NCJesster - Comments

If the manager takes a new job while working on a coaching course, do they continue it or do they have to start over?

Min-Month Updates

 

Coach Course: The board has agreed to fund my first coaching badge. I was really nervous asking since we are in the midst of the promotion play-offs, but luckily they have agreed to do it.

 

Financial Status: We are in an okay position, but only have about $22,000 and I know we are going to need more to compete at the next level. So, on top of the football, this is a major concern for me.

Scouting Concerns: Right now, we have the scouting package to allow us to scout players in our league, the Cypriot Lower League. Sadly, the talent pool there is lacking, at best. I have been toying with the idea of increasing our scouting range, but the doubling on the monthly charge is something I just cant do right now. I am not sure if that will follow us if we get promoted. But right now, I am not sure about that added expense.

Additional note about the team performance: I would love to take credit for how well the team has been doing, but they were in 2nd place with only 4 games left in the regular season and on a 10-game unbeaten streak when I took the reins. So, in all honesty, I have not really done anything to help the team. I am just hoping to use it as a spring-board to a more lucrative offer somewhere.

One thing that is a change for me is not having the editor turned on. I didnt realize that I had gotten so used to the other information that we have access to. Im not concerned about changing any ratings or anything, just less info available.

 

I also had forgotten about what a challenge scouting is at these lowest levels with amateur-level staff. 

 

While I love winning (I mean, who doesnt!) I am concerned about us getting promoted. I havent really looked at the higher league so I am not sure what it looks like, as far as team quality. But being an amateur team against semi-professional ones is interesting for sure.

 

One thing that happened is that I put my favorite team as Bath City, which is really my favorite team. Well the manager got the sack and I was offered an interview. That is one thing I dont like about FM, getting interviews for positions that I am definitely not qualified for. But this one, I actually tried, but I didnt get the job. 

I think this amateur one is more realistic, a Sunday-league player with no coaching experience, yea, I needed to start at the bottom.

End of Regular Season - February

 

Games

With only 3 games I didnt have much more time to see how the team would play before the playoffs. But, surprisingly things went really well.

Elpida (H): W, 2-1. The game was not as close as the score indicated. 16-year old Nikos Chatzikonstani playing in the midfield is a real gem. He, not only pulls the strings on the pitch, but he also can seemingly score at will. He started out the scoring in the 14th minute. Striker Ryan Williams added to the tally in the 21st minute. Even though we had multiple shots on target and seemed to hit every piece of woodwork there is, we never were able to find the back of the net again. Elpida were able to pull one back in the 80th and I felt myself becoming more apprehensive with each highlight that they had the ball in. But we were able to hold them off and enjoyed the victory.

Thoi (A): W, 3-2. This is one I actually had us down to lose, or at best get a draw. I changed the tactic to be much more defensive and to rely on the counter-attack instead of focusing on our traditional possession game. It paid off as 22-year old midfielder Giannis Papadopoulos started off the scoring in the 3rd minute. I was really pleased with how we were able to withstand their onslaught. But they were able to break through our defense in the 36th minute to draw the game level going into the half. The second half was just back and forth with both sides almost finding the net, but luck seemed to have abandoned both sides. Then another 16-year old, Giorgos Charalabous, playing as our striker was able to find a crack in their defense in the 70th minute. But the 2-1 lead only lasted 7 minutes as Thoi were able to fire the ball into the net after a harsh tackle in the box sent Andreas Makris to the spot. With the 2-2 game starting to wind down, Charalabous once again was able to beat the defense and find the back of the net in the 82nd minute. I still cant believe we won this one. It was really a back and forth game and I would have been pleased with the draw, so the victory was a nice surprise.

Frenaros (H): W, 4-1. This game was never really in doubt. Charalabous scored a hat-trick (4,9, 54 minutes) and the other 16-year old Chatziknstanti scored the 4th in the 36th minute. We gave the vistors a concellation score in the 85th minute. The team is playing really well and I am pleased with how we handled these 3 games.

