Frankfort United: Season 2

[DukeRulesMAB]

Welcome to the second season (And the first full season) of Frankfort United! We're excited to be back. You can read all about the first season Here (http://dynamic2.gamespy.com/%7Efof/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=7846).

The first bit of news is that our wage bill is up a bit. Like 4K "a bit". Doesn't sound like much to the good teams, I'm sure, but for us, that's quite a little bump. Biggest beneficiary was Matthew Matlock, who is now making a tidy $3,040 a week. Damn keeper training program. ;)

All joking aside, this will make a long-term difference, but not too much of a short-term one. Eventually, we're gonna need to get some profitable youth pulls, I really don't want to have to pull the tigger on selling Porras until the end of the season.

[DukeRulesMAB]

I owe many thanks to DataKing once again, as I am blatantly lifting his format, as I have for most of this dynasty. :D


Keepers

#9 Matthew Matlock
- Age: 19
- Current Form: Inadequate (5)
- Experience: Disastrous (1)
- Assessed Value: $437,000
- Wages: $3,040 per week
- Goaltending: Excellent (8)

Matthew is our keeper, and will be probably for the next decade. We anticipate that he will be a high Outstanding at the end of the year, then he will be kept due to his being an American. No, we're not xenophobic, we just don't want to pay an additional 20% on what is likely to be an outlandish salary.

#16 Lorenzo Porras
- Age: 18
- Current Form: Solid (7)
- Experience: Disastrous (1)
- Assessed Value: $306,000
- Wages: $2,208 per week
- Goaltending: Passable: (6)

The young Spaniard will see his share of starts this year as form permits. He should pop to solid keeping a week from Thursday, and we hope and pray he'll pop to formidable at the very end of this year. A 18, soon-to-be 19, year-old still trainable formidable keeper should bring in a nice bounty.

Defenders

#1 Arthur Eaton
- Age: 31
- Current Form: Passable (6)
- Experience: Passable (6)
- Assessed Value: $69,000
- Wages: $1,070 per week
- Defending: Solid (7)

The old man was orginally going to be sold early this year, but the experience changes altered all that. First, he's a more effective player now, and more importantly, he's a potential coach of the future. If our other experienced player (detailed later) catches up in experience, we may still list Eaton as his leadership sucks. Until then, though, we'll have to live with him being our best outfielder in ratings.

#6 Alexander Apelblad
- Age: 21
- Current Form: Passable (6)
- Experience: Disastrous (1)
- Assessed Value: $85,000
- Wages: $1,176 per week
- Defending: Passable (6)

The young Swede is the heir apparent to Eaton in the central defense. For now, he plays a defensive wing back, despite having no wing skills. We play our wings offensive, so this isn't too terrible of a tradeoff.

#3 William Hawkins
- Age: 29
- Current Form: Solid (7)
- Experience: Poor (3)
- Assessed Value: $69,000
- Wages: $1,000 per week
- Defending: Passable (6)
- Winger: Inadequate (5)

Our "true" wingback, he's also old, but gets the job done, especially when his form is up as it is now. He also has an intriguing inadequate passing skill, though I don't expect our midfield to be outclassed (so as to require a counterattack strategy), at least in the series.

#19 Brian Reyna
- Age: 20
- Current Form: Passable (6)
- Experience: Disastrous (1)
- Assessed Value: $7,000
- Wages: $540 per week
- Defending: Inadequate (5)

No, he's not any good, but he was our first usable youth pull, and he has impressed me with solid performances when called upon. He is a reliable ** as a central defender or defensive wingback, and that has made him our primary backup.

#15 Ignacio Escrivá
- Age: 23
- Current Form: Inadeqate (5)
- Experience: Disastrous (1)
- Assessed Value: $22,000
- Wages: $650 per week
- Defending: Inadequate (5)
- Winger: Inadequate (5)
- Set Pieces: Solid (7)

In theory, he's the backup wingback. In reality, he's one half decent youth pull from getting canned, as he's never really been as good as even his meager ratings, and has had form issues. Reyna has been superior on the pitch. He does give me a second set pieces guys, though.

Midfielders

#14 Robert Mullineux
- Age: 29
- Current Form: Inadequate (5)
- Experience: Inadequate (5)
- Assessed Value: $76,000
- Wages: $1,368 per week
- Stamina: Excellent (8)
- Playmaking: Solid (7)

The second experienced player on our team is also our best midfielder. He might also be our best coach candidate, though likely we're going to have to bring someone in from out of club to address that eventually. Like my other two starters, has negligible supporting skills for his playmaking. Believe it or not, this inadequate is a high water mark for him, I'm sure he'll only get to use it once before the stamina training kills him.

#2 Theodore Arnold
- Age: 28
- Current Form: Inadequate (5)
- Experience: Poor (3)
- Assessed Value: $83,000
- Wages: $1,200 per week
- Stamina: Excellent (8)
- Playmaking: Passable (6)

Teddy is a favorite of mine, because he was the pickup that started our rise to competitive stature (instead of just being a walkover for the good teams). Like Mullineux, up there in age, though that's not a large concern, as we plan on firing up a midfield training program next season.

#17 Michael Chopin
- Age: 24
- Current Form: Passable (6)
- Experience: Poor (3)
- Assessed Value: $41,000
- Wages: $900 per week
- Stamina: Excellent (8)
- Playmaking: Passable (6)

As you can tell, we have fabulous midfield stamina, and as such are very much the second half team. Michael is the "baby" of our midfield, and is in the best form of his career with us.

#4 Kenneth Clifford
- Age: 25
- Current Form: Passable (6)
- Experience: Wretched (2)
- Assessed Value: $36,000
- Wages: $730 per week
- Stamina: Weak (4)
- Playmaking: Passable (6)

In theory our backup middy, in reality, he's 6th on the depth chart at best. No one more desperately in need of a stamina boost this week than him.

Wings

#7 Sonny Travis
- Age: 23
- Current Form: Inadequate (5)
- Experience: Poor (3)
- Assessed Value: $58,000
- Wages: $870 per week
- Winger: Solid (7)
- Playmaking: Passable (6)
- Stamina: Wretched (2)

This was the guy who taught me (forcably) of the importance of stamina in the midfield. Eventually, with 2 or 3 rounds of stamina training, he might be a winger toward middle, right now he's just a good offensive winger.

#12 Jesse Mcwhorer
- Age: 29
- Current Form: Weak (4)
- Experience: Poor (3)
- Assessed Value: $36,000
- Wages: $820 per week
- Winger: Solid (7)

My nominal other starting winger, he's been in an extended form slump after being one of my better players early. He may eventually be sold to lower my wage bill a bit.

#10 Milton Watts
- Age: 25
- Current Form: Inadequate (5)
- Experience: Disastrous (1)
- Assessed Value: $31,000
- Wages: $720 per week
- Winger: Solid (7)

Solid winger #3, though frankly all of these guys are in a rotation. This guy is personal favorite of mine after scoring two goals as a forward in the last game of the season to earn a road draw.

#13 Kevin Macartney
- Age: 26
- Current Form: Passable (6)
- Experience: Poor (3)
- Assessed Value: $48,000
- Wages: $830 per week
- Winger: Passable (6)
- Playmaking: Inadequate (5)
- Stamina: Inadequate (5)

This quick winger also doubles as my #5 central mid. His quickness and versitility, not to mention his generally good form, have earned him a place in my heart. Currently the starter due to form, though that is incredibly fluid.

Forwards

#8 William Morales
- Age: 24
- Current Form: Inadequate (5)
- Experience: Wretched (2)
- Assessed Value: $60,000
- Wages: $930 per week
- Scoring: Passable (6)
- Passing: Inadequate (5)
- Set Pieces: Solid (7)

Before a late season form slump, William was my best player. A prolific scorer, and our set pieces specialist, he could contend for the series scoring title this season.

#5 Jacob Knapp
- Age: 21
- Current Form: Inadequate (5)
- Experience: Wretched (2)
- Assessed Value: $90,000
- Wages: $1,030 per week
- Scoring: Passable (6)
- Passing: Inadequate (5)
- Playmaking: Inadequate (5)
- Stamina: Inadequate (5)

Jacob is a tall forward with a keen knack for heading the ball into the goal. Jabob is a versitile midfielders with no rating (other than keeper) lower than weak, putting forth a consistent *~ when called upon in the absense of any of our starters. Jacob is a full popular/solid clown. Jacob will never leave this club. :)

#11 Courntey Sellers
- Age: 29
- Current Form: Inadequate (5)
- Experience: Poor (3)
- Assessed Value: $22,000
- Wages: $720 per week
- Scoring: Inadequate (5)
- Passing: Inadequate (5)
- Winger: Inadequate (5)
- Defending: Inadequate (5)

Courtney is perhaps my favorite player, a versitile backup, who actually started last year pretty much whenever he was healthy. He is best at forward (where he got most of his starts), but can play wing or any defensive slot in a pinch.



This is my team, I don't expect many if any personnel changes this year unless it is selling a winger, or we get a youth pull that makes changing around worthwhile.

[DukeRulesMAB]

Season 2 - US Open Cup: Round 1

Detroit Strikers vs. Frankfort United

Date: July 23, 2003
Arena: Detroit Bowl (Detroit)
Crowd: 4,522 (7,000)
Weather: Cloudy

We fire up our second season of Hattrick by playing a pretty pathetic bot team on the road in the US Open Cup. Needless to say, we are PICing our opener here.

Starters (Balanced 3-5-2):

Keeper: Matthew Matlock

Right Defender: William Hawkins
Central Defender: Arthur Eaton
Left Defender: Alexander Apelblad

Right Wing: Kevin Macartney
Central Midfield: Robert Mullineux
Central Midfield: Michael Chopin
Central Midfield: Theodore Arnold
Left Wing: Sonny Travis

Striker: William Morales
Striker: Jacob Knapp

This is pretty much our starting lineup. Porras actually would be starting here in place of Matlock due to form, but we're gonna win anyway, and I want to get Matlock, our long-term keeper, the experience.

The Match

4522 spectators had come to Detroit Bowl this cloudy day. Strikers started off with a 4-4-2 lineup. The following players had been chosen: Fitch - Taylor, Langley, Hyu-go, Hoffmann - Hayden, Berry, Chacon, Garg - Sanders, Bryan.

Frankfort started off with a 3-5-2 lineup. Lineup: Matlock - Hawkins, Eaton, Apelblad - Macartney, Arnold, Mullineux, Chopin, Travis - Knapp, Morales.

Don Berry of Strikers received a yellow card in the 4:th minute for unsportsmanlike behaviour. Frankfort took the lead in the games 17:th minute with 0 - 1 after some elegant plays down the middle. William Morales was the scorer. The visitors Michael Chopin took advantage of an error due to a misunderstanding between the home side´s goalie and full backs in the 21st minute. 0 - 2 for Frankfort. The structure of the game started to change as Frankfort decided to pull back and meet their opponents in the defensive zone. William Morales came close to extending the visitors lead as he, completely unmarked in front of the goal, lifted a ball over Rex Fitch, hitting the bar. In the 27:th minute Frankfort put themselves up 0 - 3 after an attack from the right, caused by a defensive blunder. Scorer was Jacob Knapp. 0 - 3 was the half-time score. Frankfort held the ball, with a clear 74 percent possession rate.

Jacob Knapp was, after 51 minutes, almost able to extend the visitors lead with a well placed diving header but home side keeper Rex Fitch saved. William Morales hit the ball just perfect in the 51st minute and could score for Frankfort with a fab long shot to 0 - 4. Some fine manouvering on the left lead to an 57:th minute Frankfort goal, making it 0 - 5. Alexander Apelblad was noted down as the scorer. Frankfort held the ball, with a clear 80 percent possession rate.

The most dominating Strikers player was without a doubt Peng Hyu-go. However, Alvin Bryan made a disastrous appearance. The most dominating Frankfort player was without a doubt Arthur Eaton. Jacob Knapp was a disappointment, however. The match ends 0 - 5.



Goals: Morales 2 (2), Knapp (1), Chopin (1), Apelblad (1)
Yellow Cards: None


Matlock: **~

Hawkins: **~
Eaton: ***
Apelblad: **~

Macartney: **~
Mullineux: **~
Chopin: **~
Arnold: **
Travis: **~

Morales: **
Knapp: **


Team Match MVP: Arthur Eaton

Detroit Strikers

Midfield: wretched (2)
Right Side Defence: weak (4)
Central Defence: passable (6)
Left Side Defence: inadequate (5)
Right Side Attack: wretched (2)
Central Attack: poor (3)
Left Side Attack: poor (3)


Frankfort United

Midfield: weak (4)
Right Side Defence: solid (7)
Central Defence: solid (7)
Left Side Defence: passable (6)
Right Side Attack: solid (7)
Central Attack: passable (6)
Left Side Attack: solid (7)

Very solid victory there. 52 NSI ties for a career high, despite PICing (the previous 52 was with a MOTS), but obviously the experience factor is inflating that some.

We get another bot team in the second round, this time a DV team who won their series last year. This means they are a little better than this week's team, and of course they run a high risk of getting a human owner. Regardless, we should be able to handle the team with another PIC.



Next up: Series V.22 preview and Stamina training

[DukeRulesMAB]

Series V.22 Preview

With 3 brand new (as in they were bot teams last year) teams in our series, it's hard to guage how good teams are. I'm gonna use yesterday's cup games as the baseline for the preview, and I'll be assuming (probably not in all cases correctly) that everyone PIC'd. That gives everyone the full benefit of the doubt. Everyone played bot teams, for the record.



Team Jooky

Last Season: #1 in V.22, lost qualification match
Most valuable players: Andy Alons0 (246K, keeper, *** best performance), Richard Jackson (177K, Wingback, *** best performance), Warner Spence (166K, Winger, **~ best performance)

Cup Match: 7-0 win, 3-5-2, 45 NSI, Poor Midfield

Not the best team in the series last year (that's the next team on the list), but they came out on top anyway. They then got beaten down by a relatively poor D.IV team, though I don't know if they went all out there. The cup performance was underwhelming, but Spence was out hurting them a touch. I *can* beat them, I think, but I have to have a good midfield week.

Ya Yas

Last Season: #2 in V.22
Most valuable players: Jorge Edo Peiro (1.337M, keeper, ****~ best performance), Merle Taylor (131K, winger, **~ best performance), Carlos Suárez-Guanes (61K, wingback, **~ best performance)

Cup Match: 4-0 win, 3-4-3, 53 NSI, Weak Midfield

This is the best team in V.22. They don't have a lot of highly valued players, but they have the best player by miles in the series with the 19 year-old keeping phenom Edo Peiro. They also have another a couple unknowns with higher value than Suárez-Guanes; I believe one to be a backup keeper, but the other is a Swedish import that I know nothing about.

I don't know if the 3-4-3 still stick as his formation, but I definately don't see us beating them without some really odd convergence of circumstances.

dbob

Last Season: #3 in V.22
Most valuable players: Bernhard Berns (254K, winger, **~ best performance that I can tell), Pedro Tomás Flores (246K, keeper, *** best performance), Tomas Thorstad (245K, central mid, *** best performance)

Cup Match: 3-0 win, 3-5-2, 46 NSI, Solid Midfield

This is the most "valuable" team in the division, as they have a number of 100K+ players I didn't even list above. Somehow, it just doesn't seem to work when it gets on the field. They led the series much of last year before fading badly late.

This NSI is deceiving, as they played everyone in a "playmaking" form (offensive CDs, Wingers toward middle, defensive forwards). Hard to say what they'll do in-season. I do know they do not scare me, though, solid midfield or not.

Dog Bowl Chaos

Last Season: #4 in V.22
Most valuable players: Donald Ivey (446K, keeper, **** best performance), Jack Holsappel (248K, winger?, ??? best performance), Nathan Haskins (240K, forward, ***~ best performance)

Cup Match: 5-0 win, 4-4-2, 58 NSI, Poor Midfield

Very talented team, lots of quality players, amazing defense, and a high quality offense. But their slavish devotion to the 4-4-2 holds them back; I don't think I've ever seen them even manage a weak midfield. Our match against them the second week of the season will go a long way toward telling us how well we can do; a 58 NSI is strong even with a bad midfield, particularly if it was PICed.

Frankfort United

Last Season: #5 in V.22
Most valuable players: Matthew Matlock (437K, keeper, *** best performance), Jacob Knapp (90K, forward, **~ best performance), Alexander Apelblad (85K, defender, **~ best performance)

Cup Match: 5-0 Win, 3-5-2, 52 NSI, Weak Midfield

We don't match up to the other teams in value, but that's not a big deal, as we have a lot of guys (like our entire midfield) that are more important than any 100-300K winger in this series. The question for us is how long our finances will hold out, because we have the talent to make some noise.

HellsGaurdians

Last Season: New Team
Most valuable players: Reid Lamar (175K, keeper, **~ last match), Tracey Edmonds (173K, central midfield, ** last match), Felix Barron (117K, forward, **~ last match)

Cup Match: 5-1 Win, 4-3-3, 45 NSI, Wretched Midfield

The owner has logged in, but I'm not worried. Only transfer was to bring in Lamar to tend the net, and a 4-3-3 isn't scaring anyone. We host them the first week, they seem a safe PIC, at least until they have the importance of midfield drilled into them.

Elk Thunders

Last Season: New Team
Most valuable players: Robert Irander (179K, keeper, **~ best performance), Ulf Nilsson (128K, central mid, *** best performance), Steven Paulsen (123K, forward, ** last match)

Cup Match: 5-0 Win, 4-4-2, 40 NSI, Wretched Midfield

This team has been very active, picking up 6 transfers, including their two most valuable players, already. 4-4-2 and 40 NSI ain't gonna get it don, though, and his's inexplicably playing Nilsson at forward. I suspect he'll be dangerous soon enough, though.

Clube Tururu

Last Season: New Team
Most valuable players: Malte Herby (150K, keeper, ** last match), Jordi Muñoz (94K, central midfielder?, last match), Gonzalo Ayllón (87K, wingback?, *~ last match)

Cup Match: 4-0 Win, 3-5-2, 40 NSI, Wretched Midfield

Another active new owner, this time with a massive number of low value transfers. Not sure what to make of him. He's got a good formation, but he's obviously playing guys (Munoz) in bad positions for whatever skills they have. This is another team that's a long way off.


Predictions

The division, IMO, breaks into the top 2, the next 3, and the last 3. A couple things could happen to change this:

- Dog Bowl could finally go to a 3 central mid formation, as they have assloads of talent
- One or more of the new teams could step up to the middle tier

I'm also probably being overly optimistic about my side, considering that there's nearly zero chance I'll be able to make a move in-season.

For now, though, my predicted order of finish:

1. Ya Yas
2. Team Jooky
3. Frankfort United
4. dbob
5. Dog Bowl Chaos
6. Elk Thunders
7. Clube Tururu
8. Hells Guardians

[DukeRulesMAB]

Training News

We'll start with the good news. Stamina was a moderate success.

The rises:

Solid - Apelblad, Eaton
Passable - Hawkins (2 levels), Knapp, Mcwhorter, Macartney
Weak - Sellers (2 levels), Reyna (2 levels), Morales
Poor - Matlock, Travis

The key was Knapp and Macartney, as they're the primary backup midfielders. The disappointment was Clifford not getting any bump; we had hoped he would take over backup duties. At this point, he's very close to being sold. If I ever below 200K in debt, I'll sell him and pick up an Inad PM with Exc stamina, at least that guy would be usable.

The other good news was that team captain Robert Mullineux bumped to passable experience.

Form Update

Starters Going Up: 1 (Mcwhorter to Inadequate)
Starters Going Down: 4 (Hawkins to Passable, Eaton, Apelblad to Inadequate, Matlock to Weak)
Reserves Going Up: 0
Reserves Going Down: 2 (Macartney, Reyna to Inadequate)

Well, this was a nice bloodbath. My entire starting defense (including the keeper) dropped a level. And the only winger I had in decent form is down to inad. Basically, my entire team is now inadequate form. I desperately need a week of general, but I'm willing to be stubborn about it. Thank god we're back to keeper training next week.


Total Team Value (Before Training): $1,560,000 (1,576,000)


Coming Saturday: Youth pull and finances.

[Havok]

Good luck this season Duke.... The Misfitz will be pulling for ya!!! :)

[DukeRulesMAB]

Thanks, Havoc! Hopefully with the Green Mages gone, you can cruise your way to a V.253 title. I'm sadly at least 1, probably 2 or more seasons away from that here.

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


We got a very small sell-on fee late in the week as our original goalie was sold.

Youth pull

Fifth week of solid, and we don't get our best youth pull ever, but he will sell for the most...

Rob Whitaker (14876404)
19 years, passable form, healthy

A sympathetic guy who is balanced and upright.
Has disastrous experience and weak leadership abilities.

Nationality: USA
Assessed value: 175 000 US$
Wage: 1 440 US$/week
Owner: Frankfort United
Warnings: 0


Stamina: disastrous Goaltending: passable
Playmaking: wretched Passing: disastrous
Winger: disastrous Defending: disastrous
Scoring: disastrous Set Pieces: disastrous

On a transfer list as we speak for 90K.

Economy

Income

Crowd: 6,914 (at Detroit Strikers)
Sponsers: 31,200
Temporary: 1,060
- 210 (New Supporters)
- 850 (Sell-On fee for Brisebois)

Total revenues: 39,174

Expenditures

Youth Squad: 20,000
Wages: 16,490
Staff: 21,000
Arena: 8,370
Interest: 9,415
- 12,015 (interst)
- (2,600) (investment)
Temporary: 2,000 (Youth Pull)

Total Expenses: 77,275

Profit (Loss): 38,101
New Balance: (278,399)

Well, we said we needed a passable keeper last week, and we scored. Definate reprieve.

Other stats

Team Spirit: Calm (Up from Composed)
Confidence: Strong (Up from Decent)

Sponsers: Satisfied (Up from Content)
Supporters: Satisfied (Up from Calm)
# of Supporters: 786 (Up from 779)

We're already back largely into our normal range. Two PICs and (hopefully)

two wins should have us really sitting nicely next week at this time.

V.22 Preview

dbob - Dog Bowl Chaos

Good matchup here, I expect dbob to ride homefield advantage to victory.

Frankfort United - HellsGaurdians

They haven't logged in since last Sunday, so I am feeling supremely confident here. This is a 4-4-2 with the initial roster, supplemented only by a OK-ish keeper. At home. We should win big.

Elk Thunders - Clube Tururu

Two of our three new teams face off, I'll be keeping a close eye on this one, as for now both teams appear moderately active.

Team Jooky - Ya Yas

Perhaps the biggest game of the year. If Ya Yas can get this road win, they will more or less have the series under control after just one week.

Up Next: We kick off our second league campaign!

[DukeRulesMAB]

Season 2 - Game 1

Frankfort United vs. HellsGaurdians

Date: July 27, 2003
Arena: Frankfort United Arena (Kentucky)
Crowd: 11,983 (13,076)
Weather: Cloudy

The V.22 season kicks off with FU home match against the projected worst team in the league. Nothing like an early PIC to get things rolling. :)

And yes, their name is spelled like that. I hope my players take this game a little more seriously than I am.

Attendence is better than expected, I love my fans. :)

Starters (Balanced 3-5-2):

Keeper: Lorenzo Porras

Right Defender: William Hawkins
Central Defender: Arthur Eaton
Left Defender: Alexander Apelblad

Right Wing: Jesse Mcwhorter
Central Midfield: Robert Mullineux
Central Midfield: Theodore Arnold
Central Midfield: Michael Chopin
Left Wing: Kevin Macartney

Striker: William Morales
Striker: Courtney Sellers

My plan during the cup is to play starters both days, but to split up the duties for the week when it is a close call. Thus all 4 of my wings will get in, and Sellers gets a call at forward. Our form is of course in the dumped, but I'm optimistic that won't last.

The Match

11983 spectators had come to Frankfort United Arena this cloudy day. Frankfort had chosen a strategic 3-5-2 formation. They fielded: Porras - Hawkins, Eaton, Apelblad - Mcwhorter, Arnold, Mullineux, Chopin, Macartney - Sellers, Morales.

HellsGaurdians tactics involved an interesting 4-2-3 combination. The following players had been chosen: Edmonds - Rosas, Diehl, Dalton, Kendrick - Druff, Kurtz - Rubin, Mark, Barron.

In the 6:th minute Frankfort had a chance to take the lead by an awarded penalty, but William Morales´s shot was blocked by Tracey Edmonds. HellsGaurdians seemed to suffer a certain amount of confusion about the organization of the team. William Morales gave his Frankfort the lead with 1 - 0, as he successfully challenged both the guests central defenders, then placed the ball unreachably at the goaltenders right post. A bit later, a magnificent combination in the middle resulted in Frankfort´s Courtney Sellers putting the lead up to 2 - 0. Courtney Sellers of Frankfort received a yellow card in the 33rd minute for unsportsmanlike behaviour. A bit later, a magnificent combination in the middle resulted in Frankfort´s Jesse Mcwhorter putting the lead up to 3 - 0. The structure of the game started to change as Frankfort decided to pull back and meet their opponents in the defensive zone. The referee showed Frankforts Arthur Eaton the yellow card after a particularly nasty challenge. The teams went for a half-time break at 3 - 0. The fortyfive minutes were dominated by Frankfort, with an impressive 95 percent possession of the ball.

HellsGaurdians -coach had an extra briefing during the break, and after that his players looked a lot more organized. Frankfort put their lead ahead another goal as William Hawkins struck home the 4 - 0 goal, after an attack from the left setting him up unmarked with the keeper. In the 65:th minute Frankforts Robert Mullineux received a yellow card for going into a challenge studs first. In the 68:th minute Frankfort put themselves up 5 - 0. The visitors defenders lost the ball to Courtney Sellers coming up from the left, who proceeded to cooly round the goaltender and knock the ball home. HellsGaurdians had obvious problems in finding their positions. HellsGaurdians seemed to suffer a certain amount of confusion about the organization of the team. Several players now looked tired, especially Carrol Dalton who quite horribly caused the 6 - 0 goal as he lost the ball to William Hawkins of Frankfort, who seemed to have some energy left. After 83 minutes William Morales put Frankfort ahead 7 - 0 as he rose to head in a hooked ball, the result of an effort from the right side. HellsGaurdians appeared unsure on how to play. Frankfort, bringing the final ball possession rate to 98 percent, dominated the battle.

The most dominating Frankfort player was without a doubt Lorenzo Porras. Courtney Sellers on the other hand, had a terrible day. The most dominating HellsGaurdians player was without a doubt Felix Barron. Tracey Edmonds on the other hand, had a terrible day. The match ends 7 - 0.




Goals: Morales 2 (4), Sellers 2 (2), Hawkins 2 (2), Mcwhorter (1)
Yellow Cards: Sellers, Eaton, Mullineux


POrras: ***

Hawkins: **~
Eaton: ***
Apelblad: **

Mcwhorter: **~
Mullineux: ***
Arnold: **
Chopin: **~
Macartney: **~

Morales: **
Sellers: **


Team Match MVP: Lorenzo Porras

Frankfort United

Midfield: inadequate (5)
Right Side Defence: solid (7)
Central Defence: passable (6)
Left Side Defence: passable (6)
Right Side Attack: solid (7)
Central Attack: inadequate (5)
Left Side Attack: passable (6)


HellsGaurdians

Midfield: disastrous (1)
Right Side Defence: poor (3)
Central Defence: passable (6)
Left Side Defence: weak (4)
Right Side Attack: passable (6)
Central Attack: passable (6)
Left Side Attack: weak (4)

To answer your first question, he had one inner midfielder. And he get all of one star. I like playing the teams with 4-2-3 formations. ;)

Wow. 7-0 on PIC, with an inad midfield and over 95% possession for the game. Not to mention Porras and Mullineux both getting their first ever *** ratings. Very happy, I have no complaints whatsoever. We are, for one brief moment, in first place. :)

The big matchup in the series saw Ya Yas take a commanding 4-2 lead at Team Jooky. I continue to be shocked that Ya Yas let the series title get away last year, and I seriously doubt they will allow that to repeat. dbob as predicted beat Dog Bowl at home, they should be solid once again. And Elk Thunders beat Clube Tururu 2-0. Tururu stinks, but the Thunders look like a threat, a weak midfield playing a 4-4-2 in their first ever league match is nothing to sneeze at.


Next up: The second round of the Cup, as we visit another bot team (so long as they aren't replaced before then).

[vex]

Congrats on the VERY difficult win.

[DukeRulesMAB]

Yeah, I tell you what, I was sweating that beginning to end. ;)

On a side noteit seems to me to be huge advantage to start off the year with your easiest PIC. If your TS is high early, mantaining a relatively high level probably isn't so hard. Now watch me botch it with an ill-timed MOTS. ;)

[DukeRulesMAB]

Season 2 - US Open Cup: Round 2

New Mexico Indians vs. Frankfort United

Date: July 30, 2003
Arena: New Mexico Bowl (New Mexico)
Crowd: 7,000 (7,000)
Weather: Cloudy

Second round of the Cup, and it is bot team #2 (and PIC #2). At least this one was nice enough to sell out his stadium.

