TheLutterworthFox

April 2025 A solid end, I played the kids in the final game as I looked forward to the cup final and the fact 2nd was already wrapped up A second successive season as runners-up but a point better off than last season. We do however end miles behind TNS. Now to the cup final where we face Cymru North side Airbus UK, we were huge favourites and although we struggled to break them down we eased to a 2-0 win and with my first trophy in the save. A really good way to end a solid season.

March 2025 Well with that defeat to TNS the league title has well and truly gone, the good news is we got the better of TNS in the Welsh Cup and have made it to the final where we will face Airbus UK 3 games left, we have guaranteed top 3 but still need a few more points to end 2nd

2025 Youth Intake All I can say is WOW! Now clearly these rating are based on our current players, this big question is, are my players rubbish hence why the intake players CA/PA is so high or are these lads actually good?! David Price-Hall - Central Defender A Croatian/Welsh defender! He looks OK, amazing? No but solid enough to be able to do a job in the future. Alun Isaac - Central Midfield Yeah, not bad, many attributes over 10, the average for this league is around 8-9. Jonathan Browning - Defensive Midfield Yeah he isn't great, his mentals are half-decent but his physical and especially, technical attributes are really poor Aled Carroll - Right Wing At 2.5* current ability I expected him to be good but, for this level, he already looks incredible, he does need to improve, mainly in his pace, off the ball and passing but he has a really good base to work with. Gerwyn Owen - Left Wing Good quickness, some great mentals both technicals need some serious work And here's a selection of the "top talents", none of them are World beaters but could do a job with training and mentoring. So it wasn't as amazing as I hoped but it gives us so many options to add to our first-team squad. These lads can progress in the main squad and get mentored by the more experienced players. What this means is the squad will be huge but I can now look to remove and release a load of the poorer players who are taking up wages, if I get rid of 10 I'll only need to bring 5 or 6 in, this means I can spend more on wages on these players! It makes sense in my head anyway!

February 2025 Too many dropped points for my liking, TNS we were 2-1 up and three it away but it was that 0-0 draw at the end of the month that had really damaged out title aspirations. The good news is, sandwiched in between the league games was a Quarter final win in the Welsh Cup, we now face TNS in the semi final. TNS now have a 4 point lead on us, we still have 6 games left and I'd say we need to win all of them, including TNS away to have any chance of winning the league.

January 2025 A brilliant month ruined by a shocking defeat right and the end! And that loss dropped us from 1st to 3rd! It's so close! Transfers news and we made two new signings in January. Ryan Hanson - Central Midfield A really good addition to the midfield, a huge upgrade. Kian Pritchard - Winger We were really short of decent wingers, McLaggon has been great but he has decided to retire at the end of the season and is declining rapidly, a top quality signing for this level.

December 2024 Back from my holiday and straight back into FM! A really good month with progression in the Welsh Cup and a win against Connah's Quay who, at the time, were top, the loss top TNS set us back but we did play well. Just look how tight it is at the top! 3 games of the regular season to go before the league split and a further 10 games, only a point separates the top 4! In other new TNS ended their Europa Conference League Phase with 4 points including a win over Gent and a draw against Lugano, they went out but those wins were huge shocks

November 2024 One of the best months of the save so far. Even in the defeat we played really well and deserved to win. 3 wins in the league as well, some great wins but I would love a clean sheet!! Just look how close it is! We sit joint top and ahead of the mighty TNS! This will be my last update for a week or so as I go on holiday in the morning. See you all soon

October 2024 I think the corner is slowly being turned Yeah we got hammered by Haverfordwest but it was an odd game where they had an xG of less than 1 but scored 5 times! Other than that it's been a solid month with 5 clean sheets along the way. We're down in 5th but the table is really tight. A quick word on a player who came through our intake last season and over the past month has slowly started making his mark in the first team. James Roberts has been playing as the Mez (S) in a midfield three and has been really good, scoring twice in 3 starts.

