rossiheslopi - Comments

Superb start to the season. KIU

So then, into the last month of the season, could we keep up our good form to finish with a flourish?



In a word: NO!

Poor month to end the season, shocking performances against Macclesfield and Lincoln, threw away leads to draw against Barnet and Torquay, however performances much better, just suffered from lapses in concentration. Finished the season with a cracking game at Woking where we won 5-3, Ross Dyer taking his tally past 20 goals for the season, would have been interesting to see how we'd have done had he not missed 7 weeks through injury in the middle of the season.

Final Table:



Will let the playoffs be played, then I'll post a review of the season, notable performances and general squad performance.

Time to prepare for a strong 2015-16 season!!


EDIT:- Ross Dyer was recognised for his strong end to the season with the player of the month award for April

March brought with it 5 more matches for us to try and maintain our strong form.



We managed to go through the month unbeaten, however only I'm a touch disappointed with the 2 draws as we led in both matches, however I can't complain too much as draws away from home are never bad results. The team seems to have really clicked since the turn of the year and lets hope it continues for the rest of the season, giving us good momentum to take into the summer and into next season.

A front 3 of Wes York, Ross Dyer and Adam Smith seems to have really paid dividends and the trio have all chipped in with plenty of key goals, showing a good understanding of each others games.



A good month has seen us maintain our place in 7th position, now only 9 points from the playoffs, however with just 5 games to play I believe it is now definitely too late for an assault on the playoffs, however a strong finish is still high on the agenda.

One positive piece of news to come at the end of this month sees me signing a new contract which was offered to me as my previous one was up at the end of the current season

Had this years youth intake come through and a few players looking decent potentially:









Quite excited by a couple of them tbh, hopefully transform into decent lower league players.

Thanks Dan!

Let's see if it continued throughout February then...



The month started with the twice rearranged away match against Torquay, and a solid 0-0 draw, very even game so a draw was a fair, and also a very solid, result.

Next up were lowly Dover at The Shay and a routine 4-1 victory with a very efficient performance, inlcuding a Matty Pearson scorcher.

The 1-0 loss against Eastleigh was disappointing as although we just about shaded the match, unfortunately a late wonderstrike lit up The Shay in front of the TV cameras to condemn us to defeat.

Braintree arrived at The Shay in the playoff places, and in sparkling form. Therefore a 4-4 draw may not sound the worst result, however, considering we dominated possession, and had more shots, plus we were 1-0, 2-1 and 4-2 up, it's a little disappointing we were poor defensively as some of our play going forward was superb.

We finished the month away to Aldershot and put in another strong performance to win 2-0, a result that never looked in doubt once sub Adam Smith scored a 20 yard strike just 90 seconds after coming on.



The upshot of this strong month sees us move into 7th position, however with just 10 matches to play we are 12 points from the playoff spots, have we left our charge on promotion too late into the season? Or can we continue our momentum and march on up the table.

We also finished the month with some good news as he bagged not one, but 2 awards:

Tongey - A front 3 of Deano, Vardy and Gregory would have Shaymen fans drooling

Time for a January update, and a quiet, but very satisfying month:



A draw away to Gateshead was extremely satisfying, even if it did only come as a result of a goal deep into injury time.

The 2-0 victory over Southport was lit up by a superb long range strike by Matty Pearson, which eventually finished 2nd in the January goal of the month competition.

We dominated against Telford, however only managed to put the game to bed in the last 10 minutes in a match notable for being Wes York's debut, bagging 2 goals and getting the Man of the Match award.

We ended the season at home to top of the table Barnet, and put in a superb performance to go 3-0 up by half time, we remained in control throughout the match, however it was disappointing that we conceded 2 goals in the 89th and 92nd minute to make the scoreline look a lot less dominant.

January was such a quiet month as there were 2 matches postponed, which will be played in February now.

Quick look at the table:



That extremely positive month shows us rise to 9th in the table exceeding pre season expectations up to press, lets hope the form continues into February, and throughout the rest of the season

Best of luck Dan, Woking are a strong conference side irl so hopefully they've kept a good nucleus of players to help make things a bit easier!

January update soon to come but I had to post this:



Not a bad debut......Hope he can continue that form!!

Thanks! Just disappointing that although we're putting in good performances, the strikers just can't hit the net, thankfully got my main striker (Ross Dyer), back from injury though so hopefully once he's back to match fitness we can sort it out!

Made myself a nice new signing in January, lets see how he gets on

Onto a busy month in December, however the schedule was eased slightly as our away match at Torquay was postponed due to a waterlogged pitch and has been rearranged for mid January. The month started decent, however it tailed off towards the end.



Any point gained against Forest Green is a good point considering they have by far and away the largest budget in the league. The injury time equaliser from substitute Jamie Jackson went down an absolute treat, sparking great celebration at The Shay.

Although we beat Dartford 1-0 they were on a 5 game losing streak at the time so to only win by the odd goal was disappointing, however the clean sheet was a rare and welcome bonus.

The less said about the FA Trophy the better, a dominant home performance but poor finishing saw us go to a replay where a poor performance saw us crash out 2-1, however Paul Marshall kickstarted a run of hot form in a new central midfield role with a 25 yard screamer late in injury time.

The Nuneaton game brought a pleasing 2-1 victory against the team that sat 1 place above us at the time, all 3 goals in the game came from set pieces, with both our goals coming from centre back Marc Roberts' first 2 goals of the season, both converted at corners.

Next up brought Gateshead and a very frustrating result as we put in a very strong performance away at the promotion contenders but failed to convert our chances:



Think that picture shows our domination.

