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09-27-2005, 03:43 PM
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#101 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Hattrick Moderator
Join Date: Jan 2003
Location: Pintendre, Qc, Canada
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January 14, 2006
League Match #23: we play Arsenal. They're currently in 12th place (WOAH!!!  ) and having a very rough season so far. Many of their players are unhappy with it too. They are still 4-7 favourites to win this game.No more than 3 minutes have passed when one of their strikers gets up the the ball and runs by Danny Shittu. Worse than that, Shittu lets him run, run, run, and run some more. Alone with Rossi, he beats him with a precise strike. Down 0-1 early on, another crappy start with 5 players rated at 5. FINALLY!!! In the 11th minute, Martin Rowlands steals the ball, and, and, and... (only for my friend daedalus)   He scores the equalizer, 1-1. In the 40th minute, it's another pass over Shittu's head. Rossi comes out but can't cover the angle. Down 1-2. The half ends with us down "only" 1-2. I say only because they are outshooting us 11(4) to 3(2). We're just not in the same game as these guys. They're winning possession with 59%, 39 of them on our end of the field. In the 47th minute, they try one from semi-long range (20 yards) and it goes in. Rossi's and Shittu's form drop to 5. I pull Rossi out and put Jake Cole in. They kick a corner straight to an unmarked player in the 79 minute. Down 1-4. They add another one in the 89th minute, as we look as if we are playing all out attack, with everybody out of position, but we're not going all out. Simply as if the defense has stopped playing. Final Score: Q.P.R. 1, Arsenal 5 I guess it could have been predicted, but it still hurts. They outshot us 25(12) to 7(5). They didn't control the ball as much in the second half, but they still scored three goals...9 of our 11 starters are at very poor morale after this loss... FM
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A Black Belt is a White Belt who refused to give up... follow my story: The real life story of a running frog... |
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09-28-2005, 08:45 AM
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#102 |
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Pro Rookie
Join Date: Oct 2000
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Ouch. That hurts.
Cygan giving up a goal? That's to be expected!  At least he isn't knocking them into our own goal. This time. |
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09-28-2005, 11:43 AM
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#103 | |
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Hattrick Moderator
Join Date: Jan 2003
Location: Pintendre, Qc, Canada
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Quote:
well, if he could have only sent more into their own goal, maybe we could have tied the game  FM
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A Black Belt is a White Belt who refused to give up... follow my story: The real life story of a running frog... |
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09-28-2005, 12:36 PM
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#104 |
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Hattrick Moderator
Join Date: Jan 2003
Location: Pintendre, Qc, Canada
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January 17, 2006
I receive the usual mail titled "Players called up for international duty". I open it thinking I got some players who've been called up for some international friendly or something like that, maybe even as uneventful as a U18 player called up to the England U19 or something like that. But, oh no, it just can't be that easy. I learn that Danny Shittu and Abubakiri Yakubu, arguably the two strongest components of our currently struggling defense, have been called up by they respective African nation to play in the 2006 African Cup of Nations. OOOOOH CRAP!!! It takes a couple seconds before my brain registers the disaster but it fully sinks in when I take a look at the competitions page. It will be starting on January 23rd and the final is set to take place on February 12th. This means they could both miss as many as 5 games, a frigging big hit for a small club like ours... January 23, 2006 Gareth Ainsworth suffers a damaged foot in training and will miss 2 weeks. He had not even played since coming back from his previous injury. January 24, 2006 And the crap keeps hitting the fan, a truckload of crap this time as I learn that Martin Rowlands will be out for 5 months. The 26yo midfielder suffered a damaged spine during a routine training exercise and the fans at Loftus Road will be desperately hoping the team can hold together without him.The fans are not alone in hoping that, I am too... Looks like it will be a combination of Scott Donnelly and Christopher Eagles on the right wing, at least for the next two weeks, until Gareth Ainsworth comes back, but even then, he may not displace either of the two...FM
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A Black Belt is a White Belt who refused to give up... follow my story: The real life story of a running frog... |
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09-28-2005, 12:38 PM
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#105 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Hattrick Moderator
Join Date: Jan 2003
Location: Pintendre, Qc, Canada
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January 25, 2006
League Match #24: we play Manchester City at Loftus Road. They are currently in 12th place. We're now only 3 points clear of the drop zone after 23 games. Our starting XI today is one ugly lineup but I wrote that in my notes and only now do I realize that I forgot to save a copy of the pregame lineup. Here's what it was: GK Rossi DR Bignot DL Padula DC Hierro DC Rose MR Donnelly ML Fernandes DMC Powell DMC Morris AMC DANI SC Güiza So we go with a 4-2-2-1-1 formation. If there's one thing going for us, in addition to the game being played on our pitc, it's that they have played games on the 14th, the 18th and the 22nd while we've last played on the 14th. We could be better rested than them later on in the game. In the 5th minute, Hierro wins a defensive header and directs it to Scott Donnelly who spots the run of Gianfranco Zola and dang can the 39yo run! He scores on a precisely placed shot to give us the lead 1-0. They move through our defense in the 38th minute and tie it 1-1. The score at the half is 1-1 and shots are kept very low at 3(3) for us and 3(2) for them. The second half goes without any goal and we "survive" this one without any defensive collapse. Final Score: Q.P.R. 1, Manchester City 1 Anything but a loss right now and I'm not unhappy. They outshot us 9(6) to 5(4) on the game. Generoso Rossi got another rating of 6 though, the only one of the whole team. Player morale is better overall though. We're in 15th following the lossnow 4 points clear from the drop zone...
FM
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A Black Belt is a White Belt who refused to give up... follow my story: The real life story of a running frog... |
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09-28-2005, 03:28 PM
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#106 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Hattrick Moderator
Join Date: Jan 2003
Location: Pintendre, Qc, Canada
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January 28, 2005
League Match #25: we play Birmingham on their pitch. They're 9th in the EPL. We field another ugly kind of lineup for this one and we're getting drilled very early on... They take the lead after only 10 minutes when Generoso Rossi can't save a third shot in a row. Down 0-1. After 10, they're outshooting us 6(4) to 0(1). I hit the tactic button just right after watching the highlight of their goal but it still shows "waiting" in the 12th minute when they keep on taking shots on goal. Hierro deflects one that ends to the feet of one of their strikers who converts it in an empty net. Down 0-2. They add to the insult in the 37th minute when they kick a free kick over the wall, top corner. I know tactics have a lot to do with winning and losing, but what am I supposed to do against top corner free kicks??? Down 0-3. The joke continues as they take another long shot in the 42nd minute. They score from 25 yards out. See my comment about the free kick. What can I do when the tactic is good enough to keep them out of our penalty area, but they keep putting the ball not only on target, but in crazy spots the keeper just can't reach??? The half ends with us down 0-4. They're outshooting us 15(12) to 2(1), it's ridiculous how we're outclassed... When we finally take a shot in the second, we put it over the bar... Final Score: Q.P.R. 0, Birmingham 4 All I see are ratings of 6 everywhere, complete metldown. They outshot us 18(13) to 4(1) on the game. Last time I had this feeling of the team completely giving up is when I got sacked at Luton Town in my previous career. I don't like that feeling at all... FM
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A Black Belt is a White Belt who refused to give up... follow my story: The real life story of a running frog... |
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09-28-2005, 04:55 PM
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#107 |
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College Starter
Join Date: Oct 2000
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hang in there Frogman!
