Frankfort United: Welcome to IV.53

[DukeRulesMAB]

Welcome to season 21 of Hattrick, and season 3 of Frankfort United! Information on past series here:

Year 1 (http://dynamic2.gamespy.com/%7Efof/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=7846) (5th place, V.22)
Year 2 (http://dynamic2.gamespy.com/~fof/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=11773) (1st place, V.22)

Last year, our goal was to finish 3rd. We had an unexpectedly strong year and finished a deserving second. Of course, we then ended up fluking into promotion after the true series champions tanked the last game and we got to play a walkover in the promotion match.

Our goals this year are twofold:

1) Establish the winger training program

2) Survive in IV.53 to see another year in the division.

[DukeRulesMAB]

Youth pull

Harvey Donovan (20502782)
18 years, passable form, healthy
A pleasant guy who is temperamental and honest.
Has disastrous experience and poor leadership abilities.


Speciality: Technical

Nationality: USA
Assessed value: 2 000 US$
Wage: 500 US$/week
Owner: Frankfort United
Warnings: 0


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


We really broke the bank with our Week 1 pull this season. ;)

Economy

Income

Crowd: 42,928
- 36,065 (at FK Sarajevo)
- 6,863 (at Borussia Torhunger)
Sponsers: 50,575
Interest: 6,000
Temporary: 369,720
- 75,000 (Win Series)
- 30,000 (Promotion)
- 31,770 (Supporter Dues)
- 3,870 (New Supporters)
- 18,400 (Sale of Mcwhorter)
- 184,000 (Sale of Travis)
- 7,360 (Sale of Watts)
- 19,320 (Sale of Macartney)

Total revenues: 469,223

Expenditures

Youth Squad: 20,000
Wages: 20,310
Staff: 30,000
Arena: 8,370
Temporary: 968,510
- 2,000 (Youth Pull)
- 3,000 (Listing Fees)
- 368,310 (New Arena)
- 10,500 (Fired Coaches)
- 268,700 (New Trainer)
- 6,000 (Travel Fees)
- 84,000 (Purchase of Gómez)
- 226,000 (Purchase of Hylind)

Total Expenses: 1,047,190

Profit (Loss): (577,967)
New Balance: 838,224

Man, I didn't know I had it in me to spend 1 million in a week. Hell, I've still got 838K to burn! And believe me, I plan on burning it good. :)

Other stats

Team Spirit: Compased
Confidence: Strong

Sponsers: Satisfied
Supporters: Calm
# of Supporters: 1188 (Up from 1059)

This, of course, represents the reset, as well as our promotion boost in supporters.

Up Next: A run through of the roster once aging occurs, followed by a series preview of IV.53.

[sterlingice]

Oh great- a new season and now I have go to and bookmark all the hattrick dynasties again ;)

SI

[DukeRulesMAB]

Using the DK format, as always. :)

Keepers

#9 Matthew Matlock
- Age: 20
- Current Form: Excellent (8)
- Experience: Disastrous (1)
- Assessed Value: $1,650,000
- Wages: $8,230 per week
- Goaltending: Outstanding (10)

Our highest paid player, our best player. He's in the best form of his career, too. Only downside: still stuck on disastrous experience after a year and a half of action.

We will be pulling keepers in order to seek a backup starting in the near future.

Defenders

#1 Arthur Eaton
- Age: 32
- Current Form: Solid (7)
- Experience: Passable (6)
- Assessed Value: $64,000
- Wages: $990 per week
- Defending: Solid (7)

Our best outfielder, good for ***/***~ most games, and is a rock in the central defense. He also serves as our backup captain.

#3 William Hawkins
- Age: 30
- Current Form: Excellent (8)
- Experience: Weak (4)
- Assessed Value: $73,000
- Wages: $1,010 per week
- Defending: Passable (6)
- Winger: Inadequate (5)

Better than he looks due to consistently strong form and good experience. Will be replaced in the long run with someone young enough to be trained, but we don't have that kind of coin right now.

#6 Alexander Apelblad
- Age: 22
- Current Form: Inadequate (5)
- Experience: Wretched (2)
- Assessed Value: $88,000
- Wages: $1,248 per week
- Defending: Passable (6)

Our Swede plays wingback out of nessessity, though he has no winger skill to speak of. Struggles some with form, but is a reasonable defensive wingback most of the time. Like Hawkins, he'll be moved in a year or two when we have the money for real wingback trainees.

#15 Haold Diehl
- Age: 18
- Current Form: Inadequate (5)
- Experience: Disastrous (1)
- Assessed Value: $7,000
- Wages: $530 per week
- Defending: Inadequate (5)

The better of my two shit defense backups. Will be released when the Cup ends for new trainees, will probably not see game action till then.

#18 Eric Hogue
- Age: 18
- Current Form: Weak (4)
- Experience: Disastrous (1)
- Assessed Value: $6,000
- Wages: $540 per week
- Defending: Inadequate (5)

Even worse than Diehl cuz his form always blows, and he has no stamina, so he gives up the occassional event goal. Not sure exactly why I haven't released him yet. It's coming, tho.

Midfielders

#4 Robert Mullineux
- Age: 30
- Current Form: Solid (7)
- Experience: Solid (7)
- Assessed Value: $77,000
- Wages: $1,284 per week
- Playmaking: Solid (7)
- Stamina: Excellent (8)

The team captain. He's old, but still very good, the only middie we have right now capable of three stars.

#17 Michael Chopin
- Age: 25
- Current Form: Solid (7)
- Experience: Poor (3)
- Assessed Value: $42,000
- Wages: $912 per week
- Playmaking: Passable (6)
- Stamina: Excellent (8)

Had a very strong season, and was consistently in good form. Will probably be around a while.

#2 Theodore Arnold
- Age: 29
- Current Form: Inadequate (5)
- Experience: Weak (4)
- Assessed Value: $67,000
- Wages: $1,150 per week
- Playmaking: Passable (6)
- Stamina: Excellent (8)

Our first decent midfielder, but he's also likely to be the first to go. Struggles with form and injury, gets the lowest rating of the 3. When we have money, could be replaced.

#14 Borislav Sakic
- Age: 22
- Current Form: Solid (7)
- Experience: Disastrous (1)
- Assessed Value: $43,000
- Wages: $888 per week
- Playmaking: Inadequate (5)
- Stamina: Excellent (8)
- Passing: Passable (6)

Our primary backup struggled all year with horrible form before a late bounceback. Serves his purpose.

Wingers

#10 Felix Hylind
- Age: 18
- Current Form: Passable (6)
- Experience: Disastrous (1)
- Assessed Value: $80,000
- Wages: $1,044 per week
- Winger: Inadequate (5)
- Playmaking: Solid (7)
- Stamina: Inadequate (5)

The first of our TM winger trainees, he's actually tied for the best playmaker on the team. Probably the "A" toward-middle winger, though they are close enough that little things (like form or the results of this week's stamina training) could make the difference.

#12 Mariano Gómez
- Age: 18
- Current Form: Passable (6)
- Experience: Disastrous (1)
- Assessed Value: $85,000
- Wages: $1,092 per week
- Winger: Passable (6)
- Playmaking: Passable (6)
- Stamina: Inadequate (5)
- Defending: Inadequate (5)

The young Argentinian is well-rounded, and should be pretty strong. He may be sold after this year, not sure. Depends on how the starting situation works itself out.


We still have two more winger trainees to acquire. Likely, they will be offensive (read: high winger/passing). Either way, it'll be done by Thursday's training.

Forwards

#8 William Morales
- Age: 25
- Current Form: Inadequate (5)
- Experience: Poor (3)
- Assessed Value: $71,000
- Wages: $1,010 per week
- Scoring: Passable (6)
- Passing: Inadequate (5)
- Set Pieces: Solid (7)

Valuable because of his set pieces, and led V.22 in scoring. I'm hoping to bring in a super SP guy this season, in which case Morales would become expendable.

#5 Jacob Knapp
- Age: 22
- Current Form: Inadequate (5)
- Experience: Wretched (2)
- Assessed Value: $101,000
- Wages: $1,130 per week
- Scoring: Passable (6)
- Passing: Inadeqate (5)
- Playmaking: Inadequate (5)
- Stamina: Passable (6)

Jacob fills many roles for us. He's a #2 striker, though his form is occasionally worrisome. He's a backup midfielder in an emergency. He has a head specialty (very useful). And he's a full clown. He probably won't be a starter here much longer, but he'll be with the team forever.

#11 Courtney Sellers
- Age: 30
- Current Form: Passable (6)
- Experience: Weak (4)
- Assessed Value: $26,000
- Wages: $750 per week
- Scoring: Inadequate (5)
- Passing: Inadequate (5)
- Winger: Inadequate (5)
- Defending: Inadequate (5)

Courtney is our all-purpose backup, but is best in the forward slot, where he occassionally picks up starts.




So this is our team, we still need a backup keeper, two wingback trainees (eventually), and two offensive winger trainees (this week).

[DukeRulesMAB]

IV.53 Preview

1. Vampires

Last year's finish: #8 (8 points) in III.10
Last ten Games: High NSI - 82, Low - 69, Average - 75.0
Typical Formation: 3-5-2

2. Byzantines

Last year's finish: #2 (27 points) in IV.53
Last ten Games: High NSI - 80, Low - 67, Average - 72.8
Typical Formation: 3-5-2

3. FC Parkersburg

Last year's finish: #3 (26 points) in IV.53
Last ten Games: High NSI - 92, Low - 73, Average - 81.2
Typical Formations: 5-3-2, 4-4-2

4. AC Weezer

Last year's finish: #4 (21 points) in IV.53
Last ten Games: High NSI - 80, Low - 63, Average - 72.5
Typical Formation: 3-5-2

5. Frankfort United

Last year's finish: #1 (33 points) in V.22
Last ten Games: High NSI - 66, Low - 54, Average - 57.6
Typical Formation: 3-5-2


6. The Little Pretties

Last year's finish: #6 (14 points) in IV.53
Last ten Games: High NSI - 66, Low - 57, Average - 60.6
Typical Formation: 3-5-2


7. ole

Last year's finish: #1 (42 points) in V.23
Last ten Games: High NSI - 71, Low - 60, Average - 63.0
Typical Formation: 3-5-2

8. Jumpers

Walkover. Lineup has been reset.




Well, we're royally screwed. The top 4 is pretty well defined; Parkersburg looks better, but they're tilted toward defense and...well...we all know how that goes. Vampires is the favorite but, as always, it'll come down to who made the best offseason and in-season moves.

Eighth place is obvious. So we have to somehow top Pretties or ole for 6th to stay around. We are at a deficit ratings wise; I'll have to manage TS absolutely perfectly. Every games against the top 4 will be PIC'd. Every cup game will be PIC'd, though I know it'll mean an early exit. We lead off at home against the Little Pretties. I'm strongly considering an early MOTS, but I haven't decided yet. Thoughts from readers? If it helps any, the next 3 weeks are clear PIC's (two where we're dead, and the walk-over).

Anyway, we'll have to play perfectly (strategically) to pull this off. I don't see it happening.

1. Vampires
2. FC Parkersburg
3. Byzantines
4. AC Weezer
5. ole
6. The Little Pretties
7. Frankfort United
8. Jumpers.

[DukeRulesMAB]

Escalante sold, getting us a little over 130K; more for the winger fund. We still haven't gotta either of our offensive wingers, yet, though I expect that to change later tonight.

Season 3 - US Open Cup: Round 1

Virginia Samurais vs. Frankfort United

Date: November 12, 2003
Arena: Virginia Arena (Virginia)
Crowd: 6,553 (7,000)
Weather: Cloudy

Finally, our first competitive game in quite a while. We have made 12K from the gate, plus we get our first look at our new trainees. Will 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: Felix Hylind
Central Midfield: Robert Mullineux
Central Midfield: Michael Chopin
Central Midfield: Theodore Arnold
Left Wing: Mariano Gómez

Striker: William Morales
Striker: Jacob Knapp

We go with the A team today, getting them the experience, plus their game for the week.

These two are the only two wingers around right now, so they are in, both toward middle. Both have inad stamina, so they probably won't help there much, plus my wing attacks will suck, but it shouldn't be an issue.


The Match

6553 spectators had come to Virginia Arena this cloudy day. Virginia started off with a 4-4-2 lineup. The following players had been chosen: Wong - Franks, Land, Pitt, Pavón - Gage, Lourdes González, Ratcliff, Walton - Kruse, Whitney.

Frankfort tactics involved an interesting 3-5-2 combination. Lineup: Matlock - Hawkins, Eaton, Apelblad - Hylind, Arnold, Mullineux, Chopin, Gómez - Knapp, Morales.

An opportunity to take the lead in the 2nd minute was passed by as Frankfort´s William Morales missed a penalty, firing wide of the mark. Virginias Freddy Pitt got himself booked after a foul. Frankfort took the lead in the games 33rd minute with 0 - 1 after some elegant plays down the middle. Jacob Knapp was the scorer. Frankfort´s Robert Mullineux received a play slashing through the home side´s defense in the 38:th minute, chipping it past the keeper scoring 0 - 2. The home crowd was not pleased with that one. 38 minutes into the game Felix Hylind had to leave the pitch due to a knee injury. In came Courtney Sellers. Halftime score was 0 - 2. Frankfort held the ball, with a clear 74 percent possession rate.

In the 56:th minute Frankfort put themselves up 0 - 3 after an attack from the right, caused by a defensive blunder. Scorer was Jacob Knapp. Frankfort´s William Morales received a play slashing through the home side´s defense in the 78:th minute, chipping it past the keeper scoring 0 - 4. The home crowd was not pleased with that one. Some fine manouvering on the left lead to an 85:th minute Frankfort goal, making it 0 - 5. Arthur Eaton was noted down as the scorer. The structure of the game started to change as Frankfort decided to pull back and meet their opponents in the defensive zone. William Morales increased the visitors lead by putting a volley shot away on a pass from the right. 0 - 6. Dane Wong 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. Frankfort held the ball, with a clear 86 percent possession rate.

Most important Virginia player was Dane Wong. However, Keith Kruse made a disastrous appearance. Frankfort´s best player was Matthew Matlock. Courtney Sellers was a disappointment, however. The match ends 0 - 6.




Goals: Knapp 2 (2), Morales 2 (2), Mullineux (1), Eaton (1)
Yellow Cards: none


Matlock: *****

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

Hylind: *~
Sellers (In for Hylind): *
Mullineux: ***~
Chopin: **~
Arnold: **~
Gómez: **

Morales: **~
Knapp: **


Team Match MVP: Matthew Matlock


Virginia Samurais

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


Frankfort United

Midfield: weak (4)
Right Side Defence: outstanding (10)
Central Defence: formidable (9)
Left Side Defence: excellent (8)
Right Side Attack: inadequate (5)
Central Attack: solid (7)
Left Side Attack: inadequate (5)


Not much of an effort till late, but we got the job done. Pretty nice ratings. The worst parts (the side attacks) will improve over the season greatly. Midfield will be fine, too, we plan on judiciously taking care of our team spirit. Plus this week's stamina training. On a side note, Hylind's injury is minor, he's bruised but training. His and Gómez's ratings should improve quickly if they can get a stamina boost.

In no shock, all 7 competitive IV.53 teams smacked the crap out of bots. The 8th was walked over by a bot. We play a really putrid bot team next week (even worse than this week).



Next up: Training, plus I hope to land a winger or two.

[robbgmaier]

Originally posted by DukeRulesMAB
IV.53 Preview

Eighth place is obvious. So we have to somehow top Pretties or ole for 6th to stay around. We are at a deficit ratings wise; I'll have to manage TS absolutely perfectly. Every games against the top 4 will be PIC'd. Every cup game will be PIC'd, though I know it'll mean an early exit. We lead off at home against the Little Pretties. I'm strongly considering an early MOTS, but I haven't decided yet. Thoughts from readers? If it helps any, the next 3 weeks are clear PIC's (two where we're dead, and the walk-over).



I was a prohibitive favorite to finish 7th in my own seven horse race in IV.10 last season. My first match was against vex's Sidekicks, one of two teams who I thought I had a legitmate shot at beating, and it was at home also. I finally decided to MOTS sunday morning, out NSI'd him and led 2-0 early, and still lost. This started what was a very long downward spiral, that in the end needed desperate measures and a lot of "help" to recover from at the end.

My advice would be to just go ahead and PIC, keep jacking up the TS. Even if you lose, you may make up for it later in the season when one of the better teams comes to your house and PICs, and your high TS will cause an upset.

free of charge

[DukeRulesMAB]

Thanks, robb! I'll keep your experience in mind. The downside to that is that I'm so far behind the top 4, I really don't see any scenario in which I'll be able to snag a cheap win, even by the end of the year. Still, the prospect of an early MOTS has me iffy.

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

The wingers have landed!

Jesse Collier (20553193)
17 years, passable form, healthy
A controversial person who is temperamental and upright.
Has disastrous experience and wretched leadership abilities.


Speciality: Head

Nationality: USA
Assessed value: 56 000 US$
Wage: 760 US$/week
Owner: Frankfort United
Warnings: 0


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


Jesse was purchased for 298K last night after the game. He has absolutely no secondaries, of course, but hell...he's a 17 YO first week solid. He can't be too bad. :)

Per Pettersson (20555779)
17 years, passable form, healthy
A sympathetic guy who is tranquil and honest.
Has disastrous experience and weak leadership abilities.


Speciality: Quick

Nationality: Sverige
Assessed value: 116 000 US$
Wage: 1 272 US$/week including 20% Bonus
Owner: Frankfort United
Warnings: 0


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


Per was just now purchased for 276K. Unlike Jesse, he's not a 17 YO solid, but he's close, plus he has passing and he's quick! I suspect he's actually better than Collier, but we'll see how it works itself out on the pitch.

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

I still have over 350K left in the bank. For now, I'm going to save it. In a couple weeks, I'll need to get some cheap trainees to use at wingback in the friendlies, plus I'd still like to make a move for a high SP guy to keep me in games I shouldn't be in.

[DukeRulesMAB]

Training News

Stamina training week has arrived. Let's get right to the results.

Hylind 2 levels to Solid
Hogue 2 levels to Weak
Arnold to Formidable
Eaton to Excellent
Hawkins to Solid
Knapp to Solid
Morales to Inadequate
Sellers to Inadequate
Petterson to Inadequate
Collier to Weak
Matlock to Weak

The really big news is Hylind bumping to Solid stamina to go with his Solid PM and Inad Winger. He's really gonna be a star. Other good news includes starting central middie Theodore Arnold popping to Formidable, and Jacob Knapp (who backs up in the midfield on occassion) going to solid.

The bad news: our second toward-middle winger Gómez didn't pop at all. That really hurts his value in my eyes. That said, he has to start this weak for reasons listed below.


Form Update

Starters Going Up: 2 (Apelblad, Morales to Passable)
Starters Going Down: 3 (Matlock to Solid, Hawkins 2 levels to Passable, Hylind 2 levels to Weak)
Reserves Going Up: 2 (Diehl to Passable, Hogue to Inadequate)
Reserves Going Down: 0

Not bad, considering it was a stamina weak. Hylind going dow two level is annoying, cuz when he's in good form, he's gonna be fabulous.

The backup defenders are increasing in form, but they've still probably played their last games for us.

Total Team Value (Before Training): $2,616,000 (2,652,000)

Not as bad as it looks. Matlock's value is such an overbearing part of the team's value (~60%) that even a one-level drop in form by him drops the team.

Coming up next: Youth pull and finances.

[DukeRulesMAB]

Youth pull

Timothy Chastain (20804654)
18 years, passable form, healthy
A controversial person who is balanced and dishonest.
Has disastrous experience and passable leadership abilities.


Speciality: Unpredictable

Nationality: USA
Assessed value: 52 000 US$
Wage: 760 US$/week
Owner: Frankfort United
Warnings: 0


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



Will go up for sale tomorrow afternoon at 5K.

Economy

Income

Crowd: 12,463 (at Virginia Samurais)
Sponsers: 52,305
Temporary: 138,377
- 240 (New Supporters)
- 137,700 (Sale of Escalante)
- 437 (Sell-On Fee for Bryson)

Total revenues: 203,145

Expenditures

Youth Squad: 20,000
Wages: 19,282
Staff: 48,000
Arena: 8,370
Temporary: 580,000
- 2,000 (Youth Pull)
- 4,000 (Rename Arena)
- 298,000 (Purchase of Collier)
- 276,000 (Purchase of Pettersson)

Total Expenses: 675,652

Profit (Loss): (472,507)
New Balance: 365,717

Time to sit on the money for now...that may change eventually, but I want to see how profitable I'm gonna be in the new stadium.

Other stats

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

Sponsers: Delirious (Up from Satisfied)
Supporters: Satisfied (Up from Calm)
# of Supporters: 1195 (Up from 1188)

Remember my promise to take care of TS? It's about to go out the window. :D

IV.53 Preview

Vampires - Byzantines

The first of the two big matchups. Vampires should win coming down from DIII, but we'll see. As always, the first week is the most unpredictable after offseason moves.

FC Parkersburg - AC Weezer

The other big matchup. Can Parkersburg get a goal our two to help out their defense? I think they can at home.

Frankfort United - The Little Pretties

I'm MOTSing. It's silly, and I know it, but I have to. This may well be the only other team besides the walkover I can beat in the series, so I have to beat them twice. If we lose, it's a disaster, but if we lost this, we were pretty much done anyway.

ole - Jumpers

ole gets a walkover in their D IV welcome.

Up Next: Our Division IV debut, and the debut of our brand new arena, F.U. Field, as we host The Little Pretties.

[Masked]

Originally posted by DukeRulesMAB

Frankfort United - The Little Pretties

I'm MOTSing. It's silly, and I know it, but I have to. This may well be the only other team besides the walkover I can beat in the series, so I have to beat them twice. If we lose, it's a disaster, but if we lost this, we were pretty much done anyway.


Good luck.

Briefly looking over your division and schedule, I like the call. If you lose, MOTS or not, your in big trouble and will be hard pressed to recover before midseason if at all. All you risk is perhaps a bit earlier exit from the cup, and one round really isn't that important. By the time you play ole, you should have built your team spirit back up and will have another decision to make.

[DukeRulesMAB]

My vague plan is to go:

MOTS (TLP) - PIC (Cup) - PIC - PIC (Cup) - PIC - PIC - MOTS (Ole) - PIC - PIC - PIC - PIC - MOTS (Ole) - PIC - PIC - PIC - ??? (TLP)

I'm assuming I'll win my Cup match against the bot this week even with bad TS. Depending on the draw, I may have one more Cup match than listed here to PIC before the first Ole match, but I'm not counting on it.

The last game is, of course, up in the air. In an ideal world, I'll have enough points accumulated to PIC for the qualifier. Much more likely, I'll have to make some tough decisions, weighing possible auto-demotion against a possible tough qualifier.

[DukeRulesMAB]

Season 3 - Game 1

Frankfort United vs. The Little Pretties

Date: November 16, 2003
Arena: F.U. Field (Kentucky)
Crowd: 22,201 (29,424)
Weather: Cloudy

This is the debut of the brand spanking new F.U. Field! It's also the key to the season, as we are MOTSing one of the very few games we have a chance to win. It's our debut in division IV and in IV.53, and we're already MOTSing. I think I'm insane. :)

The Little Pretties are a touch better than me. They're way better in the midfield, our defense and attack are even or better. Hopefully, the MOTS + home field will narrow the midfield deficit enough to win.


Starters (Balanced 3-5-2):

Keeper: Matthew Matlock

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

Right Wing: Mariano Gómez
Central Midfield: Robert Mullineux
Central Midfield: Theodore Arnold
Central Midfield: Michael Chopin
Left Wing: Per Pettersson

Striker: William Morales
Striker: Jacob Knapp

Pettersson gets his first ever start in the key matchup in a key role. The Little Pretties runs an unbalanced 3-5-2, always with the same wingback removed. We have put our best offensive winger, Pettersson, in the offensive role over there with his passable/solid wing/passing (as opposed to Colliers Solid/wretched).

The weak point is Gómez, but Hylind is injured and in Weak form. Collier's better than Gómez, too, but I need the toward-middle to help out in the midfield.


The Match

22201 spectators had come to F. U. Field this cloudy day. Frankfort had chosen a strategic 3-5-2 formation. They fielded: Matlock - Hawkins, Eaton, Apelblad - Gómez, Arnold, Mullineux, Chopin, Pettersson - Knapp, Morales.

Pretties had chosen a strategic 3-5-2 formation. They fielded: Johnson - Donahue, Atkinson, Coe - Pack, Knutsson, Hamby, Soon-Ho, Titus - Zamora, Davis.

Pretties saw most attack opportunites on the wings and were directing their passes that way. In the 22nd minute Frankforts Robert Mullineux received a yellow card for going into a challenge studs first. Frankfort tried to break through in the middle repeatedly, but kept getting stuck on the visitors defenders. Pretties nearly produced a goal as Connie Coe set up Thomas Titus for a strike from a seemingly impossible angle. The receiver wasn´t as clear-headed though, and put the shot wide. 41 minutes into the game Bobbie Zamora was a hair´s breadth away from giving Pretties the lead. A prompt block by Matthew Matlock saved the home team that time. The teams went for a half-time break at 0 - 0. The fortyfive minutes were dominated by Frankfort, with an impressive 53 percent possession of the ball.

Frankfort were awarded a penalty 55 minutes into the game but William Morales produced a poor shot, quite easily saved by Ernest Johnson. The terraces were silenced in the 63rd minute as Pretties´s Cyril Davis put the guests ahead 0 - 1, following an attack from the right. Pretties came close to extending their lead as Cyril Davis delivered a long range shot from the right but the angle was too sharp, and the shot hit the side of the goal. Frankfort, bringing the final ball possession rate to 51 percent, dominated the battle.

Frankfort´s best player was Matthew Matlock. However, Mariano Gómez made a disastrous appearance. Most important Pretties player was Toby Hamby. However, Teddy Pack made a disastrous appearance. The match ends 0 - 1.



Goals: None
Yellow Cards: Mullineux

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


Matlock: *****

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

Gómez: **
Mullineux: ***~
Arnold: **~
Chopin: **~
Pettersson: **

Morales: **~
Knapp: **


Team Match MVP: Matthew Matlock

Frankfort United

Midfield: solid (7)
Right Side Defence: outstanding (10)
Central Defence: formidable (9)
Left Side Defence: excellent (8)
Right Side Attack: inadequate (5)
Central Attack: passable (6)
Left Side Attack: solid (7)


The Little Pretties

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

Well, I don't really have a lot to say. If we can't beat the worst non-reset team in the league at home with a MOTS, we don't belong in DIV. Which is as I always suspected; we should still be back in V.22 right now, but that's life. We'll soldier through this year as best as we can. I'll stick to the plan on PICing everyone but the quasi-winnable games. But if we're gonna perform this bad, doesn't much matter.

Elsewhere in V.22, Byzantines upset Vampires, when the latter tried an ill-advised switch to counter attack, and killed his midfield and attack. FC Parkersburg pulled off a divine central defense along with a better than normal midfield in whipping AC Weezer 3-0. And, of course, ole got their walkover.

Next up: We go to another bot in the second round of the cup.

[Havok]

tough break man... ratings wise you should have won :(

At least you can try to make a nice cup run this season. Good luck bro... either way the Misfitz will be pulling for ya!

[DukeRulesMAB]

Thanks for the good wishes; I think we'll probably still PIC through the cup in hopes of a miracle in the series.

This was just horrible time for promotion for my team. There is no rougher time in a team's history that when they are starting a new training program, because none of the trainees are developed, just starting from scratch. Give me the formidable/excellent wing attacks I had last season, and maybe I get a goal or two in this game.

Fortunately, this half-season of pain is the last time Frankfort will have to deal with that. I already have a plan for staggering trainees, so never again is an undeveloped 17/18 year-old counted on as a starter.

After this season:
- Sell Gómez
- Pick up new offensive winger trainee

After next season:
- Sell Collier and Pettersson
- Pick up one new offensive winger, one new TM winger

After 3rd season:
- Sell Hylind and the first new offensive winger trainee
- Pick up one new offensive winger, one new TM winger

And so on....

Once this gets started, I'll be able to sell two players each season to fund both improvements elsewhere and new trainees. Plus, once I get a better cash buffer, I'll be able to add in wingback trainees to the process.

One day, I hope to get a U20 player from some country...he would be held onto through age 20. If by some chance I ever develop a U20 American, I'd consider training him forever, a la Jude Sutherland.

But for now, I've got 4 guys at the very beginning of training, so it's gonna be painful for about 7-8 weeks, until Collier is Formidable and Hylind is Solid/Solid/Solid.

[DukeRulesMAB]

Season 3 - US Open Cup: Round 2

North Dakota Eagles vs. Frankfort United

Date: November 19, 2003
Arena: North Dakota Arena (North Dakota)
Crowd: 7,000 (7,000)
Weather: Partly Cloudy

Coming off of a very disappointing defeat on Sunday, we're back, PICing with furious Team Spirit. Fortunately, we're playing a really awful bot-run team, and should win handily.

Starters (Balanced 3-5-2):

Keeper: Matthew Matlock

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

Right Wing: Felix Hylind
Central Midfield: Robert Mullineux
Central Midfield: Borislav Sakic
Central Midfield: Michael Chopin
Left Wing: Jesse Collier

Striker: Courtney Sellers
Striker: Jacob Knapp

Most notable here is the debut of longshot US U-20 hopeful Jesse Collier. We're expecting good things from him. Sellers and Sakic are also being worked in, as they are the two non-trainee backups that will be around all year, good to get them action. The defense stays the same, as the backups are out the door the moment we're out of the Cup.

