FM10 - From the Bottom Up - Page 17

Radii · 09-09-2011, 04:09 AM

-- Gordon Donnelly tells a couple newspaper reporters that he's now satisfied with our team's play. Good good.

October 5th, 2019

Ipswich(6-3-1, 1st) @ Norwich(5-2-3, 10th)

We're very slim 6:4 favorites against our arch rivals on the road today, they're 13:8. The last time we promoted up we beat them 2:1 twice and are 4-2-0 against them over the course of this career, not much of a rivalry! We'll try to keep it that way here.

GK: Carlos Antonio
D: Kirkland/McKerr/Burke/Berthet
M: Turgay Colak/Mills/Donnelly/Jackson
ST: Hamilton/Constantino

3 midfield changes today, only Donnelly stays, entirely due to fatigue from so many matches on short rest. Standard mindset on the road.

11': We open the highlight beginning to attack, we almost lose possession and they try to break forward, but we tackle and win it back quickly, Hamilton controls 40 yards out, ahead to Mills, he controls it well and finds Constantino who turns by his man and beats the keeper! 1-0

39': We attack down the middle, a pass to Constantino 25 yards out, Jackson cuts in from the right, Constantino hits him, shot is right at the keeper though.

41': Whoa, we seem in total control, they try to attack here and it still seems like we're in total control, but they have a guy randomly shoot from 30 yards out and its an amazing shot, the pace and the bend on it I would expect to see when I play Chelsea, not Norwich. But the save is even better, Carlos Antonio dives to his left and makes an incredible save!!

43': Another buildup down the middle, Donnelly ahead to Hamilton, instead of trying to find anyone this time he just blasts one from where he stands. Its a rocket but right at the keeper and he reacts well to save.

HALF: We shoot 7 times, they shoot 5, but only 2 on target from each team, so there was a bit of a lack of highlights in the middle. I dunno if its the one save I mentioned or what, but Carlos Antonio has a 9.0 rating at the half. He's hitting on most of his passes which keepers usually don't so that plus saves I guess?

46': yellow for defender Shotten.

48': They attack, there's a good give and go and some poor defending on our part to simply not cover the man that received the pass back... he gets into the area, earns a clear cut chance and finishes. That was quick. 1-1

57': mills is hurt, he looks noticeably slowed.

58': They attack and I didn't see much I was subbing Mills out. There's a through ball right up the middle, ST Miller is there behind our defenders and its just a very easy finish. McKerr took the hit for that I think. 1-2

58': Mariga in for the injured Mills.

75': Not a lot going on here, we'll try to attack.

86': We earn a corner, its taken to Constantino, he can't find a shot but gets out to the right and crosses, Mariga is there for a header... keeper makes a save. That was from real close range.

88': Another corner, they clear this one out, we control though and build up on offense. Donnelly has it 25 yards out, he passes into the area, Turgay Colak cuts inside perfectly, runs onto the ball behind the defenders and strikes it by the keeper to net us a very late tying goal. 2-2

91': Donnelly goes down hurt. He's got that nasty injury symbol and his fitness fell to 30%.

Norwich 2 : 2 Ipswich

We salvage a tie on the road against our rivals after they came out extremely strong early in the second half.

Man of the Match: Carlos Antonio (8.9)
Goals: Constantino (7.4), Turgay Colak (7.4)
Assists: Donnelly (7.3), Mills (6.9)

It had to have been that one save to give Carlos Antonio the crazy rating.

-- Watford fire their coach and I'm considered the top candidate. Why i'd take that I don't know, but I release a statement saying I'm not interested.

-- No injury for Donnelly, and Henrique resumes full training after the match today.

Radii · 09-09-2011, 05:17 PM

-- Carlos Antonio and Fredy Guarin are named to the team of the week this week.

October 9th, 2019

Watford(4-5-2, 12th) @ Ipswich(6-4-1, 2nd)

We're 4:6 favorites at home vs Watford today. Watford finished with the same number of points in the EPL last year that we did but are struggling in their quest to make it back up to the top. We're 4-3-9 lifetime against them, tying them on the road and losing at home.

GK: Carlos Antonio
D: Kirkland/McKerr/Henrique/Berthet
M: Turgay Colak/Mariga/Donnelly/Gordon
ST: Hamilton/Constantino

Mariga and Gordon are back in the midfield. Clive Jackson is away on international duty and unavailable today. Henrique starts alongside McKerr at DC. Vinny Burke is on the bench.

14': Mariga hits Neil Gordon in the area for a solid goal... but Gordon was offsides. I agree FWIW.

26': We have a corner, cleared easily though. We retain possession but the area is very crowded and we can't do anything. I issue the "work ball into box" instruction, Mariga loves his long shots and I always feel the need to use this when he's out there.

43': Brilliant play by Hamilton and Constantino. Hamilton receives a pass 20 yardso ut, they have 4 men back, a pass to Constantino, one defender takes a step towards Constantino, Hamilton cuts in, Constantino passes it back perfectly and Hamilton calmly beats the keeper!! Perfect give and go play in very tight space. That all occurred within just a few yards. 1-0

HALF: We are looking solid here, 9 shots to their 3, we've got 3 on target, they have none. They're tackling very well and that is likely the only reason we don't have a bigger lead. We'll try to keep the pressure on and find a second goal here.

59': We have a free kick, its sent in but headed away. They have a very very poor clearance, Neil Gordon heads it into the area from about 25 yards away, Hamilton is there, redirects it with his head from about 10 yards out and its perfectly placed into the right side of the net. Great goal! 2-0

70': We go defensive. This isn't a bad team, lets just secure the win.

We end this one easily.

Ipswich 2 : 0 Watford

Man of the Match: Constantino (8.8)
Goals: Hamilton 2 (8.8)
Assists: Constantino, Gordon (7.1)
Notables: Berthet (7.1), Kirkland (7.6), Henrique (7.0), McKerr (8.5), Mariga (7.0)

Constantino man of the match? Well, lets look at the stats. One thing stands out... Constantino makes 16 runs with the ball. SIXTEEN. That's more than the rest of the team combined. One assist and so much control of the ball has to be the reason he gets the man of the match award over a 2 goal scorer in Simon Hamilton. Still, spectacular game for Hamilton as well.

-- I keep forgetting milestones: Neil Gordon makes his 175th league appearance today.

Radii · 09-09-2011, 07:44 PM

-- Carlos Antonio has finished tutoring Chris Mason. Mason says he didn't gain as much as he'd hoped but he did gain a bit in the mental game. He needs it so that's good.

Injury Update

-- Oct 13th: Clive Jackson is hurt in training and will miss 3 weeks.
-- Oct 14th: Turgay Colak is hurt in training and will miss 3 weeks.

October 19th, 2019

Sheffield Wednesday(4-2-6, 16th) @ Ipswich(7-4-1, 1st)

We're huge 1:2 favorites at home here. They're 9:2. We're 7-1-6 lifetime against them, pretty dang even. Unhappy DLC Zeki Fryers signed with Sheffield Wed this year after 3 seasons with Ipswich. He's starting for them, he's got 9 matches and 1 assist for them with a 6.60 rating.

GK: Carlos Antonio
D: Kirkland/McKerr/Henrique/Berthet
M: Guarin/Mills/Donnelly/Gordon
ST: Hamilton/Constantino

Guarin in for the injured Turgay Colak at ML, Mills in for Mariga in the midfield. Attacking at home today.

1': Oh look at the sportsmanship. They kick off, pass it back to their defense, Fryers passes ahead... and falls over hurt. He's on the ground. We intercept the ball, a quick pass to Hamilton, a pass to Constantino who has to run by Fryers on the ground on his way to the goal. He keeps going and gets a clear cut chance and scores. 1-0

14': We try to get a second goal here, a great long ball from Donnelly to Hamilton for an easy goal, but Hamilton was offsides. Love the pass, Hamilton just needed to time that a bit better.

18': This is all Ipswich. We earn a corner, Gordon takes it, but they clear it away to safety. We have 5 shots, all on target, just the one goal though.

30': We get the ball forward, a pass to Donnelly 25 yards out, he steps up, shoots, it hits the right post, bounces out but deflects off the back of the keeper who had dove for it, and falls into the net... that's an own goal. 2-0

HALF: We take a 2-0 lead to the locker room in interesting fashion with the own goal and the goal we scored with their defender hurt on the ground. We are dominating them though, 11 shots, 7 on target, they've only shot 1 time. Their shot was a clear cut chance apparently... it didn't seem like it, Carlos Antonio saved it really easily. Poor effort from them, I didn't think it was even worth mentioning when I saw the highlight.

58': Brilliant long ball from Mills from our own end right to the edge of the penalty area, Constantino is first to it, its a clear cut chance for us but saved.

66': McKerr goes down injured and is forced to come out immediately. Another hit to our DCs. Burke is in.

73': Yellow for midfielder McCalliser.

74': Mills with a great pass to Constantino through a ton of defenders for a clear cut chance, but Constantino can't finish!

76': Mills tries to feed Constantino again but they clear. We recover, Donnelly gets it and hits Constantino who puts in a great shot from 18 yards out and beats the keeper! 2-0

84': Gordon with a free kick from 30 yards out, its a great shot, bending around the wall, the keeper has to make a diving save to stop it. Corner is headed away but we recover and there's a foul 25 yards out. Gordon again with a free kick but this one is stopped.

We finish this out easily, strong win.

Ipswich 3 : 0 Sheffield Wednesday

Their keeper is actually man of the match despite the 3:0 loss. We shot 20 times and put 16 on target and apparently were credited with 7 clear cut chances, he stopped 4 of them. So even though we picked up a 3:0 win their keeper kept it from being 7:0 or worse and gets man of the match.

Goals: Constantino 2 (9.1), one own goal.
Assists: Connelly 2 (9.0), Hamilton (7.6)
Notables: Berthet (7.7), Kirkland (7.8), Henrique (7.6), McKerr (7.3), Mills (7.4)

-- McKerr is out about a week, not too bad.

-- After losing our opener we've now gone 12 league matches without a loss.

Radii · 09-09-2011, 08:13 PM

-- Kirkland, Henrique, Donnelly and constantino are named to the team of the week this week.

Injury Update

-- Not happy at all about this one, Steven Mills has a pulled hamstring and is going to miss 3-4 weeks. Mills has 5 assists and I've really enjoyed watching his passing in highlights.

-- Jack Hughes resumes full training.

European Championship Qualifying

A quick update here as we've made it through group play.

Automatic qualifiers (ie group winners) are: Croatia, Portugal, Germany, Holland, England, Czech Republic, Spain, Italy, Belgium and France

Second Place Finishers will play a two leg playoff to fill the rest of the spots:

Macedonia vs Denmark
N Ireland vs Ukraine
Romania vs Norway
Turkey vs Albania
Wales vs Scotland

Russia is the host and I assume they get the 16th spot automatically. No huge upsets of teams being left out here.

October 26th, 2019

Ipswich(8-4-1, 1st) @ Coventry(3-3-7, 21st)

We're only 6:4 favorites on the road today against a relegation candidate. We are just 2-4-0 on the road so perhaps a draw is our most likely outcome. We're 7-3-4 lifetime against Coventry. They did finish 5th last year but lost int he playoffs.

GK: Carlos Antonio
D: Kirkland/Hughes/Henrique/Berthet
M: Guarin/Mariga/Donnelly/Gordon
ST: Hamilton/Constantino

Hughes starts at DC, Mariga MC for the injured Mills. Standard mindset on the road today.

14': The first highlights are for coventry, they earn a corner here, its taken to the far post... and our defending just sucked. We allow midfielder Melero to get to the ball without any of our guys challenging at all. Literally fell asleep there. Easy finish. 0-1

17': Donnelly with a yellow. I think that's his 5th and he'll miss next match.

24': They build up on offense, there's a cross in from the left, Hughes misses an interception and ST Brown runs onto it for a point blank shot and goal. Ouch. 0-2

25': Time to attack I guess!! Not good, not good.

26': We earn a corner on a shot by Hamilton that's saved. Corner to Constantino, he's tackled and we get a second corner. This one is cleared out wide but we recover... no luck though they win the ball as we try to build up.

31': They attack down the left, a pass goes to ST Keogh, Mariga comes back to defend but can't take the ball away, Keogh runs all the way to the 6 yard box without a serious challenge and he just puts it in... 0-3

33': Holy shit!!! A long ball ahead from one striker to another, a shot from 18 yards out before our defense catches up... what's happening!? 0-4

40': A nice play on offense, we get it into the area a couple times but they clear, finally Gordon with a good pass to Constantino and constantino sidesteps a defender and scores. 1-4

44': We're working it around on offense, Mariga pulls up and shoots from 25 yards, wish he'd keep passing it... we do end up earning a corner but they clear it.

HALF: Oh my god! I let the team have it at halftime, totally unacceptable!! They're crushing us, 55/45 possession, 12 shots to our 4 and they're hitting everything! We only saw a couple offensive highlights. Our team's average rating is 5.96. Lets at least make it respectable.

46': they score right out of the gate... a couple passes ahead, Mariga misses a tackle, Kirkland misses a tackle, then Henrique misses a tackle allowing their midfielder Jones to make a long run into he area and score. 1-5

51': Its the closet thing I can do towards just calling the match and telling our guys to get it over with. I bring in Chris Mason for Carlos antonio, Troy Brown for Henrique and Ian Taylor for Constantino. Guys who aren't getting first team time and they might as well today.

65': After a number of passes they end up with a shot from 25 yards out for Midfielder Jose and it bends into the left corner of the net. 1-6

79': Donnelly shows that someone is still trying. He takes a pass 30 yards out, skips by two defenders and attacks the keeper, scoring nicely. 2-6

Coventry 6 : 2 Ipswich

I break out the rare "declare your anger at the team" postgame talk. This was just a disaster from out of nowhere.

Goals: Donnelly (8.3), Constantino (6.8)
Assists: Gordon (6.2), Taylor (6.8)

Henrique 4.8, Hughes 4.5, Kirkland 5.9, Guarin 5.1, Hamilton 5.4

WOW. No explanation at all for what just happened. Complacency after such a long win streak?

-- donnelly will miss our next match after picking up his 5th yellow card.

-- Wins by QPR and Bristol City bump them up and drop us down to 3rd.

Radii · 09-10-2011, 01:30 AM

Injury Update

-- Simon Hamilon pulls a hamstring in training and he's going to miss 3-4 weeks. Time for Khan to step up. Hamilton has been great with 7 goals in 16 matches.

-- Turgay Colak and DC Welsh return to full training.

November Update

-- We play on the 2nd, 5th, 9th, 23rd, and 30th.

-- Random negative training report on our 26 y/o Keeper Carlos Antonio. One on One's(13), Reflexes(13) and Decisions(15) all drop.

-- Constantino has won his 3rd straight Player of the Month award. Its ridiculous how much better he is than anyone else in the league right now. 8.22 average rating, #1 in the league is at 7.83.

-- The board is pleased with my leadership. Constantino is the highlight, our 6:2 loss to Coventry is the low point. We lost $2.75M last month.

November 2nd, 2019

Ipswich(8-4-2, 3rd) @ QPR(9-2-3, 1st)

QPR are 5:4 favorites today, we're 7:4 to get a win. This is a huge road match for us at this point in the season, especially coming off that awful loss last week. We're 4-4-3 lifetime against them.

GK: Carlos Antonio
D: Kirkland/McKerr/Henrique/Berthet
M: Hughes/Guarin/Mariga/Gordon
ST: Khan/Constantino

QPR is led by Enrico Rocchini with 10 goals. Donnelly, Mills and Hamilton are all out today and that really hurts us bad against a top team. We're going to counterattack today.

11': Mariga hits Khan with a pretty pass for a goal... but Khan is offsides.

18': Constantino finds a hole in the defense about 25 yard out, Mariga hits him, Constantino has just too much room and he sprints into the area and scores. 1-0

27': Kirkland ahead to Hughes, ahead to Khan, Khan is at the left edge of the area, he centers it for Constantino, Constantino has a man draped all over him but he finds a shot and buries it! 2-0

43': They have a throwin near midfield, quickly send it to a man 25 yards out, a rocket of a shot comes bending in but Carlos Antonio sends it away.

HALF: We've got 10 guys rated 6.8-6.9 and Constantino at 8.7. I'm really really happy with our play here, obviously. We shoot 6 times, 4 on target. They have 3 shots, 2 on target but 2 are from long range. It just seems like all of the highlights are in our favor and the rare time one isn't Carlos Antonio lays out to stop a great shot. Hopefully that loss to Coventry was a big wake up call at just the right time for us.

62': We've seen two highlights so far, both of us attacking and missing long range shots.

64': Mariga with a ball into the area from a good distance, Khan runs onto it perfectly and has a great look, but the keeper saves, not really taken that well.

80': McKerr with a foul about 25 yards out, they shoot on the free kick but its off the wall and behind for a corner. Henrique heads the corner away which is good b/c Carlos Antonio came too far off his line for it and didn't get it.

Its a home clock today, 3 minutes of added time turns into 7 before the whistle is finally blown but we hang on for a strong road win.

QPR 0 : 2 Ipswich

Man of the Match: Constantino (8.8)
Goals: Constantino 2
Assists: Khan (6.8), Mariga (7.8)
Notables: Berthet (7.4), Kirkland (7.5), Henrique (7.2)

We jump QPR for 2nd in the standings with this win. Bristol City wins and takes over first. We're just 1 point behind them.

Radii · 09-10-2011, 03:15 AM

-- Clive Jackson resumes full training.

-- Kirkland and Mariga are named to the league team of the week.

November 5th, 2019

Bristol City(10-2-3, 1st) @ Ipswich(9-4-2, 2nd)

Back to back QPR and Bristol City, both teams in 1st place when I play them. This one's at home. Bristol got demoted out of the EPL the same year we promoted up so I've not seen them before as Ipswich manager, but Ipswich have a long history against them going 2-8-4 lifetime against them all in the Championship. Bristol's manager pokes at us a basically saying "if you want to be the best, you have to beat the best" and if we can't beat them then maybe I shouldn't have set our team's goals to win the league earlier in the year. I respond via the media saying that confidence is high at Portman Road and that Ipswich fear no one. Bristol's head coach responds openly wondering if I'm a good enough manager to lead this team to promotion. I leave it alone after that, not having a ton of experience with the mind games and not wanting to risk bothering any of my players by being too brash.

GK: Carlos Antonio
D: Kirkland/McKerr/Henrique/Berthet
M: Turgay Colak/Mariga/Gordon
ST: Khan/Constantino

Donnelly is back from suspension and Turgay Colak back from injury, both are starting today. DC James Welsh may play but I start McKerr instead. McKerr is playing really really well of late, and Welsh had been on a bit of a poor run before his injury. Standard mindset at home against a top team.

9': Turgay Colak with a nice interception in the midfield as they try to attack, he gets it to Constantino who weaves through their defense brilliantly before earning a clear cut chance.. but he's a little far in and the keeper stops it. Goal of the year material there if he'd scored (counting the run he made by himself to create the chance).

12': They commit a foul on Kirkland out left, near the area but pretty far wide. Gordon crosses in, they head it behind, corner. Corner is cleared.

15': Mariga a yellow.

39': After a long buildup down the right Gordon crosses in and they head back for a corner. Gordon takes the corner, Mariga heads one over. They are playing very defensive.

HALF: We shoot 6 times, just putting 2 on target. They only shoot once. We're controlling possession well but they are making it hard for us to do anything. I'm going to change to the "control" mindset to try to draw them out of their shell.

46': midfielder Coquelin with a yellow.

50': A long through ball from midfielder Wordsworth into the right side of the area, its played really well and their striker Will Keane is well behind our defense, he's at a fairly tough angle but puts it by Carlos Antonio. 0-1

54': We build up on offense quickly, Mariga ahead to Khan, Khan is in the area but well defended, but they've left Turgay Colak wide open just 15 yards away from goal, Khan finds him, he rockets a shot in... and maybe a little more touch would help... he hits the crossbar.

67': Three shots in quick succession... Turgay Colak free in the area again, not a clear cut chance but he could have easily scored, keeper saves and deflects away. They clear but we quickly advance again, a through ball to Khan, he shoots... right at the keeper, deflected again.. Constantino with a volley, wide. We now have 17 shots to their 2.

70': Mariga launches one from 25 yards out, on target but saved.

74': Jackson in for Gordon, Guarin in for Mariga, both fatigue related. gordon not having a good game.

79': Constantino receives a ball near midfield, their defensive line is set.. he runs by one man, has two more on him, boots the ball ahead, sprints between the two men and has our 4th clear cut chance, an amazing run... with no finish. He shoots wide to the left.

85': Berthet is hurt, he stays in.

Tough, tough loss.

Ipswich 0 : 1 Bristol City

An agonizing loss as we shoot 20 times, finding four clear cut chances, two from the supremely reliable Constantino, only allowing 4 shots, but coming away empty. Their keeper is deservedly man of the match.

Notables: Berthet (7.0), Donnelly (7.1)

Constantino (6.0) and Khan (6.1) had our worst ratings.

-- Berthet is out for 2 weeks.

We drop to 3rd with that loss.

Radii · 09-10-2011, 03:36 AM

November 9th, 2019

Derby(6-5-5, 12th) @ Ipswich(9-4-3, 3rd)

We're big 4:5 favorites here, they're 3:1 to get a win. We're 6-3-6 lifetime against them, all in the championship but for one win in the league cup awhile back. We're on TV today.

GK: Carlos Antonio
D: Kirkland/Hughes/Henrique/McKerr
M: Turgay Colak/Mariga/Donnelly/Gordon
ST: Khan/Constantino

I give Jack Hughes a start at DC today as McKerr moves to DR. Standard mindset today at home.

2': Mariga shoots from 30 yards out without any buildup at all and I remember to turn on "work ball into box"

6': Mariga ahead to Khan, Khan has two men close to him but he has a half step perhaps, he fires from 20 yards away, and hits the crossbar, so close.

7': Gordon with a free kick from 30 yards out, he bends one around the wall, their keeper has to dive to get a finger to it, he does, but it hits the post and falls in the middle of the area. Constantino is there and puts it in the empty net. 1-0

15': They have a corner, it ends up being headed around a few times, one of our defenders heads one that Carlos Antonio could have held easily. We end up fouling them just outside the area, but stopping the free kick. They shoot 3 times in that little flurry, their first 3 shots of the match.

25': Donnelly a yellow. When did he become a foul machine? They have a free kick out near midfield, its taken short but then a pass ahead to ST Morgan, he's got a half step on Henrique, shoots from 18 yards out, Carlos Antonio came halfway out, not enough to really stop anything there and they score with a solid shot. 1-1

HALF: We dominated the first 15 minutes, shooting 6 times and controlling everything. But they controlled the last 30 minutes. We didn't get another shot or offensive highlight in the half, and they end it with 9 shots. We have a 52/48 possession edge, both teams are tackling and passing really well, everything's pretty even so far. We need to get the win at home though, lets go guys. I change to a counterattacking strat in case they keep charging forward on the attack like this.

52': We have a throwin in their end, a pass goes to Mariga 20 yards out, he turns and shoots and the keeper turns it over for a corner... we retain possession after they clear the corner and work the ball around for a good long time before Mariga takes a bad shot from 25 yards out that's wide.

58': We have a corner, they head it out wide but we recover, a pass up high for Donnelly, he spots Constantino and puts it into the area for him, Constantino is free, but he's tackled before he can shoot... its a penalty!! Constantino takes the penalty and buries it. 2-1

72': Mariga has taken a couple little hits, and Gordon is hurt. I bring Jackson in for Gordon and Guarin in for Mariga.

87': They earn a corner, Guarin with an awful clearance, allowing them a shot from 20 yards out but its high.

92': We counter after they try an attack, Jackson plays a ball ahead to Constantino, he cuts inside his man and loses him completely, Khan's man comes over to cover, Constantino to Khan and Khan doesn't look pretty doing it, a bad first touch forcing him to shoot right on top of the keeper, but he manages to put it in! 3-1

Ipswich 3 : 1 Derby

Man of the Match: Constantino (9.0)
Goals: Constantino 2, Khan (7.0)
Assists: Gordon (6.9), Constantino
Notables: McKerr (7.0), Kirkland (7.3), Henrique (7.0), Donnelly (7.9)

QPR loses, Bristol City draw and we're back into second.

No long term injury for Neil Gordon.

Radii · 09-10-2011, 04:15 AM

-- Eight of our players are called up for international duty. I'm used to seeing 6, 8 is nice. Donnelly is hit or miss with Scotland. the other is the new youth ST I bought, Chris Bryan. The 16 year old is called up to the England U20 squad. Impressive! Speaking of impressive, he's made 18 appearances in the U18 league, scoring 16 goals, notching 9 assists and 8 man of the match awards.

-- Steven Mills resumes full training. Very happy to see that.

-- I hadn't mentioned team morale in awhile, which is a good thing. Mariga still won't let me take him off the transfer list, but he's happy to be here. That has settled everyone else down, as has our winning I assume. The only player with issues is Henrique. His morale is still just fine, Very Good or Superb I believe, but he's unhappy I rejected all the offers for him and says he wants to leave the club.

-- Stuart Kirkland puts up a 7.3 rating in the England U21 2:0 win over Cyprus, Euro Championship qualifier there. I thought that just finished, Qualifiers start back up right away? (looks briefly in game)... Guess so, every 2 seasons. A few days later Kirkland puts up an 8.0 rating in a 4:0 win for England's U21's over Faroe Islands.

-- Troy Brown plays ok off the bench for Wales in their Euro Championship Qualifier against Scotland, but they lost.

Injury Update

-- On November 19th in the morning I get an update that our squad is fully fit, no injuries, for the first time in a long time.
-- On November 19th in the evening I'm informed that DC James Welsh tore a groin muscle in training and is going to be out 6-8 weeks.
-- On November 20th I learn that McDonald Mariga tore a calf muscle in an international match and is going to miss 3 months. Crap!!

European Championship Qualifiers

With 11 teams already qualified, we're down to a two leg set of playoff matches for the final 5 spots. Here's how they turned out:

Denmark 3 : 0 Macedonia
Norway 5 : 2 Romania
Scotland 4 : 1 Wales
Ukraine 5 : 2 N. Ireland
Turkey 2 : 0 Albania

November 23rd, 2019

Ipswich(10-4-3, 2nd) @ Wolves(10-3-4, 3rd)

Wolverhampton are 4:5 favorites today against us, wow. We're jsut 3:1 to get a win at their place. They were relegated out of the EPL last year along with us and are determined to rise back up. We tied them both times we played last year and are 1-3-3 lifetime against them.

GK: Carlos Antonio
D: Kirkland/McKerr/Henrique/Berthet
M: Turgay Colak/Mills/Donnelly/Gordon
ST: Hamilton/Constantino

They're led by Sam Vokes with 9 goals. We've got a lot of guys healthy again and back in. Berthet at DR so McKerr back to DC. Mills takes the place of the injured Mariga, and Simon Hamilton is back up front next to Constantino. We're defending today at their place.

