FM2005: A Virgin Trip into LLM.

[Eaglesfan27]

This may be a short dynasty if I get fired, but unlike my previous dynasties this will not just fade into oblivion.

I will be using FM2005, with the most recent patch 5.02 at this time.

I will be using LLM rules. That means, I will not use FM Scout or any other program to cheat. I will not go after players that my manager would have no chance of knowing about. That is easy to do, since I know NOTHING about conference players, and I doubt EPL players are going to be knocking down my door to come into the conference..


My objective is simple: Work my way up to managing either Manchester United (top preference), Chelsea (second preference), or Arsenal (I've always wanted to manage Henry, and they seem unwilling to part with him for some reason.)

I will likely continue this dynasty for at least several seasons if I make it to any of the teams listed above. I will not take any other jobs unless it is one of the other premiere teams in the game. If I'm fired and don't get offered a job by a "better" team within 1 year of game time, I will retire.

The Leagues that will be included are: England (from Conference North/South all the way up obviously), Spain, Italy, Germany, and France. Only the top leagues in each of those countries will be included. I will consider an intermediate job at one of those teams in a different country in the unlikely event that I'm offered it. However, the ultimate goal will be to get to one of the three teams on my list.

I'll develop my own tactics (could be my downfall right there.) I will not use any downloaded tactics, nor will I likely use any of the default tactics except as a base for my own plans.

I'll start posting some thoughts about my team once the game is done creating the universe.

I forgot an important piece of information. I used the random LLM team picker which assigned me Harrogate Town in the North Conference.

[condors]

good luck

[Eaglesfan27]

Now that I'm manager of this club, it's time to assess what we have. First of all, we are in a precarious financial position. We currently have a little under 50,000 dollars in the bank. We are currently about 300 dollars under our wage budget which is 4,600 dollars/week.

Both the chairman and the press tell me they are expecting us to finish in the top half of the league. However, due to the limited amount of money in the coffers, we have a whopping transfer budget of 0 dollars. However, in a moment of surprising generosity, my chairman tells me we can spend about 75% of whatever transfer money we raise. Of course, I've heard that he might go back on his word..

Not surprisingly, our staff is rather thin on talent and numbers. We have one coach/player who will likely be one of our best players, but I will get to that in a moment. Mark Atkins has had a prestigous career, with tours at Blackburn and for the Wolves being particularly notable. However, he is now here on our team, and I think he might want to replace me one day. He came here for the opportunity to coach as well as play. Clearly, he is a good player even at the age of 35. However, his coaching skills are thin at best. Unfortunately, he is our only coach, and I doubt I will be able to hire more.

Our Physio, Ian Marshall is a real jerk. I hear the players hate him. However, he is a decent physio and will do his best to keep the players in good shape. However, a ratio of 24 full time players (and countless part time players) to 1 physio is not good. I'll be expecting some unfortunate injuries this year, but I can't afford to hire any more physios at this time.

Our one scout, Stuart Lee, is adequate but certainly won't win any awards for his keen eye. However, he is cheap and that is a great quality right now. We certainly can't afford any more scouts at this time. I will have to use a keen eye to watch the games that I can and certainly will be looking to my opposition to see if there is any talent worth poaching. Then again, I won't have the money to poach with unless I sell some of my talent. I guess I better take a look at what I have to work with....

[MizzouRah]

I'm following along.


Todd

[Eaglesfan27]

First I'll look at the keepers and defensive players who are currently assigned to the first team:

Paul Pettinger - 28 year old player whose most glorious career moments came for Rotherham in the past. He doesn't appear to be League 2 quality, but he could do well for us. He clearly is the number 1 guy as he appears much more skilled than our other keeper on the roster (which isn't saying much.)

Nick Buxton - 27 year old keeper who is very brave. Unfortunately, I'm not sure I can say many other good things about him. He communicates well with his defender, but he has poor reflexes and relatively poor ability at handling one-on-one situations. That being said, he is clearly my second best keeper.

Defenders:

Lennie Curtis is a 31 year old who appears to have a good mental presence on the field. He seems to fight hard, but he has poor technical skills. Than again, so do almost all of the players on my squad. I like his determination, but I wish he was a better tackler. He will likely be a backup on my squad.

