After spending an hour or so in the Editor of Football Manager 2008 I have created a new team known as Thornhill F.C. (incidentally I live in an area of Cardiff called Thornhill. Shocking.) This will be the story of Thornhill, their highs and lows through the football season of 2007/2008. (I have to use FM08 for this as there isn’t any FM09 available at the moment.)

Thornhill are starting off in the Blue Square South division which is pretty much the last division before complete football nothingness and the lowest level league in the English system I can go. The game is being started with all the English leagues playable, the Scottish Premier League and First Division and the Welsh Premier League. With a ‘large’ database and a start date of July 2007 I get ready to take control of Thornhill.

The finances of the club are pretty strong considering the league they are starting in. With over £900,000 in the balance we shouldn’t be encountering many problems there. However my board have only given me a transfer budget of £10,000, I don’t know what I will be able to do with such a small amount, buy a no-hoper from someone in the Welsh league? I think that will be it.

I have some issues though when looking at my squad, while all my players are Welsh, all but one is 16 or younger. That one exception is a man known as Evo, a player who I created in order to ensure that I have at least one good player at the club. He has pretty good stats and would be, according to my random AssMan (Assistant Manager) a great signing for any Premiership Club. Fortunately I set him up to have a very high loyalty rating so I hope to god that he doesn’t leave me once a big team starts to sniff around him.

My first goal will be to try and find some new players, while Evo is going to be key man for me, I cannot rely solely on him. To succeed and cover any injuries I am going to need to sign some players. In go bids on some defenders from other teams in my league, hopefully I will get some luck with them. Issues arise once I realise that I am only £65 per week under my wage budget, this will be tricky.

With a first friendly game of the season against the little known Ely Rangers I have my AssMan select the team for me that he thinks best suits my players. Knowing what the AssMen are like from previous FM games I am dubious about whether he has made the right choices. At least he has picked the young star in the making Evo in the attack midfield role. My formation today is my classic 4-1-2-1-2 which is just a variation of the 4-4-2 Diamond. Some extra running lines and team instructions and I set off to my first game in charge of Thornhill.

Following a harrowing 3-2 defeat I realise that this is going to be an even tougher challenge than I thought at first. My star man was, as I expected Evo. Nobody else was able to stand up and make a claim on a starting position in my first proper game of the season. I don’t know if I have the quality in my squad to compete in this league, and finding decent players at this level with such a small budget is a challenge I never usually get to experience. I am up for some interesting times.

I already fear that my dreams of marching up the leagues straight away are horribly out of synch with what I will achieve. I decide to move forward to my next match without trying to find any new players. I am up against League 2 side Shrewsbury. After heading into half-time down two goals to nil I make a few slight tactical adjustments.

My crowd of just over 300 are getting ready to head to the exits when disaster strikes on the 89th minute. My one and only right back is injured. With nobody trained in his position I throw on my young centre back Chris Champion into the fray. Fortunately he manages to survive the last few minutes without giving away any goals.

After returning to what I assume is a tiny hut by the ground (I only earn £210 a week) I learn that my one and only right back, Nick Jackson has fractured ribs. He is going to be out for anything between 3 weeks and 2 months. How the time frame for his lay off is so varied is probably down to the fact that my physio is the guy from the local pub who happens to have a First Aid Kit in the boot of his car. You are starting to see the difficulties I am posed with I hope.

Doing a quick player search I find a Stephen Rose waiting around for a club to sign him. He has experience at League 1 level so I hope he can do something for us, if he signs. Unfortunately he doesn’t sign before my next friendly, an opportune time to leave this disaster in the making before it gets even worse.

Tags: Blogging away, Football Manager 2008, Thornhill F.C.

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