
Competition: Irish Cup | Round: Fourth | Opponent: Banbridge Town (NIR/III) | Their Position: - | Their Streak: WWWLL
Our Highest Rated Player: Gary Workman (NIR) - 8.5 | Our Position: - | Our Points Tally: - | Our Streak: WLDLD
"Another eventful encounter followed on 7 December, as we played a four-goal thriller with Banbridge Town in the Irish Cup fourth round. We took the lead twice, only to be pegged back by our opponents on both occasions. Extra time couldn't separate us, so a penalty shoot-out was played - which we surprisingly won 6-5. This match had a remarkable 52 total shots, 24 of which were on target."
Result Three:
Competition: Premier Intermediate League | Round: 11/20 | Opponent: Banbridge Town (NIR/III) | Their Position: 9/11 | Their Streak: WWLLD
Our Highest Rated Player: Josh Doyle (NIR) & Nick Beta (NIR) - 6.7 | Our Position: 3/11 | Our Points Tally: 18pts | Our Streak: LDLDL
"No trip home required, as we visited Banbridge Town's Crystal Park for the second time in a week; this time in league action. We lost 3-1 here, rather routinely given we were 3-0 down after 31mins. Kevin Braniff converted a late spot-kick, but it was little consolation."
Result Four:
Competition: Premier Intermediate League | Round: 12/20 | Opponent: Limavady United (NIR/III) | Their Position: 4/11 | Their Streak: WWWWW
Our Highest Rated Player: Stuart Moore (NIR) - 8.1 | Our Position: 3/11 | Our Points Tally: 19pts | Our Streak: DLDLD
"Five competitive matches without victory, no league win in four encounters. So, the last thing we wanted was fixtures with Limavady United (4th) and Bangor (1st). I had changed tactic last time out against Banbridge, which evidently wasn't a success, so decided to mix things up once more with a 4-1-4-1 in the hope of becoming tighter defensively. It done the trick away to Limavady United, as we secured a point after a goalless draw to remain in third place."
Result Five:
Competition: Premier Intermediate League | Round: 13/20 | Opponent: Bangor (NIR/III) | Their Position: 1/11 | Their Streak: WLWWW
Our Highest Rated Player: Stuart Moore (NIR) - 7.0 | Our Position: 3/11 | Our Points Tally: 20pts | Our Streak: LDLDD
"The new tactic also got us a point at home to league leaders Bangor. It does mean no victory in seven games for us now, but I'll take these two points given how shocking we've been. It also ends our losing streak to @Shedender's lot.
Overview:
Bit rough, that. A winless (penalties officially count as a draw, of course) month puts a dent in our aspirations. Bangor are now 8pts ahead of us now, though Tobermore United in the play-off spot remain in sight by 3pts. Just seven Premier Intermediate League matches to play now, it really is Bangor's to lose at this point given their five point lead on Tobermore.
In terms of cup football: We only remain in the Irish Cup, with Dollingstown awaiting following our scrape past Banbridge Town. That's a winnable tie, if we can get our crap together.
Current Tactics:
Other:
Paul Young has left us. The 37-year-old winger wasn't being used, started complaining so I gave him a free transfer. No biggie.
Below you can see some rather topical news...
Thank you for reading!
Next? Update 008: January 2020!
Current Manager Profile:
Career Recap:
Job 001, 2019–:
TinakoFM
Current Team: Lisburn Distillery (Premier Intermediate League) | Honours With Them: 0
This Season's (2019-20) Expectation(s): Reach Play-offs
Overall Team #: 1 | Career Honours: 0
Update 008: January 2020
We welcomed in 2020 with just four fixtures, three of which in the Premier Intermediate League and one in the Irish Cup. Our form has been hideous lately, as we went the whole month of December without an official victory; and hadn't scored in the latter two encounters. Would our form improve?
