FM: Kettering Town, Kissing Your Sister (City)

[Butter]

After much consideration, I've decided to add to the glut of Football Manager 2005 dynasties by taking the helm of an English Conference North team.

Why Kettering Town? Well, my current residence is the burgeoning borough of Kettering, Ohio, which is a suburb of Dayton. Kettering is actually the 9th largest city in Ohio, with residents totaling about 60,000. And we also enjoy a fairly close Sister City relationship with Kettering, England. I say we enjoy it, but the only way I know about it is that it is on the "Welcome to Kettering" signs around town, right below the Kiwanis sign, but above the "home of the 2005 US Senior Open" sign. Plus, I know that Kettering is one of the more successful Conference sides, so I felt it would be a good place to start.

I have a fairly decent knowledge of soccer, but have never attempted to start quite this low on the English totem pole within the CM/FM universe, so I'll be interested to see what develops.

Hope you enjoy it.

[Butter]

Pre-season
General team info.

-Board chairman Peter Mallinger has welcomed you to Rockingham Road, assuring you that you can rely on the full backing of the club's board.

The team is expected to achieve a respectable league position within the Conf. North this season.

Regrettably, the Kettering board cannot afford to let you have any transfer funds at the moment because of the club's precarious financial state.

My staff consists of an Assistant Manager, a Coach, 3 Physios, and a Scout. A very generous support staff for such a tiny club. Asst. Manager Dominic Genovese is 43 years old and a former manager with the club. He was born in nearby Peterborough and still follows the Posh closely. He is a respectable manager with the club, with average to above average ratings in all of the physical categories. He is a tough disciplinarian, but not so hot at motivation.

Coach Chris Swift is very adaptable, but excels at little else. He is 58 years old . My 3 physios are more than capable at..... physio-ing. And my 1 scout, Lee Gardner is 59 years old and excels at finding young stars on the rise, but not at judging current talent. I may have to consider a replacement at some point.

Checking the team balance sheet, I see we're starting out $118k in the red. And with a team that averages attendance figures of less than 1,000 for league matches, I suppose I'll need to sell a player or two (or 6) to wipe out that red ink. Our total wage budget is $260,000 per season (I have all of my wage figures set on yearly amounts... I prefer that to weekly thanks to the American sports contract system). We currently are doling out wages of $251,578 per season, so we're a good $8,422 per year under-budget. Hooray.

Our fans expect us to contend for promotion. We have a small but fierce fan base. Our training facilities are listed as "good", and the stadium at Rockingham Road can hold 6100 people (1100 seated).

Next up, a roster review.

[Butter]

Roster review

The format here will go as follows: Position, Name, age, value, wage.
With that in mind, here is our roster.

Goalkeepers
-Steve Corry, 23, $2k, $18k is our first team keeper. He is very fit, brave, and quick. Sadly, he does tend to make a mental lapse here and there and tends towards laziness.

-Simon Ward, 23, $2k, $8k is our backup. He has very little to recommend him aside from being alive. Oh, and he has a high tendency to punch, which I guess means he'll be getting into trouble at the local pub quite a bit.


Defenders
-DR Martin Matthews, 28, $6k, $24k. He has some decent marking, tackling, and heading numbers. Not particularly fast, but not bad. Surely a first-teamer.

-DRC Liam Folds, 21, $2k, $4k. He has some nice physical attributes but is still learning the game. And at that salary, there's plenty of time for learnin'!

-DL Andy Lodge, 26, -0-, $36k. Only 2 of his technical attributes are above a 5. Even having the concentration of Kreskin is not going to get him on the field much. And at that salary, I'd be more than happy to promote a reservist to his spot if we can find a taker.

-DC Derek Brown, 29, -0-, $4k. A hard worker with good stamina and strength. Hopeful his determination will make up for his lack of technique. He does possess above average marking skills, and that will probably be enough to find him on the field a good bit. He is transfer listed, and there are 2 interested parties right now.

-DC Brett Solkhon, 21, $2k, $4k. A real team player who works his rear end off in games. He'll probably be a backup though.

-DC Rob Gould, 29, -0-, $4k. A solid marker who helps form the backbone of the defense. A first-teamer all the way.

-D/DM-RC Danny Holyoak, $4k, $4k. Above average in marking, tackling, and heading. Not a good passer, so I imagine he'll play in the backline more than in the midfield.


As you can see, we're thin at the left fullback spot. May have to go hunting through the reserve list or the free transfer wire to find one, or someone will have to play out of position.


Midfielders
-DM-RL Wayne Diuk, 24, $4k, $20k. He is fast, a good crosser, and very creative. He'll likely be in our starting 11 most of the year.

-MRC Oliver Burgess, 22, $14k, $8k. This young man gets $7 per assist. He is a good passer, and also above average at free kicks and corners. He will be in our starting midfield as well.

-MC Adie Bell, 19, $2k, $4k. He is listed for loan. He has almost no technical ability whatsoever, but is blazing fast and knows how to lift weights. We'll probably give him some time to grow. Can't imagine he'll see the field much unless we're in dire straits.

-MC Stefan Dancy, 19, $4k, $4k. This young man is incredibly slow, but makes up for it to some degree with his smarts and his ability to find the open man. He'll probably be a backup, but will be waiting in the wings should we need an extra midfielder.

-AMR Daniel French, 23, $12k, $6k. He is a good winger and is listed as indispensable to the club. Looking him over, I don't know about all THAT, but he is a decent winger. He has impressive physical attributes, but I can't say he's a better player on paper than Oliver Burgess. We shall see. He'll probably start just to avoid drawing any ire from the board or the fans.

-AMRC Niall Inman, 26, $8k, $24k. Another good wing player on a team full of midfielders. Very good off the ball and at finishing, he may well start in a forward position.

-AMC James Kearns, 24, -0-, $4k. Finally an attacker who sucks! He can run, but that's about it. He's listed for good reason, but even at a price of free I can't see any takers in his future.


Looks like midfield is this team's strength. I'll have to play something with a lot of ball control to take advantage of our strengths.


Strikers
-Paul Fewings, 26, $4k, $4k. He is listed, but doesn't look all that bad. He is actually fairly average at nearly everything, so he might play some. Likely be our 3rd striker.

-Steven Hutchinson, 24, -0-, $4k. Also listed, and he's not very good.

-Darren Lynch, 26, $2k, $4k. Listed as a first team player, but he's not that impressive. I imagine most of our strikers will see the field at one point or another (save Hutchinson), so we'll see what he can do.

-Toby Oshitola, 20, $4k, $4k. Not a great finisher, but this kid has eye-popping mental numbers. Aside from lacking creativity and being poor off-the-ball, he should be playing a lot. His 7 at finishing doesn't exactly inspire confidence, but I imagine he'll be starting for me.

-Drew Roberts, 21, -0-, $4k. A fairly smart kid who can run, but he needs some polish. He is listed for loan.

-Simon Underwood, 25, -0-, $4k. Not much to recommend him. He's listed as a backup, and I imagine that's where he'll stay.

Six pure strikers is quite a bit for our puny little team. Three of them are crap, however, so barring injury, I think we'll probably have 2 on the field at any given time.


So much for selling players to make up our budget deficit. Maybe we can cut taxes? Oh, wait, that doesn't work in football. Well, on to the tactical portion of tonight's program.

[Butter]

Tactics

Naturally, we'll start all players with a pre-season program up until about 10 days before the season starts, then we'll sort them into their specialized regiments.

We're going to start with an attacking 4-3-1-2, with a starting lineup as follows:
GK: Corry
DL: Matthews (playing out of position, but oh well, making limited forward runs, he has good passing numbers)
DC: Gould
DC: Brown
DR: Holyoak (making some forward runs)
ML: Diuk (running forward as needed)
MC: Burgess
MR: French (also pushing up as needed)
AMC: Inman
SC: Oshitola
SC: Lynch

Our plan is to have a short passing scheme with some crossing into the box and a lot of running with the ball. Very few long shots as no one in particular excels at them. Our midfield will be key to this offense, as neither our front or back lines are particularly skilled. We want our midfielders to run with the ball forward as much as we can, and keep possession, and hopefully create scoring chances with their feet. If we yield too many goals, we may switch to a 3-5-2 with more direct passing.

Our preseason matches are as follows, and they're all at home:
v. Macclesfield Town (League 2)
v. Hartlepool Utd. (L1)
v. Birmingham City Reserves
v. Wigan Ath. (Champ. --- I hate Wigan too )
v. Brighton and Hove Albion (Champ.)
v. Crawley Town (Conf. Nat'l)

We'll try and get some matches run here soon, but with the weather what it is in Ohio right now, my schedule is up in the air.

[Butter]

Friendly season

I quickly get 2 inquiries on a couple of defenders, Liam Folds and Derek Brown. Brown is actually transfer listed but is slated to start, and Liam Folds is raw but has good athleticism and is slated to be a top backup. I declare a fairly high value for each of $10k, and I doubt they'll want to pay that much for these 2 guys.

Quickly, though, Nat'l Conf. side Accrington Stanley accept the asking price of $10k, and I have to decide whether or not to part with him. I decide to scour the free transfer wire and loan list to see if a replacement can be had. They give me a week to decide, and I'll make some offers to some in the meantime. $10k would help this club out a good bit.

The first friendly against Macclesfield shows them going up early 2-0 against our keeper, who looks like crap frankly. That's how it finished. They outshoot us only 4 to 3, and 2 of our chances were excellent, but Oshitola had his saved after a terrific through ball from French. and sub. striker Hutchinson just chopped his wide open shot into the seats after a good cross from sub. striker Drew Roberts. I think this tactic will work, we just have to have the teensiest bit of help from our keeper.

Turns out our young midfielder Adie Bell is now suffering from shin splints which became apparent after leaving the friendly in the 80th minute. He is going to be out for 2 months.

3 of our loan offers for defenders get accepted, so now it is up to the players. Liam Folds is probably out the door.

Corry clearly plays better in friendly #2 v. Hartlepool, but we were totally outclassed and lose 2-0. You will yield a few goals when you get outshot 17-5. We did have 2 quality chances late, but Fewings and Hutchinson both put an open shot just wide. Wayne Diuk was sent off late for arguing a foul, and I guess I need to check up on his fiestiness rating or something. No need to be sent off during a friendly unless someone punches you in the face.

I accept the offer for Liam Folds, even though no one has yet agreed to come to us on loan, despite several loan offers being accepted. Now I get an offer for Oliver Burgess, our starting central midfielder. And it's from Macclesfield no less, the team that just beat us in friendly #1. It's for $12k plus 25% of the next sale. Tough call. I decide to check up on some midfield and striker loan players now.

DC Sean St. Ledger of Peterborough (D1) agrees to come to us on loan. He is cheap, making just $6k a year for the Posh Reserves, and agrees to come to us for the full season for just $4k. He will move immediately into the starting lineup, displacing Rob Gould for now. St. Ledger tells the press that he is delighted to get a chance to play some first team football. Woo-hoo, we got a press mention!

A terrific Liverpool reservist, D/M-C Callum Woods settles on playing for Tranmere instead of us, which hurts quite a bit, as he has more talent than anyone currently on our team.

Liam Folds signs with Accr. Stanley, and we are $10k richer. We'll use that money to try and get some more loaners in here fast.

Friendly #3 sees us lose to Birmingham Reserves 2-1. We finally get on the scoresheet with a nice cross from Toby Oshitola to Daniel French in the box who heads it home from a good 15 yards. Unfortunately for us, Birmingham scored twice in the next 5 minutes to end it. Again we were outshot 14-5. We seem to be doing alright in possessing the ball, but we're getting few chances to show for it. Might be time to go for a more direct passing scheme.

[Butter]

We ultimately decide to pass on the offer for Burgess. He's too much a part of our midfield plans to part with quite so cheaply.

AMRLC Andy Drury joins us on loan from Conf. Nat'l side Gravesend. He has some good skill, and will cost us $12k for the entire season. He will most likely start at AMC for us, bumping Niall Inman to the bench. This improves our depth greatly, as our current bench players shouldn't really be on the field much anyway.

Drury has a minor facial injury that keeps him out of friendly #4 v. Wigan. Starting striker Toby Oshitola comes off after just 10 minutes, injured by an aggressive Wigan challenge. The other starting striker, Darren Lynch, is injured in another challenge just 4 minutes later and must come off as well. We do get 2 chances in the first half that end up with nothing, as we are playing more of a mixed passing scheme, and moving the ball around a bit more quickly. Wigan score in the 33rd minute off a deflection. In the 78th minute, defender Rob Gould is run over in the box after receiving a nice pass of a free kick from MC Stefan Dancy. We are awarded a penalty, and Dancy converts. That's how it ends, a good 1-1 result against a team that is 4 levels above us. We outplayed Wigan in the 2nd half, a very encouraging sign. A massive crowd of over 3100 was on hand, a far cry from the 108 that showed for our first friendly. Wigan must travel well.

