rossiheslopi - Comments

Nice £85 quid up after 2 days using small stakes. could have been so much more though - first day I had a 7 fold to place accumulator to win £1500 from £5, 6 legs won and the only one that let me down was where I needed a first 5 finish and my horse was brought down by a faller when looking strong. Add that to Northampton conceding in the last minute on Saturday to ruin a £450 from a fiver accumulator and I could have had one hell of a few days

THE CLUB





The club plays it’s home matches at The Shay Stadium, a facility that is probably too good for the level the club is playing at.



After reforming in 2008 after the original club entered administration, the new club has risen through the leagues prolifically, rising from the Evostik Northern Division One North back to where the old club was before perishing, the Vanarama Conference, thanks to 3 promotions in 4 seasons. Upon returning to the conference, FC Halifax not only consolidated their position in the Conference, but also reaching the playoffs before succumbing 2-1 on aggregate to Cambridge United who were eventually promoted. In their second season back at this level, early promise faded away through the second half of the season, eventually finishing in 9th, whilst disappointing, still very respectable all things considered.

The club has also gained recognition recently thanks to the successes of recent players, Lee Gregory now at Millwall, and, most notably, Jamie Vardy at Leicester City

The club is still part-time, highlighting the difficulties facing me as manager, due to the Conference being made up with many full-time, ex league clubs run on larger budgets. The playing squad also underwent a complete overhaul in the Summer of 2015, with all but a handful of players remaining from the previous season. This was partly down to the squad needing to be freshened up after stagnating in the second half of last season, and also partly down to the club not acting quickly enough, and players moving onto (generally) bigger clubs.

So, in FM15 I started a story where I would take charge of my hometown club, FC Halifax Town, aiming to take them from their current position in the Conference, and going as far as possible (hopefully ending with the ultimate, Champions League success)

This story came to an end due to the birth of my daughter, meaning FM went on to the backburner somewhat. As a result progress in this career will be slow, however it is likely to be long term as I don't anticipate buying FM17 later on this year as I don't really have the time to warrant buying it.

The story will begin in the next post

Hi Guys,

A while since I posted, but looking for advice on a new desktop.

Currently have a laptop, which is pretty powerful and runs FM well, however the area where the charger plugs in heats up excessively, so the battery has fried, and when the charger is knocked the laptop cuts out almost immediately.

This has obviously made it into more of a desktop than a PC. However, me and my partner were thinking of selling both our laptops and buying a desktop.

Would this be a good course of action?

If so, can anyone recommend a good one, would mainly be used for running FM for me, and The Sims 4 for her.

Don't know the budget dependant on what we might receive for selling ours, however I'd guess we may be restricted to around the £400 - £500 mark as we would need to buy it first to transfer any files across.

Cheers in advance

Brilliant run as a novice, didn't miss a beat

So excited for this Gold Cup! Cmon Silviniaco Conti!!

Got a 7 fold place accumulator on

Peace and Co
Baltimore Rock
Value at Risk
Silviniaco Conti
Paint the clouds
Roi Des Francs
Grumeti

£5 returns £2678.16

No chance!

Was only a 3 runner race with nothing too special up against it

ffs Saphir De Rheu, can't believe that Cole Harden has never beaten anything of note

That was just something else by Vautour

Time to see how we fared in our first month as a full time, football league club!



An inconsistent start but not too disappointed with it, was always gonna be tough to adjust to the step up.

Delighted to start with a 2-0 victory at home to Shrewsbury, played well from start to finish and got the win we deserved.

Although we lost after extra time against Crewe, we again played well and as our players tired Crewe capitalised with a 115th minute goal.

The loss against Tranmere was harsh as we matched them throughout.

Against Carlisle we did well to come from 2-0 down to draw level, however a late goal saw Carlisle travel home with all 3 points.

We then travelled to Colchester and notched a superb win, with a late Alex Grant goal nicking the points for us.

We then made it our first back to back wins of the season at home to lowly Newport County, however it was disappointing we didn't score more having dominated from start to finish.

Ended the month with a heavy loss to League One Barnsley in the Johnstone's Paint Trophy, we were holding our own at 1-0 down, however a red card for Charlie Allen really hit us hard in the 72nd minute, meaning the scoreline looks a lot more one-sided than it perhaps should have been.



First month done and we sit in 7th place, very early stages but by far and away exceeding all pre season expectations.

2016/17 Season Preview

After a superb performance last year seeing us get promoted via the playoffs, this season is going to be a real test. Now we are a league side we are a full time club which will hopefully allow us to attract new players, and see an improvement in the players we already have. The main aim this season is to try consolidate our position in League 2, so although I want to finish as high as possible, anything from 22nd place upwards will do!