 

We now are entering the playoffs. The top 3 teams after this 14-game “2nd season” will be promoted. I am not going to think we can take the top spot, but I do feel we can get into one of those promotion spots.

Roster

Goalie: I was able to find one, well, the best of those available. I still am not pleased with him, but he is holding his own. This is still my top target.

The rest of the squad: I am bringing in everyone I can to go on trial with us so I can hopefully find some diamonds in the rough, so to speak. I am adding players to the roster (I have signed 9 players) but with us being an Amateur side I have some flexibility in who I bring in.

 

Plans Going Forward

My plans are to continue to bring in players and look for who I can find. Also, to finish the season strong and win promotion.

We are on a 12-game non-losing streak and even though those look nice, it seems to add even more pressure to win since no one wants to have that loss that costs us the streak. I know it will happen, but I still like seeing all of those victories.

Overall Organization Review

The organization is an amateur organization. There are U-21 and U-19 developmental squads.

 

Coaching Staff - Since it is an Amateur organization, none of the staff have a salary. I have hired the following staff:

• Coach
• Goalkeeping Coach
• General Manager
• Scout
• Physio
• U-19 Assistant Coach

 

Team Analysis - there is a mix of positions represented in the squad so I will be using a control-possession 4-2-3-1.

• Strikers - Solid 1st choice but then there is a drop-off. I will be digging into the players on amateur contracts
• AMR/AMC/AML - Right wing looks solid with good depth. There is also some good options in the center. But AML is very weak.
• MC - Mid-level talent here so will be another focus as we move forward
• Fullbacks - Right is good, left not so well. So another need
• Centerbacks - A great one, a weak one. So another targeted need.
• Goalie - Actually none on the senior squad. So this is obviously my biggest need.

 

Season So Far - End of January

When I took over Elia Lythrodonta was in 2nd place. There were only 4 games left in the season and league-leading Thoi had a solid 9-point lead. 

 

The first game of my career was an away match against Adonis Id. Elia started the match strongly and recorded 16 shots and maintained a 65% possession rate. We left Adonis as the 1-0 winners with AMC Nikos Chatzikonstani scoring on a screamer from 21 yards out in the 2nd minute. I would have preferred more goals, but starting out with a win is always a good thing.

 

There are only 3 games left in the regular season, Home against Elpida (3rd), a much-anticipated match at Thoi (1st) and finishing up with another home match against Frenaros (8th). We currently have a 3-point lead over Elpida. 

 

At the end of the regular season, the top 8 teams enter a playoff scenario. This lasts until 25 May. The top 3 teams will be promoted to the Triti Katigoria.

Focused Items

• Sign a first-team goalie
• Upgrade the Central Defenders
• Upgrade at AML

 

 

 

And here it is, the signed, sealed, and delivered contract. The team reports and updates will be coming up. But as an Amateur team, lots of options for sure.
 

This was followed up with the much anticipated interview offer….

After waiting until 1 January 2024, I expressed interest in a job in Cyprus and this was the reaction:

As I start the game, I have one additional “unwritten rule” that I will not apply for any jobs until after 1 January. So now it is just a waiting game. 

I guess this is not drawing any attention. I am going to keep the save file, but will look to start another save. If anyone is interested, I will start running this one again.

Thanks

1 Oct 2022

As I was working on this, I decided to do it as monthly updates. I am going to provide a short summary of the matches and where we are, along with my thoughts about what is coming next.

 

MATCHES

27 Aug 2022

BFD (9th) vs Meta (10th). Home, attendance: 358.
Luckily my 1st match as manager was against the only team lower in the table than us. In the league the bottom 2 teams have a relegation playoff with the loser being relegated. I had promised to not be involved in that playoff, which gave me a little more money to try to strengthen the squad. To avoid the playoff I just need to finish 8th in the table. To be honest, the side played well from the start and we won 3-1. The striker we have on loan, Lizounovs from RFS, scored a brace with the left winger, Yanki, scoring the other for the home side. I decided to stick with the 4-2-3-1 despite the insistence of the Assistant Manager that we play a 5-3-3.

