FM10 - From the Bottom Up

[Radii]

Add me to the list of people who have seriously gotten into FM for the first time in a long time thanks to the world cup. I just completed league play in my second season, so we'll pick up in May 2011 entering the offseason. But first, a little history to catch up:

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/c/c1/Woking.png

Welcome to Woking FC. As a diehard Cubs fan, I never thought I'd manage a team nicknamed the Cardinals in any game ever, but here we are.


2009/10

When I took over Woking, they had just been relegated out of the Blue Square Premier league. I found them in Blue Square South with the hopes of earning promotion right back up.

I had one great gift already in place when I took over. Woking had a loaner at GK for the entire season, a reserve from a higher squad by the name of Lee Butcher who was 4 or 5 times better than anyone I was paying full time. I brought in a striker with my second year long loan option, paired him up with one of my own full time guys, ST Giuseppe Sole (bolded as that one is gonna be worth remembering), and worked the short term loan market to keep talented guys in the midfield and defense during the rest of the season.

2009/10 record: 24-12-6, 62 for-39 against (+23 differential) - 1st BSS

We were in the top 3 of the Blue Square South from start to finish, ended the season on a nice tear and had clinched the top spot with about 4 matches to go, earning promotion without having to fight through a playoff. we met our goals in the FA Trophy and FA Cup competitions.

2009/10 Stats Leaders

Goals: ST Giuseppe Sole - 22
Assists: ST Giuseppe Sole - 11
Avg Rating: ST Giuseppe Sole - 7.14


Yeah, a name worth remembering.


2010/11 Season

A comedy of management errors. I fired most of my coaching staff and learned how hard it was to find better. I ended up with an average at best GK coach, a fitness coach(which I didn't have in my first year), two general coaches and an assistant. Only two scouts, and a physio who wasn't rated all that well at all. This was a smaller staff than I had in season 1, primarily done as an effort to lose less money.

I didn't renew contracts of a lot of my backups, letting 7 or 8 guys leave the squad, and attempting to bring in a couple big impact free transfers. Instead of taking on another loaner GK, I brought in GK Kevin Lynch to try to develop into a full time goalkeeper. Two other offseason signings that I thought would have a major impact, I brought on 32 year old DC Bilal Sidibe, who looked better than anyone I had on defense, and FC Zepherim Zoko, a veteren Forward from the Ivory Coast. Sidibe was decent but not a starter by the end of the year. Zoko was a complete disaster. He never settled in with the squad and was unhappy to not have any countrymen to hang out with. I ended up giving him away in the middle of the season to clear his salary.

I started out in a relegation position after just a few matches and stayed there most of the season. It took a couple months for me to work out any loaners at all, but they finally started coming in and helping. I made two stellar free transfer signings, MC Joe O'Sullivan and DC Nick Fenton. also, I finally came to the realization that my star scorer from last year, ST Sole, could still play at this level too.

At around the 30 match mark I got out of bottom 4 spots in the table and never looked back. I only made it up to 17th (21st-24th get relegated), but I slowly built up a lead over the dreaded 21st spot and secured a stay in the Blue Square Premier league with about 4 matches left.

2010/11 Results: 14-10-22, 60 for/65 against, -5 diff, 52 points - 17th BSP


I didn't win a single game in FA Cup or FA Trophy qualifying, disappointing the board.


One last key point about last season. One of the turning points was when I had brought too many players onto my roster, was running about 1k/week over my salary budget... I took 5 guys who weren't regular first teamers and offered them all away for free. I dropped a good bit of salary, renegotiated a bunch of my guys cheaply, and my smaller squad seemed to gel much easier as a result.


Hopefully, I have learned from my mistakes and will keep my team more settled and will get off to a better start next season. I think I brought in some quality full time guys during the year and if I can get some quality loaners in around them a top 10 spot in the table should be very reasonable, a playoff position not impossible.


2010/11 Stats

Goals: ST Giuseppe Sole - 20
Assists: MC Joe O'Sullivan - 9
Avg Rating: MC Joe O'Sullivan - 7.13


Next up, we'll go over the roster. At the end of the 10/11 season I'm still carrying my loaners, a couple of which I'd love to have back, but that seems unlikely.

[Radii]

Starting Rotation

This is what I have currently on my roster as of the end of the 2010/11 season.

By the end of last season, I tended to play a 4-4-2 diamond formation with a DMC, AMC and two wide midfielders (4-1-2-1-2) or a 4-4-2 attacking formation with two central midfielders and an AML/AMR (the game called this a 4-2-4, or perhaps a 4-2-2-2).


GOALKEEPER

GK Kevin Lynch - 19 y/o - $150/wk - 16 handling/16 reflexes is what attracted me to Lynch as a free transfer last year. 6 anticipation and 10 positioning (not bad for this level but not the best) led to some silly goals allowed on occasion. 6.64 rating in 44 league matches last year, with 62 goals allowed but 10 shutouts. He's scottish and made one appearance for the Scottish U21 squad last season.

DEFENSE

DL: Sam Habergham - 19 y/o - on loan from Norwich - I won't spend much time on Sam since I don't expect him to be back next year. He was a key loaner, averaging a 7.08 rating over 26 league matches. He's way better than anything else I've got available here. If I can't get Sam back for another year on loan then this is a key hole to fill.

Other options: Aswad Thomas (natural DC), Sam Sloma (natural ML)


DC Nick Fenton - 31 y/o - $1300/wk - I brought Fenton in after I cleared off a ton of salary. Fenton was a free transfer and I was desperate to stabilize my defense and took a big risk to make him my highest paid player. It worked, Fenton put up a 7.12 avg rating over 21 matches. Easily my best defender with 14 heading/12 tackling/12 marking ratings, with no mental or physical weaknesses, all of his key mental attributes are between 10-13, great for this level.

DC Aswad Thomas - 21 y/o - $750/wk - Thomas has been with me since the start. He put up a 6.84 avg rating in league play this year. He can play as my left side fullback but I prefer him in central defense when possible. He's nowhere near as strong technically as Fenton, but he has good teamwork, he's aggressive, brave, strong, and fast.

Other options:

DC Bilal Sidibe - 32 y/o - $625/wk - aging vet who is slowly losing his physical attributes. No speed at all, his mental attributes are stellar (17 teamwork/14 concentration/10 positioning... decent at least there).

A couple other players can fill in if there are injuries but are better off elsewhere.


DR: (c) Mark Ricketts - 26 y/o - $700/wk - Ricketts put up a 6.80 avg rating in 40 matches this year. He was better when playing the right full back position. He can also fill out a MC/DMC role reasonably well and I used him there at times when I had a great DR loaner in. But he's a natural in the back line and I plan to keep him here from now on. He's been the team captain for 2 full seasons now.

Other DR options:

DR Ricky Anane - 21 y/o - $425/wk - Anane is a decent backup. He doesn't get pissed off when he goes awhile without starting, he has decent technical skills, good pace/accel(13/12), and good mental attributes. His left foot is terrible and he can play MR but is "unconvincing". I may see if I can do something to improve that to make him more of a utility guy. Played 11 matches with a 6.6 rating this year, mostly off the bench.

MIDFIELD

ML Sam Sloma - 28 y/o - $550/wk - I am torn on this guy. Sometimes I feel he's a weak spot. His stamina isn't great, he's not a speedster, and he doesn't have spectacular technical attributes to make up for that. But he's... ok... everywhere (9 passing/8 tackling/9 dribbling, etc), and he's really the only guy on the squad who has a decent rating taking corners and sending in crosses. 6.61 rating/1 goal/4 assists in 24 matches last year with injury issues.

Others that can play here: MC Harry Arter, AM/ST Ramone Rose(loaner)


MC Joe O'Sullivan - 19 y/o - $150/wk - Solid physical abilities (13 pace/12 accel, 15 jumping/all other phys abilities 10+). Good work rate, good teamwork. He's my best passer in the midfield (12 rating) with acceptable dribbling/tackling/marking ratings. O'Sullivan and Fenton were my two best free transfers last year, and its hard to say which is better. I have a strong affinity for O'Sullivan though, he's one of my favorite guys. 7.14 avg rating, 1 goal/9 assists/4 MoM in 29 games last year.


MC Anthony Pulis - 26 y/o - $1000/wk - 12 passing is up there as the best among the team, solid physical ratings, solid mental attributes, minus a 6 determination which worries me a little when it comes to chemistry/effort. I brought Pulis in very late last year, after I'd purged my roster a good bit. 7.03 avg rating with 2 assists in 8 matches.

Other Options:

MLC Harry Arter - 21 y/o - $725/wk - Arter is one of those guys who doesn't stand out anywhere but has tons of ratings in the 8-9 range, a few in the 10-11 range, without any huge weaknesses. The fact that he can play the left side is a big reason I keep him around. 6.69 avg rating/1 goal/2 assists in 24 matches last year (12 off the bench)

MC Jamie Hand - 27 y/o - $775/wk - Similar to Arter, except a lot more 8-9 ratings and a lot less 10-11 ones. also he's limited to the middle of the pitch and offers less utility. He was important in year one but with O'Sullivan and Pulis coming in last year Hand may end up odd man out in a stuffed MC rotation. 6.75 rating in 21 matches last year.

MC Jerome Maledon - 23 y/o - $450/wk - Worse than Hand and Arter, but cheaper, and he is a natural DMC which gives me a little more options when I use a diamond formation.

MR Moses Ademola - 21 y/o - $900/wk - Ademola is someone I've struggled with. He's a natural Striker but there's rarely room for him. He's poor technically, 5 passing for someone in the midfield makes me cry, and none of his other technical attributes stand out. But he has 12 pace/14 accel and when he's in the lineup he finds ways to score. 6.86 rating with 9 goals and 1 assist in 27 matches(13 off the bench).

Other options: MC Pulis can play here too, great for depth but I think I prefer Pulis starting in the middle.


FORWARDS

ST Giuseppe Sole - 23 y/o - $775/wk - Decent all over, not great anywhere. I stick him in the Poacher's role and he does it better than anyone else I've tried there. 12 pace/11 accel, 10 str, no physical weaknesses but not a physical monster either. 11 composure/10 flair/10 creativity/10 determination... all good but not spectacular. 10 finishing/9 first touch/9 long shots. See where this is going? I kept thinking I had better options, faster players, better finishers, and kept Sole out of the starting lineup early on. Huge mistake. The guy gets the ball into the net. 45 appearances/10 off the bench, 20 goals/5 assists/6.85 avg rating.

I have 3 loaners at striker right now. two of them I like a *lot* and will try to bring back next year but I'm doubtful.

AMLR/ST Romone Rose - 21 y/o - 15 pace/12 accel, 14 dribbling/13 finishing, 10 creativity/10 flair. I may have a shot at this guy because he is from QPR. They're my parent club, so if they don't need him next year I will request to bring him in again. I love him either paired with Sole up front or in an attacking midfield/inside forward role on either side. 7.02 avg rating/9 goals/4 assists in 34 matches(31 starts)

ST Mark Cullen - 18 y/o - On loan from Hull, I'll try to bring him back too if I can. 12 pace/accel, 14 off the ball, the best on my entire roster I think, 14 finishing, creativity/decisions/determination/dribbling/heading/technique all 10+. 7.02 avg rating/9 goals/4 assists in only 23 matches(18 starts)



Assuming i lose all my current loaners, I'm perfectly content and happy with my GK(Lynch), both DC(Thomas/Fenton), DR(Ricketts), both MC(O'Sullivan/Pulis), and one striker(Sole). That's not to say I wouldn't consider a loaner if I can get someone who blows me away at those positions. DL will be a spot I *must* fill and I'll need to bring in a striker or two to pair with Sole. My wingers are ok but I could use better.



I currently am spending $12,597 on player salaries. I'm allowed $15,250. I spent much of the year at about $16k/wk and offloaded a lot of salary to get where I am. I'm still in the 2010/11 season though, we'll see where things stand after flipping over to the next year.

[Radii]

like most any dynasty I run, things may start out a little crazy but hopefully I'll refine things and find a formatting I like as we go. :D

[Radii]

2010 World Cup

Just a quick review, since we're in the midst of world cup fever right now anyway.

Group A provides us with an insane coincidence... we see Slovakia and Paraguay advance, while Italy finishes 3rd and doens't make the group stage. If the 4th team was New Zealand instead of Togo, I'd be really creeped out(this is exactly what happened in group F in the real world).


The USA drew group C with France, South Africa and Chile. They earned only 1 point as France and South Africa advanced.

Group D brought more weirdness where Ghana and Saudi Arabia advance over Greece and Holand.

Mexico failing to make it out of their group with Argentina and Switzerland is the only other noteworthy group event.


The second round sees the world powers start to fall as Slovakia beats Brazil on pk's. Paraguay beats Germany.


In the quarters, Ghana beats Slovakia, Paraguay over France, Spain over England, Argentina over Ivory Coast.

Ghana takes down Argentina 2-1, Paraguay beats Spain 1-0 in extra time.


Paraguay beats Ghana 2-1 to win the world cup. Spain over Argentina for 3rd.

[Radii]

Oh also... leagues. I have a new PC with 8 processors and 9 gigs of ram. 9 gigs? Yeah, I lol'd at that too. It makes FM fun though.

So I'm running:

Mexico, USA, Belgium, Croatia, Czech Republic, England, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, Holland, N. Ireland, Portugal, Ireland, Scotland, Spain, Sweden, Turkey, Wales, Argentina, and Brazil.

I started with the USA/England/Germany/Italy/Spain/Holland/France and just kept adding nations until it said the speed would start to suffer.

I did the mod to fix Holland and brought in a logo pack, but other than that didn't make any big changes. I haven't done anythign to england, with BSN/BSS the bottom leagues there, etc.

[Radii]

May 2011

Oxford won the Blue Square Premier League and earns promotion

York finished 2nd, only 3 points out of first, and wins the playoff to advance.

of note is Cambridge, they finished in the playoffs for the 3rd time in 4 years but have not been able to win the playoffs to earn promotion. They are stuck here for one more year at least.


Forest Green, Hayes & Yeading, Eastbourne Boro and Fleetwood will be relegated.


Coming into the BSP next year will be Macclesfield and Accrington, the two sides relegated out of league 2.

Northwich wins the Blue Square North, Southport comes from 4th place to win the playoffs.

Maidenhead wins the Blue Square South, Eastleigh finishes 2nd and wins the playoff.

Those will be the 6 new teams we face next season.



Arsenal wins the Champions League, defeating Real Madrid 3-2 in the finals. Barcelona and Chelsea were the semifinalists.

Tottenham wins the EPL with 80 points (24-8-6). Chelsea 2nd, Liverpool 3rd, Man U 4th, Man City 5th, Arsenal 6th.

My parent club, QPR, finishes dead last, scores 27 goals in 38 matches, has a -46 goal differential, and drops down to the Coca-Cola Championship. Ouch.

Inter wins Italy's Serie A, Barcelona crushes La Liga (29-4-5, 91 points, 7 better than Real Madrid).

[Radii]

June 2011

The board is "very pleased" with me. They, like me, love the O'Sullivan and Fenton signings I made last year. Perhaps scaring them with relegation then ending the season strong makes 17th look better than it really is too.

I have 3 coaches that I can't/won't re-sign. Two want more money than I can offer and one sucks. One is a regular coach, one my keeper coach, and a scout.


Paul Moore signs on to be my new goalkeeping coach. He's rated 13 in Goalkeeper coaching, 13 motivation, just 9 adaptability. He's also decent with youngsters(11), i'm not sure if that helps since I have a U21 keeper, but hopefully it does a little.


New Scout Michael Patrick is rated 13 at judging current ability/14 at judging potential. Like most scouts I can get at this level, he knows England and not much else.


New Coach Martin McMenemy is rated 11 in attacking, 10 in defending, 10 mental/12 tactical. Mid-range disciplinarian, 14 adaptability. His Man Management and technical knowledge are terrible, but I've never had a coach who is a good attacker/defender coach(good being relative, of course, so I went this way this time.

Along with my current returning staff, I'm pretty much set for next year now.

During June, the board provides a $110k cash injection. This has been happening pretty consistently. We're a very low level club, and we lose money. So far though, as long as i stay under our wage budget, it has yet to be an issue at all. The second I went over last year Salary Allowances went way down until I purged a bunch.


the European club rankings are out:

1. Chelsea
2. Man U
3. Barcelona
4. Arsenal
5. Roma
6. Liverpool
7. FC Bayern
8. Real Madrid
9. Inter
10. Valencia


My first friendly is set up, a required one with QPR, our parent club, that pays out $24,000. I reject a few other CPU offered friendlies since they won't generate any cash.


A year end report by Football365.com has some fun info in it:

Woking is estimated to be valued at $750,000. this is 102nd in England, ahead of most other Blue Square Premier sides and a couple League 2 sides.

We rated 98th in England with 705 season ticket holders (this is out of 160 teams ranked)


End of Season Recognition

Joe O'Sullivan is voted Woking player of the year by our fans. He was my favorite new player too, so I'm thrilled the fans like him.

Our Best 11 somehow doesn't include 20 goal scorer Giuseppe Sole...

GK: Kevin Lynch
DL: Sam Habergham (loaner)
DC: Aswad Thomas
DC: Nick Fenton
DR: (c) Mark Ricketts
DMC: Sam Sloma
MC: Joe O'Sullivan
MC: Harry Arter
AMC: Jamie Hand
ST: Mark Cullen (loan)
ST: Romone Rose (loan)

this terrible narrow formation with no one in the middle playing wide was something I experimented with early in the year when I was sucking horribly, mainly b/c I had such an overabundance of central midfielders. Its immortalized here to shame me.



Start of New Season notes

We receive $49,500 for TV Rights. Woohoo?


Expectations

The board expects me to achieve a safe position in the Blue Square Premier. For this they'll give me $12,500/wk for salaries. I'm currently spending $11,716/wk.

I'm seriously tempted to state that Woking can finish in the top half of the table, which would bump me up to $14,000/wk... but I'm a little too new to the game and don't quite have the balls to do that. I accept our mid-standing finish and feel confidant we can meet or exceed that goal.


Season Odds

The two teams taht got relegated from League 1, Accrington and Macclesfield are 3-1 favorites to advance.

Other top teams are Cambridge at 12-1, Wrexham (12-1), Eastleigh (14-1) and Rushden (14-1).

We are listed as a relegation possibility at 40-1.

As we near the end of June I still can't make loan offers, and that's going to really determine where we go this year.

[Radii]

Pre-season Coaches Meeting

My assistant tells me we suck at everything and are young. I'm used to hearing this.

Interesting to me this year is the recommendation of a 4-1-3-2 or 4-1-2-1-2 formation as our best formations. This is based on current players though. I've only got 14 players on the first team roster at the moment, I'll bring up a backup GK from the reserve squad and bring in (ideally) 5 loaners to get us up to 20. I may well look to sell off one of my backup MC's and sign someone elsewhere, but I really want to wait until I shape the team up with some loaned in players first.


I finally get a few semi-lucrative friendlies scheduled, but I seem to remember making more off them last year. Ah well, I'm getting 15k+ for them this year at least. And our first one comes up on June 30th, I'll call up some reserves and just let everyone run around for a half here.

[Radii]

June 30th, 2011

Woking @ Morelia B - Friendly

I'm not going to spend much time on the friendlies, at least until I bring in a couple loaners and have some decisions. I know what I've got right now.

I start in a generic 4-4-2 formation:

GK: Lynch
DL: Thomas**
DC: Sidibe
DC: Fenton
DR: Ricketts
ML: Sloma
MC: O'Sullivan
MC: Arter
MR: Pulis**
ST: Sole
ST: Ademola**

** not starting where I forsee them playing once I have a full compliment of players, covering holes for now until the loan season opens.

I tell my guys the result doesn't matter, and I tell them not to work too hard today, not to tackle too hard and not to close down too hard. First friendly of the year, lets just take it easy and get used to playing again.

20': Joe O'Sullivan takes a hard knock and has to go off the field for treatment

22': We're building up possession as O'Sullivan wanders back onto the pitch. He takes a pass just outside the 18 yard box, lofts up what I might have called a cross if it didn't flutter into the top right corner of the net. 1-0

31': Pulis with a short pass to my poacher Sole, he times his run behind the defense perfectly and beats the keeper 1-on-1 for an easy goal. 2-0

36': Pulis is brought down hard in the box. Its a penalty, but at this point I'm much more concerned that Pulis' fitness went down to 40%. Sole is good on the penalty though. 3-0


We lead 3-0 at the half and I sub out my entire team. A couple guys took hits that hurt their fitness levels, I'd hate to see anyone hurt right off.

So much of the team in right now are reserves, I'm not really interested and turn the match engine to commentary only.

Final Result: Woking 3 : 0 Morelia B

We out-shoot them 16-9, only generating 1 clear cut chance, but putting 5 shots on target for 3 goals. Morelia B shoots 9 times, only twice on target.

Anthony Pulis is man of the match with 2 assists and an 8.9 rating.

O'Sullivan earns an 8.2 for his goal and solid passing in the midfield (21-24 passes completed). Sole has 2 goals and an assist for an 8.5 rating.


Injury

Starting MC/R Anthony Pulis pulls a hamstring and is going to miss 4 weeks. He shouldn't miss the start of the season but he'll need a little while to get fully fit and that will have to come during league play now.

[Radii]

July 2011

The board is satisfied with my coaching. Nick Fenton's signing remains a high point.


As July opens up I make countless loan offers. Some of them are probably aiming a bit high, but we'll see what comes in.


I accept a year extension to my current contract. I make $950/week. It was set to expire in June of 2012, I'm locked up until June of 2013 now.


Loan Rejected: The only one worth mentioning here is that QPR's Romone Rose is not available this year to me. He was a versatile and skilled player for me last year, I would have loved to have had him back.



July 4th, 2011

Woking at Juv. Antoniana - Friendly

While we wait on loaners to come through, we've got our next friendly set up. Another random team that looked like I'd make about $18k for playing.

Sam Sloma scores in the first half, Sole with the assist heading the ball to him in the box.

We sub out everyone at halftime again and concede a goal in the second half.

Woking 1 : 1 Juv. Antoniana

Sloma earns man of the match honors and an 8.2 rating. No one plays poorly, and Aswad Thomas and Moses Ademola earn ratings over 7 in their half of play.


New Acquisitions

After our friendly on July 4th, we get two guys committing to loans for us:


ST Mark Cullen - 18 y/o - Valued at $40,000, Cullen is a reserve player at Hull in the Championship league. Cullen is a known entity which is what makes me most excited. 12 pace/13 accel, 14 off the ball, solid mental ratings elsewhere. 11 dribbling, 10 heading, 12 technique, and 14 finishing. Cullen came through with 9 goals and 4 assists in 23 games last year for me. Sole as a Poacher and Cullen an advanced forward up top seems to generate lots of goals if my midfield is solid.

AM LR/ST Antonio German - 19 y/o - German is on QPR's reserve squad and I'm really excited to see him sprinting up the flanks to generate offense for us this season. 15 pace/13 accel, strong, fit, he will be outrunning a lot of opponents hopefully. Determined, good off the ball, good teamwork, no mental weaknesses at all. His technical abilities aren't bad either though its the rest that will make him shine. 11 finishing/12 heading, 10 long shots, 9 passing, 8 dribbling... he's definitely an offensive player, very poor marking and tackling, so I'll need to account for that. I'm *very* excited about German.


One day later a 3rd loaner comes through:

D LR Jordan Clarke - 19 y/o - Clarke played on the right side of my defense for 3 months last year. He's accomplished on the left side as well though and will be playing there this year. Another speedster, 14 pace and solid physical attributes everywhere. Determined, Brave enough, good work rate and teamwork. 8 marking and 12 tackling aren't spectacular, but combined with speed and hard work he'll be where we need him most of the time on defense I believe.


I'm still waiting to hear from one more guy when my next Friendly comes up:

July 8th, 2011

Woking @ RC Riviere Pilote - Friendly

Another random click on a team that would make me some money.

Sole picks up a knock in the first 5 minutes, frustrating and I'll be crossing my fingers when I talk to the doc after the match.

We give up a goal in the first half. I sub out most of the team at halftime, but a couple guys are starting to get their legs and get to play til the 60th minute.

We never threaten in the second half.

RC Riviere Pilote 1 : 0 Woking


Injury Update

ML Sam Sloma twisted an ankle badly in the second half and is going to miss between 6 and 7 weeks. Sloma is a bit injury prone, he seems to miss a solid 6 weeks every season.

ST Giuseppe Sole has a thigh strain and is going to miss 4 weeks. He's gotten a little work and hopefully will only miss our first couple matches in league play.



Around July 15th I lose out on my last loaner hope. I've got about $500/wk left in my budget, so I could also look to bring on one free transfer if I see something I like, and I'll send out a few more loan feelers. For now though, the 3 additions that I've made have me just about where I want to be for the start of the season.

[Radii]

July 17th: I breeze through a friendly with QPR, most of my starters make the 60-65 minute mark, keepers and defenders who don't run quite as much are starting to show their fitness. We lose 1-0, not really bad for us. No one plays exceptionally well for us, but no one does too poorly either, and no one gets hurt.


July 22nd Another friendly to breeze through, this one against Melbourne Knights, another random click that looked profitable. We get a first half goal from Antonio German, starting at Striker for Sole today. Melbourne ties it up after we sub out our starters. 1-1 draw. Ricketts, Ademola, O'Sullivan, and German are all noted as putting up 7.0+ performances today.


Free Transfer Signing

Taking a risk here... last year when a risk bombed I was easily able to offload the player I botched.

AML/ST Zoltan Harsanyi - 24 y/o - $1100/wk - At this salary I'm clearly hoping/expecting to make a Fenton like splash in the transfer market, pulling in a guy who needs to make a strong impact for the squad. Harsanyi is Slovakian but he does speak English. He's 2/3 of the way to British Nationality after spending 5 years as a reserve player for Bolton.

He's quite pacey, 14 pace/14 accel, 14 agility, good stamina, so there's that to be excited about. Determined(12),solid flair(12) and creativity(10). A good first touch(11), good dribbling and finishing and a solid enough passer.


I expect to start Harsanyi on the left side of my midfield. The reason to bring someone like this in was for depth and coverage. the only strikers I had on the first team were Sole/Cullen/Ademola/German. But the only MR's I had were Ademola and German, and the only accomplished ML's were German/sloma/Arter... just too much overlap there, and too many holes when one person goes down, which will happen. Harsanyi adds coverage in two of those positions.


With this signing I'm about $575/wk over my wage budget. We're gonna lose money either way but the board is happier when I stay under. Jamie Hand will be the man to go if I can find any takers for him. He's valued at $20k, but i'll give him away for free if I need to. Hand can only play MC, and we've had a rocky relationship the entire way. He was my highest paid player when I first took over and i didn't even want him starting, and he's never really liked me. Easy choice.

[Radii]

Now that I've brought in a number of guys, here's what I'm looking at as my healthy best 11 (pending Sole/Pulis being back in time for opening day):

GK: Lynch
DL: Clarke
DC: Fenton
DC: Thomas
DR: Ricketts
(A?)ML: Harsanyi
MC: O'Sullivan
MC: Pulis
(A?)MR: German
ST: Sole
ST: Cullen

Sub1: Ademola
Sub2: Arter
Sub3: Sloma
Sub4: Anane
Sub5: Maledon/Sidibe

[Radii]

July 29th - Our last friendly. We're playing at Juv. Antoniana again. I didn't realize the game would let me schedule 2 friendlies against the same team, and I was just going through looking for the biggest payouts. Whoops. I moved us to a 4-2-2-2 formation for this match, moving Harsanyi and Ademola up into AML/R slots. We generated tons of chances, 14 shots, but most were off target. 3 on target and 3 off the woodwork though. We let a goal in on a free kick late in the first half, and they scored late after I'd pulled the starters. We fall 2-0.

O'Sullivan puts up a superb 7.7 rating despite no goals/assists. He completed 65 out of 77 passes, 8 out of 9 tackles, and 9 out of 11 headers won. Also 9 interceptions. He's just all over the place in this attacking formation. I believe he and Pulis in those MC slots are good enough to let us try this attacking formation. Well, I hope that's the case at least :)

August 2011

The board remain satisfied with me. We pulled in a hefty profit of $201k in July. That's a good thing because we'll lose money every month the rest of the season.

Jamie Hand is now gone, off to Morecambe in League 2. I have to wonder about giving a guy away to a higher league club... but the other options I have are so much better, I don't see it at all in him.


From here we've got a week off before our league opener. I'm very hopeful and feel like I've had a great offseason, excited to get the season started and really get this rolling. But it probably won't happen until later tonight.

[Radii]

August 6th, 2011

Woking @ Southport

Southport are very slight favorites (6-4 vs our 13-8, virtually even). This is our first ever meeting. Southport won promotion last year out of the Blue Square North. Sole is healthy but not really match fit. I'm going to bring him in as a sub to get him some minutes if I can.

20': We're dominating possession but have only managed one shot. German is SO fast its crazy. His speed should generate a lot of goals this year.

31': Our first good chance, O'Sullivan finds Cullen who gets by his man and shoots from 15 yards out, but the keeper makes a good save.

HALF: we have 3 shots, they have 2, our one attempt from Cullen was the only serious chance on either side. We have 63% of the possession, but our new guys seem to struggle finding each other up front. That'll improve with time I'm sure.

Harsanyi has a bad half. I move German to the left wing and bring Sole in up front.

51': O'Sullivan with a precise long pass up to Cullen, but his first touch is poor. We keep possession, Ademola finds him and he takes a long strike which goes wide. Meh, but looking a little better.

62': We get lucky, a couple nice runs by southport, both due to Clarke missing a tackle for us on the left side. We concede a corner on a cross, they get a good head to the corner but its just over.

68': After minimal buildup, O'sullivan finds Cullen 35 yards from the goal, he makes a run with the ball, the defense reacts terribly and lets him get into the box unopposed, he shoots from 15 yards out and easily beats the keeper!! 1-0

72': Harry Arter comes in for a tiring Antonio German. I pull back to a standard 4-4-2, mainly b/c without German and Hansanyi I don't have the personnel for the attackers, but also to defend a little more late with the lead on the road.

76': Defend, Retain Possession, and Maledon in for a tired Pulis.

80': We concede a corner but Arter defends it well, and a long shot goes way over.

82': O'Sullivan with a surprise shot from the corner of the box after a throw-in, its closer than I thought it could be and just off the post.

86': A breakthrough for Southport, Thomas challenges but their striker gets a solid shot off, Lynch lays out for the ball, deflects it, and Fenton gets the rebound out of there. WHEW. Their first on target shot of the day.

We hold for 3 minutes of extra time and get a win in our opener!

Southport 0 : 1 Woking

Cullen is man of the match with an 8.3 rating and the only goal.

O'Sullivan misses too many passes today (36/53) but hits on 4 key ones including the assist. He's otherwise great in the middle and has an 8.2 rating.

Our entire back four (Ricketts, Clarke, Fenton and Thomas) put up 7+ numbers. Fenton specifically is great in the air, he wins so many headers.

I kinda feel like if once our offense has a little more experience together we score 3 or 4 here, but we'll see how that goes along.

[Radii]

We announce 705 season ticket sales this season.

August 9th, 2011

AFC Wimbledon(23rd) @ Woking(9th)

Its only one match so our place in the standings means nothing yet. Both teams are going on 3 days rest. This will be my 100th match as the Woking skipper I am told before the game today.

We played Wimbledon 3 times last year, We are 1-0-2 against them, scoring 4, conceding 8. One of those was in the first round of the FA Trophy, a loss.

I start Arter for Pulis in the midfield today, and switch German (to AMC) and Harsanyi (to ST). Sole still isn't really fully match fit and I don't want to start him yet. We're gonna be tired by the end of this one, but hopefully they will too.

11': Harsanyi with the first shot on target of the match, but right at the keeper. We dominate possession early again today (70/30 so far).

15': Clarke with a throw-in, gets the ball back, puts a very nice ball to the Arter just outside the box, he places a perfect through ball for Harsanyi who runs on to it and beats the keeper! 1-0

21': Arter with a foul on our end. Free kick from 25 yards out leads to a corner, but we get the corner out of there cleanly... last year we gave up TONS of goals on headers off of corner kicks, so that's a concern for me.

25': Yellow for Wimbledon midfielder Moore after a contested header.

27': Good possession for us in their 3rd. Arter gets it to Harsanyi just outside the box, he does it himself with two defenders closing down on him and puts a great shot past the keeper. His second goal! 2-0

32': German wins a ball in midfield, heads it ahead to Harsanyi, he attacks and draws the defense, does a great job in finding Ademola streaking in from the right wing, delivers a perfect pass and Ademola finishes well! 3-0

HALF: We take a dominant 3-0 lead into the locker room. We have 7 shots, 6 on target. AFC Wimbledon has 1 shot and it was blocked. No changes at the half.

46': A Yellow for Defender Kennedy Adjei, tripping O'Sullivan. A free kick from not too far outside their box.

47': Arter passes to O'Sullivan on the free kick, O'Sullivan lays the ball into the box, Cullen is the first to it, and he beats the keeper! 4-0

52': Ricketts with a horrible mistake in our penalty area, no one near him after a long ball by Wimbledon, but he misplays a header(trying to head it back to the keeper I think), and the ball falls right to a Wimbledon attacker who strikes it cleanly past Lynch. 4-1

62': Arter picks up a yellow for a rough tackle in midfield.

65': Pulis in for German, Arter moves to ML, Pulis MC. Sole in for Harsanyi.

70': O'Sullivan with a yellow. I dunno why, I was in the tactics screen.

72': Ricky Anane is in for Ademola. Anane is weak at MR, but I'm having him actively train to improve there, and maybe game experience speeds that along?

I tell the team to retain possession and we do just that, keeping the ball in their half of the field for most of the final 20 minutes.


Woking 4 : 1 AFC Wimbledon

Harsanyi is man of the match with 2 goals and 1 assist and a 9.2 rating.

Harry Arter had two assists and held the ball very well in the midfield, 8.6 for him, while Ademola's goal earned him a 7.7 rating.

Ricketts (7.5), Clarke (7.3), O'Sullivan (7.5), and German(7.2) also stood out today.




The original scouting report I got on Zoltan Harsanyi listed his main weakness as "He is a selfish player." That may well be true but at this level that selfishness turns him into the most decisive player on the pitch. If he had a lane to the goal, he fired it in. And he was on target every time. Antonio German, for all his wonderful speed, doesn't seem to want to shoot.

Harsanyi will be one of my starting strikers for the foreseeable future. I'm pretty sure I'll give Sole the other starting job over Cullen, at least for now as soon as he's fully match fit.

[Radii]

Early in the season I tend to watch my full matches. Once I get comfortable with what we do well and what mistakes we're likely to make I drop back to extended highlights and eventually key highlights as I want to knock out the remainder of the season later on. That'll end up impacting the pace of things a lot, slow buildup before I start to tear through the season I hope.

[Radii]

August 13th, 2011

Woking (2nd) @ Kidderminster (3rd)

Kidderminster are fairly heavy favorites today at home and off to a start just as hot as us. this is the 3rd match in 8 days for each team. We're 1-0-1 against them.

Of note for Kidder is Forward Darryl Knights, he was one of the finalists for player of the league last year, scoring 24 goals and 12 assists in 39 matches. I instruct my guys to tackle him hard and close him down.

Sole starts over Cullen for me today:

GK: Lynch
D: Clarke/Thomas/Fenton/Ricketts
MC: O'Sullivan/Pulis
AM: German/Ademola
ST: Sole/Harsanyi

5': Sole with a nice interior pass to Harsanyi, his first shot is on target. We win a corner but can't do anything with it.

17': There's my poacher! O'Sullivan with a pretty ball foward to Sole, he's got a tough angle on the left side of the box but has no defenders in front of him, he blasts the ball by the keeper! 1-0

HALF: We took a few more shots, all by Harsanyi, all off target. We take a 1-0 lead into the locker room, controlling 63% of the possession and only allowing one shot all match so far, a poor long range effort. The defense and midfield have been brilliant for us, not allowing Kidder to come close to getting anything going.


'45: Their star striker, Knights, gets a ball in a good position to shoot, Lynch makes a nice save.

47': 3 shots this half already from Kidder, they're trying to even it up quickly. I change my instructions from defensive to counter-attacking

64': Ademola goes down hurt after being challenged on a header. I move German from the left side to the right and bring Arter in on the left. Maledon in for a tiring Pulis.

67': Foul by Thomas just outside the box. Kidder's free kick is off the wall for a corner. First corner is headed behind. Second corner is cleared cleanly.

71': Sidibe in for a tired Sole. Sidibe is a DC, and I change to a 5-4-1 to try to withstand the assault on the road.

89': We have the ball in the midfield wasting some time, Arter finds Harsanyi well outside the box, the defense tries to win the ball away, fails horribly, Harsanyi with a good run by his defender, setting up a finish to put the game away! 2-0


Kidderminster 0 : 2 Woking

Joe O'Sullivan delivers 1 assist and dominates the midfield as usual, good for a 7.9 rating and man of the match today.

Harsanyi has a goal and a 7.5 rating, Clarke (7.3), Fenton (7.1) also stand out. Sole gave us our first goal but struggled some after that.


We were the second worst road team in the league last year. I am pretty thrilled to get such a solid win here.

3 matches in and only Woking and Cheltenham have won all 3. We're listed first in the Blue Square Premier for the first time in my tenure.

[Radii]

Harsanyi and Arter are both named in the BSP team of the week.

August 16th, 2011

Histon (0-1-2, 20th) @ Woking (3-0-0, 1st)

We're very slight favorites at home today. We're 0-1-1 lifetime against Histon, they finished 13th in the BS Premier last year.

4 matches in 11 days now... a grueling start for everyone to kick off the season. Cullen and Arter start over Pulis and Sole, fatigue issues. Sam Sloma is back from injury and available off the bench, he's not match fit yet. If I can, I'll work him in just to run around some.

Histon looks set to play a very defensive 4-1-4-1 formation. Their fitness is much worse than ours it seems.


10': I love O'Sullivan. Even with 10 men defending he puts the ball in the perfect spot for Cullen. Cullen with a nice move to make a little space, beats the keeper! 1-0

30': Arter is down after a hard challenge... but he's still listed at 75% fitness, hopefully he's fine.

33': Ricketts with a long throw, O'Sullivan with a great through ball for German who strikes it past the keeper! 2-0

46': Their best midfielder, Bosner, makes a good run down the left side after a free kick, he gets a cross into the box and their striker heads it home past Lynch. 2-1

HALF: The late goal to keep this interesting was disappointing. Histon mainly went for long balls and a couple times we committed fouls in their half going for headers, allowing them to get a couple attacks, the last one resulting in the goal. still, we are way more fit than they, and they should be too tired to generate anything else I hope.

Pulis in for the injured Arter at the half. It seems Arter can still go but why risk it.

48': Ademola with a nice cross, German gets a head on it from very close range but right at the keeper. Its listed as a Clear Cut chance that we didn't finish, that's always disappointing.

52': German's speed draws a yellow card, a bad trip by defender Holden as German went flying by him.

57': Fenton gets beat on a long ball, commits a foul and draws a yellow. There's a free kick near our penalty area, but it comes to nothing.

67': Sloma is in for a tired Antonio German.

71': Anane in for a tired Ricketts, and we are done with subs for the day.

79': After a clearance, Histon's foward tried to pass the ball back to a defender. It was way wide, Harsanyi ran on to the stray ball and struck it past the keeper for an easy gift goal! 3-1


Woking 3 : 1 Histon

In a game where the opponent was content to let us control possession and just fire long balls whenever they could, its no surprise that Joe O'Sullivan dominated the match. He has 2 assists and a 9.0 rating and is the clear man of the match.

Our 3 goal scorers each put up nice ratings, German(7.3), Cullen (7.1) and Harsanyi (7.0). Ademola(7.1) and Thomas(7.2) are noteworthy as well. No one really played poorly, though Fenton had a couple mistakes/fouls that gave Histon some chances.

We're 4-0-0 with 10 goals and just 2 against. Cheltenham is the other team to watch early, they've scored 7 and not allowed a single goal yet.

We play Gateshead (11th currently) in 4 days time before finally earning a little rest with a week off.

[Radii]

ISP troubles yesterday had FOFC unavailable, took notes on a couple games in notepad though:

August 20th, 2011

Woking (4-0-0, 1st) @ Gateshead (2-0-2, 12th)


Gateshead are very slight favorites at home over us. One of the few teams that didn't beat us last year. We're 1-1-0 against them in our short history.

Pulis is back in the lineup over Arter, Sole back in for Cullen.


11': Gateshead earns a corner and takes a short corner and don't defend it well at all. We get lucky as a shot goes off the crossbar.

21': O'Sullivan has picked up a yellow and a number of fouls in the midfield. This is concerning me. We haven't managed a shot yet today, Gateshead is giving us a good challenge early.

42': We get a breakaway after 40 minutes of nothing, Ademola with a nicely placed ball for Harsanyi, but he strikes it right at the keeper. Our first shot of the match is a missed clear cut chance.

45': O'Sullivan with a through ball, the keeper is indecisive about running out for it, Sole gets to it first.. and hits the post.

HALF: We get two chances late that hopefully help to swing the momentum. Gateshead outplayed us most of teh half. Around the 25 minute mark I switched from a standard mindset to a defensive one. This may be one where we need to just make sure we don't give up a goal and be happy with a draw. Gateshead had 3 early shots and then we held them out of our area completely for the last 30 minutes or so.

56': Harsanyi with a long run through the Gateshead defense, he takes a strong shot from just inside the box... great save by the keeper.

58': Fenton picks up a little injury and he's playing like crap. Ricketts moves to DC, Anane in at DR.

63': Harsanyi on a counter attack, runs up the right side, plays a beautiful pass to Sole in the middle of the box, seems like an automatic goal, but a poor first touch gives it away.

70': Whoa! I'm in the tactics screen making a sub and see GOAL FOR WOKING start flashing. We earn a corner, O'Sullivan ends up with teh ball in the box... I'm really not sure if he made an impossible pass or the 4 defenders made the worst clearance ever(I suspect the second), it falls to Thomas who volleys it into the net! 1-0

70': Cullen in for Sole, Sloma in for Ademola.

74': Free kick gateshead, a swinging cross, Sloma goes up with one of their forwards, loses out horribly on a header, they put it in the net. 1-1


Gateshead 1 : 1 Woking

The last 15 minutes are extremely boring.

I feel pleased to get a draw here, even though we scored first. Possession was about even, but it seemed like Gateshead were threatening way more than us.

Aswad Thomas(DC) is our goalscorer and he picks up the slack in defense for Fenton having a crap game, he's the man of the match with a 7.8 rating.

DL Clarke puts up a 7.1, and no one else is really noteworthy. Fenton and Ademola are under 6, Fenton with a 5.4 rating, awful in the air (5/13 headers, he's usually 10/13).

Cheltenham loses today and we remain in 1st, 1 point ahead of Rushden and Cheltenham, 2 points ahead of Kettering.

[Radii]

Aswad Thomas and Joe O'Sullivan are named in the team of the week.


August 27th, 2011

Barrow (2-1-2, 11th) @ Woking (4-1-0, 1st)

We're pretty heavy favorites at home here. Barrow finished 18th in the leaugue last year, we are 1-1-0 against them. At home I open up attacking, I want to put this away early today.

23': Very simple poachers goal, Sole scoots behind the D at just the right time, O'Sullivan delivers it perfectly, Sole puts it home. 1-0

42': We earn a deep throw in and 4 corners and can't even manage a shot.

HALF: We dominate possession, but struggle to set up shots. Harsanyi and German keep losing the ball where one little move gives them a look. We take 6 shots, the only on target one is the goal. Barrow only manages 3 shots. Our 63/37 possession edge and Barrow's 47% pass completion rate favor us in a huge way.

55': Yellow for Fenton in the defensive midfield.

61': A little poachers effort for Barrow to get an attacker a free shot at Lynch. Lynch runs at him and blocks his shot, nice save, nice decisive decision by Lynch.

66': There's the move by Harsanyi to beat his man! He's one on one with the keeper and puts a shot just wide to the right. ERGH!

66': Cullen in for a tiring Sole, Sloma in for a hurt German.

73': Harsanyi may be selfish but he fires a beautiful pass to Cullen around midfield on a counter attack. Cullen does the rest himself, makes his way into the box and beats the keeper! 2-0

80': Anane in for a tired Ricketts.

Woking 2 : 0 Barrow

Each team generates 10 shots, each team only puts 2 of them on target, but we generate 4 "clear cut chances" and both of our on target shots end up in the back of the net.

Joe O'Sullivan puts up a 7.8 and earns man of the match honors. This is our 6th match and 3rd man of the match award for O'Sullivan. He delivers an assist and connects on 39 of his 50 passes.

Cullen's goal earns him a 7.1 in just 20 minutes on the pitch. Ricketts(7.2), Fenton(7.0), Thomas(7.1) and Harsanyi(7.0/1 assist) stand out as well. Sole had the first goal but nothing else for a 6.8 rating.

[Radii]

Joe O'Sullivan is once again named to the league team of the week.

Aug 31: Harry Arter twists a knee in training and is going to be out for 4 weeks.

Sept 2: Nick Fenton twists a knee in training and is going to be out for 4 weeks.

Bad week for practice...

September

Cheltenham's Patrick Kohlmann(DL) averages a 7.87 rating in August and is the league's player of the month. Joe O'Sullivan has the exact same average rating and is 2nd in the player of the month voting.

Rushden's 21 y/o Sam Smith scores 7 goals in 6 matches and is the young player of the month (why isn't that player of the month, wow!). Joe O'Sullivan, only 19 , is second here as well.

I am named manager of the month for August! Rushden's manager is 2nd and Cheltenham's is 3rd.


The board is pleased with me as we go into the month. We lost $61,750 on the month, about what I'd expect. Zoltan Harsanyi is seen as a good signing.

[Radii]

September 3rd, 2011

Rushden (5-0-1, 2nd) @ Woking (5-1-0, 1st)

This could end up being a key matchup if we both stay near the top as we go along. We are very slight favorites at home. Rushden has qualified for the playoffs in the BS Premier each of the last two years. We haven't beaten them yet (0-1-1 last year).

Bilal Sidibe will be taking over for Nick Fenton until he's back from his injury. Rushden's star striker, Sam Smith, hurt himself this week and is out for awhile so we catch a big break not having to face him.

8': Harsanyi to Sole for a solid strike, but Rushden's keeper makes a nice save. That's the first on target shot for either side.

15': Sole shakes off a defender to generate a solid shot in the box, its just wide, and he ends up injured by the time he's done(I really dunno how...). His fitness is down and he'll probalby only play the first half, if that.

20': O'Sullivan with a rare run by himself, a great move to beat a defender and he fires an on target shot but its blocked by the keeper. We seem in control here... 7 shots already but just 2 on target.

28': A quick counter for Rushden leads to a breakaway, ST Hilliard beats Sidibe and scores his first goal of the season. 0-1

HALF: Our first halftime deficit. Cullen replaces Sole, Anane replaces Sidibe (ricketts to DC/Anane DR). We've dominated possession (63/37) but Rushden countered well. They manage 8 shots, 7 for us, only 1 on target for them/2 for us. I think getting Sidibe out will help us. He's not match fit and wasn't really ready to take over for an injured player and got beat constantly.

56': The first shot of the half for either team... Clarke runs down the left side, slides a ball into the box for German who strikes it from a very narrow angle and beats the keeper! A really nice goal 1-1

62': Rushden gets the lead back quickly. A cross into the middle, an attacker with a header, and Lynch just stands there as it slowly goes by him. He got caught out of position a bit and that looked pretty bad. 1-2

64': Ademola down the right side, a nice pass to Harsanyi. Instead of striking at a tough angle, he fires a center pass to Cullen who runs onto it and puts it into the net. 2-2

67': A big chance for Rushden... Thomas with a last second saving tackle in front of the goal, Ricketts blocks a shot and we clear. Whew.

70': Yellow card for Rushden defender Downer. We hav a free kick just outside the left corner of the box, but its taken poorly.

84': Sloma in for a tired German. Perhaps I should settle for the tie but at home with this kind of team I don't like it. I tell the guys to attack and we'll take the risk.

91': A poor pass in the midfield by Rushden is intercepted and quickly fed to Cullen. He runs down the left side, turns and puts a great cross in front of the net. Ademola is there and heads it by the keeper! 3-2


We don't lead until extra time, what a great win!

Woking 3 : 2 Rushden


Rushden Midfielder Lee Tomlin got 2 assists today and put up an 8.8 rating. He gets man of the match in the loss.

Our goals come from Ademola(7.2), German (7.5) and Cullen (7.7). Cullen, Harsanyi(7.7), and Clarke(7.8) with the assists. Clark was very strong in defense, helping to make up for the terrible play by Sidibe in the back. O'sullivan doesn't have a part in any goals but put up a 7.2 rating just for his control in the middle.

Sole was bad today, 5.8.


We're 3 points clear of 2nd at this point. Ebbsfleet is 4th in the league, 3-4-0... they're the only other team left besides us without a loss.

[Radii]

Heh, in a coaches meeting my assistant says that our current formation "isn't really suitable at all." Talk to me after we lose, buddy.

September 6th, 2011

Woking (6-1-0, 1st) at Wrexham (4-0-3, 8th)

Last season we won once and lost once against Wrexham in two high scoring affairs. Wrexham have one of the best goal scorers in the league in Marc Williams. 19 goals last year and already 7 in 7 matches this year. We will attempt to close him down and force him to use his weak left foot.

3': Left midfielder Reuben Noble-Lazarus (great name) for Wrexham controls the ball well just outside our penalty area, moves well with two defenders very close to him, and puts a shot right by Lynch from 20 yards away... 0-1 Well that is unfortunate.

8': Ricketts is brought down hard in midfield... no foul despite him staying down for a bit. The turnover leads to a 2 on 2 situation, and a nice pass frees Marc Williams in the box, Lynch runs at him and makes a good/lucky save. whew.

12': An outlet to Harsanyi starts a counter attack, he passes wide to German, back to Harsanyi near the penalty area, he could have come in to shoot, but centers for Sole instead.. Sole should have scored I would have thought, but instead loses possession in the middle of the box.

18': Thomas with a yellow about 30 yards out for a rough tackle. the free kick leads to a corner... and a second corner.. before they put a header over the bar for a goal kick.

25': Ademola with a poor pass in the midfield starts things for Wrexham, they move it forward quickly, get it to a man in front of Sidibe, the dude runs right by Sidibe and fires a strike straight in past Lynch. 0-2

40': Yellow for defender Obeng bringing down Harsanyi just outside the box. We can't do anything with the free kick though.

HALF: Just terrible. I was hoping maybe we could get one back before the half but not even close. Wrexham has more shots on target than we have total shots (4 to 2).

49': Ricketts with a yellow for a hard sliding tackle deep in our end. Free kick leads to a corner which we clear easily for once.

51': Brilliance from Sole! He takes a pass 40 yards out, turns by his man, runs into the box where a tackle is attempted, he manages to keep the ball and fires a shot with two men draped all over him, GOAL! 1-2

56': A long bounce after a blocked shot triggers a break for us. Harsanyi runs from midfield towards the goal, cuts wide and hits German with a pretty pass, but German takes a very weak shot and the keeper blocks it easily.

62': Anane in for Sidibe, who played terribly again.

65': Ademola hasnt' seemed to recover from the fact that his poor pass led to Wrexham's second goal, plus he's tiring... Sloma in for Ademola, German to the right side/Sloma on the left.

70': Wrexham with a quick counter, their right back wins the ball deep in his own end, fires a long ball past our defense, a fresh midfielder named Batt runs onto it and is able to put it past Lynch... 1-3

70': Cullen in for Sole, who spent some time on the sidelines after being fouled hard.

92': Lynch comes off his line to try to pick up a through ball, he gets to the ball first but doesn't pick it up cleanly, the ball falls to a Wrexham attacker and he happily puts that one in. 1-4


Wrexham 4 : 1 Woking

Can't win 'em all.

through all of that mess, O'Sullivan picks up the assist, has 5 key headers and completes 27 of 33 passes and has a 7.9 rating.

Sole's goal gives him a 6.9. Lynch (5.5), Sidibe(5.0), Thomas(5.2), and Ademola(5.8) and Harsanyi(5.9) embarrass themselves today.

Oof! Sidibe stuck in there without being match fit and struggling in general anyway after Fenton got hurt has really caused problems the last couple matches.

[Radii]

September 10th, 2011

Eastleigh (3-2-3, 13th) @ Woking (6-1-1, 2nd)


Eastleigh earned promotion out of the BS South last year. They're holding their own so far up in the baby Premier league. We've played them twice and drew both times, that would have been two seasons ago though. We're heavy favorites and I get Sam Sloma into the lineup in place of German to get him some work. Sidibe starts yet again in the back of the defense.


20': Harsanyi with the ball well outside of the box, he draws the defense, gets it to Sole who takes it up a bit further, he gets it back to Harsanyi in the box, if he could have shot immediately he had a clear look... but he needs a touch to control it and the defense gets it back for a corner. It was pretty looking though :/


24': Near breakaway by Eastleigh. Thomas hurries back and forces a tough shot. That's Eastleigh's first shot of the match. We have 7, but only 1 on target.

30': A very quick counter by Eastleigh leads to a thunderous shot off the post. Whew.

33': Sole with a poachers cut to the goal, O'Sullivan hits him, our 2nd clear cut chance of the match, but its saved and put behind for a corner. Corner comes to nothing.

HALF: Still scoreless. Ricketts and Thomas both picked up little knocks to their fitness. We're going to be very worn out in the back by the time this is over. O'Sullivan and Clarke have looked pretty good, Harsanyi and Sole both have had more than 1 legit scoring chance. Hopefully the pressure we're putting on will wear them down and get it done.

50': Counter for us, Harsanyi runs down the right side, hits an open Sole with no one between him and the keeper... and a shot goes right off the keeper. Seriously needed to finish there. 0 for 3 on clear cut chances.

55': Pulis hits Sole about 30 yards out, Sole runs right up the gut and makes one nice turn, he's got 3 defenders closing but finds the space for a shot just as he gets into the penalty area.. this is WAY tougher than his other chances but he puts this one by the keeper! 1-0

55': Ricketts moves to DC, Anane in for Thomas.

61': Maledon in for O'sullivan, who is both tired and has a yellow. German in for a tired Sloma.

69': Some buildup in the middle, a ball forward to Harsanyi who makes a good run with a defender draped on him. He centers for Sole who puts home a very nice volley into the left side of the net. 2-0


Woking 2 : 0 Eastleigh

We hold the ball, fend off some desparation attacks, and kill the final 25 minutes successfully.

Sole's 2 goals earn him an 8.8 and man of the match.

Ricketts and Clarke put up a 7.2 and 7.3, everyone else in in the 6.7-6.9 range. Pulis and Harsanyi earn the assists today.


we take first back over with our win. Wrexham, who beat us 4-1 last match, beat Rushden, another top squad, 6-0 today. Holy crap! Their star striker, Marc Williams, scored 4 goals today. He now has 11 in 9 matches.

A nice recovery for us today after our first loss.

[Radii]

Mark Cullen picks up the flu. I send him home so he doesn't infect the whole team and he'll be unavalable for a couple matches.

September 17th, 2011

Woking (7-1-1, 1st) @ Accrington (1-4-4, 18th)

Accrington aren't allowing many goals, just 9... but they've somehow only managed to score 6. they got demoted from League 2 last year and don't seem motivated to get back up just yet.

Accrington are very, very slight favorites at home regardless (6-4 vs our 13:8). German starts at the AML slot today.


11': Accrington get two men ahead, Lynch with a great job to block the first shot, and our defense catches up to clear the rebound... we should be down 1-0.

13': Midfielder Proctor for Accrington picks up a yellow tripping Sole.

28': Accrington catches our defense totally by surprise on a long ball... they get a striker one on one with Lynch, Lynch comes off his line and deflects a shot behind. We should be down 2-0. I give the "drop deeper" instruction to hopefully prevent this from happening again.

33': Thomas with a missed interception on a cross coming in from the left side. Accrington Striker Fletcher does a great job running onto it and putting it into the right side of the net. 0-1

HALF: What a terrible half. Sidibe, Thomas, Harsanyi and Sole are all under 6.0, we're really playing awful here. We're being outshot 9-3 and we haven't put a single shot on goal yet. Lynch has really saved us today, we could be down 3 or 4. Ricketts moves to the middle of the defense, Anane in for Sidibe.

56': We have some very nice buildup near the box and things get very crowded... in the end Ademola is trying to pass the ball across the box and one of Accrington's defenders gets a leg on it and it richochet's into the net!! Own goal! 1-1

62': I've mentioned it before, but if German had better control over the ball he'd be unstoppable. O'Sullivan finds him in acres of space as the play by play tells us, but his awful first touch sends the ball to the keeper.

75': Corner for Accrington, Lynch rushes out to try to pick up the cross, he misses, they have a header on the open net.. and hit the post.

76': Sloma in for Harsanyi. German moves to the striker position, Sloma AML.

79': Ricketts misses a header on an in swinging cross, Accrington midfielder Burgess heads it by Lynch. 1-2

81': WOWOWOW. Sloma with a cross into the middle. Its headed away down to the right corner. Anane busts his ass to run onto it and crosses it back in on a fully volley. Its a gorgeous cross and German gets his head on the ball inside the 6 yard box and it goes into the back of the net! The cross by Anane is one of the best plays I've ever seen at this level. 2-2


Accrington 2 : 2 Woking


Accrington manages 18 shots, 7 on target, and somehow only comes away with 2 goals. They generate 5 clear cut chances and don't finish well enough. By contrast we only have 5 shots, just 1 on target, just 1 clear cut chance. There's an own goal... I said it multiple times during the match, we should have lost 4 or 5 to 1 here.

German(7.4) and O'Sullivan(7.3) and Anane(6.9 in only a half) are worth pointint out... Lynch only managed a 6.5 despite his saves. Thomas and Sidibe were both embarrassing and I gave them the "disappointing" pep talk.


We stay up in first.

Every team has played 10 matches now:

1. Woking 23 pts
2. Cheltenham 23 pts
3. Wrexham 21 pts
4. Kettering 19 pts
5. Rushden 19 pts
6. Newport 18 pts
7. Cambridge 17
8. Macclesfield 17
9. Stevenage 17 pts
10. Kidderminster 16 pts

[Radii]

September 20th, 2011

Stevenage (5-2-3, 9th) @ Woking (7-2-1, 1st)

Stevenage are our top rivals. They are favored on the road based on reputation, we're considered quite lucky to be in first right now. Sadly Arter, Fenton and Cullen are still just a few days away from being ready. We're going to be at a pretty severe fitness disadvantage today.

Stevenage owned us last season, outscoring us 5-1 in two decisive victories.

I start Ricketts at DC today and leave Sidibe out of the lineup. Anane is my right side defender, and I have 3 guys from the reserve squad ready to come in off the bench to provide some fresh legs if necessary. I can't say I'm thrilled to be doing this for a rivalry game but it seems necessary on such short rest.

I open the match in an attacking mindset, willing to take risks at home early while we're still fresh.

2': Brilliant run by Harsanyi down the left side on a counter, brilliant pass across the box to Ademola, brilliant save by the keeper... doh!

5': Great turn by Harsanyi to get free near the box, he runs into the penalty area but doesn't strike it... he hasn't scored in a few matches, his confidence may be suffering? Instead he runs deep and lays it off for Anane who can't finish.

21': Yellow for midfielder Bostwick for a hard tackle on O'Sullivan. There will be more cards coming, that's 9 fouls between the two teams already.

26': O'Sullivan gets the ball to Harsanyi about 25 yards out, Harsanyi with the same great turn to get by the defense and generate a chance. This time he lines it up and fires a shot towards the far post by the keeper! Great goal. 1-0

29': While I'm writing this up, Stevenage earns a corner, Lynch comes out to try to punch away the cross, he fails, and the ball is headed into the net. 1-1

33': Sole with a hard tackle in the midfield... that's a yellow.

HALF: Exciting few minutes there as we each score quick goals. The last 10 minutes was a lot of fouls in the midfield. Sole and Ademola are struggling, Harsanyi is looking great.

65': Sloma in for a tired German. Reserve Anson Cousins in for Sole. Cousins is probably my best reserve player... my coaches don't think he is worth a damn but his numbers are decent imo, I've wanted to get him a little action.

79': Ademola is out, Maledon in. Pulis moves to the right side, Maldeon in the center. I back into a standard 4-4-2 based on the guys I have left out there.

82': O'Sullivan gets us going on a little break, he feeds Cousins who has some room just outside the box on the left side. He could have run at the keeper but it looks like he just panicked and shot from where he was, way wide.

88': Pulis picks up a yellow for a hard tackle.

89': Through ball from about 50 yards out by a Stevenage midfielder... a foward dives onto it and directs it into the net, urgh! 1-2

92': O'Sullivan feeds it into the box after a throwin, Sloma with a great look directly in front of the keeper, but he puts it right on the keeper...

93': Another throw in, Clark with a deep swinging cross from 40 yards out on the left side of the field, it drops to Pulis in the box who strikes it near post, PAST THE KEEPER! 2-2


Woking 2 : 2 Stevenage

I will take that! The downside is that Stevenage only puts two shots on target and they both go in, while we had 14 shots/6 on target/4 clear cut chances... we controlled the match and could have won. But with our depth and fitness issues I am certainly fine with a draw here.

O'Sullivan has an assist, key passes, key headers and dominates as usual, 8.0 and man of the match.

Clarke has an assist and a 7.7 rating. Pulis(7.3) and Harsanyi(7.5) score teh goals. Sole is the only true poor performer with a 5.7 rating.


Wrexham and Cheltenham both win and drop us down to 3rd.

[Radii]

September 24th, 2011

Woking (7-3-1, 3rd) @ Newport Co(5-4-2, 6th)

Newport were our main competition in the Blue Square South the year we won. They finished 2nd and won the playoffs. They finished 15th last year in the BS Premier, a few places ahead of us. We're 2-1-1 with 4 goals for/2 against over our two years with Newport.

Newport are 5-4 favorites at their place today.

I start the same lineup from last match, but Cullen/Arter/Fenton are available... just not fully rested up yet. There is a very good chance that Fenton and Cullen play at least 30 minutes heh.

35': Each team with 4 shots, we dominate possession but are really not getting good looks, struggling to break down the D at all. I try the rarely used(by me at least) Control strategy... trying to frustrate and draw out the defense to get some openings.

HALF: Yeah, still the same. Sloma in for a complacent German at the half.

58': Pulis is hurt on a challenge in the midfield... I have a bad feeling about this one, his fitness got knocked down to 45%. Arter in immediately for him.

73': Best chance i've seen all day... Ademola with a beautifully threaded pass to Sole who is running into the box, he has a half step on his man but the defender makes a great sliding tackle to save the chance.

77': Great give and go by Newport, Lynch makes a fingertip save on a tough shot.

78': I really want to bring Cullen in... but I have to sub a midfielder. O'Sullivan is exhausted, Maledon in for him.

89': 3rd match in a row we've conceded a goal on a corner I believe. Cross, header, poor defense, poor positioning by the keeper. Bad all the way around. 0-1


Newport Co 1 : 0 Woking

Disappointing loss today. No one stood out as having a good match at all here. We only put 2 shots on target all match. We controlled 57% of the possession but Newport generated more chances, more shots on target, more clear cut chances and obviously the only goal.

I am very pleased to see Arter, Cullen, and Fenton all available again. Fenton will shore up the defense right away I hope and the other two will allow me the chance to sit a player if he isn't doing well, or just needs a break.

Newport jump to 4th with the win today. We stay in 3rd but are not 5 points out of Cheltenham in first. There isn't a whole lot of room for a mediocre run if you want to stay near the top of the table, so we need to snap out of our little funk here right quick(1-2-2 in our last 5).

[Radii]

Anthony Pulis is going to miss about 2 weeks after the bruised thigh he suffered from a hard tackle in our last match. We've got a little bit of a breather here so he might only miss two matches.

October 1st, 2011

Altrincham (1-3-8, 24th) @ Woking (7-3-2, 3rd)

We are, no surprise, massive favorites here and need to avoid a letdown against a weaker side as much as anything. We've played them 3 times, winning 2 and losing 1.

Cullen starts for Sole - Sole hasn't been doing great so far, Cullen has the same amount of goals in far far less time

Arter starts at MC for the injured pulis

Fenton, thank god, is back in the lineup. Ricketts back to DR, Anane back to the bench after some useful work.


2': Fenton goes to close down a man at midfield when there's another guy running free... one very simple pass and an attacker runs 30 yards behind the defense by himself, beating Lynch one on one. 0-1 Ridiculous.

7': Throwin deep i nour area... a pass to striker Kalala in front of the net, he stands there seemingly forever(just a moment in reality I'm sure) without getting closed down on, strikes to the far post, goal. 0-2

10': Cullen runs in front of the penalty area, draws the defense a little out of position, passes back to O'Sullivan, who puts a good ball forward for Ademola, near post strike, GOAL. 1-2

31': A quick counter after an attacking attempt... Rickets to O'Sullivan who lays a ball nicely into the box. Cullen runs onto it and takes a good angle to the far post by the keerp. 2-2

34': O'Sullivan to Cullen for another easy goal, but he was very clearly offsides, meh.

41': O'Sullivan feeds Harsanyi who puts a shot on the keeper despite two defenders on him, but a nice save.

44': O'Sullivan to Arter after a throwin, nothing special here, just movign the ball around... Arter strikes from 30 yards out and surprises everyone, including the keeper. Its in the net! 3-2

46': Harsanyi feeds Cullen for another offside goal. Again, clearly offsides.

HALF: WHEW. Well then, that was fun. Conceding two terrible goals in the first 7 minutes, getting the ball into the net FIVE times the rest of the way, though only 3 counted. So yeah, 3-2 halftime lead.

46': German gets a yellow for a rough tackle on the wing.

49': Clarke with a nice long pass to Harsanyi, he hits German cutting in from the left wing, German with a beautiful strike just barely inside the far post! 4-2

54': Yellow for Kalala, one of their goal scorers. A minute later he commits another foul, oh to be red, but nope.

64': O'Sullivan with a pass from just within midfield forward for German, a missed interception by a defender, the ball settles in the perfect spot for German to run on to, he dribbles once and puts it past the keeper. 5-2

69': Free kick for us from the left side, practically a corner kick really, after a foul. German passes to Thomas, essentially a short corner. Its not defended at all, Thomas lines up a shot and puts it past the keeper to the near post. 6-2

74': Anane in for Ricketts, Sloma in for German, Sidibe in for Fenton. "German receives a standing ovation" as he comes off.


Woking 6 : 2 Altrincham


Well I'm more than a little annoyed that we were so flat at the start, but luckily this is a terrible team and once we woke up we were able to do this to them...

Antonio German scores 2 goals and has 1 assist for a 9.2 rating and man of the match.

Joe O'Sullivan has FOUR ASSISTS for a 9.1 rating.

Harsanyi (8.3/1 assist), Cullen (8.1/1 goal), Arter(8.1/1 goal), Ademola (8.0/1 goal), Thomas (7.8/1 goal), Ricketts(7.4), Clarke(7.4), and Fenton(7.0) are noteworthy as well. Only the subs and the keeper(6.9) didn't put on a good showing today.

[Radii]

As we enter October, the board is "Very Pleased" with my leadership of the team. Concerns about Sam Sloma's performances are mentioned as the only negative. We lost $70k last month but no one seems to care about that.

My job status is "Very Secure"

In addition to our clearly superb BS Premier run, we'll see the FA Cup and FA Trophy start for us this month, we have expectations to win a game or two in each.

[Radii]

Woking dominate the team of the week in the BS Premier League. German, Arter, and O'Sullivan make up 3/4 of the midfield, and Harsanyi is in at striker.

Injury

ugggggggh. "Joe O'Sullivan has suffered a groin strain after the central midfielder attempted a sprint during training today"

Out 4 weeks. There isn't a single player on the team more important imo. The only other guy I come close to trusting in his role is Pulis, who is out for another 10 days or more himself.


October 8th, 2011

Woking (8-3-2, 3rd) @ Kettering(6-5-2, 5th)

We played Kettering twice last year, winning one, losing once. They are slight favorites at their place, both teams are considering to be overachieving at this point.

Great News going into the match, Anthony Pulis returned to training earlier than expected and is fit enough to come in off the bench if need be today. Maledon and Arter start in the midfield though. I give Arter a supporting role instead of the attacking one that O'Sullivan is allowed.

I open in a defensive mindset and tell our boys to retain possession. This works great with O'Sullivan, we'll see if Arter/Maledon working it around can give us 65% possession and find openings at the same time.

7': Arter gets it to Cullen who makes a great cutback move to generate an open shot. Its deflected wide by the keeper, we fail on the corner.

10': Ricketts is way forward... especially given the defensive strategy. But he puts in a great cross and German gets his head to it... off the left post.

19': Corner to Kettering.. a cross into the box, midfielder Dempster heads it in, Lynch is nowhere near the ball at any point during that play, and no one was anywhere near Dempster. 0-1

21': A random shot from 25 yards out before we can close down is put into the right side of the net... ouch. 0-2

24': A long pass is deflected very slightly by Arter before settling near the penalty spot in front of Kettering's top striker O'Flynn. I think our entire team assumed he was long offsides? Thomas and Fenton appeared to be standing around watching the grass grow as he put it into the net. 0-3


After falling behind early here, I switched to commentary only, as this is my last game of the night and I'm pushing it a bit for this one, so the early deficit was good excuse to just end this one ASAP.

Boy did it get out of hand. Ricketts scored a goal before the first half ended, but then Kettering score on a counter attacking goal, then a penalty, then a corner... to crush us 6-1. This is one of those places where I should probably play for the closer loss instead of attack like its do or die, but I always forget about that until things are out of hand :)

Kettering 6 : Woking 1

Nick Fenton puts up the lowest rating I can ever remember seeing in a FM match... 3.9. Thomas 4.9, most others in the 5's. Oof.


I'm out of town tomorrow til Friday, so this should pick back up next weekend.

[SirFozzie]

If I got a 3.9 on my team, the very least I would do is warn them, if not fine them a week's wages. (interact with player)

[Radii]

If I got a 3.9 on my team, the very least I would do is warn them, if not fine them a week's wages. (interact with player)

ohh i hadn't thought about that. I saved it immediately after the end of the match, still haven't done post match press conference or anything. I'll definitely be doing that and seeing what happens heh.

[Glengoyne]

I'm pretty sure I've seen a sub four rating for a player in '09. In my case, I was playing a friendly or perhaps a cup match against a team three or four leagues above my own. Their strikers had a field day against my relatively slower defenders, and their ratings suffered.

Nice Dynasty so far. Sloma is a guy that has played on a couple of my teams, and always seems to perform. I like his versatility, as he has played up and down the left side of the pitch for me.

[Radii]

Nice Dynasty so far. Sloma is a guy that has played on a couple of my teams, and always seems to perform. I like his versatility, as he has played up and down the left side of the pitch for me.


Thanks for reading!

Sloma has been a bit weird for me. He starts the game with Woking, so I've had him from the start. My first season I ended up finding success with a very narrow formation and having my play go right through the middle, so Sloma got left out. These last two I've found very good loaners and he's been a versatile reserve, but also a bit injury prone. As long as he's happy with not starting too often I'll be happy to keep him.

[Radii]

FA Cup Fourth Round Qualifying Draw

Our opening match in the FA Cup will be at home against lowly Hampton & Richmond. They were in the BS South with us in 2009/10 but got relegated down. Our expectations are only to make the first round, which I believe we will do if we win this match in a couple weeks.


October 11, 2011

Cambridge(7-6-1, 3rd) @ Woking(8-3-3, 4th)

We are level with Cambridge with 27 points, but we only have a +8 goal differential, the lowest of all the playoff contenders. Cambridge are +14.

Cambridge were expected to be playing this well, we were not, and it shows in the lines, we're a 7-2 dog to win, Cambridge is a heavy 4-6 favorite. We are 0-0-2 against cambridge, losing both times we faced off last year. We have in fact not yet scored a goal against them.

Ademola is a bit tired coming into the match today, I move German to AMR and start Sloma on the left. Pulis and Arter start in the midfield.

I open the match with a defensive mindset.

11': Harsanyi breaks behind his man on a counter and gets far ahead down the right side of the pitch. Cullen is open in the box but Harsanyi's pass isn't quite right... Cullen still gets a shot off but its blocked. A better pass and we lead.

22': Ricketts misses a tackle fairly far out and our defense breaks down. One of their forwards ends up with a clear cut chance inside the box. Lynch rushes out and deflects the shot away, lucky for us.

39': A second clear cut chance for Cambridge, a second fingertip save by Lynch... a poachers cut behind the defense that we defend poorly. A shot on the ensuing corner is off the post.

42': Harsanyi with a good run into the box, the ball is well tackled away though. It falls to German who fires a cross over the crowd. Sloma takes it on the other side of the box and makes a GREAT pass to Harsanyi. He fires a shot that is saved, Harsanyi is fouled after the deflection though!! PENALTY! Sloma takes it and buries it. 1-0


We'll take the 1-0 lead to the locker room. Cambridge has 8 shots, but only 3 on target. We have 4 shots, all 4 on target, 3 of them clear cut chances on goal. We are tired today and I am worried about the second half. I issue the 'retain possession' instruction to try to spend a little more time with the ball.

55': Ricketts and Pulis with good defensive plays to get the ball out of the box after a dangerous through ball and a subsequent short corner.

58': Lynch again! Cambridge forward Frank Wiafe Danquah breaks behind the defense and Lynch has to make a 1 on 1 save. Wiafe Danquah has 8 goals in 12 matches for Cambridge and is a huge threat, Lynch is making some huge saves today.

61': Ademola in for a tired German, Maledon in for Arter

68': Fresh sub Willmont charges down the right side of the field for Cambridge, makes a great cross and Striker Lindfield heads it into the net... a very clean run and clean cross and great header that we just don't seem to generate ourselves. Yuck! 1-1

68': Sole in for Cullen, who isn't playing well at all. I was considering subbing into a 5-4-1 to try to hold the lead, but yeah, not now.

74': I move into a standard mindset, we haven't taken a shot all half.

75': WHOA! Pulis with a free kick from midfield, he lays it off to Maledon, Maledon with a great long pass to Harsanyi just outside the box. Harsanyi has tons of space, has a great first touch to control it, and fires a shot past the keeper from ~20 yards out!!! 2-1

80': After another long run by Willmont for Cambridge that we barely cut out, I decide its time to turtle. Contain/retain possession.


Woking 2 : Cambridge 1

We hold on for a big win against a playoff favorite!

Zoltan Harsanyi is clear man of the match winner today with an 8.5 rating. Ricketts (7.2) and Pulis(7.0) are the only others that stand out. I don't see how Lynch doesn't rate more highly.

Harsanyi is credited with a goal and an assist. Sloma has our 2nd goal, and Maledon our other assist. The difference in the number of chances we generate without O'Sullivan in the middle is striking. He's the only MC we have that can send through balls up the middle with any success. We shot 7 times, 6 on target. Cambridge managed 18 shots but only 7 on target.



After the match, we move into 3rd. We're 5 points out of first and tied with Wrexham for 2nd, but behind on goal differential.

[Radii]

October 15th, 2011

Woking(9-3-3, 3rd) @ Gainsborough(5-7-3, 10th)

Gainsborough are slight favorites at home today. We're 1-1-0 in our only two matches so far against them.

We luck out a bit, striker Bob Davidson has 8 goals and 5 assists for Gainsborough this year so far, but he's hurt and is going to be out for awhile.

Pulis/Arter start again in the MC slots. German/Ademola back at AML/AMR, and Sole is back in at striker instead of Cullen, who has not done well his last couple starts.

MR John Melligan seems the player to watch for Gainsborough, he's their top rated player and scores and passes well.

9': Gainsborough shoot 3 times in the first 5 minutes, we get out first look after short buildup, Harsanyi takes the ball about 25 yards out, he's got a man on him, but he turns and fires a rocket that hits the right post. Sole gets a look after we get possession back but has a shot blocked.

12': Boulding, a very average striker in for their injured star, gets a step on our defense and has a breakaway. he perhaps shoots a little too soon, but Lynch makes another great save after our defense fails us.

uh yeah... HALFTIME: We officially have 1 shot, Sole's second shot mentioned above was offsides. Gainsborough has 6, but only 1 on target.

Anane comes in for Ricketts at the half.

48': Pulis with a yellow, he's picked up about 6 fouls today, it was due.

53': Sole takes a throwin just past midfield and makes a brilliant run through the defense, getting all the way into the area by himself and generating a pretty darn good chance... but its saved.

61': Sloma in for a tired(and carded) Pulis. We still need to find a way to generate more shots today.

65': Our second shot on goal... sole with a nice little cross to Ademola in the box who fires a shot on target, but easily saved.

81': Maledon in for German, Maledon in the center/Sloma moves out wide.

84': Defender Taylor for Gainsborough picks up a yellow for tripping Sole.


Gainsborough 0 : 0 Woking

They take 7 shots, we take 5. Each puts only 2 on target all match. The end. James Taylor, one of their defenders, takes man of the match honors.

Thomas(7.5), Clarke(7.2), Pulis(7.0) and Sole(7.0) stand out for us.

Gainsborough tackled amazingly well. Sole's poacher cuts to the goal were not there. We didn't have possession of the ball in spots to try to feed him, they just took the ball away from us whenever we got close. We didn't defend them the same way... we defended the mdifield well and forced bad through balls up ahead that we easily took over... but if they did get past our midfield they usually managed a shot.

Either way, we will take a draw on the road against a decent team.

A loss by Wrexham moves us up to 2nd for now. Its very very tight though:

1st: Cheltenham - 38 pts
2nd: Woking - 31 pts
3rd: Rushden - 31 pts
4th: Cambridge - 30 pts
5th: Wrexham - 30 pts
6th: Newport Co - 29 pts
7th: Macclesfield - 29 pts
8th: Kettering - 27 pts
9th: Kidderminster - 27 pts

8 teams within 4 points of 2nd. Cheltenham threatening to run away with things, but we're barely 1/3 of the way done.


We get a bit of a breather, a week off before our FA Cup match.

[Radii]

October 22nd, 2011

FA Cup 4th Round Qualifying - Hampton & Richmond @ Woking

We're massive 1-6 favorites here. I make sure to get anyone who is losing match fitness into the lineup today. Hopefully it won't matter. H&R plays a flat 3-4-3 format.

2': Right, of course. 60 yard pass with a perfect run up the left side by H&R attacker Onwubiko. He is a step onside when the long ball is lifted and is 10 yards behind the defense when he picks up the ball and beats the keeper. 0-1 A poor pass by Ademola is said to lead to the counterattack... but it was well in their end, I don't like the "mistake led to goal" declaration there.

21': Lord... a through ball makes it to an attacker for H&R for a clear cut chance that luckily is pushed wide. A missed interception in the back by Fenton is the reason.

36': Right again. Sidibe misses a tackle in the box and that leads to goal #2. We are not doing well at all here. We have 4 guys "playing nervously" and "playing without confidence" 0-2

39': Yellow for Anane near midfield.

HALF: Down 2-0 i question the team's passion. Thomas in for Sidibe. Sidibe was a fine backup last year for a little while... he's turned into a complete disaster this year.

56': Cullen breaks by a defender and earns our first clear cut chance on goal, but the keeper does a good job to deflect his shot. Sloma goes after the rebound but doesn't get there first. He picks up a yellow.

62': Arter in for Ademola, German in for Sloma. I go for a more aggressive 4-3-3 to try to generate some offense.

64': Sole hits German for a breakaway goal, but he's offsides. I was 90% sure he was offsides before it was announced, ah well.

70': Pulis with a great ball into the box for Cullen, Cullen gets behind the defense and lays the ball past the far post! 1-2

After the goal... which I also expected to be called back due to offsides when I saw it, H&R protest wildly. Three H&R players get yellows before the kickoff. I don't think Ive ever seen that before!

82': Time to press hard on offense and take risks... this is embarrassing.

85': Second goal for Onwubiko, cross/header/goal/sigh. 1-3

86': Cullen runs down the right side with the ball, he crosses it into the middle, German uses his speed and gets there first a step before the defense and finishes! 2-3

90': Counter goal for H&R. this is goofy. 2-4

92': We hold the ball very briefly after kickoff to get men forward, Cullen finds German again for a goal. this is really goofy. 3-4


Woking 3 : 4 Hampton & Richmond


I did two things I don't usually do before this match. First, I brought in 4 subs simply to get them playing time. second, I told the team I expected them to win pre-match. I did of course, but I wonder how badly that tightened them up.

Pulis plays great in the middle and earns a 9.0 rating and man of the match in the loss. No goals/1 assist but a number of key pases.

Cullen has 2 assists and a goal for a 9.0. German with 2 goals and an 8.6 rating in 30 minutes.

Fenton (5.9), Sidibe(5.7), Ademola(5.8), Sole(5.6)...

This is the second year in a row that my team has choked horribly in our opening FA Cup match, failing to meet expectations.

[Radii]

We set a record for $70k in gate receipts from our match against H&R. Oops. The fans were out today and will be very disappointed.

Our next match on October 29th against Darlington has been chosen for our fan day to attract new fans. Hopefully we show the fans something better than the crap we just put out there.

Injury

Hey look, Sam Sloma is hurt in training. He's going to miss 4 weeks with a thigh strain. Sloma offers such good utility but is so injury prone.


October 29th, 2011

Darlington(5-6-5, 12th) @ Woking(9-4-3, 2nd)

we're at home but our form has dropped off a little bit and Darlington is favored against us very slightly. We've never beaten Darlington. We're 0-1-2 against them.

The best news of the week.. Joe O'Sullivan is back to full strength. He probably can't play the whole game today but I really dont' care, he's in the lineup. We're back to an ideal lineup with O'Sullivan and Pulis at MC, German/Ademola forward, and Cullen/Harsanyi at striker.

7': Darlington is playing a very defensive match so far. O'Sullivan, welcome back buddy. He's had a shot just hit the crossbar and go over, and placed a pass to Cullen in the midst of about 17 defenders(probably 4, but yeah...) for an effort that I don't think anyone else on the team can generate.

25': We have 4 shots, they have 1, all off target. We're dominating possession and such but no really great chances.

27': Cullen lays a ball off for Harsanyi, he gets it behind the defense but has a poor first touch on the ball, he still gets a clear cut chance out of it but its about 2 yards closer to the keeper than it needed to be... deflected and we come away empty.

43': Crazy corner for Darlington... its played to the far post, headed to someone on the near post, headed at Lynch, he saves it but deflects it out in front of the net, and its put into the net. 0-1

HALF: We're down 1-0, we dominate possession but can't get shots on target, just the one by Harsanyi. Darlington has the one good corner for a goal.

51': Yellow for Darlington Midfielder Byrne. He'd committed a bunch of fouls and was due.

59': Cullen with a bit of a breakaway, he has to take a shot from 20 yards out though and its nicely saved. corner comes to nothing.

74': Sole in for Cullen, Ricketts is tired, Anane in for him, we start to attack more.

81': O'Sullivan with a nice forward ball, Ademola centers it and Harsanyi with our second clear cut chance but he puts a header wide... we really should have scored there. O'Sullivan is tired and comes out after that, Arter is in.

84': Harsanyi with a great pass up ahead to Ademola, Ademola cuts to the goal from his right side position and puts a shot to the far post by the keeper! 1-1

87': Pretty much the same play, Ademola with a great run from the right side, but this time he's offsides. I don't buy it, looked clean to me!

89': Harsanyi with a yellow trying to win the ball back deep in their end.

93': One last corner for us in injury time, Thomas with a header well over the bar. Oh well.

Woking 1 : 1 Darlington

I'd like to get the win here at home, but after falling behind early I guess I have to take the draw.

Ademola earns man of the match with his goal and an 8.0 rating. Harsanyi's assist earns him a 7.6, Clarke, Thomas, Pulis 7.0 each.

Each team had 3 clear cut chances, 3 shots on target, and 1 goal. We dominated late to get 14 shots to their 8, but just not enough close range/on target.


Today was our fan day, and we drew 3278 fans, around 950 people more than our average. An exciting match is thought to be a good thing for fan interest.


Cambridge and Rushden wins drop us to 4th.

[Radii]

We get some good training reports coming into november. Our keeper, Kevin Lynch, raises his positioning ability up to 11, and composure to 9. He's got great reflexes and handling, its great to see him improving on his mental abilities.


Additionally, the board remains very pleased with my job overall. However, there is some slight concern that Lynch, Sole, and Ademola are slumping a little, and major concern over Nick Fenton. I think some of this is due to the aftereffects of our horrible 6-1 loss and once we get past that we'll be fine again.


November 1st, 2011

Maidenhead(5-4-8, 16th) @ Woking(9-5-3, 4th)

We're on a long home stretch here and not doing well enough during it IMO. We're only small favorites here but its a home match against a team not playing well. We've played these guys twice, a 1-0 win and a 0-0 draw.

With the short rest, I make a couple changes... Harsanyi/German AML/AMR, Sole and Cullen strikers. Reserve ML Josh Coke will probably get into the game for a bit.


14': Antonio German goes in hard on a guy from behind... no need, just possession in the midfield. its a RED CARD. Down to 11. I change us up into a 4-3-2 formation. Arter comes in for Cullen. Arter ML/O'Sullivan MC/Pulis MR. Sole and Harsanyi up front.