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09-29-2005, 08:50 AM
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#108 | |
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Hattrick Moderator
Join Date: Jan 2003
Location: Pintendre, Qc, Canada
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Quote:
Thanks, I will. I always try to put in the best lineup possible but it's gonna be one long end to this season. Hopefully I can keep us in the EPL and we can upgrade the lineup in the offseason... Thanks for reading! FM
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A Black Belt is a White Belt who refused to give up... follow my story: The real life story of a running frog... |
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09-29-2005, 12:42 PM
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#109 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Hattrick Moderator
Join Date: Jan 2003
Location: Pintendre, Qc, Canada
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January 28, 2006
Following our latest big loss to Birmingham, and with the very poor form shown by keeper Generoso Rossi, I have decided to recall Chris Day from his loan at Burnley. It's not been a very good loan for Day at Burnley, at least not in his apparent form ratings as he 6.89 in 9 appearances (8 starts) while conceding 12 goals and recording 3 clean sheets. As I said, Rossi is starting to piss me off with his very bad form and I think that playing Day for a few games could bring us back to some sort of normalcy. On top of that, Day is the one who brought us to the EPL, anchoring our Championship leading defense last year, so while he tends to make me crazy by allowing a bad goal here or there (due to his poor positioning I think) he should be good to help us out... January 29, 2006 With the transfer deadline coming fast, I decide to put in a bid for a striker currently playing at De Graafschap name Mamadou Zongo. The offer is accepted in the afternoon and when I go to offer him a contract, I realize that, being from Burkhina Faso, he's tied in the African Cup of Nations, grrrr... He's got a few little things working against him. First, he's not that impressive a striker. Second, he's unavailable until almost mid February. Third, my assistant doesn't even believe that signing him would be worthwhileFor those reasons, I knock down my contract offer from his requests. He wants $8,000 per week, I offer him $5,400. January 30, 2006 Stoke want Chris Day on loan. Err, no. Zongo rejects my offer, I simply withdraw my offer, we'll live with who we have in the team. February 1st, 2006 The transfer deadline has passed. I see big signings left and right, from Arsenal, Chelsea, Man Utd, and I sit there, tons of cash, no transfer budget. sigh... The team board and fans are still delighted about my work as manager. Good to hear, but we're in 17th, tied on point with the 18th place team damnit!!! Look at this:
FM
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A Black Belt is a White Belt who refused to give up... follow my story: The real life story of a running frog... |
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09-29-2005, 12:44 PM
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#110 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Hattrick Moderator
Join Date: Jan 2003
Location: Pintendre, Qc, Canada
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February 1, 2006
League Match #26: we play Derby at Loftus Road. They are currently in 20th and last place in the EPL and have struggled all season after promoting through the playoffs from the Championship. We are 5-4 favourites to win this one and it just might be our chance to get back on track. As you would expect, Chris Day is our starting keeper for this game. I tweak our tactics a little. We get a break in the 20th minute when Scott Donnelly, going for a long throw in from Dani, get upended just inside their penalty area. PENALTY!!! Scott Donnelly lines up and scores his first ever Q.P.R. goal! Up 1-0! In the 38th minute, Donnelly is on the other end of a fault inside his team's penalty area as he trips an opponent. Crap, PENALTY!!! We get another break, IT'S WIDE!!! Stil p 1-0. It's a good half for once, as we're up 1-0 after 45 minutes. We're even outshooting them 7(2) to 5(1), but we're losing possession... In teh 75th minute, Kevin Gallen send a long pass to Güiza who's on the run. He scores his 10th goal of the season and we're up 2-0. They get a throw in in the 88th minute. The ball is centered quickly and they pull on shot that's blocked by Day, but they score on the rebound. Final Score: Q.P.R. 2, Derby 1 FINALLY a win! These last five minutes were the longest I've seen in a long while though. I almost had 3 or 4 heart attacks as they kept mounting attacks, but we held on. we move up to 14th after 26 games, now 12 games to play on the season...
Gino Padula strained his wrist and will miss one week. I may have to resort to starting 16yo Jonathan Burton at left full back against Blackburn in three days. We'll see... February 3, 2006 35yo Per Frandsen announces that he will retire at the end of the season. The player admitted that persistent injury problems have caused him to seriously consider his long term health. If you remember correctly, Frandsen recently suffered a fractured skull in training... FM
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A Black Belt is a White Belt who refused to give up... follow my story: The real life story of a running frog... |
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09-29-2005, 03:24 PM
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#111 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Hattrick Moderator
Join Date: Jan 2003
Location: Pintendre, Qc, Canada
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February 4, 2006
League Match #27: we play Blackburn on their pitch. They're currently in 10th place and are 5-4 favourites to win this game. We drew 2-2 with them earlier this season. They lost 1-4 to Charlton in their last game but had beat Southampton 3-0 twice in the two games prior to that one (once in league, the other in the League Cup semi-final). Ghana is out of the African Cup of Nations so Abubakiri Yakubu is back with the club with superb morale to boot. Gino Padula is out with a wrist injury and I'm pondering what to do with the left fullback spot. I could move Marcus Bignot from right to left and play Yakubu on the right, or I could give the start to 16yo Jonathan Burton on the left spot. Here's Burton's developmental sheet since the start of the season:
As you can see, while lacking in stamina, he's got some skills. He is also only a 16 years old boy who would be playing with the big boys... I finally decide to start Burton and keep Bignot on my bench in case he's too overwhelmed and keep making stupid mistakes early on. Chris Day starts again as our keeper. This game is on TV and Yakubu is presented as our key man while winger Morten Gamst Pedersen is presented as Blackburn's. Their prediction mentions the fact that they think that Q.P.R. find it difficult on their travels and they can't see that changing in this game, predicting a win by Blackburn. it only takes 70 seconds for Blackburn to get ahead by one thanks to a corner kick straight to the penalty spot. Hierro was beaten on the jump up and we go down 0-1. Everybody rates at 5 to starts the game... We hit right back though and at 3:16, Fabrice Fernandes' 40 yard long pass ahead of Güiza is just perfect. Güiza finds himself in front of a keeper who's rushing out. He lobs a long distance ball over the keeper's head for the 1-1 goal. It's a crazy start of the game and in the 11th minute, Hierro is called for a foul inside our penalty area. PENALTY!!! They score with a bullet. Down 1-2. They flight a long pass in between our two centrebacks and the guys let him run. I can understand Hierro and his 38 years of age and his big "1" in pace, but Matthew Rose, who was the closest, should have tried something. They beat Chris Day for the 1-3 goal. Day's form drops to 5 as well as Rose's form. I pull a defender out of the game, but it's not the young Burton. Rose is out of there. Yakubu goes to centreback while Marcus Bignot takes the right fullback spot. The half ends with us down 1-3. They're outshooting us 10(6) to 4(2). Chris Day made a couple of big save and his form is now back up to 8. They add another goal in teh 70th minute as we're trying some things, anything to get close to their goal. Down 1-4. Final Score: Q.P.R. 1, Blackburn 4 Another typical meltdown. They outshot us 24(10) to 7(4). We lost possession big time in the second half as we tried real hard to attack... FM
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A Black Belt is a White Belt who refused to give up... follow my story: The real life story of a running frog... |
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09-30-2005, 10:09 AM
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#112 | |
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Hattrick Moderator
Join Date: Jan 2003
Location: Pintendre, Qc, Canada
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February 5, 2006
Wow, kinda weird but following a game in which I had to pull him out because he just wasn't into it, Matthew Rose tells me he is delighted that I responded positively to his demands for first-team football. He commented that he had noticed a far greater willingness on from me to play him since he asked for a regular place in the starting line-up. You can say thanks to the African Cup of Nations my friend... February 10, 2006 In an interview for TEAMtalk.com, Sam Allardyce said the pressure was on me to get the results for my relegation-troubled team and its fans. Allardyce is the manager of the Bolton Wandererers, whom we play tomorrow. His comment is welcomed with two reactions. First Fabrice Fernandes takes the very confident approach as he believes that the team can cope with big occasions of that we can win big games without much effort. The other reaction, had by Dani, Abubakiri Yakubu, and Martin Rowland is more of a fighting one, as they believe that the team can overcom any obstacles put in front of them and that is reflected by some of the comments emanating from rival team managers. I take the trash-talk approach. I won't back down and tell Allardyce that I will do everything in my power to ensure we take all the points when my team meets Bolton Wanderers. This translates this way in the media: Quote:
Following my responce, Danny Shittu and Gino Padula both said they're detemined to go from strength to strength, whatever that means, while Yakubu and Rowland both believe that the team can win most games without much effort. Yeah guys, way to go, it's not as if we've needed to work to be in the position we're in now... FM
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A Black Belt is a White Belt who refused to give up... follow my story: The real life story of a running frog... |
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09-30-2005, 10:22 AM
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Hattrick Moderator
Join Date: Jan 2003
Location: Pintendre, Qc, Canada
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February 11, 2006
League Match #28: we play Bolton at Loftus Road. Wanna know how close the two teams are? Well, we drew 0-0 in our first meet this season and look at this:
I decide to start Jonathan Burton again while keeping a less than fit Gino Padula on the bench just in case. Generoso Rossi is back in the nets but with a very short leash. Bolton show a 4-3-2-1 formation to start the game and they are 6-4 favourites to win this game. They score first in the 26th minute when a long center is headed in. The half ends with us down only 0-1 and we're very lucky it's not worse. They are outshooting us 10(2) to 3(0) for now but Generoso Rossi is keeping us in the game, rating at 8. In the 79th minute, Dani kicks a corner straight to a defender by Abubakiri Yakubu regains possession and passes the ball to Fabrice Fernandes. As he turn toward goal, he gets upended in the area. PENALTY!!! Scott Donnelly socres to tie the game. They attack right away but Gino Padula, in for a tired Burton, heads away a pass to Fernandes. On the left, he finds Dani in the middle. Dani swings the ball back to Güiza on the left. Güiza bores on goal and fires a curling shot with no angle. It's in, top corner!!! Up 2-1 after 82 minutes! But dang, we let them come right back as they get through the middle of our defense only 2 minutes later to tie it 2-2. Final Score: Q.P.R. 2, Bolton 2 They outshot us 13(4) to 8(3) but we really got it going in the second half. It's a very frustrating draw since we were up so late in the game. Fabrice Fernandes was selected as Man of the Match with a rating of 8. We remain in 16th place but we seriously could be in trouble...