Media Prediction: 23rd

The media have us as joint favourites to be relegated along with Gateshead, we're determined to prove them wrong.



This was an extremely tough summer. First priority was tying all the players I retained onto full time contracts, then I could go shopping for new players! However the quality I was looking for just wasn't there, and I refused to overload with average players. However, I was happy with this signing:



Pre season saw us play a mixture of teams:



Happy with that, Bolton and Huddersfield expectedly beat us, and I was extremely delighted to draw with Zulte Waregem and beat Lokeren, 2 fantastic results and performances against teams stronger than us.

We also played our Capital One Cup Preliminary Round against Barnet and managed to see them off with a comfortable 2-0 victory. Our reward for this was a tie against Crewe.

Season Review - 2015/16

League - Brilliant performance with the boys, looking strong from start to finish allowing us to achieve 3rd place and then gain promotion via the playoffs thanks to some late drama.

FA Cup - Lost in the First Round to Peterborough, happy with this as they were 3rd in League One when we played them, and they eventually finished 2nd, only missing out on the title by goal difference.

FA Trophy - Lost in the Second Round away at Chester. Disappointing to go out early but we lost to one of the strongest teams in the competition, however we got our own back later on in the season by beating them in the playoffs.

Overall I am delighted, would have liked cup runs to go with the league performance but I can't complain. To get promoted despite being part time and having a small budget is a superb achievement. I was expecting it to take 3 or 4 seasons to achieve this, maybe even with us going full time in the conference so we have exceeded my expectations.

End of Season Awards:



For the second season in a row Midfield talisman Matty Pearson deservedly scoops the Fans Player of the Season award.



Seasons best eleven, some good performances throughout the team

Thanks! Went from despair to joy in the space of seconds! Big summer ahead though, turning full time, need to increase quality & squad depth!

Playoff final day was upon us, could this part time club, only reformed 8 years ago, gain a place in the Football League?




Yes they could!!

What a game, went 1-0 up from a scrappy corner through Alex Grant and we missed 2 glorious opportunities to extend the lead, plus a 25 yard Wes York strike cannoned off the crossbar. Bristol Rovers then scored an 86th minute equaliser and you had to wonder if fate was against us. However, straight from the kick off we crafted a brilliant move for Ross Dyer to score without them touching the ball. We then went into defensive mode while Bristol Rovers poured forwards, however when we broke a move down a long ball to Wes York led to him squaring the ball for Ross Dyer to score an easy tap in and spark wild scenes of celebrations as we clinched promotion to League 2! The Shaymen are going up!!

Thanks Dan, fingers crossed for the strikers to remember their shooting boots!


So, the second leg arrived, could I avenge my poor record against Chester? Could I stop their rampant forwards from scoring whilst still showing attacking intent myself? I'll be honest with you, the performance I received was totally unexpected......






WOW!! That is all I can say, we were superb, absolutely superb. Can't believe how good we were, a 4-0 victory which could easily have been 6 or 7! Superb performance, easily the best of my time in charge, hopefully we haven't peaked too soon and can put in a similar performance at Wembley against Bristol Rovers.

So the playoffs were upon us, could we get a good result away at Chester in the first leg?



Haven't a clue how we didn't win, couldn't hit a cows arse in this match, dominated in all aspects, just typical FM really. Alex Cairns put in his worst performance of the season in goal for us and then Charlie Allen somehow gave away a needless penalty for handball in the box from a corner. Absolutely ridiculous. At least with only 1 goal in it we still have a chance going into the second leg at home.

Had a hectic couple of days at home so sorry for the lack of updates - however back to see what the end of the season brought the Shaymen of Halifax!



Finished the season strongly, with the draw against Woking clinching us a place in the playoffs.

Dominant against Havant & Waterlooville, was disappointed not to win by more but at this stage of the season 3 points is 3 points.

Next up was a trip down south to Woking, and we led for the majority of the match before a late equaliser pegged us back, however the point gained saw us confirmed as a side in the playoffs so good news to make up for the late equaliser.

We then played superbly to beat Torquay 3-1 at home, as a result of this we guaranteed that we'd finish 3rd in the table, meaning the last game of the season had nothing really riding on it.

Finished away at Chester and with a very much second string 11 were holding our own until Lois Maynard got himself sent off, leaving us with a mountain to climb, eventually succumbing 4-0.

In a twist of fate, the playoffs threw the following fixtures up, meaning that final game could have been more crucial than first appeared:



Chester are superb going forward, so a strong defensive performance will be key in these 2 fixtures.

