December Nominations
It is time for another poll to decide who's story will be crowned as FM Scout's December Story of the Month. Unfortunately akash.vidyasagar has been to busy to judge this month with his exams and we wish him all the best. In his place for this month is an FM Scout regular, manchesterblue97. Here are our five nominations, in no particular order.
jason_connolly1987's The Lions of Aston Villa - Becoming King of the Jungle Once More....
In the wake of Lambert's pre-mature departure, Northern Irishman Jason Connolly took the helm of former European giants Aston Villa. A club which has been seen as a "stepping stone" for many top footballers, Aston Villa have declined dramatically over the last four years. Connolly's first task was to restore stability to the Birmingham-based club. Signings such as Raul Albiol and Victor Wantame helped his cause. His first season was a huge success winning the Capital One Cup, reaching the FA Cu semi-finals aswell as finishing 7th in the league. If that wasn't good enough, Aston Villa became the second club since Liverpool in 2001 to win the treble of the League Cup, FA Cup and Europa League. To top it off, Villa finished 4th in the league to qualify for Europe's premium competition! Not a bad feat for an inexperienced manager!
or.dabool's Boreham Wood - Going All The Way
Young Englishman Joshua Morris took charge of BSS side Boreham Wood in the summer of 2012. He had a revolutionary idea for the club and took straight to exercising it. His first season at the helm was more than successful, winning the league by a staggering 27 points and reach the 1st Rnd of the FA Cup. The next season saw another league title awarded to Joshua Morris' side aswell as the FA Trophy being added to the ever filling trophy cabinet at Boreham. Another season (2014-2015), another league title for the rampant risers. Boreham Wood also saw good runs in the FA Cup (4th Rnd) and the JPT (South Final). The 2015-2016 season saw Boreham in the League One, which should be named "League Won" as it was yet another league title for Morris' side. It was not the only trophy won that season as the Johnstone's Paint Trophy was won after an exciting final against York. This means Boreham are now in the Championship where they will be hoping for a fifth consecutive league title.
tango602's Torns IF - A new force in Swedish Football
Bill Grose, the man who had taken Swedish side Torns IF to the Swedish First Division South, was quickly becoming a renouned manager across Europe. The season did not start brightly but a letter from Ronnie Whelan seemed to motivate Mr. Grose and the Torns team to fight for every inch. Torns stayed strong and fought for a respectable 7th place finish in the league. With another pre-season gone and a lot of squad-strengthening gone by, Torns started the new season brightly and after 7 games, they were sitting 2nd in the league. Their early form improved and the league title went home with Torns IF. In the Superraten, games were tougher but Grose's Torns finished in a very respectable 6th place. Let us see how far Torns can go!
MarkKolatowicz12's I Still Cant Walk Away - A True Rangers Story
Joint winner of the November SotM, this story had caught the eyes of the entire FM universe. This is how this month went for Mr. Kolatowicz: The first notable post was the signing of one Christiano Ronaldo, an aqcuisition to be proud of! After some seasons of pure greatness, Mark Kolatowicz decided to take off his tie and retire from the world of football. It was the year 2024 and he had won no less than 31 trophies. He was one of the most successful managers in football history! His retirement did not last long, however, as he jumped back in to the circus of football to take charge of English Premier League side Peterborough. His reign did not begin well with a 3-0 hammering courtesy of Man Utd but he quickly picked up wins against Wolves, MK Dons and Nottingham Forest. How will his future at the club look like?
Glenn T's Andriy Shevchenko: From Hero to Hero
Footballing legend Andriy Shevchenko was looking to get back in to the footballing seen as fast as possible and became manager of Barclays Premier League side Queen's Park Rengers in the summer of 2012. With the vision of becoming one of the world's greatest footballing managers in history, Mr. Shevchenko set about laying down his road to glory. After making his mark on the squad, Shevchenko prepared for a tough first season. He did well, however, somehow winning the FA Cup and finishing in a very respectable 9th position in the league. His next season in charge was not as successful. QPR finished in 12th place in the league, was knocked out of both domestic cups early on and failed to get past the Europa League Quarter-Finals. Things went from bad-to-worse for Andriy. The next season saw QPR struggle in most games and by mid-December, Andriy Shevchenko was sacked after QPR were 19th in the league. Shevchenko was still determined to win trophies as a manager and was hired as manager of Atletico Bilbao. The Ukrainian manager had instant success getting Bilbao to the Copa del Ray Final. How will he cope with life in Spain? Only one way to find out!
1
