FM: Leaving Harrogate Behind - The Wigan Experience.

[Eaglesfan27]

Feb 28, 2010 -

The Wolves have sacked Paul Fairclough and approached me about becoming their new manager all in one day.

The Wolves are currently 7th in the English Championship. I would have a transfer budget of 25 million dollars to purchase new players! I would have a weekly wage of 260,000. While that transfer budget is impressive, I have no interest in leaving Wigan. The club is finally starting to make some money, and if I get the finances turned around there is no reason that I can't fulfill all of my dreams at this club. I'll only leave for one of the big 4 clubs.

I politely reject their job offer.

[Eaglesfan27]

March 1st, 2010 -

The Wigan Board are delighted with my performance as manger.

31 year old Stuart Elliott has won the Championship Player of the Month. It is a shame I will be losing him after this season. Matthew Etherington of Ipswich came in 2nd and John Eustace of Stoke came in 3rd.

QPR's Adam Mills has won the English Championship Young Player of the Month. Simon Marshall of QPR came in 2nd, and Ian Hall of Millwall came in 3rd.


I was selected as manager of the month for leading the team to victory in 4 of our 5 games this past month. Ernie Tippett of Millwall came in 2nd and Micky Adams of Everton came in 3rd.


Gary Teale was selected to the English Championship Team of the Week.


Greg Kelly has returned to full training status.

[Eaglesfan27]

March 2nd, 2010 -

Today we travel to play Sheffield Wed. They are currently 19th in the league while we are in 1st. We are still tied with Everton with 66 points, but continue to have a wide gap in Goal Differential. Sheffield Wed has been hit hard by injuries the last few weeks. Their best midfielder left wing Chris Brunt is hurt and will miss this game. Their second leading striker Colin Heath is hurt. Their right back Mark Lynch is hurt. Their left fullback Javier Dorado is hurt. Their starting left bak Chris Doig is also hurt, but might be able to play. Keeper Bob Robinson has played well since taking over in goal for this team. Centrebacks Graeme Lee and Lamine Traore have played very well in front of the keeper. Midfielder Glenn Whelan is their best remaining midfielder. Striker Ian Stonebridge is their leading scorer with 8 goals. We should be able to contain him with their next best striker hurt.

We are 6-4 favorites.

It's overcast with temperatures in the mid 40's.


GK: Paddy
DC: Hutchinson
DC: Osorio
DC: Jarzebowski
ML: Lunt
MC: Rolfes
MC: Benayoun
MC: Spiller
MR: Teale
SC: Graham
SC: Paulo

S1: Gerken
S2: Giuliani
s3: Nicell
S4: Paz
s5: Sarr

[Eaglesfan27]

1st minute mark: spiller passes into the box for Paulo.. he shoots.. past the keeper.. wide left by a few inches.

4 minute mark: Graham passes to Spiller who passes to Graham.. Graham centers to Benayoun 25 yards out.. he shoots.. it deflects off of Lee.. the keeper can't react to the deflection as it sails into the left half of the net! GOAL!!!! 1-0.

24 minute mark: Rolfes intercepts it at midfield.. passes it to Lunt.. Lunt passes it to Rolfes just outside the box.. Rolfes passes it into the box to Spiller.. Spiller shoots from 15 yards out.. upper left corner.. it's past the keeper! GOAL!!!! 2-0.


Halftime: We are up 2-0. They have over 23,000 fans here today.


58 minute mark: Buari with a corner finds Traore in the middle of the box.. he heads it.. upper right corner.. Paddy can't get to it.. GOAL. Still up 2-1.

70 minute mark: Osorio with a series of very good defensive plays.

71 minute mark: Osorio heads a pass intended for a striker in the box to Benayoun.. Benayoun with a long pass to Paulo.. Paulo fakes out two defenders.. dribbles around the keeper.. fires it into the net! GOAL!!!! 3-1.

73 minute mark: Benayoun is tired, so I put Paz on for him. I also put Giuliani on for Graham.

75 minute mark: Giuliani elbows Graeme Lee in the face.. yellow card for Giuliani.


Game over. 3-1 win for us.

We outshot them 19-7 (9-3 on target)

Paulo had a 9 for form and won MoM, 26 of 29 passes, 1 of 3 tackles, 4 of 7 headers, 1 interception, 9 runs, 1 goal.

[Eaglesfan27]

Post Match Info:

Mr. Whelan continues to be thrilled with our wins.

Everton continues to hang with us and we both have 69 points with 10 games to go. We are starting to pull a little bit ahead of the 3rd-6th place teams which have 63 or 62 points.

[Eaglesfan27]

March 3, 2010 -

Today Arsenal beat Deportivo 6-2 on aggregate to advance to the second round of the European Champions Cup. They won 4-0 today with 2 goals from Thierry Henry, 1 goal from Manuele Blasi, and 1 goal from Javier Saviola.

Barcelona beat Real Madrid 2-0 on aggregate.

Manchester United beat Chelsea 2-1 on the road today and 3-2 on aggregate. Wayne Rooney had both goals for them at the 45 and 69 minute marks.

Juventus beat Real Sociedad 7-1 on aggregate.

Parma beat Milan 1-0 on aggregate.

Fc Bayern beat Nantes 3-2 on aggregate.

Southampton beat Inter 1-0 on aggregate.

Werder Bremen beat Porto 2-1 on aggregate.

[Eaglesfan27]

March 4, 2010 -

Liverpool has sacked Rafa Benitez. The media doesnt list me as a contender for the job. They are considering Real Madrid coach Craig Gant. They are also considering Tony Colbert, Huub Stevens, and Sammy Lee.

[Eaglesfan27]

March 6, 2010 -

Manchester United has sent their wonder kid Alfonso who is an 18 year left winger from Spain to Crewe on loan. This kid is already a very good player and I hope we don't have to face him this year. This 18 year old kid is already valued at over 9 million dollars.


Today we host Newcastle in the 6th round of the English FA cup. This match will be televised. Newcastle is currently 9th in the EPL and has been playing well recently after losing plenty early. 30 Year Old Danish Player Daniel Jensen has been great this year. He is an excellent defensive midfielder who also has 5 goals and 5 assists. Young English Left winger Stewart Downing is fast, very skilled, and will be tough to stop. He already has 12 assists and 3 goals on the year. Striker Lukas Podolski is a 24 year old German Forward who has been dominating in the EPL. He has 18 goals and 10 assists in the EPL. He is fast, strong, mental tough, and has great technical attributes. He is currently valued at 48 million dollars, and is paid over 100,000 dollars/week. Right fullback Willy Sagnol is a top notch defender who is playing superb defensive football this year. Andreas Isaksson is starting in goal most of their games and he is an above average keeper.


Newcastle are 4-6 favorites.

It's raining with temperatures in the mid 50's.

GK: Paddy
DC: Hutchinson
DC: Osorio
DC: Jarzebowski
ML: Lunt
MC: Stewart
MC: Benayoun
MC: Rix
MR: Melara
SC: Begeorgi
SC: Paulista

S1: Gerken
S2: Giuliani
s3: Nicell
s4: Paz
s5: Kelly.

It will take a miracle effort to win this one.

[Eaglesfan27]

6 minute mark: Jensen with a corner kick.. finds Kroidrup by the near post.. he heads it.. past Paddy.. GOAL. Down 1-0.

12 minute mark: Begeorgi dribbles down the left sideline.. burns two defenders.. dribbles into the box.. shoots.. great save by the keeper.

30 minute mark: Melara gets a yellow card for a trip on Downing.

35 minute mark: Lunt with a pass into the box for Paulista.. he shoots.. the keeper blocks it.. Benayoun gets to the rebound.. he shoots.. lower left corner! GOAL!!!! 1-1.

Osorio and crew are playing great defense!


Halftime: 1-1 tie. We have over 25,000 fans here today.

51 minute mark: Paddy stops a hard shot from Bellamy.

63 minute mark: Paddy stops a hard shot from Podolski from inside the box.

65 minute mark: Hutchinson with a series of brilliant defensive plays.

70 minute mark: Begeorgi with a pass into the box for Benayoun.. he shoots.. upper right corner.. the keeper dives and catches it.


Game over! 1-1 tie. :)

We outshot them 14-13! (6-5 on target)

Stewart Downing won MoM, 35 of 36 passes, 3 of 3 tackles, 3 of 3 headers, 10 runs, 1 foul drawn. 9 for form.

All three of my DC's had 8 for form and really played well.

[Eaglesfan27]

Post Match Info:

Our gate receipts of 950,000 dollars that match was a new Wigan record! :)

We made 500,000 dollar profit last month and we are on pace to be out of debt by the end of the year if we keep making money like we did last month and this month so far.

[Desnudo]

Nice, you should make a good profit on the replay.

[Eaglesfan27]

March 8, 2010 -

Stuart Wall has returned to training.

Cheltenham wants Gerken on loan. Since, I don't have another good backup keeper, I decline.

Tomasz Jarzebowski, Tom Hutchinson, and Danny Spiller were all selected to the Championship Team of the Week.

Everton has gotten Arnaud Lescure from Tottenham on loan. The 24 year old French defender is extremely good.

The draw for the Quarterfinal of the FA Cup occurred today. If we beat Newcastle in our rematch we will be traveling to play Fulam in the next round.

[Eaglesfan27]

March 10, 2010 -

Today we host Leicester. We are currently in 1st place. They are in 7th place. They have acquired a new right winger on loan from Manchester City named Theo Lucius who is playing quite well. Right fullback Mark Hudson is doing well this year in limited action. The solid defense has been led all year by left fullback Danny Pugh. Keeper Joe Lewis is a rising star who continues to improve and has had a very good second half of the season. They have a potent varied offense led by strikers Dean Ashton and Tomi Petrescu who each have 14 goals. Their third striker Andrew Johnson is very fast and worries me the most. He has 10 goals on the year.

We are 6-4 favorites.

It's raining and temperatures are in the mid 40's.

GK: Paddy
DC: Hutchinson
DC: Osorio
DC: Jarzebowski
ML: Elliott
MC: Rolfes
MC: Benayoun
MC: Spiller
MR: Teale
SC: Graham
SC: Paulo

S1: Gerken
S2: Giuliani
S3: Nicell
s4: Paz
s5: Kelly

[Eaglesfan27]

5 minute mark: Osorio with a header from our box to Hutchinson.. he passes to Paulo who heads it to the edge of the box for Benayoun.. Benayoun gets to the ball.. splits the defenders.. shoots.. lower left corner.. the keeper dives.. it's out of his reach! GOAL!!!! 1-0.

27 minute mark: Teale passes it down the right sideline for Paulo.. he dribbles into the box.. shoots.. the keeper punches it over the bar.

35 minute mark: Graham is injured by Mark Hudson.. he has to come off the pitch. I put Giuliani on for him.


Halftime: We are up 1-0. We have over 19,000 fans here today.


48 minute mark: Rolfes is hurt by a hard tackle from Theo Lucius.. Rolfes has to come off the pitch. I put Paz on for him.

59 minute mark: Paz steals it at midfield.. passes it to Benayoun who shoots a hard very curvy shot from 25 yards out.. it bends.. bends.. upper right corner.. the keeper punches it over the bar.

70 minute mark: Paz steals it at midfield.. passes it down the right side of the pitch to Paulo.. he gets the ball dribbles to the end line.. shoots the severely angled shot.. parallel to the end line.. over the keeper's shoulder.. it hits the left post.. and bounces into the net! GOAL!!!! 2-0.

75 minute mark: Teale trips Ashton in the box.. penalty shot awarded.. Ashton shoots.. lower right corner.. past Paddy.. GOAL. Still up 2-1.

92 minute mark: Paulo gets it on the right wing.. dribbles up the right side of the pitch.. draws two defenders.. he passes to Benayoun.. two defenders flock to him.. Giuliani is wide open.. Benayoun hits him with the pass... he dribbles into the box.. unopposed.. shoots.. lower left corner.. the keeper can't get there! GOAL!!!! 3-1.


Game over. 3-1 win for us :)

We outshot them 14-8 (12-3 on target)

Paulo wins MoM, 22 of 24 passes, 0 of 1 takles, 1 of 2 headers, 8 runs, 3 fouls drawn, 1 assist, and 1 goal. 9 for form.

