Foussball: FC Victoria Rosport (FM 13)

[Greyfriars Bobby]

I was about a season and a half into my career with an English club, Wantage Town FC, when I decided I wasn't enjoying it as much anymore. I learned that if you make your managerial alter ego an English football icon and turn him loose in an amateur league, it's fairly easy to put together a juggernaut without really knowing what you are doing.

At the same time, the World Cup has me even more captivated by "the beautiful game" than I was before. So I decided to set Wantage Town aside and begin a new managerial career. I'm doing a few things differently this time around.

I found a very cool edited database that allows me to manage in the tiny nation of Luxembourg, and that's where this tale will be set.

There are two leagues in this Luxembourgish football universe: the National Division and the Promotion Division. Each division has 14 clubs, and there are amateur and semi-professional clubs at both levels. I chose FC Victoria Rosport, an amateur club in the Promotion Division.

Rosport is a beautiful little town in far eastern Luxembourg, on the Sauer River, which is Luxembourg's border with Germany. FC Victoria Rosport (usually called simply Rosport) was founded in 1928. We play our home matches at Victoriarena, right beside the Sauer.

http://i106.photobucket.com/albums/m249/BigSix_2006/Wantage%20Town/Victoriarena_zps6d59e4ce.jpg (http://s106.photobucket.com/user/BigSix_2006/media/Wantage%20Town/Victoriarena_zps6d59e4ce.jpg.html)
Our grounds. Those are our guys in the red strip.
Photo by Christopher Voitus.


I couldn't resist the temptation to make myself a Luxembourg international. (How often do you get that opportunity? :)) Earning 45 caps for Luxembourg hardly qualifies me as a football legend, however.

I have two "house rules" in place this time around:

No stockpiling players. An amateur club has, in effect, no budget limitations. It can "sign" as many amateur players as it can attract. I'll avoid that temptation and keep Rosport's squad list at a realistic size.
I won't raid the other clubs in the Promotion Division. However, if a division rival signs a player away from us, I will feel very free to reciprocate. And if I can attract a player from a National Division club with the prospects of first team football, that's another matter.


I'm about a month into the 2012-13 season, so I'll be back soon to introduce you to the club and report on our pre-season frendlies.

[Greyfriars Bobby]

Rosport doesn't have a nickname, in the sense that Arsenal are known as the Gunners and Liverpool as the Reds. I might have to come up with something for them.

So, I suppose I have to say "Let's meet the Rosport players" instead.

GOALKEEPERS
The regular keeper will be Jeff Oster (23 y/o), who ought to be a good one in our league. Jeff made three appearances for our nation at the U21 level. He is off to a great start; he played in four friendlies without conceding a goal. Jeff is also our captain.

His backup, Grégory Baumert (17) isn't ready for prime time yet. I've had our scout look at a few goalkeepers who might be better able to step in when Jeff needs a break, but I haven't signed one yet.


DEFENDERS
Christophe Scholer (22) came to us on a free transfer from Dudelange of the National Division (ND), and he'll start at left back. Scholer is currently on the roster for Luxembourg, and he was capped 13 times as a U21. He's backed up by Olivier Lickes (24), who can play anywhere along the back line.

Our center backs will be Grégory Molitor (32) and Tim Heinz (28). Between them, they've earned 18 Luxembourg caps, 12 by Molitor. Laurent Pellegrino (39), whom I signed for his leadership and his ability to play sweeper, and hulking Yannick Loose (27) are in reserve.

At right back, Billy Bernard (21) comes to us from Fola Esch (ND). He failed to break through there, despite making 8 apperances for Luxembourg U21. His understudy is Steve Bettmer (27), whose best attribute is his leadership; he's our vice-captain.


MIDFIELDERS
How Andy Rakic (31) got to Luxembourg from Canberra, Australia is beyond me, but I'm glad he's here. He's also played in Croatia and Germany, he speaks English, German, and Letzburgesch, and he's very strong technically. Since he was in the club when I took it over, Andy is an exception to my "only Luxembourgers" rule. He will start on the left side, with Bruno Rossi, who's currently injured, behind him.

Alphonse Leweck (30) has 54 Luxembourg caps and four goals in international play. A long-time star for FC Eztella Ettelbruck, he left there for National Division rival Jeunesse Esch last season. I persuaded him to come to Rosport (I'm guessing we were Luxembourg teammates at some point), and he will be a fixture for us in the middle of the park. He can play AMC when I switch to the 4-4-2 diamond.

Leweck's partner will sometimes be veteran Thorsten Wittek (35), a very good deep-lying playmaker. When I want a greater defensive presence, I can go with Marc Binsfeld (25), recently signed from Käerjéng. Binsfield is a natural DMC, so he'll see lots of time in the 4-4-2 diamond.

On the right side resides our star, Carlos Ferreira (31). After 257 games with Eztella Ettelbruck, he came to Rosport last season. He was born in Portugal, but he's appeared 19 times for Luxembourg. Carlos lacks the pace he had as a younger player, but that's all he lacks, and he'll be an ever-present for us.


STRIKERS
Our best two forwards, Anton Bozic (26) and Alex Pott (23), are pretty much the same player: best as advanced forwards, fast, creative. Alex is a better finisher, and Anton is a little better in the air.

Ideally, I'd like to have a big, strong target man to add to the mix. Young Claude Codello (18), fits that description best, but he's still too raw. I might try to sign a grousse Mann, to use as my third striker, if I can find one.

[Greyfriars Bobby]

10 August 2012

We're in the middle of a long break before the Promotion Division season begins. It's a good time to look back at how our pre-season friendlies turned out.

11 July: Rosport 0-0 Eztella Ettelbruck
We were pleased to come away with a draw against a National Division club in our first run-out of the season. Jeff Oster was solid between the posts, and center back Alex Paulos, our captain, was everywhere the attackers seemed to go.

If you don't recognize Paulos, it's because he wasn't around long. Two days after this match, National Division club Pétange signed him away from us. That's when I signed Laurent Pellegrino.

14 July: Rosport 1-4 Racing FC
Racing FC is probably the biggest club in Luxembourg, so it was really no surprise when they ran us off our own pitch. We actually scored first, through reserves midfielder Théo Zanon, and we held Racing scoreless for almost an hour before they began to strafe hapless keeper Grégory Baumert.

18 July: Rosport 4-1 Pétange
This one felt good. Not only did we beat a National Division side, but we got a bit of revenge for their signing of our captain, Alex Paulos. Anton Bozic scored first for us, and then Alex Pott took over. He completed his hat trick when Paulos gave away a penalty and he put the spot kick in the net.

Carlos Ferreira made his first appearance of the season, after straining a thigh muscle in training. He played 25 minutes and set up Pott's second goal.

25 July: Rosport 2-0 Boevange
Boevange are a smaller club from central Luxembourg. We scored twice in the first four minutes, through Pott and Alphonse Leweck, and from there we closed the door. Oster, still in top form, kept another clean sheet.

The worst news we've had in a while came yesterday, when Grégory Molitor broke his wrist in training. He'll be out for about two months, which will probably mean he misses our first five or six league contests.

[Greyfriars Bobby]

24 August 2012

Good news: I found a solid backup goalkeeper and a third striker with skills that will complement those of Alex Pott and Anton Bozic.

The keeper is veteran Kevin Hartert (32 y/o), who’s spent most of his career tending goal for Avenir Beggen, a lower-level club. CS Grevenmacher, an amateur club in the National Division, signed him last year, but he made only three appearances for them and was ready for a change of scenery. Jeff Oster is still our number one, but Kevin is good enough to be more than an emergency replacement.

The striker is Laurent Schiltz (30), who will be familiar to Rosport supporters. He started his career at Victoriarena in ’03, making 87 appearances and scoring 28 times. From there, he moved to CS Grevenmacher and then to Swift Hesperange, both in the National Division, where he found goals harder to come by. Schiltz is best as a deep-lying forward, so he should work well as a number 10, paired with either Pott or Bozic.

Once Hartert and Schiltz came on board, I sent Grégory Baumert and Claude Codello down to the reserves, and transfer listed three other guys I’ve decided I don’t need any longer.

Billy Bernard was called up for international duty on the 14th, when the Luxembourg U21s lost 1-3 to South Korea. Billy started and played 87 minutes, finishing with a 6.9 rating.

Bad news: Another injury to one of our defenders. This time it’s Olivier Lickes, who will be sidelined for 2-3 weeks with a thigh strain.

Our first Promotion Division fixture is coming up, at home against FC Norden 02. The betting line has us as the favorites, but not by much. It should be a close match. I’ll send the boys out in a 4-4-2. Here’s the lineup:

GK: Oster
D: Scholer, Heinz, Loose, Bernard
M: Rakic, Leweck, Wittek, Ferreira
ST: Pott, Schiltz

[Greyfriars Bobby]

25 August 2013

Rosport 2-0 FF Norden 02

We treated a crowd of 230 to a season-opening victory, thanks to two very unusual goals.

I'm still trying to figure out what happened with the first one. Laurent Schiltz didn't strike the ball well--he might have hit it with his knee, not his boot-- and it skipped in front of the Norden goal on three or four bounces. As their keeper, Mike Thunus, came out to grab it, he slipped and fell, the ball rolling beneath him before he hit the ground. The ball then ticked the post and hopped into the goal.

On the second one, Billy Bernard took a throw-in from Andy Rakic on one bounce and, from at least 35 yards away and at an angle, drove it toward the goal. Several feet in front of his goal line Thumus froze, captivated by the ball's flight, before seeming to realize it was about to go into the net if he didn't do something about it. Only then did he leap up to stop it, and it sailed over his fingertips for a goal.

They don't ask how, they ask how many. :)

Bernard was Man of the Match, and our whole back line played well.

On the other hand, Alex Pott kept cranking long shots, none of which went on goal. I finally pulled him and his 5.5 rating on 66 minutes. I've never read a comment as sassy as the one Pott received on the game report:

"The striker's wayward shooting was not only frustrating for his team's supporters but very tiresome for me because I had to endure this horrid display of finishing."

And, more bad news concerning injuries. Alphonse Leweck will be shelved for 2-3 weeks while he recovers from a strained neck.

By the way, the full name of our opponent's club is FF Norden 02 Weiswampach-Hupperdange. Weiswampach and Hupperdange are towns in the northern tip of Luxembourg, so the name makes sense.

[Greyfriars Bobby]

1 September 2012

Today was the last day of the transfer window for Luxembourg. I wasn't planning on making any moves, but I did join in on the Deadline Day media coverage. I think it's a lot of fun.

About noon, my plans for the day changed. US Mondorf (short for Union Sportive Mondorf-les-Bains) signed midfielder Fabio Bersens away from us. I can't say I blame Fabio for making the move. He was stuck behind Carlos Ferreira, and he probably wouldn't have gotten much playing time with us. He'll probably play more regularly with Mondorf.

With Bersens no longer on the club, I decided to shop for a midfielder. On Fola Esch's roster, I spotted Christophe Pazos (22 y/o), who can play both M(C) and M(R). His attributes looked good, and he's young, so I decided to offer him a contract. Pazos didn't seem very interested in leaving Fola to play for us, but I took a shot. After all, it's Deadline Day.

A little after 21:00, we learned that Pazos was on his way to Rosport. I told him we'd use him in a squad rotation system, but to be honest, he'll probably play more often than that. He's very sound technically for a player his age, and our staff think he's as good as Alphonse Leweck. (This assessment should probably be tempered by the fact that my staff is not very good at evaluating talent.)

So, welcome to Rosport, Mr. Pazos.

[Greyfriars Bobby]

1 September 2013

Rumelange 0-3 Rosport

GK: Oster
D: Scholer, Heinz, Loose, Bernard
M: Rakic, Binsfeld, Pazos, Ferreira
ST: Bozic, Schiltz

Our first match away from Victoriarena was a success, with Laurent Schiltz completing a hat trick within 15 minutes of kickoff. His goals came precisely on five-minute intervals (5, 10, 15).

Schiltz' first goal was set up by a beautiful feed from Carlos Ferreira, who found his teammate in a lethal position just outside the six-yard box. The second was the result of a pretty sequence of passes that began when Billy Bernard intercepted and led Marc Binsfeld with a nice diagonal ball. Anton Bozic lured the keeper out, and his pass to Schiltz left him with a finish a schoolboy could execute with ease.

Ferreira laid on Laurent's third goal, too. He and Pazos seem to have some chemistry together; this time, Carlos moved into the middle of the pitch with the ball as Christophe angled behind him to the right for a pass. Pazos gave it back, and from there Ferreira spotted Schiltz with some room to operate on the left side of the goal. The supporters had mentioned that we weren't playing very attractive football. I hope they see the footage of today's goals.

Naturally, Schiltz (9.6!) was Man of the Match, but Ferreira (8.2), Yannick Loose (8.6) and Jeff Oster (8.5) were all outstanding.

Memo to players: PLEASE STOP GETTING HURT!! This time it was Binsfeld, who twisted his ankle-badly--and will be out for 6-8 weeks. So, just as Alphonse Leweck is about to return, Binsfeld will take his place on the injury list.

[Greyfriars Bobby]

As we travel to play the different clubs of the Promotion League, I'll include a photo that will give you a view of the towns and cities where we play. Unless otherwise indicated, the photos come from Wikimedia Commons.

Rumelange is a small city of about 4800 people, but it's still six times the size of Rosport. It's in southwestern Luxembourg, on the French border. Rumelange was once a mining town, but the last iron mine in the area closed in the 1970s.

http://i106.photobucket.com/albums/m249/BigSix_2006/Luxembourg%20Foussball/280px-Remeleng2_zps86c1082d.jpg (http://s106.photobucket.com/user/BigSix_2006/media/Luxembourg%20Foussball/280px-Remeleng2_zps86c1082d.jpg.html)

[Greyfriars Bobby]

5 September 2012

Now that I've started to settle in at Rosport, I've had time to formulate some goals for my managerial career (and for this dynasty story, of course).


My managerial alter ego is Luxembourgish, through and through. For the foreseeable future, I plan on spending my career in football right here in Luxembourg. (Right now Luxembourg is, in fact, the only playable nation in my game.)
First, I'd like to help Rosport win promotion to the National Division. Once there, the natural goal is to win and to gain the club a spot in European football.
Rosport have never won the national knockout competition, the Luxembourg Cup. As young boys, all Luxembourgish footballers dreamt of lifting the Cup, and I want to bring it to Rosport.
I want to manage the Luxembourg national team. I almost gave myself the job at the beginning of the game, but now I'm glad I didn't. I think it would be more fun to earn it.


I would love one day to look back at a career in management that spans two or three decades, with satisfying victories at the club and national level. Maybe I'll one day be the Sir Matt Busby or the Sir Alex Ferguson of Luxembourg, with an Order of the Oak Cross, perhaps. :)

[Greyfriars Bobby]

8 September 2012

Rosport 5-1 Alliance Äischdall

The combined impacts of injuries and international responsibilities left me with a different lineup, especially in the back. Billy Bernard and Christophe Pazos are away with the Luxembourg U21s, and we're short on midfielders. So we'll go to a 5-3-2 tonight.

How cool is it to get to play with a libero?? Laurent Pellegrino can play there, so he'll assume our Franz Beckenbauer role.

GK: Oster
L: Pellegrino
D: Scholer, Heinz, Loose, Bettmer
M: Rakic, Wittek, Ferreira
ST: Bozic, Schiltz

Another quick start, and this time the goals kept coming against a club that is still looking for its first win.

Schiltz located an unmarked Andy Rakic for our first goal. Anton Bozic calmly scooted between their centre backs and knocked in a pass from Schiltz for the second. Wittek put Schiltz through for the third, and Laurent completed his brace off another inch-perfect pass from Carlos Ferreira.

After the half, we conceded our first goal of the league season, and it was a very impressive one--a nice header from their captain, Kim Thomé. Ferreira answered back with his first Rosport goal, a laser shot from 22 yards that went in off the keeper's hand on 76 minutes.

