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08-10-2009, 08:45 PM
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#1 | ||
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Hattrick Moderator
Join Date: Jan 2003
Location: Pintendre, Qc, Canada
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WWSM09: Luton Town or life after being decked 30 points
well, well, the game has sucked me back in...
 Bought it between Xmas and New Years, tried to start a career but never really got going. For tons of reasons, I didn't feel like playing it, like putting in the work to know my guys during that first offseason Summer. Switch to real life, I got asked to coach my son's U12 team by default (one other guy had said he wanted to be an assistant, they "forced" him to take the team, he coached two games with me as an assistant before dumping the whole bag of balls and telling me he had no interest nor time to do it) and it sort of rekindled my wanting to see if I could manage in FM. Told my self, "what the heck, Luton's been penalized 30 points, why not see if I can save them from the drop" and off I went. Started my career as my Summer vacation started (three weeks ago) and I didn't really play much at first, given how nice the weather was outside, but I've really started needing my daily fix over the last week. With no transfer money to start the season and playing only sporadically, I had a rough start with it. I started looking at possible loans although I was kinda handcuffed by the fact that two players were already on season long loans from the previous administration and you can only have four season long loans. I was not very thorough at first with asserting player values and it showed during the months of August to January. As I said, we started at -30 points while Rotherham and Bournemouth started at -17. With the bottom two teams being relegated to the Blue Square Premier Conference, that meant we were 13 points below the safety line. As I said, we had a rough start, losing many games we probably should have won as the guys learned to play the 4-1-3-2 formation I had envisioned. At one point, we were 22 points below safety. Things started turning around when I brought in a few player on free transfers in the January transfer window. Kristian O'leary was brought in from Swansea for no money + 25% of next sale while Shiva-Star N'Zigu (gotta love that name), a frenchman right winger/striker who was out of organized football since 2007 was brought in to revamp some of our offense. So far, it has worked and while we're still sitting in 24th and last place, we're now only 6 points away from the drop line with 12 games to play. The date is February 20, 2009 and this is were we stand as of now. Don't know how often I'll update this thing, or how thorough I'll go, but I needed a place to talk to someone about my team. I'm think that maybe one or two of you will read, it'll be infintely better than being looked at as a fool by my wife as I talk about my "little players in the computer"... FM
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A Black Belt is a White Belt who refused to give up... follow my story: The real life story of a running frog... |
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08-10-2009, 08:56 PM
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#2 |
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College Prospect
Join Date: Mar 2002
Location: Berkley, MI
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Life is good again
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08-11-2009, 09:11 AM
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Hattrick Moderator
Join Date: Jan 2003
Location: Pintendre, Qc, Canada
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Let's start by taking a quick look at who these Hatters are... First here's the selection as it stood before I next game:
Information on players might be a bit vague cause there was something wrong with my screenshot app and everything is all blurry. I'll go by memory here. Goalkeepers I had a rought time settling on one goalkeeper. The season started with Dean Brill, a local product who, at only 21 years of age, I felt was a bit young to assume the daily grind between the posts. He'd sometimes let in a bad goal and the team would crumble. I then went on looking for a possible loanee but as with all these, they are usually also young. I found a signed David Button on a season long, but he too gave away some suspect goals in the games he played. Still, he was considered better than Brill by all scouts and coaches. I then came upon 37yo Ian Bennett a journeyman keeper who was brought in during the offseason. As I said, I rotated a bit between the three for a few weeks before deciding on Bennett as the starter. He's dependable enough not keep us in most games and sometimes will pull out an amazing performance. He had a sequence of 3 or 4 clean sheets in a row recently, certainly big contributor to us being closer to the safety line. Defenders George Pilkington is our most dependable defender and that's saying something in the sense that he his far from impressive skill wise but he gets the job done and can play both centre and right. He's over 30 and probably won't be with us for many years. Olivier Bernard was brought in when the loanee we had at left fullback refused to extend his loan. He's done well for us and really can restart the attack from his fullback spot. Claude Gnakpa is a bit shaky at times. He's a bit young and it shows at times, especially in his confidence during games. I've only played him at fullback despite the fact that he could play center too. Edward Asafu-Ajaye is another young one. He can play very well but can also slump badly so I need to give him a day off every once in a while. Kristian O'Leary is an older dude brought in during the January transfer window. He's mostly an MC but does very well as a centreback. Keith Keane is a true Luton product and with his great versatility, can play almost anywhere from MC to DMC to D RC. Michael Spillane is a loanee and has atrocious defending skills. I'd use him on defense as a last recourse. Lewis Emanuel is listed as a full back and played some games in that capacity before being injured, but he had most of his success as an ML. Midfielders Our usual setup is Keith Keane at DMC and Kevin Nicholls at MC. Nicholls is the captain and the heart and soul of this team. He's determined and intense, as indicated by his 2 red cards he received earlier in the season. Keane is solid at DMC and still has room to grow at only 23. As mentioned above, Kristian O'Leary is a midfielder first. He's giving us good depth in the case where Nicholls or Keane has to tiake a night off. Kevin Gallen has been our starting right winger since the start of the season and while he can do a serviceable job, he'd be more suited to play MC. I brought in Frenchman Shiva-Star N'Zigou, a free agent very well suited to play the MR spot in the January transfer window. He had some great games before getting injured for a month or so. As I said, Lewis Emmanuel had some great games in the ML spot before getting injured, him for 2-3 months with a broken ankle. Nathan Woolfe, a young loanee, is now manning the left side and doing a decent job of it. His confidence is kind of shaky though. Ryan Charles and Paul McVeigh are my two backups on the side midfield spots. Charles is a youngster with a great heart while McVeigh is an older dude with little stamina but with some fire in his eyes. Asa Hall is a young Luton product and gave us some interesting performances before being injured too. His skill set is not real impressive, but he seemed to play well above his skills. Strikers Andrea Lombardo is a Canadian fella with Italian citizenship. He started the season on a complete tear, scoring goals apparently at will but has since cooled off considerably. Sébastien Heitzmann was brought in from France. He's got a great skill set, great pace but he's having trouble adapting to play in England. Fans were ecstatic when we brought him in during the January window, scouts raved about him, coaches still see as one of the best players on the team, but it's just not translating to performances on the pitch. I'll try to ease him into the lineup. Tom Craddock is our next most productive striker. He's not bad but probably not one I'll want to stick with in the very long term. Chris Martin has gotten a lot of reps lately and he's mostly delivered just fine. Sam Parkin used to be one of my favorite Hatter but he seems to have competely lost it. He's a big salary for us at $5,500 a week but he just can't get his groove on, as evidenced by his average rating of only 6.49. As you can see from the roster list, we play a 4-1-3-2. I've yet to read the tactical framework and theorem thingie, might do so at some point. I'm mostly playing it by ear now. FM
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A Black Belt is a White Belt who refused to give up... follow my story: The real life story of a running frog... |
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08-11-2009, 11:36 AM
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#4 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Hattrick Moderator
Join Date: Jan 2003
Location: Pintendre, Qc, Canada
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February 20, 2009
I only recently requested to have a parent club, something I should have done much earlier. The board comes back with two possible clubs: Permier club West Ham or Championship club Crystal Palace. It's a no brainer to me as Crystal Palace are not only simply in the Championship, they're in 24th and last place and looking at possible relegation. The board announce the association between us and West Ham later on in the day. February 21, 2009 We lose a tight road game against Darlington, 0-1. The absence of Kevin Nicholls really hurt us. Played the squad presented earlier on. The fans are disappointed with the loss, our first in seven games. February 25, 2009 Our association with West Ham is already paying off. They are offering us to take centreback Hólmar Eyjólfsson on loan. I decide to end Michael Spillane's loan in order to make room for him as our fourth loanee. He agrees to come to us for the next three months. The interesting thing is I never had to make any transfer bid. West Ham offered him and next thing I knew, he had agreed to it. February 28, 2009 We play Dag & Red at Kenilworth Road. Kevin Nicholls just started training full time again and is kinda low on condition but I decide to give him the start. I'll have our new loanee on the bench and might have him come on if Nicholls gets too tired. Here's our selection for that game:
The game ends up in a 1-1 draw after they tie us very late in the game. Frustrating draw in a game where they controlled the ball 58% of the time. The fans are disappointed that we couldn't keep them from tieing the game. FM
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A Black Belt is a White Belt who refused to give up... follow my story: The real life story of a running frog... |
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08-11-2009, 11:40 AM
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#5 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Hattrick Moderator
Join Date: Jan 2003
Location: Pintendre, Qc, Canada
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March 1st, 2009
The board feels I should be performing slightly better as a manager. They say Sébastien Heitzmann was a crappy signing while they are ecstatic with the signing of Shiva-Star N'Zigou (who's currently not playing). Other than for Heitzmann, they do see all my other signings as mostly positive moves though. My job status remains at "stable". March 4, 2009 We play 23rd place Bournemouth on the road. As they are only two points above us, it's our chance to get on moving. Even on the road, it's a game we have a real chance of winning. I decide to rest Claude Gnakpa after a few shaky games and give the start to new loanee Hólmar Eyjólfsson. He was on fire when asked to hop in at the end of our last game.
