re: 25 and Still Jobless – November 2012 - Part 1 - Should I Go?
25 and Still Jobless – November 2012 – Part 2 - How Long Will I last For Now?
After much time thinking about my future and listening to the advice of many of my friends, I decided that I would continue to be the Bath City manager, despite my recent urge to leave them behind me. It had sounded like such a good idea at the time, but the fact remains is that I cannot leave the club yet on my current wages and everything. Yes, I live on my own, but I only get £650 a week, which may seem like a lot for one person, but it’s more than I had to admit I was expecting to earn.
There was also the fact that former favourite and current Youth Coach of Southampton, Jason Dodd, went ahead and questioned the performances of both Jamie Cook and Steven Howarth in the press, but commenting that it may be time for me to look at the alternatives that I have in my squad. That sounded like a good idea if I had to be honest with you, so decided that I would do just that.
For the next match, we would be facing off against 2nd placed Kidderminster, a side that last year I was able to see my side beat, however this year ... just didn’t feel like it would happen, and the media agreed with me, believing that we wouldn’t be able to enjoy our game at their ground, Aggborough.
We made a few changes for the game, one of which was allowing Lee Phillips to start for the second time this season, dropping Steven Howarth to the bench, while Jamie Cook was dropped from the squad altogether. Samir Bihmoutine was back for the game, as was Alex Pritchard and Alexander McQueen, as Alex Russell dropped to the bench and Marc Canham was dropped altogether.
Before the first half, I told the team that since we were such huge underdogs for the game, there would be no pressure on them to succeed. All they needed to do was to go out there and show them everything that they had. This got the players to relax, which was good thing in my eyes, for they had seemed too stressed. In the first half Kidderminster were having all of the chances, for I had decided to go for the counter strategy. However, we went behind 10 minutes before half time due to a Symes header, something that I didn’t appear to be too upset with. Why should I? I knew that we weren’t expected to win this game, so we might as well just go with the flow. I was rewarded for my patience, as Phillips smashed in the equalizer from close in just before half time. Half-time finished as 1-1. In the second half, the team seemed to be more alive, more motivated than they had been for a while, it was obvious for all to see. However, Weir suddenly shot Kidderminster in front with a surprising strike that none of us had expected, for it was truly completely out of the blue. We had our chances, but in the end our great attempt of a fight was not enough, but I was pleased with the team’s performance, despite losing 2-1 in the end, something that I let them know about, which pleased them enough to raise their morale. After the match, we dropped down to 14th place after our 8th game without a win, as well as our 6th defeat in 8 games.
Blue Square Premier – 10/11/12 Kidderminster 2 – 1 Bath Symes (36), Weir (61) |Philips (45+2) 10 Shots 4 4 On Target 2 53% Possession 47% 3 Yellow Cards 2 0 Red Cards 0 MoM – Graham Weir (Kidderminster)
During the two weeks break (because of the FA Cup 1st round), there had been a flurry of activity, due to not only the international, but due to some other experiences. The board had once again been forced to inject £65K to help with the club’s running costs, while England were beaten at Wembley 3-2 by Morocco, no seriously, that happened. Martin O’Neill took charge of Hearts, much to everyone’s surprise. I also made a comment about Forest Green Rovers manager, David Hockaday, who had made a comment about me as well. Forest Green was considered the clear favourites for the match between two rivals, they were in 7th and we were in 14th. I actually wanted to win my first rival match in my 4th attempt.
The only change that I made was putting Jamie Cook on the bench, while dropping Steven Howarth altogether for our visit to The New Lawn.
In the first half we went behind pretty early thanks to a superb strike from Rowe, however we equalized thanks to McQueen for his first ever goal for Bath as he smashed it into the roof of the net. Whittall then found himself with the ball due to a pass from Stonehouse to make it 2-1 to us. Orsi almost equalized as he hit the bar. Halsman did equalize in first half stoppage time to make it 2-2, which was what the score was at half time. In the second half, McQueen hit the post after the keeper deflected his long ranged effort onto it. Rowe missed an absolute sitter for Forest Green, when he should have made it 3-2, which was what Halsman did moments later. I couldn’t help but feel hard done by after that goal went in. The match ended up finishing 3-2, with a poor performance against a really strong team, where we got what we deserved. Because of the defeat however, we dropped down to 16th, not happy with our win of 9 games without a win and 4th defeat in a row. Now the fans are also starting to call for me to change my formation as well, but what could I do?