Alphonse Leweck came on as a substitute at 70', his first appearance since returning to training after his neck injury.

And--maybe the best of all--nobody got hurt! :)

[Greyfriars Bobby]

9 September

I am never going to allow a first team player to play in a reserve match. Never.again.

Olivier Lickes, who's just getting back from an injury, and Almin Babacic, a utility defender who needed match fitness, both got hurt in today's reserve game!

Lickes complained of a dead leg after a rough challenge, and he's not hurt badly. He'll be back in about a week. Babacic banged his elbow hard, and he might miss three weeks.

As I looked at my reserve roster, I realized I don't have as many players as some of the other Promotion Division clubs. I guess I've done a good job of limiting my roster size, haven't I? I think I might try to sign a few young guys with the goal of developing them into the Rosport stars of the future. If I can't find them, I'll bring in a few journeymen who can fill out the reserves.

Today I got word of a very different kind of deal, however.

When I was looking to sign a striker a few weeks ago, I located a big, strong Congolese-Luxembourgish dude named Roland Saboga, playing for an amateur club called Wormeldange. His attributes jumped off the screen at me, so I decided to offer him. He wasn't interested, so I didn't think about him again.

The other day, a news item about him appeared in my inbox. For the heck of it, I decided to see if he might be interested in coming to play for us in January. Today I got his answer: yes.

Roland Saboga is a Mann. At age 34, his physical attributes are all in double digits, which is not the norm in the Luxembourg Promotion Division. He's not quite as impressive technically, but if he were, he'd be making a lot of money playing football somewhere. I'm looking forward to having him in the club.

To obey the spirit of my house rule, I'll need to let one of my strikers go on 1 January, when Roland arrives in town. And, to be fair, it shouldn't be a space-filler from the reserves; it should be Alex Pott, Anton Bozic, or Laurent Schiltz. After two matches, the people of Rosport are ready to put a statue of Schiltz in the town square, so it's safe to say he's got the early lead for one of the two spots.

Or, with the luck we've had lately, all the strikers will injure themselves........

[Greyfriars Bobby]

15 September 2012

Swift Hesperange 1-0 Rosport

GK: Oster
D: Scholer, Heinz, Loose, Bernard
M: Rakic, Pazos, Leweck, Ferreira
ST: Bozic, Schiltz

We traveled to Hesperange and played a sloppy, unremarkable game against a side who is good enough to make us pay for it. We conceded an early goal, a nice strike by a talented midfielder named Pit Hilbert, and couldn't equalize.

Our best chance came right before the half, when Christophe Pazos's penalty kick was turned back by the Swift goalkeeper, Marc Pliemling.

Yannick Loose (8.0) earned Man of the Match in a losing effort. He played a solid game all night, and he saved us a goal by heading a shot off the line at the hour mark.

Our loss dropped us to third, behind Mamer, who are unbeaten, and Rumelange, whom we're behind on goal differential despite beating them 3-0.

http://i106.photobucket.com/albums/m249/BigSix_2006/250px-Hesperange_1_zps85128626.jpg (http://s106.photobucket.com/user/BigSix_2006/media/250px-Hesperange_1_zps85128626.jpg.html)
Here are the ruins of a castle outside Hesperange that was probably built in the early 1200s. We seemed to think it was built in front of Swift's goal tonight.

[Greyfriars Bobby]

22 September 2012

US Sandweiler 0-4 Rosport

GK: Hartert
D: Scholer, Heinz, Loose, Bernard
M: Rakic, Pazos, Leweck, Ferreira
ST: Bozic, Schiltz

We got our mojo back at Sandweiler, looking much more like the side who turned out against Alliance Äischdall than the one who traveled to Hesperange last week. Our free-flowing passing game returned, and with it came the goals.

Schiltz got it started with a well-placed strike off a nice pass from Leweck. Bozic had a brace, featuring the best goal of his Rosport career to date. He directed a beautiful long ball from Bernard into the top left corner of the net with a powerful header. Pazos, who was still fuming about the missed penalty last week, redeemed himself by firing in a direct free kick that beat the keeper high to the right side.

Bozic (9.1) was chosen Man of the Match, but it could have easily gone to Bernard (8.9), who laid on both of Anton's goals with precise long passes from the right wing. Leweck (8.8) and Loose (8.7) also had terrific evenings.

Kevin Hartert made his first appearance in goal tonight and kept a clean sheet. I hadn't wanted to sit Jeff Oster down while his streak of goal-less matches was still intact, but I wanted to give Hartert and opportunity--and he made good.

http://i106.photobucket.com/albums/m249/BigSix_2006/300px-Luxembourg_American_Cemetery_zps5f2e9d90.jpg (http://s106.photobucket.com/user/BigSix_2006/media/300px-Luxembourg_American_Cemetery_zps5f2e9d90.jpg.html)
The Luxembourg American Memorial and Cemetery is located very close to the town of Sandweiler. About 5,000 Americans who died in the Battle of the Bulge are interred there, and the grave of General George S. Patton lies between the flagpoles. Patton commanded American troops at the Battle of the Bulge. He wasn't killed there--he died soon after the war ended--but he requested to be "buried with his men."
There is also a German military cemetery nearby, where almost 11,000 are buried.

[Greyfriars Bobby]

29 September 2012

Rosport 5-1 US Hostert

GK: Oster
D: Scholer, Heinz, Loose, Bernard
M: Rakic, Pazos, Leweck, Ferreira
ST: Bozic, Schiltz

I like the easy rhythm of the Luxembourgish football season. We play a match each Saturday night, a schedule that's possible because the Promotion Division schedule is only 26 matches long. There's usually a reserves match on Sunday, so anyone who plays in either match is almost always ready to play the next weekend. As a result, our lineup is becoming more and more stable, match to match.

Five different players scored for us tonight, starting with our leading goal-getter. Schiltz scored at the end of a nice run, splitting Hostert's center backs. Bozic played Ferreira ahead for our second goal.

Hostert pulled one back, but within a minute Edgar Serrão tripped Andy Rakic in the area and drew a penalty. Pazos stepped to the spot and ripped it past the keeper to put us up 3-1.

Tom Heinz' half-volley from Ferreira's corner increased the lead, and after Hostert center back Mark Kintziger drew a second yellow card and was sent off, an easy goal from Leweck closed out the scoring. Leweck, who was in on the action all night long both offensively and defensively, earned Man of the Match (9.1)

The scariest moment of the night came at the hour mark, when Ferreira had to leave the game with an injury. Fortunately he wasn't hurt badly enough to appear on the next day's physio report. For once, we dodged the injury bug.

Our victory, paired with Mondercange's 1-0 victory over Mamer (on a goal at 90') put us tops. Both clubs have 15 points, but our +16 goal differential is three better than Mamer's.

Rosport, Mamer, and Rumelange look like the best clubs in the Promotion Division at this point in the season. The top two clubs at the finish win promotion, and the third place finisher can move up through a Promotion Playoff game against the third bottom club in the National Division.

[Greyfriars Bobby]

4 October 2012

The board is pleased with my management so far. The club lost €4940 last month, but since we're an amateur club, player expenditures aren't part of that equation. Most of the players I've brought in have done well, and the supporters seem happy with the results on the pitch.

Laurent Schiltz's recent form has generated some speculation in the media about his possible selection to the national team. He wasn't included in the team that will face Azerbaijan and Northern Ireland in World Cup qualifying matches this month, but if he keeps playing like he has been, he'll be tough to overlook for long.

Billy Bernard and Christophe Pazos will both be with the U21 team when it plays Australia U21 on 11 October.

Today, both Olivier Lickes and Alex Pott stopped by to talk to me about playing time. It's been tough to get either of them into the first team; Lickes was hurt, and it's been tough to take either Anton Bozic or Laurent Schiltz off the pitch. Olivier, in particular, wants to stay, so I told them I'll make an effort to get them some game action soon.

[Greyfriars Bobby]

6 October 2012

Rosport 0-1 US Mondorf

GK: Oster
D: Lickes, Molitor, Loose, Bernard
M: Rakic, Wittek, Pazos, Ferreira
ST: Pott, Schiltz

You don't win football matches by maintaining possession of the ball, generating shots on goal, creating clear chances, or earning corner kicks. You win football matches by scoring goals. Tonight, Mondorf scored a goal, and we did not.

I couldn't be unhappy with the players. Honestly, it should have been an 0-0 draw. On 70 minutes, Mondorf took a corner, and there was some contact in the box. There's always some contact in the box on a corner kick. This time, the referee, a chap named Luc Reuter, awarded a penalty to Mondorf, alleging that Yannick Loose had fouled a Mondorf player. To his credit, Cédric Pleimling stepped up and converted.

I've looked at the footage five or six times, and I agree with what Billy Bernard said in an interview--I haven't seen the penalty yet. I held my tongue in my own post-match presser; I'm a first-year manager and for now, I'll tread lightly with the FA.

Olivier Lickes, Grégory Molitor, and Alex Pott all started for us tonight. Their presence in the lineup didn't cost us the result. All three of them were, at one point or another, projected to start for us, and they can all play. You'll see them in the lineup again.

Our loss drops us to second, a point behind Mamer, who drew 0-0 with Una Strassen. Rumelange is on 15 points too, after beating US Sandweiler 2-0. Our next fixture: away to Mamer.

[BYU 14]

Tough break after you were just getting the offense pumped up

[Greyfriars Bobby]

Tough break after you were just getting the offense pumped up

I'm not sure how well the computer-managed teams "scout" my club, but it seemed like Mondorf had a pretty good match strategy against us. They pulled their back line deeper than I've seen my opponents doing previously, and my guys couldn't seem to get many real scoring chances. I'll have to think about some things I can do when my opponent parks the bus like Mondorf did.

[Greyfriars Bobby]

13 October 2012

Mamer 0-3 Rosport

GK: Oster
D: Scholes, Loose, Heinz, Bernard
M: Rakic, Wittek, Leweck, Ferreira
ST: Bozic, Schiltz

It's hard to imagine how a side like Mondorf could frustrate us so completely, only to have us turn around the next week and control a match against a much better Mamer club. It took us 41 minutes to put one in, but after we did, we were off and running again. Then again, as you'll read in a minute, Mondorf might be tougher than any of us thought.

Both clubs were missing a player due to international commitments. In Mamer's case, the player was Naby Twimumu, a full Congo international who stands with Laurent Schiltz at the top of the list of the league's most lethal strikers so far this season. Not having to face Twimumu made our job much, much easier; we played without Christophe Pazos, who was exhausted after a U21 match, and we got about 50 very good minutes out of Billy Bernard.

Anton Bozic slotted home a nice pass from Andy Razic for our first goal, and Bernard set up Schiltz for the second. The third came via penalty, when Dan Di Carlo cut Alphonse Leweck's feet out from under him and Carlos Ferreira stepped to the spot and beat the keeper.

Only 90 people came out to watch the match, which was a shame, considering it was a battle for the top of the table. For now, the spot is ours. Mamer fell to third, because Rumelange drew with the new tough kid on the block, US Mondorf.

http://i106.photobucket.com/albums/m249/BigSix_2006/Luxembourg%20Foussball/300px-Mamer-castle3_zps23d9ae61.jpg (http://s106.photobucket.com/user/BigSix_2006/media/Luxembourg%20Foussball/300px-Mamer-castle3_zps23d9ae61.jpg.html)
Mamer's town hall is a castle, built in 1830 on a site where a castle was first built almost a century earlier.

[Greyfriars Bobby]

24 October 2012

There was a break in the Promotion Division schedule this week, probably to accommodate the first round matches in the Luxembourg Cup. Rosport, along with several other Promotion Division clubs, drew a bye. So did all the National Division clubs.

That gave me a chance to take a closer look at the Luxembourg football structure. I mentioned that there's a mixture of semi-professional and amateur clubs at both levels. Here's how it breaks down. Each team's place in the table is shown.

National Division
Amateur: Dudelange (1), Petange (2), Racing FC (3), Differdange (4), Fola Esch (6), Kaerjeng (9), Progres (10), Grevenmacher (11), Eztella Etterbruck (12), Wiltz (14).
Semi-Pro: Jeunesse Esch (5), RC Hamm Benfica (7), Union 05 (8), Jeunesse Canach (13).

Promotion Division
Amateur: Rosport (1), Rumelange (2), Mamer (3), Diekirch (4), Swift Hesperange (7), US Hostert (8), US Mondorf (9), Monderkange (10), US Sandweiler (11), FF Norden 02 (12), Erpeldange (13), Alliance Aischdahll (14).
Semi-Pro: Uma Strassen (5), Oberkorn (6).

Apparently, being able to pay your players doesn't give your club a competitive advantage in either division, although it's twice as common to find a semi-pro side in the National Division. Some of the semi-pro clubs have miserable financial situations, too. If I recall correctly, two of them are currently in administration.

[Greyfriars Bobby]

27 October 2012

Oberkorn 0-1 Rosport

GK: Oster
D: Scholer, Loose, Heinz, Bernard
DM: Pazos
M: Rakic, Ferreira
AM: Leweck
ST: Bozic, Schiltz

We came back from the two-week break and decided to try something different. I like mixing things up with a 4-4-2 diamond sometimes, so I tried it out against Oberkorn.

I'm not surprised we didn't concede against them. When I looked at their scouting report, I discovered they had two teenaged center backs playing forward. Their regular striker, Luc Fellerich, was tired from Oberkorn's Luxembourg Cup match on Wednesday.

We maintained possession well, but we couldn't generate good scoring chances for the first hour or so. On 65 minutes, I switched back to our normal 4-4-2, and on 72' I brought Alex Pott in for Bozic. Alex thanked me for the opportunity in a very meaningful way--with a 30-yard laser shot that beat the Oberkorn keeper and gave us the victory.

Poor Christophe Pazos failed to convert from the penalty spot in the first half. I think I'm going to give him a break from PK duties for a while.

Another injury scare: Andy Rakic had to come off at 68 minutes, but it wasn't bad enough to warrant a post-match physio report.

Yannick Loose was Man of the Match again (8.1). He's been the best of a very solid group of defenders so far this season.

Mamer won and Dudelange drew, so they traded places in the table. We're on 21 points, Mamer has 19, and Dudelange 17.

[Greyfriars Bobby]

3 November 2012

Rosport 4-1 Erpeldange

GK: Hartert
D: Lickes, Babacic, Heinz, Bernard
M: Rakic, Pazos, Leweck, Ferreira
ST: Pott, Schiltz

We went back to our customary 4-4-2 against 13th place Erpeldange, and gave starts to several of our backups in order to keep them fresh. Anton Babacic made his first appearance of the season tonight. He had been working back to match fitness on the reserves after getting hurt in preseason training. He, and the other reserves, all played well.

After his late match-winner against Oberkorn, I gave Alex Pott another start, and within five minutes, he had scored two goals. I started with an Attacking strategy, as I often do at Victoriarena, and after the second goal I directed them to dial it back to Standard. Before they could execute the change, Andy Rakic scored a third goal.

Laurent Schiltz scored our fourth goal, not long after halftime. It was Laurent's 10th of the season and his 38th goal for Rosport, which set a new club record (according to the game). I'm glad Laurent got his landmark goal at home, so the supporters could give him the recognition he deserves.

Pott (8.8) was Man of the Match, with Carlos Ferreira at 8.5. When Carlos plays well, our team plays well, and our style is fluid and fun to watch.

My job security was upgraded to Very Stable--the first time I've ever earned that status.

[Greyfriars Bobby]

7 November 2012

It looks like our goalkeeper, Jeff Oster, might earn his first full cap when Luxembourg travels to Estonia on the 14th. I'm delighted for him; he deserves it, based on his form for us this season. Jeff was capped three times at the U21 level.

Marc Pliemling, whom we faced with Swift Hesperange, and Eztella Esperange's Philippe Hahm are the other keepers on the roster.