12': they take a long shot, it deflects off Donnelly and goes back for a corner. We head the corner away but they control it. They end up earning a throwin before we clear.

21': Berthet with a yellow.

25': Corner for us but cleared easily, they are flying around everywhere. They've got 9 shots, we have 1. They haven't put a single one on target yet but its starting to add up.

31': They shoot from very long range, first on target shot as Carlos Antonio tips it over for a corner. They commit a foul on the corner.

44': we have a throwin in their end, after a lot of scrapping to control possession we get a ball down the right side for Gordon, he crosses, Turgay Colak wins a header about 6 yards out, but keeper saves.

HALF: To say we're being outplayed here is putting it lightly. We withstood 15 shots in that first half, only one was on target but that is a hell of a lot. We shoot 2 times, both on target but neither really threatening. We'll change to a counterattacking strategy in the second half, need to open thigns up at least a little to try to take some pressure off the defense.

64': we look to be doing much better here, Donnely finds Constantino who outruns an injured defender to get a solid shot off, but saved.

69': Free kick from 20 yards out... taken really well and put by Carlos Antonio, he didn't have a shot at stopping that. 0-1

71': We build up quickly after a goal kick, Mills has it near midfield, he lobs a ball over the defense and Constantino sprints between their central defenders, running onto it, rushing into the area and finishing perfectly! Mills with a perfect pass. Mariga's ratings always seem better but I like what I see from Mills a lot more. 1-1

77': Guarin in for a tired Hamilton, he drops back to DMC, only Constantino up front. Jackson in for Gordon.

85': Mills shouldn't be shooting much I don't think... the commentary says "Mills drives it low at goal!" The highlight on the pitch shows Mills in the right side of the penalty area, drilling the ball alright... almost straight to his left, it rockets out of play on the other side of the field for a throwin. Not even enough of an angle to have it go behind for a goal kick. He was kinda open but I'm laughing more than I'm annoyed at that one.

That'll do it and we'll take a point on the road here and be glad for it.

Wolves 1 : 1 Ipswich

Man of the Match: Constantino (8.1)
Goal: Constantino
Assists: Mills (7.9)
Notables: Carlos Antonio (7.1), Kirkland (7.2)
We play better than them in the second half, we had more chances to score than they did by far but again, happy with the road draw.

-- Donnelly plays his 200th league match. McKerr his 100th.

Radii · 09-10-2011, 04:44 AM

Injury Update

-- Carlos Antonio "was in some pain" following training today and has a hip injury. Injections so he can play against Gillingham? 5-6 months. Physio? 3-4 months. Specialist? 2-3 months. Specialist it is.

-- The same damn day, Turgay Colak tears a calf muscle in training. 4 months. Those are two positions where we all of a sudden get very very young when the starters go down. Guarin can play ML but Hughes is better suited for it. Both will see lots of action now.

November 30th, 2019

Gillingham(7-2-9, 16th) @ Ipswich(10-5-3, 2nd)

We're huge 1:2 favorites here, making them 9:2. Gillingham manager Marcus Tudgay tells me that he doesn't want my team to promote this year. Well screw you pal!

GK: Mason
D: Kirkland/McKerr/Henrique/Berthet
M: Hughes/Guarin/Donnelly/Gordon
ST: Hamilton/Constantino

Chris Mason obviously takes over at GK for the next few months. Hughes ML, and Guarin starts for Mills at MC. Mills is a bit tired after one match back after his injury. Against a bad team i'm hoping I can just attack to keep the pressure low on Mason.

14': Gordon intercepts a backpass and we have 3 men off to the races, Gordon plays it to Hamilton and he pulls up and slows things down. Hughes ends up with a cross in, Donnelly header, but high.

24': Donnelly to Hamilton, Hamilton could try to get into he area and score but he looks to pass first, hitting Donnelly, Donnelly has a clear cut chance in a good position... but its saved.

34': We earn a corner, Gordon takes it to Constantino, Constantino blasts it on a volley, and its by the keeper and in! 1-0

39': Donnelly is hurt. his fitness down under 50%. CRAP.

48': They get forward on a counterattack and our defense is out of position, a cross in from the right, a pass from one striker to the other and their ST Simeon Jackson is wide open and drills it by Mason. 1-1

HALF: We dominate most of the half before allowing the quick counterattack late. We shoot 5 times to their 3, 2 on target for us but 0 for them. Ratings are about the same but it seems like we dominate the highlights. Hopefully we'll pull ahead for good in the second half.

49': Kirkland with a great steal in their half of the field to start up an attack. He makes a run down the left, crosses it in, they win a header over Cosntantino but its just cleared out to the right. Gordon is there to control the ball, he comes into the area and puts a great shot by the keeper form a really narrow angle!! 2-1

53': We're pushing forward hard as the highlight open, Hughes passes ot Donnelly, Donnelly is 20 yards out, draws a defender and pokes a ball into the area for Constantino, Constantino shoots and scores! 3-1

66': A quick attack as a ball goes forward to Donnelly, he runs down the right, they're really not back well, Donnelly crosses it to the far post, Hughes is there all by himself, heads it... wide. He should have scored there.

Solid second half.

Ipswich 3 : 1 Gillingham

Man of the Match: Constantino (8.8)
Goals: Constantino 2, Gordon (8.2)
Assists: Donnelly (7.7), Gordon
Notables: Mason (7.3), Berthet (7.0), Hughes (7.1), Guarin (7.0)

Injury Update

Gordon Donnelly is out 3-4 weeks with a hamstring injury suffered today. We are hurting bad with Mariga and Donnelly both out long term. Guarin and Mills become our two guys that can naturally play MC. We may move our formation around and/or bring up some U18 kids to try to manage.

Radii · 09-10-2011, 07:19 PM

Breaking Records in December

-- Constantino has won 13 man of the match awards (12 in league play and one in the league cup), breaking his own Ipswich record. Its December 1st and we're not even halfway through the season. Ridiculous!

Injury Update

-- Simon Hamilton hurts his back in training and is out 4 weeks. This is killing me. I go into our training schedules and bump all of the overall intensities down a notch.

December Update

-- We play on the 7th, 10th, 14th, 21st, 26th, 28th and 30th. December is always a really busy month and we have massive injury problems right now so I'm pretty darn worried.

-- A training update says that Chris Mason trained well this past month. His Throwing (12), Anticipation (7) and Positioning (11) have all gone up.

-- Constantino continues to own the league, winning his 4th straight player of the month award.

-- The board remains pleased with my leadership. Constantino remains the positive, our 6:2 Coventry loss the negative.

-- We lose $2.54M last month. Our profits on the year are already down to $3.8M and our cash balance is down to $10M.

FA Cup 3rd Round Draw

-- We're going to be playing on the road, but our draw is good, pending a replay we're going to get Grimsby from League 2 or Hastings Utd who are below the BSS/BSN level.

December 7th, 2019

Ipswich(11-5-3, 2nd) @ Leyton Orient(3-2-14, 24th)

We're crazy 2:5 favorites today, Leyton Orient 13:2 to get a win at their place. After bouncing between league 1 and league 2 for over 30 years they finally made the Championship. It doesn't seem like they're going to stay.

GK: Mason
D: Kirkland/McKerr/Henrique/Berthet
M: Hughes/Guarin/Mills/Gordon
ST: Khan/Constantino

Mills and Khan in for the injured Donnelly and Hamilton. We have 6 players injured right now. Every single one of them has 10+ starts for us.

28': A couple quick highlights so far but no real serious chances. But here we get fouled a foot away from the penalty area, Gordon shoots, it deflects off a couple people and goes behind for a corner, they clear easily though.

33': Jack Hughes is hurt. Hooray.

39': We win a ball in defense and Berthet sends it long down the right side. Constantino is first to it, a defender is right there next to him, but that one step is enough, Constantino pushes it ahead and takes off, into the penalty area and an easy finish. 1-0

44': We have a corner, taken to Constantino, he runs around a bit trying to get a shot off, he's tackled, its a foul, penalty given! Constantino takes the penalty and scores. 2-0

47': We try to counter after winning the ball in our end, but they intercept and catch us a bit off guard as we're going forward, a pass goes up to their ST German and he's by our defense and easily beats Mason. 2-1

HALF: McKerr takes the blame for that goal and goes into the locker room with a 5.8 rating. Possession is even but we're getting the best of it for the most part. 12 shots for us, 5 on target. They've got 4 shots, all 4 on target. Their attacks have been few and far between but when they were able to get forward they were a bit scary. We should be just fine but allowing that late goal gives them an opening.

46': We build up from the kickoff, getting the ball to Khan who turns and shoots from 20 yards out, its a solid shot but saved.

49': Another buildup on offense, we try to send it into the area but they head it away. Kirkland recovers it out left, a pass to Guarin, through ball close to the 6 yard box, Khan is there behind the defense and easily scores! 3-1

57': We switch to a counter attacking strat.

58': Mills has it 40 yards out, his passing is so accurate, a pinpoint pass into the area that is perfect for Khan, Khan shoots and its an easy finish of a clear cut chance, all the credit to Mills there! 4-1

74': Troy Brown in for Hughes, we drop to a 5-3-2 formation. Jackson in for Gordon. Guarin moves out left.

88': Jackson with a run down the right, he tries a cross into the 6 yard box, two of their guys go up to head it away and there's some confusion and it ends up getting headed into the net... an own goal. 5-1

92': Mills with another through ball to Khan and Khan has a hat trick! 6-1

It finally ends.

Leyton Orient 1 : 6 Ipswich

That last goal by Khan gave him man of the match over Constantino.

Man of the Match: Matthew Khan (9.6)
Goals: Khan 3, Constantino 2 (9.2)
Assists: Mills 2 (9.1), Guarin (8.7), Berthet (8.4)
Notables: Mason (8.6), Kirkland (7.9), Henrique (7.9), McKerr (7.6), gordon (7.2)

A solid win, lets hope Hughes isn't hurt.

...

Injury Update

Jack Hughes is out for 3 weeks.

-- The good news is that we take over first place with our win as Bristol City draws. The bad news is that we now have 7 players out with longish term injuries.

Radii · 09-10-2011, 09:29 PM

-- We have 5 players named to the team of the week. Henrique, Berthet, Guarin, Mills, and Khan (no Constantino!?)

December 10th, 2019

Hull(6-2-12, 20th) @ Ipswich(12-5-3, 1st)

Yes, the 20th place team at home, that's what we need while we heal up. We're 4:7 favorites today at home, they are 4:1 to win here. We're 5-8-3 against them lifetime.

GK: Mason
D: Kirkland/McKerr/Henrique/Berthet
M: Guarin/Mills/Jackson
AMC: Gordon
ST: Khan/Constantino

With all the injuries we're getting to the point where we run a bunch of U18 guys or start really getting creative with our formations. Today against a worse team we're trying something quite agressive with this 4-3-1-2, Gordon AMC, Jackson starting out wide.

10': Gordon gets a ball up ahead to Constantino on a counter attack, they have one defender who was out to the side that charged in to try to close down, that prevents Constantino from getting a completely free run into the area, he pulls up 20 yards out and shoots but its saved and turned behind. We earn a second corner, and then put a shot wide.

20': They get a through ball into the area, it goes a bit deep, its a clear cut chance for their striker but pretty close to Mason and Mason is able to make the stop, the ball deflects out into play though and they followup, Mason with another reflex save! Two clear cut chances stopped.

28': We lose the ball in midfield, they get it ahead to ST O'Neil, he's pretty damn fast and is able to make a run into the area and beat Mason. 0-1

34': We build up quickly on offense, constantino passes ahead to Khan, he shoots from the edge of the box... off the right post, so close! They end up putting it behind for a corner... we earn a 2nd, then a 3rd corner, then a 4th... and finally they clear it away.

42': A backpass goes to Mason, he sends it to Berthet, a quick pass to Jackson who plays a great ball ahead to Neil Gordon, Gordon has a half step on his man, is able to keep that advantage into the area, he's got a clear cut chance, but he puts it off the right post! The second time that's happened for us.

44': A run down the left by Guarin, he goes deep towards the end line, crosses through the area, Clive Jackson goes down... its a penalty! Constantino takes it and buries it. 1-1

HALF: We end up with 9 shots to their 7, only 2 on target for us (despite 3 clear cut chances). They have 3 on target. Possession is pretty much even, but it feels like we aren't really playing great, maybe not a surprise with 7 guys hurt and a random new formation, most of our attacking has come on long balls ahead of the defense. We've got Constantino so that should work out for us in the end.

48': they counterattack and get well behind our defense, Kirkland is chasing down their attacker... a slide tackle in the area, he wins his tackle cleanly and it goes behind for a corner which we clear.

50': I drop back to a standard mindset and tell my defensive line to drop a bit deeper. We're getting beat a bit too often.

57': their left defender fails to clear, Constantion attacks him aggressively and wins the ball... he runs into the area from the left side, tries a pass through the area but its a bit wild, the ball goes back in to Gordon.. he goes down... another penalty! There's going to be some crazy controversy after this one. Constantino drains it. 2-1

59': We win the ball in their end, a long ball goes ahead, Constantino runs onto it, shoots from the edge of the box but their keeper has rushed out nicely for the save, but he can't hold it. Khan is trailing the play and he gets to the rebound and puts it in. Two very quick goals. 3-1

72': Again!! A counter attack, a ball ahead to Constantino, Constantino with a long run down the right, he cuts into the area... and right as he gets into the area he's tackled hard. Its yet another penalty. Constantino takes it and scores... its the worst hat trick ever, 3 penalty goals. 4-1

77': Burke, Brown, Taylor are in, Henrique, Gordon and Constantino out. Resting for the next match.

We end this easily.

Ipswich 4 : 1 Hull

Man of the Match: Constantino (9.3)
Goals: Constantino 3, Khan (7.3)
Assists: Constantino, Gordon (7.0), Jackson (7.8)
Notables: Mason (7.5), Kirkland (7.6), Jackson (7.8), Mills (7.7)

Very weird game. I expect some controversy in the postgame... (later) ... not really, the first penalty it really seemed like Jackson may have dived. The others not so much.

We're now 21 matches in, almost to the halfway point. We're tied with Bristol City with 44 points, Wolves are 3rd 4 points back.

I'll update the league stats after a couple games. I said awhile back that I didn't think Constantino would do anything ridiculous like 50 goals, but that he might score 40 with 20 assists. But I think that might be dead wrong. There's a real good chance we hit the halfway point with him on pace for 60 goals and 30 man of the match awards.

Radii · 09-10-2011, 10:03 PM

-- Super low league Hastings Utd upsets Grimsby in the FA Cup and we're going to be playing them in early january.

December 14th, 2019

Ipswich(13-5-3, 1st) @ Charlton(5-4-12, 21st)

Another lower ranked team at home. We're 4:5 favorites here even on the road, they're 3:1 to get a win. We have totally owned Charlton in our history, 10-0-2 lifetime.

GK: Mason
D: Kirkland/McKerr/Burke/Henrique/Berthet
M: Guarin/Mills/Gordon
ST: Khan/Constantino

Another lineup change today to try to account for our injury problems and short rest. Loaner DC Vinny Burke is in to make it a 5 man defensive line. Gordon back to MR and its a 5-3-2 wide formation which again seems kinda weird! But we have Constantino so we're ok. Standard mindset on the road.

25': Each team has two shots so far, a very slow game with little action.

36': A highlight opens with us heading the ball around in our end trying to clear.. they end up getting it out wide to the right, a pass in to one of their midfielders, he blasts a shot from 18 yards and Mason can't stop it, a really nice goal for them. 0-1

HALF: A real yawner but they've got the best of it so far. They end up with 7 shots but 5 are from long range and most aren't seen in highlights. We have 4 shots, just 1 on target. They have 55% of the possession, which is down from earlier in the half. We haven't really generated anything promising at all here yet.

55': We build up nicely down the left, a pass goes in to Khan, he sends it ahead ot Constantino, he controls it really well but he's too close to the keeper, his shot is saved and we get a corner. They clear that easily.

61': Jackson in for Henrique. Gordon up to AMC, Jackson MR, back to the formation we used last match that generated a lot more offense than this.

83': We've been attacking more but ending up having passes intercepted or long shots go wide. They're defending us well here.

92': We get forward and Gordon blasts a shot from about 20 yards out.. off the crossbar, so close!

93': More buildup, we're desparately trying to get a tie at this point, we eventually find Constantino but he has to shoot a tough shot from 20 yards away and its easily saved.

We just can't pull this one out.

Charlton 1 : 0 Ipswich

A disappointing loss, no one was terrible but no one made anything happen either. Their keeper ends up man of the match for holding off our late charge.

Bristol City with a draw today, they get 1 point up on us.

-- My first legit chance to make a big jump in stature in england, Aston Villa fires their coach and I'm named as a likely successor. But as I had said in an earlier post about my dynasty goals I want to take Ipswich ot that level, or at least as close as possible. I release a statement saying i'm not interested.

RPI-Fan · 09-10-2011, 10:40 PM

gofaster gofaster gofaster

Radii · 09-11-2011, 02:35 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by RPI-Fan

gofaster gofaster gofaster

hah things will probably slow some with football season arriving.

Radii · 09-11-2011, 03:00 AM

-- Birmingham is struggling in the EPL and they fire their coach. My name gets dropped here too, I don't get to tell them(or the media) no yet though.

-- I learn in a coaches meeting that Chris Mason continues to train well, his Decisions (12) have gone up, and his Stamina (12).

-- Jack Hughes resumes full training.

December 21st, 2019

Ipswich(13-5-4, 2nd) @ Exeter(11-2-9, 8th)

We're favorites today but its close, 5:4 to their 7:4. We're 5-0-1 against them lifetime.

GK: Mason
D: Kirkland/McKerr/Henrique/Berthet
M: Hughes/Guarin/Mills/Gordon
ST: Khan/Constantino

Exeter's Marius Stroe leads them with 12 goals. We bring Jack Hughes right away. We're counter attacking today.

7': We have a free kick near midfield, after a couple passes we get it to Constantino 25 yards out, he weaves through the defense and generates his own shot, its a clear cut chance but their keeper dives and tips it wide.

HALF: Uh yeah. We shoot 5 times but we don't have another offensive highlight after that. They have 4 shots, just one on target, nothing remotely threatening. Boring boring!

57': They're up to 9 shots taken here but all waaaay off target. They are attacking a lot more.

77': Clive Jackson comes in for Neil Gordon.

84': We get our best shot of the half, a long ball to Constantino, he's into the area but out a bit wide to the right with the defense closing down, he takes a shot but puts it wide left.

88': We have a throwin in their end, its thrown to Kirkland, he passes to Guarin about 20 yards out well left of center, Guarin strikes it towards the near post, its bending a bit, it seems like the keeper is there but he doesn't have it, its off the keeper and in!!! 1-0

We hold on, they were trying to pressure a good bit but couldn't put anything on target.

Exeter 0 : 1 Ipswich

Man of the Match: Stuart Kirkland (8.7)
Goals: Guarin (8.0)
Assists: Kirkland

Everyone else on the team was within the 6.7-6.9 range.

-- After the match we learn that backup ST Ian Taylor is out for 2 weeks, but Gordon Donnelly has resumed full training. That works in our favor I think.

Radii · 09-11-2011, 03:11 AM

The entire league now sits at 23 matches played. Lets take a brief look at things at the midpoint of the season.

2019/20 Coca Cola Championship Mid-Season Standings

1. Bristol City - 48 pts
2. Ipswich - 47 pts
--------------------------
3. Wolves - 46 pts
4. QPR - 42 pts
5. Leeds - 41 pts
6. Leicester - 40 pts
--------------------------
7. Cardiff - 40 pts
8. Norwich - 38 pts
9. Exeter - 35 pts
10. Derby - 34 pts
11. Watford - 34 pts
12. Coventry - 33 pts
13. Stoke - 32 pts
14. Fulham - 32 pts
15. Scunthorpe - 30 pts
16. Sheffield Wednesday - 29 pts
17. Gillingham - 27 pts
18. Middlesborough - 26 pts
19. Bolton - 24 pts
20. Charlton - 23 pts
21. Hull - 21 pts
---------------------------------
22. Barnsley - 17 pts
23. Swansea - 15 pts
24. Leyton Orient - 15 pts

Our goal differential blows away anyone else in the league. We have 54 goals, next best is 42. We've only allowed 27, Bristol City doesn't allow many goals but our scoring is just incredible. Our +27 Goal Differential is 8 better than Wolves and 9 better than Bristol City.

And now for the truly ridiculous:

Goals

1. Constantino - Ipswich - 28 goals
2. Lee Smith - Derby - 15 goals
3. Orlando Sa - Bristol City - 14 goals
3. Tom Matthews - Norwich - 14 goals
3. Brian Browne - Coventry - 14 goals
3. Sam Vokes - Wolves - 14 goals

Constantino may not need to play another match to lead the league in goals. Simon Hamilton is tied for 20th with 7 goals. Khan is tied for 27th with 6.

Assists

1. Enrico Rocchini - QPR - 9
1. Marvin Elliott - Bristol City - 9
3. Danny Swanson - Stoke - 8
3. Steven Mills - Ipswich - 8
3. Ryan Stone - Exeter - 8
3. Matty Fryatt - Derby - 8

Neil Gordon and Constantino both have 7 assists, both tied for 7th. Simon Hamiltion has 6.

Man of the Match Awards

1. Constantino - Ipswich - 13
2. Enrico Rocchini - QPR - 7
Many tied - 5

Average Rating

1. Constantino - Ipswich - 8.17
2. Enrico Rocchini - QPR - 7.65
3. Victor - Derby - 7.55
4. Jamie Proctor - Scunthorpe - 7.49
5. Sam Vokes - Wolves - 7.46

Gordon Donnelly is 6th at 7.41.
Steven Mills is 8th at 7.37. Kirkland 7.21, Mariga 7.18, Hamilton 7.16 are also in the top 30.

It's just unbelievable how much better Constantino is than anyone else in the league right now.

Radii · 09-11-2011, 03:49 AM

Contract Update

-- Early in the season I made sure to lock up Stuart Kirkland to an extension, its Christmas Day and I get my next notice on the rest of the expiring contracts.

-- MC Fredy Guarin - He's going to be 34 at the start of the next season. He's lost pace and accel and strength in the last 6 months. He makes $35k/wk now, he'd want $22.5k/wk to stay for another year but I'm not sure that's really a good idea. No offer now, probably time for him to go.

-- MC McDonald Mariga - Mariga will turn 33 this year. He's lost a slight bit but he's still playing great and is way more talented than Guarin, I'd be more likely to keep him. But right now he's hurt for 2-3 months. I'll wait here too to see if he starts to fade anymore after he comes back from injury.

-- DRC Michael McKerr only makes $9500/wk. He'll turn 30 this year and his ratings aren't great but he was acceptable, especially at this price, as a backup in our EPL season. I offer him a new contract at $10,500/wk, less than he wants but with a bit bigger signing bonus.

-- ST Ian Taylor doesn't seem to be developing well enough to make the team, but there's some interest in him and he's appropriately affordable, he's asking for $200/wk. Sure thing dude.

-- ML/DLC Jack Hughes I don't think is good enough either. And the biggest problem I have with him is that his ratings seem to clearly suit him to play DL which just won't happen as long as Kirkland is here which is hopefully for a long time. I don't offer anything just yet though, I'll wait til after the transfer window b/c he wants a little more than the measly $850/wk he makes now. I hold off just in case I make a move in January and need the salary room.

-- DR/MR Clive Jackson is playing better than Hughes and training better than Hughes. He wants a much bigger salary too which I want to do I think but I have the same feeling as with Hughes. Hold off til after January.

December 26st, 2019

Barnsley(4-5-14, 22nd) @ Ipswich(14-5-4, 2nd)

We're ridiculous 1:6 favorites here, after beating them 5:1 at their place earlier in the year that seems fair.

GK: Mason
D: Kirkland/McKerr/Henrique/Berthet
M: Guarin/Donnelly/Mills/Jackson
ST: Khan/Constantino

Donnelly gets back in today, Guarin back out left. Clive Jackson starts at MR. We play again in two days, ick.

12': We have a corner, Gordon takes it to the near post, Constantino with a header... its off the keeper and rolls left along the goal line just staying inches in play... wild stuff, but McKerr gets to it and pokes it in before they can clear. 1-0

25': We win a ball in our end, a pass ahead to Khan, Khan with a good run down into the left corner, he has a man on him but gets a beautiful cross around his man, to the far post and Clive Jackson is there and heads it in!! 2-0

29': We have it in the offensive end again, the area is very crowded after some sort of buildup, we try to push it in, they head it away but we control. Mills puts it back into the area and again its inch perfect, only Constantino can get to it, and he does, and he finishes. 3-0

46': A throwin in their end, Donnelly ends up shooting but its blocked and back out into play, Kirkland recovers, to Mills, and again a great ball into a crowded area, Constantino is first to it, and its another easy finish. 4-0

HALF: We look for a crushing easy win here today. I love watching Mills pass the ball. Hughes in for Guarin. Troy Brown in for Donnelly and back in defense. Trying to rest them.

56': Mills receives a pass from Clive Jackson, he's a solid 30 yards out and just launches it... its off the keeper... off the left post... and in! Har! 5-0

77': Mills sends it out wide for Jackson, Jackson crosses into the area, Khan gets his head to it and its such a crazy blowout here. Its in. 6-0

Ipswich 6 : 0 Barnsley

Man of the Match: Constantino (9.5)
Goals: Constantino 2, Mills (9.4), Khan (9.1), McKerr (8.7), Jackson (9.4)
Assists: Mills 2, Jackson 2, Constantino, Khan
Notables: Mason (7.3), Berthet (8.4), Kirkland (8.2), Henrique (7.9), Guarin (7.0), Donnelly (7.0)

Radii · 09-11-2011, 04:10 AM

-- Hamilton resumes full training. We're getting better!

December 28th, 2019

Middlesbrough (7-6-11, 18th) @ Ipswich(15-5-4, 2nd)

We're 4:6 favorites, making them 7:2 to get a win. This is actually our first meeting against them.

GK: Mason
D: Kirkland/McKerr/Henrique/Berthet
M: Hughes/Donnelly/Guarin/Gordon
ST: Khan/Constantino

Hughes at ML, Guarin MC, Mills needs a rest. Gordon back in the starting lineup too. Hamilton isn't ready to start just yet.

4': Khan is hurt, injury symbol and all, he can play though, we'll check on him later.

