Off the Deep End

[Tecmo]

And survive we did....by the slimmest of margins once again. 4 team bang up with 4 teams tied with 33 points, just above last place Sport & Leisure.

One of the sadder position graphs you'll see for a non-relegated team as we sat in the red zone for 9 games before escaping in the season finale.

A brutal stretch of 5 losses and a tie put us in in last, 4 points away from safety with 5 games to go. We gutted out a pair of 1 goal wins at home to get us tied in points with Warrenpoint, our next opponent. But a first half red card killed us, resulting in a devastating 4-1 loss that I thought doomed us. We came back to win 2-1 at Sport & Leisure, securing their relegation. In the season finale we were at home, playing 3rd place Killymoon, 2 points and 1 GD behind Queens University, 3 points and 4 GD behind Portstewart. And both of those teams had the goals scored tiebreaker on us. But a much needed 2-0 clean sheet along with a 3-0 loss for Portstewart and a 2-2 tie for Queens University got us safely into 13th.

[Tecmo]

Crazy season, we scored the fewest goals in the league while allowing the 5th fewest. So the complete opposite from our first season. We only got 23 goals from Smylie and Hutchinson instead of the 36 they scored the year before.

I had some players who completely changed my opinion of them over the season. Most notably, Marc Harkness. He doesn't enjoy losing and got into quite the funk midseason to the point I was trying to sell him. But after a few heart to heart chats he performed much better, to he point where we signed him to a new 75/week deal for next season. Goalkeeper Colin McCoy lost his job early after starting the season giving up 6 goals in 2 games but I leaned on him down the stretch and he performed beautifully. Right now the plan is to bring him back next season and try loaning out my young backup, Darren Wright. And the one player I really had a battle with this season was center back Gary Keogh. I got frustrated with his tendency to give up close free kicks and benched him for much of the season. Eventually he got back into the lineup as I needed his ability to clear out crosses (and my other options failed miserably) but he had the red card against Warrenpoint that almost cost us our season. No way I bring him back.

We're going to try to depend on some of our young players more in the upcoming season. My one big target will be trying to find a dependable center back to stabilize the defense. I think we'll be much better on offense next year, primarily because of Gareth Davidson:

[Tecmo]

Around the world...

Linfield claimed the N Ireland Premiership for the 6th straight season. They were dumped out of the Champions League by Rosenborg on a 8-0 aggregate. Distillery was demoted with Institute taking their place.

Manchester City, behind Robert Lewandowski, won the EPL by 1 point over Tottenham. West Brom, West Ham and Southampton were all relegated. They will be replaced by Swansea, Brighton and Watford.

FC Bayern won Germany for the third straight year, 3 points ahead of Stuttgart.

PSG dominated Ligue 1 by 22 points over Olympique de Marseille

Barcelona beat out Valencia by 4 points in Spain.

Juventus won in Italy again, 3 points up on Fiorentina.

CSK Moscow won in Russia, 3 points up on Rubin Kazan and Anji

Manchester United defeated Manchester City in the Champions League final 2-1.

Olympique de Marseille beat Liverpool in the Europa final 2-1.

[Mikal]

Whatever you do, make sure you play it to Davidson's feet!

[Tecmo]

Davidson will be seeing a lot of the ball. He'll be my primary corner and free kick taker and I'm going to use him as a trequarista in the hole behind Smylie and Hutchinson. Encouraging results in the preseason as he scored two goals and had an assist. My biggest concern with him is his lack of stamina, don't think I'll be getting full games out of him at this point.

We went undefeated in our five friendlies with 2 wins and 3 draws, scoring at least two in every game. Even drew Distillery, a side in the league above us.

Rolling with out 4-4-2 diamond once again as it served us well at the end of last season. Made quite a few changes to our squad with 6 players being promoted from our reserve and U18 teams. Unfortunately several of those youngsters are getting much larger salaries than I expected when I gave them contracts. Not quite understanding the youth contracts yet. We didn't bring in anyone on loans, wasn't much of a loan market this season for some reason. We only brought in two players not previously associated with the team, 18 year old defender Brian O'Hare, who looked impressive in our friendlies and will be our right fullback, and 30 year old Steven McArdle, a versatile guy who can back up all the forward positions.

This is how we'll look going into the season (but better rested, just played our last friendly):

No idea what to expect this year. Extremely young team, but that might be a good way to build moving forward.

[Tecmo]

A new season, new challenges. First the good news. We're playing very well.

The defense has been rock solid, 5 goals in seven games. And the offense has emerged in our last two games as well.

But despite a payroll right at the provided budget, the team is bleeding money and the board is getting restless, talking about selling players. I've tried selling players without success. Had a few transfer offers, but they've been for no money and my best players. And I've got some seriously underpaid players, most notably Davidson and O'Hare. This may get ugly, right now I'm just hoping we can keep winning and our success will bring some money into our coffers.