Billy Bernard, who is a regular with the national U21s, will play for them away at Croatia on the 13th.

They'll both probably miss our next league fixture on the 17th. So will left back Christophe Scholer, who twisted his ankle in training and will be out of action for 6-8 weeks.

We will play a second round match in the Luxembourg Cup on 25 November, away to Una Strassen. We'll know them well by then, because we play them at Victoriarena on the 21st.

Edit: I had things backwards. The Promotion Division match is on the 21st, the Cup tie on the 25th.

[Greyfriars Bobby]

17 November 2012
Rosport 2-1 Mondercange

GK: Hartert
D: Lickes, Loose, Heinz, Bernard
M: Rakic, Pazos, Leweck, Ferreira
ST: Pott, Schiltz

Mondercange took an early lead when Yannick Loose made a rare mistake. First, Yannick made a fine play, stepping in front of a pretty cross from their best player, winger Jonathan Proietti. Then, he lost the ball onto the boot of striker Yves Heiderscheid, who simply had to knock it past a sprawling Kevin Hartert for a goal.

Carlos Ferreira laid on an easy goal for Alex Pott right after the break, and Pott returned the favor for Ferreira ten minutes later. Andy Rakic gave me props after the match for my halftime team talk, the first such recognition I've ever had from a player. :)

The Rosport changing room is full of happy players. Jeff Oster is very grateful to Luxembourg manager Luc Heinz for giving him his first chance at international football this week. With Oster between the posts, Luxembourg drew with Estonia away--a very nice result.

We have a quick turn-around this week, with a Cup match and a league fixture, both with Una Strassen. I'm thinking I'll play the strongest possible side in the Cup match, since I know our board and supporters want us to advance at least one more round. We're four points clear in the Promotion Division right now, so I'll play some backups on the 21st and let the big dogs rest a little longer.

[Greyfriars Bobby]

21 November 2012
Rosport 0-0 Una Strassen

GK: Hartert
D: Pellegrini, Molitor, Bernard, Bettmer
M: Russo, Binsfeld, Wittek, Babacic
ST: Bozic, Schiltz

If a few of the names in that lineup look unfamiliar, I brought a few guys up from the reserves for today's match. Most of our regulars' fitness levels were in the high 80s-low 90s following the Mondercange match, so if they'd played tonight, there's no way they would be ready for the Cup match in four days.

The supporters are upset that I fielded a "weakened side" at home, but I've noticed they are notoriously fickle and flat-out whiny sometimes. They haven't forgiven me for the departure of Alex Paulos back in the summer, even though the man who replaced him, Yannick Loose, is the best center back in the Promotion Division. Meanwhile Paulos, who at 35 is seven years older than Loose, plays as often with Petange's reserves as he does with the first team.

Anyway, we could have won this one with some better luck. Bruno Russo hit the crossbar with a howitzer blast, and Anton Bozic hit the left post while their keeper was floundering around on the right side of the box. Almin Babacic might have been right when he claimed he'd been fouled in the area on 60 minutes. And Laurent Pellegrini nearly got lucky with a cross that barely missed going into the goal. If one of those breaks had gone our way, it might well have been worth a result and three points.

Swift Hesperange is moving up the table, and their 3-0 win over Oberkorn brought them into second, three points behind us.

But, perhaps best of all, most of our regulars will be rested for the rematch with Una Strassen on Sunday.

[Greyfriars Bobby]

25 November 2012
Luxembourg Cup, Second Round
Una Strassen 1-4 Rosport

GK: Oster
D: Lickes, Loose, Heinz, Bernard
M: Rakic, Pazos, Leweck, Ferreira
ST: Pott, Schiltz

Much, much more like it, with Laurent Schiltz providing a hat trick. The first, on 5', came through a beautiful combination of quick, sharp passes, Heinz-Leweck-Pott-Schiltz-goal. Three minutes later, Una Strassen center back Nesnad da Mota made a howler of an error, fluffing a pass across the area that never reached its intended destination because Schiltz happily pounced on it and drilled it past the keeper.

Una Strassen pulled one back before Schiltz struck again, keeping himself onside while Andy Rakic threaded a pass to him and coolly applying the finish.

The fourth goal came late, and it was a lot of fun. I brought young striker Claude Codello up from the reserves, and he came on for Pott. Soon after he took the pitch, Schiltz led him with a beautiful ball. Claude swerved left to gain some space, accelerated past a defender, shot, and scored. It was his first goal at the senior level and, if the skill he showed is any indication, it won't be his last. He's found the goal 11 times in 13 appearances for our U20s and reserves.

Schiltz, for his scoring and passing, rated 9.7 and was an easy choice for Man of the Match.

The Third Round won't be played until April. We're drawn away to Wiltz, last year's Promotion Division champion who are currently holding up the National Division table.

[Greyfriars Bobby]

2 December 2012

We have a nice break before we travel to Diekirch on the 8th. In the meantime, I investigated something that had caught my attention a few times.

Rosport are often described in the match write-ups as an experienced side, and I've noticed that our players' average age is often older than our opponents when I've looked at the pre-match comparisons. So I decided to take a closer look at that.

We are more of a veteran club than most of our Promotion Division opponents. The oldest players in our regular first XI are Carlos Ferreira and Andy Rakic, who are both 32. Laurent Schiltz and Alphonse Leweck are 30, Tim Heinz and Yannick Loose are 28, and Anton Bozic is 24.

We don't have a teenager in our first XI, and most of our opponents do. Our youngest regular is Billy Bernard, who is 21.

The Promotion Division teams who have been more successful so far this season tend to be those with more guys in their late 20s and early 30s. National Division clubs have more experienced players, too. Hopefully I've set up a club that will earn promotion and stay up for a while.

To add a little more youth to our club, I offered contracts to two of the "greyed-out" youth players on our U20 roster. Reinaldo Da Luz and Theo Backes are both 16. Da Luz is primarily a center back and Backes a central midfielder, but between them, they can cover every possible outfield spot except striker. I wish they were faster, but I envision them turning into valuable, versatile backups as they develop.

[Greyfriars Bobby]

8 December 2012
Diekirch 0-0 Rosport

GK: Oster
D: Lickes, Loose, Heinz, Bernard
M: Rakic, Pazos, Leweck, Ferreira
ST: Bozic, Codello

This was the kind of match you might expect on a muddy, slushy pitch on a chilly day in December. Neither team generated a good scoring chance, and there were only two shots put on goal the entire evening--both by our side.

Young Boys Diekirch isn't a bad side; they've been in the top half of the table all year, and they're fresh off a 2-0 upset of Rumelange. I'd have liked a result here, but I'll take the point--and a healthy club--and head back home.

I gave Claude Codello a chance to start tonight, a reward for his form in the Cup match last month. He was solid, but unspectacular--like almost everyone else on the pitch.

http://i106.photobucket.com/albums/m249/BigSix_2006/Luxembourg%20Foussball/120px-Diekirch_hb_zps7c67560d.jpg (http://s106.photobucket.com/user/BigSix_2006/media/Luxembourg%20Foussball/120px-Diekirch_hb_zps7c67560d.jpg.html)
Here's a street in Diekirch's Old Town.

[Greyfriars Bobby]

15 December 2012

FF Norden 1-4 Rosport

GK: Oster
D: Pellegrino, Loose, Heinz, Bernard
M: Rakic, Pazos, Leweck, Ferreira
ST: Bozic, Schiltz

We rediscovered our offensive mojo in our last match before a month-long holiday break. The temperature dropped to freezing and there was something icy falling throughout the match, but we managed to play a much smoother, much more free-flowing game tonight.

Laurent Schiltz converted a precise short feed from Anton Bozic at 11', and Norden quickly equalized through Jean Fernandes. Bozic set up the second goal, too, when he intercepted a pass, spotted Schiltz, and hit him with a cross that Laurent converted with one touch.

Bozic got a goal of his own after the half and after he left, his replacement, Alex Pott, closed out the scoring. Schiltz (8.8) got Man of the Match, but I'd have picked Bozic instead.

There is a break in the Promotion Division programme until mid-January, but that doesn't mean things will be slow. Luxembourg has a January transfer window, and we already have one player on the way, Roland Saboga. I confess; I enjoy finding and signing players, so I'm thinking I'll be somewhat active in the market (if you can call it that when there's no money involved).

Happy holidays from FC Victoria Rosport. :)

[bbgunn]

Great read, GB. I especially love the little pictures that give us a sense of being in Luxembourg!

[Greyfriars Bobby]

Great read, GB. I especially love the little pictures that give us a sense of being in Luxembourg!

Thanks, bbgunn. There are several exceptionally good Football Manager stories on the forum right now, and I was trying to come up with something different and fun.

I've decided I need to visit Luxembourg one day. It looks like a beautiful country.

http://i106.photobucket.com/albums/m249/BigSix_2006/Luxembourg%20Foussball/250px-Weiswampach_zps34efc470.jpg (http://s106.photobucket.com/user/BigSix_2006/media/Luxembourg%20Foussball/250px-Weiswampach_zps34efc470.jpg.html)
You reminded me--I'd forgotten to post the picture of Weiswampach, where FF Norden 02 plays.

Thanks again for following along and, especially, for commenting.

[Greyfriars Bobby]

1 January 2013

As the January transfer window opens, there are some new faces around FC Victoria Rosport. These players agreed to come to Rosport this fall, and as of today they are officially on board.

You already met Roland Saboga, the powerful Congolese-Luxembourger striker. Roland is 34, and he's had a few problems with injuries lately. However, when he is healthy, his strength, his composure, and his ability in the air make him a powerful presence.

With Saboga on board, as well as Schiltz, Bozic, and Pott, I didn't need to bring in another forward (even though I almost always play wth two STCs). However, when our scout spotted Jeremy Laroche, a natural trequartista who hadn't been with a club since his release from Jeunesse Esch in 2011, I decided to offer him a gig. Jeremy agreed to come on board last month, and he's been turning out for our reserves while we waited for the opportunity to register him. In three reserve matches, he's scored three goals. Laroche is a native of France who became eligible for Luxembourg this fall. He's as technically proficient as Laurent Schiltz, with a tiny bit less pace and a crowd-pleasing style. I wish he were younger (he just turned 32), but he should still have what it takes to help us win.

We added three very exciting younger players to our squad, all of whom play in the middle of the park. All three had been struggling to find playing time with National Division clubs, so they were eager to come to Rosport and compete for regular first team action.

Kevin Maiget (age 21) plays beside Billy Bernard on the Luxembourg U21 back line. He is a smaller, younger version of Tim Heinz, a rugged, reliable center back.

Thomas Battaglia (20) is a DMC who was being shuffled all over the middle of the pitch by Grevenmacher. I might use a 4-4-2 Diamond more often now that I have a natural anchor man; Battaglia is fast, tough, and strong, and he makes good decisions with the ball.

Laurent Jans (also 20) was gathering dust in Fola Esch's reserves. He's more than good enough to help us, with 11 U21 caps to his credit. Jans' game is in the mold of Christophe Pazos, and they are exactly the same height (5'10") and weight (167). He can play AMC, when we go to the 4-4-2 Diamond.

We've lost three players, too. Steve Bettmer, a right back who covered for Bernard when he was on international duty, signed with US Sandweiler. Steve was our vice captain, so I appointed Yannick Loose to take his place.

Armindo Fonseca, a center back, is off to join Mamer, and Nuno Reis, a midfielder, has left us for Erpeldange.

[Greyfriars Bobby]

19 January 2013

Rosport 1-0 Rumelange

GK: Oster
D: Lickes, Loose, Maiget, Bernard
M: Rakic, Jans, Pazos, Ferreira
ST: Laroche, Schiltz

The supporters got to see three of the new men in the first XI today, and a fourth, Thomas Battaglia, came on as a sub. It wasn't a great day for football, with temperatures just above freezing and some drizzle, but a good crowd of 250 came out to watch us gut out a victory against a tough Rumelange side.

Two of the newcomers played instrumental roles in the match's only goal. Kevin Maiget played a "delicious 50-yard ball" ahead for Jeremy Laroche, who crossed the ball from the right side to his striker partner, Laurent Schiltz. Rumelange's keeper, the talented Charly Schinker, got a glove on it, but Carlos Ferreira swooped in, controlled the ball, and nudged it past Schinker for the goal.

Otherwise, it was a defensive battle, with our back four and Jeff Oster being just a bit better than their back four and Schinker. That's doing some work, since Rumelange have a pair I've dubbed the Bash Brothers. Marcin and Mateusz Siebert hail from Poland, and they are both as hard-nosed as they sound. Marcin is also Rumelange's U20 coach, and he's a good one.

Between us, I wouldn't mind having the Bash Brothers on our side.

Next week, it's a battle between #1 and #2 in the table, as Swift Hesperange come to Victoriarena. :) We are currently four points clear, so we can't lose our lead, but they can close to within a point of us with a victory.

[Greyfriars Bobby]

24 January 2013

With the transfer window closing in a week, I made what I believe will be our last move of the season. There seems to be a general shortage of decent wide midfielders in Luxembourg. I really like our starters, Andy Rakic and Carlos Ferreira, but behind them, we're really lacking. Both Rakic and Ferreira are 32, and they're both beginning to show the first signs of slowing down.

Racing FC had a young left winger named Jonathan Rodrigues (age 22) who wanted a chance to play more often. He'd been in only 4 games all season. I was honest with him about his role if he came to Rosport: he'd be Rakic's apprentice, at least for now. He was willing to become a backup for a club playing as well as Rosport is right now, so we welcome him to the club.

Rodrigues is eligible for both Luxembourg and Brazil, although he was born in Luxembourg City. He is a very good passer with a nice first touch, and he has some leadership qualities that might fit him for a captain's armband one day.

I also learned that there are two National Division clubs flirting with Alex Pott. Progres, who are one point clear of the drop zone, seems to want him pretty badly. Fola Esch, who are in the middle of the table, aren't as interested, but I could see Alex going there before I could see him heading to Progres. We'll have to wait and see what happens over the next few days.

[Greyfriars Bobby]

26 January 2013

Rosport 1-0 Swift Hesperange

GK: Oster
D: Lickes, Loose, Maiget, Bernard
M: Rakic, Battaglia, Pazos, Ferreira
ST: Schiltz, Saboga

This one lived up to the hype surrounding a match between the #1 and #2 teams in the division.

I had a feeling it would be low-scoring. Swift Hesperange has a Luxembourg international goalkeeper, Marc Pleimling; we have his backup, Jeff Oster. Their right back, Armando Tavares, has the best match rating in the Promotion Division. Our center back, Yannick Loose, has the third best (Laurent Schiltz is at #2). Swift Hesperange is solid across the back four, and so are we.

Fortunately, we were the ones to break the impasse. On 85 minutes, Andy Rakic crossed the ball to Carlos Ferreira, who one-touched it to Laurent Schiltz, just outside the six-yard box.

Normally, you'd think Schiltz, whose 12 league goals lead the Promotion Division, would shoot. So did Azzouz Benlaouira, who closed down on him quickly. Schiltz calmly dropped the ball back to a wide-open Alphonse Leweck, who'd come on for Christophe Pazos. Leweck struck it hard just inside the right post, off Pleimling's fingertips.

Benlaouira, who didn't put a foot wrong all night, was Man of the Match (8.7). He didn't make a mistake on the game-winning goal; Schiltz just made an amazing play. He happens to be second in the league in assists, too--that was his seventh of the season.

Our biggest crowd of the season--271--left happy. Our three points puts us seven clear of Swift Hesperange, with 12 matches to play.

[Greyfriars Bobby]

9 February 2013

Alliance Aischdall 1-6 Rosport

GK: Oster
D: Scholer, Loose, Maiget, Bernard
DMC: Battaglia
M: Rodrigues, Ferreira
AMC: Leweck
ST: Saboga, Laroche

I gave the 4-4-2 Diamond a spin away to Alliance Aischdall, and either (1) we caught them completely off guard or (2) we're simply a more talented side. Since they entered the match with a 3-3-10 record (to our 12-2-2), I think it's more the latter than the former.