So with my 1st match, we moved into 8th place by 2 points with a match in hand. But it lasted less than one day because the other team that I am fighting for the 8th spot, Super Nova, won their match, so we dropped back into 9th.

 

5 Sep 2022

BFD (9th) vs Auda (5th) Away

This match had me worried. I knew that if we didnt win it, or at least get a draw, I was going to have troubles with the locker room. Somehow, we came away with a 1-1 draw. The formation didnt perform as well as I had hoped. Even though I was switching between Positive and Balanced, we seemed to be just sitting back and absorbing what they threw at us. I was pleased to come out with a draw to be fair. Our lone goal was scored by Yanki, a penalty kick. 

 

We are in 8th by 2 points. But I was worried to see the results from Super Nova's match the next day. I was beyond happy when I saw they had also drawn. We were safely up with a game in hand and a 2 point margin.

10 Sep 2022
BFD (8th) vs Tukums (7th), Home, Attendance: 318.

I felt we could win this game. I kept the formation, moved a few players from the bench to the starting 11, gave the pep talk which had no impact at all and watched them take the pitch. Once again, we were able to get a win, 2-1. Our goals came from Yanki (I am quickly finding out how much of an asset he is) and Bezarashvills. He is our only striker on the bench. A Latvian youngster. I was really pleased how well they played. I am struggling to have an impact on them with the team talks, but at least they are winning. 

We finally got on even matches with Super Nova and this victory gave us a 5 point margin. The next 2 matches are not going to do us any favors. We will take on the top 2 teams within 3 days of each other. Super Nova played another match during the interval and somehow won, cutting or margin back to 2.

17 Sep 2022
BFD (8th) vs RFS (1st), Home, Attendance: 268.
We kept the 4-2-3-1, but I listened to the Asst Manager and went with a defensive mentality. I agreed that it was the only way we stood a chance. But nothing really went our way during this match. The only thing I can be happy about is we didnt lose by any more than we did. The match ended with a 0-2 loss. It was made even worse by DC Ivanovs scoring an OG. It was their only score of the 1st half. But at least we were able to keep it close to not hurt our goal difference with Super Nova (if it comes down to that). One other thing I found out, my starting striker was not allowed to play. He is on loan from RFS and is not allowed to play against his parent club. Yea, I didnt find out until match day about that nugget of information.

I would have liked to have gotten the victory to open up a bigger lead, but it wasnt in the cards. Luckily though, Super Nova lost as well so we were able to stay in 8th place.

20 Sep 2022
BFD (8) vs Riga (2), Home, Attendance: 249

I think the supporters had the same concerns that I did, we were looking at another loss. I changed the mentality to Positive, ignoring my Asst Manager on almost everything. I also had to make some roster adjustments because of how tired the normal starting 11 were from the RFS match. Looking back, I should have used the bench players in the RFS match, or at least that is what I thought at the time. These bench players were out to prove themselves and shocked me with a 3-1 victory. Lizounovs scored 2 on his return to the starting lineup and defender Idowu shocked me with a scorcher from just outside the box. 

 

This win let us catch up to Super Nova on matches played, and more importantly, open the margin back up to 5 points. We are on a 2 week break before our next match. Which could see Super Nova cut back into our lead since they have a match when we dont. Life is being good though as they lose the match 2-1.

League Table

Remaining Matches

Musings and Thoughts

After the Riga match, (which I am still smiling over) we suffered a bad injury as our back-up Fullback (Mikelson) broke his ankle and will be out for 7-8 months. He joins AMC/ST Dele Israel on the Injury Report. Dele was hurt 27 July during a training session where he tore a thigh muscle. The latest report says he will be back in 2-5 weeks, so maybe before the end of the season. He is signed through 2023 so I should see him take the pitch, unless we dont stay up, in which case I get the sack.