Sadly for us, both Lynch and Oshitola are out nearly a month with strained knee ligaments. We do have a couple of irons in the fire for striker loans, but if those don't pan out, we'll have to play Fewings up front, and may switch to a 4-5-1 with our midfield strength. Both starting strikers down in the same match! Yuk.

Good news, as young Charlton Athletic striker Jason Varney agrees to come to us on loan. A 19 year old reservist, Varney is coming with some good speed and finishing skill. His pace is also of good quality, and he costs us just $12k for an entire season's worth of loan. He will likely start even when Oshitola and Lynch return. We bump $2k over the wage budget with this signing, but hopefully the quality of play on the field will improve greatly thanks to it.

Friendly #5 sees Champ. team Brighton visit Rockingham Road. 2nd minute, what a goal! Drury, to Varney, who plays the give and go with Fewings. Varney is just barely onside, and delivers a perfect strike inside the left post! Wow, what a start. Sadly, Brighton equalize in the 51st min. on a terrific point blank finish from a 40 yard pass through our flat-footed defense. 62nd min. and sub. striker Steven Hutchinson makes a brilliant individual play, splitting 2 defenders and tucking a shot inside the far post. We score a 3rd as Drew Roberts seemingly errant dribble gets past the keeper, and Roberts jumps over him and taps it in. We switch to a flat 4-4-2, with all 4 midfielders dropping in support, and also to short passing and a slow tempo. Brighton get one more weak chance in the final 25 minutes, but we successfully put away the game, winning 3-1. Terrific effort. Starting ML Wayne Diuk gets MoM honors, with an assist and some terrific defending.

By jove, I think we may have ourselves a squad here.

Aug. 1 comes, and we get the obligatory pat on the back from the board. We throw out a couple more contract offers to some aging lower level English players of -0- value, including an intriguing left side defender from Poland who could be a player-coach. We need some defensive depth, so we offer him $12k a year. He wants a lot more, so we'll see what transpires.

Our final friendly v. Crawley was largely uneventful, finishing 0-0. Sean St. Ledger was brilliant, winning all 11 headers he went up for, including 6 key ones. He even took a shot on a corner, heading it just wide. Other than that, we didn't play very well, conceding 3 wide open chances in the first half hour that Crawley botched. Not a great way to finish the pre-season, but I'm still feeling good about our chances.

Sadly, starting MR Daniel French strains some ankle ligaments in that final friendly that will keep him out 2 weeks. Luckily, he should just miss only our season opener.

Staines Town, the team with the Polish defender we like, Sylwester Szkudlarek, inquires about Paul Fewings, who has been playing well during the friendlies. We declare his value at $16k. Don't really want to part with him right now.

Arsenal defeat Man U. 4-0 in the Community Shield match at Old Trafford. Ouch.

Skudlarek rejects our offer of $16k per year, and we try one more time, raising it to $24k per year. Adding another coach would really help, and he's got some very good defensive skill. He would make more than anyone else on the team, but it might be well worth it.

We get ready to start the season feeling very good about our chances to compete in the Conference North.

Our starting lineup in the opener will look like this:
GK: Steve Corry
DL: Martin Matthews
DC: Derek Brown
DC: Sean St. Ledger
DR: Danny Holyoak
ML: Wayne Diuk
MC: Oliver Burgess
MR: Daniel French
AMC: Andy Drury
SC: Alex Varney
SC: Paul Fewings
S1: GK Simon Ward
S2: MC Stefan Dancy
S3: AMRC Niall Inman
S4: DC Rob Gould
S5: SC Drew Roberts

When Oshitola and Lynch return from injury, we'll be starting one of them opposite Varney, and sitting the other on the bench. I'm leaning toward Oshitola right now, as he created more chances in the pre-season. Again, we're going with an attacking 4-3-1-2 scheme, with a quick tempo, mixed passing, and a good bit of running with the ball.

[Butter]

Season start
August

Szkudlarek rejects our last contract offer, and we go one more time, this time for $32k per year, and a $6k signing bonus. I don't even know if I'd want him at that price. Too much money for us to be tied up in 1 guy.

Slough make a $16k offer for Paul Fewings. As much as I like the guy, I think I might have to part with him. I up the ante to $20k and 15% of next sale to try and squeeze a little extra out of them.

Time to get started! 42 fixtures plus cup qualifying to get through, and hopefully we'll end it on top of something.

Match 1, v. Alfreton Town
Favorites: Kettering, 4:7

Starting keeper Steve Corry suffered a thigh strain in the training running up to this match, so it'll be Simon Ward starting at GK, and Niall Inman starting at MR for the still out Daniel French.

1st min. - It takes Niall Inman all of 30 seconds to get a yellow card. Good Lord, man, could you maybe even give it a full minute?!?!?

3rd min. - They get a yellow too. OK, so that's how it's going to be, eh?

10th min. - Fewings gets a card, and 30 seconds later Inman trips someone else and gets ANOTHER damned yellow. Down to 10 already. This ref. SUCKS THE GIANT WANG. We switch Drury back to MR to compensate.

20th min. - Derek Brown brings down somebody just outside the top of the box. It looked like a bad challenge even in 2D... and yes, he gets a red. So, we'll be playing the last 70 minutes 2 men down.

Hold on a sec..., I need to change something....

****HOLY FUCK!!!!!!!!!******

OK, I'm better.

So, we remove Paul Fewings, and send in Rob Gould. So, now we are in an ultra-defensive, super slow 4-3-1.

And as if that weren't bad enough, Varney is already down to 59% fitness after 35 minutes. Drew Roberts in for him. Andy Lodge also comes on for a slightly injured and yellow-carded Martin Matthews.

So, if you're keeping score, that's 5 yellows and a red card, and 2 injuries for me. 3 yellows for Alfreton, but no injuries. We could be down to 11 on 6 by the time this one ends. Please Lord, just give me a scoreless draw.

They manage 3 more yellow cards in the first 5 minutes of the 2nd half, all on different people sadly.

51st - Drury hits a free kick from 25 yards just over the bar.

62nd - Drury with a great 50 yard through ball to Drew Roberts, who lifts it over a charging keeper, but also over the bar.

65th- A long cross is headed clear by St. Ledger... or not, directly onto the foot of an Alfreton striker who nails it home. 1-0, Alfreton.

St. Ledger and Drury both have seen the physio in the 2nd half, and we're barely able to field a team at this point.

We switch to a more attacking posture, and more long balls.

74th - Burgess gets loose, but hits the side netting.

81st - Roberts is in the clear thanks to a great ball from Lodge, but his shot is deflected wide and cleared.

82nd - Two corners are headed behind by Alfreton, and that's it for us.

Inj. time - Alfreton net a 2nd thanks to an easy cross against a pushed up defensive line that is headed home.

Loss, 0-2
Attendance: 724

We are outshot 11-8, but win poss. time 53-47. So what? No one earns a rating over 7 for us, and I think it's time to lodge a complaint about this ref:... Darren Cann. We didn't get any cards in the second half, but they finished with 4 more, for 7 total. A mess of a game that I'm going to write off and move on.

[SirFozzie]

Ouch. SOunds like you guys are set for a trip to the FA Office to do some 'splainin..

I think if you have 5 or more yellows in one game, it's an automatic "bringing the game into dispute".. ah.. here we are.

Any team that has six or more Individual Players cautioned or dismissed from the field of play within the same match will automatically be fined according to the following table for the first occasion during the Season:

Premier League: 25,000 Pounds
Championship: 5,000
League 1: 2,500
League 2: 1,000
Conference: 500
Conference North/South: 250

(edit: Ok, I checked another PDF at TheFA.com and found it for your level)

These amounts shall double/treble/etc for future occurences in the same season

Don't think it's programmed in the game.. but still.. naughty naughty..

(although I bet you could make your case about the horrid ref at the same time )

[Butter]

Well, we'd both be in for it in that case. All I got for my troubles, though, was a chance to appeal the ban on Derek Brown. Didn't get a chance to appeal it for the other involved player, Niall Inman. Maybe it's because he's Irish.

Racism! Or Society-ism! Or something....

Thanks for the info though, Foz, that's interesting.

[Butter]

Szkudlarek rejects us a final time, and I'm so glad I bothered with all that.

Alex Varney has injured his wrist in the last match, and is going to be out a week. Meanwhile, Derek Brown and Niall Inman will miss the next match thanks to their red cards from "Crazy" Darren Cann.

Unfortunately for us also, our next match is a mere 3 days away, on Tuesday. This is not the start to the season I had envisioned.

Slough come back and agree to the $20k fee for Paul Fewings, while rejecting my request of the 15% next sale clause. OK, I agree. $20k more for us to pay down the debt.

-August 17, 2004
Match 2
18th place @ Worcester (0-0-1, 19th place)
Favorites: Kettering, Even Odds

Worcester lost their opener at Southport 2-0. So someone would have to break the seal. Probably not us, though, as we're without 6 regulars due to suspension or injury. Our lineup looks like this:

GK: Ward
Defense: Matthews, Gould, St. Ledger, Holyoak
Midfield: Diuk, Dancy, Burgess
AMC: Drury
Strikers: Fewings, Roberts
(italics indicated non-regulars and bold indicates a regular playing out of normal position)

We're sticking with our tactics, though, and we'll see what transpires.

8th min. - Worcester find a wide open man at the 6 and he taps it home. A quick 1-0 hole.

22nd min. - Worcester are free again, but Ward with a good point blank save.

30th- Fewings finds a wide open Drury directly in front of the box who chunks it 10 yards wide. Worcester nearly scores on the counterattack, but Ward parries another shot wide.

39th- Diuk curls a free kick from 3 yards outside the box just wide.

We make no adjustments at halftime.

49th- Ward's goal kick goes right to Worcester, whose striker beats Matthews badly and dribbles right at Ward. He scores, 2-0 Worcester.

We switch to a 3-4-3, Hutchinson on for Diuk, who is hobbling. DC Brett Solkhon also on for the laboring Martin Matthews. Holyoak shifts to right midfield, Drury shifts to left midfield, and we have Burgess and Dancy also pushing up. We play 3 at the back, with an offside trap on. Heavy attacking, direct passing, passing down the flanks.

73rd - St. Ledger's cross finds Drew Roberts head, but he just misses the opposite corner.

83rd- We bring Kearns on for Drury, who's spent. Worcester score an apparent 3rd, but luckily they are flagged for offside and it's waved off.

That's it.

What a crap game. No attack to speak of at all. We're outshot 12-5, all 5 of ours being off target. We had 10 more free kicks and throw ins than they did, but couldn't do anything with it. Nobody rates above a 7 yet again.

Loss, 2-0
A: 711

We drop to 20th, and we can't afford to keep this form up much longer.

[Butter]

Fewings agrees to the deal with Slough, and we're $20k richer.

Match 3, 20th place
v. Redditch (0-0-2, 21st)
Fav: Kettering, 4:7

Again, we're heavy favorites against a struggling team. We switch to a 4-5-1 for this one, with long passing, continuing our attack mode. Dancy moves into the starting lineup, and Drury drops from AMC to MC. Lodge starts at DL for a struggling Martin Matthews. Steve Corry returns to goal. Drew Roberts starts at striker.

5th min. - Drury attacks the keeper, and his shot is tipped over the bar. St. Ledger heads the ensuing corner just wide.

21st - Redditch's cross finds an unmarked striker at the back post, but he hits the upright.

Pretty solid first half for us, but still not enough chances.

52nd- Roberts is free on the wing, and finds a wide open Drury who fires it into the keeper's midsection.

62nd- Diuk's beautiful cross skitters off the head of Roberts and out for a throw.

65th- A Redditch player who has been fouling in the midfield all day is sent off with a 2nd yellow.

Hutchinson in for French, and Inman for Drury as we switch to a 4-4-2, but to no avail.

We do earn a point, but we cannot score with our entire starting frontline out with injuries.

Draw, 0-0
A: 785

The point moves us to 18th.

[Butter]

Luckily I have a whole week off before the next match against last place Moor Green, so it's time to go hunting for some defenders and midfielders again. I also place an ad for an additional scout.

My transfer budget has been upped from -0- to $6k thanks to the Fewings transfer. I am also back under the wage budget again. I've made the club $27k so far this year, but we're still $90k+ in the red.

I make an offer to a Dutch team for an aging defender, Bert Konterman, who is making $24k a year. They want nothing for him, but he has no interest in my team. Too bad, he's 33 and is a terrfic center-back. I also get a loan for a terrific young left fullback from Millwall Reserves, but he turns us down.

Oshitola and Lynch both resume full training the morning of our next match, so hopefully they'll be ready for the following one.

Match 4, 18th place
@ Moor Green (0-0-3, 22nd)
Fav: Kett., 4:7

Our starting lineup is back to near normal, as Drew Roberts starts for the injured Oshitola, but Varney is back and Andy Lodge earns another start at DL.

