WAFC Red - Comments

Good season so far, hopefully, you will reach the latter stages of the Europa League.

 

Not such a good season for Volos though, minus 65 goal difference!

 

August 2024

 

We are off and running for 2023/24, and have shown some good football early on.

Opening day saw us play host to Upper Annandale at Trammonford Park. My managerial debut could hardly have gone better as we ran out 4-0 winners, with striker Adam Main bagging a hat-trick on his debut.

 

Pleasing stuff, despite having less of the ball we looked a constant threat when we countered. Sadly the same could not be said as we faced Vale of Leithen in the Scottish Cup…

Eastern Superleague side VoL looked much sharper than us in every department, we managed only 37% possession and deserved our exit from the cup. We had been expected to reach the first round proper, however, we have let ourselves down and missed that target.

Shortly after the game, we learned our opponents for the South of Scotland League Cup quarter-final will be Stranraer Reserves.

 Hopefully, we can get past the first hurdle in that competition.

 

I finally managed to confirm the signing of a second goalkeeper, 21 year-old Robbie Minto joins us on loan for the rest of the season from Dalbeattie Star;

He went straight into the line-up for the trip to face our nearest neighbor, Creetown;

A clean sheet on his debut for Minto. A draw wasn't the worst result in the world considering we had just taken a battering from Vale of Leithen. Creetown had the momentum early on and I admit I was worried, my defense did a better job today though, perhaps buoyed by the new goalkeeper. As the game wore on I switched to a more possession-based system, which did the trick in quelling the home side and allowed us to take control of the ball more. Creating several decent chances, though none we could avail ourselves of.

Disappointingly winger Ellis Pearson will be out for about five weeks after suffering a back injury.

 

Finally, we rounded off the month by making the short journey to Kirkcudbright to face St Cuthbert Wanderers, Where we put on a footballing masterclass;

It was a fantastic showing as we dominated from start to finish, midfielder Nathan Naylor was particularly impressive with his two goals, both from a distance. 

This excellent performance earned no fewer than eight of our players a place in the team of the week.

 

So after three games, we sit second in the league, with a game in hand.

 

Next up is more cup action, this time in the Scottish Juniors Cup against Newmains United. We then return to the league at home to Mid-Annandale.

By FMStrawzy 07 October 2024 - 13:08 PM UTC 

Mate this is actually an incredible save, good luck indeed

 

Thanks mate, keep reading!

 

Pre-Season

 

My first month in charge was more about building a squad rather than getting results on the field. I have achieved that objective and assembled a team of twenty-one. Naturally, with my limited catchment area, it has been difficult to find much top-class talent, but I think the squad is strong enough to achieve our objectives this season.

Everyone was either unattached or was poached away from other local clubs for free. We still need a second, and possibly third goalkeeper as I'm not convinced that Lewis Hyslop is going to be my number one.

 

Adam Main will be my ‘main’ man up front, he has represented Workington, Kendal, Gretna, and Penrith so he is very experienced, and can play up front, or in midfield.

I also have high hopes for left-wingback Charlie Birch, who like Main has played for Workington and Penrith, as well as playing for our Dumfries & Galloway neighbours, Annan Athletic. Usefully he can also play further forward.

 

Onto the business of results;

Doesn't get any more middleing than one win, one draw and one loss. But as I said these games were more about helping the entirely new squad gel together and build up fitness.It may take a month or two before things really click into place, but I'm convinced that they will eventually.

 

We open the season at home to Moffet based Upper-Annandale, before a derby game against rivals Creetown at their Castle Carry ground. Sandwiched between those games is a Scottish Cup Preliminary round game away to East of Scotland League side Vale of Leithen.

As I mentioned in the first post, we are entering four cup competitions this season;

Scottish Cup: The main cup in Scotland, which celebrates it's 150th anniversary this year, making it the world's second-oldest knockout competition, after England's FA Cup. It features the 130 members of the SFA. There are two preliminary rounds and a potential further eight rounds after that. The current holders are Celtic, who have won it 41 times.

South Challenge Cup: Open to clubs who are currently playing in the Lowland League, South of Scotland, West of Scotland, and East of Scotland leagues. Currently held by Spartans.

South of Scotland League Cup: Our best chance of silverware this season. A cup competition for the 12 clubs in the South of Scotland League. Currently held by Abbey Vale.

Scottish Juniors Cup: For those who don't know much about Scottish football, ‘Junior’ refers to amateur clubs rather than an age range. There are eight rounds, culminating in a final at Kilmarnock's Rugby Park. The current holders are Crumnock Juniors.

 

Yes, after interviewing for a couple of different jobs, I have opted to start my career with Wigtown & Bladnoch in the South of Scotland League.

Wigtown is in the South-West corner of Dumfries & Galloway, at the mouth of Wigtown Bay on the Solway Firth. Bladnoch is a small village around a mile outside Wigtown itself. The town is famed for being ‘Scotlands Book Town’, with its abundance of book shops and annual literary festival.

 

 The football club plays its home games at Trammonford Park, which has a capacity of around 900.

 

The Reds board expects me to guide the club to a top-half finish within the South of Scotland League this season, something I think is more than achievable. We also take part in no fewer than four cup competitions, so silverware could be a possibility.