[Eaglesfan27]

Post Match Info:

This story appeared in the news tonight:

Simon Rolfes could miss Wigan Athletic's crucial title decider with mighty Millwall on April 3rd as he struggles with a fractured wrist that occurred in tonight's game.

Rolfes has been told that he will be out of action for around a month, making him a major doubt for what is essentially a six-pointer at The Den.

With the end of the season not far away, fans of the club will be willing him to defy the doctors and help drive the club towards the title.



David Graham was also hurt with a twisted knee and will miss about a week.


Benayoun has set a record for league goals with 15 in tonight's club.

[Eaglesfan27]

March 13, 2010 -

QPR striker Shane Paul is demanding to be traded as he feels he needs to move to a bigger club to reach his full potential.

Longthorn has told the club's website that he wants to be in the top 11 or he wants to be traded.


Today we host Doncaster. We are currently in 1st place while they are in 22nd. Doncaster is led by their solid midfield play lately. Both Steven Davis and Gavin Mahon are playing well in the midfield. Centreback Nicky Fenton is playing well in front of keeper David Martin who is a new acquisition who is not playing well. Ryan Jarvis is the main scoring threat, and he has 15 goals on the year.

We are 4-6 favorites.

It's raining with temperatures in the mid 50's.

GK: Paddy
DC: Hutchinson
DC: Osorio
DC: Jarzebowski
ML: Lunt
MC: Stewart
MC: Benayoun
MC: Rix
MR: Melara
SC: Begeorgi
SC: Paulista

S1: Gerken
s2: Giuliani
s3: Wall
s4: Paz
s5: Kelly

[Eaglesfan27]

We are pressing the attack in the first 15 minutes, but their defense is holding firm.

28 minute mark: Lunt takes a free kick from 25 yards out.. and curves it into the upper right corner.. GOAL!!!! 1-0.

39 minute mark: Rix takes a diret kick.. passes it into the box for Beanyoun.. he passes to the left side of the box for Lunt.. Lunt shoots.. upper left corner.. GOAL!!!! 2-0! Lunt with 2 goals. That is his 5th on the season.


Halftime: 2-0 lead. We have about 14,000 fans here today.


63 minute mark: with the game in hand, I bring on Wall for Hutchinson and Kelly for Benayoun as I want to give these guys some match fitness now that they are healed from their injuries.

78 minute mark: Begeorgi steals it at midfield.. passes it into the right edge of the box for Paulista.. he has the keeper coming out.. he is almost at the endline.. shoots the sharply angled shot.. upper left corner.. GOAL!!!! 3-0. That is Paulista's 10th goal of the year.

89 minute mark: Jarzebowski gets a red card for a harsh two footed tackle on Jarvis. He is ejected.

I bring Paz on to play DC and sub Paulista out.


Game over. 3-0 win for us :)

We outshot them 16-1 (9-0 on target)

Kenny Lunt won MoM, 38 of 45 passes, 1 of 1 tackles, 1 of 2 headers, 2 runs, 2 fouls drawn, 2 goals.

[Eaglesfan27]

Post Match Info:

Jarzebowski has received an automatic one match suspension for that red card last game.

Everton is still hanging tough with us as they have matched us win for win. We both have 75 points with 8 games to go. However, our GD is plus 45! Theirs is only plus 26. Millwall is now in 3rd with 68 points. The Wolves are 4th with 66 points. Leicester is 5th with 65 points. Stoke is 6th also with 65 points. It should be a good race down the stretch.


As an OOC Note, I'm hopeful that I might get to finish this season tomorrow, but sleep deprivation is catching up with me now.

[Eaglesfan27]

March 14, 2010 -

A few days ago we made an offer to Nice's Fode Mansare who has agreed to come join us a Bosman player. He will be a good replacement for Stuart Elliott who has already agreed to a deal with Crystal Palace (unfortunately.)

Fode Mansere is a 27 year old left wing from Guinea who is very fast, physically gifted, has good off the ball skills, excellent passing, great technique, excellent shooting ability, and an excellent first touch. He is currently valued at 3.6 million, and I think this was a good pickup for us. We will be paying him 25,000/week. He and Lunt will rotate regularly at the position.

[Eaglesfan27]

March 17, 2010 -

DARN! Fabrizio Melara broke his collarbone today in practice and will miss the next 2 months of the season (essentially all of the remaining season.)

Fans are concerned about Melara and our ability to stay in 1st.

[Eaglesfan27]

March 17, 2010 -

Today we have the rematch with Newcastle for the 6th round of the English FA Cup. This match will be on their pitch and the preview from the last time applies again.

They are 4-6 favorites.

It's sunny with temperatures in the mid 60's.

GK: Paddy
DC: Wall (played well last game in reserve, has his legs under him again.)
DC: Osorio
DC: Hutchinson (I wish Jarzebowski wasn't suspended for this game.)
ML: Elliott
MC: Longthorn
MC: Benayoun
MC: Spiller
MR: Teale
SC: Begeorgi
SC: Paulista

S1: Gerken
S2: Giuliani
S3: Paulo
s4: Paz
S5: Kelly


This replay match will go on until there is a winner in extra time or a shootout, but I suspect it will take another unbelievable effort for us to survive against this team.

[Eaglesfan27]

The announcers believe that Stuart Elliott will be my key player and Fabian Ernst their tenacious midfielder will be their key player. Not surprisingly, the announcers are picking Newcastle to win this match.

3 minute mark: Longthorn steals it in midfield.. passes it to Paulista right of the box.. he centers to Begeorgi.. Begeorgi shoots.. powerful shot.. the keeper calmly saves it.

6 minute mark: Elliott steals it.. dribbles past a defender.. passes it to Begeorgi.. he centers in the box for Benayoun.. he shoots.. the keeper saves it.

9 minute mark: Begeorgi collides with Stephen Brennan.. Brennan is hurt and will have to exit the game.

12 minute mark: Kieron Dyer shoots from 25 yards but Wall deflects it out of the box.. right to Dyer.. he passes between Wall and Osorio to Shola Ameobi.. Ameobi shoots.. upper left corner.. GOAL. Down 1-0.

18 minute mark: Paddy stops a shot by Dyer.

23 minute mark: Paddy and the defenders stop a flurry of shots.

25 minute mark: We get a breakaway... Paulista is alone on the right corner of the pitch.. he centers for Teale.. he heads it.. wide right.

29 minute mark: Robert Bayly stops a breakaway attempt from Paulista. Bayly has stopped good offensive efforts at least 3 or 4 times this match.

37 minute mark: Longthorn collided with Dyer.. Dyer is hurt and has to exit the game.

46 minute mark: Manuel Meghni gets the ball from Fabian Ernst just outside the box.. Meghni passes between both defenders to Ameobi in the box.. Ameobi shoots.. Paddy blocks it.. Ameobi gets the rebound immediately.. blasts it into the upper left corner of the goal.. GOAL. Down 2-0.


Halftime: Down 2-0. We are being dominated. Least there are over 47,000 fans watching this match. It should generate some nice income for our team.


47 minute mark: We get a good opportunity.. Benayoun gets the ball in the box.. shoots.. the keeper blocks it.. Paulista gets to the rebound.. shoots.. the keeper dives.. and catches it!

65 minute mark: Martin Brittain dribbles down the right side of the pitch.. centers to Michael Armstrong who shoots from 25 yards.. Paddy is in position to block it.. he misplays it.. it sails over his shoulder... GOAL. Down 3-0.

I decide to sub in Kelly for Benayoun, Giuliani for Begeorgi, and Paulo for Paulista.

83 minute mark: Wall gets a yellow card for a trip on Ameobi just outside the box.


Game over. They dominated possession. They won 3-0.

We were outshot 19-8 (8-2 on target)

Shola Ameobi wins MoM, 24 of 32 passes, 1 of 2 tackles, 11 of 13 headers, 1 interception, 2 goals. 10 for form.

[Eaglesfan27]

Post Match Info:

That match generated almost a million dollars in revenue for us! We are finally out of the red :)

[Eaglesfan27]

March 20, 2010 -

Today we travel to play the MK Dons. They are currently in 23rd while we are in 1st. Their offense has been horrendous all year long. They only have 17 goals on the year. Their leading scorer is right wing James Morrison with 3 goals. They forwards, Jamie Winter and Conal Platt do not worry me. Their defense is fairly good with centrebacks Sean O'Hanlon and Will Haining playing good defense. Their keeper Chris Chiu has played well throughout most of the season. This team would do fairly well if their offense was playing as well as the defense.

We are heavy 4-7 favorites

It's overcast with temperatures in the mid 50's today.

GK: Paddy
DC: Hutchinson
DC: Osorio
DC: Jarzebowski
ML: Lunt
MC: Stewart
MC: Benayoun
MC: Spiller
MR: Teale
SC: Graham
SC: Paulo

S1: Gerken
S2: Giuliani
S3: Rix
S4: Paz
S5: Kelly

[Eaglesfan27]

5 minute mark: Paulo steals it deep in the enemy's box from the defender.. crosses to Benayoun who hits it on the half volley.. upper right corner.. GOAL!!!! 1-0. That is Benayoun's 100th career league goal.

15 minute mark: Danny Bunce gets a yellow card for pulling Spiller's jersey.

25 minute mark: Jarzebowski makes a likely goal saving tackle in the box on Pacquette.

37 minute mark: Paul White tackles Graham hard from behind on a breakaway.. red card for him! We take the free kick.. Lunt blasts a shot that the keeper barely deflects over the bar.

44 minute mark: Teale gets a yellow card for tripping Bunce.


Halftime: Up 1-0. They are playing us even for the most part which is surprising. They have 9,000 fans here today.


46 minute mark: O'Hanlon tackles Graham in the box.. whistle.. Penalty awarded! Graham steps up.. shoots.. lower left corner... it's past the keeper! GOAL!!!! 2-0.

70 minute mark: Rix on for Spiller, Giuliani on for Graham, and Kelly on for Benayoun.


Game over. 2-0 win.

We outshot them 14-8 (5-1 on target)

Jarzebowski won MoM, 9 for form, 34 of 42 passing, 6 of 7 tackling, 11 of 12 headers, 11 interceptions, 2 runs.

[Eaglesfan27]

March 21, 2010 -

Michael Stewart, Ricardo Osorio, Stuart Elliott, and Tomasz Jarzebowski have all been called up for international play on March 24th.

[Eaglesfan27]

March 22, 2010 -

Tomasz Jarzebowski was selected to the Championship Team of the Week.


With 7 games left we are still tied with Everton for points. However, we are now 9 points ahead of the 3rd placed Wolves. 4 more wins would guarantee promotion for us. However, we don't want to just settle for promotion. we want to win this title and the money that goes with it.

[Eaglesfan27]

March 22, 2010 -

Ipswich has offered 70,000 dollars for Tom Hutchinson. What are they thinking?!? Tom is only valued at 70,000 but I doubt I would sell him for 700,000. The guy has a 7.66 avg form on the season and is a big part of our fantastic defense. I have no intention of selling him to anyone.

[Eaglesfan27]

March 24, 2010 -

Tomasz Jarzebowski played well but his team lost to Argentina 2-1.

Stuart Elliott played very well in a 0-0 tie between Northern Ireland and South Africa.

Michael Stewart played very well and had an 8 for form in a 1-0 win of Scotland over Egypt.


Liverpool has hired Tony Colbert as their new manager.

[Eaglesfan27]

March 27, 2010 -

Today we host QPR. We are currently in 1st while they are currently in 7th. QPR is led by striker Shane Paul who has 13 goals and is an excellent all around player. Right winger Martin Rowlands has recently been benched for causing team disharmony and the new starter Roberto Lanotte has been inconsistent. Centrebacks Danny Shittu and Abdeslam Ouaddou continue to play very well. Keeper Paul Gallacher is talented. Midfielders Marc Bircham and Adam Mills are both hurt and Marcus Bean will have to play well this game.

We are 5-4 favorites.

It's sunny with temperatures in the high 50's.