We take a 1-0 lead early on in the second half, but they are attacking us hard. Ian Bennett makes a couple great saves late in the game then the crap hits the fan. We kick it out for a throw in with the clock showing 93:25 and the assistant referee indicating that there'll be 3 minutes of injury time to be played. It's all over, right? They'll blow it dead, right? WRONG! They take the throw in, center it and a frigging top corner kick from 25 yards out finds it's way past Bennett. I'm so pissed off. The clock shows 93:40 when the ball hits that back of the net... I tell the guys I sympathise with them. The fans are still pleased with the away draw. The earlier loss and the two draws have left us 7 points below the safety line with 11 games still to play.
If not for the 30 points penalty, we'd be sitting comfortably in 14th place... Also interesting to see how favorably our defense compares to other teams in terms of conceded goals... FM
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A Black Belt is a White Belt who refused to give up... follow my story: The real life story of a running frog... |
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08-12-2009, 09:11 AM
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#6 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Hattrick Moderator
Join Date: Jan 2003
Location: Pintendre, Qc, Canada
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March 7, 2008
We play Wycombe at Kenilworth Road. Their manager Andy Scott is a confident son of a gun and he comes out in the press pretty much guaranteeing a win gainst us. Dude, your team's in 21st place, you got nothing on us... I come out and tell the press we're confident and that we fear no one. Looking at injured players, Shiva-Star N'Zigu and Sébastien Heitzmann are both between a few days and a week from coming back to training. Here's our selection for the game:
Pregame in the locker room, I tell the guys that not only I think we can win, I expect a win. We start the game on an asbsolute roar, controlling the ball at will with over 75% possession, but we can't convert chances and the game ends in a boring 0-0 draw. The guys really dropped their intensity in the second half. Olivier Bernard had a good game (rating: 7.0) after being criticized by the fans for being in a slump. Wycombe took one shot on Ian Bennett and it ended up being off target. Despite it being only a home draw, the fan are still pleased with it, mostly because of our hability to restrict their chances. We remain at 7 points from the safety line. Asa Hall resumes full training but I'm not sure I have a spot for him in the squad now. He's young so we'll see... FM
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A Black Belt is a White Belt who refused to give up... follow my story: The real life story of a running frog... |
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08-12-2009, 11:44 AM
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#7 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Hattrick Moderator
Join Date: Jan 2003
Location: Pintendre, Qc, Canada
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March 10, 2009
We play 4th place Brentford on their pitch. Even with them sitting in 4th place and the game being on their pitch, bookies have us as evens favourites. That's gotta mean something about the potential of this squad... Tom Craddock suffered a knock in our last game and looks a bit tired going into the game so I start Chris Martin in his place. Sam Parkin is way out of shape to even be an option.
The game starts with an averted catastrophe. We're only 90 seconds into the game when the referee goes all gung ho and call a dubious penalty against Kristian O'Leary. I did say averted catastrophe because the penalty kicker sends the ball straight to Ian Bennett. Phew... We control the ball well but again can't convert, mostly because our strikers are worthless playing way too nervously. At the half, they are both rated in the 6.1-6.2 range. Brentford took a 1-0 lead around the 35th minute and we never recover. It's not because we never tried though as Tom Craddock, coming off the bench in the 74th minute, came very close to tieing the game in the waning moments of the game. The fans are still pleased, despite this away loss. Andy Scott comes out to the press again, predicting that Luton will go down. I tell him that next time we'll be victorious. Yeah, I know, kinda weak but it was my only mind-game/negative comment option and there was no way I was gonna say anything positive about this bastage. Hi comment, and my reply, seem to have whipped some guys. Maybe it'll help us rebounce from this tiny slump we're in. We remain 7 points away from safety, now with 9 games to play in the season. This is making me very nervous. A couple wins in those last two games and we'd be almost out of the relegation zone... Here's the table as it stands now:
March 11, 2009 Sébastien Heitzmann resumes full training following his head injury. Hopefully it kocked some football sense into him and he'll start playing up to the coach's assessment... March 13, 2009 It's Shiva-Star N'Zigou's turn to resume full training after missing a month. Him I really look forward to see back on the pitch. Thing is we play tomorrow or in a couple of days so he probably will not be ready to step right back in. I've included some screenshots of a few profiles I had to help you get an idea of who's on the team. More to come soon, more like tonight or tomorrow though. FM
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A Black Belt is a White Belt who refused to give up... follow my story: The real life story of a running frog... |
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08-13-2009, 09:11 AM
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#8 |
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Hattrick Moderator
Join Date: Jan 2003
Location: Pintendre, Qc, Canada
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I've been reading the Tactical Theorem and Framework document, interesting piece of work. Can't say I'm ready to implement everything in it, but I understand the whole concept behind it. I have modified their 4-3-1-2 (see attached 4132original.jpg) from using 3 MCs to my preferred ML/MC/MR kind of setup (see attached 4132modified.jpg).