Leigh Wood is a 21 year old sweeper/defender/midfielder. I like his versatility. I also like his gifted technical abilities. He could thrive on this level if he applied himself. However, he is too laid back and doesn't seem to work hard enough in practice. I'm worried about his lack of work ethic. Hopefully, some of the veterans can rub off on him. He is one of my highest paid players and one of my higher valued players. I could have some big name buyers for this player if he develops.

Marc Smith is a 19 year old left defender who is young and raw. He has some good physical attributes, but he needs to develop mentally and from a technique view point. He is asking to go on loan to gain some first team experience, but I'm not sure which club could really use his help as he is so raw. He is showing flashes of being a great passer which could be nice for the future.

Mark Barnard is a 28 year old left/center defender who infuriates me in practice with his lack of effort. He is a gifted tackler, and he has good physical ability, but he often looks like he lacks determination on the pitch. I'm going to need to get through to him if he is going to be useful to the team.

Grant Black is a 20 year old right defender/defensive midfielder who also lacks determination at times, but at other times he works hard on the pitch. He has above average abilities for his age, and could be a very important player for us. Despite his laziness at times, his teammates seem to love him and think he is a great team player.

Paul Shepherd is a 26 year old right/center defender/midfielder who has average abilities in most areas. He seems to lack determination (like most of my team) at times, but he can play very well at other times. He seems like he will be an important first team player if I can motivate him properly. He looks like he might be my best penalty kicker in practice.

Richard Dunning is a 23 year old left defender/midfielder whose greatest attributes are his speed (near the best among defensivemen on the team) and his acceleration. His tackling is average, and I could see him getting some playing time but he needs to develop some more skills to be an everyday player likely.

Those are all of my defenders. I'm going to mix and match in the upcoming friendlies to help me decide who my regular starting defenders will be. I really like the versatility of this group and their ability to also play the midfield.

[jbmagic]

i am following along too...

thanks

[Eaglesfan27]

Now onto the midfielders:

Mark Atkins is a relatively poor coach as I mentioned, but he was a top class player in the past, and he still retains skills that will likely allow him to be a star with this calibre of play. He is a 35 year old defensive center midfielder. He is excellent at taking corners (in comparsion to rest of my team.) He is excellent at taking free kicks. He is an adequate passer and an above average tackler. He has wonderful mental attributes in practice. He is constantly fighting hard for the ball. He shows indomitable spirit, and is an example to the other guys on the team. He almost certainly will be the captain on the field when he isn't resting. He still retains adequate pace, but isn't going to burn anyone on the pitch. He still has good stamina and is a good teammate. I feel very fortunate to have him on the pitch. I just hope he doesn't push management to kick me out if things turn bad..

Simon Sturdy is an 18 year old left winger who is very raw. He has potential and might be a good player for us one day, but he is almost certainly going to be a backup for the immediate future.

Andrew Wright is a 25 year old left winger who originally came up through Leeds youth system. He has gradually worked his way down to our calibre of play. However, I truly believe he has the talent to play in League 2 from looking at him in practice. He is quite talented at crossing the ball. He is a good passer. He is a very good tackler. He is good at dribbling the ball. His mental attributes seem great on the pitch. He works hard almost all of the time. His biggest weakness is his relative lack of pace for the wing but he isn't a complete slouch in this department either.

Dominique Krief is a 20 year old center midfielder who came up through the Leeds system. He is very raw technically, but he is almost certainly the fastest man on our roster (and I'd guess one of the fastest in the North Conference.) He also has wonderful determination. Those two things will likely make me overlook his technical shortcomings and give him a chance to learn on the job.

Christian Fox is a 23 year old attacking right winger. He was not used much by the previous manager and is excited by my arrival. I like his skill set. He lacks speed that I'd like to see in a winger, but he is a gifted passer as well as setting up the cross. He works hard and generally seems to make good decisions in practice. He'll get a chance to show me that he can play.

