August 2016
Before I could get down to the food and drink of League two, we had another trip to Rugby Park to take on Killie's under 20 side, who enter the Challenge Cup under new rules this season.
This cup means very little to us, so I fielded a somewhat rotated side. Both wingbacks are swapped out, Allan Walker and Coll McCallum also rested. Up front, Ouzy See gets the nod in attack after his goal in the Betfred.
Kilmarnock U20s v Edinburgh City
It takes only 3mins for my faith in See to pay off, as he converts from a lovely left wing cross by Langan. We duke it out for the rest of the half on fairly even terms when it comes to possession and chances, and the second half follows much the same pattern. On the hour mark I make a couple of changes, with Gair and Nisbet on for Laird and Allan. We are holding on nicely and with 4mins to go Nisbet plays in See for his second of the game, and we are home and dry.
Kilmarnock U20s 0
Edinburgh City 2 (See 3, 86)
Attendance: 49
I congratulated the lads on an excellent result, but there was little time to dwell on it as we had our first league match against Forfar in only 3 days time. We wanted to get off to a flier in the league if possible. Aaron Dunsmore had picked up a knock in the second half so would miss the upcoming game unfortunately.
Edinburgh City v Forfar
For the visit of the loons, I reverted to what I felt was our strongest side, with the exception of Bowers filling in for Dunsmore at RWB. Ouzy See of course retained his place in attack.
We started well and dominated the early going. 29mins in we got our reward, with our first league goal under my stewardship. That man Ouzy See got on the end of a cross from Bowers and smashed home. We continued to dominate but could not add to our tally before half time.
The second half started in much the same way but with no further goals, I replaced Allan Walker and Lewis Allan with Grant Venson and Craig Beattie just after the hour mark. The game continued with us on top but not quite clinical, until 86mins when Josh Walker burst into the box and converted a cross from Mo Yaqub. The last few mins ebbed away, and we had our first league win! Not a bad way to start!
Edinburgh City 2 (See 29, Walker 86)
Forfar 0
Attendance 601
I was really pleased with the lads and let them know it in the dressing room after. As it happened with other results, we also ended the first round of fixtures top of the league! Not bad at all!
Next on the agenda was our first away fixture in the League. The long trip to Elgin awaited.
Elgin City v Edinburgh City
After a long coach journey in which i got through 3 bottles of Lucozade and 2 seasons managing Bilbao on my laptop, we arrived and I announced the team which showed 2 changes. Aaron Dunsmore recovered from injury to reclaim his place from Shaun Bowers, and I made the call to start Craig Beattie over Lewis Allan up front. Lewis had looked out of form and I wanted to see what the big man still had in the tank.
Somewhat remarkably, after scoring in the 29th min from a right wing cross last week, Ouzy See repeated the trick this week! Same minute, same cross, albeit from a different RWB, and same outcome. It was slightly against the run of play, but when Marc Laird lashed in a deflected free kick on 37mins we were in dream land!
Reality came along to bite us soon though. Elgin had been threatening, and when McKee scored a bizarre OG a minute before HT, facing away from the ball as a cross came in and letting it hit him on the back and roll into the net, i was concerned.
My HT team talk was thrown into further disarray when in the first min of first half stoppage time Elgin equalised. A disastrous 2 min spell 
I tried to shake things up in the second half, making 3 subs at various points and both sides had minor chances, but the game petered out into a draw. Away from home a point is never bad for a team like us, but I was gutted to let a 2 goal lead slip and I let the lads know that. We did however, remain top of the league!
Elgin City 2 (Mckee(o.g)44, Cameron 45+1)
Edinburgh City 2 (See 29, Laird 37)
Attendance 735
Before our next fixture I decided that i would not use my last £53 of wage budget on any playing staff additions, as I felt happy with our squad. I decided to add a final staff member, as I had not been succesfully in recruiting an experienced player who could also serve as a coach. Given the level we play at, I decided to go for a Fitness coach as Fitness can be all important at this level. Jordan Scott was only 24yrs old with no Football Experience, but he had recently completed his degree in Sports Science and would work for very little.
I was looking forward to our trip to Central Park in Cowdenbeath (Said No one, Ever...). But at least i could hang around and watch the Stock Cars later that night if the game went badly.......
Cowdenbeath v Edinburgh City
For the fixture against the Blue Brazil I restored Lewis Allan to the team in place of Craig Beattie in the only change.
18mins in, we fell behind to some poor defending by Joe Mbu. I was still cursing the big ejit when Lewis Allan slipped a through pass in for Ouzy See to convert again and get us level. The big man is on fire! By now the rain was driving down. If you have never been to Cowdenbeath, well imagine 1990s Romania, but without the Gymnastic talent....so add in heavy rain to that and you are not in a great place.
On 28mins though, I was in a very good place all of a sudden! Dunsmore sent in a cross which the keeper fumbled, and Lewis Allan was on hand to poach a goal and get us into the lead! 3mins later, I couldn't have given a damn if it was a blizzard weatherwise....Marc Laird floated in a free kick and Lewis Allan was there again to get on the end of it! 3 v 1 ahead!
We were always in control from here on in, but we couldnt add to the lead. Allan Walker rarely manages more than 75mins and that was the case here again as I took the opportunity to give some mins to some "fringe" players which disrupted our flow a little but made no difference to the end result!
Cowdenbeath 1 (Renton 18)
Edinburgh City 3 (See 21, Allan 28,30)
Attendance 681
This win keeps us on top of the table after 3 games! Beyond my wildest dreams. I was now feeling fully at home as a Football Manager, even trotting out some cliche's to the assembled press (both of them) at the post match presser! On to the final match of the month at home to Berwick!
Edinburgh City v Berwick Rangers
For this fixture I decided to rotate a couple of players to ensure we had a bit of a match fit squad. John Dunn came in for his first appearance in the league, with Marc Laird getting a rest. After Joe Mbu was poor against Cowden, he was left out for Frazer Patterson.
It took only 15mins for the swagger that had crept into our game lately to show. Allan Walker belted in a free kick from all of 35 yards, although it took a big deflection off the wall. We were off and running and looking good with a few too many pop shots from distance the only issue. Unfortunately on a rare attack Berwick drew level on 27mins from a poorly defended cross.
The game remained 1 v 1 at HT and I told the lads I wanted an improvement in the seoond half. . It took only 5 mins post interval for my message to get through. Josh Walker running onto a ball from Ouzy to give us the lead again.
Our task in holding on got much easier as the half wore on, when Berwick managed to get 2men sent off in 58 and 78mins. I gave Craig Beattie half an hour in place of Lewis Allan to try and get his first goal of the season but to no avail.
Edinburgh City 2 (A Walker 15, J Walker 50)
Berwick 1 (Thomson 27)
Attendance 623
We ended a superb first month 2pts clear at the top of the league. But for throwing away the lead up in Elgin, we could have had the perfect first month! It is all a bit easy this management malarkey is it not? To top it off, I was named Manager of the Month for August and 3 of my players swept the player of the month awards, with Josh Walker holding off Ouzy See and Allan Walker for the honors!
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