FM: We're Posh, but we're still manly

[Butter]

Well, it's take 2 of a FM dynasty for me, as my first attempt with the Kettering Town Poppies of the Conference North went down in flames, as I guided them to a 14th place standing 2 weeks into 2005 when they were expecting to battle for promotion. The final straw being a 7-0 defeat to a team just 1 step up in the FA Trophy, for which I was rightly sacked.

What can I say? I'm not a great tactician.

So, I've decided to have a second run at Peterborough, a struggling League 1 (formerly Div. 2) side that has been fighting to stay in League 1 for a couple of years now.

Not only will this give me some opportunity to have some transfer cash handy, but it will also give me a bit more leeway, as I know the board for this team will be pretty surprised if we're not relegated. I chose Peterborough because I've visited there before, and that's about it. Plus, I played them in CM 03/04 and were able to take them quite far, so I know the potential is there with the right players.

Peterborough's nickname is "Posh" (the following is from the official Peterborough website):
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Peterborough United are known throughout the world of football as 'The Posh' and the nickname was almost certainly inherited from earlier, unconnected professional clubs in their home city.

Although the present club did not come into being until 1934, the 'Posh' name first came to the fore a decade earlier, almost certainly stemming from Pat Tirrel, player manager of Fletton United, a previous user of the present club's London Road ground, who announced in close season of 1921 that he was looking for ‘Posh players for a Posh team’ to compete in the Northamptonshire League (later the United Counties League).

Fletton, previously known as the ’Brickies,’ re-formed as Peterborough and Fletton United in 1923 and both nicknames were in use through the 1920s, although supporters complained that 'Posh' references were sometimes used by newspapers in a derisory manner.

Peterborough and Fletton United folded in 1932, the present club was formed two years later and a Midland League debut against Gainsborough Trinity on 1st September 1934 was greeted with cries of 'Up The Posh' from the crowd.
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So, with that, let's begin.

[Butter]

Pre-season
General team info.

Our London Road stadium can pack in 15,314 fans (9,614 seated), but our facilities are described as merely adequate.

We have a $113,475 transfer budget, all of which is available. Our finances are sound, we currently have over $227k on hand. Our wage budget is $2.2M per year, and we currently sit at $2.095M per year, so we have some wiggle room here as well.

I would review the staff, but in my experience, the staff has almost no bearing on how the game is played because I control nearly everything. So, screw the staff. We do have 2 physios and 2 scouts. We could likely do with another physio.

We have 6 friendlies set up, one of which has already taken place with French side Monaco. A game in which we got trounced 3-0.

The next 5 friendlies look like this:

@ Bury (L2)
@ St. Mirren (Scottish)
@ Portadown (N. Irish)
v. Dunfermline Ath. (Scottish)
v. Kilmarnock (Scottish)

Don't know what playing a bunch of teams out of the country is going to tell us about anything, but we'll see.

Time to take a look at the squad.

[SirFozzie]

POSH SCUM!

Won't be reading this one :)

[Butter]

You know you want to read it, Foz. Everybody's doing it.... It'll make you feel good... it'll make you feel good....

Squad

Format will be position (if not already listed), age, squad status, value, wage per year.

Goalkeepers
-Mark Tyler, 27, Indispensable, $260k, $150k - Tyler is the clear starter for this team. He has impressive physical attributes, but is weak in the air and commanding his defense in front of him. He has very good reflexes. He is very expensive, so we might look to find a cheaper alternative in the transfer window and let him go at the end of his contract, which expires at the end of this season.

-James Pullen, 22, Backup, $14k, $48k - Pullen has fewer skills than my previous starter at the conference level. We'll probably look to sign a cheaper backup and maybe list him later on in the year.


Defenders
-DRC Steve Jenkins, 31, Not needed/transfer listed, $8k, $90k - Jenkins is very impressive mentally, but it looks like his physical skills have eroded over time. He is very expensive, and we'll probably not fight any offer given to us for him. He is a former Welsh U21 player.

-DC Sagi Burton, 26, Backup, $32k, $90k - Not sure why they would've signed a backup to this salary, but his skill is actually fairly impressive. He is smart, and only lacks a bit in quickness. He is a St. Kitts/Nevis international. I imagine he'll probably compete for a starting job for me.

-DC Chris Plummer, 27, Indispensable, $36k, $80k - One thing I don't like to see are ratings of 1 anywhere on my players. Plummer has multiple offensive attributes listed at 1. Overall, he's not as impressive as Burton, but is a bit quicker. He'll be in the rotation, but I can't see why he's indispensable. He is a former English U21 player.

-DC Simon Rea, 27, Not needed/transfer listed, $28k, $56k - Rea is not a bad looking player, but not a starter on this level. Several conference level teams have interest in him, so I imagine he'll be headed out before too long.

-DC Craig Ireland, 28, First Team, $48k, $80k - Ireland looks to be a pretty solid starter for us, so the asst. manager gets one right for once. He is Scottish.

-DC Bradley Thomas, 20, Decent young player/avail. for loan, $12k, $24k - Thomas could develop into something pretty good. He's already got the mental and physical attributes down pretty well, he just needs to learn his position. Won't see the field for us unless we're desperate. He is Jamaican.


Defensive Midfield

We have so many of these players, they get their own category.

-D/DM-L Peter Kennedy, 30, First Team, $32k, $240k - Kennedy is quite the technician. He probably should start in defensive midfield for us, if we run a 3-5-2. His talents will be wasted along the back (although he does have a 17 in both marking and tackling). His only problem is his lack of speed. But if he can hang in and play balls forward, he'll be successful for us. He is a Northern Ireland international.

-D/DM-L Andy Legg, 37, Backup, $4k, $70k - Legg is not a very good player, but he is a hard worker, and is also a coach for us. He'll probably be a bench player. He is a former Welsh international.

-D/DM-L Ahmed Deen, 19, Hot prospect/avail. for loan, $20k, $8k - Deen is very raw, and will hopefully play at a lower level this year to get some experience. He is from Sierra Leone.

-D/AM-R Adam Newton, 23, Squad rotation, $60k, $56k - Newton doesn't have much skill, so I can't imagine under what circumstances he'd play for us. I may loan him out or list him. He is another St. Kitts/Nevis international.

-DMR Christopher Kanu, 24, Not needed/transfer listed, $60k, $80k - Kanu is better than Newton, but not much. He has better physical abilities, but not a great tactician. He may see the field some as a backup, but with his value we'd probably be better off selling him and getting a better player in for less money. He is Nigerian.

-DML Jamie Day, 19, Squad rotation, $32k, $6k - Day also needs some polish, but he's young and cheap enough to allow some time to develop. He may also play for us a bit, though I'd probably prefer to loan him.

-DMC Steve Thomson, 26, Not needed/transfer listed, $56k, $70k - Thomson is actually a pretty decent player, but probably a little expensive for his skill-set. He may play for us some depending on what formation we settle on. He is Scottish.


Midfield/Attacking midfield

-MC Curtis Woodhouse, 24, Indispensable, $190k, $190k - Boy, I sure would like to see better technical attributes for a player that is supposedly the key to our midfield. He is fast, smart, and a hard worker, but lacks some skill. If need be, I may end up listing him for the cash. He is a former English U21.

-MC Andre Boucaud, 19, Indispensable, $52k, $48k - He is not as good as Woodhouse, but at least he's younger. He'll probably play some to try and develop him. He lacks passing skill for such a highly thought of midfielder. He is a Trinidad & Tobago international.

-MC Danny Sonner, 32, Backup, $16k, $90k - Now here's a guy with skill. His problem is his lack of quickness. He also doesn't work very hard. But I think he'll probably start for me some, in a mix with Woodhouse, or alongside him. He is from Northern Ireland.

-MC Adam Fry, 19, Hot prospect/avail. for loan, $20k, $36k - Fry at least has some skill already, and looks like he could develop into quite the player. We'll probably try and get him out there for loan this year.

-AMR Ryan Semple, 19, Squad rotation, $20k, $28k - Semple's abilities are underwhelming for an attacking player. He is fast and can get behind the defense, but I don't think he'd know what to do with the ball once he got there. We may try and loan him out as well since he's so young.

-AML David Farrell, 32, Squad rotation, $6k, $70k - Farrell has some decent skill, but lacks a bit on the mental side of things. He'll play for us, either in midfield or as a backup.


Strikers

-Callum Willock, 22, First team, $60k, $80k - Willock has eye popping numbers in both the mental and physical columns. Only composure, concentration, decisions, and off the ball are under 10's. Sadly, his technical ability is in short supply. He is only a 7 at finishing, and around there for nearly everything else. He will likely start anyway, though. He is a St. Kitts/Nevis international who has scored 4 goals in 5 caps.

-Andy Clarke, 36, Backup, $4k, $80k - Definitely backup numbers for him. Not a bad player, but not one that we can expect to go much of anywhere for us.

-Clive Platt, 25, Not needed/transfer listed, $48k, $36k - Listed for good reason. He'll outrun you, but not much else.

-Leon Constantine, 26, Squad rotation, $52k, $110k - A bit expensive for a rotational player. He has some good skill, and will likely start alongside Willock if we decide to go with 2 strikers. Good at dribbling, finishing, and heading, and is reasonably fast.


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We immediately go looking for some more players via the transfer wire and loans from the higher leagues. We need depth as well as some more starters if we expect to do anything but look up at the rest of the table this year. A very thin roster that is short on the quality you need to compete in this division.

[Butter]

We make lots and lots of offers for players that look like they can help us, scout a bunch more, and keep our eye on some possible loaners... no sense loaning anyone now unless they're going to be long-termers.

We loan reserve keeper Luke McShane to Hayes for $6k (his full salary) for just 3 months. We also loan out DC Simon Rea for 80% of his wages for 3 months ($44,000). We loan him to Kettering. That hurts me a little. And since when do Kettering have $44k to just give away?

It's tough keeping things straight when you make as many offers as I do. I have a number of loan and transfer offers accepted, and I have to make sure I don't go crazily over the transfer and wage budget now with my signings.

Simon Rea agrees to the loan to Kettering, and we get $44k richer. Nee-ha!

Friendly 2, July 18
@ Bury (L2)

We just thoroughly embarrass Bury. They're buried by the break as we score 4 goals in the first 37 minutes. Willock gets 2 and Constantine 1. Kennedy also converts a penalty when Farrell is tripped in the box. We sub everyone out to avoid injury before the half. Bury add a consolation goal in the 83rd minute, and our scrubs didn't play very well. Good thing most of them are on their way out.

Win, 1-4

Our reserve DMR Chris Kanu is out 2 weeks after suffering a calf strain in the 2nd half of the Bury match. I feel bad because I had to play him the whole half pretty much.

We make 2 big signings shortly after the 1st friendly.

The first is 33 year old AMC Eoin Jess, who we pick up from Nott'm Forest (Champ.) for a $6k fee. We sign him to a $220k per year contract for 3 years. Jess has some absolutely magnificent skill, and will be in our first team right away. He signed with us in order to play ball, as he is now a Nott'm Forest bench warmer. Jess spent most of his career with Aberdeen in Scotland before playing for Notts Forest the last 2 seasons. He has 102 career goals in 470 career apps.

The second is 30 year old AM/F-C Paul Shaw, who we transfer over from Sheffield Utd. (Champ.) for $16k. We sign him to a $150k per year contract for 2 years. Shaw played for Arsenal in the early '90's, and Sheffield just paid $180k to get him last year. He scored just 1 goal in 13 apps. for them in 03-04. He has 64 career goals on various levels in 296 career apps.

We also sign 34 year old DC Steve Yates for $2k from Huddersfield Town (L1). He gets $52k per year for 2 years. Yates started his career with Bristol Rovers before spending the bulk of the 1990's with Queen's Park Rangers. He has bounced around in the lower leagues the past 4 years, and will likely start for us at the back.

Another player agrees to join us as Oxford (L2) sell us striker Steve Basham for $10k (could increase to $20k if he scores 10 league goals). Basham will get $80k per year for 3 years from us. Basham started his career with Southampton before moving on to Preston North End for several years. He scored 14 goals last year for Oxford in 38 league apps.

Of course, all this balloons our wage budget way over the line, so we offer some of our listed players to some clubs to try and make up for it.

Friendly 3, July 23
@ St. Mirren

All of the new folks start today. We are running a vanilla 4-4-2 until we get all these acquisitions sorted out. Lot of action in this one, but St. Mirren get on the board first with a terrific 40 yard cross onto a head and into the net. Constantine evens it up in the 2nd half off the bench and that's how it ends. Plummer has a great game in central defense, and Pullen plays very well in goal in the 2nd half. Ryan Semple manages to get sent off for dissent midway through the 2nd half of this one. No one else played particularly well.

Draw, 1-1

[Butter]

We make one more signing, this of another striker, Scottish player Derek Holmes from AFC Bournemouth. He's 25 years old, and we pay $10k for him, and only $36k per year in salary. He started his career at Hearts in Scotland, then played for Ross County for a couple of years, also in Scotland. He scored just 2 goals in 26 apps. last year for Bournemouth. He has 40 goals throughout his career.

July 26, Friendly #4
@ Portadown

We experiment with a 4-1-2-1-2 today, with Holmes and Basham up front, and Shaw at AMC, with Jess staying in midfield.

They score early, but we get the better of play during the end of the first half. Their keeper plays magnificently, stopping several open shots. Willock and Constantine hook up on a magic goal in the opening minutes of the second half, and we equalize. They score again 6 minutes later and that's how it finishes. We are outshot 11-9, and outpossessed 53-47, but our first team played very well in the first half. I'm going to give this formation a better look. It would help if we had a quality DMC to run this. I may morph it into more of a 4-3-2-1, or a 4-3-1-2 later on.

Loss, 2-1

We get an acceptance of a loan offer for Steven Davis, a central midfielder for Aston Villa's reserves. Davis will be loaned to us all year for $24k, just under 1/2 of his current salary of $56k/yr. He improves upon our current midfielders, so this should help solidify our lineup.

July 29, Friendly #5
v. Dunfermline

We outshot them 12-10, but they beat us 2-1. Shaw had a good goal early on, but we couldn't get anything else on target the rest of the day. Callum Willock is competing hard for a place in the first 11, his speed just wreaks havoc on defenses. He just can't finish once he has the ball. 10 of our 12 shots were off target. No one played particularly well in this one, save Willock, who was zipping past defenders in the second half, then shooting far wide of goal. I think we're going to try a more defensive 4-1-2-1-2 for the final friendly.

Loss, 1-2
A: 3,472

No one will take striker Clive Platt, even knocked down to $10k, so I guess I'm stuck with him. I'll probably lower his value to $4k or so, leave him on the list and demote him to the reserves. Same for DMR Chris Kanu, so he's probably in for the same.

August 2nd, Friendly #6
v. Kilmarnock

First half is fairly uneventful. We score within 30 seconds of the 2nd half kickoff though, as Farrell just runs straight down the middle of the defense with the ball, and knocks it in. Sadly, Kilmarnock equalize when Boucaud gets burned and run by no fewer than 3 times on the same possession. The ending cross is flicked in. That's how it ends.

[/b]Draw, 1-1
A: 3,462[/b]


We do settle on a formation, though. It is a defensive 4-1-2-1-2. The 2 midfielders provide defensive support, but also make a good bit of forward runs. The AMC runs into the box often, and our strikers play wide, near the edges of the box. We have several good long shot players, so we will hopefully be bombarding the opposing keeper quite a bit. Our formation plays the ball down the middle mostly.

Here is our opening day lineup:
GK: Mark Tyler
DL: Sean St. Ledger
DC: Steve Yates
DC: Chris Plummer
DR: Sagi Burton
DMC: Peter Kennedy
MC: Steven Davis
MC: Eoin Jess
AMC: Paul Shaw
SC: Derek Holmes
SC: Steve Basham
Subs: GK Jamie Pullen, SC Callum Willock, AML David Farrell, DC Craig Ireland, MC Curtis Woodhouse

If this formation fails, we may switch it to a more attacking posture to try and force the ball into the opposing territory. The last friendly with this formation, we controlled the ball about 60% of the match, but nearly 50% was either in midfield or our own half. That won't do.

[Butter]

We make an offer for a couple of keepers and some more defenders to solidify our depth. If we can transfer in a good keeper, I would quickly list Tyler who is making a lot of money for us, and is worth quite a bit as well.

League One Promotion Odds:
Bristol City, 6:4
Tranmere, 5:2
Swindon, Hartlepool, Bradford City, 3:1
Port Vale, 8:1
.
.
.
Peterborough, 50:1

By pricing your team at 50-1, the bookmakers clearly think that relegation is a real possibility and that you should be gearing up for a long, hard and ultimately disappointing season.

And this:
You have been approached by a journalist from the Peterborough Evening Telegraph:

The bookies are tipping you for relegation this season. Do you think you will have to bolster your squad in order to stay up?

There are 5 choices of response, ranging from definitely not, to definitely planning some changes. I say "definitely not, I believe we've got the players with the ability to keep us up."

I notice that several players seem pleased to hear me say that, and vow to repay the faith I have in their ability. These are GK Mark Tyler, DM Peter Kennedy, MC Curtis Woodhouse, DC Craig Ireland, and D/AMR Adam Newton. A couple, though, say they're pleased to hear it because it means they won't have to compete too hard for a first team place. Those are DC Chris Plummer (a starter, which worries me) and SC Callum Willock (not a starter, so he doesn't know what he's talking about).

Of course, I see that Mark Tyler is pleased, but before I said that I had a $14k offer accepted for GK Jake Cole of QPR Reserves. That might be bad. Cole is clearly eons more talented than Tyler, so we'll see what happens. Cole has no outward interest to come to us, but we offer to increase his salary from $6k per year to $90k per year, so hopefully the money can convince him otherwise.

The draw for the English League Cup is held, and we'll host Grimsby (L2) in a first round match towards the end of August.

With that, it's time for our first match!

[Butter]

August 8, Match 1
v. Port Vale
Fav.: P'boro, 5:4

3'- Shaw shoots from WAY outside and it's well wide. I may have to think twice about approving so many long range shots.

8'- A nice cross from Port Vale ends up with a header in the stands.

11'- A corner from Kennedy is cleared back to Kennedy, who crosses in to Davis. Davis shoots under pressure but the shot is tipped wide and cleared out before crossing the end line.

22'- A Valiant cross is deflected out by Burton, and the ensuing corner is held by Tyler.

35'- A good buildup keyed by Davis ends when Basham's shot from the right is held by PV's keeper.

42'- A Jess free from 50 yards drops to Davis in the clear from 12 yards, but his shot cannons off a leg and out of danger.

44'- Vale passes the ball into the area from the right, but the clear 15 yard shot curves high and wide left.

At the break, shots are even and we're controlling the ball, again in our own half. We stick it out and hope for a goal to sneak through.

51'- Davis to Holmes, who runs about 1/3 of the field with the ball holding off the Valiant defender, but his weak shot from close in is deflected out.

55'- Jess with a nice ball for Basham, who is in the box, but the keeper advances on him and is able to tip the shot well over. The ensuing counter looks dangerous by PV, but 2 attempted crosses are cleared by Plummer. The second comes to Basham who plays a brilliant 60 yard through ball to Holmes, who is loose outside the area again. This time, he goes near post and beats the keeper! 1-0, Posh! Terrific counter attack there, and we convert!

We switch to a more defensive and slow tempo.

60'- Shaw takes a knock, and is subbed out for Farrell. PV with a wide open header at the near post, but it's wide.

65'- A PV throw deep in our end ends poorly, as the cross finds a head among 6 defenders, and Tyler can't save it. 1-1.

69'- Holmes comes off injured, Callum Willock on in his place.

75'- Willock and Jess play the give-and-go. Willock lays it ahead to Farrell, who skies his shot from 15 yards.

80'- Davis wins a header from a goal kick. He nods it to Willock who plays it to Farrell again in the middle with space. This time, the onrushing keeper deflects it back to a Valiant defender, who is able to clear the danger.

82'- Farrell down the left flank unchallenged, lays it in the middle to Willock, who dribbles around a defender but puts his shot 10 yards wide. The ensuing goal kick leads to a break for Port Vale, but Tyler is able to deflect a shot out, and the corner is headed clear by Yates.

85'- Davis gets a yellow card for shirt tugging. Shortly thereafter, Jess decides to have a go from 40 yards out, but it's not close.

89'- Jess again from distance, and he wasn't too far off there. The keeper couldn't get to it, but it curls about a foot past the far post.

The 4 minutes of injury time go by without incident, and we have a point. We played pretty well, and I'm happy with our effort. Kennedy was the only player who didn't really play well from what I saw. He finished with a 6. 7's and 8's for everyone else, including MoM Steve Basham. Basham had the assist, and 2 shots on target along with 3 key tackles and 2 key headers. He was also 17/24 passing.

Draw, 1-1, begin in 12th place
Shots: 12-7, P'boro
Poss: 54-46, P'boro
A: 5,926

[Butter]

The injury to Derek Holmes is minor, a sprained wrist that will only keep him out a week.

Community Shield:Man U. 2, Arsenal 1

Same lineup as before for our next match, except Willock starts at striker for Holmes. Wrexham play a 3-5-2, which is going to be challenging.

Aug. 11, Match 2
0-1-0, 12th pl., 1 pt.
v. Wrexham (1-0-0, 4th pl., 3 pts. - beat MK Dons 3-1)
Fav.: P'boro, Evens

4'- Kennedy's corner from the right finds Shaw, who powers a volley at goal, but it's tipped over. The ensuing corner from the left is cleared out. The Dragons appear to have a breakaway, but Burton with a great tackle gets the ball to Jess. Jess finds Shaw in the middle of the pitch. He turns, dribbles for a few yards, then shoots from 40 yards.... IT'S IN!!!!! A curving shot from 40 yards that started outside of the right post, then bends into the upper corner! What a strike by Paul Shaw!

6'- The ensuing kickoff finds a midfielder dribble to the right for a while, and skip past Steven Davis, then fire a precision cross to the edge of the 6, where an unmarked Dragons striker beats Mark Tyler. 1-1. How deflating that play is.

17'- Jess with a free kick near the left byline, about 20 yards from the endline.... He bends it at goal, and it's tipped over.

26'- Shaw is yellow carded for diving in the box. Jess picks up a minor injury and is limping around. We'll see if he can make it to the break.

31'- Basham plays Willock just onside, and he dribbles at the keeper up the left side. His low shot is deflected out for a corner. Jess' corner finds Basham at 10 yards, and his strike hits the upright, and bounces right to Willock who chops it past 2 Dragons defenders! 2-1, Posh!

40'- Jess intercepts a throw, and spots Willock taking off from our half! He's onside and has only the keeper to beat. He gets the keeper to commit right, then comes back left.... GOOOOOOAAAAALLLLLLL!!!!! 3-1, Peterborough!

We're up 2 at the break, and sit Jess with his injury in favor of Woodhouse.

47'- Wrexham with a cross into traffic, and it's headed wide.

52'- Basham runs with the ball down the right side, beats 1 defender then crosses it to a wide open Callum Willock in the middle of the area, who can't direct his header for the hat trick.

65'- Off a Wrexham handball, Kennedy strikes the free kick at goal, but it skips off the top of the bar and over.

72'- Wrexham with some possession at the top of the area, but the long range shot is not close. We bring a tiring Basham off for another defender, Ireland.

78'- Wrexham with a point blank shot, but Tyler is able to deflect it to Burton, who hoofs it well into the seats.

The final 2 chances for Wrexham are direct shots from free kicks, but neither poses a danger to Tyler, and we salt it away for our first win of the year!

Basham picks up his 2nd straight MoM, with a 9 rating. He made 6 forward runs, had an assist, won 4 key headers, and was 15/20 passing. Jess had 2 assists and an 8, and St. Ledger, Shaw, and Willock also pick up 8's in this impressive display of skill from our forwards.

Win, 3-1, up to 7th place
Shots: 12-9, P'boro
Poss: 50-50
A: 3,762

[Butter]

Luckily, the injury to Jess will not keep him out of the lineup.

Our first road game of the year is up ahead, and Willock stays in the lineup for the injured Derek Holmes.

Aug. 14, Match 3
1-1-0, 7th pl., 4 pts.
@ Chesterfield (2-0-0, 5th pl., 6 pts.)
Fav.: P'boro, 5:4

5'- Chesterfield with a 3 yard header off a corner, but he somehow manages to hit it wide from the center of the 6.

8'- Jess from the pass by Shaw, and he's open in the middle, attacks the area, and shoots from 20 yards, but it's deflected over the bar.

10'- Shaw with a 25 yard shot at the far post that misses by a yard.

13'- Willock with a sensational cross to Basham, but he totally mishits the volley.

40'- A Spireites striker gets free in the area, but flies his shot 10 yards over the bar.

No changes at the half.

53'- A CFC free kick flies over the bar.

61'- A scare Chesterfield cross is headed toward the near post, but Tyler reads it and picks it off.

63'- Another cross comes right at Tyler and a Spireite striker, but Tyler wins the battle and punches it clear.

68'- Woodhouse enters the game for a struggling Peter Kennedy, and David Farrell in for a tiring Eoin Jess.

79'- Shaw gets a nice flick on from Farrell, and shoots from 20 yards, but it is a bit high.

94'- In the dying moments, Shaw screams a shot/cross at the far post, and Willock is there but it's too fast for him to reach, and the final whistle goes after the ball goes out.

A good road point, delivered by Mark Tyler who made a couple of good saves today. Tyler picks up MoM honors with his 9, and Burton, Plummer, and Yates all notch 8's in a superb defensive effort to keep a clean sheet.

Draw, 0-0, down to 11th
Shots: 13-6, CFC
Poss: 56-44, CFC
A: 5,088

Can't be too upset with a road point, but it's rough to be unbeaten and still barely be in the top half of the table.

[Butter]

Luckily, we get a whole week off before our next match, to allow our lineup a rest. A good first week there, with 5 points from 3 matches. 7 from 3 would've been better, but I can't much complain since so little was expected of us at the start of the year.

