Thurrock-August 2010 results

After the few signings i had made in July, i concluded another two more signings, one midfielder and one right winger. They are Josh Falkingham and Loui Fazakerley.

He was a former Leeds player who was released this season. I am delighted that he had chosen to join Thurrock for the new challenge. He has good technique, first touch and creativity ability,  i will employ him as my new play-maker. However his aerial attributes is very poor, i will ask him to stay forward when defending corners. I hope he will blend into the club well and win us some games.

I signed him to compete with Chris Black for the right midfielder spot. He has decent pace and dribbling skills. I hope he will have some trickery on his side to run at defenders and put some decent crosses in for my strikers.

After these two signings, i think i have a squad now whom can compete with the rest to help us to win promotion to the Blue square Premier. It certainly looks promising when i had completed the friendlies.

My new signings had blended into the squad well, though the opposition is not strong but i am delighted with the chances we created and both my new strikers are scoring goals. I am especially delighted the way we thrashed GH Academy 5-1.

These are the players whom i will start as first team regulars.

New signings David King and Lewis Walker will sit in central defence and  David King will be my new captain for the team. My loan signing Eddie Oshodi will take the left back position. Josh Falkingham will be the new play-maker and Simon Heslop is used as ball winning midfielder. Chris Black will be the right midfielder. Up front will be Jack Jeffrey(Deep lying forward) and Paul Hakim(Poacher).

Although i had high expectation for my new team, i never expect such a great result in the first month. We went through the month unbeaten, four wins and one draw.

vs Salisbury 2-2
7th August, curtain raiser of the season, a very tough game against Salisbury as they were relegated from the Blue Square Premier last season. I used a counter attacking strategy as we definitely are the underdogs. After start of the whistle, they keep attacking our goal and we were under tremendous pressure. Their striker Matt Tubbs was in great form, he scored a brace, first goal was shoot from 30 yards in 23rd minute and went in from underside of the bar. Four minutes after the break, he scored again, this time from the edge of the area. Just when i thought we were going to lose the match, Chris Black scored his first goal for the club at close range from a corner. My team seems galvanized by this goal and we created more chances after that. We were finally rewarded when Simon Heslop scored a screamer from 35 yards to give us a precious point. I was delighted by my team's late showing. This was our only draw for the whole month and we chalked up four straight wins after this game.

vs Dover 2-0
They are the 5th place team last season, i use the same strategy counter attacking for this game.I never expect us to control the game from start to end.  David King gave us the lead through a corner in the 7th minute. We keep attacking but could not find a way in. 2 minutes after the normal time, Paul Hakim collected a pass by Matt Paine from the left at the edge of the area. He scored a wonderful goal by curling the ball into the far corner. I was delighted with my new signings, they have listen to my instructions and played really well.

vs Western-Super-Mare 2-1
They were expected to finish 21st place by the media and we were slightly favorites to win this game. I employ a control strategy for this game. Just when i thought it would be an easy game, we went behind from a corner. My left back mistimed the interception and their player scored in close range to give them a lead until the break. I told my players to perform better as i could not accept this kind of performances. They did not disappoint me, Paul Hakim received a cross from Matt Paine from the left, side-step his marker and scored from close range to level the game. Just when i thought the game was heading for a draw, my captain David King was pull down in the penalty area during a free kick and we were rewarded a penalty. Simon Heslop stepped up confidently to score and win us the game. It was a great comeback. I was proud with the team.

vs Chelmsford 1-0
They were the better side in this game and hit my goal post at least twice, but we were lucky as their strikers are having a bad day. Through a free kick, a mistake by their player allowed my captain David King to head in the goal from close range to give us three points in the bag. I got to admit even though we never play well but we were extremely lucky to win this game.

vs Gloucester 1-0
They were a non-league team just promoted, we beat them 3-0 in a friendly earlier in July. I thought it will be an easy game and employ a control strategy. However they proved to be a very tough nut to crack and it was a dull game as very few chances were created between the two sides. My left midfielder Matt Paine is not playing well, i replaced him with Alex Smith but in the central position and Simon Heslop is moved to the left. It was a well change move as Simon Heslop provided a curling cross to the penalty area and Jack Jeffrey was there to knock it in. This win was our fourth in a row and my first time for a series of win since managing Thurrock.

The unbeaten run saw us glancing down the rest of the teams in Blue Square South which the players will find very unfamiliar with. But i need to instill this winning mentality to the players and keep the good run going.

