KibworthBull

February 2023 The transfer window is OPEN... *reminds myself it's youth only.. The star man gets injured.. BUT hopefully it will deter people from trying to sign him. Ben Konwlo, a 16yr old Liberian comes in for this debut against Xaverov B, positionally he is a like for like replacement, but it's like comparing Apples and Pears.. An 11th minute penalty consigns us to defeat. Just scrap everything I said about tactics working in the last post. 3 games (including a higher graded oppo friendly) - nothing positive to report. Next month could be intake month..

January 2023 New year.. New Problems.. A short story Not his first offence.. he had been a bit complainy as well. A squad player - 213 minutes on the pitch across 10 appearances at an Avge 6.54. Wont be missed. Filic Semec will be missed, our Assistant becomes No.1 at Litomericko, 10th in another league at our level. Aleš Dvořák goes up a level as U19s gaffer, so some staff recruitment is required. Michal Sýkora joins the fold as Ass. Man. He doesn't bring much to the party. A tactical tweak for the first game of the month, year and first for ages. A move away from 4-1-2-2-1 to 4-2-3-1 - or to put it simply, dropped the DM for an AMC. Union Celakovic are two places below us, but on the pitch, miles apart. A 4-1 smashing and our best result of the season. Tomáš Koloušek with a double. Vlasim B is the other game in the month. 16pts clear at the top of the table and unbeaten. An unbeaten month. 100% record 2 wins out of 2. The tactical tweak seems to have created a positive result. Firmly 9th in the table now.

Looking forward to this.

Fantastic season.

December 2022 One match this month, but it's a toughie. Away to Boskovice who sit 3rd, very near the top of the also-rans as the leaders are running away with it. A defensively solid display but a bit toothless in attack, our 2022 calendar year ends with defeat. We took 2 fans... Star man was Milan Vebr, comfortably our 2nd best player in the squad. A 6'7 weakling, although he does tip the scales at over 13 stone, so likely to be bone rather than fat. He can't head, tackle or mark. He can jump but doesn't really know what to do when he gets there.. I'm going to completely ignore the gradings as I've played enough FM to know they completely random at this stage of the game with the level we are at. I'll focus on the distribution though. Potentially two Centre Mids is good as we only have 3 currently at the club, and three strikers. Worringly we have no DM - we've only got 1 at the club and he's average, and no natural Full Backs. I bet the AMC will be the best player as it's a role we don't currently utilise. The plan at this stage will be to sign most of them to provide some depth and to clear out some of the senior garbage. We shall find out in either March or April so they should get some football this season. I wish I could enjoy a happy new year with the family, but that's both my Assistant Manager and U18s Manager speaking to other clubs

November 2022 2 league games this month. Which is 50% more than December - the only drawback about custom leagues, the fixture split is often odd. We played an inter-club friendly to give some of the squad some match sharpness. The side with the most first teamers lost 3-1. Food for thought.. Our last home game in 2022 was another game where we are decent for 65-70 minutes before fading away, Tomáš Koloušek gave us the lead before we got pegged back. Most of our squad are rated as "low quality" for the first team and boy is it showing right now. Koloušek now has double figures, not bad for someone described as being so weak that his own **** would knock him down. Late goals are a bummer... but they are brilliant when they go your way. Kamil Slepička somehow describes himself as a striker. He looks like he couldn't finish his dinner. A late, late winner secured the 3 points against Ostra. Radosław Banaszak set up both of the goals. Our first win in just over 2 months.

October 2022 Ah the bitter taste of defeat. How i've missed you. Away to 2nd in the table Hlavice and the showed their dominance. It wasn't a contest. Liskovec had lost 5 on the bounce, but before that they won 5 out of the first 6 games so which side turned up was always going to be interesting. The good version did. Back to back defeats and it seem's we are trying to spell out a Welsh village.. Ll Chochen sat bottom of the table so the perfect side to boune back against. We made a few changes with Daniel Kozel, Kamil Slepička, and Jan Macha starting their first games for the club. Fun fact if you say Jan Macha really quickly, it sounds like Juan Mata.. sadly that's where the comparison ends. Macha is rubbish.. but the only other option is hopelessly out of form. We dominated most of the game but late goals again.. our first point of what is turning to be a very poor month. None of the 3 changes performed. I want to go back to August and September. CAFC turn us over before we gain another point in the 5th game of the month. Try to pick the bones out of that month? According to the analyst we were unlucky in some of the games but outclassed in others. Grim reading but the only poor month we've had in the save so far. 9th, a mere 23pts off the leaders.. Christopher Chukwuma has been a strong player all month, despite conceding 10 goals. Only 16, if he had arrived as part of an intake then I would be waxing lyrical about the lad, as it is though he is cannon fodder for the next guy to come along.

