Workin' Hard or Hardly Workin'?

Hello all, and welcome to my new career as manager of my local side, Workington Reds; and my attempt to bring glory to West Cumbria!
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Formed in 1921, the Reds were part of the Football League for 22 years between 1955 and 1977. My eventual aim will be to return them to the EFL and become the third Cumbrian club to occupy a place in the top four leagues, alongside Carlisle United and Barrow.

2022/23 saw the club gain promotion from Northern League Division One via the play-off's, so my short term aim will be to keep us in the NPL and build upwards from there.

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Club Info

Full name	Workington Association Football Club
Nickname(s)	The Reds
Founded	1921; 103 years ago
Ground	Borough Park, Workington
Capacity	3,101 (500 seated)
League	Northern Premier League - Premier Division
2022/23	3rd - Northern Premier League - West Division (Promoted via play-off's)
Kits

 - We will be competing in four competitions this season. I'm not bothered about the Northern League cup and will use that to give my fringe players a game, but certainly a run in the FA Cup and/or FA Trophy would be great, the prize money would be useful too.

Board Objectives

 - Nothing specific from the board for this season, just to try and keep the team up and do as well as we can in the cups.

Initial Squad

 - Pretty good basis to work with here, some good players who should be solid at this level, with the amount of central midfielders I have, I'm thinking 4-3-3 could be a sensible option to begin with, possibly a diamond shape when I want to really shut things down in the middle. We shall see how pre-season goes. I will be looking to bring in a few reinforcements to add a bit of depth, probably on loan to save money, but I won't be making wholesale changes right off the bat.

Manager Profile

 - Finally, here's me! Sunday league rep and no badges.

Used to live in Workington. Will be nice to see how you get on!

Not to far from you, in Penrith. Wishing you every success 

@Mak Jenkins @Joe Parkinson - Thanks guys, I'm near Cockermouth rather than Workington, but I've been going to Reds games regularly since moving to Cumbria last year. Thanks for commenting and keep reading!

Apologies for the delay in getting going here, I've had a hectic week or so. I'm now ready to begin this save properly though.

Tuesday 4th July 2023

Friendly

Whitehaven Amateurs 

There wasn't much preparation time for me to work with my squad ahead of this one, coming just 24 hours after I was appointed Reds manager. Given those circumstances, I don't think things could have gone much better as we made the fifteen-minute drive South, down the Cumbrian coast to Whitehaven. 

Tactically I kept things nice and simple, which is always a good idea at this sort of level, highly technical and complicated instructions don't tend to work very well in non-league football.

I'm pretty pleased with the squad I've inherited, the core of it at least. We are well-stocked in the central positions and the midfielders share good chemistry. I am in the market for a new left-back and cover for the wingers, though I've not had enough time to sort anything out yet.

My team played well and created chances in a manner befitting of a side four tiers above the opposition;

Three of our four goals came from outside the penalty area and were all scored by midfielders. Bobby Carroll, Brad Hubbold, and  Cieran Casson all fired home from a distance. Winger Kitt Nelson also netted, albeit from a closer distance.

Next up, we take on Northern League Division One side Carlisle City at home. I will probably ease one of the attacking players into a support role to maintain balance against the improvement In opposition quality.

3rd - 9th July 2023

Monday: My first day on the job! I spend most of the day assessing the squad I have available and deciding which areas of the team will be key priorities regarding transfers. I also begin to set things up tactically, as I mentioned in the previous post, the players know what they are doing on the pitch, so I will largely sit back and let them, making minor tweaks here and there if the need arises. I also work on training and set-piece routines, we have some dangerous aerial threats in the team, and it would be foolish not to try and take full advantage of them.

Tuesday: I meet my players for the first time during a team meeting, I outline what I expect from them this season, which is to stay clear of a relegation battle. Their response to this target is a positive one.

After meeting with the squad, it's off to speak to the local media for the first time, I say that I'm delighted to have been trusted to lead my local club and I firmly believe that there is potential here to return to the football league after nearly forty years within the next decade if everyone at the club pulls together.

Finally today, it's onto the team coach for the short seven-mile trip down the Cumbrian coast to Whitehaven for my first experience of football management. Considering I had only 24 hours to plan for this game, things went very well, we ran off 4-0 winners. Full details are in the post above.