10': Gordon with a long throwin to Constantino, Constantino receives it at the right corner of the penalty box, he runs left by a defender, strikes a hard shot far post, and its by the keeper and in! Great goal. 1-0

31': Oh so so pretty. WOW. We clear a ball out of the defensive end, Constantino picks it up and makes a long run down the right, he crosses to the penalty spot, Khan goes up and heads it down to Gordon, Gordon lays it off to Donnelly who is trailing the play, Donnelly blasts it into the net!! Just a beautiful string of moves to get a really easy goal. 2-0

37': We set up on offense but attack very quickly, Henrique passes it up to Donnelly, Gordon cuts inside, Donnelly hits him , timed perfectly, Gordon shoots and scores! 3-0

43': My god we are playing great. Another attack, Hughes into the area for Khan, Khan with a pass back to Guarin on his first touch, Guarin on his first touch blasts it from 18 yards out into the net! 4-0

46': They get one back to take the wind out of our sails at least a little (ok not much). There's a cross in from the right, Mason comes out for it... and heads it? That's what it looks like. He could have picked itu p!! Maybe he tripped, I dunno. Its a really weak header and Mason goes down, the ball falls to one of their men in the area and he puts it into the wide open net. 4-1

HALF: Some very very pretty goals that half. Great stuff!

63': While I'm making subs we get a goal as Gordon finds Constantino open in the area and he has an easy finish. 5-1

63': Jackson in for Gordon, Brown in for Constantino and back in defense, 5-4-1 the rest of the way. Mills in for Donnelly. All for rest, we play again in a few days.

No more goals, that'll do it!

Ipswich 5 : 1 Middlesbrough

Man of the Match: Neil Gordon (9.4)
Goals: Constantino 2 (9.1), Gordon, Donnelly (9.1), Guarin (8.1)
Assists: Gordon 3, Donnelly, Khan (7.4)
Notables: Berthet (7.2), Kirkland (7.9), McKerr (7.1), Henrique (7.3), Hughes (7.3)

-- To be honest I haven't gotten quite as much out of Neil Gordon as I'd hoped this year, though maybe that's just the way it is with Constantino at this level, just get him the ball and let him work, Gordon's crossing and such maybe will have a bigger impact at the next level. I'm really happy to see the 3 assist game out of him today though.

Radii · 09-11-2011, 04:17 AM

So many of our goals are just "pass to Constantino, watch him score", it was really nice to see 4 guys involved (starting with the Constantino cross) in a goal like this one, it was a fun one to watch, even if it was against a weaker league opponent. As always, full screen is probably required to see what's going on:

Radii · 09-11-2011, 04:39 AM

-- Bristol City get a draw in their last match and our winning streak allows us to jump back into first. We have 53 points, Bristol 52, Wolves 50.

December 31st, 2019

Ipswich(16-5-4, 1st) @ Leicester(5th)

After a nice run of soft opponents we hop back on the road to play a playoff contender. They're favored 6:4 here, we're 13:8, pretty close to even. This is why I rested key guys last match like I did. We lost to them 2:0 at our place earlier in the year. Leicester identify Steven Mills as our dangerman and state in the media that he must be stopped.

GK: Mason
D: Kirkland/McKerr/Henrique/Berthet
M: Guarin/Donnelly/Mills/Gordon
ST: Khan/Constantino

Guarin ML, Mills MC, Hamilton not really fully ready yet and Khan has been playig pretty well so I'll stick with this for an important match. Counter attack today.

14': We have a corner, taken to Henrique, passed out and crossed back through, headed out wide... Donnelly recovers it, passes to Guarin 18 yards out, he shoots, keeper makes the save but can't hold it, the ball squirts free in the area and McKerr is there to poke this one in again! He doesn't score much but that's two in two matches. 1-0

20': Khan earns a clear cut chance running on to a long ball on a quick counter attack.. he's wide open 18 yards out, but puts it off the right post.

34': They have a free kick at midfield, they send a ball straight forward, ST Carroll wins a header over Mills, he flicks it into the area and their other ST Madine is there to put it past Mason and in. 1-1

45': We have a throwin deep in their end, Gordon throws it into the area, we head it into the 6 yard box but they clear.

HALF: A solid half, some long attacking moves that led nowhere in those final 10 minutes. They actually have 9 shots, 4 on target, but we didn't see most of htem. We shoot 6 times, generate 3 clear cut chances but just one goal. The miss by Khan that would have put us up 2-0 was pretty bad. We'll keep doing what we're doing though.

53': McKerr with a yellow.

58': Hamilton in for Khan, Khan is way off today and Hamilton can give us a half.

63': Hughes in for a tiring Guarin.

65': We get what's counted as our 4th clear cut chance, we build up and Donnely puts a ball almost to the 6 yard box, Constantino gets there but its sent too far ahead, there's no angle to shoot by the keeper here.

67': Donnelly tries again, a ball from 35 yards out into the area, Constantino controls it well, has a step on his man and scores from 15 yards out! 2-1

73': Very very poor defense here, they build up and a man cuts in from the right... Kirkland just loses him completely, he controls it and runs at Mason... before he can shoot Kirkland tries to save face with a tackle, but its a penalty. ST Madine takes it... and Mason saves it!!!! No goal!!!!

81': We switch from Counter to defensive and tell the guys to hang on to the ball more.

86': Neil Gordon is hurt.. and forced to come out immediately. I use my last sub to bring Clive Jackson in.

89': Berthet goes down hard... and he's hurt. He can stay in but his fitness hits 45%. We'll check on him after the match.

Leicester 1 : 2 Ipswich

That'll do it, two injuries that worry me a lot, but we get a big win over a playoff team on the road.

Their ST Andy Carroll is man of the match today. We just didn't have anyone that played that great, we did enough to win though.

Goals: McKerr (7.6), Constantino (6.9)
Assists: Donnelly (8.0), Guarin (6.9)
Notables: Kirkland (7.1)

Khan had a terrible game, 5.5 rating.

Chris Mason comes up huge stopping a penalty that held our lead for us in this one, great stuff!

Injury update

Neil Gordon pulls a hamstring, 3-4 weeks.

Sylvain Berthet... stubbed his toe... out a week.

RPI-Fan · 09-11-2011, 12:22 PM

Are you going to yank Mason when Antonio is healthy again? Will seem tough to disrupt the hot streak like that!

Radii · 09-11-2011, 12:53 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by RPI-Fan

Are you going to yank Mason when Antonio is healthy again? Will seem tough to disrupt the hot streak like that!

If he came back right now I probably wouldn't pull Mason right away. Still a looooong two months before he's healthy again though, if we're still able to stay in first place when March rolls around then yeah I may well let him finish out the season, especially if its improving his skills.

Radii · 09-12-2011, 03:13 AM

January Update

-- We play on the 4th, 11th, 18th, and 28th. Presumably we also play on the 25th in the next round of the FA Cup, unless we go and lose to a team not even good enough to get into the Blue Square leagues.

-- The training report shows that Clive Jackson has trained well this month. Since the start of the season he's shown gains in Acceleration (17), Reflexes (6), Teamwork (13), Off The Ball (8), Anticipation (12), Dribbling (12), Flair (15), Concentration (12), Composure (6)... he's being mentored by Neil Gordon and I think its safe to say he's learning a little something.

-- Constantino is the December Player of the Month in the Championship.

-- Stuart Kirkland is the young player of the month in the Championship. Clive Jackson is 3rd in young player of the month voting!

-- I am the manager of the month in the Championship. We went 6-0-1 in December with over 1/3 of the senior roster hurt.

-- The board is pleased with my leadership. I guess since we're expected to win the league I can't do much better? Also, hemorrhaging money can't help. The capture of Steven Mills is the new highlight. I'm cool with that, I really like him.

-- We lost $3.35M last month, a new record, ouch!

-- Uh-oh, did we just find Stuart Kirkland's dream club? Everton offer $5.75M for him, I've been declining offers for him all season, but finally he says something about it, he's unhappy I won't let him go play for Everton.

January 4th, 2019

FA Cup 3rd Round

Ipswich (1st, CH) @ Hastings Utd

We can't totally write them off, they did beat a League 1 Grimsby to get here, but then again, they are 30:1 to win today. We are 1:20.

GK: Mason
D: Hughes/Welsh/Brown/McKErr
M: Guarin/Donnelly/Mills/Jackson
ST: Khan/Taylor

We start as many backups as we can. Welsh just came back form injury and I toss him in. Hughes gets a shot at his seemingly natural/best position at DL, Jackson at MR, and Constantino isn't out there today. He'll come in if there's anything remotely close to a scare, don't worry. Only commentary today.

30': We have 8 shots, 1 clear cut chance by Clive Jackson, but can't find the net.

46': Took long enough! And its an impressive shot, Guarin between two defenders well out wide to the left 25 yards away, bending near post by the keeper. 1-0

HALF: We control 58% of the possession, have 11 shots to their 2 and generally dominate most stats. Our passing is actually pretty poor, only 68% completion rate. Should be fine though.

46': Buildup down the left, Khan gets a pass way out wide in the area, passes to Guarin, cuts inside, receives it back and puts it by the keeper. 2-0

53': Taylor with a nice ball into the area for Clive Jackson who cuts behind the defense and finishes nicely. 3-0

We get a couple more attempts but and up coming away with a nice easy win to advance to the next round.

Hastings Utd 0 : 3 Ipswich

Man of the Match: Jack Hughes (8.3)
Goals: Guarin (8.3), Jackson (7.9), Khan (7.2)
Assists: Hughes, Guarin, Taylor (7.9)
Notables: Mason (7.3), McKerr (7.5), Welsh (7.4), Donnelly (7.0)

-- As important as anything else, no injuries today.

-- After the match, USA.. err... Tottenham Boss Jurgen Klinsmann notes that our young defender Jack Hughes is showing a lot of promise. Tottenham are one of many EPL clubs showing interest in Hughes.

Radii · 09-12-2011, 04:21 AM

-- Birmingham bid $8M for DR Sylvain Berthet. That's a crazy amount for him! I've been declining offers for all of my guys but Berthet was one of my biggest disappointments last year in the EPL and that's enough for me to pause and consider this one. I look around a little more... many of my coaches believe that Clive Jackson is my best DR. I hem and haw, look over the team a bit more. Berthet makes 4 times what Jackson will even after re-negotiating him. I've been talking about Jackson as my most exciting young guy for awhile over Jack Hughes, he's trained so well... and I talk myself into this one. (about 10 minutes of poking around the game, typing something here, poking around, etc, went into this decision, to try to make sure I wasn't just taking a big money offer just to be taking a big money offer).

-- With the expectation of money coming in I go look through my shortlist at ML and MR. Neil Gordon is clearly the man at MR but if Jackson is going to get a shot to become my starting right back then I need depth behind Gordon. And with additional money in general ML is our weakest spot looking ahead to next year. I would only fill it now if I find someone of an EPL level quality, not just someone who will play well in the Championship.

FA Cup 4th Round

-- Not quite as good a draw in the 4th round of the FA Cup. We're going to be playing Newcastle on the 25th, it is at home so that's nice.

Injury Update

-- Stuart Kirkland has a fracture in his arm after a fall in training... 4 weeks. 4 weeks for "broken arm" seems good. Also its a light month for us, as good a timing as possible.

Transfer Out

Sylvain Berthet quickly agrees to a deal with Birmingham and this is done within a couple days. Berthet spent 5 1/2 seasons at Ipswich, playing in ~175 matches with an average rating around 6.75. He scored 2 goals and made 23 assists over that time. Ipswich bought Berthet from Stoke for $4.1M and a clause to give them 10% of the profit from his next deal. We made $4M profit so we give them $400,000 and keep $7.6M for ourselves.

January 11th, 2019

Stoke(9-9-8, 12th) @ Ipswich (17-5-4, 1st)

We're even money favorites today at home. They're 11:5 to get a win here. We tied them 0:0 at their place earlier in the year.

GK: Mason
D: Hughes/Welsh/Henrique/McKerr
M: Guarin/Donnelly/Mills/Binks
ST: Hamilton/Constantino

MR: Binks? What? Who? Exactly. Here's how awesome I can be at managing my squad. Clive Jackson has food poisoning. I didn't notice that. So I get to lineup selection before I realize Jackson is out and Gordon is still hurt for a week or so. So here's a random kid on my U18 squad starting in a league match. Awesome!

Simon Hamilton gets his first start since his long injury at ST. Standard mindset today.

9': Binks with a pass ahead to Constantino, Constantino turns by his man and attacks, he shoots from 18 yards out... its saved by the keeper, but there's a rebound. Hamilton is first to the rebound and puts it into the net!! 1-0

25': They get their first shot around the 20th minute and the next 4 attacks are all for Stoke, but nothing doing.

28': We clear out a corner and a long ball goes ahead to Constantino. He's got it 40 yards out with nothing but space in front of him... long run by Constantino, but he goes too far, almost to the 6 yard box, before trying to shoot, their keeper cuts off his angle and saves it.

42': Our 3rd clear cut chance of the match, we control the ball, Mills gets it ahead to Hamilton who flicks it on to Constantino, just the keeper to beat from 15 yards out... and wide. Dude is a little off today it seems.

HALF: We're doing just fine but could be up by a lot more. We have 9 shots, 4 on target, 3 clear cut chances. They have 5 shots, putting 2 on target. Stoke actually have good possession, 57/43 over us, they're passing better and not playing awful, but we are preventing them from generating anything dangerous so far.

52': An attack from Stoke, one of their men dribbles in from the right, pulls up and shoots from 20 yards... off the crossbar and back into play, there's a rebound to stoke, another shot, this one is on target and Mason makes a good save.

59': Another attack from Stoke, they get down the left... cross into the area, they win the header and Mason has to make a reflex save. It goes behind for a corner, which we clear.

60': I change to a counterattacking strat.

62': We have a throwin in their end, a few passes through the middle... Mills spots Constantino in a good position and makes the pass, Constantino finishes this time, sending it by the keeper to the far post. 2-0

81': Buildup down the left side... a quick pass into the middle for Mills, a beautiful ball into the area for Hamilton, he's got a clear cut chance, but finds a way to put it wide... we should be up like 6-0.

86': Donnelly with a yellow and a foul just over 20 yards from the goal. They shoot off the free kick but can't put it on target.

We were a little sloppy today but we definitely got the job done!

Ipswich 2 : 0 Stoke

Their keeper is man of the match making so many saves today of clear cut chances.

Goals: Constantino (8.5), Hamilton (7.3)
Assists: Constantino, Mills (7.8)
Notables: Mason (7.1), McKerr (7.2), Henrique (7.7)

Contract Update

A possibly devastating error as I decided to wait to offer Jack Hughes and Clive Jackson contracts last month to see what shook out in January. Well, one thing that can shake out is that those guys are now open to receive offers from other clubs to move for free at the end of the season. Scotland's Rangers offer Jack Hughes a contract. The second I see that I realize my error and offer both Hughes and Jackson more than what they're asking for. Oops.

JonInMiddleGA · 09-12-2011, 08:50 AM

So how did JarJar do in his debut?

RPI-Fan · 09-12-2011, 08:55 AM

Was wondering why you'd play with fire on your Bosmans. Fringe benefit: since they're young, you'll get nice compensation if they go.

Radii · 09-12-2011, 10:36 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JonInMiddleGA

So how did JarJar do in his debut?

Its really a credit to how great the Match Engine is, I do believe. He ended up with a just fine rating of like 6.7 or 6.8 I think, but the highlights told the real story. Constantino is in the center of the field, Binks has it safely without any pressure at all and just launches it to the right sideline where only a defender can get it. A highlight shows us trying to start our offense and it goes to Binks and the offense stops. I see the passes Neil Gordon might try to make, this guy doesn't. He turns around and passes it back to McKerr (our DR trailing behind him when we're positioned well) almost every time. So he completed some passes, but even just watching the key highlights its completely obvious that he's a terrified little kid every time he touches the ball. No crucial mistakes, so I was perfectly happy with it!

Radii · 09-12-2011, 10:38 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by RPI-Fan

Was wondering why you'd play with fire on your Bosmans. Fringe benefit: since they're young, you'll get nice compensation if they go.

They're both staying. I didn't sim ahead to play the next match yet but I went forward a few more days and both have signed their new contract offers. Whew

That's one of those things I won't ever overlook again after just seeing the offer made to one of my guys.

Radii · 09-12-2011, 11:01 PM

-- We have very limited success in searching out a starting level ML that we'd want to keep after this year.

-- Jack Hughes signs the extension I offer him. Whew.

New Signing

I find what I hope to be the perfect target for added depth in my midfield as I spend $975,000 and buy 25 y/o MRC Darren Johnson from Hibernian in Scotland. Our scouts feel that Johnson is a fairly good player. My expectations aren't extremely high here but as we've run into injuries I've realized that we simply don't have enough coverage if the wrong couple guys are hurt at the same time, especially in the midfield, and especially with Berthet leaving and Jackson assuming the DR role.

Physical: Pace 13/Accel 13, Str 15/Sta 14, all others but jumping 11-13, he's not getting up in the air.

Mental: 15 determination/16 work rate/17 creativity. All others between 10-12.

Technical: Passing 13, Tackling 13, Technique 13, Marking 13, Crossing 14, Finishing 14. Not gonna win us a lot of headers but he can adequately get back to help defend and help the passing game moving forward.

Johnson is an affordable signing, $11,250/wk for the next 4 years(counting this one). Perfect to add some depth. If we don't make another signing I think we're ok to get through this year now. Anything else we do would be to try to get some talent for next year.

-- Clive Jackson signs his new deal with Ipswich as well. We dodge a potentially major bullet. Could you imagine the writeup if I sold Berthet because I wanted to give Clive Jackson a chance to earn a starters spot in defense, and then days later because of a contract mix-up he committed to another club? I feel better now!

January 18th, 2019

Ipswich (18-5-4, 1st) @ Fulham(11-4-12, 13th)

We're 4:5 favorites on the road to beat Fulham, they're 3:1 to win, their current 13th place is solidly above expectations.

GK: Mason
D: Hughes/Welsh/Henrique/Jackson
M: Guarin/Donnelly/Mills/Johnson
ST: Hamilton/Constantino

I decide to start my new signing Darren Johnson right away at MR, and to start Clive Jackson, now recovered from food poisoning, at DR. Neil Gordon may be back for our next game.

5': We get the first shot, a clerance to Hamilton, pass ahead to Constantino, he spots Donnelly on the other side of the area and hits him, Donnelly blasts a shot but its saved.

12': They have a free kick, we clear it out, Guarin picks it up on our side of the field, passes to Constantino at midfield, he splits two defenders and takes off, staying ahead of everyone, making it into the area and finishing easily. 1-0

18': They get forward quickly after a free kick near midfield, ST Havranek pulls up from 25 yards and just launches a shot, we didn't close down well, he had the ball for way too long there, and Mason can't get to it, into the left side of the net. 1-1

HALF: Only a couple highlights for the rest of the half here. They end up with 5 shots, 3 on target. We shoot 8 times, 4 on target, but also 4 from long range, I'd like to do better there. We have a big 57/43 possession edge and are winning in every area, they're completing less than 60% of passes successfully which is pretty darn low. We'll wear them down this half hopefully.

53': They get the first couple aggressive highlights of the second half and I drop into a counterattacking strategy, with Jackson and Hughes at fullback and a new guy in the midfield maybe best to be a little safer.

72': They have a corner, taken to the far edge of hte 6 yard box, Welsh goes up with the attacker... and brings him down, penalty. Ugh. They bury it. 1-2

75': We will attack the rest of the way, and Khan is in for Hamilton who is having an off game.

77': McKerr in for new guy Darren Johnson. Jackson to MR, McKerr DR.

86': We build up on offense, a cross comes in from Jackson, header Khan... off the crossbar, close!

88': we give up two free kicks in their end and they take forever to set up and kick them, stallllllll.

89': We finally win a ball and get forward quickly, they put it out for a throwin. They clear out well when we try to get it into the area though.

90': We get forward again, Constantino passes over ot Mills who gets into the area from the right side... but his shot is off the crossbar.

93': Hughes with a yellow.

No magic to be had here, we haven't lost in a bit though.

Fulham 2 : 1 Ipswich

A poor penalty and poor defending to allow a goal from 25 yards out is our downfall. We were better overall today but didn't score enough and had a couple lapses.

Man of the Match: Constantino (8.3)
Goal: Constantino
Assist: Guarin (6.8)

Clive Jackson a 6.1 today. New Midfielder Darren Johnson was fine, but nothing special, with a 6.7 rating before being subbed out. He completed most of his passes but lost out in the air, 1 for 5 on headers. He won't win a lot there though. No key playso f any kind but no mistakes either.

Radii · 09-12-2011, 11:28 PM

More Records

-- Constantino now has 35 league goals, which breaks his own Ipswich record of 34 set in my first Championship season. In League 1 for Woking he had 48 league goals, something he's on pace to demolish right now.

-- Neil Gordon resumes full training on the 21st. Dunno if that is going to be time for him to be ready for Newcastle or not.

Injury Update

Its a short one but it matters. Constantino catches a cold and if I keep him around for our Newcastle match I risk him getting his germs all over everyone. So I choose to send him home, meaning he isn't available for Newcastle.

January 25th, 2019

FA Cup 4th Round

Newcastle(4th, EPL) @ Ipswich (1st, CH)

We're 7:2 to win here today at home, they're 4:6 favorites. Without Constantino I'm sure that's much, much worse. And without Constantino I choose not to try to rush Neil Gordon back in the lineup.

GK: Mason
D: Hughes/Welsh/Henrique/Jackson
M: Guarin/Donnelly/Mills/Johnson
ST: Hamilton/Khan

Same as last match but Khan at ST. We defend, ask our guys to hang on to possession when possible and drop our defensive line back.

19': They come out attacking hard, 7 shots already but just 2 on target and both seemed like easy saves for Mason.

28': A run into the area... Hughes tackles the ball away... but its a penalty??? Not a sliding challenge, that seems a very harsh call. They score though. Hughes with a yellow I think for complaining. 0-1

47': Hughes with a foul in the midfield.. that's a second yellow and he's gone. Ugh. Clive Jackson can play DL, I move him over, bring in McKerr for Khan and go 4-4-1.

HALF: They have 12 shots to our 1. Mason is playing well but our prospects of doing anything at all on offense seem slim with 10 men.

71': ST Lewandowski burns James Welsh badly and scores easily after geting into the area. 0-2

83': Simon Hamilton is hurt...

84': They get midfielder Weiss into the area after what appers to be another Welsh miscue, I guess he's not taking all the blame here b/c his rating is fine but I'm seeing him stuck out of position badly. Another easy finish as things fall apart. 0-3

Ipswich 0 : 3 Newcastle

Jackson 5.6, Hughes 4.5 with the red and the penalty given. Nasty stuff.

Injury Update

Simon Hamilton has a groin strain and is out 3 weeks.

Just getting out of this injury free would have been fine, but now Hamilton misses 3 weeks and Hughes is suspended for our next match with Kirkland still injured. Yuck.

Radii · 09-12-2011, 11:51 PM

-- As we near the end of January I don't feel that we're going to be able to sign someone who can help us next year (assuming we make the EPL again) so I decide to just pocket my profits from selling Berthet. We've been losing money at a fast rate so that helps us retain cash for a little while longer.

January 28th, 2019

Cardiff(11-11-6, 7th) @ Ipswich (18-5-5, 1st)

We're big 1:2 favorites at home, Cardiff is 9:2 to get a win here today. Cardiff are 4 points out of a playoff spot, while we are now tied for first again after losing our last league match. Cardiff have Rob Lewis, the young attacker I sold last season. He scored their goal against us in a 1:1 draw back in September.

GK: Mason
D: Jackson/Welsh/Henrique/McKerr
M: Guarin/Donnelly/Mills/Gordon
ST: Khan/Constantino

With Hughes suspended and Hamilton hurt we once again have 7 players out today. 5 of them have 10+ starts for me this season. Clive Jackson starts at DL, McKerr DR, Neil Gordon is back in the lineup for the first time in a bit. I want to attack from the outset here and try to get an early lead.

8': Khan receives a pass from the midfield, he turns by his man and runs into the area.. he's tackled and its a penalty! Constantino takes it and scores. 1-0

11': They begin to work their offense, a pass goes to MC Ledley 25-30 yards out, he just runs straight forward... pulls up 20 yards out, shoots, and bends a really nice shot by Mason. Not challenged at all here again. 1-1

25': Khan gives the ball away in the midfield allowing them to attack before we're set in our defense, Welsh misses a tackle and throws things even further off... a pass into the area for Lewis, a shot, but Mason with the save! That was a clear cut chance for them, good stop for Mason.

35': Yellow for midfielder Suarez.

HALF: Not a single highlight after the 25 minute mark. We end up with 6 shots but just 2 on target, they shoot 4 times, putting 3 on target. Their tackling is awesome, 87%, while we're at 52%, our defenders are tackling well, Gordon/Guarin/Constantino(who has 4 attempts for some reason) are particularly bad.

50': Donnelly a yellow.

52': We fight for the ball in the midfield, Donnelly wins it in a good position and passes to Khan... there's a man on him but as the pass is made up ahead his man is cutting over to help cover Constantino... this mistake leaves Khan wide open with a free run into the area, he puts a shot near post by the keeper! 2-1

57': We get forward again, Khan receives a pass 20 yards out and he turns and fires a shot.. keeper can't stop it, but, its off the crossbar.

... 20 minutes without a highlight.

80': Ian Taylor in for Constantino, Burke in for Welsh, New Mid Johnson in for Donnelly. We drop back to defend the rest of the way.

88': Free kick for Cardiff, they shoot from 20 yards out... a shot around the wall, but Mason dives to save it. A great stop. We clear the corner.

We hang on and win here.

Ipswich 2 : 1 Cardiff

They shoot 10 times and put 6 on target, one was a clear cut chance, but Mason passed well today also, looks like a lot of backpasses allowing him to get easy passes completed to boost up his rating, leading to:

Man of the Match: Chris Mason (9.3)
Goals: Khan (8.4), Constantino (7.3)
Assists: Khan, Donnelly (7.3)
Notables: McKerr (7.4), Jackson (7.0), Welsh (7.1)

Good to get back on the winning side of things.

Wolves lose and Bristol City tie so we build up a few points of a lead on the rest of the league again. We're at 62, Wolverhampton 59, Bristol 57, Leeds 56.

Radii · 09-13-2011, 12:28 AM

-- HOORAY!! McDonald Mariga, still out for 3-6 weeks, has requested to be taken off the transfer list and wants to stay with Ipswich. With this, II look at his skills, esp. his physical ratings and they aren't tanking too hard yet. I offer him a contract to play for me next year. He is willing to take a pay cut from $36,500/wk to $26,500/wk, his signing bonus of $100k helps ease the pain there but I'm just fine with that.

-- The Champions League is down to its knockout rounds. France's Olympique Lyonnais, one of the top 10 teams in Europe's rankings, fails to qualify, Celtic and Stuttgart come out of their group instead. Sheffield United, a surprise top finisher last year to earn the spot, get crushed by Juventus and Monaco going 1-1-4 in their group and finishing last. Arsenal and Chelsea both win their groups to save some face for England.

Goalkeeper Update

-- Carlos Antonio resumes full training. He allowed 22 goals in 18 league matches with 4 shutouts before he got hurt with a 6.96 rating. Chris Mason has 12 league matches (11 starts). He's allowed 10 goals, had 3 shutouts and has a 7.33 average rating. I see no reason to change my starting keeper for now. Mason it is.