Colin Hunter is a 28 year old Left/Center Attacking Midfielder/Forward who didn't get along with my predecesor and is transfer listed. He has told me he wants to stay at the club. I'm always fascinated with offenses that use a good attacking midfielder. Colin doesn't have the pace that I like to see in the position, but he does have adequate finishing ability that I at least don't want to sell him before I see what he can do. I assure him that he will not be transferred in the immediate future. I'm particularly impressed with Colin's determination and work ethic in practice.

[Eaglesfan27]

Finally my Forward/Strikers

James Turley is a 23 year old forward with EXCELLENT physical attributes. He has wonderful blazing pace. However, he doesn't really have anything else going for him besides his raw physical ability. He shows good concentration at times, but seems lazy at other times. He shows poor team work on the pitch. I expect he will likely end up a backup.

Clayton Donaldson is our only loan player that was here before I arrived. He is from one of my friend's teams, Hull. Clayton is a decent striker, and may potentially dominate at this level. He has good pace, good acceleration, and a decent finishing touch. The thing that I love about this kid is his determination. He fights for goals. I expect him to work hard to get rebounds, and convert them into goals. I expect to use him quite a lot while he is with us on loan.

Andy Farrell is a 20 year old striker who is determined and aggressive. He is young and raw but shows flashes of being a good goal scorer. He will likely get some playing time throughout the year as I want to help him develop.

Justin Jackson is a 29 year old striker who lacks a good scoring touch in practice. He has good pace, and decent mental attributes. He is one of our best at taking penalty shots in practice. I expect him to rotate onto the pitch at times.

Lee Morris is a 17 year old striker who is quite raw still. However, he shows flashes of potential, and I might play him some. However, I expect most of his game time to come for the U18 team. If he develops over the next few years, he could be a big time star for this team down the future (assuming someone doesn't buy him from us.)

I have a few guys in the reserves and U18 team, but I'm going to hold off evaluating them until I have the chance to give these guys some PT in a few friendlies.

[Eaglesfan27]

Looking over my squad, I feel the major strengths are the versatility among the defenders and Mark Atkins at DMC. I think I will likely be implementing 2 or 3 strategies to rotate depending upon the game situation, but my first strategy that I'm developing will be a 4-1-2-1-2. I'm not sure which 4 defenders will play along the back line of the defense yet. I know that Mark will be the main DMC. I'll have each of my wingers playing in front of Mark working mostly wide. I'm going to give Colin Hunter a chance to be my main AMC. Finally, Donaldson will be one of my main strikers with the other guys rotating in/out.

[Eaglesfan27]

Thanks guys for letting me know someone is reading this. Just ask away if you have questions.

[Eaglesfan27]

Ok, I just realized a cold harsh reality of managing this club. I have no assistant! I have to do everything myself. Therefore, no one to arrange friendlies. No one to make suggestions in the form of a team report. It's just me and the one coach to evaluate guys.

[Eaglesfan27]

Ok. Finally, time for the first friendly. In most careers, I would have been looking for any free transfers by this time. However, I simply can't afford any of the transfers that MIGHT come to me. Furthermore, I'm going to be relying on what my scouts tell me or guys that I see in action before I'll consider them.


So, my first friendly is against Stockport (League 1) which should be quite the challenge for my team. It is on their pitch. I'll be starting my best 11 that I envision being my primary top 11 against my conference opponents. We'll see how it goes.

The starting 11:

At DL: Mark Barnard - I decided to give him the start due to his excellent tackling ability. I might regret this as he gets lazy in practice, but I'm going to see what he can do.

DR: Grant Black - His potential excites me, and he is about equal in ability to the other options at this position right now. Hopefully, he can overcome his occasional laziness.

DC: Leigh Wood - He has some great technical abilities already, and could be a valuable commodity if he develops. I need to try to play him to develop him.

DC: Paul Shepherd - He gets the edge over a few other candidates because of his penalty taking skills. It will be odd to have a defender as a main penalty shot taker, but he is the best on the team. He is also a decent defender.

DMC: Mark Atkins - Easy choice.

ML: Andrew Wright is an easy choice as well on the left wing. One of my most balanced players I think.

MR: Christian Fox - a tougher choice for the right wing. His decent crossing wins him the job for now.

AMC: I'm fascinated by Colin Hunter the more I look at him. The more I look at him, the more I like his aggressiveness, determination, and dribbling ability..