Starters (Balanced 3-5-2):

Keeper: Matthew Matlock

Right Defender: William Hawkins
Central Defender: Arthur Eaton
Left Defender: Alexander Apelblad

Right Wing: Milton Watts
Central Midfield: Robert Mullineux
Central Midfield: Theodore Arnold
Central Midfield: Michael Chopin
Left Wing: Sonny Travis

Striker: William Morales
Striker: Jacob Knapp

Teamwide form is pretty lame, mostly inadequate, but Matlock is even weak. Still, this is an easy win, so I'm unconcerned.

The Match

7000 spectators had come to New Mexico Bowl this cloudy day. Indians started off with a 4-4-2 lineup. Lineup: Blackburn - Bone, Lowry, Griffin, Merritt - Moore, Cortez, Mcgowan, Clements - Hines, Mayorga.

Frankfort had chosen a strategic 3-5-2 formation. The following players had been chosen: Matlock - Hawkins, Eaton, Apelblad - Watts, Arnold, Mullineux, Chopin, Travis - Knapp, Morales.

Derek Hines of Indians received a yellow card in the 2nd minute for unsportsmanlike behaviour. Some quick foot work on the left side of the field in the 10:th minute left Frankfort´s Jacob Knapp completely free to score. 0 - 1 for the visitors. The referee showed Frankforts Sonny Travis the yellow card after a particularly nasty challenge. The Indians player was Roosevelt Moore who had to be helped off the pitch, unable to finish the game. The away team´s William Hawkins took advantage of a mistake to the home side´s right in the 17:th minute increasing Frankfort´s lead to 0 - 2. Some fine manouvering on the left lead to an 28:th minute Frankfort goal, making it 0 - 3. Robert Mullineux was noted down as the scorer. William Morales increased Frankfort´s lead to 0 - 4 by a superb free kick strike, flying in just under the far top corner. The teams went for a half-time break at 0 - 4. Frankfort, bringing the final ball possession rate to 70 percent, dominated the battle.

A corner kick created great disorder in the penalty area, but at last Frankfort´s Milton Watts was able to shove the ball in. 0-5. By now Frankfort were drawing the troops back in order to defend their lead. In the 53rd minute Frankfort put themselves up 0 - 6 after an attack from the right, caused by a defensive blunder. Scorer was William Morales. In the 57:th minute Frankfort put themselves up 0 - 7 after an attack from the right, caused by a defensive blunder. Scorer was Jacob Knapp. Arthur Eaton of Frankfort received a yellow card in the 64:th minute for unsportsmanlike behaviour. The game had been on for 68 minutes when William Hawkins broke through to the right, upping the score to the home crowd´s dismay. Frankfort´s were up 0 - 8. After 73 minutes a combination in the middle resulted in a through ball for William Morales who increased Frankfort´s lead to 0 - 9. By then William Morales was a three time scorer - a hat trick! The fortyfive minutes were dominated by Frankfort, with an impressive 85 percent possession of the ball.

Indians´s best player was Wilfred Clements. Tony Lowry on the other hand, had a terrible day. The most dominating Frankfort player was without a doubt Arthur Eaton. Milton Watts on the other hand, had a terrible day. The match ends 0 - 9.




Goals: Morales 3 (7), Knapp 2 (3), Hawkins 2 (4), Watts (1), Mullineux (1)
Yellow Cards: Travis, Eaton


Matlock: **~

Hawkins: **~
Eaton: ***
Apelblad: **

Watts: **
Mullineux: ***
Arnold: **
Chopin: **~
Travis: **~

Morales: **
Knapp: **


Team Match MVP: Arthur Eaton

New Mexico Indians

Midfield: wretched (2)
Right Side Defence: poor (3)
Central Defence: weak (4)
Left Side Defence: weak (4)
Right Side Attack: weak (4)
Central Attack: inadequate (5)
Left Side Attack: passable (6)


Frankfort United

Midfield: inadequate (5)
Right Side Defence: solid (7)
Central Defence: passable (6)
Left Side Defence: passable (6)
Right Side Attack: solid (7)
Central Attack: passable (6)
Left Side Attack: solid (7)



And we have a new NSI record of 54. Very happy. :) This Sunday, we'll get to see what we can do with a normal setting. Only downside is the yellow cards, which I accepted when I decided to play my starters.

Next week's cup opponent is Columbus HSG, a lower half team in IV.1. They are better than me, but I can beat them. They are really good offensively and defensively, but they have a crap midfield. Last 3 NSI's (w/midfield): 55 (poor), 62 (Inadequate), 45 (Wretched). I've decided to go all out while in the cup (at least so long as it is realistic to do so), inspired by DK's reasoning. I am safe in regards to demotion, and I have no chance of promoting, so I might as well max out my cup proceeds. The worst case scenario is that I have to play a relegation match, and even then I would get an extra week of full training out of it. With that in mind, I'll be PICing my match on Sunday against Dog Bowl Chaos, even though they are a team I'm fighting with for the 3-5 slots. That will lead into a Paradise on Earth MOTS against Columbus.

Elsewhere in V.22, everyone won except Clube Tururu and the horrible Hellsgaurdians. YaYas has to go to PKs (!) to beat a bot team, and Dog Bowl struggled a bit, but Jooky, dbob, Elk Thunder, and F.U. did their jobs.

Next up: Training, youth pull, and economic updates.

[DukeRulesMAB]

Training News

As expected, our second keeper trainee popped.

Lorenzo Porras (12542447)
18 years, solid form, healthy

A controversial person who is calm and honest.
Has disastrous experience and inadequate leadership abilities.

Nationality: España
Assessed value: 333 000 US$
Wage: 2 208 US$/week including 20% Bonus
Owner: Frankfort United
Warnings: 0


Stamina: wretched Goaltending: solid
Playmaking: disastrous Passing: disastrous
Winger: disastrous Defending: disastrous
Scoring: disastrous Set Pieces: disastrous

Lorenzo should pop formidable either at the tail end of this year or the very beginning of next year. Either way, the moment he pops for that second time will be the end of our keeper training program.


Form Update

Starters Going Up: 4 (Eaton, Knapp, Travis, Mullineux to Passable)
Starters Going Down: 1 (Arnold to Weak)
Reserves Going Up: 1 (Sellers to Passable)
Reserves Going Down: 3 (Clifford 2 levels to Weak, Reyna to Weak, Escriva 2 levels to Poor)

Nice bounceback week from the stamina training. The is Mullineux's highest ever form, we're quite excited. The striker raises are nice as well; Sellers is listed as a reserve but he's a half starter.

The bad side was the 3 people who are getting no PT during the Cup are seeing their form plummet. Not unexpected. Arnold's form continues to be terrible, he's spent most of his time with me in Weak or lower form. My other two middies are passable, so we're fine.

The other irritating thing is that Matlock's still in weak form. Wouldn't be an issue with Porras as our lone Solid form guy, but in the Cup they both have to play meaningful games.


Total Team Value (Before Training): $1,628,000 (1,560,000)


Coming Saturday: Youth pull and finances.

[DukeRulesMAB]

First some news. Whitaker sold, and we net nearly 75K on the sale. We also got about 1K on a sell-on fee on one of our old inadequate keeper youth pulls, as well as a little over 6K on a sell-on of your best ever youth pull.

With these proceeds, we decided to upgrade our backup midfield slot, and purchased for 9K...

Borislav Sakic (5519410)
21 years, inadequate form, healthy
A sympathetic guy who is balanced and upright.
Has disastrous experience and passable leadership abilities.


Speciality: Powerful

Nationality: Sverige
Assessed value: 36 000 US$
Wage: 864 US$/week including 20% Bonus
Owner: Frankfort United
Warnings: 0


Stamina: excellent Goaltending: disastrous
Playmaking: inadequate Passing: passable
Winger: wretched Defending: poor
Scoring: wretched Set Pieces: inadequate

He's pretty much perfect for a backup central mid, and we needed an upgrade who we felt comfortable playing in real games as long as we are in the cup. His passing is a bonus; he'll play offensive and hopefully air our somewhat lagging central attack when he's in the game.

With this, one of our original players, Kenneth Clifford, goes on the transfer list at 1K. Really, when he didn't pop to at least inadequate stamina this offseason, his fate was sealed.

Youth pull

Sixth week of solid

Victor Bryson (15076499)
21 years, passable form, healthy
A pleasant guy who is calm and upright.
Has disastrous experience and poor leadership abilities.

Nationality: USA
Assessed value: 131 000 US$
Wage: 1 280 US$/week
Owner: Frankfort United
Warnings: 0


Stamina: wretched Goaltending: inadequate
Playmaking: wretched Passing: disastrous
Winger: disastrous Defending: disastrous
Scoring: poor Set Pieces: wretched


Will be listed for 10K tommorow.

Economy

Income

Crowd: 73,946
- 63,386 (vs. HellsGaurdians)
- 10,560 (at New Mexico Indians)
Sponsers: 33,600
Temporary: 82,740
- 720 (New Supporters)
- 74,520 (sale of Whitaker)
- 6,250 (Sell-On fee for Valdes)
- 1,250 (Sell-On fee for Brown)

Total revenues: 190,286

Expenditures

Youth Squad: 20,000
Wages: 20,302
Staff: 21,000
Arena: 8,370
Interest: 11,520
- 13,920 (interst)
- (2,400) (investment)
Temporary: 14,000
- 9,000 (Sakic)
- 2,000 (Youth Pull)
- 3,000 (Listing Fees)

Total Expenses: 95,192

Profit (Loss): 95,094
New Balance: (183,304)


Healthiest update in a while.


Other stats

Team Spirit: Satisfied (Up from Calm)
Confidence: Strong

Sponsers: Satisfied
Supporters: Delirious (Up from Satisfied)
# of Supporters: 810 (Up from 786)

The one downside of this update. The sale of Whitaker triggered a TS hit, so no POE for me this year. I think it's really silly that selling youth pulls can cause a TS hit, but whatever. :mad:

V.22 Preview

HellsGaurdians - Team Jooky

HG is terrible, Team Jooky is pretty good, if unspectacular. This will be ugly, and early.

Clube Tururu - dbob

dbob comes off a nice win last week over Dog Bowl, this should be a relatively simple win for them, even on the road.

Ya Yas - Elk Thunders

Elk Thunders is the best of the new teams, but they're not this good. Ya yas should cruise in this one.


Dog Bowl Chaos - Frankfort United

On paper, the marquis game of the week, as these are two relatively equal teams. However, we're PICing in anticipation of a MOTS in this week's cup game, so we're prepared to swallow the likely road loss. We'll have the better midfield, but they should control the rest of the field.

Up Next: We visit Dog Bowl Chaos in our first big matchup of the season!

[DukeRulesMAB]

Season 2 - Game 2

Dog Bowl Chaos vs. Frankfort United

Date: August 3, 2003
Arena: Dog Bowl (Dallas)
Crowd: 17,000 (17,000)
Weather: Partly Cloudy

Dog Bowl is a team very close to my station in V.22. In normal circumstances, I think we'd be slight favorites, but I am PICing and not playing all starters (in anticipation of the Cup), so they'll likely win. Last go around, we battled back from 0-2 on the road to get a tie in the last match of last season.

Starters (Balanced 3-5-2):

Keeper: Lorenzo Porras

Right Defender: William Hawkins
Central Defender: Arthur Eaton
Left Defender: Alexander Apelblad

Right Wing: Kevin Macartney
Central Midfield: Borislav Sakic
Central Midfield: Michael Chopin
Central Midfield: Robert Mullineux
Left Wing: Jesse Mcwhorter

Striker: William Morales
Striker: Courtney Sellers

The same lineup as last week, except new acquisition Sakic is in. He isn't better than Arnold (even with Arnold in weak form), but good to keep the backup form up.


The Match

Weather conditions were fairly good for football, and Dog Bowl saw a crowd turnout of 17000. Chaos tactics involved an interesting 4-4-2 combination. The following players had been chosen: Ivy - Findlater, Clayton, Stapleton, Hyman - Bentley, Przybysz, Lofton, Dominguez - Uribe, Haskins.

Frankfort had chosen a strategic 3-5-2 formation. The following players had been chosen: Porras - Hawkins, Eaton, Apelblad - Macartney, Mullineux, Chopin, Sakic, Mcwhorter - Sellers, Morales.

After 4 minutes Frankforts Courtney Sellers made his way through the middle, putting the visitors up 0 - 1. Donald Ivy kept the home side in the game with a magnificient save, as William Morales delivered an almost perfect free kick to the far cross bar. 24 minutes into the game Lee Hyman had to leave the pitch due to a knee injury. In came Anastasio Álvarez. William Morales came close to extending the visitors lead as he, completely unmarked in front of the goal, lifted a ball over Donald Ivy, hitting the bar. In the 36:th minute Chaoss Major Dominguez received a yellow card for going into a challenge studs first. Frankfort's Arthur Eaton had in the 37:th minute a header that touched the bar, following yet another fine corner. Frankfort´s Courtney Sellers received a play slashing through the home side´s defense in the 40:th minute, chipping it past the keeper scoring 0 - 2. The home crowd was not pleased with that one. A marvelous Chaos effort to the right resulted in a 40:th minute goal by Larry Lofton, putting the score up to 1 - 2. Halftime score was 1 - 2. The fortyfive minutes were dominated by Frankfort, with an impressive 64 percent possession of the ball.

Frankfort came close to extending their lead as Courtney Sellers delivered a long range shot from the right but the angle was to sharp, and the shot hit the side of the goal. Nathan Haskins pulled a real crowd pleaser as he, in the 66:th minute, wove through the guests whole central defense line and put the 2 - 2 equaliser away. Chaoss Mikey Stapleton got himself booked after a foul. Michael Chopin the unlucky victim, couldn´t continue the game. The home side put themselves ahead 3 - 2 in the 76:th by a breakthrough from Gary Uribe, who unaided came in out of the right wing hooking the ball over the visitors keeper. Some brilliant football from the visitors right wing resulted in a 80:th minute levelling of scores as Frankforts Courtney Sellers equalised to 3 - 3. At that, Courtney Sellers was noted down for a hat trick. Frankfort, bringing the final ball possession rate to 60 percent, dominated the battle.

Chaos´s best player was Mikey Stapleton. Anastasio Álvarez on the other hand, had a terrible day. The most dominating Frankfort player was without a doubt Arthur Eaton. Borislav Sakic on the other hand, had a terrible day. The match ends 3 - 3.





Goals: Sellers 3 (5)
Yellow Cards: None


Porras: ***

Hawkins: **~
Eaton: ***
Apelblad: **

Macartney: **~
Sakic: **
Chopin: **
Arnold (In for Chopin): **
Mullineux: ***
Mcwhorter: **~

Morales: **~
Sellers: **


Team Match MVP: Arthur Eaton

Dog Bowl Chaos

Midfield: poor (3)
Right Side Defence: solid (7)
Central Defence: formidable (9)
Left Side Defence: passable (6)
Right Side Attack: passable (6)
Central Attack: passable (6)
Left Side Attack: passable (6)


Frankfort United

Midfield: inadequate (5)
Right Side Defence: solid (7)
Central Defence: solid (7)
Left Side Defence: passable (6)
Right Side Attack: solid (7)
Central Attack: passable (6)
Left Side Attack: solid (7)


I would certainly have taken this result going in, but it still is disappointing; felt like we controlled the game. Kinda stinks to dominate the NSI and tie, but that's the risk of PICing. Can't help but think the Chopin injury cost us, as we gave up the 3rd goal right after it. Speaking of that, he's out a week, which is good, but kinda stinks to not have him (we assume) for the cup match. We still plan on MOTSing, but it will be at less than full strength.

Congrats to Sellers for the unexpected hat trick! Boo to Morales for missing two shots.

The rest of V.22 was very boring, as the 3 old teams (Ya Yas, Team Jooky, and dbob) throtted (6-2, 7-0, 5-1) the 3 new teams (Elk Thunders, HellsGaurdians, Clube Tururu). Ya Yas and dbob are now tied atop the series.


Next up: The Cup goes to the third round, and we're at home. Stay tuned!

[DukeRulesMAB]

Season 2 - US Open Cup: Round 3

Frankfort United vs. Columbus HSG

Date: August 6, 2003
Arena: Frankfort United Arena (Kentucky)
Crowd: 13,076 (13,076)
Weather: Partly Cloudy

The third round of the Cup sees us host Columbus HSG before a sellout crowd. They are currently #7 in IV.1, and finished #6 last season. They are a very capable team, but I don't know what kind of effort they will be putting into this match. Regardless, we are MOTSing; they're better than us, but we are confident that with a MOTS we can pull the upset and get a second home game.

Starters (Balanced 3-5-2):

Keeper: Matthew Matlock

Right Defender: William Hawkins
Central Defender: Arthur Eaton
Left Defender: Alexander Apelblad

Right Wing: Milton Watts
Central Midfield: Borislav Sakic
Central Midfield: Theodore Arnold
Central Midfield: Robert Mullineux
Left Wing: Sonny Travis

Striker: William Morales
Striker: Jacob Knapp

Form is coming up some, though the loss of Chopin for this game really puts a hit on our midfield. Matlock's still in terrible form as well, I'm actually a bit nervous about that.

The Match

13076 spectators arrived at Frankfort United Arena, where weather conditions were pretty good for football. Frankfort had chosen a strategic 3-5-2 formation. They fielded: Matlock - Hawkins, Eaton, Apelblad - Watts, Arnold, Mullineux, Sakic, Travis - Knapp, Morales.

CHSG had chosen a strategic 4-4-2 formation. The following players had been chosen: Höppener - Martinsson, Gustavsson, Öhrfeldt, Agullo Rueda - Reynolds, Ingemarsson, Whelan, Nielsen - Piccioni Junior, Humphrey.

Karsten Nielsen of CHSG received a yellow card in the 15:th minute for unsportsmanlike behaviour. Many thought William Morales ought to have been awarded a penalty shot in the 19:th minute, as he went down trying to circle the visitors keeper Geert Höppener. In the games 21st minute Frankfort´s William Hawkins fell dramatically just outside the penalty area. However, the referee booked William Hawkins for taking a dive. A well placed corner kick from William Morales was followed by Milton Watts´s hard but accurate header. The nice combination meant 1-0 for Frankfort. A bit later, a magnificent combination in the middle resulted in Frankfort´s William Morales putting the lead up to 2 - 0. Frankforts Borislav Sakic got himself booked after a foul. CHSG were forced to a substitution as Danny Whelan couldn´t continue playing due to the rough treatment. 2 - 0 was the half-time score. Frankfort held the ball, with a clear 71 percent possession rate.

In the 58:th minute Frankfort put themselves up 3 - 0. The visitors defenders lost the ball to Robert Mullineux coming up from the left, who proceeded to cooly round the goaltender and knock the ball home. After 72 minutes Theodore Arnold put Frankfort ahead 4 - 0 as he rose to head in a hooked ball, the result of an effort from the right side. In the 79:th minute of the match the visitors central line of defence had to look on as Arthur Eaton dashed through, knocking home 5 - 0 for Frankfort. By now Frankfort were drawing the troops back in order to defend their lead. Unsportsmanlike behaviour by William Hawkins rendered him his second booking of the match, and Frankfort had to finish the game with a reduced squad. CHSG fought on and, in the 86:th minute Antonio Presno Linera was able to reply with 5 - 1 after some excellent moves on the right side finished off by an incredibly clever chip. The referee showed Frankforts Theodore Arnold the yellow card after a particularly nasty challenge. Frankfort held the ball, with a clear 72 percent possession rate.

Frankfort´s best player was Arthur Eaton. However, Borislav Sakic made a disastrous appearance. Most important CHSG player was Mattias Ingemarsson. Geert Höppener was a disappointment, however. The match ends 5 - 1.



Goals: Morales (8), Watts (2), Mullineux (2), Arnold (1), Eaton (1)
Yellow Cards: Hawkins 2, Arnold, Sakic


Matlock: **~

Hawkins: No rating given (Sent off; two yellow)
Eaton: ***
Apelblad: **

Watts: **
Sakic: **
Arnold: **
Mullineux: **~
Travis: **~

Morales: **~
Knapp: **


Team Match MVP: Arthur Eaton

Frankfort United

Midfield: solid (7)
Right Side Defence: passable (6)
Central Defence: passable (6)
Left Side Defence: passable (6)
Right Side Attack: solid (7)
Central Attack: passable (6)
Left Side Attack: solid (7)


Columbus HSG

Midfield: poor (3)
Right Side Defence: solid (7)
Central Defence: excellent (8)
Left Side Defence: passable (6)
Right Side Attack: solid (7)
Central Attack: inadequate (5)
Left Side Attack: passable (6)


That's what I call a win! 5-1 against a DIV team, our first every solid midfield. Hell, we'd never even had a passable midfield before. 59 NSI is obviously our new record as well. Perhaps we didn't need the MOTS, but better to have done overkill, than have normal'd and lost.

Next week, we host the Northern Lazies, the #5 team in II.2. This week they put up a 65 NSI (only a passable midfield, but very reasonable secondaries). I have no idea how I'm gonna play this, I may MOTS again next week.

As for this Sunday's game, no worries, as it is a PIC'able league home match, so Hawkins' absense won't be noted. We may rest some other starters as well, hoping to go into next Wednesday's game as strong as we possibly can.

In the rest of V.22, only dbob and Ya Yas remain. Ya Yas went to PKs again, but with their amazing keeper, del Piero, they are damn near unbeatable there. dbob skillfully mauled some poor sap. Both face better, but still beatable teams next week.



Next up: Training, youth pull, and economic updates.

[vex]

Be careful, while they probably will, the Lazies may not PIC you like they did last round and you would waste two levels of TS on a loss possibly.

[DukeRulesMAB]

Yeah, that's my assumption (that he won't PIC me). On the other hand, he's a brand new DII team, so he may be more concerned with his league position than a Cup run.

Either way, I'm likely to MOTS. As I said in a couple weeks ago, I have no hopes of promoting, and no worries of demoting, so I'm gonna go all out in the Cup. This game isn't 100% hopeless (close, but not quite :) ), so I gotta give it a go. At the very least, I should be able to avoid getting shut out at home with a MOTS.

[DukeRulesMAB]

The great news was that our 21 YO inad keeper youth pull sold for an eye-popping 46K. Needless to say, we are thrilled with that.


Training News

No pops and none expected for quite a while, but our proceeds have allowed us to take the long overdue step of hiring 4 more physiotherapists (for a total of 5), and increase training to 100%. So yay, us!

Also, Matlock, despite his horrendous form, became the first ever Frankfort player to top 500K in value.


Form Update

Starters Going Up: 2 (Eatonto Solid, Apelblad to Passable)
Starters Going Down: 1 (Knapp to Inad)
Reserves Going Up: 0
Reserves Going Down: 2 (Sakic 2 levels to Poor, Reyna to Poor)

Well, our defense (aside from Matlock) is in fine form now. Sakic dropping two levels after playing in both games is inexplicable to me, but whatever. In all likelihood, we won't need him in an important game for a bit anyway.


Total Team Value (Before Training): $1,714,000 (1,634,000)


Coming Saturday: Youth pull and finances.

[DukeRulesMAB]

Youth pull

Seventh week of solid

Harold Diehl (15297197)
17 years, passable form, healthy
A controversial person who is temperamental and dishonest.
Has disastrous experience and inadequate leadership abilities.

Nationality: USA
Assessed value: 8 000 US$
Wage: 520 US$/week
Owner: Frankfort United
Warnings: 0


Stamina: weak Goaltending: disastrous
Playmaking: wretched Passing: wretched
Winger: wretched Defending: inadequate
Scoring: wretched Set Pieces: poor



Listed at 1K. Dunno if he'll sell, but he's worth a flyer for a defense trainer, since he is 17.


Economy

Income

Crowd: 45,738 (vs. Columbus HSG)
Sponsers: 35,400
Temporary: 46,690
- 690 (New Supporters)
- 42,320 (sale of Bryson)
- 3,680 (sale of Clifford)

Total revenues: 127,828

Expenditures

Youth Squad: 20,000
Wages: 21,166
Staff: 21,000
Arena: 8,370
Interest: 6,465
- 9,165 (interst)
- (2,700) (investment)
Temporary: 3,000
- 2,000 (Youth Pull)
- 1,000 (Listing Fees)

Total Expenses: 80,001

Profit (Loss): 47,827
New Balance: (135,477)


We'll actually *gasp* under 100K in debt next update. Amazing.


Other stats

Team Spirit: Composed (down from Satisfied)
Confidence: Strong

Sponsers: Satisfied
Supporters: Delirious
# of Supporters: 833 (Up from 810)

Wait till you see our TS next update; pathetic won't even begin to describe

it. :)

V.22 Preview

dbob - Ya Yas

Match of the week, dbob is off to a hot start, just like last year. If they really harbor any division title hopes, gotta win this home game against the favorites. I don't see it happening.

Frankfort United - Clube Tururu

The middle of the 3 new teams, this guy seems really nice, he HT-mailed me this week. Not a very good team yet, though, this seems a pretty safe PIC in between the two MOTS's.

HellsGaurdians - Dog Bowl Chaos

Dog Bowl gets the weekly bye. HG is awful, and, last I checked, was still running a 4-2-3.

Elk Thunders - Team Jooky

Moderately interesting match, as Elk is pretty decent for a team team, but I think Team Jooky just has too much. Elk Thunders, definately a team to watch out for into the future, though.


Up Next: We host Clube Tururu.

[DukeRulesMAB]

Season 2 - Game 3

Frankfort United vs. Clube Tururu

Date: August 10, 2003
Arena: Frankfort United Arena (Kentucky)
Crowd: 13,076 (13,076)
Weather: Sunny

This team's new owner seems like a pretty nice guy, he sent a couple HT-mails this week. Still, his team has a long way to go. As you'll see, we are not only PICing, but playing some pretty crap backups.


Starters (Balanced 3-5-2):

Keeper: Matthew Matlock

Right Defender: Ignacio Escrivá
Central Defender: Alexander Apelblad
Left Defender: Bryan Reyna

Right Wing: Milton Watts
Central Midfield: Borislav Sakic
Central Midfield: Theodore Arnold
Central Midfield: Robert Mullineux
Left Wing: Kevin Macartney

Striker: William Morales
Striker: Jacob Knapp

We're going all out in the Cup game this week, so all of our crap backups and form casualties play today. If I'd been thinking, I'd have done this the first week, but I didn't so Reyna and Escrivá are in particularly bad form because of it. Even Matlock, since he is still is weak form, is playing with the B side. Also, Hawkins is suspended, and we didn't want to risk Eaton (who has two yellows) getting suspended for Wednesday's big tilt. Finally, Knapp has been edged out by Sellers for the starting job at the moment, so he's in here.


The Match

A scorching day at Frankfort United Arena, where 13076 spectators were in place for today´s match. Frankfort tactics involved an interesting 3-5-2 combination. They fielded: Matlock - Escrivá, Apelblad, Reyna - Watts, Arnold, Mullineux, Sakic, Macartney - Knapp, Morales.

Tururu tactics involved an interesting 4-5-1 combination. The following players had been chosen: Herby - Lara, Woods, Ukenings, Brewer - Méndez Alcaraz, Galeazzi, Bergbauers, Fuentes, Isaak - Reszka.

In the 9:th minute Tururus Dan Lara received a yellow card for going into a challenge studs first. The referee showed Tururus Juan Carlos Fuentes the yellow card after a particularly nasty challenge. In the games 32nd minute Tururu´s Eddie Bergbauers fell dramatically just outside the penalty area. However, the referee booked Eddie Bergbauers for taking a dive. William Morales gave his Frankfort the lead with 1 - 0, as he successfully challenged both the guests central defenders, then placed the ball unreachably at the goaltenders right post. Tururu seemed to suffer a certain amount of confusion about the organization of the team. A well placed corner kick from William Morales was followed by Milton Watts´s hard but accurate header. The nice combination meant 2-0 for Frankfort. A speedy charge from the left side of the field put Frankfort lead up with 3 - 0. Jacob Knapp finished that one off competently, firing from an acute angle. After several obvious shirt pulling incidents, Tururu´s José Brewer got himself booked. Halftime score was 3 - 0. Frankfort held the ball, with a clear 72 percent possession rate.

The Tururu players spent the half-time break getting a rerun of the teams tactical organization. Ignacio Escrivá received some harsh words from his coach after he acted foolishly, probably out of lack of experience, in the 48:th minute and almost caused an opponent to score. After 48 minutes Robert Mullineux put Frankfort ahead 4 - 0 as he rose to head in a hooked ball, the result of an effort from the right side. The structure of the game started to change as Frankfort decided to pull back and meet their opponents in the defensive zone. The referee showed Frankforts Kevin Macartney the yellow card after a particularly nasty challenge. Frankfort made a substitution in the 80:th minute. Matthew Matlock limped off the field and was replaced by Lorenzo Porras. Tururu had obvious problems in finding their positions. Frankfort, bringing the final ball possession rate to 84 percent, dominated the battle.

The most dominating Frankfort player was without a doubt Robert Mullineux. Ignacio Escrivá on the other hand, had a terrible day. Most important Tururu player was Malte Herby. Juan Carlos Fuentes was a disappointment, however. The match ends 4 - 0.



