With eleven matches to go — our last ten league matches and the League Cup Final — we’re taking stock and making plans. Sure, we’re still nursing our emotional wounds having crashed out of the Europa League despite being two goals to the good with only 30 minutes to go. But we have lots to play for: promotion, immortality and entry to Europe once more.
I need to plan who plays in what matches very carefully due to suspensions, physical injuries as well as cup-tiedness. We’re already five players short for our Cup Final in a week, so I try to add some last minute talent to carry us across the line.
I try to bring in some loanees and I’m successful with this chap. He can’t get a game for Leeds but is an upgrade over many of our AMs. I’d offer to purchase him, but he’s on £22k/week wages. We’re paying 30% of that and can’t afford to pay any more than that.
We’re now at the point that if we win and West Brom drop points, we’d earn our third consecutive division title. Still, we’re resting some key performers for the Fulham match in 4 days’ time.
Even our rotated team was a class above the Railway Mechanics Institute. we’re great value for the win, but even a late consolation goal can’t dampen our spirits.
In news from elsewhere in the league, The Baggies were down two-nil and a man short from the 40th minute of their match with Rochdale. They mount a valiant comeback attempt but only manage to draw level.
The transfer window slams shut, but not before we add this chap for a measly £40k. He’s also eligible for the League Cup which is a bonus.
He makes the bench for Fulham. As does Alderete, freshly back from a five week lay-off. Graham — our loanee from Leeds — got a 9 in his last match and keeps his spot. Marsh and Beck are together again up front.
It’s an even match at the start with both sides having a chance here and there. There’s fireworks in the 19th minute as a shoving match sees Murphy hit the showers early. Fortunately for us, Dimitriadis, Fulham’s Greek International star player, is also given his marching orders. We replace Knudsen with Ross to keep our two at the back, despite Fulham sticking with a 4–4–1 formation.
Fulham take it to us for long stretches of the first half, but Callebaut is up to the task.
Matches like this can often come down to moments of individual brilliance and although we may not be as strong as Fulham as a team, we’ve got some brilliance about the place. Dickson picks up a loose ball on the wing, drives past his defender and into the box, drawing a crowd. It’s laid off to Beck who has oodles of time and space to tap in for a Purfleet lead! 43 minutes in and we’ve got our noses in front!
Afraid of a devastating counter-punch just before the break, I encourage the lads to get stuck in, dial the attack back a bit and carry the euphoria into the half-time break. Graham has only been here a week on loan and that’s not a lot of time to get to know me and my coaching style…so he disregards my calls for caution. Beck presses forward on one of his maze-y runs and the last man back gets stuck in for a tackle. The balls squirts loose and there’s Graham, right there, where I asked him not to be. He strikes it low and hard after roaming forward unmarked and we double our lead! It’s two-nil at the break!
Far fewer people are interested in our League Cup performance compared to last year. Attendance has dropped from 85k to 65k for this iteration.
Beck has a sore tootsie-wootsie at the break, but knowing how temperamental he is, I leave him in. We have nine more meaningless(ish) matches after this one, so if he gets hurt, so be it.
Lots of Fulham pressure to start the second half but after they hit a bar, a post and Callebaut’s arms (twice) I feel better about my decision to leave Beck in.
The lead is up to three now, and I’m getting more and more comfortable as the match goes on. Callebaut holding the fort at the back while our attacks seem to be successful, more often that not.
On 74 minutes, Clark joins the act with a fantastic strike of his own to increase our lead to FOUR goals. As he’s in a yellow card (and tiring) I replace him with Roberts for the final quarter of an hour.
Five minutes later, Graham is relieved by Steadman, and the party begins as the final minutes tick away. The 3,874 Purfleet fans plus however many neutrals singing loud enough to drown out the Fulham supporters. We’ve defended our League Cup title in impressive fashion. Clinical finishing and solid goaltending the keys to victory on the day.
Does that get us back in to Europe next season???
I’ve enjoyed having Graham on the squad and when Bristol City offer £775k (he’s valued at £1.1M) I match it to see if he might be interested in joining us permanently. His wages are currently a stumbling block, but we’ll see if he might join for less.
I’m pipped for the MotM award by Wycombe’s gaffer for a second time, but Asmussen (5th different player, 6th monthly award) and Murphy (third different player, third award) sweep the PotM/YPotM awards for Purfleet.
Graham agrees to join the Purfleet revolution…on even less wages than we’re paying for his loan! Currently, we’re paying 30% of his £22k/week (£6.6k/week) but he’s joining in June for £4.4k/week!
Our future new boy gets a home debut and new CB Millar gets a club debut against the Swans as we look to chase immortality and a pair of league records. Surely if we can beat Prem side Fulham 4–0 in the Wembley pressure cooker we can score some goals against a Div 2 side in the friendy (for us) confines of The Rock.
I suppose if we’re going to keep a clean sheet, one goal is always enough. We took our foot off the pedal a bit again in the second half, but hold on for three more points. Magic Numbers: 9 (points), 5 (goals)
More than 4k fans turn up to see the trophy being paraded though,
Bolton are after Clark for £350k. He’s been VERY good this season, but he’s my joint 4th best DM and he’s my third oldest first teamer. I ask to swap for a solid young £2M midfielder and they offer £925k instead. That makes me happy enough and since we’re past the transfer deadline, he’ll see us through til the summer.
O’Rourke has been pushed down to the reserves with Asmussen’s arrival so he’s listed and some big names are sniffing around my £500k valuation of him: Villa, Leeds, Man City, Watford and West Ham
Port Vale held us to a draw when we travelled there, so I’m looking or improvement at home. We’re rotating hard and fast now, just trying to keep people happy and make my summer decisions a little easier…or more difficult as the case may be.
Having taken a fortuitous two-nil lead, we suffer the dreaded pre-break concession and come in a goal to the good, but disheartened.
Come the 70 minute mark, The Valiants have equalised and I decide to throw Marsh up front to punish their tiring back line. And he does. Twice. The final score looks more impressive than the performance though.
Still, another non-loss, three more points and a massive four goals scored. We’re now level with the record for most scored goals, so one more in seven matches and we’re tops. Down to six more points for that Second Division record too.
The jostling for positions two through six is still ongoing. It’s pretty safe to say we know who the next five are going to be, but where they finish is anybody’s guess.
I check in on the financial situation to see what our spending/earning situation is like and we’re still sitting pretty at £36M. But something else jumps out at me. We’re now permitted to spend TWENTY-SEVEN MILLION QUID on a single player. I check on wages by offering a deal to some absolute sack of sh*t (that I immediately retract) and I can now offer £8.75k/week.
We’re beginning a busy four-match week with a trip to Halesowen.
We’re behind on the first attack of the match, but Marsh throws us on his back and carries us to victory on the strength of his hat trick. He’s 0.06 average rating behind the current Second Division leader…who no longer plays in the league. It’s up to Marsh to catch him over our final six matches.
104 goals scored is a new league record, we’re three points from the record and Scholz, Smart and Beck are all on the TotY…which is voted on FAR too early in the season.
We go for that points record at Colchester a few days later. We run out almost the same XI, save for Nygaard coming in to AMC to replace Knudsen, who crocked himself in training.
Although it’s an even match, we’re looking good at the break, up 3–1. A pair of quick fire strikes just before the hour mark draw Colchester level during our usual second half lull, before Beck nets his second of the match to give us the win…and the record!
The interest in O’Rourke has paid off. Having bought him from Macclesfield for £100k sixteen months ago, Villa want him. They offer £550k over six months, but I negotiate up to a nice, round £1M over six months (or a very un-round £166,666.66/month). O’Rourke agrees and he joins the list of summer departures.
We’re tiring a bit as we face 6th place Lancaster two days later. They’ve got everything to play for with three points separating 2nd and 6th.
It’s a dull but even affair as no one really even threatens either goal. No posts, bars, penalty shouts or great saves from either side, though looking at the table, it doesn’t do Lancaster much good.
Another 48 hours later and we’re back at it, this time visiting Rochdale. We could resign them to relegation. We’re rotated a fair bit due to exhaustion…
It’s so comfortable a match that we’re in no danger of dropping points, let alone losing. It takes far too long, but we finally get our breakthrough with thirty minutes to go. The Rochdale attack is entirely toothless. They do level the score ten minutes later against the run of play but that’ll be all they get. We have a penalty appeal waved away. And another. And then our invincible season vanishes in the blink of an eye.
Ugh. Against the second bottom team in the league and their keeper finishes on a nine and with a MotM award. What a crushing defeat. Could this be worse than the Europa League QF Loss?
My Rochdale anger > My Angers anger right now…
The ball was only in our third 17% of the time and we were in control of the ball for two-thirds of that time. But they scored two goals from three shots on target. Just awful.
Congrats to Bristol Rovers who, after dispatching us in extra time of the Vans South SF, went on to win the thing, beating Charlton 4–2 in the South Final and then Port Vale 1–0 thanks to a keeper red/PK combo.
Three matches to play and we’re already point and goal records holders, so let’s at least make those more difficult to reach for future teams…
Despite not finishing off Rochdale’s season, we may be able to finish Crewe’s. They’re 22nd and we’re at home. Let’s have a statement match, shall we lads?
