Owen David Coe - Comments

https://owenplaysfm.wordpress.com/2024/10/24/play-up-sky-blues-part-11-qpr-away-coventry-city-football-manager-2024/

Part 11 of my Coventry City save has been released. I somehow kept my job after a 20th place finish last season, and we travel to QPR on opening day to try and pick up a huge three points against a fellow struggler. I've tried to give us a new style of play, so will it work? Here's the start of Season 2.

https://owenplaysfm.wordpress.com/2024/10/24/tottenham-hotspur-part-2-football-manager-2024-lets-play-fulham-home/

Well, we kick things off today, as the first of two updates from two different saves, with our Tottenham save, and it's started surprisingly well. Two huge signings have been made, one for a cut price deal, and hopefully, it could be the start of something amazing at The Tottenham Hotspur Stadium. Today, I take you through our game against Fulham.

https://owenplaysfm.wordpress.com/2024/10/23/tottenham-hotspur-part-1-football-manager-2024-lets-play-everton-away/

A brand new save to the blog, as I start my prison sentence aka my time in charge of Tottenham, as I try and take Spurs to a trophy, and it would be my first trophy in the history of my blog. We start things today away at Everton. 

Our final game of our first season at Coventry City, but can I keep my job? It's been a dreadful end to the season, and we end it playing against a team in a promotion battle. Can we stop an embarrassing end to the season with a victory? Or do I have to fall at Doug King's feet to keep my job?

https://owenplaysfm.wordpress.com/2024/10/23/play-up-sky-blues-part-10-burnley-at-home-coventry-city-football-manager-2024/

Heading towards the end of the season, and unfortunately, we're not really playing for much. We head into this game after a run of 1-1 draws recently, as we take on Hull City. With injuries to key players, poor away form, and nothing to play for, can we still get something away from home against The Tigers?

https://owenplaysfm.wordpress.com/2024/10/22/play-up-sky-blues-part-9-hull-city-away-coventry-city-fm24/

After a dodgy mid season as December hit, we come into this Luton Town game on the back of a transfer window, where we needed to raise funds. Can we come back and beat Luton at Kenilworth Road, a place where we were thrashed in the Carabao Cup early this season?

https://owenplaysfm.wordpress.com/2024/10/21/play-up-sky-blues-part-8-january-transfer-window-coventry-city-football-manager-2024/

https://owenplaysfm.wordpress.com/.../play-up-sky-blues.../

A big game today, as we take on Sheffield Wednesday, in an important match if we're to close the gap to the playoffs. Sheffield Wednesday currently sit in those playoff spots, and are one of the teams we ought to be targeting. Can we pick up a huge result against a shock outfit this season?

https://owenplaysfm.wordpress.com/.../play-up-sky-blues.../

After an unsteady start to the season, we finally appear to be turning a corner, and sitting more in mid-table, as we travel to Loftus Road to take on QPR. Three points could move us into the top half of the league, and only a few points off the playoffs. Could this still be our season?

Part 5 of Play Up Sky Blues sees us take on some old rivals at the CBS Arena, as we play Sunderland, who have had a rotten start to the Championship season, languishing near the relegation zone. Can we up the pressure on the Black Cats and Regis Le Bris, or will we struggle even worse ourselves? Let's find out. 

https://owenplaysfm.wordpress.com/2024/10/18/play-up-sky-blues-part-5-coventry-city-vs-sunderland-football-manager-2024/?fbclid=IwY2xjawF_jN1leHRuA2FlbQIxMQABHRAaROMKgEjMJINXG22j2rSvKrbrrBjdMbBV7t-gkFxSFHBO_RLag2e-rA_aem_408Xkzdr1BPgiZy4c0c7Gg

Part 4 of our journey as Coventry City manager takes us to a big Carabao Cup Second Round tie, between two teams that haven't been great so far this season. Our form has improved slightly ahead of this game, so can we gain revenge on Rob Edwards and Luton Town after losing the playoff final two seasons ago?

https://owenplaysfm.wordpress.com/2024/10/17/play-up-sky-blues-part-4-luton-town-in-league-cup-coventry-city-football-manager-2024/

Hi guys, hope you all are great today. I don't know about you, but I'm sensing a good time with Coventry City. We made a solid start in our first league game, and in this update, we have a round-up of our midweek Carabao Cup game against Crawley Town, before we take on Middlesbrough in our main covered game today. Can we pick up our first league win away at Michael Carrick's Middlesbrough, or have I got more to learn about life in the Championship? Please click on the link, and see what happens next.

https://owenplaysfm.wordpress.com/2024/10/16/play-up-sky-blues-part-3-middlesbrough-away-coventry-city-football-manager-2024/

Cheers mate. You been reading them?

https://owenplaysfm.wordpress.com/.../play-up-sky-blues.../

Game one of my Coventry City save, as we aim to start the season well at home to Cardiff. Can we pick up a win, or will it be a slow start like in real life? Let’s find out

https://owenplaysfm.wordpress.com/.../play-up-sky-blues.../

The start of a brand new save with Coventry City, while we keep going with some new saves before we start Football Manager 2025 in March. It looks sharp, it's refined, it's all new, and I hope you enjoy it.

I can believe it's happened again, and I had a funny feeling it would happen again. It's a new game cycle like 20 years ago, it's a shitstorm, like it was 20 years ago. Heads need to roll to get the game to move on. Very disappointed, but I also enjoy FM24, so looking forward to carrying on with it.

Consider me in. Just seen this on YouTube, can't wait to try it.

Off topic, but is no prediction league being set up? Prem starts tonight

I came second in Copa America one. How do I claim Premium Membership?

I've Never Been To Scunthorpe - Scunthorpe United RTG - (FM24) - Part 2 - Rough Start to the Season

Hello and welcome back to Part 2, and in this update, we're going to start the season. The plan is to bring just a quick update about all the pre-season matches we played, as we prepare for our first season in the Scunthorpe United job, before in depth match updates from the start of the National League North season. We're going to have a quick Summer as we can't actually sign anyone, and we're just going to make sure we can keep hold of our players as I said before. The main formation will be a 5-2-3 formation mainly with the option to go four at the back. I just feel with the squad we've got, that's the best formation we can possibly play in with two main attacking wingers feeding the ball into the box. This is why I play pre-season matches, unlike several content creators. 

Friendlies: Our first match of pre-season was at Glanford Park against our own Second XI, a match we won 4-1 using a wing play tactic. That will probably be the way we go mainly as well, because the players were linking up so well, with three of our goals coming from balls into the box. Cameron Wilson scored twice with further goals from Will Evans and Maxim Kouogon. David Jones got one back for the reserves. We took on a team from our level in the form of Braintree Town away from home, and unfortunately fell to a 1-0 defeat thanks to a goal on the break from Alfie Pavey. It was a boring game and at least it was in a friendly this sort of game happened. In our third pre-season match, we gained a credible draw at home to Scottish Premiership side St Johnstone. We took the lead through Cameron Wilson firing home, but the bigger side levelled up with 20 minutes to go, Adama Sidibeh finding the leveller. We had a big chance to win it at the death, but Scales fired narrowly wide. Our fourth game was an away draw against FC United of Manchester, the game ending 1-1. We had the better chances, but it was the fan led Reds who took the lead. Keane Barugh scored for the hosts in the first half, but we managed to equalise from the spot in the second half, Harrison Poulter finding the back of the net. Our final pre-season game was a tester at home to Oldham Athletic and unfortunately we lost 1-0. They are a team who should be challenging for promotion up to the EFL, and they showed it. The only goal came from a tap in from Alex Reid up front, and despite us having a go, Oldham were the better team, and we unfortunately come away with no wins against other teams. 

New Head of Youth Development: At the moment, we don't have a youth team, but I thought we should put the motions in place to get something going, and we've brought in some brilliant experience in the shape of Andy Awford who most recently has spent 7 years at Premier League Luton Town. He's green when it comes to working with youngsters, which is great for this level, and it just shows we should be miles ahead of everyone else. I'm buzzing with this appointment.

New Chief Scout: We've got a brand new Chief Scout at the football club as well, with Chris Trotter coming in from National League side Hartlepool United, on a 2-year deal. He has Championship experience when he was a recruitment analyst with Rotherham United and Middlesbrough, and he's got 11s in terms of Judging Players and Staff all round. His negotiating isn't great, and it may take him a while to get them to play in our system, but I think he's good for what we can afford right now. 

Danny Elliott is the first injury of pre-season, after picking up a hamstring strain in our 1-1 draw at FC United. He will be out for the first game of the season at Tamworth, and maybe a few after that. The unfortunate thing about having no youth setup is that you can't play them back into fitness that way, so we've got to be patient with him, and bring him off the bench when we can. 

Official squad numbers for the season for those who are interested, and maybe want to get their own shirts made. 

Danny Whitehall is the second striker to pick up an injury this pre-season, and it means we could have a bit of a crisis as we start this season up front. We only currently have one fit striker, which is thankful that we only play a one striker formation at the moment. Harrison Poulter is going to have the world on his shoulders as we start. We can't get anyone in, so we have to make do with this situation.

