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MalcPow · 08-13-2005, 08:02 PM

11/22/05

Olie and Grant Leadbitter are named to the CN Team of the Week.

I wisely decide to reject Portsmouth's 110k bid for David Fox. But I can't speak of it without describing it as "Portsmouth's 110k bid," I'm that traumatized by the number.

11/26/05

Conference National - Away v. Canvey Island

We go on the road to Canvey Island, currently sitting in 18th place, and wary of relegation. This is a game we should win, but anything can happen on the road. They're certainly capable of giving us a shock. Another reason I didn't sell David Fox is that I truly feel his determination has a huge impact on our team playing hard at all times. We don't give up, and we don't have major letdowns. So I'm expecting us to play well.

And I decide to go with the tactical arrangement I experimented with at the end of last game. Here's a screenie:

We'll see how that goes. I'm basically giving Stephen Cooke free reign to do whatever he wants. There's no way I'll get less out of him than I've been getting from my second strikers.

The game starts slowly enough. Canvey is pressuring us pretty heavily for a good portion of the first half. But it turns into the Stephen Cooke show as he buries one on 37 minutes. We go into halftime just 1-0 up but I see Cooke and Kieran Richardson talking to each other in the locker room. There's a lot of nodding, and intricate hand-weaving motions. I leave them to it, and spend most of my time complaining to Franklin Simek about his poor passing. Simek is no longer the anchor I once viewed him as, and his partner Stuart Parnaby has played and looked vastly superior. Simek has me wondering whether or not I need to look seriously at another defender, even if not for now, but for next season. I thought he was at least L2 caliber, and now I'm not so sure.

We come out for the second half playing well. And Cooke and Richardson play some nifty one-two's around the box before Richardson drives one home in the 54th minute. Then they do it again in the 63rd. We're up 3-0 and it seems to absolutely devastate Canvey as they do really nothing the rest of the match. I bring some subs on to rest guys, especially David Fox who hasn't missed a match all season, and plays probably our most grueling position. It's only a matter of time before he's in need of rest and I'd like to prolong that as much as possible.

Overall we don't have near the dominance that we had in our last match, although 80% passing is pretty impressive. But we get a couple of magnificent individual performances from Cooke and Richardson with both scoring 10's and Cooke MOM with a goal and two assists. This match was basically a reminder of why Cooke needs to be on the pitch, and why there's no price at which he should leave the Moorlands. I'm happy with how we played, obviously, but we allowed a few too many, and some rather good, chances. We'll see how that plays out.

08-13-2005, 08:02 PM	#50
MalcPow College Benchwarmer Join Date: Jun 2005 Location: San Diego	11/22/05 Olie and Grant Leadbitter are named to the CN Team of the Week. I wisely decide to reject Portsmouth's 110k bid for David Fox. But I can't speak of it without describing it as "Portsmouth's 110k bid," I'm that traumatized by the number. 11/26/05 Conference National - Away v. Canvey Island We go on the road to Canvey Island, currently sitting in 18th place, and wary of relegation. This is a game we should win, but anything can happen on the road. They're certainly capable of giving us a shock. Another reason I didn't sell David Fox is that I truly feel his determination has a huge impact on our team playing hard at all times. We don't give up, and we don't have major letdowns. So I'm expecting us to play well. And I decide to go with the tactical arrangement I experimented with at the end of last game. Here's a screenie: We'll see how that goes. I'm basically giving Stephen Cooke free reign to do whatever he wants. There's no way I'll get less out of him than I've been getting from my second strikers. The game starts slowly enough. Canvey is pressuring us pretty heavily for a good portion of the first half. But it turns into the Stephen Cooke show as he buries one on 37 minutes. We go into halftime just 1-0 up but I see Cooke and Kieran Richardson talking to each other in the locker room. There's a lot of nodding, and intricate hand-weaving motions. I leave them to it, and spend most of my time complaining to Franklin Simek about his poor passing. Simek is no longer the anchor I once viewed him as, and his partner Stuart Parnaby has played and looked vastly superior. Simek has me wondering whether or not I need to look seriously at another defender, even if not for now, but for next season. I thought he was at least L2 caliber, and now I'm not so sure. We come out for the second half playing well. And Cooke and Richardson play some nifty one-two's around the box before Richardson drives one home in the 54th minute. Then they do it again in the 63rd. We're up 3-0 and it seems to absolutely devastate Canvey as they do really nothing the rest of the match. I bring some subs on to rest guys, especially David Fox who hasn't missed a match all season, and plays probably our most grueling position. It's only a matter of time before he's in need of rest and I'd like to prolong that as much as possible. Overall we don't have near the dominance that we had in our last match, although 80% passing is pretty impressive. But we get a couple of magnificent individual performances from Cooke and Richardson with both scoring 10's and Cooke MOM with a goal and two assists. This match was basically a reminder of why Cooke needs to be on the pitch, and why there's no price at which he should leave the Moorlands. I'm happy with how we played, obviously, but we allowed a few too many, and some rather good, chances. We'll see how that plays out.