GK: Paddy
DC: Wall
DC: Osorio
DC: Hutchinson
ML: Lunt
MC: Rix
MC: Benayoun
MC: Spiller
MR: Teale
SC: Begeorgi
SC: Paulista

S1: Gerken
S2: Giuliani
S3: Longthorn
S4: Paz
S5: Kelly

[SunDancer]

Finally able to catch up on this exciting season, while recovering still in Boston (go home Monday, though having my jaw wired together for atleast a few weeks will not be fun). Your Bosman pickup, Nice's Fode Mansare (Nice is in France's top league right?), what are his stats, and do you think he'll be better?

Also, what is your financial situation right now, that your out of the red? Will you have the ability to compete with the Premiership in finances and resources (stadium, ect), if you reach it (not that I am worry you won't, but one game at a time).

[finkenst]

March 27, 2010 -

Today we host QPR. We are currently in 1st while they are currently in 7th. QPR is led by striker Shane Paul who has 13 goals and is an excellent all around player.
Isn't QPR in first place by a lot of points and clinched the championship already?

And isn't it Ivan Kanoveides (spelling atrocious)?

:)

[Eaglesfan27]

7 minute mark: Rix passes into the box for Begeorgi.. he shoots.. good save by the keeper.

14 minute mark: Begeorgi gets it at midfield.. dribbles past two defenders.. shoots.. Gallacher saves it.

28 minute mark: Shittu tackles Begeorgi in the box.. clean tackle.

41 minute mark: Lunt collides with Connoly.. Connoly seems hurt.

43 minute mark: Shittu catches Begeorgi from behind.

45 minute mark: Benayoun steals it at midfeild.. passes it to Begeorgi.. he is alone in the box.. he shoots.. the keeper tips it over the bar. Teale takes the corner kick.. sends it out to Rix in the middle of the box.. Rix with a hard shot.. towards the upper left corner.. GOAL!!!! 1-0.


Halftime: Up 1-0. We have over 20,000 fans here today :)


49 minute mark: Teale takes a corner kick (after Begeorgi had a good shot that was punched over the bar).. the corner kick finds Osorio.. Marcus Bean pushes Osorio down.. whistle.. yellow card for Bean.. Penalty shot awarded! Benayoun steps up.. shoots.. lower left corner.. GOAL!!!! 2-0.

60 minute mark: Giuliani on for Begeorgi who is tired.

63 minute mark: David Deeney with a hard two footed tackle on Giuliani.. yellow card.

68 minute mark: Paul Connoly trips Giuliani.. he gets away with a warning.

75 minute mark: Kelly on for Benayoun.

85 minute mark: Rix goes down clutching his leg. Longthorn on for Rix.


Game over. 2-0 win.

We outshot them 12-3 (6-2 on target)

Gary Teale wins MoM, 8 for form, 25 of 30 passes, 2 of 2 tackles, 1 of 4 headers, 1 interception, 2 runs, 1 assist.

[SunDancer]

:D

On an OOC note, I really needed to relax with FM tonight. I saw 4 patients in 4 hours, and for the first time ever I truly wanted to kill a parent, even if it was only a few seconds that I considered it. I have 1 more patient coming later tonight too (at least.)

I can't wait til I take one steady full time job in July and don't do 4 part time jobs (one of which requires six nights of call a month.)

I can see your next presciption for a stress-relieve: FM 2005. Jut picture the advertising.
Just got out of surgery on Tuesday, kinda still leary (it takes a few days to really bounce back rested and ready-to-go, but I'll be good by Monday).

[Eaglesfan27]

Finally able to catch up on this exciting season, while recovering still in Boston (go home Monday, though having my jaw wired together for atleast a few weeks will not be fun). Your Bosman pickup, Nice's Fode Mansare (Nice is in France's top league right?), what are his stats, and do you think he'll be better?

Also, what is your financial situation right now, that your out of the red? Will you have the ability to compete with the Premiership in finances and resources (stadium, ect), if you reach it (not that I am worry you won't, but one game at a time).

As far as the finances, we've made over 2 million in profit this month! I think that we are finally starting to draw bigger crowds, sell more jerseys, etc now that we are winning. I think the big EPL teams will draw big crowds which will help our finances. We've now build up a 1.2 million dollar balance in the bank. Our stadium is a 25,000 all-seater with under-soil heating. If we start regularly selling out the house, I'm hopeful that we will be able to expand the stadium in the near future, but I think this will generate a decent income even next year. Our facilities are currently top notch with a youth academy for this level. They might not be this good when we move to the EPL, but I think they will be decent enough.

As far as Nice, they actually were relegated out of the top league 2 years ago, but they are a good squad. Mansare has played well for them this year. He has 8 assists and 4 goals in 24 appearances. His most impressive attributes to me are his 17 dribbling, 17 first touch, 17 technique, 15 passing, 17 off the ball, 17 acceleration. He has good pace at 15. He has good penalty taking skill as well at 16. I think he'll be a very good player for us.

We've played well against Newcastle and Middlesbrough this year, so I think we can avoid relegation in the EPL and play ok, but the thing that worries me is that my team is OLD. Many of my Bosman players in their late 20's or early 30's. I just hope guys don't start declining next year.

A quick look at my main player's age:
Pavel Mares - 34
Pape Sarr - 32
Paddy Kenny - 31
Gary Teale - 31
David Graham - 31
Abraham Paz - 31
Tomasz Jarzebowski - 31
Kenny Lunt - 30
Ricardo Osorio - 29
Yossi Benayoun - 29
Joao Paulo - 29
Michael Stewart - 29
Simon Rolfes - 28
Danny SPiller - 28
Tom Hutchinson - 28

On the other hand, Alberto Giuliani and Fabrizio Melara are only 23. Fabrice Begeorgi and Stuart Wall are only 22 and are still improving. They are our youngest regular contributors.

[Eaglesfan27]

Dola -

I hope you recover quickly and feel better soon from your surgery. :)

[Eaglesfan27]

Isn't QPR in first place by a lot of points and clinched the championship already?

And isn't it Ivan Kanoveides (spelling atrocious)?

:)
:D

Not in this universe ;)

[Eaglesfan27]

I can see your next presciption for a stress-relieve: FM 2005. Jut picture the advertising.
Just got out of surgery on Tuesday, kinda still leary (it takes a few days to really bounce back rested and ready-to-go, but I'll be good by Monday).

I've been tempted to prescribe some FM to some of my patient's parents who really need to chill out. :D

[Eaglesfan27]

Post Match Info:

Everton lost to Leicester 3-2. We are now in first place by 3 points!

We are still 9 points in front of the third place Wolves. With 6 games to go, 3 wins will secure promotion.

[SunDancer]

As far as the finances, we've made over 2 million in profit this month! I think that we are finally starting to draw bigger crowds, sell more jerseys, etc now that we are winning. I think the big EPL teams will draw big crowds which will help our finances. We've now build up a 1.2 million dollar balance in the bank. Our stadium is a 25,000 all-seater with under-soil heating. If we start regularly selling out the house, I'm hopeful that we will be able to expand the stadium in the near future, but I think this will generate a decent income even next year. Our facilities are currently top notch with a youth academy for this level. They might not be this good when we move to the EPL, but I think they will be decent enough.

As far as Nice, they actually were relegated out of the top league 2 years ago, but they are a good squad. Mansare has played well for them this year. He has 8 assists and 4 goals in 24 appearances. His most impressive attributes to me are his 17 dribbling, 17 first touch, 17 technique, 15 passing, 17 off the ball, 17 acceleration. He has good pace at 15. He has good penalty taking skill as well at 16. I think he'll be a very good player for us.

We've played well against Newcastle and Middlesbrough this year, so I think we can avoid relegation in the EPL and play ok, but the thing that worries me is that my team is OLD. Many of my Bosman players in their late 20's or early 30's. I just hope guys don't start declining next year.

A quick look at my main player's age:
Pavel Mares - 34
Pape Sarr - 32
Paddy Kenny - 31
Gary Teale - 31
David Graham - 31
Abraham Paz - 31
Tomasz Jarzebowski - 31
Kenny Lunt - 30
Ricardo Osorio - 29
Yossi Benayoun - 29
Joao Paulo - 29
Michael Stewart - 29
Simon Rolfes - 28
Danny SPiller - 28
Tom Hutchinson - 28

On the other hand, Alberto Giuliani and Fabrizio Melara are only 23. Fabrice Begeorgi and Stuart Wall are only 22 and are still improving. They are our youngest regular contributors.

Does the game actually give you info on jersey sales, top sellers, ect? Always been curious, whats the difference, financially and "impact" of the specs, of underground all-soil seating (what is it anyways), and all the aspects, of blenchers, seats, ect?

[chris3627]

March 4, 2010 -

Liverpool has sacked Rafa Benitez. The media doesnt list me as a contender for the job. They are considering Real Madrid coach Craig Gant. They are also considering Tony Colbert, Huub Stevens, and Sammy Lee.

Are you still in the running for this dream job or did they nicely turn you down?

[Eaglesfan27]

Does the game actually give you info on jersey sales, top sellers, ect? Always been curious, whats the difference, financially and "impact" of the specs, of underground all-soil seating (what is it anyways), and all the aspects, of blenchers, seats, ect?
It doesn't tell you who the top seller is, but it does list the three favorite players according to fan votes (under team information.) My fans currently like Gary Teale the most, Andy Liddell (apparently a player that was sold before I came here) second most, and Fabrizio Melara third most. Liddell was 1st until recently, so I think they are starting to forgive me to Liddell's sale. I also think they are growing more fond of Teale which is good.

It does tell you the total money earned from merchandising at any point in time.

As far as the stadium, obviously the number of people it can hold is important. The fact that it is an all-seater means that people won't have to stand. In contrast, my former Harrogate stadium help 3800, but only 450 seats. The other 3350 people were left standing up. As far as under-soil heating, it helps keep the ground from freezing up in cold weather and helps the game play more crisply (least that is my understanding.) I'm hoping to eventually get a huge domed stadium that of course has all seater capacity :)

[Eaglesfan27]

Are you still in the running for this dream job or did they nicely turn you down?
I didn't apply for it. I haven't applied for any jobs, because I've never wanted to upset my current team. I've always been approached for jobs. However, in this case they went for a more well known manager by hiring Tony Colbert.

[Eaglesfan27]

March 29, 2010 -

Rushden was relegated from League One last night.

[SunDancer]

It doesn't tell you who the top seller is, but it does list the three favorite players according to fan votes (under team information.) My fans currently like Gary Teale the most, Andy Liddell (apparently a player that was sold before I came here) second most, and Fabrizio Melara third most. Liddell was 1st until recently, so I think they are starting to forgive me to Liddell's sale. I also think they are growing more fond of Teale which is good.

It does tell you the total money earned from merchandising at any point in time.

As far as the stadium, obviously the number of people it can hold is important. The fact that it is an all-seater means that people won't have to stand. In contrast, my former Harrogate stadium help 3800, but only 450 seats. The other 3350 people were left standing up. As far as under-soil heating, it helps keep the ground from freezing up in cold weather and helps the game play more crisply (least that is my understanding.) I'm hoping to eventually get a huge domed stadium that of course has all seater capacity :)

Does all-seating and domes play a factor in getting more ticket revenue (you can charge more for the "comfort") or people to the stadium? Does the game have club seats/luxury suites? How does that work?

[SunDancer]

As
On the other hand, Alberto Giuliani and Fabrizio Melara are only 23. Fabrice Begeorgi and Stuart Wall are only 22 and are still improving. They are our youngest regular contributors.

With those four, you have a great quad of young players to build around. Hopefully, we'll see some movement when you get promoted, on injecting some young talent to the roster to develop long-term, scouting the under 21 international friendlies and tournaments (does this game have U21 tourneys), as well as the young talent developing in leagues around the world.

[Eaglesfan27]

April 1, 2010 -

The board is delighted with my performance.


Leicester's Nigel Quashie has won Player of the Month. Joao Paulo came in 2nd, and Andy Reid of Everton came in 3rd.

Norwich's Mark Banks won young player of the Month. Michael Vickers of Nottingham Forest came in 2nd, and Nick Davies of Watford came in 3rd.

I won manager of the month for guiding the team to wins in all 5 of our league games this month. Steve Coppell of Leeds came in 2nd, and John Gregory of Plymouth came in 3rd.

