Quite a Few Stops Past Barking

[Wavelberry]

Due to an inability to make Europe extras work I've had to abandon a European/world tour and retire to Essex coz why go out for steak and chips when you can have hamburger at home?

With all that said the final FM16 save for me will see me take over my own AFC Hornchurch. This is a pretty simple save. I'm gonna raise youth, play with a cattenaccio formation and try and win the Robert Dyas Cup or whatever the Ryman League Cup is known as this year. 

AFC Hornchurch are an awesome side based just up from Upminster Bridge station on the District line (hence the stops past Barking ting). They  will mostly be remembered for being the 'Chelsea of non-league' about 11 years ago before it all went tits. These days they are a community club with a penchant for not liking Canvey, Billericay or Romford. With Conference South football being played at Bridge Avenue just a few seasons ago they're a team that have tasted non-league glory. Will their time come again though when headed by one of their own?

Using the EEE database with a few tweaks to bring the squad right up to 15/16 start of the season. Let's have a little dance shall we?

 

[Wavelberry]

So as I said I plan to use a Catenaccio tactic mostly based on Ackter's work back in FM14.

I don't usually go all in on tactics but I like the idea of being a right bastard team in the lower leagues so...

As you can see the formation looks beautiful. Ackter's thread is well worth a read. So far I've settled on standard CBs on stopper and cover along with a defensive RB. At LB I've gone for a Complete wing back in order to give us that width and the bombing onness that the tactic desires.

In midfield I've followed his template by having a halfback DM, a DLP in CM and a defensive winger on the right. Up front my lone striker operates a false 9 to create space but two places I have deviated from Ackter's work is at AML and AMC. Reading what he said he wanted from the players I've settled on the Inside forward at  AML and the Shadow Striker in the centre.

Obviously because it is catenaccio the team is defensive and highly structured and disciplined. 

As far as the squad is concerned it will take some work to get these players up to scratch but I'll talk about squad depth in the pre-season update.

[Wavelberry]

AFC Honrchurch: Pre-season 2015/16 

 

Right then. Having sorted out tactics my first job at Bridge Avenue was to swell the first team squad which lacked in key areas (mostly LWB , CM and CB) and get them up to scratch on the tactics.

The signings were all pretty much of back-ups or up and comers. Marc Goodfellow goes straight into the team at AMC, Freddie Warren at CM and Karlton Watson goes in at CB. Ebsworth starts off as second choice LWB and Shabir Khan is a back-up CB. Kieron Tarbie is a CM/DM for the future while kaka Dembele comes in on loand from Dartford to rpovide cover on the wings once the games start coming thick and fast.

This is the squad full of Hornchurch legends and boys looking to make a name for themselves. Elliot Styles has been captain for years and CB for years so will do both jobs again for us this season. Alex Bentley starts as the LWB and even though he can't play the position I'm confident he will retrain and thrive due to his quality passing abilities and pace. Up front is Hornchurch's strength with Tobi Joseph as IF key and Dave Knight top quality for this level. Sr Aimie might also be awesome but he has some kind of universal ban so not been able to pre-season him so Dave Knight will get the first run. Fan favourite George Purcell is benched in this formation but he can play on both wings and up front and is being retrained for the AMC role as well. His versatility will see him get plenty of games.

As this is a youth challenge early prospects are always worth keeping an eye on. There were no youth players in the U19s but the two young players in the squad Callum Chafer and the Hornchurch Messi himself Joey May are both exciting prospects.

Am hoping that Jack Collison of actuall football fame will start bring through some quality come March/April time.

As far as our squad is concerned it is a decent one and one that should challenge in the Ryman North.

And a title tilt is expected by both the press and board.

Pre-season was a mixed bag. We lost games we should and won games we should. Some lovely moments of football happened though especially one where Alex Bentley did exactly what you want a CWB to do and played a beautiful ball to David Knight to seal his hattrick.

We're all ready for the big kick off then and August is a busy month. We tkae on Cray at home at the start of the season before a derby trip to Romford and then a shift all the way up North to Dereham. We then take on Thamesmead at home and Redbridge away before facing off against Bamber Bridge in the FA Cup. The busy August finishes with Great Wakering visiting the Bridge. Phew. Right, talking is over. Let's do it.

[noikeee]

Good luck but a quick word of warning - I'm not sure playing such a specialized tactic is a great idea for a youth challenge where you won't be able to sign players to suit your needs...

I hope it comes good though because applying it to FM16 is an interesting idea (I remember Ackter's thread from then, that was a brilliant little system), and knowing FM16 an attacking wingback might well give you loads of assists by default, just not sure all the rest will gel as this match engine is such a sensitive pain.

