Dear Mr MacAnthony,
I'd like to offer my application for the currently vacant managerial position at Peterborough United F.C.
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 Peterborough United F.C. and following is the detail of how I got on:
Board Expectations:
So strong expectations, a top 6 finish expected.
Backroom staff:
I arrived with an Assistant Manager (Nicky Eaden) and three first team coaches (Barry Richardson, Kevin Charley & Ken Charlery) at the club.
I found four quality coaches for Peterborough, namely Trevor Senior, Ian Woan, Keith Ryan & Ian Helliwell. This meant that two coaches had to leave, and Kevin Charley & Ken Charlery left by mutual consent.
Assistant Manager Nicky Eaden was also relieved of his duties as Peter Atherton was available and I was keen to have him at the club as my right hand man.
The other staff appointment was physiotherapist Helen Williams to add a woman’s touch to the physio staff.
Mid-season, scout John Morling was offered the chance to join Halifax & I chose not to stand in his way, so he left the club.
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; Josh Simpson, Carl Piergianni, Chris Whelpdale & Nathan Korantheng were all transfer listed.
There were a number of players out on loan, and one player at the club on loan (Wolves’ young winger Nathan Mendez-Laing). I chose not to recall anyone as I didn’t want to disrupt the players or break any loan deal that had previously been made.
Transfers:
After analysing the playing staff I decided we were short 2 central defenders, 2 left backs, a right 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.
Morten Knudsen was brought in on season-long loan from Colchester to fill one left back slot.
The sales of Josh Simpson and Carl Piergianni to Yeovil & Brentford respectively generated enough funds to sign Wolves’ veteran centre back Jodie Craddock.
In November, further sales of Chris Whelpdale and returning loanee Scott Williams to Kettering & Blackpool respectively again generated income for another transfer, this time Carlisle’s Peter Murphy who could cover both centre and left back. It was November and I was now happy with my defence.
This only lasted a couple of weeks as my only two goalkeepers were due to serve suspensions for red cards at the same time. I had to bring in a goalkeeper (Michael Poke from Brighton) on emergency loan. As I already had two players on loan (the maximum in Championship Manager, I know that’s not very realistic for lower league clubs), I had to terminate one loan deal, Morten Knudsen wasn’t first choice, so he was sent back to Colchester early.
The squad situation was improved by returning loanees Exodus Geohaghan (local boy done good) & Liam Hatch, both went straight into the first team squad.
I was still short a couple of players now but no funds were available to recruit the right calibre for the Posh until Gabriel Zakuani was transfer listed & sold in January. He had been complaining about not being first choice for weeks and had received plenty of chances, but my patience ran out. Preston bought him for a good sum and I was able to finally buy transfer-listed Alex Bruce from Leeds after attempting to sign him all season.
George Boyd (QPR) and Craig Mackall-Smith (Forest) left the club in similar fashion to Gabriel & this allowed me to sign versatile defender Lee Beevers & US international striker Eddie Johnson from Colchester & Fulham respectively. Johnson was an absolute bargain at £65K, one of the best deals of my career.
Finally, 2 wingers were brought in on loan to bolster the squad for the final run-in. They were Junior Stanislas from West Ham & Hogan Ephraim from QPR. The latter was a like-for-like replacement for existing loan player Nathan Mendez-Laing, who was sent back to his parent club after struggling with the physicality of League 1.
After the season ended, long time transfer listed player Nathan Korenteng was finally offloaded to Norwich. Meaning returning loanee Rene Howe is currently the sole occupier of the transfer list.
In summary
4 separate loan signings
5 permanent signings for 525K
8 players sold for £1.6M
A net profit of over £1M.
Rejected offers from other clubs:
Lee Frecklington Birmingham £875K
Dave Hibbert Wolves £775K
Nana Ofori-Twumasi Coventry £550K
Grant McCann Ipswich £550K
Charlie Lee Forest £500K
Ryan Bennett Ipswich £275K
The Season:
Cup runs
League Cup
1st round – demolished Tranmere at home 3-0.
2nd round – outclassed Premier League Birmingham at home 1-0.
3rd Round – drawn away to Premier League Fulham, gave them a good game, but lost 3-2.