9th min. - Diuk breaks free down the left, and his cross is deflected for a corner. The ensuing corner is saved, but the keeper's long ball is intercepted by St. Ledger who starts a break to Drury down the middle. Drury holds the ball up at 25 yards, looks like he's turning to pass, then unleashes a hellacious curving shot that nestles inside the left post, goal! 1-0, Kettering. Now that's more like it!

18th- French intercepts a clearance at the edge of the box, but sends his shot over the bar.

21st- Roberts clear shot deflects to the right side of the box, where French is waiting and he blasts it home at a tough angle. 2-0!

38th- The token Moor Green highlight shows them earning a corner off a desperate cross. The corner is grabbed by Corry and cleared.

42nd- A flurry of shots in front, but nice defense by Moor Green prevents a 3rd.

45th- Lodge restarts near midfield to a wide open Diuk. Diuk plays Varney just onside, he advances into the box and lobs a short cross to Drury, who heads in another inside the left post! 3-0!

We switch to a more defensive posture for the second half, short passing and counter attacking from the same 4-3-1-2.

51st- Moor Green's 3rd free kick in 2 minutes goes wide and high again.

53rd- A nice counter-attack ends in Varney skying one into the seats.

72nd- Diuk decides to keep it himself instead of crossing to any of our 3 advancing attackers, but he sends it well wide. I'll have to check his teamwork rating. Hutchinson subs in for a tiring Varney at striker.

Rest of the game goes by without much notice. That couldn't have been more perfect. We jump to a large lead, then slow it down and milk the rest of the game out in the 2nd half. Best game we've played against anyone. We outshoot Moor Green 15-9, and control the ball 55-45. Derek Brown surprisingly wins MoM with a 9 from his DC position. He won 5 key headers, all 8 attempted tackles, and made 8 interceptions. Wayne Diuk also earns a 9 from his ML spot, and the rest of the lineup is nearly all 8's.

Win, 0-3
A: 780
up to 14th place

Our chairman announces he's pleased with the result afterwards, which I always enjoy.

[Butter]

September

We begin the month in 14th place after a rough 1-1-2 start to the season. We're 8 points in back of table leader Lancaster, who have earned the maximum 12 points in 4 fixtures. I also get the obligatory pat on the back from the team's chairman.

We get another loaner! This time, it's AMRLC Stephen Cooke from Aston Villa's Reserves who surprisingly agrees to join us on loan. He is worth nearly $1M, but is joining us for 3 months for $8k. About the only things he's below double digits on is tackling and marking. A terrific player.

With this acquisition, I begin considering playing a 4-3-2-1. That tactic worked magic for me at Peterborough, taking us all the way to the top 3 in the EPL one year in CM 03/04. I'll probably have Cooke start for Burgess right now, and maybe fiddle with that tactic in some upcoming matches.

Another defender doesn't wish to join us from the Derby Reserves, so I guess we'll be holding with our backline the way it is.

My ad for a new scout comes back with 5 possibilities. There is one clear quality scout of the 5, so we offer him $14k per year for 3 years plus a $2k signing bonus. Rob Campkin, an unknown 33 year old agrees to sign with us right away. He has an 18 in both of the evaluating areas. We're still under our wage budget, but we have started losing money. Our deficit is now up to $125k.

We finally reach our 5th match after a 2 week layoff.

Match 5, 14th pl., 4 pts.
v. Worksop (0-3-1, 15th, 3 pts.)
Fav.: Kett., 4:7

Again, we're heavy favorites, and we decide to deploy the previously discussed 4-3-2-1, with Cooke running with Drury up front and Varney as our lone striker. Oshitola returns to the bench, as does Darren Lynch. We finally have no one injured, so hopefully this'll be our standard lineup for a while, possibly mixing in Oshitola as a starter on occasion.

13th min. - A seemingly innocent throw for Worksop turns into a nightmare, as Andy Lodge pulls down a seemingly well-defended striker just inside the box and gets sent off. So, we're down to 10 men right off. So, we move Diuk into the left back position, and Stephen Cooke from AMC to the left midfield. Still an attacking 4-3-1-1. Worksop take the penalty... and it's saved! Right into Corry's chest! The deflection falls to a Worksop striker who fires it into the side netting! Wonderful turn of events!

21st- Drury intercepts a pass at midfield, and fires a pass to an open Varney. He crosses all the way to the other side of the box to Cooke, who volleys a shot wide.

22nd- St. Ledger intercepts a through ball, and fires it to Burgess. Burgess to Drury, who plays Cooke square down the left. Cooke skips past a defender and is in free... but decides to try to chip the keeper instead of advancing on him. The shot is tipped wide, and the ensuing corner finds Burgess at the top of the box, but his long range shot cannons off a leg and clear.

31st- Drury breaks free, but his shot is tipped over the bar. Drury's corner finds St. Ledger with space at the edge of the 6, but with 3 Worksop defenders between him and goal. He fires it into their legs and it's cleared.

43rd- Cooke crosses to Drury, who heads to Varney, who heads it wide. Varney is not playing well.

We make 2 changes at the break. DC Rob Gould in for French, who has been silent. Cooke switches from left to right, and Diuk moves back to midfield. Also, Toby Oshitola makes his first league app. of the year, subbing in for a weak Alex Varney.

54th- Worksop break free, and Corry with a TREMENDOUS save tips a point blank shot just wide of the post.

60th- Worksop's corner finds a head, but it's wide.

65th- A Worksop goal kick is picked off by St. Ledger, who heads to Drury... Drury plays Oshitola between 2 Worksop defenders. He advances inside the box and slots it home with his right foot! Magic from Toby Oshitola! 1-0, Poppies!

78th- I suppose I should have switched to defense by now. Luckily, another Worksop open man is denied by Steve Corry, who's had a magnificent game. We wise up and drop Burgess back to DMC, and Drury back to MC, and slow things down. Inman also replaces Cooke, who is flagging.

88th- Tragically, Worksop equalize thanks to a poorly marked man heading a cross home just outside the six. 1-1.

A final scramble in the 4 extra minutes finds Oshitola dribbling just a bit too far ahead to control, and Worksop having one final header saved.

Steve Corry is the well deserved MoM, making several brilliant saves. Shots were level, 9-9, and I suppose I should be happy with the point going down a man early, but we should have earned all 3. Drury also had a good game at AMC, earning an 8 with his assist and 90% pass completion rate.

Draw, 1-1
A: 729
up one spot to 13th

Lodge gets a one match ban for his red card, which didn't cost a goal, but probably cost us max. points.

[Butter]

Well, our form is improving, unbeaten in 3. Let's see if we can keep it up.

We get a full week off between matches here.

Sept. 18th, Match 6, 13th place, 5 pts.
@ Ashton Utd. (0-4-1, 17th, 4 pts.)
Fav.: Kett., 2:5

We start Diuk at DL for the suspended Andy Lodge. Cooke starts at ML again, and we go with a 4-3-1-2 today, running Varney and Oshitola up front.

2nd- Ashton get an open shot from 20 yards, but it's high.

13th- Ashton fire a 40 yard cross from distance into the six, but Corry tips it wide. On the ensuing corner, Daniel French watches a cross sail past him, while Ashton head it home for a 1-0 lead.

25th- Varney is all alone from 10 yards, but passes to Stephen Cooke, whose longer shot is saved. Curious decision.

32nd- A good buildup sees Varney sky one into the... bleachers?

45th- Diuk and Holyoak look totally clueless as a long clearance from the Ashton keeper somehow turn into a cross and a goal. The ball was about 5 yards away from them both, and they just stood there watching it as an Ashton midfielder picked it up and crossed it to an open man, who heads it home. Pitiful.

We switch to an all out attack at halftime, and push up Diuk and Holyoak to playing in the defensive midfield. So we have a 2 man backline, and a lot of people attacking. Lynch may well come on to form a 3 man frontline.

53rd- Holyoak's cross to Varney is headed right at the keeper.

61st- Lynch in for Drury, Inman replaces Burgess at MC, and he'll push up as well. We go to long passing.

65th- Holyoak's cross is headed high by Lynch.

74th- Corry follows a weak clearance, and sadly the ball is passed behind him to a wide open AU player at the backpost, who taps it in. Well, this one's over.

We get one more chance in the 83rd, but Oshitola has the ball stolen. Proving again the need for speed.

What a horrendous game. So much for momentum. I may have to start laying back a lot more on these road games.

GK Corry earns a well-deserved 5 after his last outstanding performance. We are outshot 11-8. Ball control is dominated by Ashton Utd., 57-43.

Loss, 3-0
A: 756
drop 5 spots to 18th

Daniel French picked up a damaged shoulder during the match, and will be out for a week. I imagine Corry will start in his place, as we'll stick with our 4-3-1-2. And if I ever start Diuk in the back again, please shoot me.

After the game, the 2nd Qualifying Round for the FA Cup has it's draw, and we'll travel to Regional side Bath City in about 2 weeks.

[Butter]

One of my scouts finishes up some scouting of the UK and presents me with several players that I've already seen. None of them look all that interesting, so thanks for nothing.

Derek Brown has injured his kneecap in training and will be out for a month. Looks like I may need a new centerback after all. Rob Gould will take his place in the meantime, and we can't afford too many more injuries there.

Sept. 25, Match 6, 18th pl., 5 pts.
v. Stalybridge Celtic (4-2-0, 3rd, 14 pts.)
Fav.: Kett., Evens

Cooke starts for a still slightly injured Daniel French at MR. We go back to the 4-3-1-2 with Varney and Oshitola up front. Lodge is back at DL after his 1 match red card suspension, and Rob Gould starts for an injured Derek Brown at DC.

3rd- Drury finds a streaking Cooke on the right wing, who fires from 15 yards. It ricochets off the keeper and the post before being cleared. If it weren't for bad luck, we'd have no luck at all. A Celtic striker is free on the counter, but St. Ledger catches him from behind and steals the ball. Terrific defensive play by our steadiest defensive player so far this year.

10th- Diuk is injured on a tough challenge and comes off for Dancy. Burgess moves to the right and Cooke switches to the left while Dancy will now man the middle of the midfield.

25th- Another long ball to a Stalybridge striker who is onside, and scores. That stuff's getting fucking OLD. We switch Lynch on for Oshitola who's already at 70% and is rating a 5. We also switch St. Ledger and Gould to man marking Celtic's strikers.

35th- St. Ledger and Gould both get yellows within 10 minutes of the defensive switch. FUCK.

40th- We finally manage a chance on the counterattack off a corner, but Varney shoots wide.

41st- Hayward totally hammers St. Ledger and scores his second.

It's halftime, and I don't even know what to do any more. So I don't bother making any adjustments. They don't work.

55th- We get a ray of hope as Celtic lose a defender to a 2nd yellow. Their 6th yellow of the game as a team. Time to start the all-out attack.

The rest of the game goes with little incident. Apparently, our attacking tactics aren't working. Time to switch to a more defensive, counter-attacking scheme.

Loss, 0-2
A: 730
remain in 18th

[Butter]

Not much time to cry about that defeat. We play table leader Lancaster in 3 days.

We're switching to a 3-2-3-2, or what some call a 3-5-2, with 2 wingers playing in defensive midfield. Diuk and Holyoak fit that bill nicely. We will have 3 midfielders in the center of the pitch, and 2 strikers, no AMC's in that part of the field. We also switch our tactics to more long balls and more defensive play.

Sept. 28th, Match 7, 18th, 5 pts.
@ Lancaster (5-2-1, 2nd, 17 pts.)
Fav.: Lancaster, Evens

Finally, we're not favored.

Lancaster control the run of play early, getting several chances in the box, but having a couple of them saved, and Lodge clears one off the line. Lancaster's center back Paul Sparrow is playing a terrific game, stealing several balls from Oshitola and Varney.

31st- Drury finally gets a good shot, but it's tipped over.

35th- Oshitola gets a pass on the counter and runs 70 yards to the endline... and has time to wait for Varney who receives the cross and heads it home! Finally, another goal! 1-0, Poppies.

38th- Diuk keys another counter, playing a diagonal ball to Varney who is all alone with the keeper... but Varney hits the woodwork and Oshitola has the rebound stolen and cleared. ARGH!

1st half ET- Corry seemingly makes a good save, but the ball goes rolling away from him right to a charging Lancaster attacker for a tap in. DAMN IT. Corry is so inconsistent. 1-1 at the half.

49th- Drury plays one up to Oshitola, and it's intercepted. But the clearance is hit right at Stephen Cooke... he charges the keeper and slots it just inside the post! 2-1, Kettering!

55th- Diuk hits a long free kick square across the top of the box to a wide open streaking Sean St. Ledger. His shot from 12 yards hits the crossbar and is cleared. Nice play, though. Very imaginative from this bunch of crapballs.

