| Joe Blow
Join Date: Dec 2007
Posts: 0
Rep Power: 0 | 
SEASON 2010/2011
Conference National
As I mentioned before, the off-season did not go as planned. No talent was willing to take a leap of faith and sign with the newly promoted Dolly Blues in the summer. I lost my best scout to a Championship League team and I only managed to improve my one Coach.
The playing season began as expected. We didn't win a single game until about the fourth or fifth try, and only a few ties in between. We sat at the bottom of the table, occasionally making it all the way to 21st for brief periods. The good news is that we were making money. We started this year about $400k in debt (USD), and were making about $60k a month due to higher attendance. The cups didn't go well, though we made it to the 3rd round of the FA Trophy, a new record for our modern era team.
Around September, we took in our first short-term loan! Though we'd had teams accept our loan offers in the past, the players would always reject a move to Lancaster (perhaps they don't like the weather here, that's what I tell myself). So we took in an AMC, and it just so happens that my starting AMC goes down for three months a few days before we get the offer accepted. Since it was our first loan, I was excited to try to lure the player into signing with us permanently during the January transfer window. After watching him play for three months, he was not as good as the injured AMC, but he would be great backup as he also plays a few other positions I need cover for. Of course, I have no transfer budget being $400k in debt, and I was a little too ambitious thinking he would actually want to stay with us permanently. In the end, he left in January, I got my starter back (who is now the best player on the team), and everyone parted as friends.
In December, I was inspired to change SOMETHING about the team, anything really, anything to get us out of our funk and up the table a bit. I didn't have much hope for the January transfer window due to the lack of interest in the July and August period. So I meticulously set the player's instructions. I had been using team instructions before, but felt that I wasn't getting enough out of my boys. Admittedly, I should have done this earlier. I chalk that up to my lack of experience managing. I also improved the training regime for my (still Part-Time) Senior and Reserve squad. After a few months, this had a positive effect on the team as well. Though I did get a few more training injuries.
The downside of promotion is, of course, my players wanting compensation. Most of the squad had promotion clauses of 25% raises in their contracts. But the few who didn't all wanted raises. I'm very strict about giving money away (especially since we're in the red), and I believe a player should honor a contract once he signs it. So, no one got raises. This upset only one of my players, who also happened to be my youngest and best striker on the senior squad. He never really fit into the team, never led the team in scoring, and never really impressed me. But on paper, he was the best, so he played...and complained. More on this later.
January's transfer window brought one surprise. I was able to secure the services of a 23yo striker who was, on paper, the new best player on the team. This is always exciting, especially when you can get him for free (% of next sale). The only problem is that I now had a log-jam at Striker. I play 2 at a time, but 5 were worthy of some playing time. At least 2 would be the odd men out of the first team. The fan favorite stayed, he is also my leading goal-scorer (for three years running, and in Lancaster's history), that was a no-brainer. The January transfer had to play because he was brand new and great on paper. And I kept the complainer on the bench of the first team, rotating him in every now and then. This, of course, made him complain more. More on this later, again.
The Spring season went much better. We started winning games and moving up the table, then back down again, and back up again. The point is, we were making progress. My Board wanted us to fight bravely against relegation, so did the fans, and I believed we were fulfilling their expectations. By March we were up to 18th (3 places away from relegation) and falling back to 21st (first relegation spot) only a couple times. Our fate came down to the last game of the season...
We had three injuries in the first team, but I felt semi-confident the cover was good enough. I had relied on these guys before with success. We were 21st in the standings, one point behind the 20th place team. A tie for us, and a loss for them would mean we advanced. A win for us would mean we would advance as long as they didn't win. In our game, we go 1-1 into the 90th minute, when one of my cover kids misses an empty net from 6 yards out that would have sealed the game for us. His miss meant we tied, got one point, and had to count on a loss from the 20th place team. They tied as well, we were relegated. I try not to blame that kid for missing the empty netter, in reality, many things contributed to our relegation, but his miss was the most recent contribution, so that's the one I remember. It was a long shot for us to stay in Conf National anyway. I was only mildly upset, I'm a realist.
Off-season...First order of business is retain staff. I fired my AssMgr, got a free and cheap replacement with better attributes. Lost one Scout to a League One team, I had plenty of time to replace him before July and it felt good to get new blood in there. I was finally able to get a new physio, I had 2 when I took over the team 5 years ago, that were signed to 5 year contracts, and both had no physio ability, it was a joke really.
In comes a bid for the complaining striker. $180k was more money than Lancaster has ever seen, even if we only get to keep half of it (I owed the rest to his previous employer). The kid was only 20 and was great on paper, but as mentioned before, never fit in and didn't score like he should have. I let him go for what turned out to be $90k to Lancaster, hoping some of that would make it into next year's transfer budget...it didn't. Playing as realistically as possible, although I would have liked to keep him, its tough to turn down a sum equal to 1/3rd of the team's debt at that point. I have a feeling the board would have forced the transfer anyway, and wanted to show I was on board with them and had the team's best interest in mind.
In the end, the board was happy with my continued service, disappointed we couldn't stay in the Conf Nat'l (who wasn't?), and let me keep my job. The fans were sympathetic and still loved me too. The club won no awards, and one defender was named as runner up to player of the month in Conf Nat'l for March. The fan favorite and leading scorer for the fourth year in a row was the 28yo striker, he is also my captain. We're expected to win the Conf North this year, and I believe that is a realistic goal.
I understand I can be long-winded, but I thoroughly enjoy writing these and reading yours. Thank you for the continued comments and interest.
-Dave
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