As a resident of Sutton (though real life Liverpool fan) I decided I fancied the challenge of seeing what I could do with my local team. My objective with this game was to play it through as time allowed with no 'reloads' or any other 'gamey' assists.
Season 2007/2008
My first priority was employing a couple of decent scouts and an assistant manager with a good eye for potential.
I managed to pick up the required staff which in turn helped me identify some talented out of contract players with which to bolster my team.
To be honest I wasn't very impressed with my starting squad and gradually winnowed out those players who simply weren't making a contribution.
My new squad was packed with promising youngsters but I had no idea how they would perform over the course of the season.
Not wishing to complicate things I opted for a formation both home and away. At home *CBA with editing the details*
When I played away I focused on a more conservative tactic.
The season started slowly with my side getting resoundingly beaten in every game they played. The omens were not looking good. However when it came to the real thing my team stepped up a gear and performaces improved greatly although we didn't actually record a win until our fourth game.
My team of scratch youngsters lacked experience and fitness but as the season went on the grew together as a unit with several of the squad showing dramatic improvements in training.
By Christmas we were flying. With a long unbeaten run under our belts. However our slow start had proved costly. Lewes had got off to a flyer and were dominating the league with an 8 point gap between them and Sutton. With only one guaranteed promotion spot I was really feeling the pressure however my heroic team were still grinding out the results.
Despite this we still trailed Lewes by around six points as the season entered its closing stages. With just six games to go and Lewes on an unbelievable winning streak it seemed impossible that we could close the gap.
And then came the big one. Lewes away. A real six pointer. Would the lads see us through. I gave them my best confidence boosting team talk and sent them out.
Clearly I had not said the right thing as they trudged back in at halftime 2-0 down. This was it. My last opportunity. Exorting the team to 'think of the fans' I sent them back onto the pitch with renewed fighting spirit.
And the team responded. Two goals in swift succession and I was delighted but a draw was not good enough. We needed that win. Opting for fresh legs I threw on my speedy centre forward who promptly got himself sent off for a two footed tackle! o_0
I swiftly reorganised the tactics. [Info deleted]
With moments left we won a corner and unbelievably my centre back, who had shown no interest in scoring a goal all season banged one in from the dege of the box... Woohoo!
However with five games left I still trailed Lewes by three points. Would their morale crumble in the wake of their defeat? Unfortunately it didn't seem so as they won their next two games 4-1 and 3-0. My lads also won their next two games but then with three games left unbelievably got held to a draw a home against Bishop Stortford who were propping up the entire league. Fortunately for me Lewes had also stumbled to a defeat and with two games remaining the gap was down to 2 points.
Things didn't look too good especially as my star striker was now injured and his replacement was decidely lacking in match fitness and experience.
But the boys done good. We walloped the opposition in our final two games whilst Lewes finally felt the pressure crashing to another defeat and a draw.
Sutton Utd were Blue Square Premier Champions with 106 points with Lewes finishing on 103 (they were eventually promoted through the playoff)
As for the cups my young team clearly lacked in the mental toughness required for big games with early exits in all competitions.
Neverthless the Board and the fans were delighted with me and I set about strengthing the team for the coming season.
Season 2008/2009
After our battering of all opposition in the Blue Square South and the development of many of my youngsters into capable players I felt confident that I would be able to challenge for at least a playoff place in the Blue Square Premier. To this end I managed to prise additional funding from the board and set about bringing in some additional youngsters/free contracts to bolster the team.
But things went wrong from the start. Over the course of the first three months my team seemed to be plagued with bad luck. From controversial dismals to long terms injuries to key players my selection ability was severely restricted.
Not only this but it was clear that there had been a substantial step up in quality from the Blue Square South.
Far be it from me to complain but with a smallish squad 10 players out through injuries and suspensions really crippled the team.
By Christmas we were hovering just above the relegation positions and nothing was going our way apart from a decent run in the FA trophy.
As the season went on results finally started to go our way to the point where the playoffs actually looked like a realistic objective.
However a string of defeats on the run in meant that we eventually finished in a disappointing 11th place.
