Part 26: Chapter the Eleventh: The thing I love about youth intake players is that I keep getting older...

Chapter the Eleventh: The thing I love about youth intake players is that I keep getting older...
March 11, 2015-March 28, 2015

And they stay the same age.



I'm not sure if any of them will be real prospects, yet, but it means that Welsh and English teams have brought in youth players. Elgan Ratcliffe is a potential find, but he's not at all polished and it'll be several years before he can start featuring for the first team



No! He's still our backup and right now he's the only keeper with the team while Nsangou is off playing in the youth African Cup of Nations. I've been playing with no backup keeper the last few games because our youth side GKs are so bad that I'd rather just risk Senior getting hurt or sent off than waste a bench spot on them.

vs. Dartford, March 14, 2015
Skrill Premier


We have a 2-1 possession advantage in the first half and make nothing of it. We push through just half a minute after the second half whistle, though, and it proves to be enough. It's not a strong result, though, and I have to take the team to the woodshed in the postgame talk in an effort to try and shake them from the slight slump we appear to have entered, especially with a tough road match against Tackleford City in two weeks.

Wrexham 1-0 Dartford



It wasn't the best example of the beautiful game and won't create many die-hard fans, but the additional boost at the gate doesn't hurt.



Everyone but Ratcliffe is dross, and only suitable for organizational filler. Hopefully we can find some better juniors from other teams.



Like this guy.

Chris Todd
Centerback


Wales is OK! I found this kid at Afan Lido, and he looks like he could be the future rock of our defense. 500 pounds is a price I'm happy to pay for that level of potential. I haven't had a whole lot of other successes so far, the best young talent has already been hoovered up by the top clubs. I'll probably be able to introduce one or two other additions by the end of this update, but now that we're in the Skrill Premier they won't be joining us until the transfer window opens in June unless we sign them directly on a pre-contract. Since the price to sign him directly was £22k and we could get him for so much less via a transfer I decided that it wasn't vital he join the team immediately.

vs. Morecambe, March 17, 2015
Skrill Premier


It's an evenly matched game throughout the first forty-five minutes and I'm already putting the finishing touches on my verbal ass-kicking when Danny Hopkins pulls us ahead in stoppage time. Hopkins adds his second 20 minutes later, and the fans are in raptures. Morecambe makes it interesting with a late goal, but other than Hopkins being denied his hat trick by the post the final ten minutes has little drama. We win, and we're a mere point back from a promotion spot.

Wrexham 2-1 Morecambe



Bull's not in my long term plans, and he's already 24. While he's still got a high ceiling the chances of him reaching it are slim. If someone else wants him they can have him.



And often when you tell them that they'll be leaving the team, they stop whining after a while and decide they want to stay. Footballers are changeable folk.



Our second youth signing of the year.

Tony Holt
Attacking Midfielders


This guy we grabbed via straight pre-contract rather than a negotiated transfer, and while he's not quite good enough to play for the main squad yet he should develop into a passable attacking midfielder. He's going to need a lot of work on his first touch and decisions, though. Expect to see him in cup matches and as a sub several times next year.



This is why I've had my scouts spending their time looking at the U-19 and U-18 leagues in the British Isles, quite often a small team will develop a really high ceiling youngster and they'll be free to pick up because no one else knows about them. It's much easier to do for non-English kids, as there's so many good youth academies in England that it's rare for the highest ceiling players to be at some small club, but Wales, Northern Ireland, Ireland, and especially Scotland have a lot of small teams that have youth players who could eventually be League One to Championship quality players, and each year or two you'll find someone with the talent to reach the Premier League.

James Fulton
Striker


Fulton, for example, was at the University of Sterling squad (great little town in the lowlands of Scotland about half an hour from Edinburgh, has a really awesome castle and nifty old streets). He's got the potential to be a Championship quality striker, but he's starting from a fairly low level and will have to develop quickly to reach it. But for a transfer fee of zero and 100 pounds a week in salary we've got a lottery ticket.



More free talent.

Anthony Hay
Striker


Hay comes over from Gala Fairydean Rovers, which is the best name for a club I've ever seen. He's going to have to develop quick, he's already 17, but once again he's a lottery ticket and better than the current players in our youth side. Even if only one or two of these signings develop they'll be homegrown players that can play on our side for several years at higher levels.



We're not done yet, but I actually had to spend some money on this one.

Ioan Peters
Right Back


Ioan Peters is a Welshman from Bangor, and is good enough to get some time as a defensive sub on the squad as it stands. If he develops we're looking at a good rotation option with Wright. He could use more pace, but his acceleration is enough to keep most players at our level from leaving him in the dust. I'm guessing Ioan is pronounced "Ewan"- correct me if I'm wrong.

vs. Salisbury, March 21, 2015
Skrill Premier


Oh, hey, we also play soccer matches in this game. Salisbury is the epitome of a perfectly average team, in 14th place with a +1 goal differential, so I expect them to give us a whole hell of a lot of trouble. We take the lead on a questionable penalty call in the opening minutes, but I'm not going to complain as goals are goals. We double up in the 7th minute off of a corner where Stuart Martin goes unmarked, and the only question now is whether we let ourselves down over the next 80 minutes. Senior makes more than one good save in the first half to keep Salisbury off the board, and after several good chances go begging we push two more across in the second, with one coming from Martin on another corner. The final humiliation comes from a Cannon goal in the 80th minute. It's the best performance we've put in since January, and I am quick to tell the players so.