We're also interested to see how the midfield does; I think Hylind, even in poor form, can help us there.

The Match

7000 spectators arrived at North Dakota Arena, where weather conditions were pretty good for football. Dakota started off with a 4-4-2 lineup. The following players had been chosen: Weems - Potter, Matthews, Newsome, Bernal - Clay, Daugherty, Gifford, Grigsby - Krause, Huynh.

Frankfort had chosen a strategic 3-5-2 formation. Lineup: Matlock - Hawkins, Eaton, Apelblad - Hylind, Mullineux, Chopin, Sakic, Collier - Sellers, Knapp.

In the 15:th minute the visitors broke through on the right after some poor defending and Courtney Sellers put the ball away for 0 - 1. One of many good passes from Hugh Grigsby at the wing was recieved and skillfully taken care of by Jeremy Clay, scoring for Dakota to 1 - 1. A mistake by the home sides central defence in the 23rd minute allowed Jesse Collier to score 1 - 2 for Frankfort. The away team´s Courtney Sellers took advantage of a mistake to the home side´s right in the 30:th minute increasing Frankfort´s lead to 1 - 3. Hugh Grigsby of Dakota received a yellow card in the 32nd minute for unsportsmanlike behaviour. 1 - 3 was the half-time score. Frankfort held the ball, with a clear 73 percent possession rate.

After 67 minutes a combination in the middle resulted in a through ball for Courtney Sellers who increased Frankfort´s lead to 1 - 4. At that, Courtney Sellers was noted down for a hat trick. The visitors William Hawkins took advantage of an error due to a misunderstanding between the home side´s goalie and full backs in the 70:th minute. 1 - 5 for Frankfort. By now Frankfort were drawing the troops back in order to defend their lead. In the 74:th minute Frankforts Jacob Knapp received a yellow card for going into a challenge studs first. The referee showed Dakotas Denny Bernal the yellow card after a particularly nasty challenge. In the 81st minute Frankfort put themselves up 1 - 6 after an attack from the right, caused by a defensive blunder. Scorer was Courtney Sellers. Frankfort held the ball, with a clear 87 percent possession rate.

Dakota´s best player was Jeremy Clay. Ivan Krause was a disappointment, however. Most important Frankfort player was Matthew Matlock. Felix Hylind on the other hand, had a terrible day. The match ends 1 - 6.



Goals: Sellers 4 (4), Collier (1), Hawkins (1)
Yellow Cards: Knapp


Matlock: *****

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

Hylind: *~
Mullineux: ***~
Sakic: **
Chopin: **~
Collier: **~

Sellers: **
Knapp: **


Team Match MVP: Matthew Matlock


North Dakota Eagles

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


Frankfort United

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


I can't believe we let these tools score on us. :) Ah well, good game. Most notably Sellers tallying 4 goals in his reserve role, and Collier scoring in his debut. We're also excited about our midfield here. We got a weak despite:

1) PICing
2) With Furious TS
3) and a backup (Sakic) in the game
4) and with our TM midfielder in weak form.

Hylind's really gonna be a beast in the very near future. We're extremely excited about him.

Next week, the Cup gets serious, as we visit the Oak Park Gorillas. We're better than them, but their upper range is about the same as my lower range. Could be tricky.

Next up: Winger training begins!

[DukeRulesMAB]

Training News

Winger training starts. We got no pops. Not really sure when to expect one, of course, since these guys are all brand new.

Great experience news, though, as 3 starters popped. Eaton to Solid, Chopin to Weak, and Knapp to Poor. Eaton's my backup captain, while Knapp is my clown, thus every little bit of experience he gets makes me happy. One day, about 8-10 seasons down the line, he will be an excellent/solid coach. Yes, I do think that far ahead. :)


Form Update

Starters Going Up: 4 (Matlock to Excellent, Hawkins, Morales to Solid, Arnold to Passable)
Starters Going Down: 1 (Hylind to Poor)
Reserves Going Up: 1 (Hogue two levels to Solid)
Reserves Going Down: 1 (Sakic to Passable)

Form bounced right back after the stamina week. All 4 of those starters are very good news. Hylind is already pissing me off, he's my most important trainee right now in the games themselves (Collier is the most important long-term), and I have to decide what to do with him.


Total Team Value (Before Training): $2,700,000 (2,616,000)


Coming up next: Youth pull and finances.

[DukeRulesMAB]

Youth pull

Brandon Weston (21149148)
19 years, passable form, healthy
A pleasant guy who is balanced and dishonest.
Has disastrous experience and wretched leadership abilities.

Nationality: USA
Assessed value: 71 000 US$
Wage: 880 US$/week
Owner: Frankfort United
Warnings: 0


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


I've had a lot worse. On sale right now for 20K, ending Tuesday night.

Economy

Income

Crowd: 160,793
- 147,593 (vs. The Little Pretties)
- 13,200 (at North Dakota Eagles)
Sponsers: 60,885
Temporary: 8,204
- 210 (New Supporters)
- 4,600 (Sale of Chastain)
- 1,900 (Sell-On Fee for Hiatt)
- 1,494 (Sell-On Fee for Watts)

Total revenues: 229,882

Expenditures

Youth Squad: 20,000
Wages: 24,440
Staff: 48,000
Arena: 18,830
Temporary: 3,000
- 2,000 (Youth Pull)
- 1,000 (Listing Fees)

Total Expenses: 114,270

Profit (Loss): 115,612
New Balance: 481,329

We're gonna make a purchase soon, just waiting to see what comes available. We really, really want a set pieces player who can improve either a wingback or forward slot, but haven't found one yet.

Other stats

Team Spirit: Composed (Down from Calm)
Confidence: Strong

Sponsers: High on Life (Up from Delirious)
Supporters: Satisfied
# of Supporters: 1201 (Up from 1195)

IV.53 Preview

The Little Pretties - Vampires

Not sure what to think here, Vampires has more talent, but isn't doing well tactically and is on the road. Could be an upset special.

Jumpers - FC Parkersburg

Walkover time for FCP.

Byzantines - ole

Byzantines has more than enough to dismiss the new guys.

AC Weezer - Frankfort United

AC Weezer played poorly last week, but they're gonna be pissed off and ready to go. Not to mention their POE TS. We're doomed.

Up Next: We visit (and get mauled by) AC Weezer

[DukeRulesMAB]

Season 3 - Game 2

AC Weezer vs. Frankfort United

Date: November 23, 2003
Arena: Consumers Energy Arena (Michigan)
Crowd: 42,653 (50,000)
Weather: Partly Cloudy

Wow, that's a big arena. Anyway, after a crushing defeat in our home opener, time to venture on the road for the first time in division IV. AC Weezer hasn't shown much this year, but they're not overlooking us (they're quite an active team) and they have...wait for it...Paradise on Earth team spirit. Yeah, we're dead.


Starters (Balanced 3-5-2):

Keeper: Matthew Matlock

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

Right Wing: Per Pettersson
Central Midfield: Robert Mullineux
Central Midfield: Michael Chopin
Central Midfield: Theodore Arnold
Left Wing: Mariano Gómez

Striker: William Morales
Striker: Jacob Knapp

No special matchup stuff this week, they run a balanced squad, nothing special to be done. Gómez stays on the A team despite me not liking him much due to Hylind's horrid form. And, star ratings aside, I suspect that Pettersson contributes more to an attack right now than Collier. Further, I could really use a quick specialty goal from Per. We have plenty of head specialists like Collier.


The Match

42653 spectators arrived at Consumers Energy Arena, where weather conditions were pretty good for football. ACW tactics involved an interesting 3-5-2 combination. Lineup: Larsson - Yang, Belanger, Gerhardsson - Suslik, Darnell, Di Blasio, Papazov, Capó Giol - Kjellsson, Nocon.

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

ACW mostly ignored the flanks in favour of attacks in the middle. Many thought Franklin Belanger ought to have been awarded a penalty shot in the 10:th minute, as he went down trying to circle the visitors keeper Matthew Matlock. Oskar Kjellsson gave his ACW the lead with 1 - 0, as he successfully challenged both the guests central defenders, then placed the ball unreachably at the goaltenders right post. The home side´s Damiano Di Blasio came close to extending the lead in the 24:th minute. His shot came in off the right hand side but Matthew Matlock managed saving with a fingernail. After 33 minutes Per Pettersson made a speedy advance and dropped the ball to Jacob Knapp who shuffled the ball past the keeper. The score was now 1 - 1. The referee showed Frankforts Michael Chopin the yellow card after a particularly nasty challenge. 1 - 1 was the half-time score. ACW, bringing the final ball possession rate to 67 percent, dominated the battle.

ACW tried to break through in the middle repeatedly, but kept getting stuck on the visitors defenders. ACWs Iordan Papazov got himself booked after a foul. ACW created a good opportunity to score in the games 67:th minute when Xavier Darnell`s hooked ball created a scuffle in front of the goal, and the visitors defenders had a hard time clearing the ball. ACW´s Alfonso Capó Giol left the field after 75 minutes because of a nasty blow to the shin. His replacement was Brian Esbensen. The referee showed ACWs Brian Esbensen the yellow card after a particularly nasty challenge. Frankfort made a substitution in the 79:th minute. William Morales limped off the field and was replaced by Courtney Sellers. ACW held the ball, with a clear 64 percent possession rate.

Most important ACW player was Xavier Darnell. However, Iordan Papazov made a disastrous appearance. Frankfort´s best player was Matthew Matlock. Mariano Gómez was a disappointment, however. The match ends 1 - 1.


Goals: Knapp (3)
Yellow Cards: Chopin

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


Matlock: *****

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

Pettersson: **
Mullineux: ***~
Chopin: **~
Arnold: **~
Gómez: **

Morales: **
Sellers (in for Morales): **
Knapp: **


Team Match MVP: Matthew Matlock

AC Weezer

Midfield: excellent (8)
Right Side Defence: solid (7)
Central Defence: excellent (8)
Left Side Defence: solid (7)
Right Side Attack: excellent (8)
Central Attack: outstanding (10)
Left Side Attack: inadequate (5)


Frankfort United
Player rating and Team formation
Midfield: weak (4)
Right Side Defence: outstanding (10)
Central Defence: formidable (9)
Left Side Defence: excellent (8)
Right Side Attack: excellent (8)
Central Attack: solid (7)
Left Side Attack: inadequate (5)

Wow, that was certainly unexpected. I knew there was a reason I overpaid for Pettersson, and that quick specialty paid off huge. It's not particularly meaningful; it's only one point and we got outplayed in a major way. But it shows that survival is possible. Not probable, not remotely so. But possible.

On the bad news side, Morales is out 2 weeks. I hired 4 doctors (in addition to my usual 1), we hope to have him back for next week's Cup match, if we can get a win this week. I don't know how likely that is without Morales.

Elsewhere, The Little Pretties upset Vampires 1-0. They're off to a hot start, and have to be considered a threat. Byzantines thrashed ole 4-1, they are certainly the favorites to win it all.

Next up: The Cup reaches the challenging phase, as we visit Oak Park Gorillas.

[Havok]

Quick wingers rock!!! nice tie bro :)

[DukeRulesMAB]

Yeah, I have you to thank for that. I'd forgotten to go for a quick winger until you mentioned it, so I made sure my fourth trainee was quick. So a big thanks. :)

[sterlingice]

Wow- completely unexpected but can't look a gift point in the mouth :D

SI

[DukeRulesMAB]

Season 3 - US Open Cup: Round 3

Oak Park Gorillas vs. Frankfort United

Date: November 26, 2003
Arena: The Zoo (Chicago)
Crowd: 20,700 (20,700)
Weather: Sunny

Now the Cup gets challenging. Oak Park isn't great (their best TS's are about on par with my worst), but they could easily pull an upset, especially at home. We're PICing, of course; eye on the prize of surviving IV.53.

Starters (Balanced 3-5-2):

Keeper: Matthew Matlock

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

Right Wing: Jesse Collier
Central Midfield: Robert Mullineux
Central Midfield: Michael Chopin
Central Midfield: Theodore Arnold
Left Wing: Felix Hylind

Striker: Courtney Sellers
Striker: Jacob Knapp

Except for rotating the trainees, this is the best team we can put on the field. I decided to screw backup form (though really Sakic is the only one affected).

The attack is a problem, Knapp's in inad form, and Sellers is playing for an injured Morales. Hylind's also in crap form, but still should help out midfield.

The Match

The 20700 spectators at The Zoo were in for an afternoon of sunshine. Gorillas had chosen a strategic 4-4-2 formation. The following players had been chosen: Morrissey - Gamberini, Echols, Stephens, Murray - Byrne, Potter, Boyd, Nickerson - Levy, Thomas.

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

A lovely rush by Gorillas's Wilbert Byrne pastAlexander Apelblad could have resulted in a goal, but the finish was just outside. 6 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. Wilbert Byrne of Gorillas received a yellow card in the 10:th minute for unsportsmanlike behaviour. Frankfort took the lead after 30 minutes with 0 - 1. Jesse Collier placed the ball out of reach for the home sides keeper after a fine move, coming in from the left. The teams went for a half-time break at 0 - 1. Frankfort held the ball, with a clear 55 percent possession rate.

In the 47:th minute the visitors put themselves ahead 0 - 2 as Robert Mullineux finished off an attack from the left with a spectacular scissors kick. After several obvious shirt pulling incidents, Frankfort´s Courtney Sellers got himself booked. The referee showed Gorillass Theo Potter the yellow card after a particularly nasty challenge. The Frankfort player was Matthew Matlock who had to be helped off the pitch, unable to finish the game. In the 62nd minute Frankforts Jacob Knapp received a yellow card for going into a challenge studs first. Gorillas were forced to a substitution as Roderick Echols couldn´t continue playing due to the rough treatment. Frankfort, bringing the final ball possession rate to 62 percent, dominated the battle.

Most important Gorillas player was Marvin Morrissey. Ray Childers on the other hand, had a terrible day. Most important Frankfort player was Robert Mullineux. Harold Diehl was a disappointment, however. The match ends 0 - 2.




Goals: Collier (2), Mullineux (2)
Yellow Cards: Knapp, Sellers


Matlock: ****
Diehl (in for Matlock): 0 stars

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

Collier: **~
Mullineux: ***~
Chopin: **~
Arnold: **~
Hylind: *~

Sellers: **
Knapp: **


Team Match MVP: Robert Mullineux


Oak Park Gorillas

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

Frankfort United

Midfield: inadequate (5)
Right Side Defence: outstanding (10)
Central Defence: formidable (9)
Left Side Defence: excellent (8)
Right Side Attack: excellent (8)
Central Attack: passable (6)
Left Side Attack: weak (4)

Who says defense can't win? :) After giving up a couple event opprtunities early, they had nothing the rest of the game. Especially impressive was our midfield play, when Hylind gets in good form, he's gonna be a major boost. Our attack ratings are even starting to come around. Very happy with the effort.

Despite the scary moment with Matlock, he's only listed as out a week, and we expect to have him for next week (we already have 5 doctors on hand to deal with Morales). It does underscore the eventual need for a backup, though.

The other 6 IV.53 teams all are up to round 4 as well.

Next up is our first home game against the Pepsi Warriors of V.202. They are better than us, and somehow got relegated last year. Their midfield is about the same as ours, the defense can be better than ours when they play the "A" side, and their offense is always better than ours. Owie. On the bright side, we have our league walkover this week, so we'll be able to play the A teams without worrying.


Next up: Training Update

[DukeRulesMAB]

Training News

We've got our first pop, and it's a good one.

Jesse Collier (20553193)
17 years, solid form, healthy
A controversial person who is temperamental and upright.
Has disastrous experience and wretched leadership abilities.


Speciality: Head

Nationality: USA
Assessed value: 95 000 US$
Wage: 760 US$/week
Owner: Frankfort United
Warnings: 0


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

He's not a U-20 guy unless there is a serious rash of injuries, but he's still gonna be damn good.

Also, "wingback" (really a central defender playing out of position) Alexander Apelblad popped to Poor experience. That leaves only Matlock and whatever trainees are starting in a given week as the A teamers with disas/wretched experience.


Form Update

Starters Going Up: 3 (Arnold, Collier to Solid, Hylind 2 levels to Inadequate)
Starters Going Down: 2 (Chopin to Passable, Apelblad to Inadequate)
Reserves Going Up: 1 (Sakic to Solid)
Reserves Going Down: 1 (Hogue 2 levels to Inadequate)

We're very happy to see Hylind bounce back quickly, and Collier in good form. Both of them will start in the big Cup game.

Interesting note: Sakic didn't even play this week.


Total Team Value (Before Training): $2,568,000 (2,700,000)

When Matlock is hurt, our team value plummets. That's what happens when he has 60% of the team's value. :)

Coming up next: Youth pull and finances.

[DukeRulesMAB]

Porras finally was daytraded, netting us a bit over 40K. Took his team long enough.

Youth pull

Bill Henry (21474175)
18 years, passable form, healthy
A controversial person who is balanced and infamous.
Has disastrous experience and weak leadership abilities.

Nationality: USA
Assessed value: 73 000 US$
Wage: 860 US$/week
Owner: Frankfort United
Warnings: 0


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

That's almost exactly what we wanted. He'll slide right into Apelblad's wingback spot. He's better than him defending, and has better winger and is younger, making him more trainable. I can see him being with Frankfort for quite a while.

Apelblad will likely go on the list Monday, after I play Henry in the walkover, and make sure his star rating is up to snuff.


Economy

Income

Crowd: 47,520 (at Oak Park Gorillas)
Sponsers: 66,000
Temporary: 61,050
- 510 (New Supporters)
- 19,320 (Sale of Weston)
- 41,220 (Sell-On Fee for Porras)

Total revenues: 174,570

Expenditures

Youth Squad: 20,000
Wages: 24,440
Staff: 48,000
Arena: 18,830
Temporary: 3,000
- 2,000 (Youth Pull)
- 1,000 (Listing Fees)

Total Expenses: 114,270

Profit (Loss): 60,300
New Balance: 541,629

Having landed our wingback through a youth pull, we're gonna look hard for a new forward this week. Hopefully, something in the Excellent/Inad range.

Other stats

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

Sponsers: High on Life
Supporters: Delirious (Up from Satisfied)
# of Supporters: 1218 (Up from 1201)

IV.53 Preview

FC Parkersburg - Byzantines

The two leaders in the league meet. Will be a rough game either way, but I expect a Byzantines win, they just impress me more.

Frankfort United - Jumpers

We get walkover #1.

The Little Pretties - AC Weezer

Intersting game. The Little Pretties are off to a hot start, and have a home match against a struggling ACW (still with strong TS, though). I see TLP holding court here with another narrow win.

ole - Vampires

Vampires is struggling, despite coming down from DIII, but they aren't struggling this bad. They should take care of ole.

Up Next: Our home walkover.

[DukeRulesMAB]

Season 3 - Game 3

Overcast weather free of rain made for a crowd turnout of 11375 at F. U. Field today. Frankfort had chosen a strategic 3-5-2 formation. They fielded: Sakic - Hawkins, Eaton, Henry - Pettersson, Arnold, Mullineux, Chopin, Gómez - Sellers, Knapp.

Jumpers tactics involved an interesting 0-0-0 combination. The following players had been chosen: - - - .

The visitors weren´t able to produce at least 9 players, which is the minimum amount allowed, so they had to concede to a walk over. The spectators, who had all been looking forward to an exciting game, were of course very disappointed. The match ends 5 - 0.



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

We got our walkover win. Not much to say of course other than that Henry got the expected **~, so he's good to go. Apelblad will go on the transfer wire tomorrow afternoon cheap.


In competitive IV.53 action, Byzantines and FC Parkersburg fought to a 1-1 draw. FC Parkersburg has great NSI's, but it's concentrated on their defense, so ties like this will be common. Vampires took out out 3-1, and seems to be rounding into decent form. But the amazing thing is this.

The Little Pretties

Midfield: inadequate (5)
Right Side Defence: passable (6)
Central Defence: excellent (8)
Left Side Defence: excellent (8)
Right Side Attack: passable (6)
Central Attack: inadequate (5)
Left Side Attack: passable (6)
NSI: 54

AC Weezer

Midfield: passable (6)
Right Side Defence: excellent (8)
Central Defence: excellent (8)
Left Side Defence: formidable (9)
Right Side Attack: excellent (8)
Central Attack: formidable (9)
Left Side Attack: inadequate (5)
NSI: 65

TLP won six to one! That's gotta smart for ACW. TLP now leads IV.53 with 9 points, but clearly that's not gonna last.

Coming Next: We host Pepsi Warriors in the US Open Cup.

[DukeRulesMAB]

Season 3 - US Open Cup: Round 4

Frankfort United vs. Pepsi-Warriors

Date: December 3, 2003
Arena: F.U. Field (Kentucky)
Crowd: 29,424 (29,424)
Weather: Sunny

This should end our cup run. They got relegated in a complete fluke last season when they lost 4-3 to a team they out-NSI'd 76-56. They haven't had a competitive game less than 68 NSI in over a full season. I've never had above a 66 NSI. Also, we're PICing for the league. So yeah, this is bad. :)

Starters (Balanced 3-5-2):

Keeper: Matthew Matlock

Right Defender: William Hawkins
Central Defender: Arthur Eaton
Left Defender: Bill Henry

Right Wing: Jesse Collier
Central Midfield: Robert Mullineux
Central Midfield: Michael Chopin
Central Midfield: Theodore Arnold
Left Wing: Felix Hylind

Striker: William Morales
Striker: Jacob Knapp

Well, first off, as you can tell here, we didn't buy a forward this week. The reasoning for this was 3-fold

1) We realized we were 100K-200K short of the kind of forward we really wanted.
2) We realized we had almost no shot in this game
3) Morales got to Bruised but Playing

The rest is normal. This is Henry's first start, we're happy to have him. We have a shot at a passable midfield here with good TS, at home, with Hylind in improved form.

The Match

A brilliantly sunny day had enticed a crowd of 29424 to F. U. Field. Frankfort started off with a 3-5-2 lineup. Lineup: Matlock - Hawkins, Eaton, Henry - Collier, Arnold, Mullineux, Chopin, Hylind - Knapp, Morales.

Pepsi-Warriors had chosen a strategic 3-5-2 formation. Lineup: Lafleur - Wai-kheng, Zapletal, Davidsson - Macedo Hinz, Acedo Menin, Stadlbauer, Westerén, Åkesson - Cedergren, Pålsson.

Jose Eduardo Acedo Menin came close to putting the visiting team one up in the 5:th minute, following a solo raid down the middle, but Matthew Matlock managed to tip the ball to a corner. Frankfort broke through to the left in the 10:th minute, Theodore Arnold firing at an acute angle giving the home side a 1 - 0 lead. Frankforts Arthur Eaton got himself booked after a foul. With 15 minutes played Jacob Knapp could have brought this one home for Frankfort, had his hooked ball gone in, but it went just a bit too high. Visitors Lucas A. Westerén was alert on a play coming in from the left, making the score a tie at 1 - 1 in the 16:th minute. The referee showed Frankforts Robert Mullineux the yellow card after a particularly nasty challenge. Halftime score was 1 - 1. Possession of the ball saw an equal split between the teams during the fortyfive minutes.

Frankforts William Morales gave, after 72 minutes, the home team a 2 - 1 lead after an attack coming in from the right. Christian Stadlbauer of Pepsi-Warriors received a yellow card in the 79:th minute for unsportsmanlike behaviour. Visitors Magnus Cedergren was alert on a play coming in from the left, making the score a tie at 2 - 2 in the 87:th minute. Bill Henry of Frankfort received a yellow card in the 88:th minute for unsportsmanlike behaviour. Pepsi-Warriors, bringing the final ball possession rate to 52 percent, dominated the battle.

After the regular 90 minutes, the agony of overtime followed. Unsportsmanlike behaviour by Bill Henry rendered him his second booking of the match, and Frankfort had to finish the game with a reduced squad. William Morales gave his Frankfort the lead with 3 - 2, as he successfully challenged both the guests central defenders, then placed the ball unreachably at the goaltenders right post. With that Frankfort had won the game in extra time. The most dominating Frankfort player was without a doubt Matthew Matlock. However, Felix Hylind made a disastrous appearance. The most dominating Pepsi-Warriors player was without a doubt Lucas A. Westerén. Magnus Cedergren was a disappointment, however. The match ends 3 - 2.


Goals: Morales 2 (4), Arnold (1)
Yellow Cards: Henry 2, Eaton, Mullineux


Matlock: *****

Hawkins: ***
Eaton: ***~
Henry: None Given (Sent Off)

Collier: ***
Mullineux: ***~
Chopin: **~
Arnold: ***
Hylind: **

Morales: **~
Knapp: **


Team Match MVP: Matthew Matlock


Frankfort United

Midfield: passable (6)
Right Side Defence: outstanding (10)
Central Defence: formidable (9)
Left Side Defence: formidable (9)
Right Side Attack: formidable (9)
Central Attack: solid (7)
Left Side Attack: inadequate (5)


Pepsi-Warriors

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

Wow! What a great effort from our guys. An all-time high NSI. Supporter rates it as my best game, best defense, 5th best midfield (on a PIC!), and 15th best attack. The attack is more impressive then you'd think given that we played both wings offensive all of the last two seasons. And, I re-emphasize, on a PIC! Just a great effort. Our first ever OT game, too. Not to mention our first 5th round US Open Cup appearance.

Morales's return was key, and he put in two goals. Hylind is already having a big effect on the team. Hell, before he was sent off, Henry helped us to our best ever left defense rating! Actually, that's the one downside, he's not even tempermental, him getting suspended for Sunday's game is irritating. Not sure what direction I'm gonna go in there, stay tuned.

Next week, we face Bulldawgs. They are in 3rd place in III.4 (uh oh). Their ratings tonight looked like:

Midfield: outstanding
Right Side Defence: magnificent
Central Defence: brilliant
Left Side Defence: outstanding
Right Side Attack: passable
Central Attack: brilliant
Left Side Attack: excellent

And lest you think that was their A team, their Sunday ratings looked like:

Midfield: brilliant
Right Side Defence: brilliant
Central Defence: magnificent
Left Side Defence: supernatural
Right Side Attack: excellent
Central Attack: excellent
Left Side Attack: excellent

At least there's no point in worrying about that game. :)

Elsewhere, The Little Pretties lost a tight game to a good team, while Vampires got waxed by a similarly talented team. Vampires just isn't very good. The other IV.53 teams all won, including ole winning in extra time like myself.


Next up: Training Update

[Havok]

nice win Duke :)

That defense is looking nice!

[DukeRulesMAB]

Thanks, Havoc!

I'm really glad I trained keeper for my first two years. For one thing, it's easy, and hard to screw up, something that's underrated for a newbie. And now, even with defenders of passable/solid/solid and an offensive coach, I can put up those defensive ratings. Matlock's the best keeper in my series, and will likely keep me in all games except the biggest mismatches.

Now I can build my offense without worrying about defense, and when I can afford some excellent defenders...yow.

[Havok]

Im wondering what kind of defensive ratings i'll get with a formidable goalie.

Right now when everyone is in passable form i'll get solid/excellent/excellent with 1 wingback playing normal. With a formidable goalie i "think" i'll get a excellent/formidable/formidable.

that sound right to you???

P.S. my current goalie is a mid-level solid.

[DukeRulesMAB]

Yeah, I think you'll go up about a level accross the board, though it's hard for me to guage that based on my team, because while Matlock was improving 2 levels, he was also improving in form, so I have trouble separating the two.

[DukeRulesMAB]

Training News

We got the pop we really, really wanted for this week.

Mariano Gómez (16328672)
18 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: 119 000 US$
Wage: 1 092 US$/week including 20% Bonus
Owner: Frankfort United
Warnings: 0


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

Mariano is the one winger we're planning on selling at the end of the year, so this was crucial. We now expect him to pop formidable late this year, so he should bring in a nice piece of cash.

Per Pettersson has been trained 3 weeks now at 17 years old; either he pops next week or I've been misinformed about the time it takes for a winger to pop. :) Hylind should pop within the next two weeks, as well.

One thing I forgot to mentioned last week, wingback William Hawkins dropped from inadequate to weak in...passing. If we counterattacked, that would bother me, but we don't, so it doesn't.


Form Update

Starters Going Up: 4 (Eaton, Arnold to Excellent, Knapp, Hylind to Passable)
Starters Going Down: 0
Reserves Going Up: 1 (Diehl to Solid)
Reserves Going Down: 0

We are in inhumanly great form. We have one player below passable. And it's a player who will never play for us again. AND he's in inad form. We have 3 starters in excellent form, 3 in solid, 4 in passable.

Total Team Value (Before Training): $2,806,000 (2,549,000)



Coming up next: Youth pull and finances.

[DukeRulesMAB]

A nice little bidding war broke out over Apelblad. On the bad side, our TS took a slight hit when he left (he was popular). On the good side, he sold for slightly over 100K! This for a passable defender with passable passing in his mid/early 20s. Guess someone really wanted that CA.

That put a touch over 90K in the bank, and we dropped 36K of it on this guy:

Demitri Makris (21418280)
18 years, passable form, healthy
A pleasant guy who is calm and honest.
Has disastrous experience and wretched leadership abilities.

