Stromson — Afan Lido: Holy crap, I’m in Europe (2012 preseason)

Hey all, welcome back to another Afan Lido update! I’ll be taking this season a bit slower now that we’re all caught up, and hopefully you’ll enjoy the journey! In case you hadn’t noticed, I’ve started titling these updates like I imagine my managerial avatar might, but I’ll be sure to include some indication of where we actually are in game.

Fair Warning to all — This is going to be the point in the story where we start to see some deviation from pure game updates, and I’ll be delving a little deeper into who my manager is as a person and his attitudes on life. As a result, there may (as in will) be some foul language occasionally used, and I apologize if you’re offended by such things (this is in the name of art). I promise it’ll be kept to a minimum, but I didn’t want any surprises along the way. Thanks for reading all!

June 6th, 2012

Fred,

Today is the 68th anniversary of D-Day. My grandfather’s brother (my granduncle?) died during that invasion, and even though I was never fortunate enough to know the man (my grandfather speak fondly of his huge heart and endless wit), I’m always sure to raise a toast to his memory. I can’t sulk for too long though, the damn chairman is expecting me to win the league this year…no pressure or anything.

June 11th,

Fred,

Spent some time observing the youth squad today…what a joke. I see flashes of talent in a few of the kids, but by and large hardly any of them have a future in professional football. I’ll hand my cut list off later in the week; I’m going to be killing a lot of dreams.

June 12th,

Fred,

Finally managed to convince someone to sign for us! Sweet jeebus it’s been a right pain in my ass trying to find talented players who share my vision of Welsh glory (in fairness, it probably sounds like I’m a raving lunatic), but I convinced this youngster to leave Scotland:

I’m just tickled to have sniped him out from under Rob Roy (that’s the name of an actual football team, believe it or not), and I can see him featuring in our midfield for the next decade (assuming I can convince him to stay that long of course).

June 14th,

Fred,

Had another doctors appointment today, and they seem reasonably satisfied with my progress. They’ve scheduled me for another surgery next month, and I told them as long as it didn’t interfere with our Europa games, that I wouldn’t mind when it happened. Truthfully they didn’t seem too concerned about my commitments, and offered no promises.

In somewhat better news, I managed to bring in two additional players this week:

Another Shane, he’s a fair bit more talented than last years keeper (Daniel East will now be my backup), and has quite a bit of potential. I need to work on his composure a bit, but I can see a bright future for him.

What a leftback! Another young gun, I’m genuinely excited about Campbell’s potential, and I’ll be expecting some solid performances from him this season.

June 19th,

Fred,

Europa league draws are tomorrow, and there are some pretty incredible teams in the mixing pot. I’m really hoping that we’ll score a softer team and not end up against a Bundesliga castoff. The board has no expectations for me, and they’re just interested in selling out for the home draw. Meanwhile, I managed to bring in one more player:

Not bad for an Irishman (I jest, I jest)! Just like every other kid I bring in, I have high hopes for Danny and his abilities should transition well to this league. His concentration is poor, but he makes up for it with excellent fitness and technical abilities.

June 20th,

Fred,

We were drawn against MSK Zilina from Slovakia. The media has given us a preliminary 21.00 chance against their 1.40, but I’d rate us a bit better. I’ve had a look over their squad report, and I think we match up quite well against them. You heard it from me first: Zilina is going down!

June 24th,

Fred,

Dammit, dammit, dammit! Those bloody doctors have scheduled my surgery for two days before our first leg match against Zilina! I’ve pleaded with them to change it, but they insist it needs to be done before the bones set incorrectly. That damn plane crash has already ruined one career of mine, it better damn well not ruin another!

June 30th,

Fred,

I’m still pretty blinking mad about that surgery schedule, but it can’t be helped. My problems are irrelevant, and I have a club to run. We’re shaping up well for the coming season, and I believe most of the pieces are in place. Our midfield is looking excellent, and I managed to bring in a promising rightback:

Not bad eh? He’s experienced, and has excellent physical skills that should come in handy in this rather physical league. He’s technically lacking, but sheer brute force should serve him well, and he won’t be quitting on us halfway through a match.

July 4th,

Fred,

Independence Day back home, but nobody here seems to care much about that. I think I’ll try to track down some firecrackers and have myself a little bit of fun tonight. Even better, I’ll give everyone the day off…let’s all have a pint and enjoy the sunshine…scratch that, it’s raining. Oh well, we can still have the pint!

July 6th,

Fred,

England watchers should be happy:

Meanwhile…

Ungrateful jerks. Their team finished league runners up and secured a Europa league spot in their first year back in the Welsh Premier League (bearing in mind that we were heavily favored to be relegated), and not a one of them told a friend about it? Those loyal thirty will be remembered and treated well over the coming years…

July 11th,

Fred,

I believe I’ve managed to bring in the last pieces of our squad puzzle. Our striking department needed a major upgrade, and these two fine fellows agreed to join us:

I’ve nicknamed them the «Welsh Wonder» and «Irish Red» respectively, and this pair should strike terror in the hearts of defenders everywhere!

July 16th,

Fred,

It’s my birthday! So what’s my reward? I go under the knife in 6 hours…joy.

July 19th,

Fred,

Hahahaha! First leg of our Zilina draw today, and you bet your ass I was there! The doctors threw a fit, something about me being only in fair condition and risk of infection or some mumbo jumbo, but there was no way I was going to miss my lads play their first European game. My presence seemed to work wonders for their morale, and I stayed on the touchline (wheelchair and all) to proudly watch them boss the hell out of the Slovakians:

To be fair, the Slovaks played a solid game, but we ended up being too strong for them to overcome. We have them away next though, and I don’t expect them to roll over in front of a home crowd…

July 27th,

Fred,

I’m sitting in a hotel room in Zilina, Slovakia as we ready ourselves for the trip back home. So how did we fair? Check it out:

It’s simply unbelievable. We had been completely written off by the media and went on to dominate both the home and away legs. We were even more impressive here in Zilina than we were back home in Port Talbot. Only an injury time goal (that we quite frankly let them have) saved them from total humiliation. I do feel badly for their manager though, he was supposed to walk all over us and his boardroom can’t be very pleased with him at the moment (not to mention the fans, losing to an unheralded Welsh team? Unforgivable!). Oh well, such are the risks of the footballing life.

July 30th,

Fred,

Next draw came in, we’re up against Slovenian side Gorica. This fixture is going to be a lot tougher, but we’ll have to do our best. I’ve also received word from the doctors regarding my prosthetic, and it should be ready sometime next week. It’s going to feel pretty strange having two legs again, and they’ve warned me that it’ll take at least a year of rehab to get completely comfortable with it (whatever, anything will beat using a damn crutch all the time).

Thanks for reading all, and I apologize for the length. I went ahead and made you all a video (you know, to take the edge off) for your viewing enjoyment. Another disclaimer: I got pretty excited/emotional midway through and may or may not have said a naughty word — I’m sorry.

Afan Lido vs Port Talbot Town

Ta ta for now!