We're only 4 points off 18th place Everton but they have two games on hand over us... Dani has been banned for our next match which is only on March 4. By then, Everton and Crystal Palace should have played their games on hand and we'll know where we really stand for the last stretch of 10 games. FM
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A Black Belt is a White Belt who refused to give up... follow my story: The real life story of a running frog... Last edited by FrogMan : 09-30-2005 at 10:24 AM. |
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09-30-2005, 12:37 PM
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#114 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Hattrick Moderator
Join Date: Jan 2003
Location: Pintendre, Qc, Canada
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February 13, 2006
We catch a break as Southampton beat Crystal Palace 3-2 today. February 15, 2006 We catch another break as Everton are completely destroyed by Manchester United, 6-1. Wow, kind of feels good to see we're not the only who can suffer an occasional defensive meltdown. February 22, 2006 Everton and Crystal Palace both played again today and news are mixed for us. Everton beat #11 Aston Villa 3-1, while Crystal Palace drew 1-1 with #13 Fulham. Well, we're not in so bad shape after all. After 28 games for the all relegation battlers (Bolton, QPR, Everton, Crystal Palace), the league table looks like this:
And here are the 10 matches we still have to play to close the season.  Two biggies in there and both at home: March 20 vs Crystal Palace, and April 1st vs Everton. We also have a few tough ones in there with games remaining against Chelsea and Man Utd. February 26, 2006 Tottenham beat Blackburn in extra time to win the League Cup. FM
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A Black Belt is a White Belt who refused to give up... follow my story: The real life story of a running frog... |
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09-30-2005, 01:03 PM
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#115 | |||
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Hattrick Moderator
Join Date: Jan 2003
Location: Pintendre, Qc, Canada
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March 1st, 2006
The team board and the fans are still delighted with my performance as manager. Always good to hear. Woah, Güiza had the 1st and 3rd goals of the month in the EPL. The Goal of the Month was his top corner curling shot from a very close angle against Bolton while the #3 was his chip shot over the keeper in the Blackburn game. March 2, 2006 I decide to praise Güiza following his two goal nomination. The fans have no reaction. March 3, 2006 Quote:
But before I do, I gotta say he had some impact on some of my players. Fabrice Fernandes and Dani both that the team can cope with big occasions and that they can wni the big games without much effort while Abubakiri Yakubu, Gianfranco Zola, and Martin Rowlands all believe the team can overcome any obstacle put in front of them and that this is reflected by some of the comments emanating from rival team managers. I go straight for the jugular with my responce to Hoddle. I more or less tell him that his side will be relegated and to prepare for defeat in our upcoming match. It translates this way in the media: Quote:
Trash talking season is on baby, gotta love that! March 4, 2006 Quote:
I responded that the pressure is really on Hoddle to stave off the threat of relegation and that he had to get the results for his relegation-troubled team and their fans. Coming up, at some point today, the game report itself. Don't change the channel FM
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A Black Belt is a White Belt who refused to give up... follow my story: The real life story of a running frog... |
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09-30-2005, 03:18 PM
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#116 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Hattrick Moderator
Join Date: Jan 2003
Location: Pintendre, Qc, Canada
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March 4, 2006
League Match #29: we play Leicester on their pitch. They are currently in 19th place and fighting hard against relegation. They are 6-4 favourites to win this game. Everton won in the morning, so we dropped down to 17th. Cedric van der Gun starts in the AMC spot, replacing Dani who's banned for a game after collecting 5 yellow cards. They last played only 3 days ago, a win in the 5th round of the FA Cup while we last played about three weeks ago. We're all at 100%. Igor Protti scores his first ever goal for Q.P.R. after he headed a beautiful center to the far post from Fabrice Fernandes. Up 1-0 after 10 minutes. The half ends on that score. We're outshooting them 9(3) to 5(0). We're not really dominating the game, but we're quietly in control. They tie the game in the 54th minute as one of their strikers shoots the ball top corner from an absolute angle. How the bal got in there is beyond me. Tied 1-1. Final Score: Q.P.R. 1, Leicester 1 ARRG! That was a solid game that we could/should have won. We outshot them 14(6) to 10(3) on the game and our defenders had a solid game as Marcus Bignot, Danny Shittu, and Abubakiri Yakubu all rated at 8. Fabrice Fernandes was named Man of the Match with a rating of 9. We remain in 17th place, now only 3 points off the drop zone and with Crystal Palace having a game on hand on us. March 5, 2006 Crystal Palace play the match they have on hand over us and they lose it 1-2 to Charlton. We're back to being a good 3 points clear of the drop zone...
Our next game will be a very important one as we'll take on Crystal Palace at Loftus Road on March 20. FM
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A Black Belt is a White Belt who refused to give up... follow my story: The real life story of a running frog... |
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09-30-2005, 03:19 PM
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#117 |
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Hattrick Moderator
Join Date: Jan 2003
Location: Pintendre, Qc, Canada
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March 6, 2006
Marcus Bignot, Fabrice Fernandes and Danny Shittu are all selected on the EPL Team of the Week. March 8, 2006 I decide to retrain youngster full back Jonathan Burton to add the "C" side to his arsenal. He didn't play badly in his 2 appearances for our senior squad (a 6 in his first game but a 7 in his second) but his lack of stamina kind of hurt him on the side defense where stamina is a bit more needed than in the middle. On top of that, he's already got great heading skill and pretty good positioning... At only 16yo, he should be able to learn a new position... March 15, 2006 Christopher Eagles injured his foot in training and will miss one week. March 18, 2006 Southampton beat Everton 4-2 and Liverpool beat Leicester 4-0. These are two good results for us. Speaking of Jonathan Burton, I see that he turned 17 on the 15th and he's now eligible to turn professional. Time to offer him a contract. He's looking for a weekly wage of $1,400 with a signing on fee of $40k with a weekly wage increase of 25%. These are not outrageous demands, but he also seems to be saying that he wants to be guaranteed a first team spot which I just can't do. I offer him a contract worth $1,000 per week as a hot prospect. The signing on fee and the yearly increase are untouched. FM
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A Black Belt is a White Belt who refused to give up... follow my story: The real life story of a running frog... |
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09-30-2005, 03:20 PM
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#118 | |
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Hattrick Moderator
Join Date: Jan 2003
Location: Pintendre, Qc, Canada
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March 19, 2006
Quote:
Some players reacted to Dowie's comment. Gino Padula and Fabrice Fernandes are both concerned they might succumb to the pressure and fail to perform in big games. HUH??? Come on guys!!! Thankfully, Danny Shittu, Abubakiki Yakubu and Güiza are all determined to help their team perform well in big games. Much better! Seeing how Dowie feels the two of us could become friends, and frankly who doesn't need a friend in the cutthroat world of the EPL, I reply by praising my friend Iain Dowie. In other news, Arsenal beat Bolton 3-0. Another good result for us. Jonathan Burton rejected our first contract offer, probably his mommy who told him to say no to the bad mister. I offer him what he's asking, $1,400 per week this time, but I just can't promise hims a first team spot. I leave that as a hot prospect contract. March 20, 2006 Iain Dowie responded to my most recent praise by praising me again, this time referring to me as his friend. Danny Shittu, Abubakiri Yakubu and Gianfranco Zola are all pleased I'm getting the praise I deserve while Fabrice Fernandes feels the team cannot fail to perform whilst under my guidance... FM
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A Black Belt is a White Belt who refused to give up... follow my story: The real life story of a running frog... |
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09-30-2005, 03:46 PM
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#119 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Hattrick Moderator
Join Date: Jan 2003
Location: Pintendre, Qc, Canada
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March 20, 2006
League Match #30: we play Crystal Palace at Loftus Road. They're 18th and only 3 points below us. This is a crucial game and we're 5-4 favourites to win it. I like how Cedric van der Gun played in our last game so he stays in at AMC even though Dani's banning is over. Rossi, Day, Day, Rossi, Rossi, Day... Chris Day it is!!! Marc Bircham is back in the lineup but I realize I didn't save the pre-game lineup, probably because of all the pre-game excitement.  Here is the short version of how the lineup was:GK: Day DR Bignot DL Padula DC Shittu DC Yakubu MR Donnelly ML Fernandes DMC Bircham AMC van der Gun SC Güiza SC Protti This game is on TV and key men are presented as being Danny Shittu for us and Andrew Johnson for Crystal Palace. About Shittu, they say that the strong centreback performs key defensive duties at the heart of the Q.P.R. defense and about Johnson, they say that the striker has the ability to pose a constant threat to the opposition's backline. Nice, a good old offense vs defense matchup. Their prediction scares me: "Tough one to call but Crystal Palace will be low on confidence after a poor run of form and that should be just enough to see Q.P.R. through." hrm... They show a 3-4-3 formation and both teams are well rested. In the 15th minute, Güiza gives us a 1-0 lead when he scores his 100th league goal following an excellent triangle move between him, Fabrice Fernandes and Cedric van der Gun. Up 1-0 early on. They attack back and start spraying our goal with shots. Chris Day saves one but let's a big rebound go and they score on it. Tied 1-1 after 20 minutes. In the 36th minute, after receiving a neat pass from Igor Protti, Güiza smashed the ball towards the top corner. It goes in from all of 30 yards out. Back on top with Güiza's second goal of the game, 2-1. The half ends with us ahead 2-1. They are outshooting us 8(4) to 7(4). We're winning possession with 53% but 23% of that total is in our own defensive zone, a bit high to my liking. Only 71 seconds into the second half, it's THE GÜIZA SHOW!!!! Güiza completes his hat-trick as he completely fakes the other team's keeper out of his socks after receiving a very long counter-attack ball. Up 3-1. That was also Güiza's 15th goal of the season. Danny Shittu plays a free kick from the centerlin forward in the 53rd minute. He aimed the ball to Cedric van der Gun who swiftly turned around with it an beat the closest defender before launching a perfect striker that beats the keeper. van der Gun is staking his claim for a regular first-team spot with this goal. Up 4-1. I pulled van der Gun a minute later, putting Gianfranco Zola in his place. The crowd gave him a standing ovation for his performance. Ugh, Fabrice Fernandes has to leave the pitch in the 77th minute, injured. We end the game with 10 men. Final Score: Q.P.R. 4, Crystal Palace 1 WOW!!! A long awaited defining win! We outshot them 11(7) to 11(4). Marcus Bignot and Danny Shittu got rated at 8 while Cedric van der Gun received a 9 and Güiza a 10 along with the Man of the Match selection. We move up to 15th place, 6 points clear of the relegation zone with 8 matches to play.