Blue Square Premier – 24/11/12 Forest Green 3 – 2 Bath Rowe (12), Halsman (45+1, 67) | McQueen (24), Whittall (33) 15 Shots 5 3 On Target 3 55% Possession 45% 2 Yellow Cards 4 0 Red Cards 0 MoM – Jordan Halsman (Forest Green)
As the Bath City manager, I was hoping to end my worse ever run as a manager, the run that has not seen me win for 2 months now, if we failed to win tonight at home, we would be seeing 2 months without a win and my job might as well be in trouble, which in fact is currently the state. I might as well say that if I don’t win soon, I will be out of a job, for good. Gateshead were unsurprisingly considered the favourites for the match.
I made a change in the formation, which saw me change from 4-4-2 formation, to a 3-5-2 formation. I brought in Glyn Garner, Mark Preece, Alex Russell and Marc Canham to replace Dean Bouzanis, Christopher Jones, Alexander McQueen, Paul Stonehouse and Alexander McQueen. While Samir Bihmoutine was shifted to the left-midfielder postion, which proved that I was willing to make changes. Mark Preece and Marc Canham were set to make their 200th career league appearances.
In the first half the tactic seemed to have been working, until Clark scored for Gateshead thanks to a deflection. It soon became harder when Jon Shaw made it 2-0 with his 100th career league goal. It was 2-0 to Gateshead at half time ... and I fear ... that I could be about to experience my last 45 minutes as Bath City boss. In the second half Rents made it 3-0, causing my time as Bath City manager to be up at 366 days. The match ended up finishing at 3-0 to Gateshead and I feared for the worst, I just couldn’t help it. We had dropped down to 18th position after 20 games with just 23 points, only 6 points clear of the drop zones after going 10 games in all competitions without a win.
Blue Square Premier – 27/11/12 Bath 0 – 3 Gateshead | N. Clark (24), Shaw (42), Rents (54) 3 Shots 7 0 On Target 3 44% Possession 56% 0 Yellow Cards 0 0 Red Cards 0 MoM – Ben Clark (Gateshead)
My record so far: P51 W23 D8 L20 GF70 GA66 GD+4 WR45% My record with Bath so far: P51 W23 D8 L20 GF70 GA66 GD+4 WR45%
Spoiler:Blue Square Premier Table 2012 - November Part 2
Much to my amazement, I was not sacked from my post as Bath City manager, but I knew that it would only be a matter of time before it was to happen.
What a great anniversary for my time at the club, thanks for the gift ... you idiots.
How long will it be before this happens again I wonder?
re: 25 and Still Jobless – November 2012 – Part 2 - How Long Will I last For Now?
25 and Still Jobless – December 2012 - Coming back never felt so ... Satisfying
As someone who does not go on a lifestyle that would most likely get me killed due to allowing harmful chemicals from entering my body, or someone that doesn’t do drugs, smoke or drink alcohol, I would like to say that I am healthy. However, I cannot because of the fact stress is getting to me and I am currently in a bit of a crisis with Bath City, having gone on a losing run of 6 games and now having to face off against Shrewsbury Town, a team that are most likely going to tear me to pieces at the Greenhous Meadow, which is the location of their ground, and our next match. The media straight away declared that we were bound to be destroyed by Shrewsbury Town, something that I can’t disagree with. Not that I am happy to admit to that, but it’s something I can’t help due to the fact that it’s true.
I made some changes for this match, with my entire back 3 being changed with Scott Ross, Christopher Jones and Jamie Lyden coming in for John Young, Gethin Jones and Mark Preece. Scott Murray came in for Marley Watkins, Alexander McQueen replaced Marc Canham, Paul Stonehouse replaced Samir Bihmoutine and Steven Howarth replaced Sam Whittall.