And now our main man in that midfield role, Jacob Butterfield has been ruled out for the season, with damaged cruciate ligaments. I do wonder if it'll force him to retire and become part of the backroom team, or whether he will wait out the season. But this has made this season a hell of a lot tougher than what it should have been.

Saturday 5th August 2023: Tamworth 3-1 Scunthorpe United (Vanarama National League North) Our league campaign began away at fellow promotion favourites Tamworth, and we struggled throughout losing 3-1. Kyron Farrell gave the Lambs the lead after 3 minutes, with an insane free kick into the top left hand corner from 30 yards out. The home side doubled their advantage in the 32nd minute, Matt Curley whipping in a beautiful cross from the right, which a running Ben Acquaye met beautifully on the left and smashed into the top left hand corner. We got a goal back before half time, giving us some hope. A counter attack down the right allowed Cameron Wilson to find Harrison Poulter in the box, he couldn't get the ball towards goal, but took it away from the diving goalkeeper. He played it back to Cameron Wilson, and while the keeper was on the floor, he fired in from a narrow angle for 2-1. We looked like we'd be the next to score, but unfortunately we were dealt a huge blow by the sending off of a stupid Maxim Kouogon, who went through one of their midfielders on the half way line for no apparent reason. We still had the chances to equalise, but it left us more vulnerable at the back, despite me bringing the wing-backs back into a back 4. The third and final goal for them came from a cross into the box we just couldn't clear, and a vital tackle from us found Dan Creaney virtually on the line, and he tapped into an empty net. We played well attacking wise, but couldn't really get it together at the back, and we need to improve. 

New Head Performance Analyst: We need one of these before the Data Hub kicks in, with Dan Bedeau coming into the football club after spending a bit of time out, being the Under 18s performance analyst at Watford. He also was a scout for Guam for a year as well which I find rather remarkable. I'd love to know how that came about.

Saturday 12th August 2023: Scunthorpe United 3-3 Peterborough Sports (Vanarama National League North) We've just had the worst collapse in the history of my time in Football Manager. We should have won this comfortably but we were just awful all second half. Harrison Poulter picked up an injury early on, and we will see in a moment what's happened and how long he will be out for, but it allowed Danny Elliott to come on in his place. He converted a penalty to give us the lead after 20 minutes, and then managed to flick a header over the Sports keeper, after receiving a Barrows scoop ball to make it 2-0 before half time. The second half started amazingly again, this time a ball in from Wilson on the right, was flicked back by Beestin, and Dion Sembie-Ferris fired into the corner to give us what should have been an unassailable 3-0 lead. But no one gave my defence that memo. Ross Barrows put the ball into his own net rather than clear a looping header away for 3-1. Alban-Jones ran through down the left next for the away side, and his narrow shot was saved by Campbell, but Jack Serrant-Green tapped home the rebound for 3-2. They then hit the bar which made me believe we would hold on, but in the 94th minute, we tried to play a long throw in, which I will turn off cause it just doesn't work. They countered, Nicholson played in a sliding cross from the left, and Mark Jones slid into the bottom corner to make it 3-3. Fuming is not the word. 

Another striker out as well, with Harrison Poulter picking up an injury which will leave him out for 3 weeks. It's been a disaster to kick things off. 

Tuesday 15th August 2023: Scunthorpe United 3-1 Darlington (Vanarama National League North) We picked up our first win of the campaign at home to another former league team in Darlington. The first goal was from a massive mistake in the Darlo defence, as Cameron Wilson picked up the ball, and lashed home first time from the right side of the area to give us the lead after 24 minutes. We had the lead at half time, but we made a defensive mistake of our own which allowed the away side to make a move, which left Curtis Main beating the offside trap in a one-on-one position and slotting past Campbell for 1-1. I thought it was going to be another frustrating draw but we took the lead with just 2 minutes of normal time to go. A long ball from the halfway line was scooped forward to Dion Sembie-Ferris and he took the ball down and fired home from the narrowest of angles into the net, to make it 2-1. The game was made safe in the 94th minute. Sembie-Ferris turned provider as he led a counter attack from a Darlington corner, squared it to Kian Scales who slotted into the bottom corner to make it 3-1. 

League Table Update: We've played three matches so far, and we've had a win, a draw and a defeat, and we currently sit in 11th. Chorley are the only team with a maximum number of points from 3 games, with King's Lynn, Tamworth and Blyth Spartans on 7 points apiece. Banbury United and Bishop's Stortford are both on 0 at the moment, with Warrington Town and Hereford joining them in the bottom 3. 

So we've reached the season and it's been tough. It's been difficult defensively, but we're always in games and it's good to see goals being scored. Tomorrow I will probably continue to our first FA Cup game, and we'll see who we face in that tomorrow. But I'm happy we got the first win, and hopefully we can push on from here. Thank you for joining me, and I'll see you next time. 

I've Never Been To Scunthorpe - Scunthorpe United RTG - (FM24) - Part 1 - Introduction

“I've Been Southampton, But I've Never Been to Scunthorpe." I'm not going mad, but if you're of a certain age, you will be replaying that line in your head from Tinie Tempah's 2010 song, “Pass Out”. I was 13 when that song came out, but I never thought I'd be using it for the title of a save over the Summer with Football Manager 2024. But I am. And here it is. Scunthorpe United have a very interesting history with top players who used to play for the club, but in more recent times, the supporters have been through the ringer. Let's look at their history. 

Scunthorpe United: A Brief History Scunthorpe United were founded in 1899 and quickly merged with North Lindsey United to become Scunthorpe and Lindsey United. They spent most of their early years pre World War Two playing in the Midland League, and winning the title in 1927 and 1939. During this time, they consistently attempted to apply for election to the Football League, but several times missed out on actually gaining Football League status. That would change in 1950, when the Football League was expanded from 88 to 92 clubs. They beat off opposition like Workington and Wigan Athletic to gain a place in the Third Division (North). In 1958, they won the title in that league (only one team went up from North and likewise in South) to enter the Second Division for the first time, and for a long time, they were making progress through the league, while never seriously threatening the promotion spots. They dropped the “And Lindsey” from their name in preparation for their debut in the second tier. In 1964, they dropped from the Second Division, and by 1968, were plying their trade down in the Fourth Division, where they would bounce around between the Third and Fourth Divisions for the longest time. They produced England internationals in the 20th century, two for football in Kevin Keegan and Ray Clemence, and a third in a completely different sport altogether, Ian Botham, who played for the club before transitioning to his famous cricket career. In 1987, they moved to their current stadium of Glanford Park, and in 2008, they returned to the Championship for the first time in 44 years. This period of success saw them play in 3 out of the next 4 Championship seasons, before relegation in 2010-11 spelled their last season at that level. They were relegated down to League Two in 2013, but came back immediately, and had two play-off finishes in the next few years in League One. By 2019, they got relegated back down to League Two, and by 2022, their slide down to current Non-League football was completed after their 72-year stay in the EFL drew to a close. In 2023, they were relegated one step further down to the Vanarama National League North, and that's where we pick up the club. 

So with knowing what's happened recently at the football club, this is a team needing to improve their league position and move back up the levels. They've never made the top flight, so maybe that will be what we aim for. Welcome to Scunthorpe United!

The supporter profile is simple at this football club. They want promotion out of the National League North as champions this season, that's definitely something we can strive to do. Obviously none of our major rivals play anywhere near this level really, with Grimsby and Doncaster in League Two, and Lincoln in League One. It's very tight inbetween Core, Family and Casual supporters, all 3 being in the mid-high 20s. 

There's no reason to look further than this season, because we have to be successful this time around. You've got your usual wage budget and reputation demands at this level. That's why I like lower leagues. What the board want is always nice and simple. We should be OK financially. But the big one is in light purple halfway down the screenshot. Gain automatic promotion to the National League. No play-offs. That's not good enough. We need to win the title. They also want us to make it through the qualification rounds of the FA Cup, and that's what I'm aiming for as well, so we can get nice money later on in the season. I'm going to show you now the finances. But, first of all, something noticeable has come up as soon as I start the save. 

In real life, Scunthorpe United went through a transfer embargo, as they were struggling with their finances, and were a few minutes away from moving out of their Glanford Park home and potentially having to share with near neighbours Gainsborough Trinity. Thankfully, that never happened, but it does mean, we won't be able to improve the team until later in the season, when most of the season will have gone anyway, so it may be that we just have to keep our players around until we are able to buy more. 

We've got no finances to work with as well, so it could just be a season of trying to make sure our best players don't want to leave, and just giving them the belief that they can make it into the National League automatically. 

Jacob Butterfield (DM, CM) Our first main man at the start of the season that is fit (you'll see who I'm talking about in a moment), is Jacob Butterfield who has experience, not just in the EFL, but around the world as well as you can see in the bottom right corner. We're mainly going to be playing a triangle in midfield, which Butterfield will be instrumental in. His long shots and corners stand out already at 14, which is quality for the sixth tier. He's a decent free-kick taker as well, and his decision making and determination could be the experience we need to get out of this league first time. He may not be the quickest in terms of pace, but he's definitely a forward thinker. 

Ross Fitzsimons (GK) A goalkeeper with decent non-league experience is what you need to achieve all your goals at the back, and in Ross Fitzsimons, we've got a goalkeeper with recent National League experience having played for Chesterfield so recently. He dominates his box, and is good when it comes to restarting play quickly. He will be huge all season, and hopefully he doesn't get tempted away. 