I am really pleased with how we are doing. We are even within reach of 7th place, but that is going to take quite a bit of things to go our way. Right now I am more concerned with staying in 8th place. The Locker Room morale is so-so. Even our victories dont seem to have made much of an impact. I do have quite a few who are not happy with the strength training. I got permission to hire another coach so I will probably try to get a Fitness Coach.

 

A bright spot, our youth intake was very good and I signed a Central Defender that is good enough for the starting 11. He cant be registered this season, but will try to get him off of an amateur contract as soon as possible.

This is harder than I thought it would be, but I am enjoying it. I have had 5 players tell me they want to examine options at the end of their contracts. I cannot say that I am shocked, we are fighting to stay up with a shoe-string budget. Unless I can get more supporters in the seats, I dont see the financial situation improving. 

October is going to be interesting. We have 5 matches, which I would be pleased with 10 points from them. We will see I guess. If I can get into 7th, I think it will help my chances of staying up. November, 2 matches and the season is over. I havent asked about taking a coaching course, may see if they will let me over the off-season. But with the tight budget, I wont be shocked if they say no.

On to the next match!

I hope you have enjoyed reading along. 

What is my Plan?

I am going to have to remember how to post images on here, it has been a while. I could only post a single image per post, that is why it looks like this. I will pracitce and get better so there are not so many to look at like that. I also switched skins, I didnt like how that one looked.

 

Moving Forward

I dont have that much money to use to bring in players. I am going to switch to a 4-2-3-1 with 2 MC, 1 a deep-lying playmaker and one an advanced playmaker. This may seem like an odd combination, but I think with the mid-fielders I have it will work.

Hopefully we get the results we need.

 

Thanks for reading along and feel free to drop a comment or 2, even a suggestion or 2….especially about these images! I tried to use Imgar and use the link, but it didnt work. So I am open to suggestions about how best to do that.

Current Finances

Remaining Matches

 

League Table

What is that club vision?

And those all important supporters!

What do they expect?

 

21 August 2022

And so it begins! BFC Daugavpils reached out to me and within 6 days I was hired to manage a team in my own nation! 

 

BFC isnt a big club, only has 180 season ticket holders. We are going to be fighting to stay up in the couple of months we have left.

 

Club Particulars:
My allowed payroll: 26,000

Current payroll: 21,606

Payroll space: 4, 394

Transfer budget: 45,000
HOYD (Allowed/Current): 1/0

Coaches (Allowed/Current): 3/2

Recruitment staff (Allowed/Current): 1, allowed 4, including GM

Medical Staff (Allowed/Current): 1, allowed 3, including 1 Sports Scientist

BFC B Staff:
Coaches: 0/4

Medical: 0/2

U-18 Staff:

Coaches: 1/1, Head Coach

Medical: 0/1, Sports Scientist

 

That all important message!

Let the journey begin!

 

30 July 2022

 

The phone has been pretty quiet. I guess not having any badges is causing many clubs to look past me, I know it isnt because I celebrated my birthday by counting gray hairs already. 

 

I decided to not chase every opening that comes up. Laura Molek, my personal assistant, does notify me of potential jobs as well as jobs that match my background and such, but I have decided to let them contact me. I think that will change if I dont have a job by 1 January 2023. I can only live in the basement for so long!

I did have one interview, it was a newer club in the Ukraine, Dianz. I had my interview on 7 July. But they didnt waste any time in telling me that even though I had a good interview, I didnt get the job on 11 July. 

So back to watching the matches and playing Football Manager!

I am 29, born in Poland to a Polish mother and a Latvian father. I have bounced from job to job, never really finding something to hold my interest for more than a day or 2. That is, except football. I play every Sunday afternoon, but am not good enough to make it any higher than that. But it seemed like I was always the one who took over those casual matches, giving the tactics to everyone and stating our case to the referee when they made “that” call. 