Peter Kennedy seems to not play very well at central defensive midfield, so I've started checking out some big clubs for some DMC's for loan. Kennedy could still play at the back or in the middle even. But DMC doesn't seem to be his bag.

Derek Holmes is back, but he's not quite to 100% so he'll be a sub for this next match as Willock continues to start.

Aug. 21, Match 4
1-2-0, 11th pl., 5 pts.
@ Bristol City (2-1-0, 4th pl., 7 pts.)
Fav.: Bristol City, Evens

1'- Jess decides to have a go from 40 yards shortly after the kickoff, but it's not close.

4'- A long range City shot is gathered by Tyler without incident.

10'- Jess to Shaw, who fires a volley in, but it's wide.

17'- Yates is injured, but plays on. Basham's cross hits a leg and falls to Paul Shaw who shoots from 15 yards, but it bends too much and goes out for a goal kick. Yates recovers back to normal after a few minutes.

25'- A City striker sneaks in to the back post, but the pass for him is errant, and we dodge a bullet.

31'- A poor goal kick by Mark Tyler leads to a break for Bristol, and a nice nod down sets the ball up clean for a striker near the penalty spot, and he finishes with power. 1-0, BC.

40'- 2 more heartstopping chances come within inches, as Bristol is dialed in today, and our defenders are just ball-watching.

No changes at the half, but my finger is waiting to see if we can create some better chances in the second half.

51'- St. Ledger heads to Davis then receives the pass and runs down the left on the counter. St. Ledger turns and passes to Jess in the middle of the pitch. Jess advances to the top of the semi-circle, and unleashes a shot from 25 yards.... it's in! We're all square, as Eoin Jess scores his first for Posh!

58'- BC break back on top, as a long cross is misplayed by Tyler, who looks to try and gather it, but is too late as the header goes in behind him. 2-1, City.

76'- Holmes on for Basham at striker, and Farrell in for Jess. We move Kennedy up to midfield, and run a 4-3-1-2 now.

78'- BC with 2 good chances, 1 is deflected clear by Tyler and kicked clear by Plummer, the second cross is punched out by Tyler above a couple of BC heads. Willock then keys the counter, as a BC striker lay hurt at midfield. Farrell passes through to Shaw, who fires from 15 yards but has his shot tipped over the bar.

85'- Woodhouse on for Burton as we switch to 3 defenders for the final 5 minute all out assault.

93'- Our final counterattack with 7 attackers on 5 defenders ends when Woodhouse tries to lead Farrell for a cross, but hits it with too much pace, and the ball skitters over the endline. Game over.

Tough loss, but we played alright against the promotion favorites. Bristol's offense just killed us. Tyler and St. Ledger both earn 8's against this onslaught. I can see why Bristol is favored to go up, they just passed the ball wherever they wanted. Yet we still had a chance to equalize late, so I'm not too angry.

Loss, 2-1, down to 14th
Shots: 21-10, BC
Poss: 59-41, BC
A: 10,104

Steven Davis sprained his wrist during the match, and will be out for a week.

[Butter]

We try a bit of a variation, now with a 4-3-1-2, moving Kennedy to midfield for Davis, and Farrell starts wide at ML, with Jess at MR.

Aug. 25, English League Cup, Round 1
v. Grimsby (L2, 1st place)
Fav.: P'boro, 9:4

We rest our back line, and start one of Legg, Ireland, Burton, and Jenkins.

1'- Grimsby with a shot that is way high. Jess gets yellow carded for hauling someone to the turf. Not a good start.

4'- Another Mariner chance is headed over the bar.

11'- Shaw with a pass from Farrell, and his loooong shot is nowhere near goal.

14'- A card for Ireland for barging someone trying to reach a header. This isn't going well.

18'- Grimsby with a fierce cross that meets a head for a goal.

22'- Willock gets a yellow and now I think we're just getting screwed.

27'- Willock's cross deflects to Shaw, who turns and shoots from 15 yards just over the bar.

31'- Good pass from Willock to Kennedy in the middle, but he can't direct his shot either.

Nobody seems interested in playing in this one at the half. Woodhouse in for Kennedy, Adam Newton with his first action of the year, in for Eoin Jess at MR. We switch to attacking.

47'- Tyler catches a corner, and unleashes a 90 yard kick to a streaking Willock, who lets it bounce once, then takes it 5 yards into the box, beats the keeper.... and shoots it into the side netting. ARGH!

58'- Newton with a good run and a nice cross to Farrell, but he can't put it in. DOUBLE ARGH!

70'- Jenkins must leave hurt, so we switch in Holmes and go with a 3-3-1-3 and all-out attack 'em.

90'- Basham with an open shot from 12 yards, and instead of a short cross to a wide open Willock, he revs up and fires himself, and it's not even close. Farrell with another long chance in the dying moments, but he can't direct it either.

2 losses in a row. Well, we were trying to rest some folks, but our attack has been quiet of late.

Loss, 0-1
out of League Cup

[Butter]

Steve Jenkins got a nasty gash in his head, and will miss 3 days. Shouldn't matter anyway, he's not in our normal lineup.

Our scout also comes back with a report on a nice keeper in Cambridge's reserves. John Ruddy is only 17, but is playing very well and a second look is recommended. I look at him, and decide to offer a transfer to Cambridge. His value is listed as only $8k. Cambridge counters with $14k and 30% of next sale. We counter with $14k and 20%. In the meantime, Ruddy joins Bishop's Stortford (Conf. South) on loan.

Woodhouse sprains a wrist in practice, and is out a week. That's 3 sprained wrists this year. I don't want to know what is going on in that locker room.

With Davis and Woodhouse out, we start Steve Thomson at DMC for his first action of the year, and move Kennedy to a central midfield spot. We go back to the 4-1-2-1-2 for this one that we only left for the 1 League Cup match.

Aug. 30, Match 5
1-2-1, 14th pl., 5 pts.
v. Walsall (0-1-3, 24th pl., 1 pt.)
Fav.: P'boro, 6:4

The Saddlers haven't scored a goal yet this year in 4 matches.

1'- Naturally, they nearly score in the 1st minute. Kennedy is able to kick the ball off the line and clear it after a free kick and header.

Walsall control play early, but neither side have a load of chances thanks to both teams playing defensively.

22'- Willock finds Shaw who misses from 10 yards.

33'- Another good header for Walsall goes over the bar.

35 minutes in, I decide to move Kennedy and Jess to the flanks, and leave the middle fairly open. Walsall is killing us there, so we try to attack the flanks, where they have no one (at least on paper).

36'- It pays dividends right off, as Kennedy moves unobstructed down the left and slides a ball in for Willock. The play doesn't go anywhere, but Kennedy ends up with the ball again and forces a corner.

46'- Kennedy with a long ball to Willock, and now we're softening them up. Willock runs at the keeper, and puts it into the side netting, but we go in at the half playing much better.

At the half, Thomson is playing with a minor injury, so he goes out in favor of Danny Sonner, who is making his first app. of the year.

48'- Shaw and Jess trade long passes between bylines, and Jess finally attacks and sends a long shot wide.

58'- Plummer is clumsily dispossessed in the box, but luckily the shot goes wide.

73'- Walsall with a good pass through the middle, then a lovely give-and-go, and Tyler with a great fingertip save.... but it rebounds to the Saddlers who shoot again but Tyler deflects it out again! Great series by Tyler!

80'- Finally we get pierced, as a long cross from a deep throw-in finds a Walsall head, and they strike. 1-0, their first goal of the year, naturally.

Boucaud in for a struggling Paul Shaw, and Holmes in for Burton as we throw everything at them to equalize.

84'- Boucaud with a long cross to Kennedy who is unmarked on the left side, and his well-taken volley is just wide right.

94'- Kennedy with a long cross/shot that bobbles over the unchallenged keeper, but trickles just wide as the final whistle sounds.

And all of a sudden, we can't score worth a frickin' frack. An embarrassing home loss to the last place side. Peter Kennedy somehow wins MoM with an 8. He completed 29/40 passes, and made 6 interceptions.

Loss, 0-1, drop to 18th
Shots: 16-7, Walsall
Poss: 50-50
A: 6,165

Luckily, we get a week and a half off before our next match, as we try and figure out just what happened between our magical opening of the year, and this abomination.

[Butter]

We finish 1-2-3 in August, including a Cup loss.

The beginning of September brings a "we're still sure we made the right choice" vote from the board.

Paul Shaw also wins goal of the month honors for that 40 yard stormer against Wrexham in the 2nd match.

The Vans Trophy is drawn, and we'll travel to Wycombe (L2) for our first round match at the end of the month.

Now we try and avoid giving yet another cellar dwellar their first win of the season. We tinker a bit with our formation, moving Kennedy up to the midfield, so now we have a 4-3-1-2 look with Kennedy and Davis dropping to defend the wings, and Jess attacking along with Shaw when it presents itself. Hopefully, that'll be quite a bit.

Sept. 11, Match 6
1-2-2, 18th pl., 5 pts.
@ Barnsley (0-1-4, 23rd pl., 1 pt.)
Fav.: Reds, 6:4

Barnsley play a 4-1-2-1-2 similar to what we've been using.

2'- Jess with a free kick from about 20 yards, and it strikes a defender in front before being deflected to the side by the keeper.

9'- Basham wide, passes to Jess in the middle who has an easy pass forward to Shaw. Shaw has a shot from 8 yards with no pressure, and converts it! 1-0, Posh, finally we get on the board again.

16'- Kennedy with a steal at midfield, ahead to Shaw who fires from 20 before the defense can close him, and it sails a bit wide.

27'- Several clearances by the Posh defenders are sent right back into the box, but the chance ends with a weak curving shot that Tyler just lets run out of play.

29'- Shaw gets a nice through ball by Willock, and advances diagonally from the left at the keeper. His tough angle shot hits the left post, and bounces back, but it's cleared.

At the half, I consider subbing out Kennedy. He has our only 6, and continues to struggle no matter where I put him. He was the most naturally skilled player we had on the original roster this year, but he's been the consistently worst performer. I don't know what to do with the guy. I make no changes at the break.

51'- Good buildup as Davis and Jess play one-two down the field, and finally find Shaw open, but his shot deflects off a leg and out.

63'- An absolutely magical cross from Kennedy, as he sends a long ball in from near midfield right to the foot of Basham from 12 yards, but a terrific Barnsley save as he deflects the ball to Willock, but Willock has it tackled away before he can get a foot to it.

72'- Wicked shot from the left by the Reds, but it whizzes over the bar.

81'- Woodhouse and Farrell in for a tiring Shaw and Jess. We slow down the tempo and try and cling to our lead.

87'- Poor series as Basham gives away possession, and the Reds counterattack converts a wide open shot against our tiring central defense. 1-1. We sub in Holmes for Basham.

89'- Off the kickoff, Davis to Willock, who storms through the defense and slides the ball ahead to Woodhouse. Woodhouse dribbles it ahead, then to the right of the keeper, and shoots from a difficult angle.... GOOOOOOAAAAALLLLLL!!!!! Curtis Woodhouse off the kickoff, and we regain our 1 goal advantage in the final minutes! We put everyone back and play ultra-defensive to try and seal the win.

90'- A long floated ball in by the Reds, but Tyler clutches it. He sends it long for Holmes, but it's intercepted. 2 balls down the left are sent out by Burton and Holmes. Then a long ball from the middle is sent in to a wide open striker behind the defense! How the fuck did this happen? He settles it, turns and scores past Tyler. You must be joking, DAMMIT!!!!

But the flag is up. Offsides! Neeeeeee-haaaaaa!!!!! Tyler's restart also brings the final whistle, and we get the points!

Steven Davis is MoM from central midfield, rating an 8. He completed 26/36 passes, won 7 key tackles and 3 key headers. Willock picks up our other 8 with his assist. Jess also with an assist. Kennedy improved in the second half to rate a 7. Farrell didn't improve from his 6 for our only 6 of the match. 7's across the rest of the board.

Win, 1-2, up to 14th
Shots: 12-11, Reds
Poss: 51-49, Reds
A: 8,134

[Butter]

Well, the decision about Kennedy is removed from my hands, as he badly sprains his ankle in practice and is likely out for about a month. Curtis Woodhouse, last match's hero, will likely start in our new 4-3-1-2 in his place in the meantime. Danny Sonner will move onto the bench in his place. Andy Legg also replaces David Farrell on the bench.

UEFA Champions League, Group Stage, Match Day 1

Group A
Paris 1:1 Barcelona
Wisla 3:0 Sparta Prague

Group B
Club Brugge 1:1 Benfica
AC Milan 3:0 Werder Bremen

Group C
Djurgarden 0:2 Chelsea
Roma 1:1 Real Madrid

How about that group? Chelsea, Roma, and Real Madrid. Ouch.

Group D
FC Kobenhavn 0:0 Ajax
Panathinaikos 0:0 Man Utd.

Group E
Bayern Munich 1:1 Inter Milan
Valencia 0:0 Liverpool

Group F
Arsenal 3:0 Banik Ostrava
Celtic 1:0 PSV

Group G
Deportivo 2:2 Fenerbahce
Dinamo Kiev 0:0 Lyon

Group H
Juventus 0:0 Maccabi Haifa
Olympiakos 2:1 Porto

I'll try and keep up with major European competitions this go-around.

Steve Yates is injured in training, a chest injury, so he'll be out 2 weeks. Craig Ireland will start in his stead. Adam Newton will make the sub list now as well.

Sept. 18, Match 7
2-2-2, 14th pl., 8 pts.
v. Colchester (3-0-3, 11th pl., 9 pts.)
Fav.: P'boro, 5:4

7'- Woodhouse with a superb ball to Davis, who is making a run, but the ball is just inches too far, as the defender gets there first and kicks it out for a corner. Jess's corner is cleared out, but Jess recovers it and sends in a ball to the far post where Willock waits on it, but heads it over.

17'- Jess with a free kick just yards from the corner flag, it is cleared back to Woodhouse, who swivels with it and sends it back in to a charging Eoin Jess, but his volley is errant.

23'- The U's with their first shot, but Ireland deflects it, and Tyler is able to grab it before it goes over the end line.

30'- A Colchester striker runs up the middle, and instead of challenging, Ireland turns and runs at another Colchester player leaving a wide open shot from 15 yards, but it sails wide.

32'- A U's cross seems to be headed out by Plummer, but instead he's called for handball in the box. He gets a yellow, and Colchester get a PK. Tyler guesses to his left, and saves it! What a save by Mark Tyler to keep the U's off the scoresheet!

34'- Another powerful Colchester shot is saved by Tyler, and cleared by Plummer.

42'- Woodhouse in the middle, finds Jess running down the center. No one closes him, and he shoots from 12 yards at a charging keeper, but he deflects it to the right. Basham is charging at the ball, as is the Colchester keeper... but Basham gets there first and taps it in! 1-0, Posh!

44'- The U's with another quality chance, St. Ledger sticks his leg out to deflect a 15 yard strike, and the ensuing cross by Colchester is headed just over the bar.

Colchester is dominating most of the action in the first half, but we don't fall back in a shell just yet. Seems like every time we do, the equalizer gets scored. No changes.

63'- Basham off a St. Ledger deflection sends a long ball to Willock who has split the defense. Willock is 1 on 1 with the keeper, but the shot is tipped wide and rolls out for a corner.

78'- Colchester haven't had many chances this half, so we bring on an extra defender (Legg) for Basham, and try and pack it in with a 5 man back line.

80'- The U's line up a 20 yard free kick, and it goes off the woodwork! The rebound is sent wide! Wonderful chance but we get lucky on that one.

83'- Long cross to the back post for Colchester. He's open, but he's practically on the end line, so he passes back to an open striker at 8 yards. He shoots... but Tyler deflects it out! Another terrific save!

We are able to control the ball the rest of the way and take the victory!

Mark Tyler with another MoM, as he rates a 9 and was clearly our star of the game. Woodhouse also picks up an 8, and everyone else had 7's. Jess with the assist on Basham's goal. 2 in a row!

Win, 1-0, up to 10th
Shots: 19-8, U's
Poss: 54-46, Posh
A: 5,884

[Butter]

In the second round of the League Cup, our conquerors, Grimsby Town, beat Watford (23rd in Champ.), 2-1. Impressive. No other teams from more than 1 league below their opponents manage to win. Everton and West Brom. are the only 2 of 14 EPL sides to lose. Both losing on PK's to Gillingham and Rotherham respectively.

Sept. 25, Match 8
3-2-2, 10th pl., 11 pts.
@ AFC Bournemouth (4-2-1, 6th pl., 14 pts.)
Fav.: Cherries, 6:4

1'- Cherries with a breakaway, but luckily the pressured shot goes wide.

8'- Good buildup for us, but it ends when AFCB head away Woodhouse's attempted backpass to Shaw.

16'- Shaw with space, but he mishits his open shot.

30'- Good ball to Willock by Shaw, but even Willock's speed can't beat the last defender as the ball is tackled away.

38'- A cross is flighted into the 6, and Tyler appears to punch it away, but he gets called for a push on the Cherries striker, and a penalty is awarded. Tyler can't save 2 in a row, and it's 1-0, Bournemouth.

Frankly, we don't have much going in the first half, so we decide to add Derek Holmes into the mix, replacing Callum Willock.

46'- AFCB send another cross in right at Tyler, and it goes in. 2-0, Cherries, and now I just hope we don't get killed.

60'- A long scrum at the right ends when St. Ledger is finally beaten by his man, who sends a cross into the box, and it's headed home. 3-0, Cherries. Tyler is subbed out for Pullen, and we put in Sonner for his first action of the year for Eoin Jess.

70'- Basham is injured and has to leave to add injury to insult.

77'- Plummer is also injured and has to leave briefly for some treatment. In the meantime, Bournemouth strike again on another cross to put us down 4.

The final whistle mercifully blows, and we'll burn the master tapes of this one. No one played well, especially not Tyler, as we absorb our first real beating of the year. Luckily, we don't drop too far with this loss, but it changes our goal differential from +2 to -2.

Loss, 4-0, drop to 12th
Shots: 13-5, AFCB
Poss: 61-39, AFCB
A: 7,316

Sadly, Steve Basham broke his wrist in his fall during this match, and will be out at least a month. Chris Plummer just needs a few days off with a slightly separated shoulder.

Not much time to rest for the weary, as we turn around and have our first Vans Trophy match in 3 days.

[Butter]

In Basham's absence, Derek Holmes will start alongside Callum Willock, and Leon Constantine will be our main striker sub. Andy Legg will start at the left fullback, while Sean St. Ledger moves inside and starts for the injured Chris Plummer. Andre Boucaud and Steve Jenkins also join the sub. ranks as we take on League 2 Wycombe Wanderers.

Sept. 28, LDV Vans Trophy, South Round 1
@ Wycombe (7th pl. in L2)
Fav.: P'boro, 4:5

3'- Shaw gets a pass at the left of the box, advances back toward the middle, then shoots from about 25 yards... and it bends in! What a strike by Paul Shaw! A quick lead for us against our hosts.

Lots and lots of chances in the first half of this one. I couldn't even keep up. Fun game to watch. We make no changes at the interval.

54'- Jess with a 20 yard free kick. It strikes the wall, and nearly wrongfoots the keeper who is just barely able to send it out.

59'- Great buildup starts with Burton hitting a 40 yard ball to Holmes, who passes to Woodhouse. Woodhouse finds Davis, who slides it to Willock. Willock back to Davis, who brings it to the top of the box. Davis slides it through to Holmes, who lets it fly, and scores! 2-0, Posh! We sub out Jess, Shaw, and Holmes to keep them fresh for our next match, and switch to a heavy defensive set with a 5 man backline.

Wycomobe manage 2 more shots, both in injury time, both are wide of goal.

Curtis Woodhouse with a magical game, wins MoM with a 10 rating in midfield! He completed 18/22 passes, won 11/16 tackles (!), and 3 of 5 headers. He also made 4 interceptions, and made 3 forward runs. Tyler, Burton, and Holmes all ended with 8's, as Davis and Willock assisted on our 2 goals of the day.

Win, 0-2, advance to round 2
Shots: 11-11
Poss: 59-41, Wanderers
A: 2,022

Unfortunately for us, Woodhouse strained his groin late in the match, and will be out at least 2 weeks.


Champions League, Match Day 2

Group E
Inter 0:0 Valencia
Liverpool 0:0 Bayern Munich

Group F
Banik Ostrava 2:2 Celtic
PSV 1:3 Arsenal

Group G
Fenerbahce 2:1 Dinamo Kiev
Lyon 0:0 Deportivo

Group H
Maccabi Haifa 1:0 Olympiakos
Porto 1:0 Juventus

Group A
Barcelona 4:0 Wisla
Sparta Prague 0:1 Paris

Group B
Benfica 1:0 AC Milan
Werder Bremen 2:2 Club Brugge

Group C
Chelsea 2:2 Roma
Real Madrid 4:0 Djurgarden

Group D
Ajax 1:1 Panathinaikos
Man Utd 2:0 FC Kobenhavn

[Butter]

One of the keys to our midfield suffers a damaged shoulder in training, and will be out 2 weeks. That's Eoin Jess, who has been super for us in the middle this year. That's Woodhouse and Jess out for the next couple of weeks. Not good.

We start October with another "the board is still sure they made the right decision" vote of confidence.

The South 2nd round draw for the Vans Trophy is held, and we'll travel to League 2 Shrewsbury on November 2nd.

With our entire starting midfield out (Kennedy, Jess, and Woodhouse), we start Boucaud, Steven Davis, and Danny Sonner in midfield. Luckily, Yates and Plummer return to our defense for this match, so our original back 4 are now intact once again.

Fortunately, if we can muddle through this match, we have 2 weeks off before our next fixture to get everyone healthy.

Oct. 2, Match 8
3-2-3, 12th pl., 11 pts.
v. Luton (2-2-4, 19th pl., 8 pts.)
Fav.: Posh, 6:4

3'- The Hatters create a lot of havoc in front of goal, with a long shot tipped out for a corner, then a cross right at the line that is tipped away by Tyler and cleared by Sonner.

7'- More pressure from the Hatters as 2 corners are easily cleared by the Posh defense.

11'- Our first chance, but Andre Boucaud's shot from distance is horrifically wide.

18'- Luton with a fine chance as excellent passing through the deserted middle finds an open striker to the right of goal, and he places it just barely inside the left post, a terrific angled shot that beats Tyler. 1-0, Hatters.

27'- Yates follows up a yellow card with an interception, and good pass to Boucaud. He gets it to Davis who finds Willock running down the left. Willock has his man beaten, turns toward goal and shoots from the left... and places it inside the right post! Excellent finish by Willock, a mirror image of Luton's first goal. 1-1, Peterborough!

33'- Luton is finding lots of space behind my defense, but their 3rd or 4th open shot holding off a defender from behind goes wide.

38'- Willock again gets a pass with space down the left, and advances on the keeper. This time, the keeper gets his hand to it, but it trickles behind him and right onto the foot of the oncoming Steven Davis! Goal, Peterborough! An easy tap in for Davis' first goal in a Posh uniform.

No changes at the break, but Holmes is struggling up front, so I'll keep him on a short leash for the 2nd half.

53'- Our horrifically disorganized backline watches Luton break straight down the middle, but a glorious chance goes by the boards as the shot is mishit wide.

60'- Holmes is injured mildly, so we bring on another defender (Legg) and play a 5-4-1 for a while... at least until we fall behind again.

74'- Luton's first attack since the tactics switch finds another open striker, but he's closed down quickly by Legg and his weak shot is clutched by Tyler. We bring on Ireland for Davis and switch Legg to midfield for even more defensive strength.

85'- Yates tries to play a ball across the field, but it's intercepted and struck first-time by the Hatters, but it sails harmlessly out of play. Off the intercepted goal kick, another good cross and volley by Luton, this one much closer but also wide.

Injury time- The play drags on mercilessly as Luton put long ball after long ball into the box, but they all end up sailing out, or just past the post. Finally, Willock hits the Hatter 2-3-5 on the counter, dribbles all the way into the box, lays it back for Boucaud, whose shot deflects off a leg and is just barely saved out for a corner. Finally 4:20 into the extra time, the final whistle goes and we hang on!

Callum Willock wins MoM for his sterling effort up front. He scored once, assisted on the other, completed 20/25 passes, won 8/9 headers, and rated an 8. Davis and Shaw also picked up 8's. Sonner, Boucaud, and Tyler all had 6's, surprisingly.

Win, 2-1, up to 10th
Shots: 19-10, Hatters
Poss: 57-43, Posh
A: 7,903

Best crowd of the year so far for this one. In the rain, even.

Hull continue their blistering pace at the top, as they've yet to lose in 9 this year. They have 21 points from 9 matches.

[Butter]

With not much going on for 2 weeks, I praise Callum Willock in the media, as he has played head and shoulders what I'd expected so far this season. The fans echo my praise, pleased that Willock's getting so much recognition this year.

England beat Wales 4-1 in early World Cup Qualifying, as Wayne Rooney netted a hat trick. Rooney adds another the following week as England beat Azerbaijan 4-0. James Beattie also picked up 2 in that one.

Steve Jenkins, a reserve defender, goes down with yet another Posh training injury for 2 weeks.

One of our scouts, John Pickup, is making great headway into Central Europe. He found 2 terrific 15 year olds within a week of each other. The problem with 15 year olds is that the clubs that own them are due so much in compensation. With my wage budget as it is ($300k over budget), I can't afford any extra expense right now. So I put them on the shortlist and hope that in a year or two, I remember them and can pick them up for cheap.

Woodhouse is recovered from his injury, but Basham, Kennedy, and Jess are still out for this next match. Andy Legg will start in midfield.

Oct. 16, Match 10
4-2-3, 10th pl., 14 pts.
v. Blackpool (4-0-5, 14th pl., 12 pts.)
Fav.: Posh, 6:4

6'- Legg with a wonderful interception and ball to the middle for Steven Davis. But Davis' shot is deflected wide by the onrushing keeper.