Marcus Bignot suffered a gashed head and he will miss three days, but it's not him I'm most worried about... Quote:
And you know what a groin injury means. Short term means some physiotherapy, but longer term means surgery, which is exactly what my team of physios is recommending for Fabrice. Facing the possibility of seeing him gone for 2 to 6 months, I send him to the OR. The news isn't much better, he'll miss 5 months. Ooooh crap. This means we'll have to finish the season without either of our day 1 starting wingers... I frigging wanna cry. I absolutely, positively wanna lock myself in my office and start drinking until I pass out, but no, the media are there, hounding me. A journalist from The Observer approaches me with this brilliant question: "Fabrice Fernandes got injured in the game today and it looks as if he might be out for a while. Do you have sufficient back-up?" Although I just want to start weeping Vermeil-style, I get a hold of myself and respond to him, with my best poker face: "We'll miss Fabrice but I feel we've got adequate cover" sigh... long sigh... longer sigh... FM
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A Black Belt is a White Belt who refused to give up... follow my story: The real life story of a running frog... Last edited by FrogMan : 09-30-2005 at 03:47 PM. |
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09-30-2005, 03:48 PM
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#120 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Hattrick Moderator
Join Date: Jan 2003
Location: Pintendre, Qc, Canada
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March 21, 2006
My assistant manager reports that he has noted that Fabrice Fernandes has been in buoyant mood over the past day or so. After consultin several members of the team, he has discovered that the winger was delighted with the comments you made about him to the media recently... March 22, 2006 Q.P.R. youngster Jonathan Burton is celebrating today after being handed his first professional contract by the club. With his manager (and also his mommy who's also his agent) looking on, the 17yo full back put pen to paper on a 3 yeard deal. March 25, 2006 Crystal Palace lost 0-2 to Liverpool today but Everton won their match against Charlton, 2-1. We're the ones with a game on hand now and we're still 6 points off the drop zone.
As you can see, Derby became the first team to clinch anything today. They clinched relegation to the Championship. FM
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A Black Belt is a White Belt who refused to give up... follow my story: The real life story of a running frog... |
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10-01-2005, 12:28 PM
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#121 | |
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College Benchwarmer
Join Date: Jul 2003
Location: usually sunny SoCal
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fm
sucks about fernandes... how do you do the charts with avg form, etc? Is it an extract from Fm2005? thanks, tim
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10-02-2005, 06:28 PM
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#122 |
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Hattrick Moderator
Join Date: Jan 2003
Location: Pintendre, Qc, Canada
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tim, if you mean what I posted about Jonathan Burton in the February 4 report, this comes from an excel spreadsheet I've put together that uses FM Scout to compare two pictures of my players' skills.
If you're talking about what I post to summarize my lineup on every gameday, this comes straight from FM. When you're looking at your roster screen (selection view I think), go to options, then "print screen" and there select "web page"... The league table are also generated the same way, except I do a "print screen" of the league table... FM
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A Black Belt is a White Belt who refused to give up... follow my story: The real life story of a running frog... Last edited by FrogMan : 10-02-2005 at 06:30 PM. |
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10-03-2005, 12:35 PM
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#123 |
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Hattrick Moderator
Join Date: Jan 2003
Location: Pintendre, Qc, Canada
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gotta tell you in advance, I have about two months gametime to report, this means we'll cover from March 26, to about May 27 until I'm done, and that is if I don't play again tonight. Updates should come in steady spurts for the next few days, the frequency? I haven't a clue. Take them as they come
And yeah, this means I know if we're staying up or not, but I'll try not to spoil it for you You ready? Here we go... FM
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A Black Belt is a White Belt who refused to give up... follow my story: The real life story of a running frog... |
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10-03-2005, 12:37 PM
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#124 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Hattrick Moderator
Join Date: Jan 2003
Location: Pintendre, Qc, Canada
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March 26, 2005
League Match #31: we play Chelsea on their pitch. They are currently in 3rd place and are 4-6 favourites to win this game. Damien Duff, their star middie, is suspended for that one although I'm not so sure it will matter. I give the start to Gareth Ainsworth on the right wing. He's experienced and was a steady if not exciting player last season. Generoso Rossi is back in goal for us. This game is on TV and they present goalkeeper Petr Cech as Chelsea's key man, adding that they've conceded only 42 goals in the 44 games he's played in. Our key man is Danny Shittu. As would be expected, they are predicting an easy home win for The Blues. Chelsea show a 4-3-3 formation to start the game. After 2:54 of play, I see the dreaded "Rob Styles is calling Gareth Ainsworth over..." I can't even tell you if Ainsworth received a yellow card or not, I was way too busy frenetically clicking the tactics button to tell my guys to go easy on tackles... Oh dang... Danny Shittu has to leave the pitch in the 39th minute, injured. I don't have a defender on the bench. Jody Morris comes in his place. The half ends on a 0-0 note. They're outshooting us 10(6) to 4(2) and we're mostly surviving. Generoso Rossi is having a great half so far, rating at 9, as is Abubakiri Yakubu who's rating at 8. However, Igor Protti is having a downer, rating at 5. I pull him out and put Gianfranco Zola in. Gino Padula is also rating at 5, but I don't have any other defender to put in his place. WOAH!!! We take the lead in the 49th minute as Güiza scores on a nice center from Cedric van der Gun. Up 1-0! Ah dang! In the 65th minute, Jody Morris makes a wrong move, something completely unrelated with his capacities as a defender as he simply loses the ball to a stricker while dribbling it. The striker is alone with Rossi whom he beats easily. Tie 1-1. Holy Crap! Rob Styles must be quite an SOB. Marcus Bignot's form was at 8 for a good while, then boom, a yellow card, probably accompanied by a bad ass stare from Styles and bang, Bignot's form is at 4! Not 6 or 5, but 4!!!As you could expect, a couple minutes later, in the 75th minute, they go around Bignot as if he were a pylone. Rossi touches the incoming shot but it goes in off the post. We now have two players rated at 4, Bignot and Morris, and we're dow 1-2. While I'm waiting to get a chance to talk to my boys, tweak something in our tactics, they get one more as they move the ball at will. Down 1-3 after 77. Final Score: Q.P.R. 1, Chelsea 3 I'm not really pissed off, given the circumstances. They outshot us 15(10) to 6(4). Morris rated at 4, way out of position for him, so I can't hold it against him. The inexcusable ones are Bignot and Protti though, they both rated at 5. Rossi had a good game, rating at 8. We remain in 16th, still 6 points off the drop zone. Danny Shittu suffered a damaged elbow and will miss one week. Next up we have a very important match against Everton. FM
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A Black Belt is a White Belt who refused to give up... follow my story: The real life story of a running frog... |
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10-03-2005, 12:38 PM
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#125 |
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Hattrick Moderator
Join Date: Jan 2003
Location: Pintendre, Qc, Canada
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March 30, 2006
Güiza has gone to the media with a complaint. He has stated that his current pay deal is too low for a player of his calibre. He claimed he would be happy to commit his himself to the club, but only if the deal matches his expectations. While I acknowledge that he's the main goal provider on the squad, we signed him on a free transfer in the offseason prior to the current season. He's currently payed $13,000 per week and would like a raise to about $35,000. I can't make that kind of renewal at the moment, just as I can't go out and sign new players for the upcoming season, not as long as we're not at least a bit sure that we'll stay up. April 1st, 2006 The team board and the fans are delighted with my performance as a manager and how the club has progressed under my management. Güiza had the 3rd best goal in the EPL last month. It was his 3rd goal in the Crystal Palace game. FM
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A Black Belt is a White Belt who refused to give up... follow my story: The real life story of a running frog... |
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10-03-2005, 12:43 PM
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Hattrick Moderator
Join Date: Jan 2003
Location: Pintendre, Qc, Canada
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April 1, 2006
League Match #32: we play Everton at Loftus Road. They're currently in 15th place, one point ahead of us, and they are 5-4 favourites to win this game. Danny Shittu is not back from his injury suffered in our last game. Seeing how he's had great form ratings so far this season with the reserves, I give the start to Arthur Gnohéré. Gianfranco Zola starts in place of Igor Protti's place and Aaron Brown is in for Lee Cook on the left wing. Generoso Rossi stays in as the keeper. Bolton drew 0-0 with Birmingham in one of the early games today. They score after only 67 seconds, but I breathe a long sigh of relief as I see the linesman flag go up to announce an offside, thus disallowing the goal. A great sequence from Aaron Brown to Cedric van der Gun to Gianfranco Zola led to Zola scoring his 5th goal from the season in the 5th minute. A top corner strike from 25 yards out, beautiful shot! Up 1-0. Zola is in at the heart of our second goal in the 22nd minute, as he flighted a free kick from just outside their penalty area. The wall deflected the kick but their keeper was able to get a hand on the ball. He did leave a long rebound and Cedric van der Gun was well placed to pounce on it and score the 2-0 goal. That's the score at the half and we're outshooting them 7(4) to 4(3). Rossi and van der Gun are both having a great game so far, both rating at 8. We hang on in the second half and while they get a few shots, we don't allow another goal, Rossi collecting a clean sheet. Final Score: Q.P.R. 2, Everton 0 Wow, a great win! We outshot them 9(5) to 7(4) on the game. Cedric van der Gun collected the MoM with a rating of 8. Rossi and Zola also both rated at 8. We're up to 14th after 32 games, now 9 points clear of the drop zone, with 6 games to go. 18 points still to be collected, we're halfway there.