Wrexham 5-0 Salisbury



Big spenders, us. I think you understand now why this update takes place over just two weeks.

Gareth Rainey
Right Winger


Gareth is an extremely raw teenager coming over from Irish side Finn Harps. He's going to need a good mentor to improve those mental stats, because otherwise it doesn't matter that he's decent technically and physically. His weakness in the scout report is listed as “Intelligence.” Insert your own Irish joke.



Another free transfer, this time from Rossvale in Scotland.

Neil Sinclair
Attacking Midfielder


Another player who's weakness is “Intelligence.” If I ever end up playing Sinclair and Rainey together we're going to need to field a Mensa member somewhere to bring the side's intelligence up to average. Still, I'm not going to turn down a player that costs only 20 pounds a week more than our current youth players and has the chance to become useful.



Higher coaching licenses translates to better coaching stats. The only downside is that you have to pay for the courses, and the higher the level of the class the harder it is to pass. Continental Pro Licenses are the highest level a coach can get. You're considered to have one ingame.



That's the FA Trophy final. Haw haw, no trophy for Tackleford.



This should be our final youth signing, barring my scouts telling me about someone wonderous. Our total expenditure was £28,000 for eight players.

Anthony Curran
Centerback


Curran is a very, very unformed centerback. If he can improve his anticipation he could turn out to be pretty decent, but as with all of these youth players only a few of them will turn out to be as good as they could be. We have a good enough youth program that they should be able to develop, however, thanks to our current staff.



When you win 5-0 you tend to have a lot of players in the team of the week.



It's time to enter the Thunderdome!

Press Conference, March 27, 2015
The Racecourse Grounds



: "David Holyoak, Daily Post. You come face to face with your old side today. Are you as excited as we are at the chance to put one over on them?"

: (Assertively) "I am extremely excited at showing them what they are missing, yes. Nothing would give me more joy than crashing them out of the promotion playoff chase."

: "Tackleford City are currently lying in 4th place. They've won four of their last five home games. Do you think they could take all the points at the Fig Poll tomorrow?"

: (Calmly) "It's going to be a tough match, Tackleford City is a very good team. I should know, considering I built it with my own blood, sweat, and tears. But if we play well I think we'll come away with the win. After all, they're missing a manager their players can respect."

: "Sean Osman, The Non-League Paper. The pitch at the Fig Poll has come in for some criticism lately, what impact do you think the poor condition of Ed Phillips pitch will have on the game?"

: (Assertively) "It's a worry. The pitch is in awful shape, and it makes good, flowing soccer difficult. Maybe that's why Ed doesn't want to fix it, you'd have to ask him."

: "How important has Michael Coulson been for Tackleford this year?"

: (Calmly) "I think he's one of the best players on that team. That's why I brought him in before the board there thought a trained monkey could do my job. No disrespect, Ed. I'm sure you're a very smart monkey."



I know there's not much he can do about it, but it doesn't hurt to try and get inside his head.



Big crowd, they must all be here to see me.

At Tackleford City, March 28, 2015
Skrill Premier


There's six games left in the season. We've got 73 points, Tackleford has 74. Whoever wins here will be in the drivers seat to make the promotion playoff, and might be only three back of league leading Forest Green. Tackleford City presses us the entire first half but can only get off four shots, despite a ludicrous 13 corners.



We maintain our form and don't let ourselves get caught out defensively, and shortly into the second half a misplaced Tackleford pass allows Simpson to spring Bah for the first goal of the game. We stay within ourselves for the rest of the game, and though Tackleford gets several more shots off our defense stifles them and prevents them from getting a good look at the goal. We win, and as we get on the team bus back to Wrexham I blow the entire miserable burg of Tackleford a big, sardonic kiss.



Tackleford City 0-1 Wrexham



We've got five games left. The first is a home fixture against Macclesfield, currently in 22nd place and a likely relegation candidate. The next two are both away, against Southport and Farnborough, in 23rd and 20th place. Farnborough is only a point clear of relegation at the moment. Our last two games come at home against slightly sterner opposition, Worcester (17th) and Tamworth (12th). We should be able to win at least four of these games, and winning all five is not out of the question. If we do so, we'll make the promotion playoff, and it's not impossible that we might catch league leaders Forest Green, who are six points above us but have to play a much tougher schedule of Halifax, Luton, and Braintree. It's going to be an exciting end of the season however it turns out.