Match Round-Up:
Result One:
Competition: Premier Intermediate League | Round: 14/20 | Opponent: Dollingstown (NIR/III) | Their Position: 9/11 | Their Streak: WWLDW
Our Highest Rated Player: Josh Doyle (NIR) & Stuart Moore (NIR) - 6.8 | Our Position: 3/11 | Our Points Tally: 20pts | Our Streak: DLDDL
"Not a great start to the new year. Shoddy defeat at home to Dollingstown, Andrew Hamilton won it for them after netting a penalty on 8mins. Really, really dreadful."
Result Two:
Competition: Irish Cup | Round: Fifth | Opponent: Dollingstown (NIR/III) | Their Position: - | Their Streak: WLDWW
Our Highest Rated Player: Barry Moore (NIR) & Dale McCreery - 7.3 | Our Position: - | Our Points Tally: - | Our Streak: LDDLD
"Another meeting with Dollingstown, this time in the Irish Cup fifth round. Just like in round four versus Banbridge Town, we managed to advance after winning the penalty shoot-out. It was a second straight poor performance, but our second straight victory on spot-kicks this season. Despite the bad form, we find ourselves in the Irish Cup sixth round - where we'll host Premiership outfit Cliftonville."
Result Three:
Competition: Premier Intermediate League | Round: 15/20 | Opponent: Moyola Park (NIR/III) | Their Position: 8/11 | Their Streak: DLWWL
Our Highest Rated Player: Nick Beta (NIR) - 8.3 | Our Position: 3/11 | Our Points Tally: 23pts | Our Streak: DDLDW
"Three points! An actual win achieved! Amongst a flurry of tactical tweaks this month, one finally produced the goods as we defeated mid-table Moyola Park following goals from Kevin Braniff, Daire Rooney and Nick Beta. Our opponents did get one back, but we held on; despite losing two key players to injury. We also missed a penalty."
Result Four:
Competition: Premier Intermediate League | Round: 16/20 | Opponent: Portstewart (NIR/III) | Their Position: 5/11 | Their Streak: LWLLW
Our Highest Rated Player: Michael O'Hanlon (NIR) & Nick Beta (NIR) - 7.2 | Our Position: 2/11 | Our Points Tally: 26pts | Our Streak: DLDWW
"Have we turned a corner? Back-to-back wins out of nowhere, Nick Beta and Kevin Braniff scoring here for a 2-0 win away to Portstewart. This result actually takes us into 2nd, after Tobermore United shockingly lost away to Newington."
Overview:
We head into February in 2nd, which I don't quite know how we've managed to be honest... those two victories were massive. Hopes tempered slightly, given Bangor (3pts ahead) and Tobermore United (level on pts) have games in hand; as do Annagh United down in 4th. We can only do our job though, just four matches left to play - three in February then, rather strangely, the final fixture isn't played until April...
Current Tactics:
Other:
Thank you for reading!
Next? Update 009: February 2020!
Current Manager Profile:
Career Recap:
Job 001, 2019–:
SrWer
TinakoFM
Position is all I care for, so to be in 2nd at this stage is promising; just need some luck with our rivals' games in hand.
TinakoFM
Current Team: Lisburn Distillery (Premier Intermediate League) | Honours With Them: 0
This Season's (2019-20) Expectation(s): Reach Play-offs
Overall Team #: 1 | Career Honours: 0
Update 009: February 2020
January ended on a positive, as we came out victorious in three straight fixtures in league and cup; which was a major improvement on our end to 2019, with that seven match winless streak. February would prove to be a massive month in 2019/20, as we played three of the last four Premier Intermediate League fixtures which included a huge encounter with promotion rivals Tobermore United. They'd also be a Irish Cup sixth round meeting with Cliftonville.
Here's how it all went:
Match Round-Up:
Result One:
Competition: Premier Intermediate League | Round: 17/20 | Opponent: Newington (NIR/III) | Their Position: 11/11 | Their Streak: LLWLW
Our Highest Rated Player: Johnny McCaw (NIR) - 8.3 | Our Position: 2/11 | Our Points Tally: 29pts | Our Streak: LDWWW
"Nervy match-up with bottom of the table Newington, partly due to the fact that they had beat Tobermore United at Seaview just a few matchdays ago. They almost gained the points over us too after Conal Burns put them ahead on 13mins, but thankfully goals from Johnny McCaw and Nick Beta (89th min!) snatched us the win. Crucial, but fortunate, three points."