SC: Clayton Donaldson - easy choice as he is my highest quality striker. Too bad he is only on loan..

SC: Tough choice but I went with Turley due to his blazing pace. None of my other strikers are particularly good passers or possessing the ability to otherwise set up Donaldson, but at least this guy might create something with his speed..

Time to start my first match (always an exciting time even if it is a friendly.)

[MizzouRah]

What is pitch? (home field)

Also, a friendly match is different than what? A team from another league?

Thanks,

Todd

[Eaglesfan27]

All 72 fans (I was mistaken it was a home game - but the fans left early at the 60 minute mark) that showed up this friendly were treated to quite the show! Unfortunately, it was the opposition that was providing the show. Luke Beckett started despite his star status on this team. This scrappy striker, scored two quick goals at the 19 and 22 minute marks. Warren Feeney added a goal at the 45 minute mark for the winning score 3-0 Stockport.

Other negatives include James Turley being injured. Hopefully, it won't be too serious as we are going to verge on being shorthanded all year long and can't really afford any injuries.

On the bright side, Atkins, Fox, Wright, and Donaldson all looked good and they did create a few goal opportunities that their defense barely shut down.

[FrogMan]

Originally Posted by MizzouRah

What is pitch? (home field)

Also, a friendly match is different than what? A team from another league?

Thanks,

Todd

The pitch is what they called the field

A frienldy is just that, a friendly match. It doesn't count and is there only to help whip your players into shape. What we call an exhibition game, or preseason. But you can schedule friendlies during the season too, but it's not recommended, as your players will start getting tired as the season goes on...

FM

[Eaglesfan27]

The pitch is the name for the field (either home or away)

A friendly match is an exhibition match before the regular season (league matches.)

Friendly matches are primarily to get guys into shape (and make money - those 72 fans brought in some big bucks )

Edited again: To be exact they brought in 242 dollars!! What is that? $3.28 per person?

[FrogMan]

btw, I am reading along doc. LLM sure seems challenging, if I compare my woes with my $50k wage budget with your 4k or so As a comparison, my team board allows me to pay up to 5200 for a key player

Good luck!

FM

[Desnudo]

Originally Posted by Eaglesfan27

The pitch is the name for the field (either home or away)

A friendly match is an exhibition match before the regular season (league matches.)

Friendly matches are primarily to get guys into shape (and make money - those 72 fans brought in some big bucks )

Edited again: To be exact they brought in 242 dollars!! What is that? $3.28 per person?

If you schedule your own friendlies, you can usually talk some Champ or Premier teams into playing you at home. That usually sells out the stadium and brings in some good money.

[Eaglesfan27]

As I prepare for my 2nd match and I see some of my conference foes are loaning guys from the higher leagues. I realize I better get moving on this myself. I check the professional rags and find out that quite a few players are available for loan. I forget about the guys with national reputations as I know they aren't likely to work for lowly Harrogate Town. However, I target several guys with lesser reputations whom I've managed to hear about from the national media and offer to loan them from their teams. I offer 3 month deals in which I pay negligible portions of their salary. It be interesting to see if any teams take my bait.

In the meantime, I'm about to host a game against Farnborough Town and this should be a much better gauge of where my guys are at. This is on our pitch and I expect a decent showing. I'm using the same starting 11.

[MizzouRah]

Originally Posted by FrogMan

The pitch is what they called the field

A frienldy is just that, a friendly match. It doesn't count and is there only to help whip your players into shape. What we call an exhibition game, or preseason. But you can schedule friendlies during the season too, but it's not recommended, as your players will start getting tired as the season goes on...

FM

Thanks!


Todd

[Eaglesfan27]

For the first 20 minutes of this game, my offense dominates. Turley (who had just injured a rib for 2 days) is back and he is constantly burning the defense with his speed. Unfortunately, he has the aiming skills of a giant octopus blindly spraying the ball everywhere. However, at the 25 minute mark, Turley plays a decent through ball for Colin Hunter who rewards my faith in him by hitting it to the lower right corner of the net for our first goal with me as manager of the team.