Holyoak leaves the field due to injury, so we sub in DC Solkhon, and play a 4 man back line, with Diuk and Burgess playing in the defensive midfield. Oshitola also leaves for Steven Hutchinson.

Not much happens for a half hour or so, and then:

86th- A long ball down the right is gathered by Lancaster, the cross is made to a wide open striker at 10 yards, but Corry saves it. The rebound just goes wide, and is cleared by St. Ledger, who is fouled by Lancaster.

A flurry of chances go begging in the final 3 minutes of injury time, and we pick up 3 points!

Cooke and Corry earn 9's, but Andy Drury earns MoM with a 10. Nothing jumps out at me about him on the stat sheet, but hey, I needed this win, so whatever you say SI games.

Win, 1-2
A: 1,168
remain in 18th

[Butter]

We finish September in not too bad a shape. I feel good about our chances of avoiding relegation, but that doesn't say much when the expectations were for us to earn promotion this year. We go 1-1-2 for the month, and are sitting at 8 points in 18th place, but we're only 7 points back of the playoff zone (top 5).

October

We kick off the month with our first FA Cup match on the road at Bath City, a regional side.

Danny Holyoak, our starting DMR, hurt himself during the last match. He didn't have any specific injury, but he dipped all the way to 27% fitness, and since our FA Cup match is just 4 days after the last league match, he'll likely have to sit out.

The board tells me it hopes I have a long and successful run with them. I hope that's good.

Oct. 2nd, FA Cup - 2nd Qual. Round
@ Bath City (Regional)
Fav.: Kett., 4:5

Not a big favorite for this one, which worries me. Holyoak is indeed only back to 77% before this one, so he'll sit it out. Daniel French will start out of position in his place. Still trying out the new defensive 3-5-2 that won us the last match. Bath are in an unorthodox aggressive 3-2-2-1-2.

5th- Varney plays Oshitola through, but his shot is deflected by a charging keeper. Cooke gathers and crosses, but he strikes it with too much pace and it just skitters over the byline.

We have several more promising build-ups, but no shots really bother the Bath keeper. Good backline play limits us to corners, which aren't our strength. Bath's lone chance is a cross and a contested shot over the bar. We are dominating play, but just have to hope for some shots to go in in the 2nd half.

47th- Cooke crosses over the head of Varney, he centers to Drury near the penalty spot, but his shot is just inches wide. Bath switch to a less defensive 4-4-2.

53rd- French keys a counter with an outlet to Oshitola, who beats one midfielder and plays Varney through. Varney is 1-on-1 with the keeper, and scores! 1-0!

54th- Bath with a good chance on the restart, but St. Ledger is there to clear the dangerous cross.

59th- Bath are starting to come at us with a lot of energy, missing 2 good chances in the space of 90 seconds. Corry saves one, and the other shot is high.

65th- We sub. Stefan Dancy for Varney, and switch to a very defensive 3-3-3-1, with 9 of 10 players playing in our half of the field mostly.

75th- Oshitola has a shot saved, then a midfielder slides in hard on Stefan Dancy to try and win the ball back. He gets angry with the ref., and gets 2 quick yellows! So, we're a man up for the final quarter hour.

82nd- Bath switch to an attacking 2-4-3. A shot is tipped by Corry and rolls toward the line, but Lodge scrambles back and clears it.

93rd- In the dying seconds, Oshitola tries an ill-advised shot and set up a Bath counterattack. A long ball finds an open striker, and sure enough, with less than a minute left, Bath get the equalizer struck hard past Corry's right inside the post. It looked like Corry considered charging the long ball, then had to retreat and couldn't recover in time to save the final shot.

Looks like a replay. Diuk earns an 8, the rest are 6's and 7's.

Draw, 1-1
replay in 4 days
A: 2,801

The winner of our replay will play on the road at the winner of another replay against 2 regional sides, Mangotsfield and Uxbridge.

[Butter]

Andy Drury suffers a training injury on the 4th that'll keep him out about 2 weeks.

Oct. 6, FA Cup - 2nd Qual. Round REPLAY
v. Bath City (Regional)
Fav.: Kett., 4:5

Brett Solkhon starts for a struggling Andy Lodge at one DC spot. Holyoak is back at DMR, and Lynch will start for Oshitola up front. Burgess will also have a rest and Dancy will start in midfield.

8th- French's long range shot is deflected to Diuk, who shoots from 25 yards but it's held by the Bath keeper.

12th- Varney is through thanks to Cooke, but he takes too long to set up his shot and ends up putting it wide. Moments later Gould intercepts a pass and plays a 50 yard ball to Lynch who runs it down and dribbles to the end line. His cross finds the head of Varney and it's in! 1-0. Bath substitute a midfielder who is dragging a 3 rating around the field. I think that's the earliest sub I've ever seen for performance.

23rd- Diuk intercepts a goal kick and plays French through. French's shot is deflected right to a wide open Varney who makes it 2 for 2!

35th- Cooke nearly scores on a 25 yard free kick.

45th- Bath score on a bizarre half-cross half-shot from the byline that Corry misplays horribly. 2-1. *sigh*

Inman in for Stefan Dancy at the half. We keep our defensive tactics.

53rd- French is all alone on the counter, but his shot hits the woodwork. Cooke can't control the rebound, and it's a goal kick. DAMN.

68th- Lynch is at the end of a long pass from French, but skies his shot. We cannot pull away from this team. Bath with a chance on the counter, but the shot is off-target.

79th- Burgess in for a tiring Cooke. Solkhon makes a great steal at the top of the box to prevent a Bath scoring chance.

83rd- Bath with an unmarked striker at the back post, but he can't control his volley and it's still 2-1 somehow.

92nd- One final scramble from Bath shows them sending 7 guys down the middle of the pitch. Luckily, we recover, and St. Ledger hoofs away the last chance.

We outshoot Bath 13-6, and outpossess them 55-45. Cooke is the MoM despite being subbed out. He won 2 key headers, intercepted 2 passes, and completed 23 of 32 passes. He earns an 8, as does Wayne Diuk and Alex Varney.

Win, 2-1
advance to 3rd FA Cup Qual. Round
A: 1,980

Hey, I almost think I should try for another replay in the next match for that extra attendance revenue.

It still seems like we're struggling. Feels like we should've blown that team out. But we were only slight favorites, so I guess the bookies do know something after all.

[Butter]

We net $6k for our victory over Bath! Nee-ha!

Uxbridge win their match, so we'll be traveling there in 10 days time.

Wales surprises England with a 3-2 win in World Cup Qualifying. The match log shows that Wales totally dominated the match, allowing in only an own goal and a very late desperate goal.

England rebound days later to knock off Azerbaijan 2-0, but Wales hammers Poland 5-2. Interesting.

We've had nearly 3 weeks now with no league play.

Oct. 16, FA Cup 3rd Qual. Round
@ Uxbridge (Reegional)
Fav.: Kett, 1:10

We're extremely heavy favorites in this one, and our standard 3-5-2 is out there today to win it for us. I would start a lot of backups, but I want to advance despite our next league match coming in 3 days. Lynch starts again for Oshitola up front and French for the injured Drury in midfield, and Dancy gets another start to rest Burgess.

6th- Diuk with the throw, Varney heads it up at the edge of the box right to Sean St. Ledger, who powers it home! St. Ledger's first Poppy goal, and we take a quick 1-0 lead.

15th- St. Ledger with the interception to Diuk... Diuk with a long ball to French, who crosses to Lynch... Lynch is between 2 players, but he heads it home! 2-0, Kettering!

27th- 2 consecutive good buildups by Uxbridge go by with no goals. Whew!

43rd- A 3 minute highlight finally ends with Darren Lynch passing back to Dancy at the top of the box, but he totally misses the target. Lynch is injured shortly thereafter, and Inman takes his place as we switch to just 1 striker.

47th- Dancy with a brilliant 50 yard pass to Varney's foot, but his shot is just outside the top corner.

We are dominating this one, so no changes at the break.

66th- French intercepts a throw-in, and nods it on to Diuk, who plays it square to Inman. Inman with a pass to Cooke at the top of the half circle. Cooke turns and lets it fly. It bends past the keeper and in! 3-0, Poppies! Burgess on for Holyoak, and Dancy will sit in favor of another defender, Andy Lodge. We switch to short and slow to fritter this one away.

Uxbridge hit a couple shots from distance in the final half hour, but none were troubling. French had to leave in injury time with an injury, sadly.

Good win! French gets MoM with 6 tackles won, 20/23 passing, and an assist. He rates an 8 as do Corry, St. Ledger, Cooke, and Diuk. A terrific team effort! We outshoot Uxbridge 13-8, but were outpossessed 53-47.

Win, 0-3
move on to 4th Qual. Round
A: 3,742

We also earn a cool $8k for this victory. Very nice. Unfortunately, Lynch is out 2 months with a torn groin muscle and French is out a week with a strained wrist. Niall Inman also picked up a bruised shin which will keep him out about 5 days.

[Butter]

We get a bit of a break, as we have to re-arrange our next league match scheduled in 4 days, since Southport and Harrogate Town tied in their FA Cup match. That should be enough time for Inman and French to recover.

Sadly, we get no help from the 4th round draw, drawing another road game against a regional side... this time it's Staines Town. Well, we should win it and get some more cash at least. This game will be on the last Saturday of the month, moving our league match with Harrogate to the following Wednesday.

A limited league schedule due to FA Cup matches on Wed. finds us holding ground at 18th. Luckily no one passed us.

So now after about 3 matches in the space of a month, we hit a stretch of 5 matches in 15 days.

Oct. 23, Match 9, 18th, 8 pts.
@ Runcorn (0-2-7, 21st, 2 pts.)
Fav.: Kett., 4:7

French, Lynch, and Varney are still not able to go, but we do get Andy Drury back. Oshitola and Roberts will start up front with Hutchinson the sub. striker.

1st- Runcorn shoot from 40 yards off the kickoff, but it's not close.

15th- Holyoak nods a goal kick onto Oshitola's run, he shoots from the top of the box just wide.

23rd- Runcorn with a cross that Corry lays out for but just tips, a striker is there to tap it home.

30th- A long series of passes in the midfield and defense ends when St. Ledger finds a streaking Drew Roberts down the left. He is 1 v 1 with the keeper, and scores! 1-1!

Not much happens the rest of the half, and we need the 3 points from this one badly. Let's see if the men can muster some effort in half 2.

49th- A nice series of midfield passes ends with Oshitola chunking a 20 yard shot wide.

63rd- Runcorn with 2 point blank chances saved by Corry, and Holyoak is finally there to hoof it out for a corner. The corner ends with another Corry save.

68th- Oshitola on the counterattack, finds an open Drew Roberts whose shot is just a bit high.

75th- Inman on for a laboring Holyoak. Burgess switches to DMR, and Inman's on at central midfield.

90th- Runcorn with a wide open striker at the spot, but he can't score. Thank goodness. Hutchinson and Dancy in for Oshitola and Drury to see if fresh legs can strike up some last second magic.

Instead Runcorn get an own goal off of Gould's back and win 2-1. GOD DAMMIT WE CAN'T EVEN BEAT A CELLAR DWELLAR ON THE ROAD.

We outshoot Runcorn 11-10, and outpossess them 52-48, but to no avail. Another disappointing loss on the road to a team that we should beat. St. Ledger and Cooke earn 8's.

Loss, 2-1
down to 19th place
A: 1,113

We are now just out of the relegation zone on goal difference to Redditch.

Oh, and here's an interesting bit:
Triumphant Runcorn FC Halton manager Chris Lightfoot spoke to journalists from a local newspaper after seeing his side beat Kettering Town in the Conf. North and said he wasn't surprised that his team had beaten a side 'supposedly gunning for promotion' this year.

He also reminded the Kettering Town boss if his side went up, to survive in the English Conf. Nat'l you had to be able to back up your impressive claims with impressive performances on the pitch.

I decide to be bold and state that we're definitely getting promoted. The media seemed to find that amusing. I'm not sure what to do to motivate this side anymore anyway.

[Butter]

The draw for the 1st round of the FA Trophy finds us hosting Regional side Tooting & Mitcham United. Try saying that 5 times fast.

Oct. 27, Match 10, 19th, 8 pts.
v. Southport (5-3-1, 5th, 18 pts.)
Fav.: Kett., 6:4

I don't know how we keep getting favored, but we shouldn't be. Varney and Oshitola are back together up front. Solkhon still starting at DC for the injured Derek Brown.

5th- A wicked blasting shot from distance hits the woodwork for Southport. Oshitola is dispossessed on the counter just inside the box.

23rd- Varney and Cooke play a nice combination in the box, but the ball is tackled out for a corner, which amounts to nothing.

30th- A clearance off the line by Gould sets off a counterattack, but Varney has the ball tackled away, and Cooke's shot ends up way too high.

35th- A wide open Southport shot is saved by Corry.

