In Episode 5 we secured a back to back promotion to the Danske Bank Premiership. Our task this season was to survive with the big boys, enhance our reputation, and perhaps start to look for a move before our stock starts to fall, as we’d surely taken Bangor as far as we could.

If that tickles your pickle then read on - let’s get into this!

New Board Expectations

After our previous promotion I stated I didn’t feel there was a big jump in standard between Championship 2 and the Championship and this proved correct given we achieved promotion at the first time of asking. This time, however, I do feel there is a much bigger gap in standard between the Championship and the Premiership especially the top 6 sides like Linfield, Glentoran, and Cliftonville. To have any chance of survival we will need to get off to a decent start.

The board seem to share my view and only require us to avoid relegation from the Premiership. I’m not too bothered with the cups as they are only ‘preferred’ and should be easily achievable.

The board culture remains unchanged although it may prove difficult to hit the metrics for “defensively solid” if we are struggling to avoid relegation. The rest I feel will happen naturally with my 4-4-2 DM tactic, that has only had minor tweaks to it from the previous season. Most notable is the instruction to pass into space, I am guessing most sides will leave us space in behind to exploit for the first part of the season at least.

Transfer Window

The club still had no money for actual transfer fees and whilst the board allowed a little bit more in wage spend, it wasn’t significant enough to allow us to make wholesale changes to the squad. With that in mind I was happy to hang on to most of the players we already had and try to improve in certain areas. I felt we definitely needed a goalkeeper, last season we had Patrick McGarvey on loan from Dergview but he is still very young and developing. I did manage to re-sign him on loan but this time as a back up, we still need a proper number one this season. We were also short at Full back and never really replaced Reece Neale from Season one, up to this point I had been relying on a re-purposed centre-midfielder and academy players to fill in at full back.

Finally I felt we needed more options up front. I was still very excited to see what Matty Best could do in the premiership but lets face it, he is still very raw. At the other end of the career cycle we had Jordan Hughes, so long our main man upfront, but time was catching up on him and I doubt he will be able to run in behind premier league standard players. Numbers also remained low in centre midfield especially as I was using one as a right back so if I could get a CM at the right wages, or on loan, I would go for it.

Targets

1. Goalkeeper - Permanent first choice, I’d even promised this to a few players so had to deliver.

2. Left/Right Back - Been running with fill in players in these positions and never properly replaced Reece Neale.

3. Striker - Either a top quality DLF or AF. I think Best could fill in either position if I got one covered this window.

4. Centre Midfielder - Need numbers and quality in there.

So who did we get in? Remember I have handed over negotiations to my Director of Football so we do miss out on some targets and over pay for others (in my opinion). With this being Northern Ireland there are very few, if any, transfer fees being exchanged, the biggest factor are the wages we can afford to offer people and with a budget of £9k per month that isn’t much compared to others in the league.

Centre Back

We’ve all done this in FM, haven’t we? Planned the window out then on day one you get a message about the availability of a player on your shortlist and the next thing you know he’s in, whether he was a target or not. That was the case here with, Chris Reid, his agent contacted us and told us Glentoran had placed him on the loan list and would not require any fee or wages to be paid by us. I took one look at him and knew instantly he was a significant upgrade on what we had, so it felt like a no brainer to get him in. Perhaps he will help us be “defensively solid”

Goalkeeper

I have found it tough to find adequate goalkeepers during this save, in the end we managed to sign Lewis Deane who had been released by the mighty Warrenpoint Town. Unfortunately his signing didn’t placate some players concerns regarding the strength of our goalkeepers but what could I do. I think he is ‘decent’ so will keep looking for a longer term number one in the meantime.

Left/Right Back

I love players that can play either left back or right back. I think it reminds me of old Manchester United fullbacks, from my youth, like Denis Irwin and Clayton Blackmore who regularly filled in on either flank. I managed to get Noel Healy in who had been released by Newry, a right footed left back, who I could surely retrain as a right back. He brought Premier league experience and I felt he would be a great addition to the squad with his decent mental and physical attributes.

I’ve mentioned a few times how we never managed to replace Reece Neal who left on a free to join Loughgall during season one. I have now managed to replace Reece Neale by signing Reece Neal and bringing him back to the Seasiders. His pace is elite for this level and I’m excited to have him on the left and Healy on the right this season!