Fast forward to the 35 minute mark where my central defender, Leigh Wood heads away a cross pass up towards Atkins. Atkins feeds a great ball to Colin who passes it quickly to Donaldson who breaks ahead of the defense. Donaldson has the 1-1 with the keeper.. he fakes left.. goes right.. and scores!!!!

42 minute mark.. Atkins sends a deep long ball to the right corner of the pitch. Donaldson races down and centers it.. Colin gets the ball before the defense can react and pounds it into the upper left corner of the net. I'm convinced that I made a good choice of having Colin be my AMC (assuming I can't get anyone better on loan.)

Second half was a snorer as we pulled back on the reins and played more conservatively. We ended the game with a 3-0 win. Colin Hunter won MoM with a 9 for form. Most of the rest of the team got an 8 except for my two DC's who received 7's and my subs who all received 7's.

Positives: Great ball movement. Good finishing by Colin Hunter and Donaldson.

Negatives: It was just a friendly. We need to do this in league games.

[jbmagic]

how many friendly games are you allow to do ? who decides what friendly games you play?


what is loaning guys mean?

can you trade players?

thanks

[Eaglesfan27]

You are allowed to as many friendly games as you want to schedule, but if you schedule too many you could tire guys out. I usually do about 6 to 8 each preseason. This preseason 6 were already scheduled for me.. next preseason I will likely schedule 7 or 8.

You can decide what friendly games to play, or you can let your assistant manager arrange them. That is only an option if you have an assistant manager. My club is too poor, and we can't afford one right now. So, I had the 6 already scheduled for this year, but i will have to schedule my own next year.

Loaning guys is where you can "borrow" guys from a club for a period of time (usually either 3 months of a full season.) The advantage for you is that you can temporarily have a more talented player than you could afford otherwise. Donaldson is a loan player who was already on this team before i took it over, and he is my most talented striker.

I'm trying to borrow a few more guys as well. There is a limit of 4 loan players at one time, and 8 for the season (but this varies in different leagues.)

Yes, you can trade players

However, the players have to agree to sign a contract with the new club. They can be obstinate and refuse to go if they want to do so...

[Eaglesfan27]

Dola - Clubs also will sell players for money. It is called "transferring" in the game. Transfers are a big part of player acquisition in European Soccer.

[Eaglesfan27]

Forgot this in the above post. The advantage to the club that is letting you borrow the player is that you will presumably give the player playing time which will help him develop.

[Eaglesfan27]

Our next friendly is hosting St. Johnstone, a professional club from Scotland. They appear to be a good matchup that will be challenging for us. I'm going to stick with the same starting 11 as I really want to develop some more cohesion for this group and get them into great game shape..

[Eaglesfan27]

St. Johnstone takes a 2-0 early lead on two well crafted goals. On both of them, Leigh Wood makes mistakes in playing the ball. Fortunately, they don't appear to be do to laziness but just honest mistakes. Both of them were he missed a key header. I'm realizing DC is actually a weak spot, and I really need one of these loan players to come through..

In the 2nd half, St. Johnstone goes to a 4-5-1 which totally bogs down my offense. I realize I need to develop a variant of the 4-5-1 myself, particularly for when I'm facing superior opposition or perhaps for road games as well. The game ends up as a 2-0 loss for my team.

The positives: Pettinger made some good saves in the 1st half (the first game I've seen him do this.) Without his above average play, this could have been a 4-0 loss easily. The offense kept fighting.

Negatives: As previously mentioned, I'm starting to see some weakness among my center defenders. I need to bolster this line with some guys that can head the ball away more consistently.

[Eaglesfan27]

Interesting news in the media today:

"Runcorn's new signing Graeme Carrick Demands to be the Center of Attention - The 19 year old Carrick says now that Runcorn has a player of his calibre, it would make sense to rebuild the team around him."

The article below that says "Fans uneasy that Carrick's signing could have a negative effect. They are concerned that he could unbalance the chemistry on the club and cause a negative effect in the dressing room of the team."

As far as my own club:

Wigan's David Moore refused to come to Harrogate Town on loan

Meanwhile my rival, Kettering, gets Adam Birchell from Arsenal on loan.

Also, my competitor Ashton Utd gets Man Utd's Lee Lawrence on loan.

