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THORFINN – A Sporting and Social Revolution Begins


phnompenhandy
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Table-topping Rossvale were good – damn good, so I was quite relieved to tie 4-4 in the first game.

We were surprised to see Angel Garcia playing on the left for Greenock Juniors at their dilapidated Ravenscraig Stadium.

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Again, we were never in the game for 80 minutes, with back-up keeper Geegan preventing humiliation, then they stopped playing at that point and we pulled a 0-2 deficit back to draw 2-2. Penalties – four wins to nil so far.  In the next round we’re away to Strathaven Dynamo, one of the strongest sides in the Premier Divion. Honestly, we could do without the hassle, but it will be another game’s-worth of experience for these kids.

Back in the league for a Wednesday evening match, the side that faced Rossvale – except with goalkeeper Geegan getting a chance in the league, faced highly-fancied Thorn Athletic Academy. With a heroic defensive performance, we pulled ourselves out of the relegation zone with a 1-0 win.

On the Saturday we hosted Giffnock Soccer Club in some cup. We’d thrashed them 7-0 this time last year, so coasting to a 3-1 victory was one of the few predictable outcomes this autumn.

Our midweek break was welcome – we were not scheduled to have another for at least 13 games, and given we’re still in an unsustainable five cup competitions, I’m not anticipating a breather until next year. This can’t be healthy.

Anyway, on to our league match at Irvine Victoria – a win would take us into the top half.

I still insist on believing against all truth that in Scotland 'Juniors' means youth teams and 'Vics' are old men - see here?

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With Ritchie getting sent off, we were very fortunate to steal the points with a last-gasp 3-2 win. This is where our long run of luck ran out.

 

Another Wednesday, another cup tie, and we finally, finally lost a cup tie. This time we drew 2-2 with Pollok after 90 minutes but lost the game 2-4 in extra time. I actually regret that loss, as the winners were due to face North West Skye. We’ll meet them some day.

The month ended with a league game at Glasgow Perthshire.

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My decision to rest key players for the upcoming cup tie cost us and we went down 1-2.

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I hope this last week is a 'blip', but our limited squad is exhausted and November is going to be an absolute killer.

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Despite the bookies writing us off, I do think midtable is damn good given the suffocating cup competitions. We'll be out of them by the end of next month or early December at the latest, which means the second half of the season will be Saturday-only league matches. I back us to come good then.

 

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On 06/12/2023 at 23:05, Jamstock said:

Wow, first time I've sat down and read through all of one of your FM soap operas and I am HOOKED. Good to see your enthusiasm hasn't waned! I am captivated by the story, although I obviously already knew you had a keen interest in Highlands amateur football, I didn't expect to see such a story unfold over the first 5 seasons and the twist in the latest season just makes it even more gripping. Salute to your hard work on the narrative as well, Andy.

PS. It's brilliant to see Orkney FC painted as the massive talent vacuum playing at such a high level in comparison:lol: and no surprise to hear them slipping up in the NCL playoffs! (Don't I know the feeling!). I will still be giving them a good crack once Mozza's DB is fully released - just no stream this time - maybe a forum thread though, you've inspired me!

You might know this already, but I think I've seen someone say that Mozza's database will be based on reality rather than what he/we want to see, so there will be no route between the amateur structure and the pyramid. That's not a disaster in itself, (because this db obviously does that), but just so you know in advance and don't get deep into a save only to find out there is a barrier to progression that you weren't expecting. :thup:

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4 minutes ago, Jimbokav1971 said:

 

 

Have you double-checked and triple-checked responsibilities? 

Astrid the DoF and the Chairman are responsible for all staff appointments and always have been. Astrid's been here since day one; the variable is the big boss and his coup at the end of last season.

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On 07/12/2023 at 05:44, phnompenhandy said:

The Highland World Outside Thorfinn

Caledonian Locomotives (Rossvale Juniors until 2023) won the West of Scotland Premier and the play-offs to gain promotion to the Lowland League. Tullibody Community FC 1999 have been rising through the ranks, from Caledonian Amateur Division Two in 2023 to the Premier League (tier 7) today.

Well isn't that interesting. :cool:

I wonder what drives AI progression in this sort of save? I would guess recruitment 1st and foremost, but also possibly a Manager with a preference for something that..... "exploits" the ME more effectively than other Managers?

WB's?
3 up top?
Gegenpressing?

Have they retained 1 single manager through their rise up the tiers? 13 to 7 is ridiculous. Have they been promoted every season? :eek:

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3 minutes ago, Jimbokav1971 said:

You might know this already, but I think I've seen someone say that Mozza's database will be based on reality rather than what he/we want to see, so there will be no route between the amateur structure and the pyramid. That's not a disaster in itself, (because this db obviously does that), but just so you know in advance and don't get deep into a save only to find out there is a barrier to progression that you weren't expecting. :thup:

Jamstock had a long save on Twitch which I followed. He was managing Orkney FC in the Tier 6 north Caledonian league. In countless seasons, he never got promoted from it, demonstrating what a hell of a bottle-neck that league is (and in reality no team in history has succeeded in getting to the Highland League from it).