18': Sole with a great run, he's got a defender draped all over him but runs into the box with the ball, cuts across the goal looking for a shot. He finally takes it from the left side of the penalty area, but its saved. A corner comes to nothing.

33': Despite 10 v 11 we're really in control here. We've managed 7 shots, 3 on target, just 1 put on target by Maidenhead so far. Of course if we don't manage to get ahead the longer it goes the more we'll wear down.

36': There it is! O'Sullivan is controlling things in the middle, he hits Pulis on the right side, a great poachers cut by Sole, Pulis threads the ball by two defenders to Sole who finishes well. 1-0

HALF: Given the red card I have to be real pleased with how we're doing so far. Maidenhead is very timid and we're taking the 'good offense is the best defense' approach. No changes at the half.

49': O'Sullivan finds Harsanyi who places a great shot from about 22-23 yards out, the keeper makes a great save though. Corner comes to nothing.

50': Pulis with a yellow on a challenge in midfield.

58': Thomas takes a free kick from just outside the box after O'Sullivan is fouled. He fires the ball into the wall. It falls to Fenton in the right side of the box who fires an on target shot but its not going to score... interesting connection on offense between our two central defenders.

65': Great pass by Sole into the box for Harsanyi, he gets our 4th clear cut chance of the match but doesn't do anything at all with it, just fires it right into the arms of the keeper. Another "really should have scored" moment.

69': O'sullivan and Harsanyi are tired and sit. Coke in at ML, Arter to the center of the midfield. Ademola takes over at striker for Harsanyi. I consider a 4-4-1 but I really think if we don't keep pressing that we're going to start giving up shots constantly and will let them tie it up.

83': Terrible backpass by a Maidenhead defender. Sole charges the ball and has a one on one with the keeper starting outside the box, and I really want to just strangle the dude right now. No confidence? He just ran at the keeper and he's been a great finisher for me for 2 years now but he just loses it here and keeps running til its too late and pokes it like 3 yards wide.


Woking 1 : 0 Maidenhead

We're way way better than Maidenhead, and managing to win with 10 men on the field for almost 80 minutes is a good sign of that.

Pulis is player of the match with an 8.2 rating today. O'Sullivan 7.5, Thomas 7.3, Lynch 7.3, Ricketts 7.3, Clarke 7.2 Our goal scorer, Sole, only puts up a 6.9.

Back to second with our win today. Cheltenham loses on the road to Kidderminster, we're still 6 points behind them though.

[Radii]

GK Kevin Lynch is named to the BS Premier team of the week for the first time ever(I think at least!). Anthony Pulis played great this week as well and is on the team.

Antonio German is suspended two league matches for his red card. Reserve ML Josh Coke will stay up with the senior team but won't start.

I get a message that the loan and free transfer window is about to end for this period. I was confused, apparently, because i thought it was already closed. Apparently that was just the regular transfer window... I thought I was waiting for the new year to try to snag a couple extra players to cover holes left by injuries and such. I make a few loan offers and look to sign one new player, more on that if it happens.


November 12th, 2011

Woking (10-5-3, 2nd) @ Crawley(4-6-8, 19th)

Based on performance so far, I'd expect to be favored, but the oddsmakers like Crawley at home today. They beat us twice last year. Crawley has been in this league since 04/05, finishing as high as 8th and as low as 17th.

Harsanyi is AML, Ademola AMR, Sole/Cullen up top with German serving his suspension.

Striker Charles Ademeno leads Crawley in goals(6) and is up there in assists(5). He has no bravery and a very weak left foot, we'll try to exploit both of those and keep him off his game today.


25': 5 shots for us... all from long range. 3 of them were on free kicks from 20-25 yards so that's defensible. I tell the guys to work it into the box though. Nothing remotely close to a threat yet.

45': Midfielder Quinn collides hard with O'Sullivan. He rolls over and isn't getting up. He's not coming back from this one today. Arter is in for O'sullivan and we'll keep our fingers crossed for the injury report after the match.

HALF: This is boring! Neither team has placed a shot on target yet.

50': Arter takes a knock after a hard challenge... he can stay in and only loses a little fitness, hopefully he's fine.

52': Yellow card for midfielder Quinn, the guy that hurt O'Sullivan. :P

55': Crawley put the first shot on target all match. I was in the tactics screen and missed it. Harsanyi moves to striker, Sole is out, Coke is in at AML. Sole playing like crap lately.

58': O Lord. Cullen is tackled hard on a run down the left sideline... he's hurt and needs treatment.

63': 30 minutes left and I've used all my subs... Maledon in for Cullen who is hurt worse than Arter. I drop back to a classic 4-4-2, Coke/Arter/Maledon/Pulis. Ademola/Harsanyi strikers. Hope no one else gets hurt.

71': Crawley has dominated this half, maybe because they've injured nearly 1/3 of our side. They have 5 shots on target to our zero.

75': Thomas gets a clear look off a short corner but puts it barely wide. Still no on target shots today.

78': Ademola finds Harsanyi who runs by his man and has a solid strike at the near post, fingertip save by the keeper, so close! Our first on target shot all match. Corner comes to nothing as usual.


Crawley 0 : 0 Woking

Arter is hurt further on a sliding challenge late in the match. We spend most of the rest of the way defending, though neither team puts another shot on target in the final 15 minutes.

Jordan Clarke earns man of the match honors in defense today with a7.3 rating. Ricketts 7.2, Thomas 7.0. Ademola and Sole are slightly under 6, both seem to be struggling a lot lately.


Injuries

Joe O'Sullivan will need to be sent to a specialist for a hip injury he suffered today. He's out for 3 months. If treated by the team it could have been up to 6 months, so that's good i guess??

Harry Arter sustains a gashed leg following the late tackle and is going to miss 3-4 weeks.

Mark Cullen is out for about 2 weeks with a bruised thigh.


Luckily, I'd taken steps to fill some gaps recently and they come through after the match.

[Radii]

New Acquisitions

AM RC Lee Keehan - 3 month LOAN from Bournemouth

I wanted someone who could play in Ademola's place besides Antonio German. Ademola has been struggling and needs some pressure(or perhaps a replacement on the right side for awhile). Keehan isn't the best passer i nthe world(7), but he can place a great cross(14), dribble well(11), has a nice first touch and can take free kicks. 11 pace/12 accel, great natural fitness. He's also determined, a hard worker and exhibits good teamwork, plays well off he ball, a guy who shows some promise. He's very young, only 17. We'll see how that plays out.


AM RL/ST Romone Rose - 3 month LOAN from QPR

Rose is a guy who played extremely well for me last season. I tried to loan him in at the start of the year but QPR said no. They've had a change of heart and I fully welcome it. 15 pace/12 accel, determined, creative with decent flair. 14 dribbling/13 finishing. 11 long shots. A little lacking in other mental areas, but at this level rose has proven to be great. He scored 9 goals and averaged over a 7 rating last year for us in 34 matches.


MC Chris Herd - FREE TRANSFER

Herd is a 22 year old. In 09/10 he spent 25 matches with Lincoln, puttig up a 6.51 rating. In 08/09 and last season he spent the entire time as a reserve with Aston Villa. They finally decided he won't ever succeed in the EPL and cut him loose.

Herd is a very good athlete. 12 pace/14 accel. 12 agi/12 bal/14 fitness. He's strong mentally, not a single mental attribute under 8. Work Rate 15, Teamwork 12, Decisions 11, Determination 10. Positioning/Off the Ball 9 each. Technically he seems just as solid. 11 dribbling, 11 passing, 12 tackling, 12 technique.



SO, before the injuries last match, I intended to only loan in one of Keehan/Rose, and hoped to sign Herd. Herd is going to make $975/week. I was going to try out a rotation of O'Sullivan/Pulis/Herd, keeping my central midfield fully fresh at all times. Another option would be to convert Pulis fully to the right side of the midfield and run all three.

One last note, the Herd signing puts me ~$900 over budget. Eventually i'll have to deal with that. Selling off Ademola, a guy who makes $1000/wk, 3rd highest on the team (behind Fenton and Harsanyi) seems likely at some point. I'm done for the night though, we'll have a bit of an adventure going forward with 3 big injuries and 3 new players to acclimate in the lineup.

[Radii]

November 18, 2011

Woking (10-6-3, 3rd) @ Macclesfield (10-6-3, 5th)

Macclesfield is a 4-6 favorite at home. They got relegated from League 2 last year. We've never played them before. Their top striker, Lewis Guy, has 8 goals in 19 league matches.

Our Lineup:

GK: Lynch
D: Clarke/Fenton/Thomas/Ricketts
MC: Herd/Pulis
AM: Harsanyi/Ademola
ST: Sole/Rose

Our other new acquisition, Keehan, is available from the bench. Sloma is training again, he's not available today but could get back into the mix soon.

On the road against a good team we will play defensive.

26': Ademola with the first on target shot of the match as he runs across the top of the box trying to find space. We have 3 shots/1 on target. We haven't allowed them a shot at all yet, defense is looking great. I'm really happy to have Rose back too, he seems to fit in so well.

35': Macclesfield take their first shot. They got a good run into the box, Fenton with a sliding tackle to force a corner, they go nuts, i'm sure that will come up post game. They take a shot off the short corner that is wide though.

44': Some serious pressure by the opposition... a shot off the post, a shot saved by Lynch, another shot deflected for a corner... that was a scary minute there.

HALF: Not much so far. 7 shots for Macclesfield, 4 for us, just 3 on target between us both. I sub Maledon in for Herd, who was not playing much soccer (the free transfer) and not match fit.

54': New AM Keehan is in for Ademola

58': We fail on a couple attempts to make clean tackles and clear the ball just outside their box, the ball squirts away from a few guys to their striker Guy who scores a pretty goal from the edge of the box. 0-1

68': Pulis threads a nice pass through the defense to a cutting Keehan. He is onside(barely) and picks the ball up with space, he places it by the keeper! 1-1

69': Harsanyi moves to striker alongside Rose. Sole out, Coke in at AML.


Macclesfield 1 : 1 Woking

Fenton picks up a bit of an injury and we go defensive after that.

Pulis with the assist and a number of key passes in the middle earns him an 8.0 and man of the match. Keehan's goal is worth a 7.2. 7.3 from Clarke, 7.0 from Ricketts.

With the 3 new guys seeing significant action, and with a road game against one of the better teams in the league a draw is a fine result here.

[Radii]

FA Trophy 1st Round Draw

Bad luck for us, we're on the road against another Blue Square Premier side. It's Maidenhead, we're a lot better than them, but I'd rather play a total nobody at home(even though that didn't work out so well in the FA Cup)

November 22nd, 2011

Cheltenham (14-3-3, 1st) @ Woking (10-7-3, 4th)

Cheltenham have only allowed 12 goals in 20 matches. They're slim favorites in our house. Antonio German is still suspended, this is his last match out. I hate to do it but we're on short rest so I make a couple subs... Josh Coke starts at ML. Harsanyi Striker/Rose Striker. Also, Anane is in for Ricketts. Ricketts would be a guaranteed halftime sub if he played.

Cheltenham is led by aging Striker Zephirin Zoko, he's got 7 goals in 16 appearances this year. Noteworthy because I signed Zoko on a free last year but he never settled and played poorly and I was paying way too much to wait on him, so I gave him away to clear his salary. This allowed me to sign O'Sullivan, so no regrets here, but sucks facing him now.

I refuse to play for a tie from the start at home, we're in a standard mindset today.

18': Harsanyi with a quick long attempt from 25 yards out, a rocket that the keeper barely saves... first on target shot for either team.

36': Pulis with a nice pass to Harsanyi about 35 yards out, he puts a ball forward for Rose who runs onto it and strikes it quickly before the defense can close down. He puts it past the keeper for the lead! 1-0

38': Ademola controls the ball wide, fires a cross into the 6 yard box. Their keeper doesn't rush out for it and gets stuck out of position, Harsanyi is first to the ball and heads it into the essentially open net!!! 2-0

43': Herd with a nice ball forward to Ademola. He could have shot, dunno why he didn't, he lays the ball off to Harsanyi for what seems like a much tougher shot to me, but Harsanyi strikes it from the edge of the box with a defender bearing down and nails a solid strike into the back of the net! 3-0

HALF: Well that is one of the best 10 minutes of soccer I have seen in this dynasty! Ricketts comes in for Herd at MC(remember Ricketts is a natural DR but can play the midfield well). Keep it up boys!

50': Fenton picks up a Yellow for a worthless foul way out on the right side of the pitch, yuck.

54': Keehan in for Pulis at MC... he's a better AM but can play central midfield as well. Pulis went down hard in defense a bit ago and I don't want to risk anything with him.

62': After a throwin into the box is deflected away, Ricketts is first to a loose ball about 30 yards out. He drops a pass about 12-15 yards in front of the net, the defense is way out of position, the first one there is Reserve Josh Coke, he strikes it cleanly into the back of the net!!! 4-0

67': While writing up the last goal I see things blinking again. rose is running down the right sidelline, centers the ball for Harsanyi with one defender between him and the keeper. His first touch is great, allowing him to get a clear shot on goal which he easily puts into the net. 5-0 That's a hattrick for Harsanyi!!!

74': Sole in for Rose, who picked up an injury.

75': Cheltenham score off a short corner. 5-1

82': Thomas misses a header on a cross, Clarke with a very, very poor clearance attempt, right to a Cheltenham attacker for a goal. 5-2


Woking 5 : 2 Cheltenham

Quoting from my pre-match notes: "Cheltenham have only allowed 12 goals in 20 matches." .... make that 17 goals in 21 matches :D

With 3 goals and an assist, Zoltan Harsanyi is the clear man of the match winner, 9.6 rating. Rose has a goal and an assist for a 8.4 rating. 2 assists for Ademola earn him an 8.2 rating.

Josh Coke scores his first goal and has a 7.6. Ricketts(7.2/1 ast), Fenton(7.1), Clarke(7.0), and Anane(7.0) also stand out.


We're back to within 5 points of 1st after this win.

[EagleFan]

Nice dynasty (still reading through to catch up). I like your game report formatting much better than when I went with in my WSM09 dynasty.

You mention team size early in the thread. Have you found a preference in any of your time playing, few players versus many? I still haven't found a team size that I like, it seems that no matter which I go with the reverse would have been better (if I have a lotof signed players I end up seing fewer injuries and players getting upset about playing time while if I have few players I end up having to bring players up from reserve or youth quite a bit because of injuries).

[Radii]

Nice dynasty (still reading through to catch up). I like your game report formatting much better than when I went with in my WSM09 dynasty.

Thanks! I had expected to speed things up a bit by now but I am enjoying watching full matches more this year than usual... usually by now I'm dropping back to extended or key highlights to try to plow through things a bit faster.


You mention team size early in the thread. Have you found a preference in any of your time playing, few players versus many? I still haven't found a team size that I like, it seems that no matter which I go with the reverse would have been better (if I have a lotof signed players I end up seing fewer injuries and players getting upset about playing time while if I have few players I end up having to bring players up from reserve or youth quite a bit because of injuries).


At these low levels I have a definite preference to a smaller team size. After the three new signings I mentioned just a couple nights ago, I think I have 20 guys on my roster, so for the first couple months I was running with just 17. That was a mistake on my part though, as I confused the initial "transfer deadline" that hits early in the season with a loan deadline and free transfer deadline too and thought I had screwed myself. I was intending to start small and add a couple players pretty early on as I saw weaknesses or a need for depth.

When I get a rash of injuries I do have a general preference to add depth with 1* high morale guys off my reserve team than with deep bench guys who are pissed off because they are stuck on my bench and can't get any playing time.

A great example is a guy that scored in my last game last night, Josh Coke. He's not really any good, but when Sloma gets hurt and German misses 3 games due to a red+suspension, his morale is superb and he plays his ass off for a couple weeks before giving his spot back up.

I assume at higher levels this won't work at all but in the Blue Square South and Blue Square Premier it seems to work really well.

[Radii]

November 26th, 2011

Woking (11-7-3, 4th) @ Northwich(2-6-13, 23rd)

What's worse than road trap games against horrible teams? Please don't let down please don't let down ;) This is actually the first time we've played Northwich. We're obviously big favorites today.

Harsanyi's explosion last match finally gives us a team leading scorer. Cullen/Sole/Harsanyi all had 6 goals before, now Harsanyi leads us with 9.

German is back from his suspension. He's at AML. Keehan starts at AMR for the first time, Harsanyi/Rose up front.

3': Rose gets the ball at the edge of the box, makes a move to beat his man for an open look, but he puts it wide. Shoulda scored, that was a clear cut chance.

20': Harsanyi receives a pass just past midfield on a counter and has a free run all the way into the box. He gets there, lines up his shot, and the Northwich keeper gets a hand on it to turn it just wide. Should be 2-0.

22': Pulis gets it to Rose in the box, right side of the next at a 45 degree angle and he is unable to put it past the keeper. Deflected away and cleared... that's our 3rd clear cut chance. Finish guys!

HALF: yup... lots of shots actually, including 8 for Northwich, but not a single one on target for them and we had our 3 clear cut chances and really nothing else remotely close. Sloma is in for Herd and we're going to attack harder this half.

49': Midfielder Grand for Northwich picks up a yellow in midfield.

59': Pulis with a ball forward to Harsanyi, he guides it to the left side of the box onto the foot of a charging German who fires a shot that hits the keeper but he can't fully hold onto and it bounces off him and into the net! 1-0

61': Ademola in for a tired Keehan.

70': Maledon in for Pulis to get us a fresh midfield for the final 20 minutes.

74': "Ademola is in a lot of pain. He's on the ground and calling for the trainers" ... and I just used my last sub. Down to 10 for the last 16 minutes. 4-4-1 the rest of the way. German/Sloma/Rose/Maledon midfield...

78': Our 5th clear cut chance on the match. Sloma with a great feed to Harsanyi in the box... shot wide.

80': There we go, Sloma with a low ball well forward from the other side of midfield. Harsanyi is faster than their defense, he breaks from an onside position and gets to the ball first, giving him a 1 on 1 run at the keeper, our 6th clear cut chance, and finally we put the game away! 2-0

84': 7th clear cut chance, a long bending free kick by Thomas that falls to German in the box, a bit of a tight angle, this fell to his feet VERY deep, and he slides it across the front of the net instead of directing it in.

Northwich 0 : 2 Woking

We end up with 7 clear cut chances on goal and only manage 2... but yeah a nice road shutout, getting the win against the poor opponent.

Harasanyi with 1 goal/1 assist for a 7.8 rating and man of the match.

German with a goal and a 7.7 rating. Sloma had our other assist in a 7.3 performance. Rose(7.3), Ricketts(7.5), and Clarke(7.5) great as well. No one is bad by any stretch.

[Radii]

Ademola is only going to miss 6 days after coming off in a ton of pain in our last match.

Ademola and Harsanyi are named to the team of the week this week.


Heading into December, the board remains very pleased. We're about $900/wk over our budget after signing Herd. Transfers won't go through til Jan 1 so I'm still kinda thinking about what to do there, but I am absolutely intending to drop some payroll.


December 3rd, 2011

Southport (5-5-12, 22nd) @ Woking (12-7-3, 3rd)

Another game we really ought to win, and we're nicely favored here. This is the 23rd game of the season, the halfway point. We beat Southport 1-0 at their place earlier in the season, our first ever meeting.

Same lineup as last match. Arter is back to full training and he's avalialbe as a sub for Ademola who is just coming off his short injury.

8': Lynch comes out of the box to pick up a loose ball after a long clearance. He passes forward to Thomas who has a horrid, horrid first touch, the ball bouncing many yards away to a Southport attacker. He's 30 yards out but the net is empty, but he manages to lift the ball over the net and can't put it in. Very very lucky.

23': Harsanyi with the first on target shot of the match, its a long one from a number of yards outside the box, not troubling anyone really.

24': Pulis with a 20 yard pass ahead to Harsanyi, their defense breaks down a bit, its not an easy shot, its another one deep outside the box, 25 yards maybe? But a clean look, the keeper barely saves it. Corner comes to nothing.

32': Herd forward to Harsanyi, he lays a great ball into the right side of the box, Keehan runs onto it and strikes it well but right at the keeper. Corner, shockingly, comes to nothing.


HALF: We've got double the shots, 4 on target shots and 1 clear cut chance, but haven't been able to finish one yet. I give the "disappointing" halftime talk, we really should dominate these guys at home.

63': And this is the worry when we can't put them away early. A deep run by the left side midfielder, a missed tackle by ricketts, a cross into the 6 yard box is headed home past Lynch. 0-1

65': Sole and Sloma in, German and Herd out. Rose moves to AML, Sloma MC(he did well here last match /shrug). Sole at forward along with Harsanyi. German picked up a knock and might be a bit hurt. Herd is just tired.

72': Rose with a cross into the box, its off a defende,r Harsanyi with a seriously forceful strike as it falls to him 18 yards away, but its off the keeper yet again.

75': Rose with a ball in for Harsanyi, again turns and has a solid open look, strikes it very poorly though and the keeper makes the save. Our 2nd clear cut chance, very frustrating!

77': We're building up possession. Pulis with a ball forward. A defender attempts to clear, but he blasts the ball off the body of a midfielder right in front of him. The ball ricochets backwards, the keeper isn't really ready for it, and its off his hands and in. Its credited as an own goal for the keeper. One of the strangest things I've ever seen. 1-1

81': Anane in for a tired Ricketts.

91': Thomas comes well out to try to tackle a Southport attacker 30 yards away. He misses the tackle, their other striker fills the hole that Thomas left, there's a pass, a shot, and a goal. 1-2

94': Ridiculous! Sloma is just a step inside midfield. He launches a ball to the middle of the penalty area. Sole cuts behind the defense, gets to it first and strikes it past the keeper!!! 2-2

Full time is called seconds after the restart.

Woking 2 : 2 Southport

Not good enough boys. It was exciting. Thrilling, even. But against this team, at home, that's not ok. Southport striker Steve Daly scores the first goal and assists on the second, he's man of the match.

Sole with our only goal, 7.1 rating. Sloma with the assist. Clarke puts up a 7.1, and Rose has his first poor match for us with a 5.8. Meh.

[Radii]

I had a huge mid-season writeup disappear last night during the flakiness of OS from NCAA11 day or whatever. Here's another go at it, but I'm sure its shorter.

We're 23 games into the league season, that's the halfway mark.

League Standings

1. Rushden - 16-1-6 - 49 pts
2. Cheltenham - 15-3-5 - 48 pts
3. Cambridge - 12-8-3 - 44 pts
4. Woking - 12-8-3 - 44 pts
5. Newport Co - 12-7-4 - 43 pts
----- <playoff demarcation>
6. Macclesfield - 11-9-3 - 42 pts
7. Kidderminster - 12-5-6 - 41 pts
8. Wrexham - 11-6-6 - 39 pts
9. Kettering - 11-6-6 - 39 pts
10. Accrington - 9-7-7 - 34 pts
11. Darlington - 7-10-6 - 31 pts
12. Ebbsfleet - 7-9-7 - 30 pts
13. Gainsborough - 7-9-7 - 30 pts


That's pretty much a good cutoff for teams in playoff contention. I'm thrilled that we only have 3 losses but we need to turn just a couple of those draws into wins. Of course our expectations going into the season were much lower than this so contending for the playoffs is making everyone really happy anyway.


Scoring Leaders

Sam Smith - Rushden - 16 goals
Marc Williams - Wrexham - 16
Stephen O'Flynn - Kettering - 13
Brian Wake - Gateshead - 12
Frank Wiafe Danquah - Cambridge - 11
Craig Lindfield - Cambridge - 11

Zoltan Harsanyi is amongst a group with 10 goals.


Assists

1. Joe O'Sullivan - Woking - 12
2. Obi Anoruo - Wrexham - 10
t3. Ben Harding - Rushden - 9
t3. David McDermott - Kidderminster - 9
t3. Zoltan Harsanyi - Woking - 9

I had no idea Harsanyi was responsible for creating so many of our goals. O'Sullivan has been hurt a lot and only played 16 matches, so leading the league in assists is awesome.



Other Woking Notables:

MC Anthony Pulis has an 81% pass completion rate, 2nd in the league

DL Jordan Clarke averages 5.26 tackles/game, 4th in the leauge

Joe O'Sullivan's 4 Man of the Match awards is 2nd in the league, as is his 7.60 overall rating.


Woking Goals

Zoltan Harsanyi - 10
Giuseppe Sole - 7
Mark Cullen - 6
Antonio German - 6
Moses Ademola - 4
Aswad Thomas - 2

7 others have 1 goal

Woking Assists

Joe O'Sullivan 12
Zoltan Harsanyi 9
Harry Arter 4
Moses Ademola 3
Anthony Pulis 3
Jordan Clarke 2
Sam Sloma 2

Many others have 1.


O'Sullivan and Harsanyi have 4 Man of the Match awards. Pulis 2. No one else more than one.


Average Ratings

Joe O'Sullivan - 7.60
Zoltan Harsanyi - 7.20
Romone Rose - 7.10 (4 mtches only)
Jordan Clarke - 7.07
Harry Arter - 7.00 (12 matches)
Antonio German - 6.98
Mark Ricketts - 6.96
Anthony Pulis - 6.96
Mark Cullen - 6.89
Lee Keehan - 6.88 (4 matches)
Moses Ademola - 6.78
Chris Herd - 6.78 (4 matches)
Aswad Thomas - 6.77
Giuseppe Sole - 6.74
Sam Sloma - 6.72
Kevin Lynch - 6.69
Ricky Anane - 6.68
Nick Fenton - 6.62
Jerome Maledon - 6.51
Bilal Sidibe - 6.27


Thomas and Fenton as my DC's are a bit low, but I think its fair for my aggressive offensive style to account for that a bit? If I played defensive more often or played a 4-4-2 standard instead of wha the game calls a 4-2-4 the defense would be rated higher I assume...

[Radii]

Contract Renegotiations

I'm currently $825/wk over my allowed budget, so I've got to chop some salary. I found some guys willing to take pay cuts when I started looking, so maybe I'm not going to have to unload anyone after all.

I posted about this in the FM thread today before going forward. I'm not quite sure how it will go yet though, I'm not allowed to offer the full appearance fee some of these guys want.


DC Nick Fenton - Fenton makes $1300/wk now. He's 32, but he hasn't shown signs of his skills degrading yet. He's only asking for $650/wk, but he also wants a $325 appearance fee. Board only allows $250. OFFER: $700/wk - $250 appearance fee

AMR Moses Ademola - 22 years old. Athletic but not very skillful. I like him at this level though generally. Makes $1000/wk right now. Willing to take a pay cut but wants an appearance fee more than I'm allowed to offer. OFFER: $700/wk, $240 appearance, $65 goal bonus.

DC Aswad Thomas - Also willing to take a small pay cut to help the team's finances. Making $825/wk now, willing to re-sign for $650/wk. I offer it.

ST Giuseppe Sole - Very similar to Ademola. making $850/wk now. Willing to drop to $650 but wants an appearance fee bigger than I can offer. I offer $700/wk and $240/appaerance.

MC Anthony Pulis - Makes 1k/wk now. Wants $950/wk going forward. He wants a $500 signing bonus, doesn't much care about appearance fees. I offer it.


I leave it at that for now. I'm hoping enough will accept that I get under budget. These are all 1 year extensions. I've got a few others guys to work with still, including O'Sullivan, Ricketts and Arter. But these first.

[Radii]

Everyone signs their new deals. Maybe I should have tried harder to keep appearance fees down. So far though, the club has been willing to lose money to win as long as we aren't hemorrhaging through salaries. This gets me ~$200/wk under budget. If I could do one more thing I would like to sign another central defender and jettison Bilal Sidibe who is just not working out at all for me.

December 10th, 2011

FA Trophy 1st Round

Woking @ Maidenhead

A push according to the bookies, or thereabouts. 12-8 for Maidenhead, 13-8 for us. Maidenhead are 14th in the BS Premier right now and we beat them 1-0 despite German's red card early in the first half in our only meeting so far this year.

I start Pulis and Arter in my midfield today. Herd will get in on the second half.

22': We're playing defensive on a snowy field today. Maidenhead has generated one clear cut chance but done nothing with it. We only have 1 shot so far, a long shot well wide.

37': Arter with an indirect free kick from 50 yards out. He lays it to Pulis who fires a low ball into the Box. Keehan runs onto it, makes one cut and jukes a defender and puts the ball past the keeper at the near post! 1-0

HALF: Maidenhead has 8 shots, just 1 on target, 5 of them have been blocked by our defenders. We only have 3 shots, also just 1 on target, but ours went in. We're in counter-attacking mode and will probably stay that way.

52': Some buildup by Maidenhead, our defense seems fine. Striker Berry receives a pass about 20 yards out with just a step of space, he turns, fires a ball into the top left corner of the net. Lynch dives but can't get there. 1-1

52': Herd in for Pulis, who got hurt and is a bit ragged.

67': Harsanyi steals a backpass by Maidenhead and starts the coutner attack. He feeds rose and gets it back, charges down the left sideline with the ball, centers it for Herd who fires a quick shot, but the keeper saves. Its considered a clear cut chance, the angle was tough but a striker probably puts it in.


We stay in counter attacking mode, I really just don't want to give up a goal here on the road. Maidenhead only manages 1 second half shot. We get a few more but outside of the one clear cut shot for Herd, we don't seriously threaten.

Maidenhead 1 : 1 Woking

Antonio German earns a 7.7 and man of the match.

Keehan with a 7.6 and our goal. Pulis with a 7.6 and our assist. Clarke(7.2), and Arter(7.0) are worth noting as well.


There's a replay at our place in 4 days. we'll get 'em then.

[Radii]

FA Trophy 2nd Round Draw

The winner of our replay will get a home match against either Bath in the BS South or Ashford at the lower division level.

December 14th, 2011

FA Trophy 1st Round Replay

Maidenhead @ Woking

We're even money to win today, Maidenhead is an 11:5 dog. There has to be a winner today, not based on road aggregates or anything, just today's match. Extra time/PK's if its tied.

Herd starts for Arter today, Ademola starts for Keehan. Cullen starts for Rose.

2': A nice move for us, a little buildup, Pulis with a ball into Ademola, he heads it down for Cullen who takes a nice strike, its eaisly saved but an early threat is nice.

7': Harsanyi with a great ball fowrad to Cullen on a counter, Cullen with our first clear cut chance of the match, but he can't quite beat the keeper. Its saved, corner comes to nothing.

9': Herd passes the ball and falls over. I didn't see anyone near him. He's got to come off straight away. I bring Sloma in and with no one near him fear an ACL or something. We'll see.

23': We've taken 7 shots, 5 on target/2 blocked. We should have scored one by now, but we're pressuring like crazy.

43': Harsanyi picks up the ball on the left side, he sprints out wide and delivers a beautiful cross into the 6 yard box. Cullen runs onto it and puts it easily into the net. Cullen deserved that, he's been all over the attack today. 1-0

46': Ricketts goes down after a tackle and he has to come out. Ricky Anane is in at DR the rest of the way, and we're down to 1 sub.

HALF: Nick Fenton has committed a number of fouls and is playing pretty poorly. We've had two of our better players injured and are down to 1 sub on 4 days rest. Other than that though, we've got the lead at home and are more talented on short rest. I'm not going defensive or anything, I want another goal here.

51': Cullen with another clear cut chance, Sloma with a beautiful ball forward, Cullen barely on side and he takes a shot from the right side of the area, its saved though.

65': German goes down making a cross... again, he turned, no one nearby. He could stay in but he dropped to 41% fitness, he needs to rest. Romone Rose gets some AML time.

71': Seriously??? cullen goes down near the corner and he's gotta come off. 4-4-1 time.

76': Ademola with a cross to the far side of the goal, Rose gets a solid head to the ball, their keeper makes a really nice looking diving save, alas.


We attack well with 10 men, or at least we control possession well. Just a 1 goal win but a dominant performance.

Woking 1 : 0 Maidenhead

Harsanyi earns a great 7.9 and man of the match with the assist. His passing from his deep lying forward role was very good today.

Cullen with a 7.2 and a goal. 5 shots, all on target.

Clarke (7.4) and Thomas(7.0) held up well in the back. Fenton recovered from his awful first half and did ok.


Divisional level team Ashford wins their replay over BSS Bath, and we'll face them in round 2.

Injury Update

Mark Cullen eases my worries about an overcrowded striker role in a very unfortunate way. He's out for 3 months with atorn groin muscle.

Chris Herd strains ligaments in his knee with his early injury. 2 months.

Mark Ricketts has a bruised rib, 9-12 days.

German is fine.

Joe O'Sullivan is out 5-7 weeks still, so we've got 2 key central midfielders out for awhile. One nice thing i've found here is that Sam Sloma seems adequate (perhaps better) in a MC role, he's better down the left side but the ability to use him in the middle will be helpful here.

[Radii]

In an effort to speed the season along a bit I drop to "extended" highlights instead of full matches. I typically do this once I'm comfortable with my team.

Dec 21, 2011

Woking (12-8-3, 4th) @ Wimbledon (7-6-10, 15th)

We're even money to win here, favored on the road. We crushed them 4-1 at our place early in the season and are 2-0-2 and very even against them over the course of my career.

Here's our lineup with 4 players out injured now

GK: Lynch
Defense: Clarke/Thomas/Fenton/Anane
MC: Pulis/Arter
AM: German/Ademola
ST: Harsanyi/Rose

Snow on the ground again today.

3': Rose brings the ball into the far right side of the area, lifts a centering ball that Harsanyi runs onto and he strikes it far post for the goal! 1-0

27': 4 shots for us/2 on target, we're dominating today so far.

34': After some buildup, Harsanyi receives a pass 30 yards out, turns and fires a powerful strike. The keeper has to dive for it but he turns it wide. Corner comes to nothing.

39': German with a through ball into the box, Harsanyi runs onto it and puts the ball past the keeper... but its offsides. I actually couldn't tell on that one

43': Thomas with a free kick from just outside the area on the left side. He swings in a cross, and there's a foul in the box! PENALTY! Ademola will come up to take it... and its SAVED. Ouch.

HALF: 1-0, should clearly be more with a missed penalty.

54': Wimbledon with a cross into the box, we head it clear, they feel there should have been a penalty and protest a bit. no dice.

57': Quick counter by us after clearing a ball.. Rose runs down the right side, he turns into the box, gets extremely deep and lays a ball off for Harsanyi. Harsanyi shoots, the ball strikes the left post and comes to rest inches from goal before a defender clears it out. DOH!

69': Pulis out, Sloma in. Ademola out, Keehan in. Ademola wasn't tired but the missed PK seems to have devastated him. He comes out with a 5.1 rating and was awful.

78': Harsanyi picks up a little knock...he continues for a bit but I don't want him hurt worse, I sub in Sole.

88': We concede a corner, they take a short corner and we aren't defending it well. They get off a clean shot but its right at Lynch, he saves it and doesn't allow a rebound. That'll secure our victory.


AFC Wimbledon 0 : 1 Woking

A nice road win, though we should have scored more.

Jordan Clarke earns man of the match with a 7.1 rating. Fenton and Anane also with 7.1 ratings. Harsanyi with our goal, Rose our assist, but no one on offense is over 7 today. Wasted chances.

We've now gone 10 straight leauge matches without a loss!


Cheltenham and Rushden both struggle today, creating an interesting logjam at the top:

1. Cheltenham - 49 pts
2. Rushden - 49 pts
3. Cambridge - 47 pts
4. Woking - 47 pts

[Radii]

December 28, 2011

Ebbsfleet (7-10-7, 13th) at Woking (13-8-3, 4th)

We're 5-4 favorites, fairly slim at home for this one. We should have a big edge here. Ebbsfleet was forced to play on the 26th and are going on just two days rest here, due to an FA Cup match or some other scheduling oddity I assume.

We are looking for our first win over Ebbsfleet, we're 0-1-1 against them. This is our first meeting this year.

Ricketts is healthy and back in for Anane. Keehan starts for Ademola.

9': Harsanyi goes down hard in the box on a challenge on a cross... we earn a corner and no penalty is given. Harsanyi stays in for now.

14': Clarke takes a wild shot from 35 yards out after a ball is cleared on a corner kick... nice effort, he hits the crossbar, close!

23': We are dominating possession and the attack, we've got 5 corners and 67% of possession. Sadly we can't do shit with it so far. only 2 shots, including the long range one by Clarke.

30': Brilliant run by rose! He takes on two men as he progresses from 40 yards out, generating the first on target shot of the match, but its saved.

32': Pulis finds Rose after a free kick, Rose turns by one man, runs cleanly into the box and strikes the ball by the keeper into the right side of the net! 1-0

35': Rose beats another man, runs into the box, he could shoot from a tough angle but instead shows great composure to find Pulis who strikes it from 15 yards out. The keeper gets a hand to it but that's all! Into the net! 2-0

42': Rose to Harsanyi who easily runs by the defender trying to mark him and gets a 1 on 1 with the keeper, he beats the keeper easily! 3-0


HALF: I don't know if this is a talent gap or is due to the fact that Ebbsfleet played 2 days ago, but we are just owning them terribly. Rose is running through their defense at will it seems, and Harsanyi just ran right by a charging defender for his goal too. Keep it up!

Sole in for Harsanyi to start the second half. He isn't showing injured but I'm not taking any chances.

46': We steal the ball shortly after kickoff... Keehan works it down the right sideline, feeds rose. rose takes a shot from a tough angle, the keeper deflects it. It falls right to Pulis who gets a very rare two goal game, striking the rebound into the net with the keeper out of position following his save! 4-0

59': Pulis with a yellow

80': Anane in for Ricketts, Sloma in for German


Woking 4 : 0 Ebbsfleet

It doesn't get a whole lot better than that!

Pulis with a spectacular performance, 2 goals and 1 assist, 8.9 rating.

Rose with 1 goal/2 assists and an 8.6 rating.

Harsanyi puts up a 7.2 with our 4th goal. Ricketts (7.6), Clarke(7.7), Fenton(7.3), Thomas(7.2), Arter(7.2), Keehan(7.2), and German (7.2) are all awesome today too.


Cheltenham and Rushden both lose. Rushden loses to Cambridge, giving us a new look:


1. Cambridge - 50 pts
2. Woking - 50 pts
3. Cheltenham - 49 pts
4. Rushden - 49 pts


Still 21 matches to go, but for now this is pretty cool!

[Radii]

December 31st, 2011

Kidderminster (14-5-6, 6th) @ Woking (14-8-3, 2nd)

This will be a key matchup for both teams, we're only 3 points apart. We beat them 2-0 this year earlier. We're 2-0-1 against Kidder in our lifetime. We're very, very slight favorites today (6-4 vs 13-8)

On 3 days rest, Anane will give Ricketts a rest, Ademola in for Keehan. Sloma gets a rare MC start for Pulis.

1': Rose gets by a defender shortly after the opening kickoff and challenges the keeper, who makes a nice save.

2': Midfielder Smirkle for Kidder picks up a yellow.

15': We have 6 shots already, just the one on target though. 80/20 possession early on.

20': We've seen some great long balls from midfield up to the forwards in a position to shoot. Sloma with a long pass that Harsanyi picks up perfectly but he can't beat the keeper.

29': Sloma to German to Harsanyi, some very nice passing right near the area. Harsanyi turns and gets a great look but misses from 15 yards out.

33': Sloma with a header to intercept a clearance. It falls to Rose who turns and places a very nice ball to Ademola who is charging in from the right side. Ademola strikes it far post and beats the keeper! 1-0

36': I mentioned some great long balls earlier... Sloma with a ball that travels 60 yards easily, rose sprints by the defense and runs onto it perfectly just outside the area. He isn't missing this one on one shot! 2-0

39': A nice cross by Kidder leads to a through ball to ST Knights, I swear to god he's offsides... but nope, the ref doens't call it, and he strikes it by Lynch. 2-1

46': Romone Rose is so damn good at times. German with an easy pass to Rose just outside of the box, he places a great shot before the defense closes down, upper left corner of the net from 20-22 yards out! 3-1

HALF: We have 68% of the possession, 12 shots, 5 on target, 3 clear cut chances. We've only allowed 3 shots. Total dominance.

Arter picked up an injury late in the half. I bring Pulis in for him. German is exhausted, I don't think b/c of injury, just short rest... Harsanyi moves to AML, Ademola to ST, Keehan in at AMR.

53': Harsanyi with a great pass to Ademola who has a clear shot on goal, but the keeper makes the save.

55': Clarke with a yellow in the midfield.

83': Maledon in for an exhausted Sloma.

We nearly allow a goal in the 92nd minute, but yeah, great job here guys!

Woking 3 : 1 Kidderminster

Rose is clearly player of the game today. 2 goals and an assist, 17/20 passes completed. 9.2 rating

Sloma plays really great in the midfield, earning an 8.4 with an assist.

Ademola with a 7.0 for his goal. Clarke(7.3), Fenton(7.2), German(7.1), Anane(7.0)


Cambridge loses today and we are in first place!

1. Woking - 53 pts
2. Rushden - 52 pts
3. Cambridge - 50 pts
4. Cheltenham - 50 pts

Injury

Our midfield takes yet another hit. Arter's injury, I don't even think it was part of the extended highlights that I'm watching, but he's out for 4 weeks.

3 of our top 4 MC are now hurt... O'Sullivan, Herd, and Arter. Anthony Pulis, knock on wood buddy. Pulis and Sloma for now become my default starters. Rose, Keehan and Ricketts are all accomplished at the central midfield role, all guys in positions where we have sufficient depth so I am not really desparate.

[Radii]

We're into January, the transfer window is open again. I'd like to sign a young DC. I'm pretty content everywhere else.

I am third in manager of the month voting for December. Cambridge and Wrexham's coaches are 1st/2nd.

The board is very pleased with my running of the team. The fans love pretty much all my moves. Romone Rose loan, Harsanyi signing, and Antonio German loan are all maxxed at superb. Cullen, Clarke, Keehan and Herd are all loaners rated very highly. They love me! For today at least.

January 3rd, 2012

Woking (15-8-3, 1st) at Histon(6-5-14, 20th)

Histon is only 1 point out of relegation. We're even money on the road, Histon is nearly 2-1 dogs to get the win here. We beat them 3-1 at our place back in mid August. We're 1-1-1 in 3 matches against them. They've got one threat. Danny Wright has 9 goals for them, no one else has more than 3.

Another game on 3 days rest. This is gonna be rough. Ricketts at MC (Sloma is exhausted). Keehan AMR, Sole ST. Sloma/Ademola/Rose are off the bench today.

3': Fenton with a yellow 50 yards from the goal. way to go buddy.

3': I'm attacking early, I usually wouldn't on the road but I want a halftime lead so I can defend late once we're tired.

13': Fenton picks up a little knock. I don't need that today haha.

22': There's a long ball 40 yards forward. The keeper comes out to get to the ball, but their defender heads it away. The header ends up in the box, the keeper ends up 20 yards away from the net. Harsanyi gets to it first and puts it into the wide open net! 1-0

27': There's a foul in the box on a German cross! Penalty!! Sole... drives the penalty right at the keeper. Ugh. Saved.

32': Clarke with a yellow.

45': Defender Gwillam picks up a yellow for a tackle on Keehan. Keehan had picked up a ball ahead of the defense. That was a solid 45 yards out but Threre wasn't any defender between Keehan and the keeper. no red!?

HALF: Always happy to be up 1-0, but when we miss a penalty... yea. Lets go get another goal before I sub people out guys!

56': Defender Abnett picks up a yellow.

72': Maledon in for a tired Pulis. Rose in at striker, Harsanyi moves to AML, German comes out.

87': Sidibe in for Fenton who is about to pass out out there.

89': Gwillam for Histon picks up his second yellow, for the last 4 minutes they're down to 10.

Histon 0 : 1 Woking

Backup ricky anane picks off 12 passes and completes 42/55 passes, and that's good enough for a great 7.7 rating and man of the match.

Fenton earns a 7.6, Clark a 7.2, Thomas 7.0.

Harsanyi with a 6.7 and our only goal. No assist b/c of the weird header by the defense I guess. Missing penalties kills ratings... Sole a 5.3.


We've got another match in 4 days, what a bad time to have 4 starting caliber players hurt.

[Radii]

January 7th, 2012

FA Trophy Round 2

Ashford Town @ Woking

We are massive 1-6 favorites over divisional level Ashford here. Sidibe starts over Fenton. Anane earns another start in the DR role. Pulis and Maledon start in MC. German/Ademola (Keehan resting). Back to Harsanyi/Rose up top.

Sidibe is the clear weak link, but I need to give Fenton a bit of a rest.

7': German takes a knock and is hurt and down under 70% fitness.

14': Sloma in for German, don't want him to get hurt worse.

23': Rose with a nice cross in from the right side, Harsanyi gets his head to it and the keeper can't get to it. That would not be a goal against anyone above this awful divisional level. 1-0

35': Defender Lever with a yellow outside the left side of the box, fighting with Sloma for possession. Free kick isn't taken well.

HALF: That really flew by. Faster than any "extended highlights half" I've ever seen.

51': After a deflection in our own box, an Ashford player gets a nice head to a ball and puts it just off the crossbar... Lynch was not going to get that one were it 6 inches lower, whew. First shot of the match for them (9 for us)

61': There's the Sidibe breakdown. A wide open run for an attacker after beating Sidibe in defense. Lynch charges aggressively and deflects the shot. Thomas clears.

74': Ricketts in for Pulis in the midfield

80': Maledon feeds Harsanyi in the box who is wide open and beats the keeper... but the flag was up. Almost!

89': A short corner to Thomas, he's got space in the box, but he puts it just over the bar. Disappointing!


Woking 1 : 0 Ashford


DL Jordan Clarke earns Man of the Match in defense today with a 7.3 rating.

Sidibe, despite his error, is otherwise solid, 7.2. Anane 7.1, Thomas 7.0.

Harsanyi and his goal are good for a 7.0 rating, the assist to Rose who has a 6.9.


We advance to the third round of the FA Trophy, which was the goal set by management.

We've got a whole week off after this match, whew! And German has no long term injury.

[Radii]

LOL?

Arsenal have offered Carols Vela to Woking for $7,750,000. We took some random shots to try to loan some top level reserves, because what's the worst that happens, they say no? So I guess I'm on the list for Vela.


FA Trophy 3rd Round Draw

We're going to be on the road for our next match, against either Eastleigh who is 18th in the BS Premier, or Lewes, who is 6th in the BS South.

... (1 day later) ... Lewes in the BS South crushes Eastleigh. We're going to their house next.


January 14th, 2012

Gateshead (6-7-14, 20th) @ Woking (16-8-3, 1st)

We're 1-3 favorites here. We tied Gateshead 1-1 at their place early in the season. We're 1-2-0 against them.

Gateshead is led by Brian Wake. He's got 12 goals in 23 appearances.

Ricketts is back at DR today. Sloma/Pulis in the midfield. German/Keehan AML/AMR and Harsanyi/Rose up front. Oh yeah, Fenton in, Sidibe out.

5': Well then! Pulis with a ball up front to Harsanyi. He's 23-25 yards out, moves a few steps laterally, fires a shot into the upper right corner of the net! Very surprising, great long strike. 1-0

16': Harsanyi with the ball around where he put our first goal in... here he lays a ball slightly forward for Rose. Rose has a step on his man and fires far post, goal! 2-0

21': Sloma with a through ball to Keehan, he's onside, no one runs with him, he picks the ball up just before the keeper and puts it by the keeper again! 3-0

43': We've got a throw in deep in their end. Its thrown to Sloma near the left sideline, he crosses it in, Ricketts does a great job to get his head on it, just off the right post!

HALF: Dominance. 7 shots for us, 3 on target, all in. 1 for Gateshead.

67': Maledon in for a tired Sloma.

73': Striker Armstrong for Gateshead gets a goal to get them on the board, their scorer Wake puts a nice ball into the box for him as we are trying to close down on Wake. 3-1


Woking 3 : 1 Gateshead

We are on fire!

Harsanyi is man of the match, 7.6 rating, 1 goal/1 assist.

Keehan with a 7.4 with his goal. Rose 7.0 and a goal. Assists to Sloma (7.3) and Pulis (7.1). The defense is strong too, Ricketts(7.4) and Clarke(7.0) stand out.

We've now played 15 matches without a loss, and have 7 straight wins. Both are records for our team.

[Radii]

Free Transfer Signing

Mike Williams is a 25 year old defender, left or center. He played very well for Wrexham in recent years in the BS Premier but was released this year for some reason.

Heading (11), Marking (12), Tackling(11), very solid for a center back. Determined, good positioning, decent off the ball, a good worker. He's not that pacey, but that's alright for a DC. He's strong and a good leaper. He really looks like an ideal center back for us.

Aswad Thomas is only 22, but Fenton is 32 and Sidibe is 33. I'll be pushing Sidibe out ASAP now and trying to work a rotation with these 3 to see how Williams will work out.

The Woking fans are delighted that we got a real bargain in Williams. Oh right... $650/week, I should mention that :)


Injury Update

Joe O'Sullivan is back in full training and available!!


January 21st, 2012

Woking (17-8-3, 1st) @ Barrow(7-5-15, 19th)

We beat them 2-0 at home earlier in the year. and are the favorites on the road against yet another team fighting relegation. We're 2-1-0 against them.

Barrow Striker Jason Walker has 9 goals, 17 bravery and great athletic ability. Quite a worry actually if they have anyone to get him the ball.

I don't change my starting lineup, but O'Sullivan and new DC Mike Williams are available off the bench today.

6': Harsanyi with another long shot, similar to his goal last match, off the crossbar.

7': Rose with a long low pass on a quick counter, a defender misses an interceptoin, Harsanyi picks it up 35 yards out, runs towards the box and places the ball by the keeper! 1-0

9': Christ Harsanyi, another shot off the bar from 30 yards out.

13': Rose feeds Harsanyi again, another open look, but this one is saved.

16': German with a yellow.

24': A cross comes into our box from the left side. Its deflected near the keeper. Thomas tries to head it out instead of letting Lynch collect it. Its a poor header and their star Walker picks it up with space in the box. He beats Lynch for a goal. 1-1

32': Sloma picks up an injury on a challenge in the midfield. He's down to 41% fitness... uggh, I don't think O'Sullivan is quite ready for 60 minutes. No sub just yet. Sloma is just that much less valuable that I'm wliling to risk him.

38': Their man Walker strikes again. A great pass from 30 yards out, Walker times his run perfectly and beats Lynch again. 1-2

47': midfielder Mozika with a yellow for going in hard on Sloma.

HALF: The second Barrow goal was beautiful. The first was bad luck mostly, a deflection on a cross creating some chaos. Thomas, Pulis, sloma and Keehan all look pretty bad out there. My boy O'Sullivan is in for Sloma. No other changes, I implore the team to play with some heart out there. Barrow with 5 shots, 2 on target. We have 10 shots, 3 on target, 3 clear cut chances. They just finished better.

50': A very nice ball from Clarke into the box for Harsanyi. He's got a man closing in hard and fires his shot just over the bar.

55': O'sullivan with a long pass forward to Harsanyi in the perfect hole to find a clean shot, but its a long one and he puts it wide. The pass though... 40 yards, in the only spot on the pitch where Harsanyi can beat the defense to it.

61': A long ball forward by Pulis, its intended for rose, the defense intercepts it, but a pass to get it away from rose is terrible... really terrible, and Harsanyi runs onto it 10 yards from the keeper and puts it into the left side of the net! Rose putting pressure on the defender even though he wasn't first there made that happen 2-2


80': A graet Barrow move. Rickets is beaten by a midfielder, he can't quite get a clean run on goal for a shot but it causes a lot of chaos. He pulls the ball out, sends in a little cross, midfielder Rutheford heads it over Lynch. 2-3 Oof!

80': Ademola in for German, Ademola to ST, Harsanyi AML. Williams on for clarke. I brought him in to play DC but Clarke hasn't sat a single minute this year I don't think and he's ready for a rest.

93': One last chance, Harsanyi runs down the left side and puts a cross into the 6 yard box. Ademola tries to get there but the defense is all over it. We'll suffer out first loss in 15 matches today.

Barrow 3 : 2 Woking

If we're gonna go down, its going to be exciting. Harsanyi really could have scored 5 goals today. He came so close so many times. And that isn't really a failing on his part, those early shots off the woodwork were brilliant long attempts.

Their man walker with 2 goals is clear man of the match.

Harsanyi has 2 goals and an 8.8 rating. Rose with an assist and an 8.4 rating. The other goal was unassisted.

O'Sullivan is right back in form with a 7.1 rating, 24/27 passes completed, 2 key passes.

Thomas was awful, Sloma and Keehan average at best, and Lynch with a 6.1.

We did allow 13 shots, 6 on target. We had 19, 6 on target. We had 4 clear cut chances to their 2, and we really should have scored more than we did. But we need to defend better, can't allow a team like this to get 3 on us.


The headline after the match in our news is "Cardinals made to rue missed chances" so I guess the fans and reporter(s) saw it like I did.


We remain in first even with the loss.

1. Woking - 59 pts
2. Rushden - 58 pts
3. Cheltenham - 56 pts
4. Cambridge - 53 pts
5. Macclesfield - 53 pts
---------
6. Wrexham - 52 pts
7. Kidderminster - 51 pts

[Radii]

January 24th, 2012

Woking(17-8-4,1st) @ Rushden & Diamonds(19-1-9,2nd)

Showdown! We won the first meeting 3-2 at home this year, and we're 1-1-1 lifetime against them. In their house Rushden is a pickem favorite. We're 11-5.

On 3 days rest I'll try to take advantage of our depth a little.

Williams starts for Fenton. Anane starts for Ricketts. Ademola starts for Keehan. Everything else is the same, including Sloma/Pulis in the middle and O'Sullivan off the bench.

Rushden has the best player in the league, by the numbers. Sam Smith has 18 goals and 5 assists in 21 league appearances for a 7.61 rating. He's simply great, everywhere. Speedy, good with the ball, good off the ball, a great teammate, very determined and smart. I'm very worried about him. We'll try to make him use his left foot which is weaker.

We're also going to attempt to close down on their two best assist men, ML Tomlin and MC Harding. I hope this doesn't create chaos and open space and backfire on us. We shall see.

We open looking to counter-attack.

15': What's worse than an O'Sullivan injury? "Kevin Lynch is going to need the Physio on" ... he stays in. and I do have a backup keeper that I haven't mentioned b/c he's out on loan and never plays. Fingers crossed after this one is over.

36': Lynch with a great save diving for a ball after a corner.

40': Sloma with a nice ball to a charging German, German runs onto the ball in the box and he's immediately tackled. FOUL, PENALTY!!! New guy Mike Williams is my best PK taker, and he steps up and buries it! 1-0

HALF: Our counter strategy seems to be working well. Bend but don't break so far, we've allowed 9 shots though most didn't even warrant the extended highlight trigger I guess. I've only seen a few and only 2 were on target. We've only gotten 3 shots but we're ahead.

51': A corner for Rushden, they get a decent header just over.

53': a give and go to the "other" striker Bowman. He's on the right side just outside teh box, catches Lynch leaning the wrong way, fires a long shot to the far post and its a great finish for him. 1-1

65': Uh, simple pass to a midfielder, McNamara, he shoots from 35 yards out and Lynch just can't do anything with it. 1-2

71': A throw-in, a header into the box, a header into the net. I really have to wonder if Lynch is suffering badly here and would normally get to these. 1-3

74': Its way too late, the last 10 minutes have flown by in extended higlight mode + writing up the slaughter... Pulis/Sloma out, O'Sullivan/Ricketts in. Sole in for German also, up to Striker/Harsanyi at AML.

Rushden 3 : 1 Woking

Sub Nick McNamara is man of the match for Rushden. The guys we wanted to stop we did, but everyone else killed us. Two of their strikes were just from such distance...

Mike Williams earns a 7.1 for us with our only goal.

Harsanyi and Rose are both poor performers today with a 5.8 and a 5.3.


Injury Update

Kevin Lynch is going to miss a month with a groin strain.


I brought in backup GK Lewis Martin on a free transfer early in the season. I don't thikn I even mentioned him. 16 jumping/17 balance. 11 positioning/12 determination. 9 reflexes/11 handling. He's alright. He's not Lynch for sure. But he's an 18 year old Scot making $80/wk happy to be a backup and to go out on loan some.

Speaking of that... I was careful when I loaned him out to include a "can be recalled" provision, and I triggered that immediately after the match. Martin is our keeper for 5-7 matches depending on exactly how long Lynch is done for.

[Radii]

Bilal Sidibe has been picked up by Nuovo Campobasso, a team who is 0-3-18 with a -45 goal differential in Serie C2/B. Sorry it didn't work out like we'd both hoped, Mr Sidibe.

The signing of Williams and transfer of Sidibe keeps us right in line with our overall wage budget. We're spending $12,912/wk out of an allowed $13,000.


January 28th, 2012

FA Trophy 4th Round

Woking @ Lewes

We're better than even money to win here, but I'm not quite that confidant on the road with a new goalie. He is match fit at least and has been playing in the BSS so he's used to this level of competition.

O'Sullivan still isn't quite ready to start. We play again in just 4 days and everyone isn't fully fit. Sloma stays in at MC along with Pulis. Sole in for Rose, Fenton is back in for Williams at DC. Ricketts could go but I'll leave Anane at DR.

1': They try to open the attack, we block a shot and counter fast. German to Harsanyi who takes a strike from just inside the box, but a very nice save is made.

9': Sole must miss the BS South, where he could receive a pass and just watch two defenders miss as he ran into the box for an easy goal. Fun to see! Ademola on the assist. 1-0

HALF: We do an awful job generating more chances, Lewes with one on target show and Martin is there to stop it.

50': Harsanyi with a run up the middle, he draws 3 defenders, dishes it off to Sole who runs into the box and puts it into the right side of the net! 2-0

55': Sole collects a clearance, runs deep to the right corner and sends a cross into the box. German is unmarked and gets a head onto it and puts it into the net. 3-0

62': We sub entirely for fitness and rest here. Keehan in for German(Keehan AMR/Harsanyi AML/Ademola Striker to adjust). Ricketts for Sloma, Williams for clarke.

64': Thomas misplays a ball on a low pass into the box, nudging the ball back towards his own net instead of clearing it... a striker runs onto it well and finishes easily. 3-1

Lewes with a couple poor shots in desparation and that is really it.

Lewes 1 : 3 Woking

Sole is man of the match with 2 goals and an assist, 9.2 rating.

German has a goal and earns a 7.7 rating. Harsanyi an assist and a 7.3 rating. Clarke (7.2) and Anane(7.1) also play quite well. Ademola with the other assist but just a 6.8.

We advance to the quarterfinals.

[Radii]

FA Trophy 4th Round Draw

We'll be hosting Salisbury, the #13 team in the BS South in the quarterfinals. About half the teams left are in the BS Premier (depending on a couple replays still), including Rushden and Macclesfield, other playoff contenders. So a home match against a lower league team seems lucky. Feb 18th for that match.

February Notes

If you'll remember, a couple of our loans were for 3 months only. Keehan and Rose both have loans finishing February 11th. We'll try to renew both. We'll have to play 3 matches on short rest this month (one of them the less important FA Trophy).


The board remains very pleased with us. Our league performance is going to carry us. We lost $94k last month but it really doesn't seem to matter to the ownership as long as we don't overspend on salaries and make a real effort to win.

Feb 1, 2012

Wrexham(16-7-7, 5th) @ Woking(17-8-5, 3rd)

We're underdogs at home, Wrexham is even money, we're 11-5. We're 1-0-2 against them in 3 matches. They destroyed us at their place, 4-1, back in September.

Wrexham have two powerhouse goal scorers. Marc Williams has 20 goals in 27 matches and is a force to deal with. their other top player, Obi Anoruo, has 14 goals/12 assists in 27 matches but is hurt and will miss the match today.

I didn't see a notice for it, but Romone Rose is part of the U23 United States squad and is unavailable today.

Minus rose we're back to a stronger lineup today. Ricketts DR, O'Sullivan/Pulis in the midfield, German/Keehan attacking and Harsanyi/Sole strikers.

Harry Arter is back from his injury and we are very slowly returning to full strength here. Arter is available today.

7': Thomas picks up a little knock, he's not listed as injured, just a bit slowed.

13': Great long shot atempt by Harsanyi, he beats his man and shoots from 22ish yards out, fingertip save by the keeper, corner doesn't go anywhere.

20': Clarke with a very long shot after a corner is cleared out. Just over. We've earned 5 corners and seem to dominate possession early but no luck and only the one decent legit chance to score by Harsanyi.

26': Harsanyi receives a pass 25 yards out, turns and fires. Its deflected, the defender, Edwards, hangs on to the ball just outside the 6 yard box, poor control? indecisive? I dunno, but Harsanyi charges him, takes the ball away and places it right into the net from point blank range. Very odd! 1-0

31': Two fine saves for Martin. One on a nice through ball generating an open shot, its deflected and cleared by Fenton. A second on a nice long strike shortly after, Martin dives and turns it away from the goal.

33': German with a nifty run with the ball, he gets in front of the goal about 20 yards out and fires a shot in, it deflects just off the crossbar and back down into the field of play. Its cleared away, close!

HALF: The difference between Martin and Lynch is apparent. Martin has made some nice saves but has been unable to hold on to the ball a couple times where I am pretty sure Lynch would have. So far we have been there to clear it out.

The defense has issues though. Fenton is complacent and has been for a few matches. But Thomas isn't quite full strength after getting knocked around early on and is playing poorly. I can only sub one really. For now... neither, we'll see how the second half starts.

59': Sole is the scorer but O'Sullivan once again... 40 yards out, their defense isn't out of position or anything, but O'Sullivan places a through ball in the perfect spot to give Sole a chance at it. He gets to it first 15 yards from the keeper and strikes it into the net. 2-0

65': Williams in for Thomas, Arter in for O'Sullivan, Thomas is playing poorly, O'Sullivan tired.

I switch to defensive/retain possession strategies and it works perfectly. We take 5 or 6 more shots but they're all off target the rest of the way, but Wrexham doesn't have any attacks at all.

Woking 2 : 0 Wrexham

Jordan Clarke earns a 7.8 and man of the match today, lots of passes finding their mark, winning all 5 tackles he tried, 4 key headers in defense and 7 interceptions. He's forward a little to keep the attack going and just stellar in defense.

O'Sullivan has an assist and a 7.7 rating in his first start since injury.

Harsanyi(7.1) and Sole(7.0) deliver the goals. Ricketts(7.1) is worth noting too.

Thomas played poorly(5.7) but I give him a pass since he seemed to be slow after getting hit early on.

[Radii]

Two matches in a row, Nick Fenton has been described as complacent on the pitch. I need my DC's working their butts off, especially with a backup keeper. Mike Williams will start our next game and hopefully our next couple games to wake Fenton's ass up.

February 4th, 2012

Woking (18-8-5, 2nd) @ Eastleigh (8-8-13, 17th)

Eastleigh won't be coming in on short rest. The game we just played was rescheduled b/c we're still in the FA Trophy. They're very slightly favored today (6-4 vs 13-8).

We're 1-2-0 in our history against Eastleigh. We beat them 2-0 at our place earlier this year.

Williams in for Fenton,as discussed above. Sloma at AML for German. O'Sullivan will start but he's definitely going to have to come out at some point. Ademola in for Keehan. Harsanyi/Sole up top, rose is still in the USA.

1': Ademola with a cross in, Sloma is foward but heads it into the side netting.

8': Mike Williams takes a bad angle trying to mark their leading scorer, Armstrong. He beats our defense and Martin makes a really nice save.

13': Armstrong makes Thomas miss a tackle, gets into the box and beats Martin to the near post. 0-1

21': Pulis intercepts a corner and tries to start a counter attack. Sole is charging down the right sideline, he's tripped and goes down very hard. He has to come out of the game immediately... German in at Striker, I suppose, for now.

26': Thomas misses an interception that leads to a point blank strike from Hatch, the other Eastleigh attacker. 0-2

30': Ricketts moves to DC along with Williams. Anane in at DR, Thomas out. This is a disaster but Thomas has to go. Two subs used by the 30 minute mark and we're tired and on short rest.

HALF: The rest of the half breezes by. Eastleigh take 5 shots, 4 on target. We take 4 shots, none on target. We'll attempt to attack to make this back up but it seems bleak.

58': Ademola with the hustle play! Eastleigh defense tries to head the ball back to the keeper to cut out some danger, but its terribly done. The keeper rushes out but Ademola gets to the ball first, gets behind the keeper and walks the ball into the empty net! 1-2

70': O'Sullivan has to sit. Sloma to MC, German to AML, Ademola to striker, Keehan comes into the game at AMR.

73': Tons of possession, ending with German finding Ademola just outside the area, but a long shot is parried wide. corner comes to nothing.

82': Yellow for Sloma


Good second half effort, but we can't find the tying goal.

Eastleigh 2 : 1 Woking

Its tough when you are on short rest and your opponent isn't.

Ademola earns an 8.2 rating today with the only goal we generate. Clarke(7.1), Sloma(7.3) and Anane(7.0) also play well.

German(5.5) and Thomas(5.8) are weak spots. german hasn't played striker for us since our first few games, we got mixed up a little there with Sole's early injury and Thomas playing so poorly.


Additionally, a complaint: An eastleigh player goes down hurt. They have possession and kick it out of play. Clarke takes the throw-in and gives it back as per fair play standards. Eastleigh attacks well and scores their first goal. "Clarke's poor throw-in led to the goal" and his play in the rest of teh half is deemed to have suffered. That is very annoying.


Injury Update

Wait what? Rose? Yup, romone rose suffers a torn groin muscle while playing for the USA's U23 squad. He is out for a month.

Giuseppe Sole has a groin strain. He's out 4 weeks.

Cullen is still hurt, though he could be back in a week or two. Welp.

The good news is that on the same day Chris Herd resumes full training. So we're down 3 strikers, but our midfield is back to full strength. This lets Sloma move out wide and allows Ademola to play striker until Cullen is healthy.

[Radii]

Most of the top teams are now at 32 games played. 14 to go.

1. Cheltenham - 65 pts
2. Rushden - 64 pts
3. Woking - 62 pts
4. Cambridge - 59 pts
5. Wrexham - 58 pts
----------------
6. Kidderminster - 58 pts
7. Macclesfield - 57 pts ****31 games played instead of 32
8. Kettering - 55 pts
9. Newport Co - 53 pts
10. Accrington - 52 pts ****31 games instead of 32

That would appear to be everyone with legit playoff chances. We are in a great spot, but have to finish off the season. Thomas is struggling badly and Fenton seems bored or something. A crisis in defense is not what I need right now.

But new DC Williams is motivated, DR Anane is playing great as needed, and GK Lynch could be back before the end of the month with any luck.

[Radii]

With the encouragement of coaches recommending it, I critisize Aswad Thomas' poor play in the media. Thomas says he knows he's playing like shit and isn't happy about it.

Romone Rose and Lee Keehan's loans end. If I am reading the rules right I can't loan them in again. I try to with Keehan anyway. Rose's long term injury defeats the purpose for him.

I try to bring in a new loaner but really didn't prepare well enough here, I should have had someone ready already.

January 11, 2012

Newport Co(14-11-7, 10th) @ Woking(18-8-6, 3rd)

We are 5-4 favorites here today. We're 2-1-2 lifetime vs Newport, two of those meetings in the BS South. We lost 1-0 earlier in the season at their place.

A bit shorthanded with Keehan gone and our injury problems unfortunately.

Our lineup:

GK: Martin
Defense: Clarke/Thomas/Williams/Ricketts
MC: O'Sulllivan/Pulis
AM: Sloma/German
ST: Harsanyi/Ademola

Chris Herd is available for the first time since his injury. We have no strikers available off the bench. German can play ST or we'll have to drop to a 1 striker formation if we needed to make subs for some reason. Cullen will be back very soon.

Newport Striker Luke Powell has 16 goals in only 18 matches. His ratings don't look that special at all, though some are hidden i guess. We'll close him down I hope.

11': Thomas with a yellow for a foul about 35 yards out. Even matchup so far.

30': Thomas takes a bit of a knock, a hit to his fitness for now, doesn't seem injured. Each team has 2 shots both off target.

40': Thomas misses an interception and Newport get a clear cut chance, thankfully not by their ace striker.. this guy kicks it right at martin who makes the save.


HALF: 0-0, not a lot to see. They have 3 shots, 1 on target, their clear cut chance that was poorly taken. We've got 5 shots, only one on target. Everything is pretty much even.

61': yellow for midfielder O'Leary for Newport.

69': Herd in for a tired O'Sullivan

72': O'Leary charges into Harsanyi recklessly and picks up a second yellow! That's a red and a man advantage.

82': Arter in for Sloma, we have to drop back to a standard 4-4-2 to fit our personnel, but we are trying harder to attack with the man up.

86': Anane in for Ricketts

88': Ademola runs with the ball through the box, beats a defender and is just a few feet away from the keeper, not really enough space to try to beat him. Shot is saved and we can't do anything on the corner.


Woking 0 : 0 Newport Co

Meh. They've got a defender earning man of the match today.

On our side its all about the defense. Ricketts(7.2), Clarke(7.3), Williams(7.1), Thomas(7.0), and Pulis(7.0).

Possession was 52/48, we controlled the attack in the second half, ending with 13 shots to their 4, but we just couldn't generate solid chances.

[Radii]

New Acquisition

AMR/ST Kayne McLaggon - a 21 year old reserve for Southampton. He's fast. 15 pace/14 accel. Determined, decent dribbling the ball, decent flair. He's just coming off and injury so he'll need a little time, but he'll be involved in the offense as soon as possible.

Injury Update

A good one this time! Mark Cullen has resumed full training. Kevin Lynch has resumed full training. Yay!


January 15th, 2012

Accrington (15-11-7, 9th) @ Woking (18-9-6, 3rd)

Accrington is favored heavily today, we're actually 4-1 dogs at home. We tied 2-2 on the road back in September, our only meeting. Accrington was demoted from League 2 last year and is going to be upset if they can't make it back up.

Anane starts for ricketts today, Arter starts for O'Sullivan. 3 days rest, we have to unfortunately. Lynch/Cullen aren't ready just yet.

13': Pulis is injured and needs a lengthy treatment off the field...

16': I go ahead and bring Herd in for Pulis. my second straight short rest game where I'm accounting for injuries in the first half

... yea

HALF: 0-0. We generate 5 shots but only one on target. We only give up 3 shots, 2 of them very long and silly, one a poor header off a corner.

I switch up German and Ademola, maybe German will have more success up front while Ademola is more used to the AMR role.

48': Very poor defense on a counter. They get the ball out wide quickly and it pulls us way out of position, two nice passes lead to an easy goal for striker Ryan. 0-1

52': We look better at least, some nice ball movement, a very nice feed from German to Harsanyi up front, a solid strike but the keeper is there to make the save.

55': Sloma out, Arter moves to ML, O'Sullivan in at MC.

74': A long clearance from Clarke... Harsanyi is way ahead of the defense on this one, a free run at the keeper coming in from the left side, a strike, but the keeper gets a hand to it and it hits the post and bounces away instead of going in. Our second clear cut chance missed.

Woking 0 : 1 Accrington

Very disappointing result. I bust out the very rarely used "show your anger at the team" talk.

Clarke's 7.0 is the only good rating.

Harsanyi missing two clear cut chances is a clear problem and earns him a very poor 5.5

We've got an FA Trophy match coming up to help get some guys fit and get things back on track.

[Radii]

Injury Update

Anthony Pulis went out very early in our last match and is going to miss 4 weeks with a thigh strain.


That loss dropped us to 4th and potentially worse as we now have some teams who have played fewer matches than us. This is due to re-scheduling for the FA Trophy, I think it will get back to even very soon.


January 18th, 2012

Salisbury (9th, Blue Square South) @ Woking (4th, Blue Square Premier)

FA Trophy Quarterfinals

We're 4-5 favorites at home today.

Kevin Lynch is back in goal today. Cullen starts at striker. O'Sullivan/Arter i the midfield. German gets a rest. Our new loaner McLaggon is available, he'll likely come in for Cullen if things work out.

5': A quick counter against our attacking offense... forward Tubbs runs right by Thomas to beat our high defensive line and ears a one on one shot against Lynch. Lynch can't get the stop. 0-1

14': diving!? O'Sullivan runs around with the ball in the box, goes down, and is given a yellow for diving. Well then.

18': Thomas with a yellow going for a header all the way up at midfield...

26': Cullen with a yellow trying to win the ball back deep in their territory

41': O'Sullivan with a ball forward to Harsanyi. He turns and gets off a shot but doesn't have his normal power to it and its saved easily. Perhaps due to the rain.


HALF: We trail by 1 here, we've generated some decent looks today, putting 4 shots on target in the half, but nothing has beaten their keeper yet. We ought to be able to pull this one off.

50': Salisbury finally gets in on the card party with a yellow for midfielder Jeff Ho.

57': Our new man McLaggon is in for Cullen at striker.

63': Herd in for O'Sullivan

74': Old problems here... Lynch comes out for a corner but can't get to the cross as it goes by and they head the ball easily into the net. 0-2

They turtle and we can't do anything the rest of the way.

Woking 0 : 2 Salisbury

For this one I don't really care, we got some new guys in and hopefully started getting them in shape to finish the league season strong. HOWEVER, that's 3 home games in a row with 0 wins, 1 draw and 2 losses. That is scary bad.

As everyone catches up in matches in league play we are still in a very tight race but are now on the bottom end of the playoffs instead of the top:


1. Rushden - 67 pts
2. Macclesfield - 66 pts
3. Cambridge - 65 pts
4. Cheltenham - 65 pts
5. Woking - 63 pts
---------------------
6. Kidderminster - 61 pts
7. Accrington - 59 pts
8. Wrexham - 58 pts ***has played 1 fewer game
9. Kettering - 58 pts
10. Newport Co - 57 pts

10 points separate 10th from 1st. 12 matches left.

I think I've said it before but I don't necessarily expect promotion but as well as we've done all year it would suck if we were to fall out of the playoffs in the final 2 months.

[Radii]

There are some things I would just never in a million years think to try to account for.

The headline: "Two Players called up for international duty"

Oh? two, wow, that's neat, i wonder who?

Kevin Lynch AND Lewis Martin have been called up to the Scotland Under 21s to face FYR of Macedonia Under 21s. Hmm, that's both my keepers.

There's a silver lining though. They're called up for a match on the 28th. They are available on the 25th for our next match. But that could really come back to bite us heh.

January 25th, 2012

Woking(18-9-7, 5th) @ Stevenage(11-9-13, 15th)

We've yet to beat these guys. 0-1-2 lifetime, including a 2-2 tie at our place earlier in the season. we're heavy underdogs today.

Stevenage has one threat to score, Michael Mackay. He's got 14 goals, no one else has more than 4.

Fenton starts for Thomas on the back line today. O'Sullivan and Herd in the middle, German/Ademola attacking mids, Cullen is the striker alongside Harsanyi.

12': Mackay strikes the ball from 25 yards out and Lynch can't get to it... terrible defense, too much space given despite our instructions to close him down and tackle him hard, and Lynch should have gotten that anyway, it was straight on just over his head it seems. 0-1

29': German receives the pass deep in our own end as we clear the ball out of the box. He sprints with it to midfield, delivers a ball nicely to an onside Cullen who runs into the box with the ball and beats the keeper! 1-1

40': Ademola with a gorgeous cross from the right sideline into the box. The defense is poor, no one marks Harsanyi who heads the ball into the net! 2-1

46': There's a header into the box for Stevenage. Fenton could have easily headed it away it seemed but instead Lynch comes out and Fenton runs the other way... the way it looked for Lynch to pick the ball up cleanly. But a Stevenage attacker hadn't given up on the ball yet and as Fenton runs away the striker gets there first and pokes it into the net. 2-2

HALF: Well that was exciting... we were in a defensive mindset the entire half, didn't seem that way I am sure.

50': Harsanyi is challenged hard and doesn't seem injured but seems slowed significantly for the moment.

61': We possess the ball 30ish yards out, O'Sullivan places a beautiful ball between two defenders that Mark Cullen runs onto and strikes first time past the keeper! 3-2

71': All three subs at once... Sloma and Arter in for O'Sullivan and Herd in the middle. McClaggon in for Ademola at AMR.

78': Clear cut chance as German gets the ball into the box for McClaggon, he's beaten the defense but can't control it well enough for a strike, he pokes it poorly right at the keeper.

Stevenage 2 : 3 Woking

That's the way to get back into the win column!

We take 11 shots, they take 10. We put 4 on target, they put 3 on target, we just finish one more time than them.

Mark Cullen is the man of the match with an 8.8 rating and 2 goals.

O'Sullivan with an 8.5 and an assist. German 7.8 and an assist. Ademola 7.0 and an assist. Clarke 7.0 in defense as well. Harsanyi with our other goal but just a 6.9 rating today.


11 matches left. We're in 4th now, 4 points behind first and 5 points clear of 6th(ie out of the playoffs).

[Radii]

Huh, its march now. I just noticed that on my last ~5 updates I thought it was January. Oops :D

Now that Kevin Lynch is healthy again I've let backup GK Lewis Martin go back out on loan, this time to Eastbourne Boro in the BS South. I have a recall clause in there again.

Mark Cullen is named the BS Premier team of the week.

March Notes

--Kevin Lynch has trained well this month. Always glad to see that.

--March is going to be busy. It looks like we have 7 matches this month.

--The board is very pleased with my leadership. Our BS Premier results remain the high point. The fans are concerned that Harsanyi is in a bit of a slump though. He's only got 2 goals and 1 assist in our last 8 matches(following a heater of a stretch of 7 games/7 goals). Its hard to decide if we aren't playing well as a whole on offense because Harsanyi has been off or if others have dragged him down.


Sole is available again after recovering from his latest injury. Pulis is the only player hurt right now.

March 3rd, 2012

Woking(19-9-7, 4th) @ Altrincham(4-8-22, 23rd)

Altrincham is very slight favorites today. We're 3-0-1 against them in our history, delivering a crushing 6-2 performance at home earlier this year. Hopefully our players are offended to be underdogs against a team with 4 wins in 34 matches.

Same lineup from our last match. Sole is available.

15': We take our 6th corner, all 6 laughably bad. We really suck at the set pieces.

31': O'Sullivan with a long shot that hits the crossbar and bounces back into the field of play. Harsanyi is first to it and puts it into the net... but he's offsides. It was close.

35': O'Sullivan with a great pass to the left side of the box that German picks up, he makes a move to turn by his defender and strikes it into the right side of the net! 1-0

46': We can't take a corner and we can't defend one either. Lynch makes a bad decision on a corner through the box and gets caught way out of position. We lose out on a header too and the ball is headed into an open net. 1-1

HALF: We dominate outside of one very poor corner defense. We take 7 shots to their 4, control 61% of the possession and have 11 corner kicks. Hopefully the offense picks up in the second half.

46': A great move right off the kickoff. Cullen feeds Ademola for a solid effort charging into the box put he puts it just wide.

74': Our 3rd shot on target all match... seemed like a great breakaway. German steals the ball at midfield and we have 3 guys forward, Cullen feeds Ademola who decides to try to pass it back instead of challenge the keeper, a poor pass, Cullen gets to it and does take a shot but its a poor one. Ademola had a great run at the keeper I thought. Missed opportunity.

76': Three subs all at once today again. Arter/Sole/McClaggon in, Herd/Cullen/Ademola out.

79': Some bulidup on the right side gets the defense slightly out of position, a pass is made to O'Sullivan from the right. O'Sullivan finds the hole i nthe defense and Harsanyi gets to the ball and fires a very nice shot from 18 yards out. He beats the keeper near post and gives us the lead! 2-1

86': German has picked up an injury and has me worried, erg. He'll finish the match but he is hobbled badly(40% fitness)


One last shot for Altrincham, a cross and a header in the 93rd minute but its way over the bar.

Altrincham 1 : 2 Woking

two road wins in a row, it feels like we are really back on track now.

O'Sullivan is man of the match with an 8.7 rating and assist on both of our goals.

German earns a great 7.9 rating and one goal. Harsanyi a 7.0 rating with his second goal in two games. Clarke(7.4) and Ademola(7.2) played well too.


Injury Update

Antonio German is out for 6-7 weeks. It's March 3rd, our final match is April 21st. Maybe he'll be back for the playoffs?


10 matches left:

1. Macclesfield - 72 pts
2. Cambridge - 71 pts
3. Rushden - 71 pts
4. Woking - 69 pts
5. Cheltenham - 68 pts
-----------------------
6. Kidderminster - 64 pts
7. Kettering - 64 pts
8. Wrexham - 61 pts
9. Accrington - 60 pts
10. Newport co - 60 pts


Our next two are against Kettering and Cambridge. Huge stretch coming up. Macclesfield and Cheltenham are both still on the schedule too. We'll have a lot to say about our own destiny here.

[Radii]

Joe O'Sullivan is named in the BS Premier team of the week.

March 6th, 2012

Kettering(19-7-10, 7th) @ Woking(20-9-7, 4th)

Again we're the underdogs at home. They're pick-em favorites. We're 1-0-2 against them. Our first game was by far our worst league performance this season. We fell apart on the road and lost 6-1.

They've got two big time scorers, Stephen O'Flynn with 17 on the season and Adam Boyes with 15.

3': ricketts win a ball in midfield, feeds to O'Sullivan who hits Sloma. Sloma into the box but he puts a shot well over.

10': Throwin from Sloma to O'sullivan, he feeds Herd 25 yards out. Herd turns and strikes, GOAL! Defense out of position and a great strike into the upper left corner! 1-0

30': We're in a defensive mindset, have been since the start actually. We've done great so far, 3 shots/2 on target, and haven't allowed a single shot yet.

33': Its never simple, is it? Ademola picks up a knock, he's not hurt, just slowed.

38': Short corner... I think from Sloma, to Fenton. A defender makes a sliding challenge and Fenton turns away from it and shoots near post, GOAL! 2-0

45': Beautiful through ball from O'Sullivan to an on-rushing Ademola. Ademola strikes quickly but the keeper makes a good save.

HALF: We have 8 shots, they have zero. Our team's average rating is 6.97. Theirs is 6.09. McLaggon in for Ademola who doesn't seem like he's going to fully recover from the hit he took early.

51': Their first shot is on target and a really decent look but Lynch is right there to make the save.

57': A truly poor back pass by an attacking Kettering. Their defender at the midfield line can't handle it and it sprays wide. Harsanyi is first to it and takes it all the way by himself, into the box unopposed and he beats the keeper! 3-0

59': Kettering with a strong attack, there's a header that Lynch barely gets his hands to. Boyes, one of their stars gets to the rebound and puts it in, but he was offsides. WHEW.

72': Sole and Arter in. O'Sulivan and Cullen out. O'Sullivan needs the rest and Sole needs some time on the pitch after his injury.

85': arter picks up an injury, hopefully not a bad one, his fitness isn't harmed too badly and he stays on.

Woking 3 : 0 Kettering

Spectacular in every way. A key win over a team fighting for playoff position. A nice revenge performance against a team that killed us at their place, and Chris Herd and Nick Fenton both score their first ever goals for us.

Joe O'Sullivan with an assist and a dominating midfield performance for an 8.0 and man of the match.

Fenton and Herd each with 7.7 ratings and a goal each. Harsanyi with a 7.4 and a goal, Sloma 7.1 and an assist. Ricketts(7.7) and Clarke(7.5) were outstanding as well.


Arter will miss one match, 6 days out.


Harsanyi's goal was his 20th in league play. He's tied for 3rd in goals scored this season and seems back on track after a poor stretch that I'd mentioned earlier.

Joe O'Sullivan will be a serious contender for player of the year in the league. His 17 assists lead the league, his 6 Man of the Match awards lead the league, and his 7.53 overall rating leads the league.

Sam Smith of Rushden with 24 goals and a 7.49 rating will probably win it, but O'Sullivan is in the conversation.


9 matches left, we're 3 points behind first and 5 points clear of 6th. Next up is a critical match with Cambridge who is 2 points ahead of us and in second.

[Radii]

Anthony Pulis resumes full training.

March 10th, 2012

Woking (21-9-7,4th) @ Cambridge(22-8-7,2nd)

Cambridge are huge 1-2 favorites here. We're 9-2 dogs. We are 1-0-2 vs Cambridge, earning our first win against them 2-1 at home back in October.

Harsanyi is tied for 3rd with 20 goals in the league this year. He's tied with Cambridge star Frank Wiafe Danquah. Cambridge's other star Craig Lindfield has 18. We'll try to hold them down as well as we did the scorers for Kettering last match. Through 37 matches in league play only two teams have scored 70 goals. Cambridge has 72 for/37 against. We have 70 for/43 against.

Ricky Anane starts in the back right for Ricketts today. Pulis isn't 100% but he can go today if needed.

4': Lynch comes out to the 18 yard line to go for a long ball. Wiafe Danquah gets to it first and gets a head on it. Its headed for the net but Fenton is there and puts it off target for a corner.

15': O'Sullivan with a great ball through to Ademola who could have scored it if shot it on his first touch. Instead he possesses it and gets too close to the keeper, no luck.

21': Great cross by cambridge, a header goes just wide. Its a clear cut chance missed, Lynch was not there.

30': O'Sullivan again, drops a ball onto Cullen's foot. We have our first clear cut chance, and Cullen's shot is saved. He could have placed it better, there was a lot of room.

33': A solid Cambridge attack leads to a good look by Lindfield. Williams is there and blocks his strike behind for a corner.

38': O'Sullivan with another beautiful run and through ball to cullen. Cullen with his second clear cut chance of the game, and for the second time he strikes it right at the keeper.