Then, I get word that Tranmere's Tyrone Loran is refusing to come to Harrogate on loan

Then, I get word that Ashton Utd have gotten David Poole on a loan from Man Utd.

Darn, don't any of these players want to come play for a rookie manager full of bright ideas

[jbmagic]

thanks for the explanation

loans are strange to me.....it wil be weird in the NFl , if Mcnabb of the Eagles goes down with an injury and we ask the colts can we loan Manning


i am guessing the loan players in soccer are not great players that gets loan out and if in same division that player can haunt you..

[Desnudo]

Originally Posted by jbmagic

thanks for the explanation

loans are strange to me.....it wil be weird in the NFl , if Mcnabb of the Eagles goes down with an injury and we ask the colts can we loan Manning


i am guessing the loan players in soccer are not great players that gets loan out and if in same division that player can haunt you..

Actually sometimes the players loaned out are very good, they just play for big clubs that have a wealth of talent. Like Real Madrid lost to Monaco (France) last year in the Champions League and a loaned-RM player scored on them. Often times smaller clubs in the same division will take players from big clubs on loan who are still better than anyone else they have.

Edit: You can have loan agreements where the player can't play against his home club or can be recalled. I think that's happened in the English Premier a few times.

[Eaglesfan27]

I *think* that teams usually don't loan players to their rivals in the same league (unless the player is not good.) Usually it is to an inferior league. It would be odd to have loans in the NFL

As far as my team: We are traveling for our first away friendly against Rhayader Town in Wales. They are considered an amateur team, and I expect our team to win by a decent margin. I'm going to mix up my starting 11 to give some other guys starting experience and work on their fitness. (I'm substituting everyone into each game anyway except for my backup keeper.)

[Eaglesfan27]

Well, there aren't that many options on who to really start but mixing things up some:

GK: Buxton
DL: M. Smith
DC: M. Barnard
DC: L. Wood
DR: G. Black
ML: A. Wright
MR: M. Atkins
DMC: P. Shepherd
AMC: C. Fox
SC: J. Turley
SC: A. Farrell

Giving Donaldson and Hunter the night off (or at least most of it.)

Well, this was a rather "blah" game in which neither team had a great offense. However, Buxton made two horrible plays and gave up two really soft goals. We lose 2-0 and I realize that an injury to either Donaldson or Colin will be very damaging to the team. I'm beginning to think that we need to have a loan player to replace Donaldson when he leaves or otherwise find a quality striker to work up front.

[portnoise]

I'm following too, EF. What are you doing for training?

[MizzouRah]

I guess teams also ask for loans from your team? How does that work??


Thanks for the help,

Todd

[Eaglesfan27]

For now, I'm using the preseason schedule since it's still preseason time.

I usually use my own customized schedules (based off of the "GARY" training schedules) for defenders, forwards, and midfielders, as well as a fourth schedule for keepers. However, with only one coach and one physio (and lacking the money to hire more) I suspect I will just create one general schedule for all outfield players and one for all keepers.

[Eaglesfan27]

Teams do ask for your players on loan all the time, particularly if you are controlling a good team. When I was controlling Man Utd, I'd get offers to buy/loan my players all the time. You can tell them to buzz off, you can charge them money to borrow your players, or you can just give them away. The borrowing team can have a wide variety of stipulations attached such as they have to pay 0,10,20, etc % of the salary. There are an amazing number of different options that can be attached to loans. You can make it so you can recall guys from loans if you want. Many options

That being said, my lowly team doesn't have anyone wanting my guys to go to their teams on loan at the moment

[Eaglesfan27]

Today was our most important friendly. The 2nd to last friendly is important I think because I don't want to play my starters much in the final friendly game, but I want them to be well conditioned for the first season game which is 2 weeks away.

In this case, it was against Doncester (League 1) at home. I used my top 11 listed for the first game. I'm really enjoying this starting lineup. First 40 minutes are fairly quiet as we play a slow controlled attack, because Doncester is just too good to be our usual attacking self. I'm still using a variation of my 4-1-2-1-2 but I telling the guys to be much more conservative. At the 44 minute mark, Pettinger kicks a long ball and of all the people Atkins races down the pitch, beats the DC! He has a 1-1 with the keeper and he hits it high over the keeper.. goal!!!!