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On 08/12/2023 at 05:54, phnompenhandy said:

Lochar Thistle - an ambitious club with new indoor all-weather facilities

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We did. They laid siege to our goal but our boys are not easily intimidated. After a goalless first half, we were losing as the final whistle came up to the referee’s lips – then debutant substitute Haqverdiyev scrambled an equaliser. Extra time: they went ahead; debutant academy kid Ednie pulled it back from right back. It was 3-3 after 120 minutes. Here we went again – and a third penalty shoot-out success on the bounce. We are giant-killers! We took nearly £27,000 from that game not including gate receipts, and we get to dream of that big draw in the next round.

The dream lasted two days. The draw pits us home to Dalbeattie Star, currently top of the league Lochar Thistle are in. But before that we had to pick up points in the league, and get damned well knocked out of two cheapskate tinpots.

First, in the second round of the Strathclyde Demolition-of-all-interest Cup It took until the 120th minute for First Division Cumbernauld United to show us they wanted it less. 3-2 after extra time and more injuries and fatigue.

A Saturday brought a league match with Glasgow University visiting. A team of walking wounded and raw kids who are rapidly gaining experience took to the pitch. With a Yiu Yiu Man hat-trick, we finally got off the mark in a superb 5-1 thrashing.

Hurlford United, another First Division side, decided their priorities lay elsewhere as they let us tickle their tummies in a 2-0 win; ‘Clydebuilt Home Improvements’ don’t seem to reward winners with improved finances, so I guess they don’t want contracts for improving facilities. We ended the month with a trip to Kilwinning to face Eglinton in the league. We were frankly, never in the game for over 80 minutes, but two late goals rescued a point in a 2-2 draw.

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I must admit, I hadn’t reckoned on everyone sharing our lack of enthusiasm for this plethora of cheap-ass cup competitions. And I have come to shift my position. They have been greatly beneficial, in fact – not financially, but in giving invaluable experience to new kids whom I expected to fester in the Under 18s all season. I haven’t scheduled a single Under 18 match yet, since due to experienced players leaving and fatigue due to the relentless fixture-list, the fringe kids are seeing plenty of first team action and are growing rapidly as a result. Excluding the players who left us, I’ve used no less than 26 players – in two months!

I'm loving the Cups. It's making the updates harder work, but also makes the save MUCH more interesting. Cups no longer suck quite as much as we have always known they suck, (on a temporary basis at least). 

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4 minutes ago, Jimbokav1971 said:

Well isn't that interesting. :cool:

I wonder what drives AI progression in this sort of save? I would guess recruitment 1st and foremost, but also possibly a Manager with a preference for something that..... "exploits" the ME more effectively than other Managers?

WB's?
3 up top?
Gegenpressing?

Have they retained 1 single manager through their rise up the tiers? 13 to 7 is ridiculous. Have they been promoted every season? :eek:

tullibodyhistory.png.6169201f53e9de043d4676794259ee73.png

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Most years they've brought in 3 freebies, a couple of times 5 or 6. I'd say there's nothing funny going on there.

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On 07/12/2023 at 07:54, phnompenhandy said:

JULY

A quiet month for most, but we arranged 12 friendlies for senior team, and 6 for Under 18s. This was my usual ultra-thorough preseason preparations. I also figured we might as well get the new staff as well as youths used to my expectations. All the matches were with local old Highlands & Islands sparring partners of the past.

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You know that I love friendlies, (especially pre-season friendlies), but doesn't this mean that you do no pre-season training at all?  :confused: I know you play a lot of friendlies, but I didn't realise until now that you were playing 3 a week during pre-season. 

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1 minute ago, Jimbokav1971 said:

You know that I love friendlies, (especially pre-season friendlies), but doesn't this mean that you do no pre-season training at all?  :confused: I know you play a lot of friendlies, but I didn't realise until now that you were playing 3 a week during pre-season. 

The calendar doesn't indicate it, but all the Monday games are under 18s. Training is Tues/Thurs; first choice team plays Sundays and second-choice plays Wednesdays

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9 minutes ago, phnompenhandy said:

tullibodyhistory.png.6169201f53e9de043d4676794259ee73.png

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Most years they've brought in 3 freebies, a couple of times 5 or 6. I'd say there's nothing funny going on there.

That's not the 7th tier they've risen to. That's the..... [Counts on fingers]..... 11th tier I think.