37th- Oshitola is played through by Drury. He taps it past the keeper, and then is held back from tapping it in. We get a penalty! Drury to take it... it's in!! 1-0!

45th- Another hold by Southport, and they get their 6th yellow of the day already. We've had none. This time, it's a defender whose already had 1, so we're up a man for the second half.

Roberts on for a slightly injured Varney at striker for the 2nd half. We pull back some of the defensive midfield's runs, and slow play down.

58th- Roberts is dispossessed on the counter before he can take a shot.

73rd- Southport's first action of the half is a harmless 30 yard shot into the bleachers.

86th- Diuk steals a goal kick and forwards it to Roberts, who sends it into the middle for Drury. Drury slides it through to Cooke who beats the keeper, and we get our safety goal! 2-0!

Again an injury time injury as Oshitola goes off in the 5th minute of extra time. Southport manage only one highlight in the second half, which is great for us.

Stephen Cooke wins MoM with a goal, 2 key headers, 4 key tackles, 2 interceptions, and 29/34 passing. He is rated a 10! Diuk gets a 9, and Drury, Corry, Solkhon, and Holyoak get 8's. We are outshot 8-5, but outpossess Southport 57-43. A key victory facing relegation.

Win, 2-0
up to 17th place
A; 718

Unfortunately, Oshitola broke his arm on a 2nd half challenge, so he's out 3 weeks. Varney also hurt a rib, so he'll be out 3 days.

[Butter]

Cooke will be leaving us in about a month, sadly, so we're going to look at some more loaner players.

I also had a desktop crash before I could save the game, so I had to replay that last match. I still won, this time 3-0.

Oct. 30, FA Cup 4th Qual. Round
@ Staines Town (Regional)
Fav.: Kett., 1:3

Stephen Cooke is tired, so French will start in midfield. I want to win this one quite badly and keep advancing.

Both teams scrap hard early, but no good scoring chances materialize.

42nd- Staines finally manage a decent cross and score. Not a good challenge by St. Ledger allowed an easy header.

We switch to a more attacking style for half 2.

52nd- French's corner kick is headed by Solkhon, but it's tipped over.

68th- Oshitola has some space, but sends one about 10 yards too high.

79th- Inman moves up front, we switch to an all out attack. Hutchinson in for a tired Varney. 2 man back line now.

We manage an offside in the final 15 minutes, and that's it. We're out. St. Ledger and Burgess earn 8's.

Loss, 1-0
out of FA Cup
A: 2,161

St. Ledger is out 3 weeks with an injured cheekbone, and Drew Roberts strains a wrist in training. St. Ledger is our best defender, so that'll hurt.

We played much better in October than we did in Sept., but much of that is probably due to playing 4 regional sides. In our 2 league matches, we split, going 1-0-1 for 3 more points. We start November in 17th place, but with a good chance to make a run, I hope. I'm still pissed about being out in the FA Cup, especially against Staines.

[Butter]

Nov. 3rd, Match 11, 17th, 3-2-5, 11 pts.
@ Harrogate Town, (4-2-4, 14 pts.)
Fav.: Kett., 4:6

Lodge starts for the injured St. Ledger in defense.

2nd- Varney receives a nice pass, but his shot is stopped.

33rd- After not much happens, Harrogate score on some weak top of the box defending. And Corry didn't help much either just standing there and watching the shot go in.

40th- Harrogate with relentless pressure in the box, but we turn away several scoring chances with decent defense.

Hutchinson in for a tired Oshitola at the half. We switch to a quicker pace and more attacking posture.

49th- Drury is injured and French replaces him.

57th- Cooke is free in the box, but somehow gets dispossessed. A dangerous backpass sees the keeper dribble through 2 Kettering players and clear the ball. Cooke again is sent in but this time his shot is saved.

75th- Varney with a clear chance, but he misses. We switch to all out attacking, again a 2 man backline as Inman replaces Lodge and moves into the attacking midfield.

87th- After a couple of frustrating buildups are cleared, Burgess finds himself alone at the top of the box and decides to have a go. And we're tied! 1-1! Finally, all-out attacking gets me something!

Both teams have chances cleared in the late going, and we get a point out of this one. We'll take it! Corry wins MoM with a 9 rating and Burgess also gets a 9. Varney, Cooke, Gould, and Solkhon get 8's. We're outshot 15-6, and outpossessed 56-44. But a big point for us.

Draw, 1-1
up to 16th place
A: 342

Unfortunately, we lose DC Rob Gould for 2 weeks on a groin strain, and Drury for 4 weeks with fractured ribs. I needed to start a midfield search anyway with Cooke leaving from his loan soon, this Drury injury will just expedite the process.

[Butter]

I make an offer to loan a couple more midfielders before our next match from some Champ./Prem. reserve teams. I don't get any responses before our next match.

Nov. 6, FA Trophy 1st Round
v. Tooting & Mitcham (Regional)
Fav.: Kett., 1:8

We've got some heavy injuries right now, but hopefully we should still make short work of this squad. Of course, the oddsmakers said we should dispatch Bath pretty easily too... at least before the replay. My team is tired or injured. We need some depth, especially along the backline. I am starting our only 3 healthy players back there today. Derek Brown is healed from his injury, but still not match fit. We're starting 2 players below 90% fitness... not ideal, but what else can I do? I'll have to promote some reserves for the next match most likely. I have 4 midfielders and a keeper as my subs today.

6th- T&M with a nice combination, but it ends with a shot tipped over by Corry. The ensuing corner curls out.

12th- Oshitola centers to Varney, but it's tackled away on a nice challenge.

15th- Oshitola crosses to Cooke, who has it headed away. But French gathers at the top of the area and slides one through to Oshitola who sneaks in behind the defense, and scores unmarked! Beautiful run by Oshitola to sneak in unnoticed after his cross!

We have several more chances that don't go in, but we're just slaughtering them.

35th- Varney is played through after a long ball interception by Diuk. Varney beats a defender and shoots from 25 yards... and scores! A curling shot to the upper-left corner with his left foot, what a strike! Too bad we don't look like this in league fixtures.

We sub our most tired players at the half, and begin playing a slow, short passing game to preserve their legs.

84th- Inman adds a 3rd from a 20 yard free kick that deflects off the wall. T&M have 2 decent buildups, but both shots are wide.

Inman is undressed in the box with a 2 footed tackle, but no call in the 93rd. Inman is injured and leaves just before the final whistle.

We outshoot T&M 21-10, and outpossess them 52-48. Brett Solkhon is named man of the match in central defense, 4 key tackles, all 6 key headers won, and 5 interceptions. Corry, Burgess, Diuk, and Inman all also earn 8's for their play.

Win, 3-0
advance to round 2
A: 763

We earn $4k for that round 1 victory. Inman apparently just bruised his chest, and will only be out a week due to that late challenge.

[Butter]

We do get another loaner to help in midfield. MC Stephen Dawson of Leicester City (Champ.) Reserves will join us for 3 months for just $2k. He is only 18 years old, and should help boost our depth and ability to cope with injury. He should also start after Cooke leaves. He will likely start for Burgess until Cooke leaves, in fact.

Then, an interesting story:

Nuneaton manager Roger Ashby has told Butter that he intends to cause Kettering Town to suffer an early hiccup when their sides meet at Manor Park on Tuesday.

Speaking to journalists at the club's training ground, Ashby commented that his side were more than capable of winning the game and he would love to give Butter's promotion chances a setback at this early stage of the season.

I decide to respond to this bold statement by the team directly ahead of us in the table by saying that "although others may think otherwise, I have full faith in Ashby's ability".

All of a sudden, we have a National Conf. side, Burton, interested in a reserve midfielder of ours... Mark Cartlidge. Cartlidge is 20, and has some decent skill, but no speed whatsoever (he has a 1 in accel., in fact). He is currently listed at $6k. I decide to offer him up for $24k. Burton also offer $0 + a defender for our listed midfielder Adie Bell. They must need midfield help pretty badly. The defender's tackling and marking ratings are hidden, but he makes $24k per year, probably too much for us. I counteroffer for just cash of $10k.

We also have just made an offer to Burton for a defender of theirs, Ian Wright. He is no great shakes, but is listed for free and only wants about $6k per year. He looks fairly solid, so we offer that to him.

The 2nd round FA Trophy Draw comes, and we'll be playing on the road at Regional side Bromley in about 3 weeks.

I notice after my comments, that 3 starters, the 2 defensive midfielders Holyoak and Diuk and starting midfielder Oliver Burgess are unsure about things after the recent comments by Nuneaton's manager. I also notice that DR Martin Matthews who hadn't played much at all until pressed into service is unhappy about being played at centerback in our 3 man back line. He wants to play right fullback. I don't know what to tell him, I wouldn't play him at all if not for injuries. He's only averaging a 6, so I'd be just as happy if I didn't have to play him, frankly.

Nov. 9, Match 12
3-3-5, 16th, 12 pts.
@ Nuneaton Borough (2-6-2, 15th, 12 pts.)
Fav.: Kett., 5:4

We're very slim favorites for this. Dawson moves into the starting lineup in midfield, sitting down Daniel French. Other than that, we hope everyone else can hold up because we get 8 days off after this one. But no one is at 100% at the start of this match. And, no joke, this is like the 11th straight match where the weather conditions are listed as "wet". I think one said "Gale", but they've all been wet.

6th- Holyoak gets a yellow on the left edge of the box for a hold. The ensuing free for NB finds an open man at 8 yards, but he hits the volley wide.

8th- Oshitola and Varney pass the ball back and forth 4 times before Varney gets an open shot from 10 yards, but the onrushing keeper deflects it out for a corner. The ensuing corner is parried to midfield.

12th- Oshitola is played through by Diuk, but his shot is wide.

13th- NB get a nice series of shots that ends in Cooke clearing it behind goal. The ensuing corner is stolen by Burgess and fired 60 yards ahead to Varney, who is onside since he started his run in our half. He is 10 yards behind the defense and fires a shot past the keeper! GOAL! 1-0, Poppies! Normally I wouldn't be quite so excited, but since he talked smack, I want to grind Nuneaton and their manager into the dirt!

17th- Lodge with a steal, who finds Cooke who flicks it on to Varney. Another good chance for Varney, but his shot is tipped over the bar this time.

21st- Nuneaton find a goal on the break as our defense is slow to close an open striker in the middle. He takes his time and slots it past Corry for the equalizer.

23rd- Nuneaton get their first yellow, and guess who's refereeing this one? It's yellow card machine from our first match of the year, Darren Cann. I somehow only have the one card so far, so maybe the FA got to him before he wore out his cards this year.

38th- A couple of good chances end with a nice Dawson tackle in the box to give NB a corner. Well, I thought they ended. A rare set piece goal sees the corner find the head of a striker at the near post. 2-1, Borough. Ugh. The replay shows Corry attempt to go out to catch the ball, but he's not anywhere near it when it gets headed in. We seriously need a new keeper.

Off the kickoff, we turn the ball over, and NB cross it into the box... Corry trips an onrushing striker to earn a yellow card and give Borough a penalty. Luckily for us, the penalty is right at Corry. Unluckily for us, the ensuing goal kick is struck right at Borough, and they cross it in for a 3rd goal. Our defense is just being shredded this last half hour. Matthews is partly to blame.

French in for Matthews, as we switch to the all out attack for half 2. Ward also in for Corry at keeper. 2 man backline, offside trap on. We may get eviscerated in the second half, but we've got to try and get the point out of this one.

46th- Nuneaton score off a simple pass from the kickoff. 4-1, Borough, and this is the kind of game that loses people their jobs. Namely, me.

51st- Dawson breaks free but hits it just wide of the post.

59th- Nuneaton score off the counter attack, and it's time to pack it in. 5-1.

The rest of the game passes fairly uneventfully after our switch back to defensive tactics and a 3 man backline, and I probably deserve to lose my job over this one. I don't think I will, but it was that bad. We're outshot 15-9 and outpossessed 55-45. Varney and Burgess earn our only 7's of the match.

Loss, 5-1
drop to 17th place
A: 921

I vow to scour the wire for a higher quality keeper and some more defensive depth, as this showing is just completely unacceptable. I want to rip into Corry and Matthews after the game for the loss, but I refrain.

[Butter]

I request a loan on a good young keeper in QPR's reserve system, a 19 year old with much better technical skill than Corry. After taking a few days to think about, he declines to come to us unfortunately. I dive back into the list.

Derek Brown is finally back from injury at central defense, and our backline is looking a bit better. I'm going to have to write this season off before too long (as far as promotion goes), but one thing I have definitely learned is that even at this level you need a good bit of depth to succeed.

Sure enough, Martin Matthews misses training 2 days after our loss to Nuneaton. I fine him 2 weeks wages right off (which he feels is unfair, natch), and list him for $4,000. He is one of the most expensive players on the team as it is at $24k per year, and I don't need this crap to deal with.