Result Two:
Competition: Irish Cup | Round: Sixth | Opponent: Cliftonville (NIR/I) | Their Position: - | Their Streak: WDWWW
Our Highest Rated Player: Timmy Clarke (NIR) - 7.1 | Our Position: - | Our Points Tally: - | Our Streak: DWWWL
"Gutting defeat to Premiership side Cliftonville in the Irish Cup sixth round, as Aaron Donnelly scored on 90mins to secure his side a place in the next round. So close to knocking out a big gun. They merited their victory, but we dug in tremendously and deserved extra time. Harsh way to exit the competition."
Result Three:
Competition: Premier Intermediate League | Round: 18/20 | Opponent: Tobermore United (NIR/III) | Their Position: 3/11 | Their Streak: LWLLW
Our Highest Rated Player: Dale McCreery (NIR) - 6.8 | Our Position: 3/11 | Our Points Tally: 29pts | Our Streak: WWWLL
"Ffs. Bottled it. What an opportunity to stake a massive claim for a top two finish, instead we lost - thanks to a silly own-goal from Stuart Moore - and handed over momentum to Tobermore United. Shocking performance."
Result Four:
Competition: Friendly | Round: - | Opponent: East Belfast (NIR/IV) | Their Position: - | Their Streak: -
Our Highest Rated Player: James Wright (NIR) & Johnny McCaw (NIR) - 8.3 | Our Position: - | Our Points Tally: - | Our Streak: -
"A free week, strangely the first of many to come next month and beyond, means a friendly match was scheduled - versus East Belfast of the fourth tier. We got a win, despite making hard work of it, after strikes from James Wright and Johnny McCaw."
Result Five:
Competition: Premier Intermediate League | Round: 19/20 | Opponent: Annagh United (NIR/III) | Their Position: 6/11 | Their Streak: WWLLL
Our Highest Rated Player: Josh Doyle (NIR) - 6.9 | Our Position: 3/11 | Our Points Tally: 30pts | Our Streak: WWLLD
"Deary me. Do we even want promotion? Lacklustre tie with mid-table Annagh United, which would've seen our season over there and then if not for Bangor's defeat away to Moyola Park. The title is now officially out of reach, but a promotion play-off place is still available - but only just."
Overview:
That table, given our messy form, makes for frustrating reading. Wins over Tobermore United and Annagh United would've seen us top of the standings, but instead we sit 3rd with just one fixture left to fulfil. 1st is between Tobermore and Bangor, who actually meet each other on the final day of the season - which is *checks notes* over a month away...
When it does arrive, it'll be a nail-biting final day. We will host 9th place Armagh City whilst the other two face-off. We sit 3pts behind Bangor and they hold a +5 goal difference (and +5 goals scored - the secondary deciding factor), so we will need ourselves to be on top form and/or help from Tobermore; who are going for the title, so won't (shouldn't) go easy on Bangor. I'm not confident, whatsoever. I just hope we do our bit, placing outside the top three would be a disgrace - to be frank.
Current Tactics:
Other:
To channel @VP. ...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9jK-NcRmVcw
Thank you for reading!
Next? Update 010: End Of The 2019/20 Season!
Current Manager Profile:
Career Recap:
Job 001, 2019–:
Dan
TinakoFM
Cheers, Dan! It might not be, unfortunately.
Bangor (2nd) vs. Newington (11th)
Banbridge Town (10th) vs. Tobermore United (1st)
Of course, what Tobermore do doesn't really matter to us given they are out of reach but you'd expect Bangor to beat bottom of the table at home; though Newington did beat Tobermore recently and gave us a strong test so who knows.
