FM23 - Conquering the 92

[KibworthBull]

After a few long term save ideas that have failed to shine, rather than go head first into another long term one, I'll go for one that is relatively tame in comparing.

Welcome to Conquering the 92.

The idea is simple. In one save, can I beat all 92 clubs that make up the English Professional Football League system (Premier down to League 2).

• Season 1 - 5 of the 92
• Season 2 - 

A few things of note:

• Every year 2 of the 92 will change as 2 teams drop out of the league and 2 come in - possibly 1 or 2 of them being clubs already ticked off if I am a few years into the save. The save will only complete when all of the 92 are ticked off.
• I can move jobs as often as I wish - sacked, resigned, doesn't matter. There is no loyalty in this save.
• My manager has the required skills and experience for a League Two standard job. I've only got the 4 leagues loaded - as far as I am concerned, nothing below exists.
• Only victories within 90 (or 120 minutes) count - If I beat them on penalties, then it doesn't count
• I have gone on holiday until the 9th December to see what is there and will start applying for unemployed jobs.

 

Edited December 14, 2022 by KibworthBull
season update

[KibworthBull]

The job search.

• Interview with Portsmouth, they went for Ole Gunnar Solskjaer
• Applied for Crystal Palace, they laughed it off and went for Claudio Ranieri
• Newcastle United were very dismissive of my application... wonder why.. Didier Deschamps got the nod
• West Ham United felt I would have been an acceptable fit.. but never put me on the shortlist, 
• Stevenage, attended the interview..
• Gillingham, attended the interview...
• Cambridge United simply ran out of time..

A busy January but a fruitful one..

It's time to start this mother...

[KibworthBull]

February 2023

We sit on Day 1, 91st out of the 92. Remember what I said about not having the levels below loaded and two go down. This could be a short stay at the Lamex.

Our first opponent, Bradford City leave with a point. Danny Rose scoring the first goal of my tenure, late on.

Valentine's Day. A date with Destiny. And Sol Campbell. Who somehow is back in the managerial game, and at Newport County. We were the side most likely to get something, but we didn't manage it.

Stockport are well set on the play-offs, no change from that one.

Tranmere came to town and BOOM!!! Luke Norris got the goal, but Taye Ashby-Hammond was the hero, our keeper on loan from Fulham, made 9 saves and deserved his man of the match award. Most importantly, that's 1.09% of the 92 ticked off..

5 points picked up in the month. We've halved the gap

[Punch]

Fun idea! Good luck 

[Muttley84]

8 hours ago, KibworthBull said:

Remember what I said about not having the levels below loaded and two go down.

Pretty sure if you relegate and don't get sacked National gets activated automatically... at least in was the case in previous editions.

[KibworthBull]

11 hours ago, Punch said:

Fun idea! Good luck 

Thanks!

[KibworthBull]

4 hours ago, Muttley84 said:

Pretty sure if you relegate and don't get sacked National gets activated automatically... at least in was the case in previous editions.

Time will tell..

although the board have said they'll sack me if we get relegated..

[phnompenhandy]

You do come up with cracking ideas for saves - even if you don't stick with them. Man after my own heart there

Will follow until such time ....

[KibworthBull]

April 2023

It's a fairly long trip up to Rochdale, especially with 3 injuries and skipper Carl Piergianni suspended. They sit 19th so very much a winnable tie. Harvey Saunders, on-loan from Bristol Rovers bagged two and we have ticked off our 2nd. We are out of the relegation zone.

Walsall are a completely different animal. 4th in the table and we ran them close but ultimately we lost.

Carlisle in 19th is a trek and with Dan Sweeney sent off could have been a defeat but we hung on for a draw. Doncaster win so we are back in the red. 8 games next month. The key month.

Free Agent Enock Asante adds to our striker depth. Our 5th best striker but has a lot of potential - he's part of the Ghana U23 set up too

[KibworthBull]

19 minutes ago, phnompenhandy said:

You do come up with cracking ideas for saves - even if you don't stick with them. Man after my own heart there

Will follow until such time ....