[Tecmo]

Well, so much for the good start...

Just had a horrific run where we lost all ability to score, except in cup games. We actually won two Intermediate Cup games before losing a tough one to Tobermore. Smylie in particular went in the tank, I don't know how many times he missed wide open nets. And Davidson has been close to worthless unfortunately.

And then out of nowhere we went nuts in our last league game before the break, crushing a good Brantwood team in their home. Smylie finally went off, netting a hat trick. Maybe it was from our formation change, going with a 5-3-2 that seems to put my players in their best spots.

So we have some renewed hope for the second half of the year despite our position. Financially I'm in some trouble with the team losing money and my having to go over budget to give centerback Brian O'Hare the contract he deserves (he's been my best player this year). We'll just try to fight through the rest of the season, survive, and then I'll evaluate my options as far as staying or moving on.

[Tecmo]

Our excellent run continues:

3 clean sheets in a row for McCoy and 4 out of 5. The defense has been giving him a lot of help as well, giving the opposition very few quality chances. So we're up to 14th now and we'll be playing in our first cup semi-final. Our opposition? Portadown, currently sitting in 2nd in the top flight. Hoping they might look pas our game as they are fighting for a Champions League spot and are in two more prestigious cup tournaments. They'll be playing two matches a week up until ours.

[Tecmo]

Portadown (the eventual Premiership champions) knocked us out 3-1. My team played well, even leading 1-0 at halftime before they managed to overwhelm us.

Good finish to the season, didn't really have to stress about relegation for once.

We didn't improve our position from last season, but otherwise it was an improvement, albeit slight. An even goal differential stands out. After our 8 game losing streak we had 7 wins, 4 draws and only 3 losses, a pretty massive turnaround. Smylie and Hutchinson combined for 26 goals. Jordan McCormick really emerged as a playmaker in the middle for us and Brian O'Hare really solidified the middle of our defense and Colin McCoy ended the season with 9 clean sheets to lead the league. Gareth Davidson was a bit disappointing with only 2 goals and 4 assists, but I felt like he improved a lot toward the end.

Next season should be interesting. I spent the second half of the season about 10% over budget and the team is losing money so I'm scared they're going to cut my budget. Pretty sure I'll be bringing in some new, cheaper coaches. I have a good young base locked up for next season and Harkness and Hutchinson are signed for some veteran stability. But I haven't been able to resign McCoy, who wants a raise from 25 to 30 a week, or Smylie, who is actually willing to take a small paycut. Should be an interesting offseason.

[Tecmo]

Around the football world:

Portadown dethroned Linfield in the Northern Ireland Premiership. Linfield did manage to advance out of the first round of the Champions League, defeating Santa Coloma 7-1 on aggregate, then lost a pair of games 2-0 to Hapoel Tel-Aviv. H&W Welders was promoted to the top level, replacing Institute.

Shamrock is dominating in Ireland, 20 points ahead of second after 20 games. Two time reigning champions Sligo are in second. Celtic dominated in Scotland, winning for the 5th straight season. TNS dominated in Wales as well with their fifth straight championship.

Manchester City won the EPL for the 4th time in 5 seasons, edging Chelsea by three points and Man U by 6. Norwich, Brighton and Fulham were all relegated to be replaced by Huddersfield, West Ham and Everton, returning after a three year absence. Watford provided quite the surprise, finishing 7th in their first EPL season 06/07.

Dortmund won in Germany with Werder Bremen finishing second and FC Bayern only managing third.

Marseille won France by two points over PSG, a successful followup to their Europa League championship.

Barcelona won their third straight La Liga by two points over Valencia. Athletico Madrid was third, Real Madrid a disappointing fourth.

Fiorentina edged out Juventus in Italy with both teams ending at 79 points but beating them in head to head aggregate for the tie breaker. Their first Seria A championship since 1969.

In the Champions League, Man City edged Real Madrid 1-0 for their first championship after the heartbreak of losing in the final last year to Man U. They defeated Man U in the semifinal this season.

Juventus was unable to get out of the group stages in the CL, but they defeated Arsenal on penalty kicks to win the Europa League.

Germany defeated Belgium 2-1 in extra time tow in the European Championship in France. Serbia and Spain also made it to the semifinal. England was a major disappointment, failing to escape the group stage with Iceland probably the biggest surprise to advance past that stage. Northern Ireland failed to get out of the qualifiers but they did finish third in their group ahead of Ireland and only two points behind Russia and 4 points behind Switzerland.