[Nobby_McDonald]

Being in the Conference South is non league glory? That means Leek Town's season in the Conference a while back makes them a giant.

[Wavelberry]

AFC Hornchurch August 2015 Update

With @noikeee's sage warnings ringing in my ears I embarked upon my first month in my dream job imposing a system ill-suited to non-league footballers plying their trade in Essex. How would it go?

Not bad. not too bad at all. Opening day was a bust with an extremely frustrating 0-0 draw against Cray but we got two good away wins against rivals Romford and Dereham. For fans of actual Hornchurch players this was not so great though as two new signings got all the goals. I was kept waiting to sing the familiar chants against Thamesmead as well as Freddie Warren scored our next goal to level up the game, however, having Hornchurch stalwart Elliot Styles score the winner was a great moment. Guess I shouldn't complain that my signings appear to be working. Unfortunately we suffered a frustrating game against Redbridge but a well-rotated team rounded off the month well with a clinical win in the FA cup against Bamber Bridge notable for Kieron St Aimie's first goal.

Early days but joint top and unbeaten can't be sniffed at especially as both knight and Purcell were out injured most of the month giving me something of a striking crisis. As far as the tactic is concerned we seem to be very tight at the back so far which is pleasing. I reckon once players get a bit more used to their roles we could be very dangerous.

If only we could score goals like Cray or even Phoenix Sports eh? Still I'll take the tight defence so far.

September sees another raft of games as time waits for no man in non-league. We start against Great Wakering at home before a big trip to early leaders Aveley in a local ding-dong. We then have a chance to avenge the Redbridge game in surely the quickest league double header ever before two cup games with a home FA Cup tie against Arseley and then a Ryman Turvey Cup game against Tilbury. The games keep on flowing with two home ties against Barkingside and Maldon before we end the month with a trip to Cheshunt. No rest for the wicked.

At least if I get fired at the end of the season I'll always have this.

[Wavelberry]

AFC hornchurch September 2015 Update

 

As a teacher in a parallel universe September is always a busy month (except now I've moved to Scotland August is but I digress) so I was well prepared for the challenges ahead of a packed fixture list. Was the rest of the team ready for a month that included Five league games and three cup ties?

Yes, we kind of were. A pretty decent month all told although the three home draws against sides we should be beating were very frustrating. It appears the Catenaccio tactic struggles in games where teams come and park up. I've started trying to raise the mentality to counter on these home games and we did see two good home results at the end of the month. Our away performance against, at the time, top of the table Aveley was scintillating stuff.

Our one defeat of the month came in the Ryman league cup against Tilbury and while I'm not gutted to be out of the tournament it wasn't a weakened team I fielded so I was slightly concerned about the performance.

In the FA Cup we progressed to the 3rd qualifying round first of all needing a last minute thunderbastard from Freddie Warren after it looked like their last minute equaliser had earned Arlesey of Southern League Central fame a replay (and I ****ing hate replays unless it's us getting one at home to go to Old Trafford or summat) before another local derby against Romford where Junior Luke finally got off the mark for the season by scoring a hattrick. That was a satisfying win especially as it came at home where we'd struggled recently. All in all a fairly decent month.

We currently sit 5th with games in hand and more games in hand to come as we've already had two fixtures rearranged for December. Sitting pretty so far and as long as I can get the Catenaccio tactic working at home we should be right up there. Defense is looking pretty decent

Slightly quieter October starting off with two cup games. First off we go t Molesey in the FA Trophy before taking on a Northern Premier side in Dunstable in the FA cup. League duties see us on the road for most of the month with trips to Bromley, Wroxham and Maldon on the cards (oh the glamour) but eagle-eyed readers will have already circled the home game against current table-toppers and only side to beat us Tilbury as the one to watch out for. Looks like they could be our big rivals for the season.

Speaking of rivals I've done nothing but be cool as the press have tried to whip up animosity between myself and Romford manager Paul Martin. After the league game early on in the season we were both like 'there's no beef'. However, after the FA Cup thrashing...

Ooooooo. saucer of milk for Mr Martin please...

[noikeee]

I'm glad my reservations appear to be completely wrong so far. 3 conceded goals in 10 league matches is incredible.

[Wavelberry]

1 hour ago, noikeee said:

I'm glad my reservations appear to be completely wrong so far. 3 conceded goals in 10 league matches is incredible.