February Update

-- We play on the 1st, 8th, 11th, 15th, 22nd and 29th. We play our rivals Norwich and at the end of the month we play Leeds, currently in 4th. The biggest showdowns with Wolves and Bristol City are still a good ways off.

-- Jack Hughes is noted to have trained well, his Anticipation (13), Concentration (15) and Teamwork (16) are all up.

-- Wolverhampton striker Sam Vokes is the player of the month with 3 goals in 3 matches. Constantino also had 3 goals in 3 league matches, only good enough for 2nd in the voting.

-- Our GK Chris Mason is 3rd in the young player of the month voting.

-- The board is pleased with my leadership. Signing Steven Mills is the highlight and our 0-3 loss to Newcastle is the latest small complaint.

-- We made a profit of $4.19M in January. That's after making $7.6M for selling Berthet, heh.

February 1st, 2019

Ipswich (19-5-5, 1st) @ Swansea(4-7-18, 23rd)

We're big 4:5 favorites over relegation favorites Swansea today. They're 3:1 to win at their place.

GK: Mason
D: Hughes/Welsh/Henrique/Jackson
M: Guarin/Donnelly/Mills/Gordon
ST: Khan/Constantino

Hughes is back at DL, Jackson DR. Kirkland is getting close to full health.

3': We try to push the ball into the area, they head it away. Clive Jackson recovers, passes to Constantino, he turns but Khan is in a better position, Constantino finds him, Khan shoots near post and easily beats the keeper! 1-0

10': We have a corner, taken short and passed back to Gordon... Gordon to Jackson who is 20 yards out, he tries to shoot but its blocked. Guarin to the rebound, ahead to Mills who is open and he scores! 2-0

18': Gordon with a really pretty pass into the area for Khan, he's got our 3rd clear cut chance but can't finish. Its saved and turned behind for a corner. Gordon takes it to Henrique, he's tackled in the area but its a foul, penalty! Constantino buries it. 3-0

Just commentary from here, lets get this one done.

31': Mills to Constantino, he beats one man to generate a clear cut chance and scores easily. 4-0

HALF: Yup, looking good. Johnson in for a tired Mills at the half.

55': After a throwin, Gordon passes to Donnely, he shoots from just inside the area and beats the helpless keeper. 5-0

69': No shutout today, a long run for ST Olsen who had a 4.7 rating before this, into the area and beats Mason for a goal. 5-1

78': Hughes with a yellow.

Swansea 1 : 5 Ipswich

Man of the Match: Gordon Donnelly (9.0)
Goals: Constantino 2 (8.9), Mills (8.0), Donnelly, Khan (7.6)
Assists: Donnelly, Constantino, Gordon (7.7), Henrique (7.7)
Notables: Jackson (7.6), Hughes (7.5), Welshe (7.1), Guarin (7.3)

Oh wow. Swansea have broken their record for games without a win. They haven't won in 25 matches. Twenty five!! They were 4-1-3 in league play on September 21st. They're now 4-7-19 with a league cup loss and an FA Cup tie and then loss in the replay... 7 ties/18 losses.

Radii · 09-13-2011, 12:49 AM

-- Stuart Kirkland resumes full training. I'm going to give Jack Hughes a number of starts at DC to see how he does. I'm still trying to figure out what to do with him. He absolutely has a place on the team since he has the versatility to play 3 positions. I'm unsure about our new DC signing this year though, James Welsh, and Henrique will be 34 soon. So I want to give Hughes a good shot at DC as long as he doesn't go getting any more red cards. It seems safe to say already that I will spend a lot of money on DC's if we make it back to the EPL regardless.

February 8th, 2019

Scunthorpe(12-8-10, 10th) @ Ipswich (20-5-5, 1st)

We're even money favorites over the 10th place team at home, making them 11:5 to get a win today. We tied them 1:1 at their place earlier in the year.

GK: Mason
D: Kirkland/Hughes/Henrique/Jackson
M: Guarin/Donnelly/Mills/Gordon
ST: Khan/Constantino

We're thrilled to have Kirkland back. Hughes at DC.

17': We win the ball in defense and slowly work up on the offensive end. Gordon receives a pass a solid 45 yards out, sends a ball in the air to Constantino, he shows great control to win it with a defender draped on top of him, turns and after a quick step into the area drills it far post by the keeper. 1-0

24': Defensive lapse by Hughes I think, allowing a through ball and a very close range shot, but Mason makes a reflex save of their first clear cut chance! Great stop.

32': they're trying to attack rather hard here, they have 9 shots to our 6.

36': A throwin in their end, taken to Constantino, a pass to Donnelly, he spots Guarin in a good position, passes into the area for him, and its a goal! 2-0

41': Ok something weird here. Mason with a free kick from our own penalty area, he takes it long... too long it would seem. Their keeper is right there, it seems like he should just catch the ball. But Constantino is bearing down, the keeper appears to simply not go for the ball, and Constantino heads it into the net. Very strange! 3-0

HALF: They out-shoot us 10-8 but its a 3-0 lead for us.

54': Donnelly with a yellow. Pretty sure that's his 10th and another suspension is coming.

64': Welsh in for Henrique, Taylor in for Khan, Johnson in for Mills, all to rest up since we play again in 4 days.

77': Hughes gives up a penalty. WTF Guy. They score and its a Yellow for Hughes. 3-1

We finish it easily.

Ipswich 3 : 1 Scunthorpe

Man of the Match: Constantino (8.8)
Goals: Constantino 2, Guarin (7.6)
Assists: Donnelly (8.0), Mason (7.5)
Notables: Kirkland (7.6)

Jackson/Hughes/Henrique all put up 6.9 ratings.

-- Donnelly is suspended for 3 matches.

Radii · 09-13-2011, 12:51 AM

We're now 31 matches in and Bristol City has hit a small slump with just 1 point in their last 3 matches. There are still other competitors fighting for promotion here but that slump makes things look like more of a 2 team race right now.

With 15 to go:

1. Ipswich - 68 pts
2. Wolves - 65 pts
----------------------------
3. QPR - 59 pts
4. Leeds - 59 pts
5. Bristol City - 57 pts
6. Leicester - 54 pts
---------------------------
7. Watford - 48 pts
8. Cardiff - 47 pts
9. Stoke - 46 pts
10. Coventry - 46 pts

Alf · 09-13-2011, 04:08 AM

Bosman ruling from wikipedia.

For your needs : contracts are generallly ending in end of June. What it means is that all your players with expiring contracts are free to sign with anyone on January first of that year. Hence the messages you got in January.

Barkeep49 · 09-13-2011, 08:48 AM

To build on what Alf said, before you go too much farther I would do some checking to see if there are players coming off contract that you would like.

Radii · 09-13-2011, 09:50 AM

February 11th, 2019

Ipswich (21-5-5, 1st) @ Watford(13-9-9, 7th)

Watford are even money favorites over us today, we're 11:5 to get a win here.

GK: Mason
D: Kirkland/Hughes/Henrique/Jackson
M: Guarin/Johnson/Mills/Gordon
ST: Khan/Constantino

Darren Johnson in for Donnelly who is suspended. We counter and drop our D-line back today.

1': A long ball ahead to Khan after they try to attack, Khan is well ahead of the defense, its a clear cut chance right away, it by the keeper, but hits the right post, doh!!

20': They build up and there's a pass to one of their forwards, their other FC Brooks cuts into the area, a pass to him and a clear cut chance... easy goal. 0-1

29': We clear a ball out of the area, Constantino tries to pass it back t Clive Jackson to start the offense... but he mishits it and passes it back to our own penalty area, their man Brooks is there and he takes our gift and scores easily. A very rare critical mistake by Constantino. 0-2

39': Gordon with a beautiful ball ahead for Khan, well ahead of the defense and into the area, its our 3rd clear cut chance of the match... and he puts it wide. Oh lord.

HALF: Hughes and Henrique, Khan and Constantino are all taking huge hits here today... we're capable of coming back but we need a much, much better effort. We shoot 9 times, they shoot 8. We've got 2 on target and they have 4. The biggest deal is that we have 3 clear cut chances and no goals.

50': After a couple passes around the midfield Mills plays a beautiful ball from 40 yards out into the area, Constantino is there perfectly timing his run behind the defense, and he gets this one into the net easily. 1-2

53': Throwin in their end, Mills challenges their man who receives the pass just inside the penalty area... and commits a foul on him. We give up a penalty, they drain it. 1-3

58': Jackson with a yellow.

80': Guarin with a yellow, they're holding us off well after getting that 3rd goal.

84': Another turnover on our part, Hughes trying to get a ball ahead to Johnson and Johnson just doesn't run onto it, allowing an interception in the midfield and a quick counter. They get a ball forward quickly and ST Baxter has their 4th goal. 1-4

Watford 4 : 1 Ipswich

We were just off today, damn.

Goal: Constantino (6.8)
Assist: Mills (7.4)

Mason 5.7, Jackson 5.3, Hughes 5.2, Henrique 5.2, Khan 5.6. Guarin and Kirkland 6.0. No one was immune to playing like crap today!

Wolverhampton win and we're once again tied for first, we each have 68 points. 3rd has 62.

Radii · 09-13-2011, 09:54 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Barkeep49

To build on what Alf said, before you go too much farther I would do some checking to see if there are players coming off contract that you would like.

I've looked through the positions where I have the biggest needs (ML/DC) without much luck, I'll look all over to see if there are any bargains in general to be found.

Radii · 09-13-2011, 12:12 PM

New Signing

We've had good luck buying and loaning guys from Aston Villa, Constantino & DC Marc both were from there. So we give it another try. In my searches to see if I can find some bosman guys to just offer contracts to, I find a ML that my scouts like that I believe can contribute for me at the next level. This transfer won't go through until the new season but we'll welcome 23 y/o DL/ML/AML Lee Burton to Ipswich. He's a natural ML which is where I intend to use him. In loans down to the champtionship he's performed extremely well (7.43 rating and 15 assists in 30 matches for Hull a couple years ago). But for now he's just stuck in the reserve squad doing nothing.

Physical: Pace 16/Accel 14/Agility 14. Strenght 9, other ratings 13-14.

Mental: Determination 17, Tearmwork 15, Work Rate 15, Bravery 16, Creativity 14... other ratings 10-12, including Anticipation and Off the Ball play.

Technical: Crossing 17, Dribbling 13, First Touch 13, Marking 11, Passing 12, Technique 13.

So we've got a fast kid, a determined hard worker who is acceptably good at figuring out where to be and what to do at any given time with great skills at crossing the ball and pretty decent skills getting back to defend when need be.

Burton was valued at $2.1M but wanted out and was listed for less, we ended u paying $1.6M with no other clauses, I tried to get him for less than $1M with a % of profits clause but they wouldn't bite.

Burton is very reasonable with his salary demands, asking for just ~$11,000/wk until he proves he's worth better. Again this wont' go through til the start of next year, but it gives us someone we believe can succeed in the EPL at that position out of this year's budget, so that's solid.

February 15th, 2019

Norwich(13-6-13, 14th) @ Ipswich (21-5-6, 1st)

We're 4:5 favorites at home against our arch rivals today. I would like to beat them into the ground.

GK: Mason
D: Kirkland/Hughes/Henrique/Jackson
M: Guarin/Johnson/Mills/Gordon
ST: Khan/Constantino

No lineup change today.

9': Two clear cut chances for Constantino early, the first he just mis-hits the shot it seems. The second their keeper makes a good save. Its raining really hard and that could have an impact.

12': Kirkland with a yellow.

15': There's a fight over the ball in the midfield and we make two great plays, one Mills wins a tackle and takes the ball straight away from one of their mids, he passes over to Darren Johnson, and Johnson makes a high quality pass into the area from near the midfield stripe for Constantino. Constantino runs onto it and finishes eaisly with no challenge from the defense. 1-0

25': We build up down the left side but as we get forward we quickly rotate through the middle, a pass from Guarin to Johnson, to Mills, Mills puts it into the right side of the area where Neil Gordon is cutting in behind his man... Gordon to the ball, his shot beats the keeper and is in! 2-0

27': Darren Johnson with a ball ahead for Khan on a counter attack, its like their defenders just aren't there, these are ridiculous easy goals. 3-0

33': Darren Johnson is everywhere today. They get a strong shot from 20 yards out, saved by Mason but it runs free, one of their attackers is first to it but Johnson makes a key tackle before he can shoot to dispossess him.

HALF: We shoot 9 times, putting 6 on target, 4 of them are clear cut chances. Our midfield is playing great today setting everyone up. They've got 10 shots but just 2 on target and we haven't seen many of those shots.

71': Hughes a yellow.

85': Kirkland a yellow.

I went to commentary only for that second half and we get out of there with a nice 3-0 win.

Ipswich 3 : 0 Norwich

I'm always happy when what I feel like I'm seeing in highlights is accurately reflected in the ratings:

Man of the Match: Darren Johnson (8.9)
Goals: Gordon (7.9), Constantino (7.6), Khan (7.2)
Assists: Johnson 2, Mills (7.3)

The entire team gets between 7.0-7.4 outside of those mentioned above. Great stuff!

Radii · 09-13-2011, 03:34 PM

-- Henrique requests to be transfer listed. He's been unhappy for awhile now that I was rejecting contract offers but unlike Mariga I guess he doesn't see our hopeful rise back to the EPL as enough reason to want to stay. He wants out. I delay his request for now. He is slowly losing his skills but he was the only reliable DC I found in my last trip up. Even if he's slowing down I would really like him around next year if at all possible and see if he would be happier back in a higher league.

February 22nd, 2019

Bolton(11-5-17, 18th) @ Ipswich (22-5-6, 1st)

We're 4:5 favorites again today at home against a Bolton club that was predicted to be relegated but is fighting well to stay up.

GK: Mason
D: Kirkland/Hughes/Henrique/Jackson
M: Guarin/Johnson/Mills/Gordon
ST: Hamilton/Constantino

Simon Hamilton is back from injury and starting today.

17': Our first shot comes as Constantino passes to Hamilton in the area for a clear cut chance, but they cut off the angle and Hamilton can't finish.

18': They commit a foul about 20-22 yards out. Gordon takes the free kick and sends it into the area instead of shooting, they clear.

21': Mills to Constantino, he turns by his man with insane ease, clear cut chance... but saved.

32': They have a corner, Johnson with a nice tackle to win it away after its passed in, but they control, and there's a shot from 25 yards out, Mason dives... gets a hand to it, but its still on target, in the net. 0-1

35': Henrique misses an interception as one of their forwards passes ot the other on an attack and allows ST Gray into the area for an easy finish... uh oh. 0-2

HALF: Well that's a bit of a problem. We seem to control the first 20 minutes well but fail to score on 2 easy chances before collapsing and allowing two goals. If we can get one back early we could still do ok here. We don't exactly have a commanding lead in this league though we can't afford to give games away like this.

47': Simply beautiful passing, Hamilton is 30 yards out, a pass to Constantino, he hits it forward to Guarin with his first touch and its just perfectly placed. Guarin controls it well and beats the keeper! 1-2

53': Mills and Hamilton with a few passes back and forth trying to get something set up, finally Mills hits him, Hamilton beats his man, into the area, shoots far post past the keeper who is rushing out, and scores!! Lets keep it up. 2-2

56': Quick buildup on offense, Darren Johnson hits Gordon in the right side of the area, Gordon charges towards the goal to attack, he's able to beat the keeper and we've got 3 goals in 11 minutes!! 3-2

68': They have it... a couple passes, a through ball for ST Mills, he's into the area for a very easy finish. Henrique takes the blame for that goal and his rating drops from 7 to 5.9. 3-3

89': After 4 or 5 attacking highlights for us showing us squandering possession they get forward again and Henrique seems beaten yet again but Mason makes a diving save to keep it tied... corner is cleared, but they work it ahead again for a second corner. This one we get out of there for good.

That'll do it.

Ipswich 3 : 3 Bolton

After an awful first half this is a decent result but against a poor team it really hurts to give away 2 points at home.

Man of the Match: Constantino (8.4)
Goals: Hamilton (7.3), Gordon (7.5), Guarin (7.4)
Assists: Constantino, Mills (7.4), Johnson (7.2)

5.9 from Henrique. Is the bastard going to tank because I don't' want him leaving?

-- Fredy Guarin scored his 25th league goal today.

Radii · 09-13-2011, 09:11 PM

-- Wolves won their last match and we fell to second. We do remain 4 points ahead of 3rd and our next match is against 3rd place Leeds. Its at their place, but we have a big opportunity here to really increase the distance from the top two auto promote spots and that 3rd place playoff spot.

Injury Update

-- All of a sudden we're struggling to keep Stuart Kirkland on the field. He strains his calf in training and is out 3 weeks.

February 29th, 2019

Ipswich (22-6-6, 2nd) @ Leeds (22-2-10, 3rd)

Leeds are 5:4 favorites here, making us 7:4. They were picked 9th in the preseason and a win over us here would put them within striking distance of 2nd. We really want a win badly for just that reason, we could put some distance between 3rd. But hell we're on the road against a top team, this is a spot where we'll play for a point if we have to. We did get a big 4:1 win at home earlier in the year.

GK: Mason
D: Hughes/Welsh/Henrique/Jackson
M: Guarin/Donnelly/Mills/Gordon
ST: Hamilton/Constantino

Hughes to DL, Welsh at DC with Kirkland hurt again. Donnelly has finished serving his suspension and is back in at MC. We counterattack today.

23': All Constantino all the time! They have a corner, we win a header and head it away, its a nice strong header that sends the ball out towards midfield... Constantino picks it up on our side of the pitch, turns right and begins his run. He blows by everyone, cuts back inside to get into the penalty area, goes all the way into the 6 yard box to challenge the keeper and buries it! 1-0

35': We build up on offense down the left side, Hughes to Donnelly, Donnelly to Hamilton about 20 yards out, he makes a nice turn and is into the area, firing a strong shot that the keeper can't stop! 2-0

HALF: Each team only shoots 5 times, 1 on target for them, 4 on target for us. We appear to be in full control here though as our defense is playing well.

51': They build up and work their way into the penalty area... Hughes with a tackle, but its a penalty, guhhhhh. They hit it. 2-1

56': Donnelly with a ball from 35 yards out to the edge of the penalty box, Hamilton scoots behind the defense which was up a bit high there, he is first to the ball, shoots from there and puts it into the right side of the net, well done! 3-1

72': Johnson in for Mills.

91': Lets add one more for fun, Constantino receives a pass on a counter attack, a run down the left, the defense is tracking well though... he pulls up outside the area, sends a cross into the 6 yard box, Hamilton is there and he heads it home for a hat trick!! 4-1

Leeds 1 : 4 Ipswich

Man of the Match: Simon Hamilton (9.6)
Goals: Hamilton 3, Constantino (9.0)
Assists: Donnelly 2 (9.0), Constantino, Gordon (8.3)
Notables: Mason (7.1), Jackson (7.3), Welsh (7.5), Henrique (7.6)

Bristol City and Wolverhampton tie. That makes up the 2 points we lost last week and puts us back in first place. And beating Leeds puts us 7 points away from that 3rd place spot that we want to avoid so much.

With 11 matches to go:

1. ipswich - 75 pts
2. Wolves - 75 pts
--------------------
3. QPR - 68 pts
4. Leeds - 68 pts
5. Bristol City - 61 pts
6. Leicester - 58 pts
-------------------------
7. Watford - 55 pts
8. Stoke - 54 pts
9. Cardiff - 54 pts

3 are tied for 10th with 52.

Radii · 09-13-2011, 10:03 PM

March Update

-- We play on the 7th, 14th, 17th, 21st, 24th and 28th. 14th vs Coventry, a rematch of our worst loss of the season, an inexplicable 2:6 drubbing. 21st vs QPR, 24th @ Bristol City, teams currently in 3rd and 5th.

-- Jack Hughes is at the top of the list of players that have trained well this month. The only immediate change is an increase in Balance though. I need an increase in "doesn't commit stupid fouls in the penalty area" more than anything from his dumb ass.

-- Simon Hamilton is the league player of the month! He came back from an injury with 4 goals in 2 matches. Donnelly is 3rd in the voting here. I guess they just don't want to give it to Constantino every month, ignoring his 7 goals in 6 matches and 8.25 average rating on the month.

-- Constantino does get the goal of the month for his goal in our last match against Leeds where he took it from our half of the field all by himself to score.

-- The board remains pleased. 3-0 win over Nowrich is the highlight, 4-1 loss to Watford the lowlight.

-- We lost $2.3 Million last month.

-- McDonald Mariga resumes full training!

March 7th, 2019

Ipswich (23-6-6, 1st) @ Sheffield Wednesday(11-10-14, 16th)

We're 5:4 favorites on the road, they are 7:4 here. We beat them 3:0 earlier in the year.

GK: Mason
D: Hughes/Welsh/Henrique/Jackson
M: Guarin/Donnelly/Mills/Gordon
ST: Hamilton/Constantino

Mariga is available to come off the bench today. We'll do our counterattacking thing on the road.

16': Welsh with a yellow.

17': They have a run down the right, midfielder McCalister beats Hughes down the sideline and gets a cross in, its a great cross, our defense is there but its put right where it needs to be so only they have a shot with it, midfielder Green runs onto it and scores. 0-1

28': they take a corner to the near man, he takes a shot... no chance for Mason but our man on the line clears it, whew!

33': Hamilton with a yellow.

34': Hughes with a yellow.

HALF: We controlled just the first 10 minutes here with a few good looks but they really felt to be in control of the rest of the half. McKerr is in for Henrique, dude is just not playing well, overuse of the old guy or he's pouting because I won't transfer list him, I dunno. Either way McKerr has played well at DC this year and he's in.

47': yellow for midfielder Cox.

70': 20 minutes with no highlights is too much, I change to attacking, they are not letting us do anything at all here, we have to force the issue.

72': the results are instant. A goal kick, taken short to Hughes, we quickly work up the pitch, Donnelly to Constantino about 25 yards out, Constantino spots Gordon cutting in from the right and hits him, Gordon centers for Hamilton and he passes it into the net, great play! 1-1

93': One of their defenders is hurt. That's all I can say. I'm fraps'ing it. Constantino receives a pass at midfield, he's got two defenders between him and the goal, but one is hurt... he runs with them, pokes the ball ahead and somehow gets to it first, continues his run, both defenders are still there, he splits them on his way into the area and finishes into the right side of the net. Unbelievable. 2-1

Sheffield Wednesday 1 : 2 Ipswich

Good win after falling behind early.

Man of the Match: Constantino (9.0)
Goals: Constantino, Hamilton (7.0)
Assists: Hughes (7.3), Gordon (7.1)

Henrique had a 5.6 rating when he got taken out. None of our players not involved with a goal put up a 7.0+. Lots of 6.8-6.9 though.

-- Simon Hamilton scores his 50th league goal.

Radii · 09-13-2011, 10:09 PM

Full screen as always. Ridiculous is the only word I have for this.

BYU 14 · 09-13-2011, 11:32 PM

That was sick

BTW, how do you get the ratings screens onto the match view, is that a mod or something I am missing?

Radii · 09-14-2011, 12:30 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BYU 14

That was sick

BTW, how do you get the ratings screens onto the match view, is that a mod or something I am missing?

Up near the play/pause button in the top right is a "match day info" dropdown, it lets you select from a ton of different pieces of info that can be displayed on the screen.

Radii · 09-14-2011, 02:15 AM

Injury Update

Carlos Antonio turns his ankle in training and is out 3-4 weeks. At age 25 when I bought him he'd been hurt one time in his entire career, missing 12 days in 2017 with a hand injury. Since joining our team 15 months ago he's missed 20 weeks injured.

March 14th, 2019

Coventry(13-14-9, 11th) @ Ipswich (24-6-6, 1st)

We're 4:5 favorites today, Coventry 3:1 to get a win. I don't even need to look up the previous match, I remember it well. 6:2. Coventry scored the first 4 goals of the match and embarrassed us. Today is about revenge.

GK: Mason
D: Hughes/Welsh/Henrique/Jackson
M: Guarin/Donnelly/Mills/Gordon
ST: Hamilton/Constantino

No changes. Mariga needs reserve team play to get fit (or subbed in later).

3': Constantino to Mills, into the area, easy finish. Suck it Coventry. 1-0

6': Mills puts a ball into the area for Guarin, good look but saved.

18': Some *amazing* passing. 7 or 8 passes after a free kick, Mills into the area for Gordon, one touch out wide to Jackson, one touch into the area for constantino, he beats his man, shoots, the keeper tries to save it but its off of him and into the net! 2-0

23': They get forward quickly and shoot from 20 yards out, Mason has to make a diving save, and does so well.

27': Defender Angelov with a yellow.

33': Yellow for Defender Singh.

42': They attack down the left, there's a cross into the area, we head it away before it gets to the target man.. but Donnelly brings down the target man and its a penalty. They score on the PK easily. 2-1

HALF: We're playing great and dominating the match but that penalty makes it close. We shoot 12 times to their 4. 5 shots to their 2. Lets get 4 more goals guys.

53': Clear cut chance as we intercept an attempted clearance, a pass to Constantino, pass ahead to Hamilton, but he puts it wide.

64': A very quick strike! A fight over the ball in midfield, Donnelly wins possession, immediately ahead to Mills, one touch to Hamilton and a great finish this time! 3-1

72': Steven Mills is hurt, he can stay in but injury symbol and 45% fitness, ouch.

74': Mariga in for Mills, Turgay Colak (freshly fully fit) in for Guarin. In both cases I'm hoping to hold our lead and get them a little closer to match fit. Maybe a bit of a stupid risk but meh. I would not have brought them in if it were still 2-1.

We do hold on for the win easily.

Ipswich 3 : 1 Coventry

Its not 6:2 but I'm satisfied with our revenge.

Man of the Match: Constantino (9.0)
Goals: Constantino, Mills (8.4), Hamilton (7.3)
Assists: Mills, Constantino, Jackson (7.1)
Notables: Mason (7.1), Welsh (7.3), Guarin (7.0)

-- Sunderland fire their manager and I'm expected to be the candidate to take over. I decline interest to the media.

-- Steven Mills is out 5-7 days. Could be worse.

-- Troy Brown requests a transfer. He's not in my plans anymore and I grant it.

It ends up being a fairly big day for us. Leeds loses and Wolverhampton draw. We're 10 points up on 3rd with 9 to go so our chances to auto promote have really shot up.

1. Ipswich - 81 pts
2. Wolves - 79 pts
----------------------
3. Leeds - 71 pts
4. QPR - 70 pts
5. Bristol City - 65 pts
6. Watford - 59 pts
-------------------
7. Cardiff - 58 pts
8. Leicester - 58 pts
9. Stoke - 57 pts
10. Derby - 55 pts

Radii · 09-14-2011, 02:34 AM

March 17th, 2019

Ipswich (25-6-6, 1st) @ Derby(15-10-12, 10th)

We're even money favorites here making Derby 11:5 to win. They're running out of hope to make the playoffs, an upset win over us would help, we'd like to prevent that.