On the brightside our magnificent run in the FA Trophy continued leading to my first piece of silverware during my time at Sutton.
Despite the poor league position the board and fans still seemed satisfied with my perfromance and I was offered an improved contract offer with a substantial pay increase.
Season 2009/2012
With my first season in the Blue Square Premier proving so tough I did not have high expectations for the coming season.
But things were not so gloomy. Some of my original youngsters had developed very strongly and by now I even had a decent level of talent in my reserve team.
In addition we were now associated with Fulham FC who had started to lend us some high quality players. Foremost amongst these was * A STRIKER* who at 23 became the oldest member of my squad.
The season started poorly again with a string of draws putting me behind the front runners. My goal once again was to make the play off places but by Christmas this again looked like a distant dream. While we were not losing many games we were simply wracking up way too many draws.
However things started to improve in the new year for a variety of reasons. *A STRIKER* finally started coming in to his own by banging in goals on a regular basis. In addition the competitive nature of the Blue Square Premier meant that no other team was invulnerable and many of the early front runners started to suffer.
This meant that Sutton slowly but surely started climbing the table. By the end of January we were up to fifth although just a few points seperated everyone from third down to fifteenth.
The clear leaders at this stage were Chesterfield who enjoyed a 6 point lead over Macclesfield with Sutton, Halifax and Dagenham & Redbridge in hot pursuit.
Once again we had mounted a decent FA trophy cup run which was unfortunately came to an end in the Quarter Finals when Chesterfield knocked us out in a crushing 4-0 victory in a replay. This defeat affected the lads morale and condition and was followed by a series of poor league performances which saw us drift out of the playoff places once again.
However Chesterfield's cup run had also distracted them and they also stumbled in the league with Dagenham and Redbridge going on a late run.
By March the team was back to winning ways and as all the other leading teams continued to beat each other we crept back up the table.
As April started we were in second with Dagenham leading the table by 5 points. We slowly closed in on them and with one game to go found ourselves 3 points ahead.
As the final gameweek dawned Dagenham, who had a superior goal difference, were playing at home vs an already relegated club. We on the other hand were facing a horrendously difficult away match at Chesterfield - our bogey team!
Things couldn't have started better though with *A STRIKER* immediately grabbing the lead. My tactics were immediately switched.
Elsewhere Dagenham had gone into a 2-0 lead so I knew that we had to hold on for the point.
At half time we were still ahead but despite my warning to the lads not to get complacent we immediately conceded after the restart.
With Dagenham now 3-0 up things were on a kknife edge and being honest I thought it was all over when Chesterfield scored again in the 78th minute. My team were being overrun and I simply couldn't see where a goal was going to come from. Once again I switched to all out attack and threw on my last remaining sub - pacey striker Kevin MacCauley - who had not scored in his previous 8 appearances.
But god was smiling on Sutton that day. with 2 minutes to go *my captain* played a long ball behind the Chesterfield defence and *SOMEONE ELSE* got to it first, keeping his nerve to slot home past the Chesterfield keeper.
(I have to admit at this stage I jumped up and ran around the room cheering). The final couple of minutes and overtime seemed to drag by but eventually the whistle was blown and Sutton had done it.
We finished the season with the less than inspiring total of 87 point which was nonetheless one more point than that achieved by Dagenham & Redbridge.
My Fulham loan star returned to Fulham after bagging the a grand total of 27 goals for me over the course of the season.
Season 2010/2011 (to be continued)
The season hasn't yet started and to be honest I am very nervous about life in Coca Cola League 2. While my squad continues to improve (one of my youngsters is considered to have Premiership ability whilst 4 more are considered to have Championship ability and the rest are of League 1 standard they are still young and not fully developed.
My grateful board granted me a Transfer Budget of precisely £0 and a weekly salary of £12,000. Fortunately my young stars are still being paid substantially less than that so hopefully I can juggle the finance enough to bring in a few new players!
I will definistely be begging Fulham to lend me a few more players this year and am praying that I get *A STRIKER* back! :-)
Will update this as and when I get the chance!
Sutton Utd... The Story So Far 
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