Manchester City drew 0-0 with Leicester today and Arsenal beat Crystal Palace, 3-0. FM
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A Black Belt is a White Belt who refused to give up... follow my story: The real life story of a running frog... |
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10-03-2005, 12:58 PM
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#127 |
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Hattrick Moderator
Join Date: Jan 2003
Location: Pintendre, Qc, Canada
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April 2, 2006
OOOMPH... William Prunier is considering retirement following his latest injury setback. The 38yo suffered a broken leg and is thought to be out of commission for the next 7 months. Prunier fears the problem, even when healed may no longer allow him to cope with the rigours of professional football and is reluctantly considering ending his spell at Loftus Road. Poor William never got it going in the offseason and has not played one game with the senior squad in his first season with us. His contract ends on June 30, 2006. April 3, 2006 Marcus Bignot suffered a strained wrist and will miss one week. Cedric van der Gun has been selected on the EPL Team of the Week. He's be playing great recently and is one of the reason we're getting more scoring chances up front, feeding nice balls to the strikers and sometimes regaining possession by stealing balls from opposing middies. April 6, 2006 Kevin Gallen expects to be in the first team. He told the team's website that he wants to stay loyal to The Rs but if finding it very hard to accept that he is not in the manager's first team plans. The 30yo striker has said that he is looking to me to either play him regularly or risk losing him. It's a risk I'm ready to take... April 7, 2006 Our upcoming match against Fulham has been moved to Monday May 1st to be shown live on TV. I think it's the first time I've seen one of my team's late season game be moved to be shown on TV. It should be a great game, pitting team #14 and #15 on a match of crucial importance to both teams. April 8, 2006 Some league games were played today. Of interest to us: Leicester 0-1 Birmingham Bolton 1-0 Derby Crystal Palace 0-1 Manchester City Manchester United won the EPL Title with a 2-0 win over Charlton. They've been dominating the league this season... April 9, 2006 #17 Everton drew 1-1 with Liverpool today. FM
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A Black Belt is a White Belt who refused to give up... follow my story: The real life story of a running frog... Last edited by FrogMan : 10-03-2005 at 12:58 PM. |
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10-03-2005, 03:24 PM
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#128 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Join Date: Jan 2003
Location: Pintendre, Qc, Canada
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April 10, 2006
League Match #33: we play Tottenham on their pitch. They're currently in 5th place and are evens favourites to win this game. I hate the frigging gameday injuries. MY PLAYERS ARE NOT SUPPOSED TO BE TRAINING ON GAMEDAY!!! Cedric van der Gun suffered a damaged neck in training TODAY and will be out for a week. Dani is in at the AMC spot. Adam Miller gets the start on the left wing. Robbie Keane is out for Tottenham. Marcus Bignot is still out for us. I move Abubakiri Yakubu to the right fullback spot as Danny Shittu is ready to play at centreback. I keep Arthur Gnohéré in as our second centreback. This game is on TV and oh boy what have they smoked. They are saying that Tottenham are struggling at home at the moment and they're actually predicting a win for The Rs... They take the lead in the 11th minute, as a long free kick from one of their defenders is barely touched by one of their strikers, just enough to direct it right of Rossi. Down 0-1. Gianfranco Zola does what he does best in the 37th minute when he flights a free kick from just outside their area through the wall. The ball gets deflected by the wall and the keeper can't stop it. Tied 1-1. That tie is the halftime score: They are outshooting us 7(3) to 2(2) at the half but not only that, they're also winning possession outrageously with 56%, 33 of them on our end of the field. We still hang on early in the second half and I switch tactics a bit in the 75th minute. I put in Hierro as an extra centreback, effectively switching us to a 5-1-3-1 formation. Final Score: Q.P.R. 1, Tottenham 1 WEEHEE!!! We hang on for the draw!!! They did outshoot us 12(5) to 4(3) on the game, but we didn't let another one in. Danny Shittu was named Man of the Match with a rating of 8 while 4 other also got rated at 8: Rossi, Yakubu, Gnohéré, and Bircham. Really a solid defensive performance. We remain in 14th now 10 points clear of the drop zone with 5 games to be played, or 15 points to be collected.
That win was a great morale booster and we'll need it, as we play Manchester United next. FM
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A Black Belt is a White Belt who refused to give up... follow my story: The real life story of a running frog... Last edited by FrogMan : 10-03-2005 at 03:26 PM. |
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10-03-2005, 03:31 PM
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#129 |
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Hattrick Moderator
Join Date: Jan 2003
Location: Pintendre, Qc, Canada
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April 12, 2006
Matthew Rose complains that he's not playing enough first-team football. Well tough luck. Arthur Gnohéré is playing well at the moment so get used to it... April 14, 2006 About a week after hinting to his possible retirement, William Prunier has officially announced that he will retire at the end of the season. The 38yo sweeper admitted that persistent injury problemshave caused him to seriously consider his long term health. FM
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A Black Belt is a White Belt who refused to give up... follow my story: The real life story of a running frog... |
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10-04-2005, 10:09 AM
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#130 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Join Date: Jan 2003
Location: Pintendre, Qc, Canada
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April 15, 2006
League Match #34: we play Manchester United at Loftus Road. They've already clinched the EPL Champions Title and are absolutely dominating the league. Earlier today, Leicester beat Derby 2-0. Marcus Bignot is available for us, but I like how Arthur Gnohéré has sort of gelled with Danny Shittu in the center of our defense, and Abubakiri Yakubu is always solid on the side, so I leave it the way it us with Bignot on the bench. Dani is only at 90% and Cedric van der Gun is still out so I decide to start Jody Morris in the AMC spot. They show a 4-4-1-1 formation with four midfielder on a straight line. The first half goes scoreless. They are outshooting us 7(3) to 0(1) but they're either not trying or don't have a complete A team lineup in there. I'm feeling they could have put us away a couple times had they tried harder. Most of they shots have been from long range. We get a free kick from just outside their penalty area in the 58th minute. Gianfranco Zola lines up for the kick and as sure as the sun rises in the morning, he boots it through the wall for his 200th career league goal. That will be the only goal of the game as we're on our way to a unexpected 1-0 win!!! Final Score: Q.P.R. 1, Manchester United 0 WOOHOO!!! A great, even if unexpected and some would say undeserved, win!!! They outshot us 11(5) to 4(1) meaning that one shot on target by Zola was our only one. Talk about efficiency! Generoso Rossi was selected as Man of the Match with a rating of 8 while Zola also rated at 8. I was most impressed by Arthur Gnohéré who, despite an "average" rating of 7, seemed everywhere on the field. He broke many passes and won many headers. We're up to 13th, 11 points off the drop zone with only 4 games to be played. This means that one draw by Leicester, or any combination of two points or more from us (a win or two draws out of four games) would assure us of a second season in the EPL. Seeing how well we've played lately, it's almost a done deal!