HALF: Scoreless on the road, I'm ok with that so far, though Cullen really needed to put one of his two chances home. We have 4 shots, 2 on target, the two chances by Cullen. Cambridge has 3 shots, one on target. We have 62% of the possession and are completing 73% of our passes compared to just 60% for Cambridge. We are doing great on the road but need to score.

53': Confusion as a pass is deflected, leaving Lindfield with a good look for Cambridge in the left side of the area, but Lynch makes a very fine save.

67': Sloma is out. Harsanyi AML, Cullen and Sole up front.

73': Cambridge have all the attack this half it seems. We're doing very well to hold them off so far but we need to generate something.

79': Pulis in for Herd, mcClaggon in for Ademola.

85': Cullen with a long strike just off the post. You'll never guess who fed him the ball.

88': Wiafe Danquah draws the defense and lays it off to the right side of the area, a midfielder comes up and strikes it by Lynch. We couldn't hold them off forever. 0-1


Cambridge 1 : 0 Woking

Unfortunate, we had two great chances to lead early on when we were in control. Cambridge attacked the entire second half and Lynch did great but finally let one in at the end.

Fenton earns a 7.2, O'Sullivan a 7.3 today.



With the loss today we fall 6 points out of first. We're still 5 points clear of being out of the playoffs, but 6th place Kidderminster is in the FA Trophy semis and didn't play a league match today. They have a chance to cut it to 2 points. Still 4th though.

[Radii]

Mark Ricketts is named in the BS Premier team of the week.

March 17th, 2012

Gainsborough(15-12-10, 11th) @ Woking(21-9-8, 4th)

We're favorites again in a match finally, 5-4 at home, 7-4 for Gainsborough. We're 1-2-0 against them, including a 0-0 draw at their place in October.

Today's lineup, since we've re-shuffled a bit after 3 matches in short order early in the month:

GK: Lynch
Defense: Clarke/Fenton/Williams/Ricketts
MC: O'Sullivan/Pulis
AM: Sloma/Ademola
ST: Harsanyi/Cullen

Bench: Herd, Sole, Thomas, Anane, McLaggon

1': O'Sullivan gets it forward to Cullen who turns to try to beat his man. He works for a shot but its not really a clean one and he puts it wide.

4': We counter hard after a corner, Cullen receives the ball on the right side of the pitch, centers for O'Sullivan who puts it forward perfectly for Harsanyi, who beats the keeper! 1-0

26': O'Sullivan hits sloma beautifully but he can't finish, a shot is blocked by the keeper. We retain possesion and build up again, this time, oh hey, O'Sullivan hits Sloma beautifully again, but he can't finish, again. The second one is a clear cut chance that he really needed to score on. The first a striker scores on but Sloma couldn't quite control it as well.

47': Clark saves the day after a nice long ball to their tough scoring midfielder Melligan, a tackle in the box to save a point blank scoring chance.

HALF: We lead 1-0. We take 6 shots, 2 on target, controlling 59% of the possession. Gainsborough only has 2 shots, and is only completing 52% of thei passes. We need to extend the lead though to feel safe.

47': Fenton saves a clear chance after a through ball to midfielder McMahon. They get a corner though. A shot is blocked by Sloma but falls to an open man 18 yards away. He strikes it and it ricochets off of Fenton and in. 1-1

55': Defender Reffin with a yellow for Gainsborough tackling Cullen hard.

59': Pulis with a yellow trying to win a ball in the midfield.

74': Graet save by Lynch to stop a breakaway. Sole in, Sloma out (Harsanyi to AML). McClaggon in for Ademola.

77': Corner for us. Its cleared but the ball falls to Pulis. He feeds it to O'Sullivan in the box, O'Sullivan with a strike to the left side of the net, IN! 2-1

84': After much buildup, McClaggon gets the ball just outside the box. He makes a great move to beat his man and turns on the jets, frees himself up for a clear cut strike on goal... and puts it just wide.

84': Herd in for a tired Pulis.

Woking 2 : 1 Gainsborough

O'Sullivan earns a 9.0 with a goal and an assist today, man of the match.

Harsanyi has a 7.0 with a goal. Pulis with a 6.9 and an assist. Other notables: Ricketts (7.0), Clarke(7.0), Fenton (7.1).

We took 14 shots, put 6 on target and 4 of them were clear cut chances to score. We controlled nearly 60% of the possession, only allowing 5 shots and nothing easy. A couple passes that seemed to be turning into easy chances were tackled away nicely.


We move up into 3rd with our win today but that was due to Rushden playing in the FA Trophy semis. We're 6 out of first and 8 points clear of the playoffs, but Kidderminster in 6th has also played one less match. We haven't secured a playoff spot yet but at this point it would be a severe disappointment if we didn't.

[Radii]

Joe O'Sullivan is named in the team of the week.

March 24, 2012

Woking (22-9-8, 4th) @ Maidenhead(9-9-20, 20th)

We're big time 4-7 favorites here. Maidenhead is only 3 points ahead of relegation, they're desperate for points today. With two BS South matchups and two FA Trophy matchups we've played Maidenhead more than anyone. We are 3-2-0 against them, but just 4 goals for/1 goal against in those 5 matches.

Same lineup as last match except McLaggon in for Ademola.

30': 30?? yup. Header off the bar by Maidenhead off a corner.

33': Little cross for striker Wall... Lynch should have charged him I think, this was just a couple feet away, instead Lynch stays on his line and Wall puts it in from point blank range. 0-1

40': Wall with a second goal on a nice through ball... but offsides, whew.

HALF: We just are not looking good. A bunch of players below 6.0 for the half. We take 5 shots but not a single one on target. they put 3 on target and their goal is pretty nice. We'll try to attack a bit more, we need points, not goal differential right now.

57': Yellow for Fenton in midfield.

72': After 70 minutes of crap we have a moment of pure brilliance. OSullivan forward to McLaggon, he could shoot from the right side of the area but instead feeds Harsanyi. Defenders are all around but he has enough space for a clear shot and puts it in! 1-1

73': Sole in for Harsanyi. Ademola in for McLaggon. I was making those moves to try to find a spark before that last goal, just a coincidence that it is the assist and goal scorers heh.

86': Nice cross from Ademola, attempt from O'Sullivan is put behind for a corner. Short corner to Fenton who strikes it and the keeper isn't there but a defender blocks the ball and clears it away from the net.

Maidenhead 1 : 1 Woking

A point on the road I suppose. I would have liked more against such a bad team.

McLaggon is man of the match today with a 7.8 rating and our assist.

Harsanyi with a 6.9 and the only goal. Ricketts(7.4), Clarke(7.0), Pulis(7.0), O'Sullivan (7.0).

Sloma was really off with a 5.9 rating today. Fenton could have been better too.


6 matches to go:

1. Macclesfield - 84 pts
2. Cambridge - 83 pts
3. Rushden - 80 pts
4. Woking - 76 pts
5. Cheltenham - 75 pts
-----------------------
6. Kidderminster - 71 pts
7. Kettering - 70 pts

8th has only 65. This is the competition with 6 to go. All 7 are at 40 games played.

Next up is a huge one... we host #1 Macclesfield.

[Radii]

March 27th, 2012

Macclesfield (24-12-4,1st) @ Woking (22-10-8,4th)

We're 11-5 dogs at home here. This is a huge match for us. If we don't win we really have no chance at first anymore. But if we can pull a point or three here when we're really not expected to it will really help our playoff position. We did manage to earn a draw on the road in november against them, but Macclesfield were under performing then IIRC. They are not underperforming anymore, to put it mildly.

Macclesfield has two scorers worth nothing, Lewis Guy(16 goals) and Curtis Main(13 goals).

Thomas and Fenton start today in defense. Just a rotation with Mike Williams to keep everyone fit. Ademola starts at AMR, no other changes.

14': We're playing defensive today. We are in control early but haven't really seriously threatened.

16': Ricketts with a ball up to Ademola who has our first clear cut chance of the match, but he fires it right at the keeper.

24': Sloma gets Cullen the ball, Cullen with a long shot that hits the crossbar, not a bad try.

35': Ademola runs down the right sideline and fires a cross in. Cullen gets his head to it, it takes a lucky ricochet off a defender that's right there, and finds the back of the net! Cullen does get credit for the goal. 1-0

HALF: A great half here. We get 9 shots off, control nearly 60% of the possession, 3 shots on target and a clear cut chance. Macclesfield takes 4 shots but none are on target.

48': A through ball for one of their stars, Main, who beats Lynch. He's offsides and we catch a big break, but Lynch was a little indecisive there. He came halfway out and froze instead of charging the ball.

63': O'sullivan with a long ball forward, cullen is first to it and gets a clean strike at the keeper from 15 yards out. Its saved but not held, Ademola runs onto it and puts it low past the keeper! 2-0

66': Sloma beats his man down the left sideline and fires a cross in. The keeper is out of position, Cullen runs onto it and heads it in! We suck at crosses and suck at headers, two goals in this fashion in one match!? 3-0

74': I make 3 subs based entirely on getting my key players some rest here. Anane in for ricketts, Arter in for O'Sullivan, Sole in for Harsanyi.

Woking 3 : 0 Macclesfield

I didn't see this coming at all. Macclesfield doesn't put a shot on target the entire match.

Cullen has a great game with 2 goals and an assist for a 9.3 rating.

Ademola with a goal and an assist, 8.6 rating. Sloma with the other assist has a 7.2 rating.

Clarke (8.1), Ricketts(7.4), Pulis (7.3), Fenton(7.3), O'Sullivan (7.3), Thomas (7.0) stand out. Clarke has the ball more than anyone, even o'sullivan today. He completes 39 out of 55 passes and wins a few tackles in the back as well.


5 matches to go, 5 points clear of the playoffs. We're not going to win the division outright (still 5 behind Macclesfield and 4 behind both Cambridge and Rushden, we can't catch them all), but we could clinch a playoff spot any day now.

[Radii]

Contract Update

All of my first team players are taken care of, I hadn't mentioned every signing along the way, I'll focus a little more on that when I update the roster going into next year.

I do have a few coaches and scouts unsigned, all of them feel like they're better than Woking and want more than I can possibly offer. I'll be hiring a GK coach, two coaches and a scout to replace what i'm losing in the offseason.

March 31st, 2012

Crawley (16-10-14, 13th) @ Woking (23-10-8,4th)

We're 5-4 favorites at home today. We have never beaten Crawley, 0-1-2 lifetime, including a 0-0 draw in november.

Anane in for Ricketts today, a sub due to the short rest. Williams in for Thomas for the same reason.

4': A counter attack, Cullen gets the ball at midfield and launches a nice long ball forward for Harsanyi, he's onsides... barely it appears, and not marked at all. He controls the ball well and beats the keeper! 1-0

10': Sloma is hurt. He can stay in but he's gonna be slowed badly.

14': We clear a ball out of the area up to midfield, but we get stuck out of position. They win a header at midfield and feed it to a striker very quickly for an easy goal. 1-1

29': Awful defense for Crawley. Ademola with a pass to Cullen 30 yards out, the defense is there but Cullen runs right into the box between the two DC's and strikes it into the net. 2-1

HALF: A wild start that slows down quite a bit late. We only take 3 shots, 2 on target, both clear cut chances that we finish. Crawley takes 8 shots and controls the ball well, but only puts 1 on target. Every on target shot has ended up in the net so far.

Arter in for Sloma. We back into a normal 4-4-2 to account for Arter's inability to play AML.

60': Fenton completely misses an interception of a long ball about 40 yards out. Ademeno for Crawly runs onto the ball and easily runs up and beats Lynch for the tying goal. 2-2

67': McLaggon in for Ademola.


Woking 2 : 2 Crawley

Well that was dull for the 2nd half. All there was to write was "we take a long shot and miss by a mile" and "look at that corner kick, boy do we suck at corner kicks."

Their first goal scorer earns man of the match.

Cullen puts up a 7.5 with a goal and an assist. Harsanyi has now scored in 6 of his last 8 matches. Only a 6.8 rating with his goal here. Ademola with the other assist but that's only good for a 6.8 as well.

that leaves O'Sullivan, 7.5 rating, 30/38 passes including 3 key ones, 6/6 tackles, 8/8 headers.

After the match we learn that Sloma will miss 9-12 days. I actually hadn't looked ahead into April yet. That'll just be one match.


4 matches to go:

1. Rushden 86 pts
2. Macclesfield 85 pts
3. Cambridge 83 pts
4. Woking 80 pts
5. Kidderminster 77 pts
----------------------
6. Cheltenham 75 pts
7. Kettering 73 pts

We're in the same spot, we can't go out and lose the rest of our games, but we're in a damn fine position.

[Radii]

April notes

Joe O'Sullivan is the March BS Premier player of the month! O'Sullivan played 7 matches in march, putting up 4 assists and a goal. His worst rating was a 7.0, and his average for the month is an incredible 7.83.

We play on the 9th(Darlington), 14th(Cheltenham), 17th(Northwich) and 21st (Ebbsfleet).

Cheltenham on the 14th really stands out. They're currently in 6th, just barely out of the playoffs.


The board remains very pleased with my leadership. There is no negative mentioned at all in their roundup(unlike the last few months where a slumping player would be mentioned).

We remain right around our salary budget, and we lose money constantly. The board continues to inject cash to keep our balance between -300k and -400k and taht never seems a problem. It keeps the players scared enough that they take lower salaries but its never been mentioned that I need to start making money, thank god.


April 9th, 2012

Woking(23-11-8, 4th) @ Darlington(16-14-12, 12th)

Darlington is a pickem favorite here. Here's another squad that we've never beaten, 0-2-2 against them. We tied 1:1 at our place in October.

German is healthy again but not quite full strength. I'll have him ready to come in anyway. With Sloma hurt I go with a standard 4-4-2, Arter on the left/Ademola on the right.

We'll go defensive on the road.

5': Arter picks up a yellow trying to win a ball back deep in their end.

12': O'Sullivan with a ball to Ademola, he puts a shot just barely wide.

25': Very close to a goal for Darlington, a cross from a long way out, they get a head to it in the box but its over.

29': We earn a corner, Ademola takes it, they miss a header to clear badly. Mike Williams runs up to it and puts it far post past the keeper! 1-0

34': O'Sullivan with a great through ball to Harsanyi past their entire defense. Harsanyi puts it home! 2-0

HALF: 6 shots, only 2 on target but both were clear cut chances and we finished on both. Darlington has 4 shots, they were more aggressive early but we dominate the second part of the half.

77': They're trying to attack but not doing well at it. Nothing to mention... until O'Sullivan is forced to come off injured. Uggggh. Herd in for O'Sullivan. German in for Arter and McLaggon in for Ademola.

We hold them off easily.

Darlington 0 : 2 Woking

The defense earns the marks today, Ricketts earns a 7.8 in defense and man of the match. Williams 7.4 with his goal, Harsanyi 7.0 and a goal. O'Sullivan 7.0 and an asssist. Clarke(7.2) and Fenton(7.0)


Huge win!


Injury Update

Brilliant, but injury prone. *sighs* Joe O'Sullivan is out for the rest of the season (2 months).


With just 3 matches to go, we're now 7 points clear of a playoff spot. So we've lost O'Sullivan but we're pretty much in.

1. Rushden - 89 pts
2. Macclesfield - 88 pts
3. Cambridge - 86 pts
Woking - 83 pts
5. Kidderminster - 77 pts
-------------------------
6. Kettering - 76 pts
7. Cheltenham - 76 pts


Rushden, Macclesfield, and Cambridge have clinched a playoff spot. We should be next.

[Radii]

Mike Williams collides with Giuseppe Sole, Sole is out for 9-12 days.

Player of the Season Voting

O'Sullivan isn't on the list. I guess he didn't play enough matches this season. Sam Smith of Rushden is the obvious choice. He's got 32 goals and 10 assists in 35 matches. He has a 7.64 average rating. No one else on the list has above a 7.23 rating.

April 14th, 2012

Woking(24-11-8, 4th) @ Cheltenham(23-7-13, 7th)

We're 5-4 favorites. Cheltenham and Kettering are tied at 6th/7th, 1 point behind Kidderminster in 5th. If we tie here I believe that's enough to clinch a playoff spot, but they're fighting for their playoff lives today.

We're 2-1-0 vs Cheltenham including a fun 5-2 victory earlier in the year at home.

Thomas/Fenton start in defense today. Pulis and Herd MC with O'Sullivan out. German/Ademola AM's, and Harsanyi/Cullen in their usual striker roles.


2': Pulis hurt. "He'll need a lengthy treatment."

18': Pulis hits German for a nice clear cut chance, but nope. The keeper makes a nice save.

29': A cross comes in from the left side, Ademola is deep trying to help the defense and he deflects it, but doesn't clear. It floats into the box and we're all out of position now, they get a head to it and put it in easily. 0-1

35': Cullen has a decent shot at goal in a crowded penalty area, saved. Harsanyi with a long range effort soon after. Saved.

39': Lynch with long clearance after a back pass. Cullen has a bead on it, their defenders are either not paying attention or are just slooow. Cullen runs on to it and beats their keeper easily. 1-1

HALF: Hate giving up the early goal but I'm glad we got it back.

49': Pulis with a pass through to Ademola who puts it home but he was inches offsides. Close!

57': Through ball by Herd to Harsanyi. its a clear cut chance that Harsanyi can't quite get in. Its saved for a corner.

64': Pulis out, Arter in. We'll see if Pulis is hurt long term after this.

67': Nice save by Lynch following some nice passing leads to a clean strike on goal by Cheltenham.

73': Cullen gets into the area and has a great chance, our 4th clear cut chance of the game, their keeper somehow makes a great save, I can't believe cullen didn't find the net.

80': Throwin Cheltenham. A cross comes in from the left, striker Brooker gets a head ot it and gets it past Lynch. 1-2

84': As I'm looking for subs to amke for a last ditch effort, Arter takes a short corner to Fenton. Fenton evades a defender and strikes it home!!! 2-2

89': cullen picks up a late injury, ugggh.

93': Ademola picks up an even later injury. uggggggggggh.


Cheltenham 2 : 2 Woking

Their striker Brooker scores both their goals and is man of the match.

Cullen 7.6 and a goal, Fenton 7.4 and a goal. Assists from Lynch(7.5) and Arter(6.8).

That's it as far as notables. Three injuries today, I'm kinda afraid to click continue.


Injury Update

Mark Cullen sprains a wrist, 2 weeks.

Ademola, Broken Ribs, 2-3 months.

Pulis, twisted knee, 4 weeks.

OUCH.


Phyrric victory, we clinch a playoff spot, but lose 3 starters.


With 2 matches to go:

1. Rushden - 90 pts
2. Cambridge - 89 pts
3. Macclesfield - 89 pts
4. Woking - 84 pts
5. Kidderminster - 80 pts
---------------------
6. Kettering - 77 pts
7. Cheltenham - 77 pts


We'll call up a number of reserves for our last two matches just to make sure we don't suffer any more key injuries.

Its April 14th, our last match is april 21st in the regular season. I am not sure how long a break there is before the playoffs start.

At present Pulis, O'Sullivan, Ademola, Cullen and Sole are all injured.

[Radii]

April 17th, 2012

Northwich (6-7-31, 24th) @ Woking (24-12-8, 4th)

Worst team in the league at home. We beat them 2-0 on the road earlier in the year.

Here's the lineup:

GK Lynch
DEF: Williams/Fenton/Thomas/Anane (Clarke/Ricketts resting)
MC: Billy Hussey/Maledon (Arter/Herd resting)
AM: Josh Coke/McLaggon (German/Sloma resting)
ST: Harsanyi/Ola Sogbanmu


Two guys I'm curious enough about to actually want to see from the reserves... Josh Coke has done decently well for me when he's had to. Striker Anson Cousins is considered expendable/bad by my coaches but I think he has a lot of talent. Of course, he's hurt and won't be able to play.

I drop down to "Key Highlights" only so don't expect a lot here.

41': After a short coner the ball ends up wide to Ricky Anane. He fires in a cross into the 6 yard box and Ola Sogbanmu, a man without a contract, gets a head to it and puts it in! 1-0

45': Anane with another long run forward down the right side, he places a great pass for Harsanyi, first touch is perfect into open space, shot, goal! 2-0

HALF: Way to go guys! Northwich can't get out of relegation, they're devastated and playing for nothing, and our young guys want to show off.

German in for Harsanyi at the half. Out of everyone on the pitch, Lynch and Harsanyi are the most important. I'll protect Harsanyi from injury.

65': Penalty in the box during a corner by the Northwich defense! DMC Jerome Maledon is up to take it, and he puts it low and left of the keeper. 3-0


Woking 3 : 0 Northwich

No injuries!

Ricky Anane is brilliant on offense today when he was able to get foward. He's man of the match with 2 assists, 8.2 rating.

goals from Sogbanmu(8.1), Maledon (7.3), and Harsanyi (7.0). The other assist from Nick Fenton who earned an awesome 7.9. Elsewhere:Williams(7.5), Thomas(7.2), Hussey(7.3), McLaggon(7.1), and Coke(7.5). Lynch with a 6.9, our worst rating.


With one match to go first place is still not decided:

1. Cambridge - 92 pts
2. Macclesfield - 92 pts
3. Rushden - 90 pts
4. Woking - 87 pts
5. Kidderminster - 83 pts

We could finish 3rd with a win and a rushden loss, but Cambridge/Macclesfield/Rushden are fighting it out still for auto promotion.

Awesomely enough, Rushden @ Cambridge for their final match. Macclesfield hosts #10 Accrington.

[Radii]

April 21st, 2012

Woking (4th) @ Ebbsfleet(15th)

Its our last regular season match. We are 1-1-1 lifetime vs Ebbsfleet and beat them 4-0 at home earlier in the year. We don't have much incentive here.

sole is healthy again but lacking match fitness. i start him in an effort to fix that before the playoffs. Harsanyi will rest. Otherwise, same starting lineup as last match. Lets not get anyone hurt.

15': They get a man in the box open who fires a shot, Lynch sells out for it but its off the crossbar and back into play. Thomas is there first to clear.

17': Striker Henry fouls Sole... Sole is hurt. *sighs*.

35': Sole isn't that hurt! Hussey feeds Sole 22 yards out, he turns, runs right by his man, into the box and strikes it past the keeper. 1-0

HALF: Lets finish this!


48': Maldeon is hurt. Arter is in for him.

60': They feed Henry the ball 25 yards out. He stops and takes it, its perfectly hit to the lower left corner of the net. 1-1

70': Josh Coke picks up an injury but he can play on. German in for Sole.

87': Coke runs down the left side, he hits McLaggon who goes into the corner before firing a cross. Sogbanmu is there and heads it in! 2 games, 2 goals! 2-1


Ebbsfleet 1 : 2 Woking

Their man Henry earns man of the match.

On our side:

Sogbanmu (7.5/1 goal), McLaggon (7.4/1 ast), Williams (7.3), Sole (6.8/goal), Hussey (6.8/ast).


Injury Update

Maledon is out for 3 weeks. Not normally an issue, but with O'Sullivan and possibly Pulis out, that hurts my midfield bench.


Whew, we've got some time.

Playoff Matchups

Rushden @ Kidderminster - May 1st
Cambridge @ Woking - May 3rd
Woking @ Cambridge - May 7th
Kidderminster @ Rushden - May 8th


So we've got 10-14 days to try to get some of these guys off injuries.


To finish off league play:

Cambridge 2 : 3 Rushden
Macclesfield 1 : 0 Accrington

[Radii]

Final Regular Season Standings

1. Macclesfield - 95 pts
-------------------
2. Rushden - 93 pts
3. Cambridge - 92 pts
4. Woking - 90 pts (26-12-8, 87 for, 51 agaist, +36 diff)
5. Kidderminster - 86 pts
--------------------
6. Wrexham - 77 pts
7. Kettering - 77 pts
8. Cheltenham - 77 pts
9. Newport co - 74 pts
10. Accrington - 71 pts
11. Gainsborough - 69 pts
12. Darlington - 68 pts
13. Crawley - 67 pts
14. Stevenage - 62 pts
15. Ebbsfleet - 52 pts
16. Barrow - 52 pts
17. Eastleigh - 52 pts
18. Gateshead - 49 pts
19. Maidenhead - 47 pts
20. Southport - 43 pts
--------------
21. AFC Wimbledon - 41 pts
22. Histon - 40 pts
23. Altrincham - 28 pts
24. Northwich - 25 pts


Leading Goalscorers

Sam Smith - Rushden - 33
Zoltan Harsanyi - Woking - 25
Marc Williams - Wrexham - 24
Frank Wiafe Danquah - 22
Craig Lindfield - 21


Final Assists Leaders

Joe O'Sullivan - Woking - 19
Obi Anoruo - Wrexham - 15
Jai Reason - Cambridge - 14
Chris Simm - Southport - 14
Phil Turnbull - Gainsborough - 13


Man of the Match Awards

Sam Smith - Rushden - 8
Joe O'Sullivan - Woking - 7
Obi Anoruo - Wrexham - 7
John Melligan - Gainsborough - 7

3 tied w/ 6


4 players, including Anthony Pulis, tie for first with an 80% pass completion %. Ricketts and clarke are both at 77%, tied for 14th. O'Sullivan is at 75%, 24th.


Average Rating

Sam Smith - Rushden - 7.57
Joe O'Sullivan - Woking - 7.53
Frank Wiafe Danquah - 7.28
Patrick Kohlmann - Cheltenham - 7.26
Joseph Oastler - Kettering - 7.23


Sam Smith is the best player in the league, I'm ok with that. But Joe O'Sullivan is the 2nd best dammit.

[Radii]

Seriously?

Chris Herd has sustained a bruised head following a collision with Aswad Thomas in a training session. He will be out for between 9 days and 12 days. We're going to be playing reserve players in our damn midfield.

May Notes

-- Lewis Martin trained well in goal. His one on ones improved, as did his teamwork and work rate.

-- I am second in voting for top manager in April. Macclesfield's manager wins it.

-- The board remains very pleased.


Kidderminster and Rushden tie 1:1 at Kidder in the first leg of the other semifinal.

New Signing

My scout finds a number of cheap/free players as he finishes up scouting the UK for the year. We bring on defender who can play the left or right side of the defense in Stelios Nikolaou. He's an 18 year old from Cyprus but he's been playing for Leyton Orient. He's very gifted physically (16 pace/13 balance/13 jumping/11 agi/11 accel). He's a good teammate and hard worker, fairly determined. Technically he's ok, 9 passing, 9 tackling, only 6 marking, 12 heading. A good, solid athlete. We've relied on loaners entirely at the DL position the last two years. It'll be nice to have a young guy available. $475/wk, affordable. This is clearly for next season.


May 3rd

Blue Square Premier Playoff Semifinals, First Leg

Cambridge (28-8-10, 90 for/50 against/+40, 3rd) @
Woking (26-12-8, 87 for/51 against/+36, 4th)

We're 1-0-3 against Cambridge in our history. this year we won 2-1 at home in October and lost 1-0 on the road in March.

We've got our injuries, but so do they. 22 goal scorer Frank Wiafe Danquah is out with a twisted ankle. That leaves Craig Lindfield(21 goals) as the primary threat. MC Jai Reason is their playmaker, he's a big concern too.

Lineup:

GK Lynch
DEF: Clarke/Fenton/Thomas/Ricketts
MC: Sloma/Arter
AM: German/McLaggon
ST: Harsanyi/Cullen

BENCH: Mike Williams, Ricky Anane, Giuseppe Sole, Billy Hussey, Ola Sogbanmu

Yup, I'm serious about the last two. Depressing. Herd, Pulis, O'Sullivan, Ademola, and Maledon are unavailable due to injury.

We're going come out with a standard mentality and try to score some here. We'll turtle it up on defense on the road if we can afford to.

Playmaker Jai Reason gets tight marking for this one.

For the playoffs i'll watch the entire match.

3': We get a counter attack, Cullen with the ball 45 yards out, he puts a ball forward for Harsanyi, he runs onto it and takes a shot from the penalty spot, its straight past the keeper!!! 1-0

7': Arter with a yellow, a tackle from behind after a misplayed ball, I was worried about a red there.

9': A long ball up for Harsanyi, he pulls it wide to set up our offense. Arter finds Cullen for a long shot outside the box, its struck well but just wide right.

11': Thomas misses a tackle on Lindfield but Fenton covers quickly and clears it away.

13': Reason with open space past midfield, he places a nice ball forward and Lynch has to make a good save to force a corner. Corner comes to nothing.

15': Arter with a pass to Sloma, Sloma makes his man miss, comes forward and makes a graet pass to McLaggon coming in strong from the right side. McLaggon goes near post with a shot and SCORES! 2-0 The missed tackle allowed Sloma to advance and pull the defense out of position.

24': Thomas with a foul 20 yards out. They take a shot off the free kick but it goes wide.

29': I change to a counter-attacking mindset. Cambridge has 60% of possession and 5 shots to our 3, maybe we can take advantage of some desperation, while defending a bit better at the same time.

36': They do it the opposite way i'd expect.. Lindfield runs down the left side, plays a great low cross into the 6 yard box that jai Reason runs on to for an easy goal. 2-1

38': Near disaster as Lindfield is way faster than Fenton, he beats Fenton to a long ball, Thomas comes roaring in to tackle away before he can shoot.

40': German runs the left sideline, places a ball very nicely ahead into the box. Cullen gets a head to it and the keeper makes a great save to turn it over the bar. corner comes to nothing.

45': Cambridge midfielder Partridge picks up a yellow.

HALF: Giving up that goal sucked after the quick start, but we're still ahead and we've played very well. No changes at the half, but Sloma will have to come out for sure at some point.

46': Fenton with a quick yellow challenging for a header.

48': Back to a standard mindset for us.

54': Sloma with a ball up ahead to Cullen. Cullen turns left, jukes by a defender, makes his way deep into the box to the left side of the area and strikes it by the keeper! 3-1

55': Holy crap really? A ball ahead to midfielder Winn, a cross to the box and a header from lindfield... instant offense. 3-2 I just gave a defensive order to hold the 2 goal lead I'd built. Damn!

59': Right back to standard for me. We seem to do worse when we're defending...

65': Normally i'd be bringing sloma out now but he's playing great and a reserve is his backup...

67': Counter for Cambridge, the first man draws the defense and feeds Lindfield with some room, he shoots, Thomas is there just in time to deflect it for a corner. Nothing doing on the corner.

69': A foul on a long ball by Lynch just outside the box... free kick blocked, we get it back, pass ot McLaggon in the area, he shoots, just saved by the keeper...

72': Long ball from German, Harsanyi is to it first... I dunno how he wasn't offsides but ok! He has a poor first touch though or its a goal every time. Instead he shoots from a tough angle and can't finish.

77': Anane in for Ricketts in defense.

79': Hate to do it, but Sloma's gassed. Hussey in for Sloma in midfield. Go Go Reserve Team.

83': This will seem nuts, but the dude has 2 goals in 2 matches... Sogbanmu in for Cullen at striker.

91': Reason with a long strike, just over the bar. During the same play, defender Bennet felt he was fouled and goes a bit nuts, drawing a yellow himself.


Woking 3 : 2 Cambridge

A great win!!!

Sloma is man of the match today, 8.5 rating and 2 assists!

Cullen with a goal and an assist for a 7.8. 7.3 from McLaggon and a goal. Harsanyi 6.8 but a goal. Arter put up a 7.3 in the midfield, as did Antonio German.

We ended up evening out possession, 50/50 by the end. 10 shots for us, 6 on target, 2 clear cut chances. 12 shots for Cambridge, 4 on target, 2 clear cut chances.

Our gate receipts from the playoff game are $110k off of 5728 fans. A new high for income!

[Radii]

The FA Trophy finals are on may 5th. Rushden and Gateshead play to a scoreless draw, Gateshead ends up winning on penalties. That's 120 minutes of football for Rushden in between their two semifinal matchups. That seems horrible.

May 7th, 2012

Blue Square Premier Semifinal Leg 2

Woking (3) @ Cambridge (2)

I doublecheck the rules. There's no away goals rules for the semifinals. If Cambridge is ahead by 1 after 90 minutes we play extra time.

Herd and Pulis are both available but not nearly full strength. I make Herd a sub over Hussey, thanks for filling in though buddy. On second thought, scratch that. Herd and Pulis are both available. Sogbanmu is off too. My midfield will be so tired by the time we're done.

The only starting lineup change I make is Mike Williams in for Nick Fenton. Fenton is aging and will tire faster on short rest.

Sole/Fenton/Anane/Herd/Pulis available off the bench. Normally I would find a way to not start Sloma today but he played so well last match I keep him in, he'll be off by the 60 minute mark though at best.

We start defensive today.

6': A long ball to Harsanyi who is onsides... he runs freely into the box but a Cambridge defender is there just in time to clear the ball away before Harsanyi sets up his shot.

12': Reason with a corner, its fired hard into the 6 yard box, Whitwell gets a head to it and puts it in. 0-1 that's the only shot of the match so far.

13': Midfielder winn with a yellow for cambridge.

21': Reason with a foul just outside the box. Thomas comes up to take the free kick and its an extremely rare beauty. The keeper has to make a diving save to prevent the goal. corner comes ot nothing.

23': 2nd corner for cambridge, another cross and this time the header goes inches over. Scary.

28': long pass forward from Clark into the left side of the penalty area. German gets to it and takes a shot, the keeper makes a solid save. Good pass though!

40': A couple long off target shots is all we have to show for the last 12 minutes.

HALF: We trail 1-0 here, which make us tied 3-3 aggregate. I stayed defensive all half but will come out of that shell some in the second half. Herd is in for Sloma at halftime. We took 5 shots in the half, 2 on target but both saved. Cambridge only placed one on target for their goal, taking 4 total shots.

49': Reason picks up a yellow, its his 4th foul, about time.

50': Nice tackle by Arter in the midfield, he feeds Cullen who gets it ahead to Harsanyi. Harsanyi has the defense on him though and can't place his shot, its well wide.

54': Speed kills... counter for cambridge, Lindfield is so much faster than our guys and he is one on one with Lynch. Lynch comes out to challenge but the shot is placed well. 0-2 Now we have to score.

65': Time to account for our tired guys. Anane in for German, Pulis in for McLaggon. Remember Ricketts can play MC. I set my midfield to Arter/Herd/Ricketts/Pulis and go with a straight 4-4-2, Anane DR, attacking mindset, lets go score.

70': Anane is hit hard goign for a header and is hurt... he comes off briefly but will be able to finish the match.

73': Ricketts forward to Cullen, Cullen with a nice ball to an onrushing Pulis, he strikes, but the keeper saves.

81': Overload boys, come way up, get a dang goal!

86': HOLY CRAP. Throwin... Harsanyi gets it to the middle of the pitch for Ricketts. ricketts takes a shot from 30 yards out, the keeper is shocked to see it coming and its placed into the right side of the net!!!!! 1-2 We are level in aggregate goals!!! That was a stunning goal.

Back to standard mentality.

88': Pulis ahead ot Cullen... just offsides or he was off to the races.

3 minutes of injury time.


END OF REGULATION: I hate that I had to use all my subs early but I felt it was what we needed to do once we fell behind by 2. Unbelievable by Ricketts, he pulled that out of his ass completely.

Ricketts and Arter are so so tired. Oh well, lets see what we can do.

93': Anane with a free kick from beyond midfield. He puts it into the right corner, Cullen runs onto it, three Cambridge defenders are charging, he threads a pass into the box for Pulis, Pulis fires near post, GOAL!!!!! 2-2 We lead by one!!!

95': Defend! Hold the ball and play with a deeper defensive line, no letting them run by our tired defense.

99': Herd with a yellow.

101': Ricketts drops back into defense. Harsanyi drops back to the midfield. We are in a defensive 5-4-1.

105': Cullen goes down hard after a tackle... 45% fitness. He's lucky he doesn't have to leave the match.

107': Quick pass into the box for cambridge, a shot is saved by Lynch.

EXTRA HALFTIME: Ricketts 53%, Areter 56%, Cullen 50%, anane is hurt but 73%, the only player above 70%. 5-4-1, defend, retain possession, lets wipe out this last 15 minutes!

106': Lindfield ends up with the ball in the box after a cross from the left side. He puts a shot just over.

108': Midfielder Marriot puts a shot wide from 20 yards out.

111': Lindfield puts a shot way over from 30 yards out.

114': Nice buildup by Harsanyi and Cullen... they don't find a way to generate a shot but they kill 3 minutes with us in possession.

115': Shot from lindfield from 20 yards is turned over by Lynch... first corner is headed behind by the defense, second corner is cleared out.

119': Foul by Reason just outside the area. We stall a bit before Thomas takes a poor shot.


Cambridge (4) 2 : 2e (5) Woking

An amazing comeback after falling behind in the first half. I still cannot believe ricketts even took the shot that he did, much less that it went into the net. A cambridge player earns man of the match, but that's ok.

Cullen places 5 key passes and makes a number of key runs, and has an assist, he earns an 8.8 rating.

Pulis earns a 7.8 off the bench with a goal today.

Ricketts with a 7.7 and a goal.

Harsanyi only a 6.7 but he has our other assist.

Clarke(7.1), Williams(7.4), Arter (7.0) and Anane(7.0) also stand out.


8600 fans came to Cambridge's stadium to see this one.

Injury

Ricky Anane was hurt in the match and is going to miss the final.


After the match... not due to my praise at all here... the media report on how amazingly well Mark Cullen has been playing. Cullen tells me that he's feeling the pressure by the press and that it is unsettling. Thanks, guys.

Kidderminster dominate Rushden on the road, possibly due to the severe fitness difference that must be felt after the FA Trophy Final?

This seems like a good thing for me. I haven't checked the results, but I seem to remember Rushden owning us badly.


We will play Kidderminster in the finals on May 13th for the right to earn promotion up to League 2!

[Tellistto]

Good luck!

[Radii]

Good luck!

Thanks!

May 13th, 2012

Blue Square Premier Playoff Final

Woking(26-12-8, 87 for/51 aginst/+36, 4th)
vs
Kidderminster(26-8-12, 74 for/37 against/5th)


We have a great history against Kidderminster as far as things go, we're 3-0-1 and have won our last 3 games against them. In August we beat them 2-0 on the road. In December we beat them 3-1 at home.

Kidderminster are even money favorites to win today. We're 11-5 dogs.

Our lineup:

GK: Lynch
DEF: Clarke/Fenton/Thomas/Ricketts
MC: Pulis/Arter
AM: German/McLaggon
ST: Harsanyi/Cullen

BENCH: Sole, Herd, Sloma, Maledon, Williams

Too bad Anane is hurt... Ricketts is not fully rested from his 120 minutes of action a few days ago. I could move Clarke to the right side if I need, but he hasn't done that a single time this season I don't think.

Kidder ST James Spencer has 14 goals and 8 assists in 34 matches. He's a loaner from Huddersfield.

ST Darryl Knights has 16 goals and 7 assists in 43 matches.

ML Nathan Pinney has 12 goals and 10 assists in 41 matches.

those three guys are the scoring threats it woudl appear. Pinney has a 7.24 avg rating and seems their best player. He's very speedy.

None of these guys are particularly brave so Im going to tackle them all hard and try to get them off their games. I'm not going to close down or anything, with 3 good players like this I fear getting dragged way out of position due to those instructions.

Wow, we're in Wembly for this? Well damn. I got a news item saying 38,000 tickets had been sold.

10': We've got the only shot so far, an off target long range strike. We are dominating possession though.

13': We win a ball in midfield. Harsanyi feeds it to German, a DC is a little late getting back, German back to Harsanyi. He's 19 yards out but has room to shoot. He fires a shot into the left side of the net!!! 1-0

15': Spender (kidder ST) gets by Fenton and has a clear cut strike on Lynch. Lynch gets up and makes a great save on a point blank attempt!

17': Short corner by Kidder to Dolman.. a defender I think. Pulis mises a tackle, he takes a shot, Lynch gets his body in front of it but it ricochets off him and into the net. 1-1 Sad.

20': Pulis attempts a shot from 20 yards out, its just over.

28': Clarke is challenged hard trying to win a ball in midfield. He needs the trainer out but stays in the game.

39': Spencer gets some space in the box after a clearance attempt by Thomas is blocked. He's got a tough angle from the right side though and his shot hits the right post and is cleared.

HALF: Thomas is having a poor match, 5.5 rating and he's made mistakes that allowed some of those chances above. We have 57% of the possession but only 4 shots, and just the 1 on target. 7 shots from Kidderminster, 2 on target.

No halftime changes for me.

46': Knights runs by Thomas to get into the area but Ricketts comes over and clears nicely.

49': A counter attack by Kidder after a corner. Pinney with a long pass ahead to Knights. We are way out of position and Knights takes a free run at Lynch and puts a shot by him into the net. 1-2

52': Williams in for Thomas... a lot of times a bad first half will be turned around and the player will play much better in the second... but Thomas is just not on today.

62': Knights beats Fenton and earns another claer cut strike... but puts this one over. their defense is outstanding. We cannot get through to get any sort of looks. Just one shot all half and it was a joke.

65': Attacking mindset.

69': A counter attack after we try to break down their defense and fail again. Knights down the left side, he crosses it into the 6 yard box and midfielder McDermott heads it home far post. 1-3

69': German moves to AMR. sloma in for McLaggon to take over on the left side. Herd in for Pulis in midfield. McLaggon playing poorly, Pulis tired.

79': They clear out a corner.. Williams heads it back forward, Cullen picks it up 19 yards out, he's covered well but manages to get a foot to the ball and somehow it finds the net! A hard, low strike past the keeper! 2-3 Perhaps its not over yet.

87': A long throw in comes to Arter, its his turn to shoot from 20 yards out, its a solid strike but the keeper saves it. There's a rebound, another shot, corner that does nowhere.

89': Arter with a through ball to sloma on the left side... offsides, he took a poor shot anyway.

3 minutes of extra time.

91': Sloma with a rocket cross from the left side, defender koncks it out for a throw in. We give the ball away though.

92': Arter places a nice through ball into open space but Harsanyi didn't time his run well.


Kidderminster 3 : 2 Woking

Their defense was just far, far superior to ours today. We had two very lucky long shots to make it close, this could have just as easily been 3-0.

Kidder striker Darryl Knights is man of the match with an 8.3 rating today.


Harsanyi earns a 7.2 rating and a goal. Cullen 6.8 with a goal. Assists from German and Williams. Arter played fairly well too (7.0), while Thomas was awful(5.3).

Disappointing, but remember we were picked in the middle of the table. Its been a very good season and we've built some nice pieces for next season.

Our full season loaners end tomorrow, so I'll do a review of the season before I advance any more(so I can pull the loaner's stats, etc) and prepare for our next offseason.

I don't suspect much will happen in the offseason though. We're right at our current wage budget and I pretty much like the team. It'll just be a matter of bringing in the right loaners again next year to push us over the top.

[Radii]

Woking 2011/12 Season in Review

Team History

2009/10 - BS South - 1st - 24 W - 12 D - 6 L - 62 for - 39 ag - +23 GD - 84 pts
2010/11 - BS Premier - 17th - 14 W - 10 D - 22 L - 60 for - 65 ag - -5 GD - 52 pts
2011/12 - BS Premier - 4th - 26 W - 12 D - 8 L - 87 for - 51 ag - +36 GD - 90 pts

This year:

Top Goalscorer - Zoltan Harsanyi - 28 goals
Top League Goalscorer - Zoltan Harsanyi - 27 goals
Most Assists - Joe O'Sullivan - 19 assists
Highest Average Rating - Joe O'Sullivan - 7.51 (32 apps)
Most Man of the Match - Joe O'Sullivan - 7

[Radii]

Goalkeepers


<table border="1" bordercolor="#000000" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" width="508"> <col width="91"> <col width="36"> <col width="44"> <col width="35"> <col width="23"> <col width="23"> <col width="40"> <col width="41"> <col width="39"> <col width="54"> <tbody><tr valign="TOP"> <td width="91"> Name
</td> <td width="36"> Age
</td> <td width="44"> $/Wk
</td> <td width="35"> Apps
</td> <td width="23"> GA
</td> <td width="23"> SO
</td> <td width="40"> MoM
</td> <td width="41"> Yel
</td> <td width="39"> Red
</td> <td width="54"> Avg
</td> </tr> <tr valign="TOP"> <td width="91"> Kevin Lynch
</td> <td sdval="18" sdnum="1033;" width="36"> 18
</td> <td sdval="160" sdnum="1033;0;@" width="44"> $160
</td> <td sdval="50" sdnum="1033;" width="35"> 50
</td> <td sdval="62" sdnum="1033;" width="23"> 62
</td> <td sdval="17" sdnum="1033;" width="23"> 17
</td> <td sdval="0" sdnum="1033;" width="40"> 0
</td> <td sdval="0" sdnum="1033;" width="41"> 0
</td> <td sdval="0" sdnum="1033;" width="39"> 0
</td> <td sdval="6.68" sdnum="1033;" width="54"> 6.68
</td> </tr> <tr valign="TOP"> <td width="91"> Lewis Martin
</td> <td sdval="18" sdnum="1033;" width="36"> 18
</td> <td sdval="160" sdnum="1033;0;@" width="44"> $160
</td> <td sdval="5" sdnum="1033;" width="35"> 5
</td> <td sdval="4" sdnum="1033;" width="23"> 4
</td> <td sdval="2" sdnum="1033;" width="23"> 2
</td> <td sdval="0" sdnum="1033;" width="40"> 0
</td> <td sdval="0" sdnum="1033;" width="41"> 0
</td> <td sdval="0" sdnum="1033;" width="39"> 0
</td> <td sdval="6.66" sdnum="1033;" width="54"> 6.66
</td> </tr> </tbody></table>

**GA = Goals Allowed | SO = Shutouts




Defenders


<table border="1" bordercolor="#000000" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" width="564"> <col width="57"> <col width="28"> <col width="47"> <col width="49"> <col width="22"> <col width="34"> <col width="42"> <col width="31"> <col width="32"> <col width="41"> <col width="41"> <col width="42"> <tbody><tr valign="TOP"> <td width="57"> Name
</td> <td width="28"> Age
</td> <td width="47"> $/Wk
</td> <td width="49"> Apps
</td> <td width="22"> GL
</td> <td width="34"> AST
</td> <td width="42"> MoM
</td> <td width="31"> Yel
</td> <td width="32"> Red
</td> <td width="41"> Tck
</td> <td width="41"> Pass
</td> <td width="42"> Avg
</td> </tr> <tr valign="TOP"> <td width="57"> Jordan Clarke
</td> <td sdval="20" sdnum="1033;0;@" width="28"> 20
</td> <td sdnum="1033;0;@" width="47"> LOAN
</td> <td sdval="53" sdnum="1033;0;@" width="49"> 53
</td> <td sdval="0" sdnum="1033;0;@" width="22"> 0
</td> <td sdval="2" sdnum="1033;0;@" width="34"> 2
</td> <td sdval="4" sdnum="1033;0;@" width="42"> 4
</td> <td sdval="5" sdnum="1033;0;@" width="31"> 5
</td> <td sdval="0" sdnum="1033;0;@" width="32"> 0
</td> <td sdval="4.65" sdnum="1033;0;@" width="41"> 4.65
</td> <td sdval="0.77" sdnum="1033;0;@" width="41"> 77%
</td> <td sdval="7.09" sdnum="1033;0;@" width="42"> 7.09
</td> </tr> <tr valign="TOP"> <td width="57"> Mark Ricketts
</td> <td sdval="27" sdnum="1033;0;@" width="28"> 27
</td> <td sdval="700" sdnum="1033;0;@" width="47"> $700
</td> <td sdnum="1033;0;@" width="49"> 43 (4)
</td> <td sdval="2" sdnum="1033;0;@" width="22"> 2
</td> <td sdval="1" sdnum="1033;0;@" width="34"> 1
</td> <td sdval="1" sdnum="1033;0;@" width="42"> 1
</td> <td sdval="2" sdnum="1033;0;@" width="31"> 2
</td> <td sdval="0" sdnum="1033;0;@" width="32"> 0
</td> <td sdval="3.43" sdnum="1033;0;@" width="41"> 3.43
</td> <td sdval="0.78" sdnum="1033;0;@" width="41"> 78%
</td> <td sdval="6.99" sdnum="1033;0;@" width="42"> 6.99
</td> </tr> <tr valign="TOP"> <td width="57"> Aswad Thomas
</td> <td sdval="22" sdnum="1033;0;@" width="28"> 22
</td> <td sdval="650" sdnum="1033;0;@" width="47"> $650
</td> <td sdnum="1033;0;@" width="49"> 46 (1)
</td> <td sdval="2" sdnum="1033;0;@" width="22"> 2
</td> <td sdval="0" sdnum="1033;0;@" width="34"> 0
</td> <td sdval="1" sdnum="1033;0;@" width="42"> 1
</td> <td sdval="3" sdnum="1033;0;@" width="31"> 3
</td> <td sdval="0" sdnum="1033;0;@" width="32"> 0
</td> <td sdval="2.93" sdnum="1033;0;@" width="41"> 2.93
</td> <td sdval="0.74" sdnum="1033;0;@" width="41"> 74%
</td> <td sdval="6.7" sdnum="1033;0;@" width="42"> 6.70
</td> </tr> <tr valign="TOP"> <td width="57"> Mike Williams
</td> <td sdval="25" sdnum="1033;0;@" width="28"> 25
</td> <td sdval="650" sdnum="1033;0;@" width="47"> $650
</td> <td sdnum="1033;0;@" width="49"> 16 (4)
</td> <td sdval="2" sdnum="1033;0;@" width="22"> 2
</td> <td sdval="1" sdnum="1033;0;@" width="34"> 1
</td> <td sdval="0" sdnum="1033;0;@" width="42"> 0
</td> <td sdval="0" sdnum="1033;0;@" width="31"> 0
</td> <td sdval="0" sdnum="1033;0;@" width="32"> 0
</td> <td sdval="3.78" sdnum="1033;0;@" width="41"> 3.78
</td> <td sdval="0.69" sdnum="1033;0;@" width="41"> 69%
</td> <td sdval="6.95" sdnum="1033;0;@" width="42"> 6.95
</td> </tr> <tr valign="TOP"> <td width="57"> Nick Fenton
</td> <td sdval="32" sdnum="1033;0;@" width="28"> 32
</td> <td sdval="700" sdnum="1033;0;@" width="47"> $700
</td> <td sdval="42" sdnum="1033;0;@" width="49"> 42
</td> <td sdval="2" sdnum="1033;0;@" width="22"> 2
</td> <td sdval="1" sdnum="1033;0;@" width="34"> 1
</td> <td sdval="0" sdnum="1033;0;@" width="42"> 0
</td> <td sdval="0" sdnum="1033;0;@" width="31"> 0
</td> <td sdval="0" sdnum="1033;0;@" width="32"> 0
</td> <td sdval="3.16" sdnum="1033;0;@" width="41"> 3.16
</td> <td sdval="0.7" sdnum="1033;0;@" width="41"> 70%
</td> <td sdval="6.85" sdnum="1033;0;@" width="42"> 6.85
</td> </tr> <tr valign="TOP"> <td width="57"> Ricky Anane
</td> <td sdval="22" sdnum="1033;0;@" width="28"> 22
</td> <td sdval="650" sdnum="1033;0;@" width="47"> $650
</td> <td sdnum="1033;0;@" width="49"> 15 (19)
</td> <td sdval="0" sdnum="1033;0;@" width="22"> 0
</td> <td sdval="3" sdnum="1033;0;@" width="34"> 3
</td> <td sdval="2" sdnum="1033;0;@" width="42"> 2
</td> <td sdval="3" sdnum="1033;0;@" width="31"> 3
</td> <td sdval="0" sdnum="1033;0;@" width="32"> 0
</td> <td sdval="3.66" sdnum="1033;0;@" width="41"> 3.66
</td> <td sdval="0.74" sdnum="1033;0;@" width="41"> 74%
</td> <td sdval="6.83" sdnum="1033;0;@" width="42"> 6.83
</td> </tr> </tbody></table>

**GL = Goals | TCK = Tackles/game


Midfielders

<table border="1" bordercolor="#000000" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" width="564"> <col width="71"> <col width="19"> <col width="44"> <col width="47"> <col width="22"> <col width="34"> <col width="42"> <col width="31"> <col width="32"> <col width="41"> <col width="41"> <col width="42"> <tbody><tr valign="TOP"> <td width="71"> Name
</td> <td width="19"> Age
</td> <td width="44"> $/Wk
</td> <td width="47"> Apps
</td> <td width="22"> GL
</td> <td width="34"> AST
</td> <td width="42"> MoM
</td> <td width="31"> Yel
</td> <td width="32"> Red
</td> <td width="41"> Tck
</td> <td width="41"> Pass
</td> <td width="42"> Avg
</td> </tr> <tr valign="TOP"> <td width="71"> Sam Sloma
</td> <td sdval="20" sdnum="1033;0;@" width="19"> 29
</td> <td sdnum="1033;0;@" width="44"> $525
</td> <td sdval="53" sdnum="1033;0;@" width="47"> 20 (18)
</td> <td sdval="0" sdnum="1033;0;@" width="22"> 1
</td> <td sdval="2" sdnum="1033;0;@" width="34"> 8
</td> <td sdval="4" sdnum="1033;0;@" width="42"> 1
</td> <td sdval="5" sdnum="1033;0;@" width="31"> 2
</td> <td sdval="0" sdnum="1033;0;@" width="32"> 0
</td> <td sdval="4.65" sdnum="1033;0;@" width="41"> 3.52
</td> <td sdval="0.77" sdnum="1033;0;@" width="41"> 63%
</td> <td sdval="7.09" sdnum="1033;0;@" width="42"> 6.79
</td> </tr> <tr valign="TOP"> <td width="71"> Harry Arter
</td> <td sdval="27" sdnum="1033;0;@" width="19"> 22
</td> <td sdval="700" sdnum="1033;0;@" width="44"> $800
</td> <td sdnum="1033;0;@" width="47"> 16 (16)
</td> <td sdval="2" sdnum="1033;0;@" width="22"> 1
</td> <td sdval="1" sdnum="1033;0;@" width="34"> 5
</td> <td sdval="1" sdnum="1033;0;@" width="42"> 0
</td> <td sdval="2" sdnum="1033;0;@" width="31"> 3
</td> <td sdval="0" sdnum="1033;0;@" width="32"> 0
</td> <td sdval="3.43" sdnum="1033;0;@" width="41"> 3.64
</td> <td sdval="0.78" sdnum="1033;0;@" width="41"> 81%
</td> <td sdval="6.99" sdnum="1033;0;@" width="42"> 6.89
</td> </tr> <tr valign="TOP"> <td width="71"> Jerome Maledon
</td> <td sdval="22" sdnum="1033;0;@" width="19"> 24
</td> <td sdval="650" sdnum="1033;0;@" width="44"> $475
</td> <td sdnum="1033;0;@" width="47"> 5 (13)
</td> <td sdval="2" sdnum="1033;0;@" width="22"> 1
</td> <td sdval="0" sdnum="1033;0;@" width="34"> 1
</td> <td sdval="1" sdnum="1033;0;@" width="42"> 0
</td> <td sdval="3" sdnum="1033;0;@" width="31"> 1
</td> <td sdval="0" sdnum="1033;0;@" width="32"> 0
</td> <td sdval="2.93" sdnum="1033;0;@" width="41"> 4.41
</td> <td sdval="0.74" sdnum="1033;0;@" width="41"> 80%
</td> <td sdval="6.7" sdnum="1033;0;@" width="42"> 6.67
</td> </tr> <tr valign="TOP"> <td width="71"> Anthony Pulis
</td> <td sdval="25" sdnum="1033;0;@" width="19"> 27
</td> <td sdval="650" sdnum="1033;0;@" width="44"> $950
</td> <td sdnum="1033;0;@" width="47"> 41 (5)
</td> <td sdval="2" sdnum="1033;0;@" width="22"> 4
</td> <td sdval="1" sdnum="1033;0;@" width="34"> 8
</td> <td sdval="0" sdnum="1033;0;@" width="42"> 4
</td> <td sdval="0" sdnum="1033;0;@" width="31"> 5
</td> <td sdval="0" sdnum="1033;0;@" width="32"> 0
</td> <td sdval="3.78" sdnum="1033;0;@" width="41"> 4.39
</td> <td sdval="0.69" sdnum="1033;0;@" width="41"> 80%
</td> <td sdval="6.95" sdnum="1033;0;@" width="42"> 7.04
</td> </tr> <tr valign="TOP"> <td width="71"> Josh Coke
</td> <td sdval="32" sdnum="1033;0;@" width="19"> 20
</td> <td sdval="700" sdnum="1033;0;@" width="44"> $90
</td> <td sdval="42" sdnum="1033;0;@" width="47"> 3 (3)
</td> <td sdval="2" sdnum="1033;0;@" width="22"> 1
</td> <td sdval="1" sdnum="1033;0;@" width="34"> 0
</td> <td sdval="0" sdnum="1033;0;@" width="42"> 0
</td> <td sdval="0" sdnum="1033;0;@" width="31"> 0
</td> <td sdval="0" sdnum="1033;0;@" width="32"> 0
</td> <td sdval="3.16" sdnum="1033;0;@" width="41"> 2.59
</td> <td sdval="0.7" sdnum="1033;0;@" width="41"> 52%
</td> <td sdval="6.85" sdnum="1033;0;@" width="42"> 6.95
</td> </tr> <tr valign="TOP"> <td width="71"> Chris Herd
</td> <td sdval="22" sdnum="1033;0;@" width="19"> 23
</td> <td sdval="650" sdnum="1033;0;@" width="44"> $975
</td> <td sdnum="1033;0;@" width="47"> 10 (8)
</td> <td sdval="0" sdnum="1033;0;@" width="22"> 1
</td> <td sdval="3" sdnum="1033;0;@" width="34"> 0
</td> <td sdval="2" sdnum="1033;0;@" width="42"> 0
</td> <td sdval="3" sdnum="1033;0;@" width="31"> 1
</td> <td sdval="0" sdnum="1033;0;@" width="32"> 0
</td> <td sdval="3.66" sdnum="1033;0;@" width="41"> 3.84
</td> <td sdval="0.74" sdnum="1033;0;@" width="41"> 80%
</td> <td sdval="6.83" sdnum="1033;0;@" width="42"> 6.82
</td> </tr> <tr valign="TOP"> <td width="71"> Joe O'Sullivan
</td> <td sdnum="1033;0;@" width="19"> 20
</td> <td sdnum="1033;0;@" width="44"> $350
</td> <td sdnum="1033;0;@" width="47"> 29 (3)
</td> <td sdnum="1033;0;@" width="22"> 1
</td> <td sdnum="1033;0;@" width="34"> 19
</td> <td sdnum="1033;0;@" width="42"> 7
</td> <td sdnum="1033;0;@" width="31"> 5
</td> <td sdnum="1033;0;@" width="32"> 0
</td> <td sdnum="1033;0;@" width="41"> 3.92
</td> <td sdnum="1033;0;@" width="41"> 75%
</td> <td sdnum="1033;0;@" width="42"> 7.51
</td> </tr> <tr valign="TOP"> <td width="71"> Moses Ademola
</td> <td sdnum="1033;0;@" width="19"> 22
</td> <td sdnum="1033;0;@" width="44"> $700
</td> <td sdnum="1033;0;@" width="47"> 39 (5)
</td> <td sdnum="1033;0;@" width="22"> 7
</td> <td sdnum="1033;0;@" width="34"> 7
</td> <td sdnum="1033;0;@" width="42"> 1
</td> <td sdnum="1033;0;@" width="31"> 0
</td> <td sdnum="1033;0;@" width="32"> 0
</td> <td sdnum="1033;0;@" width="41"> 1.59
</td> <td sdnum="1033;0;@" width="41"> 54%
</td> <td sdnum="1033;0;@" width="42"> 6.78
</td> </tr> <tr valign="TOP"> <td width="71"> Antonio German
</td> <td sdnum="1033;0;@" width="19"> 20
</td> <td sdnum="1033;0;@" width="44"> LOAN
</td> <td sdnum="1033;0;@" width="47"> 39 (7)
</td> <td sdnum="1033;0;@" width="22"> 10
</td> <td sdnum="1033;0;@" width="34"> 5
</td> <td sdnum="1033;0;@" width="42"> 2
</td> <td sdnum="1033;0;@" width="31"> 2
</td> <td sdnum="1033;0;@" width="32"> 1
</td> <td sdnum="1033;0;@" width="41"> 1.73
</td> <td sdnum="1033;0;@" width="41"> 64%
</td> <td sdnum="1033;0;@" width="42"> 6.99
</td> </tr> <tr valign="TOP"> <td width="71"> Kayne McLaggon
</td> <td sdnum="1033;0;@" width="19"> 21
</td> <td sdnum="1033;0;@" width="44"> LOAN
</td> <td sdnum="1033;0;@" width="47"> 6 (9)
</td> <td sdnum="1033;0;@" width="22"> 1
</td> <td sdnum="1033;0;@" width="34"> 2
</td> <td sdnum="1033;0;@" width="42"> 1
</td> <td sdnum="1033;0;@" width="31"> 0
</td> <td sdnum="1033;0;@" width="32"> 0
</td> <td sdnum="1033;0;@" width="41"> 2.91
</td> <td sdnum="1033;0;@" width="41"> 58%
</td> <td sdnum="1033;0;@" width="42"> 6.78
</td> </tr> </tbody></table>

**GL = Goals | TCK = Tackles/game


Attackers


<table border="1" bordercolor="#000000" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" width="564"> <col width="59"> <col width="26"> <col width="47"> <col width="49"> <col width="22"> <col width="34"> <col width="42"> <col width="31"> <col width="32"> <col width="41"> <col width="41"> <col width="42"> <tbody><tr valign="TOP"> <td width="59"> Name
</td> <td width="26"> Age
</td> <td width="47"> $/Wk
</td> <td width="49"> Apps
</td> <td width="22"> GL
</td> <td width="34"> AST
</td> <td width="42"> MoM
</td> <td width="31"> Yel
</td> <td width="32"> Red
</td> <td width="41"> Drb
</td> <td width="41"> Pass
</td> <td width="42"> Avg
</td> </tr> <tr valign="TOP"> <td width="59"> Zoltan Harsanyi
</td> <td sdval="20" sdnum="1033;0;@" width="26"> 24
</td> <td sdnum="1033;0;@" width="47"> $1100
</td> <td sdval="53" sdnum="1033;0;@" width="49"> 53
</td> <td sdval="0" sdnum="1033;0;@" width="22"> 28
</td> <td sdval="2" sdnum="1033;0;@" width="34"> 13
</td> <td sdval="4" sdnum="1033;0;@" width="42"> 6
</td> <td sdval="5" sdnum="1033;0;@" width="31"> 1
</td> <td sdval="0" sdnum="1033;0;@" width="32"> 0
</td> <td sdval="4.65" sdnum="1033;0;@" width="41"> 3.87
</td> <td sdval="0.77" sdnum="1033;0;@" width="41"> 71%
</td> <td sdval="7.09" sdnum="1033;0;@" width="42"> 7.03
</td> </tr> <tr valign="TOP"> <td width="59"> Mark Cullen
</td> <td sdval="27" sdnum="1033;0;@" width="26"> 19
</td> <td sdval="700" sdnum="1033;0;@" width="47"> LOAN
</td> <td sdnum="1033;0;@" width="49"> 25 (4)
</td> <td sdval="2" sdnum="1033;0;@" width="22"> 16
</td> <td sdval="1" sdnum="1033;0;@" width="34"> 7
</td> <td sdval="1" sdnum="1033;0;@" width="42"> 3
</td> <td sdval="2" sdnum="1033;0;@" width="31"> 1
</td> <td sdval="0" sdnum="1033;0;@" width="32"> 0
</td> <td sdval="3.43" sdnum="1033;0;@" width="41"> 4.84
</td> <td sdval="0.78" sdnum="1033;0;@" width="41"> 66%
</td> <td sdval="6.99" sdnum="1033;0;@" width="42"> 7.21
</td> </tr> <tr valign="TOP"> <td width="59"> Giuseppe Sole
</td> <td sdval="22" sdnum="1033;0;@" width="26"> 24
</td> <td sdval="650" sdnum="1033;0;@" width="47"> $700
</td> <td sdnum="1033;0;@" width="49"> 19 (15)
</td> <td sdval="2" sdnum="1033;0;@" width="22"> 11
</td> <td sdval="0" sdnum="1033;0;@" width="34"> 1
</td> <td sdval="1" sdnum="1033;0;@" width="42"> 2
</td> <td sdval="3" sdnum="1033;0;@" width="31"> 1
</td> <td sdval="0" sdnum="1033;0;@" width="32"> 0
</td> <td sdval="2.93" sdnum="1033;0;@" width="41"> 3.33
</td> <td sdval="0.74" sdnum="1033;0;@" width="41"> 75%
</td> <td sdval="6.7" sdnum="1033;0;@" width="42"> 6.72
</td> </tr> </tbody></table>

** GL = Goals | Drb = Dribbles/Game

[Radii]

The list of strikers above is so short b/c we had Romone Rose loaned for awhile before he had to go back home, and also Antonio German and Moses Ademola are both AM/ST, they primarily play AM for me but sub up to striker a lot as needed.

[Radii]

Fiorentina defeat Celtic in one semifinal of the Champions League.
Chelsea defeat Atletico Madrid


Chelsea defeat Fiorentina 1-0 on an 80th minute goal from Luis Suarez in Germany to win the Champions League.

The Euro Championship begins in a couple weeks.


I have a couple friendlies scheduled.

I also have a number of coaches who feel they are above Woking now and aren't willing to re-sign with me for a reasonable rate. I offer them all mutual termination so I can go ahead and start my coach search now.


New Scout Lee Ford has a 20 in judging ability and 15 in judging potential. That seems pretty awesome to me. 575/wk

New GK Coach Wayne Edwards has a 14 rating in coaching goalkeepers. 1 higher than my last coach. $575/wk

New Coach Dean Emerson is rated 20 working with youngsters, decent determination and motivating and man management, not really terrible anywhere other than fitness and keepers.


That's enough for May, on to June, rolling through the offseason.

[Radii]

June Update

The board remains very pleased with us. Making the playoffs, specifically the final I assume, brought in massive gate receipts for us.

In 2010/11 we earned $742k in gate money, our first season in the BS Premier league where we were quite mediocre. In May alone this year we earned $573k from the gate. On the season we earned $900k more in gate money than last year, and "match day income" was up $120k.

In May we had a $412,105 profit and are only in the red $58,000 now, after running in the red by $300,000+ for the last 3 years. Hooray for that!


--backup GK Lewis Martin logs 25 minutes on the pitch in a Scotland vs Portugal U21 match, earning a 6.9 rating and playing well.


Its a lot smaller than the World Cup:

Euro Championship Group Results

Group A

Belgium 1 : 0 Poland
Greece 0 : 3 France
------
France 1 : 0 Belgium
Poland 1 : 1 Greece
------
Belgium 1 : 1 Greece
Poland 0 : 1 France

France 3-0-0, 5-0 goals, 9 pts
Belgium 1-1-1, 2-2 goals, 4 pts
Greece 0-2-1, 2-5 goals, 2 pts
Poland 0-1-2, 1-3 goals, 1 pts


Group B

Ukraine 1 : 1 Germany
Russia 1 : 1 Sweden
------
Germany 1 : 2 Russia
Sweden 1 : 2 Ukraine
------
Russia 0 : 0 Ukraine
Sweden 1 : 2 Germany


Russia 1-2-0, 3-2 goals, 5 pts
Ukraine 1-2-0, 3-2 goals, 5 pts
Germany 1-1-1, 4-4 goals, 4 pts
Sweden 0-1-2, 3-5 goals, 1 pts

Germany fails to advance. Poland and Ukraine are sharing hosts of this tournament, so home field and all.


Group C

Bosnia & Herz 2 : 0 Portugal
Italy 2 : 0 Czech Rep
------------
Portugal 2 : 1 Italy
Czech Rep. 1 : 0 Bosnia & Herz
-----------
Bosnia & Herz 1 : 1 Italy
Portugal 3 : 3 Czech Rep


Italy 1-1-1, 4-3 goals, 4 pts
Bosnia & Herzegovina 1-1-1, 3-2 goals, 4 pts
Portugal 1-1-1, 5-6 goals, 4 pts
Czech Republic 1-1-1, 4-5 goals, 4 pts

Insane. +1 goal differential decides who advances. Portugal's 2-0 stunner loss to Bosnia in the opening match seals their fate.


Group D

Serbia 1 : 4 Croatia
England 2 : 0 Spain
----------
Spain 2 : 0 Serbia
Croatia 0 : 4 England
----------
England 1 : 0 Serbia
Spain 2 : 0 Croatia


England 3-0-0, 7-0 goals, 9 pts
Spain 2-0-1, 4-2 goals, 6 pts
Croatia 1-0-2, 4-7 goals, 3 pts
Serbia 0-0-3, 1-7 goals, 0 pts

[Radii]

England In Review

nifty little single page review of the prior season is available:

Premier Division

Winners: Chelsea
Relegated: Portsmouth, Stoke, Fulham
Top Goals: Steven Fletcher (Burnley) - 20
Top Assists: Gareth Berry (Man City) - 12
Avg Rating: Yury Zhirkov (Chelsea) - 8.01


Coca-Cola Championship

Winners: Southampton
Promoted: Southampton, Wigan, Reading
Relegated: Scunthorpe, Barnsley, Doncaster


League 1

Winners: Preston
Promoted: Preston, Norwich, Sheffield Wednesday
Relegated: Exeter, Hartlepool, Stockport, Port Vale


League 2

Winners: Brighton
Promoted: Brighton, Southend, Aldershot, Mansfield
Relegated: York, Torquay


Blue Square Premier

Winners: Macclesfield
Promoted: Macclesfield, Kidderminster
Relegated: AFC Wimbledon, Histon, Altrincham, Northwich

O'Sullivan is given recognition here for top assist man and highest average rating. Woking are the overachievers in the league, and Zoltan Harsanyi is named the best signing of the season. Not bad, minus the part where we did all that and didn't get promoted.


Blue Square North

Winners: Alfreton
Promoted: Alfreton, St Albans
Relegated: Guiseley, Kendal, Cambridge City


Blue Square South

Winners: forest Green
Promoted: Forest Green, Chelmsford
Relegated: Hayes & Yaeding, Sutton Utd, Majdstone


Other Winners

FA Cup: Man City
League Cup: Chelsea
Community Shield: Tottenham
Johnstone's Paint Trophy: Sheffield Wednesday
FA Trophy: Gateshead


Europe Qualification

Champions League: Chelsea, Man City, Aston Villa, Tottenham
Euro Cup: Man U, Blackburn, Liverpool


Whew, I like having all of that on one page, kinda cool.

[Radii]

Woking Fans Player of the Year

I may be in love with Joe O'Sullivan (in case you haven't noticed ;) ), but the fans want goals, and they name Zoltan Harsanyi our player of the year. I have no qualms with that either, he's been a great signing for us.


Woking Best 11

Joe O'Sullivan was the pick of the players, hooray.

GK: Kevin Lynch
DL: Jordan Clarke
DC: Mike Williams
DC: Nick Fenton
DR: Mark Ricketts
MC: Anthony Pulis
MC: Joe O'Sullivan
AML: Antonio German
AMR: Moses Ademola
ST: Mark Cullen
ST: Zoltan Harsanyi

wow, there is some serious hate for Aswad Thomas here. Williams played 19 matches for us, I'm a bit surprised to see him named over Thomas.


Woking Overall Best 11

I guess this is a "lifetime Woking best team" ... that team has only existed for 2 years though, so yeah, it should change a lot. 5 players are added to our all time best team.

GK: Lee Butcher (BSS 1st season)
DL: Nicky Nicolau (BSS 1st season)
DC: Aswad Thomas
DC: Nick Fenton
DR: Mark Ricketts
ML: Antonio German
MC: Anthony Pulis
MC: Joe O'Sullivan
MR: Moses Ademola
ST: Romone Rose
ST: Mark Cullen

Bench:

GK Kevin Lynch
DL Jordan Clarke
ST Zoltan Harsanyi
MC Harry Arter
ST Matthew Wright (BSS 1st season)
DC Tom Hutchinson (BSS 1st season)
ST Giuseppe Sole

looking at this list... Cullen and Rose have been multiple season loaners, interesting that they are our starting strikers on our all time best team. Harsanyi will likely have something to say about that next year.

Nicolau had one awesome season in the BS South, 46 games/4 goals/7.10 rating. Clarke has been great but that will be hard to top I guess.

3 guys on this list have over 100 matches for me:

DR Mark Ricketts - 131 matches, 3 goals, 6.87 rating
ST Giuseppe Sole - 115 matches, 53 goals, 6.90 rating
MR Moses Ademola - 113 matches, 27 goals, 6.83 rating.


Season Kickoff

The schedule is announced, we open up at Wrexham on August 11th. I've held off on my last friendly (or maybe 2) until I saw that date, I will finish up with friendlies now.


TV Rights

$49,500 in our pockets throughout the year for TV. Hooray? Better than 0 I guess.


Season Expectations

Currently we spend $12,464 on salaries. I dunno when raise clauses take effect, that'll go up, and we have one defender coming in when the new season starts that we signed on a free.

The minimum expectation we can choose is a top half finish for a payroll of $13,250 wage budget.

Huh, "playoffs" is not an option... top half, promotion, winner. If I choose promotion and finish 6th i wonder how bad that hurts me?

No guts, no glory. I tell the board that my goal is to earn promotion this year. With that, our wage budget is $15,000/wk. Still no transfer budget.

[Radii]

Blue Square Premier Odds

Torquay are the favorites at 2:1.

York, 3:1. Forest Green 8:1, Chelmsford 10:1, Cambridge 10:1, Wrexham 12:1.

We are 25:1 dogs to earn promotion. I disagree completely with this assessment given how much of our team is still together from last year and how well we played. Forest Green and Chelmsford just got promoted up here!


New Coaching Contract

I accept a new contract to coach the team for $950/wk for 3 more years. I dunno if i'll take this team to the Premier League but I will take them up at least a couple levels more, and I don't care about my own salary.


New Signing

Like I did with Harsanyi last year, I decide to make an immediate, major, potentially risky splash right away.

Welcome to the team Swiss Striker Danijel Subotic. 23 years old, 6'2", we've got a man to aim crosses at for the first time ever perhaps. Good physical attributes, everything but agility is 12-14, 13 jumping/14 balance. No Mental attribute below 7, 9 of those ratings are in the 10-14 range. Good teamwork, determined, good decision maker, brave and aggressive. Acceptable passing and dribbling for a guy up front, good first touch and finishing, 15 Heading. that's just something I have never had. Crosses into the box are an embarrassing event for my team, one of the reason joe O'sullivan and his straight forward through balls are such a key part of our attack.

Why is this such a risk?

$1500/wk.

The report I got on him was that he is better than Harsanyi and would be a star in League 2. If he bombs or doesn't fit in it could be terrible, but I'm very optimistic.

Also remember that the only strikers I have on my roster right now are Harsanyi and Sole.



New Signing #2

This one isn't exactly new. This is the defender I signed before the end of last season, but after the transfer deadline.

D LR Stelios Nikolaou - 18 y/o - $475/wk

Nikolaous is a speed demon, 16 pace, the rest of his physical abilities look ok. Good worker, good determination, great teamwork (15, which I hope will help a lot in defense). 14 flair from a defender is interesting.

Technically he's ok but not great. 9 tackling, 9 passing, 7 dirbbling, 6 marking, 12 heading. Not great at all, but I'm expecting his speed to make up for an awful lot. $475/wk for a youngster seems fine too if he ends up just as a backup.

[Radii]

July 1, 2012

Woking @ Kelantan - Friendly

I'm not going to spend much time on friendlies at all. I do set up my initial/ideal lineup, at least until I pull some loaners in:


GK: Lynch
DEF: Nikolaou, Fenton, Williams, Ricketts
MC: O'Sullivan, Pulis
AML: Sloma, Ademola
ST: Harsanyi, Subotic

Harsanyi is a deep lying forward, that's where I had him set for about 2/3 of last season. Subotic is an Advanced Forward. I tried last year w/ German to be an Inside Foward, but had better results with all my AM's being Wingers. O'Sullivan an attacking Advanced Playmaker, Pulis a defending Central midfielder. Those roles stayed fairly static for me once I got settled into last season.

Kelantan 1 : 1 Woking

We give up a first half goal when our back line falls asleep in a long free kick by their keeper, an attacker runs by the defense, Fenton/Williams don't try to stay with him, he's onsides by a mile and scores easy. In the second half Anane controls the attack, crosses the ball into the box, there's some confusion and Sole strikes a loose ball in.


European Championships

The single elimination stuff took awhile, I waited for it to finish to report so I could do it all at once:

Quarterfinals

France 3 : 2 Ukraine
Russia 3 : 1 Belgium
Italy 2 : 0 Spain
England 3 : 2 Bosnia & Herzegovina


Semifinals

France 3 : 0 England
Italy 1 : 0 Russia


Finals

France 2 : Italy 1

France scores in the 20th minute, Italy ties in the 62nd, France's Samir Nasri scores in the 72nd minute for the game winner.

[Radii]

I work to fill out the rest of my coaching staff.

Mark Hirst has a 19 in judging ability and 13 in judging potential and joins as a scout.

Alan Watson is rated 20 in judging ability/16 in potential and is my 3rd and final scout.

Dan Law works great with young kids (18), will be my best attacking and defending coach (12/11), and joins as my final coaching hire.



I spend a good deal of time looking over available players to loan. My biggest holes/lack of depth are at the attacking midfield positions so I make a number of offers to guys who could fit AML or AMR roles.

I'm very interested to see that Mark Cullen was released by Hull and is available for free. I'm sad to see that he isn't interested in playing for me. But not surprised.

Jordan Clarke is a guy I've loaned in multiple times, he's on Coventry's senior squad this year not listed.

Antonio German was released by QPR, but also not interested in playing in the BS Premier full time.

Romone Rose, a striker I had very good luck with the last two years, was sold by QPR to Chivas USA after his loan ended with me last year. He is an American and has already made some MLS appearances, no goals yet though.

AMR Kayne McLaggon is available for loan again. He didn't play bad last year but I loaned him in so late that it took him until the final few matches to become fully match fit. I do offer him another shot to play with me (as a loaner that it).


Anyway, just a little walk down memory lane there, I found the screen for prior year transfers and went to look at where those guys were now :)


July 8th, 2012

Woking @ Hong Lok - Friendly


We fall behind 1-0 on a freak goal, a lofted cross from the right sideline that kinda appears to roll along the crossbar and fall in. Weird. Subotic gets his first goal for us to even it up. Its on a cross, and its headed in, but yeah, guess what, O'Sullivan had run wide and he was the one to lift the pass into the box. :D Subs at the half, Nikolaou with a cross to reserve Sogbanmu for a header in the 84th minute.

Hong Lok 1 : 2 Woking

Wheeee. This was a low level team, we were 1-33 favorites, lolz??



New Loaners

A few of the flurry of guys that we target have no interest(I aimed high on a number of targets but picked a few safe ones too). Here's a safe one coming through at a key need position:

AML Kieran Bennet - Crystal Palace Reserve - 18 y/o - Full Season Loan

Bennet is a pretty exciting young player. Great physical abilities. 13 pace/14 accel top the list with no weaknesses. Great teammate, good off the ball, 17 flair which could be fun to see, determined and brave. Very poor positioning but I think for an attacker off the ball is more important. 13 Crossing, 11 dribbling, so hopefully he can set up a lot of crosses into our new striker down the left side himself. He won't be much to look at when he has to go back to defend, but I want him to help generate goals.

And second, a name from last year:

AMR/ST Kayne McLaggon - Southampton Reserves - 21 y/o

Very speedy (15 pace/14 accel), not as impressive elsewhere but determined and decent all over, an ok passer, ok finisher, ok first touch/dribbling. Not good with the crosses. McLaggon scored 1 goal and generated 2 assists in 14 matches last year loaned to us, with a 6.84 average rating. That was despite coming into the team very late and not match fit. I'd be happy with similar ratings this year over a longer term obvoiusly. McLaggon is with us all season.


And lastly, we'll continue the tradition of grabbing a striker from our parent team, QPR:

ST Curtis Main, 20 y/o, QPR Reserves

Main is a decent athlete, his best talents are his ability to put himself in a position to score... 14 off the ball/12 positioning. Good enough creativity and flair, finishing, long shots, etc, all in the 10-12 range. No major weak spots.

Main is also a known quantity to me. He played 10 matches for me in the 09/10 season in the BS South on loan, scorign 2 goals and notching 3 assists. Also, I faced him last year, as he played the full season for BS Premier winners Macclesfield, scoring 16 goals in 36 matches and earning a 6.78 rating. We know there will be injuries, and Harsanyi can pull out to AML at times, Main gives me depth up front that I can really use.


The only significant depth issue I have now with these three loaners coming in for the full season is on the left side of my defense. I have coverage there, mind you, with Nikolaou being a natural DL, Thomas, Williams and Sloma can play there as well. But none of those guys will bring me the level of play that Jordan Clarke has for the last two years. I'm going to hold off for any other moves in my midfield or attack, but if I can find a quality DL loaner I'll jump all over that.

[Radii]

Injury Update

GK Kevin Lynch hurts a shoulder while lifting weights. He's going to miss 4 weeks, which puts him right in line to return in time for opening day.


July 13th, 2012

Woking @ Waterhouse FC

Jamaica, baby.

New Lineup:

GK: Martin
DEF: Nikolaou, Williams, Fenton, Ricketts
MC: O'Sullivan, Pulis
AM: Bennett, Ademola
ST: Harsanyi, Subotic

We score first, Subotic heads a ball forward, Harsanyi picks it up after a defender misplays it, charges into the box and scores. They tie it up shortly after as a striker outjumps Nikolaou in the box for a header. We get a second half goal as Sole plays a ball forward on a counter, Curtis Main runs on to it and beats the keeper.


Waterhouse 1 : 2 Woking



New Loaner

D LC Ignasi Miquel - 19 y/o, Birmingham Reserves

Perhaps I could have waited to see if someone else would open up, this guy is no jordan clarke. But he should be better than Nikolaou. Only 9 pace/9 accel, he's going to rely on his good positioning (12), and his ability to work hard and be a good teammate to help form a solid defense. 13 marking, 12 tackling, 14 heading should help out well in the back. 17 fitness, great leaper. I expect him to be very good in defense, but I expect Ricketts and Anane to have more impact tracking up to support the offense. That's where Clarke was so great for me.


July 18th, 2012

Woking @ Sport Ancash - Friendly

I didn't mention it, but Lewis Martin was called up for a Scottish U19 match. Reserve GK Matt Pegler will sit back in goal today.

Scoreless first half. This team is better than us(from peru) and they attack like crazy. We get two shots off to their 8 or so. Scoreless til the 86th minute, Main to Sole, who is brought down in the box. Red card/penalty, Sole with the PK and goal. We get a second a minute later, Main takes it to the right side of the box, passes to the center nicely, Sole runs on to it and scores. Two goals for Sole!

Sport Ancash 0 : 2 Woking

Ater was hurt during the match but nothing long term, just slowed a bit for the day.

[Radii]

England's U19 team beats up on Scotland's, 5-0. Lewis Martin plays and plays poorly.

June 24th, 2012

QPR @ Woking - Friendly

Our annual friendly with our parent club, where they come to our house and dismantle us but pay us for the privilege.

Harsanyi just occasionally pulls something out of his ass that I rewind and watch 3 or 4 times. This time O'Sullivan hits him with a pass, he turns off a defender, but hell, he's 25 yards out. He hits a shot with a noticible bend in it that bends just into the right side of the net. We allow the tying goal 10 minutes later, no comment on that as I was too busy writing up my own beauty of a goal to care. Only one more friendly to go so I get the starters in there a bit for the 2nd half today too. The backups give up an 85th minute goal.

Woking 1 : 2 QPR

My new defender Miquel was hurt during the match, but luckily nothing long term.



Team Captains

I haven't changed for 2 years, why change now... Mark Ricketts and Nick Fenton are captain and vice captain of the squad.


August Notes

The board is satisfied with my coaching of the team.

The signing of Mike Williams is a high point from back to last season... the release of Bilal Sidibe is a disappoitnment. I find that rather odd, as I brought in Williams specifically to replace Sidibe. Perhaps because my other DC, youngster Aswad Thomas, seemed to struggle at the end of last year and the fans got on him hard.


July is always a good month financially between friendly payouts and season tickets. We made a profit last month and are, for the first time ever, in the black!! We have a balance of $65,744. Expect that to not so slowly go down every month during the season, but its great to see.


August 1st, 2012

Woking @ Espanol - Friendly

Our last friendly before 10 days off and the start of the season against Wrexham. Anthony Pulis picks up a straight red card in the 25th minute for a professional foul... WTF buddy. Scoreless at the half. A missed tackle by Mike Williams in the 46th minute leads to a goal for them. A nice through ball leads to goal #2 in the 67th minute. We make our subs around the 70 minute mark.

Espanol 2 : 0 Woking



Transfer Out

Our signings in the offseason + reserve contracts put us $250 over our weekly budget. I end up offloading my senior squad player who plays the least, our 5th best MC, Jerome Maledon. Behind O'Sullivan, Pulis, Herd and Arter, and even sometimes behind Sloma and Ricketts if there was depth at their primary postions, if Maledon was in the game something was wrong. He signs to be a backup for a League 2 squad, Yeovil. Maybe I missed out? Maybe I have a better midfield than Yeovil :P

His $525/wk off the books puts me slightly under budget again. Only slightly.