Goals: Morales (9), Watts (3), Knapp (4), Mullineux (3)
Yellow Cards: Macartney


Matlock: **~
Porras (in for Matlock): ***

Escrivá: *
Apelblad: **
Reyna: *~

Watts: **
Sakic: *~
Arnold: **
Mullineux: ***
Macartney: **~

Morales: **
Knapp: **


Team Match MVP: Robert Mullineux

Frankfort United

Midfield: weak (4)
Right Side Defence: inadequate (5)
Central Defence: inadequate (5)
Left Side Defence: inadequate (5)
Right Side Attack: solid (7)
Central Attack: passable (6)
Left Side Attack: passable (6)


Clube Tururu

Midfield: wretched (2)
Right Side Defence: inadequate (5)
Central Defence: solid (7)
Left Side Defence: passable (6)
Right Side Attack: weak (4)
Central Attack: poor (3)
Left Side Attack: poor (3)


Easy win, unimpressive ratings, exactly as suspected. Matlock's injury is not serious, he's bruised, but training. If I had a 3rd keeper, I'd be able to get in some uber-training this week. :) Not much else to say, a workman like win, and we are pleased.

Big upset elsewhere in V.22, as dbob absolutely thrashed Ya Yas (with a clear MOTs) 4-0. They now take sole possession of first place and are, for now, in the driver's seat. Will it last? We shall see. The other two new squads got waxed, as Dog Bowl Chaos took down HellsGaurdians 4-0, and Team Jooky destroyed Elk Thunders 8-0.


Next up: The fourth round of the Cup; we're major undersogs, but it's not completely hopeless.

[DukeRulesMAB]

Season 2 - US Open Cup: Round 4

Frankfort United vs. Northern Lazies

Date: August 13, 2003
Arena: Frankfort United Arena (Kentucky)
Crowd: 13,076 (13,076)
Weather: Cloudy

The Lazies are a new DII team who is (duh) vastly superior to us. However, there is a ray of hope: their cup ratings, while better than ours, have been in the range within which we could pull an upset. I committed to going for it as long as I could, and I'm gonna follow through here. We will MOTS. If they take us seriously, either by playing normal (unlikely) or mixing in a couple starters (likely), we have no chance.

Starters (Balanced 3-5-2):

Keeper: Lorenzo Porras

Right Defender: William Hawkins
Central Defender: Arthur Eaton
Left Defender: Alexander Apelblad

Right Wing: Jesse Mcwhorter
Central Midfield: Robert Mullineux
Central Midfield: Theodore Arnold
Central Midfield: Michael Chopin
Left Wing: Sonny Travis

Striker: William Morales
Striker: Courtney Sellers

This is the best possible team we can put on the field at this time. Our TS isn't anything special (composed), so I don't know if we'll set a NSI record, but we'll be close.

The Match

13076 spectators had come to Frankfort United Arena this cloudy day. Frankfort had chosen a strategic 3-5-2 formation. The following players had been chosen: Porras - Hawkins, Eaton, Apelblad - Mcwhorter, Arnold, Mullineux, Chopin, Travis - Sellers, Morales.

Northern started off with a 3-5-2 lineup. Lineup: Chu - Janssen, Swimm, Ouwehand - Tjäderhult, Ramey, Bellavista, Spear, Cabral Bousfield - Bilson, Caruso.

Northern took the lead in the games 14:th minute with 0 - 1 after some elegant plays down the middle. João Cabral Bousfield was the scorer. Northern came close to extending their lead as Friso Ouwehand delivered a long range shot from the right but the angle was to sharp, and the shot hit the side of the goal. Northern´s Ryan Bilson received a play slashing through the home side´s defense in the 36:th minute, chipping it past the keeper scoring 0 - 2. The home crowd was not pleased with that one. The teams went for a half-time break at 0 - 2. Northern held the ball, with a clear 56 percent possession rate.

The visitors Joost Janssen took advantage of an error due to a misunderstanding between the home side´s goalie and full backs in the 59:th minute. 0 - 3 for Northern. The structure of the game started to change as Northern decided to pull back and meet their opponents in the defensive zone. The referee showed Northerns Ryan Bilson the yellow card after a particularly nasty challenge. The referee showed Northerns Bo Swimm the yellow card after a particularly nasty challenge. Alexander Apelblad had a good opportunity to reduce in the 84:th minute but wasn´t cool enough. The ball went miles over the bar. The referee showed Frankforts Sonny Travis the yellow card after a particularly nasty challenge. Northern, bringing the final ball possession rate to 52 percent, dominated the battle.

Most important Frankfort player was Arthur Eaton. Theodore Arnold on the other hand, had a terrible day. The most dominating Northern player was without a doubt Joost Janssen. Leon Caruso was a disappointment, however. The match ends 0 - 3.



Goals: None
Yellow Cards: Travis


Porras: ***

Hawkins: **~
Eaton: ***~
Apelblad: **~

Mcwhorter: **~
Mullineux: ***
Arnold: **
Chopin: **~
Travis: ***

Morales: **~
Sellers: **


Team Match MVP: Arthur Eaton

Frankfort United

Midfield: solid (7)
Right Side Defence: excellent (8)
Central Defence: solid (7)
Left Side Defence: passable (6)
Right Side Attack: solid (7)
Central Attack: passable (6)
Left Side Attack: solid (7)


Northern Lazies

Midfield: excellent (8)
Right Side Defence: formidable (9)
Central Defence: formidable (9)
Left Side Defence: outstanding (10)
Right Side Attack: inadequate (5)
Central Attack: formidable (9)
Left Side Attack: outstanding (10)


Well, obviously the MOTS was not such a good idea, as they certainly took us seriously. :)

Despite that, lots of things to like here. 62 is an all-time NSI high. The Excellent wing defense is a high (we've had excellent wing attacks on two occassions in the past). Eaton's ***~ is the first in team history. Travis's *** is a personal high.

In sum, our TS is completely in the dumps, but it was worth it to go for it. We'll pay for it on Sunday, but within 2 or 3 league games, we'll be about where we would have been anyway.



Next up: Training, youth pull, and economic updates.

[DukeRulesMAB]

Training News

No keeping pops, but Apelblad, after pretty much a full year of game action, finally popped to wretched experience.


Form Update

Starters Going Up: 3 (Travis to Solid, Knapp to Passable, Matlock in Inad)
Starters Going Down: 0
Reserves Going Up: 1 (Watts to Passable)
Reserves Going Down: 3 (Sellers to Inad, Macartney to Weak, Escriva to Wretched)

Matlock is finally bouncing back; good to see. Knapp and Travis are also welcome news. Sellers isn't a huge deal. Watts going up presents a dillema as to him vs. Mcwhorter on Saturday (I am leaning Mcwhorter).

Finally, Escriva's drop and Reyna's continuing poor form have combined with the non-sale of our youth pull to make a quick (rash?) decision. Escriva and Reyna are both fired; the new guy is Harold Diehl, an inad defender with pretty much no other skills, but who is at least in passable form. We're hoping to some day pull a usable defender. For now, Sellers will do double duty as a forward/defense backup behind Deihl.

This even saves us some wages, as Deihl makes less than either of the two releases.


Total Team Value (Before Training): $1,777,000 (1,714,000)


Coming Saturday: Youth pull and finances.

[DukeRulesMAB]

Youth pull

Eighth week of solid; we're pulling outfielders again as long as we are under 150K of debt.

Matthew Dye (15476877)
17 years, passable form, healthy
A pleasant guy who is calm and honest.
Has disastrous experience and passable leadership abilities.

Nationality: USA
Assessed value: 63 000 US$
Wage: 800 US$/week
Owner: Frankfort United
Warnings: 0


Stamina: inadequate Goaltending: disastrous
Playmaking: inadequate Passing: solid
Winger: poor Defending: wretched
Scoring: wretched Set Pieces: weak

Listed for 25K. I hope I get a similar pull next year at this time, when I'll likely be training PM.




Economy

Income

Crowd: 114,004
- 68,266 (vs. Clube Tururu)
- 45,738 (vs. Northern Lazies)
Sponsers: 36,600
Temporary: 600 (New Supporters)

Total revenues: 151,204

Expenditures

Youth Squad: 20,000
Wages: 20,436
Staff: 27,000
Arena: 8,370
Interest: 4,973
- 6,773 (interst)
- (1,800) (investment)
Temporary: 3,000
- 2,000 (Youth Pull)
- 1,000 (Listing Fees)

Total Expenses: 83,779

Profit (Loss): 67,425
New Balance: (68,053)


We've come a long way in a short time. Not bad at all.


Other stats

Team Spirit: Irritated (down from Composed)
Confidence: Decent (down from Strong)

Sponsers: Satisfied
Supporters: Satisfied (down from Delirious)
# of Supporters: 853 (Up from 833)

Well, we're hoping the irritated TS bounces back on its own over the next week, as I have no plans on PICing this week's game. The rest of the news isn't all that bad considering that we were shut out at home.


V.22 Preview

Team Jooky - Dog Bowl Chaos

The biggest matchup of the week, this would be a key victory for Team Jooky. in their attempts to repeat.

Elk Thunders - dbob

Elk Thunders isn't terrible, but this should definately be dbob's 4th straight win to open the year. Good PIC time for dbob, as they're still in the cup.

Clube Tururu - HellsGaurdians

The two worst teams in V.22 meet; I expect a Clube Tururu win, they're at least trying.

Ya Yas - Frankfort United

Well, they should kill us, especially at home with our awful TS. The Wild Card is that they are still in the cup, and might be concentrating on it.

The biggest news of the week is that Ya Yas is selling there star keeper, Jorge Edo Peiro (unfortunately, not in time for him to be gone for today's game). The brilliant 19-YO already has a bid for 3 million; depending on where that money goes, this just means I really hope Ya Yas promotes and gets out of my hair. :)

Up Next: Ya Yas lays a nice beatdown on us in Jorge Edo Peiro's sendoff.

[DukeRulesMAB]

Season 2 - Game 4

Ya Yas vs. Frankfort United

Date: August 17, 2003
Arena: Little Altars (Arkansas)
Crowd: 25,281 (35,000)
Weather: Cloudy

This is the best team in my series, though they haven't been all that impressive to date. They also feature the best player in the series, GK Jorge Edo Peiro, in his last ever game with Ya Yas (he has a 3M bid on him). As you can tell, they've expanded their arena just a touch (perhaps a touch too much considering today's attendence); just another reason I hope they promote and get out of my hair.


Starters (Balanced 3-5-2):

Keeper: Lorenzo Porras

Right Defender: William Hawkins
Central Defender: Arthur Eaton
Left Defender: Alexander Apelblad

Right Wing: Jesse Mcwhorter
Central Midfield: Robert Mullineux
Central Midfield: Theodore Arnold
Central Midfield: Michael Chopin
Left Wing: Sonny Travis

Striker: William Morales
Striker: Jacob Knapp

This is, except for Porras, my full A squad. Porras is in, as he's two levels of form higher than Matlock, and Matlock is still dinged from last week's injury. Team-wide form isn't bad; of course our TS is horrid. We're playing normal, but should probably be PICing here.


The Match

25281 spectators had come to Little Altars this cloudy day. Yas had chosen a strategic 3-4-3 formation. They fielded: Edo Peiro - Suárez-Guanes, Metzger, Hackett - Taylor, Engstad, Beck, Klintborn - Whitney, Larsson, Mellbeck.

Frankfort had chosen a strategic 3-5-2 formation. Lineup: Porras - Hawkins, Eaton, Apelblad - Mcwhorter, Arnold, Mullineux, Chopin, Travis - Knapp, Morales.

2 minutes into the game a free kick combination hooked into the box almost resulted in the home team taking the lead, but the last header went wide. Yas could have put themselves ahead in the 5:th minute as Barry Whitney missed a volley shot on a ball coming in from the right. Frankfort's Sonny Travis scored 0 - 1 by shooting accurately and hard from a long distance, leaving the opponent goalie no other option than to pick up the ball from the net. Michael Chopin was, after 12 minutes, almost able to extend the visitors lead with a well placed diving header but home side keeper Jorge Edo Peiro saved. After 26 minutes of play Barry Whitney equalised for Yas after an elegant attack from the right. After 35 minutes Frankfort´s Jacob Knapp contracted a slight foot injury, but could finish the game. 1 - 1 was the half-time score. Yas held the ball, with a clear 60 percent possession rate.

47 minutes into the game William Morales was a hair´s breadth away from giving Frankfort the lead. A prompt block by Jorge Edo Peiro saved the home team that time. Frankforts Sonny Travis got himself booked after a foul. With 64 minutes played Buster Metzger almost gave the home side the lead with an unexpected free kick set up, but visitors Lorenzo Porras was onto it, grabbing the would be break through ball. In the 83rd minute Frankforts William Morales received a yellow card for going into a challenge studs first. After 83 minutes Frankfort put themselves up by 1 - 2 as Jacob Knapp finished off a strike from the left with a real cannon placed at the far post. Yas held the ball, with a clear 55 percent possession rate.

Most important Yas player was Jorge Edo Peiro. Collin Hackett on the other hand, had a terrible day. The most dominating Frankfort player was without a doubt Arthur Eaton. Theodore Arnold was a disappointment, however. The match ends 1 - 2.



Goals: Travis (1), Knapp (5)
Yellow Cards: Travis, Morales


Porras: ***~

Hawkins: **~
Eaton: ***~
Apelblad: **~

Mcwhorter: **~
Mullineux: ***
Arnold: **
Chopin: **~
Travis: ***

Morales: **
Knapp: **


Team Match MVP: Arthur Eaton


Ya Yas

Midfield: passable (6)
Right Side Defence: outstanding (10)
Central Defence: formidable (9)
Left Side Defence: excellent (8)
Right Side Attack: passable (6)
Central Attack: formidable (9)
Left Side Attack: inadequate (5)


Frankfort United

Midfield: weak (4)
Right Side Defence: excellent (8)
Central Defence: solid (7)
Left Side Defence: passable (6)
Right Side Attack: solid (7)
Central Attack: passable (6)
Left Side Attack: solid (7)


Well, this one is definately one of the all-time fluke victories. They had better midfield, better defense, and a roughly equal (likely better) offense. And they lose 2-1. Very tough break. We will take it. :) We even send Edo Peiro away a loser (despite two big saves by him).

Highlights: Porras getting his first ever ***~, our right side excellent defense is holding up. Downside is the weak midfield, though that was expected with our terrible TS. I shudder to think what we'll put up next week PICing, but we'll deal with that when the time comes. Also, Travis is suspended for next week's game, but I don't anticipate that being a big deal; should be an easy win either way.

Elsewhere, Team Jooky edged Dog Bowl Chaos 2-1 to keep up in the V.22 race. They are 3 points behind dbob, who absolutely thrashed Elk Thunders 6-0 (we're, amazingly, just 2 points back of dbob). And in the lesser game of the week, HellsGaurdian upset (?) Clube Tururu 3-2.

I'm in a bit of shock right now, I'm thrilled with the win, but not sure what to think of it. Total fluke. Guess I should take the flukes when they fluke my way. :)

Next up: Our first friendly of the year, as we visit Square Pegs.

[Havok]

nice upset Duke!!! WOOT! :)

[Desnudo]

Congratulations, nice win. Don't think, be happy. Flukes is as flukes does.

[DukeRulesMAB]

Thanks guys! Shows how far we've come that it was even close, since we lost 5-1/6-1 to them last year.

The reason I'm conflicted is because I really want them to promote. With a 35K seat stadium and 3M soon to be incoming, not sure how likely it is I'll be able to compete with them any time soon.

[DukeRulesMAB]

Friendly

Square Pegs vs. Frankfort United

Date: August 20, 2003
Arena: City Lights (Minnesota)
Crowd: 522 (14,525)
Weather: Cloudy

First friendly of the year. Just trying to keep everyone healthy. Thanks to mckerney for hosting us!

Starters (Balanced 3-5-2):

Keeper: Matthew Matlock

Right Defender: William Hawkins
Central Defender: Alexander Apelblad
Left Defender: Harold Diehl

Right Wing: Kevin Macartney
Central Midfield: Borislav Sakic
Central Midfield: Michael Chopin
Central Midfield: Theodore Arnold
Left Wing: Milton Watts

Striker: William Morales
Striker: Courtney Sellers

Only thing notable here is that this is Diehl's debut. We expect him to step into the Reyna role of ** performance as a backup defender.

The Match

522 spectators had come to City Lights this cloudy day. Square had chosen a strategic 4-4-2 formation. The following players had been chosen: Yiuwing - Lombardi, Mcgovern, Taylor, Cheatham - Conner, Gustavsson, Esteban, Butcher - Donald, Frazier.

Frankfort started off with a 3-5-2 lineup. Lineup: Matlock - Hawkins, Apelblad, Diehl - Macartney, Arnold, Chopin, Sakic, Watts - Sellers, Morales.

Kevin Macartney was doing a great job at his wing, sending in brilliant passes to his team mates in the middle. Squares Ulf Gustavsson gave, after 14 minutes, the home team a 1 - 0 lead after an attack coming in from the right. Alexander Apelblad got left behind when Square´s Frederick Donald made a sudden pull forward in the 16:th minute, finishing off with a swift strike. 2-0! In the games 18:th minute Frankfort´s Alexander Apelblad fell dramatically just outside the penalty area. However, the referee booked Alexander Apelblad for taking a dive. Halftime score was 2 - 0. The fortyfive minutes were dominated by Frankfort, with an impressive 57 percent possession of the ball.

Moses Butcher increased Squares lead to 3 - 0 by putting a header away on a hooked ball from the right. The structure of the game started to change as Square decided to pull back and meet their opponents in the defensive zone. Frankfort held the ball, with a clear 76 percent possession rate.

The most dominating Square player was without a doubt Nicholas Mcgovern. Ulf Gustavsson on the other hand, had a terrible day. Frankfort´s best player was Matthew Matlock. Borislav Sakic on the other hand, had a terrible day. The match ends 3 - 0.




Goals: None
Yellow Cards: Apelblad


Matlock: ***

Hawkins: **~
Apelblad: **~
Diehl: **

Macartney: **~
Sakic: *~
Chopin: **~
Arnold: **
Watts: **~

Morales: **
Sellers: **


Team Match MVP: Matthew Matlock

Square Pegs

Midfield: wretched (2)
Right Side Defence: outstanding (10)
Central Defence: magnificent (12)
Left Side Defence: outstanding (10)
Right Side Attack: solid (7)
Central Attack: passable (6)
Left Side Attack: weak (4)


Frankfort United

Midfield: poor (3)
Right Side Defence: solid (7)
Central Defence: passable (6)
Left Side Defence: passable (6)
Right Side Attack: passable (6)
Central Attack: passable (6)
Left Side Attack: solid (7)


Diehl did what we hoped. I'd rather not comment on the rest. :) On a side note, this if the first magnif we've ever played against. We gotta get our TS up, poor midfield in a friendly, even with Sakic (poor form) playing, is unacceptable. Fortunately this week brings a PIC.





Next up: Training, youth pull, and economic updates.

[DukeRulesMAB]

Training News

No pops, but Matlock topped 600K, our first above that mark.


Form Update

Starters Going Up: 3 (Mullineux, Knapp to Solid, Arnold to Inad)
Starters Going Down: 3 (Eaton, Travis to Passable, Apelblad to Inad)
Reserves Going Up: 1 (Macartney to Inad)
Reserves Going Down: 4 (Porras to Passable, Watts to Inad, Sellers to Weak, Sakic to Wretched)

Our midfield is in great form. That's about all the good news, though. Our defense is in dying form (2 drops along the defensive front, and Porras down). Matlock will be back in the lineup this week. Our backups are in horrible form as well, particularly Sakic who has plummetted since the moment I got him. Hopefully, that will reverse itself soon, lord knows I won't be able to make it through the season with no midfield problems.


Total Team Value (Before Training): $1,867,000 (1,762,000)


Coming Saturday: Youth pull and finances.

[DukeRulesMAB]

Forgot to mention this on Wednesday, but last week's youth pull (the 17-YO inad PM/inad stamina/solid passing) sold for more than 85K. We were very, very happy. :)

Youth pull

Ninth week of solid.

Jason Franco (15679330)
18 years, passable form, healthy
A pleasant guy who is calm and righteous.
Has disastrous experience and passable leadership abilities.


Speciality: Technical

Nationality: USA
Assessed value: 20 000 US$
Wage: 600 US$/week
Owner: Frankfort United
Warnings: 0


Stamina: inadequate Goaltending: disastrous
Playmaking: weak Passing: weak
Winger: inadequate Defending: poor
Scoring: poor Set Pieces: poor


No complaints, our youth squad has been abnormally productive lately. Needless to say, canned.




Economy

Income

Crowd: 1,395 (at Square Pegs)
Sponsers: 37,500
Temporary: 80,980
- 480 (New Supporters)
- 80,500 (Sale of Dye)

Total revenues: 119,875

Expenditures

Youth Squad: 20,000
Wages: 19,766
Staff: 27,000
Arena: 8,370
Interest: 2,102
- 3,402 (interst)
- (1,300) (investment)
Temporary: 4,500
- 2,000 (Youth Pull)
- 1,000 (Listing Fees)
- 1,500 (Fired economist)

Total Expenses: 81,738

Profit (Loss): 38,137
New Balance: (29,916)

Turning a profit in a week w/o a home game is huge. We will actually, believe it or not, be out of debt next week. It won't last, but that's just amazing. Getting to fire the economist (his contributions dipped below 1.5K) was a definate milestone for our fledgeling club. Let us hope the next time we acquire one, it will be for interest on our savings instead of debt management.


Other stats

Team Spirit: Irritated
Confidence: Decent

Sponsers: Satisfied
Supporters: Satisfied
# of Supporters: 869 (Up from 853)

I can't believe I upset the best team in my series, and neither confidence, nor supporter/sponser attitude changed. Oh well. I'm also a bit disappointed that TS didn't bounce up to the median over the course of the week. Still, we'll PIC tommorow to fix that.


V.22 Preview

dbob - Team Jooky

The biggest match of the week sees the undefeated (in the league, at least) dbob take on last year's champs. I would not be surprised to see a Team Jooky win here, as I still expect dbob to fade, but maybe I'm underestimating them.

Frankfort United - Elk Thunders

Much needed PIC material for us, as we go into 4 straight games against extremely high level competition.

HellsGaurdians - Ya Yas

Ya Yas new excellent scoring trainee debuted to *** in the US Open Cup. He'll get to chow down against terrible opposition this week.

Dog Bowl Chaos - Clube Tururu

Dog Bowl should have an easy time with the new guys.

Up Next: What we hope is an easy PIC win over the newcomers.

[DukeRulesMAB]

Season 2 - Game 5

Frankfort United vs. Elk Thunders

Date: August 24, 2003
Arena: Frankfort United Arena (Kentucky)
Crowd: 10,472 (13,076)
Weather: Partly Cloudy

We play the best of the 3 newcomers to V.22. Still, this shouldn't be much of a test for my guys, especially at home. They haven't logged in in over a month now, so they'll be gone by the end of the season. We hope for a strong PIC, to get TS, supporter happiness, and confidence up.

Starters (Balanced 3-5-2):

Keeper: Matthew Matlock

Right Defender: William Hawkins
Central Defender: Arthur Eaton
Left Defender: Alexander Apelblad

Right Wing: Kevin Macartney
Central Midfield: Robert Mullineux
Central Midfield: Theodore Arnold
Central Midfield: Michael Chopin
Left Wing: Jesse Mcwhorter

Striker: William Morales
Striker: Jacob Knapp

This is all by 1 of my full A squad, as Sonny Travis is suspended. Our form is very unimpressive at the moment, except in the midfield, where it's pretty much at an all-time high (average of passable!). Shows just how pathetic my form is when a passable average in one area of the team is reason for celebration.


The Match

10472 spectators arrived at Frankfort United Arena, where weather conditions were pretty good for football. Frankfort started off with a 3-5-2 lineup. The following players had been chosen: Matlock - Hawkins, Eaton, Apelblad - Macartney, Arnold, Mullineux, Chopin, Mcwhorter - Knapp, Morales.

Thunders started off with a 4-4-2 lineup. They fielded: Irander - Pugh, Mcclure, Davis, Moyer - Chin, Abrams, Taylor, Ataide - Nilsson, Shell.

Jacob Knapp seemed to be floating in the air at will as he elegantly headed in 1-0. The previous Frankfort corner kick was executed by William Morales. In the 29:th minute of the match the visitors central line of defence had to look on as Robert Mullineux dashed through, knocking home 2 - 0 for Frankfort. After this Frankfort lowered the tempo in order to concentrate on their defensive efforts. After 32 minutes Thunders´s James Taylor contracted a slight foot injury, but could finish the game. Things were going to get worse for the visitors. Jacob Knapp squirmed himself through the central defense line in the 35:th minute, asserting the lead to 3 - 0. The referee showed Thunderss Blaine Moyer the yellow card after a particularly nasty challenge. Frankfort put their lead ahead another goal as Jacob Knapp struck home the 4 - 0 goal, after an attack from the left setting him up unmarked with the keeper. This third goal made a hat trick for Jacob Knapp. Fine winger Jesse Mcwhorter made one of his many passes from the wing into the middle in the 41st minute. Jacob Knapp went to the air and hit the ball firmly with his forehead for 5 - 0. The referee showed Thunderss Guillermo Ataide the yellow card after a particularly nasty challenge. The teams went for a half-time break at 5 - 0. Frankfort, bringing the final ball possession rate to 72 percent, dominated the battle.

The referee showed Frankforts Robert Mullineux the yellow card after a particularly nasty challenge. A speedy charge from the left side of the field put Frankfort lead up with 6 - 0. Michael Chopin finished that one off competently, firing from an acute angle. Frankfort, bringing the final ball possession rate to 77 percent, dominated the battle.

The most dominating Frankfort player was without a doubt Robert Mullineux. William Morales was a disappointment, however. Thunders´s best player was Ulf Nilsson. However, Gabriel Mcclure made a disastrous appearance. The match ends 6 - 0.




Goals: Knapp 4 (9), Mulllineux (4), Chopin (2)
Yellow Cards: Mullineux (one more until suspension)

(Note: Goal totals are for all competitive games this year, not just for the league)


Matlock: ***

Hawkins: **~
Eaton: ***
Apelblad: **~

Macartney: **~
Mullineux: ***~
Arnold: **
Chopin: **~
Mcwhorter: **~

Morales: **
Knapp: **~


Team Match MVP: Robert Mullineux

Frankfort United

Midfield: inadequate (5)
Right Side Defence: solid (7)
Central Defence: solid (7)
Left Side Defence: passable (6)
Right Side Attack: solid (7)
Central Attack: passable (6)
Left Side Attack: solid (7)

Elk Thunders

Midfield: wretched (2)
Right Side Defence: inadequate (5)
Central Defence: inadequate (5)
Left Side Defence: weak (4)
Right Side Attack: solid (7)
Central Attack: passable (6)
Left Side Attack: inadequate (5)

Very happy with that one; we hoped for a blowout, and got one, but we were kind of expecting worse. With the win, our TS, supporters, and confidence are all up to acceptable levels.

We are extremely happy with a couple things. First the inad midfield on a PIC with irritated TS. Very impressive. Second was Knapp's performance. Two header goals from our target striker makes me very, very happy.

On a side note, even for an abandoned team, those are some damn sad defensive ratings for a 4-4-2.

It was blowout week in V.22. The top attraction saw dbob absolutely destroy Team Jooky 7-1. We play at dbob next week, not looking forward to that one. Ya Yas, employing their 3-4-3, put on an offensive clinic against HellsGaurdians 9-1. And Dog Bowl put up a workman-like 6-0 win over Clube Tururu.

1. dbob 5 25 - 3 15

2. Frankfort United 5 22 - 4 13
3. Ya Yas 5 20 - 11 9
4. Team Jooky 5 20 - 12 9

5. Dog Bowl Chaos 5 15 - 8 7
6. Elk Thunders 5 4 - 26 3

7. HellsGaurdians 5 4 - 29 3
8. Clube Tururu 5 3 - 20 0

Next week's dbob-Frankfort United matchup is ostensibly for first place, but is really a blowout in the making. Fact is we've played an easy schedule so far, and our next 4 weeks are death. If I'm still in the top 4 after that stretch, I'll be thrilled.


Next up: A visit to McSweeney's S. Boston Hooligans for a pre-FOFC Cup friendly.

[DukeRulesMAB]

Friendly

S. Boston Hooligans vs. Frankfort United

Date: August 27, 2003
Arena: The City Ground (Boston)
Crowd: 1,356 (22,000)
Weather: Partly Cloudy

We visit McSweeney's Hooligans in another FOFC friendly, as we warm up for the FOFC Cup. As always, the goal here is to get out with no injuries.

Starters (Balanced 3-5-2):

Keeper: Lorenzo Porras

Right Defender: William Hawkins
Central Defender: Alexander Apelblad
Left Defender: Harold Diehl

Right Wing: Sonny Travis
Central Midfield: Michael Chopin
Central Midfield: Theodore Arnold
Central Midfield: Borislav Sakic
Left Wing: Milton Watts

Striker: Jacob Knapp
Striker: Courtney Sellers

This is pretty much our B team, except for Travis, who was suspended for Sunday's game. I'm considering picking up a 5th defender and central mid to allow great resting of starters, but that'll probably have to wait until next year when I have a larger stadium and am financially stable.

Sakic's form is completely in the dumps, he needs to rebound fast.

The Match

Fairly good weather for football had drawn a crowd of 1356 to The City Ground. Hooligans had chosen a strategic 3-5-2 formation. The following players had been chosen: Oerlemans - Lucas, Collado Cervero, Burrows - Guyton, Mack, Ponder, Reaves, Gibbons - Guajardo, Kimball.