[Tecmo]

Busy offseason but I'm pretty happy with the results. We were given a budget of 1002/week, which was a slight increase from last season, much to my surprise. But knowing the financial difficulties for the team, I kept a close eye on the finances. First step was hiring a new staff as my existing staff was getting steadily more expensive. Finding new staff proved difficult with few people showing interest. Indeed, I have been unable to find a physio, so we go into the season without one. Our new chief scout is 38 year old John Douglas who last played for Sport & Leisure a year ago. My new coach/midfielder is 32 year old Gregory Curtis, signed on a free transfer from Armagh City. And we now have a Head of Youth Development/midfielder, 35 year old Kieran Loughran. Looking at him as a starter in the midfield, so for 35/week he looks like quite a bargain.

Our squad as it looks on opening day:

Going with the 5-3-2 again this season. Seems to provide solid defense, scoring hasn't been an issue and it lets me concentrate on just a few positions. A closer look at the squad:

Strikers

Scott Hutchinson, 25, 50/wk - Has been our primary offensive force with 39 goals and 16 assists in 3 seasons.

Scott Smylie, 23, 55/wk - Our other primary scorer with 46 goals and 13 assists in 3 seasons. More of a long range scorer. He's out of contract because I don't want to give him a raise and there is a decent chance I'll let him move on after this season.

Gareth Davidson, 17, 9/wk - Best position currently is as an attacking midfielder but I'm planning to train him as Smylie's replacement. Seriously lacks stamina, I'm planning to use him more as a second half spark plug. Ridiculously talented, at least for this level, hopefully he'll be around for a long time.

Lee Geraghty, 18, 8/wk - Cheap young backup we signed on a free at the end of last season.

Midfielders

Jordan McCormick, 19, 70/wk - Entering his third season with the team, he is my primary playmaker in the middle and the man I'm looking to control midfield with his passing and dribbling.

David Devlin, 18, 5/wk - A product of my youth squad, he emerged as a ball winning midfielder last season. Dangerous free kick specialist who scored two goals on free kicks last season.

Kieran Loughran, 35, 35/wk - Played for Warrenpoint the last three seasons, going to start with him as a starting deep lying playmaker, but considering he couldn't find playing time for a relegated Warrenpoint side, I'm skeptical of his ratings.

Gregory Curtis, 32, 120/wk - Loughran and Curtis, both on my staff, will also be competing for playing time as they're both composed midfielders with good passing skills.

Rodney Williamson, 17, 1/wk - Just called up from my reserve squad, he's basically a younger version of Curtis but is primarily on the squad for depth this season.

Tony Morrow, 22, 85/wk - Somehow he got signed for 85/wk through 2018. Not at all worth it and if he appears in other league match his salary goes up to 95 so he's just going to keep being a waste of salary for the next couple seasons.

I'll probably be looking to add one more midfielder eventually as I released Ricky Gardner and his 85/wk contract as that was far too much to pay for a backup.

Defenders

Marc Harkness, 25, 95/wk - My right wingback, a good active defender and crosser from the wing. Not sure he is worth what I am paying for him, wouldn't mind selling him if I could find a buyer.

Gareth White, 20, 85/wk - Definitely overpaid but I haven't been able to find a decent cheaper replacement. Functions pretty well in our formation as his passing and acceleration are strengths. More natural on the right side where Harkness holds fort.

Brian O'Hare, 19, 70/wk - A much needed stud centerback for me last season, I've also experimented with him as a sweeper. Good tackler and header, he really solidified my defense against crosses last season.

Gary Dodds, 27, 30/wk - Brought in on a loan last season from Newington, a no nonsense defender, tall and probably my best tackler.

Eddie Breen, 19, 25/wk - My only player in on loan currently, from Warrenpoint, extremely brave and composed. Between O'Hare, Dodds and Breen, I think I've upgraded my centerbacks quite well from last season.

George Douglas, 18, 60/wk - Promoted from my reserve squad, able to backup all of the defensive positions and probably the best passer among my defenders.

Mervyn Hainon, 17, 1/wk - Also promoted from my reserve squad, should just be depth this year but a good, aggressive header and tackler who could contribute in the near future.

Goalkeepers

Colin McCoy, 30, 30/wk - My captain, coming off a strong season with 9 clean sheets. Quite inconsistent though and probably needs to be replaced soon. Good reflexes, but pretty helpless against one on ones and penalty kicks.

Darren Wright, 23, 25/wk - My coaching staff keeps saying he's getting better but I frankly haven't seen it and I have two youngsters on my reserve squad that look capable of replacing him after this season.

I'd love to finish midtable this season but I'm not sure about how the team will respond to my staff changes. If nothing else the board should be happy that I'm well under budget with a cheaper staff this season.

[Tecmo]

So far so good for the first half of the season.

We're in a tight race at the top with 6 teams within 3 points of first. Doing it with defense again as we've allowed the fewest goals in the league. We actually had a little bit of a slump in November and December as my midfield was decimated with injuries. I actually had an issue with too many infielders, then they started dropping like flies just as we entered the cup heavy portion of the schedule and I was basically playing them based on health. But coming out of the break we only have one injured player, David Devlin, and he's almost healthy.