In the first half of the match, we started with the counter strategy and like I expected, we were being dominated by Shrewsbury early on. However, to the shock of everyone and including me, we actually took the lead thanks to Phillips pouncing on the rebound after Howarth’s shot was parried out into his path, it was against the run of play it really was. Howarth missed a great chance to make it 2-0, but the half ended being 1-0 to Bath. In the second half it became 2-0 thanks to an own goal by Wright from a Scott Murray free kick. Despite all of the chances that Shrewsbury was having, they were just unable to get a goal. In the end the match finished 2-0 to Bath, giving us our first win since September against Telford, I couldn’t help but feel relieved, especially when we flew up the table to go up to 13th place. How strange football could be sometimes.
Blue Square Premier – 01/12/12 Shrewsbury 0 – 2 Bath | Phillips (30), Wright og (55) 18 Shots 6 0 On Target 3 55% Possession 45% 0 Yellow Cards 0 0 Red Cards 0 MoM – Lee Phillips (Bath)
Before our next match, the FA Trophy draw was made, and our opponents was Aldershot at home ... which made me cringe at the realization that we were most likely going to be heading out of the FA Trophy within the first round. I also celebrated my 27th birthday, though yes, it was without alcohol, so don’t get your hopes up of seeing me starting to contaminate my body anytime soon. We also dropped down to 16th because of other result in the midweek, due to the fact that the FA Cup 2nd round had involved some of the Blue Square Premier sides as well. Not like I could have done more this week or anything. For the game itself Stockport were considered the slight favourites, only because of the fact that we were at home was it considered more of a contest by the media.
For the match itself I made no chances, feeling confident with the side that had beaten Shrewsbury last week.
In the first half we went behind inside just 8 minutes thanks to a McNaughton header. Stockport continued to dominate after that, with numerous shots on goal to prove it, they even hit the bar, the first half finished 1-0 to Stockport. In the second half there really wasn’t too much to talk about for most of it, both sides had their chances, but no-one really took them, but the result ended up being 1-0 to Stockport and because of that disgustingly poor performance we dropped to 17th, only 4 points clear of the drop zone.
Blue Square Premier – 08/12/12 Bath 0 – 1 Stockport | McNaughton (8) 2 Shots 15 1 On Target 6 37% Possession 63% 3 Yellow Cards 1 0 Red Cards 0 MoM – Callum McNaughton (Stockport)
After once again losing and allowing my hope to be crushed once more, I was starting to believe that my destiny was to be leaving Bath City in the near future, however I was willing to continue my job until my contract ran out and I was not offered a new one. What? Were you expecting someone positive from me for the first time in months? Get your head round it people, even if I keep Bath up, my contract will not be renewed, and honestly it would be a miracle if that was to happen. Our FA Trophy 1st Round match against Aldershot was a match that we were expected to lose, badly, so if I was sacked after this game, I wasn’t going to say much.
For the next match, Jamie Lyden and Lee Phillips were dropped due to their poor performances in the last game (and my new policy), while Colin Stevenson, who was about to start his first ever game in the starting 11, and Sam Whittall took their places, while John Young and Andy Cook came to the bench.
In the first half of the cup match Ambalu made it 1-0 to Aldershot, causing more pressure to be piled onto my back early on, before Breimyr hit the bar. Ambalu then made it 2-0 with a great effort at goal, the first half finished 2-0 to Aldershot. In the second half Ambalu almost got his hat trick as he hit the bar with a header. The fans also started to leave early, before Howarth made it 2-1, clawing a goal back for us with a header. However, it was not enough as we collapsed to yet another defeat, knocking us out of the FA Trophy.