Guilty as charged...

[deltablue]

Good luck with the relegation battle.

[KibworthBull]

3 minutes ago, deltablue said:

Good luck with the relegation battle.

Thanks. The CV is dusted off just in case...

[KibworthBull]

April 2023

Big month. Starts with an international break, so we did some slightly showery training in Stevenage. No warm weather luxury round here.

If we do survive then Callum Ainley will be a key player for us next season, signed for the grand total of £750 from Crewe Alex. He joins up in July.

2 nil down at Sixfields and the knives were sharpening, but we showed some fight and clawed back a point.

Salford City is a game in hand. HUGE!!!! Taye Ashby-Hammond saved a penalty before Luke Norris converted one of our own. Second half goals made it comfy. Hartlepool (24th) won but we are 3pts clear of the drop.

We were within 5 minutes from beating Colchester United, but had to settle for a point.

We travelled to Hartlepool next. The loser probably gets relegated. Luke Norris looks deadly from the spot. 3 goals in 3 games. Another ticked off.

AFC Wimbledon are cruising to the League Two title.. At time's we've been lucky, but in this one we were fab-u-lus.. Luke Norris. 5 goals in 4 games.

6 points clear of Doncaster Rovers, who come down next. Enock Asante could have become a hero - he sadly though, missed a 91st minute penalty. The win would have secured our safety.

Doncaster are certainly fighting a good fight - they win 4-1 as we draw at Mansfield.

There is something about us when we face a team about to win promotion. Crushed Grimsby Town and we are safe!!!

Youth Intake has produced one half decent talent - Paddy Kennedy. Quick, can finish and fairly brave.

[KibworthBull]

May 2023

AND Breathe...

This is what we inherited. 4 points behind. We survived on the 45th game. All up to Barrow for a party.

A bit of a non event - both Barrow goals were within a minute. 

The most significant moment was...

A 20th placed finish

Luke Norris got 19 goals, 8 of which in April - that's the difference.

The most important stat from the 15 game season we had.. 5 of the 92 have been ticked off. The 6th one was Hartlepool as they exited stage right.

It's time for the big rebuild.

[KibworthBull]

• Season 2023/24
• Stevenage - League Two
• Active Teams Conquered - 5 out of 92

It's been quite a rebuild operation in the summer.

We managed to tempt some of the National League sides to spend a few quid on players who would have been released at the end of June anyway, always nice when that happens. Amoo was a regular, Reeves and Rose mainly subs, Chapman was 2nd choice keeper.

The released players were easy decisions - nearly £10k per week off the wage bill. Bostwick is a Stevenage hero - signed in National League by G****** W****** and sold when in League One, and then bought back for a second spell. I wanted to keep him and maybe allow him to do some badges but he wasn't interested. The only other one I would have kept was James-Wildin, a very good option at Right Back but he wasn't the least bit interested. A shame.

Plenty of incoming's to get us excited.

The club has 3 points to consider when building a squad

1. Develop Players using the club's youth system - we have 4 or 5 graduates in our first team squad as back up options/subs for this season
2. Sign players under the age of 23 for the first team - generally how I play the game anyway so quite an easy on the achieve
3. Maximum one year contracts for anyone over the age of 32

We were left with only 1 keeper on the books, one that was at best a decent player for the youth team so we have needed to strengthen massively in this area. Thomas McGill is a full Canada international who has been warming the bench down at Brighton for the best part of 6 seasons, a few loan spells in non-league football is all the experience he has, he is 23 so fits into the 2nd bucket and has agreed to be "backup". He will fight things out with James Montgomery who has been at Gateshead for a few seasons but never seemed to be first choice - he's rated as better than McGill but has also agreed to be "backup". Finally a true backup, Alfie McNally failed to win a pro deal at Fulham and will be our U18 keeper.