We had four goals by the 16' mark, two by Carlos Ferreira. Jeremy Laroche also scored twice, and Roland Saboga and Alphonse Leweck found the net once each. Ferreira (9.5) was Man of the Match, with Laroche (9.5), Leweck (9.4) and Saboga (9.0) also rating exceptionally high. Kevin Maiget, who intercepted 14 passes, finished at 8.8.

Oddly enough, we had only one clear chance, but managed to score six times. We didn't dominate the match statistically as much as one might think, given the scoreline, but we put the ball in the back of the net, and that's how the score is determined.

Alex Pott ended up staying with Rosport, but almost as soon as the transfer window closed, he injured his elbow in a fall in training and will be out of action for about a month.

http://i106.photobucket.com/albums/m249/BigSix_2006/Luxembourg%20Foussball/220px-Eischen_Church_1_zps16c48a15.jpg (http://s106.photobucket.com/user/BigSix_2006/media/Luxembourg%20Foussball/220px-Eischen_Church_1_zps16c48a15.jpg.html)
Alliance Aischdall plays near the town of Eischen, on the Luxembourg-Belgium border.

[Greyfriars Bobby]

I have a question for some of you long-time Football Manager players.

I am considering whether or not I want to add any other countries' leagues to my game for next season. I've thought about Germany, France, Belgium, and the Netherlands, the nearest countries to Luxembourg.

How would adding those countries affect the game, from the perspective of a manager in Luxembourg? Would players from those countries possibly show an interest in playing there? Or, would it simply slow the game down and clog my inbox with news items from those countries?

Any advice you could give would be appreciated greatly. Thanks in advance.

[Greyfriars Bobby]

26 February 2013

US Hostert 0-3 Rosport

GK: Oster
D: Lickes, Heinz, Maiget, Bernard
M: Russo, Jans, Leweck, Ferreira
ST: Laroche, Schiltz

We were scheduled to be away to Hostert on Sunday, the 17th, but snow left their pitch soggy and unplayable. We got another week off, but that means we're facing a Wednesday-Saturday turnaround this week.

The first half was sloppy, and I let the players know how disappointed I was. That got them a little fired up, and they played a much more inspired second half.

Hostert really weren't that bad most of the time. They made two crucial errors that cost them two goals. On a corner, they pulled everyone so far forward that, when Kevin Maiget won the header and knocked it back toward their goal, there was nobody to mark Laurent Schiltz. When Laurent gets to go one-on-one with a goalkeeper, my money's on Laurent. He chipped it in from almost 30 yards. The goal was his 50th in his league career.

On another goal, their center backs were hopelessly out of position and allowed Jeremy Laroche lots of room. I'm discovering what a deadly finisher Laroche is, too; he has three goals in four appearances.

Andy Rakic was a little wonky, so he sat this one out. So did Yannick Loose, because I wanted Tim Heinz to get some game action.
http://i106.photobucket.com/albums/m249/BigSix_2006/Luxembourg%20Foussball/1024px-Grunewald_Rendez-vous_Jan_2013_zpsd6d68a48.jpg (http://s106.photobucket.com/user/BigSix_2006/media/Luxembourg%20Foussball/1024px-Grunewald_Rendez-vous_Jan_2013_zpsd6d68a48.jpg.html)
This is great weather for winter sports, but not for football.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Or, would it simply slow the game down and clog my inbox with news items from those countries?

Unless the option was removed (which I can't imagine), you can choose to turn notifications on/off from different leagues, of different types, etc. In FM 12 it's in your mailbox under the option to "Manage Subscriptions", I strongly suspect something similar is available in FM 13.

[Greyfriars Bobby]

Unless the option was removed (which I can't imagine), you can choose to turn notifications on/off from different leagues, of different types, etc. In FM 12 it's in your mailbox under the option to "Manage Subscriptions", I strongly suspect something similar is available in FM 13.

Thanks, Jon. I checked, and the same option is offered in FM 13.

With that knowledge, I think I'll add a few neighboring nations to my game universe for 2013-2014. I don't see myself leaving Luxembourg, but it would be fun to have a little more fully developed game world.

[Greyfriars Bobby]

2 March 2013

Rosport 3-0 US Sandweiler

GK: Oster
D: Scholer, Loose, Maiget, Bernard
DMC: Battaglia
M: Rakic, Ferreira
AMC: Pazos
ST: Laroche, Schiltz

Let's see. The team at the bottom of the table is away to the league leader. Their striker, who's among the league leaders with 10 goals, is injured.

Do you think they might park the bus...no, a fleet of buses? That's precisely what Sandweiler did, and for 38 minutes it worked very well. Then, Andy Rakic launched a rocket off his right foot that hit their keeper's arm and went in. Schiltz added a brace in the second half.

Jeremy Laroche put Schiltz through with a beautiful lead pass for the second goal. Laurent got some space, and when he does, put it in the scorebook.

There's been some media speculation concerning Schiltz as a possible choice for Luxembourg. No player in the nation has scored more goals this season, but he's being passed over in favor of forwards who are playing in other countries. I'd love to see Laurent get a cap.

[Greyfriars Bobby]

9 March 2013

US Mondorf 3-4 Rosport

GK: Hartert
D: Pellegrino, Heinz, Maiget, Bernard
M: Rakic, Jans, Pazos, Ferreira
ST: Schiltz, Saboga

This one was exciting for the supporters, and nerve-racking for the managers.

We started off wonderfully, with Roland Saboga powering in a header off a perfectly-placed cross from Laurent Jans in the game's second minute. Former Rosporter Fabio Bertens equalized on 31', the first league goal of his career.

We regained the lead when Kevin Maiget headed home a Carlos Ferreira corner, and went up by two on 58', when Saboga got space in the box and nudged in a short pass from Laurent Schiltz.

I give Mondorf a lot of credit for battling back into the match. First Eric Pleimling, and then Cesar Luis put shots behind poor Kevin Hartert. The board and supporters had been clamoring to see him play, and he had a awful time of things tonight. Now, with the score level, I had to bring Kevin off and send in Jeff Oster.

Eight minutes before full time, Mondorf nearly pulled ahead, but Maiget beat Luis to a loose ball on the doorstep, keeping him from knocking it past Oster long enough for the keeper to get his gloves on it. Maiget played it ahead to Saboga, who chipped a pass up to Schiltz. Naturally, he drew the Mondorf defense, and that freed up Alphonse Leweck. Laurent found him, Leweck finished neatly from 10 yards, and we had what turned out to be the game-winning goal.

Saboga, with his two goals and his dominant play in the air, was Man of the Match (8.8). For the first time since we lost to FC Racing in a preseason friendly, we allowed at least three goals in a match, but this time we managed to score four ourselves.

http://i106.photobucket.com/albums/m249/BigSix_2006/Luxembourg%20Foussball/detente-au-bord-de-la_zps649d61ff.jpg (http://s106.photobucket.com/user/BigSix_2006/media/Luxembourg%20Foussball/detente-au-bord-de-la_zps649d61ff.jpg.html)
Mondorf-les-Bains is a spa town, and Luxembourg's only casino is located here. I'm guessing a few of the Rosport players might have been here for purposes other than football matches.
Photo from tripadvisor.com

[Greyfriars Bobby]

16 March 2013

Poor Alex Pott can't catch a break. He just resumed training after hurting his elbow last month, and today we learned he strained his groin. We think he'll be out six or seven weeks, which basically ends his season.

Laurent Jans will play for Luxembourg U21 against Montenegro on 22 March and against Andorra on 26 March. He'll miss our next fixture, home against Mamer on the 23rd.

Kevin Maiget and Christophe Pazos have both turned 22, so they won't be joining Laurent on international duty. Billy Bernard, who is still 21, hasn't played for Luxembourg since November.

No Rosport players have been called up for the World Cup Qualifying match against Russia on the 26th. Laurent Schiltz, Jeff Oster, and Jeremy Laroche were all supposedly being considered, but none of them were chosen.

[Greyfriars Bobby]

19 March 2013

Our match with Mamer was rescheduled for 3 April, due to the fact that several players from both clubs will be on international duty.

Today I watched a friendly between our U20 team and our Youth Trialists. The U20s won, 2-1, but that's what I would expect from them in a match against a side made up largely of 14-year-old boys.

A few of the kids looked pretty good. Their captain, Yves Bettmer, scored their goal in fine fashion. A center back named Yves Joubert is already 6'1" and 171 pounds at 14, and he's a hard worker with well-developed skills. I've already signed him to a youth contract.

The Trialists will be with us until the end of April, and I'm sure I'll end up signing a few more of them before then.

[Greyfriars Bobby]

30 March 2013

Erpeldange 4-2 Rosport

GK: Oster
D: Scholer, Loose, Molitor, Maric
M: Rodrigues, Wittek, Battaglia, Backes
ST: Schiltz, Codello

We lost away to Erpeldange tonight. They entered the match in 12th place, in one of the relegation playoff positions. Tonight, they were opportunistic and tenacious, capitalizing on the chances they had to score goals.

They have two very good forwards, Kevin Marx and Marc Heuertz. Marx gave them a lead on 12', and Claude Codello equalized two minutes later. We pulled ahead on a great finish by Thomas Battaglia, but Heuertz replied to draw Erpeldange even at the half.

That's how the scoreline looked when referee Romain Bellini decided to insert himself into the contest in a dramatic fashion. On 73', he awarded a penalty to Erpeldange on a tough challenge by Kevin Maiget in the area. The call was horrendous, and Bellini found himself surrounded by almost everyone at the grounds wearing a Rosport kit. On the touchline, I was beyond livid.

They converted to take the lead; again, Erpeldange were great at seizing the opportunities they had whenever one came around. We conceded a very late goal, when Heuertz took a through ball from Marx and caught us too far forward. The goal was Heuertz' 17th of the season, so he is a legitimate danger man. Marx leads the league in assists.

I didn't ream out the players in my post-match team talk. Instead, I urged them to put this one behind them, and they reacted universally well. We maintained possession 58% of the time, outshot them 14-10, and completed 78% of our passes. The guys played too well for me to rant and rave at them.

I did, however, have a few things to say about the officiating. At that point, I could care less what the FA said. Bellini missed the call, and badly. The fact that nobody from the FA responded to me at all tells me they think Bellini screwed up, too.

Then, I learned that the supporters' spokesman called me out for "fielding a weakened side." Waaahh, waaaahhh, waaahh. Let's see...we have another fixture in four days, against Mamer, the fourth place club. Andy Rakic was struggling with a bad thigh muscle he hurt in training. Carlos Ferreira was jaded and needed a rest. Laurent Jans is on international duty.

The side that turned out for Rosport tonight contained a Luxembourg international in goal, and two more at center back. The left back had 12 youth caps to his credit. One striker has 15 goals this season, and his partner, Claude Codello, has scored 17 times for our reserves and U21 sides. Don't you think Codello deserves a chance to see what he can do with the first team?

I gave a 16-year-old, Theo Backes, the start at right wing, because he is the best possible replacement I have for Carlos Ferreira right now. Theo finished the match with a 6.8 rating, the best among our midfielders.

In other words, that's one hell of a side for the Promotion Division. And it represents a club that is still three points clear at the top of the table, and 11 points safe in the promotion battle. That ought to be good enough for you, Whiny Supporter Spokesman.

Still, we're not pulling any punches against Mamer on Wednesday night. It's on, boys.

[Greyfriars Bobby]

3 April 2013

Rosport 3-0 Mamer

GK: Oster
D: Lickes, Loose, Maiget, Bernard
M: Rakic, Jans, Leweck, Ferreira
ST: Schiltz, Laroche

Before 268 appreciative supporters at Victoriarena, we secured promotion to the Luxembourg National Division for next season with our 3-0 victory over Mamer.

Mamer brought a side that was much stronger than the one we faced at their grounds. Naby Twimumu, their striker, was available, and they signed a talented youngster from Dudelange named Kevin Grisius during the January transfer window.

The match was scoreless until 34 minutes, when Andy Rakic headed a cross from Carlos Ferreira into the path of a streaking Laurent Schiltz, who put it past the Mamer keeper. Four minutes later, Ferreira brought in a goal kick from Jeff Oster and knocked it ahead for Jeremy Laroche to drive home.

The third goal was Ferreira-to-Laroche again, one of the cleanest, crispest goals we've had all season.

Oster's clean sheet was his 11th of the season.

Laroche's two goals got the pundits back on his bandwagon about a Luxembourg selection, and Schiltz's goal brought him within two of the league's scoring lead, but the hero of the hour was Carlos Ferreira, who richly deserved the Man of the Match selection. His skill with the ball was instrumental in all three of our goals; we simply aren't the same team without him on the pitch.

Next, we travel to Wiltz for a Luxembourg Cup tie, and then there are four more Promotion Division fixtures remaining.

[Greyfriars Bobby]

9 April 2013

When we move up to the National Division next season, we'll be leaving a member of our backroom staff behind.

My former assistant manager, Kevin Bianchini, just accepted the job as manager of Erpeldange. Yes, that Erpeldange. We won't face each other unless it's a friendly or a Cup match, so it's safe for me to wish him well.

I got another surprising piece of news today. Remember Steve Bettmer, our former vice captain? He signed with Oberkorn in January, and now he's decided to hang up his boots and become their manager. Steve has some solid coaching attributes, too.

Guess who we play on 13 April?

Oberkorn, of course. :)

In the meantime, we're preparing for our Luxembourg Cup match with Wiltz, and I'm looking for a new assistant manager.

[Greyfriars Bobby]

11 April 2013
Luxembourg Cup, Third Round

Wiltz 0-4 Rosport

GK: Oster
D: Lickes, Loose, Maiget, Bernard
M: Rakic, Jans, Pazos, Ferreira
ST: Schiltz, Bozic

Wiltz won the Promotion Division title last year, and in their first year back up in the top league, they're fighting to avoid relegation. Still, they looked to be a very tough opponent for us, and for a half that's exactly what they were. Once we put that first goal in, however, they seemed to lose their mojo, and we ended up winning very comfortably.

Laurent Schiltz got the first one, which gave him 20 goals in all competitions this year. Carlos Ferreira, who is best known for laying on goals for his teammates, got a brace today--and within five minutes. Our final goal was slotted home by Anton Bozic, who came to me this week asking for more first team football. I gave him an opportunity today, and he thanked me with a goal.

Wiltz is clearly a better side than most we've faced this year. Their keeper, Dorian Delcour, made saves on the kinds of shots I'm used to seeing go in against Promotion Division keepers. Their best forward, Amadou Toure, forced Jeff Oster to make a beautiful save of his own.

We are the last remaining Promotion Division club in the Luxembourg Cup. We've been drawn at home against RC Hamm Benfica on 1 May.

[Greyfriars Bobby]

13 April 2013

This morning I received a message that made me smile. The assistant manager candidate I'd offered a job has decided to accept.

Pit Theis is familiar to Luxembourger football fans. He played goal for several clubs for nine seasons, and made 13 appearances for Fola Esch this year. At age 34, he decided to hang up his boots this spring and begin the next phase of his football career.

He was a good keeper--I scouted him and almost offered him a contract--but he'll help us even more as a staff member. His attributes are better, across the board, than Kevin Bianchini's were. Pit is, naturally, especially good at training keepers; he's so good at this that, in the back of my mind, I'm thinking he'll one day leave Rosport to coach goalkeepers with a big club somewhere. For now, however, he's with us, and I'm glad to have him.

I noticed there are a number of unemployed scouts who are better than our guy. What's more, now that we've had some success, they are willing to talk to us about a job.

Our scout (3/3 for evaluating talent/potential) might want to update his resume. He frustrated me when he spent three months looking for talent in Luxembourg and found only one player: Naby Twimumu, whom I already knew well. I instructed him to tell me about any TWO-star or better talent he found, so it's not like I only wanted information about superstars.