FA Trophy 1st Round – 15/12/12 Bath 1 – 2 Aldershot Howarth (83) | Ambalu (9, 41) 3 Shots 14 1 On Target 4 38% Possession 62% 1 Yellow Cards 1 0 Red Cards 0 MoM – Joel Ambalu (Aldershot)
It’s never nice to hear from the press that today could be your last game in charge. I hated the idea that I had to find out from the press themselves that I was on the verge of being sacked by Bath City. I truly did hate this fact that I could be out of a job on Boxing Day, finding this out on Christmas Day probably made it even worse for me.
I made so many changes that I actually can’t remember the all, which is embarrassing but true since it was at least half of the team being changed.
In the first half of what could be my last ever game in charge of Bath City, Kettering Town were the side having all of the chances and possession. However, Phillips ended up missing a great chance to score, the first half finished 0-0. In the second half we were awarded a penalty after Luke O’Neill fouled Sam Whittall in the penalty area, who stepped up to take the penalty, and score it, 1-0 to Bath. It was then made 2-0 thanks to an own goal from Sangare right near the end, due to a mistake from their goalkeeper Haxhia. The match ended up finishing 2-0 and we moved up to 15th. I’m not out of a job yet!
Blue Square Premier – 26/12/12 Kettering 0 – 2 Bath | Whittall (48 pen), Sangare og (89) 7 Shots 9 1 On Target 3 56% Possession 44% 0 Yellow Cards 1 0 Red Cards 0 MoM – Paul Stonehouse (Bath)
After what I could consider a close shave, I was finally being able to say that my confidence was starting to return, 2 wins in 3 league games, all we need to do now is to continue this kind of form and we would be fine. Unfortunately our next opponents were Aldershot, who was looking for another win to keep up their hopes for promotion. It was not helpful that they had the best attacking force of the league either. However, there was one thing that I wanted from this match, revenge.
During this match, Gethin Jones was set to make his 275th league appearance for Bath
In the first half of the game, Whittall gave us the lead in 5 minutes with some great play. We had chances, but so did Aldershot, however the first half finished 1-0 to Bath. In the second half of the match, Aldershot started out the stronger and should have equalized, only for Darren Jones to head over at an empty goal. We then scored a second when Howarth headed in a cross from Lee Phillips to make it 2-0. However Ambalu scored to make it 2-1 to give Aldershot hope, but it was already too little, too late. We have secured our 3rd victory in 4 league games, my tactics and new policy seemed to be working in my favour now and as a result of this victory, we moved up to 14th place. Not bad considering a few games ago my job as manager of Bath City was almost finished, not bad at all. I finally got my piece of revenge on Aldershot Town, finally.
Blue Square Premier – 29/12/12 Bath 2 – 1 Aldershot Whittall (5), Howarth (90) | Ambalu (90+2) 7 Shots 9 3 On Target 4 49% Possession 51% 0 Yellow Cards 2 0 Red Cards 0 MoM – Lee Phillips (Bath)
My record so far: P56 W26 D8 L22 GF77 GA70 GD+7 WR46% My record with Bath so far: P56 W26 D8 L22 GF77 GA70 GD+7 WR46%
Well, we're only 9 points off of the playoffs, so I don't see why we can't end up fighting for a place up there by the end of the season. Yes, we didn't win for 2 months, but that setback has ended and now we've won 3 league games out of 4 this month, so I can't complain whatsoever.
Like I said before if you don't want me to link your name, just say.
Also a question, do you think that going for the playoffs is a realistic target for me or do you not?
Another thing, I've now added the leagues in USA and South Korea to the game thanks to the new feature "Add/Remove Leagues", I've only got to be careful now.
One more thing, how many screenshots can I store on Imageshack?
re: 25 and Still Jobless – December 2012 - Coming back never felt so ... Satisfying
You can do it! If you're consistant, and you don't lose games to teams you should be beating, you could be in with a chance of getting into the play-offs.