Both sides have some fairly innocuous chances in the first half, but the first 45 passes with little incident. Willock and Holmes both are flagging up front, hanging around 60% stamina at the end of the first half. So I bring out Constantine for Willock, Farrell for Holmes, and switch to 2 AMC's and 1 striker for the second half.

47'- Farrell makes a long run with the ball and shoots from 25 yards, but it's not close.

50'- A series of headers ends with a volley at the top of the box, but the Seasider shot goes over the bar.

58'- A long heartstopping cross into the 6 ends with another Blackpool header grazing the outside of the post. Whew!

60'- Farrell with a good cross to Constantine at the penalty spot, but he misses the volley.

64'- A very long pass into the box, and Tyler is indecisive about whether to come out and get it or not. This costs us, as the Seasider striker taps it over his head and into the goal. 1-0, Blackpool.

75'- We switch to a standard attacking 4-4-2 with Farrell and Davis on the wings and Constantine and Shaw being served long balls in the box. At the 85th minute mark, we push nearly everybody forward. But to no avail, as our lone highlight is a bad cross that deflects off a leg right to the keeper.

Tough loss, this one. No one performed particularly well for us, and everyone got tired late in the second half, which is inexcusable after a 2 week layoff.

Loss, 0-1, down to 13th
Shots: 15-12, Seasiders
Poss: 51-49, Seasiders
A: 7,762

Steve Yates strained his neck late in this match, and will be out approx. 5 days.

[Butter]

DC Simon Rea and GK Luke McShane, 2 reserves, finish up their loans and return to our club.

Kennedy resumes full training, but unfortunately, Eoin Jess turns his ankle and is out another 2 weeks.

UEFA Champions League, Match Day 3
Group E
Liverpool 1:1 Inter Milan
Valencia 1:1 Bayern Munich

Group F
Celtic 0:1 Arsenal
PSV 3:1 Banik Ostrava

Group G
Dinamo Kiev 2:0 Deportivo
Lyon 0:2 Fenerbahce

Group H
Juventus 1:0 Olympiakos
Maccabi Haifa 1:1 Porto

Group A
Sparta Prague 0:3 Barcelona
Wisla 1:0 Paris

Group B
AC Milan 4:0 Club Brugge
Werder Bremen 1:1 Benfica

Group C
Chelsea 2:3 Real Madrid
Djurgarden 0:2 Roma

Group D
Man Utd. 2:0 Ajax
Panathinaikos 2:2 FC Kobenhavn

Ireland will start for the slightly injured Steve Yates at centerback today, and Andy Legg nets his second straight start in midfield, as Kennedy is still not match ready. Andy Clarke gets his first action of the year today, starting alongside Callum Willock up front. Holmes will be on the bench. Simon Rea will also be on our bench as a defensive sub today.

Oct. 20, Match 11
4-2-4, 13th pl., 14 pts.
@ Swindon (6-3-1, 4th pl., 21 pts.)
Fav.: STFC, 6:4

6'- Craig Ireland elbows a Swindon striker in the face, and is lucky to get off with a yellow. Shaw picks up a knock shortly thereafter, but is able to run it off.

15'- First highlight of the game, a long swerving shot from 30 yards for Swindon, but it goes high.

23'- Swindon with a free kick from 30 yards. It starts left, hits the wall, then tucks inside the right post for a goal as Tyler couldn't do anything about that one. Sagi Burton took the deflection on that one. 1-0, Swindon.

29'- Legg with a ball ahead of Willock into the box. He dribbles it ahead, then has it taken away... but he is tripped and a penalty is awarded! Callum Willock gets tripped in the box going for his dribble and we get a penalty, our first of the year! Coach Andy Legg will strike it... he runs up... and buries it in the top left corner!

45'- A harmless throw turns into a nightmare as the recipient turns and serves it into the middle, and the striker turns and left foots a 20 yard strike into the corner past Tyler. 2-1, Swindon.

Pullen on for Tyler at halftime, as that last goal was weak. Simon Rea also comes on for Plummer, who's rating a 5 at the break.

47'- Willock is free thanks to a long ball from Woodhouse. Willock attacks the keeper from his right, he shoots, but it's tipped and rolls toward the line, but is cleared out by a Swindon defender.

52'- A free kick to the right of the box for Swindon, and it's played square to a charging striker at the top of the box. The shot is wide, but it finds the head of a Swindon striker at the far post, who is Johnny-on-the-spot to head it in. 2 bizarre goals for Swindon in this one, and I guess it's just not our day.

58'- Davis is free in the middle, and his shot is deflected left... Andy Clarke is there, but instead of going for goal he tries to center it to nobody and that ends the chance. I pull Clarke immediately for Holmes with that.

83'- Swindon get a tap in off a shot at Pullen that deflects behind him, 4-1, STFC.

89'- St. Ledger with a poor clearance. 5-1, Swindon.

90'- And one for good measure. 6-1, Swindon.

2 Swindon strikers rate 10's in this one, one getting a hat trick, the other with 2 goals. Just burn the tapes of this one. Perhaps I need to learn how to pull back the reins when it becomes apparent that we're going to take it in the rear. Neither Pullen nor Rea performed, but that could be said about the entire squad in this one.

Loss, 6-1, remain in 13th
Shots: 18-4, Swindon
Poss: 59-41, Swindon
A: 7,812

I am approached by the media again after the match and asked:
Your side seem to concede a lot of goals. What do you intend to do about it?

I can decline comment, criticize the defenders, the team, the keeper, or just say the we've been unlucky. I decide to criticize the whole team, saying we can't seem to concentrate for 90 minutes.

This was the first of 5 straight road games, so we need to stick together as a team.

[Butter]

This team is all over the place and tough to figure out. I'm sticking with things right now to see if we can pull ourselves through it. Andy Legg continues to start in midfield for the injured Peter Kennedy and Eoin Jess. We are running a 4-3-1-2 right now, with our 3 midfielders bunching in the middle, and the 2 outside ones dropping in defensive wing support.

Oct. 23, Match 12
4-2-5, 13th pl., 14 pts.
@ Hartlepool (2-6-3, 16th pl., 12 pts.)
Fav.: P'boro, 6:4

9'- A long series of threats by both sides ends innocuously with a goal kick for Hartlepool.

24'- A good series of passes ends when Davis tries to dribble to his right in the box, but dribbles it right to a Pools defender, who clears it into touch.

26'- Good interception by Woodhouse, then a terrific header in midfield by Willock onto the run of Paul Shaw, who dribbles by a defender then tries his luck form 15 yards, but the shot sails into the stands.

31'- Wicked bending shot off a free kick for Pools, but it luckily goes over the bar.

33'- Shaw with a slick play splitting two defenders and shooting from 10 yards, but the keeper gets a hand to it and it's cleared over the sideline. The throw finds Davis, who passes to Woodhouse at the penalty spot, but he can't get a good shot on goal.

38'- A Pools corner seems to be cleared, but Shaw can't possess it and has it stolen by a charging fullback, who then tries a ferocious shot from 25 yards that bends into the upper left corner, goal for Hartlepool. Great goal, totally against the run of play. Not much anyone could do about that one, 1-0.

At the half I really don't feel we're playing that badly, so I don't make any changes yet.

58'- Shaw with an interception of a Hartlepool corner, and he plays it long to Willock who is onside. Willock charges at the keeper, but is dispossessed at 15 yards by a good sliding tackle from behind, thus ending the threat.

64'- Farrell on for Steve Yates, and we switch to an attacking 3-4-1-2 with a wide midfield.

73'- Hartlepool with 2 consecutive open shots, but Tyler saves them both.

78'- We get a bit more desperate and go to a 2-4-1-3 with everyone pushing forward. Constantine on for Burton as an extra striker.

80'- Shaw takes a free kick from 20 yards, but he can't get it on target.

89'- Off a 2nd straight Pools corner, Legg plays it long to Willock, who latches onto it at the left of the box, then shoots at a tough angle but it's saved and held.

Extra time- Shaw picks off another corner, and plays it again to Willock. This time Willock goes to the middle and finds Derek Holmes who turns and shoots from 15 yards... but he was offside. The strike went in, too, but well after the whistle. We get one more possession, but it ends when Woodhouse jumps over the back of a Pools defender trying to win a header.

Seemed like we gave a good effort, just can't find the goal right now. Tough loss. Mark Tyler wins another MoM rating a 9. Burton, St. Ledger, Plummer, Davis, and Legg all picked up 8's right now, which you usually only see in a winning effort.

Loss, 1-0, drop to 15th
Shots: 19-10, Pools
Poss: 53-47, Pools
A: 4,846

We need Eoin Jess and Kennedy back in this lineup badly to create some more chances. Our strikers are also not playing up to form, and we need them to finish once they're given some space.

[Butter]

I get some pleasing news, as Kettering Town fire their manager in Conf. North, who has guided the team to a 13th place position so far this year. Glad to see he couldn't do any better than I did with that bunch of stiffs.

We get 3 offers accepted for players we liked from our Central European search... 2 Germans and a Dutchman. The Dutchman, skilled 33 year old defender Bert Konterman asks for quite a bit of money, so we probably won't be seeing him. But we get a 4 week trial for a defensive midfielder who is currently unattached, 21 year old Fabian Brocker. We also make a contract offer to a 21 year old keeper from Paderborn in Germany, Lukas Kruse. We offer him $80k per year, $10k more than he wants, but also stick an extra year on the deal through 2008. He would also get a $4k signing bonus and 50 bucks for every clean sheet in addition to an automatic 5% wage rise each season. We're over $400k over the wage budget right now, but this could help rid ourselves of Mark Tyler, who is a good keeper, but not our future. Kruse plainly has loads more skill than Tyler, but may lack a bit for work ethic. So, it's a risk, but a calculated one.

Striker Clive Platt finally gets out of our hair, agreeing to a deal with Scunthorpe, and earning us a $6k transfer fee. He made $36k per year for us, so that's off the books as well. Platt somehow finagles a RAISE to go to Scunthorpe, as he now rates $60k per year for them. Can't see that one.

We also offer around striker Andy Clarke, but get no takers for him. I think I'm going to ask for -0- just to get rid of his salary next go-round. He makes $80k per year and does ABSOLUTELY NOTHING for us. Finally, asking nothing, we get several acceptors for Clarke, and he

Lukas Kruse does accept our offer, and will come over at the start of the transfer window for a $10k fee on Jan. 1. That'll mean the end of the Mark Tyler era for us.

The 3rd round of the English League Cup takes place, and there are a couple of upsets:
Derby 3:0 Liverpool
Gillingham 3:1 Aston Villa
Reading 3:2 Middlesbrough

all Championship sides using their home advantage to take out EPL sides.

But the biggest one of all is this:
Shrewsbury 2:1 Norwich

That's right, League 2 Shrewsbury win at home to Premiership side Norwich to advance to round 4. Very impressive.

Both coaches say that Fabian Brocker is very talented, and that we should try and sign him. I'll wait until towards the end of the trial to decide. He is ineligible for competition until we sign him to a contract.

Peter Kennedy is back in midfield for us today, and Andy Legg will join the bench.

Oct. 30, Match 13
4-2-6, 15th pl., 14 pts.
@ Doncaster (3-4-5, 17th pl., 13 pts.)
Fav.: Posh, 5:4

Doncaster play a 4-2-4 with strikers roaming all over the front.

2'- Kennedy with a good pass from a free kick to Woodhouse. Woodhouse attacks the goal from the right, but his shot just nicks the outside of the post.

12'- Shaw gets a good pass on a counterattack, but his shot in space sails past the top corner and into the seats.

24'- Willock is played through by Kennedy, who plays it to Davis rushing into the box, but his shot is not close.

37'- Kennedy plays a long ball down the left for Willock, who finds it but his errant cross is cleared to midfield.

A fairly uneventful first half. Doncaster are just dominating possession, but not doing much with the ball. We switch to a more direct passing scheme for half 2.

53'- Good pass from Holmes to Shaw who has time and space at the top of the box, but his shot is tipped out for a corner that produces nothing.

56'- Holmes breaks loose down the middle, but his shot is also stopped by the keeper.

60'- The Rovers finally find some space, and a good backpass to the top of the 6, but the open shot is guided wide.

68'- Shaw tries his luck from 30 yards, and the swerving shot is punched out by the keeper, but Callum Willock is able to latch onto it, but his shot shoots across the goal mouth and just past the post.

70'- 2 straight headers at point blank range for Rovers, one is tipped over for a corner, and the second one goes wide. WHEW!

72'- Finally Doncaster break through, as a good cross is sent into the box and met by the foot of a striker, 1-0 Rovers. We bring on Adam Newton for Kennedy and Constantine for Shaw, and switch to attacking tactics with Willock moving to an attacking midfield position.

77'- A corner by Davis is headed out, but back to Davis, who crosses again to Adam Newton at the back post, and his header hits the crossbar! Nobody is there for the rebound, and a good chance goes begging.

82'- Legg in for Burton as we push up even more from the back to try and equalize.

90'- One last counterattack as Holmes finds Constantine, who shoots a bender from 25 yards, and it hits the outside of the post!

Again, we allow a goal in the final 20 minutes and can't score ourselves. Just so unlucky right now.

Loss, 1-0, down to 18th
Shots: 23-12, Rovers
Poss: 58-42, Rovers
A: 8,777

We must find a way to get more of the ball and stem this onslaught of shots. Perhaps switching to a standard 4-4-2 would do it. I don't know, but we're only 2 points clear of relegation now.

[Butter]

To show you how detailed this game is, I recently watched some of the FA Cup on Fox Sports World, the match between regional side Yeading and Premiership side Newcastle United. I recognize many of the actual names and players from the Yeading team in the game, as they have advanced to the first round of FA Cup in the game itself. So, not only has the game gotten the player's names and coaches names correct for even a side as obscure as Yeading, but they've also picked up on the team's quality as they're now through the last of the Qualifying Rounds of the FA Cup, and through to the Cup tournament itself.

Hull finally also lose to Blackpool, yielding 2 goals, equaling the total they had given up in the previous 12 matches. Quite a run for a side not even predicted to be at the top.

As we begin November, the board is merely "pleased" with my performance, as are the fans. Usually "pleased" is one step away from anger.

The draw for the first round of the FA Cup is held, and we get a toughie, as we have a road match at League 2 Shrewsbury, the same club that just beat Norwich in the League Cup. Shrewsbury also is the club that wins our former striker Andy Clarke, so he'll go there for $70k a year on a free transfer and get off of our wage bill. Shrewsbury is in the relegation zone in league 2, which makes their win even more puzzling.

Oddly enough, we also have Shrewsbury in our next match, in the Vans Trophy. We continue to stick with our 4-3-1-2 formation and our standard starting lineup. Andy Legg starts for a tired Peter Kennedy.

Nov. 2, LDV Vans Trophy South Round 2
@ Shrewsbury (24th in League 2)
Fav.: Posh, 4:7

1'- Off the kickoff we get a chance as Plummer dispossesses a Shrews striker in the box, and the long ball to Shaw is a good one, but he can't keep his shot down.

8'- Davis with a good cross to Holmes, who has the ball headed away, but he's fouled! But it's just outside the box... and the free kick by Shaw again sails over.

13'- Davis is played through by Woodhouse, and his shot is just outside the post. DAMMIT WHY CAN'T WE PUT ANY SHOTS ON TARGET!!!!!!

18'- A pass takes a couple of deflections in the box and falls perfectly to a crouching Shrews striker at 8 yards, and he finishes. 1-0, Shrewsbury.

30'- The same striker takes a pass, turns and scores from 12 yards. He must be carrying this team. 2-0, Shrews.

Time to tinker with formations! We switch to an attacking 4-1-2-1-2 and switch from zone marking to man marking, including tight marking on the 2 Shrews strikers.

45'- In 1st half extra time, Callum Willock gets a good ball and his pass is deflected to Paul Shaw at the top of the box, who shoots... and the shot comes off a Shrews leg and goes in the goal! A glimmer of hope as we slink back to 2-1 right before the break.

53'- A good series as we force 3 corners and get a shot off the crossbar, but can't equalize.

70'- Shrews finally get their 3rd, as a wide open striker is left in the box, and he gets a pass, turns, and finishes. 3-1, Shrews.

83'- Woodhouse gets his 2nd yellow of the match with a nasty tackle, and is sent off. That'll be a suspension.

The final bit goes by without much action, and we take another one on the chin. Just for spite, they sub. in Andy Clarke with 10 minutes left and he gets a shot on goal. Fuckers.

Loss, 3-1, out of Vans Trophy
Shots: 21-19, Shrews (LOTS of off target shots in this one)
Poss: 51-49, Posh
A: 1,229

[Butter]

No time to panic yet, but it is time to worry a bit. My wage budget is $300k over budget, I have run the club nearly a half-million dollars into the red, and with no discernable results as of yet. The board will surely get skittish if we don't put together some results soon.

Our best hope right now is to go a bit more defensive and try and hold possession of the ball a bit more to keep the other club off the scoresheet. So, that's what we do. Employing now a 4-2-1-1-2, with Kennedy and Legg in defensive midfield, Steven Davis in midfield, Paul Shaw in attacking midfield, and Willock and Holmes (until Basham recovers) upfront. When Eoin Jess comes back, we'll likely switch back to a standard 4-4-2, but until that day, it's time to pack it in a bit and try and get a goal or two on the counterattack and keep our sheets clean.

Champions League, Match Day 4
Group A
Barcelona 5:1 Sparta Prague
Paris 3:0 Wisla

Group B
Benfica 0:1 Werder Bremen
Club Brugge 0:2 AC Milan

Group C
Real Madrid 0:0 Chelsea
Roma 4:0 Djurgarden

Group D
Ajax 2:2 Man Utd.
FC Kobenhavn 3:0 Panathinaikos

Group E
Bayern Munich 1:1 Valencia
Inter Milan 3:0 Liverpool

Group F
Arsenal 5:0 Celtic
Banik Ostrava 0:0 PSV

Group G
Deportivo 2:1 Dinamo Kiev
Fenerbahce 2:0 Lyon

Group H
Olympiakos 1:2 Juventus
Porto 1:0 Maccabi Haifa

Nov. 6, Match 14
4-2-7, 18th pl., 14 pts.
@ Huddersfield (4-4-5, 14th pl., 16 pts.)
Fav.: Terriers, 6:4

The Terriers run a 4-3-3, with 2 of the strikers playing on the wings up front. Should be interesting.

2'- Well, we're officially falling apart, as the Terriers with an easy cross and shot to an open man from 10 yards, and he buries it. 1-0, Huddersfield. We switch to tight man marking all across the front and middle, as opposed to the typical zone we have been playing.

32'- Our first chance of the game, Holmes crosses to Paul Shaw, who settles it but can't beat the keeper. Shaw with another shot from a bit further out a minute later, but that's clutched by the keeper as well.

40'- Willock with a shot from the left of goal, but it's deflected out and turned into a counterattack chance for the Terriers. A one on one with the keeper is played nicely by Tyler, as the shot is forced wide of goal.

At the half, down in possession nearly 2 to 1, we switch to a 4-4-2 attacking and try and play the offside trap, as the Terrier strikers were beating us badly with their speed at the back.

58'- The Terriers with a break, and a cross to the back post is centered, and headed in. 2-0, Terriers.

69'- We bring Ireland in for a tired Burton, and Newton in for Kennedy.

77'- Surprisingly, we show a bit of life, as Shaw intercepts a pass at the back and sends it 60 yards for Derek Holmes. Holmes picks it up midway between the centerline and goal, advances, and has his shot tipped wide... but into the run of an oncoming Adam Newton who dribbles it past the charging keeper and taps it in. 2-1.

87'- We play nearly everyone forward for the final 5 minutes in a last ditch attempt to salvage a point. Including a 2 man backline and 3 strikers as Constantine subs in for St. Ledger.

Extra time- Newton with an interception and he runs down the right with it. He gives it to Shaw in the middle, who plays a diagonal ball onto the run of Leon Constantine. Constantine is all alone at the top of the box, he advances a bit, then strikes it.... GOOOOOOAAAAAALLLLL!!!! Leon Constantine with his first Posh goal, and we are level, beyotches! We get another kickoff and the ball is knocked around a bit, but the whistle goes and we salvage the point!

What a draw! I can't remember being happier to tie a game, but this works for me. Shaw, Plummer, and Burton rate 8's in this one as we manage 2 goals in the final quarter-hour to pull a point from the fire.

Draw, 2-2, drop to 19th
Shots: 14-10, Terriers
Poss: 59-41
A: 9,799

We manage a point, but still drop a place to 19th, only 2 spots and points up from the relegation zone.

Mark Tyler strained his neck during the 2nd half of this one, and he'll need about a week to rest before he's back to 100%.

[Butter]

No rest for the weary.

As promised, we switch to a more vanilla 4-4-2, with Davis and Jess on the wings, Shaw making forward runs, and Kennedy making... backwards runs in defensive support. We go back to zonal marking with an offside trap. I've had success with the trap before, but am always wary about playing it because it means your backline is under tremendous pressure. Pullen has to start for the injured Mark Tyler in goal today.

Nov. 10, Match 15
4-3-7, 19th pl., 15 pts.
v. Milton Keynes Dons (4-1-9, 23rd pl., 13 pts.)
Fav.: Posh, Evens

11'- A weak header from the penalty spot for the Dons, and Pullen pretty much doesn't move and watches it go in off the far post. Very very weak.

13'- No need to worry, as Eoin Jess makes his presence felt, stealing the ball from the Dons on their wing, crossing it to Holmes... Holmes has it headed away, but Kennedy is there straight on from 25 yards, and he launches one that catches a deflection and goes in! 1-1!

16'- Kennedy from 40 yards this time and he just misses the top right corner. Good shot.

21'- Davis down the right wing, crosses to Shaw who fires it towards the corner, but a very good save by the Dons keeper.

41'- Good combination play in the middle ends in Willock free from 10 yards, but he shoots it into the keeper's chest.

No changes at the interval.

68'- Jess with a 35 yard free kick bends it towards the left post... Willock seems to be in position for a header but he just lets it go and it goes wide.

75'- Newton in for Kennedy, and he switches to the right as Davis comes to the middle. And Farrell in for a tired Jess at left wing.

Not much else happens as the final whistle goes and we get another point.

Pullen earns his 5 in goal for letting that weak shot in. No one else rates over a 7, as our starting strikers haven't scored in quite a long time.

Draw, 1-1, remain in 19th
Shots: 7-7
Poss: 51-49, Dons
A: 3,456

Of course it would be better to get 3 points against one of the league's weakest teams, but then right now, we ARE one of the league's weakest teams, so I won't complain.

Now we get 10 days of rest before we face that blistering Hull side.

[Butter]

The FA Cup 1st Round occurs (our match was moved due to international call-ups), and Yeading get a draw with League 2 Kidderminster, which earns them a replay on their grounds. Non-league Hyde also manage to beat League 2 Cambridge, 2-1.

Not much happens for a while, and we're ready for our next match, as everyone is finally back from injury. Steve Basham returns to the starting lineup, and Curtis Woodhouse will also start in the middle of our 4-4-2 in place of a struggling Peter Kennedy. Mark Tyler is also back in goal.

Nov. 20, Match 16
4-4-7, 19th pl., 16 pts.
v. Hull (7-7-1, 3rd pl., 28 pts.)
Fav.: Tigers, 6:4

1'- We get a decent chance as Davis slides a ball through for Basham, but he gets it stolen away.

19'- Hull mishit a header and Willock is there to attack the goal, but the Tigers defense does a good job of recovering a forcing a poor shot.

31'- Hull with their first good chance, but the ball is headed right at Tyler.

38'- Good header off a corner, but it's powered over for the Tigers.

No changes at the break, we'll take a point from this one.

81'- A slightly injured Jess out, Kennedy in. Basham out, Holmes in.

83'- Holmes down the right, a great floating cross to Woodhouse, who heads it off the damn crossbar again!

That's it. How uneventful this one was, but we'll take all the points we can get. Tyler is MoM with an 8, no one else rated above a 7.

Draw, 0-0, up to 18th
Shots: 7-5, Tigers
Poss: 50-50
A: 6,808

Our first foray into the FA Cup will kick us off next!

[Butter]

Next up, our first round foray into the FA Cup. On the road, against a team that already humbled us a couple weeks back, League 2 Shrewsbury. At least this time, we have a slightly different look to throw at them to attempt to advance. I'm going to play a 4-1-2-1-2 like earlier in the season, and try to keep our passes short and make some plays through the center of the field. I'm going to start Constantine and Holmes up front to mix it up a bit.

Here is our lineup:
GK: Tyler
Defenders: Legg, Plummer, Yates, Burton
DMC: Kennedy
Midfield: Jess, Davis
AMC: Shaw
Strikers: Constantine, Holmes

I suppose I wouldn't mind a draw, except everyone is tired and we'd have to play a replay in 3 days. But at least we'd finally get the Shrews at home.

Champions League, Match Day 5
Group E
Inter Milan 2:1 Bayern Munich
Liverpool 0:0 Valencia

Group F
Banik Ostrava 0:4 Arsenal
PSV 2:0 Celtic

Group G
Fenerbahce 0:0 Deportivo
Lyon 1:1 Dinamo Kiev

Group H
Maccabi Haifa 1:1 Juventus
Porto 1:1 Olympiakos

Group A
Barcelona 2:0 Paris
Sparta Prague 2:1 Wisla

Group B
Benfica 2:0 Club Brugge
Werder Bremen 0:3 AC Milan

Group C
Chelsea 4:0 Djurgarden
Real Madrid 1:1 Roma

Group D
Ajax 6:0 FC Kobenhavn
Man Utd. 1:0 Panathinaikos

Nov. 24, FA Cup 1st Round
@ Shrewsbury (24th in League 2, 3-2-10)
Fav.: Posh, 4:7

The bastards start our former striker, Andy Clarke, up front against us today. I naturally instruct our defenders to assault his shin guards. I just want one freaking win. Is that so wrong?