Wednesday: 

After identifying the fullback positions as our biggest weaknesses right now, I have invited two local lads to join the team;

Adam Walton - 20-year-old Adamcan play either right-back or in midfield, it's always handy to have versatile players. A Cumbrian lad, he came through the academy at Carlisle before being allowed to join Kendal Town.

Charlie Birch - Another local lad, 21-year-old left-back Charlie, is no stranger to Borough Park, having made 22 appearances here last season as the club won promotion to the Northern Premier League. He also has experience playing North of the border with Annan in League Two. He left Workington to pursue a football scholarship In South Carolina. Now that he's back in the fold, I believe he will become a key part of the team.

Thursday: I have made a loan offer for Queen of the South winger Harvey Walker,  the Doonhamers aren't asking for any wage contribution and just want him to gain experience, so this could be a real win-win for both clubs. 

I've also submitted a loan approach for another player who is plying his trade in Dumfries & Galloway; Liam Short is a right winger for Gretna 2008. He also is available on loan for nothing and would provide a useful backup for Dav Symington on the flank.

Friday: Disappointingly, Harvey Walker has rejected our loan offer, it's back to the drawing board for me in the search for a left winger.

I begin tactical preparations for Sunday's trip to Carlisle City.

Saturday: Just one change to my starting XI from Tuesday's game at Whitehaven, Charlie Birch goes straight into the line-up for the Carlisle City game.

Sunday:

 We have a pretty straightforward time of it against Northern League Division One side Carlisle City (Tier 9) 

Bobby Carroll opened the scoring for the second game running from just outside the box. Versatile target man Steven Rigg netted a brace. He will be an important player for me as he can play up front, central midfield, or even as a central defender if needed!

We had plenty of shots on goal, despite having less of the ball. We were playing quite direct which ceded possession on occasion, so perhaps I will work on my game management and telling my team to bring it down to ground level when we have a comfortable lead to try and avoid inviting unnecessary opposition pressure.

Charlie Birch made a solid start on his return to the club, getting a 7.5 rating as a supporting wingback. Adam Walton also pulled on the red shirt for the first time as he came on as one of my slew of half-time substitutions, he achieved a solid 6.9. 

Next Week:

Following the game, I began preparing for the next fixture against the other side in Carlisle.

Alongside Barrow, Carlisle United is one of the two professional clubs in Cumbria. United is our affiliate club and plays us in an annual friendly at Borough Park, which is a nice money spinner for us. It will be good to see how my players cope facing a League One side. To prepare I have set up my training schedule to focus on defense.

10th - 16th July 2023

Monday: Mostly spent setting up mentoring groups to aid the development of the youngsters I signed last week.

Tuesday: I make an offer to James Ford to come in, in a dual role as our head of youth development and first-team coach. Unfortunately, he wanted a lot more than I was prepared to offer in terms of wages and he winds up signing with Halesowen Town instead.

Wednesday: Getting ready for tomorrow's visit of Carlisle United, we are expected to lose, so I've changed Connor Tinnion to a support role in central midfield rather than his usual attacking one, I've also changed Dav Symington to a more conventional winger role instead of cutting inside, to keep some width on the left and aid with getting balls into big Steven Rigg up front.

Thursday: 

A fair showing against a League One Carlisle, we did lose but we certainly weren't embarrassed by the blues, the narrow 1-0 defeat was probably a fair result to the visitors, though we did have some good chances despite only having a third of the possession. 

Friday: I praise Finn Wallbank for his performance in training this week, he achieved an 8.1 rating. Finn will be a big player for me in central defense this season.

Saturday: We complete the loan signing of 19-year-old winger Liam Short from Gretna 2008. He will start as a rotation option for Dav Symington and Kitt Nelson, but the opportunity is there for him to establish himself for a starting role if he plays well.

Sunday: We weren't scheduled to play again until next Sunday when we host Bolton Wanderers at Borough Park, I arranged an extra friendly against Isle of Man FC, to take place on Wednesday to help build match fitness before that game. Here are our remaining pre-season fixtures;

Next Week: Pre-season ramps up with us going to a two-game per week schedule as we play host NW Counties League side FC Isle of Man and League One Bolton. I will also be scouting for another winger and perhaps a backup left back to flesh out the squad. That would give me two players for every position.

