FM14 Level 8 USA Amateur Climb

[Radii]

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/BSTnaKYCQAA0JDi.jpg

Welcome to Trentini Stadium in the small town of Wake Forest, North Carolina. Built in 1940, formerly called Groves Stadium, Wake Forest University played here until they moved to Winston Salem in 1957. Since then its been home to Wake Forest Rolesville High School, and starting in January 2012, it became the new home of the Wake Forest Cougars, an amateur soccer team in the Appalachain Premier League, a fully amateur league centralized in NC/VA with some scattered teams elsewhere in the southeast. We've got 500 seats to try to fill and a lot of room to expand.



Head Coach/Management Setup

I live 3 blocks from the stadium (just like in the real world!), which is a good thing since I'm coaching this team for free and can't afford a car unless I'm able to take the team up a few ranks in the very deep United States soccer system.

37 year old Richard Dixon has no professional soccer experience, but that's ok, because no one around me does either.

I set things up so that my U18's and Reserves are managed by my staff, but they are going to be required to play the same formation as the senior team. I'll be doing absolutely everything else.



We'll look at the staff and players next. In part I chose to start with an amateur side because my options are limited and I can get right into playing games. But its safe to assume that absolutely everyone sucks. Morale will probably dictate a lot here, we could win the league or finish dead last, who knows. Ratings above 5 in technical skills are to be cherished. Injuries will be everywhere. Lets see what happens!

[Radii]

So as always with me and dynasties, I make no promises that this doesn't die in 2 days. Honestly a lot of it may depend on how easily I can get highlights uploaded, or how tedious I find it to upload a screenshot or two here and there to keep things interesting.

If I can get immersed in the team though and if we can make some progress, I really do intend to try for some crazy climb to MLS with a fake team from my hometown. I have found this concept pretty darn appealing and I've gotten into FM for the first time since my Woking/Ipswich dynasty from FM10.

Because I do want to go through all my players (which I haven't done yet) we'll probably start a little slow but once the season starts we should get through this first year pretty darn fast, by FM standards.

Getting food, and then we'll start the team review and see if we can rush through a few friendlies today.

[Brian Swartz]

Oh heck yes!!! I hope you do continue it, your other one was the best I've ever read on FM. I'll definitely be reading.

[JonInMiddleGA]

fwiw, I've enjoyed my 1+ year at Georgia Revolution thus far.

[Radii]

Wake Forest Staff


Dennis King - Assistant Coach - 32 y/o, Determination 11, Adaptability 10, discipline 9, everything else 5 or below. This is about what we expect at this level, though I will immediately look for a more determined coach if nothing else.

Fernando Johnson - Head of Youth Development - Adaptability 10, Discipline 11, Determination 7, everything else 4 or below. This is a role that I don't think existed in FM10, but since we don't expect to get much out of youth with the basically zero training we have, its not a big concern.


Samuel Glazer - Head Physio - Physiotherapy 5.


Jason Cunningham - Chief Scout - Judging Ability 3, Judging potential 3.


I fire my assistant, there are a number of coaches out there who look better, most of them are better "coaches" than assistant's, but at this level, I'll take that chance.

I also have room for one more staff member, so I'm looking to hire a regular coach to make our training a little less awful as well.

[Radii]

Oh heck yes!!! I hope you do continue it, your other one was the best I've ever read on FM. I'll definitely be reading.

Thanks :)

fwiw, I've enjoyed my 1+ year at Georgia Revolution thus far.

Yeah I had a lot of fun with my first trial run through this, enough to think it might be worth writing something up.

[Radii]

Competitions

Before we get into the roster lets look at the schedule a bit. It's January 12th right now.

Appalachian Premier League - League play doesn't start until May 3rd, so we've got months before this.

Old North Cup - This is a small North Carolina based cup. Play for it starts February 19th. Its the first competitive event we'll see. This competition has 15 teams in it. There are two North Carolina teams in Level 3, the USL-PRO league, the Carolina Railhawks and Charlotte Eagles. Everyone else is scattered through the lower divisions. Winning a game in this tourney depends entirely on the draw.

North America Amateur Cup - This is a large tournament of amateur teams. The draw isn't until June. We can make some noise here if we get lucky.

North American Open Cup - This is a prestigious tournament within the US, it looks like our equivalent of the FA Cup. The great thing about this is that all the bottom tier teams get placed in groups for Phase 1, so we're guarenteed to get a lot of experience here. Group play starts in March and continues through the end of April. While we care about this tournament a lot, this will also give us a great chance to really get to know the team before league play starts. All the teams we will face in group are in the same level of division play as us. Its an 8 team group and 4 teams will advance.


Friendlies

We only have two friendlies scheduled over the next 6 weeks. My options for additional friendlies are non-existent, so I set up a couple games with the reserve team during the longer downtimes to help with our fitness.

[Radii]

At this point there's no reason to separate senior team from reserve from U18, so here's everything. I'll note where I expect guys to land. Projected Starter in bold.

Goalkeepers

Phil Harrington - 23 y/o - Agility 8, Positioning 5, Reflexes 7, Command of Area 7, Handling 8.

Clark Garcia - 16 y/o - Agility 8, Positioning 5, Composure 8, Decisions 6, Concentration 7, keeping attributes all 4-6.

James Barton - 16 y/o - Agility 8, Positioning 6, Reflexes 8, all other Keeper traits 3-5.

Harrington seems like the more talented guy, but only slightly. Garcia though with much better composure and decision making. I don't think its generally a good idea to run a 16 year old out there every game, so its very possible that I simply alternate starts between Harrington and Garcia for some time. Barton will likely rot.


Defenders

Left

For Defenders I tend to make judgements based on Fullback (defending) and Central Defender abilities, even though my right and left defenders may play up sometimes.

David Campbell - 21 y/o - Stamina 10, Positioning 5, Marking 2, Tackling 6 - Campbell is a better athlete, and has a better work rate than Rongen, more determined too.

Sean Rongen - 16 y/o - Stamina 5, Positioning 4, Marking 6, Tackling 6 - other key mental attributes all 6-7.

There are three primary DC's who can also play on the left side. We'll look at DC's first and see if any should be added to the depth chart here as primary left side defenders.


Central


*Hernando Galvis - 24 y/o - Strength/Jumping 11, Determination 14, Positioning 4, Composure 5, Tackling 8, Heading 6, Marking 4 - With high determination and leadership, Galvis is the team captain. He can tackle a bit too if he lucks into the right position.

Jamie Marrow - 15 y/o - Str 8/Jump 13, Determination 10, Heading 8, Marking 5, Tackling 7 - all other noteworthy mental attributes 5 or 6. Marrow can also play both the left and right side of the defense acceptably, which I love for depth, especially at this level where injuries are going to happen.

Garry Garcia - 16 y/o - Str 7/Jump 7, Heading 7/Marking 8/Tackling 7, Mental attributes 4-5.

Steve Groves - 23 y/o - Str 12/Jump 13, Determination 9, Composure 7, Tackling 8, other ratings 3-5.

Joe Pickering - 15 y/o - Str 8/Jump 16, Composure 6, Concnetration 8, Decisions 2, DDetermination 8 - technical skills very poor

Don Burke - 24 y/o - Str 7/Jump 16, Technical and Mental attributes all 6 and below, nothing at all stands out.

There will probably be a lot of rotation here. Does the guy with a 7 composure but no ability to get his head on the ball trump the guy with a little technical skill but 2 decision making!? Galvis as one of the few leaders, and Marrow as a guy who can play anywhere on the back line get the early edge.


Right

Bob Varela - 15 y/o - Sta 8/Accel 10, Positioning/Marking/Tackling all 6, Work Rate 9.

Joe Jackson - 26 y/o - Sta 11/Accel 7, Concentration 3, Work Rate 9, all other ratings 5 or 6.


Both Jackson and Varela are highly determined which I like in general. With one of these guys being a 15 year old though, the most likely scenario is that they simply rotate games if I don't sign another player here.

[Radii]

I almost never run wingers in a DML/DMR/AML/AMR position, but I did get really fond of the 4-4-2 diamond formation with a DMC/AMC in FM10. Lets see what roles we do well though and try to build around it.

Midfielders

Defensive Mid

Brian Williams - 16 y/o - sta 8/str 8/accel 5, marking 6/tackling 6/passing 7, decision 7/positioning 6/teamwork 9/work rate 9

Timothy Pena - 23 y/o - St9/Str 6/Accel 6, marking 4/tackling 9/passing 5, decision 1/positioning 4/teamwork 6/work rate 10/concentration 2


Both players are "unconvincing" at MC. Williams is probably the best all around player we've looked at so far. Pena leaves an awful lot to be desired and if I want to run a DMC anywhere close to full time I'd really really hope to replace him.


Left Mid

Luca Colangelo - 19 y/o - sta 5. crossing 5/passing 4/tackling 3. Anticipation 4/decisions 4/determination 5/off ball 4/teamwork 14/work rate 10

Adrian Salas - 16 y/o - sta 4. crossing 3/passing 3/tackling 1. Anticipation 3/decisions 1/determination 15/off the ball 6/teamwork 2/work rate 3

Dylan Rose - 16 y/o - sta 5. crossing 5/passing 5/tackling 1. anticipation 1/decisions 2/determination 12/off ball 1/teamwork 7/work rate 10 - Best at AML, but decent enough ML

Salas does have notable speed compared to most players on the team. I have Colangelo listed as my starter but would likely rotate the two at first and give Salas' speed a chance to make a difference.


Central Mid

Gary Glaser - 17 y/o - first touch 7/marking 5/passing 5/tackling 3. creativity 3/decisions 2/determination 7. off the ball 4/positioning 4/teamwork 7/work rate 11

Ashley Sandoval - 16 y/o - first touch 5/marking 2/passing 5/tackling 3. creativity 3/decisions 2/determination 7. off the ball 6/positioning 5/teamwork 7/work rate 12 - can play AMC secondarily

Bayard Perkins - 24 y/o - first touch 3/marking 6/passing 4/tackling 3. creativity 4/decisions 5/determination 9. off the ball 4/positioning 3/teamwork 5/work rate 9 - can play AMC secondariliy

Mark Shakespeare - 16 y/o - first touch 3/marking 5/passing 6/tackling 3. creativity 5/decisions 5/determination 10. off the ball 6/positioning 2/teamwork 4/work rate 9. Can play ML

Glaser/Sandoval get a slight edge due to teamwork/work rate, I suppose. Both of them with a slightly superior first touch too. There is a problem though that these are the only four MC's on the roster at any level. If I want to play a more standard 4-4-2, or a 4-1-4-1 which I had some success with before, I would need to sign a couple more players here unless I got miraculously lucky with injuries.


Right Mid

Ian Cooper - 16 y/o - sta 10. cross 8/passing 6/tackling 2. anticipation 3/decisions 3/determination 13. off ball 7/teamwork 4/work rate 8. - primarily AMR

Tim Reading - 25 y/o - sta 4. cross 6/passing 5/tackle 2. anticipation 3/decision 3/determination 13. off ball 2/teamwork 3/work rate 7.

Bo Thompson - 16 y/o - sta 5. cross 5/pass 5/tackle 3. anticipation 3/decisions 4/determination 13. off the ball 3/teamwork 4/work rate 7 - Primarily AMR

Gary Martin - 27 y/o - sta 5. cross 3/pass 3/tackle 2. Work rate only mental ability over 5. AMR/AML/MR.


Three of these guys are primarily attacking mids, though Cooper looks like he could work out real nice at the standard MR position as well. Martin is a waste of space no matter the position.


Central Attacking Mid

Ronnie Navarro - 16 y/o - Accel 6. Dribble 6/First Touch 7/Passing 6/Technique 3. Creativity 3/Decision 4/Flair 10/Off Ball 6/Work Rate 10

Ashley Sandoval - 16 y/o - Accel 12. dribble 2/first touch 5/passing 5/technique 4. creativity 3/decisions 2/flair 11/off ball 6/work rate 12.

Bayard Perkins - 24 y/o - Accel 7. Dribble 3/First Touch 3/Passing 4/Technique 6. Creativity 4/Decisions 5/Flair 10/Off Ball 4/Work Rate 9


So the problem here is that Navarro is primarily a striker and Sandoval/Perkins are primarily MC's and weaker attacking. Though to be honest they aren't great at either even by amateur standards. If I have enough other strikers I could see rotating Navarro/Sandoval here if I wanted to force my 4-4-2 diamond formation.

I am a little scared that I've looked at almost my entire roster and have no confidence in which formation is going to be best for us.

[Radii]

Strikers

Ronnie Navarro - 16 y/o - Pace 9. Crossing 5/Dribble 6/Finish 5/Heading 4. Anticipation 2/Composure 5/Flair 10/Off Ball 6/Work Rate 10

Jonny Clark - 16 y/o - jump 14/str 10. finish 7/first touch 5/heading 5. Anticipation 6/Bravery 4/Determination 9/Teamwork 9/Work Rate 12.

Leon Roth - 16 y/o - pace 7. cross 2/dribble 4/finish 3/heading 5. Anticipation 4/composure 4/flair 5/off ball 7/work rate 9.


Only 3 strikers on the roster. Clark is listed best as a target man. He's pretty decent looking as an Advanced Forward too though, the only big hole there is poor pace. His flair is as good as Navarro's though.

[Radii]

So Now that I look this over more, it looks like we're really being pushed into a formation with wingers, which is fine, its just not something I've played in awhile.

Left Attacking Mid

Dylan Rose - 16 y/o - accel 9/agi 11/balance 9/pace 10. cross 5/dribble 4/technique 10. decision 2/flair 16/off ball 1.

Luca Colangelo - 19 y/o - accel 6/agi 8/balance 7/pace 7. cross 5/dribble 5/technique 5. decision 4/flair 16/off ball 4

Brian Davidson - 19 y/o - accel 9/agi 6/balance 9/pace 8. cross 5/dribble 5/tech 5. decision 4/flair 15/off ball 5.

Rose probably wins here despite being non-existant off the ball... he's the best athlete of the bunch with a big advantage in technique.


Right Attacking Mid

Ian Cooper - 16 y/o - Accel 4/Agi 6/Balance 5/Pace 9. Cross 8/Dribble 6/Technique 13. Decision 3/Flair 13/Off Ball 7

Gary Martin - 27 y/o - Accel 9/Agi 8/Balance 8/Pace 11. Cross 3/Dribble 3/Technique 3. Decision 2/Flair 10/Off Ball 5

Bo Thompson - 16 y/o - Accel 11/Agi 9/Balance 9/Pace 10. Cross 5/Dribble 2/Technique 5. Decision 4/Flair 14/Off Ball 3

Johnny Clark - 16 y/o - accel 5/agi 7/balance 5/pace 5. cross 5/dribble 5/technique 5. Decisions 5/flair 12/off ball 7.


Martin can play right and left side, though he's right footed only, so he's clearly better on the right. Cooper is the best technically by a ton, but less of an athlete.



Formations

So I think this gives us our answer. Our primary formation at least at the start of the season will be a 4-5-1 with a DMC, two central mids, and attacking mids on each side.

We have a lot of central defenders, even though they aren't really standouts, I could see more defensive options coming out of this being a 5-4-1, dropping the wingers back and subbing a DC for the DMC, and a 4-1-4-1 where we simply pull the wingers back to give us more of a defensive shape.

Player Acquisition Goals

With only 3 strikers on the roster and injury issues being what they are at this level, there is no way we are running any two striker formations. I'll probably try to pick up one striker no matter what just because injuries can pile up so badly.

I also need MC depth pretty badly, again knowing injuries will likely come, and knowing that none of these guys are great athletes and there will be a lot of player rotation happening, with only 4 MC's on the roster a single injury would destroy me.

From a talent perspective my second DMC looks awful, I really really want to replace him. Other than that, its hard to make any plans. No one is safe if I can find upgrades that want to come to Wake Forest, so it 100% depends on the market. So that's the next step, to get my scout moving and to start to figure out what moves I can make.

[Radii]

I officially set my tactics to 4-5-1, 5-4-1, and 4-1-4-1. I set us up for fitness training, hoping to get these guys fit ASAP so I can start working on tactics, because its going to take more than a full year to learn any tactic even reasonably well.


New Coaches

We welcome 27 y/o Spencer Wadsworth to Wake Forest as our new assistant coach. Determination 19, Adaptability 12, Discipline 11, Motivating 5. His coaching is awful, but no worse than the dude we just fired, so overall this is a nice upgrade.

30 y/o John Sammons also joins us as a coach. 16 determination/18 discipline/7 attacking/6 technical, he'll coach up a little offense and take a little pressure off our assistant.

[Radii]

January 18th - Senior vs Reserve Match

I'm pretty careful about setting this one up as I want my starter and backup from each position on the senior squad so I can control playing time. Normally I fly through friendlies but lets watch this one since its the first time we've ever actually seen these players.

GK: Harrington
DL: Campbell
DC: Galvis
DC: Marrow
DR: Varela
DMC: Williams
MC: Glaser
MC: Sandoval
AML: Rose
AMR: Cooper

16: We give up a goal on a free kick, a cross and header not stopped. 0-1

17: Free kick from near midfield, the ball is played into a very crowded box, it hits someone and falls to the ground, Sandoval is first to it and slams it into the net. 1-1

44': AMR Cooper is hurt and has to come off. Martin is in as his backup.

45': first highlight in almost 30 minutes, a crappy shot from 30 yard out that wasn't remotely close from Sandoval.

HALF: DC Marrow and MC Glaser have minor injuries too.

58': Wholesale subs here to get everyone a little time running around in a sort of real match.

82': We have a really nice play off an interception near midfield, one pass ahead from a DC to a mid, a lobbed ball into the box and a nice volley from our backup striker Roth, but Roth was called offsides. Still nice to see the play.


Wake Forest 1 : 1 Wake Forest Reserves


Man of the Match: Ashley Sandoval (MC)
Notables: Sandoval (7.3)

Everyone else on the team is in the 6.4-6.8 range. No one played badly really.


Injuries

The bane of amateur teams with worthless physios and awful training, a lot of people are going to get hurt trying to prepare for the season:

AMR Ian Cooper - out 9-12 days with a bruised shin.

DC Jamie Marrow - 6-8 days, dead leg.

Not bad, We get out of our first friendly without month+ injuries, I'll take it!


I don't think we learned a whole lot though. And our next two opponents are in much higher divisions, so I don't know if we get a lot out of this except for fitness until the North American Open Cup starts.

[Radii]

No luck with the integrated youtube, this took like 15 minutes of upload/processing time, but at least its a solution:

<iframe width="853" height="480" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/2xobgIwbn-Q" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

[Radii]

After a few days my scout has given me a nice big list of local players to look through. I end up making offers to players at numerous positions, if all of them were accepted it would overhaul the team quite a bit. We'll see who is interested though.

New Signings

24 y/o DL Danny Coggins joins us from North Meck Soccer Club, where he was a reserve. They're a division above us, so he's come here for the promise of playing time.

Marking 6/Tackling 7, Accel 9/sta 8, Anticipation 5, Concentratio 8, Positioning 6/Teamwork 5/Work Rate 9.

His Marking and Tackling are as good or better than anyone else we have on the roster, without really giving away anything anywhere else. Coggins will come in and immediately start.


20 y/o MC Jhonatan Mora - I didn't misspell the first name. That's Jhon.

First Touch 12/Marking 4/Passing 5/Tackling 2. Creativity 2/Decisions 4/Determination 14. Off Ball 4/Positioning 2/Teamwork 8/Work Rate 12.

Not very good outside of probably having the best first touch on the entire team. But remember that we only have 4 Central Mids on the entire roster, and our options were limited. Without a lot of highly skilled technical players I take the guy with the best determination and work rate.

He's also the best athlete, pretty fast, and a natural fitness of 17, which might help at these injury prone super low levels.

That was a lot of writing to say "meh, a rotation player unless he shows himself to be better on the field" :P

[Radii]

New Signing

16 y/o DR Steve Arroyo

Arroyo was a U18 player for the Richmond Strikers, yet another player a tier above us who joins to the promise of playing time.

Marking 10/Tackling 9, Anticipation 8/Positioning 8/Teamwork 8/Work Rate 12. Stamina 10. Those numbers are basically spectacular for this level. His all around technical skills make him the best defender on the team and its not even close. He is slow, with an acceleration of 3, and a concentration of 3, so perhaps prone to lapses, but the guys we had in place there couldn't concentrate on the game much better.

This gives us two very young players that will simply rotate every game at DR.


23 y/o MC/DMC Jose Alejandro Tapia

This is the first player we've signed away from a team in our own league. Tapia left the Twin City Patrol to join us, even with only a promise of being a rotation player.

First Touch 6/Marking 5/Passing 7/Tackling 5.

Creativity 6/Decisions 5/Determination 7. Off Ball 5/Positioning 5/Teamwork 5/Work Rate 6.

Most of those numbers are ok, he's nice and consistent without any 1's scattered in critical spots, but the low teamwork/work rate could be a problem since he's just more consistent than most... not actually all that much better. Anyway, he'll get in the rotation at MC.

Additionally, he can play DMC, which could be helpful since I don't really like my backup there, but I couldn't find better on the market so I'm keeping him.

[Radii]

New Signing

I guess I am getting everyone I went after!

26 y/o GK Amidu Gyan

4 Aerial/6 Command of Area/Handling 7/One on One 4/Reflexes 4

Composure 9/Concentration 7/Decisions 6/Positioning 8/Agility 9


Gyan is *very* slightly worse in the air (4 compared to 5), 1v1 (4 vs 6), and has notably worse reflexes (4 v 7), but is dominantly better across the board mentally, +5 composure, +3 concentration, +4 decisions, +3 positioning.

I think this makes Gyan the very clear starter and, along with DR Arroyo, likely the best new signing to date.

Gyan was a reserve keeper for the Greensboro Rangers, a semi-pro team many tiers above us. Gyan wasn't being paid and wasn't playing though. Given my impression of his ratings and knowing that I tend to start the same keeper every match, I went ahead and gave him key player status.



An AMR we were trying to sign got hurt in the last couple days and is out long term, so that transfer was cancelled. I also made a bid for a very promising looking 15 year old Striker, but he signed with a team in a higher division. So we're not getting everyone :)

[Radii]

Friendly #2

We host CASL Chelsea, a team we can play because they're nearby. They're in a much higher league than us though and we're probably going to get smashed and as a result are going to try to breeze through this one.

I do start all my new players today.

We're scoreless at halftime, with neither team putting a shot on target yet. I make all my changes around the 60 minute mark, again just worrying about fitness here.

My backup AMR gets hurt after going in.

80th minute we have a nifty give and go to get ST Roth a clean look in front of the keeper, and he puts it wide.

Wake Forest 0 : 0 CASL Chelsea

A good result for us, most ratings in the 6.6-6.8 range, new MC Jhon Mora with a 6.2. Neither team put a shot on target all match.

My new keeper Amidu Gyan was man of the match.


Injury Update

AMR Bo Thompson twists his knee and is out 4-5 weeks. Our starting AMR went down in our first friendly, but not for too long, so this doesn't hurt us too much yet.


New Signing

24 y/o AMR Ryan Crook - Another guy who was a reserve one division above us, not my first choice but not bad really.

Crossing 6/Dribbling 7/Technique 8

Decisions 6/Flair 13/Off Ball 4

Accel 8/Agi 7/Balance 9/Pace 6

Crook likely immediately becomes my backup AMR, competing with Ian Cooper, and likely rotating with him since Cooper is 16 years old.

[Radii]

New Signing

16 y/o ST Samir Pace Pace was also playing on a team above us.

Dribbling 5/Finishing 4/Heading 3

Anticipation 2/Composure 7/Flair 8/Off Ball 5/Work Rate 11/Pace 10

Not great by any stretch, but he pretty much holds up at the same level as our other attackers, and I do fear that 3 won't be enough with injury problems. Pace will get his chances.



With that, we have signed 7 new players, a lot more than I expected would come here. Three of them are clear starters (GK/DR/DL), one of them will be in full rotation (AMR), and the other three are in a mix of depth where I have no expectations for them (MC/MC/ST).

That may simply end up being too many players if we don't suffer injury problems, but I expect injury problems. Still at some positions (GK and AMR mainly where we had full depth already even to account for an injury) we may end up cutting the odd man out as a result of the signings, if the guys pushed down the depth chart aren't willing to play on the reserves or U18's all year.

[Radii]

League odds come out, despite league play not starting for 3 more months. But at this crap level really no one has any idea, and every team in the league is given equal 7-4 odds.


Transfer Deadline

We hit Feb 1 as the transfer deadline passes, but we've already made all our moves. And hell free transfers are always allowed, so its a bit of a meaningless day for us.


We get a $10k jersey sponser, which seems like a lot for a completely amateur team.


Friendly #3 - Feb 1st

We host the drastically better Raleigh Pioneers today, again just caring about fitness. Games are getting closer, hang in there!

35': We've actually dominated so far, posession and chances. Our new ST Pace has had a couple shots on target. I've also seen a nice long ball from one of our new MC's, and a nice cross from AML Dylan Rose into the box, some decent play here.

But, we make it to the half scoreless.

48': My new DR signing Arroyo, the one I've hyped as probably my best defensive player now... gets hurt and has to leave the match. Uhoh.

56': Time for those fitness subs.

The fans must be bored with these matches, they don't even get to see the bigger club come into town to run up the score on us.

Wake Forest 0 : 0 Raleigh Pioneers

MC Jhon Mora is man of the match with a 7.0 rating. 6.4-6.8 for everyone else.


Injury Update

No long term injury for Arroyo, thank god.

MC Ashley Sandoval got hurt near the end of the match though and will miss about 10 days.


Old North Cup Draw

This is the tournament for North Carolina teams. This will be our first competitive match in about 2 1/2 weeks. We could draw a USL team and get smashed 5-0, or draw a division opponent and have a good opening contest.

Ugh, wow. 13 other teams in this stage, and we get the most difficult one, the Charlotte Eagles from the top USL league. We get it at home at least!

[JonInMiddleGA]

Transfer Deadline

We hit Feb 1 as the transfer deadline passes, but we've already made all our moves. And hell free transfers are always allowed, so its a bit of a meaningless day for us.

FWIW, agreeing to participate in the media coverage of deadline day was a very good move for me (one I'd never done before since I only recently converted to FM 14).

The rumors page proved to be a wealth of information about which previously unknown to me players needed to be scouted & ultimately led to me stealing a badly needed legit backup GK just days before the start of my 2nd season at the helm of the Georgia Revolution. (My scouts had turned up nothing better than a 0.5 current, I now have a 3.5 current as my backup/possible rotation guy)

[Radii]

Friendly #4 - Feb 8th

Our last friendly, against the Reserves. I change up a lot of the starters juts for playing time reasons.

We draw a penalty early on as AMR Cooper is fouled in the box. MC Shakespeare takes the PK and scores. Not a lot of action the rest of the half.

DMC Williams picks up a minor injury and I don't want him getting hurt long term if I can stop it so i sub him out right away.

AML Colangelo gets a goal in the 61st minute, and after it we make our wholesale subs for the fitness.

We win this one easily, as we should.

Wake Forest 2 : 0 Wake Forest Reserves

AML Luca Colangelo is man of the match with 1 goal and a 7.4 rating.

Shakespeare with a 6.8 rating and the other goal. DL Coggins 7.3 on an assist, Cooper 6.8 with an assist. No poor ratings out there, 6.4+.


Injury Update

DMC Brian Williams is out for about 2 weeks. He'll likely miss our cup match, but won't miss anything that we can actually win, so that's good.



Most of our players aren't match fit yet, some are getting there though. I'll get my guys into reserves matches and U18 matches for fitness when possible, and our Cup match is really just another warmup with the crap draw.

I'll also see if I can get another friendly or two scheduled after our Cup match since there's another long downtime period.

[Radii]

FWIW, agreeing to participate in the media coverage of deadline day was a very good move for me (one I'd never done before since I only recently converted to FM 14).

The rumors page proved to be a wealth of information about which previously unknown to me players needed to be scouted & ultimately led to me stealing a badly needed legit backup GK just days before the start of my 2nd season at the helm of the Georgia Revolution. (My scouts had turned up nothing better than a 0.5 current, I now have a 3.5 current as my backup/possible rotation guy)


Oh that's interesting, I went through it the very first career I messed around with and have been skipping it since, I'll take a closer look next time.

[Radii]

Season Ticket Sales

80 people have nothing better to do than to buy season tickets to see the Wake Forest Cougars. I guess our squad does run about 35 men deep, and many of those are 15-17 years old, so I assume most of those tickets are parents and siblings.


Player Leaving

We're starting to see bids made on our players, if its a team in our league trying to poach a player I probably won't mention it unless the player chooses to leave. I will make note of higher level clubs swooping in. And of course, actual player movement.

DC Steve Groves leaves us to sign with the Blacksburg Bears. Groves was my 3rd, maybe 4th best DC, so its not a huge loss, but it is a loss of a player who would have seen significant minutes.

[Radii]

February 19th, 2014

Old North Cup First Round

Wake Forest Cougars (APL) vs Charlotte Eagles (USL-PRO)

Attendence: 213
Odds: Wake Forest Win: 20-1 Draw: 11-2 Charlotte Win: 1-14 (Favorite)

Starting Lineup

GK: Gyan
DR: Arroyo
DC: Galvis (c)
DC: Marrow
DL: Coggins
DM: Pena
MC: Shakespeare
MC: Mora
AMR: Cooper
AML: Rose
ST: Navarro

SUBS: Tapia (DM/MC), Martin (AMR/L), Pace (ST), Pickering (D LC), Williams (DMC - just off injury), Sandoval (MC), Varela (DR)

It'll take me a little while to figure out a good rotation of subs.

Yeahhhhh... look at those odds. This is the almost certainly the most difficult opponent we will face this year. We could literally go 3 or 4 years without facing an opponent of this caliber outside of a friendly and it would not be a surprise.

We come out with a defensive mindset. I instruct my players to retain possession when possible and go at a slow tempo. Lets drag this out on the chance that Charlotte has a bad day.

10': They get into the area twice here, but a shot from the right side is blocked.

14': A poor pass by Charlotte gives us an interception in their end, a through ball goes into the box but it reaches the keeper before Navarro can run onto it. The keeper with a long pass, a run down the left, cross into the box and their man Bates volleys it in. 0-1

20': Another bad pass on their side gives us possession, Rose with a ball down the left side for Navarro, he crosses into the box for Cooper who heads it but wide. But its a decent looking attack against this caliber of opponent.

22': Cross into the area for their guy Bates, its a clear cut chance but Gyan blocks it. They get a corner though, and they get a head to the set piece and score. 0-2

31': A nifty quick 2 passes after a long ball sets them up for another easy goal. 0-3

HALF: They outshoot us 8-2, with 5 on target, none for us. About what was expected.


59': Rose finds Navarro for an easy goal but Navarro was literally standing in the 6 yard box by himself when the pass was made. Just a little bit offsides.

80': They have one disallowed too for offsides.

80': Martin, Sandoval and Tapia in for Cooper, Shakespeare and Mora, just subbing out tired guys.

That's it.

Wake Forest 0 : 3 Charlotte

No one below a 6.0 on our side, Arroyo actually held up a 6.8, not bad.




Our reserves only play once between now(Feb 19th) and our next match on March 8th. I get a friendly scheduled for March 1st to keep us playing.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Our reserves only play once between now(Feb 19th) and our next match on March 8th. I get a friendly scheduled for March 1st to keep us playing.

Again fwiw, I found it damned near impossible to find friendlies that a) your board will allow on the road and b) other clubs deem worthy of the trip to play at your place. Trips to/from Chattanooga to Conyers, GA were "too far". And after losing to the Silverbacks U18s 8-0 I decided that wasn't the best plan either.

Just adds to the fitness issues which are already tough enough.

[Radii]

Injury Update

DL Sean Rongen hurts an ankle in training and is out 6-8 weeks. He's on the reserve team and 3rd on the depth chart, at best, but worth noting a long injury like that as it puts us at risk if another DL gets hurt.


Training Update

So I had the team on fitness training early on. Were reaching a point where we're going to be playing weekly for awhile and hopefully fitness won't be an issue anymore, so its time to switch to tactics training. Our mastery of our tactics are non-existent. Based on my trials runs doing this, it will take into next season before we're good at any of them.


March 1st - Friendly

We host the Carolina Dynamo, a team in a lower level USL league, still light years ahead of us, but not quite Charlotte Eagles level.

We give up 5 shots and 1 goal in the first half and get nothing of note ourselves. No injuries though!

51': midfield possession for us, a pass to Shakespeare about 30 yards out, he knocked it into the area and Navarro gets behind the defense and is first to it, their keeper rushes out but can't stop it, goal!!!


55': They quickly answer back, but who cares, whee!

70': After giving up a 3rd goal we sub out our guys.

76': A throwin in enemy territory, Tapia with a cross into the box, Martin is there unmarked, heads it and its by the keeper and into the right side of the net!

88': Tapia with a ball down the right sideline, Martin gets to it before his defender (who is hurt and not moving fast), its a cross from the right sideline, Pace gets a very awkward head to it, but somehow the keeper dives wrong for it, and it dribbles its way into the net in slow motion. Goals upon goals!!!


I can only get so excited about a friendly, but we put together some nice moves in that one.

Wake Forest 3 : 3 Carolina Dynamo

Man of the Match: Gary Martin (8.0)
Goals: Martin, Navarro (7.0), Pace (7.4)
Assists: Martin, Tapia (7.0), Shakespeare (6.8

Arroyo with a 6.1, no one below that today.

Well that was more exciting than I ever imagined it would be.



The next 7 weeks will all be matches against competition at our level in the early group stage of the North American Open Cup. I'm excited to have officially made it through the preseason, now we can really get focused on competitive play.

[Radii]

Again fwiw, I found it damned near impossible to find friendlies that a) your board will allow on the road and b) other clubs deem worthy of the trip to play at your place. Trips to/from Chattanooga to Conyers, GA were "too far". And after losing to the Silverbacks U18s 8-0 I decided that wasn't the best plan either.

Just adds to the fitness issues which are already tough enough.

Yeah. I do have some advantage in that there are three teams in Raleigh (Raleigh Pioneers, CASL Chelsea and Carolina RailHawks), which distance wise is probably the equivalent of getting to downtown Atlanta from Alpharetta when there's no traffic, maybe a little further.

The Carolina Dynamo are in Greensboro but are big enough to be able to make the 90 minute drive to Wake Forest apparently, and the USL team in Charlotte that just smashed us in the Old North Cup is sometimes an option.

I expect a very heavy dose of those teams for the forseeable future in friendlies. I'm very surprised we didn't lose one of those in an 8-0 fashion.


I have no problem scheduling my reserves as needed, but it can be a little annoying to micromanage which players are available for the reserves to make sure each side has a full roster.

[Radii]

Here is our group for the upcoming North American Open Cup. We play each team once, top 4 advance.

http://i.imgur.com/KBk6ks2.png



Player Departure

DC Jamie Marrow leaves Wake Forest for league rival Blacksburg Bears. Marrow was going to start for us and this is a pretty big blow.

With the recent departure of DC Steve Groves, this now leaves us with 4 central defenders in our organization. 16 y/o Garry Garcia and 15 y/o Joe Pickering will attempt to fill in for Marrow. We will immediately begin searching for a new DC, for depth/injury insurance if nothing else.


Marrow was also the team's Vice Captain (our other starting DC Galvis is captain). I select AMR Ian Cooper as my new vice captain.


New Signing

We quickly find a new DC.

27 y/o Tommy Lassiter is leaving the NC Fusion reserves (one tier up) to get the chance to start for Wake Forest.

Heading 8/Marking 5/Tackling 10

Composure 4/Concentration 6/Decisions 4/Determination 4/Positioning 6

Jumping 9/Str 11

Lassiter is equal or better than the other defenders we had as backups and will likely get a lot of playing time, very posssibly becoming our second starter. Lassiter also has the advantage of being able to play fullback on either side adequately.

He is also nowhere near match fit and will be playing with the reserves probably for a few weeks.



Player Departure

AMR Gary Martin has followed Jamie Marrow to the Blacksburg Bears. Martin has been featured prominently in our friendlies and was not going to start but was going to get a ton of playing time.

AMR is a position where we have significant depth and Ryan Crook will step in as the backup (and likely in full rotation) with youngster starter Ian Cooper.



Some good news on the player movement front, DMC Brian Williams was offered a position with a higher tier club, North Meck SC, and turned them down. He's one of our key starters in what should be a pretty solid defense, relative to our level of course. I was very worried about losing him.

[Radii]

March 8th, 2014

North American Open Cup Phase 1 Group O

Cedar Hill Lakers (SSD) vs Wake Forest Cougars (APL)

Attendence: 978

Odds

Cedar Hill 5-4 (fav)
Draw: 11-5
Wake Forest: 7-4

Starting Lineup

GK: Gyan
D: Coggins/Pickering/Garcia/Arroyo
DM: Williams
M: Tapia/Mora
AM: Rose/Cooper
ST: Navarro

Our captain, DC Hernando Galvis had a nasty cold earlier in the week. He's back and available but nowhere near full strength yet. With no chance of going 90 minutes, I decide to rest him today.

On the road, we start in a defensive mindset. This will likely be my default mode for awhile even with this aggressive formation.

19': We dodge a bullet as Garcia completely misplays a long ball giving their striker a clear cut chance against us. He fails horribly at getting on target though.

22': Our best chance so far as Navarro makes a run down the right and into the box for a shot. He has a man close by so its not uncontested, but it was a decent look.

38': Bot of our attacking mids have picked up minor injuries... ugh.

HALF: Scorless at the break. We outshoot them 4-3 and have the only shot on target so far. They are playing pretty aggressive, committing 11 fouls against us already.

I sub in Ryan Crook for Ian Cooper at AMR, gotta make sure at least one of my starting mids doesn't get hurt worse.

49': Crook with a nice run down the right, a floated cross, Navarro heads it and its deflected wide, Corner. Corner comes in, and there's a penalty!!!! MC Jhon Mora is going to take it, he calmly puts it into the lower left corner. 1-0

72': our new signing Lassiter comes in for DL Coggins, who isn't hurt, but must have taken a beating out there, his fitness tanked and isn't coming up all that quickly. Lassiter isn't match fit, so this is a risk.

73': Cedar Hill goal kick, we get it near midfield, Navarro takes a pass and is off to the races, running by a defender and getting a great look as the keeper rushes out. He lobs it over the keeper... but just wide.

76': A long ball down the right comes in for Cedar Hill, they win the header, sending it into the box. ST Perez rushes behind our defense and Garcia and Pickering aren't even moving. its a 1 on 1 with the keeper, who doesn't have a chance here. Easy goal for Cedar Hill. 1-1

80': They have it in our end, a pass to the near post and their man has it on top of the goal, but a little wide and its crowded back there. He can't find an angle to score.

82': MC Sandoval comes in for Mora.

90': Tapia to Lassiter, he volleys it foward from midfield, Navarro is there, evades one tackle, fires a shot... the keeper gets his hands to it, but doesn't stop it, the ball goes high into the air, comes down and slowly bounces into the goal. That should be a last minute victory for Wake Forest! 2-1


That's it!


Cedar Hill Lakers 1 : 2 Wake Forest Cougars

Man of the Match: Ronnie Navarro (7.3)
Goals: Navarro, Jhonathan Mora (6.9)
Assists: Joe Pickering (6.8), Tommy Lassiter (6.8)
Notables: Danny Coggins (7.0)

Highlight

<iframe width="853" height="480" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/_T7NdKwaYLQ" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>


Navarro's game winner!



-- We receive $7,750 for our win today, a pretty huge amount for a team our size.


Injury Update

-- AML Dylan Rose will miss about a week with the injury he picked up today.

Not bad, but enough that he'll miss our next match.

[Radii]

Player Departure

The Blacksburg Bears poach a third Cougar, today signing 16 y/o ST Jonny Clark. Clark was dead last on the depth chart, so I can't say I'm shocked to see him go.


Training Update

I've mentioned before that this will be a season long process:

http://i.imgur.com/viDkgy0.png

Yeah... we have a long way to go.

[Radii]

March 15th, 2014

North American Open Cup - Phase 1 - Group O

Wake Forest Cougars (1-0-0, 3rd) vs Port Charlotte Barracudas (0-1-0, 5th)

Attendence: 476

Starting Lineup

GK: Gyan
D: Coggins/Galvis/Garcia/Arroyo
DM: Williams
M: Shakespeare/Mora
AM: Colangelo/Cooper
ST: Navarro

Galvis is back to full fitness and a clear starter. Shakespeare and Colangelo get their first starts today, the latter due to Rose's injury. Eventually we'll have a lot more squad rotation than this week to week, but I'm happy with small changes for now.

Defensive Mindset today.

9': Some lengthy possession by Port Charlotte, there's a cross from the left side from Akin to ST Grey, he controls it reasonably well at the edge of the box, blasts a shot on a half volley and its in. No chance to stop that. It'd also be off target 95 times out of 100. 0-1

10': Cooper down the right, a low cross into the 6 yard box, Navarro volleys it in! Looked easy! 1-1

28': A goal kick from Gyan lands on the foot of Navarro about 30 yards out, the defense isn't really there... the keeper rushes out, Navarro shoots, and its just wide.

37': AML Colangelo with a minor injury.

39': Port Charlotte are dominating posession. I tell the team to hold onto the ball a little more.

43': A pass from Colangelo to Navarro about 20 yards from goal, the defense again isn't quite there, this is another clear cut chance, though not as easy as the last. The keeper gets to this one and stops it.

HALF: Pretty slow after the two quick strikes in the first 10 minutes. They dominate possession but shots are pretty even, and minimal on both sides. Their goal was pretty lucky though and we're generating better chances.

Sandoval in, Colangelo out. Sandoval at MC, Shakespeare to AML.

56': We are definitely controlling posession better now. Lots of midfield passing, then sent out to the right to Cooper, he gets into the penalty area, centers it, Navarro and a defender are there, the ball kind of settles in between them and this is where amateur play gets hilarious. They both stare at it for a moment, not knowing what to do. Then Navarro kicks it into the defenders legs, and its finally cleared.

60': Navarro out, Samir Pace in. Entirely fatigue related.

73': Pena in at DMC for Williams.

79': Maybe I should be ok with a slow draw, but eh, we're at home. Lets not hold the ball as much and lets open up and attack some.

80': Really pretty movement between Pace and Cooper. Pace sends it out to Cooper, Cooper holds the ball and draws the defense, the pops it back into the middle of the box, Pace runs onto it nicely and scores! 2-1

85': Wow. Gyan with a save... one of our DC's, Garcia, is slowly walking away from him. Gyan drops the ball and kicks it... right into Garcia. The ball bounces off Garcia, over Gyan's head and into the net. 2-2

88': Its another quick strike for Port Charlotte, a pass into the middle of the area from the left side, the defense is there, but its a nice shot under pressure and Gyan can't make the stop. 2-3


And that's it, a crushing defeat due in part to a silly, fluky own goal.

Wake Forest 2 : 3 Port Charlotte

One of their goal scorers, defender Frankie Gray, is man of the match.

Goals: Navarro (7.1), Pace (7.2)
Assists: Cooper 2 (7.3)

6.1 ratings from Arroyo and Garcia in defense today.

<iframe width="853" height="480" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/j82iuK26h2U" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

Pace's goal that briefly gave us the lead.

[Radii]

<iframe width="853" height="480" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/K6wxoefhkuQ" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

The own goal. Never seen anything like it. Amateurs!


I don't intend to pump out this many highlights all the time, excitement for the new season I suppose :)

[Radii]

Oh, and a guy telling us about issues with his League of Legends match in mumble made it in the recording, oops! I'll have to be more careful about that too hah.

[Radii]

Injury Update

AML Luca Colangelo was hurt in that loss and is going to miss 3 weeks. We call Brian Davidson up from the reserve squad for now.

... days later

AML Dylan Rose is hurt in training and is going to miss about 10 days, so he's going to be out for another match.

March 22nd, 2014

North American Open Cup - Phase 1 - Group O

Rhode Island Reds (2-0-0, 1st) Wake Forest Cougars (1-0-1, 3rd)

-- Rhode Island has two wins, 6-0 and 4-0.
Attendence: 967

Starting Lineup

GK: Gyan
D: Campbell/Galvis/Garcia/Varela
DM: Williams
M: Sandoval/Tapia
AM: Davidson/Cooper
ST: Pace

Lots of changes today, only the DC's, DMC, Cooper at AMR and the keeper stay the same.

Defensive Mindset today. Retain possession from the start.

2': A lob down the left side gets one of their forwards in a good spot, he's into the left side of the area, shoots... saved by Gyan. We stop the corner.

29': Some midfield control, a pass ahead to Pace, a through ball into the area for Cooper, its a clear cut chance... but he pushes it wide left.

HALF: And that's it, very very boring. I'm ok with that. Pace has a minor injury. I'm bringing Navarro in for the 2nd half.

65': Throwin for them at midfield, they throw it towards their own end but the defender doesn't collect it. Navarro is there and has a 1 on 1 with the keeper.. and he sends it way high. Clear cut chance and that needed to score.

72': Pena in for Williams, Mora in for Tapia.

87': Pena with a free kick from just outside the area, its on target, but saved pretty easily.

89': Davidson to Navarro, he cuts out wide and goes deep near the end line, a low cross into the 6 yard box, Mora is there... but off a defender and out for a corner. They clear the corner.

93': A goal kick sent long by Gyan, Navarro gets it and these amateur defenders just suck in these spots. Navarro into the area, 1 on 1 again with the keeper... who saves it. Damn!

Rhode Island 0 : 0 Wake Forest

DC Garcia with a 6.3 today, everyone else 6.6-6.8. Their keeper is man of the match.


So I'm happy getting a draw on the road against a team that scored 10 goals in their first two cup matches. I'm less happy with the fact that we had 2 breakaways and 4 clear cut chances and failed to score.


http://i.imgur.com/4eEjC3l.png

With 3 out of 7 matches played we're in a solid enough position here and could still easily advance.


Injury Update

our backup ST Samir Pace has a thigh strain and is out for 4-5 weeks.

[Radii]

March 29th, 2014

North American Open Cup - Phase 1 - Group O

Wake Forest Cougars (1-1-1, 4th) vs Garden Grove Boomers (2-0-1, 3rd)

Attendence: 467

Starting Lineup

GK: Gyan
D: Coggins/Galvis/Pickering/Arroyo
DM: Williams
M: Glaser/Mora
AM: Davidson/Crook
ST: Navarro

Pickering in for Garcia at DC, Garcia hasn't been good at all. Lassiter is still working on his fitness after joining the team. I'm hoping he can get a start in 2 weeks. Gary Glaser gets his first start in the midfield.

Standard mindset today at home

12': Corner for Wake Forest. Its lofted into the area, Glaser goes up for the header, he's fouled, penalty!! Mora takes it and scores! 1-0

22': We face two shots in a very crowded penalty area after some buildup on the right from Garden Grove. One shot off the bar, one is blocked.

23': Defensive time.

28': We control possession in their end, Williams to Mora, Mora sends it into the left side of the area, AML Davidson gets to it, shoots from the left side, and its in!! 2-0

37': A cross in from Garden Grove, Gyan turns it behind and its a corner. Corner comes into the 6 yard box. Gyan probably should have been able to get it, but an attacker was there to put it in. 2-1

HALF: We still lead at the half but the 2 goal lead would have been nicer.

54': Navarro takes a free kick from 25 yards out, the keeper has to dive to make the stop, but he does stop it.

58': Coggins makes an interception in the back and passes it up to Davidson. Davidson with a run down the left side... a hilarious run, he barely kept control of the ball without a defender in sight, total amateur play. But he gets a cross into the far side of the area, AMR Crook is there, runs down to the baseline, two defenders there.. he keeps control of the ball and is able to get a pass to the center, Navarro is there and blasts it in!! Pretty ugly looking outside of the finish but it totally counts! 3-1

65': Corner from Garden Grove, its sent near post and headed into the side net.

69': Shakespeare in for Davidson at AML, Lassiter in for Pickering at DC.

88': Cross in from the right for Garden Grove, a header from about 8 yards out... wide and high, not a bad look though.

92': A shot from 20 yards out for Garden Grove, Gyan pushes it away to the right, but it stays in play. They get to it and cross, headed out by the defense.

That's it, nice win!!

Wake Forest 3 : 1 Garden Grove

Man of the Match: Jhonathan Mora (8.7)
Goals: Mora, Davidson (8.3), Navarro (7.4)
Assists: Mora, Glaser (7.1), Crook (6.8)
Notables: Arroyo (7.1), Coggins (7.0)


We move into 2nd place with the win, but there's only 2 points separating 5th and 1st, so its still really wide open.


-- We get another $7,750 for the win here. Money in the bank.

[bbgunn]

Two questions:
(1) Where did you get that mod?
(2) Is there a Hawaii team in there? I always thought about doing this kind of thing with a team from Hawaii.

[Radii]

Two questions:
(1) Where did you get that mod?
(2) Is there a Hawaii team in there? I always thought about doing this kind of thing with a team from Hawaii.

Front Office Football Central - View Single Post - Football Manager 2014 - Full Game Out Now! (http://www.operationsports.com/fofc/showpost.php?p=2946956&postcount=842)

Someone on the SI Foriums released the mod, but there were some issues with it, our own AnalBumCover did the work to clean it up here.

As for Hawaii, I'm on my laptop so don't have the game open right now, but downloading that file and searching through it, I did find a team named Honolulu, so there's at least one!

You could use the editor if you wanted to move teams around.

The team I'm playing in Wake Forest isn't in the mod by default. I edited things myself to move a nearby team there.

[Young Drachma]

Following.

[Izulde]

If/when I get FM14, I'm so downloading this mod as it'd lend itself to a more story-based dynasty rather than me just screaming in fury at the game.

Will be following this with interest.

[mrtourette]

I'm not familair with the set up in the US at that level, is there any element of promotion or relegation?

[britrock88]

I'm not familair with the set up in the US at that level, is there any element of promotion or relegation?

This is a fictional mod that does include promotion/relegation.

[Radii]

Following.

Will be following this with interest.


Awesome :)


I'm not familair with the set up in the US at that level, is there any element of promotion or relegation?

What britrock said, completely fictional US System. The higher level teams all exist, and some of the low level ones do in some form (like development academy teams), but not in the same sense that they do in the game.

MLS sits at the top but with relegation and without a draft, etc.

[Radii]

April Update

-- We learn that AMR Ian Cooper and DR Steve Arroyo trained well this month. Cooper is noted to have made small gains in Anticipation, Concentration, Leadership and Teamwork. Arroyo with gains in dribbling and many mental attributes including positioning and composure.

-- The board is satisfied with my leadership. The signing of Jhon Mora is a plus, and its also noted that we made $22,220 profit last month, showing how important those $7750 rewards for cup victories are to us.

-- backup ML Luca Colangelo has resumed full training. 3rd stringer Davidson did pick up a goal in our last match and has probably earned a bit more playing time though.

April 5th, 2014

North American Open Cup - Phase 1 - Group O

Wake Forest Cougars (2-1-1, 2nd) vs Root River Bandits (1-1-2, 6th)

Attendence: 474

-- We can't clinch advancement today but a win would make it extremely likely.

Starting Lineup

GK: Gyan
D: Coggins/Galvis/Garcia/Arroyo
DM: Williams
M: Glaser/Tapia
AM: Rose/Cooper
ST: Roth

Leon Roth gets his first start at striker, some rotation elsewhere, and Rose is back in at AML as soon as he's healthy.

Standard mindset at the start.

19': Gyan has to make a save on a shot from 35 yards out, damn thing almost floated in.

31': Now their keeper does the same... really poor cross from Cooper on a long free kick, but it almost surprises the keeper.

HALF: 5 shots taken, all 5 on target (2 from us, 3 from them), but only 2 of them were even shown in highlights. A pretty crappy first half. I tell the guys to attack more in the second half.

47': A counter by Root River after an interception, a long ball to a striker that Garcia misdjudges badly, leading to a pass and shot from about 15 yards out.. Gyan with the save though, and a corner is poorly taken into the side net.

55': Another long ball from Root River poorly defended, a shot from their striker Lee is saved.

64': Tapia with a though ball into the penalty area after some buildup on our offensive end. Roth makes a run, and he's brought down from behind! That's a penalty! Yellow card for hteir defender Elliot. MC Glaser takes it and scores easily! 1-0

66': Two shots off a corner for us, but easily saved.

69': Long ball from Glaser, Roth gets behind the defense and has a 1 on 1 with the keeper.. except he either can't control the ball or just doesn't know how to shoot. He holds it up in the penalty area until a defender arrives, and the defender blocks it.

70': Davidson in for Rose at AML.