Maledon was with me from the start in the BS South, and lists me as favored personnel. There's a media note after the signing that it was tough for Maledon to leave his favorite coach, and he feels like he learned a lot from me.

[Radii]

Opening Day Lineup

GK: Kevin Lynch (lacking fitness, a bit concerned on that)
DEF: Miquel, Williams, Fenton, Ricketts
MC: O'Sullivan, Pulis
AM: Bennett, McLaggon
ST: Harsanyi, Subotic

BENCH: Nikolaou, Sloma, Ademola, Herd, Main

That leaves guys like Arter, Thomas, Anane and Sole not even available today. We're definitely prepared for some injuries this year heh.

August 11th, 2012

Woking @ Wrexham

We start out where we left off last year, 3-1 underdogs. Wrexham are 4-5 favorites at home. We're 2-0-2 in our history against them. Actually, maybe they should be favored big heh. The home team has won every match by at least 2 goals in this series.

Wrexham Striker Marc Williams is a BS Premier star. 24 goals last year, 19 the year before, ratings over 7.0. Turning 24 he's entering his prime and is a huge threat.

I'll watch the full opener. I want to see the new guys a bit. But I will try to get through this season a bit faster than the last, mainly by dropping to extended highlights a lot earlier in the year.

5': A long strike from Williams, Lynch saves but can't hold it. Williams clears.

8': Forgot to set us to defensive, definitely needed for this one I think.

18': Subotic with a ball into the box for Harsanyi, he strikes it first touch but the keeper is there... its listed a clear cut chance even though the defense was tracking him pretty well.

21': Miquel with a tackle just inside the box... its called a foul, it strikes of a lot of bullshit to me! Guh. Penalty, Marc Williams takes it for Wrexham and he isn't going to miss. 0-1

24': Have I mentioned lately that I love O'Sullivan? He's at midfield, lifts a beautiful ball forward that lands right at McLaggon's feet inside the penalty area. He controls it nicely, dribbles once and puts it home!!! 1-1

26': Some dude for Wrexham hits the post from 35 yards out, heh.

36': Harsanyi with a great 30 yard run to set up a shot, but its saved, it was a long strike, he took it from midfield well forward, nifty try though.

42': Harsanyi receives a pass 30 yards out, seems to have a step on a defender, and instead of advancing forward he takes a long strike. Seems like he gave up on trying to create a great chance and took something very average.


HALF: They have 12 shots, we have 7. 9 of the 19 are harmless long efforts though. I'm pretty pleased to be tied though we definitely will have chances to go ahead. Miquel has recovered from his foul leading to the penalty and is playing well. Mike Williams isn't doing so hot though. No changes at the half.

46': Bennett steals a pass in midfield, gets it ahead, Subotic runs on to it and has a free run at the keeper... he stops at the 18 yard line as the keeper starts to rush out and simply puts it over the bar. Clear cut chance there, gotta finish.

48': I give the "work ball into box" instruction... less long shots guys.

50': A couple nice moves by Bennett, his speed at that AML position is obvious today, he's made great runs down the line multiple times. Two crosses come to nothing after some buildup for us though.

58': O'Sullivan with a midfield tackle, a pass up to Harsanyi, he plays a great give and go with Subotic, Subotic feeds it back to Harsanyi and he has a free run at the goal, this time he isn't going to miss, he puts it low and to the right by the keeper and in! 2-1

61': Defender Edwards with a yellow, he stopped what looked like a breakaway for Harsanyi and Subotic, I wanted a red but they won't do that at midfield I suppose.

73': Herd in for O'Sullivan, pretty sure I play in 3 days, resting my stars.

75': Main for Harsanyi, Ademola in for McLaggon. McLaggon is exhausted, Harsanyi/O'Sullivan could finish the game but any extra seconds of rest for our next match for them.

82': After a deep throwin, Bennett makes a very nice cross, Ademola gets his head to it but puts it just over.

84': Herd to Subotic, Subotic turns by his defender and takes a solid strike from 16 yards out, the keeper makes a diving save though.

92': Oh my. we clear a ball out wide, Bennett tries to pass it back into the middle for Pulis to move foward. Its a very poor pass, they steal it about 25 yards out. A quick strike from there, Lynch gets both hands on it and it slips away and into the net. Just disaster from every angle. Lynch HAD the ball, and its credited as an own goal. :( 2-2

94': One last chance for us. Subotic with a nice long run into the left corner, he gets it back to Miquel, a cross is put in, Ademola again is there to get a clean head to the ball, but right at the keeper.


Wrexham 2 : 2 Woking

How very sad. We get two well earned goals, give up a penalty and an own goal to allow for the tie.

Joe O'Sullivan picks up where he left off last year before he got hurt... 7.9 rating, assist, man of the match.

Goals from Harsanyi (7.4) and McLaggon (7.3). Subotic with a 7.4 and our other assist today. Bennett (7.0) and Miquel (7.0) also stand out.

We played well, just a couple dreadful mistakes.


One last note, after playing on dirty fields in the rain for seemingly 3/4 of the previous season, we open up on a fresh field in nice weather. It was amazing to see how much faster the match played. Lots of long bounces, chances for breakaways from long balls and the like. The soft, well placed through balls that we score so much from weren't really there as the ball moved much faster. I dare say we'll get better as the season goes along, we are one of the best passing teams in the league** and will benefit from wet grass and slower turf I do believe.


** That came from the pre-season coaches meeting where they review how our team looks compared to everyone else. Our passing is one of the best in the league, and our first touch is better than most everyone. We fall off in other categories and don't compare quite as well, but we excel there.


I'm pleased to be into the next season already, I really have high hopes for this one and can't wait to make a ton of progress over the weekend.

[Radii]

August 14th, 2012

Stevenage @ Woking

We're very slight favorites at home against our arch rivals, 6-4 vs 13-8. We're 1-1-2 against them in our history now. they are 0-1 on the year, after a 0-1 defeat at Cambridge.

I take advantage of my depth and make a number of subs:

GK: Lynch
DEF: Miquel/Thomas/Williams/Anane
MC: O'Sullivan/Herd
AM: Sloma/Ademola
ST: Harsanyi/Subotic

5 different starters this match (Thomas, Anane, Herd, Sloma, Ademola).

8': O'sullivan with a through ball to Ademola, its a little near the keeper and Ademola can't put it past. Huh, considered a clear cut chance... seemed a very tough angle to me.

12': Subotic goes down hard on a header attempt just outside the area... he's hurt, and he's forced to come out. Main is in.

22': Herd receives a pass outside the area after a throwin, no one in front of him, he tries a long shot and puts it just over.

24': Harsanyi with a shot from 20 yards out after making a quick turn to get a little space, its wide though.

26': On a counter, Harsanyi lays a ball back a bit to O'sullivan, he comes forward with it, through ball to Herd who picks it up 15 yards out and puts it into the left side of the net by the keeper! 1-0

28': Anane on the right side about 10 yards i nfrom midfield, he passes a ball forward to Main... it appears a defender misses an interception there, the ball falls to Main just in the area and he strikes it low and in! 2-0

32': Main with a nice move near the area, Harsanyi ran forward and just stands there... doesn't ever attempt to get back onside (he's 'looking complacent' today). main ends up trying a shot from 20 yards out that goes over.

35': Sloma with a cross into the box. We've got a man up to try to head it in and he's been pulled down by a defender. Penalty!! Harsanyi takes the PK and he isn't missing. 3-0

HALF: Our fans will enjoy beating our rivals like this, assuming we can keep it up. We have 8 shots, 5 of them clear cut chances. They have 5 shots, all off target.

47': Sloma with a great ball forward from midfield to the edge of the box. Harsanyi runs on to it but his first touch is very poor or he had a sure goal.

50': We fail to clear a cross well, the ball falls to Bostwick 20 yards out, its not an easy shot but its one that he takes very well and puts into the net. 3-1

55': Free kick just outside the area, Thomas sends it wide.

57': A cross into the area, another foul, another penalty!!! Mike Williams takes this one instead of Harsanyi, and its an embarrassment... over the bar by a mile.

58': Defender Mark Roberts with a yellow fouling Harsanyi as he tries to run onto a through ball.

61': O'sullivan feeds Harsanyi in a nice position... he runs on to it but doens't take a strike, its tackled away.

63': Williams to Herd, Herd to O'Sullivan, O'Sullivan to Main in between two defenders... he shoots and scores!!! 4-1

63': Harsanyi is out, McLaggon in at Striker. Harsanyi is listed as complacent and has been since it was 2-0 and it really shows. Seems like if he was trying harder he could have had 3 goals by now.

77': O'Sullivan out, Pulis in.

91': Mike Williams is injured, didn't see how. down to 44% fitness on the fall though.

Woking 4 : 1 Stevenage

Curtis Main earns Man of the Match, he scores 2 goals and has an assist after coming on for Subotic early. He picks up a 9.3 rating.

O'Sullivan with 2 assists and a 9.0 rating. Herd has a goal (7.7), Harsanyi a goal (6.8), and Anane an assist (7.3). Miquel(7.0) also stands out in our dominant win.


Injury Update

Subotic will miss ~2 weeks from a concussion he picked up going for a header today.

DC Mike Williams is going to be out 4 weeks with a groin strain. Ugh.


Nothing will make the fans happier than a crushing victory over a rival.

[Radii]

So I've got this guy from my reserve team, ST Anson Cousins. My assistants and scouts hate him. I think he's the only potentially good player ever to come out of my reserve program. Decent athlete, 10 pace/11 accel, good agility and such. Hard worker, good teammate (13/16), great off the ball, great flair (both 13). Creativity is only 7. Passing 11, long shots 11, Finishing 13, dribbling 11. I just can't find why he's rated a very low talent.

Anyway, I know I have depth, but Cousins is 20 years old and I need to figure out if he can play for me now.


August 18th, 2012

Woking @ Eastleigh

Eastleigh are very slight 6:4 favorites today, we're 13:8. We're 1-1-0, Eastleigh 0-1-1. They haven't scored yet.

In four matches we are 1-2-1. Last year the home team won both matches.

Short rest again, here's today's lineup:

GK: Lynch
DEF: Miquel, Thomas, Fenton, Ricketts
MC: O'Sullivan, Pulis
AM: Bennett, McLaggon
ST: Harsanyi, Cousins

Cousins, Sole, Main are all not match fit quite yet. Main is tired as a result.

Extended highlights for awhile.

8': McLaggon with a great cross just outside the 6 yard box.. Harsanyi gets to it but heads it just over. Clear cut chance, he needed to score there.

25': 63/37 possession edge, 3 shots to 0, but all off target.

HALF: Well then. 63/37 possession edge but we can't do anything with it. 7 total shots between the two teams, not a one on target. The missed header by Harsanyi was a serious chance to score, nothing else has been close.

48': Harsanyi with a good pass from the midfield over to the left edge of teh box for Bennet. Bennet lines up a shot but puts it over.

58': Eastleigh puts a header off the bar, we put a couple headers just over.

71': Sole in for Cousins, who didn't play well. Sloma in for O'sullivan who is tired.

75': Nokolaou in for Miquel who is exhausted.

76': After a throwin, Sloma crosses into the 6 yard box, McLaggon is there and heads it home! Their keeper froze, he could have come out possibly. 1-0

83': Easleigh into the box twice, we make two nice tackles(fenton once, dunno the other) to withstand the attack.

91': Sloma with a ball foward that Bennet runs on to in the box. He's got a defender harrassing him but does manage a shot, unfortunately saved.

93': Beautiful move. Nikolaou with a long ball foward, Harsanyi gets to it first, cuts by a defender and places a perfect shot from 16 yards out. His first touch and dribble to turn the defender the wrong way in full stride looked perfect. 2-0

Eastleigh 0 : 2 Woking

Kevin Lynch earns man of the match today with an 8.3 rating! I'm not quite sure why, the other team had 9 shots, zero on target.

McLaggon with a goal (7.8), Harsanyi a goal (7.2), Nikolaou assist (7.0), Sloma assist (6.8).

Other notable ratings come from Ricketts (7.6), Miquel (7.1), Fenton (7.1), Thomas (7.1), Bennett (7.1).

I threw Cousins into the fire on the road, bad move. 5.6 from him.

[Radii]

Curtis Main is named to the team of the week for the league.

August 21st, 2012

Cambridge @ Woking

Cambridge is favored slightly here, 6:4, we're 13:8. We are 2-0-4 against Cambridge lifetime. We've won the last two home matches against them. We have history here obviously as we played two extremely exciting games against Cambridge in the playoff semifinals last year.

Like always, its a flurry of matches to open the season. After a couple changes today:

GK: Lynch
DEF: Nikolaou, Thomas, Fenton, Ricketts
MC: O'Sullivan, Arter
AM: Bennett, McLaggon
ST: Harsanyi, Main

Cambridge still has their 3 star players from last year. Frank Wiafe Danquah and Lindfield are the strikers and Jai Reason in the midfield. All three are major threats.

14': Wiafe Danquah with a nice move to get into the box. Before he can take a shot though Thomas makes an equally nice tackle.

19': Countering after a corner attempt, we rush foward, Bennett with a long ball into the box. harsanyi is first to it but at an awkward angle on the left. He tries to go near post but puts it a bit wide.

30': Jai reason with a graet through ball to Wiafe Danquah, he easily beats Lynch. Lynch came halfway out and stopped, I've seen that before, seems like he could have come all the way out and made it very tough to score. 0-1

33': Midfielder Vincent with a cross into the box for Cambridge. Its off the back of ricketts and falls harmlessly in the box for a second, Vincent runs into the box and puts it into the net. 0-2

35': We'll try to attack here.

45': Main with a yellow.

HALF: A couple minutes of disaster there. Thomas 5.4, McLaggon 5.9, Harsanyi 5.8 for the half. We need a huge turnaround here.

45': Reason with a hard foul on O'sullivan immediately after halftime... yellow for Reason.

47': arter with a yellow, no idea why.

49': Ricketts with a great cross into the box, Harsanyi runs on to it and heads it in! A cambrdige defender is blamed for misplaying the cross and allowing the easy header. 1-2

61': Bennett beats his man and makes a great run down the left sideline. Nice cross, header by Main... just wide.

62': Ademola in for McLaggon, tired and playing poorly both.

72': Sole in for Main. Miquel in for Ricketts. Miquel DL, Nikolaou DR. both of these subs are simply for fatigue.

76': A quick counter sees a ball go to Harsanyi at midfield, he beatshis man and is off to the races. The only available defender closes in, Harsanyi with a great pass to Sole, Sole hits it first touch... it hits the right post and bounces in. That was VERY close. 2-2

80': O'Sullivan feeds Harsanyi, he makes a run into the box and shoots, but its saved. Nice control to generate the shot but it wasn't an easy one.

90': Corner for us, its cleared, but right to Nikolaou. Nikolaou gets it forward to Arter, Arter with a low cross into the box, Sole strikes it first touch and powers it into the net!!! 3-2

The match ends soon after. What a comeback!!!!

Woking 3 : 2 Cambridge

Sole plays 20 minutes and earns man of the match. He has two brilliant first touches, the second one was in a ton of traffic and he got all his weight behind it and rocketed the ball in. 8.5 rating/2 goals.

Harsanyi with a 7.5, goal and assist. The other two assists come from Arter (7.9) and Ricketts(6.9). O'Sullivan earns a 7.0 as well out there in the midfield.

We only put 5 shots on target all match, making the most of them big time. A dominant second half, that was crazy.


We unlock the "Comeback King" FM10/Steam achievement. Whee.

[Radii]

August 25th, 2012

Woking @ Chelmsford

Chelmsford just earned their way up into the BS Premier league and already they're favored over us in our first meeting, and given better odds to earn promotion than we are. We are 0-1-1 against Chelmsford, both games back in 2009 when we won the Blue Square South.

Chelmsford are off to a hot start, they are 3-0-1, we're 3-1-0. We may both end up title contenders after all! Its slightly early yet, I am convinced my squad belongs up here though. Their top player so far, striker Lewis Alessandra, has 3 goals/3 assists in 4 matches. However, he's injured and won't be playing today.

Starting today:

GK: Lynch
DEF: Miquel/Thomas/Fenton/Ricketts
MC: O'Sullivan/Pulis
AM: Bennett/McLaggon
ST: Harsanyi/Sole

19': A long free kick by Lynch... Harsanyi outruns the defense, runs on to it well, a nice first touch, a clear cut chance from 10 yards out... and a brilliant save by their keeper. Doh!

29': Bennett picks up an injury, didn't see how.

41': A long clearance leads to a wide open run from Harsanyi. It seems like he could have run into the box easily to challenge the keeper, instead he shoots from 25 yards out with no one in front of him... why buddy?

HALF: A scoreless, and very quick half in extended highlight mode. Most cut ins were long enough for a long strike nowhere near the goal and that was that. Sloma in for the hurt Bennett at the half.

48': Ricketts up to O'Sullivan, O'Sullivan with a long ball forward from behind midfield. Harsanyi is first to it and this time goes all the way into the box, placing the ball into the left side of the net. 1-0


63': Fenton forward to O'Sullivan, O'Sullivan plays a ball back to Fenton but its very poor, easily intercepted and put right into the net. A rare goal costing error by my favorite player. 1-1

68': Anane in for Ricketts.

75': Subotic in for Sole, Subotic isn't full strength yet but Sole is having a pretty poor game today.

82': they earn a corner, its taken well but a header is just off the post. We clear, but they win it back. A shot it blocked by Lynch but the rebound falls to an attacker who puts it in. 1-2

82': We'll try to attack...


We get one more chance in the final minutes, sloma gets a nice look inside the box but he can't beat the keeper.

Chelmsford 2 : 1 Woking

Despite the critical mistake, O'Sullivan does everything else right today, picks up an assist and earns man of the match even in the loss, 7.7 rating.

Harsanyi has a 6.9 and the only goal for us. That's it.

Disappointing road loss today. We should do better than this.

Harsanyi has 5 goals in 5 matches so far this year and looks like a threat to be one of the league's top goal scorers for a second year in a row.

[Radii]

-- August 31st, Sept 4th and Sept 11th, we're going to have 3 of our players called up to U21 matches. Lynch and Martin both to the scottish team and Stelios Nikolaou to the Cyprus U21 team.

-- Harry Arter is named to the league's team of the week.

-- The BS Premier match between Woking and Southport originally scheduled for Sept 1st has been moved to Sept 19th due to international callups. The Woking vs Gateshead match scheduled for Sept 11th is moved to Oct 9th. I would rather play with a reserve keeper, but no one asked me. Both rescheduled games will cause me hell. I believe we now have ELEVEN matches in a row on 4 days rest or less, with these two matches slid nicely into holes that were supposed to give us a break.

-- Nick Fenton is injured in training. He'll be out about 2 weeks. He and Mike Williams are both out for now.

-- Stelios Nikolaou starts for Cyprus U21's and plays 47 minutes, picking up a 6.8 rating in a win over Croatia.


September notes

-- Curtis Main plays 3 matches, scores 2 goals and picks up an assist, avg rating of 8.05, good for 3rd for the league's player of the month.

-- Joe O'Sullivan plays 5 matches, earning 4 assists and 2 man of the match awards, avg rating of 7.68, on his way to the Young Player of the Month award in the league!

-- I am 3rd in manager of the month.

-- The board is Satisfied with my coaching job so far this year. Our win over Stevenage is a high point. Our loss to chelmsford is the low point.

Injury Update

On the same day that we get the good news that Mike Williams has resumed full training, Aswad Thomas reports some discomfort in training and tests show he has damaged cartilage in one of his knees. This injury is going to keep him out for 6-7 weeks. Doh!


September 8th, 2012

Woking (3-1-1, 10th) @ Darlington (0-2-4, 22nd)

We've played one less match, and we're only e points out of 3rd. We are pick'em favorites on the road today. Our keepers are not back and available for the match today. Also, AMR McLaggon is off with the Welsh U21 team, I missed the notice about that one. :P

In our history we are 1-2-2 against Darlington. Last year we tied at home and won on the road.

Our lineup with injuries and U21 matches having an impact:

GK: Matt Pegler (reserve GK)
DEF: Miquel/Fenton/Williams/Ricketts
MC: O'Sullivan/Pulis
AM: Bennett/Ademola
ST: Harsanyi/Subotic

17': Pegler makes his first save, a nice diving stop of a clear cut chance. Darlington is dominating play so far, 4 shots, and every break for a highlight shows them charging into our end.

28': They have 8 shots, we have zero.

34': Darlington earns their second clear cut chance on a through ball, its taken really poorly and Pegler stops it.

43': midfielder yeoman finally breaks through for Darlington, he cuts into the middle and is unmarked as we are defending their strikers up front, easy shot. 0-1

45': Bennett cross, Subotic header, its saved and put behind for a corner... our first shot of the match.

46': Ademola runs up the right side, crosses hard into the box, Harsanyi runs on to it and directs it into the net! 1-1

HALF: Thrilled to have this thing 1-1. Their average rating is 6.74, ours 6.39. They have 11 shots, 5 on target, and 3 clear cut chances. We have 2 shots total.

47': O'Sullivan to Harsanyi in the left side of the area... its not taken well though, listed a clear cut chance and Harsanyi really didn't put it close to the net.

56': I change to a control strategy. they are just turtling and trying to counter from what I can tell when we have the ball.

65': O'Sullivan with a yellow

72': Defender Hewitson a yellow for Darlington

81': Anane in for Ademola, Sloma in for Bennett, Main in for Subotic. I switch to a standard 4-4-2 to support those subs.

86': Miquel is hurt, he can stay in but his fitness is under 50%, we'll see after the match...


Darlington 1 : 1 Woking

I'll take a tie on the road there, that was a scary match to watch, and Pegler did wonderful in goal. They ended up with 14 shots, 6 on target, 3 clear cut chances. We had 5 shots, 3 on target, 1 clear cut chance.

Zoltan Harsanyi earns man of the match with the only goal today and a 7.9 rating.

Ademola has the assist for a 7.1 rating. Ricketts (7.1) and Miquel (7.2) stand out as well.


No long term injury for Miquel. The fans are disappointed by the draw.

[Radii]

-- Kevin Lynch starts for the Scottish U21 team, Lewis Martin comes in off the bench for him and together they combine for a shutout in a 1-0 win over Malta.

-- Stelios Nikolaou plays the second half of a 1:1 tie between Cyprus and Ukraine's U21 squads. He plays well and earns a 6.9 rating.


September 15th, 2012

Woking(3-2-1, 13th) @ Gainsborough(0-3-5, 22nd)

We are big favorites today, 4:5 on the road. Our 13th place is based now on playing TWO less matches than all of our opponents. Two wins and we're 2nd.

Today starts our 6 weeks of hell, no more rest for us. No injuries please!

GK: Lynch
DEF: Miquel/Fenton/Williams/Ricketts
MC: O'Sullivan/Arter
AM: Bennett/McLaggon
ST: Harsanyi/Subotic

7': O'Sullivan runs into the left side of the area, lays a beautiful pass to Subotic who strikes a hard shot on his first touch of the ball... its a clear cut chance, but the keeper is there and saves it.

17': Through ball and goal for Gainsborough's Davidson... except he was 2 miles offsides, never getting back onsides after a shot and a deflection by the keeper.

23': Throwin near midfield, Subotic plays it foward to Harsanyi who makes a great pass to a running Bennett. Bennett into the area all alone, and he beats the keeper far post! 1-0

40': Midfielder Peel picks up a yellow for a hard tackle on Subotic... Subotic goes down hurt. He can stay on but he's suffering.

42': A monumental error by Kevin Lynch. A high long ball foward by Gainsborough. Lynch runs out of the penalty area for it, but striker Boulding gets to the ball at the same time after a high bounce. Boulding wins it and easily puts it into the net. 1-1

46': Counter attack for us. Subotic at midfield feeds a ball foward, Harsanyi beats the defense to it. its not an easy shot by any stretch, taken from outside of the penalty area, but he strikes it low and hard towards the far post and beats the keeper! 2-1

HALF: We get two great goals, and allow one horrific one. No need to change what we're doing. Main is in for the injured Subotic. We have 5 shots, they have 3.

48': Arter foward to Main. Main beats his man and the defense gets way out of position trying to recover. Main passes to Harsanyi who takes another great shot from outside the area. High and into the left side of the net past the diving keeper! 3-1

55': Gainsborough almost get one back. A mini-breakaway on a counter attack. Williams is trying to harrass the striker but he's clearly behind him. Lynch rushes out and makes a great save.

56': Yellow for Arter.

58': O'Sullivan with a through ball to Harsanyi, he's onsides... barely, his shot hits the left post and goes behidn for a goal kick.

65': O'Sullivan with a pass foward to Harsanyi. Harsanyi beats his defender 30 yards out and has a free run into the area. He takes a shot, its blocked, but not held. Main is the first one to the rebound and he puts it home! 4-1

69': Sloma in for O'Sullivan, we switch from standard to defensive to finish this off.

Gainsborough spend the final 20 minutes taking long shots that miss the mark by 5-10 feet.

Gainsborough 1 : 4 Woking


Harsanyi is clearly man of the match today, he had a hand in all four goals, 2 goals/2 assists, 9.3 rating.

Curtis Main has a goal and an assist in the second half, 7.6 rating. Bennett with a goal (7.9), and Subotic with an assist (6.8).

O'Sullivan is his usual great self again today, 7.7. The defense is awesome too... Lynch (7.1), Ricketts(7.2), Miquel(7.1) and Fenton(7.1) are all outstanding.

Injury Update

Danijel Subotic twists an ankle and is hurt pretty badly. 6-7 weeks for him.

[Radii]

--O'Sullivan and Harsanyi are both named in the league team of the week.

September 19th, 2012

Southport (1-0-7, 22nd) @ Woking (4-2-1, 8th)

We are massive 1:3 favorites today. Southport at 7:1 is about as low as I've seen for a league match. We are 1-1-0 against Southport, both matches last year.

today's lineup:

GK: Lynch
DEF: Nikolaou/Fenton/Williams/Ricketts
MC: O'Sullivan/Pulis
AM: Bennett/Ademola
ST: Harsanyi/Sole

20': One shot for each team so far... not much going on.

31': We control possession seemingly forever, working the ball around looking for an opening. Finally, Nikolaou hits Bennett who immediately plays a ball between two defenders into the area for Harsanyi. Harsanyi strikes it quickly near post and beats the keeper! 1-0

43': Sole draws a defender and leaves a pass for Harsanyi in the hole that was opened... Harsanyi with a strong shot but its saved.

HALF: We have 6 shots, 3 on target. They have 2 shots, both off target, badly. 58% possession, we are fully in control here. Another goal ot make it safe would be nice though.

52': Ricketts goes down with an injury. He can play but Im taking him out ASAP.

56': Anane in for Ricketts.

65': Harsanyi plays a ball forward to Sole, he feeds a cutting Ademola going into the box. Ademola with the shot and he puts it in! 2-0

68': Lynch with a goal kick... the defense isn't tracking back properly and there's a hole behind a DC, Sole runs on to the ball, takes a step or two into the area, and puts it in! 3-0

68': Cousins in for Sole. Herd in for O'Sullivan.

91': Fenton goes down fighting for a header near midfield. totally needless. we'll see about injuries after the match.

Woking 3 : 0 Southport

Sole has a goal and an assist, plays great and earns man of the amtch and an 8.5 rating. Harsanyi with yet another goal, 7.5 rating. Ademola has a goal and an 8.1 rating. Other asists to Lynch (7.6, lolz), and Bennett (7.0).

Nikolaou (7.7), Fenton(7.3), Williams (7.3) and O'Sullivan(7.3) stood out as well. Now lets just hope my defense isn't decimated.



Injury Update

Mark Ricketts will miss 2-3 weeks. Ricky Anane is a solid backup, we're still ok, though we really cannot afford to lose anything more in the back line.

[Radii]

September 22nd, 2012

Woking (5-2-1, 3rd) @ Newport Co (4-3-2, 7th)

Newport are favored by a slim margin today at home. We're 2-2-2 against Newport over the last 3 seasons, last year losing at their place and tying at home.

Two players lead the league early on with 9 goals. One is Zoltan Harsanyi. The other is Newport's Luke Powell.

Today's Lineup with 5 changes:

GK: Lynch
DEF: Miquel/Williams/Fenton/Anane
MC: O'Sullivan/Pulis
AM: Bennett/McLaggon
ST: Harsanyi/Main

9': They have 5 shots, two on target. The attack is coming hard against us today.

16': Our first shot is a long one from Pulis that is no threat at all. It is on target, but it is right at their keeper.

33': Our second shot is wide, also a long shot from Main, but its much more dangerous, just wide and the keeper had no shot at it.


HALF: after a crazy early flurry its pretty boring. Newport have 11 shots but 5 are long and only 2 on target, both in the first 9 minutes. We've taken those two long shots and that is it.

47': I take a risk and go to standard mindset again. I often wonder if our best defense isn't our offense in situations like this.

55': a long shot by Newport is saved nicely by Lynch. A second shot by Powell is saved from close range... but Powell was offsides.

57': Not this time... Powell receives a pass in the area and strikes it cleanly by Lynch. 0-1

62': I was in the tactics screen, I dunno what happened, but we conceded a penalty. 0-2

62': Pulis and Main out, Herd and Sole in. Main played terribly.

64': Lynch with a great save as Powell came free in the area yet again.

65': Things fall apart. A header from Powell into the area, their other striker heads it over Lynch and in. 0-3

72': And now its 4. We stopped trying to attack and come back by the way. Floodgates... 0-4

76': Herd with a pass forward to Harsanyi, Harsanyi with a strike from 20 yards out. Its into the left side of the net. It won't matter for this one but he keeps up with Powell, who I'm pretty sure only has one of these 4 goals. 1-4

80': Miquel moves to DC. Sloma in for Fenton and in at DL.


Newport Co 4 : 1 Woking

When you concede 4 goals the ratings won't be kind.

O'Sullivan earns a 6.8, Herd a 6.9, Harsanyi 6.6. Those are the bright spots.

Most of the rest of the team is between 5.5 and 6.2. There are no complete disasters, just a sign of a team that got owned all over the place today.


Our fans are "devastated" by today's result, ick.

[Radii]

September 25th, 2012

Kettering (3-3-4, 17th) @ Woking(5-2-2, 7th)

Kettering have finished 7th the last two years in a row in the BS Premier league. We are 2-0-2 against them, the home team has won every match with relative ease. Today we are 4-5 favorites to keep that home streak alive.

We are tired everywhere. This month is going to be terrible. Today's lineup:

GK: Lynch
DEF: Miquel/Williams/Fenton/Nikolaou
MC: Pulis/Arter
AM: Sloma/McLaggon
ST: Harsanyi/Main

Main, McLaggon and Miquel are of note here as being the most tired going into the match. O'Sullivan isn't even available today, I am giving him a full day off.

5': After a throwin, main lays a pass to McLaggon who is open at the edge of the area... he doesn't shoot straight away, instead running to the right side of the area and taking a poor shot.

6': Pulis forward to Main, Main into the area, passes to Harsanyi who runs on to the ball and puts it in the left side of the net! 1-0

17': Arter with a yellow on a foul inches outside the box, very very close to a penalty.

21': After a deep throwin is cleared out, Nikolaou plays a beautiful ball into the area for McLaggon... he has our second clear cut chance of the match and fires it right at the keeper. Two great moves for McLaggon to get free in space, two awful plays.

27': Long ball from behind the midfield line from Harsanyi on a counter, main runs on to it and has a good look, but their keeper makes a solid save.

28': Arter with a through ball to Harsanyi in the area, our 3rd clear cut chance, this one saved as well. Harsanyi ended up 3 or 4 feet closer to the keeper than it seems like he would have liked to get a good angle on his shot.


Things slow down after a breakneck pace for the first 25 minutes...

HALF: We lead, but have to feel like it should be by more. We've put 5 shots on target (out of 8 total) and have had 3 clear cut chances. Two or three different times a perfect ball played into the area was just not finished properly. We only allow 4 shots, all off target. No changes yet.

58': After a battle in their end for Possession, Nikolaou plays a long ball forward. Their keeper comes way out to get it, Main is charging for it too... the keeper gets there first but can't clear, the ball ricochet's off of Main and falls about 10 feet away. Main gets to it and hoofs it from a weird 30 degree angle on the right side of the field just out of the penalty area. The ball hits the left post and bounces in. 2-0

71': Ademola in for McLaggon, Anane in for Miquel (Nikolaou moves to the left side), Herd in for Main. I switch to a 4-1-2-2-1 formation, moving Arter to DM and leaving Harsanyi alone up top.


Woking 2 : 0 Kettering

We manage 20 shots today, 9 on target, 5 clear cut chances. Kettering only takes 5 shots (just 1 in the 2nd half!) and doesn't threaten Lynch a single time.

Curtis Main has a goal and an assist today, earning man of the match with an 8.5 rating.

Harsanyi has our other goal, 7.4 rating. Other notables: Nikolaou (7.7), Miquel (7.4), Fenton (7.1), Williams (7.2), Pulis (7.0).


Apparently the opposition felt that Harsanyi's 6th minute goal should have not counted, that Harsanyi was offsides. One of their midfielders comments after the game that it should not have counted, and Kettering's manager was outraged and criticized the call after the match.

[Radii]

September 29th, 2012

Alfreton (6-0-5, 9th) @ Woking (6-2-2, 6th)

Alfreton won promotion up to the BS Premier last year. This will be our first ever meeting. We're 4-5 favorites at home. An interesting news story, "Kingfield Stadium return for Wright". Matthew Wright was the first loaner I ever brought in as manager of Woking. He played 42 matches and scored 8 goals with 6 assists in my first season. Sole was the star of that team but Wright was a key part of it. He was released by the Crystal Palace, tried to get it going with Accrington but was released there too, and has now settled in with Alfreton. Not much of a success story for him I suppose, but its one of the first guys i felt an attachment to that I've had to face.

Today's lineup:

GK: Lynch
DEF: Miquel/Williams/Fenton/Anane
MC: O'Sullivan/Pulis
AM: Bennett/McLaggon
ST: Harsanyi/Cousins

Anson Cousins gets his second start today, hopefully he does a little better.

22': We dominate early but don't get our first good look til now. O'Sullivan runs with the ball laterally just outside the area, slips a pass to Harsanyi after drawing a defender, Harsanyi strikes it hard and true! 1-0

25': McLaggon controls the ball deep in the right corner. He makes a move to fit a cross in. Cousins runs on to it and just barely changes the angle with his head, directing it into the net!! I'm thrilled to see Cousins get his first goal. 2-0

37': A long pass triggers a counter, Anane fires a ball to midfield, Harsanyi controls it well, the last defender misses a tackle and Harsanyi is off to the races. No one can catch up to him and he takes it all the way into the box and beats the keeper one on one. 3-0

HALF: Great half!! We get a youngster a goal and Harsanyi 2 goals in a half, dominance.

47': We concede a corner early, they take it short and defender Brown fires a nice shot into the net. Terrible defense. 3-1

51': After a through ball gives them a clear cut strike, Mike Williams comes in to try to make a saving tackle... and instead a penalty is given. They aren't missing this... 3-2

72': They play a ball to midfielder Ashton in the left side of the area. He's defended decently by Anane, but manages to get a shot off. Lynch is there but can't fully make the save, he slows the ball down, doesn't sotp it, and it rolls into the net. 3-3

72': Herd in for Pulis, Sole for Cousins. Not because either deserve to come out, but to make some kind of a change to try to right this.

78': They fire a long ball downfield. Lynch comes out of the area, it takes a high bounce and he has to head it instead of booting it downfield. An attacker is first to the ball and tries a strike from 35 yards out but he cannot guide it into the net. Lucky break there.

79': Harsanyi with a little room in the middle, he takes it wide to McLaggon, there's a cross, Bennett gets his head to it far post, but the keeper is there.

81': Harsanyi with a rocket bending towards the net from 25 yards out, but just wide.

81': Ademola in for McLaggon who is exhausted.

89': A long pass from Herd to Sole, Sole with a great first touch but his shot is saved. Tehre's a corner, then a second corner, then a throwin deep in their area... and nothing.


Woking 3 : 3 Alftreton

I give the "embarrassing" pep talk... a truly embarrassing result to give up a 3 goal lead at the half.

Harsanyi is man of the match with 2 goals and an 8.8 rating. Cousins goal gives him a 6.8 rating. Assists from Anane (7.0), O'Sullivan(6.8) and McLaggon(7.5).

Other noteworthy ratings... Bennett put up a 7.0, Fenton a 5.9.

Since i'd made mention of him pre-match, Matthew Wright was ready to play today, earning a 7.2 rating an an assist. No goals though.



Injury Update

Chris Herd was injured literally seconds before full time today, and he's got a pulled hamstring that is going to sideline him for 4 weeks.

[Radii]

October Notes

-- The important dates thing is longer than I've ever seen. A couple England World Cup qualifying matches are listed, but those don't effect me. FA Cup gets going for our level, and we've got 6 matches scheduled between oct 1 and Oct 20.

-- Main and Harsanyi are the strikers on the BS Premier team of the week.

-- Harsanyi is 2nd in player of the month this month behind York striker George Donnelly.

-- Stelios Nikolaou is 3rd for Young Player of the Month this month. He didn't play much but played well when we asked him to.

-- The board is pleased with my handling of the team so far. The Newport 1-4 loss is a weak spot.

October 2nd, 2012

Woking (6-3-2, 5th) @ St. Albans(3-6-3, 17th)

We are favored, 5:4 odds today on the road. St albans are considered relegation candidates. They were just promoted up from the BS South. We played them twice in my initial season, winning once, tying once.

Today's lineup:

GK: Lynch
DEF: Nikolaou, Williams, Fenton, Anane
MC: O'Sullivan, Arter
AM: Bennett, Ademola
ST: Harsanyi, Main


13': We start with the ball but can't get a shot off, they counter hard, attacker Clark gets into the box and takes a shot, Lynch with a great save, forcing a corner. nothing doing on the corner.

16': williams with a foul a yard outside the area. They shoot off the free kick, Lynch with a diving save.

25': Ademola and Main with a give and go to get Ademola deep down the right sideline. A cross comes in, Harsanyi is waiting on it, header, GOAL! 1-0. I waited until the replay to type up the goal, I was so sure he was offsides.

27': Another shot in the box for St Albans, Lynch makes his 4th save of the match.

38': A throwin for us deep in their end, Bennett a cross, Main gets his head to it, great save from the keeper.

40': Mike williams collides with an offensive player from St Albans. He's down to 50% and comes off briefly.

46': give and go for st albans between their two strikers, Johnson forward to Clarke, he beats Lynch. We just gave up too damn many shots this half. 1-1

HALF: They were the better team this half, it would have been great to take a lead in but nope. They have 7 shots, 5 on target. We have 6 shots, 1 on target... possession, passing are even.

Miquel in for Williams to play DC. williams isn't looking so hot.

50': O'Sullivan with a through ball for Harsanyi in traffic. He gets there but his shot is saved, corner comes to nothing.

58': O'Sullivan gets the ball 25 yards out, he dribbles through their defense, beating 3 players, looking for the pass i'm sure, but eventually ends up with our first clear cut chance in front of the keeper... shot is saved.

68': Main out, Cousins in.

73': Ademola out, mcLaggon in.

78': McLaggon with a cross that Bennett gets his head to, just over the bar. Bennett has missed 3 headers off of crosses today. Not easy shots I know.

87': McLaggon with a nice cross into the 6 yard box, they head it behind. Corner is cut out. We control possession after the clear though, and build up a little. Bennet with a give and go to Arter, Bennett gets the ball back in the penalty area and fires a shot low by the keeper!!! 2-1


St. Albans 1 : 2 Woking

We domiante the second half. They do manage a number of shots, but only 5 on target for the match, not a single one in the 2nd half.

Bennett earns man of the match honors with his goal, 7.8 rating. Harsanyi with the other goal, 6.9 rating there. Assists from Ademola (7.3) and Arter (7.7).

Elsewhere, Anane (7.2) and O'Sullivan (7.3) play well today too.

Good win today.

[Radii]

I'm worried about jinxing a streak, kinda like referencing a no hitter while its going on. But I will say that we have played 12 league matches, and if you went back and re-read the game reports for all 12 matches, looking for the game where Zoltan Harsanyi did not score a goal, you would likely be unable to find such a report. :D


We're about 1/4 through the season, a brief look at the standings:

1. Crawley - 28 pts
2. Cambridge - 28 pts
3. Forest Green - 25 pts
***4. Woking - 24 pts
***5. Gateshead - 23 pts
-----------
6. York - 22 pts
7. Chelmsford - 22 pts
8. Alfreton - 22 pts
9. Ebbsfleet - 22 pts
10. Newport co - 21 pts
11. Accrington - 21 pts

*** Woking and Gateshead in 4th/5th have played one less match than everyone else in the top 8 places.


And to emphasize and further tempt streaky fate...

top goalscorers

1. Zoltan Harsanyi - Woking - 14
2. Luke Powell - Newport - 11
3. Wes Fletcher - Accrington - 9
4. Richard Brodie - York - 9
5. Many Tied - 8

[Radii]

October 6th, 2012

Torquay (4-6-3, 13th) @ Woking(7-3-2, 5th)

We're very slight favorites. Torquay were demoted from League 2 last year and are fighting to make it back up. not well so far. we've never played them before.

Today's lineup:

GK: Lynch
DEF: Miquel/Williams/Ricketts/Anane
MC: O'Sullivan/Pulis
AM: Sloma/McLaggon
ST: Harsanyi/Sole

Ricketts is back to full training now, obviously. Fenton has done very poorly lately and I want to sit him.

7': O'Sullivan wins a ball in midfield, takes a step by his man, feeds Harsanyi. They close down Harsanyi, he puts a through ball into the open space, Sole runs on to it and puts it home! 1-0

7': I switch to a Counter attacking strategy for now.

12': short corner to Williams, he turns, his man misses a tackle, he fires a shot, the defender at the right post deflects it away...

28': Sole picks up a bit of a knock, he isn't beat up badly it seems though.

36': Harsanyi controls the ball in the left side of the area. The defense closes on him, he feeds Sloma as he runs into the box, sloma with a shot... but saved nicely.

38': O'Sullivan up to Sole, Sole with a move into the area, clear cut strike, diving save by the keeper to put it behind. Corner comes to nothing.


HALF: 3 clear cut chances and just 1 goal, other than that we're real happy here. We've taken 8 shots, 7 on target. Torquay has 5 shots but none on target. We need to get a second goal.

50': We concede a corner. Its taken well, and headed in by one of their strikers. 1-1

58': Sole is breakig forward to receive a pass from O'Sullivan, no one is in front of him. Sole is dragged down behind by defender Collidge, and that's a RED CARD. Torquay down to 10 men.

60': Sloma with a cross into the box. Its deflected away, Sloma hustles to get to it, lays a pass to Sole, who turns and takes a great shot that beats the keeper! 2-1

65': A near breakaway for torquay, they work the ball ahead and generate a good shot from the right side of teh area. Lynch makes a good save.

68': Bennett in for a tired Sloma.

70': Awful, awful defending. We'd switched to a defensive mindset, but somehow we leave a giant hold in the middle of their attack. There's a through ball played from a good 30 yards out and a great finish to tie it up. 2-2

77': Ademola in for a tired McLaggon.

78': Back into a more aggressive mindset.

93': Anane with a cross in to Ademola, his header goes over, and that's the last chance.

Woking 2 : 2 Torquay

With a lead and with them down to 10 men, its completely unacceptable to end with a draw. Very frustrating. they get man of the match today.

Sole has both our goals and an 8.8 rating. Assists from Harsanyi (7.3) and Sloma (6.8). No one else over 7.



I take the blame for not getting a win here. I made a reference to the fact that Zoltan Harsanyi had scored in 12 straight matches in my last post. He doesn't score today, and a goal from him gives us a 3-2 win. Totally on me.

[Radii]

--Kevin Lynch is called up for U21 matches that will take place on the 12th and 16th. Just him for now.

--Sole is named in the league's team of the week.


October 9th, 2012

Gateshead(6-5-2, 9th) @ Woking(7-4-2, 5th)

We are even money favorites today. We've never lost to Gateshead, 2-2-0 in 4 matches. We win at home, tie on the road. this is a re-scheduled game from earlier in the year, its just us today. We'll be back even in matches played after this. win and we're in 3rd. Lose and we'll fall out of 5th due to goal differential.

Today's lineup:

GK: Lynch
DEF: Nikolaou/Williams/Fenton/Ricketts
MC: O'Sullivan/Arter
AM: Bennett/McLaggon
ST: Harsanyi/Main


We come out attacking today.

8': Fenton with a yellow, a hard tackle in midfield. I'm ok with that one, it was on a counter after we gave up possession.

11': After a corner for gateshead, the ball is headed around the 6 yard box and seems to stay there forever, before finally being put in the net by one of their midfielders. 0-1. ricketts misjudging a header is the cause of this one.

17': Harsanyi is tackled in the box! Penalty! Mike Williams steps up to take it, and buries it. 1-1

23': A great pass from o'Sullivan to McLaggon leads to a point blank chance... that's put off the bar.

28': Ricketts with a foul just outside the penalty area, he's given a yellow. They miss the free kick.

37': Bennett goes down in the box, a foul is called.... diving by Bennett, he picks up a yellow for it.

39': corner for us. Arter fires a cross to the far end of the 6 yard box, Main gets up and gets his head to it, and puts it into the net! 2-1

HALF: We take a lead into the locker room. Ricketts and Fenton are just playing awful. Ricketts is tired too, or will be soon enough. I am pulling him now. Nikolaou DR, Miquel in for Ricketts and at DL.

48': Defender Obeng with a yellow for a hard tackle on Bennett.

53': Midfielder Gate with a yellow for a tackle on O'Sullivan.

64': Mike Williams a yellow for a tackle in midfield.

72': Cousins in for a complacent Harsanyi. Pulis in for a tired O'Sullivan.

85': defender Curtis with a yellow for a tackle on Cousins.

91': Some quick passing, Arter to Main to cousins back to Main, Main fires a quick strike from 20 yards out and it catches the keeper by surprise, into the net! 3-1


Woking 3 : 1 Gateshead

A solid win. The second half was mostly about yellows and chippy tackles, but we did a good job not allowing Gateshead any sort of attack at all.

Main is man of the match with 2 goals and an 8.8 rating. Our other goal is the PK by Williams (6.9). Assists from Cousins (6.9), Harsanyi (6.8) and Arter (7.8).

Bennett played great on the left side and earned a 7.9 rating as well. Nikolaou 7.2 in the back. With that win we are now in 3rd place in the league, evened back up with eveyrone else as far as matches played.

[Radii]

-- Stelios Nikolaou is called up for an Oct 16th match for the Cyprus U21's.

October 13th, 2012

Woking(8-4-2, 3rd) @ Rushden(3-7-4, 17th)

Rushden was in the playoffs last year and have fallen apart it would appear. We're very very slight road favorites. We're 1-1-2 in our history against Rushden. Last year we won at home and lost on the road.

Rushden has the BS Premier player of the year from last season. Sam Smith scored 34 goals in 40 matches last season. This year he's been hurt a bit and has only played 6 matches. 3 goals/2 assists/7.37 rating. He'll be a threat today.

Lynch and McLaggon are out for international duty today.

GK: Martin
DEF: Nikolaou, Williams, Fenton, Ricketts
MC: O'Sullivan, Pulis
AM: Bennett, Ademola
ST: Harsanyi, Main

5': We steal the ball, Main with a ball to Harsanyi, he has a free run on the keeper from 40 yards out. He gets into the box... and fires a clear cut chance right into the chest of the keeper.

22': 4 shots from Rushden but all are way out. We've put two on target but easily saved.

30': A nice long ball forward to Sam Smith, he comes into the left side of the area, and puts a clear cut chance into the side netting.

33': O'Sullivan with a yellow for a bad tackle.

44': Defender Hilliard with a yellow for a tackle for Rushden.

HALF: Scoreless, each team's best scorer blew one very easy chance. They've taken 8 shots, all off target. We've taken 6, 2 on target. We're dominating possession, 59/41 in our favor.

56': Joe O'Sullivan runs with the ball in the penalty area, he's tackled and goes down. The whistle blows, and O'Sullivan is called for a dive. He's already got a yellow, this is his second yellow, RED CARD. He's sent off.

56': Arter in for Harsanyi, I switch to a 4-4-1, Bennett/Arter/Pulis/Ademola, Main up top.

60': Sam Smith gets a yellow for a foul in our area on a corner.

68': A corner for Rushden, they get it to Smith who gets the ball to his feet and puts it in. 0-1

84': Anane in for Ademola, Sole in for Main. we'll try to attack at the end.

92': Pretty much what you'd expect, but I couldn't just sit back and take the loss. They generate a nice look for ST Hughes-Mason after a through ball and score. 0-2


Rushden 2 : 0 Woking

O'Sullivan with the only 7.0 rating today. His red card cost us the game though. O'Sullivan is getting a reputation as more than a little bit of a diver.

[Radii]

I give O'Sullivan a warning, and he's suspended for a match for his red.

-- Oct 16th's Woking vs Barrow match is rescheduled for Oct 24th due to international callups. A BREAK OMGOMGOMG.

This reschedule means we have no matches between Oct 13th and Oct 20th. A full week to rest!

-- Curtis Main is named in the BS Premier team of the week.

FA Cup 4th Round Qualifying Draw

We're going to be on the road but against a division level team named the "Walton Casuals" ... surely we can beat the Casuals. That match will be on Oct 27th.


Injury Update

Aswad Thomas twists his knee in training and is going to miss 4 weeks. He didn't even get in a game after his last injury.

In good news, Danijel Subotic is back to full training.


October 20th, 2012

Woking(8-4-3, 3rd) @ Maidenhead(3-5-8, 19th)

We've never lost to Maidenhead, we're 3-3-0 against them.

Starting Lineup:

GK: Lynch
DEF: Miquel/Williams/Fenton/Ricketts
MC: Pulis/Arter
AM: Bennett/McLaggon
ST: Harsanyi/Cousins

I'm starting Cousins today b/c I expect a win and he might have a hard time getting on the field with Subotic coming back. O'Sullivan is serving his suspension today.

6': Arter takes a great corner that swings in a little towards the net. Mike Williams sees it coming and runs on to it and heads it into the net! 1-0

23': We feed Harsanyi in a good position(not sure who made the pass), and he hits the upright from 15 ayrds out.

24': Arter with a corner, short corner to Williams, williams has two defenders coming at him, but he takes a shot and puts it by the keeper!! 2-0

34': Beautiful goal by Harsanyi. Cousins with a pass but its really ALL Harsanyi. He beats a defender at the 18 yard line, cuts left, and lays a soft ball back the other way past the keeper to the far post. 3-0

36': Pulis to McLaggon, he shoots, his shot is blocked but the ball falls right to Harsanyi. Harsanyi with the strike and easy goal with the keeper out of position. 4-0


HALF: Last time we led 3-0 we gave up 3 second half goals. This time we make it 4-0, we'd best not risk giving this up. Anane in for Ricketts at the half.

56': They get a cross into the box, a header hits the crossbar and comes out. Arter clears it.

80': Ademola in for McLaggon, Sloma in for Pulis.

87': Cousins with a very nice pass from 40 yards out to a charging Bennett. Bennett runs into the box and puts the ball by the keeper! 5-0

Maidenhead 0 : 5 Woking

Dominant from start to finish.

Mike Williams is man of the match, the first defender I've ever seen put up 2 goals. 9.3 rating. 2 goals from Harsanyi, 9.3 rating. Bennett's goal earns him an 8.3. Assists... 2 from Arter, 8.9. 2 from Cousins, 8.3. 1 from Pulis, 8.3.

Miquel (8.1), Fenton(7.7), Ricketts (7.2), McLaggon (7.0) are good too!

[Radii]

--Millwall in League 1 fires their head coach. According to the press I am the top candidate for the job. First time that's happened. I release a statement to the press indicating I have no interest in leaving Woking.

-- Mike Williams, Harry Arter and Zoltan Harsanyi are named in the league's team of the week.

Oct 24th, 2012

Barrow(7-2-7, 12th) @ Woking(9-4-3, 3rd)

We are 4:6 favorites at home today. We're 2-1-1 against Barrow in our history, winning at home and losing on the road last year.

Harsanyi draws some attention from the opposition, with their coach stating in the Barrow press conference that Harsanyi must be contained if Barrow have any hope of any points.

Harsanyi doesn't like the attention, "Many experts feel that Zoltan Harsanyi plays at his best when not faced by the glare of the media spotlight."

Starting today:

GK: Lynch
DEF: Nikolaou/Williams/Fenton/Ricketts
MC: O'Sullivan/Arter
AM: Sloma/McLaggon
ST: Harsanyi/Subotic

Subotic will likely only play a half, but I wanted him back in.

11': A corner is taken short, cleared, crossed back in... Fenton with a header, off the bar! But they can't clear, Fenton recovers it, passes to Harsanyi, he lays it to Subotic, Subotic shoots, GOAL! 1-0 That ball stayed in their penalty area forever without a clearance.

28': 63/37 possession, 6 shots to 1, we're dominating everything, need a second goal.

30': Right after I type that they get two through balls into the area, Lynch with one great save, a tackle on the second one by Fenton.

39': Nikolaou recovers a ball deep in our own end. A long ball forward, Harsanyi sprints... outruns the defense, a great first touch gets the ball into the area, Harsanyi beats the only defender with a chance to the ball and hits it far post into the net! 2-0

45': WHOA. They commit a foul about 30-32 yards out. Sloma steps up to the free kick, bends it around the wall and it goes into the left side of the net!!!! Amazing strike. 3-0


HALF: Domination. Keep it up.

68': Nothing at all happening this half. Main, Ademola, Pulis in. Subotic, McLaggon, O'Sullivan out.


Boring boring boring.

Woking 3 : 0 Barrow

Nikolaou with an assist and great tackling in the back earns him an 8.7 rating and man of the match. Goals come from Harsanyi (7.9, also an assist), Sloma (7.8) and Subotic (7.2). The other assist is from O'Sullivan(7.8). Other noteworthy ratings: Lynch (7.4), Ricketts (7.6), Fenton(7.4), Williams (7.4).


That was a makeup game from last week. Even once again in matches played, we remain in 3rd, 3 points behind Cambridge, 2 points behind Crawley in the standings.

[Radii]

October 27th, 2012

FA Cup 4th Round Qualifying

Woking @ Walton Casuals

We are 1:20 favorites today. They are 30:1 underdogs. Win please.

Lineup:

GK: Lynch
DEF: Miquel/Williams/Fenton/Anane
MC: O'Sullivan/Pulis
AM: Bennett/Ademola
ST: Main/Cousins

Harsanyi has a history of showing up complacent for these kinds of matches, IIRC. He gets a well deserved rest as a result.

26': Boring, boring boring. They're all out defending and we're in control but struggling to break through their defense.

36': Mike Williams picks up a yellow for a hard foul outside the area. Free kick comes to nothing.

HALF: 0-0, we need to wake up and get a goal or four. We have 7 shots, 1 on target. They have 4 shots, 1 on target. Both on target shots were long and not scary at all.

51': O'Sullivan beats a defender and attempts a shot from 20 yards out. Its saved... barely, nice effort.

53': Anane with a yellow going for a header in midfield.

63': O'Sullivan a yellow for a tackle in midfield.

68': Ademola with a cross, Cousins a header on target, right at the keeper. After a throwin, Bennet gets the ball to Main who seems in a great spot, but his shot from 10 yards out is saved.

82': Ademola with a run down the right side, a cross into the area, Main gets his head to it and guides it by the keeper! 1-0

82': I'd already set up these subs in an effort to get a late goal... Harsanyi, Subotic, Arter in. Main/Cousins/O'Sullivan out.

85': Arter with a brilliant move. He takes a pass 30 yards out, runs by one man, splits the back to DC's, and strikes it by the keeper! 2-0

92': After a throwin, Bennett crosses into the area, Subotic gets his head to it and that's in. 3-0

Walton Casuals 0 : 3 Woking

Ademola is man of the match, earning an 8.1 and generating the game winning goal with a great cross. Goals from Main (7.2), Arter (7.4), and Subotic (7.3). Assists from Bennett (7.3) and Pulis (7.1).

Anane (7.5), Miquel(7.7), Fenton (7.2) with noteworthy ratings as well.


DL Ignasi Miquel is hurt late in our FA Cup match. He's out or 3 weeks with a strained neck.

FA Cup 1st Round Draw

We'll be playing at home, but we get a bad draw, facing League 1 mid-table Walsall. We'll play November 10th.

The board expected us to reach the First Round,and we have. Anything else would be gravy.

[Radii]

November Notes

--Matthew Wright of Alfreton is young player of the month, my former striker, happy for him. Our AML loaner Kieran Bennett was second.

--Cambridge's manager earns manager of the month. I'm second.

-- The board is pleased with my results still. Signing Stelios Nikolaou is a high point. Our 1-4 loss to Newport, now over two months ago, is still the big negative. Get over it guys!


November 3rd, 2012

Cheltenham(3-5-9, 19th) @ Woking(10-4-3, 3rd)

We're 4:5 favorites at home today. Cheltenham were playoff contenders last year(finishing 8th) but are not doing so well this year. We're 2-2-0 against them, winning at home/tying on the road last season.

Cheltenham's Jamie White has 7 goals in 17 matches and is clearly their leading scorer.

Today's lineup:

GK: Lynch
DEF: Nokolaou/Williams/Fenton/Ricketts
MC: O'Sullivan/Pulis
AM: Bennett/McLaggon
ST: Harsanyi/Subotic

17': Fenton picks up a yellow trying to keep a streaking atacker from passing him on a counter.

25': Each team has one off target shot so far.

28': Williams with a yellow in defense, bleh! A free kick from 25 yards out is taken and goes off the wall.

30': After a throwin, they place a cross nicely tothe far post, Lewes runs on to it and heads it in. Lynch didn't stand a chance. 0-1

38': On a quick counter attack, they get the ball forward to their top scorer, White. He gets into the area and beats Lynch. 0-2

43': Pulis with a free kick from 30 yards out. Its placed beautifully and Subotic gets there and heads it in! 1-2

45': Bennett with a graet run down the sideline, a cross, Subotic heads it just over. So close.


HALF: We play very very poorly in the last 20 minutes of the half, but Subotic getting a goal back gives us life.

45: On the opening kickoff we go straight forward, Harsanyi and Subotic give and go.. .Harsanyi ends up in the area with space and puts the ball low and left by the keeper! 2-2

55': Defender Duff with a yellow, tripping Harsanyi as he tried to run by.

57': Subotic receives the ball outside the area, makes a move past a defender, he gets a shot off but its from a tough angle and is saved.

63': O'Sullivan feeds Subotic, he's got by his man again, fires a shot... McLagon is out of position and blocks the shot by accident.

64': Nikolaou with a yellow.

70': Main in for a tired Subotic.

76': Anane in for a tired Mike Williams. Ricketts moves to DC, Anane DR.

80': O'Sullivan into the box, he goes down hard, but no foul is called presumably due to the fact that he's a diving bastard. He's actually hurt and needs the trainer out.

83': McLaggon with a cross, Bennett with a header... its off the crossbar, urgh!

86': Main gets a little breakaway, gets into the area, but a quick defender gets back in front of him to block his shot.

93': O'Sullivan to Main who is out a little wide, his shot is off target slightly.

Woking 2 : 2 Cheltenham

After falling down 2-0 a draw is pretty good, but we had so many chances to get a winning goal there, its disappointing that we didn't.

We take 13 shots, only put 4 on target though. We dominated possession 59/41. Really shoulda won.


Subotic is man of the match, a goal and an assist and an 8.5 rating. The other assist comes from Pulis, 7.1 rating. Harsanyi with the second goal, just a 6.8 today.

O'Sullivan puts up a 7.3 and is the only other noteworthy rating.

[Radii]

November 6th, 2012

Woking(10-5-3, 3rd) @ Forest Green(9-6-3, 5th)

Forest Green are very slim favorites today, 6:4 to our 13:8. We're 1-0-1 against them, two seasons ago in the BS Premier when they were relegated. They've earned their way back up and are obviously doing extremely well.

Lots of lineup changes on short rest again today:

GK: Lynch
DEF: Nikolaou/Williams/Fenton/Anane
MC: O'Sullivan/Arter
AM: Sloma/Ademola
ST: Harsanyi/Main


We'll open defensive today.

1': We start with possession but lose it quickly. Two passes and they generate a clear cut strike from 10 yards away, beating Lynch... well then. 0-1

20': We generate our first shot, its a tough one from Harsanyi 18 yards out, its just barely over though.

32': Defender Mike Brown picks up a yellow for a trip on Ademola.

42': We earn 5 corners and keep the ball in their area FOREVEr over the course of two attacks... cannot generate more than a couple shots that are blocked though.

HALF: They take 6 shots, put 3 on target, the one clear cut strike etc. We've got 5 shots, just one long shot on target. I turned the attack up in the final 10 minutes to try to get a tying goal, it didn't work but we dominated play.

52': Curtis Main is hurt going for a header... he could stay in but I dunno if he'll be effective.

54': Anane with a pass from the midfield up to main. Main turns and beats one man, gets into the box and places a beautiful shot into the net!! 1-1 So much for being hurt.


64': O'Sullivan plays a long ball from behind midfield, Main is the first one to get to it and he takes a couple steps, aims, and beats the keeper!! 2-1

64': Sloma and O'Sullivan out, Bennett and Herd in.

80': Some good play by Forest Green, they get into the area and threaten a couple times on corners, some very scary deflections, but we get in to clear every time.

92': Lynch moves out of position on a deep cross, they earn a clear cut chance as an attacker has a free chance to head the ball in, but he puts it over.

Forest Green 1 : 2 Woking

After falling behind 37 seconds in, we do a very nice job of keeping our composure and pulling out a road win. This is a big one against a team currently in playoff contention.

Main is man of the match, 8.8 rating and 2 goals, both after picking up a bit of an injury.

Assists from O'Sullivan (7.3) and Anane (6.9). Mike Williams (7.3) stands out as well.

Sloma (5.6) and Harsanyi (5.8) play poorly. I tell Harsanyi I'm not happy with his play in the postgame and may well sit him a match.


Injury Update

Curtis Main suffered a thigh strain today, he was ok until he rested I suppose... now he's done for 4 weeks.

[Radii]

November 10th, 2012

FA Cup First Round

Walsall @ Woking

Walsall are currently 14th in League 1. They are 1-2 favorites in our house today.

I drop us back to a standard 4-4-2 formation, a little less offensive against a higher league team.

Harsanyi and Subotic start.

13': After attacking for 13 minutes straight their striker Deeney beats both Williams and Fenton and scores. 0-1

44': Corner, header, goal for Walsall. Lynch had no chance, a very strong header. 0-2

HALF: We've taken one shot. They've taken 11. Not much to say here.


75': Neither team has taken a shot all half yet. We've been trying to attack the entire time. o'Sullivan, Subotic, Harsanyi out. Sole, Ademola, Herd in.

89': Ademola picks up a loose ball at midfield, he runs down the left side, the defense isn't there, he cuts into the area and fires a shot low to the far post past the keeper! 1-2

89': Overload mentality trying for the miracle.


Woking 1 : 2 Walsall

Good try. Moses Ademola actually earns man of the match with an 8.0 rating for his stellar goal. Herd is credited with an assist.

Bennett with a 7.0, Lynch a 7.1.

That puts us out of the FA Cup, not much of a surprise there.

[Radii]

-- "After weeks of sustained transfer speculation, Zoltan Harsanyi has said that he has learned to ignore the media and concentrate on playing for Woking" I hope so buddy!

-- A key match has been postponed. We were due to host #2 Crawley on november 17th, but our field is waterlogged and the match is moved to December 5th.


November 24th, 2012

Working(11-5-3, 3rd) @ York(8-10-2, 5th)

We're 0-0-2 against York, both matches two seasons ago. This is another big match against a playoff contender. They won the playoffs two years ago but immediately got relegated back down out of league 2.

2': O'Sullivan places a ball to Subotic well outside the area. He beats his man, heads to the penalty area, draws the defense and finds Harsanyi, Harsanyi with a clear cut chance... saved.

13': A counter attack.. long ball from Harsanyi to Subotic, he takes it into the area, he goes down, no penalty given.

16': A nice ball to an onrunning midfielder, Hopcutt leads to a clear cut strike and goal for York. 0-1

25': Midfielder McCraken holds Harsanyi on a header attempt, yellow for him.

31': Harsanyi with a great pass to Subotic cutting in from the right side of the area. Subotic with our second clear cut chance, a great look, off the post.

38': Bennett with a foul trying to win the ball back in the attack.

42': After we clear a corner attempt they head the ball back up, a strike is taken from 20 yards out, bending more than i've seen any shot bend at this level... holy crap impressive, goal. 0-2

47': Free kick from 25 yards out. Another great strike, bending by the wall and going right by Lynch. 0-3

I was in defensive or counter the entire half and they simply owned me. cousins in for a tiring/not fully fit still Subotic.

58': missed interception by York allows O'Sullivan ot place a great through ball to McLaggon who beats the keeper! 1-3

77': Anane in for Ricketts.

84': A quick counter, McLaggon to O'Sullivan, back to McLaggon, he places a great shot from the left edge of the 6 yard box to the far right corner of the net by the keeper!! 2-3

89': Herd in for Pulis.

95': We bring Lynch forward for a desparation attempt on a corner, they clear it out and get a long ball and put the ball into the net before the whistle is blown. 2-4

York 4 : 2 Woking

This was closer than it seemed. They had two long strikes that were just perfect... maybe they're really that much more talented than us but I dunno... They outshot us by a lot in the first half, but i was goign for the counter. We generated two clear cut chances in the first half and didn't finish either. It could have been a very different game.

Alas, two goals for McLaggon earns him an 8.8 rating. 2 assists and key passes all over for O'Sullivan earns him a 9.0 and man of the match. Harsanyi (5.4), Ricketts (5.8) and Miquel(5.8) were just bad today sadly.

[Radii]

FA Trophy First Round Draw

We get a good draw, at home against divisional level Horsham. We'll play on the 15th of December.

November 27th, 2012

Ebbsfleet(9-6-6, 11th) @ Woking(11-5-4, 3rd)

We are heavy favorites in this one, pick'em against 11:5 for Ebbsfleet. We're 2-1-1 against them in our history, last year we won both matches.

Massive lineup changes today:

GK: Lynch
DEF: Nikolaou/Williams/Thomas/Anane
MC: Arter/Herd
AM: Sloma/Ademola
ST: Harsanyi/Subotic

changes everywhere but GK and Striker.

1': yellow for midfielder connor immediately after kickoff heh.

8': Yellow for defender Henry.

12': Arter with a through ball that Sloma gets to, a clear cut chance, saved... not a bad strike but Sloma is a terrible finisher.

32': Herd is brought down hard and has to go off the field for treatment. He's ok after a bit of a break though.

40': Bailey for ebbsfleet with a yellow... they're starting to add up.

43': Nikolaou with a yellow for us.

48': Arter with a great feed into the box for Ademola for a clear cut chance... into the side netting.

HALF: 0-0, we've had 3 clear cut chances and are failing completely. We've got 8 shots to their 6 but we are clearly in charge and getting better looks. Just need to finish.

O'Sullivan in for Herd at the half.

45:12: O'Sullivan yellow, way to go bud.

51': Defender Crooks with a yellow.

63': O'Sullivan to Subotic, Subotic really does the work himself though, turning a defender and taking a strike from 18 yards out, a hard shot by the keeper! 1-0

66': Mike Williams a yellow in defense.

75': Sole in for Subotic, McLaggon in for Ademola

89': Last minute goal here, we steal the ball in midfield, Harsanyi plays it up ahead to Sole who gets behind the defense and puts the ball into the left side of the net. 2-0

Woking 2 : 0 Ebbsfleet

Ricky Anane plays a very good game in defense and earns man of the match with a 7.5 rating.

Goals from Subotic (7.3) and Sole (7.2). Assists from O'Sullivan(7.1) and Harsanyi (6.6).

Elsewhere: Nikolaou (7.5) and Arter (7.4) play very well. Happy to get a win after that match vs York.

[Radii]

December notes

-- Curtis Main is 3rd for BS Premier Player of the Month in November.

-- Joe O'Sullivan wins young player of the month! Curtis Main comes in 3rd.


December 1, 2012

Working(12-5-4, 3rd) @ Stevenage(4-2-16, 23rd)

We're 4:6 favorites on the road today. Stevenage are our top rivals, and this is actually the second meeting of the season. We crushed them 4:1 at home and are 2-1-2 lifetime against them.

Stevenage only has 10 goals all year, their leading goal scorer has 3.

I rest a couple normal starters (Miquel, O'Sullivan, Subotic) since we play a top 5 team in less than a week.

GK: Lynch
DEF: Nikolaou/Williams/Fenton/Ricketts
MC: Pulis/Arter
AM: Bennett/McLaggon
ST: Harsanyi/Sole


23': We control the ball in their end, Pulis finds a nice hole in the defense, delivers a through ball for Bennett who beats the keeper from 15 yards straight out! 1-0

25': Stevenage takes their first shot of the game. We only have 4 but we are clearly in control.

33': Sole breaks ahead, draws the defense, leaves the ball for Pulis who plays it forward to Harsanyi, its a clear cut strike from 10 yards out on the left side... saved.

HALF: Its been awhile since Harsanyi has scored, he's missed a number of clear cut chances in recent matches. But we are in full control here and I expect a goal or two more.

60': Time flies to the 60 minute mark.

65': Harsanyi with a dangerous header off a cross, keeper makes what seems like an amazing save to turn it wide.

72': Sloma in for Pulis, Anane in for Ricketts, Cousins in for Harsanyi.


We successfully and easily kill the final 20 minutes.

Stevenage 0 : 1 Woking


Pulis earns man of the match with his assist and control in the middle, 7.8 rating. Bennett's goal earns him a 7.2. Elsewhere: Ricketts (7.1), Nikolaou(7.8) stand out.


Stevenage took 1 shot today. It was on target but from deep range. We controlled 63% of the possession and dominated more than 1-0 indicates.

[Radii]

December 5th, 2012

Crawley (12-9-1, 1st) @ Woking (13-5-4, 3rd)

We're slim 5:4 favorites today. This will be the halfway point for both our teams. We're 0-2-2 lifetime against Crawley, two draws last season, and this is our first meeting this year.

Crawley are led by Charles Ademeno, who has 9 goals/7 assists in just 14 matches, and Calum Willock who has 9 goals in 20 matches.

Lineup today:

GK: Lynch
DEF: Miquel/Williams/Fenton/Ricketts
MC: O'Sullivan/Arter
AM: Bennett/Adeomla
ST: Harsanyi/Subotic

This is close to an ideal lineup for us. Main is playing as well as anyone up front but is just coming back from injury. He'll be available off the bench today.

2': Subotic to Bennett... Bennett seems to have a clear shot from close range, but a poor first touch sends the ball to the keeper. Arter takes a long shot off the rebound but the keeper had recovered.

6': yellow for defender Quinn for Crawley.

16': Harsanyi is slowed after being hit on a tackle.

18': Williams misses an interception, Willock is through for a clear cut chance... and he hits the crossbar from near point blank range. We clear, lucky lucky break.

32': THERE IT IS! Quick counter, Arter to Ademola to Subotic to Harsanyi, Harsanyi is in space 15 yards out, strikes it low to the far post and IN! His first goal in nearly 500 minutes. 1-0

The rest of the half plays out fairly quickly.

HALF: We have 3 shots, all on target. They have 4 shots, just one on target. Possession is equal, they are not passing very well and taht seems the main statistical difference so far. That and hitting the post from 10 yards out.

54': I'm gonna kick our defense's ass. Ademeno picks the ball up at midfield. He beats Williams, Fenton is out of position, and he runs by our damn defense in what seems like slow motion, you can see our mistakes pile up and he ends up in the box... and beats Lynch. 1-1

73': Anane in for Ricketts, Main in for Harsanyi.

76': A long free kick from Lynch, we win the ball, Arter to Subotic, Subotic with a stellar through ball to Main who runs onto it and strikes it into the net on a clear cut chance. 2-1


The defense does great the rest of the way. I change to a counterattacking strategy, they control the ball a bit more but we cut out anything even minorly threatening.

Woking 2 : 1 Crawley

Subotic is great today, 2 assists, 8.3 rating, man of the match. Harsanyi with his first league goal in a long time, 6.8 rating. Main with the game winner in short time off the bench, 7.2.

Elsewhere: Miquel (7.2). Williams recovers for a 6.7 rating, he was under 6 most of the match after his early mistake nearly led to a goal.

[Radii]

We're at the halfway point of the 2012/13 season. That last win was a key one, as it jumped us two places from 3rd to 1st at this halfway mark.

Midseason Standings

1. Woking - 14-5-4 - 47 pts
2. Crawley - 12-9-3 - 45 pts
3. Cambridge - 14-3-6 - 45 pts
4. Gateshead - 11-8-4 - 41 pts
5. Forest Green - 11-8-4 - 41 pts
--------------------------
6. Accrington - 12-4-7 - 40 pts
7. York - 10-10-3 - 40 pts
8. Alfreton - 11-4-8 - 37 pts
9. Newport Co - 9-9-5 - 36 pts
10. Chelmsford - 10-6-7 - 36 pts
11. Ebbsfleet - 10-6-7 - 36 pts
12. Rushden - 9-8-6 - 35 pts
13. Wrexham - 8-6-9 - 30 pts
14. Kettering - 7-8-8 - 29 pts
15. Torquay - 6-10-7 - 28 pts
16. Barrow - 8-3-12 - 27 pts
17. Eastleigh - 5-10-8 - 25 pts
18. St. Albans - 5-10-8 - 25 pts
19. Cheltenham - 5-8-10 - 23 pts
20. Darlington - 4-9-10 - 21 pts
21. Southport - 4-6-13 - 18 pts
22. Maidenhead - 3-6-14 - 15 pts
23. Stevenage - 4-2-17 - 14 pts
24. Gainsborough - 2-6-15 - 12 pts



We have 52 goals for, 30 against. The style we play certainly lends itself to this, we have 7 more goals than anyone in the league and a +22 differential is best in the league, but we have also allowed more goals than anyone else in the top 10.


Scoring Leaders

1. Zoltan Harsanyi - Woking - 19
2. Marc Williams - Wrexham - 13
3. Jason Walker - Barrow - 13
4. Luke Powell - Newport Co - 13
5. Wes Fletcher - Accrington - 12
6. Brian Wake - Gateshead - 12

Curtis Main has 9 league goals in just 14 matches(7 starts).


Assists

1. Danny Mitchley - Newport - 11
2. Joe O'Sullivan - Woking - 10
3. Frank Wiafe Danquah - Cambridge - 8
4. George Donnelley - York - 8
5. Joe Anyinsah - Torquay - 8

Many others tied -7 (including Zoltan Harsanyi).

Subotic and Arter both have 5 assists.



Average Rating

1. George Donnelly - York - 7.50
2. Charles Ademeno - Crawley - 7.43
3. Mike Brown - Forest Green - 7.42
4. Danny Mitchley - Newport Co - 7.41
5. Curtis Main - Woking - 7.41
6. Joe O'Sullivan - Woking - 7.36
7. Sam Smith - Rushden - 7.35
8. Stelios Nikolaou - Woking - 7.33


DL Nikolaou has played great, he's started 11 matches, splitting time fairly evenly with our loaner DL Miquel.


Contract Negotiations

I haven't really touched contract stuff yet... we have 13 players on full time contracts who expire this season.

-- ST Anson Cousins - I offer him a backup deal for $160/wk. I dunno why I want to see this guy succeed so much, maybe because he's our only reserve who has a chance.

-- DC Aswad Thomas - Willing to take a pay cut from $725->$650/wk, he'll take a big appearance fee but i'm ok with that.

-- MC Anthony Pulis - Willing to go from $950->$925 in exchange for a bigger appearance bonus. I try to lock him in for two years.

-- DC Mike Williams - I try to lock him in for longer at the same rate ($650/wk)

-- AMR Moses Ademola - Willing to take the same amount he makes now ($775/wk), I offer the extension.

-- ML Sam Sloma - willing to drop from $525->$500/wk. A solid rotation guy, sure thing pal.

MC Harry Arter - Willing to stay at $875/wk. I'm good with that.

GK Kevin Lynch - wants a raise from $160/wk to $600/wk. totally deserves it. I do try to increase his appearance bonus to get him to take $500/wk instead.

Contract Issues

-- DR Mark Ricketts - Wants a raise from $700->$775/wk. I hold off for now. Ricketts is my captain and 28 years old. I should probalby go out of my way to keep him, but Anane is really good back there too.

-- ST Zoltan Harsanyi - Wants a raise from $1100/wk to $1600/wk. He's just entering his prime and I need to keep him, but I can't commit to that just yet.

-- MC Chris Herd - makes $1100/wk, willing to stay for the same, but he really seems to be odd man out amongst O'Sullivan, Pulis, Arter and Herd. I need 4 guys at MC for sure... but I dont' want my highest paid to be the one that sees the least amount of time on the pitch. I hold off here now too.



Anane, Subotic, O'Sullivan and Martin are signed through next year.

[Radii]

Contract Updates

Sloma, Cousins, Thomas, Ademola and Pulis sign immediately.

I tried getting Arter for a long term deal, he didn't like that idea. I offer the 1 year deal he wants this time around.

Lynch rejects his deal too. I offer him a 1 year deal instead of 3... but try again to lower his weekly rate and increase his appearance fee. I may be playing with fire here, I don't want to piss my franchise keeper off.

December 8th, 2012

Eastleigh(5-10-8, 17th) @ Woking(14-5-4, 1st)

We are 4:6 favorites here at home against one of the weaker teams in the league. We're 2-2-1 against them lifetime, winning 2:0 on the road earlier this year.

Striker Danny Mills leads them with 8 goals in 17 starts/20 total appearances.

Lots more lineup changes today:

GK: Lynch
DEF: Nikolaou/Williams/Thomas/Anane
MC: O'Sullivan/Pulis
AM: Sloma/McLaggon
ST: Subotic/Main

Harsanyi gets a much needed rest today.

2': Striker mills with a header off the crossbar, whew!

16': Subotic to McLaggon who is charging into the area.. .its a clear cut chance, and he hits it right at the keeper.

20': sloma with a run down the left side, Main makes his move towards the goal, Sloma with a perfect spot on pass from the left sideline to the 18 yard line for Main. Main strikes it cleanly by the keeper! 1-0. One of the better passes I've ever seen there.

33': O'Sullivan with a nice ball forward into the area for McLaggon. He doesn't control it so well. He gets a shot off but its right at the keeper again.

34': Pulis steals the ball in midfield, fires a quick ball forward to Subotic who runs on to it and puts it in! 2-0

HALF: Possession is pretty even, 52/48 in our favor. We're only completing 67% of our passes, a little low for us. But other than that it'd be silly to complain. 6 shots/5 on target for us, 2 shots/0 on target for them.

55': McLaggon with a cross, Main with a header, just barely wide.

60': Arter in for O'Sullivan. O'Sullivan was barely fit enough to start today, happy to get him out for rest early.

62': Pulis with a ball forward to McLaggon, a much better first touch this time, a clear cut strike from the right side, GOAL. 3-0

89': Aswad Thomas picks up another injury in the final minutes of a match, yuck.

They almost get one in the 91st minute but Lynch makes a great save.

Woking 3 : 0 Eastleigh


Pulis is spectacular, 8.9 rating, 2 assists, man of the match today. Sloma with a 7.7 and the other assist. Goals from McLaggon (7.9), Main (7.7) and Subotic (7.3).

Elsewhere: Anane (7.1), Nikolaou(7.8), Thomas (7.1), Williams (7.0).

[Radii]

Portsmouth fires their manager, i'm a leading candidate, but I release a statement indicating i have no interest.

Thomas doesn't suffer a long term injury, and Arter and Lynch sign their new contracts, good stuff.

Mike Williams also doesn't want a long term deal. I give him the 1 year extension he wants.

December 15th, 2012

FA Trophy First Round

Horsham @ Woking

We're 1:6 favorites here. I go with a bit of a second team here:

GK: Lynch
DEF: Nikolaou/Williams/Fenton/Anane
MC: Pulis/Herd
AM: Sloma/Ademola
ST: Harsanyi/Cousins

1': Sloma with a yellow, doh.

6': Harsanyi with a powerful strike from 22ish yards out that hits the left post.

8': there's the goal, Anane to cousins, Cousins to Harsanyi, Harsanyi with a finish from 18 yards out. 1-0

12': Pulis with a little through ball to Cousins, Cousins strikes it near post from the left side of the area and beats the keeper. 2-0

17': Anane with a yellow for a hard tackle.

29': Sloma takes a corner, Mike williams runs on to it and heads it hard and into the net. 3-0

39': Sloma with a nice cross, Ademola is there to head it in. 4-0


HALF: I turn it to just text for the rest of this one.

Harsanyi/Pulis out, Sole/Arter in. simply injury concerns.

48': Ademola forward to Sole, Sole lays it to the left for cousins, Cousins puts it by the keeper! 5-0

56': Nikolaou plays a ball from near midfield on the left side of the pitch to Cousins. cousins with great control, a 19 yard strike, and a goal! 6-0

65': Arter runs laterally across the penalty area, fires a shot from 20 yards out... yup! 7-0


Woking 7 : 0 Horsham

Har. I'm thrilled to see cousins have such a great game.

With the hat trick and an assist, Cousins earns a 9.7 rating and man of the match. Goals from Williams (9.0), Ademola (8.9), Harsanyi (8.0) and Arter (7.6) round things out. Sloma with 2 assists earns a 9.0. Nikolaou (8.9/1 ast). Pulis (7.7/ast). Sole an assist and a 6.9 rating in relief.

elsewhere: Lynch (7.2), Anane (8.4), Fenton (8.2), Herd (8.3). Fun times!

[Radii]

FA Trophy 2nd Round Draw

Good draw for us again, we will host BS South side Salisbury. that match is on January 12th.

December 26th, 2012

Woking (15-5-4, 1st) @ Accrington(13-4-7, 5th)

A key road matchup. They are favored 4:5. We're 3-1 dogs. We went 0-1-1 against them last year. This is our first meeting this season.

Accrington is led in goals by Wes Fletcher, not fast, but pretty talented, he's put up 13 goals in 20 appearances.

Lineup today:

GK: Lynch
DEF: Nikolaou/Williams/Thomas/Ricketts
MC: O'Sullivan/Pulis
AM: Bennett/Ademola
ST: Harsanyi/Main

We open in a counter attacking strategy.

16': Ademola takes a corner, short to Williams. williams attempts to strike it far post, it hits a defender in the leg and ricochet's near post and in! 1-0

20': Great ball into the area by Pulis, its tackled away from Main, bennett picks it up on the left side of the area, shoots, just saved.

22': Harsanyi plays the ball to the left side of the area, Bennett is there. Its not easy, a very nice... stutter step? fake right/go left, left footed strike near post under the keeper. 2-0

25': Accrington with a cross, a header by... greulich, it hits the left post, hits Lynch as he's diving that way, and bounces in... credited with an Own Goal for lynch. 2-1

28': Ricketts with an awful awful pass into the center of the pitch in our own end. Its stolen by a striker who runs into the area and scores easily. 2-2

I've stayed in counter attacking mode all game btw.

32': Nice move to get a cross from Nikolaou to Main in the area, Main with a header but its just over.

36': A brilliant attack...errr it seemed it. Ademola runs down the right side, I thought he lifted a great cross, but he tried to shoot and it deflected funny, to Main, who headed the ball down for Harsanyi who put it in! 3-2

41': Thomas takes a free kick from midfield. He plays it low and hard into the penalty area. Harsanyi finds it in the crowd and redirects the ball with his head, the keeper stood no chance in hell. Goal! 4-2


HALF: One of the omre insane halves of soccer I've ever seen. Two of our goals come primarily due to unlucky deflections by the defense. One of their goals is pure bad luck with Lynch diving for a ball that hits the post, then him, then in... the other due to a terrible decision by Ricketts. Craziness here. In that half we took 11 shots/7 on target, they took 7 shots/3 on target.

60': Harsanyi with a pass to Ademola in the area, Ademola is on the right side, coudl score, but puts a shot wide, tough angle, good effort.

83': Anane in for Ricketts, Subotic for Main, just for tired guys.

89': Accrington with some nice possession, a through ball into the area leads to a goal, Lynch tried hard on that one to rush out for the ball but got beat. 4-3

4 minutes of stoppage time... goes by quickly, whew.

Accrington 3 : 4 Woking


The second half pretty much flew by, I stayed in counter mode the entire game until they cut the lead to 4-3, I dropped back to contain then to kill the clock.

Harsanyi really stepped it up today, 2 goals, an assist, 9.2 rating and man of the match. Main had an assist and an 8.0 rating up front. Other goals from Williams (7.5) and Bennett (7.5). Assists from Thomas (6.8) and Ademola (6.9).

That's a big road win against a playoff contender right there. And Harsanyi really got back into form with a great game today after a long stretch of league matches where he struggled.


Harsanyi now has 21 league goals after his performance today.

We are on a roll and are 5 points clear of 2nd right now, 10 points clear of 6th.

[Radii]

December 29th, 2012

Wrexham(9-6-10, 15th) @ Woking(16-5-4, 1st)

We're 4:5 favorites today. We're 2-1-2 lifetime vs Wrexham, including a 2:2 draw on the road in our first match of the season.

