May 2012

This month was potentially the toughest of my short managerial career. In the five months I'd been in charge of AFC Telford, I had won 19 out of 26 games, losing just twice, escalating them from 18th in the table, to the play-offs. For another manger, these achievements might've been enough, and the play-offs might be regarded as an 'added bonus', with most people expecting to fall at the first hurdle. Not for me. I believed we could go all the way. Why not? We'd beaten most of the teams above us all season, so what's different now? The fact that we're in the play-offs is the difference.

A record 4,956 fans packed into the New Bucks Head for the home leg of our Play-off Semi Final. Expectations were high, as were nerves. Ryan Charles had recently spoken to the media about how he was getting on top of the media hype surrounding him, which was good. The only absentee from the starting line-up was Netan Sansara, who was replaced by Carl Tremarco. It was Droylsden who got first blood in the tie, with former Hibernian and Coventry midfielder Guillaume Beuzelin netting after 34 minutes, and we went into the break behind. Things got worse for us when Lewis Alessandra was taken off injured with a gashed leg, shortly after the restart. However, just 3 minutes later, Ryan Charles levelled things up with his 20th goal of the season. We were unusually ill-disciplined in the match, with six of our players receiving cautions. Ryan Charles went from hero to villan in the 79th minute, when a late challenge saw him pick up a second yellow card, an offence which would later warrant a two-match ban. The game finished 1-1, but Droylsden had the upper hand with the away goal, and the fact they still had a home leg to play.

Things looked grim heading into the second leg. Charles and Alessandra's absences left us with only one recognised striker in Danny Carey-Bertram, leading to a change of formation; 4-1-4-1; the formation I used at Harrogate. How on earth were we going to cope without the firepower that had produced 36 goals in 26 games? Things really did seem like they were going against us. This was until the game started however. Jon Adams grabbed an early goal on 9 minutes after a scramble in the box, and Carl Tremarco headed in Carey-Bertram's cross for his first Telford goal on 25 minutes. A Droylsden penalty shortly after meant we went into half-time 2-1 to the good, and 3-2 on aggregate. It also meant that Droylsden had to score at win today to progress, as we now had two away goals. The game was all but finished 10 minutes into the second half when Carl Tremarco scored an almost identical goal to double his tally, and increase our lead. For the rest of the game, we basically just sat back and made sure we didn't make any silly mistakes. Droylsden did have to score three times to win after all. The final whistle went and our place in the Play-off Final was confirmed. The win just proves that three players (Charles, Sansara & Alessandra), even though they are very talented, don't make a team. Tremarco received the Man of the Match award; and to think, he wouldn't have played if Sansara would've been fit.

Our opponents in the final were Worcester City. They had beat Hinckley in the other Semi-Final in what was somewhat of an unexpected result, considering Hinckley had held the top spot for the majority of the season. Netan Sansara and Lewis Alessandra both returned for the Final, although the latter only made the bench as he had only just come back. Sansara's return meant Carl Tremarco had to move to left back in the same 4-1-4-1 formation, with Matthew Duffy dropping to the bench. Baring in mind it was a Final, with the winner sealing a place in the Blue Square Premier, it was a pretty dull match. Worcester had a goal (correctly) ruled offside, and Danny Carey-Bertram squandered numerous chances to win it for us, and the match ended goalless after 90 minutes. This lead to extra time and then if we were still level, the dreaded penalties. It looked as though this was the way things were going to go, until we got a corner in the 114th minute. Jake Simpson stepped up and floated the ball into the box, and who was there at the back post, unmarked, to head in? 37-year-old captain-for-the-day Graham Coughlan. The crowd went wild; it was the stuff dreams were made of. It really was like something out of Roy of the Rovers. Unbelievable. The final whistle went and we had done it; we'd achieved promotion to the Blue Square Premier.

I came runner-up in the Manager of the Season awards, and Ryan Charles' end of season flood of goals saw him grab the Golden Boot for the league with 20 goals. He, along with Alessandra, Simpson, Sansara and Coughlan all earned new contracts as well, the latter signalling his intention to see out the rest of his career with Telford. Despite bringing the team from 18th place to winning promotion, the board are still only 'satisfied' with my management. Bit annoying really; a little bit of praise wouldn't go a miss! And correct me if I'm wrong but there isn't really that much I could do better? Ah well, a good season overall. A very good one in fact. The players are off on holiday now, until the end of June. I might go away somewhere as well. Lincoln seems nice. Or perhaps Hull...

The final standings in the Blue Square North at the end of the 2011/12 season (click to enlarge).

AFC Telford's league positions throughout the season. I was in charge from the 17th game (basically where they started going up!).