I like the linking between the three levels of players (defense, midfield, strikers) although using that much specific player by player instruction is quite new to me. I'll be using one of their three flavours (standard, attacking, defensive) in my next few matches. Basically, the fullbacks are the ones who will be asked to support the attack or the defense more depending on how we play that tactic. We'll see how it goes from there. FM
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A Black Belt is a White Belt who refused to give up... follow my story: The real life story of a running frog... Last edited by FrogMan : 08-13-2009 at 09:12 AM. |
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08-13-2009, 09:14 AM
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#9 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Hattrick Moderator
Join Date: Jan 2003
Location: Pintendre, Qc, Canada
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March 14, 2009
We play Grimsby at home. I'll be going with the attacking 4-1-3-2 formation for this game. Here's our squad for the game:
I'll start by saying this was one of the most annoying game to watch. I mean, come one people, white with orange on the side (us) against white with black stripes. See the attached screenies, I can't believe any referee would let two teams play with such confusing colors. The tactic seems to be working during the first half as we control the ball well and can pull off 8 shots while allowing them none. Thing is we just can't finish anything and of those 8 shots, only one was on target. Olivier Bernard suffers a brain fart 3 minutes into the second half when he lays a weak ass pass back to keeper Ian Bennett. The pass is intercepted before getting to the keeper and their forward scores in an empty net. Down 0-1. We keep attacking, and putting shots in the stands behind their keeper, grrr. I'm pretty much resigned to the loss when Olivier Bernard redeems himself with a great strike from 25 yards out after beating two defenders. His goal ties the game 1-1 in the 91st minute. Olivier Bernard goes from goat to hero and gets the Man of the Match. We end up with 2 shots on target out of 13 to their only 1. The fans were in a buoyant mood following the late equaliser and the good news is we get one point closer to safety with this draw.
Our next game is only in seven days so maybe Sébastien Heitzmann and Shiva-Star N'Zigou might be available to play in that one... FM
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A Black Belt is a White Belt who refused to give up... follow my story: The real life story of a running frog... |
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08-13-2009, 10:54 AM
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#10 |
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Pro Starter
Join Date: Jan 2001
Location: Rennes, France
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I'm here and reading !
Wouldn't it be more of a challenge to let you slide to Conference level ? |
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08-13-2009, 11:18 AM
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#11 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Hattrick Moderator
Join Date: Jan 2003
Location: Pintendre, Qc, Canada
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March 19, 2009
Arg! My physio reports that Ian Bennett stubbed his finger after awkwardly catching a ball in training today. Sounds worse than it really is as he's expected to mis between 5 and 6 days. We play in two days and if he's not ready to go, David Button would take his place. Him and Dean Brill were both available to play for the reserve's match of yesterday and my assistant picked Button. March 21, 2009 We play 1st place Bradford on their pitch. We lost 0-3 to them in our first encounter this season and given the fact it was at Kenilworth Road back then and we're now playing on their pitch, I opt to go with the defensive 4-1-3-2 tactic. Both Shiva-Star N'Zigou and Sébastien Heitzmann will start this game. N'Zigou's a bit out of shape after missing a month of action, but I want him to come and play at least the first half, try and spark something. Ian Bennett is listed as doubtful but I decide to give him the start anyway.
The tactics seem to work well despite us being down 0-2 at the half. Strange to say, but the two goals were simply great of play. First, former Hatter Enoch Showunmi skinned righ fullback George Pilkington to take the ball to the 6 yard zone for an easy goal, and I mean really skinned him, great piece of dribbling. Their second goal was the result of a blistering shot from within the penalty area, nothing Bennett could do to stop it. Down 0-2 but we're winning possession, shots are 3(2) for them to 3(0) for us and nothing remarkable in corners. Really, as strange as this sounds, this could have gone either way. Really could have gone either way is Sébastien Heitzmann had not been forced to leave the game injured in the 20th minute. For once, he was having a strong start to a game and he can't finish it. Blech... George Pilkington is a second casualty in the 48th minute as he too gets injured. Being forced to use two subs this early in the game kinda throws my game management out the window. One of the two wingers will have to finish the game way tired. It won't change much anyway, as Enoch Showunmi scores another game and we lose it 0-3. Stats were fairly even throughout the game, except where it really counts, i.e. goals scored. The fans are disappointed with the heavy loss. We remain six points from Macclesfield and the safety line as they didn't play today.
Sébastien Heitzmann will miss from 9 to 12 days with a bruised rib suffered after a late tackle. George Pilkington suffered a dead leg (aka Dr House injury  ) and will be out around 6 days.March 24, 2009 Macclesfield are soundly beaten 1-4 by Brentford so we remain at 6 points from them, with now only 7 games to play.
FM
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A Black Belt is a White Belt who refused to give up... follow my story: The real life story of a running frog... |
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08-13-2009, 11:23 AM
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Hattrick Moderator
Join Date: Jan 2003
Location: Pintendre, Qc, Canada
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Hey Alf! Long time no see. I guess it would be, wouldn't it? Reason why I'd like us to stay up is I'd really want to do better than the real life Hatters. They were relegated at the end of the 2008-09 season after finishing 24th. Funny thing, look at the final table:
We currently have the exact same number of wins AND losses with seven games to play in the season. Kind of eerie... I've never manage at the conference level though. Might be interesting. Will be interesting either way really. FM
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A Black Belt is a White Belt who refused to give up... follow my story: The real life story of a running frog... |
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08-13-2009, 11:40 AM
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#13 |
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High School Varsity
Join Date: Nov 2003
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Good stuff as always FrogMan!
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08-13-2009, 11:42 AM
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#14 | |
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Hattrick Moderator
Join Date: Jan 2003
Location: Pintendre, Qc, Canada
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Quote:
thanks, glad to have you reading. FM
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A Black Belt is a White Belt who refused to give up... follow my story: The real life story of a running frog... |
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08-13-2009, 11:58 AM
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#15 |
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Head Coach
Join Date: Nov 2003
Location: Morgan Hill, CA
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Following along.
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Fan of SF Giants, 49ers, Sharks, Arsenal |
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08-13-2009, 12:02 PM
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#16 | |
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Hattrick Moderator
Join Date: Jan 2003
Location: Pintendre, Qc, Canada
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Quote:
welcome aboard! FM
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A Black Belt is a White Belt who refused to give up... follow my story: The real life story of a running frog... |
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08-14-2009, 09:06 AM
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Hattrick Moderator
Join Date: Jan 2003
Location: Pintendre, Qc, Canada
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March 28, 2009
We play 5th place Exeter City at Kenilworth Road. Sébastien Heitzmann is listed as doubtful for the match and being at only 76% in condition, I decide to sit him out. In a stunning move, I also give one rare start to Sam Parkin. Maybe this'll stir things up a bit.
We will play a neutral tactic, neither attacking nor defensive. I find it interesting that the prematch analysis is presenting loanee Hólmar Eyjólfsson as the key man for our squad. Two other tidbits of trivia in the milestones department: Sam Parkin has gone 601 minutes without scoring a goal and if we fail to win today, we'll have gone 8 games without a win, beating our previous record of 7... Well, Parkin only went 610 minutes without a goal when his strike from 30 yards out finds the back of the net in only the 9th minute. Up 1-0 early on. We all thought we'd gone up by 2 in the 59th minute when a perfect pass to Nathan Woolfe was converted into a goal but it got disallowed. Apparently, Woolfe straye "fractionally" offside. It was very fractional, let me tell you this. There was appearance of offside at the other end of the pitch in the 87th minute when Exeter score the tieing goal. We contest and argue but nothing does. Tied 1-1. Tied and very frustrated... We do push until the very end and get a chance for redemption only a couple minutes later but the ball skims the top of the bar to end up in the stands. The game ends in a 1-1 lock. I tell the guys I sympathise with them. We didn't really dominate the game, but I think we'd done enough to secure the win. Here are the match stats:
I had not realized the 3 clear cut chances on their side until now. Finally we're probably lucky to have let only one in, heh... Just to show how much of a star Shiva-Star n'Zigou is becoming for us, he got the Man of the Match and had 11 runs past opponents in the game with the assist on Parkin's goal. The simple point we hauled in today is good enough to bring 1 point closer to safety. We're now trailing Macclesfield by only 5 points.
