DNZY - Comments

@Shedender - When you play on a pitch shaped like this, anything is possible.



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The boy dun' good! Ben Woodburn's first month results in the player of the month accolade for February.



Our wingers also gain recognition on top of Woodburn as George Sandford and Ron Lemar make the cut for team of the month.

DAFABET WELSH PREMIER LEAGUE



The rescheduled fixture produced the accustomed result. Done and dusted by half time with the two 'Burn' suffixed players scoring within the same minute, Ron Lemar proved why he featured in TOTM by rallying in a free kick for trois zéro. Fixture congestion allowed room for Daniel Tanti to get the odd start and boy was it regretful; two yellows in seven minutes to be sent off and sent straight into the 'Set For Release' pile. For all of Llangefni's efforts, Wardle had a straightforward game. Zoning in on the prize.



Stuart Lee doesn't start many games, how glad was I to risk him in our biggest game of the season. 24 seconds is all it took to unscrew Bala's watertight game plan, Lee left two defenders in the dust to compose himself and finish past Jimmy Reed with gusto. The second was a stroke of luck, a poor kick out by Reed allowed us to push on again with D'Ath pulling the trigger, cannoning off their defender and left Lee to smash it first time into the roof of the net. Bala put the pressure on in the second half but it didn't culminate to anything, Paddy Gamble hitting the bar was as close as they came. A potential title clincher?



Dishing the punishment once again on Llangefni, despite the Dazzlers giving it a good tug of war. Levi Duckett is always the highlighted danger man for Llangefni, wouldn't we know it we again failed to pick him up to give the visitors a surprise lead. Ticking towards half time it looked hopeless only for an own goal, a brief respite, then Molyneaux returned from injury to reach the big 3-0th for the season. The injury lay off made him malleable as ever, a second goal ensured victory despite conceding a cheap pen that Einion Kane put away. Announce title?



Good news in seeing Yates back to full traini...



..never mind.



First youth intake was...dire. As much as I appreciate someone with St Vincent & The Grenadines heritage, everyone is pretty garbage in this intake.

RESULTS OVERVIEW



Nine points from nine this month and a big step towards glory in Wales. Molyneaux wasn't even missed tbh.

LEAGUE TABLE



Three games to go, a five point gap but not quite there yet. My calculations are just one more win and a draw will be good enough. Goal difference is a huge plus on top of that if it resorts to it.

NEXT UPDATE: April/May 2033

What on Earth is that manager picture?

Godbold makes team of the month as the lone Saints player. Bit of a worrying sign.



Second manager of the month award, claiming that vital win over Bala last month did the trick.

DAFABET WELSH PREMIER LEAGUE



Crumbled to a ruthless Airbus barrage in the remaining fifteen minutes to squander big points. Error on my part as I forgot to switch Wardle out for Yates in goal and it cost us the big buck, conceding twice in three minutes (one of which an absolute clanger) to cancel out Woodburn's opener but bless Molyneaux's nylon socks to bail us out before half time. Ben Woodburn raised the curtain on his league debut with a goal followed by Ron Lemar cutting in from the right to put the game out of sight...or so we thought. Airbus went full kamikaze with a 3-4-3 and pressed us right back into our own half for the last fifteen minutes, it got so bad we dropped Sandford to a left back but did no good. Luke Collins in acres of space reduced it to 4-3, and with a superb top corner arrow he did the unthinkable for a dramatic four each draw. These are season changing results, let's hope it won't be the most regretful.



An ill-tempered derby produced seven yellow cards for Bangor City and two crucial injuries for our side, but also produced a comfortable win. Deadlocked in the first half, the second was a lot more vibrant; Molyneaux tapping in from close range before limping off, his replacement Blackburn also turned in an effort before he too was carried off just 13 minutes on the field and Ben Woodburn gloriously condemned Bangor to a rough defeat. Serves them right following the aftermath of our two front men.




Combined strikeforce of 54 goals this season both ruled out for numerous games. Woodburn signing was a blessing in disguise.



Disgusted. Had an hour and a quarter to find the net once with a man advantage and we failed. Wilson and Woodburn were stuck in their back pockets for a lot of the game, not producing any creative flair in the final third. In fact it was hard to distinguish which side went down to ten men as CQ looked far more likely to score. Ron Lemar was denied by the post in injury time to summarise our dreadful day. Doing a great job of cocking up the league at this rate.



Injury central right at the worst possible time. Our creative midfielder ruled out for two weeks.



A bridge too far for Airbus to come back on this occasion, going three up in fifteen minutes to grant us the much needed panacea. The front line were far more in sync with Lee, Woodburn and Wilson all donating to the cause. Defensively as of late we've been like a sieve and leaked two more goals to further illustrate the point, making it a case of déjà vu back to the 4-4. Thankfully, we came out on top to keep our heads firmly in the title race.



Scoring stupid amount of goals, then again we are TNS.

JD FAW WELSH CUP

QUARTER FINAL





Carnage, absolute carnage at the Airfield for our third meeting with Airbus in three and a half weeks. 6-0 up at half time, Ben Woodburn scoring a 15 minute hatrick coupled with a Stuart Lee double and Wayne Wilson scoring his first of two meant no way back for the home side. The goals continued to fly in (not that it's the Airfield or anything) with Wilson and Godbold scoring in between a consolatory goal from Luke Collins to coast 8-1 ahead. Minor capitulation on our side allowed Airbus to seep through with three goals in four minutes to put a cease to this bonkers game. Dire defending, great entertainment and still on course for a domestic treble.



Tempted to roll my players in bubble wrap, turns out Yates broke his finger just as the final whistle went. Wardle has to fill in between the sticks for a number of weeks. *defeated sigh*



It's as if they're queuing up on a conveyor belt, one more to the list. Luckily it's not serious.

SEMI FINAL DRAW



Of course it is.

