[FM23] The Trojan Army

[spireross]

Name: Staveley Miners Welfare
Nickname: The Trojans
Stadium: Inkersall Road
Capacity: 5000

Training Facilities: Poor
Youth Facilities: Poor
Junior Coaching: Basic
Youth Recruitment: Limited

Welcome to Staveley, a local team, a family team. A team we aim to take to the top. A team voluntarily relegated to the Northern Counties East Division One despite finishing 10th out of 20 in 2021-22 due to financial reasons, this is a team close to my heart. A team I used to play for in their youth ranks before a career-ending injury forced me to go into management. The financial turmoil the club found itself in meant they needed a new manager. How about one of their own?​

 

[spireross]

Yes, welcome to the start of my career hopefully taking Staveley to the very top of world football. This his how I decided to set the save up using DanFms level 10 database off the steam workshop.

The Manager

Meet me, a 27-year-old who never quite made it due to injury issues. Born locally the club was always in my heart. I decided to put my limited attributes into fitness and motivating hoping at this level they can make a huge difference.

Club Profile

Well the board are expecting play-offs and the supporters want a promotion so no pressure at all. The media prediction of 2nd shows we have one of the best squads at this level as you'd expect from a voluntary relegation

The Squad

As you can see we have some real quality mixed with some potential and some poor squad options, Pat Lindley looking like he could be a solid ball winning midfielder and Max Rhodes looks capable of scoring a few goals.

Thats enough for me for now, I'm off to play through pre-season see if we can strengthen at all. I'm really looking forward to this (P.S it's my first time attempting this, if there's anything I missed that you'd like to see please let me know )​

 

[spireross]

Pre-Season has been completed and we've had one transfer in and one out.

Outgoing was Marley Grant and while I didn't want to lose him we simply couldn't afford a new contract so he's off to the division above

Incoming wise we've added a Goalkeeper on loan from Bridlington, Ben Crosher and I think he could really do the business between the sticks this year.

As for pre-season itself? Well, there were plenty of losses but I feel we've worked well, scored plenty and helped refine the rather limited tactic.

I've decided to go with a rather basic 4-4-2 and tweak when necessary due to limited attributes at this level and keeping a nice balance in the team.

The season preview has us mid-table which is a slight concern given the board's ambitions and us only being on a 1-year deal but I think we could make the playoffs (top 5, 1 Auto-Promotion place as champions 4 team playoffs). The next update will be the first month of the season.​

 

[spireross]

August:
Dronfield Town Vs Staveley MW
We face local team Dronfield to kick our season off. Predicted to finish bottom we should comfortably beat them if we're to achieve our targets.

This is how we line up for the game:

Dronfield came out in a 4-2-3-1 formation but was ultimately no match for us, the final score of 3-1 perhaps flattering them a touch. 2 goals from Saul Wilson gave us a 2-0 lead, the second coming 3 minutes after a missed penalty from Max Rhodes who won it. Derek Bowker pulled one back on the stroke of halftime with a good volley but Blaine Knowles sealed the game to give us 3 goals and all 3 points.

Staveley MW Vs Selby Town
Selby comes into this game a place above us in 3rd after winning their opening game 4-2, They're predicted to finish 5th so it will be our first real test.

We went for a cautious approach to this game as I was weary about the attacking threat Selby posed but we seemed to have an advantage aerially so let's get them crosses into the box. Selby plays with a 4-3-3DM system so space will be hard to find on a small pitch. After going 1-0 down in the 19th minute to Luke Balderson we fought back brilliantly and proved a class ahead thanks to a vicious strike from Alex Thornberry and then a superb hattrick form Max Rhodes. Selby had a bit more of the ball but we were clinical and quick on the break, a superb performance sends us top after 2 games.

Between games, Robbie McGinlay left us to join Chelmsley Town. He played in both games but wasn't a real first-team option and helps us reduce the wage budget ever so slightly.