What else did I do? I learned some languages. I speak Polish and Latvian, as well as German, English and Serbian. 

 

Dad says I am crazy, Mom just smiles in that way that Mom's do….but I have decided to do that thing I always wanted to do….become a football manager!

It is 7 March 2022 and today is the 1st day of the rest of my life!

Okay, I have no idea why some of the images are not showing up. When I check the preview everything looks fine, but when I submit it they don't work. So if anyone has any ideas or suggestions, please let me know.

Thanks!

End of the Preseason - Start of the 2020-21 Season
The pre-season is over and along the way we received the obligatory promotion odds. I have to say that this gives me no pressure at all!
https://imgur.com/yySpXZk
The board is pretty clear on what they want as well...
https://imgur.com/19Y7RFq
The finances are continuing to improve...
https://imgur.com/i9E4Xx3
The board is also very happy but with how I am doing
https://imgur.com/zEbNBy9

Match Results
https://imgur.com/HW5bxVY
I have to admit that I was not too happy with the Loxwood results. I could put it down to the fact that I was still tweaking the squad and rotating players to get as much information about the players as possible. I could also put it down to the game just doing its thing to me. We had 18 shots on goal, 10 on target and couldn't score. They had 3 shots and yes, 2 goals. I was not happy and did not give them their day of rest after the match. I guess it worked because we won the next 2 matches.

Thoughts and Observations
I am really excited about this upcoming season. We are going to keep making money, we are going to get information on the new stadium and the upgrades to the training grounds and the youth facilities will be finished. So we are going to be making progress and that is what I want. The team has been massively upgraded. I felt bad to let some of the guys go and to replace others, but progress is progress as they say. I do have a couple of players that are still in the starting 11 from last season, but overall this is a much better squad.
I left the new contract for the GK to the new Director of Football and it was a disaster, so he will not be allowed to do that anymore. I did sign some players that shocked even me, but I am really happy to bring these guys in. The staff has also seen a massive upgrade, not only in quality, but size as well. The ironic thing is my Assistant Manager is refusing to sign a contract with us, but he is still with us. So he is working for free, don't really get that one.

Things are still going great, as you can see. Lets hope all of this continues, especially considering that my squad as players from League 2 sides!

Thanks for following along! Jesse

Thanks. I think having deep pockets helps all of this. I appreciate you reading along!

2020 Offseason
I had not originally planned to do an update until after we had finished all of the friendlies. But as you are going to see, this has been a very active couple of months. As expected I spent quite a bit of time scouting new players. I also did something that I have never done before, I decided to hire a DoF. I felt that with the growth we are going to be dealing with over the next few seasons that I would need all of the help I could get.
So with no further ado, here we go.

All of my players had been sent on holiday because the FA Vase final was not going to be until the middle of May, but then it got rescheduled to a week later. But more on that later...
As I am going thru page after page of players who don't want to play for us, I get this out of the blue...
https://imgur.com/V1tLs5G
Needless to say I am shocked. I was planning on doing this, but much later. I checked the proposed seating and it says 110,000 capacity! WOW!
I get everyone back and we start training for the upcoming cup match and things go pretty well when we get this result.
https://imgur.com/x0PgW9P
I was concerned a little because of all of the changes I had made to the squad. But after I put my new striker in, he tore it open during the second half and we were able to lift a trophy that no one, including me, gave us even an outside chance of winning.
It was really nice to see this pop up in the Inbox as well
https://imgur.com/L3u19Jh
A nice way to end the season, but then again, we hear from the TaxMan….has to get his cut.
https://imgur.com/QITqglc
I really cannot complain, we cleared over $20 million in my first season.

