[FM20] Youth Academy Challenge with Nuneaton Boro

[Motlhen]

June 2020

   

 

July 2020

The below is a mix of friendlies across our main, u23 & u18 squads.
I have been taking charge across all matches to try to find the core of the side for our first competitive matches, plus any prospects to keep an eye on.

We're predicted to be relegated.
Although considering Man Utd were priced at 28-1 to win the EPL at the start of the 19/20 season, I'll take 22-1 for promotion!

   

We lost our best player at the turn of the seasons as he wanted an increase on the £1.4k p/w wage, which was already double that of the second highest player.

 

August 2020

Time to see who will become key. This is our set up for the first league game:

 

 

Vanarama National League North - Matchday 1

& we got off to a winning start!

Andoh got the first goal by muscling his way through a couple of challenges in the box before slotting home from 4 yards out.

Playing Blackham was a risk at BWM and it was his misplaced long ball cross-field that led to the first goal scored against us.

He was subsequently replaced by Pratt, who is a very exciting youngster.

But it was another substitute, veteran Nigel "King" Julien, who came on to make the difference, slotting in Kelly-Evans for what would be the winning goal.

 

Vanarama National League North - Matchday 2

Pratt came in for Blackham at BWM as the only personnel switch for the second game.
Kettle has been switched to a NCB rather than a BPD at the back too.

And in a game we dominated, we eventually made the scoreline reflect the performance.

Benbow with a brace, although he should've bagged a hattrick!

Dev Kev (Devon Kelly-Evans) got the other goal; a 95th minute punt that the 'keeper fumbled into the corner of the net.
Standout performances by WB Obeng & BBM Byrne helped us keep the 'nil' part of the scoreline.

 

 

Vanarama National League North - Matchday 3

Same setup, very different result.

York are a better side than Warrington (predicted 3rd compared to 23rd) & we matched them in a mediocre last 75 mins for both sides.
Unfortunately though, we didn't turn up for the first 15 and couldn't get back into the game.

GK Belford kept the scoreline at just 2-0 as our attackers squandered any chance we had of getting back into the game.

 

Vanarama National League North - Matchday 4

We set up with the same lineup, looking for a response against bottom side Kidderminster.
& boy, did we get one!

Andoh, Benbow & Powell were all on deadly form, with an assist each as well as the goals scored.
16yo Lee Pratt put in a solid performance after a shaky start- this performance will hopefully curb some of his nerves.

 

Vanarama National League North - Matchday 5

Next up was a tough match against Darlington.
& we conceded in 23 seconds and never recovered..

Benbow continued his good goal scoring form with a consolation, but Powell & Andoh were shut down on our wings.
Dev Kev was isolated as our advanced playmaker and we couldn't get a flow to our attacking play.

 

Vanarama National League North - Matchday 6

Next up were fierce, local rivals Tamworth.
After some trash-talking in the press conferences it was up to the players to decide who went home with more than just 3 points.

A superb second half performance saw us run away winners, helped by a rare goal from CB & captain Addison.
Benbow, Powell & Andoh were again the 3 standout performers.

 

Vanarama National League North - Matchday 7

Pratt's performances have been sub-par overall & he was in the team as would-be first choice Goddard was out with a long-term injury.
After appearing and impressing in some of the U23/18 fixtures, he's ready to feature from the start for the first team and is the only change for the last game of the month.

Benbow & Byrne took hold of the game, only for us to lapse in concentration at 2-0 up.
After some stern words at HT, the same duo stepped up to ensure another 4-2 victory.

 

 

A superb start to our tenure with Benbow hitting more goals than games & Byrne following up with superb performances at BBM to claim 1st & 2nd in the PotM awards.

We've lost to two of three teams who are unbeaten so far in the league.

Some may look at this as 4 points from top of the league or 4 points off of dropping out of the playoff spots.
What do I see? 10 points clear of the relegation zone!

 

Edited June 12, 2020 by Motlhen

[deez0r]

Good luck with this, always a difficult type of save to do. I am doing the same but with Chelsea and my issues are probably polar opposites to you in that my players complain because of no squad depth and the clubs vision has sign high profile players. 

[Motlhen]

September 2020

The finances are looking healthy for now.
We'll be looking to take advantage of any income by investing that money back into the facilities at the club.