April 2012

A 0-0 draw with Braintree Town kicked off April; in what was the final month of scheduled fixtures. Considering our form going into the game, we really should've beaten them, especially since they were just below half way in the league, with nothing much to play for except their own pride. It really was a boring game, with only seven shots between the two sides. A very uncharacteristic performance by us.

We were back to winning ways two days later against Vauxhall however, with an assured 3-1 victory. Ryan Charles was the star performer on the day; grabbing his second hat-trick of the season, and consequently the Man of the Match award.

We achieved the exact same scoreline the following week against a poor Stalybridge side. Cheung Ka Ho, the opposition's 'keeper, put the ball into his own net after 9 minutes, and we were in full control from then on. Despite Stalybridge's equaliser, two neat finishes from Lewis Alessandra and Ryan Charles gave us the 3 points, with Charles once again receiving the Man of the Match award.

Two 3-0 victories against Tamworth and Eastwood left us in 3rd place going into the final game against Hinckley. Ryan Charles grabbed two goals in both games, and the Man of the Match award, to make it four in as many games, with eight goals coming in that time. He was on form, there was no doubt about that. However, the expectancy to perform well did seem to be getting to him. He was starting to feel the pressure from the fans and the media, who all predicted him to carry on scoring goals. Hopefully it won't be too much of a burden to his form though.

Despite lying 3rd in the table, our place in the play-offs wasn't cemented. 6th placed Nuneaton could still make them if results went their way, and if results went against us, we could drop out of the top 5 altogether. We basically needed at least a point from the Hinckley game, and a point was what we got. As with most 'big' games, it failed to live up to the expected heights and ended with a very poor goalless draw. Nevertheless, we had made the play-offs, although we had dropped a place to finish the season in 4th place.

We were drawn against Droylsden in the semi-finals, a team who have in recent years gotten the better of AFC Telford in the majority of the encounters. We are on form though, and I believe we can win. If only I was offered the job earlier in the season; we might've well been promoted automatically. Then again, things could have been so much different. I love the play-offs, but not when you're involved in them yourself. Wish us luck...

March 2012

After a 100% record in February, I was hoping for more of the same in March. Unfortunately, things didn't get off to the best start. An away game at Droylsden provided me with only my second defeat as manager of AFC Telford. Two first half goals finished us off, and the own goal in the second half was merely a consolation in a 2-1 loss.

Lewis Alessandra was missing through injury for the Droylsden game, and was absent once again for our next fixture against bottom-of-the-table Hednesford. It's fair to say that we didn't miss our top goalscorer that much though, as Ryan Charles stepped up to the mark. It was his first half hat-trick that sealed a comfortable 3-0 win against a very poor Hednesford side (who incidentally had confirmed their relegation by the end of the month).

Fellow promotion contenders Ilkeston were our next opponents. Lewis Alessandra was back in the team for the game at New Bucks Head, and carried on where he left off by bagging a couple of goals. Ryan Charles, continuing his own good form, also scored twice in a 4-0 victory, with his second of the game marking his 10th goal of the season.

We moved up to 4th in the league after the win against Ilkeston; Telford's highest position of the season. 5th placed Nuneaton Town made the relatively short journey over to Shropshire a week later, in what was another tough encounter for us. Ryan Charles opened the scoring from 25 yards just after the half hour mark, for his 6th goal in 3 games. Lewis Alessandra then doubled our lead shortly after, and we managed to hold on despite a second half goal from Nuneaton, which was the first goal Alex Cairns, who reclaimed the number one spot against Hednesford, had conceded in over 350 minutes of football.

As if we hadn't already had a pretty tough month in terms of fixtures, our next game brought us up against league-leaders Southport. We were leading 2-0 thanks to goals from Alessandra and Netan Sansara, until the a 70th minute penalty brought Southport back into the game. They then equalised 10 minutes later and that was the way things finished. A good result, but it was slightly disappointing that we couldn't hold onto our lead.

The final fixture in March was against Redditch, a game which we comfortably 2-0 through two Jake Simpson goals. We finished the month in 4th place, three points off 3rd placed Stafford, nine points off 2nd placed Southport and 11 points off the leaders Hinckley. Next month will see the climax of the Blue Square North season, and realistically, I think we should make the play-offs. With six games left, the gap is probably too big to win the league and claim the only automatic spot. I was 3rd in the Manager of the Month awards this month, but Ryan Charles was awarded with Player of the Month. All of the teams we have left to play are currently in the bottom half of the table, with the exception of Hinckley, who we play on the final day of the season. That could definitely be interesting.