The goals I've conceded have mostly been down to poor defensive decision making. The system itself holds up pretty well although as I've said at home if we don't score early it can become quite difficult.

[CFuller]

I'm not sure I like this. Romford bottom of the table, and thrashed 4-0 in the FA Cup by your lot. 

Only kidding. I've got nothing against Hornchurch, and I'd quite like to see you take them back up the leagues. I'll definitely be keeping tabs on this. 

[Wavelberry]

AFC Hornchurch October 2015 Update

 

After a crazy September things settled down slightly in October but there were still many cup games. How did we get on?

First we start with the FA Cup, a battle against Dunstable and the fact that we could play forever and never get a winner. Instead the stupid FA demand pelanties so we lost out. Twice we led and twice we couldn't hold out. Looks like extra pressure means we can't defend which means we could be on to concede a shed load of goals come March. As it is though it wasn't a bad run.

We're still unbeaten in the league with a good win against Wroxham, a decent draw that I absolutely went out for against Tilbury and then a late goal from new AM Ian Daly who has been signed because of month long injuries to both my other AMs to give us a point away to Maldon. 5 out of 9 isn't awful but I could've done with the win away to Maldon. 

Meanwhile in the FA trophy we got a very creditable win away to Molesey before succumbing in disappointing fashion to Godalming. I did go for it at 2-2 with twenty mins to go because I absolutely didn't want a replay but I'm still disappointed with the 3 goals shipped.

6th place at the moment but with games in hand and our cup commitments over for another season we now have to focus and push for that title. Still well in the race for now though.

Six games have November against teams below us in the table. Anything less than 13 points will be a disaster.

Speaking of disasters poor chippy Paul Martin has been given his marching orders so a new guy a Romford to be nice about and then watch him trash me...

 

[Wavelberry]

AFc Hornchurch November 2015 Update

With the table beginning to take shape November was always going to be a key month as things settle in and let you know what type of season you're going to have...

I said we needed a minimum of 13 out of 18 to be in the hunt and that's exactly what we got. Pleasingly we got the two wins at the top of the month despite a dressing room revolt at the treatment of Keiron St Aimie. I'd not given him enough chances in the first team apparently and when I told him he could leave the rest of the players went for me. I said I didn't think he was that good, some agreed but the Hornchurch stalwarts including Elliot did not. In the end I told them all to get out. I didn't really affect performances though as we beat both Dereham and Phoenix at home. I did wonder whether we would start to fall apart after our first defeat of the season away to Thamesmead with a terrible goal conceded with Sam Mott basically just palming the ball down onto the floor and letting it roll over the line. We couldn't break them down or get back into it and we continued to be toothless in our next game away to Brightlingsea. Luckily we kept knocking on the door and I finally saw a goal worthy of this level of football when David Knight pounced on a ball from close range after a goalmouth scramble.

Our next assignment was a trip to local rivals Thurrock who we absolutely battered 0-0 before an easy 2-0 win at the end of the month and if the goal against Brightlinsea was pure Ryman North the two scored against Haringey were absolute pearlers from St Aimie and Luke. We ended the month on a high and the dressing room disquiet seems to have dissipated. Always helps when you're winning.

Second place with a game in hand over Tilbury. We're not doing too badly.

December is going to be a killer unless there is some inclement weather meaning postponements with eight league games mostly against upper midtable sides. We're going to be rotating like crazy to keep us afloat but it seems to be working for us at the moment.

So he should given the Catenaccio style we play despite the one he dropped in against Thamesmead. One interesting thing I have noticed about this system is that my RB gets the worst ratings in the team consistently which is at odds with most usual formations in this ME.

 

[Wavelberry]

Having spoken about the goals in the update above I now bring you interactive visuals courtesy of videos. Pretty sure I'm owed a Steam achievement for it but no dice.

Anyways.

 

Here is the awful goal Mott conceded against Thamesmead

Here is the scrappy Knight goal that was well Ryman North

 

And here were the two crackers from the Haringey game

 

 

Ain't modern technology grand?

[Wavelberry]

AFC Hornchurch December 2015 Update

Well I predicted postponements stopping an eight game month and so it proved after a lot of mid-December rain waterlogged the pitch at Bridge Avenue. That still meant six games for us to tackle in December. How did we get on?

A frustrating month all told. We started off with a very poor defeat at home to Bury Town. A really stinker of a performance which induced a lot of rage but we managed to go the rest of the month unbeaten albeit dropping points against Heybridge and Cheshunt (actually we earned the point against Cheshunt as we were pretty outplayed)Pleasing wins in the other three games with Tambs' hattrick against Cray from RM being a particular highlight of the month. Defensively we've been a bit leakier recently due to Elliot Styles not performing as he should. Although this is a youth challenge I will be signing someone in January as promotion is my first priority before bringing in da youth.