I was figuring that now all I would have to do is wait on the information on the new stadium and try to upgrade the team. Then this pops up in the old InBox…
https://imgur.com/VJKEZaW
Luckily, it was all over fairly quickly, I think I was in a transfer ban for only 3 days. Also, there was no discussion of me being replaced and then I get this beauty...
https://imgur.com/I3xtId2
It is quickly followed by this little nugget...
https://imgur.com/qDEzgTS

So I decide to get pushy and ask for the board to consider moving from semi-professional to professional. They agree and tell me it is going to go through May 2021. I was hoping for a little bit sooner, but that was going to be okay.

I was very proud of myself. I had made some big signings but just because I had a transfer budget I didn't see any reason to waste it. Then I messed up. I signed a new striker and midfielder, but in my haste to save money, I changed the transfer date to the end of the season, not realizing that it moved it to April 2021. So at least I have something to look forward to.

I really wanted to try to upgrade the facilities as well so I asked the board to consider some upgrades.
https://imgur.com/AC1xRDT
Part one taken care of, lets see what else we can get?
https://imgur.com/5Fb1DpV
And not long after that I get this coming through...
https://imgur.com/t12JpID
Only about 9 months ahead of schedule, but I am not going to complain! I also tried to get them to send me on another coaching course, but I guess I went to the well one too many times.

Thoughts and Observations
It is 1 July 2020 and the club looks vastly different than it did a year earlier. Once again the staff went through some major upgrades as well as an increase in size. We also saw the scouting area increased to all of England. It was really nice to be able to purchase a scouting package. I am looking to add a new GK and striker, but it is not a big issue if I don't since I think the guys I have work well for the level I am at. But I am also trying to get good relationships with some of the agents as well as other managers so I hope they pay off later in my career.
I guess it is a good sign when I am already one of their favored personnel at Tooting.

Life in FM has been good for Tooting Bec Rec. I hope that has been for you as well.
Thanks for reading along!
Jesse

End of 2019-20 Season

Finances in April 2020
https://imgur.com/QqezNeR
Still doing great here! Now we are over $5 million in the bank. The true test is going to be next season. I requested that we move to semi-professional and it was approved. Initially the board said that we wouldn't make the final transition until 25 May 2020 but luckily it was approved in April, right after the end of the season. I guess the next thing is looking at improving the training ground and the youth network. My youth intake was not worth writing home about, so that will need to be addressed. Also, they increased the number of scouts that we can have to 2 and I can now have a coach for the Under 18 squad. Slowly but surely...

Match Results
https://imgur.com/h7WTWWQ
The run continued! It was a pucker factor of 12 out of 10 going down to the end. We do have one match left, the FA Vase final in Wembley. It will be interesting to see how we do with attendance there. We averaged 95% attendance as well.

League Table and Cup Results
https://imgur.com/VWZdZz9
This battle for the league went right down to the final match. I really thought it wouldn't be an issue because of big lead I had in goal difference, I think it was 25, but then Jersey went on a tear at the end, won a match 9-1, and they erased my goal difference lead. But as you can see, we were able to hold them off by winning the last match. Even though the board wasn't interested in the Division One Cup or the FA Vase, they are very happy with how we have done. We were able to win the Division One Cup against Jersey in the 117th minute with a great header from a corner. The team that gave us the biggest challenge all season was Jersey and they are being promoted with us. So I think we will definitely start a rivalry with them. The FA Vase final isn't until May 17th, so hopefully we can lift that trophy as well!

Best 11 for Season
https://imgur.com/oB9DedS
Sadly, we have already started to lose players. Raymond was the first to go, Linton was not far behind. I have lost 4 of my starting 11 so far. But I am hoping that now that I can offer them a salary I will be able to keep some of my better players and improve it even more.

Season Review
https://imgur.com/sEr5bKt
This was a great first season! We have won the league and the Division Cup as well as getting to the final of the FA Vase. I think that having the amount of money coming in that I had helped as well. Now, to see if we can do it again!

2020-21 Club Vision
https://imgur.com/5htMeLT
I did request one change, they wanted us to play attacking football as well. Even though that is what I did over the past season, I wanted to have some flexibility. I will keep trying to play possession football because I think that suits my personal mentality so I kept that one.