Nationality: Sverige
Assessed value: 39 000 US$
Wage: 816 US$/week including 20% Bonus
Owner: Frankfort United
Warnings: 0


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


He's nothing special, we probably overpaid a touch, but we wanted to get the guy and get it over with. He'll get trained at half speed for a while, until he's at least excellent winger. No real plan for him (or the other guy we'll pick up soon who'll probably look at lot like Demitri).

Meanwhile, this doof will start at wingback Sunday. I gave brief thought to bringing in a one-and-out solid or excellent, but we're not gonna be anywhere close to Byzantines anyway, and I didn't want to risk another TS hit.

Finally, with this acquisition, we have released scrub defense backup Eric Hogue. We now have no one below passable form on the entire squad. :)

[DukeRulesMAB]

Youth pull

Kev Cabrera (21722084)
19 years, passable form, healthy
A pleasant guy who is balanced and upright.
Has disastrous experience and inadequate leadership abilities.

Nationality: USA
Assessed value: 34 000 US$
Wage: 680 US$/week
Owner: Frankfort United
Warnings: 0


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


The last 4 weeks, I believe we've gotten 3 player that we've sold (on in Kev's case will sell), and Henry, who's our new starting wingback. None of the players sold for any great sums, but we're certainly not complaining. This one's for sale at 10K, ending 12/10/2003 at 01:40.


Economy

Income

Crowd: 204,474
- 75,848 (vs. Jumpers)
- 128,626 (vs. Pepsi-Warriors)
Sponsers: 69,465
Temporary: 102,330
- 780 (New Supporters)
- 91,800 (Sale of Apelblad)
- 9,750 (Sell-On Fee for Huber)

Total revenues: 376,269

Expenditures

Youth Squad: 20,000
Wages: 24,440
Staff: 54,000
Arena: 18,830
Temporary: 45,000
- 2,000 (Youth Pull)
- 1,000 (Listing Fees)
- 6,000 (Fired Doctors)
- 36,000 (Purchase of Makris)

Total Expenses: 162,270

Profit (Loss): 213,999
New Balance: 755,628

We've got a boatload of cash, we are eventually going to get that forward, but I'm in no hurry, and have very specific requirements.

Other stats

Team Spirit: Content
Confidence: Strong

Sponsers: Dancing in the Streets (Up from High on Life)
Supporters: High on Life (Up from Delirious)
# of Supporters: 1244 (Up from 1218)

I'm quickly learning the importance of coach leadership, as we can't hold high TS for anything. I think we'd be satisfied if not for the Apelblad sale drop, but still. Getting a better coach is definately moving up on my list of priorities, though not till next season at the earliest.

IV.53 Preview

Vampires - AC Weezer

These two have been disappointing so far. But Vampires much more so; I expect AC Weezer to get the road win here.

Jumpers - The Little Pretties

TLP grabs their first walkover, and is, unbelievable, perfect through 4 games.

Byzantines - Frankfort United

Byzantines is the favorite in the series, IMO. Second at worst behind FC Parkersburg. But FCP is mainly a defensive team, so I still might have hope against them of getting a fluke point. Byzantines, there is no such hope, so with us on the road, this makes it the most hopeless game of the year. We'll be PICing and hoping it doesn't get too ugly.

ole - FC Parkersburg

You never know when a team as unbalanced toward defense as FCP, but they're so much better than ole I can't see them blowing this.

Up Next: We visit the series favorites and beg for mercy.

[DukeRulesMAB]

Season 3 - Game 4

Byzantines vs. Frankfort United

Date: December 7, 2003
Arena: Hagia Sofia (Arizona)
Crowd: 42,000 (42,000)
Weather: Partly Cloudy

Byzantines was one of 4 teams I thought had a shot at the title before the year. Two of them (ACW and Vampires) have fallen way off the pace early. The Little Pretties appear to have joined them at the top, but I still don't think that'll last. That leaves Byzantines and FC Parkersburg. FCP is an amazing defensive team (putting up the occassional divine central defense), but is weak elsewhere. That makes Byzantines, for my money, the series favorites, and this the most unwinnable match of the year for us. Definately PIC time. :)


Starters (Balanced 3-5-2):

Keeper: Matthew Matlock

Right Defender: William Hawkins
Central Defender: Arthur Eaton
Left Defender: Demitri Makris

Right Wing: Felix Hylind
Central Midfield: Robert Mullineux
Central Midfield: Michael Chopin
Central Midfield: Theodore Arnold
Left Wing: Per Pettersson

Striker: William Morales
Striker: Jacob Knapp

With Henry out, Makris makes his debut. Not just for Frankfort United, his first match ever. Our defensive ratings will take a huge hit of course. I've shifted Eaton over to Makris's side of the central defense (he usually is on Hawkins' side), but it won't make much difference. On the very, very small bright side, Makris should help our wing attack a touch.

Elsewhere, Hylind takes his position on the "A" team as his form is just fine nowdays. And Pettersson gets the call over Collier. He won't but up Collier's ***, but the weather forcast was right for his quick specialty, so we're hoping.


The Match

Weather conditions were fairly good for football, and Hagia Sofia saw a crowd turnout of 42000. Byzantines tactics involved an interesting 3-5-2 combination. They fielded: Andreasson - Farley, Singletary, Anthony - Carvoeiro Martin, Yates, Whitten, Esposito, Mestre - Kuusemaa, Herzog.

Frankfort started off with a 3-5-2 lineup. They fielded: Matlock - Hawkins, Eaton, Makris - Hylind, Arnold, Mullineux, Chopin, Pettersson - Knapp, Morales.

Ron Herzog gave his Byzantines the lead with 1 - 0, as he successfully challenged both the guests central defenders, then placed the ball unreachably at the goaltenders right post. José Alberto Carvoeiro Martins was dominating his wing and kept sending fine balls into the enemy box - Ron Herzog managed to kick one of them into 2 - 0 in the 13th minute. After this Byzantines lowered the tempo in order to concentrate on their defensive efforts. After an industrious effort down the middle Ron Herzog could have closed the game off in the 16:th minute, but his finishing shot hit the post. An indirect free kick in the visitor´s penalty area in the 23rd minute could have resulted in another goal, but Matthew Matlock got a hand out and tipped the ball over the bar. Michael Chopin of Frankfort received a yellow card in the 37:th minute for unsportsmanlike behaviour. In the 39:th minute of the match the visitors central line of defence had to look on as Karl Kuusemaa dashed through, knocking home 3 - 0 for Byzantines. The teams went for a half-time break at 3 - 0. The fortyfive minutes were dominated by Byzantines, with an impressive 59 percent possession of the ball.

In the 46:th minute Frankforts Robert Mullineux received a yellow card for going into a challenge studs first. Benjamin Whitten the unlucky victim, couldn´t continue the game, so Marco Nielsen had to come off the bench. After an industrious effort down the middle Karl Kuusemaa could have closed the game off in the 47:th minute, but his finishing shot hit the post. Frankfort reduced in the 68:th minute to 3 - 1 as Per Pettersson easily chipped the ball past the home sides keeper on a play from the right. In the games 69:th minute Byzantines´s Ron Herzog head butted an opponent nastily and so the referee sent him off immediately. Byzantines held the ball, with a clear 52 percent possession rate.

Byzantines´s best player was Kyle Yates. Rafael Anthony on the other hand, had a terrible day. The most dominating Frankfort player was without a doubt Matthew Matlock. Demitri Makris on the other hand, had a terrible day. The match ends 3 - 1.



Goals: Pettersson (1)
Yellow Cards: Chopin, Mullineux

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


Matlock: *****

Hawkins: ***
Eaton: ***~
Makris: **

Hylind: **
Mullineux: ***~
Chopin: **~
Arnold: ***
Pettersson: **~

Morales: ***
Knapp: **~


Team Match MVP: Matthew Matlock

Byzantines

Midfield: solid (7)
Right Side Defence: outstanding (10)
Central Defence: excellent (8)
Left Side Defence: solid (7)
Right Side Attack: formidable (9)
Central Attack: formidable (9)
Left Side Attack: formidable (9)


Frankfort United

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


Strong effort from our guys, all things considered, just not enough to deal with a superior team. Highlights included still strong defensive ratings despite a major handicap down there. Individually, Makris (said handicap) performed better than expected, while I was also pleased with the ratings from Arnold, Pettersson, and Morales. Pettersson is proving to be a playmaker, as he got today's goal not even using his quick specialty. We're not nearly as good as the top teams in the series, but we're not gonna get killed most weeks either.

The one downside: Mullineux is suspended. But we weren't gonna be winning Wednesday anyway, so I'll look at it on the bright side and say it's nice to have his slate clean for the real games.

Elsewhere in IV.53, Vampires whipped AC Weezer 4-1, and finally showed the talent that made them a division III team last year, including a magnificent central attack. In the other competitive game, FC Parkersburg eeked out a 1-0 win over ole. Next week we play ole at home in a must-win.

The standings through 4 weeks:

1. The Little Pretties 4 13 - 1 12

2. FC Parkersburg 4 10 - 1 10
3. Byzantines 4 10 - 4 10
4. Vampires 4 8 - 5 6

5. Frankfort United 4 7 - 5 4
6. ole 4 7 - 8 3

7. AC Weezer 4 3 - 14 1
8. Jumpers 4 0 - 20 0


Next up: We get absolutely smacked in the Cup by Bulldawgs.

[DukeRulesMAB]

Season 3 - US Open Cup: Round 4

Frankfort United vs. Bulldawgs

Date: December 10, 2003
Arena: F.U. Field (Kentucky)
Crowd: 20,798 (29,424)
Weather: Rain

Rain kept the crowd down, and frankly, I'd rather my fans not see this game anyway. ;) Bulldawgs has an excellent team, which is gonna wipe the floor with me. We're PICing for the league, and playing reserves for various reasons.

Starters (Balanced 3-5-2):

Keeper: Matthew Matlock

Right Defender: William Hawkins
Central Defender: Arthur Eaton
Left Defender: Bill Henry

Right Wing: Jesse Collier
Central Midfield: Michael Chopin
Central Midfield: Borislav Sakic
Central Midfield: Theodore Arnold
Left Wing: Mariano Gómez

Striker: Courtney Sellers
Striker: Jacob Knapp

Mullineux is suspended, so Sakic is in, and we have no chance, so I shuffled Sellers into the lineup. Sakic and Chopin are Powerful, so maybe we could luck into a rain event goal of some sort, but that's the only tiny prayer we have.


The Match

Due to an all-day shower, 20798 paying spectators got to see a match on a pitch-turned-bog at F. U. Field. Frankfort had chosen a strategic 3-5-2 formation. The following players had been chosen: Matlock - Hawkins, Eaton, Henry - Collier, Arnold, Chopin, Sakic, Gómez - Sellers, Knapp.

Bulldawgs started off with a 3-5-2 lineup. They fielded: Hummel - Harbin, Börjesson, Quinn - Moran, Pihlhall, Mclendon, Wästerander, Simas - Jarolím, Diculescu.

Some quick foot work on the left side of the field in the 8:th minute left Bulldawgs´s Ray Quinn completely free to score. 0 - 1 for the visitors. In the games 19:th minute Frankfort´s Courtney Sellers fell dramatically just outside the penalty area. However, the referee booked Courtney Sellers for taking a dive. James Mclendon was, after 26 minutes, almost able to extend the visitors lead with a well placed diving header but home side keeper Matthew Matlock saved. William Hawkins was uncomfortable with the soggy pitch as he couldn´t move the ball around with his usual grace. After the ball got lifted in from the left David Pihlhall was on his own in the home side´s penalty area 35 minutes into the game, and should have scored, but missed, probably due to lack of concentration. The teams went for a half-time break at 0 - 1. Bulldawgs, bringing the final ball possession rate to 67 percent, dominated the battle.

After 52 minutes of game time Grigore Diculescu received an excellent opportunity to add to the visitors lead, clipping a volley hooked in from the right, but Matthew Matlock was in the right place, tipping the ball to a corner. In the 64:th minute the visitors put themselves ahead 0 - 2 as Tomas Jarolím finished off an attack from the left with a spectacular scissors kick. Frankfort will have to do without Courtney Sellers for a time due to a bad foot injury. He was substituted by William Morales. In the 67:th minute Bulldawgs put themselves up 0 - 3 after an attack from the right, caused by a defensive blunder. Scorer was Tomas Jarolím. Bulldawgs held the ball, with a clear 70 percent possession rate.

The most dominating Frankfort player was without a doubt Matthew Matlock. Mariano Gómez was a disappointment, however. Bulldawgs´s best player was Thomas V. Wästerander. Ray Quinn on the other hand, had a terrible day. The match ends 0 - 3.



Goals: None
Yellow Cards: Sellers


Matlock: *****

Hawkins: ***
Eaton: ***~
Henry: **~

Collier: ***
Chopin: **~
Sakic: **
Arnold: ***
Gómez: **

Sellers: *
Morales (In for Sellers): ***
Knapp: **~


Team Match MVP: Matthew Matlock


Frankfort United

Midfield: inadequate (5)
Right Side Defence: outstanding (10)
Central Defence: formidable (9)
Left Side Defence: formidable (9)
Right Side Attack: excellent (8)
Central Attack: solid (7)
Left Side Attack: inadequate (5)


Bulldawgs

Midfield: brilliant (11)
Right Side Defence: brilliant (11)
Central Defence: magnificent (12)
Left Side Defence: world class (13)
Right Side Attack: passable (6)
Central Attack: excellent (8)
Left Side Attack: solid (7)

Yep, that's about as expected. We matched up OK on offense, but their defense and midfield all but guaranteed we wouldn't score, while their midfield had the ball so much the offense couldn't help but score a few. Matlock's 2 saves were the only things that kept us in the game for a while, and kept the score respectable in the end.


Sellers is out 4 weeks, but that's not a big deal, even for backup purposes, for reasons stated in a post to follow.

We're very happy with our Cup run, and hopefully can repeat or top it next season!

Elsewhere, it was not a good week in the Cup for IV.53. FC Parkersburg lost in PK's. Byzantines got spanked by one of DK's rivals, Sweden Heights. And AC Weezer lost a tight game. The only IV.53 member left in the 6th round? None other than bottom-feeding ole, who took out Twin Cities United 3-2. Hopefully, they MOTS'd so they'll be down for this weekend.

Next up: Training Update

[DukeRulesMAB]

New Starter

Our search for a new forward has come to an end...

Daniel Aguado (10781685)
19 years, passable form, healthy
A controversial person who is balanced and honest.
Has disastrous experience and poor leadership abilities.


Speciality: Quick

Nationality: Chile
Assessed value: 220 000 US$
Wage: 1 572 US$/week including 20% Bonus
Owner: Frankfort United
Warnings: 0


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

The young Chilean caused a slight TS hit on his arrival, but it will be more than worth the 691K we dropped on him. We don't even have a solid scorer right now, so this is a major upgrade. He brings some passing and some set pieces to the table as well, paving the way for the exodus of William Morales (our current SP guru) at some point, though not now. He's also quick; we preferred unpredictable, but we'll take it. All in all, should help our event goals, and should greatly help our attack ratings. We're very excited!

There will be no releases to make room for this. Sellers is out for a while, but we've decided to start carrying a full B squad, and this gives us the full 4 forwards. We are also probably going to start working on a second formation in friendlies to go with our 3-5-2, likely a 4-5-1. Just something to keep other teams on their toes.

[sterlingice]

Oooh! Pretty! I bet he didn't come cheap. That's almost identical to what I'm shopping for!

SI

[DukeRulesMAB]

si - 691K was most of my cash stash, but I'm still happy with the possible improvement to my attack.

Training News

Well, we got a pop, but it wasn't the one we expected.

Demitri Makris (21418280)
18 years, solid form, healthy
A pleasant guy who is calm and honest.
Has disastrous experience and wretched leadership abilities.

Nationality: Sverige
Assessed value: 43 000 US$
Wage: 816 US$/week including 20% Bonus
Owner: Frankfort United
Warnings: 0


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

This was a nice bonus, as he pops after only one week of half-training. He'll likely be kept till formidable the second half of next season, then sold.

This disappointment was that Per Pettersson did not pop to solid. He's 17 years old and has received 4 weeks of training, guess wingers take 5 weeks to pop? I had been under the impression it was 4 weeks. Ah well.


Form Update

Starters Going Up: 2 (Hawkins, Collier to Excellent)
Starters Going Down: 2 (Eaton to Solid, Morales to Passable)
Reserves Going Up: 4 (Makris, Pettersson, Sellers, Gómez to Solid)
Reserves Going Down: 0

Another strong form update, though mostly among backups. Sellers is particularly odd given that he's out for a long time. I now have 4 starters in Excellent form!

Total Team Value (Before Training): $3,099,000 (3,056,000)

The aquisition of Aguado has pushed us over the 3M mark.

Coming up next: Youth pull and finances.

[DukeRulesMAB]

Youth pull

Now that we're out of the cup, we're gonna pull keepers until we get an acceptable backup.

Denny Owen (22011539)
19 years, passable form, healthy
A popular guy who is temperamental and honest.
Has disastrous experience and wretched leadership abilities.

Nationality: USA
Assessed value: 37 000 US$
Wage: 700 US$/week
Owner: Frankfort United
Warnings: 0


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

Denny's not it. But since it won't cost us anything, he'll be kept around to back up for the week, then fired after the friendly.


Economy

Income

Crowd: 93,381 (vs. Bulldawgs)
Sponsers: 72,105
Temporary: 102,330
- 330 (New Supporters)
- 23,000 (Sale of Cabrera)
- 10,500 (Sell-On Fee for Franco)

Total revenues: 199,316

Expenditures

Youth Squad: 20,000
Wages: 24,328
Staff: 48,000
Arena: 18,830
Temporary: 694,000
- 2,000 (Youth Pull)
- 1,000 (Listing Fees)
- 691,000 (Purchase of Aguado)

Total Expenses: 805,158

Profit (Loss): (605,842)
New Balance: 149,786

This week, we're gonna be purchasing a backup central defender and another cheap wingback trainee. We also have a home match, so we should about break even.

Other stats

Team Spirit: Satisfied (up from Content)
Confidence: Decent (down from Strong)

Sponsers: Dancing in the Streets
Supporters: Content (down from High on Life)
# of Supporters: 1255 (Up from 1244)

Best TS of the year, and a good time. Our supporters need a boost.

IV.53 Preview

FC Parkersburg - Vampires

Great matchup here, Vampires has really started to improve to expectations the last couple weeks. I think FCP will scratch out a 1 goal victory at home, though.

Frankfort United - ole

Crucial matchup. We should win, but I don't know where his TS is, and how strongly he'll attack this game with a cup game Wednesday. We absolutely must win this game.

The Little Pretties - Byzantines

Battle of the top 2 teams to date, I think TLP's Cinderella run ends here. Byzantines by 2 or 3 easy.

AC Weezer - Jumpers

Much needed break and 3 points for ACW after a rough start.

Up Next: Frankfort United hosts ole in a crucial match around the demotion line.

[DukeRulesMAB]

Season 3 - Game 5

Frankfort United vs. ole

Date: December 14, 2003
Arena: F.U. Field (Kentucky)
Crowd: 17,013 (29,424)
Weather: Cloudy

This is, for all intents and purposes, it. We must win at home today against ole to stay in IV.53, barring something getting completely pulled out of our ass. I think we're the better team, we're in the best TS of the year (satisfied; poor leadership coaches suck), and we'll be playing normal. I think we will set an all-time FU NSI record, but we'll see. On the other hand, I have no idea where he is; he is the only team in IV.53 left in the cup, and he may have spent his TS last week. Or he may be saving up his big effort for the Cup game Wednesday. Or he may see this just as importantly as I do and be MOTSing here. Hard to say. We're taking a risk by normaling instead of MOTSing, but I think it's the right call.


Starters (Balanced 3-5-2):

Keeper: Matthew Matlock

Right Defender: William Hawkins
Central Defender: Arthur Eaton
Left Defender: Bill Henry

Right Wing: Jesse Collier
Central Midfield: Robert Mullineux
Central Midfield: Michael Chopin
Central Midfield: Theodore Arnold
Left Wing: Felix Hylind

Striker: William Morales
Striker: Daniel Aguado

The full A tam out there today. We're in very good form, plus we just added an excellent forward. I expect the best NSI ever. Collier gets the nod over Pettersson here; we already have a quick player (Aguado) on the pitch, and with us being the perceived (by me :) ) favorites, I want the best players out there, and that is Collier.


The Match

Overcast weather free of rain made for a crowd turnout of 17013 at F. U. Field today. Frankfort tactics involved an interesting 3-5-2 combination. They fielded: Matlock - Hawkins, Eaton, Henry - Collier, Arnold, Mullineux, Chopin, Hylind - Aguado, Morales.

ole had chosen a strategic 3-5-2 formation. The following players had been chosen: Tripathi - Windham, Duarte, Yngvesson - Caño, Spaulding, Edlind, Thystrand, Hess - Stanton, Oneil.

Daniel Aguado 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. Arthur Eaton increased Frankforts lead to 2 - 0 by putting a header away on a hooked ball from the right. In the games 26:th minute Frankfort´s Arthur Eaton fell dramatically just outside the penalty area. However, the referee booked Arthur Eaton for taking a dive. One of many good passes from Jesse Collier at the wing was recieved and skillfully taken care of by William Morales, scoring for Frankfort to 3 - 0. After an industrious effort down the middle William Morales could have closed the game off in the 27:th minute, but his finishing shot hit the post. Frankfort put themselves up 4 - 0 when Daniel Aguado broke through on the right, leaving the entire defensive box behind him. The structure of the game started to change as Frankfort decided to pull back and meet their opponents in the defensive zone. William Hawkins of Frankfort received a yellow card in the 33rd minute for unsportsmanlike behaviour. 4 - 0 was the half-time score. Frankfort held the ball, with a clear 58 percent possession rate.

After an industrious effort down the middle William Morales could have closed the game off in the 58:th minute, but his finishing shot hit the post. Frankfort, bringing the final ball possession rate to 60 percent, dominated the battle.

Most important Frankfort player was Matthew Matlock. However, Felix Hylind made a disastrous appearance. The most dominating ole player was without a doubt Sören Edlind. Randall Windham on the other hand, had a terrible day. The match ends 4 - 0.


Goals: Aguado 2 (2), Morales (5), Eaton (2)
Yellow Cards: Eaton, Hawkins

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


Matlock: *****

Hawkins: ***
Eaton: ***~
Henry: **~

Collier: ***
Mullineux: ***~
Chopin: **~
Arnold: ***
Hylind: **~

Morales: **~
Aguado: ***


Team Match MVP: Matthew Matlock

Frankfort United

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


ole

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

Um wow. Best NSI ever...by 8 points! By Supporter, it was our best midfield by 19% (!), our second best defense, and our third best attack. Oh yeah, it was also our best game ever by 16%. Not bad, I say. And all this on a normal! First ever excellent midfield, and I believe our first ever outstanding attack rating. Individually, Aguado had a fabulous debut with 2 goals. Collier got another assist. Hylind got his first **~. All told, pretty good game. :)

We absolutely had to win this one...now we can focus on PICing, and if we can beat ole at their place in 5 more games, we should have a top 6 slot virtually clinched.

Elsewhere in IV.53, FC Parkersburg did was they do best and took a 1-0 win over a game Vampires squad. We visit FCP next week, and it should be roundly unpleasent. And in the battle for first place, Byzantines took a relatively easy 3-1 win over TLP. FCP technically leads now, but they're tied with Byzantines in what should be a great second half race. Weezer moved into 6th with their walkover, so they are happy as well.

All in all, this was a great day for Frankfort United. Hopefully more will follow.

Next up: Franfort visits Denmark and obeluxerne.

[DukeRulesMAB]

With Cup season over, it is time to add some new backups. First welcome:

Bart Bokhorst (16502863)
25 years, passable form, healthy
A popular guy who is balanced and honest.
Has poor experience and weak leadership abilities.

Nationality: België
Assessed value: 41 000 US$
Wage: 912 US$/week including 20% Bonus
Owner: Frankfort United
Warnings: 0


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

Bart's no one's idea of a star, but he gives me two things. First, I won't feel nauseous playing him in a league game should a starter be suspended or injured. Second, he allows me to start cultivating a second formation, the 4-5-1. We're excited about this possibility, as it will let us turtle up against better teams and play for a draw.

We would have a new wingback trainee by now, but with the site problems, we couldn't get one in for the friendly, so we decided to put that one off till next week.

[DukeRulesMAB]

Season 3 - Friendly

obeluxerne vs. Frankfort United

Date: December 17, 2003
Arena: obeluxerne Arena (København, Denmark)
Crowd: 2,995 (45,000)
Weather: Partly Cloudy

Friendly time. We're in healthy financial shape, so, except for the FOFC Cup and other FOFC challenge matchups, we'll be playing international friendlies for the experience. Key here: stay injury free and get some experience in the 4-5-1. Hell, we ended up making 3K on the trip anyway, not bad.

Starters (4-5-1):

Keeper: Matthew Matlock

Right Defender: Demitri Makris
Central Defender: Arthur Eaton
Central Defender: Bart Borkhorst
Left Defender: Bill Henry

Right Wing: Per Pettersson
Central Midfield: Robert Mullineux
Central Midfield: Borislav Sakic
Central Midfield: Michael Chopin
Left Wing: Mariano Gómez

Striker: Jacob Knapp

Not bothering playing the backup goalie here, and won't until we get the permanent backup. Makris will be played offensively, since he is just barely qualified to play defense. Nothing notable other than that. I am interested to see our defensive ratings; even Makris as a hole of the right side, they should be awesome.


The Match

2995 spectators arrived at obeluxerne Arena, where weather conditions were pretty good for football. obeluxerne tactics involved an interesting 3-5-2 combination. The following players had been chosen: Bäckstedt - Nyhander, Shepherd, Ebbesen - Villumsen, Brogaard, Gade, Teilmann, Børgh - Schroth, Sumereder.

Frankfort tactics involved an interesting 4-5-1 combination. The following players had been chosen: Matlock - Makris, Eaton, Bokhorst, Henry - Pettersson, Mullineux, Chopin, Sakic, Gómez - Knapp.

obeluxerne immediately set off pressing their opponents. Borislav Sakic received some harsh words from his coach after he acted foolishly, probably out of lack of experience, in the 10:th minute and almost caused an opponent to score. obeluxerne took the lead by 1 - 0 after a penalty in the 34:th minute. Luis Schroth scored from the penalty spot. A well placed corner kick from Luis Schroth was followed by Valentin Sumereder´s hard but accurate header. The nice combination meant goal for obeluxerne. The result now 2-0. After an industrious effort down the middle Laust Teilmann could have closed the game off in the 41st minute, but his finishing shot hit the post. Frankfort had obvious problems in finding their positions. Mariano Gómez of Frankfort received a yellow card in the 41st minute for unsportsmanlike behaviour. The teams went for a half-time break at 2 - 0. Frankfort held the ball, with a clear 51 percent possession rate.

The Frankfort players spent the half-time break getting a rerun of the teams tactical organization. The referee showed obeluxernes Steven Shepherd the yellow card after a particularly nasty challenge. The visitors got a chance of pulling one back in the 75:th minute, due to a defensive blunder leaving Jacob Knapp completely unmarked. His strike was pathetic though, easy prey for the home side´s keeper. Frankfort appeared unsure on how to play. Frankfort managed to reduce a bit later to 2 - 1 as Borislav Sakic finished off a well played combination from the left, carving through the defensive box. Frankfort could level the score in the 85:th minute at 2 - 2, as Jacob Knapp struck home after a fine midfield combination, leaving him completely unmarked. In the games 86:th minute obeluxerne´s Per Nyhander fell dramatically just outside the penalty area. However, the referee booked Per Nyhander for taking a dive. At this time in the match, obeluxerne were using their wretched skills at the press to successfully put pressure on their opponents. Frankfort, bringing the final ball possession rate to 66 percent, dominated the battle.

Most important obeluxerne player was Luis Schroth. Laust Teilmann on the other hand, had a terrible day. The most dominating Frankfort player was without a doubt Matthew Matlock. However, Mariano Gómez made a disastrous appearance. The match ends 2 - 2.


Goals: Sakic, Knapp
Yellow Cards: Gómez


Matlock: *****

Makris: **~
Eaton: ***~
Borkhorst: **~
Henry: **~

Pettersson: **~
Mullineux: ***~
Sakic: **
Chopin: **~
Gómez: **

Knapp: **~


Team Match MVP: Matthew Matlock


obeluxerne

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


Frankfort United

Midfield: inadequate (5)
Right Side Defence: formidable (9)
Central Defence: outstanding (10)
Left Side Defence: outstanding (10)
Right Side Attack: formidable (9)
Central Attack: weak (4)
Left Side Attack: poor (3)

Not bad at all, good second half effort from our guys. Those defensive efforts are very solid, and we still managed a formidable wing attack. Makris continues to surprise me, he obviously liked that offensive instruction to pull a **~. I haven't quite decided how I want to handle Sunday's game, whether I will use Pettersson, Collier or perhaps even both. Form may dictate that. Good thing: we're already to passable formation experience, so we're good to go with that.


Only other news is that ole was predictably bounced from the Cup, leaving IV.53 out of it completely.

Next up: Training, youth pull, and financial update.

[DukeRulesMAB]

Training News

Very good training week.

Felix Hylind (17864211)
18 years, solid form, healthy
A sympathetic guy who is balanced and dishonest.
Has disastrous experience and passable leadership abilities.