We raided the waste bins of the Premier League academy and have found a few with 5* potential, Tino Quamina is a Left Back let go by Arsenal and will slot in as back up to Max Clark - someone who told me he was considering his options.. forgetting that he had a 1yr extension in his contract, which we triggered. I really needed some experience and after missing out on a few options, and Bostwick leaving, I managed to convice Michael Mancienne to have his last year in pro football down our way. A Seychelles international, at 35, he will be a strong voice in the dressing room.

The first addition of the summer was Callum Ainley who signed from Crewe for £750, came through their famed academy and racked up 250 games for them and can play either on the left or the right wing and possibly an additional option up front if we get desperate. At 25 he doesn't fit into any of the clubs rules. Neither does his deputy, Tyree Wilson who came from the Derby County academy, he's 21 and can do the same stuff that Ainley can do. Jimi Gower and Ismail Oulad M'Hand were both teammates of Tino's at Arsenal and suits either a normal MC or an AMC role if we choose to go down that route. Todd Alcock has come from Aston Villa and is a good back up options for the DMC part of the plan. Both Gower and Alcock have that 5* potential. The best midfield has been saved for last, released by Wolves and with a season in League One at Cheltenham under his belt, Taylor Perry has agreed a 2yr deal, fits the 2nd bracket and is our best option no matter which area in midfield you look at.

With Luke Noble being a nearly 20 goal a season player there isn't a huge call for out and out strikers to be bought in so D'Mani Mellor is a winger/striker option who was let go from Wycombe Wanderers without doing much in League One. He has Man United on his CV so pedigree is there. Mellor is 22 so fits the brief and really needs to establish himself if he wants a pro career. Ben Andreucci is another one of these massive potential rejects from the big clubs - Leeds in Ben's case. 

Taylor Perry:

I would like to also improve the club's that I manage within the save so it's good that the board have been so willing to:

 

[KibworthBull]

• Season 2023/24 - August
• Stevenage - League Two
• Active Teams Conquered - 5 out of 92 (start of month)

All roads lead to Salford City for the first match of the new season.

The board want us to avoid relegation, a task I think we can achieve. An opening day point is something we can all agree on being a positive result. 7 debutants in our side. Taylor Perry breaks a toe on debut.

My Carabao Cup debut. And a first cup win of the save - Walsall dispatched and another one of the 92 Conquered. They'll get their chance for revenge in September in the league. Aston Villa is our reward. Live on the TV.

Defeat to Swindon, compounded by the fact Luke Norris is out for the rest of the month and most of September. A jump into the loan market may well be required.

Not the result we wanted at Scunthorpe, a 92nd minute goal causing the defeat. Not a great start in the league.

A new striker joined prior to the Villa game. Charles Nduwuisi-Ondo comes from Huddersfield until January.

As for the game?

We were never able to land a glove on Villa.

Maybe we will start in September

Edited December 11, 2022 by KibworthBull

[KibworthBull]

• Season:    2023/2024
• Club:    Stevenage
• Active Teams Conquered:    6 out of 92

September

Transfer window has slammed shut and it's as you were for us. We tried getting another one in but the player wasn't keen. He went to a L1 side for £150k - slightly out of our price range.

Pressure feels like it's building a bit but we appear to have the Indian sign over Walsall and we make it a double Saddlers season for us. Our first win of the season.

The Papa Johns Sham of a Trophy counts as competitive, but only if we are playing senior sides - victories over U21 sides do not count as part of the challenge. We've already ticked off AFC Wimbledon so less than bothered by the defeat.

Tyree Wilson got off the mark very quickly against Sutton but a draw can be seen as a good result. 13 seconds was all he had to wait.

The Port Vale was re-arranged due to the international break, and it's a cold place to go for an evening game (i've experienced it in January before - not pleasant), another game where we didn't get going and have little complaints about the empty souless drive back down south.

