End of Season Feelings

The end of the season is a time of many different feelings from manager to manager. Some will be rejoicing and enjoying the sweet taste of champagne as they may auto-promoting, others will be biting their nails hoping to win that challenging qualification match, while some managers will be sad because they will be directly demoting or fighting for their lives to stay in their current division and lastly there will be those managers that are staying exactly where they are for another season because they ended up being a middle of the road team in their respected series. Regardless of the standings, each manager will have some type of feelings.

We will start with the good feelings, because it just wouldn't be very nice to start this article off with negative thoughts would it? When it comes to the managers that are experiencing those "good feelings" I am talking about, they will come in several shapes and sizes. Some teams will be auto-promoting, which is quite possibly the best feeling because you know you are un-contestedly going on to the next division. These managers can sit back drink their bubbly to celebrate all of the hard work that they put into the past season and reap the success they have amounted to. Although auto-promoting is exciting, it can come with its fair shares of struggles as well. The teams that promote may find that their new opponents are much more talented than their fellow rivals may be been. This could take a very successful past season and turn it into a weekly struggle just to put point on the board. However, either way you look at it these teams worked hard to get to where they are and hats off to them for succeeding!

Next on the list is the teams that are playing that exciting and most likely challenging qualification match up. These teams will be building their optimal lineup to out do their opponent to take their spot in the next division. Simply put, all the hard work they have recently put into their season comes down to one final match-up on the pitch to see if they are deemed worthy of playing in the next step up. Many teams will come close to tasting that sweet success and others will fall just short and notice weaknesses in their squad to begin building up for an even better team.

The next category on my list is the teams that stay put in their respected divisions. These teams will most likely feel a little rejoice and a little frustration. The rejoice will come in the sense that they are not auto-demoting or playing in any qualification matches to relegate. The slightly bitter taste will come from seeing several other teams have a better season than them, maybe their rivals? These teams are in a position to either take what they have learned and use that information to strengthen their team or let the other teams use that knowledge against them. It's an optimal time for these teams to take any measure to get a leg up on the competition.

Now we will start getting into the more sour parts of this time of the season. The teams that will be playing in qualification matches to stay in their current division face probably the most stress in my opinion. These teams will be dueling it out with teams that feel they deserve a shot at the next level and will be throwing the kitchen sink at them. They will be under fire from all directions. They must fight and win to keep their spot in the current division. If they lose they swap with their lower ranking opponent. Yikes! That is never a fun experience.

The final feelings as well as arguably the lowest feeling in the stomach would be the managers that see their teams auto-demote. These teams get no say in where they are going and it is most likely not as glorious as they have come to know. Some of these teams may be in a rebuilding stage so they expected a fall in the divisions. Some may have only spent one season in their current division and found it too much to handle and are being sent back down to hopefully strengthen their lineups. There are many reasons for teams to fall but any way you look at it there are hardly any happy feelings about demoting.

Others may have different opinions on some of the feelings I have described, but this is just my judgement after playing this game for seven (real) years. Feel free to comment below about any feelings I may have missed or anything you may disagree with. Also, please let us all hear what your current feelings are during this time of the season. I am going to finish in 2nd therefore I come enough to smell the sweet roses of the promised land of winning the division but unfortunately reside in the purgatory of going no where. So lets hear what you all have to say and how you feel!!!

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