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Deleted Account #151676
#159321 The Night Thread Mk. IX
#158505 The Night Thread Mk. IX
#158276 Barclays Premier League 2013/14
Drugs are illegal?
#157863 Best English Tier 12 DB around?
#157856 Non-league to premier league in eight easy steps
August 2013
The first month of my Gresley career has been difficult to gage, four points from as many games isn't exactly what most would call a dream start to life at a new club, however neither is it a terrible one.
Before I get into the business of discussing results I should first inform you, the reader that my activity on the transfer market has been mostly a subdued affair with just two new players donning the red shirts and one other choosing to set his aside in favour of another;
Northampton born Ed joins us from United Counties league side S&L Corby, he is a solid left back for this division and will provide me with a rotation option for Lucas Harrison.
Born just down the road in Ashby-de-la-Zouch, Danny has played all over the midlands with spells at Hednesford, Stafford, Chasetown and Coalville. a proven goalscorer who should bang in double figures for us.
Out going is right back Matthew Roome who has joined Southern Premier League Chesham.
OK, lets get into on field matters;
Pre-season went reasonably well, aside from a sluggish start against Market Harborough and a small slip up against local side Stapenhill.
An opening day draw with rivals Mickleover was a decent enough result even if supporters would of course have been hoping for victory, however a narrow defeat at Newcastle Town seemed somewhat harsh as we had dominated the possession and chances but were unable to put the ball away. a point away at title favourites Scarborough was a good result as was my first win of the season Danny Quinn and John Guy fired us to a 2-0 win over Bedworth at the Moat.
I can't say what happened against Leek, other than it was a heavily rotated side for our FA cup game, either way we just never got going and were heavily beaten.
#157857 Non-league to premier league in eight easy steps
August 2013
The first month of my Gresley career has been difficult to gage, four points from as many games isn't exactly what most would call a dream start to life at a new club, however neither is it a terrible one.
Before I get into the business of discussing results I should first inform you, the reader that my activity on the transfer market has been mostly a subdued affair with just two new players donning the red shirts and one other choosing to set his aside in favour of another;
Northampton born Ed joins us from United Counties league side S&L Corby, he is a solid left back for this division and will provide me with a rotation option for Lucas Harrison.
Born just down the road in Ashby-de-la-Zouch, Danny has played all over the midlands with spells at Hednesford, Stafford, Chasetown and Coalville. a proven goalscorer who should bang in double figures for us.
Out going is right back Matthew Roome who has joined Southern Premier League Chesham.
OK, lets get into on field matters;
Pre-season went reasonably well, aside from a sluggish start against Market Harborough and a small slip up against local side Stapenhill.
An opening day draw with rivals Mickleover was a decent enough result even if supporters would of course have been hoping for victory, however a narrow defeat at Newcastle Town seemed somewhat harsh as we had dominated the possession and chances but were unable to put the ball away. a point away at title favourites Scarborough was a good result as was my first win of the season Danny Quinn and John Guy fired us to a 2-0 win over Bedworth at the Moat.
I can't say what happened against Leek, other than it was a heavily rotated side for our FA cup game, either way we just never got going and were heavily beaten.
#157853 The Night Thread Mk. IX
#157851 From Hometown Hero to Managerial Greatness
#157364 The pictures of you with your mum thread
#156990 Addickted To Winning (A Charlton story) IIIIIIIII
I thought you were in a English LLM save Dan?
Skacel, I'm still in awe of you longevity in this save. Do you ever start other saves and the come back to this? I reckon I'd get bored after so long in a single game.
#156875 Non-league to premier league in eight easy steps
OK, here we go then, my attempt to scale the vertical cliff face of English football with a motley crew of painters and decorators, supermarket workers and accountants. In the immortal words of AC/DC....
I inherit a very youthful squad from outgoing manager Martin Rowe, only three players have hit thirty, quite unusual at this level of the game;
Mats Morch - The Norwegian keeper is on loan from nearby Derby County, a shot stopper of undoubted quality who will hopefully return to the Rams at the end of the season having gained much from his experience with us as he will take our number one shirt.