[Eaglesfan27]

Does all-seating and domes play a factor in getting more ticket revenue (you can charge more for the "comfort") or people to the stadium? Does the game have club seats/luxury suites? How does that work?
Just to clarify, I'm not positive on the answer to these questions, but my understanding is that a dome would make more money. Bad weather will drive fans away to an extent, and if the team is playing in a dome I suspect that it will allow you to draw more fans even if the weather is bad outside the dome. There aren't club seats/luxury seats that I'm aware of. The big thing is that the domed stadium will allow us to attract big crowds even in bad weather. Also, I think you automatically charge more for tickets the higher the league you are in. I know that with Harrogate we only charged about 3 dollars/seat when we were in the English Conference North, but we charged over 20 dollars/seat in League Two.

[Eaglesfan27]

With those four, you have a great quad of young players to build around. Hopefully, we'll see some movement when you get promoted, on injecting some young talent to the roster to develop long-term, scouting the under 21 international friendlies and tournaments (does this game have U21 tourneys), as well as the young talent developing in leagues around the world.
The game does have U21 national teams that compete. That is where I will focus on scouting for young talent. I'll also watch National Teams. I do plan on injecting more young talent into the team as we get more money. I also agree that those 4 are a good nucleus to build around. I just hope their money demands don't get too high as they develop. Begeorgi in particular scares me after this big season.

[Eaglesfan27]

April 3, 2010 -

Today we travel to play Millwall. They are currently in 5th place while we are in 1st. Millwall relies on a very good defense and one superstar offensive player. Striker Simeon Jackson has been superb this year. This 23 year old Jamaican star is very fast. He has great acceleration, great anticipation, and he has scored 23 goals on the year. He also has 10 assists on the year. If we can shut him down, I think we will beat them. The solid defense is led by keeper Julian Speroni who is having a great year. Centrebacks Mark Phillips and Pablo Mills are playing very well in front of him. Right winger Adrian Serioux is doing a good job of getting the ball to simeon Jackson.

We are 5-4 favorites.

It's cloudy with temperatures in the high 40's.

GK: Paddy
DC: Hutchinson
DC: Osorio
DC: Jarzebowski
ML: Elliott
MC: Rix
MC: Benayoun
MC: Spiller
MR: Teale
SC: Graham
SC: Paulo

S1: Gerken
S2: Giuliani
S3: Wall
S4: Longthorn
S5: Kelly

[Eaglesfan27]

1st minute: Rix gets a yellow card for backing into Pablo Mills.

1st minute: Crisp ball movement on our part from Rix to Teale on the right wing.. he immediately sends a fast pass into the box for Benayoun.. he immediately shoots.. from 25 yards out.. curving shot.. it sails over the keeper's left shoulder.. GOAL!!!! 1-0.

8 minute mark: Pablo Mills trips Benayoun just outside the box.. yellow card for Mills.

13 minute mark: Swayne runs into Osorio.. Osorio crumples to the ground in pain.. he is hurt bad. He has to be carried off the pitch! :( I bring Wall in for him.

33 minute mark: Matt Potter body checks Graham.. Yellow card on Potter.

35 minute mark: Wall heads it up the pitch to Paulo at midfield.. Paulo turns on the speed.. burns three guys down the right sideline.. crosses to Benayoun in the middle of the box.. he kicks it immediately.. upper right corner.. GOAL!!!! 2-0.


Halftime: Up 2-0. Millwall has over 17,000 fans here today.


64 minute mark: Giuliani on for Graham.

80 minute mark: Potter with a good pass to Simeon Jackson.. his first good opportunity.. he shoots from 10 yards out.. great shot.. excellent job of Paddy to block it.. Wall clears the rebound.


Game over. 2-0 win for us :)

We outshot them 10-8 (6-2 on target)

Jarzebowski won MoM, 9 for form, 28 of 36 passes, 6 of 6 tackles, 19 of 20 headers(!), 2 interceptions, 1 foul drawn.

Every starter except for Osorio had an 8 for form. Wall had a solid 7.

[Eaglesfan27]

Post Match Info: Ricardo Osorio has suffered a severe calf strain. He will be out for about 2 weeks.

Bournemouth have been relegated from League One.

Cambridge has been relegated from League One.

Dave whelan was particularly thrilled with our exciting 2-0 win over the talented Millwall team.

[Eaglesfan27]

April 4, 2010 -

The Wolves lost their game. We are now three points ahead of 2nd placed Everton and 10 points ahead of 3rd placed Leicester. With 5 games to go, 2 wins will secure promotion. We also guaranteed that we will at least have a playoff spot today.


Tomasz Jarzebowski and David Graham were both selected to the Championship Team of the Week.

[SirFozzie]

As far as the stadium, obviously the number of people it can hold is important. The fact that it is an all-seater means that people won't have to stand. In contrast, my former Harrogate stadium help 3800, but only 450 seats. The other 3350 people were left standing up. As far as under-soil heating, it helps keep the ground from freezing up in cold weather and helps the game play more crisply (least that is my understanding.) I'm hoping to eventually get a huge domed stadium that of course has all seater capacity :)

Undersoil heating will let you play more games, frozen pitches can cause game cancellation. as

There are no true domed stadiums in FM, btw, just like there really isn't (except for one-off friendlies) in real life.

most of them have what's known as covered seating however..

best way to describe it is like the Cowboys home stadium

[Eaglesfan27]

April 10, 2010 -

Today we host Ipswich. They are currently in 17th. They have a very good defense. Right fullback Jon Otsemobor is a good player. They recently borrowed Pascal Chimbonda from Reading and he is playing well at left fullback. Centrebacks Aidan Collins is also playing very well but their other DC Steve Foster is suspended this match. Keeper Scott Carson is playing well lately. The midfield is average with Matthew Etherington, their left winger, being the best player. Striker Peter Crouch is a good player and he has 10 goals on the year. Shefki Kuqi plays alongside him and has 8 goals on the season.

We are even odd favorites.

It's sunny with temperatures in the mid 50's.

GK: Paddy
DC: Wall
DC: Hutchinson
DC: Jarzebowski
ML: Lunt
MC: Stewart
MC: Benayoun
MC: Spiller
MR: Teale
SC: Begeorgi
SC: Paulista

S1: Gerken
S2: Giuliani
S3: Longthorn
S4: Sarr
S5: Kelly

[Eaglesfan27]

Undersoil heating will let you play more games, frozen pitches can cause game cancellation. as

There are no true domed stadiums in FM, btw, just like there really isn't (except for one-off friendlies) in real life.

most of them have what's known as covered seating however..

best way to describe it is like the Cowboys home stadium

Thanks for the clarification :)

[Eaglesfan27]

8 minute mark: Pascal Chimbonda runs into Paulista.. Paulista crumbles to the ground.. he is hurt.. bad. I have to put Giuliani on for him.

14 minute mark: Begeorgi bodychecks Chimbonda hard! I love his spirit in protecting his teammate... I love it even more when he doesn't get a yellow card :) Chimbonda is hurt, but looks like he will try to come back in a bit.

40 minute mark: Collins bodychecks Giuliani.. Giuliani is hurt.. he is going to keep playing.

43 minute mark: Chimbonda slams into Giuliani.. he looks hurt again.. he insists he can keep playing... I'll have the physios really check him out at halftime.


Halftime: 0-0 tie. We have over 15,000 fans here today.


Giuliani looks ok to play and really wants to play.

49 minute mark: Teale with a great run up the right sideline.. crosses to Begeorgi who breaks behind the defense.. gets it in the box about 15 yards out.. powerful shot.. upper left corner.. GOAL!!!! 1-0.

58 minute mark: Whitehead collides with Stewart.. Stewart will have to come off.. I put Longthorn in for him.

83 minute mark: Tommy Miller gets a yellow card for pulling Longthorn's jersey.

88 minute mark: Wall with a good defensive play to foil an offensive attack.

90 minute mark: Wall with a good defensive play in the box to tackle Wallace.


Game over: 1-0 win for us :)

We outshot them 16-2 (2-0 on target)

Gary Teale wins MoM, 8 for form, 38 of 46 passes, 0 tackles, 3 of 5 headers, 1 interception, 3 runs, 1 assist.

[Eaglesfan27]

Post Match Info:

Michael Stewart has suffered a calf strain and will miss about 2 weeks.

Wellington Paulista has suffered a twisted ankle and will miss about a week.

Everton won and are still 3 points behind us with 4 games to go. Leicester also won and are still 10 points behind us. If we win one more game, we guarantee promotion to the EPL.


Charlton have been relegated from the EPL.

The MK Dons have been relegated from the English Championship.

Chesterfield has also been relegated from the Championship.

Port Vale have won Promotion to League One.

Stockport has won the English Conference National Title.



Harrogate are currently 21st in League 2 but are 9 points out of the danger zone of being relegated. One more win secure their place in League Two again next year.

[Eaglesfan27]

April 11, 2010 -

Today Chelsea won their 5th consecutive EPL title!

[Eaglesfan27]

April 13, 2010 -

Liam Nicell has told the club's website reporters that he wants to be traded if he isn't going to start playing regularly in the top 11. He wants to be loyal to the club, but he also wants to play football.

[Eaglesfan27]

April 13, 2010 -

Today we travel to play Derby. Derby is currently in 18th place. Derby has an average defense and a good offense. Their offense is led by striker Leroy Lita who has 14 goals on the year. Grzegorz Rasiak is settling in nicely and has 10 goals. Their third striker Veigar Pall Gunnarson has 10 goals also. Their defense is led by right fullback Nathan Doyle and centreback Chris Morgan. Left winger Lee Holmes is a creative player. Their keepers have been poor most of the year. They have alterned Mart Poom and Lewis Price. Price is likely to start this game. He has played better his last few starts.

We are 5-4 favorites.

It's sunny with temperatures in the mid 50's.

GK: Paddy
DC: Wall
DC: Hutchinson
DC: Jarzebowski
ML: Elliott
MC: Rix
MC: Benayoun
MC: Spiller
MR: Teale
SC: Graham
SC: Paulo

S1: Gerken
S2: Giuliani
S3: Sarr
S4: Longthorn
S5: Kelly

[Eaglesfan27]

3 minute mark: One of our most beautiful plays of the year.. Jarzebowski intercepts the ball. kicks it long to Elliott.. he crosses to Spiller who is just outside the box.. Spiller with a great pass between two defenders to Paulo who heads it down to Benayoun's feet in the middle of the box.. Benayoun immediately shoots.. upper right corner.. the keeper had no chance. GOAL!!!! 1-0. That is Benayoun's 25th goal of the year.

13 minute mark: Rix passes it into the box for Benayoun.. he shoots.. lower left corner.. great save by the keeper.

18 minute mark: A flurry of shots.. Elliott.. blocked by a defender.. teale.. blocked by the keeper... Paulo blocked by a defender.. Benayoun.. blocked by the keeper.. finally they clear it.

21 minute mark: Teale gets a yellow card for arguing an offside call.

39 minute mark: Steve Turner gets a yellow card for pulling Paulo's jersey.

40 minute mark: Teale plays it down the right sideline for Paulo.. he gets to it.. crosses to Benayoun in the middle of the penalty box.. he heads it.. into the crossbar.


Halftime: 1-0 lead for us. Their are over 23,500 fans at Derby's stadium today.


68 minute mark: Benayoun gets it at midfield.. passes it to Spiller.. who shoots.. hard curving shot.. the keeper barely manages to parry it despite the shot coming from 25 yards away.. Spiller has such a good shot when he uses it.

73 minute mark: Kelly on for Benayoun and Giuliani on for Graham.

80 minute mark: Lita gets a breakaway.. trying to fake out Paddy.. he backpedals.. Lita shoots.. Paddy saves it cleanly.

82 minute mark: Paulo gets a yellow card for diving.

84 minute mark: Rix passes to Spiller just outside the box.. hard shot from Spiller.. over the bar.

85 minute mark: Kelly intercepts it at midfield.. passes it to Giuliani on the left edge of the box.. he passes it to Teale who heads it to Paulo in the box.. Paulo fakes left.. dribbles right.. shoots.. lower left corner..GOAL!!!! 2-0.

87 minute mark: Hutchinson gets a yellow card for a trip on Gunnarson.