 

 

Vanarama National League North - Matchday 8

As there was no significant difference in performance last match by Goddard & I'd prefer to continue to see Pratt progress, he's back in the XI.
King Julien comes in for the injured Dev Kev.

And Goddard comes off the bench to stake his claim!
But Byrne steals the show from BBM with two thunderbolt strikes as we overturn an early deficit against very decent opposition.
 

 

Vanarama National League North - Matchday 9

Goddard for Pratt is the only change to the starting XI.

I've also stuck another 16yo on the bench: Joe Huddart.
He's been playing well in the youth teams and with Dev Kev & Edmunds still out injured, he could get a chance to shine from the subs bench.

 

A very frustrating match, where we dominated the ball but couldn't break them down.
Once they scored a goal on the break, we turned to the 4-2-2-2 formation below with Huddart up front & Florence on the wing.
Huddart had the chance of the game but blazed it straight at the 'keeper. Benbow was absent all game.

 

With this appearance Huddart claims the youngest player record from Pratt.

 

 

Vanarama National League North - Matchday 10

Next up is a promotion-spot clash with Boston Utd.
Dev Kev is back in at AP with veteran King Julien ruling the squad from his throne on the bench.

Our wing backs played poorly & we ended up chasing the game with King Julien & Florence on from the bench as advanced wing-backs & with the whole team pushing forward we still did not manage to create a decisive chance. Benbow has gone off the boil & goals have dried up from our midfielders too.

 

 

Vanarama National League North - Matchday 11

After winning 3-in-a-row, we will not have won in 3 if we don't overcome our next opponents.
Luckily for us, we are facing second-from-bottom Curzon Ashton.

Florence & Huddart both drop off the bench as Edmunds & backup striker Dubidat come in.
King Julien can play in any position on either wing & his versatility will make him key as the games come thick and fast.

We saw immediately why Curzon are struggling. A free-kick floating way out of play at the back post was drilled across his own goal by a defender. The ball met Benbow's face, despite his best efforts to get out of the way and by complete fluke his 3-game goal drought was over!

 

 

 

FA Cup - 2nd Qual. Rnd

Without a win in 3, the FA Cup provides a healthy break from the league.. so long as we win & go through.

Edmunds comes in to the starting lineup for his first appearance in place of Powell & Pratt comes in for Goddard.

Andoh got a brace either side of half time & their goal from their only piece of decent forward play.
We fought off an upset in a game that was much too close for comfort with Edmunds getting a goal on his debut to secure the win.

 

 

FA Youth Cup - 1st Qual. Rnd

Next up is the Youth cup.
I have been managing our U23's & U18's with the same set of players:

 

In friendlies we can use the full back up squad (above), but for the cup we are limited to two U19's & the remainder must be U18.
Meaning our squad will be the following, plus trialists (greyed out players).

 

Pratt & Huddart have featured in the first team squad already this season. But we also have the following youth:

GK Mike Bennett who has conceded only 5 goals & has more clean sheets than starts!

CB Luke Thompson who's led the line at the back, coming up with a few goals too.

Dickenson-Bond at LWB.

Salvadoran Vijay Seenath at CM.

& David Redmond who has been prolific non-competitively on the left wing.

 

In a match we dominated, after Huddart missed a penalty, Dickenson-Bond put in a cross from deep & Williams the trial (greyed out) striker got on the end of it to get the victory.

 

 

Vanarama National League North - Matchday 12

Edmunds keeps his place in the first team on the right wing with both King Julien & Powell on the bench as we look to get back to winning ways.

We made it harder for ourselves than it needed to be 3-0 up with less than 10 mins to go.
But we held on after a late quick-fire double to claim a massive 3 points!

 

 

Vanarama National League North - Matchday 13

No changes ahead of the next match as we continue to trust youngster Pratt ahead of Goddard at BWM.
I believe that the first team selection below is our strongest XI:

A loss in probably the worst performance to date.
We created very little & we were lucky it was only 2-0.

 

 

We are still in the promotion spots but we have slipped to 7th.
& we are now 11 points off of the relegation zone, only 1 point better than at the end of last month!