September 2024 Well after a great start we have fallen apart, I can take defeats to Connah's Quay and TNS but those losses to Cardiff Met and Bala really hurt! What a shambles! Now to try and work out what's gone wrong The good news is no one is really running away with it and even TNS have lost twice, we just need to ride the storm and hopefully we can turn it around

August 2024 Its been one hell of a start! Some brilliant wins, loads of goals and a 100% record! Let's hope we can carry this on!! Now a couple of pieces of good news, the Europa Conference League prize money has given me the chance to improve the junior coaching and youth recruitment. This puts the junior coaching up to "good" and the youth recruitment to "average" We've also continued our recruitment drive by bringing in five new signings. Tyler Winters - Striker A really good addition to the forward line, he will offer really good back-up to Ollie Hulbert and on a non-contract deal. Theo Robinson - Right Back I needed more option at right back and Robinson is a cracking deal for the club. Eric Ameyaw - Central Defender Eric adds some much needed depth to the defence. Mael Davies - Right Back/Central Midfield Mael was signed for his versatility and also the fact he's on a non-contract deal. Samuel Oluwatobi - Defensive Midfield Signed on a season long loan from Newtown, he looks pretty decent and, like all the signings, adds depth to the squad. A really good window, the squad is now set and as you can see from the squad planner we have options in all areas. It does say 1.5*s for DM and RW but I personally feel the ability rating of the players in those positions don't reflect how good they are. Now a final piece of news, Aim One has been ticked off in the challenge as TNS managed to get through the Conference League qualifying rounds to seal a spot in the League Phase.

2024/25 Europa Conference League Qualifiers We entered in the first qualifying round and had what looked like a winnable tie against Lithuanian side Kauno Zalgris. Looking at their players attributes it was always a tie I thought we could win but after the first leg my hopes seemed to be dashed, we took an early lead but then our passing let us down as we conceded possession in silly areas and ended up losing the tie 3-1, an uphill battle as we head back to Jenner Park But somehow we pulled off a miracle win, two first half goals levelled the tie and we snuck a goal in extra time to seal a 3-0 win and 4-3 on aggregate! Into the second qualifying round and we had a really tough ask as we faced Ukrainian side Zorya Luhansk, we were huge underdogs and Zorya proved their quality beating us in the first leg 4-1, we actually had some decent chances but failed to make them pay. In the second leg we once again played half decent against a much stronger side, we matched them for chances but fell to a 2-1 defeat. Overall though to get through one round is really good but the biggest news is this..... We've made a total of £770k of prize money just for playing in those two rounds! That is absolutely massive! The bank balance now sits at a whopping £648k!!!!!

2024/25 Pre-Season As expected it's been a busy Summer but the good news is that we managed to keep a couple of players that didn't seem to want to sign a new deal. We still lost a lot of players, the big names there are Greening (DM), Tomlinson (RW), Press (CM) and Hiddleston (GK). For me Hiddleston is the biggest loss, I only signed him last Summer and I was gutted I couldn't keep him here. We did manage to keep hold of Striker Ollie Hulbert and Wide man McLaggon which is a huge help and they were my two key men last season. With the budgets in we were handed £6k per week of wage budget a small transfer kitty, this surprised me as we had lost so much money the season before, so to increase the wage budget by 50% was an odd one. No way do I plan to spend it all, we need to try and keep costs low to stem the losses from last season, I do need to bring in a host of players though as after all the outgoings we were left with one kid goalkeeper, no right backs and only one natural centre back, we also needed a midfielder or two to replace Greening and Press. But before I go through the incomings, a few updates on how Wales are doing in the rankings. The league has managed to drop a spot in the competition rankings. And worst news is Wales have dropped a place in the co-efficient rankings, down to 51st meaning we lose a Conference League spot. We've also had some odd stadium news, Cardiff Met Uni will be ground-sharing with us this season, they will pay us a rental of just over £6k a season Now to the incoming transfers, please welcome... Sam McLintock - Central Midfield My replacement for Evan Press, he looks half decent for this level Craig Curran - Winger/Striker Signed for his experience mainly but also the fact he still looks top quality for 34. George Sheridan - Defensive Midfield I looked at signing Sheridan last season but couldn't afford him, since his release from Aldershot his wage demands have dropped significantly, he should be a big player this season. Caden Genovesi - Central Defender I really like the look of this lad, he's tall and strong and is a big upgrade on what we had in defence last season. Ryan Hiller - Striker Signed on an amateur contract just to add some depth to the forward line Ewan Griffiths - Goalkeeper My new No.1, he 's only 18 but already looks pretty solid for this level. Ryan George - Right Back My new right back, he looks solid and has a good base but does need some work, especially on his technicals There's still a good 7 weeks of the transfer window left but wanted to update prior to the Conference League qualifiers, another Right Back is much needed and possibly another Wingers, we are currently only spending half of the wage budget and a good £1k a week less than last season.