71': Cooper down the right side, a low cross into the area, Roth is there... shoots, and scores! The ellipses there wasn't for dramatic effect. Its for the delay between the time that Ross got his foot onto the ball to stop it, and actually setting up and taking the shot. The defense is just as bad as he is at least. I'm not seeing this kind of stutter from Navarro when he receives a pass usually, I assume that means something. 2-0

75': Lassiter in for Garcia, Pena in for Williams at DMC.

92': One last chance for them, a header off a long free kick is wide.

92': A last minute yellow card for defender Manzo for Root River.

Wake Forest 2 : 0 Root River Bandits

Man of the Match: Leon Roth (8.0)
Goals: Roth, Glaser (7.0)
Assists: Roth, Cooper (7.6)
Notables: Gyan (7.0), Arroyo (7.0), Galvis (7.2)

-- Another $7,750 for the win today.


http://i.imgur.com/PwF9ZAh.png


Just two matches to play, so while we haven't mathematically advanced yet, even if we lose our last two it still seems pretty likely.

[Radii]

Injury Update

-- Starting keeper Amidu Gyan strained his groin today in training, he's going to miss 4-5 weeks. Phil Harrington is back into the starting role.


-- ST Samir Pace resumes full training after his injury a couple weeks ago.

-- two weeks between matches here, I hadn't noticed that at first.

April 19th, 2014

North American Open Cup - Phase 1 - Group O

Richmond Tide (1-2-2, 6th) vs Wake Forest Cougars (3-1-1, 1st)

Attendence: 476

We can clinch advancement out of our group with a win today.

Starting Lineup

GK: Harrington
D: Coggins/Galvis/Lassiter/Arroyo
DM: Williams
M: Tapia/Mora
AM: Davidson/Cooper
ST: Navarro

Lassiter gets his first start today, I'm not sure he can go 90 quite yet, but he's getting close. Harrington for the injured Gyan, Davidson at AML instead of Rose due to recent form. Otherwise, we're starting what I think is our best team today.

Defensive mindset on the road.

11': They attack hard, geting the ball into the box twice, a nice tackle from Galvis saves us once, a header on a cross stops the second effort, and we withstand a rather long highlight in our defensive end without allowing a shot.

28': This game has been full of Richmond attacking highlights.

42': They earn a corner after a long free kick sent into the box, but we clear it out easily.

HALF: Each team has 3 off target shots. I've seen none of my own in highlights, I've seen all of theirs, and I've seen about 5 other highlights where they have put a ton of pressure on us but our defense has cleared at key moments. They hold a reasonably heavy possession edge over us and I tell the team to hold onto the ball a little more here.

46': They earn a corner right off the bat, its taken, a header.. Arroyo clears it off the line, whew.

81': Rose in for Davidson, Pena in for Williams.

92': I get to watch my first offensive highlight of the entire match, we take a corner and they clear it immediately. We keep the ball and clumsily build back up again, Rose sends a cross in from the left side and it goes through the box untouched.

The whistle finally blows around the 94 minute mark (after 2 minutes of scheduled added time).

Richmond 0 : 0 Wake Forest

They have a defender earn man of the match.

All of our ratings are between 6.2-6.8, most of them 6.6/6.7.

Ian Cooper picked up a minor injury in the final couple minutes. Damn.

Injury Update

Cooper is going to miss 3 weeks with this injury. That will see him missing a couple league matches.

http://i.imgur.com/yzkttbH.png

Three teams clinched spots in the next round today, Wake Forest are one of them. I believe after this we go straight to single elimination draw style matches. We do have one more group match to play.

[Radii]

April 26th, 2014

North American Open Cup - Phase 1 - Group O

Wake Forest Cougars (3-2-1, 2nd) vs Belleville Squires (2-1-3, 5th)

Attendence: 457

Belleville could qualify with a win against us and some help. We'll try to keep them down because why not.

Starting Lineup

GK: Harrington
D: Coggins/Galvis/Lassiter/Arroyo
DM: Williams
M: Glaser/Mora
AM: Rose/Crook
ST: Navarro

Glaser in at MC, Rose/Crook at AM, roster unchanged otherwise.

Standard mindset today.

10': Belleville goal kick, we recover it, move forward pretty quickly, Mora ahead to Navarro, he's got his man beat, he tries to chip it over the keeper from 18 yards out, but not high enough, keeper catches it.

41': AMR Ryan Crook is hurt and has to come out immediately. Crap, that's my top two AMR's gone. Samir Pace, mainly a striker, can also play an acceptable winger. He's in.

43': We earn a corner on a Rose cross into the area, first corner they head it behind, second the keeper grabs it.

HALF: We are dominating this match, 5 shots to 1, 59% of the possession, just no goals yet.

69': they intercept a pass in the midfield, a pass down the center, then sent out wide right, crossed into the area and ST King heads it in. A nice little play there for Belleville. 0-1

We'll attack to try to get the goal back.

70': It doesn't take long at all. Navarro has it near midfield, sends it ahead to Mora, the defense is closing in but he takes a shot from just outside the box and its by the keeper and in, very well placed! 1-1

75': The little used Bayerd Perkins is in at MC for Glaser.

And that's it.

Wake Forest 1 : 1 Belleville

Man of the Match: Jhonathan Mora (7.8)
Goals: Mora
Assists: Navarro (6.6)
Notables: Glaser 7.1

We were by far the better team today and we should have won that one. We needed to finish a bit better.



We luck out in that Crook doesn't have any sort of long term injury after this one.

Next up we'll find out who we play next in the North American Open Cup, and we begin league play on the road in Hickory, NC.

[Radii]

North American Open Cup First Qualifying Round Draw

We get a home match, but we're playing the Dallas Fort Worth Tornados, they're two or three full tiers above us. We will be pretty big underdogs.

The cup match also crowds our schedule up quite a bit, our league opener is May 3rd, and we will now play 5 matches between May 3rd and May 16th.

May Update

Glaser (rotation MC), Pena (backup DMC) and Perkins (backup MC) all trained well this month. ST Ronnie Navarro trained poorly and has shown a slight drop in many areas.


-- The board is pleased with my leadership. Signing Mora remains the top highlight. We also made $10,450 profit last month.

May 3rd, 2014

Opening Day!

Hickory Heat vs Wake Forest Cougars

Hickory play on the field of Lenoir-Rhyne University, its a small 500 seater just like ours.

Attendence: 192


Starting Lineup

GK: Harrington
D: Coggins/Galvis/Garcia/Varela
DM: Williams
M: Shakespeare/Mora
AM: Davidson/Crook
ST: Navarro

We make some changes because of the upcoming need to rotate players heavily in this stretch. Defensive mindset on the road today.

5': They get the first shot of the game off a free kick, but its wide.

17': Interception from Mora in midfield, a pass to Navarro, he lays it back to Williams who hits it ahead to Mora on a run, he shoots from 18 yards out, goal!!! 1-0

18': A pass from Davidson to Mora who is in the left side of the penalty area, he shoots... by the keeper, hits the crossbar, and out, so very close.

30': Disaster for us, trying to hang on to the ball deep in our own end, short passing intead of clearing. Their striker Pops just takes it away from Galvis and scores easily. 1-1

41': Free kick Hickory, they get a head on it, Harrington stops it, they get another look... blocked, and a foul on them trying to get to the loose ball. Whew.

45': Davidson with a free kick from 35 yards out, he lofts it into the box, Navarro is under it by himself, a volley, clear cut chance for sure... but he takes it at too sharp an angle and sends it wide.

HALF: We should be ahead, but that mistake by Galvis was just too big.

60': Mora picks up an injury. He can stay in, but I think I want him out ASAP.

64': Tapia in for Mora, Bo Thompson in for Crook at AMR.

74': A throwin in their territory, Davidson passes to Mora in the box, he's got a great look... but hits it just inches wide left.

86': They control it for awhile, finally getting a pass into the area for a striker, he shoots from a dangerous area, but its crowded and the shot is blocked and then cleared.

88': Sandoval in for Shakespeare.

92': Navarro tries a shot from 25 yards out, he makes the keeper dive for it which is often enough for a goal at this level, but the keeper gets to it and hangs on.

That's it, we'll take a road draw for our opener.

Hickory 1 : 1 Wake Forest

Man of the Match: Jhonathan Mora (7.3)
Goal: Mora
Assist: Williams (7.2)

Navarro really had a bad day, 5.8 rating, one of the first really poor ratings I've seen.


Our first goal of the season:

<iframe width="640" height="480" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/7NEsaQZuAaI" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>


Injury Updates

GK Gyan is back to full training, we'll see if he can start right away or not. Harrington hasn't been bad, honestly.

MC Jhonathan Mora is going to miss 2 weeks with the injury he picked up today. That's going to be 3 league matches, which sucks since he's been one of our best players, probably our single best player.

[bbgunn]

Front Office Football Central - View Single Post - Football Manager 2014 - Full Game Out Now! (http://www.operationsports.com/fofc/showpost.php?p=2946956&postcount=842)

Someone on the SI Foriums released the mod, but there were some issues with it, our own AnalBumCover did the work to clean it up here.

As for Hawaii, I'm on my laptop so don't have the game open right now, but downloading that file and searching through it, I did find a team named Honolulu, so there's at least one!

You could use the editor if you wanted to move teams around.

The team I'm playing in Wake Forest isn't in the mod by default. I edited things myself to move a nearby team there.
Excellent. Thank you! I played with a similar mod in FM2011. I nearly took San Diego Boca to the MLS Championship before I got bored with it.

[Radii]

Excellent. Thank you! I played with a similar mod in FM2011. I nearly took San Diego Boca to the MLS Championship before I got bored with it.

So I looked a little closer at Hawaii now that I have the game open, and there is a "Hawaiian Islands Invitational" Tournament in the game. The Honolulu Islanders and Hilo Tsunami play each other. Hilo is in the bottom rung like my Wake Forest team is, they're in the "South Pacific Coast" league with teams from Nevada and California it appears). Honolulu is in "Gold Coast Division 2" which looks like its a number of rungs above the bottom. they're a semi-pro team. I'm assuming those are the only two Hawaii teams.

The rest of that tournament are bigger international teams, an MLS team, a couple Japan teams and a Korean team. So its basically like the Maui Invitational in college basketball where teams come from all over to beat the crap out of Chaminade :)

EDIT: of course you could just move teams around if you wanted more in the editor.

[bbgunn]

Hey... even Chaminade beat #1 Virginia once. :) That sounds great. Thank you for looking that up!

[Radii]

May 7th, 2014

North American Open Cup - First Qualifying Round

Wake Forest Cougars vs DFW Tornados

DFW are 2 tiers above us, so this might get ugly.

Attendence: 477

DFW: 4-5 (Favorites)
Draw: 2-1
Wake Forest: 3-1

Starting Lineup

GK: Gyan
D: Campbell/Pickering/Lassiter/Arroyo
DM: Pena
M: Shakespeare/Glaser
AM: Rose/Crook
ST: Pace

Pretty close to wholesale changes since we're on such short rest. Gyan is back in the lineup after his injury.

We will defend and try to make this a slow game.

2': They send a cross into the box, we clear it... but apparently Shakespeare held his man, and there's a penalty given. Its made easily. 0-1

12'; a cross in from the right for them, Gyan punches it away, but not very far. They have a man there, clear cut chance... but he fire it wide.

41': Cross in from Crook to Pace, he get behind the defense and has a great look, but its saved.

HALF: After the early goal things get really slow.

50': A lob over the defense by their midfielder Salazar. A striker controls it extremely nicely with his chest and has a very easy shot from the penalty spot, and we're down 2. 0-2

55': A through ball to pace, he's got a great look... but saved. Glaser takes the corner, Pickering is there at the near post, and he heads it in!! 1-2

57': We control it in the midfield, Glaser with a lob up ahead into the left side of the box, Rose gets there nicely, there's no one near him, he blasts a shot, into the net!!! Two very quick goals to tie it up! 2-2

66': Shakespeare is hurt and has to come out. I bring Bayerd Perkins in for him. Tapia comes in for a tired Glaser at the same time.

81': We earn a corner, Tapia takes it near post, Pickering is there again, he just misses on the header. Almost another goal the same way as the first!

84': Roth is in for Pace.

END OF REGULATION - I totally forgot to mention the structure. There are no replays in the competitions I've seen so far at this level. Extra time/penalties if tied after 90.

100': We control it in their end, a few short passes, then Tapia hits it ahead to Crook in the area, he turns and shoots left footed, and beats the keeper, goal!!! 3-2

101': A shot from about 20 yards out for DFW is just wide.

104': Free kick from the left side for us, its played into the box, and there's a penalty given! I have no idea where, it is crowded in there, but ok! Perkins takes the penalty, goal!! 4-2

EXTRA TIME HT - We just need to hang on to a two goal lead now!!

110': Waste all the time, boys.

That's it, great win!


Wake Forest 4 : 2e Dallas-Fort Worth

There are bigger upsets that can happen, but still this is a team a good ways above us, they really should win this most of the time.

Both of DFW's goals came from the same player, he got man of the match.

Goals: Pickering (8.4), Crook (8.2), Rose (7.7), Perkins (7.2)
Assists: Pickering, Glaser (6.9), Pace (6.6), Tapia (6.9)
Notables: Arroyo (7.0), Campbell (7.2), Pena (7.0)


We only allowed them 6 shots all match, despite them winning possession 55/45. We were better in the air, winning 71% of our headers to just 54% from them, maybe they kept trying to cross it in and we were able to clear out enough. We shot 11 times and our goals were not flukey at all, they were strong strikes from good positions.


-- We receive $15,500 for the win today! Money in the bank!


-- No long term injuries for Shakespeare, so that's really good for us.

[Radii]

North American Open Cup - Second Qualifying Round Draw

224 teams in the draw here, no top teams yet in the draw.

We get a good draw here, we're going to play the Montgomery Yellowhammers, at home. They're from Alabama. They're in the Atlantic Coast Amateur League, one tier above us. (we're in the US Amateuer Regional tier, they are in the US Amateur Premier Tier).


-- We are getting slightly better at our tactics:

http://i.imgur.com/DiN5ok1.png


May 10th, 2014

Danville Villains (0-0-1, 16th) vs Wake Forest Cougars (0-1-0, 11th)

Some teams have already played 2 or 3 matches, so the standings are meaningless.

Attendence: 253

Starting Lineup

GK: Gyan
D: Coggins/Galvis/Garcia/Varela
DM: Williams
M: Perkins/Tapia
AM: Colangelo/Thompson
ST: Navarro

We change up every single one of our infield players today.

1': We get a chance out of the opening kickoff, a ball ahead to Thompson coming in from the right side, its actually deemed a clear cut chance, but he puts it over.

17': They earn two corners, first turned behind, the second is headed off the post and cleared. Whew.

21': Our second shot, also from Thomspon, our second clear cut chance, and this one is saved. That wasn't an easy one though in my opinion. Navarro lobbed it out right for him and he tried a tough volley.

28': Navarro receives a pass about 25 yards out, lobs it into the left side of the box, controlled well by Colanegelo, he shoots, goal!! That was a very tough angle, nice shot! 1-0

33': Tapia ahead to Navarro, he ends up deep near the end line, has to hold up for some help, passes to Thompson, but his shot is saved. I actually think that was an easier look than both his clear cut chances from earlier.

HALF: A decent half, but I think we're a much better team than Danville, only allowing one off target shot so far and we feel in total control. I just hope we don't regret only getting one goal.

54': Thompson is tackled hard and his fitness goes into the tank, but he's not hurt, hopefully he can recover.

57': A cross from Colangelo is turned behind for a corner, he also takes the corner and its saved.

74': Crook in for Thompson, Sandoval in for Tapia.

82': A ball into the box from them from about 35 yards out... their strike gets a head to it and its not a strong header, but its enough, its by Gyan and in. 1-1

87': Their two forwards with a give and go, ST Soto just sprints by Garcia, gets into the box and gets an esay goal. 1-2

And that's it.

Danville 2 : 1 Wake Forest

A really ugly final 10 minutes from us. We should have been ahead by more than 1 goal, and we were completely unable to get anything going in the second half, we only took 1 second half shot. They only shot 4 times all match, but those last two were both golden.

I make sure the team knows they played like crap.

Goal: Colangelo (7.1)
Assist: Navarro (6.8)

[Radii]

Injury Update

ST Roth picks up a groin strain in a U18 match and is out 4-5 weeks. I didn't realize he was playing in that, I would not have allowed it. That sucks, that brings us down to two healthy strikers. I may need to sign another just in case.

MC Sandoval is also out 4-5 weeks with an injury. That is less important.

May 13th, 2014

Wake Forest Cougars (0-1-1, 12th) vs Nashville Soul (2-0-0, 3rd)

Its our league home opener today

Attendence: 253


Starting Lineup

GK: Gyan
D: Coggins/Pickering/Lassiter/Arroyo
DM: Pena
M: Shakespeare/Glaser
AM: Davidson/Crook
ST: Pace

Coggins is the only guy out there playing 2 in a row, the rest all changed.

Standard mindset at home today.

4': We earn an early corner, taken near post to Pickering, who isn't close on the header.

5': Pace with a bit of a break, his man is close by though and he can't get a great angle... still a clear cut chance, but saved.

16': Their ST Griffiths gets a good look from 18 yards out, he sends it wide though. If he was on target Gyan probably wasn't stopping it.

33': Lassiter with a horrid clearance from our corner sees them get a great looking shot.. it hits the post. We are extremely lucky.

42': Davidson with a free kick, it hits the bottom of the crossbar and stays in play, the keeper dove after it and is down, Crook gets to the ball first and pokes it in! 1-0

44': Glaser with a shot from 20 yards out after a nice pass from Davidson, its struck hard and low, but just wide.

HALF: Solid half, we allowed 2 great looks to them but they are putting absolutely everything wide. We have a couple more shots and way more on target, I'm not pulling back to defend too much here, I want another goal.

54': throwin in their end, pace with a short pass to Davidson, to Shakespeare in the area, he shoots... saved by the keeper, the rebound goes to the left side of the 6 yard box, Pace is there and shoots from a tight angle, goal!! 2-0

56': with a 2 goal lead we'll go ahead and give the order to play more defensive.

58': The ball goes back and forth through our penalty area so many times I lose count, headers that aren't strong enough to clear the danger totally, shots blocked and recovered by Nashville... finally a shot is wide by them.

72': Colangelo in for Davidson, Cooper (recently off the injury list but not in shape to start yet) in for Crook. I pull them back into the midfield and break out our 4-1-4-1 formation for the first time.

88': Tapia in for Glaser

That's it!

Wake Forest 2 : 0 Nashville

Very strong win for us today.

Man of the Match: Mark Shakespeare (7.7)
Goals: Crook (7.4), Pace (7.6)
Assists: Shakespeare, Davidson (6.9)
Notables: Arroyo (7.0), Coggins (7.2)

[Radii]

http://i.imgur.com/DGw7M7E.png

The current standings look like this, and that's the teams in the league since I don't think I've ever shown them before.


League Structure

I assume this is an amateur thing to save money on travel costs... so there's 16 teams in the league. Instead of playing everyone twice for a total of 30 games, what happens is that everyone plays each other once, for 15 games. After those 15 games, the league "splits" into the top 7, and the bottom 9. The top 7 teams then play each other one more time (which gives them a total of 21 games played), while the bottom 9 all play each other one more time giving them a total of 23 games played. Those splits are used to determine who makes the playoffs and who gets relegated. Well, except no one gets relegated since we're at the very bottom.

So if we are in 7th place after 15 games, we break off into that top half, and if we lose every game from then on, we still finish 7th place, even though there will be teams in the standings with more points than us, they'll be from the "bottom half" and the best they can do is 8th.

More on that later, the main thing to get for now is that the top 7 is MASSIVELY important over the course of the 15 game split.

[Radii]

New Signing

16 y/o ST Pierre Reynoso signs with us from the Fayetteville Liberty, our next opponent.

Crossing 2/Dribbling 1/Finishing 5/Heading 5/Pace 4

Anticipation 1/Composure 6/Flair 9/Off Ball 6/Work Rate 10

He's not good. But hell no one on our team is. His total inability to dribble the ball combined with a total lack of ability to anticipate what's about to happen could lead to hilarious results.

We signed Reynoso because of the injury to Roth, I'm not comfortable only having two healthy players on the roster at a single position. I should have signed a guy like this awhile ago when our 4th string striker signed elsewhere.

May 16th, 2014

Fayetteville Liberty (2-1-0, 3rd) vs Wake Forest Cougars (1-1-1, 7th)

Attendence: 280

Starting Lineup

GK: Gyan
D: Campbell/Galvis/Lassiter/Arroyo
DM: Williams
M: Tapia/Mora
AM: Rose/Cooper
ST: Navarro

Mora is back from injury and immediately back in the lineup. Rose/Cooper are our best wingers, so we're fielding a really strong lineup today given the rotating that's been going on.

Standard mindset even on the road, lets see if we're better being less defensive in all situations.

3': Navarro just took a shot that went out for a throw-in. That is, he was in the left side of the penalty area, not even at the baseline... he was outside the 6 yard box. It was a bit of a tough angle... and he basically shot the ball straight sideways, and it went all the way over the sideline for a throw-in. I'm in awe.

26': Rose has two men on him, he controls the ball nicely on the left side and crosses in to Tapia. Tapia with a run into the box, lays it off for Navarro who shoots and scores a very easy goal! 1-0

HALF: We have 6 shots, the only one on target was the goal. But Fayetteville haven't managed even a shot yet. We look pretty strong here.

52': Their first shot is a scary on target shot on a free kick, but Gyan pushes it away. They get another free kick from the side, we head it behind, corner. The corner is headed clear.

67': We win a header off a goal kick and attack quickly, Rose down the left sideline, crossed into Navarro about 10 yards out, he has time to hold the ball and place his shot, but the keeper blocks it and they clear. Damn!

70': We possess the ball in the midfield, Cooper with a long lob forward, Navarro controls it very well with his first touch, dribbles into the penalty area and scores, good goal! 2-0

71': Glaser in for Mora, Mora is back but not quite ready to go 90.

77': They get a goal back on a corner, headed in. 2-1

79': Cooper has picked up an injury, hopefully not a bad one.

84': They get a great look on a long ball but Gyan makes the stop. Corner, Williams heads it away.

85': Colangelo and Crook in for Rose and Cooper. Lets be smart and defend for a few minutes here.

90': Colangelo with a cross, Navarro heads it... into the side netting, that was a decent look and almost a hat trick.

92': Ahh, full out amateur play. midfielder Johnson for Fayeteville is at the sideline maybe 25-30 yards out and sends a cross into the box. Except its a crappy cross, right at Gyan. If Gyan doesn't move, literally, the ball bounces off him and we have a shot to clear. Instead, he dives to the ground... and the ball bounces over him and into the net. 2-2

And that's how it ends.

Fayeteville 2 : 2 Wake Forest

Well, we just totally gave away 2 points there.

Man of the Match: Ronnie Navarro (8.8)
Goals: Navarro 2
Assists: Tapia (6.9), Cooper (7.4)
Notable: Williams (7.1)

We out-shot them 10-4, controlled possession, were the better passing, tackling and heading team. We were better in every way, until Gyan literally dove out of the way of the ball so it wouldn't touch him on the way into the net.


Injury Update

AMR Ian Cooper has a very hard time staying on the field. He's going to miss another week. Luckily Ryan Crook has looked pretty decent in his place.

[Radii]

May 21sh, 2014

North American Open Cup - Second Qualifying Round

Wake Forest Cougars vs Montgomery Yellowhammers

Attendence: 500

-- our first sellout!

-- Montgomery are large 1-2 favorites today, we're 9-2 to win.

Starting Lineup

GK: Gyan
D: Coggins/Galvis/Garcia/Arroyo
DM: Pena
M: Glaser/Shakespeare
AM: Colangelo/Crook
ST: Navarro

We change all but Galvis/Arroyo/Navarro in this one.

Defensive mindset against the presumably stronger team.

2': They earn a corner, we head it away but not very far, they control still in the penalty area, one pass to an open man, easy goal. 0-1

5': A long run of possession for Wake Forest, mostly up the middle on offense, Navarro gets a pass 25 yards out, holds it nicely, Colangelo cuts, NAvarro hits him with the pass, great shot, goal!! 1-1

7': Highlight opens with NAvarro making a run into the right sid eof hte area, he holds it up to wait for help, passes to Shakespeare, he puts it in! 2-1

-- that's 5 shots, 3 goals between the two teams.

We saw one highlight the rest of the half, of Navarro putting a shot well wide.

HALF: Navarro with two assists, very nice!

60': They intercept a pass in midfield and get the ball ahead quickly, a shot from the left side of the penalty area is saved by Gyan.

70': We're seeing them attack more here, Arroyo with a nice header to stop a cross coming in, they recover and shoot and Gyan has to make a save, turning it behind for a corner. Pena sends the corner away.

73': We drop back to a 4-1-4-1 formation, Shakespeare moves over to ML, Perkins comes in for Colangelo and will play in the center of the midfield.

79': Tapia in for Pena at DMC.

85': A long goal kick from their keeper, we miss it and it takes a high bounce behind the defense, their striker has a 1 on 1 against Gyan.. Gyan rushes out, and stops the shot!!

That's it! We seem to play pretty well as underdogs, at home at least!

Wake Forest 2 : 1 Montgomery

Man of the Match: Ronnie Navarro (8.3)
Goals: Colangelo (7.3), Shakespeare (7.9)
Assists: Navarro 2
Notables: Glaser (7.0)

Coggins with a pretty rough 6.3 rating at DL today.


-- We receive $31,000 for the win. That's a huge amount for this team. We actually have $100,000 in the bank now. The team has brought in $127,000 this year so far, and $70,000 of that is from prize money.

-- I take advantage of the good mood and ask the board if I can hire another physio and another coach, they agree immediately on the physio, they don't agree on the coach, but I plead with them and state that our players can't reach their potential without it, and they relent. I'm not sure why they care, the coaches are working for free anyway.

I make a couple coaching offers.

[Radii]

North American Open Cup - Third Qualifying Round Draw

So it looks like the bigger teams have yet to enter the competition still, down to 136 qualifying teams in the pool.
We draw the Ogden Outlaws from the Gold Coast 2nd Division, also a couple tiers above us. We do get the draw at home, so hey, lets pull off another upset guys!

Continuing to win in the cup matches does mean that we're never going to get any rest, but I'm not sure it really matters, since for the guys under age 18 you have to rotate a lot to keep them from getting jaded anyway, I think?

New Staff Member

We sign a new physio with a rating of 6, Josh Watts. Hopefully having two crappy physios helps a little more with the injury problems than just having one.

We also sign 34 year old Zizi Roberts as a coach. Roberts can actually coach a bit, 7 attacking/7 defending/8 man management/15 adaptability/16 determination. I put him on tactics and defending, which lets my assistant and other coach lighten their load a bit so our training improves in about 5 areas. Now we're talking about improving from 1* to 1 1/2* or 1 1/2* to 2*... so its not exactly great, but we're not paying for any of this so we might as well maximize what little we can do.

May 24th, 2014

Wake Forest Cougars (1-2-1, 11th) vs Cleveland Stokers (0-2-2, 15th)

Attendence: 247

-- So as fun as it is to make $31k for a win, we need to start winning some of these league matches instead of letting bad things happen in the final minutes.

Starting Lineup

GK: Gyan
D: Campbell/Pickering/Lassiter/Varela
DM: Williams
M: Perkins/Mora
AM: Rose/Crook
ST: Pace

Crook is the only guy trying to go two matches in a row here, and only because Cooper isn't really fit after yet another injury.

Standard mindset at home against a weaker team today.

2': We attack after a free kick in midfield, Crook crosses, its headed but not fully cleared. They get the ball but either Rose steals it away or they just have poor control and lose it while trying to clear. Either way, Rose is there in the box, gets the ball back and scores! 1-0

14': A lob by Cleveland gets a man open behind the defense (pickering way out of position), Lassiter races back though and is able to block the shot as its taken. A very key play on defense.

29': We get a great look on a cross in by Crook, Pace heads it.. into the crossbar, so close!

HALF: Each team has 5 shots, we have the only one on target, and the only goal as a result.

51': Pace with a good pass to Rose coming in from the left side... he gets our first clear cut chance, but the keeper makes the save. We get another shot off the corner, turned behind... and another shot off the next corner, but this one goes wide for a goal kick.

54': A lucky break as they get a cross and header, but its high, it was from very close range, though it was contested.

57': Their ST Sinisterra scores on a nice volley after a cross came in from the left side. 1-1

63': New ST Reynoso comes on for AMR Crook. Pace moves to AMR, Reynoso up front. Tapia in for Perkins at MC.

85': Williams is hurt and has to leave the match. Tapia moves to DMC, Shakespeare is in at MC.

85': I want to attack here.

87': Pickering with a nice open field tackle to win the ball in defense, it starts a counter attack, Rose with a long cross to Pace, Pace in the area.. he's brought down, penalty! Mora takes the penalty... and its saved. UGH.

And that's it.

Wake Forest 1 : 1 Cleveland

We're giving away points left and right in league play. I give the "aggressive" post match talk telling the team this simply isn't good enough, and many of my players are fired up as a result.

Man of the Match: Dylan Rose (7.3)
Goal: Rose
Assist: Pace (6.7)

We managed 16 shots to their 8, 6 on target to their 1, 3 clear cut chances, we wre just better in every way, we have just got to close this game out. Hell, we missed a penalty in the 87th minute!


Injury Update

DMC Brian Williams has broken his wrist. He is going to miss two months. Going into the season when I was scouting out my team I said that I thought Williams was possibly my best player, and is absolutely at the position where the difference between my starter and backup is the greatest. This is a loss that I am very sad to see.

MC Jose Alejandro Tapia can fill in as a rotational DMC along with Tim Pena, which shoudl be mostly fine.


http://i.imgur.com/h5PzVCS.png

1/3 of the way through the season. We're fine, but we do need to get some wins soon. Remember the big goal is top 7.

[JonInMiddleGA]

League Structure


Interesting, because the Atlantic Coast Premier is also a split season league but with a different split. 20 teams, play 19 games games and then split 10 & 10.
9 more games played against your "half", total of 28 regular season matches.

Same idea, executed differently.

[Greyfriars Bobby]

This looks like it's a lot of fun...a different kind of football in the American South. :)

I might have to see if my laptop can run FM 14 well enough to make buying it worthwhile, because I think this would be an enjoyable challenge.

I'll be following!

[Radii]

May 28th, 2014

North American Open Cup - Third Qualifying Round

Wake Forest Cougars vs Ogden Outlaws

Attendence: 460

No sellout!?

-- Ogden are 2-5 favorites, we're 13:2 to get this one. The odds keep getting longer and longer.
Starting Lineup

GK: Gyan
D: Coggins/Galvis/Garcia/Arroyo
DM: Pena
M: Glaser/Mora
AM: Davidson/Crook
ST: Navarro

I am very lucky that Ryan Crook is one of the stronger guys on the team in terms of fitness. Cooper should be ready to go next match. I also think Mora has been strong enough that I want to keep him in today instead of rotating for a slightly more fit player.

We're obviously defending today.

15': Coggins misjudges a cross that allows Ogden to get a really good look from about 10 yards out and they score first. 0-1

28': they cross, we head it out, but they recover the ball and we get very lucky as a shot hits the crossbar and goes just over.

30': Mora finds Davidson coming in from the left, he shoots but its way off. We've had a few offensive highlights and a few nice plays, just nothing put together yet.

32': There it is! Davidson with a run down the left, a cross to the penalty spot, Mora is there and sticks it in with a great left footed volley! 1-1

41': They build up and get a shot off from the right side of the area, but its right at Gyan. Even then, its scary, anything on target is terrifying at this level. He makes the save.

HALF: I tell the team that I honestly think they can win this one. They are outshooting us 6-3, but we are hanging on to possession nicely, with 59% of the play so far, we are doing great in the air and we are winning our tackles. We really have a shot I think.

53': We control the ball for a good long while before Mora finally works it forward, he hits Crook on the right, he shoots, but its not a great angle and he puts it into the side netting.

54': we intercept a pass in their end, Navarro goes by a man and gets a little space on the left side of the area, he shoots.. its just off the bar. That was a tough shot with his weaker foot, but a good effort.

69': Perkins in for Glaser, Pace in for Crook at AMR.

90': Throwin in their end, Mora takes a shot from just outside the penalty area, but he misses badly.

94': Mora is hurt, and forced to leave the match. Ugghhh, I don't want him hurt!

FULL TIME: Tapia is going to come in for Mora, and I've used all my subs, so this is my team for extra time.

101': A nice run from MR Myers on their side, there's a pass ahead to him, Coggins makes a great slide to get in front of him as he shoots, and blocks it.

103': Coggins yellow.

Extra Time HalfTime: We might have to hope for penalties here.

114': They shoot on a free kick, miles wide.


Full Time: And that's it, we go to penalties.

Perkins: right side, good. 1-0
Hardy: right side, good. 1-1

Coggins: bottom left corner, good. 2-1
Ammann: almost right down the middle, good. 2-2

Navarro: right side, good. 3-2
Maldonado: right side, good. 3-3

Garcia: left center, good. 4-3
Quintero: right down the middle, it hits Gyan, but goes in. 4-4

Davidson: left side, good. 5-4
Roberts: left side, good. 5-5

Tapia: top left corner, good. 6-5
Carlton: left side, good. 6-6

Arroyo: top right corner, good. 7-6
Lenweke: right side, good. 7-7

Galvis: bottom right, good. 8-7
Prado: left side... Gyan dives left, but the ball goes inches over him. 8-8

Pena: left center, good. 9-8
Myers: right side, good. 9-9

Pace: left side, good. 10-9
Angeles: lower left, good. 10-10

Gyan: slightly left of center... their keeper saves.
Rodriguez: right side, good. 10-11


Penalty kciks at this level are hilarious, the keepers are so bad they can barely move, so as long as you don't just miss the target, you're extremely likely to score. We make it all the way to keeper vs keeper, and Gyan couldn't finish.


Wake Forest 1 : 1 (10-11 on penalties) Ogden

Man of the Match: Jhonatan Mora (8.0)
Goal: Mora
Assist: Davidson (6.9)
Notables: Garcia (7.0), Galvis (7.1)


Most importantly probably, there is no long term injury for Mora.

Also, we now have a few weeks where we just have 1 match a week, before the start of the next cup competition, the far less lucrative "North American Amateur Cup".

[Radii]

Interesting, because the Atlantic Coast Premier is also a split season league but with a different split. 20 teams, play 19 games games and then split 10 & 10.
9 more games played against your "half", total of 28 regular season matches

Yeah, the 7 and 9 split is really weird. The first time I played through this in what essentially ended up a test season, I had no idea what the split was, assumed 8 and 8. I finished 7th and was very surprised to find I was the last team in!

This looks like it's a lot of fun...a different kind of football in the American South. :)

Thanks :)

[Izulde]

How are you getting tactics familiarity up as an Amateur team? I keep getting stuck at the same levels no matter how many games I use the exact same tactics.

[Brian Swartz]

FYI tactics familiarity is based on how much time you spend training the tactic(match training on tactics) not how much you use it in the matches themselves.

[Izulde]

But there is no match training for Amateur teams.

[Brian Swartz]

Ah well ... haven't played with an amateur team in a few versions. Not too sure about that one :P

[Izulde]

I mean I could be wrong. Who knows?

[Radii]

http://i.imgur.com/PB5KRO3.png


There's my team training scheduling. Looks like we're allowed to practice 2 days a week. I'll leave general training and match training on tactics for the entire season probably. By next year we'll probably know our tactics well enough that I can afford to do other things sometimes.

I have no idea about optimizing any of it, I'm just winging it for the most part.

[Brian Swartz]

You can speed it up, if you like, by moving the 'Scheduling' slider at the top(right now the progress will be pretty slow because you're not spending much time on match training. I usually have it at the other end until we know tactics well).

[Radii]

You can speed it up, if you like, by moving the 'Scheduling' slider at the top(right now the progress will be pretty slow because you're not spending much time on match training. I usually have it at the other end until we know tactics well).

That slider is greyed out, can't move it. I don't see anything official on it but some googling makes it look like semi-pro and amateur teams don't' have control over that.

[Brian Swartz]

Makes sense.

[Radii]

-- I haven't done a good job of reporting cards in matches, there aren't a whole lot usually though. It looks like suspensions start after only two yellows, even for league play? DL Danny Coggins picked up his 2nd yellow and will sit a match.


-- Two of my reserves have now come to talk to me about getting a shot at playing time. One of them was an MR only, Tim Reading, andI told him he was a backup and to deal with it. He continued complaining, so I released him. The other is DC Don Burke, I don't think he's as good as my other DC's, but its not like we're playing spectacularly well, and some of his ratings don't suck, so I tell him I'll give him a chance.

May 29th, 2014

Wake Forest Cougars (1-3-1, 9th) vs Asheville Attack (2-2-1, 6th)

Attendence: 246


Starting Lineup

GK: Gyan
D: Campbell/Pickering/Burke/Varela
DM: Tapia
M: Perkins/Shakespeare
AM: Rose/Cooper
ST: Reynoso

Lots of changes again today, Cooper is finally back in the lineup at AMR (though Crook has done quite well so I'm not sure there's really a gap in talent there like I first thought), Tapia starts at DMC, Reynoso gets the start at striker.

Standard mindset at home today.

12': They put a free kick from 25 yards on target, but Gyan saves.

20': Some nice Asheville passing, the penalty area is crowded ut they do get a look , they can't put it on target though.

35': Asheville clear cut chance, a pass comes into the 6 yard box from the left, their man is a bit slow to shoot though and we get a defender there to tackle it out. Corner goes nowhere.

HALF: Shots are even at 4, we have 3 of them on target but haven't seen any of them in highlights.

I tell the team to retain possession, they are holding the ball way too much, and its not like our quicker play is getting us more shots.

56': They get a long ball down the right, a cross, Varela heads it out, but they recover, a centering cross, Marshall is there and heads it in. 0-1

60': Lets attack.

67': Pace is in for Reynoso.

73': Pace is hurt and has to leave the field. Luckily Navarro is also available today off the bench, I had them both as subs for AM coverage. I go ahead and bring Mora in for Perkins too, to try to spark the offense.

82': I think this is the first time I saw the team shoot in a highlight, Rose puts one wide from outside the penalty area.

88': Their defense is holding the ball, we put some pressure on and force a poor clearance, Shakespeare intercepts, passes ahead to Rose, he crosses to the other side of the penalty area, Cooper with the shot, goal! 1-1

That's it, its another draw, but somehow when you're trailing all match and come back to tie it doesn't feel quite as bad when its the other way around :D

Wake Forest 1 : 1 Asheville

Man of the Match: Dylan Rose (7.5)
Goal: Cooper (7.2)
Assist: Rose
Notables: Pickering (7.1), Shakespeare (7.1)


Injury Update

Of course. Samir Pace is out for 2 months with a badly sprained ankle. ST Leon Roth is expected to have recovered from his injury in about 4 days, so we'll hopefully have three guys available again soon to play up front.

[Radii]

-- So I gave reserve DC Don Burke a start last match after he complained about his playing time. He put up a 6.5 rating, it was the worst on the team, it wasn't completely horrible though.

-- Also a note about DC Joe Pickering. When I started this I assumed he'd be my #4 DC or so, but I totally ignored the fact that the guy is 6'8", which may or may not be the reason that he seems to consistently give me much higher ratings than any other DC on the squad so far. I think he's done enough to earn first team status at this point.

June Update

-- DMC Timothy Pena, MC Bayard Perkins and MC Jhonatan Mora are all noted for training well this month. Since we're training tactics (I assume that's why at least), we're seeing lots of spots where mental attributes start to inch up, notably composure, anticipation, and decision making. I'm not quite sure I should value those things over say, passing, for my midfielders.

-- The board is very pleased with my leadership. Signing Mora is still the highlight. The signing of DL Danny Coggins is a "slight disappointment". I dunno, he's not been great, but he has a 6.60 average rating over 12 total matches. I guess his backup has a higher rating in a smaller sample size. Maybe I'll rotate them more evenly and see if Campbell is more deserving of the starting spot. We made $55,330 last month. It might be years before we make that much in a month again.

Injury Update

DC Garry Garcia was hurt in training, he'll miss 2-3 weeks. Not a huge deal as long as the rest of the defense stays pretty healthy.

North America Amateur Cup - Qualifying Round Draw

160 teams in the pot here. We actually draw a division rival, the Huntington Hammers. We'll get them at home, in about 10 days. Oddly enough that's the team we're playing in our next match.

[Radii]

-- ST Leon Roth resumes full training. He won't be playing just yet, but its good to have 3 healthy strikers again.

-- MC Ashely Sandoval also resumes full training.

June 6th, 2014

Huntington Hammers (5-0-1, 1st) vs Wake Forest Cougars (1-4-1, 10th)

Attendence: 268

Odds: Huntington are 4-6 favorites, we're 9-2 here. That's pretty big, as for the first month or so the home team are 5-4 favorites in every match. With 15 points in 6 matches Huntington have earned it though.

Starting Lineup

GK: Gyan
D: Coggins/Galvis/Pickering/Arroyo
DM: Pena
M: Glaser/Mora
AM: Rose/Crook
ST: Navarro

Huntington Striker Gus Chapman has 6 goals in league play already, so he's a big concern of ours. We're going to try to close down on him and force him onto his left foot, since he's only competant with his right.

We'll defend and try to hold possession as much as we can today.

3': Free kick for us about 25 yards out, Pickering takes it and shoots, on target but saved.

9': Coggins throwin deep in their territory, to Rose, back to Coggins, to Mora in the area, he slides it over to NAvarro who has an angle and scores!! 1-0

18': Pena intercepts a pass in the defensive end and starts a counter, up to Mora, ahead to NAvarro, he puts it out wide for Rose, Rose crosses to Crook who fires a hard shot, but the keeper stops it.

26': We've seen some Huntington highlights but any shots they've managed have been off target.

HALF: We race to the half after that, I'll take it! We have 5 shots to their 4, but weve put 3 on target, none for them yet. We are slightly ahead in possession, just need to hang in there for another half, but that's been very tough for us thus far.

46': They get a solid looking shot from 20 yards out to start the second half, but Gyan makes a nice save.

48': Pickering a yellow.

76': Navarro is hurt, can stay in.

78': Colangelo in for Rose, Shakespeare in for Glaser.

83': Tapia in for Mora, we pull our attacking mids back and settle into a 4-1-4-1 for the final minutes.

We hang on to this one!

Huntington 0 : 1 Wake Forest

Man of the Match: Ronnie Navarro (7.2)
Goal: Navarro
Assist: Mora (7.0)

So we finally manage a win in league play and its on the road against the #1 team. We got some luck here, they outshot us 9-5 and definitely beat our defenders a number of times but only put 1 shot on target all match. We didn't give them any easy looks, but they had a number of plays where a good shot would have tied it for them.

[Radii]

June 13th, 2014

Kentucky Colonels (2-3-2, 9th) vs Wake Forest Cougars (2-4-1, 8th)

Attendence: 170

Odds: We are 4-6 favorites on the road today, I'm extremely surprised to see that.

Starting Lineup

GK: Gyan
D: Campbell/Galvis/Pickering/Arroyo
DM: Pena
M: Glaser/Mora
AM: Rose/Cooper
ST: Navarro

Cooper back in the lineup at AMR, lets see how long he goes without getting hurt. Campbell and Lassiter get starts in the defense.

Defensive mindset on the road.

2': A cross in from the left for Kentucky, headed by ST Wolin, it hits the bottom of the crossbar and bounces in. 0-1

8': Some buildup on offense for us, Mora to the right for Cooper, its a clear cut chance, but blocked and out for a corner. We earn a 2nd corner, and that one is poorly taken into the side netting.

10': Awful goal kick for Kentucky, Rose passes it forward to Navarro, he runs into the area and has our second clear cut look... its high.

19': Navarro ahead to Mora, our 3rd clear cut chance of the match... blocked by a defender.

38': Kentucky defender Polack picks up a yellow.

HALF: Each team has 4 shots, the difference is that 3 of ours really were great, great looks and we should have at least 1 goal right now. I tell the team they need to be better, and open things up a little for a less defensive second half.

57': After a lot of possession for KEntucky, they get a lob ahead behind our defense, a striker has a clear cut chance for them, but he can't get it by Gyan who was rushing out.

73': Shakespeare in for Glaser, Colangelo in for Rose, lets attack boys.

88': A long ball ahead, their ST Wolin runs onto it, Pickering is there as well, Wolin struggles to control the ball but he is able to in the end, and he gets a shot by Gyan and in. 0-2

Kentucky 2 : 0 Wake Forest

I make sure the team knows that they did not play well enough today. We had all those great chances early on, and once we couldn't convert any of them and Kentucky got into the lead, they really locked things down.

[Radii]

June 17th, 2014

North American Amateur Cup - Qualfying Round

Wake Forest Cougars vs Huntington Hammers

Attendence: 189

Starting Lineup

GK: Gyan
D: Coggins/Burke/Galvis/Varela
DM: Tapia
M: Perkins/Shakespeare
AM: Davidson/Crook
ST: Roth

Wholesale subs today, a weaker lineup but we don't really care about this tournament all that much, especially when we need to string together some league wins to get into the top half so badly right now.

5': Lots of things here to make me happy. A long ball from Huntington, but Burke heads it away. Very frequently the defender just misjudges and gives a breakaway to the opponent. Davdison has a pass intercepted, but he puts on a burst of speed to go recover the ball, then a nice cross from Davidson to Roth who pokes it in! 1-0

10': Shakespeare to Crook, back to Shakespeare, now forward to crook making a run, Crook lobs it into the penalty area, Roth controls it, shoots and scores! 2-0

25': Shakespeare with a corner, Burke has it near post on his foot, but doesn't control it well and a defender gets there and blocks his shot.

33': We earn one corner, a couple shots are blocked leading to a second corner, that one is cleared.

35': After a nice buildup by us, Crook passes to Roth who shoots from just outside the penalty area, its just inches wide.

44': First Huntington highlight, they work it forward and get a clear cut chance from about 8 yards out, but Gyan makes a solid save.

HALF: We find 9 shots this half, 4 on target. We only allow the one late look, and it was a really scary one, but we are just playing great so far. I tell the team that and tell them to keep it going.

48': The hat trick! Some nice passing to get the offense forward, Davidson out wide, crosses to the 6 yard mark, Roth heads it in! 3-0

We see a few more highlights after this but nothing really noteworthy. Huntington just completely shut down after this.

Wake Forest 3 : 0 Huntington

Man of the Match: Leon Roth (9.6)
Goals: Roth 3
Assists: Davidson 2 (8.8), Crook (7.2)
Notables: Gyan (7.6), Varela (7.6), Burke (7.4), Coggins (7.8), Tapia (7.8), Shakespeare (7.2), Perkins (7.2)

Maybe the most notable thing here is that only one player couldn't manage a 7.0 rating today, and that's team captain Hernando Galvis. It just seems like he's less involved back there... he did have a couple tackles, but Burke was involved more in the air and made double the interceptions in the back.

Roth was, obviously, amazing. Due to injury combined with my initial impressions of his skills, he's only played in 3 matches for me, and one was as a very late sub. His other start netted him a goal and an assist, so this guy needs to be given more chances to show what he can do.


To highlight the difference in stature between this tournament and the North American Open, we receive $310 for this victory... compared to $7700 in the initial rounds of the other cup.

[Radii]

North American Amateur Cup First Round Draw

So the qualifying round got us down to 128 teams, so this looks like a standard tournament with 7 rounds to decide a winner. We get another home match, we are getting really lucky with these draws. We're going to get the winners of the California Gold and Dothan Dodgers. California are in the tier above us, Dothan are in the same tier as us.

June 20th, 2014

Wake Forest Cougars (2-4-2, 11th) vs Model City Kings (3-2-3, 8th)

Attendence: 207

-- The stnadings remain super crowded and tons of things can change every match. Just a couple wins would vault us way up.

Starting Lineup

GK: Gyan
D: Campbell/Pickering/Lassiter/Arroyo
DM: Pena
M: Sandoval/Mora
AM: Rose/Cooper
ST: Navarro

As much as I'd love to run out the same roster that just played so well, we're going on 3 days rest and just can't.

Standard mindset at home today. Retain possession instruction stays on.

13': Pena wins a header to start an attack for us, Rose with a pass down near the baseline for Mora, Mora runs onto it, drives a cross hard through the 6 yard box, Cooper is at the far post and heads it in! The keeper had zero chance. 1-0

24': Rose with a lob from 35 yards out into the penalty area, Navarro with nice control to bring it down, turns, shoots far post, and scores! The keeper again had no chance at ever stopping that. 2-0

26': Model City with a long shot off the left post.

34': Cooper with a corner, Pickering is there, he's brought down... but its deemed a fair tackle.

38': Cooper with a corner, Pickering is there again, heads it, goal! The keeper got a hand to it but couldn't stop it. 3-0

46': Seconds before halftime, Arroyo intercepts a pass, up ahead quickly to cooper, to Mora, he and Navarro have a 2v2, Mora ahead to Navarro, he shoots and scores! 4-0

HALF: Look at all these goals, damn. We shot 4 times, 4 goals. Model City has 1 shot.

60': Campbell yellow card.

71': Mora and Navarro out, Shakespeare and Reynoso in.

We coast to the win here.

Wake Forest 4 : 0 Model City

Man of the Match: Ronnie Navarro (8.8)
Goals: Navarro 2, Cooper (8.5), Pickering (8.5)
Assists: Mora 2 (8.5), Cooper, Rose (8.0)
Notables: Gyan (7.2), Arroyo (8.0), Lassiter (8.1), Campbell (7.9), Pena (7.5)


http://i.imgur.com/EKTkeYm.png

We jump up to 7th with that win, but things are still so close.

[Radii]

June 27th, 2014

Wake Forest Cougars (3-4-2, 7th) vs Jackson Red Shirt (2-3-4, 13th)

Attendence: 251


Starting Lineup

GK: Gyan
D: Campbell/Galvis/Lassiter/Varela
DM: Pena
M: Glaser/Mora
AM: Davidson/Crook
ST: Roth

I rotate out most of our super young guys here, everyone is pretty hot right now so lets see how this works. Standard mindset with retain possession on.

1': We get a free kick after pushing forward on the opening kickoff. Galvis takes it and sends a shot just high.

3': Roth about 30 yards out sends a great ball into the area for Mora, Mora has a clear cut chance and sends it wide, I have no earthly idea how he missed that.

11': Corner for us, they head it out but Campbell is there and blasts a shot... off the crossbar.

24': Lassiter with a yellow.

32': After a throwin, Mora hits Davidson cutting in from the left, the keeper tries to come out, but Davidson puts a good shot by him and into the right side of the net. Very clean play. 1-0

37': Slightly less clean, a cross from Varela in to Davidson, he has another good look here, but seems to fumble with the ball for a moment and strikes it into the back of Roth... that could have been better.

HALF: We outshoot them 7-3, but only 1 shot on target, luckily for us it went in. We dominate possession and pretty much everything else. Lets get another goal to make it feel a bit easier though.

58': Reynoso in for Roth, Roth took a pretty bad knock and his fitness dropped to 17%. He doesn't show as hurt though, just really shaken up I guess.

65': They get a breakaway after a nice lob pass, but their attacker tries a soft lob over Gyan, and its not high enough, Gyan is able to reach it.

67': Another through ball for Jackson, another good look but Gyan is there to push the shot away.

70': Oh how did we not score! A corner taken far post, its headed and saved, rebound falls to pena, he shoots, but the keeper recovers just in time to make a diving stop.

83': Campbell with a good clearance of a dangerous cross/redirected header that sent the ball through the 6 yard box.

86': Shakespeare in for Glaser, Colangelo in for Davidson.

We control much of the possession in the final minutes and get another win!

Wake Forest 1 : 0 Jackson

A Jackson defender is man of the match.

Goal: Davidson (7.3)
Assist: Mora (7.1)
Notables: Campbell (7.0)


-- We move up into 4th with the win today. Its still super crowded though, just 4 points between 4th and 12th. We're also only 3 points out of first, so there's that.

[Radii]

Injury Update

AML Dylan Rose is going to miss 5-6 weeks with a back strain he picked up lifting weights. We are ok with Davidson/Colangelo, but Rose has been playing quite well so it sucks to lose him.

July Update

-- ST Navarro, DMC Pena and GK Gyan are noted for training well. Backup GK Harrington was a negative here.

-- The board remains very pleased with my leadership. Signing Mora is the best thing i've done, clearly. No negatives this month. We made $615 profit, hah.


-- Tactics continue to improve:

http://i.imgur.com/LousMWM.png


July 4th, 2014

Blacksburg Bears (1-4-5, 15th) vs Wake Forest Cougars (4-4-2, 2nd)

Attendence: 188

Blacksburg signed 3 players from us early in the year, DC's Jamie Marrow, Steve Groves and Midfielder Gary Martin. We definitely want to beat these guys more than we would a normal team.