11'- Constantine with a long ball to Holmes on the counter... Holmes is held, but continues anyway, and tucks it inside the right post! 1-0, Posh!

19'- Shaw again on the counter to Holmes... another long ball and he's clear of the last man... and he chips it over the keeper and in! 2-0, Posh!!!

30'- Jess apparently barges a Shrews player off the ball inside the box. Looked pretty innocent to me, but Shrews get a PK. The striker steps up... and fires it right into Tyler's chest! 2-0 it remains!

41'- A nice cross and header for Shrews to close to 2-1... but no! Clarke was offside! Way to go, Andy!

We switch to a 4-3-1-2, with the 4 and 3 all playing in our half. We try to salt this win away.

47'- A superb cross to a waiting Shrews midfielder at the back post, and he heads it in. 2-1, Shrews, and that's not a good start to the half.

68'- Jess comes close to his 2nd yellow card, but just yields a free kick to the left of the box. A lot of action in the box on this one, but it is headed wide.

82'- Shrews finally convert, as a nice series of passes in the box ends with a short cross onto the head of a diving midfielder, 2-2.

89'- A final chance for us as Shaw sends a ball into the box that is intercepted by a Shrews defender, who is not aware that Constantine is charging at him, and Constantine nearly pokes it into the net. A good save keeps it out.

We get a replay at London Road.

Davis, Holmes, Shaw, and Burton all rate 8's, and Tyler gets a 9. We withstand a furious onslaught in half 2, and maybe going into a shell was a mistake. But I'll take this after the embarrassment several weeks ago.

Draw, 2-2, replay
Shots: 19-10, Shrews
Poss: 63-37, Shrews
A: 7,004

We get a replay in 3 days at home.

[Butter]

Well, we try and stick with the same formation for the replay, only this time Willock and Basham will start up front, and Woodhouse will replace a tired Jess in the middle. St. Ledger also moves back into the starting lineup, starting for a tired Sagi Burton. Legg stays in at left back. Shaw will start, and will probably be subbed by Jess in the second half, as they're both under 90% at the start of the match.

We haven't won a match since early October, but have drawn 4 straight. Sure would be nice to advance in the big one here.

Nov. 27, FA Cup First Round replay
v. Shrewsbury

4'- A seemingly innocuous play, as Woodhouse plays Davis a square ball at 35 yards. Davis advances a step or two, then shoots a vicious bender, and it goes in! 1-0, Posh in the opening minutes! Terrific start for us, as Davis scores a screamer.

22'- Kennedy with a long shot from a free kick, and the rebound drops to Willock at 4 yards, but his shot is deflected just wide of the post by the keeper.

We control play the rest of the half, allowing Shrews just one shot, in the form of a free kick that doesn't come close. Kennedy, Shaw, Davis, and Basham are all very tired, but they can't all come out. We try to go to a slower tempo.

53'- Willock is played on by St. Ledger, and his cross at the endline finds Shaw at 8 yards, but his shot is tipped off the crossbar and out... and his rebound is blocked by a defender. Good chance, well defended.

65'- Woodhouse with a good cross, but it's deflected out. Yates recovers and sends a ball to Davis, who one touches a pass to Shaw who's alone in the middle.... GOAL!!!! 2-0, Posh, and we're showing some fire today!

We bring Jenkins on for Shaw, and make it a 5 man backline, and replace Basham with Boucaud, and try to pack it in... again.

68'- I call BS, as a long range header comes rolling slowly at Tyler, but he just sort of scoops it behind him into the goal, and is credited with an own goal. That was the most bizarre play of the year. 2-1 now.

74'- A long series of possession ends with a backpass to Tyler, who plays it 80 yards downfield to Woodhouse who is unmarked. Woodhouse advances on goal, shoots from 15 yards and scores! 3-1, Posh!

We are able to successfully deflate the ball the rest of the second half and claim victory at last!

Steven Davis is named MoM with a goal and an assist. He rates an 8, as do Woodhouse and Shaw.

Win, 3-1, advance to round 2
Shots: 8-7, Posh
Poss: 51-49, Posh
A: 5,226

Shaw and Woodhouse both had cards in this one, each with their 5th that will keep them out the next match.

We also receive $24k for the victory and will travel to League 2 Rochdale who beat our league-mates Brentford 2-0 to advance.

We also have dropped to 20th in league since we are now 1-2 games played behind our competition. So we are just 1 point from the drop zone.

[Butter]

As we begin December on a high note, again the board are merely pleased with my performance, and satisfied with our league position. We need to climb up the table to solidify my position here.

With fatigue and the suspensions to Woodhouse and Shaw, we start the same formation, different personnel:
GK: Tyler
Defense: St. Ledger, Plummer, Yates, Burton
DM: Legg
Mid: Kennedy, Davis
AM: Jess
Strikers: Willock, Holmes
Subs: GK Pullen, MC Boucaud, SC Constantine, DC Ireland, D/AM Newton

The fatigue problem will only get worse as we're scheduled to play 5 matches in 14 days, and 6 in 18.

Dec. 1, Match 17
4-5-7, 20th pl., 17 pts.
@ Brentford (7-6-4, 6th pl., 27 pts.)
Fav.: Bees, 6:4

Brentford run a 4-3-1-2 similar to what we are using, only without the defensive midfielder.

1'- Holmes and Jess play a nice one-two, and Jess is free from 20 yards, and shoots... but it just barely misses tucking inside the left post.

18'- Jess is injured in a collision with a Bee defender, so he goes out and is replaced by Andre Boucaud. Boucaud will play midfield, and Davis moves to AMC.

24'- Kennedy takes a corner, and aims it at the far post... Holmes is there to finish it with a header! Great set piece, 1-0, Posh!

30'- Plummer with a push in the back on a long pass... but the referee says it was in the box! That was at least a yard outside the box... but a penalty has been awarded. We've been giving these up in bunches lately. The Bee striker advances... and it's saved by Tyler! Yet another PK save to preserve our lead, great stop going to his right!

38'- Another great chance for Brentford, as a pass finds a striker at the 6, he turns and somehow manages to hit it wide from the center of the box.

In addition to the PK, Kennedy, Davis, and Boucaud all pick up 1st half yellow cards. Yet we still lead 1-0 at the break, and it sure would be nice to pick up 3 points here.

46'- Brentford with a cross and a headed in goal off the opening kickoff. So much for 3 points. 1-1.

55'- Brentford pick up 2 yellow cards early, so I like that. What I like even more is Legg finding Willock with space to the right of the box... then his cross into the box finds Davis at 8 yards, who heads it past a flailing keeper! 2-1, Posh!

64'- We are unable to hold the lead as a cross bounces off a defender, but right to a striker who volleys it in from 20 yards. Tyler looked powerless on that one, and it's even yet again.

74'- Kennedy picks up his second yellow after going in hard on a midfielder. We're down to 10 for the final quarter-hour. No subs., we just switch to a straight 4-3-2, try to keep our players back and play long balls on the counter attack to possibly steal a goal.

79'- Yates spots Holmes making a run down the left, and plays it to him from 45 yards. Holmes beats one man, then crosses to Willock who is double teamed... but Callum will not be denied! 3-2, Posh as he heads it inside the left post! What a game this is turning out to be. Can we hold it? Newton on for a tiring and carded Davis, as we try to keep the Bees out of our net for another 10 minutes.

90'- Brentford with a beautiful cross into the box, and Tyler rushes out to challenge the Bee striker... and he holds it! He launches a ball downfield, and the whistle goes! Our best win of the year, on the road at a team in the playoff zone!

Substitute Andre Boucaud wins MoM rating a 9 in midfield. He won 8/10 headers, completed 17/19 passes, and made 7 interceptions. Holmes, Willock, Davis, Legg, Plummer, and Burton all pick up 8's in this terrfic team effort.

Win, 2-3, up to 17th place
Shots: 16-5, Bees
Poss: 54-46, Bees
A: 7,936

English League Cup, Quarterfinals
Chelsea 0:2 Charlton
Newcastle 2:1 Blackburn
Reading 0:2 Man U.
Southampton 3:2 Arsenal

Kennedy gets the one match ban for his sending off, and luckily Eoin Jess will only miss 3 days with a bruised rib that caused him to leave this game.

[Butter]

We start another slightly different lineup for our round 2 FA Cup match.

GK: Tyler
Def: St. Ledger, Ireland, Yates, Jenkins
DM: Legg
Mid: Davis, Woodhouse
AM: Shaw
Str: Basham, Holmes
Subs: GK Pullen, MC Sonner, SC Constantine, DC Plummer, AMC Jess

We stick with the 4-1-2-1-2 that has been working for us the past couple of games.

Dec. 4, FA Cup 2nd round
@ Rochdale (5th in League 2, 8-7-3)
Fav.: Posh, 4:7

2'- Davis with a long shot, but it is a bit high.

9'- Quality cross for the Dale, but the header is tipped wide by Tyler. Ensuing corner is cleared without incident.

16'- Shaw with a long shot from the corner of the box, but it goes wide of the far post.

The rest of the half goes by without much fanfare. Basham and St. Ledger both pick up injuries, but St. Ledger continues with his. Basham is removed for Constantine.

48'- Good shot by Rochdale is turned aside by Tyler.

51'- Shaw has the ball stolen in the box, but it slides to Constantine, who can't do anything with it.

74'- Dale with a 20 yard free kick that thankfully sails over the bar.

76'- Davis plays a through ball to Holmes who is onside! Holmes charges at the keeper, then veers to his left and puts it in! 1-0, Posh on a late strike by Derek Holmes! Plummer in, St. Ledger limps off as we go to a 5-3-2 and try and take the air out of the ball.

80'- Rochdale apply consistent, prolonged pressure in the last 10 minutes, switching to a 2-3-5 to try and equalize. They even go so far as to send their keeper forward on a corner kick in the 89th minute. But none of their chances are very dangerous, and we take the win!

Mark Tyler wins MoM with the clean sheet, as Davis and Ireland also earn 8 ratings. Are we finally on the winning track for good?

Win, 0-1, advance to 3rd round
Shots: 20-5, Dale (though on target shots are a more modest 5-3 advantage to Rochdale)
Poss: 59-41, Dale
A: 8,976

We've been dominated the last 2 outings in both shots and ball possession, but have still won both. I can only hope these are solid results and not just flukes.

------------------

A couple of fairly large upsets to report in the FA Cup. Conf. North Stafford Rangers beat League 1 Stockport 2-1. Also, Conf. Nat'l Stevenage beat League 1 Torquay 2-1. Even more impressive is Conf. North side Stalybridge going on the road and beating League 1 Swindon 1-0.

We get $28k for winning our round 2 match. Derek Holmes apparently suffered a damaged shoulder at some point, but it's not too severe and he's expected back in a week.

More bad news as 2 days later, Peter Kennedy twists his ankle in practice and is expected to miss 2 weeks. These injuries are what caused us before to switch away from the 4-1-2-1-2, lacking any experienced defensive midfielders when Kennedy and Legg were both unavailable.

For the first time, we have players selected in the League One Team of The Week. Sagi Burton, Andre Boucaud, and Callum Willock all are selected. Very odd to have Boucaud picked, as he arrived as a 2nd half sub. in just the 3rd league match he's played in this season, and performed well enough to get picked for the team of the week.

The 3rd Round FA Cup Draw is made, and we catch a bit of a break, getting to host Champ. side Burnley. It could be much worse. Case in point, Conf. Nat'l Stevenage will be hosting Man U. The winner of the replay between Nat'l Conf. sides Farnborough and Leigh RMI will get to host Liverpool. So it definitely could be worse. Hosting always equals revenue anyway. Burnley are currently 6th in the Champ. League, and we won't play until early January, so we'll have lots of time to consider our strategy.

Champions League, Match Day 6
As we enter the final day of group play, here are the standings for each group, the results, and qualifiers.

Group A
Barcelona 13, Paris 7, Wisla 6, Sparta Prague 3

Wisla is well behind on goal difference, so they need to beat Barcelona and have Paris draw or lose v. Prague in order to advance.

Paris 1:1 Sparta Prague
Wisla 0:3 Barcelona

Well, Paris hold up their end, but a victory over Barca was asking a bit much of the Polish side.

Qualifiers: Paris and Barcelona

Group B
AC Milan 12, Benfica 8, Werder Bremen 5, Club Brugge 2

Werder Bremen is behind by 7 on goal difference, so they'd have to blow out Club Brugge and have Benfica lose by quite a bit to advance. Not likely.

Club Brugge 2:1 Werder Bremen
Milan 2:0 Benfica

Bremen can't even beat the worst team in the group, and end up finishing dead last.

Qualifiers: AC Milan, Benfica

Group C
Roma 9, Real Madrid 9, Chelsea 8, Djurgarden 0

Basically, it comes down to Roma v. Chelsea in Rome to decide the 2nd spot. Real Madrid get to cream Djurgarden to stamp their ticket.

Djurgarden 1:2 Real Madrid
Roma 2:0 Chelsea

No problem from Olimpico for Roma to join Real in the knockout stage.

Qualifiers: Roma, Real Madrid

Group D
Manchester United 11, Ajax 6, FC Kobenhavn 5, Panathinaikos 3

Ajax have a +2 GD, while Copenhagen and Pan. have -4 and -5 respectively, so Panathinaikos have no realistic shot, hosting Ajax at home, while Copenhagen would realistically have to beat Man U. at home and hope for a Ajax draw or defeat at Pan. to move on.

FC Kobenhavn 0:2 Man Utd.
Panathinaikos 1:2 Ajax

Kobenhavn can't hold up their end, and Ajax are through.

Qualifiers: Manchester United, Ajax

Group E
Inter Milan 9, Valencia 5, Bayern Munich 4, Liverpool 4

Munich hosts Liverpool, while Valencia get to host Inter. Tough to know what will come of that. Valencia have a 1 GD lead over Munich and 3 over Liverpool, so Munich would likely advance if they all end on 5 points.

Valencia 1:1 Inter Milan
Bayern Munich 3:1 Liverpool

Munich passes Valencia for that last spot with their convincing win over Liverpool.

Qualifiers: Inter, Munich

Group F
Arsenal 15, PSV 7, Celtic 4, Banik Ostrava 2

Celtic trail on GD by 8 to PSV, so it's not likely to happen unless Arsenal decide to hang 10 on PSV.

Arsenal 0:2 PSV
Celtic 1:1 Banik Ostrava

PSV leave no doubt, winning at Highbury.

Qualifiers: Arsenal, PSV

Group G
Fenerbahce 11, Deportivo 6, Dinamo Kiev 5, Lyon 3

Lyon and Deportivo face off, so if they all happen to land on 6, the GD would most likely favor Kiev. but then, that would mean they'd have to draw Fenerbahce in Turkey, not easy.

Fenerbahce 0:0 Dinamo Kiev
Deportivo 0:1 Lyon

Lyon sneak up and take the qualifying spot away from Deportivo. Impressive.

Qualifiers: Fenerbahce, Lyon

Group H
Porto 8, Juventus 8, Maccabi Haifa 6, Olympiakos 4

Haifa trail Porto and Juve by 1 on GD, so if they can cream Olympiakos and get a draw from Porto and Juventus, they could move on.

Juventus 3:1 Porto
Olympiakos 0:3 Maccabi Haifa

Exactly what Haifa needed, and they pass Porto for the last spot.

Qualifiers: Juventus, Maccabi Haifa

Dec. 8, Match 18
5-5-7, 17th pl., 20 pts.
@ Tranmere (6-6-5, 12th pl., 24 pts.)
Fav.: Rovers, 5:4

5'- Another nightmare as Tyler tries to catch a cross coming a foot away from the line, and ends up knocking it into his own net. 1-0, Rovers on another poor giveaway.

36'- Tranmere continue to dominate play, as Tyler lets in another weak goal off a 20 yard shot that beats him to the post. 2-0, Rovers.

We manage just one decent shot the whole first half, and I just hope we don't get killed in the 2nd.

57'- We bring Shaw in for Legg and move to a more attacking 4-3-1-2 in an attempt to get a decent shot on goal.

78'- We finally get a decent shot as Davis crosses to Basham who volleys it just past the top left corner.

81'- Danny Sonner in for Davis and Constantine in for Burton as we switch to an all out 2-1-3-1-3 to try and get another decent shot on goal.

We can't get anything else on target, and that's it.

Somehow Steve Yates wins MoM in central defense. Burton, Plummer, Woodhouse, and Davis also pick up 8's. Tyler toted a 5 around most of the game before finishing with a 6.

Loss, 2-0, remain in 17th
Shots: 16-5, Rovers
Poss: 53-47, Rovers
A: 9,145

Chris Plummer picks up his 5th yellow of the season, and he'll miss the next match.

[Butter]

Dec. 11, Match 19
5-5-8, 17th pl., 20 pts.
v. Sheffield Wednesday (12-3-3, 1st pl., 39 pts.)
Fav.: Owls, 4:5

19'- Not much action early, but the Owls with a glorious chance as Tyler allows a rebound from a long distance shot, but the 6 yard volley eludes the Owls striker, and we stay scoreless.

36'- After saving a couple more chances, Tyler can't do anything with a beautiful cross directly to the head of a Wed. striker at 8 yards, and he finishes it. 1-0, Sheffield Wed.

41'- The Owls waste no time making it 2 off another contested header from a corner kick. It's hit with power inside the right post, and we're down 2.

We had 55% of the ball in the first half, but only 1 shot. We're back to the reason we got away from this formation in the first place. Good teams just whip our ass with it, and make us play the ball around our own half for minutes on end. We switch to a standard attacking 4-4-2 with Legg and Davis on the wings to try and whip some balls in. But mostly I expect to lose 2-0. Or even 3 or 4-0.

75'- Jess for Shaw and Sonner in for Davis as the supporters are already heading for the exits.

We don't even manage an on target shot the entire game. I guess that's why Sheffield are the class of the league. The few highlights I saw, Wednesday was just beating us to every 50/50 ball and making slide tackles on every run down the wing. Just a good performance by them, and we have no answer for a team of that caliber yet.

Loss, 0-2, drop to 18th
Shots/On target: Posh 3/0, Owls 11/6
Poss: 51-49, Owls
A: 9,176

I do believe that's our biggest crowd of the year also. Not the best way to draw them back.

The club are also now just 1 point out of relegation, so I have to worry about that again.

[Butter]

The difficult run of matches continue, as now we must face 5th place Oldham.

We try to start a bit of a different lineup and formation again, running a 4-4-2 again, with Jess and Shaw on the wings and making runs into the middle, and Woodhouse and Boucaud playing midfield and supporting the defense. Don't imagine it will help, but I can't see us winning this next game without playing back a bit in defense. Jenkins and Legg will also start in defense for a tired St. Ledger and Burton.

Dec. 14, Match 20
5-5-9, 18th pl., 20 pts.
v. Oldham Athletic (8-6-5, 5th pl., 30 pts.)
Fav.: Latics, 6:4

Both sides have a couple of innocuous chances early, we cross one right to the keeper, they hit a 25 yard shot miles too high.

26'- Oldham with a dangerous looking buildup, but Plummer heads the cross attempt straight to Basham who turns and runs on the break, and sends a ball clear to Willock down the middle. Willock is past the last defender and 1-v-1 with the keeper. The keeper charges at him, but Willock slots it inside the left post, and we take the lead! 1-0, Posh in an early surprise!

37'- Best chance so far for the Latics, but a close in header is sent over the bar.

43'- Another marvelous chance, as Shaw is played onside with a terrific diagonal ball from Willock. Shaw draws lots of attention that leaves Jess open at the near post. Shaw picks him out, sends the ball to him, but the Latics keeper with a superb save as Jess tries to head it in. The ball rolls parallel to the goal line, just inches away, then Shaw touches it out for a goal kick.

45'- Tough break for us, as a cross into the box turns into an odd looking header that trickles in past Tyler. Tyler has stopped several PK's for us this year, but he's also let in several weak looking goals. I can't wait for our new German keeper to arrive in a couple of weeks.

At the half it's 1-1, so we try and forge on with this formation to try and get a game winner. Boucaud is slightly injured, but he can continue on, so we let him.

The Latics with a couple of early chances in half 2, but they're all long range shots with no real chance.

72'- Jess plays a ball to Willock, who beats the last defender... the keeper blocks the shot and lets a rebound roll free, but Shaw is offside and the flag goes up.

78'- Constantine in for Basham, Davis in for Jess as we try and get as many fresh legs on the field as we can.

The rest of the match goes by without incident, as it appears that Oldham settle for the draw.

No one rates above a 7 for us, but I can't be too disappointed with getting a point from one of the top 5 right now.

Draw, 1-1, up to 17th
Shots/on target: Posh 5/3, Latics 14/4
Poss: 60-40, Latics
A: 6,416

Boucaud just had a bruised thigh, and will just need a couple of days off for treatment before being ready for action once again.

[Butter]

With the transfer window coming up, we have one major signing due in, a new keeper, which will mean that Mark Tyler will hit the transfer wire for us. It also means we need to take a look at signing folks whose contracts are up at the end of June to sign for next year. We need help all over, and with our wage budget, we'll have to be very choosy and possibly decide on some current players to let go as well. We'll think more about that in a couple of weeks.

There are 5 teams starting at 19th through 23rd place on 19 points right now, so if we lose this next match, we'll very likely be in the relegation zone. Torquay yield a lot of goals, so we're sticking with the tactic from last match, but may switch back to that 4-1-2-1-2 if things don't go well. Holmes will start for a tired Willock up front, as we'll mercifully get a week off after this match.

Dec. 18, Match 21
5-6-9, 17th pl., 21 pts.
@ Torquay (5-4-11, 23rd pl., 19 pts.)
Fav.: Posh, 4:6

2'- Gulls with a brilliant chance, but luckily for us an 8 yard strike is chunked into the stratosphere.

9'- Jess with a shot from 12 yards, but he sends it into orbit as well.

13'- Free kick from 30 yards to Torquay, and it's struck in off of Tyler's fingertips. Another goal that should've been stopped. 1-0, Gulls.

Torquay are just relentless and we're seemingly unable to keep them out of our area, despite keeping it 1-0 through the first half hour.

31'- Another easy set of passes as our defense seems to just part in the middle and allow Torquay to score an easy strike from 7 yards. 2-0, Gulls.

We bring Legg in for Shaw and try to attack down the middle with the promised 4-1-2-1-2. They have over 40% of ball possession in the attacking 1/3 of the field alone. This must stop.

At the half, they have 17 shots to our 1. And 68% of ball possession. That's insane. Why did we even bother to show up?

50'- Jess is fouled off a goal kick, and we get a free from about 50 yards out. Yates drops a ball right to Jess at 10 yards, but he can't beat the keeper.

59'- Willock on for an underperforming Holmes, and Legg moves up to midfield as we try to press a bit more.

72'- As if to bring home our lack of quality defending, a Gulls striker takes the ball and runs 70 yards with it off a Posh corner. Burton just can't catch up with him. He dribbles right into the keeper's lap and scores at the far post. 3-0, Gulls, and this is officially a whitewash. We bring in Constantine and run a 4-2-1-3 to see if that'll make a whit of difference.

74'- Another Gulls score off a counter, virtually the same as the one from the 72nd minute. 4-0, Torquay.

78'- Tyler picks out Constantine running straight down the middle with a clearance, and HE takes it all the way in... but his shot is deflected wide. Luckily, Willock is there to finish to keep us from being totally killed. 4-1.

Wow. I don't think I've ever been dominated like that in a match. I've allowed some fluke goals and lost badly, but they had 32 shots. THIRTY-TWO SHOTS! Ridiculous. Unbelievable. Embarrassing.

Loss, 4-1, drop to 19th
Shots/on target: Gulls 32/16, Posh 9/3
Poss: 65-35, Gulls
A: 5,292

Lord, I just can't find a formation that works for this team. I guess we're just not very good overall.

[Butter]

Well, with a week off, let's see who off our team is eligible to leave during the Bosman signing period coming up.

The following have contracts that are up at the end of June '05:
GK Mark Tyler
SC Callum Willock
D Simon Rea
D Steve Jenkins
DM Steve Thomson
D/M Adam Newton
D Sean St. Ledger
M Danny Sonner

Of these, the only ones I was probably going to keep were Callum Willock and Sean St. Ledger. And frankly, I could do without them both if need be.

So I go to the contract screen and try and offer Willock and St. Ledger new deals to get them to hang around.

Willock has 6 goals and 6 assists in 25 appearances for us this year. His technique is deteriorating a bit, though. My assistant manager brightly says that while he is an important player, he is easily replaceable. Willock wants $130k per year for 2 years, and a $2k signing bonus. I decide to offer him $100k per year for one more year with no signing bonus and a $200 per goal bonus. He agrees to this right away... perhaps I should have been more aggressive.

St. Ledger's technique is improving from training, but he is not particularly quick. He has been playing out of position most of the year, at left back. He is a natural center back. His average rating this year is a 6.90, which is not great, and our defense hasn't been stellar. But still, he is only 19. My assistant manager says that he still has a lot to learn before he is ready for first team football. Whoops! St. Ledger only wants a modest $20k per year for 2 more years. I try to give him $20k for 3 years with a $2k signing bonus, 5% yearly wage rise, and and a $100 per match appearance fee to lock him up a bit longer. St. Ledger also quickly agrees to his new contract, and I guess I'm not much of a negotiator.

I sent my scouts to North Africa and the Middle East and they come back empty handed, so we try our luck domestically, assigning one to League 2, and one to the Championship.

Both Ireland and Davis suffer twisted knees within a day of each other and will be out 2 weeks.

Wimbledon offers us $18k for our reserve striker, Richard Logan. Logan is currently on loan at Kettering, but his contract is up at the end of the year. I've no plans to re-sign him as he is making nearly $50k a year and at 22 is unlikely to develop further, so I accept the offer.