They start in the 13th tier and 2 promotions takes them to 11th tier. 

10th tier is West of Scotland 4. 
7th tier is West of Scotland 1.

I almost had a heart attack when you said they were up to Tier 7. :lol:

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1 minute ago, Jimbokav1971 said:

Really like the mix of Nationalities/Asylum seekers you have at the club now, (and growing). :applause:

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Is there a complete ban on signing English players, or have you just been lucky so far? :lol:

There's been a few half Anglo/Scots kids come though. The asylum-seekers thing is proving interesting - very realistic in narrative terms, I think.

I keep a record - We've had 25 asylum-seeking youths - 4 per intake. In about half the cases, they're hopeless in the first year because their English skills are too low.  I try to keep hold of them into the second year. When they do break through, they tend to leave us at a faster rate than the Orcadian lads - it's as if their families appreciate Orkney for taking them in, but once they're legally and culturally secure, they prefer to live in a more cosmopolitan place.  So in fact, they are fewer in number and having far less impact on the club than I had intended. But I'll keep going just the same because it makes sense, narrative-wise, as I say. I do wonder how different the experience would be if the club were based in Glasgow.

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9 minutes ago, phnompenhandy said:

The calendar doesn't indicate it, but all the Monday games are under 18s. Training is Tues/Thurs; first choice team plays Sundays and second-choice plays Wednesdays

Ahhhh. I must have missed that you now have an U18's squad. (I don't). At what point in the save did that trigger? 

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2 minutes ago, Jimbokav1971 said:

That's not the 7th tier they've risen to. That's the..... [Counts on fingers]..... 11th tier I think.

They start in the 13th tier and 2 promotions takes them to 11th tier. 

10th tier is West of Scotland 4. 
7th tier is West of Scotland 1.

I almost had a heart attack when you said they were up to Tier 7. :lol:

Sorry, it is tier 7 in my customised version, but they started in tier 10 :ackter:

 

 

cal am prem.png

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Just now, Jimbokav1971 said:

It's one of my favourite little features in the game. I love seeing how the fans see players within the game. I honestly look at it 2-3 times a season. 

Where do you find this ‘favoured personnel’ screen?

I don’t think I’ve ever looked at it either…

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1 minute ago, phnompenhandy said:

Sorry, it is tier 7 in my customised version, but they started in tier 10 :ackter:

 

 

cal am prem.png

I'm really confused. :confused:

1. Premiership.
2. Championship.
3. League One.
4. League Two. 
5. Highland/Lowland.
6. West of Scotland Premier.
7. West of Scotland 1. 
8. West of Scotland 2.
9. West of Scotland 3. 
10. West of Scotland 4. 
11. Caledonian Premier League. 
12. Caledonian Division 1.
13. Caledonian Division 2.

Isn't that what you've got? 

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3 minutes ago, Stuniverse said:

Where do you find this ‘favoured personnel’ screen?

I don’t think I’ve ever looked at it either…

Isn't it funny how we all play the same game, (and similar saves in the same game), but do so completely differently even when it comes to the screens we look at? Such depth of options. :thup:

Club Info - Bottom of the page. 

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2 minutes ago, Jimbokav1971 said:

I'm really confused. :confused:

1. Premiership.
2. Championship.
3. League One.
4. League Two. 
5. Highland/Lowland.
6. West of Scotland Premier.
7. West of Scotland 1. 
8. West of Scotland 2.
9. West of Scotland 3. 
10. West of Scotland 4. 
11. Caledonian Premier League. 
12. Caledonian Division 1.
13. Caledonian Division 2.

Isn't that what you've got? 

No, I tweaked mine. Tullibody, starting at tier 10 in Caledonian Amateur Div 3 is PARALLEL to West of Scotland Div 4

 

Pyramid.png.6c058df534dd32db49ade585c831cf84.png

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3 minutes ago, phnompenhandy said:

I've got a skin that shows it clearly, but iirc in the basic skin it's in some detail in the Club Info page

2 minutes ago, Jimbokav1971 said:

Isn't it funny how we all play the same game, (and similar saves in the same game), but do so completely differently even when it comes to the screens we look at? Such depth of options. :thup:

Club Info - Bottom of the page. 

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Thanks @Jimbokav1971 and @phnompenhandy. I thought you meant a separate screen, I was aware of this on the Club Info screen.

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23 minutes ago, phnompenhandy said:

No, I tweaked mine. Tullibody, starting at tier 10 in Caledonian Amateur Div 3 is PARALLEL to West of Scotland Div 4

 

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Ahhhh, I get you now. :thup: (It really is confusing as hell because I appreciate how it works in either game isn't actually close to reality at all). 

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12 minutes ago, Makoto Nakamura said:

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Just gonna say, this may be one of may favourite stadiums for a slightly different reason.