GK: Mason
D: Hughes/Welsh/McKerr/Jackson
M: Guarin/Donnelly/Johnson/Gordon
ST: Hamilton/Constantino

We're on 3 days rest here and play again in 4 days. Johnson in for Mills who is still injured, McKerr in for Henrique.

2': Donnelly!!! A ball ahead to Constantino, he gets into the area with a nice long run, passes back out wide to Gordon, Gordon to Donnelly who is 20 yards out, Donnelly hits it on a half volley and drills it into the lower left corner of the net, a great shot by Donnelly! 1-0

6': Welsh goes down trying to win a ball in the midfield. He's hurt... he can stay in but injury symbol and all. Hope he's not out too long.

24': McKerr with a yellow.

43': We build up down the right, a pass goes in to Constantino, he hits a great little ball to Hamilton who gets our first clear cut chance, sends it low to the left... keeper dives and makes a good save though.

HALF: We're in good control here, just need a second goal. 6 shots, 5 on target. They have 4, none on target. Our possession is great, 57/43 in our favor.

52': Our 2nd clear cut chance, 3 passes through the area, Constantino to Hamilton to Donnelly to Guarin who gets a really great look from the left side, but keeper saves it, corner goes nowhere. I liked the passing an awful lot to find the best shot possible.

63': They break down our defense, catching McKerr out of position, ST Smith into the area, their first clear cut chance... but Mason makes the stop!

73': Mariga in for Johnson, Turgay Colak in for Guarin, Burke in for Welsh.

74': We have a throwin, taken short then a cross into the area, we og up for a header... they foul and its a penalty! Constantino takes it and scores easily. I'm not sure who drew the penalty. 2-0

That'll do it!

Derby 0 : 2 Ipswich

Man of the Match: Gordon Donnelly (7.7)
Goals: Donnelly, Constantino (7.3)
Assists: Gordon (7.1), Turgay Colak (6.9)
Notables: Mason (7.1), Jackson (7.4), Hughes (7.4), Welsh (7.1), Guarin (7.0)

Really happy to see Jackson and Hughes both play so well.

-- Kirkland resumes full training.

Leeds loses again. We play QPR next match, the new 3rd place team.

1. Ipswich - 84 pts
2. Wolves - 82 pts
-------------------
3. QPR - 73 pts
4. Leeds - 71 pts
5. Bristol City - 68 pts
6. Cardiff - 61 pts
--------------------
7. Leicester - 61 pts
8. Watford - 59 pts
9. Stoke - 58 pts
10. Coventry - 56 pts

Radii · 09-14-2011, 03:01 AM

-- I lower the amount I'm asking for for Troy Brown from his current value of only $230k to $100k. Lets get his $20k/wk out of here for next year.

-- We host QPR in our next match, and we're expected to sell over 30,000 tickets for this one.

March 21st, 2019

QPR(22-7-9, 3rd) @ Ipswich (26-6-6, 1st)

We're again even money favorites, QPR is 11:5. They spent 4 straight years in the EPL before falling back down in my first year at Ipswich. The year we promoted up they finished 6th and lost in the playoffs. Last year they finished 3rd and lost in the playoffs. Here they are again in 3rd. They are once again a near lock for the playoffs, but their shot to auto promote is quickly fading. They're 9 points out of 2nd and 11 points behind us in first. If we win here its all but over for their chances.

GK: Mason
D: Kirkland/Welsh/McKerr/Jackson
M: Guarin/Donnelly/Mariga/Gordon
ST: Khan/Constantino

So the two top goalscorers in the championship are playing today. On one hand you have Enrico Rocchini with 24 goals for QPR. On the other you have 46 goals for Constantino. Har. Kirkland is ready to roll at DL. Mariga starts at MC, no way he'll finish the match. Khan is in for Hamilton. Mills is unavailable today, he's pretty much ready to go but I leave him off the list for a little more rest.

5': they attack, crossing into the area from the right, we head it away, they recover and send it back in, they get a man deep out wide left, McKerr missed an interception to allow that, a pass to the middle for ST Hernandez and a powerful finish. 0-1

18': They have it, a backpass goes to their keeper and he clears it to midfield. Mariga wins a header and sends it forward... Constantino is there about 20 yards out. The keeper has run out and is in no mans land but the ball takes a very high bounce. Constantino heads it and its great, a lob over the keeper that comes down just in front of the goal and bounces in. Great stuff from both Mariga and Constantino! 1-1

28': our first clear cut chance, we win a ball in midfield, pass to Kirkland and plays a pretty pass into the area, Khan controls it well and shoots, but its saved.

HALF: Little action after that. We have 6 shots, 4 on target. They have 7 shots, 2 on target. QPR are dominating possession here.

46': A clear cut chance right out of the gate, Khan runs forward, from about 35 yards puts a perfect ball into the area, Constantino reaches it with a step on his man, shoots... but saved. He usually scores there.

55': A throwin for us near midfield, we win a couple headers that we normally lose out on from guys like Khan and Donnelly, control the ball and build up, Donnelly hits Constantino, he turns and shoots from 18 yards out and its struck well into the right side of the net! 2-1

58': Donnelly yellow.

62': Johnson in for Mariga.

81': Lets defend the rest of the way. We're playing great but they're a solid team and can pressure well.

89': We've controlled the last 10 minutes but they get a shot off here and Mason has to make a save and allows a corner. We clear it very nicely. They recover it at midfield, we make them work hard to get it back forward, with good interception attempts and tackles by Donnelly and Kirkland. They finally put a cross in but we clear.

That'll do it!

Ipswich 2 : 1 QPR

Man of the Match: Constantino (9.0)
Goals: Constantino 2
Assists: Donnelly (7.4), Mariga (7.2)
Notables: Kirkland (7.2), Welsh (7.0)

-- Before we look at our game something jumps out at me here... a baseball game breaks out between Barnsley and Derby, hell, practically an early season Miami/FSU football game! Barnsley scores in the 15th minute. Derby ties it 1:1 in the 24th. Derby up 2:1 in the 36th. Tied back up at 2 in the 38th. a 45th minute goal makes it 3:2 derby at the half. 54th minute Derby up 4:2 on a penalty. 55th minute Barnsley gets one back, 4:3. 60th minute an own goal makes it 5:3 Derby. 70th minute Barnsley makes it 5:4. Derby seems to seal it in the 84th minute making it 6:4 but Barnsley doesn't give up, scoring in the 86th minute, its 6:5... but that's where it ends, Derby 6, Barnsley 5. Dang!!

-- More importantly, we beat QPR and Wolves tie Charlton.

Ipswich have clinched a playoff spot

With 6 matches left we are 13 points up on Leeds for 3rd. If we win and they lose we could clinch promotion in our next match.

We are 4 points up on Wolves. 7 to go.

Radii · 09-14-2011, 03:38 AM

Transfer Out

Troy Brown is going to Sunderland. I don't get it. He fell off so dramatically for us. Why does Sunderland want us? Maybe he'd be ok as our 3rd/4th best DC, I dunno. But he's not even seeing the field for us here, he's just fallen too far out of favor for us. This will take place during the offseason. We'll make $100,000 on the deal.

March 24th, 2019

Ipswich (27-6-6, 1st) @ Bristol City(19-11-9, 5th)

We're 5:4 favorites on the road here, they are 7:4. They have no shot of auto promote but they are only 6 points above 7th so they need to make sure they make the playoffs.

GK: Mason
D: Kirkland/Henrique/McKerr/Jackson
M: Turgay Colak/Mills/Mariga/Gordon
ST: Hamilton/Constantino

Henrique starts for welsh, Turgay Colak and Mills in for Guarin and Donnelly. Hamilton back in up front.

36': They take a shot from 25 yards out, it deflects off a defender and into the area, ST Keane is first to the bounce and is able to put it by Mason... quite unlucky. 0-1

HALF: The two shots Bristol takes for their goal are the only ones they took all half. We shot 7 times but 5 were from long range and I only saw a couple. Not a single one on target yet.

48': We work the ball to the middle of the pitch outside the area, its crowded but Mills puts a perfect ball through the defense and into the area for Hamilton, he beats the keeper and scores! 1-1

75': defender Clark with a yellow for them.

75': Johnson in for Mariga, fatigue.

86': they attack, a cross comes in from the right but we head it away... they recover, a pass to midfielder Wordsworth 25 yards out and he shoots from there through a very crowded area and its a goal. Doh, for once it looks like we don't get the late winner. 1-2

88': Simon Hamilton goes down hurt... we'll check on him after.

Yep, not a lot of highlights, tons of long range shots that I didn't see, and they get the win.

Bristol City 2 : 1 Ipswich

One of their scorers is man of the match.

Goal: Hamilton (6.8)
Assist: Mills (6.7)
Notable: Kirkland (7.2)

6.5-6.8 for the rest of the team.

Injury Update

Simon Hamilton is out for 2-3 weeks.

The 4 point lead we'd built keeps us in first place.

With 6 to go:

1. Ipswich - 87 pts
2. Wolves - 86 pts
-------------------
3. Leeds - 77 pts
4. QPR - 76 pts
5. Bristol City - 71 pts
6. Stoke - 62 pts
------------------
7. Leicester - 62 pts
8. Watford - 62 pts
9. Cardiff - 61 pts
10. Derby - 61 pts

Two things left to decide realistically... the last playoff spot and whether Ipswich of Wolverhampton win the league.

Radii · 09-14-2011, 03:54 AM

Injury Update

Jack Hughes is hurt in training and out for 2-3 weeks.

March 27th, 2019

Leyton Orient(5-10-25, 24th) @ Ipswich (27-6-7, 1st)

Leyton Orient are 10:1 to win here. We're 1:6 to win, huge huge odds. Lets go get it.

GK: Mason
D: Kirkland/Henrique/McKerr/Jackson
M: Guarin/Donnelly/Johnson/Gordon
ST: Khan/Constantino

Lots of midfield changes, Guarin/Donnelly/Johnson in. Khan for the once again injured Hamilton. Just commentary here.

17': Khan with a nice pass ahead to Constantino for an easy goal from the penalty spot. 1-0

20': Donnelly to Khan, Khan turns by his man, into the area, easy goal. 2-0

30': Darren Johnson to Khan, Khan easy finish. Really really happy with Darren Johnson. 3-0

40': McKerr is hurt.

44': we give one back, ST Gornell with a nice finish, they caught us off guard a bit with a long header winning a short clearance by Mason. 3-1

HALF: 3-1 lead and all seems well. Burke in for the injured McKerr. Constantino took a bit of a knock and his fitness is down too. I see no reason at all to risk an injury in this one, so I bring Ian Taylor in for the second half.

49': Hm, they attack quickly after winning a ball in our end, two very nice passes leave midfielder Long wide open in the area and he scores. 3-2

63': Khan with a really long run for anyone but Constantino, he's like 45 yards out, their defense is back, there's just a bit of a hole and Khan keeps going and going, beating one defender on his way to the area and its a goal! 4-2

66': Guarin wins a ball in our end, a long ball to Khan, he's got a half step on his man at best and shows beautiful control, he shoots from 20 yards out as the keeper rushes out and beats him! 5-2

92': One last goal just for fun, Donnelly to Ian Taylor for an easy close range finish. 6-2

Ipswich 6 : 2 Leyton Orient

Man of the Match: Matthew Khan (9.9) !!!!
Goals: Khan 4, Constantino (7.5), Taylor (7.0)
Assists: Donnelly 2 (8.9), Khan, Johnson (8.0), Guarin (8.0), Jackson (8.1)
Notables: Mason (7.1), Kirkland (7.3), Henrique (7.1), Gordon (7.2)

great to see such a dominant performance by Matthew Khan.

Wolves beat Leicester today. With 5 to go:

1. Ipswich - 90 pts
2. Wolves - 89 pts
-------------------
3. QPR - 79 pts
4. Leeds - 78 pts
5. Bristol City - 71 pts
6. Stoke - 65 pts
------------------
7. Cardiff - 64 pts
8. Watford - 63 pts (One less match played)
9. Leicester - 62 pts
10. Derby - 61 pts

09-10-2011, 10:40 PM	#813
RPI-Fan Pro Starter Join Date: Nov 2000 Location: Troy, NY	gofaster gofaster gofaster __________________ Quis custodiets ipsos custodes?

09-11-2011, 12:22 PM	#821
RPI-Fan Pro Starter Join Date: Nov 2000 Location: Troy, NY	Are you going to yank Mason when Antonio is healthy again? Will seem tough to disrupt the hot streak like that! __________________ Quis custodiets ipsos custodes?

09-12-2011, 08:50 AM	#825
JonInMiddleGA Hall Of Famer Join Date: Nov 2000 Location: Behind Enemy Lines in Athens, GA	So how did JarJar do in his debut? __________________ "I lit another cigarette. Unless I specifically inform you to the contrary, I am always lighting another cigarette." - from a novel by Martin Amis

09-12-2011, 08:55 AM	#826
RPI-Fan Pro Starter Join Date: Nov 2000 Location: Troy, NY	Was wondering why you'd play with fire on your Bosmans. Fringe benefit: since they're young, you'll get nice compensation if they go. __________________ Quis custodiets ipsos custodes?

09-13-2011, 04:08 AM	#835
Alf Pro Starter Join Date: Jan 2001 Location: Rennes, France	Bosman ruling from wikipedia. For your needs : contracts are generallly ending in end of June. What it means is that all your players with expiring contracts are free to sign with anyone on January first of that year. Hence the messages you got in January. __________________ FOFL - GML - IHOF - FranceStats

09-09-2011, 04:09 AM	#801
Radii Head Coach Join Date: Jul 2001	-- Gordon Donnelly tells a couple newspaper reporters that he's now satisfied with our team's play. Good good. October 5th, 2019 Ipswich(6-3-1, 1st) @ Norwich(5-2-3, 10th) We're very slim 6:4 favorites against our arch rivals on the road today, they're 13:8. The last time we promoted up we beat them 2:1 twice and are 4-2-0 against them over the course of this career, not much of a rivalry! We'll try to keep it that way here. GK: Carlos Antonio D: Kirkland/McKerr/Burke/Berthet M: Turgay Colak/Mills/Donnelly/Jackson ST: Hamilton/Constantino 3 midfield changes today, only Donnelly stays, entirely due to fatigue from so many matches on short rest. Standard mindset on the road. 11': We open the highlight beginning to attack, we almost lose possession and they try to break forward, but we tackle and win it back quickly, Hamilton controls 40 yards out, ahead to Mills, he controls it well and finds Constantino who turns by his man and beats the keeper! 1-0 39': We attack down the middle, a pass to Constantino 25 yards out, Jackson cuts in from the right, Constantino hits him, shot is right at the keeper though. 41': Whoa, we seem in total control, they try to attack here and it still seems like we're in total control, but they have a guy randomly shoot from 30 yards out and its an amazing shot, the pace and the bend on it I would expect to see when I play Chelsea, not Norwich. But the save is even better, Carlos Antonio dives to his left and makes an incredible save!! 43': Another buildup down the middle, Donnelly ahead to Hamilton, instead of trying to find anyone this time he just blasts one from where he stands. Its a rocket but right at the keeper and he reacts well to save. HALF: We shoot 7 times, they shoot 5, but only 2 on target from each team, so there was a bit of a lack of highlights in the middle. I dunno if its the one save I mentioned or what, but Carlos Antonio has a 9.0 rating at the half. He's hitting on most of his passes which keepers usually don't so that plus saves I guess? 46': yellow for defender Shotten. 48': They attack, there's a good give and go and some poor defending on our part to simply not cover the man that received the pass back... he gets into the area, earns a clear cut chance and finishes. That was quick. 1-1 57': mills is hurt, he looks noticeably slowed. 58': They attack and I didn't see much I was subbing Mills out. There's a through ball right up the middle, ST Miller is there behind our defenders and its just a very easy finish. McKerr took the hit for that I think. 1-2 58': Mariga in for the injured Mills. 75': Not a lot going on here, we'll try to attack. 86': We earn a corner, its taken to Constantino, he can't find a shot but gets out to the right and crosses, Mariga is there for a header... keeper makes a save. That was from real close range. 88': Another corner, they clear this one out, we control though and build up on offense. Donnelly has it 25 yards out, he passes into the area, Turgay Colak cuts inside perfectly, runs onto the ball behind the defenders and strikes it by the keeper to net us a very late tying goal. 2-2 91': Donnelly goes down hurt. He's got that nasty injury symbol and his fitness fell to 30%. Norwich 2 : 2 Ipswich We salvage a tie on the road against our rivals after they came out extremely strong early in the second half. Man of the Match: Carlos Antonio (8.9) Goals: Constantino (7.4), Turgay Colak (7.4) Assists: Donnelly (7.3), Mills (6.9) It had to have been that one save to give Carlos Antonio the crazy rating. -- Watford fire their coach and I'm considered the top candidate. Why i'd take that I don't know, but I release a statement saying I'm not interested. -- No injury for Donnelly, and Henrique resumes full training after the match today.

09-09-2011, 05:17 PM	#802
Radii Head Coach Join Date: Jul 2001	-- Carlos Antonio and Fredy Guarin are named to the team of the week this week. October 9th, 2019 Watford(4-5-2, 12th) @ Ipswich(6-4-1, 2nd) We're 4:6 favorites at home vs Watford today. Watford finished with the same number of points in the EPL last year that we did but are struggling in their quest to make it back up to the top. We're 4-3-9 lifetime against them, tying them on the road and losing at home. GK: Carlos Antonio D: Kirkland/McKerr/Henrique/Berthet M: Turgay Colak/Mariga/Donnelly/Gordon ST: Hamilton/Constantino Mariga and Gordon are back in the midfield. Clive Jackson is away on international duty and unavailable today. Henrique starts alongside McKerr at DC. Vinny Burke is on the bench. 14': Mariga hits Neil Gordon in the area for a solid goal... but Gordon was offsides. I agree FWIW. 26': We have a corner, cleared easily though. We retain possession but the area is very crowded and we can't do anything. I issue the "work ball into box" instruction, Mariga loves his long shots and I always feel the need to use this when he's out there. 43': Brilliant play by Hamilton and Constantino. Hamilton receives a pass 20 yardso ut, they have 4 men back, a pass to Constantino, one defender takes a step towards Constantino, Hamilton cuts in, Constantino passes it back perfectly and Hamilton calmly beats the keeper!! Perfect give and go play in very tight space. That all occurred within just a few yards. 1-0 HALF: We are looking solid here, 9 shots to their 3, we've got 3 on target, they have none. They're tackling very well and that is likely the only reason we don't have a bigger lead. We'll try to keep the pressure on and find a second goal here. 59': We have a free kick, its sent in but headed away. They have a very very poor clearance, Neil Gordon heads it into the area from about 25 yards away, Hamilton is there, redirects it with his head from about 10 yards out and its perfectly placed into the right side of the net. Great goal! 2-0 70': We go defensive. This isn't a bad team, lets just secure the win. We end this one easily. Ipswich 2 : 0 Watford Man of the Match: Constantino (8.8) Goals: Hamilton 2 (8.8) Assists: Constantino, Gordon (7.1) Notables: Berthet (7.1), Kirkland (7.6), Henrique (7.0), McKerr (8.5), Mariga (7.0) Constantino man of the match? Well, lets look at the stats. One thing stands out... Constantino makes 16 runs with the ball. SIXTEEN. That's more than the rest of the team combined. One assist and so much control of the ball has to be the reason he gets the man of the match award over a 2 goal scorer in Simon Hamilton. Still, spectacular game for Hamilton as well. -- I keep forgetting milestones: Neil Gordon makes his 175th league appearance today.

09-09-2011, 07:44 PM	#803
Radii Head Coach Join Date: Jul 2001	-- Carlos Antonio has finished tutoring Chris Mason. Mason says he didn't gain as much as he'd hoped but he did gain a bit in the mental game. He needs it so that's good. Injury Update -- Oct 13th: Clive Jackson is hurt in training and will miss 3 weeks. -- Oct 14th: Turgay Colak is hurt in training and will miss 3 weeks. October 19th, 2019 Sheffield Wednesday(4-2-6, 16th) @ Ipswich(7-4-1, 1st) We're huge 1:2 favorites at home here. They're 9:2. We're 7-1-6 lifetime against them, pretty dang even. Unhappy DLC Zeki Fryers signed with Sheffield Wed this year after 3 seasons with Ipswich. He's starting for them, he's got 9 matches and 1 assist for them with a 6.60 rating. GK: Carlos Antonio D: Kirkland/McKerr/Henrique/Berthet M: Guarin/Mills/Donnelly/Gordon ST: Hamilton/Constantino Guarin in for the injured Turgay Colak at ML, Mills in for Mariga in the midfield. Attacking at home today. 1': Oh look at the sportsmanship. They kick off, pass it back to their defense, Fryers passes ahead... and falls over hurt. He's on the ground. We intercept the ball, a quick pass to Hamilton, a pass to Constantino who has to run by Fryers on the ground on his way to the goal. He keeps going and gets a clear cut chance and scores. 1-0 14': We try to get a second goal here, a great long ball from Donnelly to Hamilton for an easy goal, but Hamilton was offsides. Love the pass, Hamilton just needed to time that a bit better. 18': This is all Ipswich. We earn a corner, Gordon takes it, but they clear it away to safety. We have 5 shots, all on target, just the one goal though. 30': We get the ball forward, a pass to Donnelly 25 yards out, he steps up, shoots, it hits the right post, bounces out but deflects off the back of the keeper who had dove for it, and falls into the net... that's an own goal. 2-0 HALF: We take a 2-0 lead to the locker room in interesting fashion with the own goal and the goal we scored with their defender hurt on the ground. We are dominating them though, 11 shots, 7 on target, they've only shot 1 time. Their shot was a clear cut chance apparently... it didn't seem like it, Carlos Antonio saved it really easily. Poor effort from them, I didn't think it was even worth mentioning when I saw the highlight. 58': Brilliant long ball from Mills from our own end right to the edge of the penalty area, Constantino is first to it, its a clear cut chance for us but saved. 66': McKerr goes down injured and is forced to come out immediately. Another hit to our DCs. Burke is in. 73': Yellow for midfielder McCalliser. 74': Mills with a great pass to Constantino through a ton of defenders for a clear cut chance, but Constantino can't finish! 76': Mills tries to feed Constantino again but they clear. We recover, Donnelly gets it and hits Constantino who puts in a great shot from 18 yards out and beats the keeper! 2-0 84': Gordon with a free kick from 30 yards out, its a great shot, bending around the wall, the keeper has to make a diving save to stop it. Corner is headed away but we recover and there's a foul 25 yards out. Gordon again with a free kick but this one is stopped. We finish this out easily, strong win. Ipswich 3 : 0 Sheffield Wednesday Their keeper is actually man of the match despite the 3:0 loss. We shot 20 times and put 16 on target and apparently were credited with 7 clear cut chances, he stopped 4 of them. So even though we picked up a 3:0 win their keeper kept it from being 7:0 or worse and gets man of the match. Goals: Constantino 2 (9.1), one own goal. Assists: Connelly 2 (9.0), Hamilton (7.6) Notables: Berthet (7.7), Kirkland (7.8), Henrique (7.6), McKerr (7.3), Mills (7.4) -- McKerr is out about a week, not too bad. -- After losing our opener we've now gone 12 league matches without a loss.

09-09-2011, 08:13 PM	#804
Radii Head Coach Join Date: Jul 2001	-- Kirkland, Henrique, Donnelly and constantino are named to the team of the week this week. Injury Update -- Not happy at all about this one, Steven Mills has a pulled hamstring and is going to miss 3-4 weeks. Mills has 5 assists and I've really enjoyed watching his passing in highlights. -- Jack Hughes resumes full training. European Championship Qualifying A quick update here as we've made it through group play. Automatic qualifiers (ie group winners) are: Croatia, Portugal, Germany, Holland, England, Czech Republic, Spain, Italy, Belgium and France Second Place Finishers will play a two leg playoff to fill the rest of the spots: Macedonia vs Denmark N Ireland vs Ukraine Romania vs Norway Turkey vs Albania Wales vs Scotland Russia is the host and I assume they get the 16th spot automatically. No huge upsets of teams being left out here. October 26th, 2019 Ipswich(8-4-1, 1st) @ Coventry(3-3-7, 21st) We're only 6:4 favorites on the road today against a relegation candidate. We are just 2-4-0 on the road so perhaps a draw is our most likely outcome. We're 7-3-4 lifetime against Coventry. They did finish 5th last year but lost int he playoffs. GK: Carlos Antonio D: Kirkland/Hughes/Henrique/Berthet M: Guarin/Mariga/Donnelly/Gordon ST: Hamilton/Constantino Hughes starts at DC, Mariga MC for the injured Mills. Standard mindset on the road today. 14': The first highlights are for coventry, they earn a corner here, its taken to the far post... and our defending just sucked. We allow midfielder Melero to get to the ball without any of our guys challenging at all. Literally fell asleep there. Easy finish. 0-1 17': Donnelly with a yellow. I think that's his 5th and he'll miss next match. 24': They build up on offense, there's a cross in from the left, Hughes misses an interception and ST Brown runs onto it for a point blank shot and goal. Ouch. 0-2 25': Time to attack I guess!! Not good, not good. 26': We earn a corner on a shot by Hamilton that's saved. Corner to Constantino, he's tackled and we get a second corner. This one is cleared out wide but we recover... no luck though they win the ball as we try to build up. 31': They attack down the left, a pass goes to ST Keogh, Mariga comes back to defend but can't take the ball away, Keogh runs all the way to the 6 yard box without a serious challenge and he just puts it in... 0-3 33': Holy shit!!! A long ball ahead from one striker to another, a shot from 18 yards out before our defense catches up... what's happening!? 0-4 40': A nice play on offense, we get it into the area a couple times but they clear, finally Gordon with a good pass to Constantino and constantino sidesteps a defender and scores. 1-4 44': We're working it around on offense, Mariga pulls up and shoots from 25 yards, wish he'd keep passing it... we do end up earning a corner but they clear it. HALF: Oh my god! I let the team have it at halftime, totally unacceptable!! They're crushing us, 55/45 possession, 12 shots to our 4 and they're hitting everything! We only saw a couple offensive highlights. Our team's average rating is 5.96. Lets at least make it respectable. 46': they score right out of the gate... a couple passes ahead, Mariga misses a tackle, Kirkland misses a tackle, then Henrique misses a tackle allowing their midfielder Jones to make a long run into he area and score. 1-5 51': Its the closet thing I can do towards just calling the match and telling our guys to get it over with. I bring in Chris Mason for Carlos antonio, Troy Brown for Henrique and Ian Taylor for Constantino. Guys who aren't getting first team time and they might as well today. 65': After a number of passes they end up with a shot from 25 yards out for Midfielder Jose and it bends into the left corner of the net. 1-6 79': Donnelly shows that someone is still trying. He takes a pass 30 yards out, skips by two defenders and attacks the keeper, scoring nicely. 2-6 Coventry 6 : 2 Ipswich I break out the rare "declare your anger at the team" postgame talk. This was just a disaster from out of nowhere. Goals: Donnelly (8.3), Constantino (6.8) Assists: Gordon (6.2), Taylor (6.8) Henrique 4.8, Hughes 4.5, Kirkland 5.9, Guarin 5.1, Hamilton 5.4 WOW. No explanation at all for what just happened. Complacency after such a long win streak? -- donnelly will miss our next match after picking up his 5th yellow card. -- Wins by QPR and Bristol City bump them up and drop us down to 3rd.