17th - 23rd July 2023

Monday: I've invited two local youngsters on board, 20-year-old Lewis Rooks is a dynamic attacking midfielder who came through Carlisle's academy before joining Crook Town in County Durham. James Best is a left-back who plays for our Cumbrian neighbors Penrith on a non-contract basis, so I can lure him away for free.

Tuesday: Getting ready for tomorrow's visit of FC Isle of Man. I intend to be more expansive than we were against Carlisle as we are favourites. I'll be telling Dav Symington to cut in and run at the defenders from his left-wing position, hopefully creating space for Steven Rigg up front.

Wednesday: Another morale-boosting victory, 2-0 against our island-dwelling opposition who make the 36-mile journey across the Irish Sea to visit us.

The first goal was route one at its finest, goalkeeper Danny Eccles taking a long goal-kick that was perfectly onto the head of target man Steven Rigg who nodded it into the path of the overlapping Connor Tinnion who burst through the middle to score one-on-one. The second was an absolute stunner from thirty yards or more by Lewis Reilly, who naturally is a forward, however I've been utilizing him as an inside forward out wide so far.

Thursday: We complete the free signings of James Best and Lewis Rooks, adding some depth to my squad. Both are on a non-contract basis

There is a minor injury to midfielder Greg McCaragher, he hurt himself sprinting during training. Thankfully he should only be out for a day or two and should be available for the game against Bolton on Sunday.

Friday: Training is focused on defending as we gear up for the visit of Bolton on Sunday. Obviously, the League One side are heavy favorites, but I intend to give them a challenge.

Sunday: The wobbly Workington headline seems very harsh, we gave the Trotters a fight, naturally they had most of the ball, but we still had a few good chances and scored what I fought was a perfectly good second goal when Camron Gbadebo headed in from a corner with ten minutes to go, it was however ruled out. Goalie Jim Atkinson was in fine form between the posts, pulling off a string of top-class saves.

Next Week: We welcome our Cumbrian neighbors to the South, Kendal Town to Borough Park for our penultimate pre-season game. The last time our clubs met it was a 5-0 rout to Workington in the Northern League Division One back in 2019. I would love to repeat that feat against the Mintcakes this week!

24th - 30th July 2023

Wednesday: I complete the signing of 19 year old former Preston keeper, Declyn Duggan. Duggie didn't make the grade at Deepdale and spent last season with our fellow Cumbrians, Penrith. He will play in the reserves initially and provide cover for Jim Atkinson and Danny Eccles. I like having the three keepers in the squad just in case of injury. I think that will be my final piece of transfer business before the season starts.

Thursday: It hasn't been an impressive week on the training pitch, the highest rating anyone achieved was 6.8, I had to have a word with Brad Hubbold about his performance, getting a meager 5.4. 

Friday: No concerns ahead of tomorrow's game against Kendal, I toy with the idea of testing out Duggan in goal but in the end decide to keep Jim and Danny as I want them as match-sharp as possible before we start the campaign in earnest.

With no assistant manager or scouts in order to keep our financial outgoings to an absolute minimum, the monthly recruitment meeting, is just me talking to myself in my office.

Saturday: An easy victory over Kendal, It took just 40 seconds to get on the scoreboard, Dav Symington scoring his first goal of the pre-season campaign. Big Steven Rigg headed in a second not long after. Brad Hubbold must have taken on board my criticism of his training performance as he smashed in his second friendly goal. Kendal did have a brief spell of looking threatening early in the second half, pulling a goal back, however, loanee winger Liam Short restored our three-goal cushion on the hour, after that, there was never any doubt as to the result.

Sunday: Four of the six favorites to win the Northern Premier League Player of the Season award are loanees! Including our own Kitt Nelson who is on loan to us from Preston. The winger got two assists in the Kendal game yesterday.

Next Week: Pre-season wraps up with a hop across the Solway Firth into Dumfries & Galloway to take on Dalbeattie Star. This is the player's last chance to impress me before we begin the league season away at Marske United a week on Saturday.