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It looks like someone has just plonked a field in the middle of a Victorian looking industrial estate. :lol:

Keep up the great work here!

That top photo caught my eye too. 1st because I wondered what the hell the high-walled building on the right was. (It's a really strange shape). And then because I looked at the building on the "Beirut style" building on the left that surely is some sort of health and safety hazard and needs to be knocked down! :lol:

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3 hours ago, Jimbokav1971 said:

You might know this already, but I think I've seen someone say that Mozza's database will be based on reality rather than what he/we want to see, so there will be no route between the amateur structure and the pyramid. That's not a disaster in itself, (because this db obviously does that), but just so you know in advance and don't get deep into a save only to find out there is a barrier to progression that you weren't expecting. :thup:

It sounds like Mozza is making a fantasy version where amateur clubs do have a route through the pyramid, alongside a real life version, which I will be sticking with for Orkney FC - but @phnompenhandy's route has definitely peaked my interest into considering an amateur club journey like this!

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1 hour ago, Jamstock said:

It sounds like Mozza is making a fantasy version where amateur clubs do have a route through the pyramid, alongside a real life version, which I will be sticking with for Orkney FC - but @phnompenhandy's route has definitely peaked my interest into considering an amateur club journey like this!

If I did it again I would consider holidaying for 1 season & taking over a team that finished bottom of the lowest level of Amateur league and then trying to win all the Amateur trophies with them, Or via moving), before moving to a Semi-Pro club. There are so many Amateur levels that it's almost worth it's own save. :thup: A save within a save even.

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NOVEMBER

 

An insane month - NINE games - I've never known such an intense schedule, and we're only young part-timers. How did we cope?

Dalbeattie Star were top of their tier 6 league by the time they came to The Pickaquoy. We were going to give it all we got – we were in front of our own fans, we’d beaten Lochar Thistle from the same league away in the last round, and the winners were due to face Forfar Athletic, an SPFL side who were taking a year out crushing the Highland League. It was not to be – Star had done their homework and didn’t underestimate us. We put up a damn good fight but went out 1-2. The £5600 would be the last prize money we’d see this season. We also took a record £4500 at the gate.

A week after losing to Glasgow Perthshire, we had an opportunity to gain revenge as we hosted them in another potless cup we’d sooner be out. I was relieved that we smashed them 4-0; the extra fixture congestion doesn’t help, but after losing three on the trot, we needed one win to prevent our morale crashing.

In a dreadful game at Drumchapel an own goal gave us a 1-0 win in another cup – don’t know and don’t care which one.

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That was immediately followed by a 2-3 reversal at Strathaven Dynamo, leaving us in a manageable two cup competitions.

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Having negotiated four cup ties in November already, we now had five league matches to get through before the month would be out. The run started at Glasgow University, whose team was joint first in the league.

Do you remember? We were here last year, winning on penalties - they play at Airdrie's ground

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I told the boys that our focus turns to the league at this point. A win would send out a powerful statement. It’s exactly what the lads needed to hear – they went out with an intent not seen for a while. A 5-0 away massacre was a statement indeed!

Vale of Clyde are a team in all sorts of trouble, but they made life difficult and it took two late penalties by substitute defender Dimairo for us to beat them 3-2. In a tight league, we’d gone from relegation zone to third in the space of two games! Bad news followed, however, when Dimairo, our best defender, damaged his neck in training and might not be back until next year.

We stayed home for our next match and beat Thorniewood 2-0. We returned to Lochburn where we defeated Drumchapel to face Maryhill.

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In Dimairo’s absence a weak defence was torn apart in a heavy 0-3 defeat. I’m going to have to wrap up Dickson in cotton wool and try to get him to play two games a week. We finally got to the end of November with a match against Maybole. A single penalty decided the result as we won 1-0.

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Injuries are starting to pile up - we need space. Next week we have two more cup games; I'm not starting Dickson n either - we need him for the league. Which, you'd have to agree, is a good look right now (ignoring the games in hand)

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DECEMBER

Sometimes at this level, a manager really needs to think outside the box. Watching the lads prepare for the first match it occurred to me that, whilst we’d never ever tried it, our best midfielder, Ryan Barker could feasibly do a job as an emergency centre back. We gave it thirty minutes on the training ground and decided to go for it.

He started in defence at home to East Kilbride Thistle. They battered us but we prevailed in the snow and won the game 4-3 with a last-minute goal. Barker was solid in his probably one and only appearance in defence. In the second cup tie in the week, we again fluked a win against clearly superior higher-level opponents in Ashfield, in a 3-2 win, this with keeping back our first team who were readying for an assault on the league

With the next two cup ties not scheduled until February, we now had a run of Saturday-only matches a long last. Dimairo had made a quicker than expected recovery and the first two opponents were struggling, so we figured we could make a bid to go top of the league by the end of the month.