Loving the fact that the kids are starting to take over. I dream of having a son one day..

September 2022 What better way to spend your 37th birthday - victory over Kyjov. Tomáš Koloušek has hit his 6th goal of the campaign. I have no idea how - Concentration of 1, Work Rate of 1, Stength of 2. He must have some amazing hidden attributes that boy. Back to back clean sheets, and a few moments away from a treble of them. Somewhere John Trewick would be very happy (obscure reference that precisely one reader will get..) We have to settle for a draw at Vinor, but it's still only 1 defeat from 9. Christopher Chukwuma has been ever present between the sticks, he's 16 and a Nigerian by birth, and Polish by dual-nationality. A MoTM performance gives us another 3 points when we face off against Svitavy. The only fly in the ointment at the moment is we seem to have a knack of letting in late goals. A 94th minute goal squanders 2 points against Libus, but it's still an unbeaten month. First one of the save. You can take the team out of Newent... Just over 1/3rd of the season complete. No danger of promotion and no danger of finishing bottom. Exactly where I want to be.

August 2022 We get into August still searching for that first victory. If we get to December and I am still looking then worry may set in. 9th placed Boskovice travel to Lounovice for the first game. We fall behind early and the mood darkens but our fantastic Pole, Radosław Banaszak dragged us back level before that man Tomáš Koloušek struck a 2nd half winner. We are off and running.. Banaszak has been poor so far (harsh to judge after 3 games maybe) but hopefully this will be the spark he needs. We go back to back baby.. The same pair secure victory against Celakovice. The only defeat so far has been against a B team. And we have 2 back to back to close out the month. Vlasim B are 100% from 5 games, they have a side in the 2nd tier of Czech football - very much favourites for the league. The scoreline says they won 2-1, but my word was it one sided. We are not the blue team.. We almost got away with it - the winner was in the 86th minute. Our goal scorer was 15 year old Vojtěch Král - showed bravery to take a penalty after missing one earlier in the season. Unsurprisingly he is now the youngest goalscorer We saved the best performance for the last game of the month, away at Xaverov B, 3 unanswered goals and another 3 points. A fine month leaves us 11th Vlastimil Brotánek is proving to be a fine player. His time is extremely limited as he is 25 and 1* Current Ability so likely to be replaced the first intake, but he is doing the job. Aggresive, Very Brave, Tackles, and has good jumping reach. 7.34 from his 7 games so far.

July 2022 The season starts extremely early - 9th July and we are off and running. A massive recruitment drive has ensured that we now have some staff. Not world beaters but you take what you can get at this level. Filip Samec originally applied for the U18 managers role but I managed to convince him his future was in senior football so he can work alongside our bunch of teenagers instead. He can't give an opinion on who is a good player or who is worth investing the time into but his actual coaching bits are alright for this level. It's a low bar. Our level of coaching is above average for the division and my attributes are worse than his. He is alright with the kids too. Michal Šilhan is a key member, being our first HoYD, a terrible personality, but I like his level of Determination and he favours the formations I like to use. So at least he will produce some round pegs for me. He'll also work well with the kids. The football kicked off against Frýdek-Místek B, their senior side are tier 3 and include real life players, so they must be good. And they proved a little too good on the day. It was only 1-0 and we played a good % of the game with only 10 players so I am taking the positives from this. Next up was a brilliant performance that got progessively worse as the match progressed, Tomáš Koloušek hit a hattrick in half an hour and we were cruising 3-0, then the pressure started to mount, 3-1 (32nd min), 3-2 on the stroke of half time. We kept them at bay until the 91st minute and the equaliser sneaked in. Our first point but it should have been better. We've sold 65 season tickets and had 259 people attend the first match - that's 20% of the village. Top of the table Poruba ended the month. The fans hoped for a draw but were expecting a defeat. We delivered the hope. It would have been better but Vojtěch Král missed a first half penalty. 10th after the first month is pleasing. We get that position at the end of the season and I will be content.