This could change when Bournemouth play the game they have on hand over us. April 1st, 2009 The board still feel I should be performing slightly better in my role as manager. They still feel the signing of Sébastien Heitzmann was bad bu that Shiva-Star N'Zigou was a real steal. Honestly, I don't know what they think I should be doing better. I mean, yeah, we got knocked out early in both the League Cup and the FA Cup, but in both instances it was due to crappy draws and for both, they say they are disappointed but understand how we could have been knocked out when we were. We're expected to be fighting bravely against relegation, which I think we are, given the fact we started 30 points in the hole. Oh well... FM
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A Black Belt is a White Belt who refused to give up... follow my story: The real life story of a running frog... |
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08-14-2009, 09:19 AM
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#18 |
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Pro Starter
Join Date: Feb 2002
Location: ...down the gravity well
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I'm reading, I miss these...perhaps when Z flies away Monday, I'll think about purchasing, though I did see 2010 is coming out soon.
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"General Woundwort's body was never found. It could be that he still lives his fierce life somewhere else, but from that day on, mother rabbits would tell their kittens that if they did not do as they were told, the General would get them. Such was Woundwort's monument, and perhaps it would not have displeased him." Watership Down, Richard Adams |
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08-14-2009, 11:40 AM
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#19 | |
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Hattrick Moderator
Join Date: Jan 2003
Location: Pintendre, Qc, Canada
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Quote:
It's funny cause I was reading my last dynasty and you were the last one to post in that one. I was wondering if you'd show up in this one. Glad to have you on board. FM
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A Black Belt is a White Belt who refused to give up... follow my story: The real life story of a running frog... |
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08-14-2009, 11:43 AM
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Hattrick Moderator
Join Date: Jan 2003
Location: Pintendre, Qc, Canada
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April 4, 2009
League Match #41: at Rochdale (6th) (Rochdale 6-4 fav)
We beat them 1-0 in our earlier matchup this season. I decide to go with a defensive setting for this game. Sébastien Heitzmann is back in the side and Sam Parkin retains his starting spot. I tell the guys to do it for the fans. After Parkin ending his scoring drought in our last game, it's Sébastien Heitzmann's turn to score. He does so on a beautiful shot from 20 yards out following a perfect pass from fellow Frenchman Shiva-Star N'zigou in the 4th minute. We end the first half ahead 1-0, controlling the ball most of the time. My assistant recommends I encourage the boys at the half but I digress. It's what I did in our last game and we faltered. I tell them not to get careless. Well, not sure how good that halftime talk since Rochdale puts us in a bind early on in the second half. They tie the game following a corner kick only 90 seconds into the half, gah! We keep controlling the ball but we're not taking much chances. With about 10 minutes to go I say the heck with it and flip the switch into "attacking mode". It pays off 2 minutes into injury time when a kick from Andrea Lombardo, who'd replaced a knocked off Sam Parkin in the 53rd, finds the back of the net. Surely, it's got to be the winning goal... AND IT IS!!! Sébastien Heitzmann earns the Man of the Match with a great performance. In addition to his goal, he also completed 17 of 19 passes. Interesting stat of the match, both centrebacks (Kristian O'Leary and Hólmar Eyjólfsson) won 9 of the 10 headers they challenged for. The fans are only pleased with the win but I told my guys I was delighted with it. That win, combined with Macclesfield's 0-2 loss to Barnet, means we've to within two points from getting out of the relegation zone. Bournemouth still hold a game on hand over us and Maccesfield. It's now pretty much a lock that relegation will happen to one of our three clubs as the next one up, Wycombe, seem to have pulled away a bit. Interesting tidbit regarding board confidence about signees. They now feel that Shiva-Star N'Zigou looks like he'll be a truly inspired signing (confidence: superb) and they're not as down on Sébastien Heitzmann as they were before (confidence now at poor instead of very poor). April 7, 2009 Speaking of Sébastien Heitzmann, he just got selected into the League 2 Team of the Week. April 8, 2009 Bournemouth lose the match they had on hand over us, 1-3 against Chester. The last three teams in League 2 are now within 2 points of one another.
FM
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A Black Belt is a White Belt who refused to give up... follow my story: The real life story of a running frog... Last edited by FrogMan : 08-14-2009 at 11:43 AM. |
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08-14-2009, 01:21 PM
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#21 |
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College Starter
Join Date: Apr 2007
Location: Arlington, VA
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That was an important win -- well done! I am not familiar with the Luton backstory. What led to the 30 point penalty?
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08-14-2009, 02:04 PM
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#22 | ||
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Hattrick Moderator
Join Date: Jan 2003
Location: Pintendre, Qc, Canada
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Quote:
thanks, and yes it was an important win although they are all important at this point. As for Luton's point deductions, from Wikipedia: Quote:
Was a crazy year for the Hatters last year. Not sure anybody knew, but they were relegated in three consecutive seasons. From the Championship to League 1 to League 2 to Conference... FM
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A Black Belt is a White Belt who refused to give up... follow my story: The real life story of a running frog... |
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08-15-2009, 11:01 PM
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Hattrick Moderator
Join Date: Jan 2003
Location: Pintendre, Qc, Canada
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April 11, 2009
League Match #42: at Barnet (8th) (Luton 5-4 fav)
I decide to go with a neutral strategy for this game. 23rd place Bournemouth play against 18th place Accrington while 22nd place Macclesfield play at 1st place Bradford. Kristian O'Leary gives us a 1-0 lead in the 22nd minute on a beauty of a diving header, converting a corner from Kevin Nicholls but they do the same in injury time right before the end of the half. 1-1 after 45 minutes. At the half, I see that Sébastien Heitzmann is having a rough game so while I tell everyone that I think we can win, I take him aside and tell him I have faith in his ability. It sure looks like it's given him a boost as he scores in the 60th minute to give us back the lead, 2-1. It was another one of his good, hard shot from 20 yards out. It's a good game, with chances on both end of the pitch and they push us hard. They finally score to tie the game in th 77th minute, 2-2. I ask the guys to go all out for the last 7 minutes of the game or so, but we can't regain the lead. Final score: 2-2. I tell the guys I'm pleased with their effort. A win was surely within our grasp, but a 2-2 tie on the road is not that bad. Sébastien Heitzmann ended up being the Man of the Match. Aside from his goal, he had a heck of a good second half. The fans now think he will be a decent capture for us. Well, well, well, Bournemouth ended up losing 1-2 to Accrington and Macclesfield got beat soundly, 0-3, by Bradford, so we end up moving up one spot in the standings. For the first time this season, WE ARE NOT DEAD LAST!!!
FM
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A Black Belt is a White Belt who refused to give up... follow my story: The real life story of a running frog... |
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08-15-2009, 11:07 PM
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#24 |
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Head Coach
Join Date: Sep 2004
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One frigging point away from safety.
You can do it, FM!