We went down to Lugar in Ayrshire to face a team who’d beaten us in a penalty shoot-out a year ago, Lugar Boswell Thistle.

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We were close to full strength and in determined mood. Or at least we should have been. There’s a thin line between confident and complacent, and we were on the wrong side of it. We put in a dreadful performance and deservedly threw the points away in a 1-2 defeat. That’s on me – we’ll fix it for the next game.

If there was any match liable to induce complacency, it would be at home to the basement-dwellers, in this case Shotts Bon Accord. Is it just me, or do all teams wonder if they can top Bon Accord’s unwanted 143-year-old record with that 0-36 defeat back in 1885? (Okay, Shotts BA is a different club in a different part of Scotland, but let’s not have facts get in the way of a good story!) Fortunately, all such thoughts were banished after the defeat by Thistle. We were too soft at the back for my liking, but we got the goals and points in a 4-2 victory.

Getting anything away at Vale of Leven was a big ask, so a 96th minute equaliser by Ritchie for a 2-2 draw was very welcome. We ended the year by finally asserting our dominance over Knightswood. We beat them 4-0 and Khan never got off the bench – oh how he’ll wish he stayed with us!

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Going into 2029 the table looks incredibly tight, BUT remember who we are. At this moment in time, the squad is still quite fatigued after a gruelling half-season. But from now on, even if we keep going in the two cups left, we’ll only play three or four matches a month. I wish the schedulers would even out the season, but there it is. This is the point where we start getting up a head of steam. Watch us go!

 

Maybe a minor issue, but this news makes me reflect a little.

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The new regime has brought in staff who know football better than the initial team in our amateur days. However, the down side is that most seem to be using the club as a stepping stone and are neither committed to the club nor the Project. Behind this news is the fact that six key staff have not agreed contracts – whether they’re holding out for a better deal from the club or looking for other openings, I don’t know.

The intake preview Astrid brought me was mostly positive.

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We absolutely need strengthening at full back and central midfield. The main disappointment is in central defence, but Lydia is evidently worked hard in that area (I won’t get my hopes up though – of the four asylum-seekers she brought me in April, none have broken through, and only one looks to have any real potential). We’re fine in other positions – until players leave, of course*.

 

*        Anybody feel a draught? Somebody’s just opened a windae!

 

 

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JANUARY 2029

After the intensity from August to December, we only had three matches to play in January. The first was home to midtable Eglinton, then we played Rossvale and Stornoway Athletic. We hadn’t won the matches against any of them back in the Autumn, so we had points to prove against all of them.

We beat Eglinton 3-1, but by the time we went to Rossvale, the teams with games in hand had played them (and lost, in most cases), leaving Rossvale top of the table. Despite rushing in a debutant due to a midfield crisis (see below), we got the better of a five-goal thriller with a 3-2 win taking us back to the top.

There was much Island pride at stake in the match against Stornoway Athletic. They’s beaten us in three of our four encounters and had looked down on us in the five years since leaving us for dust in the Highland Amateur Second Division. With the media goading us on, this meant more.

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“No relationship”? Billy – I’m yer feckin’ boss!

Fortunately, the lads stepped up, with Ritchie leading the way in an excellent 5-2 win. We’re the third part of the Islands Trio now, along with Orkney and NW Skye, even if some social media warrior did just make that up.

While we received a ton of approaches for our best players, the lads admirably stayed loyal to us. Well, not all. Ryan has followed his big brother’s example and headed for the big lights of Ayrshire, despite being marked as future club captain.

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Big loss, but we can cope from here on in.

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We're certainly not relinquishing a top three spot from now until the season ends, and with the window now closed, I do think we can maintain our place on the perch.

Let's see if I make a fool of myself.

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2 hours ago, phnompenhandy said:

Lugar Boswell Thistle

I’m loving some of these team names.

2 hours ago, phnompenhandy said:

Going into 2029 the table looks incredibly tight

But it looks a lot better than it did after a handful of games had been played.

2 hours ago, phnompenhandy said:

Behind this news is the fact that six key staff have not agreed contracts – whether they’re holding out for a better deal from the club or looking for other openings, I don’t know.

No doubt you’ll find out soon enough.

2 hours ago, phnompenhandy said:

The intake preview Astrid brought me was mostly positive.

👍

26 minutes ago, phnompenhandy said:

We're certainly not relinquishing a top three spot from now until the season ends, and with the window now closed, I do think we can maintain our place on the perch.

It’s looking good.

27 minutes ago, phnompenhandy said:

Let's see if I make a fool of myself.