Squad: These are all our senior squad members with their star ratings as well, and two of my top performers in this team are out injured like I mentioned earlier, with Cal Roberts and Jason Law out for about half a season, so we're going to have to make do without them in the first half of the season. There are very few players under two and a half stars and most of them are either starting their career, or in Andy Butler's case, about to reach the end of it. In terms of top earners, we've got a few on £1,200 which isn't bank breaking, but we're going to have to leave that as the maximum while we're in this league. 

Despite our problems in terms of injuries and lack of transfer ability, we are very overwhelming favourites to win the title this season. Scarborough and Chester are very close to us as well, with real life champions Tamworth in 6th position. 

Next Update: So my next update will be going through our pre-season friendlies, any transfer interest for our own players, but hopefully not too much, and then starting the National League North season, covering the whole of August as we try to stop the Scunthorpe United rot, and return them up to the big time in non league football, before making them an EFL club. Can we do it? Let's wait and see. But I hope you're excited for the journey. I'll see you next time. 

Welcome back to the second part of my International Journeyman, where we are travelling around the globe, trying to win all the major international tournaments. We are in charge of Australia, where we are aiming to win the Asian Cup in Qatar. Can we do it? Why don't you read and find out?

https://owenplaysfm.wordpress.com/2024/03/22/international-journeyman-australia-2024-afc-asian-cup-qatar/

Hello and welcome to the international journeyman on my own blogging site as I try and win every single major international tournament, and attempt to become the first manager to do it. I start with Australia, and this is the start of our World Cup qualifying journey, as we also attempt to finalise our squad for the Asian Cup.

https://owenplaysfm.wordpress.com/2024/03/20/international-journeyman-fm24-australia-2023-fixtures/

Part 2 - Transfer Window and Pre-season friendlies

In Part 1, we selected our club and we looked at what we can build our team around. Now it is time to see who we can add to our squad, and who I think will be available to let go, as we continue into part 2 of Glory Hunter FM24.

Finances

We don’t have an amazing amount of money when it comes to finances. We only have just over £12,000,000 in the bank when it comes to transfer money, so we’re going to have to be mightily careful when it comes to transfer policy, that will be something we go over during this and the next part as we end the transfer window. Our committed spending has reached maximum as well, so we’re going to be careful when it comes to sorting out the squad. I know some may be disappointed, but I may not make that many first team signings this Summer. Just watch this space.

Tuesday 18th July 2023

Pre-Season Friendly

Inter Milan 2-3 Inter Milan Second XI (Lautaro Martinez 39’, 90+1’; Davy Klaassen 10’, Alexis Sanchez 27’, Marko Arnautovic 72’)

Our first pre-season friendly would be at a neutral venue against our Second XI, to keep a watch over the squad and see who would be fighting for a place in the squad. I’m only managing the first team. We nearly took the lead after 7 minutes, Marcus Thuram sending a looping header onto the crossbar. The second XI actually took the lead after 10 minutes. Frattesi and Darmian played the ball wide to Alexis Sanchez on the right, who played in a low cross, and Klaassen fired home into the bottom right corner. It was 2-0 after 27 minutes. Davy Klaassen took the ball out to the right, before laying off to Darmian, who found Alexis Sanchez with a through ball. He ran through and slotted into the far corner. We managed to halve the deficit 6 minutes from half time, a neat passing move down the right found Mkhitaryan, who squared it into Martinez, who got an easy tap in. Marcus Thuram hit the woodwork for the second time in the 41st minute, being played through down the left, and he smacked it out for a throw in via the post. The first real highlight of the second half was Marko Arnautovic wrapping it up for 3-1. Klaassen was involved again, a one-two with Zefi ended up with him finding Arnautovic unmarked, and he slotted into the corner from 14 yards. Frattesi hit the bar for the second XI late on, with a curling shot from just outside the box. In the same highlight, the first XI broke away, played the ball through to Mkhitaryan on the right, who played the square ball into Martinez for his second of the game. As you can see below, the second team really weren’t like a second team, so despite the fact it goes down as a 3-2 loss to the Second XI, it gives me even more of a headache, because the likes of Alexis Sanchez, Marko Arnautovic and Matteo Darmian will definitely be near the first team this season. I wouldn’t fancy playing against us this season. 

New Contract Signing

The first major contract upgrade was of Nicolo Barella, one of the players I pinpointed at the start of the save. He will stay at Inter Milan for another five seasons in theory. I do wonder how much of this player we can enjoy having around while we are still the manager here. 

New Signing

Wonderkid signings won’t be much of a thing, but as part of this save, we could see these players come through at our future clubs. Rayane Bounida is a 17-year-old Belgian attacking midfielder, who was on the books at the famous Ajax academy, and we have indeed decided to sign him as we can potentially add him to the first team by the time he turns 20 at least. His dribbling and first touch are in the green at 16, and technique and flair are big upvotes as well. I’m excited to see how this talent progresses.

New Contract Signing

Our second major new contract has been handed out to Lautaro Martinez, our star striker. He has also landed a new 5-year deal, which will make it even more difficult to sign him for future clubs. I would like to see how he progresses while I’m still here. 

Saturday 29th July 2023

Pre-Season Friendly

Balestier 2-5 Inter Milan (Shuhei Hoshino 21’, Daniel Goh 25’; Rayane Bounida 52’, Alexis Sanchez 65’, Marcus Thuram 66’, 70’, Nicolo Barella 73’)

We went on a pre-season tour of Singapore, and our only game was away against Balestier of the S-League. The Singaporean side took a shock lead after 21 minutes. It wasn’t the start I was expecting. A lucky long ball over the top from Fabian Kwok found Hoshino on the edge of the box. He went through one-on-one and he tucked it past Audero. We hit the post via a deflected shot not long after. They decided to go up the other end and doubled their advantage. A cross from the left by Sugita found Goh on the right hand side of the box, unmarked, and he hit a powerful shot through the keeper, off the bar, to make it 2-0. Nicolo Barella nearly smashed one back early in the second half, powering through into the area, but their keeper saved the powerful shot onto the bar. We found a potential route back into the game after 52 minutes. Boundia was allowed a go on the pitch, and he fired home from just inside the D to score his first goal in an Inter Milan shirt. It was 2-2 after 65 minutes. Cuadrado darted down the right hand side, where he found a looping cross into the box. He picked out Sanchez at the far post, and a decent header found it’s way into the net. The comeback was complete after 66 minutes, a copycat ball from Juan Cuadrado, this time finding Marcus Thuram at the far post, and he looped his header back where it came from, in the corner. It was 4-2 just 4 minutes later. The perfect ball from the middle found Thuram running into the area, who chested it down from the left, and he fired into the corner for his second. The goal glut continued as Nicolo Barella got onto the scoresheet. Hakan Calhanoglu, who replaced Thuram, played the ball outside the area to Barella, who latched onto it and slotted it under the keeper.  An appalling first half turned into a goal glut, with our forward line scoring 5 goals in 21 minutes. They really impressed me while our defence just fell asleep. Who knew a 17 year old could start a fightback like that? Bounida scored the opener to try and impress me, and he could at least get a few sub appearances this season. I just need to sort out that defence now. 

New Contract Signing

Denzel Dumfries has signed a new deal with the club, signing a new 4-year deal, which will keep the Dutch attacking full-back at the club until 2027.

Wednesday 2nd August 2023

Pre-Season Friendly

Crotone 0-5 Inter Milan (Lautaro Martinez 16’, 77’, Marcus Thuram 57’ 87’, Kristjan Asllani 89’)

Our first match back in Italy after the Singapore training camp was away at Serie C outfit Crotone. Lautaro Martinez gave us the lead after a quarter of an hour. A triangle passing move between Cuadrado, De Pieri and Martinez gave the Argentinian all the time in the world to finish off the perfect move. We doubled our advantage after 57 minutes. Poor defending from Crotone found Marcus Thuram with an opportunity to run into the box, and he slotted home from a narrowing angle. Lautaro Martinez got his second and the team’s third after intercepting a horrific back pass from the third-tier side, he latched onto it and finished from just inside the area for 3-0. Marcus Thuram made it 4-0 in the 87th minute, Dimarco finding Martinez, who played a through ball into Thuram, and he added his second very coolly, finishing through the keeper. Kristjan Asllani got onto the scoresheet in the 89th minute for 5-0. A very tame shot took a wicked deflection past the keeper. It was good to see the team play well and ping passes together all over the place. The teamwork is huge for me, and to take a title, you must play as a team. It was our first clean sheet of pre-season as well, and that’s always a positive to see. A huge shout out to the Crotone keeper, Francesco D’Altiero, who made several saves to keep the score at 5. He got unlucky with his team’s defending and a couple of deflections. 