Still in the hunt then being two points adrift with a game in hand on Tilbury. Annoyingly we've kind of allowed them to stay out ahead. If we can put a string run together in January I reckon we can win it easily but I reckon we're going to be in for a title battle. The board want the title but I'm hoping as long as I get back to the Ryman Premier they'll be cool with it.

January becomes the month of eight games then including a weird league double header against Harlow at the end of the month. Whether the pitch at bridge Avenue stays unwaterlogged enough to allow all eight games to happen this month we shall see but we've got to be looking at 18 points or more.

Got my first job link as well but obviously as an Urchin through and through I turned it down. Conference South though. Not bad.

 

[Wavelberry]

AFC Hornchurch January 2016 Update

 

No rest in the Ryman North and a new year bought 8 games if the pitch at Bridge Avenue held out. It obviously didn't hold out, but did we?

Just the seven games then given that our Tuesday game against Romford was postponed to the following Friday due to a waterlogged pitch at the Bridge AGAIN and the fact that Romford had no other dates available given that they were five games behind everyone else. This moved the Soham game to February but we got on with it and had an unbeaten month only dropping points against Witham and bloody Barkingside. Only four goals conceded with one of them a being free-kick and another a pelanty means we're still being very tight at the back only giving away two from open play. I've signed a defender on loan as back-up but am gonna stick with what we've got till the youth intake now. Keiron is out injured for two months with a sprained ankle he picked up against Harlow but with Knighty and George Purcell as reserve we still have plenty of firepower.

And suddenly things are looking very good indeed. Tilbury had a shocking month and given that before we took them on in the doubleheader Harlow were 3rd we've opened up a massive gap on those behind us. 9 points ahead of Thurrock at this stage is excellent but we can't get complacent especially with games to come against Tilbury and Thurrock in the run in. Amusingly Thurrock look even more boring than we do with only 35 goals scored and a very decent defense but we still have the tightest backline in the league despite bad RB ratings and Elliot styles taking 1 in every 3 games off. Spare a thought for poor old Romford though who sacked Paul Martin a few months ago but have had a terrible run of games under new manager Gus Griswald and are sat bottom. They still have games in hand over those above them but might need to find their third manager of the season if they're going to survive.

After the grind of the Winter months things start to slow down with only five games in February. Matches against Soham bookend a month that see us travel to Tilbury for a game they need to win if they want to keep a title race alive. We should be aiming for 11 out of 15 here.

Doing alright and getting noticed too. Just hope we can get it over the line.

 

[Northernpilgrim]

Great start

[CFuller]

Gus Griswald is the new Romford manager? No wonder we're bottom, then! 

It's all going really well for you so far. Keep it up!

[Wavelberry]

49 minutes ago, CFuller said:

Gus Griswald is the new Romford manager? No wonder we're bottom, then! 

It's all going really well for you so far. Keep it up!

Not actually Gus Griswald but he is Gus someone and I'd closed the game before I could remember his name. I'm naming him Gus Griswald though

1 hour ago, Northernpilgrim said:

Great start

So far. So far...

[CFuller]

24 minutes ago, Wavelberry said:

Not actually Gus Griswald but he is Gus someone and I'd closed the game before I could remember his name. I'm naming him Gus Griswald though

So far. So far...

It's probably Gus Gulfer, if that message about Romford sacking Paul Martin is anything to go by. If you want to name our new manager after a Recess character, though, then feel free to do so, Gretchen... 

[Wavelberry]

AFC Hornchurch February 2016 Update

 

Five games in February. Are we going to start to choke?

Kind of. What a frustrating month that was. Two annoying draws, a sucker punch defeat and a brilliant (but annoyingly lax at the back) demolition of Tilbury. We're showing some real inconsistency at the moment and I feel I'm going to have to be hard on the underperformers if we're going to get over the line. We've been conceding too many goals for my liking recently but that's 8th division defenders for ya. 

Thurrock cut the gap to six points and are clearly our only rivals for the title now but we still have the best defence in the league despite our leaky February. The game next month is going to be huge.

Nine games to go and five of them are in March including that big match against Thurrock. Beat them then and we might well just see ourselves all but promoted as long as the rest of the month goes to plan but I've lost Ian Daly who has been in scintillating form at AM for the rest of the season which has shown us up in the last two games. We're close now, we can taste it. Also hopefully Youth intake.

