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Database size normal, attributes masked; Running all English leagues + American MLS
REPORT TO STOCKHOLDERS from Manager Guppy Gilmore
Season 1 2005-06 Unemployed
A Yank manager seeking employment across the seas must be patient, above all. Three Conference clubs were sufficiently desperate but they were too refined or too demanding. A year passed while I sharpened my skills at Football Manager, bemused by the changing tides…
EPL: Liverpool
World Cup: Portugal 0:1 Holland
Season 2 2006-07 Harrogate. 3rd place: 20W, 15D, 7L, +21GD.
I was installed as your manager two weeks before the season with a mandate to fight bravely against relegation and perhaps improve on 14th place. With little cash or salary room you hoped for great things from your diminutive young striker, “Tiny Dancer”, rescued a few weeks before from a suicide plunge into the channel when Portsmouth sent him packing.
Alas, by November “Tiny Dancer” had scored one goal and was on the disabled list for the second time. We staffed a bodyguard to keep him away from large bodies of water. But “Nothing Special”, our mild-mannered rotation striker who did nothing particularly well but everything reasonably well, boasted seven goals while the squad “fought bravely”: 3W, 6D, 3L, +3 GD. Still, it was difficult to attract talented players who shared our dream.
In November our luck improved. A powerhouse striker from Stafford came in on season-long loan, and a versatile free-kick specialist, “Preston Rifle”, was purchased from Morecambe for £1000. A defensive mid in our reserves, “Geronimo”, saw little playing time because his manager deplored his reckless tackling and poor technique. But “Geronimo” was a born leader, and the squad performed miracles around him.
Into the first team he went and the squad improved dramatically, playing tough defense and relying on direct play to our forwards. “Nothing Special” finished as the league’s highest-rated player, with 22 goals & 13 assists. The Stafford lad was equally brilliant at 17 goals & 10 assists. “Geronimo” pitched in with a very respectable 7.09 rating and somehow managed to avoid any red cards. “Tiny Dancer” finally returned in February, contributing three more goals and some break dancing from the bench.
The Playoff semi-final drew us against massively talented Kettering. Following an unequal 1-1 home leg, they destroyed us in the away leg which was not as close as the 4-3 score would indicate. But still, a successful season, happy supporters, and seemingly --- a bright future.
Season 3 2007-08 Harrogate. 4th place: 21W, 8D, 13L, +24GD.
Unspoiled by last year’s success, the board sought a respectable league position --- but not more. This charge seemed a trifle for a confident squad, some players with actual skills coming in, notwithstanding the Stafford stud’s refusal to renew his loan. The brightest of the new bulbs was “Nunn Shalpasse”, a 22-year old goalkeeper with real League One loan experience, cut by Man United.
Unfortunately, as all managers know, a skilled squad does not guarantee success. With good players willing to transfer in I tried to reduce the expectations of certain heroes from the year before. One of these was a pacey 20-year old centre back, a rock in our defense. He seemed to me to lose some of his luster against the glare of such bright horizons --- in other words, no longer a “key” player --- merely a first-teamer --- in our ambitious club.
Well the lad didn’t appreciate my bright horizons and turned sour. I gave him some bench time to get his mind right. By December he had played seven miserable games and was still sour. A suitable replacement could not be found anywhere and the sluggish squad was awash in mid-table, totally lost. The hero was axed.
This stroke of genius quickly brought a losing streak. On January 12th, “Geronimo” secured his first and much-awaited red card and we crashed to defeat against weak Frickley. “Nothing Special” limped off for his third trip to the physio. By mid-January, in 14th place with just three points from our last six games, the season seemed totally lost.
Just then our scouts arrived with good news. A big, fast monster just transfer-listed at Hereford was the perfect solution in the centre of defense. He sold for £1000 and signed for a paltry £150/week. And we were off!
We lost just twice more in 3½ months and finished unbeaten in the final eight, surging into the playoff tier. “Tiny Dancer” finished with 21 goals. Against Worksop in the Playoff Semi-Final, up 2-0 in the 66th minute, I subbed out “Nothing Special” to save his legs for the second leg ---- and the roof caved in. Worksop struck in the 70th and 90th minutes.
We struck early through “Preston Rifle” in the second leg but “Geronimo” hobbled off in the 39th minute. We held our 1-0 lead into the 68th minute, but “Nunn Shalpasse” imitated Monty Python’s Black Knight and Worksop advanced 2-1. What heartbreak!
Season 4 2008-09 Harrogate. 4th place: 18W, 14D, 10L, +19GD.
A generous board once again sought only moderate success and a respectable league position. We secured permanent transfers for a couple of excellent loan signings from the year before, and even brought in two aging player-coaches with Championship experience.
The geriatrics played well and on November 8th we sat top of table by four points with a game in hand. We even secured a TV date with Chester in the 2nd round of the FA Cup, following a thrilling 1-0 first round victory against old nemesis Kettering.
But December was bitter. A hammering by powerful Nuneaton destroyed our confidence and, with games coming thick and fast, we spiraled into a 13-game winless streak and could not stem the bleeding. In January “Geronimo” gave up two penalties in one game with rash tackles and was banished to the bench. Naturally he didn’t appreciate his new surroundings and, worried that his miserable mood would influence the squad, I released him. The geriatrics both retired from play, one of them becoming my assistant. When we finally stopped the rot we had fallen twelve places in the standings and the season was growing short. In desperation I finally accepted my assistant’s advice on squad selection and brought three of his favorites into the starting eleven.
The man was a genius! The three played brilliantly; the squad turned it around and finished with a sizzling 16 points from our final six games, barely reaching a playoff spot on the final day. Top scorer was “Nothing Special” with 18 goals.
Our reward was a rematch with Nuneaton. A counterattacking 2-0 victory in the home leg promised an end to three years of heartbreak. The aggregate score stood through the first half and morale was high. They were playing well. I decided that words at halftime would be trivial, trusting the lads to finish on their own the work of three long years.
But again, unbelievably, “Nunn Shalpasse” reprised his Black Knight imitation, lost all of his limbs, and let in three goals. Nuneaton advanced; Harrogate went home.
Bring out yer dead!
09-02-2006, 02:22 PM
Heartbreak Harrogate: Three lumps, please. Post #2
Thought it was a bit storyish at first, but MKlaughatass manages to avoid rambling too much, spelling and grammar pass muster, rules and guidelines all seem to be followed. All in all quite an enjoyable read.
KUTGW MK :thup:
09-02-2006, 09:32 PM
Heartbreak Harrogate: Three lumps, please. Post #4
Heartbreak Harrogate: Three lumps, please. 
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