Thanks. I've had some amazing Czechs over the years so hopefully they can help me achieve the goals.

I know.. I know.. I really need to stretch myself more..

This save idea was supposed to start in January after I fully explored the Newent save I was doing (Amateur Dramatics thread) but then I foolishly googled FM23 Leagues and one of my identified leagues came up as a download and... Yeah, it's starting now. So if you were a fan of the previous save, it will stay unfinished for now (sorry Amy..) Welcome to Lounovice.. Czech Republic Located in the near central part of the Republic, Lounovice is a village of around 1,200 people, about 30km from Prague. They have a football team and they play in the 5th tier of Czech football, a tier with NO RELEGATION* *vital for this save as my previous youth only saves have crashed and burned with relegation.. so I can take my time and not panic too much when the club gets relegated.. BECAUSE THEY CANNOT... Not sure why I am shouting, so I will calm down. The name of the side stood out as in the long distance past I went by the handle, FM Novice - don't worry, not even I remember it really.. I've had a little bit of success with Youth Only saves before, on FM15 I took Tamworth from the National League North to the Premier League (and back down to the Championship again..) We are an empty shell. I am the only member of staff on the books with a playing staff of 32 - 1 Bosnian, a Haitian, Liberian, Democratic Republic of Congoan, a Slovakian and a Pole, and a large number of Czechs. Right royal Billy basic. Star Player: Aims: Become the biggest side in Czech Republic, Europe and the World (Reputation). At the start their are roughly 266 bigger teams in the Czech Republic. We are Obscure and in alphabetical order 108 similar sized sides. We don't even come close to appearing on either the European or World stages yet so lets leave those as "in progress" Win the Champions League with a squad of Academy Players Create affiliate links with clubs from all over the world - have an affiliate from each continent represent the first team AND their international full side Have a player from our academy represent Czech Republic at International Level from U19 to Senior Have a player from our academy represent another nation at Internation Level from U19 to Senior Create a team of full internationals from Czech Republic - positions based on the Scouts opinion opinion of their strongest position Create a team of full internationals from another nations (all excluding Czech Republic) - positions based ont he Scouts opinion of their strongest position Have 100 nations coming through my academy - they have to make a first team appearance to qualify Have a player from the academy make 1000 appearance for the club - only ever done this in Brazil Have a player from the academy score 300 goals for the club - only had 1 player do this before and he wasn't an academy player Create a team of 500+ appearance makers - positions based on the Scouts opinion of their strongest position There might be more as I think of them/find ways I can track them using Excel Spreadsheets.. As you can see, it's a short save idea...

Good luck with this challenge. I'll be embarking on a similiar type of challenge in another European league soon.

September 2024 We've gone local in the FA Cup - okay, local for where I am currently writing this and not local to Newent, but it serves as an introducion. Corby Town away. Just over the border. Can be home by 5.30pm.. But that's in 14 days time. Firstly it's Harrow. Very much NOT a local derby for anyone involved. Not that Liam Edwards is bothered, he's moved to AFC Telford. Edwards' replacement Luther Williams scores in the 3-1 win. Replacements are forthcoming. Firstly Louie Clarkson, he was on trial in the summer but since he's been gone there have been a lot of changes so it's a welcome return for the ex Rochdale trainee. We are swimming in fast moving water right now with the transfers, lots of movement either way. So it's ironic our next match was against Poole. Honours Even. Mitch Candlin at the double. Jake Hackett has been employed by the Daggers of Redbridge for the past 2 seasons, a Left Winger/Centre Midfielder. Strong option and a welcome addition. The Scouts are looking for defenders, especially with Louie Annesley in talks with clubs higher. Only 1 side were "a bit Casual" down in Walton. Mitch doing great things, another 4 to the tally. 101 career goals (86 for us). But can Candlin do it on a balmy late summer afternoon in Corby? Yes he can. So can everyone else as well, especially Dylan Asonganyi who notched a first hattrick. More new blood - Centre Half Anthony Cheshire, released by Swindon in the summer joins. A few loans at this level and 100 senior games at only 22. He has decent pedigree. A debut was made against Wingate AND Finchley. Last year we had a poor FA Cup run after 2 fantastic years, and this year I really want to get past that first round. I did not see this one coming.. A record win. 8 changes and extra time are needed to see off AFC Dunstable in the League Cup. A long month came to an end in Middlesex. Dylan getting another treble.