Beverley Town Vs Staveley MW
Beverly has 1 win and 1 loss to sit in 12th place coming into this one and plays a 5-3-2. Similar to Dronfield we should win this comfortably but the heavy rain could play a part.

Exactly as I mentioned above it was a tough game and it looked like the weather certainly played a part. Thankfully a 76th-minute goal from Saul Wilson was enough to settle a game where our forwards were off the boil. We drop down to 2nd on goal difference but we're now just 1 of 2 with a 100% record alongside Parkgate.

Staveley MW Vs Harrogate Railway
Harrogate comes into this match in 9th place with a single win, draw and loss. Another 4-3-3DM style but this time not posing as much of a threat as Selby, I'm still expecting a tight game.

Well turns out it was way more comfortable than I was expecting, goals from Saul Wilson, Jacob Davidson and a couple of penalties from Max Rhodes gave us a 4-2 win despite a late red card for Wilson, a second booking for handball saw him off for an early shower.

Lucas Silberbauer and Franklin Craig both leave for Stone OA in a move which finally puts us under our wage budget.

Staveley MW Vs Coventry Copsewood
FA Vase action next Vs a team bottom of their league in our tier. They play a 5-2-2-1 and our rotated squad should hopefully have enough to win.

A comedic own goal overshadowed the rest of the game, after Templeton hit the post with a header a Coventry defender rushed in only to clear the ball against his keeper's face and into his own goal. Templeton, Cryne and Friel added goals to a comfortable win despite a late goal back from Tsamas.

We went out and signed current top scorer and rival striker Ross Duggan from Parkgate for free.

Horbury Town Vs Staveley MW
Our month ends with a trip to 15th-placed Horbury who have 4 points from 4 games. Another 4-3-3DM faces us here.

Duggan needed less than a minute on his debut to open the scoring for us and we never looked back, a goal from Knowles giving us a 2-0 win that was way more comfortable than it sounds.

We finish the month top though Parkgate are right there with us still.

We also break club records for the most consecutive wins and for the longest unbeaten run. Winner of my player of the month goes to Danny Carney with 5 assists and the highest average rating he's been absolutely sublime and the ball he played for Duggans goal was out of this world. A tough month coming up. that Parkgate game looking tasty.

Hope you've enjoyed this! I'll be experimenting with different styles to find the best for me but let me know if you enjoyed this form of update.​

 

[spireross]

September:
Glasshoughton Welfare Vs Staveley MW
Lineup: Crosher; Claxton, Ramsey, Coulter, Yusuf; Carney, Lindley, J. Wilson, Knowles; Rhodes, Duggan. Bench; Garner, Hardy, Watson, Davidson, S. Wilson.
Glasshoughton came into the game in 17th and 2 late goals for them made the game seem not as dominant but we were by far the better team.

Staveley MW Vs Parkgate
Lineup: Crosher; Claxton, Ramsey, Davidson, Yusuf; Carney, Lindley, J. Wilson, Knowles; Rhodes, Duggan. Bench; Garner, Hardy, Watson, Coulter, S. Wilson.
A huge top-of-the-table clash as both teams come into the game with 100% records, us being top on the fact we've scored one more goal than them. A huge error from Crosher gave them the lead going into halftime and we never really looked like getting back into the game until the final minute of the game. Brown came rushing off his line and headed to Knowles who just needed to take a touch then roll it into an empty net, proceeded to volley first time well wide and we lose our first game.

Staveley MW Vs Nostell MW
Lineup: Crosher; Claxton, Ramsey, Davidson, Yusuf; Carney, Lindley, J. Wilson, Knowles; Rhodes, Duggan. Bench; Garner, Hardy, Watson, Coulter, S. Wilson.
Nostell are struggling down in 19th and we should really be bouncing straight back with a win here. Despite Lindley's red card we did, 3-0 up at that point and it was just too much for Nostell to overcome.