FM
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A Black Belt is a White Belt who refused to give up... follow my story: The real life story of a running frog... |
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10-04-2005, 10:10 AM
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#131 |
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Hattrick Moderator
Join Date: Jan 2003
Location: Pintendre, Qc, Canada
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April 16, 2006
21yo midfielder Marcus Bean complains about not getting enough first-team playing time. His contract is expiring at the end of this season and I don't plan on resigning him, so I doubt I'll play him much before this season his over. April 17, 2006 You know that being one point from clinching a stay in the EPL, my fingers are itching to start shopping around. It's almost getting late to snatch players for the upcoming season and I won't count on having any big transfer budget to improve the squad next season, I'll go with the free transfer type of guys. Seeing how thin we were up front, my attention goes immediately to the strikers who are available. I find a 30yo named Cristiano Lucarelli who's currently playing for Livorno in Italy Serie A. Currently valued at $14M, he's got good to great all around skills, score 9 goals in 30 league appearances this season while averaging a form rating ot 7.20. He's looking for a 2 year contract with wages around $55k per week with a signing on fee of $700k. My assistant believes he would become a useful member of the first team squad but my team board are limiting the possible offer to $41k per week. To make up for that, I up the signing fee to $2M. Not a bad offer, since I wouldn't have to pay any compensation to Livorno. I spot another Italian fellow, 29yo AM LC Tomas Locatelli. I find him interesting after remembering how thin we became once Fabrice Fernandes went down. He's got good pace, passing, first touch, technique, creativity, and acceleration (15+ in all these). He scored 2 goals and assisted on 6 others in 31 league appearances this season, averaging 7.16 in form rating in the process. He's also looking for a 2 year contract, this time worth around $51k per week with a signing on fee of $600k. My assistant believes he would be no more than a fringe player, but he's got too good a set of skills for me to pass on him. My team board again limits me to $41k per week, so I offer him that and I up the signing on fee to $1M. April 21, 2006 After making a quick pass through all the EPL team rosters to see which team has players with unprotected contracts, I spot a DMC on Arsenal's roster, Gilberto, 29yo. He's got good, if not great skills and would certainly be an upgrade to our team. One small thing though, he doesn't believe Q.P.R. can meet his demands. Hrm... I sharpened my pen and made him an offer anyway: $41k per week, $2M signing on fee, the highest appearance wee I'm allowed to pay him... Dang the guy is currently earning $30.5k per week with Arsenal, my offer isn't too bad... In that pass, I spot another player, 33yo striker Paul Dickov. He's got reasonable skills and seems to have been used as much off the bench as from the starting lineup but he still scored 6 goals in 13 starts and 14 appearances as a sub. Even more so, he scored 3 and aassisted on 3 more in 1 start in cup games with 5 appearances as a sub. On top of all that, he's not too greedy, asking for only $14.5k per week and a signing on fee of $190k. I offer him his request weekly wage but drop down the signing on fee to $100k on a one year contract. FM
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A Black Belt is a White Belt who refused to give up... follow my story: The real life story of a running frog... |
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10-04-2005, 10:22 AM
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#132 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Hattrick Moderator
Join Date: Jan 2003
Location: Pintendre, Qc, Canada
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April 22, 2006
League Match #35: we play Aston Villa on their pitch. They're currently in 14th place. In an early game, Everton drew 1-1 with Manchester City. Our magic number still stands, one point is all we need to stay up for another season. In the 27th minute, Arthur Gnohéré clears the ball from the from of the net with a header, but it's not far enough and one of their strikers head it back right in. Down 0-1. The half ends with that score and they're outshooting us 4(2) to 2(1). We're on the road but we're definitely not getting killed. We do turn the game around in terms of shot, applying a lot of pressure on their back 4, but to no avail... Final Score: Q.P.R. 0, Aston Villa 1 ARG! We could and maybe should have won this game. We outshot them 13(8) to 9(5) meaning we really did put the pressure in the second half, yet we couldn't convert. Yakubu and Gnohéré on defense and Marc Bircham in the middle all got ratings of 8. Zola only rated at 6 though. The good news for our team comes in the shape of a loss, a Leicester loss!!! With that 0-2 loss to Blackburn, they can't reach us anymore, we've clinched a stay in the EPL for a second season!!! WEEHEE!!!
With that clinch, I do something I've been wanting to do for a while now. Seeing our average attendance being *THE* lowest in the EPL, despite us 98.6% or our stadium on average (average crowd of 18888 out of a capacity of 19148), the upgrade of Loftus Road is a no brainer to me. For that reason, I confidently go to the board with my request. AND THEY CONCUR!!! They agree that Loftus Road needs to be improved if the club is to fulfil its full potential. They assure that there are plans afoot to expand the stadium. FM
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A Black Belt is a White Belt who refused to give up... follow my story: The real life story of a running frog... |
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10-04-2005, 12:47 PM
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#133 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Hattrick Moderator
Join Date: Jan 2003
Location: Pintendre, Qc, Canada
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April 23, 2006
Ahhh, the kind of news headers I like to see back to back: "Lucarelli rejects Livorno offer" "Lucarelli accepts Q.P.R. offer" Described as a powerful striker, the 30yo Italian is very srong with distinguished skills in heading, finishing, long shots... ahhh, look for yourself  Here are his stats in the last two seasons with Livorno:
And the detail of his stats of the 2004/05 season:
I'm sure he'll be a great addition for The Rs. One nefative point though, he'll only join us when his current contract runs out, on August 1st, when we'll be about two weeks from our season opener... April 24, 2006 Ahh, more of those back-to-back news headers: "Locatelli rejects Palermo offer" "Locatelli accepts Q.P.R. offer" The 29yo flamboyant midfielder will be a welcomed addition to our squad and should be capable of playing as a backup to Fabrice Fernandes, or in the middle in the AMC spot. You can see his profile below:  Here are his stats of the last two seasons with Palermo:
And here is the detail of the stats for his 2004/05 season:
Same negative as with Lucarelli, he'll also join us only on August 1st. April 25, 2006 Paul Dickov is said to be very happy at having agreed terms with Q.P.R. The experienced striker will come as a somewhat cheapish provider of depth at the striker position. His profile is available below. He will join us from Blackburn on July 1st.  April 26, 2006 Gilberto rejects us. Through his agent, he tells us that he's not happy with our offer and doesn't to take the negotiations any further. I kind of expected that... April 29, 2006 I keep on shopping around, this time focusing on possibly bringing on board a backup, maybe even replacement to right winger Martin Rowlands. I again find something interesting in Italy in 29yo Damiano Zenoni. Despite being listed as a DM RC, he is described as a winger. He's got good to great skills in many aspects of his skill set, especially great long shot, free kick, determination, and stamina, and good overall skills elsewhere. He could also come as a fairly cheap signee, as he's only looking for a contract with weekly wages around $27k with a signing fee of $500k. My assistant believes he wouldn't be more than a fringe player for us and is telling me to restrict my offer to a lowly $14.5k per week. I decide to offer him a contract for $20k per week with a slighlty smaller signing on fee of $300k. April 30, 2006 Now that I know we'll be back in the EPL next season, I'm thinking it may be a good idea to see how much Güiza is looking for to become an happy man again. Looks like happiness would come to the tune of $36k per week with an up front signing on fee of $700 to Mr Güiza. Hrm, my assistant believes that while he is currently a member of our first team, we could easily replace him. He recommends limiting our offer to $22.5k per week. I decide to split in half between his demands and my assistant's recommendation and I offer hims $28k per week with a signing on fee of $340k. While taking a walk around our clubhouse, I decide to see how long our three big injured players will still be out for. Turns out that both Grzegorz Rasiak and Martin Rowlands are about 2 months away from being back while Fabrice Fernandes will have an extra month of physiotherapy to go before he's ready to come back. This means Rowlands and Rasiak should be back with the team by early July, so about in time to take part in our preseason camp, while Fernandes should be back around early August. We may have a little hole on the left wing, since his main backup, Tomas Locatelli, will only show up on August 1st. May 1st, 2006 The team board and fans are still delighted with my work as manager of the club. FM
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A Black Belt is a White Belt who refused to give up... follow my story: The real life story of a running frog... |
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10-04-2005, 12:49 PM
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#134 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Hattrick Moderator
Join Date: Jan 2003
Location: Pintendre, Qc, Canada
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May 1, 2006
League Match #36: we play Fulham at Loftus Road. They're currently in 16th place and we're 6-4 favourites to win this game. This game is on TV and Abubakiri Yakubu is presented as our key man and they say he will be looking to make things tough for the opposing attack today. Fulham's key man is winger Steed Malbranque and they mentionned the fact that he has created 9 goals in 40 appearances so far this season. Their prediction is that, with Fullham's poor form of late, this game could fizzle into a bore draw. Fulham show a 3-4-1-2 formation to start the game. In the 41st minute, after exchangin a pair of passes with Güiza, Scott Donnelly centers an excellent ball to an unmarked Gianfranco Zola who half volleys it with his right foot for the go ahead goal. Up 1-0. They tie the game 14 seconds into injury time, following a nice center and a shot blocked by Rossi. The rebound was too much for him to handle. Tied 1-1. That is the halftime score. They are outshooting us 12(4) to 7(3) at that point. We leave a striker unmarked in the 73rd minute and they find him with a nice center to the 6 yard box. Alone with Rossi, he scores the 1-2 goal. Final Score: Q.P.R. 1, Fulham 2 Arg... Not our best performance. Rossi and Güiza got rated at 6 and everyone else at 7. They outshot us 17(7 to 13(7). A letdown at home... We remain in 14th with 2 to play.
FM
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A Black Belt is a White Belt who refused to give up... follow my story: The real life story of a running frog... |
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10-04-2005, 12:58 PM
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#135 |
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Hattrick Moderator
Join Date: Jan 2003
Location: Pintendre, Qc, Canada
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May 2, 2006
Güiza puts pen to paper on a lucrative 3 year deal worth $4.4M. May 4, 2006 Ahhh, those back-to-back news headers again... "Zenoni rejects Udinese offer" "Zenoni accepts Q.P.R. offer" As I said before, his position is stated as a DM RC but he's described as a winger. Please meet Damiano Zenoni, he'll join us on August 1st.  May 6, 2006 Today, Crystal Palace became the 2nd team to be relegated to the Championship this season. I keep on shopping and I spot an explosive striker in 26yo Danish Peter Lovenkrands, currently playing with Rangers on Scottland. By explosive, I mean the guy's a freaking bomb, with 20 in pace and 19 in acceleration. He's not as impressive in his other skills, but still scored 9 goals in 27 league appearances (all as starter) with Rangers. He's looking for a 4 year contract with wages around $37.5k per week and a low signing on fee of $110k. While my assistant believes he would be no more than a fringe player for us, he still recommends us to limit our offer to a high $30.5k per week, which is what I offer to Lovenkrands. While shopping, I see a friend from a previous life, defensive middie Fábio Rochemback Fábio, 24, is currently playing with Sporting CP and has told his agent to let us know that he doesn't believe Q.P.R. have the resources to meet his demands. Woah, quite demanding that kid, especially for a kid who's currently earning a measly $20.5k a week... I decide to break the bank as my assistant believes Rochemback would become a useful member of our team. I offer him $41k a week with a great appearance fee and a $2M signing on fee...Looking at our roster, Gino Padula's average form rating is a sight for sore eyes that jumps out of the screen. The left fullback has found the first season in the EPL to be a bit tough. Shopping around, I find a fairly solid left fullback in 26yo Michael Ball, currently playing with Lovenkrands at Rangers. He's got great anticipation, and can do long throws like no one else. His overall skills as a defender are also above those of Padula. He'd definitely be an upgrade. My assistant doesn't even believe but I've been known to be stubborn at times and not always listen to what my assistant tells me, sometimes with good results, sometimes with bad. I'm ready to try my luck with my own judgment on this one but hrm, even my team board is limiting me. While Ball is looking for a 3 year contract with wages around $36k per week, my team board is limiting my offer to a max of $14.5k per week... I offer him that and boost his requested signing on fee from $48k to $340k. FM
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A Black Belt is a White Belt who refused to give up... follow my story: The real life story of a running frog... |
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10-04-2005, 12:59 PM
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#136 |
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Hattrick Moderator
Join Date: Jan 2003
Location: Pintendre, Qc, Canada
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I still got quite a bit of reporting to do and they'll come as I get to them but if anybody has anything to say regarding the new signees, feel free to jump in at any time.