This was nice as it gave me a chance to deploy the defensive 4-1-3-2 that I made for playing to keep a lead or to use at the start against superior teams. I started the 2nd half in this formation, and we played really well staying back in our own half for the most part accept for the occasional foray into enemy turf. Unfortunately, at the 83 minute mark Doncaster scored on a corner kick that was headed in by one of their midfielders. We ended up with a 1-1 tie and I felt good about how our team played.

Positives: Pettinger played well, creating a goal and stopping quite a few others. He won MoM and had a 9 for form. The 4-1-3-2 (with defensive tilt) looks like it will work well for its intended purpose. Of course, more games will prove that (or disprove it.)

Negatives: I'm realizing that depth will be a critical issue here. Injuries to a couple of guys will really cripple this team. In this case, I had to send Donaldson out with a minor injury and it really hampered our attack in the first half.

Next game will be playing mostly backups as I want the starting 11 rested for the regular season which is only 2 weeks away!

[Eaglesfan27]

Oh yeah, 3 more guys just turned me down for loan. Their teams are accepting, but the players are refusing to come play for me. Yet, they go to my rivals. No one worth having is going to come to play for me until I establish myself more, and possibly improve the training facilities. I'm fortunate that Donaldson was already here on loan, but it looks like it will be hard to get further loan players for the forseeable future.

[jbmagic]

wow

so players get the final word on loans if they accept to come to another team?

the team cant make them go?

[Eaglesfan27]

Nope. Same with trades. The player can refuse to be traded.

As far as my last friendly. It was away against Billericay. I started backups wherever possible. It was a generally fun game to manage as Andy Farrell my young 20 year old striker who has shown flashes of being a great scorer in practice had his first hat trick! He worked hard to get rebound goals at 23 and 35 minute marks. His final goal came at the 90 minute mark as he blasted a shot from the left side of the 6 yard box into the upper right hand corner of the net.

Also, at the 65 minute mark Shepherd got a chance to show off his penalty taking prowess as Turley beat his defender earning a penalty shot. Shepherd hit it right past the keeper for an easy goal. We won our final friendly 4-1 as Nick Buxton was rarely challenged since our defense played quite nicely in front of him.

[Eaglesfan27]

Looking at the postmatch report, Farrell received MoM and the first 10 for form I've had under my tenure. I'll have to try to get him more time on the pitch as he may be making a bid to be the #2 striker. He certainly is at worst #3 at this time, and will be starting regularly when Donaldson goes if not sooner.

[Eaglesfan27]

Here we go!!!

The first league game.

This game is against Hucknall on their pitch. I'm 6-4 favorites. They are 13:8 odds to win. The Draw is 2:1 odds.

It's a dry 73 degree day.

My starting Lineup:

GK: Paul Pettinger
DL: Mark Barnard
DC: Lennie Curtis
DC: Leigh Wood
DR: Grant Black
DMC: Mark Atkins
ML: Andrew Wright
MR: Paul Shepherd
AMC: Colin Hunter
SC: Clayton Donaldson
SC: Andy Farrell, this is the big change. He scored a hat trick in the last friendly, and I don't like to sit the hot hand.

S1: Nick Buxton
S2: Marc Smith (DL)
S3: Christian Fox
S4: James Turley
S5: Richard Dunning

[Eaglesfan27]

At the beginning of the match, I realize Hucknall is using a 3-2-2-1-2. this should be interesting.

The first 20 minutes are interesting as both teams have a few good scoring opportunities. Only bad (or good) luck prevents a goal for each side. At the 37 minute mark Donaldson goes down with an injury as Allstair Asher tackles him hard. Asher has already caused a minor injury to Farrell and our team is now angry..

Turley has to come on at this point as Donaldson can't play any longer due to the injury.

For the next 8 minutes we press the action and have a few close shots, but none go in. It is tied 0-0 at halftime.

51 minute mark: Farrell has a sure goal as he gets behind the defense. Unfortunately, he gets called for offsides (correctly.)

62 minute mark: Roy Hunter collides with my Colin Hunter. My Hunter is injured requiring him to leave the pitch. Fox comes in the game to play the pivotal AMC position.

