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Time to move this to its spiritual homeland, I reckon. It's a hell of a long post so I won't be upset if you don't read it, but it's here if you want to.
Quick recap, I spent seven seasons as manager of WPL CPD Porthmadog and eventually won the Champions' Cup with them - which was the ultimate reason behind the Welsh foray.
Anyway, the full update:
Close Season 10/11
Following 7 seasons in Wales it was time to move on to pastures new.
Plymouth Argyle had just sacked their Manager so I put in an application and it was accepted.
The Pilgrims have been in Division 1 for 4 seasons, never finishing above 14th place, and last season's 17th was enough to see them part company with their Manager.
Financially we're looking not too bad. £7m in the black, and with a £3.7m transfer fund to help us achieve the Board's expectations of avoiding relegation.
Players look handy, though we need a couple of good old heads on DC's and a goalscorer. I've put in a bid for a D RLC whose contract has expired at Porthmadog and sent the scout off to look for players in UK & Ireland.
Staff look poor and sparse. We need coaches, scouts, physios and a Scottish AssMan.
The friendlies look a bit optimistic. Games against Liverpool, Man City and Blackburn amongst them.
We'll see how it goes.
Season 10/11
Plymouth Argyle
I've left an update until I got the squad sorted out, it's now 5 games into the first season, and Quinny should be mildly encouraged by the start we've made.
First off we signed a 35y/o AssMan, he's a Pooflander but we won't hold that against him, a quartet of physios, a trio of decent scouts and some Scottish Coaches (they shout and swear louder )
The main positions of concern were DC and SC, so we concentrated on them and managed to sign up a Scottish/Northern Irish DC who'll be Club Captain, a Pooflander DC - big strong bloke - and a Welsh SC and a Scottish FC. I also went back to Porthmadog and signed the goalie (insider trading - I knew he was up for contract talks) and that guy I wanted to use on a free role, but failed miserably.
The scouts found some reasonable looking players so we signed them up, too. The transfer funds are gone but I reckon we've done okay, the friendlies would suggest that but alas we know what friendlies stand for.
Scottish Club Captain was injured in a 0-0 draw with Porto, out for two months, goalie got shin splints, out for two months..."the best laid plans o' mice and men...".
So far we've won 4 and lost 1 League games and been unceremoniously dumped out of the League Cup by a rampant Rotherham.
Porthmadog are systematically dismantling the squad I assembled and have so far sold 23 players for a combined total of £6m.
Czech Republic
We're coming up for our first games of the European Championships Qualifying Groups, we've drawn Denmark, Ireland, Moldova and Israel (are Israel European? I've always wondered that) and the first game's against Denmark away in 9 days. I just picked the first squad and a certain Czech Adonis is still plying his trade at 38 years of age.
Season 10/11 - Midway
...and my squadlist looks like it's been through the Battle of Midway.
We currently have 10 out through long-term injury, my goalie for 6 months, my Scottish DC hasn't played a game. He came back from two months of injury and broke down on the same day, out for 5 months this time.
On the plus side, though. Mr Free-Role has finally found his game and a second-string striker signed from Porthmadog (What?) has started scoring like it's for fun.
We had a string of 10 straight victories, then went on an aquaplane that defined the word. Sit back and enjoy the ride, stuff.
BUT... I've sussed when you can tell it's finished, though.
It's invariably when you're playing the bottom, or near bottom, Club. You're nowhere in the game, they're running you ragged, somehow you've stopped them scoring, and then you score in unlikely circumstances completely against the run of play - and this is after you've drawn and lost games when you've been well on top.
You win this unlikely game, and the aquaplaning finishes.
Watch out for it, you'll see what I mean and know exactly when it happens.
Rotherham put our U-19's out the League Cup in the 1st round and Derby lost to our reserves, setting up a 4th round against Oldham.
At this stage in the League I'm expecting at least a playoff spot, but I'm hoping for better.
Season 10/11 - End
Plymouth
Oldham put paid to our Reserves' hopes of FA Cup success with a good 2-1 win at Boundary Park, but we did do better than playoff spot with promotion in our first full season.
Mr Free Role finished the season as the Fans' Player of The Year, The Board upgraded the Training Facilities to the maximum and granted a Stadium expansion of 8366 seats.
They also signed a new sponsorship deal of £2.3m a season and granted us £3.8m transfer funds, with 100% of Transfer Revenue being made available to build the squad.
Needless to say we had no players promoted after having the Training Facilities improved.