Starting Lineup

GK: Gyan
D: Coggins/Pickering/Lassiter/Arroyo
DM: Pena
M: Shakespeare/Mora
AM: Davidson/Cooper
ST: Navarro

I tell the team I expect a win today.

3': Great passing, Coggins wins it deep in our end, we try to quick counter but dont' find anything, and pull the ball out to set up the offense, we have a very patient buildup, lots of guys could have forced long shots but didn't, in the end Navarro was able to find Mora on a little run and Mora got a great look 10 yards out to score. 1-0

4': Mora to Davidson, he takes the ball out wide, passes back to Mora and the defense is just not there, Mora from the same spot as his first goal, its in again! 2-0

7': Marrow with a yellow for blacksburg.

11': Navarro to Mora, through ball to Shakespeare, he's in the area alone, goal! 3-0

32': We give one back, again the DC's misplaying a lob, their ST Cruz has an easy one. 3-1

HALF: We outshoot them 6-2, dominate 61% of possession and should be in full control. We do need to make sure we don't give one back though and let Blacksburg make this a contest. We'll defend.

55': Navarro with a 20 yard run up the middle himself, a shot from outside the area, just over.

70': Coggins has picked up a minor injury, I put Burke in for him.

72': Sandoval in for Shakespeare, Colangelo in for Davidson.

72': We intercept a pass in defense and send it long, Navarro with a near total breakaway, just one defender who can keep up, sadly that defender does catch all the way up and tackles the ball away from Navarro as he tries to shoot, corner, which we can't get anything from.

84': Blacksburg earn a corner after a cross, Gyan catches the corner though.

Good win!

Blacksburg 1 : 3 Wake Forest

Man of the Match: Jhonatan Mora (9.4)
Goals: Mora 2, Shakespeare (7.7)
Assists: Davidson (7.4), Navarro (7.4), Mora
Notables: Gyan (7.1), Pena (7.1)


http://i.imgur.com/ME64hvb.png

We're up to 3rd, tied for 2nd in points. Still.. just three points ahead of 8th. Five matches to go, need to be top 7.

[Radii]

I'm seeing a lot of teams having injury issues with strikers the same way we are, but they don't have the depth, so they end up starting defenders at forward. The number of ST's that show up when i search are very small, and they're all already on other teams in my tier. I was just aggressive about making sure i had enough in the preseason. It'd be nice if there was a pool of free agents below this.

[Radii]

The World Cup is going on. Brazil failed to make it out of groups.

Quarterfinal reults:

Poland 2 : 1 Argentina
Uruguay 2 : 0 Ivory Coast
Spain 4 : 1 Mexico
France 2 : 0 Bosnia & Herzegovina

Poland/Uruguay, Spain/France semis.


July 8th, 2014

North America Amateur Cup

Wake Forest Cougars vs California Gold

Attendence: 188

Californis is one tier higher than us.
Starting Lineup

GK: Gyan
D: Campbell/Pickering/Galvis/Arroyo
DM: Tapia
M: Glaser/Shakespeare
AM: Davidson/Crook
ST: Navarro

Even on short rest we keep some of our starters from last game around, a little less than half the team is rotated out.

We'll come out defensively against the higher tier team.

11': Navarro hits Crook cutting in from the right for a clear cut chance, shot is stopped though. Corner goes nowhere.

21': Galvis takes a corner for us, it either hit the post or it was headed by a defender on the line, but weakly, the ball falls to Tapia in the area and he shoots before anyone can react, goal! 1-0

26': A long run of possession on offense for California, they end up getting a ball into the box, a header from a striker that basically just redirected it, but wide.

30': we have it about 30 yards out, Navarro lobs a ball into the left side of the area, Davidson is there and takes a nice low shot by the keeper and into the right side of the net! 2-0

HALF: We outshoot them 5-3, 3 on target , all other things pretty even. I tell the team they're playing great and to keep it up.

55': Shakespeare with a shot from 20 yards out, their keeper gets a hand to it but dives for it, it bounces and hits the crossbar and lands in play. Their defender tries to clear but can't and accidentally pushes it into his own net. Own goal! 3-0

64': Way, way too easy. Shakespeare corner into the 6 yard box, it lands at Pickering's feet, he is essentially unmarked and the keeper hasn't moved over to that side. Hilarious amateur play. Easy goal. 4-0

73': Navarro, Glaser, Shakespeare out, Reynoso, Sandoval, Perkins in.

82': We build up a bit on offense, a ball to Reynoso at the top of the key, he passes over to Crook who shoots and scores! 5-0

Beatdown.

Wake Forest 5 : 0 California

Man of the Match: Joe Pickering (8.9)
Goals: Pickering, Tapia (8.9), Crook (8.7), Davidson (8.6)
Assists: Shakespeare 2 (8.6), Galvis (8.4), Navarro (7.9), Reynoso (6.8)
Notables: Gyan (7.3), Arroyo (8.3), Campbell (8.5)


-- We get $485 for the win. That's less than $100 per goal. :D

[Radii]

North America Amateur Cup - Second Round Draw

68 teams remain (did some get added, I thought we had a power of two number before, maybe I did math wrong). We don't get a home game, but we do get a game against a division opponent. We'll be playing the Twin City Patrol next round. They currently are in 2nd place in the league. We haven't played them yet I don't think.


July 11th, 2014

Roanoke Magic (4-4-3, 8th) vs Wake Forest Cougars (5-4-2, 3rd)

Attendence: 246

Starting Lineup

GK: Gyan
D: Campbell/Pickering/Lassiter/Arroyo
DM: Pena
M: Sandoval/Mora
AM: Colangelo/Cooper
ST: Roth

Lassiter is the only change for the defense, the midfield/offense completely rotates though. Defensive mindset on the road today.

11': Mora to Roth in the area, Roth goes down, but its a legal tackle. We earn a corner but they clear it.

27': We pass the ball around forever, finally Roth with a ball into the left side for Colangelo, he has a great look, clear cut chance, but off the right post. Davidson would have scored.

32': Colangelo is hurt and forced to leave the match immediately. Reynoso can play AML and he's coming in.

HALF: Pretty terrible half of soccer all around. We shoot 3 times, all off target, they haven't managed a shot yet.

49': They have a corner, taken into the 6 yard box, Gyan goes for it and really should have had it, but doesn't get to it, they head it in. 0-1

65': Lets try to attack.

71': Mora gets a knock and his fitness goes to crap. I bring Glaser in for him.

We don't see a single highlight for the final 40 minutes.

Roanoke 1 : 0 Wake Forest

Only 7 shots total for the entire match between both teams, we just got 1 in the second half.


Injury Update

Colangelo is going to miss 5-6 weeks. Rose is still out for at least 3 weeks as well.

Reynoso can play AML, and Samir Pace is coming back from injury in a matter of days to give us ST coverage. Shakespeare plays ML, so we could also use him and go 4-1-4-1. We'll manage, probably.


We fall to 6th in the loss, we're in a 4 way tie at 19 points between 5th-8th but have goal differential. Its still a giant clusterfuck and we could finish anywhere between 1st and like 12th reasonably.

[JonInMiddleGA]

I'm seeing a lot of teams having injury issues with strikers the same way we are, but they don't have the depth, so they end up starting defenders at forward. The number of ST's that show up when i search are very small, and they're all already on other teams in my tier. I was just aggressive about making sure i had enough in the preseason. It'd be nice if there was a pool of free agents below this.

Hope you don't mind the semi-regular stream of compare/constrast to my own experience with the same mod) .... interesting that you can't find ST which seem to be a dime a (fairly untalented) dozen in my universe but I can't find a DMC to save my life.

[JonInMiddleGA]

North America Amateur Cup - Second Round Draw

68 teams remain (did some get added, I thought we had a power of two number before, maybe I did math wrong).

Guessing here but could that be from four matches in the first round that haven't been played yet? (60 have won + 8 still alive temporarily since they haven't played and are listed in the 2nd Round draw as an either/or pairing)

[Radii]

Hope you don't mind the semi-regular stream of compare/constrast to my own experience with the same mod

Not at all!



.... interesting that you can't find ST which seem to be a dime a (fairly untalented) dozen in my universe but I can't find a DMC to save my life.

My sense at this point of the season is that I would have a hard time finding anyone at any position if I had a really unlucky string of injuries and lost all my players in one spot. When I look at the list of guys my scout recommends and filter out unrealistic targets, there are zero "free agents" who aren't already on another amateur team. And the later in the season it gets, the less willing guys seem to be to move from one crappy amateur team to another just because you throw a contract at them. So if I lost all my GK's, or DMC's, or ST's, over the next few matches to a bad luck run of injury, I'd expect to be 100% fucked.

I'm assuming the AI teams just didn't work as hard as I did in the preseason to make sure I had extra depth at key positions (I have 4 keepers and 4 strikers on my roster despite only ever playing 1 at a time). So a couple of them got unlucky with injuries and those are the ones at the dead bottom of the table.

I could easily be wrong, and there's just a bug with AI running amateur teams or something that I'm not seeing, this is just my sense of it after playing (and crushing) two teams in a row who were playing two defenders at forward.

I'm hoping to promote to tier 7 and hoping that this won't be a problem anymore, since tier 7 teams should hopefully be able to poach players out of tier 8 with relative ease.

[JonInMiddleGA]

I'm hoping to promote to tier 7 and hoping that this won't be a problem anymore, since tier 7 teams should hopefully be able to poach players out of tier 8 with relative ease.

I hate to be the bearer of bad news but ... I've lost at least 2-3 players from a 7th tier TO 8th tier sides. Not quite as many as I've taken from them but -- at least in my universe -- unless they're within a hundred miles or so if you then message about "not interested in discussions, not willing to relocate for what your club is offering" becomes very commonplace (despite the fact that I never even get around to making an offer because they won't discuss).

[Tellistto]

Following!

[Radii]

Poland beats France 1:0 in one semifinal, Spain over Uruguay in the other (oops, I think I had the matchups wrong). Poland beats Spain 2-1 to win the world cup.

-- The USA only got 1 point in the group stages, a draw against Portugal. This performance got Jurgen Klinsmann fired.

-- The Old North Cup concludes, this is the competition between all the teams in North Carolina. The expected final would be between the Carolina RailHawks and Charlotte Eagles, both in the top USL division. Instead, the Wilmington Hammerheads in the USL-PRO EAST Division upset Charlotte to make the finals. The RailHawks do win the final 2-0.

-- Looks like I'll be losing my assistant coach soon, about 10 teams have offered him a job coaching their reserve teams. All of these teams are in much higher tiers though, so I am assuming he's going to take one of them.


July 18th, 2014

Wake Forest Cougars (5-4-3, 6th) vs Owensboro Cookers (5-4-3, 7th)

Attendence: 271

-- With just 3 matches to go before the split they all matter a ton, but one against a team with the same number of points as us seems extra important.

Starting Lineup

GK: Gyan
D: Campbell/Pickering/Burke/Arroyo
DM: Tapia
M: Shakespeare/Mora
AM: Davidson/Cooper
ST: Navarro

We'll try Burke with Pickering at DC, Davidson will be the AML every chance he's fit enough to do it, and Shakespeare/Mora is my best combo in the midfield I think.

35': We haven't seen a single highlight yet. Unfortunatley, play stops here as Pickering is hurt and must leave the field. Lassiter is in.

HALF: Well that was dull. We haven't managed a shot yet, Owensboro has 3, all off target, none worthy of breaking into a highlight for. We're going to attack in the second half.

52': Shakespeare with a giveaway in midfield, they attack, getting a shot from the left side of the area, Gyan dives for it and pushes it away.

53': Breakaway for Owensboro on the right, MR Franco ends up all alone in the area and scores an easy goal. 0-1

61': Mora to Shakespeare for a great volleyed goal, but offsides.

77': Glaser in for Shakespeare.

88': A glaser cross earns us a corner, Davidson takes it, near post, Lassiter is there and heads it in!! Equalizer! 1-1

95': Only 3 minutes of extra time scheduled, so when a highlight starts at 94:30 I expect the whistle to blow any second, but we are given time to get our attack in, Glaser with a chip ahead to Navarro, Navarro turns and puts it into the area for Mora, Mora is all alone 10 yards out and he puts it on target!!! Did the ref lose track of time here? I'm glad he did, that's for sure! 2-1

The whistle does blow right after play is re-started.

Wake Forest 2 : 1 Owensboro

Man of the Match: Jhonatan Mora (7.3)
Goals: Mora, Lassiter (7.3)
Assists: Navarro (7.3), Davidson (6.9)
Notables: Arroyo (7.1)

Injury Update

DC Pickering is going to be out for about 2 weeks with a bruised rib.



http://i.imgur.com/DltAaFg.png

We sit in 4th place with two matches to go until the split. Our remaining matches are against the #1 team and the #16 team.

[Radii]

unless they're within a hundred miles or so if you then message about "not interested in discussions, not willing to relocate for what your club is offering"

That does make sense now that I think about it. No one moves to another city and finds a new full time job for what is still little more than an adult rec league level of play.

[Radii]

-- Bench Coach John Sammons is also getting a lot of offers to coach higher tier Reserve Squads. Neither have left just yet, but I'm sure its coming.


July 22nd, 2014

North American Amateur Cup - Second Round

Twin City Patrol vs Wake Forest Cougars

Attendence: 219

Note this is a cup match, not the league match. We will play these guys in another week in league play.

Starting Lineup

GK: Gyan
D: Campbell/Garcia/Burke/Varela
DM: Tapia
M: Perkins/Shakespeare
AM: Reynoso/Crook
ST: Roth

As much as I would love to win cup matches, we play a much more important league match in like 4 days, so guys like Mora, Arroyo, Cooper, Davidson, Navarro, they all sit.

One of their strikers, Clark, I give a "close down" order to, and their AMC Tuttle is left footed only and a pretty big scoring threat, so I want to make use his weak foot whenever possible. Both of them have 4 goals in less than 10 starts.

3': Midfielder Charles Luna with a yellow.

5': Build up down the right for Wake forest, Varela up to Crook, a cross to Reynoso, he shoots from near point blank range, but, right into the keeper's stomach.

12': Midfielder Luna with a foul... that's a his second yellow, he's gone!

29': Throwin in their end, Roth passes to Reynoso in the area, he centers to Shakespeare who pokes it into the net! 1-0

HALF: We fly to the half after that. We're playing better in every facet, and were off to a decent start before we went a man up, but now we should really have this. I tell the team I want to see more out of them and hope to see a second goal to make this safer.

46': We open the second half with lots of short passing and slowly work the ball forward down the left sdie. Reynoso near the corner passes to Perkins, Perkins to Roth, he shoots and scores! We get that 2nd goal real fast. 2-0

57': Yellow for Perkins.

59': Great long ball from Crook into the area, Roth controls it well, that's a clear cut chance.. but saved. Corner taken by Shakespeare, Garcia heads it, its saved but the rebound to Burke, he puts it in! 3-0


That's it!

Twin City 0 : 3 Wake Forest

Man of the Match: Garry Garcia (8.5)
Goals: Garcia, Shakespeare (8.5), Roth (7.5)
Assists: Shakespeare, Perkins (7.3), Reynoso (7.4)
Notables: Varela (7.4), Burke (7.2), Campbell (7.5), Crook (7.0)

Garcia had 8 headers, 3 of them key, in defense today, plus the goal to help earn him man of the match.


-- We receive $969 for this victory.

So its really hard to win if you go a man down 12 minutes in. I'm not sure if there's much to learn from this to apply to our upcoming rematch in league play.

[Radii]

-- Assistant Spenser Wadsworth takes a job coaching the reserves for the Yakima Reds in the Gold Coast 2nd Division

-- Coach John Sammons is now coaching the reserves of Indiana Utd in Colonial Division 2.

-- Both of those leagues are in the "US Supplemental Division 2" tier. That's two levels above us.

-- So I saw all the job offers come in for those coaches, but I never saw a notice that they took the jobs and left Wake Forest. I only noticed it happened because I got a notice that many training categories now lacked coaching.

I offer the assistant job to my remaining coach, Zizi Roberts. He accepts. I then make offers to fill the open coaching spots.

North America Amateur Cup - Third Round Draw

Down to 32 teams. We get another home match, this one against St Louis Kutis SC from the "All-American Amateur League" one tier above us.

July 25th, 2014

Wake Forest Cougars (6-4-3, 3rd) vs Tupelo Possums (1-3-9, 16th)

Attendence: 264

We would probably clinch a top 7 spot with a win today.

Starting Lineup

GK: Gyan
D: Coggins/Garcia/Lassiter/Aroyo
DM: Pena
M: Glaser/Mora
AM: Davidson/Cooper
ST: Navarro

3': Davidson with a free kick from 40 yards out, his kick ends up more of a shot than a cross... it hits the crossbar, falls to Mora, but his followup shot is blocked. The ball hangs around in the penalty area for what seems like years before finally being controlled by Navarro, but his shot is wide.

9': A long shot from Coggins earns us a corner. Its cleared easily.

10': Davidson finds Mora who has a good look, shot is blocked though, and we earn a corner, which again is cleared.

20': They attack straight up the middle, two nice passes to get foward, a through ball into the area, their ST Saunders is the only one there, and he wins the 1 on 1 with the keeper. 0-1

24': Mora into the right side of the area for Cooper, but his shot is well wide.

HALF: I lay into the team a bit at the half, and most of them seem motivated by my words. We have 6 shots to their 3, but only 1 on target. We are passing better, and are better in the air, we really should be able to get this goal back.

63': Navarro shoots from 20 yards out, its wide though.

64': Glaser with a lob ahead to Navarro, he gets behind the defense but pulls up and shoots a long shot instead of trying to get into the area. Its high.

75': Shakespeare in for Glaser, Tapia in for Pena

80': They earn a corner off a free kick, we're unable to clear it after a weak header away, the ball is kicked around in the crowded box for a moment before their man Saunders puts it in. 0-2

84': We get a corner, taken to the near post, headed by Garcia... off the crossbar.

Yup. That just happened.

Wake Forest 0 : 2 Tupelo

I obviously tell the team that this was a match we have to win, and I'm extremely disappointed.

I think we actually didn't play all that poorly, we generated 15 shots after all, but only 1 on target, and there were many highlights where it seemed like we were settling for a difficult shots where in other games we would hold the ball up or make the one extra pass to find a better look.

http://i.imgur.com/Lboqfup.png


So we play the #1 team, Twin City. Hickory is in 8th, and they play the team that just beat us, Tupelo. Huntington, the current 7th place team, plays #13 Model City. Man we really, really blew it today. We're now in an extremely tough spot.

[Radii]

New Staff Member(s)

We sign 44 y/o Abdul Thompson Conteh as a coach. He played in MLS but this is his first chance coaching anywhere. 14 determination/14 adaptability/13 discipline. His coaching attributes are all 6-7.

We also sign 43 y/o Antonin Plachy as a coach. 8 man management. 6 in many attributes, atacking/defending/mental/technical. 13 determination/13 motivation/13 discipline/12 adaptability.

-- Most of our "general" training (tactics/ball control/attacking/shooting) are now at a 2* level. str/aerobic/defending are at 1 1/2*, sorry goalkeepers, you get 1* training.


-- AML Dylan Rose has resumed full training. He's been out for a month so he isn't going to be starting in our next match, but it'll be good to have him back soon.

August Update

-- Cooper, Tapia, and Lassiter are noted for training well. DMC Brian Williams trained poorly, but he's been hurt for awhile.

-- The board remains very pleased with my results. The singing of Mora is going to carry me through the whole season as a positive note. Our awful 0-2 loss to the worst team in the league is a negative, as it should be. We made $1,690 last month!

August 1st, 2014

Twin City Patrol (7-5-2, 1st) vs Wake Forest Cougars (6-4-4, 6th)

Attendence: 263

We crushed Twin City on the road in a cup match recently, but it was due in large part to an early red card for them.

Starting Lineup

GK: Gyan
D: Campbell/Pickering/Lassiter/Aroyo
DM: Tapia
M: Shakespeare/Mora
AM: Davidson/Crook
ST: Navarro

I make a number of changes from my last lineup, not really due to fatigue though, just because I refuse to run the same lineup out there that shit the bed in our last match.

Their two biggest threats are both at ST today, David Tuttle and Jonathan Carter, we're closing down on both and trying to force them to their weaker side.

Defensive mindset today.

12': Tapia a free kick from 20 yards out, but he puts his shot high.

22': Yellow for Campbell

30': Corner for Twin City, its too close though and Gyan catches it.

31': A long ball to Navarro, he takes it down the left side, gets it into the area for Davidson, shoots.. saved.

42': Davidson sends the ball to the end line, Mora gets to it and crosses into the area, Navarro with the header... saved.

HALF: Shots are even at 3, we have 2 on target, but both were weak efforts right at the keeper. Just one for them. They are doing a little better in the air winning headers, which is unusual for us, we almost always win there.

So far, all the other games are working out for us. Hickory is tied with Tupelo, Huntington is getting upset by Model City, even a team ahead of us, Asheville, is getting beaten. That could all change quickly, but right now we'd sit in 4th.

54': Navarro lobs the ball into the area for Davidson, he's got a 1 on 1 with the keeper, he actually chips it over him... I have not seen that work a single time this season at this level, but Davidson does it! He gets it into the net! 1-0

57': Their ST Carter receives a header in the area and gets a shot, but its wide.

59': Long pass from the midfield ahead to Midfielder Alvarado, he knocks it well ahead with his first touch and runs the ball down and gets it by Gyan. 1-1

60': Other games have evened out and it looks like if we lose we will not finish top 7.

76': Reynoso in for Navarro, Pena in for Tapia, Burke in for Pickering, all for fatigue.

81': They have a throwin deep in their own end, slowly build it up the field, midfielder Luna down the left side, crosses in and ST Carter shoots... its a clear cut chance, and it hits the left post and bounces in. 1-2

Not another highglight until the very last moments.

Twin City 2 : 1 Wake Forest

Man of the Match : Brian Davidson (7.4)
Goal: Davidson
Assist: Navarro (7.0)

We didn't actually play that bad in the loss, but that stings.


http://i.imgur.com/Ro5Tp0l.png

And that's that. Why does it have to be split at the top 7!? Roanoke makes it over us despite the same goal differential, having scored one more goal so far this year.

So we've got 8 more matches to go, but nothing at all to play for. Lets finish 8th, I guess!

[JonInMiddleGA]

So we've got 8 more matches to go, but nothing at all to play for.


Check the payout table. For me the diff between first of the last & bottom of the last is fairly substantial (about $325k, diff between a profitable year & a year in the red)

[Radii]

-- DL David Campbell will miss our next match after getting his 2nd yellow card.

-- AML Luca Colangelo is back to full training

-- Our assistant coach Zizi Roberts "starts on a coaching course" to get him a "Continental B License". I dunno what that means, but he's paying for it himself.

I'm dropping the highlight level to "key highlights" instead of "extended highlights" to get through the season a bit faster, since we have nothing to play for outside of the Cup we're still in.

August 15th, 2014

Jackson Red Shirts (5-4-6, 11th) vs Wake Forest Cougars (6-4-5, 8th)

Attendence: 210

Somehow Jackson are 1:6 favorites for this. WTF?!

Starting Lineup

GK: Gyan
D: Coggins/Pickering/Lassiter/Aroyo
DM: Tapia
M: Shakespeare/Mora
AM: Davidson/Crook
ST: Roth

Campbell sits today with his yellow card suspension.

4': A nice cross in from the left and header by their ST Teran for a goal. 0-1

HALF: Reynoso in for Roth, who picked up a knock that dropped his fitness a bunch. Only two shots each today so this would be pretty boring even with extended highlights.

64': Glaser in for Mora

70': From a Standard mindset to attacking.

71': AMR Ryan Crook is hurt and must leave the match immediately. I don't really have anyone who fits there. MC Bayard Perkins is going to come in and do his best.

81': We build up possession and hold the ball for some time, short passing, eventually Reynoso finds Davidson who has a clear cut chance coming in from the left... but he puts his shot wide.

And that's it.

Jackson 1 : 0 Wake Forest

Notables: Shakespeare (7.0)

AML Davidson with a rare terrible game, 5.9 rating for him.

[Radii]

Check the payout table. For me the diff between first of the last & bottom of the last is fairly substantial (about $325k, diff between a profitable year & a year in the red)

Ah, good idea. However, this is an extremely cheap league. 1st pays $31,000. 8th pays $14,000, going pretty steadily downward to $1600 for 16th place.

We've made a profit of $106,000 this year so far, half of that due to that one win in the North American Open awhile back. $13k isn't going to be enough for motivation sadly.

[Radii]

-- DL David Campbell will miss our next match after getting his 2nd yellow card.

-- AML Luca Colangelo is back to full training

-- Our assistant coach Zizi Roberts "starts on a coaching course" to get him a "Continental B License". I dunno what that means, but he's paying for it himself.

I'm dropping the highlight level to "key highlights" instead of "extended highlights" to get through the season a bit faster, since we have nothing to play for outside of the Cup we're still in.

August 20th, 2014

North America Amateur Cup - Third Round

Wake Forest vs Kutis SC

Attendence: 190

Kutis are 1-4 favorites, we're 9:1 to win this one. The oddsmakers are really really down on us after a little losing streak. These guys are in a higher division though.

Starting Lineup

GK: Gyan
D: Campbell/Pickering/Galvis/Varela
DM: Pena
M: Glaser/Mora
AM: Davidson/Cooper
ST: Navarro

Defensive mindset. We'll do extended highlights for the cup match.

10': Cooper with the corner kick, Pickering gets his head to it and puts it in! 1-0

13': Davidson being aggressive wins us the ball in the midfield, we don't attack directly, we build up play and take our time, eventually Davidson lobs a ball over the defense, Navarro runs onto it and gets a clear cut chance, but their keeper rushes out and stops it. It goes back for a corner, we get a shot off the corner but its a weak one.

23': Mora is hurt and must come out. Shakespeare is in.

24': Cooper with a free kick from 35 yards out, he shoots, I think, it seems like a very forceful ball if it was supposed to be a cross. Their keeper gets in front of it, but can't hold it, and a defender clumsily puts it into the net! 2-0

32': Shakespeare with a good ball ahead to Navarro, he has to slow down to control it though and the defense gets back. He tries a shot but its well wide.

35': Cooper with another free kick, they try to clear but can't competely, Shakespeare puts it ahead for Pena in the area and he finishes! 3-0

42': Navarro back to Shakespeare, he sends it right to Cooper, Navarro makes a run, Cooper immediately sends it forward, Navarro gets into the right side of the area, shoots and its into the left side of the net! 4-0

HALF: Man where was this team against Tupelo a couple weeks ago. *bitter* I'm bringing Reynoso in for Navarro. Reynoso hasn't scored for us yet, putting him in now probably gives him his best chance.

58': I didn't mention a yellow for Kutis defender Walburn earlier in the match, but its relevant now as he picks up a second and is sent off.

69': Samir Pace coming in for Cooper, his first action in over a month thanks to injuries.

That'll do it!

Wake Forest 4 : 0 Kutis SC

Man of the Match: Joe Pickering (8.7)
Goals: Pickering, Pena (8.4), Navarro (8.2)
Assists: Cooper 3 (8.3), Shakespeare (8.5)
Notables: Gyan (7.2), Varela (7.9), Galvis (7.7), Campbell (8.0), Glaser (7.8), Davidson (7.7)

-- We get $4,840 for winning this one. Not bad given that the first round win was worth $200.


Injury Update

Jhonathan Mora is out for the rest of our season, he has a dislocated shoulder and is out for 3 months.

[bbgunn]

Strange that it's top 7 instead of top 8.

[Radii]

North America Amateur Cup - Fourth Round Draw

Down to 16 teams. We luck out with another home match. We're going to be playing Tiburones United, from Carlsbad, CA. They're in the Gold Coast Amateur League, one tier above us. We beat another team from their division, the California Gold, earlier in the tournament.

We'll play this one in early September.

August 23rd, 2014

Wake Forest (6-4-6, 10th) vs Huntington Hammers (7-1-7, 11th)

Attendence: 205

Odds are basically even here, nice to not be some crazy 1-3 underdogs in league. Huntington have lost their last 5 matches in a row.

Starting Lineup

GK: Gyan
D: Campbell/Pickering/Galvis/Arroyo
DM: Tapia
M: Perkins/Shakespeare
AM: Davidson/Cooper
ST: Navarro

Some changes in the midfield. Rose and Williams are both fit again finally but tired. I hope to play them next match.

14': They ahve a corner, taken near post, and headed in. Ugh. 0-1

44': Campbell wins a ball on a tackle to start our offense, Davidson with a cross to the 18 yard line, Perkins heads it foward, Shakespeare volleys it, and its in! 1-1

46': Complete breakaway for Navarro, but instead of running at the keeper, he pulls up from 18 yards out, waits for the keeper to come out a bit, and shoots it right at him. Cooper takes the corner, Galvis is there and heads it.. .goal! 2-1

HALF: We get two quick scores to take the lead, glad to see that.

60': Lassiter in for Pickering, who is tired.

69': Lassiter picks up a small injury, but can continue playing.

81': Shakespeare starts our offense with an interception, ahead to Cooper, to Navarro, he holds it up at the top of the key, passes left to Davidson cutting towards the goal, Davidson fires and scores! 3-1

89': A yellow for Campbell

That's it! Good win, especially after giving up the opening goal.

Wake Forest 3 : 1 Huntington

MAn of the Match: Mark Shakespeare (8.0)
Goals: Shakespeare, Galvis (7.4), Davidson (7.4)
Assists: Perkins (7.4), Cooper (7.2), Navarro (6.8)


Injury Update

-- DC Tommy Lassiter is going to miss 2 weeks with a bruised rib.

[Radii]

-- DL Campbell misses another match due to an extra yellow card.

http://i.imgur.com/4lDwH5t.png

We're up to "accomplished" in most areas now, still have a ways to go but I enjoy seeing that message!

September Update

-- Ian Cooper trains well, ST Navarro does not.

-- The board is very pleased with my leadership. A great team atmosphere is a big reason. Our 0-2 loss to Tupelo is the big negative. We made $2.5k profit last month.


September 3rd, 2014

North America Amateur Cup - Fourth Round

Wake Forest Cougars vs Tiburones United

Attendence: 195

Starting Lineup

GK: Gyan
D: Coggins/Pickering/Galvis/Arroyo
DM: Williams
M: Glaser/Shakespeare
AM: Rose/Cooper
ST: Navarro

We're a healthy Jhon Mora away from being able to field our best possible roster. Coggins in for Campbell due to card suspension, Campbell seems to be playing better there, but that's close.

Defensive mindset/retain possession, pretty much our default method of playing at this point.

8': Beautiful play after a long goal kick, Navarro heads it down to Shakespeare, wide right to Cooper, Cooper with a strong cross to the far side, Rose slams it in! 1-0

17': Cooper down the right side, a cross to the 6 yard box, near post, Navarro stops it with his left foot, and has just long enough to settle himself and put it in! The keeper made a move to the far post, misjudging the cross. 2-0

35': Cooper has it again, this time a short pass to Shakespeare about 25 yards out, he pokes it ahead to Navarro, Navarro passes across to the other side, where Rose puts it in again! 3-0

43': Rose with an interception in defense, starts the attack, ahead to Navarro who runs forward a ways, then lays it to Shakespeare, he shoots from just outside the penalty area, two men nearby, that's a tough shot, but its on target and by the keeper! 4-0

HALF: Man we really came to play today.

89': Well, we don't get much time to enjoy Dylan Rose's great play today. He goes out injured here. Davidson is in.

Wake Forest 4 : 0 Tiburones United

Man of the match: Dylan Rose (9.2)
Goals: Rose 2, Navarro (8.3), Shakespeare (8.6)
Assits: Cooper 2 (9.1), Navarro 2
Notables: Gyan (7.1), Arroyo (8.0), Galvis (7.6), Pickering (7.7), Coggins (8.0), Williams (7.5), Glaser (7.6)


-- NO long term injury for Rose. Whew.

-- We get $14,530 for the win today, and we're on to the quarterfinals of the Amateur Cup!

[Radii]

North America Amateur Cup - Quarterfinal Draw

There are two teams left from the bottom tier, ourselves and Hawaii's own Hilo Tsunami. Everyone else is in the tier above ours. One team, "Match Fit Academy" seems to be one of those fairly loaded teams, that seems like the only team we specifically want to avoid.

Match Fit will travel to Hawaii to play Hilo.

We're going to get another home game, against another Gold Coast team from California, the Southern California Seahorses, from La Mirada, CA. We play them in two weeks.

September 9th, 2014

Nashville Soul (5-4-9, 13th) vs Wake Forest Cougars(7-4-6, 9th)

We won in the first meeting earlier this year.

Attendence: 210

Starting Lineup

GK: Gyan
D: Campbell/Pickering/Galvis/Arroyo
DM: Tapia
M: Glaser/Shakespeare
AM: Davidson/Cooper
ST: Navarro

Rose and Williams (DMC) aren't ready to go two in a row yet, the rest of the team is. We have one more match between now and our Cup match, so this is basically the team I hope to play in the cup match, and our next match in a few days we'll rotate out most everyone.

Defensive/Retain possession as always. Just key highlights here.

12': Cooper with a cross into the area, Navarro with the header, looks easy! 1-0

14': Glsaer with a key lob down the left for Davidson, passes ahead to Navarro, he shoots, but saved.

30': Free kick out right near the end line, Cooper crosses in, Shakespeare with a shot, blocked, but Tapia is there to finish on the rebound! 2-0

31': A defender of theirs holding on to the ball in their own penalty area just passed the ball directly to Cooper, who takes the gift and puts it in the net. Wild. 3-0

HALF: I misclick on the team talk and tell teh team I'm NOT happy with them. Whoops.

86': They get one back on a corner. 3-1


Nashville 1 : 3 Wake Forest

Man of the Match: Ian Cooper (8.3)
Goals: Cooper, Tapia (7.7), Navarro (8.1)
Assists: Cooper 2
Notables: Arroyo (7.0), Shakespeare (7.6)

Cooper is killing it lately.

[Radii]

September 12th, 2014

Danville Villains (7-4-8, 11th) vs Wake Forest Cougars(8-4-6, 9th)

We lost at home earlier in the year.

Attendence: 268

Starting Lineup

GK: Harrigton
D: Coggins/Burke/Garcia/Varela
DM: Pena
M: Perkins/Sandoval
AM: Davidson/Crook
ST: Pace

Everyone who we want in our cup match, even our keeper, is sitting today.

30': Crook sends in a crappy cross that their keeper collects. The keeper drops the ball to kick it away, and he mishits it, so instead of sending it 50 yards downfield, he basically lobs it 10 yards away to Davidson, who volleys it before the keeper can recover, and puts it on target into the empty net. 1-0

HALF: LOL? We have 6 shots to their 0, and 65% of the possession.

48': We get a highlight of their first shot. Its weak and saved by Harrington.

49': This was better from them, a cross in from the left, Headed, Harrington gets a hand to it but can't stop it. 1-1

75': Crook with a nice lob to Pace, who controls it well with a step on his man, he lines up a shot and scores! 2-1

And htat's it.

Danville 1 : 2 Wake Forest

Man of the Match: Ryan Crook (7.4)
Goals: Davidson (7.2), Pace (7.3)
Assists: Crook
Notables: Sandoval (7.1)

We were the far better team today, only allowing 3 shots, taking 10 ourselves, and controlling nearly 60% of the possession, but it took awhile to seal it.

[Radii]

September 17th, 2014

North America Amateur Cup

Wake Forest Cougars vs So California Seahorses

Attendence: 204

Starting Lineup

GK: Gyan
D: Campbell/Pickering/Galvis/Arroyo
DM: Williams
M: Glaser/Shakespeare
AM: Rose/Cooper
ST: Navarro

Full rotation back to the best team we are capable of fielding. Defensive/retain possession.

3': Defender Whiteman for So Cal gets a yellow.

5': They work up to a strong shot from the right, just wide.

11': We watch another very wide shot of theirs, the concern being that it came from Glaser getting dispossessed fairly deep in our own end.

12': Cooper to Shakespeare, he runs into the area, near the baseline, lays it back for Cooper who blasts a shot from the right.. goal! 1-0

14': A very long ball from one of their defenders, a striker runs onto it but he can't control it well, ends up a bit wide out left, and catn' get his shot on target.

34': Glaser sends it up to Rose, near the corner of the penalty area, he runs by his man, crosses to the 6 yard box, Cooper is there, heads it, goal!! 2-0

HALF: We outshoot them 8-4, they haven't put one on target yet.

66': Yellow for their defender Garcia

72': Davidson in for Rose.

75': Yellow for ST Correra for them.

79': Tapia in for Glaser

86': First highlight of the second half, a good sign for us. They earn a corner on a cross, Arroyo heads the first one away for another corner, that one is aimed poorly and we get a goal kick.

91': Gyan saves a cross, turning it behind, corner... cleared away, they earn a throwin. Eventually they manage a weak shot that Gyan easily saves.


That's it!

Wake Forest 2 : 0 Southern California

Man of the Match: Ian Cooper (8.8)
Goals: Cooper 2
Assists: Shakespeare (7.5), Rose (7.0)
Notables: Arroyo (7.1), Galvis (7.2), Pickering (7.0), Campbell (7.2)

Ian Cooper is becoming a superstar here.

-- We receive $38,750 for this win!

-- I should point out, I think most of these teams really don't care about this tournament. Southern California is on a hot streak in their league, doing quite well in a tier above us, but today we played against guys with average ratings under 6 in a couple cases, guys on their U18 squad. We are very clearly taking advantage of the fact that we have nothing to play for in league, while these other teams are treating this like a very secondary tournament.

[Radii]

North America Amateur Cup - Semifinal Draw

Wake Forest Cougars will host the California Jaguars, yet another team from the Gold Coast Amateur League. The Jaguars are currently struggling and are in 15th in that league out of 20 teams, just two spots ahead of relegation.

In the other semifinal, Match Fit Academy of the Colonial Amateur League will face Regals FC of the All-American Amateur League.

Match Fit have a 15-4-5 record in their league and currently lead the league by 3 points. Regals FC are 10-8-5 and in 4th place in their league, fighting hard for a playoff spot.

So between relegation and promotion, all four of these teams have tons to play for. Hopefully that helps us out!

This match will be on October 1st.

[bbgunn]

Ugh... would have liked to see Hilo beat Match Fit.

[Radii]

Ugh... would have liked to see Hilo beat Match Fit.

I agree. I'm sure my players would have enjoyed a potential trip to Hawaii for the semifinals as well.

September 20th, 2014

Wake Forest Cougars (9-4-6, 8th) vs Tupelo Possums (3-4-13, 16th)

Attendence: 252

We're 1-6 favorites today against the team that is the reason we aren't playing for playoffs right now.

Starting Lineup

GK: Gyan
D: Coggins/Burke/Garcia/Varela
DM: Pena
M: Sandoval/Tapia
AM: Davidson/Crook
ST: Pace

Full changes today, except for Gyan. Even with backups, I tell the team I expect them to win.

28': First highlight so far, Davidson just walks by his man to earn a clear cut chance but puts it hilariously wide.

HALF: We outshoot them 5-2 and are clearly the better team but have nothing to show for it.

59': Coggins with a long cross, their keeper punches it away, Pace with a shot after the rebound... but he puts it off the crossbar.

93': We get a corner, they head it out, we retain possession and after a couple passes Davidson is in the right side of the area, by his man, he strikes it well... off the post though.

Nope, not today.

Wake Forest 0 : 0 Tupelo

Notables: Tapia (7.0)

I wouldn't' care about this if it weren't for wanting revenge for the earlier key loss. Maybe the team just has a general issue performing in situations where they are fully expected to win.

[Radii]

September 26th, 2014

Wake Forest Cougars (9-5-6, 8th) vs Cleveland Stokers (6-5-9, 13th)

Attendence: 253

We drew each other earlier in the year

Starting Lineup

GK: Gyan
D: Campbell/Pickering/Galvis/Arroyo
DM: Williams
M: Glaser/Shakespeare
AM: Rose/Cooper
ST: Navarro

2': They build up slowly after kickoff, eventually with a pass into the right side of the area for Sinisterra, he shoots, Gyan saves, but rebound falls to another one of their strikers and he puts it in. 0-1

4': Navarro a through ball to Shakespeare, looked a sure goal, but the keeper saves it, we get a corner out of it but its cleared.

22': They control possession again for a good while, finally a run down the left, a cross... and a goal, but, offsides, whew.

HALF: Roth is coming in for Navarro who has picked up a minor injury.

76': Took long enough! Cooper out wide right, he puts it into the area, Shakespeare runs onto it and volleys it in off a bounce. 1-1

82': Perkins in for Glaser, Tapia in for Williams.

That'll do it.

Wake Forest 1 : 1 Cleveland Stokers

Man of the Match: Make Shakespeare (7.4)
Goal: Shakespeare
Assist: Cooper (6.7)

I tell the team I'm disappointed, but I'm not sure if they can tell that I actually don't give a shit at all what happened here. :D

[Radii]

October Update

-- Navarro, Perkins, Arroyo train well. DC Garry Garcia, and DC Pickering both struggle with fitness training.

-- The board remains very pleased with my leadership. Our fantastic performance in the North American Amateur Cup is the highlight. ST Leon Roth's poor play is the negative. He's hardly played... We made $53,580 last month, thanks to the Amateur Cup.

October 1st, 2014

North America Amateur Cup Semifinals

Wake Forest Cougars vs California Jaguars

Attendence: 213

We still can't bring fans to the stadium for this, even for a semi.

Starting Lineup

GK: Gyan
D: Campbell/Pickering/Galvis/Arroyo
DM: Tapia
M: Glaser/Shakespeare
AM: Davidson/Cooper
ST: Navarro

Williams and Rose still seem to be slow to recover after both being out with long-ish term injuries. Neither are fully ready for this one and would definitely have to be subbed if they started. So I'll make them both subs.

5': Throwin in their end, Cooper ends up sending it into the area for Shakespeare, he's brought down... but no penalty. They end up clearing safely.

17': They have a corner that hits the post as it curls in... we clear.

23': We watch them take a shot from 30 yards out that is nowhere close at all.

29': Navarro picks up a minor injury. Unsure if he stays in long term or not.

33': There's a long back and forth over possession in the midfield, finally they win it, a couple passes ahead and they send it to their left midfielder coming towards the goal, he has a clear cut chance... but puts it high.

43': Yellow for Arroyo

46': They earn one corner, we head that behind.. the second one is no danger.

HALF: They outshoot us 4-3, and have the only clear cut chance so far. We are dominating in the air and winning most of our tackles too which is good. Overall though its quite even.

Pace is in for Navarro.

46': Cooper with a run down the right side right after kickoff.. a cross in, headed by pace, pushed away by the keeper. Davidson is there for the rebound.. and the keeper recovers enough to get his hands on that too. Sad.

58': Free kick for us, we make the keeper dive to stop it, corner.. which is cleared easily.

78': Perkins in for Glaser, Rose in for Davidson.

84': Pace is hurt... not out of the match but really hobbled.

91': Free kick for us, Cooper sends it into the area, Shakespeare heads it.. inches wide.

FULL TIME: Pretty dull half really. They lead in shots 9-7, we now have more on target with 4, and really should have scored in the opening minute of the half. Once we didn't, it was pretty slow.

The first half of extra time passes with no highlights.

And so does the second half. With Pace injured I was content to go to penalties and didn't try to do anything aggressive in extra time.


PENALTIES:

They shoot first:

Bevan: right side, good. 0-1
Shakespeare: right side, good. 1-1

Marshall: left side, good. 1-2
Perkins: right side, good. 2-2

Adams: left side, Gyan dives same way but can't get it. 2-3
Galvis: top right corner, good. 3-3

Rodriguez: right side, good. 3-4
Cooper: right at the keeper, pretty sure the keeper got a hand on it, but it went in anyway. 4-4

Johnson: right side, good. 4-5
Arroyo: right side, good. 5-5

Williams: left side, good. 5-6
Tapia: upper right, good. 6-6

Miller: right side, good. 6-7
Pickering: down the middle, good. 7-7

Dominguez: right side, good. 7-8
Rose: left side, good. 8-8

Is this going to come down to the keepers like the last one?

Moctezuma: left side, good. 8-9
Campbell: Middle-left, good. 9-9

Patham: Good right side, 9-10 - This was their keeper
Gyan: upper left, good. 10-10

Bevan: right side, good - 10-11 - wait did one of them shoot twice early? WTF?
Pace: Left side, good - 11-11

Ok this is just silly. I load up Reddit on my second monitor and wait.

After penalties even out at 15-15, their midfielder Williams hits one right at Gyan and he luckily doesn't dive and saves it. Arroyo takes his penalty and scores!

Wake Forest 0p (16) : (15) 0 California

So we win... 16-15 on penalties.

Man of the Match: Mark Shakespeare (7.4)
Notables: Arroyo (7.2), Campbell (7.0), Tapia (7.1)

In the end they outshoot us 10-9, we put more on target but they get the only clear cut chance, and in the end it doesn't matter, as we watch 16 penalty attempts by each team to decide it.

We are going to the finals!!

-- We are given $77,500 for winning in the semifinal! We have $240k in the bank, with the vast majority of it coming in prize money. Surely one of the richest amateur teams in history.

Injury Update

ST Ronnie Navarro is out for 3-4 weeks with a leg injury he picked up today.


-- Match Fit Academy beat Regals FC in the other semifinal 1:0 in extra time, so we're going to face them in the final.


-- The Final is in Dallas, in FC Dallas Stadium!

We have one more league match then 10 days off before the final. It won't be enough to get Navarro in there, sadly.

[britrock88]

Could your board decide to go semi-pro and get you promoted up to Level 6 that way? :D

[Radii]

October 4th, 2014

Model City Kings (9-6-6, 8th) vs Wake Forest Cougars(9-6-6, 8th)

Attendence: 211

We won the first meeting this year.

Starting Lineup

GK: Gyan
D: Coggins/Burke/Lassiter/Varela
DM: Williams
M: Glaser/Shakespeare
AM: Colangelo/Crook
ST: Roth

Backups in since we just played 3 days ago.

23': AMR Ryan Crook is hurt and has to leave the match. Sandoval is in in his place, playing out of position because I didn't pay enough attention to subs going into this.

42': They shoot from 20 yards out, its off the post, Gyan dove for it and missed. The ball bounces off the post and hits Gyan in the back and rolls slowly towards the net. Gyan recovers just in time to turn around and pounce on the ball.

HALF: They outshoot us 4-2, one shot on target for each.

46': Buildup for us after the kickoff, Colangelo finds Roth about 20 yards out with no one in front of him. The keeper rushes out, and Roth tries to lob over him... his shot just hits the crossbar, so close.

57': Yellow for Coggins

60': Perkins in for Shakespeare

65': Sandoval and Roth with a give and go move on the right side, Roth back to Sandoval who beats the keeper. Hooray for out of position subs! 1-0

75': Pena in for Glaser

78': Pretty awful defending on our part of a weak ball into the left side of the area, we let ST Valeasco get deep with the ball with lots of help, he puts it into the 6 yard box and they get a header in. 1-1

That's it for this one.

Model City 1 : 1 Wake Forest

Man of the Match: Ashley Sandoval (7.1)
Goal: Sandoval
Assist: Roth (6.7)

Coggins/Lassister/Burke with 6.3/6.4/6.5 ratings, they could have been better.



-- backup AML Luca Colangelo was hurt near the end of that one, he's going to miss 2 weeks. Crook has no long term issues.

[Radii]

Could your board decide to go semi-pro and get you promoted up to Level 6 that way? :D

This is my first time managing an amateur team so I have no idea at all what to expect. Maybe if we win the final and get tons of money? Who knows!

[Radii]

-- Coggins has to miss another match after his yellow card in the last one. He'll miss the Cup final. He wasn't going to start anyway.

-- We have a U18 match on Oct 6th and a reserve match on Oct 8th. i make my starters available for those since there's no league match until the cup final on the 15th.

-- AMR Ian Cooper is hurt in the U18 match, he'll miss about a week. So he might not be able to go in the finals. That would be a pretty big blow if that's the case.


October 15th, 2014

North America Amateur Cup Final

Match Fit Academy vs Wake Forest Cougars

Attendence: 1426

I was hoping for more fans.

Starting Lineup

GK: Gyan
D: Campbell/Pickering/Galvis/Arroyo
DM: Williams
M: Glaser/Shakespeare
AM: Rose/Cooper
ST: Pace

Cooper isn't 100% fit, but he can start and we'll see how long we can go without having to sub him out. Pace will start in Navarro's place.

Jordan Schmid is their big star. Schmid has 7 goals and 5 assists in 6 matches in this Cup so far. We're going to try to close down on him any time he touches the ball.

1': they earn an early corner, taken into the 6 yard box.. headed, off the crossbar and over.

4': We get our first shot, Cooper to Shakespeare for a header, but stopped easily.

13': They build up down the right side for a shot, but its a very off target shot from 20 yards out.

16': Another shot wide from Match Fit.

22': Galvis with an interception to start our offense, Rose does most of the work, with just a pass to Pace at one point, Rose gets it back, gets by his man and into the area, its actually a clear cut chance.. but high.

40': Pace is hurt and forced to leave the match. Randy Adamson tackled him pretty hard, he gets a yellow. Roth is in.

43': Shakespeare hits the crossbar from 25 yards out on a free kick, close.

47': Corner for them, taken to the far side of the 6 yard box... headed, it hits a defender and Gyan scoops it up. That was a clear cut chance for Match Fit.

HALF: We'll take it. They are outshooting us 7-4, just 1 on target from both teams, 1 clear cut chance for both. They are in control in the air, a rarity for Wake Forest games, we usually win the majority of our headers.

55': Roth with a terrible free kick from 30 yards out, they clear but we recover, work it back up to Roth where he puts a shot wide.

59': A cross into the 6 yard box from the left corner for MAtch Fit, it falls to their star Schmid and he puts it in from very close range. Boo! 0-1

61': Schmid with a shot from outside the box that hits the crossbar, that was close.

62': We have to attack now.

68': Crook in for Cooper, just too tired.

79': Tapia in for Glaser.

84': They pressure us after a goal kick and steal the ball in midfield, a run by ST Thompson and he shoots.. Gyan with a great diving stop, and we clear. That wsa their 4th clear cut chance.

There's just nothing we can do.

Wake Forest 0 : 1 Match Fit

We weren't expected to win this one, and they were obviously the better team, we only had one decent look and weren't able to finish it. They had lot of chances and made one of them work.

DC Galvis put up a 7.0 rating on the back line. A 6.1 from DL Campbell, everyone else was in that 6.5-6.7 range.


-- Samir Pace is going to be out for 2 months with the injury he picked up today. We only play one more match so no big deal.

[Radii]

October 18th, 2014

Wake Forest Cougars (9-7-6, 9th) vs Blacksburg Bears (5-7-10)

Attendence: 281

Most teams played a couple days ago, our match was postponed due to the cup final. If we win by 3 or more, we finish 8th. Any other result, we finish 9th.

Starting Lineup

GK: Garcia
D: Rongen/Garcia/Burke/Jackson
DM: Pena
M: Sandoval/Tapia
AM: Salas/Thompson
ST: Reynoso

I start all of my most little used guys.

35': First highlight of the match, Tapia with a corner, Rongen a clear cut chance from 6 yards out but its blocked and cleared.

HALF: Lets get on to something more interesting!

73': Damn nice save by Clark Garcia on a strong shot from 15 yards out by Blacksburg.

Two highlights for the entire match.

Wake Forest 0 : 0 Blacksburg

Man of the Match: Sean Rongen (7.2)
Notables: Jackson (7.1), Burke (7.0), Tapia (7.1)

Some solid defense today.




We finish 9th in the league. I'll do end of season stuff tomorrow.

[bbgunn]

I suppose not a bad first season, but I'm sure you wanted more.

[nol]

-- We are given $77,500 for winning in the semifinal! We have $240k in the bank, with the vast majority of it coming in prize money. Surely one of the richest amateur teams in history.


I'm sure some SEC football team has something to say about that ;)

Great stuff as usual! The last time I was visiting the dynasty forum regularly, you had your Ipswich one going, so that's some fortunate timing on my part.

[Radii]

I suppose not a bad first season, but I'm sure you wanted more.

Making the finals of the amateur cup helped, but failing to make it into the top split to have a shot at the league playoffs, especially since it involved a bad loss to the worst team in the league in the final week, is definitely the most important result of the season.

Great stuff as usual! The last time I was visiting the dynasty forum regularly, you had your Ipswich one going, so that's some fortunate timing on my part.

Thanks!

[Radii]

Before I do anything else, lets get through the league playoffs and see who is going to promote.