Uh-oh, @phnompenhandy, why did you go and tempt fate like that… 😂🤣

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FEBRUARY

 

Thorn Athletic away was a tough ask at the best of times, but once Adel got himself an early red, we were never in the game and did well to keep the score down to 0-1. More troubling is that I can’t replace Barker with another midfield terrier. Archie Lisle is way off form and my two attempts to start Meikle have failed – the kid just isn’t ready. I’ll need to experiment with a double-pivot with a soft centre.

In the next game we were clearly second-best but managed to beat Glasgow Perthshire 3-2. Ehnert-Schnabel and As-Chainey are the midfield pairing; they did okay but they will need to learn fast if we’re to keep going. We’re seven points ahead of Thorn in fourth place.

The rest of February involved participating half-heartedly in the two cup competitions we were still in. We were away to Ellon United and Kilsyth Rangers. We travelled to Aberdeenshire for the first tie against a tier 7 side. That long overdue moment finally arrived when we lost a penalty shoot-out after a 1-1 draw. No tears.

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It was only once the coach arrived in Kilsyth that I realised we weren’t playing the team I’d prepared us for – Kilsyth Rangers whom we’d left behind in division Four. No, we had to dash across town to Kilsyth Athletic, champions of our Third Division last season.

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Proving match preparation is for the dogs, we dominated the game and a Davidson brace took us to 2-1. I was delighted to come out on top in this game as we get to meet North West Skye next. It’ll be the Quarter Finals of the Indigo Comms West of Scotland Cup. Suddenly, I’m interested!

febres.thumb.png.a38eb09cc0b04f1bff9e4994bf393172.png

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All close games, but the underlying picture is quite healthy. I'm positive.

One point to note - look at the league player stats (as it stands)

playerstats.png.4d3b38d69f4cf19e90778bbac100f696.png

Despite being top of the league, only one of our players shows up in Top 6 lists. Fact is, we've lost all our outstanding individuals to vultures; what we have left is a triumph of team spirit and tactics.

 

Wide boy offered me a new contract, full of percentage bonuses of nothing

contractoffer.thumb.png.f38f10e9aadba3e8caf2825ca0d5af77.png

This time I walked away. I mean you know, and I know I'll sign it last minute, after the season's over, but let's see ....

(It's not just about a lack of salary for myself; all my last few requests for upgrading youth coaching and recruitment have been refused. If no money is going into the club, we'll hit a glass ceiling too soon).

 

Aaaaand it turns out Fly Boy, my £825 per month AssMan Billy Ritchie, won't be signing a contract extension as he thinks he can do better. :seagull:

i think we'll lose our medical department, too. Not sure about Astrid, who only committed to this season.

 

Edited by phnompenhandy
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2 hours ago, phnompenhandy said:

FEBRUARY

 

Thorn Athletic away was a tough ask at the best of times, but once Adel got himself an early red, we were never in the game and did well to keep the score down to 0-1. More troubling is that I can’t replace Barker with another midfield terrier. Archie Lisle is way off form and my two attempts to start Meikle have failed – the kid just isn’t ready. I’ll need to experiment with a double-pivot with a soft centre.

In the next game we were clearly second-best but managed to beat Glasgow Perthshire 3-2. Ehnert-Schnabel and As-Chainey are the midfield pairing; they did okay but they will need to learn fast if we’re to keep going. We’re seven points ahead of Thorn in fourth place.

The rest of February involved participating half-heartedly in the two cup competitions we were still in. We were away to Ellon United and Kilsyth Rangers. We travelled to Aberdeenshire for the first tie against a tier 7 side. That long overdue moment finally arrived when we lost a penalty shoot-out after a 1-1 draw. No tears.

ellonutd.png.8aa2ff3396be83ef0bcc901e07dfbb63.png

 

It was only once the coach arrived in Kilsyth that I realised we weren’t playing the team I’d prepared us for – Kilsyth Rangers whom we’d left behind in division Four. No, we had to dash across town to Kilsyth Athletic, champions of our Third Division last season.

KilsythAthletic.png.30f699b418e7b0e0b5f16fbc343729af.png

Proving match preparation is for the dogs, we dominated the game and a Davidson brace took us to 2-1. I was delighted to come out on top in this game as we get to meet North West Skye next. It’ll be the Quarter Finals of the Indigo Comms West of Scotland Cup. Suddenly, I’m interested!

febres.thumb.png.a38eb09cc0b04f1bff9e4994bf393172.png

febtaBLE.png.91b6c363451aba9f04e19c258de097da.png

All close games, but the underlying picture is quite healthy. I'm positive.

One point to note - look at the league player stats (as it stands)

playerstats.png.4d3b38d69f4cf19e90778bbac100f696.png

Despite being top of the league, only one of our players shows up in Top 6 lists. Fact is, we've lost all our outstanding individuals to vultures; what we have left is a triumph of team spirit and tactics.