RESULTS OVERVIEW



A very eventful month in terms of goals, averaging three per game but hiccups to Airbus and Connah's Quay were not what we required. Ben Woodburn settling in nicely to his homeland league, eight in five for the experienced striker. Masterful acquisition.

LEAGUE TABLE



Seems we're not the only ones who tripped up, Bala stumbled to defeat at Airbus to gain a point on them. Nevertheless we finish the month behind them, but do possess a game in hand due to a waterlogged pitch preventing us from playing Llangefni. Six games left, all still to play for.

NEXT UPDATE: March 2033

Damn, what a bummer against Atletico but followed up brilliantly against Man City.

Plenty of videos up on Youtube. Here's one StatApp made a while back (when he wasn't cheating the game ).
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Df2BFTWboK0

Solid start, keep it up.

Matt Blackburn's trailblazing month earned him player of the month for December.



He also makes consecutive appearances in the team of the month, plus Julian Shenton also appears at centre back.

TRANSFERS

IN



Wayne Wilson handed in a transfer request in search of finding a bigger club and his recent performances were becoming subpar, therefore it was time to cash in on a marquee signing. Yes, that same guy that plays for Liverpool.



Ben Woodburn - ST(C)/AM(RLC) - unattached free agent

Doesn't exactly fit that 'wonderkid' label the media are hyping him up to be with a disjointed career at clubs like Leicester City and barely breaking into the Newcastle United first team. Looks absolutely paramount for this league at 33; finishing, composure, off the ball, all top notch. Takes a huge slab of the wage budget but the fans are waiting with baited breath to see him play in a TNS kit.



Bit of bad news heading into the new year, down a defender for a few weeks in Paul Gould.

DAFABET WELSH PREMIER LEAGUE



Days after dismantling the aircraft men, they refused to let us fly with three points. Matt Molyneaux started a new year from where he left off, tapping in for a quarter century this season. Our skipper Joe Thomas won't want to look back on the highlight reel, misplacing not once but twice in the build up to allow Tony Griffiths a pass in the equaliser straight into the top corner away from Yates. Spurned some good efforts to restore the lead by Blackburn and Molyneaux but their keeper was equal to both. Bala now overtake us in the league.



More bad news in losing Lemar for the next two games, one of which against Bala.



Vanilla win over basement dwellers Port Talbot. Despite them missing a free header from four yards in the opening ten minutes, we had this in the bag. A rather unfair o.g. placement on Lee Harrison denied Ron Lemar the credit for a tight angle finish, George Sandford grabbed a second when everyone missed Lemar's pullback across the area and Stuart Lee got a nod to score on the counter for the third. We'll ignore the fact that Shenton missed a penalty, three nil is just as good.



Major win this, leapfrogging Bala to the top of the pile again with a dominant win. Bala were incredibly unobtrusive in the first half, digging their own grave with the first goal as defender Ryan Blake allowed Blackburn to snatch it with ease to square in Molyneaux for yet another close range finish. Alexander D'Ath doesn't score many as a playmaker but thanks to a fortunate deflection he doubled the tally in first half stoppage time. Blackburn surpassed twenty goals for the season by adding a third and send Bala packing. Sam Yates had very little to do in the entire game.





From that point onwards, injuries started to get frequent. Molyneaux ruled out for the Nathaniel MG Cup final as well as D'Ath. Louis Wheeler who plays second fiddle to Sandford at left wing out for the season too.

theWord NATHANIEL MG CUP

FINAL






Winner winner chicken dinner! No resignation necessary as it was a stroll in the park. Wayne Wilson returned to the goals for the opener after three minutes, a rather humiliating own goal put us further ahead and Stuart Lee brought home the bacon. Small memento for Steven Boyle with Prestatyn's solitary shot on target to give the travelling fans a little cheer. Ben Woodburn had a brief cameo but had little impact on a game that was done and dusted already. First of a possible treble!



Matt Molyneaux almost peaking a 9.0 average rating for the cup, seven goals for him. Blackburn providing six assists.

JD FAW WELSH CUP

FOURTH ROUND



Two goals and two assists for Ben Woodburn on his full Saints debut, dumping Goytre out of the Welsh Cup. Goytre played an unusual 4-2-2-2 narrow formation which left us ample space for Sandford and Lemar to exploit. Stuart Lee, a belter from holding midfielder Russell Gardner and Sandford got in on the act with the mentioned brace from Woodburn to romp to victory. Kalahar's goal back for Goytre is now just somebody we used to know (or hardly knew at all).

QUARTER FINAL DRAW



Good grief, next month we'll have three meetings with this team.

RESULTS OVERVIEW



Again, not a perfect month but we're continuing to rack up the wins. One trophy under our belt, will the other two fall into place? Can Ben Woodburn make the difference?

LEAGUE TABLE



Ten games to go, one point is still the gap but a win over Bala is the only reason we're in this position. Two more games with them home and away, plus Airbus UK, Llangefni, Connah's Quay and Bangor City all thrown into the mixture.

NEXT UPDATE: February 2033

@Dan - Straight forward but even still it's a risk playing a 3-4-3 system, despite having one of the best strike forces in the division.

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Matt Blackburn surprisingly the only one of our side to squeeze into the monthly XI, still no place for top scorer Molyneaux.

DAFABET WELSH PREMIER LEAGUE



Inverse scoreline from the previous meeting, taking Llangefni down a notch from their overachievements this season. Ron Lemar took the spotlight on the right wing, setting up Molyneaux for the first and delivered his own contribution in the form of a 20 yard free kick before Llangefni even got going. Not even their top scorer Levi Duckett could alleviate the issue, but looked sharp in the second half; forcing a save onto the post by Wardle and headed onto the crossbar minutes later. Straight forward revenge from events at Cae Bob Parry.