The good run also saw me winning my first manager of the month award for August.

Few players need special commendation as they really performed very well to keep us unbeaten for the month. I am very happy with my new signings as quite a number of them achieved an average ratings of 7.00 and above. Most impressive is David King, he has two goals, one assist and two MOM in just five games. Second is Josh Falkingham with two assists to his name.

I hope we can keep the good run going, if we can produce these type of  performances consistently, then we will have a really good chance of gaining promotion.

Thurrock-2010/11 Pre-season

Hello friends, after last season's 11th place finish in Blue Square South, my board is quite happy with my performance and i was offered a new 3 year contract until 2013. For the upcoming new season, my board has set a target of a mid-table finish, i told them i can achieve that but inside my heart i hope my team will perform well enough to at least achieve a play-off place.

This come down to whether i can sign the right players to achieve the goal of promotion. Before i introduce my new signings, i will give a in-depth introduction for each position of my current squad.

Goalkeeper - Currently i have 2 goalkeepers, Scott Tynan is my first choice and Joe Woolley is the back-up. I am quite happy with both of them, they should be able to perform in this level.

Left back - Phil Anderson is my first choice left back and Matt Paine as the back-up. Matt Paine can also play as left midfielder. He will be my left midfielder so i need to sign one more player for this position.

Right back - Olly James is my only recognized right-back, so i definitely need to add one or two players for this position.

Central Defender - Currently i have three central defenders Nathan Bunce, Chris Saunders and Lewis Walker (he is signed in March last season), need to add one more player as Nathan Bunce is getting old and his training attributes is dropping everytime.

Left Midfielder - Matt Paine is the first choice and Alex Smith is the back-up. If i can find players better than them i will sign them to replace these 2 players.

Right Midfielder - Chris black(signed last season) is my first choice and Matt Bodkin as back-up. I will sign if there is better players available.

Central Midfielder - Simon Heslop is my playmaker and Wayne Graves is the ball winning midfielder. I need to sign two or more players for this department as i am pretty short of players in this area.

Forwards - Currently i have 2 strikers David Knight and Jamie Garry. By the way David Knight is voted as fans player of the year for last season. I had let go of my top scoring striker for the last season David Bryant, he is very inconsistent so i decided to find someone better. I will sign at least one or two players for the two strikers position.

One of the targets this year is to find a parent club, however my board yet dismiss my request again seeing no point in linking with another club. I am facing the same problem as last season in signing good players. I try to offer contract to a lot of players but nobody is interested in joining us.

I will introduce the players whom i had signed so far, to date i had signed seven players, three from last season and two from loan. Let me introduce them one by one.

Lewis Walker is signed in March last season. I wanted more pace for my central defence as Nathan Bunce is getting old and lack of pace. I don't know whether it is due to his high aggression, he can really cause a chaos in opposition defence during corner taking. I hope he can give me another supply of goals in set-piece.

Chris Black will occupy the right side midfield position, i am going to employ him as a winger as his physical attributes  is quite good, but has very low crossing ability. I will advise him to cut inside more often.

Thurrock supporters should be very familiar with David King as he is my loan signing last season from MK dons. When he is transfer listed, i act quickly to snap him up for free. He is delighted to join us as he totally enjoy his loan spell during the time here and Thurrock is now listed as his favorite club. What i like about him is that he ia capable of playing in several position, but i will employ him as a central defender alongside Lewis Walker.

Eddie Oshodi is a loan signing from Watford, he is a young chap whom my coaching team believe that he is better than Phil Anderson, so he will be my first choice left-back this season. I hope he will enjoy his spell here.

A former player from St Albans, his team was relegated from the Blue Square South last season. I give him another shot in this level, i hope he will be able to prove himself  he can make it.

Another of my loan signing, Harry Crawford is a striker loan from Southend. My coach team think he has the potential to be better than Paul Hakim. I hope he can supply me some goals this season.

Last but not least, Jack Jeffrey is a former West Ham player who is young and wants to prove himself. His attributes is pretty average for the technical, mental and physical side, but i hope he can develop well in training to become a good striker for my team.

Paul Hakim and Jack Jeffrey will be my first choice strikers for this season, Harry Crawford, Jamie Garry and David Knight as back-up.