Frankfort tactics involved an interesting 3-5-2 combination. Lineup: Porras - Hawkins, Apelblad, Diehl - Travis, Arnold, Chopin, Sakic, Watts - Sellers, Knapp.

Hooligans could have put themselves ahead in the 1st minute as Francis Kimball missed a volley shot on a ball coming in from the right. Steven Mack of Hooligans received a yellow card in the 2nd minute for unsportsmanlike behaviour. Francis Kimball gave his Hooligans the lead with 1 - 0, as he successfully challenged both the guests central defenders, then placed the ball unreachably at the goaltenders right post. Courtney Sellers of Frankfort received a yellow card in the 31st minute for unsportsmanlike behaviour. With 38 minutes played Woodrow Guajardo could have brought this one home for Hooligans, had his hooked ball gone in, but it went just a bit too high. The teams went for a half-time break at 1 - 0. Hooligans held the ball, with a clear 61 percent possession rate.

Hooligans put themselves up 2 - 0 when Francis Kimball broke through on the right, leaving the entire defensive box behind him. The structure of the game started to change as Hooligans decided to pull back and meet their opponents in the defensive zone. Steven Mack should probably have put his team up another goal in the 59:th minute, but some great goaltending by Lorenzo Porras kept the visitors in the game. After several obvious shirt pulling incidents, Frankfort´s William Hawkins got himself booked. After 67 minutes Frankfort´s Lorenzo Porras contracted a slight foot injury, but could finish the game. Hooligans held the ball, with a clear 57 percent possession rate.

Hooligans´s best player was Valentijn Oerlemans. Rod Reaves on the other hand, had a terrible day. The most dominating Frankfort player was without a doubt Lorenzo Porras. Borislav Sakic was a disappointment, however. The match ends 2 - 0.


Goals: None
Yellow Cards: Sellers, Hawkins


Porras: ***

Hawkins: **~
Apelblad: **
Diehl: **

Travis: ***
Chopin: **~
Arnold: **
Sakic: *
Watts: **

Knapp: **~
Sellers: *~


Team Match MVP: Lorenzo Porras

S. Boston Hooligans

Midfield: inadequate (5)
Right Side Defence: solid (7)
Central Defence: passable (6)
Left Side Defence: inadequate (5)
Right Side Attack: inadequate (5)
Central Attack: passable (6)
Left Side Attack: inadequate (5)


Frankfort United

Midfield: poor (3)
Right Side Defence: solid (7)
Central Defence: passable (6)
Left Side Defence: passable (6)
Right Side Attack: solid (7)
Central Attack: passable (6)
Left Side Attack: solid (7)




Two friendlies, no goals. I prefer to blame this on Sakic, as he's killing our friendly midfield. Porras is, of course, fine, just bruised, he'll get his training.

Thanks to McSweeney for a fine game! Next week is, I think, the start of the FOFC Cup.




Next up: Training, youth pull, and economic updates.

[DukeRulesMAB]

Training News

No keeping pops, though I believe both of them to be pretty close. Starting central midfielder Theodore Arnold did move to Weak Experience.


Form Update

Starters Going Up: 1 (Chopin to Solid)
Starters Going Down: 2 (Mullineux to Passable, Eaton to Inad)
Reserves Going Up: 1 (Watts to Passable)
Reserves Going Down: 1 (Macartney to Weak)

Bleh...ever since we went to 100% training, the results have been less than overwhelming. Choping and Mullineux cancel each other out. Eaton has been my best player of late, his form drop sucks. Macartney continues the yo-yo (his last 3 weeks have been down-up-down), and Watts still won't start. Pretty crappy update, really.


Total Team Value (Before Training): $1,975,000 (1,867,000)


Coming Saturday: Youth pull and finances.

[DukeRulesMAB]

Youth pull

Tenth week of solid. Poor keeper, next. :)





Economy

Income

Crowd: 59,390
- 55,900 (vs. Elk Thunders)
- 3,490 (at S. Boston)
Sponsers: 38,100
Temporary: 690 (New Supporters)

Total revenues: 98,180

Expenditures

Youth Squad: 20,000
Wages: 19,766
Staff: 25,500
Arena: 8,370
Interest: 1,496
Temporary: 2,000 (Youth Pull)

Total Expenses: 77,132

Profit (Loss): 21,048
New Balance: (8,868)

Well, we didn't quite get out of debt, but we're close. I was hoping for a decent youth pull this week to get us close to breakeven, thus the keeper pull. But no luck.


Other stats

Team Spirit: Composed (Up from Irritated)
Confidence: Decent

Sponsers: Satisfied
Supporters: Delirious (Up from Satisfied)
# of Supporters: 892 (Up from 869)

TS finally back to the median. I shudder to think what our supporters/sponsers will be like after this brutal 4 game stretch.


V.22 Preview

dbob - Frankfort United

The #s 1 and 2 teams in V.22 meet at the home of #1. Unfortunately, we don't match up well with them at all, and we had a bad form week to top it off. We'll be very fortunate if this isn't a blowout loss.

Elk Thunders - HellsGaurdians

Well, one of them gets a win. My money's on Elk Thunders, they stink in a less offensive manner, and are at least trying.

Team Jooky - Clube Tururu

This will be brutal. Jooky will take this cleanly.

Ya Yas - Dog Bowl Chaos

The other match of interest for the week, I expect Ya Yas to take this pretty easily at home.


Up Next: dbob and Frankfort United collide for the series V.22 lead.

[DukeRulesMAB]

Season 2 - Game 6

dbob vs. Frankfort United

Date: August 31, 2003
Arena: dbob Arena (San Francisco)
Crowd: 15,500 (15,500)
Weather: Rain

dbob is the top team in the series with 15 points. We're second with 13 points. Huge matchup? Maybe, but probably not. They are midfield trainers, and are starting to see early fruits of that. Since our midfield is normally our team stength, that means we match up poorly. We also are in mediocre form (as per usual, it would seem). Add that to the venue, and we're in for a long match, most likely.

The wild card is the rain. I have two techincal starters (Hawkins and Arnold), and one powerful starter (Chopin).

Starters (Balanced 3-5-2):

Keeper: Matthew Matlock

Right Defender: William Hawkins
Central Defender: Arthur Eaton
Left Defender: Alexander Apelblad

Right Wing: Jesse Mcwhorter
Central Midfield: Robert Mullineux
Central Midfield: Theodore Arnold
Central Midfield: Michael Chopin
Left Wing: Sonny Travis

Striker: William Morales
Striker: Jacob Knapp

This is the full A team, the first time, possibly ever, that they've been together at the same time. We'll be leaning heavily on Jacob Knapp offensively, as he's in the best form in team history (a high solid; sadly we've never had anyone in excellent form).


The Match

Due to an all-day shower, 15500 paying spectators got to see a match on a pitch-turned-bog at dbob Arena. dbob had chosen a strategic 3-5-2 formation. Lineup: Flores - Einarsson, Riddick, Lagunas - Henriksson, Gunnarsson, Thorstad, Berns, Eckstad - Morgan, Gagnon.

Frankfort had chosen a strategic 3-5-2 formation. Lineup: Matlock - Hawkins, Eaton, Apelblad - Mcwhorter, Arnold, Mullineux, Chopin, Travis - Knapp, Morales.

dbobs Phillip Gagnon gave, after 22 minutes, the home team a 1 - 0 lead after an attack coming in from the right. dbob put their lead ahead another goal as Stigbjörn Eckstad struck home the 2 - 0 goal, after an attack from the left setting him up unmarked with the keeper. A speedy charge from the left side of the field put dbob lead up with 3 - 0. Phillip Gagnon finished that one off competently, firing from an acute angle. By now dbob were drawing the troops back in order to defend their lead. The teams went for a half-time break at 3 - 0. dbob, bringing the final ball possession rate to 61 percent, dominated the battle.

dbob´s Jim Morgan had an excellent opportunity in the 47:th minute, shooting on a through ball, but he missed the goal by miles! Julio Lagunas of dbob received a yellow card in the 50:th minute for unsportsmanlike behaviour. After 51 minutes Julio Lagunas put dbob ahead 4 - 0 as he rose to head in a hooked ball, the result of an effort from the right side. Alexander Apelblad of Frankfort received a yellow card in the 69:th minute for unsportsmanlike behaviour. Richard Henriksson showed great fighting spirit and didn´t seem to mind the rain at all. In the 75:th minute dbob put themselves up 5 - 0. The visitors defenders lost the ball to Phillip Gagnon coming up from the left, who proceeded to cooly round the goaltender and knock the ball home. At that, Phillip Gagnon was noted down for a hat trick. The referee showed Frankforts Arthur Eaton the yellow card after a particularly nasty challenge. dbob's Julio Lagunas scored 6 - 0 by shooting accurately and hard from a long distance, leaving the opponent goalie no other option than to pick up the ball from the net. The away team reduced the score to 6 - 1, as Jacob Knapp struck home, set up well by a play from the left in the 82nd minute. dbob held the ball, with a clear 53 percent possession rate.

Most important dbob player was Linus Gunnarsson. However, Karl Riddick made a disastrous appearance. Frankfort´s best player was Matthew Matlock. Theodore Arnold was a disappointment, however. The match ends 6 - 1.


Goals: Knapp (10)
Yellow Cards: Apelblad, Eaton

(Note: Goal totals are for all competitive games this year, not just for the league)


Matlock: ***~

Hawkins: **~
Eaton: ***
Apelblad: **

Mcwhorter: **~
Mullineux: ***
Arnold: **
Chopin: **~
Travis: ***

Morales: **~
Knapp: **~


Team Match MVP: Matthew Matlock


dbob

Midfield: solid (7)
Right Side Defence: passable (6)
Central Defence: passable (6)
Left Side Defence: passable (6)
Right Side Attack: excellent (8)
Central Attack: solid (7)
Left Side Attack: excellent (8)


Frankfort United

Midfield: inadequate (5)
Right Side Defence: solid (7)
Central Defence: solid (7)
Left Side Defence: passable (6)
Right Side Attack: excellent (8)
Central Attack: passable (6)
Left Side Attack: excellent (8)

Ouch. That was an extremely strong midfield, and it showed through. We were pretty even with them elsewhere, but had nothing to counter the domination of their 3 19 year-old central mids. I could declare various things positives, such as Matlock's first ever ***~ rating, but this was just ugly. To top it off, Eaton is now suspended for our important home game against Team Jooky next week.

The rest of the division went as suspected. Ya Yas was all over Dog Bowl Chaos 5-1. Team Jooky had a suprisingly tough time with Clube Tururu, being tied at the half, before getting a 2-0 win. And Elk Thunders beat up HellsGaurdians 4-1 in the battle of the basement.

We'll recover from this; we don't expect to compete for the series this year anyway. But we want to be closer than this. Lotta work to be done.


Next up: We will be making a quick exit from the FOFC Cup in our visit to Square Pegs (for the 2nd time in 3 weeks).

[DukeRulesMAB]

Friendly

FOFC Cup Round 1: Square Pegs vs. Frankfort United

Date: September 3, 2003
Arena: City Lights (Boston)
Crowd: 534 (14,525)
Weather: Rain

For the second time in 3 friendlies, we visit Square Pegs and their imposing defense. This time it's a little more meaningful, as we're in FOFC Cup action. Still the goal: Avoid injury.


Starters (Balanced 3-5-2):

Keeper: Lorenzo Porras

Right Defender: Harold Diehl
Central Defender: Arthur Eaton
Left Defender: Alexander Apelblad

Right Wing: Kevin Macartney
Central Midfield: Robert Mullineux
Central Midfield: Borislav Sakic
Central Midfield: Theodore Arnold
Left Wing: Milton Watts

Striker: Courtney Sellers
Striker: Jacob Knapp

We are shuffling in Eaton and Mullineux...I figure a little extra experience can't hurt. Sakic is in just miserable form. We should get killed here.


The Match

534 spectators had found their way to City Lights, despite the heavy rain. Square had chosen a strategic 4-4-2 formation. They fielded: Yiuwing - Lombardi, Mcgovern, Taylor, Cheatham - Conner, Esteban, Chavarria, Butcher - Seals, Geary.

Frankfort had chosen a strategic 3-5-2 formation. The following players had been chosen: Porras - Diehl, Eaton, Apelblad - Macartney, Arnold, Mullineux, Sakic, Watts - Sellers, Knapp.

Square tried to break through in the middle repeatedly, but kept getting stuck on the visitors defenders. Harold Diehl of Frankfort received a yellow card in the 9:th minute for unsportsmanlike behaviour. In the 9:th minute Squares Frank Cheatham received a yellow card for going into a challenge studs first. Halftime score was 0 - 0. Frankfort held the ball, with a clear 53 percent possession rate.

A free kick aimed at the keepers far post almost gave Frankfort the lead in the 49:th minute, but the ball just wasn´t able to squirm it´s way through the defensive wall. Theodore Arnold of Frankfort received a yellow card in the 59:th minute for unsportsmanlike behaviour. Frankfort´s Borislav Sakic left the field after 61 minutes because of a nasty blow to the shin. His replacement was Michael Chopin. 66 minutes into the game Michael Chopin was a hair´s breadth away from giving Frankfort the lead. A prompt block by Bu Yiuwing saved the home team that time. Russ Conner had a hard time on the water infested pitch - his trademark technique was nowhere in sight this day. The visitors were very close to gaining the lead from a monstrous free kick in the 67:th minute, but Bu Yiuwing made a one hand save. 68 minutes into the game Arthur Eaton had to leave the pitch due to a knee injury. In came William Hawkins. When Theodore Arnold made yet another studs first tackle, in the games 68th minute, the referee was obliged to book the Frankfort player for the second time, sending him off the pitch. Frankfort held the ball, with a clear 65 percent possession rate.

As none of the teams had managed to win, extra time was called. In the games 95:th minute Jacob Knapp almost gave the visitors the lead, as he clipped a spectacular scissors shot just past the bar. Frankfort´s 0 - 1 goal came from a questionable penalty. Jacob Knapp struck that one home without a second thought. This put an end to extra time, making Frankfort the winners. The most dominating Square player was without a doubt Nicholas Mcgovern. Tim Chavarria on the other hand, had a terrible day. The most dominating Frankfort player was without a doubt Lorenzo Porras. Courtney Sellers on the other hand, had a terrible day. The match ends 0 - 1.



Goals: Knapp
Yellow Cards: Diehl, Arnold 2,


Porras: ***~

Diehl: **
Eaton: **
Hawkins (in for Eaton): **~
Apelblad: **~

Macartney: **
Mullineux: ***
Sakic: ~
Chopin (in for Sakic): **~
Arnold: None given, ejected
Watts: **~

Sellers: *~
Knapp: **~


Team Match MVP: Lorenzo Porras


Square Pegs

Midfield: poor (3)
Right Side Defence: formidable (9)
Central Defence: magnificent (12)
Left Side Defence: outstanding (10)
Right Side Attack: inadequate (5)
Central Attack: inadequate (5)
Left Side Attack: poor (3)


Frankfort United

Midfield: weak (4)
Right Side Defence: excellent (8)
Central Defence: solid (7)
Left Side Defence: passable (6)
Right Side Attack: passable (6)
Central Attack: inadequate (5)
Left Side Attack: solid (7)


We'll break this into the good and the bad.

The Bad: Not one, but two injuries, pretty much the worst possible thing for an injury. Sakic is out for a week, so he might miss next week's friendly. Not like it can hurt his form much. Eaton, though, was listed as out 3 weeks following the game. He immediately dropped to 2 weeks overnight. He was going to miss this week's game anyway, because of yellow cards. This means he'll miss at least one, maybe two, more. We're screwed on defense, he's by far out best back there. I was even worried for a minute about Arnold, because I didn't know if red cards carried over. Fortunately they don't.

The Good: We overcame all that, plus an amazing defense, to win the game and advance. Congrats to Knapp and our midfield!




Next up: Training, youth pull, and economic updates.

[DukeRulesMAB]

Training News

Needless to say, we are happy.

Matthew Matlock (11113430)
19 years, passable form, healthy
A pleasant guy who is temperamental and dishonest.
Has disastrous experience and poor leadership abilities.

Nationality: USA
Assessed value: 782 000 US$
Wage: 3 040 US$/week
Owner: Frankfort United
Warnings: 0


Stamina: poor Goaltending: formidable
Playmaking: disastrous Passing: disastrous
Winger: disastrous Defending: disastrous
Scoring: wretched Set Pieces: poor

Lorenzo Porras (12542447)
18 years, solid form, healthy
A controversial person who is calm and honest.
Has disastrous experience and inadequate leadership abilities.

Nationality: España
Assessed value: 530 000 US$
Wage: 2 208 US$/week including 20% Bonus
Owner: Frankfort United
Warnings: 0


Stamina: wretched Goaltending: excellent
Playmaking: disastrous Passing: disastrous
Winger: disastrous Defending: disastrous
Scoring: disastrous Set Pieces: disastrous

With this, I am confident that Porras will be formidible at the end of the year, ready for sale. With those proceeds, we will expand the stadium, and buy a set of trainees, likely wingers. Possibly even upgrade to a solid coach, not sure about that one yet.

Matlock will likely pop to outstanding at the very end of the year. He's going nowhere, and will be our keeper for the next decade.

Form Update

Starters Going Up: 3 (Morales, Matlock, Mcwhorter to Passable)
Starters Going Down: 2 (Mullineux, Hawkins to Inad)
Reserves Going Up: 2 (Watts, Porras to Solid)
Reserves Going Down: 0

Well...eh. It looks a lot better than it is, the last thing we needed was our midfield and especially defense to take form hits, with Eaton out. We should have decent attack at least. Matlock needs to come up huge with Diehl starting for the next couple games.


Total Team Value (Before Training): $2,127,000 (1,975,000)

We've topped 2M. And Matlcok is all the way up at 782K. Knapp, at 120K, is at what I believe is our highest ever outfield value, as well.


Coming Saturday: Youth pull and finances.

[DukeRulesMAB]

Youth pull

Eleventh week of solid

Eric Hogue (16132937)
17 years, passable form, healthy
A sympathetic guy who is tranquil and honest.
Has disastrous experience and wretched leadership abilities.


Speciality: Powerful

Nationality: USA
Assessed value: 8 000 US$
Wage: 520 US$/week
Owner: Frankfort United
Warnings: 0


Stamina: wretched Goaltending: disastrous
Playmaking: weak Passing: wretched
Winger: weak Defending: inadequate
Scoring: wretched Set Pieces: wretched

Well, we'd been talking about expanding our backup corps, and this helps. He might, maybe, sell, but not for much, and he probably has more value to us adding a 5th defender. Now to get a 5th inner mid, and we'll be set.


Economy

Income

Crowd: 1,469 (at Square Pegs)
Sponsers: 38,850
Temporary: 360 (New Supporters)

Total revenues: 40,679

Expenditures

Youth Squad: 20,000
Wages: 19,766
Staff: 25,500
Arena: 8,370
Interest: 443
Temporary: 2,000 (Youth Pull)

Total Expenses: 76,079

Profit (Loss): (35,400)
New Balance: (44,268)

We could use another sellable youth pull, I may switch to keepers for a few weeks.


Other stats

Team Spirit: Composed
Confidence: Decent

Sponsers: Satisfied
Supporters: Satisfied (Down from Delirious)
# of Supporters: 904 (Up from 892)


V.22 Preview

HellsGaurdians - dbob

dbob gets a two week PIC vacation before playing us again. Joy. We're gonna get maimed, as will HellsGaurdians here.

Clube Tururu - Ya Yas

Ya Yas also gets an easy swing matchup.

Dog Bowl Chaos - Elk Thunders

As does Dog Bowl Chaos.

Frankfort United - Team Jooky

Here we go. This is a must win for both teams if they hold any outside hopes at the #1 slot (not bloody likely). More realistically, these two teams are jockeying for the 2-4 slots with Ya Yas. Despite the road venue, Jooky is a huge favorite here, as we have red card/injury problems, and form issues.


Up Next: Team Jooky visits Frankfort in the first of the mid-season home and home.

[DukeRulesMAB]

Season 2 - Game 7

Frankfort United vs. Team Jooky

Date: September 7, 2003
Arena: Frankfort United Arena (Kentucky)
Crowd: 13,076 (13,076)
Weather: Partly Cloudy

The 2nd and 4th place teams in V.22 meet for the first of a home and home. This is an absolute must win for positioning in the bunched up series. Well, it's bunched up after dbob, who has run off with the thing. Team Jooky features consistently strong wings and defense, and is definately a favorite here for reasons mentioned below.

Starters (Balanced 3-5-2):

Keeper: Matthew Matlock

Right Defender: William Hawkins
Central Defender: Alexander Apelblad
Left Defender: Harold Diehl

Right Wing: Jesse Mcwhorter
Central Midfield: Robert Mullineux
Central Midfield: Theodore Arnold
Central Midfield: Michael Chopin
Left Wing: Sonny Travis

Striker: William Morales
Striker: Jacob Knapp

Eaton is both suspended and injured, so we slide Apelblad over to central defense, and Diehl gets his first ever start. We are suffering in form across our defense and central midfield, making this a bad game. On the bright side, our attacks should be strong.


The Match

13076 spectators arrived at Frankfort United Arena, where weather conditions were pretty good for football. Frankfort started off with a 3-5-2 lineup. Lineup: Matlock - Hawkins, Apelblad, Diehl - Mcwhorter, Arnold, Mullineux, Chopin, Travis - Knapp, Morales.

Jooky started off with a 3-5-2 lineup. Lineup: Alonso - Pomar, Jackson, Swift - Scarborough, Todd, Sanjeevi, Skelton, Spence - del Corral, Martino.

Jooky took the lead in the games 7:th minute with 0 - 1 after some elegant plays down the middle. Steve Martino was the scorer. Frankfort´s William Morales made a successful breakthrough attempt in the game´s 25:th minute and should have levelled the score, but clipped it over the bar. Jacob Knapp pulled a real crowd pleaser as he, in the 26:th minute, wove through the guests whole central defense line and put the 1 - 1 equaliser away. A well placed corner kick from William Morales was followed by Jacob Knapp´s hard but accurate header. The nice combination meant goal for Frankfort. The result now 2-1. In the 39:th minute of the match the visitors central line of defence had to look on as William Morales dashed through, knocking home 3 - 1 for Frankfort. The teams went for a half-time break at 3 - 1. Frankfort held the ball, with a clear 61 percent possession rate.

A bit later, a magnificent combination in the middle resulted in Frankfort´s William Morales putting the lead up to 4 - 1. In the 82nd minute Raúl del Corral had a fantastic opportunity to reply but his shot hit the side of the goal. Alexander Apelblad received some harsh words from his coach after he acted foolishly, probably out of lack of experience, in the 83rd minute and almost caused an opponent to score. Frankfort put themselves up 5 - 1 when William Morales broke through on the right, leaving the entire defensive box behind him. This third goal made a hat trick for William Morales. After this Frankfort lowered the tempo in order to concentrate on their defensive efforts. With 85 minutes played William Hawkins could have brought this one home for Frankfort, had his hooked ball gone in, but it went just a bit too high. Frankfort held the ball, with a clear 62 percent possession rate.

The most dominating Frankfort player was without a doubt Matthew Matlock. Harold Diehl on the other hand, had a terrible day. Jooky´s best player was Andy Alonso. However, Robert Skelton made a disastrous appearance. The match ends 5 - 1.



Goals: Morales 3 (12), Knapp 2 (12)
Yellow Cards: None

(Note: Goal totals are for all competitive games this year, not just for the league)


Matlock: ***~

Hawkins: **~
Apelblad: **
Diehl: **

Mcwhorter: **~
Mullineux: **~
Arnold: **
Chopin: **~
Travis: ***

Morales: **~
Knapp: **~


Team Match MVP: Matthew Matlock

Frankfort United

Midfield: inadequate (5)
Right Side Defence: solid (7)
Central Defence: solid (7)
Left Side Defence: passable (6)
Right Side Attack: excellent (8)
Central Attack: passable (6)
Left Side Attack: excellent (8)


Team Jooky

Midfield: poor (3)
Right Side Defence: solid (7)
Central Defence: solid (7)
Left Side Defence: passable (6)
Right Side Attack: passable (6)
Central Attack: solid (7)
Left Side Attack: excellent (8)


You look at the ratings, we're pretty close except for the midfield. We tore it up there, though, on the way to the win. I was surprised to do that well in the midfield. I was not surprised about our attack ratings, we're in great form at both the wings and up front, and it really showed here. Plus: No cards and no injuries! Just a completely dominating, great performance. I couldn't be happier.

There was one major upset in V.22, as Elk Thunders (having logged in again for the first time in a month) held on to a 0-0 road draw against Dog Bowl. That pretty much officially removes Dog Bowl Chaos from the race for the top 4. Prize money for me! The other two games went as expected. Ya Yas dismissed Clube Tururu 3-0, while dbob took out Hellsgaudians 5-0.

Next up: We take a brief FOFC Cup break to visit Confederates.

[DukeRulesMAB]

Friendly

Confederates vs. Frankfort United

Date: September 10, 2003
Arena: Confederates Arena (South Carolina)
Crowd: 1,432 (10,350)
Weather: Sunny

We take a break from FOFC Cup action to visit Confederates; thanks for having us!

Starters (Balanced 3-5-2):

Keeper: Lorenzo Porras

Right Defender: Eric Hogue
Central Defender: Alexander Apelblad
Left Defender: Harold Diehl

Right Wing: Milton Watts
Central Midfield: Robert Mullineux
Central Midfield: Borislav Sakic
Central Midfield: Theodore Arnold
Left Wing: Kevin Macartney

Striker: Courtney Sellers
Striker: Jacob Knapp

This is Houge's debut after getting pulled on Saturday. I expect him to give me ** in a defensive wingback slot, much like Diehl. Everything else is pretty normal; I would really like to avoid injuries this week.


The Match

A scorching day at Confederates Arena, where 1432 spectators were in place for today´s match. Confederates had chosen a strategic 3-5-2 formation. The following players had been chosen: Gregg - Davis, Roman, Rowley - Wolfe, Salvador Escuder, Wyatt, Kumar, Willard - Diamond, Huerta.

Frankfort tactics involved an interesting 3-5-2 combination. The following players had been chosen: Porras - Hogue, Apelblad, Diehl - Watts, Arnold, Mullineux, Sakic, Macartney - Sellers, Knapp.

Robert Mullineux really should have scored when he was chosen by fate to confront a wide open goal after a corner, but he lost his nerve. Frankfort took the lead after 3 minutes with 0 - 1. Theodore Arnold placed the ball out of reach for the home sides keeper after a fine move, coming in from the left. Frankfort´s Milton Watts refused to leave the field after injuring his achilles tendon in the 14:th minute. Mike Wyatt made a superb strike at the goal in the 16:th minute with a long shot coming in from straight in front of the goal, but one of the visitors defenders got a foot in and warded it off to a corner. The Confederates equaliser came in the 39:th minute when John Roman floated in a free kick putting the score to 1 - 1 . Confederates took the lead in the 41st minute of the game by 2 to 1, as Stephan Huerta elegantly received a pass going deep, finishing off with a half-volley shot just below the bar. In the 42nd minute Frankforts Alexander Apelblad received a yellow card for going into a challenge studs first. Halftime score was 2 - 1. Frankfort held the ball, with a clear 55 percent possession rate.

Frankforts Harold Diehl got himself booked after a foul. Frankfort held the ball, with a clear 63 percent possession rate.

The most dominating Confederates player was without a doubt Rickey Wolfe. Tony Diamond on the other hand, had a terrible day. The most dominating Frankfort player was without a doubt Lorenzo Porras. Borislav Sakic was a disappointment, however. The match ends 2 - 1.




Goals: Arnold
Yellow Cards: Apelblad, Diehl


Porras: ***~

Hogue: **
Apelblad: **
Diehl: **

Watts: **~
Mullineux: **~
Sakic: ~
Arnold: **
Macartney: **

Sellers: **
Knapp: **~


Team Match MVP: Lorenzo Porras


Confederates

Midfield: poor (3)
Right Side Defence: inadequate (5)
Central Defence: excellent (8)
Left Side Defence: solid (7)
Right Side Attack: inadequate (5)
Central Attack: weak (4)
Left Side Attack: inadequate (5)


Frankfort United

Midfield: poor (3)
Right Side Defence: solid (7)
Central Defence: solid (7)
Left Side Defence: passable (6)
Right Side Attack: solid (7)
Central Attack: passable (6)
Left Side Attack: passable (6)


Well, we got what we wanted, no injuries (watts isn't even bruised). Plus Hogue gave us as expected. Still, we'd like to have won this game, just for bragging rights. It's really time to consider bringing in a new backup midfielder, Sakic is beyond pathetic right now.


Next up: Training, youth pull, and economic updates.

[DukeRulesMAB]

Training News

Nothing, of course, after both guys popped last week.

Form Update

Starters Going Up: 4 (Travis to Solid, Arnold, Hawkins, Apelblad to Passable)
Starters Going Down: 0
Reserves Going Up: 1 (Sellers to Inad)
Reserves Going Down: 1 (Sakic to Disas)

Very, very nice update at a good time. Finally, the increased training may be paying off? The defense bounces back from some recent form difficulties. My best winger is in great form. And even Arnold is back to Passable form in the midfield for the first time in...well...it's been a while.