TinakoFM
Current Team: Lisburn Distillery (Premier Intermediate League) | Honours With Them: 0
This Season's (2019-20) Expectation(s): Reach Play-offs
Overall Team #: 1 | Career Honours: 0
Update: End Of The 2019/20 Season
I've belatedly reached the end of the 2019/20 season with Lisburn Distillery, having had to get through a bugged out schedule which made us schedule seven friendly matches to fill the gap between our penultimate match of the campaign and the final game of the season.
I usually take control of every match, even friendlies, but this time I delegated to my coaching staff; playing friendlies when there shouldn't be friendlies is extremely boring and demotivating. Added to the fact our season was likely already over, given second place Bangor had a game in hand and could end our promotion hopes before the competition's final day.
arguably unimportant editorial note: I'm changing the way I do my posts for this. I enjoy doing it the way I have been doing, especially with the detail it included, but I want to make more progress in the game itself; so want to spend most of my time with Football Manager in-game. The reasoning is that I don't enjoy FM as much as I used to but still like sharing my career(s) on here. So by doing an update every six months, I can fly through the game quicker; rather than loading/typing up/shutting down etc every game month.
Firstly, here's how the exhibition matches went.
My coaching team did a good job, securing seven straight victories over lower league Northern Irish outfits in Abbey Villa, Brantwood, Maghera Strollers, Banbridge Rangers, Coagh United, Albert Foundry and Rosario.
On the day of that Albert Foundry encounter, the rest of the league (bar Portstewart) caught up on games played. Tobermore United actually lost to Banbridge Town, but Bangor - the team we needed to lose - produced and beat Newington on home turf. Therefore, our season ended two weeks before our final Premier Intermediate League commitment versus Armagh City.
As you can see below, we eased past Armagh City 3-1 which secures us a merited third place finish ahead of Moyola Park. Above us, Bangor are promoted to the Championship as title winners while Tobermore United take the play-off spot; where they'll meet Ballyclare Comrades.
So, that is 2019/20 done and dusted. It wasn't to be for me and Lisburn Distillery this season, but we'll be back next campaign to hopefully correct our wrongs and get Championship football at New Grosvenor Stadium for 2021/22.
That's the plan, at least. The board have shown no sign of offering me a new contract yet, which is a little worrying given it ends in June. My manager rating, which you can see behind the 'spoilers' below along with other screenshots, is 'C' but they believe we are on course for promotion next season. I'm hopeful they'll offer me a new deal.
Thank you for reading!
Next? January 2021! (hopefully)
Current Manager Profile:
Career Recap:
Job 001, 2019–:
tongey
Best of luck mate!
TinakoFM
Indeed it is. We didn't really deserve promotion to be honest, our dreadful festive period form cost us. Appreciate your comment, as always!
TinakoFM
tongey
saplingg
TinakoFM
Cheers! I'd definitely say this season is do or die, expectation raised from 'play-offs' to 'title win' indeed suggests that. It'll be tricky, for sure.
SrWer
TinakoFM
TinakoFM
Current Team: Lisburn Distillery (Premier Intermediate League) | Honours With Them: 0
This Season's (2020-21) Expectation(s): Win The Title
Overall Team #: 1 | Career Honours: 0
Update: July 2020 to January 2021
January 2021 has arrived, as I've reached the midpoint of my second season in charge of Lisburn Distillery in Northern Ireland's third division. We narrowly missed out on the title and promotion last campaign as we failed the board's expectations, but we managed to snag a further year in charge of The Whites though the expectation now is to the win the division outright. A tough but very much doable task.
Here's our full expectations for 2020/21, while the bookies interestingly placed us as fifth favourites.
In terms of transfers, I signed just two players - central midfielder Tiarnan Boorman (NIR) from Coleraine and centre-back Matteo Lavorca (ITA) from Linfield. Craig Kennedy, our back-up goalkeeper, left for newly-promoted Belfast Celtic, while Anthony Byrne's contract expired. Steven Ferguson (cm), Stephen Curley (cb) and Andrew Long (rb/cm) all retired.