FM
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A Black Belt is a White Belt who refused to give up... follow my story: The real life story of a running frog... |
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10-04-2005, 03:19 PM
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Hattrick Moderator
Join Date: Jan 2003
Location: Pintendre, Qc, Canada
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May 6, 2006
League Match #37: we play Newcastle on their pitch. They're currently in 3rd place and are 4-5 favourites to win this game. Prior to our game, #15 Fulham lost 0-3 to Liverpool and #13 surprised Arsenal by beating them 3-2. Cedric van der Gun is pushed inside their penbalty area in the 17th minute. PENALTY!!! Scott Donnelly scores to give us a 1-0 lead. The half ends on that score and while we're ahead on the scoreboard, they're eating us alive on the field. They are outshooting us 10(3) to 4(2) and they're winning pssession with 57%, 31 of these on our end of the field. Chris Day is keeping us in the game, rating at 8 at the half. They score two within two minutes in the 64th and 66th minute to take the lead 2-1. The first goal came when a corner kick was headed straight in while the second came on a half volley from way out. Final Score: Q.P.R. 1, Newcastle 2 That score could have been much worse, as they outshot us 20(10) to 8(5). Chris Day got rated at 9 on the game but wasn't even named Man of the Match. We remain in 14th place with 13th place now out of our reach. FM
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A Black Belt is a White Belt who refused to give up... follow my story: The real life story of a running frog... |
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10-04-2005, 03:21 PM
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#138 |
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Hattrick Moderator
Join Date: Jan 2003
Location: Pintendre, Qc, Canada
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May 9, 2006
Michael Ball is extremely happy to have agreed terms with Q.P.R. He revealed that he is very excited at the prospect of playing at a higher level. As I said before, he should be a definitive upgrade over Gino Padula. His profile is below. He will join us on July 2nd.  May 10, 2006 Matthew Rose agrees to terms with Coventry and will join them on July 1st. Ahh, these back-to-back news headers again... "Lovenkrands rejects Rangers offer" "Lovenkrands accepts Q.P.R. offer" Rangers' Peter Lovenkrands is ecstatic to have agreed term with Q.P.R. He said that he is really optimistic of rising to the challenge of playing at a higher level. The explosive forward who turned 26 last January will bring more depth to our striker position, allowing us to rotate players in and out of the lineup as we see fit. You can see his profile below. Like Ball, he will join us on July 2nd.  May 11, 2006 Fábio Rochemback's agent has indicated that his client has snubbed the contract offer from Q.P.R. He feels he is deserving of a better basic salary. I'll keep an eye on him... Darryll Powell has agreed to terms with Ipswich and will join them on July 1st. May 13, 2006 While still shopping around, I find right fullback Steve Finnan, 30, currently playing with Liverpool. He's coming off a fairly strong season and would allow us to move Yakubu to center, or simply alternate with Yakubu. He's got good if not great skills, but could certainly hold his own on our squad. He's looking for a 3 year contract with wages around $40k per week with a signing on fee of $480k. My assistant believes he would become a useful member of our first team squad and recommends we offer him $35.5k per week and that's what I offer him, with a signing on fee of $300k. FM
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A Black Belt is a White Belt who refused to give up... follow my story: The real life story of a running frog... |
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10-04-2005, 03:24 PM
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#139 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Hattrick Moderator
Join Date: Jan 2003
Location: Pintendre, Qc, Canada
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May 13th, 2006
League Match #38: we play Southampton at Loftus Road on our last game of the 2005/06 season. They are currently in 11th place and are 6-4 favourites to win this game. I forgot to save our starting lineup for this game, but here's a summarized version: GK: Day DR: Yakubu DL: Padula DC: Gnohéré DC: Shittu MR: Donnelly ML: Brown DMC: Bircham AMC: van der Gun SC: Zola SC: Güiza Southampton show a 3-4-1-2 formation to start the game. A sweet center from Scott Donnelly to the near post is headed toward the goalmouth by Cedric van der Gun in the 40th minute. The ball goes in off the post for the 1-0 goal. This will be the only goal in a game that we dominated but never were able to really put away. Final Score: Q.P.R. 1, Southampton 0 I a game that is hopefully a sign of things to come, we outshot them 16(8) to 10(2). Cedric van der Gun was selected Man of the Match with a goal and a rating of 9. Danny Shittu and Chris Day both had solid games, both rating at 8. We close the season in 14th place and I'm very happy with that finish. I was quite shocked to see Everton drop their last game 0-2 to Blackburn while Leicester won theirs 2-0 over Crystal Palace. In a threeway tie, Leicester and Bolton are the two staying up because of their better goal differential than Everton who are relegated to the Championship. Honestly, I never thought that Leicester was going to be able to avoid the drop.
We're given $7.4M for our final position!!! Surprisingly enough, as you'll be able to see from the graph below, other than after our second game of the season, we never actually sunk into the drop zone. Often close, never in there, nice  FM
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A Black Belt is a White Belt who refused to give up... follow my story: The real life story of a running frog... |
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10-04-2005, 03:28 PM
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#140 |
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Hattrick Moderator
Join Date: Jan 2003
Location: Pintendre, Qc, Canada
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May 15, 2006
Cedric van der Gun has been selected on the EPL Team of the Week. May 17, 2006 Steve Finnan is happy to have agreed terms with Q.P.R. His acquisition could allow us to move Abubakiri Yakubu to centreback if need be. As I said before, Finnan will be joining us from Liverpool, meaning he's used to playing in the EPL, a big plus for us. He's coming off a fairly good season, season in which he average a form rating of 7.27 in all his competitive matches. He will be joining us on July 1st and you can see his profile below.  May 22, 2006 Not that we care that much, with the season over and all, but Gianfranco Zola twisted his knee and will miss a week of training. May 27, 2006 Machester United beat Arsenal 2-0 in the FA Cup final. In that game, my scout was able to watch centreback Pascal Cygan (I can hear daedalus cringe right now ) and he's telling me that Cygan would add depth to the Q.P.R. first team squad. hrm, depth is always good, right? I'm intrigued and I take a look at what he's asking as far as contract goes and it's not outrageous. The 32yo centreback is looking for a 3 year contract with wages around $20.5k per week with a signing on fee of $220k. My assistant believes he would become a useful member of the first team squad and he tells me that a contract offer in the region of $18k per week would be reasonable. I decide to offer him that, with a signing on fee of $260k.May 31, 2006 Grzegorz Rasiak resumes light training following his broken leg. He's one month from resuming full training. Well, that was quick. Pascal Cygan has agreed to terms with Q.P.R. and will join us when his current contract is over on July 1st. Cygan looks like a heading machine, averaging 7+ headers a game and other than that, he's got sound skills for a centreback. Hopefully, he won't make me regret this move He'll be joining us on July 1st and his profile is available below. June 1st, 2006 The team board and the fans are still delighted with my work as manager. Martin Rowlands resumes light training. Like Rasiak, he's about a month from resuming full training. FM PS: this covers what I told you I had played over the weekend stil plenty to come, most probably over the next few days
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A Black Belt is a White Belt who refused to give up... follow my story: The real life story of a running frog... |
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10-04-2005, 03:41 PM
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#141 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Hattrick Moderator
Join Date: Jan 2003
Location: Pintendre, Qc, Canada
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June 2, 2006
Marc Bircham wants an improved contract. I'm not too sure about this. While Birch had a good season, I don't see him as our DMC of the future. He's looking for a three year contract with weekly wages around $17.5k and a signing on fee of $140k. While I agree that he's quite a bargain at his current wage of $3600 per week, I'm not too sure that he's worth as much as what he's looking for. On top of that many of my coaches, when asked to report on him, are saying that although Bircham is a useful player, they don'T think he's good enough to hold down a regular first team place. Hrm, interesting... I think I'll wait and see what our wage budget will move to in the future before offering him a renewal. Okay, training ground is closed, everybody GO HOME AND REST!!! (huh that was addressed to the players, not the readers in here, stay tuned, there's more to come )June 3, 2006 I get the news that two of my players have been called up to play in the World Cup. They are Danny Shittu for Nigeria and Darryll Powell for Jamaica. The World Cup starts on July 7 and I decide to send my least worst (!) scout to it. Looking at my three scouts, all of them original scouts from when I took over, I see that they're not really great in evaluating talent. I find this little know dud who's 20/20 on evaluating player's ability and potential. He's only lookinh to be paid $460 per week and offer him that. June 5, 2006 Bob Pearson is our new scout after agreeing to terms with us and I immediately ship him to the World Cup. June 7, 2006 The loan of Christopher Eagles comes to an end and he returns to Manchester United. I never was impressed with him, so much so that he barely played in the second half of the season, even after Martin Rowlands went down with his season ending injury. Here are his detailled stats on the season:
FM
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A Black Belt is a White Belt who refused to give up... follow my story: The real life story of a running frog... |
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10-04-2005, 05:25 PM
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#142 |
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Pro Starter
Join Date: Sep 2005
Location: TX
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my god you sure went on a binge of signings there, none cheap on the wage budget either.