Bradford City give up a lot of goals, but score a lot as well. We plan to play a 4-2-1-2-1 to try and make something happen and keep Bradford out of our back line like Torquay were. We start the standard backline, Kennedy and Legg at DM's, Woodhouse (for an injured Davis) in the middle, Shaw and Jess at AM's, and Holmes up front, but it'll be a rotation there, with Willock and Basham also both logging time. Let's see how this works.

Dec. 26, Match 22
5-6-10, 19th pl., 21 pts.
v. Bradford City (6-7-8, 16th pl., 25 pts.)
Fav.: Posh, 6:4

4'- Jess with a free kick at the top of the penalty arc... and he bends it inside the left post! Score for Posh! Terrific strike to give us an early lead.

15'- Bantams with their first attack, but Yates and Burton combine to steal the ball and clear it away from an attacking player.

23'- Jess with another free kick from 25 yards out. He strikes it again with force and swerve, but it is just pushed aside of the right post.

25'- Good passing from Woodhouse, to Shaw, then slipping one to Holmes at the spot, but his strike is just tipped over the bar. Jess with a foul on the corner to end the threat.

33'- An errant backwards header by Plummer finds a Bantams striker running on to it, but he strikes his 10 yard shot wide of the post. That would've been a bad giveaway. That was also the only Bantams shot of the first half.

We are just absolutely dominating them at the break, and make no changes for the second half.

47'- Naturally, our good form doesn't last, as BC float a cross into the box, and it's headed home at the right post by a man who appears to be marked by 3 defenders. The header wasn't especially powerful either, but we're level.

77'- We sub Willock in for a tiring Jess, and Basham in for Holmes.

The Bantams successfully pack it in the rest of the match and take the point. We really should've done better with this one, but we couldn't generate any offense in the 2nd half, managing only 2 off target shots the entire 45 minutes.

Nobody played particularly well, either, which is surprising considering our superb first half effort. No one rates above a 7.

Draw, 1-1, remain in 19th
Shots/on target: Posh 15/8, Bantams 6/1
Poss: 53-47, Posh
A: 5,641

Chris Plummer strains his neck (on a header, I hope) and will be out for about 5 days.

[Butter]

So, we get just 1 day off, then have to travel to Stockport. As such, here are our starting 11:

GK: Tyler
Def.: Legg, Yates, Jenkins, Newton
DM: Kennedy, Thomson
Mid: Woodhouse
AM: Jess, Basham
Str: Willock

Quite the mishmash of players here, so hopefully we can forge a draw as we have yet another match on Jan. 1.

Dec. 28, Match 23
5-7-10, 19th pl., 22 pts.
@ Stockport (8-5-9, 14th pl., 29 pts.)
Fav.: Posh, 6:4

1'- Jess with a throw in to the right of the Hatters box. He finds Kennedy who plays it back to Woodhouse, over to Willock, then Willock finds Basham with about 4 guys on him. He is dispossessed, but the first touch is a bit too far by the defender, and Basham attacks the ball and pokes it inside the left post! A fluke goal, but I'll take it! 1-0, Posh within the first 60 seconds!

10'- County with a good header, but right at Tyler.

21'- Willock beats his last defender, but his shot is inches wide of the left post.

29'- Willock with a good pass to center, and Jess screams one that caroms off the crossbar and out.

38'- Tyler with an easy catch on a long free kick, and he sends one quickly long to Willock, who beats his man in the air, then advances free at the keeper. He hits his shot hard, but it is tipped and just skitters past the post.

43'- Good save by Tyler from a 15 yard shot that looked destined for the upper corner, as he deflects it out, then charges after the rebound, but his defense is there to save him.

At the break, again we're outplaying the opponent and forcing more chances. Also keeping more of the ball, which is a refreshing change. One of County's strikers is rating a 4 at the break, but they don't sub for him. Tyler is having a nice game in goal.

52'- Jess with a free kick inside the arc, but it's well over the bar.

69'- County find an open striker at the spot, but he can't finish it. He screams it past the post. They finally sub this moron out, rating a 4.

75'- Good chance on a counterattack, but Willock shoots too early and hits it high.

77'- Stockport with their best chance of the game as a wide open winger sends a ball into the six, but the header is directed out of play. We switch to extreme defensive tactics to try and kill the rest of the match. Boucaud in for Jess, Sonner in for Basham.

86'- Kennedy plays a horrific ball back to Tyler, who has to head it under pressure to avoid the corner, but he heads it right to a Stockport striker who beats him near post. Fudge. 1-1.

Stockport with one more powerful attack, but the wicked volley sails into the stands and we at least keep our point.

Curtis Woodhouse is named MoM, as he completed 22/23 passes, won 7/11 tackles, and was fouled 4 times. He rates an 8, as do Tyler and Adam Newton.

Draw, 1-1, down to 20th
Shots/on target: Hatters 10/5, Posh 14/5
Poss: 52-48, Hatters
A: 7,365

Even with our better performances the past 2 matches, we still can't win a game and get clear of relegation for good. We're now just 1 point clear of Barnsley for the final spot.

[Butter]

Wimbledon sign Logan, and we're $18k richer, and have $50k more to add back to the wage budget. So now we're merely $200k over the wage budget.

And, as the clock strikes December 30th... it's Bosman time!

Our first target is striker Elvis Hammond of Fulham. He has good speed, good mental attributes, good finishing skill... and best of all for us, he isn't playing for Fulham right now. He only wants $56k per year and a signing bonus of $4k. I offer $48k per year and a $10k signing bonus, along with a $150/goal, $80/assist clause for 3 years. He is currently valued by Fulham at over $1 million pounds, so this would be quite a signing if we could pull it off.

We also take a look at Alan Navarro, a talented defensive midfielder currently on Tranmere's reserve squad. He wants $140k per year for 3 years, but best of all, we'd get him immediately with payment of $18k to Tranmere. He is only 23, and lacks a bit for quickness, but is extremely skilled and would be a big upgrade for us at defensive midfield, as Peter Kennedy just isn't doing it for us this year. I offer $120k per year for 3 years, including a $10k signing bonus, and a 15% yearly wage rise.

We take a look at several other players and scout a few, and offer to a couple more, so we'll see what shakes out.

Finally, we also get Lukas Kruse, the German keeper we bought a couple of months ago. He'll start the first game out to see what we have. Tyler will not be offered a new contract.

Another odd lineup as everybody is still exhausted, and we have another match in 2 days.

GK: Kruse
Def.: St. Ledger, Yates, Burton, Jenkins
DM: Thomson, Legg
Mid: Woodhouse
AM: Jess, Basham
Str.: Constantine

Jan. 1, 2005, Match 24
5-8-10, 20th pl., 23 pts.
@ Wrexham (8-7-8, 13th pl., 31 pts.)
Previous Meeting: Posh 3, Dragons 1
Fav.: Posh, Evens

Wrexham apply constant pressure in the early going, but never put one on target. We aren't able to mount any real challenges, but we do manage to somehow reach the break scoreles. Jess, Basham, and Thomson all pick up knocks in the first half. I decide to switch to a 4-3-3 to take advantage of Wrexham's 3 man backline. We switch to a long ball attack in the rain as well. Kennedy on for a tired Legg, and Willock in for Jess. Basham is also borderline, so he may have to come out in the 2nd half at some point.

The first part of the 2nd half is more even. They're playing the offside trap, but we beat it for 3 decent chances, all of which were saved. Wrexham, on the other hand, have just one real chance in the first 20 mins. of half 2, with Kruse punching away a good cross into the 6.

83'- Wrexham with a super cross to a wide open man at 4 yards, but St. Ledger clears it off the line and out! Basham finally has to come out as his stamina crosses below 50%. Newton will play in a 5 man backline for the rest of the match.

88'- Kruse makes an outstanding grab of a cross into the 6 that Tyler surely would've watched hit the back of the net.

Willock with one more chance in injury time, but he is dispossessed in the box. It's a scoreless draw!

Sagi Burton wins MoM in central defense. He wins 11/12 headers, 6/7 tackles, and makes 6 interceptions. Kruse, Yates, Jenkins, and Thomson all pick up 8's as well. Thomson has been playing well in defensive midfield since I've given him a chance. Another point, but it's not enough to keep us out of the drop zone when Barnsley win.

Draw, 0-0, drop to 21st
Shots/on target: Dragons 14/2, Posh 8/3
Poss: 54-46, Dragons
A: 5,774

We've gone nearly a month without a win, and over a month without a league win now. 4 draws and a loss in the last 5.

[Butter]

Elvis Hammond and Alan Navarro agree to our terms. Navarro will join us right away (for $18k, so it's like a standard transfer), while Hammond will be coming in next season.

Also, Kofi Dakinah, a Walsall (L1) fullback from Denmark will also join our club next season. He is getting the same contract he has at Walsall, $52k per year, but he hasn't been playing for Walsall all year. He'll play for us for sure.

We also agree terms with Mauricio Serna, a magical Colombian defensive midfielder. We apply for a work permit, but aren't confident about his chances. He is aging, and would come to us on Feb. 1st if the permit goes through.

Due to necessity, we switch to a 4-1-3-1-1 for our next match. We do finally get a 4 day layoff before our FA Cup match next. But here's our lineup:

GK: Kruse
Def: Legg, Plummer, Ireland, Newton
DM: Thomson
Mid: Farrell, Boucaud, Newton
AM: Navarro (yeah, I know, but he's got the skill for it, and I don't want to just play 1 man in their half)
Str: Holmes

Bristol murdered us with possession and their skillful offense last time we faced, but it's always different at home.

Jan. 3, Match 25
5-9-10, 21st pl. (RZ=relegation zone), 24 pts.
v. Bristol City (12-6-6, 3rd pl., 42 pts.)
Previous meeting: City 2, Posh 1
Fav.: City, Evens

2'- Long range shot from Navarro curls over.

7'- Kennedy gets a free kick on target, but the City keeper tips it over. The ensuing corner sails through the box and back out for a goal kick.

30'- City get a chance as a wide open man at the top of the box dribbles up and beats Kruse to his right. 1-0, Bristol.

44'- Newton tries to lob the keeper far post, but it goes way out.

At the break, we up our attack a bit and try to equalize. Won't be easy with 1 striker though.

Neither side manage much of note, so with 10 minutes left, we switch to a 2-1-5-1-2 and make a bunch of people run forward to try and equalize. Willock and Sonner in for Newton and Boucaud.

We can't manage anything, but Bristol hit us on the counterattack to seal it up.

Navarro manages an 8 for us, but no one else looked good out there. Newton had the ball just flat stolen from him a couple of times, and Farrell was a non-factor on the left. Navarro looked lost in the first half, but picked it up late and finished strong despite not being able to help us score. Hopefully we can get everyone well enough for a good second half of the season push.

Loss, 0-2, remain in 21st
Shots/on target: Posh 6/3, BC 17/8
Poss: 50-50
A: 5,177

Next up, our 3rd round FA Cup match with Burnley of the English Championship.

[Butter]

We sign yet another player, this time a central midfielder, as 20 year old Bradford City reservist Tom Penford agrees to come to London Road, signing a 3 year deal worth $90k per year. We also shell out $10k to get him right away from the Bantams.

We're going back to the 4-2-1-2-1 now that everyone is reasonably rested, and here's our lineup v. Burnley:

GK: Kruse
Def.: St. Ledger, Yates, Plummer, Burton
DM: Navarro, Penford
Mid: Davis
AM: Jess, Shaw
Str: Willock
Subs: GK Tyler, D/DM Kennedy, MC Woodhouse, Str. Constantine and Holmes

Here we go!

Jan. 8, FA Cup 3rd round
v. Burnley (8th in English Championship)
Fav.: Clarets, 5:4

1'- Burnley with a corner kick, and it's placed right inside the 6, and headed home. 1-0, Clarets after 55 seconds.

18'- Shaw with a couple of long distance shots within a minute of each other, one is deflected out, the other is way high.

24'- Davis plays a through ball onto the diagonal run of Willock, who turns and shoots from the penalty arc, and scores! Willock with a nearly 20 yard strike puts us back on level terms!

27'- Another terrific pass to Willock, this time by Burton with a long ball down the middle. Willock is played onside by a defender clear across the pitch... he is chased down at the spot and has it tackled away... but the ball goes right to Eoin Jess who has an easy finish past the out of position keeper! 2 goals in 3 minutes to take the lead!

30'- Good cross to 9 yards for Burnley, but the powerful header is a couple of feet wide.

31'- Good series of possession, as Jess slips a ball to Willock for a shot from 10 yards, but the Claret keeper punches it away and it's cleared over the sideline.

44'- Penford with a powerful shot from 15 yards, but it zips past the far post.

1st half extra time- Good shot from 15 yards for Burnley, a powerful strike but Kruse gets across to tip it wide.

Our team is playing well, and we hope to carry that momentum over to the 2nd half. Willock, Kruse, and Davis are all rating 8's at the break, and Penford and Navarro are both playing well also. No lineup or tactical changes at the break.

45'- Willock is spotted running straight down the middle from the opening kickoff by Navarro, who finds him, but the keeper charges at him and he deflects the shot back out of the box.

53'- Burton with a good sliding challenge, and he gains possession in our half, then plays the ball deep down the right wing to an onrushing Paul Shaw... Shaw is all alone and has support coming... Shaw draws the keeper, then crosses to Eoin Jess who finishes an easy one! 3-1, Peterborough! What a game we're having!

64'- Wicked 25 yard shot from a Claret striker, but it goes a foot wide of the right post. Woodhouse in for Shaw, Kennedy for Jess as we switch to a 4-2-3-1, with 2 defensive midfielders and 3 midfielders... we slow the game down and try to hold our 2 goal lead. Jess gets a standing ovation from the London Road faithful!

84'- Burnley finally get some action, winning a corner on a good pass into the box that had to be hoofed behind. The ensuing corner had some dangerous passing in the box, but Penford finally clears it to midfield where Woodhouse gains possession and is tugged down.

87'- An open Claret striker at 15 yards is dispossessed by Plummer... the ball trickles away to a Claret midfielder who has a go from distance, but can't direct it. Holmes in for Willock who is exhausted.

We salt it away and pull off the upset!

Eoin Jess earns MoM for his brace, rating a 9. Kruse, Burton, and Willock all end up with 8's. All our other starters pick up 7's as this was the best game we've played all year. We made it look easy, frankly. How is this team in the relegation zone? I want to look through the stats forever, but alas, I know reality will set in soon enough.

Win, 3-1, advance to 4th round of FA Cup
Shots/on target: Posh 14/8, Clarets 10/2
Poss: 51-49, Posh
A: 12,136

A new attendance record for the season by far, and just about 1,000 short of capacity. We also pick up $90k for our victory, and even more for the extra gate receipts. Hopefully we can draw another home game in round 4.

Callum Willock strained his neck late in the match and will be out just 5 days.

Other notable FA Cup 3rd round results
(EPL) Newcastle 1:3 Cardiff (Champ.)
(EPL) Man City 1:1 Barnet (Nat'l Conf.=CON)
(CON) Leigh RMI 0:2 Liverpool (EPL)
(CON) Stevenage 1:2 Man Utd. (EPL)

Peterborough and Tranmere are the only remaining League 1 sides remaining in the competition. Tranmere beat league-mates Bournemouth 3-0. Sheffield Wed. can make that 3 if they win their replay vs. Wigan (Champ.).

[Butter]

Sadly, starting defender Chris Plummer hurts his neck in practice, and is ruled out for 2 weeks. Craig Ireland will likely start in his place.

That FA Cup win literally shrunk our budget deficit by half. We were over half a million in the red at the start of the year, and now we are down to $260k. Our wage budget has mushroomed to over $600k over budget, but that should shrink once Tyler and others get off the payroll.

The 4th round draw comes.... and we get another home game! This time, against even more challenging Crystal Palace, who are currently 12th in the Premiership. The match is in 2 weeks' time.

Hopefully some of that momentum will carry over into this match. This league match. Where we'll be playing in League 2 next year if we don't wake up. Legg, Yates, Ireland, and Jenkins start across the back line, and Woodhouse starts in the middle for a tired Davis. We are winless in our last 8 league fixtures, so we need some points!

Jan. 12, Match 26
5-9-11, 21st pl., 24 pts.
v. Chesterfield (10-6-9, 11th pl., 36 pts.)
Previous meeting: 0-0
Fav.: Posh, 5:4

19'- Shaw with a long distance shot that caroms off a leg to a charging Steve Basham, but the keeper is in excellent position to save Basham's strike.

42'- The Spireites line up a free kick from 20 yards, but it ends up in row Z.

Jess is dragging an injured leg around, so we take him off at halftime and run Constantine up front with Basham, going to 2 strikers now. We also deploy the long ball tactic as it's quite wet today.

Chesterfield control play early in the 2nd half, then:

70'- A 25 yard free kick for CFC bends around the wall and inside the right post. 1-0, Spireites. Holmes is on for a tired Basham, and we switch to an attacking 4-3-1-2.

76'- Constantine is onside and gets a long ball from Penford, but he can't finish.

82'- Sonner in for Jenkins, and we go to a 2-1-4-1-2, sending everyone forward.

We get a couple of decent crosses in during extra time, but can't string anything together, and we lose again.

Another frustrating loss.

Yates picks up our only 8 of the match.

Loss, 0-1, remain in 21st
Shots/on target: Posh 5/1, Spireites 11/4
Poss: 52-48, Spireites
A: 3,983

Eventually we have to snap out of this slump. The club is too talented to continue performing at this level.

English League Cup, Semifinal first leg
Charlton 0:2 Newcastle
Southampton 2:2 Man Utd.

[Butter]

We must win this match, or I'm jumping off a bridge.

New tactics. We try to hold the ball a bit, using shorter passing and a slower tempo to keep the 3 striker system by Vale out of our end. We do have marginally attacking tactics to keep them from serving cross after cross into the box as well:
GK: Kruse
Def: St. Ledger, Yates, Ireland, Burton
DM: Woodhouse, Penford
Mid: Davis
AM: Jess, Navarro (Navarro is our most skilled attacking midfielder other than Shaw and Jess, despite being listed as a DMC)
Str: Holmes

Willock is still out with a neck problem.

Jan. 15, Match 27
5-9-12, 21st pl., 24 pts.
@ Port Vale (5-8-13, 22nd pl., 23 pts.)
Pvs. meeting: 1-1
Fav: Posh, 6:4

We manage a couple of pushes forward early, but can't get any shots on target.

21'- Port Vale with a pinpoint cross, but the header is sent wide.

33'- A great series of passes at the top of the box, and we finally slip a ball into the area for Davis, who has time and room to the near post, and he uses it! 1-0, Posh!

35'- Navarro with a two-footed tackle on a Valiant midfielder... and he is sent off! A very rare red card for a first foul, and we're down to 10 for the remainder. Constantine comes on for Holmes, as he is unable to run off a slight injury.

We don't make any changes at the half.

Port Vale are unable to penetrate our defense early in the 2nd half.

63'- Woodhouse with a ball straight down the middle to Constantine, who advances on the keeper and shoots from 15 yards past the advancing keeper and inside the left post! 2-0, Posh!

69'- Jess out, Legg in, and Jenkins on for a slightly injured Burton as we back off and try to salt it away.

They manage a couple of decent shots off of corner kicks, but can't convert.

Steven Davis is MoM, rating a 9. He converted 36/38 passes and scored our first goal. Woodhouse also got a 9, completing 32/34 passes. Kruse picks up an 8, and everyone else rates a 7 as we finally win a league match.

Win, 0-2, remain in 21st
Shots/on target: Valiants 13/2, Posh 9/6
Poss: 57-43, Valiants
A: 4,296

We get a week off now, then have our 4th round FA Cup match with Crystal Palace!

[Butter]

Sadly, Woodhouse suffers a sprained wrist on Monday, and it will keep him out of our FA Cup match with Palace.

Steven Davis and Curtis Woodhouse both get tapped for the League One Team of the Week for their performance against Port Vale on Saturday.

And how about this from the 3rd Round of the FA Cup:
Barnet (Conf.) earned a replay with Manchester City (EPL) a week and a half ago. Barnet took a 2-0 lead in the replay at home shortly after halftime, and held it until the 71st minute when Paul Bosvelt scored from distance. Then, in the 88th minute, Antoine Sibierski, a rare player in the starting lineup judging from his stats, found the net to notch it at 2. The match went through extra time scoreless, and ended the first 5 PK's knotted at 3 when Shaun Wright-Phillips missed the clincher. Then, on the 8th PK, Paul Bosvelt had his must-have shot saved, and the Barnet Bees advance to the 4th round! What a shocker!

Barnet gets to travel to Champ. side Gillingham for their trouble.

We are the only League 1 team to host in this round. Tranmere get to visit Old Trafford and face the Red Devils, while Blackpool get a trip to Norwich to face the Canaries. The only side lower than us still in the tourney is Barnet.

Woodhouse is out, and Navarro is suspended for this match against the Eagles. Palace play a 3-4-3 which should help us on the attack... if we can manage any. Our lineup for this match:
GK: Kruse
Def.: Kennedy, St. Ledger, Yates, Burton
DM: Thomson, Penford
Mid: Davis
AM: Jess, Shaw
Str: Willock
Subs: GK Tyler, Str. Holmes and Basham, D/DM Legg, M Sonner

Jan. 22, FA Cup 4th Round
v. Crystal Palace (12th in Premiership)
Fav: Eagles, 4:7

4'- A long series of possession for Palace with a couple of cleared crosses ends in a cleared corner by Sagi Burton to Callum Willock, who can't control the pass.

We have trouble keeping the ball out of our end for the rest of the half, and face unrelenting pressure from Palace but manage to keep the game scoreless at the half. We get 3 yellow cards for dissent in the first half, which is quite unusual, but we must feel we're being screwed in some way. We don't make any changes yet, but St. Ledger and Kennedy are both picking up 5's in the first half, and I'm ready to sub if they don't improve.

55'- Jess, Willock, and Shaw are approaching the sub-60 zone for stamina, but there's not much I can do there. I switch Legg in for Jess, and Basham in for Willock.

68'- Sonner in for St. Ledger, who dropped to a 4 at one point. Thomson moves to his unnatural centerback position, and Sonner will play in defensive midfield.

78'- Palace striker Nicola Ventola is onside and free, but Kruse with a good angle forces a shot into the side netting.

83'- Ventola with an easy header from 5 yards, but Kruse is able to hold it somehow! Terrific save.

85'- Jess with a free kick from 45 yards, and he tries a shot on goal... it comes back off the post right to Steven Davis, who finishes!!!! Steven Davis with the rebound goal, and we take a lead in the final minutes!! Can we hold it? We switch everyone back to try and keep the ball out of net in the final 5+ minutes.

89'- Somehow Ventola is in space in the middle of the defense... he turns and shoots at Kruse, who tips it over for a corner! The 4th official shows 3 minutes of stoppage time. The Palace keeper pushes forward in attack. Kruse with another superb punch on the corner, and the return cross bounces off Jess for another corner. That corner is cleared by Penford to Basham, who has an open net to shoot at, but can't get turned around. He fouls the Palace defenseman. The free kick again finds Ventola on the left in the box with room, but Penford throws himself in front of the shot and concedes another corner. Sonner with the clearance on this one, and Yates is fouled trying to track down the loose ball. We are able to stall for another 2 minutes and beat Crystal Palace!!!

What a game Lukas Kruse had, winning man of the match, and making several important saves in the first half to keep Palace off the board, then preserving our lead late. He rates a 9, and Eoin Jess picks up an 8 thanks to that assist on the long range free kick.

We beat a Premiership side and all but assure ourselves of wiping out our debt for this year! Not to mention getting to move on to round 5. What a game and effort by the whole club!

Win, 1-0, move on to round 5
Shots/on target: Posh 6/3, Eagles 21/7
Poss: 55-45, Posh
A: 14,970

Andre Boucaud suffered a dislocated shoulder in the runup to this match, and will be out for 2 months.

Navarro gets a bit unlucky as our appeal of his red card is denied, and he is suspended for 2 more matches. Steven Davis will also miss our next match, as he picked up his 5th yellow card during the FA Cup match.

We pick up $130k for our victory over Crystal Palace, and another shot at a Premiership side most likely. Wolves, West Ham, Nott'm Forest, and Gillingham are the only other non-EPL teams remaining in the contest, as there are few 4th round upsets.

A quick check of our finances find our club $112k in the black for the first time since the beginning of the year!

[Butter]

St. Ledger tears a groin muscle in training, and will miss a month, as we're taking the injury hits now. Maybe the game really doesn't want us to advance in the FA Cup any more.

Penford fractures his cheekbone during the same session, and he'll miss 3 weeks. Tough run of injuries and suspensions we're having here.

The final 16 teams enter the draw for round 5 of the FA Cup, and we actually draw a winnable game. We'll travel to Upton Park in London to face Championship side West Ham United on February 19th.

The afternoon before our next match, another defender, Sagi Burton, twists his knee in training and will miss a week.

So, we have 7 players injured or suspended for this next match, not to mention the 5 that are so tired they shouldn't be playing at all, so we have quite the patchwork lineup for this next match.

Our lineup in the familiar 4-2-1-2-1:
GK: Kruse
Def.: Legg, Jenkins, Ireland, Newton
DM: Thomson, Kennedy
Mid: Sonner
AM: Farrell, Basham
Str: Holmes
Subs: GK Tyler, Str. Willock & Constantine, D Yates, AM Jess (Jess won't see the field, he's too tired)

Jan. 25, Match 28
6-9-12, 21st pl., 27 pts.
v. Barnsley (8-7-13, 17th pl., 31 pts.)
Pvs. meeting: Reds 1, Posh 2
Fav.: Barnsley, 6:4

1'- Kennedy comes out and pretty much gets slightly injured straight off the kickoff. Super. He stays in. Run it off, you underperforming pussy.

6'- Barnsley with a good chance, a right footed strike from 8 yards hits Kruse in the gut. Sonner gets called for a foul and Kennedy argues his way into a yellow card. I need to list this moron.