Sakic is very much nearing the end of his rope, though. I'll probably get by using Knapp and Macartney as the backup midfielders the rest of this year, but at the end of the year, Sakic's gone unless I see some major improvement.


Total Team Value (Before Training): $2,299,000 (2,135,000)



Coming Saturday: Youth pull and finances.

[DukeRulesMAB]

Youth pull

Twelth week of solid; we pulled a 18-YO Passable. Unfortunately, it was in passing. He's canned.

Economy

Income

Crowd: 71,924
- 68,266 (vs. Team Jooky)
- 3,658 (at Confederates)
Sponsers: 39,150
Temporary: 660 (New Supporters)

Total revenues: 111,734

Expenditures

Youth Squad: 20,000
Wages: 19,766
Staff: 25,500
Arena: 8,370
Interest: 2,213
Temporary: 2,000 (Youth Pull)

Total Expenses: 77,849

Profit (Loss): 33,885
New Balance: (10,383)


We'll get a 4K+ revenue increase each week beginning next week in sponser money. I think that might actually be enough to get is in the black without youth pulls. We'll see; we've added a couple other extra expenses (Hogue, plus see below)


Other stats

Team Spirit: Composed
Confidence: Decent

Sponsers: Satisfied
Supporters: Delirious (Up from Satisfied)
# of Supporters: 926 (Up from 904)

I'm tired of our confidence being mediocre despite beating good teams soundly, so I buckled down and hired a Sports Psychologist. As I understand it, 1 runs no risk of overconfidence, so this should help.

V.22 Preview

Elk Thunders - Dog Bowl Chaos

As with all of the games, this is a mirror image of last week. Dog Bowl managed to tie at home, but I have to think they'll take the game a little more seriously this time. You'd think. Then again, now that I check, they haven't logged in in forever, so they appear abandoned. A win here by Elk Thunders would almost certainly clinch 6th place, and avoiding auto-demotion.

dbob - HellsGaurdians

Another PIC win for dbob heading into their second waxing of us next week. Joy.

Ya Yas - Clube Tururu

SHould be an easy home hold for the offensively strong Ya Yas.

Team Jooky - Frankfort United

The big rematch, we beat them by a shockingly large margin last week, but can we do it again on the road? We're in really strong form, but missing our top defender (again). I'd install Frankfort is very slight favorites, but really it is a toss-up.

Up Next: Frankfort travels to a Team Jooky squad looking for revenge.

[DukeRulesMAB]

Season 2 - Game 8

Team Jooky vs. Frankfort United

Date: September 14, 2003
Arena: Team Jooky Arena (Washington)
Crowd: 15,500 (15,500)
Weather: Partly Cloudy

We absolutely dominated Team Jooky last week. This time around could be a different story: we're at their place, and they are very likely pissed.


Starters (Balanced 3-5-2):

Keeper: Matthew Matlock

Right Defender: William Hawkins
Central Defender: Alexander Apelblad
Left Defender: Harold Diehl

Right Wing: Jesse Mcwhorter
Central Midfield: Robert Mullineux
Central Midfield: Theodore Arnold
Central Midfield: Michael Chopin
Left Wing: Sonny Travis

Striker: William Morales
Striker: Jacob Knapp

Exact same lineup as last week, but we're in better form. In fact, except for the nagging lack of Eaton, this may be our best ever form.


The Match

15500 spectators arrived at Team Jooky Arena, where weather conditions were pretty good for football. Jooky started off with a 3-5-2 lineup. The following players had been chosen: Alonso - Pomar, Jackson, Swift - Scarborough, Todd, Sanjeevi, Skelton, Spence - del Corral, Martino.

Frankfort had chosen a strategic 3-5-2 formation. Lineup: Matlock - Hawkins, Apelblad, Diehl - Mcwhorter, Arnold, Mullineux, Chopin, Travis - Knapp, Morales.

A mistake by the home sides central defence in the 13th minute allowed Jacob Knapp to score 0 - 1 for Frankfort. The referee showed Frankforts Sonny Travis the yellow card after a particularly nasty challenge. William Morales came close to extending the visitors lead as he, completely unmarked in front of the goal, lifted a ball over Andy Alonso, hitting the bar. 18 minutes into the game Raúl del Corral was really close to evening the score out with a dangerous long range shot, but the ball went just wide of the bar. In the 21st minute Jooky was able to score the equalising 1 - 1 goal. Erick Todd picked up a pass coming in from the right and chipped it past the away teams goalie. Frankfort will have to do without Alexander Apelblad for a time due to a bad foot injury. He was substituted by Eric Hogue. The teams went for a half-time break at 1 - 1. Jooky, bringing the final ball possession rate to 54 percent, dominated the battle.

In the games 57:th minute Frankfort´s Michael Chopin fell dramatically just outside the penalty area. However, the referee booked Michael Chopin for taking a dive. Fine winger Jesse Mcwhorter made one of his many passes from the wing into the middle in the 62nd minute. Jacob Knapp went to the air and hit the ball firmly with his forehead for 1 - 2. Robert Mullineux was ever so close to scoring after an excellent corner which then was extended byMichael Chopin, but the ball went into the frame. The Jooky equaliser came in the 85:th minute when Erick Todd floated in a free kick putting the score to 2 - 2 . In the 86:th minute Pablo Pomar almost put the home team one ahead on a cross pass coming in from the right, but the shot went wide. Jooky, bringing the final ball possession rate to 53 percent, dominated the battle.

Jooky´s best player was Andy Alonso. Robert Skelton was a disappointment, however. The most dominating Frankfort player was without a doubt Matthew Matlock. Eric Hogue was a disappointment, however. The match ends 2 - 2.

Goals: Knapp 2 (14)
Yellow Cards: Travis, Chopin

(Note: Goal totals are for all competitive games this year, not just for the league)


Matlock: ****

Hawkins: **~
Apelblad: *
Houge (In for Apelblad): *~
Diehl: **

Mcwhorter: **~
Mullineux: **~
Arnold: **~
Chopin: **~
Travis: ***

Morales: **~
Knapp: **~


Team Match MVP: Matthew Matlock

Team Jooky

Midfield: inadequate (5)
Right Side Defence: excellent (8)
Central Defence: excellent (8)
Left Side Defence: solid (7)
Right Side Attack: solid (7)
Central Attack: passable (6)
Left Side Attack: excellent (8)


Frankfort United

Midfield: weak (4)
Right Side Defence: excellent (8)
Central Defence: solid (7)
Left Side Defence: solid (7)
Right Side Attack: excellent (8)
Central Attack: passable (6)
Left Side Attack: excellent (8)


Well, the postives...by team ratings, we probably didn't even deserve a tie. Knapp's having a great year, and is only one goal back of the series lead. Matlock got our first ever **** rating (though I wish I'd see his name in the box score a little more often).

Now for the bigger list. That weak midfield is amazingly disappointing, even on the road. If we can't get an inad midfield with Inad/Passable/Solid form in our midfield, we've got problems. Well, we have problems. Also, Apelblad is now out for 4 weeks, leaving us in a massive defensive bind. We've already 3 more doctors (to reach a total of 4) in an effort to get some people back quicker. But this was not a good night for Frankfort.

Elsewhere in V.22, dbob PIC'd there way to a 4-0 win, Ya Yas fired up a 9-1 win, and Dog Bowl roared back to a 6-0 revenge road tally, all over the less significant teams. The standings after 8 of 14 games.

1. dbob 8 40 - 4 24

2. Ya Yas 8 37 - 13 18
3. Frankfort United 8 30 - 13 17
4. Team Jooky 8 25 - 19 13

5. Dog Bowl Chaos 8 22 - 13 11
6. Elk Thunders 8 8 - 33 7

7. HellsGaurdians 8 5 - 42 3
8. Clube Tururu 8 4 - 34 0


As you can see, we've fallen out of 2nd place, though we're in little danger of falling out of 3rd. 5 and 6 are pretty set, I think, as of course is dbob in first. The competition is primarily between us, Ya Yas, and Team Jooky for 2nd, 3rd, and 4th. We must, must beat Ya Yas in about 3 weeks. First though, we get our asses handed to us by dbob, unfortunately.

Next up: FOFC Cup fires up again when we visit Vince's Isla Vista Vandals.

[DukeRulesMAB]

Friendly

FOFC Cup Round 2: Frankfort United vs. ISla Vista Vandals

Date: September 17, 2003
Arena: Frankfort United Arena (Kentucky)
Crowd: 1,182 (13,076)
Weather: Sunny

We played Isla Vista in group play of last year's FOBL Cup, and destroyed them. This is a different situation: they are better, and we are experimenting as you'll see below.

Starters (Balanced 3-5-2):

Keeper: Lorenzo Porras

Right Defender: Eric Hogue
Central Defender: Harold Diehl
Left Defender: Courtney Sellers

Right Wing: Milton Watts
Central Midfield: Robert Mullineux
Central Midfield: Borislav Sakic
Central Midfield: Michael Chopin
Left Wing: Kevin Macartney

Striker: William Morales
Striker: Jacob Knapp

This is our backup lineup, except I'm testing Sellers on the back line; two of these 3 must start with Hawkins next Sunday. I just don't know who yet. Diehl will likely start in the middle, but the other spot is open. I'd prefer to start Sellers, with his better wing and experience, but his form is a touch lower. We'll see with tonight's results, and tomorrow's form.


The Match

A brilliantly sunny day had enticed a crowd of 1182 to Frankfort United Arena. Frankfort had chosen a strategic 3-5-2 formation. They fielded: Porras - Hogue, Diehl, Sellers - Watts, Mullineux, Chopin, Sakic, Macartney - Knapp, Morales.

Vandals had chosen a strategic 4-4-2 formation. The following players had been chosen: Woodson - Palmbratt, Poe, Nava, Hewitt - Pinilla, Nettles, Gaudreault, Kusçu - Cahill, Rijnders.

Vandals saw most attack opportunites on the wings and were directing their passes that way. Jacob Knapp seemed to be floating in the air at will as he elegantly headed in 1-0. The previous Frankfort corner kick was executed by William Morales. In the 13th minute of the match the visitors central line of defence had to look on as William Morales dashed through, knocking home 2 - 0 for Frankfort. Eric Hogue behaved like an inexperienced youth player in the 15:th minute as he gave the ball away to an opponent. Lucky for him though, there was no goal. With 20 minutes played Michael Chopin could have brought this one home for Frankfort, had his hooked ball gone in, but it went just a bit too high. A bit later Vandals´s Giel Rijnders easily reduced to 2 - 1 after a misunderstanding in the home sides central defense line. A lot of people on the terraces claimed the penalty resulting in Vandals´s Chad Cahill equalising to 2 - 2 was a mistake by the referee. He did, however, have a very good view of the situation from his position. 2 - 2 was the half-time score. Frankfort held the ball, with a clear 54 percent possession rate.

A lunatic dribble by Casey Nava, in front of the own keeper, set up Frankfort´s William Morales for an embarrasingly easy strike. 3 - 2... Some brilliant football from the visitors right wing resulted in a 65:th minute levelling of scores as Vandalss Paul-Arnaud Gaudreault equalised to 3 - 3. Frankfort took the lead in the 72nd minute of the game by 4 to 3, as Eric Hogue elegantly received a pass going deep, finishing off with a half-volley shot just below the bar. Things were going to get worse for the visitors. Jacob Knapp squirmed himself through the central defense line in the 72nd minute, asserting the lead to 5 - 3. A bit later Vandals´s Casey Nava easily reduced to 5 - 4 after a misunderstanding in the home sides central defense line. Vandals got a chance to level the score as Giel Rijnders suddenly found himself free with the goaltender but the finishing shot hit the bar. The referee showed Vandalss Giel Rijnders the yellow card after a particularly nasty challenge. Frankfort held the ball, with a clear 53 percent possession rate.

The most dominating Frankfort player was without a doubt Lorenzo Porras. Borislav Sakic was a disappointment, however. Vandals´s best player was Tuncer Kusçu. Casey Nava was a disappointment, however. The match ends 5 - 4.




Goals: Knapp 2, Morales 2, Hogue
Yellow Cards: None


Porras: ***~

Hogue: **
Diehl: **
Sellers: **

Watts: **~
Mullineux: **~
Sakic: ~
Chopin: **~
Macartney: **

Morales: **~
Knapp: **~


Team Match MVP: Lorenzo Porras


Frankfort United

Midfield: weak (4)
Right Side Defence: solid (7)
Central Defence: passable (6)
Left Side Defence: passable (6)
Right Side Attack: excellent (8)
Central Attack: passable (6)
Left Side Attack: passable (6)


Isla Vista Vandals

Midfield: weak (4)
Right Side Defence: passable (6)
Central Defence: inadequate (5)
Left Side Defence: passable (6)
Right Side Attack: solid (7)
Central Attack: solid (7)
Left Side Attack: solid (7)


Wow, what a game! With our starting forwards and an experimental defense in, I expected a tight, high-scoring game, and we got it. Just a fun game to watch. I'm not really any closer to a decision on Sellers vs. Hogue, but I think unless there is something interesting form-wise in training, it will be Sellers, as at least I will avoid the possibility of a fatigue event goal. Only minor note: I can't believe we got a weak midfield with Sakic in the lineup; it makes Sunday's effort even more disappointing.

Onward to the Round of 16!


Next up: Training, youth pull, and economic updates.

[DukeRulesMAB]

Training News

More of nothing; we're still at least 4 weeks away from a new pop, probably more like 5, I think.

Form Update

Starters Going Up: 2 (Hawkins, McWhorter to Solid)
Starters Going Down: 2 (Matlock to Inad, Mullineux to Weak)
Reserves Going Up: 0
Reserves Going Down: 0

Neutral update. Our attack is in fabulous form now, with two wins and a forward at solid. We need Hawkins is play well, too. On the down side, Mullineux at Weak just cripples our midfield at exactly the wrong time. Matlock dropping is no big deal; Porras is still in Solid form, and will get the Sunday call.


Total Team Value (Before Training): $2,358,000 (2,299,000)


Just a quick note, I'll be out of town for a little more than a week, so the dynasty will go on a touch of a haitus probably (I may do the Sautrday economic update while on vacation, but I need my spreadsheets for the match updates). Just so you know why it'll be quiet for a bit. :)


Coming up next (whenever that is): Youth pull and finances.

[DukeRulesMAB]

And we're back!

Youth pull

Thirteenth week of solid

Jerome Cleary (16590190)
18 years, passable form, healthy
A controversial person who is calm and honest.
Has disastrous experience and weak leadership
abilities.

Nationality: USA
Assessed value: 9 000 US$
Wage: 540 US$/week
Owner: Frankfort United
Warnings: 0


Stamina: weak Goaltending: disastrous
Playmaking: weak Passing: wretched
Winger: wretched Defending: poor
Scoring: weak Set Pieces: disastrous

If we could pull an inad/inad Stam/PM guy, we might keep him as a backup, but weak/weak isn't gonna do it. Canned.

Economy

Income

Crowd: 3,045 (vs. Isla Vista)
Sponsers: 43,725
Temporary: 3,640
- 540 (New Supporters)
- 3,100 (sell-on for Hiatt)

Total revenues: 50,410

Expenditures

Youth Squad: 20,000
Wages: 20,286
Staff: 25,500
Arena: 8,370
Interest: 519
Temporary: 2,000 (Youth Pull)

Total Expenses: 76,675

Profit (Loss): (26,265)
New Balance: (36,648)


That extra sponser money is a big help; unfortunately, that will be offset for a bit by the hiring of 3 additional doctors in a lame attempt to get my starting defense back on the field.

Hiatt, BTW, was an inad keeper pulled late last season. His owners finally got around to training him a week or two to get him to passable, and sold him off.

Other stats

Team Spirit: Composed
Confidence: Decent

Sponsers: Satisfied
Supporters: Delirious
# of Supporters: 944 (Up from 926)

Managed to hold steady despite the Team Jooky tie.

V.22 Preview


HellsGaurdians - Elk Thunders

The nothing game of the week, Elk Thunders would be slight favorites only because they are marginally active.

Dog Bowl Chaos - Ya Yas

Dog Bowl has fallen inactive, they were once competitve, but Ya Yas should have a relatively easy time here.

Frankfort United - dbob

This, I expect to be ugly. dbob is coming off of two likely-PICs, and though their midfield was low for those games, I attribute that to the PICing and perhaps mixing in some backups. I still lack two starting defenders, too. If we keep it close, it'll be a miracle.

Clube Tururu - Team Jooky

Tururu continues to try, but Jooky will take an easy win here.

Up Next: Series leading dbob visits Frankfort United

[DukeRulesMAB]

Season 2 - Game 9

Frankfort United vs. dbob

Date: September 21, 2003
Arena: Frankfort United Arena (Kentucky)
Crowd: 13,076 (13,076)
Weather: Cloudy

The undefeated series leaders come to Frankfort. They have the best midfield in the series after a couple seasons of training it. They haven't shown it the last couple games, easy wins against a lesser foe. I expect that was due to PICing and possibly some subbing. Moreover, our lineup is...less than imposing, as you will see below.

For all those reasons, we decided we have almost no shot to win, so we're PICing, and playing for 2nd place. Two PICs leading up to a Ya Yas MOTS could get the job done for us.


Starters (Balanced 3-5-2):

Keeper: Matthew Matlock

Right Defender: William Hawkins
Central Defender: Harold Diehl
Left Defender: Courtney Sellers

Right Wing: Jesse Mcwhorter
Central Midfield: Michael Chopin
Central Midfield: Robert Mullineux
Central Midfield: Theodore Arnold
Left Wing: Sonny Travis

Striker: William Morales
Striker: Jacob Knapp

That is a sad, sad defense. Sellers gets the nod over Hogue due to his experience and stamina. I decided to leave him defensive, though I have no idea whether that was the right call. Mullineux's form is crap (weak), so he is relegated to the 3rd middie slot.

Oh and one final blunder to add insult to injury...I meant to start Porras, as he's two levels of form higher than Matlock, but forgot to.

The Match

At Frankfort United Arena, 13076 punters turned up, and despite threatening clouds at the horizon, no rain came. Frankfort started off with a 3-5-2 lineup. Lineup: Matlock - Hawkins, Diehl, Sellers - Mcwhorter, Arnold, Mullineux, Chopin, Travis - Knapp, Morales.

dbob tactics involved an interesting 3-5-2 combination. They fielded: Alvarez - Einarsson, Cisneros, Lagunas - Henriksson, Berns, Fernández, Aguilera, Eckstad - Morgan, Gagnon.

Phillip Gagnon sailed high, high above the opponents as he headed the 0-1 in after a corner kick after 23 minutes of play. In the games 25:th minute Phillip Gagnon nearly put the visitors another one up as he broke through and fired from just outside the box, his shot passed just over the bar. Courtney Sellers was the first to reach the corner kick, but his header was saved by the keeper. However, Frankfort´s Harold Diehl managed to get hold of the rebound and scored the 1-1 goal. In the 37:th minute cheers broke out as Theodore Arnold found his way through the guests central defense line, clipping the 2 - 1 goal in for Frankfort. The visitors didn´t give in and after 41 minutes Rudy Cisneros got through the home sides central line of defense, rolling in the levelling goal to make it 2 - 2 The referee showed dbobs Alonso Fernández the yellow card after a particularly nasty challenge. dbob´s Alonso Fernández left the field after 42 minutes because of a nasty blow to the shin. His replacement was Karl Riddick. Frankfort broke through to the left in the 42nd minute, William Morales firing at an acute angle giving the home side a 3 - 2 lead. The teams went for a half-time break at 3 - 2. This part of the game had been a standoff between the teams.

In the games 47:th minute Frankfort´s Theodore Arnold fell dramatically just outside the penalty area. However, the referee booked Theodore Arnold for taking a dive. In the 55:th minute Frankfort put themselves up 4 - 2. The visitors defenders lost the ball to William Morales coming up from the left, who proceeded to cooly round the goaltender and knock the ball home. In the games 67:th minute, William Morales could have extended the lead, but his very hard free kick went just over the bar. William Morales struck a 30 metre free kick home in the 73rd minute. 5 - 2 for the home team. This third goal made a hat trick for William Morales. William Hawkins of Frankfort received a yellow card in the 80:th minute for unsportsmanlike behaviour. Frankfort held the ball, with a clear 60 percent possession rate.

Frankfort´s best player was Matthew Matlock. Courtney Sellers on the other hand, had a terrible day. The most dominating dbob player was without a doubt Bernhard Berns. Karl Riddick on the other hand, had a terrible day. The match ends 5 - 2.

Goals: Morales 3 (15), Diehl (1), Arnold (2)
Yellow Cards: Arnold, Hawkins

(Note: Goal totals are for all competitive games this year, not just for the league)


Matlock: ***~

Hawkins: **~
Diehl: **
Sellers: **

Mcwhorter: ***
Chopin: **~
Mullineux: **~
Arnold: **~
Travis: ***

Morales: **~
Knapp: **~


Team Match MVP: Matthew Matlock

Frankfort United

Midfield: weak (4)
Right Side Defence: solid (7)
Central Defence: solid (7)
Left Side Defence: passable (6)
Right Side Attack: excellent (8)
Central Attack: solid (7)
Left Side Attack: excellent (8)


dbob

Midfield: inadequate (5)
Right Side Defence: inadequate (5)
Central Defence: passable (6)
Left Side Defence: inadequate (5)
Right Side Attack: solid (7)
Central Attack: solid (7)
Left Side Attack: solid (7)


I have no idea where to start...this is the most amazing and improbable win in the relatively brief history of our franchise.

Obviously, something is wrong with dbob's midfield, they were putting up consistent solids earlier this year. But even that considered...they were inad, I was weak, and I won possession! How is that even possible? 50/50 in the first half and a very clear 60/40 in the second.

More good: Despite everything that was wrong with our defense, the ratings were still respectable. That's our first ever solid central attack. And Morales....wow. Best timed hat trick ever!

The rest of the series was pretty much as expected. Ya Yas smacked Dog Bowl 6-1, while Jooky took Tururu to the woodshed in a 6-0 clubbing. The one minor upset: HellsGaurdiants whipping Elk Thunders (who we play next week) 5-0.

After these results, Ya Yas sits 3 points back of dbob with a game still between the two. We are 4 back. Just dreaming a little, if we can win out, and get some help from both Team Jooky and Ya Yas against dbob, we have an outside shot at...well...like I said, it's just dreaming. :)

Next up: FOFC Cup Round of 16 when we visit Fockers.

[sterlingice]

Originally posted by DukeRulesMAB
Frankfort United - dbob

This, I expect to be ugly. dbob is coming off of two likely-PICs, and though their midfield was low for those games, I attribute that to the PICing and perhaps mixing in some backups. I still lack two starting defenders, too. If we keep it close, it'll be a miracle.

But that's why they don't play the game on paper, they play them inside little computer boxes ;)

SI

[DukeRulesMAB]

Yes, yes. :)

When I logged on at my parents house to see a 3-2 halftime lead, I nearly went into shock. I think I did go into shock upon seeing the final score. Not only did I win, not only did I win by 3 goals in a game we completely controlled, but we won while give-up PICing! Absolutely amazing.

And there are more surprises to come.

[DukeRulesMAB]

Friendly

FOFC Cup Round 3: Fockers vs. Frankfort United

Date: September 24, 2003
Arena: Fockers Arena (Philadelphia)
Crowd: 1,613 (25,000)
Weather: Partly Cloudy

We play a pretty strong Fockers squad, best known for being the highest ranked FOFC in FOFC's most populated division: IV.19. Though we'd like to advance, the goal here is simply avoid injury.

Starters (Balanced 3-5-2):

Keeper: Lorenzo Porras

Right Defender: William Hawkins
Central Defender: Harold Diehl
Left Defender: Eric Hogue

Right Wing: Kevin Macartney
Central Midfield: Robert Mullineux
Central Midfield: Borislav Sakic
Central Midfield: Michael Chopin
Left Wing: Milton Watts

Striker: Courtney Sellers
Striker: Jacob Knapp

Pretty regular "B" team here. Mix of the second string, and guys who I'd like to see get the tiny experience boost.


The Match

1613 spectators arrived at Fockers Arena, where weather conditions were pretty good for football. Fockers had chosen a strategic 3-5-2 formation. The following players had been chosen: Chong - Dawson, Chung, Parker - Finch, Petronia, Hansson, Hempenius, Miralles - Duran, Wallis.

Frankfort started off with a 3-5-2 lineup. The following players had been chosen: Porras - Hawkins, Diehl, Hogue - Macartney, Mullineux, Chopin, Sakic, Watts - Sellers, Knapp.

In the games 10:th minute Frankfort´s William Hawkins fell dramatically just outside the penalty area. However, the referee booked William Hawkins for taking a dive. With clinical precision the cross pass from winger Milton Watts found it's way to Jacob Knapp's head, and a screaming header gave Frankfort 0 - 1. After a fatal mistake from the away teams right side defense in the 17:th minute, an alert Leo Wallis bagged the ball, evening the score to 1 - 1. After several obvious shirt pulling incidents, Frankfort´s Robert Mullineux got himself booked. Fockers created a good opportunity to score in the games 27:th minute when Geoffrey Duran`s hooked ball created a scuffle in front of the goal, and the visitors defenders had a hard time clearing the ball. Halftime score was 1 - 1. Fockers held the ball, with a clear 51 percent possession rate.

Some beautiful plays on the left side of the field resulted in a 51st minute goal by Manuel Miralles for Fockers, putting them ahead 2 - 1. Unsportsmanlike behaviour by Robert Mullineux rendered him his second booking of the match, and Frankfort had to finish the game with a reduced squad. 64 minutes into the game Frankfort´s Jacob Knapp found a gap in the home sides central defense scoring with a long shot, making it 2 - 2. After 69 minutes Frankfort put themselves up by 2 - 3 as Michael Chopin finished off a strike from the left with a real cannon placed at the far post. A lovely rush by Frankfort's Kevin Macartney pastErick Dawson could have resulted in a goal, but the finish was just outside. Frankfort´s Kevin Macartney received a play slashing through the home side´s defense in the 73rd minute, chipping it past the keeper scoring 2 - 4. The home crowd was not pleased with that one. Frankfort, bringing the final ball possession rate to 56 percent, dominated the battle.

Fockers´s best player was Dario Petronia. Royce Chong was a disappointment, however. Most important Frankfort player was Lorenzo Porras. Borislav Sakic was a disappointment, however. The match ends 2 - 4.




Goals: Knapp 2, Chopin, Macartney
Yellow Cards: Mullineux 2, Hawkins


Porras: ****

Hawkins: **~
Diehl: **
Hogue: **

Macartney: **
Mullineux: None Given (Sent Off)
Sakic: ~
Chopin: **~
Watts: **~

Sellers: **
Knapp: **~


Team Match MVP: Lorenzo Porras


Fockers

Midfield: weak (4)
Right Side Defence: passable (6)
Central Defence: solid (7)
Left Side Defence: solid (7)
Right Side Attack: weak (4)
Central Attack: passable (6)
Left Side Attack: solid (7)


Frankfort United

Midfield: weak (4)
Right Side Defence: excellent (8)
Central Defence: passable (6)
Left Side Defence: passable (6)
Right Side Attack: passable (6)
Central Attack: inadequate (5)
Left Side Attack: solid (7)


Nice upset by our squad there. Porras got what is, I believe, his first ever **** rating. Knapp and Macartney performed on offense, and we got our win. Amazing that we did so well in the midfield considering Mullineux was sent off and Sakic was, well....Sakic.

Next up is the quarterfinals were we face the Fockers' IV.19 counterparts, the two-time FOFC Cup champion Gargoyles. We have just about no shot, but it's been fun getting this far.


Next up: Training, youth pull, and economic updates.

[DukeRulesMAB]

Training News

Nothing in keeping; in fact, it's a little disconcerting, but neither of their values seem to be increasing. Logically, I know it's just form drops, but still. Worrisome.

Very good news in experience though. Super-Sub Courtney Sellers (Inad in Scoring, Defending, Winger, and Passing) moves to weak experience. And the big news, team captain (and #1 midfielder) Robert Mullineux moves to Solid experience. That was a very quick move for him, I believe he bumped late last season. We're very happy, and I think he will, in the long run, but a potential coach.

Form Update

Starters Going Up: 1 (Mullineux to Inad)
Starters Going Down: 0
Reserves Going Up: 2 (Sakic two levels to Poor, Sellers to Passable)
Reserves Going Down: 2 (Porras to Passable, Hogue to Inad)

Decent update here. Mullineux going up, combined with the experience bump means he should be pretty strong. And finally Sakic is starting to bounce back (his value nearly doubled). Porras dropping is a touch disappointing, but is more meaningful for FOFC Cup than anything else.

Sellers expereince/form bump and Hogue's drop has me considering dropping Hogue. Haven't decided yet, certainly no move will be made until Eaton and Apelblad are healthy.


Total Team Value (Before Training): $2,373,000 (2,358,000)




Coming up next: Youth pull and finances.

[DukeRulesMAB]

Big news in V.22, as two teams have been replaced. The first is no big deal, as doormat Hellsgaurdians was replaced by Guam United. The new owner has logged in several times, but no transfer activity yet.