2023/24 End of Season Review The New Arrivals It was Tobias Hurlock who was our best performer of the new signings, what a shame he broke his ankle towards the end of the season. A solid campaign for him with 15 goal involvements in 24 starts. A Season To Remember A brilliant first season in charge, we over exceeded in the league, predicted mid-table, we claimed 2nd spot and Europa Conference League football next season. Moments To Remember Some really good wins over the season. The Finances Green all the way but we end the season well in the red! We need to get through a round in Europe to make enough money to get back into the black! Can we do it though?! We end £126k in the red, shocking and to be honest, bar European money I cannot see how we can improve it at the moment. We also have no budgets for next season, with the players leaving we lose around £2k per week of wages. How You Lined Up Its nice to see a few players end above 7 in the average rating, the full backs were really good for us this season, it's a shame that currently a lot of those players won't be here next season! The Accolades Lots of records broken this season, I guess that's what happens when there are no records to start with! Left Back Chris Hugh won the fans player of the year award, well earned with 11 assists and 4 goals over the season, just a shame he is out of contract and is "considering his options"! Ollie Hulbert ends as the fans young player of the year, a quality season for the lad who missed three month due to injury, he is another player "considering his options" Kayne McLaggon ends as the clubs top scorer with 14 goals, another player blighted by injuries but still performed really well, especially when he isn't rated very highly, he is out of contract in the Summer and currently I cannot afford to offer him a new deal! And here is whole squad Now we look forward to next season, I don't want to call it a rebuild but it may just be that, if you look at the squad you will see we have 8 players out of contract and 5 players leaving when their loans are up, this will leave us with 15 players, most of them kids who are not ready for constant first-team football. We need to improve the side, but we have to do on a shoestring! This is going to be an interesting Summer!

April 2024 We have two games left to make sure we secure a European place next season, what I've found out is that 2nd place guarantees a Europa Conference Spot, 3rd would do but it depends on the winner of the Welsh Cup, the final is between Cardiff Met and Haverfordwest, both outside of the European spaces, this means we have to end 2nd! The first game of the month was away to 5th placed Bala Town, we deserved to win, they scored early and that was their only shot on goal, we managed to grab an equaliser but failed to make our dominance pay and ended with a 1-1 draw, this meant, with Connah's Quay winning, we went into the final game in 2nd but only on goal difference. Into the final match, we had an away tie against Pontypridd, Connah's Quay were away to Bala Town, all we had to do was match their result to end in 2nd. Well we put in one of our best displays in recent months to win the game 4-1 making sure of that runners-up finish! Fantastic! A really pleasing end to the season.

March 2024 Two huge games, win them both and we're in a title challenge, lose them both and we're hanging on to a European spot. Well the first game was away to Connah's Quay, we played really well but we lost 1-0, we had two goals disallowed for offside and did not deserve to lose! We then faced TNS at home and put in a brilliant performance, they dominated possession but we put our chances away and came out with a 2-0 win. That made up for the Connah's Quay defeat and cemented ourselves in 2nd place. The final game of the month was at home to Penybont, our final match at Jenner Park this season, a win would guarantee top three and seal a European spot but we decided to not turn up and lost the match 1-0. Three games, only one win, we now have two away games left, the title is gone but luckily a European place is pretty much guaranteed.