[Greyfriars Bobby]

13 April 2013

Rosport 1-3 Oberkorn

GK: Oster
D: Scholer, Battaglia, Maiget, Bernard
M: Rakic, Jans, Binsfeld, Ferreira
ST: Laroche, Schiltz

We welcomed Oberkorn's new boss, Steve Bettmer, back to Victoriarena with a nice round of applause, and then we delivered the result the media had predicted. We had a rough week in training, and there are a few guys who were too banged up to play. Tim Heinz is hurt the worst. He wrenched his knee pretty hard, and he's still about two weeks away from being ready. Alphonse Leweck (jammed toe) and Yannick Loose (strained neck) could play if this were a must-win match. It's not, so they watched this one in their tracksuits.

Pit Theis is a big fan of Thomas Battaglia, and I'm becoming one, too. He can play three positions in the middle of the park, and he's only 20. Tonight he filled in for Loose and was our team's best defender.

Oberkorn's goal was the weirdest one we've conceded all year. Jeff Oster found himself on an island, a high-bouncing ball coming at him while he maneuvered at the edge of the area. Had he been a step farther back, I'm sure he would have grabbed it with his hands. Instead, he tried to head it to Battaglia. Jeff Oster isn't very good at heading a football. His attempt went straight to their winger, Rui, who chipped it neatly over Jeff's head into the wide-open net. The goal brought Oberkorn level, 1-1.

Fortunately, we have guys like Jeremy Laroche on our side. Jeremy took a cross from Carlos Ferreira on the half-volley and deposited it into the net with his left foot. 2-1, Rosport.

On 80 minutes, Oberkorn had a free kick, and Laurent Schiltz headed it back toward the Oberkorn goal. Marc Binsfeld got to the ball first, and Laroche turned and sprinted ahead. Marc got Jeremy the ball, and the crowd roared as he bore down on the goal. Laroche decided to strike from 15 yards away, and the keeper never had a chance.

Our first goal was notable, too. Andy Rakic came off with an injury early in the match, and Jonathan Rodrigues entered the fray. He discovered how cool it is to be on the receiving end of one of Carlos Ferreira's passes, and Jonathan delivered his first-ever goal in a Rosport shirt. Rakic will be out for about three weeks with a knee injury, so you'll see more of JR for the rest of the season.

This weekend's results cleared up the promotion/relegation picture. We're up, and Swift Hesperange have clinched a spot in the Promotion Playoff, at the very least. Mamer are also in the running for the Playoff, which (I think) matches our 3rd place club with the 12th place club in the National Division.

Alliance Aischdall and US Sandweiler will be dropped, and Oberkorn and FF Norden 02 are currently slated for the Relegation Playoff.

I can tell you right now that next week, away to Mondercange, I'm playing the kids. I don't want anybody else to get hurt with our Cup quarter-final approaching.

[Greyfriars Bobby]

20 April 2013

Mondercange 4-3 Rosport

GK: Hartert
D: Schroeder, Da Luz, Molitor, Babacic
M: Rodrigues, Wittek, Backes, Feller
ST: Neves Cunha, Codello

The reserves took the pitch today, along with several debutants. The result was an exciting, entertaining match and, despite the result, I'm glad I played it the way I did.

How often do you see a 4-3 match in which only two players score a goal? That's what happened today.

Marc Heiderscheid found the net four times for Mondercange. I tried everything against him, to no avail...even subbing in Kevin Maiget. It was simply Marc's day, and I tip my cap to him.

And, Rosport supporters, meet Arlindo Neves Cunha. He's a 19-year-old striker who presents you with a hat trick on his debut as a first team footballer. ANC is used to scoring goals, however. He's potted 13 for our U20 side this year. How often do you rate 9.5 and not be named Man of the Match? That's what happened to ANC today, but I was quick to praise his performance in our post-match talk, and again with the media afterwards.

Claude Codello (8.4) had two assists, and played another very solid game.

With two league fixtures left, we're five points clear in the Promotion Division. I'd like to win the league, so the first teamers will return to the pitch for at least one of those matches.

And, it was very cool to see my job status move all the way up to "Untouchable." :)

http://i106.photobucket.com/albums/m249/BigSix_2006/Luxembourg%20Foussball/250px-Kierch_Monnerech_zpsd3d86d54.jpg (http://s106.photobucket.com/user/BigSix_2006/media/Luxembourg%20Foussball/250px-Kierch_Monnerech_zpsd3d86d54.jpg.html)
There is a historic church in Mondercange, a town in southwestern Luxembourg.

[Greyfriars Bobby]

1 May 2013
Luxembourg Cup, Quarter-Final

Rosport 2-1 RS Hamm Benfica

GK: Oster
D: Lickes, Loose, Maiget, Bernard
M: Rodrigues, Leweck, Pazos, Ferreira
ST: Schiltz, Laroche

We went into the match as big-time underdogs, even though the match is at our grounds. Hamm Benfica are a middle-of-the-table club in the National Division, and according to our scouting report (yes, I hired a new scout) they're stronger at some positions and not as strong in others. I felt better about our chances than the bookies did.

The pundits actually called us favorites in their pre-match analysis.

We're sporting our navy kit today, since Hamm Benfica wear red. I like seeing the navy every once in a while, as a chance of pace.

Things did not start out well. THIRTY SECONDS into the game, Olivier Lickes challenged a Hamm Benfica player who had the ball along the touchline and slid into him with both boots high. Lickes was shown a straight red card. Bye-bye, Olivier. So, now we'll face a strong side with only ten men for at least 89 minutes.

What to do now? I brought us out with a Counter mentality, and now I dialed it back even more to Defensive, which isn't the way I typically like to play until the later minutes of a game we're leading. Rodrigues, who is actually a better wingback than he is a midfielder, drops back, so I have this funky-looking formation with a snake-like shape in the back.

Hamm Benfica smell blood in the water, and it looks like they have 22 men buzzing around our goal. Oster makes an absolutely sick save, and Maiget clears away the danger.

On 12', Alphonse Leweck latches on to a Hamm Benfica goal kick and heads it over to Laurent Schiltz. He notices Jeremy Laroche ahead and to his right. Jeremy has some space, but there are two defenders between him and the keeper.

Laurent's ball could not have been better. He plays it ahead of Jeremy, so he can run onto it at full speed. Their defenders react well and close down on him at the top right corner of the area. Jeremy swerves to his left and fires. The ball zips past their diving keeper into the left corner of the net. 1-0 Rosport!

Right before the half, Leweck played the ball into the area, where Schiltz had slipped past his marker. Laurent had to put his shot in just the right place, because the keeper was positioned just right. This time Laurent won the battle. 2-0 Rosport!

They pulled one back on 67 minutes, and I brought in the best defensive players I had available. Marc Binsfeld came in for Pazos, and Thomas Battaglia replaced Laroche. Hamm Benfica threw everything they had at us, but we managed to hold on.

This was a big, big win...and we did it with only 10 men on the pitch! :)

We're through to the semifinals, where we will host Differdange, the Cup holders, on the 19th.

[Greyfriars Bobby]

4 May 2013

Una Strassen 1-3 Rosport

GK: Oster
D: Scholer, Battaglia, Maiget, Bernard
M: Feller, Jans, Binsfeld, Ferreira
ST: Schiltz, Laroche

Christophe Scholer replaced Lickes today, because Olivier is serving a one-match ban for his red card. I didn't appeal it, because Olivier's foul was vicious. I warned him, too, and he took it like a man. We're good.

Pit Theis, my new assistant, really likes Thomas Battaglia, and with Yannick Loose recovering slowly from the Cup match, Thomas gets the nod at center back. Kevin Feller is in the starting XI, too; Rodrigues is gassed and Rakic is hurt. Binsfeld is fitter than Leweck, so he's in the team, too.

It's the best side I can put together today, because we can clinch the Promotion Division championship if we win and Swift Hesperange lose away to Oberkorn.

It was a scoreless match until 42', when Jeremy Laroche buried a direct free kick. Unless I've forgotten one, it's our first goal off a DFK all season. Not two minutes later, Laurent Schiltz added another, off yet another inch-perfect pass from Carlos Ferreira. Una Strassen scored early in the second half, but Laroche put Schiltz through for an insurance goal, and that's how it ended. Schiltz, with his 17th and 18th league goals, was Man of the Match (8.8).

And, our old buddy Steve Bettmer's side did us a favor, scoring a late goal to upset Swift Hesperange, 2-1.

Victoria Rosport FC are the 2013 Promotion Division Champions!

Captain Jeff Oster happily accepted the championship trophy, and we'll show it to our supporters next week at our final home fixture in the league.

[Greyfriars Bobby]

11 May 2013

Rosport 3-1 Diekirch

GK: Oster
D: Scholer, Maiget, Loose, Bernard
M: Rodrigues, Leweck, Battaglia, Ferreira
ST: Schiltz, Laroche

A season record crowd of 574 turned out at Victoriarena to watch us defeat Diekirch in our final league match of the 2012-13 season.

Goals by Jeremy Laroche and Kevin Maiget got us off the blocks quickly. Maiget's was a sharp header from a Ferreira corner.

I wanted Laurent Schiltz to get a big ovation from the supporters, so I subbed him out at 86'. What did his replacement, Anton Bozic do? He fired in a goal in stoppage time.

Yesterday, the Football Association announced that Olivier Lickes would serve a two-match ban for violent conduct in the Cup quarterfinal. That's why he didn't play tonight, and he'll also miss the semifinal against Differdange.

With the Promotion Division season done, save the playoffs, here's what awaits several of the clubs.


Rumelange, the third place club, will play Grevenmacher, 12th in the National Division. The winner earns a spot in the National Division for next year.
Erpeldange, 12th in the Promotion Division, faces Avenir Beggen. The winner will play in the Promotion Division; if Erpeldange lose, they are relegated.
Oberkorn, who's 11th in the Promotion Division, faces a similar playoff against Spora, with a spot in the Promotion Division at stake.

[Greyfriars Bobby]

19 May 2013

Our Luxembourg Cup semi-final against Differdange is today, and the promotion/relegation playoffs also took place this afternoon.

Avenir Beggen won promotion to the Promotion Division with a 2-0 victory over Erpeldange. My former assistant, Kevin Bianchini, will be managing at a lower level next season.

Rumelange will join us in the National Division next year, after their 1-0 victory over Grevenmacher.

Two extra-time goals gave Steve Bettmer's Oberkorn side a 3-1 triumph over Spora that preserved Oberkorn's place in the National Division.

Here's the final Promotion Division table for 2012-13:

http://i106.photobucket.com/albums/m249/BigSix_2006/Luxembourg%20Foussball/LeagueTable2012-13_zps714bf211.jpg (http://s106.photobucket.com/user/BigSix_2006/media/Luxembourg%20Foussball/LeagueTable2012-13_zps714bf211.jpg.html)

[Greyfriars Bobby]

19 May 2013
Luxembourg Cup Semi-Final

Rosport 2-1 Differdange

GK: Oster
D: Scholer, Loose, Maiget, Bernard
M: Rakic, Pazos, Leweck, Ferreira
ST: Laroche, Schiltz

We're through to the final, on the strength of a 2-1 victory over Differdange, a strong National Division side with five Luxembourg internationals in their ranks.

Jeremy Laroche's goal on 10' was quickly answered by Differdange's Alen Milak. A tough, gritty defensive battle ensued, until Christophe Pazos put Laurent Schiltz through for the game-winner, three minutes short of full time.

Yannick Loose once again delivered a Man of the Match performance (7.5), anchoring a back line that had to deal with the constant threats of forwards like Milak and Omar Er Rafik.

Next up will be Dudelange, whom we'll face at Stade Jozy Barthel a week from today.

A nice plus: reaching the semi-final put a cool €5000 in our bank account.

[bbgunn]

Congrats on winning the division!

[Greyfriars Bobby]

Congrats on winning the division!

Thanks! We were the pre-season favorite, so I'm glad the side made the predictions come true.

I've never managed a league champion in Football Manager, so this has been a lot of fun. It's a different kind of reward from a victory in a knockout competition; I've won a minor cup with a FM club before. The excitement of a "one and done" situation can be exhilarating, and the satisfaction of proving yourself over the long haul provides a different kind of reward.

Now we'll see how the National Division treats us. It will be interesting to see what the board's expectations for next season will be. Last year's Promotion Division winner, Wiltz, is going right back down after one season in the top flight. They finished 13th, two points from safety.

Thanks for following along and commenting. :)

[Greyfriars Bobby]

http://i106.photobucket.com/albums/m249/BigSix_2006/Luxembourg%20Foussball/150px-Feacutedeacuteration_Luxembourgeoise_de_Football_logosvg_zps54725b0f.png (http://s106.photobucket.com/user/BigSix_2006/media/Luxembourg%20Foussball/150px-Feacutedeacuteration_Luxembourgeoise_de_Football_logosvg_zps54725b0f.png.html)

26 May 2013
Luxembourg Cup Final
FC Victoria Rosport v. F91 Dudelange
Stade Josy Barthel, Luxembourg

GK: Jeff Oster (C)
D: Christophe Scholer, Kevin Maiget, Yannick Loose, Billy Bernard
M: Andy Rakic, Christophe Pazos, Alphonse Leweck, Carlos Ferreira
ST: Jeremy Laroche, Laurent Schiltz

For the first time in their 85-year history, FC Victoria Rosport stepped onto the pitch at Luxembourg's national stadium to play for the Luxembourg Cup.

Our opponent, Dudelange, have reached the final three times since their founding in 1991, and lost last year's final to Differdange. They were runners-up in the National Division this year, losing the title by a single point to Jeunesse Esch. Of course they entered the match as favorites, led by Luxembourg forward Joel Kitenge.

It was clear from the opening whistle that, again, we were facing a much higher level of competition than we did in the Promotion Division. Laroche or Schiltz would appear to break free, and Dudelange defenders would close the gap. Schiltz released a ferocious strike about midway through the first half, but their keeper, Michael Menetrier, swallowed it up.

However, Dudelange weren't able to score against us, either. Yannick Loose, in particular, was wherever he needed to be to foil their attacks. Through 90 minutes, the score remained 0-0.

Jeremy Laroche had picked up a knock early in the second half, but I left him on the pitch. I subbed Thomas Battaglia for Maiget, who was suffering through a very rare off night, and Pazos (whose fitness has never been exemplary) was gassed and came off for Marc Binsfeld.

I'm glad I stuck with Jeremy. On 98 minutes, he took a pass from the maestro, Ferreira, got just enough space, and fired for the top of the net, just far enough right to elude Menetrier's fingertips. Goal, Rosport!

I set everything that could be set to defensive and waited for Dudelange to attack. We nearly got a second goal on the counter, Schiltz banging a shot hard off the crossbar, but Oster didn't have to make a save in the last 20 minutes.

Final score: Rosport 1, Dudelange 0.

http://i106.photobucket.com/albums/m249/BigSix_2006/Luxembourg%20Foussball/luxembourgcup_zpsb35b66ad.jpg (http://s106.photobucket.com/user/BigSix_2006/media/Luxembourg%20Foussball/luxembourgcup_zpsb35b66ad.jpg.html)

[Greyfriars Bobby]

12 June 2013

The players have been on their break since the beginning of the month, and they won't return for a few more days. On the 10th we're hosting our Cup final opponents, Dudelange, in our first pre-season friendly. That should be interesting, shouldn't it?

We earned €5000 for making the final, and another €20,000 for winning it. Needless to say, the board is pretty happy with that. I'm trying to figure out what kind of upgrades I might want to ask them for, while my "political capital" and their bank balance are both high.

Two of the players have represented their country in the weeks since our season ended.

On 7 June, Luxembourg hosted Portugal in a World Cup qualifier at a sold-out Stade Jozy Barthel. Kevin Maiget was in the starting XI at center back. Portugal won, 3-1, which surprised nobody, and Maiget had an experience he'll tell his grandkids about. He was turned inside out by Cristiano Ronaldo, who then scored a very emphatic goal.