Not much luck in the cups as we had some bad draws. Knocked out in the first game in three of them, twice to higher level foes and once to Lurgan Celtic. We won two games in the Intermediate Cup against patsies before Division 1 Ballyclare thrashed us. So in the second half we can concentrate on the league and just maybe earn promotion.

Actually managed to add a couple staff as well. An advert actually worked to find a physio, 31 year old Megan Reid. Only a 6 rating for physiotherapy but better than nothing I guess. We also added a player/scout, 29 year old Paul McElroy. He is also serving as a backup fullback, which I needed.

Decided to release Gareth White on a free. I had been contemplating doing this to free his 85/wk as he was quite average. Then a bonus clause was about to kick in upping his pay to 115/wk. Made the decision quite easy. I think I found an upgrade anyway in 18 year old Scott McMahon for only 40/wk. He's a natural left fullback while White was playing a bit out of position.

ST Lee Geraghty has found his way into a more regular role. He was upset with his pay so I told him to prove he was worth more. He then went out and scored goals in his next two games as a substitute. He's now splitting time with Smylie and may end up replacing him next season.

We should be in good shape for the second half. Of the five teams we're fighting with at the top, we've already played road games against four of them. And only Larne is finished with cup games. We just might be able to do this.

[elbilly]

Good recovery last season and picked up where you left off. Well placed for a promotion push!

[Tecmo]

Indeed, 3 games left and very much in it...

Got off to a rough start out of the break as our offense was really struggling. We were down to 9th after the Portstewart debacle. But that was the turning point. Geraghty had taken over as my second striker over Smylie but he went down for the season with a torn hamstring in that game. So we went out and found a new striker, James McLaughlin, on loan from Premier side Dungannon. A 12 in finishing with good acceleration and anticipation, he's been a revelation next to Hutchinson, scoring 4 goals and adding 2 assists in his 5 games. So now we're sitting 3 points behind first and 1 behind 2nd with 3 games to go. Tough schedule as we still have to face the 1st, 5th and 6th place teams and Brian O'Hare is missing at least one game with food poisoning. But that last game at home against first place Banbridge could be huge.

[Tecmo]

Game 28:

Very back and forth game with McLaughlin playing absolutely brilliantly to make up for the sketchy defense. Have to try to sign him up for the squad next season, but he's not terribly interested in that idea right now. Maybe that will change if we can move up.

The other league results went splendidly as well. 1st place Banbridge lost at home to Armagh 2-3, 2nd place Portstewart was embarrassed at home by Chimney Corner, 0-3 and 3rd place Lurgan Celtic barely managed a come from behind 4-4 draw with Ballymoney. So two games left, we're in a tie with Banbridge for first with 50 points, 1 up on our next opponent, Chimney Corner. We're behind the other top teams in goal differential, but we control our own destiny now. Two wins and we win the 2nd Division. Anything less and I think we fall with three teams behind us by 2 points or less and all of those teams have GD on us.

[Tecmo]

Oops, we get Banbridge first, then Chimney Corner.

[joshpmilton]

Perenial relegation battlers to potential champions in a season. Fantastic work & good luck for the last two games!

[Tecmo]

Perenial relegation battlers to potential champions in a season. Fantastic work & good luck for the last two games!

Quite amazed we've made such a dramatic jump, not sure what the explanation is. It coincided with my move to a 5-3-2, so maybe this is just a better system for my players. Considering our lack of quality wide midfielders, it may be as simple as getting rid of them.

[Tecmo]

Game 29, Bleh...

Tough game, just couldn't get any rhythm going. Hutchinson started us great with a strike from well outside the box but we just didn't threaten much beyond that and Banbridge equalized for the draw in the 72nd minute.

So we go to the last game in 5th place. Chimney Corner, our next opponent, is first with 52 points after destroying Bangor 7-1. Then there are 4 teams tied at 51 points with us well behind all of them in goal differential and goals scored. Pretty much have to beat Chimney Corner next week and hope two of Lurgan Celtic, Portstewart and Banbridge lose. Lurgan Celtic is at home against 14th place Moyola Park, Portstewart at home against 15th place Tobermore and Banbridge at 11th place Abbey Villa. Not encouraging.

[Tecmo]

Alas...

Similar to the Banbridge game, we took an early lead only to see a late equalizer resulting in a 1-1 tie, keeping both us and Chimney Corner in the Second Division while Lugan Celtic and Banbridge advance. All three teams we would have needed to lose or draw managed wins.

Management finally offered us a new contract after the Banbridge game, only offering 375/wk again. Kind of insulted but I'll probably take the contract with a shot a promotion within sight.

[elbilly]

So close, unlucky, can't believe the top 6 are separated by 3 points

[joshpmilton]

It's not much, but I'd at least take some consolation in the fact they didn't go up either.