 The SoSL consists of twelve teams, all aiming to finish top. Being champions doesn't guarantee promotion here, the winners of the South of Scotland League, West of Scotland League, and the East of Scotland League, all play off for a single promotion berth to the Lowland League. So getting out of tier six won't be easy.

 

Here is my initial squad, as you can see it is entirely populated by newgens. Most of whom were born outside of my Solway area, so I will need to let them go and rebuild. This will be made more difficult by the fact there is no reserve or youth teams, so there is no talent to fall back on there.

 

Wish me luck, I'm going to need it!

 

Post reserved for career summary

 

 

 

Greetings all, hope you are well, and thank you for checking out my career!

 

As the thread title suggests, In this save, I'm going to be attempting the Regionnaire Challenge. 

 

The Aim: To implement a transfer policy of only using players born/raised in a certain geographic region. Much like Bilbao's policy of using only Basque players.

 

My Area: I live in Cumbria, in North-West England, however, I spend a lot of time just across the border in South-West Scotland, so I will be limiting myself to players and clubs either side of the Solway Firth, in either the counties of Cumbria or Dumfries & Galloway.

This is a pretty big catchment in terms of area, however, both counties are largely rural and thus are sparsely populated. Carlisle is the only city in either. (and that is only a small city with a population of around 70,000) This will make finding players of sufficient quality a challenge. 

 

There are only five options club-wise in the vanilla database, so I have downloaded Leo Messi's excellent level 10 English database, as well as a Scottish extension that I have loaded down to tier six to enable the South of Scotland league. These expansions give me the following options;

 

 

 

I won't be limiting myself to one club, I will be able to hop between them, however, I must enforce what I am calling, the Solway development mantra upon whichever side I am managing at the time.

 

I shall be starting off unemployed, with no coaching badges and a Sunday league reputation, we shall see where that gets me!

4th - 10th September 2023

 

Wednesday: 

*Ilkeston Town defeated Guisborough 2-0 in the FA Cup, meaning we will travel to Derbyshire in the second qualifying round. 37-year-old James Perch, a familiar name to Newcastle, Notts Forest, and QPR fans was on the scoresheet for Ilkeston.

*I've been tinkering with my training routines, the club atmosphere is low at the moment, so I've penciled in some team bonding every week for the next month to hopefully brighten everyone's mood a little.

Friday: 

*Two changes for the FC United game tomorrow. Greg McCarragher comes in at right-back as Aidy Roxburgh still has one game left of his three-game ban and I'm not convinced by Adam Walton yet. Preston loanee Kitt Nelson returns to the line-up having been dropped for Liam Short in the previous game. Goalkeeper Jim Atkinson keeps his place between the posts after his good showing at Marske in the cup and the players remain in a 4-4-2 formation.

Saturday: 

A cracker of a game, it's just a shame about the result! 

To be fair, my lads responded well after conceding two goals early on, not letting FCU out of reach, Steven Rigg was on form with a brace, and Scott Allison really should have had two as well, he had a golden opportunity to make it 4-4 late on but fired wide whilst clean through on goal. The late penalty put to bed what had been a spirited effort in the second half. We were never likely to beat the league leaders, but we did put up a good fight so I'm happy. Unfortunately, it doesn't help our league position, still propping up the table.

It also can't be ignored that we have conceded five goals for the second consecutive league match. Whilst changing to 4-4-2 has improved things at the top end of the field, we look just as shaky at the back, something that badly needs remedying before we find ourselves cut adrift in the relegation zone.

Next Week:

*We are back on the FA Cup trail next weekend as we go to Ilkeston's New Manor Ground. The Robins are currently third in the Northern Premier League, whereas we are dead last currently. Can we upset the form book and continue on our cup adventure?

 

28th August - 3rd September 2023

 

Monday: 

*Our monthly staff meeting yields little in the way of workable advice, in terms of backroom staff, there is just myself, coach Jamie Devitt and physio Catilin Gribbon. I would like to hire another coach/assistant manager but everyone I've contacted wants a higher wage than I'm prepared to give.

Tuesday: 

*Weekly injury update from Caitlin; only the one lad on the treatment table currently. Conor Tinnion is between 2 and 4 weeks away from returning from his knee injury.

 

Friday: 

*First of the month, the chairman sends through our financial update;

It's a concern to see us lose nearly £18k in a month, especially as I am operating with skeletal backroom staff, non-contract players, and no scouting.

* I've made a host of changes for tomorrow's game, including a formation switch from 4-3-3 to 4-4-2. Only four players (Steven Rigg, Brad Hubbold, Dav Symington, and Sam Smith) keep their places from the drubbing at Macclesfield. I feel we need to freshen things up as we have simply not created anything going forward which has left the fragile defence badly exposed.

 

Saturday: 

*Much, much better! not just the result, but the overall performance, and creativity were greatly improved. having a second forward helped us in transition, with just Steven Rigg to aim for up front we were constantly losing possession and inviting pressure, however with Scott Allison playing off of him in a poacher role, and Dav Symington overlapping from the left flank we countered much more fluidly. 

*21-year-old James Best made his debut at left-back, the former Penrith man got a solid 6.9 rating on his Reds bow.

*We receive £2.25k for winning in the first qualifying round, which goes some way to negate the loss the club made last month.

