Up the Iron

Ok I have struggled to find the motivation to play my Canada save at the moment but I still have it and I may go back to it but I have started a career as Scunthorpe with LFC Marshall's new January update! I have already played the first month of the season which I will post up soon I hope people will follow my journey!

I have always noticed Scunthorpe do not do well on FM but I hope with the update that will improve because Syres and Madden are great player will give it a go when the official update is on. Good luck with your journey.

Thanks for the comment! I would agree there they always seem to get relegated ! They are great players thanks!

Ok so here were my transfers!





I am really pleased with my signings all loanees and free players but they all have great quality for league 2 !

My best Team and other players are :

Loanee brought from Hibernian:



This young lad on loan from Swansea has struggled a bit but has a great long throw!



Already here when I came has had a great 1st month very young and very good in the air!



Again already here when I got here, doesn't look good but him and Canavan have had a solid partnership scored 2 on the 1st day of the season



I have always rated Eddie Nolan as he came from Blackburn! But he really he is a right back so we need a new left back but he has done a good job up to now



Very good centre mid! Will be important player for us this season



Got this lad on loan from Crystal Palace great player for us only played a couple of games so far due to injury



McDermott is a great young player on loan from Bournemouth ! Really does a job down the right wing



Litmanen is a beast I always buy him on a free and he never disappoints he is a class above this level!



Has been excellent so far both from the left wing and up front I hope the form continues!



Paddy Madden has been class far too good for league 2! Long term injury though is gutting and could set us back a bit



My other players:

Sub Keeper did well when hes played

Pre season went quite well! Great win over Man City under 21s!



My tatic!

Am delighted about the way we have started in my 1st month in all competitions!



Our first game was a very poor and even game but Mirfin headed in 2 Litamanen corners to seal a win!

Then we played very well away at league 1 Walsall Paddy Madden finishing brilliantly! Slocombe in goal also made some great saves!

Next we were very lucky to draw away at Bristol Rovers they scored a long range free kick which went in after a bad mistake by Slocombe. 2nd half we created nothing until right at the death when Syers hit the post and McDermott played it across and Winnall tapped in from a few yards out

Then we had Dag and Red at home they had tons of chances 1st half but Williams made some great saves! and Madden also missed a chance for us but he scored a good finish which came off the keeper and McDermott finished it off with his 1st goal for us!

I was expecting a tough game away at Wimbledon but 2 early goals killed the game Winnall scored a very long range free kick off the underside of the bar and also a good goal from close range! They had a goal disallowed at 1-0 for offside off a corner somehow when it bobbled down to him 10 yards out and we had 2 players on the line so that was very good luck but we deserved to win!

Then we played Aston Villa and I am gutted not to take this to extra time 1st half we got smashed and Kozak flicked it past Mirfin and produced a premier league quality finish and Mcsheffery then missed a good chance but it was well saved and then off a long throw it bobbled down to Hayes to put it in the keepers near post! That was in the 88th minute but just 2 minutes later Delph capitalised after Mirfin dallied with the ball and scored I was gutted to be out!

Finally we rounded off the month with a win against a very poor Newport County side who are predicted to finish 24th and last! Madden was again fantastic 2 great finishes but very poor defending! And after Madden hit the bar Hayes scored from the edge of the box to score our 3rd I was dissapointed to concede very poor defending for the goal too as we have kept alot of clean sheets!

I haven't got a screenshot of the table I will show you it after my 2nd month!

The win against Newport County came at a huge price though 3 injures and Madden out for a while could be costly







Came 2nd in the manager in the month after the 1st month!

Paddy, Paddy Paddy, Paddy Paddy Madden, Paddy!

Gutted my little old Yeovil sold him! He will be huge at Scunthorpe! Good luck with this george!

ha ha he is quality!

Am surprised Yeovil sold him we was very good for them in league 1 and now their bottom of the championship and need goals! Thanks Dan

I go watch them most weeks, especially when they are home! But Madden wanted a new contract with more money as he knew he was Yeovils key man, Johnson refused this and so he had to go! Big shame as we lost Ed Upson too!

ah yeah I went down to Yeovil when Blackburn played them away ! And stood behind the goal! Did you go to that one? ah I didn't know that thanks, Upson was a good player too scored on the 1st day of the season as well and a few other goals!