Jesus, are we on a slippery slope or what? Two defeats in three games, what hurts more is that they've come against two sides I dislike the most. I won't sugarcoat it, we were awful and Bangor thoroughly deserved it. Sam Yates returned to the squad and made a penalty save from Steve Strong but conceded too easily at his near post from Barry Thomas to put us behind at the start of the second half. Ken Palmer secured it with a screamer from 25 yards straight into the top corner. Despite Molyneaux's best efforts to commence a comeback, we ran out of steam too quick.



Clumsy Carmarthen and a brilliant Blackburn fit together like a jigsaw for an awfully one sided display. The Old Gold conceded two spot kicks with Blackburn's name on them plus another from the edge of the area and just never came out of their shell. Given we had 30 shots, Carmarthen got off very lightly due to Molyneaux's woes in front of goal on the day, missing three key opportunities on another day he'd score in his sleep.



Ah, the joys of playing 3-4-3 on a short and narrow pitch. Both defences were sloppy, but it came down to the quality of the forward line which led us to emphatic victory. Braces all round for Blackburn, Molyneaux, Mark Holmes (whom we recalled from his loan spell at Airbus) and even defender Julian Shenton got in on this donnybrook. Hat-trick of assists for Matt Blackburn who is really making a name for himself currently. Not a bad way to end the calendar year.



This is coming from a guy with 7 finishing. SEVEN.

RESULTS OVERVIEW



Another month with an odd one out score, we're scoring goals like they're going out of fashion but we're not always getting the right results. Molyneaux and Blackburn continue to tear it up.

LEAGUE TABLE



The Bangor defeat now leaves us neck and neck with Bala going into 2033. Need to match their results from here on in and with our goal difference far superior, we've got the upper hand.

NEXT UPDATE: January 2033

Seems the press don't value our strikers, yet two of our centre backs and three midfielders make it in. Well, credit where credit is due.



James Godbold has been an unsung mastermind with his riveting midfield displays, scooping up the Player of the Month award for October.



Speaking of masterminds, yours truly earned his first personal award. Manager of the month, baby!



Still wondering why we signed Tanti, he's also now injured.

DAFABET WELSH PREMIER LEAGUE



Sometimes I wonder if we ever turn up in first halves, once again bailing ourselves out in the final third of the game. Barry actually deserved their lead, putting the pressure on and Sean Banks' effort was too hot to handle for Sam Yates, establishing a 1-0 lead at the break for the visitors. Took us long enough to find goalscoring rhythm when Matt Blackburn finally beat Jimmy Ulrich to equalise. It's rare that we settle with one goal in a game, a swift moving counter supplied by excellent ball control by both Wilson and Molyneaux to help Blackburn apply the second, Ron Lemar jumped in on the action to lock down yet another victory for the Saints.




A game embroiled in late drama. Aberystwyth were on course for a smash and grab with their only shot on target in the last five minutes but justice prevailed in what was a match dominated by us. Straight from the kick off, Wayne Wilson who was subbed on for the off-colour Molyneaux latched onto Lemar's free cross for the leveler but we didn't settle it there. Matt Blackburn's burst of pace and cool finish silenced the home crowd in a complete turnaround in the space of three minutes. No less than we deserved but boy did we almost get smothered.



Rhyl are sinking like a stone back down to the lower tier, though we sure made hard work of putting them away. Figured that the league goals were going to dry up for Matt Molyneaux but returned at the right moment by scoring a brace, taking his tally to 20 goals before November had even finished. Nathan Rees had a free header from a corner to halve the deficit for the bottom feeders before the game became quite subdued, not that we were in any danger of conceding again. We crawl over the line with three points.



Well, this hurts. Buckled in the second half from a former player in Jared Knight to provide CQ with a surprising win. George Sandford composed himself to curl a delicious effort into the top left corner to open the scoring. Sam Yates was ruled out with a bruised shin and let Greg Wardle take place between the sticks, sadly I don't think either could keep out the goals that followed; firstly Lee Lowndes struck with venom and poor defending led to the collapse with Jared Knight coming back to haunt me with thirteen minutes left. Should have been avoided.

theWord NATHANIEL MG CUP

SEMI FINAL



Barry packed little punch as we vamoose into the first cup final under my tenure. The occasion never got to the boys, Matt Molyneaux doing what he does best and Stuart Lee heading in a second from Max Neal's cross. Nervy ending to the half as Wardle brought a double save to deny Sean Banks, only delaying him nabbing one back early in the second and putting Barry on the front foot. Panic averted once centre back Greengrass timely headed in his first Saints goal and Molyneaux extended the lead minutes later. Garry Dodd kept it competitive but had no effect on the final result.

FINAL DRAW



A surprising draw as non league Prestatyn knocked out Airbus UK on penalties in the other semi. I will formally resign with immediate effect if we somehow balls it up.





Sorry Prestatyn, you're right up against it.

JD FAW WELSH CUP

THIRD ROUND



No bananaskins here, professional job at Connah's Quay to make the fourth round. Had the Nomads right under our thumb for the entirety with goals from a Stuart Lee double, Molyneaux and another stinker of an o.g., this time from Lee Banks getting in the way of Sandford's effort from the edge of the box. Nathan Fox provided a cheap thrill for the home crowd but the Saints march on to another game in a very busy schedule.

FOURTH ROUND DRAW



More taste of the non league, away to Goytre United to perhaps experiment.

RESULTS OVERVIEW



Unbeaten runs are never a thing I associate with, losing shabbily to my former employer after six wins on the bounce. On the plus side, Molyneaux peaking at twenty goals by the end of November is impeccable.

LEAGUE TABLE



The defeat cuts the gap to just a point ahead of Bala, who dropped points the previous week. Looks to be turning into a two horse race as Airbus start to fade. Rhyl look as good as down.

NEXT UPDATE: December 2032

God, I'd love to see Ramos and Ronaldo boil in acid.

Sandford and Shenton were picked into the WPL Team of the Month. Not even one of our strikers made it?