Appalachain Premier League Semifinals

Hickory Heat 0 (p) : 0 Kentucky Colonels
Twin City Patrol 1 : 0 Asheville Attack


Appalachain Premier League Finals

Hickory Heat 2 : 0 Twin City Patrol


Appalachain Premier League Promotion

The Fayetteville Liberty win the league with 42 points in 21 matches, they will promote.

The Hickory Heat win the playoffs after finishing 4th with 32 points in 21 matches, they will also promote.



I'm pretty sure both of these teams will promote into the Atlantic Coast Amateur League. Four teams relegate out of that league, Savannah Braves, North Meck SC, Roosevelt, and Bayamon. I assume we will get two of those teams in our league next year.


Tons of coaches are fired, I get asked by the media for each one (or at least each one that comes across my news feed) if I'm interested in the job. In every case I state that I have a contract with Wake Forest and haven't met my goals for this team yet. The board is pleased.


November Update

-- Brian Williams and Amidu Gyan trained well. Ashley Sandoval and David Campbell did not.

-- The board is pleased with my leadership (down from very pleased). Our great locker room atmosphere is a highlight. Our 0-0 draw vs Blacksburg is a negative. We made $92,320 last month. Possibly a sign regarding semi-pro stuff, "The financial outlook of the club is looking relatively stable for the forseeable future"


Ownership Update

-- Wake Forest Cougars could be taken over by a consortium of businessmen, possibly involving a former player, according to the media. We'll see what happens with that and if it impacts me.

[Radii]

Final Standings

http://i.imgur.com/oCqMAAK.png

[Radii]

Team Stats

http://i.imgur.com/6WBKJqk.png

Sorted by rating. So when everyone is healthy, Mora, Cooper, Rose and Navarro are my biggest offensive players, so its no surprise that they're up at the top here. Shakespeare spent more of his time in the "supportive" MC position this season, but did take over for Mora in the more attacking MC role when Mora was hurt, which was a lot.

Pickering was by far my highest rated defensive player, but he is also 6'8" and is very dangerous on corner kicks, as seen by his 4 goals.

Goal Leaders

Navarro - 11
Mora - 8
Shakespeare - 6
Davidson - 6
Roth - 5
Cooper - 5
Rose - 4
Pickering - 4
Pace - 3
Crook - 3



Assist Leaders

Cooper - 14
Navarro - 11
Shakespeare - 6
Davidson - 6
Mora - 6
Rose - 3
Crook - 3

Man of the Match winners

Mora - 6
Navarro - 5
Shakespeare - 4
Rose - 3
Roth - 2
Cooper - 2
Pickering - 2

[Radii]

Injury Update

Backup DC Don Burke broke his foot in training and is out 5-6 months. By the time he gets back from injury and goes through reserve matches to get his fitness up it'll probably be July or August, ugh.

Appalachain Premier League Leaders

Goals

1. Stephen Marshall - Fayeteville - 16 goals
2. Gus Chapman - Huntington - 11 goals
3. Anthony Schmidt - Kentucky - 10 goals
3. Johnny Clark - Blacksburg - 10 goals
5. Alfonso Grisi - Model City - 9 goals
...
14. Ronnie Navarro - Wake Forest - 6 goals
26. Brian Davidson - Wake Forest - 4 goals
26. Jhonatan Mora - Wake Forest - 4 goals

Johnny Clark left Wake Forest for Blacksburg in the preseason. I had him penciled in as my #2 or #3 striker at the time.


Assists

1. Stephen Marshall - Fayeteville - 8
2. Gary Spicer - Model City - 7
3. Ian Cooper - Wake Forest - 6
3. 5 others tied - 6
...
9. Jhonatan Mora - 5
9. Ronnie Navarro - 5


Average Rating

1. Stephen Marshall - Fayeteville - 7.47
2. Anthony Schmidt - Kentucky - 7.28
3. Jhonatan Mora - Wake Forest - 7.16
3. Ronnie Navarro - Wake Forest - 7.16
3. Johnny Clark - Blacksburg - 7.16
...
7. MArk Shakespeare - Wake Forest - 7.09
8. Ian Cooper - Wake Forest - 7.07
27. Brian Davidson - Wake Forest - 6.90

[Radii]

Injury Update

ST Samir Pace recovered from injury, went into a U18 match, and got hurt again immediately. He's going to miss 3-4 months. Its now December, so that puts him out until March'ish.


End of Season Team Meeting

I tell the team to enjoy their break, and to be ready when they come back because we are aiming to promote next season.

-- DC Galvis (our captain) has a good response, saying that its a challenge but we can do it.

-- MC Shakespeare is cautious and thinks that's an awful ot of pressure.

-- I re-iterate that we can absolutely achieve promotion if we play our best.

-- Backup MC Sandoval agrees about our expectations being fine.


-- Overall, 5 players had a good reaction to my expectations, while 9 had a bad reaction. Notable poor reactions came from Shakespeare, Rose, Gyan, and Mora. The negatives far outweighed the positives here, I'll have to be careful of that in the future.


Yearly training summary

Backup GK Phil Harrington and DL David Campbell are noted for having the best training performances throughout the year.


Pre-Season Start

I can bring the players back on 12/29, 1/5, or 1/12. I choose the middle option, 1/5/15, which will give us a 5 week long preseason.

Transfer Embargo

-- Because of the impending takeover of the team, we're not allowed to bring in any transfers. They're all free anyway!


North American Open Cup

New England beats Seattle in a thrilling 5-4 match to win the biggest domestic competition in the US.


Tax Bill

We pay around $75,000 in taxes based on making a profit of $250k.

Jersey Sponsorship

We sign a 2 year sponsorship deal worth $9,750 per year.


Takeover Cancelled

The consortium that was looking to take over Wake Forest has backed out. This was over about a 2 week period from the transfer embargo.

Our transfer embargo is lifted. Its not quite Christmas, we'll start dealing with all this in early January.


Financial Update

-- Wake Forest have announced a profit of $250,000 for the last year, "a staggering 78% of their turnover"




That was more than I thought I'd be cramming into this post. Its now December 31st and transfer windows are open. Its still a week until we get our players back from vacation, but its about time to start planning for the new season.

[Radii]

Ugh I was going to try to format player attributes nicely here to review the roster starting the new year, but I lost a bunch of if when OpenOffice crashed on me, so screw it, maybe next year.


Depth Chart - Goalkeepers

1. Amidu Gyan - 27 y/o - Best Combo of technical/mental attributes.
2. Phil Harrington - 24 y/o - As good as Gyan technically, weak mentally

I have two 17 y/o keepers. Clark Garcia could surpass these guys... eventually. But with training being what it is at this level, not really worth worrying about.

Gyan remains the starter here.


Defenders - Left Side

1. David Campbell - 22 y/o - Not skilled at all. Coggins should be my best here, but the ratings last year did not bear that out.
2. Danny Coggins - 25 y/o - Best Technically and Mentally by a lot.
3. Sean Rongen - 17 y/o - Rongen is actually better technically than Campbell too

Coggins is by far the best by the numbers, but Campbell put up better ratings last year. If Coggins plays well he probably gets all the starts here when he's fit. If no one stands out I may well rotate all three of them though.


Defenders - Right Side

1. Steve Arroyo - 17 y/o - By attributes, the best defender on my team. One of the few players with lots of 8's in spots like marking/tackling

2. Bob Varela - 16 y/o - Fine numbers for a backup, but Arroyo clearly looks better.

3. Joe Jackson - 27 y/o - Jackson's attributes are basically the same as Varela, I chose to give the younger guy more playing time last season.

Varela has the highest average rating here, but he only played when fully fit and sometimes against weaker opposition to rest Arroyo. Arroyo's attributes are so much better that its impossible to not start him (unlike Campbell vs Coggins at DL)


Defenders - Central

1. Joe Pickering - 16 y/o Attribute-wise, he looks like just another schlub, but he's 6'8" and the ratings he put up separated him from the pack last year.
2. Hernando Galvis - 25 y/o - The only DC with super high determination. Also the best leader and thus captain. Elsewhere he's in line with everyone else, so that gives him the bump to start.

3. Garry Garcia - 17 y/o - Best marking at this position. There's a big clump of players here really.

4. Tommy Lassiiter - 28 y/o - Best heading and Tackling, strongest DC, but the lowest composure and determination.

5. Don Burke - 25 y/o - By far the worst technically, minus the fact that he can jump...


Looking at attributes, the top 4 guys seem interchangeable mostly, and Burke clearly seems worse. Galvis wins out entirely b/c of determination and leadership.

Looking at ratings last year, it goes Pickering >>>>> Galvis/Burke >>> Garcia/Lassiter. Burke is 6'7" so maybe he outplays his ratings b/c of height too.

[Radii]

Defensive Midfielders

1. Brian Williams - 17 y/o - On paper Williams is better here and its not remotely close. His key technical attribute are all... ok... 6-8 range. No giant holes.
2. Timothy Pena - 24 yu/o - Looks like crap. I wanted to replace him in the preseason last year and couldn't find better.

But... in game, their ratings are basically the same.

One change i will make this year, last season I just played them both in "Defensive Mid" roles. But my assistant thinks they're both better as "Ball Winning Midfielders" and both have pretty high aggression, one of the key stats for that role. So I will probably change the role for my DM's and see if it lets them make more plays.


Central Midfielders

1. Jhonatan Mora - 21 y/o - Ratings don't much stand out, outside of a nice flair rating and a high work rate. Dude got results though.

2. Jose Alejandro Tapia - 24 y/o - best technical midfielder, best positioning and no 2'3 and 3's.

3. Mark Shakespeare - 17 y/o - 2nd best technically behind Tapia, weaker mentally than Mora though.

4. Gary Glaser - 18 y/o - So average everywhere. The guys behind him have major weak spots where Glaser is... ok.

5. Bayard Perkins - 25 y/o - Clearly worse than Glaser, clearly better than Sandoval

6. Ashley Sandoval - 17 y/o - 1 in marking, 2 in tackling, the offensive side of things doesn't do anything to make up for that.


So my tactic runs an "attacking" MC, and an "automatic" MC, which for me more often than not is defensive. The attackers by nature stand out and get better ratings. So even though Shakespeare had my best overall ratings, I think the combination of Tapia on defense/Mora offense give me my best team. Glaser/Shakespeare the 2nd tier there.

[Radii]

Right Attacking Midfielder

1. Ian Cooper - 17 y/o - Maybe the single best player on the team. A '13' technical attribute stands out light years ahead of everyone else, at any position. Solid flair, one of my best off the ball, which like decision making is just a rating that is bad for everyone at this level. Cooper is a star.

2. Ryan Crook - 25 y/o - At most other positions Crook would start. I like him a lot.

3. Bo Thompson - 17 y/o - Physically pretty good, which makes up for his awful technical skill.


Left Attacking Midfielder


1. Dylan Rose - 17 y/o - 2nd best "Technical" attribute behind Cooper on the team. Great flair, very good physiclaly, but lacks some crossing and dribbling ability. A '1' off the ball rating has to hurt him too.

2. Brian Davidson - 20 yo - Solid physically but very average elsewhere.

3. Luca Colangelo - 20 y/o - Interchangable with Davidson when it comes to attributes.


Rose was hurt a lot so we saw a lot of Davidson. Davidson, perhaps due to off the ball rating, was a much bigger threat to score, but he and Rose both had very solid overall ratings. Colangelo, despite appearing equal to Davidson, never impressed in any way.


Strikers

1. Ronnie Navarro - 17 y/o Best dribbling, best flair, best finisher, also put up the best stats by far from this position.

2. Leon Roth - 17 y/o - Best anticipation and off the ball out of the strikers. Not great at all otherwise.

3. Samir Pace - 17 y/o - Attributes say he's my second best striker, a step down from Navarro but not a big one.

4. Pierre Reynoso - 17 y/o - A warm body and not much more. Was signed for injury depth last year.

Reynoso started 3 matches and played in 8 more off the bench and never scored for me. Roth/Pace is a bit of a tossup but Roth had a couple monster games where Pace never really did, so my default thinking here is to give Roth the chance to be my #2 guy to see if he holds up over more appearances.

Notice they're all 17 years old. We have shit for experience up front.

[Radii]

So thoughts on the overall roster... I would like to sign better strikers, maybe I can't replace Navarro but I can hopefully make my depth better.

At every other position if I can find what seems like better players I will sign them and insert them into the depth chart. Cooper/Mora/Shakespeare put up great ratings last year and seem relatively safe in their roles compared to other positions. But since we're an amateur team and transfer $$ isn't part of the equation, we will take anyone, anywhere that I think might make the team better.

If it seems like a tossup or bringing in someone equal, I will probably tend against it for team cohesion reasons.

[bbgunn]

Ugh I was going to try to format player attributes nicely here to review the roster starting the new year, but I lost a bunch of if when OpenOffice crashed on me, so screw it, maybe next year.

I might be in the minority, but I don't mind so much about that. You did point out each player's higher attributes, and that's enough for my reading pleasure.

I don't know if other readers feel that way, but don't put pressure on yourself to write up more than you need. Of course, who am I to give advice to the writer of one of the more popular dynasty threads here.

[Radii]

I might be in the minority, but I don't mind so much about that. You did point out each player's higher attributes, and that's enough for my reading pleasure.

Good to know, thanks.

At a higher level, when my players can be expected to improve as they train in at least somewhat significant ways, I want that kind of thing for my own benefit as much as for the presentation.

But for a team with 1/2 star training facilities and no better than 2* training in any one area, and where many of my depth chart moves come down to whether I want the guy with a 5 in decision making vs the guy with a 2, it can wait :)

[Radii]

Wake Forest Player of the Year

-- Its all about the goals, as ST Ronnie Navarro is the fans Player of the Year. If I had a vote, I would have voted Cooper first, Mora 2nd, and Navarro 3rd.


Wake Forest Best Eleven

GK: Amidu Gyan - 37 apps/6.84 rating
DR: Bob Varela - 12 apps/6.97 rating
DC: Joe Pickering - 23 apps/4 goals/7.12 rating
DC: Hernando Galvis - 24 apps/1 goal/6.85 rating
DL: David Campbell - 20 apps/7.01 rating
DM: Mark Shakespeare - 27 apps/6 goals/7.26 rating
MC: Jhonatan Mora - 23 apps/8 goals/7.17 rating
MC: Jose Alejandro Tapia - 23 apps/2 goals/6.91 rating
AMR: Ian Cooper - 23 apps/5 goals/7.18 rating
AML: Brian Davidson - 22 apps/6 goals/7.08 rating
ST: Ronnie Navarro - 28 apps/11 goals/7.16 rating

Shakespeare at DM is a joke. He can't even play the position. If anything, put Tapia at DM, Shakespeare/Mora at MC, as Tapia actually played DMC a fair bit.


League Schedule Announced

Jon had mentioned this in the FM14 thread, as have others, there's a continuity issue with teams at least in this bottom tier staying in the same league from year to year. I care more about the climb than I do the history we build here, so its an annoyance, but not a showstopper to me.

Examples:

Twin City Patrol are now in the Florida Coast Premier League
Blacksburg Bears are now in the New England Premier League, so are the Roanoke Magic

New Teams in the APL:

Cape City - Finished 16th in the Gateway Premier League last year
North Meck SC - They belong here. Relegated last year.
Peoria Steamers - Finished 9th in the Gateway Premier League last year
Savannah Braves - relegated last year, they belong
Springfield Lynx - Finished 8th in the Gateway Premier League last year

So 3 teams here that shouldn't be, from Missouri and Illinois.

Our season opens May 2nd in Springfield. Home opener May 8th vs Huntington.


North American Open Cup Groups

We're drawn into the group stage that takes place before league play starts. We're in group L against 7 other amateur teams we haven't faced before. Most notably we have a road match on March 28th in Juneau, Alaska, against the Ice Bears. Not exactly the Hawaii trip the team had hoped for last year in the Amateur Cup.


Youth Intake

We bring in a large number of youth players and will have to decide which ones get contracts. The $70/wk "youth contract" that I was offering these guys in my game that accidentally went semi-pro doesn't exist as an option here, so I assume things are good as far as keeping amateur status.

We'll go through these players tomorrow. Am I allowed to play 14 year olds? Because I bet more than a few of these could crack my rotation at a glance.

[Radii]

Wake Forest Youth Intake

We got a LOT of players in, so I'm only going to mention ones that seem relevant here. I looked very quickly last night and saw lots of ratings scattered about that I thought were competitive with first team players.

DL Florian Bergmann - 14 y/o - Good stamina, good pace (11/10, solid for this level). Aggresion, Bravery, Determination, Leadership all very high. Work rate extremly high for this level (14). 6 Tackling is good already for this level. Marking, Anticipation, Positioning are awful. If they go up a few points he could be very good though.

DC Asley Varela - 14 y/o - Teamwork 14/Work Rate 17, through the roof! Heading, Marking, Tackling all 7 already. He's only 5'8" and we have seen height be hugely important for our central defenders. If I'm allowed to, i could actually see putting him directly into the senior team rotation.

DC Jesus Antonio Guerrero - 14 y/o - Exact opposite of Varela. Pretty crappy skillsy, but aggressive, brave, strong, can jump, and he's 6'7".

DM Adalberto Vega - 14 y/o - Poor tearmwork and work rate, which worry me a bit, but solid elsewhere, Marking 7/Tackling 8/Positioning 8, he's very slow though. Pace/Accel both 5's, that worries me a lot.

ST Ben Goodwin - 14 y/o - Crap technically, but composure, flair, off ball, and pace are all pretty solid. Enough to keep around at least. Can also play AML.

ST Michael Maurer - 14 y/o - cross 5/dribble 8/finish 6, weaknesses would be a lack of pace (5), and a low flair (6) compared to many other strikers we have. Also has terrible natural fitness (4), which could just kill him right away, but his technical skills make him worth a look no matter what.



I go ahead and offer all of these guys contracts. I cut a few guys right away, and I will decide on some others before the deadline.

[Radii]

-- We set up five friendlies.

-- I make a few transfer offers. I find nothing interesting at all at the MC or attacking mid positions. DR where I really like Arroyo I didn't offer anyone, but I made offers at most other positions. I will admit, I made one offer to a guy from the Blacksburg Bears who is at best 50/50 to play for me. But they signed 3 of my players last year, so I just want to try to get the guy.


So the Blacksburg guys I went after said no, boo!

New Signing

DMC Luis Villa - 27 y/o - 6 marking/11 tackling. 5 concentrate/6 decisions/6 positioning. Weak-ish physically, 7 accel/6 sta/5 str. I signed Villa basically because i think very little of my backup DMC Timothy Pena. Villa was a free agent, not something I saw much of last season. He was released by the NC Fusion, a team a couple divisions higher than us.



-- We miss out on the guy I wanted the most out of everyone I tried to sign, a DL with great acceleration and good technical skills.


Player Departure

Nooooooooo. MC Jhonatan Mora signs with the NC Fusion. They're a much bigger team than us, and Mora chooses to make $230/week at a higher tier instead of $0 with us.



-- We already have an offer out on another MC. Lets see what happens.


Player Departure

DR Steve Arroyo signs with the Allen Bandits SC. The Bandits are also many tiers above me and Arroyo will be making $475/week thre.


-- The MC I was trying to go after signs elsewhere.

-- With Arroyo leaving I make an offer to a DR youth candidate, not a real solution I don't think, but a guy who could offer injury coverage if I can't sign something better.



This takes us to January 10th, this offseason is not looking quite as good as our last offseason!

[Radii]

-- Up to January 17th, and I don't think I'm going to sign a new MC or DR any time soon. Guys that I didn't like so much all of a sudden get much more important spots in the depth chart.

Friendly #1 - January 19th

We travel to Raleigh to play the Pioneers, a team a couple tiers above us. I should probably watch these matches to see who stands out, but that's boring, so I don't.

I play my starters a half and then give backups a half to get some action.

Raleigh Pioneers 0 : 0 Wake Forest Cougars

Pretty even match, no ratings stand out. Shakespeare missed a clear cut chance, they missed one as well.


Injury Update

MC Ashely Sandoval turned an ankle, it was listed as a minor injury during the match, but he's going to miss 6-8 weeks. Bummer.

...

days later, DC Garry Garcia hurts an ankle and is out 2-3 weeks.



-- That takes us to January 24th, we'll finish up the preseason tomorrow and see if there's any way we can sign anyone new.

[Radii]

Injury Update

-- Youth ST Michael Maurer broke his leg in a U18 match and is out for 7-8 months. He would have played some this year. :(

Friendly #2 - Jan 26th

We're playing our reserve squad today, I make sure that everyone not available for the senior team is available for the reserves.

Navarro with a goal from just outside the box in the 25th minute. We allow a penalty in the 48th minute and they tie it up.

Wake Forest 1 : 1 Wake Forest Reserves


Most importantly, we get out of this one with no injuries.


-- One of my coaches has been hired away, and my assistant has a bunch of offers, so it looks like I'm going to be replacing two coaches in the next few days.


Injury Update - Feb 1st

DR Bob Varela has a bruised rib from training and is out 2 weeks.


February Update

-- MC Glaser trains well.

-- The board is pleased with my leadership, squad harmony and our results last year are the main reasons. We lost $4,610 last month.


New Signing

14 y/o ST Patrick Ratzburg joins the team. 5 dribbling/6 finishing/6 heading/6 passing all seem nice. 8 off the ball is way better than many, though most of his other mental attributes are low as you'd expect. 8 pace but only 4 acceleration.

Its going to take Pace awhile to get into match shape, he's still hurt remember. And Reynoso has still never scored a goal for me, so an extra striker seems like a good thing.


Friendly #3 - Feb 3rd

We host CASL Elite in this one. We get a goal from our new 14 y/o Striker Ratzburg in the 10th minute. We sub most of our starters out around 60 minutes. That's the only goal, victory!

Wake Forest 1 : 0 CASL Elite


The worst thing about losing your assistant is that you lose the ability to "filter out unreasonable targets" when trying to find a new damn assistant.


Old North Cup Draw

This is the small tournament between all the teams in North Carolina. Last year we drew one of the USL teams and it was awful. This is so much better. We get a home match against the Asheville Attack, another team in our division. A winnable match!

[Radii]

Ok I don't know how to sign an assistant. My last coach made a couple of suggestions before he left, but none of them took the job. I'm trying to filter attributes like "adaptability less than 10" etc to make the list a little smaller to try to find coaches who will talk to me, but not a single one will even consider a contract that I can find.

Is it a thing to just have no coaching staff at this level?

[Radii]

It does seem many other teams in my division have no coaching staff outside head coach.

[Radii]

Friendly #4 - Feb 10th

We're taking a long trip to St Louis for this one. It was available and we'll get some cash for playing on the road, so I figured why not.

Cooper gets a goal in the 30th minute, and that's the only goal of the match.

St Louis 0 : 1 Wake Forest


-- So I offered one of my two physio's the assistant coach job and they took it. Awful, awful assistant, but, if it lets me see guys I have a shot at hiring so I can bring in a better one it fixes everything.


Injury Update

A few guys who weren't getting enough rotation time were playing for the reserves. Way too many of them got hurt today.

DC Galvis is out for 2 weeks
DL Coggins is out for 2 weeks.
DM Luis Villa is out 9-12 days.


Injury Update

AMR Bo Thompson is going to miss 4-5 weeks with an injury picked up in training.


New Assistant Coach

OMG We did it!

Shaker Asad has a 14 determination, 13 discipline, only 5 adaptability, his coaching attributes are mostly in the 6-8 range. We'll see if I can find some coaches now too.

[britrock88]

It's harder to get by without an assistant, IMO. Go to the job center and place an advert?

[Radii]

It's harder to get by without an assistant, IMO. Go to the job center and place an advert?


That sounds like a much better solution than promoting your physio to assistant so you can get access to the "filter unreasonable targets" option to actually find coaches that I can make offers to. I didn't know the job center thing existed. I'll do that next time!

[Radii]

February 18th, 2015

Old North Cup

Wake Forest Cougars vs Asheville Attack

Our first match with any meaning!

GK: Gyan
D: Campbell/Pickering/Varela/Jackson
DM: Williams
MC: Tapia/Shakespeare
AM: Rose/Cooper
ST: Navarro

A pretty familiar lineup to last year. Joe Jackson gets the start at DR, youth player Ashley Varela gets the start at DC, mainly for fitness reasons. Its going to be a bit confusing, we now have an Ashley Varela at DC and a Bob Varela at DR, if the young kid at DC is decent I'm sure both will be on the field together at points.

12': We hold possession for quite a long time, Shakespeare hits Rose in the area for a clear cut chance but he puts his shot wide.

14': Williams ahead to Rose, Rose with a short run down the left side and a cross into the area, Navarro volleys it in! 1-0

33': They have a corner, its a short lob into the near side of the box, they get a shot off it but its contested well and its off target.

HALF: Joe Jackson and Ronnie Navarro both picked up minor injuries in the first half. I'm going to sub Navarro out. Roth is in. We are really dominating this one, just need to avoid allowing a stupid goal.

51': Indirect free kick 35 yards out, Tapia taps it to Shakespeare, into the area for Cooper, he crosses to Roth, Roth with a godawful header that is going to go well wide... but a defender runs into it and redirects it into the net, own goal! 2-0

57': Rose with a run down the left after some midfield possession, a cross to about 8 yards from goal, Roth heads it into the right side of the net! 3-0

64': Campbell wins the ball in defense and we start to push forward, Cooper ends up with a run down the right side, he fires a low cross to the other side of the penalty area, Rose is there and shoots... basically at the keeper's feet, he tries to get down to get it but can't, its in! 4-0

That's it! Little action in the final 25 minutes.

Wake Forest 4 : 0 Asheville

Man of the Match: Dylan Rose (9.4)
Goals: Rose, Navarro (7.1), Roth (7.5)
Assists: Rose 2, Cooper 2 (9.1)
Notables: Gyan (7.2), Jackson (8.0), Varela (7.9), Pickering (7.8), Campbell (7.8), Williams (7.5), Shakespeare (7.6), Tapia (7.5)


Injury Update

Ronnie Navarro turned his ankle in the first half today, and he's going to miss 6-7 weeks as a result. Damn!

DR Joe Jackson bruised a rib in the first half today, he stayed in, but he's going to miss about 2 weeks.

[Radii]

Old North Cup Quarterfinal Draw

Eight teams left, one other from our division, one just 1 tier up, the other 5 are well above us. We're going to be going on the road to play the Wilmington Hammerheads from the USL Pro division. They actually promoted up last year into the top USL league, which is the 3rd tier of American soccer.

That match won't take place until June 10th.

New Coaches

36 y/o Reinaldo Navia signs with us. 8 attacking/8 defending/9 mental/7 technica/7 tactical.

30 y/o Chris Hawkins also joins the coaching staff. 6 attacking/7 defending/6 mental/6 technical. We have warm bodies to fill our training schedules again.

We also sign a new physio, Carl Parkins, physiotherapy 5, to replace the guy we temporarily moved to assistant coach to make this all happen.

Friendly - Feb 22nd

We host DC United, it didn't cost much to get them here so why not. This is only a few days after our last match. I make sure not to start anyone who played in our cup match.

Goes as expected. No one gets hurt so its good enough!

Wake Forest 0 : 4 DC United


Injury Update

In a reserve match, DL Sean Rongen got hurt and will miss 6-7 weeks. DR Fausto Diaz is going to miss 4-5 weeks.

Both are the #3 options at their positions.

-- On the good side of injury news, ST Samir Pace has recovered from the injury he picked up at the end of last season and will start working on his fitness immediately.


Friendly - Feb 27th

Our last friendly before the North American Open group play starts. We travel to CASL Chelsea.

We only have 11 players who aren't match fit right now, so we've done a good job getting everyone ready, hopefully this last match will take care of it for most of them.

They get a red card around the 50th minute after a scoreless first half. We take advantage with goals from Pace and Crook.

CASL Chelsea 0 : 2 Wake Forest

-- That takes us to the end of February. For the next two months we'll be playing North American Open group stage matches.

[Radii]

March Update

-- Samir Pace trained well, DM Luis Villa trained poorly.

-- The board remains pleased with my leadership. Last season's success and the locker room atmosphere are the reasons. We lost $3,300 last month.


Player Departure

DC Tommy Lassiter leaves us for the Fayeteville Liberty, a team who promoted out of our league last season. Lassiter made 15 starts and came on as a sub 5 times last year, putting up a 6.64 rating. When I signed him I thought he was immediately our best DC, but he did nothing to separate himself from any other player in the rotation.

We're left with Pickering, Galvis, and Garry Garcia as fairly known quantities. Don Burke played some last year, he's hurt at the moment though, with Ashley Varela and Jesus Antonio Guerrero who came in as youth pulls. So the depth is there if the youth players can do anything at all.


Injury Update

Due to match fitness issues I let DL Danny Coggins play in a reserve match and was just going to sit him for our first match. He tears a hamstring and is going to miss 3-4 months.

With Coggins and Rongen both hurt we are now down to David Campbell, who started much of last season, and youth pull Florian Bergmann, who does not look like one of our best youth players to be honest.


March 7th, 2015

North American Open Cup - Group Stage - Group L

Wake Forest Cougars vs Prairie Rapids SC

Attendance: 455

GK: Gyan
D: Campbell/Pickering/Galvis/Jackson
DM: Williams
M: Tapia/Shakespeare
AM: Rose/Cooper
ST: Roth

Defensive/Retain Possession, somewhat of a standard for us now, even at home.

9': Roth with a ball into the area for Cooper, he is behind his defender and has a clear cut chance, but puts it wide.

15': We build up after a throwin in our own end, Rose with a run down the left, into the area for Roth, he controls it, shoots.. off the crossbar.

16': Williams ahead to Shakespeare, to Roth... another shot wide. We're in full control here, just need the goal.

40': Shakespeare to Roth, about 25 yards out, he lobs it over the defense to a streaking Ian Cooper, good control of the ball, and his shot is perfect! 1-0

HALF: We have 57% of the possession, and a 7-0 edge in shots. We are winning 81% of our headers, they are at 31%. I tell the team to keep it up.

56': We control possession in their half, after a number of passes Shakespeare hits Cooper who places a shot very nicely from just inside the 18 yard box! 2-0

67': Nice long ball from Cooper out of our own half up to Roth, he holds it up, finds Shakespeare who strikes it well, but saved.

71': Rose with a cross to Cooper, he shoots... its on target, keeper pushes it weakly to the side, but just enough for it to hit the post and go free. They clear.

71': Garcia in for Galvis and new young ST Ratzburg in for Roth.

79': Another clear cut chance for Cooper... and another one saved. Our first two corners are headed behind by them, the third is harmless.

85': They have it in our end, there's a cross from the right side... Jackson is there but positioned really poorly so he's a non factor, and their ST Brown puts it in. 2-1

We hang on and don't give up anything else.

Wake Forest 2 : 1 Prairie Rapids

Man of the Match: Ian Cooper (9.1)
Goals: Cooper 2
Assists: Shakespeare (7.3), Roth (7.1)

Everyone else is in the high 6's. Cooper is just so good.


-- We get $7,600 for the win.

[Radii]

-- We still have a number of players right on the edge of match fitness. Those that need it I give the ok to play for the U18s and reserves and will just adjust my starting lineup accordingly.

Injury Update

3rd string AMR Bo Thompson had just recovered enough from his last injury to get out on the field for the reserves. He turns his knee and is out another month.


March 14th, 2015

North American Open Cup - Group Stage - Group L

Hudson Valley United (1-0-0, 2nd) vs Wake Forest Cougars (1-0-0, 3rd)

Attendance: 977

GK: Gyan
D: Bergmann/Pickering/Varela/Varela
DM: Williams
M: Tapia/Shakespeare
AM: Davidson/Cooper
ST: Roth

Three changes to the back line and a change at AML. Both Varela's are in and playing next to each other.

6': Cooper intercepts a poor pass near midfield, he plays a long ball ahead to Roth, Roth holds it and then lobs it into the left side for Davidson, he's got a clear cut chance and he finishes! 1-0

11': Cooper with a corner kick, taken to Williams who tries to shoot on the volley, its on target but weak, saved.

20': Very quick highlight with Shakespeare playing a ball to Cooper, he lays it off for Roth for a clear cut chance, but its put well wide.

HALF: We saw one more brief highlight and that was it. We have 10(!!) shots in the first half, to their 3. 64% of the possession, we just look crazy strong here.

55': Roth takes a rough hit and he's not injured, but his fitness went way low. Even though it'll come back up, I go ahead and sub in Ratzburg at the next opportunity.

61': Davidson with a cross to Ratzburg, he's all alone in the area for a bit, but he doesn't control it well and the defense recovers and blocks the shot.

62': After a throw we pass it around outside the area, Bergmann is way forward due to the set piece I assume, he lays it off for Shakespeare, who passes to Davidson, shot and goal! 2-0

80': They earn a corner after a poor pass by DR Varela gives it away in their offensive half, but can't do anything with it.

81': Glaser in for Shakespeare, Garcia in for Pickering.

Another good win!

Hudson Valley 0 : 2 Wake Forest

Man of the Match: Brian Davidson (8.9)
Goals: Davidson 2
Assists: Shakespeare (7.8), Roth (6.8)
Notables: Bob Varela (7.2), Pickering (7.2), Bergmann (7.2), Tapia (7.0), Cooper (7.2)

-- We get $7,600 for the win.

[Radii]

March 21st, 2015

North American Open Cup - Group Stage - Group L

Wake Forest Cougars (2-0-0, 2nd) vs Belleville Squires (2-0-0, 1st)

Attendance: 465

-- Belleville won their first match 5-2 for the goal differential lead. We're the only two teams at 6 points.

GK: Gyan
D: Campbell/Pickering/Galvis/Varela
DM: Williams
M: Glaser/Shakespeare
AM: Rose/Crook
ST: Ratzburg

Campbell and Galvis in on defense, Glaser gets his first start (he was one of the ones struggling with match fitness). Rose/Crook at AM, Cooper gets the day off, while Ratzburg gets his first start up front. Pace is a sub today, his fitness kind of sucks since he just came back from a long term injury which is why Ratzburg is getting so many chances here.

1': We build up on offense, Ratzburg sends it out wide for Rose, he crosses to the far post, Crook heads it.. off the post, clear cut chance right out of the gate, darn.

2': Shakespeare ahead to Rose, who shoots from an awkward angle and puts it wide. Wish he would have tried to get it to Ratzburg or Crook there.

3': A great tackle from Varela stops their offense in its tracks, a ball ahead to Rose and he runs iwth it, we work it around a bit, Shakespeare pulls it out wide to the left, sends a low cross to the 6 yard box, Ratzburg is there and its an easy finish! 1-0

16': A poor pass by them gives Shakespeare the ball, he immediately sends it long, Ratzburg is on it, instead of trying to beat his man he sends it wide for Rose, who can't score.

23': We have a corner, taken to the far post... a defender of theirs is hit by the ball and it bounces in the net. Own goal! 2-0

28': Crook to Ratzburg for a nice headed goal.. but offsides.

43': Crook with a solid shot from the right side of the area, but saved by the keeper. Rose recovers it near the baseline but they tackle well and eventually clear.

HALF: Another great half for us. We only control 51% of possession but outshoot them 8-0.

50': Crook to Ratzburg who tries a shot from 20 yards out, wide and high.

53': Ratzburg picks up a minor injury, hopefully no big deal.

58': Complete breakaway for Rose, but he doesn't know what to do. He holds up play 18 yards out instead of charging the keeper. Then he just shoots from there, and its well off target. That was pathetic.

81': A quick strike from them, run down the right, cross, and a goal from ST Borin. 2-1

83': Davidson in for Rose, Pace in for Ratzburg.

89': We have a corner, taken to the far post, there's a penalty as Pickering went up for a header! Shakespeare takes the penalty and drills it. 3-1

We are absolutely on fire!

Wake Forest 3 : 1 Belleville

Man of the Match: Mark Shakespeare (8.5)
Goals: Shakespeare, Ratzburg (7.9) (there was one own goal)
Assists: Pickering (7.1), Shakespeare, Ratzburg
Notables: Gyan (7.0)

Galvis with a 6.6, Rose a 6.4. Rose is better at crossing the ball, but Davidson is a much much bigger scoring threat.

-- We again receive $7,600 for the win.

[Radii]

-- going into a U18 match: "players in the first team needing match fitness: Ronnie Navarro, Samir Pace, Pierre Reynoso" Yeah.. that's 3 of our 5 strikers. Navarro being on the list is good, means he's about recovered from injury. And Pace has an excuse too with his injury problems. Reynoso I just don't like.

-- DC Don Burke resumes training after being out months with an injury.

-- I mentioned earlier that I was going to change my DMC role from "Defensive Midfielder" to "Ball Winning Midfielder". I had forgotten to do that, and am doing it now. Both Williams and Villa are better at that role according to my coaches.


Injury Update

GK Clark Garcia is out for 2 months after an injury in training. Noteworthy because GK Phil Harrington got hurt last week and since I never rotate GK's I didn't bother to slow down to mention it. But now our #2 and #3 GK's are out for some time. So if Gyan goes down we have a serious problem.


March 21st, 2015

North American Open Cup - Group Stage - Group L

Juneau Ice Bears (0-1-2, 7th) vs Wake Forest Cougars (3-0-0, 1st)

Attendance: 465

-- Belleville won their first match 5-2 for the goal differential lead. We're the only two teams at 6 points.

GK: Gyan
D: Campbell/Pickering/Garcia/Jackson
DM: Villa
M: Perkins/Glaser
AM: Davidson/Cooper
ST: Roth

Tons of changes today. Actually is Pickering our only player who started last match (aside from Gyan)? Its raining in Alaska today. Its probably cold too.

3': Davidson with a free kick from 25 yards out, just high.

4': Roth has it 35 yards out, gets it ahead to Glaser who lays it back for Roth, Roth sends it right for Cooper, its a clear cut chance, on target, but their keeper with a nice dive to stop it.

30': Roth is hurt and forced to leave the match. Reynoso is match fit and I stuck him as my sub today, so he's in.

31': Cooper with an extremely long free kick, almost from midfield. He launches it into the area, Reynoso gets his head to it, and its a goal! Reynoso with his first goal for Wake Forest. 1-0

38': Davidson to Glaser, he sends it to Cooper who shoots from 18, but its wide left.

HALF: We outshoot them 5-2 and control 53% of the possession. We're looking good, but definitely not as dominant as I've seen in other matches. I add the "Exploit the Right Flank" instruction at the half. Especially with 2nd stringers in at the MC roles, lets run everything we can through Cooper... and with Davidson on the left instead of Rose I'm confident in his scoring ability if Cooper sends a few balls his way.

51': Clear cut chance for Juneau after a long ball, Gyan rushes out and gets a hand on it, good save of a clear cut chance. They can't score on the corner.

60': Jackson takes a throwin in their end, its poor and he gives it away, they cross from the left side, a header from Allen, and a goal. 1-1

67': Tapia in for Glaser.

68': Cooper a corner, header from Perkins... wide.

75': Free kick from Tapia from the left side, Reynoso ends up behind everyone to put it in easily... but he's offsides.

88': Sandoval in for Villa. Tapia to DMC, Sandoval MC.

That's it.

Juneau 1 : 1 Wake Forest

Their scorer is man of the match.

Goal: Reynoso (7.1)
Assist: Cooper (6.7)
Notable: Pickering (7.0)

Pickering wins 12 headers out of the 13 he went for, including 3 key ones. The rest of the team won 13 headers.

-- Reynoso had been on the field for 15 hours in his Wake Forest before scoring today finally.

Injury Update

-- Roth has a sprained ankle and is out for 2 months. Pace and Navarro need to get their fitness together quick now.

http://i.imgur.com/aUtUmCw.png

Standings with 4 of 7 matches played. We'd probably advance even if we don't get any more points.

[Radii]

April Update

-- Burke is noted for training well, Galvis and Pace both poor.

-- The board remains very pleased with my leadership. Atmosphere is still the positie. We made $24,190 last month. Even the trip to Alaska didn't seem to hurt the finacnes.

-- 3rd string (or 4th, depending on how i use Tapia) DMC Timothy Pena is hurt in a reserve match and out 2-3 weeks.

April 4th, 2015

North American Open Cup - Group Stage - Group L

Wake Forest Cougars (3-!-0, 1st) vs Brea Orange (0-2-2, 8th)

Attendance: 458

-- another match against a bottom team, we've had trouble in the past beating teams we're supposed to beat.

GK: Gyan
D: Bergmann/Varela/Galvis/Varela
DM: Williams
M: Tapia/Shakespeare
AM: Rose/Cooper
ST: Ratzburg

Lots of changes again today. Both Varela's in. Pickering rests for the first time this year.

6': They take the first shot in this one, a free kick from 20 yards out, saved easily.

8': Strikers going down left and right. Ratzburg is hurt and has to leave the match. Reynoso is in.

13': They are attacking, Williams with a tackle but we can't clear it away, they win it back, pass up to Diaz, he fires a very strong shot and Gyan has no chance. 0-1

22': Cooper with a free kick from the left side, very depe in their territory, its headed around a few times, we maintain control and send it back to Cooper out side, he passes it in to Ashley Varela (the DC) who scores!! 1-1

27': Cooper with a great long ball for Reynoso, he gets into the area and shoots, but its wide.

31': Long ball ahead, didn't see who passed it. Shakespeare is trying to get to it, but the keeper comes out of hte penalty box to try to clear, but he kicks it into Shakespeare and it bounces into the area. Shakespeare gets to it and puts it into the empty net. 2-1

38': After a long buildup, mostly on the left side, the ball is passed to Cooper outside of the area, he beats his man 1v1 and gets a clear cut chance, but his shot is very poor.

HALF: After falling behind early we end up outshooting them 7-2, generating 4 clear cut chances and managing to finish two of them.

47': We generate some offense off the kickoff, but end up with a pretty tough long shot from Shakespeare that's saved.

51': More long possession, another instance where we settle for a longer shot than usual, Reynoso puts one well wide.

64': Some passing around the left side for Brea, there's a pass to Prado in the area, Galvis' positioning is terrible and we give him a great look and he buries it. 2-2

67': Reynoso beats his man 1 on 1 about 25 yards out, runs into the area and fires a shot... saved.

70': Rose earns us a corner as a cross isheaded behind. Cooper with the corner, Shakespeare shoots... off the crossbar.

72': They're able to get a pass into the area and get a decent shot off, but high.

75': Glaser in for Tapia

84': Perkins in for Shakespeare

Another draw against weak competition.

Wake Forest 2 : 2 Brea

One of their scorers is man of the match.

Goals: Varela (7.4), Shakesperae (7.7)
Assists: Rose (7.2) (one unassisted)
Notables: Reynoso (5.8)

Really rough game for Reynoso. I have to think we win that with Ratzburg up front.

Injury Update

ST Patrick Ratzburg turned an ankle and is going to miss two months. Pace and Navarro I believe are both ready to play.

We're 5 points ahead of 5th with 2 to play. We'll advance barring a miracle.

[Radii]

-- Two weeks off between games, I let some players play on the reserves.

April 18th, 2015

North American Open Cup - Group Stage - Group L

Mesquite Skeeters SC (1-2-2, 6th) vs Wake Forest Cougars (3-2-0, 1st)

Attendance: 977

-- another match against a bottom team, we've had trouble in the past beating teams we're supposed to beat.

GK: Gyan
D: Campbell/Varela/Pickering/Varela
DM: Williams
M: Tapia/Shakespeare
AM: Rose/Cooper
ST: Reynoso

6': The first shot goes to them, but its contested and from long range.

30': Midfielder Latham with a yellow. Reynoso takes a free kick from just outside the penalty area, its off the crossbar. Close!

HALF: Pretty crappy half, long shots when we've seen shots at all, neither team has put anything on target yet. I'm bringing Navarro in to play the second half.

48': Brian williams with a minor injury.

76': No highlights for 30 minutes, here Shakespeare gets the ball ahead to Navarro, he chips it to Cooper, a clear cut chance.. but he barely taps the ball, right at the keeper. Weak effort there.

77': Glaser in for Williams, Tapia to DMC. Davidson in for Rose.

81': Glaser with a long ball ahead for NAvarro... a little too far ahead though, the keeper gets to it first. We get the ball after the goal kick though and attack. Navarro ahead to Shakespeare, he shoots from the 18 yard mark, the keeper saves it but can't control it, rebound to Davidson and he put it in! 1-0

86': They earn a corner on a long shot on target. Corner is headed by one fo their guys, but weakly and Gyan picks it up easily.

They control the ball in the final couple minutes but an offsides gives us possession without them threatening seriously, and that will do it!

Mesquite 0 : 1 Wake Forest

Man of the Match: Mark Shakespeare (7.7)
Goal: Davidson (7.3)
Assist: Shakespeare
Notables: Navarro (7.1)

Navarro with some solid play in his first game of the season after injury. He had a few key passes.

-- We get $7,600 for the win.

-- We clinch advancement out of the group stage here. This is the tournament where we made tons of cash last year by advancing a couple rounds further than expected, so maybe we can get lucky and do that again.

-- One more group stage match, then league play begins!

[Radii]

April 25th, 2015

North American Open Cup - Group Stage - Group L

Ocala Marlins (3-3-0, 2nd) vs Wake Forest Cougars (4-2-0, 1st)

Attendance: 933

-- both of us have clinched advancement. This game is meaningless.

GK: Barton
D: Bergmann/Burke/Guerrero/Diaz
DM: Villa
M: Sandoval/Glaser
AM: Reynoso/Crook
ST: Goodwin

Burke, Sandoval, Glaser, and Crook are playing b/c they are still struggling a bit with match fitness. Villa is playing b/c I'm worried that I'm not using him enough and that he'll get pissed. Everyone else is playing so I can get a look at some young players. Barton is a U18 keeper, I never even mention his name b/c why would I ever get down to my 4th keeper, but #2 and #3 are hurt and I want to sit Gyan today.


15': First highlight of the match, they shoot off a free kick miles wide.

31': So we're watching a highlight and one of their midfielders is slowly dribbling the ball about 40 yards from goal, when MC Sandoval just launches himself at the player in a wild, aggressive sliding tackle attempt. Its the first straight red I've seen in this career for either team. I don't sub anyone, I just even out my midfield so we're playing a straight 4-4-1 now.

33': They control the ball in and around the area for a scary long time, but in the end a close range shot is blocked and cleared.

HALF: No changes. They outshoot us 4-1, sucks being a man down, it really hurts our chances of seeing one of these new guys make a play.

46': They score, but their guy was hilariously far offsides, its properly called back.

68': Perkins in for Crook, he's out of position at MR, but I'm not putting Cooper out there.

We watch one more highlight, Burke and Villa both clear threatening passes out nicely, they force a long shot that Barton saves easily. After that its over.

Ocala 0 : 0 Wake Forest

A man down with this lineup, I'll take it. They outshot us 9-1 and were clearly better.

Man of the Match: Florian Bergmann (7.0)
Notable: Diaz (7.0), Glaser (7.0)

Youth DC Guerrero had a 6.3 rating, everyone else was 6.7 or 6.8.

-- Sandoval is suspended for one match for his red card. I give him a warning and indicate that he clearly deserved it.

http://i.imgur.com/w8rXZea.png

Final group standings, we win the group and make it out without a loss!

[Radii]

North American Open Cup - First Qualifying Round Draw

192 teams in the draw here. We draw a home match against WPB United, a team one tier above us, in the Atlantic Coast Amateur League. That's the division we hope to promote into this season.

May Update

-- We currently have matches on the 2nd, 6th, 9th, 12th, 15th, 22nd, and 29th of May. If we win in the North American Open Cup that will increase and our week long breaks at the end of the month will disappear.

-- Pace, Villa, and Bo Thompson trained well. Don Burke trained poorly.

-- The board is pleased with my leadership. The locker room atmosphere is a positive. Our 0-0 draw to Ocala is a negative. WTF. They were in 2nd place in the group, and we had already advanced. Why do you care about this! We made $6,760 last month.

May 2nd, 2015

Springfield Lynx vs Wake Forest Cougars

Attendance: 269

GK: Gyan
D: Campbell/Pickering/Galvis/Jackson
DM: Williams
M: Tapia/Shakespeare
AM: Rose/Cooper
ST: Navarro

Our best lineup.

2': Rose with a ball ahead to Navarro, he controls it.. decently.. and fires from 25 yards out, and its in, wow!!

11': They fire a long free kick into the area, they end up with a shot from 20 yards and its wide.

31': They work the ball into the area and get a great look from close range, Gyan with a very solid save. There's a followup shot but wide. We dodged a bullet there.

HALF: They end up outshooting us 4-3, each of us have 1 on target. They control possession, slightly, while we are the better tackling team. Equal in the air right now. No changes, keep it up!

54': They pass very well and work the ball up the left side, eventually getting a shot from the left side of the area, its off the crossbar and over, very close.

68': Another on target look from Springfield, saved by Gyan.

70': Villa in for Williams at DM

71': Campbell intercepts a pass and sends it to Navarro. Navarro holds, Shakespeare makes a run and Navarro hits him, he's all alone, his control is poor though and he ends up pulling up from 20 yards and shooting instead of attacking the keeper. Its wide.

76': A nice move by Rose to pull two defenders to him and blow by them, he tries a cross but misses Navarro, they can't clear it, Cooper ends up with a shot but wide.

87': Glaser and Perkins in for Tapia and Shakespeare

91': A pickering header saves us after a cross by Springfield.

We hold out here and start the sesaon off with a win!

Springfield 0 : 1 Wake Forest

Man of the Match: David Campbell (7.1)
Goal: Navarro (7.1)
Assist: Rose (7.0)
Notable: Pickering (7.0)

Campbell with 11 interceptions in defence today, and as a result the most passes out of our defenders, I assume that's what earned him the good rating.

-- Sandoval is given 2 more matches of suspension after review of his red card incident.

[Radii]

-- Backup GK Phil Harrington comes to see me about his playing time. I tell him he's a backup and he can't expect more. He says ok. If he were to get upset I'd probably just release him and add another keeper.

May 6th, 2015

North American Open Cup - First Qualifying Round

Wake Forest Cougars vs WPB United

Attendance: 459

GK: Gyan
D: Campbell/Pickering/Burke/Varela
DM: Villa
M: Tapia/Glaser
AM: Davidson/Cooper
ST: Pace

About half the team I run out for a 2nd match in a row, the other half gets the day off.

5': Free kick about 40 yards out, we take it short and pass it around, Glaser sends it down the right side, Cooper has to race a defender for it, he gets there first and crosses to the far post, where Davidson taps it in! 1-0

16': Very poor defending allows a simple pass ahead to a striker and a clear cut chance, that they finish. There were like 7 defenders back and only the two offensive players. 1-1

17': Cooper scores a goal but offsides apparently.

33': Glaser to Cooper who just misses a shot from the right side of th area.

39': defender Toussant with a yellow for them. Villa takes the free kick from 20 yards out, its just over.

HALF: We outshoot them 4-3, each team has 1 on target, 1 clear cut chance and 1 goal.

67': We earn a corner after a Cooper cross, they clear it but we control the ball, but can't do anything with it.

72': Perkins and Shakespeare in for Glaser and Tapia.

80': Lets try to avoid extra time here, we come out of our defensive mindset a bit.

80': Shakespeare with a free kick from 25 yards out. Its over the wall and into the upper left corner of the net! Wow! Uhh, back to defensive guys. 2-1

86': Davidson with the ball after a poor goal kick by them, he makes a run down the left side, crosses into the area, Pace gets his head to it, goal! 3-1

90': Cooper with a free kick near the left corner of the penalty area, 20 yards out. He crosses into the box, Shakespeare controls it with his chest and fires it in! 4-1

Those last 10 minutes were pretty unexpected!

Wake Forest 4 : 1 WPB United

Man of the Match: Brian Davidson (9.0)
Goals: Shakespeare 2 (8.5), Davidson, Pace (7.7)
Assists: Cooper 2 (8.5), Davidson
Notables: Gyan (7.0), Varela (7.3), Burke (7.0), Pickering (7.1), Campbell (7.1), Villa (7.2)


-- We receive $15,210 for the victory.

[Radii]

North American Open Cup - Second Qualifying Round Draw

We get another home match, this one against the Khalsa Sporting Club, looks like they're in British Columbia. They're in the Gold Coast Division 2, which is tier 6, two above us. We beat a team in this tier last year, but it won't be easy. j Khalsa is the worst team in their division 9 matches in, so maybe that will help us.

May 9th, 2015

Wake Forest Cougars (1-0-0, 7th) vs Huntington Hammers (1-0-0, 4th)

Attendance: 262

-- We've never lost to Huntington, we played them twice in the regular season and in the Amateur Cup last year. We have a 7-1 goal edge in those matches.

GK: Gyan
D: Bergmann/Varela/Galvis/Jackson
DM: Williams
M: Perkins/Shakespeare
AM: Rose/Crook
ST: Navarro

Wholesale changes today.

16': Shakespeare with a corner, far post, Galvis heads it.. off the post, wow close.

26': Crook with a free kick from 30 yards out, its not bad, but a bit wide.