Saturday 12th August 2023

Pre-Season Friendly

Inter Milan 1-1 Lazio (Marko Arnautovic 50’; Ciro Immobile 57’)

Our last pre-season friendly was on paper our first test with me as manager. We decided to set up a pre-season friendly with Serie A rivals, Lazio. A goalless first half led to both teams having chances, and a couple of decent saves from our second choice keeper, Emil Audero. The second half started off with a good throw in routine down the right from us which started with Pavard playing it back, then receiving the ball, who found Arnautovic down the goal line, and his narrow angled shot was deflected past the Lazio keeper for 1-0. Lazio equalised just 7 minutes later. A Calhanoglu corner was cleared away and Lazio quickly found their way flying up the pitch. Zaccagni played the ball through to Immobile, who found himself one-on-one and he tucked it in for 1-1. Stefan De Vrij nearly won it late on with a header narrowly over the bar from a Calhanoglu corner. In the end though, two of the biggest teams in Serie A, playing it a decent pre-season draw. I’ll take that.

Injury

Unfortunately we have our first major injury, just four days before the start of the Serie A season at home to Genoa. Davy Klaassen will be out of action for 3 weeks, with sprained ankle ligaments. Hopefully, it won’t affect him that much. We will need him in the squad to come in and help the team out. 

Round Up

So only one signing made, we nearly made another signing in Emile Smith Rowe, but ultimately didn’t have the funds. 2 wins and a draw when it comes to friendlies played without playing our own side, and a decent 1-1 draw against Lazio. This won’t be a transfer window where we make a whole load of changes, but I think that’s ok. We’re favourites for the title according to the media, so let’s get out there and prove them right.

What’s coming next?

Well in part 3, coming out later today, we begin our first season of this challenge, where I’ll take you through the final couple of weeks in August, transfer deadline day, and the beginning of our Champions League campaign as well. Our first big rivalry match of the season will also be covered in part 3, as we travel to Juventus on the fifth matchday in the league. Hopefully we can start off with a strong performance. Thank you very much for the support and I hope you’re enjoying it so far. I’ll see you on the next update.

Part 1 - Introduction and Picking Our Team

Ladies and gentlemen, this is a map of Europe. Historical continent, in my opinion the best continent, and continent of my birth. We have glorious cities like London, Paris, Madrid, Rome and Berlin. They're the capitals of England, France, Spain, Italy and Germany respectively. They and a certain famous manager have given me an idea for a save. OK, so has DoctorBenjy, but this is a feat that will be nearly impossible, but hopefully we can achieve it. I'll tell you more in a moment. But here are a couple of photos to give you an idea of what's going on (unless you've read the title of the blog.)

This man is Carlo Ancelotti. He is the closest man to achieve what we are attempting to achieve. In his career, he has won all five of the big five leagues in Europe, and he has 4 Champions League titles. I was considering doing a challenge purely based on Carlo Ancelotti in football, but I want to achieve more. And I'm giving myself 20 seasons to do it in. Above are the names of 16 competitions I'll be aiming to win in this save. It's gonna be fast, it's gonna be frantic. But I'm sure if I enjoy it, you will likewise. We have five countries to pick from, a total of over 30 teams I put into a wheel to potentially start with. The team it landed on is a 3-time UEFA Champions League winner, and in fact, we start at a team that Ancelotti wouldn't go and manage. In fact, they're probably his biggest enemies in football.

The Club

We have arrived in Italy, the country of possibly the greatest league back in the 1990s, Serie A. Back then, a lot of English players were transferring over to Italy basically for the money, with players including Paul Gascoigne, David Platt, and Chris Waddle moving abroad to show what our talent had to offer. In the late 1980s, AC Milan had a forward line of Dutch superstars, including Ruud Gullit and Marco van Basten. With a whole host of European Cup finalists, champions and even 4-time World Cup winners Italy, it is a country rich with football history. But in more recent times, it hasn't been that jolly. AC Milan last won the Champions League in 2007, to claim their seventh title. Inter won the trophy back in 2010, and reached the final only last season, losing to Manchester City. But aside from Roma winning the Conference League in it's first season, the last European trophy was that 2010 Inter triumph.

Inter Milan

I spun a wheel to decide where we would end up and it chose Inter Milan. We aim to continue their rich history, and attempt to win everything Italy has to offer. Founded in 1908 as Internazionale Milano, they are one of the most successful teams in the history of the Italian game, winning 19 Serie A titles, and 9 Coppa Italias. They've become far more successful in more recent years since the Juventus stranglehold on the title ended. As I mentioned, last season, the team were defeated in the UEFA Champions League Final, and will be looking to go just one more to try and win it for a fourth time. 

So looking over the next few seasons, it'll be a case of if we win the league title and the cup, we will leave. Or at least that's the plan. There'll be times where we will seriously struggle, but there'll also be times we can take the league by force. We have to go for the league in our first season. There's also the chance we complete the double this season. Personally, I don't think realistically we return to the Champions League final. We will look through our best players in a moment, and see how far we can get when it comes to making transfers and building a team. We will look at our finances in just a moment as well. 

Best Players at Club

Lautaro Martinez

My best player at the club is of course, Argentine World Cup winner, Lautaro Martinez. The 25-year-old will be my main centre-forward this season, with greens covering the board. His finishing, first touch and heading are top class, and I'll be relying on him to grab me most of our goals this season. He is my model professional and will be getting top of the scoring charts especially in the league.

Nicolo Barella

My second player to highlight is Nicolo Barella, playing in that centre-midfield role. He possesses the Passing stats I need, working on his teamwork as well. He will be a strong box to box midfielder, potentially playing ball winning quite regularly as well. His work rate and determination will hope the team, and hopefully the younger players will look up to him. 

Benjamin Pavard

Benjamin Pavard has just signed from Bayern Munich in game, 27 years old, scorer of that incredible goal against Argentina at the 2018 FIFA World Cup. He will be strong when it comes to corners, winning headers and clearing away from corners. I'm sure he will grab at least 5 goals this season to help us on our way. Overall we do have a strong squad. There's one more player who I will be showing you, but I'm definitely not disappointed with this team.

Hakan Calhanoglu

Hakan Calhanoglu is your typical all round centre-mid. 29 years old, still probably got about 5 years at the top, he will be finding the perfect balls to Martinez up top. Playing slightly further up than Barella, and not in that pivot role most of the time, he will be able to run forward, take shots from outside the box to fool the other team's goalkeeper. I think we have a strong one on our hands here. 

Round-Up

I'm very pleased the wheel landed on Inter Milan, my squad is fantastic and I think we have a huge chance of winning the league title this season. This league is very wide open though, we're not going to take anything for granted. We will be doing a Summer special in the next part, where we will go over the ins, outs and pre-season friendlies before we begin our season against Genoa on the 20th August. Tomorrow, there will be a double update including the first 6 weeks of the season, and going through deadline day. If you're interested, please stick around and share with your friends and other people who you think will be interested. Hopefully we can ease through the next 20 seasons, but it probably won't be quite so easy. I'll see you then.

Non League To Premier League FM24 Part Two

Hello and welcome to Part Two of Non League to Premier League, my journey as a manager from my most local team at Step 6, up to the higher echelons of World football. When I was with you last, we were looking through our squad ahead of the first season in game. We are going to head into the pre-season friendlies, and we will try to get more staff into the club as we are very short in that department. Obviously as a manager, we are starting with a National A License as that’s what the game gives you with Brackley Town, so some big news before we start anything. The club are paying for my first course, and it’ll last 4 months.

Tuesday 4th July 2023

Friendly

Brackley Town 3-0 Brackley Town Second XI (Lilly 2’, Gudger 4’, McHale 29’)

An easy win over our second team started pre-season off as well as it could have done. Two corners from McHale found the heads of our two centre-backs Lilly and Gudger in the opening 4 minutes. McHale then scored a cracking goal from the corner of the penalty area as we picked up a comfortable win at St James Park.

Saturday 8th July 2023

Friendly

Tonbridge Angels 6-2 Brackley Town (Greenidge 10’, Turner 13’, Lyons-Foster 20’, Fagg 41’, Turner 44’, Fish 85’; Lilly 34’, Calder 73’)

When we went down to Kent to take on National League South Tonbridge Angels, I didn’t immediately expect to be having to decide to change my team completely as we were 5-1 down at half time, their passing game absolutely destroying us. Maybe I’m going to have to rethink the pumping forward I thought we’d be going to do. This is what pre-season is all about though. I’d rather lose 6-2 now than in the league. 

Saturday 15th July 2023

Friendly

Ammanford 0-3 Brackley Town (Gudger 25’, Lilly 28’, McHale 90’+1)

In this game, we went to the entire other end of the UK, as we travelled to South Wales to face JD Cymru South side Ammanford. A comprehensive win was expected and that’s what was delivered. Our set pieces are working well, Gudger getting his head onto a McHale corner, and Lilly heading home from a Lyttle wide free kick. We had a number of chances in the second half, but nothing much happened until added time at the end of the game, when McHale latched on to a dreadful clearance from the goalkeeper, and went on a winding run before finishing, 

Announcement

No transfers yet, but below are the squad numbers for the brand new season as I’m quite, quite mad.

Saturday 22nd July 2023

Friendly

Poole Town 1-5 Brackley Town (Budd 90’+2; Gudger 29’, 62’, Crawford 41’, Lilly 45’+3, Carline 47’)

A second convincing pre-season victory in succession as we thrashed Southern League Premier South side Poole Town by 5-1. Our corners are working like a dream, with our 3 centre-halves all scoring with headers from corners. I brought off Alex Gudger on a hat-trick. Jordan Crawford got his first of pre-season as well so hopefully that’s a good start for him. Thought we’d keep the clean sheet, but Budd got a cracking goal outside the area to make it 5-1. But no worries, good result. One more friendly to go.