Wrexham are led by one of the best scorers in the league, Marc Williams. He's got 13 goals this year so far, had 24 last year, and 19 the year before.

Lots of changes for short rest today:

GK: Lynch
DEF: Miquel/Williams/Fenton/Anane
MC: O'Sullivan/Arter
AM: Sloma/McLaggon
ST: Harsanyi/Subotic

1': Subotic collides with a defender... he's only down to 88% but hurt. We'll see how he looks.

25': 3 off target shots taken between both teams combined.

26': Pretty move by the offense, O'Sullivan forward to Subotic, he hits a charging McLaggon on the right side of the area. The keeper moves over, McLaggon with a pass across the front of the 6 yard box, Harsanyi is there and onsides and puts it home. 1-0


that's about it...

HALF: We're doing ok so far but Wrexham has had a lot of time with the ball in our end. Just havent managed a serious threat yet. I'm worried about this Subotic injury. I bring Main in for the second half.

46': O'Sullivan with a yellow in midfield. That's the limit for him, he'll be suspended next match.

66': Herd in for O'Sullivan, he picked up a little knock and should get some rest.

69': A through ball for Marc Williams, he runs into the area, shoots, GREAT save by Lynch! Spectacular job keeping Williams from scoring.

77': Main with our second clear cut strike of the day, in the right side of the area after a nice pass from Arter, but he sends it right at the keeper.

93': A nice long ball forward for Wrexham, a shot from the right side of the area is deflected out for a corner. We defend the corner well and that's it.

Woking 1 : 0 Wrexham

Defense wins the honors today, Mike Williams with a 7.4 rating and man of the match. 12 headers/3 key ones in defense for him today.

Harsanyi with the goal(6.9), McLaggon the assist (6.8).

Anane (7.2) and Miquel (7.3) also have good games today.


Subotic is fine. O'Sullivan did pick up his 5th yellow today and will miss our next match, another key road game against Cambridge, currently in 5th.

[Radii]

January Notes

--I am the manager of the month in the league, hooray! We didn't lose a single time in December.

-- The board is "very pleased" with my leadership. Our 7-0 FA Trophy win is a highlight, and our loss to York in November is the only down point.


January 1, 2013

Woking(17-5-4, 1st) @ Cambridge(14-4-8, 5th)

We are getting some respect now, favored on the road against a perennial playoff contender. We're 3-0-4 lifetime against Cambridge. We won 3-2 earlier in the season at home.

Cambridge is still led by Frank Wiafe Danquah with 10 goals and Craig Lindfield with 8.

We've got major conditioning issues on short rest in the winter time here.

GK: Lynch
DEF: Nikolaou/Thomas/Fenton/Ricketts
MC: Pulis/Herd
AM: Bennett/Ademola
ST: Subotic/Main

Fenton 91%, Herd 90%, Main 91%... Harsanyi is off today, just 87%, Miquel 85%, etc. This will be interesting. They have similar issues luckily.

Counter-attackign worked well on the road last time we played a tough team, I try that again.

28': 6 total shots, all off target. We just fast forwarded from 8 to 28 minutes w/o a highlight heh.

HALF: Ok then. We put a shot on target in the 44th minute, an effort outside the area by Ademola that the keeper easily saved. We dominate possession at 60% but haven't done anything with it. 10 shots total, 6 of them long, 9 off target between both teams.

60': Subotic with a collision in midfield and he's slowed quite a bit...

65': Sole on for Subotic. Cambridge is dominating play in the 2nd half. Only 1 on target shot but every highlight starts deep in our end.

72': McLaggon with a rare chance at striker, in for Main. Arter in for Herd.

83': Ademola with a cross into the area, McLaggon header... its saved by the keeper, punched away, it hangs in midair seemingly forever right in front of the net before being cleared by the defense.

Cambridge 0 : 0 Woking

We tried coming out of our shell a little more in the final 15 minutes but it didn't seem to matter. Cambridge is a very good squad, I'll take a road draw.

DL Stelios Nikolaou is man of the match with a 7.7 rating in defense. Ricketts with a 7.2, and that's it for us today.

[Radii]

January 5th, 2013

Chelmsford(11-7-9, 12th) @ Woking(17-6-4, 1st)

We're very heavy favorites today, 2:5! Chelmsford is 13:2 to pull out a win. We're 0-1-2 lifetime against Chelmsford with a very disappointing defeat at their house early in the year.

Today's lineup again on short rest:

GK: Lynch
DEF: Miquel/Thomas/Williams/Anane
MC: O'Sullivan/Arter
AM: Bennett/McLaggon
ST: Harsanyi/Main

25': On two corners in a row they get solid shots that our defenders on the line in the corners of the goal are forced to save. Those two shots are the first on target all match. Chelmsford plays a 4-1-4-1 and is very defensive.

45': We attack quickly after stealing the ball on their end. A ball foward from Anane to Main, Main finds Harsanyi sprinting towards a hole in the defense, he picks the ball up in the area but from a tough angle on the left side... a rocket of a shot, the keeper can't react at all, GOAL! 1-0

HALF: We put 2 shots on target, and I don't remember seeing the first one before the goal. Chelmsford with 5 shots, 3 on target, two of them very very dangerous. We have 61% of the possession and complete 77% of our passes, just 53% for them. We'd like another goal, as they've shown they can be dangerous if they get forward.

70': The only serious threat of the half so far, a corner leads to a header for Chelmsford that is just over.

71': Subotic in for Main, Sloma for Bennett.

83': A cross from Sloma into the area, header by Subotic... off the crossbar!


Woking 1 : 0 Chelmsford

We manage 14 shots but only put two on target. They only take a total of 2 shots the entire second half. Some scary moments here but a win is a win.

O'Sullivan is man of the match with a 7.4 rating, dominating the midfield today despite not being involved in our goal.

Harsanyi wth the goal (6.9), Main the assist (6.9). Elsewhere: Miquel (7.3), Arter (7.0).


Today's goal was the 50th league goal for Zoltan Harsanyi.

[Radii]

January 12th, 2013

FA Trophy Round 2

Salisbury @ Woking

Salisbury is currently leading the BS South. As expected, we're favored heavily here. We've played these guys 3 times. Last year we were favored heavily over them at home in the 4th round of the FA Trophy... and they beat us 2-0.

lineup today:

GK: Lynch
DEF: Nikolaou/Thomas/Williams/Ricketts
MC: O'Sullivan/Pulis
AM: Bennett/McLaggon
ST: Subotic/Cousins

Trying to get Cousins playing time in the cup matches still.

6': Cousins with a yellow in midfield.

11': Subotic with a great ball forward to Cousins, he gets into the area, harrassed pretty good, and can't put it in, the keeper makes a save.

33': Despite 68/32 possession,we only have 2 shots so far.

38': O'sullivan forward to Bennett, Bennett is just to the left of the 6 yard area, he played the ball through the 6 yard box, McLaggon is there and puts it in! 1-0

40': salisbury midfielder Bull with a yellow.

HALF: Possession is insane... 71/29 in our favor now. They only manage one shot. We've got 5, but just two on target.

46': Ricketts goes for a risky interception on a pass after the opening kickoff... he misses, they get a midfielder into the area, and Lynch makes a great save in a one on one situation.

72': Subotic takes a header played down by Cousins and has a look from 20 yards out, he puts it inches wide.

77': Subotic again, this time with his left foot near post , just saved by the keeper. Corner comes to nothing.

83': Sloma in for O'Sullivan, Ademola for McLaggon

89': Ademola with the second clear cut chance on the day for Woking. A defender with a poor first touch on a backpass allows Ademola to pick up the ball in the area... his shot however, is right at the keeper and saved.

90': A throwin to Ricketts. Ricketts with a cross, Bennett to the ball in the 6 yard box, header, GOAL! 2-0


Woking 2 : 0 Salisbury

They do much better this half but still only end up with 1 on target shot all match. We finish thigns with a 62/38 possession edge and that is a huge part of the difference.

Bennett with a goal and an assist, 8.9 rating and man of the match. The other goal comes from McLaggon (7.6) and the other assist from Ricketts (7.4). Elsewhere: Nikolaou (7.5), Williams (7.1).

Revenge for an early exit last year.

[Radii]

FA Trophy 4th Round Draw

Already down to 16 teams. We will be at home either against divisional Leighton or BS north Oxford City.

-- Oxford City beats Leighton in a replay, we'll play them February 2nd.


Injury Update

GK Kevin Lynch is out for 5 or 6 days with a "stubbed finger" ... the kind of injury only a keeper can pick up I assume. That's not enough time to recall Lewis Martin from loan. But he is going to miss a match.


January 19th, 2013

Woking(18-6-4, 1st) @ Southport(4-7-17, 22nd)

We're 1:2 favorites on the road against this relegation candidate. We beat them 3:0 at home earlier in the year and are 2-1-0 lifetime against them.

"Southport boss Jamie Day has told richard dixon that he doesn't want woking to gain promotion to League 2 this season."

ok... no need for trash talking, asshat.

GK: Pegler (reserve GK with Lynch injured)
DEF: Nikolaou/Thomas/Williams/Ricketts
MC: O'Sullivan/Pulis
AM: Bennett/McLaggon
ST: Harsanyi/Main

4': O'Sullivan with another yellow for diving in the area...

6': Harsanyi moves the ball wide for McLaggon, he crosses it into the 6 yard box, Bennett is there, cuts inside a defender to get there first and heads it into the net! 1-0

26': We live in their area for about 4 minutes, generate only one shot, a couple corners, before finally Main finds McLaggon cutting towards the net for a goal... but offsides. Alas.

38': Quick attack after a throwin, O'Sullivan from the midfield circle fires a hard pass to Harsanyi, he makes a little move, beats his defender badly, makes a run into the area and beats the keeper! 2-0

HALF: We take 8 shots in the half, put 3 on target and 2 in. Southport only manages 1 shot and its not close. Possession is pretty even, but we are dominating the attack.

54': they get a ball forward to striker McGrath on the right side of the field, we're out of position... Nikolaou is nowhere to be seen. But he's very slow getting forward and we easily catch up and force him wide instead of allowing an attack.

64': Mike Williams with a dangerous sliding tackle just outside the area, its a yellow, looked like it had a chance at being a red. The free kick is taken and shot just wide.

67': Anane in for Ricketts.

77': Arter in for O'Sullivan, Ademola in for McLaggon.

86': We counter attack, Ademola down the right sideline, crosses for harsanyi, they get in the way but the ball falls to the feet of Pulis in the area... clear cut strike for him.. wide.


Southport 0 : 2 Woking

We continue to roll. Bennett is man of the match with his goal today, 7.8 rating. Harsanyi with the other goal, 7.0 rating. Assists from O'Sullivan (7.6) and McLaggon (7.1).

Elsewhere: Ricketts (7.0), Nikolaou (7.3), Thomas (7.5), and Pulis (7.0).



We are dominating the league at this point, not to a level that we couldn't still lose out of course. But what we've got going is pretty impressive. We are 8 points clear of Forest Green in second place. We're now 13 points clear of 6th, the first spot out of the playoffs. We have 63 goals, second best is 52. We have a +30 goal differential, second best is +19.

Still 18 matches to go, so anything could happen, but we look good!

[Radii]

Giuseppe Sole is suffering from food poisoning and will miss a match. I'm glad no one else ate whatever he had.

-- A home match against Darlington is postponed due to a waterlogged field. We're having some issues maintaining our pitch this year it seems.


January 29th, 2012

Woking (19-6-4, 1st) @ Gateshead(14-9-7, 6th)

We're pick'em favorites on the road against a playoff contender. Pretty impressive. We've never lost to these guys, 3-2-0 in our history. We won 3:1 at home in October.

Gateshead is led by Brian Wake, 16 goals for him this season is in 4th in the league this year.

Lynch is back in goal today. Otherwise, no changes from our last match, a first for me all season I believe!

26': Main is clearly offsides on a goal, alas. We ahve 3 shots, they 1. We're domianting possession big time today.

34': A goal kick by Gateshead... there's some confusion as the ball comes down, we trip one of their men, the ball falls loose, they get a through ball to Wake and he gets a clear cut strike that he isn't going to miss. 0-1

37': Gateshead score again after a blocked shot... but there was an offsides, whew.

44': A great ball into space from O'Sullivan to Harsanyi, he runs on to it, its our first and only clear cut chance of the half... a hard strike but the keeper deflects it away.

HALF: Each team manages 4 shots, we dominate possession, 65/35, each team with one clear cut strike, they just got that one breakaway and we couldn't convert ours. We need to do better generating chances in the second half with all of that possession, that is for sure.

52': We're forward for a free kick. O'Sullivan tries a shot, its blocked, falls to Main, he plays it wide to Bennett, a cross comes in, Harsanyi is there, he doesn't get a lot of power on his header but its placed well and the keeper can't reach it! 1-1

62': A counter attack has McLaggon charging down the right sideline, a hard cross comes in, Bennett's header is just barely over.

67': Same thing... execpt this time its Harsanyi with the header, still just barely over.

74': Ricketts goes down hard, he's hurt and has to come off. We'll see how badly in a bit. Anane in for Ricketts, Arter in for Pulis.

83': O'Sullivan with a yellow in midfield.

85': Subotic in for Main.

90': A cross from Bennett is punched away by their keeper, we can't get to the loose ball. We control after clearance though, McLaggon crosses, Subotic heads it over.


Gateshead 1 : 1 Woking

We're better than them, but we'll settle for a tie on the road. We dominate possession and the shots, but struggle to get them on target. Lots of successful crosses today, more than usual for us, but we had trouble getting the headers on target.

Bennett is man of the match today with the assist and a 7.6 rating. Harsanyi with yet another goal, 7.0.

O'Sullivan put up a 7.0, Nikolaou a 7.3, and that's it today.


Injury Update

Its a bad one. Mark Ricketts has a torn ACL. 10-12 months. Anane can play, so we're not in awful shape. Ricketts is our captain, his contract is coming up, he's turning 29 and now he might not play until next January. That'll be a decision at the end of the year.



Harsanyi's goal today was his 25th in league play. Second in the league is Barrow's Jason Walker with just 19. the league record was set by Kettering's Stephen O'flynn in 10/11 at 35 goals.

[Radii]

Going into February the board is very pleased with my leadership. We lost 70k in January. We've been leaking cash all year and are back to -300k in our coffers. As long as they let me keep spending on salaries to win, its all good.

February 2nd, 2013

FA Trophy 3rd Round

Oxford City @ Woking

oxford city is 21st in the BS North. We're 1:6 favorites to advance.

Today's lineup:

GK: Lynch
DEF: Miquel/Thomas/Williams/Anane
MC: O'Sullivan/Arter
AM: Bennett/McLaggon
ST: Sole/Cousins

25': Not dominating as easily here as our last trophy match. We do have 60% of the possession but just 4 shots and only 1 on target.

34': McLaggon with a nice deep run, a cross into the area, Sole with a soft header but the keeper can't get there, it's in! 1-0

46': A counter for us, O'Sullivan gets forward, the defense... there is a massive hole in the center of the penalty area. O'Sullivan feeds Cousins who puts it home. 2-0

HALF: It took us a little while to get it going but we take a solid 2:0 lead.

50': We steal the ball in midfield, a pass to Cousins, Sole gets forward, Cousins hits him well, again the defense just is not there at all. Sole puts it in. 3-0

60': they try to clear the ball, it bounces off O'Sullivan and into the area. Bennett runs on to it and puts it home. 4-0

75': Arter/McLaggon/Bennett out, Herd/Sloma/Ademola in.

85': O'Sullivan with a yellow.. that counts against him in all english matches.


Woking 4 : 0 Oxford City

Nice and easy.

Cousins with a 9.0, 1 goal/1 assist, man of the match. Sole has 2 goals, 8.9 rating. Bennett with a goal and an 8.4 rating. O'Sullivan with an 8.3 and an assist. McLaggon with a 7.5 and an assist.

Elsewhere: Lynch (7.3), Anane (8.1), Miquel (7.9), Williams (7.7), Thomas (7.2), Arter (7.0).

[Radii]

-- Lewis Martin's loan to Grays is over. He played 15 matches for them and averaged a 7.15 rating.

FA Trophy Fourth Round Draw

We'll be going on the road for this one, playing the winner of Dover (BS South) and Cheltenham (BSP).

February 6th, 2013

Newport Co(12-12-7, 9th) @ Woking(19-7-4 ,1st)

We're pick'em favorites at home today. We're 2-2-3 lifetime against Newport, including a very embarrassing 4-1 loss at their house earlier in the season.

Today's Lineup:

GK: Lynch
DEF: Nikolaou/Fenton/Williams/Anane
MC: O'Sullivan/Pulis
AM: Sloma/Ademola
ST: Harsanyi/Subotic

18': We can't cleanly clear a ball out, they get it forward to striker Gilroy, I didn't type it up right away, sure it was offsides... nope. He receives the ball 10 yards out and easily scores. 0-1

22': Ademola with a yellow trying to win back a ball deep in their end.

27': Harsanyi with a great run down the middle, he gets to the edge of the area, he's got a clear cut chance, he fires his shot, the keeper goes up for it and makes a great diving stop.

32': O'Sullivan gets into the area, passes to Subotic, he didn't shoot right away and missed his chance.

36': O'Sullivan with a strike from 25 yards out, the keeper has to dive to push taht one away, very close.

44': Pulis with a yellow, bad foul going for a ball in the midfield.

HALF: We take 7 shots, put 4 on target, only allow 1 on target shot. A bad clearance and a bad bounce give them an easy goal and we aren't able to finish one ourselves. Over half the team is "playing nervously" or "having a bad game" so taht's a concern. I go with the "where's the passion" pep talk to get them to wake up.

54': Sloma to Ademola, Ademola runs into the area, our 3rd clear cut strike of the match... saved.

66': Main in for Harsanyi, who was playing poorly. There was a note at the start about a manager from a higher league in attendance, quite possibly to scout Harsanyi, he seems to hate attention and pressure.

72': Herd in for a tired O'Sullivan.

78': Main with a hard strike from 22ish yards out, its off the left cross bar.

78': Pulis picks up his second yellow after a hard tackle trying to win the ball back... that's a red. Bennett in for Sloma, 4-3-2 formation.

84': Nikolaou is hurt, he can stay in for now though.

86': Newport get the win, a counter, they try a cross, Fenton is charging to try to cover the man making the cross but doesn't quite get there in time, the ball deflects off him and to a Newport player. Lynch is out of position and we can't stop that. 0-2


Woking 0 : 2 Newport co

Can't win em all.

Anane and Harsanyi put up low 6's today, no one under 6.0, no one over 7. Very mediocre.

[Radii]

Bleh, had to work too much this weekend, including super late into the night tonight. Winding down after work though I figure I'll knock out a match or two.

-- Nikolaou is going to miss 9-12 days with a bruised rib.

-- Pulis suspended for our next match against Kettering for his red card.


February 9th, 2013

Woking(19-7-5, 1st) @ Kettering(8-13-11, 17th)

We're 3-0-2 lifetime vs Kettering. The home team has won every match, we'll try to break that trend. We won 2:0 at home in September. We are very slim 6:4 favorites today(Kettering is 13:8).


On short rest and with an injury/suspension, we switch up a lot:

GK: Lynch
DEF: Miquel/Fenton/Thomas/Anane
MC: O'Sullivan/Arter
AM: Bennett/McLaggon
ST: Harsanyi/Main

Counter-attacking today.

9': Throwin in their end. Anane receives the throw, passes to O'Sullivan in the area. He makes a nifty move and gets a wide open look from 15 yards out, and his shot beats the keeper! His first goal of the year. 1-0

27': Haven't allowed a shot still. We have tons of buildup, McLaggon down the right, in to Main who runs in the area for awhile looking for a shot, can't find it, more possession.. finally O'Sullivan with a shot from 18 yards out is just saved and turned back for a corner, which we can't do anything with.

32': Kettering's first shot, very long and way wide.

40': We concede 3 straight headers and 2 deep throwins before we're able to clear the ball out of our area. Kettering never do manage a shot though.

HALF: We'll take that 1-0 lead. We have 6 shots, 4 on target. They have 1 shot. Possession is slightly in our favor and they are only completing 55% of their passes, quite poor.

46': After stealing the ball seconds after the kickoff, O'Sullivan with a ball forward to McLaggon in the box, he strikes it hard but off the right post. They clear for a throw, we attack immediately again, Main with the ball just outside the area, he plays a low ball through to McLaggon who is free in front of the net and doesn't miss this time! 2-0

55': Cousins in for Harsanyi, basically b/c we're up 2-0 and Harsanyi can always use a little rest here and there.

58': Another block of time where we fend off multiple corners and throws... but finally after a throwin they cross into the area. Seems harmless, no one is there at all. Arter and Fenton both go for it though and no one cleanly gets to the ball... its off Arter and into our own net :( 2-1

61': McLaggon down to 50% condtion after being hit on a header.

64': They get a man free in the area after a through ball, I can't see how it won't be a goal, but Lynch comes diving off his line and blocks the shot.

73': We're under very heavy pressure, defendingnow.

76': Ademola in for McLaggon, I don't think he's hurt but he's not up for the rest of this one.

84': Herd in for O'Sullivan, O'Sullivan is tired and Herd is a better defender.


Kettering 1 : 2 Woking

We had to hold off a lot of attack in the final 30 minutes, but the defense did quite well. We didn't allow many shots at all, always winning the headers and making the tackles we needed, and not a single shot was put on target by a Kettering player today. too bad about the Arter own goal, it made this much more stressful than it should have been.

Main earns man of the match with an 8.1 rating and an assist. Goals from O'Sullivan (7.9) and McLaggon(7.3). Assist from Anane (7.3).

Elsewhere: Thomas(7.4) and Arter(7.1).

[Radii]

Backup GK Lewis Martin goes out on loan again, this time to Bishop's Stortford in the BS South. I make sure there's a recall clause in case Lynch gets hurt.

February 13th, 2013

Darlington(9-10-13, 17th) @ Woking(20-7-5, 1st)

We're 5:4 favorites at home today. We tied them 1-1 on the road earlier in the year and are only 1-3-2 lifetime against them. Lets even that up today.

Darlington have two scoring threats, Jack Richardson with 15 goals, and Ashley Yeoman with 13. Yeoman seems the all around better player and both have good speed.

The only two changes from the last match that I make in the starting lineup are that Pulis is back in, Arter out, Ademola gets the start at AMR over McLaggon.

16': After a free kick by Darlington, we can't clear fully, they work the ball to midfielder connelly... and he runs in between about 4 defenders en route to a very easy goal. Miscommuniation on defense? no one came out to stop him. 0-1

21': Pulis to O'Sullivan to Main. Main cuts by his defender and generates his own clear cut chance, beating the keeper from just inside the area! 1-1

35': A darlington attack, twice there are deflected balls in the area that we are lucky to get to first before finally clear the danger for good.

39': Ademola plays a short corner to Fenton. He controls the ball a bit, then kicks it out to Ademola wide. Anane is charging up from a defensive position while this is happening, Ademola feeds him as he gets to the 18 yard box and the defense wasn't ready for him at all, there's a giant hole open and Anane finishes well, goal! 2-1 I dunno what possessed him to make that run forward, but it was awesome.

HALF: We have 5 shots, they have 3. Each team with only 2 shots on target, and there are 3 goals so far. Everything else is really pretty even.

54': We get forward fast on a counter attack. Harsanyi sends the ball wide to Bennett, he crosses into the 6 yard area, we've got 5 guys in the box, Pulis is the one that gets forward and gets his head to it! 3-1

57': Another counter attack. O'Sullivan plays a ball from behind midfield forward to Main. Main beats his defender one on one, goes into the area and strikes it home! 4-1

60': Hopefully not too early for this... Subotic in for Main, Herd for O'Sullivan, and Sloma in for Miquel, a rare defensive position for Sloma, with Ricketts and Nikolaou hurt it seems like a good time to rest one of our defenders.

68': Herd with a yellow for tripping up a defender who had a lot of free space in front of him.


woking 4 : 1 Darlington

Blowouts are fun.

Main is man of the match for the second match in a row. 8.8 rating with 2 goals today.

Anane (8.1) and Pulis (7.9) had the other two goals. O'Sullivan had two assists (8.1), Bennett (7.8) and Ademola (7.2) the other two.

Also: Thomas (7.4), Miquel (7.2).



Curtis Main is easily our #2 goal scorer behind Harsanyi. He's got 13 now for the season, but it'd been quite awhile. Today he ended a goal drought of over 640 minutes.


We are really starting to run away with things now:

1. Woking - 70 pts
2. Cambridge - 59 pts
3. Crawley - 58 pts ***has played 1 less match
4. Forest Green - 58 pts
5. Accrington - 56 pts
----------------------
6. Gateshead - 56 pts
7. York - 56 pts


We have an 11 point lead over second with just 13 matches to go.

[Radii]

-- "Journalists have rushed to lavish praise on 'immense' Curtis Main after his latest performance drove his team forward.

February 16th, 2013

Gainsborough(6-9-18, 21st) @ Woking (21-7-5, 1st)

We are even money favorites to pull out a win today. We've never lost to Gainsborough, 3-2-0 lifetime including a big 4-1 road win earlier in the year.

Our leading goal scorer has 25 league goals. Theirs has 6. Some changes due to more short rest:

GK: Lynch
DEF: Miquel/Williams/Thomas/Anane
MC: O'Sullivan/Herd
AM: Sloma/McLaggon
ST: Harsanyi/Subotic


25': Possession has been even but most highlights are in their end of the ptich. Thomas just barely missed scoring on a free kick.

32': We counter after a failed corner, O'Sullivan in the middle of the field passes to Harsanyi who is out left. He cuts inside and fires a rocket from 25 yards out, its into the left half of the net, the keeper had no chance even from long range! 1-0

35': Subotic with a ball forward to McLaggon, he's free in the area but instead of placing a shot from 10-15 yards out he continues to run at the keeper until he's at point blank range and can't aim the ball by him... poor finishing there.

40': O'Sullivan with a yellow.

HALF: Possession remains even, but we take 8 shots, putting 3 on target. They take 3 shots, none even close.

70': Pulis in for O'Sullivan. Bennett in for Herd, Bennett AML/Sloma MC.

76': A defender for Gainsborough can't control a backpass well, Subotic steals it in the area, has a clear cut strike from 10 yards out, and the keeper makes a save... should have scored there for sure.


Woking 1 : 0 Gainsborough

Gainsborough take 3 second half shots, one is on target but easy to save, and that's it.

Joe O'Sullivan picks up man of the match today with an 8.1 rating and the assist. Harsanyi with a 7.0 and our goal.

elsewhere: Miquel (7.3), Thomas (7.1).


12 matches to go, 11 points ahead of 2nd.

[Radii]

February 20th, 2013

Woking (22-7-5, 1st) @ Alfreton(15-6-13, 12th)

Our only meeting ever was the one back in September where I took a 3-0 lead into halftime at home and ended up with a 3:3 draw. Still have a bad taste in my mouth about that one, and will be looking to make up for it. We're 5:4 road favorites here.

My lineup doesn't really look like one set out for revenge. O'Sullivan and Harsanyi both have the day off:

GK: Lynch
DEF: Miquel/Williams/Fenton/Anane
MC: Pulis/Arter
AM: Bennett/Ademola
ST: Subotic/Main

11': Arter with a pass to Main, we've been threatening for a few minutes now non stop, Main turns by two defenders with a great move into the area, but he can't beat the keeper.

14': Clear cut chance for Alfreton, I'm not sure how it happened but they got a man behidn our defense... great save for Lynch.

19': Corner for us, its taken long to the far post, the keeper dives out for it and misses, but Main puts a header over the bar instead of into the empty net.

23': A run down the right sideline for alfreton, a nice cross into the 6 yard box, Matthew Wright runs on to it and heads it in. 0-1

25': We try to strike back immediately, Arter to main, Main is free in the area! Clear cut strike #2 for him... wide left. ugh.

47': Anane goes down hard after a tackle... he has to come out of the match immediately. Anthony Pulis is the only one who can come remotely close to playing DR.. Pulis moves to DR, Herd in for Anane, Herd MC.


HALF: Main is having a terrible game, and no one else is really playing great or anything. I tell the team I want to see more from them.

63': Danger i nour end... a long shot is rocketed at the net but Lynch makes the stop. We can't clear it out though, they reset and a header is off the crossbar and back into play, Arter clears it out finally.

65': Sole in for Main. I gave Main some time to turn his play aorund in the second half, but he just doesn't have it today.

77': Sloma in for an exhausted Arter.

83': Cross from Ademola into the area, Subotic heads it towards the net... keeper makes a nice save.

84': they get a breakaway chance on a counter, Striker Fisher with the ball running into the area. Mike Williams gets there and tries to tackle the ball away... blatant foul instead. Penalty. Their man steps up, takes it... LYNCH SAVES! We're still alive.

Overload strategy for the last 6 or 7 minutes... losing by a 2nd goal won't hurt us, maybe getting a point lets us clinch the title a day earlier. There's some fun when Lynch comes forward for a throwin deep in their area, and there's a great save by Lynch on our side after they get a counter attack going, but no more goals.

Alftreton 1 : 0 Woking

Fenton (7.1) and Pulis (7.2) are all we have to brag about toda. Main put up a 5.9 and was very poor.


Injury Update

Anane is out for 4 weeks, he actually BROKE his arm landing hard today, ouch!

Nikolaou is just recovered from his injury and can play the right side. But we're thin... I'll find a reserve to bring up too.


Not everyone played today, we're still 11 points up, but a couple playoff contenders now have 1 less match and could cut it to 8 with a win.

[Radii]

FA Trophy Semifinal Draw

The draw for the semis is made before the quarters are played it would seem. If we win today we will host the winner of Alfreton and Accrington.

February 23rd, 2013

FA Trophy 4th Round

Woking @ Cheltenham

Cheltenham are 4:5 favorites at home, we're 3-1 dogs. We're 2-3-0 lifetime against them with a 2:2 draw at our place back in November. They currently sit in 14th place in the BS Premier.

More short rest, more lineup changes:

GK: Lynch
DEF: Williams/Thomas/Fenton/Nikolaou
MC: O'Sullivan/Arter
AM: Sloma/McLaggon
ST: Harsanyi/Cousins

I continue the tradition of starting Cousins for the FA Trophy.

3': Defender Terry Clarke with a yellow naer the penalty area. We can't do anything with the free kick though.

21': O'Sullivan cuts into the area and takes a pass after a throwin, he fires a hard shot that just hits the crossbar and goes over.

23': A strong attack by cheltenham, they get a clear cut chance as a man beats Fenton, Lynch makes the save though and turns it back and we clear out the corner.

25': Corner for us, taken short to Thomas, he gets a shot off but the keeper is right there.

36': They get a decent attack, a couple corners and such but can't threaten seriously. After a throwin we get an interception and quick long ball that Harsanyi gets to first, but he's not that far ahead of his man... the defense gets a step back in front to deflect his shot.

42': O'Sullivan and Sloma work a give and go that gets O'Sullivan forward and breaks down the defense a bit, Harsanyi in a good position... good save by the keeper.

43': Another breakaway, cousins with a very nice touch pass ahead to Harsanyi on a counter, the defense does just enough to force him a bit wide, and the Keeper is able ot make the save.

46': O'Sullivan is hurt... has to come out immediately. Terrible sign for us. Herd is in.

48': We concede a corner, they take a good one and a header is just over the bar.

HALF: No score, we've dominated possession 62/38 but the shots are about even and Cheltenham have managed to attack well.

53': Midfielder Emery with a yellow for a tackle on Arter.

57': Arter with a nice ball forward into the arae from about 40 yards out, McLaggon runs onto it and puts it in.... but just offsides... CLOSE, I was not sure if it would stand or not.

65': Bennett in for Sloma, Miquel in for Fenton, both exhausted.

70': Mike Williams a yellow.

74': Harsanyi gets behind the defense and runs into the area... another great save made by the keeper as Harsanyi is forced just slightly left and the keeper can take a good angle to make the stop.

84': One of those games... Nikolaou is hurt, and I'm out of subs. He cannot continue, so I drop to a 3-4-3 formation for the rest of it.


Cheltenham 0 : 0 Woking


Their keeper is man of the match. Nikolaou(7.2), Williams (7.1) play well for us. Sloma had a poor match.


Injury Update

Stelios Nikolaou will miss 4 weeks with a thigh strain.

Joe O'Sullivan hurts a knee and is out for 2 months.


Pretty devastating match there.


I call up two reserves, D RL James Oliver-Pearce and ML Josh Coke. Pulis is actually not terrible at DR. Herd and Fenton can play it but are very awkward there.

I'm more comfortable with Josh Coke than with Oliver-Pearce, so my plan is to have Pulis or Herd play DR most of the time, use Sloma to cover MC, and Coke will back up Bennett at AML, trying to keep Oliver-Pearce off the field unless necessary.


We have a replay at home against Cheltenham in 4 days.

[Radii]

February 27th, 2013

FA Trophy Fourth Round Replay

Cheltenham @ Woking

Perhaps I shouldn't be, but I'm surprised we are underdogs against Cheltenham at home. They're 6:4 favorites.

Today's lineup:

GK: Lynch
DEF: Miquel/Thomas/Fenton/Pulis
MC: Sloma/Arter
AM: Bennett/Ademola
ST: Harsanyi/Main


Attacking from the outset in this one.

8': Miquel with a nice tackle to keep a guy from an open look in our area.

18': Strong attack for us, threatening multiple times... a cross from Pulis into the area, a header is saved, Bennett to the rebound but he's way up at the left end line and his attempt is off the post. A clear cut chance soon after from Main is saved.

20': Harsanyi with a great through ball to Main, he strikes it, blocked by the keeper, but Ademola pounces on the rebound and puts it in! 1-0

25': Bennett down the left sideline, he feeds Sloma who puts the ball forward, Bennett runs on to it, clear cut strike from him 10 yards out... right at the keeper.

35': Main has picked up a knock... he's showing as injured, down to 73%.

HALF: We control 55% of the possession, complete 73% of our passes, and take 10 shots to their 2.

47': Main with a beautiful through ball between two defenders that Bennett runs on to in the area... its our 4th clear cut chance. Bennett though, and this is becoming a pattern, simply runs too damn far with the ball before shooting and hands it to the keeper.

52': Harsanyi with some serious hustle.. a long ball is played forward, Harsanyi outruns the defense, controls the ball o nthe right side of the area, lofts a ball into the 6 yard box and Main heads it in! 2-0

54': I'm looking at subs and I see blinking lights, uhoh. WHOA. throw-in for cheltenham, a shot is taken from... 20 yards away all the way on the right edge of the penalty area, its a bending ball with some force and Lynch just doesn't get to it. Amazing (lucky?) strike. 2-1

60': Pulis goes down on a sliding tackle and needs "lengthy treatment" *sighs*

61': A long ball sets up a break for Cheltenham, a centering pass leaves a man one on one with Lynch... shot is taken, SAVE!

66': Herd in for Sloma, Subotic for Main. We'll check main's injury after the match.

70': Ademola in the right palce at the right time again! Herd with a great ball forward to bennett, who ones again strikes it right at the keeper, its saved but not held... it falls to Ademola and he puts it in! 3-1

We defend and don't let anything happen the rest of the way.

Woking 3 : Cheltenham 1

We took 18 shots, 9 on target, an astounding 5 clear cut chances. They took 7 shots, 2 on target. A great performance.

Ademola scores 2 goals and is man of the match with a 9.0 rating. The other goal comes form Main, he has 1 goal/1 ast for a 7.4 rating. Other assists from Harsanyi(7.6) and Bennett (6.9).

Elsewhere: Pulis (7.0), Miquel (7.1), and Arter(7.1).



We'll play Accrington in the FA Trophy Semifinals. The draw put us at home but its a 2 leg semi, we're home for leg 1.



Injury Update

Main will be out for 4 weeks with a thigh strain he picked up in today's match. Sole has been very little used lately, he'll see more time now in rotation with Subotic and Harsanyi the rest of the way.

Two matches are re-arranged for the semis. March will be a lot busier for us now. Its pretty important to lock up this league title as early as possible.

[Radii]

March 2nd, 2013

St. Albans(18th) @ Woking (1st)

We're 1:2 favorites at home here. We're 2-1-0 against them, winning 2-1 on the road earlier in the year.

Main is hurt, Harsanyi is exhausted after the last run of matches. Pulis is gassed after the last match, he got hurt a bit and was run ragged. This leaves us with a pretty thin lineup today:

GK: Lynch
DEF: Williams/Thomas/Miquel/Fenton
MC: Arter/Herd
AM: Coke/McLaggon
ST: Subotic/Sole

this is probably the weakest team I've put out there for a league match.

1': Arter foward to Coke, he runs laterally from the left sideline to the middle of the field before firing a shot from 22ish yards out... it skims the bar and goes over, barely missing.

13': A counter for us, Subotic to Sole who makes a move to beat his man, generates a clear cut chance in the area... and its saved.

18': Subotic receives a pass 30 yards out, runs by his man, takes a shot from 20 yards out and fires just wide.

19': A corner comes in, there's a foul going up for the header! Penalty! sole strikes it, GOAL! 1-0 Miquel drew the penalty so he'll get the assist I believe.

25': Sole and a defender go for a ball in midfield, Sole goes down hard... he's hurt and coming out. Cousins is in.

33': Counter attack from St Albans, their striker Parker gets the ball at midfield and runs past 3 defenders of ours 1 at a time on his way to the area and a goal. If that was one ofour guys i'd be a little more excited about the description... but yeah, it wasnt. 1-1

36': Reserve power!! Herd with a ball up to Cousins, Cousins with a through ball into the area, Josh Coke runs on to it and places a nice shot by the keeper!!! 2-1

39': Great offense here.. Herd to Cousins, he passes back to Arter, foward to subotic, good control and a touch pass back over to Cousins after the defense starts to close down, Cousins fires from just inside the 18 yard line, GOAL! 3-1

43': Mike williams with ayellow.

44': Arter with a yellow.


HALF: I was worried after we let them tie it up and lost Sole to an injury. I'm still worried about that, we need to stop losing people for the rest of the year. But we've recovered nicely here to lead 3-1. 11 shots for us, 3 for them, that pretty much sums thiings up.

55': Williams with a poor header trying to clear the ball out of the attack. They pass to striker Johnson who beats one man and takes a difficult long shot... into the right side of the net, Lynch had no shot. 3-2

65': a long goal kick by St Albans... their man Parker runs on to it and he is just way faster than our defenders... he gets into the area and simply fires a shot wide from point blank range.

65': Sloma in for an exhausted Herd.

65': I drop back to a counter attacking strat, hoping not to get burned.

77': Oliver-Pearce in for Fenton at DR. 3 Reserves in (if you count Cousins).


Woking 3 : 2 St Albans

A much needed win as we are starting to suffer from some serious attrition.

One of their strikers is man of the match today.

Goals from: Cousins (7.7 + 1 ast), Coke (7.2), and Sole (6.8).

Assists: Miquel (7.0), Subotic (6.9)

No one else over 7.0.


Injury Update

Sole with an ankle injury, 7-8 weeks... done for the year basically.


Current Injuries:

Defense: Nikolaou, Ricketts, Anane

Midfield: O'Sullivan

Attack: Main, Sole


We've been relatively deep all year but this is starting to put a serious strain on things.




Standings Update

Everyone but York has 10 matches to go up near the top of the table. York has 11.


1. Woking - 76 pts
----
2. Cambridge - 68 pts
3. Crawley - 67 pts
4. Forest Green - 65 pts
5. York - 62 pts (*** 1 less match played)
----
6. Gateshead - 60 pts
7. Accrington - 59 pts
8. Rushden - 57 pts
9. Alfreton - 57 pts


8 points clear of 2nd with 10 to go.

[Radii]

March 9th, 2013

Woking (1st) @ Torquay(13th)

We're underdogs today on the road, they're 5:4 to win. Our first ever match vs Torquay was earlier in the season, a 2:2 draw at our place.

Torquay's Chris Zebroski(broski for short I am sure) leads them with 15 goals.

Today's lineup:

GK: Lynch
DEF: Williams/Thomas/Miquel/Pulis
MC: Arter/Herd
AM: Bennett/McLaggon
ST: Harsanyi/Subotic


We open in a counter attacking mode on the road today.

10': Williams with a yellow card going for a tackle.

11': Broski does it all himself... runs across the outside of the area and places a great long shot from 22 yards out past Lynch. 0-1

11': Screw counter... just attacking now.

20': Herd is down in our end.. but he gets back up ok, just a little more tired today.

25': Great ball from Arter to Bennett, and once again Bennett just doens't shoot when the opportunity seems best.

30': Harsanyi brought down just outside the area, a yellow card for defender Ellis... Thomas misses a free kick, actually deflected off the wall but we can't do anything on the corner.

38': Some nice passing by Torquay, midfielder Wroe has the ball in the area, Herd misses a tackle, he gets a good look and puts it home past Lynch. 0-2


HALF: Worst we've played in some time. I don't see much I can change though. Play better!

46': Scorer Wroe with a yellow tackling Harsanyi.

50': Subotic is trying ,man... a great pass to McLaggon who has the ball deflected away before he can shoot, back out wide to Subotic, eh puts up a cross and Bennett gets his head onto it with some power, but the keeper is there. Two perfect balls by Subotic.

54': a great near post strike by midfielder O'kane for Torquay, just the kind of thing I want to see Bennett do when he gets free in the area, ergh. 0-3

67': Cousins, coke, Oliver-Pearce in, Bennett, Harsanyi, Pulis out. Just getting my backups in for a game that is really over.

71': Cousins with a beautiful feed from the right sideline into the area for Arter. Arter with our first legit clear cut chance on the day and he puts it into the post.

76': Subotic and Cousins a give n go, Subotic takes the return pass and gets forward, the defense closes down before he can get all the way into the area though, and he puts a shot over the bar from 20 yards out.

86': Oliver-Pearce with a poor pass... they intercept and the counter is on. A nice run into the area, a pass to a free man and a solid strike cap this horrid game for us. 0-4


Torquay 4 : 0 Woking

I bust out the ANGRY pep talk for this one. We'll see what that does.

Pulis 5.9, Thomas 4.9, McLaggon 5.7, Harsanyi 5.4.

I am critical of Thomas in the media, that isn't gonna fly.


Cambridge tie today, so they gain 1 point on us. We are now up 7 points with 9 matches to go.

[Radii]

-- Aswad Thomas felt my criticism of him following his 4.9 outing in our last match was a little harsh, though he is under no illusions that he shouldn't look to up his level of play. Whatever works for you buddy.

March 12th, 2013

Rushden(16-12-9, 7th) @ Woking(23-7-7, 1st)

We are underdogs at home today, Rushden is 5:4 to win. We need to turn that crap around and start beating up on some teams again. We are 1-1-3 lifetime against these guys. They beat us 2:0 at their place earlier in the year.

Today's lineup:

GK: Lynch
DEF: Miquel/Fenton/Thomas/Pulis
MC: Sloma/Herd
AM: Bennett/Ademola
ST: Subotic/Harsanyi

Subotic hasn't scored in 785 minutes. Sheesh.

6': Subotic crosses the ball into the area, Ademola heads it down, it falls to the end line wide of the net, Harsanyi hustles to get there before anyone else and slides the ball in from what seems like an 89 degree angle into the net. Great goal! 1-0

18': We let them get this one back way too easily, a run down the right sideline, a nice pass ahead and striker Bowman cuts behind our central defenders, nice control by him to get a shot off quickly before we can recover. 1-1

19': Fenton with a yellow.

22': Sloma to Subotic, Subotic does all the work himself, beating his man and getting into the area. But his shot is right at the keeper and saved.

35': Harsanyi plays the ball into the right side of the area, Ademola runs on to it, but he's a bit deep. Its crowded back theer but he puts a pass right to Harsanyi's feet, Harsanyi with the shot... blocked by the keeper.


HALF: Things are pretty even. They have more shots (6 to 4) but we have more on target (3 to 2). Each team with one clear cut chance and the one goal of course. Possession has been even.

47': Rushden controls thigns at the start, a nice give and go generates a pretty good look that Lynch has to save.

55': Harsanyi with a great move to beat two defenders, but he can't put his shot on target.

64': Our second clear cut chance, Harsanyi plays a graet through ball to Subotic, he takes aim, and hits the far post from point blank range.

65': Oliver-Pearce is in for Miquel at DL.

77': Arter in for Sloma

80': Cousins in for Subotic

82': A throwin gets Arter the ball in the area, he makes a dribble, creates a little space, and puts a shot into the side netting.

85': Lynch saves the day, they get a good look from 18 yards out and Lynch blocks the shot.

88': Another good look for Rushden, its again from decenlty long range but a solid on target strike, Lynch dives and knocks it away.


Both teams try to attack for the winning goal, neither team succeeds at all.

Woking 1 : 1 Rushden

Harsanyi is great today, 8.8 rating with a goal, winning headers, making key passes, he's doing everything for us.

Ademola has the assist and a 7.5 rating, Pulis a 7.1. That's it today. Thomas was poor in the first half but picked things up in the second.




Cambridge loses today, Forest Green wins and we gain a point on the field but now there are two teams tied for 2nd:

1. Woking - 77 pts
2. Forest Green - 69 pts
3. Cambridge - 69 pts
4. Crawley - 67 pts
5. York - 65 pts
--
6. Gateshead 64 pts
7. Accrington 62 pts

[Radii]

March 16th, 2013

FA Trophy Semifinal First Leg

Accrington @ Woking

Accrington is 7th in the BS Premier right now. We're 1-1-1 lifetime against them, winning on the road.

Today's lineup:

GK: Lynch
DEF: Miquel/Williams/Thomas/Fenton
MC: Arter/Herd
AM: Coke/McLaggon
ST: Harsanyi/Cousins

Nikolaou and Anane are approaching readiness again which will help out a ton for our final few games in april. For now though we're still very thin on defense. Pulis gets the day off today, he needs it.

20': We are in control early on, 63/37 possession, 6 shots to 1, nothing seriously threatening but we are keeping the pressure on.

40': After a very boring 20 minutes i'm shocked awake here... Arter to Cousins, Cousins runs a short ways before firing a shot from 25 yards out that the keeper dives for but cannot stop. It looked like another boring long shot but holy crap what a beauty of a strike!! 1-0

HALF: We take 9 shots, 7 of them are long ones though. The only reason I hadn't changed my instructions to work the ball into the box was because Harsanyi is more than capable of putting one in... then Cousins does it from a range i didn't realize he had. 63/37 possession, we've allowed 3 shots now, just one on target.

50': Arter shrugs off a tackle after a throwin, runs into the left side of the area, fires a hard shot but right at the keeper, its blocked and we can't get to the rebound.

63': Herd picks up a yellow.

69': Oliver-Paerce and Sloma in, Fenton(at DR) and Herd out.

93': a long pass from Arter to cousins from midfield. cousins takes a shot from 15 yards out, its deflected, but falls to McLaggon who puts it easily into the net, that'll seal it! 2-0

Woking 2 : 0 Accrington

Arter earns man of the match today, he's credited with both assists(no idea why he got it for the second goal?), 8.7 rating.

Cousins with a goal(7.8) and McLaggon with a goal (7.4). the defense was strong today too. Miquel (7.6), Thomas (7.4) and Williams(7.4) hold things very nicely in the back.


That last minute goal is huge heading into the second leg of the semis. I believe we have a league match coming up before that second leg though.

[Radii]

--Stelios Nikolaou has resumed full training. That is great news.

-- 3 days later, Ricky Anane has resumed full training.

March 20th, 2013

Maidenhead (5-8-25, 24th) @ Woking (23-8-7, 1st)

We are huge 2:5 favorites today. We are 4-3-0 lifetime against them. We destroyed them 5:0 at their house in October.

Anane and Nikolaou aren't ready just yet.

GK: Lynch
DEF: Miquel/Fenton/Thomas/Pulis
MC: Sloma/Arter
AM: Bennett/Ademola
ST: Subotic/Harsanyi

8': Their left midfielder burns right by Miquel in embarrassing fashion, letting him tear down the left sideline and place a perfect cross into the area, striker Dimitrov heads it in, it hits the bottom fo the crossbar and into the net. 0-1

17': sloma plays a ball into the area that Harsanyi gets to first, its our first clear cut chance on the day but he doesn't quite place it well enogh and the keeper is able to make the save.

21': Maidenhead take their second shot, another cross in from the right and a header... Lynch gets his hands to it just enough to punch it away.

30': Harsanyi plays a ball out to the right to Ademola, he lifts up a soft cross into the area, Subotic gets his head on it but its barely wide.

40': Miquel foward to Bennett, he crosses it in, Ademola is in the 6 yard box and heads it down and into the net! 1-1

HALF: We control possession for most of the half, take 10 shots, putting 5 on target compared to just 2 shots/1 on target for Maidenhead... but we'er even in goals. We need to pull away in this second half, we are way better than this.

52': Hey look, Harsanyi plays a great ball to Bennett who runs with it instead of shooting and kills a chance to score. This kid is just afraid to shoot i guess.

69': Cousins for Harsanyi, Herd for Sloma, they need a rest pretty bad here.

74': We steal the ball in midfield, Arter to Subotic who fires a pass to Cousins in space, Cousins into the area, he beats the keeper! 2-1

80': We pass the ball around seemingly forever, great control in their end, finally Herd makes his way to the right corner and sends a cross into the 6 yard box. Subotic gets his head on it and puts it in! 3-1

83': They aren't going to make this easy. A cross from the left side is headed in by Dimitrov. We had 3 defenders near him but he broke to the right spot to receive the cross and none of our guys followed to challenge. 3-2


Woking 3 : 2 Maidenhead

We really should win this one a little easier, but a win is a win and we needed to get back on the winning track in league play pretty badly.

Subotic has a goal and assist, 8.9, man of the match. Other goals from Ademola (7.9) and Cousins (7.2). Assists from Bennett (8.0) and Herd (7.0).

Thomas struggled again, a 6.3 rating when everyone else was in the high 6's. Dunno what to do about that kid.


Subotic ends an insane streak of nearly 900 minutes without a goal. 5 league goals justifies $1500/wk right?


7 matches left, 8 points ahead of Forest Green. On the off chance that we let them catch up, we are +30 in goal differential and they are +27. No one else in the league is better than +17. If they catch up that means we are tying or losing and they are winning so that would be a bad thing for the goal differential down the road.

[Radii]

--Curtis Main begins full training again.

--Stelios Nikolaou will be called up for a Cyprus U20 match on March 26th.

March 23, 2013

FA Trophy Semifinal Second Leg

Woking(2) @ Accrington(0)


We're pretty tired today as a group, presumably Accrington are as well.

GK: Lynch
DEF: Williams/Fenton/Thomas/Pulis
MC: Sloma/Herd
AM: Coke/McLaggon
ST: Harsanyi/Cousins

Counter-attacking today, remember we just need to hang on to a 2 goal lead.

23': We shoot on a free kick, way wide, but noteworthy as its the first shot of the match by either team.

25': They intercept a pass by Pulis in our half of the field and counter very quickly, one pass foward, a through ball and a shot by Lynch. 0-1 (2-1)

35': We earn a corner, Sloma curls it in, Fenton runs on to it and Heads it in! 1-1 (3-1)

37': They get a guy in the area but Pulis makes a nice tackle to prevent a shot.

39': they don't manage a shot but scare the hell out of me, the ball is in our penalty area seemingly forever. When we do finally clear it, we counter quickly, Harsanyi with a long ball forward to McLaggon, he runs free into the area and has a clear cut strike... saved by the keeper.

HALF: So far so good.

48': Harsanyi with a yellow.

51': We allow a through ball into the area, Mike Williams brings his man down and that's a penalty. They hit it. 1-2 (3-2

70': We back off to defend all out. Lets ohld this lead.

76': Arter in for Sloma, Ademola in for McLaggon.

83': WTF. And there's the tying goal. They win a ball in midfield, pass it forward, midfielder Kerry with a strike from 25 yards out. And that is that. We're all tied up. 1-3 (3-3)

FULL TIME: We just seem to not do well when we are in defensive mode with this team. I use my last sub going into extra time to bring out Pulis and in Anane.

91': A long cross and a header just over the bar for Accrington, scary attack right off the bat.

95': They ahve put 3 headers just over the bar now, sheesh.

97': Harsanyi with an amazing run, Arter steals a ball in midfield, Harsanyi receives a pass over 40 yards out, runs by 3 men, into the area... and cannot beat the keeper, just a brilliant run, but alas.

103': Anane goes down passing the ball.. no one near him

104': Cross into the area by Ademola, Harsanyi heads it, saved.


ET HALF: Nothing I can do here, lets win this w/o penalties.

106': a long shot by Arter... wide.

110': Fenton goes down and stays down. 50% fitness. We are dying here. He goes off with the doc but comes back.

113': Long ball to the right side ofr Cousins, he controls and has a step... offsides. BS!

117': Herd goes down in midfield after a tackle, foul on the other team, no card, Herd 51%...

119': long goal kick by the keeper, they get a striker ahead of the defense, but a poor first touch sends it right to lynch.


FULL TIME: and its off to penalties


Penalty Kicks:

Arter up first for us... wide 0-0

Proctor for Acrington, beats lynch, 0-1

Williams for us, right side of the net, 1-1

Kerry for them, left side, in, 1-2

Cousins steps up, left side, keeper dove the wrong way, 2-2

Grant for them, left side, we need a stop somewhere :( 2-3

Herd for us, keeper picks the wrong way, in, 3-3

Green for them, hits the left post... bounces in, ERGH! 3-4

Harsanyi to keep us alive, just under the diving keeper, 4-4

Last chance, Turner for Accrington, Lynch gets ready, PK is taken straight on, lynch dives, no luck. 4-5


Accrington 3 : 1 Woking (3-3, 5-4 PK)

We just did not do a good job today, there is no reasonable excuse to lose when starting with a 2 goal advantage.


Fenton with our goal today, 7.6. Sloma the assist, 7.2. Herd puts up a 7.0, Coke a 5.8, Pulis a 5.9, Thomas a 5.4, some very poor defense all around.



Injury Update

Anane is out for about 2 weeks.



It is really a good thing we won our last league match and kept our lead up. After going 120 minutes today, we have to come back and play Cheltenham in 4 days.


1. Woking - 80 pts (39 matches played)
2. Forest Green - 75 pts (40 matches played)
3. Cambridge - 70 pts (40 matches played)


Cambridge are basically done now. We are up 5 on Forest Green but we also have one extra match to play.

[Marmel]

Ouch. Giving up 2 goal leads is tough to swallow, even if it is on the road. PK's are such a crap shoot too. I hate that games end that way. I wish they would keep going until a team scored. Eventually conditioning would get so low that mistakes would be made and it would reward managers who used their subs better.

[Radii]

-- Stelios Nikolaou plays the full match in a U21 Cyprus win over Denmark, earning a 7.1 rating.

March 27th, 2013

Woking (24-8-7, 1st) @ Cheltenham(12-11-16, 17th)


We played Cheltenham in the FA Trophy this year, twice due to a replay. We're 3-4-0 lifetime against them, and 1-2-0 this year. We tied 0:0 on the road during the FA Trophy. We are very small 6:4 favorites today.


Today's lineup, amidst more tirednes and injury(Anane back out) and trave(Nikolaou):

GK: Lynch
DEF: Miquel/Fenton/Thomas/Pulis
MC: Sloma/Arter
AM: Bennett/McLaggon
ST: Harsanyi/Subotic


3': Bennett with a nice run down the left sideline, crosses into the area, subotic heads it, just wide!

4': Counter for Cheltenham, striker White fires a shot from 18 yards out, its parried away by Lynch, falls to another striker, and he puts it easily in. 0-1

12': A beautiful counter for Woking. Arter lofts a ball to Harsanyi who beats the defense down the left side. He draws the center of the defense, slides the ball over to Subotic who is now running completely free, Subotic puts it in! 1-1

37': Subotic picks up the ball 25 yards out, makes a great cut by a defender, generates a clear cut chance in the area but its well saved.

42': A corner for Cheltenham, they head the ball, its off Lynch... off the right post... back into the center... cleared off the line by Arter. WHEW.


HALF: Its 1-1 but could have been crazy. We have 5 shots, 2 on target, but 3 clear cut chances. Cheltenham has 5 shots, 3 on target, but FOUR clear cut chances. A couple easy lookign goals off target, a couple great saves by the keepers.

61': a long free kick taken by their keeper. Its played amazingly by striker White, incredible first touch in the area slightly behind the defense, and he takes one dribble and puts it in. Lynch seemed like he coudl have dove for it and didn't. 1-2

61': Herd in for a tired Sloma.

85': Holy crap like 25 minutes just went by witout breaking in to the highlights.

94': One last chance, a cross comes into the area by Bennett, Subotic strikes it on a volley but right at the keeper.

Cheltenham 2 : 1 Woking


Subotic with a 7.3 and the only goal. Assist by Harsanyi (6.7). We controlled 57% of the possession and generated 11 shots, 3 clear cut strikes(all in the first half) but just could not get it done.



That loss means we're only 5 up with 6 left.

1. Woking - 80 pts
2. Forest Green - 75 pts

[Radii]

We're nearing the end of the year and had ignored a few key contracts:

--Nick Fenton will take $650/wk. He's getting older but that's less than he makes now.

-- Giuseppe Sole has proved he can score at every level so far, he's got a 7.28 avg rating when I have gotten him in this year. I offer him $775/wk, what he's making now.

-- Zoltan Harsanyi still wants $1600/wk. I give it to him now that we're in April. He's clearly a guy who can at least play at the next level. He has a lot of interest from other teams and I could actually haev a shot at selling him off if i needed to in League 1.

-- Chris Herd seems to worry about not having a job. He's making $1100/wk now and is willing to take $850/wk. this wasn't the case earlier when I looked. that will help offset Harsanyi's raise quite a bit.

-- Stelios Nikolaou wnats $525/wk next year. Sure thing.


-- Mark Ricketts remains the big unknown. I really feel like Anane is just as good, the issue I might have is a little upheavel because he is well liked. But I'm goin to just deal with taht. Ricketts isn't getting a new contract. He's stlil out for ~9 months, I don't think he would be able to start in League 2, I have coverage for him, no loyalty in sports.


-- Maidenhead with a 5-8-27 record and only 23 points, have 'clinched' relegation with 6 full matches to go.

April 1st, 2013

Woking (24-8-8, 1st) @ Barrow (14-9-17, 15th)

My assistant manager recommends that we tightly mark "Jean-Louis Akpa-Akpro", a striker with 10 goals/7 assists. I don't really care about the advice, but here's a guy with hyphenated first and last names! Never seen that before.

Barrow are 6:4 favorites today. We're 3-1-1 against them lifetime. We beat them 3:0 at our place.

Jason walker and the above mentioned Akpa-Akpro are strikers worth mentioning. Walker has 19 goals in 36 matches. Akpa-Akpro has 10 goals/7 assists, two very good players.

Curtis Main is back and he's going straight in the lineup. Harsanyi needs a day off.. at least not a start.


GK: Lynch
DEF: Miquel/Williams/Fenton/Nikolaou
MC: Sloma/Arter
AM: Bennett/McLaggon
ST: Subotic/Main

3': Arter with a yellow

5': Welcome back Curits Main!! Bennett out left, he makes a nice pass to Subotic, Subotic turns and plays the ball into the area, Main gets there first and beats the keeper! 1-0

8': Main beats two defenders, gets a shot off before a defender catches back up but its saved nicely.

10': Akpa-Akpro gets behind our defense, seems like he could run all the way into the area and take his time, but he takes it quickly and puts it way over.

22': Striker Walker beats Williams, generates Barrow's first clear cut strike and puts it off the right post and out.

42': Defender Dunleavy with a yellow going up for a header on a long ball.

HALF: After that first 20 minutes, where there were a lot of exciting runs, not much happened at all.

56': Fenton picks up a small injury going fo ra tackle in midfield. He can keep going though.

57': a long cross from the left side near mdifield by Barrow, there's a header... off the right post.

60': near spectacular play... Arter with a ball forward into the right side of the area, McLaggon heads it into the center, Subotic appaers to control the ball with his chest and volley it before it hits the ground... JUSt wide.

69': Herd in for Sloma

73': Midfielder Inman with a hard tackle on arter, yellow.

73': Arter gets up and takes the free kick from ~45 yards out as soon as the ball is placed, it seems the defense wasn't ready and players were mulling around the penalty area. Subotic was ready though, he gets up and heads the ball into the net! 2-0

76': Defender Danville trips Bennett running down the sideline.

80': Coke in for Bennett, Ademola in for McLaggon.

88': Arter to Herd, he plays a ball into the area that Ademola runs on to, good first touch, shot, goal! 3-0


Barrow 0 : 3 Woking

I'm glad we got going on the right track here today, because the next game is a big one.

Subotic has a goal and an assist, 8.0 rating, man of the match.

Goals: Main (7.9), Ademola (7.3).

Assists: Herd (6.9), Arter (7.2).

Elsewhere: Nikolaou (7.8), Miquel (7.2), Fenton (7.4), Williams (7.1), Bennett (7.1).


Forest Green crushes Ebbsfleet 4-1.

1st: Woking - 83 pts (+32 differential)
2nd: Forest Green - 78 pts (+31 differential)


April 6th: Forest Green @ Woking.

[Radii]

-- Chris Herd rejects his new contract offer. I didn't catch it at the time but he wanted $425/game appearance fee for dropping his salary. I'm only allowed to offer $300. I double his signing bonus and give him a bigger goal bonus and try again.

-- A couple days later, Herd accepts the deal. Whew.

-- The biggest news though, Zoltan Harsanyi signs a 2 year deal with us at $1600/wk. This is bigger than Subotic is making now, but Harsanyi seems clearly worth it. He has 4 or 5 League 1 clubs interested in him, but seems happy to stay here.

April 6th, 2013

Forest Green (22-12-7, 2nd) @ Woking(25-8-8, 1st)

Forest Green are 5:4 to win today, we're 7:4 despite being at home. We're 2-0-1 against them lifetime so far. We won 2:1 at their place early in the year.


With 5 matches left we have a 5 point lead. If we win here we all but put it away, 8 points with 4 to play would be just about insurmountable. A draw would be ok too, though I'm not playing for that.

GK: Lynch
DEF: Miquel/Williams/Fenton/Nikolaou
MC: Pulis/Arter
AM: Bennett/Ademola
ST: Harsanyi/Subotic

Anane is back in full training again, enough so that he can come on in reserve. Pulis is, IMO, our second best MC behind O'Sullivan, so now that I don't desperately need him in defense, he is right back in the middle where he belongs. Main is tired after his first match coming off injury, he's available as a sub as well.


Full Match highlights today.

6': Miquel goes down hurt defending a corner. He comes off for a couple minutes and then is right back in the action.

18': we take our first shot, a long shot by Harsanyi that isn't close. Forest Green has one shot too, a free kick off the wall.

20': Lynch comes up big twice... a cross into the area for Forest Green to the far post, its headed.. Lynch saves, but can't hold it. A rebound is fought over briefly before being shot, Lynch saves this one. The cross was far post which Lynch has traditionally played very poorly, I'm glad to see he was ready there. The header was a clear cut strike that he saved.

24': Harsanyi with a shot from 35 yards out that hits the crossbar, close!

26': Pulis controls the ball just outside their penalty area, he threads a ball through two defenders, Ademola is there, our first clear cut chance... he blasts it right at the keeper.

30': Forest Green control the ball outside our area, a throughball to the right side, they get a man behind our defense, he takes their second clear cut chance of the day... and simply puts it wide. Lucky.

41': A nice move forward after a battle in the midfield for possession, Arter to Subotic to Bennett who has a decent chance from the left side of the area, but the keeper makes the save.

HALF: Subotic and Harsanyi both are under 6.0 for the half. Their strikers are doing the same. About half our team is "playing nervously". Everyone knows this is a big game I suppose. We have 10 shots, they have 6, but we only put 3 on target and they put 2 on target. We dominate possession, completing nearly 80% of our passes, they are a little below 70%.

60': Things have gotten a lot more defensive.

66': Main in for Subotic. Harsanyi is playing worse than Subotic... but I think Harsanyi/Main is my best up front combo at the moment.

71': McLaggon in for Ademola

75': Herd in for Pulis. I turn on the attack

83': Lynch saves the day, a long ball goes forward, they get a man behind the defense, Lynch is quick to run out and he blocks the shot, we're able to clear it away.

4 minutes of extra time

90': McLaggon with a slide tackle inches outside of our penalty area. Free kick... off the wall for a corner. Short corner, a hard shot is deflected wide for a throwin.

92': We still haven't cleared the damn ball but we have pushed them back a little.

93': We finally take the ball away and try to counter. We earn a throwin, there's a long cross taken by McLaggon, its played well and Harsanyi gets it down but his shot is saved easily.

Woking 0 : 0 Forest Green

I clearly would have rather put the season away today with a win, but a draw is fine too.

One of their defenders earns man of the match.

On our end:

Nikolaou (7.2), Miquel (7.1). Harsanyi is way off with a 5.5. He took 6 shots and put only 1 on target.



We officially clinch a playoff spot today, but I really don't' care at all about that. Anything but a 1st place finish is a total failure at this point.

[Radii]

Our remaining schedule:

4/13: @ Crawley (6th)
4/20: vs York (4th)
4/23: @ Ebbsfleet (10th)
4/27: vs Accrington (11th)

Forest Green's schedule:

4/13: vs Wrexham (14th)
4/20: @ Cambridge (3rd)
4/23: vs Chelmsford (9th)
4/27: @ Southport (23rd)

[Radii]

April 13th, 2013

Woking (25-9-8, 1st) @ Crawley (20-11-11, 4th)

We are favored 6:4 on the road, very slim. We are 1-2-2 lifetime against them, but that's after getting swept in our first year in the BS Premier. We won 2:1 at home this year.

Crawley is led by Charles Ademeno with 14 goals and Calum Willock with 12.

GK: Lynch
DEF: Miquel/Williams/Fenton/Nikolaou
MC: Pulis/Arter
AM: Bennett/McLaggon
ST: Harsanyi/Main

3': Pulis ot Main, Main turns his defender and gets into the area, he takes a shot but the keeper dives and pushes it aside.

10': Arter launches a shot from 30 yards out, its fairly close, but wide right.

13': Main loses the ball in midfield and sets up a quick counter with our guys out of position. They get the ball into the area, Fenton has a chance to make a tackle... he misses too, and they get a goal from a midfielder Lyskov. 0-1

19': Through ball to Main, Main is tackled in the area, goes down... and gets a yellow for diving. Between his mistake leading to the Crawley goal and this, he's just having an awful day so far.

40': Bleh, get this goal back guys!

44': Harry Arter with a rough collision in the midfield, he's hurt and laying on the sideline for the remainder of the half.

47': Crawley just controls the last 5 minutes of the half here... finally a through ball from the middle over to the right side as midfielder Webb runs on to it, Lynch deflects his shot but not wide enough, its into the right side... 0-2

HALF: Herd in for Arter. We are in some trouble here. Forest green is tied with Wrexham at the half.

56': a bit of a drastic move here. Subotic in for Harsanyi, Ademola in for Main. These guys up front are just playing awful.

58': Payoff, baby. Faster than I could ahve imagined. Herd gets Ademola the ball, he steps by a defender and generates our first clear cut chance, beating the keeper! 1-2

70': Ademola with a long range strike that is on target but saved... he took it quickly and surprised the keeper a bit, but not quite enough.

76': Wrexham takes the lead over Forest Green at Forest Green's house!

85': Overload baby, go get the tying goal.

90': 4 minutes of injury time.

91': A ball played forward into traffic starts it off, Ademola to Herd, out wide to Bennet, a cross into a very crowded area hits a Crawley defender, lays on the ground and Ademola is right there to put it in the net!!! 2-2

94': One last chance perhaps, McLaggon is fouled on the right side in their end. Free kick, cross, Ademola heads it... nope. Saved easily.

Crawley 2 : 2 Woking

A good result, a great feeling after falling behind by 2.

Ademola is man of the match, 2 goals in 30 minutes, 8.6 rating.

Assists from Bennett (7.4) and Herd (6.9).

Elsewhere: Nikolaou (7.0), Miquel (7.2), Pulis (7.0).

Harsanyi and Main had 5.6 and 5.5 ratings.


Arter has no long term injury. Wrexham held on to beat Forest Green, giving us a huge gift.

1. Woking - 85 pts
2. Forest Green - 79 pts

3 matches to go, 6 points up. We could potentially win the league any match now.

[Radii]

-- Joe O'sullivan resumes full training. hooray!

April 20th, 2013

York(19-18-6, 3rd) @ Woking(25-10-8, 1st)

We're underdogs and York truly outclassed us at their place early in the season. We're up 6 points with 3 games left, any kind of result would be spectacular here. Forest Green has a tough road match at Cambridge today too.


No lineup changes from our last match.

11': Pulis goes down hard in the area defending a corner. He's weakened a bit but doesn't have to come out.

16': York just has our number... a steal in mdifield, a counter, a great ball forward and a nice cross and header, their striker Donnelly puts it in. 0-1

17': Harsanyi gets free just inside the 18 yard line on the right side, he fires a shot but the keeper saves it.

46': A long ball forward from Arter to Bennett, Bennett with our first clear cut strike but he just isn't a finisher, we know that by now... keeper saves easily.

HALF: They take 7 shots, we take 4, but a lot of theirs are long shots and way off target. Harsanyi has a real shot for us early on but that was about it.

49': Bennett still can't finish but its ok! Pulis to Main, Main draws two defenders, off to Bennett, he shoots, blocked, but it falls right to Harsanyi who puts it in! 1-0

52': Forest Green takes a 1-0 lead over cambridge.

56': Arter picks up a yellow.

68': O'Sullivan in for Pulis, welcome back buddy! Sloma in for a tired Bennett.

77': Mike Williams with a yellow for a tackle out near midfield.

79': Arter goes down hard. He's hurt, he can stay in but he shouldn't.

83': Their striker Donnelly embarrasses Nick Fenton, burning him badly about 30 yards out, he has a free run to challenge Lynch after that move, gets into the area, and puts a low shot near post past Lynch. 1-2

92': Sloma takes a short corner to Mike Williams. Williams with the control of a forward! A little move stops a defender in his tracks, he turns and shoots, and beats the keeper! 2-2


Woking 2 : 2 York

Cambridge scored twice in the final 10 minutes to beat Forest Green 2:1. I think that does it, but more on that in a second.

York's George Donnelly has 2 goals and is man of the match.

Goals for us: Williams (7.0), Harsanyi (6.9)

Assists: Sloma (6.8).. no assist on the blocked shot from Bennett apparently that led to Harsanyi's goal.

Nikolaou (7.0) is our only other notable rating. Actually, Nick Fenton got dominated by Donnelly and gets a 5.2.

[Radii]

Injury Update

Harry Arter is out the rest of the season, 6-7 weeks.


Woking have clinched the Blue Square Premier Title and promotion to Coca Cola League 2!!!!

-- Woking fans are absolutely delighted after Richard Dixon and his team lifted the Blue Square premier.

-- The Woking board have issued a statement decaring that they are very happy with victory in the Blue Square Premier and are grateful to head coach Richard Dixon for doing the club proud.


-- Zoltan Harsanyi's 29 goals for Woking this season is a new record.

He had the previous record with 28 goals last year.

We'll relax a bit for our final two matches.

[Radii]

April 23rd, 2013

Woking (25-11-8, 1st) @ Ebbsfleet (18-13-13, 10th)

We're favored technically but we're going to give some of our reserves a chance at first team soccer.

GK: Pegler
DEF: Nikolaou/Griffiths/Fenton/Oliver-Pearce
MC: Sloma/Hussey
AM: Coke/Ademola
ST: Sole/Cousins

Griffiths is the only name never mentioned before, random reserve. The only reserve I have that I think has a chance to ever play on a first team anywhere is cousins.


There's snow on the field today in mid april, whee. I drop to only showing "Key Highlights"

44': a through ball is played by ebbsfleet... holy crap that guy was like 2 yards offsides, wtfwtf. But its not called and they score. Really seemed *way* offsides. 0-1

HALF: Not much to talk about here. They take 8 shots but only a couple are shown, nothing on our offensive end is shown at all. Whee.

65': Coke and Cousins both pick up knocks and are slowed... sloma moves to AML, Subotic in for Cousins, Pulis in for coke.

And that's about it.

Ebbsfleet 1 : 0 Woking

Not much to report on with key highlights haha

Nikolaou was quite good today, 7.6. Fenton 5.9, Cousins 5.7. Everyone else in between. subotic created one chance pretty much for himself late in the match but put it well well wide and taht was it for us.

[Radii]

April 27th, 2013

Accrington (12th) @ Woking(1st)

I put Harsanyi and O'sullivan out there to start today to give the fans a chance to see at least a little of our best on the pitch, we've sold way more tickets than usual to this one.

25': We've taken 2 shots off target, they have 3.

HALF: scoreless, we have a 65/35 edge in possession.

46': Coke runs down the left sideline, puts a cross into the area. Ademola with a header, it hits the crossbar, the keeper dove for it and is on the ground. Harsanyi is first to the rebound and puts it in! 1-0

70': A long free kick by Pegler, Cousins gets his head to it from outside the area. The keeper had started to come out a little for it, he backtracks, but the ball ends up going off him and into the net. Its counted as an own goal. 2-0

80': Accrington get one back with an open look from about 18 yards out, poor defending by Griffiths. 2-1


James Oliver-Pearce picks up two yellows in the final 5 minutes and is sent off, but it doesn't matter, his second one game seconds before the final whistle.


Woking 2 : 1 Accrington


Ademola is man of the match today, 7.5 with an assist.

Harsanyi puts in our only goal (6.8) that wasn't an own goal. Pegler is cerdited with an assist for the goal kick somehow (7.5).

Elsewhere: Nikolaou (7.0), O'Sullivan(7.0).


And that's the end of the season for us!


I have to say, outside of Harsanyi, I have no idea who can play well in League 2. Stelios Nikolaou put on a good performance pretty much every time he was in defense. O'Sullivan, Arter, Pulis and Herd seem a solid MC compliment. Subotic better be able to cut it, and Lynch is still improving. But I really dunno. We re-signed most of our roster and will have a lot of decisions for next year. Hopefully we can get some PRM loaners next season, something that's rarely happened for us. And hopefully we start pulling in a little more money.

But there's a long offseason to figure all of that out.