Speaking of Romford, as we were, it turns out that despite them trash talking me both Gus Griswald and Paul Martin love me (and Paul loves me best of all). Craig Edwards apparently doesn't but I've not had to deal with the Billericay manager. Yet...

[Wavelberry]

AFC Hornchurch March 2016 Update

 

Nine games to go and a hige game against our closest title rivals, March was the month that would make us... But before that...

YOUT INTAKE YO!

A few decent players, mostly Goodwin, Storey and Pardew (urgh, Pardew). How did they get on against my reserves?

Well both sides went out of their way to impress me with brilliant attacking football but given that I'm a bastard Catenaccio manager this display displeases me. Stiill all got signed up coz we have no-one else and the first intake is in.

A decent month but far too many goals conceded. Still the job was done with nine from nine and a draw against Thurrock to keep us ahead. I blooded the three aforementioned youthers against Witham and suffered because...

Pards stupidly got himself sent off. At least he wasn't extra-maritaling but not a great early impression. 

Debuts had though.

Six clear with four to go means we should really be seeing this home and playing Premier League football again next season.

Two sides near the bottom and two near the top. We should really see this home.

 

 

[Northernpilgrim]

Good luck

[Wavelberry]

AFC Hornchurch April 2016 Update

Last orders then. Would we cruise to the title or flop in a heap?

Crusie it was then. The most pleasing thing was to seal the title only conceding one more goal.

We won it against Haringey so cruised home in the last two games and young Frankie Storey (YP 1.1) got MOM against Heybridge was promising. Most of the players have re-signed so we should be ready for a decent assault on the Ryman Premier. Level 7 is about to experience some Catenaccio.

Eight clear of Thurrock in the end. Notable stories are Tilbury's implosion after spending half the season top and Romford dropping back to the Essex Senior League. Hopefully Gus Griswald can get them back up next year. Bit disappointed my defence conceded  more than half a goal a game but with defenders who are average for Step 4 football I'll take only shipping 26 goals. Only Witham and Waltham in the top half scored less than we did.

 

 

 

[Wavelberry]

Bad times for Gus Griswald as Romford's relegation sees him lose his job. He were roobish.

[Wavelberry]

AFC Hornchurch 2015/16 Season Review

 

In a season where failure was not an option the pragmatic purity of Catenaccio was brought to the people of Hornchurch (well, Upminster Bridge) and lo did the people rejoice as we returned to the promised land of the Ryman Premier at the first time of asking.

Cray followed us up through the play-offs so it came to pass that the best attack and the best defence in the league got promoted. Pragmatism vs Idealism. truly we are witnessing the birth of a modern rivalry.

here are the hardy souls who have led this club back to the 7th tier of English football. I made very good use of my squad in early season and it paid off with only three players playing more than 46 games and only three more starting 40. 

The team of the year was picked thusly and it was my first choice XI so no complaints. Ian Daly (who was a late signing when both Walcott and Goodfellow were out) romped home as POTY but I don't agree with Tambs' goal being goal of the season. IMHO Junior Luke's which has been youtubed above was much better but meh, these fans don't know proper artistry in football. At least not yet anyways. Anyway Ian was one of four key players who I will divulge a little bit more about below.

Alex Bentley (CLWB) - Alex had it tough first of all because he wasn't a LWB and for the first fifteen games I kept getting told that I should 'play Alex in a more familiar position'. In the end though I was proved right as he slowly flourished as I knew he would. In this system the LWB is key so I'm very happy to see him play well and expect more of the same next year.

David Knight (F9) - Knighty was first choice striker for a bit, got bumped because Kieron St Aimie wouldn't stop whinging and then was restored once he got injured and hit 13 goals in the process. Good return from a fine player and I expect him to be leading the line next year.

Tobi Joseph (IFL) - Tobes blows hot and cold and has a bit of a personality on him but when he is hot he is hot and is very talented too. Chipped in with double figure goals and grabbed himself 6 assists as well. A good return.

Ian Daly (SS) - What can I say about Ian. he was out injured for the last few months of the season, came in midway through October \I think and still ended up POTY. A real gem of a player and makes us tick. Going to be a key man going forward next year.

So to conclude the season review we had a very good season all told. Don't agree with the best result as the 1-0 defeat of Thurrock was far more pleasing from my POV but I can agree with the Bury Town lowlight (although failing to beat Barkingside twice rankles a lot). Most of the squad except for George Purcell and Charlie Dove have signed on for next season so now all that is left is to prepare for next season. Catennacio is coming to the Ryman Premier.