09-10-2011, 01:30 AM	#805
Radii Head Coach Join Date: Jul 2001	Injury Update -- Simon Hamilon pulls a hamstring in training and he's going to miss 3-4 weeks. Time for Khan to step up. Hamilton has been great with 7 goals in 16 matches. -- Turgay Colak and DC Welsh return to full training. November Update -- We play on the 2nd, 5th, 9th, 23rd, and 30th. -- Random negative training report on our 26 y/o Keeper Carlos Antonio. One on One's(13), Reflexes(13) and Decisions(15) all drop. -- Constantino has won his 3rd straight Player of the Month award. Its ridiculous how much better he is than anyone else in the league right now. 8.22 average rating, #1 in the league is at 7.83. -- The board is pleased with my leadership. Constantino is the highlight, our 6:2 loss to Coventry is the low point. We lost $2.75M last month. November 2nd, 2019 Ipswich(8-4-2, 3rd) @ QPR(9-2-3, 1st) QPR are 5:4 favorites today, we're 7:4 to get a win. This is a huge road match for us at this point in the season, especially coming off that awful loss last week. We're 4-4-3 lifetime against them. GK: Carlos Antonio D: Kirkland/McKerr/Henrique/Berthet M: Hughes/Guarin/Mariga/Gordon ST: Khan/Constantino QPR is led by Enrico Rocchini with 10 goals. Donnelly, Mills and Hamilton are all out today and that really hurts us bad against a top team. We're going to counterattack today. 11': Mariga hits Khan with a pretty pass for a goal... but Khan is offsides. 18': Constantino finds a hole in the defense about 25 yard out, Mariga hits him, Constantino has just too much room and he sprints into the area and scores. 1-0 27': Kirkland ahead to Hughes, ahead to Khan, Khan is at the left edge of the area, he centers it for Constantino, Constantino has a man draped all over him but he finds a shot and buries it! 2-0 43': They have a throwin near midfield, quickly send it to a man 25 yards out, a rocket of a shot comes bending in but Carlos Antonio sends it away. HALF: We've got 10 guys rated 6.8-6.9 and Constantino at 8.7. I'm really really happy with our play here, obviously. We shoot 6 times, 4 on target. They have 3 shots, 2 on target but 2 are from long range. It just seems like all of the highlights are in our favor and the rare time one isn't Carlos Antonio lays out to stop a great shot. Hopefully that loss to Coventry was a big wake up call at just the right time for us. 62': We've seen two highlights so far, both of us attacking and missing long range shots. 64': Mariga with a ball into the area from a good distance, Khan runs onto it perfectly and has a great look, but the keeper saves, not really taken that well. 80': McKerr with a foul about 25 yards out, they shoot on the free kick but its off the wall and behind for a corner. Henrique heads the corner away which is good b/c Carlos Antonio came too far off his line for it and didn't get it. Its a home clock today, 3 minutes of added time turns into 7 before the whistle is finally blown but we hang on for a strong road win. QPR 0 : 2 Ipswich Man of the Match: Constantino (8.8) Goals: Constantino 2 Assists: Khan (6.8), Mariga (7.8) Notables: Berthet (7.4), Kirkland (7.5), Henrique (7.2) We jump QPR for 2nd in the standings with this win. Bristol City wins and takes over first. We're just 1 point behind them.

09-10-2011, 03:15 AM	#806
Radii Head Coach Join Date: Jul 2001	-- Clive Jackson resumes full training. -- Kirkland and Mariga are named to the league team of the week. November 5th, 2019 Bristol City(10-2-3, 1st) @ Ipswich(9-4-2, 2nd) Back to back QPR and Bristol City, both teams in 1st place when I play them. This one's at home. Bristol got demoted out of the EPL the same year we promoted up so I've not seen them before as Ipswich manager, but Ipswich have a long history against them going 2-8-4 lifetime against them all in the Championship. Bristol's manager pokes at us a basically saying "if you want to be the best, you have to beat the best" and if we can't beat them then maybe I shouldn't have set our team's goals to win the league earlier in the year. I respond via the media saying that confidence is high at Portman Road and that Ipswich fear no one. Bristol's head coach responds openly wondering if I'm a good enough manager to lead this team to promotion. I leave it alone after that, not having a ton of experience with the mind games and not wanting to risk bothering any of my players by being too brash. GK: Carlos Antonio D: Kirkland/McKerr/Henrique/Berthet M: Turgay Colak/Mariga/Gordon ST: Khan/Constantino Donnelly is back from suspension and Turgay Colak back from injury, both are starting today. DC James Welsh may play but I start McKerr instead. McKerr is playing really really well of late, and Welsh had been on a bit of a poor run before his injury. Standard mindset at home against a top team. 9': Turgay Colak with a nice interception in the midfield as they try to attack, he gets it to Constantino who weaves through their defense brilliantly before earning a clear cut chance.. but he's a little far in and the keeper stops it. Goal of the year material there if he'd scored (counting the run he made by himself to create the chance). 12': They commit a foul on Kirkland out left, near the area but pretty far wide. Gordon crosses in, they head it behind, corner. Corner is cleared. 15': Mariga a yellow. 39': After a long buildup down the right Gordon crosses in and they head back for a corner. Gordon takes the corner, Mariga heads one over. They are playing very defensive. HALF: We shoot 6 times, just putting 2 on target. They only shoot once. We're controlling possession well but they are making it hard for us to do anything. I'm going to change to the "control" mindset to try to draw them out of their shell. 46': midfielder Coquelin with a yellow. 50': A long through ball from midfielder Wordsworth into the right side of the area, its played really well and their striker Will Keane is well behind our defense, he's at a fairly tough angle but puts it by Carlos Antonio. 0-1 54': We build up on offense quickly, Mariga ahead to Khan, Khan is in the area but well defended, but they've left Turgay Colak wide open just 15 yards away from goal, Khan finds him, he rockets a shot in... and maybe a little more touch would help... he hits the crossbar. 67': Three shots in quick succession... Turgay Colak free in the area again, not a clear cut chance but he could have easily scored, keeper saves and deflects away. They clear but we quickly advance again, a through ball to Khan, he shoots... right at the keeper, deflected again.. Constantino with a volley, wide. We now have 17 shots to their 2. 70': Mariga launches one from 25 yards out, on target but saved. 74': Jackson in for Gordon, Guarin in for Mariga, both fatigue related. gordon not having a good game. 79': Constantino receives a ball near midfield, their defensive line is set.. he runs by one man, has two more on him, boots the ball ahead, sprints between the two men and has our 4th clear cut chance, an amazing run... with no finish. He shoots wide to the left. 85': Berthet is hurt, he stays in. Tough, tough loss. Ipswich 0 : 1 Bristol City An agonizing loss as we shoot 20 times, finding four clear cut chances, two from the supremely reliable Constantino, only allowing 4 shots, but coming away empty. Their keeper is deservedly man of the match. Notables: Berthet (7.0), Donnelly (7.1) Constantino (6.0) and Khan (6.1) had our worst ratings. -- Berthet is out for 2 weeks. We drop to 3rd with that loss.

09-10-2011, 03:36 AM	#807
Radii Head Coach Join Date: Jul 2001	November 9th, 2019 Derby(6-5-5, 12th) @ Ipswich(9-4-3, 3rd) We're big 4:5 favorites here, they're 3:1 to get a win. We're 6-3-6 lifetime against them, all in the championship but for one win in the league cup awhile back. We're on TV today. GK: Carlos Antonio D: Kirkland/Hughes/Henrique/McKerr M: Turgay Colak/Mariga/Donnelly/Gordon ST: Khan/Constantino I give Jack Hughes a start at DC today as McKerr moves to DR. Standard mindset today at home. 2': Mariga shoots from 30 yards out without any buildup at all and I remember to turn on "work ball into box" 6': Mariga ahead to Khan, Khan has two men close to him but he has a half step perhaps, he fires from 20 yards away, and hits the crossbar, so close. 7': Gordon with a free kick from 30 yards out, he bends one around the wall, their keeper has to dive to get a finger to it, he does, but it hits the post and falls in the middle of the area. Constantino is there and puts it in the empty net. 1-0 15': They have a corner, it ends up being headed around a few times, one of our defenders heads one that Carlos Antonio could have held easily. We end up fouling them just outside the area, but stopping the free kick. They shoot 3 times in that little flurry, their first 3 shots of the match. 25': Donnelly a yellow. When did he become a foul machine? They have a free kick out near midfield, its taken short but then a pass ahead to ST Morgan, he's got a half step on Henrique, shoots from 18 yards out, Carlos Antonio came halfway out, not enough to really stop anything there and they score with a solid shot. 1-1 HALF: We dominated the first 15 minutes, shooting 6 times and controlling everything. But they controlled the last 30 minutes. We didn't get another shot or offensive highlight in the half, and they end it with 9 shots. We have a 52/48 possession edge, both teams are tackling and passing really well, everything's pretty even so far. We need to get the win at home though, lets go guys. I change to a counterattacking strat in case they keep charging forward on the attack like this. 52': We have a throwin in their end, a pass goes to Mariga 20 yards out, he turns and shoots and the keeper turns it over for a corner... we retain possession after they clear the corner and work the ball around for a good long time before Mariga takes a bad shot from 25 yards out that's wide. 58': We have a corner, they head it out wide but we recover, a pass up high for Donnelly, he spots Constantino and puts it into the area for him, Constantino is free, but he's tackled before he can shoot... its a penalty!! Constantino takes the penalty and buries it. 2-1 72': Mariga has taken a couple little hits, and Gordon is hurt. I bring Jackson in for Gordon and Guarin in for Mariga. 87': They earn a corner, Guarin with an awful clearance, allowing them a shot from 20 yards out but its high. 92': We counter after they try an attack, Jackson plays a ball ahead to Constantino, he cuts inside his man and loses him completely, Khan's man comes over to cover, Constantino to Khan and Khan doesn't look pretty doing it, a bad first touch forcing him to shoot right on top of the keeper, but he manages to put it in! 3-1 Ipswich 3 : 1 Derby Man of the Match: Constantino (9.0) Goals: Constantino 2, Khan (7.0) Assists: Gordon (6.9), Constantino Notables: McKerr (7.0), Kirkland (7.3), Henrique (7.0), Donnelly (7.9) QPR loses, Bristol City draw and we're back into second. No long term injury for Neil Gordon.

09-10-2011, 04:15 AM	#808
Radii Head Coach Join Date: Jul 2001	-- Eight of our players are called up for international duty. I'm used to seeing 6, 8 is nice. Donnelly is hit or miss with Scotland. the other is the new youth ST I bought, Chris Bryan. The 16 year old is called up to the England U20 squad. Impressive! Speaking of impressive, he's made 18 appearances in the U18 league, scoring 16 goals, notching 9 assists and 8 man of the match awards. -- Steven Mills resumes full training. Very happy to see that. -- I hadn't mentioned team morale in awhile, which is a good thing. Mariga still won't let me take him off the transfer list, but he's happy to be here. That has settled everyone else down, as has our winning I assume. The only player with issues is Henrique. His morale is still just fine, Very Good or Superb I believe, but he's unhappy I rejected all the offers for him and says he wants to leave the club. -- Stuart Kirkland puts up a 7.3 rating in the England U21 2:0 win over Cyprus, Euro Championship qualifier there. I thought that just finished, Qualifiers start back up right away? (looks briefly in game)... Guess so, every 2 seasons. A few days later Kirkland puts up an 8.0 rating in a 4:0 win for England's U21's over Faroe Islands. -- Troy Brown plays ok off the bench for Wales in their Euro Championship Qualifier against Scotland, but they lost. Injury Update -- On November 19th in the morning I get an update that our squad is fully fit, no injuries, for the first time in a long time. -- On November 19th in the evening I'm informed that DC James Welsh tore a groin muscle in training and is going to be out 6-8 weeks. -- On November 20th I learn that McDonald Mariga tore a calf muscle in an international match and is going to miss 3 months. Crap!! European Championship Qualifiers With 11 teams already qualified, we're down to a two leg set of playoff matches for the final 5 spots. Here's how they turned out: Denmark 3 : 0 Macedonia Norway 5 : 2 Romania Scotland 4 : 1 Wales Ukraine 5 : 2 N. Ireland Turkey 2 : 0 Albania November 23rd, 2019 Ipswich(10-4-3, 2nd) @ Wolves(10-3-4, 3rd) Wolverhampton are 4:5 favorites today against us, wow. We're jsut 3:1 to get a win at their place. They were relegated out of the EPL last year along with us and are determined to rise back up. We tied them both times we played last year and are 1-3-3 lifetime against them. GK: Carlos Antonio D: Kirkland/McKerr/Henrique/Berthet M: Turgay Colak/Mills/Donnelly/Gordon ST: Hamilton/Constantino They're led by Sam Vokes with 9 goals. We've got a lot of guys healthy again and back in. Berthet at DR so McKerr back to DC. Mills takes the place of the injured Mariga, and Simon Hamilton is back up front next to Constantino. We're defending today at their place. 12': they take a long shot, it deflects off Donnelly and goes back for a corner. We head the corner away but they control it. They end up earning a throwin before we clear. 21': Berthet with a yellow. 25': Corner for us but cleared easily, they are flying around everywhere. They've got 9 shots, we have 1. They haven't put a single one on target yet but its starting to add up. 31': They shoot from very long range, first on target shot as Carlos Antonio tips it over for a corner. They commit a foul on the corner. 44': we have a throwin in their end, after a lot of scrapping to control possession we get a ball down the right side for Gordon, he crosses, Turgay Colak wins a header about 6 yards out, but keeper saves. HALF: To say we're being outplayed here is putting it lightly. We withstood 15 shots in that first half, only one was on target but that is a hell of a lot. We shoot 2 times, both on target but neither really threatening. We'll change to a counterattacking strategy in the second half, need to open thigns up at least a little to try to take some pressure off the defense. 64': we look to be doing much better here, Donnely finds Constantino who outruns an injured defender to get a solid shot off, but saved. 69': Free kick from 20 yards out... taken really well and put by Carlos Antonio, he didn't have a shot at stopping that. 0-1 71': We build up quickly after a goal kick, Mills has it near midfield, he lobs a ball over the defense and Constantino sprints between their central defenders, running onto it, rushing into the area and finishing perfectly! Mills with a perfect pass. Mariga's ratings always seem better but I like what I see from Mills a lot more. 1-1 77': Guarin in for a tired Hamilton, he drops back to DMC, only Constantino up front. Jackson in for Gordon. 85': Mills shouldn't be shooting much I don't think... the commentary says "Mills drives it low at goal!" The highlight on the pitch shows Mills in the right side of the penalty area, drilling the ball alright... almost straight to his left, it rockets out of play on the other side of the field for a throwin. Not even enough of an angle to have it go behind for a goal kick. He was kinda open but I'm laughing more than I'm annoyed at that one. That'll do it and we'll take a point on the road here and be glad for it. Wolves 1 : 1 Ipswich Man of the Match: Constantino (8.1) Goal: Constantino Assists: Mills (7.9) Notables: Carlos Antonio (7.1), Kirkland (7.2) We play better than them in the second half, we had more chances to score than they did by far but again, happy with the road draw. -- Donnelly plays his 200th league match. McKerr his 100th.

09-10-2011, 04:44 AM	#809
Radii Head Coach Join Date: Jul 2001	Injury Update -- Carlos Antonio "was in some pain" following training today and has a hip injury. Injections so he can play against Gillingham? 5-6 months. Physio? 3-4 months. Specialist? 2-3 months. Specialist it is. -- The same damn day, Turgay Colak tears a calf muscle in training. 4 months. Those are two positions where we all of a sudden get very very young when the starters go down. Guarin can play ML but Hughes is better suited for it. Both will see lots of action now. November 30th, 2019 Gillingham(7-2-9, 16th) @ Ipswich(10-5-3, 2nd) We're huge 1:2 favorites here, making them 9:2. Gillingham manager Marcus Tudgay tells me that he doesn't want my team to promote this year. Well screw you pal! GK: Mason D: Kirkland/McKerr/Henrique/Berthet M: Hughes/Guarin/Donnelly/Gordon ST: Hamilton/Constantino Chris Mason obviously takes over at GK for the next few months. Hughes ML, and Guarin starts for Mills at MC. Mills is a bit tired after one match back after his injury. Against a bad team i'm hoping I can just attack to keep the pressure low on Mason. 14': Gordon intercepts a backpass and we have 3 men off to the races, Gordon plays it to Hamilton and he pulls up and slows things down. Hughes ends up with a cross in, Donnelly header, but high. 24': Donnelly to Hamilton, Hamilton could try to get into he area and score but he looks to pass first, hitting Donnelly, Donnelly has a clear cut chance in a good position... but its saved. 34': We earn a corner, Gordon takes it to Constantino, Constantino blasts it on a volley, and its by the keeper and in! 1-0 39': Donnelly is hurt. his fitness down under 50%. CRAP. 48': They get forward on a counterattack and our defense is out of position, a cross in from the right, a pass from one striker to the other and their ST Simeon Jackson is wide open and drills it by Mason. 1-1 HALF: We dominate most of the half before allowing the quick counterattack late. We shoot 5 times to their 3, 2 on target for us but 0 for them. Ratings are about the same but it seems like we dominate the highlights. Hopefully we'll pull ahead for good in the second half. 49': Kirkland with a great steal in their half of the field to start up an attack. He makes a run down the left, crosses it in, they win a header over Cosntantino but its just cleared out to the right. Gordon is there to control the ball, he comes into the area and puts a great shot by the keeper form a really narrow angle!! 2-1 53': We're pushing forward hard as the highlight open, Hughes passes ot Donnelly, Donnelly is 20 yards out, draws a defender and pokes a ball into the area for Constantino, Constantino shoots and scores! 3-1 66': A quick attack as a ball goes forward to Donnelly, he runs down the right, they're really not back well, Donnelly crosses it to the far post, Hughes is there all by himself, heads it... wide. He should have scored there. Solid second half. Ipswich 3 : 1 Gillingham Man of the Match: Constantino (8.8) Goals: Constantino 2, Gordon (8.2) Assists: Donnelly (7.7), Gordon Notables: Mason (7.3), Berthet (7.0), Hughes (7.1), Guarin (7.0) Injury Update Gordon Donnelly is out 3-4 weeks with a hamstring injury suffered today. We are hurting bad with Mariga and Donnelly both out long term. Guarin and Mills become our two guys that can naturally play MC. We may move our formation around and/or bring up some U18 kids to try to manage.

09-10-2011, 07:19 PM	#810
Radii Head Coach Join Date: Jul 2001	Breaking Records in December -- Constantino has won 13 man of the match awards (12 in league play and one in the league cup), breaking his own Ipswich record. Its December 1st and we're not even halfway through the season. Ridiculous! Injury Update -- Simon Hamilton hurts his back in training and is out 4 weeks. This is killing me. I go into our training schedules and bump all of the overall intensities down a notch. December Update -- We play on the 7th, 10th, 14th, 21st, 26th, 28th and 30th. December is always a really busy month and we have massive injury problems right now so I'm pretty darn worried. -- A training update says that Chris Mason trained well this past month. His Throwing (12), Anticipation (7) and Positioning (11) have all gone up. -- Constantino continues to own the league, winning his 4th straight player of the month award. -- The board remains pleased with my leadership. Constantino remains the positive, our 6:2 Coventry loss the negative. -- We lose $2.54M last month. Our profits on the year are already down to $3.8M and our cash balance is down to $10M. FA Cup 3rd Round Draw -- We're going to be playing on the road, but our draw is good, pending a replay we're going to get Grimsby from League 2 or Hastings Utd who are below the BSS/BSN level. December 7th, 2019 Ipswich(11-5-3, 2nd) @ Leyton Orient(3-2-14, 24th) We're crazy 2:5 favorites today, Leyton Orient 13:2 to get a win at their place. After bouncing between league 1 and league 2 for over 30 years they finally made the Championship. It doesn't seem like they're going to stay. GK: Mason D: Kirkland/McKerr/Henrique/Berthet M: Hughes/Guarin/Mills/Gordon ST: Khan/Constantino Mills and Khan in for the injured Donnelly and Hamilton. We have 6 players injured right now. Every single one of them has 10+ starts for us. 28': A couple quick highlights so far but no real serious chances. But here we get fouled a foot away from the penalty area, Gordon shoots, it deflects off a couple people and goes behind for a corner, they clear easily though. 33': Jack Hughes is hurt. Hooray. 39': We win a ball in defense and Berthet sends it long down the right side. Constantino is first to it, a defender is right there next to him, but that one step is enough, Constantino pushes it ahead and takes off, into the penalty area and an easy finish. 1-0 44': We have a corner, taken to Constantino, he runs around a bit trying to get a shot off, he's tackled, its a foul, penalty given! Constantino takes the penalty and scores. 2-0 47': We try to counter after winning the ball in our end, but they intercept and catch us a bit off guard as we're going forward, a pass goes up to their ST German and he's by our defense and easily beats Mason. 2-1 HALF: McKerr takes the blame for that goal and goes into the locker room with a 5.8 rating. Possession is even but we're getting the best of it for the most part. 12 shots for us, 5 on target. They've got 4 shots, all 4 on target. Their attacks have been few and far between but when they were able to get forward they were a bit scary. We should be just fine but allowing that late goal gives them an opening. 46': We build up from the kickoff, getting the ball to Khan who turns and shoots from 20 yards out, its a solid shot but saved. 49': Another buildup on offense, we try to send it into the area but they head it away. Kirkland recovers it out left, a pass to Guarin, through ball close to the 6 yard box, Khan is there behind the defense and easily scores! 3-1 57': We switch to a counter attacking strat. 58': Mills has it 40 yards out, his passing is so accurate, a pinpoint pass into the area that is perfect for Khan, Khan shoots and its an easy finish of a clear cut chance, all the credit to Mills there! 4-1 74': Troy Brown in for Hughes, we drop to a 5-3-2 formation. Jackson in for Gordon. Guarin moves out left. 88': Jackson with a run down the right, he tries a cross into the 6 yard box, two of their guys go up to head it away and there's some confusion and it ends up getting headed into the net... an own goal. 5-1 92': Mills with another through ball to Khan and Khan has a hat trick! 6-1 It finally ends. Leyton Orient 1 : 6 Ipswich That last goal by Khan gave him man of the match over Constantino. Man of the Match: Matthew Khan (9.6) Goals: Khan 3, Constantino 2 (9.2) Assists: Mills 2 (9.1), Guarin (8.7), Berthet (8.4) Notables: Mason (8.6), Kirkland (7.9), Henrique (7.9), McKerr (7.6), gordon (7.2) A solid win, lets hope Hughes isn't hurt. ... Injury Update Jack Hughes is out for 3 weeks. -- The good news is that we take over first place with our win as Bristol City draws. The bad news is that we now have 7 players out with longish term injuries.

09-10-2011, 09:29 PM	#811
Radii Head Coach Join Date: Jul 2001	-- We have 5 players named to the team of the week. Henrique, Berthet, Guarin, Mills, and Khan (no Constantino!?) December 10th, 2019 Hull(6-2-12, 20th) @ Ipswich(12-5-3, 1st) Yes, the 20th place team at home, that's what we need while we heal up. We're 4:7 favorites today at home, they are 4:1 to win here. We're 5-8-3 against them lifetime. GK: Mason D: Kirkland/McKerr/Henrique/Berthet M: Guarin/Mills/Jackson AMC: Gordon ST: Khan/Constantino With all the injuries we're getting to the point where we run a bunch of U18 guys or start really getting creative with our formations. Today against a worse team we're trying something quite agressive with this 4-3-1-2, Gordon AMC, Jackson starting out wide. 10': Gordon gets a ball up ahead to Constantino on a counter attack, they have one defender who was out to the side that charged in to try to close down, that prevents Constantino from getting a completely free run into the area, he pulls up 20 yards out and shoots but its saved and turned behind. We earn a second corner, and then put a shot wide. 20': They get a through ball into the area, it goes a bit deep, its a clear cut chance for their striker but pretty close to Mason and Mason is able to make the stop, the ball deflects out into play though and they followup, Mason with another reflex save! Two clear cut chances stopped. 28': We lose the ball in midfield, they get it ahead to ST O'Neil, he's pretty damn fast and is able to make a run into the area and beat Mason. 0-1 34': We build up quickly on offense, constantino passes ahead to Khan, he shoots from the edge of the box... off the right post, so close! They end up putting it behind for a corner... we earn a 2nd, then a 3rd corner, then a 4th... and finally they clear it away. 42': A backpass goes to Mason, he sends it to Berthet, a quick pass to Jackson who plays a great ball ahead to Neil Gordon, Gordon has a half step on his man, is able to keep that advantage into the area, he's got a clear cut chance, but he puts it off the right post! The second time that's happened for us. 44': A run down the left by Guarin, he goes deep towards the end line, crosses through the area, Clive Jackson goes down... its a penalty! Constantino takes it and buries it. 1-1 HALF: We end up with 9 shots to their 7, only 2 on target for us (despite 3 clear cut chances). They have 3 on target. Possession is pretty much even, but it feels like we aren't really playing great, maybe not a surprise with 7 guys hurt and a random new formation, most of our attacking has come on long balls ahead of the defense. We've got Constantino so that should work out for us in the end. 48': they counterattack and get well behind our defense, Kirkland is chasing down their attacker... a slide tackle in the area, he wins his tackle cleanly and it goes behind for a corner which we clear. 50': I drop back to a standard mindset and tell my defensive line to drop a bit deeper. We're getting beat a bit too often. 57': their left defender fails to clear, Constantion attacks him aggressively and wins the ball... he runs into the area from the left side, tries a pass through the area but its a bit wild, the ball goes back in to Gordon.. he goes down... another penalty! There's going to be some crazy controversy after this one. Constantino drains it. 2-1 59': We win the ball in their end, a long ball goes ahead, Constantino runs onto it, shoots from the edge of the box but their keeper has rushed out nicely for the save, but he can't hold it. Khan is trailing the play and he gets to the rebound and puts it in. Two very quick goals. 3-1 72': Again!! A counter attack, a ball ahead to Constantino, Constantino with a long run down the right, he cuts into the area... and right as he gets into the area he's tackled hard. Its yet another penalty. Constantino takes it and scores... its the worst hat trick ever, 3 penalty goals. 4-1 77': Burke, Brown, Taylor are in, Henrique, Gordon and Constantino out. Resting for the next match. We end this easily. Ipswich 4 : 1 Hull Man of the Match: Constantino (9.3) Goals: Constantino 3, Khan (7.3) Assists: Constantino, Gordon (7.0), Jackson (7.8) Notables: Mason (7.5), Kirkland (7.6), Jackson (7.8), Mills (7.7) Very weird game. I expect some controversy in the postgame... (later) ... not really, the first penalty it really seemed like Jackson may have dived. The others not so much. We're now 21 matches in, almost to the halfway point. We're tied with Bristol City with 44 points, Wolves are 3rd 4 points back. I'll update the league stats after a couple games. I said awhile back that I didn't think Constantino would do anything ridiculous like 50 goals, but that he might score 40 with 20 assists. But I think that might be dead wrong. There's a real good chance we hit the halfway point with him on pace for 60 goals and 30 man of the match awards.