Here is the final league table:



More than happy with the performance this season, with an improvement of 11 points, however we lost a game more this season but obviously won more too, who knows what could have happened with fewer losses. However, having gotten this far I can't deny it will be gutting if we can't see it through and end the season with a playoff victory at Wembley!

After a solid February it was important to maintain our form throughout March to keep us in those playoff spots, could we keep it up or would our part time status catch up with us and see us tire as the closing stages drew ever closer?



A month where we were very good, or very bad!

The 2-1 victory against North Ferriby was a solid performance, nothing special but managed what was required of us.

Next up we travelled to mid table Nuneaton and put in a horrible performance, I'll take some of the blame as I made a few changes due to players being tired, however the performance we put in was dismal, going up before capitulating 5-1, including a spell where Nuneaton's first 3 goals came in the space of 5 minutes.

Eastleigh were always going to be a tough test at home but we rose to the challenge nicely, looking solid at the back after the Nuneaton, snatching a 1-0 victory.

We followed this with a good performance at Macclesfield to come away with a comfortable 2-0 victory.

We then hosted fellow playoff hopefuls Bristol Rovers and came away with a good 3-2 victory, a flurry of late goals seeing us come out on the right side of a 5 goal thriller.

A disappointing end to the month saw us put in another awful performance away at Forest Green, with 2 games in 3 days proving too much for our players.



Still looking good for a playoff spot, be nice if we could manage to wrap a place up in that top 5 nice and quickly so I could rest some players for a tough playoff campaign!

So brought in an ex Man Utd youngster as cover, also very versatile which is a godsend in the lower leagues! Don't know how long he'll stay but definite cover for the rest of the season.



Now onto February's results:



A decent month, 2-2 draw away to top of the league Barnet was a good result to start the month off, however having led twice it was a little disappointing not to see it out.

Next up were Grimsby at home, and a superb peformance saw us run out comfortable 3-0 winners.A screamer from Adam Thomas the highlight of the game.

Lincoln away saw us put in a dire performance, crashing to a 3-0 defeat where we were second best in all areas.

We finished the month with a good victory away at Southport, however having been 3-0 up it was a disappointing to only win by 1 goal.



Still looking good for the playoffs, sitting comfortably in 4th place. Onwards and upwards!!

Shit Shit Shit.

Couldn't have been worse timing, just after transfer window shuts, gonna have to trawl the free transfer market to find someone, out for 2-3 months

Thanks Dan, lets hope it continues into the second half of the season!!

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------


So with December upon us it was time to try gain a strong hold on the playoff positions.



The win against Ebbsfleet was a lot tighter than it should have been, 3-0 up after 23 minutes we looked to be cruising, however 2 second half goals meant we faced a shaky last 10 minutes but we stood firm to see out the victory.

Next came Chorley in the FA Trophy and a much changed team saw us comfortably win 5-2, Ross Hannah putting on an incredible display to net 4 goals.

Our return to league action away to Alfreton saw us crash to a disappointing 3-1 loss, Alex Grant giving us hope to pull it back to 2-1 but we conceded soon after to crush any chance of snatching any points.

Ended the new year away to Braintree and came away with a great 2-1 victory to move into the new year feeling positive.

Started the new year with a good piece of news:



Pleased to see the board recognising our strong performances by handing me an extension to my contract.

One piece of bad news however saw us lose regular centre back Simon Ainge for 5-6 months with a broken foot, however as soon as the transfer window opened brought in reinforcements on loan from Hartlepool in the form of Matthew Bates:



Onto the new year and hopefully it'll be a good year for FC Halifax Town!



January was a busy month and the fast turnover of fixtures took it's toll at the start of the month as a lack of fitness and niggly injuries saw us play with unfit players, one of the drawbacks of being a part time lower league club - maybe an area to approach the board about through the summer as going full time could really benefit us on the field, it's just whether it's financially viable.

The loss away to Altrincham was unfortunate as we actually played well, just couldn't hit the net.

Next up were Welling at home and playing with a team where 4 or 5 players were out on their feet from the first whistle was never going to be easy, especially against a side in good form and we ended up on the wrong end of a 5-1 thrashing as a result.

We then travelled to Chester in the FA Trophy and put up a strong fight, recovering from 2-0 down to force extra time, however a 116th minute goal saw us crash out.

We then hosted Dag & Red and managed to nick a point, again coming back from 2-0 down to draw 2-2, showing the strength of character in the team.

Barrow were next at The Shay and we gained a comfortable 3-1 victory, however when they pulled a goal back in the 81st minute it was worrying we could be about to be on the receiving end of a 2 goal comeback.