August 2024 5 games in 14 days in August. We don't start until the middle of the month and then overload. FC Romania is our first game at the level. Before the game, we were rocked by Ash Joel deciding to go up a level and join Kingstonian. I doubt he will be the last as Stockport are sniffing around a few. 4 of the 5 goals in the FC Romania match happened after the 77th minute, Dylan Asonganyi scored twice in a minute and we have started with a W. Mitch Candlin got off the mark for the season in game week 2, and also became our leading goalscorer in league football. My 200th game in charge came against AFC Totton in a 2nd v 3rd matchup, prior though it was a case of 1 in and 1 out, the departure was Joshua Edwards to AFC Telford - 88 games, 10 goals, 50 assists. They've got a hell of a player, and no one is happy with it. The player in was Charlie Hughes, a Central Defender who was with Wigan Athletic last season - 20 years old and will be a rotational option. You can probably get away with describing the Totton game as franetic. A 4-1 lead became 4-4 before Mitch did Mitch like things in time added and gave us another W. There was a bit of a subdued atmosphere around Chippenham as Telford continue to try and cherry pick our players, they have targetted Liam Edwards now, decision pending. The first dropped points of the year, but we are still unbeaten. Normal service resumed against Bracknell. The only concern about the month is that players seem to be moving on far more rapidly now than they were before. Since the 1st June we have lost 6 regulars to good contracts at the top of the non league pyramid. This was how I thought it would have been from the off!

July 2024 All change please, all change... This was a bit more of what I expected from this challenge. A summer of our cream being cropped by other clubs. That's right... George Elokobi has moved onto manage Billericay. Stockport County have taken Colin Woolley and Jack Bassett, Eastleigh have taken Marlon Fossey and Curtis McDonald believes that Weymouth is a better place to play. All but Weymouth (National League South) are in the National League, and all of them are now earning some money for their football. That's our entire right hand side removed, and one of our attackers and half the left side. Oh and we had a takeover.. not that it made a diffence. The able bodied replacements.. Sam Packham is a Right Back/Centre Midfield who was with Crewe last season, he's played 2 games in the EFL, more than likely a squad player but has a degree of versatility in his game. Our best Right Back and Right Winger is Rodney Lie A Kwie, one of those fantastically named players, he was a Leeds United Youth and also a Netherlands U19 capped player. He's 18 and will be a strong player for us. Capable of playing on either the right winger slot or up front is Ben Morris who looks really good for someone who has hardly played at the clubs he's been at. At 25 he's been employed and released by: Ipswich Town and Crawley Town and numerous loan spells down the pyramid. He sits alongside Dylan Asonganyi, a striker who started at the MK Dons (Jay Bird, Lewis White) and has scored goals at the top level (of non league football), he scored 14 for Cheltenham as they returned to the EFL last season. Both Asonganyi and Morris should have no trouble finding the net. And if they do we can offer up, Jay Turner-Cooke, a 20 year old who lists both Newcastle United and Sunderland as former clubs, he topped scored for Rossington Main (15 in 22) before having 12 months out of the game. He might fade without a trace, he might score buckets. On the left hand side Harry Boyes has a bit of pedigree. Capable of either Left Back or Left Midfield, he's been with Man City, Sheffield United and Reading. Granted he has never made any of thier first teams but he'll do for us. At 22, this is his time. Michael Norris will give us cover for Boyes and Jack James, he's had a couple of seasons in Blackpools U18s and will be there when we need him. Bailey Whitehead provides cover for Boyes on the Left Winger slot, his first touch, dribbling and crossing are strong for the level, he's just neither quick or strong. He's had a few loan spells at the level below us and did very well so let's not rule him out just yet. We've had good success from Welsh Academies so far, Ashley Cook probably wont be another.. he was an early addition before the above players came in so has faded a bit. He's capable of playing anywhere across the middle and is only 17. Keegan Halliwell is an 18yr old Striker, another Welsh lad, who none of the coaches rate highly but I think he can contribute.