Speciality: Head

Nationality: Sverige
Assessed value: 123 000 US$
Wage: 1 044 US$/week including 20% Bonus
Owner: Frankfort United
Warnings: 0


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

Per Pettersson (20555779)
17 years, solid form, healthy
A sympathetic guy who is tranquil and honest.
Has disastrous experience and weak leadership abilities.


Speciality: Quick

Nationality: Sverige
Assessed value: 187 000 US$
Wage: 1 272 US$/week including 20% Bonus
Owner: Frankfort United
Warnings: 0


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

Hylind is, aside from Matlock, out most irreplacable player. By next season at this time, he's going to be a complete beast, and already he is crucial to our midfield. Pettersson is a week later than I expected, but we still like him a lot. He probably will start on Sunday if the weather is right.

Also, brand new acquisition Daniel Aguado popped to Wretched experience. We're very happy with that.


Form Update

Starters Going Up: 2 (Hylind, Chopin to Solid)
Starters Going Down: 2 (Hawkins to Solid, Matlock 2 levels to passable)
Reserves Going Up: 1 (Knapp to Solid)
Reserves Going Down: 2 (Sellers, Sakic to Passable)

We were due to come off of our great form. No real big deal here, just hope Matlock doesn't enter a form slump (he's gone into one before). Our midfield rating shouldn't be too awful with the form as well (Exc, Solid, Solid, Solid among the 4 who contribute).

Total Team Value (Before Training): $3,022,000 (3,131,000)

Matlock dropping 2 levels of form = We're gonna drop in value. :)

Coming up next: Youth pull and finances.

[GoldenEagle]

I just wanted to point out that if the season ended today, I would be promoted to this series repalcacing ole. :)

[DukeRulesMAB]

Hehe...it's a pretty active series, but this year it's not really very good. Lotta teams starting new training programs, one walkover, etc.

[DukeRulesMAB]

Youth pull

Week 2 of Operation: Backup Goalie flopped even harder than the first week.

Wang Po-Hsin (22260965)
20 years, passable form, healthy
A controversial person who is calm and honest.
Has disastrous experience and weak leadership abilities.

Nationality: USA
Assessed value: 10 000 US$
Wage: 540 US$/week
Owner: Frankfort United
Warnings: 0


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


Like last week's pull, he'll be kept around to back up through Wednesday's friendly, then canned.


Economy

Income

Crowd: 123,609
- 113,783 (vs. ole)
- 9,826 (at obeluxerne)
Sponsers: 73,260
Interest: 400
Temporary: 780 (New Supporters)

Total revenues: 198,049

Expenditures

Youth Squad: 20,000
Wages: 25,900
Staff: 49,500
Arena: 18,830
Temporary: 60,500
- 2,000 (Youth Pull)
- 6,000 (Travel for Friendly)
- 51,000 (Purchase of Borkhurst)
- 1,500 (Firing of Economist)

Total Expenses: 174,730

Profit (Loss): 23,319
New Balance: 173,105

OK, *this* week we're gonna get thatnew wingback trainee. I almost promise.

I blew 2,600 on the botched hiring of an economist, but I'll screw up in much larger ways than that over time, so no biggie.

Other stats

Team Spirit: Content (down from Satisfied)
Confidence: Strong (up from Decent)

Sponsers: Dancing in the Streets
Supporters: High on Life (up from Decent)
# of Supporters: 1281 (Up from 1255)

I actually figured our TS would go down more than one level after the norm (and noCup game on Wednesday to PIC); hopefully, we'll be able to coax it back to satisfied by the rematch against ole in 4 weeks.

IV.53 Preview

Vampires - Jumpers

Vampires gets to pic the walover coming into two matches with me.

FC Parkersburg - Frankfort United

FCP is atop the table right now. They don't have much attack, but their midfield is generally better than mine, especially with this being a road game, and their defense is off the charts (they pulled two divine ratings last week). We hope to keep it a tight, one goal game and pray for a miracle.

Byzantines - AC Weezer

ACW continues to struggle, and this isn't a good matchup against which to recover. Byzantines should take this handily.

ole - The Little Pretties

TLP ripe for an upset? Maybe, but not against these chumps.


Up Next: Frankfort visits the series leaders.

[DukeRulesMAB]

Season 3 - Game 6

FC Parkersburg vs. Frankfort United

Date: December 21, 2003
Arena: United National Bank Stadium (West Virginia)
Crowd: 56,915 (58,000)
Weather: Cloudy

FCP currently leads the series, and consistently pulls the best NSIs in the series. Plus we're PICing on the road. So why is this not as hopeless as some of our other matches? Because this is a team way unbalanced toward defense. Their midfield is decent, perhaps slightly better than mine. Their defense is incredible, having put up two divines last week. But their offense is quite so-so, never having any significant wing attack due to their 5-3-2 formation, and, really, their central attack isn't much to write home about either.


Starters (4-5-1):

Keeper: Matthew Matlock

Right Defender: Bill Henry
Central Defender: Bart Bokhorst
Central Defender: Arthur Eaton
Left Defender: William Hawkins

Right Wing: Felix Hylind
Central Midfield: Robert Mullineux
Central Midfield: Michael Chopin
Central Midfield: Theodore Arnold
Left Wing: Per Pettersson

Striker: Daniel Aguado

As expected, we are bunkering down. Our defensive form isn't nearly as good as it has been, but we should still put up some nice ratings here playing with our 4 best defenders at once for the first time in team history. Aside from that, Pettersson gets the nod at attacking wing over Collier, as the weather looks good for his quick specialty, and we need an event goal. Hopefully, either he or Aguado can provide it.


The Match

56915 spectators had come to United National Bank Stadium this cloudy day. Parkersburg had chosen a strategic 5-3-2 formation. The following players had been chosen: Villa - Alexandersson, Palfrey, Rodriguez, Igelbeck, Ibarra - Rosenbauer, Swärdbom, Milner - Nesstedt, Labastida.

Frankfort had chosen a strategic 4-5-1 formation. They fielded: Matlock - Henry, Eaton, Bokhorst, Hawkins - Hylind, Arnold, Mullineux, Chopin, Pettersson - Aguado.

Parkersburg took the lead in the 24:th minute of the game by 1 to 0, as José Luis Labastida elegantly received a pass going deep, finishing off with a half-volley shot just below the bar. Parkersburg´s José Luis Labastida refused to leave the field after injuring his achilles tendon in the 30:th minute. Roger Milner should probably have put his team up another goal in the 34:th minute, but some great goaltending by Matthew Matlock kept the visitors in the game. Frankfort had obvious problems in finding their positions. A really bad tackle inside the penalty area in the 34:th minute gave the referee no other choice but to award visiting Frankfort the penalty shot. Daniel Aguado knocked home 1 - 1. The referee showed Frankforts William Hawkins the yellow card after a particularly nasty challenge. Parkersburg were forced to a substitution as Nicholas Villa couldn´t continue playing due to the rough treatment, forcing Mick Nelissen to come in from the sidelines. Parkersburgs Stellan Nesstedt gave, after 37 minutes, the home team a 2 - 1 lead after an attack coming in from the right. 2 - 1 was the half-time score. The fortyfive minutes were dominated by Parkersburg, with an impressive 60 percent possession of the ball.

The Frankfort players spent the half-time break getting a rerun of the teams tactical organization. 75 minutes into the game Felix Hylind had to leave the pitch due to a knee injury. In came Mariano Gómez. In the 78:th minute of the match the visitors central line of defence had to look on as Stellan Nesstedt dashed through, knocking home 3 - 1 for Parkersburg. Mitch Palfrey almost managed to score another goal for Parkersburg, but his header was tipped to a corner by the visitors goalie. Daniel Igelbeck of Parkersburg received a yellow card in the 84:th minute for unsportsmanlike behaviour. Frankfort appeared unsure on how to play. In the 87:th minute of the game, Parkersburg´s Daniel Igelbeck had to leave the pitch after receiving his second booking. Parkersburg, bringing the final ball possession rate to 59 percent, dominated the battle.

The most dominating Parkersburg player was without a doubt Tony Ibarra. Mick Nelissen on the other hand, had a terrible day. Frankfort´s best player was Matthew Matlock. Mariano Gómez was a disappointment, however. The match ends 3 - 1.


Goals: Aguado (3)
Yellow Cards: Hawkins

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


Matlock: ****~

Henry: **~
Bokhorst: **~
Eaton: ***~
Hawkins: ***

Hylind: **
Gómez (In for Hylind: **
Mullineux: ***~
Chopin: **~
Arnold: ***
Pettersson: **~

Aguado: ***



Team Match MVP: Matthew Matlock

FC Parkersburg

Midfield: passable (6)
Right Side Defence: utopian (19)
Central Defence: divine (20)
Left Side Defence: extra-terrestrial (16)
Right Side Attack: poor (3)
Central Attack: passable (6)
Left Side Attack: weak (4)


Frankfort United

Midfield: inadequate (5)
Right Side Defence: outstanding (10)
Central Defence: brilliant (11)
Left Side Defence: formidable (9)
Right Side Attack: weak (4)
Central Attack: inadequate (5)
Left Side Attack: excellent (8)

Well, that's about what was expected. I'd like to have given up less goals, but look at his defensive ratings! We were lucky to get the event goal we got. In 3 weeks, we should match up just a touch better, as we'll be in better TS and at home, and could win the midfield. Also, the 4-5-1 should have a touch more experience, so no bad formation events.

Hylind's injury was one of the good ones. He's already to bruised, but playing, so both he and Gómez get their training for the week out of this game. Makris will get a rare full training week by playing winger on Wednesday. Aside from that, very little notable. This was our first ever brilliant rating, and Aguado continues to be a very solid pickup.

Elsewhere in IV.53, AC Weezer got it together, and upset Byzantines by a strong 4-1 score at Byzantines! This really throws the division into a bit of disarray. Also, Little Pretties took out ole 4-1, and continues to surprisingly contend. The table:


Team Played Goals Points
1. FC Parkersburg 6 14 - 2 16

2. The Little Pretties 6 18 - 5 15
3. Byzantines 6 14 - 9 13
4. Vampires 6 13 - 6 9

5. Frankfort United 6 12 - 8 7
6. AC Weezer 6 12 - 15 7

7. ole 6 8 - 16 3
8. Jumpers 6 0 - 30 0





Next up: Frankfort hosts FOFC's MoKan Mighty Bastards in a friendly.

[DukeRulesMAB]

Lennart Högskär (22285485)
17 years, passable form, healthy
A sympathetic guy who is temperamental and dishonest.
Has disastrous experience and inadequate leadership abilities.


Speciality: Quick

Nationality: Sverige
Assessed value: 27 000 US$
Wage: 744 US$/week including 20% Bonus
Owner: Frankfort United
Warnings: 0


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

Thus I've filled all my training slots. Lennart is nothing special, but I was pressed for time, and he carries the prerequisites I like to see in my reserve wingback trainees.

[DukeRulesMAB]

Season 3 - Friendly

Frankfort United vs. MoKan Mighty Bastards

Date: December 24, 2003
Arena: F.U. Field (Kentucky)
Crowd: 1,723 (29,424)
Weather: Sunny

Friendly time again, and we welcome fellow FOFC'er MoKan to F.U. Field. He's to an injury-free game.

Starters (Balanced 3-5-2):

Keeper: Matthew Matlock

Right Defender: Lennart Högskär
Central Defender: Arthur Eaton
Left Defender: Bill Henry

Right Wing: Jesse Collier
Central Midfield: Robert Mullineux
Central Midfield: Borislav Sakic
Central Midfield: Michael Chopin
Left Wing: Demitri Makris

Striker: William Morales
Striker: Jacob Knapp

Nothing much notable here, except that with Gómez having gotten some sub action on Sunday, Makris is getting a full training week.


The Match

A scorching day at F. U. Field, where 1723 spectators were in place for today´s match. Frankfort tactics involved an interesting 3-5-2 combination. Lineup: Matlock - Högskär, Eaton, Henry - Collier, Mullineux, Chopin, Sakic, Makris - Knapp, Morales.

Bastards started off with a 3-5-2 lineup. The following players had been chosen: Tang - Mabry, Lackey, Carver - Major, Griffiths, Rönntorp, Timmons, Phillips - Mclaughlin, Sa.

In the 20:th minute the home side managed to get a 1 - 0 lead as Jacob Knapp flipped the ball after a cross pass from the right. William Morales struck a 30 metre free kick home in the 25:th minute. 2 - 0 for the home team. A great save by goaltender Sean Tang in the 34:th minute kept the visitors in the game as William Morales struck from the left with a real cannonball. The referee showed Bastardss Marcel Timmons the yellow card after a particularly nasty challenge. Arthur Eaton the unlucky victim, couldn´t continue the game, so Bart Bokhorst had to come off the bench. Almost all the way down to the corner flag Jesse Collier somehow managed to get a perfect pass into the middle, impossible to miss for William Morales who struck for 3 - 0. The structure of the game started to change as Frankfort decided to pull back and meet their opponents in the defensive zone. Halftime score was 3 - 0. Frankfort, bringing the final ball possession rate to 67 percent, dominated the battle.

Frankfort made a substitution in the 48:th minute. William Morales limped off the field and was replaced by Daniel Aguado. Daniel Aguado wasn´t much help defensively. His energy-consuming forward pulls proved quite costly in the pressuring heat. Sean Tang was caught napping a bit later as Jacob Knapp lifted a ball over him after a free kick, but the ball hit the bar, rebounding into the keepers arms. Lennart Högskär made several blunders at the end of the game, causing a good deal of unrest in the defensive line. With 72 minutes played Borislav Sakic could have brought this one home for Frankfort, had his hooked ball gone in, but it went just a bit too high. The game was close to savage at times, and Bastards`s Marcel Timmons received a second yellow card in the 74:th, his ticket out of the game. Frankfort held the ball, with a clear 87 percent possession rate.

Frankfort´s best player was Matthew Matlock. However, Borislav Sakic made a disastrous appearance. Most important Bastards player was Sean Tang. However, Major Major made a disastrous appearance. The match ends 3 - 0.



Goals: Morales 2, Knapp
Yellow Cards: None


Matlock: ****~

Högskär: **
Eaton: **
Bokhorst (In for Eaton): **~
Henry: **~

Collier: ***
Mullineux: ***~
Sakic: **
Chopin: **~
Makris: **~

Morales: **~
Aguado (In for Morales): ***
Knapp: **~


Team Match MVP: Matthew Matlock

Frankfort United

Midfield: passable (6)
Right Side Defence: excellent (8)
Central Defence: excellent (8)
Left Side Defence: excellent (8)
Right Side Attack: outstanding (10)
Central Attack: solid (7)
Left Side Attack: excellent (8)


MoKan Mighty Bastards

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

Ouch...bad, bad game. Eaton's out 3 (!) weeks. Morales out 1. Morales isn't such a big deal, but Eaton is my best defender, and 32 years old, so he won't heal fast. Bokhorst should be able to step in OK, but the 4-5-1 is out (except in exhibitions where we'll continue to keep our formation experience up) until Eaton is back.

Other than that...oddly enough, we had better ratings than our game Sunday.

Next up: Training Update

[Havok]

ouch!! a 32 year old with a 3 week injury.... thats bad

[DukeRulesMAB]

Training News

Bill Henry (21474175)
18 years, passable form, healthy
A controversial person who is balanced and infamous.
Has disastrous experience and weak leadership abilities.

Nationality: USA
Assessed value: 80 000 US$
Wage: 860 US$/week
Owner: Frankfort United
Warnings: 0


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

Bill was the first youth pull of value we ever kept, pulled a few weeks back. This pop is very encouraging, means he was a high weak. Bill is the trainee most likely to be kept around for a while, as I am not inclined to sell him until I have enough cash to bring in excellent or formidable defense wingback types.

In...odd news, winger trainee Felix Hylind popped to Wretched Experience. He's played a grand total of 5 matches in his career. Matthew Matlock has played 28 competitive matches and 10 friendlies and is still Disastrous experience. Makes absolutely no sense, but with Hylind (my favorite trainee), I'm not complaining.

Form Update

Starters Going Up: 1 (Matlock to Solid)
Starters Going Down: 2 (Collier to Solid, Aguado to Inadequate)
Reserves Going Up: 1 (Bokhorst to Solid)
Reserves Going Down: 1 (Knapp to Passable)

Continuing to come down a bit from our form high. First the good news, good to see Matlock isn't going to enter a form slump. Plus, Bokhorst is essentially a starter for the next few weeks with Eaton's injury, so his form boost is appreciated. The bad new: Aguado dipping in form isn't good. We'll hope this is temporary. Also, Knapp likely would have started Sunday if not for his form dip. Nothing too critical though, we'll survive, and we were unlikely to win anyway.

Total Team Value (Before Training): $3,198,000 (3,049,000)

Matlock up in form = Team up in value.

In other news, Per Pettersson is up over 200K in value, the first of my trainees to reach that. With Aguado's form drop, Per is also our highest rated outfielder. I have to wonder if he's very high Solid passing, given that he's a relatively low solid winger, and has only inad stamina among secondaries. If he's a high solid passing, I have to consider training some passing in the offseason, as a boost to excellent would really bump his transfer value.

Coming up next: Youth pull and finances.

[DukeRulesMAB]

Havoc - Yeah, Eaton's injury will take a while. Fortunately, my next 3 games are all against teams I don't think I have much of a chance against, so I don't think we'll be too hurt by it.

[DukeRulesMAB]

Youth pull

Timothy Lujan (22486092)
18 years, passable form, healthy
A pleasant guy who is temperamental and honest.
Has disastrous experience and poor leadership abilities.

Nationality: USA
Assessed value: 365 000 US$
Wage: 2 360 US$/week
Owner: Frankfort United
Warnings: 0


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


He's not the inad/passable backup we want, but he's even better! Listed for 180K, ending 12/31/2003 at 02:30. The proceeds may allow me to upgrade my midfield sooner rather than later.


Economy

Income

Crowd: 5,531 (vs. MoKan Mighty Bastards)
Sponsers: 74,910
Temporary: 2,540
- 540 (New Supporters)
- 2,000 (Sell-On Fee for Brown)

Total revenues: 82,981

Expenditures

Youth Squad: 20,000
Wages: 26,282
Staff: 48,000
Arena: 18,830
Temporary: 9,000
- 2,000 (Youth Pull)
- 7,000 (Purchase of Högskär)

Total Expenses: 122,112

Profit (Loss): (39,131)
New Balance: 133,974


Other stats

Team Spirit: Content
Confidence: Strong

Sponsers: Dancing in the Streets
Supporters: Delirious (down from High on Life)
# of Supporters: 1299 (Up from 1281)


IV.53 Preview

Frankfort United - Vampires

Vampires has been disappointing, coming down from a long stay in DIII. They haven't even consistently booked friendlies. But they're still a pretty large favorite over me, even at my place.

The Little Pretties - FC Parkersburg

Very, very interesting game. TLP needs to get a split here to make a statement that they are for real in the IV.53 race. FCP is obviously the better team on paper, but I look for TLP to steal at least a point here at home.

Jumpers - Byzantines

Woe be it to the team (ACW) that has to play Byzantines after the double PIC here.

AC Weezer - ole

Easy win for Weezer as they start to round into form after a rough start.

Up Next: Frankfort hosts a strong Vampires squad.

[DukeRulesMAB]

Season 3 - Game 7

Frankfort United vs. Vampires

Date: December 28, 2003
Arena: F.U. Field (Kentucky)
Crowd: 29,424 (29,424)
Weather: Partly Cloudy

Vampires came down from D.III after several seasons this year, and figured to among the favorites in a weak IV.53. Hasn't turned out to be the case after a couple bad losses earlier this season, including a disastrous (not literally, but close) counter attack attempt. They don't even regularly schedule friendlies, so they are hardly a long-term threat.

Even with all that said, they're better than me in every phase of the game, though not by all that much anywhere. We'll be PICing, saving our TS for the key game against ole in the second half.


Starters (Balanced 3-5-2):

Keeper: Matthew Matlock

Right Defender: William Hawkins
Central Defender: Bart Bokhorst
Left Defender: Bill Henry

Right Wing: Jesse Collier
Central Midfield: Robert Mullineux
Central Midfield: Michael Chopin
Central Midfield: Theodore Arnold
Left Wing: Felix Hylind

Striker: William Morales
Striker: Daniel Aguado

We would be bunkering down in the 4-5-1 again, but with Eaton out, there isn't much point, as we don't have a 4th defender worth playing. So it's back to the old faithful 3-5-2 this game. Borkhorst is in good enough form that we shouldn't be hurt too much. Elsewhere, Collier gets the nod, as his wing attacks have been too good lately to ignore any more, while a slightly gimpy Morales gets the call over Knapp in a tough call at the second forward slot. If Knapp had held his Solid form, it would have been him, but he didn't, so it isn't.


The Match

Fairly good weather for football had drawn a crowd of 29424 to F. U. Field. Frankfort had chosen a strategic 3-5-2 formation. The following players had been chosen: Matlock - Hawkins, Bokhorst, Henry - Collier, Arnold, Mullineux, Chopin, Hylind - Aguado, Morales.

Vampires started off with a 3-5-2 lineup. Lineup: Bengtsson - Timou, Garner, Bernstein - Sizemore, Lombardo, Bouchard, Rees, Bohell - Gallagher, Jack.

The teams went for a half-time break at 0 - 0. Frankfort held the ball, with a clear 54 percent possession rate.

An opportunity to take the lead in the 52nd minute was passed by as Vampires´s Christopher Bernstein missed a penalty, firing wide of the mark. Frankfort created a good opportunity to score in the games 61st minute when Daniel Aguado`s hooked ball created a scuffle in front of the goal, and the visitors defenders had a hard time clearing the ball. Jesse Collier 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. Frankfort held the ball, with a clear 58 percent possession rate.

The most dominating Frankfort player was without a doubt Matthew Matlock. Felix Hylind on the other hand, had a terrible day. Most important Vampires player was Michael Garner. Bryant Rees was a disappointment, however. The match ends 1 - 0.

Goals: Collier (3)
Yellow Cards: None

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


Matlock: *****

Hawkins: ***
Bokhorst: ***
Henry: ***

Collier: ***
Mullineux: ***~
Chopin: **~
Arnold: ***
Hylind: **~

Morales: **~
Aguado: ***


Team Match MVP: Matthew Matlock

Frankfort United

Midfield: passable (6)
Right Side Defence: outstanding (10)
Central Defence: formidable (9)
Left Side Defence: formidable (9)
Right Side Attack: outstanding (10)
Central Attack: solid (7)
Left Side Attack: inadequate (5)

Vampires

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

Wow! We not only got a win, we even managed to out NSI a team that just spent a few seasons in DIII! Great, great effort by our guys. Most notably on defense: first ever three star game for Henry, and an unexpected 3 star effort from Bokhorst.

The first half was exactly what we want at this stage, completely eventless. The second half saw 3 opportunities, 2 for me, 1 for him, and we capitalized on one of ours. And how about Jesse Collier? It looks like this was a central attack goal, so he technically had nothing to do with it, I think, but I still give him credit for being a fabbo playmaker. :) I'm completely thrilled, even though I know they're gonna pound us for revenge next week.

By far the highlight of the IV.53 schedule was a barnburner between The Little Pretties and FC Parkersburg. FCP took a 2-0 lead into halftime, and it appeared over. But TLP fired back, getting a goal in the 60th minute, then miraculously tying it against FCP's studly defense in the 85th! But FCP was not to be denied, and scored the winning goal just one minute later. Final score: 3-2, giving FCP a major boost in their bid to win the series, and pretty much ending TLP's Cinderella run. In the other match, ole put up a heartfelt fight before finally succumbing to ACW 2-1. Hope they aren't that game when we play them.

At the halfway point, we stand in fourth (!) place, with 10 points. We're 7 points ahead of ole, meaning even if we lose to them, they have to get 4 more points than us against teams other than Jumpers (against whom we'll both walk over) to pass us. What this means is that we have all but clinched the top 6, so we won't be auto-demoted! We may PIC every game for the rest of the year to get ready for the qualifier.

Next up: Frankfort opens the FOFC Cup by hosting England's Lancre Wowhawks.

[Havok]

awsome win bro!!!! 4th place is looking like more and more of a possiblity for ya. hell maybe even third :)

And to be honest you've been in every game you've played in this season, no blowouts or nothing. Nice first half to your first season in div. IV :)

[bamcgee]

Enjoyable dynasty, but I'm a complete Hattrick novice. What does PIC stand for? And how do you decide when to do that or not?

[Havok]

Originally posted by bamcgee
Enjoyable dynasty, but I'm a complete Hattrick novice. What does PIC stand for? And how do you decide when to do that or not?


Pic means "Play It Cool" It increases your Team Spirit but you suffer about a 1 level drop in your midfield rating for the game.

So if you have a really easy game you know you'll win Pic'ing is a good idea. Or if you have a game where you know your gonna get slaughtered, picing is a good idea also.

Check out our Newbie Hattrick FAQ in the Hattrick section of FOFC. Its Sticky'ed to the top.

[DukeRulesMAB]

Havoc explained it pretty well. For a lot of teams (like mine this year), nearly every game is PICed, picking out just a couple games they really want to win to normal or MOTS (Match of the season).

After all, as you string together a number of PIC'd games, your performance will improve because your team spirit will grow.

[DukeRulesMAB]

Season 3 - Friendly

FOFC Cup Group 9: Frankfort United vs. Lancre Wowhawks

Date: December 31, 2003
Arena: F.U. Field (Kentucky)
Crowd: 2,725 (29,424)
Weather: Cloudy

Our first two seasons, we have prided ourselves in strong (and unexpected) FOFC Cup runs. Obviously, these have been primarily driven by our philosophy of not carrying a full second team (and thus playing some starters). We are starting to phase in a second team, but it isn't complete, so I expect a decent run this year as well.

Welcome to Katon and Lancre from England. I think this is the first international friendly we've ever hosted. Here's to an injury free game.

Starters (4-5-1):

Keeper: Matthew Matlock

Right Defender: Demitri Makris
Central Defender: Bart Bokhorst
Central Defender: William Hawkins
Left Defender: Lennart Högskär

Right Wing: Per Pettersson
Central Midfield: Robert Mullineux
Central Midfield: Borislav Sakic
Central Midfield: Michael Chopin
Left Wing: Mariano Gómez

Striker: Jacob Knapp

Usual team here. Hawkins gets a very rare central midfield start, as we want to keep up our 4-5-1 experience, and I have no problem sacrificing a 30 year-old's training.

Both wingbacks will be played offensive; soon, we'll probably switch to a run and shoot variation (all wings offensive) for friendlies.

The Match

Overcast weather free of rain made for a crowd turnout of 2725 at F. U. Field today. Frankfort started off with a 4-5-1 lineup. The following players had been chosen: Matlock - Makris, Hawkins, Bokhorst, Högskär - Pettersson, Mullineux, Chopin, Sakic, Gómez - Knapp.

Wowhawks had chosen a strategic 3-5-2 formation. The following players had been chosen: Carn - Williams, Donovan, Stannard - Mordue, MacMichael, Goodall, Uruapan, Seay - Lejarazu, Krishnan.

In the 5:th minute cheers broke out as Borislav Sakic found his way through the guests central defense line, clipping the 1 - 0 goal in for Frankfort. A couple of quick and successful challenges, followed by a shot from just outside the penalty area after 13 minutes might have resulted in another goal for Frankfort. However, Scott Carn made a spectacular save. In the 19:th minute Wowhawkss Dhanadhipati Krishnan received a yellow card for going into a challenge studs first. Fine winger Per Pettersson made one of his many passes from the wing into the middle in the 37:th minute. Jacob Knapp went to the air and hit the ball firmly with his forehead for 2 - 0. After this Frankfort lowered the tempo in order to concentrate on their defensive efforts. Jacob Knapp struck a 30 metre free kick home in the 38:th minute. 3 - 0 for the home team. 3 - 0 was the half-time score. Frankfort, bringing the final ball possession rate to 60 percent, dominated the battle.

In the 67:th minute Frankfort´s Demitri Makris tried to nail the coffin shut, but the shot rebounded off the bar to fall behind the net. In the 75:th minute Frankforts Robert Mullineux received a yellow card for going into a challenge studs first. A great save by goaltender Scott Carn in the 75:th minute kept the visitors in the game as Jacob Knapp struck from the left with a real cannonball. Frankfort, bringing the final ball possession rate to 68 percent, dominated the battle.

Frankfort´s best player was Matthew Matlock. Borislav Sakic on the other hand, had a terrible day. The most dominating Wowhawks player was without a doubt Scott Carn. Dhanadhipati Krishnan on the other hand, had a terrible day. The match ends 3 - 0.



Goals: Knapp 2, Sakic
Yellow Cards: Mullineux


Matlock: ****~

Makris: **~
Bokhorst: ***
Hawkins: ***
Högskär: **

Pettersson: ***
Mullineux: ***~
Sakic: **
Chopin: **~
Gómez: **

Knapp: **~


Team Match MVP: Matthew Matlock

Frankfort United

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

Lancre Wowhawks

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

Guess as long as we're playing at home, we're gonna get better midfield ratings in friendlies than in our main games. After all, I can't PIC friendlies. :)

All in all, good start to the FOFC Cup. Easy win, no injuries (on either side). Only notable thing is that I'm gonna switch Gómez to offensive when played in friendlies. He'll just be better that way, make him look a little better for the impending sale.