But first...

STATENACCIO

Couldn't leave the review off without looking at some stats. how did we do?

First of all, as you can see, before I get into the key Catennacio stats is that we actually had the best pass completion in the league which was quite pleasing.

As well as the most possession by quite a long way. These stats surprised me slightly although I guess because we were so dominant a lot of teams were just happy to let us have the ball. It'll be interesting to see how these stats change as we progress to a higher level of football.

Obviously it is the defensive stats I am most proud of conceding just a smidge more than 0.5 goals per game. Obviously that meant we had the most clean sheets but the lapse defending of some stalwarts is something I am keeping an eye on as we go forward...

No here comes the fun part. Yes, we are the dirtiest team in the league by quite some distance making nearly twice the number of fouls of Harlow and they played an extra match.

One thing that might have caught your eye was the eye-wateringly high number of yellow cards we got. 91. NINETY-ONE! I've never seen so many. Given that I think it's quite a surprise we got five reds. Go us for playing close to the line.

As you can see Nicky Symons pretty much did most of it himself. He only made 28 appearances because he spent most of the season suspended. Good player though. Nice to see us dominate this though and young Emanuel Otira might be a transfer target...

As I said only five red cards was a surprise. Jake Pardew's was particularly impressive coming as it did just twenty minutes into his debut. Over a third of all reds dished out this season.

We are just defending ourselves though.

To add some flair here are the individual pass completion stats. Pleased with Kieron Tarbie's. He was Nicky's back-up so it's nice to know that when he inevitably gets suspended someone as good as him on the ball can take his place.

So there's your stats

In conclusion

A fine start to our Catenaccio adventure.

Woot

That's some good negotiating from Colin there.

And I have signed on for another season. The dream continues...

[Wavelberry]

Around England 2015/16

 

Obviously it wasn't just the Ryman North going on. There's a whole world out there...

We start with the division we will be going into next season and notice straight away that we'll be deprived of two local derbies in the shape of Billericay and Brentwood with both of them heading back down to the 8th tier. At the other end there will be no trip to Lewes (which is a shame, nice ground) or Tonbridge as both head to the Conference South. We will still have tasty match-up against Canvey though which is good because we hates Canvey. Also a trip to hipsters paradise Dulwich. Yay for that.

What's that? Two trips to Canvey you say and an Essex derby against Chelmsford? Looks like it as both those teams drop to the Ryman Premier. The bottom team had a Weston and will end up in whatever the farmer's equivalent of our league is. Sutton and Margate make the leap to National status.

Welling and Aldershot drop down to the Conference South while Chester and Altrincham head to the Northern version.  Cheltenham and Forest Green are promoted. Fancy that.

At the bottom York and Accrington drop into non-league as Dagenham somehow survive. Poor old John Still was getting stick throughout the season but he stayed and kept them up thus proving the immutable law of that level of football: never let go of john Still. At thhe top Pompey and Orient both broke the hundred point barrier and are joined in League One next year by Cambridge who squeaked automatic and play-off victors Plymouth. A pretty solid set of clubs going up there,

Into the league of churcn. Blackpool continue their self-immolation and are joined by Shrewsbury, Crewe and Gillingham meanwhile FM starts to deviate from reality as Sheffield United get comfortably promoted. Good news for Lancashire though as both Wigan and Oldham join them for a jaunt in the Championship .

Charlton somehow don't get relegated so instead poor Huddersfield join Bolton and a really rubbish Preston. At the top there a no surprises as Boro take the title ahead of Cardiff and QPR. Think Rangers would've been miffed at not going up but they succeeded in the play-offs. Tidy.

Into the promised land and Sunderland's luck ran out big style as they contrived to be even worse than Villa. Bournemouth didn't have enough in the tank and head back to the 2nd tier. At the top reality as we know it is all bent out of shape as Wenger's Arsenal actually do the impossible. What is the world? Man City and Chelsea join them in the Champions League next year while Man Utd jam the fourth spot away from an unlucky Everton who will now face a world where Martinez is still good at his job and Thursday night trips to Eastern Europe. Joining them are fellow Scouse side Liverpool and Tottenham rounds out quite a boring top seven. Give me last year's league over this abomination. Dilly ding, dilly dong.

Arsenal did a League and League Cup double. looked a thriller.

Everton cost Pellegrini his job in an even more enthralling FA Cup final.

The LDV Alan Johnson trophy or whatever it was called (and luckily in it's pure form forever on FM16) was won by the Posh.

Grimsby won the FA Trophy.

