Pub Team to Manager’s Dream Part 41 – Mid Sussex Football League Div. 3

We are now flying through the seasons and flying up the English league system and with no real problems or stumbling blocks. Which is very good in the sense that we have a long way and a lot of promotions to go before we reach a league with any notoriety. It is also good thing that the tactics aren’t requiring much adjustment to maintain our success as we climb the divisions and we certainly haven’t needed a big change of style. So my original analysis and decisions where pretty suitable for the lower leagues but I am rather itching for chances to stretch my managerial skills a bit more and have to adapt to better teams & new styles of play.

But anyway Mid Sussex Football League Division 3, what happened…So once again preseason went pretty well and also once again there was only one blemish on the league campaign in the form of a 3-2 away loss to Danehill, who actually pushed us close right to the end with us only sealing the league title with a revenge win over them on the penultimate match of the league season. oh yeah, maybe spoiler alert before that, we won the league.

But now to the elephant in the room, or on the screen. I’m sure you have noticed the loss to AFC Bolnore at the bottom of that screenshot. Yes we lost in a cup final and I’m not one to make excuses…. but maybe I’m going to make an excuse:Note that  1.they are in the league below us 2.their manager has no better reputation than us 3.their club has no better reputation than us and 4.they’re not paying them insane wages. What on earth is going on at AFC Bolnore?!?!

Some names that stand out to me in there too, Chris Hussey formerly of AFC Wimbledon and Cameron Gill of Exeter City.

Clearly AFC Bolnore have some secret scheme going on to lure and keep players that are way above this level because as an experiment I attempted to sign most of these players but even after having to talk to the players, they still weren’t willing to enter contract discussions.

But anyway, there were plenty of successful cup finals so let’s have a look at them:

Mowatt Challenge Cup (1-0 vs. Fairfield): Very tight and cagey match and we even had slightly less possession probably due to our more direct, risk taking tactics but we had an equal amount of chances. In the end, it took Jordan Powell with a good finish from a tight angle after the ball had bounced around the box from a corner at the end of the first half of extra time.

Edgar German Challenge Cup (1-0 win vs. Barcombe): Another tight match with us once again having less possession and less chances as well this time. This was arguably one of our luckier wins however we did manage to win in normal time this time from a darting run and finish from Gareth Pullin off a cross from Mike Morall.

Stubbins Challenge Cup (3-0 vs. Burgess Hill Rhinos): Equal once again in terms of possession and shots stats but we definitely had the majority of the clear cut chances. Goals from Morall, Bentley & Houghton illustrating perfectly how they have been the standout performers this season. This was a much open game thanks to their narrow 4-3-3 shape and our tactics being wide and to attack the wings.

End of Season Awards:

A few key points to mention are brought up by this screenshot actually. First of all that I just mentioned Morall, Bentley and Houghton once again being standout performers this season, but Morall doesn’t make the top three in the fans player of the season award. Jayden Antwi-Nyame certainly deserves his place up there as he’s also been putting in the performances but nevertheless Morall not being up there is a surprise.

Secondly, Charlie O’Loughlin as signing of the season from AFC Bolnore and he was a pretty great signing. 33 years of age so he has definitely peaked but his defensive intelligence is still great and displays great leadership, and I am considering making him captain next year once he as got more of a feel for the club. And as age and experience is something our side currently lacks, he has provided that in bags.

And that ties up the Mid Sussex Football League Division 3. Keep looking out for the next post which will cover the summer transfers before the next season and the next successive promotion charge…

FMRV