Game over. 2-0 win for us. If my math is correct, we just secured promotion to the EPL! :) Of course, I really want the Championship Title.

We outshot them 22-6 (9-3 on target)

Gary Teale wins MoM, 9 for form, 21 of 25 passes, 5 of 8 tackles, 1 of 2 headers, 1 interception, 2 runs, 1 assist.

[Eaglesfan27]

Post Match Info:

Stuart Elliott bruised his shin and will miss approximately 5 days.

We have been officially promoted to the EPL! Now, we just need to win the Championship Title.

Joao Paulo's 15 assists is a new team record.

Everton won again and are still 3 points behind us. 2 wins in the next 3 games will secure the League Title for us. Our GD is plus 54. Theirs is plus 35 (second best in the league.)

[Eaglesfan27]

April 14, 2010 -

Simon Rolfes has returned to full training today.

[Eaglesfan27]

April 17, 2010 -

WOW!!! For the first time ever, an agent has approached my club with video of their client to see if I'm interested in acquiring him. In this case, an agent representing Steven Gillespie has invited me to have a look at a video of his client. The video shows highlights of Bradford City's 3-1 English League One Victory over Hull. The agent is encouraging me to make an offer for his client if I'm impressed with the forward in the video.

The video shows Gillespie scoring two impressive goals at the 39 and 46 minute mark, and him assisting on a 3rd goal at the 90 minute mark. He really does look good. He is only 25. I decide to send my scouts to review this player further, as I want to know more about this kid who is currently valued at 1.3 million.


Doncaster has been relegated from the English Championship.

Port Vale has won the English League Two Title.

Oxford has won promotion to the League One.

Tamworth has won the English Conference South title.

[Eaglesfan27]

April 18, 2010 -

Today we host Nottingham Forest in a match that is being televised on national TV. They are currently in 14th place. They have a good offense, but their defense has been weak the second half of the season. Their leading striker is Sam Parkin who has 17 goals. Michael Vickers is second on the team with 6 goals. David Johnson has 5 goals and is also a good striker. They have recently acquired Mark Delaney on loan from Sunderland and he has become their best defender, but even he hasn't been able to stop their keeper from facing a lot of shots. Stuart Taylor is a good keeper, but he has cracked under the pressure of facing so many shotsand has been giving up over 2.5 goals/game in the last 10 games.

We are heavy 4-7 favorites.

It's overcast with temperatures in the high 50's.

GK: Paddy
DC: Wall
DC: Hutchinson
DC: Jarzebowski
ML: Lunt
MC: Rix
MC: Benayoun
MC: Spiller
MR: Teale
SC: Begeorgi
SC: Paulista

S1: Gerken
S2: Giuliani
S3: Longthorn
S4: Rolfes (freshly back from injury but lacking match practice. If we get a big lead, he will get on the pitch.)
S5: Kelly

The announcers believe that Yossi Benayoun is my key player as he is an explosive scorer. Stuart Taylor is the most important player for Nottm Forest.

I love their prediction: I'm surprised the bookies are even taking bets on this win. Nottm Forest can't get a win for love nor money at the moment, and Wigan should have this game won by Half-time.

I hope they are right.

[SunDancer]

April 17, 2010 -

WOW!!! For the first time ever, an agent has approached my club with video of their client to see if I'm interested in acquiring him. In this case, an agent representing Steven Gillespie has invited me to have a look at a video of his client. The video shows highlights of Bradford City's 3-1 English League One Victory over Hull. The agent is encouraging me to make an offer for his client if I'm impressed with the forward in the video.

The video shows Gillespie scoring two impressive goals at the 39 and 46 minute mark, and him assisting on a 3rd goal at the 90 minute mark. He really does look good. He is only 25. I decide to send my scouts to review this player further, as I want to know more about this kid who is currently valued at 1.3 million.


Doncaster has been relegated from the English Championship.

Port Vale has won the English League Two Title.

Oxford has won promotion to the League One.

Tamworth has won the English Conference South title.

Pretty cool about the agent/video selling to you...Any reasons to why they go to certain clubs? A talented 25-year-old, would be movement towards building a "foundation of youth" with the four current players (afforded you can keep them-can you re-do deals in early or middle of contracts or extentsions?)

[Eaglesfan27]

18 minute mark: Benayoun passes to Paulista who shoots from 25 yards.. curving shot.. barely wide left.

20 minute mark: Mark Delaney bodychecks Benayoun.. Benayoun is hurt and will have to exit the game. I put Kelly on for him.

25 minute mark: Begeorgi gets it on the left side of the box.. passes it to Paulista on the right side of the box.. he shoots.. Taylor saves it nicely.


Halftime: Boring first half. The announcers were wrong to some extent. 0-0 at the half. We have over 15,000 fans here today.


81 minute mark: Stuart Taylor has been brilliant blocking shots all game.. Kelly passes to Begeorgi in the box.. Begeorgi passes it back to Kelly in the center of the box.. Kelly shoots upper right corner.. Taylor blocks it.. Paulista gets the rebound.. powerful kick.. into the right side of the net! GOAL!!!! 1-0.

89 minute mark: Teale passes it down the right sideline.. Paulista gets it.. crosses to Kelly.. he shoots.. upper left corner.. Taylor punches it over the bar.


Game over. 1-0 win for us.

We outshot them 24-1 (6-0 on target)

Stuart Taylor won MoM and really played well.

The TV announcers feel we should have won by a larger margin. I agree, but I'm just happy we won.

[Eaglesfan27]

Pretty cool about the agent/video selling to you...Any reasons to why they go to certain clubs? A talented 25-year-old, would be movement towards building a "foundation of youth" with the four current players (afforded you can keep them-can you re-do deals in early or middle of contracts or extentsions?)
I think they approached me because they know we are being promoted to the EPL and they want to go to the top level of play.

I agree that he would be a good move towards the youth movement, but I'll take a closer look at him. The game has attribute masking, and without scouting him about half of his attributes are currently masked. I did like what I saw on the video tape though.

You can re-do deals at any time that you want. Players can also request that their deals be redone. I'm expecting several of my players to do that now that we will be playing at the highest level of football. Players can become quite unhappy if you refuse to renegotiate.

[Eaglesfan27]

Post Match Info:

Benayoun injured his neck and will miss about 5 days.

Our 6 games won in a row between March 20th, 2010 and April 18th, 2010 is a new team record according to our team statistician.

Everton only tied their last game against West Ham with a final score of 2-2!

This means that a tie or a win in either of our next two games secures the league title for us! :)

[Eaglesfan27]

April 21, 2010 -

I watched the semifinals of the European Championship Cup today.

In the first match (first leg) Arsenal beat Juventus 2-0 at home. Javier Saviola scored at the 64 minute mark on an assist from Jermaine Pennant who passed into the box. At the 88 minute mark, Ian Burgess passes to Thierry Henry who had a fabulous strike from 18 yards out.

In the second match (first leg) Manchester United tied Barcelona 1-1 at home. Barcelona's Robinho scored first at the 9 minute mark after a great pass from Cristiano Ronaldo (my favorite Wonderkid in CM 03/04). Manchester United's Rooney earned a penalty shot at the 75 minute mark which James McFadden converted to tie the game.

[Eaglesfan27]

April 24, 2010 -

Today we travel to play Watford in a match that could clinch the League Title for us. Watford is currently in 21st place. Their offense has been inconsistent all year long. Their leading scorer is striker Hameur Bouazza. Their keeper is their best player. David Preece has played very well this year. Fitz Hall and Nick Davies have been the best defenders recently. Kieran Richardson is on loan from Southampton and he is a skilled midfielder.

We are 4-6 favorites.

It's raining and temperatures are in the low 50's.

GK: Paddy
DC: Hutchinson
DC: Osorio
DC: Jarzebowski
ML: Elliott
MC: Rolfes
MC: Benayoun
MC: Spiller
MR: Teale
SC: Graham
SC: Paulo

S1: Gerken
S2: Giuliani
S3: Longthorn
S4: Wall
S5: Kelly

[Eaglesfan27]

1st minute: Benayoun passes to Paulo in the box.. hard shot.. keeper saves it easily.

21 minute mark: Paulo gets the ball on the right wing.. crosses for Elliott.. the keeper comes out to punch it.. Spiller gets it.. shoots.. hard shot.. open net.. GOAL!!!! 1-0.

30 minute mark: Rolfes passes to Benayoun in the box.. he shoots.. upper left corner.. the keeper saves it.

42 minute mark: Elliott passes down the left sideline to Graham.. he heads it to Benayoun in the center of the box.. hard shot.. upper right corner.. wide right.

44 minute mark: Coke takes a corner kick.. Diafutua is by the near post.. he outjumps Osorio.. heads it.. into the corner of the net. GOAL. 1-1 tie.

46 minute mark: Rolfes passes into the box for Paulo.. he shoots.. barely over the bar.


Halftime: 1-1 tie. Watford has over 15,000 fans here today.


52 minute mark: Graham takes a free kick from 35 yards out.. floats it into the box from the left side of the pitch.. Teale heads it..into the lower left corner.. GOAL!!!! 2-1.

55 minute mark: Richardson with a breakaway.. Paddy comes out to meet him.. he shoots.. Paddy saves it!

71 minute mark: Rolfes played a brilliant game in his first action, but he is tired. I put Longthorn on for him. I also put Giuliani on for Graham and Kelly on for Benayoun.

76 minute mark: Teale with a corner kick finds Osorio by the far post.. he heads it.. into the upper right corner.. GOAL!!!! 3-1.


Game over! 3-1 win! :)

We outshot them 26-10 (13-3 on target)

Teale wins MoM, 10 for form, 44 of 47 passes, 1 of 3 tackles, 2 of 4 headers, 2 runs, 2 assists, and 1 goal!

Most Importantly, we just won the English Championship Title!!

[Eaglesfan27]

Post Match Info:

First the relatively unimportant News:

Scunthorpe won the Conference North.

FC Bayern have won their 5th consecutive German First Division Title.

Everton have won promotion to the EPL.

Walsall have won promotion to the English Championship.

Boston Utd has been relegated from English League One.

Brentford has won promotion to English League One.

Exeter has been relegated from League Two.

Leyton Orient has been relegated from League Two.


Most Importantly: We have officially been declared the English League Championship Title Winner!

Here is the early edition news story:

Wigan Fans are in a jubilant mood after Christopher Engles led them to the incredible feat of winning the English Championship. A fan's spokesperson announced that Engles was undoubtedly one of the best managers around. The entire Wigan board could not contain their delight following the team's triumph.

[Eaglesfan27]

April 28, 2010 -

Gary Teale and Simon Rolfes were both selected to the Championship Team of the Week.

[Eaglesfan27]

April 28, 2010 -

Today our reserves won the English Reserves Group 3 Title :)



Barcelona hosted Manchester united and beat them 2-1 to win 3-2 on aggregate. Barcelona's first goal came on a great shot by Robinho who received a pass from Rafael Marquez. The second goal was on a shot by Ronaldinho who received a pass from Rafael Marquez. Manchester tried to even things up with a goal by Alan Smith that was set up by a great pass from Damien Duff, but it wasn't enough to secure the win.

Arsenal lost to Juventus 2-1 today, but they won 3-2 on aggregate. The deciding goal for Arsenal was scored by Thierry Henry at the 60 minute mark and was set up by a pass from Saviola.

Barcelona and Arsenal will face either other in the final.

[Eaglesfan27]

May 1st, 2010 -

Fabrizio Melara has returned to full training today.

Tomasz Jarzebowski suffered a groin strain in practice today and will miss about 2 weeks.



The Wigan Board is delighted with my performance.

Gary Teale was selected as the English Championship Player of the Month. Andy Reid of Everton came in 2nd, and Clarke Carlisle of West Ham came in 3rd.

Ipswich's Michael Whitehead was selected as the Young Player of the Month. Michael Collins of Norwich was selected 2nd, and Roberto Lanotte of QPR came in 3rd.

I was selected as manger of the month for leading the team to victory in all 5 of our league games this month. Micky Adams of Everton came in 2nd, and Kevin Keegan of Leicester came in 3rd.

[SunDancer]

Party at the Doc's house tonight!