Kevin fared much better in a 1-1 draw with Hungary yesterday. He started, played 80 minutes, and posted a 7.1 rating that was the best along the Luxembourg back line. It was a friendly, but it was still a fine performance.

Left back Daniel Schroeder, who had a good season for our U20 side, received his first U21 caps in two lopsided losses against Norway and Singapore. None of the Luxembourgers played well, so Daniel's in good company with his mediocre performances.

[Greyfriars Bobby]

24 June 2013

The players have returned, because we need to prepare for our first European competition. :)

As the Luxembourg Cup holders, we're qualified for the EURO Cup competition. We were placed in the First Qualifying Round, and we've drawn FK Jagodina as our opponent.

Jagodina is a club in the Serbian SuperLeague, the highest division in Serbian football. They are one of the higher profile clubs in Serbia, behind only Partizan, Red Star, and possibly Vojvodina. They will be a formidable opponent, and the first leg of the tie will be played there on 4 July. We'll host the second leg on 11 July, so the friendly against Dudelange is now off the schedule.

In the meantime, we've scheduled a friendly against Jeunesse Esch on the 29th.

[Greyfriars Bobby]

30 June 2013

Today, the supporters named Laurent Schiltz their Player of the Year. Their choice wasn't surprising, but they picked the most deserving player.

Here is Rosport's Best Eleven for 2012-13:

http://i106.photobucket.com/albums/m249/BigSix_2006/Luxembourg%20Foussball/BestEleven_zpsa08bb2a8.jpg (http://s106.photobucket.com/user/BigSix_2006/media/Luxembourg%20Foussball/BestEleven_zpsa08bb2a8.jpg.html)

http://i106.photobucket.com/albums/m249/BigSix_2006/Luxembourg%20Foussball/BestElevenStats_zps57ebd89b.jpg (http://s106.photobucket.com/user/BigSix_2006/media/Luxembourg%20Foussball/BestElevenStats_zps57ebd89b.jpg.html)

I would have chosen Laroche over Bozic, even without Jeremy's Cup-winning goal. Still, I'd take this side into battle any day.

I also learned that the board is going to turn FC Victoria Rosport into a semi-professional club!

I will have a yearly salary budget of €329,000 and a transfer budget of €6,250 to work with.

Now I will have a new challenge: keeping a high-quality side together within the constraints of a budget. I have a lot of research to do...which of my current players do I try to sign? Which ones do I allow to walk away? Do I try to sign someone new during the July transfer window?

Stay tuned...

[Greyfriars Bobby]

I've managed semi-professional clubs in FM before, but I've always taken the job with those clubs already established at that level. When I took over, they had players under contract, with a certain amount the club's salary budget already dedicated to them.

This time, I have NO players under contract and €329,000 to spend. My backroom staff isn't under contract, either...so I'll have to hire them, too.

So, here's the situation I face.

Here's the maximum salary the board will pay a player at each status level:

Key Player €22,000
First Team €9,500
Rotation €5,500
Backup €4,200
Hot Prospect €9,500
Youngster €6,500

And here's what they'll pay staff members:
Assistant Manager: €20,500
Coach: €12,500
Head Physio: €10,000
Chief Scout: €11,250
Scout: €3,200
I've been given permission to add more coaches and scouts now, too. :)

Before I begin, there's one thing I wish I knew. What might happen to the players in my club if I don't offer them part-time contracts? Will some of them stick around as amateurs, or will they all leave?

Right now they're all on amateur contracts, with no expiration dates...so if I simply left them alone, might some of them remain with Rosport as amateurs? I'm assuming some of the better players, like Kevin Maiget or Billy Bernard, will sign with another club if I don't offer them a semi-pro contract. I'm obviously going to offer them the opportunity to turn pro with Rosport. It's the more marginal guys I'm thinking about.

Any insight any of you could provide would be helpful.

[Greyfriars Bobby]

In the meantime, I'm taking a look at what kinds of salary requests my players have, starting with the goalkeepers. I'm also providing their ages, and my assistant manager's evaluation of their current and potential ability.

Goalkeepers

Jeff Oster: Age 23. 1 star current ability, 3.5 stars potential
Asking for €2,200 and Rotation status

Kevin Hartert: Age 34. 0.5 stars current/potential
Asking for €1,300 and Backup status

The two younger keepers in our system are asking for €2,800 and €1,700 respectively, and they each have 0.5 star potential.

My first inclination is to offer both Jeff and Kevin what they're asking for. After all, I could afford to pay about 150 Jeff Osters at that salary. I realize I'll also have various bonuses to pay (appearance, goal, clean sheet, loyalty, etc.), too.

I might instead see if there's a younger guy out there who would play for us for about the same thing we'd be paying Hartert.

Again, please feel free to chime in with any suggestions, feedback, etc. :)

[Greyfriars Bobby]

Defenders

Billy Bernard: Age 22. 4.0 current/potential
Asking for €7,750 and Key Player status

Yannick Loose: Age 28. 1.5 current/potential€
Asking for €2,600 and Backup status

Kevin Maiget: Age 22. 4.5 current/potential
Asking for €8,000 and Key Player status

Christophe Scholer: Age 23. 2.0 current/3.5 potential
Asking for €2,300 and Backup status; €2,900 if he appears for Luxembourg

Thomas Battaglia: Age 20. 3.5 current/4.0 potential
Asking for €4,100 and First Team status

Tim Heinz: Age 29. 2.0 current/potential
Asking for €2,400 and Backup status

Gregory Molitor: Age 33. 1.0 current/potential
Asking for €2,600 and Backup status. Jeunesse Esch has major interest in signing him.

Almin Babacic: Age 29. 1.0 current/potential
Asking for €2,300 and Backup status

Laurent Pellegrino: Age 40. 0.5 current/potential
Asking for €1,300 and Backup status

Reinaldo Da Luz: Age 16. 0.5 silver current/2.0 potential
Asking for €5,000 and Hot Prospect status

I'm guessing I wouldn't have to offer part-time contracts to my 14-year-olds to get them to stay, would I?

It looks like it would cost me €38,350 to pay all these guys' salaries.

I like Pellegrino and if I can afford to keep him, I will. He's our vice captain, and he's tutoring Patrick Redzepagic, a 14-year-old center back. I'm tempted to let Molitor go, since he's asking for more than the other reserves and doesn't offer as much bang for the buck.

[Greyfriars Bobby]

Midfielders

Carlos Ferreira: Age 32. 4.0 current/potential
Asking for €8,000 and Key Player status

Alphonse Leweck: Age 31. 3.0 current/potential
Asking for €3,000 and First Team status. Differdange is interested in signing him.

Christophe Pazos: Age 23. 3.5 current/4.0 potential
Asking for €2,800 and First Team status; €3,500 if he appears for Luxembourg

Andy Rakic: Age 32. 2.5 current/potential
Asking for €2,400 and Backup status.

Laurent Jans: Age 20. 4.0 current/potential
Asking for €7,500 and Key Player status; €9,750 if he appears for Luxembourg

Thorsten Wittek: Age 36. 2.0 current/potential
Asking for €2,200 and Backup status. Ulm, from the German Third Division, is interested in signing him.

Marc Binsfeld: Age 26. 3.0 current/potential
Asking for €2,900 and Backup status; €3,800 if he appears for Luxembourg

Jonathan Rodrigues: Age 22. 1.5 current/2.0 potential
Asking for €2,500 and Backup status.

Kevin Feller: Age 19. 1.0 silver current/1.5 potential
Asking for €2,800 and Youngster status; €3,400 after 30 league games

Theo Backes: Age 16. 1.0 silver current/2.0 potential
Asking for €4,900 and Youngster status; €6,250 after 30 league games

The entire bill for signing all the midfielders would come to €39,000, with another €6,000 or so if all the incentives kicked in.

Jans won't be cheap, but he's a boss, and he's only 20. I'm definitely making him an offer. The supporters would have my head if I let Ferreira get away, although his attributes have begun to slip a little bit. I'd like to think Backes will be his heir apparent; we'll see. It will be pricey to find out.

It might be time to let Wittek go, especially if I can sign almost all the guys who are better than he is.

Again, any comments would be welcome.

[Greyfriars Bobby]

Forwards

Laurent Schiltz: Age 31. 2.5 current/potential
Asking for €4,400 and First Team status

Jeremy Laroche: Age 32. 4.0 current/potential
Asking for €4,500 and First Team status

Roland Saboga: Age 34. 3.0 current/potential
Asking for €2,500 and Backup status

Anton Bozic: Age 27. 3.5 current/potential
Asking for €3,000 and First Team status; €3,900 if he appears for Luxembourg. Avenir Beggen is interested in signing him.

Alex Pott: Age 24. 2.5 current/3.0 potential
Asking for €3,100 and Backup status; €4,000 if he appears for Luxembourg.

Claude Codello: Age 20. 2.5 silver current/0.5 potential
Asking for €2,800 and Youngster status; €3,500 after 30 league games

Arlindo Neves Cunha: Age 20. 0.5 silver current/0.5 potential
Asking for €300 and Youngster status; €350 after 30 league games

I would have thought these glamour boys would command top dollar, but their combined salary requests total €20,600. Add in about €2,500 more if they all meet their incentives.

I've already offered Laurent Schiltz his contract. The folks in Rosport would want him to be the Grand Duke of Luxembourg, as long as he could still turn out for the club.

ANC's hat trick against Erpeldange more than earned him 300 euros.

Pott and Schiltz also help the club in another way. They were trained at Rosport for three years between the ages of 15-21, and we must have four such players on our 25-man roster for the EURO Cup.

If my math is correct, the total salary bill for all the players I've listed above comes to €105,950. That's less than a third of our budget! Could this be?

Do I possibly have the money to try to lure some exciting new talent to Rosport? Do I even want to do that, and risk damaging the mojo we've created with our 2012-2013 double?

[Greyfriars Bobby]

4 July 2013

After taking a quick look around at the quality of the players who might be interested in signing with Rosport, I decided to offer contracts to almost all the cast of characters from last year's side. The board made it possible for me to meet the players' requests, so I figured it was probably good to go ahead and offer contracts before other clubs had a chance to snap them up.

Here are the players who have signed for Rosport for next season:

Goalkeepers: Oster, Hartert.
Defenders: Maiget, Bernard, Loose, Heinz, Babacic, Scholer, Lickes, Pellegrino.
Midfielders: Ferreira, Jans, Battaglia, Leweck, Binsfeld, Pazos, Feller, Rakic, Wittek.
Forwards: Schiltz, Laroche, Pott, Bozic, Saboga, Neves Cunha.

I did sign one new player, and I'm excited to bring him on board. His name is Tom Siebenaler, and I first noticed him playing as Kevin Maiget's center-back partner for Luxembourg. He's 22, and our staff rates him as a 3.5 star player, with the potential to add another half-star. That assessment fits well with his attributes; he's big, strong, fast, and a rugged tackler. Tom signed with us from Differdange, where he played in 26 matches last season. He'll be paid €5,250 this season.

With Siebenaler on board, we're paying just under €95,000 in salaries. I've also signed assistant manager Pit Theis for €15,000 and coach Mike Hoffman for €12,500. Our scout, Manou Schauls, turned down our offer, but he's still hanging around, working for nothing. So is our physio, who is, frankly, terrible.

I've made a few transfer offers, and we'll see if anything comes of them. Meanwhile, it's off to Serbia for the first leg of our EURO Cup tie.

[bbgunn]

Sorry I can't give any advice about the contracts, but you are lucky to be able to sign your whole cast!

[Greyfriars Bobby]

4 July 2013
EURO Cup, First Qualifying Round

Jagodina 1-0 Rosport

GK: Oster
D: Scholer, Siebenaler, Maiget, Bernard
M: Pazos, Leweck, Battaglia, Ferreira
ST: Schiltz, Laroche

I don't think anyone is too surprised by this result, unless they expected Jagodina to beat us by more than one goal. Honestly, I'm not too put off by it, either. Their goal was a very good one, scored by a very talented striker. Guys like Franja Lilic are paid good money to score goals, and for good reason.

I didn't start Andy Rakic, who wasn't close to being fit after straining a thigh muscle in training, and Billy Bernard picked up a knock and had to go off at 33'. Billy will be OK, but we missed him in the back.

We didn't win, but we left ourselves in a decent position for the home leg of the tie. And I think the players enjoyed traveling to Serbia and playing in front of a crowd of 7500, a bigger audience than most of them have ever had at one of their matches.

Jagodina will travel to Luxembourg for the second leg in a week.

http://i106.photobucket.com/albums/m249/BigSix_2006/Luxembourg%20Foussball/Jagodina-Serbia_zpsbd3f9e6b.jpg (http://s106.photobucket.com/user/BigSix_2006/media/Luxembourg%20Foussball/Jagodina-Serbia_zpsbd3f9e6b.jpg.html)
Jagodina is a beautiful city of about 75,000. Its name comes from the Serbian word for "strawberry."

[Greyfriars Bobby]

Sorry I can't give any advice about the contracts, but you are lucky to be able to sign your whole cast!

No problem. Once I added up the totals, I realized I could swing it. Nobody's demands were outrageous; I figured I might have to open the vault to keep a couple of the young stars in the side, or to meet the demands of a guy like Jeremy Laroche for one last big paycheck.

Most of the Rosport guys, even the ones who are stars at this level, have weaknesses. I think that's what keeps them from drawing the attention of big clubs outside Luxembourg.

It also appears that the youngsters I didn't offer contracts have decided to stick around, at least for now. Gregory Molitor is the only guy who left, going back to the Promotion Division with Diekirch.

Thanks for checking in and commenting.

[Greyfriars Bobby]

11 July 2013
EURO Cup, First Qualifying Round
Stade Josy Barthel

Rosport 2-0 Jagodina
Rosport win, 2-1 on aggregate

GK: Oster
D: Scholer, Siebenaler, Maiget, Bernard
M: Rakic, Jans, Battaglia, Ferreira
ST: Schiltz, Laroche

Maybe it was the result of traveling all the way from Serbia, but Jagodina's players were showing signs of fatigue from the opening whistle. When I realized their fitness levels were in the 70s (our guys were in the 80s), I decided to adopt a more aggressive mentality. That meant switching from Contain to Standard, but I didn't want to pull out too many stops. Jagodina are a more talented side, after all, with a better player at every position than we have, except for one.

That one is center back Kevin Maiget, and he played superbly. He won Man of the Match (8.4), and he deserved it.

Our goals both came in the first half, a crisp finish from Jeremy Laroche off an Andy Rakic cross, and a Laroche-to-Schiltz move in the area that Laurent tucked past their keeper.

Schiltz' goal put us up 2-1 on aggregate, and we needed to make sure Jagodina didn't score again. If they did, they would go through, since they scored an away goal. On 74', I subbed Christophe Pazos and Yannick Loose for Rakic and Laroche, dropped Battaglia back to DMC, and awaited Jagodina's assault. I guess they were simply too tuckered out to attack too ferociously, and we left the pitch with a 2-0 victory and a berth in the Second Qualifying Round. :)

Our opponent will be Jablonec, from the Czech First Division. Again, we'll face a much more highly-respected club; they have a three-star reputation, and we merit half a star. The supporters are delighted that we've gone this far, and we've banked a cool €100,000 for our efforts so far. The board can't be too unhappy about that.

With European football to think about, I've let my assistant, Pit Theis, handle the friendlies. More on those later.

http://i106.photobucket.com/albums/m249/BigSix_2006/Luxembourg%20Foussball/Stade_Josy_Barthel_zps84de23bd.jpg (http://s106.photobucket.com/user/BigSix_2006/media/Luxembourg%20Foussball/Stade_Josy_Barthel_zps84de23bd.jpg.html)
Our EURO Cup match was moved to Stade Josy Barthel, because Victoriarena didn't meet the capacity guidelines for this competition.