The other team to leave is Dog Bowl Chaos. Last year, they were my measuring stick, the team I thought I maybe could beat. This year, we have blown past them, in large part because they apparently quit. The new team is Trouble Makers. This is huge because this is one less team I probably have to worry about; of course the same goes for the other contenders. He has just logged on once thus far, though it is right now as I am typing this. :)

Youth pull

Fourteenth week of solid, and we've hit what is, for us, the jackpot

Anthony Franco (16809394)
20 years, passable form, healthy
A controversial person who is temperamental and dishonest.
Has disastrous experience and poor leadership abilities.

Nationality: USA
Assessed value: 316 000 US$
Wage: 2 300 US$/week
Owner: Frankfort United
Warnings: 0


Stamina: disastrous Goaltending: solid
Playmaking: disastrous Passing: disastrous
Winger: disastrous Defending: disastrous
Scoring: disastrous Set Pieces: disastrous

Umm...WHOHOO! He's on the list for 190K, ending Tuesday night. Hoping he sells then, don't want to have to bother with a relist. Needless to say, our days of being in debt are, for now, over. :D


Economy

Income

Crowd: 72,428
- 68,266 (vs. dbob)
- 4,162 (at Fockers)
Sponsers: 47,075
Temporary: 660 (New Supporters)

Total revenues: 120,163

Expenditures

Youth Squad: 20,000
Wages: 20,286
Staff: 31,500
Arena: 8,370
Interest: 1,832
Temporary: 2,000 (Youth Pull)

Total Expenses: 83,988

Profit (Loss): 36,175
New Balance: (473)


Yep, that's right, I'm all of 473 bucks in the hole. So even without Franco, we were coming out of debt, if only briefly, in the next two weeks.

For now, I plan on saving the money for my offseason spending spree (stadium, winger trainees, perhaps a new coach). We'll see if I can stick to it.

Other stats

Team Spirit: Calm (Up from Composed)
Confidence: Strong (Up from Decent)

Sponsers: Satisfied
Supporters: Delirious
# of Supporters: 966 (Up from 944)

Another PIC coming this week, in anticipation of the Ya Yas MOTS.

V.22 Preview


Clube Tururu - Trouble Makers

Nothing game, though Tururu must win and get their first 3 points to have any hopes of avoiding auto-demotion. Trouble Makers is in no great danger, having already accumulated 11 points; that said, there may be a good VI team looking for them.

Ya Yas - Guam United

Nice welcome to V.22. This will be ugly early.

Elk Thunders - Frankfort United

Elk Thunders lost to the since departed Hellsgaurdians 5-0 last week. We should absolutely smash them.

Team Jooky - dbob

On paper, this should be an easy win for dbob...but there is something wrong with this team right now. Their midfield is not the same; I don't think they're even starting the same guys they were earlier. If Team Jooky can get points here, the door could be slightly open for what was, just a week ago, the unthinkable.

Up Next: Frankfort United hopes to be very rude guests, as they go to Elk Thunders.

[DukeRulesMAB]

Season 2 - Game 10

Elk Thunders vs. Frankfort United

Date: September 28, 2003
Arena: Elk Thunders Arena (Arizona)
Crowd: 5,769 (18,850)
Weather: Cloudy

After four straight stressful weeks, finally a break. We expect no difficulties in this PIC win. Earlier this year, we took a 6-0 win at home.


Starters (Balanced 3-5-2):

Keeper: Matthew Matlock

Right Defender: William Hawkins
Central Defender: Arthur Eaton
Left Defender: Harold Diehl

Right Wing: Jesse Mcwhorter
Central Midfield: Robert Mullineux
Central Midfield: Theodore Arnold
Central Midfield: Michael Chopin
Left Wing: Sonny Travis

Striker: William Morales
Striker: Jacob Knapp

Eaton is back to "Band-Aid" status just in time to make his return here. We're in good, though not spectacular, form, and should be able to handle this easily.

The Match

At Elk Thunders Arena, 5769 punters turned up, and despite threatening clouds at the horizon, no rain came. Thunders tactics involved an interesting 3-4-3 combination. The following players had been chosen: Wilson - Henderson, Hägerstål, Davis - Falkenell, Fredriksson, Mcclure, Gwan-Hay - Pichai, Mörnér, Fuchs.

Frankfort had chosen a strategic 3-5-2 formation. The following players had been chosen: Matlock - Hawkins, Eaton, Diehl - Mcwhorter, Arnold, Mullineux, Chopin, Travis - Knapp, Morales.

The terraces were silenced in the 6:th minute as Frankfort´s Michael Chopin put the guests ahead 0 - 1, following an attack from the right. After several obvious shirt pulling incidents, Thunders´s Adam Falkenell got himself booked. After 26 minutes a combination in the middle resulted in a through ball for Michael Chopin who increased Frankfort´s lead to 0 - 2. The referee showed Frankforts Sonny Travis the yellow card after a particularly nasty challenge. The visitors Jacob Knapp took advantage of an error due to a misunderstanding between the home side´s goalie and full backs in the 31st minute. 0 - 3 for Frankfort. The structure of the game started to change as Frankfort decided to pull back and meet their opponents in the defensive zone. Sonny Travis increased the visitors lead by putting a volley shot away on a pass from the right. 0 - 4. The away team´s Jacob Knapp took advantage of a mistake to the home side´s right in the 37:th minute increasing Frankfort´s lead to 0 - 5. Arthur Eaton of Frankfort received a yellow card in the 37:th minute for unsportsmanlike behaviour. 0 - 5 was the half-time score. The fortyfive minutes were dominated by Frankfort, with an impressive 62 percent possession of the ball.

The visitors William Morales took advantage of an error due to a misunderstanding between the home side´s goalie and full backs in the 72nd minute. 0 - 6 for Frankfort. The referee showed Thunderss Nisse Hägerstål the yellow card after a particularly nasty challenge. The referee signalled a penalty in the 81st minute following an offence just inside of the box. William Morales knocked home 0 - 7 just out of reach for the goaltender. After 84 minutes a combination in the middle resulted in a through ball for William Hawkins who increased Frankfort´s lead to 0 - 8. Almost all the way down to the corner flag Sonny Travis somhow managed to get a perfect pass into the middle, impossible to miss for William Morales who struck for 0 - 9. By then William Morales was a three time scorer - a hat trick! In the game´s 85:th minute a free kick by William Morales found it´s way through the home side´s poorly assembled defensive formation, making Frankfort´s lead 0 - 10. Edgar Henderson of Thunders received a yellow card in the 87:th minute for unsportsmanlike behaviour. Frankfort, bringing the final ball possession rate to 69 percent, dominated the battle.

The most dominating Thunders player was without a doubt Kasem Pichai. Bjarne Fredriksson on the other hand, had a terrible day. Most important Frankfort player was Matthew Matlock. Harold Diehl on the other hand, had a terrible day. The match ends 0 - 10.


Goals: Morales 4 (19), Chopin 2 (4), Knapp 2 (16), Travis (2), Hawkins (5)
Yellow Cards: Travis, Eaton

(Note: Goal totals are for all competitive games this year, not just for the league)


Matlock: ***~

Hawkins: ***
Eaton: **~
Diehl: **

Mcwhorter: ***
Mullineux: **~
Arnold: **~
Chopin: **~
Travis: ***

Morales: **~
Knapp: **~


Team Match MVP: Matthew Matlock

Elk Thunders

Midfield: poor (3)
Right Side Defence: weak (4)
Central Defence: weak (4)
Left Side Defence: weak (4)
Right Side Attack: passable (6)
Central Attack: solid (7)
Left Side Attack: inadequate (5)


Frankfort United

Midfield: weak (4)
Right Side Defence: excellent (8)
Central Defence: solid (7)
Left Side Defence: passable (6)
Right Side Attack: formidable (9)
Central Attack: solid (7)
Left Side Attack: excellent (8)


Ouch. When the team pulled back after 3 goals, Morales certainly didn't pay attention, what with his *four* second half goals to log his second straight hat trick. Now, Knapp and Morales both are part of a three-way tie for the series lead in goals scored. One of them nabbing that would be a very nice little bonus.

Other good things included Eaton looking like normal, and what is, I believe, our first ever formidable rating. Congrats to Hawkins (who got his first *** rating) and Mcwhorter for that one.

And the news elsewhere in V.22 was just as good, when Team Jooky thumped dbob 4-0. This leaves Ya Yas and dbob tied at 24 points, with us just one back. The way dbob is playing right now, they have absolutely no shot to win at Ya Yas in a couple weeks. Which means...if we beat Ya Yas next week, we can take V.22. We don't control out own destiny, but if we win out, I am confident that the series is ours.

In less important scores, the two new V.22 teams were greated rudely. Clube Tururu ripped Trouble Makers 4-0 for their first V.22 points, while Ya Yas disposed of Guam United 6-1. The standings for all to see:

1. Ya Yas 10 49 - 15 24

2. dbob 10 42 - 13 24
3. Frankfort United 10 45 - 15 23
4. Team Jooky 10 35 - 19 19

5. Trouble Makers 10 23 - 23 11
6. Elk Thunders 10 8 - 48 7

7. Guam United 10 11 - 48 6
8. Clube Tururu 10 8 - 40 3


There are two, possibly 3 huge games left on the schedule, all involving Ya Yas. The most critical from our standpoint is next week, as they visit us. This is it, the most important game in Frankfort United history. It will take a lot of willpower to not do a week of general training (but I really have no plans on doing it). :)

After that, there are Ya Yas has home games against both dbob and Team Jooky, the first if which will certainly be crucial, and the second of which may well be. We, on the other hand, have only Trouble Makers, Guam United, and Clube Tururu after next week. We can smell a virtual miracle, we just have to make it happen.

Next up: FOFC Cup Quarterfinals against everyone's favorite evil stone demon-looking things.

[sterlingice]

Next up: FOFC Cup Quarterfinals against everyone's favorite evil stone demon-looking things.

Crawfish? Inbred 4-5-1 rednecks? ;)

SI

[DukeRulesMAB]

Friendly

FOFC Cup Quarterfinals: Gargoyles vs. Frankfort United

Date: October 1, 2003
Arena: The Concrete Jungle (Chicago)
Crowd: 1,167 (45,025)
Weather: Cloudy

Yeah, like we're gonna win this. :) Raven Hawk already mentioned that he has like 3 starters playing today after they couldn't go on Sunday. So we're even deader than normal. It's been a good run, and I'd love to win, but as always, we need to avoid injuries. Huge match this week.

Starters (Balanced 3-5-2):

Keeper: Lorenzo Porras

Right Defender: Harold Diehl
Central Defender: Alexander Apelblad
Left Defender: Eric Hogue

Right Wing: Kevin Macartney
Central Midfield: Robert Mullineux
Central Midfield: Borislav Sakic
Central Midfield: Michael Chopin
Left Wing: Milton Watts

Striker: Courtney Sellers
Striker: Jacob Knapp

Apelblad has recovered nicely, and is ready to go; hiring the doctors was a great thing, as he'll be back for Sunday. The rest is my typical "B" team.


The Match

1167 spectators had come to The Concrete Jungle this cloudy day. Gargoyles tactics involved an interesting 3-5-2 combination. They fielded: Agustin - Langeland, Di Palma, Grøva - Black, Mccormick, Michelsson, El-Nabil, Holden - bin Selamat, Ball.

Frankfort had chosen a strategic 3-5-2 formation. Lineup: Porras - Diehl, Apelblad, Hogue - Macartney, Mullineux, Chopin, Sakic, Watts - Sellers, Knapp.

A well placed corner kick from Rex Holden was followed by Cornelius Ball´s hard but accurate header. The nice combination meant goal for Gargoyles. The result now 1-0. Gargoyles put themselves up 2 - 0 when Hafiz bin Selamat broke through on the right, leaving the entire defensive box behind him. The referee showed Frankforts Kevin Macartney the yellow card after a particularly nasty challenge. Frankfort fought on and, in the 31st minute Robert Mullineux was able to reply with 2 - 1 after some excellent moves on the right side finished off by an incredibly clever chip. Gargoyles´s Hafiz bin Selamat had an excellent opportunity in the 33rd minute, shooting on a through ball, but he missed the goal by miles! Frankforts Alexander Apelblad got himself booked after a foul. The teams went for a half-time break at 2 - 1. Gargoyles held the ball, with a clear 59 percent possession rate.

The referee showed Gargoyless Rex Holden the yellow card after a particularly nasty challenge. Gargoyles, bringing the final ball possession rate to 58 percent, dominated the battle.

Gargoyles´s best player was Jami Michelsson. However, Kenneth Black made a disastrous appearance. Frankfort´s best player was Lorenzo Porras. Borislav Sakic on the other hand, had a terrible day. The match ends 2 - 1.




Goals: Mullineux
Yellow Cards: Macartney, Apelblad


Porras: ***~

Diehl: **
Apelblad: **
Hogue: **

Macartney: **
Mullineux: **~
Sakic: *~
Chopin: **~
Watts: **~

Sellers: **
Knapp: **~


Team Match MVP: Lorenzo Porras


Gargoyles

Midfield: passable (6)
Right Side Defence: solid (7)
Central Defence: excellent (8)
Left Side Defence: formidable (9)
Right Side Attack: inadequate (5)
Central Attack: passable (6)
Left Side Attack: passable (6)

Frankfort United

Midfield: inadequate (5)
Right Side Defence: excellent (8)
Central Defence: passable (6)
Left Side Defence: passable (6)
Right Side Attack: passable (6)
Central Attack: passable (6)
Left Side Attack: excellent (8)

Good game; just couldn't quite get past their very strong defense. It appears to have been a shockingly close game, but we just didn't quite have enough. The inad midfield is the effect of TS going up, I hope for solid on Sunday with the 3 starters and a MOTS.

Congrats, Raven Hawk! Hope you guys take it all. This caps our second straight nice FOFC Cup run, and we hope to win one of these days.

Next up: Training, youth pull, and economic updates.

[DukeRulesMAB]

Training News

No pops, though we should be getting moderately close...another couple weeks, I figure.

Form Update

Starters Going Up: 1 (Eaton to Passable)
Starters Going Down: 5 (Travis, Chopin to Passable, Arnold, Apelblad to Inad, Matlock to Weak)
Reserves Going Up: 2 (Macartney to Inad, Sakic to Weak)
Reserves Going Down: 0

Well, we certainly picked a great weak to have the ugliest form weak of the year. :) Even aside from this stuff, a lot of the people who held dropped in value.

On the attack, our best wing, Travis, down to Passable...that'll be OK. On defense, we have a starter down coming off his injury, and our starting keeper falling, but we have Eaton getting an actual form bump coming off his injur, and Porras still in passable form. But we got brutalized in the midfield with two drops. For the biggest match of the year. Not good. :)


Total Team Value (Before Training): $2,402,000 (2,373,000)




Coming up next: Youth pull and finances.

[DukeRulesMAB]

Franco sold yesterday (had to re-list him) for 188K; we're out of debt now, hopefully semi-permanently.

Youth pull

Fifteenth week of solid; I'd love to get this exact pull the first week of next season. :)

Joseph Mackey (17012637)
17 years, passable form, healthy
A controversial person who is calm and infamous.
Has disastrous experience and inadequate leadership abilities.

Nationality: USA
Assessed value: 68 000 US$
Wage: 820 US$/week
Owner: Frankfort United
Warnings: 0


Stamina: poor Goaltending: disastrous
Playmaking: solid Passing: weak
Winger: weak Defending: weak
Scoring: weak Set Pieces: solid

Nice. :) 17 YO-solid playmaker. The secondaries aren't great, but weak/weak isn't terrible either. And the Solid set pieces is a nice bonus. He's listed at 100K ending 10/8/2003 at 19:59.


Economy

Income

Crowd: 3,109 (at Gargoyles)
Sponsers: 47,775
Temporary: 173,620
- 660 (New Supporters)
- 172,960 (Sale of Franco)

Total revenues: 224,504

Expenditures

Youth Squad: 20,000
Wages: 20,286
Staff: 31,500
Arena: 8,370
Interest: 23
Temporary: 8,500
- 2,000 (Youth Pull)
- 2,000 (Listing Costs)
- 4,500 (Firing of 3 Doctors)

Total Expenses: 88,679

Profit (Loss): 135,825
New Balance: 135,351

And with that, we are (permanently?) out of debt. I'm so happy. :)

With Mackey, I'm strongly considering looking around for potential winger trainees for my new program next year. I'll be keeping an eye on the transfer wire for sure.

Side note, we fired the 3 doctors before the update yesterday; after the update, both defenders were back to completely healthy. Good timing.


Other stats

Team Spirit: Content (Up from Calm)
Confidence: Strong

Sponsers: Satisfied
Supporters: Delirious
# of Supporters: 988 (Up from 966)

Wish we could have stuck at satisfied TS, but this'll do. MOTS time this week.

V.22 Preview


Guam United - Clube Tururu

Actually, probably the second most interesting game of the week. Tururu is really trying to improve, easily the most active of the newer teams in the division. But they have only 3 points, and must get a win here this week. Guam, though new, is in a similar must-win situation.

Trouble Makers - Team Jooky

Easy win for Jooky, as the home squad hasn't even transferred anyone in or out yet.

dbob - Elk Thunders

Elk Thunders is awful; dbob is struggling, but not this badly.

Frankfort United - Ya Yas

And now, the biggest match we've ever player. We're MOTSing, we're at full strength, at least in terms of injury. Form isn't good. It will be wild; I have no idea what to expect.


Up Next: Ya Yas comes to F.U. Arena in an epic matchup.

[Havok]

Nice YP Duke :)

[DukeRulesMAB]

Havoc: Thanks! Hopefully your luck in that department will turn around. Maybe you're just saving up your mojo for a 17 YO Week 1 solid this coming season. :)

Season 2 - Game 11

Frankfort United vs. Ya Yas

Date: October 5, 2003
Arena: Frankfort United Arena (Kentucky)
Crowd: 13,076 (13,076)
Weather: Cloudy

Well, the day is here, and we're, of course, MOTSing. The current standings have Ya Yas and dbob tied with us one back. dbob is in a freefall and still has to travel to Ya Yas, so I consider today's game to be for the series crown.

Oh yeah, and today is my 26th birthday. A win would be a nice present. :)


Starters (Balanced 3-5-2):

Keeper: Lorenzo Porras

Right Defender: William Hawkins
Central Defender: Arthur Eaton
Left Defender: Alexander Apelblad

Right Wing: Jesse Mcwhorter
Central Midfield: Robert Mullineux
Central Midfield: Theodore Arnold
Central Midfield: Michael Chopin
Left Wing: Sonny Travis

Striker: William Morales
Striker: Jacob Knapp

Both Eaton and Apelblad are 100% healthy. Porras is the only backup in, and he's in due to form issues; he's worth ***~, so I'm not worried by his presense. I am concerned about our midfield form; hopefully the MOTS/content TS will counteract that. On the other hand, I have no idea what his TS looks like or if he'll MOTS.

The Match

13076 spectators had come to Frankfort United Arena this cloudy day. Frankfort tactics involved an interesting 3-5-2 combination. They fielded: Porras - Hawkins, Eaton, Apelblad - Mcwhorter, Arnold, Mullineux, Chopin, Travis - Knapp, Morales.

Yas started off with a 3-4-3 lineup. The following players had been chosen: Bengtsson - Suárez-Guanes, Metzger, Gannon - Workman, Beck, Klintborn, Taylor - Tanner, Bonsall, Roberts.

Brock Workman was dominating his wing and kept sending fine balls into the enemy box - Jamie Tanner managed to kick one of them into 0 - 1 in the 3rd minute. With a shot floated in from just outside the penalty area in the 5:th minute, Jacob Knapp of Frankfort evened the score to 1 - 1. Some beautiful plays on the left side of the field resulted in a 14:th minute goal by Sonny Travis for Frankfort, putting them ahead 2 - 1. The referee showed Frankforts William Hawkins the yellow card after a particularly nasty challenge. A corner kick created great disorder in the penalty area, but at last Frankfort´s Jesse Mcwhorter was able to shove the ball in. 3-1. A great save by goaltender Stefan Bengtsson in the 25:th minute kept the visitors in the game as Robert Mullineux struck from the left with a real cannonball. Sonny Travis almost managed to score another goal for Frankfort, but his header was tipped to a corner by the visitors goalie. The teams went for a half-time break at 3 - 1. Frankfort held the ball, with a clear 62 percent possession rate.

Yas fought on and, in the 52nd minute Owen Roberts was able to reply with 3 - 2 after some excellent moves on the right side finished off by an incredibly clever chip. Brock Workman of Yas received a yellow card in the 52nd minute for unsportsmanlike behaviour. A couple of quick and successful challenges, followed by a shot from just outside the penalty area after 52 minutes might have resulted in another goal for Frankfort. However, Stefan Bengtsson made a spectacular save. After 59 minutes Frankfort´s William Hawkins contracted a slight foot injury, but could finish the game. Frankfort were given a penalty in the 67:th, neatly put away by William Morales. 4 - 2 for the home side. Frankfort´s Lorenzo Porras left the field after 77 minutes because of a nasty blow to the shin. His replacement was Matthew Matlock. After 79 minutes Iestyn Bonsall made a speedy advance and dropped the ball to Owen Roberts who shuffled the ball past the keeper. The score was now 4 - 3. A speedy charge from the left side of the field put Frankfort lead up with 5 - 3. William Morales finished that one off competently, firing from an acute angle. The fortyfive minutes were dominated by Frankfort, with an impressive 66 percent possession of the ball.

The most dominating Frankfort player was without a doubt Matthew Matlock. However, Theodore Arnold made a disastrous appearance. Most important Yas player was Iestyn Bonsall. However, Stefan Bengtsson made a disastrous appearance. The match ends 5 - 3.



Goals: Morales 2 (21), Knapp (17), Travis (3), Mcwhorter (2)
Yellow Cards: Hawkins

(Note: Goal totals are for all competitive games this year, not just for the league)


Porras: ***
Matlock (In for Porras): ***

Hawkins: **~
Eaton: ***
Apelblad: **~

Mcwhorter: ***
Mullineux: **~
Arnold: **~
Chopin: **~
Travis: ***

Morales: **~
Knapp: **~


Team Match MVP: Matthew Matlock

Frankfort United

Midfield: solid (7)
Right Side Defence: excellent (8)
Central Defence: solid (7)
Left Side Defence: passable (6)
Right Side Attack: formidable (9)
Central Attack: solid (7)
Left Side Attack: excellent (8)


Ya Yas

Midfield: weak (4)
Right Side Defence: solid (7)
Central Defence: passable (6)
Left Side Defence: inadequate (5)
Right Side Attack: brilliant (11)
Central Attack: magnificent (12)
Left Side Attack: solid (7)


It was nerve wracking up until that last Morales goal, but what a win! Not only our highest NSI ever, but a clutch win when we most needed it. After a slow start, Morales now leads V.22 in goals. We took control of the game early with a 3-1 lead, and despite some harrowing moments, never looked back.

More good news, just as important: Porras is only bruised but training. Doesn't lose any training. Believe me, I had a near heart-attack on seeing the injury, but it's all OK. Hawkins is also bruised, but playing. We also have a large number of starters with two yellow cards: Hawkins, Mullineux, Arnold, and Travis. All of which will be nagging over the last several weeks. But with 3 opponents we should beat, it shouldn't matter.

Elsewhere in V.22, it was as expected. Clube Tururu beat up on Guam United 6-0. Team Jooky had some difficulties with Trouble Makers, but pulled away in the end 5-2. And dbob finally got a much-needed easy win, 7-0, over Elk Thunders. Here are our standings:

1. dbob 11 49 - 13 27

2. Frankfort United 11 50 - 18 26
3. Ya Yas 11 52 - 20 24
4. Team Jooky 11 40 - 21 22

5. Trouble Makers 11 25 - 28 11
6. Elk Thunders 11 8 - 55 7

7. Clube Tururu 11 14 - 40 6
8. Guam United 11 11 - 54 6


The most important game the rest of the way: dbob vistits Ya Yas next week. If Ya Yas can at least pull a tie, we will win the series if we win out. Our last 3 matches are Clube Tururu, Trouble Makers, and Guam United: we damn well should win out.


Next up: Bearcats visits us for a friendly.

[DukeRulesMAB]

We made over 150K from the sale of Mackey. Been a good couple weeks financially in Frankfort. :)

Friendly

Frankfort United vs. Bearcats

Date: October 8, 2003
Arena: Frankfort United Arena (Kentucky)
Crowd: 1,428 (13,076)
Weather: Sunny

Thanks to TonyR for visiting us for a friendly! Nice little crowd here today, as well.

Starters (Balanced 3-5-2):

Keeper: Matthew Matlock

Right Defender: Eric Hogue
Central Defender: Arthur Eaton
Left Defender: Harold Diehl

Right Wing: Milton Watts
Central Midfield: Robert Mullineux
Central Midfield: Borislav Sakic
Central Midfield: Michael Chopin
Left Wing: Kevin Macartney

Striker: Courtney Sellers
Striker: Jacob Knapp

B-team lineup with a few guys I want to get experience mixed in. Ho hum.


The Match

A brilliantly sunny day had enticed a crowd of 1428 to Frankfort United Arena. Frankfort had chosen a strategic 3-5-2 formation. The following players had been chosen: Matlock - Hogue, Eaton, Diehl - Watts, Mullineux, Chopin, Sakic, Macartney - Sellers, Knapp.

Bearcats had chosen a strategic 3-5-2 formation. They fielded: Oropeza - Elkins, Samples, Valadez - van Meerveld, Olofsson, Coats, Nygård, Ruiz - Fransen, Mirand.

Bearcats were relying on their weak ability to counter-attack. Harold Diehl gave his Frankfort the lead with 1 - 0, as he successfully challenged both the guests central defenders, then placed the ball unreachably at the goaltenders right post. Visitors Dietrich Mirand was alert on a play coming in from the left, making the score a tie at 1 - 1 in the 21st minute. Frankfort took the lead in the 23rd minute of the game by 2 to 1, as Borislav Sakic elegantly received a pass going deep, finishing off with a half-volley shot just below the bar. A speedy charge from the left side of the field put Frankfort lead up with 3 - 1. Jacob Knapp finished that one off competently, firing from an acute angle. The structure of the game started to change as Frankfort decided to pull back and meet their opponents in the defensive zone. The teams went for a half-time break at 3 - 1. Frankfort, bringing the final ball possession rate to 59 percent, dominated the battle.

A bit later, a magnificent combination in the middle resulted in Frankfort´s Michael Chopin putting the lead up to 4 - 1. Gary Elkins had a couple of good opportunities to reply, but the home team´s goaltender Matthew Matlock just wouldn´t surrender. Bearcats kept trying to force their way through on the right side. Bent Fransen got his chance in the 75:th minute, but the home sides left defence held his position and was able to stop the attack. In the 77:th minute Frankforts Harold Diehl received a yellow card for going into a challenge studs first. Things were going to get worse for the visitors. Harold Diehl squirmed himself through the central defense line in the 78:th minute, asserting the lead to 5 - 1. The referee showed Frankforts Jacob Knapp the yellow card after a particularly nasty challenge. 83 minutes into the game Robert Mullineux had to leave the pitch due to a knee injury. In came Theodore Arnold. Frankfort, bringing the final ball possession rate to 56 percent, dominated the battle.

Most important Frankfort player was Matthew Matlock. Eric Hogue on the other hand, had a terrible day. Bearcats´s best player was Òscar Oropeza. Teofilio Ruiz on the other hand, had a terrible day. The match ends 5 - 1.





Goals: Diehl 2, Sakic, Knapp, Chopin
Yellow Cards: Diehl, Knapp


Matlock: ***

Hogue: *~
Eaton: ***
Diehl: **

Watts: **~
Mullineux: **~
Arnold (In for Mullineux): **~
Sakic: *~
Chopin: **~
Macartney: **~

Sellers: **
Knapp: **~


Team Match MVP: Matthew Matlock


Frankfort United

Midfield: weak (4)
Right Side Defence: solid (7)
Central Defence: solid (7)
Left Side Defence: passable (6)
Right Side Attack: excellent (8)
Central Attack: passable (6)
Left Side Attack: solid (7)


Bearcats

Midfield: poor (3)
Right Side Defence: passable (6)
Central Defence: inadequate (5)
Left Side Defence: inadequate (5)
Right Side Attack: weak (4)
Central Attack: weak (4)
Left Side Attack: weak (4)


Good effort; when did Diehl get that active? Mullineux is out a week (bruised but training). It is irritating, but it's the risk I take when I don't carry a full B squad.


Next up: Training, youth pull, and economic updates.

[DukeRulesMAB]

Training News

And it is advancement time...

Lorenzo Porras (12542447)
18 years, inadequate form, bruised, but playing
A controversial person who is calm and honest.
Has disastrous experience and inadequate leadership abilities.

Nationality: España
Assessed value: 657 000 US$
Wage: 2 208 US$/week including 20% Bonus
Owner: Frankfort United
Warnings: 0


Stamina: wretched Goaltending: formidable
Playmaking: disastrous Passing: disastrous
Winger: disastrous Defending: disastrous
Scoring: disastrous Set Pieces: disastrous

I'm going to wait to list him until he's healthy...I'll also list high until the end the the year, hoping to hit the jackpot. Until he sells, the keeper training stays. Matlock should pop to outstanding next week.

Also, wingback William Hawkins popped to weak experience. Doesn't mean too much, because he's out the door once the season ends, but every little bit helps.