[Radii]

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Goalkeepers


<table border="1" bordercolor="#000000" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" width="508"> <col width="91"> <col width="36"> <col width="44"> <col width="35"> <col width="23"> <col width="23"> <col width="40"> <col width="41"> <col width="39"> <col width="54"> <tbody><tr valign="TOP"> <td width="91"> Name
</td> <td width="36"> Age
</td> <td width="44"> $/Wk
</td> <td width="35"> Apps
</td> <td width="23"> GA
</td> <td width="23"> SO
</td> <td width="40"> MoM
</td> <td width="41"> Yel
</td> <td width="39"> Red
</td> <td width="54"> Avg
</td> </tr> <tr valign="TOP"> <td width="91"> Kevin Lynch
</td> <td sdval="21" sdnum="1033;" width="36"> 21
</td> <td sdval="160" sdnum="1033;0;@" width="44"> $500
</td> <td sdval="50" sdnum="1033;" width="35"> 50
</td> <td sdval="57" sdnum="1033;" width="23"> 57
</td> <td sdval="20" sdnum="1033;" width="23"> 20
</td> <td sdval="1" sdnum="1033;" width="40"> 1
</td> <td sdval="0" sdnum="1033;" width="41"> 0
</td> <td sdval="0" sdnum="1033;" width="39"> 0
</td> <td sdval="6.83" sdnum="1033;" width="54"> 6.83
</td> </tr> <tr valign="TOP"> <td width="91"> Lewis Martin
</td> <td sdval="19" sdnum="1033;" width="36"> 19
</td> <td sdval="160" sdnum="1033;0;@" width="44"> $180
</td> <td sdval="1" sdnum="1033;" width="35"> 1
</td> <td sdval="2" sdnum="1033;" width="23"> 2
</td> <td sdval="0" sdnum="1033;" width="23"> 0
</td> <td sdval="0" sdnum="1033;" width="40"> 0
</td> <td sdval="0" sdnum="1033;" width="41"> 0
</td> <td sdval="0" sdnum="1033;" width="39"> 0
</td> <td sdval="6.2" sdnum="1033;" width="54"> 6.2
</td> </tr> <tr valign="TOP"> <td width="91"> Matt Pegler
</td> <td sdval="20" sdnum="1033;" width="36"> 20
</td> <td sdnum="1033;0;@" width="44"> $90
</td> <td sdval="4" sdnum="1033;" width="35"> 4
</td> <td sdval="3" sdnum="1033;" width="23"> 3
</td> <td sdval="1" sdnum="1033;" width="23"> 1
</td> <td sdval="0" sdnum="1033;" width="40"> 0
</td> <td sdval="0" sdnum="1033;" width="41"> 0
</td> <td sdval="0" sdnum="1033;" width="39"> 0
</td> <td sdval="6.97" sdnum="1033;" width="54"> 6.97
</td> </tr> </tbody></table>

**GA = Goals Allowed | SO = Shutouts




Defenders


<table border="1" bordercolor="#000000" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" width="564"> <col width="62"> <col width="27"> <col width="46"> <col width="46"> <col width="22"> <col width="34"> <col width="42"> <col width="31"> <col width="32"> <col width="41"> <col width="41"> <col width="42"> <tbody><tr valign="TOP"> <td width="62"> Name
</td> <td width="27"> Age
</td> <td width="46"> $/Wk
</td> <td width="46"> Apps
</td> <td width="22"> GL
</td> <td width="34"> AST
</td> <td width="42"> MoM
</td> <td width="31"> Yel
</td> <td width="32"> Red
</td> <td width="41"> Tck
</td> <td width="41"> Pass
</td> <td width="42"> Avg
</td> </tr> <tr valign="TOP"> <td width="62"> Stelios Nikolaou
</td> <td sdval="20" sdnum="1033;0;@" width="27"> 19
</td> <td sdval="0" sdnum="1033;0;@" width="46"> $525
</td> <td sdval="53" sdnum="1033;0;@" width="46"> 27 (1)
</td> <td sdval="0" sdnum="1033;0;@" width="22"> 0
</td> <td sdval="2" sdnum="1033;0;@" width="34"> 3
</td> <td sdval="4" sdnum="1033;0;@" width="42"> 2
</td> <td sdval="5" sdnum="1033;0;@" width="31"> 2
</td> <td sdval="0" sdnum="1033;0;@" width="32"> 0
</td> <td sdval="4.65" sdnum="1033;0;@" width="41"> 3.69
</td> <td sdval="0.77" sdnum="1033;0;@" width="41"> 71%
</td> <td sdval="7.09" sdnum="1033;0;@" width="42"> 7.35
</td> </tr> <tr valign="TOP"> <td width="62"> Ignasi Miquel
</td> <td sdval="27" sdnum="1033;0;@" width="27"> 20
</td> <td sdval="700" sdnum="1033;0;@" width="46"> LOAN
</td> <td sdval="0" sdnum="1033;0;@" width="46"> 32 (4)
</td> <td sdval="2" sdnum="1033;0;@" width="22"> 0
</td> <td sdval="1" sdnum="1033;0;@" width="34"> 1
</td> <td sdval="1" sdnum="1033;0;@" width="42"> 0
</td> <td sdval="2" sdnum="1033;0;@" width="31"> 0
</td> <td sdval="0" sdnum="1033;0;@" width="32"> 0
</td> <td sdval="3.43" sdnum="1033;0;@" width="41"> 3.44
</td> <td sdval="0.78" sdnum="1033;0;@" width="41"> 75%
</td> <td sdval="6.99" sdnum="1033;0;@" width="42"> 7.00
</td> </tr> <tr valign="TOP"> <td width="62"> Mike Williams
</td> <td sdval="22" sdnum="1033;0;@" width="27"> 26
</td> <td sdval="650" sdnum="1033;0;@" width="46"> $650
</td> <td sdval="0" sdnum="1033;0;@" width="46"> 43
</td> <td sdval="2" sdnum="1033;0;@" width="22"> 6
</td> <td sdval="0" sdnum="1033;0;@" width="34"> 0
</td> <td sdval="1" sdnum="1033;0;@" width="42"> 2
</td> <td sdval="3" sdnum="1033;0;@" width="31"> 9
</td> <td sdval="0" sdnum="1033;0;@" width="32"> 0
</td> <td sdval="2.93" sdnum="1033;0;@" width="41"> 3.44
</td> <td sdval="0.74" sdnum="1033;0;@" width="41"> 69%
</td> <td sdval="6.7" sdnum="1033;0;@" width="42"> 6.96
</td> </tr> <tr valign="TOP"> <td width="62"> Ricky Anane
</td> <td sdval="25" sdnum="1033;0;@" width="27"> 23
</td> <td sdval="650" sdnum="1033;0;@" width="46"> $725
</td> <td sdval="0" sdnum="1033;0;@" width="46"> 18 (15)
</td> <td sdval="2" sdnum="1033;0;@" width="22"> 1
</td> <td sdval="1" sdnum="1033;0;@" width="34"> 4
</td> <td sdval="0" sdnum="1033;0;@" width="42"> 1
</td> <td sdval="0" sdnum="1033;0;@" width="31"> 3
</td> <td sdval="0" sdnum="1033;0;@" width="32"> 0
</td> <td sdval="3.78" sdnum="1033;0;@" width="41"> 3.47
</td> <td sdval="0.69" sdnum="1033;0;@" width="41"> 71%
</td> <td sdval="6.95" sdnum="1033;0;@" width="42"> 6.95
</td> </tr> <tr valign="TOP"> <td width="62"> Mark Ricketts
</td> <td sdval="32" sdnum="1033;0;@" width="27"> 28
</td> <td sdval="700" sdnum="1033;0;@" width="46"> $700
</td> <td sdval="42" sdnum="1033;0;@" width="46"> 22
</td> <td sdval="2" sdnum="1033;0;@" width="22"> 0
</td> <td sdval="1" sdnum="1033;0;@" width="34"> 2
</td> <td sdval="0" sdnum="1033;0;@" width="42"> 0
</td> <td sdval="0" sdnum="1033;0;@" width="31"> 1
</td> <td sdval="0" sdnum="1033;0;@" width="32"> 0
</td> <td sdval="3.16" sdnum="1033;0;@" width="41"> 3.65
</td> <td sdval="0.7" sdnum="1033;0;@" width="41"> 78%
</td> <td sdval="6.85" sdnum="1033;0;@" width="42"> 6.81
</td> </tr> <tr valign="TOP"> <td width="62"> Nick Fenton
</td> <td sdval="22" sdnum="1033;0;@" width="27"> 33
</td> <td sdval="650" sdnum="1033;0;@" width="46"> $650
</td> <td sdval="0" sdnum="1033;0;@" width="46"> 42
</td> <td sdval="0" sdnum="1033;0;@" width="22"> 1
</td> <td sdval="3" sdnum="1033;0;@" width="34"> 0
</td> <td sdval="2" sdnum="1033;0;@" width="42"> 0
</td> <td sdval="3" sdnum="1033;0;@" width="31"> 3
</td> <td sdval="0" sdnum="1033;0;@" width="32"> 0
</td> <td sdval="3.66" sdnum="1033;0;@" width="41"> 3.08
</td> <td sdval="0.74" sdnum="1033;0;@" width="41"> 69%
</td> <td sdval="6.83" sdnum="1033;0;@" width="42"> 6.81
</td> </tr> <tr valign="TOP"> <td width="62"> Aswad Thomas
</td> <td sdnum="1033;0;@" width="27"> 23
</td> <td sdnum="1033;0;@" width="46"> $650
</td> <td sdnum="1033;0;@" width="46"> 26
</td> <td sdnum="1033;0;@" width="22"> 0
</td> <td sdnum="1033;0;@" width="34"> 1
</td> <td sdnum="1033;0;@" width="42"> 0
</td> <td sdnum="1033;0;@" width="31"> 1
</td> <td sdnum="1033;0;@" width="32"> 0
</td> <td sdnum="1033;0;@" width="41"> 3.49
</td> <td sdnum="1033;0;@" width="41"> 70%
</td> <td sdnum="1033;0;@" width="42"> 6.74
</td> </tr> <tr valign="TOP"> <td width="62"> James Oliver-Pearce
</td> <td sdnum="1033;0;@" width="27"> 22
</td> <td sdnum="1033;0;@" width="46"> $90
</td> <td sdnum="1033;0;@" width="46"> 2 (4)
</td> <td sdnum="1033;0;@" width="22"> 0
</td> <td sdnum="1033;0;@" width="34"> 0
</td> <td sdnum="1033;0;@" width="42"> 0
</td> <td sdnum="1033;0;@" width="31"> 2
</td> <td sdnum="1033;0;@" width="32"> 1
</td> <td sdnum="1033;0;@" width="41"> 2.40
</td> <td sdnum="1033;0;@" width="41"> 74%
</td> <td sdnum="1033;0;@" width="42"> 6.72
</td> </tr> <tr valign="TOP"> <td width="62"> Damien Griffiths
</td> <td sdnum="1033;0;@" width="27"> 19
</td> <td sdnum="1033;0;@" width="46"> $190
</td> <td sdnum="1033;0;@" width="46"> 2
</td> <td sdnum="1033;0;@" width="22"> 0
</td> <td sdnum="1033;0;@" width="34"> 0
</td> <td sdnum="1033;0;@" width="42"> 0
</td> <td sdnum="1033;0;@" width="31"> 0
</td> <td sdnum="1033;0;@" width="32"> 0
</td> <td sdnum="1033;0;@" width="41"> 5.00
</td> <td sdnum="1033;0;@" width="41"> 52%
</td> <td sdnum="1033;0;@" width="42"> 6.70
</td> </tr> </tbody></table>

**GL = Goals | TCK = Tackles/game

[Radii]

Central Midfielders




<table border="1" bordercolor="#000000" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" width="564"> <col width="71"> <col width="27"> <col width="36"> <col width="47"> <col width="22"> <col width="34"> <col width="42"> <col width="31"> <col width="32"> <col width="41"> <col width="41"> <col width="42"> <tbody><tr valign="TOP"> <td width="71"> Name
</td> <td width="27"> Age
</td> <td width="36"> $/Wk
</td> <td width="47"> Apps
</td> <td width="22"> GL
</td> <td width="34"> AST
</td> <td width="42"> MoM
</td> <td width="31"> Yel
</td> <td width="32"> Red
</td> <td width="41"> Tck
</td> <td width="41"> Pass
</td> <td width="42"> Avg
</td> </tr> <tr valign="TOP"> <td width="71"> Joe O'Sullivan
</td> <td sdval="20" sdnum="1033;0;@" width="27"> 21
</td> <td sdval="0" sdnum="1033;0;@" width="36"> $375
</td> <td sdval="53" sdnum="1033;0;@" width="47"> 35 (2)
</td> <td sdval="0" sdnum="1033;0;@" width="22"> 1
</td> <td sdval="2" sdnum="1033;0;@" width="34"> 15
</td> <td sdval="4" sdnum="1033;0;@" width="42"> 5
</td> <td sdval="5" sdnum="1033;0;@" width="31"> 11
</td> <td sdval="0" sdnum="1033;0;@" width="32"> 1
</td> <td sdval="4.65" sdnum="1033;0;@" width="41"> 3.03
</td> <td sdval="0.77" sdnum="1033;0;@" width="41"> 76%
</td> <td sdval="7.09" sdnum="1033;0;@" width="42"> 7.27
</td> </tr> <tr valign="TOP"> <td width="71"> Harry Arter
</td> <td sdval="27" sdnum="1033;0;@" width="27"> 23
</td> <td sdval="700" sdnum="1033;0;@" width="36"> $875
</td> <td sdval="0" sdnum="1033;0;@" width="47"> 27 (10)
</td> <td sdval="2" sdnum="1033;0;@" width="22"> 2
</td> <td sdval="1" sdnum="1033;0;@" width="34"> 8
</td> <td sdval="1" sdnum="1033;0;@" width="42"> 1
</td> <td sdval="2" sdnum="1033;0;@" width="31"> 7
</td> <td sdval="0" sdnum="1033;0;@" width="32"> 0
</td> <td sdval="3.43" sdnum="1033;0;@" width="41"> 4.56
</td> <td sdval="0.78" sdnum="1033;0;@" width="41"> 76%
</td> <td sdval="6.99" sdnum="1033;0;@" width="42"> 7.06
</td> </tr> <tr valign="TOP"> <td width="71"> Anthony Pulis
</td> <td sdval="25" sdnum="1033;0;@" width="27"> 28
</td> <td sdval="650" sdnum="1033;0;@" width="36"> $925
</td> <td sdval="0" sdnum="1033;0;@" width="47"> 35 (5)
</td> <td sdval="2" sdnum="1033;0;@" width="22"> 1
</td> <td sdval="1" sdnum="1033;0;@" width="34"> 7
</td> <td sdval="0" sdnum="1033;0;@" width="42"> 2
</td> <td sdval="0" sdnum="1033;0;@" width="31"> 3
</td> <td sdval="0" sdnum="1033;0;@" width="32"> 1
</td> <td sdval="3.78" sdnum="1033;0;@" width="41"> 3.27
</td> <td sdval="0.69" sdnum="1033;0;@" width="41"> 80%
</td> <td sdval="6.95" sdnum="1033;0;@" width="42"> 6.91
</td> </tr> <tr valign="TOP"> <td width="71"> Chris Herd
</td> <td sdval="32" sdnum="1033;0;@" width="27"> 24
</td> <td sdval="700" sdnum="1033;0;@" width="36"> $850
</td> <td sdval="42" sdnum="1033;0;@" width="47"> 10 (22)
</td> <td sdval="2" sdnum="1033;0;@" width="22"> 1
</td> <td sdval="1" sdnum="1033;0;@" width="34"> 5
</td> <td sdval="0" sdnum="1033;0;@" width="42"> 0
</td> <td sdval="0" sdnum="1033;0;@" width="31"> 3
</td> <td sdval="0" sdnum="1033;0;@" width="32"> 0
</td> <td sdval="3.16" sdnum="1033;0;@" width="41"> 4.28
</td> <td sdval="0.7" sdnum="1033;0;@" width="41"> 79%
</td> <td sdval="6.85" sdnum="1033;0;@" width="42"> 6.86
</td> </tr> <tr valign="TOP"> <td width="71"> Sam Sloma
</td> <td sdval="22" sdnum="1033;0;@" width="27"> 30
</td> <td sdval="650" sdnum="1033;0;@" width="36"> $500
</td> <td sdval="0" sdnum="1033;0;@" width="47"> 19 (15)
</td> <td sdval="0" sdnum="1033;0;@" width="22"> 1
</td> <td sdval="3" sdnum="1033;0;@" width="34"> 7
</td> <td sdval="2" sdnum="1033;0;@" width="42"> 0
</td> <td sdval="3" sdnum="1033;0;@" width="31"> 1
</td> <td sdval="0" sdnum="1033;0;@" width="32"> 0
</td> <td sdval="3.66" sdnum="1033;0;@" width="41"> 2.73
</td> <td sdval="0.74" sdnum="1033;0;@" width="41"> 61%
</td> <td sdval="6.83" sdnum="1033;0;@" width="42"> 6.74
</td> </tr> <tr valign="TOP"> <td width="71"> Billy Hussey
</td> <td sdval="0" sdnum="1033;0;@" width="27"> 23
</td> <td sdval="0" sdnum="1033;0;@" width="36"> $220
</td> <td sdval="0" sdnum="1033;0;@" width="47"> 2
</td> <td sdval="0" sdnum="1033;0;@" width="22"> 0
</td> <td sdval="0" sdnum="1033;0;@" width="34"> 0
</td> <td sdval="0" sdnum="1033;0;@" width="42"> 0
</td> <td sdval="0" sdnum="1033;0;@" width="31"> 2
</td> <td sdval="0" sdnum="1033;0;@" width="32"> 0
</td> <td sdval="0" sdnum="1033;0;@" width="41"> 3.50
</td> <td sdval="0" sdnum="1033;0;@" width="41"> 78%
</td> <td sdval="0" sdnum="1033;0;@" width="42"> 6.70
</td> </tr> </tbody></table>

**GL = Goals | TCK = Tackles/game




Attacking Midfielders




<table border="1" bordercolor="#000000" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" width="564"> <col width="71"> <col width="27"> <col width="45"> <col width="47"> <col width="24"> <col width="35"> <col width="39"> <col width="22"> <col width="32"> <col width="41"> <col width="41"> <col width="42"> <tbody><tr valign="TOP"> <td width="71"> Name
</td> <td width="27"> Age
</td> <td width="45"> $/Wk
</td> <td width="47"> Apps
</td> <td width="24"> GL
</td> <td width="35"> AST
</td> <td width="39"> MoM
</td> <td width="22"> Yel
</td> <td width="32"> Red
</td> <td width="41"> Drb
</td> <td width="41"> Pass
</td> <td width="42"> Avg
</td> </tr> <tr valign="TOP"> <td width="71"> Moses Ademola
</td> <td sdval="20" sdnum="1033;0;@" width="27"> 23
</td> <td sdval="0" sdnum="1033;0;@" width="45"> $775
</td> <td sdval="53" sdnum="1033;0;@" width="47"> 21 (16)
</td> <td sdval="0" sdnum="1033;0;@" width="24"> 9
</td> <td sdval="2" sdnum="1033;0;@" width="35"> 7
</td> <td sdval="4" sdnum="1033;0;@" width="39"> 5
</td> <td sdval="5" sdnum="1033;0;@" width="22"> 1
</td> <td sdval="0" sdnum="1033;0;@" width="32"> 0
</td> <td sdval="4.65" sdnum="1033;0;@" width="41"> 5.75
</td> <td sdval="0.77" sdnum="1033;0;@" width="41"> 50%
</td> <td sdval="7.09" sdnum="1033;0;@" width="42"> 7.18
</td> </tr> <tr valign="TOP"> <td width="71"> Kieran Bennett
</td> <td sdval="27" sdnum="1033;0;@" width="27"> 19
</td> <td sdval="700" sdnum="1033;0;@" width="45"> LOAN
</td> <td sdval="0" sdnum="1033;0;@" width="47"> 38 (6)
</td> <td sdval="2" sdnum="1033;0;@" width="24"> 8
</td> <td sdval="1" sdnum="1033;0;@" width="35"> 8
</td> <td sdval="1" sdnum="1033;0;@" width="39"> 4
</td> <td sdval="2" sdnum="1033;0;@" width="22"> 2
</td> <td sdval="0" sdnum="1033;0;@" width="32"> 0
</td> <td sdval="3.43" sdnum="1033;0;@" width="41"> 4.75
</td> <td sdval="0.78" sdnum="1033;0;@" width="41"> 54%
</td> <td sdval="6.99" sdnum="1033;0;@" width="42"> 7.07
</td> </tr> <tr valign="TOP"> <td width="71"> Kayne McLaggon
</td> <td sdval="25" sdnum="1033;0;@" width="27"> 22
</td> <td sdval="650" sdnum="1033;0;@" width="45"> LOAN
</td> <td sdval="0" sdnum="1033;0;@" width="47"> 34 (5)
</td> <td sdval="2" sdnum="1033;0;@" width="24"> 8
</td> <td sdval="1" sdnum="1033;0;@" width="35"> 4
</td> <td sdval="0" sdnum="1033;0;@" width="39"> 0
</td> <td sdval="0" sdnum="1033;0;@" width="22"> 1
</td> <td sdval="0" sdnum="1033;0;@" width="32"> 0
</td> <td sdval="3.78" sdnum="1033;0;@" width="41"> 4.03
</td> <td sdval="0.69" sdnum="1033;0;@" width="41"> 53%
</td> <td sdval="6.95" sdnum="1033;0;@" width="42"> 6.81
</td> </tr> <tr valign="TOP"> <td width="71"> Josh Coke
</td> <td sdval="32" sdnum="1033;0;@" width="27"> 21
</td> <td sdval="700" sdnum="1033;0;@" width="45"> $90
</td> <td sdval="42" sdnum="1033;0;@" width="47"> 5 (2)
</td> <td sdval="2" sdnum="1033;0;@" width="24"> 1
</td> <td sdval="1" sdnum="1033;0;@" width="35"> 0
</td> <td sdval="0" sdnum="1033;0;@" width="39"> 0
</td> <td sdval="0" sdnum="1033;0;@" width="22"> 0
</td> <td sdval="0" sdnum="1033;0;@" width="32"> 0
</td> <td sdval="3.16" sdnum="1033;0;@" width="41"> 1.84
</td> <td sdval="0.7" sdnum="1033;0;@" width="41"> 64%
</td> <td sdval="6.85" sdnum="1033;0;@" width="42"> 6.38
</td> </tr> </tbody></table>

**GL = Goals | Drb = Dribbles/game


Attackers


<table border="1" bordercolor="#000000" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" width="564"> <col width="59"> <col width="26"> <col width="47"> <col width="49"> <col width="22"> <col width="34"> <col width="42"> <col width="31"> <col width="32"> <col width="41"> <col width="41"> <col width="42"> <tbody><tr valign="TOP"> <td width="59"> Name
</td> <td width="26"> Age
</td> <td width="47"> $/Wk
</td> <td width="49"> Apps
</td> <td width="22"> GL
</td> <td width="34"> AST
</td> <td width="42"> MoM
</td> <td width="31"> Yel
</td> <td width="32"> Red
</td> <td width="41"> Drb
</td> <td width="41"> Pass
</td> <td width="42"> Avg
</td> </tr> <tr valign="TOP"> <td width="59"> Giuseppe Sole
</td> <td sdval="20" sdnum="1033;0;@" width="26"> 25
</td> <td sdval="0" sdnum="1033;0;@" width="47"> $775
</td> <td sdval="53" sdnum="1033;0;@" width="49"> 7 (10)
</td> <td sdval="0" sdnum="1033;0;@" width="22"> 9
</td> <td sdval="2" sdnum="1033;0;@" width="34"> 2
</td> <td sdval="4" sdnum="1033;0;@" width="42"> 2
</td> <td sdval="5" sdnum="1033;0;@" width="31"> 0
</td> <td sdval="0" sdnum="1033;0;@" width="32"> 0
</td> <td sdval="4.65" sdnum="1033;0;@" width="41"> 4.95
</td> <td sdval="0.77" sdnum="1033;0;@" width="41"> 69%
</td> <td sdval="7.09" sdnum="1033;0;@" width="42"> 7.23
</td> </tr> <tr valign="TOP"> <td width="59"> Curtis Main
</td> <td sdval="27" sdnum="1033;0;@" width="26"> 20
</td> <td sdval="700" sdnum="1033;0;@" width="47"> LOAN
</td> <td sdval="0" sdnum="1033;0;@" width="49"> 21 (10)
</td> <td sdval="2" sdnum="1033;0;@" width="22"> 15
</td> <td sdval="1" sdnum="1033;0;@" width="34"> 7
</td> <td sdval="1" sdnum="1033;0;@" width="42"> 6
</td> <td sdval="2" sdnum="1033;0;@" width="31"> 2
</td> <td sdval="0" sdnum="1033;0;@" width="32"> 0
</td> <td sdval="3.43" sdnum="1033;0;@" width="41"> 4.03
</td> <td sdval="0.78" sdnum="1033;0;@" width="41"> 68%
</td> <td sdval="6.99" sdnum="1033;0;@" width="42"> 7.21
</td> </tr> <tr valign="TOP"> <td width="59"> Anson Cousins
</td> <td sdval="22" sdnum="1033;0;@" width="26"> 21
</td> <td sdval="650" sdnum="1033;0;@" width="47"> $160
</td> <td sdval="0" sdnum="1033;0;@" width="49"> 12 (10)
</td> <td sdval="2" sdnum="1033;0;@" width="22"> 8
</td> <td sdval="0" sdnum="1033;0;@" width="34"> 6
</td> <td sdval="1" sdnum="1033;0;@" width="42"> 2
</td> <td sdval="3" sdnum="1033;0;@" width="31"> 1
</td> <td sdval="0" sdnum="1033;0;@" width="32"> 0
</td> <td sdval="2.93" sdnum="1033;0;@" width="41"> 4.51
</td> <td sdval="0.74" sdnum="1033;0;@" width="41"> 73%
</td> <td sdval="6.7" sdnum="1033;0;@" width="42"> 7.09
</td> </tr> <tr valign="TOP"> <td width="59"> Danijel Subotic
</td> <td sdnum="1033;0;@" width="26"> 24
</td> <td sdnum="1033;0;@" width="47"> $1500
</td> <td sdnum="1033;0;@" width="49"> 24 (9)
</td> <td sdnum="1033;0;@" width="22"> 8
</td> <td sdnum="1033;0;@" width="34"> 8
</td> <td sdnum="1033;0;@" width="42"> 4
</td> <td sdnum="1033;0;@" width="31"> 0
</td> <td sdnum="1033;0;@" width="32"> 0
</td> <td sdnum="1033;0;@" width="41"> 3.05
</td> <td sdnum="1033;0;@" width="41"> 67%
</td> <td sdnum="1033;0;@" width="42"> 7.02
</td> </tr> <tr valign="TOP"> <td width="59"> Zoltan Harsanyi
</td> <td sdnum="1033;0;@" width="26"> 25
</td> <td sdnum="1033;0;@" width="47"> $1600
</td> <td sdnum="1033;0;@" width="49"> 46 (1)
</td> <td sdnum="1033;0;@" width="22"> 30
</td> <td sdnum="1033;0;@" width="34"> 10
</td> <td sdnum="1033;0;@" width="42"> 5
</td> <td sdnum="1033;0;@" width="31"> 1
</td> <td sdnum="1033;0;@" width="32"> 0
</td> <td sdnum="1033;0;@" width="41"> 2.43
</td> <td sdnum="1033;0;@" width="41"> 71%
</td> <td sdnum="1033;0;@" width="42"> 7.01
</td> </tr> <tr valign="TOP"> <td width="59">

</td> <td sdnum="1033;0;@" width="26">

</td> <td sdnum="1033;0;@" width="47">

</td> <td sdnum="1033;0;@" width="49">

</td> <td sdnum="1033;0;@" width="22">

</td> <td sdnum="1033;0;@" width="34">

</td> <td sdnum="1033;0;@" width="42">

</td> <td sdnum="1033;0;@" width="31">

</td> <td sdnum="1033;0;@" width="32">

</td> <td sdnum="1033;0;@" width="41">

</td> <td sdnum="1033;0;@" width="41">

</td> <td sdnum="1033;0;@" width="42">

</td> </tr> </tbody></table>

** GL = Goals | Drb = Dribbles/Game

[Radii]

I had to split that up to two posts to get it to show. I sorted by average ratings, including cup matches. Anson Cousins rating and goals were inflated a bit because of his success in our early FA Trophy matches, I went out of my way to get him in against the worst competition we played all year.. I put Sloma in with the central midfielders, though he really split his time between central and attacking out wide.

Even though we were much better this year as a unit, we didn't have anyone in that 7.50+ stratosphere for ratings.

[Radii]

2012-13 Blue Square Premier Table

1. Woking - 26-11-9 - 88 for/56 ag - +32 - 89 pts
-------
2. Forest Green - 24-13-9 - 72 for/39 ag - +33 - 85 pts
3. Rushden - 23-14-9 - 77 for/47 ag - +30 - 83 pts
4. Cambridge - 24-10-12 - 72 for/55 ag - +17 - 82 pts
5. York - 29-19-7 - 73 for/51 ag - +22 - 79 pts
-------
6. Alfreton - 22-11-13 - 77 pts
7. Crawley - 20-12-14 - 72 pts
8. Gateshead - 19-14-13 - 71 pts
9. Chelmsford - 19-13-14 - 70 pts
10. Ebbsfleet - 19-13-14 - 70 pts
11. Torquay - 19-12-15 - 69 pts
12. Wrexham - 19-8-19 - 65 pts
13. Barrow - 18-9-19 - 63 pts
14. Accrington - 19-5-22 - 62 pts
15. Cheltenham - 16-14-16 - 62 pts
16. Newport Co - 14-18-14 - 60 pts
17. Darlington - 15-14-17 - 59 pts
18. St. Albans - 12-18-16 - 54 pts
19. Eastleigh -11-15-20 - 48 pts
20. Kettering - 10-17-19 - 47 pts
--------
21. Stevenage - 12-9-25 - 45 pts
22. Gainsborough - 11-11-24 - 44 pts
23. Southport - 6-10-30 - 28 pts
24. Maidenhead - 5-8-33 - 23 pts



This is Cambridge's 5th time in the BS Premier playoffs in the last 6 seasons.

[Radii]

Woking 2012/13 History/Leaders

Team History

2009/10 - BS South - 1st - 24 W - 12 D - 6 L - 62 for - 39 ag - +23 GD - 84 pts
2010/11 - BS Premier - 17th - 14 W - 10 D - 22 L - 60 for - 65 ag - -5 GD - 52 pts
2011/12 - BS Premier - 4th - 26 W - 12 D - 8 L - 87 for - 51 ag - +36 GD - 90 pts
2012/13 - BS Premier - 1st - 26 W - 11 D - 9 L - 88 for - 56 ag - 89 pts[/B]

This year:

Top Goalscorer - Zoltan Harsanyi - 30 goals
Top League Goalscorer - Zoltan Harsanyi - 29 goals
Most Assists - Joe O'Sullivan - 15 assists
Highest Average Rating - Stelios Nikolaou - 7.35 (28 apps)
Most Man of the Match - Curtis Main - 6

[Radii]

Lastly before we push on.

League Scoring Leaders

1. Zoltan Harsanyi - Woking - 29 goals
2. Frank Waife Danquah - Cambridge - 24 goals
3. Jason Walker - Barrow - 23 goals
4. Brian Wake - Gateshead - 22 goals
5. Sam Smith - Rushden - 20 goals


Assists Leaders

1. George Donnelly - York - 16
t2. Ben Smith - Crawley - 15
t2. Danny Mitchley - Newport Co - 15
t4. Joe O'Sullivan - Woking - 14
t4. Peter Leven - Forest Green - 14
t4. Matt Bowman - Rushden - 14


Man of the Match Awards

1. George Donnelly - York - 11
t2. Sam Smith - Rushden - 8
t2. Marco Paixao - Forest Green - 8
t2. Patrick Kohlmann - Cheltenham - 8
t5. Brian Wake - Gateshead - 7
t5. Jason Walker - Barrow - 7
t5. Neil Taylor - Wrexham - 7

Curtis Main is tied for 8th with 6 man of the match awards.


Average Rating

1. George Donnelly - York - 7.50
2. Sam Smith - Rushden - 7.44
3. Joe O'Sullivan - Woking - 7.33
4. Mike Brown - Forest Green - 7.31
5. Stelios Nikolaou - Woking - 7.30


Nikolaou's ratings were boosted from cup play, O'Sullivan bested him in the league it seems. Curtis Main was also in the top 10 in the league with a 7.20 rating in league matches.

[Radii]

Player of the Year Voting

oh yeah, this came up awhile back right when I was quitting for the night and I forgot it. Zoltan Harsanyi is up for player of the year, but I'm not allowed to vote for him.

Instead I vote for George Donnelly, York's Striker who led the league in assists and average rating (16 and 7.50). He also scored 18 goals. York gave us more trouble than anyone during the year so Donnelly's play stands out to me.

[Radii]

BS Premier Playoffs

Semifinal first leg:

Cambridge 4 : 3 Rushden
York 0 : 1 Forest Green


Semifinal Second Leg:

Forest Green (3) 2 : 1 (1) York
Rushden p (5) 2 : 1 (5) Cambridge

Cambridge fail again to earn promotion despite making the playoffs 5 of the last 6 years.


Finals:

Rushden 4 : 3 Forest Green


Rushden will join us in League 2 next year!



FA Trophy Final

Torquay 3 : 0 Accrington

the team that took us out ends up 2nd.

[Radii]

-- York's George Donnelly is indeed named the BS Premier player of the year.

-- I am named the BS Premier manager of the year. I'm glad, but can't say its a surprise.

-- I'm notified about expiring contracts, a couple reserves, some coaches/scouts who won't sign with me again or who I have no interest in signing again... and Mark Ricketts, who I won't be re-signing.


We'll plow through June and figure out what we need to do to get ready for League 2 tomorrow.

[Tellistto]

Nice job on promoting.

[Radii]

Nice job on promoting.

thanks!

[Radii]

FIFA World Cup arrived for the 360 and I played the heck out of it for awhile, but its time to get back to FM and push into League 2.


We're in June 2013 and World Cup Qualifying is underway.


The USA is off to a slow 1-2-0 start in CONCACAF qualifying. Draws at home vs Canada and at Guatemala. Haven't played Mexico or Costa Rica yet. Long way to go though, we'll check in after a couple June matches.

Most of the top European teams are leading their groups. Portugal and Greece are tied in their group through 4 games, and Spain is in 2nd behind Slovakia through just 4 games. Long ways to go again here.



I'm not planning on doing much this offseason. I'll hope to grab some high quality loaners for League 2 and will basically give everyone that was good enough to start last year a chance to prove they can succeed in League 2. Our expectations should be low next year so hopefully this is a strategy that can pay off for me.

[Radii]

The USA draws at home with Costa Rica and loses on the road at Mexico. After 5 matches:

1. Mexico - 15 pts (5-0-0)
2. Honduras - 9 pts
3. Canada - 7 pts
4. USA - 6 pts (1-3-1)
5. Guatamala - 4 pts
6. Costa Rica - 1 pts

The US travels to Canada for a key match in August.

Top 3 qualify, 4th place with a playoff (vs a South American team IIRC).


-- Woking earns a new primary shirt sponsorship. This will be a 3 year deal worth $60k/yr. Our previous deal was worth $41k/yr. Moving up in the world!


-- Joe O'Sullivan is named the fans player of the year for 2012/13. Last season Harsanyi got it when I thought that O'Sullivan was clearly better. This year O'Sullivan gets it when I thought Harsanyi was clearly better.


Woking Best Eleven - 2012/13

DL Stelios Nikolaou played 28 matches with a 7.35 rating, a solid new sighing for me. The players picked him as the best player on the team last year.

The rest of the team:

GK: Lynch
DEF: Nikolaou/Williams/Fenton/Anane
MC: Arter/O'Sullivan
AM: Bennett/Ademola
ST: Cousins/Main


lol? Cousins has a 7.09 rating compared to Harsanyi's 7.01. Cousins only played in easy games for the most part, Harsanyi scored 22 more goals. Nifty.


Woking All Time Best Eleven

Two new players make the team this year. Here's how it looks:

GK: Lee Butcher (48 apps/6.73 rating)
DL: Jordan Clarke (53 apps/7.09 rating)
DC: Nick Fenton (105 apps/6.89 rating/3 goals)
DC: Mike Williams (62 apps/6.96 rating/8 goals)
DR: Ricky Anane (72 apps/6.87 rating/2 goals
ML: Nicky Nicolau (46 apps/7.10 rating/4 goals)
MC: Anthony Pulis (85 apps/6.98 rating/5 goals)
MC: Joe O'Sullivan (102 apps/7.30 rating/3 goals)
MR: Moses Ademola (142 apps/6.90 rating/36 goals)
ST: Mark Cullen (52 apps/7.11 rating/25 goals)
ST: Romone Rose (50 apps/7.05 rating/14 goals)


Mike Williams and Ricky Anane are new to the all time best 11, replacing current players Aswad Thomas and Mark Ricketts. Anane has been a very good sub and I'm content with him, but I'm surprised Ricketts is being forgotten so fast.

Harsanyi has 99 appearances/58 goals/7.02 rating for us, Rose and Cullen were both multi season loaners, wonder what has to happen for him to make it.


Season Schedule Released

--From the past to the future. Our first league 2 season is ready to start soon! A large number of our players got a 10% salary increase from promotion.

--We play our first ever league 2 match at home vs Tranmere on August 10th. They were relegated from League 1 last season.

--We receive $437,000 for TV Rights for league 2. Again, moving on up!



Season Expectations

Our goals are simply to avoid relegation, and that's great, hopefully I can bring in loaners and add payroll to progress the team without doing anything drastic early on.

By accepting these lowly goals we have no transfer budget but a $25k/week salary budget allowed.

Our current Salary total going into the year is $18,491/wk. We have some room to spend here for sure.


League 2 Odds

Brighton - 6:4
Tranmere - 2:1
Northampton - 5:2
Leyton Orient - 6:1
Stockort - 6:1
Notts Co - 8:1


We are 20:1. That's a lot better than I would have expected. Hooray for us?

[Radii]

Our backup GK Lewis Martin will be going out on loan once again at the start of this season. I can recall him if I want. He'll be playing for Lewes in the BS South.


-- July 3rd: I sign 3 new scouts to replace the 3 that wanted too much money to come back for another season. I also fire my physio who was really a BSS level physio making $40/wk and totally sucked. I'll have a new one soon.


--My first round of loan offers all go nowhere. Apparently top Premier League reserves are not yet ready for loans to Woking.


-- I make my second round of loan offers, including an oldie but goodie in DL Jordan Clarke, a guy who posted 7.1+ ratings in the BS Premier for me.


Woking loan Jesus

So I'm having troubles getting a full compliment of loaners in but holy crap when I do get someone, yeah, I'm gonna try to not go with these jokes all season. At least he's not a goalkeeper, otherwise I'd probably make 20 "Jesus Saves" references per match.

18 year old AML with just the one name "Jesus" (accent over the u) is an Arsenal reserve valued at $700,000. He's the first player willing to come to Woking for a full season.

Jesus is a reasonably good athlete, 11 pace/11 accel, all other ratings in the 10-12 range. Determined and a good decision maker, his best technical abilities are dribbling (16) and crossing (13). Those are certainly things I like to see out of a winger.


The rest of my current loaner efforts are to find an AMR and a defender or two.


July 11th - My second loaner acceptance comes in, and its for another young AML. I could take that and have Sam Sloma focus on defense/central midfield this year. I delay for a week though as I have other outstanding offers.

[Radii]

League Cup 1st Round Draw

We're going to be hosting Charlton from the Coca Cola Championship in the first round, a home game will help the finances at least. This will be August 14th, pretty darn early.


With that, I go over and check on on the expectations:

League: Avoid Relegation

FA Cup: Reach the First Round

Johnstone's Paint Trophy: We aren't expected to win a game here

League Cup: We aren't expected to win a game here either.


July 13th, 2013

Fulham @ Woking - Friendly

The goal here is to run around some and not get hurt. They score in the 33rd minute. Harsanyi out wide left in the 41st minute, he crosses into the area, Anson Cousins is there and heads it by the keeper for a goal! We sub everyone out at the half that we can, and give up two goals in the second half. The last time we played in a friendly we lost 7-0. I'll take 3-1.

Woking 1 : 3 Fulham



-- Woking announces a loss of $425,000 for the last financial year, a worrying 20% of their turnover. We'll see if that comes to anything. The past year we basically broke even and it was almost entirely due to making the playoffs.


Free Transfer Signing

Welcome Christian Smith to the squad. Smith is a 25 year old who can play DC, DMC and MC nearly equally well. I'm bringing him in to be a central defender. He doesn't really have the pace that I want from a midfielder, though that ability might give me some flexability.

Smith is strong and a good leaper (16 str/14 jumping). He's determined, aggresive and brave, good off the ball, good positioning. Good heading, good tackling, decent marking. With Nick Fenton aging and Aswad Thomas showing long stretches of poor play, I wanted to bring in a new DC. I'd first looked at a loaner but i'm very pleased with this as well.

Smith is going to make $1200/wk.



July 16

GH Academy @ Woking - Friendly

We give up an early goal, never really threaten aside from a couple long shots by Harsanyi, but avoid injury.

Woking 0 : 1 GH Academy


That'll do for tonight.

[Radii]

So I've got 18 guys on my roster (19 counting GK Lewis Martin out on loan).

I've only brought in one loaner so far. Gonna briefly review my depth chart here:

GK

Starter: Lynch
Backup: Martin, sort of.

51 goals allowed in 41 games for Lynch last year seems great given my attacking formation and mindset. His ratings are really good and he's only 21 and improving. I am not looking to replace Lynch at all and am pretty attached to the idea of Lynch continuing to grow with the team. For now, I definitely feel like I can succeed in League 2 with Kevin Lynch in goal.

DL

Starter: Nikolaou

Backups: All guys who primarily play elsewhere. Thomas/Williams/Sloma. That's pretty much acceptable since I brought in an extra DC and MC/AML are loaded spots.


DC

Rotation of Thomas/Williams/Fenton/Christian Smith.

I feel like Mike Williams is my best player here. The other three I'm hoping one stands out early in the year. Fenton is 33 and is unlikely to play a long string of games in a row, there's room for these four.


DR

Starter: Ricky Anane

... backup Stelios Nikolaou. That's it. I like Anane a lot but the fact is that he was not even a starter in the BS South when I took over this team. I don't have depth here and I don't have as much confidence in my starter here as I do elsewhere. I've had a number of loaners rejected here, working on it, but yeah I *have* to do something here.


MC

Starters: O'Sullivan, Pulis

Backups: Arter, Herd, Sloma

I have a lot of confidence here. I'm not looking for loaners/replacements here until these guys prove they can't cut it.



AML

Starter: Jesus

Backups: Steve Clapham, Sloma

i haven't discussed Clapham at all. He's a loaner ready to come in, I delayed a week, but I'm going to bring him in. more on that when its finalized.


AMR

Starter: Ademola

Backup: Nope.

This is the same with Anane. First off there is NO depth here. I assure you I have had countless loan offers rejected. Secondly, Ademola was on my roster in my first BS South season and did not start consistently. Ademola averaged a 7.00 rating in 30 matches last year. Still, I think this is a position I could find a massive upgrade loaner.


ST

Starters: Harsanyi/Subotic

Backups: Sole/Cousins

I have the opportunity to bring someone in here, but I feel like I need to focus more elsewhere. Subotic and Harsanyi are quite probably the two best players on the team.





This depth chart was done mainly for my own benefit as much as to report for the dynasty. Glancing through the roster I felt DR/AMR were my weak spots, I haven't looked for a second for GK or MC on the market, and I wanted to look closer to make sure I was comfortable with that.


I had originally wanted to bring in loaners specifically at AML, AMR, DC and DR. Signing Christian Smith on a free transfer has me set for now at DC. Now I *really* need to sign a DR and AMR, whether it be loaner or free transfer.


One last thing... this is the first time I've had room to play with the transfer budget slider. Right now I have a $25.5k wage budget with $0 transfer budget. I'm only spending $19,790 on salaries right now. I could obtain a ~$60k transfer budget by dropping my wage budget to $24.5k.

My scouts and coaches are recommending fellow league 2 players. The only ones I looked at closely before bed last night were strikers. I could actually bring in a striker for $8k right now who would be deemed to be my #3 striker. But I'm not doing anything like that until I fill AMR/DR in some capacity. Giving myself a transfer budget is an option that I'm exploring seriously though.


tl;dr ;)

Summary: I need to sign an AMR and a DR rather desparately. I have another loaner that I had delayed confirming at AML that should come in during my next post. I can drop my wage budget a bit and get a transfer budget if I want. I'm considering it.

[Radii]

New Loaner

Welcome AML Steve Clapham to Woking, on loan from Blackburn for the entire season. He's young, just like Jesus, and the two will compete/share time at the position throughout the year. Clapham has a pace of 10 but accel 15/agility 14/natural fitness 14, seems pretty good there. A Jumping rating of 1, he rarely leaves the ground. Elsehwere 12 crossing/14 dribbling/11 passing hopefully means he'll do a good job of creating chances for the strikers.


July 20th, 2013

Woking @ Inglewood Utd - Friendly


We get on the board early as Cousins hits Harsanyi with a great through ball and he finishes. Harsanyi plays a long ball forward to Ademola who scores before halftime. In the second half Subotic heads a ball forward to Sole who scores. We give up a 90th minute goal on a corner. Christian Smith makes a bad mistake and fails to clear a ball that came right to him, the ball ends up at the feet of one of their guys from near point blank range and they don't miss.

Inglewood Utd 1 : 3 Woking



AMR Search Update

I found a couple players who looked intriguing but who I didn't have their entire ratings picture.

I offer a 2 week trial to AMR Marinos Andreou from Cyprus. I see someone with no gaping holes but no stellar ratings. I'll get him into a friendly but I was hoping to see something to make him stand out.

I offered a deal to AMR Aidan Downes, a 24 year old Irishman who had been playing for Yeovil in League 1 and then League 2 for the last few seasons. He looks pretty good and my scouts like him more than Ademola. But I have a couple other offers out there and I delay the signing a week. I was going to trial this guy too but he got two other contract offers so i jumped. But I'm not sure he's the best candidate.

Additionally I make a couple of offers to players after we do a ton of scouting on the England Trial matches that occur in mid July.


July 26th, 2013

Woking @ Waikato - Friendly

Next to last Friendly. I get a more reasonable starting lineup out there today (subotic in for cousins mainly), and want the guys to try for me today.

Great first half, and a great performance against an equal team today (they were just 6:4 favorites at their place). Jesus really did well, he fed Harsanyi for our first goal, and cut into the box to receive a cross from Subotic that he headed in for our second goal, both in the first 20 minutes. The third goal came in the second half as our trial AMR Andreou fed Subotic for a header. Their defense really seemed slow compared to our guys today.

Waikato 0 : 3 Woking

[Radii]

New Signing

We make a big splash following the trialist match.

Welcome DR Abu Ogogo to the squad. He's a physical monster, 13 pace/15 accel/16 stamina/13 strength/13 fitness.

He's totally got it together mentally, not a single mental rating below 9 (flair and creativity are 9...), bravery/determination/work rate 13, everything else in the 10-12 range.

Technically he's a good marker and good tackler, his passing is only 6 and heading only 5, those things could be weaknesses. But this is a guy that I'm excited about.

3.5 stars, scouted as "would be a leading star for any League 2 side"

And boy he better earn it. I've pulled out all the stops to sign him, offering him the max salary I'm allowed to offer to anyone, $2600/wk. He's a league 2 vet, having played the last 4 years in a row for Dag & Red. It looks like they've used him as a midfielder though and he's had ratings in the 6.85-6.95 range for them. I'm assuming midfielder based on the fact that he had a 10 goal season and has more assists than I'd expect from a DR. I have very high hopes for him to be a star defender.

Lastly, he was born in England, so there's no worry about him struggling to fit in here(a concern w/ an African sounding name, I'm 1 for 2 bringing in guys from the African continent so far).


With this signing we are down to $2300/wk in extra wage budget. I'll be bringing in the AMR I'd mentioned putting on hold in my last post, he's not this expensive IIRC, and then will be looking for loaners to bolster the squad as the season starts. Past this if I decide to bring in new players it will almost certainly be at the expense of selling/giving away the players I'm replacing.

[Radii]

New Signing

Welcome AMR Aidan Downes to Woking. Downes is Irish, 25 years old, and will be making $1000/wk.

Downes is rated better than Ademola by my scouts and doesn't appear to have major holes in his game. Decent speed, decent stamina, decent fitness(all 11 or 12). He's good off the ball (12) and a good decision maker. He is a decent dribbler, passer, crosser, and finisher, not great anywhere but in the 9-12 range in all of those areas.

I'm a lot more excited about the guys I have on loan on the left side of the midfield (Jesus and Chapman) but I feel like Downs and Ademola will be an acceptable compliment on the right side of the field and will not likely be stars or spectacular players but can hold their own.



With that, I have secured my opening day roster. I have a little salary to play with and I have room to bring in loaners wherever I find them. I really exhausted the list of guys available for loan at my big need positions which is the reason that I've made these big signings instead of trying to get a full compliment of season long loaners.

If I find that I have major holes in my roster, especially at striker/MC/GK where I haven't looked at all, I'll try to bring in a loaner who can be a star for me for a year while I figure out what to do.


August Notes

Joe O'Sullivan is singled out for having trained well recently. His creativity(12), Work Rate(13), Accelleration(13) and Strength(12) have all improved recently. As good as O'Sullivan has been for me remember that he's only 21.

-- The board is pleased with my leading of the team. The positive atmosphere among the players is a big reason. The big downside in the eyes of the board is that I let Mark Ricketts go. I stand by that decision totally, and that feeling will fade with time.


August 1st, 2013

QPR @ Woking - Friendly

It's our last friendly before the regular season! I'm pleased to note that QPR earned promotion back up to the Premier Division last season, always a good thing for our parent club.

I open with what I intend to be my opening day roster:

DEF: Nikolaou/Williams/Smith/Ogogo
MC: O'Sullivan/Pulis
AM: Jesus/Downes
ST: Harsanyi/Subotic

Key subs will be:

AM Steve Clapham
ST Giuseppe Sole
AM Moses Ademola
MC Harry Arter
DR Ricky Anane
DC Nick Fenton
MC Chris Herd
MC Sam Sloma

Obviously in any given match I'll only be able to name 5 subs, usually as the season goes on its obvious who is more likely to need rest, etc.

We give up two first half goals to QPR. The first is directly due to an error by Christian Smith. The second they were just better and faster heh. Subotic and Sole both had a few chances but couldn't finish. Ogogo looked bad but everyone else on the team is pretty much ready for the season and this was his first warmup match.

Woking 0 : 2 QPR


And with that, we'll start the regular season next time I sit down to play.

[Tellistto]

Good luck in the new season!

[Radii]

Good luck in the new season!

Thanks!



-- For the first time I change the suggested captains. The game suggests Nick Fenton and Aswad Thomas. Fenton is a veteren on the defensive line, I like that. But Thomas really went through some periods where he struggled seriously last year and I fear he may be on the way out if that doesn't change quickly. If Fenton isn't in the game, I want GK Kevin Lynch to be my captain. He's been reliable in net for a number of years. We have about 6 guys with an influence of 11, all tied for tops on the team. But most of the others are much newer to the squad.


Injury Update

It begins early this year. MC Harry Arter hurts himself while weight training. He's out for 2 weeks.


August 10th, 2013

Tranmere @ Woking

Welcome to opening day at Kingsfield Stadium! We are 7-4 home dogs, Tranmere 5:4 favorites. Tranmere has spent 11 of the last 13 seasons in League 1, relegated in 09/10, they won the playoffs to get back up immediately, barely survived in 11/12, relegated back down in 12/13.

I don't usually discuss anything about press conferences, but the prematch conference before the first match was a long one. A couple key questions... I said that I don't want to be seen as the sole reason for teh success of my team when asked about my winning Manager of the year last year. I finger Brighton as my pick to win the league, and I state that Kidderminster, the other team promoted along w/ Woking last year, do not stand a chance at beating brighton in the opener.

And finally, we are ready!

Ooooo, league 2 allows 7 subs named, I did not know this. That helps me a lot, gives me more coverage for subs.

Opening Day lineup:

GK: Lynch
DEF: Nikolaou, Williams, Smith, Ogogo
MC: O'Sullivan, Pulis
AM: Jesus, Downes
ST: Harsanyi, Subotic

4 new players in my lineup on opening day (Smith/Ogogo/Jesus/Downes).

I really want to watch the team today to see how we manage physically in the league, I'm watching the full match.

9': First shot on target by either team comes from Abu Agogo, his profile says he "likes to get forward as much as possible" and he was way forward on a deep throwin, he took a solid shot too.

17': We're dominating possession so far, 82/18, controlling the ball well in their end, but the Ogogo shot is the only thing close to a threat so far. Jesus has sent a few crosses ripping into the area but we haven't gotten to them.

23': What an effort!! Pulis in the middle of the pitch, he feeds Subotic, who has two defenders close by, one misses a tackle, Subotic gets a bit of space and rockets a shot from the edge of the box into the upper left corner! 1-0

30': Pulis takes a small knock, enough to stop play but it seems he'll be fine to continue.

33': Subotic makes a run with the ball, turns, lays it back to Pulis, charges forward into the area and receives a great ball placed over the defense... his first touch is very poor, better control and he's guarenteed to score, but he can't control it and gives it away.

40': Tranmere has been incredibly defensive so far, just saw a message about them getting more men forward, lets see how we handle a bit of an attack for the first time.


HALF: I love what I'm seeing. We are winning everything in the midfield, everyone on the team but one person has a rating over 6.8, no one player is winning it for us, just stellar play everywhere. Aidan Downes stands out with a 6.4, the only outlier in all the numbers. We'll see what happens when we have to withstand more attacking in the 2nd half, but so far its great. We managed 10 shots, 5 of them on target. They took one long shot in ~20th minute and it was way over, that's it.


47': Downs with a long free kick from the right side of the pitch... 40 yards out? Its put beautifully into the box, Harsanyi heads it *just* over.

57': A bit of a scary moment as they get into the area, we win the ball but a clearance attempt hits Downes and falls into back into the crowded penalty area. We get it out of there though.

59': Tranmere Midfielder Hackett picks up a yellow. This is the first time we've heard his name today, and he's listed as their best player and we're closing down, I'm pleased.

60': Downes with a free kick that might as well ahve been a corner. He fires a low cross in, Harsanyi settles the ball down to the middle of the area, Jesus is right there with a powerful strike, the keeper had no chance at that, into the net! 2-0

63': We control possession in the mdifield after a short battle. Harsanyi plays a ball down the left sideline for Jesus, he crosses it in, Subotic with a powerful header that hits the keeper and ricochets back out, right to the foot of Zoltan Harsanyi who fires it into the net!!! 3-0

68': Ademola in for Downes, who played great in the 2nd half but he's my newest signing and didn't get fully fit in all the friendlies like everyone else. Herd in for Pulis.

72': Ogogo with the ball near midfield, he fires a long pass forward to Subotic, a through ball finds Harsanyi open, he strikes it by the keeper and into the net! Tranmere plead for offisdes, but no. What an opener!!! 4-0

76': Clapham in for Jesus, just to get the last remaining new guy into the game today.

90': After a Tranmere foul just outside the area, Clapham fires a free kick off the right post, the keeper dives for it but it bounces back into play. Subotic is first to the rebound and puts the ball into the essentially empty net! 5-0


Woking 5 : 0 Tranmere


WELL THEN. Welcome to League 2 fellows. I think that there is a very good chance that Jesus will be one of my favorite players ever by the end of this season. I won't make any other claims based on one game against what may well be a team crumbling after relegation. But Jesus and Christian Smith both really really stood out today. Jesus remember has a 16 dribbling rating and a 13 crossing rating. He was able to get free and cross the ball so damn often once we set him up. He's going to be deadly.

And Christian Smith won everything in the back, just one game but he and Mike Williams looked like rocks back there.

for the game, we took 24 shots, placing 10 on target. Tranmere took 3, all of them long, none of them on target.

Man of the match: Subotic (9.6!!, 2 goals, 2 assists)
Goals: Harsanyi (9.4, 2 goals, 1 assist), Jesus (8.5, 1 goal).
assists: Clapham (6.9, 1 assist), Pulis (7.1, 1 assist)
Others: Ogogo (8.0), Nikolaou (8.0), Smith (8.2), Williams (7.7), O'Sullivan (8.5), Downes (7.0).


Repeating to myself over and over: Its just one game. Its just one game. Its just one game :D

We play our first ever league cup match in just 4 days against Championship squad Charlton.

[Radii]

August 14th, 2013

League Cup Round 1

Charlton @ Woking

We're 9-1 dogs here, they're 1:4 favorites. Do we even try? We play our next league match in 3 days. I've never given up on a match that meant something before, but we play on the 17th and 20th in league play. We're playing our backups today.

GK: Lynch
DEF: Sloma/Fenton/Thomas/Anane
MC: Pulis/Herd
AM: Clapham/Ademola
ST: Sole/Cousins

I have to say, outside of our strikers, its really a decent lineup. Key highlights only today unless we look to have a shot at the miracle.

19': Oh horseshit. We're playing really well, we take the first 3 shots, two of them are key highlights and we look threatening... then they counter after a missed shot, cross into the area... Fenton commits a penalty. They bury it. Guh. 0-1

28': Scary, they center the ball outside the area and a rocket of a shot goes off the crossbar.

HALF: Things fly by after that, Charlton was scouted as a defensive team and appear to be able to shut us down after getting the lead. We'll give it our best though. We take 4 shots, they take 3. None of ours are on target though, and 2 of theirs are, one of them being the penalty of course.

46': We kick off, build up a bit, Clapham crosses to Ademola who puts a header off the crossbar, so close!

47': They counter after our shot and end up with a striker one on one against Lynch, and he buries it, ouch. From excitement to dread in just a moment. 0-2

54': We try to attack and it leaves us open. They get a nice through ball, Thomas doesn't defend it well, clear cut strike, easy goal. 0-3 It was fun guys but lets defend and dig in.

58': Breakaway.. wow great speedy run by a striker right by Fenton. Embarrassing. Dude just sprinted the last 40 yards in after receivign a pass and just ran right by our defense for an easy goal. 0-4

76': Harsanyi in for Cousins who may be a bit hurt here. Nikolaou in for Sloma.

90': Pulis with a great long ball from just behind the midfield stripe, Harsanyi runs past the defense and is first to it, he gets into the area and buries a shot, no chance for the keeper. 1-4

91': They pile on, basically doing the exact same thign to us. A long pass from midfield, great first touch by a forward, easy goal. 1-5


Woking 1 : 5 Charlton


Harsanyi earns a 7.2 for his goal in short work. Pulis a 7.5, he stood out as the only solid performer today really. Anane 5.4, Sloma 5.8, Thomas 5.6, Fenton 4.6, Sole 5.2.

Not unexpected, but that was rough.



-- In other news, the next game for North American World Cup Qualifying was today. The US only manages a 0:0 draw at Canada. Honduras and Mexico roll on and seem locks to make the world cup. The US missed their chance to put Canada in their place here and remains in a perilous 4th place.

After 6 matches:

Mexico - 16 points
Honduras - 12 points
Canada - 8 points
USA - 7 points
Guatemala - 5 points
Costa Rica - 1 point


US hosts Guatemala on 9/7 and travels to Costa Rica on 9/11. Their last two matches are against the top two, Honduras and Mexico. Best take care of business against the two lower squads.


-- In Europe, Germany, Holland, England, Italy, France, Slovakia and Croatia seem pretty safe to win their groups. Russia and the Czech Republic are locked in a tight race for a group. The big news though is with 6 out of 10 matches played, Spain sits in 3rd place in group 2 (need to finish 2nd for any shot at all to qualify). They are tied for 2nd in points with Turkey, same goal differential too, but Turkey has more goals. I assume they'll make it but that's the most excitement in qualifying in Europe by far.

-- In another group, Greece and Portugal are tied with 4 matches to play, Greece leads goal differential by one.

[Radii]

August 17th, 2013

Woking (1st) @ Oxford

Yeah, I don't expect us to be in first for a long time in League 2 after this, so I'm noting it right there!

Oxford are 4:5 favorites, we are 3:1 dogs. Could be worse on the road. Oxford were in league 2 for awhile early in the century, got demoted down to the BS Premier in 2005/06 and took 5 seasons to make it back up to league 2. They've done well, finishing 14th and 11th in league 2 the last two years since making it back up.

Oxford's last season in the BS Premier was our first season there. They beat us twice that year. They're coming off a 1:0 victory over Ipswich from the championship in the first round of the league cup. Hopefully they played their starters and are tired.

Same lineup from opening day with one change:

GK: Lynch
DEF: Nikolaou/Williams/Smith/Ogogo
MC: O'Sullivan/Pulis
AM: Jesus/Ademola
ST: Harsanyi/Subotic

Downes is still finding his fitness, Ademola will almost surely need to be subbed out but he'll last longer at AMR. Pulis is another near guarenteed sub.

Note: I really enjoy typing Ogogo.

Oxford run a 4-1-2-2-1 with a DMC, two MC's and two attacking wingers. Left Winger Joe McCann, on loan from Leeds, has been identified as one of their biggest threats. He looks a lot like Jesus actually, with stronger mental attributes(17 flair wow), that worries me.

Extended highlights today.

8': A bit of a surprise, striker Taylor receives a pass 25 yards out and turns and takes a very quick shot. Lynch just can't react in time and it beats him to the left side of the net. 0-1

12': Short corner for their striker Taylor again, O'Sullivan makes a very poor effort to win possession, Taylor shrugs it off and fires a shot home. 0-2

19': Nikolaou is shaken up after colliding with an attacker, we'll see how he does after coming back in.

22': I'm noticing that we're scrambling to knock balls behind for corners where in our first match we were winning everything before it got dangerous.

30': Things are bunched up tightly but O'Sullivan feeds a nice ball through to Subotic. They are able to get the ball behind for a corner before Subotic can line up a shot. Nice play though.

43': Jesus with his first good cross into the area, Subotic heads it over though.

HALF: Subotic has a horrid half. Ademola isn't playing great either. This match could really easily be scoreless though, no clear cut chances, possession, shots taken, corners are all pretty much even but they had two outstanding finishes.

63': Sloma in for Nikolaou.

75': Herd in for Pulis, Downes in for Ademola.

85': Easily our best chance of the day, we win the ball i nthe midfield and Harsanyi with a quick counter, he runs down the left side, places a solid cross and Subotic with a powerful header low that the keeper has to dive for... close.


Oxford 2 : 0 Woking

That was a bit disappointing. They made two really good plays to get two early goals and then dug in and there was no recovering. possession even, shots about even, they only put 3 on target, we only put 1 on target (out of 10 and 8 respectively). Its really impossible to tell how we could have fared without the awful start though.

O'Sullivan puts up a 7.1. Subotic ends up with a 5.8, mainly for losing out on a number of headers. No one else really stood out as especially poor or anything.

We're up again in 3 days in a big game hosting Rushden, another recent promotee to League two.

Johnstone's Paint Trophy 1st Round Draw

So this appears to be a competition just between league 1 and league 2 teams. Alrighty then. 24 teams in a southern divisoin and 24 in a northern divisoin. 8 randomly draw byes in each division. We're one of them. I guess we've exceeded expectations, as we're into round 2.

[Radii]

August 20th, 2013

Rushden @ Woking

We are 6:4 favorites at home here, basically a coinflip. We're 1-2-3 lifetime against these guys, the only time we beat them was nearly 2 years ago in Sept of 2011. They are led by striker Sam Smith, a fairly prolific scorer who led them in the BS Premier league as well.

We make just a couple lineup changes since we're going on short rest for a stretch here:

GK: Lynch
DEF: Nikolaou/Williams/Smith/Anane
MC: O'Sullivan/Pulis
AM: Jesus/Downes
ST: Harsanyi/Subotic

1': We kick off, Jesus receives a pass, charges down the left sideline, feeds a great cross to Subotic, his header is barely saved by the keeper, winning us a corner, we can't do anything w/ the corner though.

9': Gorgeous through ball from O'Sullivan from a very long way out to Downes, Downes puts it into the near side of the net... offsides, it didn't seem offsides at all in real time, sad.

16': Pulis with a poor pass in the midfield, leading to a breakaway for Sam Smith, he gets into the box and fires a hard shot... Lynch is there and Williams clears. Great save.


22': Christian Smith gets a yellow for a challenge on a header.

35': A couple frustrating sequences have occurred where we are controlling possession but can't seem to advance the ball closer than 35 yards or so, just passing laterally until we lose it.

38': A counter for us after a corner, Subotic ends up deep in the right corner, he controls the ball well, fires a pass to Pulis who is about 20 yards out, he strikes it hard and it beats the keeper, going into the left side of the net!! Great goal, not an easy one at all. 1-0

46': Lynch scoops up a very long ball from one of their midfielders, he throws it to Nikolaou who launches a long pass ahead for Jesus, Jesus beats his man and races down the sideline with no one in front of him, creating some holes in the middle as the defense adjusts. He gets the ball to Harsanyi in the left corner of the penalty box, he fires a shot that goes JUST wide to the right. Great run by Jesus, close.


HALF: We are in control of the possession, but it really seemed like both teams had about the same number of threatening attacks, we had 3 or 4 trips where we just held the ball and couldn't find an opening at all. We do have 7 shots to their 4, just 3 on target for us, 2 on target for them.



48': A nice give and go between Jesus and Harsanyi leads to a shot from 15 yards out by Jesus, its aimed well at the left post, the keeper turns it away though, corner comes to nothing.

52': After some buildup, Rushden quickly reverse field from right to left, finding left midfielder Tomlin for a clean strike from the left side of the penalty area that just beats Lynch. 1-1

61': Clapham in for Jesus, who is pretty tired.

65': Sam Smith with his second clear cut chance after catching Smith out of position, Lynch with another great save... close.

69': Herd in for O'Sullivan for fresh legs. Sole in for Harsanyi to try to shake things up and generate some offense.

75': We switch from a standard to attacking mindset. We're playing to win at home dammit.

78': We steal possession in midfield, Sole receives the ball, places a nice pass forward for Clapham, who takes a very weak, poor shot that the keeper saves easily.

83': Subotic beats the offside trap, running on to a through ball from Pulis. He gets a clear cut chance and strieks a point blank shot wide to the left. Can't miss that one buddy.

86': Subotic takes a long pass, turns and puts a ball right to the foot of an onrushing Downes coming in from the right side. He strikes it hard, but its saved.

92': VERY lucky for us, our defense is lazy and Sam Smith runs on to a long ball played by the defense, our DC's just let him run by.. he gets a clear cut shot, and puts it over.


Woking 1 : 1 Rushden

We generated a lot of chances in the second half, ending up with 20 shots and 4 clear cut chances, Rushden only had 10 shots though they did have 3 clear cut chances of their own.

Anthony Pulis earns man of the match with our only goal and a 7.8 rating. Subotic with the assist puts up a 7.5. Elsewhere: Downes (7.1), Jesus (7.0).

Harsanyi struggled a bit with a 6.6 rating when most everyone was in the 6.8-6.9 range, but we had a hard time getting him the ball too.

[Radii]

August 24th, 2013

Woking @ Wycombe

Wycombe are 4:5 favorites at their house today. Wycombe got out of the equivalent of the BS Premier back in 1993 and haven't looked back. They went up from league 2 to league 1 in 1994, stayed in league 1 for a decade, and have been bouncing back and forth for the last 10 years. They've finished 21st, 17th, and 18th in league 2 the last 3 years.

Back to the opening day starting lineup for us, just with Ademola over Downes.

GK: Lynch
DEF: Nikolaou/Williams/Smith/Ogogo
MC: O'Sullivan/Pulis
AM: Jesus/Ademola
ST: Harsanyi/Subotic

Our coaches, scouts, and the pregame report all identify different players as Wycombe's big threats, and they all look to suck... I feel like we ought to have more talent here.

We open up in a defensive mindset on the road.

5': Subotic picks up an injury, he's down under 70% fitness and is listed as hurt so this may be more than a one game deal.

8': Their left midfielder Atkinson is FAST. He's dominating Ogogo one on one

19': Their man Atkinson got by Ogogo again receiving a pass, their first clear cut chance, saved well by Lynch.

...

HALF: with extended highlights there were a couple things not worth noting before going into the half. They control possession 57/43, they take 6 shots to our 1, and their AML Atkinson terrifies me countless times.

I use two of my subs at the half. Anane in for Ogogo. Ogogo "likes to get forward whenever possible" and seems to be struggling to sit in a defensive mindset. Sole in for Subotic who is hurt and just playing poorly.

58': We beat them to a ball in our end after a corner, Pulis plays a long ball ahead, Harsanyi is first to it but has a defender right on his heels. He tries to slide it to Sole who is coming in hard from the right but the pass is just a little off and the defense clears it before we can generate a shot.

79': Herd in for O'Sullivan. We still only have one shot today. I'm terrified to come out of our defensive shell though.

93': We generate two attacks in extra time, the first one though Herd puts a long shot miles wide. The second one Sole tries to pass the ball back to a midfielder and misplays it, leading to a furious 2 on 2 attack for Wycombe. We are able to block a shot and force a corner, we end up desparately defending the final 2 minutes but hold on.

Wycombe 0 : 0 Woking

Man of the Match is DL Jordan Clarke, one of my favorite players that I've loaned in multiple times, he's now on loan with Wycombe.

On our side: Lynch (7.2), Smith (7.4), O'Sullivan (7.1), Ademola (7.1), Anane (7.1).


Anane in for Ogogo was a very key sub for me, Ogogo was going to cause us to lose there.

[Radii]

Subotic is out 5-7 days with a bruised rib.


Loan Acquisition

Welcome MC Matthew Ball to Woking. He is a reserve on League 1 side Norwich. We scout him as "much better than our leading midfielder" (who that #1 midfielder is varies depending on scout between Herd/Pulis/O'Sullivan) and a player "who would be a leading star for a League 2 side"

Ball is 20 years old with good physical attributes, 10 pace/13 accel, 14 jumping/14 strength to help with those balls in the air in the midfield.

17 teamwork, 13 work rate, 13 determination are some great mental attributes, good positioning, good off the ball.

16 passing with a good first touch(12) gets me quite excited. Our midfield is crowded but this is too good to pass up.


New Signing

And here's the controversial move of the season. I seem to take a leap of faith every year, and here it is. Even though I like my midfield, I like O'Sullivan and Pulis, Arter and Herd are acceptable backups who play very well at times, it seems like we have the chance to build a spectacular midfield, and I'm shaking things up and doing so.

Welcome MC Ed Upson, 23 years old, signed from League 1 side Preston. Our new loaner Ball was scouted as "a leading League 2 star", Upson is scouted as "a good signing for a League 1 side". A stronger physical speciamn than Ball, 12 pace/12 accel, 17 jumping (with 13 heading to go with it). A hard worker (13), good decision maker (13), 8-10 ratings everywhere else in the mental area.

His technical attributes are all around very very solid. 11 dribbling, 13 passing, 13 heading, 12 first touch, 12 technique, 9 marking/9 tackling for a potential to be slightly more defensive minded when O'Sullivan or Ball are in the Advanced Playmaker role. He really seems to not have weak spots.

This does open up the possibility of playing a 4-1-2-2-1 formation with a DMC, two central midfielders, two wingers and just one striker, though more likely we put Ball/Upson/O'Sullivan/Pulis in heavy rotation together and jettison Arter or Herd.


oh yeah, signing Upson puts me at my wage limit. Upson is going to earn $2600/wk and is now my highest paid player along with Ogogo. Upson was brought in for free with the promise to give half of his next sale money back to Preston.

[Radii]

--Woking's fans are thrilled about the signing of Ed Upson.

-- Harry Arter is 23 years old but much much less talented than any of these guys. I transfer list him.

Loan Acquisition

And... 2 days before teh end of August we finalize our long term loaners for the year. I sorted for players listed for loan, told my assistant to sort out unreasonable candidates and offered the 4 best strikers still left loans. three rejected, but one is coming in.

Welcome 19 y/o ST Pablo, a reserve for Aston Villa in the Premiership valued at $1 million.

haha. Wow, usually (always) when I loan someone in the coach or a player for the team says something about how he's happy for his player to get a chance for first team football, some that I've loaned from multiple times state they have a good relationship with me... how about this:

Young Glad to see Pablo Leave

Aston Villa's Ashley Young has revealed that Pablo's departure on loan to Woking has brought a breath of fresh air to Villa Park.

Young told The League Paper that the striker was being blamed for a lack of unity in the Aston Villa dressing room and it coudl be best for all concerned if this move could be made permanent.


That's a first for me. We'll see what happens.

Pablo is fast, knows how to put himself in a position to score and can do so with a bit of flair. 13 pace/14 acce/14 agility, nothing else below 11 either there. 13 determination/11 flair/14 off the ball/9 teamwork/13 work rate. He's got a good first touch and a good header, his finishing isn't quite as good as some, just 9 there, but if he can get open and use that speed he'll be ok.


With the Pablo signing we now have 4 year long loaners and are at our max wage budget. We're likely done for awhile outside of probably selling off Arter if we can find a buyer.

[Radii]

August 31st, 2013

Crewe Alexandra(1-0-3, 20th) @ Woking(1-2-1, 11th)

Crewe are 5:4 favorites, we're 7:4 today at home. We've never met before.

29 y/o striker Clayton Donaldson has 3 goals so far, and their most dangerous player is identified by my coaches and scouts as MR Kyle Bennett, a strong overall player with a near 7 average so far for a team that is losing which is pretty solid. We'll attempt to close down on Bennett.

I'm starting two of my new guys tonight, Ball and Pablo(Subotic is not fully ready after his injury anyway), with Upson likely coming in off the bench:

GK: Lynch
DEF: Nikolaou/Williams/Smith/Ogogo
MC: Ball/Pulis
AM: Jesus/Downes
ST: Harsanyi/Pablo

25': Its been even so far, Harsanyi just had our first good chance, turning by a defender and taking a shot at the 18 yard line, but just missing. I've seen Ball get his head to some loose balls flying through the midfield that most players I would imagine would have to try to run behind and trap, maybe jjust b/c I'm looking for that though :D

38': A long ball from Nikolaou finds Harsanyi in open space... it would seem way offsides but they have a defender down on the other side of the field. Harsanyi strikes quickly and scores... but he is deemed offsides. Seemed too good to be true, and it was.


HALF: The numbers say Crewe is outperforming us, with 7 shots/3 on target. We have 3 shots, all off target. But i'm not really unhappy either, I'm liking what I'm seeing from Ball, I do wish we could generate some more offensive chances, and hopefully we will in the second half, but we're doing ok so far.

46': Crewe midfielder Webster picks up a yellow for a tackle on Ball.

46': Crewe striker zola picks up a yellow for a challenge almost immediately after our free kick.

49': Our two new guys hook up, Ball with a pass to Pablo who tries a shot from 20 yards out, it bends wide though.

58': Jesus clears a ball away from a defender and goes down hurt. He is on the sideline for awhile and down under 50% fitness. He's done as soon as i get a sub in.

58': Upson in for Ball, Ball isn't match fit and I knew he coudln't bo the distance here.

62': Clapham in for Jesus.

64': We counter quickly after an attack breaks down, Harsanyi charges down the left side with the ball, places a dangerous cross right through the 6 yard box, the keeper doesn't try to go get it, Downes runs onto it perfectly and taps it into the net. 1-0

79': I don't really want to use Sole here, so I sub in Chris Herd for Pablo, put Herd at DMC, Harsanyi alone at striker and go 4-1-2-2-1. I also change to a counter attacking strat.

88': Clapham is down in the box after going up to head away a corner. He stays on the pitch but looks hurt.

91': They're trying to pour it on, one good looking chance sees a poor shot go over, another is a fantastic save by Lynch.


We survive a 4 minute siege in extra time and pull this one off.


Woking 1 : 0 Crewe

One of their defenders, Patrick Ada, puts up a 7.5 and man of the match in the loss.

Scorer Downes earns a 7.2 for us. Assist man Harsanyi a 6.9. Elsehwere the defense came up really big: Lynch (7.3), Ogogo (7.2), Nikolaou (7.3), Smith (7.2).

Upson was 4 for 4 on headers but otherwise didn't do a lot in his 30 minutes. Ball put up a 6.8, winning 5 headers in the middle and completing 10 of 16 passes. Pablo took 3 shots and put one on target earning a 6.6, I didn't really see much of him in those extended highlights.




-- One general note on this team that I hadn't thought about going into the season. I complained a lot in past years about poor corner kick defense, guys just losing headers and allowing shots to come in at will off corner kicks. We have given up one corner kick goal on a short corner. I keep getting notes from my assistant about Christian Smith "winning everything in the air" and Smith, Williams, and today Ball and Upson all weer winning headers like crazy clearing corners. We seem so far to have gone from a team that had a very weak corner defense to a team that isn't going to allow the other team to touch the ball most of the time. Smith 13-16 in the air, Williams 7-10, each with 4 key headers.

[Radii]

Injury Update

Jesus has a twisted knee and will be out 2-3 weeks. This hurts our talent there for sure (he's averaging a 7.14 rating so far and looks great), but Sam Sloma is still on the roster so this gives Clapham a chance to show what he can do and we've got the depth still.


September Notes

September looks super busy though we're out of the League Cup and tehre's a lot of international stuff listed in this report, so it should be fine for us.

-- Grimsby striker Tom Corner is young player of the month with a 7.36 rating in 5 matches. That's interesting because we could have had him, I made an offer to Grimsby but still had too many holes to fill and backed off. Joe O'Sullivan is 3rd in the young player of the month voting with a 7.40 rating in 4 appearances.

-- Nikolaou is called up for U21 Cyprus international matches on 9/6 and 9/10. He'll miss some time for us.

-- The board is pleased with my leading of the team. not surprisingly, our 5-0 win over tranmere is the highlight, our 5-1 loss to Charlton in the league cup is the lowlight.

-- Kevin Lynch is named in the league 2 team of the week. I'm really happy to see Lynch get some recognition, though in part that is because we are having to withstand massive attacks from some of these teams.


After one month we're 9th in the league, only 1 point out of a playoff spot (4 teams get promoted, 3 automatic and then the 4 team playoff). We've got a 7:3 goal differential and I am really really happy with our play so far and excited about this season.

-- Oh right I forgot about our bye in the Johnstone Paint Trophy, I saw on the schedule the round 2 draw but didn't see our game, duh. Nifty, round 1 was on 9/3 and our next league match is on 9/7, we'll be playing a team on shorter rest than us.

-- Ricky Anane has food poisoning and will be weakened for 4-5 days.

-- Nifty! Stelios Nikolaou picks up an assist and is dominant for Cyprus' U21 team, earning an 8.4 rating and man of the match in a 2-nil win over Kazakhastan.


Johnstone's Paint Trophy Round 2 Draw

We will travel to fellow League 2 side Exeter on October 9th.


September 7th, 2013

Woking (2-2-1, 9th) @ Notts Co(1-1-3, 16th)

Notts are favored here at home, even money to win. We're 11:5 dogs. We've never played them before.

With Jesus and Nikolaou out, Pablo and Ball not fully match fit we change things up a good deal today.

GK: Lynch
DEF: Williams/Fenton/Smith/Ogogo
MC: Upson/Pulis
AM: Clapham/Downes
ST: Harsanyi/Subotic

Notts Co runs a 3-4-3 formation with three FC's. I don't think i've ever played against that before.

We'll open up looking to counter attack.

18': notts puts a shot way over... noteworthy b/c its the first shot of the match for either team 18 minutes in.

26': We start out attacking, Upson takes a shot fro 20 yards out that's saved. Their keeper throws it in and starts a break, with a rright side midfielder getting very deep and firing a low cross into the far end of the 6 yard box where they get a forward onto it for an easy goal. Looked a ton like our goal in our last match. I missed all the names when watching it heh. 0-1

32': Smith with a yellow for us going after a long ball.

HALF: the half ends quickly after that. they manage 6 shots to our 1. We are really having a hard time generating shots right now. Fenton has an awful 5.5 half and I fear he is just too past his prime, I'm bringing Thomas in now.

46': Very disappointing start. They take the opening kickoff and go straight down the field with a very nice through ball played from one foward to another, the right side foward putting an easy shot in the net. 0-2

58': A great run down the left side from Clapham, a cross into the box, maybe slightly long, Subotic gets his head to it but its in the side netting.

62': All my subs are gone. Sloma in for a tired Clapham, Ball in for a tired Upson.

74': Mike Williams picks up a yellow tackling a guy who was speeding past him.

78': Ball plays a great ball foward for a cutting Downes who scores.. but he looked offsides in real time, and yeah, he was. No goal.

84': We crowd things up on offense, Pulis gets a nice pass to Ball in the area and he has a great chance but strikes it right at the keeper.

90': Sloma goes down hurt, ugh. Play stops, and we formup in a 4-3-2 to finish out extra time.


Notts Co 2 : 0 Woking

A disappointing one here, we looked totally outclassed. Ogogo played well (7.3), and that's it. Fenton and Thomas both looked terrible with 5.5 and 5.6 ratings, and there were a number of low-mid 6's as well. Downes, Upson Ball had 6.8s and 6.9s and were good today.


We are struggling to generate shots. outshot 13-5 today, and that's becoming a pattern.

[Radii]

Injury Update

Sam Sloma has a broken arm and is out for a month. Harsanyi is a competant AML, he may see some significant time there soon. That's it for tonight though.

[Radii]

September 14th, 2013

Port Vale (1-1-4, 21st) @ Woking (2-2-2, 11th)

We are 5:4 favorites at home against a team that is struggling quite a bit early on. Port Vale has been a mid-high table finisher in League 2 for the last few years, they won in the playoffs in 10/11 to get up to league one but immediately fell back down.

Jesus will be back soon for us, today I'm going with Harsanyi at AML though:

GK: Lynch
DEF: Nikolaou, Williams, Smith, Ogogo
MC: Ball, O'Sullivan
AM: Harsanyi, Downes
ST: Subotic, Pablo

2': Ball receives a pass in midfield, he skirts two defenders, runs 30 yards with the ball himself, there really isn't anyone avaiable so he tries a strike from 18 yards out... its wide, but that was really pretty.

13': Subotic with a thunderous free kick from 30 yards out, just off the crossbar, offsides on the rebound though.

14': They counter and cross, we head the cross out, they get to it from 25 yards out and a strike just hits our crossbar.

32': The first on target shot from either team comes from Subotic, Ball wins a header in midfield, feeds Ball who feeds Subotic, its not a real strong challenge but at least he made the keeper pick up a shot.

38': Port Vale earns a corner, they cross it in, we block a shot, they shoot again, we block a shot, the ball falls to Nikolaou who basically whiffs on a clearance it seems, and they put it in the net. 0-1

41': Downes a cross, Subotic a header, its by the keeper, hits the bottom of the crossbar... and bounces back out into play instead of into the net, urgh!


HALF: Frustrating half, woodwork 3 times for us, we take 7 shots but only 1 on target, they take 6, just one on target but its the goal. Possession is about even but we aren't really playing that great, I try to fire up some passion in the locker room and send them out for the second half.

48': They build up possession, work it down the right sideline, there's a cross and we don't defend well at all, their striker Barton heads it by Lynch and into the net. 0-2

50': Attacking mindset I suppose.

63': Really!? short corner taken by Downes to Williams, Wiliams plays it back to Downes, he lays a nice ball off to Ball, who strikes it from 15 yards out... and hits the crossbar. UGH!


69': Downes with a cross into the area, they head it away, O'Sullivan is there though and plays a quick through ball to Clapham who directs it with his first touch past the keeper and into the net! Finally. 1-2

90': O'Sullivan a yellow... 90, really? Yup, the last 20 minutes burned off without anything happening at all for an extended highlight.


Woking 1 : Port Vale 2


We outshoot them 14-9, each team only has two shots on target, they scored with both, we scored with one. But we hit the woodwork FIVE times. I've never seen that before. It feels like that's a game we clearly should have won, and losing at home to a bottom of the table team is not good for us. This one was frustrating to watch.


O'Sullivan puts up a 7.4 rating and earns man of the match even in the loss today with the assist.

Clapham only played 35 minutes but got a goal and a 7.2 rating.

On the negative Ogogo and Nikolaou put up 5.8 and 5.7 ratings, Subotic a 6.2. Subotic had 6 of our shots and only put one on target, a striker's got to do more.

[Radii]

--Reserve ML Josh Coke is released, he's 22 years old, he has some limited skills but would never play for us unless we were in big trouble. He started making noise this week about wanting first team soccer, so I give him his walking papers and wish him well.

World Cup Qualifying

With two games played last week the US have very slightly improved their standing. On 9/7 they beat Guatemala at home 1-0 as they needed to do. On 9/11 they were only able to manage a draw at Costa Rica. Costa Rica has fallen apart and is 0-2-6 in this qualifying, needed to win there.

The US was 1 point behind Canada, who beat Costa Rica and lost to Mexico. So the US gains a point and is now tied, but Canada leads by 3 in goal differential.

With 8 out of 10 matches played:

1. Mexico - 22 points - clinched world cup bid
2. Honduras - 13 points - clinched 4th for a playoff spot
3. Canada - 11 points, 14 goals for/11 goals against
4. USA - 11 points, 10 goals for/10 goals against
5. Guatemala - 6 points
6. Costa Rica - 2 points

The good news is that the US is at home for their final two matches. The... other news... is that the two matches are against the top two teams, Honduras and Mexico. Perhaps the US won't get a top effort from either since they've already reserved spots.

Canada travels to Guatemala and then hosts Honduras.

With 5 points on Guatemala and 2 matches to play, it would take an epic failure to not at least finish 4th which earns a playoff with a south american team for qualification. It'd sure be nice to somehow bump ahead of Canada for 3rd though.




Over to Europe, only 3 teams have qualified with one month to go, Croatia, France, and England.


Other notable teams:

Group 2:

Slovakia 19 points
Spain 17 points
Turkey 13 points

w/ 2 matches left, Spain needs some help to win their group but looks fine for the playoffs.


Group 3:

Russia 17 points
Czech Republic 15 points (+11 GD)
Slovenia 15 points (+3 GD)


Group 5:

Portugal 19 points
Greece 19 points

both teams have a +11 differntial. Awesomely enough, Portugal hosts Greece in the next match.


Group 6:

Italy 18 points
Switzerland 14 points

Italy should be fine.

Group 8:

Holland 19 points
Belgium 18 points
Scotland 15 points

Holland should be ok too but there is the danger of a slip.


Group 9:

Germany 16 points
Serbia 11 points

This is the 5 team group so they only play 8 matches. Germany is 5-1-0 with 2 left, they are in great shape as well.




In both North America and Europe, World Cup Qualifying finishes around October 16th.

[Radii]

September 21st, 2013

Woking(2-2-3, 14th) @ Brighton(0-4-3, 23rd)

Brighton are 4:5 favorites at home despite a 2:10 goal differential in their first 7 matches and no wins.

Jesus is back to full training, he probably can't go the whole match today but we'll start him to get him back out there. Anane gets some action over Ogogo as well.

GK: Lynch
DEF: Nikolaou/Williams/Smith/Anane
MC: Upson/O'Sullivan
AM: Jesus/Downes
ST: Harsanyi/Pablo

12': Pablo shows some great control receiving a pass in the penalty area, dribbling through the defense, feeding the ball back out to Nikolaou, who crosses right back in and Harsanyi is there to head the ball past the helpless keeper! 1-0 This ends a long goal drought for Harsanyi.

30': Midfielder Crofts with a yellow for a hard tackle on O'Sullivan.

31': Upson with a hard strike from 20 yards out that the keeper is able to deflect.

45': Brighton win a corner, they take it low to the near side and we are not really defending well at all, there's a shot, its blocked by someone and Nikolaou is first to the loose ball to clear it, that was dangerous.

HALF: Not a lot of highlights here but we definitely have the upper hand today. 58/42 edge in possession, 4 shots for us with 2 on target, 3 shots for them, none on target.

64': After countless attacks that came to absolutely nothing for us, we control possession, go down the left side to Jesus, he cuts in a bit, O'Sullivan makes a run up the middle and no defender follows him at all, a completely free run into the area, Jesus plays a ball forward to him, O'Sullivan receives it and puts it by the keeper from about 10 yards out. 2-0

66': Brighton attack and win a corner. they get to this one, winning a header and directing it well by Lynch into the net. first poor corner defense for us all year. 2-1

71': Clapham in for Jesus.

76': Pulis in for Upson.

79': Clapham has a free kick from 30 yards out, he strikes it low just past the wall, the ball bends slightly and just goes into the left side of the net!!! 3-1

We defend the rest of the way and allow a couple corners but nothing dangerous.

Brighton 1 : 3 Woking

We needed this one, a solid road win after a disappointing home loss, outstanding!

Joe O'Sullivan is man of the match today with an assist and a goal, his assist must have been on the free kick (the man getting fouled?). He earns an 8.9 rating.

Goals: Harsanyi (7.4) and Clapham (7.3)
Assists: Nikolaou (7.6) and Jesus (6.9)

Everyone else on the team put up a 6.8 or 6.9 today, we really played well.

[Radii]

September 28th, 2013

Macclesfield (1-0-7, 24th) @ Woking (3-2-3, 12th)

We're even money favorites against the worst team in the league. Macclesfield boss Dean Thomas reveals in his press conference that he "fears" the threat Joe O'Sullivan brings and containing him is key to slowing us down.

We played Macclesfield twice 2 seasons ago in the BS Premier League, they got promoted a year before we did. We beat them at home and tied on the road.

We bring Ogogo back in on defense, otherwise keep the same lineup from our last match.

GK: Lynch
DEF: Nikolaou/Williams/Smith/Ogogo
MC: Upson/O'Sullivan
AM: Jesus/Downes
ST: Harsanyi/Pablo


13': Harsanyi controls the ball in the area, lays it out left for Jesus who crosses it in, Pablo with a header.... it hits the right post, so close!

20': Macclesfield with a poor turnover in midfield, Upson with a quick long ball forward, Pablo is behind the defense, a solid first touch to set up a shot, he fires it from the right side to the far post by the keeper and in! 1-0 That's the first assist for Upson I think, and definitely the first goal for Pablo for us.

43': We win possession in our end and quickly advance the ball, Pablo has it 40 yards out with a lot of room, he moves up some before finding Harsanyi, Harsanyi has a defender on him but manages a shot... barely saved by the keeper, a nice move for us regardless.


HALF: In extra time we allow Macclesfield their first two corner kicks. Upson heads them both away. Macclesfield has not taken a single shot yet, outside of those two corners every single highlight was our attacks. Worth noting is that Ed Upson has a 7.7 rating at halftime, a rare thing with just one assist, he has a couple key passes, he's won 5 of 6 headers, including the 2 key ones in corner defense, and is just generally playing great.

52': Defender Draper for Macclesfield with a yellow while tackling Harsanyi.

56': O'Sullivan starts the attack, passing ahead to Upson who gets a great through ball to Pablo, Pablo strikes it from 20 yards out and its a good deal wide, but he made a great run to get open, perhaps he could have tried to keep going into the box, but ah well.

65': O'Sullivan a yellow competing for a loose ball.

76': Macclesfield take their first shot of the day, a header that is well wide.

77': Ball in for Upson, Ademola in for Downes

81': Jesus with a cross into the area, Pablo goes down while going up for a header... PENALTY! Jesus will take it... he strikes it, basically directly at the keeper, who blocks it without moving. Ouch.

87': Harsanyi gets hit and is a little hurt, hopefully not enough to matter long term, but I bring in Subotic anyway.

92': Macclesfield earn a corner, its taken, there is a header, Lynch dives and makes the save. The second shot of the day, the first one on target (though it really looked to be going wide and Lynch was just playing it safe...)


Woking 1 : 0 Macclesfield

We manage 11 shots, 4 on target, they take 2 and put just 1 on target. This one feels like we should have won by lots more, especially with the penalty missed by Jesus, but also since we had the ball in their end most of the match it seems and did generate a number of threatening looks.


Upson is man of the match today, he put up an 8.4 rating before being subbed out, he had the assist on our only goal.

Our goal scorer, Pablo, earns a 7.4 rating. Ogogo a 7.1, Nikolaou a 7.0. Downes struggled with a 6.1 today, everyone else was up close to 7.

[Radii]

October Updates

--The board is pleased with my leading of the team. bringing in Jesus on loan is the high point, while our 5-1 league cup loss to Charlton still stings. We lost $152,000 last month. We're not making nearly enough to cover our increased expenses, despite the fact that our team's average salary is barely half the league average.

-- Wycombe's Jordan Clarke wins another young player of the month award. Joe O'Sullivan is 2nd this month.

-- QPR has offered striker Tommy Hicks to us on loan. He seems decent but i dunno if we can really take on another striker. He's deciding whether to come still...


October 1st, 2013

Woking (4-2-3, 9th) @ Exeter(4-0-5, 14th)

We're 7:4 dogs here, while Exeter are 5:4 favorites. I'm surprised its that close until I realize I had Exeter mixed up with Oxford and thought I was playing one of the best teams in the league, I'm not :P

Exeter Striker Luke Daley looks like a big problem. He's quite fast and has 4 goals and 2 assists in 8 matches so far. Exeter looks like a team that scores a lot but also gives up a lot of goals.

Anane is in today to help the defense against what looks like a quick offense (Ogogo getting too far foward could kill us here). A couple other subs are made for fitness reasons.

GK: Lynch
DEF: Nikolaou/Williams/Smith/Anane
MC: Ball/O'Sullivan
AM: Clapham/Ademola
ST: Harsanyi/Pablo

We'll try a counterattacking strategy today

4': Daley has two shots already, the second Lynch really made a spectacular diving save to get.

7': Harsanyi picks up an injury and is forced to come out... Subotic is in, hopefully this isn't long term.

14': The ball is headed around a couple times after an Exeter corner before one of their defenders gets off a strong volley that hits the crossbar. We're under heavy attack here heh.

30': We've switched to a defensive mindset and have settled things some.

HALF: Exeter manage 3 shots in the final 15 minutes, two way off and one a very weak effort that Lynch got easily.

We have 2 shots, neither on target, they have 11, 4 on target including 1 clear cut chance that Lynch made the great early save on. Our offensive guys are all playing very poorly the few times we have gotten the ball forward.


47': WTFWTFWTF. Lynch with a goal kick, their man heads it back towards the keeper. The keeper goes to scoop it up near the 6 yard box and... trips? just simply doesn't hold onto the ball. Pablo was tracking that way to pressure the keeper a bit. Pablo runs over and passes the ball into the empty net. Never seen anything close to that before. 1-0

51': WTFWTFWTF part 2. A long ball played forward by Exeter goes into the right corner of the penalty area. Lynch goes to scoop it up and apparently touches the ball inches outside the area. Or the ref is a moron, one of the two. Lynch gets a yellow card and is called for a handball, setting up a very dangerous free kick. They loft it into the area and Ball heads it out.

55': Subotic wins a ball in midfield, cuts right and blows right by a defender. He continues by himself, making it into the penalty area, taking a shot, but putting it just wide.

56': A counter from Exeter, they feed it forward to one of their strikers, Smith misses a tackle, allowing the striker to turn, play a ball through to Daley who runs onto it and puts it in. 1-1

65': After some Exeter possession they play a cross, Williams heads it out, but they get to it and head it back into the area, the ball hits the ground and striker Daghall is the first one to it, he easily puts it by Lynch. 1-2

65': Upson in for Ball, Jesus in for Clapham.

81': Two quick yellows for Exeter players rooney and uh, a defender whose name I forgot already.

87': Upson wins a ball in midfield, quickly feeds Subotic who plays a ball forward to Pablo, Pablo finds a big hole in the defense and makes it into the penalty area before easily beating the keeper! 2-2

92': O'Sullivan with a yellow for tripping Daley on a header. this was out near midfield though.


That'll do it, a very strange game here.

Exeter 2 : 2 Woking

We have to be pleased here, we got a fluke goal from a goalie mistake and pulled a draw despite being outshot 18-6 and Exeter having some very quick attackers that gave us a lot of trouble.

Pablo is man of the match with an 8.8 rating and both our goals.

Subotic had our only assist and a 7.0 rating.