Besides, I just signed former Burton Reserve defender Ian Wright to a 2 year deal for $6k per year + a $2k signing bonus. Wright is a good step up from our current bench players. He will likely start until Sean St. Ledger can return from his current injury.

Nov. 17, Match 13
3-3-6, 18th place, 12 pts.
v. Gainsborough (5-4-2, 5th pl., 19 pts.)
Fav.: Kett., 4:7

We could conceivably jump 6 or 7 spots with a win, but we never seem to be able to pull these games out.

Here's our starting lineup, since it has been switching around so much lately.
GK: Corry
DC: Solkhon, Gould, Ian Wright (new acquisition)
DM: Diuk, Holyoak
MC: Dawson, Burgess, Cooke
SC: Varney, Oshitola

Lynch is injured at the striker spot, St. Ledger still out at centerback, and Drury is injured in the middle. Cooke will be leaving soon as his loan period is expiring. Inman, Lodge, Roberts, and French make up our outfield bench, and it's quite a good step up from what we've had. If we can stay around this level with only 1 or 2 nagging injuries, I think we're due for a good run of results.

Early in the game, our backline seems to be doing much better, closing down passes a lot quicker. Wright makes a good intercept and clearance on a cross in the 15th minute.

19th- Finally we get a highlight, but Varney's shot from 20 yards is high and wide.

25th- Diuk falls asleep on defense on his man at the back post, and G'boro's cross is perfectly set down on a man's foot 8 yards away at the post, and he scores it. 1-0, 'Borough.

The rest of the half passes without incident. I can't believe we only managed 1 scoring chance, and not even a good one. Ward in for a slightly injured Corry at the break, and we switch to a quicker pace and a more attacking posture.

20 minutes go by, and nothing. We ratchet up to an all out attack, Varney out for fitness, Roberts in.

74th- We get a good buildup FINALLY, but Cooke's shot is parried to the side and cleared for a throw.

Gainsborough is just packing it in and we have no counter for it. We switch to a 2 man backline again and put French in at attacking midfield to try and force something.

We get one more chance at the close, but Roberts desperation shot is parried wide and cleared away.

I felt we gave a very solid defensive effort, but once Gainsborough closed it down, we just had no way of penetrating their defense. Ward and Cooke both earn 8's. We are outshot 8-5, but outpossessed 59-41 which just killed us. Ian Wright seemed to play well in the middle, so I feel a lot better about that part of our game. I think we may have to switch back to a more defensive style. We play a defensive style now, but I think we're going to have to switch our defensive midfielders from going forward, and instead provide supporting defensive runs to prevent these long crosses that seem to do us in quite often.

Loss, 0-1
down to 19th place
A: 722

And this item after the game:

Kettering goalkeeper Steve Corry has declared himself upset at being substituted during the recent game against Gainsborough.

I let it slide. This bad patch is frustrating everyone. As long as he continues to show up and work, I'm ok with a little steam. A little.

I try and find some more keepers to loan though, and do make some offers.

[Butter]

3 days later, we have another league game. Our folks are getting tired. Luckily we have another week off after this one before our next FA Trophy match.

Nov. 20, Match 14
3-3-7, 19th pl., 12 pts.
v. Barrow (3-8-1, 9th pl., 17 pts.)
Fav.: Kett., 4:5

We do scale back our offense to a defensive 3-5-2 now, with our defensive midfielders making supporting defensive runs, and our midfielders staying in the middle instead of running forward too often. Let's see if this gets us anywhere. Roberts and Hutchinson start up front today for a tired Oshitola and Varney.

10th- Cooke with a free kick near the corner spot, he tries to bend it in himself but it goes over.

19th- Burgess's free kick finds an open Hutchinson at the top of the area, he advances 5 yards but skips it past the post. ARGH!

22nd- Totally against the run of play, a Barrow corner is passed around, then shot from 10 yards. Should have been an easy save from where I'm sitting, but it finds the upper corner for a Barrow goal. 1-0. Watching the replay, Corry didn't move during the entire sequence, until the shot had been taken and was well on its way, despite the ball being on both sides of the box during the play. SOMEONE LOAN ME A DAMNED KEEPER!!!!

Barrow switch to a defensive style, and hey, guess what, we're clueless again.

Oshitola in for a tired Hutchinson at the break. French in for Roberts who is pulling a 5 rating right now. We switch to an attacking 3-2-4-1. Just for the hell of it.

48th- It takes Barrow 3 minutes to find a striker in between the defense, and he scores. 2-0.

60th- French's cross finds nobody. Great chance there... if you like crap.

83rd- Dawson finds Burgess ahead of the pack, and his shot is tipped over.

90th- Holyoak again with a long ball to Burgess, but his shot is wide.

That's it. We each had 5 shots, but we just cannot score. Corry allows 2 goals on 5 shots, and he's benched. We're outpossessed again 56-44, and I guess I just don't know what the hell I'm doing.

Loss, 0-2
remain in 19th
A: 762

[Butter]

We scout some more keepers and prepare to bench or list Corry. I detest having a harebrained keeper. I had one with Peterborough in CM 03/04. It took me about 3 bad performances and one media bitchfest to list him. I got a couple of decent guys in there and ran to 3rd in the EPL with them.

We also attempt to renew Stephen Cooke's loan deal as he is nearly going back to Aston Villa's reserves. He's worth $1.1 million, and we're getting him for $2k per 3 months, which you just can't beat. Sheffield Wed. also agrees to loan us a reserve keeper, but we have to wait and see if he'll agree to play for us.

I am lucky that this board is giving me a long leash. I have not performed well, but haven't gotten the dreaded vote of confidence yet, or even heard any grumbling yet.

After a couple of days, Cooke is indeed coming back to us for 3 more months for another $2k. He is one of our top rated players so far this year, so this is terrific news.

Unfortunately for us, with some recent league play, we have dropped back into the relegation zone. We desperately need some points out of the next several games.

And, as expected, the Sheff. Wed. reserve keeper tells us we can go take a long walk off a short pier. Dang, it's hard to get new players at this level.

Oshitola picks up a broken collarbone in training, and he'll be out for 2 months. Ouch. I consider dropping to just one striker up front considering the ineffectiveness of everyone except for Varney. I may well do it.

Adam Sollitt, the starting keeper with Conf. Nat'l side Morecambe looks like he will consider signing with us for about $40k per year (and a $6k transfer fee). He has a good bit more technical ability than Corry, and is playing well for Morecambe, allowing 19 goals in 15 games, and keeping 3 clean sheets. We offer him $36k per year and a $200 clean sheet bonus, and a $6k signing bonus.

Nov. 27, FA Trophy 2nd Round
@ Bromley (Regional)
Fav.: Kett., 1:10

We do indeed start a 3-2-4-1, with only Alex Varney in an attacking position. Cooke and French will play the wings with supporting attacking runs, and Diuk and Holyoak will remain in defensive midfield positions with backward supporting runs. As promised, Simon Ward starts at goalkeeper for Steve Corry.

3rd- We have a nice buildup, that ends when Cooke makes a nice run with the ball down the left, and crosses to a wide open Stephen Dawson who heads it in!

We dominate the first half of this one, as we should, with several more chances, but none go in. No changes for the second half, but Dawson has a minor injury I'm keeping my eye on.

Burgess is also injured in the second half and has to leave. I put in Inman for Burgess and Solkhon in for Dawson. Holyoak switches to midfield, and Solkhon to the backline. We switch to a 4 man backline, and Diuk in central defensive midfield.

Bromley do get 1 decent chance, but a header in the 82nd whistles wide. Our backline again plays strong, not allowing through balls through and running down clear strikers from behind. Finally, we clinch it in the 92nd, when French switches play to Cooke's side, Cooke advances, crosses, and finds Alex Varney inside the 6 who finishes for the clincher!

94th- Bromley earn a free from 20 yards. It is played square to an onrushing Bromley midfielder, who fires it into a line of defenders. It comes off of Rob Gould and goes in.

Well, no clean sheet, but we do manage the win. Cooke earns a 9 and MoM honors. He completed all 33 passes (WOW!), had 2 assists and 8 runs past opponent. St. Ledger gets an 8, and everyone else earns 7's.

Win, 1-2
move on to 3rd round
A: 166

We earn $6k for the win, but lose Oliver Burgess for 3 weeks with a broken arm. Seems like we've had a lot of injuries this year. I have the players resting on days after matches, and not training on the days of matches. We also have 3 physios, which is quite a bit for a small squad like ours. Not sure where the problem lies, really.

[Butter]

We up our offer for Adam Sollitt to over $50k per year and a $100 clean sheet bonus. He currently makes $48k with Morecambe, so we have to go up a bit to compel him to move.

Finally, after sending out offers to 30 teams, we get a taker for Martin Matthews. Yeovil (L2) agree to pay us $4k, and quickly agree to a deal with the disgruntled right fullback. And we're clear of his $24k of salary. He averaged a 6 rating in 5 apps. with our squad.

Sollitt rejects our last offer, and we make one more bid, $60k per year for 3 years, a $6k signing bonus, and a $200 clean sheet bonus.

The 3rd Round FA Trophy draw is made, and we'll travel to Conf. Nat'l side Carlisle United in mid-January.

Nov. 30, Match 16
3-4-8, 20th pl., 13 pts.
v. Vauxhall Motors (5-7-3, 7th pl., 22 pts.)

We try the defensive 3-2-4-1 again, with Varney running by himself up front. Dancy plays for Burgess today, though Drury is back within a couple of days that should help punch up our midfield.

7th- Holyoak leads French beautifully down the right. French crosses to Cooke who has time to settle the ball from 8 yards, but his shot is tipped over. The ensuing corner is headed strong by Dancy, but he's too far out to elude the keeper.

19th- Ward takes a freekick from just outside the box after an offside call. He hits it all the way across the field to Diuk at the midfield line. Diuk picks out Varney and hits a beautiful 45 yard ball to him inside the box. Varney turns, settles, and scores! 1-0, Poppies!

23rd- Dawson plays Varney through again, but this time the Motors' keeper is up to the challenge, and deflects it wide.

31st- Vauxhall starts to turn the play towards them with a good buildup, but the point blank shot is hit into the side netting.

33rd- A corner is deflected out by St. Ledger.

Dancy is under 60% at the interval, so out he comes for Niall Inman. We stick with our tactics, and hope for the best.

55th- Diuk is yellow carded for a challenge near the corner of the box. The ensuing free kick finds on open man at the back post, but he heads it over.

61st- Diuk takes a quick throw in to Stephen Cooke, who turns and sends a short cross onto the head of Alex Varney who heads it with power into the back of the net! 2-0, Poppies!!!!

We swap out Holyoak for Solkhon, and switch to a 4 man back line and short passing with a slow tempo to try and salt this one away. Drew Roberts also in for a tiring Alex Varney to keep his legs fresh. Varney gets a standing ovation!

63rd- On the kickoff following the goal, VM play it down the right and are able to cross it in and it's headed home in between several defenders for a goal. Uh-oh.

VM get another chance one minute later, but it's scrambled away. Thankfully, we are able to take control of the game in midfield and salt it away. This is helped when Vauxhall Motors have a man sent off with his 2nd yellow card for dissent in extra time.

Just to piss me off, VM get a final chance a good 45 seconds after the game should have been whistled dead, but the long distance shot is well high and wide, and we finally get another league win!

Varney earns MoM with a 9 for his 2 goal effort, and Stephen Cooke picks up an 8 for his assist. We are outshot by Motors 11-6, but all 6 of ours were on target. We outpossess a league opponent for the first time in a while, 53-47.

We're not quite out of the relegation danger zone yet, just 2 points clear of it, but if we can put together a good run of form, we can have a respectable season yet.

Win, 2-1
up to 17th place
A: 738

We hit December 1st, and the board are merely "pleased" with my performance. Understandable. Not a good month of November for us, as we go 1-1-3 in league matches. We do win 2 FA Trophy contests, so that was nice. I'm searching for positives here, help me out.

One positive is we're back to just $81k in the red, and are $18k under the wage budget since shedding Martin Matthews' large salary. Not for long, though, if we can get a decent keeper in here.

[Butter]

DC Brett Solkhon signs a new contract worth $8k per for the next 2 seasons, getting a $2k per year raise. We also re-sign 2 reserve players to $6k per year contracts.

We still cannot find a replacement keeper for Corry. Everyone's either too expensive or not willing to come to us on loan. Ward is doing an OK job in his place, so we'll see what happens.

Ian Wright hurts his foot in training and is out 2 weeks. Not too big a blow, as we have 2 or 3 capable replacements, unlike earlier in the season.

Finally! Nottingham Forest reserve keeper John Lukic agrees to join us on loan for 3 months, for $2k. He is just 18 years old, and is cheap enough where we could make a run at transferring him over here for good if he plays well. His value is just $6k. He has some nice skill, and will start right away.