Just a poor quality half all around as neither team could do much. Barnsley were definitely the better team, but not by much. We just don't have the depth to cope with these continual 2 and 3 day turnarounds. No changes at half, though Kennedy is hauling another 6 around the pitch, and Sonner has a 5. Kennedy gets a disciplining if he can't lift that 6.

48'- A glorious chance as Barnsley get a striker one on one with Kruse, but he pushes his shot outside the left post.

59'- We're generating nothing, so we bring Yates on for Kennedy and Constantine on for Sonner. We go to a 4-1-2-3 with 3 strikers and send long balls at them to try and score.

We pick up 2 more chances, a free kick that is too high, and Constantine shoots from 20 yards, but about 2 yards wide of the left post. Barnsley don't manage much of anything in the 2nd half. What a yawner.

No one rates above a 7 for us, but I plan on giving Kennedy a talking-to.

Draw, 0-0, remain in 21st
Shots/on target: Posh 5/1, Reds 9/1
Poss: 54-46, Reds
A: 5,454

[Butter]

English League Cup, Semifinals - Leg 2
Man Utd. 2:1 Southampton
Man U. advance on 4-3 aggregate
Newcastle 1:1 Charlton
Newcastle advance on 3-1 aggregate

I decide to go ahead and try to offer Mark Tyler and Curtis Woodhouse to other clubs. They're making FAR too much money, and Tyler has an unprotected contract. If I can manage to get some money for him, that'd just be a bonus. Woodhouse has played well this year, so it's best to cash in on him if possible. He is making $200k a year, and is really my 6th best midfielder. Way too much cash to be leaking there.

I decide to release a comment about Peter Kennedy and talk about how poorly he's been playing to see if I can jump start the guy.

Our lineup gets back to normal a bit here, but we still have several defensive injuries:
GK: Kruse
Def: Kennedy, Ireland, Yates, Jenkins
DM: Legg, Woodhouse
Mid: Davis
AM: Jess, Shaw
Str: Willock
Subs: GK Tyler, Str. Basham and Holmes, D/AM Newton, MC Sonner

Jan. 29, Match 29
6-10-12, 21st. pl., 28 pts.
@ Colchester (10-6-13, 14th pl., 36 pts.)
Pvs. meeting: Posh 1:0 Colchester
Fav.: Posh, 5:4

34'- Shaw slips a ball to Willock at the top of the box, and he has a good shot at goal, but it is deflected wide and cleared.

37'- A powerful free kick from 25 yards goes just over the bar.

Colchester control the ball, but we are able to keep them out of the box, as none of their 3 shots hit the target. We get twice as many shots, with 3 on target, but can't finish. No changes for the 2nd half, as we're playing well on the road right now.

60'- Jess with a shot from 30 yards that never really had a chance.

71'- The U's with a chance, and they find room on the right and score. A strike just inside the post. Guess who left their man to make that one happen? Yup, it's Kennedy.

Basham and Holmes in for Legg and Jess as we switch to a 4-3-3.

75'- Davis on the end of a nice series of possession, and his direct shot is tipped over. The Kennedy corner finds Basham's head, but it goes over the bar.

78'- Kennedy swings in another free kick, which Shaw attempts to volley, and does, but it's tipped out for another corner.

81'- Woodhouse is in behind the defense as Yates makes an interception and good long ball. Woodhouse doesn't really know how to finish, and shoots this one right into the keeper.

87'- Another good steal by Yates, and he passes up to Woodhouse, who sends a long one to Holmes. Holmes gets in behind the defense and comes in from the left. He shoots low to the far post, and it ricochets in! We're all square again as Holmes gets the dramatic equalizer! Newton in for an exhausted Woodhouse.

90'- Holmes with a steal near midfield, and he sends Willock through! Willock is seemingly 1-v-1, but a great tackle from behind keeps him out. Then Davis gathers the ball and finds Basham down the left. Basham in the middle for Shaw, who sends Willock through again, but a great save denies Callum! The keeper is able to fall on the rebound.

Our final chance ends when the free kick is hit a bit too far for Willock to reach and is clutched by the U's keeper.

Wow, did we force some chances there at the end! Terrific finish to get the point from this one, it looked like we might nip all 3 there for a few minutes.

Jenkins picks up a 9 in defense, and Woodhouse an 8. Kruse with our only mediocre 6 in net. Kennedy did carry an 8 for most of the game, so he performed a lot better once we went to an attacking formation.

Draw, 1-1, remain in 21st
Shots/on target: U's 7/2, Posh 15/9
Poss: 53-47, U's
A: 5,090

And then this after the game:
POSH FANS LAMBAST GUTLESS KENNEDY

Peterborough fans are firmly behind Butter's decision to reprimand Peter Kennedy for his lethargic performances of late.

A spokesperson for the supporters' club told the Peterborough Evening Telegraph that, given the amount of money Kennedy takes home each week, he had no excuse for turning in such lackluster displays.

[Butter]

Just as the transfer window is snapping shut for the big clubs, we are able to get $140k from Tranmere for Mark Tyler. Tyler leaves us having performed well this season, but with his contract up at season's end, he had no future with us. Tyler conceded 37 goals in 28 league and cup apps. for us this year, and kept 5 clean sheets.

TYLER SAD TO LEAVE PETERBOROUGH

New Tranmere signing Mark Tyler has spoken of his sadness at leaving London Road.

The former Posh goalkeeper revealed to journalists that although he was looking forward to establishing himself at Tranmere, he hoped it would not be the last time he was seen in a Peterborough shirt.

We also are able to bid adieu to Curtis Woodhouse. Woodhouse played very well this year, but again, he is not in our plans. We pick up $100k from Nott'm Forest of the Championship for his services.

Our budget surplus now reaches $300k, and our salary overage is cut to around $250k with the moves. The club has also increased our transfer budget by quite a bit, which should help us in the offseason. It's a bit late now, though.

GK Zlatan Azinovic joins our club. He is a 17 year old who was released on a free transfer by Swedish side Kalmar FF. Azinovic is Swedish and nearly as talented as our current backup keeper, Jamie Pullen. Azinovic also joins us for just $8k per season for 3 years. If this works out, it could mean we have another good keeper on our hands. For the time being, he'll be our main backup but I can't see him playing unless forced to.

As January draws to a close, the board continue to be "pleased" with my performance. We finish the month 3-3-2, including 2 FA Cup Wins, but just 6 league points as we continue to skitter below the relegation border.

Derek Holmes picks up the #3 Goal of the Month in the league for his equalizer against Colchester in our last match.

We get back to nearly normal, but Penford, St. Ledger, and Burton are still out for this next match.

Our lineup for this one:
GK: Kruse
Def: Ireland, Plummer, Yates, Jenkins
DM: Kennedy, Navarro
Mid: Davis
AM: Jess, Shaw
Str: Holmes
Subs: GK Azinovic, Str. Basham and Holmes, D/DM Legg, DM Thomson

Feb. 2, Match 30
6-11-12, 21st pl., 29 pts.
@ Walsall, (10-8-11, 13th pl., 38 pts.)
Pvs. meeting: Posh 0:1 Saddlers
Fav.: Saddlers, 5:4

12'- A good tip over by Kruse on a crossed header for Walsall.

21'- Holmes gets the goal kick near midfield and nods it down to Jess, then turns and times his run perfectly and beats the offside trap. Jess finds him ahead of the pack, he shoots it low to the keeper's left and it's in! Derek Holmes with the early goal for a 1-0 Posh lead.

31'- Walsall with a cross from 35 yards out, and it strikes a player in a mass of about 7 and rolls in past the frozen Lukas Kruse. 1-1.

40'- Jess steals a pass and is all alone... he draws the keeper out to the left, then plays a cross to the right for Paul Shaw, who has a wide open net and makes no mistake! 2-1, Peterborough!

Legg in for Navarro at the half, who had a 4 for several minutes of the first half. We also bring in Thomson for a tiring Shaw, and play 3 men in defensive midfield to try and thwart any and all Saddler chances in the 2nd half.

60'- A short corner for Walsall, and they cross it into the 6. There are 7-- SEVEN-- Peterborough defenders inside the 6. Yet a Walsall striker manages to get above everyone and head it in for an equalizer. 2-2. We switch Kennedy to midfield to try and get back on top.

84'- Walsall with a corner that lands near the spot... and Jess is judged to have come in with a high boot and it's a penalty. The PK is taken, but it's right at Kruse and we dodge the bullet.

No more good chances, and we escape with a point.

Plummer and Jess with 8's, and Kruse picks up MoM with his 9. Everyone else picked up 7's.

Draw, 1-1, remain in 21st
Shots/on target: Saddlers 11/6, Posh 6/2
Poss: 54-46, Saddlers
A: 6,361

We just cannot manage a league win. We cannot keep the ball out of our area when it counts, and it's very frustrating.

We are about 2/3 through the season now, and we really need some wins to string together to climb out of the bottom.

Andy Legg picked up his 5th yellow card of the season in this match, and he'll be suspended for our next fixture.

[Butter]

Steven Davis breaks a bone in his shoulder during training, and he'll miss a month.

With that, we make more loan offers for strikers and midfielders, as we need a bit more quality in our central midfield that can play in attack or in the center. Also, our strike force has been disappointing all year, and I would love a big name to run out there.

Bournemouth just embarrassed us in the last meeting, so we'll hopefully look a bit better in this one. We're playing a more defensive style than we were then, so hopefully that should help, along with being at home. I'd pay cash money to get out of the RZ!

Our lineup today:
GK: Kruse
Def: Ireland, Yates, Plummer, Jenkins
DM: Kennedy, Thomson
Mid: Navarro
AM: Jess, Shaw
Str: Holmes (a former Bournemouth player)

Feb. 5, Match 31
6-12-12, 21st pl., 30 pts.
v. AFC Bournemouth (13-7-9, 7th pl., 46 pts.)
Pvs. meeting: Cherries 4:0 Posh
Fav.: Posh, 6:4

2'- Holmes with a wonderful chance, as he gets the ball past the keeper, but great defensive help as 3 Cherry defenders appear to clear the line.

7'- Shaw with the ball at close range, but his indecisiveness costs him as the keeper comes out and deflects the ball wide.

14'- Holmes in the box screams one toward the upper corner, but it narrowly misses.

17'- Shaw with a sizzling bender that skims the top of the bar from 30 yards.

Bournemouth with a couple of mediocre chances to end the half, but nothing goes in. It's 0-0 at the interval, and we make no changes.

50'- Jess is dog tired, so he comes out for Adam Newton. Kennedy moves to midfield, and Navarro moves to the attack.

73'- Navarro is tired now, so we bring on Basham for him, and Willock in for Holmes.

81'- Bournemouth's only action of the half, a poor clearance by Plummer winds up with a striker, who crosses to the far post where the Cherries finish... but he was offside, thank goodness. We remain 0-0.

And that's how we finish. At least we don't lose 4-0, so that's progress I suppose. We just can't get anything going up front, and when we can, it's off target. Kruse picks up our only 8 rating in goal.

Draw, 0-0, up to 20th - out of relegation zone!
Shots/on target: Posh 9/5, Cherries 7/4
Poss: 52-48, Cherries
A: 5,662

Thankfully, we manage to drag ourselves out of the relegation zone thanks to a Torquay loss. We pass them on goal difference (ours is a sad -16, theirs an even worse -22).

My physio mentions that Steve Yates needs a rest. Well, we should be getting Burton back before next week's match, so we should be able to oblige.

[Butter]

Unfortunately, I forgot to save the game after the Bournemouth match. Fortunately, during the replay, we won! 2-0, goals by Yates in the first half off a Jess corner, and Willock in the 2nd as a sub for Holmes won it. With the win, we move all the way into 18th place.

We sign a left/central defender from Rotherham's (Champ.) reserve club who is going to be out of contract at the end of the year. He is just 18 years old, but has a good bit of talent and can probably play for us right now. He is Luke Pritchard, and we get him under contract for just $36k per year for the next 3+ seasons. We pay just $6k to get him now, and he may well play for us right off.

We get several loan rejections, but then an acceptance from John Spicer, a 21 year old midfielder with Arsenal. Spicer is an above average, but not great, midfielder who'll give us some depth for just $6k for the next 3 months, which should take us about to the end of the season.

Next up we visit Blackpool, a team who lucked into a victory against us back in October. Sagi Burton rejoins the starting lineup today after his lengthy injury absence. Luke Pritchard will make his debut on the left side of defense. Our squad:
GK: Kruse
Def: Pritchard, Plummer, Burton, Jenkins
DM: Kennedy, Legg
Mid: Navarro
AM: Jess, Shaw
Str: Basham

Feb. 12, Match 32
7-12-12, 18th pl., 33 pts.
@ Blackpool (13-6-12, 9th pl., 45 pts.)
Pvs. meeting: Posh 0:1 Seasiders
Fav.: Seasiders, 6:4

15'- Blackpool with a good cross to the left of the box, and the striker with a perfectly placed shot past Kruse inside the far post. 1-0, Seasiders.

30'- Our first close shot of the game, Basham with a 20 yarder at the left post, and it misses by a foot.

We each have 7 shots at the break. We switch to a 4-3-3 at the interval, subbing in Willock and Holmes for Shaw and Jess. Kennedy and Legg move up to midfield.

48'- Willock is onside with support, and instead of crossing it or shooting or something smart, he dribbles it right over the end line. :rolleyes:

68'- Plummer with a good headed clearance to the wing where Holmes picks it up and runs 50 yards into the Blackpool end. Holmes gives it to Kennedy, who lays it off for Navarro with space. Navarro advances and has a go from 25 yards... and it's in! Alan Navarro opens his Posh account with a 25 yard screamer to the top corner! 1-1!

Blackpool goes on to absolutely assault us from all sides for the final 20 minutes + 5 minutes of injury time, but our defense holds up and we get the point.

Lukas Kruse with a well deserved MoM, picking up a 9 in goal. Legg picks up an 8, and it's 7's all around elsewhere, including our new youngster Luke Pritchard.

Draw, 1-1, down to 19th
Shots/on target: Seasiders 23/9, Posh 9/2
Poss: 57-43, Seasiders
A: 7,893

[Butter]

We shuffle the lineup a bit with a 2 day turnaround vs. Hartlepool. Plus, in another 3 days, we have our 5th round FA Cup tie @ West Ham to worry about.

Lineup for Round 33:
GK: Kruse
Def: Ireland, Yates, Plummer, Jenkins
DM: Kennedy, Thomson
Mid: Spicer
AM: Navarro, Basham
Str: Holmes

We save Shaw and Jess for our FA Cup match and hope to get them all the way back to 100% for it.

Feb. 15, Match 33
7-13-12, 19th pl., 34 pts.
@ Hartlepool (9-16-7, 11th pl., 43 pts.)
Pvs. meeting: Pools 1:0 Posh
Fav.: Posh, 5:4

2'- Holmes with a good chance from the spot, but his shot is deflected wide.

9'- Hartlepool with a wide cross from the left that hits the crossbar and deflects right to a waiting Pools striker, who scores. 1-0, Hartlepool.

21'- Basham holds the ball a bit too long on a 10 yard attempt and has his shot deflected out.

Not much else happens, Pools are keeping EVERYONE back to try and preserve their one goal advantage. We switch to a 4-3-1-2, and bring in Shaw for Jenkins, who is not playing well. Kennedy moves to the backline, while Shaw goes to AM and Navarro will be in midfield.

51'- Thomson has a go from the top right corner of the box, and he wasn't far off.

62'- A terrific series of passes ends with Basham crossing one strongly in from the right, to an unmarked Derek Holmes at the back post, who finishes with a nice volley! We are level again, 1-1!

69'- Willock in for a tiring Holmes as we stick with the 4-3-1-2 to try and pick up the game winner.

80'- Shaw gets kicked by an angry Pools midfielder, but he only gets a yellow for it.

87'- Jess on for Navarro as we try our best to push forward and take all 3 points.

The rest of the game zips uneventfully by, and we have yet another draw. Our 14th in 33 matches. If we had 14 wins and 7 draws instead of 7 wins and 14 draws, we'd be near the playoff zone. As it is, we're still barely above the drop zone.

No one nets above a 7, and Kruse finally has a mediocre game with just a 6 after earning 8's or above in the last 3 starts.

Draw, 1-1, drop to 20th
Shots/on target: Posh 8/5, Pools 5/2
Poss: 56-44, Pools
A: 5,709

Callum Willock twisted his knee late in this one, so he'll miss about a week.

[Butter]

Here we go! We go with a very defensive 5-2-2-1 in this one, trying to get a scoreless draw to take a replay to London Road. Navarro is out with an injured shoulder for this match, and Davis is still out. What I wouldn't give to have them both for this one. I imagine we're going to be hammered, but we'll see.

GK: Kruse
Def: Kennedy, Pritchard, Plummer, Yates, Burton
DM: Spicer, Penford
Mid: Shaw, Jess
Str: Holmes

Feb. 18, FA Cup 5th Round
@ West Ham United (6th in Championship)
Fav.: Hammers, 4:7

At any given moment of West Ham attack, we have 7-8 defenders in the box. Hard to score through a wall of blue shirts. We take it to the break scoreless, and just hope to ride it out to the end that way. Their best chance was a bending ball from 25 yards that struck the outside of the post, otherwise it's just been long range shots sailing over the bar. Hold 'em for 45 more, gents!

51'- Holmes brings it into the box, but is dispossessed... looked like a trip to me, but no call.

56'- Teddy Sheringham with a powerful header for West Ham, and Kruse with a great save to hold it!

62'- Holmes with a great try from 12 yards at an angle, and he just misses the top corner!

73'- Constantine in for Holmes, Ireland in for a tiring Pritchard.

86'- Jess with a free kick from 40 yards, he finds Constantine at the corner of the box, who is able to advance. He brings it at the keeper, then lays it back for Shaw who has a go!! But a great save keeps it out!

88'- Shaw again from 20 yards, but he can't sneak it inside the post.

And we are able to weather the Hammer storm! 90 minutes of scoreless action, and I couldn't be more satisfied with the result! West Ham were constantly at our throats in the final 45, but we are able to keep it out of the net and force the replay!

Lukas Kruse wins a well deserved MoM with a 10 rating. Paul Shaw also picked up an 8, as he tried desperately to get the game winner in the final 5 minutes for us.

Draw, 0-0, replay
Shots/on target: Hammers 29/10, Posh 7/4
Poss: 64-36, West Ham
A: 29,941

Other FA Cup 5th Round results
Birmingham 2:1 Everton
Fulham 1:4 Liverpool
Man Utd. 4:1 Gillingham
Portsmouth 2:2 Nott'm Forest
Southampton 0:1 Aston Villa

Later FA Cup action:
Chelsea v. Wolverhampton
Middlesbrough v. Norwich

Steve Yates needs a rest, says the physio yet again. The replay will occur on Sat. March 2nd.

[Butter]

Our lineup:
GK: Kruse
Def: Pritchard, Ireland, Plummer, Burton
DM: Kennedy, Penford
Mid: Spicer
AM: Basham, Jess
Str: Holmes

Shaw is out with a slightly injured shoulder, and Willock and Navarro are still recuperating as well, but are available for 45 minutes each if necessary.

Feb. 23, Match 34
7-14-12, 21st pl., 35 pts.
@ Luton (7-11-16, 22nd pl., 32 pts.)
Pvs. meeting: Posh 2:1 Hatters
Fav.: Luton, 6:4

Luton controls play throughout the 1st half, but we go to the break scoreless.

46'- Kruse is judged to have pushed a Luton striker in the back during a corner kick, and a PK is awarded. He takes it, but it's right at Kruse, and we dodge a bullet!

55'- Constantine in for a struggling Derek Holmes.

62'- Constantine is onside, and he takes a shot from a tough angle and scores it! 1-0 Posh on a good ball from Jess to Constantine!

76'- Another long pass to Constantine, who beats his defender, then slides the ball around the keeper and has a tap-in! 2-0, Posh!

81'- Lukas Kruse is injured during a corner kick and has to come out for Azinovic.

85'- A good strike from 8 yards slips past Azinovic inside the post, and Luton are within a goal.

But, we are able to keep it there, and win 2-1! Eoin Jess is MoM, with a 9 rating. Several other players pick up 8's, as we make a nice effort here at Luton to climb out of the drop zone.

Now our concern is on Kruse's injury.

Win, 1-2, up to 20th
Shots/on target: Luton 13/4, Posh 13/7
Poss: 50-50
A: 5,629

Champions League First Knockout Round, Leg 1
Ajax 0:0 Barcelona
Fenerbahce 0:0 PSV
Inter 2:0 M. Haifa
Juventus 2:0 Bayern Munich
Lyon 3:2 Arsenal
Man Utd. 4:0 Paris
Real Madrid 1:1 AC Milan
Roma 1:1 Benfica

Lukas Kruse should be out just a week with a strained wrist. Phew!

[Butter]

So, Azinovic will be in goal for this next match, against one of the league leaders. Since it's at home, hopefully we can provide enough defensive support to keep the pressure off of him. We'll see how the youngster performs.

Another short turnaround day, here's our lineup:
GK: Azinovic
Def: Legg, Plummer, Ireland, Jenkins
DM: Thomson, Penford
Mid: Spicer
AM: Basham, Navarro
Str: Holmes

Feb. 26, Match 35
8-14-12, 20th pl., 38 pts.
v. Doncaster (17-10-8, 3rd pl., 61 pts.)
Pvs. meeting: Rovers 1:0 Posh
Fav.: Posh, 5:4

11'- Azinovic watches a 6 yard volley hit the crossbar, and Plummer clears it away.

25'- Another close in volley goes well over the bar, much to Zlatan's delight.

33'- Navarro is free from 10 yards, and shoots on the bounce, but he's not close.

42'- A header from 8 yards is again over the bar, and Azinovic hasn't really had to do much work early on.

We go to the break scoreless. Navarro, Holmes, and Spicer are just dying out there with their fatigue. I bring on 2 subs, and move Spicer to DM. Kennedy in for Navarro, Willock in for Holmes. Spicer and Kennedy are now in def. midfield, and Thomson is in midfield, with Penford moving to attack.

48'- Finally, a mistake, as Azinovic watches a free kick drop about 6 yards in front of him, but he doesn't move, instead choosing to allow a Rovers striker to shoot at an angle. It's in, 1-0 Doncaster.

54'- Penford with a superb cross right to the foot of Callum Willock, who absolutely blows it from 9 yards. Our equalizer down the tubes.

57'- Willock with a pass from Basham, but his shot is right at the keeper.

62'- Penford with another good cross to Plummer, who decides NOT to shoot from 10 yards with no one near him, but instead passes it to Spicer who shoots from 18 yards, but misses the post.

65'- Finally some luck for us, as Kennedy shoots a free kick from 25 yards that deflects off the wall and in! 1-1!

Constantine comes on for a tiring Basham. Spicer has also about had it, but he'll just have to suck it up.

78'- A LOOOONG cross by Rovers into the box, and a terrific header just misses the target.

84'- A good chance from 15 yards for Rovers, but an angled shot whizzes past the far post.

We manage the draw! Good effort to equalize there, and we were able to keep Doncaster from putting too much pressure on Azinovic, who rated a mediocre 6. In fact, their only on target shot found the net today. Plummer, Ireland, Spicer, and Willock all pick up 8's today. Penford is the only other player not to get a 7, he rates a 6.

Draw, 1-1, up to 19th place
Shots/on target: Posh 10/3, Rovers 12/1
Poss: 55-45, Rovers
A: 5,624

We are able to put a bit of distance between us and the relegation zone, as we pass Torquay on goal differential, and are now 3 points clear of the drop.

Ireland and Kennedy both hit 5 yellow cards in this match, and will miss our FA Cup replay in 5 days.

[Butter]

Hull lost last week, their first defeat in 22 league matches! They continue to lead the way along with Sheffield Wednesday. SW has 74 points, and Hull has 71 points. Doncaster, Swindon, Oldham, and Bristol City are the next 4, on 62, 61, 61, and 57 points respectively. Blackpool, Brentford, and Chesterfield are all within 4 points of the playoffs, while it's another 6 points back to 10th place Tranmere, who're on 47 points.

English League Cup (Carling Cup) Final
Newcastle United 2:1 Manchester United
-Stephen Carr scored in the 9th minute, then Alan Shearer provided the margin of victory in the first minute of the second half to propel the Magpies to the Carling Cup title at Millenium Stadium in Cardiff. Paul Scholes notched one in the 60th for the Red Devils, but it was Man U's only on target shot of the day.

Sagi Burton, Eoin Jess, and Callum Willock all are picked for the League One Team of the Week.

John Spicer has won the English League One Young Player of the Month award. The 21 year old midfielder has really demonstrated to everyone what a capable player he is over the past few weeks.

Spicer has only played in 4 matches for us, 3 in league, but he has an average rating of 7.67 in the 3 league matches. This is our first monthly player performance award, aside from the "Goal of the Month" award. Too bad Spicer will be on his way back to the Gunners in May.

At the start of March, the board continues to be merely pleased with my performance. However, the supporters are very pleased with my performance for the first time, and have given me their full support. We haven't lost since January 12th, and are unbeaten in 11 matches, including 2 FA Cup ties with bigger clubs. Our February record was 2-5-0.

So, the time has arrived to attempt to move on yet again in the FA Cup. Kruse is still not quite ready for action in goal. Here is our lineup:
GK: Azinovic
Def: Pritchard, Plummer, Yates, Burton
DM: Navarro, Penford
Mid: Spicer
AM: Jess, Shaw
Str: Holmes

Including this game, we have 4 games in the next 10 days. But, assuming a loss in the Cup here, we'll have at least a week off for every match after that, which should help us A LOT.

March 2, FA Cup 5th Round Replay
v. West Ham United
Fav.: Hammers, 4:7

8'- First action of the game, Shaw tries to send a cross into the box, but it's deflected for a corner. Jess's corner is stolen.