[Eaglesfan27]

May 1st, 2010 -

Walsall have won the English League One Title.

Swansea have won promotion to the English Championship.

[Eaglesfan27]

Party at the Doc's house tonight!

:D

My cats were looking at me oddly as I was cheering and clapping at the computer.

[Eaglesfan27]

May 2, 2010 -

My souts looked at Steven Gillespie. They don't feel he is good enough to be signed to our team. They notice that he has poor team work, poor off the ball skills, poor determination in pratice, only average speed. He does have good passing and excellent finishing ability. He just signed a deal with the MK Dons (he had signed before I got the videotape, and I'm not inclined to pay the 1.3 million they want for him at this time.


Real Madrid has sacked Paco Melo.

[SunDancer]

:D

My cats were looking at me oddly as I was cheering and clapping at the computer.

What about the wife? :)

[Eaglesfan27]

What about the wife? :)

She is at work :)

[finkenst]

What about the wife? :)
i was thinking the same question. :)

[Barkeep49]

Congrats on another successful season. I assume this is a good thing for your chances of getting one of your dream teams, correct?

[FrogMan]

congrats doc!

Now go kick some ass in the Premiership!!! :)

FM

[condors]

congrats! hopefully you will be in contention for europe qualification race next season!

[Eaglesfan27]

Thanks guys. Barkeep, I definitely think this will help my chances of getting hired by one of the big 4 :)

I plan on it FM.

Condors, I think that would be an amazing accomplishment. I'm just hoping to avoid relegation and if I get into the middle of the table it would be a great season.

[daedalus]

DARN! Fabrizio Melara broke his collarbone today in practice and will miss the next 2 months of the season (essentially all of the remaining season.)Dr. Eaglesfan27's Avoid Injury rating is just going down the tube. :D

[daedalus]

As far as Nice, they actually were relegated out of the top league 2 years ago, but they are a good squad. Mansare has played well for them this year. He has 8 assists and 4 goals in 24 appearances. His most impressive attributes to me are his 17 dribbling, 17 first touch, 17 technique, 15 passing, 17 off the ball, 17 acceleration. He has good pace at 15. He has good penalty taking skill as well at 16. I think he'll be a very good player for us.Flair and creativity?

[daedalus]

Congratulations on the title and the promotion. Good show, eh! :)

[SunDancer]

Thanks guys. Barkeep, I definitely think this will help my chances of getting hired by one of the big 4 :)

I plan on it FM.

Condors, I think that would be an amazing accomplishment. I'm just hoping to avoid relegation and if I get into the middle of the table it would be a great season.

Would you turn down the Big 4 if you have the abilities and resouces to make Wigan a real cotender, if you have a real attachment to the club?

[Eaglesfan27]

Would you turn down the Big 4 if you have the abilities and resouces to make Wigan a real cotender, if you have a real attachment to the club?
Excellent question. Manchester United is my favorite club IRL, so I know I wouldn't turn them down. In FM, I've always wanted to manage Thierry Henry, and Arsenal will never let him go in the game. That is the biggest reason that I want to manage them, but Henry is starting to get up there in years now that I'm in 2010. I might turn Arsenal down. Chelsea is another club that I've always wanted to manage due to their amazing finances. I don't think I would turn Chelsea down if they offered me a deal. I don't have any big draw to Liverpool except that I would like to win championships with them because I've never done it, and I've been to a game of theirs in real life and thought the atmosphere was great.

[SunDancer]

Would be interesting though, and fun, to see if you can get Wigan up in the elite? I would have a hard time leaving a team, building a level of attachment and pride in them.

[finkenst]

Chelsea is another club that I've always wanted to manage due to their amazing finances. I don't think I would turn Chelsea down if they offered me a deal.
yeah..,

so i'm starting at the top in my first real game of FM...

68,000,000 pound transfer budget. http://dynamic.gamespy.com/%7Efof/forums/images/smilies/eek.gif

[Eaglesfan27]

Would be interesting though, and fun, to see if you can get Wigan up in the elite? I would have a hard time leaving a team, building a level of attachment and pride in them.
If I don't get the offer in a few years, I will become attached to this team, and it will become very hard to leave it. I'm already becoming attached to a few of our players.

[Eaglesfan27]

May 2, 2010 -

Today we host Crystal Palace in the final game of the season. Despite this being a meaningless game for us, I'm playing my starters. Crystal Palace is currently 11th in the Championship. Striker Dexter Blackstock is leading them in scoring with 12 goals. Richard Chaplow their midfielder is their second leading goal scorer with 9 goals. Right back John Halls plays steady defense. Their keeper Graeme Maclachlan took over midseason and he has been average in goal.

We are 4-7 favorites to win the game.

It's sunny with temperatures in the mid 60's.

GK: Paddy
DC: Wall
DC: Osorio
DC: Hutchinson
ML: Elliott
MC: Rolfes
MC: Benayoun
MC: Spiller
MR: Teale
SC: Begeorgi
SC: Paulista

S1: Gerken
S2: Giuliani
S3: Paz
S4: Melara (freshly back from injury)
S5: Kelly

[SunDancer]

Make sure you show them up for stealing away Elliott from you next year....Though, moving up to EPL, and his age (going on 32 next season, right?), and the incoming arrival of your one Bosman player from Nice (France), who seems to be younger and more skilled, might not be a huge blow. Would Elliott be effective in the EPL? I'm not sure when players start to "slide down" in the skills and talent (age, when do you watch for the slide?)

[Eaglesfan27]

32 minute mark: Spiller crosses to Elliott who heads it to Begeorgi in the box.. he shoots.. good save by the keeper.

37 minute mark: Osorio gets a yellow card for pulling Chaplow's jersey.

44 minute mark: Spiller intercepts it at midfield.. passes it to Rolfes.. he passes ahead into the box to Begeorgi who burns a defender.. shoots.. powerful shot.. upper right corner of the net.. GOAL!!!! 1-0.

Paulista was hurt just before halftime. He insists he can continue, but I'm going to pull him for Giuliani.


Halftime: 1-0 lead. Only 10,000 fans here today :( (I thought there would be more to celebrate the end of this great season.)


60 minute mark: Elliott has picked up a small injury. I put in Kelly for Elliott (ending Elliott's Wigan Career.) I also sub in Melara for Benayoun.


Game over. Boring game. Our guys played disinterested all game long. Still our defense limited scoring opportunities.

We outshot them 6-4 (3-3 on target)

Simon Rolfes wins MoM, 8 for form, 29 of 32 passes, 2 of 5 tackles, 1 of 4 headers, 1 interception, 1 assist.

[Eaglesfan27]

Make sure you show them up for stealing away Elliott from you next year....Though, moving up to EPL, and his age (going on 32 next season, right?), and the incoming arrival of your one Bosman player from Nice (France), who seems to be younger and more skilled, might not be a huge blow. Would Elliott be effective in the EPL?
I think Elliott is a significant loss because he is so good. As you are about to see in my year end summary, he consistently had the highest average form. He was an every other game player due to his age, but he is probably better skilled than my new guy in quite a few ways. In particular, he is awesome at heading the ball. Hopefully, the new guy can perform nearly as well as Elliott.

[Eaglesfan27]

The other thing about Elliott is that he is one of my favorite guys from CM 03/04. He was the star on the first team I ever played, Hull :) So, that might be coloring my opinion some. Perhaps, my new guy will be better.

In answer to a previous question, the new acquisition has a 12 flair and 12 creativity. Not great, but not terrible either.

[Eaglesfan27]

Make sure you show them up for stealing away Elliott from you next year....Though, moving up to EPL, and his age (going on 32 next season, right?), and the incoming arrival of your one Bosman player from Nice (France), who seems to be younger and more skilled, might not be a huge blow. Would Elliott be effective in the EPL? I'm not sure when players start to "slide down" in the skills and talent (age, when do you watch for the slide?)

As far as when players "slide down." Just like in real life, it varies from player to player. I've seen some start deteriorating around 29-30. I've seen others not deteriorate til 35 or 36. If I remember correctly, strikers tend to deteriorate the youngest and keepers tend to keep their skills the longest.

[Eaglesfan27]

In today's newspaper, I see the final standings for the season:

http://64.17.163.76/images/Championship%20Final%20Standing.jpg

[Eaglesfan27]

Some thoughts/stastics:

99 points scored on the season is my highest point total ever in any version of CM/FM in any season. I've never hit the magic 100 point mark.

86 goals was my highest number of goals scored ever.

Our 86 goals scored were 1st in the league. Everton was 2nd with 84.

Our 28 goals allowed was second best in the league. Millwall was first with 25.

Our 58 goal differential was best in the league by far. The Wolves were second with plus 35.


Individual Statistic breakdown to come next.

[Eaglesfan27]

League Leaders:

AVG Form:

1. Stuart Elliott - 8.21
2. Aaron Lennon, Everton - 8.10
3. Gary Teale - 7.84
4. Andy Reid, Everton - 7.75
5. Tomasz Jarzebowski - 7.73
6. Seyi George Olofinjana, Wolves - 7.70
7. Thomas Gravesen, Everton - 7.65
8. Yossi Benayoun - 7.60
9. Tim Cahill, Everton - 7.59
10. Nigel Quashie, Leicester - 7.56

Other Notable Wigan Players:

12. Tom Hutchinson - 7.52
16. Joao Paulo - 7.48
16. Kenny Lunt - 7.48
32. Simon Rolfes - 7.38
36. Paddy Kenny - 7.37

We dominated the top 50. We and Everton dominated the top 10. Stuart Elliott had an amazing season for average form (the highest I've ever had except D'Allesandro in CM 03/04.)



League GOALS:

1. Mark Jackson, Preston - 24
2. Dean Ashton, Leicester - 22
3. Yossi Benayoun - 20
4. Michael Proctor, West Ham - 17
5. Neil Mellor, Gillingham - 16
5. Simeon Jackson, Millwall - 16
7. Sam Parkin, Nottingham Forest - 15
7. Kevin Lisbie, Wolves - 15
7. Michael Ricketts, Leeds - 15
7. Aaron Lennon, Everton - 15

Other Wigan Notables:

14. Fabrice Begeorgi - 13
28. Wellington Paulista - 12
40. Joao Paulo - 9


League Assists:

1. Andy Reid, Everton - 16
2. Aaron Lennon, Everton - 15
3. Tony Capaldi, Stoke - 14
4. Joao Paulo - 13
4. Dean Evans, Plymouth - 13
6. Gary Teale - 12
6. Dean Ashton, Leicester - 12
8. Lee Holmes, Derby - 11
9. Andrejs Rubins, Leeds - 10
9. Marcus Bent, Everton - 10

Other Wigan Notables:

22. David Graham - 8
39. Yossi Benayoun - 7

Everton has some impressive assist numbers.


League MOM awards:

1. Aaron Lennon, Everton - 11
2. Danny Coyne, West Ham - 9
2. Stuart Taylor, Nottingham Forest - 9
4. David Preece, Watford - 8
4. Mark Jackson, Preston - 8
4. Stuart Elliott - 8
7. Gary Teale - 7
7. Andy Reid, Everton - 7
7. Paul Harrison, Cardiff - 7
7. Danny Pugh, Leicester - 7

Other Wigan Notables:

14. Tomasz Jarzebowski - 5
43. Tom Hutchinson - 3
43. Joao Paulo - 3
43. Kenny Lunt - 3

[Eaglesfan27]

May 8, 2010 -

Juventus has won the Italian Serie A Title.

[Eaglesfan27]

May 9, 2010 -

Portsmouth have been relegated from the EPL.

[Eaglesfan27]

May 12, 2010 -

Our finances are plummeting as we have no income with the season being over and we have to keep paying our guys.

[Eaglesfan27]

May 13, 2010 -

Leicester beat Stoke 7-0 on aggregate to advance to the Championship Playoff Final.

[Eaglesfan27]

May 22, 2010 -

Newcastle beat Aston Villa 3-1 to win the English FA cup today.

At least I lost to the eventual champions.

Manchester United didn't make it into the Champions Cup this year!

The 4 English qualifiers are: Southampton, Chelsea, Liverpool, and Arsenal.

The 3 English qualifiers for the Euro Cup are Aston Villa, Manchester United, and Newcastle.

