phnompenhandy

Bought my wife's wedding ring at Gretna Green. Always stop thereon my way to the highlands. Will monitor this for sentiment's sake! Good luck!

I'm currently managing in India, so I'll keep an eye on your progress.

Give it a title, mate

Good luck with this one - I'm intrigued to see how you handle your Build-a-Nation. I'll be taking notes

United Sports Club were on a long winless streak; nevertheless, Khan chose to revert to Cautious mentality to get the team re-used to it. The win did indeed secure promotion. The fans, board and players are jubilant: Khan isn't. It wasn't a good performance. The debutant was poor - which isn't a problem; he needs time to settle in, and he's won't be first-choice anyway as Das has that honour when he's back from injury. Khan did heed his assistant's advice and paid attention to the dangerman Sudeesh, limiting his effectiveness. And Boby S played his way back into his boss' thinking by nutting in a brace to deliver the points. But that performance would not have been good enough against a Tier Two side. What's more, after securing promotion, does Khan spend the final three games experimenting and bedding in young prospects, or does he go for the title? Assuming on promotion Lajong will enter the Durand Cup next season, there’s no chance of 20 preseason friendlies again – probably around six will be organised. Pondering the matter further, and watching more of the Under 21s and youths, he realised a major flaw in his system. Sherpa is the only player who can play Half Back/Anchorman. He has plenty of ball-winning terriers, but no one else who can shield the defence. Assessing the youths who are close to first team squad standard, he sees that the optimal formation is a 4-1-3-2, utilising a targetman and a poacher. But what the hell is that? Is he the Indian Lee Carsley, stuffing all his best players in an illogical tactic? There was only one way to be sure - every training session, three last League-Two games, next preseason - he'd have to try and see how it looks.

What's Kajol playing at? She's offered SRK a new contract, but refuses to give him a rise from his own money??? He's a bit miffed with her, but knows she'll return after he's secured promotion or the title. I mean, she's not going to sack the club owner! The next match could clinch promotion; Khan wants to start the new boy, but he's not forwarding his own cause:

Oh, hang on. After watching the kids play the Under 21s, Khan realised the three strikers are sharp – but short. The two trees currently used have under impressed, but Khan wasn’t sure about tearing up his tactics and going back to the drawing board. The midfielders looked unsure playing deeper, too. Tricky – good players, but bad for the system. Khan would need to think on it. However, with the Shadow Striker Hishan Das being out for some time and his backup falling short, it seems worth the risk to Khan to throw the newkid Arindam Fernandes straight in for the next match, if he has the mentality to cope. And thinking on it, if the two target men continue to underwhelm, maybe bringing in the short-arse strikers next season will be the way to go. food for thought, indeed. Khan’s also been trying to use his influence to persuade the FA to permit lower league clubs to have Under 18s squads, but he’s hit a brick wall. He has to park his youngsters in the Under-21s, which will be in an Under-21s league if they get to the top-tier Super League, but it's far from optimal if his India dream is to be realised.

With a Balanced mentality against Kerala United, too many chances were given up, and the result was too close for comfort. With the next match being in Goa, no way was Lajong going to score seven goals again, but it seemed to Khan worth persisting with the mentality experiment, and he nudged it up further to Positive. It made for a cracking spectacle for spectators, but was a horror-show for Khan. The result was 5-2 to Lajong, but the points were heavily aided by a clownish display by the Goan ‘keeper. Giving up six shots on target to a poor team was highly unsatisfactory, yet the overall quality of the Lajong performance was not only entertaining, but reasonably impressive. Dilemma – does Khan revert to Cautious mentality, or persist with Positive? His answer would be – both, depending on the match-state. Having lost his best player, Lyngdoh to a twisted ankle for two months, Khan gave a debut to Bunando Singh at right back and decided to start with a Positive mentality against Namdhari. So three wins against the bottom three sides on higher mentalities. The fans are happy, but Khan is not. The target men are not firing, and the central defenders are struggling. Better teams will beat them, so this experiment has to end for now. But, great news - February 19th, mark the date. Sanjoy Sen, you da man! What an academy intake!