[deltablue]

Still a nice improvement over struggling for survival.

[Tecmo]

Disappointing end, but I'm pretty pleased going into next season. I'm bringing most of the team back and I have some youngsters ready to step into more significant roles. Really just two holes as I see it, need to find a second striker to pair with Hutchinson and I need to find another starting centerback. I have a pair of under 18s who I think can step into the starting lineup eventually but I really want to give them another year first.

[Tecmo]

Around the football world...

Portadown won their second straight NIP pretty easily over second place Linfield. Portadown went out in their first Champions League match though, losing to Ekranas 3-3 on away goals. Donegal Celtic and H&W Welders are both dropping to the First Division to be replaced by Ballinamallard and Distillery. From the First Division, Dergview and Newry are both getting relegated to be our opponents next season.

In England, Man City won the EPL for the third straight season. They finished tied with Chelsea in points and goal differential, winning the title with 5 more goals scored. Sheffield Wednesday finished 13th but will be a surprise Europa League entrant by winning the FA Cup over QPR. Reading, Wigan and Leicester are all relegated, to be replaced by Norwich, West Brom and Fulham.

Shamrock reclaimed the Irish Premier Division and is leading again this season. Celtic won in Scotland, holding off 2nd place Aberdeen by 3 points. And TNS dominated in Wales once again.

Bayern returned to dominance in Germany, winning over Dortmund by 16 points. Of interest to me as a Swansea fan, Wilfried Bony is playing for Dortmund and has been one of the top scorers in the Bundesliga.

Valencia ended the dominance of Barcelona and Real Madrid in Spain for their first championship since 2004. Barcelona finished second, 8 points back with Real Madrid in third another 8 points back.

Sporting won their fourth straight title in Portugal by 3 points over FCP.

PSG reclaimed Ligue 1 by 5 points over Lyons. Defending champ Marsielle dropped back to fifth.

And Napoli brought another new face to the title in Italy, edging out Juventus by 3 points. Their first title since 1990. Defending champion Fiorentina fell all the way to 10th.

Man U won their third Champions League in 5 seasons, defeating Bayern 1-1 on penalty kicks. Juventus and Real Madrid were knocked out in the semi finals. Valencia may have won La Liga, but they got drubbed in the first knockout round by PSG 6-0. Italian champ Napoli also lost in that round, 3-1 to Tottenham.

Chelsea won the Europa League in an all England final, 2-1 over Liverpool. Arsenal was a third England team in the semi final, along with St. Etienne.

Messi won his third straight European Player of the Year award. 21 year old Will Hughes won the Golden Boy for the second straight season for Liverpool. And the Golden Shoe went to Fernando Llorente from Juventus for the third straight season.

[Tecmo]

Pretty busy offseason. A couple changes in the coaching staff as we let Gregory Curtis walk away from his player/coach role and let Kieran Loughran retire from playing to become a full time coach. We also found an assistant coach after going through last season without one. 34 year old Alan Sheppard signed up as an asst. coach/backup centerback.

As far as players, my biggest need was a new striker to replace Smylie and our short term star, McLaughlin (couldn't pay him the 170/wk he was asking). I think I found a pretty good replacement in 20 year old Mark Brunt. He actually looks a lot like a young McLaughlin, a natural poacher who was released from Premier side Crusaders. I think he'll be splitting time with Gareth Davidson as my second striker next to Hutchinson and I could see him replacing Hutchinson eventually.

In the midfield I ended up bringing in another veteran rather than turning it over completely to the kids. 30 year old Joe McDonnell looks like an excellent ball winning midfielder with high determination, bravery and aggression to go with some tackling skills and throw ins. Our throw ins were actually a problem last season as I had no one competent and far to often watched my men throw it to the opposition's feet.

At centerback I brought in another veteran, 32 year old Stephen Curley. Nothing too special, but good at heading and marking so I think he can fill a spot for a season.

And my last veteran acquisition is 34 year old GK James McGreevy, taking over the backup role from Darren Wright. In retrospect, it was probably a mistake to let Wright go, he was content enough as a backup. But I brought in a very nice 16 year old goalie, Conor Cassidy, who I think can be a future starter and wanted a mentor for him. If everything goes right, I can move McGreevy into a goalkeeper coach role next season.

So here is how we look going into the new season...

We want to compete for promotion again. The board continues to have low expectations, just need to avoid relegation. They cut our budget a bit, down to 791/wk, but they pretty much seem to just set the budget at wherever my payroll stands.

[Tecmo]

Rough start to the season...

All the matches have been tight affairs and, to be fair, we've been a bit unlucky. Sitting in 12th with only 4 points through 5 games. We have a pretty good injury excuse this season though as we've already had 7 injuries of a month or longer including Harkness twice, Davidson, McCormick, McMahon and Dodds. We've brought in two new players who we've had to stick right into the starting lineup.