Kane Smith's Stevenage journey has been, signed, cruciate, recovered, cruciate.. he wants to leave and this will probably allow him to leave at the end of his deal.

Cambridge United had Jamie Grimes at Centre Back - a former Hereford player, he even scored a goal. Great defender he was. Still didn't stop us conquering them and that's the first new conquer of the month.

Barrow gave us the chance for a double winning month. If we can find 11 fit players

0-2 after 10 minutes and Barrow seemed a million miles away BUT Luke Norris is back and he got his 1st of the season, but the hero was Enock Asante with the double. 

Nicely mid-table

 

Edited December 12, 2022 by KibworthBull

[KibworthBull]

• Season:    2023/2024
• Club:    Stevenage
• Active Teams Conquered:    8 out of 92

October

New blood with Alex Pattison joined on a deal until the end of next season. A League One rated DMC, he has spent the last two seasons at L2 Harrogate Town. He looks very pleased to be here. He made his debut in the victory over Carlisle United. A 9th side conquered.

Local boy Samuel Essien made his bow in the 8 goal thriller at "not Layer Road" - it's only the LDV/Johnstones Paint/Bob Lord/Ruined by letting U21 sides into it Cup.

Your key striker gets sent off, so your centre back gets two goals. Welcome to Stevenage! Rochdale beaten but it's just 3 points and not another side conquered. A result that puts us into the Play-Offs.

A few seconds away from claiming Leyton Orient as conquered but they done us with a long ball. They are top 3 so take the positives.

6 yellows and a fine against Tranmere. Most importantly, though another 3 points.

Northampton v Stevenage is almost a local derby. 45 mile trip. It's also 6th hosting 7th. Very evenly matched. A draw was no surprise. We also got another fine.

7 unbeaten in the league, just in-side the play-offs. Much better.

[deltablue]

Looks like things are going a lot better now.

[phnompenhandy]

20 hours ago, KibworthBull said:

"not Layer Road"

ahahahaha, such fond memories, where I cut my footballing teeth as a teenager

[KibworthBull]

Just now, phnompenhandy said:

ahahahaha, such fond memories, where I cut my footballing teeth as a teenager

The sponsorship names just confuse me these days and if its a new ground then that just makes it harder. I think my knowledge peaked around 2001

[phnompenhandy]

14 minutes ago, KibworthBull said:

The sponsorship names just confuse me these days and if its a new ground then that just makes it harder. I think my knowledge peaked around 2001

Hasn't Layer Road been demolished? I think they build a new characterless Community Stadium after I left the country. Saw some games there, notably when we beat Leeds 3-2

[KibworthBull]

8 minutes ago, phnompenhandy said:

Hasn't Layer Road been demolished? I think they build a new characterless Community Stadium after I left the country. Saw some games there, notably when we beat Leeds 3-2

Thats right. Wessex Homes Community Stadium i think it was called at some point. 

[KibworthBull]

Season:    2023/2024
Club:    Stevenage
Active Teams Conquered:    9 out of 92

November:

First up a trip to North Wales but did we get our Hollywood ending?

Freddie Ljungberg is the manager of Wrexham - one of the more random appointments I've seen, but fair play to him, he got them promoted last year.

Another draw, and 3 players injured in the match. Thankfully none of them long term.

We seem to really perform when we play against sides in the Top 3 - Crewe sat 3rd and we get 4 unanswered goals. Certainly not complaining! Enock Asante celebrated his contract extension with the final goal, his 7th of the season. Crewe become the 10th side of the save we've conquered.

A draw against Salford City was one that nobody wanted as it means another fixture for our injury ravaged squad.

Defeat to Watford U21s confirmed what I could have predicted from the start.

The international break saw Tino Quamina make his Trinidad and Tobago bow. Tino is another who has extended his contract for another year.

King Enock again on the scoresheet. Another Conquered side - this time, Accrington Stanley, whoever they are.