Matthew Roome - Local lad who began his career as an Aston Villa trainee before being released, he then signed for rivals Mickleover before joining Gresley last season.
Marc Strzyzewski - Commanding centre half who forms the base of the Gresley defence, Marc has played all over the East Midlands non-league scene, appearing for the likes of Belper, Mickleover and Long Eaton amongst others.
Richie Butler -My assistant manager as well as an experienced wingback, it is likely I will favour the younger Lucas Harrison for the most part, but Richie still provides reliable backup should the need arise.
Mickey Lyons - Hardworking box-to-box type midfielder, can sit deep and defend when asked or maraud forward when we need a goal.
Danny Holmes - In real life Danny splits his time between playing for Gresley and coaching the Derby County under-18's, in FM there is no way to have someone working for two clubs at the same time so he is with us full time which is definitely to our advantage as he is a great ball winner who has played league football for Port Vale and neighbours Burton Albion.
Jamie Barrett - Now in his fifth spell at the club, Jamie is Gresley through and through, another hardworking and combative midfielder who began his career in the Sheffield Wednesday academy before moving to Burton and later Gresley Rovers as we were called then.
In terms of transfer targets I think we may struggle for goals with our current options, Royce Turville is a decent poacher but needs a target man to play off of which we currently lack. We are well stocked in midfield, however the defence could do with bolstering as games will come thick and fast with the numerous competitions we are competing in;
Evo-Stik Northern League Division One South - 22 teams, playing two rounds, the champions are automatically promoted to the Northern Premier League whereas 2nd-5th play-off to join them. The bottom two sides are relegated to level nine. The non-league paper predicts a respectable 11th placed finish for us which I would be happy with in my first season.
We have several local rivals in the division, Coalville Town, Mickleover Sports and Loughborough Dynamo will all be spicy affairs on match day.
FA Cup - If you don't know what this competition is you are clearly not a football fan. The worlds oldest competition, we will enter in the Preliminary round, the board would like to see us reach the second qualifying round at least.
FA Trophy - A national competition just for teams from steps five to eight, like the FA cup there are several qualifying rounds before we can reach the tournament 'proper'
Doodson Sports Cup - Open to all clubs in the Northern Premier league as well as it's two feeder leagues, The board doesn't regard this as important and doesn't care if we should go out early so I shall probably only field a reserve team in these games to preserve my first team players fitness.
Derbyshire Senior Cup - A regional tournament open only to clubs based in the county of Derbyshire, before liquidation Gresley Rovers had lifted this prize eight times and been runners up a further three times, but the modern club has yet to reach the final which is something I would like to do.
Gresley's finances are of course of paramount importance to supporters who learned the hard way how mismanagement of the money can ruin a club when Rovers were liquidated five years ago. I will not allow the same mistakes to be made again and have come up with some rules for myself;
*Keep down appearance fee's and bonuses, nothing will wreck the club faster.
*Anyone is for sale, no matter how important they are to the team. at least until we have a healthy nest egg.
*I will hire no scouts for now, the club has none in real life, it recruits it's new players after pre-season trials, by en large they are youngsters released from local clubs, as such, in the interest of realism I am setting myself a restriction of signing players who's most recent club is within 50 miles of Swadlincote, giving me the following catchment area;
So thats how my squad shapes up on day one. the season will open with a home clash with Mickleover making the short trip from Derby to Swadlincote before we head to the Potteries to take on Newcastle Town three days later.
