Dear Mr Mills,
I'd like to offer my application for the currently vacant managerial position at Brentford F.C.
Experience
I'd like to offer my application for the currently vacant managerial position at Brentford 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 Brentford F.C. and following is the detail of how I got on:
Board Expectations:
Not sure what respectable means, but as always I aim to get promoted, so will hope for the playoffs at least.
Backroom staff:
I arrived with Assistant Manager Terry Bullivant and two first team coaches (Scott Marshall & Simon Royce) at the club.
I was happy with Terry & Simon, but terminated Scott Marshall’s contract to allow him to pursue other interests. I brought in a full coaching team in the shape of Peter Cawley, Rhys Wilmot, Robbie Elliott & Paul Parker.
Early in the season head scout John Griffin was touted by Everton & we obviously couldn’t match their offer, so he left us.
Playing Squad:
I inherited a reasonably sized squad, a good mixture of youth and experience. Probably a season or two away from reaching its peak.
Transfers:
After analysing the playing staff I decided we were short a right and left back, a right winger, two left wingers and a holding central midfielder and an attacking central midfielder. In total 7 players.
I had little transfer funds to play with so prioritised the left wing role. In Championship Manager 01-02 the game will only allow two loans at once (unrealistic I know), these spots were already filled by goalkeeper Ben Hamer & striker Robbie Simpson. I had plenty of cover up front so Robbie’s loan was ended early to free up a spot to get a left winger on loan. Sure enough Colchester’s Andy Vincent was brought in for a few months. Jimmy McNulty was also bought from Brighton on the cheap to sure up the defence.
In September, loanee ‘keeper Ben Hamer was bought from his parent club by Sheffield Wednesday, so a new stopper had to be bought, luckily Bryn Halliwell was available for a small fee. This also meant a new player could be brought in on loan, so in came young Welsh defender James Wilson from Bristol City.
Players sold were Simon Moore & Sam Wood due to being surplus to requirements. In November Pim Balkenstein was unhappy as wanted to move to a bigger club, he wasn’t first choice so I sold him for £250K to mighty PSV. In retrospect I could have probably held out for more cash which would have helped with the run-in to the season.
Similarly Michael Spillane became unhappy about not being in the first team, he was given a chance but did not prove himself so he was sold to non-league Luton at the end of the season.
In summary:
2 permanent signings for £120K
4 players sold for £350K.
The Season:
Cup runs
League Cup
1st round – out-foxed 4-1 away to Championship Leicester.
Johnstone's Paint Trophy
South 1st round – Appalling 2-0 home loss to lower league Barnet.
FA Cup
1st round – lost in a 3-2 thriller away to Dagenham & Redbridge after leading 2-0.
Summary:
Pretty rubbish, lost at the first stage each time. A good cup run could have brought in some much needed cash for transfers.
The League
We started OK, always in the top half of the table & mostly in the playoffs. A lengthy unbeaten run which started in November saw us rise up the table and into the automatic promotion places into the new year
League table as at 5th February 2011 (two days after the club parted with Andy Scott in the real world):
12 places higher than an in the real world.
3 points clear of the playoffs.
The unbeaten league run that started in November lasted until the end of March, a staggering total of 21 games. This saw us consolidate 2nd spot (Charlton were well clear at the top) and we only lost one more game until the end of the season.
The 2010/11 League 1 Final League Table:
Well clear of the playoffs, along with Charlton we were a different class of team in the division.
Roll of honour:
Praised in the local media:
Leon Legge
Bryn Halliwell
Charlie MacDonald
Club Most Appearances:
Charlie MacDonald 49 (100% attendance)
Club Most Man of the Match:
Charlie MacDonald 5
Nicky Adams 5
Club Most Assists:
Myles Weston 18
Club Top Goalscorer:
Charlie MacDonald 21
League 1 Players Team of the Year:
Leon Legge
Nicky Adams
Charlie MacDonald
Fans player of the year:
Charlie MacDonald
International Callups:
Michael Spillane Ireland U21
League 1 Manager of the Month:
James Rees February
Attendances:
Lowest: 3,294 vs. Dagenham & Redbridge League 1
Highest: 11,237 vs. Leyton Orient League 1
Average: 7,064
Finances
Little was spent on transfer fees; indeed we generated income from players being sold.
The club’s poor performance in the cups meant that there was hardly any revenue generated there.
Our final league promotion meant a good sum of money coming in at the end of the season.
The club’s average attendance was disappointing, being only the 14th best in the division.
This lead to an overall gain of £650K, giving the club a great financial platform for strengthening the squad for the step up in division.
Future
In the summer I will attempt to strengthen the squad again, I should have around £6M to spend after getting the Championship TV revenue, a massive figure unheard of at the Bees.
I will again be looking to recruit two right backs, a left back, two left wingers, a right winger, a holding central midfielder and an attacking central midfielder. In total eight players, but it shouldn’t be too difficult to find players of a suitable quality considering the amount of resource I will have.
I’d aim for Championship survival, the team would need some stability because 8 new faces will create some disruption.
I’m happy with my current backroom staff, but changes may occur if stand-out coaching talent becomes available.
Summary
A great season, promotion to the Championship!
A financial profit made.
I doubt the board could be happier with my performance.
As you can see, I would be a great addition to Brentford 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.
Now this is the bit in these reports when I write about how I would like the area by mentioning local attractions and notable personalities from the area. Unfortunately my research has drawn a blank, the best thing I can do is copy what I wrote for my (as of yet unsuccessful) Barnet application, and say that I like bees because they make honey. The only other thing I can say is “Hey Jude” is my favourite Beatles song.
I assure you that my knowledge is invaluable and you will not find a better (virtual) manager anywhere else.
No comments:
Post a Comment