Sunday: 

*The draw for the next round of the FA Cup is made, we will travel to either North Yorkshire to face Northern League Division One side Guisborough Town, or Derbyshire to take on Ilkeston Town, who are currently third in the same division as us. Our trip to Whitby town has been moved to accommodate the cup fixture.

 

 

Next Week: 

*We have the visit of FC United of Manchester to Borough Park next Saturday with the two sides bookending the Northern Premier League Table, FCM are top, having beaten Bradford PA, Ashton United, and Matlock, whereas we are bottom of the pile with just the one point so far.

21st - 27th August 2023

 

Tuesday: 

*NPL Division One West team Avro makes a loan offer for midfielder Ciaran Casson. I consider myself to have good football knowledge and it isn't often I haven't heard of a club in England before, but this is one of those occasions. After a quick Google, I discovered they hail from the Oldham area. Every day is a school day! Anyway, I reject the offer as Ciaran is part of my first team and I don't feel he will gain anything by dropping down a division.

* Aidy Roxburgh accepts his fine following his sending-off against Bradford PA last Saturday. There was no point appealing as it was a justified dismissal for an awful challenge.

Thursday: 

* I've had the team working on transitions and chance creation following our limp display last weekend where we managed just a single shot on target.

Friday: 

* Setting things up for the visit to Macclesfield tomorrow; I have one compulsory change as my summer signing Adam Walton comes in to make his Reds debut at right-back, in place of the suspended Roxburgh who's ban has been extended to three games today.

Macc play in a possession-controlling manner and like to try and play out from the back, which in my opinion is always a risk at this level, so I have instructed the players to close down more and changed Steven Rigg to a pressing forward role for this game in the hope of forcing some mistakes in their defence. I'm also instructing left-back Charlie Birch to be more attacking to hopefully add some firepower in the attacking third which was missing against Bradford PA with Connor Tinnion out injured.

*A feeble training performance by keeper Jim Atkinson, a 4.6 rating for the veteran. He hasn't featured in either game yet, I plan on putting him in for the cup game against Marske next week, but he will have to up his game on the training pitch over the next seven days or I'll stick with Danny Eccles.

Jim Atkinson

Saturday: 

* We were expected to lose, however, this was embarrassing; 

Dreadful, from the first minute to the last. We were behind after just 30 seconds, which set the tone for the rest of the game, Macc could have won by even more, being denied by the woodwork several times. John Rooney (Wayne's younger brother) ran the show, scoring once and assisting his teammates twice. I tried several times to stem the tide by making substitutions and changing formations and instructions, but nothing seemed to work as Macclesfield breached our defenses time and again. I can handle losing when we at least have a go, however, this was just lying back and letting them walk the ball around us with minimal effort. I let my displeasure be known in no uncertain terms at full time, not holding back with my criticism. There will be changes as a result of this performance.

We drop to the foot of the NPL with that result. While I don't want to overreact after just three games, I am worried I misjudged the squad that I assessed before the season started to be good enough to avoid a relegation battle based on their performances in the friendlies. I may have a look around for defensive reinforcements as we look very weak.

Sunday: 

* The players, quite rightly agree to refund the 69 supporters who made the 360-mile round trip to Macclesfield. I don't remember ever seeing this on FM before.

*I talked to Adam Walton personally after he rated 5.9 on his debut yesterday. I need him to up his game as Aidy Roxburgh is still suspended for another two matches. He disagrees that he played badly despite being the lowest-rated player. Not a good sign.

 

Next Week: 

* Much improvement is needed as we take a break from league action and embark on what will hopefully be a decent FA Cup run. We take on Marske United for the second time this season when we meet in the first qualifying round. We drew 1-1 last time.

 

14th - 20th August 2023

 

Tuesday: Physio Caitlin Gribbon updates me that Conor Tinnion is out for 4-7 weeks following his knee injury against Marske.

Greg McCarragher and Danny Eccles with the Cumberland County cup the club won last season

 

Thursday: I decided early that Greg McCarragher will be the man to step in for Tinners this weekend against Bradford Park Avenue, Carra is slightly more creative than the other options I possess in Brad Hubbold or Bobby Carroll, and thus is more of a like-for-like replacement for the captain.

Friday: Liam Short has done well in training this week, the winger who signed for us from Gretna in pre-season, achieved a 7.75 rating. I am sticking with Kit Nelson in my first XI tomorrow after his good performance against Marske last weekend, though I will try to give him an opportunity from the bench.

Saturday: A disappointing showing at home to Bradford PA. After a decent performance last week, I was hoping we could follow up with another strong showing, not to be however as the visitors completely dominated us throughout. They scored by some very slack defending at a corner, Charlie Birch only half cleared the cross, returning the ball to the taker, Will Longbottom who cut inside, bearing down on goal. Keeper Danny Eccles should have done far better as Longbottom's tame-looking shot squirmed past him at his near post. 

I gave the team a talking-to at half-time, we were creating nothing and hardly got out of our half of the field. Unfortunately, things worsened almost immediately after the restart as full-back Aidy Roxburgh was sent off for a dangerous tackle. Forced into a tactical shift by the dismissal, I brought on Finn Wallbank and switched to 5-3-1. Target man Steven Rigg tried his best, but he was just too isolated up top to stand a chance of turning the game around. Eccles did well to keep the score down with some good saves to make up for his mistake earlier. But it was a weak performance all around.