I still hope to conclude a few signings whom can bring us to another level, until then i need to stick with what i have to compete in the Blue Square South. The players whom i bring hardly stir any surprise from the media, that's why they predict us to finish 16th for this season. The odds is also firmly against us as we are placed 40-1 to win the Blue Square South. They predict that we will be in for a long relegation fight, but i had already proved them wrong last season, i will make them eat their words again.

In my next post, i will bring you my friendly results and hopefully some more signings.

Thurrock-April 2010 End of season

Hello friends, in my last post i mentioned that we were in 11th place four points of the last play-off spot. So can my Thurrock team make it to the last play-off spot? No, we could not make it. We only managed 2 wins, 1 draw and 2 losses. Here is the results..

vs Hampton & Richmond 2-1
They are 3rd place at the moment and many places above us, that's why i opt for a counter-attacking tactics to hit them on a break. They did not create much and it is my team who took the lead first. David Bryant scored the first goal in close range through a corner. But before my happiness settled, they made the score level just two minutes. Both team played a very cautious game and the score stayed until the break. Not much chances was created and it was quite a boring game. Not until 64th minute, a nice cross from my left full-back Phil Anderson found Matt Bodkin, my right winger and he smashed the ball in from a acute angle. I think their morale is affected a bit and never really come back strongly against us. So three points was in the bag. After this game, we climbed up one place to 10th. This showed that other team above us is also winning, not a good sign to us.

vs Bishop's Stortford 0-1
They were a very strong side currently occupying 6th place with an eye for the last play-off spot. I opt with a counter attacking tactic too for this match but they were too strong for us. From start of whistle, they keep coming at us and was rewarded a goal as early as in the 9th minute. A goal headed in from a cross by their full -back, i noticed that we had conceded these type of goals quite often. I think i need to source for a good central defender with good jumping and heading ability for next season. That was the only goal scored for the whole game, actually i thought my defender play pretty well in this game. It is my midfield and striker whom let the whole team down. With this loss, my hope of grabbing a play-off spot is definitely lost as the other teams results doesn't go our way. The gap now is seven points different with three games left.

vs Basingstoke 0-0
Mathematically we still have a slight chance of catching up so i ask my boys to try to win the game. But Basingstoke has nothing to play for and they played very defensively, keeping very tight at the back and end up we have to settle for a draw. That's it, we can only aim for the promotion next season.

vs Staines 4-0
Next game was up against Staines, though for the last two matches, we are playing for pride, but never did i know that we will win the games by four goals. I think this is the best away performance by my team all season. Lewis Walker, gave us the lead from a corner in the 18th minute. Lewis Walker is my new signing, he is a central defender, i signed him to replace Nathan Bunce who is 34 years old, he has been performing very well for my team but his stamina and pace is dropping. Therefore i need someone who is younger and faster to deal with pacey strikers. Seems like i have already started the rebuilding process for next season. Back to the game, it was one nil till the break. We did not let our performance drop in the second half, my team wanted more and second goal came in the courtesy of David King, my loan signing. I may consider signing him as a back-up player if he agrees to join us. David Bryant score the third goal in the 77th minute and with two minutes left, my veteran midfielder Alex Smith completed the rout. This was a wonderful performance which give the fans something to cheer about.

vs Bromley 0-1
Finally we have reached the last game of the season and that was against Bromley, the current leader. They only need to get a draw from us to become champions. We matched them for large periods, only a wonder goal by their midfielder inflict the loss to us. My defenders put up a very good performance, again it is the midfield and the strikers who never put up a good fight. This gives me an idea of the areas to strengthen and the players to let go for next season.

After the last game against Bromley, we conclude the season by lying in 11th position out of 22 teams. This is the final table position...

Bromley and Lewes, the two best team in Blue Square South both are promoted to the Blue Square Premier. Though my team has not gain promotion but the final position has already exceed the media and the board expectation. That's why the board is delighted with my performance.

I am very concerned with our financial problem, seems like our revenue is unable to cover our expenses. I predict that there is no funds available for me to purchase any players, the only way is to look for players who is unattached. In order to do so, i need to release players for bigger wage budget so that i can sign some good players. I have set myself a few targets for the next season.
1. To sign players whom can help us to achieve promotion.
2. To reduce the financial problem.
3. To increase fans attendance.
4. To look for a parent club.
The first 3 targets will go along in line, as good results will bring us more fans and revenue will also be increased. This should be done in the first season but most of the players do not want to join us as we seem doom for the relegation. I hope this season will be different as our performance really shows that we are ambitious and wants to be successful. I will spend sometime for some heavy scouting hoping i can find some good players, dear readers, please wait for my next post regarding the pre-season transfer activities and friendlies. See you soon...