Only 971 can be bothered to watch us knock Salford out the FA Cup - for 2 League Two sides that's embarrasing - it's a long way from Stevenage in midweek...

We could be in a very good position if we win all the games in hand

[KibworthBull]

Season:    2023/2024
Club:    Stevenage
Active Teams Conquered:    11 out of 92
 

December:

The point at Exeter means it's 11 unbeaten but feels very much like two dropped. We led and were pegged back twice. It's also a missed opportunity for a conquering.

FA Cup action, and our reward for Sneaking past Salford is a trip to the souless JobServe Community Stadium - we ALL pine for Layer Road - come here Colchester, we are gunning for you. Injuries all over the show meant that graduate Macsen Turl got a first start in a proper game, and Luke Norris ensured we got a plumb third round tie. Colchester become our 12th victim.

Our reward.

Southend and Yeovil, both in non-league, got Liverpool and Man City..

Absolutely no rest for the wicked. Bradford (1st) come next. Luke Norris is having a month - another two and the Bantams are bashed, and/or conquered. 13th.

Gillingham had the option to get me in as manager but they were slow and have already replaced the guy they went for with someone else. They become the 14th to be conquered and all of a sudden we are looking very good indeed. The Football League "G"'s are done... the first letter of the alphabet complete...

A pre Christmas hattrick from D'Mani Mellor sends us top of the tree. Newport County become the 15th to feel our wrath.

MacKye Townsend-West was the match winner against Colchester in the home league game, pre Christmas. Solid Defensive display and popped up with a winner. We've acted on his contract extension as bigger fish were having a look.

The point at Exeter means it's more unbeaten but feels very much like two dropped. We led and were pegged back twice. It's also a missed opportunity for a conquering. *Just copied that basically from the opening line..

2023 ends with a fine victory up in Carlisle.

I am very happy. Games in hand over everyone. A bit of a gap establishing ahead of the chasing pack. More importantly for the save. 15 sides have been conquered.

Intake suggests that both ends of the pitch will be well covered.

[KibworthBull]

Season:    2023/2024
Club:    Stevenage
Active Teams Conquered:    15 out of 92

January

Welcome to 2024. A time where we need to reduce the wage bill, strengthen the squad, and tick off some more clubs.

We can start with the last point. Number 16 done thanks to a double from Charles Nduwuisi-Ondo. Harrogate Town join the list. A Luke Norris double eased us past Leyton Orient - 17th Conquering. Not bad for a start to a year with 2 from 2.

It's 3 from 3 and Mansfield become the 18th and we are top of the league!! We are playing brilliantly right now, but are completely knackered. 5 of the 11 are complaining to the physio that they are exhausted. The small matter of Birmingham City in the cup.

I must admit I fancied my chances against Brum - they are in poor form, we haven't lost in 20 games. Sadly, they showed their quality, but we left the ground with £250k in gate reciepts which helps the finances a little.

We got away with it in the return at Harrogate - crusing at 3-0, they got back to 3-3, but Enock Asante and Michael Mancienne both scored in injury time to make it look a bit more interesting than it needed to be.

Mancienne turning into a goal machine in his advancing years. Another "winner", this time at Tranmere.

Rochdale look to be crashing out the Football League but 2 goals in the last 5 minutes inflict our first defeat in the league since the beginning of time.

Late goals are affecting us - not surprised we are knackered... 2-0 up against Northampton in 85th minute, we get out with a draw.

Both our new loanees make scoring debuts to end a very busy month. Port Vale become Number 19.

The league is looking fantastic right now.

We've managed to bring the wages back into line and bring in some money into the club. McNally and Gower were high potential back up options that were out of contract in the summer, we've got enough to see us through so they made sense. Read was never getting a game. The loans out save us cash and give them a chance to show what they can do. The loans in just give us some depth if we get injuries and suspensions.