#156795 The Night Thread Mk. IX
Want some free ones? We've got sheets of them at work that the Sun paper was giving away each day last week. still got some left if you want em'
#156791 Addickted To Winning (A Charlton story) IIIIIIIII
#156626 Addickted To Winning (A Charlton story) IIIIIIIII
#156609 Non-league to premier league in eight easy steps
The club was founded in 1882 as Gresley Rovers FC, They initially played at the wonderfully named Mushroom Lane in nearby Albert Village which served as the base for their first campaign in the Burton-upon-Trent district league. The club enjoyed success in it's formative years and acquired a new ground on Church street in Swadlincote, Rovers eventually moved across the road in 1907 to construct the Moat ground which they still call home today, over a century later.
Rovers's proudest moment came in 1991 when they stepped out beneath the twin towers of Wembley stadium for the FA Vase final against Guiseley in what is still regarded as one of the most exciting games to be played at the home of English football; After 31 minutes the score was Guiseley 3–0 Gresley, but Gresley came back and grabbed a dramatic equaliser in injury time at the end of the ninety minutes. Then in extra time gresley went 4–3 in front but this time it was Guiseley's turn to score a late equaliser as they leveled things in injury time at the end of the second half of extra time. Unfortunately the moatmen went down 3-1 in a replay at Bramall lane but this is still a performance the club can be justly proud of.
The lowest moment in the club's history came in 1997 when the club won the Dr.Martin's Premier League but was denied promotion to the National Conference due to financial restrictions preventing them from upgrading the Moat Ground to the required standard, Derby County kindly offered Gresley use of the Baseball ground which they had just vacated to move to Pride Park, however this move was blocked by the FA. This disappointment proved the beginning of the end for Rovers, a drop in attendances owing to the lack of opportunity to progress followed and just a year after winning the league the club was relegated. For several years the club battled on through financial difficulties but was eventually liquidated in 2007.
The modern incarnation of the club- Gresley FC reformed in the East Midlands counties league where, under the management of club legend Gary Norton they finished runners up in 2009/10 and won promotion to the Midlands Alliance the following year, where they surprised many by securing back to back promotions on final day of the season. Gresley finished their first season in Evo-Stick Division one with a respectable 11th place finish. Norton decided to step down as joint manager of the first team at the end of the campaign in order to take up a directors position, leaving Martin Rowe in sole charge of the team.
Celebrating the Midland Alliance win.
Which brings us nicely back to the present; Our first fixture for 2013/14 see's Derbyshire rivals Mickleover Sports make the short eleven mile journey to Swadlincote before we head of to Newcastle Town.
For those unfamiliar with this level of the game, here is a diagram (click to enlarge)
The arrow denotes our current position.
#156365 Taking Sheffield FC To The Big Money Jackpot!
#156301 Best English Tier 12 DB around?
#156292 Best English Tier 12 DB around?
Yeah I'm considering one with one of my local non-league clubs (Gresley or Coalville) both of whom are in the same division as Sheffield if you are up for another competitive save. My Leicester one isn't as interesting now you and shedender have dropped out.
#156282 Best English Tier 12 DB around?
#156176 Best English Tier 12 DB around?
I'm a member on the SI board as well. Check out the editors hideaway section.
#156104 Best English Tier 12 DB around?
#156089 A three way challenge to be the BEST
Not sure if Dan is still playing or not, he's on about a LLM save so I think he may have given up.
#156086 Best English Tier 12 DB around?
#155941 Best English Tier 12 DB around?
#155896 The Three Horse Race To The Promised Land
Our preparations for Leicester's first foray into the top flight for over a decade is now complete, the chairman backed me generously with over £16M spent on bringing in players of some real quality in order to ensure this isn't a single season venture in the Premiership.
The England youth international joins for £3M from Charlton, a quality fullback who could well force himself into the full national team with Glen Johnson not getting any younger and Kyle Walker's form unpredictable.
Another England under-21 who has been linked with moves away from League One Sheffield United for some time, I took a chance on him, parting with £1.5M in order to bolster my back line.
Another defender with Premiership experience, I picked the Scotland star up on free transfer after he neglected to renew his contract with Wigan.
Probably my masterstroke, unbelievably I got him for absolutely nothing! Ince had refused to renew his Blackpool contract in order to move to a bigger club, I'm delighted the heavily touted winger has chosen us to be that club.