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2006 Golden Scribe Nominee 2006 Golden Scribe Winner Best Non-Sport Dynasty: May Our Reign Be Green and Golden (CK Dynasty) Rookie Writer of the Year Dynasty of the Year: May Our Reign Be Green and Golden (CK Dynasty) |
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08-15-2009, 11:19 PM
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#25 | |
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Hattrick Moderator
Join Date: Jan 2003
Location: Pintendre, Qc, Canada
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welcome aboard and thanks! We sure will fight it out. FM
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A Black Belt is a White Belt who refused to give up... follow my story: The real life story of a running frog... |
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08-17-2009, 09:10 AM
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#26 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Hattrick Moderator
Join Date: Jan 2003
Location: Pintendre, Qc, Canada
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April 13, 2009
League Match #43: vs Port Vale (14th) (Luton evens fav)
As we get ready for the match, we learn that Sébastien Heitzmann has been once again named on the League 2 Team of the Week. He's certainly gotten more comfortable in our little league. While we'll be playing, 22nd place Macclesfield will play 5th place Exeter and 24th place Bournemouth will play 2nd place Gillingham. We're going into this game with an attacking strategy, pushing up the full backs. The first half is pretty uneventful. We shoot 6 times but 4 off target and 2 blocked, holding 59% of the possession. 31 of those 59 percents were in the attacking tier though. It's more of the same for most of the second half. I decide to pull out the good old 4-2-4 formation with 20 minutes to go. It's the time I use it personally, but I've been burned by it so many times at the end of games that I think it's worth a try. We do put some more pressure, but we just can't put one behind the keeper. Final Score: 0-0.
We controlled the game is so many aspects (possession, shots taken, corners won, percentage of passes completed that it's a bit disappointing that we were unable to pull off the win. Look at how many throw ins we had, 40. This means they simply kept stopping us and kicking the ball out. I let the guys know that I'm disappointed with the effort. The fans are pleased with the draw however, go figure. The good news is that both Macclesfield (1-3 to Exeter) and Bournemouth (0-1 to Gillingham) lost their matches so WE MOVE ON UP OUT OF RELEGATION!!!
Yeah, yeah, it's only on goal differential, but still, we now own our destiny. As they say: "win and you're in!" Easier said than done, but still... FM
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A Black Belt is a White Belt who refused to give up... follow my story: The real life story of a running frog... Last edited by FrogMan : 08-17-2009 at 09:46 AM. Reason: corrected league match to #43 instead of #44 |
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08-17-2009, 11:20 AM
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Hattrick Moderator
Join Date: Jan 2003
Location: Pintendre, Qc, Canada
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April 18, 2009
League Match #44: vs Shrewsbury (8th) (Luton 2-5 fav)
Bookies are predicting an easy win for the Hatters on this one which is kinda odd. I mean, Shrewsbury are still in 8th place and having a pretty good season. Macclesfield play 14th place Port Vale at home today while Bournemouth will visit 12th place Dag & Red. We head into the game with a our neutral 4-1-3-2 tactics and I tell the guys I not only think we can win it, I expect a win! Seeing how we're not converting anything, I switch the team's tactics to a more attacking play halfway through the first half. Doesn't seem to help. We're losing possession a bit and have tried 6 shots, all off target. We've restricted them to only 2 shots in the first half though, only one of them on target. Andrew Lombardo hits the post in the 59th minute and another shot, from Sébastien Heitzmann just grazes the bar only a couple minutes later. These two will be part of a 15 shots onslaught in the second half, with 8 of them coming in the last 20 minutes. Sadly, only one of these will end up being on target while 6 of them will end up being blocked. Final Score: 0-0.
My assistant recommends me to tell them I'm disappointed but dang, we got two games left to play in the season and I can only sympathise with them. Don't want to kill that morale heading into two of the most important games of the season. The fans are pleased, not so much with the result but more with the amount of chances the team created during the match. Sébastien Heitzmann ends up with another Man of the Match selection But look at that! We are distancing ourselves from the other two clubs fighting against relegation. Both Bournemouth and Macclesfield have lost their matches, both by a score of 0-1. We're now one tiny points out of the relegation zone with two games to play.
Our next match is only in 7 days and when I compare our team morale with the morale of both our competitor to the last safe spot, I'd say our chances are looking good. You can check the attached screenies to see the difference between the three squads. You can also see how well Sébastien Heitzmann has played in his last 5 appearance. I'm also a bit surprised to see how much our two fullbacks have thrived in the new system. Looks like they are really taking a liking to being asked to go forward at times.
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A Black Belt is a White Belt who refused to give up... follow my story: The real life story of a running frog... |
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08-17-2009, 11:27 AM
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#28 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Hattrick Moderator
Join Date: Jan 2003
Location: Pintendre, Qc, Canada
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April 25, 2009
League Match #45: vs Notts Co (19th) (Luton 4-6 fav)
Here's a good matchup for us, we have a good chance at getting some points here. At least, we gotta hope to at least score a goal after two scoreless draws... I give Tom Craddock a shot at starting opposite Sébastien Heitzmann. Despite all my wanting to really win this one, it's a game on the road and I want to avoid any early mishaps so we start the game in a defensive mood. Bournemouth play host to 14th place Chesterfield while Macclesfield will visit 6th place Rochdale. GAH! The 9th minute marks the end of the game for Sébastien Heitzmann. He's out with an injury. Sam Parkin will come in to replace him, that's kind of a drop in quality. We do control the ball quite a bit and Keith Keane jumps on a free ball following a scramble in front of the net. From just out of the six yard box, he kicks it past two defenders and the keeper to give us a 1-0 lead after 25 minutes. Funny enough, Sam Parkin was right in the middle of traffic there. They come close to tieing the game in the 56th minutes but the hard shot clanks off the crossbar. They go to a 4-2-4 formation to end the game, but we hold our own and keep our lead. Final Score: 1-0.
Crazy, crazy domination in terms of ball control for us in that game, in no small part due to Keith Keane's great play in the middle of the field. He earns the Man of the Match selection. He scored the winning goal but also complete 19 of 23 passes. The fans are delighted with the win. This little win turns out to be very important as Bournemouth won their match 1-0 over Chesterfield and would have passed us if not for our win. Macclesfield did los their match to Rochdale and with that loss, have now clinched relegation to the Blue Square Premier conference.
We did get bad news back at the locker room though. Sébastien Heitzmann has sustained strained ankle ligaments after turning awkwardly during the match. He will miss 7 to 8 weeks, blech. FM
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A Black Belt is a White Belt who refused to give up... follow my story: The real life story of a running frog... |
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08-17-2009, 02:05 PM
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#29 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Hattrick Moderator
Join Date: Jan 2003
Location: Pintendre, Qc, Canada
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May 1st, 2009
Hey look at that, the board are now satisfied with my management of the team. I could almomst complain, "what? only satisfied?!?". I have brought the team back from a 30 points deficit, they should be ecstatic that we're in a position to possibly avoid relegation. They say the capture of Shiva-Star N'Zigou has been particularly pleasing while the fans are still pissed about our heavy 0-3 loss to Bradford. Wow... May 2, 2009 League Match #46: vs Lincoln (8th) (Luton 4-7 fav)
According to Sky Bet, we are being touted as comfortable favourites but will have to be wary about complacency in our match against Lincoln. This rings even truer when I look at the stats sheet for our first encounter with Lincoln, a game which we lost 0-2 and which we controlled the ball only 42% of the time. We'll certainly have to give it our all as Bournemouth have a fairly good shot at winning their final match too, at home against 19th place Wycombe. I set up our tactics as a neutral 4-1-3-2 and I tell the lads to do it for the fans in this last game of the season. There's only six and a half minutes played when Andrea Lombardo give us a 1-0 lead on a weird play. One of their centreback played a sloppy backpass to their keeper. The keeper took the ball forward but Lombardo put pressure on him and he fumbled the ball away to Lombardo who side stepped the keeper, now out of the penalty area, and kicked the ball into an empty net. 1-0 is the halftime score and I take some time to look at scores elsewhere, well at the only place we really care about. Yup, what I feared, Bournemouth are also ahead, 1-0 over Wycombe at the half. A draw will not cut it here guys, we need to win. I tell the guys not to get careless. We start the second half strong and add a goal to our lead in the 73rd minute when Ian Bennett kicks a long ball straight in the middle for a running Tom Craddock who's left one-on-one with the keeper. He doesn't waste the opportunity and makes it 2-0 for us. We hold on to win it by that score. WE'VE DONE IT! WE'VE AVOIDED RELEGATION!!!