09-10-2011, 10:03 PM	#812
Radii Head Coach Join Date: Jul 2001	-- Super low league Hastings Utd upsets Grimsby in the FA Cup and we're going to be playing them in early january. December 14th, 2019 Ipswich(13-5-3, 1st) @ Charlton(5-4-12, 21st) Another lower ranked team at home. We're 4:5 favorites here even on the road, they're 3:1 to get a win. We have totally owned Charlton in our history, 10-0-2 lifetime. GK: Mason D: Kirkland/McKerr/Burke/Henrique/Berthet M: Guarin/Mills/Gordon ST: Khan/Constantino Another lineup change today to try to account for our injury problems and short rest. Loaner DC Vinny Burke is in to make it a 5 man defensive line. Gordon back to MR and its a 5-3-2 wide formation which again seems kinda weird! But we have Constantino so we're ok. Standard mindset on the road. 25': Each team has two shots so far, a very slow game with little action. 36': A highlight opens with us heading the ball around in our end trying to clear.. they end up getting it out wide to the right, a pass in to one of their midfielders, he blasts a shot from 18 yards and Mason can't stop it, a really nice goal for them. 0-1 HALF: A real yawner but they've got the best of it so far. They end up with 7 shots but 5 are from long range and most aren't seen in highlights. We have 4 shots, just 1 on target. They have 55% of the possession, which is down from earlier in the half. We haven't really generated anything promising at all here yet. 55': We build up nicely down the left, a pass goes in to Khan, he sends it ahead ot Constantino, he controls it really well but he's too close to the keeper, his shot is saved and we get a corner. They clear that easily. 61': Jackson in for Henrique. Gordon up to AMC, Jackson MR, back to the formation we used last match that generated a lot more offense than this. 83': We've been attacking more but ending up having passes intercepted or long shots go wide. They're defending us well here. 92': We get forward and Gordon blasts a shot from about 20 yards out.. off the crossbar, so close! 93': More buildup, we're desparately trying to get a tie at this point, we eventually find Constantino but he has to shoot a tough shot from 20 yards away and its easily saved. We just can't pull this one out. Charlton 1 : 0 Ipswich A disappointing loss, no one was terrible but no one made anything happen either. Their keeper ends up man of the match for holding off our late charge. Bristol City with a draw today, they get 1 point up on us. -- My first legit chance to make a big jump in stature in england, Aston Villa fires their coach and I'm named as a likely successor. But as I had said in an earlier post about my dynasty goals I want to take Ipswich ot that level, or at least as close as possible. I release a statement saying i'm not interested.

09-11-2011, 03:00 AM	#815
Radii Head Coach Join Date: Jul 2001	-- Birmingham is struggling in the EPL and they fire their coach. My name gets dropped here too, I don't get to tell them(or the media) no yet though. -- I learn in a coaches meeting that Chris Mason continues to train well, his Decisions (12) have gone up, and his Stamina (12). -- Jack Hughes resumes full training. December 21st, 2019 Ipswich(13-5-4, 2nd) @ Exeter(11-2-9, 8th) We're favorites today but its close, 5:4 to their 7:4. We're 5-0-1 against them lifetime. GK: Mason D: Kirkland/McKerr/Henrique/Berthet M: Hughes/Guarin/Mills/Gordon ST: Khan/Constantino Exeter's Marius Stroe leads them with 12 goals. We bring Jack Hughes right away. We're counter attacking today. 7': We have a free kick near midfield, after a couple passes we get it to Constantino 25 yards out, he weaves through the defense and generates his own shot, its a clear cut chance but their keeper dives and tips it wide. HALF: Uh yeah. We shoot 5 times but we don't have another offensive highlight after that. They have 4 shots, just one on target, nothing remotely threatening. Boring boring! 57': They're up to 9 shots taken here but all waaaay off target. They are attacking a lot more. 77': Clive Jackson comes in for Neil Gordon. 84': We get our best shot of the half, a long ball to Constantino, he's into the area but out a bit wide to the right with the defense closing down, he takes a shot but puts it wide left. 88': We have a throwin in their end, its thrown to Kirkland, he passes to Guarin about 20 yards out well left of center, Guarin strikes it towards the near post, its bending a bit, it seems like the keeper is there but he doesn't have it, its off the keeper and in!!! 1-0 We hold on, they were trying to pressure a good bit but couldn't put anything on target. Exeter 0 : 1 Ipswich Man of the Match: Stuart Kirkland (8.7) Goals: Guarin (8.0) Assists: Kirkland Everyone else on the team was within the 6.7-6.9 range. -- After the match we learn that backup ST Ian Taylor is out for 2 weeks, but Gordon Donnelly has resumed full training. That works in our favor I think.

09-11-2011, 03:11 AM	#816
Radii Head Coach Join Date: Jul 2001	The entire league now sits at 23 matches played. Lets take a brief look at things at the midpoint of the season. 2019/20 Coca Cola Championship Mid-Season Standings 1. Bristol City - 48 pts 2. Ipswich - 47 pts -------------------------- 3. Wolves - 46 pts 4. QPR - 42 pts 5. Leeds - 41 pts 6. Leicester - 40 pts -------------------------- 7. Cardiff - 40 pts 8. Norwich - 38 pts 9. Exeter - 35 pts 10. Derby - 34 pts 11. Watford - 34 pts 12. Coventry - 33 pts 13. Stoke - 32 pts 14. Fulham - 32 pts 15. Scunthorpe - 30 pts 16. Sheffield Wednesday - 29 pts 17. Gillingham - 27 pts 18. Middlesborough - 26 pts 19. Bolton - 24 pts 20. Charlton - 23 pts 21. Hull - 21 pts --------------------------------- 22. Barnsley - 17 pts 23. Swansea - 15 pts 24. Leyton Orient - 15 pts Our goal differential blows away anyone else in the league. We have 54 goals, next best is 42. We've only allowed 27, Bristol City doesn't allow many goals but our scoring is just incredible. Our +27 Goal Differential is 8 better than Wolves and 9 better than Bristol City. And now for the truly ridiculous: Goals 1. Constantino - Ipswich - 28 goals 2. Lee Smith - Derby - 15 goals 3. Orlando Sa - Bristol City - 14 goals 3. Tom Matthews - Norwich - 14 goals 3. Brian Browne - Coventry - 14 goals 3. Sam Vokes - Wolves - 14 goals Constantino may not need to play another match to lead the league in goals. Simon Hamilton is tied for 20th with 7 goals. Khan is tied for 27th with 6. Assists 1. Enrico Rocchini - QPR - 9 1. Marvin Elliott - Bristol City - 9 3. Danny Swanson - Stoke - 8 3. Steven Mills - Ipswich - 8 3. Ryan Stone - Exeter - 8 3. Matty Fryatt - Derby - 8 Neil Gordon and Constantino both have 7 assists, both tied for 7th. Simon Hamiltion has 6. Man of the Match Awards 1. Constantino - Ipswich - 13 2. Enrico Rocchini - QPR - 7 Many tied - 5 Average Rating 1. Constantino - Ipswich - 8.17 2. Enrico Rocchini - QPR - 7.65 3. Victor - Derby - 7.55 4. Jamie Proctor - Scunthorpe - 7.49 5. Sam Vokes - Wolves - 7.46 Gordon Donnelly is 6th at 7.41. Steven Mills is 8th at 7.37. Kirkland 7.21, Mariga 7.18, Hamilton 7.16 are also in the top 30. It's just unbelievable how much better Constantino is than anyone else in the league right now.

09-11-2011, 03:49 AM	#817
Radii Head Coach Join Date: Jul 2001	Contract Update -- Early in the season I made sure to lock up Stuart Kirkland to an extension, its Christmas Day and I get my next notice on the rest of the expiring contracts. -- MC Fredy Guarin - He's going to be 34 at the start of the next season. He's lost pace and accel and strength in the last 6 months. He makes $35k/wk now, he'd want $22.5k/wk to stay for another year but I'm not sure that's really a good idea. No offer now, probably time for him to go. -- MC McDonald Mariga - Mariga will turn 33 this year. He's lost a slight bit but he's still playing great and is way more talented than Guarin, I'd be more likely to keep him. But right now he's hurt for 2-3 months. I'll wait here too to see if he starts to fade anymore after he comes back from injury. -- DRC Michael McKerr only makes $9500/wk. He'll turn 30 this year and his ratings aren't great but he was acceptable, especially at this price, as a backup in our EPL season. I offer him a new contract at $10,500/wk, less than he wants but with a bit bigger signing bonus. -- ST Ian Taylor doesn't seem to be developing well enough to make the team, but there's some interest in him and he's appropriately affordable, he's asking for $200/wk. Sure thing dude. -- ML/DLC Jack Hughes I don't think is good enough either. And the biggest problem I have with him is that his ratings seem to clearly suit him to play DL which just won't happen as long as Kirkland is here which is hopefully for a long time. I don't offer anything just yet though, I'll wait til after the transfer window b/c he wants a little more than the measly $850/wk he makes now. I hold off just in case I make a move in January and need the salary room. -- DR/MR Clive Jackson is playing better than Hughes and training better than Hughes. He wants a much bigger salary too which I want to do I think but I have the same feeling as with Hughes. Hold off til after January. December 26st, 2019 Barnsley(4-5-14, 22nd) @ Ipswich(14-5-4, 2nd) We're ridiculous 1:6 favorites here, after beating them 5:1 at their place earlier in the year that seems fair. GK: Mason D: Kirkland/McKerr/Henrique/Berthet M: Guarin/Donnelly/Mills/Jackson ST: Khan/Constantino Donnelly gets back in today, Guarin back out left. Clive Jackson starts at MR. We play again in two days, ick. 12': We have a corner, Gordon takes it to the near post, Constantino with a header... its off the keeper and rolls left along the goal line just staying inches in play... wild stuff, but McKerr gets to it and pokes it in before they can clear. 1-0 25': We win a ball in our end, a pass ahead to Khan, Khan with a good run down into the left corner, he has a man on him but gets a beautiful cross around his man, to the far post and Clive Jackson is there and heads it in!! 2-0 29': We have it in the offensive end again, the area is very crowded after some sort of buildup, we try to push it in, they head it away but we control. Mills puts it back into the area and again its inch perfect, only Constantino can get to it, and he does, and he finishes. 3-0 46': A throwin in their end, Donnelly ends up shooting but its blocked and back out into play, Kirkland recovers, to Mills, and again a great ball into a crowded area, Constantino is first to it, and its another easy finish. 4-0 HALF: We look for a crushing easy win here today. I love watching Mills pass the ball. Hughes in for Guarin. Troy Brown in for Donnelly and back in defense. Trying to rest them. 56': Mills receives a pass from Clive Jackson, he's a solid 30 yards out and just launches it... its off the keeper... off the left post... and in! Har! 5-0 77': Mills sends it out wide for Jackson, Jackson crosses into the area, Khan gets his head to it and its such a crazy blowout here. Its in. 6-0 Ipswich 6 : 0 Barnsley Man of the Match: Constantino (9.5) Goals: Constantino 2, Mills (9.4), Khan (9.1), McKerr (8.7), Jackson (9.4) Assists: Mills 2, Jackson 2, Constantino, Khan Notables: Mason (7.3), Berthet (8.4), Kirkland (8.2), Henrique (7.9), Guarin (7.0), Donnelly (7.0)

09-11-2011, 04:10 AM	#818
Radii Head Coach Join Date: Jul 2001	-- Hamilton resumes full training. We're getting better! December 28th, 2019 Middlesbrough (7-6-11, 18th) @ Ipswich(15-5-4, 2nd) We're 4:6 favorites, making them 7:2 to get a win. This is actually our first meeting against them. GK: Mason D: Kirkland/McKerr/Henrique/Berthet M: Hughes/Donnelly/Guarin/Gordon ST: Khan/Constantino Hughes at ML, Guarin MC, Mills needs a rest. Gordon back in the starting lineup too. Hamilton isn't ready to start just yet. 4': Khan is hurt, injury symbol and all, he can play though, we'll check on him later. 10': Gordon with a long throwin to Constantino, Constantino receives it at the right corner of the penalty box, he runs left by a defender, strikes a hard shot far post, and its by the keeper and in! Great goal. 1-0 31': Oh so so pretty. WOW. We clear a ball out of the defensive end, Constantino picks it up and makes a long run down the right, he crosses to the penalty spot, Khan goes up and heads it down to Gordon, Gordon lays it off to Donnelly who is trailing the play, Donnelly blasts it into the net!! Just a beautiful string of moves to get a really easy goal. 2-0 37': We set up on offense but attack very quickly, Henrique passes it up to Donnelly, Gordon cuts inside, Donnelly hits him , timed perfectly, Gordon shoots and scores! 3-0 43': My god we are playing great. Another attack, Hughes into the area for Khan, Khan with a pass back to Guarin on his first touch, Guarin on his first touch blasts it from 18 yards out into the net! 4-0 46': They get one back to take the wind out of our sails at least a little (ok not much). There's a cross in from the right, Mason comes out for it... and heads it? That's what it looks like. He could have picked itu p!! Maybe he tripped, I dunno. Its a really weak header and Mason goes down, the ball falls to one of their men in the area and he puts it into the wide open net. 4-1 HALF: Some very very pretty goals that half. Great stuff! 63': While I'm making subs we get a goal as Gordon finds Constantino open in the area and he has an easy finish. 5-1 63': Jackson in for Gordon, Brown in for Constantino and back in defense, 5-4-1 the rest of the way. Mills in for Donnelly. All for rest, we play again in a few days. No more goals, that'll do it! Ipswich 5 : 1 Middlesbrough Man of the Match: Neil Gordon (9.4) Goals: Constantino 2 (9.1), Gordon, Donnelly (9.1), Guarin (8.1) Assists: Gordon 3, Donnelly, Khan (7.4) Notables: Berthet (7.2), Kirkland (7.9), McKerr (7.1), Henrique (7.3), Hughes (7.3) -- To be honest I haven't gotten quite as much out of Neil Gordon as I'd hoped this year, though maybe that's just the way it is with Constantino at this level, just get him the ball and let him work, Gordon's crossing and such maybe will have a bigger impact at the next level. I'm really happy to see the 3 assist game out of him today though.

09-11-2011, 04:17 AM	#819
Radii Head Coach Join Date: Jul 2001	So many of our goals are just "pass to Constantino, watch him score", it was really nice to see 4 guys involved (starting with the Constantino cross) in a goal like this one, it was a fun one to watch, even if it was against a weaker league opponent. As always, full screen is probably required to see what's going on:

09-11-2011, 04:39 AM	#820
Radii Head Coach Join Date: Jul 2001	-- Bristol City get a draw in their last match and our winning streak allows us to jump back into first. We have 53 points, Bristol 52, Wolves 50. December 31st, 2019 Ipswich(16-5-4, 1st) @ Leicester(5th) After a nice run of soft opponents we hop back on the road to play a playoff contender. They're favored 6:4 here, we're 13:8, pretty close to even. This is why I rested key guys last match like I did. We lost to them 2:0 at our place earlier in the year. Leicester identify Steven Mills as our dangerman and state in the media that he must be stopped. GK: Mason D: Kirkland/McKerr/Henrique/Berthet M: Guarin/Donnelly/Mills/Gordon ST: Khan/Constantino Guarin ML, Mills MC, Hamilton not really fully ready yet and Khan has been playig pretty well so I'll stick with this for an important match. Counter attack today. 14': We have a corner, taken to Henrique, passed out and crossed back through, headed out wide... Donnelly recovers it, passes to Guarin 18 yards out, he shoots, keeper makes the save but can't hold it, the ball squirts free in the area and McKerr is there to poke this one in again! He doesn't score much but that's two in two matches. 1-0 20': Khan earns a clear cut chance running on to a long ball on a quick counter attack.. he's wide open 18 yards out, but puts it off the right post. 34': They have a free kick at midfield, they send a ball straight forward, ST Carroll wins a header over Mills, he flicks it into the area and their other ST Madine is there to put it past Mason and in. 1-1 45': We have a throwin deep in their end, Gordon throws it into the area, we head it into the 6 yard box but they clear. HALF: A solid half, some long attacking moves that led nowhere in those final 10 minutes. They actually have 9 shots, 4 on target, but we didn't see most of htem. We shoot 6 times, generate 3 clear cut chances but just one goal. The miss by Khan that would have put us up 2-0 was pretty bad. We'll keep doing what we're doing though. 53': McKerr with a yellow. 58': Hamilton in for Khan, Khan is way off today and Hamilton can give us a half. 63': Hughes in for a tiring Guarin. 65': We get what's counted as our 4th clear cut chance, we build up and Donnely puts a ball almost to the 6 yard box, Constantino gets there but its sent too far ahead, there's no angle to shoot by the keeper here. 67': Donnelly tries again, a ball from 35 yards out into the area, Constantino controls it well, has a step on his man and scores from 15 yards out! 2-1 73': Very very poor defense here, they build up and a man cuts in from the right... Kirkland just loses him completely, he controls it and runs at Mason... before he can shoot Kirkland tries to save face with a tackle, but its a penalty. ST Madine takes it... and Mason saves it!!!! No goal!!!! 81': We switch from Counter to defensive and tell the guys to hang on to the ball more. 86': Neil Gordon is hurt.. and forced to come out immediately. I use my last sub to bring Clive Jackson in. 89': Berthet goes down hard... and he's hurt. He can stay in but his fitness hits 45%. We'll check on him after the match. Leicester 1 : 2 Ipswich That'll do it, two injuries that worry me a lot, but we get a big win over a playoff team on the road. Their ST Andy Carroll is man of the match today. We just didn't have anyone that played that great, we did enough to win though. Goals: McKerr (7.6), Constantino (6.9) Assists: Donnelly (8.0), Guarin (6.9) Notables: Kirkland (7.1) Khan had a terrible game, 5.5 rating. Chris Mason comes up huge stopping a penalty that held our lead for us in this one, great stuff! Injury update Neil Gordon pulls a hamstring, 3-4 weeks. Sylvain Berthet... stubbed his toe... out a week.

09-12-2011, 03:13 AM	#823
Radii Head Coach Join Date: Jul 2001	January Update -- We play on the 4th, 11th, 18th, and 28th. Presumably we also play on the 25th in the next round of the FA Cup, unless we go and lose to a team not even good enough to get into the Blue Square leagues. -- The training report shows that Clive Jackson has trained well this month. Since the start of the season he's shown gains in Acceleration (17), Reflexes (6), Teamwork (13), Off The Ball (8), Anticipation (12), Dribbling (12), Flair (15), Concentration (12), Composure (6)... he's being mentored by Neil Gordon and I think its safe to say he's learning a little something. -- Constantino is the December Player of the Month in the Championship. -- Stuart Kirkland is the young player of the month in the Championship. Clive Jackson is 3rd in young player of the month voting! -- I am the manager of the month in the Championship. We went 6-0-1 in December with over 1/3 of the senior roster hurt. -- The board is pleased with my leadership. I guess since we're expected to win the league I can't do much better? Also, hemorrhaging money can't help. The capture of Steven Mills is the new highlight. I'm cool with that, I really like him. -- We lost $3.35M last month, a new record, ouch! -- Uh-oh, did we just find Stuart Kirkland's dream club? Everton offer $5.75M for him, I've been declining offers for him all season, but finally he says something about it, he's unhappy I won't let him go play for Everton. January 4th, 2019 FA Cup 3rd Round Ipswich (1st, CH) @ Hastings Utd We can't totally write them off, they did beat a League 1 Grimsby to get here, but then again, they are 30:1 to win today. We are 1:20. GK: Mason D: Hughes/Welsh/Brown/McKErr M: Guarin/Donnelly/Mills/Jackson ST: Khan/Taylor We start as many backups as we can. Welsh just came back form injury and I toss him in. Hughes gets a shot at his seemingly natural/best position at DL, Jackson at MR, and Constantino isn't out there today. He'll come in if there's anything remotely close to a scare, don't worry. Only commentary today. 30': We have 8 shots, 1 clear cut chance by Clive Jackson, but can't find the net. 46': Took long enough! And its an impressive shot, Guarin between two defenders well out wide to the left 25 yards away, bending near post by the keeper. 1-0 HALF: We control 58% of the possession, have 11 shots to their 2 and generally dominate most stats. Our passing is actually pretty poor, only 68% completion rate. Should be fine though. 46': Buildup down the left, Khan gets a pass way out wide in the area, passes to Guarin, cuts inside, receives it back and puts it by the keeper. 2-0 53': Taylor with a nice ball into the area for Clive Jackson who cuts behind the defense and finishes nicely. 3-0 We get a couple more attempts but and up coming away with a nice easy win to advance to the next round. Hastings Utd 0 : 3 Ipswich Man of the Match: Jack Hughes (8.3) Goals: Guarin (8.3), Jackson (7.9), Khan (7.2) Assists: Hughes, Guarin, Taylor (7.9) Notables: Mason (7.3), McKerr (7.5), Welsh (7.4), Donnelly (7.0) -- As important as anything else, no injuries today. -- After the match, USA.. err... Tottenham Boss Jurgen Klinsmann notes that our young defender Jack Hughes is showing a lot of promise. Tottenham are one of many EPL clubs showing interest in Hughes.

09-12-2011, 04:21 AM	#824
Radii Head Coach Join Date: Jul 2001	-- Birmingham bid $8M for DR Sylvain Berthet. That's a crazy amount for him! I've been declining offers for all of my guys but Berthet was one of my biggest disappointments last year in the EPL and that's enough for me to pause and consider this one. I look around a little more... many of my coaches believe that Clive Jackson is my best DR. I hem and haw, look over the team a bit more. Berthet makes 4 times what Jackson will even after re-negotiating him. I've been talking about Jackson as my most exciting young guy for awhile over Jack Hughes, he's trained so well... and I talk myself into this one. (about 10 minutes of poking around the game, typing something here, poking around, etc, went into this decision, to try to make sure I wasn't just taking a big money offer just to be taking a big money offer). -- With the expectation of money coming in I go look through my shortlist at ML and MR. Neil Gordon is clearly the man at MR but if Jackson is going to get a shot to become my starting right back then I need depth behind Gordon. And with additional money in general ML is our weakest spot looking ahead to next year. I would only fill it now if I find someone of an EPL level quality, not just someone who will play well in the Championship. FA Cup 4th Round -- Not quite as good a draw in the 4th round of the FA Cup. We're going to be playing Newcastle on the 25th, it is at home so that's nice. Injury Update -- Stuart Kirkland has a fracture in his arm after a fall in training... 4 weeks. 4 weeks for "broken arm" seems good. Also its a light month for us, as good a timing as possible. Transfer Out Sylvain Berthet quickly agrees to a deal with Birmingham and this is done within a couple days. Berthet spent 5 1/2 seasons at Ipswich, playing in ~175 matches with an average rating around 6.75. He scored 2 goals and made 23 assists over that time. Ipswich bought Berthet from Stoke for $4.1M and a clause to give them 10% of the profit from his next deal. We made $4M profit so we give them $400,000 and keep $7.6M for ourselves. January 11th, 2019 Stoke(9-9-8, 12th) @ Ipswich (17-5-4, 1st) We're even money favorites today at home. They're 11:5 to get a win here. We tied them 0:0 at their place earlier in the year. GK: Mason D: Hughes/Welsh/Henrique/McKerr M: Guarin/Donnelly/Mills/Binks ST: Hamilton/Constantino MR: Binks? What? Who? Exactly. Here's how awesome I can be at managing my squad. Clive Jackson has food poisoning. I didn't notice that. So I get to lineup selection before I realize Jackson is out and Gordon is still hurt for a week or so. So here's a random kid on my U18 squad starting in a league match. Awesome! Simon Hamilton gets his first start since his long injury at ST. Standard mindset today. 9': Binks with a pass ahead to Constantino, Constantino turns by his man and attacks, he shoots from 18 yards out... its saved by the keeper, but there's a rebound. Hamilton is first to the rebound and puts it into the net!! 1-0 25': They get their first shot around the 20th minute and the next 4 attacks are all for Stoke, but nothing doing. 28': We clear out a corner and a long ball goes ahead to Constantino. He's got it 40 yards out with nothing but space in front of him... long run by Constantino, but he goes too far, almost to the 6 yard box, before trying to shoot, their keeper cuts off his angle and saves it. 42': Our 3rd clear cut chance of the match, we control the ball, Mills gets it ahead to Hamilton who flicks it on to Constantino, just the keeper to beat from 15 yards out... and wide. Dude is a little off today it seems. HALF: We're doing just fine but could be up by a lot more. We have 9 shots, 4 on target, 3 clear cut chances. They have 5 shots, putting 2 on target. Stoke actually have good possession, 57/43 over us, they're passing better and not playing awful, but we are preventing them from generating anything dangerous so far. 52': An attack from Stoke, one of their men dribbles in from the right, pulls up and shoots from 20 yards... off the crossbar and back into play, there's a rebound to stoke, another shot, this one is on target and Mason makes a good save. 59': Another attack from Stoke, they get down the left... cross into the area, they win the header and Mason has to make a reflex save. It goes behind for a corner, which we clear. 60': I change to a counterattacking strat. 62': We have a throwin in their end, a few passes through the middle... Mills spots Constantino in a good position and makes the pass, Constantino finishes this time, sending it by the keeper to the far post. 2-0 81': Buildup down the left side... a quick pass into the middle for Mills, a beautiful ball into the area for Hamilton, he's got a clear cut chance, but finds a way to put it wide... we should be up like 6-0. 86': Donnelly with a yellow and a foul just over 20 yards from the goal. They shoot off the free kick but can't put it on target. We were a little sloppy today but we definitely got the job done! Ipswich 2 : 0 Stoke Their keeper is man of the match making so many saves today of clear cut chances. Goals: Constantino (8.5), Hamilton (7.3) Assists: Constantino, Mills (7.8) Notables: Mason (7.1), McKerr (7.2), Henrique (7.7) Contract Update A possibly devastating error as I decided to wait to offer Jack Hughes and Clive Jackson contracts last month to see what shook out in January. Well, one thing that can shake out is that those guys are now open to receive offers from other clubs to move for free at the end of the season. Scotland's Rangers offer Jack Hughes a contract. The second I see that I realize my error and offer both Hughes and Jackson more than what they're asking for. Oops.