[Greyfriars Bobby]

18 July 2013
EURO Cup, Second Qualifying Round
Stade Josy Barthel

Rosport 2-1 Jablonec

GK: Oster
D: Scholer, Siebenaler, Maiget, Bernard
M: Rakic, Jans, Battaglia, Ferreira
ST: Laroche, Schiltz

Jablonec are an even better side than Jagodin. Both clubs have three-star reputations, but Jablonec entered the EURO Cup in the second round, rather than having to advance to it with a win.

The only club in the Czech Republic with a clearly superior reputation is Sparta Prague. Jablonec are worth €4,000,000; we're worth €375,000. But, today, we proved we belonged on the same pitch with them.

They took the lead through David Kuchynka on 38' and carried it into halftime. We weren't playing badly at all.

On 70', Andy Rakic was fouled in the area, and the referee pointed to the spot. Jeremy Laroche stepped up to take it; the keeper guessed which way Jeremy would shoot, but Jeremy put it just out of his reach. We'd drawn even, and the crowd of 2,997 at Stade Josy Barthel roared their appreciation.

Once again, the hero was Kevin Maiget. His diving header off a Ferreira corner put us ahead on 86', and we held on for the win. We'll take a 2-1 lead to Jablonec for the second leg.

I've seen referees let much harder fouls than the one on Rakic go unpunished, and I'm sure Jablonec feels like they were jobbed.

There's no way we're a better side than Jablonec.

But, tonight, we were.

[Greyfriars Bobby]

23 July 2013

I wonder sometimes if there is something about the football culture of Luxembourg that stands in the way of the development of wide midfielders.

Our MR, Carlos Ferreira, has been superb...but he was born in Lisbon and is a naturalized Luxembourger. Our ML, Andy Rakic, is an Aussie, and he's still almost 700 days away from gaining Luxembourg nationality.

The Luxembourg national side plays their captain, Kim Kintzinger, at MR or AMR. He's a natural right back. Steve Bettmer, who plays ML/AML, is a natural defensive midfielder.

Andy Rakic can be a challenge to manage. His Stamina is so low (4) that he's unable to play a full match without getting fatigued and, despite the fact I'm listed as a Favorite Personnel, he reacts negatively to my comments more than the entire rest of the club put together. If my options for a private chat with him included "Man up," I would definitely send him that message.

Andy is 32, so he's on the down-side of his career, and I'd like to bring a younger player in so I can make use of what talent Andy still has as a backup. I found two very good options and, like Ferreira and Rakic, they're both from somewhere other than Luxembourg.

Morgan Betorangal, age 24, is from the African nation of Chad. He's played in Luxembourg since 2010, spending time with Union 05 and Dudelange. Last year, he got into 19 matches with Dudelange, scoring 4 goals, but he didn't seem to be part of their plans. I can't figure out why, because the man can play. He made his debut as a Chad international last season, and has appeared for his country five times. Betorangal is comfortable playing anywhere along the left side of the pitch.

Mickaël Leoni is a Frenchman, the same age as Betorangal, and he's also played for two Luxembourger clubs--Jeunesse Esch and Hamm Benfica. He was released from Hamm Benfica on a free on 30 June, and several clubs in Belgium and Luxembourg began to court him. Mickaël is most comfortable playing AMC, but he's comfortable on the left wing and at AML.

I could see how both Morgan and Mickaël could fit into the Rosport club's plans. They're similar players; as you might expect, Morgan is more sound defensively and Mickaël is more dynamic offensively. They can both fill several roles, and they're both young.

Both men have a sense of their worth as footballers, and their salary demands were high, by our standards. I've got some cash to spend, however, and it's not like players from all over Europe are lining up to come to a little-known club in Luxembourg. Leoni requested €10,000, and Betorangal asked for over €13,000. A little back-and-forth resulted, and both players backed off their initial requests.

I would have been happy with either player, but now I have both of them. Leoni signed for €9,250, and Betorangal for €12,250.

Mickaël and Morgan provide us with a little more tactical flexibility. A 4-4-2 diamond will work better now, with Mickaël at AMC and Morgan on the right wing. Or, we can run the formation Luxembourg uses: four in back, with two central midfielders, attacking midfielders on both sides, and two strikers on top. Ferreira likes to play AMR, and Leoni would fit well at AML.

Neither Betorangal or Leoni are eligible for the second leg of our EURO Cup tie, so they'll make their Rosport debuts when the National Division season begins next month.

[Greyfriars Bobby]

25 July 2013
EURO Cup, Second Qualifying Round

Jablonec 5-0 Rosport

GK: Oster
D: Scholer, Siebenaler, Maiget, Bernard
M: Rakic, Leweck, Battaglia, Ferreira
ST: Laroche, Schiltz

Sorry, Cinderella. The ball is over, and it's back to reality.

Back on their own grounds, Jablonec's class showed. Their second goal was the clearest demonstration of the true difference between their side and ours. Jan Dembinny streaked up the wing with the ball, blowing past Christophe Scholer like he was wearing clown shoes. Dembinny crossed it to Marek Sustr, who flicked his foot and put it under Jeff Oster's outstretched arms for a goal.

The match could probably have been closer than it was, because after Sustr's goal made the score 2-0, Jablonek took the lead, due to their away goal in the first leg. I went on the attack, hoping we could pull one back, but instead Sustr scored again. Even after we switched to a more defensive mentality, Jablonek kept the goals coming. Sustr had a hat trick.

Thomas Battaglia (7.4) played well in a losing effort. Scholer (4.9) got wrecked. Maiget (6.4) was the best of our defenders.

Still, our first experience in European play was a lot of fun. While most players in the National Division were playing friendlies with other Luxembourger clubs in front of 50 people, we faced famous clubs from Eastern Europe before audiences of several thousand.

(Dudelange were put out of the Second Qualifying Round, too, losing 8-4 in aggregate to FC Steaua Bucharest.)

Now, the National Division season will begin. Want a shot at a big payoff? Put a couple euros down on Rosport to win the league. Sky Bet has the odds of a Rosport victory at 2000-1. "The bookmakers appear convinced that your team lacks the quality to mount any sort of title challenge in your first season up and that you would do well to stay in the division."

[Greyfriars Bobby]

3 August 2013

Jeunesse Esch 3-4 Rosport

GK: Oster
D: Betorangal, Siebenaler, Maiget, Bernard
M: Leoni, Jans, Battaglia, Ferreira
ST: Bozic, Schiltz

Our first National Division match was far from a defensive struggle. Jeunesse Esch took a 2-0 lead, through Wang Chu, who is quite possibly the only Chinese-Luxembourger player in the world, and Oselas, their venerable Brazilian striker. Oselas is 41, and his goal was his 100th for Jeunesse Esch. We were faced with the task of coming back from a two-goal deficit without Jeremy Laroche, who was out with a bad cold.

Laroche's replacement, Anton Bozic, pulled one back early in the second half. Kevin Maiget, who played most of the game with some kind of knock that nobody saw until his condition dropped to 50%, headed home a corner to equalize at 67'.

Several minutes later, we replaced a weary Laurent Jans with Alphonse Leweck. He quickly made his presence felt. Tom Siebenaler played a long ball ahead of Bozic, and their keeper, came out to intercept it. He tried to clear it from danger, but Leweck got to it first, about halfway between the top of the box and the midline. Alphonse let it bounce and hit it on the half-volley, straight into the unguarded goal.

This time it was Jeunesse Esch's turn to equalize, and they did, with a goal by Damien Miceli. It looked like we'd leave Esch with a draw until 87', when Billy Bernard, playing with a gashed leg, fed Leweck inside the area. Leweck tucked the ball between the keeper and the right post for the game-winner. Needless to say, Alphonse was the Man of the Match. Coming off the bench to score twice in ten minutes will do it. :)

Jeunesse Esch was the National Division champion last season, and they were the oddsmakers' pick to win it again this year. Bringing home three points from their grounds was big. I'd prefer not to let in three goals--that's eight we've conceded in our last two matches. And, since we learned Bernard is hurt badly enough to miss the next two or three weeks, tightening up our defense won't be easy.

The full name of today's opponent is AS La Jeunesse d'Esch Alzette. Founded in 1907, they are one of Luxembourg's two oldest clubs, and they are the most successful, with 29 National Division titles.

http://i106.photobucket.com/albums/m249/BigSix_2006/Luxembourg%20Foussball/13085_cropped_840_530_90_5062fad39b107_esch-sur-alzette-2-_zpsd54525e0.jpg (http://s106.photobucket.com/user/BigSix_2006/media/Luxembourg%20Foussball/13085_cropped_840_530_90_5062fad39b107_esch-sur-alzette-2-_zpsd54525e0.jpg.html)
Esch-sur-Alzette is the second largest city in Luxembourg.

[Greyfriars Bobby]

5 August 2013

Now that we're up in the National Division, my house rule about not signing players away from clubs in our division is no longer in effect. Other National Division clubs are courting our players--Christophe Pazos, in particular.

I'd been frustrated by the fact that I couldn't get any coaches to sign with our club. The board is allowing us to build a bigger coaching staff, and there are a number of backroom staff candidates without jobs in Luxembourg right now. They've been out of work for over a year; I know, because I've been trying to sign them that long. None of them are willing to discuss a contract. Apparently they prefer being unemployed. Are they waiting for Bayern Munich to sweep them off their feet? Ain't happening, boys.

This week I remembered that Rumelange has a player with coaching attributes--Marcin Siebert, the elder Bash Brother! I made an offer of $2000 for the transfer, and Rumelange accepted it. Today, Marcin Siebert became player-coach for Rosport.

Siebert is 27, and he's a decent center bacl, but he plays a position where we're especially strong. He's here for his coaching talents, which are already very good by our league's standards. Marcin is Polish, but he also speaks English, Letzburgesch, and French. We're paying him a coach's salary, too. He'll earn €13,750 a year.

Now I'm tempted to see if we can get his younger brother Mateusz, too.

[Greyfriars Bobby]

12 August 2013

Rosport 4-1 Rumelange

GK: Oster
D: Lickes, Siebenaler, Maiget, Babacic
M: Betorangal, Pazos, Battaglia, Ferreira
ST: Laroche, Schiltz

We didn't have much trouble with Rumelange, another of the three clubs that moved up to the National Division this season.

I decided to welcome Marcin Siebert to the club by allowing him to pick the side that would face his former team (and his younger brother) today. Marcin likes Olivier Lickes a lot, so he got the start at left back. Almin Babacic played in Bernard's spot on the right.

This might have been Christophe Pazos' last match in Rosport. He was born in Spain, and several Spanish clubs are trying to sign him. I'd listen to the right offer, but I don't want to let Christophe go for nothing. He says he's happy with Rosport, at least for now.

Jeremy Laroche is over his cold, as demonstrated by his brace of goals tonight. On the second one, two Rumelange defenders closed down on Laurent Schiltz, leaving Laroche completely unmarked. Laurent got him the ball, and in that situation, Jeremy is going to score.

Morgan Betorangal made his first notable contribution to Rosport football tonight. He played a beautiful, low cross to Schiltz, who scored one of the easiest goals he'll get all year...thanks to the quality of Betorangal's cross.

Kevin Maiget set up the fourth goal by heading the ball to Laurent Jans, who slotted it in from just inside the six-yard box.

[Greyfriars Bobby]

16 August 2013

This week, Kevin Hartert went to the media, complaining about not getting first team football. Let's see, Kevin. You're 34, and you're not as talented as our other goalkeeper, who is 23. You signed your contract under the expectation you'd be the backup. What about this picture is hard to figure out?

Hartert wanted to leave, so I obliged him, at the cost of €1000.

Now I'm looking for another keeper. He doesn't have to be a superstar, since I'm satisfied with Jeff Oster. A guy who is good enough to fill in when Jeff needs a rest, or if he's away on international duty, will be fine. There are some good young keepers in Germany, Belgium, and France whose clubs want to loan them out; if one of them will come to Rosport, I'd let him split time with Oster.

Laurent Jans, Kevin Maiget, and Morgan Betorangal all turned out for their national teams this week. Laurent and the Luxembourg U21 side drew with Hong Kong, 1-1. Kevin came on as a sub in Luxembourg's 4-1 victory over Chinese Taipei at Stade Josy Barthel, and he played well (7.0) rating. Morgan was in excellent form for Chad in their 5-1 romp over South Sudan, laying on two goals and finishing with a 9.0 rating.

[Greyfriars Bobby]

17 August 2013

FC Racing 2-2 Rosport

GK: Derix
D: Scholer, Siebenaler, Maiget, Heinz
DMC: Battaglia
M: Betorangal, Ferreira
AMC: Leoni
ST: Laroche, Schiltz

A different look tonight, with a 4-4-2 Diamond formation and a new man between the posts.

Yannick Derix comes to us on loan from the Dutch club MVV Maastricht. He's 22, stands 6'4", and he's considered one of his club's best young players.

Honestly, Derix is a lot better player than I thought I would be able to find. He commands his area exceptionally well, communicates effectively with his defenders, and has the reflexes of a cat. We're paying half his salary, which comes to €6,250, but I think he'll be worth the money.

His debut with Rosport will be one to forget, however. With the score level, 1-1, in the 86th minute, poor Yannick went up to intercept a cross...and knocked it into his own goal.

Fortunately Jeremy Laroche, wearing the captain's armband tonight, took his goalkeeper off the hook somewhat by scoring on a ferocious strike--into the top left corner from 20 yards--a minute into stoppage time.

Tim Heinz, who is usually a central defender, played well at right back tonight.

Last year, we conceded four goals to Racing in a friendly. We've come a very long way since then. :)

[Greyfriars Bobby]

25 August 2013

Differdange 0-1 Rosport

GK: Derix
D: Scholer, Siebenaler, Maiget, Bernard
M: Betorangal, Bastos, Jans, Ferreira
ST: Schiltz, Laroche

Hey, we're on TV!

We were featured on the Sunday night match on Luxembourger television for the first time this week. It wasn't a classic exhibition of the beautiful game, but at least the nation got to see us pull out an away victory against a high-profile club.

Yes, there's a new man in the Rosport eleven this week. On Monday, Marcin Siebert recommended I check out André Bastos, a midfielder with Hamm Benfica that he really liked. I liked him, too, so I decided to see what kind of salary might entice him to change clubs. Bastos wasn't happy at Hamm Benfica--he wasn't getting much playing time--so he was ready for a change. Hamm Benfica accepted our free transfer offer, and we signed him for a VERY economical €2,200 contract.

André plays best at DMC, but he's competent as a midfielder or attacking midfielder in the middle or the left side. He is in absolutely horrific shape--his Natural Fitness is 3--but he can work wonders with a football. His passing, dribbling, crossing, and technique are all above average for our league, and his mental attributes are solid, too. At 22, he fits well with my determination to build a core of solid young players at the club.

In the back of my mind, signing Bastos feels like taking out an insurance policy against losing Christophe Pazos, who continues to be courted by Spanish clubs. Real Sociedad want him for their "B" squad, as do Celta and Tanarife. They aren't offering any money, and I'm sure not going to give him away for nothing--not as long as Christophe wants to stay, and so far, he does.

Bastos announced his arrival in Rosport with the game-winning score. :)

After Yannick Derix's frightful debut last week, I thought another go might help him with his confidence. Derix thanked me with a clean sheet.

This is the last week of the summer transfer window, and while we have no urgent needs, I won't rule out the possibility of a deal...but only if it's the right one.

http://i106.photobucket.com/albums/m249/BigSix_2006/Luxembourg%20Foussball/Differdange_zps7fe79249.jpg (http://s106.photobucket.com/user/BigSix_2006/media/Luxembourg%20Foussball/Differdange_zps7fe79249.jpg.html)
Evening in Differdange. The streets are empty because everyone is at home, watching the Differdange-Rosport match on TV.