Sunday: The league table doesn't mean an awful lot a this point, but here it is anyway. The point we picked up in the draw with Marske prevents a slip into the relegation zone. Just to remind you, dear reader, our expectations are to avoid relegation this season.

Speaking of Marske, we have been drawn to face them in the FA Cup first qualifying round next month.

Next Week: A tough one next Saturday as we travel to Macclesfield, who are amongst the favorites for promotion. 

7th - 13th August 2023

 

Thursday: Approaching the game against Marske on Saturday I have been considering my first competitive team selection. Bearing in mind the player's performances in pre-season, I have opted for this line-up.

I think we have a good chance of winning, so I have four players on attack duty, I want Steven Rigg to hold up the ball and underlap with Dav Symington who will be cutting in from the left. Kitt Nelson will act more like a traditional winger and provide width. Connor Tinnion will make runs from deep to support the attack and perhaps overlap with Rigg, whilst Brad Hubbold and Bobby Carroll stay deeper and hold. 

Friday: In my pre-match press conference I'm drawn into tipping tomorrow's opponents as my favorite for relegation. Hopefully, that won't come back to haunt me.

Brad Hubbold again comes under scrutiny for his weak training performance this week. I'm a little disappointed he hasn't upped his game.

 

Saturday: 

We got off to a great start in the NPL, going ahead after just two minutes, Steven Rigg latching onto Kitt Nelson's low cross to score. We continued to threaten and created some good chances, but a serious injury to captain Connor Tinnion affected our flow. Tinners was carried off with damaged knee cartilage shortly before the halftime break, which will rule him out for 6-7 weeks. Certainly not the start to the season he would have hoped for.

The home side did improve in the second half and got their reward in the 51st minute when Jordan Little was adjudged to have pushed Francisco Javier Cabello in the penalty area. Cabello got straight up to convert the resultant penalty. The game fizzled out somewhat after that with limited chances.

Marske manager Didier Agathe wasn't impressed by me picking them for relegation in my presser yesterday, the former Celtic player thinks that we in fact will be going down. 

 

Next Week: I manage at Borough Park for the first time as we welcome Bradford Park Avenue to West Cumbria. 

31st July - 6th August 2023

 

Monday: I confirm Connor Tinnion will remain club captain. Tinners has made over 330 appearances for the Reds, having joined in 2010 from Carlisle. Brad Hubbold is his vice-captain.

 

Tuesday: My coach Jamie Devitt, reports that our mentoring program has positively affected Camron Gbadebo, Ceiran Casson, and Lewis Moore. Good to hear as we look to build for the future.

 

Wednesday: Not Workington related, but our divisional rivals Bamber Bridge and Hyde have both appointed new managers. Bamber Bridge has made former Newcastle and Norwich South African international Matty Pattison their new head coach. Hyde has swooped to appoint Dave Currie, who was head of youth development at Guiseley previously.

 

Friday: Pre-season concludes tomorrow as we head up to Dumfries and Galloway to take on Dalbeattie Star who are in the South of Scotland League. We're expected to win, so I've increased attacking duties in my usual 4-3-3, Charlie Birch will push forward more from left back and Tinners will be asked to drive through the middle when space allows.

 

Friday: We ended pre-season with a win, though I have to say this was the least convincing of all our friendly performances. the Scots gave us a tough game. It looked as if the game was won when Liam Short fired in for the second game running. However, Star refused to go down without a fight and if not for several good saves by rookie goalkeeper Declyn Duggan, who was making his debut after coming on at halftime, would have salvaged a draw.

 

Here is a quick recap of how we have done in pre-season;

 

I'm very happy, we only lost to superior opposition, both Bolton and Carlisle are in League One, and we gave them both a run for their money.

Here is a look at how my squad performed during the warm-up, I have tried to give everyone 45 minutes in each game to build match sharpness.

Name	Position	Games Played	Goals	Assists	Average Rating
Danny Eccles	GK	7	0	0	6.84
Jim Atkinson	GK	6	0	0	7.08
Declyn Duggan	GK	1	0	0	7.00
Aiden Roxburgh	RB	7	0	0	6.71
Adam Walton	RB	6	0	0	6.82
James Best	LB	3	0	0	6.73
Charlie Birch	LB	6	0	1	7.00
Camron Gbadebo	CB	7	0	0	6.74
Sam Smith	CB	7	0	0	6.81
Finlay Wallbank	CB	7	0	0	6.87
Jordan Little	CB	7	1	0	6.89
Bobby Carroll	DM	7	2	0	6.89
Lewis Moore	DM	5	0	0	6.70
Ceiran Casson	CM	6	1	1	6.98
Brad Hubbold	CM	7	2	1	7.03
Connor Tinnion	CM	7	1	2	7.24
Greg McCarragher	RB / CM	7	0	1	6.87
Kitt Nelson	RW	7	2	2	7.04
Liam Short	RW	4	2	0	6.97
Lewis Reilly	IF / LW	7	1	1	7.00
David Symington	IW / LW	7	1	3	7.07
Steven Rigg	ST	7	3	2	7.11
Scott Allison	ST	7	1	1	6.70

 

Sunday: The club announced it has sold 220 season tickets for the new campaign.

 

Next Week: 2023/24 finally gets underway as we travel to the Yorkshire coast to face Marske United on Saturday. After an impressive pre-season, I'm excited to get started in earnest, I think we have a good chance of leaving Marske-by-the-Sea with all three points and beginning my reign at Borough Park with a win.