Quality forward who has already proven he can score in the Premier League, he cost us £2.8M from Reading.
Yes, Rhodes finally gets his chance in the Premiership, he joins from Southampton who he signed for last January but bizzarly failed to make a single appearance for the Saints who were eventually relegated. Rhodes costs us a club record £9M. It was almost a double swoop on Southampton as they accepted another big bid for Jay Rodriguez, however we just weren't able to agree to his wage demands, the England forward chose a move to Germany instead at Leverkusen.
Ole hasn't technically joined us yet, he has agreed the move from Norwegian giants Rosenborg at the end of the Scandinavian season in January, a hot prospect for the future.
So here is my complete squad;
Goalkeepers
I will be concerned should Kasper Schmeichel get injured, the Dane is the only keeper I would be comfortable fielding in this division. I tried to strengthen this position with an approach for Fraser Forster, however the Celtic man's wage demands were too high.
Defenders
Heavily reinforced this summer, my defence is a good blend of experience and youth,captain Wes Morgan and Gary Caldwell are likely to be my starting centre backs, although a lack of pace will be a concern against faster strikers.
Midfielders
Matty James and Andy King were the beating heart of my promotion winning team, Ben Watson is a hardworking player who is always reliable when called upon, on the wings I expect Tom Ince and Anthony Knockaert to cause any fullbacks problems.
Forwards
The strongest area of my team, I will be disappointed if we struggle for goals this year, LeFondre and Rhodes will likely lead the line, although it would be unfair to disregard Dave Nugent who provided the firepower to get us promotion last season, Chris Wood provides a bit of hight should we wish to switch to a more direct approach. I still have Jamie Vardy on the books after failing to offload him.
I arranged a tough pre-season schedule for the squad, with so many new players it was important for them to gel, and against testing opposition;
The media believes we have a good enough set of players to achieve 14th place which would be fantastic, just staying out of the relegation zone throughout the season will be good enough for me in this campaign, we can build upon it next season, it will be tough in the opening month however;
Thanks lads.
#155895 The Three Horse Race To The Promised Land
Our preparations for Leicester's first foray into the top flight for over a decade is now complete, the chairman backed me generously with over £16M spent on bringing in players of some real quality in order to ensure this isn't a single season venture in the Premiership.
The England youth international joins for £3M from Charlton, a quality fullback who could well force himself into the full national team with Glen Johnson not getting any younger and Kyle Walker's form unpredictable.
Another England under-21 who has been linked with moves away from League One Sheffield United for some time, I took a chance on him, parting with £1.5M in order to bolster my back line.
Another defender with Premiership experience, I picked the Scotland star up on free transfer after he neglected to renew his contract with Wigan.
Probably my masterstroke, unbelievably I got him for absolutely nothing! Ince had refused to renew his Blackpool contract in order to move to a bigger club, I'm delighted the heavily touted winger has chosen us to be that club.
Quality forward who has already proven he can score in the Premier League, he cost us £2.8M from Reading.
Yes, Rhodes finally gets his chance in the Premiership, he joins from Southampton who he signed for last January but bizzarly failed to make a single appearance for the Saints who were eventually relegated. Rhodes costs us a club record £9M. It was almost a double swoop on Southampton as they accepted another big bid for Jay Rodriguez, however we just weren't able to agree to his wage demands, the England forward chose a move to Germany instead at Leverkusen.
Ole hasn't technically joined us yet, he has agreed the move from Norwegian giants Rosenborg at the end of the Scandinavian season in January, a hot prospect for the future.
So here is my complete squad;
Goalkeepers
I will be concerned should Kasper Schmeichel get injured, the Dane is the only keeper I would be comfortable fielding in this division. I tried to strengthen this position with an approach for Fraser Forster, however the Celtic man's wage demands were too high.