Injury

Unfortunately, that game also brought our first major injury of the season, as Liam Cross is expected to be out for the first few games of the season after he pulled up during the Poole Town game.

New Signing

You’ve been waiting for this and so have I, but it’s not been for the want of trying. With the lack of money we have, it’s been difficult to try and bring in players. I know I didn’t mention it but we literally have no transfer budget, so it will be all about free signings and loans in this first season. We’ve signed Charlie Waller on loan from MK Dons in League Two. He’s not going to set the world alight. He’s 18 years old, he can play at both left-back and centre-back and we only really needed him to boost up the squad in terms of numbers. Saying that, he has a few yellow ratings at least when it comes to heading, decision making and aggression. But that’s our first signing.

Strong Potential Youth Player

We’ve made a signing of a young player that has caught my eye. He is a regen, it is his first club. He goes by the name of Ben Clarke-Jacobs. He’s 16 years old, he plays as a Centre-Back, though again, looking at our first team, our centre-halves literally do the job when it comes to winning headers from corners. I’m sure there’ll be opportunities for him to appear in lesser games, potentially against relegation candidates. He’s here to learn really and to play in the FA Youth Cup. He has got good first touch, good work rate and determination, and yellows when it comes to his physical attributes as well.

Saturday 29th July 2023

Friendly

Brackley Town 2-1 Southend United (Armson (pen) 60’, Crawford 66’; Cardwell 43’)

We played our first opposition from a higher level as we hosted National League Southend United at St James Park, for the first game in front of our home fans. It was very much a game of nothingness until Southend got a corner, which was obviously worked on the training ground, finding Cardwell at the far post and he headed into the top corner. On the hour, Armson equalised from the penalty spot. Jordan Crawford grabbed the winner with a cross from the left by Calder, which found his head and he managed to grab us a valuable pre-season win. Good result.

Injury News

This is not the one we wanted to see though. Morgan Roberts will be out for 3 weeks, after he made a tackle during the Southend United game and has pulled some ankle ligaments.

Squad Hierarchy

There will be people wondering what’s going on so this is the squad hierarchy pyramid, with Dean as captain and Lewis as vice-captain.

July Round-Up

So that brings us to the end of the first full month of this save, I will be playing two months a day on this save. The friendly results worried me after being tonked by Tonbridge Angels away from home, but three consecutive wins, one against Southend United, have made me think this defensive formation actually works. We have only made 2 signings so far, but as August begins, there is more in the offing, including a potential loan signing from Shrewsbury Town. In the next instalment, we begin our Vanarama National League North season away at Chorley. I’ll see you then.

Non League To Premier League FM24

Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the brand new Non League to Premier League, a career mode where if played correctly, almost anything can happen. After years and years of watching Lollujo work his magic, it’s rubbed off on me and I’ve decided to do an annual series for myself starting with Football Manager 2024. Non League to Legend is the most celebrated of all creator career modes on YouTube when it comes to Football Manager creators and I aim to follow in the footsteps of people who are much better at this than me, but it also means I feel like I’m representing all the normal guys, all the ones that find it tougher to make a winning team, the ones that try their hardest to move up the leagues with the smaller clubs. Stand by for the rules, just in case you’re unsure about how all this works.

The Rules

Rule 1: I must start at my most local club on the vanilla database on Football Manager 2024 at step 6 of the English football pyramid.

Rule 2: All moves I make in this career must be the decision I would make in real life. If I’m managing a lower league club, and a Championship club comes in with three times my salary, I’m going there.

Rule 3: All staff and player signings must be signings that have been sent to me through reports. At no point will I be using the player search option, or the bar at the top, unless I’m looking at different competitions to see how they’re going. 

Rule 4: The editor must be taken out of the game, and I cannot use it at any point.

Rule 5: The final point is not necessarily a rule, but although it’s called Non League to Premier League, I can manage anywhere in my game world. Not just in England. It’s literally just a name I can get away with. 

Starting Club

Last night, I spent the best part of 10 minutes working out where my nearest club was in Football Manager 2024. As in the photo below, I live in the town of Wellingborough in Northamptonshire, so although Wellingborough Town would be in the Northern section if they were high enough, I’m relatively close to the National League South as well, so I had to work it out. So I calculated the position of all 48 Step 6 clubs, put all of them into a list, and the team I will be first is… Brackley Town. Brackley Town were formed in 1890, and are a club that play in the National League North, based in Northamptonshire. Otherwise known as The Saints, they have played at Level 6 for over a decade, winning promotion in 2011. They play at the 3,500 capacity St James Park, where they have played since 1974. 

The club also won the FA Trophy in 2018. 

Starting the Save

Here we go then, ladies and gentlemen. We are the brand new manager of Brackley Town FC, at the age of just 26. Oh to be 26 again in real life. We do indeed replace former manager Gavin Cowan.

The media prediction is very much what I expected, as the club have been trying to earn their place in the National League for a number of years now. There are two professional teams in the league in the first season in Scunthorpe United and South Shields so it will be tough to compete at the top this season, and although we will be in the play offs hopefully, one of those teams will be as well I’m sure. They will be difficult to get past. 

I do follow local non league football, but I’m closer to Kettering than I am to Brackley, so I wasn’t entirely sure of their squad. The lad on the right of the strike force is known to me. He goes by the name of Jordan Crawford. We will go in on him more in a moment, but I’ve seen him play at Corby Town and Desborough Town. A quick, pacy little forward who will torment National League North defenders this season, but I will look more into the squad a little later on.

So the aim for this season is to reach the National League North Playoffs, which I thought would be the case. The owner has only told me to strive to make progress on and off the pitch. It does say to be competitive in both cups we are in, but the aim for me will be to make at least the First Round of the FA Cup and get to the later stages of the FA Trophy. If I can do it, that’s great. If not, he’s only told me to be competitive which is fine. He wants to be out of this league by the end of the second season. As for the fans, they want the playoffs, to embarrass Banbury in the league, and smash Kettering if we play them.

We have a really strong squad for this level, our best player according to the report being Gareth Dean at 33 years old, a centre-half in his prime years at this football club. He’s strong in the air and tackling which is vitally important for any defender playing part time. He’s a strong choice for captain as well, being a strong team leader, and working his butt off for this team as well. If there’s anything we need, it’s someone who can tower above all comers in the league. 

Our best centre forward is 32 year old Danny Newton. A finishing ability of 12 is good to see, especially at this level, but he probably wouldn’t be able to go much higher, National League at a push. The final player to look out for is Alfie Bates. He’s 22 years old and is deemed to be a man who will hit almost 5 stars later in his career at this level. There’s 12s and 13s all over the place, basically anything in yellow is good for this club. His first touch and passing are both at 13, and he’s your typical DLP, which is the sort of player I want in this team. 

This is our strongest team in their strongest formation which I will go with for now. I would say we need players of stronger ability at centre-back, with Gareth Dean and Zak Lilly both needing improvement. I may need to change a few of the roles in the team, that’s not Newton’s strongest role up top. But yes, we will go into the transfer market. 

On the next update, we will have played through pre-season and about to enter the league games in August. We will go through the first few games and see what happens with transfers. Don’t forget that the transfer window lasts until March in the National League North, so we have a lot of time to tweak and change this team. Hopefully we’re on to something here. I hope you enjoyed the first update, and I hope you’re enjoying playing Football Manager 2024. Let me know who you’re playing as in a comment, and we will go through this journey together. Let me know also if you’re doing this challenge, and where you start with. Thanks for reading, and I’ll be back later on.

February 2024

Well then, how do we get over a month like that? The good thing is we can now re-invent ourselves and try and surprise teams. But I'm not holding my breath right now. We've had a miserable month. We played 7 matches and lost all 7. Our defence literally fell apart. It can't get much worse at least. But we need to get it together, and we start with a home match against Hayes & Yeading United. We're now closer to relegation than play-offs and we need to change that stat sooner rather than later. 

We have a brand new loan signing, who has joined us from Peterborough United until the end of the season. Gergo Janos Bodnar is an 18-year-old Hungarian Right Back, he's good at tackling which is something we could do with right now. He's on the aggressive side which is good to see. His teamwork stats are good as well. Let's hope he can help bring some good feeling to this team.

Saturday 3rd February 2024

Vanarama National League South

Dover Athletic 0-0 Hayes & Yeading United

The first time we've avoided defeat in 2024, but not entirely satisfied following a 0-0 draw with Hayes & Yeading United. Defences were on top for the entire game and not an awful lot happened at both ends. We had a couple of chances but nothing to write home about. The only good thing I can say about this match is we failed to be beaten at the back. Hayes and Yeading tried everything but they couldn't get through. In this situation, we'll take a point as it's more than the entirety of last month, but we need to find where we were before Christmas. 

Jesse Pigott has signed a new contract now he's turned 17 years old, worth £25 an appearance.