So, on the eve of the new season, here is a quick reminder of what is expected of us;

24th - 30th July 2023

 

Wednesday: I complete the signing of 19 year old former Preston keeper, Declyn Duggan. Duggie didn't make the grade at Deepdale and spent last season with our fellow Cumbrians, Penrith. He will play in the reserves initially and provide cover for Jim Atkinson and Danny Eccles. I like having the three keepers in the squad just in case of injury. I think that will be my final piece of transfer business before the season starts.

 

 

Thursday: It hasn't been an impressive week on the training pitch, the highest rating anyone achieved was 6.8, I had to have a word with Brad Hubbold about his performance, getting a meager 5.4. 

 

 

Friday: No concerns ahead of tomorrow's game against Kendal, I toy with the idea of testing out Duggan in goal but in the end decide to keep Jim and Danny as I want them as match-sharp as possible before we start the campaign in earnest.

 

With no assistant manager or scouts in order to keep our financial outgoings to an absolute minimum, the monthly recruitment meeting, is just me talking to myself in my office.

 

Saturday: An easy victory over Kendal, It took just 40 seconds to get on the scoreboard, Dav Symington scoring his first goal of the pre-season campaign. Big Steven Rigg headed in a second not long after. Brad Hubbold must have taken on board my criticism of his training performance as he smashed in his second friendly goal. Kendal did have a brief spell of looking threatening early in the second half, pulling a goal back, however, loanee winger Liam Short restored our three-goal cushion on the hour, after that, there was never any doubt as to the result.

 

Sunday: Four of the six favorites to win the Northern Premier League Player of the Season award are loanees! Including our own Kitt Nelson who is on loan to us from Preston. The winger got two assists in the Kendal game yesterday.

 

Next Week: Pre-season wraps up with a hop across the Solway Firth into Dumfries & Galloway to take on Dalbeattie Star. This is the player's last chance to impress me before we begin the league season away at Marske United a week on Saturday. 

17th - 23rd July 2023

 

Monday: I've invited two local youngsters on board, 20-year-old Lewis Rooks is a dynamic attacking midfielder who came through Carlisle's academy before joining Crook Town in County Durham. James Best is a left-back who plays for our Cumbrian neighbors Penrith on a non-contract basis, so I can lure him away for free.

Tuesday: Getting ready for tomorrow's visit of FC Isle of Man. I intend to be more expansive than we were against Carlisle as we are favourites. I'll be telling Dav Symington to cut in and run at the defenders from his left-wing position, hopefully creating space for Steven Rigg up front.

 

Wednesday: Another morale-boosting victory, 2-0 against our island-dwelling opposition who make the 36-mile journey across the Irish Sea to visit us.

The first goal was route one at its finest, goalkeeper Danny Eccles taking a long goal-kick that was perfectly onto the head of target man Steven Rigg who nodded it into the path of the overlapping Connor Tinnion who burst through the middle to score one-on-one. The second was an absolute stunner from thirty yards or more by Lewis Reilly, who naturally is a forward, however I've been utilizing him as an inside forward out wide so far.

 

Thursday: We complete the free signings of James Best and Lewis Rooks, adding some depth to my squad. Both are on a non-contract basis

There is a minor injury to midfielder Greg McCaragher, he hurt himself sprinting during training. Thankfully he should only be out for a day or two and should be available for the game against Bolton on Sunday.

 

Friday: Training is focused on defending as we gear up for the visit of Bolton on Sunday. Obviously, the League One side are heavy favorites, but I intend to give them a challenge.

 

Sunday: The wobbly Workington headline seems very harsh, we gave the Trotters a fight, naturally they had most of the ball, but we still had a few good chances and scored what I fought was a perfectly good second goal when Camron Gbadebo headed in from a corner with ten minutes to go, it was however ruled out. Goalie Jim Atkinson was in fine form between the posts, pulling off a string of top-class saves.

 

Next Week: We welcome our Cumbrian neighbors to the South, Kendal Town to Borough Park for our penultimate pre-season game. The last time our clubs met it was a 5-0 rout to Workington in the Northern League Division One back in 2019. I would love to repeat that feat against the Mintcakes this week!

10th - 16th July 2023

 

Monday: Mostly spent setting up mentoring groups to aid the development of the youngsters I signed last week.

 

Tuesday: I make an offer to James Ford to come in, in a dual role as our head of youth development and first-team coach. Unfortunately, he wanted a lot more than I was prepared to offer in terms of wages and he winds up signing with Halesowen Town instead.

 

Wednesday: Getting ready for tomorrow's visit of Carlisle United, we are expected to lose, so I've changed Connor Tinnion to a support role in central midfield rather than his usual attacking one, I've also changed Dav Symington to a more conventional winger role instead of cutting inside, to keep some width on the left and aid with getting balls into big Steven Rigg up front.

 

Thursday: 

 

A fair showing against a League One Carlisle, we did lose but we certainly weren't embarrassed by the blues, the narrow 1-0 defeat was probably a fair result to the visitors, though we did have some good chances despite only having a third of the possession. 

 

Friday: I praise Finn Wallbank for his performance in training this week, he achieved an 8.1 rating. Finn will be a big player for me in central defense this season.