re: 25 and Still Jobless – December 2012 - Coming back never felt so ... Satisfying
Good comeback with a couple of good results! Think you've done the right choice by staying with Bath. If you could remove me from the notification list that would be the kind please, I will make sure to follow this story by my own effort. :>
Good comeback with a couple of good results! Think you've done the right choice by staying with Bath. If you could remove me from the notification list that would be the kind please, I will make sure to follow this story by my own effort. :>
re: 25 and Still Jobless – December 2012 - Coming back never felt so ... Satisfying
Sticking with Bath is admirable, but I'd give it two seasons, get them promoted if you can, and then I'd suggest leaving for a League Two relegation team, something like that, that way, you'll have a shot at instant promotion from the Blue Square Premier and start to build a proper league team once you have won the title..
re: 25 and Still Jobless – December 2012 - Coming back never felt so ... Satisfying
25 and Still Jobless – January 2013 - Part 1 - I get Frustrated too Easily
After such a great finish to last month, I came to the realization that I could only focus on the Blue Square Premier, for it was the only competition that I was still in. However, this was not something that I was concerned about, in fact, it made me feel confident inside, for I knew that I had one less thing to worry about for now on. That and the fact that my brand new policy was also working, meaning that I finally had a method to hopefully stop constant defeats and potentially keep all of my players happy. Our first match of the month was against Alfreton, who we beat at home 2-0 last time out, however, we were now going to their ground, where we also won by 1-0. It also helped that they were also a place below us in the table. We were considered the favourites for the match, something that I was desperate to help prove right, with our 3rd straight win and our 10th of the league campaign. It also turned out that I won second place in the manager of the month award in December with 3 wins out of 4, only Newport doing better with 3 wins out of 4, only drawing instead of losing like us.
For this match, I made one change with Samir Bihmoutine being replaced in the first team by Paul Stonehouse.
However, before the match could even start, it was postponed due to a waterlogged pitch, much to my annoyance. It was to be re-arranged for the 12th
Blue Square Premier – 01/01/13 Alfreton P – P Bath
While the last game had to be abandoned due to some stupid problem like a waterlogged pitch, which normally seemed to happen in the lower divisions, I was left to think about some future plans, strangely enough however, we didn’t even go down, even though there were 10 games out of a possible 12. However, with Newport and Salisbury playing the day after, I was left to wonder whether or not I was going to slip down to 15th. Though if I did, I would still have 2 games in hand over Salisbury and have the better goal difference. However, before the match even started, I was able to sign a new player for £400 on compensation from Gainsborough called Luke Wilkinson, who had been playing almost regularly for the club. The best part about this deal was the fact that he even agreed to sign a £6 per week deal until 2014. What a bargain that I gained there. Though Newport beat Salisbury 1-0, so we didn’t go anywhere when everyone else played instead of just us, though Alfreton went down to 18th, so I got to laugh ... ha!
Spoiler:Luke Wilkinson
Anyway, our next opponents were Darlington, who was in 23rd, and who we beat 4-1 at the Darlington arena, though it would have been 4-0 had we not been careless at the last moments. However, because we had gone and beaten we were clearly the favourites for the match, so it would be more than slightly surprising if we were to go and lose. Before the match, I ended up releasing Mark Preece from his contract, due to the wage budget going over what it should have done and that he hadn’t been playing that many games this year, as well as the fact that there were many talented young players who could go and do a good job in his role as well.
I had made two changes with Luke Wilkinson coming on the bench for Marc Canham, while Colin Stevenson came onto the bench to replace the recently released Mark Preece.
In the first half of the match, we were doing the better, having most if not all of the chances and possession, though no goals came in the first half. In the second half I brought on Luke Wilkinson to replaced Alex Russell and was rewarded when he scored just 9 minutes after coming on, what a debut from the young boy scoring with a wonderful strike. Mangan should have equalized for Darlington, but nodded the ball wide of the goal. Knights however did score to make it 1-1, though I could blame it on myself for changing the formation to a 5-2-3, however, it was some sloppy defending. The game finished 1-1, due to some poor defending in the end. Even though we went down to 15th, below Salisbury who we have 2 games in hand over, I couldn’t help but feel pleased with the performance of Luke Wilkinson, who not only became the youngest ever player to play for Bath, but the club’s youngest ever goal scorer in the league. Still, we should have won that game.