DAFABET WELSH PREMIER LEAGUE



Picking up the pieces with a rivalry victory at home to Bangor City. Ken Palmer had the acceleration of Usain Bolt to counter attack and open the scoring for the visitors with their only shot on target during the match. Bangor's keeper Rob Hayes pulled off top drawer saves to deny Molyneaux and Wilson from restoring parity to the game before the half time whistle sounded. Took something special to leak through Bangor's goal and Ron Lemar's 20 yard free kick was just what the doctor ordered, curling one into the top corner. Eventually the adrenaline kicked in from there; Stuart Lee finished from an extremely tight angle to hand us the lead before half a minute later James Godbold nearly put a hole in the back of the net to put it beyond doubt. Straight back to winning ways.



Second half bombardment was the key to victory in Carmarthenshire, which is almost a regular occurrence. Another keeper on form was Jákup Samuelsen, determined not to be beaten in the first half until he made a hash of the opener, miscalculating the trajectory of George Sandford's cross and failed to catch the ball properly. From there on in it was a piece of cake; Matt Molyneaux continues to score goals for fun while Stuart Lee proved that he can take a mean free kick. Very very comfortable.



Struggling Port Talbot failed to handle us either, two goals a minute either side of the break from Matt Blackburn and James Godbold did just about enough to win our eighth game from nine. Sam Yates untested during the ninety.



Jammy, Bala will be fuming that they didn't get all three points. Not to our usual standard by any means with The Lakesiders cruising in the first half, bearing in mind that the goal we conceded was of our own doing; Matt Reeves in an abundance of space to drill one low past Yates. We hoped for an improvement in the second half and the ref's whistle to award us a penalty (to my surprise) was music to our ears - Matt Blackburn took the responsibility and didn't blow it. Two key chances for either side heading into the final ten minutes but both Alan Jones and Matt Molyneaux failed to hit the target with their shots dragged wide. Honours even in a match we deserved to lose. Only managed to carve one shot on target...and it came from a damn penalty.



Porthmadog are utter trash, completely out of their depth in a cakewalk. Not sure which surprised me more, the fact we scored eight or that Matt Molyneaux didn't even score once. Matt Blackburn atoned for his absence, by bagging a first half hat-trick with a fourth for good measure, Wayne Wilson chipped in with a hat-trick himself and he'll be sickened not to take a match ball with him either and James Godbold nailed the coffin shut for an eighth in injury time. Scored 20 goals against this team in only 3 games, they should just hand in their resignation from the Welsh league altogether.



Be hard to top that scoreline in this journeyman save.

JD FAW WELSH CUP

THIRD ROUND DRAW



Great draw, can inflict more hurt on the team that deserted me.

RESULTS OVERVIEW



A far better month, especially avoiding defeat to Bala. After a quiet spell, Matt Blackburn is finally contributing to the front three with six goals in his last three games.

LEAGUE TABLE



Ourselves and Bala definitely run this division, only two points still separate us while Airbus slowly losing a bit of steam in third. The rest of them are left in the dust.

NEXT UPDATE: November 2032

Surprised nobody mentioned Crotone's great escape last Sunday; rooted to the relegation zone for 36 weeks excluding the first game of the season, only two points from their first ten games, upwards of fifteen points from safety in February and won six of their last nine games (only losing to Juventus) and overtook Empoli to survive relegation. Outstanding work from Davide Nicola to turn it around.

Good luck with this matey!

TRANSFERS

IN



With budgets carved down to the bone we could barely afford someone of note, hence only one comes in along with Blackburn who had signed before my arrival.



Daniel Tanti - D(C)/D(L) - £4.5k from Bala

Someone who'll come in on the left should we decide to resort to a conventional back four or five. The Maltese defender possesses height and strength but with very little in the way of speed, will probably only be a backup now that I think of it. Not my brightest purchase, but provide some depth to defence if anything.

DAFABET WELSH PREMIER LEAGUE



Back to back wins over Aberystwyth in our traditional green strip again. Molyneaux on a roll again, quick to pounce on getting the first following a fortunate deflection off the post put everyone out of position. After that, the goals flooded with Stuart Lee rifling home the second, Molyneaux scoring back to back braces and the cherry on top from James Godbold. Almost an unfair match up, complete control from start to finish.



Barry were the first team to pressure us but fell flat on their faces. Ron Lemar opened his account with a tight left footed curler in the top corner after 73 seconds to set the tone for the game. Both keepers Sam Yates and Jimmy Ulrich were at full stretch to deny their counterparts from clear cut opportunities before Ulrich was beaten for the second time through a Matt Blackburn header that looped over him. Centre back Paul Gould piled on the misery before Garry Dodd reduced arrears from a flicked header via corner. Our three goal lead returned through the obligatory Matt Molyneaux goal to cease the scoring and make it three wins from three.



Returning to the familiar spot of Belle Vue as the lowest common denominator Rhyl were stampeded. Not the most convincing win, but Rhyl were hardly out of their half all game; the deadly 3-4-3 worked it's charm against a timid back four, leading to Stuart Lee tapping in unmarked followed by Molyneaux's contribution through aid of the post. Rhyl pretty much thanked their 12th man in the woodwork as it twice denied Lee who would've been on for a hat-trick. Sam Yates had a rare save to make from Brian Parry but it Rhyl-ly wasn't a contest.