Edit: Oops I meant to complete the whole game before posting this..

[Eaglesfan27]

The next 20 minutes are a hard fought battle as the game becomes quite chippy. We return the favor and injury two of their guys. At the 85 minute mark, Wright intercepts a pass and feeds a long pass to Turley that is on the money. Turley has the defense burnt, and he sets up the keeper.. he shoots.. he misses high and wide. His accuracy is truly appaling. The next few minutes neither team has a good opportunity. My opponent gets a good shot off in extra time, but Pettinger stops it.

Final score: 0-0

We outshot them 7-4.

Andrew Wright gets MoM from the left wing with 18 of 22 passes completed. 7 tackles, 6 passes intercepted and 1 opponent hurt

Since this is an away game, I'm satisfied (but not happy) with the result. I kept my aggressive offense in the whole game, as I felt we could win and their offense rarely scared me during the game.

I'm now anxiously awaiting the results from the physio about how bad our guys are hurt..............

Darn that took a while and the news is bad. Donaldson fractured his arm is going to be out for at least 4 weeks. Hunter and Farrell are each going to be out for 5 days which means they will miss my next away game against Gainsborough

[Eaglesfan27]

Despite being on Gainsborough's pitch and missing 3 guys we are 6:4 favorites. The odds are exactly the same as my last match with the odds on them winning being 13:8 and 2:1 on the draw.

I'm using the same starting lineup with the exception of Fox being moved into AMC for the injured Hunter. Turley and Jackson are starting up front for the injured Donaldson and Farrell. Dominique Krief and Lee Morris become the 3rd and 4th subs.

The weather is a dry 71 degrees and now it's time to start the match.

[Eaglesfan27]

The first 5 minutes are a nightmare start as they have 2 quick offensive opportunities. On the 2nd opportunity, David Jervis crosses the ball from the left wing to Carl Alford at striker. Alford drives a shot past my keeper and we are suddenly down 1-0.

The next 40 minutes are relatively quite until just before the half, Grant Black lays a nasty hit on the opponent's striker causing him to receive a yellow card.

52 minute mark Pettinger makes a great save on a shot by Gareth Grant, a striker for the opposition, preventing us from going down 2-0.

56 minute mark: Pettinger is beat by a nasty direct kick in which Chris Dickman's shot deflects off of Gareth Grant for the goal. Grant ends up getting credit for Dickman's goal.

Gainsborough dominates us for the remainder of the game.

Final score 2-0

They outshot us 9-1.

Carl Alford wins MoM with a 31 of 38 passes complete, 11 of 14 headers won, and a goal scored.

[Eaglesfan27]

Our first home game has arrived. It's against Bradford PA. We are 5-4 favorites with odds of them winning being 7-4. Odds of a Draw are 2-1.

It's early in the season, but I'm feeling the pressure. I feel this is a must win game for us. Fortunately, Hunter and Farrell are back. I'm starting my usual top 11 with the exception of Farrell starting in Donaldson's position.

It's a warm sunny day with 77 degree temperatures.

[SirFozzie]

Oof rough start, man. Get it sussed out already!

[Eaglesfan27]

The first 20 minutes are fairly uneventful until their Right winger, Gareth Thomas starts a fight with Atkins! Gareth is given a red card, ejecting him from the game.

The remainder of the 1st half is chippy, but with very few scoring opportunities for either team.

62 minute mark: Atkins makes a bad error in which he tackles the opposition in our box. Penalty shot is awarded which Mike Flynn converts for the goal. We are now down 1-0.

76 minute mark: Turley burns the defense, running between two defenders. He unleashes a good shot on goal... blocked by the keeper.. he kicks the rebound.. over the bar. Turley blows it again.

No more good scoring opportunities and we lose 1-0. I find myself and the team questioning ourselves..

We outshot our opposition 6-1.

Andrew Wright received his 2nd MoM award despite the loss. He completed 28 of 34 passes, had 1 tackle and 1 intercepted pass.

[Eaglesfan27]

Originally Posted by SirFozzie

Oof rough start, man. Get it sussed out already!

Believe me, we are trying..