2023/2024 Season Review Southern League Division One South - 1st, second successive unbeaten season FA Cup - First Qualifying Round, a poor showing, lost on penalties to Malty Main FA Trophy - Second Round Proper, knocked out a couple of local rivals in Bromsgrove Sporting and Hereford, before losing away at Cray Wanderers Southern League Cup - Third Round, never really took it seriously, lost to Stourbridge Finances A 50k loss - our main outgoing is the scouting but we are still in a strong position. It helps we dont pay wages/bonuses. Goalkeepers: A changing of the guard between the sticks. Elias Rouse has had two seasons as number No.1 but got usurped by Tom Scott (who left) and Corey Addai who did very well. Both Brad Kelly and Shay Carson shared the responsibilities of the U23s friendlies. Addai should be fine as No.1 keeper next season and Kelly will either be second choice or 3rd, depending on what becomes available in the summer. Released: Elias Rouse and Shay Carson Defenders: It was only when compiling this review I realised how little things were rotated throughout the season. On the left hand side Jack James proved to be a more than useful option, still a regular for Malta as well. He's as good as he will be and might struggle with the step up, but he has come from higher up so should be okay. I'll need to strengthen as Johnny Herd is going to retire. On the right, Marlon Fossey started badly but once Alex Penney departed/threw his toys out of the pram, then he got better and ended the season well, I'll need another option on the right next year. In the middle Liam Edwards should be higher up the pyramid and was immense all year, both Louie Annesley and Luther Williams supported him in a very solid defensive unit. Both Ash Kigbu and Jack Bainbridge came in to provide cover late in the season. Released: Johnny Herd (Retired), Ash Kigbu, and Jack Bainbridge Midfielders: An area of the pitch we upskilled during the last summer. Only Joshua Edwards was in the side the previous year and he had another fine season, mainly alongside fellow dragon Sam Bowen, Bowen arrived injured and was solid all year. Only 1 booking for him as well which is impressive for a side with poor discipline. Malcolm Boxall started the season well in the side but faded to become the option on the bench, he's only 18 so can still improve. At Right Wing, Colin Woolley came in when Reggie Lambe did his cruciate and was fantastic, 15 assists, 9 goals (including a hattrick), we didn't really have any option in reserve. The left side never performed, which was a shame as they were superb last season. Jacob Berkley-Agyepong really dropped off from previous years, 3 assists compared to 14 in the lower tier, Curtis McDonald hasn't quite found his feet, but is another that is young enough to come again. Released: Jacon Berkley-Agyepong, Luck Nock Strikers: I was hoping to continue the Jay Bird is amazing narrative for another year. Sadly it wasn't to be, he just couldn't force himself into the side, and when he did get gametime he couldn't take advantage, still 103 goals in 88 games is a very impressive performance. Mitch Candlin finally became 1st choice option and helped himself to 42 goals (78 total for the club), he seemed to have most of the National League South asking him to join him but always said no. At 23 he might be entering his final chance to get back into the pro game. Lewis White proved he can score goals at this level, as did Jack Bassett. Bassett will most likely have some pro teams asking him questions in the summer, but there is normally quite a few options out there to find similar options. Released: Jay Bird, Lewis White and Kieran Wakefield 9 departures but most of them are no longer regulars, or never were. Lewis White will probably do a very good job next year but there is Ash Joel and Louis Shead plus un-named others waiting in the wings that are a few years younger and have more potential. It's a tough world Lewis.. Ex Players: 34 former players (excluding the 9 latest) are still in the game Ben Fraser made the most appearances, 49 at Litherland REMYCA (Step 9) Mario Hearne hit 20 goals for Hallam (9) and got the highest average rating 7.28 and assists 10 - a fine season. Kyle John had a very good season with The New Saints (Wales Step 1), 5 goals, 7 assists in 30 games, he also featured in Europe Jacson Coppack played 5 times at National League level (5) with Bromley before moving to Crusaders (Northern Ireland Step 2) Tom Stansfield and Joel Davidson are the only 2 contracted to Football League sides - Fleetwood (3) and Walsall (3) respectively. Neither featured. Tom Scott, Jamie Bradley-Green and Joel Davidson (loan) were regulars in the National League South (6) Chris Kellman continues to appear for Guyana, he got 8 in 30 at Rugby Town (9) Jared Hodgkiss got relegated in his first managerial role, but he is still employed with Oakwood.