Saturday: We complete the loan signing of 19-year-old winger Liam Short from Gretna 2008. He will start as a rotation option for Dav Symington and Kitt Nelson, but the opportunity is there for him to establish himself for a starting role if he plays well.

Sunday: We weren't scheduled to play again until next Sunday when we host Bolton Wanderers at Borough Park, I arranged an extra friendly against Isle of Man FC, to take place on Wednesday to help build match fitness before that game. Here are our remaining pre-season fixtures;

Next Week: Pre-season ramps up with us going to a two-game per week schedule as we play host NW Counties League side FC Isle of Man and League One Bolton. I will also be scouting for another winger and perhaps a backup left back to flesh out the squad. That would give me two players for every position.

Is it possible to have the text box remember what you type if you leave the page? I keep accidentally hovering over the menus on the top and side of the site and sometimes accidentally hit their pop-ups while scrolling on my laptop's trackpad. This caused me to lose everything I had written in the input box. I very nearly gave up writing. I know many other forums save what you have written as a draft in the text box, so even if you navigate away from the page, you can go back to it.

3rd - 9th July 2023

 

Monday: My first day on the job! I spend most of the day assessing the squad I have available and deciding which areas of the team will be key priorities regarding transfers. I also begin to set things up tactically, as I mentioned in the previous post, the players know what they are doing on the pitch, so I will largely sit back and let them, making minor tweaks here and there if the need arises. I also work on training and set-piece routines, we have some dangerous aerial threats in the team, and it would be foolish not to try and take full advantage of them.

 

Tuesday: I meet my players for the first time during a team meeting, I outline what I expect from them this season, which is to stay clear of a relegation battle. Their response to this target is a positive one.

After meeting with the squad, it's off to speak to the local media for the first time, I say that I'm delighted to have been trusted to lead my local club and I firmly believe that there is potential here to return to the football league after nearly forty years within the next decade if everyone at the club pulls together.

Finally today, it's onto the team coach for the short seven-mile trip down the Cumbrian coast to Whitehaven for my first experience of football management. Considering I had only 24 hours to plan for this game, things went very well, we ran off 4-0 winners. Full details are in the post above.

 

Wednesday: 

After identifying the fullback positions as our biggest weaknesses right now, I have invited two local lads to join the team;

Adam Walton - 20-year-old Adamcan play either right-back or in midfield, it's always handy to have versatile players. A Cumbrian lad, he came through the academy at Carlisle before being allowed to join Kendal Town.

Charlie Birch - Another local lad, 21-year-old left-back Charlie, is no stranger to Borough Park, having made 22 appearances here last season as the club won promotion to the Northern Premier League. He also has experience playing North of the border with Annan in League Two. He left Workington to pursue a football scholarship In South Carolina. Now that he's back in the fold, I believe he will become a key part of the team.

 

Thursday: I have made a loan offer for Queen of the South winger Harvey Walker,  the Doonhamers aren't asking for any wage contribution and just want him to gain experience, so this could be a real win-win for both clubs. 

I've also submitted a loan approach for another player who is plying his trade in Dumfries & Galloway; Liam Short is a right winger for Gretna 2008. He also is available on loan for nothing and would provide a useful backup for Dav Symington on the flank.

 

Friday: Disappointingly, Harvey Walker has rejected our loan offer, it's back to the drawing board for me in the search for a left winger.

I begin tactical preparations for Sunday's trip to Carlisle City.

 

Saturday: Just one change to my starting XI from Tuesday's game at Whitehaven, Charlie Birch goes straight into the line-up for the Carlisle City game.

 

Sunday:

 We have a pretty straightforward time of it against Northern League Division One side Carlisle City (Tier 9) 

Bobby Carroll opened the scoring for the second game running from just outside the box. Versatile target man Steven Rigg netted a brace. He will be an important player for me as he can play up front, central midfield, or even as a central defender if needed!

We had plenty of shots on goal, despite having less of the ball. We were playing quite direct which ceded possession on occasion, so perhaps I will work on my game management and telling my team to bring it down to ground level when we have a comfortable lead to try and avoid inviting unnecessary opposition pressure.

Charlie Birch made a solid start on his return to the club, getting a 7.5 rating as a supporting wingback. Adam Walton also pulled on the red shirt for the first time as he came on as one of my slew of half-time substitutions, he achieved a solid 6.9. 

 

Next Week:

 

Following the game, I began preparing for the next fixture against the other side in Carlisle.

Alongside Barrow, Carlisle United is one of the two professional clubs in Cumbria. United is our affiliate club and plays us in an annual friendly at Borough Park, which is a nice money spinner for us. It will be good to see how my players cope facing a League One side. To prepare I have set up my training schedule to focus on defense.

 

 

@Mak Jenkins @Joe Parkinson - Thanks guys, I'm near Cockermouth rather than Workington, but I've been going to Reds games regularly since moving to Cumbria last year. Thanks for commenting and keep reading!

Apologies for the delay in getting going here, I've had a hectic week or so. I'm now ready to begin this save properly though.

 

 

Tuesday 4th July 2023

Friendly

Whitehaven Amateurs 

There wasn't much preparation time for me to work with my squad ahead of this one, coming just 24 hours after I was appointed Reds manager. Given those circumstances, I don't think things could have gone much better as we made the fifteen-minute drive South, down the Cumbrian coast to Whitehaven. 

