The Welsh Connection

Hello hello, this is FMFO

I'm Josh Inue and you're welcome to join me in my FM experiment, The Welsh Connection

Today, TNS - The New Saints, the most successful team ever in the Welsh Football League has decided that to grow it's brand it needs to expand, so is now joining the English Football Pyramid.

Taking the Welsh JD Cymru Premier Champions into the National League is the first step in the journey to see how Wale's greatest club side can compete against the challenges of the worlds greatest footballing pyramid.

With an aim to one day reach the Premier League and then the Champions League, will it be possible to take this Big Fish from it's small pond into a vast, much larger ocean?

In this episode I'll be taking a look at the club to decide what steps need to be taken to give a solid foundation to give TNS the best chance of moving upwards, but will we have what it takes or the resources needed??
Join us on the journey to see if the Welsh Champions can hack it in the "big time" of the English Leagues, the Home of Football!

Please click the link below to follow the Journey
Episode one - Welsh Champions join the English League

Episode 2 - Laying the Foundations

Hello hello, this is FMFO

I'm Josh Inue and you're welcome to join me in my FM experiment, The Welsh Connection

After spending time looking through the current set up of the club, understanding the finances and the restrictions of a small club in the lower leagues, today I begin the task of laying the foundations.

In order to stand a chance of success, a strong backroom staff is required. Not simply to assist in maximising the output in training, physio and scouting, but also to ensure that reports produced can be trusted and that the playing staff are happy with the conditions and personal around them.

As already alluded to, today I'm trying to form a strong backroom staff to then allow me to truly assess the team I have before me.
Getting these staff members in place throughout the episode begins to then in turn paint a picture of the teams strengths and weakness and begin to address them ready for the first season in the English Football League but I can get enough done in time for our first game...

Please click the link below to follow the journey
Episode Two - Laying the Foundations

Episode 3 - Transfers & European Football?!?!

Hello hello, this is FMFO

I'm Josh Inue and you're welcome to join me in Part 3 of my FM experiment, The Welsh Connection

Very little time has passed since the last episode.
The only real changes have been made in the backroom staff, but as Manager of TNS I now have a very clear idea of what is required to ensure these team not only competes, but dominates the Vanarama National League.

However, knowing what you needed and being able to get it can be two very different things...

As I struggle with limited resources I also have an unexpected, potentially beneficial, surprise.
Prior to moving to the National League, TNS as I highlighted in previous episodes and above, were and are the current reigning Welsh Champions. As such, this gives us entry in the second tier of European Football!
The question is, is the squad that is currently in transition able to cope with the additional pressures of European Football and hopefully allow us to take advantage of the financial benefits it brings?

With the aims of this episode to bring in the right players and to progress in European Football being something no National League team would have to face, how will we perform?

Please click the link below to follow the journey
Episode Three - Transfers and European Football

Episode 4 - It Begins...

Hello hello, this is FMFO

I'm Josh Inue and you're welcome to join me in Part 4 of my FM experiment, The Welsh Connection

Again, very little time has past since the last episode but some great strides have been made...

Following our successful progression to the next stage of European Football, we are now starting to see the fiscal benefits which in turn is now easing the pressure of offering the right contracts to the right players whom we hope will make TNS a real force in the National Leagues.

As we continue to seek out these players there's just two small other matters to contend with
1. Our opening game of our first season in English Football
2. Our second game of the season in Europe

You may assume that the priorities would have to be set one way or the other, strong start in the league or progress in Europe, my pride and failure to do anything other than try to win means we are going to be going for both games with the very best teams we can offer.

How will a thin, predicted to finish mid-table team cope against a League club predicted to finish high above us and against a top 4 team from Georgia? (Who by the way have the greatest club song which is included in the Episode video)

Please click the link below to follow the journey
Episode Four - It Begins...

Episode 5 - Another Cup Competition?

Hello hello, this is FMFO

I'm Josh Inue and you're welcome to join me in Part 5 of my FM experiment, The Welsh Connection

Following the disappointing defeat to Dinamo Batumi in the Europa League and the opening game yielding one point, the games begin to come in thick and fast but fortunately, so do the signings and the improvements in performance of the team. None more so than the front three of Redmond (LW) Whitehouse (RW) and Roscrow (PF)
These front three begin to click and allow us to really dominate games.
Prior to this episode, we pick up 2 wins in which we dominated the possession and chances with Roscrow scoring 2 in 2 and Whitehouse also picking up a goal along the way.

In the Episode today, we continue to search for players to improve our squad but we also take on one of the National Leagues favourites for promotion: Notts County!
We also play, for the first time in the clubs history, in England's oldest cup competition the FA Cup

Even with these games coming in quick and fast I refuse to play anything but the best squad for each game but will this tactic backfire and be asking too much of this team? Or will we rise to the challenge and demonstrate the quality from the Welsh Leagues?

Please click the link below to follow the journey
Episode Five - Another Cup Competition

Episode 6 - Another Cup Competition?

Hello hello, this is FMFO

I'm Josh Inue and you're welcome to join me in Part 6 of my FM experiment, The Welsh Connection

After a very pleasing game against Notts County where we completely outclassed them up and down the pitch with a 4-0 victory we were able to almost completely rotate the squad as we took on Leamington in the Fourth Qualifying Round of the FA Cup and still walk away with delightful 3-0 victory.

With special guest appearances from Mr T and Hulk Hogan (one muscle head short of a Rocky reunion!) we find ourselves in todays episode, squaring off against 1st placed Bromley who are so far unbeaten in the League. Win this and we put TNS at the Top of the Table and have already gotten results from 3 of the main contenders for the title!
Following this game we would have to take on Dover and Maidenhead while awaiting the FA Cup First round!