Ian Bennett, maybe one of our most unsung hero of this season, ends up with the Man of the Match. I finished this game with an assist on Craddock's goal but he also had a couple key saves to keep us in the game. He never really stood out during the season, but he's helped us stay in many games. The fans are delighted with the wins and more importantly, the board are delighted that we've staved off relegation from the Coca-Cola League 2. We're given $105,000 for our final position. Wycombe won their final game but our win made it inconsequential. Here's how the league table looks like to end the season:
May 5, 2009 Ian Bennett and Shiva-Star N'Zigou have been selected to the League 2 Team of the Week. FM
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A Black Belt is a White Belt who refused to give up... follow my story: The real life story of a running frog... |
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08-17-2009, 02:19 PM
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#30 |
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College Prospect
Join Date: Mar 2002
Location: Berkley, MI
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Congratulations!!
Hopefully without that 30 point weight on your back, you'll have an upper mid finish next season. |
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08-17-2009, 07:08 PM
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#31 | |
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Hattrick Moderator
Join Date: Jan 2003
Location: Pintendre, Qc, Canada
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Quote:
thanks. I'm honestly intrigued to see what the board's expectations will be for next season. Without the 30 points deduction, we'd be at 61 points which would have given us 15th place. And that was in my first year, with many trials and tribulations in getting the right setup and lineup. FM
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A Black Belt is a White Belt who refused to give up... follow my story: The real life story of a running frog... |
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08-18-2009, 09:06 AM
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#32 |
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Hattrick Moderator
Join Date: Jan 2003
Location: Pintendre, Qc, Canada
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May 10, 2009
League 2 playoff semi final result, leg 1 Darlington 0 - 1 Rochdale Exeter 1 - 2 Bury May 14, 2009 League 2 playoff semi final result, leg 2 (and agregate) Rochdale 2 - 3 Darlington (tied 3-3 on agregate, Bury win 5-4 on penalties) Bury 2 - 2 Exeter (Bury win 4-3 on agregate) May 22, 2009 I take a look at my manager profile, here are my ratings as of now: Club/Player loyalty: 9 - makes perfect sense as I had to do some cleanup with players that were at the club but not needed anymore Domestic Player Bias: 11 - we're not scouting much outside of the UK, maybe a bit in France Financial Control: 9 - yeah, yeah, wages were about $4k over budget for most of last season, I really have a hard time staying under Hands on Approach: 10 Squad Discipline: 11 - I handed a couple of warnings and even a fine last season, for violent straight red cards Tactical consistency: 10 - might have gone up if not for the switch to our current system late in the season May 23, 2009 League 2 playoff final Bury 0 - 1 Rochdale (Rochdale are promoted to League 1) We pay out $70k to be shared among the squad on a pro-rata basis after finishing 22nd in the League 2. That's gonna be what, $750 per player? That 22nd place in League 2 is a record low position for the club. The previous lowest League 2 finish was 17th. At least it's still in League play and not any lower. May 27, 2009 All our loanees return to their club. At the same time, we get to see some of our players on loan return to the club. There are a couple strikers that were sent out when the club went into administration, i.e. before I took over, that might be interesting for us to use. Dean Morgan maybe more than Drew Talbot, but still, I've included both players' profile in attachement. May 31, 2009 Players go on holiday for the Summer break. They'll report back on June 29. I get a few reminders about contracts that will expire in a month's time. I don't plan on renewing any of the ones I see there. Among them my assistant Kevin Watson, midfielder Paul McVeigh, physio Harry Scott-Stackman, youth coach Dan Walder, scout Curtis Warren. Watson wasn't very good at judgin either a player's ability or potential, making him a liability more than an asset. McVeigh's lack of stamina made only good to be a sub for the end of games. Scott-Stackman's only had 10 for physio rating. Walder sure had 14 with dealing with youngsters but he had crap everywhere else and Warrne, well for a scout, was not even able to scout a U12 team. Byebye... FM
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A Black Belt is a White Belt who refused to give up... follow my story: The real life story of a running frog... |
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08-18-2009, 11:41 AM
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#33 |
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Hattrick Moderator
Join Date: Jan 2003
Location: Pintendre, Qc, Canada
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June 1st, 2009
The team board are satisfied with my management of the team. They're still pretty high on the signing of Shiva-Star N'Zigou but they say that despite the positives, the club's wage expenditure is still too high and I will be required to address this. I know that Sam Parkin's $5,500 weekly wage and Paul McVeigh's $3,400 weekly wage will be off my books soon and I'm currently some $11k above budget so this should take care of some of it, but I'll have to be more careful with wages in the future. June 4, 2009 Sébastien Heitzmann resumes full training... at home! Seriously, he's been injured a bit more than what I'd like to see, especially for a guy who could play an important role in our whole offensive scheme. June 10th, 2009 In order to appease the team board, I release both Sam Parkin and Paul McVeigh on free transfer. The compensation is $16k for Parkin and $12k for McVeigh but at least now they're not on the payroll anymore. These moves brings us to only $2k over budget. June 17, 2009 In order to cut some wages, I transfer list some players I feel will never crack the starting lineup, or even be adequate backups. It's the case for Ian Henderson who spent all of last season on loan. I get an offer worth $22k fro him from Northampton. I accept the offer. June 22, 2009 Ian Henderson has agreed to a contract with Northampton and his transfer will go through on July 1st. His weekly wages were at $1,100. June 24, 2009 I wondered why I only had $1,100 in my transfer kitty following Ian Henderson's transfer deal and now I know. The board have released a statement announcing losses of $1.1M for the last financial year, ouch. They add that it's a worrying 20% of the club's turnover. The club board have indicated that the losses might result in smaller budget in the coming season. In a WTF moment, while I thought that everyone were at home, it appears that Drew Talbot, and some others including Dean Morgan, was still training at the club. The idiot stained some ankle ligaments and will be missing from 7 to 8 weeks, or enough to miss most of our preseason action. Moron... FM
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A Black Belt is a White Belt who refused to give up... follow my story: The real life story of a running frog... |
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08-18-2009, 01:31 PM
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#34 |
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Grizzled Veteran
Join Date: Dec 2002
Location: Little Rock, AR
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I am reading and enjoying. What are your plans to strengthen the squad over the summer? Are there any funds available to do that? It looks the club is in not so good shape financially.