Saturday 10th February 2024

Vanarama National League South

Farnborough 2-2 Dover Athletic (James Gody 3', 14'; Eden Bailey 40', Reece Grant 64' (pen))

A spirited fight back from 2-0 down means we take a share of the spoils away at Farnborough. The story felt familiar after 3 minutes. A long ball from deep found Fernandes on the left, he pinged a cross into the box and Gody used his head to divert into the net for 1-0. It was 2-0 11 minutes later. Lokko played the long ball from the back this time, but it went straight into the area and Gody volleyed home as sweet as a nut, and it looked like we were in for another long game. Grant set Bailey up for a goal just before half time, the route one passage working again, Bailey controlled it and fired home on the half volley in the area for 2-1. We got a penalty in the second half. This time, it was Reece Grant who stepped up and powered it into the corner to save us a point. Unfortunately, our winless run is now at 10 league matches.

Saturday 17th February 2024

Vanarama National League South

Dover Athletic 2-0 Dartford (Jaydn Mundle-Smith 33', Sean Adarkwa 45'+1)

Vital! Absolutely bloody vital! What a result! Our first win in the league since a win over Billericay Town back in December. A run of 10 matches without victory, including 6 straight defeats. We beat high-flying Dartford to bring an end to that run. I'm so buzzed right now. We needed a little bit of luck for the first goal. Mundle-Smith made his own run from the left, cut inside and hit it towards goal, and via a massive deflection, it put the keeper on the floor and the ball in the net for 1-0, but hey, when you've been on the run we have, we'll take anything like that. The game was won on the stroke of half time. Goodman made a long ball from the back fall to the feet of Adarkwa. He took a couple of strides forward before hitting it from outside the area, and the keeper could only get fingers to it as it went in the corner and broke the bad run for us. Great result!

Saturday 24th February 2024

Vanarama National League South

Chelmsford City 0-0 Dover Athletic

Chelmsford City were the favourites heading into this one, but we did hold our own and kept an away clean sheet drawing 0-0. They did put us under the cosh for a lot of the game. They had a goal ruled out for offside. Hall made some vital saves to keep us in it. We had our own chances but this one is going to be a short entry. Barely anything happened, we will take the point. 

Tuesday 27th February 2024

Vanarama National League South

Dover Athletic 1-1 St Albans City (Sean Adarkwa 61'; Shaun Jeffers 15' (pen))

A fiery affair between these two ended all square as we came from behind to take another point, taking our tally through February to 7 points from 5 games, but no defeats. Shaun Jeffers put St Albans 1-0 up after 15 minutes from the penalty spot, tucking it into the bottom right corner. They had several chances to double their advantage, Jeffers being the man who took most of them but they couldn't capitalise on our shoddy start. We equalised just after the hour mark. Mundle-Smith played the long ball from the left-back position and found Adarkwa in the area, who then brought it down on his chest, and lofted the ball into the top corner to earn a share of the spoils. He nearly won it late on as well but it wasn't to be. 

The league table at the end of February shows a little gap forming at the top of the league. Havant & Waterlooville are now the league leaders on 67 points, followed by Dulwich Hamlet on 63 and Oxford City on 62 as the league enters it's final 13 games for most teams. Dorking Wanderers are currently 4th on 59, Chippenham 57, Dartford 56 and Weymouth 54 in those play-off places, but Hampton & Richmond Borough are only a point behind Weymouth. Eastbourne Borough and St Albans City are also in strong contention. Billericay Town are still bottom on 11 points, 20 points adrift of safety and in danger of potentially going down in March. The relegation battle is much tighter with Salisbury, Hungerford Town, Chelmsford City and Hemel Hempstead Town separated by just 2 points as that battle spices up.

Manager's Thoughts:

A massive improvement on January. We actually competed in games and no one came away with a victory against us. We just need to turn those draws into wins, but baby steps. Like I said, we were abysmal in January and the fact we came away from this month without defeat shows me the players do know what they're doing, they do know how to stay in games. Now it's just at least to try and carry on what is now a 5 game unbeaten run in the league. My aim for March is to turn draws into wins. Sounds easy, but we all saw January. 

January 2024

Happy new year everyone in game, and welcome to 2024. We have a busy schedule this month, as we play 7 matches at least, including 6 in the league and a big tie in the FA Trophy. The expectation is that we can keep it tight at the back for a little longer. We were incredible in December with it. Our goals aren't barrelfuls like they were last season, but we're that team where 75% of the time, 1-0 is definitely enough at the moment. I also want to get some contracts for important players sorted out heading into the second half of the season, so they become more settled at this football club. That's all for me to say at this point, so we head into New Year's Day with our first game of the year away at Chippenham Town.

Monday 1st January 2024

Vanarama National League South

Chippenham Town 1-0 Dover Athletic (Tom Mehew 62')

Two games in 48 hours always takes it out of my players. We definitely weren't on it again and we lose 1-0 in our first game of 2024. We always lose our first game of the new year. Adarkwa had a couple of clear-cut chances to take the lead but he wasn't quite on it up front in this game. The only goal was actually a real good strike. Chippenham played a few passes around the box, before it fell to Mehew from 25 yards out, and he struck it straight through the goalkeeper and that was it for this game. We've still got a lot of time to turn it around, I'm not worrying about missing out just yet. 

Our New Zealand Under-20 international, Matt Dibley-Dias, has signed a brand new contract that sees him through until the end of next season, on a £375 per week deal. He commits his future after being an integral part of our play-off push so far this season, and hopefully he carries on in a similar vein of form for the rest of the season.

Saturday 6th January 2024

Vanarama National League South

Dover Athletic 1-3 Maidstone United (Eden Bailey 29'; Solomon Wanjau-Smith 31', Courtney Duffus 38', 75')

It's always crushing to lose a derby to one of your biggest rivals, but when you score first, they get a red card, and you still can't capitalise? It's just disappointing. We took the lead after 29 minutes, Nicolson played a long ball forward to Grant, who played the ball across and Bailey nodded home for his 3rd of the season, and to take a 1-0 lead. It didn't last long. A game of head tennis was won by Maidstone, Karadogan taking the ball down and finding Wanjau-Smith on the left, who produced a sublime finish into the bottom right corner for 1-1. Hall made an absolute howler for the second goal. Roberts made a strong run down the right for Maidstone, who whipped the ball into the centre of the area, and Duffus got his head on it. Hall attempted to palm the ball one way and it went behind him and bounced into the net. We thought our luck had changed when Gonzalez was sent off before half time by committing a malicious foul from behind on Nicolson. Unfortunately, the boys were far too conservative, and it was game over with 15 minutes remaining. A corner from Tiensia found Duffus at the near post and he provided a bullet header past the keeper to confirm the three points for Maidstone. Fuming with that.

Callum Nicolson is the fourth player to have signed a brand new contract recently, staying until the end of the 2025-26 season. The 21-year-old midfielder has played 29 times this season, with an average rating of 6.68, but he can definitely improve with what's left this season.

Tuesday 9th January 2024

Vanarama National League South

Dover Athletic 0-2 Dulwich Hamlet (Tavonga Kuleya 39', Jack Holland 75')

I would say we're now in a slight crisis, similar to the one we had in September, after we lost 2-0 to high-flying Dulwich Hamlet. We have performed better than this against the bigger teams this season, so I'm sort of trying to work out what's actually happening. Another huge mistake from Hall led to the first goal. Wood played the ball in from the left and it met the head of Kuleya who headed straight at Hall, but for the second game in a row, he palmed it into the net for 1-0. The game was over with 15 minutes remaining. A corner from Andrews found the head of Jack Holland at the near post, almost a carbon copy of Maidstone's third in the last game. Fuming again with our defending from corners. 

Saturday 13th January 2024

Vanarama National League South

Torquay United 3-2 Dover Athletic (Ryan Paczkowski 4', Brett McGavin 52', Lewis Brooks 55'; Sean Adarkwa 56', 59')

It's a fourth defeat in a row unfortunately, but we showed a lot of fight after falling 3-0 behind to Torquay United. Paczkowski had the ball on the left before passing it to the edge of the area. He made a run which Lapslie found, and unmarked, he slotted home to make it 1-0. A seven minute mad spell turned this game from 1-0 to 3-2 before we knew it. Brett McGavin scored a free-kick right on the edge of the penalty area at the near post to make it 2-0. And it seemed to be game over when Brisley played a long ball through to Brooks, who smashed home on the volley to make it 3-0. But a minute later, Adarkwa brought a goal back for us. Tizzard played a long ball over the defence which Adarkwa controlled with his first touch, advanced forward with his second and finished with his third to get us back in it. And it was game on just 3 minutes later. Farr played a fantastic through ball from the right which found Adarkwa in the middle and he fired home off the post to make it 3-2. We missed a free-kick which hit the side netting which would have been sensational. If we can show that battling quality in the next few games, I'll feel more confident about the rest of the season. 