Johnstone's Paint Trophy
1st round – bye.
2nd round – a disappointing loss on penalties after a 1-1 draw at home to lower-league Bradford.
FA Cup
1st round – Beat Morcambe 4-2 away in a replay after a nervy 0-0 draw at home.
2nd round – Comfortable 3-0 home win to non-league Grimsby.
3rd round – A great 3-1 away win in a replay after a thrilling 2-2 draw at home against Championship Doncaster.
4th round – 1-0 loss to Premier League Aston Villa in a game that could have gone either way.
Summary:
Thrilled with both league and FA cup funs. Great to take a Premier league scalp, unfortunately couldn’t repeat it on our second trip to Birmingham. Was great to see the boys play at a packed Villa Park, and the ticket revenues certainly made the chairman smile.
The performance in the Johnstone’s Paint Trophy was disappointing, but that is easily our lowest priority competition of the season.
Derby Games:
Unfortunately we lost to our nearest league rivals MK Dons home and away 2-1. However our superior league position to them should give enough bragging rights to our loyal fans. The home game against the Dons saw our largest gate of the season.
The League
We started off steadily, in and out of the playoff places throughout 2010. The squad were getting used to the tactics I employ & the coaches’ hard work was starting to show.
League table as at 11th January 2011 (the day the club parted with Gary Johnson in the real world):
2 places lower than an in the real world (hope I’m not in trouble).
1 point off the playoffs with a game in hand.
Note that 4 more fixtures have been played – the weather in Championship Manager has been quite mild.
For the run-in the team went on an awesome run, winning 16 out of 20 games, including a streak of 11 straight wins to finish the season! We burst into the playoffs the game after the above picture was taken, and rose and rose as we kept winning.
The 2010/11 League 1 Final League Table:
Obviously with a run like that we won the league. 94 points was close to a 3rd tier record & was 9 points clear of the playoffs.
Roll of honour:
Praised in the local media:
Kelvin Langmead
Dave Hibbert
League 1 Player of the Month:
Kelvin Langmead October
Lee Frecklington April
League 1 Young Player of the Month:
Ryan Bennett January
International Callups:
James Wesolowski Poland U21
Nana Ofori-Twumasi Ghana U21
League 1 Players Team of the Year:
Joe Lewis
Kelvin Langmead
Dave Hibbert
League 1 Top Goalscorer:
3rd Dave Hibbert 26
Top Goalscorer:
Dave Hibbert 30
Special mention to Eddie Johnson who scored 9 in 10 games after being signed late in the season
Fans player of the year:
Dave Hibbert
League 1 Manager of the Month:
James Rees February
James Rees March
James Rees April
League 1 Manager of the Year:
James Rees
Attendances:
Highest 13,110 MK Dons League 1
Lowest 4,197 Bradford Johnstone’s Paint Trophy
Average 8,618
Finances
Wheeler-dealing in the transfer market was the main reason for the season’s healthy financial state. Only players surplus to requirements were sold & 5 quality replacements and additions were found. Astonishingly the highest transfer fee paid was £150K.
The club’s final league position, & reasonable cup runs also contributed.
This lead to an overall profit of around £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 positions I will attempt to sign will be a left and right winger. 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.
Joe Lewis was subject to media speculation about a big move to the Premiership throughout the season. Obviously we would do well to hold on to his services, but I would not stand in his way if a Premier League club came in with a suitable bid & the player really wanted to go. Joe has the ability to play at the very highest level, and we should not stand in his way.
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 Lee Frecklington & Grant McCann were requesting new contracts. I delayed offering them new deals until their suitability for Championship football was known.
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, born from little financial resource.
League 1 champions & a return to the Championship.
A large financial profit made.
I doubt the board could have expected more. We gained promotion back to the Championship at the first attempt.
As you can see, I would be a great addition to Peterborough 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 Peterborough itself. Simon Davies is from the same area of West Wales that I am from, so there is that connection. Also, I am big fans of other Peterborians Jake Humphry and Aston out of JLS, and my favourite Spice Girl was “Posh” Spice.
I assure you that my knowledge is invaluable and you will not find a better (virtual) manager anywhere else.
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