Yeah I went to the Blackburn game too! Haha I always stand at the other end behind the goal!

Yeah you were unlucky bit of class from Rhodes to score the goal for us!

We've been 'unlucky' all season! So many games we've lost by just a single goal especially at home! Its going to be so hard for us to stay up this season! We got Millwall at home on Tuesday and thats a must win!

My second month! It started off brilliantly and we didn't miss Madden with the amount of goals we were scoring but towards the end we were very poor, couldn't score and our defending was awful Canavan was also missing in defence so we struggled without him



The 1st game was against league 1 and Rotherham and for the 2nd time this season we have beaten a league 1 team it was very tight and looked like it was going to extra time but a late free kick by Winnall got us a win and helped us progress

Then we had a fantastic win away at Northampton they scored a fantastic goal inside 3 minutes and I feared the worst but we turned it around to win as by 24 minutes we were ahead Winnall scoring and then Hayes scoring a penalty! Into the second half Winnall very quickly completed his hat trick and put us 4-1 up! Late on Syers got his 1st of the season a tap in off a corner

Next we had a number of players injured/tired so quite a weak team went to Southend and it was a very tight 1st half with them shading it Williams making a few great saves! When it looked like nothing was happening Winnall again scored a brilliant long range free kick to put us ahead and just one minute later Hayhurst ran through one on one and his shot was poor but the keeper pushed in to his own net to give Hayhurst his first of the season ! They had a goal disallowed for offside shortly after but then scored through Barnard in the 88th minute but thankfully it was too late!

Then we had a 1st V 2nd game at home to Plymouth and it was a very poor game with not alot happening but they scored through Mike Grella one of the leagues top scorers after 26 minutes and not alot happened after that Winnall had an effort fantastically saved by their keeper late on so to be honest a draw was the fair result but we didn't play well enough it was our 1st loss and Plymouth lost their 1st game the week before!

Last game was away at Burton and I made a few changes and that was a huge mistake we defended awfully and had nothing up front they were 2-0 up at half time a Dawson own goal and Billy Kee scoring 3 minutes later so we were 2-0 down inside 17 minutes after that we slightly improved but not enough Eccleston who was a menace all game with his pace made it 3-0 Hayes grabbed us a late consolation with a good finish into the top corner.





We stay top but it is very close as the top 3 are all on the same points and 7th place is just 3 points off us at the top so I am happy to be top but I would have liked the gap to be bigger!

I am going to my player of the month from now on and this month it's ... Sam Winnall scored 5 goals in all comps and was really the only contender!

Yeah to be fair from what watched of you, you have hit the bar or missed penalties or conceded late goals soo many times! That really is a must win!

We have! Millers penalty yesterday was absolutely awful! He should never of been the man to take that!

He just smashed it no composure hit the bar and went over the stand!

October has now been completed it was a mixed month decent league form we struggled to break teams down at home and went out of the JPT on pens but our away form was good!



The 1st game of the month was a real cracker and I went through all the emotions in this game it was another top V 2nd clash as Cheltenham went top just after my last update but before this game, we were 2-0 up at Half time after an own goal as Nsiala headed a cross by Sparrow into his won net and then Paul Hayes heads in another Sparrow cross! Shortly after half time it was 3-0 as Ribeiro headed in a Litmanen corner for his 1st goal of the season but then we fell apart big style on 52 minutes Gornell pulled one back for them, and then on 54 minutes McGlashan made it 3-2 and I was very nervous! O'Keefe then gave away a penalty on 57 minutes and Cureton smashed it in so from 3-0 up after 51 minutes they had scored 3 in 6 minutes to level it up then on 64 minutes O'Keefe got sent off for a second booking and now I really feared we may lose this and then it got worse when Cureton scored again on 66 minutes and we looked out of it but we managed to grab a point Burton putting Brown under alot of pressure and he scored an own goal their 2nd in the match! At 3-0 I would have been no where near happy with a point but in the end I was happy with it!