Tuesday 16th January 2024

Vanarama National League South

Dover Athletic 1-4 Concord Rangers (Sean Adarkwa 66'; James Blanchfield 7', Filippo Roda 10', Szymon Kowalczyk 50', Freddie Pitts 87')

Our heaviest defeat of the season, and I'm just ready to throw my laptop in the bin. Every time, I change it up, the players aren't having it. Concord Rangers have just sacked their manager. I think I'm next at this rate. A cross was cleared only as far as Blanchfield for the first. He shot on the turn from 30 yards out for an unbelievable effort and there's nothing we could have done about that. A mistake from our defence from a Pitts long ball set Roda through on goal, and he slotted home from the edge of the area for 2-0. Leathers was sent off for us after half an hour for a stupid challenge from behind, and then it just got worse. Roda received the ball in the area, held it up on the byline, and played back to Kowalczyk for a tap-in for 3-0. Our only glimmer of hope came with 25 minutes left. A ball from Grant on the left found Landers, who headed on to Adarkwa and he scored his 20th of the season with a first time finish. It finished off with 3 minutes to go. A free-kick from Green on the right found the rising Pitts, who headed into the goal off the post to make it 4-1.

Saturday 20th January 2024

The Isuzu FA Trophy Fourth Round

Dagenham & Redbridge 2-0 Dover Athletic (Harvey Sayer 17' (pen), Paul McCallum 29')

So we're not able to win for love nor money in the league, so we definitely weren't going to beat this lot and we go out of the FA Trophy at the Fourth Round stage. Their first goal came from the penalty spot, Sayer popping it into the bottom right corner despite the keeper's best efforts. It was 2-0 after 29 minutes. Sayer played the near post corner into the box and Paul McCallum put the ball into the far corner to make it 2-0. We deserved the defeat and we deserve everything that is going wrong at the moment. This is now officially worse than September.

Saturday 27th January 2024

Vanarama National League South

Hungerford Town 2-1 Dover Athletic (George Cowmeadow 24', 70'; Matty MacArthur 64')

Our month of absolute woe finished with a 2-1 defeat at second bottom Hungerford Town. Brewer played a long ball into the general path of Cowmeadow, and the keeper came miles off his line, to give Cowmeadow the easiest of finishes to make it 1-0 to Hungerford. We equalised in the second half in the most remarkable way. Farr had the ball down the right hand side of the area, and lofted it across to the onrushing MacArthur who volleyed it into the top corner and got his first goal for the club to make it 1-1. I thought we may even get our only point of the month, but honestly we've been abysmal defensively. i don't resign from jobs, but I'm so close to doing it at the moment. Bansal-McNulty played the long ball through to Cowmeadow, who chested it, rounded the keeper and it finished it off into the back of the net for 2-1. Dibley-Dias had the chance to save a point from the penalty spot, but it was saved by the keeper and that just sums up our month.

I had to walk my dog before uploading this table because I couldn't bring myself to look at it. When it comes to the title race though, we have 4 teams within reach of top of the league, and three are level on 55 points with Oxford City, Dulwich Hamlet and Havant & Waterlooville only separated by goal difference. Dorking Wanderers have fought their way back into title contention in this league. Hampton & Richmond Borough, Dartford and Chippenham Town complete the play-off places at the end of January. At the bottom, it just gets worse for Billericay. They're now 20 points from safety with 18 matches remaining of the season, and they're a full 14 points behind Hungerford Town at the bottom of the table. Chelmsford City are back down in the bottom 4, with Salisbury only in the drop zone on goal difference behind Concord Rangers. Hemel Hempstead Town are only a point clear. 

Manager's Thoughts:

I've got several expletives going through my head about this month. I will actually play a private save in between doing the next month of this one. The players did not stay compact, the players could not attack, the players were god damn awful. I'm changing all my tactics completely for the new month and we need to save our season while we still can. We're now closer to relegation than the play-offs for the first time this season. I will not be surprised if my contract is not renewed at the end of the season. That's all I have to say and I'm sorry for this awful run of form. Absolutely gutted.

December 2023

2023 has been a year of transition for this football club as we attempt to be a proper top half team for this level. We're only 2 points off a play off spot and having a decent season so far, but I hope we can make this month a successful month as we go into the second half of the season. Sean Adarkwa has been on it more often than not this season up front, so I'm glad I bought him in when I did. In fact, he's got over 60% of our league goals. I do remember saying I needed to build from the back and we have a smaller squad than last season, but consistently at the back we've been performing well so I'm going to applaud myself and the players for that one. We start this month in the FA Trophy which we got to the Fifth Round of last season. Today we start with Cray Wanderers, a game which we should be winning comfortably.

Saturday 2nd December 2023

The Isuzu FA Trophy Second Round

Dover Athletic 1-0 Cray Wanderers (Reece Grant 64')

A game where we had several chances, but were very wasteful was won by a wonderful free-kick after Cray Wanderers shot themselves in the foot by being reduced to 10 men. Dallaywaters was sent off after 63 minutes by absolutely lunging into Adarkwa with two feet, and you really can't expect to get away with that with just a booking. Reece Grant put the ball down for the free-kick just outside the box, and he curled it over the wall beautifully into the top corner, to take a win that we weren't convincing in at all, but it's the win that matters and we're in the Third Round draw on Monday. 

Saturday 9th December 2023

Vanarama National League North

Hemel Hempstead Town 0-1 Dover Athletic (Sean Adarkwa 48')

A very good rearguard performance means we climb back into the play-off places for the first time since the middle of September, an Adarkwa goal being enough to pick up three points at a decent Hemel Hempstead side. The game came alive in the second half after a very tight first half, and within 3 minutes of the restart, we took the lead. Adarkwa won the ball in an advanced position but had defenders all around him, so played it back to Farr. He played a nice ball into the area, but Adarkwa still had a tough task as he was at an angle facing a defender right in front of him. It didn't matter as he hit it, and it sneaked into the far corner for his 16th goal of the season, and an important three points.

An early look at the youth intake for this season, Full-backs and attacking midfielders are both showing as A at the moment. B on strikers as well, but for me, they all see excellent in December. Let's wait until March.

Tuesday 19th December 2023

Vanarama National League South

Billericay Town 1-2 Dover Athletic (Sam Sebagabo 57'; Henry Landers 14', Reece Grant 54')

We absolutely dominated this one despite what the scoreline says at full time, against the team being used as whipping boys this season. Both our goals came from well taken corners as well. Billericay just couldn't deal with us at the set pieces. Farr was on both, the first one being parried after a Leathers header, but Landers was basically on the line to smash it in for 1-0. We double our advantage on 54 minutes, Farr this time playing a near post corner, and a flick on style header by Reece Grant looped over the keeper and went in for 2-0. Billericay got a goal back 3 minutes later, the ball from the right by De Silva finding Sebagabo in the middle and he steered past Hall for 2-1. That's how it finished, and all of a sudden, the confidence is continuing to ooze through the team. 

Saturday 23rd December 2023

The Isuzu FA Trophy Third Round

Dover Athletic 3-1 Chatham Town (Reece Grant 6', Eden Bailey 47', 66'; Charlie McGlashan 71')

This Kent clash between two teams separated by two divisions, went the way it was always going to, as we knocked a brave Chatham Town out of the FA Trophy. The ball broke to Dibley-Dias in the 6th minute, he dinked the ball over the defence for Reece Grant and he dispatched it beyond the keeper for 1-0. Eden Bailey got his first goal for the club just after half time, Mundle-Smith played the ball into the area from a throw-in, Bailey went with the head. It was saved but the ball rolled to him and he popped it into the corner for 2-0. Bailey got his second for the club, a ball from Farr on the right found Bailey near the penalty spot, and he looped his header towards goal, the keeper got a touch to it but he didn't keep it out, and that made the game safe. Chatham got one back 5 minutes later to take something out of the game. Batchelor chipped the ball over the defence from deep to find McGlashan, and he went through on the keeper and chipped it over him into the net for 3-1. We go through into the next round, and it'll be a happy Christmas for our players. Comfortable. 

We have just signed our first player for a couple of months as the team have become settled, but I noticed this guy wasn't getting much football at Gillingham in League Two. We're only down the road from Gillingham so I thought I'd take him on and he could drive us on this season. Seeing 14s and 15s in his attributes are amazing. He can also help in our kind of dilemma on the left, been playing a lot of forwards on that left hand side. Matty MacArthur could take us forward for the rest of the season, and I'm looking forward to playing him. 

Tuesday 26th December 2023

Vanarama National League South

Dover Athletic 1-1 Weymouth (Sean Adarkwa 45'; Miles Judd (og) 50')

A bizarre own goal denied us what would have been a fifth win in a row in December in all competitions, as we drew 1-1 in a vital play-off 6 pointer against Weymouth. We took the lead on the stroke of half time. Hall played a long ball out left to Grant, who in turn found Adarkwa making a run into the area. He rounded the keeper and tapped into the empty net to give us a 1-0 lead at the break. The goal was obviously of our doing. We had stopped a Weymouth attack dead in it's tracks and Judd attempted to play the ball back to Hall, but Hall missed it and it rolled over the line for a horrible own goal. 2 points dropped definitely, and we now have a huge game against the league leaders to end the year. Reece Grant went off injured towards the end, and we went down to 10 men for the final two minutes because of this. We will wait and see how bad he is. 

It's not as bad as first feared for Reece Grant. He'll be out for less than a week with a pulled groin.

I'm absolutely delighted with this. Will Tizzard has been fantastic in our defence this season, and he will stay at Dover for the next 18 months, until June 2025. I'm very excited to see his development here.