Form Update

Starters Going Up: 3 (Travis to Solid, Apelblad to Passable, Matlock to Inadequate))
Starters Going Down: 2 (Knapp to Passable, Morales to Inadequate)
Reserves Going Up: 1 (Macartney to Passable)
Reserves Going Down: 2 (Watts to Passable, Porras to Inadequate)

Form doesn't matter much right now, as we play 3 straight teams we should beat. Still not fun to see both forwards drop. Also, we'd like to see Porras in at least passable form with him getting ready to be sold now.


Total Team Value (Before Training): $2,601,000 (2,402,000)


Matlock topped 1M, our first ever player with such value.


Coming up next: Youth pull and finances.

[DukeRulesMAB]

Youth pull

Sixteen weeks of solid

David Mayes (17394275)
18 years, passable form, healthy
A controversial person who is calm and infamous.
Has disastrous experience and inadequate leadership abilities.

Nationality: USA
Assessed value: 8 000 US$
Wage: 540 US$/week
Owner: Frankfort United
Warnings: 0


Stamina: poor Goaltending: disastrous
Playmaking: weak Passing: poor
Winger: inadequate Defending: poor
Scoring: poor Set Pieces: wretched

Well, after two straight awesome pulls, we were due a bad one, and we got it. Canned.


Economy

Income

Crowd: 71,920
- 68,266 (vs. Ya Yas)
- 3,654 (vs. Bearcats)
Sponsers: 48,475
Temporary: 159,980
- 660 (New Supporters)
- 157,320 (Sale of Mackey)
- 2,000 (Mother Club Money for Brown)

Total revenues: 280,375

Expenditures

Youth Squad: 20,000
Wages: 20,286
Staff: 27,000
Arena: 8,370
Temporary: 3,000
- 2,000 (Youth Pull)
- 1,000 (Listing Costs)

Total Expenses: 78,656

Profit (Loss): 201,719
New Balance: 337,070


Other stats

Team Spirit: Irritated (Down from Content)
Confidence: Strong

Sponsers: Satisfied
Supporters: Delirious
# of Supporters: 1010 (Up from 988)

We'll be PICing the next 3 weeks, so we should get our TS in order quickly. And we've topped 1000 supporters!

V.22 Preview


Team Jooky - Elk Thunders

Easy win for Team Jooky over a very outmatched Elk Thunders

Trouble Maker - Guam United

The two new teams meet. Guam desperately needs a win if they hope to get into a relegation game.

Clube Tururu - Frankfort United

I'm honestly concerned about this game a touch; they're not good, but they aren't completely incompetant. Plus I have irritated TS, plus Mullineux is out...could be interesting with the PIC.

Ya Yas - dbob

The biggest game by far the rest of the year. I need a Ya Yas win or tie at home here to move into first place. dbob has struggled mightily lately, but if they can get a win here, they will win the series. Safe to say: it's on.


Up Next: Frankfort visits Clube Tururu.

[DukeRulesMAB]

Season 2 - Game 12

Clube Tururu vs. Frankfort United

Date: October 12, 2003
Arena: The Oven (Phoenix)
Crowd: 12,500 (12,500)
Weather: Sunny

We're actually a touch concerned here. Clube Tururu has an active owner, and they've improved over the course of the year. We have irritated TS, are PICing, and have a key missing player as you'll see below. Also, Tururu will likely play a 5-4-1, playing for a 0-0 draw. That said, we would be very disappointed with a loss or tie here. The true key game is dbob at Ya Yas, where I need a home win or tie.


Starters (Balanced 3-5-2):

Keeper: Matthew Matlock

Right Defender: William Hawkins
Central Defender: Arthur Eaton
Left Defender: Alexander Apelblad

Right Wing: Jesse Mcwhorter
Central Midfield: Michael Chopin
Central Midfield: Kevin Macartney
Central Midfield: Theodore Arnold
Left Wing: Sonny Travis

Striker: William Morales
Striker: Jacob Knapp

I decided to go with Macartney over Chopin; he's in two levels better of form vs. two levels of stamina. Dunno if I made the right choice, but we'll hope.

The rest is our starting lineup. Form not really very good team-wide (though not horrible either). Eaton gets the call as captain today in Mullineux's absense.

The Match

The 12500 spectators at The Oven were in for an afternoon of sunshine. Tururu had chosen a strategic 5-4-1 formation. Lineup: Herby - Lara, Justesen, Se-Hyun, Brands, Brewer - Bokhove, Galeazzi, Kurzemnieks, Levine - Paoletti.

Frankfort had chosen a strategic 3-5-2 formation. They fielded: Matlock - Hawkins, Eaton, Apelblad - Mcwhorter, Arnold, Chopin, Macartney, Travis - Knapp, Morales.

After a fine move down the middle Mauro Galeazzi nearly gave the home side one up in the 4:th minute. The finishing shot went just wide, though. Frankforts Sonny Travis got himself booked after a foul. Aleksandrs Kurzemnieks received some harsh words from his coach after he acted foolishly, probably out of lack of experience, in the 14:th minute and almost caused an opponent to score. Tururus Olympio Paoletti got himself booked after a foul. The teams went for a half-time break at 0 - 0. Frankfort, bringing the final ball possession rate to 53 percent, dominated the battle.

William Morales delivered a good free kick from an excellent position in the 57:th minute, but luck wasn´t on Frankfort´s side this time, the ball going wide. Tururu had a good opportunity to take the lead as Olympio Paoletti came up the left side, but he struck the ball weakly and it went straight into the arms of Matthew Matlock. In the games 68:th minute Jacob Knapp almost gave the visitors the lead, as he clipped a spectacular scissors shot just past the bar. Flemming Justesen toiled away as usual, but the heat made him exhausted and he looked kind of pale at the end of the game. The fortyfive minutes were dominated by Frankfort, with an impressive 63 percent possession of the ball.

The most dominating Tururu player was without a doubt Anton Levine. Flemming Justesen was a disappointment, however. The most dominating Frankfort player was without a doubt Matthew Matlock. Kevin Macartney on the other hand, had a terrible day.




Goals: None
Yellow Cards: Travis

(Note: Goal totals are for all competitive games this year, not just for the league)


Matlock: ****

Hawkins: ***
Eaton: ***
Apelblad: **~

Mcwhorter: ***
Chopin: **~
Macartney: *~
Arnold: **~
Travis: ***

Morales: **~
Knapp: **~


Team Match MVP: Matthew Matlock

Clube Tururu

Midfield: poor (3)
Right Side Defence: excellent (8)
Central Defence: formidable (9)
Left Side Defence: excellent (8)
Right Side Attack: passable (6)
Central Attack: weak (4)
Left Side Attack: passable (6)


Frankfort United

Midfield: poor (3)
Right Side Defence: excellent (8)
Central Defence: excellent (8)
Left Side Defence: solid (7)
Right Side Attack: excellent (8)
Central Attack: passable (6)
Left Side Attack: excellent (8)

Ugh...I feared this, but it still stinks to have it happen. Such is the risk of MOTSing your best opponent, a lesser opponent can catch you off guard. Congrats go to Tururu, for a key tie for them. Only other side note is that Travis is suspended for next week's game, which I have no doubt that I'll win.

Turns out my game didn't matter so much; dbob edged out Ya Yas 4-3, and virtually clinched the V.22 title in doing so. More congrats to them. Trouble Makers absolutely spanked Guam United 6-0, and Team Jooky beat Elk Thunders 6-1.

Stinks to tie an inferior team, but circumstances were against me this time. We weren't gonna win the series anyway this time. Next year will be a different story.


Next up: We venture to Real Terps FC for a quick friendly.

[DukeRulesMAB]

Friendly

Real Terps FC vs. Frankfort United

Date: October 15, 2003
Arena: Turtle Den (Maryland)
Crowd: 1,057 (15,000)
Weather: Partly Cloudy

Thanks to terpkristin for hosting us this week!

Starters (Balanced 3-5-2):

Keeper: Lorenzo Porras

Right Defender: Harold Diehl
Central Defender: Arthur Eaton
Left Defender: Eric Hogue

Right Wing: Kevin Macartney
Central Midfield: Robert Mullineux
Central Midfield: Borislav Sakic
Central Midfield: Michael Chopin
Left Wing: Milton Watts

Striker: Courtney Sellers
Striker: Jacob Knapp

Mullneux is back to playable; rest is the typical squad. Could be Porras's last game with us, because I have him listed.


The Match

1057 spectators arrived at Turtle Den, where weather conditions were pretty good for football. Terps had chosen a strategic 3-5-2 formation. The following players had been chosen: Rossi - Mcmillian, Sandoval, Hodges - Deloach, Miller, Ainsworth, Mercado, Vaughn - Jones, Bragg.

Frankfort had chosen a strategic 3-5-2 formation. They fielded: Porras - Diehl, Eaton, Hogue - Macartney, Mullineux, Chopin, Sakic, Watts - Sellers, Knapp.

After a fine move down the middle Clemence Mcmillian nearly gave the home side one up in the 32nd minute. The finishing shot went just wide, though. After a fine move down the middle Brian Jones nearly gave the home side one up in the 37:th minute. The finishing shot went just wide, though. Harold Diehl of Frankfort received a yellow card in the 38:th minute for unsportsmanlike behaviour. Frankfort´s 0 - 1 goal came from a questionable penalty. Jacob Knapp struck that one home without a second thought. Terpss Ken Bragg got himself booked after a foul. Some fine manouvering on the left lead to an 42nd minute Frankfort goal, making it 0 - 2. Michael Chopin was noted down as the scorer. Halftime score was 0 - 2. Frankfort held the ball, with a clear 58 percent possession rate.

Robert Mullineux increased the visitors lead by putting a volley shot away on a pass from the right. 0 - 3. Eric Hogue wasn´t fit enough for a full game made several mistakes out of sheer tiredness. One of them was exploited by Clemence Mcmillian who squeezed in 1-3. In the games 68:th minute Kevin Macartney nearly put the visitors another one up as he broke through and fired from just outside the box, his shot passed just over the bar. Terpss Zack Mercado got himself booked after a foul. Some fine manouvering on the left lead to an 71st minute Frankfort goal, making it 1 - 4. Courtney Sellers was noted down as the scorer. In the 71st minute the visitors put themselves ahead 1 - 5 as Courtney Sellers finished off an attack from the left with a spectacular scissors kick. The structure of the game started to change as Frankfort decided to pull back and meet their opponents in the defensive zone. Frankfort, bringing the final ball possession rate to 71 percent, dominated the battle.

Terps´s best player was Gavin Rossi. Larry Miller on the other hand, had a terrible day. The most dominating Frankfort player was without a doubt Lorenzo Porras. Eric Hogue was a disappointment, however. The match ends 1 - 5.


Goals: Sellers 2, Knapp, Chopin, Mullineux
Yellow Cards: Diehl


Porras: ***~

Diehl: **
Eaton: ***
Hogue: *~

Macartney: **~
Mullineux: **~
Sakic: *~
Chopin: **~
Watts: **~

Sellers: **
Knapp: **~


Team Match MVP: Lorenzo Porras


Real Terps FC

Midfield: poor (3)
Right Side Defence: solid (7)
Central Defence: passable (6)
Left Side Defence: inadequate (5)
Right Side Attack: passable (6)
Central Attack: passable (6)
Left Side Attack: inadequate (5)


Frankfort United

Midfield: weak (4)
Right Side Defence: excellent (8)
Central Defence: solid (7)
Left Side Defence: inadequate (5)
Right Side Attack: solid (7)
Central Attack: passable (6)
Left Side Attack: solid (7)

Nice effort; always happy to grab a win. Not much else to say, really, very happy we got no injuries. :)



Next up: Training, youth pull, and economic updates.

[DukeRulesMAB]

Training News

Matthew Matlock (11113430)
19 years, passable form, healthy
A pleasant guy who is temperamental and dishonest.
Has disastrous experience and poor leadership abilities.

Nationality: USA
Assessed value: 1 250 000 US$
Wage: 3 040 US$/week
Owner: Frankfort United
Warnings: 0


Stamina: poor Goaltending: outstanding
Playmaking: disastrous Passing: disastrous
Winger: disastrous Defending: disastrous
Scoring: wretched Set Pieces: poor

And there's my starter getting his bump. In theory, I could go ahead and switch training programs now. But 1) I want to kickstart the training program with 17 YOs, and 2) Porras hasn't sold yet. If I can't get a good value on him, I think I will train him up to outstanding before selling him.

In other news, starting forward William Morales moved to Poor experience.

Form Update

Starters Going Up: 4 (Eaton, Chopin to Solid, Mullineux, Matlock to Passable)
Starters Going Down: 3 (Travis to Passable, Apelblad to Inadequate, Morales to Weak)
Reserves Going Up: 0
Reserves Going Down: 0

This is the form update I needed last week. We're gonna massacre these last two poor teams, even with PICs.


Total Team Value (Before Training): $2,868,000 (2,601,000)


Coming up next: Youth pull and finances.

[Havok]

I want an outstanding goalie!!

P.S. we gotta get a friendly going 1 day Duke. we haven't played eachother yet :)

[sterlingice]

Guh! I didn't realize your goalie was that awesome. Wow, man!

SI

[DukeRulesMAB]

Thanks, guys!

Really, I should have a brill or magnif keeper by now, but when I started, I was clueless, and "daytrained" keepers for about 5 weeks, before realizing that was boneheaded.

And Havoc - Whenever you've got an open date, lemme know. I'll be happy to journey to your place.

[Havok]

Im playing TP and his E V I L Airborne Penguins this week.... maybe the week after???

[DukeRulesMAB]

Sounds good!

[DukeRulesMAB]

Well, Porras sold for 1.275M. We netted over 1.14M. Needless to say, we're happy with our bank account for the brief amount of time we had it. Now we have to figure out what to do with the last two full weeks of this season.

Youth pull

Seventeen weeks of solid

Omar Plascencia (17615654)
20 years, passable form, healthy
A pleasant guy who is temperamental and honest.
Has disastrous experience and weak leadership abilities.

Nationality: USA
Assessed value: 0 US$
Wage: 500 US$/week
Owner: Frankfort United
Warnings: 0


Stamina: wretched Goaltending: disastrous
Playmaking: disastrous Passing: wretched
Winger: disastrous Defending: disastrous
Scoring: disastrous Set Pieces: poor

Wow, they don't get any worse than that guy. :) I was hoping to pull a keeper to train for two weeks, but I could train that guy for 2 seasons and he wouldn't be any good.

Economy

Income

Crowd: 2,786 (at Real Terps FC)
Sponsers: 49,175
Temporary: 1,147,740
- 240 (New Supporters)
- 1,147,500 (Sale of Mackey)

Total revenues: 1,199,701

Expenditures

Youth Squad: 20,000
Wages: 20,286
Staff: 27,000
Arena: 8,370
Temporary: 3,000
- 2,000 (Youth Pull)
- 1,000 (Listing Costs)

Total Expenses: 78,656

Profit (Loss): 1,121,045
New Balance: 1,458,116

Now *that* is a cash stash.

Other stats

Team Spirit: Composed (up from Irritated)
Confidence: Strong

Sponsers: Satisfied
Supporters: Content (down from Delirious)
# of Supporters: 1018 (Up from 1010)

Our supporters were not happy with last week's road draw against a bad team. I don't blame them.

V.22 Preview

Frankfort United - Trouble Makers

Easy win against the former Dog Bowl Chaos. We think. :)

Elk Thunders - Ya Yas

This'll be supremely ugly.

dbob - Clube Tururu

Well, we need a huge, huge upset here. dbob plays at Trouble Makers next week. I'm not expecting it, but Tururu is improved, so there is a .001% chance.

Team Jooky - Guam United

A third (possibly fourth) complete blowout. Lame week in V.22



Up Next: Frankfort closes out their home schedule against Trouble Makers.

[DukeRulesMAB]

Well, that was quick....

Wilson Escalante (17370230)
20 years, passable form, healthy
A controversial person who is tranquil and upright.
Has disastrous experience and poor leadership abilities.

Nationality: Argentina
Assessed value: 241 000 US$
Wage: 2 232 US$/week including 20% Bonus
Owner: Frankfort United
Warnings: 0


Stamina: wretched Goaltending: passable
Playmaking: disastrous Passing: disastrous
Winger: disastrous Defending: disastrous
Scoring: disastrous Set Pieces: disastrous


I believe he is right on the edge of popping solid in 2 weeks. If he doesn't, we'll sacrifice one of our offseason weeks to get him there in the 3rd. Price was right at 81K, too.

[DukeRulesMAB]

Season 2 - Game 13

Frankfort United vs. Trouble Makers

Date: October 19, 2003
Arena: Frankfort United Arena (Kentucky)
Crowd: 13,076 (13,076)
Weather: Rain

This is the last ever competitive game in the old Frankfort United Arena. When next season gets underway, we'll be in a much, much larger stadium. We expect to close the stadium for renovations in style, this should be an easy PIC win.


Starters (Balanced 3-5-2):

Keeper: Matthew Matlock

Right Defender: William Hawkins
Central Defender: Arthur Eaton
Left Defender: Alexander Apelblad

Right Wing: Jesse Mcwhorter
Central Midfield: Robert Mullineux
Central Midfield: Theodore Arnold
Central Midfield: Michael Chopin
Left Wing: Milton Watts

Striker: William Morales
Striker: Jacob Knapp

Travis is suspended with red cards, and Watts gets the call in his place. The rest is the "A" team. Mullineux is still bruised, but he's more than good to go.

The Match

Due to an all-day shower, 13076 paying spectators got to see a match on a pitch-turned-bog at Frankfort United Arena. Frankfort had chosen a strategic 3-5-2 formation. The following players had been chosen: Matlock - Hawkins, Eaton, Apelblad - Mcwhorter, Arnold, Mullineux, Chopin, Watts - Knapp, Morales.

Trouble tactics involved an interesting 3-5-2 combination. The following players had been chosen: Pace - Weber, Vigil, Caldwell - Johnson, Slone, Thomas, Poh-Teck, Braxton - Leone, Pineda.

Some beautiful plays on the left side of the field resulted in a 12th minute goal by Arthur Eaton for Frankfort, putting them ahead 1 - 0. Michael Chopin increased Frankforts lead to 2 - 0 by putting a header away on a hooked ball from the right. A bit later, a magnificent combination in the middle resulted in Frankfort´s Robert Mullineux putting the lead up to 3 - 0. The structure of the game started to change as Frankfort decided to pull back and meet their opponents in the defensive zone. The teams went for a half-time break at 3 - 0. Frankfort, bringing the final ball possession rate to 70 percent, dominated the battle.

In the 50:th minute William Morales put Frankfort ahead 4 - 0 with a truly marvelous free kick. Robert Mullineux of Frankfort received a yellow card in the 53rd minute for unsportsmanlike behaviour. William Morales increased Frankfort´s lead to 5 - 0 from a penalty spot cannonball. A well placed corner kick from William Morales was followed by Milton Watts´s hard but accurate header. The nice combination meant goal for Frankfort. The result now 6-0. Alexander Apelblad of Frankfort received a yellow card in the 73rd minute for unsportsmanlike behaviour. Frankfort held the ball, with a clear 81 percent possession rate.

The most dominating Frankfort player was without a doubt Matthew Matlock. However, William Morales made a disastrous appearance. The most dominating Trouble player was without a doubt Walter Johnson. Marshall Thomas on the other hand, had a terrible day. The match ends 6 - 0.


Goals: Morales 2 (23), Eaton (2), Chopin (5), Mullineux (5), Watts (4)
Yellow Cards: Mullineux, Apelblad

(Note: Goal totals are for all competitive games this year, not just for the league)


Matlock: ****~

Hawkins: ***
Eaton: ***~
Apelblad: **~

Mcwhorter: ***
Mullineux: ***
Arnold: **~
Chopin: **~
Watts: **~

Morales: **
Knapp: **~


Team Match MVP: Matthew Matlock


Frankfort United

Midfield: weak (4)
Right Side Defence: formidable (9)
Central Defence: excellent (8)
Left Side Defence: solid (7)
Right Side Attack: excellent (8)
Central Attack: passable (6)
Left Side Attack: solid (7)


Trouble Makers

Midfield: wretched (2)
Right Side Defence: inadequate (5)
Central Defence: inadequate (5)
Left Side Defence: inadequate (5)
Right Side Attack: solid (7)
Central Attack: passable (6)
Left Side Attack: passable (6)

Couple nice milestones here. Matlock gets the team's first ever ****~ performance. And I believe that's our first ever formidable defense. Also, Morales is in strong position to take the scoring title.

The rest of the effort was bleh, but we didn't need more than bleh. Mullneux will miss next week with his 3rd yellow...when we play the worst team in the series.

Elsewhere, dbob essentially sewed up the V.22 title with an easy 5-0 win over Clube Tururu. All they need do is tie Trouble Makers next week. Ya Yas and Team Jooky also held serve, 5-0 and 5-1 repsectively.

Next up: A second friendly in recent weeks against Bearcats.

[DukeRulesMAB]

Friendly

Frankfort United vs. Bearcats

Date: October 22, 2003
Arena: Frankfort United Arena (Kentucky)
Crowd: 1,347 (13,076)
Weather: Partly Cloudy

We welcome Bearcats again. We hope to play well as we finish up the year and avoid injuries.

Starters (Balanced 3-5-2):

Keeper: Wilson Escalante

Right Defender: Eric Hogue
Central Defender: Arthur Eaton
Left Defender: Harold Diehl

Right Wing: Kevin Macartney
Central Midfield: Robert Mullineux
Central Midfield: Borislav Sakic
Central Midfield: Michael Chopin
Left Wing: Sonny Travis

Striker: Courtney Sellers
Striker: Jacob Knapp

The key is Escalante. We need him to pop solid in just two weeks. Him not being injured would be useful, too. Only other deviation from the typical "B" squad is that Travis is here in place of Watts, due to the former's suspension from Sunday's game.


The Match

1347 spectators arrived at Frankfort United Arena, where weather conditions were pretty good for football. Frankfort tactics involved an interesting 3-5-2 combination. Lineup: Escalante - Hogue, Eaton, Diehl - Macartney, Mullineux, Chopin, Sakic, Travis - Sellers, Knapp.

Bearcats tactics involved an interesting 3-4-3 combination. The following players had been chosen: Oropeza - Minor, Samples, Valadez - Reeder, Olofsson, van Meerveld, Ruiz - Nygård, Mirand, Blackburn.

Frankforts Jacob Knapp gave, after 21 minutes, the home team a 1 - 0 lead after an attack coming in from the right. In the 25:th minute of the match the visitors central line of defence had to look on as Courtney Sellers dashed through, knocking home 2 - 0 for Frankfort. Frankfort put themselves up 3 - 0 when Kevin Macartney broke through on the right, leaving the entire defensive box behind him. Bearcatss Sean Reeder got himself booked after a foul. A bit later, a magnificent combination in the middle resulted in Frankfort´s Courtney Sellers putting the lead up to 4 - 0. 4 - 0 was the half-time score. The fortyfive minutes were dominated by Frankfort, with an impressive 75 percent possession of the ball.

Things were going to get worse for the visitors. Eric Hogue squirmed himself through the central defense line in the 52nd minute, asserting the lead to 5 - 0. The structure of the game started to change as Frankfort decided to pull back and meet their opponents in the defensive zone. After 67 minutes Kevin Macartney made a speedy advance and dropped the ball to Courtney Sellers who shuffled the ball past the keeper. The score was now 6 - 0. This third goal made a hat trick for Courtney Sellers. Roald Nygård of Bearcats received a yellow card in the 70:th minute for unsportsmanlike behaviour. Bearcats seemed to suffer a certain amount of confusion about the organization of the team. Fine winger Kevin Macartney made one of his many passes from the wing into the middle in the 70:th minute. Jacob Knapp went to the air and hit the ball firmly with his forehead for 7 - 0. In the 75:th minute Frankfort´s Kevin Macartney tried to nail the coffin shut, but the shot rebounded off the bar to fall behind the net. The referee showed Frankforts Sonny Travis the yellow card after a particularly nasty challenge. In the games 80:th minute Bearcats replied, reducing the lead to 7 - 1. Teofilio Ruiz scored on a marvellous cross pass coming in from the left. Bearcats had obvious problems in finding their positions. Frankfort held the ball, with a clear 77 percent possession rate.

Frankfort´s best player was Arthur Eaton. Borislav Sakic on the other hand, had a terrible day. The most dominating Bearcats player was without a doubt Òscar Oropeza. Roald Nygård on the other hand, had a terrible day. The match ends 7 - 1.



Goals: Sellers 3, Knapp 2, Macartney, Hogue
Yellow Cards: Travis


Escalante: **~

Hogue: *~
Eaton: ***~
Diehl: **

Macartney: ***
Mullineux: ***
Sakic: *~
Chopin: **~
Travis: **~

Sellers: **
Knapp: **~


Team Match MVP: Arthur Eaton


Frankfort United

Midfield: passable (6)
Right Side Defence: solid (7)
Central Defence: passable (6)
Left Side Defence: inadequate (5)
Right Side Attack: solid (7)
Central Attack: passable (6)
Left Side Attack: solid (7)


Bearcats

Midfield: wretched (2)
Right Side Defence: passable (6)
Central Defence: inadequate (5)
Left Side Defence: weak (4)
Right Side Attack: solid (7)
Central Attack: passable (6)
Left Side Attack: passable (6)


That's as good as it gets. Dominating win, no injuries. I'm pleased. Thanks to TonyR for the game!


Next up: Training, youth pull, and economic updates.

[DukeRulesMAB]

Training News

Experience bump this week, in the most meaningless way possible. Backup winger Milton Watts went to Wretched experience.

In other news, I strongly fear that new keeper prospect Escalante will not pop to Solid in two weeks, meaning I'll probably be spending one of my offseason weeks training him. Sucks, but I took the risk.

Form Update

Starters Going Up: 3 (Hawkins to Excellent, Matlock to Solid, Morales to Inadequate)
Starters Going Down: 2 (Knapp, Travis to Inadequate)
Reserves Going Up: 2 (Macartney to Solid, Sakic to Inadequate)
Reserves Going Down: 2 (Diel to Inadequate, Hogue to weak)

Good form update, Macartney will get the start over Travis this week, and Sakic is much needed with Mullineux being suspended. And congrats to William Hawkins for being Frankfort United's first ever player in excellent form!


Total Team Value (Before Training): $2,544,000 (2,358,000)


Coming up next: Youth pull and finances.

[Poli]

Just curious as to whether you find training and pulling keepers profitable.

[DukeRulesMAB]

I think buying a pair of 17 YO inads (or better if you can afford it) early in the season is amazingly profitable if you are willing to be patient. In less than a year and a half, I could, if I so chose, have solid my two keepers for probably ~3.5M total, on less than 200K investment. (I am keeping my outstanding keeper)

The problem is that you can only sell one every 2-3 seasons to really make it work, longer if you really want to cash in. With other training programs, you can stagger your trainees so you can have a more steady stream of income. Which is why I am switching. :)

Daytraining keepers is a disaster on every level, I'm only doing this now because my trainee popped two weeks before the end of the year, and I don't want to start my new program till next season.

[DukeRulesMAB]

Youth pull

We have reached an excellent youth squad. No reason to track that any more I guess. :)

Ryan Dube (17828486)
17 years, passable form, healthy
A controversial person who is balanced and honest.
Has disastrous experience and inadequate leadership abilities.

Nationality: USA
Assessed value: 4 000 US$
Wage: 500 US$/week
Owner: Frankfort United
Warnings: 0


Stamina: poor Goaltending: disastrous
Playmaking: weak Passing: poor
Winger: weak Defending: poor
Scoring: wretched Set Pieces: poor

Canned.

Economy

Income

Crowd: 71,743
- 68,266 (vs. Trouble Makers)
- 3,477 (vs. Bearcats)
Sponsers: 49,350
Interest: 6,100
Temporary: 630 (New Supporters)

Total revenues: 127,823

Expenditures

Youth Squad: 20,000
Wages: 18,078
Staff: 30,000
Arena: 8,370
Temporary: 83,000
- 2,000 (Youth Pull)
- 81,000 (Escalante)

Total Expenses: 159,448

Profit (Loss): (31,625)
New Balance: 1,426,491

Let's see, it last Sunday, we were coming off a tie against a bad team, with pissed off supporters, we were playing a terrible team, and it rained. And we still sold out the stadium. I dare say this offseason's stadium expansion is long overdue.

Other stats

Team Spirit: Content (up from Composed)
Confidence: Strong

Sponsers: Satisfied
Supporters: Delirious (up from Content)
# of Supporters: 1039 (Up from 1018)

Supporters back to happy. We'll send them out with a bang this week, even if it's on the road.

V.22 Preview

Even though there are some blowouts on the menu, it's a good last week of V.22 action as all 4 games have meaning.

Clube Tururu - Elk Thunders

These two are tied for 6th/7th place with 7 points. Winner gets a relegation game and likely stays. Loser auto-demotes. Clube Tururu should romp here.

Guam United - Frankfort United

We're MOTSing, and we'll kill them. A win clinches 2nd place, which exceeds pre-season expectations.

Trouble Makers - dbob

dbob needs only tie to win the series. Their goal is simply to set up for the promotion game next week. If by some complete fluke they lose, we'll win the series with a lopsided enough win. I'm not counting on it.

Ya Yas - Team Jooky

The battle for 3rd place. Jooky is one point up, and thus would take 3rd with a tie, but Ya Yas is the better team and is at home. Still, should be a very good contest.




Up Next: Frankfort closes out their second season at Guam United.