Five from five, scoring five in the process against the Connah's Quay vermin who dumped me on the street corner. We went behind against the run of play, Darren Bonnell's header sending Yates in the opposite direction for a cheap opener. Amateurishly, CQ choked a minute later as Lee's cross had two defenders safely guarding the area, yet somehow Wayne Hall turns it into his own net. Took us a while to fully unlock our true potential and it came with four goals in the final twenty; Molyneaux already reached ten goals before September even concluded, Matt Blackburn scored one of the strangest I've seen on FM as the ball hit one post and rolled over the line before hitting the other post, and substitute Wayne Wilson earned a brace - one via a penalty. Delicious tears rolling down the faces of the Connah's Quay faithful, makes me smile.

https://streamable.com/hgm6r





Only took six league games for us to be undone as we were stunned by Llangefni. Some say we were robbed, some say Llangefni defended heroically but it was solely down to us having a dismal day up front and being poorly organized at the back. Exhibit A as four defenders crowded around Ywain Ditchburn, leaving Levi Duckett fully exposed when the ball fell to him to hand Llangefni a serendipitous lead. For the 18 chances we created, none were highlight worthy and pushing too many men up front led to the Dazzlers' second deep into injury time through Duckett again. 6.3s all over the shop, shamefully falling to our first league defeat as early as September.

theWord NATHANIEL MG CUP

THIRD ROUND DRAW



To the docks in the last eight.

THIRD ROUND



I'm honestly lost for words. The fans certainly got their money's worth as defending was on neither team's agenda in an eleven goal thriller. Porthmadog led twice from Gwion Loveridge but twice pegged back in what was merely an overture for what was about to happen. Man of the moment, Matt Molyneaux poked our noses in front for the first time just the ref called time on the opening half, scoring in his seventh consecutive match. Molyneaux completed his hat-trick for 4-2 to surely kill them off, but back came Port with Mike Roberts and Mark Richards to bravely fight back to four each. Molyneaux had other ideas, popping one in the top corner for his fourth of the game. Wilson and Sandford finished off a rout to book our place in the semi finals.




What makes it sad is that only 34 people turned up to the game.

SEMI FINAL DRAW



Barry lie between us and our first cup final.

RESULTS OVERVIEW



A perfect month stopped dead in it's tracks by Llangefni, denying us a sixth win on the bounce this season. Matt Molyneaux is absolutely tearing this league a new one.

LEAGUE TABLE



Top despite our little fracas with Llangefni and it means every team in the league has lost at least one game. Bala, Airbus and Bangor are the chasing group while Rhyl bring up the rear.

NEXT UPDATE: October 2032

We're both managing the same team, now I'm feeling the pressure if I don't live up to the same sort of dominance.

CHAMPIONS LEAGUE

THIRD QUALIFYING ROUND, FIRST LEG (HOME)



Nothing says "welcome to The New Saints" like a good fisting by Fenerbahce. Didn't come as a surprise to behind after 18 odd minutes but to equalise from Matt Molyneaux showed we were right in the game. One emphatic effort and an unmarked corner later left us 3-1 down at the break and needing some inspiration. My words of wisdom washed over Molyneaux who reduced the deficit and put us back in contention. Alexander D'Ath's red card changed all that; Sari Kanaryalar had a free for all in our final third to leave us battered and bruised for the second leg. Can't say we didn't expect it.

THIRD QUALIFYING ROUND, SECOND LEG (AWAY)



Going to Turkey was all about damage limitation, withstanding an onslaught to hold our heads high in a narrow defeat. Backs were firmly against the wall with three goals in the opening quarter of the game, luckily one was chalked off due to an offside. Despite their dominance, they had a complacent back line and Wayne Wilson found his way through to round off the keeper and give the 17 Welsh travelling fans something to cheer about. Didn't have the muchachos to push for a result, the journey comes to an end with a 9-3 aggregate defeat. Down to the Europa League playoffs.



Come to Papa.

EUROPA LEAGUE

PLAYOFF DRAW



It was between Mainz, Bilbao, Basel and the French side we've ultimately drawn. Sure, they're doing well in real life but are they as good fifteen years later?

PLAYOFF, FIRST LEG (HOME)



Apparently, yes. Shocker of a first half put us in a proper bind, complete disarray at the back led to almost a blooper-reel own goal before two miserably defended corners allowed Popov and Kosiorek to end all hopes of reaching the group stages. The only real player in the team, Bart Ramselaar tied up the game with a Nice little bow (I had to) in a game we were just not up for. There's always next year.

PLAYOFF, SECOND LEG (AWAY)



Soaking in a little bit of Southern French sunshine before getting creamed for a second time. Showed a little bit more resistance and fight this time around, but holding my hands up, we were completely out of our depth against multi-millionaires (sort of). Gameiro, Popov and Didier confirming Nice's spot in the Europa League group stages with CSKA Moscow, Villareal and Hapoel Be'er Sheva. I guess the moral of the story is: playing three at the back in Europe, be prepared for pain.



Well and truly takes us out of the red zone now.

DAFABET WELSH PREMIER LEAGUE



A tug of war predicted between ourselves and Bala for the crown according to BoyleSports. TNS would be odds on winners in theory, now only 11-4 to win the league; how the mighty have fallen.



Starting the season off right, dispatching Porthmadog for five. James Godbold, Matt Molyneaux gathering his first of what could be a collection of match balls and substitute Wayne Wilson all chipping in for a proper one sided affair. 16 of the 19 shots were on target, the visitors can count themselves lucky it didn't exceed double digits.

theWord NATHANIEL MG CUP

SECOND ROUND DRAW



Away trip to the seaside, facing another team in green.

SECOND ROUND



Experimented with a 3-4-3, eight minutes in I immediately regretted it as Tony Bitchell struck twice to put the Seasiders in a good spot - Tony obviously missed scoring against me. Instead of a tactical U-turn we rode it out, but briefly began to panic as midway through the half, we still hadn't struck oil - were our blue shirts confusing us? After a spell of fracking, the goals started to flow; Aberystwyth were far too fragile in dealing with counter attacks to allow Molyneaux and a Stuart Lee double to shift the game completely into the break. Normal service resumed into the second half, Matt Blackburn grabbing a brace to go on top of his two assists whilst a rather fortunate deflected effort from James Godbold ensured no way back for the home side. Eleven goals in two games, I can get behind this team.

RESULTS OVERVIEW



Ignoring the tragic events in Europe, a superb opening month in charge. Serious firepower up front that's for sure with Matt Molyneaux bagging five. Wayne Wilson, Matt Blackburn and Stuart Lee also contributing a couple to the pot.