Our man between the sticks, Matthew Hall, is also staying until the end of next season. He's been vital with his clean sheets and saves this season, keeping us in games, getting us big points. I'm delighted to keep him for longer.

Saturday 30th December 2023

Vanarama National League South

Havant & Waterlooville 0-0 Dover Athletic

A game with only a couple of highlights against the league leaders meant we kept a clean sheet and took a point against Havant & Waterlooville, but we wasted a massive opportunity to take all three. They had the ball in the back of the net after 15 minutes, but Saunders was offside from a chance from a corner. We were given a penalty in the second half after Evans was shoved in the back in the area. Dibley-Dias stepped up, but it was saved. He got to the rebound, but it was saved again. Unfortunately, that's as good as it got, but if you'd offered me a point at the start of the game, I'd have taken it. 

This is the table after the last matchday of 2023. Oxford City have gone top of the table on goal difference, after Havant & Waterlooville were held by Dover Athletic. Both teams on 44 points, Hampton & Richmond Borough are a point behind, followed by Dulwich Hamlet, who are 3 points off the top, but they have got 3 matches in hand thanks to their cup commitments this season. Dorking Wanderers go into the new year in 5th place, with Dartford and Tonbridge Angels rounding out the top 7. Dover and St Albans aren't far behind the play-off places either, with Weymouth and Eastbourne in striking distance as well. Billericay Town need a big start to 2024 to even have a chance of keeping their place at this level. They're 15 points adrift of safety, on only 6 points for the entire season. Hungerford Town have also struggled all season, they're on 13 points. Chelmsford City are third bottom on 19 and Salisbury 4th bottom on 20 points. Hemel keeping their heads above water, and Welling United are on 22 points. Torquay have firmly moved away from the drop, so no surprise relegation it looks like. Truro are very much dragging themselves away as well.

Manager's Thoughts:

December went really bloody well. We got through two rounds of the FA Trophy and we're in a major hunt for the play-offs. We didn't lose a single game, defensively we were on it, apart from one lapse of concentration against Weymouth. The fans and the board are very happy with where the club are at the moment, but we can't be complacent, we have to remain on it. We have signed two players on brand new contracts until the end of next season, which is fantastic. Matthew Hall has been wonderful between the sticks and I'm so proud of that signing. Will Tizzard is also the main attraction in defence and has been like a man mountain so far this season. Let's see what the new year brings with new contracts and also more play-off pushing antics, and a game against Dagenham & Redbridge in the Trophy.

November 2023

A brand new month and it's just league matches for us this month after being knocked out of the FA Cup at the Fourth Qualifying Round. But it gives us the chance to build on the 3-0 win over Truro City in the last game, a win that stopped 2 months without a league win. There should be a new life, a new energy in this squad and I feel that we can pick up some important results this month. We've got to target the games against Salisbury, Eastbourne Borough, and Tonbridge Angels for decent points, but it doesn't mean I take the games against Hampton & Richmond and Dorking lightly. We must perform to the levels we set against Truro in all games coming up, and all games ever. 

I'll give Sean Adarkwa a shout out, he ended second in the player of the month stakes for October, picking up a 7.87 Average Rating for the month, and 4 goals this month as well. Hassan Jalloh has been unbelievable this last month though, you're not going to be 8 goal involvements in 3 matches. 

Saturday 4th November 2023

Vanarama National League South

Hampton & Richmond Borough 1-1 Dover Athletic (Tommy Block 20' (pen); Sean Adarkwa 58')

A decent result against a Hampton & Richmond team who's unbeaten league run goes to 7 games without a defeat. I'll take the point here. The goal we conceded in this one came from the penalty spot after a horrendous mistake by Matthew Hall led to a slide tackle by a defender for a penalty. Tommy Block stepped up and sent Hall the wrong way for 1-0. There wasn't much else going on in this one, but we found the equaliser in the second half, Leathers playing the ball over the top this time, and Adarkwa controlled it and did his customary firing past the keeper high into the net to make it 1-1. A good point, and suddenly, we're on a 4 match unbeaten run. But there's three draws in that. Can we get revenge against Dorking Wanderers?

Tuesday 7th November 2023

Vanarama National League South

Dover Athletic 2-1 Dorking Wanderers (Jaydn Mundle-Smith 9', Henry Landers 81'; Sean Tarima 38')

The answer to that last question was yes. In the tightest of games, where both teams had similar chances to win the game or at least take something, our unbeaten run now goes up to 5 games without defeat. After knocking us out of the FA Cup last month, there was an element of wanting revenge in this one, and we took the lead after 9 minutes. A short throw-in from Judd was played to Landers on the right. His ball to find Grant was cleared, but only as far as the oncoming Mundle-Smith, who took a touch into the area and hit the shot that was deflected to deceive the goalkeeper, and put us in front. Just before half time, the promotion hopefuls were level. A free-kick from Taylor on the right reached Tarima and he headed in at the far post despite Hall's best efforts. Hall had a mental game and produced a fantastic close range save in the second half to keep it at 1-1. And thankfully for us, he did that because Landers scored the winner with 9 to go. A good move found it's way to Goodman on the right of the area, who played it across for Landers to have the easiest of tap-ins. Great result, and all of a sudden, we're confident in our abilities. 

Tuesday 14th November 2023

Vanarama National League South

Salisbury 2-3 Dover Athletic (Dewain Sewell 55', 78'; Sean Adarkwa 35', 90'+4, Adam Leathers 43')

One thing I wish FM told you, was how many points you win after 90 minutes because we've won a few this season and we've done it again in this game, but it should have never been this close in a game of 2 halves almost. After Salisbury had a couple of chances early on, we took the lead 10 minutes before the break, Crowley receiving the ball back from his own throw-in, before sending in a cross in which that man, Adarkwa, got his head to it to find the top corner. It was 2-0 two minutes before half time. Adarkwa was the one holding the ball up this time, laying it off to Farr on the edge of the area, he played it across and Leathers unleashed just inside the area which wrong-footed the keeper for 2-0. Dewain Sewell turned it on after half time, to put Salisbury on the brink of a point. Play down the right by Salisbury ended up with Hussein on the right wing, and Sewell was quicker than the defence to slot home. It was 2-2 with 12 minutes remaining. Roast played the long ball forward, and as Hall tried to come off his line to meet the ball at Sewell's feet, Sewell tapped it past him to level up. The winner came after a spell of decent possession, Evans launched a desperate ball forward and Adarkwa met it with his left foot on the volley for a spectacular goal that beat the keeper at the near post. 

Saturday 25th November 2023

Vanarama National League South

Dover Athletic 1-1 Tonbridge Angels (Charlie Farr 7'; Joe Turner 54' (pen))

This Kent derby ended all square as both sides intended to try and show their play off credentials. Mundle-Smith started the move for our goal from a throw-in he played to Leathers. Mundle-Smith made a run into the area, the ball was played back to him, he ran to the byline, and played a cross over to Farr who planted a header into the corner to give us a good start after just 7 minutes. Tonbridge got a point from this one as we gave away a penalty and Turner virtually fired it down the middle after the keeper had moved for 1-1. Another point makes it 7 unbeaten.

Tuesday 28th November 2023

Vanarama National League South

Eastbourne Borough 1-0 Dover Athletic (Leone Gravata 61')

A disappointing result here unfortunately for us this evening. The game lacked real quality from both sides, real tempo. We both had our fair share of chances, but it was the most disappointing of mistakes from Matthew Hall that gave Andy Carroll's Eastbourne Borough all 3 points. Bioletti played a lofted ball into the D for Gravata who headed a tame header at Hall that he should have caught, but he parried in front of him into the path of the oncoming Gravata, who couldn't believe his luck, and he tapped it in from 2 yards out to take the 3 points. They probably were the slightly better team but not by much. Not the best game at all.

After that matchday, that's all the games played in the league for this month and this is how the table stands. Dulwich Hamlet hold a 2 point lead on 41 points over Havant & Waterlooville, but the latter have a game in hand on the leaders. A further 5 points back are Oxford City, with Hampton & Richmond Borough and Dorking Wanderers a further point back. St Albans City sit on 30 after dropping off a little bit, and Weymouth are the last team in those play off places. The 6 teams between 8th in Dover Athletic and 13th in Tonbridge Angels are separated by just 1 point. At the bottom, Billericay Town are on 6 points after 18 games, and already look doomed. They're 12 points from safety. Hungerford Town are second bottom on 10, with Welling United and Salisbury much closer to Chelmsford. The relegation battle looks interesting heading into December and still anything can happen. 

Manager's Thoughts:

We had a good start to this month, and to be fair, had a good month all in all. I can't even blame the players really for dropping off. We had a break of 11 days after our two wins, and although we were in a good run of form, when you don't play for 11 days, your sharpness and your consistency goes off the boil if you have such a long time without playing. The reason for that was Eastbourne calling the original game off against them because they have international players and that game was right in the middle of a top flight international break. I would say we just need more conviction in the final third which we do, we've only scored 21 goals in the league, but we also didn't keep a clean sheet this month. I don't want to go back into that rut we went on for the second half of last season. I think we'll be fine this time as I'm more familiar with the club and the squad is mine as well. Let's just wait and see what Christmas 2023 has in store for this club.