Dec. 8, Match 16
4-3-8, 17th pl., 15 pts.
@ Stafford Rangers (4-4-5, 15th pl., 16 pts.)
Fav.: Kett., Evens

Niall Inman starts for the injured Burgess today, and Solkhon is in for Ian Wright. Ward gets one more go as the starting keeper today.

10th- Rangers start with an innocent ball wide, and string together a series of 10 passes that ends in a striker beating Ward at the near post for a goal. Nice play by Rangers. They just overwhelmed us with speed and talent right there.

Stafford dominate play, with several more good chances turned aside by our defense.

46th- Diuk with a long ball down the left for Cooke. Cooke turns and picks out Varney with a cross. Varney settles, turns, and scores! Alex Varney with his 10th goal for the Poppies, and we tie it in 1st half injury time!

French is rating a 5 and gets removed for Stefan Dancy. Dancy moves to the middle and Dawson moves wide to the right wing.

56th- Dancy is dispossessed in the center, allowing Rangers a break which they get a good cross and finish on. 2-1, Stafford.

Darren Lynch makes his first appearance in a while in the 70th, on for a tiring Dawson. So we go with a 3 man central midfield. We switch to a more attacking posture.

76th- Inman is yellow carded. The free kick is stolen by Gould who knocks it long to Varney. Varney's wide open! He dribbles for 30 yards, then shoots..... GOALLLLLLLLL!!!! 2-2, we equalize.

We are just drubbing Rangers with chances now!

85th- Cooke receives a long pass from Holyoak dribbles at the keeper, then crosses to Lynch, who taps it in! 3-2, Poppies!!!

The final whistle goes, and we win a huge one!

Stephen Cooke is again magic in the midfield with an MoM and a 9 rating, and Varney has another 2 goal masterpiece! What a win, the best game of the year.

We're outshot 15-8, but outpossess Rangers 55-45.

Win, 2-3
up to 15th place
A: 468

[Butter]

Dec. 11, Match 17
5-3-8, 15th pl., 18 pts.
@ Hucknall Town (4-1-9, 20th pl., 13 pts.)
Fav.: Kett., 4:7

Lukic gets the start in goal. Our 2 main defensive midfielders, Diuk and Holyoak are both flagging, so we go with a 5-4-1 today, with a flatback 5. Diuk and Holyoak both get a rest. Lodge, Gould, St. Ledger, Solkhon, and Brown make up the back 5. Cooke, Dancy, Dawson, and French are the midfield 4, with Cooke and French attacking down the flanks. Varney is our lone front-runner. We'll see what happens, hopefully we can get 3 points out of this one.

7th- Hucknall with a good chance, the strike is scooped over the bar from 12 yards.

12th- Cooke crosses to French at the back post who heads it into the side netting.

18th- Great combination as Hucknall bend a ball in from distance right onto a diving head, but it goes wide.

22nd- We see the Lukic difference as he rushes at an oncoming Hucknall striker and deflects a shot wide. Saves us a goal.

Hucknall control play in the first half, while we only had 1 real chance. We're outshot 8-1, but outpossess them 55-45. Frankly, I'll take a point from this one, so more of the same for the second half. I'll keep an eye on Varney as he's looking ragged.

53th- Varney is taken down near the top of the box, allowing a free kick. Cooke has a good go at it, and it deflects off the wall and is barely pushed away by the Hucknall keeper. Luckily, it falls right to Brett Solkhon who has a go from a sharp angle and tucks it in the upper left corner! 1-0, Poppies!

55th- Inman in for a tired Stefan Dancy, and we slow things way down. Hucknall with a good strike that flies wide of the post.

70th- Hucknall with a good chance off a free kick, the open striker attacks Lukic, but Lukic gets a hand to it and the ball is cleared by St. Ledger before it can get over the line! Good save! Drew Roberts on for a tiring Alex Varney.

81st- Lukic with a long free kick off an offsides call right to Drew Roberts down the middle of the defense. He beats the keeper, but can't finish at a tough angle.

Hucknall don't manage any more chances, and we make off with the 3 points!

Lukic with a good game in net, but we played much better in the second half as a team to win this one. Dawson wins MoM with a 9 in midfield. He won 8/10 tackles, 7/9 headers, made 2 interceptions and completed 16/23 passes. Lukic, St. Ledger, and Cooke all earn 8's and the rest of the team had 7's. We are outshot 14-5 total, yet still dominate possession at the end, 55-45.

Win, 0-1
up to 13th place
A: 331

We're just one win away from the top half of the table now.

[Butter]

MC Stefan Dancy picks up a fractured cheekbone in training and will miss a month. He's not a great player, but he's been playing a lot with our midfield injuries lately. This one hurts.

The next message hurts too, as starting DMR Danny Holyoak is out for 2 weeks with an injured ankle. Ugh. Our midfield just gets worse and worse. Also, Andy Drury cannot shake these nagging injuries. Right when he was due to come back, he suffered a gashed leg for 3 days, then broke his nose to be out another week. And to make matters worse, both Dawson and Cooke are 1 yellow card away from a match ban for picking up 5 on the season. Looks like we may have to extend this 5-4-1 attack for a couple more matches.

Luckily, it looks like Burgess, Drury, and Wright are nearly recovered from their injuries. Still, we're sticking with the 5-4-1 again for the next match, with Wayne Diuk in midfield for Dancy.

Dec. 18, Match 18
6-3-8, 14th pl., 21 pts.
v. Hinckley (6-3-8, 11th pl., 21 pts.)
Fav.: Kett., 4:7

Only change from last match is Diuk in midfield instead of Stefan Dancy. Burgess moves back onto the bench, but is not quite fit enough to play a full match yet. This is a big match, winner jumps into 10th place most likely.

The first half brings 2 shots. 1 each way. It's a real barnburner. I like being defensive, but this might be taking it a bit far. We stick with it for half 2 and hope to connect on a few of these long passes. Lynch in for a tiring Varney at the break, and Inman replaces an ineffective Diuk, who has connected on just 2 of 7 passes in midfield.

60th- Inman with a good cross that looks like it might be going in inside the far post, but it's punched away.

70th- Dawson unleashes a ferocious shot from 30 yards, but Lynch is called for offsides and the shot is saved anyway.

87th- No action between the 70th and 87th, but here French is played through nicely by Derek Brown, dribbles into the box, and crosses back for an oncoming Darren Lynch. Lynch receives the pass, settles from 10 yards, and finishes inside the left post! Wow!

91st- Hinckley with a good counterattack off of a poorly taken free, but it ends with a nice tackle by Derek Brown, and the final whistle!

We outshoot Hinckley 4-2 in a largely defensive struggle, and are outpossessed 55-45. Brown and Lodge both have double digit interceptions in defense. It appears Hinckley played a very short passing scheme, because there were very few headers and tackles to be won. No one rates over a 7, but in the end who cares? We continue our blistering form with another tight win!

Win, 1-0
up to 11th place
A: 731

[Butter]

Dec. 21, Match 19
7-3-8, 11th pl, 24 pts.
@ Bradford Park Ave. (4-8-6, 16th pl., 20 pts.)
Fav.: Kett., 4:7

Short turnaround for this one, with only 2 days off. Drury, Burgess, and Wright are all ready to come back as we switch back to our 3-5-2. Burgess starts at DMR for an injured Holyoak. Drury displaces French from his MR spot, French moves to MC.

8th- Dawson with a good run into the area, but the ball is tackled away from him in the box.

13th- Dawson with the free kick to Cooke, who dribbles around a while before getting loose in the area, but his shot is tipped over the bar. Ensuing corner falls right to the foot of Gould in the box, but his shot is deflected out of danger.

21st- A couple of PA chances are cleared out of the box by an active defense.

29th- A good save by Lukic, but he can't hold it and the rebound is volleyed home by a PA striker. 1-0, Bradford.

35th- Drury with a long cross to Cooke, who powers a header over the bar.

41st- A free kick is headed on, but Lukic tips it off the woodwork and St. Ledger clears. The clearance finds Varney with no one near him, and he is able to get into the box. A tough challenge is enough to force Varney's shot well wide.

45th- Cooke switches the play to Drury who crosses to Varney, but he heads it over.

We switch French out to the right since he was largely ineffective in the first half, while Drury moves to central midfield. We'll probably ratchet up the attack fairly soon.

47th- Diuk throws in to Cooke who is near the corner of the area. He flights in a bending ball into the middle of the box where there looks like there's nobody... but Brett Solkhon bursts out of the pack and dives in front of the keeper and heads it home! 1-1! Solkhon's 2nd goal in the last 3 weeks.

56th- Varney is open from 10 yards, but the keeper makes a good save.

PA has had about 4 free kicks from just outside the box in this half alone. We switch back to a more defensive style since we've at least got a point now.

69th- Finally we stem the tide of Bradford chances. Burgess plays a nice diagonal ball to French who crosses from near the byline to Varney, who has a good look at it, but heads it over.

We switch to a 3-2-3-2 for the final 20 minutes, with Lynch in for Burgess, we switch Dawson to the defensive midfield, now Drury is all alone in the middle of the field. Wright also in for a tiring Gould in defense.

92nd- PA with one more chance, but a header goes wide.

We mustered no more offense thanks to that formation switch. Good point here, though more would've been appreciated. St. Ledger and Diuk both earn 8's. Diuk is named MoM completing 36/40 passes and intercepting 8 balls. We are outshot 15-9, and possession ends even.

Draw, 1-1
up to 10th place
A: 632

We're finally in the top half of the table! Daniel French strained his thigh late in this game and will miss a little less than a week.

[Butter]

We decide to make a play to transfer our new keeper over for good. 3 matches, 1 goal allowed speaks for itself. The only goal he allowed in was off a rebound as well, so he has been playing very well. Nott'm Forest are asking $6k for him, and that's what we offer.

We have 2 games in 3 days here, so we play the 5-4-1 again to preserve some folks for the next match.

Dec. 26, Match 20
7-4-8, 10th pl., 25 pts.
v. Altrincham (7-4-7, 9th pl., 25 pts.)
Fav.: Kett., 4:5

It's 29 degrees, and the pitch is frozen.

11th- First action of the game, it's Niall Inman advancing and he shoots from 12 yards, but it's tipped over.

31st- Inman is feeling bold and shoots from 25 yards. It comes close but skitters past the post and out for a goal kick.

42nd- Cooke forces a corner as his cross shoots out off a leg. Inman's corner is a nice floating ball onto the head of Andy Drury, but Drury can't direct it.

It's halftime, and Altrincham didn't manage a shot for the entire first half. In fact, over 27% of the action was us controlling the ball on the Altrincham side of the field. We stick with it and hope for a second half breakthrough. Gould in for a struggling Solkhon, and Lynch in for a tiring Varney at the interval.

56th- St. Ledger controlling the ball at the back, sends Lynch through. The Altrincham keeper misplays it, and Lynch is free! He shoots at an empty net from a very tight angle.... and it's in!!!! 1-0, Poppies! Great ball from St. Ledger, and Lynch was just barely able to chase it down as it was shooting fast off the pitch.

61st- A seemingly innocent free from 25 yards turns nightmarish, as Lynch is called for a shirt tug inside the box. Lynch is booked, and Altrincham get their first shot of the game.... a penalty. They convert just barely inside the post, and it's even again.

84th- French on for a slightly injured Drury at MR. We switch to a more attacking posture to try and get the 3 points back.

Doesn't help as the rest of the game skitters by. We outshoot them 6-2, but are outpossessed 59-41. No one rates above a 7 for us, and if only we hadn't yielded that PK, 3 more points would've been ours.

Draw, 1-1
down to 11th place
A: 708

[Butter]

Derek Brown hurts himself in practice and will miss about a week with a sprained wrist.

Lukic rejects our initial offer of around $20k per year, so we up it to $32k per season plus a $10k signing bonus.

Dec. 28, Match 21
7-5-8, 11th pl., 26 pts.
@ Droylsden (5-7-8, 18th pl., 20 pts.)
Fav.: Kett., 4:7

Back to the ol' 3-2-4-1 here, as Holyoak is only 85% but will start.

6th- Inman is hurt in the first 5 minutes and loses 20% of his stamina. A cross is headed out by Solkhon, but right to a Droyslden player who re-crosses it to the back post. A strong header is parried by Lukic, and tackled away by Wright for another corner. They earn 2 more corners, but we parry them both out. Varney is played ahead on the counter, but is injured after a tough challenge. Lynch on to replace him. Drury also on for Inman, so we're down to subs before the quarter-hour.

20th- French is open, and instead of a short cross to a wide open Cooke, he tries to force a shot that goes flying over.

Not too much more action in the first half, Lukic makes a good save on a swerving free kick. We stick with it for half 2 and hope for no more injuries and a goal.

60th- Cooke crosses for French who is open at the back post, but the Droylsden keeper tips it out for a corner.