Elsewhere: O'Sullivan 7.1.

Clapham was awful before coming out, 5.4 rating for him. Anane had a 6.2 and wasn't great either.




-- Brighton fire their head coach. I'm expected to be a top candidate for the job. I'm a little worried about Woking's potential in a 4500 capacity stadium. Brighton has a 25,000 arena. They are also in 23rd place after being predicted 1st by the media, which is terrifying. I decide I'll wait until our stadium actually starts limiting my advancement and issue a statement that I'm not interested in the job.

-- Harsanyi will be out for about a week, he'll miss one match, maybe two.


We're in 10th place with 10 matches down. Multiple teams still have 0 wins in league play and we are off to a great start for a team just expected to avoid relegation.

[Radii]

-- QPR Striker Tommy Hicks was willing to come to Woking but I guess the deal was going to default to "rest of the season" and we have reached our maximum for that already. Really with Harsanyi/Subotic/Pablo we don't need another striker anyway.

October 4th, 2013

Barnet (2-1-7, 21st) @ Woking (4-3-3, 10th)

We're pretty big 4:7 favorites here today against a struggling Barnet side. This is Barnet's 9th year in a row in League 2, their best finish being 12th in 2007/08.

Barnet striker Kofi Lockhart-Adams has 3 goals and 2 assists in 10 matches so far and is their highest rated player. His bravery sucks and we're going to close down and tackle hard to try to rattle him.

Some lineup changes today due to fatigue and Harsanyi's injury:

GK: Lynch
DEF: Nikolaou/Williams/Smith/Ogogo
MC: Upson/O'Sullivan
AM: Jesus/Downes
ST: Subotic/Pablo

Pablo has 3 goals in our last two matches now.

3': O'Sullivan up to Pablo, Pablo runs right by one defender and strikes from about 19 yards out, the keeper makes the save, nice move to get open though.

14': Ogogo picks up a knock going in for a tackle, he doesn't have to come out but he's down to 70% fitness.

20': After a deep throwin, they get a header way up into the air, Lockhart-Adams gets his head to the ball in the 6 yard box and the trajectory of that header seems to have messed everyone up. His header gets by Lynch. 0-1

30': Our first clear cut chance comes after a bad throw by their keepr, Jesus steals it, charges down the right sideline, crosses to Subotic who heads it over... point blank basically...

39': Mike williams with a yellow going up for a header.

44': Striker beavon with a yellow for a foul near the penalty area on a corner kick

44': Jesus takes the free kick and it blasts off the left post and back into the penalty area. Subotic is in the right place at the right time and pokes the ball into the net while the keeper is down (he dove after the free kick). 1-1


HALF: A frustrating first half til the last minute there. Ogogo took much of the blame for the goal we allowed and Christian Smith is having a crappy half. We take 12 shots and put only 4 on target, they take 6 shots and put 3 on target. At least 2 of our on target shots were fairly weak efforts that had no shot of scoring, just playing catch with the keeper. Point being, I don't really feel like we've been *that* dominant despite the stats.

53': Barnet midfielder Sawyer gets a yellow for a tackle on Upson.

55': Pablo takes a pass about 20 yards out, he cuts by a defender... and instead of taking the ball into the area when he seemed to have an open lane, he shoots from there and puts it wide.

75': Upson with a great steal in their third of the field, he plays a nice ball forward to Subotic who takes a hard shot from just inside the penalty area, the keeper is able to deflect it. The ball falls to Downes but he isn't able to get a shot off before teh keeper recovers. We end up working it around for a cross and earn a corner. The corner comes to nothign.

77': Cousins in for Pablo, Thomas in for Nikolaou, Ball in for Upson, all done for fatigue reasons. We also switch to an attacking mindset.

90': Ball with a yellow for a bad tackle.


Woking 1 : 1 Barnet

The two chances I mentioned in the writeup above is pretty much all that either team generated all half. We only took 4 shots all half, they just took 2.

Subotic earns man of the match for his goal today, 7.2 rating.

Jesus earns a 6.8 rating and has the assist.

Other ratings: Nikolaou (7.0), O'Sullivan (7.0), Upson (7.1). Ogogo struggles with a 5.8.

The fans are pleased with our draw... funny, I'm not at all. Lots of times i'm happy with a result and the fans are mad, rarely the other way around.

[Radii]

-- DL Nikolaou will play for the Cyprus U21 squad on 10/11 and 10/15.

October 9th, 2013

Johnstone Paint Trophy 2nd Round

Woking @ Exeter

Well, we just played last week to a draw at their house. They're pickem favorites once again and we're going on very short rest and will play again in 3 more days, so we make the appropriate subs. We're not "throwing" this one but we can't run all our best guys 3 days in a week.

GK: Lynch
DEF: Nikolaou/Fenton/Smith/Anane
MC: Upson/Pulis
AM: Clapham/Ademola
ST: Subotic/Pablo


Luke Daley and their other striker Dagnall both threatened us a ton in the last match. We're not sitting back today to let their speed kill us. We're attacking, I kinda wanted to try this last game against Exeter, they seem like they score a lot but give up more. I'm a bit more comfortable trying it in a competition.

10': Daley with a clear cut chance on a great give and go from the right side of the area, Lynch with a great save.

19': Well if you allow 6 shots in 20 minutes don't be surprised if you give up a goal... midfielder Rooney puts one past Lynch in about as easy a goal as you'll see, the defense got out of position trying to defend the strikers and Rooney filled the open space. 0-1

27': And two of our newest players do it again! Upson with a very nice through ball past two defenders, Pablo runs on to it and hammers it by their keeper! 1-1


HALF: The final 20 minutes of the half FLY by. I'm really liking Upson and Pablo, this is looking like it could be a great combo for the rest of the season. Exeter takes 8 shots, putting 5 on target, we take 5 shots with 3 on target. All of them were in the first 30 minutes on both sides. Possession is about even and this is going to be an exciting second half, I'm continuing to attack, screw it.

55': After a long ball forward that is slowed nicely by the wet turf, Clapham takes a shot from the left side of the area, off the left post, argh. this actually generates a counter attack... no one got to it til nearly midfield.

68': O'Sullivan and Ball in for Pulis and Upson. "Upson is furious with being replaced" ... he was a bit tired heh.

74': Lynch with the massive fuckup. They take a goal kick, there's a header, the ball comes ALMOST into the penalty area but not quite, so Lynch has to come out and play it but can't pick it up. He misplays it and it falls right to Daley who puts it into the wide open net. 1-2

74': Ogogo in for Anane.

89': Ball wins a header in midfield, feeds Clapham ahead to the left side, he crosses, Subotic with the header... off the crossbar and straight up, a few crowd under it, keeper grabs it. AAAAAAAAAAGH

90': 5 minutes of extra time thanks to a couple injuries.


Lynch makes a number of great saves in the final 10 minutes as we go all out to try to score, but it doesn't help his awful mistake and we can't come through.

Exeter 2 : 1 Woking

Ed Upson earns man of the match in the loss, he played great and I learned to not take his ass out if he's playing well unless he's dying heh. 8.1 rating and our assist. 9 for 9 on headers for him.

Pablo has our goal and a 6.9 rating.

Clapham with a 7.0 and Nikolaou was great with a 7.6 rating. Lynch with a 5.9, Ananea 5.6. Fenton played well today in only his second appearance of the year with a 6.8 rating.


This wasn't a league match so the loss is fine but the error by lynch hurts. Also a couple guys picked up little injuries, I don't think it'll be long term for anyone but we are gonna be hurting for our next match.

[Radii]

-- Stelios Nikolaou played the second half of the U21 Cyprus vs Moldova match and earned a 6.9 rating, playing quite well.

October 12th, 2013

Woking (4-4-3, 10th) @ Morecambe(0-4-7, 24th)

Morecambe has fallen down to the last spot in the league and we are 4:5 favorites on the road. Morecambe is now the last team in the league without a win. Morecambe got knocked out of the Johnstone Paint Trophy early and they're going on a week's rest while we're going on 3 days rest.

GK: Lynch
DEF: Thomas/Williams/Smith/Ogogo
MC: Upson/O'Sullivan
AM: Jesus/Downes
ST: Harsanyi/Pablo

Harsanyi is back from his short injury, Thomas is at DL with Nikolaou out for U21 duty.

13': We've got 5 shots but none on target, we seem clearly better so far. Harsanyi almost had a breakaway, the defender tracking him got in front of him at the last second to block a shot.

24': O'Sullivan with a nice feed to Harsanyi who plays an easy through ball to Downes who beat the offisdes trap and easily passes the ball into the right side of the net. 1-0

32': Upson with great control settling a ball that was cleared out by Morecambe, and a really nice pass forward to Pablo in traffic, Pablo takes a hard shot but the keeper saves it and it goes behind for a corner.

39': Jesus with a run down the left sideline, he plays a cross to the edge of the 6 yard box, the defense is just horrible, Pablo runs onto it and puts it into the net. A better defense would have sotpped that, we're getting multiple messages about Morcambe being totally demoralized. 2-0

47': Its the reverse of our last goal... O'sullivan gets the ball out wide to Downes, Downes charges down the right side, fires a cross into the area, Harsanyi runs onto the ball and easily places it into the net. 3-0


HALF: Its great to see this, Morecambe is just awful though, this is hilarious.

69': Pulis in for Upson. This is boring, we're gona win, etc.

79': Sloma in for Jesus, Fenton in for Smith, just using subs I don't usually get in.


Morecambe 0 : 3 Woking

Great win on the road today!

Aidan Downes earns man of teh match with a goal and an assist, great game for him and an 8.7 rating.

Goals: Harsanyi (8.1), Pablo (7.3)
Assists: Jesus (7.7), Harsanyi (8.1)
Others: Ogogo (7.4), Thomas (7.5), Williams (7.2), Upson (7.4)


The convincing win today moves us up to 8th, top 7 make the playoffs. We haven't played a lot of the top 7 teams and I expect a losing streak, but its great while it lasts!

[Radii]

Its a big day for US Soccer, results for North American Qualifying matches:

Costa Rica 1 : 3 Mexico
Guatemala 0 : 1 Canada
USA 2 : 0 Honduras

Standings with one match to play:

Mexico - 25 pts
Canada - 14 pts (+4 GD)
USA - 14 pts (+2 GD)
Honduras - 13 pts (+2 GD)
Guatemala - 6 pts
Costa Rica - 2 pts

The US is in third. They host Mexico on 10/16. The best part of this though is that canada and honduras play in the final match. If the US can get 1 point against mexico they clinch a world cup spot no matter what happens. With a US loss they can still clinch if Canada beats Honduras. And even if the worst happens the US at least make a playoff.


.. we don't play again til the 19th so lets see how the rest of qualifying shakes out.


Late to the party but got their shit together when it mattered I guess:

USA 4 : 1 Mexico
Canada 3 : 1 Honduras


Final CONCACAF qualifying standings:

1. Mexico - 25 pts
2. Canada - 17 pts (+6 GD)
3. USA - 17 pts (+5 GD)
---------
4. Honduras - 13 pts
---------
5. Guatemala - 9 pts
6. Costa Rica - 2 pts


Honduras is going to play defending world cup champions Paraguay in a playoff for the right to go to the world cup. Mexico, Canada, and the United States are in.



On to Europe:

Croatia, Spain, Czech Republic, France, Portual, Italy, England, Holland, and Germany qualify automatically for winning their groups.

Albania finishes 2nd but doesn't qualify for the playoffs.

Playoff draw amongst other second place teams:

Poland vs Switzerland
Greece vs Slovakia
Slovenia vs Belgium
Denmark vs Serbia


Group 3 stood out to me here, won by the Czech Republic with 2nd place taken by Slovenia. Noteworthy because Russia led the group every single time i checked it, but the Czech Republic and Russia played on the final day and a 3-1 win knocked Russia down to 3rd and out.

The playoffs occur on Nov 16th and Nov 20th

[Radii]

October 19th, 2013

Northampton (3-5-4, 16th) @ Woking(5-4-3, 8th)

We're very very slim favorites here, 6:4 compared to 13:8, basically even.

Northampton has bounced back and forth between league 2 and league 1 since 1967. They finished dead last in league 1 last year and are trying to work back up again. This is our first match.

We're playing what I currently feel is the best team we can field after a solid week of rest.

GK: Lynch
DEF: Nikolaou/Williams/Smith/Ogogo
MC: Upson/O'Sullivan
AM: Jesus/Downes
ST: Harsanyi/Pablo

22': Northampton controls the early possession, they get a nice through ball to the left side of the area, the shot is taken, its off the crossbar, Nikolaou is able to scramble the rebound away while Lynch gets back into position.

25': Upson makes a run down the right sideline, dunno how he got down there, but the cross he plays is really nice, Jesus is there at the far end of the 6 yard box, the keeper dives out for the cross and jesus heads it down into the empty net! 1-0

39': PABLO. This guy owns. Upson wins a ball in midfield and fires it forward to Pablo. He bursts by one man, cuts left, defender goes with him, he plays the ball to the right into the area a few yards away, the defender is going the wrong way, Pablo gets there and drills it into the net. Great goal!! 2-0

We control 53% of the possession, pretty close, but we're passing better, crossing better, we seem to position ourselves better and are winning all the loose balls. Each team has four shots, we have 2 on target, both for goals. Upson is looking like a superstar. Pablo too.

46': We win a free kick 30 yards out, Upson takes it, fires a shot and its just off the crossbar.

63': Downes picks up an injury, down to under 65% fitness and is listed as injured so it might be multi-game. Ademola comes in for Downes, Subotic in for Harsanyi who is having a horrible game.

75': We're dominating everything now. Ademola twice swings in crosses that Subotic gets his head to but he hasn't been able to finish one.


Woking 2 : 0 Northampton

After 53/47 possession in the first half and each team taking four shots, the game ends with us having a 19-6 edge in shots and a 63/37 possession edge.

Upson is brilliant today, 2 assists, key headers, key passes, 11/11 on headers, 9.0 rating and man of the match.

Goals: Pablo (8.3), Jesus (7.8)

Others: Ogogo (7.5), Nikolaou (7.5)

Harsanyi putsup an inexplicable 5.7 when no one else on the roster is below 6.8.



Job Offer

I've been rumored for a few jobs before, but this is a first. And the scenario is pretty awesome too to picture. So after our game with Northampton today, they fire their coach. Before they hop on the bus to go back home, I receive a call officially offering me the Northampton job. Northampton would offer me $1,100/week to take their job. I currently make $950/wk. Northampton has a $38k/wk budget compared to our $25k/wk, and they have an $11,000 transfer budget compared to our zero.

I'm still committed to taking Woking as far as I can, and I turn this one down too, but its flattering to officially get an offer.

[Radii]

Before the season started I'd talked about not really being sure who could succeed in league 2 and who couldn't. We've played 13 league matches now, though really our schedule has been easy so far and i expect a drop soon. But anyway, I wanted to review who has done well and who hasn't.

Ed Upson - 10 games - 4 assists - 7.46 rating
Pablo - 9 games - 6 goals - 7.33 rating
O'Sullivan - 12 games - 1 goal/2 assists - 7.27 rating
Jesus - 11 games - 2 goals/3 assists - 7.11 rating
Nikolaou - 13 games - 7.08 rating
Harsanyi - 13 games - 5 goals/3 assists - 7.04 rating
Pulis - 10 games - 6.99 rating
Downes - 11 games - 6.96 rating
Smith - 14 games - 6.91 rating


4 of our top 9 guys were starters in our BS Premier winner last year. Upson, Downes, and Smith are new full timers for us as well, so I think we've done a great job setting ourselves up, better than I thought possible. Jesus and Pablo are the only two loaners on the list.

Ogogo has a 6.88 rating, I was hoping he would stand out a bit more since I am giving him $2600/wk.

Williams (6.88), Subotic (6.83), Lynch (6.73) are all doing fine as well.

Ademola (6.66) and Anane (6.35) are the two guys that worry me the most. They've gotten a chance to play a fair amount and have not done well.


Cousins, Sloma, Sole, Fenton and Arter are basically done for me. I'm not trying to get them into the lineup anymore to see how they do.



Also, we've played 13 league matches now, a bit over 1/4 of the season is done. Here's how things look:

1. Lincoln - 11-1-1 - 34 pts
2. Oxford - 9-1-3 - 28 pts
3. Rushden - 8-2-3 - 26 pts
=======
4. Kidderminster - 7-4-2 - 25 pts
5. Stockport - 7-4-2 - 25 pts
6. Wycombe - 7-3-3 - 24 pts
7. Leyton Orient - 5-7-1 - 22 pts
=======
8. Woking - 6-4-3 - 22 pts
9. Rochdale - 5-5-3 - 20 pts
10. Dag & Red - 6-1-6 - 19 pts
11. Grimsby - 5-3-5 - 18 pts
12. Chesterfield - 5-3-5 - 18 pts
13. Port Vale - 5-3-5 - 18 pts
14. Bury - 4-5-4 - 17 pts
15. Exeter - 5-2-6 - 17 pts
16. Crewe - 4-2-7 - 14 pts
17. Notts Co - 4-2-7 - 14 pts
18. Northampton - 3-5-5 - 14 pts
19. Tranmere - 3-4-6 - 13 pts
20. Hereford - 2-6-5 - 12 pts
21. Brighton - 2-6-5 - 10 pts
22. Barnet - 2-2-9 - 8 pts
======
23. Macclesfield - 2-1-10 - 7 pts
24. Morecambe - 0-4-9 - 4 pts



3 advance, 4 in the playoffs, we're 8th.


We have a 3 game stretch in December where we play Lincoln, Oxford, and rushden back to back to back. That'll be fun! But really our schedule coming up doens't get as scary as I thought. I expected us to be playing like 4 playoff teams in a row any day now. Nope.

[Radii]

October 26th, 2013

Woking(6-4-3, 8th) @ Rochdale(5-5-3, 9th)

Rochdale is barely favored 6:4 today, we're the 13:8 slight dogs. We'll see though, Right Midfielder Joe Thompson has a 7.47 average rating and 7 goals and they have a couple other noteworthy guys, this feels dangerous.

We replace Harsanyi with Subotic today.

GK: Lynch
DEF: Nikolaou/Williams/Smith/Ogogo
MC: Upson/O'Sullivan
AM: Jesus/Downes
ST: Subotic/Pablo

We'll attempt to close down on Joe Thompson and MC Danny Whitaker, their two best players. On the road we'll go defensive as well.

8': On a cross rochdale attempts a header, its blocked by Lynch and out, falls to a Rochdale player who fires a shot off the left post and we finally clear.

10': Upson takes the blame on this one, he has a poor pass intercepted in our 3rd of the field, they get it to Striker Russell who rockets a shot from 25 yards out and its into the right side of the net. 0-1

24': there's a through ball from the left side of the midfield for Rochdale... wow the guy looks WAY offsides. but their man Moore runs onto it and puts it in. Jesus is furious and complains for the offisides, and I'll be attending the press conference to complain if I get the chance too. 0-2

36': Jesus makes a long run down the left sideline, he avoids one tackle, passes ahead to Subotic, there's a missed tackle there, allowing Subotic to run free into the area, he fires a shot and he finishes well, some relief before the half hopefully! 1-2

HALF: I have a hard time describing the last 10 minutes. I see Lynch make 3 different diving saves, I see him block a shot and dive the other way to save a shot off the rebound. I see our defenders ratings drop every time they update. I don't know how its 2-1. Seems like it could be 5-1 by now.

Rochdale take 20... TWENTY... shots in the first half. They put 8 on target and earn 4 clear cut chances, they hit the woodwork 3 times. We take 4 shots, 2 on target. We're lucky to be down just 1 and if we can have a better second half we're right in this thing.

49': their danger man Thompson gets down the right sideline and fires in a cross, its headed by MC Kennedy into the far corner of the net. Lynch stands and watches it go by, he had no chance. 1-3

We change to a standard mindset, maybe playing more aggressively gets the ball out of our end.

54': Upson plays a beautiful ball forward to Downes in the area, its our 3rd clear cut chance of the match, and he strikes it at the keeper...

73': Pulis in for O'Sullivan, Clapham in for Jesus, Ademola in for Downes.

75': Ademola runs into the penalty area with the ball, he slides a pass over to Pablo, he's got a point blank look, 8 yards out... and puts it at least 2 yards wide. The keeper was out of position due to the pass, wow what the hell buddy???

78': I was typing up the failed Pablo effort, they score. Didn't see how, don't care. 1-4

88': More good news from this shitpile of a performance. Ed Upson comes down hurt, his fitness drops to 50%, he stays on to finish it out but we'll see if there's anything long term afterwards.


Rochdale 4 : 1 Woking

Apparently we don't need to play playoff teams to start falling, wow.

Subotic earns a 6.8 rating with our only goal. I dunno why jesus didn't get the assist, maybe what I thought was a missed tackle actually was a change of possession in some way and Subotic won the ball back and took it in to score. Weird.

Ogogo (5.5), Nikolaou (5.8), Smith (5.4), Williams (5.9), Downes (5.9) all were terrible.

Upson was down at a 5.5 after his poor pass led to a Rochdale goal, but he recovered to play really well, winning 5 key headers and completing 48 out of 60 passes to put up a 7.1 rating, he did the best he could.


Injury Update

Could be worse for sure. Upson will miss about 2 weeks of action. We'd gone 6 league matches without a loss, so things are still looking great, but this was depressing to watch.

[Radii]

FA Cup First Round Draw

We're gonna go on the road to play BS Premier side York on November 9th.

November Notes

--Stelios Nikolaou has trained well over the last month, always a good thing

-- Pablo is second in the mention for October Young Player of the Month

-- The board is delighted with the leadership qualities I am demonstrating. Our position in League 2 is a highlight. The loaning in of Steve Clapham is a disappointment. He backs up Jesus who is playing great, and has only done average himself when he has gotten the chance.


November 2nd, 2013

Woking(6-4-4, 9th) @ Grimsby(5-3-6, 13th)

We are 7:4 dogs today, Grimsby is 5:4 to come out with a win, we've never met before.

GK: Lynch
DEF: Nikolaou/Williams/Smith/Ogogo
MC: Ball/O'Sullivan
AM: Jesus/Downes
ST: Harsanyi/Pablo

6': They get two early shots on target, then during some normal buildup 33 year old midfielder Matt Spring launches a shot from 30 yards out, it catches us totally by surprise and rockets by Lynch. 0-1

13': They work the ball forward to striker Tom Corner... he goes right by Williams as Williams misses a tackle and strikes it near post from just inside the 18 yard line. UGggh. 0-2

31': We win a corner, Downs with an in-swinging corner near post, Williams runs onto it pefectly and gets his head to it, guiding it by their keeper, beautiful. 1-2

35': A nice move ends poorly, Downes works it nicely down the right sideline, gets it to Pablo who finds Harsanyi with some space, but Harsanyi puts it weakly right at the keeper.

36': Another run forward, here Pablo does it himself after receiving a pass, he shows two great moves to get by a defender, earns himself a clear cut chance about 15 yards out, its a powerful strike... but the keeper parries it.

41': Our 3rd clear cut chance of the match, Jesus cuts inside and receives a pass in the penalty area from Harsanyi, he turns and shoots, the keeper is out of position if he can get any sort of aim on this one at all... no, its wide left.


HALF: We recover some after a horrible start.We allow 9 shots but generate 8 of our own, we have 3 clear cut chances but just one goal. Pablo really should have scored on his. Christian Smith has a 5.5 so far, he's off to a rough start. I tell the guys I want to see more out of them and get them back out there.

55': Clear cut strike #4, Downes with a beautiful through ball to a wide freaking open Harsanyi maybe 12 yards out? He fires it off the right post.

63': Pulis in for Ball who is hurt a bit. Subotic in for Harsanyi who can't find the net.

71': A through ball from the midfield to Tom Corner, he's behind the central defenders but someone out left was too deep from tracking back on a deep run, he receives the ball in point blank range and finishes. 1-3


We turn on the attack and see a couple of crosses attempted shown in the extended higlights but nothing more.


Grimsby 3 : 1 Woking


O'Sullivan and Smith with 5.9 ratings today. Williams has our goal and a 6.8, Downes our assist and a 6.7. Just a poor overall performance, we missed a lot of easy shots and allowed them just as many, they finished them.


That's two very poor road performances against mid-table teams in a row.

[Radii]

November 9th, 2013

FA Cup 1st Round

Woking @ York

We have not done well historically against these guys. 0-1-3 in two seasons in the BS Premier league. York is in the BS Premier now but is still favored over us today at their house. Lets see if there's some way to play the "no one respects us" card here.

We make a couple changes to make sure we get our best out there for a match 5 days later:

GK: Lynch
DEF: Nikolaou/Williams/Smith/Ogogo
MC: O'Sullivan/Pulis
AM: Jesus/Ademola
ST: Subotic/Pablo

3': They get into our penalty arae, we clear it out and are off. Subotic runs by a defender around midfield and works the ball back and forth with Pablo, they get forward in a 2 on 2 situation and Pablo ends up with a shot from inside the area. Its not a clear cut chance but its a really strong, well taken strike and that's it, he puts it by the keeper! 1-0

38': Well 35 minutes have gone by. They have 5 off target shots, we have only taken 2 other shots and they weren't serious threats at all.

HALF: I'm glad we got out to the early lead but wow that was a boring half. We dominate possession 60/40, York takes 5 shots, all off target, 3 of them from long range. We take 4 shots, 2 on target, the one goal of course.

I feel good but would like another goal.

48': Speed kills. They cross the ball into the penalty area, Mike Wiliams with a long clearance, teh ball ends up past midfield near the left sideline... Subotic is simply faster than the defense. He gets to the ball first, sprints right by his man, as the second defender tries to come cover, cuts inside and gets into the area and fires a low shot to the near post that the keeper has no shot at. 2-0

62': Clapham in for Jesus, Herd in for O'Sullivan, Fenton in for Smith, we're just resting guys I want ready for the next match at this point.


We finish things off easily from there.

York 0 : 2 Woking

York manage 12 total shots but only put one on target. Both our goals really showed that we had these guys outclassed.

Subotic is man of the match, 8.3 rating, 1 goal/1 assist.

Pablo with yet another goal, 7.0 rating. The other assist to Mike Williams who put up a 6.8.

Elsewhere: Nikolaou had a great 7.8 rating, 7 tackles in 8 attempts, 10/11 in the air and lots of passes keeping the ball forward.

[Radii]

-- We receive $29,500 for our first round FA Cup win.

-- Stelios Nikolaou will play in Cyprus U21 matches on Nov 15th and Nov 19th.

FA Cup 2nd Round Draw

We will play at home against League 1 side Peterborough. Bad news there as Peterborough are currently 1st in League 1.

-- Giuseppe Sole is getting upset about his lack of first team soccer. Sorry bud, its just not in the cards. With Harsanyi/Subotic/Pablo and Ademola able to play the position and the ability to go midfielder heavy with a 4-1-2-2-1 formation if we have injury problems... its time to let Sole go. He's transfer listed.


November 16th, 2013

Leyton Orient(6-8-1, 8th) @ Woking(6-4-5, 11th)

We're heavy dogs at home here, this is an interesting matchup, mid-table team at home coming off two poor losses in league play. Can we win some of these and stay relevant or do we fall into 16th-20th place, not relegated but sucky?

They are 4:6 favorites, we're 7:2 home dogs, ouch.

Today's lineup with Nikolaou out on international duty:

GK: Lynch
DEF: Williams/Thomas/Smith/Ogogo
MC: Upson/O'Sullivan
AM: Jesus/Downes
ST: Subotic/Pablo


Central Midfielder Marc Fitzpatrick is my biggest worry, 2 goals/4 assists and a 7.22 overall rating, extremely quick and determined and hard working. He could cause us big problems and we'll try to close down on him and force him to use his weak left foot.

7': Subotic with the first on target shot, a long effort after a nice Upson pass. We earn a corner, its taken well, the keeper dives out for it and the net is open, but Pablo misses on a header.

11': a fast counter led by Pablo, he runs the defense back into the area, passes the ball to Upson at the 18 yard mark, he fires a shot immediately and beats the keeper!! 1-0

23': Pablo with a nice run down the right side, he makes a couple nifty moves to get free and places a nice cross, Subotic is there but his header is well over.

34': Upson with a key header, the kind of challenge on a ball in the air we didn't have someone who could win and direct before... this was deep in defense, a clearance comes floating out, Upson gets to it, heads it forward perfectly to Jesus, Jesus plays it to Subotic just over midfield, Subotic and Pablo are on the same wavelength, Pablo breaks towards the goal, Subotic with a long through ball, Pablo runs onto it after being just a couple steps onside, and Pablo gets into the area and buries it. A really, really great goal. The shot itself was routine but the flowing forward from winning a ball in the air that could have easily ended up back in our penalty area to quickly and precisely getting it forward so Pablo could score... wonderful. 2-0


HALF: 7:2 dogs my ass. Pablo is having a hell of a game. Upson is looking awesome back from his short injury a couple weeks ago. Lets keep it up! We have 8 shots, 3 on target, 1 clear cut the other a great strike. Leyton Orient with 5 shots, all off target. They dominate possession 58/42 over us, but we are putting together some very nice moves.


65': Yeah, noting this b/c we just skipped from 46 to 65 without a highlight.

75': Ball in for Upson, his first game back, he is way more tired than anyone else on the pitch.

84': A long throwin for Leyton Orient, a through ball from fitzpatrick and a missed tackle from Thomas leads to a Letyon Orient goal. 2-1

84': Clapham in for Jesus, and we set out to stall these last 5-10 minutes away.

That'll do. They attack hard but don't get a shot off the rest of the way.

Woking 2 : 1 Leyton Orient


Its nice when teh ratings match what I saw in the highlights.

Upson with an 8.3 rating and man of the match for his goal. 5/5 tackles, 9/10 on headers, 5 key ones. Great game. This guy may be the new O'Sullivan as far as me lavishing constant praise on him.

Pablo has a goal and an assist, 8.2 rating. He is one of the first strikers I've ever had on my team who can make something happen from anywhere on the pitch if he has the ball. Its fun whenever he gets it.

Subotic with the other assist today, 7.1 rating there.

Elsewhere: Ogogo (7.1), Williams (7.0).

No one was below 6.7. Big win!

For now, this puts us in 9th, just 3 points out of a playoff spot. I don't consider us serious playoff contenders, but the longer we stay up here, the better off we will be.

[Radii]

-- Ed Upson is named in the League 2 Team of the Week

International Update

Paraguay crushes Honduras 5:1 over the two legs of the playoff between the last potential north and south american qualifiers.


In Europe Switzerland beats Poland, Greece crushes Slovakia, Slovenia over Belgium, and Serbia over Denmark.

The World Cup Draw looks like it'll be on December 4th.


November 23rd, 2013

Hereford(2-6-8, 22nd) @ Woking(7-4-5, 9th)

We're 4:6 home favorites against this poor team. Hereford is 7:2 on their end. This is our first meeting.

GK: Lynch
DEF: Nikolaou/Williams/Smith/Ogogo
MC: Upson/O'Sullivan
AM: Jesus/Downes
ST: Harsanyi/Pablo

I've never seen a formation like this one... 4-2-3-1, that's 2 DMC's, 3 AM's and a striker.

We're attacking today.

9': Pablo has the ball forward, plays it back to Upson, a great ball forward to Jesus, he strikes it near post... keeper BARELY gets to it and turns it away.

34': Cannot believe we haven't scored yet. 9 shots to 3, many blocked. They do get men back w/ their formation heh.

43': Harsanyi and Pablo play a nice give and go, Harsanyi gets into the penalty area and fires a shot... another super close fingertip save.

HALF: Frustrating. We have 13 shots, 5 on target, 6 blocked heh. They have 2 off target shots, not even close ones. We'll break though and win this I believe, but the potential disappointment is looming if we can't.

68': We control the ball seemingly forever in front of their penalty area, Upson eventually gets a ball through to Jesus who strikes it hard but its saved... we now have 19 shots, 8 on target, 8 blocked.

69': Upson to Harsanyi who shoots from just outside the area, its over.

71': Ademola in for Downes, Subotic in for Harsanyi. Downes is tired, and I'm tending to prefer subotic/pablo up front.

76': Foul just outside the penalty area on Hereford. We get a dangerous free kick... and Upson puts it well over.

78': Some buildup after a free kick, Nikolaou a cross... Subotic heads it over.

82': Jesus receives a pass on the left side of the area from Subotic, he fires a bending shot... "grazes the top of the bar"


Wow. So frustrating!

Woking 0 : 0 Hereford

We take 25 shots, they take 3. We put 9 on target and have 10 blocked. What else is there to say. Their keeper earns a 9.2 and a well earned man of the match.

On our side:

Ogogo (7.2), Nikolaou (7.1), Upson (7.3), Jesus (7.0).

MEH.

[Radii]

November 26th, 2013

Woking(7-5-5, 10th) @ Dag & Red(7-3-7, 13th)

Dag & Red is favored 4:5 at their place today. They were predicted to finish much higher and have been a bit disappointing. This'll be our first meeting.

Dag & Red are led by speedy striker Izale McLeod who has 9 goals in 17 league matches. We'll try to close him down.

We replace a couple starters on short rest today:

GK: Lynch
DEF: Nikolaou/Williams/Smith/Ogogo
MC: Upson/Pulis
AM: Jesus/Ademola
ST: Subotic/Pablo

9': Great hustle by Ademola to intercept a pass in the midfield, he races down the right sideline and fires in a cross... a header is put over but it was a very impressive play for Ademola worth noting.

15': Upson with a ball forward to Subotic who turns and evades a defender, earning our first clear cut chance... but his strike from 12 yards out is saved. We're playing real well early on here.

40': Scary moment as a long goal kick bounces high and Lynch gets caught in a real bad spot, contending for a ball in the air with an attacker that he's trying to race back for... he causes enough problems that a header goes wide, very scary situation in our penalty area there.

HALF: Dag & Red only shoot 3 times all half, each time on weak headers. Mike Williams has a poor 5.8 but the rest of the team is playing pretty well. We're taking a few too many long shots and not trying hard enough to get better shots it seems, I'll instruct the team to work the ball in closer before shooting.

48': A dag & red midfielder gets deep on the right side before crossing the ball in, its another header, this one though is just off the crossbar and back into the 6 yard box where Ademola gets there to clear. WHEW.

66': Upson picks up an injury, hopefully not bad.

68': O'Sullivan in for Upson.

73': Clapham in for an exhausted Jesus. We haven't taken a shot this half but Dag & Red isn't doing a whole lot better.

76': Harsanyi in for a tired Pablo.

89': 3 corners in a row for Dag & Red but we eventually get it cleared out.

92': After a Dag & Red corner we clear the ball away, Harsanyi wins it and fires a long ball ahead, Subotic gets behidn the defense and ends up with a complete breakaway chance, no defenders nearby... his first touch on the ball near the 18 yard line is awful though and it just ends up getting poked foward to the keeper, that was a near certain goal if he controlled it.

Dag & Red 0 : 0 Woking

Two scoreless draws in a row, this one I'm a lot happier about than the last.

Ed Upson is man of the match with a 7.4 rating today. Ogogo (7.0), Nikolaou (7.2) also did prety well. No one was really bad or anything.

[Radii]

November 30th, 2013

FA Cup 2nd Round

Peterborough @ Woking

Peterborough are currently 3rd in League 1. We expect to get destroyed today. We are 4:1 dogs, they're 4:7 favorites.

We make tons of lineup changes today, we're going to have to play another game after this one on short rest, the guys are tired.

GK: Lynch
DEF: Thomas/Fenton/Smith/Anane
MC: Ball/O'Sullivan
AM: Clapham/Downes
ST: Harsanyi/Sole


We'll defend today.

12': We're looking ok so far. Not a ton of chances but we're not getting run off the field right away.

29': After a long throw Ball heads the ball out of our penalty area. They get a man to the ball who fires a shot from 25 yards out, its placed well but Lynch makes a great diving save, even hanging on to the ball.

31': After some buildup Peterborough get a lot of congestion around our DC's and we break down and allow a through ball that leads to a point blank shot for their top scorer, Makall-Smith. Easy goal. 0-1

HALF: They start to build up a bit more, we don't allow another goal, but we're at 5 shots w/ all off target and they are now up to 10, the first 20 minuets things felt very very even.

Ball is hurt, he picked up an injury late in the half. Pulis comes in for him at the half. We'll try to attack a bit more but have low expectations.

55': We get a little buildup, Sole seems to have a chance at a through ball to Harsanyi but doesn't take it, instead passing to the left for Clapham, who is tripped up just inside the penalty box. PENALTY!! Sole takes it, GOAL! 1-1

68': Peterborough are pouring it on, we haven't cleared this ball out in a damn while heh. Jesus in for Clapham, who is playing poorly.

71': Harsanyi goes down in the midfield going after a loose ball.. he's hurt and forced to come out of the game. Subotic is in.

81': Mackall-Smith almost with his second goal, this a long speculative strike from 30 yards out way to the right that bends and hits the left post.

... 3 minutes of extra time coming.

Nuttin.

Woking 1 : 1 Peterborough

Our goal comes from Sole, 6.8 rating. Assist from Clapham, 6.9 rating.

Thomas earns a 7.2 in the DL spot, Smith a 7.0, that's it really.


Possession was 50/50 today, Peterborough took 20 shots to our 8, but they only got 5 on target. We held our own pretty well today but really got lucky to draw the penalty, we weren't about to seriously threaten to score otherwise.




-- Bristol Rovers fire their head coach, I'm expected to be a likely candidate for the job. That's actually interesting as the only other FOFC FM dyansty I did was a long lasting one where I managed Bristol Rovers the entire time, so I feel a small connection with them. But still.. not yet, I release a statement that I'm not interested.

-- Harsanyi is going to miss 2 weeks for an elbow injury he picked up today.

-- We set a record for gate receipts at $180,000 today, breaking our previous record of $130,000 in the FA Cup against Walsall I beleive a year or two ago.

-- The replay against Peterborough will be on December 11th. We play on the 3rd and 7th so will be tired as hell going into that one too.

[Alf]

great draw there Radii !

[Radii]

After a long MMO stint I decided to fire this back up today. I think I'd rather try to keep this going instead of buying FM11 at this point and trying to start something new. Re-reading the last page of the dynasty I remember all the guys on the team and want to try to take this a bit further.


December Notes

The board is delighted with my performance. Outperforming expectations in League 2 is a top reason for the delight. The departure of Mark Ricketts remains the top sticking point. We made money last month! $53k profit, thanks entirely to our huge gate receipts from the recent FA Cup match vs Peterborough. We have an overall balance of -$453,358. As long as we keep doing well there seems to be cash infusions to keep us going though.

DL Stelios Nikolaou trained well last month and saw improvements in a couple key ratings, Marking (up to 7) and Positioning (up to 10).

FA Cup 3rd Round Draw

I cannot see us advancing past Peterborough... but if we somehow do, we'd get to host League 2 side Crewe in the next round. That would be a great draw for us.


December 3rd, 2013

Bury (4-6-8, 18th) @ Woking (7-6-5, 10th)

We go into this match slim favorites (5:4). Bury has been in League 2 for the last 12 years, only making the playoffs one time. They were 22nd last year.

This is our first ever meeting with Bury. They're led by Striker Scott Rendell who has 6 goals in 18 league matches. No one else has more than 3.

GK: Lynch
D: Nikolaou/Williams/Smith/Ogogo
MC: Upson/O'Sullivan
AM: Jesus/Downes
ST: Pablo/Subotic

5': We control possession in their 3rd for quite some time before O'Sullivan takes a long shot that's deflected out. Corner comes to nothing. We control immediately after their goal kick, more buildup, another shot deflected out, another corner going nowhere.

11': We earn a corner, Downes takes it short, Williams back out to downes who crosses it in, Smith with a header... off the crossbar! It was a good look.

15': Bury with their first shot, a long effort way off target. We have 6 shots, only one on target though (3 have been blocked).

19': Jesus has generated two great looks with runs down the left side and crosses into the area, headers from Pablo and Subotic have both gone over.

24': Upson with a pass ahead ot Jesus, he beats his man, into the box, he's tripped and a penalty is called!!! Its taken by williams... and sent wide. gah.

36': the last number of highlights have been Bury attacks... nothing serious though. Nikolaou just got called for a foul that looked sure to be a yellow to me.

39': Back to back yellow cards for Bury in defense.

HALF: We have 11 shots to their 9. We only managed one shot in the last 20 minutes of the half and things have evened out greatly. Our chances seemed better, but only one on target despite two clear cut chances, and its of course 0-0. Missing a penalty is pretty devastating.

46': We generate a nice attack right out of the gate, its yet another run down the left side by Jesus, a cross, and a header right at the keeper. Its at least on target this time.

62': Ademola comes in for a tired Downes at AMR. Jesus is tiring too but he's generated most of our chances so far, so I leave him in for now.

64': I change to an attacking mindset.

70': Clapham in for Jesus, Pulis in for O'Sullivan

71': As we clear a ball out, Bury midfielder Mat Mitchell-King picks up a second yellow card for a trip. We have a man advantage the rest of the way and really need to find a goal to win.

76': Ademola goes down with an injury and comes off the field briefly.

85': A long pass starts a counter attack for Bury. Their striker Rendell gets to it ahead of the defense but we catch up as he tries to set up for a shot, williams knocks it out for a corner.

87': A dangerous through ball by upson is cleared back for a corner. Clapham takes one, cleared back for another... the second is intercepted harmlessly.

89': We attack hard after a long clearance is picked off. Clapham runs down the left side.. into the box... a pass is deflected, Pablo races to it, but the keeper beats him to the ball by a split second.

92': Clapham with a terrible corner attempt. We win the ball back, Clapham with a terrible cross.

And thats it. We're unable to generate a goal here against a much worse team at home. This is a big disappointment.

Woking 0 : 0 Bury

Ogogo earns man of the match with a 7.3 rating. Nikolaou puts up a 7.2, Smith a 7.1, its all about the defense today.

Pablo had 4 shots, all off target. Subotic put 2 shots on target but both were saved. We ended up taking 18 shots today and putting only 2 of them on target. Bury had 12 shots, also putting 2 on target. We had 2 clear cut chances(to their 0) and hit the woodwork twice. Very disappointing result.

[Radii]

Its pointed out that we haven't scored in a few matches in league play during our postgame press conference, our last 3 league matches have ended in a 0-0 tie.

Loaner

BSS Side Lewes came asking about Striker Anson Cousins. Cousins is a kid I like a lot but he's just not up to the level of Harsanyi, Subotic, Pablo, etc. I'm happy to give him a chance to play somewhere.

World Cup Draw

Group A: Paraguay, Italy, Germany, South Korea
Group B: Australia, Cameroon, Serbia, Colombia
Group C: Bahrain, Uruguay, Portugal, Croatia
Group D: Slovenia, Chile, South Africa, Spain
Group E: Mexico, Greece, Iraq, Brazil
Group F: Holland, France, Canada, Ivory Coast
Group G: USA, Czech Republic, Ghana, Argentina
Group H: England, Switzerland, Nigeria, Iran

Group A and Group G are nightmarish. Good luck to the US getting anything done there, some revenge againast Ghana would be nice.



December 7th, 2013

Woking (7-7-5, 10th) @ Chesterfield(7-5-7, 12th)

Chesterfield are 4:7 favorites here, we're just 4:1, with a 5:2 shot at picking up one point. This is our first meeting against Chesterfield. They're led by Ryan Blackwell who has 9 goals on the season, tied for 5th in the league at this point.

I make a few lineup changes to account for the fact that we play a ton of matches in December and are going to have constant fatigue issues.

GK: Lynch
D: Nikolaou/Williams/Thomas/Ogogo
MC: Upson/Pulis
AM: Clapham/Downes
ST: Pablo/Subotic

Chesterfield runs a 4-2-1-2-1 formation that we have not seen much of with two DMC, a MC, Attacking mids out wide and then of course their striker.

We open defensive.

15': We lose possession on our side of midfield, Chesterfield with a great pass ahead that looks to generate a clear cut look, but Thomas makes a great tackle before anything bad can happen. Chesterfield is controlling the ball though, they pass it around forever in their end when a highlight comes up.

31': Chesterfield midfielder with a brialliant pass to the right side of the arae, a hard shot is blocked by Lynch! Nikolaou is there to clear the rebound. That's the first clear cut chance for either side, we got lucky.

36': Yellow card for a Chesterfield midfielder.

HALF: A dull one so far. Chesterfield manages only two shots, one of them the scary one I mentioned above. We get 4 shots, one of them is a weak header on target, the rest aren't close. Possession is even at 51/49, which is good for us, early in the half Chesterfield was looking to dominate time with the ball. One thing I notice is we are dominant in the air today winning 74% of our headers, to only 39% from Chesterfield. Downes has been a bit of a non factor with a 6.0 rating. Everyone else is in a respectable 6.6-6.8 range.

49': After a little back and forth in the middle Downes receveis a pass and sprints down the side, a cross is blocked back for a corner. Corner comes to nothing though.

53': Chesterfield earn a corner the same way, a cross down the rigth side is blocked behind. We head the corner attempt behind for a second one... second one is headed away to the sideline for a throwin. Finally we clear after a bad throw.

60': We fail to clear a deep throwin and they get a hard shot from the edge of the box... Lynch with the nice save.

61': We counter quickly and Clapham delivers a solid cross, Subotic gets his head to it but its saved easily.

62': Pulis in for Upson, Sole in for Pablo, both fatigue related.

67': midfielder Rees for Chestefield trips one of our guys and gets a yellow

73': Free kick from 35 yards out for Chesterfield is blasted towards the goal and hits the right post! Whew.

76': After minimal buildup, Sole sees an opening from 20 yards out and fires a shot at the goal. Its on target but saved.

83': Midfielder Warburton with a yellow 25 yards from the net... Pulis steps up to the free kick and blasts the ball off the wall and behind. Corner is completely wasted.


And that's the game. I debated a few times trying to turn on an attack or counter late, but we've been struggling to score and pressing a decent team on the road didn't seem the time to try to get out of our funk.

Chesterfield 0 : 0 Woking

Nikolaou is man of the match with a 7.4 rating in defense. Williams 7.2, Lynch 7.2, Thomas 7.0 in the back. Clapham made some good plays up front and earned a 7.3 rating but we couldn't do much with our few chances.

We shot 9 times, they shot 7 times. We each put 3 on target. 5 of our 9 shots were from long range. Watching the highlights it never felt like we seriously threatened while they had a couple very dangerous moments that we took care of.


-- Kevin Lynch made is 150th league appearance today. Not bad for a kid that just turned 22 last month.


We fall to 11th with our 4th straight 0:0 draw.

[Radii]

--We learn in a coaching meeting that Stelios Nikolaou has made tactical improvements this month. After a good training report last month I'm thrilled. His Technique is up, as is his Stamina. This kid is 20 and has been one of my better performers.

--Zoltan Harsanyi has resumed training after his injury. He won't be availble for our FA Cup Match coming up, but he'll add much needed depth as we have 6 matches still to play this month from the 11th to the 31st.


December 11th, 2013

FA Cup Round 2 Replay

Woking (10th in League 2) @ Peterborough (4th in League 1)

We are 9:1 dogs to pull out a win today. 1:4 favorites for Peterborough. Do we defend and hope for the best or come out attacking and try to catch them off guard? Perhaps we try a counter attack.

We basically play whoever is rested today.

GK: Lynch
D: Williams/Smith/Thomas/Agogo
MC: Pulis/O'Sullivan
AM: Jesus/Ademola
ST: Pablo/Subotic

Nikolaou and Upson are noticible scratches. They are both available if its close late.

12': The peterborough physio has come on 3 times already, perhaps giving us a prayer if they get a bit depleted?

14': We pack it in for a deep throwin, lose the ball quickly, a long outlet pass creates a 2v2 opportunity, our defenders both rush the ball, an easy cross is made and a simple finish puts us behind. 0-1

25': A Peterborough shot from outside the box hits the crossbar, that was close.

29': Through ball to striker Mackall-Smith, it was close to being offsides but not called, he scoots the ball by Lynch for his second goal. 0-2

38': O'Sullivan with a beautiful through ball that Subotic runs on to, it seems like he's going to get a clear cut strike from about 12 yards away, but he doesn't control the ball well and its taken away.

HALF: Not much we can do here it seems. They shoot 6 times to our 2 and truly outclass us here.

49': Oh a chance to get into it! Subotic with the ball 25 yards out, he slides it over to Jesus in the left half of the penalty area, a hard shot... the keeper dives for it and saves it.

61': A dangerous throwin sees three different Peterborough players control the ball in the penalty area but all they can manage is a shot taht Lynch blocks eaisly.

64': A quick attack by Peterborough, a long shot is blocked by Lynch but they have a man there for the rebound to put it into the open net. 0-3

67': Peterborough Striker Watts with a one on one move to embarrass our DC's and generate his own wide open look... Lynch is powerless to stop it. 0-4

73': I sub out starters to rest them. Ogogo ,O'Sullivan, Subotic out. Anane, Herd, Sole in.


Peterborough 4 : 0 Woking

About what should have been expected, it sucks it got that out of hand though. They ended up with two goals from Mackail-Smith and two from Dale Watts who didn't even come on to the pitch until the 56 minute mark.

Ogogo with a 5.9, Ademola a 5.7. Everyone else at least tried to hold their own today and stayed above a 6 rating. We allowed 14 shots, 6 on targe. We took 8 shots, 3 on target. One was a clear cut chance, probably the Jesus strike early in the 2nd half.


Our next league match is in 3 days so its time to put the focus on scoring in a league match again and staying in the top half of the table.

[Radii]

December 14th, 2013

Kidderminster (10-7-3, 4th) @ Woking (7-8-5, 11th)

The odds are basically even. 6:4 for kidder to win, 13:8 for us to win, 2:1 to draw. We need to win, and we *really* need to score. We know these guys pretty well. We're 3-0-2 against them, our last meeting was the playoff finals to promote out of the BS Premier to end the 11/12 season. They beat us 3:2 and forced us to spend another year in the BS Premier.


GK: Lynch
D: Nikolaou/Thomas/Smith/Ogogo
MC: Upson/O'Sullivan
AM: Jesus/Downes
ST: Subotic/Sole

Sole with a rare start. Pablo hasn't been playing great and is tired, he's sitting out today. Harsanyi is available for the 2nd half if we need him.

10': After a throwin in their 3rd of the field, we control the ball on the left side. Upson passes over ot O'Sullivan. He's a long way out but doesn't haev anyone near him. He takes a few steps foward and fires a strong shot from 25 yards out. The keeper dives but has no chance at all... but the ball hits the right post and bounces away. If it was on target the keeper was just not there, close!

16': They have a thorwin on their end. Upson with a long clearance of a bad pass, Subotic runs on to it and there's no defender in front of him... he takes it into the right side of the penalty area... one on one with the keeper... and fires a shot off the keeper where it falls safely away. That was a clear cut strike, I don't know how he didn't score.

39': Trhowin by Kidder, we deflect it away but it falls to the 20 yard mark straight in front of the goal. There's a scramble to get there, a Kidder striker is there first and he fires a shot that beats Lynch in the right side of the net. 0-1

46': A long pass down the left side for kidder... Ogogo gets to it first but doens't clear it well, it ends up practically being a centering pass for them, a striker runs on to it and fires it past lynch. 0-2


HALF: we didn't see a lot in the way of highlights here. Two good chances for us squandered, two good chances for them, both converted. Disaster.

-- jesus is exhausted. Clapham is in for the second half. Harsanyi is going to get into the mix as well.

49': Out of nowhere!!! Clapham has a freek kick from nearly midfield. He places a ball nicely into the area, Downes gets his head to it and puts it into the net!! Its a goal! 1-2

64': We delay in possession on their end of the field, O'Sullivan to downes, he betas his man and triggers a run down the right side, a cross... Upson gets his head on it... just over.

68': Harsanyi ends up one on one about 20 feet away but puts a shot wide.

82': We have a throwin deep in their end, there's a cross from Clapham, Ogogo gets his head to it in the 6 yard box... just wide! Gah! That was out THIRD clear cut strike and we have just 1 goal.

83': Ademola in for an exhausted downes.

88': We go all out pressing to try to generate a goal. They break us down immediately and Lynch makes a brilliant save.

92': Harsayni with a cross after a deep throwin... he sends the cross over everyone and out. He'll get his touch back, don't worry.

That was our last chance.

Woking 1 : 2 Kidderminster

We shoot 13 times, they shoot 8. But we both manage 4 on target, they just finished theirs and got out to the big lead. Downes has our goal (7.2), Clapham with the assist off the bench (6.9). Upson played well also putting up a 7.2. Sole was bad, 5.8 and out at the half. No one else stands out. Kidderminster is near the top of the league so we shouldn't be too upset, but, I don't like losing at home. Thank god we scored a goal. We drop to 13th with the loss.


Last game the Media called out Mike Williams for a string of non-exceptional performances in defense. Today they're going after Subotic. With Harsanyi back I do intend to rotate my strikers around and see if I can get something working.

[Radii]

We get a full week off before our next game. We finish the month with games on the 21st, 26th, 28th, and 31st.

-- In my pre-match press conference I'm asked about Subotic and I say that I do believe he can play better.

December 21st, 2013

Woking (7-8-6, 13th) @ Stockport (10-9-2, 4th)

The media headling going into the match is "Woking face the impossible" ... We're 10:1 dogs. They are amazing 1:6 favorites. Stockport have the fewest losses in the league but draw far more than the other teams at the top and find themselves a point out of automatic promotion. This is our first ever meeting with Stockport.

We're rested and i'm free to start my best, I make two lineup changes based on form though.

GK: Lynch
D: Nikolaou/Williams/Smith/Anane
MC: Upson/O'Sullivan
AM: Jesus/Downes
ST: Pablo/Harsanyi

Subotic is not going to play today, maybe a break will slow all the critisicm he's seeing. Ogogo's morale is poor, he isn't unahppy but maybe he dips quickly when we aer losing. I put Anane out there in his place. Other than that i'm starting my best guys.


Stockport uses a sweeper, then two DC's, two DMs on the outside, three MC's and two forwards. We open in a defensive mindset.


11': Wow. Their striker Hutchinson gets the ball out to the right about 20 yards out, he embarrasses Williams and attacks and scores quite easily. 0-1

23': We clear teh ball out of defense, but they get ot it and head it back in. Upson with a header from the 25 yard mark or so... he heads it back into our box, Hutchinson runs on to it and puts it by Lynxh. Huge error. 0-2

36': Two quick highlights, in one Jesus with a cross to the feet of Downes, he strikes it and the keeper makes a great save. Another we collect the ball in midfield and theer's a quick lob ahead to Harsanyi. He has a decent look from maybe 15 yards out on the right side of the area but the keeper blocks it.

46': Almost! Upson places a beautiful pass onto the penalty spot. Downes is right there, he has a great look, but he hits it right at the keeper. Our first/only clear cut chance so far and we couldn't finish.

HALF: 2-0 feels insurmountable. We generated some chances but its just not looking good. Lets keep pushing and see if we can do anything.

55': Upson is hurt and we bring in Pulis for him immediately.

66': Mike Williams picks up a yellow going after a ball in the air in midfield.

74': AFter a throwin in our end, the ball end sup floating high in the air right in front of the net, a stockport player gets his head to it and Lynch makes a brilliant save.

77': Clapham in for Jesus, Ball in for O'Sullivan.

86': Clapham takes a corner, its headed by Downes... off the post, so close!

Stockport 2 : 0 Woking

Most of the match felt relatively even. Of course that could be because Stockport got off to a quick 2 goal lead and could let up. We were just totally outclassed by their scorer Hutchinson, obviously man of the amtch.

Upson put up a 7.1 before coming out with a little injury(hopefully little). Anane 5.8. Williams was at a 5.4 in teh first half but picked it up and finished with a 6.7 rating.


We learn after the match that we have now gone 8 matches without a win. Oof. We fall to 15th.

I'm worried about confidence and Morale issues especially among the strikers since so many guys are on long scoring droughts.

[Radii]

--Its not getting any easier as we play Lincoln who is in 1st place next. A report comes out that attendance is expected to be down.

Contract Update

We get 21 messages about expiring contracts, many are coaches. Noteworthy players:

--DC Aswad Thomas - Making $875/wk, wants a bigger apperance fee but will take $825/wk. Cutting $50/wk would be nice and he doesn't play a ton.

--DC Mike Williams - currently $825/wk, will take $800 but wants a bigger appearance bonus. I try to lower the appearance bonus and make an offer.

--ST Danijel Subotic - straight up extension, he makes $2100/wk and is slumping a little now but I believe he's a guy I need to keep around.

--GK Kevin Lynch - Wants a small raise and I try to lock him in for longer than a year.

--MC Joe O'Sullivan - still has self esteem issues. He's my starter and he's playing well at this level, he only asks for $375/wk. I offer him $525/wk (his current salary) extended out to 2017.

AMR Ademola, AML/Utility Sloma, MC Arter, DR Anane are all up this year and will free up about $3500/wk total salary.



December 26st, 2013

Lincoln (14-6-2, 1st) @ Woking (7-8-7, 15th)

We're 7-2 dogs today in a game that brings us to the halfway point of the season. Lincoln are 4:6 favorites. We've never played these guys before. I'm not looking forward to it.

Lincoln's big scorer is Chris Fagan who has 12 goals. Johnathan Hughes has more goals than our top scorer with 7.

GK: Lynch
D: Nikolaou/Williams/Smith/Ogogo
MC: Upson/Pulis
AM: Clapham/Downes
ST: Pablo/Harsanyi

O'Sullivan and Jesus sit today. Lincoln runs a straight 3-5-2 formation.

2': A long free kick into the area... Harsany with the header, just saved! Nifty start.

6': Nikolaou falls over missing a tackle and is out of the play... a cross by Lincoln, the ball is headed around the area multiple times before being cleared behind. Corner for Lincoln comes to nothing. Pulis suffers a small knock.

24': Lincoln with the ball just over midfield, there's a 20 yard through ball run on to beautifully by Hughes... he strikes past Lynch... pretty goal, very quick strike. 0-1

28': Pulis with a free kick from 20 yards out, bent nicely around the wall, turned behind by the keeper. Two corner attempts go nowhere.

36': We earn our 7th corner... not a one has come close to connecting.

42': Pulis with a shot out of nowhere from 30 yards, he just misses wide.

HALF: We aren't playing bad. We've generated 8 shots, put 2 on target and had 4 blocked... our corner attempts aer awful. Lincoln with 5 shots, only one was on target, nothing blocked, they aer just whiffing. But that one on target was a great goal.

58': The second Lincoln goal is as quick as the first... A missed interception by Christian Smith is blamed for it, there's a long outlet from behind midfield, Hughes is onside but breaks perfectly and receives the ball just outside the box with no one near him, and he completes the finish. 0-2

69': Ball in for Upson, Thomas in for Williams, Ademola in for Downes. All three subs are based on resting important players for our next match.

79': Christian Smith goes down and he's out for the rest of the match. We've used up our subs so we drop back to a 4-4-1.

87': Ademola with a great cross, Pablo with the header... keeper makes a solid save.


Not unexpected but depressing.

Woking 0 : 2 Lincoln

Their goalscorer is obviously man of the match. Mike Williams with a 5.1 today, Ogogo 5.8.



Contract Update

O'Sullivan and Thomas immediately accept their new deals.

[Radii]

Starting DC Chrisitan Smith is out for 3 weeks.

[Radii]

Contract Update

Mike Williams accepts his new contract offer. GK Kevin Lynch does not, I tried to lock him up long term, he countered and I was pleased that it was for a slightly higher salary ($825/wk) but still a long term deal out to 2018. I didn't bother trying to negotiate that down anymore, the guy has started every game of this dyansty for me when he's been healthy, he's worth way more to me.



Midseason Table

We are halfway through the league season with 23 games played. Here's how things stand.

1. Lincoln - 15-6-2 - 51 pts
2. Rushden - 13-4-6 - 43 pts
3. Stockport - 11-10-2 - 43 pts
------------------------------
4. Oxford - 13-4-6 - 43 pts
5. Kidderminster - 11-8-4 - 41 pts
6. Rochdale - 11-7-5 - 40 pts
7. Leyton Orient - 9-11-3 - 38 pts
--------------------------------
8. Exeter - 10-5-8 - 35 pts
9. Dag & Red - 10-4-9 - 34 pts
10. Crewe - 10-4-9 - 34 pts
11. Grimsby - 10-4-9 - 34 pts
12. Wycombe - 9-7-7 - 34 pts
13. Port Vale - 9-6-8 - 33 pts
14. Chesterfield - 8-6-9 - 30 pts
15. Woking - 7-8-8 - 29 pts
16. Northampton - 7-8-8 - 29 pts
17. Brighton - 7-7-9 - 28 pts
18. Bury - 5-9-9 - 24 pts
19. Barnet - 7-3-13 - 24 pts
20. Notts Co - 5-7-11 - 22 pts
21. Hereford - 3-10-10 - 19 pts
22. Tranmere - 4-7-12 - 19 pts
---------------------------------
23. Macclesfield - 4-2-17 - 14 pts
24. Morecambe - 0-8-15 - 8 pts


We've been in a tailspin but this is our first year in league 2, we just need to avoid relegation. The bottom two teams are so bad that seems like it should be a breeze, but I know how losing streaks can lead to huge morale problems and things coming completely apart, so I'm not declaring myself 100% safe yet.

League Goal Scorers

Clayton Donaldson - Crewe - 16
James Lawrie - Port Vale - 13
Calvin Zola - Crewe - 12
Chris Fagan - Lincoln - 12
Sam Smith - Rushden - 11

Pablo leads us with 6 goals, Subotic and Harsanyi 4 each, Downes 3, others with 2 and 1. We are not scoring a lot at all.


League Assists

John Musinho - Crewe - 8
Many, many - 7

Subotic leads us with 5 assists, Jesus, Upson and Harsanyi with 3


Team Ratings

Ed Upson - 7.30
Pablo - 7.11
Joe O'Sullivan - 7.05
Stelios Nikolaou - 6.95
Jesus - 6.92
Zoltan Harsanyi - 6.90
Anthony Pulis - 6.86
Danijel Subotic - 6.84
Aidan Downes - 6.83
Abu Agogo - 6.81
Christian Smith - 6.77
Kevin Lynch - 6.76
Mike Williams - 6.70


We start our second trip through the league hosting Oxford(4th) then Rushden (2nd) before it gets any easier.

[Radii]

-- Danijel Subotic signs his new contract, he's here for another 3 seasons. That's a very expensive deal so he needs to start scoring and playing up to his ratings!

December 28th, 2013

Oxford (13-4-6, 4th) @ Woking (7-8-8, 15th)

We lost 2-0 at their place early in the year. Oxford remain favorites at our house as well, 4:5, we're just 3:1 to grab a win. We've played Oxford 3 times, scoring only 1 goal and giving up 5, we've lost all 3.

We played two days ago so we're exhausted, lots of changes:

GK: Lynch
D: Nikolaou/Williams/Thomas/Ogogo
MC: Upson/O'Sullivan
AM: Jesus/Ademola
ST: Subotic/Harsanyi

Nikolaou and Upson will almost certainly not make it 90 minutes. Sam Sloma is avaliable for a rare appearance at DL with DC Smith hurt and limiting our back line depth. Morale is really bad, lots of "poor"


4': We earn a corner, Ademola takes it short to Thomas who passes to Upson at the 18 yard line, he has a decent look but the keeper blocks it.

5': O'Sullivan with a graet ball foward to Ademola, he's in the penalty area but the keeper closes in and forces a bad shot wide.

12': Lots of buildup sees the wide defenders forward, Ademola slides the ball down the right sideline to Ogogo who places a really pretty cross towards the far post, Jesus is there and his header is IN! I don't know how long its been since we've had a lead, holy crap what a good feeling. 1-0

23': Their top striker Taylor receives a long through ball in a decent position, Thomas has to race to get the tackle and force it behind... corner comes to nothing.

31': Harsanyi down the left sidline, a short pa into the area for Jesus, he tries a shot, blocked, the ball sits in the middle of the penalty area for a bit before being cleared behind. First corner comes to nothing. We earn a second... Good cross but their keeper just gets to it and punches it away, a deep throwin... nope we get nothing out of that stretch.

36': We counter after blocking a shot... O'Sullivan to Ademola, he has a very long run down the right side, its another well placed cross to Jesus, diving header... diving save by the keeper! So close.

HALF: We take a lead into the half for the first time in forever. Jesus has a bit of an injury which is going to hurt us b/c our first two subs are pre-determined based on our fitness. Jesus has to come out right now though, Clapham is in. I'll delay the others for a little while. Harsanyi and Williams are struggling with 5.9 ratings, A few are over 7 at the half. Each team has 7 shots but we have 3 on target to just one for them. Possession is dead even at 50%, we are not tackling well(60%) whiel they are (84%). We'll take a defensive mindset into the second half and see what happens.

55': After a throwin in our end they try to counter attack, a long ball foward to their star Taylor and he's off to the races... Williams comes in though with a really great tackle to save it.

57': Oxford with a goal but its so clearly offsides I can't even put any sort of drama behind writing about it.

63': They get a winger charging down the right side, beating multiple men including Ogogo deep in our end but he cannot put a shot on target.

67': After some buildup in midfield Harsanyi receives the ball just outside the penalty area, he turns by his man and fires a shot.. but its well wide.

72': a nice through ball leads to a dangerous shot from about 15 yards out by an Oxford attacker, his shot is parried away by Lynch and quickly cleared by Thomas.

-- After this the next 15 minutes ran off the clock without a highlight, it caught me by surprise and I was very late to get my subs in.

88': Ball in for Upson, sloma in for Nikolaou

Oxford try to attack but we make a couple key interceptions in midfield to prevent them from setting anything up.

Woking 1 : 0 Oxford

We get a desparately needed win. That ends an 8 match league winless streak.

Agogo has our assist and earns man of the match honors with a 7.9 rating. Jesus has the goal and a 7.3 rating. Nikolaou (7.7), thomas (7.1), Upson (7.0) also had noteworthy performances. Harsanyi put up a 5.9 and really struggled.


Injury

Jesus twisted his ankle and will be out for 3-4 weeks. Ugh.


-- Ogogo's morale has been way down so I'm very quick to praise his play today in the media and hopefully keep him happy.

[Radii]

-- Lynch rejected another contract offer, I forgot how this worked, I thougth he was presenting me with a counter, I needed to adjust. He wants $825/wk til 2016 (2 years), I make him that offer now.

-- Ogogo is amused that I feel the need to praise him because he thinks he's playing like shit. Not exactly what it says but close enough!

-- Lynch finally accepts an offer, i've got him for two more seasons.

December 31st, 2013

Woking (8-8-8, 15th) @ Rushden (14-4-6, 2nd)

We were able to play Rushden to a 1-1 draw at our place back in August. Their house will be much tougher. Sam Smith is one of the league's leading goal scorers with 13 goals. We have a long history against Rushden and its not very good. We're 1-3-3 against them. Our only victory over them was in the 11/12 season in the BS Premier league. We've lost twice and tied twice since. They are 4:7 favorites at home.

More lineup changes with injuries and fatigue:

GK: Lynch
D: Nikolaou/Fenton/Thomas/Ogogo
MC: Pulis/O'Sullivan
AM: Clapham/Downes
ST: Subotic/Pablo

Nick Fenton has played in 6 matches this year nd done poorly. I'm not happy about needing to start him.

7': We earn a couple corners.. the second is placed beautifuly by Clapham to Fenton, the keeper dives out to try to punch it away and misses completely, the net is open, and Fenton puts it over the bar.

27': Very little action, 5 shots total and i've only seen a couple in highlights.

34': Rushden with a long through ball, a little too long though, their striker gets it near the end line way too far right and can only manage to shoot it into the side netting.

40': Fenton is hurt on the offensive end during a corner kick, and his day is done immediately. Williams comes in off the bench.

HALF: We're playing with a defensive mindset so I'm pretty happy to see the half fly by with few highlights of us defending. We each have 3 shots, none on target. Possession is 52/48, stats are pretty even all around. Maybe we could squeak out a goal but I'd be thrilled to keep this up. It looks like Rushden has been playing a lot lately too, Sam Smith shows at 59% energy level at the half, a couple other guys in the 60% range.

50': Complete defensive breakdown. Rushden controls the ball in the middle of the field, a through ball to the penalty spot... and no one goes for it. Our DCs are just not in position and not tracking to the ball. Lynch makes a great save but there's a rebound put into an open net. 0-1

58': We control the ball in their end, a through ball to Downes on the right side of the area but they close in and tackle it away before he can shoot. They clear but Nikolaou very aggressively comes up after picking up the ball at midfield on the clearance, he puts a ball deep on the left side, Pablo runs on to it but the angle it too tough, he basically plays it right across the net and it goes behind for a goal kick.

60': O'Sullivan goes down hard... and he has to come out. His day is over. Ball is in.

69': After a little possession in the middle Ball plays a great ball forward to Subotic, he picks it up in the area... but seems to strugle with it and can't get a shot off.

71': NOOO. We intercept a poor pass on their end and there's a long ball played forward to Pablo, he receives it and has a breakaway against the keeper... he pulls u pabout 15 yards away... and its just wide. Clear cut strike and he blew it. That was our chance to tie it.

83': Sloma in for Clapham who picks up an injury that hopefully isn't as badas the other two we've had today, this could be terrible. We'll try to attack to get the tying goal.

Nothing happens the rest of the way.

Rushden 1 : 0 Woking

I'm pretty much furious with Pablo. I sympathise with eveyrone else for the loss and get Pablo the "express your anger at his performance" pep talk separately.

Nikolaou plays well, 7.3. Pulis and O'Sullivan were in there with a 7.1 and 7.0 as well. Clapham struggled and put up a 5.9 and pablo had a 5.5 with the big failure to get us a draw here.



Injury Update

--O'Sullivan has a knee injury, 4 weeks

--Fenton is out 5-6 weeks with an ankle injury.

O'Sullivan is a better player but Fenton is a bigger loss. We have a lot of MC depth. With Christian Smith already hurt losing Fenton is really bad.

[Radii]

January Update

The schedule for January looks reasonable, we'll get to rest up and recover from injury with just a few games. There's a transfer window but we don't have any salary room this year.

The board remains delighted. Ed Upson's signing is listed as a positive while getting crushed in the FA Cup by Peterborough is a negative. We lost $31k last month.


January 4th, 2014

Woking (8-8-9, 15th) @ Tranmere (4-7-14, 22nd)

We're considered to be outperforming expectations and Tranmere is underperforming. They are favored at their place as even money favorites while we're 11:5 dogs. We played Tranmere in our first ever league 2 match back in early August and crushed them 5-0.

Lineup changes with our injuries:

GK: Lynch
D: Sloma/Williams/Thomas/Ogogo
MC: Upson/Pulis
AM: Clapham/Ademola
ST: Pablo/Harsanyi

Nikolaou desparately needs a day off so Sloma gets a start.

5': Goal kick by Lynch, it clears the defense and Harsanyi runs onto it in the penalty area, huge mistake by the defense... but the keeper is right on top of it and its listed as a clear cut chance but I don't see how he would beat the keeper.

13': free kick for tranmere from the right side of the pitch just outside the penalty area... they take it to the far post and its headed in... Upson is blamed for losing his man. 0-1

34': Upson with a beautiful long ball from 40 yards out into the penalty area, Ademola runs onto it but his first touch is poor and he doesn't even get a shot off.

37': Harsanyi beats his man into the penalty area, he's closed down on and finds a way to get the ball to Pablo who is about 12 yards out, keeper out of position, no one in front of him, and he hits the left upright. Jesus. 2 clear cut chances, no goals.

HALF: So frustrating. 4 shots for Tranmere, the only one on target was their goal. We shoot 6 times, 3 times on target, two clear cut chances, 57% of the possession.. and we trail by 1.

50': Harsanyi receives a ball about 20 yards out, beats two men to get deep into the penalty area... he goes down and the ball goes out, no penalty, just a corner kick that we can't convert.

56': Tranmere with a good bit of possession in our end, Williams misses a tackle allowing a cross to the 6 yard box and there's a header that Lynch doens't even seem to make a play on... over his head and into the net. The team wants an offsides call but its not coming. 0-2

61': Sole in for Clapham, Harsanyi moves to AML. Ball in for Pulis.

68': Harsanyi makes a long run down the left side, he crosses into the area, the defense is not ready for it, Sole runs right by their DC's and heads it into the right side of the net! 1-2

79': Thomas throws it in to Pablo, a pass into the area by Upson, he dribbles deftly to the 6 yard box, centers the ball, a Tranmere defender and Ademola both go after it... the defender puts it into his own net!!! own goal, tie game! 2-2


That'll do it.

Tranmere 2 : 2 Woking

I'll pretty much always be ok with a draw on the road. This was a bad team so I'd like a win but after our awful start pulling even was pretty sweet. Weird game, lots of comments about the refs and an own goal.

Even after making a mistake to give up the first Tranmere goal, Ed Upson is man of the match with a 7.9 rating. Sole with a 7.2 and our only credited goal, Harsanyi a 7.9 with the assist. That's really it, Ademola was bad with a 5.9 rating, everyone else in the middle.

[Radii]

--A report comes out that the chairman currently running Woking may be looking to step down soon. Nothing we can do about that but it makes me wonder if the way we run things will have to change down the road.

January 11th, 2014

Wycombe (9-8-9, 14th) @ Woking (8-9-9, 16th)

We're small favorites today. 6:4 for us vs 13:8 for Wycombe. We have an advantage here in that we've had a week off and Wycombe played 3 days ago. We played to a scoreless draw at their place back in August.


Lineup changes with our injuries:

GK: Lynch
D: Nikolaou/Williams/Thomas/Ogogo
MC: Upson/Pulis
AM: Harsanyi/Downes
ST: Subotic/Pablo

Clapham's morale is poor and Harsanyi played very well the last time he was forced to the AML spot so I am putting him there to just mix things up a bit and see what happens really.

6': Harsanyi with a long open run down the left side, a cross, Subotic gets his head on it... but over the bar! Harsanyi wasn't challenged at all there.

11': A cross by Downes is cleared out, Upson picks it up and takes a very long shot... of the right post!

13': Harsanyi with a cross in, Downes gets a strong head on it... right at the keeper.

30': Downes with a clear cut strike, Subotic lays a little through ball to him... he's right in front of the net... and puts it like 5 feet wide holy crap really??

34': Wycombe has a guy make a long run down the left side into the penalty area, he only has Thomas to beat, Thomas with the tackle... his man goes down, penalty! Guh. They line up to take it... SAVED! Lynch with the save! We clear it out.

41': Midfielder Atkinson brings Ogogo down hard and gets a yellow card.

HALF: We generate 8 shots... but only put one on target, and we're not having them blocked or anything, 5 of them are just off target and not challenging anyone. Downes failure to finish was staggeringly bad. Wycombe only has 3 shots, 2 are on target, one is the penalty that Lynch saved. We have 65% of the possession and we just need to finish. I've used this word a bunch lately i think... frustrating!!

47': Nikolaou gets a yellow for a bad tackle in the midfield.

52': A throwin to nikolaou... ahead to upson... centered for Pulis about 20 yards out... a hard strike! the keeper just gets his fingers to it. corner comes to nothing.

65': Clapham in for Pablo... Harsanyi up to striker, Clapham AML. Ball in for a tiring Upson.

80': We earn a corner... its taken short to Mike Wiliams who shoots immediatey... saved but not held, we get a little poke at it, but then the keeper falls on it. Nothin.

82': Thomas with a yellow for a tackle in midfield.

83': Ball with a pass to Subotic, he beats his man, draws a defender and slides the ball ahead to Downes... its our second clear cut chance, he's got a great look... saved... parried away and we can't do anything with the corner.

92': A corner kick is deflected back out, Thomas picks it up and sends it up the left side, there's a cross... its met by the head of Downes... its his 3rd clear cut chance of the match, the keeper is way over to the left side of the net, a huge portion of it is wide open... Downes heads it weakly and the keeper still has to make a diving save but he gets to it.

That'll do it.

Woking 0 : 0 Wycombe

Aiden downes has to feel like crap today. He could have easily had a hat trick and really needed to find the net with one of those shots, but came away with nothing and we end up with a draw. Ed Upson is man of the match with a 7.5 rating. Nikolaou a 7.4, Ogogo 7.3. Pablo and Downes were in the very low 6's when no one else on the team was, they both struggled a lot.

We shot 17 times, only putting 4 of them on target. Possession 61/39 in our favor, only allowed 4 total shots, one in the second half. Coming away with less than 3 points really sucks.

[Radii]

I was debating if I should change something up since we are struggling so much to score goals, when for our next match our coaches recommend in the pre-match meeting that Crew struggles greatly against 4-5-1 formations and we should try that out. Fine with me, lets mix it up.

-- Christian Smith has begun training again and will see some minutes in our next match.

January 18th, 2014

Woking (8-10-9, 17th) @ Crewe (10-5-12, 15th)

They're 4:5 favorites today. We're 3:1 dogs. We beat these guys 1-0 at our place back in August, but we weren't playing like crap every match then so totally different. Crewe scores a lot more than most mid-table teams, 40 goals in 27 matches, and two players dominate. Clayton Donaldson has 17 goals and Calvin Zola has 12. Wow.

The 4-5-1 recommended by the coaches has a DMC, two MC, two AM, one striker. Here's what we are doing today.

GK: Lynch
D: Nikolaou/Williams/Thomas/Ogogo
DMC: Smith
MC: Upson/Pulis
AM: Harsanyi/Downes
ST: Subotic

We're playing with a defensive mindset and telling our back line to drop deep based on a scouting report that Crewe love to counterattack and use their speed to take advantage.

19': Smith gets a yellow for grabbing a jersey while going up for a header. 3 total shots all off target is it so far.

33': The first on target shot is from 30 yards out by Crewe, Lynch grabs it... yawner so far big time.

38': Subotic starts the attack, pushign the defense back as he runs with the ball from midfield... back to pulis, ahead to subotic, he runs into the box and slides it out wide to harsanyi, a cross goes in, Upson gets his head on it... the keeper with a reflex save, pushing the ball away, it so looked like that was going in. Close! Upson comes down hurt to add injury to... not scoring I guess.

HALF: We have 4 shots, just the one on target. Crewe has 5 shots, just 2 on target, 4 of their 5 are from long range. We're dominating possession at 61/39 just struggling to get anything going forward. Upson is coming out, Ball is in. Pablo is in for Subotic as well.

59': Zola gets free i nthe penalty area and has a strike on goal but its right at Lynch and he holds it well.

75': Little used HArry Arter is in at DMC for Smith. Arter could see more time on the field if we switch to this permanently.

83': There's a long ball forward by Crewe to right midfielder Bennett, he recives the ball cleanly and strikes... off the crossbar! We clear it.

84': We generate a counterattack, Pablo with a loooong run with the ball from behind midfield down the left, wide of the penalty area, he crosses and we kind ahave numbers here... there's a header by Pulis, it grazes the crossbar as it goes over.

That'll do it.

Crewe 0 : 0 Woking

We stayed in a defensive mindset all match and ended with a draw on the road against a team that scores a lot more than we do. This is one that we'll take.

Nikolaou has a brilliant perforamnce with a 7.8 rating in the back. Thomas 7.2, Lynch 7.1, Harsanyi 7.3 as the left attacking midfielder. Pablo was poor in the second half with a 5.8 rating.


-- "Subotic has not scored in over 15 hours of competitive football but insists he remains confident"
-- "Pablo has now played over 15 hours of competitive soccer and looks badly short of confidence"

[Radii]

-- Jesus resumes full training, hooray!

-- Abu Agogo collides with Danijel Subotic in practice and picks up a thigh bruise. He'll be out 5-8 days and will likely miss our next match.

-- Chelsea destroys Championship side Middlesborough and Arsenal beats Newcastle, the two will meet in the League Cup finals.


January 25th, 2014

Notts Co (7-8-13, 19th) @ Woking (8-11-9, 16th)

Notts are even money favorites to win at our place. We've really fallen lately. We lost 2:0 at their place back in September.


GK: Lynch
D: Nikolaou/Williams/Thomas/Anane
DMC: Smith
MC: Upson/Pulis
AM: Jesus/Downes
ST: Harsanyi

Jesus won't be ble to go the whole way but we'll start him to get him back into the mix. Most likey Harsanyi moves to AML and Pablo comes in later. ogogo is out due to his training injury so Anane will play the whole match if possible today.

We start out with an attacking mindset

14': The first on target shot is by Ed Upson, but its a pretty weak effort from 20 yards out that is easily held by the keeper.

17': Notts Defender Cutler picks up a yellow.

22': We bring the ball up the left side, a pass goes in to Pulis at the edge of the penalty area, a hard shot... keeper dives... off the crossbar! they clear... so close.

30': There's a long ball foward by Notts, a striker gets it in a really dangerous spot, Thomas is there but the man gets off a very powerful shot from about 15 yards out... great save by Lynch, pehaps Thomas annoyed him enough as well. Whew.

HALF: Nothing much happens the rest of the half, that's not really good for us since we're the ones trying to press a bit for a goal. Williams and Harsanyi struggle in the ratnigs a bit this half, hopefully they'll pick it up. Each team shoots 4 times, each team puts one on target. We have pretty good control of possession, 55/45. We're doing terrible in the air winning just 38% of our headers, nothing else stands out much.

47: Christian Smith picks up a yellow trying ot make a tackle.

48': Defender Franklin with a yellow on their end for a trip.

54': Pablo in for Jesus.

58': We intercept a pass near midfield and counter quickly... pass up to Upson, ahead ot Pulis, a nice give and go, Upson is in the penlty area, and he slides the ball near post under the diving keeper for a goal!!! 1-0

63': We have a defensive lapse but they settle for a long shot... Lynch is out of position but the shot just curls wide.

65': Downes with a long run, into the area... tripped up by a defender and the ball is pushed out, Smith picks it up 25 yards away and blasts it, well over.

70': Downes picks up a bit of an injury and we take him out, Ademola in. Ball in for a tired Pulis as well.

74': We drop from an attacking back to a standard mindset.

81': After a quick pass foward a Notts attacker takes a shot from 20 yards out, Lynch dives but it curves well wide, not a huge threat.

87': Midfielder Taylor for Notts picks up a red card, its for a foul but I'm not sure exactly what the guy did... "his teammates haev to drag him away" from the ref, har!

They can't threaten after going a man down.

Woking 1 : 0 Notts Co

Upson has our only goal and is man of the match with an 8.1 rating. Anane 7.6, Nikolaou 7.4, Pulis 7.1. Our attackers seem to not be doing so well in this formation so far. i'm not sure what to make of it. Our attackers weren't doing well before either though.

We ended up with 9 shots, they had 10, but they didn't put a single one on target in the second half. They had some attacks that looked like they might be scary then the shots went all over the place. We only put 3 shots on target but Upson's finish was a really solid one.

-- Kevin Lynch has now played 304 minutes without conceding a goal.

[Radii]

--Downes will miss about 2 weeks with a leg injury he picked up in today's match.

--Joe O'Sullivan resumes full training.

--We haven't been doing great lately but our goal is to avoid relegation in our first year in League 2. With 17 matches left, we're 6 spots clear of relegation and a full 21 points ahead of 23rd place Macclesfield. Our early wins plus the fact that we're picking up a lot of draws has us in solid shape. I'd love to make a little run to finish in the top 10 or at least the top half but really it'll be a success if we stay right where we are.

--Ed Upson has now been man of the match 8 times this year. That is a single season record for Woking. Sole had 7 man of the match awards in 09/10, and O'Sullivan had 7 in 11/12.

-- I didn't say much aobut it but the transfer deadline comes and goes. I tried a few short term loan offers for players who would be clearly better than anyone we had, but had no luck.

February 1st, 2014

Woking (9-11-9, 16th) @ Port Vale (12-7-10, 10th)

Port Vale are big favorites at their place, 2:5, we're 13:2 to win and only 11:4 to pull out a draw even. We lost 2:1 at our place in September. We fell behind 2-0 and managed one goal late. Port Vale's James Lawrie has 15 goals.

GK: Lynch
D: Nikolaou/Williams/Thomas/Ogogo
DMC: Smith
MC: Upson/Pulis
AM: Jesus/Ademola
ST: Subotic

Downes is hurt, Ademola in. Ogogo is back in as he's recovered from his short injury. We'll try Subotic up front today /shrug.

We're happy to defend on the road.

1': Lawrie receives a pass foward and gets itno the area, Williams is there at the last second to block what otherwise would have been a point blank shot with Lynch rushing out. Thomas clears.

14': Port Vale have 9 shots... 6 blocked/2 off target. They just took one that Lynch ahd to dive to save.

15': Only a matter of time the way this has gone. Lawrie shoots, blocked... rigth back to him and he plays a nice pass forward to midfielder Hough who puts it in very easily.

21': defender Rushton picks up a yellow for tripping Pulis.

24': We spend 3 minutes in their end, earning a corner, a couple throwins and finally a freek kick 25 yards out. Upson shoots on that free kick and that's our first shot of the match. Its blocked and goes behidn for a corner which is instantly cleared away.

31': We take our second shot, another free kick, another shot is blocked behind, 1st corner is headed behind, 2nd corner is eaisly cleared.

40': We end up with the abll in their end, Ademola has it at the top o the penalty area, its areally great through ball that Upson runs on to, but he doesn't shoot with his first touch and a defender gets there to tackle it away.