We are expected to fight bravely against relegation.
Scouts are off looking for youths now (Steady!!)
Czech Republic
We started off with an away game against Denmark, in which they trounced us but we stole a 4-1 victory, thanks mainly to an FLC who scored a hat trick and who was available on a free.
He's now a Plymouth player.
We also had an away win against Israel, two home victories against Moldova and Ireland, and a home friendly win over Romania.
Denmark exacted revenge on us in Prague where we trounced them but they scored the goal ond beat us.
Denmark are top after 6 games, with two to play, we're a point behind with 3 to play, two of them at home.
Season 11/12 - Start
The pre-season tour of Poland was a bit hit and miss with a win, two draws and a loss, and the two friendlies against Charlton and Sheffield United were both draws. The AssMan arranged the tour and friendlies and I let him take charge of all 6 games.
We got what I hope is a fairly good indication of what our new striker from Zaragoza is going to be like as he scored 4 in 5 games.
We've brought in a total of seven new signings, 4 frees and three for a combined total of £2.5m, and two loans - both DC's.
To offset this we sold our excellent young striker to Derby for £3.8m with future fees of £1.1m, he's going to be good but wasn't getting a look in with our Welsh and Scottish International strikers netting regularly and the other guy coming in.
We've now got dedicated Scouts at work in Jockland, Poofland and Sheepland and one guy touring Central Europe.
First game about to kick off, away to Sheffield Wednesday.
Season 11/12 - Halfway
Plymouth
God only knows how it's happened, but we're 2nd in the EPL at the halfway stage. Results have conspired to put us there, and I don't expect it to be for long.
Aston Villa are a point ahead, and we've made a wee breakaway from 3rd placed ManUre who are 5 points behind with a game more played.
December was a real aquaplaning month (how unusual) with 6 EPL games, of which we won 1 and drew 5, 4 of which had oppo goalie as MoM.
Best players are our Czech FLC and Slovenian FRC, both on 14 goals and top averaging, and a Scottish DRL who came on a free at the start of the season. Our Scottish and Welsh SC's are proving to be able backups to the Eastern European duo.
We're still in both Cup, you wouldn't believe the teams I fielded and still won, although I played our first team against Liverpool ( ) and humped them
We play Coventry in the League Cup semi and either Brighton or Norwich in the FA Cup 4th round.
Czech Republic
We qualified as of right for The European Nations Championship after beating Moldova and Israel 2-0 and 3-0 after a scare and a 2-0 defeat to Ireland.
We now have a friendly against Greece before we meet Norway, Croatia and Germany in the Group Stages this summer.
Our Plymouth based FLC has played 8 and scored 5.
Season 11/12 - End
Plymouth
The boys done good.
We held our own in the EPL and finished 4th, in a Champions' Cup spot. It was a season of highs and lows, at one point I thought we could actually take top spot, but an aquaplaning run after beating ManUre in the 6th round of the FA Cup ensured that we couldn't do it, I've never seen so many draws since I was in the M&S Lingerie section.
Our Eastern European strike force managed 52 goals between them, 26 apiece, and seemed to lay on as many for each other as they scored themselves. The Scottish DRL did his hamstring and was out for 4 months.
We won the FA Cup, beating Cheltenham in the final, so we got a decent amount of prize money for the season, that plus the TV Money gives us a transfer fund of around £7m for next season.
The Stadium's being expanded again, although the last one hasn't appeared yet, still being touted for finishing in December 2011, 7 months ago.
We've signed 7 youth players, none promoted again, one of whom looks like he may get a run in the first team.
We're awaiting the draw for the qualifying rounds of the Champions' Cup.
Pre-season tour(s) seem to be of Israel and Belgium, although Belgium may just be friendlies as it's only two games against Brugge and Anderlecht.
Community Shield game's against Aston Villa.
Czech Republic
A friendly against Greece turned in a no-score draw although we were all over them, a situation which would recur with alarming results later in the year.
In the Group Stage of the European Championships in Serbia and Montenegro we won the first game against Croatia 2-0, drew 0-0 against Norway (couldn't score in 11 chances) and lost 2-1 to Germany although again we were all over them.
2nd round was against England, and we lost 2-0 though we had all the play and chances again.
Plymouth's Czech FLC scored 2 of our 3 goals.
World Cup Qualifying Group sees us up against Austria, Georgia, Greece, Faroe Islands and Northern Ireland.
Hold the Front Page!!!