April 2024 You wouldn't want to travel to Cirencester (4th) with 4 games to go if you needed something from the season. As it is, we can enjoy the April sunshine as we canter to our 32nd win of the campaign. 99 points and 94 goal difference, would like to ensure we get the 100 up for both in the final 3 games. It would be nice if we can do both of them against the old nemesis, the Bishop's of Cleeve. We got the points, and moved close to the GD Just like last season we had the GD before a late slip. We are on 98 with 1 game left. In the end we did bring one of the academy players in. Bryn Wright doesn't look wonderful but we haven't really had (or found) a decent option on the left this season so he could be in with a shot. The equation was simple for Bridgwater, score 2 more goals than them and we get the +100 GD. When Jack Bassett had 2 disallowed in the first twenty minutes it felt like one of those days. But.. we had enough. Maximum points for the month. Back to back invincible seasons I'm hoping it becomes harder next season. It's been a little too easy this year. Cleeve miss out on the final day... i know how they feel. We are expected to win the league again next season.

March 2024 It's very tight behind us. 6th and 2nd are separated by 3pts. 1st and 2nd are separated by nearly 30.. We host Dorchester Town, who started the day in 2nd, and they ended it in 5th. Routine victories over Merthyr Town (where we equalled the league record for most goals in a season - 109) and Sholing where Mitch Candlin got a 4 and secured the record. We had our intake and it was poor. The nature of this save makes it unlikely that players will be able to come through unless they are really special. Lloyd Bailey is the best of the bunch. Yeah i know.. My Director of Football wants to sign all of them... I'll be signing none of them. A rare dropped stitch at home to Swindon Supermarine. Our 4th choice keeper, Shay Carson made his debut. The month started 1st v 2nd and that's how it ended. Melksham Town. The loser dropped to 3rd. Missing are both our internationals. Louie Annesley brings up his 50th cap for Gibraltar. Jack James played 90 minutes against Cyprus. Not the most news worthy of months..

February 2024 Cinders and Ashes... Away to Cinderford Town, 20th in the table. A rotated side came away with an undeserved draw. Ash Joel partnered Lewis Shead up top and 3rd choice keeper Brad Kelly made his debut. Rob Campbell was never happy at the club - signed as a star player, he never got enough games and has decided on a sidewards move to Nuneaton - they are, right now, a higher grade, but wont be in a few months. He played 18 games (8+10) We got back to winning ways against Larkhall, means we just need a win against Plymouth Parkway to secure a play-off spot. The last 3 departures have all been defenders, so the scouts were tasked to find someone to come in and well, they did find someone. A short term fix is Jack Bainbridge, coming from Southport. Sadly there doesn't appear to be much out there right now. Jack Bassett has had to wait for his chance in the side for a few weeks - then comes in and grabs 4 goals. Play-Offs secured. Another new addition before the month ended, Ash Kigbu, a Nigerian Left Back/Centre Half comes in. He started his career with Man City, before a spell in Austria, and then Mansfield. At 25 he needs to be playing lots of games. We are bringing it home... Didn't see that one on the immediate horizon. 9 games to go