Next up: Training Update

[DukeRulesMAB]

The big news of the week: our keeper pull Lujan sold, and we netted just a touch under 250K, by far our most profitable pull ever! I expect to get an excellent midfielder within the next 2-3 weeks.

Training News


Jesse Collier (20553193)
17 years, solid form, healthy
A controversial person who is temperamental and upright.
Has disastrous experience and wretched leadership abilities.


Speciality: Head

Nationality: USA
Assessed value: 171 000 US$
Wage: 760 US$/week
Owner: Frankfort United
Warnings: 0


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

Yeah, he's pretty good. :D


Form Update

Starters Going Up: 1 (Aguado to Passable)
Starters Going Down: 3 (Arnold to Solid, Mullineux to Passable, Henry to Inadequate)
Reserves Going Up: 1 (Sellers to Solid)
Reserves Going Down: 2 (Bokhorst to Passable, Knapp to Inadequate)

Our form's really dipping, though this isn't as bad as it looks. Arnold barely dropped in value at all, same with Bokhorst. But Mullineux and Henry did drop some. On the bright side, my forwards are in pretty good form (Morales got a value bump, too), so I expect a pretty decent attack on Sunday.

Total Team Value (Before Training): $3,323,000 (3,198,000)



Coming up next: Youth pull and finances.

[DukeRulesMAB]

Youth pull

Will Stockton (22784539)
18 years, passable form, healthy
A popular guy who is balanced and dishonest.
Has disastrous experience and wretched leadership abilities.

Nationality: USA
Assessed value: 269 000 US$
Wage: 1 880 US$/week
Owner: Frankfort United
Warnings: 0


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

Just about perfect. :) A reasonably high passable, should do a very strong job manning the backup role for us for a long, long time.

So in my quest for a backup keeper, we made 4 pulls. 2 duds, 1 high quality backup, and a guy I got about 250K for. Not bad.


Economy

Income

Crowd: 200,874
- 191,980 (vs. Vampires)
- 8,894 (vs. Lancre Wowhawks)
Sponsers: 75,900
Temporary: 249,980
- 660 (New Supporters)
- 249,320 (Sale of Lujan)

Total revenues: 526,754

Expenditures

Youth Squad: 20,000
Wages: 27,026
Staff: 54,000
Arena: 18,830
Temporary: 3,000
- 2,000 (Youth Pull)
- 1,000 (Listing Fee)

Total Expenses: 122,856

Profit (Loss): 403,898
New Balance: 537,871


Other stats

Team Spirit: Content
Confidence: Strong

Sponsers: Dancing in the Streets
Supporters: High on Life (up from Delirious)
# of Supporters: 1321 (Up from 1299)


IV.53 Preview

ole - AC Weezer

ole played ACW tough last week, can they pull the upset at home? I severely doubt it.

Byzantines - Jumpers

Byzantines is gonna unload on FCP when they play in a few weeks after these PICs.

FC Parkersburg - The Little Pretties

Last week's game was down to the wire, but TLP was extremely fortunate that it was even close. I anticipate a comfortable win for the defensive giants here.

Vampires - Frankfort United

We played extremely well last week. We're not in quite as good of form this week, plus we're on the road. I think they'll win, but I'd love to earn a draw. Whether or not we have a shot depends on their match attitude; I suspect they'll take us pretty seriously after last week's win.

Up Next: Frankfort visits a Vampires team looking for revenge.

[DukeRulesMAB]

Well, we got our midfielder in time for the game today.

Joshua Casper (11853178)
24 years, solid form, healthy
A controversial person who is calm and dishonest.
Has poor experience and poor leadership abilities.


Speciality: Unpredictable

Nationality: USA
Assessed value: 207 000 US$
Wage: 1 280 US$/week
Owner: Frankfort United
Warnings: 0


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


Cost 408K. He has no secondaries, but excellent middies with any secondaries at all were ludicrously priced (see: Havoc's guy). This guy has some positives of his own. Poor experience, USA product (saving some wage money), and, most importantly, solid form. Seems like 2/3 of the players on the transfer market have terrible form.

We'll keep Chopin as our primary backup middy, so we're just one more central midfielder short of a full 22 man backup squad.

[DukeRulesMAB]

Season 3 - Game 8

Vampires vs. Frankfort United

Date: January 4, 2004
Arena: Vampires Arena (Atlanta)
Crowd: 33,870 (66,000)
Weather: Partly Cloudy

Last week's game was a closely fought affair that we edged out with a late goal at home. This one will be even tougher, as they are at home, we're in a touch worse form, and they probably will take the game very seriously. We're still PICing; last week's game was an unexpected bonus, we still are aiming at the second ole game to really seal the deal.


Starters (Balanced 3-5-2):

Keeper: Matthew Matlock

Right Defender: William Hawkins
Central Defender: Bart Bokhorst
Left Defender: Bill Henry

Right Wing: Jesse Collier
Central Midfield: Robert Mullineux
Central Midfield: Theodore Arnold
Central Midfield: Joshua Casper
Left Wing: Felix Hylind

Striker: William Morales
Striker: Daniel Aguado

Nothing shocking here, nearly the exact same lineup as last week. We hope the newly formidable Jesse Collier will conitnue his playmaking ways. And Casper should give our midfield a slight boost, though we won't see visible results of that here with being on the road and all.


The Match

33870 spectators arrived at Vampires Arena, where weather conditions were pretty good for football. Vampires had chosen a strategic 3-5-2 formation. Lineup: Bengtsson - Timou, Garner, Bernstein - Sizemore, Bohell, Lombardo, Bouchard, Rees - Gallagher, Jack.

Frankfort started off with a 3-5-2 lineup. Lineup: Matlock - Hawkins, Bokhorst, Henry - Collier, Arnold, Mullineux, Casper, Hylind - Aguado, Morales.

Lee Gallagher gave his Vampires the lead with 1 - 0, as he successfully challenged both the guests central defenders, then placed the ball unreachably at the goaltenders right post. Frankfort got a chance to level the score as Felix Hylind suddenly found himself free with the goaltender but the finishing shot hit the bar. The referee showed Frankforts William Morales the yellow card after a particularly nasty challenge. Pedro Jack should probably have put his team up another goal in the 29:th minute, but some great goaltending by Matthew Matlock kept the visitors in the game. Halftime score was 1 - 0. The fortyfive minutes were dominated by Vampires, with an impressive 52 percent possession of the ball.

In the 56:th minute the excellent ball from the wing byFelix Hylind reached Jesse Collier's head, and he is not one to miss such an opportunity - 1 - 1. Vampires took the lead in the 59:th minute of the game by 2 to 1, as Pedro Jack elegantly received a pass going deep, finishing off with a half-volley shot just below the bar. The game was close to savage at times, and Frankfort`s William Morales received a second yellow card in the 69:th, his ticket out of the game. Pedro Jack the unlucky victim, couldn´t continue the game, so Terry Richard had to come off the bench. Visitors Bill Henry was alert on a play coming in from the left, making the score a tie at 2 - 2 in the 73rd minute. Christopher Bernstein was very close to giving Vampires the lead with an ingenious free kick routine in the 76:th, the ball just grazing the bar. The fortyfive minutes were dominated by Frankfort, with an impressive 52 percent possession of the ball.

Most important Vampires player was Michael Garner. Terry Richard on the other hand, had a terrible day. The most dominating Frankfort player was without a doubt Matthew Matlock. Bill Henry on the other hand, had a terrible day. The match ends 2 - 2.


Goals: Collier (4), Henry (1)
Yellow Cards: Morales 2

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


Matlock: *****

Hawkins: ***
Bokhorst: ***
Henry: **~

Collier: ***
Mullineux: ***
Arnold: ***
Casper: ***
Hylind: **~

Morales: None Given (Ejected)
Aguado: ***


Team Match MVP: Matthew Matlock

Vampires

Midfield: passable (6)
Right Side Defence: brilliant (11)
Central Defence: outstanding (10)
Left Side Defence: formidable (9)
Right Side Attack: inadequate (5)
Central Attack: outstanding (10)
Left Side Attack: passable (6)


Frankfort United

Midfield: passable (6)
Right Side Defence: outstanding (10)
Central Defence: formidable (9)
Left Side Defence: formidable (9)
Right Side Attack: outstanding (10)
Central Attack: solid (7)
Left Side Attack: inadequate (5)

Very nice result! Any road points in the league for me (except against ole, against whom I want to win) is a pure bonus. We're playing some very nice ball right now; can't wait for Eaton to get better; we'll really be rolling. Collier continues to be a true playmaker, 4 goals is a lot for a winger, especially considering my team doesn't really score much. We really had to battle to win today, so this was extremely hard fought.

Only downside: Morales getting the boot. But this isn't such a big deal; he wouldn't have played next week anyway had Eaton been healthy (4-5-1 against FCP). Even though we'll be using a 3-5-2 due to the injury, Knapp can fill in capably. I'm just not sure how much it matters what our attack ratings are against that team, cuz we ain't scoring unless it's a special event.

It was definately draw day in IV.53. ole got their first non-walkover points by getting a draw from AC Weezer. They (ole) seems to be playing some decent ball now, having purchased a couple good players in the past couple months. We'll have to be on top of their game to beat them, as I'd like. Also, TLP fought their way to a 2-2 draw against FC Parkersburg. Would have meant more if they could have gotten that draw last week, but still, it's a proud moment for them.

Next up: Frankfort continues FOFC Cup group play by hosting the St. Louis Saints.

[DukeRulesMAB]

Season 3 - Friendly

FOFC Cup Group 9: Frankfort United vs. St Louis Saints

Date: January 7, 2004
Arena: F.U. Field (Kentucky)
Crowd: 1,182 (29,424)
Weather: Cloudy

Welcome to santjo and the Saints. A win here would clinch a berth in the knockout stage of the FOFC Cup, so we'd like to sew that up with a rough game against the Crawfish on the horizon next week.

Starters (4-5-1):

Keeper: Will Stockton

Right Defender: Demitri Makris
Central Defender: Bart Bokhorst
Central Defender: William Hawkins
Left Defender: Lennart Högskär

Right Wing: Per Pettersson
Central Midfield: Joshua Casper
Central Midfield: Borislav Sakic
Central Midfield: Michael Chopin
Left Wing: Mariano Gómez

Striker: Jacob Knapp

Few notes. First, this is Stockton's debut, so congrats to him! Also, Casper has taken Mullineux's spot on the "B" team, as he's younger, could benefit more from the experience, and will recover faster from any unfortunate injuries. With Mullineux out, Knapp takes his spot as B team captain. He's a touch short on experience, but is a solid leader.

Finally, all 4 wings are offensinve and we are using, for the first time, a special instruction and are attack on on the wings.

The Match

Overcast weather free of rain made for a crowd turnout of 1182 at F. U. Field today. Frankfort tactics involved an interesting 4-5-1 combination. Lineup: Stockton - Makris, Hawkins, Bokhorst, Högskär - Pettersson, Chopin, Sakic, Casper, Gómez - Knapp.

Saints had chosen a strategic 5-3-2 formation. They fielded: Young - Kohv, Svensson, Aiguadé, Leitão, Göndör - Lowe, Melic, Di Pasquale - Stekelenburg, Lehmkuhl.

Frankfort saw most attack opportunites on the wings and were directing their passes that way. Counter-attacking seemed to be the preferred strategy of Saints, and they seem excellent at it. The 3rd minute saw the home team take a 1 - 0 lead after a leak in the visitors right side defense. Scorer for Frankfort was Mariano Gómez. William Hawkins should probably have put his team up another goal in the 23rd minute, but some great goaltending by Rafael Young kept the visitors in the game. Saints showed their counterattack skill in the 30:th minute, with Edward Lehmkuhl scoring uncontested for 1 - 1. Saints was great at switching from defense to attack, and in the 33rd minute, Fausto Di Pasquale swept through in the middle after such a counter attack, making 1 - 2. After a fatal mistake from the away teams right side defense in the 33rd minute, an alert William Hawkins bagged the ball, evening the score to 2 - 2. Frankfort took the lead by 3 - 2 after a penalty in the 37:th minute. Jacob Knapp scored from the penalty spot. The teams went for a half-time break at 3 - 2. The fortyfive minutes were dominated by Frankfort, with an impressive 70 percent possession of the ball.

Frankfort put their lead ahead another goal as Jacob Knapp struck home the 4 - 2 goal, after an attack from the left setting him up unmarked with the keeper. Frankfort put themselves up 5 - 2 when Joshua Casper broke through on the right, leaving the entire defensive box behind him. After several obvious shirt pulling incidents, Frankfort´s Jacob Knapp got himself booked. With 80 minutes played Demitri Makris could have brought this one home for Frankfort, had his hooked ball gone in, but it went just a bit too high. Frankfort were given a penalty in the 82nd, neatly put away by Jacob Knapp. 6 - 2 for the home side. By then Jacob Knapp was a three time scorer - a hat trick! After this Frankfort lowered the tempo in order to concentrate on their defensive efforts. Frankfort, bringing the final ball possession rate to 72 percent, dominated the battle.

Frankfort´s best player was Joshua Casper. Borislav Sakic on the other hand, had a terrible day. The most dominating Saints player was without a doubt Marcelino Melic. Rafael Young on the other hand, had a terrible day. The match ends 6 - 2.




Goals: Knapp 3, Gómez, Hawkins, Casper
Yellow Cards: Knapp


Stockton: **~

Makris: **~
Bokhorst: ***
Hawkins: ***
Högskär: **

Pettersson: ***
Casper: ***
Sakic: **
Chopin: ***
Gómez: ***

Knapp: **


Team Match MVP: Joshua Casper

Frankfort United

Midfield: solid (7)
Right Side Defence: passable (6)
Central Defence: passable (6)
Left Side Defence: passable (6)
Right Side Attack: formidable (9)
Central Attack: poor (3)
Left Side Attack: excellent (8)


St Louis Saints

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


Very nice effort; it was a touch nervewracking early on as St Louis's strong CA got ous twice. But we really came on late to earn a big 6-2 win. Though it's in a form slump, it's nice to see Knapp scoring like that. Attacking on the wings definately seems to work a little; I like the idea of the 4-5-1 with two offensive wingers and attacking there against teams against whom I am outmatched. Hmm...

Other thoughts: Good to see that Casper was match MVP. And one week after replacing him in the lineup, Chopin gets his first ever *** rating! Weird timing, but I'm not complaining, he's a high quality backup. Finally, Gómez is quite well suited to the offensive winger role, I'm thinking he'll sell nicely late this year.

Next week we fight the Crawfish for the group title!

Next up: Training Update

[sterlingice]

How in god's name did a 4-5-1 score 6 goals?!? ;)

SI

[DukeRulesMAB]

It's the run and shoot 4-5-1! ;)

[DukeRulesMAB]

Training News


Mariano Gómez (16328672)
18 years, solid form, healthy
A sympathetic guy who is balanced and honest.
Has disastrous experience and poor leadership abilities.


Speciality: Head

Nationality: Argentina
Assessed value: 184,000 US$
Wage: 1,092 US$/week including 20% Bonus
Owner: Frankfort United
Warnings: 0


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

Mariano will most likely pop formidable after the 14th and final league game, at which time he'll be sold. All you PM trainers might wanna keep an eye out, Inad stamina, Passable PM, Form Winger, Inad Def, Weak passing, he could make a very nice trainee at age 19 (next season).


Form Update

Starters Going Up: 5 (Matlock, Hylind, Casper to Excellent, Aguado to Solid, Henry to Passable)
Starters Going Down: 1 (Eaton to Passable)
Reserves Going Up: 3 (Makris to Excellent, Bokhorst, Högskär to Solid)
Reserves Going Down: 1 (Sakic to Inadequate)

Jesus Christ, what an amazing form update! With Eaton still injured and Bokhorst starting, I essentially had a 6:0 form ratio for my starters. I think our ratings might be OK this week. :)


Total Team Value (Before Training): $3,887,000 (3,799,000)



Coming up next: Youth pull and finances.

[DukeRulesMAB]

Youth pull

Melvin Keating (23036614)
18 years, passable form, healthy
A pleasant guy who is calm and upright.
Has disastrous experience and wretched leadership abilities.

Nationality: USA
Assessed value: 47 000 US$
Wage: 740 US$/week
Owner: Frankfort United
Warnings: 0


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


No complaints there, already listed and has a 25K bid. Ends 1/14/2004 at 01:41.


Economy

Income

Crowd: 3,863 (vs. St Louis Saints)
Sponsers: 76,890
Temporary: 6,730
- 600 (New Supporters)
- 1,550 (Sell-on fee for McWhorter)
- 4,580 (Sell-on fee for Franco)

Total revenues: 87,483

Expenditures

Youth Squad: 20,000
Wages: 27,026
Staff: 54,000
Arena: 18,830
Temporary: 410,000
- 2,000 (Youth Pull)
- 408,000 (Purchase of Casper)

Total Expenses: 529,856

Profit (Loss): (442,373)
New Balance: 95,498

You'd think we'd spent our money for a while. Well...maybe not. :)

Other stats

Team Spirit: Content
Confidence: Strong

Sponsers: Dancing in the Streets
Supporters: Delirious (Down from High on Life)
# of Supporters: 1341 (Up from 1321)


IV.53 Preview

The Little Pretties - ole

TLP never puts up good ratings, but at home, they are gonna squash ole.

AC Weezer - Byzantines

Definately the game of the week. Both teams are going to be fired up for this, but Byzantines has FCP next week. I predict a ACW upset here, to match their earlier upset.

Frankfort United - FC Parkersburg

Well, we should have a slightly better midfield and better attack. Defense...erm... We have a shot at a tie or win, but everything would have to go our way. It looked like we were gonna be unable to employ the 4-5-1, as Eaton isn't healthy yet. But, well, see the next post. :)

Jumpers - Vampires

Vampires needs this, after us taking 4 points against them the last two game. :)

Up Next: Frankfort hosts series-leading FCP.

[DukeRulesMAB]

Anders Håkansson (5940296)
32 years, solid form, healthy
A pleasant guy who is balanced and honest.
Has passable experience and passable leadership abilities.

Nationality: Sverige
Assessed value: 77 000 US$
Wage: 1 560 US$/week including 20% Bonus
Owner: Frankfort United
Warnings: 1


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


The bad news: He cost 114K, which is obviously a lot for a passable/inad defender. I had to pay a bit of a premium due to his passing, which will go unused on my squad.

But this is a huge addition. This is my future coach. Solid/Passable or Solid/Solid coaches were well out of my affordable range. But this guy, by virtue of being good enough to play, makes Passable/Passable work just as well. I can't convert him till a season from now, and I doubt I'd want to until the beginning of the next season anyway. So we'll get this guy in all next year's cup matches, plus plenty of A team matches until then. When Eaton returns, he probably will displace Hawkins in the starting lineup.

In the short-term, I can run the 4-5-1 against FCP now, so yay. :)

[Havok]

nice future coach..... looks alot like mine :)

[DukeRulesMAB]

Season 3 - Game 9

Frankfort United vs. FC Parkersburg

Date: January 11, 2004
Arena: F.U. Field (Kentucky)
Crowd: 29,424 (29,424)
Weather: Cloudy

Well, last time we played, they slapped me pretty good as expected. This time, we'll have better formation experience, home field advantage (and thus a better midfield)...and they should still beat us easily. :)

We're PICing, but it's still theoretically possible to win. We've got our full compliment of "special event" players out there (Hylind head, Aguado/Pettersson Quick, Aguado Set Pieces, Casper Unpredictable), praying for a fluke goal. I just hope our defense plays better this time, allowing 3 goals to a weak/solid/poor offense is just unacceptable when they also don't feature a dominating midfield.


Starters (4-5-1):

Keeper: Matthew Matlock

Right Defender: William Hawkins
Central Defender: Bart Bokhorst
Central Defender: Anders Håkansson
Left Defender: Bill Henry

Right Wing: Per Pettersson
Central Midfield: Robert Mullineux
Central Midfield: Theodore Arnold
Central Midfield: Joshua Casper
Left Wing: Felix Hylind

Striker: Daniel Aguado

We're in very good form here on the whole. Only oddity is Pettersson in for Collier; Collier's better, but it doesn't really matter what our offensive ratings are against this team. What does matter is that we maximize our event chances.

Also, this is Håkansson's debut, we expect him to be just fine back there.

The Match

At F. U. Field, 29424 punters turned up, and despite threatening clouds at the horizon, no rain came. Frankfort started off with a 4-5-1 lineup. The following players had been chosen: Matlock - Hawkins, Håkansson, Bokhorst, Henry - Pettersson, Arnold, Mullineux, Casper, Hylind - Aguado.

Parkersburg had chosen a strategic 5-3-2 formation. Lineup: Basým - Rodriguez, Palfrey, Igelbeck, Waldeck, Ibarra - Richardsson, Rosenbauer, Milner - Nesstedt, Labastida.

Parkersburg were relying on their formidable ability to counter-attack. Parkersburg took the lead after 1 minutes with 0 - 1. Stellan Nesstedt placed the ball out of reach for the home sides keeper after a fine move, coming in from the left. Parkersburg mounted an inspired counterattack in the 13th minute, but Roger Milner was unable to convert from short range. In the 18:th minute Frankforts Bill Henry received a yellow card for going into a challenge studs first. Robert Mullineux of Frankfort received a yellow card in the 28:th minute for unsportsmanlike behaviour. A corner kick created great disorder in the penalty area, but at last Frankfort´s Bart Bokhorst was able to shove the ball in. 1-1. What ever got into Joshua Casper, the crowd mumbled, as he suddenly struck a cross pass through the own defense - ending up right in front of Parkersburg´s Stellan Nesstedt, who easily put the ball away for 1-2. Frankfort tried to reply with long plays towards the centrally placed strikers, but the visitor´s defence got the best of it. In the 44:th minute Parkersburgs Maynard Rodriguez received a yellow card for going into a challenge studs first. Parkersburg´s Wolfgang Rosenbauer made it through the home teams defence in the 44:th minute, and had only to place the ball in an unguarded goal when the home side´s defender sprang up from the left, clearing the ball on the line. The teams went for a half-time break at 1 - 2. Frankfort, bringing the final ball possession rate to 60 percent, dominated the battle.

José Luis Labastida 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 had a magnificent opportunity in the 63rd minute as Daniel Aguado hit the ball hard at the edge of the penatly box. However, the shot went wide. Daniel Aguado was just a finger´s breadth away from an equaliser for Frankfort, but Reþit Basým managed to ward the closing shot off for a corner. The referee showed Parkersburgs Roger Milner the yellow card after a particularly nasty challenge. The game was close to savage at times, and Frankfort`s Robert Mullineux received a second yellow card in the 77:th, his ticket out of the game. Parkersburg held the ball, with a clear 51 percent possession rate.

The most dominating Frankfort player was without a doubt Matthew Matlock. Felix Hylind was a disappointment, however. Most important Parkersburg player was Tony Ibarra. José Luis Labastida was a disappointment, however. The match ends 1 - 2.



Goals: Bokhorst (1, 33rd minute)
Yellow Cards: Mullineux 2, Henry

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


Matlock: *****

Hawkins: ***
Bokhorst: ***
Håkansson: ***
Henry: ***

Pettersson: ***
Mullineux: None Given (Ejected)
Arnold: **~
Casper: ***~
Hylind: **~

Aguado: ***~


Team Match MVP: Matthew Matlock




Frankfort United

Tactic: Normal

Midfield: solid (7)
Right Side Defence: outstanding (10)
Central Defence: brilliant (11)
Left Side Defence: outstanding (10)
Right Side Attack: formidable (9)
Central Attack: inadequate (5)
Left Side Attack: weak (4)


FC Parkersburg

Tactic: Counter-attacks
Tactic skill: formidable (9)

Midfield: weak (4)
Right Side Defence: supernatural (14)
Central Defence: divine (20)
Left Side Defence: divine (20)
Right Side Attack: weak (4)
Central Attack: solid (7)
Left Side Attack: poor (3)

First the good: We competed with a really, really good team. And look at those star ratings! Really, really good job by the boys. I believe that's our first ever brilliant rating as well.

Now for the bad...we were so close. My "event goal" strategy backfired, giving him an unpredictable goal that was the winning margin. We gave up a regular goal to one of his pathetic side attacks. And we missed so many chances to tie it up. Finally, Mullineux's booting pretty much sealed the deal. I guess I should be happy that we came so close to a good team, but I feel like we let this one slip through our fingers. I didn't help things by matching up my "attack side" with the wrong side of his defense.

Though we have a very important match next week against ole, Mullineux's ejection isn't a huge deal. This is why we kept Chopin around.

Elsewhere in the series, Byzantines and AC Weezer found to a 2-2 draw. That was important for Byzantines, as now a win over FCP at home (not next week as I originally thought) should give them the series. Tall order, though. In the other competitive game, TLP stayed on the margins of the race, just 4 out, with a 2-0 win over our opponent next week, ole.

Next up: We visit The Afoci in order to be overrun by Crawfish!

[sterlingice]

Bring a pot of boiling water and some crawfish tongs.

SI

[DukeRulesMAB]

Season 3 - Friendly

FOFC Cup Group 9: Fighting Crawfish vs. Frankfort United

Date: January 14, 2004
Arena: Fighting Crawfish Arena (North Dakota)
Crowd: 1,965 (40,000)
Weather: Partly Cloudy

We've brought cajun seasoning and tongs (on the advice of si) to North Dakota to fight the infamous Crawfish, defeaters of the defending US Open Cup holders. For some reason, we weren't charged 6K despite this excursion into South Canada, I just hope I get the international experience!

Seriously, a win or tie here gives us the Group title. We even have an outside shot with a loss, but we'd rather get it outright (and the decent seed that comes with it).

Starters (Balanced 3-5-2):

Keeper: Will Stockton

Right Defender: Demitri Makris
Central Defender: Anders Håkansson
Left Defender: Lennart Högskär

Right Wing: Jesse Collier
Central Midfield: Michael Chopin
Central Midfield: Jacob Knapp
Central Midfield: Borislav Sakic
Left Wing: Mariano Gómez

Striker: William Morales
Striker: Courtney Sellers

We're up to a full B side now, so most weeks you will see a whole new squad on Wednesdays than Sundays. To accomplish this, Jacob Knapp will be moved to the 6th midfield slot (though he's still the primary backup on Sundays). This allows us to bump Sakic up to a major midfield slot, and play him offensive (making use of his passable passing).

This is Sellers return after a very extended injury, though he's still somehow in solid form. Also, Eaton's still injured, so we have a repeat spot open. When ever possible, that will go to Håkansson; we need that solid experience bump in the next season.

As always on Wednesdays, all wings offensive, and we're attacking on the wings.

The Match

Fairly good weather for football had drawn a crowd of 1965 to Fighting Crawfish Arena. Fighting had chosen a strategic 3-5-2 formation. The following players had been chosen: Holt - de Oliveira, van der Klauw, Ciripoi - Rossi, Wylie, Gabrielsson, Rivera, Uddstad - Rannem , Mathis.

Frankfort started off with a 3-5-2 lineup. Lineup: Stockton - Makris, Håkansson, Högskär - Collier, Chopin, Sakic, Knapp, Gómez - Sellers, Morales.

Frankfort were mostly trying to use the flanks for their attacks. Some beautiful plays on the left side of the field resulted in a 9:th minute goal by Salvatore Mathis for Fighting, putting them ahead 1 - 0. Frankfort got a chance to level the score as William Morales suddenly found himself free with the goaltender but the finishing shot hit the bar. In the 29:th minute of the match the visitors central line of defence had to look on as João Fernando de Oliveira dashed through, knocking home 2 - 0 for Fighting. A speedy charge from the left side of the field put Fighting lead up with 3 - 0. Salvatore Mathis finished that one off competently, firing from an acute angle. The structure of the game started to change as Fighting decided to pull back and meet their opponents in the defensive zone. The teams went for a half-time break at 3 - 0. Fighting held the ball, with a clear 53 percent possession rate.

Frankfort managed to reduce a bit later to 3 - 1 as Michael Chopin finished off a well played combination from the left, carving through the defensive box. Courtney Sellers nearly reduced 63 minutes into the game, but a splendid one hand save by Tommy Holt put a stop to the attempt coming in from the right flank. Frankfort managed to reduce a bit later to 3 - 2 as William Morales finished off a well played combination from the left, carving through the defensive box. After an industrious effort down the middle Salvatore Mathis could have closed the game off in the 75:th minute, but his finishing shot hit the post. William Morales finished off a quick charge from the left of the field by chipping the ball just past the home sides keeper, making the score 3 - 3 in the 82nd minute. The fortyfive minutes were dominated by Frankfort, with an impressive 56 percent possession of the ball.

Fighting´s best player was Florian Wylie. Stefan Gabrielsson on the other hand, had a terrible day. Most important Frankfort player was Mariano Gómez. Jacob Knapp was a disappointment, however. The match ends 3 - 3.



Goals: Morales 2 (73rd, 82nd minute), Chopin (61st minute)
Yellow Cards:


Stockton: **~

Makris: **~
Håkansson: ***
Högskär: **

Collier: ***
Chopin: ***
Knapp: **
Sakic: **
Gómez: ***~

Morales: ***
Sellers: **


Team Match MVP: Mariano Gómez

Fighting Crawfish

Tactic: Normal

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


Frankfort United

Tactic: Attack on wings
Tactic skill: excellent (8)

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

Nice comeback against a real good team. I'm just stunned by those attack ratings. And Gómez with ***~! That's better than Coller or Pettersson put up! And he put up the same attack rating as Collier, despite having a weaker offensive wingback. Definate food for thought. Should he be starting for me? Hard to say, but we have to consider it.