HALF: They ahve 60% of the possession which is pretty good b/c 25 minutes in it was 77/23. They have 16 shots... 2 on target, 6 off target, 8 blocked. Most of them are from long range but with that much volume it puts all kind of pressure on us. We only generated two shots, both of them on free kicks and both went off the wall. We'll try a standard mindset to generate more shots i nthe second half... but I feel its just as likely we get blown out.


62': They're up to 22 shots, a few on target but all long and nothing scary. Harsanyi in for Jesus, O'Sullivan in for Upson.

64': We earn a corner and take our 3rd shot of the match, O'Sulliavn gets his head onto the corner and puts it wildly over the bar.

69': ohhhhhh.... Harsanyi receives a cleared ball deep in our end... he runs down the left side, he controls it forever, taking it 60 yards down field himself, he lofts a cross into the area, Ademola gets to it, the header... hits the crossbar, ugh!! An inch lower and we tie it up. It bounces back into the area but they get to it first and clear it out.

78': Ball in for Upson and we'll try to attack to get a goal.

81': Nikolaou is hurt and very hobbled but we can't sub him now.

Port Vale 1 : 0 Woking

We get the ball forward a number of times in the final minutes but its intercepted/cleared before we can generate any kind of reasonable attack. Their star Lawrie is man of the match with a 9.0 rating. On our end Nikolaou with a 7.3, no one else over 7. No one was really bad... Subotic with a 6.2 but I can't blame him, we never got the ball foward to do anything at all.

They shot 27 times, just ridiculous. 20 were long shots so maybe its not as bad as it sounds. We shot 5 times, 1 on target, i don't even remember that one to be honest.

One thing I did note was that Christian Smith probably needs to get back on the defensive line. He cannot pass for shit out of that DMC spot.

[Radii]

February Update

The board is "very pleased" with me. That's down from delighted but still just fine. Ed Upson's signing is still a higlight, and the disappointment from losing captain Mark Ricketts is back. They ask for

my patience while speculation about the club's future is dealt with. The board chairman will likely change soon, maybe during the offseason.

We lost a ton of money last month, 126k. Only 4 total matches and only 2 at home wil do that.

We play 5 matches in February... 4 left after the one we already lost on the 1st.

-- Uh, oops. Kevin Lynch hurts his elbow in training and may miss the next 2-3 matches. I've allowed my backup to go out on loan and he is hurt too, lets see who we have on the reserve squad! Oh right, my #3 GK Matt Pegler is still around. I had forgotten about him until I went to look.


February 8th, 2014

Brighton(9-8-13, 18th) @ Woking (9-11-10, 16th)

Brighton are even money favorites today. I can't help but wonder what they would be if Lynch was playing. But he's not. We beat them 3-1 at their place when we were playing our best soccer earlier in the year. Brighton has massive issues scoring, even worse than us, their leading goalscorer has 3 goals.

GK: Pegler
D: Nikolaou/Williams/Smith/Ogogo
DMC: Arter
MC: Upson/O'Sullivan
AM: Jesus/Downes
ST: Harsanyi

Pegler is at GK. Smith is back in the defensive line, Arter is our DMC. Downes and O'Sulivan are back in the lineup after their injuries, though Downes won't make it 90 minutes today. Harsanyi is my random "maybe someone will break through at striker" option today.

We'll try to attack and keep the pressure off of Pegler.

16': Throwin Brighton, its a through ball up to forward Reid, he's deep in our defense, passes it across the face of the goal to anothe forward to taps it into the net easily. Christian Smith missed an interception that allowed the goal. 0-1

18': Harsanyi recives a pass and beats the only man in front of him... he's 15 yards away, the keeper charging, its a great chance for us... but he puts it about 5 yards wide. Not even close.

23': Short corner taken by Brighton, their man Ocak turns, fires, and Pegler can't stop it... I have to feel like Lynch would have. 0-2

40': Jesus and Arter with a really nice give and go, Jesus gets into the penalty area but his shot is right at the keeper and saved. A nice move until the finish.

41': A Brighton Midfielder picks up a yellow, Harsanyi with the free kick from 35 yards out... its parried away by the keeper, they get to it and clear it out for a throwin, which we can't do anything with.

HALF: We have 8 shots, 3 on target, only 2 long shots, we've been generating some looks but just putting headers way over or missing open looks. They ahve 4 shots, only 2 on target but both are goals. Christian Smith is devastated by his mistake and has a 4.9 rating right now. I yell at the team a bit at halftime but it seems like we just have huge confidence issues and can't get anything goign anywhere.

49': Nikolaou goes down with an injury, he doesn't have to come out but he's hobbled a bit.

Nothing worth mentioning in a crappy 0-2 game happens the rest o the half.

Woking 0 : 2 Brighton

We don't manage a single shot in the second half. Brighton only takes a couple, none of them on target. so they put 2 shots on target all match and scored on both.

Smith 5.0, Harsanyi 5.4. No one has a good game. Pegler 6.1. I tell the team their performance was embarrassing and get out of this one as soon as possible.

[Radii]

-- Journalists are questioning both the play of Abu Agogo and Christian Smith. Neither are playing as well as I'd hoped and its frustrating, though our inability to score is certainly more frustrating.

-- Stories aobut the takeover of Woking are coming out every couple days now. Maybe we're close to having new management... maybe not.

February 15th, 2014

Woking (9-11-11, 16th) @ Macclesfield (4-6-21, 23rd)

Macclesfield are pick'em favorites to win at home today. We are greatly embarrassed by that. We're 20 points up on these guys. We won 1:0 at our place early in the year and have never lost to them, 2-1-0 lifetime including one season spent in the BS Premier league together.

We're going back to our 4-2-4 formation.

GK: Pegler
D: Williams/Thomas/Smith/Ogogo
MC: Upson/O'Sullivan
AM: Jesus/Downes
ST: Harsanyi/Pablo

1': Thomas receives a short corner and is brought down hard... no penalty, but he's sure hurt. He can come back in though.

21': Williams makes it deep down the left side and plays a cross... headed by Downes but into the side netting. Not a lot of highlights, possession and all the shots are ours so far though.

32': They clear it out of their end... and we just arne't there, striker Guy for Macclesfield is first to it and has a free run at the keeper, he places a shot well and scores. Sigh. 0-1

HALF: Disgusting heh. We have Smith and Thomas down under 6 for their poor play in the back to allow the counterattack. They only have 2 shots and 39% of the possession. We have 5 shots, 1 on target and a couple blocked. I just don't know what it takes at this point to get someone a goal.

55': Draper of Macclesfield is given a yellow, the 3rd foul of his they've shown in hgihlights, shoulda had one already imo.

57': Jesus picks up a yellow for us to even things out.

61': Draper with another bad tackle... and he's getting another card, red card for Macclesfield and we're a man up the rest of the way.

63': Ogogo with rough tackle and he gets a card. This is getting messy.

64': Macclesfield control the ball outside our penlty area forever... finally a through ball goes to Guy who has a good look, its their 2nd clear cut chance of the match, but Pegler gets a big save.

65': Harsanyi with a yellow... sheesh.

66': Pablo receives a ball deep down the right side, he places a nice cross to Jesus near the left end of the 6 yard area, header... keeper has it. Our 2nd clear cut strike of the match, ugly.

72': We counterattack after winning possession in their end, Harsanyi with a long run down the left side... he lays the ball back to Upson trailing the play, Upson strikes it, the keeper dives, deflects it, but its still in the back of the net!!! 1-1

75': O'Sullivan with our 4th yellow of the match.

81': Subotic in for Pablo, Pulis in for O'Sullivan, Fenton in for Thomas. all fatigue based but Pablo, just a random change b/c our strikers never score.

No action the rest of the way.

Macclesfield 1 : 1 Woking

Ed Upson has our goal and an 8.2 rating and man of the match. Harsanyi only puts up a 6.8 despite the assist. Pegler 7.0, Williams 7.1. that's it for strong numbers today.

[Radii]

--Fans were pleased at our draw on the road against Macclesfield.

--Kevin Lynch resumes full training. Thank god.

February 22nd, 2014

Exeter (12-9-11, 13th) @ Woking (9-12-11, 17th)

Exeter are only 5:4 favorites today, we're 7:4. That's about as even as we've seen in awhile. We tied them at their place October 1st in league play, then lost to them at their place October 9th in the Johnstone's Paint Trophy. Pablo scored all 3 of our goals against them. Their striker Luke Daley has 12 goals and is their biggest threat by far. We're going to try to close down on him quickly.


GK: Lynch
D: Nikolaou/Williams/Smith/Ogogo
MC: Upson/O'Sullivan
AM: Jesus/Downes
ST: Harsanyi/Pablo

Nikolaou is fully recovered from his little injury and is in the lineup today again.

1': Exeter with a long run down the right side, we knock a cross behind... corner comes to nothing.

4': Ogogo goes down and has a bit of an injury, another Exeter attack and corner. We struggle to clear this one out but eventually do.

9': Some nice passing is finally shut down earning us a corner. Pablo takes it short to Williams. Williams turns by his man, holds for a moment, then fires a shot hard into the upper left corner of the net by the keeper!!! 1-0

12': Downes with a long run down the right, he gets his cross into the area, Harsanyi meets it but its saved by the keeper, deflected wide to Jesus who puts it back into the area but its cleared out.

23': A long free kick taken by Downes, he fires it into the area, Smith brings it down, they try to clear but fail, Harsanyi runs onto it and puts it into the back of the net!!! 2-0 This may be our first goal by a forward in like 15 matches, no exaggeration. I think his drought was up over 1100 minutes.

27': We're defending, tehy're passing it around outside our box, Chandler randomly turns and strikes from 25 yards out and Lynch just doens't get there... sheesh. 2-1

37': Pablo receives a pass about 30 yards out, his man is injured... he turns by him and burns him easily, into the box, he shoots... saved by the keeper, deflected back for a corner that we do nothing with.

43': Smith picks up a yellow for a tackle out near midfield

45': Jesus with a great run down the left side and we have 3 men charging into the penalty area, but his cross is a very poor one and is cleared out.

HALF: We lead but this seems like the type of match where 2 goals may not be enough here. We have 10 shots, 5 of them on target and we have 1 clear cut strike, I believe it was Harsanyi's goal. Exeter has 4 shots, only one on target. Possession is 50/50. We were attacking all half, we'll dorp back to a standard mindset for the second half.

65': Deep throwin by Exeter, they give it right back to the man that throws it in, he passes it up high, there's a cross... header... goal. We did nothing to disrupt anything that they were doing, we let all that happen. 2-2

72': Anane in for Ogogo, Fenton in for Smith. We're back on the attack. I don't care about a point here, lets try to score some more!

Nope, no more opportunities.

Woking 2 : 2 Exeter

Maybe I should have backed off and gone defensive but we've played these guys to high scoring games 3 times and I wanted to keep some pressure on them. Jamie Chandler for Exeter gets both their goals and is man of teh match. We get goals from Williams (7.9) and Harsanyi (7.3). Assists from Downes (8.0) and Pablo (7.1). Nikolaou with a 7.0 in the back. Ogogo sucked it up today putting up a 5.8 rating.

Harsanyi went 1210 minutes without a goal before the one he had today. Unbelievable.

[Radii]

February 25th, 2014

Woking (9-12-12, 17th) @ Barnet(8-5-20, 21st)

As bad as Barnet is they are stil 10 points head of relegation with just 13 matches to go. We're 21 points ahead and extremely safe now. Barnet are slim 5:4 favorites today. We tied 1:1 at our place back in October.

GK: Lynch
D: Nikolaou/Williams/Thomas/Anane
MC: Upson/Pulis
AM: Clapham/Ademola
ST: Harsanyi/Subotic

We make tons of lineup changes today on 3 days rest.

8': We control the ball on their end for a good long while, finally Pulis turns foward and puts athrough ball into the area. Ademola with a great run onto it, its a clear cut chance for us... but he fires it wide left, so close!

22': Pulis gets it forward to Harsanyi, he has to fight for possession, he wins it and dribbles forward a bit, he's still a long ways out but fires from 25 yards, its a great strike and the keeper has to dive to turn it behind. Corner comes to nothing though.

29': Ademola works it to Upson... back to Ademola, back to Upson, Upson with a ball forward, Subotic breaks on it well, the keeper is in a good position though and Subotic cannot put it by, keeper makes the save. It looked pretty nice but it wasn't the easiest angle in the world.

44': I watch Clapham completely fail to beat his man to try to generate a bit of a run for us, dispossessed easily twice in a row. We get a throwin though, Nikolaou gets to run with it a good bit, he lays the ball back for Upson who tries a shot from just outside the penalty area... it hits the crossbar and goes straight up into the air, just behind for a goal kick.

HALF: Its yet another match where we play well for a half but cannot find the net. We have 11 shots to their 2, but only 2 of ours are on target. We dominate possession 59/41, pass well, tackle well, win headers... just can't score. Jesus is in for Clapham at the half, O'Sullivan in for Pulis who got hurt a bit in the frst half and is fatigued.

66': Pablo in for Harsanyi

68': Barnet with a long run, Lockhart down the left sideline, we get out of positoin somehow even though its really a 2 on 4... we allow Lockhart to easily lay the ball to the charging forward itno the box, our defenders are not in a position to stop him from taking a point blank shot, Lynch gets to it but it squirts through his arms and into the net, it was a very powerfully taken strike. 0-1

74': Jesus with a quick run down the left side, a cross... Subotic gets his head to it but its contested I think and pops up into the air a bit, Upson is theer, but can't head it by the keeper.

77': While i'm typing our last failure up there's a run down the right, a cross, a header and a goal for Barnet. God the second half of this season has been frustrating. 0-2

85': How can we possibly fail this bad. Thomas with a gret clearance after a corner. Subotic picks it up at midfield, he beats his man, theer's a central defender behind him... he charges down the right side, pulls the defender out of position, slides a pass over to Jesus, Jesus is all alone 15 yards out... the keeper tries to charge, and Jesus puts it wide...

87': Finally! Pablo ends up wide left, he crosses nearly to the goal, the keeper... i dunno what he was doing, but he lets Subotic get his head on it from just a yard or two away and he drills it in. 1-2

We get one more try on offense that I saw but Pablo put a header well over.

Barnet 2 : 1 Woking

A rare man of the match performance in a loss. Subotic puts up an 8.6 rating with his goal and earns man of the match. No one else is over 7. Pablo has a 6.8 and the assist in just 24 minutes of play. Maybe Harsanyi scoring last match and Subotic this one will get us on track at least a little?

I just want this season over now though. Even though we're exceeding expectations left and right this is depressing. We outshot them 21-6 today, but lost 2-1. We took too many long shots, but still, we really controlled most of the match, we just cannot buy a goal sometimes.

[Tellistto]

Certainly seems like a new ownership group with hopefully some money would do your team a great deal of good. Just looks like you need some infusion of talent, really.

Tell

[Radii]

Certainly seems like a new ownership group with hopefully some money would do your team a great deal of good. Just looks like you need some infusion of talent, really.

Yep. I ran up to my salary limit quickly earlier this year so I didn't have any room to do anything at all when the January transfer window opened up. As long as the budget stays the same next year I'm not renewing a number of players and will be able to pick some new guys next season. If we get a bigger budget awesome. I'm worried we might get a lower one b/c we do lose money consistently.

[Radii]

--Stelios Nikolaou is called up for a Cyprus U-21 match on March 4th.

-- Alternating messages about the ownership takeover being close and on the rocks continue to come every few days.

March 1st, 2014

Morecambe (2-9-23, 24th) @ Woking (9-13-12, 17th)

Hey its a match we're favored to win! We're even money favorites against the worst team in the league at home. We crushed them 3-0 at their place back in October. We've been scoring a bit lately, we have 4 goals in our last 3 matches, so maybe the offense is starting to come around a little.

GK: Lynch
D: Nikolaou/Williams/Smith/Ogogo
MC: Pulis/O'Sulllivan
AM: Jesus/Downes
ST: Pablo/Subotic

Back to a better lineup all-around, Upson is resting today though. We'll open attacking.

10': Jesus burns by his man and puts in a decent cross, a defender with a nice header to keep Subotic from getting an easy goal.

13': Williams picks up a yellow.

17': We get the ball deep down the left side, Pablo has it in the corner, he turns and palces a nice pass into the area for Pulis, a shot... keeper is able to deflect it away. Its a corner that we don't do anything with. Good pass by Pablo there, too bad.

26': Pablo with a pass to the center to O'Sullivan, he places a nice pass between two defenders, Subotic is out on the left side, he fires near post... under the keeper and into the net!! 1-0

HALF: Was chatting w/ a friend and missed a couple higlights. We almost let them score on a breakaway goal, their striker Shakespeare keeps trying to scoot behind our defensive line and it worked once but he put a shot over. Pulis almost scored on a free kick and on another shot from 18 yards out. Two good strike sthat barely missed. We take a 1-0 lead into the locker room. We outshoot them 6-3, 2-1 on target.

51': We back into a defensive mindset.

62': Mainly due to Jesus being able to beat everyone down the left sideline we generate decent looks for both O'Sullivan and Pablo but both are nicely saved.

71': Defender Edgar picks u pa yellow for tripping Jesus. that's one way to slow him down I guess.

72': Jesus beats a man, met by another defender he gets it further forward to Pablo. Pablo places a nice cross, the keeper can't get to it, but a defender wins it so Subotic doesn't get to head it into the now open net. We earn a corner, taken short to Williams. Wliliams it tackled in the penalty area, foul!!! Williams takes the penalty and converts it! 2-0

78': Downes with a run out to the rigth side... he tries a cross in, a defender deflects it, a failed clearance really, the ball falls right to the foot of Subotic and the keeper hasn't reactetd to the deflection yet. Subotic buries it from 15 yards out!! 3-0


We finish this one off easily in the final minutes.

Woking 3 : 0 Morecambe

Subotic scores 2 goals today and earns an 8.8 rating, easily man of the match. Before his second goal I thought that Jesus was likely going to earn that award. Jesus puts up an 8.0 rating. Williams with our 3rd goal for a 7.4. O'Sullivan with an assist and a 7.2, Downes an assist and a 7.1. Pbalo 7.1. Ogogo 7.4, Nikolaou 7.7, Smith 7.0. The entire team played great. Pulis with a 6.9, Lynch a 6.9, the only two under 7 today.

I'm really really happy for Subotic after all of the trouble he had for so long to now find 3 goals in the last two matches.


March Update

We've got 5 matches coming up this month, 4 more after the one we won today.

The board is delighted with my performance. Ed Upson's signing remains the biggest positive. There is no negative listed. We lost only $65k last month(much less than January).

[Radii]

-- Chlesea beats Arsenal 2-0 to win the league cup final.

-- I praise Williams and Subotic in the media, both of them are pleased w/ the praise and feel they are playing well.

March 8th, 2014

Woking (10-13-12, 15th) @ Northampton (10-11-14, 17th)

This one matters a lot for our final position in the league. Realistically we could finish anywhere between 14th and 20th. If we got really hot as high as 11th might not be impossible. Northampton are slight favorites today, 6:4 vs 13:8. We beat them 2:0 at our place when we were super hot back in October.

GK: Lynch
D: Nikolaou/Williams/Smith/Ogogo
MC: Upson/O'Sulllivan
AM: Jesus/Downes
ST: Pablo/Subotic

The only change from our last match is Upson is back in the lineup, Pulis is out. We'll open defensively on the road.

1': We move the ball forward right away, Subotic with it around the 20 yard mark, he pushes it ahead for Downes, they get to it and clear it back. On the corner Subotic puts a header off the crossbar, doh!

8': Subotic picks up an injury, he can stay in but he gets the "injured" symbol over his head, I fear this hurting his momentum, bleh.

22': A Northampton attacker controls the ball about 18 yards out, he does all the work himself to generate a shot, Lynch makes a diving save and we clear it out, nice shot attempt.

38': Downes is hurt... he can stay in as well and its just in game hopefully, no injury symbol for him. Not a lot of action either to speak of.

44': Midfielder Byles for Northampton picks up a yellow for holding on to O'Sullivan's shirt. I thought this could have been a red for preventing a breakaway, but no.

HALF: Pretty even and boring so far. We haev 3 shots, 2 on target, they have 6 shots but 3 of them long and only 1 on target. I bring Harsanyi in for Subotic due to the injury.

60': We build up in the midfield a bit, Nikolaou ahead to Jesus, he runs at the penalty area, draws a defender and pushes the ball foward to Upson. Upson has a great look from about 17 yards away, the keeper just gets a hand to it and deflects it over. Corner comes to nothing.

67': A yellow for A northampton defender. We take the free kick from 30 ayrds out and earn a corner out of it as we try to cross it into the area. Corner is cleared.

70': Ademola in for a tired Downes.

76': O'Sullivan with a yellow for a tackle on the offensive end.

87': Nikolaou is hurt... he can stay in and will since its so late but that's two injuries today.

92': They have a throw in deep in their defensive end... they try to clear it but we intercept the ball and start the attack. O'Sullivan places a very nice long ball into the area. Pablo is right there, its an obvoius clear cut chance for us, and Pablo sends it way wide left. "That should have been a goal"

The match ends with "Pablo has to feel he could haev won that for Woking today"

sigh!

Northampton 0 : 0 Woking

A draw on the road is ok again... but we had chances. Christian Smith is man of the match with a 7.4 rating. Ogogo and Nikolaou put up 7.4 as well, Jesus 7.3, Upson 7.1. The usual suspects really.

[Young Drachma]

You've got me firing up FM now because of this thread...been reading for days now.

[Radii]

You've got me firing up FM now because of this thread...been reading for days now.

awesome, thanks for reading!

[Radii]

-- Nikolaou is out 5-8 days with a "facial injury"... no report on Subotic, he's fine.

-- We had a match scheduled for March 15th, but its re-scheduled as our field has become waterlogged and is unplayable. Now instaed of games on the 15th/22nd/29th we play on the 22nd/25th/29th.


Woking Takeover Completed

Not sure how big a deal this will be yet, but Mark McShane has taken over Woking, replacing Shahid Azeem. We get a personal message from the new chairman a day later. MarK McShane tahnks me for my patience during this stressful time. McShane informs you that there are no plans to provide the club with any investment at this time.

-- That's potentially an issue. We've been getting the occcasional "cash infusion" as we have a slow and steady loss of cash whenever we run up against our allowed budget.

March 22th, 2014

Woking (10-14-12, 16th) @ Hereford(9-15-13, 19th)

We've played one less match than everyone now. We're one point behind 15th and 7 points behind 14th. Only points ahead of 19th. Hereford are big 4:5 favorites at home. We're only 3:1 to get a win, 2:1 for a tie. At our house back near Thanksgiving we played to a scoreless draw. Hereford is led by Mathieu Mansset with 11 goals. Subotic is now our leading scorer with 7 after scoring 3 in the last 2 matches. Pablo has been stuck on 6 for literally 2 months I believe.

GK: Lynch
D: Nikolaou/Williams/Smith/Ogogo
MC: Upson/O'Sulllivan
AM: Jesus/Downes
ST: Pablo/Subotic

Hereford really packs it in with a 4-2-3-1 formation, two DM's, 3 AM's and a striker. We start in a defensive mindset.

2': We have a nice slow buildup before Jesus gets a cross in, O'Sullivan heads it over, but our control was pretty solid.

14': Pablo works a give and go with Jesus, Pablo receives a ball beautifully, he's got a man nearby but he's got a step... he runs right up in front of the goal, the keeper is not covering this well, he's got a free look at the net, and soemhow he puts it off the right crossbar. They clear it out. its a clear cut chance and I don't have any idea how he possibly missed that.

28': O'Sullivan with a yellow for a hard tackle.

38': Upson gets the ball ahead to Pablo this time, not nearly as easy a look, but Pablo gets a powerful shot off... the keeper deflects it behind. Corner comes to nothing.

HALF: We take 4 shots, 1 on target. They only take one shot and its way over from distance. We're doing a good job limiting their chances on the road, but as I've said so many times in the past 6 game weeks... we've had good looks and we just aren't converting.

47': We have a throwin deep in their end. its thrown to O'Sullivan, he pushes it back out to Ogogo who took the throw, crossed in, Upson gets his head on it, its on target... quick reaction from the keeper to turn it behind. Corner comes to nothing.

51': O'Sullivan with a through ball up the right side, Downes gets to it but has to take a shot from a very tough angle and the keeper stops it with relative ease.

59': Long ball forward to Pablo, Pablo apears to have a free run into the area... he's brought down from behind, I was sure it was a penalty but the ref puts the ball down a yard outside the area. I'm sure it should be a red card too, but its only given as a yellow. Free kick is saved. We earn a corner though, on the corner Pablo feels he was brought down and a penalty should be given. He complains loudly and earns a yellow for his troubles.

73': Harsanyi in for Pablo, Pulis in for O'Sullivan.


The game only goes into highlight mode momentarily after that. On the road 0-0 is ok.

Hereford 0 : 0 woking

Their keeper is man of the match. On our end Ogogo 7.3, Nikolaou 7.5, Jesus 7.3. Mike Williams 7.0. The usuals, Upson under 7 is a rarity. We take 8 shots, putting 4 on target, they take 4 shots with just one on target. Possession was even at 50/50, we dominated in the air but it ouside a couple nice chances for Pablo in the first half it seemed pretty even.

[Radii]

March 25th, 2014

Rochdale (18-9-10, 7th) @ Woking (10-15-12, 17th)

Rochdale are even money favorites at our house today. They crushed us 4-1 earlier in the year. Rochdale is fighting for a playoff spot so every match is huge for them. They're 4 points behind automatic promotion(3rd) and 2 points ahead of the first team out of the playoffs (8th).

GK: Lynch
D: Nikolaou/Williams/Smith/Anane
MC: Upson/Pulis
AM: Clapham/Ademola
ST: Pablo/Harsanyi

We're sitting a lot of guys on 3 days rest.

13': Soooo obviously offsides, but it looked nice! Clapham to Pablo to Harsanyi who beat the keeper one on one. But Harsanyi was super obvoiusly offsides.

25': We concede a corenr, they take it to the far post... a clean header... just off the crossbar, whew. They recover it but we tackle it away and clear it.

29': Nikolaou up ahead to Clapham... into the area to Pablo, he slides it back to Upson who atkes a hard shot from 25 yards out, but its saved.

HALF: There have been some shots but this is just a pretty boring one. We have 6 shots but onl 2 on target, one of them super far out on a free kick. They have 7 shots, 3 on target. Jesus is in for Clapham. In this formation I believe Jesus is our most important player. Clapham just doesn't generate the chances down the left side that Jesus does.

52': Rochdale with a little 2 on 2 break... there's a great through ball, a clear cut strike right in front of Lynch... save! Lynch with a huge save!

55': Attacker Russell for Rochdale picks up a yellow for a handball.

59': Jesus with a long free kick from about 30 yards out on the left side... he curls it into the area, Harsanyi with a strong header... its inches over the bar! Doh!

63': It looks like a broken down attack... Harsanyi receives the ball 25 yards out, the defense is way out of position, a through ball forward to Pablo and he can run right at the keeper... but Harsanyi just passes it over, not foward at all... its a really shitty pass... Pablo takes it where he stands and launches a shot from 25 ayrds, it curls into the upper left corner!!! GOAL!! 1-0

71': Ball in for Upson, we siwtch to a defensive mindset.

80': A defensive breakdown as we allow a little pass over our defensive line, one of their attackers runs onto it and has a clean look from 8-10 yards away... Lynch with an amazing save!!! Lynch should be man of the match if we hold on. 3 clear cut chances for Rochdale, two saved brilliantly by Lynch.

83': Fenton in for Pablo. We drop back to a 5-2-2-1 formation. They're bringing their keeper out pretty far, they desparately need points for their playoff run so they're taking risks.

We hold things off for the final 10 minutes with nothing scary happening. Big win!

Woking 1 : 0 Rochdale

I'm always glad when my view of the match jives with the ratings. Lynch earns a 7.5 rating and man of the match, totally deserved. Nikolaou 7.2, Smith 7.1. Pablo 7.2 with the goal. Harsanyi with a 6.9 and the assist. Mike Williams struggled badly with a 5.5 today. I expected our ratings to be a bit higher. We took 13 shots, 6 on target, 52% of the possession was ours. They took 15 shots, 7 on target, 3 clear cut chances, all saved.

--Pablo's goal ends a 1416 minute scoring drought. After not getting a goal from a foward in seemingly forever, Harsanyi, Subotic and Pablo have all broken out and scored in recent play.

[Radii]

Everyone has 8 matches to go now, here's a standings update:

1. Lincoln - 81 points
2. Rushden - 80 points
3. Oxford - 67 points
----------------------
4. Crewe - 64 points
5. Dag & Red - 64 points
6. Leyton Orient - 63 points
7. Rochdale - 63 points
----------------------
8. Stockport - 61 points
9. Chesterfield - 59 points
10. Exeter - 58 points
11. Kidderminster - 56 points
12. Port Vale - 55 points
13. Wycombe - 51 points
14. Grimsby - 51 points
15. Woking - 48 points
16. Notts Co - 47 points
17. Bury - 46 points
18. Northampton - 43 points
19. Hereford - 43 points
20. Brighton - 41 points
21. Tranmere - 34 points
22. Barnet - 32 points
-----------------------
23. Macclesfield - 23 points
24. Morecambe - 16 points


Lincoln and Rushden could clinch promotion in a couple games, realistically they are advancing for sure. Oxford in 3rd only has a +7 goal differential. Everyone else in the playoff picture is higher so they need to keep their points lead.

Morecambe is completely screwed for relegation, Macclesfield is 9 points behind Barnet so they need a big run to stay up as well.

[Radii]

March 29th, 2014

Woking (11-15-12, 15th) @ Leyton Orient (16-15-7, 6th)

Leyton Orient are huge favorites at their place today, 4:7 to win. We beat Rochdale a few days ago and these guys are tied for them in points. Its our chance to play spoiler. We beat them 2:1 at our place back in November. They ahve 3 guys who have scored 10+ goals. Higdon with 12, Fitzpatrick and Kermorgant with 10. Fitzpatrick is a midfielder that our scouts say is their biggest danger.

GK: Lynch
D: Williams/Thomas/Smith/Ogogo
MC: Upson/O'Sullivan
AM: Jesus/Downes
ST: Pablo/Subotic

Most of our changes again due to the need to rest some guys. We open in a defensive mindset and with instructions to close down on Fitzpatrick.

10': Slow buildup for Leyton Orient, down the left side, Fitzpatrick finds midfielder Fraser in the left side of the penalty area... he gets off a clean shot, its by Lynch in the left side of the net. We had defenders there but he found space anyway. 0-1

25': Whoa!!! Downes with a nice long pass from 40-45 yards out, Subotic brings it in and takes it just outside the left side of the penalty area, he draws two defenders and passes it to Upson. Upson fires a shot from 25 yards out... its by the keeper!!! Goal!!!! that really came out of nowhere. 1-1

29': We actually have 7 shots but i've only seen 3 of them in highlihts... upsons goal and two free kicks that went off the wall.

31': Their man fitzpatrick goes down with a bit of an injury. He stays in but hopefully he's slowed.

37': Very nice cross by Leyton Orient leads to a header into the ground, Lynch has to dive but he gets to it and makes a very nice save.

38': Fraser with a yellow for bringing down O'sullivan.

41': midfielder walton with a yellow , not exactly sure what for.

43': We try to clear the ball, they have a defender playing pretty far foward who keeps it in our defensive end... cross come sin from the right and one of their strikers gets a strong foot to it, placing it under a diving Lynch and in. 1-2

HALF: Subotic picked up an injury at the very end of the half and he is going to have to come out. Harsanyi is in. I'm really impressed with our tying goal, once they went ahead early I figured it was over. They've scored a second though and keeping up with these guys on the road is not something I expect us to be able to do. I'm pleased that we're still fighting though. Each team has 8 shots, we only have 2 on target, they have 4. We actually control possession pretty well, 57/43 in our favor.

53': We take two quick long shots, a volley by Pablo from distance and an O'Sullivan shot... both are saved but both had some power and were on target, worth pointing out.

61': We allow their fowards into the area but recover nicely, thomas putting the ball behind before Higdon can turn and shoot. A better first touch and we're probably down 3-1.

65': Pablo with a cross into the area from 35 yards out... they miss in interception, Downes almost gets there before a defender puts it behind. Corner comes to nothing.

67': Terrible terrible defense. They got two men behind our central defenders.. Ogogo was being lazy and kept them onsides, a through ball and a shot, easy goal. 1-3

70': O'Sullivan gets a ball up to Harsanyi, he plays it foward to Pablo, Pablo was leaning the wrong way but so was the defender... Pablo gets to it first and puts it by the keeper!!! 2-3 We're not out of it yet!

72': AGAIN!!!! O'Sullivan is 40 yards out... a long ball on the ground, the defense just doesn't react, Pablo sprints by his man and gets to the ball 2-3 yards ahead of the defender... again, he finishes!! into the left side of the net, smoothly pushed by the keeper! 3-3

79': Midfielder Lees with a yellow backing into Upson going for a goal kick.

82': Lynch keeps us alive. A throwin leads to a quick long cross to the far post... header, that was a clear cut strike for Leyton Orient... Lynch dives for it and somehow makes the save.

85': Clapham in for Jesus, Ademola in for Downes.

90': Ademola shows some nice control making his way down the right side, he gets a cross in, upson gets his head on it... and its a very poor header, miles over.

What a thrilling comeback!!! We'll take a point, what a fun game.

Leyton Orient 3 : 3 Woking

Leyton Orient took 18 shots, 8 on target, 3 clear cut strikes. We took 16 shots, 7 on target, 2 clear cut strikes. Possesion 51/49 in our favor. We tackled slightly better, neither team was great in the air (57% for us, 59% for them). It was pretty damn even.

Pablo scores twice and is man of the match with an 8.8 rating. Upson with an 8.0 and his one goal. Assists from O'Sullivan (7.6), Subotic (6.9), and Harsanyi (6.9).

[Radii]

-- Norwich beats Preston (both league 1 sides) 4-1 to win the Johnstone's Paint Trophy.

April Update

We play 5 matches in April, the season is getting close to finishing up here. We have a critical offseason ahead of us and the world cup coming up soon. We have an $850k loan that we start repaying this month... $3500/mo goes towards that. Uh yeah I don't remember seeing any info on that loan but apparently the new chairman took it out or it was part of the deal or something... we made a profit of over $900k last month and $850k of it is from "investments". This loan allows us a positive balance... barely. I'm worried what will happen next season when we dip well back into the red. I fully intend to spend the money I'm allowed to spend to try to make the team successful, I don't have an order to turn a profit or anything. And I don't have any breakout players who I could try to sell either. Nikolaou is valued at $180k, no one else is over $60k.

-- Sole is injured by Christian Smith in training.

April 5th, 2014

Dag & Red (20-7-12, 3rd) @ Woking (11-16-12, 15th)

Dag & Red are pick em favorites at our place. We're 11:5 to get a draw or a win equally. They're tied in points for 3rd but have a better goal differential than Oxford, so they're fighing for auto-promotion and have tons to play for. We tied 0:0 at their place in late november. Izale McLeod has 16 goals and Jason Bradley 13 for Dag & Red, the two names to keep an eye out for. Pablo is up to 9 now for us after his little scoring outbreak the last couple matches.

GK: Lynch
D: Nikolaou/Williams/Smith/Ogogo
MC: Upson/O'Sullivan
AM: Jesus/Downes
ST: Pablo/Subotic

We're completely rested. This is, I believe, the best lineup we're capable of fielding.

1': Bright for Dag & Red with a yellow for taking down O'Sullivan. Two fouls by them in the first minute.

3': Long outlet by Dag & Red, our defensive line is up very high... their forward wins the race to the ball but Lynch makes a good save to force a corner, which we defend well.

14': clear cut chance for Dag & Red on a long cross.. but a header is taken incredibly weakly and is an easy save for lynch.

16': we manage our first shot, a poor header by O'Sullivan after a long cross into the box on a free kick.

21': We build up possession, getting the ball to Jesus, a cross into the box, its a strong header... I think by Pablo, saved and deflected over by the keeper. first corner is headed back, second we waste.

32': O'Sullivan picks up a yellow

40': Huge error on our part... a through ball and Christian Smith thought his man was offsides and appears to pretty much stop. they shoot, Lynch saves but its deflected back into play, the rebond is put into the net. 0-1. Dag & Red has 4 clear cut strikes now... we are giving up too many easy looks.

46': Dudgeon for Dag & Red with a yellow.

HALF: We control 58% of the possesion, shooting 5 times but only putting one on target. They shoot 6 times, 5 are on target and 4 are clear cut strikes. They aren't doing much but when they do generate a chance its a really dangerous one. We need to get something going to get that goal back.

50': Smith takes a corner, its put into the 6 yard box, williams runs onto it and gets his head to it, but its over the bar.

52': they take a long goal kick, Lynch comes all the way out of the penalty area but botches a header... it falls to a Dag & Red attacker who takes advantage of their 5th clear cut chance of the match to pu the ball into the now empty net. Terrible decision by Lynch. It felt like our defenders were there ad would not have allowed a good look. 0-2

60': Long clearance by our guys... O'Sullivan forward to Downes, Downes is behidn the defense, he controls the ball in the penalty area, shoots, its off the left post, and ricochets into the net!!! 1-2

70': Harsanyi in for a tiring Jesus.

73': Upson feeds the ball into the area for Subotic. Subotic tries to turn on his man to get a shot off.. he's brought down... the ref gives the penalty!! Williams will take it. He puts it into the net! 2-2

80': Harsanyi with a very nice ball forward to Subotic, he's tripped before he can make it into the penalty area. Yellow card for defender Doe, but we can't do anything with the free kick.

83': We allow them to get very deep in our end, a nice turn by attacker Scott to get a cross into the 6 yard box. Their man Lee goes up with Nikolaou... Lee gets to it, and heads it easily into the net. 2-3

93': A great play forward by our midfield, Harsanyi to Upson, Upson with a ball into the area for O'Sullivan, O'Sullivan is brought down, and hard! He's hurt, like legitimately hurt with an injury symbol over his head, but there is no penalty given! We earn a corner, Ed Upson goes nuts about the lack of a penalty and gets a yellow card. We can do nothing with the corner kick and that is basically the end of the match.

Woking 2 : 3 Dag & Red

Joe O'Sullivan is man of the match with a 7.9 rating today and an assist. Goals come from Williams (6.6) and Downes (7.2). Our other assist from Subotic (7.5). Elsewhere, Christian Smith puts up a 7.0 and Upson a 7.0.

Nikolaou and O'Sullivan both pick up bad looking injuries (based on the fatigue hit) in the final 5 minutes.

We shoot 15 times but can only manage to put 3 shots on target. They shoot 10 times, but get 8 of them on target and generate a whopping 5 clear cut chances. We did pretty well to make it a 3-2 game as poorly as our defense played.



-- Nikolaou is out for 3-4 weeks. O'Sullivan is ok after all.

-- There is no press conference after the match. Since O'Sullivan went down injured at the end I was going to call out the ref, something I very rarely take the risk of doing.

[Radii]

April 12th, 2014

Grimsby(15-7-18, 14th) @ Woking (11-16-13, 16th)

We're favored today, 5:4 to win compared to Grimsby's 7:4. We lost pretty badly 3:1 at their place earlier in the year. Tom Corner scored two goals for Grimsby in that match. He's only their 3rd leading scorer with 9 goals. Rene Howe has 12, Richard Peniket has 11.

GK: Lynch
D: Williams/Thomas/Smith/Ogogo
MC: Upson/O'Sullivan
AM: Jesus/Downes
ST: Pablo/Subotic

Williams will play DL for awhile with Nikolaou out, Thomas will get a few more starts. We set out to close down on ML Karl Moore, their top playmaker.

2': Downes receives a long ball, we have other men forward but there's really no lane to try to get them the ball... Downes beats one defender... he beats a second defender, a shot from 20 yards out... just wide! Nice move.

12': So much for closing down on Moore? We try to clear a corner kick attempt, moore ends up with it 30 yards out... he is allowed to run forward nearly into the penalty area before a nice pass over to the left side... its a shot from a tough angle but its a great shot, Lynch can't get to it and its a goal. 0-1

17': We control possession for a good long time, but cannot generate anything with our fowards, finally Upson takes a shot from 30 yards out and hits the crossbar. Its a powerful strike, not a bad effort. We need to get it in closer though!

24': Another strong attack for us, Jesus makes it into the area with solid control of the ball, he plays a little through ball to Subotic... easy goal if he gets to it first, but its defended well and cleared behind for a corner which we can't convert.

33': Upson ahead to Pablo... he draws a defender and gets it to Subotic, Subotic with our first clear cut strike of the match, its powerful and low and o ntarget... amazing save by their keeper, wow. Dunno how we didn't score there!

37': Grimsby with a counter attack, our defense is beaten badly, their striker Peniket is 10 yards clear of the defense when he gets the ball and runs at the keeper... he isn't going to miss this. 0-2

HALF: Our defense is getting rocked. Williams 5.7, Smith 5.6, Thomas 5.5. We've pressured them quite a bit, taking 11 shots, 4 of them on target, our best shot was saved brilliantly by their keeper. Grimsby have 5 shots and only 2 on target, one was a great strike, the other a massive defensive letdown.

55': Short corner taken by Grimsby to Howe... he jukes by downes and is into the 6 yard area... fires a shot... Lynch has no chance. 0-3

56': Jesus down the left side, ahead to Pablo, Pablo takes it wide, centers it to Subotic who runs onto it perfectly and puts the ball into the net from near point blank range. A little too late it would seem. 1-3

60': Seriously why can't we do this in the first half of games!? Ogogo is out wide, he plays a ball to Subotic in the center of the field, Downes cuts to the goal from his right position, Subotic plays it perfectly to him, Downes is there, and he puts it into the net! 2-3

76': Clapham in for Jesus who picked up a small injury, Ball in for a tired O'Sullivan.

81': A furious flurry... Ball plays a ball foward to Pablo, Pablo with the shot... saved, the rebound to Clapham, I thought for sure this would be our goal... but its saved... rebound to Pablo and he puts it wide.

89': Thomas brings down a man winning the ball in the midfield.. foward to clapham, foward to Pablo, he turns and beats his man, shoots... but its wide. He had a good look.

Well, for a long time we couldn't score at all, i'm pleased we're generating goals again, now we have to find a way to do it before we fall behind by 2 or 3 goals.

Woking 2 : Grimsby 3

Aiden Downes is man of the match in defeat today with a 7.8 rating and one of our two goals. Subotic with a goal and an assist and a 7.6 rating. The other assist to Pablo who struggled pretty badly with a 6.6 today. Jesus put up a 7.1. In defense Williams never really recovered from his poor start and ended up with a 5.6 today. The other defenders weer in the low 6 range, 6.2/6.3. We need to see a bit better than that.

[britrock88]

You've got me firing up FM now because of this thread...been reading for days now.

Better that you can spread it out over several days, DC... I've done this all at one go. Exams will just have to suffer on their own.

[Radii]

Better that you can spread it out over several days, DC... I've done this all at one go. Exams will just have to suffer on their own.

woohoo!

[Radii]

April 15th, 2014

Woking (11-16-14, 17th) @ Bury(12-14-15, 16th)

Bury are favored big at their place, 4:7 to win. Scoreless draw at our place, I don't expect that today what with the way these matches have been going recently! Scott Rendell leads them with 14 goals this year, Nathaniel Mendez-Laing has 10.

GK: Lynch
D: Sloma/Thomas/Smith/Ogogo
MC: Herd/O'Sullivan
AM: Harsanyi/Ademola
ST: Cousins/Subotic

Tons of changes today on short rest. Anson cousins is back from loan and will get an extremely rare start. Sloma and Chris Herd are in as well. With the season winding down we're giving a few guys a last look. We're defensive on the road

7': Clear cut try for Bury, a little pass from one side of the penalty area to the other sets up an easy looking header but its weak and Lynch is right there.

27': O'Sullivan with a rather random long shot that goes just barely wide.

35': Beautiful move!! Ogogo takes a throwin, plays a long ball forward to Subotic, he runs into the area, abruptly stops and passes it back to a charging O'Sullivan, he takes the shot... its off the bottom of the crossbar and deflects in!!! Subotic was pretty far right and didn't have an angle to shoot, his pass in a crowded penalty area was just beautiful. 1-0

HALF: Very few highlights today and I'm happy with that. I'm maybe writing up a little less than normal b/c I'm a bit tired too ;) We've taken 5 shots, and put two on target. We've allowed 5 shots, 2 on target. Possession is even as are most of the stats, its a pretty even matchup, a great thing for us given some of the deep bench guys we have in there today.

64': They've taken a couple shots, both from distance and way off target. We just had a breakaway aftera long clearance but Harsanyi made a terrible pass giving up our advantage.

67': They move the ball down the left sideline... there's a cross, Lynch runs out... WHY. He can't get to the man about to take the header, and he ends up in no mans land about 5 yards out, unable to stop anything at all. the header is on target and we're tied. 1-1

72': Harsanyi is on target this time!! He has the ball 25 ayrds out and plays a graet through ball to Ademola, Ademola receives it at a tough angle but puts it in with a solid strike! 2-1

73': Ugh... instant equalising. Our defense is awful, a through ball finds attacker Marshall wide open, we have tons of defenders back but no one in the right spot. They tie it up easily. 2-2

83': Ball in for O'Sullivan, Jesus in for Subotic, Harsanyi moves to foward/Jesus AML.

Lynch has to make one good save in the closing minutes, but we end up tied.

Bury 2 : 2 Woking

Well, we got ahead today, that's an improvement! Sloma and Cousins were awful, 5.7 and 5.5. O'Sullivan had a 7.6 and a goal, Ademola 7.2 and a goal. Assists from Harsanyi (7.3) and Subotic(6.8). One of their scorers earns man of the match honors.

[Radii]

-Chesterfield, 8th in League 2, fire their head coach after changing management. I release a statement denying interest in the job.

-- The Woking board are delighted that I reaffirm my committment to the club by refuting my interest in the Chesterfield job.

April 21th, 2014

Chesterfield(19-10-13, 8th) @ Woking (11-17-14, 17th)

Oh, so I just told my next opponent they aren't worthy of my leadership. Hrrm. They are 4:6 favorites today and we've played a couple teams in the playoffs recently but this is the most important one for our opponents by far. The top 7 make the playoffs. Chesterfield is 1 point behind Exeter, just out of the playoffs today. They desparately need wins over teams like ours. Back in December we had a scoreless draw at their place. Chesterfield are a one man team.. Ryan Blackwell has 24 goals. Their second leading scorer has 8.

GK: Lynch
D: Williams/Thomas/Smith/Ogogo
MC: Upson/O'Sullivan
AM: Jesus/Downes
ST: Pablo/Subotic

Back to a normal lineup today after resting up. We're going after their star scorer today, Blackwell, closing down and tackling hard.

7': Their star Blackwell with a great long pass... they steal the ball in midfield, Blackwell with a long ball foward to the other striker Vickers who cuts perfectly and gets behind the defense. Its a clear ut strike and he isn't missing as he runs into the penalty area and challenges Lynch. 0-1

20': Pretty!! Jesus at midfield, give and go with Pablo, Jesus receives it right back and makes a good run down the left side... he places a cross into the area. Joe O'Sullivan runs onto it and gets his head to it, the keeper cant get to it and its in! 1-1

22': Jesus. Not our player, but Jesus Christ what just happened. Highlight starts, there's a pass to Blackwell. He's on the right side of the field about 30 yards away. He just stops and shoots... and scores. No wonder he has 20+ goals... 1-2

29': Upson tries to get it back... after a few headers to determine possession Upson receives a pass about 30 yards out and fires... he hits the crossbar, very close!

30': Midfielder Bradly passes to striker Vickers, Blackwell cuts to the goal... Vickers with a through ball, Blackwell receives it behind our defense... and easily scores. 1-3

HALF: things slow up after that. A wild half but we are way on the worse end of this. We take 10 shots, they take 8. Both of us put 4 on target but they have the best player on the pitch and its not even close.

55': Harsanyi in for Subotic who was havign an awful day.

60': Ademola in for Downes who was also having a horrible day.

64': Jesus does most of the work himself, he starts naer midfield, beats two defenders as he charges down the left side, places a beautiful cross right at the 6 yard line, O'Sullivan meets it for his second headed goal of the day!! 2-3 "Jesus showed great creativity and vision to create that goal"

Just a couple highlights the rest of the way, they do a good job killing time and getting the 3 points they desparately need.

Woking 2 : 3 Chesterfield

Jesus is man of the match in the loss. He had two assists and was brilliant, earning a 9.0 rating. O'Sullivan with both goals and an 8.8 rating. Williams 7.0. On the other end, Downes 6.0 and Subotic 5.7 were really not on their game before being subbed out.


With just 3 matches left Rushden and Lincoln have clinched promotion. The rest of the playoff race:

3. Dag & Red - 74 pts
=====================
4. Rochdale - 73 pts
5. Crewe - 73 pts
6. Oxford - 72 pts
7. Exeter - 71 pts
=====================
8. Chesterfield - 70 pts
9. Leyton Orient - 67 pts

[Radii]

April 26th, 2014

Woking (11-17-15, 17th) @ Kidderminster(17-13-13, 11th)

Kidderminster are 4:6 favorites at home. We're 7:2 to get a win. They're out of the playoff hunt. We lost 2-1 at home to these guys. We have a history with Kidderminster as long as we do with anyone. We're 3-0-3 lifetime against them, scoring 11 and allowing 10 goals in those 6 matches. We've lost the last two though.

GK: Lynch
D: Williams/Thomas/Smith/Ogogo
MC: Upson/O'Sullivan
AM: Jesus/Downes
ST: Subotic/Sole

Sole hasn't played in awhile and Pablo could use a day off.

1': Whoa! We kick off and move right down the field. Subotic to Jesus, back to Subotic, through ball to Sole, his shot is saved but there's a rebound, O'Sullivan runs onto it and puts it home!! 1-0

9': A great through ball for Kidder leads toa clear cut chance but Lynch makes an incredible save.

11': Sole sends it wide to Jesus who plays it forward immediately to a breaking Subotic... its a little long though and the keeper comes out and gets to it before Subotic can get there.

15': Missed tackle by Smith leads to a near point blank shot for Kidderminster, their 2nd clear cut strike in 3 shots, and Lynch again makes an amazing save to turn it behind. corner comes to nothing.

28': Jesus and Subotic are working great together, this is the 3rd time i've seen Subotic break on ball perfectly to get behind the defense, this time he takes a shot from 18 yards out as the keeper is charging and he places it nicely into the net! 2-0

38': Deep throwin for us, Downes with a pass into the area, they miss a clearance and Subotic takes a shot but its parried by the keeper.

42': Thomas goes to clear out a long ball and i dunno what he does... whiff? trip? pick some flowers? An attacker runs onto the ball and fires a quick shot, the FOURTH clear cut chance of the first half for Kidderminster, and Lynch is there again. Lynch is saving the defense today.

HALF: Kidderminster ends up with 12 shots, most of them not worth reporting on, 6 of them on target but a few of them were long tries. But really.. four clear cut chances in the half, and Lynch was there for three to make great saves. We've got 6 shots, 4 on target. We've been in a defensive mindset since about the 3rd minute (only b/c I forgot to set it pre-game). Sole is holding his own today up at striker so far. Subotic at the left/supporting deep lying forward role looks great. I've not used him there much(preferring Pablo) b/c he's a big guy and I've put him up front as a target guy. But this seems solid.

49': After so many great saves Lynch just lets one by... Midfielder O'Grady beats a man, gets near the area and fires... its high, but right at lynch, and he just cannot hang on, the ball is through his arms and in. 2-1

63': Kidderminster has really kept the pressure on, nothing really scary but they have 17 shots now, they are trying to force something.

76': Still.. we have one shot, Kidder earn yet another corner that we clear out, they have 18 shots but we still lead by 1.

78': Through ball that leads to a shot from a tough angle... Lynch saves and Thomas clears, that was a little scary.

82': Sloma in for Sole. 5-4-1 formation, Sloma at DL, Williams slides over to DC, only Subotic ahead.

We only manage to take two shots in the second half but the defense holds strong after letting them back in it early in the half. Great win!

Kidderminster 1 : 2 Woking

They take 19 shots, we take 8. 10 of theirs are on target, 4 clear cut chances, all in the first half. Possession ends up even but they really pushed it when they had the ball.

Jesus is man of the match with a 7.8 rating and an assist. Goals from O'Sullivan (7.3) and Subotic (7.3). Sole the other assist (6.7). Additionally Williams earns a 7.2 rating.


We're down to 2 matches remaining:

3. Dag & Red - 77 pts
---------------------
4. Exeter - 74 pts
5. Rochdale - 73 pts
6. Crewe - 72 pts
7. Chesterfield - 73 pts
---------------------
8. Oxford - 72 pts
9. Leyton Orient - 70 pts

A win for Exeter pushes them from 7th to 4th. An Oxford loss and Chesterfield win see them switch positions, Oxford is a point out now. Dag & Red is in great shape to earn auto promotion but haven't even clinched a playoff spot, very exciting finish!

[Radii]

-- Jesus is placed on the League 2 Team of the Week/

May Update

--Jesus is the Young Player of the Month in league two. He's been playing great since we went back to the 4-2-2-2 formation.

--Our last two games are on the 3rd and 10th of the month, then we'll just be reporting on the rest of the league for awhile.

-- The board is very pleased in my leadership. Success in League 2 (remember, expectations were to avoid relegation) is a positive, Aswad Thomas' poor play in the defense is a negative. We need to ditch Thomas, Fenton and Anane and bolster our defense next year, that's probably our top priority in addition to filling the holes our loaners will be filling. We lost $106k last month.

Playoff Update

The playoff contenders matchups today:

#21 Barnet vs #5 Rochdale
#19 Brighton vs #9 Leyton Orient
#6 Crewe vs #7 Chesterfield
#4 Exeter vs #18 Hereford
#8 Oxford vs #22 Tranmere
#13 Port Vale vs #3 Dag & Red

Crewe vs Chesterfield is the game of the week by far.

May 3rd, 2014

Stockport(15-21-8, 10th) @ Woking (12-17-15, 17th)

Very similar to our last game with Kidderminster, we're playing a team that very recently became mathematically eliminated from playoff contention. They are pick'em favorites, we're 11:5 dogs at home. We lost 2-0 at their place earlier in the year. Stockport has not won in their last 11 matches. They've played 0-0 draws in their last 4.

GK: Lynch
D: Williams/Thomas/Smith/Ogogo
MC: Upson/O'Sullivan
AM: Jesus/Ademola
ST: Subotic/Harsanyi

A couple changes to the lineup today. Nikolaou is back to full training but not full strength yet. He might come in as a backup.

25': We have 5 shots but 3 are long and none have had a chance. They have 2 shots and a ton of dead time in this one.

30': Ogogo a throwin to Ademola, he passes to O'Sullivan and cuts towards the gaol, a great through ball, Ademola runs onto it, our first clear cut strike of the match... saved! Damn, that looked nice. Downes might have finished there.

45': Jesus is brought down in the midfield by a hard sliding tackle... he's done for the day and has to come out immediately. Pablo is in at striker, Harsanyi to AML.

HALF: We take 8 shots but its not really as good as it sounds, as you can see from the reporting on the match. They take 4, one on target, 2 blocked.... just nothing troubling Lynch at all either. I'll try to attack more in the second half b/c what do we have to lose.

67': After an early attack on our part the game skips ahead to the 67 minute mark... they are attacking, there's a cross from the left side, striker Bennett gets by Williams and heads the ball in. Very disappointing, our defenders were there and just played it terribly. 0-1

89': That's right, we skip ahead 22 more minutes before another highlight. We're bringing the ball out of teh defensive end, a long ball forward to Subotic, he goes wide, the keeper comes out his way and is well out of position, Subotic a cross... the defense is challenging it but Pablo gets his head to it... and its inches over.

That was one of the most boring games i've ever watched.

Woking 0 : 1 Stockport

One very quick strike for Stockport. Some shots where there... 10 for us, 8 for them, but only 6 on target total and most of them weak efforts. Just a very dull, boring game where we had one great chance and couldn't finish and we allowed one serious chance and they converted.

They have a defender putting up a 7.9 rating to earn man of the match. Williams has a 7.2, Thomas a 7.2, Jesus a 72. That's it. O'Sullivan with a rare weaker game with a 6.5 rating. Yawn!

After that one, i'm officially ready for the offseason.


Playoff update

#21 Barnet (1) ties (1) #5 Rochdale
#19 Brighton (1) loses to (2) #9 Leyton Orient
#6 Crewe (0) loses to (1) #7 Chesterfield
#4 Exeter (0) loses to (1) #18 Hereford
#8 Oxford (2) beats (1) #22 Tranmere
#13 Port Vale (3) beats (2) #3 Dag & Red


So how do the playoff standings change?

3. Dag & Red - 77 pts
----------------------
4. Chesterfield - 76 pts
5. Oxford - 75 pts
6. Rochdale - 74 pts
7. Exeter - 74 pts
----------------------
8. Leyton Orient - 73 pts
9. Crewe - 73 pts

Dag & Red have now clinched a playoff spot. No one else has. And if Dag & Red were to lose their last match, any of the 4 teams behind them could earn auto promotion if things shake out right for them.

[Radii]

-- Jesus is hurt and will miss our last game.

-- Rushden have officially won league 2. They'd already clinched promotion but I'm sure finishing first is nice on top of that!

Playoff Update

The playoff contenders matchups today:

4. Chesterfield vs 16. Notts Co
3. Dag & Red vs 19. Brighton
14. Grimsby vs 7. Exeter
11. Kidderminster vs 9. Crewe
8. Leyton Orient vs 23. Macclesfield
5. Oxford vs 1. Rushden
6. rochdale vs 24. Morecambe

3rd place auto promotes, 4 through 7 make the playoffs. Even the 4th place team isn't safe if they lose and #8 wins so its wide open. Oxford is in big trouble if Rushden wants to try today, especially with Leyton Orient playing the next to worst team in the league.

May 10rd, 2014

Woking (12-17-16, 17th) @ Lincoln (25-13-7, 2nd)

They're 2:5 favorites at home. Ouch. We're not really trying today either, lets get some guys on the field and have some fun.

GK: Martin
D: Sloma/Thomas/Fenton/Anane
MC: Arter/Pulis
AM: Clapham/Ademola
ST: Sole/Cousins

As many as half of these guys will not be with the team next year. We'll play defensive today.

15': 3 total shots, all off target so far.

31': The game just flew forward 16 minutes without a highlight. We are controlling the ball well but not generating any good shots really.

41': Yellow for midfielder McHearon for a rough tackle. Another yellow for a defender minutes later, Swibu or something.

HALF: They take 7 shots, all off target and 5 long. I only saw two of them in the highlights. We take 3 shots, all off target. We have a 57/43 possession edge. Season's almost over boys, go out and win one with the backups!

46': they attack out of the gate and generate a decent look from about 18 yards out. Martin does a nice job to save it.

50': Only a matter of time I suppose. We lose the ball in the midfield, there's a quick pass down the left sideline, a cross, a header with Sloma out of position and not challenging it properly, and they get a goal. 0-1

59': Arter has gone down hard a couple times today and he picks up an injury. Ball comes in for him.

63': They cross it into the penalty area, Anane goes ot make a tackle and trips the opposition. They won't miss the penalty kick. 0-2

We watch a few more highlights the rest of the way but they are all attacks for Lincoln, two nice saves made by Martin... we only take one shot in the second half and it was a long effort not shown in a highlight.

Lincoln 2 : 0 Woking

Anane 5.4, Sloma 6.0, Cousins 5.7. Clapham played well with a 7.0 today. Season's over, good first year in League 2, we have a lot of work to do on the roster.


Playoff Update


4. Chesterfield (3) beats (0) 16. Notts Co
3. Dag & Red (1) beats (0) 19. Brighton
14. Grimsby (1) loses to (2) 7. Exeter
11. Kidderminster (1) loses to (3) 9. Crewe
8. Leyton Orient (1) ties (1) 23. Macclesfield
5. Oxford (1) loses to (3) 1. Rushden
6. rochdale (6) beats (3) 24. Morecambe

Its basically exactly what I thought might happen, Oxford loses to the best team in the league and it knocks them out of the playoffs on the last day. Oxford with that loss falls to 8th. Leyton Orient will be kicking themselves, unable to pull out a win to beat the next to last team in the league. A win would have put them in the playoffs. Instead the team coming into the day 9th, Crewe, jumps up to 7th and is in. More on this as we do season review and postseason and all that jazz over the weekend.

Dag & Red got the win they needed to clinch a promotion spot as well.

[Radii]

Goalkeepers


<table border="1" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" width="508"> <col width="91"> <col width="36"> <col width="44"> <col width="35"> <col width="23"> <col width="23"> <col width="40"> <col width="41"> <col width="39"> <col width="54"> <tbody><tr valign="TOP"> <td width="91"> Name
</td> <td width="36"> Age
</td> <td width="44"> $/Wk
</td> <td width="35"> Apps
</td> <td width="23"> GA
</td> <td width="23"> SO
</td> <td width="40"> MoM
</td> <td width="41"> Yel
</td> <td width="39"> Red
</td> <td width="54"> Avg
</td> </tr> <tr valign="TOP"> <td width="91"> Kevin Lynch
</td> <td width="36"> 22
</td> <td width="44"> $825
</td> <td width="35"> 48
</td> <td width="23"> 61
</td> <td width="23"> 19
</td> <td width="40"> 1
</td> <td width="41"> 1
</td> <td width="39"> 0
</td> <td width="54"> 6.71
</td> </tr> <tr valign="TOP"> <td width="91"> Lewis Martin
</td> <td width="36"> 20
</td> <td width="44"> $325
</td> <td width="35"> 1
</td> <td width="23"> 2
</td> <td width="23"> 0
</td> <td width="40"> 0
</td> <td width="41"> 0
</td> <td width="39"> 0
</td> <td width="54"> 6.5
</td> </tr> <tr valign="TOP"> <td width="91"> Matt Pegler
</td> <td width="36"> 21
</td> <td width="44"> $90
</td> <td width="35"> 2
</td> <td width="23"> 3
</td> <td width="23"> 0
</td> <td width="40"> 0
</td> <td width="41"> 0
</td> <td width="39"> 0
</td> <td width="54"> 6.55
</td> </tr> <tr valign="TOP"> <td width="91">

</td> <td width="36">

</td> <td width="44">

</td> <td width="35">

</td> <td width="23">

</td> <td width="23">

</td> <td width="40">

</td> <td width="41">

</td> <td width="39">

</td> <td width="54">

</td> </tr> </tbody></table>

**GA = Goals Allowed | SO = Shutouts


Lynch's Average Rating is down about .2 from last year, he only gave up a few more goals and onlyhad one less shutout this year though.


Defenders


<table border="1" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" width="564"> <col width="62"> <col width="27"> <col width="46"> <col width="46"> <col width="22"> <col width="34"> <col width="42"> <col width="31"> <col width="32"> <col width="41"> <col width="41"> <col width="42"> <tbody><tr valign="TOP"> <td width="62"> Name
</td> <td width="27"> Age
</td> <td width="46"> $/Wk
</td> <td width="46"> Apps
</td> <td width="22"> GL
</td> <td width="34"> AST
</td> <td width="42"> MoM
</td> <td width="31"> Yel
</td> <td width="32"> Red
</td> <td width="41"> Tck
</td> <td width="41"> Pass
</td> <td width="42"> Avg
</td> </tr> <tr valign="TOP"> <td width="62"> Stelios Nikolaou
</td> <td width="27"> 20
</td> <td width="46"> $650
</td> <td width="46"> 36 (1)
</td> <td width="22"> 0
</td> <td width="34"> 1
</td> <td width="42"> 2
</td> <td width="31"> 1
</td> <td width="32"> 0
</td> <td width="41"> 3.59
</td> <td width="41"> 76%
</td> <td width="42"> 7.12
</td> </tr> <tr valign="TOP"> <td width="62"> Abu Agogo
</td> <td width="27"> 24
</td> <td width="46"> $2600
</td> <td width="46"> 40(1)
</td> <td width="22"> 0
</td> <td width="34"> 1
</td> <td width="42"> 2
</td> <td width="31"> 1
</td> <td width="32"> 0
</td> <td width="41"> 3.94
</td> <td width="41"> 71%
</td> <td width="42"> 6.83
</td> </tr> <tr valign="TOP"> <td width="62"> Mike Williams
</td> <td width="27"> 27
</td> <td width="46"> $800
</td> <td width="46"> 44(1)
</td> <td width="22"> 4
</td> <td width="34"> 1
</td> <td width="42"> 0
</td> <td width="31"> 4
</td> <td width="32"> 0
</td> <td width="41"> 2.73
</td> <td width="41"> 74%
</td> <td width="42"> 6.75
</td> </tr> <tr valign="TOP"> <td width="62"> Christian Smith
</td> <td width="27"> 26
</td> <td width="46"> $1200
</td> <td width="46"> 43
</td> <td width="22"> 0
</td> <td width="34"> 0
</td> <td width="42"> 1
</td> <td width="31"> 5
</td> <td width="32"> 0
</td> <td width="41"> 3.50
</td> <td width="41"> 66%
</td> <td width="42"> 6.71
</td> </tr> <tr valign="TOP"> <td width="62"> Aswad Thomas
</td> <td width="27"> 24
</td> <td width="46"> $825
</td> <td width="46"> 23(3)
</td> <td width="22"> 0
</td> <td width="34"> 0
</td> <td width="42"> 0
</td> <td width="31"> 1
</td> <td width="32"> 0
</td> <td width="41"> 2.86
</td> <td width="41"> 75%
</td> <td width="42"> 6.61
</td> </tr> <tr valign="TOP"> <td width="62"> Ricky Anane
</td> <td width="27"> 24
</td> <td width="46"> $975
</td> <td width="46"> 11(3)
</td> <td width="22"> 0
</td> <td width="34"> 0
</td> <td width="42"> 0
</td> <td width="31"> 0
</td> <td width="32"> 0
</td> <td width="41"> 2.31
</td> <td width="41"> 71%
</td> <td width="42"> 6.46
</td> </tr> <tr valign="TOP"> <td width="62"> Nick Fenton
</td> <td width="27"> 34
</td> <td width="46"> $800
</td> <td width="46"> 6(5)
</td> <td width="22"> 0
</td> <td width="34"> 0
</td> <td width="42"> 0
</td> <td width="31"> 3
</td> <td width="32"> 0
</td> <td width="41"> 2.08
</td> <td width="41"> 66%
</td> <td width="42"> 6.38
</td> </tr> <tr valign="TOP"> <td width="62">

</td> <td width="27">

</td> <td width="46">

</td> <td width="46">

</td> <td width="22">

</td> <td width="34">

</td> <td width="42">

</td> <td width="31">

</td> <td width="32">

</td> <td width="41">

</td> <td width="41">

</td> <td width="42">

</td> </tr> </tbody></table>

**GL = Goals | TCK = Tackles/game


The entire defense is down this year. I'm really unhappy with our play here. Agogo at $2600/wk needs to do better. Nikolaou and Williams down about .2 from last year, I expected better from Smith. Thomas actually did ok when needed compared to last year, Anane and Fenton were awful.

[Radii]

Central Midfielders




<table border="1" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" width="564"> <col width="71"> <col width="27"> <col width="46"> <col width="37"> <col width="22"> <col width="34"> <col width="42"> <col width="31"> <col width="32"> <col width="41"> <col width="41"> <col width="42"> <tbody><tr valign="TOP"> <td width="71"> Name
</td> <td width="27"> Age
</td> <td width="46"> $/Wk
</td> <td width="37"> Apps
</td> <td width="22"> GL
</td> <td width="34"> AST
</td> <td width="42"> MoM
</td> <td width="31"> Yel
</td> <td width="32"> Red
</td> <td width="41"> Tck
</td> <td width="41"> Pass
</td> <td width="42"> Avg
</td> </tr> <tr valign="TOP"> <td width="71"> Ed Upson
</td> <td width="27"> 24
</td> <td width="46"> 2600
</td> <td width="37"> 35(3)
</td> <td width="22"> 4
</td> <td width="34"> 4
</td> <td width="42"> 9
</td> <td width="31"> 1
</td> <td width="32"> 0
</td> <td width="41"> 3.53
</td> <td width="41"> 73%
</td> <td width="42"> 7.25
</td> </tr> <tr valign="TOP"> <td width="71"> Joe O'Sullivan
</td> <td width="27"> 22
</td> <td width="46"> $525
</td> <td width="37"> 36(4)
</td> <td width="22"> 5
</td> <td width="34"> 5
</td> <td width="42"> 3
</td> <td width="31"> 8
</td> <td width="32"> 0
</td> <td width="41"> 3.13
</td> <td width="41"> 78%
</td> <td width="42"> 7.03
</td> </tr> <tr valign="TOP"> <td width="71"> Anthony Pulis
</td> <td width="27"> 29
</td> <td width="46"> $1200
</td> <td width="37"> 23(9)
</td> <td width="22"> 1
</td> <td width="34"> 3
</td> <td width="42"> 1
</td> <td width="31"> 0
</td> <td width="32"> 0
</td> <td width="41"> 2.99
</td> <td width="41"> 77%
</td> <td width="42"> 6.85
</td> </tr> <tr valign="TOP"> <td width="71"> Chris Herd
</td> <td width="27"> 25
</td> <td width="46"> $1100
</td> <td width="37"> 2(7)
</td> <td width="22"> 0
</td> <td width="34"> 0
</td> <td width="42"> 0
</td> <td width="31"> 0
</td> <td width="32"> 0
</td> <td width="41"> 4.14
</td> <td width="41"> 75%
</td> <td width="42"> 6.84
</td> </tr> <tr valign="TOP"> <td width="71"> Matthew Ball
</td> <td width="27"> 21
</td> <td width="46"> LOAN
</td> <td width="37"> 5(19)
</td> <td width="22"> 0
</td> <td width="34"> 0
</td> <td width="42"> 0
</td> <td width="31"> 1
</td> <td width="32"> 0
</td> <td width="41"> 4.35
</td> <td width="41"> 70%
</td> <td width="42"> 6.79
</td> </tr> <tr valign="TOP"> <td width="71"> Harry Arter
</td> <td width="27"> 24
</td> <td width="46"> $1200
</td> <td width="37"> 2(1)
</td> <td width="22"> 0
</td> <td width="34"> 0
</td> <td width="42"> 0
</td> <td width="31"> 0
</td> <td width="32"> 0
</td> <td width="41"> 1.64
</td> <td width="41"> 80%
</td> <td width="42"> 6.77
</td> </tr> <tr valign="TOP"> <td width="71"> Sam Sloma
</td> <td width="27"> 31
</td> <td width="46"> $600
</td> <td width="37"> 4(6)
</td> <td width="22"> 0
</td> <td width="34"> 0
</td> <td width="42"> 0
</td> <td width="31"> 0
</td> <td width="32"> 0
</td> <td width="41"> 3.36
</td> <td width="41"> 68%
</td> <td width="42"> 6.17
</td> </tr> </tbody></table>

**GL = Goals | TCK = Tackles/game


I felt the midfield held up pretty well. Upson is a solid addition, O'Sullivan and Pulis I'm clearly still happey with. Ball not so much for a season long loan.


Attacking Midfielders




<table border="1" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" width="564"> <col width="71"> <col width="27"> <col width="45"> <col width="47"> <col width="24"> <col width="35"> <col width="39"> <col width="22"> <col width="32"> <col width="41"> <col width="41"> <col width="42"> <tbody><tr valign="TOP"> <td width="71"> Name
</td> <td width="27"> Age
</td> <td width="45"> $/Wk
</td> <td width="47"> Apps
</td> <td width="24"> GL
</td> <td width="35"> AST
</td> <td width="39"> MoM
</td> <td width="22"> Yel
</td> <td width="32"> Red
</td> <td width="41"> Drb
</td> <td width="41"> Pass
</td> <td width="42"> Avg
</td> </tr> <tr valign="TOP"> <td width="71"> Jesus
</td> <td width="27"> 19
</td> <td width="45"> LOAN
</td> <td width="47"> 35(5)
</td> <td width="24"> 3
</td> <td width="35"> 6
</td> <td width="39"> 2
</td> <td width="22"> 1
</td> <td width="32"> 0
</td> <td width="41"> 5.21
</td> <td width="41"> 65%
</td> <td width="42"> 7.00
</td> </tr> <tr valign="TOP"> <td width="71"> Aidan Downes
</td> <td width="27"> 25
</td> <td width="45"> $1000
</td> <td width="47"> 35(2)
</td> <td width="24"> 5
</td> <td width="35"> 4
</td> <td width="39"> 2
</td> <td width="22"> 0
</td> <td width="32"> 0
</td> <td width="41"> 4.03
</td> <td width="41"> 56%
</td> <td width="42"> 6.79
</td> </tr> <tr valign="TOP"> <td width="71"> Steve Clapham
</td> <td width="27"> 19
</td> <td width="45"> LOAN
</td> <td width="47"> 12(16)
</td> <td width="24"> 2
</td> <td width="35"> 3
</td> <td width="39"> 0
</td> <td width="22"> 1
</td> <td width="32"> 0
</td> <td width="41"> 5.48
</td> <td width="41"> 50%
</td> <td width="42"> 6.63
</td> </tr> <tr valign="TOP"> <td width="71"> Moses Ademola
</td> <td width="27"> 24
</td> <td width="45"> $1100
</td> <td width="47"> 16(12)
</td> <td width="24"> 1
</td> <td width="35"> 0
</td> <td width="39"> 0
</td> <td width="22"> 0
</td> <td width="32"> 0
</td> <td width="41"> 4.27
</td> <td width="41"> 54%
</td> <td width="42"> 6.59
</td> </tr> <tr valign="TOP"> <td width="71">

</td> <td width="27">

</td> <td width="45">

</td> <td width="47">

</td> <td width="24">

</td> <td width="35">

</td> <td width="39">

</td> <td width="22">

</td> <td width="32">

</td> <td width="41">

</td> <td width="41">

</td> <td width="42">

</td> </tr> </tbody></table>

**GL = Goals | Drb = Dribbles/game


Jesus could have been so much more I think. So many great runs, and good crosses where our strikers were just all going 1200 minutes without scoring. I guess its possible its the fault of the delivery some too but I thought Jesus was quite special and our scorers just couldn't do anything this year.


Attackers


<table border="1" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" width="564"> <col width="59"> <col width="26"> <col width="47"> <col width="49"> <col width="22"> <col width="34"> <col width="42"> <col width="31"> <col width="32"> <col width="41"> <col width="41"> <col width="42"> <tbody><tr valign="TOP"> <td width="59"> Name
</td> <td width="26"> Age
</td> <td width="47"> $/Wk
</td> <td width="49"> Apps
</td> <td width="22"> GL
</td> <td width="34"> AST
</td> <td width="42"> MoM
</td> <td width="31"> Yel
</td> <td width="32"> Red
</td> <td width="41"> Drb
</td> <td width="41"> Pass
</td> <td width="42"> Avg
</td> </tr> <tr valign="TOP"> <td width="59"> Pablo
</td> <td width="26"> 19
</td> <td width="47"> LOAN
</td> <td width="49"> 33(4)
</td> <td width="22"> 11
</td> <td width="34"> 4
</td> <td width="42"> 2
</td> <td width="31"> 3
</td> <td width="32"> 0
</td> <td width="41"> 3.27
</td> <td width="41"> 66%
</td> <td width="42"> 6.92
</td> </tr> <tr valign="TOP"> <td width="59"> Danijel Subotic
</td> <td width="26"> 25
</td> <td width="47"> $2100
</td> <td width="49"> 32(7)
</td> <td width="22"> 10
</td> <td width="34"> 10
</td> <td width="42"> 5
</td> <td width="31"> 0
</td> <td width="32"> 0
</td> <td width="41"> 2.83
</td> <td width="41"> 66%
</td> <td width="42"> 6.91
</td> </tr> <tr valign="TOP"> <td width="59"> Zoltan Harsanyi
</td> <td width="26"> 26
</td> <td width="47"> $2000
</td> <td width="49"> 29(9)
</td> <td width="22"> 6
</td> <td width="34"> 8
</td> <td width="42"> 0
</td> <td width="31"> 1
</td> <td width="32"> 0
</td> <td width="41"> 3.66
</td> <td width="41"> 70%
</td> <td width="42"> 6.81
</td> </tr> <tr valign="TOP"> <td width="59"> Giuseppe Sole
</td> <td width="26"> 26
</td> <td width="47"> $975
</td> <td width="49"> 5(5)
</td> <td width="22"> 2
</td> <td width="34"> 1
</td> <td width="42"> 0
</td> <td width="31"> 0
</td> <td width="32"> 0
</td> <td width="41"> 2.20
</td> <td width="41"> 64%
</td> <td width="42"> 6.36
</td> </tr> <tr valign="TOP"> <td width="59"> Anson Cousins
</td> <td width="26"> 22
</td> <td width="47"> $210
</td> <td width="49"> 3(1)
</td> <td width="22"> 0
</td> <td width="34"> 0
</td> <td width="42"> 0
</td> <td width="31"> 0
</td> <td width="32"> 0
</td> <td width="41"> 2.01
</td> <td width="41"> 71%
</td> <td width="42"> 5.97
</td> </tr> </tbody></table>

** GL = Goals | Drb = Dribbles/Game


Subotic ended up ok in the end, his numbers were similar to last year, but Harsanyi was a dominant threat last year in the BS Premier league with 30 goals and could not do anything this year. His dropoff was the biggest individual issue we had all year.

[Radii]

Coca Cola League 2 Final Table

1. Rushden - 29-8-9 - 95 pts
2. Lincoln - 26-13-7 - 91 pts
3. Dag & Red - 24-8-14 - 80 pts
-------------------------------
4. Chesterfield - 23-10-13 - 79 pts
5. Rochdale - 22-11-13 - 77 pts
6. Exeter - 22-11-13 - 77 pts
7. Crewe - 22-10-14 - 76 pts
-------------------------------
8. Oxford - 21-12-13 - 75 pts
9. Leyton Orient - 19-17-10 - 74 pts
10. Stockport - 16-22-8 - 70 pts
11. Port Vale - 18-12-16 - 66 pts
12. Kidderminster - 17-14-15 - 65 pts
13. Wycombe - 17-14-15 - 65 pts
14. Bury - 13-17-16 - 56 pts
15. Grimsby - 16-8-22 - 56 pts
16. Notts Co - 15-10-21 - 55 pts
17. Hereford - 12-18-16 - 54 pts
18. Woking - 12-17-17 - 53 pts
19. Brighton - 12-13-21 - 49 pts
20. Northampton - 10-17-19 - 47 pts
21. Barnet - 11-9-26 - 42 pts
22. Tranmere - 9-11-26 - 39 pts
--------------------------------------
23. Macclesfield - 9-11-26 - 38 pts
24. Morecambe - 3-13-30 - 22 pts

[Radii]

Woking 2012/13 History/Leaders

Team History

2009/10 - BS South - 1st - 24 W - 12 D - 6 L - 62 for - 39 ag - +23 GD - 84 pts
2010/11 - BS Premier - 17th - 14 W - 10 D - 22 L - 60 for - 65 ag - -5 GD - 52 pts
2011/12 - BS Premier - 4th - 26 W - 12 D - 8 L - 87 for - 51 ag - +36 GD - 90 pts
2012/13 - BS Premier - 1st - 26 W - 11 D - 9 L - 88 for - 56 ag - 89 pts
2013/14 - League 2 - 18th - 12 W - 17 D - 17 L - 50 for - 54 ag - 53 pts


This year:

Top Goalscorer - Pablo - 11 goals
Top League Goalscorer - Pablo/Danijel Subotic - 9 goals each
Most Assists - Danijel Subotic - 10 assists
Highest Average Rating - Ed Upson - 7.25 (38 apps)
Most Man of the Match - Ed Upson - 9

[Radii]

Looking back at the first time we gained promotion from the BS South to BS Premier league, our first season in the new league was almost identical to this one.


-- Our 4 season long loaners all head back to their teams. I'd love to have Jesus and maybe Pablo for another year.

-- Man City beats West Ham 3-2 to win the FA Cup


League 2 Playoffs
Semi-finals (2 legs)

Exeter 3 : 0 Rochdale
Rochdale 2 : 0 Exeter

Exeter advance on a 3-2 total.

Crewe 4 : 1 Chesterfield
Chesterfield 2 : 0 Crewe

Crewe advance on a 4-3 total.

Final

Exeter 2 : 0 Crewe


Rushden, Lincoln, Dag & Red, and Exeter are promoted up to League 1.

[Radii]

June Update

The board is pleased with the job i'm doing. That's down from delighted most of the year and down from "very pleased" just last month. I'm very worried that financials will make this impossible next season.

We lost $80k last month.


England Year in Review

The season summary showing what happened in all English leagues is one of my favorites.

Premier League

Winner: Chelsea
Relegation: Stoke, Burnley, Southampton
Top Scorer: Gabby Agbonlahor (Aston Villa) - 25 goals

Championship League

Winner: Nottingham Forest
Promoted: Nottingham Forest, Ipswich, Hull
Relegated: Middlesborough, Barnsley, Doncaster
Top Scorer: Jon Stead (Ipswich) - 23 goals

League 1

Winner: Preston
Promoted: Preston, Gillingham, Peterborough
Relegated: Hartlepool, Walsall, Luton, Bristol Rovers
Top Scorer: Caleb Folan (Crystal Palace) - 25 goals

League 2

Winners: Rushden
Promoted: Rushden, Lincoln, Dag & Red, Exeter
Relegated: Macclesfield, Morecambe
Top Scorer: Ryan Blackwell (Chesterfield) - 30 goals

Blue Square Premier

Winner: Accrington
Promoted: Accrington, Wrexham
Relegated: Alfreton, Eastleigh, Yeovil, Ebbsfleet
Top Scorer: Daniel Pilgrim (Accrington) - 24 goals


The world cup has begun and we'll document that a bit over the next couple posts. A reminder on the draw:

Group A: Paraguay, Italy, Germany, South Korea
Group B: Australia, Cameroon, Serbia, Colombia
Group C: Bahrain, Uruguay, Portugal, Croatia
Group D: Slovenia, Chile, South Africa, Spain
Group E: Mexico, Greece, Iraq, Brazil
Group F: Holland, France, Canada, Ivory Coast
Group G: USA, Czech Republic, Ghana, Argentina
Group H: England, Switzerland, Nigeria, Iran

[Radii]

Fans Player of the Year

Ed Upson is no surprise as the winner of this award this year.


Woking Best Eleven

No surprise here either.

GK: Lynch
D: Nikolaou, Williams, Smith, Ogogo
MC: Upson, O'Sullivan
AM: Jesus, Downes
ST: Subotic, Pablo

Bench: GK Pegler, MC Pulis, ST Harsanyi, MC Ball, DC Thomas, DR Anane, AMR Ademola.


Woking All Time Best Eleven

Stelios Nikolaou is now listed as a starter in the all time best eleven. Subotic is on the team as well.

GK: Kevin Lynch (194 apps/6.71 rating)
DL: Stelios Nikolaou (64 apps/7.22 rating)
DC: Mike Williams (107 apps/12 goals/6.87 rating)
DC: Nick Fenton (105 apps/3 goals/6.89 rating)
DR: Mark Ricketts (153 apps/3 goals/6.86 rating)
ML: Niky Nicolau (46 apps/4 goals/7.10 rating)
MC: Anthony Pulis (115 apps/6 goals/6.95 rating)
MC: Joe O'Sullivan (142 apps/8 goals/7.23 rating)
MR: Moses Ademola (167 apps/37 goals/6.85 rating)
FC: Giusepe Sole (130 apps/62 goals/6.94 rating)
FC: Mark Cullen (52 apps/25 goals/7.11 rating)


Schedule Announced

We play Crewe at home on August 9th. rarr!

TV Rights Money

We get $437,000 for TV Rights for the season. We got this last year and still lost boatloads of money.


Season Expectations

For "attempting to avoid relegation" we can get a payroll of $28k/week. This is 2k/wk more than last year. I can up the expectation to "Avoid Relegation" and get our wage budget bumped up to $32k/wk. This seems like a reasonable goal, and that's exactly what I do.

We're currently at $26,178/wk in salaries. We'll be losing a few players but also paying out more due to 10% raise clauses. We should be able to go after 4 or 5 new players at 2k/wk or more depth at lower rates.


Parachute Payment??

I don't understand this one. "Due to the promotion achieved by Nottingham Forest, the parachute payment due for the club has been split between teams from Coca-Cola Championship down to Coca-Cola League 2. Woking have received a total of $49.49k from the arrangement"

What's that?


New Youth Pulls

I don't usually mention this as our youth system is practically non-existent. But we have a 16 year old DL named Dominic Broughton join us. His Physical Abilities will need to improve some, 12 sta/12 fitness, nothing else above 10. but if they can improve he's a little intriguing. 19 teamwork/16 work rate/13 composure. 10 passing/9 tackling/7 marking. If he were to be able to develop those all up by +5 or so he'd be awesome. I don't know a lot about youth development since I always do LLM, dunno if that's good enough potential or not. Its way more than we usually have though.



Whew, that was a lot of stuff! I'm very very happy to see our wage budget increase so much. I really was afraid of it going down with the new chairman.

[britrock88]

Parachute payments... the EPL pays fractional shares of its TV revenues to teams that are relegated from it, to ease their landing in the Championship. But if a team is promoted back into the EPL the next year, the parachute payment intended for it (since there are payments for two seasons) are disbursed among the lower leagues' teams.