Departures:

• Alfie McNally signed for Portsmouth for £60k plus additions
• Jimi Gower signed for Cardiff for £60k plus additions
• Arthur Read signed for Sutton United on a free (£850 per week saved)
• Charles Nduwuisi-Ondo returns to Huddersfield at the end of his loan (£100 per week)
• Harrison Smith -  Havant and Waterloovile till end of the season (£210 per week)
• Ismail Oulad M'Hand - Dutch side Helmond Sport till the end of the season (£350 per week)
• Ben Andreucci - Scottish side Morton till the end of the season (£220 per week)
• Owen Cochrane has joined Bath City on a Free. (£250 per week)

New Deals

• Max Clark until 2026 - reduced his weekly wage by £200

Incomings

• Jaydon Fuller on loan from Brighton until the summer - completely free - a back up striker to replace Nduwuisi-Ondo
• Dermi Lusala, a Right Back/Central Defender on loan from Coventry until the summer - will cost us less than £1k for the rest of the season.

[KibworthBull]

Season:    2023/2024
Club:    Stevenage
Active Teams Conquered:    19 out of 92
February.

After the fun of a January transfer window, we have the hopefully sedate swagger into League One.

We came from a goal behind to beat Sutton United, thanks to a Luke Norris double. That was No.20

We then had the supreme honour of seven-day gap before the next match.

Defeat a bitter pill to swallow but we now have 14 days before the next outing. From feast to famine.

We have officially avoided relegation..

Not sure quite what was the most baffling thing about the victory over Barrow.
•    The fact it was 0-0 after 55 minutes.
•    The fact that Carl Piergianni got a hattrick from Centre Half.
•    Or..The fact we got 4 goals in 7 minutes between the 71st and 78th min

A point over Wrexham is a good result as they are in the play-off picture.

12 points clear, 11 games remaining

[KibworthBull]

Season:    2023/2024
Club:    Stevenage
Active Teams Conquered:    20 out of 92

March.

Big Month.
Crewe (4th), Bradford (2nd) in the space of 4 days.

Taylor Perry has very quietly gone under the radar this season, 8 assists, a 7.1 average rating, and also the winner against Crewe. 

21,790 packed into Valley Parade (University of Bradford Stadium) to watch us storm into a 2-0 lead, Luke Norris and Jaydon Fuller before the 8th minute had completed. It knocked the stuffing out of them, and they never tested us.

6 points taken off the chasing pack.

It could all be done this month, 3 more points come off Accrington. 

A frustrating afternoon at the County Ground, lots of huffing and puffing, but we couldn’t blow the Swindon defence down more than they could blow ours down. A point. 4th lost so a victory against Salford could be enough.

At the very least we have secured our play-off spot.

International Call Ups mean we wait for Salford.

As good a month as it was. No one was conquered.

[KibworthBull]

Season:    2023/2024
Club:    Stevenage
Active Teams Conquered:    20 out of 92

April
 

April Fool’s Day, trip to the Bescott Stadium(yes they will have a sponsor name, but god darn it.. it’s always the Bescott)
By the time Callum Ainley banged in the 3rd, the fans knew.

Most importantly there are a lot of sides in L1 we are yet to conquer.

Irish U19 Paddy Kennedy has waited a long time for his first start, and when it eventually came he grabbed his first two senior goals against Scunthorpe. They are conquered but are probably heading out the league.

Paddy again as we defeat Salford.
Paddy… Gillingham, but it was D’Mani Mellor that got the late winner. 
Bradford City join us in a promotion party but we are Champions with a point against Newport
 

Youth Intake looks very good

 
Lynch came on against Newport County for the final few minutes

[KibworthBull]

Season:    2023/2024
Club:    Stevenage
Active Teams Conquered:    21 out of 92
 

May

A tame end of season. Two games but both have already been conquered.

15 year old John Evans make's his debut between the sticks in the 5-2 win at Mansfield - they are mid-table and played like a side on the beach.