With this win, we're onto the Knockout phase as Group champs! We host Calibiri next week in the 1st round.


Next up: Training Update

[DukeRulesMAB]

Training News

No pops, but there is some news.

Two experience bumps, both to starters. Robert Mullineux is up to Excellent experience, best on the team. And after a freakin' eternal wait, Matthew Matlock finally went to wretched experience.

In other news, Arthur Eaton is showing signs of aging, in dropping.....in scoring from inadequate to weak. Somehow we'll survive. :)

We do expect either one or two pops next week to spice things up.

Form Update

Starters Going Up: 3 (Aguado to Excellent, Henry, Morales to Solid)
Starters Going Down: 4 (Casper two levels to Passable, Arnold, Collier to Passable, Eaton to Inadequate)
Reserves Going Up: 2 (Högskär to Excellent, Knapp to Passable)
Reserves Going Down: 2 (Gómez to Passable, Sellers two levels to Inadequate)

Well, we were due to come down from our great form, and it hit at a bad time. The particular bad news is in the midfield where two starters dropped a total of 3 levels. Also of note is trouble on the wings, with Collier down. I may start Gómez this week, with our midfield troubles, but he went down in form, too. Troublesome.

The good news is that our forwards are in amazing form, I look forward to seeing what they can put up.


Total Team Value (Before Training): $4,036,000 (3,964,000)

Now that we have a full "B" side, we've gone over 4M with the continued training progress. Also, I believe Per Pettersson has permanently taken over the outfield value lead, as he's at 256K, better than Aguado, even with the latter in excellent form.

Coming up next: Youth pull and finances.

[The Afoci]

Season 3 - Friendly
We've brought cajun seasoning and tongs (on the advice of si) to North Dakota to fight the infamous Crawfish, defeaters of the defending US Open Cup holders. For some reason, we weren't charged 6K despite this excursion into South Canada, I just hope I get the international experience!



South Canada?!? Is Texas South America? No.

Now, I wish the damn party the night before wouldn't have taken so much out of the boys. I mean, 3-0 at half and then die in the second. Those wing attacks were nice btw. :)

[DukeRulesMAB]

Youth pull

Hud Holden (23360760)
19 years, passable form, healthy
A pleasant guy who is calm and honest.
Has disastrous experience and disastrous leadership abilities.

Nationality: USA
Assessed value: 12 000 US$
Wage: 560 US$/week
Owner: Frankfort United
Warnings: 0


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


Canned; breaks the string of 3 straight good pulls, but I think it's fair not to complain about that. :)


Economy

Income

Crowd: 198,334
- 191,980 (vs. FC Parkersburg)
- 6,354 (at Fighting Crawfish)
Sponsers: 77,880
Temporary: 38,200
- 480 (New Supporters)
- 37,720 (Sale of Keating)

Total revenues: 314,414

Expenditures

Youth Squad: 20,000
Wages: 30,186
Staff: 54,000
Arena: 18,830
Temporary: 117,000
- 2,000 (Youth Pull)
- 1,000 (Listing Fees)
- 114,000 (Purchase of Håkansson)

Total Expenses: 240,016

Profit (Loss): 74,398
New Balance: 169,985

Seriously...we're done buying players for a file this time. :) Probably till early next year when we get a new winger trainee.

Other stats

Team Spirit: Content
Confidence: Strong

Sponsers: Dancing in the Streets
Supporters: Delirious
# of Supporters: 1357 (Up from 1341)


IV.53 Preview

Jumpers - AC Weezer

ACW gets their last easy 3 of the year.

Byzantines - The Little Pretties

Biggest game of the week, if only as a last gasp from TLP to stay in the series race. Not gonna happen, this'll be easy for Byzantines.

ole - Frankfort United

Critical game for us. Won't be easy, on the road, some form issues, Mullineux suspended. But a win here clinches at least 6th, which gives us our fighting chance to stay around another year.

Vampires - FC Parkersburg

Vampires could pull the upset, they're at home, and FCP's offense is always a problem. I'll go out on the limb and predict a draw here, but I can't see Vampires getting the win.

Up Next: We visit ole in a bid to sew up avoidance of autodemotion.

[DukeRulesMAB]

Season 3 - Game 10

ole vs. Frankfort United

Date: January 18, 2004
Arena: ole Arena (Chicago)
Crowd: 27,689 (44,500)
Weather: Cloudy

You know, it's sad that even this guy has a better arena than me. Still, we're another season from expansion.

Anyway, we're better than this team, but this is gonna be a very tight match. First, we're on the road, so their midfield should be as good or slightly better than ours. Second, our midfield is a bit down this week. Our form is off its pace of most of the year, plus Robert Mullineux is suspended for the game. But the stakes are high here: If we win, we clinch at least 6th, meaning no auto-demotion. With that in mind, we're playing Normal this week.

On a side note, it has occurred to me that next year, once I'm out of the Cup, we're going to play a lot more normal. PICing doesn't give you the same benefits when you can't get above Content TS, and that's the case with my Poor Leadership coach. He can hold decent TS while in the Cup, but when the games get down to once a week, no way. That's fine, live and learn.


Starters (Balanced 3-5-2):

Keeper: Matthew Matlock

Right Defender: William Hawkins
Central Defender: Anders Håkansson
Left Defender: Bill Henry

Right Wing: Mariano Gómez
Central Midfield: Michael Chopin
Central Midfield: Theodore Arnold
Central Midfield: Joshua Casper
Left Wing: Felix Hylind

Striker: William Morales
Striker: Daniel Aguado

Eaton didn't quite make it back, but that's OK; Håkansson can man central D duties just fine. Chopin's back in the midfield for Mullineux; a dropoff, but not a killer one.

Our attack is what's interesting this week. Our forwards are in very good form, and I'm excited to see what they can do. This is Gómez's first competitive match since we were in the cup. Though he might not put up the ***~ he got in the FOFC Cup on Wednesday (his form is off a bit), we are still very excited by that effort. Further, he still contributes to the midfield when played offensively, and we probably need that boost this week.

The Match

27689 spectators had come to ole Arena this cloudy day. ole had chosen a strategic 3-5-2 formation. They fielded: Tripathi - Windham, Duarte, Yngvesson - Lyle, Edlind, Thystrand, Jansson, Hess - Stanton, Oneil.

Frankfort had chosen a strategic 3-5-2 formation. The following players had been chosen: Matlock - Hawkins, Håkansson, Henry - Gómez, Arnold, Chopin, Casper, Hylind - Aguado, Morales.

oles Bo Thystrand gave, after 1 minutes, the home team a 1 - 0 lead after an attack coming in from the right. Matthew Matlock was caught napping a bit later as Riley Hess lifted a ball over him after a free kick, but the ball hit the bar, rebounding into the keepers arms. Some brilliant football from the visitors right wing resulted in a 13th minute levelling of scores as Frankforts Michael Chopin equalised to 1 - 1. In the games 19:th minute ole´s Jan Yngvesson fell dramatically just outside the penalty area. However, the referee booked Jan Yngvesson for taking a dive. Halftime score was 1 - 1. Frankfort held the ball, with a clear 53 percent possession rate.

Frankfort took the lead after 64 minutes with 1 - 2. William Morales placed the ball out of reach for the home sides keeper after a fine move, coming in from the left. William Morales increased the visitors lead by putting a volley shot away on a pass from the right. 1 - 3. William Morales of Frankfort received a yellow card in the 89:th minute for unsportsmanlike behaviour. Frankfort, bringing the final ball possession rate to 57 percent, dominated the battle.

Most important ole player was Sören Edlind. Magnus Jansson on the other hand, had a terrible day. Frankfort´s best player was Matthew Matlock. Theodore Arnold on the other hand, had a terrible day. The match ends 1 - 3.




Goals: Morales 2 (7, 64th, 75th minutes), Chopin (1, 13th minute)
Yellow Cards: Morales

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


Matlock: *****~

Hawkins: ***
Håkansson: ***
Henry: ***

Gómez: ***
Chopin: **~
Arnold: **~
Casper: ***
Hylind: **~

Morales: ***
Aguado: ***~


Team Match MVP: Matthew Matlock

ole

Tactic: Normal

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


Frankfort United

Tactic: Normal

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


Well, I was a bit worried early after yet another slow start, but it was all good, as we really cruised to this win. We had a slight midfield edge, our offense was better than his defense, and our defense was better than his offense. That's a good formula. :)

Individual performances of note: Morales scoring the two big goals to take the lead and cinch the win in the second half. And Matthew Matlock: *****~. :) That wretched experience bump already paying off as that's a personal and team high. We couldn't be happier with him.

Elsewhere in IV.53, the big upset finally hit as Vampires took out FC Parkersburg 1-0. We almost stole a point last week, and this time Vampires took the full 3. Vamp's defense was more than good enough to stop the FCP attack, and FCP had a first half red card in their defense which made it slightly less impenetrable. Vampires took advantage with a second half goal, and there you go. Byzantines took full advantage by grinding Little Pretties into the dirt 5-0. Standings:


1. Byzantines 10 31 - 11 23

2. FC Parkersburg 10 21 - 8 23
3. The Little Pretties 10 24 - 15 19
4. Vampires 10 21 - 9 16

5. AC Weezer 10 24 - 21 15
6. Frankfort United 10 19 - 13 14

7. ole 10 13 - 26 4
8. Jumpers 10 0 - 50 0


With that win, we've clinched at least 6th place! Yes, it's only a 10 point lead with 4 to play, but we still have the Jumpers walkover in front of us, so that 3 points is enough! Now, we just would like to squeak into 5th somehow (a task that got a lot tougher with Vamps' upset this week).

The top of the series is very interesting. It likely comes down to the Byzantines/FCP matchup in two weeks, but if they tie and TLP can win out (they're done with both of the top two), the Cinderellas may still be alive.


Next up: Knockout play of the FOFC Cup begins when we host daedalus's Calibiri.

[DukeRulesMAB]

Season 3 - Friendly

FOFC Cup Round of 32: Frankfort United vs. Calibiri

Date: January 21, 2004
Arena: F.U. Field (Kentucky)
Crowd: 1,437 (29,424)
Weather: Cloudy

We welcome the 24th seeded Calibiri, as FOFC knockout play begins. We're not as strong as we've been in past seasons, due to us now having a full B squad, but we're still decent, and should be competitive with all but the best teams.

Starters (4-5-1):

Keeper: Will Stockton

Right Defender: Lennart Högskär
Central Defender: Arthur Eaton
Central Defender: Bart Bokhorst
Left Defender: Demitri Makris

Right Wing: Per Pettersson
Central Midfield: Robert Mullineux
Central Midfield: Jacob Knapp
Central Midfield: Borislav Sakic
Left Wing: Jesse Collier

Striker: Courtney Sellers

Typical B squad with a few exceptions. First, Eaton is finally healthy, so it's good to see him back on the pitch. Mullineux was suspended Sunday, so he gets some game action here. And we have our two best offensive wingers in the formation, will be interesting to see how they do with almost no support from the one forward.

Of course, we're attacking on wings, with everyone on a wing offensive.

The Match

1437 spectators had come to F. U. Field this cloudy day. Frankfort started off with a 4-5-1 lineup. Lineup: Stockton - Högskär, Eaton, Bokhorst, Makris - Pettersson, Mullineux, Sakic, Knapp, Collier - Sellers.

Calibiri started off with a 3-5-2 lineup. They fielded: Strzyzewski - Rhodes, Mieres, Fãtu - Maizieres, Mcdonough, Babiák, Caño, Alcalde - Pop, Gatineau.

Frankfort were mostly trying to use the flanks for their attacks. After 4 minutes Per Pettersson made a speedy advance and dropped the ball to Courtney Sellers who shuffled the ball past the keeper. The score was now 1 - 0. A speedy charge from the left side of the field put Frankfort lead up with 2 - 0. Jesse Collier finished that one off competently, firing from an acute angle. Calibiri will have to do without Pawel Strzyzewski for a time due to a bad foot injury. He was substituted by Cordell Duckworth. After 33 minutes Borislav Sakic put Frankfort ahead 3 - 0 as he rose to head in a hooked ball, the result of an effort from the right side. Colt Mcdonough of Calibiri received a yellow card in the 42nd minute for unsportsmanlike behaviour. Yannick Maizieres of Calibiri received a yellow card in the 42nd minute for unsportsmanlike behaviour. Rodrigo Caño received some harsh words from his coach after he acted foolishly, probably out of lack of experience, in the 43rd minute and almost caused an opponent to score. The teams went for a half-time break at 3 - 0. Calibiri held the ball, with a clear 51 percent possession rate.

54 minutes into the game Miguel Alcalde had to leave the pitch due to a knee injury. In came Ronny Boston. Calibiri reduced in the 54:th minute to 3 - 1 as Bonnand Gatineau easily chipped the ball past the home sides keeper on a play from the right. Calibiri showed some good morale and were, in the 59:th minute, able to reduce the score to 3 - 2 as Yannick Maizieres got past the home sides full backs straight in front of the goal. The fortyfive minutes were dominated by Frankfort, with an impressive 52 percent possession of the ball.

Frankfort´s best player was Robert Mullineux. Courtney Sellers on the other hand, had a terrible day. Most important Calibiri player was Gábor Babiák. However, Rodrigo Caño made a disastrous appearance. The match ends 3 - 2.




Goals: Sellers (4th minute), Collier (20th minute), Sakic (33rd minute)
Yellow Cards: None


Stockton: ***

Högskär: **~
Eaton: **~
Bokhorst: ***
Makris: **~

Pettersson: ***
Mullineux: ***
Knapp: **~
Sakic: **
Collier: ***

Sellers: **


Team Match MVP: Robert Mullineux



Frankfort United

Tactic: Attack on wings
Tactic skill: excellent (8)

Midfield: inadequate (5)
Right Side Defence: passable (6)
Central Defence: passable (6)
Left Side Defence: passable (6)
Right Side Attack: formidable (9)
Central Attack: weak (4)
Left Side Attack: formidable (9)


Calibiri

Tactic: Normal

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


Despite not playing well in the second, we held on for this win, so no complaints here. Calibiri's a very strong team, we were fortunate to do this well.

A few individual notes. Those are career high star ratings for both Högskär and Stockton, plus a high for Knapp in his capacity as an inner mid. Eaton's performance is a bit off, as his form is down a touch from being off so long. Unless he shows some improvement tomorrow, he probably won't see competitive game action on Sunday.

Next week, in the round of 16, we take on bigjdotcom's West Henrietta FC, who pulled the biggest upset of the round of 32!


Next up: Training Update

[DukeRulesMAB]

Training News

First the bad news. New acquisition Anders Håkansson lost some talent. He's now disastrous in scoring. Don't know how I'll survive that. ;)

Per Pettersson (20555779)
17 years, solid form, healthy
A sympathetic guy who is tranquil and honest.
Has disastrous experience and weak leadership abilities.


Speciality: Quick

Nationality: Sverige
Assessed value: 278 000 US$
Wage: 1 272 US$/week including 20% Bonus
Owner: Frankfort United
Warnings: 0


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

We like Per. Especially with his quick specialty, he is a great aide against the many teams that outclass us on the pitch. And with his winger skills really coming into their own, he's a serious offensive winger. He'll be Brilliant when I sell him at the end of next season, and I expect him to bring a chunk of cash my way.

Felix Hylind (17864211)
18 years, excellent form, healthy
A sympathetic guy who is balanced and dishonest.
Has wretched experience and passable leadership abilities.


Speciality: Head

Nationality: Sverige
Assessed value: 179 000 US$
Wage: 1 044 US$/week including 20% Bonus
Owner: Frankfort United
Warnings: 0


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

I don't know how long Felix will be on my team. At least two seasons after this one. Maybe longer depending on what I may be able to get to replace him. He's probably my true MVP this year; my first true TM winger, and he's been a huge midfield boost. Now, his winger skill is coming into its own. I truly can't wait till he's Solid/Solid/Formidable mid-next season. :)


Form Update

Starters Going Up: 2 (Henry to Excellent, Casper to Solid)
Starters Going Down: 2 (Morales to Passable, Collier to Inadequate)
Reserves Going Up: 1 (Sakic to Passable)
Reserves Going Down: 1 (Sellers to Weak)

Good news for the most part here. Casper bounces right back from his form decline. And Henry, I can't say enough about him. Seriously, my favorite youth pull ever. Immediate starter, trainable, and now in great form? What more can I ask for?

The bad news is pretty limited. Morales only dropped 1K in value, so it's not a serious deficit. He's not even starting this week anyway. Collier's drop is disappointing, but if there's one thing I'm not lacking, it's offensive wingers. Per was gonna get the start, weather permitting, this week anyway.

Total Team Value (Before Training): $4,125,000 (4,036,000)

Gómez and Collier both topped the 200K mark this week, leaving only Hylind among my major trainees under it.

Coming up next: Youth pull and finances.

[Havok]

i wanna train winger .... no fair :(

I will one day i think..... but probally not for 4 or 5 more seasons. When i quit PM training i'd like to have like 3 Middy's all with supernaturel or Titanic PM......

[DukeRulesMAB]

Couple notes, as I apparently got to the Training before it was finished (despite HT saying it was finished).

Eaton fell to Weak form, so he's gonna be on the bench a while.

And our team value is 4.129M.

Sounds good, Havoc...I might recommend you speak with TP6, though, from my understanding through him, players' salaries explode at some point, and I think it's after brilliant. Might be tough to afford 3 middies of that level.

[Havok]

Couple notes, as I apparently got to the Training before it was finished (despite HT saying it was finished).

Eaton fell to Weak form, so he's gonna be on the bench a while.

And our team value is 4.129M.

Sounds good, Havoc...I might recommend you speak with TP6, though, from my understanding through him, players' salaries explode at some point, and I think it's after brilliant. Might be tough to afford 3 middies of that level.


from what billy says.... after Titanic they're salaries start to explode.

[DukeRulesMAB]

Havoc - Oops, it's entirely possible I misremembered. :) In that case, Titanic it is.

Youth pull

Willard Duggan (24842312)
18 years, passable form, healthy
A pleasant guy who is temperamental and dishonest.
Has disastrous experience and inadequate leadership abilities.

Nationality: USA
Assessed value: 14 000 US$
Wage: 560 US$/week
Owner: Frankfort United
Warnings: 0


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

Well, we needed a popcorn vendor, and I understand he's outstanding in that rating.


Economy

Income

Crowd: 4,733 (vs. Calibiri)
Sponsers: 78,705
Temporary: 2,600
- 600 (New Supporters)
- 2,000 (Sell-on fee for Keating)

Total revenues: 86,038

Expenditures

Youth Squad: 20,000
Wages: 31,746
Staff: 54,000
Arena: 18,830
Temporary: 2,000 (Youth Pull)

Total Expenses: 126,576

Profit (Loss): (40,538)
New Balance: 129,356

Cost ourselves 6K, cuz I forgot to fire my extra doctors earlier today. Little, obviously, but irritating.

Other stats

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

Sponsers: Dancing in the Streets
Supporters: Delirious
# of Supporters: 1377 (Up from 1357)

I'll be interested to see where we are next week at this time. Our coach sucks so bad, I wonder if we'll even be able to hold Content (after our PIC) now.

IV.53 Preview

FC Parkersburg - ole

Smarting from the upset last week (but fresh off a 2M youth pull: 17 YO Solid PM/Exc Passing), FCP gets a break before the big match against Byzantines. No upset here.

Frankfort United - Byzantines

We have virtually no shot. We'll bunker in, try to steal a point, but it ain't gonna happen. They're better than us everywhere except defense, where they are about even. Next week is FCP, but their press announcement says they aren't taking us lightly. I've actually got a bit of a scrappy underdog rep on the series conference, so I don't doubt him. This could get ugly.

The Little Pretties - Jumpers

TLP gets the walkover, and prays for a large series of upsets.

AC Weezer - Vampires

Interesting match, Vampires may finally be playing to talent, but ACW is very good. Definately the marquis matchup of the week, as the loser likely will have to play a qualifier.

Up Next: We host series leading Byzantines.

[DukeRulesMAB]

Season 3 - Game 11

Frankfort United vs. Byzantines

Date: January 25, 2004
Arena: F.U. Field (Kentucky)
Crowd: 29,424 (29,424)
Weather: Partly Cloudy

If it seems like ever week we play the "series leaders", it's only because that title keeps switching hands. ;)

Byzantines is just a horrible matchup for us. Strong midfield, strong attack, strong defense. We're obviously PICing, as I hope that we can at least manage to hold Content TS going into the Quali in 4 weeks.


Starters (4-5-1):

Keeper: Matthew Matlock

Right Defender: Bill Henry
Central Defender: Anders Håkansson
Central Defender: Bart Bokhorst
Left Defender: William Hawkins

Right Wing: Felix Hylind
Central Midfield: Robert Mullineux
Central Midfield: Michael Chopin
Central Midfield: Joshua Casper
Left Wing: Per Pettersson

Striker: Daniel Aguado

As usual when we're outmatched, we are bunkering down and praying for a miracle. Hasn't worked yet, but it might eventually. ;)

Bokhorst in over Eaton due to the latter's pathetic form this week. Also Chopin over Arnold for form reasons. Pettersson gets the call, as per usual, against a superior team hoping for his Quick specialty to show through. He just popped Excellent winger (to go with his solid passing) this week, and is in solid form (best of my offensive wingers), so he's no slouch ratings wise either. We reversed the offensive side of the field, just to mix it up, too.

I briefly considered going two offensive wingers and attacking on wings, but that weakens my central defense and my midfield (since Hylind would be out), and that works against the whole goal here: turtle up and don't let anything in.

The Match

29424 spectators arrived at F. U. Field, where weather conditions were pretty good for football. Frankfort started off with a 4-5-1 lineup. The following players had been chosen: Matlock - Henry, Håkansson, Bokhorst, Hawkins - Hylind, Mullineux, Chopin, Casper, Pettersson - Aguado.

Byzantines had chosen a strategic 3-5-2 formation. Lineup: Andreasson - Sattrup, Singletary, Farley - Griffin, Yates, Whitten, Esposito, Carvoeiro Martin - Kuusemaa, Herzog.

Always quick and a menace to his opponents,Per Pettersson was in the 7:th minute very close to getting through, but Jørn Sattrup managed to avert the attack. A mistake by the home sides central defence in the 22nd minute allowed Ron Herzog to score 0 - 1 for Byzantines. In the games 25:th minute Gustavo Griffin 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. In the 30:th minute Byzantines put themselves up 0 - 2 after an attack from the right, caused by a defensive blunder. Scorer was Jørn Sattrup. The teams went for a half-time break at 0 - 2. Byzantines held the ball, with a clear 60 percent possession rate.

In a rapid move, José Alberto Carvoeiro Martins of Byzantines lost his man, passed the ball to the unmarked Ron Herzog who easily hit it home for the 0-3 goal. Felix Hylind had a good opportunity to reduce in the 49:th minute but wasn´t cool enough. The ball went miles over the bar. Frankforts Joshua Casper got himself booked after a foul. Kyle Yates the unlucky victim, couldn´t continue the game, so Martin Prins had to come off the bench. The visitors Ron Herzog took advantage of an error due to a misunderstanding between the home side´s goalie and central backs in the 84:th minute. 0 - 4 for Byzantines. At that, Ron Herzog was noted down for a hat trick. By now Byzantines were drawing the troops back in order to defend their lead. The referee showed Byzantiness Benjamin Whitten the yellow card after a particularly nasty challenge. Byzantines, bringing the final ball possession rate to 51 percent, dominated the battle.

The most dominating Frankfort player was without a doubt Matthew Matlock. Michael Chopin on the other hand, had a terrible day. The most dominating Byzantines player was without a doubt Timmy Esposito. Martin Prins was a disappointment, however. The match ends 0 - 4.



Goals: None
Yellow Cards: Casper

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


Matlock: *****~

Henry: ***
Håkansson: ***~
Bokhorst: ***
Hawkins: ***

Hylind: **~
Mullineux: ***
Chopin: **~
Casper: ***
Pettersson: ***

Aguado: ***~


Team Match MVP: Matthew Matlock



Frankfort United

Tactic: Normal

Midfield: passable (6)
Right Side Defence: brilliant (11)
Central Defence: brilliant (11)
Left Side Defence: formidable (9)
Right Side Attack: weak (4)
Central Attack: inadequate (5)
Left Side Attack: formidable (9)


Byzantines

Tactic: Normal

Midfield: excellent (8)
Right Side Defence: excellent (8)
Central Defence: formidable (9)
Left Side Defence: formidable (9)
Right Side Attack: formidable (9)
Central Attack: formidable (9)
Left Side Attack: formidable (9)


Well, that was a disaster. We obviously were in the inferior team...by a lot. But 4-0 was a bit worse than even I expected. We played like crap and our supporters have let us know it (3 have left so far). That's OK, we'll be back.

Positives: Håkansson got ***~, so he's a high quality starter. That's pretty much it for the positives.

Now, the important part of this game. I don't think the 4-5-1 is worth it. Or at least I don't have the personnel to run it right. We got, at most, 3 points on defense out of it (I expect I'd have gotten about Out/form/form). On the toher wise, we lost at least 5 points on offense. I just don't think that's a tradeoff worth making.

More to the point, we've pulled 3 "upsets" this year, tying Vampires and AC Weezer and beating Vampires. We played a 3-5-2 in all of those games.

For the moment, I'm gonna keep playing it in friendlies, probably for the rest of the season, because my personnel is set up for the alternating.

The rest of the series was quite eventful. The biggest upset, by far, in the series this year happened, as ole took out FC Parkersburg 2-1. The all-defense strategy is cracking. Now the "big game" next week isn't so big. Byzantines has a 3 point lead and a huge goal differential. Even if FCP wins, they're still gonna be in second. Byzantines has the series, unless they screw up huge. In the other game, ACW is in a strong position to avoid a qualifier as they whipped Vampires 4-0.

Next up: Round of 16 in the FOFC Cup, as we host West Henrietta FC.

[DukeRulesMAB]

Season 3 - Friendly

FOFC Cup Round of 16: Frankfort United vs. West Henrietta FC

Date: January 28, 2004
Arena: F.U. Field (Kentucky)
Crowd: 727 (29,424)
Weather: Partly Cloudy

We're into the final 16, and we have bigjdotcom01's squad to F.U. field. This is our worst crowd in quite a qhile, owing to the irate fans after Sunday's "incident". We definately would like to make the quarters, just as a minor redemption.

Starters (Balanced 3-5-2):

Keeper: Matthew Matlock

Right Defender: Demitri Makris
Central Defender: Arthur Eaton
Left Defender: Lennart Högskär

Right Wing: Jesse Collier
Central Midfield: Theodore Arnold
Central Midfield: Jacob Knapp
Central Midfield: Borislav Sakic
Left Wing: Mariano Gómez

Striker: William Morales
Striker: Courtney Sellers

Pretty much just the 11 guys who didn't play Sunday. One minor exception: I forgot to sub Stockton in at keeper, so Matlock's pulling double duty. Honestly, I didn't mean to. :)

As per usual, all wings offensive, and we're attacking on the wings.

The Match

Fairly good weather for football had drawn a crowd of 727 to F. U. Field. Frankfort tactics involved an interesting 3-5-2 combination. They fielded: Matlock - Makris, Eaton, Högskär - Collier, Arnold, Sakic, Knapp, Gómez - Sellers, Morales.

Henrietta had chosen a strategic 3-5-2 formation. The following players had been chosen: Eaton - Jolly, Butts, Naja - Jones, Gerlach, Kurida, Fleming, Quigley - Dalla Costa, Nunn.

It was an obvious ambition of Frankfort to attack on the flanks. Henrietta seemed to prefer attacking in the middle. 27 minutes into the game Jesse Collier had to leave the pitch due to a knee injury. In came Felix Hylind. The referee showed Frankforts Jacob Knapp the yellow card after a particularly nasty challenge. A mistake by the home sides central defence in the 35:th minute allowed Louis Nunn to score 0 - 1 for Henrietta. The referee showed Henriettas Man Fleming the yellow card after a particularly nasty challenge. Halftime score was 0 - 1. The fortyfive minutes were dominated by Henrietta, with an impressive 55 percent possession of the ball.

Mariano Gómez pulled a real crowd pleaser as he, in the 59:th minute, wove through the guests whole central defense line and put the 1 - 1 equaliser away. The game was close to savage at times, and Henrietta`s Man Fleming received a second yellow card in the 73rd, his ticket out of the game. Frankfort broke through to the left in the 82nd minute, Courtney Sellers firing at an acute angle giving the home side a 2 - 1 lead. Frankfort put their lead ahead another goal as Courtney Sellers struck home the 3 - 1 goal, after an attack from the left setting him up unmarked with the keeper. Frankfort held the ball, with a clear 51 percent possession rate.

The most dominating Frankfort player was without a doubt Matthew Matlock. Courtney Sellers was a disappointment, however. Henrietta´s best player was Rajko Kurida. Sean Quigley on the other hand, had a terrible day. The match ends 3 - 1.