 

Wide boy offered me a new contract, full of percentage bonuses of nothing

contractoffer.thumb.png.f38f10e9aadba3e8caf2825ca0d5af77.png

This time I walked away. I mean you know, and I know I'll sign it last minute, after the season's over, but let's see ....

(It's not just about a lack of salary for myself; all my last few requests for upgrading youth coaching and recruitment have been refused. If no money is going into the club, we'll hit a glass ceiling too soon).

 

Aaaaand it turns out Fly Boy, my £825 per month AssMan Billy Ritchie, won't be signing a contract extension as he thinks he can do better. :seagull:

i think we'll lose our medical department, too. Not sure about Astrid, who only committed to this season.

 

Just another day as a manager of the Scottish Lower Leagues :D

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25 minutes ago, Ronaldo Beckham said:

Just another day as a manager of the Scottish Lower Leagues :D

I know, I know. But the interesting part of the story is the whole enterprise starts with the highest motives, and gradually grubby little men motivated by money stealthily move in. There's a long way to go here!

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MARCH

Geegan pulled out a fine performance, including saving a penalty as we squeezed past Thorniwood 1-0.

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It was an important result, with them being third. But it was merely the hors d oeuvres to the main meal in March. Serial champions North West Skye had lost one league game in the first division, and apart from that their only loss was a cup final since September. Managed by Brora Rangers legend Steven Mackay, it was the friendliest of rivalries, if they even saw us as rivals and not a kid brother whose hair they ruffle.

And that was how they regarded us, until we woke them up by racing into a 2-0 lead. They came out with more respect in the second half and pulled it back to 2-2. The shoot-out was an honourable joust; two of our lads missed the target and we were out, but with honours even all agreed the game was a credit to the Highlands & Islands, and with both sides being heavily academy-based, a credit to Highland & Island DNA.

The next week we rolled over Irvine Vics in a 3-0 win; we had extra spectators for that match as the academy intake kids rocked up that morning – I swear they turn up earlier every year. It did mean I had time to introduce myself and run the rule over them between training sessions that week. First impressions – none of them are quick, as our DNA prefers. Nevertheless, there’s some potential there.

For some reason, assistant Billy Big Bucks has been hassling me to hold team meetings before every match all this month. billy-teammeet.thumb.png.0f0b9599773489c3eed1a3ffb2db5957.png

He insists I tell the lads to treat a match as if it’s ‘just another game’. I said to him, “Billy, I know you’ve got the gift of the gab, but sometimes less is more. It is just another game – it doesn’t need to be said.” He keeps giving a look like I’m some kind of eejit.

So, we went down to Vale of Clyde and beat them 2-0. valeofclyde.png.11ccd826b237e2e6eebcd4150bbdfaa0.png

Then, on the last day of March, we played Maryhill. We were coasting to a predictable 3-1 win as the final whistle went. Suddenly not just Billy was doing a wee jig – the staff, the players, and the crowd were all going daft. I’d been so focused on assessing the intake for the future, I’d completely missed we’d just secured promotion!

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We've all but secured the title too, so for those last three stress-free fixtures, I'm throwing in the kids.

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elitetalents.thumb.png.0522188aa1b13d974217df3f36d26734.png

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This year the asylum-seeking youths turned up on the same day – our Lydia is clearly more organised than the previous Head of Youth Development; what’s more, the SIX refugees look much better than in previous intakes, both in terms of passable English, and ability. I couldn’t tell you about heir personalities yet, though. We have two African defenders, from Sudan and The Gambia; another defender from Myanmar, a midfielder from Tibet (we had to release Tsering to get permission for the new one to join – I was going to let him go in the summer anyway), and two forwards, from Pakistan and Syria. Of the Orcadian academy youths, three have Irish roots, one English and another Australian. To make room for them all, I’ll have to release ten of the squad by the end of the season. I have a good idea concerning eight of the current lot, but it will depend on my impressions of the new lads over the coming weeks.

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Hamza Adams speaks decent English, and immediately screams out ‘future and long-standing captain’. The fullback situation looks a bit complicated; on both flanks I now have ones that can’t defend but love bombing forward, and ones that are defenders-only. To preserve balance and the DNA I’ve instilled, I might alternate an attacking wingback/inverted wingback from flank to flank, depending on the opposition. That would keep ‘em guessing! Midfield might still be a weak point, but overall, I reckon we have a squad depth that will see us good for the next two or three years.

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53 minutes ago, phnompenhandy said:

Geegan pulled out a fine performance, including saving a penalty as we squeezed past Thorniwood 1-0.

I love it when my goalkeeper saves a penalty.