[Greyfriars Bobby]

31 August 2013

We play Fola Esch at Victoriarena tonight, and it's been a busier-than-expected last few days on the transfer market...complete with a big surprise or two.

Arrival: We had one remaining spot that I thought was a little bit soft, by National Division standards. On paper, Christophe Scholer ought to be just fine at left back, but on the pitch, he's been struggling all season long. We had a 23-year-old D(L) named Mehdi Kirch on our shortlist; he's been with Jeunesse Esch for two years after playing in his native France and in Belgium. We brought him in at a salary of €4,750. Not bad for a guy who rates 4.0 stars from all three of our staff members.

Kirch reminds me somewhat of a terrier: small, tough, and hard-working. I like the fact that he can play several positions capably, and his attributes are solid across the board.

Departures: The first order of business was to tell Laurent Pellegrino not to let the door hit him in the butt on the way out. The team's elder statesman at age 40, he'd been behaving like a punk all summer. His outburst at our season-opening team meeting, when he called Laurent Schiltz's words of inspiration "rubbish," cost him the vice-captaincy. So, when Hamm Benfica inquired about a free transfer, I decided to let him go. We don't need a crabby geezer around the place, especially if he's not talented enough to push Billy Bernard or Kevin Maiget off our defense.

The other goodbye was not nearly as welcome. The day before the transfer window closed, Anton Bozic asked to be put on the transfer list. I guess I could have seen it coming, since he wasn't playing regularly enough for his liking; Laurent Schiltz and Jeremy Laroche are tough to put on the bench. I obliged Anton--he didn't want to stay anyway--and, fortunately, he didn't sign with a National Division rival. He's now with Avenir Beggen, from the Promotion Division.

[Greyfriars Bobby]

31 August 2013

Rosport 3-1 Fola Esch

GK: Oster
D: Kirch, Siebenaler, Maiget, Bernard
M: Betorangal, Pazos, Bastos, Ferreira
ST: Schiltz, Laroche

We took the lead through Schiltz's goal, but Fola Esch's Ronny equalized before the half. Two goals from Laroche within four minutes, right around the hour mark, put us ahead.

When we're leading late in the game, I've started removing a striker and bringing in a fifth defender, usually Yannick Loose. It's worked well, so I'll stick with it. I use Alphonse Leweck as my offensive sparkplug when we're behind.

We and Kaerjeng have the same record so far: four wins, a draw, and a loss. They are ahead of us on goal differential, +8 to +7. They're also our next opponent, at Victoriarena in two weeks.

[Greyfriars Bobby]

14 September 2013

Rosport 1-1 Kaerjeng

I tried something different today. I don't know whether it was a good idea or not.

I was looking at our team report and I noticed that our strikers are actually the weakest area of our side! Jeremy Laroche (age 33 in October) is retaining his skills fairly well, and he's getting even better technically. However, Laurent Schiltz (age 31) is starting to show some real signs of age.

Meanwhile, we have a young star, Mickael Leoni, who is a four-star player at AMC. There's no AMC in our flat 4-4-2. Christophe Pazos rates four stars at MC. There aren't MCs in our 4-4-2 diamond. So I did some tinkering, and came up with this set-up for tonight's match:

GK: Derix
D: Kirch, Siebenaler, Maiget, Bernard
CM: Pazos, Jans
AM: Betorangal, Leoni, Ferreira
ST: Laroche

Ferreira, who is even more comfortable at AMR than he is at MR, scored our goal, pouncing on a fluffed clearing attempt by a Kaerjeng center back and punching it past their keeper. They equalized at 60' through Cherif Abdelkadous, their own veteran striker.

The draw kept Kaerjeng top of the table, by the same one-goal differential they had over us going in.

I'm probably going to give the 4-2-3-1 another try.

Our young goalkeeper, Yannick Derix, is enjoying his time in Rosport. He seems to especially appreciate being able to talk to Jeff Oster. He has to use his third language (German) to communicate with his teammates, and his left back, Mehdi Kirch, doesn't speak German. Maybe Yannick can learn some Letzburgesch.

[Greyfriars Bobby]

21 September 2013

Rosport 4-0 Eztella Etterbruck

4-2-3-1 Asymmetric
GK: Oster
D: Kirch, Siebenaler, Maiget, Bernard
M: Battaglia, Betorangal, Jans, Ferreira, Leoni
ST: Laroche

I'm not sure how much I can read into a result like this one against Eztella Etterbruck, an 11th place club, but I was pleased with the way we played in this formation. We took 19 shots to their 6, and had possession 62% of the time.

Jeremy Laroche, for one, will hope we try this one again. He struck for a hat trick, which gives him 8 goals in league play--best in the National Division. In 23 league and cup matches with us, Jeremy has scored 23 times.

Laurent Jans got the other goal for us, his first in a Rosport shirt.

Billy Bernard (8.3) was the best of our defenders, although they all played well. Morgan Betorangal provided a beautiful assist, and so did Carlos Ferreira.

Next week comes a tougher test: away to Dudelange, one of the powerhouses of the National Division.

[Greyfriars Bobby]

28 September 2013

Dudelange 1-1 Rosport

Flat 4-4-2
GK: Derix
D: Kirch, Siebenaler, Maiget, Bernard
M: Betorangal, Jans, Pazos, Ferreira
ST: Schiltz, Laroche

We last faced Dudelange in the finals of the Luxembourg Cup last spring, and we beat them, 1-0. This time, at their grounds, we drew, and it was as even a match as the scoreline would indicate.

We weren't as active offensively as we were in the last match, but I think that had more to do with the opposition than our formation.

Joel Kitenge scored for them at 37', and Laurent Schiltz equalized at 59'. Both goals were more the result of errors by defenders than anything else. Schiltz's goal went in off the crossbar, and Kitenge's "strike" looked like Uncle Bill kicking off his slipper.

Joel Pedro, their good young midfielder, drew a second red card and was sent off on 83', but it was too late for us to take much advantage of the situation.

I've been rotating Yannick Derix and Jeff Oster in goal, and it seems like poor Yannick keeps drawing the tougher opponents. Our next two fixtures are both good sides--Swift Hesparange (5th) and Petange (3rd). We play Swift on our grounds, so I might give Derix that start and use Oster away to Petange.

This result, combined with Petange's 0-1 loss to Differdange, put Dudelange in second, one point (17) behind us (18).

[Greyfriars Bobby]

1 October 2013

We got a tough break yesterday, literally and figuratively. I had just been thinking about getting striker Alex Pott into the lineup this week. Attribute-wise, he's nearly a dead ringer for Laurent Schiltz now and, at 24, he's almost seven years younger.

Yesterday Pott fractured his wrist in training, and he'll be shelved until sometime in November.

He's got company on the injury list, too. Laurent Jans strained a groin and will be unavailable for 4-5 weeks, too. He had really started to assert himself in the middle of the pitch. I'll fill his slot with a combination of players: Andre Bastos, Alphonse Leweck, maybe Thomas Battaglia.

[Greyfriars Bobby]

5 October 2013

Rosport 1-2 Swift Hesperange

Flat 4-4-2
GK: Derix
D: Kirch, Heinz, Maiget, Bernard
M: Betorangal, Battaglia, Pazos, Ferreira
ST: Laroche, Schiltz

We lost our first league match of the season, as Swift scored in stoppage time. We outplayed them in every sense, except in the one that makes the difference.

Our goal came through Jeremy Laroche, at the end of a tic-tac-toe passing sequence with Billy Bernard and Carlos Ferreira.

Tim Heinz started in Tom Siebenaler's usual spot, more because I wanted Heinz to get some playing time than because of a lack of form or fitness on Siebenaler's part. Tim played well; his 7.0 rating was the highest among our back four.

This one's not on Yannick Derix, either. He was solid, and both their goals were good ones.

We missed Laurent Jans and his ability to dictate the play as a deep-lying playmaker. Without him, we seemed less fluid most of the evening.

I probably should have kept us in an Attacking strategy longer. We looked good when we had that offensive mind-set, and I backed off to Control after we went up 1-0. For some reason, we don't seem to play well with a Control strategy, and I'm not sure why that is.

Dudelange are top now, with 20 points in 9 matches. We and Petange are next with 18, and we are ahead by one in goal differential, +10 to +9.

The three-week break in the league programme is coming up, but we'll almost certainly have a Luxembourg Cup tie in the meantime.

[Greyfriars Bobby]

7 October 2013

Our latest Mr. Crabby Pants is Arlindo Neves Cunha. Coach Mike Hoffman told me about a chat he had with ANC about playing time. It seems that he thinks he's good enough for first team football.

I brought him in to talk, and he was snarky from the beginning. Come on, Arlindo. You aren't scoring for the Reserve side. Sure, you did have that hat trick last spring, but that came against a weak side in the Promotion Division. You're sixth on our depth chart at striker, behind Laroche, Schiltz, Pott, Saboga, and Codello. The 15-year-old, Yves Baumert, is showing loads of potential. You're not getting first team football here, my friend.

Nothing I said seemed to satisfy him, so I swallowed the €500 it took to release him and sent him on his way, rather than allow his unhappiness to spread through the changing room.

[Greyfriars Bobby]

26 October 2013

Petange 2-2 Rosport

4-4-2 Diamond

GK: Oster
D: Kirch, Siebenaler, Maiget, Bernard
DMC: Binsfeld
M: Betorangal, Ferreira
AMC: Leoni
ST: Laroche, Schiltz

Unlike most of the malcontents who come to me saying they are good enough for first team football, Marc Binsfeld has a decent argument. I told him I'd give him a chance, and this week's fixture was the perfect opportunity. Petange looked like a side who might be a little perplexed by a 4-4-2 Diamond, and Binsfeld is a natural DMC.

Marc thanked me for the opportunity by (1) making a howler of a mistake, letting Petange's Marc Nissan go unmarked and shoot on Oster from inside the six-yard box and (2) drawing two yellow cards in the span of 19 minutes--even after I dialed back his tackling intensity--and being sent off the pitch. We played a man down for 59 minutes against a very good side, on their grounds, and came away with a 2-2 draw. I'll take that.

Our first goal was a gift. Billy Bernard hit a cross from the right side and it went into the goal, which surprised everyone on the pitch. Our other goal was pretty nifty, too--a powerful 20-yard strike by Laurent Schiltz into to the bottom left corner of the net, past a diving Petange goalkeeper.

The draw kept us even with Petange, and we remain two points behind Dudelange in the National Division. Dudelange drew with Swift Hesperange this weekend.

As the holders of the Luxembourg Cup, we drew a bye in the First Round. Our opponent in the Second Round is Racing FC. Really, FLF?

http://i106.photobucket.com/albums/m249/BigSix_2006/Luxembourg%20Foussball/petange3_zps195a005b.jpg (http://s106.photobucket.com/user/BigSix_2006/media/Luxembourg%20Foussball/petange3_zps195a005b.jpg.html)
Petange, like many of the towns we visit in the National Division, is on the outskirts of Luxembourg City.

In the last two weeks, Kevin Maiget has earned two more caps, starting for Luxembourg at center back in World Cup qualifying matches against Russia and Northern Ireland. Luxembourg lost both, 2-4 to Russia and 1-4 to Northern Ireland.

Morgan Betorangal has had more success with the Chad national team. They defeated Seychelles, 4-1, with Morgan collecting an assist. He has a goal and four assists in six international matches this year.

[Greyfriars Bobby]

31 October 2013

Marc Binsfeld requested a transfer today, claiming I didn't keep my promise to give him more first team football...after I had him in my starting eleven just last week.

I decided to give him what he wants; I transfer listed him with an asking price of €500. We'll see if anyone is interested.

Meanwhile, our physio reports that Mickael Leoni is suffering from a hernia and will be out until Christmas, more or less.

Our midfield situation has gotten much more interesting in a hurry! Fortunately, Laurent Jans is back at training, and he should be ready to play this week.

[Greyfriars Bobby]

18 November 2013

Sometimes a break can be good for a club. This one was not good for us at all.

Kevin Maiget played for Luxembourg in an 0-5 loss to Ukraine. Over 8,000 Luxembourgers saw him struggle through 61 minutes of lousy football before he was substituted. He finished with a 5.2 rating.

Mehdi Kirch and Jeremy Laroche had it worse, however. They both got hurt in training this week. Kirch twisted his ankle badly, and he'll be out for 7-8 weeks.
Laroche strained a calf muscle, which will sideline him for about a month.

Needless to say, neither will be available for our Cup match against Racing FC next week.

[Greyfriars Bobby]

24 November 2013
Luxembourg Cup, Second Round

Rosport 2-1 Racing FC

4-2-3-1 Asymmetric
GK: Oster
D: Scholer, Siebenaler, Maiget, Bernard
M: Battaglia, Pazos, Betorangal, Ferreira, Leweck
ST: Schiltz

With Jeremy Laroche on the injured list and Alex Pott still not ready for action, I thought the 4-2-3-1 was the best bet for today. A nice score by Tom Siebenaler off a corner and a precise strike from Laurent Schiltz, along with a strong performance by our back line and Jeff Oster in goal, put us through to the Third Round.

It was a costly victory, however, because of a startling lack of discipline. Carlos Ferreira was booked on 73', and before my instructions to him to take it easy could take effect, he committed a stupid foul and drew another card.

We conceded one goal after that, but we held on as time ran out.

Unfortunately, Ferreira will be banned for one match, at least. He'll be unavailable when we face Hamm Benfica on Wednesday.

[Greyfriars Bobby]

27 November 2013

RC Hamm Benfica 4-2 Rosport

4-2-3-1 Asymmetric
GK: Derix
D: Scholer, Siebenaler, Maiget, Bernard
M: Bastos, Jans, Betorangal, Pazos, Leweck
ST: Schiltz

This had all the makings of a very troublesome fixture. We were playing on short rest; our starting left back and our star striker were both injured; our playmaker was suspended; we're away from our own grounds. I'm honestly not too surprised we lost this one.

Defensive midfielder Andre Bastos went off with an injury in the first half, so I brought on Marc Binsfeld. He didn't give me any reason to think he should play more than he's been playing.

By halftime we were down 3-0. I gave my angriest team talk yet, and the lads seemed to be fired up. We were doing OK with possession and we were getting shots, but they weren't good ones.

Laurent Schiltz and Christophe Pazos weren't doing anything, so I brought on Alex Pott and Roland Saboga. They seemed to light a spark under the team. Billy Bernard scored, but it was waved off; Alphonse Leweck had fouled one of their defenders. Leweck atoned for that by hammering a strike into the top left corner, and Pott converted a nice ball from Laurent Jans five minutes later. Alex's goal made it 3-2, and we were back in the match.

That's as close as we came, however, as Dimitri Kitenge scored on 88' to close the deal.

We've fallen to third now, four points behind Dudelange and one behind Differdange. We have nine days to rest and re-group before our next match.

[Greyfriars Bobby]

7 December 2013

Rosport 4-0 Progres

4-4-2
GK: Oster
D: Scholer, Siebenaler, Maiget, Bernard
M: Betorangal, Pazos, Jans, Ferreira
ST: Schiltz, Pott

This was much, much more like it!

Alex Pott's impressive performance as a substitute against Hamm Benfica earned him a spot in the starting XI tonight, and he was terrific. He had a part in three of our four goals, scoring two of them and setting up the other.

I was wondering if Laurent Schiltz was beginning to lose his game, but he was in full beast mode tonight. Both his goals were classic Schiltz. First, he escaped his mark, kept himself onside, took a feed from Pott and converted from inside the six-yard box. Then, he received a cross from Morgan Betorangal and ripped one past the keeper from 17 yards.

We were exceptionally good on defense, too. Progres managed only 4 shots against us (we had 12). Jeff Oster had his first clean sheet since September, and Billy Bernard (8.4) and Tom Siebenaler (7.9) both played excellent football.

Both our strikers earned a 9.4 rating, and Pott was Man of the Match.

I've begun to talk to some of our young core players about contracts for next season. When I get some news, I'll pass it along.