Tentative 2020-21 Budgets
https://imgur.com/zWpd4PK
I was speechless when I saw this. I am going to have to re-think my plans for scouting this year. I am not even sure where this compares to other clubs, but a wage budget of $189K per month is crazy for a club at our level! I think this will allow me to bring in a much better level of player!

Player Profile
https://imgur.com/kO4gs1z
I scouted Bevis when we were still an Amateur team. I begged, borrowed and promised to get him to sign an Amateur contract with us, and he did! He played in our last match and ended up with a 7.70 rating. He is a player that I can build around. I have some others that I want to try to get in, but I think he is a great start.

Thoughts and Observations
My first thought is to try to win the FA Vase in May, I think we have a good shot at winning it, but who knows with this game. Secondly, and even more importantly, I need to make some major signings to try to improve the squad. As you can see, the expectation is for us to keep working towards promotion. They want us to finish in the top 2 next season and be promoted by 2021-22. The only promotion avenue is to win the Combined Counties Premier league so we are going to have to make a huge jump in the level of our playing. But I think it is possible.

Thanks for reading and seeing how we are progress...
Jesse

January 2020

Finances
https://imgur.com/GjkM3sO
Wet, wash, rinse and repeat. The bank balance continues to grow. Which I am not going to complain about! This looks great and I cannot see any reason for that to change.

Match Results
https://imgur.com/rxY6Rlu
What a month! 8 matches and all of them were victories. I was really concerned about the Jersey Bulls rematch. It never is a good thing when there are not that many highlights during a match. We were getting shots on goal but couldn't find the back of the net until Harvey Moss became the super-sub and scored on a header less than 30 seconds after I subbed him in. On top of that, winning the Quarter and Semi-final matches for the Division Cup to face...you guessed it...Jersey in the cup finals! At least it is not until March!

League Table and Competition Results
https://imgur.com/SL4tYUm
Our victory over Jersey (I still cant believe we pulled that one of, it was the only game I had been picked as the underdog all season) has put us on top of the table by 2 points. So basically we cant lose again or we lose the league title. I think, if my math is correct, we will be okay if we have a draw because of goal difference, but I don't want it to be that close. The results of making the 5th Round of the FA Vase and the final of the Division Cup have been a nice surprise. These were not expected but I am really pleased with it. Next month is a lot better, only 5 matches, so hopefully we can keep our run going.

Thoughts and Observations
Everything about this has been going very well. We have had great results, the squad has been improved, the coaching staff has been upgraded and the bank account is growing! I am going to look into going professional in February since our season ends at the beginning of April. So hopefully that goes well.

My next update will be at the end of the season. Hopefully I will be able to report that not only have we won the league and promotion, but also the FA Vase and The Division One Cup are now residing in Tooting!

Thanks for reading and following along!
Jesse

I am going to make a minor change in the way I am doing this. I am going to shift to posting the updates every 3 months during the season. I will post an update at the end of the season no matter when it occurs. I think it will keep it from becoming "work" for me. Well, one minor change to this. Because of the re-scheduled match and the cup runs we are on, we have 8 matches in January, so I think that deserves its own section. Also, looks like my season ends in April, so I will just take everything until then.

I do hope that people are enjoying this. I know it is different because I am not having to earn the money the normal way, but I am really interested to see how this all ends up.

Anyway, I hope that every one has a great day!
Jesse

December 2019

Finances
https://imgur.com/iS2NmJB
I feel like a broken record. But as you can see, we are still growing that bank account. Not a bad month, looks like it will continue as well. The crazy thing is that we only had 1 home match this month and were still able to make over $500K.

Match Results
https://imgur.com/2ciy7By
This was a pretty slow month for us. Our last match was called off due to a water-logged pitch. The results were good, so no complaints. Results are what we wanted.

