[NoSkillz]

Sat. April 22, 2023

Barclays Premier League
Stoke (2-7-25, 13 points, 20th) vs. Dover (22-6-6, 72 points, 3rd)
Britannia Stadium, Stoke-on-Trent, UK

Betting Odds: Stoke: 9-2 Draw: 13-5 Dover: 1-2 (Favourites)
Past Meetings: 4W 1D 0L

Stoke will be relegated to the Championship next season and are just playing out the string. They will need to win three of their next four games just to avoid having the worst EVER season in this dynasty for a Premier League team, as they currently sit with 13 points and the worst point total in the last 13 years in-game was 21. They are terrible defensively and we scored a 5-1 win earlier in the year against them. They've given up a league-high 81 goals in 34 matches. Filip Pivkovski leads the club with 14 goals in 35 appearances and Richard Valenta is second with only 5.

Full starting lineup today as we go back to two strikers. Paul Moses will continue his run in the first team and a fully fit Shanon Andrea will be on the bench. We are HUGE favourites on the road today. This is a must win.

Dover: 4-4-2 Control
GK - I. Wilke
D - R. Gaucho, C. Contreras, R. Hamon, S. Loucif
M - A. Bamba, N. Cairney, A. Rocca, G. Bolis
S - P. Moses, Chiquinho
Bench - D. Traore, K. Zagos, Mancini, G. Fanfoni, H. Cruz, G. Allan, S. Andrea

Stoke are in their 4-4-2 diamond formation with Pivkovski and Valenta up front and Asmir Begovic in goal. No kidding around today - I expect a win!

1' - We steal the ball immediately and move up field with swift passing. Neil Cairney sends a curling blast at the goal but Begovic is there. Nice start!

8' - Wim Georges, a Stoke midfielder, sneaks in and shoots low but Wilke makes the stop.

18' - On a Stoke goal kick, we head it back over their defence and Chiquinho, despite being held up by a jersey pull, gets loose and into the ball first. His shot is stopped well by Begovic and we get two cracks at the rebound but both shot attempts are blocked. Furious sequence!

21' - Begovic is looking good, making a spectacular stop on a Chiquinho blast. We're showing great skill but can't get one past the Stoke keeper as of yet.

30' - Ok. Former Dover defender Jackson Ramm, playing right midfield for Stoke, sends in a cross and it's one-timed at goal by Vladimir Langer. Wilke makes a brilliant save but the rebound is back out to Langer and he shoots it off Wilke and IN. Holy smokes! STOKE GOAL 0-1

45'+3 - So, there's supposed to be one extra minute of injury time and we're approaching the third minute. We have the ball in their end and Cairney sends the ball up the middle to Moses. He looks BLATANTLY offsides at the top of the area but takes one step in and rips it past Begovic and IN! Stoke's players all run to the sideline assistant to complain but to no avail, as we pull level! DOVER GOAL 1-1

HALFTIME - Well, that changes things. We were definitely the better team regardless, holding 59% of possession and a 17-6 (5-4 on target) shot advantage. The replay on Moses' goal looked a bit closer on second glance but it still looked offsides. We'll take it. I tell the team I'm pleased but we need more goals!

65' - Oh boy. Jackson Ramm, coming back to haunt me, scores on a header but it's called offsides. Where is our offence today?!?

70' - Geez, we need a goal! Out are Andrea Rocca and Arsene Bamba and in come Gian Marco Fanfoni and Graham Allan.

83' - This is incredibly disappointing. No shots and now Gian Marco Fanfoni is hurt and needs to come off. In comes Mancini. DOVER INJURY- Gian Marco Fanfoni OFF

86' - We move to an OVERLOAD mentality.