Blue Square Premier – 05/01/13 Bath 1 – 1 Darlington Wilkinson (54) | Knights (84) 9 Shots 3 5 On Target 1 48% Possession 52% 1 Yellow Cards 2 0 Red Cards 0 MoM – Darryl Knights (Darlington)[/i
]
Despite many problems off the field with a financial issue growing ever larger, we have now got as many as 3 games in hand over some teams above us due to the fact that we had one game postponed and another fact with our game with Newport being after everyone else, something that Newport always have for some reason that still confuses me. However, we are now 12 points off the playoffs, but we also have at least 2 games in hand over those teams, as well as 3 games in hand over Aldershot, who are only 14 points clear from us. Newport were only considered the slight favourites over us, but that didn’t matter to me, for I believe that we could sneak a league double over Newport County, as revenge for knocking us out of the FA Cup, like we beat Aldershot for beating us last month.
For the match, I made just one change with Luke Wilkinson coming in for Alex Russell and changing the formation from the 3-5-2 to the 3-4-1-2 formation. I believed that we could go on a beat this side that stood before us.
In the first half of the match, we had the first clear chance when Whittall hit the post from a Carvalho-Landell free kick. Gethin Jones should have scored with a header from a Scott Murray free kick, while Newport was just as wasteful, twice. Finally Newport scored the first goal of the game thanks to a great solo effort from Tertereau, something that annoyed me greatly. However Whittall latch onto Stonehouse’s incredible long pass forward to equalize just before half time. In the second half, Bedda almost scored for Newport when he hit the bar, the post was also rattled minutes later from a cross. Tertereau scored his second of the game with 10 minutes, making me realize that we were on the verge of our 11th defeat in the league this season. The games finished 2-1 to Newport, signalling that my 3rd defeat in a row at their ground, how annoying.
Finally we were going to be playing Alfreton, a side that had managed to escape our wrath by having a waterlogged pitch, while we suffered a run of two games without a win. There has been talk that I would not be offered a new contract at the end of the season, this would suit me fine, for I didn’t really care about keeping my job at Bath at the moment, since I could pretty much end up getting a new job if I really wanted to. Despite all of this, our team were not considered the favourites, though Alfreton were only considered the slight favourites. This suited me fine, since I normally did better under pressure.
For the match, I made a few changes, with Dean Bouzanis coming into the side for the first time in a while to replaced Glyn Garner, who was dropped from the squad altogether as Josh Swann came up to the bench. Alex Russell replaced Andre Carvalho-Landell, as Alexander McQueen came up to the starting line-up to replaced Alex Pritchard who dropped to the bench, while Marley Watkins replaced Scott Murray. Samir Bihmoutine also replaced Paul Stonehouse. John Young was set to make his 25th appearance for Bath, while Alex Russell was set to make his 75th appearance for the club.
In the first half of the match Whittall hit the bar early on, however we found ourselves behind after Purcell smashed the ball into the roof of the net. Gethin Jones had a great chance to equalize, but his volley was merely inches away. Wilkinson had a great chance to score but hit it straight at the goalkeeper, as did Whittall moments later. In the second half of the game I was still watching the same rubbish as I had in the first half, it was a poor defeat, and I was once again starting to get frustration with the side that I believed was capable of a top-half finish, but yet, we found ourselves falling into 16th place, just 5 points clear of the drop zone.
Blue Square Premier – 12/01/13 Alfreton 1 – 0 Bath Purcell (13) | 14 Shots 7 2 On Target 3 56% Possession 44% 2 Yellow Cards 0 0 Red Cards 0 MoM – George Purcell (Alfreton)
My record so far: P59 W26 D9 L24 GF78 GA74 GD+5 WR44% My record with Bath so far: P59 W26 D9 L24 GF78 GA74 GD+5 WR44%
Okay, seriously, this is the third time that I have been frustrated with my side now, and this should seriously be the last straw, I've already been the manager of the club for over a year now, and my contract will most likely not be renewed, so should I do the board a favor and resign from Bath? Even though there is only a job in Spain available, I just don't see the need to continue my role as the manager of Bath City.