LEAGUE TABLE



Lot of fixture reshuffling due to the European run means we've only played one so far, but already have a healthy goal difference. Bala dropped points to Llangefni, while our old club Connah's Quay look like they're doing well without me. Enjoy your suffering x x.

NEXT UPDATE: September 2032

Yep, I was there.

Indeed, supporting them for 17 years now. Very difficult to get over to games from Ireland though.

My club Yeovil Town launched their new home kit today. Looks...interesting?

@Dan - Certainly is, but you'll understand why I've gone for the team I've chosen.

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After long contemplation about where to go to, a return to Wales and the Welsh Premier League weighed up a more worthwhile position. The New Saints is a job I couldn't say no to, given their glittering history since their reformation. Did you know that the club are technically not based in Wales? They are based in the Shropshire town of Oswestry, around 8km east of the Welsh border. The connection to Wales though is a small rural village of Llansantffraid, where the original club were formed in 1959 and played their home games at the Recreation Ground up until 2007. The club were formerly known as 'Total Network Solutions' to found the TNS acronym, this was changed to 'The New Saints' in 2003 due to merging with another club Oswestry Town (as seen in their official club logo), thus birthing The New Saints football club. Their colours consist of white shirts with green horizontal hoops.



Roughly 17,000 inhabitants live in Oswestry and is known to being one of UK's oldest border settlements, going back as early as 800 BC with it's preserved Iron Age hill forts. The town gains recognition of it's markets plus scads of festivals ranging from music, film and food and drink. The name of Oswestry is believed to origin from a tale of Oswald the Christian King of Northumbria; killed by Penda, King of Mercia and had his dismembered limbs hung onto branches of a tree. Simply known as 'Oswalds Tree', where the name derives from.



Park Hall stadium is where the Saints play their home games, despite their dominant nature only has a capacity of 3,000 with two thirds of them being seated. The stadium was renovated in 2007 at a cost of £3 million to accommodate the arrival of The New Saints, with the surface being artificial turf to survive adverse weather. The stadium does not meet UEFA standards and therefore TNS play their European games nearby at Shrewsbury Town's home stadium of Greenhous Meadow.



As mentioned previously, The New Saints are probably the most decorated club in the Welsh leagues. 11 times league champions in real life, wrapping up the latest edition of the league a few months back to seal their eighth title in a row. Of course in game, they've recently had a wobble of late with Bala Town on the case, plus the likes of Connah's Quay and even Carmarthen put a shock the Saints' system and disrupt their winning streak. Even though they are the current holders, a return to dominance may have to wait with Bala armed to the gills with heavy artillery to put TNS to the sword. With 12 Welsh cups and 14 Welsh league cups to their name as well, seldom a season goes by where TNS fail to win a single trophy.

SQUAD



Speaking of heavy artillery, it seems we're packed like 'Murica right now. Strong strikeforce with the likes of Wayne Wilson who of course was a terror during my time at Connah's Quay, Matt Blackburn who recently came in plus Matt Molyneaux. Defenders are a significant scarcity, only one established right back (who is injured for another month or two) and no left backs. Three at the back may be the only alternative if I fail to attract decent full backs before the transfer window shuts.

KEY PLAYER: George Sandford - M(L)/AM(L)



Quite a specimen on the wing, intelligent for his age with the mental game on point. Few tricks of the trade to make him into a potential wide playmaker which I seldom use or perhaps a wide midfielder. Professional and proficient, let's hope he'll do that on the field.

HOT PROSPECT: Mark Holmes - M(C)/AM(C) (on loan at Airbus UK)



Gaining the first team experience elsewhere, won't be long before this 17 year old will earn a pass into the main team. Bits and pieces of each radial category will get there with maturity and Airbus UK might be a top place to learn.

EXPECTATIONS



The board mean business when it comes to the basics, no overhead on league nor Welsh cup apart from theWord Nathaniel MG cup. The Champions League performances are already exceeding beliefs with wins over Lusitans and Dinamo Tblisi thus far. Third qualifying round? Fenerbahce. At least the Europa League playoff will be a safety net once we're bludgeoned by the Turks.

NEXT UPDATE: July/August 2032

Arsène Wenger signs a new two year deal to be officially announced tomorrow. Wonder how many Arsenal fans have had their blood pressure skyrocket today hearing the news?

CHAMPIONS LEAGUE

FIRST QUALIFYING ROUND DRAW



Thrown into the ring with the Gibraltarian champions, Lynx. Not an easy game, but one I'm sneakily confident we'll do well in.



The bad news is Rudi won't take part in the first leg, hopefully fit by the second.

FIRST QUALIFYING ROUND, FIRST LEG (AWAY)



Taking that all the way to the bank, Lynx might feel robbed after the scoreline in a match they dominated. Neil Agius' early goal was crucial, escaping with an away goal to take back to Malta. It was only a matter of time before the felines would sink their claws into us after missing several good chances coming to half time. Substitute Hachim Falatt outmuscled Mark Camilleri too easily to win a header from a Lynx corner and restore balance to the tie. Despite being under the cosh, we were a whisker away from leaving with another away goal, Neil Agius through on goal in injury time, got everything right but the post denying him. All square heading back to Valletta.

FIRST QUALIFYING ROUND, SECOND LEG (HOME)



Not the prettiest of games, but blockaded the way for Lynx trying to nab an away goal. For all their dominance in the first leg, Lynx were extremely quiet in the second leg while we dominated. Brazilian keeper Wallace was a stalwart for Lynx, firstly bringing off a superb double save to deny Neil Agius, fingertipping Rudi's effort past the post and after a very dodgy clearance, redeemed himself quickly by saving from Juan Ángel. Matthew Gauci had virtually nothing to do all game as we make our way to the next phase.



That'll do very nicely indeed.