February 2012

We had won three on the bounce going into our first match of the month against Corby, who were sitting comfortably in 12th place, two places below us. Goalkeeper Alex Cairnes was injured towards the end of the previous game against King's Lynn, so Ryan Young stepped in to replace him, in what was the only change. Ryan Charles played in Lewis Alessandra on 12 minutes for the striker's 8th goal of the season, and then in the second half, Charles himself got on the scoresheet to double our lead, and seal the victory.

A hard-fought 1-0 victory against Blyth Spartans followed, with Alessandra once again grabbing a goal; this time an 87th minute near post header off Netan Sansara's cross. Stafford Rangers provided us with a much tougher test in our next game. They were 3rd in the league, although they were in a bit of a poor patch of form. Nevertheless, we weren't going to be too complacent, despite our brilliant form. Stafford opened the scoring on 5 minutes, but a Matthew Duffy free-kick levelled things up mid-way through the first half. Two Ryan Charles goals either side of half-time completed the comeback and the win. The second was Charles' 5th goal of the season, and he was rightly given the Man of the Match.

A week later, we hosted Gainsborough, who were struggling in the league, and luckily for us, had a few key players missing, including striker Luke Beckett. Ryan Young's record of conceding only one goal in three appearances meant he started his fourth game in a row, even though Alex Cairnes was back to full fitness. Lewis Alessandra scored his 10th of the season, and in fact, the only goal of the game, in a 1-0 victory. We had now won seven on the trot, four of which were 1-0 victories.

Needless to say, I once again won the Manager of the Month award. We're now 6th in the league, 12 places above where we were when I started, and level on points with Redditch in 5th. Since I took over, we've played 14 games, won 11, drew twice and lost just the once. Quite a good record if I do say so myself. Let's just hope it continues.

January 2012

A home game against top-of-the-league Hinckley provided us with our first test of the new year. I went with an unchanged line up, and it was Lewis Alessandra's close range effort from Jake Simpson's cross on 30 minutes that broke the deadlock. Hinckley then equalised shortly before the break after a scramble in the box and some pretty lack-lustre defending. Alessandra managed to double his tally 10 minutes after the break, to put us in the lead. Shortly after, he completed his hat-trick following Netan Sansara's flick on. He had deserved the match ball. Ryan Charles completed what was now a rout, in stoppage time, with his first goal for the club. A fantastic team performance.

Five days later, we hosted Alfreton, and it was the away side that took the lead in the first half. However, just before half time, Lewis Alessadra, continuing his good form, grabbed a goal to draw us level. He then turned provider with 20 minutes left on the clock, when his cross was met by Ryan Charles' head to complete the come back, and indeed the win.

The next game was quite strange. We travelled to a Workington side who were 19th in the league, and not in good form, yet we managed to lose the game 4-0. We just didn't turn up, and were totally outplayed for the whole game. Luckily, it was just an anomoly in terms of our good form, as we beat Solihull Moors 2-1 the following week, thanks to goals from Jon Adams and Netan Sansara.

Worcester City were our penultimate opponents of the month, and for the most part of the game it was pretty equal. Both sides missed opportunities to win the game; they failed to capitalise on the fact they had an extra man after Sansara was dismissed, and Ryan Charles missed a penalty for us after 68 minutes. I brought Danny Carey-Bertram on in place of the uncharacteristally-poor Charles after 75 minutes, and it was the subsitute's goal 10 minutes later that sealed the win for us.

The final game of the month brought us up against King's Lynn at New Bucks Head. A solitary Lewis Alessandra goal on 23 minutes was enough to see us through to victory, and subsequently move us up to 11th in the table.

I was presented with the Blue Square North Manager of the Month award; the icing on the cake in a very successful month. AFC Telford United are going from strength to strength, and I hope we can simply keep on doing right whatever we're doing right, basically! The team is gelling very well, and everybody is playing as though they want to progress, which is good, and perhaps something that the players at Harrogate lacked. Here's to another good month...?

December 2011

Telford were in 18th place when I took over, after 16 games, with 2 wins, 8 draws and 6 losses. Surprisingly, they'd won the previous match against Braintree 2-1, but I believe they had a caretaker manager in place at the time. I didn't have a match for ten days, which gave me a bit of time to look at the squad I had been given, and potentially bring in some new faces.

Wolverhampton Wanderers were our parent club, but the link between the two purely consisted of an annual pre-season friendly. To get a bit more money, and perhaps some loanees, I asked the board to look for a new parent club, and they came up with West Brom. Unfortunately, they didn't send any players on loan though.

