Posts tagged football manager

End of my first season.

English League Cup: Second Round
English FA Cup: Fourth Round
English League Two: 3rd

Yes, third. We climbed that far back up the table by the end, helped no end by Robinson turning into a goal-scoring god for the last few matches of the season. Only third on goal difference, mind. In fact, we had exactly the same won, drawn and lost stats as Bury, the team who came fourth. We also had scored the same number of goals. The only difference was that they’d let in twenty (!) more goals than we had.

And third means automatic promotion. So now League One beckons. It’s quite scary. I don’t think I’m going to hope for more than survival. I wonder if I’ll get any transfer funds?

Connell, one of my best strikers, won the young player of the year award for League Two. I’d be more pleased if he hadn’t broken his leg a couple of weeks before the end of the season. We’ll be lucky to see him in action this year.

Three games at lunchtime, two wins and a draw. That’s taking us up to seventh – which is a play-off spot. Now we just have to hold it…

That’s better!

I had the idea that maybe I needed more presence in midfield, so should move back to 4-4-2 from 4-3-3. Posted about my collapse on the official forum and received the same advice from one of the nice developers of the game, who really should know.

So I tried it out and – hoo-rah! – we’re winning again.

Six games in January. Four wins, a draw and a loss. And the loss was an FA Cup match against Hull, who are two divisions higher than us, so that wasn’t too much of a shock.

This game is bloody great.

A tale of two matches on the bus this morning.

First up, away to Bristol Rovers in the FA Cup. We thrashed them 4-1 without seeming to break much of a sweat.

Then a league match away at Boston Utd. We lost 2-1, with the consolation goal coming with virtually the last kick of the game.

Same old story. Cup, good; league, bad. We’re down to seventh now. Okay, so the league match was only two days after the cup match, but I was hoping the euphoria of the big win would be more important than tiredness. I guess not.

It’s weird and annoying, this form. And what’s with Walton? An absolute star in cup matches – in his five cup appearances he’s got man of the match twice and hammered in goals – he just doesn’t do a thing in the league.

And we’re really missing Woods in defence. I’m having to play Lloyd out on the right and he was much happier on the left. He’ll probably just get used to playing on the right when Woods gets fit again and I swap him back.

A fraught bus journey into work today.

Just one game, but it was the FA Cup tie against Cambridge City. An easy game, so I rested Woods and Connell, who weren’t at peak fitness in the run up to the game. Connell especially has been getting tired lately, so I thought the rest might do him good. (If not, I’ll have to put him on fitness training for a while.) Put Goodwin in for Woods, who I think is the only player I’ve signed who has actually played in the team.

I’m trying not to blame him for the fact that Cambridge City went 1-0 up almost immediately, as I’ve got no proof it was his fault. I’m also trying not to blame for the fact that after we equalised they went ahead ahead again half way through the first half.

I took him off at half time and we ended up winning 5-2, much to my relief. Can I lay the early trouble at Goodwin’s door, or is it just a case of Cambridge City coming out fighting but not having the legs to see the game through?

Anyway, we’ve been drawn against Bristol Rovers in round two who, like us, are jostling for space at the top of the League Two table. I’ve got a decision to make – do I concentrate on the FA Cup or the league? League does make more sense. We’re not going to win the cup, so getting through another round or two would be ultimately meaningless. But there’s something about the cup that fires the imagination. Maybe it’s just that each match is so meaningful, unlike the league where the odd defeat can be shrugged off. I’m not sure. Maybe I should treat the next cup tie as a normal match, with no special preparations at all.

I shall ponder.