[DukeRulesMAB]

Season 2 - Game 14

Guam United vs. Frankfort United

Date: October 26, 2003
Arena: Guam United Arena (Miami)
Crowd: 5,221 (12,000)
Weather: Rain

Easy win for us as we close out our second season. We'll be MOTSing, largely in hopes of piling up goals. Morales currently leads V.22 in scoring by 2 goals and we want that bonus. The Guam United owner logs in regularly, and has finally make a few transfers in the last couple weeks. We'll see if they're improved. I doubt it.


Starters (Balanced 3-5-2):

Keeper: Matthew Matlock

Right Defender: William Hawkins
Central Defender: Arthur Eaton
Left Defender: Alexander Apelblad

Right Wing: Kevin Macartney
Central Midfield: Michael Chopin
Central Midfield: Borislav Sakic
Central Midfield: Theodore Arnold
Left Wing: Jesse Mcwhorter

Striker: William Morales
Striker: Jacob Knapp

Mullineux is suspended, so Sakic gets his first real game action in a long

time. He got his form up just in time to save his lousy job. Macartney

also gets the call over Travis due to form issues; he outperformed him last

week anyway, and the form gap has just gotten larger.

Matlock's in pretty much his best form ever, I'm eager to see how he does.

The Match

5221 spectators had found their way to Guam United Arena, despite the heavy rain. United tactics involved an interesting 3-5-2 combination. The following players had been chosen: Huu-Huy - Wolford, Vest, Salmerón - Ashton, Shook, Levy, Avery, Stover - Gill, Jenkins.

Frankfort had chosen a strategic 3-5-2 formation. The following players had been chosen: Matlock - Hawkins, Eaton, Apelblad - Macartney, Arnold, Chopin, Sakic, Mcwhorter - Knapp, Morales.

A badly positioned defensive formation on a free kick in the 16:th minute led to Frankfort´s William Morales giving the visitors the lead 0 - 1. In the 34:th minute the visitors put themselves ahead 0 - 2 as William Morales finished off an attack from the left with a spectacular scissors kick. After several obvious shirt pulling incidents, United´s Al Ashton got himself booked. Frankfort´s Theodore Arnold received a play slashing through the home side´s defense in the 39:th minute, chipping it past the keeper scoring 0 - 3. The home crowd was not pleased with that one. The away team´s Jacob Knapp took advantage of a mistake to the home side´s right in the 40:th minute increasing Frankfort´s lead to 0 - 4. In the games 42nd minute Jacob Knapp nearly put the visitors another one up as he broke through and fired from just outside the box, his shot passed just over the bar. The referee showed Frankforts Jesse Mcwhorter the yellow card after a particularly nasty challenge. Halftime score was 0 - 4. Frankfort, bringing the final ball possession rate to 81 percent, dominated the battle.

Billy Shook caused mayhem in his own defence line with some mad dribbles within own penalty zone, but Kevin Macartneys shot went just outside. The away team´s Michael Chopin took advantage of a mistake to the home side´s right in the 73rd minute increasing Frankfort´s lead to 0 - 5. After this Frankfort lowered the tempo in order to concentrate on their defensive efforts. The referee showed Frankforts Arthur Eaton the yellow card after a particularly nasty challenge. In the 81st minute Frankfort put themselves up 0 - 6 after an attack from the right, caused by a defensive blunder. Scorer was Jacob Knapp. Some fine manouvering on the left lead to an 83rd minute Frankfort goal, making it 0 - 7. William Morales was noted down as the scorer. By then William Morales was a three time scorer - a hat trick! Frankfort, bringing the final ball possession rate to 92 percent, dominated the battle.

The most dominating United player was without a doubt Li Huu-Huy. However, Dominic Avery made a disastrous appearance. The most dominating Frankfort player was without a doubt Matthew Matlock. Borislav Sakic on the other hand, had a terrible day. The match ends 0 - 7.



Goals: Morales 3 (26), Knapp 2 (19), Arnold (3), Chopin (6)
Yellow Cards: Mcwhorter, Eaton

(Note: Goal totals are for all competitive games this year, not just for

the league)


Matlock: *****

Hawkins: ***
Eaton: ***~
Apelblad: **~

Macartney: ***
Chopin: **~
Sakic: *~
Arnold: **
Mcwhorter: ***

Morales: **~
Knapp: **


Team Match MVP: Matthew Matlock


Guam United

Midfield: disastrous (1)
Right Side Defence: inadequate (5)
Central Defence: inadequate (5)
Left Side Defence: passable (6)
Right Side Attack: inadequate (5)
Central Attack: inadequate (5)
Left Side Attack: inadequate (5)


Frankfort United

Midfield: inadequate (5)
Right Side Defence: formidable (9)
Central Defence: excellent (8)
Left Side Defence: excellent (8)
Right Side Attack: excellent (8)
Central Attack: passable (6)
Left Side Attack: excellent (8)

Solid, unspectacular match. Mullineux's absense kept it from the true blowout it could have been. We accomplished our goal: Morales won the V.22 scoring title. Knapp even came in second. And Matlock, one week after his first ****~ rating, got his first ***** rating!

And now for the shocker: dbob tanked. Inexplicable, but they played everyone out of position in an obvious ploy to tank out of first place. I suspected something odd was going on earlier in the season when their midfield went to shit. I guess they decided they wanted to avoid going to DIV at all costs...couldn't even be bothered to go to the qualification game and tank there. Anyway, they took a 8-1 beatdown at the hands of Trouble Makers. And because of that, I won the series. I'll take it; extra money for finishing 1st, extra money for the game itself, and an extra full week of training. We have no shot of winning after this MOTS, unless it's a walkover or something.

Not sure what I think of all this; like I said, I'll take it.

Elsewhere, Ya Yas completely spanked Team Jooky 8-0 to take third place, and Clube Tururu stays in V.22 one more week after a 4-2 win over Elk Thunders. The final standings:

1. Frankfort United 14 63 - 18 33

2. dbob 14 59 - 24 33
3. Ya Yas 14 65 - 24 30
4. Team Jooky 14 51 - 31 28

5. Trouble Makers 14 39 - 35 17
6. Clube Tururu 14 18 - 47 10

7. Elk Thunders 14 11 - 67 7
8. Guam United 14 12 - 72 6



Next up: We visit the Misfitz!

[Havok]

Congratz Duke!! i might make it to divison IV also :)

[DukeRulesMAB]

Well, it turns out there's no "might" to the Frankfort United part. My opponent finished 5th in IV.53, but it's a walkover. So unless I decide to tank it, I'm in IV.53, and will be getting massacred next season. I'm no wimp, so I won't tank it, so D IV, here I come. :)

[Poli]

D4 isn't as hard as some would make it out to be. Obviously some series are tougher than others. Best of luck, regardless!

[DukeRulesMAB]

Friendly

Maniacal Misfitz vs. Frankfort United

Date: October 29, 2003
Arena: The Island of Misfit Toyz (Florida)
Crowd: 1,772 (23,000)
Weather: Sunny

We visit one of the teams we support, and get, I think the most money we've ever gotten from a friendly. Thanks to Havoc for hosting us!

Starters (Balanced 3-5-2):

Keeper: Wilson Escalante

Right Defender: Eric Hogue
Central Defender: Arthur Eaton
Left Defender: Harold Diehl

Right Wing: Milton Watts
Central Midfield: Robert Mullineux
Central Midfield: Borislav Sakic
Central Midfield: Michael Chopin
Left Wing: Sonny Travis

Striker: Courtney Sellers
Striker: Jacob Knapp

This is the B team, except for the rotating wingers.


The Match

A scorching day at The Island of Misfit Toyz, where 1772 spectators were in place for today´s match. Maniacal tactics involved an interesting 3-5-2 combination. Lineup: Weiss - Miller, Ferreira da Silv, ben Aharon - de Bevere, Tolstoy, Neiva, Jonasson, Minter - Devátý, Strobl.

Frankfort had chosen a strategic 3-5-2 formation. The following players had been chosen: Escalante - Hogue, Eaton, Diehl - Watts, Mullineux, Chopin, Sakic, Travis - Sellers, Knapp.

Frankfort had several good opportunities to take the lead, especially in the 3rd minute when Michael Chopin came up alone against Stanford Weiss who managed a block. Harold Diehl got left behind when Maniacal´s Dolf de Bevere made a sudden pull forward in the 5:th minute, finishing off with a swift strike. 1-0! Martin Devátý almost managed to score another goal for Maniacal, but his header was tipped to a corner by the visitors goalie. Frankfort got a chance to level the score as Courtney Sellers suddenly found himself free with the goaltender but the finishing shot hit the bar. The referee showed Maniacals Emanuel Miller the yellow card after a particularly nasty challenge. Milton Watts the unlucky victim, couldn´t continue the game. The teams went for a half-time break at 1 - 0. Frankfort, bringing the final ball possession rate to 51 percent, dominated the battle.

Torbjörn Jonasson received some harsh words from his coach after he acted foolishly, probably out of lack of experience, in the 51st minute and almost caused an opponent to score. 61 minutes into the game Frankfort´s Eric Hogue found a gap in the home sides central defense scoring with a long shot, making it 1 - 1. Almost all the way down to the corner flag Sonny Travis somehow managed to get a perfect pass into the middle, impossible to miss for Courtney Sellers who struck for 1 - 2. With a shot floated in from just outside the penalty area in the 83rd minute, Istvan Strobl of Maniacal evened the score to 2 - 2. The referee showed Frankforts Courtney Sellers the yellow card after a particularly nasty challenge. Maniacal were forced to a substitution as Viktor Tolstoy couldn´t continue playing due to the rough treatment. Frankfort had a good opportunity to score the lead goal but the home team goaltender Stanford Weiss saved Michael Chopin´s shot headed for the top corner. This part of the game had been a standoff between the teams.

As none of the teams had managed to win, extra time was called. After 96 minutes Frankforts Jacob Knapp made his way through the middle, putting the visitors up 2 - 3. With that Frankfort had won the game in extra time. The most dominating Maniacal player was without a doubt Huey Miller.



Goals: Hogue, Sellers, Knapp
Yellow Cards: Sellers


Escalante: **~

Hogue: *~
Eaton: ***~
Diehl: **

Watts: **
Macartney (in for Watts): ***
Mullineux: ***
Sakic: *~
Chopin: **~
Travis: **~

Sellers: **
Knapp: **


Team Match MVP: Arthur Eaton


Maniacal Misfitz

Midfield: weak (4)
Right Side Defence: passable (6)
Central Defence: solid (7)
Left Side Defence: solid (7)
Right Side Attack: solid (7)
Central Attack: passable (6)
Left Side Attack: excellent (8)


Frankfort United

Midfield: weak (4)
Right Side Defence: solid (7)
Central Defence: passable (6)
Left Side Defence: inadequate (5)
Right Side Attack: solid (7)
Central Attack: passable (6)
Left Side Attack: solid (7)


Very good game! Down 1-0 at halftime, we rallied to take a 2-1 lead before giving up a late equalizer. But Jacob Knapp showed up for the first time in a while and put in the winning goal.

Thanks a ton to Havoc, and we'll have to make this an annual thing!


Next up: Training, youth pull, and economic updates.

[DukeRulesMAB]

Training News

No pops, meaning Escalante stays around another week. No big deal, with the "qualifier" this week. Though Matlock will be halfway to brilliant, he should do for quite a while. :)

Form Update

Starters Going Up: 1 (Eaton to Excellent)
Starters Going Down: 1 (Chopin to Passable)
Reserves Going Up: 1 (Sakic to Passable)
Reserves Going Down: 1 (Diehl to Weak)

Man, my defense is in great form. Two excellents and my keeper's in solid. Sakic is in his best form since joining the club. Diehl is about a week from being released anyway, as is Hogue, so his drop isn't important.

Total Team Value (Before Training): $2,701,000 (2,544,000)


Coming up next: Youth pull and finances.

[Havok]

Thanks a ton to Havoc, and we'll have to make this an annual thing!


I'll come to your place next season :)

also... if you get a chance on sundays and wednesday's during gametime you should stop by our IRC chat.

[DukeRulesMAB]

Awesome, I look forward to it!

I'll try to join up some next season for the IRC chats, though I haven't been on IRC in so long it's scary. :)

[DukeRulesMAB]

We have listed the first two of our wingers, Sonny Travis (15K) and Jesse Mcwhorter (10K). The other two will be listed on Monday, so I'll have them for Wednesday's friendly. See the transfer thread in the HT forum for more details.

Youth pull

Don Huerta (20060762)
17 years, passable form, healthy
A pleasant guy who is calm and dishonest.
Has disastrous experience and passable leadership abilities.

Nationality: USA
Assessed value: 38 000 US$
Wage: 680 US$/week
Owner: Frankfort United
Warnings: 0


Stamina: disastrous Goaltending: weak
Playmaking: disastrous Passing: wretched
Winger: disastrous Defending: disastrous
Scoring: disastrous Set Pieces: wretched

Was hoping to land a backup keeper (for after I sell Escalante), but it wasn't to be. Canned. We'll pick up the pursuit week 3 or 4 next season.

Economy

Income

Crowd: 4,530 (at Maniacal Misfitz)
Sponsers: 50,050
Interest: 6,000
Temporary: 11,800
- 600 (New Supporters)
- 10,000 (Bonus for series' top scorer: Morales)
- 1,200 (Sell on fee for Hiatt)

Total revenues: 72,380

Expenditures

Youth Squad: 20,000
Wages: 20,310
Staff: 30,000
Arena: 8,370
Temporary: 4,000
- 2,000 (Youth Pull)
- 2,000 (Listing Fees)

Total Expenses: 82,680

Profit (Loss): (10,300)
New Balance: 1,416,191

This week will be the last of the big bankroll weeks for a while. The new arena will be commissioned on Monday, and the new coach will be brought in Wednesday.

Other stats

Team Spirit: Irritated (down from Content)
Confidence: Strong

Sponsers: Satisfied
Supporters: Delirious (up from Content)
# of Supporters: 1059 (Up from 1039)

Preview

It's a walkover. Hello, IV.53.:)


Up Next: Said walkover happens.

[DukeRulesMAB]

Season 2 - Qualification Match

Due to an all-day shower, 14688 paying spectators got to see a match on a pitch-turned-bog at Kosevo. Sarajevo tactics involved an interesting 0-0-0 combination. The following players had been chosen: - - - .

Frankfort had chosen a strategic 3-5-2 formation. The following players had been chosen: Matlock - Hawkins, Eaton, Apelblad - Sellers, Arnold, Mullineux, Chopin, Sakic - Knapp, Morales.

The game couldn´t be played as the home side didn´t have 9 players. The referee had to report a walkover and 5-0 to the visitors. The spectators were very disappointed with their home team. The match ends 0 - 5.



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

And thus we enter IV.53 for a season of ass-kicking.

[DukeRulesMAB]

Frankfort United - Season 2 Wrap-Up


Competition games played: 18 (14 league, 4 Cup)
Record: 7-5-1 (10-1-3 league, 3-0-1 Cup)
Goals Scored: 82
Goals Allowed: 22

(For the record, I don't count the walkover, or any walkover, as a competitive game)

Team stats (* = No longer on squad)

Games Started (Numbers in parentheses are sub appearances)

1. Apelblad, 17
1t. Hawkins, 17
1t. Morales, 17
1t. Mullineux, 17
5. Arnold, 16 (1)
6. Chopin, 16
7. Knapp, 15
8. Eaton, 14
8t. Mcwhorter, 14
10. Matlock, 13 (1)
11. Travis, 12
12. Macartney, 7
13. Porras*, 5
14. Diehl, 4
14t. Sakic, 4
14t. Sellers, 4
14t. Watts, 4
18. Escriva*, 1
18t. Reyna*, 1
20. Hogue, 0 (1)

Goals

1. Morales, 26
- NOTE: Led V.22 with 20 league goals
2. Knapp, 19
3. Chopin, 6
4. Hawkins, 5
4t. Mullineux, 5
4t. Sellers, 5
7. Watts, 4
8. Arnold, 3
8t. Travis, 3
10. Eaton, 2
10t. Mcwhorter, 2
12. Apelblad, 1
12t. Diehl, 1

Yellow Cards (Second yellows are included here, not in Red Cards)

1. Travis, 6
2. Eaton, 5
3. Hawkins, 4
4. Mullineux, 3
5. Apelblad, 2
5t. Arnold, 2
7. Chopin, 1
7t. Macartney, 1
7t. Mcwhorter, 1
7t. Morales, 1
7t. Sakic, 1
7t. Sellers, 1

Red Cards

none given


Team MVP

1. Matlock, 9
2. Eaton, 6
3. Mullineux, 2
4. Porras, 1


Average Match Rating (Minimum, 9 matches played)

1. Matlock, 3.39
2. Eaton, 3.11
3. Travis, 2.88
4. Mullineux, 2.82
5. Mcwhorter, 2.71
6. Hawkins, 2.63
7. Chopin, 2.47
8. Knapp, 2.30
9. Morales, 2.29
10. Apelblad, 2.21
11. Arnold, 2.15


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

Team MVP: Arthur Eaton
Season 1: Eaton

Most Promising Youngster: Matthew Matlock
Season 1: Matlock

Best Newcomer: Harold Diehl
Season 1: Not Awarded

Most Inspirational Player: Jesse Mcwhorter
Season 1: Courtney Sellers


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

Looking back on the season predictions, I was afraid of Dog Bowl Chaos if they made a move. They were replaced midseason. I declared that dbob didn't scare me. They were the best team in the series. Not a great job. :)

I also picked myself for 3rd, and that was the stated team goal. We firmly established ourselves as a contender, and won the series when dbob tanked out. We will be moving on to IV.53, where we will surely get mauled, but this season was a success beyond our wildest dreams. We even, due to some solid youth pulls, avoided any real financial issues that threatened to plague our season. Now, with 1.4+M in the bank, we are prepared to build a new stadium, get a new coach, start a new training program, and charge into Division IV.

[DukeRulesMAB]

Big happenings in Frankfort this week.

Later today, Watts and Macartney will be placed on the transfer list, joining Mcwhorter and Travis.

We've already topped out our physios and spokespersons, and on Friday we will switch up our assistants/keepers coaches from 3/7 to 8/2. Also, we've canned our two economists (we're not gonna be anywhere close to interest generating for a while).

Late Wednesday or early Thursday, we will be bringing in a brand new Solid/Poor coach.

And the biggest news of all...we have begun construction on a brand new 29,424 seat arena call F.U. Field. It will be ready in 10 days, just in time for the first match of the new season!

[sterlingice]

Originally posted by DukeRulesMAB
And the biggest news of all...we have begun construction on a brand new 29,424 seat arena call F.U. Field. It will be ready in 10 days, just in time for the first match of the new season!

You don't have many family-friendly cheers do you?

SI

[DukeRulesMAB]

Hey, our cheers generate more red cards for opposing players charging the stands than any other team in America. ;)

[DukeRulesMAB]

Friendly

Borussia Torhunger vs. Frankfort United

Date: November 4, 2003
Arena: Field of Dreams (Nordrhein-Westfalen, Germany)
Crowd: 2,099 (14,000)
Weather: Partly Cloudy

Our first ever international friendly! Now that we're solvent, this will be a more common occurence. We even made a few hundred dollars of profit off of this trip.

On the "uh oh" side, this is a team that auto-promoted, and thus didn't play Sunday. That means we'll likely be seeing a large number of starters. Look out. :)

Starters (Balanced 3-5-2):

Keeper: Wilson Escalante

Right Defender: Eric Hogue
Central Defender: Arthur Eaton
Left Defender: Harold Diehl

Right Wing: Milton Watts
Central Midfield: Robert Mullineux
Central Midfield: Borislav Sakic
Central Midfield: Michael Chopin
Left Wing: Kevin Macartney

Striker: Courtney Sellers
Striker: Jacob Knapp

Last ever match for the two wingers.


The Match

2099 spectators arrived at Field of Dreams, where weather conditions were pretty good for football. Torhunger had chosen a strategic 3-5-2 formation. The following players had been chosen: Darscht - Lejeune, Herzog, Herstell - van Pelt, Rogersson, Vallejo, Gutiérrez, Richter - Traber, Radke.

Frankfort started off with a 3-5-2 lineup. The following players had been chosen: Escalante - Hogue, Eaton, Diehl - Watts, Mullineux, Chopin, Sakic, Macartney - Sellers, Knapp.

A corner kick created great disorder in the penalty area, but at last Frankfort´s Arthur Eaton was able to shove the ball in. 0-1. After a fatal mistake from the away teams right side defense in the 12th minute, an alert Kurt Traber bagged the ball, evening the score to 1 - 1. Werner Herzog hit the ball just perfect in the 32nd minute and could score for Torhunger with a fab long shot to 2 - 1. Torhunger put themselves up 3 - 1 when Kurt Traber broke through on the right, leaving the entire defensive box behind him. In the 37:th minute of the match the visitors central line of defence had to look on as Simon Radke dashed through, knocking home 4 - 1 for Torhunger. Frankfort breathed new life into the game with an opportunity to reduce the score in the 39:th minute, but the home side´s defenders cleared the ball on the line, after a long shot coming in from the left, rebounding off the crossbar. Halftime score was 4 - 1. This part of the game had been a standoff between the teams.

Torhunger put themselves up 5 - 1 when Kurt Traber broke through on the right, leaving the entire defensive box behind him. At that, Kurt Traber was noted down for a hat trick. The structure of the game started to change as Torhunger decided to pull back and meet their opponents in the defensive zone. The visitors replied in the games 69:th minute, scoring the 5 - 2 goal, as Robert Mullineux broke through from the left, easily lobbing the ball over the home teams keeper. Frankfort breathed new life into the game with an opportunity to reduce the score in the 76:th minute, but the home side´s defenders cleared the ball on the line, after a long shot coming in from the left, rebounding off the crossbar. Frankforts Arthur Eaton got himself booked after a foul. Stéphane Lejeune received some harsh words from his coach after he acted foolishly, probably out of lack of experience, in the 78:th minute and almost caused an opponent to score. The visitors replied in the games 81st minute, scoring the 5 - 3 goal, as Courtney Sellers broke through from the left, easily lobbing the ball over the home teams keeper. Frankfort, bringing the final ball possession rate to 53 percent, dominated the battle.

The most dominating Torhunger player was without a doubt Bram van Pelt. However, Ricardo Vallejo made a disastrous appearance. Frankfort´s best player was Arthur Eaton. Eric Hogue was a disappointment, however. The match ends 5 - 3.



Goals: Eaton, Mullineux, Sellers
Yellow Cards: Eaton


Escalante: ***

Hogue: *~
Eaton: ***~
Diehl: **

Watts: **
Mullineux: ***
Sakic: **
Chopin: **~
Macartney: ***

Sellers: **
Knapp: **


Team Match MVP: Arthur Eaton


Borussia Torhunger

Midfield: weak (4)
Right Side Defence: outstanding (10)
Central Defence: formidable (9)
Left Side Defence: excellent (8)
Right Side Attack: solid (7)
Central Attack: passable (6)
Left Side Attack: passable (6)


Frankfort United

Midfield: weak (4)
Right Side Defence: solid (7)
Central Defence: passable (6)
Left Side Defence: inadequate (5)
Right Side Attack: solid (7)
Central Attack: passable (5)
Left Side Attack: solid (7)


We're lucky it was as close as it was. But we got out with no injuries, so I'm not complaining at all.




Next up: Stay tuned for some big news!

[DukeRulesMAB]

And we've sprung for the new coach...

Kristian Östholt (7338478)
41 years, disastrous form, healthy
A solid coach who is fond of attacking
A controversial person who is tranquil and upright.
Has excellent experience and poor leadership abilities.

Nationality: Sverige
Assessed value: 0 US$
Wage: 600 US$/week including 20% Bonus
Owner: Frankfort United
Warnings: 0


Stamina: disastrous Goaltending: disastrous
Playmaking: disastrous Passing: disastrous
Winger: wretched Defending: disastrous
Scoring: disastrous Set Pieces: disastrous


I briefly considered spending to get weak leadership, but decided I'd be better off saving to upgrade the midfield.


The really great news is that Mcwhorter sold for 20K, and Travis sold for 200,000 dollars. I'm completely stunned and elated! Depending on the quality of trainees I end up with, I could have enough to get me an excellent middie. Very, very happy!

[DukeRulesMAB]

Macartney and Watts netted a little over 26K combined, which I'm happy with. I'm now wingerless for the present. I'm hoping to score a trainee or two tomorrow to save potential TS losses, but I won't compromise the talent of the trainee for that.

Training News

Wilson Escalante (17370230)
20 years, passable form, healthy
A controversial person who is tranquil and upright.
Has disastrous experience and poor leadership abilities.

Nationality: Argentina
Assessed value: 314 000 US$
Wage: 2 232 US$/week including 20% Bonus
Owner: Frankfort United
Warnings: 0


Stamina: wretched Goaltending: solid
Playmaking: disastrous Passing: disastrous
Winger: disastrous Defending: disastrous
Scoring: disastrous Set Pieces: disastrous


He's up for sale at 150K, ending 11/10/2003 at 20:52. We'll be without a backup keeper until I pull one (I'll be looking for an inad or passable once the cup ends).

On a side note, Matthew Matlock got his last ever keeper training. He is worth 1.65M in excellent form (see below), nearly halfway from outstanding to brilliant.

Form Update

Starters Going Up: 3 (Matlock to Excellent, Mullineux, Chopin to Solid)
Starters Going Down: 1 (Eaton to Solid)
Reserves Going Up: 2 (Sakic to Solid, Diehl to Passable)
Reserves Going Down: 0

Great form week. The vast majority of the people not listed here went up in value, even without a forum bump. That poor bot team is dead.

Total Team Value (Before Training): $2,646,000 (2,497,000)


Coming up next: Youth pull (lotto time!) and finances.

[DukeRulesMAB]

A word (or a thousand) about the new traning program...

Winger training is a new beast for me. Keeper training is, above all, a really easy thing. There are no "half slots" and no secondaries to worry about. With the switch to winger training, I've agonized over how to handle both of these issues.

Half Slots

The wingback slots train winger skill at half pace. Upon promoting, I decided I would just punt then two starting wingback slots, and keep my current guys. I can't afford the quality of wingback trainee that a starting slot on a DIV team would command, and I'm not willing to just give up completely on defense, so we're sticking with our guys (Hawkins and Apelblad)for now.

I've also decided to punt the other two half slots during the length of the cup. Same reasoning basically. Once the cup is over, I'll buy a couple trainees (probably inad defender/passable winger 17 YOs) to fill the backup roles, and to train as wingers. I just can't afford true wingback trainees at this stage (those being, 18/19 YOs who have already gotten to Excellent or above in defending, and have some winger skill on which to build).

Secondaries

I made the somewhat arbitrary decision with my main slots to train two offensive wingers, and two toward middle wingers. The offensive wingers will be 17 years old, probably one with the highest winger skill I can afford (and zero secondaries) and one high passing/inad winger type. The TM wingers would be 18, and already possessing their PM skill, since I'm not going to train it. In a few seasons, when I'm more flush with cash, I'll get E stamina/E PM types to do this, but for now, I decided to look for inad+ stamina, passable/solid PMs.

I also decided that to spare my TS, I'd go ahead and pick up two of the trainees before the reset tonight. Because I want 17 YO's for the offensive wingers, that means I'd be getting my TM wingers. Without further ado...

Mariano Gómez (16328672)
17 years, passable form, healthy
A sympathetic guy who is balanced and honest.
Has disastrous experience and poor leadership abilities.


Speciality: Head

Nationality: Argentina
Assessed value: 85 000 US$
Wage: 1 080 US$/week including 20% Bonus
Owner: Frankfort United
Warnings: 0


Stamina: inadequate Goaltending: disastrous
Playmaking: passable Passing: weak
Winger: passable Defending: inadequate
Scoring: poor Set Pieces: wretched

Felix Hylind (17864211)
17 years, passable form, healthy
A sympathetic guy who is balanced and dishonest.
Has disastrous experience and passable leadership abilities.


Speciality: Head

Nationality: Sverige
Assessed value: 80 000 US$
Wage: 1 032 US$/week including 20% Bonus
Owner: Frankfort United
Warnings: 0


Stamina: inadequate Goaltending: disastrous
Playmaking: solid Passing: weak
Winger: inadequate Defending: poor
Scoring: poor Set Pieces: weak



Gomez was, IMO, a bargain at 84K. I had to dish out for Hylind, at 226K, but I think he is worth it (hell, he's the second best playmaker on the team already). The head specialty on both is a bonus, as I would like to, if possible, acquire a super SP guy at some point this season. I'll train stamina this week, hoping to get them to at least passable.

I still have 845K in the bank for the last two. I have no idea what quality winger trainees will cost this week, but if we have money left over, it'd be nice.

[Havok]

if at all possible try to buy a winger or 2 with the "quilck" specialty. My quick winger has been amazing for me this season.

Good luck with the winger training next season.... i'll be very interested to see how it turns out.

[DukeRulesMAB]

Decided to open the new thread now. Follow along with the third-season explots of Frankfort United right here (http://dynamic2.gamespy.com/~fof/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=16338).

[DukeRulesMAB]

BTW, Havoc, I'd love to get a quick winger (I've observed the same things you have), but the specialties are, of course, secondary to the primaries. The two head specialties were just a happy coincidence. :)