Tactically I kept things nice and simple, which is always a good idea at this sort of level, highly technical and complicated instructions don't tend to work very well in non-league football.

I'm pretty pleased with the squad I've inherited, the core of it at least. We are well-stocked in the central positions and the midfielders share good chemistry. I am in the market for a new left-back and cover for the wingers, though I've not had enough time to sort anything out yet.

 

My team played well and created chances in a manner befitting of a side four tiers above the opposition;

Three of our four goals came from outside the penalty area and were all scored by midfielders. Bobby Carroll, Brad Hubbold, and  Cieran Casson all fired home from a distance. Winger Kitt Nelson also netted, albeit from a closer distance.

Next up, we take on Northern League Division One side Carlisle City at home. I will probably ease one of the attacking players into a support role to maintain balance against the improvement In opposition quality.

 

 

Hello all, and welcome to my new career as manager of my local side, Workington Reds; and my attempt to bring glory to West Cumbria!
​

Formed in 1921, the Reds were part of the Football League for 22 years between 1955 and 1977. My eventual aim will be to return them to the EFL and become the third Cumbrian club to occupy a place in the top four leagues, alongside Carlisle United and Barrow.

2022/23 saw the club gain promotion from Northern League Division One via the play-off's, so my short term aim will be to keep us in the NPL and build upwards from there.

​

Club Info

 

 

Full name	Workington Association Football Club
Nickname(s)	The Reds
Founded	1921; 103 years ago
Ground	Borough Park, Workington
Capacity	3,101 (500 seated)
League	Northern Premier League - Premier Division
2022/23	3rd - Northern Premier League - West Division (Promoted via play-off's)
Kits

 

 - We will be competing in four competitions this season. I'm not bothered about the Northern League cup and will use that to give my fringe players a game, but certainly a run in the FA Cup and/or FA Trophy would be great, the prize money would be useful too.

 

Board Objectives

 - Nothing specific from the board for this season, just to try and keep the team up and do as well as we can in the cups.

 

Initial Squad

 - Pretty good basis to work with here, some good players who should be solid at this level, with the amount of central midfielders I have, I'm thinking 4-3-3 could be a sensible option to begin with, possibly a diamond shape when I want to really shut things down in the middle. We shall see how pre-season goes. I will be looking to bring in a few reinforcements to add a bit of depth, probably on loan to save money, but I won't be making wholesale changes right off the bat.

 

Manager Profile

 - Finally, here's me! Sunday league rep and no badges.

 

 

Hi all, firstly, thank you for taking the time to read my career!

As mentioned in the first post, I have assumed the identity of Walsall legend Jimmy Walker for this save. I have used the in game editor to set his data as close to real life as possible, using his attributes and relationships from FM23 (He doesn't appear in the 24 database as he is currently managing in the WSL with West Ham)

 

Walsall is an old club, having been formed in 1888, but they have mostly played the part of supporting cast in the history of the EFL, they have never reached the top flight and until 2015 they had never even played a game at the national stadium, with their 2001 Division Two play-off win coming at Wales's Millennium stadium whilst Wembley was being re-built.

Since relegation from Division One/Championship in 2004, the club have suffered a gradual decline and have spent the past five seasons in League Two, flirting with relegation from the EFL on a couple of occasions. My goal is to arrest and reverse this decline and climb back up the ladder. With limited resources and not exactly being a fashionable the sort of club that attracts top players, that could be challenging, so I have devised my own road map for the next decade.

Obviously, playing in the top flight is the ultimate goal, but that is so far off it isn't worth thinking about yet. I would rather focus on the shorter term and begin putting together the building blocks for my ambitions.

 

The club has a good record of producing talented youngsters, Rico Henry, Will Grigg, Troy Deeney, Jamie Patterson and Matty Fryatt have all come through the club's academy. I will be looking to continue that tradition of youth development.

 

So now you know my aims for the club, let's now meet the cast I will be directing in what I hope will be a successful tenure at the Bescot, the players.

 

Can you do this alternate Coalville Town logo please?

Apparently the Ross McCormack deal will be done by the end of the day.

Reckon you have a chance at the title?

5'11

Pfft, try 239. My BMI always comes back as morbidly obese, but to be honest I don't look fat even though I'm not particuarly toned, my resting heart rate is always around 50-60 which is close to what a professional athlete might expect so I'm a bit confused really.

Quite strange to think if I was a boxer I would be a super heavyweight.

Not long left now, and we look almost home and dry as far as automatic promotion is concerned after another unbeaten month, elven points clear of Middlesbrough in third. In our current form it seems a matter of if not when we secure our place in next seasons Premier League.

Maximum points from our five league games is an excellent return, we are in fact unbeaten in sixteen games now.

The real excitement now is the FA cup, although we should have dispatched of League Two Cambridge sooner after having to go all the way to extra time in a replay, still we have made it through to the last eight where we head to Selhurst Park to take on Crystal Palace. Palace will be tough but we certainly have a decent chance of reaching the semi finals at Wembley.

You can feel the electricity in the air around Villa Park at the moment with a seemingly impending promotion and possibly a trip to the national stadium in the cup. Could we buck the odds and do a double?

Yes it was a relief given our bad run of form!


Thank you.