[Motlhen]

On 12/06/2020 at 09:25, deez0r said:

Good luck with this, always a difficult type of save to do. I am doing the same but with Chelsea and my issues are probably polar opposites to you in that my players complain because of no squad depth and the clubs vision has sign high profile players. 

Thanks! I have seen in the main YAC thread that it has been extremely difficult to compete in this challenge in England this year, so I am taking it slow & going into much more detail than usual to ensure we have the best chance possible of longevity.

Yep, none of those issues here! I am worried about generating quality youth fast enough to replace our aging squad, which I imagine you must be going through too!? I will check out your thread at some point to see where you're up to

[deez0r]

56 minutes ago, Motlhen said:

Thanks! I have seen in the main YAC thread that it has been extremely difficult to compete in this challenge in England this year, so I am taking it slow & going into much more detail than usual to ensure we have the best chance possible of longevity.

Yep, none of those issues here! I am worried about generating quality youth fast enough to replace our aging squad, which I imagine you must be going through too!? I will check out your thread at some point to see where you're up to

Yes I am trying to move on older players where there is a surplus in certain positions such as centre mid. My challenge is easier at the beginning but will become more difficult if I don't get intakes in certain positions and the club expect titles! For your intakes I would use PA if using editor rather than pay too much attention to star ratings! 

[Motlhen]

21 hours ago, deez0r said:

Yes I am trying to move on older players where there is a surplus in certain positions such as centre mid. My challenge is easier at the beginning but will become more difficult if I don't get intakes in certain positions and the club expect titles! For your intakes I would use PA if using editor rather than pay too much attention to star ratings! 

I am aware of how misleading the star ratings can be, especially at a small club with rubbish staff! I don't use the editor to get CA/PA so I'll have to rely on performances and progress through training to find out who the stars of the team will be. I'm a few pages into your thread now- awesome start & plenty of apps for the youth so far! Interested to see how you fill the gap in positions you don't have the best prospects for

[deez0r]

Yeah its the only reason I use the editor, my 2nd intake the supposed 2nd best player by star rating dropped to 2nd bottom with actual PA. It is a bit strange how it can be that far out! 

In terms of my team I am lucky enough that I seem to have cover for most areas, maybe not to a great level but at least decent squad players in each position. I do love the challenge of developing youth players though as you get great satisfaction. 

[Motlhen]

1 hour ago, deez0r said:

Yeah its the only reason I use the editor, my 2nd intake the supposed 2nd best player by star rating dropped to 2nd bottom with actual PA. It is a bit strange how it can be that far out! 

In terms of my team I am lucky enough that I seem to have cover for most areas, maybe not to a great level but at least decent squad players in each position. I do love the challenge of developing youth players though as you get great satisfaction. 

That's surprising! I assumed your PA would be more accurate with better scouts!? I haven't even got to my first intake yet, but when I do I'll make sure to check all profiles rather than rely on the star ratings

[Nobby_McDonald]

Good start Motlhen.

[Motlhen]

October 2020

Finances are looking healthy.

 

FA Cup - 3rd Qual. Rnd

Luke Thompson comes in to the starting lineup at CB for his first appearance.
Pratt is still preferred over Goddard for what should be a routine win.

& a routine win is what we got!
Sub Dubidat got his first goal to round off a decent performance.

 

 

FA Youth Cup - 2nd Qual. Rnd

We're using the same starting XI (incl. greyed out players) as the 1st round.

A very dominating performance, especially after going 1-0 down.
Fortunately each of the goals scored by greyed out player Williams' was assisted by one of our youth prospects.
Redmond got 2 goals & him & Huddart gave stand out performances.

 

 

Vanarama National League North - Matchday 14

Captain Addison comes back into the starting lineup along with Goddard as the youth players are still not in top condition after the Youth Cup victory.

A poor performance from every player today.
We are struggling for a leader who can pick the team up and drag them forward.

 

FA Cup - 4th Qual. Rnd

Back to the FA Cup and we have National League opponents Harrogate.
Should be our toughest fixture so far this season.
Goddard's experience keeps his place ahead of Platt.

We've only gone and made the 1st round proper!
Benbow was clinical where their strikers were not.
We were perhaps lucky that they went down to 10-men, as it made it much harder for them to get back into the game.

£18.75k for progressing too.

 

 

FA Youth Cup - 3rd Qual. Rnd

Another cup game & another start for the same youth XI that have impressed so far.