On defense we're doing okay, especially given the injuries, but I need to find a way to produce more goals. Might be time to do some more formation experimentation.

[Tecmo]

This is where we sit at the break...

We managed to stabilize things. Had a nice little run after the last post with 2 wins and a draw on the road, scoring 3 in each game. We finally seem to have tapped into Gareth Davidson's potential, playing him in as an advanced midfielder in a 4-3-1-2 formation. He has banged in 7 goals with 3 assists in his last 10 matches. But, unfortunately, Hutchinson has completely lost his scoring touch, only scoring 1 goal in his last 8 games.

Cup matches went very poorly for us with only 1 win out of 5 games. A large part of that was my fault as I used those games to rest a lot of players. We've also lost to some higher level teams, the only true disappointment was an extra time loss to Glebe in the Irish Cup.

So we're going into the second half of the season in 9th, pretty solidly and securely midtable with little prospect to go very far up or down. I'm inclined to give most of the playing time to my younger players, looking into the future to get these guys used to playing together. I managed to pick up another very nice young center back in soon to be 18 year old Gav McGuinness. Between him and O'Hare I think I've got a good defensive tandem going into the future.

[Tecmo]

10 games left...

Had a nice run going before that loss at third place Bangor. Hasn't helped us too much though, sitting in 7th, still 9 points behind second place Dergview and 10 behind first place Coagh Utd. That gives us a shot but it's going to take quite a run. Hutchinson is back in form with 4 goals in our last 4 games. Backup striker John Paul White managed a hat trick one week after his 17th birthday.

Still don't think we can manage promotion this year but we're very well setup for a push next season.

[Tecmo]

Or maybe we can...We beat Killymoon 3-2 by scoring on the last play of the game, then followed that up with a 2-0 win over Churchill. At the same time, Dergview had a tie and a lost. So 8 games to go, 6th place, 4 points behind Dergview and Bangor, the 2nd and 3rd place teams. We're right there with them for goal difference as well. Unfortunately, we lost Marc Harkness for a month in our last match with a fractured arm, but I have a veteran backup who I have a lot of confidence in.

[deltablue]

It's still a bit of a gap but it would be great if you'd at least be able to get very close.

[Tecmo]

Another win for us, 3-2 at Moyola Park, coupled with losses by Bangor and Dergview, and we're in 5th now, 3 points behind 2nd place Portstewart, the team we are hosting next. Getting very interesting now.

[Tecmo]

Unfortunately we didn't end things very well

So yeah, pretty solidly midtable. We got edged out by Portstewart 2-1 and that just kind of put us into a tailspin, going 1-4-2 in our last 7 games. Injuries definitely did not help though as we lost ST Brunt and GK McCoy both for the last 5 games and Davidson and Harkness each missed a game as well. Our goalkeeper of the future, Conor Cassidy, got a few starts with mixed results. He probably takes over as my backup next season.

Our final stats for the season show an offense that has really diversified...

My three attackers, Hutchinson, Davidson and Brunt combined for 39 goals and 20 assists with my young backup striker, John Paul White, chipping in another 6 and 3.

Brian O'Hare added 5 more goals, mostly on corner kick headers, Devlin added 4 more, 3 on free kicks, to go with 11 assists. O'Hare and Devlin have really turned into studs.

Jordan McCormick was probably my biggest disappointment, but I may just need to change my expectations for him. I had envisioned him being a playmaker in the middle, but he is still solid with his passing and tackling.

Joe McDonnell was interesting, brought him in for a veteran presence and he did a nice job with the assists and tackles, but his recklessness really caused some issues. I may have found his replacement in 18 year old Stefan McMahon, a free transfer signing at the end of the transfer window.

I pretty much have my team in place for next season. The squad is very young, of my returning squad, only McCoy, Hutchinson and Harkness are over 21. Hopefully they can grow together as a group. I may try to find a new defensive midfielder, I have an idea in my mind that I want to try a 4-4-2 narrow diamond next season. A defensive midfielder is the one piece I'm missing although I have a few who can play it as a secondary position.

[Brucehum]

I find small teams are more fun in FM2013.

Keep up the enjoyable run!

[Tecmo]

I find small teams are more fun in FM2013.

Keep up the enjoyable run!

I am enjoying playing a small team. Eventually I'd like to try a larger team but I want to earn my way up there first. For now my one goal is getting this team promoted. Ideal world, I'd get this team into the top flight and playing in Europe a bit, then move on to somewhere else. But that seems like it's sooo far away.

[Tecmo]

Around the world...

Italy claimed the 2018 World Cup, defeating France 3-1. Denmark claimed third place with a 3-1 win over Chile. Chile knocked out defending champions Spain in the second round. Poland and South Korea were probably the biggest surprises, each reaching the quarter final. Argentina and Brazil both failed to escape the group stages.