2024 Youth Intake The rating were really poor but the overall intake was previewed as "excellent", so which way did it go? Well it looks excellent to me!!! Three elite talents and two top talents! Not bad for an intake which was had a preview of "C" rated players at best! So are they actually any good or is it because our squad isn't that great?! Jamie Roberts - Attacking Midfield Flair, Bravery, First Touch, not bad at all! He needs work but then everyone does at this level! Chris Perkins - Attacking Midfield Another attacking midfielder, I may have to look at changing formation! Overall he looks decent, he has good determination and natural fitness, he can also take a free kick. Luke Humphreys - Striker No not the darts player, a half decent looking Striker, he has decent pace for this level, good determination, finishing and work rate. I like this lad! Matthew Walker - Left Back When I look for a player I look for four base attributes, determination, work rate, natural fitness and bravey. Walker has three of them way above the league average, he just need to improve his bravery, a solid, young player but he does need some serious work. All four of these will come straight into the first-team squad and will be there as back-ups for the next few season, I personally prefer keeping my better youth players about, get them mentored by the older players rather than packing them out on loan

February 2024 Firstly MORE injury news as Winger Tobias Hurlock, who has played really well over the past few months has broken his ankle is going to be out for 8-10 months. The good news is McLaggon is now fully fit and Hulbert is a week away from a return. And just when I thought the wheels were falling off we came back with an absolutely brilliant win to end the month, I just wish we'd have kept the clean sheet, once again we conceded a consolation goal late on. It was a much needed win after whimpering out of the Welsh Cup and scraping 2 draws in the previous league games. Interestingly enough TNS have also started dropping points, a defeat and a draw in their past two league games and they went out of the Welsh Cup in the Quarters. We're still six behind them and also six ahead of Connah's Quay in 3rd. 2nd looks the most likely but we need to keep winning games. Here is out run-in, the next game is huge, if we come out without losing then 2nd is all but done, if we win and then beat TNS then we could be on for a late title challenge!

I've never seen it sway that much between awful rating but a really high description. Only about 6 weeks to wait to see how good it actually is!

January 2024 A quiet month with one great win and an amazing 3-3 draw away to TNS! It was nice to see McLaggon score twice in his comeback match after a 6 week layoff. That TNS game though was bonkers, especially I deployed the park the bus tactic! 8 games left and we are still solidly in 2nd place. Transfer-wise nothing has happened, we lost one player after defender Oscar Halls was recalled from his loan spell, we are over wage budget and over £100k in the red so I cannot do any business, we just have to deal with what we have, get that European spot and then look at sorting the squad out in the Summer. We already have numerous players who have said they won't be renewing their contracts at the end of the season, these include LB Hugh, CM Press and ST Hulbert, 3 key players we'll be losing for next season.

December 2023 After a shaky start we've ended with some really good results putting us well in the European places hunt One game of the regular season to go, we have cemented our second place spot Now for some more bad injury news, we have lost Striker Hulbert for 3 months. This leaves us with just one first-team Striker meaning I'll need to somehow need to bring another Striker in That is going to be hard seeing as we're well in the red and are overspending in wages, I need to try and ship out some of the poorer players who I don't want, that's easier said than done though! The annual youth intake preview has also come through and although it says it's an "excellent" intake the rating don't tell that story! Yeah not great. I have got two new players coming in though, both on free loans to bolster the ranks Ryan Lowe - Central Midfeld Marlee Francois - Winger Both add much needed depth, especially with the injuries we have

November 2023 A really good month with some cracking wins We have five games of the regular season left before the league split and we are comfortably in second place, surely we can't challenge TNS for the title? The big news is our star man Kayne McLaggon got injured in the last game and is out for at least 6 weeks, a huge loss.