Next was a horrible game we didn't play well at all Mensah scored for them after 33 minutes we did equalize McSheffrey scoring a fantastic goal after a great run! And then we got another red card on 60 minutes, Dawson was sent off for a stupid tackle so at that point we were hanging on for pens and we managed to get there but we lost they scored all 5 of their pens and Litmanen put our 3rd penalty wide which was gutting especially as he was our best penalty taker by a mile with 17 and they had players score with 5 for pens but on the day we weren't good enough and deserved to go out.

Next was Exeter at home and we really needed a win and Exeter just turned up for a point and we really struggled to break them down not creating alot they had no shots on target and really didn't threaten and despite all our efforts we couldn't score, after just 2 minutes Hayes finished a great goal but he was offside and that would have surely seen us win and Winnall was also so close with a free kick but he hit the bar in the 89th minute.

Then we finally grabbed a win Fleetwood again had 0 shots on target! But this time we were able to score away from home too. A big long kick by our keeper Williams and Syers let it go as did the defender which saw Winnall run through and finish brilliantly! After that we comfortably held out and should have scored a second but am pleased to win and end our long run without a win

Next up was Hartlepool at home and there only shot on target was their goal and they had just 3 shots they came with a 4-5-1 formation and played with a draw like so any teams have against us but without trying to sound like Jose Mourinho ha ha I must say it is effective, unfortunately they scored a free kick from at least 30 yards from ex Everton player Luke Garbutt to take the lead. Right on half time we equalised good work by Hayhurst and finished off by Winnall again his 2nd in as many games! After that second half we had other chances but they defended well and we couldn't score, Winnall having a close range effort amazingly saved by their keeper Flinders

Our final game of the month was a great and a very much needed win.York went straight out for the win and the game was very attacking we should have been much more than 1-0 up at half time coming curtsey of our 1st goal direct from an Obeng long throw! Hogg heading in his 1st goal for us in just his 3rd game! 2nd Half they were the better team and deserved to equalize but we held out and on the counter attack we produced some good play with Obeng finding McDermott and he went past the defender and crossed for Burton to tap into an empty net and he grabbed his 1st goal of the season he went mental in celebration too! We couldn't keep a clean sheet though as on the 90th minute Ryan Jarvis headed in a free kick and straight from centre Mirfin gave the ball away and then ran through and but from a great last ditch tackle by O'Keefe they would have scored again!! But we held on!




This sees us 2nd inside the automatic promotion places which is the main thing! 3 points off Cheltenham who are top.



Good too see us on and unbeaten run!



Big game in the FA cup!!



My Player of the moth this month is .... Donal McDermott no goals for him but some very good performances and assists!

Good unbeaten run George, need to turn those draws into wins though!

Thanks for the comment Dan! Yeah we do can't seem to break teams down!

Jari Litmanen The guy is bionic. How is he managing for you? I notice his physical stats aren't the greatest

Thanks for the comment! Yeah he is! He has done well to be fair playing in an attacking midfield role, he can't play every game but he does a decent job when played but he missed a pen in the shootout against Mansfield His physical stats are not the greatest but he has never been the quickest obviously now he hardly runs ha ha!

League Wise I am incredibly pleased with how November went ! Winning all 5 of our games meaning we have won 6 on the bounce in the league ! There were a few tough games in there too. We are out of the FA cup which I am very dissapointed about we should have won the 1st game but we couldn't score McDermott hitting the bar in the last minute and then in the replay we were much the better team then too but missed so many chances.