30': A yellow from their player Powers.

37': We win it in midfield after a goal kick, Shakespeare sends it ahead to Rose, he cuts inside, fires a shot from a fairly tough angle, but places it well into the right side of the net! 1-0

HALF: We are completely in control here. 9 shots to 3, 64% of the possession, we will hopefully add to the lead and secure this one.

48': Shakespeare with a free kick from 25 yards, its a very good kick, their keeper dives to stop it. We get a corner but can't do anything with it.

57': We attack up the middle, Perkins to Shakespeare to Navarro, he holds it up though and the sends it left. Rose goes very deep, sends a low cross through the 6 yard box, and Shakespeare is there to finish! 2-0

74': We try a lob into the area, but a defender of theirs is first to it.. but his control of the ball is awful, Navarro takes it away, attacks, has a clear cut chance... but saved.

75': Villa in for Tapia, Reynoso in for Rose.

88': garcia in for Galvis.

91': They blast a shot off the post from a pretty dangerous spot in the left side of the area.

That's it!

Wake Forest 2 : 0 Huntington

Man of the Match: Mark Shakespeare (8.8)
Goals: Shakespeare, Rose (8.2)
Assists: Shakespeare, Rose
Notables: Jackson (7.4), Bergmann (7.3), Navarro (7.0)

Our fullbacks were heavily involved in the passing today, leading to their nice ratings.

A solid 2-0 start to the league season.

[Radii]

-- We've now gone 12 matches without a loss going back into last season, that's a record for us.

-- Leon Roth has begun full training again after his ankle injury

May 12th, 2015

Cleveland Stokers (1-1-0, 3rd) vs Wake Forest Cougars (2-0-0, 2nd)

Attendance: 271

Only us and Peoria are 2-0-0, everyone else has a loss or draw. We played Cleveland twice last year and drew both times.

GK: Gyan
D: Campbell/Pickering/Galvis/Jackson
DM: Villa
MC: Tapia/Glaser
AM: Davidson/Cooper
ST: Pace

After this match we have one more league match, then our NA Open match. Most of these guys are the ones I want to start in the NA Open match, so i play them now, rest them next game, play them for the open. Exceptions are Williams, Shakespeare, and Navarro, they are just too tired to go today and follow that format.

ST Diego Sinisterra is a name I remember from last year. He's got 4 goals in 6 matches this year so far. I give the order to close down on him quickly any time he touches it. He actually isn't incompetent with his left foot so I don't worry about the show onto foot instruction.

4': We watch Glaser, Jackson and Cooper pass the ball back and forth for about 30 seconds before Cooper tries a shot, which is blocekd by a defender.

30': Davidson intercepts a poor pass in our offensive side of midfield, ahead to Pace, to Glaser, he puts it into the right side of the area for Cooper, and this time Cooper finishes it! 1-0

33': Galvis with a key header to win a cross attempt from a defender. Sinisterra ends up with a tough shot afterwards, wide.

HALF: We control 64% of the possession, outshoot them 4-2, our goal is the only shot on target so far. We're actually losing out in the air, but maybe that's because we control so much of play that Pickering hasn't been needed to stop attacks in defense much.

50': Davidson with a lob ahead to Pace, he's behind the defense.. a defender, catches up and tackles him... yellow for the defender. Tapia tries to shoot on the free kick but misses bad. I was hoping for a red there.

57': One of those totally random flukey long passes that goes at the keeper instead of to the target for Cleveland... except here Gyan just craps himself and lets it go by him for a goal. Ugh. 1-1

75': Reynoso in for Davidson at AML. Perkins in for Glaser.

77': Long free kick for us, Cooper sends it into the area from 50 yards out or so, it hits Perkins (or did he try to head it, can't tell), falls free in the area, and Reynoso is first to it and puts it in 2-1

85': Pace gets free of his defender 25 yards out, makes a run to the edge of the box, shoots... way high.

89': DR Jackson picks up a minor injury.

91': Garcia in for Galvis.

94': Pickering is hurt and forced to leave the match... 4 minutes into extra time, when only 3 minutes were called for. Asshole ref!

Cleveland 1 : 2 Wake Forest

Man of the Match: Ian Cooper (8.3)
Goals: Cooper, Reynoso (7.3)
Assists: Cooper, Glaser (7.6)

No one else above a 7. Galvis actually as low as 6.5.


Injury Update

DR Joe Jackson is going to miss 2 weeks with a thigh bruise.

Luckily Pickering has no long term injury.

Peoria remain perfect in league play, so we're still second.

[Radii]

-- We've now gone 12 matches without a loss going back into last season, that's a record for us.

-- Leon Roth has begun full training again after his ankle injury

May 15th, 2015

Cleveland Stokers (1-1-0, 3rd) vs Wake Forest Cougars (2-0-0, 2nd)

Attendance: 271

Only us and Peoria are 2-0-0, everyone else has a loss or draw. We played Cleveland twice last year and drew both times.

GK: Gyan
D: Campbell/Pickering/Galvis/Jackson
DM: Villa
MC: Tapia/Glaser
AM: Davidson/Cooper
ST: Pace

After this match we have one more league match, then our NA Open match. Most of these guys are the ones I want to start in the NA Open match, so i play them now, rest them next game, play them for the open. Exceptions are Williams, Shakespeare, and Navarro, they are just too tired to go today and follow that format.

ST Diego Sinisterra is a name I remember from last year. He's got 4 goals in 6 matches this year so far. I give the order to close down on him quickly any time he touches it. He actually isn't incompetent with his left foot so I don't worry about the show onto foot instruction.

4': We watch Glaser, Jackson and Cooper pass the ball back and forth for about 30 seconds before Cooper tries a shot, which is blocekd by a defender.

30': Davidson intercepts a poor pass in our offensive side of midfield, ahead to Pace, to Glaser, he puts it into the right side of the area for Cooper, and this time Cooper finishes it! 1-0

33': Galvis with a key header to win a cross attempt from a defender. Sinisterra ends up with a tough shot afterwards, wide.

HALF: We control 64% of the possession, outshoot them 4-2, our goal is the only shot on target so far. We're actually losing out in the air, but maybe that's because we control so much of play that Pickering hasn't been needed to stop attacks in defense much.

50': Davidson with a lob ahead to Pace, he's behind the defense.. a defender, catches up and tackles him... yellow for the defender. Tapia tries to shoot on the free kick but misses bad. I was hoping for a red there.

57': One of those totally random flukey long passes that goes at the keeper instead of to the target for Cleveland... except here Gyan just craps himself and lets it go by him for a goal. Ugh. 1-1

75': Reynoso in for Davidson at AML. Perkins in for Glaser.

77': Long free kick for us, Cooper sends it into the area from 50 yards out or so, it hits Perkins (or did he try to head it, can't tell), falls free in the area, and Reynoso is first to it and puts it in 2-1

85': Pace gets free of his defender 25 yards out, makes a run to the edge of the box, shoots... way high.

89': DR Jackson picks up a minor injury.

91': Garcia in for Galvis.

94': Pickering is hurt and forced to leave the match... 4 minutes into extra time, when only 3 minutes were called for. Asshole ref!

Cleveland 1 : 2 Wake Forest

Man of the Match: Ian Cooper (8.3)
Goals: Cooper, Reynoso (7.3)
Assists: Cooper, Glaser (7.6)

No one else above a 7. Galvis actually as low as 6.5.


Injury Update

DR Joe Jackson is going to miss 2 weeks with a thigh bruise.

Luckily Pickering has no long term injury.

Peoria remain perfect in league play, so we're still second.

[Radii]

May 20th, 2015

North American Open Cup Second Qualifying Round

Wake Forest Cougars vs Khalsa Sporting Club

Attendance: 470

GK: Gyan
D: Campbell/Pickering/Galvis/Varela
DM: Villa
MC: Tapia/Shakespeare
AM: Davidson/Cooper
ST: Navarro


5': Navarro with an early yellow card.

15': Davidson to Navarro, to Cooper, his cross is turned behind for a corner. We can't do anything on the corner though.

24': They have a free kick, just high.

27': Cooper with a run down the right, cross to near post, Navarro controls it, holds it amoment and shoots, its a clear cut chance, but blocked. First corner Pickering gets a shot off, but blocked. Second corner Galvis with a clear cut chance from the far post... weakly headed right at the keeper.

46': Villa with a long ball ahead to Davidson, he controls it well 25 yards out, to the middle for Shakespeare, a through ball into the area, Cooper is on it, shoots, and its by the keeper! 1-0

HALF: Great job getting a goal to end the half. We out-shoot them 6-2, with 3 clear cut chances, we actually could have hoped to be further ahead here. 64% of the possession too. We're losing in the air, that's the only area.

50': We watch a number of awful passes to trade possession back and forth. Finally Davidson with a nice long run down the left side, a cross... keeper punches it away. Shakespeare heads it back in, but Navarro is offsides.

57': DM Villa gets a yellow.

61': A couple quick long passes from Khalsa get them a decent look from the left side of the area, but its way off target.

66': Cooper to Shakespeare to Navarro, he beats his man 1v1 and is into the area, clear cut chance #4 for us, but the keeper gets a hand to it. We get a corner, but no luck.

74': First clear cut chance for them, a very long ball from a defender, Galvis just takes a bad angle to it and the attacker gets to it, but Gyan makes a nice diving stop.

75': We turn it around after their attack, Shakespeare with a ball ahead from about 40 yards out, Navarro gets behind the defense and is first to it. He has yet another clear cut chance and this one he finishes! 2-0

80': they get one back pretty quick, a nice cross from their right midfielder, a volly from the penalty spot for ST Janicky. 2-1

80': Pace in for Davidson, Perkins in for Shakespeare

86': Perkins ahead to Navarro for a goal, but offsides. It was close, but pretty definitive.

91': oh wow. They ahve a corner, Pickering heads it away, it bounces once around 30 yards out, midfielder Marie strikes it on a half volley after the bounce, and it is perfectly put into the top right corner. That was pretty damn impressive. 2-2

FULL TIME: That was a really tough break. I tell the team they're playing well and we can still win. Glaser is in for Tapia.

92': Perkins to Cooper after a throwin for a rocket of a shot from 15 yards awayu, our 5th clear cut chance, but the keeper gets in front of it.

EXTRA TIME HALF: We watched them take a free kick, only other highlight.

121': Pace tries a cross that earns us a corner, but the corner was taken too close and right at the keeper.

That's it, and we go to penalties.

Penalties have been a pretty ridiculous thing and that's apparently a common theme in FM14, so we're not going to describe every shot here. Lets just see who wins the random thing that is a shootout.

-- Khalsa's 4th penalty kick goes wide. Its the first penalty I've ever seen straight up miss the target, as opposed to being stopped by the keeper. We hit all of ours.

Wake Forest (5) 2p : 2 (4) Khalsa

Giving up a 2 goal lead is pretty scary, but we advance and that's all that matters!

Man of the Match: Mark Shakespeare (8.4)
Goals: Cooper (7.3), Navarro (7.2)
Assists: Shakespeare 2

Galvis with a 6.4, Pickering 6.6, everyone else 6.8-6.9.

We really were the much better team for 90 minutes today.


-- We receive $30,420 for the win today.

[Radii]

North American Open Cup - Third Qualifying Round Draw

Some teams are added this round and there's 136 teams left. We really, really luck out here. We draw the Fredericton Fury, and we're at home again. Fredericton are in the St Lawrence Soccer League, another Amateur league in the same tier as us.

This is a huge match, as this next game is worth $110,000 or so for a win.

-- Our match with Fredericton is on the 27th, and we've got another league match in between. We're going to end up playing 9 matches in the 30 days of May.

May 23rd, 2015

Nashville Soul (0-0-4, 16th) vs Wake Forest Cougars (3-0-1, 3rd)

Attendance: 198

-- We played them twice last year and won both times. This is the only team left in the APL without a win, and they don't even have a point.

GK: Gyan
D: Bergmann/Varela/Garcia/Diaz
DM: Vega
M: Perkins/Sandoval
AM: Rose/Crook
ST: Pace

Obviously we have to replace everyone today. DM Adalberto Vega gets his first appearance in the senior squad. I up us from defensive to standard mindset against such a poor opponent.

1': Their ST Griffiths gets a yellow card 16 seconds into the match.

25': First highlight is a corner that we don't do anything with.

34': Pace with a cross in from the right for Crook, he has a volly from the penalty spot, a clear cut chance, but awful and wide.

37': They get their first look, a dangerous shot from a streaking right midfielder, but he puts it wide.

HALF: We shoot 4 times, they shoot 1. All off target. Pretty ugly half. Lets attack, guys.

49': Varela a yellow for a foul literally inches outside the penalty area. They take the free kick and it hits the right post and bounces in. 0-1

70': Pace with a weak shot saved by the keeper. First highlight in awhile.

74': A shot from 20 yards out from midfielder North its placed perfectly and into the top corner of the goal. 0-2

74': Wilkins in for Sandoval, Reynoso in for Pace.

80': They get a clear cut chance after a cross finds its mark in the 6 yard box, but Gyan stops it.

85': Another breakaway for Nashville and clear cut chance, saved. and we clear out the corner.

We played really terribly in the second half.

Nashville 2 : 0 Wake Forest

I tell the team they sucked, even if it wasn't the first team, ugly.

6.2 from Diaz, 6.3 from Rose and Pace.


That drops us to 6th.

[Radii]

-- Coggins and Jackson both resume full training. Roth is about ready to go too. A run like this would be a lot easier with those guys on the field instead of some of these 14 year olds and guys who just don't seem to produce.


May 27th, 2015

North American Open Cup - Third Qualifying Round Draw

Wake Forest Cougars vs Fredericton Fury

Attendance: 457

GK: Gyan
D: Campbell/Pickering/Galvis/Varela
DM: Williams
M: Tapia/Shakespeare
AM: Davidson/Cooper
ST: Navarro

Back to a lineup I'm confidant can do good things.

5': They have a set piece deep in the right corner, a cross into the area, and a shot is blocked and Gyan picks up the loose ball.

12': Navarro has it 35 yards out to start the highlight, he sends it left for Davidson, a cross.. Navarro with a solid header, keeper has to dive to stop it. There's a rebound and Cooper is first to it and he buries it! 1-0

28': Following a lot of buildup down the right side, there is a strong cross and very strong shot by their striker, Gyan dives left and pushes it away.

39': Williams with a yellow.

HALF: Its quite even really, 5 shots for them, 3 for us, possession is 53/47 in our favor. I bring Villa in for Williams at the half as its pointed out that Williams is making an awful lot of mistakes today.

68': First highight of the half is a free kick from Tapia, Galvis heads it weakly forward, Navarro heads it in but he had made a run on the free kick and was offsides behind the defense.

75': One of their midfielders had picked up a yellow earlier that I didn't note... he just got a second one and we're up a man!

81': Three highlights in a row of long/poor shots from Fredericton.

82': Glaser in for Shakespeare, Varela in for Galvis.

85': I tell the team to make shorter passes, drop deeper, and play at a lower tempo.

87': Gyan comes out after a long ball ahead and he fumbles it... it falls to one of their strikers who puts it into the now empty net. 1-1

87': Take away all those orders I just gave, and attack.

89': Glaser ahead to Navarro, he finds Tapia in the area, a shot from 15 yards out, and its a goal!!! 2-1

That'll do it!

Wake Forest 2 : 1 Fredericton

I'm so happy we got to end that in 90 minutes.

Man of the Match: Jose Alejandro Tapia (7.6)
Goals: Tapia, Cooper (7.2)
Assists: Navarro (7.5)

Pickering struggled again with a 6.4 rating.

-- We receive $114,000 for the victory. This is the round we lost in last year. That one match will guarentee us a massive, massive profit on the year. How that relates to speeding up semi-pro status I don't know, but it seems important.

[bbgunn]

Good run so far.

Just wanted to thank you for alerting me to the Level 8 USA file. I started a save with the Honolulu Islanders over the weekend and I am enjoying every minute of it. In fact, it's taking me all my power not to start my own dynasty thread here. I just don't have the time to make it detailed like yours and the others here. If I did do it, it would be quite barebones. But I'm having fun nonetheless.

[Radii]

-- That win leaves us with a balance of $455,043 in the bank.

North American Open Cup - First Round Draw

128 teams remain, so its a straight 7 round tournament from here. MLS and NASL and USL teams are all in play.

We're stuck on the road here, against IMG Bradenton Academies. They're in Atlantic Coast Division 2. That's where we aim to be if we promote two years in a row. We did beat a team from that tier last round, so given all the top flight teams this is still a really good draw, but this is going to be a crazy tough matchup.

We'll play them on June 10th. There is actually a break in June for some reason, we would have had a full month off according to the schedule if it weren't for the open cup and the Old North Cup. Maybe the Amateur Cup starts in June too. Its still a brutal schedule until after that match on the 10th.

May 30th, 2015

Wake Forest Cougars (3-0-2, 6th) vs Peoria Steamers (4-0-1, 3rd)

Attendance: 229

-- Peoria are only 3rd b/c other teams have more matches played. They were first with everyone on equal ground

GK: Gyan
D: Campbell/Burke/Varela/Jackson
DM: Villa
M: Glaser/Shakespeare
AM: Rose/Cooper
ST: Roth

Burke starts over Pickering b/c Pickering has had a couple weaker matches. Roth is back from injury. Cooper and Shakespeare are simply fit enough to play and are consistetly better than other options.

Both of Peoria's strikers in their 4-4-2 have been scoring quite a bit. This could be tough.

4': They have a corner kick, kicked to the edge of the penalty box, headed forward, and then headed in. Ugh. 0-1

8': We earn a corner off a cooper cross, corner is cleared.

22': Shakespeare loses the ball to a tackle in midfield, they pass it ahead quickly and get a shot off, but its off target.

25': Up to a standard mindset from our defensive one.

37': Throwin in their end, after a couple passes Shakespeare gets it into the area for Roth, he makes a cut to the goal, and he's tackled, penalty! Shakespeare takes it and scores. 1-1

46': Another throwin in the offensive end, on the right side, we work it around a bit and rotate to the left side, Rose with a run and a cross, Shakespeare is there and puts it in with his left foot! 2-1

HALF: Quite the comeback. They outshoot us 4-3, every on target shot has been a goal. We dominated possession throughout the half but it wasn't until we pulled out of our defensive shell that we generated anything at all.

49': Campbell clears a ball to Galser near midfield, a ball ahead to Roth, he's about 35 yards out and makes a great run on his own, but he tries a cute chip shot when the keeper didn't really leave his line yet. Easy save.

62': Rose tries a cross, they head it out, but we retain possession, passed back ahead to Rose again, he sprints into the area and is tackled. Penalty #2! Shakespeare is gonna take this one too and he has a hat trick. 3-1

69': Perkins in for Glaser, Crook in for Cooper.

74': Shakespeare starts the offense with an interception, ahead to Crook, to Roth, and back to a breaking Shakespeare, from about 30 yards out he lobs it over to the left side for Rose, Rose shoots and its in! 4-1

81': Jackson decides that Peoria deserves to score from the penalty spot too, a bad tackle in the area, and they do convert the penalty. 4-2

83': Horrible play by Peoria, a throwin in their own defensive end, they throw it towards the penalty area, and Roth intercepts the throwin, shoots and scores. 5-2

That's it!

Wake Forest 5 : 2 Peoria

Man of the Match: Mark Shakespeare (9.6)
Goals: Shakespeare 3, Rose (8.4), Roth (8.7)
Assists: Rose 2, Roth, Shakespeare
Notables: Villa (7.2)

6.8/6.9 ratings from all of the defense.


A good win to break our 2 game losing streak in league play.

http://i.imgur.com/va0VpSY.png

6 out of the 15 games before the split complete, and we sit in 6th. We've already played, and beaten, three teams above us. That should be good news in theory, but the reality is that we seem to struggle like hell against some of the worst teams.

[Radii]

Just wanted to thank you for alerting me to the Level 8 USA file. I started a save with the Honolulu Islanders over the weekend and I am enjoying every minute of it.

Awesome! I'm glad you're enjoying it.

[Radii]

June Update

-- Campbell/Coggins/DC Ashley Varela all train well. Pace/Burke/Villa all struggle.

-- The board is very pleased with my leadership, locker room atmosphere still the #1 reason, and our 0-2 loss to bottom feeders Nashville is the negative. We made a ridiculous $166,000 last month.

June 2nd, 2015

Owensboro Cookers (4-1-1, 3rd) vs Wake Forest Cougars (4-0-2, 6th)

Attendance: 278

We only played them once last year, we beat them.

GK: Gyan
D: Bergmann/Pickering/Galvis/Varela
DM: Williams
MC: Tapia/Sandoval
AM: Davidson/Crook
ST: Navarro

100% turnover here outside of the GK.

9': Pickering gets a yellow.

21': Their ST Cuevas gets a yellow.

23': Williams a yellow. He'll get suspended a game for that.

33': We see our first highlight, a free kick saved.

40': Navarro gets a yellow for diving.

42': Bob Varela picks up a minor injury.

HALF: Uh yeah. So 4 yellows, one highlight, and we're in the locker room. I bring Perkins in for Sandoval. That attacking MC spot seems pretty crucial and I'm hoping Perkins has a better chance to make something happen there.

49': We hold possession for a long while, Varela tries to lob it forward to Navarro, Navarro actually misses it.. or lets it go? and Davidson making a run in from the left gets to it, fires a shot, but it hits the post.

55': Great play by Davidson to make a run into the area and evade the defense. Instead of shooting though he lays it off for Perkins, shot is blocked. We earn a corner but they clear.

60': defender Beckham with a yellow for them.

68': They get a goal from 20 yards out on a nice shot by ST Briceno. We had been dominating the half too.

76': Davidson intercepts a pass in our defensive half to win possession, we slowly but surely build up down the left side, lots of short passes. Finally, Perkins passes to Navarro, he's just outside the area and fairly far left of center, he cuts by his man and gets a pretty solid look, and buries it! 1-1

87': Pace in for Navarro, Glaser in for Tapia

93': One last free kick before its over, Davidson fires a poor cross through the area though, no danger.

We'll take a road draw here.

Owensboro 1 : 1 Wake Forest

Their goal scorer is man of the match.

Goal: Navarro (7.1)
Assist: Perkins (6.8)
Notable: Williams (7.0)

Galvis and Pickering both with 6.4 ratings in the back.

-- We move up 1 spot to 5th with the point we got today.

Injury Update

DR Bob Varela pulls a hamstring and is out 5-6 weeks. Youth pull fausto Diaz will back up Jackson now.


-- Brian Williams and Ronnie Navarro both picked up their 2nd yellow today, both will miss our next match.

Luckily its in 3 days and they both would have rested anyway.

[Radii]

North America Amateur Cup Qualifying Round Draw

160 teams in this round. We continue a trend started last year by drawing a home match against a team from California. We'll play the Long Beach Internationals. They're in our tier. We'll play on the 24th of June, which still keeps the 2nd half of june reasonable looking as far as the schedule goes with a full month off of league play.

June 5th, 2015

Wake Forest Cougars (4-1-2, 6th) vs Jackson Red Shirts (1-3-3, 13th)

Attendance: 229

We've played them twice, going 1-1. We're heavy 2:5 favorites, so I'm worried.

GK: Gyan
D: Bergmann/Pickering/Garcia/Diaz
DM: Villa
MC: Sandoval/Glaser
AM: Rose/Crook
ST: Ratzburg

We play our NA Open cup match in 5 days, so I want Shakespeare and Cooper fully fit for that. I go with Patrick Ratzburg up front, our young signing who is just back to fitness after a long injury. Standard mindset from the start.

16': Ratzburg to Crook for our first highlight, Crook is way off though.

31': We win a goal kick and its passed to Ratzburg about 35 yards out, he lobs it ahead to Sandoval, he's behind the defense and has a clear cut chance... and just puts it wide. I relaly don't like Sandoval.

38': Rose with a long run by himself into the penalty area, looks like he was looking for a cross but then found a way to cut by his man, he gets a clear cut chance from the left side, but its right at the keeper.

42': Bergmann is hurt and forced to leave the match immediately. Burke comes in for him. He can play DL acceptably, though he's definitely better in the middle.


HALF: We outshoot them 5-0, control possession, get 2 clear cut chances... and its scoreless at the half.

49': Free kick near midfield, we take it short and work our offense, Sandoval ahead to Glaser, he puts a ball into the area for Ratzburg, its a little awkward as he has to go right and shoot back to his left, but he does it well and makes the shot! 1-0

68': Rose with a corner, Crook blasts a shot, but right at the keeper.

78': Throwin deep in the offensive end, Ratzburg passes to the end line to Crook, he puts a perfect pass on the ground to the penalty spot, Glaser blasts it, clear cut chance, no way you can miss this.. but its right at the keeper.

79': Perkins in for Glaser, Reynoso in for Rose.

83': Lets defend this one out.

We hang on to win this one!

Wake Forest 1 : 0 Jackson

Man of the Match: Patrick Ratzburg (7.4)
Goal: Ratzburg
Assist: Glaser (7.0)

Everyone else is 6.6-6.9.

Not a great job against a much weaker opponent, but get the 3 points and I am not going to complain much.


We're up to 3rd with that win, but still only 4 points ahead of 8th. There's a long way to go to wrap up a spot in the top half (er, top 7/16th?) of the split.

Enough of league talk though, we don't play a league match for a month. Its Cup time.

[Radii]

-- Rumors begin again about a consortium possibly taking over Wake Forest.

June 10th, 2015

North American Open Cup - First Round

IMG Bradenton Academy vs Wake Forest Cougars

Attendance: 599

GK: Gyan
D: Campbell/Pickering/Galvis/Jackson
DM: Williams
MC: Tapia/Shakespeare
AM: Davidson/Cooper
ST: Navarro

19': First highlight of the match, they take a free kick and miss a shot badly.

21': Williams loses the ball in midfield, there is one long ball ahead for ST Gonzalez, he gets behind the defense, gets a clear cut chance and finishes cleanly. 0-1

24': We have a throwin in their end, we have like 5 men in the box for what seems like forever, lots of short passing, finally Tapia finds Campbell on a run down the middle unmarked, he shoots and its good! 1-1

28': Davidson ahead to Shakespeare, a defender comes in and slide tackles it away, but it goes backwards towards their goal, right to Navarro, who gets to the ball and finishes strong! 2-1

40': Navarro receives a pass 25 yards out, ahead to Cooper, he's tackled in the area... but no foul.

HALF: They shoot 5 times to our 4, its all pretty damn even. 3 clear cut chances, 3 goals. We are better in the air, 69% of our headers won to just 47% for them. That' the only distinguishing factor right now.

46': They launch a shot from 25 yards, way high.

64': Solid defending, we win lots of headers to keep them from building an attack and eventualy intercept a pass nicely to clear. No threat.

68': Davidson with a nice ball into the area for Shakespeare, he controls it off his chest but not well enough to shoot, its tackled away, Davidson runs up to the loose ball and shoots, but wide.

83': Burke in for Galvis.

86': Navarro picks up a minor injury.

90': Glaser in for Tapia

92': We allow a long run by their left midfielder into the penalty area, but instead of holding it up and trying a cross he shoots from a really awkward angle, and misses.

93': Just a minute or so left, we allow a corner, but Campbell makes the clearance.

That's it! We're Rich!

IMG Bradenton 1 : 2 Wake Forest

Their goalscorer is man of the match.

Goals: Campbell (7.4), Navarro (7.1)
Assists: Tapia (6.9), Davidson (7.2)

Joe Jackson with a 6.4, everyone else in the high 6's.

-- We receive a crazy $228,000 for this victory. More than doubles our profits on the year so far.

Injury Update

Navarro hurt his toe and will miss 9-12 days. He'll miss the Old North Cup match, not a big concern.



Here's our first goal, I'm real pleased with our patience and passing.

<iframe width="853" height="480" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/t85t9zVJbnY" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

[Radii]

North American Open Cup - Second Round

64 teams left. The odds start to get pretty decent at this point that we play an MLS team.

We get about as good a draw as we could hope for really. We host the St Louis Lions, a team from the USL Pro West. That's the 4th tier here, so that's waaaay above us. (MLS > NASL > USL > USL 2) USL 2 is USL East and USL West.

-- Unfortunately, this match is on the 17th, which causes our Old North Cup match to be re-arranged, and this is going to be our next match, which means Navarro will miss it.


Old North Cup - Semifinal Draw

If we were to somehow beat Wilmington in our next match, we'd play the winner of North Meck SC and the Carolina Railhawks in the semis. We'd get it at home. The RailHawks promoted out of USL up to the NASL last year and are actually 8th there right now, so they are right on the edge of making the playoffs with a chance to enter MLS.


Injury Update

Youth DC Jesus Antonio Guerrero tore an ACL and is out for 10-12 months. He very briefly hit the bottom of our depth chart when we had a couple injuries, but its unlikely he would play for us, probably ever, given our lack of ability to develop players.

-- A few days later, Pierre Reynoso got food poisoning, he's out a week.


June 17th, 2015

North American Open Cup - Second Round

Wake Forest Cougars vs St Louis Lions

Attendance: 473

St Louis are 1:10 favorites.

Oh crap I forgot, this was the st Louis team we played a friendly against earlier this year. We won that match. WE GOT THIS GUYS.

GK: Gyan
D: Campbell/Pickering/Galvis/Jackson
DM: Williams
MC: Tapia/Shakespeare
AM: Rose/Cooper
ST: Roth

Rose is in over Davidson, Roth for the injured Navarro. I tell the team to play a slower match, and for the defense to play a little deeper than normal.

27': First highlight of the match, Gyan saves a free kick.

33': Keller for St Louis with a yellow.

40': Long shot from St Louis, wide.

HALF: Boring, but good for us I think. They shoot 3 times to our 2, neither of ours were worthy of highlights at all.

47': Yellow for midfielder Cruz for St Louis, that was after Rose made really nice 1v1 tackle to win the ball for us.

48': Cooper is tackled by their midfielder Keller, that's a yellow, his second, he's gone! We have a man advantage.

60': Cooper with a stunningly nice long ball from well behind midfield for Roth, Roth into the area, keeper comes out... Roth with a clear cut chance... hits the crossbar.

75': Yellow for Campbell

76': Yellow for Williams, that'll be another match missed.

FULL TIME: I'll take it, I'll take it. Each team with 4 shots, we have the only clear cut chance of the match. Glaser in for Tapia.

96': Throwin for us near midfield, Shakespeare sends it to the left for Rose, he's got some space, he makes a run and sends a cross to Roth. Roth runs to the left side of the 6 yard box while controlling it, fires a shot, the keeper dives for it and saves it, it falls right back to Roth though, he shoots and puts it in!!!!!!!! 1-0

101': Cooper with an interception in midfield, he makes a long run all on his own, deep to the corner, crosses, its headed away, Shakespeare gets to it and shoots from 20 yards out... hits the crossbar and over.

102': Davidson in for Rose, Burke in for Pickering.

104': Another one of those mis-hit crosses that goes right at the keeper, Gyan tries to punch it away, but it goes straight up basically, comes down and we have like 4 players there, I gues they fall over each other in an effort to clear, and it goes in, credited as an own goal for Gyan. SOOOOOOOOOOOO sad. 1-1

105': We move foward after kickoff, building up possession, Shakespeare puts a through ball ahead to Cooper, he's got a great look, but the keeper dives and saves. Its a corner. They clear.

EXTRA TIME HT: That own goal, oh god. We're a man up, do we attack or just play for penalties? I don't know! I make no changes.

109': They get a cross to the 6 yard box, the very left edge though, tight angle, we block a shot behind for a corner. Gyan gets a save on the corner.

114': Galvis yellow.

118': Cooper with a corner, its to Burke at the near post, he's basically unmarked, clear cut chance... right at the keeper.

And that's it.

FULL TIME: We are going to penalties.

Both teams make their first 5 penalties.

After 8-8, Gyan steps up for us, he makes our 9th kick. Their next man steps up, kicks it low and to the right. Gyan dives the right way, SAVES IT.

WE'RE EVEN MORE RICH HOLY SHITBALLS.


Wake Forest (9) 1p : 1 (8) St Louis

One of their defenders is man of the match.

Goal: Roth (7.2)
Notables: Pickering (7.0), Shakespeare (7.0), Cooper (7.0)


-- We receive $456,000 for this win. We now have $1 million in the bank.


<iframe width="853" height="480" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/YiCEoE9L2kA" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

Roth's goal, surely an ESPN Top Play in a world where people care about 8 levels of soccer in the US.

This is actually not unprecedented. Last year the Hickory Heat from the bottom division upset a top team to advance an extra couple rounds.

[bbgunn]

Ah, how I wish I had your 9GB computer to render such 3D graphics...

Damn, you're raking in a lot of cheddar! That mod really pumped up the prize money in the Open Cup, didn't it?

[Radii]

Damn, you're raking in a lot of cheddar! That mod really pumped up the prize money in the Open Cup, didn't it?

Heh yeah. I have no idea how this will end up impacting our climb up the ladder. I'm not really looking to be the only semi-pro team in a full league of amateur teams, but once I reach a level where most other teams are starting to make the switch, it'll be nice to be able to do so easily ourselves.

[Radii]

DC Ashley Varela comes to talk to me about his playing time. I dunno if a 14 year old should really be saying shit, but he is someone that came in good enough that I wanted to play him some, and i haven't. I'll make sure to work him into the rotation.


North American Open Cup - Third Round Draw

32 teams left. We're going to be going on the road to Dallas to play FC Dallas. I think there's a chance our run might end here.

North America Amateur Cup - First Round Draw

If we win our qualifying round match against Long Beach, we'll play our second match against Limestone City.


June 20th, 2015

Old North Cup - Second Round

Wilmington Hammerheads vs Wake Forest Cougars

Attendance: 2163

Wilmington are much, much bigger favorites than St Louis was. They are 1:33 to win, we are 50:1...

GK: Gyan
D: Bergmann/Burke/Varela/Diaz
DM: Villa
M: Perkins/Glaser
AM: Davidson/Crook
ST: Ratzburg

Shuffling things up on 3 days rest. I think everyone but Gyan was changed today.

I add instructions to drop the defense deeper and play slower.

1': Free kick from 25 yards out for them, Gyan gets the save.

2': We try to clear twice but cannot, finally they put a shot wide, 3 shots for them already.

11': They hit a free kick off the post and we clear, its a good counterattack... except their players are so much faster they easily make up the distance before we can do anything threatening.

20': Our first shot comes on a free kick by Varela. Its not close.

33': Throwin for them, they easily get it into the area, but we do nicely to block the shot. An offsides gives it back to us eventually.

HALF: They have only out-shot us 7-1, it may get much worse in the second half. They have only put 1 shot on target so far though.

47': And there it is, easy goal for Wilmington after some crisp passing. 0-1

54': A second goal on an easy cross and strong volley from 18 yards out. 0-2

57': A 3rd on a rebound goal after a first shot hit the post. 0-3

60': Pace in for Ratzburg.

88': Really pretty goal, a low driving ball came into the area from about 40 yards out and their left midfielder blasted it in off a bounce, that looked fairly difficult. 0-4

That'll do it.

Wilmington 4 : 0 Wake Forest

5.6 from Varela, 5.6 from bergmann, and 5.8 from Villa. Its ok though, this one was just going to go bad.

[Radii]

Injury Update

Youth MC Mike Wilkins is hurt in a U18 match and is going to miss 3 months.


http://i.imgur.com/wvlafWG.png

Its taken awhile.

June 24th, 2015

North America Amateur Cup - Qualifying Round

Wake Forest vs Long Beach Internationals

Attendance: 200

GK: Gyan
D: Bergmann/Burke/Varela/Diaz
DM: Villa
M: Perkins/Glaser
AM: Davidson/Crook
ST: Ratzburg

-- Uh, oops. I was looking at the wrong screen and accidentally accepted the same lineup that I ran 4 days ago against Wilmington. To be fair, I was looking at my match schedule to see if I was going to care about this match at all. With the money we've made, I am going to prioritize the league over this cup.

Most of our team is still reasonably fit. Glaser and Cruz are going to have issues though.

23': First highlight shows one of them shooting well wide. Their color is white on an awful bright yellow so I can't see shit as far as the announcing.

37': Glaser with a pass attempt but its blocked and goes towards our goal, one of their strikers gets behind our defense and has a 1 on 1 with Gyan, the shot is on target, but Gyan does a great job to tip it wide.

HALF: That's all the highlights we see here.

64': A number of passes around the area for us, Davidson is able to get a pass to Glaser about 10 yards out, Glaser shoots and scores! 1-0

69': They get a great clear cut chance after an attacker burns Diaz badly to get space in the penalty area, and they even things up. 1-1

70': Crook with a minor injury.

73': Pace in for Crook, Sandoval in for Glaser.

76': Terrifying sequence where they have a corner, they get I believe 3 shots off in a super crowded 6 yard box, its like a bunch of 6 year olds just crowding around the ball trying to kick it. Finally Gyan falls on it.

82': Varela is hurt and forced to leave the match. Garry Garcia comes in for him.

90': We've been defending an awful lot here in quick highlights over the last 15 minutes. Here they lob a ball in from the right, our defenders get way out of position and a ball falls to their striker and he gets a clear cut chance and puts it in. 1-2

94': Pace gets two crosses into the area but they are just poor and cleared easily.

Wake Forest 1 : 2 Long Beach

Really shitty performance here today, though I can't get too upset since I screwed up the lineups, and I wasn't going to try all that hard in this tournament anyway, but still, so bad.

Goal: Glaser (7.3)
Assist: Davidson (6.7)


Injury Update

-- Ashley Varela is out for 2 weeks.

-- AMR Ryan Crook is out for 6-7 weeks. Cooper will now play absolutely every match he can. Our backups are Bo Thompson who has proven to be pretty awful, and youth pull Jeff Gallardo. Samir Pace can play AMR too and I could see going Navarro/Roth/Ratzburg at ST to let Pace play a little AMR. I'll try Gallardo but if he sucks Pace will take over as backup.

[Radii]

-- The USA wins the Gold Cup, beating Costa Rica 1:0, Fabian Johnson scored a goal in the 25th minute. Costa Rica beat Mexico and the US beat El Salvador in the semifinals.


June 30th, 2015

North America Open Cup - Third Round

FC Dallas vs Wake Forest

Attendance: 14805

-- nice sized crowd that has come to see us get destroyed today!

-- I guess 50-1 is the worst odds one can get? Same odds we had to beat Wilmington recently.

GK: Gyan
D: Campbell/Pickering/Galvis/Jackson
DM: Williams
M: Tapia/Shakespeare
AM: Rose/Cooper
ST: Navarro

3': They take a corner to the near post, Campbell is there, in fact, he's all alone there, no Dallas players at all. But he heads it the wrong way, into his own goal. Nerves? 0-1

8': One Dallas shot off the post, a nice save on the rebound. Corner for them. Taken to Bianchi who heads it in. 0-2

44': Some nifty, quick passing around our defensive end by Dallas, leading to a nice strong shot from Erick 20 yards out for a goal. 0-3

HALF: The dream is over. They have 9 shots to our 0.


56': A rebound goal for McInerney... actually I dunno that looked like another Campbell own goal. Thank god it wasn't counted that way, poor guy. 0-4

56': Roth, Pace and Sandoval in for Navarro, Cooper, and Shakespeare. The three guys on the field I would miss the most if they got hurt.

70': Pace with an interception on our side of midfield, he's allowed to make a long run down the right side, places a cross, Roth with a volley... saved.. Our first on target shot! Second shot total today.

75': They win a header on a goal kick, its headed well ahead of the defense, ST Avila is so much faster than anyone on our team, he easily gets to it ahead of everyone else and puts it by Gyan with ease. 0-5

85': Brian Williams is hurt and forced to leave the match. Lets hope its not serious.

FC Dallas 5 : 0 Wake Forest

They outshot us 16-3, basically exactly what you'd expect from a match like this.

Jackson, Pickering and Campbell were all under 6, Pickering 5.4/Campbell 5.5. Rose 5.9, everyone else low 6's.


Injury Update

Disaster, the one thing we would want to avoid here today. DMC Brian Williams is going to miss 3-4 months with a torn hamstring.

-- We're now out of every cup. We have 7 matches before the league split, all of them will be in July. More on that in a moment though.

[Radii]

July Update

-- Gyan trains well, Coggins and Burke poorly.

-- We play on July 3rd, 10th, 17th, 21st, 24th, 28th, and 31st. All league matcthes, 4 at home, 3 on the road. We currently sit in 3rd place but with only 4 points between us and 8th.

-- The board is pleased with my leadership. Our positive atmosphere is the good, our 2-0 loss to Nashville in league play is the bad. The board ask for my patience while dealing with speculation regarding the sale of the club. We are financially secure and made $846,000 profit last month.

-- DR Bob Varela resumes full training after being hurt for a month.

July 3rd, 2015

Wake Forest Cougars (5-1-2, 3rd) vs Asheville Attack (3-0-5, 12th)

Attendance: 247

-- About 14,000 less people are watching this match compared to our last one.

-- Asheville is a bad team, but hopefully not so bad that we are screwed here :P

GK: Gyan
D: Campbell/Burke/Garcia/Jackson
DM: Villa
M: Glaser/Shakespeare
AM: Davidson/Cooper
ST: Roth

Counting Gyan, we are able to start 5 of our top 11 today, and guys like Davidson and Roth fill in nicely enough that I like this lineup.

10': They have a goal kick and take it short, slowly working up the field, once they pass midfield there's a quick ball ahead though and they attack, getting their ST ahead of our defense, Burke comes in with a sliding tackle attempt, he doesn't win the ball but he delays the shot, when its finally taken Gyan makes a very nice stop.

21': Throwin for us at midfield, we passit around the left side for a bit, Shakespeare lobs it ahead to Roth, the keeper rushs out as Roth is by himself, he shoots from 18 yards and puts it into the right side of the net. 1-0

24': Roth to Cooper for a pretty decent shot from the right side, saved though. We get a shot off the corner too but saved.

42': Their left forward gets by Jackson, but Jackson keeps a decent bit of pressure on him, forcing a tough shot that goes wide.

HALF: Its really even here. 4 shots each, 3 on target for us, 2 for them. 53/47 possession. We're way behind in the air, which is fairly rare for us.

70': First highlight of the half, they have to work to get the ball out of their own end after a save, but once they do they get their attack going, passing up the middle from a MC up to striker Watts. He's in a big hole in our defense that seems to be there for no reason, no movement, no runs anywhere... just left alone. And he gets a clear cut chance by gyan. 1-1

77': Perkins in for Glaser, Pace in for Roth.

80': After a lot of passing deep in our end, they manage a cross in from the left and Watts gets his second goal. 1-2

80': Attack, and stop holding onto the ball for longer than necessary.

91': They get a goal that seals it in the final minute, another cross from the left and a strong volley to end it. 1-3


Wake Forest 1 : 3 Asheville

I guess Asheville isn't a good enough team for us to win against after all.

Goal: Roth (7.0)
Assist: Shakespeare (7.0)

Garry Garcia with a 5.8 rating in defense was really bad.

I tell the team they were bad and must be better next time out and it seemed to motivate them.

[Radii]

-- Ashley Varela resumes full training.

-- Transfers not allowed while buyout of our team is finalized.

-- We've lost 4 matches in a row. Two of them were against Wilmington and Dallas, which shouldn't really count, but its had a pretty notable impact on our team moral. Most everyone is "okay", where we were used to seeing most people have a pretty positive feeling for a long time.

July 10th, 2015

Model City Kings (4-1-4, 7th) vs Wake Forest Cougars (5-1-3, 5rd)

Attendance: 184

-- Every match is huge with the split on the line, but this is especially important.

-- We've played these guys twice and drawn both times.

-- Model City are listed as even money favorites today.

GK: Gyan
D: Campbell/Pickering/Galvis/Jackson
DM: Villa
M: Tapia/Shakespeare
AM: Rose/Cooper
ST: Navarro

-- Model City has a monster of a striker in Alfonso Grisi, overall he's played 18 matches and scored 10 goals. In league play 4 starts and 3 goals. We have to shut him down. Close down and make him use his left foot.

-- Defend, retain possession.

5': They try a cross, Pickering heads it away, but they recover, a couple pases later they get it to Grisi, he's well covered, but makes a turn in the area and gets a good shot off, goal. 0-1

28': We control the ball for some time, but can't find an opening. Finally Navarro finds Cooper, he makes the extra pass to Rose for a clear cut chance.. but saved. They clear the corner, we recover but can't do anything.

39': They have a throwin deep in their own defensive end. Its taken but the player its thrown to isn't paying attention, Navarro gets to it first and quickly has a clear cut chance... that he puts way over.

HALF: I'm very worried that we're getting stuck in a rut at a terrible time here. The match is pretty even, 3 shots each, but two of ours were clear cut chances and they have the only goal. They are passing slightly better, tackling way better and are winning significantly in the air.

46': This is the second time they botch a throwin in their own end. Navarro with another good look, but they block it. Corner goes nowhere.

69': First highlight in 25 minutes, they get a short cross in from the right, Grisi with a volley from 8 yards out, goal. 0-2

69': I already had the instruction queued up to switch to standard play from defensive.

83': Ugh, attack. They're killing the clock.

84': Great play from Navarro to Cooper, lays it back to Shakespeare, lob forward to Navarro, that's behind the defense and Navarro is all alone.. but a shitty first touch prevents the easy goal. He pulls it wide right and we get a corner out of it, but can't do anything with it.


Just terrible.

Model City 2 : 0 Wake Forest



Shakespeare with a 7.1 today, no one was below 6, though Galvis ended at 6.1 Our morale is tanking a bit, we need a win bad.

Just looking at the highlights it looked like Navarro really, really had a poor match and should have had at least one goal, and possibly as many as three.

We drop to 6th, and are just 1 point clear of 9th now, its a big pack and whoever wins a few matches goes through. We are hurting ourselves a lot.

[Radii]

-- Before the trade embargo went up, I had made an offer to a defender two tiers up that I really like. He accepted the offer, the transfer was cancelled, and two days later the sale of our team falls apart, and the embargo was lifted. I make him another offer and hope that he still wants to play here.

New Signing

22 y/o DC Steve Forrest joins us from CASL Chelsea, two tiers above us. He'd only played 4 matches for the first team all season so he wasn't happy. From my perspective, a guy who can ever crack the roster two tiers above us sounds like a good thing!

7 heading/6 marking/10 tackling. All fine for this level. 9 composure/4 concentration/7 decisions/3 determination/6 positioning. 13 jumping/10 strength.

So that determination is bad, but the composure and decision making are things that rarely exist here. So I *hope* he works out. Its been really difficult for me to judge who will work out and who won't, especially at DC, but I'm hopeful.


-- Because he hasn't been playing, Forrest is nowhere near match fit. We'll make sure he gets reserves time. A couple of our lesser used players are starting to have some fitness issues too.


-- The Charlotte Eagles beat the Wilmington Hammerheads in the final of the Old North Cup. They are the #2 and #3 teams in the state for sure. The #1 team in the state, defending Old North Cup champs Carolina RailHawks, were upset by Wilmington in the semifinals.


July 17th, 2015

Tupelo Possums (4-3-3, 8th) vs Wake Forest Cougars (5-1-4, 6th)

Attendance: 282

-- I would have really liked to have been at home for this one to try to turn this streak around. This does mean 3 of our last 4 are at home at least.

-- We've played these guys twice, lost once, tied once.

-- We famously lost to Tupelo in the next to last match of the first split last season, a team who at the time had 1 win in 13 matches played. This effectively knocked us out of the top half of the league.

GK: Gyan
D: Campbell/Pickering/Burke/Jackson
DM: Tapia
M: Sandoval/Shakespeare
AM: Davidson/Cooper
ST: Roth

I make some changes here despite everyone being fresh. Roth up front, Davidson over Rose, Tapia to DMC, and Burke in at DC for Galvis.

9': Glaser picks up an injury early on and is forced to leave the match. Perkins is in.

10': Cooper earns us a corner with a good free kick. Corner taken near post to Pickering. He gets a shto off, saved, second corner. We can't get a shot off this one but retain possession and back things up.. no luck.

19': Davidson with a long free kick from the left sideline, Roth is able to get his head to it, but its wide.

24': Shakespeare with a great ball ahead for Davidson, clear cut chance.. saved.

35': They have a free kick from 25 yards out... taken beautifully, top left corner of the net. We are 100% outplaying these guys, that was their first shot. 0-1

42': We clear a ball out of our end and counter, Davidson with a nice long run, a ball ahead to Shakespeare, he gets a shot off from 18 yards out... hits the bar and goes over.

HALF: We are so much better than these guys. We control possession, shots, passing, tackling, heading, is all in our favor fairly heavily. We just can't find a goal. I try to keep the team upbeat by telling them they're playing well, that was a mistake, whole team is de-motivated. Oops. I hope I didn't just lose it for us. Some individual talks help.

60': We lose the ball while attacking and they counter hard, a couple passes leads to a clear cut chance, but its over.

67': Campbell yellow.

71': Rose in for Davidson.

74': Rose with a poor cross, too bad since we have two guys in the 6 yard box. We get a corner out of it but that coulda been better. Corner goes nowhere.

79': Burke clears a ball off the line on a corner and we get a good counterattack going. Rose ends up with a clean look in the area, a clear cut chance, but right at the keeper.

81': Cooper with a corner into the 6 yard box, Pickering is there, heads it, goal! 1-1

81': We keep attacking, Maybe greedy, I want a win.

90': Rose with an awful shot from way too far out left when he coudl have held up play and gotten help.

92': Some decent passing, Roth ends up inding Shakespeare in the area, its a good look, but saved.

We get the point.

Tupalo 1 : 1 Wake Forest

Goal: Pickering (7.3)
Assist: Cooper (6.9)

Everyone else is 6.7-6.9.

I tell the team they were unlucky, and I mean it. We end up outshooting them 11-4, and are just superior in every way. Even attacking hard and taking off the retain possession order for the entire second half, we won possession 56-44. Their only goal comes on a long free kick that never ever goes in.

We maintain 6th with that draw. Still just 1 point clear of 9th.


Injury Update

Gary Glaser is out for 4-5 weeks with a groin strain. Not good!


-- David Campbell is going to miss our next match after picking up the yellow today.


http://i.imgur.com/ltxUB0z.png

There are the standings with 4 left to play. Remember that 7th place is the cutoff. The biggest thing in our favor I think is that 3 of our last 4 are at home. We definitely ought to make it here, but we'll see. Counting the cup matches this is 6 in a row without a win.

[Radii]

EDIT: Game crashed, so my last game is thrown out.

[Radii]

-- So if anyone saw the last update before it was edited, we got *stomped* by Danville, 4-1. But the game crashed before the next save point. So we get another chance here.

July 21st, 2015

Wake Forest Cougars (5-2-4, 6th) vs Danville Villains (4-4-3, 8th)

Attendence: 231

-- We played Danville twice last year and split, 1 win apiece.

Starting Lineup

GK: Gyan
D: Bergmann/Pickering/Varela/Diaz
DM: Villa
M: Perkins/Shakespeare
AM: Rose/Gallardo
ST: Navarro

Youth pull Gallardo gets his first start at AMR, with Crook hurt. Standard mindset, no instructions at the start.

1': Rose with a run down the left right off the kickoff, his cross attempt is cleared though.

19': Danville shoots on a free kick, wide.

HALF: What the heck was that. There was one highlight in the final 25 minutes, some passing leading to an offsides by Navarro... We have two off target shots, they have one. That's it.

47': We have a throwin in their end, Bergmann throws it to the other team though... they build up fairly quickly, there's a cross in from the left, ST Chappell is there and he puts it in. 0-1

52': We watch Navarro score but he is clearly offsides.

55': Rose is forced to leave the match with an injury. Davidson is in. I'm also subbing Navarro out and Ratzburg is in.

57': Davidson with a cross in to Ratzburg, he's in a decent position but lots of defenders around, he gets tripped up and the ball goes free, shakespeare is first to it but his shot is blocked.

59': We build up down the right side, Ratzburg to Shakespeare, right back to Raztburg and that's a clear cut chance... but he hits the right post.

70': Bergmann with a yellow. He'll miss the next match.

71': We're generating some shots at least. Gallardo got a fairly decent look here, but saved.

76': Wide open look after a long ball for Stokes from Danville, he just misses from 18.

78': We pass it straight up the middle, Ratzburg lobs a ball down the left side for Davidson, he crosses, Shakespeare has a great look from about 8 yards out... and he hits the keeper with it. Gallardo tries to followup on the rebound but its blocked. Corner. The corner is poorly taken.

79': Tapia in for Perkins. We will try to attack harder.

92': We give up a last minute goal. Same result in the second try. I guess that's only fair. 0-2

Wake Forest 0 : 2 Danville

Perkins 6.8, Gyan and Shakespeare 6.7. Everyone else is in the 6.2-6.3 range. Just awful play all around.