While the Ryman League Cup was won by Canvey in what looked the most exciting final of the lot.

What a season.

[Wavelberry]

Youth Prospect update Summer 2016

Yes, it is a youth challenge. My aim is to bring the youth through. in order to maintain enjoyability and non-firing I will only sign players if no youth prospect is available early on. That said, there are a few youth prospects I've tagged so let's have a gander at 'em.

2016 Intake

Michael Goodwin (YP 1.1) - The most promising looking of the intake and looks a direct replacement for Junior Luke. Given my issues at RB meaning I will want to use Tambs there a bit more he should get a lot of game time next season.

Frankie Storrie (YP 1.2) - Scored his first goal for the club against Brightlingsea and looked good playing in the SS role in the ggames he had at the back end of the season. With Marc Goodfellow retiring he will be understudy to both Daly and Walcott and he may find himself playing up front if an injury crisis abounds. He should expect game time next seaosn.

Jake Pardew (YP 1.3) - ah Jake. Marked his debut by getting sent off which is very unlike a Pardew to act first and think of the consequences later. Anyways he played the last game of the season too and has fallen out with Nicky Symons who I asked to tutor him so a great start. Very much down the pecking order atm especially with Hornchurch Messi Joey May hanging around. Would be 4th choice for a CM berth at the moment but with the crazy schedule of non-league I'm sure he'll get playing time.

The others are left in the U18s for now and will get tagged if called to the First XI. Not sure there's much else in that intake though although there is a goalkeeper who I've got Sam Mott tutoring who looks a bit tasty. That's yer lot for now though.

[Wavelberry]

I wonder how many Teams of the Year have not had one player from the Champions?

So shocked was he by this blatant snub by the bigwigs and elites there was only one course of action for him. 

Solidarity Arsene

[Wavelberry]

AFC Hornchurch Season 2016/17 Pre-season Update.

Fresh from a Summer of angry phone calls to those who picked the Ryman North team of the year and a sit-in protest with Arsene Wenger the most unloved group of players in non-league are back together for a crack at the 7th tier of English football.

A pretty decent pre-season with just the one defeat to Walsall which is pretty excusable. The early draw against Dover was welcome while the 3-0 demolition of mid-table Conference South side Eastbourne Borough (and it was my Second XI who played for 70 minutes) was an outstanding display. Some of the old set-piece issues still remain but I  an't not concede ever so five goals in nine games with three of them being against higher division opponents suggests that the Catenaccio formation is as robust as ever. Knighty had a good pres-season which was heartening but we lost Tobi Joseph and Keiron St Aimie early on to injury. Both are back now but will take a while to get up to form.

The transfers are in areas where upgrades were desperate. Jake Phillips is a 20yo CB and eventual replacement for the games Elliot decides to go missing, Tyler Reeve is a RB to make up for Dave Collis iminent depature while Tony Garrod was a late signing to cover for Tobi's injury and because I lost George Purcell. Charlie Dove decided to leave as well while two U18s have already gone out on loan.

First XI only has the one change with Phillips in to defence. Otherwise business as usual.

Second XI has two youth players in and scope for more if Joey May or Walcott are injured. With the manic start to the season you get in non-league I have a feeling we're going to need everyone.

Predicted mid-table then. The board want top half and I think we've got a decent chance of it. The two relegated sides along with Dulwich are favourites.

Manic bloody August then. Just take a look at that fixture list and weep for the horrors your physio is going to see. We start against last season's Ryman South Champions and favourites for the drop Royston which I'm hoping we'd win before settling in for some early 'midtable' clashes. The derby against Grays and the Bank Holiday clash against Kingstonian look like tasty clashes but it's an unyeilding start to the season. We'll be without Alex Bentley for three games too which is a blow due to suspensions from last season. I'd be happy with 13 points from 8 games.

Finally, Goodfellow retired so I offered him the role of U18s Manager and he took it. The club is being cast in my image but will it be a successful one in the Ryman Premier? Let's go big time and find out.

[Wavelberry]

AFC Hornchurch August 2016 Update

 

The Ryman Premier, non-league football in particular, comes at you hard. If you're not ready then you can be dead and buried before August is at an end. The last time Hornchurch were in that league it took them till October to win a game...