January 2024 The transfer window is OPEN and Carlisle of League Two fancy half our squad. Whether they make some moves or not is more exciting than the league currently. We are miles clear and the Southern League Premier is surely in our future. There is also no cup competitions for us now so it's all about the thing that's nearly sown up.. Only 1 team has conceded more than Bideford and no one has scored more than us.. so the smarter money was on a 0-0 draw. Not an 8-4 end to end thriller. Mitch Candlin gets his first mention of the month with a hattrick. He's currently in negotiations with Maidenhead United but as he has turned them down 3 times since the start of the season I am feeling okay about the chances of keeping our top scorer. Good lad.. Wimborne are looking down, we are looking up (up up up).. All the way up (up up up) We score 5 they don't. Colin Woolley brings his goal contributions to 20 for the seaon - 8 goals, 12 assists. Hamworthy United provided on paper, a much sterner test. 2nd v 1st. Mitch didn't believe it was a sterner test. Another 3 goals. Carlisle still haven't made any movement towards any sort of takeover of our squad. I'm starting to think they prefer to just watch. Fleetwood have moved for one of ours, and Lisa will be happy - Tom Stansfield joins their U23s. 28 games for the Centre Back for us - he did okay, but at 5'9 is maybe not Central Defender material. Especially with a 7 for Heading. But at least he's getting paid. We need another 8pts to secure our play off spot.

December 2023 Ah Bishop's Cleeve, we've been expecting you... Obviously we have as they are our opponents but you get what I mean. This one is about revenge. These guys delayed our amateur juggernaut by 12 months. We will rip them a new one, We will pulverise them, we will make them rue the day.. we will... sneak past them thanks to a Liam Edwards goal. Someone might need to tell his agent we are amateur... he got a new deal and improved his playing time to "Important" - he pretty much plays every week but the agent is happy. I wonder what his cut of the deal was? If anyone was wondering if our second string could progress far in the League Cup.. then the answer is not too far. Stourbridge 1s proved too strong for Newent 2s. All cricket fans know the feeling.. Another old friend meets us down in Bridgwater - Darnell Baxter-Alleyne has been a regular for them since making the move last season. He looks well. He played well as well, but we return with the posts - our second straight 1-0 Some very small positives from the intake preview. Overall it suggests it's another poor one, but 2 players called out. I dont seem to keep keepers around too long - Tom Scott threw his toys out the pram because i decided to play someone else for a few games so he has moved on. The keepers we've got are more than good enough for this level so it's no real loss. We've yet to concede a goal in the FA Trophy, December is becoming 1-0 month, all 4 games have ended that scoreline. Progression against Mertsham meant we had to cancel the pre Christmas trip to Guernsey. We travel down on the 27th instead - not the best one for the fan. We finally concede in the Trophy at Cray, and throw away at 2 goal lead to fall out the competition on penalties. 2 cup defeats this month, both are underachievments as well. All the fans that made the trip over sea to Guernsey were rewarded with a thriller - no goals, a booking a piece. The first dropped points of the season. A much shorter trip away ended the month - Yate and back to the binary results.

November 2023 Nowt bigger than Hereford. Hoping for a big crowd. 443 crammed in and Jack Bassett found the net and we are into the 1st Round Proper for the first time. Sholing bring a return of an old friend. But the feeling is apparently not mutual. I played him.. and then replaced him.. It wont be the main game on the Highlights package. Parkway 3-0 up, 4-2 up, 5-3 up, 6-4 up. Drew. That's a Larkhall side without a win all season. For 45 minutes against Melksham it was ON... 2 goals down and staring at our first league defeat in over a year. Jack Bassett comes on and in a blistering 6 minute spell completely changes the match and we return with the 3 points. We travelled to Buckland Athletic without Jack James, because he was playing against Italy for Malta - how many step 8 players can say that. Louie Annesley can't say it.. he was playing the Netherlands. Neither enjoyed it too much. Behind the scene's a coach moves back into management - if he's still around next season we may well play him. Both were back for the battle of the top 2 - Cirencester Town look to be the one that's going to get closest to us. They never got close to Mitch Candlin who took his tally to 22 for the season, but we did lose Lewis White to injury for the next 6 weeks or so. The chasing pack are now 13 behind and there is a further 11 points for the play-off pack to haul back. The results just got better through the month