Injury Update

AML Rose is out 2-3 months with a broken rib. So this actually turns out worse than the last one. We only have a few games to turn this around and get into the top split, otherwise we have shit to play for again this year.

[Radii]

July 24th, 2015

Wake Forest Cougars (5-2-5, 8th) vs Kentucky Colonels (7-1-4, 3rd)

Attendence: 198

We played Kentucky once last year and lost. We're in 8th with 3 matches left before the split, gotta win now.

Starting Lineup

GK: Harrington
D: Campbell/Galvis/Burke/Varela
DM: Vega
M: Tapia/Perkins
AM: Davidson/Cooper
ST: Roth

So I have a few players at "fairly good" morale still. Harrington DR Varela, Galvis, Vega, Cooper. All of these guys start. Some guys at Good morals are too tired from resreve matches. Trying to give the team a boost anyway I can here.

3': Free kick for us about 35 yards out, taken short to Vega, he runs to the right side of the field, lobs a cross in, it bounces at the penalty spot, Davidson heads it off the bounce, keeper gets a hand to it but can't stop it, goal! When was the last time we had a lead? 1-0

31': They have a free kick from 25 yards out fairly wide right, Dennison curls it towards goal, Harrington dives.. and can't stop it. 1-1

37': We get a goal from Perkins on a set play, a free kick out right... but offsides apparently. That was pretty close, not obvious at all.

43': Free kick for them, another shot, hits the crossbar and goes over.

HALF: Not a lot of highlights after the early goal. They take 2 shots, we only have 1 all half.

53': Free kick in our end taken by Harrington, he kicks it long, Roth controls it, passes ahead to Davidson, he gets a shot from 20 yards out, its saved and turned back for a corner, which we take real poorly.

66': An easy goal for Kentucky. ST has it up high, passes to left midfielder cutting inside, our defender doesn't run with him and he's wide open. Its Dennison, the same guy that scored on the free kick. 1-2

66': Ratzburg in for Roth, Shakespeare in for Perkins.

70': We'll open up the offense a bit.

76': Yellow for their mid Glazer.

78': It looks like they're about to get an easy shot but Burke makes a real nice sliding tackle to win possession about 20 yards out, some nice passes get the ball upfield, Davidson to Ratzburg, back out wide to Davidson, he makes a run and crosses... poor cross past the goal, but Cooper controls the ball in the box near the end line. He's tackled... penalty!! Shakespeare takes the penalty... good!!!! 2-2

78': Counterattacking mindset here, lets defend and we'll go for a break if we can.

90': Cooper intercepts a pass in midfield, passes ahead to Ratzburg, he lobs a ball to the penalty box, Davidson controls it, shoots from about 15 yards... goal!!! I did not expect that at all. 3-2

92': Davidson earns us a corner with a cross attempt... Davidson takes the corner, to the far end of the 6 yard box, Burke goes up for it with two defenders, Burke wins the header and drives it into the net!! 4-2

Wake Forest 4 : 2 Kentucky

Thank god. Lets hope we didn't break out of our slump too late.

Man of the Match: Brian Davidson (9.3)
Goals: Davidson 2, Burke (7.5), Shakespeare (6.9)
Assists: Davidson, Vega (7.7), Cooper (7.5), Ratzburg (6.9)
Notables: Tapia (7.0)


http://i.imgur.com/jOTRWis.png

With 2 matches to play before the split, we sit in 7th place, just 2 points ahead of 8th. Our last two matches are both against teams below us in the standings.

[Radii]

July 28th, 2015

North Meck SC (5-2-6, 10th) vs Wake Forest Cougars (6-2-5, 7th)

Attendence: 180

This is our first meeting.

Despite their poor record, they are somehow 1:6 favorites today.

Starting Lineup

GK: Gyan
D: Coggins/Galvis/Pickering/Jackson
DM: Pena
M: Sandoval/Shakespeare
AM: Davidson/Cooper
ST: Navarro

Most players morale is back up to Fairly Good or better now. I pick Pena over Villa at DM b/c Villa is still just "okay" morale, I want green everywhere. Also note Danny Coggins at DL. Due to injuries all year, this is Coggins first match of the season for me.

11': Sandoval wins a header for us off a goal kick to get possession going, Davidson passes to Sandoval, back to Davidson in the corner of the area.. he's tackled.. penalty!! Sandoval takes the penalty and drains it! 1-0

21': They score on a header off a corner, ugh! 1-1

37': We watch them on offense, Shakespeare blocks a long shot nicely and later intercepts a pass, good D.

40': Strong shot from the right side of the area for North Meck, Gyan is there to save it.

HALF: After that goal we didn't see a single offensive highlight. They outshoot us 4-2, but overall stats are quite even. No changes at the half.

46': We start with the ball and advance, getting a corner off a cross from Davidson, corner goes nowhere though.

55': Pena and Sandoval have both picked up minor injuries in the last 10 minutes.

65': Tapia in for Sandoval, Vega in for Pena.

75': Tapia with a free kick wide left about 30 yard osut, a cross into the box, Davidson is there, onsides, volley... keeper dives and stops it, the ball back to Davidson, he puts it in!! 2-1

79': They take a corner, this one Gyan grabs.

80': We intercept a pass in defense and move foward, Navarro ahead to Shakespeare, lays it back to Cooper in the area, we have a lot of men forward, Cooper to Shakespeare for the shot... saved.

92': They take a tough shot from the right side of the area and its high and wide.

Two in a row!

North Meck SC 1 : 2 Wake Forest

Man of the Match: Brian Davidson (8.4)
Goals: Davidson, Sandoval (6.8)
Assist: Davidson

6.5-6.7 ratings everywhere else.

http://i.imgur.com/xwensRw.png

We should get through now, but its not a guarantee yet. If we lose, and Model City wins or draws, Danville and Owensboro both win, we could finish 8th.

[Radii]

July 31st, 2015

Wake Forest Cougars (7-2-5, 5th) vs Savannah Braves (5-2-7, 10th)

Attendence: 263

This is our first meeting.

Starting Lineup

GK: Gyan
D: Campbell/Varela/Burke/Jackson
DM: Villa
M: Tapia/Perkins
AM: Colangelo/Gallardo
ST: Ratzburg

Its not a great lineup, fitness is an issue, this is our 3rd match in 10 days and we ran a lot of key players out twice in a row to get that last win over North Meck.

2': They kick off but give the ball away pretty early. Long ball from Gyan, Gallardo to Ratzburg, back to Gallardo, he blows by his man and gets into the area and shoots, not an easy shot. Its tipped wide for a corner, which goes nowhere.

16': They have it in the area, Burke blocks a shot though and clears it to Gallardo, he passes immediately to Ratzburg who makes a run, he goes right and frees up a little space, shoots from 18 yards out... it hits the crossbar and bounces in!! 1-0

23': Gallardo is hurt and must leave the match immediately. Ugh, he had already made a couple nice plays. Cooper is in.

45': Villa to Ratzburg, we've been on offense awhile and there are a lot of people forward, Ratzburg lays it off for Perkins, its a clear cut chance from about 12 yards out, but its wide.

HALF: Solid half. Each team only has 3 shots but we're ok with that with the lead, and 61% of the possession.

70': First highlight of the half, After Jackson intercepts a pass to get the offense going we take our time, eventually Cooper finds Perkins in the area for his second clear cut chance, and he puts it wide.

77': Sandoval in for Tapia.

91': Vega in for Villa. Timewasting really.

Three in a row!

Wake Forest 1 : 0 Savannah

Man of the Match: Patrick Ratzburg (8.3)
Goal: Ratzburg
Assist: Gallardo (6.8)
Notables: Jackson (7.0)


http://i.imgur.com/xqvHeTf.png

And there's the split. So we play 6 more matches this season, once against all of the other top 7 teams. The worst we can finish is 7th.

Huntington and Peoria seem to be notably better than everyone else, but we could get hot and win the league still, or if we can get into the playoffs then anything can happen.

The schedule gets a lot more relaxing from here... there are multiple two week breaks between matches that we will have to manage by getting first team players into reserve and U18 matches to try to keep them fit.

[Radii]

-- Between July 31st and August 14th (our next league match) we only play one U18 match, no reserve matches. Not sure if its smart or not, or if it helps or not, but we switch to High Intensity Fitness training for one week.

-- ST Samir Pace is upset about his lack of first team soccer and has a chat with me about it. I tell him I'm going to give him a first team shot. I don't really want to dump ST depth, but, at the same time, Navarro/Roth/Ratzburg have all earned their playing time, Pace never has. I have AMR injuries like crazy, I'll probably give him a start there.

August Update

-- DC Garcia, GK Harrington and DL Campbell all train poorly.

-- The board is very pleased with my leadership. That's an improvement from just "pleased" for awhile. Team atmosphere is the highlight, our 1-3 loss to Asheville is the one they picked out of all our bad losses in July before we turned it around. We made $5,960 profit last month.


Injury Update

-- AMR Ryan Crook just started full training again, and he's hurt himself again, out 2 months.


-- On August 7th I change our training back to Team Cohesion/Average (instead of high fitness).

August 14th, 2015

Wake Forest Cougars (8-2-5, 4th) vs Cleveland Stokers (7-2-6, 7th))

Attendence: 275

We've played Cleveland 3 times, 1 win, 2 draws. We beat them 2:1 on the road earlier this year.

Starting Lineup

GK: Gyan
D: Campbell/Pickering/Forrest/Jackson
DM: Villa
M: Tapia/Shakespeare
AM: Davidson/Cooper
ST: Navarro

Starting our new DC Forrest is the only thing in here that could be considered interesting I think.

Cleveland's best player is ST Diego Sinisterra. We will close down on him.

29': First highlight of the match, Shakespeare shoots a free kick over everything.

34': Shakespeare with an interception, after a couple passes Shakespeare with a through ball to Navarro, he's ahead of the defense, pulls up at the 18 yard mark, its a clear cut chance.. but wide.

46': Jackson with an interception to start this play off, Cooper to Shakespeare... a lob ahead for Navarro, its just like the last highlight, Navarro a clear cut chance, shoots from the edge of the box, and its saved.

HALF: We're playing better, but need to get that goal. 5 shots to 1, they are dominating possession though, 58/42 edge there, and they're actually passing and tackling better too. Just not generating any chances.

57': Cooper is hurt and must leave the match. Crap. Gallardo is in.

60': Davidson with a yellow.

60': They have a free kick from 40 yards out, its taken into the box but headed out by Campbell. Davidson picks up the ball after the header in our own half, and he takes off, to the middle of hte field, beats one man, keeps going... to the edge of the box, a shot is blocked, but it doesn't ricochet far, Davidson gets to the loose ball, shoots, goal!!! 1-0

82': Sandoval in for Tapia, Vega in for Villa.

83': They win a ball and counter hard, a lob to ST Delgado and he's got a clear cut chance from 18 yards out, Gyan rushes out... and he stops the shot! It falls to the right side of the area, but our defense is back now, they get a pass back into the middle, Pickering with a tackle... they recover... pickering I think with another tackle (two defenders there, could be the other one), and we clear. WHEW.

86': Davidson with a free kick from 20, its high.

91': We earn a corner as davidson makes a long run into the box and has it tackled away. Watching the highlight I had to laugh... Davidson started his run about 40 yards out, Navarro was there the entire time... and offsides THE ENTIRE TIME. So Davidson couldn't pass, he had to run into the area and do it all himself. Corner goes nowhere.

We hold off the last couple minutes!

Wake Forest 1 : 0 Cleveland

Man of the Match: Joe Pickering (8.3)
Goal: Davidson (7.3)
Assist: Campbell (6.8)
Notables: Forrest (7.1), Shakespeare (7.1)


I'm thrilled to see our defense put up good numbers, Pickering has struggled so much this year, today he is 9/9 on headers, including 4 key headers, with a cray 14 interceptions.

Our new DC Steve Forrest had 8 interceptions and 4 key headers too, both were great. That probably explains how we had such a possession deficit early when it looked like we were in control.

I tell pickering I'm extremely happy with his play.

[Radii]

Injury Update

ST Ratzburg is hurt in a U18 match and will miss 4-5 weeks. This isn't a huge deal since our schedule load has lightened so much and we need less depth the rest of the way.

August 21st, 2015

Model City Kings (8-1-7, 6th) vs Wake Forest Cougars (9-2-5, 4th)

Attendence: 216

We're in a 3 way tie for 2nd right now, but have the worst goal differential.

We're 1-1-1 against these guys in our history. We lost 2:0 this year.

Starting Lineup

GK: Gyan
D: Campbell/Pickering/Forrest/Jackson
DM: Villa
M: Tapia/Shakespeare
AM: Davidson/Cooper
ST: Roth

Roth starts for Navarro, only change. Their best player is Alfonso Grisi, he wrecked us in our last meeting. We are lucky today I think. He's a ST/AML/ML, and he's being played at ML today. I hope he's less dangerous there. ST Martin French is a threat too though. They have some good players.

11': they have a corner, Tapia clears it out.

24': Davidson shoots on a free kick and earns us a corner. He takes the free kick to the near post, low, Pickering with the volley, goal!! 1-0

33': We earn one corner, they turn it behind, next one taken by Cooper, Pickering gets his head to it... but wide. Close.

43': They change play from right to left, Grisi with a run into the area, we make him pull it back out wide.. .he crosses to French, header is saved, but there's a rebound and French puts this one in. 1-1

Close half. They outshoot us 5-3, they're better in all statistical areas but not by a lot, and they have 54% of the possession. We just had all the early highlights I guess.

65': Roth picks up a minor injury.

72': They have a long goal kick, Grisi is there, passes ahead to French, but his shot is well high.

72': Navarro in for Roth, Burke in for Forrest.

81': We win a ball on a goal kick, ahead to Navarro quickly, he makes a run to the 18 yard mark and shoots.. wide.

We'll take a road draw I think.


Model City 1 : 1 Wake Forest

Man of the Match: Joe Pickering (7.4)
Goal: Pickering
Assist: Davidson (6.8)


Injury Update

I shouldn't have said anything about Ratzburg's injury being no big deal. ST Roth is now out 6-7 weeks with an ankle injury he picked up today.


-- We are listed in 3rd after this draw, but other teams are still in the Amateur Cup so we've got an extra match played on some of these teams. We are 4 points clear of 6th, the first spot that would miss the playoffs.

[Radii]

Injury Update

Season over? ST Navarro is out 5 weeks with a broken cheekbone. DL Bergmann is out 4-5 weeks with a training injury. DR Fausto Diaz is out 4-5 weeks with an injury picked up in our U18 match. DC Garry Garcia is out 4-5 weeks with an injury picked up in the same U18 match.

Navarro's has huge implications here. Our top three ST's are now hurt. Its not like last year where there is zero depth. We still have Pace and Reynoso, and we have youth pull Ben Goodwin, though his match fitness is in the tank.

August 28th, 2015

Wake Forest Cougars (9-3-5, 3rd) vs Kentucky Colonels (9-2-5, 4th)

Attendence: 273

We're 1-0-1 lifetime against Kentucky. We beat them very recently 4-2, that game kicked off our little resurgance in league play here.

Starting Lineup

GK: Gyan
D: Campbell/Pickering/Forrest/Jackson
DM: Villa
M: Tapia/Shakespeare
AM: Davidson/Cooper
ST: Pace

Pace in at ST.

24': Long highlight here, starts with them winning a ball, they build up possession for some time, but finally, Jackson wins it for us with a sliding tackle, Forrest launches the clearance over everyone, Cooper runs it down and has it in the right corner for us, he finds a cross, Shakespeare heads it... deflected, Davidson is there, and scores! 1-0

HALF: That was the only highlight of the half. We have 2 shots, they have none.

46': We rush forward after kickoff, Cooper with a cross, but they head it out. Shakespeare recovers, but loses possession.

51': After some midfield possession, Shakespeare sends it ahead to Pace, he ends up shooting from 20 yards out, wide.

52': Davidson with a nice run down the left... cross, Cooper with the header, just wide.

53': Villa sends it ahead to Davidson, he's down near the end line in the area after a cut, he passes in front of the goal, Shakespeare has it, but his shot is blocked. It doesn't get much easier than that, that need to be a goal every single time.

55': Furious action here, they have a shot from the left side of the area that Gyan dives for and tips behind for a corner. We clear the corner.

62': Jackson with a long pass to Pace, he makes a run into the area, shoots from a pretty tough angle, and its saved.

65': Reynoso in for Pace.

65': They earn a corner on a long cross, ST Schmidt gets his head on it, but Gyan saves.

80': Sandoval in for Tapia.

82': We control possession in the middle for awhile, Shakespeare sends it ahead finally for Cooper, he runs down the right, passes back into the middle, Shaksepeare with a strong shot, but saved.

85': Long free kick for Shakespeare, into the area, headed by Reynoso, just over though.

89': Drop back to Contain for the ending here.

92': We're passing it around for awhile, wasting time mainly, davidson ends up sending it ahead to Reynoso though and he gets by one man and is all alone at the penalty spot... and his shot is saved. That is another shot that needs to be a goal 90% of the time or more.

That'll do it!

Wake Forest 1 : 0 Kentucky

Man of the Match: Brian Davidson (7.5)
Goals: Davidson
Assists: Shakespeare (7.4)
Notables: Jackson (7.2), Campbell (7.1)


http://i.imgur.com/YQ60tvA.png

After that we sit in 2nd place, actually tied for first but losing in goal differental. But we have extra matches on everyone right now.

We only play two matches in September, so we'll see what the teams around us do. We only have 3 matches left to play total. We are very, very likely to make the playoffs now.

[Radii]

September Update

-- ST Pace trains well.

-- The board remains very pleased. Locker Room Atmosphere FTW. 0-2 loss to Danville is bad. We lost $3,740 last month.

Injury Update

Backup MC Ashley Sandoval is hurt in a U18 match trying to keep his fitness up, he's out for 4-5 weeks.


September 11th, 2015

Peoria Steamers (10-2-5, 3rd) vs Wake Forest Cougars (10-3-5, 2nd)

Attendence: 336

We beat them earlier this year. We are inexplicably 1-3 favorites on the road against a team who would pass us in the standings if we lose.

Starting Lineup

GK: Gyan
D: Campbell/Pickering/Forrest/Jackson
DM: Villa
M: Tapia/Shakespeare
AM: Davidson/Cooper
ST: Pace

No lineup changes today. Peoria's Jake Wilson has 10 league goals in 14 matches, we're going to try to force him onto his right foot (he's left footed), and close down on him.

2': they get the first shot of the match, its way wide though.

13': Corner for us, Cooper sends it near post, Pickering wins the header but its high.

19': Cooper with a run down the right and a cross to Pace, they taclke it away from Pace immediately, ball falls to Shakespeare, his shot is high.

26': They get a strong pass ahead to ST smith, he pulls the ball out wide right, crosses, Wilson is there and heads it in. 0-1

HALF: We control possession pretty well, and overall its a fairly even match, 4 shots to 3, other stats pretty close, but they've got the goal. I bring Reynoso in for Pace at the half.

52': They send a ball into the left side of the area after a throwin, Wilson gets a clear cut chance... but misses. Whew.

69': Cooper earns us a corner as a shot is blocked. He takes it, it looks to me like the keeper gets his hands on it but can't control it, and Pickering is there to head the loose ball in! 1-1

84': We give the ball away in midfield, they show two quick passes and its on the foot of Wilson, he's at the 18 yard mark has a clear cut chance, we have a defender close to him but not pressuring enouhg, he buries the shot. 1-2

84': Gallardo in for Davidson, Perkins in for Tapia.

90': Gallardo earns us a corner with a cross, Cooper takes it, Pickering heads it... no good. Too high.

92': Gyan with a long kick after a pass back from a defender, it falls to Shakespeare, he pushes forward quickly, only seconds to go likely, he shoots from 20 yards out, and misses badly. That's the game.

Peoria 2 : 1 Wake Forest

Goal: Pickering (7.6)
Assist: Cooper (6.8)


http://i.imgur.com/qnTJw7A.png

We sit in 4th after the loss, we've still got one more match played than everyone though.

[Young Drachma]

Go Wake

[Radii]

-- We have lots of guys coming off injury, Brian Williams and Dylan Rose now, but the odds that they'll be fit before the end of the year seems low. Navarro is back too and hasn't been out quite as long.

-- Never mind, Rose is hurt in his first reserve match back. He's done.


September 25th, 2015

Wake Forest Cougars (10-3-6, 5th) vs Huntington Hammers (10-3-5, 3rd)

Attendence: 243

We dominate these guys, 4-0-0 lifetime, including a 2:0 win earlier this year.

Starting Lineup

GK: Gyan
D: Campbell/Pickering/Forrest/Jackson
DM: Villa
M: Tapia/Shakespeare
AM: Davidson/Cooper
ST: Reynoso

Navarro is on the bench today and will come in if there are any issues (he may come in anyway). I don't think he can go 90 though.

10': We have a throwin on offense, its passed ahead to Reynoso on the left side, passed to Davidson in the area, he shoots, but wide.

11': They move the ball around and end up with a lob to a striker, he shoots from 20 yards, but over.

25': Cooper with a minor injury.

29': Tapia with a free kick from 20 yards, shoots, high.

HALF: They out-shoot us 5-3, but neither team has a single shot on target yet. We are dominating in the air (85% headers won to 40%). I bring Navarro in at the half.

53': Cooper crosses and we earn a corner off it. Davidson takes the corner, but they clear.

62': Cooper with a corner... short to Pickering but he pulls it back instead of shooting, Tapia has a shot blocked after a couple passes, that's it there.

83': Cooper with another corner, this to the far post, Forrest is there, and he heads it in! 1-0

83': Vega in for Villa, Gallardo in for Cooper.


That's it!

Wake Forest 1 : 0 Huntington

Man of the Match: Ian Cooper (7.2)
Goals: Forrest (7.2)
Assist: Cooper

Everyone else is 6.8-6.9 here.


Everyone else that played today that was above us in the standings either lost or tied. That leaves the standings like this:

http://i.imgur.com/InNLHji.png


Peoria still controls their own destiny. And since Cleveland picked up a win in 6th place today technically we could still fail to make the playoffs, but yeah, we're gonna make the playoffs... at least.

[Radii]

Go Wake

:banana: :banana: (I have no idea, I didn't see a thumbs up smiley, so bananas it is).

[Radii]

October Update

-- DL Coggins, DC Varela, AM Gallardo train well. Roth/Williams/Crook, all coming off injury, train pooly.

-- The board remains very plesed, atmosphere good, ST Roth's play bad. Leave the injured guy alone! 2 goals in 5 league starts, 4 goals total in 11 games, he's been fine, given that we aren't exactly a high scoring team. We lost $5100 last month.

September 25th, 2015

Danville Villains (9-6-4, 5th) vs Wake Forest Cougars (11-3-6, 1st)

Attendence: 301

We're 1-0-2 against these guys lifetime. We lost 0-2 at home to them during our bad slump earlier this year.

Starting Lineup

GK: Gyan
D: Campbell/Pickering/Forrest/Jackson
DM: Villa
M: Tapia/Shakespeare
AM: Davidson/Cooper
ST: Navarro

Their star is Michael Chappell, 8 goals in 16 league matchess (13 goals in 29 total).

12': They attack down the right side, a short cross in from the right, stopped, crossed through the 6 yard box, Chappell heads it in. 0-1

19': Shakespeare with a cross in to Navarro, he passes back to Cooper, shoots.. saved.

35': Cooper picks up a minor injury.

HALF: We fly to the half after that. We jump up to a standard mindset and take away the retain possession order to try to get more chances in the second half.

Gallardo comes in for Cooper, no need to risk further injury.

54': Davidson with a corner, Pickering heads it... off the post, damn!

58': They shoot off a free kick, saved by Gyan.

61': They cross a ball in from the right, poor cross right at Pickering, but he mishits it trying to clear, it basically bounces off his lower leg and redirects into the goal. 0-2

65': Navarro has a shot blocked, corner. Corner is cleared.

65': We'll look to attack.

75': Vega in for Villa.

92': Gallardo to Navarro, he shoots from the right side and its not really close.

That's it.

Danville 2 : 0 Wake Forest

The early goal and then the Pickering own goal, pretty rough one. Pickering with a 6.2.


A cleveland win makes this scary for us.

We have 36 points, in 3rd place.

Kentucky has 34 points in 4th. Cleveland 33 points in 5th. Huntington 33 points in 6th. Only top 5 make the playoffs. Kentucky, Cleveland and Huntington don't play each other in the last match, so its possible all three could win and leave us out of the playoffs.

[Radii]

Injury Update

Ian Cooper was hurt in our last match and is going to miss 4-5 weeks. If we make the playoffs, he won't be there.


October 16th - League Play

I decide to spectate Kentucky vs Peoria. Kentucky is at home, but Peoria is #1 right now.

Cleveland is also at home, but against #2 Danville.

Huntington is on the road vs Model City.


19': Model City goes up 1:0 on Huntington. The other two are still scoreless. We'd finish 3rd if it ended like this.

HALF: Things are unchanged. We're in 3rd.


48': Danville scores a goal on Cleveland. Both Cleveland and Huntington would have to overcome 1-0 deficits in the next 40 minutes now.

52': Cleveland gets the tying goal pretty darn quick there. They're 1:1 with Danville.

54': Huntington ties it up against Model City

56': Cleveland takes a 2-1 lead on Danville. Uhh... now Cleveland is ahead of us. We would still need to see Huntington and Kentucky both turn ties into wins.

67': Crazy game in Cleveland. Danville just scored to tie it back up at 2. So all three games I care about are now tied. Since all three need specific winners, that is pretty ok.

74': Model City scores on Huntington, we should be safe now.

75': Danville goes up 3:2 on Cleveland.

80': Cleveland ties it up against Danville, 3-3, crazy.

Perfect. All three results had to go against us for us to miss the playoffs. Instead, all three went in our favor.


Wake Forest are in the Playoffs!

-- We receive $21,700 for finishing 3rd in the league.


http://i.imgur.com/kIe457I.png

Final standings.


Appalachian Premier League Playoff Draw


I forgot there was a draw here, not 2v5 and 3v4. That's how it works out anyway, we're playing Kentucky. Looks like its at a neutral field.

We've played Kentucky twice this year, winning both times.

[Radii]

October 24th, 2015

APL Playoff Semifinals

Kentucky Colonels (4th) vs Wake Forest Cougars (3rd)

Attendence: 500

-- 500 is a sellout here. This is in Kingsport, Tennessee.

Starting Lineup

GK: Gyan
D: Coggins/Pickering/Forrest/Jackson
DM: Villa
M: Tapia/Shakespeare
AM: Davidson/Gallardo
ST: Navarro

Coggins gets the start at DL today, fitness reasons mostly. Gallardo starts at AMR for the injured Cooper.

4': Not the start we wanted. MR Frimpong with a free kick from 20 yards out, into the upper right corner of the net. 0-1

30': They work the ball around the right side for awhile, passing it back out a bit, then its sent into the left side of the area for ST Hill, he's got a clear look, and scores. 0-2

30': We'll attack.

43': Shakespeare with an interception, ahead to Navarro, he tries to shoot from 25 yards out and mishits it or soemthing. Its like 15 yards wide.

44': Gallardo with a good looking shot, keeper stops it. They clear the corner.

45': Jackson with a yellow.

46': They have a free kick, they try to send it into the area, Shakespeare clears, long to NAvarro, he lobs it ahead to Gallardo who makes a good run.. but shoots well wide.

HALF: We look pretty bad here. We'll try to pressure and attack a lot here, but it seems like a tough one to overcome.

49': Tapia with some good defense near midfield, he steals the ball, passes ahead to DAvidson, immediately into the area for Navarro, Navarro scores!! We're back in it! 1-2

65': Vega in for Villa at DMC.

71': We earn a corner on a cross by Jackson. Their keeper punches it out though.

74': They have a goal kick, we win the ball in midfield, up to Tapia, he heads it forward to Davidson, a through ball for Navarro, and he has a great look and puts it in!!! 2-2

74': Roth in for Navarro, Dylan Rose comes in out of position at AMR for Gallardo. Both Navarro and Gallardo are real tired.

74': We drop back to a standard mindset.

81': We have a free kick on the right edge of the box about 12 yards out. Tapia takes it, shoots from there, and its in!! That was no accidental cross that went towards the goal, that was a shot, straight up. COMEBACK COMPLETE! 3-2

81': Time to Defend.

That's it, we hold them off!!!!

Kentucky 2 : 3 Wake Forest

Man of the Match: Ronnie Navarro (8.8)
Goals: Navarro 2, Tapia (8.3)
Assists: Davidson (8.3), Roth (6.8)

Everyone else in the 6.5-6.7 range.

That is a hell of a comeback right there.

We get great news from the other final as well, as Cleveland and Danville play another ridiculous game (they played in the final game of the regular season to a 3-3 draw). Cleveland wins this one 5-4 with goals in the 79th and 84th minutes coming back from a 4-3 deficit.

Danville has crushed us every time we've met them. But we've beaten Cleveland both times we played them.


-- Jose Alejandro Tapia credits my halftime talk for inspiring the comeback. I believe my words were "suck less" or something like that.

[Radii]

-- Joe Jackson's yellow will keep him out of the playoff finals. This one is on short rest so the lineup might be real interesting.


October 27th, 2015

APL Playoff Finals

Cleveland Stokers (5th) vs Wake Forest Cougars (3rd)

Attendence: 1412

-- The finals are in West Virginia, in Charleston. Decent crowd!

Starting Lineup

GK: Gyan
D: Campbell/Burke/Forrest/Varela
DM: Williams
M: Glaser/Shakespeare
AM: Rose/Crook
ST: Roth

Williams, Glaser, and Crook all make their first appearances in some time due to injuries. Rose will start at AML, might end up splitting time with Davidson.

Standard mindset today against a team I feel like we ought to beat more often than not.

2': Burke blocks a pass pretty deep in our own end and just launches the damn thing down field... from about 85 yards away I'd guess, the ball sails into the top of the net. In the air, no bounces. That was pretty flukey, at best. But I will take it! 1-0

13': Their strikers play a nice give and go to get a clear cut chance from the left side of the area, but its wide.

14': lets change to counterattacking here.

17': Free kick for them, shot wide.

29': Roth with a poor shot from 25 yards out way wide. He wasn't under any pressure, I'd rather see him wait for something better.

34': They send a ball down the right side, its crossed from the end line, Delgado heads it, Gyan makes a great save, but there's a rebound, which Delgado puts in. 1-1

HALF: They are outshooting us 7-4, have a slight possession lead 54/46. We're tackling and heading better, they are passing slightly better. Its a close one.

51': A long kick from their keeper, one header sends it into the area and they have a striker right thre 1v1 against Gyan, Gyan comes out.. and stops the shot!

55': Gyan saves another long shot.

61': Davidson is in for Rose.

63': Gyan with a long free kick out of our defense, Roth picks it up behind the defense... instead of shooting, he lays it off for Shakespeare, who misses wide. This time Roth had the better look I think.

82': Pickering in for a very tired Burke.

FULL TIME: No more highlights, we will go to extra time.

I bring Ratzburg in for an exhausted Roth and that's all our changes for the match.

93': Glaser with a nice chip ahead to Shakespeare, but his shot is saved easily.

99': We have it in midfield, a short pass ahead to Ratzburg, he turns by his man and makes a run, still a long ways from goal, a pass to Glaser, a strong shot from 20 yards... just wide.

EXTRA TIME HALFTIME: 15 more minutes.

108': Davidson takes a long free kick (from nearly midfield) and drives it low towards the penalty area. Shakespeare controls it very well given the pace on the ball, turns, shoots, and scores!!!! 2-1

108': We will defend.

112': Also, retain possession, shorter passing, slower tempo.

121': Campbell with a nice tackle and clearance as they try to build up for one last shot.

GAME OVER!!!!

Cleveland 1 : 2 Wake Forest

Man of the Match: Mark Shakespeare (7.4)
Goals: Shakespeare, Burke (7.4)
Assists: Davidson (6.8)
Notables: Varela (7.0), Forrest (7.0), Campbell (7.3), Glaser (7.0)

Some very solid ratings there, the defense was good! I expected higher rating for Gyan given the saves I saw him make, but he sat at a 6.7.


Wake Forest Promoted!!!!

-- The fans are overjoyed, of course.

-- Management has "always expected that I would deliver, and is pleased to not be let down" ... ok then.

-- We will play in the Atlantic Coast Amateur league in tier 7 next year.



We'll finish up end of season stuff tomorrow.

[Tellistto]

Nice job!

Tell

[nol]

Congrats! Hopefully level 7 has a structure more conducive to rapidly promoting.

[britrock88]

Wacky playoffs. Congrats on moving up!

[Radii]

http://i.imgur.com/5cdWYFD.png


Team stats, sorted by rating.

Thoughts:

Shakespeare benefited from being our penalty taker, allowing him to lead the team in goals and assists. Brian Davidson is pretty impressive as our #2 rated player, given that in our first season I initially had him as the #3 AML in our depth chart.


There are a few guys not listed just b/c I couldn't get them to fit on the screenshot and didn't bother cropping a longer one together. Youth pulls DL Florian Bergmann, AMRL Jeff Gallardo and DR Fausto Diaz all played enough for their ratings to matter and were at the bottom of the list with 6.5x average ratings. Gallardo was mainly a sub, the other two started in rotation so their poor ratings are definitely just poor. Since we suck at training, that means they'll probably never make it.

Backup DC Garry Garcia also stands out with 5 starts, 5 backup appearances, and a 6.45 average rating.

Backup AMR Ryan Crook also got 10 starts and is near the bottom here with a 6.60 rating and not a single assist. He looked a lot better than that last year, that's a real disappointment.

[Radii]

Team Leaders

Goals

MC Shakespeare - 10
AML Davidson - 9
ST Navarro - 7
AMR Cooper - 5
ST Roth - 4
ST Ratzburg - 3
AML Rose - 3
DC Pickering - 3


Assists

MC Shakespeare - 10
AMR Cooper - 10
AML Davidson - 9
AML Rose - 7
ST Roth - 4


Man of the Match Winners

MC Shakespeare - 6
AML Davidson - 5
AMR Cooper - 5
ST Ratzburg - 2
DC Pickering - 2

[Radii]

Appalachain Premier League Leaders

Goals

1. Gus Chapman - Huntington - 14
2. Jake Wilson - Peoria - 13
2. Michael Chappell - Danville - 13
4. Jack Williams - Cape City - 11
5. 6 tied - 10
...
21. Mark Shakespeare - Wake Forest - 6
27. Brian Davidson - Wake Forest - 5
32. Ronnie Navarro - Wake Forest - 4


Assists

1. Diego Sinisterra - Cleveland - 8
1. Mike Smith - Peoria - 8
1. Aldair Cuevas - Owensboro - 8
4. Jake Wilson - Peoria - 7
5. Many Tied - 6
...
5. Brian Davidson - Wake Forest - 6
12. Ian Cooper - Wake Forest - 5
21. Dylan Rose - Wake Forest - 4


Average Rating

1. Jake Wilson - Peoria - 7.62
2. Andrew Reid - Nashville - 7.36
3. Gus Chapman - Huntington - 7.34
4. Alfonso Grisi - Model City - 7.31
5. Ian Jackson - Jackson - 7.23
...
8. Mark Shakespeare - Wake Forest - 7.18
11. Brian Davidson - Wake Forest - 7.15
45. Jose Alejandro Tapia - Wake Forest - 6.85
50. Joe Pickering - Wake Forest - 6.82
54. Ian Cooper - Wake Forest - 6.81

[Radii]

-- Talks of team ownership changing come up again. We'll see what happens. That puts an embargo on signing players in place for now.

-- We're basically just going to fly through the next two months now to get into January. We do play a bunch of U18 and Reserve Matches, so expect injuries!


November Update

-- Brian Williams and Dylan Rose train well. Ryan Crook does not.

-- The board is very plesed with my leadership. Atmosphere is the big positive, Poor play by AML Dylan Rose is the negative. He's one of my top 6 or 7 players, but he was hurt a bunch. Whatever. We made $18,620 last month.

-- World Cup Qualifying stuff starts for the 2018 World Cup. The US is drawn into a group with Mexico, so that should be exciting. The other two teams are Guatemala and Curacao though so both should get through.


New Ownership

-- Local businessman Dick Garcia has completed his takeover of Wake Forest Cougars.

-- He thanks me for being patient during the takeover. Transfer embargo lifted.


This is on November 28th.


December Update

-- Crook trains well.



End of Season Team Meeting

-- I tell the team that I think if we add some pieces next year we can get a mid-table finish. The team freaks out a bit. I fucked this up last year too and most of the team was disappointed in my hopes for the team. Bunch of unambitious bastards.

-- Preseason will start January 4th.


-- Chicago beats Seattle 1:0 to win the North American Open Cup. Philadelphia and Real Salt Lake lost in the semifinals.

-- We'll spend most of December turning down job interviews.

[Radii]

Player Departure

-- Backup GK Phil Harrington gets released. I forgot that I mentioned that I'd let him go during the next transfer period the last time he complained about playing time. I just let him go to avoid risking him getting upset or something.


Player Acquisition

29 y/o ST/AMR/AMC Carlos Alberto Arredondo will be leaving the Richmond Strikers to join us next season.

Crossing 4/Dribbling 6/Finishing 6/Heading 4. Anticipation 4/Composure 4/Flair 10/Off Ball 5/Work Rate 12. Pace 7.

Worst case scenario this guy joins and I release a guy like Reynoso. But he also shows great teamwork (17) and good natural fitness so I'm hopefully that means he can fit in. He was also playing pretty well at the next level up for a team already (6.75 rating with 4 goals mainly used as AMC I think), which is a plus.


That takes us to December 17th.

[Tellistto]

Will the board start letting you pay people? Seems to me that in the past versions going to professional required having all players on a contract.

Not sure with the whole amateur thing, though.

Tell

[Radii]

-- We pay $325,000 in taxes, based on making $1.12 million throughout the year.

-- We offest that by signing a new jersey sponsorship deal worth $9,750/yr!

-- We announce a profit of $1.1 million on the year.

-- I make a couple other offers but get no bites.

With that, we hit December 30th, when the Transfer Windows open. I do a "save as" to set aside a copy of my game, again based on the fact that I "accidentally" turned my team into semi-pro somehow.

-- On Dec 30th, our new ST/AMR Arredondo joins the team.


I look through my scouting list pretty thoroughly, hoping to find a couple of the star players from last season that might be interested in joining us, but the first few guys I go after are all from far away and not interested in travelling so far for an amateur team.

-- Starting on Dec 31, offers start coming in for my players from other teams, lets hope that promoting up will keep a few of the better ones around.


MLS Review

Playoff Teams: New York, Los Angeles, Philadelphia, Toronto FC, Montreal Impact, Chivas USA

Los Angeles beat New York in the finals to win the league.

Relegated Teams: Vancouver, Fort Lauderdale

I didn't note this in our first year... New York Cosmos and DC United were relegated out in the first season, Orlando City and Fort Lauderdale Strikers were promoted up.

This year, FC Edmonton and DC United will replace Vancouver and Fort Lauderdale.

Fans Player of the Year

-- Mark Shakespeare wins the award this year.


Wake Forest Best Eleven

GK: Gyan
DL: Campbell
DC: Burke
DC: Pickering
DR: Jackson
DMC: Shakespeare (ugh)
MC: Tapia
MC: Glaser
AML: Davidson
AMR: Cooper
ST: Roth


Wake Forest All Time Best Eleven

The starting team here remains unchanged. It is:

GK: Amidu Gyan - 74 apps/6.79 rating
DL: David Campbell - 46 apps/1 goal/6.87 rating
DC: Hernando Galvis - 39 apps/1 goal/6.76 rating
DC: Joe Pickering - 51 apps/7 goals/6.96 rating
DR: Steve Arroyo - 29 apps/6.88 rating
DMC: Mark Shakespeare - 56 apps/16 goals/7.29 rating
MC: Jhonatan Mora - 23 apps/8 goals/7.17 rating
MC: Gary Glaser - 37 apps/2 goals/6.90 rating
AML: Brian Davidson - 46 apps/15 goals/7.15 rating
AMR: Ian Cooper - 50 apps/10 goals/7.11 rating
ST: Ronnie Navarro - 45 apps/18 goals/7.08 rating

Joe Jackson was added to the backups to this team. Others are:

GK Harrington, DC Garcia, AML Rose, MC Tapia, ST Roth, DR Jackson, ST Pace.



-- The giant Youth Intake occurs, and we'll be looking to see if any of them can crack the roster. This will actually give us the problem of having too many players for the first time, so we'll need to go through this carefully and will probably cut some guys. Most will be names you've only seen in roster reviews.

[Radii]

Will the board start letting you pay people? Seems to me that in the past versions going to professional required having all players on a contract.

Not sure with the whole amateur thing, though.

Tell

I haven't requested it. This league I'm moving into is 100% amateur teams. The next level up is when we'll start to see semi-pro teams I think. I'm not planning on asking the board to become semi-pro until I move up one more level. If they tell me I should start paying guys because we have so much money I will. I have no idea what to expect though.

[Radii]

-- I ask the board for more coaches, I'd really like a goalkeeping coach or a fitness coach, I'm not sure I could get one to come here, in tier 8 I couldn't. But the board isn't interested in allowing any more coaches of any kind, so that's it for that idea for now.

Youth Intake

16 new players join the team as youth players. I'm keeping a bunch of them, but only two seem worth writing about.

Colin Cole - ST/AMC/MC - Crossing 5/Dribbling 7/Finishing 8/Heading 6. Flair 11/Off Ball 8/Work Rate 9. Pace 7. With a Bravery of 17, my coach says he's best as a target man. This guy looks good.

Adam Fisher - AMR/ST/MR - Pace 8/Accel 11/Agi 8/Balance 10. Crossing 6/Dribble 3/Technique 4. Decision 3/Flair 6/Off Ball 6. I'm comparing him to Ryan Crook, Crook is way better dribbling and first touch, much more determined. Fisher is faster and has great teamwork and work rate. We'll see. Crook was bad last year so I'm willing to give someone a chance to take the backup job.

Arturo Flores - DL - Some pace, 10 pace/7 accel, good overall fitness. Marking 7/Tackling 6/Positioning 5... really he doesn't look great, but worth mentioning b/c last year's DL youth pull Florian Bergmann got on the field for awhile and was godawful, way worse than my other youth pulls that saw some time. So I'm cutting Bergmann, and will play Flores if Campbell/Coggins get hurt.

The rest have one or two decent attribute but would have to show me they play better than I expect them to based on ratings to ever see the field on the senior team. If that happens we can talk about them then.

[Radii]

Pre-season Team Meeting

My only options are "how do you guys feel?", "we can actually finish top half!" and "we can challenge for promotion!" ... my actual goals are to avoid relegation. Is that the same as a "mid-table finish"? 20 team league, 4 teams relegate. 15th would be just fine with me.

-- DC Galvis says we're on track to do well and meet the mid-table expectations. DC Pickering says he thinks we should aim higher.

-- I respond and say my expectations are what they are, not raising them. I get 8 good and 8 bad reactions from that.

-- ST Roth comes back and says he thinks "mid-table" is too high. I tell him I'm disappointed with that reaction, and most of the team is unhappy with that.

I suck at these things.


Pre-Season Coaches Meeting

-- My coaches keep recommending salaried players to me. Come on guys. We're an amateur team.

-- My head of youth development tells me that MC Mike Wilkins and ST/AML Ben Goodwin are the most exciting U18 players we have. Wilkins will probably get some playing time, especially if I'm not able to sign any new guys. Goodwin probably deserves a chance but I have way too many strikers unless i'm switching to a 4-4-2.

Speaking of that, I haven't used a 5-4-1 a single time since I got here. So I do go ahead and make our 3rd formation to train a 4-4-2 instead of 5-4-1. In my first season we had almost no strikers so a 1 striker formation was almost mandatory. A switch to a straight 4-4-2 would be real hard since our best players are wingers who don't do well at ML/MR. But we should at least know the formation.

[Radii]

Atlantic Coast Amateur League

So lets set this up. There are 20 teams in the league. The majority of them are in Florida or Puerto Rico, so the team will be logging a lot more miles this year than last. Because there are more teams here, the season starts earlier. Also, we don't participate in the group stage of the North American Open Cup. So there are a couple early round cup matches and then straight into league play.

With 20 teams, there is a proper split at the halfway mark. So after we play everyone once, the top 10 break off into their own group, as do the bottom 10. 1st place Auto Promotes. 2nd-5th have a playoff to decide a second promotion spot.

In the bottom split, four teams relegate back down.

We will continue to play in the Old North Cup, and our first match will be February 17th.

We will now play in the Atlantic Coast Cup, which looks to be a small regional tournament. 56 teams in a qualifying round, then 32 teams in round 1. It looks like this is scheduled to start March 16th.

Later on, during the season we will also play in the North American Open Cup and the [/u]North America Amateur Cup[/u].

Our first league match is scheduled for March 18th, we'll be travelling to Puerto Rico to play Atleticos Rio Piedras.



-- I set up our fitness training to start getting the guys ready.

-- I also set up all our pre-sesaon friendlies.

-- With that, we need to review our roster and figure out a depth chart. This actually matters a little more this year, with a couple years of youth intake we have like 59 guys on the roster, when only 45 can be registered for competition. We'll also have to make sure we have guys in the reserves and U18's actually getting playing time.

[Izulde]

Nice work on the promotion! I wonder if the million is what's needed to financially move to semi-pro status

[Radii]

Depth Chart - Goalkeepers

1. Amidu Gyan - 28 y/o - 6.75 average rating as my starter the last two years. His reflexes are not great, but he is better than every other keeper we have in every other attribute.
2. Clark Garcia - 18 y/o - Has only played one match for me. If I could develop players he'd be able to develop into something better tha Gyan. But I can't do that.
3. Kenny Curfman - 14 y/o - Better than Garcia in some attributes, worse in others. But clearly better than our #4.
4. James Barton - 18 y/o - Dead weight. We did have two GK's hurt last year for a short while. Might as well carry four.

Gyan clearly starts, if he were to get hurt it would be a complete tossup between Garcia and Curfman.

Market Prospects - None currently. I could *maybe* upgrade my backup. All players my scout likes are age 18 and under. Kids with better reflexes than Gyan but not much else.


Defenders - Left Side

1. David Campbell - 23 y/o - 6.79 avg rating in 27 matches. Weak technically, but faster than my other options.
2. Danny Coggins - 26 y/o - 6.68 avg rating in 12 matches. Was hurt almost all of last year.
3. Sean Rongen - 18 y/o - I need to play Rongen some this year. My assistant rates him as my best at this position, and his attributes are decent. I've never given him a chance.
4. Arturo Flores - 14 y/o - A youth pull. My assistant actually likes him too. Possibly being judged differently than Rongen/Coggins due to age?

Campbell has been solid enough here for me. Rongen will get his chance this year, I promise!


Market Prospects - I make an offer to a DL from Fayeteville that my scout likes. He doesn't necessarily look better than Coggins on paper, but I want to get in on the action, and Fayeteville is a division opponent who has offered contracts to lots of my players.


Defenders - Right Side

1. Joe Jackson - 28 y/o - 6.78 rating in 17 games.
2. Bob Varela - 18 y/o - 6.75 rating in 11 games.
3. Fausto Diaz - 15 y/o - 6.47 rating in 4 games.

Jackson and Varela look real similar. Its easy to rotate them basically. Diaz was a youth pull, worst positioning and worst physical ability of the bunch.


Market Prospects - Some ok looking guys are out there, but I don't have any reason to think any of them would be better than Jackson and Varela, and both have played well enough for me.


Defenders - Central

1. Joe Pickering - 17 y/o - 6.83 rating in 30 league games, 4 goals.
2. Steve Forrest - 23 y/o - 6.81 rating in 8 league matches. Also showed he can play in higher leagues, 6.8 rating in the tier above us two years ago.
3. Don Burke - 26 y/o - 6.77 rating in 17 matches.
4. Hernando Galvis - 26 y/o - 6.64 in 15 matches.
5. Ashley Varela - 15 y/o - 6.53 in 6 matches.
6. Jesus Antonio Guerrero - 15 y/o - Hurt last year and didn't play, but tall which I've liked.

Youth Pulls Scott Kelly and John Johnson are here too. Kelly, Johnson and Varela... none of them look great. I may or may not sign them. For now, I put the top 4 guys on the senior team, Varela/Guerrero on the Reserves, and the youth guys on the U18 team.

So I'm happy with my top 3 guys, the 4th is older and a good leader, after that its a ton of unproven guys who may not ever get a real chance to prove themselves. Varela did play last year and failed to impress.

Market Prospects - There are a lot of DC's availble, but a common problem I'm seeing is that none of them strike me as guys I really want and would cut a young kid for clearly. Many of them have gotten significant playing time for other teams at my level and have not done well.

[Radii]

Defensive Midfielders

1. Brian Williams - 18 y/o - 6.80 in 11 league matches. Williams has always been my best on paper, but have never stood out really. Hurt a lot last year.
2. Timothy Pena - - 6.79 rating in 14 matches. I never liked Pena but he does have high determination and he's performed ok.
3. Adalberto Vega - 15 y/o - 6.86 rating in 8 matches. Was a youth pull last year, played very well when asked to. Mostly off the bench. Physically/Technically ok, very low bravery and teamwork, both needed for the ball winning midfielder I like to use at DMC.
4. Alan Bartlett - 14 y/o - Youth pull, technically he's fine, bravery of 2, elsewhere he mostly holds up though. Curious to see how he does on the U18's.

I signed Luis Villa last year to replace Pena. He played 16 matches with a 6.69 average rating. The prior year for the NC Fusion he played 27 matches with a 6.29 rating in the ACPL (that's Atlantic Coast Premier League, where I am now). I'm just accpeting at this point that Tim Pena is an acceptable backup. I cut Villa.


Market Prospects - None at this time.


Central Midfielder

1. Mark Shakespeare - 18 y/o - Team MVP last year.
2. Jose Alejandro Tapia - 25 y/o - Very consistent performer in the more defensive of MC roles. 6.8 rating in 32 matches.
3. Gary Glaser - 19 y/o - 6.84 rating in 20 matches. Doesn't stand out, but seems to hold his own. Ratings are poor compared to some guys below, so others may get a chance to prove themselves.
4. Bayard Perkins - 26 y/o - 6.77 rating in 22 matches. Ratings not special but has proven acceptable off the bench.
5. Ashley Sandoval - 18 y/o - 6.83 rating in 17 matches. Sandoval's ratings continue to look like the worst here. If Wilkins or Castro can play will get cut.
6. Mike Wilkins - 14 y/o - Only played two matches off the bench last year, scored in one. Ratings look very solid for a young kid and probably deserves more time than he got.
7. Eder Castro - 14 y/o - 10 pace, 12 first touch and 6 passing and 6 positioning gives him a chance. He has some 1's and 2's in the ratings though that make me think its very unlikely he'll succeed here. Expect to never hear his name again.


Shakespeare/Tapia have starting spots locked in. Glaser will see a ton of time. The other four will sort themselves out.

Market Prospects - Lots of players, none that strike me as guys that look good enough to take away chances from guys I've already got.



Attacking Midfielder - Left Side

1. Brian Davidson - 21 y/o - Rose looks better but Davidson has delivered for 2 years now. 7.04 rating in 27 league matches.
2. Dylan Rose - 18 y/o - 6.94 rating in 18 matches. Hurt with a bit of frequency.

There really isn't a lot more to talk about here. I still have a backup in Luca Colangelo, and last year's youth pull in Jeff Gallardo. Neither will ever get a start over a healthy and fit Davidson and Rose.

Market Prospects - Not really.



Attacking Midfielder - Right Side

1. Ian Cooper - 18 y/o - 6.92 rating in 27 league matches. Others get a bit higher ratings but Cooper may still be my best player overall.
2. Adam Fisher - 14 y/o - I mentioned Fisher when I reviewed youth pulls. My backup AMR, Ryan Crook, did not perform last year at all. Fisher looks solid enough, and is going to be given some playing time up front to see what he can do.
3. Ryan Crook - 26 y/o - 6.65 rating in 19 matches. 6 starts last year without a goal or assist in league play, 4 more in cup play.


Market Prospects - There is one Blacksburg player who put up decent ratings for them last year, a 14 year old with decent'ish ratings. I go ahead and make an offer and can just stick him in the U18's if Fisher works out or Crook plays better.

[Radii]

Strikers

Ok this is a huge mess. I have 14 Strikers right now. 5 of them are youth pulls from this year, three from last year. I've never run more than one!

Before I do anything else, I release Samir Pace and Pierre Reynoso. One of the youth guys from last year, Ben Goodwin, he's gone.