Goals: Sellers 2 (82nd, 84th minute), Gómez (59th minute)
Yellow Cards: Knapp


Matlock: *****~

Makris: **~
Eaton: **~
Högskär: **~

Collier: **~
Hylind (in for Collier): ***~
Arnold: **~
Knapp: **~
Sakic: **
Gómez: ***

Morales: ***
Sellers: **


Team Match MVP: Matthew Matlock



Frankfort United

Tactic: Attack on wings
Tactic skill: solid (7)

Midfield: inadequate (5)
Right Side Defence: excellent (8)
Central Defence: passable (6)
Left Side Defence: solid (7)
Right Side Attack: outstanding (10)
Central Attack: solid (7)
Left Side Attack: outstanding (10)


West Henrietta FC

Tactic: Attack in the middle
Tactic skill: passable (6)

Midfield: passable (6)
Right Side Defence: weak (4)
Central Defence: inadequate (5)
Left Side Defence: weak (4)
Right Side Attack: formidable (9)
Central Attack: passable (6)
Left Side Attack: solid (7)

Good win! First the important news, Collier's not badly hurt, just bruised but training (and as I write this all ready playing again). Big "whew" there.

Everything else is as normal. Matlock obviously helped our defense, while our offense was awesome as expected. Gotta love Hylind's performance in relief as well.

Next week, we host Ardent's North County Raiders who "upset" #1 seeded Frogman. I use quotes because, though he's taking a beating there this year, Ardent has a DIII squad. On the good side, we have a walkover this week. We'll use that opportunity to work several starters into next week's quarterfinal.

Next up: Training Update

[Havok]

maybe we'll run into eachother in the FOFC Cup :)

i somehow keep winning.... but next week im going against all starters so i doubt i'll win. Good luck!!!

[DukeRulesMAB]

I think it'd have to be in the finals, but of course, I'd be thrilled to get that far; let's hope!

[DukeRulesMAB]

Training News

No pops of any sort this week, but none were expected. Högskär is the only one we're waiting on, and it could be a while.


Form Update

Starters Going Up: 3 (Håkansson to Excellent, Mullineux to Solid, Collier to Passable)
Starters Going Down: 2 (Matlock, Henry to Solid)
Reserves Going Up: 1 (Sakic to Passable)
Reserves Going Down: 0

Nothing big here, espeicially with the walkover this week.

Total Team Value (Before Training): $4,178,000 (4,129,000)

Pettersson went flying over 300K in value this week. :)

Coming up next: Youth pull and finances.

[Poli]

WOOT! Tailor made scouting report. :)

[DukeRulesMAB]

The F.U. scouting report: We have a great keeper and strong wing attacks. ;)

[Poli]

The F.U. Raider scouting report: Look out. :)

[DukeRulesMAB]

Youth pull

Willie Fry (25231097)
17 years, passable form, healthy
A pleasant guy who is temperamental and honest.
Has disastrous experience and poor leadership abilities.

Nationality: USA
Assessed value: 62 000 US$
Wage: 800 US$/week
Owner: Frankfort United
Warnings: 0


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

Now that's a nice youth pull. Pay attention forward trainers. :)

On sale for 50K, ending 2/4/2004 at 16.37


Economy

Income

Crowd: 194,391
- 191,980 (vs. Byzantines)
- 2,411 (vs. West Henrietta FC)
Sponsers: 79,530
Temporary: 4,850 (Sell-on fee for Weston)

Total revenues: 278,771

Expenditures

Youth Squad: 20,000
Wages: 31,746
Staff: 54,000
Arena: 18,830
Temporary: 8,000
- 2,000 (Youth Pull)
- 6,000 (Fired 4 Doctors)

Total Expenses: 132,576

Profit (Loss): 146,195
New Balance: 275,551

Other stats

Team Spirit: Calm
Confidence: Decent (down from Strong)

Sponsers: Dancing in the Streets
Supporters: Calm (down from Delirious)
# of Supporters: 1371 (down from 1377)

As expected, we couldn't even hold content TS this week. We'll continue to PIC out this season, as none of the next 3 games really matter (the qualifier on the other hand very much does), but I won't make the same mistake next season.

We haven't had supporters leave in a while, always jarring, but we really did stink up the joint Sunday.

IV.53 Preview

Vampires - ole

Important on two levels, albeit relatively minor ones. An ole win keeps their extremely slim hopes of climbing into 6th alive. While the far more likely Vampires win puts them in position to hang around a possible 4th place finish. Neither scenario is likely, but both teams would probably like to keep them alive.

AC Weezer - The Little Pretties

Quality matchup here, TLP whitewashed AC Weezer in a massive upset earlier in the year. ACW wants revenge badly. A win here likely clinches a top 4 finish and puts them in position to maybe finish 3rd. A TLP win clinches 3rd, and keeps their very slim title hopes alive. ACW should definately take this, but I've counted TLP out before.

Jumpers - Frankfort United

Much, much needed walkover for us after last week's debacle.

Byzantines - FC Parkersburg

Well, this game didn't turn out to be as big as it looked a few weeks ago. TLP needs to win here and get a future upset of Byzantines, due to goal differential. Byzantines wants this one badly, and a win virtually clinches the title. Should be very, very exciting.


Up Next: The walkover report.

[DukeRulesMAB]

Season 3 - Game 12


At Jumpers Arena, 13902 punters turned up, and despite threatening clouds at the horizon, no rain came. Jumpers tactics involved an interesting 0-0-0 combination. Lineup: - - - .

Frankfort had chosen a strategic 4-5-1 formation. They fielded: Stockton - Hawkins, Håkansson, Eaton, Högskär - Collier, Arnold, Mullineux, Knapp, Hylind - Sellers.

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.

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

Couple notes on the lineup. We basically chose it for two things. First was including the people we really want experience for (Knapp and Håkansson). Then I added the older guys so less injury risk on Wednesday. Finally, Collier was bruised, so he got the call here. Filled in the rest. Everyone else will go Wednesday, so you should be able to decude the tactic, AE, if you wanna spend the time. ;)

Was a big week (albeit with no really close games) elsewhere in IV.53. Byzantines spanked FCP 3-0 to virtually clinch the title unless they somehow lose the next two games by a combined 20-0. FCP will be back, though, they have a pile of money in the bank, and are primed for a big addition or two. AC Weezer beat TLP in the battle for 3rd place 4-2. TLP still has a one point lead, but it is very tentative coming down the stretch. And Vampires sewed up at least a top 6 spot with a 2-0 blanking of ole. The standings:


1. Byzantines 12 38 - 11 29

2. FC Parkersburg 12 22 - 13 23
3. The Little Pretties 12 31 - 19 22
4. AC Weezer 12 32 - 23 21

5. Vampires 12 23 - 13 19
6. Frankfort United 12 24 - 17 17

7. ole 12 15 - 29 7
8. Jumpers 12 0 - 60 0



Ole officially joins Jumpers among the relgated, while Byzantines has a death grip on the title. The rest is interesting, though, as 2nd place could, theoretically, be wide open since ACW plays FCP the last week. We still hold outside hopes of 5th place, but definately need some help, while you know Vampires would like to get above the qualifier line (hard to do, though, when Byzantines is on the schedule the last week).

Coming Next: We host Ardent's Raiders in the Quarterfinals of the FOFC Cup!

[Subby]

DIAP

[DukeRulesMAB]

Subby - Shouldn't you be licking your wounds after a certain sweep? :)

Season 3 - Friendly

FOFC Cup Quarterfinals: Frankfort United vs. North County Raiders

Date: February 4, 2004
Arena: F.U. Field (Kentucky)
Crowd: 1,220 (29,424)
Weather: Sunny

On to the quarters and a very strong opponent. North County has struggled in DIII this season, but they're still a lot better than me. This is likely the end of our run, though we have a few starters in due to the walkover, so we might be able to keep it close.

Starters (Balanced 3-5-2):

Keeper: Matthew Matlock

Right Defender: Demitri Makris
Central Defender: Bart Bokhorst
Left Defender: Bill Henry

Right Wing: Mariano Gómez
Central Midfield: Michael Chopin
Central Midfield: Borislav Sakic
Central Midfield: Joshua Casper
Left Wing: Per Pettersson

Striker: William Morales
Striker: Daniel Aguado

Several starters here: Matlock, Henry, Casper, Morales, and Aguado. With the presense of this starters (especially Henry), we're not attacking on the wings, as we're not quite as suited to it. Plus, we should have a strong central attack and we don't need to weaken our defense.

One extra note: Forgot to set PK order. Hope that doesn't come back to haunt us.

The Match

A scorching day at F. U. Field, where 1220 spectators were in place for today´s match. Frankfort tactics involved an interesting 3-5-2 combination. They fielded: Matlock - Makris, Bokhorst, Henry - Gómez, Chopin, Sakic, Casper, Pettersson - Aguado, Morales.

Raiders tactics involved an interesting 3-5-2 combination. Lineup: Mcgee - Kalinowski, Mihai, Posey - Peris, Tullblom, Stoye, Hsuan-Kai, Curnow - Betts, Arrington.

Raiders seemed to prefer attacking in the middle. Frankforts William Morales gave, after 4 minutes, the home team a 1 - 0 lead after an attack coming in from the right. Bill Henry of Frankfort received a yellow card in the 25:th minute for unsportsmanlike behaviour. With 29 minutes played the visitors almost levelled the score. Elmer Posey shot a hard curved free kick, striking the post. Raiders got a chance to level the score as Jerome Betts suddenly found himself free with the goaltender but the finishing shot hit the bar. Almost all the way down to the corner flag David Curnow somehow managed to get a perfect pass into the middle, impossible to miss for Jerome Betts who struck for 1 - 1. Raiders took the lead in the games 40:th minute with 1 - 2 after some elegant plays down the middle. Enric Peris was the scorer. Ang Hsuan-Kai could have put his team up another one in the 41st minute, after a rush down the left, but his closing shot hit the post. The teams went for a half-time break at 1 - 2. Raiders held the ball, with a clear 55 percent possession rate.

In the 57:th minute, Frankfort´s Per Pettersson made a rush down the left, leaving him free to put the 2 - 2 equaliser away. In the games 64:th minute Frankfort´s William Morales fell dramatically just outside the penalty area. However, the referee booked William Morales for taking a dive. A free kick aimed at the keepers far post almost gave Raiders the lead in the 83rd minute, but the ball just wasn´t able to squirm it´s way through the defensive wall. In 84:th minute of game time Frankfort´s William Morales received his second yellow card and was sent off. Ang Hsuan-Kai the unlucky victim, couldn´t continue the game, so Michael Hansson had to come off the bench. After a fine move down the middle Bill Henry nearly gave the home side one up in the 85:th minute. The finishing shot went just wide, though. Some quick foot work on the left side of the field in the 85:th minute left Raiders´s Ronny Arrington completely free to score. 2 - 3 for the visitors. The fortyfive minutes were dominated by Raiders, with an impressive 55 percent possession of the ball.

Frankfort´s best player was Matthew Matlock. Borislav Sakic on the other hand, had a terrible day. The most dominating Raiders player was without a doubt Jerome Betts. However, Enric Peris made a disastrous appearance. The match ends 2 - 3.


Goals: Morales (4th minute), Pettersson (57th)
Yellow Cards: Morales 2, Henry


Matlock: *****

Makris: **~
Bokhorst: ***
Henry: ***

Gómez: ***
Chopin: **~
Sakic: **
Casper: ***
Pettersson: ***~

Morales: None Given (Sent Off)
Aguado: ***~


Team Match MVP: Matthew Matlock



Frankfort United

Tactic: Normal

Midfield: passable (6)
Right Side Defence: excellent (8)
Central Defence: excellent (8)
Left Side Defence: formidable (9)
Right Side Attack: brilliant (11)
Central Attack: solid (7)
Left Side Attack: outstanding (10)


North County Raiders

Tactic: Attack in the middle
Tactic skill: formidable (9)

Midfield: solid (7)
Right Side Defence: passable (6)
Central Defence: solid (7)
Left Side Defence: inadequate (5)
Right Side Attack: brilliant (11)
Central Attack: outstanding (10)
Left Side Attack: brilliant (11)


Excellent game, we just came up a bit short. Very evenly matched, we had the slightly better D, they have the better offense and midfield. We might should have scored a couple extra goals against those side defenses, but couldn't quite get it done.

Other highlights (aside from the fun attack ratings) mainly included Pettersson's first every ***~ performance. He's quite a nice player, and still arguably 4th on my winger depth chart!

Congrats to AE, and best of luck the rest of the way. Only bad news was that I injured one of his players for a while, hope it isn't too bad off a loss. It's back to international friendlies for us. :)

Next up: Training Update

[Poli]

Good game. Don't worry about the injury. I was hoping to injury your keeper. I missed, what, 4 opportunities? I've got to work some more on my run and shooting.

[Masked]

Only bad news was that I injured one of his players for a while, hope it isn't too bad off a loss. Ah, yes. I meant to thank you for that - one less starter for me to face next week. ;)

[Poli]

Nonsense, the player that replaced Kai was a formidable playmaker. :) Honestly.

[Masked]

Nonsense, the player that replaced Kai was a formidable playmaker. http://dynamic2.gamespy.com/~fof/forums/images/smilies/smile.gif Honestly.
<!-- / message --><!-- sig -->

Only bad news was that I injured one of his players for a while, hope it isn't too bad off a loss.
You bastard! No need to go around busting up fellow FOFCers players!

[Poli]

Best. Post. Ever.

[DukeRulesMAB]

Hehe...glad I could help you out, AE. ;)

[DukeRulesMAB]

Training News

Jesse Collier (20553193)
17 years, solid form, healthy
A controversial person who is temperamental and upright.
Has disastrous experience and wretched leadership abilities.


Speciality: Head

Nationality: USA
Assessed value: 298 000 US$
Wage: 760 US$/week
Owner: Frankfort United
Warnings: 0


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

Yeah, he's pretty OK. :) I've been informed he's a serious candidate for the U-20 side as well, so I've got some tough choices this offseason. I'm leaning toward training winger through, so as not to cost him a week.

Form Update

Starters Going Up: 3 (Arnold, Collier to Solid, Eaton to Passable)
Starters Going Down: 3 (Hylind, Aguado to Solid, Henry to Passable)
Reserves Going Up: 2 (Sakic to Solid, Gómez to Solid)
Reserves Going Down: 2 (Högskär to Solid, Hawkins to Passable)

Very up and down update. Not exactly sure what I'm gonna go with here, either on defense or on the wing. All 4 wingers are in Solid form, and all offer different pluses. Tough call.

Total Team Value (Before Training): $4,290,000 (4,178,000)

Coming up next: Youth pull and finances.

[sterlingice]

That's just downright disturbing. A 17yo outstanding...

SI

[Poli]

JeeberD! Outstanding??

[DukeRulesMAB]

Youth pull

Manuel Lizarraga (25508456)
19 years, passable form, healthy
A popular guy who is temperamental and honest.
Has disastrous experience and wretched leadership abilities.


Speciality: Powerful

Nationality: USA
Assessed value: 104 000 US$
Wage: 1 060 US$/week
Owner: Frankfort United
Warnings: 0


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

Another nice pull from what has been a very good year from our youth squad.

Listed as a wingback, already with a 50K bid, ending 2/11/2004 at 02.39


Economy

Income

Crowd: 4,040 (vs. North County Raiders)
Sponsers: 79,365
Temporary: 59,580
- 390 (New Supporters)
- 52,440 (Sale of Fry)
- 5,250 (Sell-on fee for Fry)
- 1,500 (Sell-on fee for Bryson)

Total revenues: 142,985

Expenditures

Youth Squad: 20,000
Wages: 31,746
Staff: 48,000
Arena: 18,830
Temporary: 3,000
- 2,000 (Youth Pull)
- 1,000 (Listing Fees)

Total Expenses: 121,576

Profit (Loss): 21,409
New Balance: 296,960

Always nice to profit on "away" weeks. Obviously, Fry got daytraded, but that's my own fault for listing him too low.

Other stats

Team Spirit: Calm
Confidence: Strong (up from Decent)

Sponsers: Dancing in the Streets
Supporters: Satisfied (up from Calm)
# of Supporters: 1384 (up from 1371)

Good lord, I hate this coach. Just saying. :) At least our supporters are slightly less miffed, though that may change tonight.

IV.53 Preview

Frankfort United - AC Weezer

Interesting match for both teams. We drew them early at their place, when they were struggling, but they are much, much better than us at this stage. We'll certainly be hoping to avoid another "Byzantines" incident, but it is a distinct possibility. Very important game, both for ACW's hopes of finishing 2nd or 3rd, and our slim hopes of finishing 5th.

ole - Byzantines

Easy win as Byzantines will officially clinch the series crown here.

FC Parkersburg - Jumpers

After 3 straight defeats, a much, much needed walkover for FCP. Been a disastrous run, and they close with a ACW team that could definately pull the upset.

Vampires - The Little Pretties

Vampires is an obvious favorite, but TLP has won more than a few games where they were the underdogs. Another key game in the 2nd-6th place wide open mix.



Up Next: Red Hot AC Weezer comes to Frankfort.

[DukeRulesMAB]

Season 3 - Game 13

Frankfort United vs. AC Weezer

Date: February 8, 2004
Arena: F.U. Field (Kentucky)
Crowd: 23,591 (29,424)
Weather: Rainy

Our first signs of possibly surviving IV.53 was the tie over this team at their place in the second game of the season. We've gone on to do pretty well, definately exceeding expectations, but ACW has bounced back from an extremely poor start to go on a torrid pace, including a win and a tie against Byzantines. Obviously, we are PICing, here, our goal is simply to not get shut out at home, costing us more supporters after the Byzantines incident.

Standings wise, this is an important match, as 2nd to 6th is only separated by 6 points. Currently, we are 6th, while ACW is 4th, and both of us have aspirations for a higher finish.


Starters (Balanced 3-5-2):

Keeper: Matthew Matlock

Right Defender: Anders Håkansson
Central Defender: Bart Bokhorst
Left Defender: Bill Henry

Right Wing: Jesse Collier
Central Midfield: Robert Mullineux
Central Midfield: Theodore Arnold
Central Midfield: Joshua Casper
Left Wing: Mariano Gómez

Striker: William Morales
Striker: Daniel Aguado

ACW has a really great midfield, and we've decided to just concede it. Instead, we'll be focusing on offense and defense. Both wingbacks will be playing defensively, while we're going with our two highest wing skills playing offensive. Gómez gets the call over Pettersson not only due to his wing skills, but also with his playmaking. Meanwhile Collier is now Outstanding and is in solid form, so he's out there as well. Our attack ratings should be very strong.

Only other personnel note is Bokhorst getting the nod over Hawkins or Eaton; he's the only one I'm sure will be good for *** this week, so it's his game.

The Match

23591 spectators had found their way to F. U. Field, despite the heavy rain. Frankfort had chosen a strategic 3-5-2 formation. Lineup: Matlock - Håkansson, Bokhorst, Henry - Collier, Arnold, Mullineux, Casper, Gómez - Aguado, Morales.

ACW started off with a 3-5-2 lineup. Lineup: Larsson - Cathey, Belanger, Gerhardsson - Suslik, Darnell, Di Blasio, Fuica, Landis - Esteban Campos, Piltant.

ACW clearly preferred attacks in the middle. Bill Henry received some harsh words from his coach after he acted foolishly, probably out of lack of experience, in the 13th minute and almost caused an opponent to score. Daniel Aguado´s speed was made justice as he darted past his marker and struck an opening pass to William Morales who scored the 1-0 goal. After 30 minutes William Morales put Frankfort ahead 2 - 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. In the 34:th minute Frankforts Mariano Gómez received a yellow card for going into a challenge studs first. The teams went for a half-time break at 2 - 0. The fortyfive minutes were dominated by ACW, with an impressive 56 percent possession of the ball.

In the 48:th minute Frankfort´s Joshua Casper tried to nail the coffin shut, but the shot rebounded off the bar to fall behind the net. A bit later ACW´s José Esteban Campos easily reduced to 2 - 1 after a misunderstanding in the home sides central defense line. ACW held the ball, with a clear 52 percent possession rate.

Frankfort´s best player was Matthew Matlock. However, Bill Henry made a disastrous appearance. The most dominating ACW player was without a doubt Xavier Darnell. Mark Suslik was a disappointment, however. The match ends 2 - 1.




Goals: Morales (9; 18th, 30 minutes)
Yellow Cards: Gómez

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


Matlock: *****

Håkansson: ***~
Bokhorst: ***
Henry: **~

Collier: ***~
Mullineux: ***~
Arnold: ***
Casper: ***~
Gómez: ***~

Morales: **~
Aguado: ***~


Team Match MVP: Matthew Matlock


Frankfort United

Tactic: Normal

Midfield: passable (6)
Right Side Defence: brilliant (11)
Central Defence: formidable (9)
Left Side Defence: formidable (9)
Right Side Attack: outstanding (10)
Central Attack: excellent (8)
Left Side Attack: outstanding (10)


AC Weezer

Tactic: Attack in the middle
Tactic skill: formidable (9)

Midfield: solid (7)
Right Side Defence: passable (6)
Central Defence: formidable (9)
Left Side Defence: excellent (8)
Right Side Attack: formidable (9)
Central Attack: outstanding (10)
Left Side Attack: excellent (8)

NICE! Absolutely could not be happer with this game. Not only did we pull what was on paper a huge upset, we ever more or less outplayed them! Just a fabulous all around performance. 75 is a tie for my alltime NSI high, and this was rated as my second best game ever. With a PIC!

Highlights. A couple Morales goals, including one on a nice assist from his partner up front Aguado on a Quick move (in the rain no less). Those two and the two wings combined for our best attack ever (and Collier's first ever 3.5 star performance). The defense was super despite lesser form than most of the year, and that's our first ever Brilliant defense out of a 3 defender formation. Just an outstanding game.

Obviously, ACW PIC'd (their midfield is much better than that), and their attack in the middle backfired with me playing both wings offensive. Still, this was a great game for us, and we couldn't be happier.

Elsewhere, a shocking result in IV.53: Vampires walked over TLP. Further investigation reveals that TLP sold their entire team; all they have is two crappy youth pulls and a coach. Are they quitting? Hard to say, the owner has still logged in a couple times since. The only other result was expected, as Byzantines cruised to a 5-3 win over ole.

The standings going to the final week:


1. Byzantines 13 43 - 14 32

2. FC Parkersburg 13 27 - 13 26
3. Vampires 13 28 - 13 22
4. The Little Pretties 13 31 - 24 22

5. AC Weezer 13 33 - 25 21
6. Frankfort United 13 26 - 18 20

7. ole 13 18 - 34 7
8. Jumpers 13 0 - 65 0


And next week's schedule:

Jumpers - ole
The Little Pretties - Frankfort United
AC Weezer - FC Parkersburg
Byzantines - Vampires

You can read this as well as I can. Byzantines has a tough match with Vampires, but nothing they can't win, especially at home. We may walk over TLP (though I'll be keeping an eye on them all week to see if they start bringing players in). And while FCP/ACW will be a tight one, FCP just added two studs, a forward and a middy, so they certainly are favored.

In other words, we have a very good chance of finishing in third place. What a weird week.

Honestly, I'm not even sure how I feel about it. I was hoping for 5th to get an easier qualifier, but not playing a qualifier at all? I was planning on that extra week of full training. We'll make do if it comes to it, though. The upside is not only some money for 3rd, but also a much higher cup seed than expected next season.

Really, a huge day for Frankfort United, and I could not be prouder of what we have accomplished this year, no matter which way it goes.

Next up: Frankfort ventures to Switzerland for a friendly.

[DukeRulesMAB]

Youth pull sold for a very respectable 80K+. We're actually starting to get a respectable bankroll again.

Season 3 - Friendly

Weapens vs. Frankfort United

Date: February 11, 2004
Arena: Kapelle der Weisheit (Zurich, Switzerland)
Crowd: 2,633 (20,167)
Weather: Sunny

With our unfortunate exit from FOFC Cup play, we move back to our rigerous schedule of international friendlies, for the experience. Though any of my readers are welcome to drop a challenge on me, and we'll arrange something.

Starters (4-5-1):

Keeper: Will Stockton

Right Defender: Demitri Makris
Central Defender: Arthur Eaton
Central Defender: William Hawkins
Left Defender: Lennart Högskär

Right Wing: Per Pettersson
Central Midfield: Michael Chopin
Central Midfield: Jacob Knapp
Central Midfield: Borislav Sakic
Left Wing: Felix Hylind

Striker: Courtney Sellers

Just the 11 that didn't play Sunday.

The Match

A scorching day at Kapelle der Weisheit, where 2633 spectators were in place for today´s match. Weapens had chosen a strategic 3-5-2 formation. Lineup: McGinn - Reynolds, Kingswell, Benders - Savolainen, Mariconda, Gareca, Ahmaoja, Hofkes - Souvan, Hampel.

Frankfort had chosen a strategic 4-5-1 formation. They fielded: Stockton - Makris, Hawkins, Eaton, Högskär - Pettersson, Chopin, Sakic, Knapp, Hylind - Sellers.

Weapens strategy involved pressing and cutting off attack angles of their opponents from all over the field. Frankfort saw most attack opportunites on the wings and were directing their passes that way. After 4 minutes Frankfort put themselves up by 0 - 1 as Lennart Högskär finished off a strike from the left with a real cannon placed at the far post. Nick McGinn kept the home side in the game with a magnificient save, as Jacob Knapp delivered an almost perfect free kick to the far cross bar. Arkadiusz Hampel discharged a majestic long shot in the 19:th match minute, but missed the goal by a few metres. The game had been on for 31 minutes when Courtney Sellers broke through to the right, upping the score to the home crowd´s dismay. Frankfort´s were up 0 - 2. In the 31st minute Weapenss Juhana Ahmaoja received a yellow card for going into a challenge studs first. The Frankfort player was Demitri Makris who had to be helped off the pitch, unable to finish the game, but Anders Håkansson came in to finish the match. 0 - 2 was the half-time score. Frankfort held the ball, with a clear 60 percent possession rate.

After 48 minutes of game time Courtney Sellers received an excellent opportunity to add to the visitors lead, clipping a volley hooked in from the right, but Nick McGinn was in the right place, tipping the ball to a corner. At this time in the match, Weapens were using their skills at the press to successfully put pressure on their opponents. Jacob Knapp increased the visitors lead by putting a volley shot away on a pass from the right. 0 - 3. The structure of the game started to change as Frankfort decided to pull back and meet their opponents in the defensive zone. The away team´s Borislav Sakic took advantage of a mistake to the home side´s right in the 77:th minute increasing Frankfort´s lead to 0 - 4. Frankfort, bringing the final ball possession rate to 58 percent, dominated the battle.

Weapens´s best player was Juhana Ahmaoja. Miikka Savolainen on the other hand, had a terrible day. The most dominating Frankfort player was without a doubt Felix Hylind. Courtney Sellers on the other hand, had a terrible day. The match ends 0 - 4.

Goals: Högskär (4th minute), Sellers (31st), Knapp (65th), Sakic (77th)
Yellow Cards: None


Stockton: ***

Makris: **~
Håkansson (In For Makris): ***~
Eaton: ***
Hawkins: **~
Högskär: **~

Pettersson: ***~
Chopin: **~
Knapp: **~
Sakic: **~
Hylind: ***~

Sellers: *~


Team Match MVP: Felix Hylind


Weapens

Tactic: Pressing
Tactic skill: poor (3)

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


Frankfort United

Tactic: Attack on wings
Tactic skill: excellent (8)

Midfield: inadequate (5)
Right Side Defence: solid (7)
Central Defence: passable (6)
Left Side Defence: passable (6)
Right Side Attack: outstanding (10)
Central Attack: weak (4)
Left Side Attack: excellent (8)

we kicked some ass here, obviously. Markis is only out a week, so no biggie there at all. Interesting note: All 4 of my wingers put up ***~ offensively this week. Not bad. :)

This is probably the second to last Frankfort match for two mainstays: Arthur Eaton and William Hawkins. More details on that to follow in the coming week or so.

Next up: Training Update

[DukeRulesMAB]

Training News

Productive week.

Demitri Makris (21418280)
18 years, excellent form, bruised, but playing
A pleasant guy who is calm and honest.
Has disastrous experience and wretched leadership abilities.

Nationality: Sverige
Assessed value: 76 000 US$
Wage: 816 US$/week including 20% Bonus
Owner: Frankfort United
Warnings: 0


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


Lennart Högskär (22285485)
17 years, solid form, healthy
A sympathetic guy who is temperamental and dishonest.
Has disastrous experience and inadequate leadership abilities.


Speciality: Quick

Nationality: Sverige
Assessed value: 45 000 US$
Wage: 744 US$/week including 20% Bonus
Owner: Frankfort United
Warnings: 0


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

Both of my throwaway wingback trainees popped. Both will be sold at formidable. And the big news:

Mariano Gómez (16328672)
18 years, solid form, healthy
A sympathetic guy who is balanced and honest.
Has disastrous experience and poor leadership abilities.


Speciality: Head

Nationality: Argentina
Assessed value: 296 000 US$
Wage: 1 092 US$/week including 20% Bonus
Owner: Frankfort United
Warnings: 1


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


Listed a 1M, ending 2/16/2004 at 17.51. That may be a bit high, but I can relist if he doesn't go. I really think he's perfect for a PM trainer.


Form Update

Starters Going Up: 1 (Casper to Excellent)
Starters Going Down: 3 (Håkansson to Solid, Aguado to Passable)
Reserves Going Up: 2 (Bokhorst, Pettersson to Excellent)
Reserves Going Down: 2 (Sellers to Poor)

Decent update, both of those reserves are quasi-starters. We're probably done with competitive games for the year. so it doesn't matter as much.

Total Team Value (Before Training): $4,384,000 (4,290,000)

Coming up next: Youth pull and finances.