[Eaglesfan27]

May 23, 2010 -

Leicester beat the Wolves 5-3 in the Championship Final to win promotion to the EPL. Leicester's effort was led by Dean Ashton who had a hat trick in the span of 10 minutes between the 46 minute and 56 minute mark: Lee Martin and Tomi Petrescu had the other 2 goals.

[Eaglesfan27]

May 24, 2010 -

Wellington Paulista has been given an automatic raise to 21,000 dollars/week due to a promotion clause in his contract.

Yossi Benayoun has had his salary increase to 29,500/week due to his promotion clause.

Ricardo Osorio has had his salary increase to 29,500/week due to a promotion clause.

Our final league position of 1st in the Championship is a new record high for the club.

[Eaglesfan27]

May 25, 2010 -

Tomasz Jarzebowski and Yossi Benayoun were both selected to the English Player's Championship Select for the Season.


I won English Championship Manager of the Year. Micky Adams of Everton came in 2nd, and Kevin Keegan of Leicester came in 3rd.


Leicester's Dean Ashton officially won the Championship Top Goalscorer of the year award. Mark Jackson of Preston came in 2nd, and Yossi Benayoun came in 3rd.

Northampton has won promotion to League One.

[Eaglesfan27]

May 31, 2010 -

I've been watching closely, and like past seasons with Harrogate I never got a message that I got the prize money for winning the Championship. I also haven't gotten the money as I've been watching my account closely. I'm really wondering if there is a bug here. Anyone else missing payments for winning league titles?


Our transfer budget for next season has been announced. We will have 5 million dollars to acquire new players.

[Eaglesfan27]

June 6, 2010 -

Chelsea's Adriano has won the European Golden Boot award. He scored 34 goals this year. James Beattie of Southampton came in 2nd, and Luke Moore of Aston Villa came in 3rd.

Ricardo Osorio has been called up to the Mexican Squad for the World Cup.

[Eaglesfan27]

June 9th, 2010 -

The World Cup kicks off tonight. Lots of exciting action. In particular, I'll be paying attention to the Saudi Arabia vs England match. I also be paying close attention to the USA team which plays against Denmark on June 14th in their first game.

[Eaglesfan27]

June 9, 2010 -

In a match at the FNB Stadium in Johannesburg, Saudi Arabia and England faced off. It didn't take long for England to strike first as Shaun wright-Phillips played a beautiful cross to Steven Gerrard in the box at the 2 minute mark. He had a diving header to put it in the upper right hand corner of the goal to make it 1-0. England fans gasped as Wayne Rooney went down from a vicious elbow that was delivered by Sultan Al-Shahrani at the 19 minute mark. Wayne Rooney was gushing blood, and it later turns out that he has a broken cheekbone and will miss the rest of the World Cup most likely. In the 55th minute, Stewart Downing found John Terry by the near post with a corner kick. Terry converted the opportunity for the final goal. England won 2-0, but had a costly loss with Wayne Rooney's injury. Alan Smith will have to play a bigger part of their offense.

In the other group A match, Holland beat Uruguay 2-0.

[Eaglesfan27]

June 10th, 2010 -

In Group B action tonight, Cameroon surprised Switzerland 2-0. Cameroon's first goal came on a powerful shot by Amadou Dangadji Rabihou. The second goal came at the 85 minute mark on a cross from Rabihou to Perre Achille Webo who headed it into the upper left hand corner.

Also in group B action, Spain beat Costa Rica 1-0 thanks to an early goal by Fernado Torres that was set up by a pass from David Villa. Jose Manuel Reina was strong in goal, but didn't face many shots as Spain generally dominated Costa Rica. Many fans feel that Spain should have won by a larger margin.

[Eaglesfan27]

June 11, 2010 -

In group C action, Argentina dominated Japan 3-0. Andres D'Allesandro had 2 goals for Argentina, and Javier Saviola had the other in this dominating performance.

Also in Group C, Serbia & Mont. beat Australia 2-0.


Group D action kicked off with Colombia barely holding off South Korea by a margin of 1-0. Jafeth Asprilla scored the only goal for colombia on a pass from Andres Felipe Gonzalez.

[Eaglesfan27]

June 12, 2010 -

In the other group D game, Ireland tied Germany 1-1. John Paul Kelly played particularly well and manufactured Ireland's only goal.

In the opening Group E Game, Morocco and Poland tied 2-2.

In an interesting group E game, I watched as Mexico fought off the powerful Italian team for most of the match. Ricardo Osorio was a key part of this as he played vwey well the first 45 minutes before being subbed out. However, Italy broke through at the 62 minute mark on a pass from Luciano Zauri to Paolo Cannavaro who had a long powerful shot that curved into the upper left corner of the goal. Italy won 1-0 in a tough match.

[Eaglesfan27]

June 13, 2010 -

WOW! Ruud Gullit has been sacked by Manchester United Chairman David Gill. I'm being touted as the favorite to take over the job. The media are surrounding my place asking if I'd be interested in the job. I normally say that I'm not interested, but I decide to go with a non-descript no comment. I don't want to upset my team if I'm not offered the job, yet, I don't want to say I'm not interested in the job.

[Eaglesfan27]

June 13, 2010 -

In group F play, Turkey and Nigeria played to a 1-1 tie.

In group H play, Canada dominated South Africa and won 3-1. Jonathan de Guzman had a hattrick for the Canadian team!

Also in Group H play, France and Brazil battled to a 0-0 tie.

[Eaglesfan27]

June 14, 2010 -

Today I'm going to watch the Denmark vs USA game in depth.

The USA is playing a 4-4-2.

They are starting the following Lineup:

GK: Tim Howard (31 years old, 78 caps)
DL: John O'Brien (32 years old, 94 caps, 7 goals)
DC: Carlos Bocanegra (31 years old, 92 caps, 7 goals)
DC: Jonathan Spector (24 years old, 44 caps, 5 goals)
DR: Robbie Russell (30 years old, 62 caps, 1 goal)
ML: Bobby Convey (27 years old, 82 caps, 4 goals)
MC: Mighel Jackson (21 years old, 1 cap, 0 goals)
MC: Freddy Adu (21 years old, 45 caps, 11 goals)
MR: DaMarcus Beasley (28 years old, 103 caps, 24 goals)
SC: Landon Donovan (28 years old, 100 caps, 30 goals - Currently playing for Milan!)
SC: Conor Casey (28 years old, 59 caps, 20 goals)

[Eaglesfan27]

5 minute mark: Howard with a nice interception of a pass.

7 minute mark: Howard with a big save after Rommedahl crosses for Christian Traore.

10 minute mark: Traore intercepts a pass.. heads it to Jensen who passes to Tommy Bechmann.. Howard comes out to challenge him.. he chips it.. over Howard's head.. into the goal. USA down 1-0.

13 minute mark: Donovan with the first USA shot.. over the bar.

18 minute mark: Adu with a pass into the box for Casey.. he shoots.. great save by the keeper.

21 minute mark: Daniel Jensen passes into the box for Dennis Rommedahl who has run ahead.. he shoots.. lower left corner.. it's past Howard. GOAL. Down 2-0.


Halftime: USA down 2-0. They sub out Mighel Jackson and bring on Grover Gibson (31 years old, 9 caps, 0 goals.)


57 minute mark: Donovan with a hard shot.. good block by Sorenson (the keeper).. Gibson gets the rebound.. shoots.. the keeper catches it.

61 minute mark: The USA coach subs Jemal Johnson (26 y.0, 20 caps, 2 goals) for Bobby Convey. They also sub Kenny Cooper (25 y.o, 2 caps, 0 goals) for Conor Casey at striker.

65 minute mark: Adu gets a cross from Donovan.. shoots.. Sorenson blocks it.. Adu shoots the rebound.. wide right.


Game over. USA was dominated 2-0.

They were outshot 10-7 (4-2 on target)

Dennis Rommedahl won MoM, 8 for form, 13 of 15 passes, 3 of 4 tackles, 3 of 3 headers, 2 interceptions, 3 runs, 1 goal.

[Eaglesfan27]

June 14, 2010 -

In other action today. Ghana tied Portugal 1-1 in group G play.

In the other group G match, Croatia beat Iraq 2-0.


Tom Hutchinson is demanding a new contract. He is currently making 2,600/week and he played much better than expected this year and earned much more PT than I expected. I contact his agent to see how much they want. His agent is demanding 12,000/week. I actually don't think he is worth that much, but I do offer him 8,000/week for 3 years.

[Eaglesfan27]

June 15, 2010 -

In group A action, England tied Holland 1-1 today. England played most of the day shorthanded after Chris Kirkland, the keeper was sent off at the 28 minute mark for pushing the striker down. Fortunately, they missed the penalty shot. However, Kevin Hofland scored 3 minutes later. England rallied though and started playing better defense. They evened the tally on a corner at the 79 minute mark in which Michael Owen took the corner and found Gareth Barry in the box for the goal.

In the other Group A game, Uruguay beat Saudi Arabia 2-1.

[Eaglesfan27]

June 16, 2010 -

In Group B play, Switzerland beat Costa Rica 2-0 in a rather one sided affair.

In the other group B match, Cameroon and Spain played to a 0-0 tie.



Hutchinson has rejected my contract offer. I will offer him one more offer of 10,000 dollars/week.

[Eaglesfan27]

June 17, 2010 -

In group C play, Argentina tied Serbia & Mont. 2-2. Andres D'Alessandro scored the first goal at the 13 minute mark, and Pablo Aimar scored the second goal at the 47 minute mark for Argentina.

In the other Group C match, Australia beat Japan 3-0. Harry Kewell had 2 goals and an assist to power the Australian team.

[Eaglesfan27]

June 19, 2010 -

Leeds has signed QPR's Shane Paul for a fee of 3 million dollars.


Tom Hutchinson has signed a new contract with the team for 10,000/week.



In group D action, Germany and Colombia battled to a 0-0 tie.

Also in group D, Ireland beat South Korea 1-0. John Paul Kelly scored Ireland's only goal.



In group E action, Mexico dominated Poland 2-0. Ricardo Osorio played the whole match and had an 8 for form in helping shut down the Polish offense. Santiago Fernandez scored both goals on assists from Oribe Peralta.


Also in group E Action, Italy beat Morocco 1-0. Franco Semmioli scored the only goal for Italy.


In group H action, South Africa beat Brazil 2-1.

[Eaglesfan27]

June 20, 2010 -

Yossi Benayoun was voted Wigan's Player of the Year by supporters.

4 players were promoted from the academy to the U18 squad. Darren Shaw a 17 year old English striker looks particularly promising. He is fast, has good acceleration, good determination, good passing, good finishing, good heading. He good develop into a very good player. He is already valued at 260,000 dollars.


WOW!!! We were just given 24.5 million dollars for Premiere Division TV rights for the upcoming season!!!!


The Wigan Board is delighted with my performance as manager. The team is expected to fight bravely against Relegation from the EPL this year. We have a 5 million dollar transfer budget to accomplish that goal.

They have also raised the allowed wage budget to 385,000/week and I'm actually slightly under the wage salary for once.

Stuart Elliott's average form for the season set a new Wigan team record.

[Eaglesfan27]

June 20, 2010 -

Today I will be watching the USA face Turkey in group F play. I think this match will be a key match for the USA.

The USA lineup looks different this match:

GK: Quentin Westberg (24 y.o, 1 cap, 0 goals, had a very good year with Villarreal)
DL: O'Brien
DC: Bocanegra
DC: Spector
DR: Russell
ML: Beasley
MC: Covey
MC: Justin Moose (26 y.o, 38 caps, 0 goals)
MR: Donovan
SC: Adu
SC: Casey

[Eaglesfan27]

14 minute mark: Westberg makes a great save on a breakaway by Samli Tuncay.

26 minute mark: Ibriahm crosses to Tuncay who heads it.. Westberg dives.. it is past him. GOAL. USA down 1-0.

32 minute mark: Spector with a long pass to Adu.. he has a breakaway.. dribbles into the box.. shoots.. great save by the keeper.

44 minute mark: Casey is hurt.. Jemal Johnson is subbed on for Casey.


Halftime: USA down 1-0.


60 minute mark: Spector with a key defensive play on Suncay.