We then had a 10 day rest period which was extremely welcome, allowing us to send out a near first choice team at Aldershot coming away with 3 points thanks to Paul Marshall's strike 10 mins from time.

We ended the month at home to Cheltenham and looked to have thrown away the points after conceding an equaliser in the 84th minute, however Adam Thomas struck in the 90th minute to send Cheltenham home with nothing to show for their efforts.



4th in the table at the end of January is fantastic, hopefully we can press on and give ourselves some breathing space in those playoff spots.

One award for one of my players at the end of January:

November was upon us, and the halfway stage of the season would soon be here, could we add some consistency to our results?



The month started with a disappointing 2-1 defeat at home to Forest Green, we somehow managed to miss a penalty, have a goal disallowed and hit the woodwork 4 times so I have no clue how we only scored 1 goal.

Next up were Peterborough in the FA Cup first round and sadly we were no match for the team who arrived in second place in league 1, they looked comfortable throughout with us struggling to carve out any real openings.

We bounced back from the disappointment in style though, going unbeaten for the rest of the month. The 1-0 win against Woking wasn't our best performance, however we managed to keep them out and hold on for victory.

We followed up with a 2-1 win at Havant & Waterlooville, we looked comfortable for the majority of the match, however a 78th minute goal made the last minutes of the match more jittery than they should have been.

A 1-1 draw away at Torquay was a good result, however we led for over an hour before conceding an 81st minute equaliser.

We finished the month at home to high-flying Chester who were seen off 2-1, a solid performance against a team who were in very good form.

One area of concern that's arising is the lack of cutting edge my forwards seem to have, creating good opportunities but it's worrying seeing how many shots get blasted high, wide or straight at the keeper. Looking ahead to January this could be an area to strengthen.



As a result of our good form we have climbed into the playoff spots in 5th place, however as you can see the league table is still very tight with a lot of teams still in the running for the playoffs

Onto October and we had a busy month ahead.

First of all, another piece of transfer news and hopefully a solution to the problem left wing position



Quite pleased with this signing, however I have found that Forte and Alex Grant have both been unable to string 2 matches together as of yet, which is down to them signing once the season has started and missing out on a proper pre-season. However, when they have played the early signs have been promising.

Here are the months fixtures, with 6 matches being played.



October seemed to be a month where we came up against some superb keepers! However, results were mainly positive.

Started the month at home to southport and a superb 3-0 victory, howeverif we hadn't missed a penalty plus multiple superb saves from the keeper it could have easily been 6-0!

The home defeat to Nuneaton was the low point of the month, once again coming up against an inspired goalie pulling off numerous superb saves to deny us, on another day we could have easily scored 3 or 4.

The 3-0 win against Eastleigh was rewards for another great performance, however it wasn't until late in the match that we made the 3 points secure.

Against Macclesfield I was happy to take the 3 points, however a scrappy game saw us nick it by 1 goal to nil in a fairly average performance.

Next up was an away trip to fellow conference side Barrow in the FA Cup 4th Qualifying Round and a dominant performance saw us progress with an easy 3-1 win.

We ended the month with a tough trip to Bristol Rovers who probably deserved the win, however on loan Liverpool goalkeeper Lawrence Vigouroux was the hero again for the opponents as he made 3 brilliant saves in the last 15 minutes to send us on the long journey home with nothing to show for our efforts.



Can't complain with our league position at this stage of the season, 7th in the table after 18 games, just 3 points from a playoff position, Barnet still looking dominant at the top of the league, however, the race for the playoffs looks wide open and it's important we keep playing well to ensure we remain firmly in the mix for a playoff spot.

One final piece of news sees us drawn at home to Peterbrough in the FA Cup first round with the game being moved to TV.



The TV money we'll get from the tie will boost the finances, and hopefully a large crowd will turn up to boost the coffers further.

So, this happened:



I'd like to think it's as a result of a growing reputation, however, considering they're a division lower maybe not!

Considering where they are in the league pyramid and my sole target of this save is to get FC Halifax as far as I possibly can this was an easy decision to make. No thanks!

Had no internet access over last couple of days, however I've pressed on with the game and am 2 months into this season. Here are the results so far:



Bit of a mixed bag so far, the defeat away at Grimsby being particularly disappointing as we were playing against 10 men for 40 minutes and instead of capitalising on it, conceded 2 goals to go from 1-1 to a 3-1 loss. However, the team has shown flashes of what it's capable so hopefully we'll improve as the season goes on, just like last season.