90'+3 - Time is ticking down and we're in the last minute of injury time. Stoke with a terrible giveaway at midfield and Moses sends it up to Chiquinho. His shot is turned behind the net by Begovic, tested for the first time this half. Neil Cairney races to take the corner and it's sent to the far post to Contreras. His header is weak and right at the middle of the net toward Begovic but jumping up to get the ball is little Paul Moses and he heads it past the Stoke keeper and IN THE NET! WOWOWOW! DOVER GOAL 2-1

90'+6 - The referee lets Stoke kick off despite being two minutes over and they have four men up. I stupidly forget to change back from an overload philosophy and Stoke send a long ball up and our defence is WAY UP. Wim Georges is behind them, he's in on goal and SCORES. You have to be kidding me. STOKE GOAL 2-2

THAT may have cost us a Premier League championship.

Stoke 2 - 2 Dover
Goals - Paul Moses 2 (8.8)
Assists - Neil Cairney 2 (8.9)
Man of the Match - Neil Cairney
Other Dover Notables -
Attendance - 15,298

We dominated the game and the stat sheet but that is a killer. We hold 57% of possession and a 31-11 (8-5 on target) shot advantage. Chiquinho put up another dud (6.1). I know I have a fragile squad so I just sympathize with them. Still, a terrible coaching mistake on my part and it incredibly costs us.

-- Chelsea and Arsenal both win to move two points further ahead of us. Man United draw and City win. We maintain third spot but we'll likely need to run the table now to win the league.

-- DOVER INJURY: Adding to our misery is the fact that Gian Marco Fanfoni suffered a torn calf muscle on a challenge and is out for 3-4 MONTHS. Just sickening.


BARCLAYS PREMIER LEAGUE - STANDINGS
(ALL TEAMS HAVE PLAYED 35 GAMES UNLESS NOTED)

1. Chelsea - 79 points
2. Arsenal - 76 points
3. Dover - 73 points
4. Manchester City - 72 points
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5. Manchester United - 72 points
6. Sheffield Wednesday - 69 points
7. Liverpool - 51 points
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8. Reading - 51 points
9. Sunderland - 51 points
10. Tottenham - 49 points
11. Aston Villa - 48 points
12. Everton - 42 points
13. Wolves - 41 points
14. Newcastle - 40 points
15. Huddersfield - 36 points
16. Middlesbrough - 36 points
17. Birmingham - 27 points
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18. Derby - 25 points
19. Burnley - 20 points
20. Stoke - 14 points



Dover U18 Update

-- The U18s win 3-0 over Aldershot behind goals from Felix Hernandez, Eddie Robinson and Dean Morgan.



Player Unhappy

-- Backup midfielder Shaun Spall is unhappy and after some back and forth, I tell him that I'll try to move him in the offseason. He's a mediocre player so it won't be a big loss.



Attempted Signing

-- I decide to make my move on Paul Moses and offer £19 million to Man United for his services, a figure that is auto-accepted as it meets the terms of our loan agreement buyout clause. However, Moses' agent says he doesn't want to negotiate right now with me. Umm…UH OH. I hope it is just a temporary thing due to the fact the transfer window isn't open and NOT a thing where he wants to play for United next year. Moses has been SENSATIONAL this year and is now up to 20 goals as a 19 year old. This guy is a star already and he will be terrorizing this league for years to come. I want him doing it with our club! I'll stay patient…



Premier League Team of the Week

-- The superb Neil Cairney is added to the Barclays Premier League team of the week.



Injury Update

-- Wonderful. Manuel Perez hurts his back during weight training and will miss 3-4 weeks. That puts him out for our last three games. We'll continue to ride Ingo Wilke.



Dover Reserve Team Update

-- Our reserves win 4-0 over Sheffield United. Zoltan Bardi scores a hat trick and Mohamed Lamine Yilmaz notches a single.

-- We win the Reserves League title for the fourth year in a row. Our real nerdy fans are celebrating like we won the Premier League and even our board are delighted. I'll take the praise but come on guys…show more ambition and hold off on the ticker tape parades until we win something that counts!



Next Up

-- We stay on the road and face Wolves in a key late-season matchup.