73rd- A terrific chance for Droylsden ends when Lukic stops a shot at point blank range! Holyoak clears it out to Diuk who starts the break to Lynch. Lynch has the ball tackled from behind, but the keeper lets it run out and its a corner. On the ensuing corner, Burgess is injured in the box, but no call. He has to come out for Stephen Dawson to use our final sub.

93rd- In the final seconds, French's cross finds a streaking Cooke, but he shoots it wide for what the commentary calls "an embarrassing miss". Indeed. I could've had all 3 points out of this one!

We did not have one single on target shot all day. We're outshot 12-5, but outpossess Droylsden 51-49. Lukic is named MoM for his wonderful performance keeping yet another clean sheet for us today. A Droylsden midfielder somehow manages to rate a 4 and not get subbed during this one.

Draw, 0-0
down to 12th place
A: 337

Burgess is out 3 weeks with a dislocated jaw, and Varney will miss 2 weeks with a calf strain.

[Butter]

We end the year unbeaten in 8 matches, but still mired in 12th place thanks to 3 straight draws. Our team has certainly turned it around, going 3-3-0 for the month, all in league fixtures.

John Lukic has been just the acquisition we've needed to bring it all together, and Alex Varney has been hot scoring 11 goals in his 23 squad appearances. St. Ledger, Drury, Diuk, and Cooke all have averaged over a 7.25 as well for the team. We have played much better limiting long balls at the back while still managing to control it pretty well with our new formation.

Unfortunately for us, our top 4 players all are loaners. We're still trying to sign Lukic, and St. Ledger is a possible signing as well, but the others are way out of our league. We need to try to find some real talent that will stay with us in complement to these loaners to have prolonged success.

Wayne Diuk leads the team in starts with 25, while Niall Inman leads in bench appearances with 14 (rating a good 6.89 for the year). Varney has 11 goals overall, while Lynch has 4, and Oshitola and defender Solkhon both have 3. Solkhon leads the squad in tackles won per 90 minutes, with 3.92. Burgess and Holyoak are next with just over 3 each. Cooke leads the team in assists with 9, and Daniel French is second with 4. And finally, Cooke has the most MoM awards, with 3 for the year.

We make an offer for Sean St. Ledger to try and get him in a Poppy uniform on a regular basis for the New Year.

I start the New Year with an increased sense of confidence, and think we actually have a shot at making the top 5.

[Butter]

The board are pleased with my performance at the start of the new year.

Ryan Giggs wins nearly every major World and European Footballer award there is at year end.

We make several offers and look around at a lot of players that don't want to play such low level football at the start of the transfer period.

Jan. 1, 2005, Match 22
7-6-8, 12th pl., 27 pts.
@ Alfreton Town (7-4-10, 14th pl., 25 pts.)
Prior meeting: Alfreton 2, Kettering 0
Fav.: Kett., 4:7

This is a rematch of our first fixture of the year, where we had 2 men sent off in the first half and got killed. Hoping for a better result here.

Again, we have several injuries, and fatigue is also an issue. Here's the starting 11:
Def.: Gould, St. Ledger, Wright
DM: Diuk, Holyoak
Mid.: Cooke, Inman, Dawson, Drury
Striker: Roberts
Bench: Corry, French, Lynch, Solkhon, Lodge

11th- Our 3rd buildup of the game finds Roberts on the good side of a Cooke through ball. Roberts' shot is tipped wide, however, and the ensuing corner amounts to nothing.

We absolutely dominate the remainder of the half, but can't find the back of the net. We outshoot Alfreton 5-0, and outpossess them a whopping 61-39. No changes for half 2.

53rd- A normally harmless chance, as an Alfreton striker is left alone at 25 yards, he decides to have a go, and he buries it. Good goal for them, poor closing on our part. 1-0, Alfreton.

63rd- A bad giveaway by Gould as a lazy pass is intercepted by an onrushing Alfreton striker, who luckily puts his easy chance wide.

We switch to a more attacking posture. Lynch in for Roberts, and French in for a tiring Holyoak. We send more people to support the attack.

68th- Lynch is played through by Cooke, and his chance is tipped to the onrushing French, whose shot is right into the body of an Alfreton defender, who clears it off the line and saves a goal. Great chance, good defense.

73rd- Another Lynch chance is denied by the woodwork, a good strike from 12 yards hits the upright.

Another 12 minutes zips by, and we go to an all out attack to try and equalize, but to no avail.

Our first loss in over a month in a game we dominated, really. Tough one. We outshoot Alfreton 12-5, and outpossess them 56-44. Alfreton's keeper is named MoM, and no arguments here, he played a terrific game. Ian Wright earns our only 8 in defense.

Loss, 1-0
down to 14th place
A: 533

[Butter]

We make our first Bosman signing, defender David McGurk from Darlington (L2) Reserves. We pick him up for $20k a year to solidify our back line for next season. St. Ledger is refusing our overtures of a contract, not wanting to sign his future over to a semi-pro club.

Ian Wright goes down in training and is out 4 weeks with a hurt ankle.

Another quick turnaround, as we have just a Sunday between our last game and this one. This is tough on the ol' depth chart.

Jan. 3, Match 23
7-6-9, 14th pl., 27 pts.
v. Worcester (14-6-2, 1st pl, 48 pts.)
Last meeting: Worcester 2, Kett. 0
Fav.: Kett., 5:4

Lodge starts out of position at DML for a tired Wayne Diuk. Everyone else presses on.

22nd- The 2nd highlight of the match is not good for us, as a rebound of a shot off the crossbar is nodded home for Worcester. 1-0, front runners.

25th- French crosses and nearly finds Lynch for the 5 yard header, but it's punched away by the keeper.

43rd- Dawson receives a pass from French at the edge of the area, advances and is taken down... but the referee points to the edge of the area! Can't believe that wasn't a penalty! The free kick by French cannons off the wall and nearly in, but it's just barely pushed aside by the keeper! Great chance there.

Worcester are dominating the ball at the break, so we switch to long balls in the wet.

58th- French gets a ball to Lynch, but it's tackled away at the top of the box.

Roberts in for a tired Lynch, and Diuk on for Lodge as we try some more attacking. Nothing after 15 minutes, so we add another striker for a defensive midfielder (Underwood for Dawson, Holyoak moves to MC).

76th- Underwood with a shot from distance that's tipped over the bar.

88th- Gould decides to have a go from 25 yards with 6 players in the box. Needless to say, it ain't happenin'.

And that's it. Another loss.

Shots end even, 5-5 but we are dominated in possession, 58-42. Not a good effort. Everybody's so tired, I can hardly blame them, though.

Loss, 0-1
down to 15th place
A: 734

With the depth in our backline, I'm switching to a full-time 5-4-1 at this point. We've played pretty well with it in the past, and it will help our fatigue situation.

[Butter]

Jan. 8, Match 24
7-6-10, 15th pl., 27 pts.
@ Redditch (6-4-13, 19th pl., 22 pts.)
Last meeting: Draw, 0-0
Fav.: Kett., 4:6

Back to the 5-4-1, as promised. New acquisition David McGurk starts at right fullback. We'll see what we can manage with this counterattacking formation.

5th- French with the corner that is headed with power, but blocked by the keeper, and cleared.

14th- Redditch with a good chance, as a long shot takes a ricochet off a defender's leg, but Lukic is there to deflect the shot to St. Ledger, who hoofs it away.

30th- Holyoak plays a ball down the left flank for Cooke who chases it down just before it rolls out. Cooke turns and fires a cross to Holyoak at the penalty spot, but he can't put his shot on target.

46th- French with a nice cross to Cooke at the back post, but his sharp angle shot is well high of goal.

At the half, we're controlling the match pretty well. We switch to a slightly more attacking stance to try and maximize our chances and get on the board.

49th- Good chance on a counterattack, but Dawson's shot is deflected out for a corner by a sliding defender. The ensuing corner by French finds an unmarked Brett Solkhon at the near post who settles it quickly, turns, and rams it home! 1-0, Poppies!

53rd- A 2 minute series of pressure showcases our defense's ball skills, as a number of crosses and balls into the box are deflected out for corners, or cleared away to the byline. Lukic makes 1 good save, and Lodge is there to clear it away for good.

75th- Redditch's shot from distance is deflected by Lukic out of danger. The only thing he needs work on is holding these shots that come at him. He deflects or punches almost everything.

90th- Redditch with an onslaught for the final 3 minutes. The first chance comes when a through ball finds a streaking striker in between the last 2 central defenders. The striker is 1 v. 1 with Lukic, but Lukic tips the shot out for a corner! 2 ensuing corners are played well by the defense, and the last chance is headed clear by St. Ledger at the final whistle. Last ball of the match is played 90 yards to an open Darren Lynch, but the whistle blows before he gets his shot off.

Good win here. Any road win is positive for us. We are outshot 12-6, and outpossessed 51-49. Lukic earns MoM with an 8, and Lodge also picks up on 8 at left fullback. McGurk plays well in his debut with 6 interceptions, and several key headers and tackles. Unfortunately for us, Stephen Cooke and Wayne Diuk both get their 5th yellow of the season in the second half, so they'll both be out the next match.

Win, 0-1
up to 13th place
A: 324

[Butter]

Sadly, the day after the win, I get the dreaded vote of confidence:

Kettering manager Butter has received a vote of confidence from the club's directors ahead of Tuesday's home game against Moor Green.

Butter's job has seemed increasingly insecure recently and the Kettering board's decision to grant him a stay of execution is hardly likely to ease this pressure.

Looking at the confidence screen (which I hadn't checked in a while), it now says that the board are unsatisfied with my performance as manager, and believe that the team should be holding a higher position in the league. The fans are pleased with my performance however.

Let's see what happens. I've never been fired before. It'd almost be neat. Almost.

Well, we have a chance to start turning things around against a candidate for relegation next, so let's see if we can do it.

Jan. 11, Match 25
8-6-10, 13th pl., 30 pts.
v. Moor Green (6-4-14, 19th pl., 22 pts.)
Last meeting: Kettering 3, Moor Green 0
Fav.: Kett., 4:7

Again, we employ the 5-4-1. Our reshuffled middle due to injuries and suspensions has Dawson, Holyoak, Inman, and French across. Darren Lynch is the lone striker today.

3rd- Moor Green with a wide open chance in the middle of the box, and they finish. 1-0, MG.

23rd- Lynch is free and hits the crossbar with his shot, but he's offside anyway.

40th- French with a good cross that's scrambled away.

And it's halftime. And I'm gonna get fired. We switch to a much more attacking posture in an attempt to get back in this one. Underwood in for Gould, and we go to 2 strikers. Drury also on for Lodge, and Holyoak switches to the back with forward runs as we have an attacking 4-4-2 now.

Moor Green continue to control play through the first 20 minutes.

68th- Finally a break, as French with a short cross to Lynch, but he can't direct it.

75th- Moor Green get behind our pushed up defense and score again, 2-0.

We manage absolutely zero chances even with a totally pushed up defense and 7 people running into the Moor Green half of the field. I almost want to get fired I'm so frustrated with this team and it's total lack of fire.

Loss, 0-2
down to 14th place
A: 731

The Kettering board finally appear to be losing patience with manager Butter.

It's rumoured that a bad result in the next league match would seal his fate.

Also:

The Kettering Town board have informed you of their disappointment with the 2-0 defeat against Moor Green.

Our next match is an FA Trophy game, so we'll see how long it takes them to pull the trigger on me.

[Butter]

Solkhon and Drury both go down with injuries in training that'll keep them out 1-2 weeks. I am getting killed with these injuries.

Jan. 15, FA Trophy 3rd Round
@ Carlisle United (Conf. Nat'l, 18th place)
Fav.: Carlisle Utd., 1:3

Varney is back from yet another injury at striker for us, as we stick with the ol' 5-4-1 to try and get a replay out of this one. Even if we do, I may not be around to see it.

7th- Carlisle is running over us as though we're not even there. They apply constant pressure and break through in the 7th minute with a beautiful header above 3 defenders. 1-0, United.

Carlisle just dominate us in the first half, and we manage no scoring chances. We switch to an attacking 3-5-2 for the 2nd half. Diuk and Lynch on for Lodge and McGurk.

Carlisle score 6 second half goals. We lose a rout, 7-0. Lukic and Dawson somehow manage 4's.

Must be about time to get fired.

Loss, 7-0
out of FA Trophy
A: 3,030

Yep, I get sacked immediately following this horrific match.

(Edited because I can't add.)

[SirFozzie]

Ouch. Rough luck man.

[Butter]

I apply at 3 different Nat'l Conf. level and lower positions to see if anything comes of it. But more likely I'll be starting a new dynasty at some point in the future.

2 of them turn me down cold within 2 days, and the other one just never gets back to me.

Another month goes by with no more news or good jobs open, and it must be time to start a new dynasty!

Sorry about the shortness of this one, but I think I need to start a bit higher up on the food chain. I can't hack it down here with no money and no prospects.