Thurrock-March 2010 results

After the results in February, we are currently occupying 10th place. I want my team to produce better results in March so that we can get closer to the final play-off spot, but we have a terrible start in March losing the first 2 games. I got to admit i made some tactical mistakes for these 2 matches so i am not going to blame the players for it. Here is the results...

vs Bath 0-3
We lost heavily to this 8th place team. They are very motivated to achieve a play-off place, their first goal was scored due to a misplace pass from Simon Heslop. Their midfielder made a quick pass to their striker who sidestep my defender to give them a lead. Their second goal come through Michael Husband who scored in close range, a perfect cross by Alex Flemming. My assistant manager had warned me to take care of this 2 players, but i never took his advice to close them down. Third goal was score immediately after the whistle, their captain Mike Perrott scored a thunderbolt from 30 yards and give my goalkeeper no chance. Though we came back very strongly but the final touch was not there. Their whole team performed magnificently, i only got myself to blame for the wrong tactical move.

vs Baintree 1-2
This is a home match against a team who is almost the same level as us. My young striker David Knight scored from close range to give us a lead in the first half. I do not know what their manager has said to them during the break , they came out very strongly in the second half. In the 62nd minute, they made the score level through a magnificent freekick by Brad Quinton. I think this shattered our confidence, they kept coming at us and finally got the winner through their striker due to a mistake by my defender. Simon Heslop was injured in this game and out for 5-6 month, that is a blow. There you go, a very bad start for the month, due to this 2 losses, we have dropped to 13th place. I think i need to ask my defenders to keep it tight at the back for the next game.

vs St Albans 1-0
They are the the worst performers in the Blue Square South, i think my team is very lucky to face them at this moment because they have not won for 20 matches in a row. Both team are short in confidence and that definitely shown in the game as shot created and on target is far and few. Just as i thought the game was heading for a draw, a good cross by my left back was put in by David Knight. This is a vital win, at least some confidence and morale is back.

vs Newport Co 1-0
I use a counter attacking tactics against Newport as they are few places above us. But my team really surprised me when they keep attacking the Newport goal, they created chance after chance. A good through ball by my loan signing David King to the penalty area and my striker David Bryant was the first to react and he put it straight in. From that moment, it is all Thurrock. We show the determination and aggression to win the match in front of our home fans. This results gave us 2 wins in a row and lifted us to 11th place.

vs Weymouth 4-1
Last match of the month was against 22nd place Weymouth, they have not won for the last four matches. So my team go into this with full confidence after the last 2 wins. We performed very well in the first half, the first come through their player scoring a own goal in the 16th minute. 3 minutes later, David knight scored to double the lead. Not long after my ball winning midfielder Wayne Graves injured himself and i sent in Matt Bodkin to replace him. They managed to pull a goal back when my defender granted their player too much space in the penalty area. My substitute Matt Bodkin scored in the 31st minute after their goalkeeper punch out a shot from my striker David Knight. It was an easy goal to a empty net.
Not satisfied, my other striker David Bryant also got himself in the scoresheet when he was put through Alex Smith. Though our possession of the ball and shots is lesser but my strikers is much clinical in front of goal in this match to win us the game.

Never did i imagine that the results in March will be so different, we lost the first 2 matches yet we managed to chalk up 3 wins in a row. This show that our problem is not yet solve inconsistency, but the positive thing is that we managed to reduce the distance between my team and the last play-off spot. Though we have dropped to 11th place, but it is just 4 points difference between us and Dover who is occupying the last play-off spot. Take a look at the table..

Just 5 more games left to conclude the season and all will be play in April. Can my Thurrock team achieve a play-off spot? If they can bring over the winning form to April, i think we have a high chance of making to the play-off spot provided other results go our way. However i have two injuries concern, my two first team midfielders Simon Heslop and Wayne Graves, both are out injured, i hope those who come in can perform to the task. I will not disappointed if we do not grab a play-off spot, i know the players try their best and the position we are in now already exceed the media and the board expectation and anything above will be a bonus. Dear readers let us rally for my Thurrock team and perform a miracle. That is promotion to the Blue Square Premier...