09-12-2011, 11:01 PM	#829
Radii Head Coach Join Date: Jul 2001	-- We have very limited success in searching out a starting level ML that we'd want to keep after this year. -- Jack Hughes signs the extension I offer him. Whew. New Signing I find what I hope to be the perfect target for added depth in my midfield as I spend $975,000 and buy 25 y/o MRC Darren Johnson from Hibernian in Scotland. Our scouts feel that Johnson is a fairly good player. My expectations aren't extremely high here but as we've run into injuries I've realized that we simply don't have enough coverage if the wrong couple guys are hurt at the same time, especially in the midfield, and especially with Berthet leaving and Jackson assuming the DR role. Physical: Pace 13/Accel 13, Str 15/Sta 14, all others but jumping 11-13, he's not getting up in the air. Mental: 15 determination/16 work rate/17 creativity. All others between 10-12. Technical: Passing 13, Tackling 13, Technique 13, Marking 13, Crossing 14, Finishing 14. Not gonna win us a lot of headers but he can adequately get back to help defend and help the passing game moving forward. Johnson is an affordable signing, $11,250/wk for the next 4 years(counting this one). Perfect to add some depth. If we don't make another signing I think we're ok to get through this year now. Anything else we do would be to try to get some talent for next year. -- Clive Jackson signs his new deal with Ipswich as well. We dodge a potentially major bullet. Could you imagine the writeup if I sold Berthet because I wanted to give Clive Jackson a chance to earn a starters spot in defense, and then days later because of a contract mix-up he committed to another club? I feel better now! January 18th, 2019 Ipswich (18-5-4, 1st) @ Fulham(11-4-12, 13th) We're 4:5 favorites on the road to beat Fulham, they're 3:1 to win, their current 13th place is solidly above expectations. GK: Mason D: Hughes/Welsh/Henrique/Jackson M: Guarin/Donnelly/Mills/Johnson ST: Hamilton/Constantino I decide to start my new signing Darren Johnson right away at MR, and to start Clive Jackson, now recovered from food poisoning, at DR. Neil Gordon may be back for our next game. 5': We get the first shot, a clerance to Hamilton, pass ahead to Constantino, he spots Donnelly on the other side of the area and hits him, Donnelly blasts a shot but its saved. 12': They have a free kick, we clear it out, Guarin picks it up on our side of the field, passes to Constantino at midfield, he splits two defenders and takes off, staying ahead of everyone, making it into the area and finishing easily. 1-0 18': They get forward quickly after a free kick near midfield, ST Havranek pulls up from 25 yards and just launches a shot, we didn't close down well, he had the ball for way too long there, and Mason can't get to it, into the left side of the net. 1-1 HALF: Only a couple highlights for the rest of the half here. They end up with 5 shots, 3 on target. We shoot 8 times, 4 on target, but also 4 from long range, I'd like to do better there. We have a big 57/43 possession edge and are winning in every area, they're completing less than 60% of passes successfully which is pretty darn low. We'll wear them down this half hopefully. 53': They get the first couple aggressive highlights of the second half and I drop into a counterattacking strategy, with Jackson and Hughes at fullback and a new guy in the midfield maybe best to be a little safer. 72': They have a corner, taken to the far edge of hte 6 yard box, Welsh goes up with the attacker... and brings him down, penalty. Ugh. They bury it. 1-2 75': We will attack the rest of the way, and Khan is in for Hamilton who is having an off game. 77': McKerr in for new guy Darren Johnson. Jackson to MR, McKerr DR. 86': We build up on offense, a cross comes in from Jackson, header Khan... off the crossbar, close! 88': we give up two free kicks in their end and they take forever to set up and kick them, stallllllll. 89': We finally win a ball and get forward quickly, they put it out for a throwin. They clear out well when we try to get it into the area though. 90': We get forward again, Constantino passes over ot Mills who gets into the area from the right side... but his shot is off the crossbar. 93': Hughes with a yellow. No magic to be had here, we haven't lost in a bit though. Fulham 2 : 1 Ipswich A poor penalty and poor defending to allow a goal from 25 yards out is our downfall. We were better overall today but didn't score enough and had a couple lapses. Man of the Match: Constantino (8.3) Goal: Constantino Assist: Guarin (6.8) Clive Jackson a 6.1 today. New Midfielder Darren Johnson was fine, but nothing special, with a 6.7 rating before being subbed out. He completed most of his passes but lost out in the air, 1 for 5 on headers. He won't win a lot there though. No key playso f any kind but no mistakes either.

09-12-2011, 11:28 PM	#830
Radii Head Coach Join Date: Jul 2001	More Records -- Constantino now has 35 league goals, which breaks his own Ipswich record of 34 set in my first Championship season. In League 1 for Woking he had 48 league goals, something he's on pace to demolish right now. -- Neil Gordon resumes full training on the 21st. Dunno if that is going to be time for him to be ready for Newcastle or not. Injury Update Its a short one but it matters. Constantino catches a cold and if I keep him around for our Newcastle match I risk him getting his germs all over everyone. So I choose to send him home, meaning he isn't available for Newcastle. January 25th, 2019 FA Cup 4th Round Newcastle(4th, EPL) @ Ipswich (1st, CH) We're 7:2 to win here today at home, they're 4:6 favorites. Without Constantino I'm sure that's much, much worse. And without Constantino I choose not to try to rush Neil Gordon back in the lineup. GK: Mason D: Hughes/Welsh/Henrique/Jackson M: Guarin/Donnelly/Mills/Johnson ST: Hamilton/Khan Same as last match but Khan at ST. We defend, ask our guys to hang on to possession when possible and drop our defensive line back. 19': They come out attacking hard, 7 shots already but just 2 on target and both seemed like easy saves for Mason. 28': A run into the area... Hughes tackles the ball away... but its a penalty??? Not a sliding challenge, that seems a very harsh call. They score though. Hughes with a yellow I think for complaining. 0-1 47': Hughes with a foul in the midfield.. that's a second yellow and he's gone. Ugh. Clive Jackson can play DL, I move him over, bring in McKerr for Khan and go 4-4-1. HALF: They have 12 shots to our 1. Mason is playing well but our prospects of doing anything at all on offense seem slim with 10 men. 71': ST Lewandowski burns James Welsh badly and scores easily after geting into the area. 0-2 83': Simon Hamilton is hurt... 84': They get midfielder Weiss into the area after what appers to be another Welsh miscue, I guess he's not taking all the blame here b/c his rating is fine but I'm seeing him stuck out of position badly. Another easy finish as things fall apart. 0-3 Ipswich 0 : 3 Newcastle Jackson 5.6, Hughes 4.5 with the red and the penalty given. Nasty stuff. Injury Update Simon Hamilton has a groin strain and is out 3 weeks. Just getting out of this injury free would have been fine, but now Hamilton misses 3 weeks and Hughes is suspended for our next match with Kirkland still injured. Yuck.

09-12-2011, 11:51 PM	#831
Radii Head Coach Join Date: Jul 2001	-- As we near the end of January I don't feel that we're going to be able to sign someone who can help us next year (assuming we make the EPL again) so I decide to just pocket my profits from selling Berthet. We've been losing money at a fast rate so that helps us retain cash for a little while longer. January 28th, 2019 Cardiff(11-11-6, 7th) @ Ipswich (18-5-5, 1st) We're big 1:2 favorites at home, Cardiff is 9:2 to get a win here today. Cardiff are 4 points out of a playoff spot, while we are now tied for first again after losing our last league match. Cardiff have Rob Lewis, the young attacker I sold last season. He scored their goal against us in a 1:1 draw back in September. GK: Mason D: Jackson/Welsh/Henrique/McKerr M: Guarin/Donnelly/Mills/Gordon ST: Khan/Constantino With Hughes suspended and Hamilton hurt we once again have 7 players out today. 5 of them have 10+ starts for me this season. Clive Jackson starts at DL, McKerr DR, Neil Gordon is back in the lineup for the first time in a bit. I want to attack from the outset here and try to get an early lead. 8': Khan receives a pass from the midfield, he turns by his man and runs into the area.. he's tackled and its a penalty! Constantino takes it and scores. 1-0 11': They begin to work their offense, a pass goes to MC Ledley 25-30 yards out, he just runs straight forward... pulls up 20 yards out, shoots, and bends a really nice shot by Mason. Not challenged at all here again. 1-1 25': Khan gives the ball away in the midfield allowing them to attack before we're set in our defense, Welsh misses a tackle and throws things even further off... a pass into the area for Lewis, a shot, but Mason with the save! That was a clear cut chance for them, good stop for Mason. 35': Yellow for midfielder Suarez. HALF: Not a single highlight after the 25 minute mark. We end up with 6 shots but just 2 on target, they shoot 4 times, putting 3 on target. Their tackling is awesome, 87%, while we're at 52%, our defenders are tackling well, Gordon/Guarin/Constantino(who has 4 attempts for some reason) are particularly bad. 50': Donnelly a yellow. 52': We fight for the ball in the midfield, Donnelly wins it in a good position and passes to Khan... there's a man on him but as the pass is made up ahead his man is cutting over to help cover Constantino... this mistake leaves Khan wide open with a free run into the area, he puts a shot near post by the keeper! 2-1 57': We get forward again, Khan receives a pass 20 yards out and he turns and fires a shot.. keeper can't stop it, but, its off the crossbar. ... 20 minutes without a highlight. 80': Ian Taylor in for Constantino, Burke in for Welsh, New Mid Johnson in for Donnelly. We drop back to defend the rest of the way. 88': Free kick for Cardiff, they shoot from 20 yards out... a shot around the wall, but Mason dives to save it. A great stop. We clear the corner. We hang on and win here. Ipswich 2 : 1 Cardiff They shoot 10 times and put 6 on target, one was a clear cut chance, but Mason passed well today also, looks like a lot of backpasses allowing him to get easy passes completed to boost up his rating, leading to: Man of the Match: Chris Mason (9.3) Goals: Khan (8.4), Constantino (7.3) Assists: Khan, Donnelly (7.3) Notables: McKerr (7.4), Jackson (7.0), Welsh (7.1) Good to get back on the winning side of things. Wolves lose and Bristol City tie so we build up a few points of a lead on the rest of the league again. We're at 62, Wolverhampton 59, Bristol 57, Leeds 56.

09-13-2011, 12:28 AM	#832
Radii Head Coach Join Date: Jul 2001	-- HOORAY!! McDonald Mariga, still out for 3-6 weeks, has requested to be taken off the transfer list and wants to stay with Ipswich. With this, II look at his skills, esp. his physical ratings and they aren't tanking too hard yet. I offer him a contract to play for me next year. He is willing to take a pay cut from $36,500/wk to $26,500/wk, his signing bonus of $100k helps ease the pain there but I'm just fine with that. -- The Champions League is down to its knockout rounds. France's Olympique Lyonnais, one of the top 10 teams in Europe's rankings, fails to qualify, Celtic and Stuttgart come out of their group instead. Sheffield United, a surprise top finisher last year to earn the spot, get crushed by Juventus and Monaco going 1-1-4 in their group and finishing last. Arsenal and Chelsea both win their groups to save some face for England. Goalkeeper Update -- Carlos Antonio resumes full training. He allowed 22 goals in 18 league matches with 4 shutouts before he got hurt with a 6.96 rating. Chris Mason has 12 league matches (11 starts). He's allowed 10 goals, had 3 shutouts and has a 7.33 average rating. I see no reason to change my starting keeper for now. Mason it is. February Update -- We play on the 1st, 8th, 11th, 15th, 22nd and 29th. We play our rivals Norwich and at the end of the month we play Leeds, currently in 4th. The biggest showdowns with Wolves and Bristol City are still a good ways off. -- Jack Hughes is noted to have trained well, his Anticipation (13), Concentration (15) and Teamwork (16) are all up. -- Wolverhampton striker Sam Vokes is the player of the month with 3 goals in 3 matches. Constantino also had 3 goals in 3 league matches, only good enough for 2nd in the voting. -- Our GK Chris Mason is 3rd in the young player of the month voting. -- The board is pleased with my leadership. Signing Steven Mills is the highlight and our 0-3 loss to Newcastle is the latest small complaint. -- We made a profit of $4.19M in January. That's after making $7.6M for selling Berthet, heh. February 1st, 2019 Ipswich (19-5-5, 1st) @ Swansea(4-7-18, 23rd) We're big 4:5 favorites over relegation favorites Swansea today. They're 3:1 to win at their place. GK: Mason D: Hughes/Welsh/Henrique/Jackson M: Guarin/Donnelly/Mills/Gordon ST: Khan/Constantino Hughes is back at DL, Jackson DR. Kirkland is getting close to full health. 3': We try to push the ball into the area, they head it away. Clive Jackson recovers, passes to Constantino, he turns but Khan is in a better position, Constantino finds him, Khan shoots near post and easily beats the keeper! 1-0 10': We have a corner, taken short and passed back to Gordon... Gordon to Jackson who is 20 yards out, he tries to shoot but its blocked. Guarin to the rebound, ahead to Mills who is open and he scores! 2-0 18': Gordon with a really pretty pass into the area for Khan, he's got our 3rd clear cut chance but can't finish. Its saved and turned behind for a corner. Gordon takes it to Henrique, he's tackled in the area but its a foul, penalty! Constantino buries it. 3-0 Just commentary from here, lets get this one done. 31': Mills to Constantino, he beats one man to generate a clear cut chance and scores easily. 4-0 HALF: Yup, looking good. Johnson in for a tired Mills at the half. 55': After a throwin, Gordon passes to Donnely, he shoots from just inside the area and beats the helpless keeper. 5-0 69': No shutout today, a long run for ST Olsen who had a 4.7 rating before this, into the area and beats Mason for a goal. 5-1 78': Hughes with a yellow. Swansea 1 : 5 Ipswich Man of the Match: Gordon Donnelly (9.0) Goals: Constantino 2 (8.9), Mills (8.0), Donnelly, Khan (7.6) Assists: Donnelly, Constantino, Gordon (7.7), Henrique (7.7) Notables: Jackson (7.6), Hughes (7.5), Welshe (7.1), Guarin (7.3) Oh wow. Swansea have broken their record for games without a win. They haven't won in 25 matches. Twenty five!! They were 4-1-3 in league play on September 21st. They're now 4-7-19 with a league cup loss and an FA Cup tie and then loss in the replay... 7 ties/18 losses.

09-13-2011, 12:49 AM	#833
Radii Head Coach Join Date: Jul 2001	-- Stuart Kirkland resumes full training. I'm going to give Jack Hughes a number of starts at DC to see how he does. I'm still trying to figure out what to do with him. He absolutely has a place on the team since he has the versatility to play 3 positions. I'm unsure about our new DC signing this year though, James Welsh, and Henrique will be 34 soon. So I want to give Hughes a good shot at DC as long as he doesn't go getting any more red cards. It seems safe to say already that I will spend a lot of money on DC's if we make it back to the EPL regardless. February 8th, 2019 Scunthorpe(12-8-10, 10th) @ Ipswich (20-5-5, 1st) We're even money favorites over the 10th place team at home, making them 11:5 to get a win today. We tied them 1:1 at their place earlier in the year. GK: Mason D: Kirkland/Hughes/Henrique/Jackson M: Guarin/Donnelly/Mills/Gordon ST: Khan/Constantino We're thrilled to have Kirkland back. Hughes at DC. 17': We win the ball in defense and slowly work up on the offensive end. Gordon receives a pass a solid 45 yards out, sends a ball in the air to Constantino, he shows great control to win it with a defender draped on top of him, turns and after a quick step into the area drills it far post by the keeper. 1-0 24': Defensive lapse by Hughes I think, allowing a through ball and a very close range shot, but Mason makes a reflex save of their first clear cut chance! Great stop. 32': they're trying to attack rather hard here, they have 9 shots to our 6. 36': A throwin in their end, taken to Constantino, a pass to Donnelly, he spots Guarin in a good position, passes into the area for him, and its a goal! 2-0 41': Ok something weird here. Mason with a free kick from our own penalty area, he takes it long... too long it would seem. Their keeper is right there, it seems like he should just catch the ball. But Constantino is bearing down, the keeper appears to simply not go for the ball, and Constantino heads it into the net. Very strange! 3-0 HALF: They out-shoot us 10-8 but its a 3-0 lead for us. 54': Donnelly with a yellow. Pretty sure that's his 10th and another suspension is coming. 64': Welsh in for Henrique, Taylor in for Khan, Johnson in for Mills, all to rest up since we play again in 4 days. 77': Hughes gives up a penalty. WTF Guy. They score and its a Yellow for Hughes. 3-1 We finish it easily. Ipswich 3 : 1 Scunthorpe Man of the Match: Constantino (8.8) Goals: Constantino 2, Guarin (7.6) Assists: Donnelly (8.0), Mason (7.5) Notables: Kirkland (7.6) Jackson/Hughes/Henrique all put up 6.9 ratings. -- Donnelly is suspended for 3 matches.

09-13-2011, 12:51 AM	#834
Radii Head Coach Join Date: Jul 2001	We're now 31 matches in and Bristol City has hit a small slump with just 1 point in their last 3 matches. There are still other competitors fighting for promotion here but that slump makes things look like more of a 2 team race right now. With 15 to go: 1. Ipswich - 68 pts 2. Wolves - 65 pts ---------------------------- 3. QPR - 59 pts 4. Leeds - 59 pts 5. Bristol City - 57 pts 6. Leicester - 54 pts --------------------------- 7. Watford - 48 pts 8. Cardiff - 47 pts 9. Stoke - 46 pts 10. Coventry - 46 pts

09-13-2011, 08:48 AM	#836
Barkeep49 Coordinator Join Date: Jan 2001 Location: Not too far away	To build on what Alf said, before you go too much farther I would do some checking to see if there are players coming off contract that you would like.

09-13-2011, 09:50 AM	#837
Radii Head Coach Join Date: Jul 2001	February 11th, 2019 Ipswich (21-5-5, 1st) @ Watford(13-9-9, 7th) Watford are even money favorites over us today, we're 11:5 to get a win here. GK: Mason D: Kirkland/Hughes/Henrique/Jackson M: Guarin/Johnson/Mills/Gordon ST: Khan/Constantino Darren Johnson in for Donnelly who is suspended. We counter and drop our D-line back today. 1': A long ball ahead to Khan after they try to attack, Khan is well ahead of the defense, its a clear cut chance right away, it by the keeper, but hits the right post, doh!! 20': They build up and there's a pass to one of their forwards, their other FC Brooks cuts into the area, a pass to him and a clear cut chance... easy goal. 0-1 29': We clear a ball out of the area, Constantino tries to pass it back t Clive Jackson to start the offense... but he mishits it and passes it back to our own penalty area, their man Brooks is there and he takes our gift and scores easily. A very rare critical mistake by Constantino. 0-2 39': Gordon with a beautiful ball ahead for Khan, well ahead of the defense and into the area, its our 3rd clear cut chance of the match... and he puts it wide. Oh lord. HALF: Hughes and Henrique, Khan and Constantino are all taking huge hits here today... we're capable of coming back but we need a much, much better effort. We shoot 9 times, they shoot 8. We've got 2 on target and they have 4. The biggest deal is that we have 3 clear cut chances and no goals. 50': After a couple passes around the midfield Mills plays a beautiful ball from 40 yards out into the area, Constantino is there perfectly timing his run behind the defense, and he gets this one into the net easily. 1-2 53': Throwin in their end, Mills challenges their man who receives the pass just inside the penalty area... and commits a foul on him. We give up a penalty, they drain it. 1-3 58': Jackson with a yellow. 80': Guarin with a yellow, they're holding us off well after getting that 3rd goal. 84': Another turnover on our part, Hughes trying to get a ball ahead to Johnson and Johnson just doesn't run onto it, allowing an interception in the midfield and a quick counter. They get a ball forward quickly and ST Baxter has their 4th goal. 1-4 Watford 4 : 1 Ipswich We were just off today, damn. Goal: Constantino (6.8) Assist: Mills (7.4) Mason 5.7, Jackson 5.3, Hughes 5.2, Henrique 5.2, Khan 5.6. Guarin and Kirkland 6.0. No one was immune to playing like crap today! Wolverhampton win and we're once again tied for first, we each have 68 points. 3rd has 62.

09-13-2011, 12:12 PM	#839
Radii Head Coach Join Date: Jul 2001	New Signing We've had good luck buying and loaning guys from Aston Villa, Constantino & DC Marc both were from there. So we give it another try. In my searches to see if I can find some bosman guys to just offer contracts to, I find a ML that my scouts like that I believe can contribute for me at the next level. This transfer won't go through until the new season but we'll welcome 23 y/o DL/ML/AML Lee Burton to Ipswich. He's a natural ML which is where I intend to use him. In loans down to the champtionship he's performed extremely well (7.43 rating and 15 assists in 30 matches for Hull a couple years ago). But for now he's just stuck in the reserve squad doing nothing. Physical: Pace 16/Accel 14/Agility 14. Strenght 9, other ratings 13-14. Mental: Determination 17, Tearmwork 15, Work Rate 15, Bravery 16, Creativity 14... other ratings 10-12, including Anticipation and Off the Ball play. Technical: Crossing 17, Dribbling 13, First Touch 13, Marking 11, Passing 12, Technique 13. So we've got a fast kid, a determined hard worker who is acceptably good at figuring out where to be and what to do at any given time with great skills at crossing the ball and pretty decent skills getting back to defend when need be. Burton was valued at $2.1M but wanted out and was listed for less, we ended u paying $1.6M with no other clauses, I tried to get him for less than $1M with a % of profits clause but they wouldn't bite. Burton is very reasonable with his salary demands, asking for just ~$11,000/wk until he proves he's worth better. Again this wont' go through til the start of next year, but it gives us someone we believe can succeed in the EPL at that position out of this year's budget, so that's solid. February 15th, 2019 Norwich(13-6-13, 14th) @ Ipswich (21-5-6, 1st) We're 4:5 favorites at home against our arch rivals today. I would like to beat them into the ground. GK: Mason D: Kirkland/Hughes/Henrique/Jackson M: Guarin/Johnson/Mills/Gordon ST: Khan/Constantino No lineup change today. 9': Two clear cut chances for Constantino early, the first he just mis-hits the shot it seems. The second their keeper makes a good save. Its raining really hard and that could have an impact. 12': Kirkland with a yellow. 15': There's a fight over the ball in the midfield and we make two great plays, one Mills wins a tackle and takes the ball straight away from one of their mids, he passes over to Darren Johnson, and Johnson makes a high quality pass into the area from near the midfield stripe for Constantino. Constantino runs onto it and finishes eaisly with no challenge from the defense. 1-0 25': We build up down the left side but as we get forward we quickly rotate through the middle, a pass from Guarin to Johnson, to Mills, Mills puts it into the right side of the area where Neil Gordon is cutting in behind his man... Gordon to the ball, his shot beats the keeper and is in! 2-0 27': Darren Johnson with a ball ahead for Khan on a counter attack, its like their defenders just aren't there, these are ridiculous easy goals. 3-0 33': Darren Johnson is everywhere today. They get a strong shot from 20 yards out, saved by Mason but it runs free, one of their attackers is first to it but Johnson makes a key tackle before he can shoot to dispossess him. HALF: We shoot 9 times, putting 6 on target, 4 of them are clear cut chances. Our midfield is playing great today setting everyone up. They've got 10 shots but just 2 on target and we haven't seen many of those shots. 71': Hughes a yellow. 85': Kirkland a yellow. I went to commentary only for that second half and we get out of there with a nice 3-0 win. Ipswich 3 : 0 Norwich I'm always happy when what I feel like I'm seeing in highlights is accurately reflected in the ratings: Man of the Match: Darren Johnson (8.9) Goals: Gordon (7.9), Constantino (7.6), Khan (7.2) Assists: Johnson 2, Mills (7.3) The entire team gets between 7.0-7.4 outside of those mentioned above. Great stuff!

09-13-2011, 03:34 PM	#840
Radii Head Coach Join Date: Jul 2001	-- Henrique requests to be transfer listed. He's been unhappy for awhile now that I was rejecting contract offers but unlike Mariga I guess he doesn't see our hopeful rise back to the EPL as enough reason to want to stay. He wants out. I delay his request for now. He is slowly losing his skills but he was the only reliable DC I found in my last trip up. Even if he's slowing down I would really like him around next year if at all possible and see if he would be happier back in a higher league. February 22nd, 2019 Bolton(11-5-17, 18th) @ Ipswich (22-5-6, 1st) We're 4:5 favorites again today at home against a Bolton club that was predicted to be relegated but is fighting well to stay up. GK: Mason D: Kirkland/Hughes/Henrique/Jackson M: Guarin/Johnson/Mills/Gordon ST: Hamilton/Constantino Simon Hamilton is back from injury and starting today. 17': Our first shot comes as Constantino passes to Hamilton in the area for a clear cut chance, but they cut off the angle and Hamilton can't finish. 18': They commit a foul about 20-22 yards out. Gordon takes the free kick and sends it into the area instead of shooting, they clear. 21': Mills to Constantino, he turns by his man with insane ease, clear cut chance... but saved. 32': They have a corner, Johnson with a nice tackle to win it away after its passed in, but they control, and there's a shot from 25 yards out, Mason dives... gets a hand to it, but its still on target, in the net. 0-1 35': Henrique misses an interception as one of their forwards passes ot the other on an attack and allows ST Gray into the area for an easy finish... uh oh. 0-2 HALF: Well that's a bit of a problem. We seem to control the first 20 minutes well but fail to score on 2 easy chances before collapsing and allowing two goals. If we can get one back early we could still do ok here. We don't exactly have a commanding lead in this league though we can't afford to give games away like this. 47': Simply beautiful passing, Hamilton is 30 yards out, a pass to Constantino, he hits it forward to Guarin with his first touch and its just perfectly placed. Guarin controls it well and beats the keeper! 1-2 53': Mills and Hamilton with a few passes back and forth trying to get something set up, finally Mills hits him, Hamilton beats his man, into the area, shoots far post past the keeper who is rushing out, and scores!! Lets keep it up. 2-2 56': Quick buildup on offense, Darren Johnson hits Gordon in the right side of the area, Gordon charges towards the goal to attack, he's able to beat the keeper and we've got 3 goals in 11 minutes!! 3-2 68': They have it... a couple passes, a through ball for ST Mills, he's into the area for a very easy finish. Henrique takes the blame for that goal and his rating drops from 7 to 5.9. 3-3 89': After 4 or 5 attacking highlights for us showing us squandering possession they get forward again and Henrique seems beaten yet again but Mason makes a diving save to keep it tied... corner is cleared, but they work it ahead again for a second corner. This one we get out of there for good. That'll do it. Ipswich 3 : 3 Bolton After an awful first half this is a decent result but against a poor team it really hurts to give away 2 points at home. Man of the Match: Constantino (8.4) Goals: Hamilton (7.3), Gordon (7.5), Guarin (7.4) Assists: Constantino, Mills (7.4), Johnson (7.2) 5.9 from Henrique. Is the bastard going to tank because I don't' want him leaving? -- Fredy Guarin scored his 25th league goal today.