Colchester got promoted so the last game of the season was very much a party. We turned up for it at least..

Emphatic season. 

Season Review

• 5 players got more than 10 goals - Luke Norris (28), Carl Piergianni (20), D'Mani Mellor (16), Enock Asante (14), Callum Ainley (10)
• Piergianni and Thomas McGill both played over 50 times.
• I'm chuffed that Tino Quamina got into the Best Eleven as he was very much a gamble of a signing to see if he could force his way in. He wins the Young Player of the Year.
• Luke Norris is Player of the Year and Taylor Perry is signing of the season.

Conquerings

• Across the save 22 sides have been conquered. Scunthorpe United and Newport County join Hartlepool United in the ex-league column so that means 19 of the 92 conquered.
• We await to see who comes up from the National League - hopefully Hartlepool.

[KibworthBull]

Season:    2024/2025
Club:    Stevenage
Active Teams Conquered:    20 out of 92

Pre-Season:

The best news of all.. Hartlepool United got promoted so that's 20 of the 92 conquered. Notts County also joined them.

We start League One with a bit of clear out.

Both Mancienne and Piergianni were regulars, but over 30 and neither were interested in becoming back-ups as we look to the future. I'm confident it was the correct call. The rest were back-up options, both the Smith's were players I inherited and neither really did much. Kane Smith had 2 cruciate injuries which was a shame as he looked really decent.

As per last season I've raided the reject bins from the top tier academies.

Arsenal - Central Defender Luis Brown and midfielder Harrison Dudziak joined in early June after some very favourable scouting reports. Seb Ferdinand can play on either wing, as can Ismeal Kabia. All 4 of them from the same academy. Nuts.

Chelsea - Kaiden Wilson is already rated as our best Centre Back and is part of the reason Piergianni was let go.

Man United - James Nolan (Full Back - either side) and keeper, Elyh Harrison move from the side that shall not be named. Harrison originally came through our academy (pre-game).

Nottingham Forest - not a top tier side, but had to mention all the new signings. George Shelvey will be the No.2 keeper this year.

I've not spent a penny on a transfer fee and do have a couple of ks in the wage budget left if anything obvious pops up in the first couple of weeks of the season.

[KibworthBull]

Season:    2024/2025
Club:    Stevenage
Active Teams Conquered:    20 out of 92

August

Stockport County at home - our nearest alphabetical rivals out of the '92. A gutsy display and plenty of quality too. A draw is good for us, but not for the challenge.

1,742 season tickets sold - an improvement of about 300 on last season's total.

I am looking at what jobs could become available as my objective is to conquer clubs rather than be loyal so if Stevenage do struggle and their is a bigger League One club around, then I will jump ship.

Just like last season when Walsall became the first side to be conquered, which was in the Carabao Cup, this year it's Bolton's turn to feel the wrath of the Boro (not that we are called Boro anymore...) . Max Clark having a very good start to the season, a goal and 2 assists. 21 conquered.

Our reward is to become the first cup side to play at Everton's new ground.

A trip to the JJB.. DW Stadium saw Taylor Perry miss an 88th minute penalty which would have given us our first win at the level. Kaiden Wilson get's his first senior goal.

Forest Green sit bottom of the table - a club I dislike far more than I really should do - purely jealous.. they are screwed once the money runs out.. A 3rd point - this time it was a scored penalty which rescued us late on.

Simply Stunning screamed the headlines - Everton's first cup tie = the first time they have been beaten at the new place. Paddy Kennedy showed the watching scouts just what he can do with a double. It was 3-0 after 15 minutes. Our first big name scalp.

We ended the month with the game's favourite pheonix club, AFC Wimbledon. In the eague at least we are consistent. Nicely placed in mid-table.

Nico Gordon has been in Birmingham's Academy for many a season, finally they have cut him loose and he has agreed a 2yr deal. He becomes our best option at either Centre Back or Full Back. He joined just prior to the Forest Green match.