Rossington Main Vs Staveley MW
Lineup: Crosher; Claxton, Ramsey, Davidson, Yusuf; Carney, Garner, J. Wilson, Knowles; Rhodes, Duggan. Bench; Vincent, Hardy, Watson, Coulter, S. Wilson.
Rossington started the day in 4th, it was always going to be a tough game for us so we adopted a more defensive approach, we saw one of the goals of the season from Rhodes a first-time volley from 20 yards looping over the keeper for a leveller. An incredible game and a draw was probably a fair result, Ross Hannah having a superb game. We're now 5 points behind Parkgate

Staveley MW Vs Rocester
Lineup: Nwachukwu; Watson, Amponsah, Coulter, Peet; Carnet, Garner, Hardy, Thornberry; Friel, S. Wilson. Bench: Duggan, Rhodes, J. Wilson, Yusuf, Vincent, Templeton, Singleton.
We finish the month with FA Vase action and a fully rotated side vs a team at our level and struggling in their league. We were well outclassed in this one and it could have been more in all honesty however I'm not too fussed the aim this season is to get out of the league, these games add too much onto the players.

Player of the month has to go to Max Rhodes who's scored in every game he's played.​

 

[spireross]

October:
October sees a month full of league games as we look to claw back some points in the race for automatic promotion.

Retford Vs Staveley MW:
Lineup: Crosher; Claxton, Ramsey, Davidson, Yusuf, Lindley, Garner, J. Wilson, Knowles; Rhodes, Duggan Bench: Carney, Hardy, Watson, Coulter, S. Wilson.
Retford started the day in 19th place and in poor form but gave us a more challenging game than I anticipated, thankfully we have Duggan who bags a superb hat trick. Defensively very very poor though.

New Signings:
A whole host of new signings join us before the Brigg game with Ben Crosher joining us permanently at the end of the season, Keelan Fallows will be his backup after joining for free but going back to Burscough on loan. Striker Ryan Pickford joins from Wakefield for free, and former Burnley youngster Tom Ince joins after a spell out. Finally, Left-back Paul Weldon joins on a free also.

Staveley MW Vs Brigg:
Lineup: Crosher; Claxton, Ramsey, Davidson, Weldon; Cryne, Lindley, J. Wilson, Ince; Rhode, Duggan. Bench: Pickford, Garner, Hardy, Yusuf, Coulter.
Brigg is 3rd in the league so this is set to be a crucial game for both of us if we're to catch Parkgate. A thoroughly entertaining game saw us share the points, we never really looked like winning so it's a good result for us.

New Signings:
Bram Johnstone joins us for free as a left-back that will currently see Weldon move centrally and we finally add a centre-back in Michael Thomas who is real quality at this level.

Athersley Recreation Vs Staveley MW:
Lineup: Crosher; Claxton, Thomas, Weldon, Johnstone; Cryne, Garner, J. Wilson, Ince; Rhodes, Duggan. Bench: Pickford, Yusuf, Hardy, Ramsey, Knowles
Athersley come into this sat in 10th place with only 1 win in 5. We're missing Lindley through suspension and not in the best of form ourselves. Duggan and Rhodes don't care about form though giving us a good win, Ince getting 2 assists.

Staveley MW Vs Worsbrough Bridge:
Lineup: Crosher; Claxton, Thomas, Weldon, Johnstone; Cryne, Garner, J. Wilson, Ince; Rhodes, Duggan. Bench: Pickford, Yusuf, Hardy, Ramsey, Knowles
Worsbrough started the day in 13th place. However, this wasn't to be our day, 20 shots and 1 goal isn't acceptable with the quality we have up top.

Campion Vs Staveley MW:
Lineup: Crosher; Claxton, Thomas, Weldon, Johnstone; Cryne, Lindley, J. Wilson, Ince; Rhodes, Duggan. Bench: Pickford, Yusuf, Garner, Ramsey, Knowles
Campion is 9th and in decent form and showed every bit of that in a cracking game. I have to admit I'm disappointed not to make the most of the man advantage.

League:
Still 5 points behind Parkgate, we need to start turning draws into wins

Player Of The Month:
Goes to Max Rhodes, 7 goals in 5 games helped us to an unbeaten month​