1. Ronnie Navarro - 18 y/o - 10 goals/5 assists in 25 league matches. Has performed.
2. Leon Roth - 18 y/o[/b} - 2 goals/3 assists in 12 league matches. Add in cup matches though and he has 9 goals in 20. 6.86 rating in league despite the lack of scoring.
[B]3. Patrick Ratzburg - 14 y/o - 5 league matches last year, 2 goals.
4. Colin Cole - 14 y/o - As I mentioned with the youth intake, I really like this guy's ratings. I could easily see him earning lots of playing time.
5. Carlos Alberto Arredondo - 29 y/o I may have made a mistake signing Arredondo during the offseason. I'm going to list him here but if Cole is decent, he's gonna get left out.

I sign two other youth players, Fernando Alvarez and Dan Saunders. Both have 7 finishing and fairly ok ratings. They'll be given a chance to play for the U18's while the rest of these guys fight it out.


The problem I have here is that my AML/AMR players are the best players on the team, both in actual ratings performance and attributes. So switching to a formation that uses them less seems unwise. Playing a 4-2-2-2 or a "4-4-2 attacking" formation with two MC's and two wingers and two forwards seems super dangerous. So its very possible that whoever impresses quickly out of these guys wins tons of playing time and others get left out just as quickly.

[britrock88]

Heh. Those two formations were my exact thoughts on what to recommend you. I have occasionally used the 4-4-2 attacking, as you describe it, and with success--so long as I was favored and my defensive four were regarded more highly than the opponent's attack.

[Radii]

-- DC Ashely Varela is dropped to the reserves and immediately asks to talk to me about it. I tell him he has to earn his way back up with good play in the reserves, and he says he relishes a challenge. I was going to cut him immediately if he complained.

New Signing

DC/DL Dan Hernandez - 18 y/o Joins the team. I think I made this offer before I actually did the roster review thing, where I said I saw lots of guys who look pretty good but I wasn't sure. But anyway, Hernandez does look the best of the bunch and will get an immediate chance to make an impression. 6 heading/4 marking/10 tackling. Composure 8/Concentrate 5/Decisions 5/Determined 12/Positioning 6. Jumping 13/Str 11. A Pace of 7 which is actually half decent for a DC too, where folks tend to be slower. He looks like he should be as good as anyone on the roster. He's also 6'2" to go with that pretty good jumping rating.

Friendly #1

We lose 3:0 to CASL Chelsea, I used my new 4-4-2 formation, nothing really noteworthy in this one, they are way better than us.


Friendly #2

We play our reserve team. Its ugly. The first team loses 2-0 to the Reserves. We gave them the ball in our own end three times on throwins, so I may need to look at that.


Injury Update

ST Navarro is out 3 weeks with an injured elbow.



-- I only have one player, Joe Jackson, who has any sort of ability at long throws. Campbell was taking the throws in our last match and was awful. I change our throwin strategy to just take short throws to play it safe.


Atlantic Coast Amateur League Promotion Odds

-- The Lexington Thoroughbreads are pretty big favorites to promote at 4:5. Kendall SC are even, Saturn FC and Jacksonville Cyclones are 5:2. We are 6:1 to promote, which is better than I would have expected, and is actually 6th in the league. No other team is better than 10:1 and some of the weaker teams are as bad as 40-1, 50-1, and 100-1...


Friendly #3

We host the Wilmington Hammerheads and expect to get destroyed. We fall behind 3-0 early, including an unfortunate own goal from Shakespeare. We get a very nice goal from Davidson in the second half. Wilkins to Rose to Crook set up a good goal for us late. In the 89th minute we got a great free kick from Glaser, and in the 95th minute we get a long ball out of the defense Wilkins heads it on and Crook picks it up around the 18 yard mark, he takes a shot and beats the keeper!

Well that was exciting. We beat Wilmington, a team in the NASL, the second best league in the USA, 4-3.



That takes us into February. We've got two more friendlies before the Old North Cup.

[Radii]

February Update

The board is very pleased with my leadership. Our 4-3 win over Wilmington is a positive. The departure of Samir Pace is a negative. We lost $21,450 last month.


Friendly #4

We travel to play CASL Elite. We go ahead 1-0 as Jackson sends a ball into the area from 35 yards out, Roth controls it very nicely and puts it in. They tie it up early in the second half on a low shot that Gyan can't get down for. This ends up 1-1.


Old North Cup Qualifying Round Draw

We're going to be going on the road to play the Charlotte Soccer Academy, a team in the next tier up above us, The Atlantic Coast Division 2.


Captain Choice

DC Galvis has been our captain the last two years, but he's steadily fallen down the depth chart. I move Ian Cooper up to captain and make MC Jose Alejandro Tapia my vice captain. I talk to Galvis before hand and he makes his case to stay captain but isn't overly upset in the end.



Friendly #5

We host another NASL team that should completely shit on us, unless they are bored and don't care and let us score 3 goals in 10 minutes like Wilmington did.

We give up a goal at the end of the first half, a through ball to a much faster player than we're capable of handling. Roth plays a little cross into the area for Rose in the 66th minute and Rose's defender makes a mistake and positions poorly and Rose finishes well. We end up allowing 18 shots and only taking two ourselves, but the end result is a 1:1 draw.


-- We sell 80 season tickets, the same as each of the last two years.

Time for the Old North Cup, the first match that matters, at least a little.

[Radii]

February 17th, 2016

Old North Cup - Qualifying Round

Charlotte SA vs Wake Forest

GK: Gyan
D: Campbell/Pickering/Forrest/Jackson
M: Tapia/Shakespeare
AM: Davidson/Cooper
ST: Roth/Cole

We'll play in a defensive mindset and will look to retain possession and pass short on the road against a superior team. We get our first look at youngster Colin Cole today.

1': They get a corner, Tapia with a nice header to clear.

9': They get another corner, this one taken near post and headed into the side.

11': Tapia shoots on a rather long free kick, it goes high.

15': Pickering yellow card.

16': They shoot on a 30 yard free kick, grazes the top of the bar and goes over.

16': We win possession after a goal kick, Tapia passes ahead to Roth, he chips it by the keeper... but offsides. That was close.

28': Davidson with a corner, far post to Forrest, he heads it just wide.

33': They get a goal but clearly offsides.

36': Forrest makes two nice defensive plays in a row in highlights, one a tackle to break up an attacking move, another an interception.

40': Tons and tons of pressure from Charlotte but everything is way off target.

44': A give and go between their two forwards leads to an on target shot but Gyan makes a nice stop.

47': Gyan takes a goal kick very long, their defender misplays it and lets it bounce behind him, Cole is there and controls it, the defense isn't far behind though, Cole into the area... he's tackled, PENALTY. Shakespeare takes it and scores! 1-0

HALF: We lead on a totally fluke circumstance. They are outshooting us 13-4, but have 11 off target. They have 54% of the possession. Our passing is just bad, 55% passes completed. I don't know if that's due to the better players Charlotte has or an issue with formation and what we're trying to do.

I bring Ratzburg in for Cole, Cole picked up a minor injury in the first half.

48': They score on a free kick from 25 yards. Gyan should have stopped it. Pretty ugly. 1-1

57': Shakespeare with a lob into the area after a throwin for us, Davidson gets his head to it in a dangerous spot.. but wide.

59': Gyan with a pretty solid save on a 20 yard shot from them.

61': They earn a corner on a shot from the left side. Corner is headed wide.

71': They score... looked like a great cross from deep, but there's an offsides called. I thought that was it.

75': Hernandez in for Pickering, Wilkins in for Tapia.

90': We get a free kick from the left side just out of the penalty area, Davidson plays it through the penalty area, The keeper makes a brief mis-step and Shakespeare is there to volley it in!!! 2-1

92': Poor throwin by Jackson leads to a counter from Charlotte, they get a nice through ball to a forward, but he holds the ball up in the area instead of shooting, he passes to a man with a straighter shot, but Gyan makes a great save! They get a corner, but nothing.

We win!

Charlotte SA 1 : 2 Wake Forest

Man of the Match: Mark Shakespeare (8.8)
Goals: Shakespeare 2
Assists: Davidson (6.8), Cole (6.7)
Notable: Forrest (7.0)

Steve Forrest looked great in defense at least in the highlights. The rest of the defense was bad. Jackson 6.2, Pickering 6.3, Campbell 6.2. Cooper really struggled with a 6.3 rating today. His passing was awful.

They out-shot us 23-7, but only managed to put 5 on target. Gyan came up big when he needed to, and there was enough pressure from the defense to make some of those shots difficult. We only had two shots on target, both goals.

-- No long term injury for Cole today.


Old North Cup - Quarterfinal Draw

There is one team out of the 7 in a division below us. We get lucky and draw them, we'll be on the road again, but playing against the Twin City Patrol in the next round. This is the weird tournament with the qualifying round in February but the quarterfinals aren't until June.

[bbgunn]

I was away from FOFC a few days, but I wanted to congratulate you on the promotion. Kick some Florida and Puerto Rico butt this year!

[Radii]

Heh. Those two formations were my exact thoughts on what to recommend you. I have occasionally used the 4-4-2 attacking, as you describe it, and with success--so long as I was favored and my defensive four were regarded more highly than the opponent's attack.

Yeah maybe I'll use it at home and play a little safer on the road or something like that, I am not quite sure yet. I don't trust the oddsmaking at this level at all, it seems completely meaningless.

I was away from FOFC a few days, but I wanted to congratulate you on the promotion. Kick some Florida and Puerto Rico butt this year!

Thanks!

[Radii]

-- So we have a month off after that Old North Cup match, so we need to keep working on our fitness for the season here. I schedule 3 friendlies.

Injury Update

MC Gary Glaser is hurt in training, will miss about 2 months.

A few days later, Navarro plays for our Reserves to work on fitness after his last injury... gets hurt and is out another week.

Friendly #1

We host the Carolina Railhawks, another match where we should get destroyed, unless they don't care. Scoreless first half. They score in the first minute of the second half, intercepting a backpass from Shakespeare and taking it all the way. Ratzburg gets a clear cut chance in the second half but misses it. We lose 1-0. No one gets hurt though!


March Update

-- Hernandez trains well, Cooper poorly.

-- The board is very pleased with me. Our win over Wilmington is still good, our loss of Samir Pace is bad. He's still unsigned anywhere, I note. We lost $32,170 last month.


Friendly #2

We prepare to get wrecked by DC United, at this point not a lot of teams willing to play us that we haven't already played. We give up 2 first half goals and they go easy on us after that. Final score 0-2.


Atlantic Coast Cup Qualifying Round Draw

I'm not certain who gets to play in this exactly. A USL team won it last year so I guess NASL/MLS don't get in on this. 56 teams in the draw for this round. We get Mayaguez FC, one of the Puerto Rican teams in our league. We'll be going on the road for this. The match is on March 15th.


-- We have to announce our squad for league play. I announce 39 players out of the 44 allowed, for the first time I actually pull a couple people off the squad who I don't imagine will ever play. But I do leave room for some of these U18's in case we have injury problems, or for a new signing or two down the road.


Friendly #3

We host the Raleigh Pioneers in our last friendly. Rose gets a 6 minute goal for us, but they answer a few minutes later. They score again in the 28th minute. They get a 3rd goal 55 minutes in. They get a 4th on a corner, we get one back as Roth has a clear cut chance saved by the keeper but Cooper puts the followup in. It ends up a 4-2 loss.

Injury Update

ST Roth will miss 2-3 weeks with a minor injury he picked up in the last friendly. Ratzburg picked up an injury in the game too but nothing long term, so we feel a bit lucky to have not lost two strikers today.


With that we're 1 week away from the Atlantic Cup starting, and just a couple days after that league play.

[bbgunn]

Atlantic Coast Cup Qualifying Round Draw

I'm not certain who gets to play in this exactly.
The mysterious cups in this mod are crazy! In my Honolulu Islanders save, I spent half a season wondering which teams were going to be included with us in the Aloha Cup. Finally I get a message saying the draw will take place. I click the View Draw button, and... Turns out that the great Aloha Cup is just a one-off match against the Hilo Tsunami. Woo-hoo. At least it's an easy trophy for us!

[AnalBumCover]

Atlantic Coast Cup Qualifying Round Draw

I'm not certain who gets to play in this exactly.

Those teams are drawn from the Atlantic Coast regional divisions in Levels 5, 6, 7.

Atlantic Coast Premiere League (20 teams)
Atlantic Coast 2 (20 teams)
Atlantic Coast Amateur (20 teams)

There are Cups from the other regions (Gold Coast, All-American, Colonial) carrying the same format.

[AnalBumCover]

The mysterious cups in this mod are crazy! In my Honolulu Islanders save, I spent half a season wondering which teams were going to be included with us in the Aloha Cup. Finally I get a message saying the draw will take place. I click the View Draw button, and... Turns out that the great Aloha Cup is just a one-off match against the Hilo Tsunami. Woo-hoo. At least it's an easy trophy for us!
Yeah, there are close to 100 different Cups in this mod. The guy who created this went crazy. The Aloha Cup is one of the "State" cups in the game. It just so happens, there are only 2 clubs in the State of Hawaii.

[Radii]

I really like the state cups, at least, I like the North Carolina one, there are just enough teams in the state to make that interesting. I had no idea bout the existence of any sort of regional cups though.

I think it works well given the structure of the leagues, at least at the amateur level where far fewer games are played overall. There is definitely room for the extra cup play and these low levels would feel a bit empty without it.

[bbgunn]

I agree with Radii. I was surprised that the Aloha Cup was just the two Hawaii teams, but I like it as well. It really does add a nice dimension.

[Radii]

March 15th, 2016

Atlantic Coast Cup - Qualifying Round

Mayaguez FC vs Wake Forest Cougars

Attendence: 378

-- Our first of many trips to Puero Rico

Starting Lineup

GK: Gyan
D: Coggins/Burke/Forrest/Jackson
M: Tapia/Wilkins
AM: Rose/Fisher
ST: Navarro/Cole

So we play our first league match in 3 days, so I sit a few guys here, Wilkins/Fisher/Cole all being young guys out there.

Mayaguez is one of those teams with awful white on yellow lettering so I may not get any names for anything t hey do.

13': Look at the kids getting us the first goal of the cup! Fisher with a run into the right corner, a cross to the near post, Cole is there and heads it in!! 1-0

18': Rose with a corner, they look to clear it, but the clearnce hits another defender and boucnes backwards into the net, own goal. 2-0

28': Rose crosses to Navarro, a volley... saved, good save. Next corner is cleared.

29': Wilkins with a nice long ball ahead to Navarro, our first clear cut chance of the night, but saved. Corner is cleared.

32': Well play defensive with the lead.

HALF: Well that was a solid half. We don't allow a shot, taking 4 ourselves, 3 on target.

48': Burke with a nice clearance long ahead to Fisher, he plays it ahead to cole... he scores... but offsides. It was fairly close, there was a defender lagging behind the rest of their line.

54': Their first shot of the match is a dangerous strike from 20 yards, Gyan has to save it and turn it behind. They take the corner to the far post, Gyan positions poorly for it... and its headed in. 2-1

69': Fisher ahead to Cole again, a clear cut chance, onsides this time, but wide.

79': Cooper in for Fisher.

87': Navarro with a poor pass.. turnover in their end after a throwin, they earn a corner on a cross, but the corner is taken poorly.

94': Free kick from the left side just outside the area, Rose lobs it in, Wilkins heads it across the 6 yard box, Navarro is there and puts it in! 3-1


Mayaguez FC 1 : 3 Wake Forest

Man of the Match: Adam Fisher (7.8)
Goals: Cole (7.4), Navarro (7.3)
Assists: Fisher, Rose (7.4)
Notables: Jackson (7.1), Burke (7.0), Wilkins (7.6)

Solid win, Wilkins, Cole and Fisher all impress.

We receive $969 for winning this match.

[Radii]

-- I had forgotten to drop my training levels down, I change it from high intensity fitness to average intensity Team Cohesion.

Injury Update

DMC Brian Williams is hurt in a reserve match and will miss 2-3 months.

Atlantic Coast Cup - First Round Draw

32 teams remain in the draw. We get a home game against Puerto Rican side Atletico de San Juan FC. They're in the Atlantic Coast Premier League, one level above us. That match will be in a month, April 19th.


March 18th, 2016

Atleticos Rio Piedras vs Wake Forest Cougars

Attendence: 127

-- League Season Opener!

Starting Lineup

GK: Gyan
D: Campbell/Hernandez/Forrest/Jackson
M: Tapia/Shakespeare
AM: Davidson/Cooper
ST: Navarro/Ratzburg

A few guys get their second start in a row, but there's a lot of turnover here.

8': Ratzburg with a cross that earns us a corner, taken near post, Hernandez with a strong header, but saved.

10': We allow a corner, but clear it.

21': Cooper with a corner, Hernandez is there and its a clear cut chance, but he kicks it right into the keeper.

45': Very nice passing from Jackson to Ratzburg, headed down to Cooper, ahead to Navarro for a solid goal... but Navarro was offsides. I didn't think that was offsides until it was called.

HALF: We shoot 5 times to their zero, they have a slight possession edge but can't seem to do anything with it.

49': Ratzburg blocks a clearance attempt to give us the ball in a scary spot, but we end up pulling it out, Cooper ends up with a poor shot.

63': Campbell ahead to Davidson, Davidson with a run down the left, a cross into the area, Ratzburg with the finish!

67': Shakespeare with an interception in midfield, quickly ahead to Ratzburg, he holds up play, Cooper makes a run, Ratzburg finds him and Cooper finishes! 2-0

72': Cooper with a cross, headed to the other side, Davidson sends it back in... too far, but Cooper is there and gets it back to Ratzburg, a strong shot from close range, the keeper stops it, but can't hold, it hits a defender and goes in though. Own goal. 3-0

72': Perkins in for Tapia

80': Goodwin in for Navarro, Colangelo in for Davidson.

83': They take their first shot, but Davidson is there and blocks it.

That's it!

Atleticos Rio Piedras 0 : 3 Wake Forest

Man of the Match: Patrick Ratzburg (8.3)
Goals: Ratzburg, Cooper (7.8)
Assists: Ratzburg 2, Davidson (7.0)
Notables: Jackson (7.8), Forrest (7.6), Hernandez (7.6), Campbell (7.1), Shakespeare (7.0)

Look at those defensive ratings!

[Radii]

March 23rd, 2016

Wake Forest Cougars (1-0-0, 2nd) vs Peoria Steamers (0-0-1, 14th)

Attendence: 280

-- Home opener!

Starting Lineup

GK: Gyan
D: Campbell/Hernandez/Forrest/Jackson
M: Wilkins/Shakespeare
AM: Rose/Fisher
ST: Navarro/Cole

I leave the back line the same as last match since they all did so well, Wilkins gives Tapia a rest at MC, and changes at AM/up front.

3': We control midfield possession for a bit, passing up ahead, Navarro up to Cole, Cole 30 yards out, turns and finds Fisher making a run from the right, Cole shoots, clear cut chance from 18 yards out... he scores! 1-0

18': Navarro receives a pass from Wilkins, makes a little run... and takes a horrid shot from 25 yards out instead of looking for a pass to Cole or a pass out wide to Rose.

30': Rose with a cross into the 6 yard box, Cole heads it, goal!! 2-0

31': They get a lob ahead from a midfielder to a forward behind our defense, he probably takes it a little too close to Gyuan before trying his shot, still, clear cut chance and Gyan makes a solid stop. Shakespeare clears the corner.

41': DC Dan Hernandez is hurt and must leave the match. Galvis is in.

47': Poor defense by Jackson sees them get another through ball into the area and another clear cut chance, this one is just struck well wide though.

HALF: Only 5 shots combined between the team, 3 of them clear cut chances, but luckily for us they ahve failed on both of theirs.

We switch from a standard mindset to a defensive one for the second half. Retain possession.

52': Galvis takes a corner, far post, Forrest is there but heads it over.

56': They have a corner, taken out to the penalty spot, headed forward from there, and one of their strikers Sheehan heads it in. 2-1

65': one of their mids wins a ball from Fisher 1v1 with a nice tackle, he gets it forward quickly, Galvis makes a poor play on the ball and allows a pass to the penalty spot for their scorer Sheehan, where he does it again. 2-2

65': Back to standard play.

79': Shakespeare with a good ball ahead to cole, Cole gets by his man and has a clear cut chance, but its saved. Galvis takes the corner, near post, the defense struggles to clear it, Shakespeare gets in the mix and ends up poking it in! 3-2

83': Tapia in for Shakespeare, Ratzburg in for Cole.

91': Navarro with a good ball out wide for Fisher, Fisher crosses... Ratzburg with a strong shot, but it hits the post.

That'll do it!

Wake Forest 3 : 2 Peoria

Their 2 goal scorer Sheehan is man of the match.

Goals: Shakespeare (7.5), Fisher (7.2), Cole (7.8)
Assists: Cole, Rose (6.8), Galvis (6.8)

No one is awful or anything in defense. We actually out-shot them 11-4 by the end of that, they just got two pretty solid goals in a short span that evened it out. We did a very nice job staying composed and getting the lead back.


No long term injury for Hernandez in defense.

I'm obviously very happy with what I've seen from Fisher and Cole early on, Wilkins too at MC has been capable, which has been nice with Glaser injured.

[Radii]

April Update

-- Pickering and Forrest both train well. Campbell trains poorly.

-- The board is pleased with my leadership. Our 3-0 win over Atleticos Rio Piedras is the highlight. The loss of Samir Pace is a negative. We lost $27,810 last month.



April 1st, 2016

Valdosta Victory (2-0-0, 3rd) vs Wake Forest Cougars (2-0-0, 2nd)

Attendence: 287

Four teams are 2-0-0 early on.

Starting Lineup

GK: Gyan
D: Coggins/Hernandez/Forrest/Varela
M: Tapia/Shakespeare
AM: Davidson/Cooper
ST: Navarro/Cole

We just play once a week for a couple weeks. I make changes to both fullbacks and both wingers. Counterattacking on the road today.

9': Davidson with a free kick from the left side, keeper catches it though.

11': Forrest fights for possession with a Valdosta attacker, the striker ends up winning though and gets a shot, Gyan saves, corner goes nowhere.

18': Navarro sends a ball out to the left for Davidson, he makes a short run into the area, shoots right as a sliding tackle is coming in, and scores! 1-0

26': Cooper with a corner, Hernandez with a header, just inches wide.

39': Cole with a free kick from 25 yards out, off the wall.

41': Shakespeare with an interception to start our offense, Tapia plays a beautiful long ball from our side of the field down the right side, Cooper gets to it near the end line, crosses immediately into the area and Navarro slams it home! Really, really happy with this play. 2-0

HALF: We have 55% of the possession, a 9-2 shots advantage, only 2 of them on target, but both in.

60': Cooper with a free kick from 20 yards out, a bit right of center, he shoots high.

69': A give and go play between two Valdosta attackers, they get a clear cut chance, but Hernandez makes a great tackle/dive to block the shot. There's a rebound though, clear cut chance #2... Gyan saves it!

75': Through ball down the right side for Valdosta, one of their strikers gets to it all alone, clear cut chance #3... Gyan dives and gets his hands on it. Corner for them. Gyan gets to it.

76': Wilkins in for Cole, Rose in for Davidson... We change to a 4-1-4-1 formation for the rest of this one. Tapia drops back to DMC, Wilkins MC, Navarro up front by himself.

87': Three passes in the penalty area for Valdosta, clear cut chance #4 and finally they get on the board, ST Zimmerman with a goal.

90': You don't see this often... they have a goal disallowed on a lob of a shot from the right side as their attacker was given a foul for running through Gyan to try to head it in.

That's it! We were a bit shaky holding the lead in the end there, but we did.

Valdosta 1 : 2 Wake Forest

Man of the Match: Ronnie Navarro (7.8)
Goals: Navarro, Davidson (7.6)
Assists: Navarro, Cooper (7.6)
Notables: Hernandez (7.2)

-- I tell the team that the first half was great but the second half not so much, most of the team has a positive reaction, Forrest and Tapia do not though.

We are the only team to have won all our matches in league play left.

[Radii]

April 8th, 2016

Wake Forest Cougars (3-0-0, 1st) vs Lexington Thoroughbreds (1-0-2, 14th)

Attendence: 290


Starting Lineup

GK: Gyan
D: Campbell/Hernandez/Forrest/Jackson
M: Tapia/Wilkins
AM: Rose/Cooper
ST: Navarro/Ratzburg

A couple changes today, not too many. Standard mindset at home.

3': Cooper with a free kick 22'ish yards out to the right of center a bit, he shoots, and its just perfect. Upper left corner of the goal, no chance anyone wuld ever stop that. 1-0

12': Campbell with some good D to bother an attacker, he eventually gets a cross in, Forrest heads it out.

15': Rose to Cooper for a rather difficult shot from 20 yards out, it hits the post, close.

15': Forrest with a yellow.

18': Cooper with a beautiful ball from 35 yards out into the area, Navarro sprints by his defender, strikes it with his first touch, and its a goal. 2-0

26': We win a ball off a goal kick ,its quickly up ahead, Wilkins to Cooper for a shot, but its a poor shot.

27': Wilkins up to Ratzburg, he sends it over to Navarro, shoots from 18 yards, goal!! 3-0

32': Wilkins with a nice pass ahead to Rose but Rose is clearly offsides, goal disallowed.

42': Wilkins with a long ball to Navarro, Navarro with a clear cut chance, but saved. Corner goes nowhere.

43': Ian Cooper is hurt and must leave the match. Adam Fisher is in.

HALF: 8 shots to 3, 3 clear cut chances for us, we are in full control here.

47': They get a great look after a ball in from the right side, but shot right at Gyan. Corner goes nowhere.

56': An interception in defense triggers a very quick break for Lexington, 3 passes and they have a clear cut chance as ST Lee got behind the defense, but he shoots it over.

60': They finally get one back, Lee with good control of a cross and he has a nice finish from the left side of the area. 3-1

66': Some awful defending as Campbell comes out 30 yards from goal to defense a central midfielder with the ball, leaving his man all alone in the area... he receives the ball and scores easily. 3-2

79': Shakespeare in for Tapia, Galvis in for Forrest.

81': Hernandez with a nice long ball for Navarro, he's behind the defense, but they catch up before he can manage a shot, blocked.

We hang on and the final 10 minutes are uneventful.

Wake Forest 3 : 2 Lexington

Man of the Match: Ronnie Navarro (8.8)
Goals: Navarro 2, Cooper (8.2)
Assists: Cooper, Ratzburg (6.8)
Notables: Wilkins (7.3)

This is the second time Wilkins has put up a rather strong rating without actually making any assists.

Navarro is absolutely on fire for us right now, 4 goals in 5 matches.


Injury Update

Oh, bad news. AMR Ian Cooper has a torn hamstring and is going to miss 3-4 months. We have coverage here, and Adam Fisher has been an exciting young player for us early on, but Cooper is so reliable, losing him will really hurt.

[Radii]

-- Leon Roth was playing in a reserve match trying to get match ready, he gets hurt in the match and is out for 2 more weeks.

April 15th, 2016

Fayeteville Liberty (1-1-2, 15th) vs Wake Forest Cougars (4-0-0, 1st)

Attendence: 248

Starting Lineup

GK: Gyan
D: Coggins/Hernandez/Forrest/Varela
M: Tapia/Shakespeare
AM: Davidson/Fisher
ST: Arredondo/Cole

I haven't been playing Arredondo at all and he is unhappy, so I promise him some playing time. We coutnerattack on the road.

10': First shot of the game is from Shakespeare, its a real long one though, right at the keeper and saved.

28': Tapia with a nice interception, a quick pass ahead to Arredondo, up to Cole, he's got a clear cut chance, but saved. First two corners are both headed behind, 3rd corner is taken poorly.

35': Cole with a very strong free kick but high.

37': Davidson takes a corner, sends it to the far post, Forrest gets up and heads it, goal!! 1-0

38': Arredondo with a cross, earns us a corner, but corner goes nowhere.

HALF: We have 5 shots to their 0, more possession and are better in every category.

47': Yellow card for their defender Estrada.

53': That's some awful defending right there, Forrest just doesn't turn around to run with an attacker making a run, and he gets an easy goal on us. That was their first shot. 1-1

83': Long time w/ no highlights, here they get a header off a cross just inches wide.

83': Wilkins in for Tapia, Ratzburg in for Cole.

And that's it.

Fayeteville 1 : 1 Wake Forest

Our offense was pretty non-existent tonight, we just had the one set piece goal.

Man of the Match: Brian Davidson (7.6)
Goal: Forrest (7.2)
Assist: Davidson


Varela at DR has our worst rating with a 6.4, he was a part of giving up that goal, though I blamed Forrest for his crappy marking.

[Radii]

April 19th, 2016

Atlantic Coast Cup - First Round

Wake Forest Cougars vs Atletico de San Juan FC

Attendence: 237

Starting Lineup

GK: Gyan
D: Coggins/Burke/Pickering/Varela
M: Perkins/Wilkins
AM: Colangelo/Crook
ST: Arredondo/Ratzburg

Lots of backups in today. Burke/Pickering have had match fitness issues, otherwise they would have been in the rotation already.

We'll counterattack here as well against a stronger opponent.

1': Colangelo earns us a corner with a free kick, he takes the corner but its cleared out.

8': Really nice cross in from Colangelo, Ratzburg redirects the header into the right side of the net! 1-0

18': We win a header off a goal kick and its forward to Raztburg, he gets behidn the defense and just pulls up too early to shot.

20': Crook ahead to Ratzburg, he finds Arredondo, he's got tons of space, goes into the area, shoots... and beats the keeper! 2-0

22': Their first shot is considered a clear cut chance, but its ona through ball that went a little too deep, they have to shoot from basically the end line out left and the angle is too tight, its wide.

30': A nice lob from their right midfielder generates a clear cut chance from very close range, easy goal for them. 2-1

35': Through ball into the area for one of their strikers, I was 100% sure he was offsides... but not called. Gyan makes a really nice save though.

46': Another long ball from San Juan, they get a man open in the area behind our defense and Burke/Pickering just don't react. Its another clear cut chance and another goal. 2-2

HALF: Crazy, crazy half. they have 8 shots to our 7, each team has 3 clear cut chances. We do dominate the possession, but we seem really susceptible to their longer passes, at least from the highlights we've seen.

52': Perkins clears out one cross, they get a few passes around the area that is scary, but their eventual shot is well off target.

66': Crook clears out a corner, they get to it and shoot from long range, but high.

73': Galvis in for Burke, Navarro in for Ratzburg.

78': Colangelo with a run down the left and a cross, its pretty poor, but Arredondo hustles to get to it and heads it across the front of the goal, Crook is on it and shoots and scores! 3-2

88': Shakespeare in for Arredondo, Wilkins drops to DMC, Shakespeare to MC and we play a more defensive formation to try to finish this off.

90': We earn a corner on a nice counterattacking move, there's a foul on the corner, penalty given! Shakespeare takes it and buries it. 4-2


Wake Forest 4 : 2 Atletico De San Juan

Man of the Match: Ryan Crook (7.9)
Goals: Crook, Arredondo (7.9), Ratzburg (7.7), Shakespeare
Assists: Colangelo 2 (7.8), Ratzburg, Galvis (6.9)
Notables: Gyan (7.0), Perkins (7.0), Wilkins (7.6)

Galvis drew the foul for the penalty. Shakespeare didn't play long enough to earn a rating. Wilkins with another very high rating despite no goals or assists.

Pretty impressive win against a team from a higher division!


-- We get $4,840 for the win.

-- Arredondo scores his first goal for us, happy to see that.


Injury Update

Joe Pickering picks up an injury during the match and is going to miss 3 weeks.

[Radii]

Atlantic Coast Cup - Second Round Draw

16 teams left, we're going on the road to play IMG Bradenton Academies. These Academy teams seem like some of the strongest in the amateur scene, so this is going to be a very difficult task. We'll play June 14th, so about 7 weeks away.

April 22nd, 2016

Wake Forest Cougars (4-1-0, 1st) vs Jacksonville Cyclones (4-0-1, 2nd)

Attendence: 273

Starting Lineup

GK: Gyan
D: Campbell/Hernandez/Forrest/Jackson
M: Tapia/Shakespeare
AM: Davidson/Fisher
ST: Navarro/Cole

Standard mindset at home today.

1': We actually start with possession but give it away fairly quickly, they attack down the left side and a poor tackle attempt by Davidson opens up our defense a bit, but they miss a shot in a dangerous position in the area.

3': Davidson with a shot from the left side earns us a corner, we get a shot off the corner but saved.

7': Cole with a free kick from 20 yards out, just over.

14': They send a ball into the right side of the area and get a very good look, Gyan makes a good stop, Forrest pokes the reobund behind for a corner, which we clear.

17': Fisher to Cole but the pass is a bit too deep near the end line, he passes back out and Navarro gets a clear cut chance from 10 yards away, but their keeper makes a great save.

23': Gyan with his 3rd diving save of the match.

26': Davidson with a corner, taken to the near post, Hernandez is there and heads it in! 1-0

29': One of their strikers turns around Campbell 1v1 and gets a good look from the left side of the area, but puts it wide.

32': Minor injury for Tapia.

37': Jackson misses a tackle and it sets up an easy pass into the middle of the area for them, then a second pass to ST Salgado coming in from the right, and he scores esily. 1-1


HALF: Pretty action packed half here. Once again though we score on a set piece and struggle otherwise. We do have 7 shots to their 6, each team with 3 on target and 1 clear cut chance. But they have 59% of the possession and they are passing and tackling better than us, by a fair bit.

I bring Wilkins in for Tapia at the half.

47': Fisher with a lob ahead to Cole, Cole makes a good run into the area and gets a shot off, its saved though, corner goes nowhere.

48': Shakespeare ahead to Davidson, his shot earns us another corner, which is cleared.

58': They earn a corner off a cross, but Gyan catches the corner coming in.

66': Arredondo is in at AMR for Fisher.

Got distracted for a couple minutes here and missed one highlight, but the game ended pretty quickly after this.

Wake Forest 1 : 1 Jacksonville

Man of the Match: Brian Davidson (7.5)
Goal: Hernandez (7.2)
Assist: Davidson

Campbell with a very poor 6.1 rating, Cole and Navarro were both quite ineffective too.

[Radii]

North American Open Cup - First Qualifying Round Draw

This is after that long group stage for the teams below us. We draw a match against McLean Youth Soccer, an amateur team in the Colonial Amateur League, that's the same tier as ours. We play them on May 4th.


-- DC Ashley Varela comes to talk to me about his playing time, its the second time this year. I tell him he's a backup and that's how its going to be, he is not happy with that response, so I release him.


April 29th, 2016

Montgomery Yellowhammers (2-1-3, 13th) vs Wake Forest Cougars (4-2-0, 1st)

Attendence: 1000

-- Wow these guys have a decent fan base. We played them in the North American Open Cup in our first season and beat them 2-1.

Starting Lineup

GK: Gyan
D: Coggins/Hernandez/Forrest/Varela
M: Tapia/Wilkins
AM: Rose/Fisher
ST: Navarro/Ratzburg

We change about half our lineup today, the fullbacks, Wilkins/Rose/Ratzburg in over Shakespeare/Davidson/Cole. Counterattacking mindset on the road today.

5': Good start! Throwin in our end, we work it up the right side, Fisher crosses in, Ratzburg gets the header and scores. 1-0

16': Coggins wins a tackle in midfield, ahead to Navarro who makes a run into the area, but then pulls it wide and tries a cross, they clear.

23': Navarro with a long shot, high.

26': Tapia wins a header on a goal kick, it ends up going between their DC's, Ratzburg is first to it and he's off... gets a clear cut chance, tries to chip over the keeper, but fails.

27': They get a clear cut chance of their own after a long ball to ST Long, but he takes a very weak shot and Gyan saves.

33': Rose to NAvarro for a pretty tough shot on the left side, he puts it wide.

35': We have a corner, taken to Hernandez, but tackled away before he can shoot, they clear it long and one of their strikers gets to it first for a break for Montgomery, the end up with a clear cut chance off it, but Gyan gets his fingers to it. There's a rebound but we clear.

HALF: This is pretty close, we outshoot them 6-4 but they are generating better looks overall.

52': Navarro with a header after a corner by Fisher, easily blocked.

65': Coggins with a long ball down the left side, Rose gets it behind his man, makes a run down the side, cross into the area, Navarro is there and pokes it in! 2-0

74': Shakespeare in for Navarro, Arredondo in for Fisher. We drop to a 4-1-4-1 formation with Tapia at DMC.

79': Ratzburg picks up a minor injury.

They can't do anything and we close it out easily.

Montgomery 0 : 2 Wake Forest

Man of the Match: Bob Varela (7.5)
Goals: Navarro (7.3), Ratzburg (7.3)
Assists: Fisher (7.0), Rose (6.8)

Varela with a number of tackles this game, more than anyone else on the team actually (6, no one else had more than 2), I assume that earned him his rating more than anything.

Injury Update

ST Patrick Ratzburg hurt his elbow in the match today and is going to miss 3 weeks.

[Radii]

May Update

We play on the 4th, 7th, 13th, 20th, and 25th. It looks like we could potentially add two more games into the mix if we win in the North American Open Cup.

-- Adrian Salas trains poorly. You don't know that name? Don't worry, you don't need to. I notice that like 15 of our players are unhappy with their training. I look through my team's individual training and in every instance its because of poor quality of training that we offer. Tell the board, guys, they won't let me hire more coaches.

-- The board is pleased with my leadership. Our 4-2 Atlantic Coast Cup win over San Juan is a highlight. Fans are complaining about DL David Campbell. He has been playing poorly, 6.50 average in 4 league appearances. We lost $17,000 last month.

Our losses financially are almost all taxes. I assume that's because we have cash we aren't using.


May 4th, 2016

North American Open Cup - First Qualifying Round

Wake Forst Cougars vs McLean

Attendence: 475

Starting Lineup

GK: Gyan
D: Rongen/Hernandez/Burke/Jackson
M: Vega/Shakespeare
AM: Davidson/Crook

Sean Rongen at DL, I remembered that I had been meaning to work him in more at DL once I saw the fans' complaints about Campbell. Vega is a DMC/MC that played some last year and wasn't bad. Roth makes his first appearance after a long injury process.

3': A long ball from midfield over my defense gives them a clear cut chance very early on, but Gyan positions well and their man is a bit wide, he can't score from the tough angle.

12': Shakespeare shoots from long range, very wide.

23': We watch a very long highlight, possession given away many times on both sides, finally Crook makes it down the right side, crosses, its through the area, Shakespeare ends up with it and pulls it out left... he tries a cross, blocked, he recovers, this time his cross is better, and Roth is there and volleys it in! 1-0

46': Shakespeare with a nice ball to the left side of the area for Davidson, he has a clear cut chance, but right at the keeper.

HALF: We outshoot them 8-2, we are dominating in the air, which is the only real difference in any other stat outside of shots.

47': We change to a counterattacking style.

80': Back to a 4-1-4-1, Tapia in for Roth and at DMC. Wilkins in for Vega.

87': Crook wins us the ball with an interception, after some possession Davidson makes a run down the left, crosses in for Arredondo who has a clear cut chance, but its at a weird angle, I'm not sure why its considered such a good look... but anyway, saved.

90': They get a cross to the far post, they have a man there who appears alone with an open net, but Rongen comes in at the last second and heads it behind. We clear the corner.

93': They earn a corner off a cross, first corner is headed behind by Hernandez, the second is poorly taken and goes out of play on the other side.

That'll do it!

Wake Forest 1 : 0 McLean

Man of the Match: Mark Shakespeare (7.6)
Goal: Roth (7.1)
Assist: Shakespeare
Notables: Jackson (7.2)

6.8-6.9 from the defense, Davidson (6.5) and Arredondo (6.4) a bit lower than most. Arreddondo failed to finish multiple clear cut chances.

-- We get $14,090 for this win, this is the cup worth way more money than it should be.

[Radii]

-- Joe Pickering resumes full training, we need to get him ready to play.

May 7th, 2016

Wake Forst Cougars (5-2-0, 1st) vs Gainseville Gators FC (3-0-4, 11th)

Attendence: 271

Starting Lineup

GK: Gyan
D: Coggins/Galvis/Forrest/Varela
M: Tapia/Wilkins
AM: Rose/Fisher
ST: Navarro/Cole

wholesale changes on 3 days rest today. We are 1:6 favorites, for most matches so far the home team has been 5:4/road team 7:4. We're getting recognition for our strong start. Now we have to not choke when favored.

4': We have the ball near midfield after they clear away a corner kick.. one of their ST's challenges DR Varela and wins the ball, Varela goes down injured immediately. Their ST has a clear run to the goal but its a long one, Forrest catches up with him and goes after him. Forrest brings him down just outside the area. Play stops, Varela is hurt and must leave the match immediately. Forrest, well he's given a red card. So we're going to play 86 minutes with 10 men and just lost two players.

Hernandez comes in for Varela. Shakespeare comes in for Cole. I move Tapia to DR, I don't have another defender available. I drop the midfielders back and we're in a straight 4-4-1. I tell the team to stall, to pass short, to drop back on defense and play at a slow tempo.

9': Yellow for their player named Roth, unsure what position.

14': Hernandez clears a ball off the line after its tipped by Gyan, we try a clear but its not fully out of the way, they get a long shot and its placed nicely for a goal. 0-1

30': We're watching them attack a lot, I just want this one over. They are missing lots of shots, or settling for long ones.

43': We control the ball in midfield, Rose makes a very long run on his own, he gets a cross in to Navarro, he's got a good look, but saved. They clear the corner.

HALF: They outshoot us 9-2 and don't expect it to get any better. Maybe we can get lucky with something here.

I bring MC Gary Glaser in for Fisher at the half, Fisher took a bit of a hit that tanked his fitness. Glaser will also be playing out of position. I'm trying to avoid an injury for Fisher. Also Glaser has had match fitness issues for awhile so I'm letting him run around for 45 minute here.

62': Gyan takes a goal kick long, it bounce over the defense and Navarro is off to the races. He gets what is considered a clear cut chance, but a defender has caught up to him and the shot is blocked

70': Mike Wilkins is hurt and must leave the match. We're down to 9 men.

83': Ronnie Navarro is hurt and must leave the match. We're down to 8 men.

84': Somehow we get a free kick from the left side, Galvis takes it, Glaser appears to be miles offsides, but its not called... and Glaser heads it in. I have no idea what I'm watching. 1-1

87': They earn a corner but take it poorly.

89': They get a clear cut chance in the area after a couple passes, but Gyan makes a diving stop!

90': Glaser picks up a minor injury.

90': There are SIX minutes of extra time today.

95': They earn one corner, headed behind.. another Tapia heads it out of the area. They try a cross but its a bad one.

That's it. We get 1 point but lose like half our team.

Wake Forest 1 : 1 Gainesville

Somehow one of their players is man of the match. Somehow Gyan only has a 6.9 rating, despite stopping 5 shots, a couple in fairly spectacular fashion.

Goal: Glaser (7.3)
Assist: Galvis (6.8)


-- I appeal Forrest's Red Card, I didn't think it looked bad at all, compared to other straight red highlights I've watched.

Injury Updates

MC Mike Wilkins has strained some ligaments in his knee and is out 2-3 months.

DR Bob Varela has broken ribs and is out 2-3 months.

MC Gary Glaser has a bruised rib and is out 2 weeks.

Navarro is ok.

The Wilkins injury sucks, he's been playing really well, he doesn't have any assists or goals, but most of our production has been coming from the wingers and forwards in this formation. Still he has an average rating of 7.03, which is not that far behind Shakespeare's 7.17, even though he has 4 goals and 1 assist.


Ok, that disaster is over. On to the next one.

[AnalBumCover]

-- We get $14,090 for this win, this is the cup worth way more money than it should be.

I'll probably be adjusting the money prizes in this cup, especially in the early stages, I think.

[Radii]

-- The FA denies my appeal on Forrest's red card, he'll miss a match.

North American Open Cup - Second Qualifying Round Draw

We draw Albuquerque United FC in the next round here. We'll be playing them on the road on May 18th. Albuquerque are in Gold Coast Division 2, that's one tier above us.

May 13th, 2016

Wake Forst Cougars (5-3-0, 1st) vs Port Charlotte Barracudas (3-1-4, 12th)

Attendence: 280

We lost to these guys in the group stage of the North American Open Cup in 2014, our only meeting.

Starting Lineup

GK: Gyan
D: Campbell/Burke/Hernandez/Jackson
M: Tapia/Shakespeare
AM: Rose/Crook
ST: Navarro/Cole

We're 1:6 favorites here today.

4': Yellow card for their defender Roselli.

9': really nice goal from Port Charlotte, a lob from the middle about 35 yards out to the left side of the area, extremely strong half volley from their left mid to score. 0-1

30': Rose with a lob down the left side to Navarro, he crosses into the area, Cole is there and volleys it in! He comes down on a defender and has to leave the match for a bit, no injury though. 1-1

43': Long shot for one of their attackers is high, they had a decent through ball and that could have looked more scary.

HALF: They are actually outshooting us 6-1 here, outpossessing us as well. I tell the team that I'm quite unhappy with their play and I change us to an attacking mindset. Maybe playing a more open attacking game against a team we're supposed to beat will work better?

50': A cross from Rose in to NAvarro, he shoots and earns us a corner, but we can't do anything on the corner.

59': They have a goal disallowed due to offsides, pretty obvious offside.

60': Horrible pass from Tapia to give the ball away. It triggers a counter for Port Charlotte, and they get a goal from ST west from the penalty area after a pass in from the left. 1-2

65': Roth in for Cole.

73': Roth with a pass into the area for Shakespeare after a throwin, Shakepeare has a great look, but right at the keeper and he makes the save.

78': Jackson with a long clearance out of our end, Roth gets his foot on it, sends it ahead to Navarro who makes a nice move to get a good look in the area, and he scores! 2-2

78': I change both my wingers, Rose picked up a minor injury at some point. Davidson in for Rose, Fisher in for Crook.

81': Davidson ahead to Navarro, but his shot is wide.

89': They get a pass behind our defense but we catch up, they end up with a cross to a guy who is offsides.

That's it, I think that's our 4th draw in a row in league play?

Wake Forest 2 : 2 Port Charlotte

Man of the Match is on their side.

Goals: Cole (6.9), Navarro (7.7)
Assists: Navarro, Roth (6.7)

Jackson with a really poor 6.0 todya, lots of 6.4/6.5 ratings too. I tell the team that wasn't good enough.


We're about halfway through the season, we play everyone once so 19 total matches before the split. We haven't lost a match and are still in first but we've tied in 4 of our last 5 after the 4-0-0 start.

http://i.imgur.com/E1QDTvV.png

[Radii]

-- Ratzburg resumes full training from his last injury.

May 18th, 2016

North American Open Cup - Second Qualifying Round

Albaquerque United FC vs Wake Forst Cougars

Attendence: 2869

Starting Lineup

GK: Gyan
D: Coggins/Pickering/Forrest/Jackson
M: Tapia/Shakespeare
AM: Davidson/Fisher
ST: Arredondo/Roth

We'll look to Counterattack today.

5': They get a very easy goal, a couple passes after a goal kick, through ball to ST Contreras and he finishes cleanly. 0-1

14': They have a goal kick, its headed backwards by one of their players, past their DC and Roth is first to it, he makes a run, pulls up and chips it over hte keeper, goal!! 1-1

16': Arrendondo to Roth, a shot is saved and we get a corner, corner is headed out.

27': We get two crosses in from the right, they head both away, but we control, we end up with a long shot from Shakespeare that is high.

35': They get a quick clear cut chance coming into a highlight, Gyan with the save though!

35': After a clearance out of our end the ball goes very deep in their end, they clear it poorly and we have many more men forward than they do, Shakespeare passes ahead to Roth and he finishes! 2-1

37': They get a through ball from the imdfield after just a few passes after kickoff and its another clear cut chance and another goal... 2-2

40': We get a ball up to Roth for what looked like a hat trick, but he's offsides. Both teams seem to have massive holes in the center of their defense.

HALF: shots are 7-7, most stats are really even here, just a lot of exciting opportunities for both teams.

48': there it is!! We intercept a ball in defense and counter, Roth ahead to Arredondo, back to Roth, its a shot from 18 yards out, goal!! 3-2

64': Arredondo with a long shot that's just barely wide.

66': Its yet another through ball for a clear cut chance, but its saved by Gyan.

70': Burke in for a tired Pickering.

73': They get a great looking coutnerattack after a 1v1 tackle on Roth, some nifty passing while they move forward, an extra pass in the area after Gyan rushes out to try to stop a shot and its a goal. 3-3

86': Shakespeare with a free kick from 20 yards out, its by the wall, the keeper gets a hand to it but it goes right by and its in! 4-3

86': Perkins in for Arredondo, Tapia to DMC and we're going to try to defend this out in a 4-1-4-1

We're able to do it, that's it!

Albuquerque United 3 : 4 Wake Forest

Man of the Match : Leon Roth (9.6)
Goals: Roth 3, Shakespeare (8.6)
Assists: Roth, Shakespeare, Arredondo (7.5)

Forrest with a 6.1 rating stands out here.

What a crazy game, 16-13 in shots, 15 total on target, 8 combined clear cut chances, really fun one.

-- We get $28,180 for this win.

[Radii]

North American Open Cup - Third Qualifying Round Draw

We have to go on the road again, we're going to be playing the Virginia Rush, Colonial Division 2, one tier above us. This match will be in one week. We do play one league match in between.


-- AML Luca Colangelo asks about his future with the team, he's a backup and that's all he'll ever be here, he wants his release so I give it to him. I'm way too happy with Rose and Davidson to try to work anyone else in just to make them happy.

May 21st, 2016

Port St Lucie Galleons (4-1-4, 10th) vs Wake Forest Cougars (5-4-0, 1st)

Attendence: 535

-- These guys are in Florida.
Starting Lineup

GK: Gyan
D: Campbell/Burke/Hernandez/Jackson
M: Sandoval/Perkins
AM: Rose/Arredondo
ST: Navarro/Ratzburg

Arredondo will play AMR over Crook today (Fisher is tired), two backups at MC b/c Glaser is still not ready to go, Wilkins is hurt for a good long while yet, and Tapia/Shakespeare really need to rest. Glaser can come in as a sub but he's not good for more than a half.

We'll look to counterattack on the road.

2': A poor pass from Arredondo gives the ball away in midfield, a long ball to a striker is very very poorly defended, there's a centering pass as Gyan was forced to come out and its a free goal for them. Poor play everywhere. 0-1

20': Sandoval with a long ball ahead, Ratzburg wins a header for it about 25 yards out, redirects it nicely to a charging Navarro, he shoots from 18 yards out and scores! 1-1

25': They get another clear cut chance due to what looks like poor defending, a very strong shot to the right side of the net, but Gyan dives and stops it!

43': Ratzburg gets a decent look from the edge of the area, but its taken pretty weakly and wide left.

HALF: On our way to another draw? That might be ok, we are way behind in possession and with our two backup MC's are just struggling a lot.


56': They have a throwin deep in their own end, and take it poorly, we win it and Ratzburg has a good look in the area after a couple passes, but they block it.

71': They have a corner, taken into the 6 yard box and headed in. 1-2

71': Glaser in for Sandoval, Cole in for Ratzburg, and we will try to attack to get back even.

80': Perkins up ahead to Cole, he's covered well, almost tackled, but he turns and just blasts a shot from where he receives the pass and gets it by the keeper! 2-2

86': Scary free kick for them at the very edge of the box, it hits the crossbar.

86': Galvis in for Burke.

93': They get a clear cut chance on a pass in from the left, a near point blank shot but its taken very weakly and right at Gyan and he catches it.

Another draw.

Port St Lucie 2 : 2 Wake Forest

I'm ok with this one, on the road with some weaker subs.

Goals: Navarro (7.1), Cole (7.3)
Assists: Perkins (6.8), Ratzburg (6.7)

Campbell 6.3, he continues to to suck

[Radii]

May 25th, 2016

North American Open Cup - Third Qualifying Round

Virginia Rush vs Wake Forest Cougars

Attendence: 1562

Starting Lineup

GK: Gyan
D: Coggins/Pickering/Forrest/Diaz
M: Tapia/Shakespeare
AM: Davidson/Fisher
ST: Cole/Roth

We counter on the road today.

24': Davidson with a free kick, taken into the area, Cole is brought down, penalty! Shakespeare takes it and scores! 1-0

34': Pickering comes out too far to defend a midfielder when there's a striker right next to him, the ball is passed ahead and its a clear cut chance, but sent high.

40': Free kick for Tapia, cross into the area, Cole strikes it and scores! 2-0

HALF: Only 3 shots for each team, but we have 2 goals to show for it, very good!

52': corner for Davidson, we can't get a shot off it, but the ball stays in the penalty area for what seems like forever, clearances are blocked, eventually Roth ends up getting brought down and its our second penalty. Shakespeare gets his second goal. 3-0

59': We'll go into a defensive mode here.