A 6'3", bearded, shaven-headed Scotsman was seen marching into FA Headquarters in Soho Square this morning accompanied by the skirl o' the pipes and the wirl o' the kilts.
"Right, ye bluidy Sassenachs, things are aboot tae change aroond here. Ms Alam, cancel aw mah appointments an' git yer erse in here, git rid o' that bluidy smorgasbord an' bring me some chips an' deep-fried mars bars"
That's right, England have appointed Ian J Ferguson(Sco) as Manager as from July 8th, 2012.
Season 12/13 - Halfway
Plymouth
At the halfway stage, slightly over as we've played 20 League games, we lead Arsenal in the Championship by 7 points though they have a game in hand against Tottenham.
December proved to be yet another month of professional aquaplaning, we drew every League game - 5 of them, but progressed to the 2nd round of the Champions' Cup. Arsenal, however, gave us the mother and father of a beating in the League Cup, 4-1 at Ashburton Grove.
The Champions' Cup group was made up of us, Milan, Stuttgart and Sparta Prague and we finished on top with 14 points and no losses. Next round is a trip to Shakhtar Donetsk (haven't we been there before, or was that Porthmadog?)
I sent a scout to South America and he recommended five Argentinians who I put in bids for, all of them agreed to sign but two were refused Work Permits, two were granted conditional permits and one had dual Spanish Nationality so we now have an Argentinian winger, DC and DM/RC.
Our "Worldclass Striker" from Slovenia and Mr Free Role, our "Cultured Attacking Midfielder", are our most consistent players, but our Scottish backup SC and a Finnish AM/F RLC look to be going on Bosmans at the end of the season.
The U-19's seem to be strolling to the U-19 Title and a couple look ready to step up to the First Team squad.
Cheltenham play hosts to us in the 4th round of the FA Cup after we beat Saarfend in the 3rd.
Eng-er-land
The World Cup qualifying group consists of us (I never thought the day would dawn when I referred to England as "us"), Poland, Moldova, Sweden, Israel and Kazakhstan.
I quite enjoyed picking the first squad for the games against Moldova and Sweden and decided that three of my own Plymouth team were ready for a full International callup, including Mr Free Role.
We did the business in both games, running out quiet 2-1 winners in each, but a hideous display of non-finishing and an acrobatic Kazakhstani goalie saw us lose 1-0 away from home to Kazakhstan.
Next games are a friendly in Qatar and qualifiers against Poland(H) and Israel(A).
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by iajafer:
Andy, you're a glutton for punishment
<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>
No, no... je n'est pas... i'm glutton for jucstice
We lifted the EPL Title with the lowest ever points total and goals scored, but lift it we did. We lost only 2 but we drew 12 of the games to give us a total of 84 points and we scored 84 goals.
I'd already mentioned we'd gone out the League Cup with a 4-0 reversal at Arsenal, and Cheltenham exacted revenge for last season's FA Cup Final loss by beating us 3-1 in the 4th round this season.
We won the Community Shield on penalties after a 1-1 draw against Aston Villa.
We'd beaten Litex to qualify for the Group Stages of the Champions' Cup and won 4 and drew 2 against Milan, Stuttgart and Sparta Prague to set up a 2nd round tie against Shakhtar Donetsk.
2-0(A) and 4-2(H) matched us with Lyon, and 3-0(A) and 1-0(H) took us through to the semi final against Real Madrid. We astonished everyone by beating Madrid 4-2 in the Santiago Bernabéu and eased through to the final with a 2-0 at home.
We played PSV in Santiago Bernabéu (virtually a home tie ) and it took a last kick of the ball penalty for them to beat us 3-2.
Loads of money, though, to compensate.
We have a tour of Turkey (that AssMan loves spending money) and three friendlies in Poofland before another meeting with Villa in the Community Shield.
We've signed 4 youngsters and let a few guys go on frees (tidying up the squad) and the Board have decided to install undersoil heating at Home Park (does it get that cold down there?)
England
After that 1-0 win over Quatar it was back to business in the World Cup qualifiers and games against Poland(H) 6-0, Israel(A) 2-0, Sweden(A) 1-1, and Moldova(H) 6-0.
We now lead the group by 3 points over Sweden with Poland(A), Israel(H) and Kazakhstan(H) to play.
Mr Free Role has played 7, scored 2 and is averaging 7.71 for the National Team.
Plymouth -> Notts County -> Brighton 
) and humped them
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