Thurrock-February 2010 results

It has been a pretty relax schedule for my Thurrock team this month. We just have to play 3 matches for the whole February. Here is the results..

Even though the opposition is not very strong, but we only managed 1 win, 1 draw and 1loss. That is very disappointing consider if we get maximum points, we will only be few points off the last play-off place.

vs Woking 0-0
Both team create almost same number of shots, but both team strikers keep their scoring boots at home. Look at the shots on target only 1 from both team. The game ended as a boring draw.

vs St Albans 2-0
They are now occupying the last place, so lack of confidence was certainly shown. But they managed to keep us at bay so it was stalemate for the 1st half. There was luck on the first goal scored as one of their player deflected a own goal in to give us the lead. This shattered their confidence even lower and my young striker David Knight scored 5 minutes later to put the match beyond them.

vs Eastleigh 1-2
They were occupying the last relegation spot, i thought it will be fairly easy game for us. We suffered from over confidence and they taught us a lesson. We were 2 goals down in the 1st half. Things got worse in the second half, my midfielder Wayne Graves got sent off for two bookable offence. Though we managed to pull a goal back through David Knight, it was just consolation. We really deserved to lose. I got nothing to complain.

After the 3 matches played, we are in 10th place 7 points off the last play-off place. Here is how the table looks like..

In March there is 5 matches for us to play some catch up. My team need to be at their best, else another performance like against Eastleigh we will be staying in Blue square south for another season. I hope they don't disappoint me and the fans...

Thurrock-January 2010 results

I mentioned in my last post that we will be playing 5 matches in January. I hope to gain as much points as possible since the team we are facing is not placed in the top half of the table. Well i think i have a good but not perfect month. Here is the results..

vs Chelmsford 1-0
They are one place above us so both team are well even match, we have almost identical number of shots but my captain Greg Lincoln scored a goal in close range due to a mistake by one of their defender.

vs Dorchester 1-2
I am unhappy and disappointed with my players for losing this match. I thought Dorchester is another mid-table team whom we can beat them. We have more shots than them but they control the game with more possession on the ball. My defenders is not performing well. They gifted them 2 goals. 

vs Bath 1-1
Another well even match ended up in the draw. I seriously beginning to wonder whether we can achieve a play-off place if the results keep going not our way. Bath score at the 57th minutes but we reply four minutes later through my new signing Jamie Garry. He got a goal on his debut. I  hope he can provide me the answer of scoring a lot of goals.

vs Welling 3-1
We conceded a goal in the 3rd minute not long after the kick-off. Oh dear, i think i am going to have a very bad month.  We totally switch off in the first half. During the break, i told my players i cannot accept this type of performance. They did not disappoint me. They created a lot of chance but still need to wait until 70th minute then the goal came. My central defender Chris Saunders headed in to make us level through a set-piece. 6th minutes left on the clock and we scored another 2 goals. Both assist by my new signing Jamie Garry. Seems like he has no problems in blending into the squad. 

vs Maidenhead 4-0
We go into this match with a lot of confidence and the whole team really play very well. We totally thrashed them. Not only did we scored 4 goals but also limit their chances on shots. Jamie Garry got himself another goal here. Our strike rate have definitely improved for the last 2 matches. I hope they can keep the good run going.

We still having mixed results but this month is still not so bad. We got 10 points out of 15 points. Though we climb only 1 place above to 12th place but now my team is 6 points off the last play-off place. I still hope that i can grab a play-off place when the season ends. This is how the table look like at the moment..

2 of my players performed very well during the month won the 1st and 2nd place for the player of the month award. They are my veteran defender Nathan Bunce and my new signing Jamie Garry. Nathan Bunce got a average rating of 7.52 and Jamie Garry got 7.50. These 2 players will be vital to my team, i hope they can drive the team forward and win us promotion.

I was very impressed with my new signing Jamie Garry. He once played for Tranmere Rovers. I signed him for free but he has repay my faith on him in the last 3 matches. In total he scored 2 goals and made 2 assists. Finally i think i have a striker who is capable of putting the ball in the net and create chances for others. My other young striker David Knight also benefit in his presence. Take a look at the attributes of Jamie Garry.

In February, we will be playing only 3 matches. So my players will have a lot time to gain back their fitness. I hope to climb to the top half of the table after the month finish. Will see you in my next post.