With the recent takeover I allowed myself to break open the piggy bank I filled in the summer with £30M+ due to my heavy re-development of the squad, I think you will agree that with the new additions we now have a squad that should definitely be back in the Premier League next season;

Danny Ings - With Jordan Ayew gone off the boil having not scored since the 4-4 draw with Derby on the first of November I needed a forward who can constantly find the net. Danny is certainly that having scored 20 times the last time he played at this level for Burnley. His move to Liverpool didn't work out for him, making just nine appearances in his two seasons with the Anfield club and scoring just once. Danny has the potential to be a great acquisition for us even though he set us back a not to be sniffed at £7M.
Asmir Begovic - Jed Steer has been ok for us in the first half of the season, however I do not believe he is of a sufficient standard to be a first choice Premier League keeper, and of course building a side capable of winning games in the top flight is what I am trying to do here. Asmir is definitely a top quality keeper as he proved with Stoke. Like Danny Ings his step up to a top four side didn't go well for him as he made just a sole league appearance for Chelsea and will be looking to rebuild his career with us as we splashed out another £7M.
Zach Clough - I had been looking for a player who could rotate with Carles Gil in the advanced play-maker role, admittedly Zach was not my first choice, I initially moved for Derby's Will Hughes but was unable to agree a reasonable price with the Rams who were asking a frankly ridiculous £20M. This shouldn't suggest I'm not happy with my £6M acquisition of Zach from Bolton who I believe has a bright future in the game.
Andre Wisdom - Liverpool youngster who has made a handful of appearances for the Reds first team but has never managed to establish himself. Andre spent last season on loan at Norwich, making 33 appearances for the Canaries but hasn't played at all in the league since his return to Anfield. At just £2M I though Andre was a worth a punt as he can play as either fullback or centre-back with gives me some flexibility among the back line. I terminated the loan of Michael Hector after this signing which proved to be a bad decision as Andre almost immediately got injured for several months with a hernia.

I rejected an offer from Roma for left-back Jordan Amavi, Jordan wasn't happy about this and requested a transfer after trying to rally the dressing room to his side, I was able to contain a possibly troublesome situation by agreeing to let him go if Roma came back with an improved offer, however they failed to do so.
Target man Libor Kozak has gone to Sunderland for a cut price £165K, the Czech hasn't played a single minute in any competition for us this season, it made sense to let him go, even if it wasn't for his full value.

So after all that, here is what I consider my strongest first eleven at the moment;


Others who have played this season : Mark Bunn (GK), Leandro Bacuna (RB &/or CM), Andre Green (RW), Chuba Akpom (ST), Rushian Hepburn-Murphey (ST)

So, has the £23M spent been worth it?


It would seem so! An unbeaten January has seen us move seven points clear in the automatic promotion places, although Blackburn have stolen a march on us and gone top of the table, we do have a game in hand over Paul Lambert's side and can reclaim the top spot in February.

We are also still going strong in the FA cup after overcoming Brentford 4-0, we will play League Two Cambridge United in the fifth round if we can overcome Middlesbrough at the Riverside in a replay following our 0-0 draw at Villa Park. Cambridge knocked out our Championship counterparts Burnley to reach this stage, but I still fancy our chances of getting past the U's and into the quarter finals, if we can get a favourable draw in the last eight then we could well be off to Wembley for the semis, and then who knows, maybe the final itself! What an amazing first season that would be. Still, one step at a time, we still have to overcome Boro first.

Seven points from a possible nine has earned me a fourth manager of the month award;

Christmas has come and gone in the blink of an eye as per usual, however Villa fans will be feeling much more optimistic heading into the new year than they will have done at the beginning of the month;

An injury time Tomer Hemed goal say our unbeaten home record vanish against Brighton before another limp performance away at Forest made it six games without a win, and even more concerning, just two goals in five games, thankfully Blackburn were also faltering as they failed to register a win in five games which set us up nicely for a crunch top of the table clash. Mike Williamson gave us the dream start as the big defender headed in after just five minutes, Jordan Rhodes levelled fifteen minutes later to balance the game, however a red card to Rovers midfielder Danny Holla swung the pendulum back in our favour. We were unable to make the man advantage pay until the final ten minutes of the game as Rovers became tired, Scott Sinclair broke through their defence to jab the ball under the keeper before an Adama Traore brace sealed the result, the scoreline flattered us but I didn't care one bit as our bad run came to an end and we returned to the top of the table.

That result spurred us into life as we beat Burnley 4-3 in a thrilling game before a home win over Charlton to send us into 2017 top of the pile;


As I said earlier, the future looks a lot brighter in 2017 thanks to a sudden change in fortunes on the pitch, coupled with the recent takeover which will allow me to spend some of the £30M+ I received in player sales last summer to strengthen my squad and ensure we return to the top flight where we belong at the first time of asking.

Aston Villa is today delighted to confirm the successful takeover bid of Saudi billionaire Mansoor Al-Balawi. (pictured) The 52 year old is considered to be one of the richest people in Saudi Arabia, making his money with numerous real estate ventures, he has also previously owned Saudi side Ittihad FC, winning the Saudi Premiership and the Asian Champions Cup twice.

At this stage it remains unclear as to the extend Al-Balawi intends to invest in Villa, however it is understood he is not looking to replace current manager Olof Mellberg as the club looks to return to the Premiership.