SECOND QUALIFYING ROUND DRAW



An eight and a half hour flight via Istanbul awaits as we travel 3,127 kilometres east to the Azerbaijani capital to face Qarabağ FK.

SECOND QUALIFYING ROUND, FIRST LEG (AWAY)



No sign of jetlag here, despite being on the wrong side of the scoreline. Very rusty in the first half, conceding cheap goals from Abbasov and Mämmädov where it could've ended up being more to put them out of sight. All hope wasn't lost as we came into the second half a lot sharper, Agius picking out Pace to take a vital away goal. Räșad Mämmädov dampened things again to restore their two goal cushion, but put my faith in sub Shaun Cini to rescue another back for us and did just that. Very encouraging result going into the second leg.

SECOND QUALIFYING ROUND, SECOND LEG (HOME)



We were just 15 minutes away from doing the unthinkable but crashed into cinders late on to be denied. A goalless first half brought some action into the second, Qarabağ striking first with a free kick by Elnur Namazov. The response was positive and equalised within moments, Juan Ángel tried his luck from outside the area and hit a stunning goal into the top corner. With the clock ticking Justin Galea floated a ball onto the head of wonderboy Agius to take a surprise lead and meant as things stood we'd be into the hat for the third qualifying round. Going defensive was not effective, though there was no stopping Mämmädov's equaliser from 25 yards to make it 2-2. Sänan Abbasov rounded the keeper to put the game beyond reach. Valiant efforts in both legs, but alas it wasn't meant to be. Is it my final game in charge of Valletta?





Nearly breaking 15,000 for the first time, plus a very nice sum to tot up the numbers.

JOB OFFERS




Despite the fans loving me, the board loving me, the finances in great nick and perhaps building an empire here it may be for the best to move on. I've won all that needs to be ticked off in Malta and therefore decline Valletta's contract offer.




Nation: Kosovo
Media Prediction (Odds): 1st/14 (9/4 F)
Expectations: Winners
Pros: Six titles in the last seven seasons. Far better squad. Best chance of ticking off Kosovo.
Cons: No Champions League = no big payouts. Financially only okay.

RESULT:





Nation: Wales
Media Prediction (Odds): 2nd/12 (5/2 2F)
Expectations: Winners
Pros: Qualified for the Champions League Third Qualifying Round. Coming back to dominance in the Welsh Premier League. Top quality squad.
Cons: Financially quite poor with 200k in the red. Serious lack of defensive depth on the right and left. Very poor budgets for forthcoming season. @Dan will complain if I don't win everything.

RESULT:


NEXT UPDATE: July/August 2032 (Where am I going next?)

@Dan - I wouldn't hear the last of it if I did.

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Third time in a row Rudi wins Valletta player of the season with his gleaming midfield performances plus the fans' admiration of him, should be borderline icon soon. Neil Agius missed out on top spot, but the teenager didn't go empty handed, landing goal of the season and the young player of the season awards; the guy was an absolute gem for us this campaign. Brazilian goalkeeper Fabiano Coimbra only conceded 18 goals in 24 games, keeping 11 clean sheets in the process, deservedly making him the signing of the season as he was a huge factor in winning the league.

GOTS
https://streamable.com/ghyyg



Notable mention to Juan Ángel, proving that he wasn't a one season wonder to go on a rampage in the second half of the season to end the season with 16 goals. Rudi of course taking the ratings by storm, 7.63 average rating with 5 man of the match awards, all this having been suspended on three separate occasions. Neil Agius was absolutely brilliant, 13 goals and 14 assists for the 18 year old and is hotly tipped to get better and better with age. Mark Camilleri played a lot more this season and by his pass completion stat of 89%, it was hard to drop him. Discipline still a worry, but behaved ourselves a lot more by not earning a single red the entire season.



Think the message got across to fans, coming to see quality football under my management and weren't disappointed.



Ángel, Agius and Rudi all topping the important categories this season. It sure does feel nice to see our name as the winners of the league for a change.



Meanwhile in the FA Trophy, we were slammed as the underachievers for the season after being disgraced by Victoria Hotspurs, who by the way were the overachievers by making it all the way to the semis. Pietà Hotspurs made history by winning their first ever FA Trophy in their debut final appearance by beating Sliema Wanderers 1-0.



Despite us winning the league, Birkirkara have now barged their way into being the most reputable team in Malta ahead of us; despite them not winning a single trophy this season!



Finally, a feelgood story as Shaun Cini who may not get a lot of gametime with us never mind goals, well he netted his first over the summer against San Marino. Shame he'll probably be a free agent soon.

NEXT UPDATE: Preseason 2032/33

Think it's the first time iirc.

Huddersfield up, what an amazing season under David Wagner. Delighted for them!

Best of luck on your journey, pal!

@Matthew C, fingers crossed, nothing worse than a good season going to waste.
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BOV PREMIER LEAGUE



Took a huge leap towards glory with a resolute performance against a tricky Ħamrun Spartans side. Juan Ángel's form in the second half the season has been nothing short of exceptional and continued that trend with the opener while shrugging off the last defender in the process. Darren Buhagiar loves a corner and headed in the second, but Ħamrun responded quickly thanks to an error from Coimbra as he was well beaten to the ball by Matthew Grech in off the underside of the bar. Justin Cardona's red made the task that little bit easier and capitalized with goals from Pace and a stunner from Ángel. Confidence and swagger of proper champions.

With a while before our next game, quite a lot happened.



19 year old Darren Spiteri got his first senior call up for Malta.



On top of that, he also was locked down on a professional 1 year deal. Not a bad week for the lad.



Big news as well for Zanel; although Coimbra and Castellano aren't interested in staying at Valletta next season, Zanel will. Rinsed a bit of the wage budget during talks.



Our U21 team also picked up a piece of silverware this season too.