12'- Spicer with a steal in midfield, and he gets it to Jess. Jess sends Holmes through onside! Holmes shoots and has it deflected, but Shaw is there for the rebound... but the keeper is there again with great reflexes to just tip it out and force a corner! A bit too much on the corner, as it sails to the opposite flag, and we're unable to pressure any more.

19'- Jess with a free kick from the left. He finds Holmes, but it's headed away back to Jess. Jess rolls one to Shaw down the left, who tries a cross. The cross is headed back to Shaw, who leaves it to Navarro at the top left corner of the box. Navarro tries a bending shot.... and it's IN!!!! Alan Navarro with a bender inside the far post, and WE LEAD IT 1-0!!!!!

24'- West Ham's first chance of the day is a header that grazes the top of the bar.

43'- Holmes tries his luck from the arc after a nice pass from Jess, and it hits the woodwork! Almost 2-0! Teddy Sheringham with a shot on the counterattack for West Ham, but it's not close.

We go to the break to a standing ovation from the near sell-out crowd. No changes at the break, as we buckle down for some real West Ham pressure!

47'- Sheringham with a long header from a terrific cross, but he can't keep it down.

53'- Spicer with a steal in midfield, and he spots Holmes making a run and finds him! Holmes is loose, but has the ball tackled from behind. Shaw is there to pick it up and advances into the area past one player, but is dispossessed.... but it was an illegal tackle and the referee points at the spot!! A penalty!! Eoin Jess to take it and send our fans into ecstasy... he runs up... and strikes it with force past the statuesque keeper! The Posh lead it 2-0! What a game!

We move to ultra-defensive tactics, and extremely slow tempo to try and keep West Ham off the board.

56'- A good cross to the spot, and Sheringham slots it in past Azinovic. 2-1, now.

62'- A dangerous cross into a crowd, but it's headed over.

74'- A pass to the arc, then a short chip onto a head, and West Ham have leveled. Azinovic just isn't ready for this. 2-2.

83'- Callum Willock on for a tired Derek Holmes.

90'- Legg on for a tired Spicer. Penford moves up to midfield.

And we go to extra time. What a match this is! Steve Basham comes on for Shaw as we use our final sub.

Off the kickoff, West Ham with a cross right along the goal line that Pritchard clears to safety.

99'- Willock is free in the middle from Jess's pass, but he can't get his shot past the keeper's gloves.

101'- A bad giveaway by Pritchard leads to a wide open striker in the box shooting it off the crossbar! But he was offside anyway.

And we go to another 15 minutes still tied at 2.

The final 15 goes by with no one able to make a break for it, and we go to PK's!

First for West Ham is striker Marlon Harewood.... SAVED! It goes right at Azinovic, who just flicks it away!

First for us is Eoin Jess.... It's in!

Next for West Ham, defender Malky Mackay.... Held by Azinovic! He guessed right, and saves it!

Next for us is Alan Navarro.... YES! The keeper guesses wrong, and we're up 2!

Third for the Hammers is defender Hayden Mullins.... good. He almost missed the goal completely, but it goes in off the right post.

Third for Posh is Steve Basham.... he hits the crossbar! Yikes, it's 2-1 after 3 rounds.

Fourth for West Ham is attacking midfielder Chris White.... SAVED!!!! He hit it straight down the center, and Azinovic didn't move!

38 year old coach/defender Andy Legg can win it for us. He has been solid all year, but can he win us another cup match?

.....

He left foots it....

and it hits the post....



AND GOES IN!!!!!!!!!!



The players mob Andy Legg, and the fans go absolutely berserk as we are through to round 6!

Eoin Jess and Alan Navarro both pick up 8's for their goal scoring efforts.

Win, 2-2 (3-1 on PK's), on to round 6
Shots/on target: Posh 10/7, Hammers 13/2
Poss: 53-47, Hammers
A: 15,287

London Road was just 27 short of capacity for this match.

We net $260,000 for our victory! Sadly, our next match will be vs. Manchester United, but we do get them to London Road in 10 days' time!

Again, Steve Yates needs a rest. He can have all the time he needs after this one!

[Butter]

With the gate receipts and prize money, we are now $1.1 million in the black!

'We are confident', states Claridge.

-In the build-up to their relegation clash on Saturday, Steve Claridge has told Peterborough manager Butter that morale in the MK Dons dressing room is extremely high and that his side fear no-one.

The MK Dons boss also warned Butter not to bother attempting any mind-games in the build-up to the match as it would not have any effect on his team..

I respond with:

Claridge defended by Peterborough boss

- After hearing Steve Claridge's comments that confidence in the MK Dons camp is extremely high, Butter reacted in complimentary fashion.

Speaking on a radio phone-in, talented manager Butter has said that whilst there will be those who think Steve Claridge to be a useless football manager, he was personally of the opinion that the Milton Keynes Dons boss was a competent tactician.

Sadly, I don't have much to back up this claim, as my entire team is dead tired after that extra time match. Here is our cobbled together lineup:
GK: Kruse
Def: Legg, Plummer, Ireland, Jenkins
DM: Kennedy, Newton
Mid: Sonner
AM: Farrell, Basham
Str: Constantine

We'll see if we can make this lineup play well on the road. MK Dons play a 3-4-3 that yields a lot of goals. Their 60 given up is 4th worst in the league, and their -25 GD is 2nd worst.

March 5, Match 36
8-15-12, 19th pl., 39 pts.
@ MK Dons (8-8-20, 23rd pl., 32 pts.)
Pvs. meeting: Posh 1:1 Dons
Fav.: Posh, 4:5

3'- Basham with a good cross for Constantine, and he gets a head to it, but the Dons keeper with a fine save.

12'- Basham with a volley off a Farrell cross, but it's wide.

19'- MK with a free kick from about 25 yards off to the right of goal, and he places it in the upper corner, 1-0 MK Dons.

29'- Chris Plummer with a header from close in off a Kennedy corner, but it's just not quite there.

42'- MK score on another set piece, this time a header from a corner.

We're down 2-0 at the half, and frankly, I virtually gave this one away with that lineup I'm running out there. But I'm not too concerned. We're a horrible road team as it is. No changes. I need the regulars to rest up.

We don't really threaten the entire 2nd half, but MK manage a salt-in-the-wound goal in the 92nd minute.

No one rates above a 7, but at least the regulars got some rest. This will be a goal for next year... have some depth. We are reasonably deep at defense and striker, but in the midfield we've got nothin' right now due to injuries.

And sadly, we're back in the drop zone, but soon to come out I'm sure.

Loss, 3-0, drop to 21st
Shots/on target: Dons 13/6, Posh 6/2
Poss: 53-47, Dons
A: 2,649

Embarrassingly, we have the 2nd fewest wins in the league with 8. But we still have a game in hand thanks to the FA Cup, so we've got a pretty good shot at climbing out of the zone again soon.

[Butter]

Well, I'm really NOT trying to do this, but I had a crash between the MK Dons game and the Swindon game, and hadn't saved since the MK Dons game. I had to replay it, using the same lineup and accelerating the action so I wouldn't touch anything, assuming another loss. But instead, I won it 1-0. Hey, I need to stay out of the relegation zone, so I'm not changing that stuff back. We're up to 17th place with the victory. Andy Legg scored the fluke goal to win it.

Leyton Orient make an odd offer, wanting to give us $14k and 2 players in exchange for DM Steve Thomson. Thomson's contract is up at the end of the season, and I'm not re-signing him, so I take it. Of course, the downside is I have to negotiate new contracts with both these new guys. One is a good young D/DML, the other is a mediocre young D/DMR. Of course, the better player wants less money and the crappier player wants way too much money. I try to lowball them both.

Here's our lineup for a key home match v. Swindon. We're the only teams playing today, so we need to win to make up ground from this match in hand. Swindon embarrassed us last time out, our worst loss of the season.
Lineup:
GK: Kruse
Def: Pritchard, Plummer, Ireland, Burton
DM: Navarro, Penford
Mid: Spicer
AM: Jess, Shaw
Str: Holmes

March 9, Match 37
9-15-12, 17th pl., 42 pts.
v. Swindon Town (15-16-5, 5th pl., 61 pts.)
Pvs. meeting: Swindon 6:1 Posh
Fav.: Posh, 6:4

12'- Kruse attempts to fall on a dribble that a striker made too far in front of him, but instead he lets it go in between his legs and it's 1-0 Swindon.

39'- Holmes with a good pass from Jess, he taps it by the keeper but 3 red shirts are there to clear it for Swindon.

By no stretch could we have been considered as playing well in the first half. Jess's fatigue is way down, so he comes out for Basham. Shaw is also struggling, so he comes out for Kennedy, and we move Navarro up front.

And we can't even create a single good chance in the 2nd half even with sending 7 men forward. Oh well, it's payback for having to replay the MK Dons match.

Ireland and Shaw finished with 5's before being replaced. Kruse also finished with a 5.

Loss, 0-1, remain in 17th
Shots/on target: Posh 2/0, Swindon 9/2
Poss: 57-43, Swindon
A: 6,705

Champions League First Knockout Round, Leg 2
Arsenal 4:1 Lyon, Arsenal advance on 6-4 agg.
Barcelona 1:1 Ajax, Ajax advance 1-1 on away goals
Benfica 2:1 Roma, Benfica advance on 3-2 agg.
Bayern Munich 1:0 Juventus, Juventus advance on 2-1 agg.
M. Haifa 1:3 Inter Milan, Inter advance on 5-1 agg.
AC Milan 2:0 Real Madrid, AC Milan advance on 3-1 agg.
PSV 4:3 Fenerbahce, PSV advance on 4-3 agg.
Paris 1:0 Man Utd., Man U. advance on 4-1 agg.

[Butter]

We sign both players from Leyton Orient, so let's hear more about them. Billy Jones is a defensive/defensive midfielder on the left. He is 21 years old, and we pick him up for $32k/yr. for 3 years in the Thomson deal. He has a good bit of talent, just needs to get mentally tougher. David Hunt is a 22 year old right-sided defender/midfielder who signs for $44k over 2 years, and he does many things reasonably well. He is suspended for a sending off in Orient's last game, but should see the field some for us. They'll both move into the rotation.

Steven Davis finally returns from his broken shoulder to full training.

We field a question from the media:

There are many people who would place your team as second favorites for your upcoming game. How do you think your team will get on against Manchester United?

I answer:
If both teams play their best, Manchester United should come out on top.

Which comes out as I doubt we can get a result against them. Which is the truth. Ain't no way we're beating them. 3-0 would be an effort.

We're the only non-EPL team in the FA Cup Quarterfinals. But we're soon to be shown the door, I'm sure.

Lineup:
GK: Kruse
Def: Jones, Pritchard, Plummer, Ireland
DM: Legg, Navarro
Mid: Spicer
AM: Jess, Shaw
Str: Basham

We're going with our standard scheme and hope for the best. We'll see how long we can withstand the pressure.

March 12, FA Cup Quarterfinal
v. Manchester United (3rd in Premiership)
Fav.: Red Devils, 1:6

23'- Their first good chance as Saha is left alone in the arc... Ireland races back to try and get him before the long pass reaches him, but instead flicks the ball past a surprised Lukas Kruse for an own goal. Whoops.

27'- A more standard score, as Saha heads in a cross from 2 yards. 2-0, Man U.

36'- Jess gets some space and shoots from 25 yards, just missing the corner.

Kruse plays a good first half, keeping chance after chance out of the goal. We're down just 2-0 and Man U has called off the dogs. We'll see if we can nab a consolation goal in half 2. Ireland is injured and comes out for Kennedy. Basham also in for Shaw, we'll save his legs for the league.

73'- Penford on for a tired Plummer. Legg switches to the back line.

The fans head for the exits early, as does our attack apparently. Oh well, 2-0 isn't too bad. But we really didn't play all that badly. Just no attack to speak of to penetrate the Red Devil defense.

Kruse picks up an 8 for his efforts. Jess and Willock pick up small knocks late as well, which is not good. We only yielded one goal in defense for all that pressure, and scored one ourselves... into our own net. Not a bad effort.

Loss, 0-2, out of FA Cup
Shots/on target: Posh 2/0, Man U. 27/15
Poss: 59-41, Man U.
A: 15,293

6th Round FA Cup Results
Birmingham 3:0 Liverpool
Portsmouth 3:0 Norwich
Chelsea v. Aston Villa, later

Jess and Willock both have minor injuries that will likely keep them out for a match or two. The gate receipts from this match help us reach a $1.4 million surplus. I request a higher wage budget, to no avail. I'm still $350k over budget though, so I imagine the wrangling will continue. I do now have about $240k available for transfers, so that's a plus.

[Butter]

Not many more matches to go, and we're 4 points clear of the zone with a game in hand.

Kennedy and Jess are slightly injured for this next match. Davis also still has not returned to full strength. Here's our lineup:
GK: Kruse
Def: Pritchard, Plummer, Yates, Burton
Mid: Jones, Spicer, Hunt
AM: Navarro, Shaw
Str: Holmes

Last time we played Huddersfield, we barely escaped with a draw, scoring in injury time in the second half to save a point. A win here would jump us to 15th place though, as we're the only teams in action today. We try the new boys, Jones and Hunt in midfield. Last time we played the Terriers we had success attacking the wings, so we try that again, spreading our 4-3-2-1 formation out against their 3-4-1-2 to send balls in from the wings.

March 16, Match 38
9-15-13, 19th pl., 42 pts.
v. Huddersfield Town (10-14-13, 15th pl., 44 pts.)
Pvs. meeting: Terriers 2:2 Posh
Fav.: Terriers, 6:4

4'- Well, we don't succeed keeping them off the scoresheet for very long, as our defense looks utterly confused in being attacked down the middle as their AMC slides a ball to an unmarked striker who finishes an easy shot.

23'- Holmes is through only to have his shot saved. Navarro collects the rebound from long range but sends it wide.

45'- A Terrier defender gets 2 yellow cards on 2 different fouls during the single minute of injury time. So we'll play the second half a man up.

We switch to even more attacking tactics for half 2 attempting to put the pressure on the man short Terriers. Basham comes on for Navarro who was slightly injured due to one of the yellow carded tackles.

47'- Jones with a good play switching the play to Hunt on the right. Hunt attacks an open right side of the box, then swings a ball to Shaw at 8 yards, but the attempted header is punched away before Shaw could get a head to it.

68'- Shaw seems to have a bead on a free kick from 25 yards, but it skims the top of the bar and goes over.

75'- We bring Constantine on for Pritchard and go with 3 strikers and a 3 man back line for the final quarter hour.

86'- Basham gets a quick outlet from Kruse on a counterattack attempt. He swings in a cross from about 30 yards, and the long floater is targeted at Constantine who gets his head to it before the keeper can reach it, and it trickles in! We're level with 4 minutes left! We keep up the pressure to attempt to take all the points.

89'- Hunt with a cross that passes Constantine, but finds Basham at the far post... Basham settles, shoots, and hits the post! The ball comes back to Constantine, but it's cleared away and out for a corner! That was our chance for the points! The corner comes in from Hunt to Basham at the near post who is literally a yard from goal, but shoots it straight across the goal mouth and out for a corner kick! ARGH!

Huddersfield actually breaks a man free in the 2nd minute of 4 extra minutes, and he has a glorious chance from 4 yards but mishits the open volley and we finish drawn.

Again we get a late equalizer v. Huddersfield, but it sure would've been nice to jump them in the table.

Kruse is our only man with a 6, and everyone else rates a 7.

Draw, 1-1, up to 16th place
Shots/on target: Posh 11/5, Terriers 12/3
Poss: 53-47, Terriers
A: 6,354

Constantine has been playing well as a sub this year, scoring his 5th in this match in just his 15th league appearance of the year, 13 off the bench.

Hey, we put 3 more teams between us and the drop with this point, so I'll take it.

[Butter]

We finally get Steven Davis back today. We also get 2 weeks off between this match and our next one, as we've had one match postponed due to international call-ups, which was due to be next Monday.

Our lineup against the hot Hull squad:
GK: Kruse
Def: Jones, Yates, Ireland, St. Ledger
DM: Spicer, Navarro
Mid: Davis
AM: Shaw, Jess
Str: Willock

Jess and Shaw are both probably only good for 45 minutes in this one, but they'll get all the rest they need after this one. Hull have allowed just 22 goals all year and have just 2 losses in 38 fixtures. Yet their number of draws have kept them just behind league leaders Sheffield Wednesday most of the season. We've scored just 35 in league, which is tied for 2nd worst in the league with Barnsley, and just 3 ahead of cellar dwelling Port Vale.

March 19, Match 39
9-16-13, 16th pl., 43 pts.
@ Hull (22-14-2, 2nd pl., 80 pts.)
Pvs. meeting: Posh 0:0 Tigers
Fav.: Hull, 5:4

Not much action for the first half hour, Hull has a saved header called back for offsides, and Jess misses a shot by a good 5 yards.

33'- Navarro sends a long ball down the right... it's a 50/50 for Shaw and the Tigers' defender. Shaw gets their first and crosses it first time to Willock at the near post, who volleys it in! 1-0, Posh!

36'- Davis is open down the middle... he runs at the keeper, then gets him to commit... and turns to the opposite side to shoot... but has it stolen away at the final moment! Good defense by Hull.

45'- An EXTREMELY long ball to the middle is sent from something like 45 yards out right into the middle of the 6, where the Hull attacker gets to it first and heads it in. All square at the half, 1-1.

We bring on Burton for Shaw and Penford for Jess for the 2nd half. Jones switches out to defensive midfield. Spicer switches to midfield, Penford to defensive midfield, and Davis to attack. No formation switches for half 2. I'd take yet another draw at this point.

47'- Davis with an absolutely beautiful through ball to Willock who has acres of space but just fires it into the keeper's chest.

53'- Davis and Navarro with an impressive series of exchanged passes as they move into the box... it ends with a cross by Davis intended for Navarro, but Willock jumps HIGH to get the header on and totally baffle the keeper with his second goal! 2-1, Posh and can we actually get a road league win?

72'- We pull back and play everyone but Willock in our half and slow down the tempo trying to salt away a victory.

88'- Hull with a scary cross inside the 6, but the point blank header is well over.

90'- Hull with a shot at the near post, but Kruse saves it out for a corner. The corner is swung in to the back side of the box... the open shot from 15 yards is saved by Kruse but he can't hold it... and the rebound is crushingly sent in for the equalizer. 2-2. UGH! In the first minute of stoppage time too! We send Hunt in for a struggling Jones and switch to an attacking 4-3-2-1 to try and get the game-winner, but nothing happens.

A frustrating draw as we should've won it. Kruse does give up a lot of rebounds. Yates, Davis, and Willock all pick up 8's in this still good effort, as we looked the better team most of the day on the road.

Draw, 2-2, down to 17th
Shots/on target: Hull 15/6, Posh 7/5
Poss: 61-39, Tigers
A: 21,970

The team physio recommends a rest for Sagi Burton and Steve Yates. How's 2 weeks sound?

[Butter]

With a couple of weeks off, we scout some more players, and put a few more on the transfer wire, like Adam Newton and David Farrell... 2 players who won't be with us next season. Also, Leon Constantine is likely to go on the list before too long if we can sign a striker or 2. Constantine is making over $100k per year, far too expensive for a non-regular.

We sign striker Daniel Webb from Cambridge (League 2) for $36k per year. He's only 21 with some good skill and mental attributes to recommend him. He probably should be loaned for another year though before we use him. He is signed for 3 years.

We also nab a very young Norwegian striker, Jim Johansen, from Norwegian club Harstad. He signs with us for a bargain basement $20k (+10% rise each year) for 4+ years. He'll come over on July 1 at the expiration of his current contract. He is just 18 years old and already is very quick and has superb finishing ability. Just needs to polish his overall game.

Steven Davis goes down with a twisted knee for a week, and I think I might well be relieved when he returns to Villa at the close of the year. He is bitten with the injury bug this year.

FA Cup 6th Round
Chelsea 3:0 Aston Villa

Another injury a couple of days later, as Billy Hunt also twists a knee and will be out a week.

We make our biggest signing of the Bosman period so far, signing away Championship side Burnley player Jean-Louis Valois for $180k for 3 years and a $32k signing bonus. Valois has 8 goals and 3 assists with a 6.80 average rating in 40 starts for Burnley this year. He will fit in well with the new formation I am considering for next season, the 4-1-3-2. Valois is 31 years old, and is an extremely talented player all around. He will start for us when healthy and available. He'll come over on July 1.

England dispatch N. Ireland and Azerbaijan quite easily in preliminary World Cup Qualifying, 2-0 and 4-0 respectively, both played at The Stadium of Light.

Andre Boucaud finally returns from his 2 month long injury for our final push to stay up. He will get some looks to see if we want him to stay around next year. Our current loaner from Arsenal, John Spicer, has expressed interest in coming here full time at the end of June, so we'll see if Spicer can perform in midfield as well.

As we begin April, the board is very pleased with me for the first time this season. A good improvement from their previous "pleased" state.

--------------------------------------

Finally our next match arrives with the squad well rested. Sadly, we have 3 matches in 7 days now thanks to one being moved for our FA Cup loss to Manchester United. We next face Oldham, a team fighting for a playoff spot. They have a tough defense, but not an especially prolific offense. We stick with our 4-2-1-2-1 here. For some reason Sagi Burton is only 92%, but the rest of the lineup is 100%.
Lineup:
GK: Kruse
Def: Pritchard, Plummer, Yates, Burton
DM: Navarro, Penford
Mid: Spicer
AM: Jess, Shaw
Str: Holmes

April 2, Match 40
9-17-13, 18th pl., 44 pts.
@ Oldham Athletic (17-15-8, 6th pl., 66 pts.)
Pvs. meeting: Posh 1:1 Latics
Fav: Latics, 5:4

5'- A long cross to a wide open striker at the back post results in an easy Latics goal. 1-0, Oldham.

10'- Jess with a free kick from about 40 yards. He sends a quick one in to Holmes who runs past his man and shoots it first time from 15 yards... and it goes in! Just inside the right post, Derek Holmes with his 10th goal of the year evens the match at 1.

24'- Oldham miss a good chance from 15 yards, an open striker just missing. Kruse is actually down to a 5 rating, and his condition has deteriorated to 85%, which is rare for a keeper. Usually, they stay in the 90-100 range. I have Azinovic on the bench, but I'll wait and see if he snaps out of it. The flu perhaps?

29'- They attack the middle of defense again, and slip an easy goal past Kruse as our marking is quite shoddy on the play. I switch to zonal marking and put Azinovic out there for Kruse.

41'- Holmes goes out injured, and we've used up 2 subs now as Willock comes on.

45'- Another long cross from Oldham, and it's headed off the post.... and the rebound comes to Azinovic but he can't hold it, and a Latics striker sticks his toe in and makes it 3-1.

Not a good half at all for us. We switch to more attacking tactics.

64'- After 20 minutes of nothin', we go to a 4-1-3-2, putting in Andy Legg on the left wing for Penford, and putting Jess on the right wing. Spicer plays still in the middle, and Shaw moves up to a regular striker spot. We also switch to all-out attacking.

75'- Shaw steals a short goal kick and charges down the keeper, but the shot is saved.

84'- Oldham add another goal for embarrassment's sake, and we take it on the chin quite badly here.

Six Oldham players finish with ratings of 8 or above. I just don't think we had a chance today. Kruse finished with a 4 after I pulled him early. Azinovic didn't fare any better.

Now, let us never speak of this again.

Loss, 4-1, remain in 18th
Shots/on target: Latics 18/5, Posh 5/3
Poss: 62-38, Latics
A: 8,327

Derek Holmes just has a slightly injured shoulder, and should only be out about a week.

[Butter]

For our next match, we start the experimentation a bit. We run out a 4-3-2-1 and run an offside trap with zone marking. Kruse and several defenders have very poor morale, so let's hope they can bolster themselves a bit here. We're facing Tranmere next, a team that is safe from the drop, and also pretty well out of the playoff hunt. It's our first time up against former keeper Mark Tyler since we sold him several months ago.
Lineup:
GK: Kruse
Def: Pritchard, Plummer, Yates, Burton
Mid: Spicer, Davis, Navarro
AM: Jess, Shaw
Str: Willock

April 6, Match 41
9-17-14, 18th pl., 44 pts.
v. Tranmere (13-14-13, 12th pl., 53 pts.)
Pvs. meeting: Rovers 2:0 Posh
Fav: Posh, 6:4

14'- A Rover corner is shot desperately wide.

31'- Willock with our first chance, fires one well high of Tyler.

41'- Rovers break a striker free, but his shot is tipped onto the crossbar and cleared by Plummer.

We make some slight tactical adjustments at the half, switching to a more attacking stance and hastening the tempo.

46'- Navarro with a weighted ball to Spicer, who sends Willock through. Willock has it tackled away, but Shaw is there to collect it.... but he can't direct his first time shot.

50'- Some crap happens out front and the ball goes in for Tranmere. This is about the 10th time this year I've had a goal scored on me that says so-and-so "certainly didn't mean that!" I don't think I've scored a one of them. I'm quite sick of it.

62'- Navarro with a cross to Willock, who has it headed away, but Davis is there in the arc and tries his luck... but it's way too high.

74'- Constantine on for Burton, and Boucaud in for a tiring Jess. We switch to a 3 man backline and 2 strikers, and try an all-out assault to avoid another loss.

It doesn't work. We are yet again totally at a loss for scoring goals, even with 7 men forward. This is ridiculous.

Loss, 0-1, drop to 19th
Shots/on target: Posh 7/3, Rovers 9/5
Poss: 52-48, Rovers
A: 5,455

Eoin Jess has simply a bruised rib and will be out for 3 days or so. Burton and Yates need a rest, says the physio.

3 of our last 5 are at home, but we play 3 teams from the top half of the table, including our next match against the league leaders, Sheffield Wednesday. We're only 2 points clear, and would lose most ties on goal difference. It's going to be a scary month.