Let's look at the bigger picture; before the recent loss, our defence was the best in the division - Here's our rightback, doing exactly as instructed. Despite the low quantity of progessive passes, he's delivered four assists and won four player of the match awards. Nice work, Damait. And thanks to him and our defensive midfield screen, our mediocre defence has turned out to be the best through January. Again, they're simply doing as instructed. See the below average Opposition Passes Per Defensive Action'? That's Khan instructing his players to hold their position and let the opposition pass sideways along the halfway line. How are our highly-paid numerous coaches and medics doing? Fine. frankly. Here are the training schedules Khan has set up: After the bootroom rigmarole in preseason, the coaches cycles through four weekly schedules. Slightly frustratingly, the team cohesion is not as Khan would like yet, but it will improve and hopefully contribute to a good run in the second half of the season. There is one setback: Khan is more than pleased with the wily and wise Head of Youth Development. Of the kids he delivered last season, three have first team starting appearances, and the next crop looks like there will be three or four good-looking prospects. The full squad numbers 35, which is exactly how many players can be registered in the league - Khan would appreciate Sen's advice on who to include and who to leave out of the squad from the academy products, but it's not to be. The search is on for a worthy successor. But to end with, Kajol, love-interest of heart-throb Shah Rukh Khan in dozens of Bollywood films, acting as managing director of the board, naturally gives Khan an A+, but it's gratifying to see the volatile fan-base agree with such a high estimation. SRK bathes in fan appreciation - it what makes him tick.

Plenty good stuff going on behind the scenes, but first, the most important news to report - our first loss. There were two reasons for this setback - firstly the injuries, which can't be helped, but most of them should be back in a week or two. Secondly, the manager was wrong to ignore his assistant for once. Khan acknowledges he should have taken the warnings about Robin Singh seriously and put a man on him. Lesson duly learned. But at this halfway point of the league season, theres no cause to panic - Lajong are top On theother hand, results have been steadily deteriorating after what is now clearly a freak result on Matchday one. Nevertheless, Khan will keep a cool head and consider nothing further than a minor tweak to mentality as he prepares to face the teams occupying the three lowest places.

Not sure why the board pushes back on improving Youth Recruitment, but the collective arm was twisted in the end Khan is delivering, and the board is backing him - can't really coomplain

Thanks, Stu. He should succeed perfectly well with Lajong, but for him to make any dent in India's shambolic reputation, I'll have to keep this thread going for twice as long as yours! By the way, I trust you'll mark your impending anniversary!

A sell-out, but first points dropped. It was a dogged performance, the kind you expect of a high-energy derby, but the root cause was the midfield struggling to protect the defence and connect the attack, as Khan had anticipated, given the successful DM pairing both out injured, joining three other first team players on the treatment table. The casuals might not understand, but Khan was quietly relieved to come away with the point. Hoping some of the walking wounded would be back, Khan intended to change nothing for the next match at Sporting Club Bengaluru (Bangalore in old money) who were a point off the second promotion spot and would be tough opponents, but for the rest of February there were return matches against three sides already beaten at the start of the season. That might be an opportunity to experiment with shifting mentality up a gear, and blood some fringe players.

The job was becoming increasingly demanding for Khan. The last match in January was the one the fans had all been waiting for- the home tie with newly-promoted Rangdajied, Lajong’s Shillong rivals. Khan knew the opposition would be as up for it as Lajong’s fans and left nothing to chance. He had to ensure the three points and bragging rights but with a better viewing experience for the new spectators, at the ground and on TV. Is Hallowe'en in January in Shillong? No pressure there, then. But everyday stuff wouldn't recede. First, the goalkeeper: Talk about not reading the room. Khan was seriously contemplating dropping the gaff-ridden Goyary; this merely made his mind up. Babysunday starts. Then, better news - The facilities aren't great, but increasing the personnel spreads the workload better, giving more attention to the individual training schedules the manager had set up. Putting his head together with the match analyst, he studied the space map - Khan was satisfied with this - Lajong were giving up space where it didn't hurt, with the 2 DMs focusing on protecting the back line. It was fine so long as the defensive midfield pairing were starting. But both were injured for the upcoming derby. There are the first choice starters. Both are deficient in tactical familiarity and get the lowest match ratings, yet they do the job Khan assigns them and do it well. Their backups, however, fall far short.

After the astonishing opening day result, Lajong has merely beaten poor and mediocre opponents. Now the run is against the teams in 2nd, 3rd, 4th and 5th. This is a string of games that will show everyone whether Khan’s confidence is well-placed. media predictions ahead of the game - still slow to catch on: The first game went by the book – controlled possession, a solid defensive display with only one shot conceded, the right fullback popping up with another assist – and another injury to a key player, having already lost Shadow Striker Das and Target Man Boby S for two months. The next match was textbook SRK. It was all about the defence, never allowing the opposition a sniff at goal and relying on a very late winner in an away match that was dreadful to watch. The match report summarised the game well Social media is busying itself with new football fans perplexed that the nation’s greatest entertainer is putting out such dross; the knowledgeable response points out that the performances show how versatile SRK is despite his lack of experience in football management. As the discussion was taking place, it was announced that Khan had bagged his second licence.