We started off the month with a tough trip to Chesterfield but we played very well! They started the better and took the lead when Jay O'Shea ran through and finished after not great keeping by Williams. But we equalised jut 4 minutes later when they couldn't clear a corner and Winnall smashed in with right foot! Then we went ahead when McDermott ran into the box and Stewart brought him down! Despite missing in the shootout Litmanen stepped up and scored a great pen just before half time McDermott scored an exact same goal that Winnall scored again finishing off a corner! Then right on half time Vigen makes it 3-2 I was gutted about this at half time as I wanted to go in with a 2 goal lead but they scored after we failed to clear a long throw. It stayed 3-2 for a long time but then a Dawson corner was headed in at far post by Syers to seal it

Then we had the FA cup tie at home to Cheltenham a draw was fair based on stats but we had a couple of really close attempts which could quite easily have sent us through so I was disappointed not to beat our main rivals for the league too. Our best chance coming in the 89th minute when McDermott heads against the bar

Before the replay against Cheltenham we had Accrington in the league they also played for a point but we were much better in this game and easily broke them down it definitely helped that Winnall scored after just 2 minutes as he turned the defender and powered a shot in! Right on Half time they had a great chance and their only shot on target but Slocombe saved well! Winnall also somehow didn't put us 2-0 up after 60 minutes their keeper making a great save. But after we got the early goal, Accrington were always going to have to come out and attack at some point which suited us as Mirfin scored off a Dawson corner when they left 3 forward! It was a great long range header though. And we sealed the win late on and I was delighted to see Burton score a real mix up between their defender and goalkeeper when they both left it for each other Burton nipped in but he still had alot to do but he finished well from a tight angle as it just glanced off the post!

Then came the replay against Cheltenham in which Paddy Madden returned!! but I was gutted to lose this we should have won to be honest the only positive is now we only have the league to focus on! It's been not bad in the cups in this season could have been better but at least we got through a couple of rounds! Andy Dawson scoring a fantastic free kick in at the keepers near post! Then we needed a 2nd goal but Gornell straight after a half time produced a fantastic finish to curl it round the keeper Paul Hayes should have showed the same composure but he fired straight at the keeper when one on one Hayhurst did the exact same just 2 minutes later. But they also had an amazing chance Mcglashan running through our non existent tackles but from 8 yards he slid it into the slide netting. And in the last seconds of normal time Harrison for them went through twice!! but put it wide and had the keeper save it this game was full of chances and one team should have won it in normal time! At the end we were lucky not to lose it then.But in extra time we had the 1st great chance Hayhurst producing a weak effort from close range. Then we went down to 10 men with McSheffery getting injured and we had no more subs I hoped we could hold out the last 10 minutes to reach penalties. But in the 112th minute just 8 minute to pens Chris Hogg headed into his won net off a corner another corner conceded and an own goal too which was so gutting

After that I wasn't particularity looking forward to going away to Portsmouth but we were excellent and gave a very solid away performance to give us a win a draw would probably have been fair but when they were down to 10 men when Shorey was off the pitch receiving treatment we capitalised a Nolan cross headed in by Winnall the keeper should have saved it but he could only push it into the corner of the net! Right on half time Winnall went through on goal ages away from the defender but hit it straight at the keeper from close range Late on Taylor missed a real sitter for them hitting it straight at Williams when he had to score but I was delighted to win!

Then we had another tough game away at Rochdale but we never looked in trouble even at 1-1 they looked poor and we played well! Paddy Madden getting his 1st goals since coming back from injury in his 1st start too! He scored a tap in after just 5 minutes when McSheffery played a great ball across! They got back level pretty soon after when Cummins headed in a free kick another set piece we have conceded off But on the half hour we were back ahead Rose scoring an own goal after a great ball through by Syers to McDermott, Rose finished the job for us. Just after half time, 7 minutes into the second half we had made it 4-1 McDermott and Madden scoring! McDermott after an O'Keefe shot was cleared off the line and Madden after a great cross by Winnall scored at the near post! They scored again with just 6 minutes to after a Williams our keeper scored an own goal but it was a consolation.

The final game of the month saw us play 2nd bottom Torquay at home and it looked like being one of those games we missed alot of chances before finally taking the lead mainly when Winnall went round the keeper but decided to wait for the defenders to get back before smashing 2 shots straight at the defenders but not long after we finally took the lead Mirfin is a real presence in the air and he headed in a corner and after half time they fell apart Winnall scoring 2 in the space of 13 minutes both after the keeper had saved his 1st attempts! McSheffery scored after 67 minutes too after rounding the keeper and tapping it in! I was disappointed to concede off yet another corner in the 90+3 minute. But it was a great comfortable win!