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Xbox 360 Gamer Tag: GoldenEagle014 |
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08-18-2009, 02:03 PM
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#35 |
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Hattrick Moderator
Join Date: Jan 2003
Location: Pintendre, Qc, Canada
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June 25, 2009
Kevin Nicholls has been voted Luton'S Player of the Year by the fans. He certainly had a pretty solid season, and has always been a fan favorite. The Luton Best Eleven has been annouced. It goes like this: GK: Bennett DR: Gnakpa DL: Emanuel DC: Pilkington DC: Asafu-Adjaye DM: Nicholls MC: Keane MR: Gallen ML: Woolfe SC: Craddock SC: Lombardo ============= Brill Bernard O'Leary N'Zigou Baker Eyjolfsson McVeigh See the attached screenie for form average and all. I only disagree with the selection of Emanuel as the left back. I think that Olivier Bernard with 26 appearances had a bigger impact for us at that spot. Emanuel played mostly as a left midfielder before being injured. Asafu-Adjaye was not as effective as O'Leary but appeared more than him... We're given $400k for League 2 TV Right over the forthcoming season. Remember how I said I was intrigued to see what the team board's expectations would be for the upcoming season? Well, today's the day and yowza. They expect nothing less than for us to win promotion from the League 2 this season.  Ar you frigging serious?!? Okay, let's calm down and see how close we'd have been last season without the 30 point deduction. We finished with 31 points, to which we add 30 for 61. The lowest playoff team finished with 73, or 12 points ahead of us. That's four more wins. Hrm, not gonna be easy, but it's doable, I guess... Rough thing is my budgets won't change a bit: $1,000 transfer kitty and $45,000 weekly wage budget.They do say that if I think the team can achieve more, they are willing to back me by both budget to accomodate my aspirations, but who am I fooling to guarantee winning the league straight up?!? We get an interesting offer from parent club West Ham. They are offering us to take on Fred Sears on loan. He's a 19yo striker with speed to burn, valued at $3.9M. Certainly tons of potential, would have to see how he'd do for us as I don'T really have time to wait for him to develop. He's contemplating the offer. The good thing is he wouldn't cost us a thing on wage. My assistant also advises about the new players that have been promoted to the youth squad. Usually, it's a load of crap with a bunch of 16 and 17yo who'll never see the field for us but this season, a nice little gem seems to have slipped through the cracks. Dean Pearce is a 16yo defensive midfielder whom my assistant believes has the potential to be one of the best players at the club. I'm skeptical until i really look at him. Wow, the kid's already described as being close in skill to our other strogn defensive midfielder, and the fans' player of the year, Kevin Nicholls. We're talking about rating a 16yo as a 6 stars player in current ability, not only in potential ability. Potential ability is rated at 7 stars. Heck my assistant, who might not know what he's talking about but still, is of the opinion that Pearce would be a leading star for most League 1 side. We'te still in League 2. Anyway, not sure if a 16yo can play in league though, but he'll turn 17 in December and I'll make sure to give him some playing time then. Phew, that's the end of a crazy long day. FM
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A Black Belt is a White Belt who refused to give up... follow my story: The real life story of a running frog... |
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08-18-2009, 02:05 PM
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#36 |
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Hattrick Moderator
Join Date: Jan 2003
Location: Pintendre, Qc, Canada
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June 26, 2009
Fred Sears has agreed to come to Luton on a year long loan. Looking back to our last season, it became evident I'd have to shop for a starting left midfielder. I think I've found a nice one in Daniel Jones, a 22yo D/ML who's fallen out of favor at Wolves. He's valued at $55k but they have him listed at $45k. Blech, I have $1,100 in transfer budget. The heck with it, I offer them nothing with the addition of a clause for 50% of next sale. The kid's only 22 so they might bite. AND THEY DO! I get to offer him a contract. My scout says he should be regarded as a definite purchase. I like his overall skill set. He's asking for $2,900 a week and I skim a bit off and offer him $2,800 a week.June 29, 2009 My assistant reports on the return of players for pre-season training. Nobody's too much out of shape. Pre-season training is a GO! June 30, 2009 Weehee, Daniel Jones has agreed to the deal offered to him and will join us on July 1st. As you can see in the attached profile sheet, Jones is a 6'2, 182lbs left midfielder who's only 22. He's great speed although a bit weak in dribbling. He can cross the ball, take on both corner kicks and corners reasonably well. I think he'll do well for us. FM
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A Black Belt is a White Belt who refused to give up... follow my story: The real life story of a running frog... |
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08-18-2009, 02:05 PM
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#37 | |
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Hattrick Moderator
Join Date: Jan 2003
Location: Pintendre, Qc, Canada
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Quote:
There's not a lot to work with in terms of transfer kitty as you can see from my last few posts. Financially, the club is on some shaky grounds. Remember that they went into administration last year. I'm not too sure I'll be doing tons of rework on the squad anyway. I did bring in quite a few new players last year and I'd like to see them really gel together. As I said, we needed a starting left midfielder and I think we got on with Daniel Jones. Shiva-Star N'Zigou is set to be our rigth winger. We got a steady groupf defenders and plenty of resources in the middle of the midfield. I might like to get a striker although we'll have to see if Fred Sears can work some magic and if Sébastien Heitzmann can stay healthy for more than three games in a row. A keeper will also have to figure in the plans at some point. Other than that, I'll try to get a few loanees to help give us some depth, especially on the wings. FM
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A Black Belt is a White Belt who refused to give up... follow my story: The real life story of a running frog... |
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08-18-2009, 02:06 PM
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#38 |
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Hattrick Moderator
Join Date: Jan 2003
Location: Pintendre, Qc, Canada
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oh, and welcome aboard.
FM
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A Black Belt is a White Belt who refused to give up... follow my story: The real life story of a running frog... |
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08-18-2009, 02:31 PM
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#39 |
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Head Coach
Join Date: Nov 2003
Location: Morgan Hill, CA
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Jones looks like a real nice signing and hopefully Sears turns out to be a formidable striker on loan.
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Fan of SF Giants, 49ers, Sharks, Arsenal |
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08-18-2009, 02:56 PM
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#40 |
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College Benchwarmer
Join Date: Dec 2002
Location: St. Catharines, Canada
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I get back from vacation and see a new FM dynasty by FM? Awesome!
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MY CURRENT FM19 DYNASTY - FM19: "Ludere causa Ludendi - To Play for the Sake of Playing" - Queen's Park FC (Scottish League Two) MY OLD FM11 DYNASTY - FM11: From Semi-Pro Minnows to the EPL - Dover Athletic FC My Personal Blog - Now on the Tee - Golf, Sports, Poker, Life 2006 GOLDEN SCRIBE AWARD WINNER FOR BEST 'OTHER SPORT' DYNASTY - EHM2005: Sharpening Swords in Buffalo |
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08-18-2009, 09:10 PM
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#41 | |
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Hattrick Moderator
Join Date: Jan 2003
Location: Pintendre, Qc, Canada
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Quote:
yeah, Jones is relatively cheap in wages and has got a much better skill set than Nathan Woolfe who did a serviceable job for most of last season on the left side. As for Sears, I'm really hoping for the best. If he can simply be as useful as Eyjolfsson was at centreback, I'll be happy. FM
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A Black Belt is a White Belt who refused to give up... follow my story: The real life story of a running frog... |
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08-18-2009, 09:11 PM
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#42 | |
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Hattrick Moderator
Join Date: Jan 2003
Location: Pintendre, Qc, Canada
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Quote:
ah, vacation! that's where you were? I was wondering when you'd show up and was just about to PM you an invite... Welcome aboard. FM
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A Black Belt is a White Belt who refused to give up... follow my story: The real life story of a running frog... |
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08-19-2009, 11:41 AM
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Hattrick Moderator
Join Date: Jan 2003
Location: Pintendre, Qc, Canada
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July 1st 2009
The transfer window for English clubs has started and with it, we got plenty of movement. Fred Sears finally arrives and wow, media are stating that he's been labelled the next Michael Owen. That's quite a label to live up to. Might explain his $12.25k weekly wage, of which I'd like to say we will not be paying one cent. I'Ve attached a copy of profile. As I said before, he's got speed to burn with great acceleration to complement it. Let's hope that speed by itself will be enough to burn a few aging League 2 centerbacks this season. Daniel Jones arrives to Kenilworth Road. Assistant Manager Kevin Watson is let go. Same goes for physio Harry Scott-Stackman, youth coach Dan Walder, and scout Curtis Warren. I offer a contract to Neil Montgomerie, a 15 rated physio. He agrees to it before the end of the day. As a comparison, Scott-Stackman was rated at only 10 for physio. The club won't allow more than one physio. July 3, 2009 In hope of letting go of some players whom I judged would never see the field for us, I'd placed some player on the transfer list, as well as offered them around. I receive and accept and offer for Rossi Jarvis from Exeter. He agrees to a contract with them and will move out. He had a weekly wage of $1,500. We'll receive $30k for him. He was valued at $45k but as a centreback, I'd have been way too nervous to play him with his shaky skill set. July 5, 2009 Asa Hall agrees to a contract with York. We get $10k for him. His weekly wage were also at $1,500. I've found a new assistant in 33yo Englishman Jack Swaine. You can see his profile in the attachements. He's rated at 14 for judging both current and potential ability, something at which his predecessor was only rated around 7 or 9. That's an improvement. As I start shopping for some extra help in the coaching department, I see that the board has limited the number of coaches I can hire to three. There's already three coach on staff. We'll have to make do with what we have I'm afraid. July 6, 2009 We start our round of friendlies by playing host to Newcastle today. We've got 8 friendlies booked this Summer, here's the list: 07/06 vs Newcastle 07/11 vs Rangers 07/15 vs Dunfermline 07/18 vs Hibernian 07/24 at Weymouth 07/28 vs Dundee Utd 07/30 vs Norwich 08/01 at Bromley I might drop the Dundee one since that sequence of three in 5 days might be a bit crazy. I midght also want to see with West Ham cannot replace one of these as they're supposed to play us once a year as part of our deal. Putting together a lineup for today made me realize we got some holes where depth is concerned. I'm used to be able to field a full 11 with complete adequate backup at all 11 spots. It's not really the case right now.