54 minutes ago, phnompenhandy said:

We've all but secured the title too, so for those last three stress-free fixtures, I'm throwing in the kids.

Congratulations. Well deserved, @phnompenhandy.

47 minutes ago, phnompenhandy said:

This year the asylum-seeking youths turned up on the same day – our Lydia is clearly more organised than the previous Head of Youth Development; what’s more, the SIX refugees look much better than in previous intakes, both in terms of passable English, and ability.

How do you find your Youth Intake players develop compared to their initial Youth Intake Potential Ability predictions?

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5 minutes ago, Stuniverse said:

How do you find your Youth Intake players develop compared to their initial Youth Intake Potential Ability predictions?

I don't know what those predictions are based on, and they're always 4-5 stars; I ignore them. I mean, how do they account for variables such as training, loaning out, position trained and most importantly, amount of first team football. With our facilities as they are, the only way players meaningfully develop is by playing first team competitive games. If they have the right personalities, they develop, either smoothly or in jumps; if they don't appear to progress at all, I take it they lack professionalism and ambition and I get rid.

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APRIL

We went down to Maybole, another Ayrshire team, with five intake debutants and three more on the bench.

 

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‘Old boy’ and next year’s #1 striker Ross Ritchie took command with four goals, but the team as a whole played as a remarkably well-integrated, cohesive whole in a 5-0 demolition, giving us the opportunity to pick up the trophy in front of our fans the next Saturday.

That would be when we hosted Lugar Boswell Thistle (does anyone call them ‘LBT’? Or does sound too much like a gay sandwich?) 3-1: easy. It’s becoming evident to me that we have serious strength in depth here. I’m going to have to reverse my position on the multitude of cup competitions – next season we’ll be using all of them to give sufficient game time to a host of players who deserve and are ready for the experience.

Three debuts in the last match at Shotts brought the total to nine in the last three games. shottsbahannahpark.png.688846c2f9398396baa882b4f5debd47.png

 

The 1-0 result conceals how competent they were. The midfield combo clicked! All nine of these kids show they can stand the heat; heck even the fringe members I felt were easy outs at the end of the season have been doing all they can on the training ground this month. A squad of 45 and no dead wood here right now. Tricky decision loom, but what a great place to be!

 

 

 

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And here we are!

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The pattern since I established myself in the second season is unwavering. After an intense five-week preseason, for the first five months we're fine-tuning our tactical familiarity while the line-up is blending, all the while struggling to cope with matches twice a week relentlessly. Then around December, when the cup ties are lessening, we kick into gear and become a nigh-on unstoppable force. Obviously, it ain't broke -there's nothing to fix. We go again!

 

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4 minutes ago, phnompenhandy said:

The pattern since I established myself in the second season is unwavering. After an intense five-week preseason, for the first five months we're fine-tuning our tactical familiarity while the line-up is blending, all the while struggling to cope with matches twice a week relentlessly. Then around December, when the cup ties are lessening, we kick into gear and become a nigh-on unstoppable force. Obviously, it ain't broke -there's nothing to fix. We go again!

Excellent. Well done, @phnompenhandy.

Let's hope the pattern stays ain't broke, nothing to fix as you continue to rise through the leagues.

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A little look back - and ahead:

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I wasn't satisfied with Blair Steinke, but the nine of the others will start as prominent first-teamers unless the new kids elbow them aside. Competition will be quite fierce next season. The exception is Ryan Davidson, the only member of the squad who's been with us from the start. davidson.thumb.png.c8c7a58e41b339c30c7c27d412829f0f.png

97 games, a superb and consistent record, our most influential player. But can you see the decline setting in? I need to make room for up-and-coming talent. I'min two minds as to retain him as a squad player or let him go.

bestplayer.thumb.png.b5363745c94fff64519c8a6cccc5bbcc.png

Fans like to simplify matters down to personalities, individuals, and of course Ritchie stands out. But for me, the team is far better than the sum of its parts. We had half a dozen key individuals leave at the start of the season and we only got stronger.

 

There is another way of thinking present within the club, however.

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This is great, an increase from six to nine coaches. The chairman, after refusing my requests for improved facilities, is compromising by increasing coaching staff. I agreed with Astrid to wait until the summer, as more people will be available. Not that she has much to do with anything; ‘he’ has already gone and hired a goalkeeping coach – I dare say the rest will be his people, too. Which reminds me, Astrid is staying on, so we’re due to lose just Billy, the physios and ever-transient scouts.

Billy, may I spell it out clearly, is on a salary that is half the monthly players' wage bill - 45 players, remember! About that - wages. Look at the bottom right:

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I am saving the board £6,500 per week in wages! Thanks for clapping me on your doorstep, pal, but may I have a salary now? Shall I remind you, I have twice knocked back your zero-wage contract offer?

best player.png

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