[DukeRulesMAB]

Youth pull

Norman Trout (25794020)
18 years, passable form, healthy
A pleasant guy who is temperamental and honest.
Has disastrous experience and disastrous leadership abilities.


Speciality: Technical

Nationality: USA
Assessed value: 163 000 US$
Wage: 1 320 US$/week
Owner: Frankfort United
Warnings: 0


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


Really been a successful season on the youth pull front. This one already has a 150K bid, ending 2/18/2004 at 01.54.


Economy

Income

Crowd: 164,429
- 156,005 (vs. AC Weezer)
- 8,424 (vs. Weapens)
Sponsers: 79,860
Temporary: 94,810
- 660 (New Supporters)
- 87,400 (Sale of Lizarraga)
- 6,750 (Sell-on fee for Lizarraga)

Total revenues: 339,099

Expenditures

Youth Squad: 20,000
Wages: 31,746
Staff: 48,000
Arena: 18,830
Temporary: 10,000
- 2,000 (Youth Pull)
- 2,000 (Listing Fees)
- 6,000 (Traveling Costs)

Total Expenses: 128,576

Profit (Loss): 210,523
New Balance: 507,483

Starting to build up a cash stash. Will be even better next week at this time. :)


Other stats

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

Sponsers: Dancing in the Streets
Supporters: High on Life (up from Satisfied)
# of Supporters: 1406 (up from 1384)

Holy crap, we held Content TS! If we get a quali, that might be useful. :)

IV.53 Preview

Jumpers - ole

Well, at least ole leaves D IV on a high note.

The Little Pretties - Frankfort United

They haven't added players, so this one's a walkover for us. TLP's last match in IV.53, presumably, too.

AC Weezer - FC Parkersburg

The first of two matches critical to us. ACW is only 1 point ahead of us. They must win to avoid a qualifier; a tie won't do it unless Vampires gets slaughtered. FCP has indicated they aren't taking this match very seriously (they are locked into second, so I don't know why they wouldn't be MOTSing).

Byzantines - Vampires

The second big match. Byzantines, for reasons I'm not quite clear on, is having personnel troubles this week. Also, this match is virtually meaningless to them, so they'll be PICing. Vampires, much like ACW, would love to avoid a qualifier, I'm sure.


So the scenarios are 3 fold. In my order of preference:

1. ACW/Vampires win or ACW wins, Vampires/Byzantines tie. This would put me in a strong 5th place and give me the weakest possible qualifying game. I'm confident I can win barring a completely awful matchup, and I want that extra full week of training.

2. FCP/Byzantines win or Byzatines wins, ACW/FCP tie. This would put me in 3rd, and give me the most prize money and best Cup seed of the lot.

3. Any other scenario. Puts me in 4th.

We're thrilled any way it turns out, I'd say.

Up Next: We end the season with a walkover.

[DukeRulesMAB]

Season 3 - Game 12


AFairly good weather for football had drawn a crowd of 0 to The Little Pretties Arena. Pretties tactics involved an interesting 0-0-0 combination. The following players had been chosen: - - - .

Frankfort started off with a 3-5-2 lineup. The following players had been chosen: Matlock - Håkansson, Bokhorst, Henry - Collier, Arnold, Mullineux, Casper, Hylind - Aguado, Knapp.

The home side had to concede to a walkover since they had failed to produce a squad of at least 9 players. The match ends 0 - 5.

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

Heh, she went all the way and zeroed out her arena even.

We'll get straight to the other news. The first game went as we wanted, as AC Weezer beat FC Parkersburg 2-1 to clinch a top 4 slot. The second game was looking good, as Vampires had come back from 3-1 down to knot it at 3, before a very late Byzantines goal gave them the 4-3 win. With that we got the least of our 3 options: 4th place.


1. Byzantines 14 47 - 17 35

2. FC Parkersburg 14 28 - 15 26
3. AC Weezer 14 35 - 26 24
4. Frankfort United 14 31 - 18 23

5. Vampires 14 31 - 17 22
6. The Little Pretties 14 31 - 29 22

7. ole 14 23 - 34 10
8. Jumpers 14 0 - 70 0


I can complain a little about 4th, but not much. We came in 4th in DIV! At the beginning of the year, I thought 6th was a long shot. We even finished a point ahead of a team that spent several years in DIII. If we'd beaten Little Pretties the first game...well...it's hard to say how the rest of the year would have gone, but we might have come in second. Unbelievable.

The qualifiers are set.

Dark Shadows - Byzantines

Dark Shadows is an extremely strong defensive team that can also have a very strong midfield when they want to, though they also have a 5-3-2 CA formation. Their attack is rather weak. It's a close game, but Dark Shadows will be favored at home.

Vampires - Anoka County United FC

Anoka's an OK team, bringing a good defense and mediocre midfield to the table. Vampires should run them pretty easily at home, but Vampires has screwed up before.

The Little Pretties - Deadmeat

Deadmeat would be, well, dead meat in our series next year. They bring almost nothing to the table, just some OK defensive ratings. Obviously this is a walkover, but it's within the realm of possibility that they will tank this game, as they will get absolutely thwacked in IV.53. That said, they're not all that much different from where I was last season at this time, so you never know.





Coming Next: We head to Germany.

[DukeRulesMAB]

Frankfort United - Season 3 Wrap-Up


Competition games played: 16 (11 league, 5 Cup)
Record: 8-6-2 (4-5-2 league, 4-1-0 Cup)
Goals Scored: 33
Goals Allowed: 24

(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. Matlock, 16
2. Hawkins, 15
3. Arnold, 14
3t. Mullineux, 14
5. Chopin, 13
6. Hylind, 12
7. Morales, 10 (1)
8. Eaton, 10
8t. Henry, 10
10. Aguado, 8
10t. Collier, 8
10t. Knapp, 8
13. Gómez, 6(1)
14. Bokhorst, 6
14t. Pettersson, 6
16. Apelblad*, 5
16t. Casper, 5
16t. Sellers, 3(2)
19. Håkansson, 4
20. Sakic, 2
21. Makris, 1
22. Diehl*, 0(1)

Goals

1. Morales, 9
2. Collier, 4
2t. Sellers, 4
4. Aguado, 3
4t. Knapp, 3
6. Eaton, 2
6t. Mullineux, 2
8. Arnold, 1
8t. Bokhorst, 1
8t. Chopin, 1
8t. Hawkins, 1
8t. Henry, 1
8t. Pettersson, 1

Yellow Cards (Second yellows are included here, not in Red Cards)

1. Mullineux, 5
2. Morales, 3
3. Eaton, 2
3t. Hawkins, 2
3t. Henry, 2
3t. Knapp, 2
3t. Sellers, 2
8. Casper, 1
8t. Chopin, 1
8t. Gómez, 1

Red Cards

none given


Team MVP

1. Matlock, 15
2. Mullineux, 1


Average Match Rating (Minimum, 8 matches played)

1. Matlock, 4.97
2. Eaton, 3.50
3. Mullineux, 3.42
4. Aguado, 3.25
5. Collier, 2.94
6. Hawkins, 2.93
7. Arnold, 2.79
8. Henry, 2.72
9. Morales, 2.60
10. Chopin, 2.50
11. Hylind, 2.13
11t. Knapp, 2.13


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

Team MVP: Matthew Matlock
Season 2: Arthur Eaton
Season 1: Eaton

Most Promising Youngster: Jesse Collier
Season 2: Matthew Matlock
Season 1: Matlock

Best Newcomer: Bill Henry
Season 2: Harold Diehl
Season 1: Not Awarded

Most Inspirational Player: Robert Mullineux
Season 2: Jesse Mcwhorter
Season 1: Courtney Sellers


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

Man, am I bad at these season predictions. I had Vampires winning. They flopped around like a wet fish, finally finishing in 5th. I had Byzantines 3rd, and they controlled most of the way and easily won the series in the end. I had ole 5th...that's just crazy.

And most importantly, I had Frankfort 7th. We improved more than I thought possible this season. Coming in, our high NSI was 66, our average 57.6. Now 66 is probably a below average performance for us. We never got a chance to MOTS and show our new high; guess we'll hold that in the bag for next year. Moreover, we have 1.6M in the bank (more on that tomorrow, I'm guessing), and are in the market for a major acquisition. Another amazingly successful year in Frankfort. I owe much of it to luck, but I like to think we made some of our own luck as well. Only down side was my brief experiment with the 4-5-1 as an alternate formation. Never again; what a disaster.

Still to come in this thread are our next two friendlies, as well as transfer news, some economics and training, results of IV.53 qualifiers, and maybe a career stats update.

[DukeRulesMAB]

Frankfort Career Leaders

Games

1. William Hawkins, 44
2. Theodore Arnold, 40
2t. William Morales, 40
4. Michael Chopin, 38
5. Robert Mullineux, 37

Goals

1. William Morales, 47
2. Jacob Knapp, 28
3. Courtney Sellers, 12
4. Michael Chopin, 9
5. William Hawkins, 8
5t. Robert Mullineux, 8
5t. Milton Watts 8

MVP

1. Matthew Matlock, 25
2. Arthur Eaton, 11
3. Robert Mullineux, 3
3t. Lorenzo Porras, 3
5. William Hawkins, 2
5t. Hein van de Castel, 2

Total Stars

1. Matthew Matlock, 140
2. William Hawkins, 110.5
3. Arthur Eaton, 105.5
4. Robert Mullineux, 103.5
5. Theodore Arnold, 91


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

And now, a few words for Arthur Eaton and William Hawkins. Both are currently on the transfer list, as we prepare to upgrade our defense, and go back to a permanent 3-5-2 formation.

Eaton was the best player on my initial roster, the only Solid non-winger. He was immediately valuable, and became moreso after the added importance of experience in our second season. He did have two long injuries, but when healthy, he was a rock, rarely in bad form, with more ***~ games than any non-keeper I've had. Arthur ends his Frankfort career with 36 games, 5 goals, 10 yellows, and 11 MVPs. He was sent off once, had 1 ** game, 11 **~ games, 9 *** games, and 14 ***~ games for an average of 3.01. Arthur has worn the #1 jersey since the moment I got supporter.

5 days after I got control of Frankfort United, William Hawkins was my 3rd transfer, shoring up a very poor initial defense outside of Eaton. Like Eaton, he has almost never been in bad form. Unlike Eaton, he also has been almost never hurt, and William is currently Frankfort's game played leader. He has played in 44 games, with 8 goals, 8 yellow cards, and 2 MVP awards. He was sent off twice, had 6 ** games, 19 **~ games, and 17 *** games for an average of 2.63.

[DukeRulesMAB]

Departures and Acquisitions


First off, Gómez sold for an amazing $1,168,000 to an Austrian second division side! We're glad to see him go to such a quality team, and we'll keep an eye on his progress in the future.

With that wad of cash (as well as the still increasing number being bid on Trout, this week's youth pull), we hit the transfer market.

Hasse Sidenhall (15612964)
21 years, inadequate form, healthy
A controversial person who is calm and honest.
Has wretched experience and poor leadership abilities.

Nationality: Sverige
Assessed value: 22 000 US$
Wage: 768 US$/week including 20% Bonus
Owner: Frankfort United
Warnings: 0


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


About as minor of an acquisition as you can get. Once we decided to switch back to the permanent 3-5-2, we needed a 6th midfielder (Knapp returns to playing forward most of the time). Hasse was purchased for 10K, and will fill that role nicely, though I doubt he gets much action until we're out of the cup. He was, however, purchased in time for this week's friendly where he played an...er...unusual role.

Then, this afternoon, we took all the cash from the Gómez sale (plus a little more), and splurged.

Niko Halfon (16306149)
18 years, solid form, healthy
A nasty fellow who is temperamental and upright.
Has disastrous experience and inadequate leadership abilities.


Speciality: Technical

Nationality: Israel
Assessed value: 288 000 US$
Wage: 1 176 US$/week including 20% Bonus
Owner: Frankfort United
Warnings: 0


Stamina: solid Goaltending: disastrous
Playmaking: poor Passing: poor
Winger: inadequate Defending: formidable
Scoring: poor Set Pieces: passable


We spent a little more than I intended, dropping $1,347,000 on him, but we're thrilled to have him. At 18 (about to turn 19), the young Israeli is still quite young enough to benefit from the half winger training he will receive. Niko will be with us a very, very long time, and will over that time become quite the offensive force. Only regret: We didn't get him early enough to get in this week's friendly.


One may wonder why we went defense over offense or midfield. The reason is simple: my 3 best defenders were all 30+. It was time for a youth movement. Alongside Henry, Niko gives me two 18 (soon 19) year old defensemen who can play for quite a while.

With the acquisition of Niko (and the loss of a defense slot having dumped the 4-5-1), veterans Arthur Eaton and William Hawkins went on the transfer list. You can read their bios above. This leaves Håkansson as our starting central defender (a role he as earned, as well as one he needs to be in as we get him experince), and Bokhorst as the very capable backup defenseman.

[DukeRulesMAB]

Season 3 - Friendly

Spielvereinigung Köln/Lautern/Prüm vs. Frankfort United

Date: February 18, 2004
Arena: Die Hölle (Nordrhein-Westfalen, Germany)
Crowd: 1,432 (17,000)
Weather: Cloudy

Man, what a name on this team. First time I've lost money on an overseas trip in a while, but somehow we'll live. ;)

Starters (Balanced 3-5-2):

Keeper: Will Stockton

Right Defender: Lennart Högskär
Central Defender: Anders Håkansson
Left Defender: Hasse Sidenhall

Right Wing: Per Pettersson
Central Midfield: Michael Chopin
Central Midfield: Norman Trout
Central Midfield: Borislav Sakic
Left Wing: Demitri Makris

Striker: William Morales
Striker: Courtney Sellers

Erm...interesting group here. We didn't get Halfon inked in time to play him here. But I received a message early this morning that I would probably receive more for Trout (my solid PM/solid passing youth pull) if I played him. With the defense in transition a bit, we obliged. He's up over 500K in bids right now, so I'm not complaining. :)

Elsewhere, Håkansson gets a second group of PT this week, while Makris takes the slot vacated by Gómez until we get our new trainee early next season. Also, Hasse "Poor Defense" Sidenhall plays at wingback today for two reasons. First, we want to get him PT for the week, and we have an open slot. And second, he's going to sort of be our "extra" wing trainee, picking up half weeks every now and then. Can't hurt.

Obviously, everyone offensive and attacking on wings.

The Match

At Die Hölle, 1432 punters turned up, and despite threatening clouds at the horizon, no rain came. Köln/Lautern/Prüm tactics involved an interesting 3-5-2 combination. The following players had been chosen: Intorf - Wiedebach, Kattmann, Hume - Bredtmann, Jarke, Meessen, Caro, Saigne - Saarup, Knobeler.

Frankfort tactics involved an interesting 3-5-2 combination. Lineup: Stockton - Högskär, Håkansson, Sidenhall - Pettersson, Chopin, Sakic, Trout, Makris - Sellers, Morales.

Frankfort saw most attack opportunites on the wings and were directing their passes that way. Köln/Lautern/Prüms Guenther Knobeler gave, after 7 minutes, the home team a 1 - 0 lead after an attack coming in from the right. Hasse Sidenhall received some harsh words from his coach after he acted foolishly, probably out of lack of experience, in the 11th minute and almost caused an opponent to score. The crowd was silenced in the 16:th minute as the visiting teams Courtney Sellers came in from the left, levelling the score to 1 - 1. Frankforts Hasse Sidenhall got himself booked after a foul. The terraces were silenced in the 29:th minute as Frankfort´s Courtney Sellers put the guests ahead 1 - 2, following an attack from the right. An indecisive goaltender looked on as a free kick by Frankfort´s William Morales put the visitors up 1 - 3 after 33 minutes. 1 - 3 was the half-time score. The fortyfive minutes were dominated by Frankfort, with an impressive 60 percent possession of the ball.

William Morales increased the visitors lead by putting a volley shot away on a pass from the right. 1 - 4. After several obvious shirt pulling incidents, Köln/Lautern/Prüm´s Théo Saigne got himself booked. After 83 minutes a combination in the middle resulted in a through ball for Michael Chopin who increased Frankfort´s lead to 1 - 5. By now Frankfort were drawing the troops back in order to defend their lead. In the games 85:th minute Köln/Lautern/Prüm´s Hans Hume fell dramatically just outside the penalty area. However, the referee booked Hans Hume for taking a dive. 86 minutes into the game Guenther Knobeler had to leave the pitch due to a knee injury. In came Edwin Staub. Frankfort, bringing the final ball possession rate to 54 percent, dominated the battle.

The most dominating Köln/Lautern/Prüm player was without a doubt Martin Saarup. Edwin Staub on the other hand, had a terrible day. The most dominating Frankfort player was without a doubt Per Pettersson. Hasse Sidenhall was a disappointment, however. The match ends 1 - 5.


Goals: Sellers 2 (16th, 29th minutes), Morales 2 (33rd, 53rd), Chopin (83rd)
Yellow Cards: Sidenhall


Stockton: ***

Högskär: **~
Håkansson: ***
Sidenhall: *

Pettersson: ***~
Chopin: **~
Trout: **
Sakic: **~
Makris: ***

Morales: **~
Sellers: *~


Team Match MVP: Per Pettersson


Spielvereinigung Köln/Lautern/Prüm

Tactic: Normal

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


Frankfort United

Tactic: Attack on wings
Tactic skill: formidable (9)

Midfield: weak (4)
Right Side Defence: passable (6)
Central Defence: inadequate (5)
Left Side Defence: weak (4)
Right Side Attack: brilliant (11)
Central Attack: passable (6)
Left Side Attack: outstanding (10)

Very nice win. Other side was entirely outmatched, so Sidenhall's....deficiencies didn't hurt much. And man do I love being about to get those attack ratings with my backups. :)

Next up: Training Update

[Havok]

DAM!!! you an panther are on a roll.... good youth pulls, doing well in divison IV etc....

Nice buy with that defender aswell, he should be quite the stud in 2-3 seasons of half winger training. He'll give ya the normal or offensive wingaback otion in games, or even a defensive winger if your playing for a tie.

Dammit i wanna switch to winger training!!! :)

Go FrankFort!!! the Misfitz newest supportee!!!

[DukeRulesMAB]

Nice part: Gómez only cost like 84K before the year. Not a bad little profit on a percentage basis. :)

[Havok]

Nice part: Gómez only cost like 84K before the year. Not a bad little profit on a percentage basis. :)


yeah yeah yeah.... rub it in why don't ya :mad:

[DukeRulesMAB]

Training News

Another week, another pop. Fun having 17 year old winger trainees around, will be slower next year with only one of 'em. ;)

Per Pettersson (20555779)
17 years, excellent form, healthy
A sympathetic guy who is tranquil and honest.
Has disastrous experience and weak leadership abilities.


Speciality: Quick

Nationality: Sverige
Assessed value: 396 000 US$
Wage: 1 272 US$/week including 20% Bonus
Owner: Frankfort United
Warnings: 0


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

Per is very, very good, arguably better than Collier (though I choose not to make that argument ;) ). He will be sold after he pops twice, reaching Brilliant, next year.


Form Update

Starters Going Up: 0
Starters Going Down: 3 (Arnold, Collier, Matlock to Passable)
Reserves Going Up: 1 (Sellers 2 levels to Inadequate)
Reserves Going Down: 3 (Makris to Solid, Sidenhall to Inadequate, Högskär 2 levels to Weak)

Bleh. Matlock is starting to enter a form slump, I fear. The backups here are an interesting case, as I don't know how much they'll in the next 6-7 weeks. I'm guessing I'll go ahead and play them in the easy cup games, but when they start to get challenging at all, it's gonna be mostly starters.

Total Team Value (Before Training): $4,365,000 (4,308,000)

Coming up next: Youth pull and finances.

[DukeRulesMAB]

Youth pull

Rafael Barnes (26404793)
17 years, passable form, healthy
A popular guy who is balanced and upright.
Has disastrous experience and weak leadership abilities.

Nationality: USA
Assessed value: 84 000 US$
Wage: 900 US$/week
Owner: Frankfort United
Warnings: 0


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

Yet another quality pull, we've really been racking these up lately. Complete mismatch of skills, unfortunately, but is still a 17 YO Passable Scorer or Playmaker. I've listed him at forward due to his bad stamina, but he might be a better defensive middy eventually.

Listed at 30K (has a bid), ending 2/25/2004 at 01.41


Economy

Income

Crowd: 4,736 (vs. SK/L/P, the team with the goofy long name we played Wednesday)
Sponsers: 81,015
Temporary: 1,640,920
- 720 (New Supporters)
- 1,051,200 (Sale of Gómez)
- 479,320 (Sale of Trout)
- 32,400 (Sale of Hawkins)
- 77,280 (Sale of Eaton)

Total revenues: 1,726,671

Expenditures

Youth Squad: 20,000
Wages: 31,746
Staff: 48,000
Arena: 18,830
Temporary: 1,368,000
- 2,000 (Youth Pull)
- 3,000 (Listing Fees)
- 6,000 (Traveling Costs)
- 1,347,000 (Purchase of Halfon)
- 10,000 (Purchase of Sidenhall)

Total Expenses: 1,486,576

Profit (Loss): 240,095
New Balance: 747,578

Active week, eh? :) We will be purchasing a new trainee, likely the first full week of next season, then we should be able to afford a formidable middie (plan is to buy one with no secondaries, read: cheap, but that could change) relatively soon.


Other stats

# of Supporters: 1430 (up from 1406)

Not bothering to track the stuff that will just be reset next week anyway at this point.

IV.53 Results

The times are a changing in IV.53. The biggest news is that Byzantines beat Dark Shadows 2-1. Dark Shadows has a great defense and a very good midfield...and seemingly no attack whatsoever. Will be interesting to see how they do. With them, they bring a 6* defensive middy worth over 4 million. Eep. They appear to be keeper trainers, and have a really good 17 year-old Dutch trainee, as well as a 4M 19 year-old Polish starter.

Also gone, though more expectedly so, is The Little Pretties. Deadmeat walked over them. I have no idea what Deadmeat trains, and they rarely play friendlies. They are completely and totally doomed.

The one holdover is Vampires, who held off Anoka County United 2-0. They still have a ton of current talent, and are still run in a completely half-assed manner. They're better than me for now, but in the long run, are no serious threat.




Up Next: Frankfort hosts the Misfitz in a battle of mutual supporters!

[DukeRulesMAB]

Youth Squad Notes

It was a great year for the youth squad at Frankfort United. Here's the final tally of a squad that was excellent all year long.

16 Weeks @ 20K/week = 320K
16 Weeks @ 2K pulls/week = 32K
9 Listing Fees @ 1K/per = 9K

Total Expenditures = 361K

Total Income (Defined as 92% of sale price) = 1,001,876

Profit - $640,875

And that does not count any future sale fees I received (several of the guys were daytraded). It also doesn't count the 18 YO Solid D/Weak winger who is a starting wingback trainee for me. Or the 18 YO high passable keeper who is a very high quality backup. So yeah, it was a great year. :D

[DukeRulesMAB]

Season 3 - Friendly

Frankfort United vs. Maniacal Misfitz

Date: February 25, 2004
Arena: F.U. Field (Kentucy)
Crowd: 1,023 (29,424)
Weather: Rain

Big friendly we've been looking forward between mutual supporters. Obviously, we're hoping for no injuries, but this is a good chance to have a nice, competitive match. Like me, the Misfitz have shuffled their lineup some to get as much quality training as possible, but both teams also have a decent number of starters out there.

Starters (Balanced 3-5-2):

Keeper: Matthew Matlock

Right Defender: Niko Halfon
Central Defender: Anders Håkansson
Left Defender: Demitri Makris

Right Wing: Felix Hylind
Central Midfield: Robert Mullineux
Central Midfield: Michael Chopin
Central Midfield: Joshua Casper
Left Wing: Jesse Collier

Striker: Jacob Knapp
Striker: Daniel Aguado

Mix and match here. We have the guys we want experience for (Knapp and Håkansson). We have the new guy (Halfon). And we have trainees, since we're training winger through the offseason. Collier is obvious. Hylind gets the call over Pettersson; Hylind's here for the long haul, while Pettersson will be solid after he bumsp to Brilliant late next year. One week of training really won't matter that much for him. And Makris is in, as we want him to get to formidable this year so we can sell him. Rest are the regular starters, such as they are. We'd like to win here. :)

The Match

1023 spectators had found their way to F. U. Field, despite the heavy rain. Frankfort tactics involved an interesting 3-5-2 combination. Lineup: Matlock - Halfon, Håkansson, Makris - Hylind, Mullineux, Chopin, Casper, Collier - Aguado, Knapp.

Maniacal started off with a 3-5-2 lineup. They fielded: Geoffroy - Nairn, MacKindlay, Neiweiler - Jonasson, Noer Mogensen, Neiva, Dyrberg, Miller - Wright, Waldner.

Frankfort were very close to putting themselves one up in the 2nd minute as Felix Hylind got through, but failing in concentration, he shot the ball wide. In the games 3rd minute Frankfort´s Jesse Collier head butted an opponent nastily and so the referee sent him off immediately. 21 minutes into the game Felix Hylind had to leave the pitch due to a knee injury. In came Per Pettersson. As Niko Halfon had, completely unprovoked, swept the legs out from under an opponent in front of a linesman, the referee gave the Frankfort player a red card without batting an eye. In the 33rd minute the visitors broke through on the right after some poor defending and Maik Waldner put the ball away for 0 - 1. Jacob Knapp was just a finger´s breadth away from an equaliser for Frankfort, but Louis-Frédéric Geoffroy managed to ward the closing shot off for a corner. Maniacal came close to extending their lead as Maik Waldner delivered a long range shot from the right but the angle was too sharp, and the shot hit the side of the goal. Halftime score was 0 - 1. Frankfort held the ball, with a clear 51 percent possession rate.

Daniel Aguado had a hard, curved free kick in the 58:th minute that would have paid off, had it gone just a little lower. After 68 minutes of play Daniel Aguado equalised for Frankfort after an elegant attack from the right. In the 75:th minute cheers broke out as Anders Håkansson found his way through the guests central defense line, clipping the 2 - 1 goal in for Frankfort. Jacob Knapp should probably have put his team up another goal in the 82nd minute, but some great goaltending by Louis-Frédéric Geoffroy kept the visitors in the game. Frankfort held the ball, with a clear 55 percent possession rate.

The most dominating Frankfort player was without a doubt Matthew Matlock. Per Pettersson was a disappointment, however. Maniacal´s best player was Louis-Frédéric Geoffroy. However, Iver Dyrberg made a disastrous appearance. The match ends 2 - 1.



Goals: Aguado (68th minute), Håkansson (75th minute)
Yellow Cards: none
Red Cards: Collier, Halfon


Matlock: *****

Halfon: None Given (Sent Off)
Håkansson: ***
Makris: **~

Hylind: ** (Injured)
Pettersson (in for Hylind): *~
Mullineux: ***~
Chopin: **~
Casper: ***~
Collier: None Given (Sent Off)

Knapp: **~
Aguado: ***


Team Match MVP: Matthew Matlock


Frankfort United

Tactic: Normal

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


Maniacal Misfitz

Tactic: Normal

Midfield: passable (6)
Right Side Defence: excellent (8)
Central Defence: excellent (8)
Left Side Defence: solid (7)
Right Side Attack: passable (6)
Central Attack: outstanding (10)
Left Side Attack: solid (7)

Oooookay. That was an odd game. Two red cards...in the first half! Never had one in a competitive game, though we've had the odd friendly red. Then Hylind got injured, bringing in Pettersson. Toward middle. Wretched PM Pettersson. Let's just say things weren't looking up.

Despite this we gritted our way to a win! Really controlled the action according to the PBP. Nice effort by the boys, especially the midfield and Håkansson, who had to hold the backline together with one wingback tossed and the other playing offensive. Håkansson even managed the game winner!

Best of all, Hylind is only out +1. Free training for Pettersson! Like I said, wasn't critical, but it can't hurt. :)

Great game, Havoc. Eventful at least, if not well played. :) Let's make this an annual thing!

Next up: Training Update

[DukeRulesMAB]

Training News

Felix Hylind (17864211) 1
18 years, solid form, bruised, but training
A sympathetic guy who is balanced and dishonest.
Has wretched experience and passable leadership abilities.


Speciality: Head

Nationality: Sverige
Assessed value: 227 000 US$
Wage: 1 044 US$/week including 20% Bonus
Owner: Frankfort United
Warnings: 0


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


Our extra week of training paid off. Felix is a hell of a player. We're keeping him through age 20 at least, maybe longer depending on the availability of a replacement. Late next year he'll be solid/solid/outstanding...such fun. :)


Form Update

Starters Going Up: 4 (Mullineux to Excellent, Aguado, Collier, Morales to Solid)
Starters Going Down: 2 (Casper to Solid, Arnold to Inadequate)
Reserves Going Up: 2 (Knapp to Excellent, Sellers to Passable)
Reserves Going Down: 4 (Pettersson to Solid, Stockton, Chopin to Passable, Högskär to Weak)

Man, my forwards are in incredible form. Midfield not so much, 3 of my top 4 down this week. Still, not a bad update. Main concern: Matlock's value continues to drop. We can't take him really having a bad form stretch.

Total Team Value (Before Training): $4,436,000 (4,365,000)

Coller and Pettersson both topped 400K this week, a first for my non-keepers. Collier also took over the lead as the most valuable player (other than Matlock) on my team.

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And with this, my 3rd season ends. We'll have a new thread soon.