Again Williams (grey player) on the scoresheet, but Huddart made all the difference by grabbing the winner in a tight affair.

 

 

Vanarama National League North - Matchday 15

Andoh has been told in no uncertain terms that he must improve on dismal form of late. This will be his last start for a while if he puts in another substandard performance:

Another loss in the league making it 3-in-a-row.
 

 

I've started on a coaching course at the same time as our GK Coach Jussi Jaaskelainen.

 

 

Vanarama National League North - Matchday 16

We are on a 3-match losing streak & are up against Guisely in the relegation zone.
Andoh has been replaced by Powell after a string of poor form with young defender Luke Thompson's good form for the reserves and cup cameo's earning himself place on the bench ahead of old head Hood.

We conceded both our goals from set pieces and Dev Kev was the only one who looked like he wanted to make a difference.
Our build up play is really good, but we are struggling with conversion of chances created.

 

 

Vanarama National League North - Matchday 17

Powell keeps his spot, as does Goddard, but the latter is only due to Pratt picking up a yellow card suspension.
Youngster Jack Black comes in on the bench in Pratt's place.
Addison & Kettle have been switched over as I think Kettle is better on the ball (CD) with Addison being restricted to a no-nonsense defender.

Up against another team in the relegation zone, now on a four match unbeaten run.
We have to end our poor form here!

2-0 up early on & we looked golden, but we buckled in on ourselves & allowed them to overturn the advantage.
We're winless in 5 in the league. Something needs to change.

 

 

We're now out of the promotion playoffs and only 6 points from the relegation zone.

Edited June 16, 2020 by Motlhen

[Motlhen]

November 2020

 

 

FA Youth Cup - 1st Rnd

The youngsters line up against a far superior side, this could be embarrassing.

A great turnaround to come away with a surprise victory on a bad off day for Wigan.
Greyed out Plant got both goals, one from each wing. Our youth players held their own, but no one stood out.

 

 

FA Cup - 1st Rnd

Drawing League One side Peterborough was a tough blow to our chances of getting further in our cup run.
I don't expect us to get anything from this match, I just hope it doesn't get embarrassing.

An unsurprising scoreline in a game that was much closer.
We're out, but we put up a fight. There's no shame in this defeat.

 

 

Vanarama National League North - Matchday 18

Pratt comes back in to central midfield with Huddart earning a spot on the bench ahead of Dubidat.
Benbow has been swapped from a pressing forward to an advanced forward & we are now focusing more of our play to the flanks.
Addison has been switched to a stopper behind BBM Byrne with Kettle providing the last line of defence if they get past our BWM.

 

..but we went one-nil down early on, were being dominated & so I switched to this:
- More emphasis on the full backs
- Segundo Volante running from deep leaving a deep back 3

 

We managed to get back to level terms twice with the new formation.

 

 

FA Youth Cup - 2nd Rnd

Same youth team taking on another potential upset.

But it was made much harder by a first half red card & we never came close to giving them a game.
Can't be disappointed with the Youth Cup progress this term though.

 

 

Vanarama National League North - Matchday 19

We'll continue to use the secondary formation for the next match.
Goddard in for Pratt who has been involved with the youth squad.

An early deficit was rescued late on with Edmunds coming up with a goal.
Not losing is great, but we have to turn these draws into wins now.

 

 

FA Trophy - 3rd Qual. Rnd

A huge opportunity to get into the first round.
Spennymoor are struggling in the relegation zone & this is a massive opportunity to end a very unwanted run of form.

Never mind.

 

 

Vanarama National League North - Matchday 20

We have an opportunity against Merthyr, another promoted team, to really push for our first win in ages!
We're sticking with the same formation, Pratt's back in the starting lineup.
Young CB Thompson comes in for the suspended Addison.

We absolutely dominated this game & we let up after getting a late breakthrough to allow them to equalise.
Again, we've relied on Benbow.

 

 

A hugely disappointing month.
Only 4 points away from the relegation spots now.

*table below includes first game of December (whoops!)

Edited June 18, 2020 by Motlhen

[Motlhen]

December 2020

The finances continue to improve & I'll be using this to try to convince the board to invest in our facilities in the new year.