AT LONG LAST! Valletta hold their nerve to become champions for the first time in four years! Despite Balzan and Alex Abela going against the script early on, we fulfilled our task at hand in the second half. Two efforts in the space of eight minutes from Roderick Pace swung the game in our favour to which the troubled youths had no response. You can expect a statue erected for Pace in the next few months, everyone doubted whether he'd come back to Valletta and deliver again, well 13 goals for the season should vindicate him. A big shoutout to Pietà who held Birkirkara 2-2 to confirm the success.



First taste of Champions League football for me in nearly six years.



Matching the greats of Cork City's John Caulfield and St. Pat's Athletic's Liam Buckley.



#RecordBreaker.



Brincat out for the season, hopefully recovers before the start of the Champions League campaign.



Unlike ourselves, Pietà Hotspurs were fighting for survival in the league and we just about let them off the hook to secure a big point for them. Rotated quite a bit so we were definitely rusty in the first half, Pietà came closest to opening the score but rebounded off the post to the relief of Matthew Gauci who should have collected it. The game had a dead rubber feel to it, but despite our half-hearted attempts we snuck in front through sub Ángel in the last ten minutes. Pietà came to the realization that the pressure was on them to stay up and Clive Zammit squeezed one in at the near post to hand them a point and breathe just that little bit easier.



Curtain closed with a happy ending, which could've ended in a twist but held on to what will be my final league win with Valletta. Fifth minute penalty converted by Juan Ángel who caps off at 16 for the season, followed up by a rather 'schadenfreude' moment seeing our former left back Mario Pace put through his own net for two and the job was complete through the temporary Sliema player Roddy Pace scoring against his intern team. Took the foot off the pedal in the second half and almost cost us the game; Melvin Camilleri and Alan Mercieca looking to rain on the parade but the day belongs to us and we can now bask in the glory.

RESULTS OVERVIEW



End of season done right, nine game unbeaten run consisting of seven wins and two draws to the end of the season. Ángel and Pace took the baton from Neil Agius who excelled in the first half of the season with their quality performances in the second half.



With 9 goals in his last 10 games, Juan Ángel becomes the record goalscorer for the club in a single season.

FINAL LEAGUE TABLE







Bossed it towards the end and win the league by seven points over Birkirkara who recovered after a shaky start to the season. Hibernians completely deflated in the end by finishing fifteen behind and level on points with Floriana. Għaxaq weren't able to handle the heat of the top flight and head straight back down and dragging Balzan with them, which comes as a bit of a surprise. Pietà did enough to stay up, winning in the promotion/relegation playoff with Lija Atheltic.





Smashing the BOV Premier League records points total, just missing out on 60 but 59 is still enough to beat our own record of 58.

NEXT UPDATE: Postseason 2031/32

BOV PREMIER LEAGUE



Did the double over Żebbuġ with a double from Roddy Pace. Visitors were conservative, so in other words "strong and stable" in the first half and did have a clear cut effort that should've put them in front but Daniel Aquilina put it well wide when he only had Coimbra to beat. Five minutes was all it took in the second half to break them down with Pace's first, with a helping hand from Neil Agius. The duo combined for the second too to kill the game. The other good news was Birkirkara dropping points to Ħamrun Spartans this weekend to widen the gap.



In other news, water is wet.



Fabiano Coimbra having a season to remember with his 13th clean sheet. I'd expect nothing less for the money we're paying him.



Season defining win over third placed Hibernians, but it wasn't without controversy. Game should have been over by half time with only with one goal to show for our dominance. Neil Agius baited the Hibs defender to tackle him in the box, winning us a penalty; Juan Ángel went straight down the middle but did find the back of the net though a few hearts almost stopped in the process. Hibs restored parity out of nowhere from a corner, Ingmar Degiorgio made a run from deep and powered it in to perhaps earn them a share of the points. Then came the controversy, I'm unbiased in saying that Juan Ángel definitely looked offside in real time from Roddy Pace's pullback for the winning goal, the replay definitely shows he's offside but it comes down to the referee who allowed this to stand with five minutes to go. Just 'one of those goals' but I'd be fuming if I were the Hibs manager. I'll take this with open arms thank you very much!





Sad day this could be for one of our youth prospects, may be a career ending injury at only 17.



Għaxaq are waiting for the relegation hole to swallow them back to the First Division, paving the way to a routine victory. Ángel is back to the goalscoring form of old with back to back braces. Roddy Pace applied the third to ensure no funny business in the second half. To give them credit, Malcolm Scerri finished off a lovely move for the visitors to make the game competitive but unless a miracle happens for them, they're doomed to go down. Eyes definitely on the prize now.



This lad is seriously tearing up the league not only with goals, but assists too. Breaks a league record for assists.



For what it's worth, I'll take this. Floriana were hungry and barely contained them for large portions of the game. Keith Mallia was the danger man for the emeralds and lived up to his name by deservedly giving them the lead, but we made it look so easy for them due to sloppy defending. A stroke of luck handed us a way back into the game, Coimbra had to make a brave stop to concede a corner, and from their corner is where we made our advance; Ángel sprinted down the right flank in acres of time and space to pick out Pace for a close range equaliser. Darren Buhagiar headed wide in the last few seconds of the match which could've profited on our performance, but the point will do given that Floriana are always tough to break down away from home.

YOUTH INTAKE



Rather disappointed at our first youth intake as a professional club, only one standout in the abundance of Maltese footballing prospects. Hopefully this'll only be the precursor to greater things at the club...should I be around next season...



Pierre Debattista - D(C) - youth intake

He's got the height, he's got the leap, he certainly will grow over time. Needs to hit the gym more and maybe work on his cardio as well before making a real stab at the big time.

RESULTS OVERVIEW



The Pembroke result last month has whet the appetite for success in our recent performances. Taking four points off Hibernians and Floriana were significant.

LEAGUE TABLE



Four games to go, four point lead over Birkirkara. Déjà vu to this stage last season. Surely it can't happen again?

NEXT UPDATE: March/April 2032

My guess is Palace.

Have you updated your graphics card drivers?