A mixed month on the face of it but 11 points isn't a terrible return from a punishing start to the season but it doesn't tell anywhere near the whole story. We won our first game of the season against Royston with a typical Hornchurch performance but unfortunately lost David Knight to a knee ligament injury. Three months out for Knighty but I wasn't too worried as I still had Kieron St Aimie. He socred in our next game but some slack defending from Paul Goodacre allowed Bognor to nick a winner. Then Grays beat us late with an offside goal and suddenly we looked a bit vulnerable. We tightened up for the next two home games and should really have beaten both but St Aimie was in poor form and missed easy chances. We then looked on for a point at Hampton before Elliot gave away a god awful pelanty four minutes from time. We lost that one and were suddenly five without a win. Bad times.

Worse times as Kieron picked this moment to pipe up. I told him honestly that he'd been playing a bit crap and needed to play better if he wanted the club to do better. This went down like a lead balloon. Team meeting was called and I told the players to buck it up. Half agreed but half (and Elliot was one) didn't. Kieron went to the press so I did the only thing I could do. I fined and him and slung him in the reserves.

Karlton Watson then came and complained and said he didn't see a future for himself at the club. Bad times.

I did the only thing I could do though. trust the system and go out and what do you know two games later we've scored 5, conceded 0 and the old Hornchurch look back. Two very good performances especially the one against Kingstonian given they are a good side and it came just 48 hours after the Hendon result. The upshot is that morale is now back up. Karlton Watson won't speak to me and is unhappy but it's not affecting his performances while Tambs, Elliot and a few others are supportive of Kieron but no-one vital seems to be. Hopefully if we continue the good form they'll drop the concerns and we can get back to what we do best. Crisis averted for now. Kieron St Aimie though can rot in the reserves for all I care though. He is finished here.

Pretty decent start really all told. New league, relentless number of games etc. I'm more than happy with 11 points and it puts us in a position to reallly start to play well once the fixture list has settled down and we don't have a game every six minutes and a lot of rotation is needed.

Look at how chilled September is compared to August. Also there are ten whole days at the end of the month without any bloody matches. Never mind though. We start the month with an away trip to pre-season favourites Chelmsford who are floundering in 19th at the moment. Puts our start as a newly promoted team into bloody perspective doesn't it? After that Burgess Hill are at the Bridge and they've started well, we also invite Staines to the Bridge and have a tough away trip to hipster's paradise at the end of the month. Sandwiched between all of that we get our FA Cup journey underway with a trip to Paulton. Let's hope for a quieter month eh?

[Sean Blinkhorn]

Just spotted this thread and will be keeping a keen eye out for your progress. 

Hornchurch itself has become a regular haunt for me - attached is my visit to THE STADIUM back in November. One day in the distant future AFC may even become my local side!

Well played so far. Up the Urchins!

[Wavelberry]

Ah, a Riverside dweller. Take a journey up to the Eastside next time you're there. You won't regret it.

[Sean Blinkhorn]

2 hours ago, Wavelberry said:

Ah, a Riverside dweller. Take a journey up to the Eastside next time you're there. You won't regret it.

The terracing on the other side of the members bar? As it's where the noise all comes from - I'll have to indulge!

[Wavelberry]

Have just signed up to Twitch and may Twitch some of this save. I'm quite a sweary and ragey player of FM though so not sure how successful this would be.

[Wavelberry]

3 minutes ago, Sean Blinkhorn said:

The terracing on the other side of the members bar? As it's where the noise all comes from - I'll have to indulge!

Absolutely. We're a very welcoming bunch

[CFuller]

12 hours ago, Wavelberry said:

Have just signed up to Twitch and may Twitch some of this save. I'm quite a sweary and ragey player of FM though so not sure how successful this would be.

I'll be sure to stop by if I come across you.

It's a shame about Knight getting injured, as he's a prolific striker in the Isthmian League. I had him on loan briefly in the first season of my Romford career on FM13 and he performed very well, getting 9 goals in 15 games. I'd say 13 in 38 league games for you last season isn't too shabby a record, either.

Hopefully Knight will return from his injury in even better form. As for St Aimie, just kick him out or let him rot. You don't need his sort around your club.

[noikeee]

This is going pretty nicely. Couldn't have asked for more than 1st in the first season, and midtable ain't bad for a promoted club. I reckon your sweary, ragey style of promotion is motivating the players well enough.

[Wavelberry]

14 hours ago, noikeee said:

This is going pretty nicely. Couldn't have asked for more than 1st in the first season, and midtable ain't bad for a promoted club. I reckon your sweary, ragey style of promotion is motivating the players well enough.

If only they could actually hear me.

I reckon we might beat last season's yellow card haul as well.

[Nobby_McDonald]

Well done winning the league Wavelberry.

[jWaSiMhE]

Always great to see a save played out with the file. Like the formation. Keep it up!