My first signing as Telford manager was Alex Cairns, an 18-year-old goalkeeper who quickly established himself as the number one ahead of Ryan Young. Several failed loan attempts for various players followed, and it wasn't until the day of our match against Vauxhall Motors that two signings were completed. 21-year-old right midfielder Jake Simpson was brought in for £4,000 from Shrewsbury, and 22-year-old pacey attacker Lewis Alessandra was signed for a club record £10,00 from Oldham Athletic. Both went straight into the starting line up for the game, despite having only officially been at the club for a matter of hours.

Vauxhall were, when we played them, in 16th place, two above us, and it was them who opened the scoring on 18 minutes through midfielder James Holden. However, we managed to grab an equaliser 10 minutes before half time when centre back Matthew Duffy got on the end of Jon Adams' corner. That was the way it stayed, and apart from an injury to Steve Torpey in second half stoppage time, it was a fairly uneventful second half. However, it was my first game, and we didn't lose, so all's ok.

The next fixture against Stalybridge saw three more new faces in the squad. Ryan Charles (£1,500) and Netan Sansara (£1,000) were signed from Luton and Walsall respectively, and 37-year-old Graham Coughlan joined us from our rivals Shrewsbury for £1,000 to add experience, reliability and perhaps more importantly, a bit of competition to the existing centre back pairing of Matthew Duffy and Adrian Nevins. The game saw all six new players starting in a 4-4-2 formation. We took the lead after 41 minutes; Ryan Charles was brought down in the area and the penalty was converted by Jake Simpson for his first Telford goal, and we went into break in front.

Carl Laurie, the Stalybridge player who gave away the penalty and was booked for the offence, received his marching orders on 78 minutes to send the home team down to 10-men. We made them pay just two minutes later when Graham Coughlan, on his debut, headed in from Jon Adams' corner. It then all got a bit scrappy. At this point there had already been one red card as I mentioned, but as well as this, there'd been no less than eight yellow cards. With five minutes to go, Stalybridge's Paul Ennis caught Jake Simpson with his elbow and was given a straight red to reduce them to 9-men. Then, in the 91st minute, Matthew Duffy got his second yellow for a foul and he too had to leave the field. The game finished with only 19 players on the pitch, after a total of 11 bookings and 3 red cards.

6th in the table Tamworth were the next team to travel to New Bucks Head, and with the exception of Adrian Nevins replacing the suspended Matthew Duffy, I stuck with the same team that beat Stalybridge. Lewis Alessandra grabbed both our goals, as well as man of the match, in a 2-0 victory; his first coming on 11 minutes in a swift counter attack, and the 2nd on 82 minutes from a Jake Simpson cross. 3 points and a pretty convincing victory, if I do say so myself.

Our final game in December, and indeed 2011, was away to Eastwood on New Year's Eve. The game finished 1-1, although judging by the stats, we should've won. Adrian Nevins got the goal for us, and ex-Harrogate striker Danny Maw came back to haunt be by equalising for Eastwood.

The draw left us in 15th place, 3 above where we were when I took over. I couldn't have asked for a better start as Telford manager to be quite honest. Things look promising, but as I know from my time at Harrogate, things can easily change month-to-month, so I'm not predicting anything for January... not yet anyway.

May 2010 - November 2011

I wanted to get straight back into football after leaving Harrogate, but I had to wait until the end of the 2009/10 season had finished for the job offers to come in.

Applications were sent initially to Staines, Hyde and Dorchester, who had all sacked their manager at the end of the season. However Boston Utd and Nuneaton Borough, both promoted to the Blue Square North for the 2010/11 season, approached me and asked me to fill their vacant managerial positions. I mulled over it for quite some time, and looked at both their squads. They were pretty weak, and it would be a big job just to keep them in the division. The three teams I applied for earlier did look more appealing, so for that reason I decided to reject the two offers, a decision which I would sincerely regret for over a year after.

It seemed as though my greed had got the better of my when Staines, Hyde and Dorchester all found new managers. Unsuccessful applications were then sent to Tonbridge, Cambridge City and Sutton United, and I even sent a bit of a cheeky application to the Brazilian, Italian, Spanish and Argentinian national sides. I was rejected from all. Things were getting tough; the papers were beginning to talk, "Alex Blackburne's career is over" they said. But it wasn't, and I knew that.

The next realistic position came in November the next year, when Bath City sacked their manager. I applied, only to be rejected again. I was literally on the brink of retirement when AFC Telford came calling. The small club from Shropshire were sitting in 18th in the Blue Square North, and had recently parted company with their manager. They offered me a decent wage, and the squad actually looked pretty decent. I accepted the offer and was unveiled as their new manager on the 7th of December.