Here is the league table so far:



9th position and 4 points off the playoff places is perfectly acceptable at this stage of the season, Barnet looking very strong this year so a league title is probably unrealistic, however if the players continue to gel together and improve our consistency then I see no reason why we can't make a real tilt at a playoff challenge.

One more thing, brought in this guy on a free as a bit of depth and potential at centre half, played one match and had a rating of 8.30, let's hope he continues that!!

2015/16 Season Preview

So after a solid showing last season I was aiming to once again consolidate my position in this league, with one eye on pushing for the playoffs, however, considering we remain a part time club I believe it will be extremely hard to push for promotion as of yet as clubs with bigger squads and budgets, who train on a full time basis will prove to be too strong over the course of a long season.

Media Prediction: 9th

My two main concerns from last season were that I felt we lacked strength in the goalkeeper department, and also just in terms of general squad depth, whilst I was happy with the starting 11, I felt that if any of the team got long term injuries it would be extremely hard to replace them, with that in mind here is my summer transfer activity.



As I am playing with attribute masking function switched on I found it extremely difficult to find players, meaning throughout the summer I had a huge number of trialists in and out of the club. However, I am more than happy with my signings, and whilst my first team squad remains the same size, it has a lot more strength in depth in terms of the quality of backup players, meaning rotation will be a bit easier this season.

Here are a couple of signings from this summer who I hope will really perform for us in the coming season.



Goalkeeper signed from Leeds United, who spent last season on loan at Barnet, perfoming strongly to concede just 26 goals in 25 games. Hopefully a major upgrade on last seasons Goalkeepers.



Young holding midfielder signed from Nottingham Forest, will add competition for captain Lois Maynard, and hopefully be a player who will grow over the coming seasons.

I wanted to really test the team out in pre season so I arranged 9 friendlies, mainly against strong opposition from higher on the league ladder.



We performed superbly.

Lost to Burnley by virtue of a 95th minute goal, plus played with 10 men between the 67th and 74th minute, and 9 men from the 75th minute onwards due to injuries after making all my substitutions.

Guiseley was a routine victory against a team from the league below.

Aston Villa sent a strong starting 11, and despite the scoreline looking fairly one-sided to the Premier League side, the match was actually a lot closer than it looks.

A 1-1 draw against Championship side Bradford was again reward for another strong and spirited performance.

Next up were Birmingham and my favourite match of pre-season, we dominated the Championship side throughout and came away with a well deserved 2-1 victory.

However, we then followed it up with a poor performance against Bolton, who totally outclassed us, however we did threaten on occasion but their extra quality proved too much.

Travelled to local side Brighouse Town as a morale booster and duly dispatched them 5-0, could have been a lot more but for the heroics of the Brighouse goalie.

Our parent club, Millwall from League 1, were next at The Shay and a 2-2 draw was another superb result after a strong performance, however disappointing not to win from 2-0 up, conceding the equaliser from a 94th minute corner.

Finished pre season with a tough tie at home to recently promoted Cardiff, although we lost 4-1 against a superb team, I was once again happy with the performance.

Overall feeling very positive going into the new season, after some strong signings, strong pre season performances against quality opposition, which also brought in some good gate receipts, helping to boost the clubs funds.

Did OK but nothing too special, started off fairly well, then tailed away a bit in the second half of the season, I'm keen to try and get him firing as I love him from what I've seen of us this season in real life (looks top class), but the form Ross Dyer had second half of season made him pretty undroppable!!

Tend to for most games, which I know leads to some predictability but found that it's the best way to fit my main players in, plus had limited squad depth in the first season so didn't necessarily have the resources to mix things up too much. Dabbled with a 3-5-2 for a time and got poor results, however as Maynard, Pearson and Marshall are 3 of my strongest players, I tried out a narrow 4-1-3-2 for a while which served me quite well. Bought Wes York in January, switched back to the 4-3-3 to get him in the team on the right hand side and that's coincided with our best run of form.

Season Review -2014/15

League - A solid 8th place finish was pleasing considering our pre season prediction was 13th, however once the team started to really gel together I couldn’t help but wonder what might have been had the players got going a little bit sooner.

FA Cup – Disappointing loss at the first game we played, the Fourth Qualifying Round, although it was against Lincoln, who finished 3rd in our league.

FA Trophy – Crashed out to lower league opposition, again at the first hurdle.

Overall, I am quite pleased with the season, exceeding expectations in the league, however the cup exits and lack of consistency are slight blemishes, however they are to be expected with the lack of squad depth I had, and also being part-time, did ourselves proud, finishing above teams working full time and possessing much larger budgets than we have.

Squad Performance:



End of Season Awards: