Dear Mr Mitchell,
I'd like to offer my application for the currently vacant managerial position at A.F.C Bournemouth
Experience
I'd like to offer my application for the currently vacant managerial position at A.F.C Bournemouth
Experience
Currently have no actual managerial experience outside of the realm of Championship Manager 01-02. But am confident that the skills I have acquired from this computer game will translate into the real world.
As a demonstration of my skills I have played the entire 2010-11 season with A.F.C. Bournemouth and following is the detail of how I got on:
Board Expectations:
So just stay in League 1. I think that’s pretty reasonable considering we were newly promoted to that division this season
Backroom staff:
I arrived with a Player/Assistant Manager (Jason Tindall) and four first team coaches (Matty Holmes, Marcus Browning, Joe Roach & Ken Walton) at the club.
However there were better coaches out there which I wanted to bring to the club. So the entire coaching staff was replaced
I found five quality coaches for Bournemouth; namely Trevor Steven, Bob Latchford, Mike Ellis (who I’ve worked with before), Mike Lyons & Peter Cawley.
Player/Assistant Manager Jason Tindall was asked to concentrate on his playing duties & Paul Brush was swept in as his full time replacement.
Jason Tindall ended up making over 30 playing appearances in the season, so I think I made the right decision, who’s to say he may return to coaching at the club once his playing days are over.
The other staff appointment was physiotherapist Jim Walker to bring the physio team up to full strength.
Playing Squad:
The playing squad I inherited was of high quality and reasonably large for a League 1 club.
It’s also a relatively young squad that is probably a couple of years from reaching its peak.
After looking at the squad; no members of the squad needed to be transfer listed.
Transfers:
After analysing the playing staff I decided we were only short a left back, a left winger and a striker. However, there were little funds for transfers. I would have to look for players out of contract or available for loan.
Left back Joe Jacobsen was brought in immediately on season-loan from Oldham. However in January he was subject to a permanent deal from Carlisle, which I tried to match, but couldn’t. So Marcus Holness was brought in on loan as a replacement from Rochdale.
I tried for months to get a winger or striker on loan, but dozens of offers were rejected by the parent clubs.
Gradually money became available for new players, and young Welsh international Owain Tudor-Jones was brought in from Norwich for only £80K.
Then a significant sum of money became available after a cup run, so Italian American Mike Grella was purchased for £550K. I know that is one of the highest fees ever spent by the Cherries, but I think you’ll agree he was worth it.
Joe Partington was sent out on loan to Stevenage, but when he returned hadn’t improved, so was sold to Shrewsbury at the end of the season.
Finally, the only other transfer activity was a short term loan of Ole Soderberg as goalkeeping cover. However, he was red-carded in his second game, so with his suspension looming, it was pointless keeping him at the club, so the loan was terminated early.
In summary
2 permanent signings for 50K
1 player sold for £625K
Rejected offers from other clubs:
The following players were deemed too important to sell, so their respective bids were declined:
Jason Pearce £1.2M Leicester
Shwan Jalal £325K Derby
Warren Cummings £110K MK Dons
Marvin Bartley £180K Cardiff
The Season:
Cup runs
League Cup
1st round – Disappointing 2-1 away loss to Notts County.
Johnstone's Paint Trophy
South 1st round – 3-0 home victory over Cheltenham.
South 2nd round – victory on penalties after a 1-1 draw away to Swindon.
South quarter final – 1-0 win at home to Gillingham.
South semi-final – 2-0 defeat of Burton Albion at home.
South final – 3-2 aggregate win over Charlton.
Final – 1-0 loss to Huddersfield in an evenly matched game.
FA Cup
1st round – Beat non-league Safford 4-0 away in a replay after a nervy 1-1 draw at home.
2nd round – Again took two legs to beat minnows Chelmsford, this time won 1-0 away after a 2-2 draw at home.
3rd round – Slayed Premier league Aston Villa 1-0 game in a game we deserved to win.
4th round – Outclassed but not embarrassed 2-0 away to Arsenal.
Summary:
Disappointing league cup performance, but more than happy with how we fared in the other two competitions.
Should have really won the Johnstone’s Paint Trophy but at least we got to the final (at the Millennium Stadium?!) in front of 50,000+ fans.
Brilliant FA Cup run, beating one top flight team at a packed Dean Court before the chance to play again in front of over 50,000 at the Emirates. The revenue from our FA Cup run transformed our season.
Derby Games
Good. Beat Southampton home and away.
The League
We started off strongly, reaching the top of the league by September and staying near the summit throughout 2010. The squad were getting used to the tactics I employ & the new coaches’ hard work was starting to show.
League table as at 14th January 2011 (the day the club parted with Eddie Howe in the real world):
4 points above the playoffs.
Note that 3 more fixtures have been played – the weather in Championship Manager has been quite mild.
For the run-in the team were unstoppable, winning 16 out of 19 games. New signing Mike Grella was a goal-machine.
The 2010/11 League 1 Final League Table:
Obviously with a run like that we not only won the league, but dominated it. The title was achieved with games to spare & we went on to score 101 points, a joint record for 3rd tier football. We were 11 points clear of second and 17 ahead of the playoffs.
Roll of honour:
Praised in the local media:
Steve Lovell
Ryan Garry
Marc Pugh
League 1 Player of the Month:
Mike Grella March
Mike Grella April
International Callups:
Rhoys Wiggins Wales
Shwan Jalal Iraq
Josh McQoid Northern Ireland U21
Joe Partington Wales U21
League 1 Players Team of the Year:
Shwan Jalal
Ryan Garry
Marc Pugh
Club Top Goalscorer:
Mike Grella 24
This astonishingly came from only 21 games.
Fans player of the year:
Marc Pugh
League 1 Manager of the Month:
James Rees September
James Rees October
James Rees January
James Rees February
James Rees March
League 1 Manager of the Year:
James Rees
Attendances:
Lowest: 1,995 vs. Burton Albion Johnstone’s Paint Trophy semi-final
Highest: 11,926 vs. Southampton League 1
Average: 7,262
Finances
Bournemouth know better than most that finances must be kept under control.
Little was spent on transfer fees, and wages were kept within the club’s wage structure.
One major purchase was made in a player, but this was well worth as it turned out to be effectively buying an extra goal per game.
The club’s FA Cup runs final league position meant that a large amount of prize money and gate receipts.
This lead to an overall profit of £800K, almost unheard of for a League 1 club. This will stand the club in good stead for the coming seasons.
Future
In the summer I will attempt to strengthen the squad for a step up in division. I should have around £5M to spend with the increase in income from TV money; however I’m not going to overhaul this young talented squad.
The only position I will definitely be signing will be a left back. Further signings may be necessary if any of the first team squad are not deemed of sufficient quality for Championship football. I’m confident in my team that nearly all of them will remain with the club.
I’m happy with my current backroom staff, but changes may occur if stand-out coaching talent becomes available.
At the end of the season many players were requesting new contracts, maybe because they know that there’s a lot more money available for them. We should give improved deals to all players who request them as long as we don’t break the club’s wage structure.
I will also press the board to improve the training facilities, which are adequate, but need to be improved to match other Championship clubs.
Summary
An entirely successful season, borne from little financial resource.
League 1 champions & back to back promotions.
A large financial profit made.
I doubt the board could have expected more.
As you can see, I would be a great addition to Bournemouth as my vast experience on Championship Manager has helped me learn a lot about man management, tactics & how to work with a limited budget. All of these could be translated into a real-world environment.
I think I would fit into the town of Bournemouth itself. I’ve been there twice before and it’s a really nice seaside town. I also really like cherries & old people.
I assure you that my knowledge is invaluable and you will not find a better (virtual) manager anywhere else.
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