Who will we draw as we aim to progress in the FA Cup and could this be a start of an FA Cup dream? Will we be able to maintain our dominate form and give ourselves distance at the top of the league, will we even reach the top of the league?

Please click the link below to follow the journey
Episode Six - A Title Challange?!?

Episode 7 - Cup Glory

Hello hello, this is FMFO

I'm Josh Inue and you're welcome to join me in Part 7 of my FM experiment, The Welsh Connection

Since our last episode, where we just crawled past Wealdstone 1-0 in the FA Cup, we have found ourselves on a fantastic and rather dominate winning run.

Weymouth 0 - 1 TNS
TNS 2 - 0 Eastleigh
TNS 4 - 2 FC Halifax
TNS 2 - 1 Boreham Wood

With our Front 3 always in rating 7.5+, Roscrow scoring 5 in 4 games and our XG always at least 1 higher than our opponents, at this level we seem unstopping and perhaps evidence that the Welsh JD Cymru Premier is a level higher than the National League

During these games however, a small knock to one of our stars highlighted just how thin and fragile our squad really is and that perhaps only having youth prospects to rely on may not be a safe bet. This was rather evident in the game against Boreham wood where we rested the our "First Team" front three and struggled to get a lead until Roscrow and Whitehouse came on the pitch.

In this episode we plunge back into the transfer market to try and find suitable backup to find that negotiating contracts could prove rather difficult.
We also take on League 1's Crew Alexander! Playing their football two divisions higher than us this game has the potential to provide a real benchmark our where we should be playing our football and how high our aspirations should be at this stage of the save. After which we will take on another promotion rival in Stockport

Will we be able to continue on our FA Cup journey and prove we belong at a higher level or will be we slapped back down to earth?

Please click the link below to follow the journey
Episode Seven - Cup Glory

Episode 8 - Feeling Blue?

Hello hello, this is FMFO

I'm Josh Inue and you're welcome to join me in Part 8 of my FM experiment, The Welsh Connection

Given the heartbreaking end to the last episode, where we not only lost our first game in the league we then went onto the FA cup draw where we drawn against the Premier League Champs and the worlds richest team, Manchester City!!

Following this I slumped into a big armchair and proceed to eat my own bodyweight in Ben & Jerry's Phish Food, which served not just to pacify the sad sad feelings but give me a sugar rush so hard it made my belly tingle with excitement and my toilet tremble with fear!

However, I knew the team needed me I brushed myself down (literally) and got back to the job in hand... in the footballing sense

Our next game up was against Hartlepool, where we actually faced a much more difficult task than expected, especially with our strongest team on the pitch! Fortunately, God smiled on us and we were able to secure a 3-2 victory to get us back to winning ways!

We now march onto the unenviable task of the Oil rich Man City, will they prove to slick for us to defeat, or will we burn them to the ground?

Please click the link below to follow the journey
Episode 8 - Feeling Blue?.

Episode 9 - The Title Decider

Hello hello, this is FMFO

I'm Josh Inue and you're welcome to join me in Part 9 of my FM experiment, The Welsh Connection

Despite brilliantly battling valiantly against a Man City Squad, who's average weekly salary was bigger than the value of our entire squad, we were eventually broken and sadly knocked out of the FA Cup.

Fortunately, our finances were greatly boosted by this game though, as we pocketed over £1m which practically doubled our bank balance at the time!

Despite this set back, once again we brushed ourselves down and were relieved to have another opportunity to win a cup, this time the FA Trophy against Chesterfield.
I had no doubt we would despatch them as easily as a wife does of her mans masculinity...
However, unlike said husband, Chesterfield proved to be a match for us and battled us all the way to a penalty shootout. During a long, drawn out penalty shootout, we were reduced to the dregs of our Penalty Takers and missed a vital pen to allow Chesterfield to leave the field victorious!

However, this slight bump in the road allowed us to focus our energy into what really mattered this season, which was getting the hell out of dodge and promoted from the National League as Champions in order to avoid the dreaded playoffs!

As the season got underway we really put a marker down and demonstrated ourselves as the OG in this league:

Solihull Moors 2:4 TNS
TNS 1:1 Aldershot
Wealdstone 1:2 TNS
TNS 3:1 Dag & Red
Torquay 0:4 TNS
Boreham Wood 1:3 TNS
TNS 0:0 Yeovil
Bromley 1:0 TNS
Dover 0:3 TNS
TNS 1:1 Notts Co
TNS 3:0 Maidenhead
TNS 3:0 Weymouth
Eastleigh 2:1 TNS
FC Halifax 0:2 TNS
TNS 2:0 Chesterfield
Barnet 1:2 TNS
TNS 3:0 Altrincham
Kings Lynn 0:3 TNS

All the points gathered here led us to today's episode... The Title Decider

The magnitude of this event is such that it simply had to be share, so inviting very special guests was almost essential to give the moment the special treatment it deserved

From UpTheFMDucks, super smooth George, King of the One Liners, agreed to provide commentary and analysis for the game while non other that Big Poppa Pump Scott Steiner also came aboard to "assist" with the maths required to understand the possible permutations of the game. However, counting how many feet he has proved to be somewhat of a problem so I'm sure you can imagine the carnage that ensued!

As Welsh Champions competing for the first time in the English Leagues, can TNS begin our collection of titles today? Or will the might of the National League prove too much?
All these questions and more will be answered today

Please click the link to follow the journey
Episode 9 - Title Decider