61 minute mark: The USA subs off Convey and brings on Steven Cherundolo (31 years old, 79 caps, 3 goals)

89 minute mark: Beasley crosses to Donovan in the box.. he shoots.. the keeper blocks it.


Game over. The USA loses 1-0.

They were outshot 15-2 (5-0 on target)

Sanli Tuncay won MoM, 32 of 39 passes, 1 of 1 tackles, 5 of 5 headers, 2 interceptions, 5 runs, 1 goal.

[Eaglesfan27]

June 21, 2010 -

Portugal tied Iraq 0-0 in their group G game.

Croatia beat Ghana 2-0 in their group G game.


In group A play, Holland beat Saudi Arabia 3-0.

Also in group A, England beat Uruguay 2-0. England's first goal was set up by a pass from Steven Gerrard to Alan Smith in the box. Smith blasted a shot into the upper left corner for the first goal. The second goal was set up by a pass from Michael Owen to Jermain Defoe just outside the box.. Defoe hit a long range shot that deflected off a defender into the right side of the goal for the decisive 2-0 win. However, this was a costly win for England (and Liverpool) as Steven Gerrard was hit with a vicious two footed tackle at the 79 minute mark which resulted in a compound broken leg. Gerrard is expected to miss 5-6 months.


In group B play, Cameroon beat Costa Rica 3-0.

Also in group B, Spain beat Switzerland 3-0.

[Eaglesfan27]

Jun 23, 2010 -

Argentina and Australia ended up in a 0-0 tie in group C play today.

Serbia & Mont. beat Japan 3-1. in Group C play.


Germany beat south Korea 3-2 in group D play.

Also in group D play, Colombia beat Ireland 2-0.

[Eaglesfan27]

June 24, 2010 -

I decided not to watch the USA game in case I was jinxing them.

Mexico beat Morocco 2-1 today in group E play. Ricardo Osorio didn't play this game. Keeper Francisco Guillermo Ochoa had an amazing game with 9 saves.

Italy and Poland tied 1-1 in Group E play today.


Turkey beat Denmark 3-0 in Group F play.

would the USA win without me watching? No, Nigeria beat the USA 2-1. Freddy Adu scored the only goal for the USA at the 20 minute mark to open up the scoring of the match. Adu's goal was set up by a pass from Landon Donovan. Tim Howard started in goal and gave up the 2 goals on only 3 shots.

[Eaglesfan27]

June 25, 2010 -

Interesting, my AM has chosen Harrogate for a friendly .. oh yeah, I think I promised it when I did one of my signings. In either case, we will be playing a friendly with Harrogate on July 25, 2010.

Leicester has acquired Kieran Richardson from Southampton for 3.2 million dollars.

[Eaglesfan27]

June 25, 2010 -

Ghana beat Iraq 7-1 in Group G play!

Also in Group G, Portugal beat Croatia 2-0.


In group H, Brazil beat Canada 5-0.

Also in group H, South Africa upset France 1-0.

[Eaglesfan27]

June 26, 2010 -

The Second round of the World Cup has been determined:


Spain will be playing Holland

England will be playing Cameroon

Serbia & Mont. will be playing Germany

Colombia will be playing Argentina.

Italy will be playing Nigeria

Turkey will be playing Mexico

Croatia will be playing Brazil

Portugal will be playing South Africa.


The USA's performance was very disappointing.

[Eaglesfan27]

June 26, 2010 -

In a surprisingly difficult match which saw poor finishing, England finally finished off Cameroon in extra time with a 1-0 win. Owen Hargreaves sent a long pass to James Milnet who broke away for the game winning goal at the 102 minute mark. England really dominated the time of possession and should have won by a larger margin.


Holland beat Spain 1-1 in an exciting penalty shootout. Ruud van Nistelrooy, Mike Zonneveld, and Rafael van der Vaart had the game winning penalty kicks, as Holland won 3-2 on penalty shots.

[Eaglesfan27]

June 27, 2010 -

I was shocked to see Colombia beat Argentina 2-0 today. I thought the Argentina squad would have played better this game as they were dominated all day long.

Germany beat Serbia & Mont. 1-1 on penalty shots.

[Eaglesfan27]

June 28, 2010 -

Mexio upset Turkey 1-1 with the win on penalty shots. Jose Chavez had the final deciding penalty shot. Ricardo Osorio wasn't used in the game.

Nigeria shocked Italy 3-1! Italy's only goal came from Antonio Cassano at the 9 minute mark, but it was all Nigeria from there on out.

[Eaglesfan27]

June 29, 2010 -

Portugal had to go to penalty shots to beat South Africa as the game ended in extra time 0-0. Portugal converted every one of their penalty shots to win it 5-4 in the penalty phase. Deco scored the final penalty shot.

Brazil beat Croatia 1-0 on a goal by Kaka at the 69 minute mark. Adriano set up Kaka's goal with a great pass in the box.

[Eaglesfan27]

July 1, 2010 -

Crystal Palace has completed the signing of Stuart Elliott on a free transfer today.

Coventry has signed Shola Ameobi from Newcastle on a free transfer.

Coventry's fans are ecstatic about Ameobi's signing.

Fode Mansare has arrived from Nice today.

Leicester has signed Kieran Richardson from Southampton for 3.2 million dollars.



The Quartfinals of the World Cup are set:

Holland will play Colombia

England will play Germany

Nigeria will play Portugal

Mexico will play Brazil.

[Eaglesfan27]

July 2, 2010 -

Germany started off the scoring at the 27 minute mark on a goal by Kevin Kuranyi. Fans of England became concerned as Germany went into the final 10 minutes up 1-0. However, England suddenly had a scoring outburst at Shaun Wright-Phillips scored on a corner kick at the 82 minute mark. Joe Cole scored on a deflected shot 3 minutes later. 4 minutes later Jermain Defoe scored a third goal to secure the win.

Holland beat Colombia 2-0.

[Eaglesfan27]

July 3, 2010 -

Brazil beat Mexico 1-0 today. Brazil's loan goal came on an excellent curving shot from Dagoberto.

Nigeria crushed Portugal 4-1. Obafemi Martins had 2 goals and John Utaka had a goal and an assist.

[Eaglesfan27]

July 6, 2010 -

The Semi-Finals of the World Cup are set.

Holland will face Brazil.

Nigeria will face England.

[Eaglesfan27]

July 6, 2010 -

Today Holland and Brazil squared off.

Brazil struck first at the 21 minute mark when Diego found Robinho with a pass in the box. Robinho converted the opportunity with a hard shot into the upper left hand corner of the net to take a 1-0 lead. Brazil scored the next goal in the match when at the 38 minute mark, Kleberson crossed to Kaka who headed it into the upper left hand of the net. At the 44 minute mark, Robinho stole the ball from the defense and scored a powerful strike into the upper right hand corner of the net. Holland started to come back just before half time with a pass from Rafael van der Vaart to Ruud van Nistelrooy in the box. van Nistelrooy blasted the ball into the upper right hand corner of the net.

Down 3-1 in the 2nd half, Holland had it's work cut out for them. The took another step towards coming back when Rafael van der Vaart converted a pass from Robin van Persie for the goal. However, Brazil ended the scoring with another goal from Robinho to end the game 4-2.

Brazil will be playing in the World Cup Final.

Will they be playing Nigeria or England?

[Eaglesfan27]

July 7, 2010 -

England started the match against Nigeria with a great effort as Wayne Rooney surprised everyone by coming back from his broken cheekbone early. He did more than just provide an inspiration to the team as he scored on a breakaway after receiving a pass from Jonathan Woodgate to score the first goal at the 2 minute mark.

However, Nigeria answered just 2 minutes later as Chidi Odiah found Kalu Uche with a long pass. Uche settled the ball... turned.. shot from 25 yards out and it deflected off a defender into the right side of the box.

At the 8 minute mark, Nigeria threatened again as Celestine Babayaro joined in the attack and went up the the left side of the pitch with the ball.. he finally crossed for Adebowale Ogungbure who outleaped Wayne Bridge and headed it into the lower right portion of the net. Nigeria went into defensive mode with the 2-1 lead. England pressed the attack, but with 9 men back Nigeria fended off most of those attacks before they could get going deep into the zone. England's best chance came when Ledley king passed to Jermain Defoe in the box, but Nigerian keeper John Ayuba deflected the shot over the bar. The game ended with a 2-1 win for Nigeria, and they will face Brazil in the World Cup final.

[Eaglesfan27]

July 10, 2010 -

Holland and England met for the 3rd place playoff match today.

England never really looked like their heart was in it as they were throughly dominated by Holland 2-0.

[Eaglesfan27]

July 11, 2010 -

Today we have our first friendly against Antwerp before the World Cup Final which is later today.

I'm mostly interested in seeing how Mansare does with us. I'll be starting him with my first team lineup today.

7 minute mark: Mansare makes a great cross to Teale in the box, but Teale's shot is saved by the keeper.

12 minute mark: Mansare has some great moves, but he lost control of the ball at this point and loses it out of bounds over the end line.

31 minute mark: Mansare tries to put a move on a defender.. loses the ball out of bounds..again.

33 minute mark: Begeorgi with a great cross to Benayoun in the box.. he shoots.. nice save by the keeper.

37 minute mark: Mansare takes long strides with the ball.. this time it allows him to burn a defender and make a nice cross for Begeorgi in the box.. his header is stopped by the keeper.


Halftime: We dominated possession, but couldn't score. I'm disappointed to only see 635 fans here for this friendly. I know Antwerp is not a big name team, but I thought there would be more fans.


I put in my entire second team.

60 minute mark: Melara crossed to Lunt whose shot was barely punched over the bar.


Game over. 0-0 tie. Good conditioning game.

We outshot them 14-2 (8-1 on target)

Their keeper, Tom Muyters won MoM.

[Eaglesfan27]

July 11, 2010 -

Today Brazil and Nigeria are facing off in the World Cup. Nigeria opens up pressing the attack early. At the 5 minute mark, Peter Odemwingle steals the ball, passes it into the box, and Obafemi Martins puts a move on a defender, and shoots it into the upper left hand corner of the net. 1-0 lead for Nigeria.

Nigeria plays a very defensive game for the rest of the 1st half, and they go into halftime up 1-0.

In the second half, they surprisingly open things up a bit, and both teams have several good opportunities, but both keepers stop those chances. However, at the 88 minute mark Brazil takes a corner kick which Nigeria's defender clears. This leads to a long pass down the pitch to John Utaka. Utaka gets a good opportunity with the keeper and him being alone in the box.. he fakes the keeper out and fires it into the net for a goal. This goal ends the scoring.

Nigeria shocks many fans and wins the World Cup 2-0.

[Eaglesfan27]

July 14, 2010 -

Holland's Robin van Persie has won the World Cup Golden Boot award with 4 goals. Igor Budan of Croatia came in 2nd, and Andrika Delibasic of Serbia & Mont. came in 3rd.


Nigeria's Kalu Uche won the World Cup Best Player Award. Mike Zonneveid of Holland came in 2nd, and Avimileth Rivas of colombia came in 3rd.


Colombia's Libis Andres Arenas has won the World Cup Best Goalkeeper award. Francisco Guillermo Ochoa of Mexico came in 2nd, and Maarten Stekelenburg of Holland came in 3rd.



With the World Cup ending, I will now start next season's thread. Of course, it will be interesting what to title it as Manchester still hasn't decided on a boss. I wonder if they will offer it to me?

[daedalus]

Holland's Robin van Persie has won the World Cup Golden Boot award with 4 goals. Igor Budan of Croatia came in 2nd, and Andrika Delibasic of Serbia & Mont. came in 3rd.RvP! RvP! RvP! :D

[SirFozzie]

Um.. story's updated here (http://dynamic2.gamespy.com/~fof/forums/showthread.php?t=36968)

(Feckin time stamp bug.. it's inresponse to Barkeep's post)

[Barkeep49]

I'm guessing since quite a bit of time has elapsed that you didn't get the Man U job... Who did get it?

[Eaglesfan27]

I'm guessing since quite a bit of time has elapsed that you didn't get the Man U job... Who did get it?

They must be very methodical in their search. It is still vacant. I'm hoping that I'll still get it.