That’s more bloody like it. If the match is more or less over in six minutes, it’s done and dusted by the eighteenth. It’s a rather boring second half in comparison, with some of our players ending the match with mid-90s fitness levels.
We do send Crewe down with that walloping but there are still things to be played for all over the league. West Brom and Wycombe are battling for 2nd place and automatic promotion with us. Gillingham, Lancaster and Leyton Orient are trying to outmanoeuvre each other for playoff positions 4th-6th. And at the bottom those *ssholes from Rochdale need three different matches to go their way to avoid relegation.
Middlesbrough win the Prem with two matches to spare to lift the trophy for the third time in the last four seasons. We’re coming for you. I mean, we did beat them in the Charity Shield earlier this season…
I arrange transfers for a couple more players for next season. A CB that I’m fine with having for £250k and a DM that replaces Clark (and then some) for half the price.
We trot out the same XI (and XVI) for our penultimate Second Division match at Bristol Rovers. Some revenge for the Vans loss would be nice.
Well, it’s another fantastic win. Maybe not the goal rush we had in our last match, but the performance is fantastic. One-way traffic all match long and with his latest strike, Beck is now the top seasonal goalscorer (34 in all competitions) and top league goalscorer (25 so far) for Purfleet.
With a solitary match remaining, we may not win the individual scoring title, but a 50-goal partnership isn’t out of the question.
Top scorer Beeton is getting in the way of an all-Purfleet top seven. A solid performance in our last match could get us eight of the top nine, as we play Everton and our keepers are all square on 7.45s.
I win the April MotM award, but the Lake brothers take both player awards. I thought for a moment that the same fella had won both, but Lewis of Charlton takes PotM (8.33, 4 goals) and Gary of Huddersfield wins yPotM (7.60 and 2 MoM awards).
All eight of those top Purfleet performers are in the XI as we travel to Kings Dock, Everton’s 55k stadium. It’s the last day of the season and we’ve got some records to improve upon.
50k fans show up to see their team play the league champs and they all leave very disappointed. Or thrilled. Depending on what they wanted to see. After taking the lead in the 35th, Hutchings slides through his man after the ball had left and earns a second yellow. No matter, as Marsh reminds everyone who should win PotY with a second half brace.
The final table is a bit embarrassing if I’m honest. We finish twenty-seven points in front of West Brom, our future First Division opponents. We throw up some very big numbers for the new Second Division records for points (117) and goals (120). And those invincible-season-ruining scumbags from Rochdale head back down to the Third Division. Good riddance.
Weirdly, we end on the exact same record as last season, just with an extra three-quarters of a goal being scored each match at one end or the other.
Coventry knock off Div 1 Nottingham Forest to win the FA Cup. We reluctantly hand back the trophy, but not before whispering “See you soon” in it’s ear.
The Europa is won by Shinnik using an incredibly balanced performance of all 7s, save that one guy that made a 5 minute cameo.
Feyenoord win their fifth career UCL knocking off Hertha Berlin, who have made the finals in four of the last five years. winning it once.
Lancaster, the sixth place team in our division, beat Wycombe and then Leyton Orient in the play-offs to book their promotion with us.
There’s another new second Division record as Everton manage an average home attendance of 39,519…just a touch higher than our average attendance of 3,533. If we’d only had 1,658,889 people show up for our last match (yes, I did the maths) we’d be level with them.
As we’re waiting for the end of the month (the summer begins/trasnfer window opens on the 2nd of June), we knock back bids for James (Forest) and Hutchings (Wrexham) and they’re both unhappy with me now. Guys, they’re in the league that we’re headed to!
We also add a few new staff members, including a coach, a pair of scouts and a physio. Some of them cost a few bob to get, but nothing we can’t afford these days.
The 31st of May is upon us and with it comes the awards ceremony. With only one league match in the month, Lancaster sweep the monthly awards due to their promotion play-off victory.
I don’t know where I came up with the idea, but there IS no Player of the Year award for the Second Division (or any division for that matter). There certainly is a Manager of the Year award though and I rightfully earn my third successive one of those. It’s starting to make folks take notice. Not bad for a technically still Second Division boss…
We’ve got a busy summer coming up between the thirteen comings and goings that are lined up (so far), a new training facility being built and a World Cup starting in ten days that we’ll want to watch/scout.
Three seasons into me knowing that I’m the Purfleet boss and our league record is 126–22–6 and we’ve got consecutive titles from the Conference, Third and Second Divisions. Our trophy cabinet also includes an FA Trophy from Season 1, a Vans, League and FA Cup treble from Season 2 and a Charity Shield and League Cup (repeat) from Season 3.
Despite our unfortunate losses this season, things are going quite well for us.