Borussia Dortmund won the Champions League with a 1-0 victory over Napoli.

Marseille won their second Europa League in four years, beating Arsenal 2-1.

Linfield reclaimed the Northern Ireland Premiership after falling short for two seasons. Portadown was knocked out of the first round of the CL 0-2 on aggregate against Skonto, the Latvian champions. Dungannon was demoted from the Premiership while Knockbreda was promoted.

Shamrock won in Ireland for the second season in a row. TNS dominated Wales as usual as did Celtic in Scotland.

Manchester City won in for the 4th straight season. Chelsea, Man U and Tottenham took the next 3 places. West Ham, West Brom and Fulham were all relegated to be replaced by Southampton, Brighton and Leeds

Interesting year in Germany with Dortmund winning the Champions League for the first time since 1997 but finishing 7th in the league. Stuttgart won the Bundesliga for the first time since 2007 but only 6 points separated 1st from 8th places. Hannover took second, Bayern third.

PSG dominated Ligue 1 for the second straight year. Juventus bounced back to dominate Serie A. Barcelona edged out Real Madrid on goal differential to reclaim La Liga. Benfica broke Sporting's 4 year run in Portugal.

[Tecmo]

Fairly quiet offseason for us. My chief scout and coach were both retained. We now have a Reserves Head Coach, 36 year old Noel Anderson, who will double as a backup midfielder. I think he'll play a bigger role actually, his defensive ratings are strong and he has some offensive ability as well. Could end up being my defensive midfielder or he may replace McCormick. I also brought in a player/coach, 36 year old Ryan Harvey. He's going to function as my 4th striker. My new assistant coach is 32 year old Michael Hall, signed from Lurgan Celtic. Has a 19 in working with youngsters, which should go well with my young team. And lastly we brought in a new physio, 35 year old James Cully who just retired from Wakehurst. Should be an upgrade for the same salary as our last physio.

Besides my player/coaches, our only other player signing was 33 year old DM Mark Hughes. Signed him from Glebe, I'm going to give him a chance to be my starting defensive midfielder for this season while I teach 19 year old Stefan McMahon to take over the job eventually.

Otherwise my squad is pretty much unchanged from last season. 17 year old Conor Cassidy will be my backup goalkeeper behind McCoy. This is how we look going into our first game against Annagh Utd...

I'm hopeful that we can compete for promotion this season with a side that has been playing together for awhile now. We can't have any of the slumps that have doomed us the last two seasons though. My job situation is still pretty safe, all the board has ever asked is that I avoid relegation. They keep moaning about their losses but there's nothing to be done about that. Our payroll is actually quite low, 132 p/w below what I've been allotted.

[Tecmo]

Off to a good start, especially on defense. We got off to a rough start against Annagh Utd giving up an early goal on a corner kick. Despite dominating possession we were not able to equalize until David Devlin drove in a free kick halfway through the second half. That was it for the scoring and we settled for a tie in our first game. We bounced back with a 3-0 win at Moyola Park as Devlin scored two more times on free kicks. We also had three more goals disallowed on offsides and penalties. Total domination.

We then had our first cup game of the year, the Northern Irish League Cup against First Division side Donegal Celtic. My top three attackers, Gareth Davidson, Mark Brunt and John Paul White, were all injured so we reverted to our 5-3-2 formation with the intent of playing tight defense and hoping for the best. The defense turned out impregnable as Donegal just couldn't get any real chances. And in the 67th minute backup striker drove home a rebound on a free kick to give us a goal and an eventual 1-0 win. Our first competitive win against a higher level side! Only took 4+ seasons.

[Tecmo]

And now for something completely different...

We're on quite the roll led mainly by the defense but with the scoring being spread around. Mark Brunt has been my leading scorer with 9 goals. He's going to be an interesting decision for me as he is seeking 100 p/w for a new contract. That would make him my highest paid player but I think I'll have to do it.

I'm also starting to see a transition period as I'm phasing out some of my long term veterans. Scott Hutchinson has 5 goals but I've developed enough depth at striker that I can't see myself keeping him next year. Midfielder Jordan McCormick has transitioned into a backup role as Devlin and younger Stefan McMahon have taken over the center mid positions. And I've found a potential replacement for Marc Harkness in 17 year old George Waide. Harkness is showing big contract demands once again, so we'll see if they come down at the end of the season as normal.

And goalkeeper Colin McCoy may be getting usurped by his 17 year old understudy, Conor Cassidy. Cassidy has only allowed 2 goals in five and a half matches. McCoy really pissed me off in our penalty kicks loss to Siccoro Works. He was 0-12 stopping the oppositions kicks. Our two cup losses to lower level teams have been the one disappointment so far.