 

 

Vanarama National League North - Matchday 21

Addison has come back in to the starting lineup & we're sticking with King Julien at LWB as Sharpe has been in dreadful form after arguing that my team talks should be better & not liking me telling him to concentrate on his football. Now he's out of the starting XI, maybe he'll listen?

For 75 minutes we were the better team, but one of their first attacks resulted in a goal & we conceded again pushing forward for an equaliser.

 

 

We are in desperate need of the first influx of players to provide new options to the squad.
Hopefully we won't be reliant on the "golden generation" to save us from relegation.

 

 

Vanarama National League North - Matchday 22

We stick with the same lineup as we did play well and were perhaps unfortunate last time out.

Addison & Edmunds got us off to a flying start before a second half capitulation.
A really disheartening result and another game where we did not perform how we have proved we can for a full 90 minutes.

 

 

Vanarama National League North - Matchday 23

I have made some tactical tweaks again ahead of the next fixture.
Sharpe comes back in at LWB.

We are too reliant on Benbow to score, so Dev Kev has been turned pressing forward.
We have also reduced our attacking width to allow Andoh & Edmunds to get closer to goal.

& Dev Kev comes up with a HUGE 92nd minute winner to end our run of 10 games without a win!

 

 

Vanarama National League North - Matchday 24

We are going to stick with the same lineup, but we're up against 2nd place Halifax so I don't expect us to get much out of the game here.

As expected they outplayed us in the first half and the game was over in a 20-min period.

 

 

  

We didn't have a good month, but we have had a better month than the relegation zone teams and are now 6 points clear.
This is the first month the difference has grown since the first month of the season.

12 points off of the promotion playoff spots & the good start we experienced seems a lifetime ago now.

[Motlhen]

January 2021

Contracts have been sorted for everyone apart from two players:

Dev Kev refused to take a wage below £1k p/w & the daunting feeling of him leaving is making me think that we may have to match his demands when he is ready to open negotiations again.
The other player is LWB Sharpe who has featured prominently all season but is unhappy with my leadership of the team.

Who do you think we should play at LWB?

We have quite a few players that can play at LB, but none are as good as Sharpe:

King Julien can (and has) played at LWB, but at 35yo he won't ever be more than a backup.
Ashley Beddow is rated highly by my coaching staff, but I don't think he is up to the grade.
Jude Adebayo will probably feature if Sharpe does leave at the end of the season.
Ty Florence has featured as a promising youngster, but is not great defensively, if at all.
And we have 16yo Dickenson-Bond who has played well for the U23's & U18's so far, but is some way off consistent first team action.

[Motlhen]

Jan 2020 continued...

 

Vanarama National League North - Matchday 25

Same starting XI against Guiseley in the relegation zone.
Hopefully this will show the attacking intent of the tactic.

Oh man, we were bad.
14 shots, one on target.
3 conceded against a team struggling for goals all season.

 

 

Vanarama National League North - Matchday 26

We need to stop conceding. Time to switch to a back 5.

Thompson is our next best CB after showing signs of progress we've switched to the tactic below:

*Jack Black comes onto the bench in place of the suspended Pratt.
 

Another annoying loss, but not bad for the first match with this tactic.

 

Up next are Gloucester (21st) & Curzon Ashton (24th).

Both are must win games.

 

 

Vanarama National League North - Matchday 27

Jack Black comes in for Thompson as I believe Black is a much better CB even though he is 3 years Thompson's junior, despite what my coaches think!

A terrible performance from everyone apart from Byrne who made the scoreline look respectable.

 

 

Some good news!

 

 

Vanarama National League North - Matchday 28

The Curzon Ashton game was postponed, so instead of facing bottom of the league, we're up against top of the league York City.

A tight loss in a close game. Much better performance, but we still haven't gained any points in the last 5 games.

 

 

Vanarama National League North - Matchday 29

We're expecting another tough match today.

& we're back to being rubbish!
We missed a few sitters to make the scoreline somewhat respectable.
Back to the drawing board.

 

 

A terrible month.

We've got to come up with something that works soon otherwise relegation will be a certainty.

[Nobby_McDonald]

Post Christmas blues it seems.

[Sheriff7]

In situations like this I speak to every player personally and try give some boost to their morale by using the praise for his conduct choice.Good luck there!