Dear Mr Bloom, I am writing to you with regards to the newly available position as manager of Brighton & Hove Albion, following the unfortunate sacking of Mr R. Slade. I have had lengthy discussions with my agent, Mr T. Milyard, and we have both decided that a move to Brighton would not only benefit my career, but also the success of an otherwise poorly motivated squad whom failed under the command of Slade.

Obviously I am not expecting you to have heard of myself, as I am reasonably new to the management scene. However, in a recent article in The Guardian, I was compared with all time greats such as Sir Alex Ferguson and José Mourinho for my tactical awareness and ability to make match changing substitutions.

My managerial career began at the age of 8 through the most unlikely of sources. Due to a breakdown in communication with the woman of the household before the weekly Tesco Shop, she came home with the wrong cereal one week in August 2001. However, this was a blessing in disguise, as along with the Cheerio’s packet she had acquired, was a copy of the Championship Manager 2001/02 Season demo. Needless to say, I set out to work immediately. Coincidentally, it was Brighton whom I started off with, whilst there were a newly promoted Division 2 outfit. You may recall that Brighton were in fact promoted this season in ‘real’ life, but I’d like to think that anything Peter Taylor can do, I can do better. You see, it was pre season, and despite a relatively poor transfer budget, I was able to obtain the services of one Anthony Rougier on a season long loan having increased the wage budget, by selling Dirk Lehamnn to Darlington for a fee of £15,000. This was the crucial moment for The Seagulls, as we flew to promotion as champions, winning the title with one game to spare with a 2-1 away win at Ninian Park, home of close tital rivals Cardiff City.

Despite another poor transfer budget, and a refusal from Reading to let the prolific Rougier stay with us, we stormed fearlessly into Division 1 with a point to prove. However, changes were made to the already makeshift starting 11, most notably bringing in Graham Kavanagh in centre of midfield, having regrettably let Charlie Oatway and Richard Carpenter leave the club having seen out their contracts. This season was one of mixed emotions, as even though The Seagulls came to finish in an arguably poor 16th position in the table, it was sweetened by the double over arch rivals Crystal Palace, including a memorable 4-1 victory at Withdean Stadium.

Unfortunately, this season marked the end of an era, as the demo shamelessly ran out after the second season. This meant that I was forced to do the unthinkable, and wait until the 2006 edition of Championship Manager was released before continuing my illustrious computer game career. During this time, I had borrowed a copy of LMA Manager on the Playstation from a friend, and during this time had had successful spells at Northampton, Bournemouth and most notably Reading, with whom I achieved promotion to the Premiership and gained a European Cup place in the very next season. This once again proves that I am able to compete at the heights of previous Albion managers, as you may remember that Steve Coppell also took Reading to the Premiership, only to have them relegated two seasons later.

When Championship Manager 2006 arrived in the post, it was the start of a new beginning for the modern day manager. It also marked an emotional return to Withdean for myself, as conveniently at the time of the game being created, Brighton had just been promoted to the newly formed ‘Championship’ division, the same level I had been so cruelly forbidden from continuing at during my last stint. I was back with a point to prove, and I used the pace of my two French playermakers, Sebastién Carolé and Alexandré Frutos, whilst notable contributions also came from overseas, as the skill and controlled passing game of Alexis Nicholas teamed up nicely with a large contribution from Federico Turienzo, as he powered his way to a goal tally of 14 goals including cup competitions. This was of course too much for the Championship, as the Albion found themselves at the Millenium Stadium come May, and a dramatic penalty shootout victory meant that the Albion would be playing top flight football for the first time in over twenty years.

I remember 12th August 2006 like it was only yesterday. For the first time in its short history, the Withdean Stadium would play host to not only Premiership football, but European giants Arsenal. For a large part of the match, a new-look Brighton side including a loaned Gabriel Agbonlaghor from Aston Villa, kept the Gunners at bay and often played good attacking football which caused problems for the visitors defence. Unfortunately, the strength in depth of the Arsenal side proved too much for the Seagulls, who did not shame themselves despite the 2-0 deposit. You will extremely satisfied to know, that this defeat did not damage the spirits of a superb squadron, and they managed to fight their way back to the top half of the table, and then in a dramatic late twist of results on the final day of the season, the Albion pipped West Ham United to the last of the European Cup spaces with a last minute header from Colin Kazim-Richards, to seal a 2-1 win.

There was sadly, another twist to this almost unbelievable tale, as due to an error with the disc, the game now ceases to allow myself to take the Albion into Europe and beyond. As devastating as this sounds, I feel this is merely a wake up call. Championship Manager can’t allow me to take the Seagulls to across the globe, but you can.

I hope you appreciate my career write up, I’m sure that my agent has a full list of my results from each club I have been at, including win percentages and various other details from my stints. You may well have noticed from the players listed above, I have also got a passion for quick, exciting football which I feel has been noticeably lacking at this once great club for a while now.

I imagine you must be expecting to read that I demand a ridiculous amount of money for my services. I can assure you, this is not the case. I’d like to make it very clear that I am not in the football industry for money, I am in it for my pure love of the game, and I plan to make that very clear if you give me the opportunity to.

However, I do have one slight request which you may or may not appreciate. I would like to advise that for me to work to my true potential; I need things to be run in a certain way. By this, I mean I need to be able to bring in my own backroom staff. I’ll be totally honest with you, and tell you that I have already lined up to bring in the bleached blonde Gully’s Girl as my assistant, which is convenient for yourself as she is already on the club pay role.

I am extremely enthusiastic about this job, and I think it’s safe to say you will struggle to find someone as well qualified and knowledgeable about the game as myself. I look forward to hearing a response from you, and I will leave attached to this document some questions from fans of the club on popular social networking site Facebook, with regards to my bid to become manager. I have done my best to answer these questions in a way which sparks optimism, and I hope you will view them in a similar light.

Yours sincerely Matt Buglass Football Manager