We ended the month in disappointing loss at home to lowly Chester, after going 1-0 down early we recovered well to be ahead after 14 minutes, however once again failed to take our chances in a dominating performance, culminating in a frustrating 3-2 defeat. Strikers need shooting practice, possibly even reinforcements during the January transfer window, however, it's all dependent on the quality available at this time of the season.

The end of this inconsistent month sees us still sitting safely in mid table in 11th place, however, a playoff place looks well beyond us now, and in fact we are closer points wise to being in a relegation place than a playoff place. Despite this we should hopefully be safe enough considering we are 11 points clear of the drop zone.

Onto November and a nice steady month with just 5 games, however it wouldn't be easy, playing teams I feel are of a similar standard to us, but enjoying better form and a better league position than us.



A decent month, and a strong bounce back from previous poor form.

After a disappointing performance against Wrexham to start the month, I decided a tweak of tactics was needed. I was torn between a standard 4-4-2, however with a lack of options on the left side of midfield I settled for a narrow 4-1-3-2 to make the most of my strength in central midfield. The change worked immediately and a good performance against Grimsby saw us rewarded with a deserved 2-1 victory. However, signs we were adjusting to the new formation showed with a disappointing 1-0 home defeat to Woking. We finished the month well gaining 4 points against teams from above us in the league, with a late Jamie Jackson equaliser, his first goal for the club, rescuing a 1-1 draw against Welling, before a very complete performance against Alfreton saw us win 2-0 picking up a much deserved 3 points.



The league table sees not much change in our league position, however, just one league game short of the halfway stage of the season we sit in the exact position we were predicted to finish, 13th. The table also shows that other than the top 6 and the bottom 6, it is a very tight league meaning we can hopefully string together some wins during the month of December which, when looking ahead, looks a very busy month, featuring 6 league games and our 1st Round tie in the FA Trophy North, against a team that has yet to be decided.

So onto October, and looking to try to keep our momentum going, consolidate our position and hopefully even move up the table.



A horrible month. The braintree and Alfreton games were particularly hard to take as both defeats came courtesy of late goals, followed up by two great performances in beating Altrincham and getting a point from Wrexham. The performance against Eastleigh was absolutely dire, but i hoped things were turning round when second half substitute Scott Boden came on and netted a brace to rescue a point against Kidderminster after going 2-0 down.

Luckily though, our league position hasn't been too badly affected



Ended the month with a disappointing 4-1 loss at Lincoln in the FA Cup 4th Qualifying Round. Adam Smith gave us the lead just before the hour mark, however once Lincoln got an equaliser, and then a second via a disputed penalty the team just collapsed, highlighting the lack of morale in the team at the moment.

Lets hope for a better November!!

Thanks, remember the days where you had Dean Greygoose in goal I think?! Along with the chants of zigger zagger zigger zagger Northwich Vics!!

So, a quick update of where I am.

First, my key players:

Matty Pearson, all action midfielder


Lois Maynard, Captain


Marc Roberts, Vice Captain & Defensive Rock


The Squad:


Main Formation:


Fixtures so far:


And finally, the league table:


So after an inconsistent start the team seems to have gained an understanding of my tactics, leading to a decent run of form recently consolidating a solid position in 9th place, only 2 points from the playoff places.

As a follower of my local team, FC Halifax Town, it made sense that when I wanted to start a bottom to top career, I would start with them.





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. 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. I am starting this story part way into the first season as I wanted to ensure I was enjoying the game and that I was going to stick with it. I also don’t get too much time to play FM so the updates will probably be fairly sporadic. This is also my first attempt at a career story so I probably won’t pull up any trees with my writing.

Was at The Shay yesterday for Halifax v Bradford, can't describe the elation when we scored, and the pride I and the rest of the fans have in the performance they put on

This has inspired me to have a crack at something similar... which add on is best to download to enable me to play as San Marino?!

Bit late but brilliant from the team, especially Donaldson under that pressure in his rookie appearance. Oh and got so much love for Dubuisson

Can't believe that it's only three years ago that I was watching Jamie Vardy play for Halifax at The Shay and although I think the whole fanbase knew he was extremely good, I don't think anyone thought he'd be premier league class, never mind given Man Utd the runaround. Made up for him!

Went to watch yesterday and fuck me it was awesome, definitely raised my awareness in cycling, i absolutely loved every second of it

Well yeah, but that opens a whole new can of worms for the club to deal with, if they refuse to pay him could there be breach of contract claims from Suarez etc.. really could end up getting messy which is why the club has said they're remaining quiet for now

As annoying as it is that he's banned from playing for LFC I can't exactly say i'm surprised. Disappointing as it effectively punishes the club when he's done something completely unrelated to them. Not gonna sit here and defend him though as it's about time he learns his lesson, hope LFC smash him with a massive fine seeing as he's basically gonna get 4 months pay for nothing

That Roma kit is fucking delightful

The top Giroud has on looks so much like a French Shirt

Was down the shay last to watch us beat Cambridge 1-0. atmosphere was unbelievable and I can genuinely say i've never celebrated a goal as much as I did last nights, god knows how i'll react if we keep plodding on

You might want to avoid the might Halifax too - be an easy semi final for us

Anyone gonna be watching? Love this every year, had some bets - gone on Kuchar, Snedeker, Day and McIlroy but really I want Garcia to win it, just don't want to jinx him by betting on him

Had second fiver ew at 18/1, was willing the leader to fall at the last

Absolutely buzzing, beat Luton 2-0 today, absolutely dominated them, they never had a shot on target and we absolutely outclassed them. Never had so much pride to be a Halifax fan as I was at the game today, the players have got us believing. Shay was absolutely bouncing too, over 3500 at a non league game is fantastic support.