Thoughts
It hasn't gone great. We have been incredibly inconsistent, given we began the season in fine form beating our first three opponents in Dollingstown, Annagh United and Newington but that was coupled with a fall at the first hurdle in three different cup competitions; narrowly to Championship outfit Dergview in the League Cup and Belfast Celtic in the Steel & Sons Cup, but simply outclassed by last season's relegated Championship team PSNI; who beat us again days later.
We went winless in September, before winning just two of the four competitive matches in October - one of which being in the Intermediate Cup versus minnows Markethill Swifts; after extra time rather embarrassingly. Just two actual matches in November, as we lost to Banbridge Town but did progress in the aforementioned cup versus other lower leaguers Ardstraw. December was where it fell apart a little to be honest, despite losing just once - to Newington - we dropped points against Limavady United and Annagh United; securing a sole victory over Dollingstown.
We also met Dergview for the second time in a cup, again narrowly losing out to the team from the league above. It has been a frustrating campaign.
Thoughts
That looks a tad worse than it actually is, given we're just one point from 3rd and six points off 2nd. 1st is totally out of reach, given Tobermore United's sensational form which leaves them eleven points ahead of Portstewart - they've certainly reacted well to missing promotion, us not so much.
Cup-wise, we are out of the Irish Cup, the League Cup, the County Antrim Shield and Steel & Sons Cup but do remain in the Intermediate Cup; where we'll face divisional rivals Armagh City in round three.
Thoughts
As you can see, I still have the players on my side - all three categories are at least 'Good', with 'Managerial Support' even at 'Very Good'. The board are OK with me, though our title win league expectation has dropped to 'Disappointed' - much better than expected, given we are a massive seventeen points off reaching that target.
The next few months will be crucial in more ways than one, I fear I may be sacked/released unless we can sneak into the play-off spot come April.
Thoughts
In other news, I completed my first coaching course earlier in the campaign; achieving my National C Licence. I'll (hopefully) take the next course in pre-season, as I feel that's probably the most realistic time to take it. You can see that below, along with the squad statistics.
2020/21 almost done, just a few more months remaining; including that annoying mid-season break bug. A play-off place is all we can realistically hope for at this point, to get that we are going to have to improve tremendously.
Here's the fixture list.
Thank you for reading!
Next? January to May 2021! (hopefully)
Current Manager Profile:
Career Recap:
Job 001, 2019–:
Dan
TinakoFM
Indeed we do. Tobermore are too good to be caught, but hopefully we can squeeze into that play-off spot.
TinakoFM
Current Team: Lisburn Distillery (Premier Intermediate League) | Honours With Them: 0
This Season's (2020-21) Expectation(s): Win The Title
Overall Team #: 1 | Career Honours: 0
Update: January to May 2021
2020/21 has come to a close. Could I lead Lisburn Distillery to any sort of success or would I face an early sacking?
A terrific unbeaten second part of the season left us in 2nd with just one fixture left to play, but it was all to play for as we were being chased by two others: Limavady United and Portstewart. We would host Limavady on the final day, while Portstewart would head to ninth place Annagh United.
Could we secure that play-off place?
Bottled it. We actually managed to bottle it.
We just didn't turn up on what turned out to be a gutting final day, as we narrowly lost out at home to Limavady United who went on to secure that play-off spot; and subsequent promotion after defeating Queen's University Belfast. We dropped down to finish 4th due to Portstewart's win over Annagh United. Very frustrating.
There's the fixture list, which you can see we actually managed to reach the Intermediate Cup final. Having defeated runaway Premier Intermediate League winners Tobermore United in the semi-finals, we met mid-table Dollingstown in the final on neutral territory at Seaview.
Could we salvage a trophy from this disappointing campaign?
Unbelievable. 90'+3 minutes...
We could've ended the campaign as play-off winners and Intermediate Cup holders, but instead we finish it trophyless and are still a third tier team.
My board rating was at 'E' for the majority but they didn't sack me, despite numerous board meetings that I managed to blag my way through. After the cup final, my rating strangely went up to 'C-' and they even showed me their upcoming 'Club Vision' (suggesting a new contract offer?) which was to finish mid-table in our current division (??) but become an established Championship team in 2022/23 despite no promotion being in their vision. Needless to say, that feature has bugged out.
Despite the possibility of a new contract, I decided to resign as Lisburn Distillery manager.
I fancy a new challenge, so a good point for me to part ways with the club; arguably better for them too!
Thank you for reading!
Next? New Job! (if it doesn't bug out again
Current Manager Profile:
Career Recap:
Job 001, 2019–2021:
TinakoFM
I have moved across the Irish Sea to England, joining Basingstoke Town in the National League South.
As I've mentioned before, I don't have any sort of rules to stick to in my journeyman saves. I just (try to) enjoy the ride, experiencing different footballing cultures. This save could easily end with zero trophies/success, or I could become the next Sir Alex Ferguson. Either way, I like to take it all how it comes. Therefore, going to England makes sense for me. I don't remember the last time I managed in the English lower leagues, it has been a long, long while.
Current Team: Basingstoke Town (National League South) | Honours With Them: 0
This Season's (2021-22) Expectation(s): Avoid Relegation
Overall Team #: 2 | Career Honours: 0
Basingstoke Town hold a respectable - if not massively successful - history.
The Dragons were formed back in 1896, initially joining the Hampshire League from 1901. Fast forward to 2021 and they find themselves newly-promoted from the Southern League to the National League South - England's sixth tier. They've previously played at this level (most recently in 2015-16) but haven't progressed any higher. They play their home fixtures at the modest Winklebury Football Complex. Their spiritual home is actually Camrose, though that has been left abandoned following disagreements with owner/chairman Rafi Razzak.
In terms of honours, Basingstoke have a 1984–85 Southern League title to their name - their last major trophy. They've won a few other things, including the Hampshire Senior Cup seven times.
Basingstoke Town have set me realistic expectations, with the key one being to avoid relegation. They would like us to reach the FA Cup third qualifying round and 'be competitive' in the FA Trophy.
Here's what awaits me. The squad is looking extremely light at the minute so will need building up, I do have a £14k transfer kitty at my disposal to help with that. In terms of fixtures, they've already played one pre-season friendly - a defeat to Cardiff City's U23s.
Thank you for reading!
Next? January 2022! (hopefully)
Current Manager Profile:
Career Recap:
Job 001, 2019–2021:
Job 002, 2021–:
tongey
Basingstoke will be fun, best of luck to you there my man!
TinakoFM
Thanks!
TinakoFM
Well that went splendidly, didn't it?
169 days into my reign of Basingstoke Town in England, I was sacked on Boxing Day 2021 - happy holidays eh? I'll get into what occurred shortly, but it was probably deserved given our position - though I felt our form was slowly turning a corner.
As you can see, it is understandable why chairman Ross Bettinelli felt a change was needed.
We actually started the campaign extremely well, given we were a newly-promoted outfit, after winning two of our opening three fixtures against Oxford City and Kingstonian. Things went south pretty quickly though, as we didn't pick up another three points until nine games later versus Welling United. That aforementioned win didn't do much, as we went on a fourteen-match winless streak in all competitions; notably getting knocked out of the FA Cup by lower league Aveley.
Mid-November saw a mini change in fortunes though, I led the team to beating Folkestone Invicta in the FA Trophy before securing a stunning 3-0 win over runaway league leaders Eastleigh. Sadly, that wasn't the start of a new dawn as we failed to get a National League South victory in my final month in charge - failure to beat relegation rivals Oxford City and Truro City saw Basingstoke fire me at Christmas.
A real shame. I get why I was sacked, but would've liked a further month in charge to see if the overall form had improved.
Not that it matters all that much now, but here are the fifteen signings I made with Basingstoke Town.
My main incoming was Matthew Swann from former club Lisburn Distillery. He actually worked out pretty nicely, currently (28 January 2022) scoring 12 goals in 34 games in all competitions with an average rating of 6.77. His Basingstoke contract actually ends in the forthcoming June, he is oddly loan listed and is interested in joining me at my next club (revealed shortly), so I might be reunited with my only memorable Basingstoke player very soon.
Onto the next one!
Thank you for reading!
Next? New Job!
Current Manager Profile:
Career Recap:
Job 001, 2019–2021:
Job 002, 2021:
TinakoFM
I'm off to the Republic of Ireland!
Limerick of the First Division have allowed me to manage them from the upcoming 2022 season. I'm able to join right at the beginning thanks to my Basingstoke Town mid-campaign sacking. Limerick are predicted to finish 5th in 2022, so are expected to be amongst the favourites to be chasing the three play-off places from 2nd to 4th.
That's what awaits me, from the fixtures to the players. I'm excited to get started!
Current Team: Limerick (Irish First Division) | Honours With Them: 0
This Season's (2022) Expectation(s): Reach Promotion Play-off
Overall Team #: 3 | Career Honours: 0
Limerick were founded back in 1937, initially joining the top division prior to playing their first match in the Dublin City Cup in August of that year against Shamrock Rovers. They've won the Premier Division title on two occasions; in 1959–60 and 1979–80. However, nowadays they find themselves in the second tier after relegation in 2018. They've remained there in-game, finishing 7th, 8th and 4th across the last three seasons. The club's last trophy remains the 2016 First Division, though they did reach the Munster Senior Cup final last season - losing to Cork City.
Also in 2021, they came inches away from promotion to the Premier Division after reaching the play-offs. They defeated domestic rivals UCD and Longford Town, but would lose at the last hurdle to top-flight Drogheda United. Can I guide them one better in 2022?
Journey So Far!
Thank you for reading!
Next? 1 June 2022! (hopefully)
Current Manager Profile:
Career Recap:
Job 001, 2019–2021:
Job 002, 2021:
Job 003, 2022–:
TinakoFM
It has been an interesting start to my time with Limerick in the Republic of Ireland.
As shown above, we sit 3rd on 1 June 2022 and are in the midst of a three-way title race with Longford Town and UCD. Pre-season title favourites Shelbourne have struggled down in 5th.
It has been 'one of those' type of title races thus far, we were sitting 1st for all but three of the first thirteen matchdays but have dropped off a little recently - especially as Longford and UCD have, of course, been just as good as us throughout. UCD sit top, they're surprisingly still undefeated. Me & Limerick sit 3pts adrift of UCD, who are joined atop by Longford on 34pts.
As for the cups, we were knocked out of the Munster Senior Cup at the quarter-final stage to Cobh Ramblers - who, despite being 7th, have become our bogey team - W1 (narrowly), L2. Our EA Sports Cup journey also ended at the first hurdle as Premier Division outfit Galway United eliminated us. The FAI Cup will get underway in August.
Overall it has been a good first campaign for me at Limerick, given we were predicted to finish 5th. Still 11 First Division fixtures left to play, including home games against Longford and UCD. It's in our hands.
There are my transfers. I signed three of those in Matthew Swann, Robin Shroot and Philip Gannon - the other three are youth team signings made by my assistant Michael Timlin; the former Southend United player.
Swann is a player I had at Lisburn Distillery and Basingstoke Town. He hasn't really got a look in just yet, due to the form of Cian Murphy (14gls in 16gms) and Kevin Buckley (2gls in 2starts) but is a useful back-up option - I signed him on loan until the end of June, though can sign him on a pre-contract arrangement for July if I desire.
Shroot, the one-time Birmingham City man, was signed as we needed a CAM, same reasoning for Gannon except he is a CDM. Both have featured a fair amount of times so far. Liam Benson was the only departure, as he joined Cobh Ramblers' U19s within days of my arrival.
Squad dynamics and board ratings can be seen below. Managerial support is weirdly in the red despite no major or minor issues with the squad, which is lowering my manager performance rating to 'C+' - which is still fine, the board are happy with me.
Thank you for reading!
Next? 29 September 2022! (hopefully)
Current Manager Profile:
Career Recap:
Job 001, 2019–2021:
Job 002, 2021:
Job 003, 2022–:
TinakoFM