Peterhead, Take 2

So my last go with Peterhead didn't quite go to plan. Nevertheless I believe it is possible to have success with Peterhead to the extend I get the stadium named after me so it's time for attempt 2.

Now it would be very nice if I can have a start to a season where my first choice goalie doesn't get injured. It won't happen this year as Graeme Smith picked up a hernia in mid August. Second choice goalie Paul Jarvie then got a damaged shoulder at the end of November. So yeah, goalies are made of glass in my universe.

My players are generally quite awful so I am trying to jam up the midfield to frustrate opponent attacks more than play a swashbuckling style myself, so I am going with a 4-3-3 Wide, at least until such a time we aren't rated as abysmal compared to the rest of the division. To do that we will almost certainly need new players, which leads to one of the main struggles at Peterhead - the lack of staff.

Quite often when you go to a new club it is nice to evaluate everyone before bringing your own staff in. That is quite simply not an option here. Given just one staff member, an assistant manager, limits things hugely. Scouting is non-existent, but getting the staff in there didn't take too long. However I am still, at midseason, trying to get a director of football. The board wants one, I'd quite like one (to act as another scout if nothing else) but there is nobody wants to come to Peterhead.

Despite all this, we are doing ok I think. Too many draws for my liking at P18 W4 D10 L4, but that is good enough for 5th in the league. Not too shabby considering we are predicted to finish 8th. The cups are a different matter. In the minor cups two draws against nominally stronger teams, two penalty shoot outs, two losses. A cup run would have been nice but to be competitive was nice. The Scottish Cup was a trainwreck though. The players just had no passion or interest leading to a 2-0 loss at Forres Mechanics!

So as the transfer window approaches I need another goalie. I think my roster needs 4 keepers just for my peace of mind. Another centre back wouldn't go amiss to try to bolster one of the worst tackling units in the league. With the transfer window also comes working out what players to offer new contracts to. Hopefully the better players will be happy the team isn't regressing and will take new deals, but I know some will hold out for as long as possible. Still, it's going a lot better than my last attempt so far!