6 straight wins





We now have a 7 point lead! Cheltenham drop out of the top 3 after a poor month by them but we are flying high at the top!




Some awards this month and we got top 2 in the player of the month and I got manger of the month Personally I couldn't decide between Winnall or Mirfin for my player of the month the league went for Winnall just over Mirfin but they both deserve a mention!

Great Month George

Thanks very much mate I was very pleased!

Great month George, your flying!

Thanks Dan! A mixture of my great form and Cheltenham's poor form have seen me have a big lead at the top!

Another excellent month, All be it a small one. I was dissapointed that we couldn't keep our great run going of consecutive wins but Oxford away was a tough game and I was pleased to draw! One disappointing aspect was that Paddy Madden has not scored and has had very poor ratings But Burton has stepped up with goals!



We started the month with a trip to Wycombe and it was a tough game and they played very well a draw would have been a fair result but we are making a very good habit of winning when we don't play too well! David Mirfin grabbed a double in this one the first a header from a Gary McSheffery corner! Paddy Madden then had a goal disallowed for offside when he was just slightly off. They equalized on 56 minutes when Chris Hogg headed into his own net off a corner the 2nd time he has done this! Then Obeng put in a long throw and Mirfin got there hit a shot which hit the post then the defender and then went in! But Mirfin was awarded the goal. Hayhurst hit the bar for us but they didn't threaten and we held on!

Next up was our only home game of the month against Morecambe I was expecting a win but they gave us a more difficult game than I thought they would! All the goals were off set pieces! First for us when a giant Obeng long throw was flicked into the bottom corner by Mirfin which made it 3 goals in 2 games for the big centre back! But they were soon level a long range free kick by Fleming was tapped in by Almond to level it and I was thinking we are going to draw this one but just before half time another massive Obeng long throw was missed by our players but Stewart Drummond their centre midfielder headed into his own net the 2nd half was comfortable bar them hitting the bar and we held out

Next was Bury away and I was expecting a tough game but we hammered them somehow not going ahead earlier than we did Madden,Winnall and McDermott all missing chances. They had one shot on target and just 2 shots, their shot on target was where Williams making a good save from a Akpra Akpo shot and then right on half time Burton was played through by O'Keefe who did really well to win the ball back and Burton finished well! We sealed it with 15 minutes to go when Canavan scored an amazing header from far out and on the angle again from a Obeng long throw!

We finished the month with a tough trip to Oxford and I made quite a few changes to give some players a rest and 1st half we really struggled and didn't muster a shot on goal, they took the lead after 41 minutes through Dean Smalley as he turned in a cross they should have been more than one nil up but I am glad they were not 2nd half I changed the formation to 5-3-2 and we were much better! Madden and McSheffery missed chances but when Basey won us a free kick O'Keeffe produced a great ball and found one of the subs Burton who found the corner with a header to give us a point and keep our unbeaten run going!



Delighted as they approached me for contract talks !





The league still looks very good 10 points clear of 2nd place Plymouth and 15 ahead of 4th placed Chesterfield! Cheltenham who were 3 points ahead of me and top 2 months ago are now 5th 15 points of me after some horrible run of form including two 4-1 losses in a row!




Also I arranged this signings to join for January 1st and as December has now finished these players are here and I am very happy too!

Danny Gabbidon has 46 caps for Wales and is a very experienced defender! I feel he should do very well for us especially on a free!



Eric Odhiambo has been amazing so far this season in the blue square premier for Hereford scoring 7 times and assisting 9 times with 7 man of the matches so really good hopefully he can do the same for us in league 2 he cost me 20k!



The final deal is for ex premier league player Jonathan Greening and he has joined us on a free should be very good for at least the rest of the season hopefully nest season too! Just beefs up the midfield I am pleased to have signed a centre back,Centre mid and an attacking player!



My player of the month:

Player of the month goes to .... David Mirfin he scored alot of goals off set pieces and headed everything in both penalty boxes!!

Another Great Month George and Some Good signings especially for League 2