League Table and Competition Results
https://imgur.com/NXNmXuA
We are still chasing Jersey. If they stumble we will be ready, as long as we don't stumble ourselves. The true test will be in January when we play them away. Hopefully we have improved enough to get some revenge for the 1-1 draw to start the season.

Thoughts and Observations
This is going to be an exercise in patience. How long can I stick with this? The more I play the more I enjoy and I am curious to see how we do as the bank account gets bigger. It will be interesting to see once we are able to move to a bigger stadium if the Merchandising profit keeps up or if it will all plateau out. Either way, it is pretty awesome to see how many we get into the seats every match.

Anyway, once again, thanks for riding along with me!
Jesse

November 2019
Finances
https://imgur.com/Dg7OOka
This money train keeps rolling along. I did see an unexplained drop at the end of September and October though. Even though we had over $2 million at the end of the month we dropped about $700K on the first day of the next month. So far, I haven't seen that yet this month so I really hope that was a fluke. It would cause some issues with my plans going forward. But so far so good!

Match Results
https://imgur.com/EoC7d37
This was a great month, but I just about threw my laptop at the wall during the Alfold match. Even though the game really tried to FM me, we somehow were able to get the win. We had 41 shots on goal, with 18 on target and 5 clear cut chances, but we only scored 1 goal, the other was an own goal. Granted, it was deflected off of one of their players from a free kick, but I think that match made my blood pressure go up 40 points. This is much further than we were expected to go and I know that we should just play subs at this point, but I really have a feeling that we have a shot to win this, hell, why not go for it?

League Table and Competition Results
https://imgur.com/f4Xy0P6
We are holding on to second with a pretty tight grip. Jersey is on a terrific run and I was thinking it was going to go down to the wire, but then they dropped 2 points along the way. So they are vulnerable and that gives me hope, as long as I don't trip along the way myself.

New Coaching Staff
https://imgur.com/iqHeaRh
Anyone who has played at this level know the challenges of getting a competent coaching, scouting and medical staff. I thought I would try to get some upgrades and little did I know that I would be able to upgrade across the board. Everyone was replaced with the exception of player/coach Elliot Hodgett-Young. I don't want to go over all of the changes, but here are a couple of examples, the physios went from a rating of 6 and 5 to a pair of 12s. The scouts went from JPA of 4 and JPP of 5 to 9 and 8 respectfully. So I am very pleased to make these upgrades.

New Assistant Coach
https://imgur.com/bVVyUYk
I do have to show you the new Asst Coach, Roy Aitken. He joins Tooting after a 6 year absence from football and brings a wealth of experience to the club. His previous job was the general manager and assistant coach in the UAE. He also was an assistant coach at Birmingham, Aston Villa and Aberdeen. In addition to that he was a coach with the Scottish national team with head coach experience at Aberdeen as well as the reserves head coach at Leeds and the interim at Aston Villa. I have no idea why he would want to join us, but there you go, a big improvement, now the trick will be to hang on to him.

Thoughts and Observations
I had been basically signing anyone that I thought might help the squad. The beauty of Amateur contracts is they can be changed at will. I released 2 players because they were never going to make it past the U-18 squad. I also released the Asst Coach/striker because he was starting to complain about playing time and I found Roy. The player/scout was also released because he was not a player I used and I was able to upgrade his scout position. I also released a 21 year old that was constantly complaining about playing time. I was also able to sign a player that is also on the Chinese national team. His previous experience was with Chelsea and Crystal Palace. So either a HUGE drop for him or a HUGE pickup for us, I prefer it was the latter! But now I am hoping to stabilize the squad and let them settle into a good playing rhythm. I also need to make up my mind about asking to move from Amateur status. I am thinking to request it with about 4-6 weeks left in the season so I can try to keep the really good staff I have. But since this part is all new to me I will be curious to see how it all goes.

Thanks for reading along and here's to hoping this train doesn't run off of the tracks!
Jesse