October 2023 The month started so well but a few defeats has set us back. We did however produce one of our best displays to beat TNS at home in the league! Six points from four games though, even with the TNS win means we slip further behind them at the top of the table, the gap is now seven I still have to be happy though, we are overperforming where we should be, we just need to stop these silly defeats, the defence needs a serious improvement over the Winter. The tactic seems to be working well in the main, the players have taken to the gegenpress style and we look really dangerous going forward, just defensively we lack a bit of quality.

September 2023 Another fantastic month, I can take a couple of defeats because even in those games we didn't play that badly, we just faced a team that took their chances. What has been nice is the games where we've gone behind and won, both Haverfordwest and Bala Town we went 1-0 down and came back in the second half, mainly helped by the substitutions. It shows the side have grit and determination. As expected TNS are top and unbeaten, to be 2nd is really pleasing, now we just need to continue our good form, European qualification this season is a must to help out with the ever decreasing finances. Once again we made a big loss, around £28k which puts the bank balance in the red for the first time. There really isn't much I can do about it at the moment, we don't have anyone to sell to make money on, we could reduce the wage bill but that will only have a small effect on the losses, we need to get into Europe, just playing in one qualification round gives us around £80k. For the second month in a row one of our players won the leagues player of the month, this time Winger Kyle McClaggon He's not rated very highly but has been a massive source of goals from the right wing

August 2023 What an amazing start, I expected us to do well but some of these results have been really good. An unbeaten start, a couple of draws but even in those games we played well. And we sit top of the league after 4 games! Tactics wise I always tend to start with a 41221 and this save is exactly the same, in all the games bar the TNS match with a gegenpress style with a few tweaks to the players roles. Pretty basic but as you can see by the results it's working well. In the TNS match we went with "park the bus" and my god did it work, we actually had the better of the chances and, bar a late goal, completely nullified them. This gives me huge hope, when we're at home we won't be so negative but it worked a treat against a team much better than us Our good month was capped off with midfielder Evan Press winning the League Player of the Month, just a shame he has just told me he doesn't want to stay after his contract expires at the end of the season! He will be a big miss if I can't keep him about

2023/24 Season - Summer Transfers and Squad Update It's been a busy Summer, I managed to get rid of three players who were nowhere near good enough, this free'd up around £700 a week in wages giving me a bit more to spend. The squad needed improving, I mentioned in the last update we needed a new DM and a new CB, I also realised we needed a new GK and ST if I could find one decent enough on a low wage. All-in-all six players joined and the squad now looks much more solid and rounded. Kris Owen - Left/Centre Back Signed to add a bit of depth to the squad, the good thing is he's on an amateur contract so no wage, he just gets paid when he plays Cianole Nguepissi - Centre Back A big chunk of the wage budget taken up but this guy looks amazing for this level. Tobian Hurlock - Winger Another player on an amateur contract, he adds some depth to the wide areas. Henry Sandat - Striker Signed on a season loan from Hull City, Sandat adds competition to Hulbert up front and is as good, if not better Callum Hiddleston - Goalkeeper A massive upgrade on what we had when I joined. Oscar Halls - Central Defender Another season long loan signing, this time from Plymouth, he adds good competition in defence. As you can see we didn't sign a defensive midfield, I went in for loads of players but they wanted way too much money, even though the squad planner claims we have nothing when you look at ability we do have a couple of options to play there, if we struggle I'll look a changing formation, either to a flat-three in midfield or three at the back. The ability ratings haven't really changed from how it looked prior to the signings but we have much more depth in all areas. We are relying a lot on our best XI but overall we have enough depth and ability in the squad to be meeting expectations which is currently a top half finish. I'm really happy with how the squad looks now and so far the results have been pretty solid. I made sure we had easily winnable game in the pre-season friendlies and we managed to win most with ease, in the games we didn't I played a massively rotated team to see if any of the fringe/youth players were up to the task. And what those signings and good pre-season form has done is push our media prediction in the league up to 4th place! Here's hoping for a good start competitively