sicks6sicks

(My last post of the evening as i've had literaly no sleep since i woke on Thursday morning - Sat on this forum in the early hours of this morning actually - a great forum for the insomniac!)

The cup run is now taking it's toll on my squad. There is no depth and injuries and suspensions are thining out the squad. The only good news is that Stephen Magennis from Lurgan Celtic will be joining us in January. I've been a long time admirer of Stephen. Probably the best striker in the lower tiers of the Irish League but i know he could cut it in League 1 or 2 in England. I have fought of Scarborough and Forfar to secure his signature and naturally, i'm over the moon. My strike force is potent enough with Brian Russell and John Ryan, but with Magennis coming...be afraid...be very afraid!

I secure his signature just hours before our next match

Irish League Second Division

Glebe Rangers Vs Ballyclare Comrades @ Riada Stadium.

Ballyclare are favourites to win the title this year, having been relegated last season from the First Division. The bookies continue to do my team talks for me which i like as it means i get the same £90 cheque at the end of the week, for doing less! Typical Irish League, i take up my position in the dugout and skelly round at the mediocre attendance. One week we're packed out, the next we're as empty as the last bag of KP Nuts i just ate. 192 spectators is not helping our finances at all but the Riada world keeps turning...Inside the first 20 minutes, we look a shadow of ourselves. We're 2 goals down and looking uninterested. The players have barely mustered a fart between them in the first half. In fact, come half time, i'm examining each and every players boots for evidence that they have actually been on the pitch! It is that bad. This is the first half time team talk that i've did a Fergie. My half time tea cup is shards of its former self and i'm resigned to paying a visit to Heatons, just up the road in Coleraine for a replacement out of my own pocket. "I want to see more from you" is the foundation on which i endeavour to create a second half performance. And by feck it worked, with a little help from Huxley in the Comrades goal. On two occasions, he was presented with a back pass without any pressure. A simple "get rid of it" would have been the wise choice. Like a vulture to a rabbit, Ryan is homing in on his prey - that circular "thing" reminiscent of West Ham's new Chairmans head (sorry Hammers fans!). Like a fly around s*%t, Ryan is hovering. Huxley on 60 mins tries to outsmart Ryan only to outsmart himself. Ryan dispossesses the smartarse fecker and coolly slots home. Think Roger Milla, Cameroon Vs Colombia, World Cup Italia 90. Ryan can afford to laugh. Who says lightning never strikes twice. Just 7mins after the "Milla" incident, DEJAVU! Huxley says "i'll outsmart you this time prick" and tries exactly the same. Just reread the last few lines for the outcome. Again Ryan runs to the supporters laughing. I can't believe Huxley had the nads to try the same thing twice! We're pegging Ballyclare back at 2-2 having been down 0-2 at half time and i sense an upset. I am tempted to play a little more defensive to secure the 2-2 draw but a consultation with my coach and i'm converted to his way of thinking. If its not broke, don't fix it. I listen to my "inferior" and just a short time later we're dancing on the touchline as Johnny Prizeman nets a deserved winner for us 15mins from full time.

Glebe Rangers 3
Ryan 60, 67
Prizeman 75

Ballyclare Comrades 2
McKay 6
Gilmore 18
Caldwell S/O 90

I owe my coach a drink! This is the stuff i read about as a child. Roy of the Rovers. A condemned team before a ball is kicked. Wrote off by the bookies and pundits alike prior to every match and here we are celebrating a victory over the title favourites. It's not bragging. It's basking in glory. The cup runs, our league form. It seems like a dream. My only concern is that the defence is not as secure as it has been especially since we lost Bellingham to injury. But his fitness is improving and he should be back within the next week or two.

(Coming up <> Spoiler - the Glebe bubble finally bursts, tales of the underdog tag coming back to haunt us, the keeper with the sweet right foot, the Star bursting my star!, peelers getting their noses rubbed in filth, the 25 yard wonder og and getting by with a little help from our friends at Banbridge Town Fc...to be continued....)

sicks6sicks

Thank you for both of your posts that have encouraged me to continue the story. Time constraints mean it's a little thinned out but i think it still "hits home". An award thread, not a bad idea. However i'm not "rubbing" myself up in anyway but i'd take the Roy of the Rovers award any day for whats happening in my Glebe save at present. Literally a team built from scratch that have been undermined but overachieved! That's the romance of football. There's always going to be a David among the Goliaths. I hope to get a league table and progress screen up as soon as possible. I've enjoyed many ventures in FM, even in the days of CM managing smaller clubs. But none have been more pleasing than this. And i'm sure things will not always be rosy at Riada but that is all part of the affair! It's LLM that i'm doing but i'm not using the rules of other forums in relation to player naming/tipping etc. I'm not tipping, telling tactics, recommending players etc. This is MY story that i wish to share with others within this forum and i wish to tell it like it is. My earlier posts will be edited slightly to include players names that i've purchased. Scorers in previous matches etc.

Regards

D

sicks6sicks

When i think of Desertmartin, it often reminds me of a famous racehorse. It's a place i've never set foot in. In fact, i couldn't even tell you where in Northern Ireland it is! And i've lived here 32 years. So to be drawn them in the 1st Round of the Irish Cup, Northern Ireland's FA Cup, i'm excited at the prospect of a trip to Desertmartin, honest! Until the draw, i didn't even know they had a football team. I anticipate the place will be some country village in the back end of nowhere. I ask several of my players "Where is Desertmartin?". They're as lost as i am. The coach driver informs me that it is in Co. Londonderry/Derry. Not that far from Ballymoney then.

On arrival at Desertmartin Playing Fields, it's clear there is going to be a sizeable crowd. Most have probably climbed the fences to get in for free! We are away from home but i expect my team to overcome Desertmartin with ease.

Desertmartin Vs Glebe Rangers @ Desertmartin Playing Fields

The official attendance, as in those that paid in was 708. I expected the win but Desertmartin were no pushovers. We took the lead early on with John Ryan netting after only 7 mins. From then on i thought the match would be a formality. How wrong i was. On the hour, Desertmartin levelled things up but despite the gulf in quality, we could not break through their defence. The match went into extra time and eventually penalties. We lost on penalties 4-2.

Desertmartin 1
Davidson 60

Glebe Rangers 1
Ryan 7

Desertmartin win 4-2 on pens.

We've finally succumbed to defeat albeit on penalties but i rip into my team at full time. They did not seem to have any desire to win after Desertmartin equalized and we are now out of the country's prestigious trophy at the first hurdle. Not good enough. The coach home is quiet and one of our most unpleasant journeys since my appointment as manager. Glebe's bubble has finally burst. The performance on the day was far from acceptable and hopefully will serve to remind the players that, ok they've had a great run of results but they are not invincible. I return to my home, spending the evening slumped in a chair, drowning my sorrows in several glasses of Baileys. Time for reflection. Time to find out whether it was my tactics that lacked efficiency or whether it was a case of too many matches we've played over the past few months.