Striker

I often feel in FM that you are only as good as your strikers, I guess this is true in real life hence strikers always require a premium to be paid. With this in mind, despite the fact that Jordan Hughes was well on the way to becoming a Bangor legend and we had Irish League wonderkid Matty Best in our ranks, I felt we would need to improve upfront if we were to be successful in the Premiership. I didn’t really mind what striker role I managed to fill as long as I had more quality options going forward.

We brought in Ruairi McDonald who had been released by Dungannon Swifts. In reality I’m a little underwhelmed by him, but as I mentioned above a premium must be paid for quality upfront and any promising strikers are quickly snapped up by the bigger clubs leaving us to fight for the unwanted scraps. On the plus side he is pretty quick (always a good thing in FM) and has a good first touch; so we live in hope!

Centre Midfielder

For those still paying attention you will know the next signing, Eoin McPhillips, who previously spent a half a season on loan with us, and will join permanently on a free transfer when his contract with Bray Wanderers in the Republic of Ireland expires around Christmas time. I really like him although he has the dreaded “doesn’t enjoy big matches” in his scout report and I find this does affect him in certain matches, which is disappointing. My Director of Football made him the clubs highest earner on £1,000 per month.

Our final signing of a busy window was Lewis Mackinnon who had been released by Cove Rangers following their relegation from the Scottish Championship. I can see Lewis becoming an integral part of the first team in either the defensive midfield role or as a centre back should Walsh or Arthur not be able to make the step up to Premiership level. Work to do on the physical side of his game but I’m hopeful we could get some uplift there.

Results

I’m sure you are all keen to find out how we got on during our first season in the Premiership.

As with all divisions in Northern Ireland the league spilts after a certain number of games. In this case after we have played everyone three times, so after 33 matches. The top 6 enter the Championship group and play off against each other another couple of times to determine final league placings. The top three of which qualify for various European places, and the teams finishing 4th to 7th entering a European Playoff.

Teams finishing the initial league stage in 7th to 12th qualify for the Relegation group. The side placed 12th after the conclusion of the Relegation group is automatically relegated and the team finishing 11th enters a playoff with a side from the Championship. Importantly the team finishing this group top (or 7th overall) gets a place in the European playoffs.

I have played up to the split in the league as this felt like a natural break to blog from so how have we done?

The early part of the season went really well with some notable victories against Dungannon, Glenavon and Ballymena along with credible draws with Linfield (x2), Larne and away to Ballymena. At this stage of the season we hit a high of 3rd in the league and I started to wonder if we could perhaps mount a title challenge.

Around December I started to really pay attention to the jobs available “across the water” (i.e. in England and Scotland). I felt the time was right to move on while my stock was high. Unfortunately there was never anything suitable and anything I did go for was a non starter.

As we moved into the second part of the season, however, the results took a turn for the worse.

I found the Christmas fixture congestion almost impossible to navigate with our small squad, once we had injuries and suspensions the holes in the playing staff really started to show and the better teams took full advantage. At one point we went six games without a win. I also felt my head had been turned by looking for employment elsewhere, the further we got into the season the more it felt like I was just putting the time in to get to the end of the season when my contract expires. I turned down talks to extend my stay in Bangor and I am content to wait it out for a job if I have to.

A late rally in March meant we finished the initial league stage in 6th place and in doing so we qualify for the Championship group so will, at least, get a European playoff shot at the end of the season. Perhaps European football could tempt me to stay??

As things stand I’ve recently had two positive interviews with Morecambe and Ipswich. Morecambe are sitting rock bottom of League One so will surely be playing League Two football next year which is comparable to the Irish Premiership albeit full time. Ipswich however are sitting just outside the playoffs in League One so perhaps a late charge could see a promotion to the Championship, I have to admit this temps me greatly and I would find it hard to turn down should the job offer come. Remember I am playing REALISTICALLY so money talks, if someone offers me big wages I’m off! Likewise I won’t relocate to another country for £50 per month more. With this in mind I did recently turn down a job offer from table topping TNS of Wales as they weren’t prepared to give me a big enough wage, and they expected me to win the league, and I don’t think underachievement is a good idea at this stage of my career.

As ever if you have made it this far thanks for reading.

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Over and Out

FMEadster!