The game is a mess. We are not in shape and Newcastle played their starters for about 75% of the game. Michael Owen got subbed at the 80th minute mark or so. To add insult to injury, we commit three, THREE own goals. We end up losing it 0-12. Yup, you read right, zero-to-twelve. Ouch... The fans are so disappointed with the heavy loss that not even a tip of yellow shows up on the confidence bar. Oh well, at least 9900+ spectators attended to the game, meaning some much needed cash in the coffers.July 7, 2009 Ben Parker, a 21yo D/ML whom I had on my shortlist since the middle of last season was just released by his club. He agrees to come to us on a 4 week trial. I'Ve included his profile below. He's young and could be used as a backup at either the left fullback or left midfielder spot. Four weeks will give us plenty of time to see if he can cut it with us. FM
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A Black Belt is a White Belt who refused to give up... follow my story: The real life story of a running frog... Last edited by FrogMan : 08-19-2009 at 11:43 AM. |
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08-19-2009, 07:23 PM
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#44 |
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Head Coach
Join Date: Apr 2001
Location: Whittier
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Ouch
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08-20-2009, 04:55 AM
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#45 |
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Pro Starter
Join Date: Jan 2001
Location: Rennes, France
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Congrats on the stay in League 2. Nice looking offseason so far. Can't you get more players on loan ?
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08-20-2009, 05:09 AM
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#46 | ||
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Hattrick Moderator
Join Date: Jan 2003
Location: Pintendre, Qc, Canada
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Quote:
ouch indeed. I think that was the longest game I've ever watched in all the versions of the game. The goals just would not stop coming, and from all angles, and from players both sides of the pitch. Oh well, we can only build from there. We're still only L2 after all. Quote:
Thanks. Can't say much, but yeah, I'm working on that. FM
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A Black Belt is a White Belt who refused to give up... follow my story: The real life story of a running frog... |
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08-20-2009, 06:41 AM
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#47 |
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Pro Starter
Join Date: Feb 2002
Location: ...down the gravity well
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Just say what Herm Edwards used to say right "WE CAN BUILD ON THIS!"
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"General Woundwort's body was never found. It could be that he still lives his fierce life somewhere else, but from that day on, mother rabbits would tell their kittens that if they did not do as they were told, the General would get them. Such was Woundwort's monument, and perhaps it would not have displeased him." Watership Down, Richard Adams |
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08-20-2009, 09:03 AM
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#48 | |
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Hattrick Moderator
Join Date: Jan 2003
Location: Pintendre, Qc, Canada
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Quote:
or again that "WE PLAY TO WIN THE GAME!" FM
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A Black Belt is a White Belt who refused to give up... follow my story: The real life story of a running frog... |
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08-20-2009, 09:07 AM
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#49 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Hattrick Moderator
Join Date: Jan 2003
Location: Pintendre, Qc, Canada
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July 11, 2009
We play a friendly against Scottish Premier side Rangers at Kenilworth Road. It's their first friendly of the season so maybe the "out of shape" factor will give us a break this time.
We play a much better game this time around, even taking a 1-0 lead in the 10th minute on an own goal by one of the defenders. Well, they called it an own goal, but it was all Freddy Sears' doing really. His speed got him separation and he drived a crazy hard shot to goal that a defender tried to deflect and ended up putting behind their own keeper. They score three goals before the end of the half though, showing how strong a side they can be. We get one back halfway through the second half when Sébastien Heitzmann scores from a distance. Final Score: 2-4.
Not a bad match all in all, a good effort by the lads. Sure, Rangers dominated the game, but they're a Scottish Premier side after all... The fans are pleased and they were many to come watch that game, 10,250 of them to be exact. July 12, 2009 Today's a big shopping day as I go through the list of players without a contract and players that could be available to come on loan with us. First one I spot is 20yo right fullback Ritchie De Laet. He's currently playing with the Man U reserves squad but spent part of last season with League 2 club Barnet, averaging a form rating of 7.10 on 19 appearances. His profile is included below. I offer to take him on a season long loan with no wage obligation for us. That offer is accepted before the day is over. Now up to De Laet if he wants to come play for us or not. I salivate at the idea of taking forward Lee Trundle off the hands of Bristol City but I'm not sure I'd be able to offer him am agreeable contract. He's currently paid $15k a week and Bristol City want $18k for the forward valued at $44k. They say he's not needed anymore. I offer them my usual $0 down, 50% next sale deal for him. He had an average form rating of 7.17 in 13 appearances for Bristol City in the Championship last season. I had offered a 4 week trial to 28yo left defender Kevin Nicholson and he agrees to come try his luck with us. I only had partial scouting reports of him (see 090712nicholson-scout.jpg) and was intrigued to see if there were more bright red skills in there. I'm a bit disappointed to see that the coach reports are not too good (see 090712nicholson-coach.jpg). I'd probably want to offer a contract to Ben Parker before going with Nicholson. July 13, 2009 Our offer for Lee Trundle has been accepted but as I feared, he believes we don't have the resources to meet his demands. Even when guaranteeing him a key spot on our squad, the most the team board allows me to offer him is $4,600. I offer him that, with the max Appearance fee and goal bonus the board allow me (only $925 for each) and tag a $110k signing on fee. Can only try something at this point. FM
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A Black Belt is a White Belt who refused to give up... follow my story: The real life story of a running frog... |
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08-20-2009, 09:24 AM
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#50 |
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Pro Starter
Join Date: Jan 2001
Location: Rennes, France
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Ritchie De Laet has 6 U21 Belgium caps, that's some serious potentially good player.
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