66': Fisher with a cross into the area, Cole with a clear cut chance, but saved.

75': They finally get one back on a throwin deep in our end, a pass into the area and a way too wide open shot given the set piece. 3-1

75': Glaser in for Roth, we'll go to a 4-1-4-1.

We hold on easily, no more threats from virginia.

Virginia 1 : 3 Wake Forest

Man of the Match: Mark Shakespeare (8.8)
Goals: Shakespeare 2, Cole (8.1)
Assists: Cole, Tapia (7.4), Roth (6.8)
Notables: Diaz (7.0), Forrest (7.3), Pickering (7.0), Coggins (7.0)

Good ratings from defenders, its been a little while since we've seen that!

-- We receive $105,000 for this victory.

[bbgunn]

Maunabo... forgive me if I missed it, but where are they from?

[JonInMiddleGA]

Maunabo... forgive me if I missed it, but where are they from?

Another club in the mod from Puerto Rico

[Radii]

North American Open Cup - First Round Draw

Well, our run ends here. We're at home but against the New York Cosmos in the NASL, they started in MLS but got relegated. We have a couple weeks until this match.


-- All of the other cups pick back up/start in June as well, so June is going to be packed with games.

May 31st, 2016

Carolina Giants (4-2-3, 13th) vs Wake Forest Cougars (5-5-0, 3rd)

Attendence: 98

-- These guys actually play in La Carolina, Puerto Rico, not North or South Carolina. Its a long trip to play in front of 98 people.

-- We'rd 3rd due to everyone around us having 1 more match. If we win we're back to first.

Starting Lineup

GK: Gyan
D: Rongen/Pickering/Hernandez/Jackson
M: Tapia/Shakespeare
AM: Davidson/Gallardo
ST: Navarro/Roth

Gallardo gets a shot at AMR with Cooper still hurt and Fisher tired. We're going to be rotating our lineup a lot over the next few weeks.

We'll counter attack on the road.

1': Rongen gives it away pretty early and they look to attack, but Joe Jackson makes a good one on one play to win a ball in the area as they look for an opening.

8': They earn a corner on a cross, but Tapia heads it away.

10': They earn another corner on a cross attempt, we struggle to clear, but Pickering eventually gets it away.

15': They have 65% possession early on. Every highlight is of them attacking, but they haven't managed a shot yet.

33': We control the ball on the right for awhile,Shakespeare makes a good pass ahead to Roth who has a clear cut chance, but its saved.

36': Gallardo shoots on a free kick, high.

37': They get their first shot, but blocked, we look to counter, but their defense makes an interception in the end.

39': Davidson receives a pass just outside the area, he makes a great cut to get by his man, crosses it, Roth is there and volleys it in! 1-0

HALF: So despite most highlights showing them attacking, we actually outshoot them 9-1, we win 81% of our headers and 100% of our tackles so far to control the game. Possession evened out at 50% finally.

50': We win a header on a goal kick to take possession, ahead to Navarro, to Gallardo coming in from the right, clear cut chance... but saved. Corner is taken to Pickering, he's tackled, foul! Shakespeare with another penalty goal. 2-0

55': Davidson takes a corner, Pickering is on it and shoots, but blocked, rebound falls to Roth and he puts it in! 3-0

72': Shakespeare intercepts a clearance, ahead to Roth, he hits Gallardo cutting in, another clear cut chance... saved again.

72': Galser in for Shakespeare.

77': A goal kick takes a high bounce, over our defense and one of their ST's gets on it, he gets a good look and scores. 3-1


That's it!

Carolina 1 : 3 Wake Forest

Man of the Match: Leon Roth (8.8)
Goals: Roth 2, Shakespeare (7.3)
Assists: Davidson 2 (7.7), Pickering (6.8)
Notables: Hernandez (7.0)

6.8/6.9 everywhere else.

Roth now has 5 goals in his last two starts.

[Radii]

Another club in the mod from Puerto Rico

Yup, its a city on the southeast coast.

[Radii]

June Update

-- We play on the 3rd, 8th, 11th, 14th, 17th, and 24th, at least. The North America Amateur Cup begins in June too, the draw is soon and it will mix up the schedule a bit. Most of these will be cup matches.

-- Brian Williams trains well, he's still getting fit after long injuries.

-- The board is very pleased with my leadership. Team atmosphere is good, David Campbell is bad. We made $142,000 last month thanks to the North American Open.


Injury Update

AMR Ryan Crook is hurt in a reserves match designed to keep his fitness up and he's out 6-7 weeks. Cooper is still out for at least a month, but we have 3 guys who can play the position adequately after Fisher that we'll be giving a try. Arredondo, Gallardo and Michael Maurer, a youngster from last year who plays ST/AMR that has never really gotten a shot.

June 3rd, 2016

Wake Forest Cougars (6-5-0, 1st) vs Kendall SC (3-2-6, 17th)

Attendence: 271

-- This is our last league game for awhile.

Starting Lineup

GK: Gyan
D: Coggins/Hernandez/Forrest/Jackson
M: Vega/Perkins
AM: Rose/Fisher
ST: Arredondo/Cole

My midfielders worry me today. We are big favorites here so I am going to go ahead and play an attacking style. Its raining today.

5': Their player Wichmann wtth a card.

5': Perkins with a shot after a cross in on a free kick saved easly.

10': Fisher passes ahead to Cole, its tackled awy from him, loos ball comes to Fisher, who shoots, but wide.

HALF: 35 minutes without a highlight and we're at the half. They are trying hard to defend I guess. 3 shots to 1 in our favor. I take the aggressive option and tell them I'm not happy, they are motivated, all of them.

49': Cole ends up with a shot after a throwin deep in their end, not a great one really.

70': This isn't getting us anywhere, I tell the guys to hit their crosses earlier and to play a more direct game.

79': Shakespeare, Navarro and Maurer in for Perkins, Arredondo, and Fisher.

85': They get a bit of a breakaway but can't hit their shot at all, well wide.

That's it.

Wake Forest 0 : 0 Kendall SC

They packed in their defense nicely and we couldn't figure out a way to break it down.

Man of the Match: Joe Jackson (7.1)
Notable: Forrest (7.0)

We fall to second, too many draws here.

[Radii]

-- "Media-Friendly boss Richard Dixon will celebrate his 100th game as head coach ... in the North American Open Cup on Wednesday"

hooray for 100 games.



June 8th, 2016

North American Open Cup - First Round

Wake Forest Cougars vs New York Cosmos

Attendence: 500

-- New York are on top of the NASL and a favorite to get back into MLS. Uh-oh.

Starting Lineup

GK: Garcia
D: Rongen/Galvis/Guerrero/Diaz
M: Glaser/Castro
AM: Salas/Arrendondo
ST: Alvarez/Maurer

Who? Exactly. We play 3 more times in the next 13 days, all matches way more winnable than this. I tell our 3rd stringers (and below in some cases) that there is no pressure.

3': Some decent tackling by Rongen to stop an attack, and a save by Garcia, they earn a corner, galvis heads that away.

5': First clear cut chance for them, wide.

7': Ok we're averaging over a highlight a minute they're attacking so much. I drop us down to key highlights only.

12': There's their first goal, Diaz tried to clear a cross, but they head it back forward and get a nice shot. 0-1

29': Goal #2. 0-2

34': #3, their striker Ibanez intercepts a short goal kick and takes it himself. 0-3

.. I drop it to commentary only and there isn't any point in writing up more.

64': Until this! A lob pass from Castro ahead to Maurer, he heads it into the center of hte area for Alvarez who volleys it by the keeper! 1-6

91': Maurer is hurt and must leave the match.


Wake Forest 1 : 7 New York

I'm sorry to run any of these guys out there into this slaughter.


Injury Update

Michael Maurer is going to miss 2-3 months with an ACL injury. He missed his entire first year with a very long injury, and now this. I was going to give him some time somewhere before Cooper came back.

[Radii]

Atlantic Coast Cup - Quarterfinal Draw

-- We haven't played our round of 16 match yet, but the draw for the quarters happen here. If we can manage to beat IMG Bradenton, we'll play the winner of Montgomery Yellowhammers/Boise Roughriders.


Old North Cup - Semifinal Draw

-- We haven't played our quarterfinal match yet. If we beat Twin City to advance, we will get destroyed by Wilmington or the Carolina RailHawks in the semis.

June 11th, 2016

Old North Cup Quarterfinals

Twin City Patrol vs Wake Forest Cougars

Attendence: 317

-- We've played these guys twice, each team winning once. Both meetings were in 2014. Being in a higher division than them now we are 2:5 favorites even on the road.

Starting Lineup

GK: Gyan
D: Campbell/Burke/Pickering/Jackson
M: Castro/Shakespeare
AM: Davidson/Arredondo
ST: Cole/Roth

Mostly starting caliber guys here but some backups to try to even out my strength over the next couple short rest days. We're going to try to attack the weaker opposition.

3': A long pass in from Arredondo to Cole leads to a clear cut chance, Cole should have gotten a bit closer before he shot though, he just stopped 20 yards out. Wide.

4': Some nice passing as Shakespeare puts it ahead for Roth for a clear cut chance, just inside the area, but again wide, that was a much better look.

7': Third clear cut chance of the match, Davidson crosses in to Cole, he hits Shakespeare trailing the play unmarked about 8 yards out, easy eays finish. 1-0

14': Clear cut chance #4 as Roth gets it ahead to Cole, Cole is really struggling to finish, right at the keeper.

17': they take their first shot, way high on a penalty.

24': Two bad giveaways, one by Shakespeare, one by Castro, eventually they find their way forard for a shot, but high.

31': Arrodondo sends it ahead for Roth, he takes a difficult shot from the right side of the area, keeper stops it, but there's a rebound, which Davidson puts into the open net. 2-0

45': Arredondo takes a corner, Burke heads it, saved.

HALF: 8 shots to 3 in our favor, but we have 5 clear cut chances, and converted two of them. We're dominating this one.

59': Pickering tries to clear a ball with a header but can't quite get it, they get a clear cut chance from ST Cullen, but Gyan does a good job rushing out and stops it.

62': Shakespeare ahead to Roth for clear cut chance #6, saved. Corner is terrible.

76': Diaz in for Jackson, Perkins in for Shakespeare

We close this esaily.

Twin City 0 : 2 Wake Forest

Man of the Match: Mark Shakespeare (7.7)
Goals: Shakespeare, Davidson (7.4)
Assists: Roth (6.8), Cole (6.7)
Notables: Jackson (7.0), Pickering (7.0), Burke (7.4), Campbell (7.1)

Roth and Cole should have scored so much, we had 7 clear cut chances and only got 2 goals. Its ok though, we dominated a team we're supposed to dominate.


We advance to the semis of the Old North Cup where we will get destroyed by Wilmington or Carolina.

[Radii]

June 14th, 2016

Atlantic Coast Cup - Second Round

IMG Braddenton Academies vs Wake Forest Cougars

Attendence: 231

Starting Lineup

GK: Gyan
D: Coggins/Hernandez/Forrest/Jackson
DM: Tapia
M: Rose/Castro/Perkins/Fisher
ST: Navarro

So we're pretty big dogs here, I'm going to go with a 4-1-4-1 for it. Defensive mindset. I could field a stronger team but we play again in 3 days, trying to find a little balance.

8': Gyan makes 3 saves in about a minute.

22': Rose is hurt and must leave the match. Shakespeare is in.

29': Forrest with a yellow.

33': Shakespeare ahead to Navarro, he holds the ball up and draws 2 defenders, Perkins makes a run, Navarro finds him and he scores from 15 yards out!! 1-0

40': We earn a corner but can't do anything with it.

HALF: They outshoot us 8-6 but only put 1 on target, they had a couple very threatening flurries but we seemed to handle it quite well.

49': Yellow for their midfielder Morales.

51': They get a break on a counter after we turn it over in the midfield, there's a long ball from midfield ahead to a striker who has a step on our defense and hits a nice shot. 1-1

55': They earn a corner, we head it behind, second one is cleared by Tapia.

61': Sandoval in for Castro.

82': They take a long shot, on target but Gyan easily scoops it up.

FULL TIME: They are more in control of things now, but anything can happen at this point. We didn't shoot a single time in the second half. Arredondo in at MR for Fisher.

HT ET: The first extra time period goes by without a single highlight.

112': Navarro picks up a minor injury.

113': A poor header by Hernandez gives one of rhtie strikers a clear cut chance from the edge of the area, but he puts it wide.

116': Lots of pressure now, we clear a cross after some buildup, but they get forward again, a shot is taken from 20 yards, wide.

FULL TIME.

We go to penalties. So we know penalties are a little ridiculous in this version so lets just see what happens.

Both teams make their first 5 penalties.

We get to 7-7 when they take one right at Gyan and he stops it. Coggins steps up with a chance to win and scores!!!!

IMG Bradenton (7) 1 : 1 (8)p Wake Forest

Man of the Match: Bayard Perkins (7.4)
Goal: Perkins
Assists: Navarro (6.8)
Notables: Jackson (7.0), Hernandez (7.1)

Gyan gets a 5.7, is that because of the penalties?


-- The draw for the next round has already occurred, we play league rival Montgomery Yellowhammers in the quarterfinals!

-- We get $9,680 for this win.


Injury Update

Navarro is ok, but AMR Dylan Rose is out 3-4 weeks with a leg injury.

[Radii]

North America Amateur Cup - First Round Draw

We still haven't played our qualifying round match yet, its coming up soon against Nomads FC, if we win we get a home game against Palm Bay Pelicans, they're in the tier below us so if we get there we'll be favored.

June 17th, 2016

Caguas Huracan (2-5-5, 18th) vs Wake Forest Cougars (6-6-0, 2nd)

Attendance: 186

-- Our first league match in awhile since June is tons of cup play. We've been playing too many draws in league play lately, we really need to win here against a bottom feeder.

Starting Lineup

GK: Gyan
D: Campbell/Pickering/Burke/Jackson
M: Tapia/Shakespeare
AM: Davidson/Fisher
ST: Cole/Roth

We have so many tired guys, |I should have held a lot of our reserves out of our last reserve match and played some younger guys here who may not get so complacent vs a bad team. But lets see how it goes.

We will attempt to attack against the weaker side here.

1': They start with possession but give it away quickly. We work the ball forward, Shakespeare heads it ahead, Roth has it, ahead to Fisher, a cross, Cole with a header in the box, its in! 1-0

8': Pickering with a yellow.

HALF: No more highlights after the first minute goal. We have 4 shots to their 1. I do drop back to a standard mindset in the hopes of not giving up a stupid goal on a counter or something, and we go forward.

48': Tapia a yellow.

53': Shakespeare gives it away int he midfield, they get a run down the right, a cross to the center of the area, a pass to the left side for a wid eopen man who scores easily. 1-1

58': Our defense falls apart and they get a ball into open space for a clear cut chance, but Burke rushes over and gets to it just in time to block it. Corner goes nowhere.

59': Lets attack again.

69': Davidson ahead to Campbell, a cross in to Fisher, the area is crowded though, its blocked.

72': We set up with some very nice passing, Roth over to Cole, their defense opens up, Cole hits Shakespeare making a run right down the middle, and Shakespeare scores! 2-1

77': ratzburg in for Roth, Castro in for Tapia.

78': Davidson earns us a corner after a long run down the left, corner is cleared.

86': They take a tough shot from the right side of the area and Gyan makes a nice save, they earn a corner, corner is headed behind by Davidson, second one goes nowhere.

86': Hernandez in for Burke.

We hang on for the win, our first league win in awhile.

Caguas Huracan 1 : 2 Wake Forest

Man of the Match: Colin Cole (7.8)
Goals: Cole, Shakespeare (7.3)
Assists: Cole, Fisher (6.7)
Notables: Pickering (7.0), Campbell (7.1)

Nice to see Campbell have a good game, he's been really struggling. Roth had a poor one, 6.3, lower than everyone else out there.

-- We move back up to first with that win, 1 point ahead of Maunabo. Probably most importantly, with only 6 matches to play before the league split, we're 9 points clear of 11th place.

Back to cup play for the rest of the month.

-- Pickering's yellow earns him a 1 match suspension.

[Radii]

June 21st, 2016

North America Amateur Cup - Qualifying Round

Wake Forest vs Nomads SC

Attendance: 220

-- We're only 5:4 favorite here but this is a lower division team at home, we really should win.

Starting Lineup

GK: Gyan
D: Rongen/Forrest/Hernandez/Diaz
M: Perkins/Castro
AM: Salas/Arredondo
ST: Navarro/Ratzburg

Some reserves play today in Rongen, Diaz, Castro and Salas. We will attack.


18': They score on a really nice highlight, the first of the match. a lot of quick passing, and a nice give and go lets one of their ST's get an easy shot. 0-1

26': Gyan picks up a minor injury.

29': Salas with a minor injury.

32': We earn a corner but its cleared.

33': Ratzburg with a shot in a crowded area after a cross in from Arredondo, but wide.

37': Navarro with a minor injury, ugh.

HALF: We shoot 3 times to their 2, this has been a pretty crappy game. I bring Cole in for Navarro and reserve GK James Barton in for Gyan, both b/c of their injuries.

63': Arredondo ahead to Castro, a pass into the area for Ratzburg, he's 10 yards out, a little wide, its a nice finish. 1-1

70': We intercept a throwin, a quick pass ahead to Cole and a shot from 20 yards, but wide.

72': Watching a highlight with us on offense, we have 3 players offsides as Arredondo looks to make a cross...

85': There's a lot of back and forth, turnovers in the midfield, then Castro just launches a long ball from midfield, its very high, Cole does an immaculate job controlling it as it comes down, and he blasts a shot in from 15 yards! 2-1

No more highlights, we'll advance in this tournament.

Wake Forest 2 : 1 Nomads FC

Man of the Match: Colin Cole (8.2)
Goals: Cole, Ratzburg (7.2)
Assists: Castro 2 (7.5)
Notables: Rongen (7.4), Salas (7.1)

Some solid play from some younger guys today, I like it.

-- We receive $239 for this win. Har.


Injury Update

-- Shit. Ronnie Navarro is out for 6-7 weeks.

-- Adrian Salas is out 5-6 weeks, slightly less of a big deal.

-- Amidu Gyan is out for 3-4 weeks.

So we lose our top striker and our starting keeper for a significant stretch, very unfortunate. Our backup keeper is out for a bit too, Barton, the kid that came in for the second half of this one, is my 3rd stringer.

[Radii]

June 24th, 2016

Wake Forest Cougars (7-6-0, 1st) vs Cape Coral Iguanas (6-1-6, 10th)

Attendance: 283

-- We're pretty heavy favorites in this one.

Starting Lineup

GK: Barton
D: Coggins/Hernandez/Burke/Jackson
M: Tapia/Shakespeare
AM: Gallardo/Arredondo
ST: Cole/Roth

Injuries to AM's and forwards are running us a little thin here. We get a much, much needed week off after this one.

Standard mindset at home today.

4': Coggins with a long ball up to Cole, we're in a real dangerous position, he sends it out to Gallardo, cross to the 6 yard box, Roth heads it... somehow wide. I don't see how you miss that.

HALF: And... that was the only highlight. We shoot twice, they shoot once. Ratzburg is in for Roth, both are tired so I knew going in they would split time here. We're going to try to attack harder in the second half.

56': Free kick from near the edge of the box, Cole hits the crossbar with it. Close.

58': They get a breakaway after a defender gets caught out of position (Hernandez I think), Barton rushes out and gets his hands on a shot though and they earn a corner, which we clear.

77': Glaser and Perkins in for Tapia/Shakespeare. We'll look to play more direct and try to get forward faster, and to shoot on sight.

91': Another period of poor positioning leaves an opening for one of their strikers, Barton stops one shot, but there's a rebound and they put it in. 0-1

And that's it. Our first loss of hte year in league play.

Wake Forest 0 : 1 Cape Coral


We just struggled to get anything done here. We did end up shooting 7 times to their 6 but only managed 1 on target all match, a very bland performance, hopefully a wake up call.

We fall to second with the loss but are still 9 points clear of 11th.

[Radii]

Injury Report

We get the regular injury report from our physio, its probably the worst I've seen:

AMR Ian Cooper, MC Mike Wilkins, DR Bob Varela, AMR Dylan Rose are "Close to being ready to return" - but all of these are long term injuries and their fitness is going to suck.

GK Gyan and AMR Ryan Crook are still a few weeks away.

ST Ronnie Navarro, ST Michael Maurer, AML Adrian Salas are all on the long term injury list.

Whew.

-- Cooper and Wilkins were really just days away from full training, so that's really good to see.


July Update

-- Going into the month we have matches scheduled for the 1st, 5th, 8th, 12th, 15th, 20th, and 29th.

-- The board is very pleased with my leadership. Team atmosphere is a positive, a 2-2 draw with Port Charlotte is a negative (really?). We lost $9,940 last month.

July 1st, 2016

Wake Forest Cougars (7-6-1, 2nd) vs Naples Bay FC (4-7-3, 13th)

Attendance: 283

-- We're only 5:4 favorites here, I guess that's what one loss will do. Good.

Starting Lineup

GK: Barton
D: Campbell/Pickering/Forrest/Jackson
M: Glaser/Shakespeare
AM: Davidson/Fisher
ST: Roth/Cole

A much stronger lineup with Davidson/Fisher. Glaser and Campbell are in b/c their morale is a littler higher than Coggins/Tapia at the moment. We're going to start out attacking.

2': A long ball from Jackson, a clearance really, but Roth gets behind the defense and has it all by himself after a high bounce... he's 1 on 1 with the keeper, but his shot is blocked. Disappointing.

21': We give up a clear cut chance as a striker on a run just isn't tracked by Forrest. They put it high though.

21': Another clear cut chance after the goal kick, some nice dribbling by their striker created an opening, Barton made the save.

35': We get a corner, Fisher ends up with a shot wide.

42': They earn a corner after a cross into the area, Barton is able to catch it though.

47': Another cross in for them, their man holds it up, passes out a a guy at the 20 yard mark, he lobs it forward and a shot comes in from close range, but Barton gets in front of it, seems like our 3rd string keeper is having a pretty good day here.

HALF: They outshoot us 7-5, possession is even, they're slightly better in the air but overall things look incredibly even. We drop back to a standard mindset at the half here.

52': Pickering is injured and he's done for the day. Hernandez is in.

56': A give and go on th right with Fisher and Cole, Fisher ends up with a shot that earns us a corner, which is cleared out.

67': Roth with a free kick from 20 yards, unsure if its a mis-hit or a pass, but he launches it into a crowd, Cole is the first to be able to control it and he shoots and scores! 1-0

77': Their 3rd clear cut chance as a long ball gets a man behind the defense, and its once again on target and once again Barton blocks it.

78': We answer with a clear cut chance of our own very quickly, Roth to Cole who has a great look but puts it well wide.

84': Tapia in for Glaser, Gallardo in for Davidson.

93': They have a pass in from the left side, a striker gets behind our last defender, he doesn't shoot right away, Barton rushes out, the attacker runs left and seems to have a wide open net... but I guess he has poor control of the ball? He overruns it and ends up trying an awful shot from the end line that hits the side netting. They should have tied it up there.

And we luck out and hold on for the 3 points.

Wake Forest 1 : 0 Naples Bay

One of their defenders is man of the match.

Goal: Cole (7.2)
Assist: Roth (6.7)
Notables: Jackson (7.2), Shakesperae (7.1)

Barton ends up with a 6.8 in goal.


-- We jump back up into first with that win.


http://i.imgur.com/ZE8eWRw.png

We will be in the top half after the split. We've been in first place for most of the season, its extremely close but obviously our goal here is going to be to win the league.

[Radii]

-- Dylan Rose and Ryan Crook are back to full training. Along with Cooper and Wilkins coming back a week ago, we're starting to regain some strength.

July 5th, 2016

Old North Cup Semifinal

Wake Forest Cougars vs Carolina RailHawks

Attendance: 500

-- We sell this one out We are slight 30:1 dogs here. :P

Starting Lineup

GK: Barton
D: Campbell/Galvis/Forrest/Diaz
DM: Williams
M: Rose/Glaser/Wilkins/Cooper
ST: Arredondo

So we field a mostly reasonable lineup here, but its really not as strong as it looks, as I'm using this to get Rose, Wilkins and Cooper match fit again for upcoming league play. We'll defend.

1': One of their mids Valentino picks up a very early yellow.

4': They get another yellow, it was a long name though i missed it as it went by.

34': Damn, Rose goes out hurt. Gallardo is in.

42': They get a long ball behind the defense, and a clear cut chance, but its put over.

45': Corner for Carolina, Williams makes a good tackle to stop the initial shot , but there's a second cross in and its a goal for Carolina. 0-1

HALF: They out-shoot us 10-1, its not quite as close as it looks. Perkins is in for Wilkins.

70': Fisher is in for Cooper, so I get two of my three recently recovered players out of there without hurting themselves.

83': DR Diaz is hurt and must leave the match. We used our subs on more important players so we're down to 10 guys.

87': Arredondo picks up a minor injury.

That's it.

Wake Forest 0 : 1 Carolina

A couple poor'ish numbers, 6.2's from Diaz and Arredondo, nothing worrisome in this one though, we were never going to win.


Injury Update

DR Diaz is going to miss 4-5 weeks with the injury he picked up today.

ST Arredondo is going to miss 3 weeks with an elbow injury he picked up.

Both of these do hurt our depth noticibly.


We're out of a few cups now though, we're still in the North America Amateur Cup and the Atlantic Coast Cup, but we get to focus a bit more on things now.

[Radii]

North America Amateur Cup - Second Round Draw

We still have to play Palm Bay in the first round, but if we do win, we'll be at home against Queen City SC, a canadian squad in the same tier as us.

July 8th, 2016

Saturn FC (7-6-2, 3rd) vs Wake Forest Cougars (8-6-1, 1st)

Attendance: 269

-- Saturn is in East Point, GA.

Starting Lineup

GK: Barton
D: Rongen/Pickering/Hernandez/Jackson
M: Tapia/Shakespeare
AM: Davidson/Fisher
ST: Ratzburg/Cole

We play a cup match in 4 days but really we have a legit shot to win this league and auto promote, I am not letting up here, we'll play a weaker lineup in the Amateur Cup. Counter attacking on the road today.

10': Cole with a free kick just outside the area, a fair bit right of center, his shot is over the wall and into the upper right corner of the net, great shot! 1-0

13': Hernandez with a good recovery as an attacker gets by Pickering and gets a clear cut chance, Hernandez gets a foot out and blocks it.

22': Fisher with a run down the right and a cross, its a horrible cross, but Cole gets to it near the end line, all he can do is weakly head it at the keeper though... somehow the keeper bobbles it and it slips through his hands and in. Own goal! 2-0

26': Saturn gets their second shot, and second clear cut chance, well wide though.

31': Davidson intercepts a pass near midfield, one pass to Ratzburg, he plays a very nice lob over the defense, they cry for an offsides but its not going to be given, Cole controls it, shoots, and scores! 3-0

38': Shakespeare sends it out wide for Fisher, a cross.. Cols is there and its a clear cut chance, but the keeper makes a nice diving stop, almost got the hat trick! Hernandez with a header off the corner, but wide.

44': They get a bit of a breakaway after a long pass, there's a shot, Barton gets a finger on it, and its just enough to redirect the ball into the post, and it bounces away. Whew.

HALF: We are playing great here!

47': We have a very deep throwin and work it into the area, t hey clear but we recover, Davidson gets it back into the area for Ratzburg, he makes a very nice pass to Cole for a clear cut chance, but the keeper stops it. There's a rebound, it falls to Fisher and he puts it in! 4-0

75': Glaser in for Shakespeare, Gallardo in for Davidson.

78': Saturn gets their 5th clear cut chance of the day and it hits the post.

83': They finally get on the board on a very difficult shot from the far left side of the area. 4-1

89': One more shot at a hat trick for Cole on a long ball from Gallardo, but he can't finish, its wide.


That's it, great win!

Saturn FC 1 : 4 Wake Forest

Man of the Match: Colin Cole (9.3)
Goals: Cole 2, Fisher (9.2)
Assists: Fisher 2, Cole, Ratzburg (8.3)
Notables: Barton (7.1), Jackson (7.1), Hernandez (7.0), Pickering (7.2), Rongen (7.1), Davidson (7.3)

Tapia is the only starter not mentioned here, 6.8 for him.


-- Colin Cole was a youth pull this year, he looked good enough to give a shot along with our other strikers, but I never expected this. In 12 league matches, Cole has 7 goals and 3 assists and a 7.18 average rating. In 17 total matches including cup play, make it 10 goals/6 assists.

[Radii]

-- Gyan resumes full training. Barton has done great as a backup, but I'm happy to have him back anyway.

July 12th, 2016

North America Amateur Cup - First Round

Wake Forest Cougars vs Palm Bay Pelicans

Attendance: 221

Starting Lineup

GK: Barton
D: Rongen/Burke/Forrest/Jackson
M: Williams/Perkins
AM: Davidson/Fisher
ST: Goodwin/Roth

Brian Williams gets his first start at MC, he's fallen out a good bit since I am not running a DMC frequently, I've been having him train as a central midfielder and he's ok at it now. With Arredondo, Maurer and Navarro all hurt I give Ben Goodwin a start at striker.

We'll play a standard game here.

16': We've seen two highlights, both shots from Davidson off free kicks, both fairly close but off target.

18': Another davidson free kick, wide.

24': After a lot of possession deep in their end, Rongen sends a pass to Davidson in the left side of the area, he shoots from a tough angle and scores! 1-0

32': We see the first Palm Bay attacking highlight, they put a shot over from 20 yards.

35': Davidson with a long pass ahead to Goodwin, he's behind the defense, has a clear cut chance, but it is from a bit of a wide angle, and he misses.

HALF: We outshoot them 6-2 and appear to be the clear better team here. Possession is even though and it looks like we're relying on superior tackling to prevent them from getting any sort of attacking going.

46': We get a run down the right from Fisher and a cross to Roth right off the start, but Roth just heads it very weakly and their keeper picks it up.

50': A bit of a breakaway after they try to tackle the ball from Roth, he passes ahead to Goodwin but Goodwin's shot is saved easily. Wasn't a clear cut chance for some reason.

56': We pass it around the midfield for a good while, finally Fisher with a great pass into the area for Goodwin, a clear cut chance... saved.

58': Gallardo in for Davidson, Crook in for Fisher, to keep Davidson/Fisher as fresh as possible since Cooper/Rose aren't quite fully strength yet.

70': They build up down the right side, get a pass into the area and its a clear cut chance as Burke is out of position, Barton makes a nice save.

75': Corner for Palm Beach, we clear once, they recover and send it back in but a shot is blocked and cleared.

75': We change to a counterattacking style.

78': They get another corner, taken out to the penalty spot, and volleyed into the net through the crowd of people there. 1-1

79': They get the ball back, passed ahead to a striker 20 yards out, Forrest is right there covering him, Forrest goes for the tackle and he just got straight up beaten 1v1, their striker into the area and drills a shot in. 1-2

79': We'll look to attack.

83': Cole in for Goodwin, for one last push.

84': Williams with a ball ahead to cole, out to Gallardo, he puts a cross into the area, Cole gets his head on it, it hits the crossbar and goes over.

86': We attack hard after winning a ball in midfield, Roth crosses into the area, a clear cut chance for Cole, but pushed away. Rebound to Cole, he's a bit wide right so its a tough angle, and he can't get it by the keeper. Damn!

90': Williams ahead to Cole after a battle in the midfield for the ball, Cole is completely unmarked... but he pulls up from 20 yards to shoot instead of going harder at the keeper. His shot is wide.

92': We again get the ball forward, Cole has it outside the area, he finds Perkins making a run into the box, Perkins chips it over the keeper who rushed out, and scores!!!! 2-2

FULL TIME: Holy crap that was exciting. Cole was everywhere as a super sub in the final 10 minutes. But now, he's got to be out thre for another 30. Ok, well, lets go win it.

We continue to attack. Screw penalties.

95': Jackson to Perkins after a throwin deep in their end, Perkins shoots from outside the area, high.

98': Barton with a long kick, Williams heads it on, Cole wins it over his defender and knocks it forward, he's about 30 yards out at this point, he rushes on to the ball, has his man beaten, shoots and scores! 3-2

105': Gallardo with a pretty awful giveaway in midfield, they rush up ahead, there's a long ball that I thought Barton could have come out for, but didn't. They cross into the area, thre's a shot, off the crossbar and back into play, Barton dove for it, and the rebound gets put into the net. 3-3

On to the second half of extra time.

106': Crook with a really pretty lob into the area for Cole, their defense is back and its crowded, but the keeper had to come over to Cole since it was so close to the goal, Cole lays it off for Roth who puts it in very easily. 4-3

106': We will try to defend this out.

112': They work it into the area for a shot but we have men back and Forrest blocks it.

118': They give the ball away on a pass back from a midfielder to a defender, after a Roth to Cole pass he ends up wtih a clear cut chance, but saved.

We run out the clock from there, wow that was crazy!

Wake Forest 4e : 3 Palm Bay

One of their guys scored two of their goals for man of the match.

Goals: Davidson (7.2), Perkins (7.4), Roth (7.5), Cole (8.2)
Assists: Cole 2, Williams (7.5), Rongen (6.9)

Goodwin with a pretty poor 6.2, if he could have finished once or twice I wouldn't have had to run Cole out there for 45 minutes.


-- We receive $374 for this win.


-- Our next cup match isn't until August. We will finish out the 3 games left before the league split next. We're already in the top half of the split but we're playing to win the league now so every point is critical.

[Radii]

July 15th, 2016

Wake Forest Cougars (9-6-1, 1st) vs Hattiesburg Rebels (7-3-6, 7th)

Attendance: 268

-- There are 7 teams with either 23 or 24 points right now between 6th and 12th, and one with 25, another with 22, so there's a crazy crazy fight for the top 10 spots in the league, Hattiesburg is mixed up in that.

-- We are 1:6 favorites at home today, ugh.

Starting Lineup

GK: Gyan
D: Campbell/Hernandez/Pickering/Jackson
M: Tapia/Shakespeare
AM: Davidson/Fisher
ST: Ratzburg/Cole

We are going to attack from the outset, I also try shorter passing and shoot on sight instructions, I dunno about using shoot on sight, I hope that it helps to prevent some of the spots where we just see 35 minutes fly by w/ no highlights, make something happen, etc.

4': Davidson hits Shakespeare on a run into the area for a clear cut chance, but blasted right at the keeper.

8': Fisher with a long cross through to the opposite side of the area, Davidson brings it down fairly well and gets a shot, but off the post.

10': fisher has a cross cleared out but we recover, Jackson feeds it right back forward to Shakespeare, back to the right edge of the box for Fisher, and there's that shoot on sight instruction I guess, he takes a shot instead of centering it, and he floats it above the keeper and itno the back corner of the net! 1-0

14': We build up down the right side, it goes to Cole, who pulls out wide instead of cutting toward sthe goal, he crosses through the 6 yard box.. the keeper *really* should have just picked that up, but he doesn't move, Daivdson is on the receiving end and puts it in. 2-0

31': Fisher ahead to Cole who shoots from the edge of the box, saved. We get a corner, they head it but can't clear, we get a second shot, from Ratzburg, the keeper dives for it and pushes it to the side, where Pickering puts in the rebound! 3-0

34': They get one back on a cross and volly, we had men there and it was a nice shot under a little pressure. 3-1

36': I change to a counterattacking mindset. I was tempted to keep the pressure on as it appears like they are crumbling against it, but I don't want to risk allowing another silly goal, at least before the half.

HALF: Well that strategy worked great, at least in this situation. We get 13 shots to their 2, control 57% of the possession and are just playing spectacularly well. I remove the shoot on sight instruction and change to retain possession, we'll see how this goes.

47': Free kick for Tapia just outside the area, his shot is high.

50': Free kick from the left for Davidson, he crosses in, Cole heads it, saved.

55': Cole with a nice lob ahead to Ratzburg for a clear cut chance, but he can't finish. He should have had that.

62': Roth in for Cole, we play again in 5 days and I want Cole playing then.

64': They cross into the area, shot is blocked behind for a corner. Pickering wins a contested header on the corner to clear.

76': Gallardo in for Fisher, Glaser in for Shakespeare.

91': They shoot a free kick over the bar.

That's it!

Wake Forest 3 : 1 Hattiesburg

That first half may be the strongest half we've played all year.

Man of the Match: Adam Fisher (8.3)
Goals: Fisher, Davidson (7.2), Pickering (7.4)
Assists: Shakespeare (7.1), Cole (6.8), Ratzburg (6.7)

Solid work from everyone today.

[Radii]

July 20th, 2016

Mayaguez FC (5-2-10, 18th)) vs Wake Forest Cougars (10-6-1, 1st)

Attendance: 432

-- We played them in the Atlantic Coast Cup earlier in the year and won 3-1. We're even money to win this one, making Mayaguez 11:5.

Starting Lineup

GK: Gyan
D: Rongen/Hernandez/Pickering/Varela
M: Williams/Wilkins
AM: Davidson/Fisher
ST: Roth/Cole

A few changes today, Bob Varela and Mike Wilkins get their first starts since coming off injuries.

We will use the same instructions from last match, attacking, passing short and shooting on sight.

1': We kick off and get down the field twice only to lose possession, we turn it over in midfield and they have one long pass to a striker who outruns Pickering, gets a clear cut chance from just inside the box and scores. 0-1

6': Fisher with a long ball to Cole, its way wide right though and he tries a shot from a crazy tough angle, wide. Guess I can't complain about that if we use the shoot on sight instruction.

11': A free kick near midfield, after a couple passes Cole sends it into the area for Roth, clear cut chance and a great look really, somehow he misses.

17': I've seen Wilkins try 3 lobs for Cole and all of them given straight to a defender.

18': Davidson into the area for Roth who has another decent look, but wide.

23': They get two strikers moving forward a bit , I keep expecting one to play a through ball to the other, but he doesn't, he just runs straight by Hernandez and scores... damn. 0-2

33': A long ball for them to ST Maldanado, he has both goals so far, he gets behind the D but puts this one wid.e

38': A cross from them to Maldanado, he earns a corner as a shot is blocked. Corner is saved.

39': Roth with another shot well wide.

HALF: The stats are even but they've gotten a couple good goals where we look like shit. Two things kept coming up in higlights, Wilkins giving the ball away and Roth not able to come remotely close to the target. Shakespeare and Ratzburg are in at the half. I go with the aggressive "play better" talk.


72': We have a corner cleared out but recover possession, Shakespeare ahead to Ratzburg in the area, he lays it off to Cole who shoots from the penalty spot and scores! 1-2

75': We build up again and Shakespeare finds Cole for another clear cut chance, but saved. There's a rebound but its pretty wide and Ratzburg can't finish.

80': Throwin real deep for them, there's a pass into the area and a shot, Gyan dives to save it. Corner is cleared, but they recover and send it back into the area, offsides called.

85': Fisher is hurt and must leave the match immediately. Gallardo is in for him.

89': Overload it is!

90': We get a corner, taken poorly right at the keeper and caught.

91': We earn a corner, Shakespeare takes it, earns a second. This one is headed around a few times, before we get our third corner. Next one is cleared.

94': Shakespeare tries a desparate shot from very long range, no luck.

Mayaguez FC 2 : 1 Wake Forest

Perhaps too aggressive early on the road.

Goal: Cole (7.2)
Assist: Ratzburg (6.7)

Wilkins and Roth left with 6.2's. Pickering 6.3. We've played better.



Injury Update

AMR Adam Fisher is going to miss 2-3 months with the injury he picked up today. Crap! Fisher has a 6.97 average in 19 matches played, he's been solid for a 14 year old youth pull. We are very, very close to having access to both Cooper and Crook again, so the timing is good I guess.

[Radii]

North America Amateur Cup - Third Round Draw

-- We still haven't played our second round match. If we win vs Queen City, we will play Potomac in the Colonial Amateur League, the same tier as us.


-- Arredondo begins full training, that'll help with depth up front.

-- Ronnie Navarro resumes full training. Yesss.

-- The 2016 Copa America has been completed. Chile first, Venezuela second, Brazil third, USA fourth.


July 29th, 2016
vs Wake Forest Cougars (10-6-2, 1st) vs Maunabo (9-5-4, 3rd)

Attendance: 313

-- Obviously a key matchup against the #3 team. Despite this we are listed as big 1:2 favorites. Hopefully that doesn't mean we have complacency issues.

Starting Lineup

GK: Gyan
D: Campbell/Burke/Forrest/Jackson
M: Tapia/Shakespeare
AM: Davidson/Crook
ST: Navarro/Cole

Navarro is match fit, but barely. He'd fall out of fitnes if I didn't play him, so I'll see how he does. Maunabo is led by Lionel Romano, he leads the league in goals with 10 in 15 matches. Cole is #3 on that list with 8. We will close down on Romano and tackle him hard.

Standard mindset, short passing but ditch the shoot on sight order for now.

6': They get a corner, a header.. just barely wide, whew.

8': Forrest heads away a dangerous cross.

15': They control it down the left side, there's a cross to the penalty spot, Romano is there, we have two men near him, Burke tries a header and whiffs, Romano scores. 0-1

19': Our first shot is a difficult one from Crook, well wide.

30': Burke a yellow.

37': A horrid pass from Jackson gives the ball away deep in their defensive end, but they try to pass it through the penalty area to clear, Cole intercepts, shoots... off target.

HALF: We look bad. Real bad. Only 3 shots for each team but they got the one easy one. We need to generate more chances here.

49': Corner for us, taken to the near post, Burke heads it... saved.

55': Burke comes too far out to defend a midfielder and they get an empty hole to pass the ball to Romano, he has a clear cut chance... but hits the crossbar.

58': We tackle the ball away from one striker as he looks to get into the area, but they recover and immediately cross into the 6 yard box and find a very easy finish. 0-2

68': They get another clear cut chance on a cross in from the left, but Gyan saves. We clear the corner.

69': Ratzburg for Navarro, Gallardo for Crook.

73': Ratzburg with a shot from 20 yards out, hits the post, rebound to Cole who puts it in... but offsides.

That's it, we watch them attack in one last highlight and its over.

Wake Forest 0 : 2 Maunabo

I dunno why we're 1:2 favorites over a team that we're only 4 points ahead of, I don't know if we're entering a slump here or if this is the annoying bit of playing like crap when favored.

Cole with a 5.8 today, Burke a 5.7, Campbell 5.9. Real ugly.


We've now played every team once and the league splits in half.

http://i.imgur.com/IeiQ29f.png

Sucks to be Gainesville, 4 points off of the playoffs but because of just 1 goal they're bottom half instead of top.

We'll play every other team in the top 10 one more time. First though are a couple more cup matches.

[Radii]

-- Michael Maurer resumes full training.

August Update

-- We currently are scheduled to play on the 3rd, 10th, 13th, 19th, 28th and 31st. Our first two matches are cup matches (Atlantic Coast Cup and North America Amateur Cup), so the schedule will get busier if we win in either of those.

-- The board is very pleased with my leadership. Our fantastic league performance is a highlight. There is still disappointment over Samir Pace being released back in January... WTF. We lost $14,960 last month.


August 3rd, 2016

Atlantic Coast Cup - Quarterfinal

Montgomery Yellowhammers vs Wake Forest Cougars

Attendance: 988

-- Montgomery is 18th in our league. We're 2-0-0 lifetime against them, including a 2:0 road win earlier in the season in league play.

-- We are 4:7 favorites here.

Starting Lineup

GK: Garcia
D: Rongen/Burke/Forrest/Varela
M: Glaser/Wilkins
AM: Gallardo/Arredondo
ST: Ratzburg/Roth

We go with backups in many positions here, and we're going to play a counterattacking game on the road with these guys.

16': We have a throwin in their end, we pass it short around the right side near the area, Roth with a pass to Arredondo near the 6 yard box, he shoots and scores! 1-0

22': Montgomery with a through ball to the right side of the area, their shot is wide though.

29': A very quick counter for Montgomery after winning a ball in their own end. A long ball to ST Donnelly who is really fast, but Forrest gets back just in time to block his shot.

44': Clear cut chance for Roth as we intercept a pass in midfield and Arredondo sends it ahead. The shot is saved though, corner goes nowhere.

HALF: We only managed to shoot twice in the first half, but we only allowed 4 shots. Possession is fairly even, we are much better tackling and winning balls in the air though.

47': Ratzburg to Wilkins, Wilkins gets it ahead to Roth who has a clear cut chance.. but saved. Roth could have finished that, but Wilkins really made a poor pass, Roth had tons of space in front of him but the pass was behind him and made him slow down for it.

60': We watch a long highlight that involves Gallardo giving the ball away three separate times, they finally get it forward and get a shot from 20 yards, its a dangerous one but saved by Garcia.

68': Gallardo with a first touch pass to Roth as we work the ball around the offensive end. Roth is in a great position and scores! 2-0

70': A poor clearance attempt from Varela gives them a solid look in the area, Burke blocks it though, corner goes nowhere.

72': Cooper in for Arredondo, Perkins in for Wilkins. Cooper's first appearance since a very long injury.

73': A long ball out of our half is chased down by Ratzburg, he outran a defender who should have been there first, Ratzburg crosses into the area and Roth heads it in, very nice! 3-0

82': They earn a corner, we head the first one behind, second corner is cleared by Glaser.

86': Varela heads a cross behind for a corner, Gallardo heads the second one behind for another, we clear that one out.

Good win!

Montgomery 0 : 3 Wake Forest

Man of the Match: Leon Roth (9.4)
Goals: Roth 2, Arredondo (7.6)
Assists: Roth, Ratzburg (7.5), Gallardo (8.4)
Notables: Garcia (7.0), Varela (7.6), Forrest (7.8), Burke (7.0), Rongen (7.4), Wilkins (7.5), Glaser (7.0)

The entire starting 11 is over 7.0 today.


-- We get $19,370 for winning this one. We're on to the semifinals of this tournament, thanks in part to some good draws along the way. Two of the three teams left are in the division above us.

[Radii]

Atlantic Coast Cup - Semifinal Draw

We're going to be going on the road, but it is going to be against the one team left in our current division, the Valdosta Victory. The other semifinal is Atlanta FC vs CASL Chelsea, both a division above us. Valdosta is second in the league right now so that will add some excitement to the matchup.

-- We won't play them until late September.


Injury Update

-- MC Ashley Sandoval is hurt in a reserve match, 2-3 weeks.

-- DL Coggins is hurt in the same reserve match, 2 weeks.

Coggins shouldn't have been playing in that match, I must have overlooked something when it asked me about making players available.

August 10th, 2016

North America Amateur Cup - Second Round

Wake Forest Cougars vs Queen City SC

Attendance: 223

-- We'd love to win this but we play a critical league match in 3 days, so that takes priority.

-- Queen City is 3rd in the All American Amateur League, same tier as us.

Starting Lineup

GK: Gyan
D: Rongen/Pickering/Hernandez/Varela
M: Williams/Perkins
AM: Gallardo/Crook
ST: Goodwin/Roth

The rare start for Ben Goodwin. Otherwise, lots of backups/interchangable players.

Standard mindset at home.

2': Extremely pretty play. A ball ahead from Rongen, volleyed back by Goodwin to Perskins. Perkins back ahead to Goodwin, another first touch pass, this time to Roth in the perfect position, and he scores! 1-0

7': They have a corner, its headed in the area about 5 times before we finally get a clearance.

12': A long shot from Williams is strong and on target, but saved.

12': We switch to counterattacking.

19': They pass it around in front of goal for awhile before getting a clear cut chance from 18 yards out, but a shot is just high.

21': They even things up, a nice cross to the far post from the right side, easy header and goal. 1:1

21': Back to standard play for us.

31': Perkins with a yellow.

36': Hernandez with a goal saving block on a shot after a through ball, Gyan rushed out for it and ended up way out of position.

HALF: They have slight edges in possession, shots taken, and passing. We are better in the air and are tackling well. The big problem I suppose is that they've generated 3 easy chances, and we're lucky to have only allowed one in.

50': Yellow for Hernandez

52': Their fourth clear cut chance comes after a long ball, again our defense recovers pretty well to challenge the shot, and Gyan gets in front of it. THey earn a corner, which is taken poorly.

54': They get numbers forward after an interception and get clear cut chance #5, its wide.

59': After a throwin there's a cross into a crowded penalty area, Goodwin tries to shoot but blocked.

66': Crook intercepts a pass to start a break, ahead to Roth, ahead to Goodwin, he gets a decent look from 18 yards out, trie to chip it over the keeper rushing out.... hits the crossbar. Close.

88': We make three changes to try to get an edge in extra time. Navarro in for Goodwin, Cooper in for Crook, Glaser in for Williams.


FULL TIME: They seem like the better team today, but we've still got a chance.

104': they get a cross into the area and attempt a shot, but blocked.

HT ET: on to the second half of extra time. Our guys are exhausted. They are too i'm sure.

107': Gallardo ahead to Roth for a shot, but highly contested and Roth puts it over. Just nice to see an offensive highlight!

109': Varela starts a break with an interception, ahead to Cooper, long run down the right, a cross... Navarro shoots, but its blocked, corner. Gallardo with the corner, Navarro with a header towards the goal, keeper blocks it but can't hold it, Pickering is there to put in the rebound! 2-1

109': Lets defend this one out, and hold on to the ball more.

119': Roth to Navarro for a shot from 20 yards, just wide.

We hang on to the lead!

Wake Forest 2e : 1 Queen City

Man of the Match: Joe Pickering (8.4)
Goals: Pickering, Roth (7.3)
Assists: Gallardo (6.8), Goodwin (6.7)
Notables: Hernandez (7.0), Rongen (7.0)

Most of the defense are given good marks, Varela a 6.5 is the big exception. We got very lucky here, we allowed tons of easy looks and they just didn't convert.


-- The draw for the third round has already taken place, we will travel to play Potomac in a week. They're in the same tier as us.

-- We receive $746 for winning this one.

[Radii]

August 13th, 2016

Wake Forest Cougars (10-6-3, 1st) vs Maunabo (10-5-4, 3rd)

Attendance: 265

-- We lost to these guys in our last league match just a few weeks ago, 2:0, also at home. We are again listed as 1:2 favorites, pretty silly imo.

Starting Lineup

GK: Gyan
D: Campbell/Burke/Forrest/Jackson
M: Tapia/Shakespeare
AM: Davidson/Arredondo
ST: Ratzburg/Cole

Counterattacking mindset from the start today.

8'; Yellow for midfielder Sanchez.

18': Davidson with a pass into the left side of the area for Shakespeare, he shoots, and its a pretty arcing shot into the back corner, very difficult! 1-0

21': They get a cross into the area in a very dangerous spot, Forrest blocks a shot though, corner. Forrest also heads the corner away.

33': Davidson plays a beautiful long ball into the area for Ratzburg, he's tackled... but no penalty given, bullshit! Cleared out, but back to Davidson, he sends another cross in, Cole is able to get to it and puts it in, but offsides.

34': Cole with a quick shot from 25 yards out, saved. Corner is cleared.

37': They get a man wide open in the box after a cross, its shot to the near side of the goal, Gyan makes a great diving stop.

HALF: Maunabo have outshot us 7-2, but they've only put 2 shots on target, the same as us. Our goal from Shakespeare really was a bit spectacular though, so we feel lucky. I'm not sure we can sit back and look to counter all match, but we will at least start the second half that way.

49': Cole gets a little space for a close range shot, but saved. Corner goes nowhere.

50': I add the "exploit the left flank" instruction, Davidson is so much better than Arredondo, lets get it to his side whenever we can.

57': A Tapia free kick earns us a corner, we get a header off it but nothing threatening.

73': We give up a corner, but it could have been worse, Burke made a quick move to block a shot, they can't do anything on the corner.

74': We change to a 4-1-4-1 to try to hold this lead. Crook in for Arredondo, Crook is better at MR. Tapia to DMC, Glaser in for Ratzburg to add the extra midfielder that we need.

78': We are passing it around the midfield, all of a sudden Shakespeare makes a run, Davidson lobs it ahead to him, Shakespeare stays strong and gets past one tackle attempt, recovers and shoots from the edge of the box and scores! 2-0

That'll do it!

Wake Forest 2 : 0 Maunabo

So much better than the last time we played.

Man of the Match: Brian Davidson (8.9)
Goals: Shakespeare 2 (8.8)
Assists: Davidson 2
Notables: Jackson (7.1), Forrest (7.2), Burke (7.4)

I'm really happy to see Davidson man of the match over the goal scorer, from the highlights I saw Davidson was definitely the key guy here.

-- Valdosta loses today, so we gain a little breathing room:

1. Wake Forest - 39 points
----------------------------
2. Valdosta - 35 points
3. Maunabo - 35 points
4. Saturn FC - 33 points
5. Cape Coral - 33 points
----------------------------
6. Lexington - 31 points

4 points clear in 1st place, 8 points clear for a playoff spot. 8 matches to go.