Defenders
Heavily reinforced this summer, my defence is a good blend of experience and youth,captain Wes Morgan and Gary Caldwell are likely to be my starting centre backs, although a lack of pace will be a concern against faster strikers.
Midfielders
Matty James and Andy King were the beating heart of my promotion winning team, Ben Watson is a hardworking player who is always reliable when called upon, on the wings I expect Tom Ince and Anthony Knockaert to cause any fullbacks problems.
Forwards
The strongest area of my team, I will be disappointed if we struggle for goals this year, LeFondre and Rhodes will likely lead the line, although it would be unfair to disregard Dave Nugent who provided the firepower to get us promotion last season, Chris Wood provides a bit of hight should we wish to switch to a more direct approach. I still have Jamie Vardy on the books after failing to offload him.
I arranged a tough pre-season schedule for the squad, with so many new players it was important for them to gel, and against testing opposition;
The media believes we have a good enough set of players to achieve 14th place which would be fantastic, just staying out of the relegation zone throughout the season will be good enough for me in this campaign, we can build upon it next season.
#155773 Barclays Premier League 2013/14
When they beat Crystal Palace about a month ago.
#155677 The Night Thread Mk. IX
#155481 The Three Horse Race To The Promised Land
In the end the title race was far closer than it should have been given we were twelve points clear at the start of March, but in the end we clung on and secured the Sky Bet Championship despite losing our final two games. Unfortunately the clubs 45 year wait for an FA cup final is set to continue as we were just edged out by Southampton in a close run semi, my players can take a lot of pride in their cup run however, knocking out two Premier League sides, including the Champions en route to the last four.
Getting hammered by Reading and then by already relegated Doncaster was hardly the ideal way to finish the campaign, but Reading suffering defeat to Burnley on the final day ensured that we held onto top spot and go up to the Premiership as champions, with both of those sides joining us.
Nice to pick up a personal accolade as well, it's been ages since I've won anything on FM!
#155454 The Three Horse Race To The Promised Land
March proved to be a real Jekyl and Hyde month for us as our league form takes a nose dive right when it matters most despite having navigated ourselves all the way to the FA Cup semi-finals next month;
We can perhaps put this slump down to tiredness as injuries, suspensions and general fatigue catch up with after a tough nine game schedule this month, April and May's games are more spaced out which should help. we still have six points advantage over Burnley and Reading which means we are still firmly in the driving seat and just three or four more results will seal the deal for us.
The month kicked off with a solid win over Charlton where Dave Nugent netted twice to set us up nicely for the all important FA cup tie with Manchester United. I've already spoken about the United game in the previous post so I won't go into that match here.
After our giant killing exploits it was straight onto the next round of the FA cup, League One Bristol City were the only thing keeping us from our dream of a Wembley semi final against either Southampton or arch rivals Derby. Minds wandering towards the national stadium may have explained the first half at Ashton Gate as the home side took the lead after just three minutes, Sam Buldock and Jay Emmanuel-Thomas causing us real problems at the back, thankfully in the second half we stood up and took control of the game, Llyod Dyer drawing us level with a flick on from Anthony Knockaert's corner before our habit of scoring in the dying embers emerged once again, the out of form Jamie Vardey who last scored way back at the start of November couldn't of picked a better moment to break his duck as he slipped his marker before rounding the keeper and tapping home a priceless goal. Que serra serra baby!
The last time Leicester reached the FA cup semi-final, February 1982, a Foxes side spearheaded by 21 year old Gary Lineker lost 2-0 to Tottenham at Villa Park. Can I take them one better against Southampton?
The joy of the FA cup soon turned to concern as we embarked on a four game winless run first with a goalless draw with Barnsley before getting beaten in shockingly easy fashion by midtable Blackpool, there were further set backs at Blackburn and Burnley who are beginning to believe they may just be able to catch us which just a few weeks ago seemed unthinkable. A win over relegation threatened Yeovil keeps the chasing pack at arms length for now but we need to pick things up next month to avoid any heartbreak after working so hard this season.