We're flying high, the team is showing a lot of depth. I don't see any reason we can't win this thing and move up.

[elbilly]

Going great so far this season, the 3 game dip aside. Could be fighting for the title!

[Tecmo]

Going great so far this season, the 3 game dip aside. Could be fighting for the title!

Yeah, that three game stretch was aggravating. Came out completely flat against Warrenpoint and then lost to Desertmartin despite they're playing with 10 men for most of the game. The Bangor result wasn't so bad, they're one of our main competitors for the top. I think I figured out during that stretch that we have to play with a counter strategy. I had been trying to use a patient possession game but the passing skills just are not there at this level. Counter seems to be working much better, get the ball and get it forward. Most games we're right around 50% possession.

[deltablue]

Nice seeing you at the top for now.

[Tecmo]

4 wins and a draw in our next five league games and we're now in first by 8 points with 10 games to go. We currently have 46 points, 54 has been enough to earn promotion in every previous season.

We also managed to knock off First Division team Coagh Utd in the Mid Ulster Cup, moving us to the semifinals where we'll face Portadown. I'm in a position where I can rest my players going into the game while Portadown is still fighting for a Europa League spot. Just maybe we can pull off an upset.

[Tecmo]

It turns out that the game before Portadown was at home against second place Bangor. I decided to take my chances and play all backups so my first team was rested for the cup game. We still pulled off a 2-1 win to push our lead out to 10 points. On to Portadown!

[Tecmo]

Portadown came out attacking and dominating possession of the ball but we hung in there and, after a great jumping save by Cassidy, my guys got on the attack. We managed to put a shot off the woodwork but went into halftime scoreless. But early in the second half, Mark Brunt picked up the rebound off a Davidson shot and hammered home a blast in the top left corner to give us the lead. We kept attacking and put two more shots off the woodwork, but the defense did a great job clearing threats out of the box and we took home a 1-0 win.

We had three more league games before the final which resulted in a win and two draws as I think we coasted a bit. My squad got pretty banged up in those matches with Brunt, Hutchinson, Scott McMahon and McCormick all suffering injuries to take them out of action. The final against Glenavon didn't work out quite as well for us though. Fine minutes in McGuinness was called for a penalty in the box which resulted in a free kick goal for our opponents. Another goal about 25 minutes in made it desperate and then we gave them another successful penalty kick to go in at halftime down 3-0. Couldn't make any more progress in the second half but we did match their one goal at least with the final being a 4-1 loss.

And then my cat hit the power button on my computer just as I was about to save. Sigh. Seriously, who puts the power button for a PC on top of it? So I replay the game and of course we play much better, keep it even pretty much throughout and end up winning on penalty kicks after a 2-2 game. Nope, can't take a trophy that way, especially my first.

One more replay, a 2-0 loss this time. Good enough. So five games left, we are 7 points and 12 goal difference up on second place Bangor, 11 points and 16 goal difference up on third place Armagh. Time to get that championship and promotion.

[Tecmo]

With three games left...

And with two games left...

And the final table...

We definitely earned our promotion. And a look at our final stats...

Lots of scoring from my attackers and the rest of the squad chipped in quite a bit as well.

[Tecmo]

Looking forward, I think the squad as it stands will be good enough to stay up next season. My attackers are strong although I think Scott Hutchinson is going to be pushed down to fourth striker if he'll resign for cheap.

I love David Devlin in one MC spot but I may need to find a new ball winner on the other side. Kind of screwed up and let Stefan McMahon get signed on a precontract in January. Guess he can enjoy staying in the 2nd Division. Really liked Noel Anderson at defensive midfield but I don't really want to depend on a 37 year old player so I'll be looking for another option there too.

My central defenders are very good, young and resigned for next year. I also have a couple reserve players I'll be happy to let be their backups. Fullbacks are bit more of a question. Harkness is coming back for 100 p/w but on the left side I haven't been overwhelmed with Scott McMahon's play. I may have some younger options.

And at goalkeeper, Conor Cassidy claimed his spot as the starter in the second half. But McCoy has run his course, I'm not bringing him back as a backup. I'll see if I can find a decent veteran for that spot.

[elbilly]

Congratulations on the title win should be able to find some decent players for free who are good enough for the next level

[Tecmo]

Congratulations on the title win should be able to find some decent players for free who are good enough for the next level

Thanks! This will be an interesting offseason. Players that wouldn't consider us before are interested now, albeit with higher salary demands than I've dealt with previously. The good news is, the board almost doubled my wage bill, up to 1400 p/w instead of the 775 I had last year. Should be enough to acquire a couple good players. I don't really want to spend the entire budget given that the team is now about 500K in the red, but it's nice to have that flexibility. (They're still not paying me squat, left my salary at 375 as it has been since I was hired)

[deltablue]

Well done on such a good league win.