Its the best part of the year, Its the season kick off. We've put the work in on and off the training pitch and in the boardroom now its time to deliver.
If you have missed the build up to this journey you can find the previous episode here.
Here is a reminder of a few rules and aims of the save that we have in place.
Save Aims and Rules
To make it more interesting lets introduce a few Aims and rules for the save.
Aims
To become a professional football team for the first time in the clubs history.
Become a League Club.
Win some major silverware.
Rules
Only Sign English Players
This may sound like an easier save rule, however I like the idea of limiting the scope of our signings.
Promote 3 Players a season from the youth intake into the first team squad.
This will focus the save upon developing the local lads to become the future of the club.
Fill the backroom staff with former players and legends along the way.
This will add a different twist when trying to improve the clubs standing. Developing staff as well as players.
August 2021
So here we are, the beginning of a long and arduous season. It can only be described as a slow start as we have just the three games in August but lets start off on the right foot.
Well we definitely didn't do that. A poor start away from home and FC Halifax dominated from the off. We moved swiftly on and turned around our form against relegation candidates Dover, who have suffered a points deduction pre season.
Josh Kelly showed what he is capable of with a hattrick and a first goal for the club for Dylan Duncan.
We finished the month with another subpar away performance, this time at Weymouth.
A mixed start.
September 2021
We roll into September looking for some consistency and some marked improvement away from home.
A good start to the month as we saw off a decent side in Torquay at home followed quickly by a decent point at home again, this time against a very strong Stockport side.
That is where the points dried up as we faced back to back games against sides desperate to restore their recent status as a League Club in Notts County and Grimsby.
October 2021
If we had been eased into the season with a comfortable fixture list October was the opposite.
With 6 games spanning the month this will be the first test of our squad rotation and match fitness. Could give us a real indication on how well we have strengthened.
Well, well, well! an uneaten month with a 50/50 split of Wins and draws.
Strong results against Kings Lynn, Yeovil and Eastleigh and even more credible draw with the new money might of Wrexham.
If I was to be hyper critical, we failed to keep a clean sheet which would have seen us pick up even more points.
We cant over look Josh Kelly's second hattrick of the season as he also grabs 6 goals in 6 games.
A much better month.
November 2021
Positivity and confidence were reverberating around the dressing room after our fantastic results during October.
We faced some tough challenges as we hoped to continue our climb up the table.
Its not all bad, winning away against newly relegated Southend after scoring 2 late late goals will obviously be the highlight as our only win.
We also rescued a decent point away at Boreham wood with almost the last kick of the game through Kane Ferdinand.
The home defeats were frustrating and performances we need to stamp out and without a clean sheet this season it is a cause for concern.
December 2021
December rolls around think and fast as we approach the half way stage of the season.
Its another short month too with only 4 games. A chance to end the calendar year on a high.
It felt like a Christmas miracle as our first clean sheet of the season arrived. Barnet the first team this season not to score past us.
A decent home result followed before we end the year with back to back defeats.
Halfway League Table
Its a really solid first half of the season as we sit 6 points off of the playoffs and a further 9 points off of the relegation places.
Next time we will cover any moves in the transfer window, the cup competitions and the end of the league season too. Its sure to be a packed episode.
Hope to see you then.
Cheers
Panda
If you want to check out our other FM22 Save The Darmstadt Dream why not start from the beginning right here?
Or our most recent series, Growing up in Guernsey which you can start from the beginning here