Champions League Quarterfinals, Leg 1
Ajax 2:0 Benfica
Juventus 2:0 Arsenal
AC Milan 2:0 Man Utd.
PSV 1:1 Inter Milan

[Butter]

We switch our lineup around a bit more today. Our lineup:
GK: Kruse
Def: Jones, St. Ledger, Ireland, Hunt
Mid: Penford, Spicer, Boucaud
AM: Shaw
Str: Holmes, Basham

We'll see if we can manage to stay up in these last 5 matches. I don't really like our chances.

April 9, Match 42
9-17-15, 19th pl., 44 pts.
@ Sheffield Wed. (27-6-8, 1st pl., 87 pts., clinched playoff berth)
Pvs. meeting: Posh 0:2 Owls
Fav: Owls, 4:5

Much as expected, we start out getting drubbed, quickly going down 2 goals in the first half hour. Swell.

32'- Holmes gets loose and fires a shot that is deflected. Basham is seemingly there to finish, but it's tackled away from him before he can lay a toe on it. Penford is fouled to the left of the box trying to chase down the loose ball, but nothing comes of the free kick.

We go to the break down 2-0. In my attempt to generate more offense, it seems that my defense has just been left high and dry. But the point is this: I know other teams can play a 4 man back line and NOT yield 3 goals a match. Why can't we? I don't know. I guess it's a personnel issue that I need to rectify.

48'- Ireland tugs down an Owl player in the box off a free kick, and they convert the PK to go up 3.

62'- Legg comes on for a tiring Boucaud, and Basham in for Shaw to rest him for later.

67'- Owls add a fourth to their tally.

71'- And a 5th.

Nearly the entire lineup for Wednesday nabbed 8's or 9's. We're taking quite a tumble at the end of the season here.

Loss, 5-0, down to 20th
Shots/on target: Owls 24/12, Posh 3/2
Poss: 55-45, Owls
A: 17,214

With the win, Sheffield Wed. earns promotion to the Championship. Port Vale also lost to clinch relegation to League Two. We're now just 1 spot and 1 point clear of the drop. Wrexham is 21st with 43 points, and Luton is 22nd with 42 points.

Vans Trophy Final
Hull (L1) 1:1 Shrewsbury (L2),
Hull win 4-3 on PK's

[Butter]

Champions League Quarterfinals, Leg 2
Arsenal 2:1 Juventus
-Juve advance on 3-2 agg.
Benfica 0:0 Ajax
-Ajax advance on 2-0 agg.
Inter Milan 4:0 PSV
-Inter advance on 5-1 agg.
Man U. 0:1 AC Milan
-Milan advance on 3-0 agg.

So, 3 Italian and 1 Dutch side in the Champions League semis. No love for the Brits.

Back to a 4-1-2-1-2 for a win (hopefully) here. All our regulars are back. Almost the entire team has very poor morale. Need a win to straighten that out. Lineup:
GK: Kruse
Def: Pritchard, Plummer, Yates, Burton
DM: Navarro
Mid: Spicer, Davis
AM: Shaw
Str: Willock, Holmes

April 16, Match 43
9-17-16, 20th pl., 44 pts.
v. Brentford (16-10-16, 11th pl., 58 pts.)
Pvs. meeting: Bees 2:3 Posh
Fav: Posh, 5:4

5'- Navarro with a shot from 20 yards that takes a deflection and goes in! Great early start to boost morale!

26'- Spicer with a good long ball for Shaw, and his shot is just barely tipped wide, and cleared into touch.

39'- Pritchard gets called for a penalty for backing into a man on a cross. The PK is shot weakly and saved by Kruse, however.

No changes at the half.

We are keeping Brentford out of our area pretty well in this one, surprisingly.

73'- Willock is 1 on 1 with the keeper, and fakes right then slots it home with his left! 2-0, Posh in a crucial game!

77'- Doesn't take the Bees long to get 1 back as they slam a strike off the crossbar, and the rebound is headed home.

We switch to super slow tactics, and that's enough to earn us the win!

Pritchard and Spicer both earn 8's for us today. Spicer also collects Man of the Match honors. The win doesn't move us up in the table, but it does get us 4 points clear of relegation with 3 games to play.

Win, 2-1, remain in 20th
Shots/on target: Posh 12/5, Bees, 11/5
Poss: 51-49, Brentford
A: 4,292

With the weekend's matches, Hull is promoted and MK Dons earn relegation. Plymouth Argyle have been relegated from the Championship to League One, and Rushden & Diamonds have been promoted to League One from League Two.

FA Cup Semifinals
Chelsea 2:1 Portsmouth
Man Utd. 1:0 Birmingham

[Butter]

HOLMES WANTS IMPROVED CONTRACT

-Peterborough's striker Derek Holmes has told the Peterborough Evening Telegraph that he is no longer happy with his current pay deal.

Holmes wants to discuss a new contract, but he will not sign anything that doesn't reflect his true value to the club.

I suppose that's fair. I mean, the guy makes the least of our striker roster, and he has been the most effective striker we've had all season. He only makes $36k per season, and no other starter makes that little. We'll take a look at this during the offseason perhaps.

One thing's for sure... I think Steve Basham was a waste of money. He'll probably go on the list in the offseason.

Torquay launched 32 shots at us in the last match. Yet we're surprisingly large favorites. We go with the same 4-1-2-1-2 as last match.
Lineup:
GK: Kruse
Def: Jones, Pritchard, Yates, Plummer
DM: Navarro
Mid: Spicer, Davis
AM: Jess
Str: Willock, Shaw

April 23, Match 44
10-17-16, 20th pl., 47 pts.
v. Torquay (15-10-18, 13th pl., 55 pts.)
Pvs. meeting: Gulls 4:1 Posh
Fav: Posh, 4:5

1'- Torquay looks ready to launch an attack, but Spicer sticks a leg out and cannons a ball long to Willock. Willock plays the give and go with Jess, and Callum is onside and 5 yards clear of the last defender... but his shot is struck with too much force and we don't score.

9'- The Gulls hit on the counterattack, and score off the post with a driving strike from 15 yards.

13'- Willock is free again, and again his shot is off target.

Torquay dominates for most of the rest of the half, but they don't drive us into the ground like last time. We push up a bit more for the 2nd half to try and equalize. Legg is on for Billy Jones, who is slightly injured.

Torquay just hold the ball for the first half hour of the 2nd half, with a couple of harmless chances.

77'- Legg with a steal, then a long ball down the middle for Willock. Willock is free for a third time, but this time he finishes! We're all square again as Callum Willock beats the keeper to his left with a nice strike, his 11th goal of the season. We bring Constantine on for a tiring Shaw, and lessen our pressure a bit, but still try and get the winner.

Several build-ups each way end in clearances or long range shots, and we take the point.

Lukas Kruse with an impressive 10 rating to win MoM honors. He played very well. Steven Davis picks up an 8, and everyone else rates a 7.

Draw, 1-1, remain in 20th
Shots/on target: Posh 4/2, Gulls 18/7
Poss: 52-48, Gulls
A: 3,072

Our attendance is dropping like a rock here at season's end. Luton with a win over Bradford City to climb to within 2 points of us, but still in 21st. We're also within 3 points of 4 teams ahead of us, so the relegation situation is still quite fluid. Wrexham appear to be nearly down, though, after a 1-0 loss at Blackpool keeps them at 43 points, now 3 behind Luton and 5 behind us with just 2 to play.

The physio suggests a rest for Paul Shaw.

Grimsby Town has won promotion from League Two thanks to the weekend's results.

Lukas Kruse is picked as the keeper on the League One Team of the Week thanks to his performance in this match.

[Butter]

Champions League Semifinals, Leg 1
Ajax 0:2 AC Milan
Inter Milan 0:1 Juventus

Euro Cup Semifinals, Leg 1
Chelsea 3:0 FC Kobenhavn
Porto 2:0 Bayern Leverkusen

I haven't kept you up to date quite as much on the Euro Cup, since it involves so many rounds and teams, but now that we're down to 4, I'll keep you posted.

Paul Shaw is very tired and needs a rest for this next match. But a win here would all but clinch us staying up for next season. A draw and a Luton win means they would pass us on goal difference. A loss means bad things.
Lineup:
GK: Kruse
Def: Pritchard, Plummer, Yates, Burton
DM: Navarro
Mid: Spicer, Davis
AM: Jess
Str: Willock, Basham

I just have 4 words for my squad prior to this one.... C'MON YOU POSH BASTARDS!!!!!!

April 30, Match 45
10-18-16, 20th pl., 48 pts.
@ Bradford City (12-16-16, 15th pl., 52 pts.)
Pvs. meeting: Posh 1:1 Bantams
Fav: Bantams, 6:4

3'- Spicer sends Jess clean through on goal, but a Bantam defender gets back in the way of his shot and forces a corner.

25'- Willock receives a long ball from Davis, and chases it down near the end line. He attacks from the left side, then slides it back to Jess at the penalty spot. Jess has time to settle it, and he strikes it home! Eoin Jess with a beautiful goal to put us up 1-0!

No changes at the break, as we are dominating this one. A pleasant surprise to be controlling a match for once.

74'- We continue to control play, and have had all of the good chances in half 2. We sub in Constantine for Jess, Legg for Pritchard, and Penford for Spicer, and pull way back to try and earn the 3 points.

79'- Bradford City with an easy chance from 5 yards, but it's powered all the way across and over the end line! The ensuing goal kick sends Constantine 1 on 1 with the keeper, and he finishes with his right foot! A 2-0 lead thanks to Leon Constantine, and we're earning our way back for another season of League One Football!

The final time sweeps by, and we take the 3 points! Combine that with a 2-2 draw for Luton, and we're 4 points clear of the zone with just 1 game to play!

WHEW!

Callum Willock earns his MoM honors, with his finest game of the year. He assisted on both goals and earns a 9. Nearly every other starter earned an 8.

Win, 0-2, up to 18th place
Shots/on target: Bantams 10/1, Posh 20/6
Poss: 51-49, Posh
A: 7,038

Wrexham has been relegated to League Two, while Swansea have won promotion from League Two to League One for next season.

But we're gonna be back, bitches! And with a vengeance, I might add.

[Butter]

Champions League Semis, Leg 2
Juventus 1:1 Inter
-Juve advance on 2:1 agg.
AC Milan 2:0 Ajax
-Milan advance on 4:0 agg.

So, it'll be that old Serie A showdown again on a bigger stage, for the European title. Juventus against AC Milan in 2 weeks.

Euro Cup Semis, Leg 2
FC Kobenhavn 0:1 Chelsea
-Chelsea advance on 4:0 agg.
Leverkusen 0:3 Porto
-Porto advance on 5:0 agg.

And Chelsea and Porto will duke it out for that other appetizing piece of European hardware. Chelsea are just 3 points behind Arsenal with 2 games in hand, and are also in the FA Cup Final, so they could very well be hoisting several pieces of hardware in the coming weeks.

As I'm finally safe from relegation, it's time to try one more formation that I used years ago that I love to death. It's the 4-4-2 diamond... or if you prefer, the 4-1-2-1-2, with 2 players on the midfield wing, and no one in the center circle. This formation took me to great heights in my last dynasty a couple of years ago, so I'm going to shake it out and see if there's any magic left in it. I like to play it with attacking tactics, and play an offside trap along with it. Let's see how it works out.

Lineup:
Def: Pritchard, Plummer, Yates, Burton
DM: Navarro
ML/MR: Davis, Jess
AM: Shaw
Str: Willock, Holmes

We give Holmes another shot, but he's been horrific since going public with his unhappiness over his contract. I consider starting Davis and Spicer, but they're on loan to me, and as such I'll give folks who'll actually be with the team next year a shot in this new formation. I try to put Kennedy in the lineup on the left, but he's still feeling the effects of a broken jaw from several weeks ago, so Davis has to play on the left. Newly acquired Billy Jones hasn't shown me much, and Andy Legg just isn't the answer out there. Hopefully, Valois will give us a spark on his arrival on the left. I also want to see Jess play on the right. He is listed as a central attacker, but he favors the right foot and has superior crossing ability, which usually equals a good right winger.

May 7, Match 46
11-18-16, 18th pl., 51 pts.
v. Stockport (19-11-15, 9th pl., 68 pts.)
Pvs. meeting: Hatters 1:1 Posh
Fav: Posh, 5:4

10'- Stockport with the first chance, but Yates deflects a shot wide that Kruse chases down before it rolls over the end line.

11'- Jess with a good steal near the Stockport box, but his long range shot is harmless.

14'- Hatters with a good strike, but it hits the upright and Kruse pounces on the rebound.

24'- Jess has a go from a 25 yard free kick, but it bends well wide.

29'- Jess with a corner to the near post where Willock receives it, turns and fires... the ball caroms off the keeper right to Derek Holmes who taps it in! 1-0, Posh!

34'- Shaw with a steal in midfield, to Davis. Davis to Willock, back to Shaw, to Davis on the left wing. Davis slips one to Holmes, making a diagonal run into the box, and his 15 yard shot is on target and has to be tipped wide! Cleared into touch. Good attacking play all around there!

41'- Kruse stops a point blank shot AND a rebound in a terrific display of... keepery!

45'- Stockport with a long series of possession on the left side of the box... Burton and Plummer are all over the Hatter attackers, but can't get the ball clear... then Burton gets called for a shirt tug in the box and the Hatters get a PK... Burton gets a caution, and the PK is struck home for a halftime score of 1-1.

No changes at the half, let's see if we can score. We actually had the better of play during the first half, which was rare for us all year long. More chances and more possession usually means more victories.

47'- Good combination play in the box leads to a 6 yard header for Stockport that's just over.

54'- Jess with a 25 yard free kick... he strikes it and it hits the crossbar! Navarro appears to be there to tap it in, but the Hatter defender gets his toe in there and clears it into touch. Great chance there!

61'- Poor defending allows a free Stockport striker in central defense.... and his shot eludes Kruse but is too high. Davis and Jess are both rating our only 6's in the midfield, so we swap them out for Spicer and Penford to see what they can do.

82'- The 20 minutes between the last chance and now haven't seen much action, but has seen about 5 cards... including 2 in the space of 7 minutes to Tom Penford. So we go down a man for the final 10 minutes or so.

90'- Stockport spend the last 2 minutes or so in and around our box, but Paul Shaw plays very well, heading away at least 3 attempted crosses into the middle.

Fittingly, my first season at the helm ends in a draw.

Luke Pritchard rates our only 8, playing well at left fullback. We certainly created a good many chances and kept ball possession above 50% with this one... so I imagine that since my defensive formations weren't much success, we'll be seeing this one again next season.

Draw, 1-1, finish in 17th
Shots/on target: Posh 11/4, Hatters 11/5
Poss: 52-48, Posh
A: 5,376

Luton beats relegated Wrexham at home 4-0, and Walsall yield 3 goals in the final 5 minutes to mid-table Colchester to allow Luton to escape the drop and put Walsall as the final of the relegated 4.

Tom Penford will miss our first match of next season thanks to that silly red. And my physio informs me that Steve Yates needs a rest. How about you take the summer off there, Steve?

[Butter]

Final standings:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v633/agprice98/table04-05.gif

[Butter]

Final player stats

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v633/agprice98/playerstats04-05.gif

[Butter]

The Year in Review

Well, we had quite the year avoiding relegation this year, but we were able to do it. Just barely... 2 points separated us and the relegation zone.

As you can tell from the listing above, we had several outstanding individual performances during the year. Let's take a look at the squad a bit more carefully with a review and a look ahead.

Goalkeepers
Lukas Kruse was a terrific find in early December. He transferred in mid-year, and allowed us to unload our largest salary and rake in our largest fee of the year... $140,000 from Tranmere for our former starting keeper Mark Tyler. Before leaving, Tyler allowed 37 goals in 28 starts for us. He allowed just 10 goals in 16 for new club Tranmere, and I can't help wonder if that's just determination, or a function of his supporting cast. At any rate, once assuming the starting role, Lukas Kruse allowed in just 26 goals in 25 matches, keeping 8 clean sheets in those matches, a superb rate of just 1 goal a match.

Our backup, Zlatan Azinovic, was another mid-season transfer who played well in support of Kruse, allowing 6 goals in 5 appearances (3 starts). He is VERY young, so our future in goal is very bright. Our main reservist, James Pullen allowed 20 goals in 15 starts for the reservists, but doesn't figure to have much of a chance to break through, barring a massive increase in performance. Kruse and Azinovic look to be our tandem for the foreseeable future.

Defense
Steve Yates, Luke Pritchard, and Sagi Burton all had very good years in defense. Burton played the entire season out of position on the right, and performed well. He is 27 and coming into his prime, so he will continue to start for us in defense. Steve Yates showed his age a bit toward the end of the season, but we worked him to death, netting the 2nd most starts on the club behind Paul Shaw. Yates is 35 years old, so one wonders how long he'll hold up. He was a good find for us at the start of the year. Luke Pritchard joined us late in the season, but was consistently our finest defender, playing both on the left and in the middle. Pritchard is only 18, and has tremendous potential to improve. He will continue to play in the center for us.

Chris Plummer is a bit more puzzling. He got the lion's share of starts in the center, but only averaged a 7. Which means that for every good performance (an 8), he strung up a clunker (a 6). That's very consistent, but Plummer also had the most cards of any of our defenders, with 6 yellows. Which usually means he's being beaten a lot, or making poor challenges, or is generally a hothead. I didn't notice him protesting too much, which means he was being beaten a lot. We'll definitely look to keep Plummer in the lineup, but action will be taken if he continues to show poorly.

Sean St. Ledger is another youngster, just 20 years old, who started a lot for us early in the season. He played mostly out of position, on the left. He played moderately well before going down with an injury in mid-season, then just not figuring in our plans late. St. Ledger has some good talent, but needs to get some mental toughness if he wants to re-join the starting 11 next year.

Craig Ireland and Andy Legg performed well when called upon, and that was quite often in Ireland's case. He'll likely get a look at starting in the middle, hopefully able to improve a bit. He is 29, so he doesn't have much time left for improvement. Andy Legg played mostly in midfield or defensive midfield, but was a serviceable left back when needed. He is 36, and also a coach, so he'll be hanging around, waiting to be called upon when needed.

Steve Jenkins and Adam Newton are on their way out. Jenkins didn't play all that badly, but makes far too much money to be a bench warmer ($90k/yr.). And Adam Newton just lacks the quality we need on the squad right now. Both were not offered new contracts and are expected to sign elsewhere.

Peter Kennedy is mostly a midfield player who played on occasion for us in the back. Kennedy is signed with us for 2 more years at $240k a pop, but is listed. Sadly, we can't find anyone to take on his salary. His performance certainly hasn't demanded anyone to come calling for him, considering that he averaged only around a 6.5, which is quite poor considering all of those 7's on the board up there. I await a taker for him, but may have to outright release him if that doesn't happen just to take the one time hit and lose the $500k commitment for the next 2 seasons.

Billy Jones and David Hunt both played a bit in the back after coming over late in the year for Steve Thomson from Leyton Orient. Neither one was particularly impressive, but they did each play against Manchester United, so it's not quite fair to judge them yet. They'll be given a look at both midfield and defense next season.

Several reserves will spend another year there, although Bradley Thomas, a 21 year old Jamaican, and Simon Rea will likely get looks next year during the pre-season. Rea played 1 match for the big club this year, not faring well. Thomas was superb for the reserves all year, and has good looking ability. Every other reserve is either not being re-signed, or not worth much to me right now.

Midfield
Our 2 best players were loaners, Steven Davis from Aston Villa and John Spicer from Arsenal. Spicer completed his loan shortly after the season and finished with about a 7.2 average rating. Davis was magical in midfield, scoring 5 times usually from the center circle. Though Spicer is available, I don't think there's much room for him in the coming 4-4-2 diamond. He is a central midfielder without a home, and though he played well, he didn't have a single goal or assist in the dozen or so games he played for us. But Davis will definitely be back if Villa will let us have him again.

Andre Boucaud and Tom Penford are a bit more puzzling. Boucaud does not have good ratings on paper, but he had some dazzling games for us, including a 10 in one match. Sadly, he had a serious injury mid year, and didn't get much of a look in the 2nd half. He'll compete for a defensive midfield spot next season. Tom Penford came over just after mid year, and didn't do a whole lot, really. I don't think he much enjoys where we've played him. Which is too bad, because I don't really have another slot for him.

Alan Navarro also joined us just after the Christmas holiday from Tranmere, and performed very well. Navarro is very much a hit or miss guy, along with Paul Shaw... either they're going to show up and be brilliant, or you won't call their name all game long. Navarro's goal was key in our FA Cup victory over West Ham to make it to the quarterfinals, and he had 2 other goals, and flashed a lot of brilliance moving forward. He does tend towards picking up a lot of cards, but I envision him as our starting DM next year. At only 23, he's just gettin' warmed up.

Paul Shaw and Eoin Jess ran together in the attacking midfield when possible, and had good seasons in attack, both scoring 6 goals. Both are aging, though, and showed it by rarely being able to play in short turnaround games. And if they could, you could usually figure on one or the other tiring out by the 60th minute. But 6 goals a piece is nothing to sneeze at, and Jess was a master of the free kick. He was 2nd on the squad with 10 assists, and will likely start for us at right wing next season. Paul Shaw will likely start for us as the top point of the diamond next year. He tends toward the dramatic, trying to take too many fantastic piledrivers, but he has so much talent it's hard not to let him. Both men are in their early 30's, so hopefully we can squeeze a couple more good seasons out of both to send us to the top.

David Farrell and Danny Sonner are headed for the heap. Goodbye to you both, Godspeed in the Conference!

Jamie Day, Adam Fry, and Ryan Semple all had marvelous seasons on the reserve squad, and all are aged 20 or below. We'll keep our eye on them, but don't expect them to be playing for us soon. Day had 5 goals and 15 assists in 42 matches this year. Fry had 7 goals and 4 assists in 33 apps., and Semple had 6 goals and 14 assists in his 41 starts.

Strikers
Matt Nolan and Daniel Webb are our 2 reserve strikers. Webb is a youngster who came over from Cambridge very late in the year, and had 2 assists in his 6 reserve games, averaging a 7. Matt Nolan had 15 goals in 39 starts for the reservists, and will look to spend another year there next season, or on loan.

Callum Willock had the best season of all of the strikers, which is surprising, considering he's probably rated the lowest attribute-wise. He had 12 goals and 11 assists in his 46 appearances for the big club. He had some rip-roaring games, including 2 goals against promoted side Hull in March, and 2 absolutely crucial assists in our free-from-relegation clinching game against Bradford City. His value has ballooned to nearly $400k, and it'd be hard for me to turn that down, but right now I'm envisioning Willock and Holmes complementing each other up front quite nicely next season.

Speaking of Derek Holmes, he had a super year as well. Holmes came over to us early from league mates Bournemouth before the start of the season. Holmes started out being a sub, but gradually worked his way into the lineup and eventually scored 11 goals in 41 apps. Holmes specialty seemed to be in one on ones against the keeper, time and again finding the net at a tough angle, or wrongfooting the keeper and slotting one home. The only problem I have with Holmes right now is he wants a new contract. Which I suppose he's earned, but in my day we played out the terms of our contracts before demanding another. I'll have to play it by ear.

Steve Basham was a disappointment, scoring just twice for me after coming over from Oxford. Not sure what his problem is, but he seemed to do better distributing the ball than striking it, with his 6 assists. We'll keep him in the rotation for next year, though, barring a loan in of a quality striker.

Finally, Leon Constantine came on late in the year, scoring 6 goals in a mostly substitute capacity, including 4 goals in his final 8 appearances of the season. He is expensive, but if we can get him to come on late and provide us with a spark, he's worth it. Constantine is 27 and heading into his prime as well. Hopefully this sub role will keep him happy.

[Butter]

Arsenal wins the Premier League, beating Chelsea by 6 points. Blackburn, Bolton, and Everton (!) all go down. West Brom. and Man. City all barely stay up, while

Southampton finish 9th.

Meanwhile, Wigan and Leeds have won promotion from the Championship and await one more playoff winner to join them.

League One Playoffs
Leg One
Blackpool 3:2 Swindon
Oldham 2:0 Doncaster

Leg Two
Swindon 1:1 Blackpool
-Blackpool advance to final on 4:3 agg.
Doncaster 1:0 Oldham
-Oldham advance to final on 2:1 agg.

Final
Oldham 2:0 Blackpool
-Oldham win promotion to the Championship.


EURO Cup Final, from Lisbon
Chelsea 3:3 Porto
-Porto win 6-5 on PK's.

A fantastic game as Didier Drogba got the brace just before halftime to put the Blues up 2-0. But Porto came out roaring, with a goal by Derlei in the first minute of the second half. Then they scored 2 more within 3 minutes a bit later, but Drogba completed his hat trick in the 68th to make it 3 all. By the time we got to PK's, we were just all out of goals, and Hugo Leal scored after a Wayne Bridge miss to complete the win for Porto.

Champions League Final, from Istanbul
Juventus 1:1 AC Milan
-AC Milan win 3-1 on PK's

A bit of a snoozer, as both teams scored within the first 20 minutes and left the crowd to sleep for the final 100. AC Milan dominated ball possession, but each side played ferocious defense, allowing just the 1 shot on goal each way during the first 90 minutes and the extra 30. Juve were powerless on the PK's as AC Milan mark their continued presence in the top flight of European football with this victory.

FA Cup Final
Manchester United 2:1 Chelsea

Chelsea's attempt at a treble ends with nothing. Chances were few and far between in this one, but Ruud van Nistelrooy made the most of his 2 shots on target, beating Petr Cech from long range with one, then slotting home the other. John Terry scored in the final quarter hour, but it was too late, and Man U. hoist the cup for the 2nd straight year.

We finally sign Derek Holmes to a new deal, for $90k per year through 2007. He gets a tiny signing bonus, but he was demanding $120k per year, so I guess I win... or something.

And with that, it must be time for year 2!

[Butter]

Continue on to Year 2 (http://dynamic2.gamespy.com/~fof/forums/showthread.php?t=35491).