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10-04-2005, 05:46 PM
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#143 | |
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Hattrick Moderator
Join Date: Jan 2003
Location: Pintendre, Qc, Canada
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Quote:
I figured I'd stick it to the man for not giving me any transfer budget. "okay, no money to go shopping? I'll get 'em for free, but you'll pay for them on the weekly payroll!" At this point (early June) my wage budget is at about 420k per week and I'm using about 260k of it. We got many players with contracts expiring at the end of June, so if the wage budget doesn't move up, I could be in a bit of trouble, but I expected it to go up so I figured it was okay (and even needed) to upgrade almost regardless of wages... FM
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A Black Belt is a White Belt who refused to give up... follow my story: The real life story of a running frog... |
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10-04-2005, 07:13 PM
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#144 |
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Hattrick Moderator
Join Date: Jan 2003
Location: Pintendre, Qc, Canada
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June 10, 2006
Q.P.R.'s 39yo forward Gianfranco Zola has announced that he will retire at the end of the season. For a moment, I thought this was coming kind of as a blindside hit, given that the season is sort of not over/just over, until I realized he had set his retirement date to June 30, 2007, so at the end of the 2005/06 season. He said he has had a long an eventful career in the game and feels the time is probably right to hang up his boots. I wanna add that it's an honor for us to see him retire as a Ranger. I'm sure he played a significant part in our staying up in the EPL in that first season up. June 15, 2006 It's now Igor Protti's turn to announce his retirement at the end of the season (June 30, 2007). He is 38 years old and will probably play his last season mostly with the reserves. June 16, 2006 I went out and signed a new coach, Mike Rigg, 45 years old. He's great with outfield players (18) and with youngsters (19), where he'll spend most of his time. June 18, 2006 It's now the turn of my assistant, 66yo Willibert Kremer, to announce that he will retire at the end of the season (June 23, 2007). The German declared that after many years, it was simply time for him to call it a day. FM
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A Black Belt is a White Belt who refused to give up... follow my story: The real life story of a running frog... |
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10-04-2005, 07:21 PM
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#145 |
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Hattrick Moderator
Join Date: Jan 2003
Location: Pintendre, Qc, Canada
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June 19, 2006
The team board have announced their stadium expansion plans. The current stadium capacity of 19148 seats will be enlarged by 5852 seats to bring it to 24950. I would have hope for a bit more, but I'll take that for now. The expansion will take around 5 months to complete and during the renovation, the ground's capacity will be temporarily reduced as part of the south stand will be closed. Crowd capacity during the renovation will be at 15510, ouch. A new sponsorship deal has been signed and will bring $2M per annum for the next 4 years. That is a great deal. Us staying up in the Premiership came at the best of times... The team board announces the transfer budget for the new season, a measly $2.2M. Bleh... I will be able to increase that amount by retaining 100% of any transfer money from sold players. My heart skips a beat as I see the wage budget: $260k From experience, this will get adjusted around July 1st, but still, knowing the big signing coming in, this is not good to see... Our current wage total stands at $283k... We have $19.3M in the bank as the stadium renovation cost us around $8M or so in the "ground maintenance" category... FM
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A Black Belt is a White Belt who refused to give up... follow my story: The real life story of a running frog... |
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10-05-2005, 08:56 AM
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#146 |
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Pro Rookie
Join Date: Oct 2000
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Argh! Too bad you missed out on Gilberto. His stat is unimpressive but he's a very nice defensive midfielder.
I fear for my Rs at the mention of the Mighty Cy-bot! Actually, in the game (I've run through the demo a time or seven which is the same data as you are using, I believe), he is not TOO bad. The only thing I would caution you on is to not start him against fast strikers. Pascal Cygan marking a fast striker would make even Elvis Patterson cover his eyes. Even better, though, would be if you can get Kolo. He'd rock AND roll. |
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10-05-2005, 09:06 AM
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#147 | ||||
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Hattrick Moderator
Join Date: Jan 2003
Location: Pintendre, Qc, Canada
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Quote:
I agree. My wanting to get him wasn't solely based on skill ratings (if that's what you meant by "stat") and more on a feeling that he'd be very useful and mostly by looking at his stats and the kind of form he kept while my scout was scouting him... You'll hear more about Gilberto in the next few updates... Quote:
As I knew you would  Quote:
Well noted about Cygan and fast strikers. I'll find myself with a few players capable of playing in the centreback slot: Shittu, Cygan, Yakubu (with Finnan at fullback), and even Gnohéré who proved himself very worthy of EPL first-team play last season, so I could switch guys around if needed. The one thing I sort of liked about Cygan is the fact that he's already accustomed with the EPL and with the high number of new bodies I'm bringing in, having one who's played in the EPL for a few seasons already is always a plus. Quote:
Showing my lack of EPL real life knowledge, but Kolo? I'll have to check him out, no clue who he is... Thanks for reading. FM
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A Black Belt is a White Belt who refused to give up... follow my story: The real life story of a running frog... |
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10-05-2005, 10:06 AM
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#148 |
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Hattrick Moderator
Join Date: Jan 2003
Location: Pintendre, Qc, Canada
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June 20, 2006
Danny Shittu has been selected Q.P.R.'s Player of the Year by the Supporters. He was his usual self, a rock in the middle of our defense for most of the season. Our U18 squad receives a fresh batch of youngsters. My assistant tells me to keep an eye on one of them in particular, 17yo left fullback Lee Porter who is described as a promising fullback. Most of the other are pretty much the usual crap although there are a couple of 16yo that I'll keep track of for the longer term. We've been given $24.5M for TV rights for the upcoming season. Ka-Ching!!! The team board lets me know of their expectation for the upcoming season. They tell me that the team is expected to stay clear of relegation from the Premier Division this season. Not bad and not too demanding. That being said, the supporters are a bit more demanding. They expect the team to achieve a safe mid-table position within the Premier Division this season. Let's hope I won't disappoint them. Honestly, my own expectations are also mid-table, anywhere around 10th to 13th or better. A qualification to European competitions (7th or 8th) would be simply awesome, but I'm not sure if we'll be strong enough for that this season. We'll try though. I revisit the possibility of making Marc Bircham happy with a contract renewal. He wanted a contract around $15k per week the last time I checked with him but he's lowered his demands to a more respectable $9600 per week. My assistant believes that while he's currently a member of the first team squad, we could easily replace him and he recommends that we restrict any contract offer to a maximum of $7800. I decide to squeeze it a bit more and I offer him $7000 per week since I strongly believe I could find a better defensive middie than Birch out there... June 24, 2006 Marc Bircham pens a new contract that will keep him at the club until June 2009. I expect him to become unhappy at some point in the future when I find someone to replace him, but oh well... FM
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A Black Belt is a White Belt who refused to give up... follow my story: The real life story of a running frog... Last edited by FrogMan : 10-05-2005 at 10:07 AM. |
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10-05-2005, 10:08 AM
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#149 |
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Hattrick Moderator
Join Date: Jan 2003
Location: Pintendre, Qc, Canada
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June 25, 2006
We've been offered three friendlies and I accepted all three: 07/10, at Gillingham 07/23, at Brighton 08/08, vs Benfica at Loftus Road I offer friendlies to four teams, Arsenal, Chelsea, and Aston Villa at hom and Luton Town at Kenilworth Road. I'm sort of surprised to see that they all accepted. Not so much that I expected Luton to reject, but the other three at home were sort of surprising. This gives us a preseason schedule of 7 friendlies: 07/10, at Gillingham 07/14, vs Chelsea at Loftus Road 07/19, at Luton Town 07/23, at Brighton 07/28, vs Arsenal at Loftus Road 08/03, vs Aston Villa at Loftus Road 08/08, vs Benfica at Loftus Road July 1st, 2006 The transfer window opens today. The board and the fans are very pleased with my work as manager. Paul Dickov arrives to Loftus Road from Blackburn. Matthew Rose leaves for Coventry. Darryll Powell leaves for Ipswich. Their fans question the move, saying it can only be a short term solution. hehe Steve Finnan arrives to Loftus Road from Liverpool. Pascal Cygan arrives to Loftus Road from Arsenal. Looking at what some of the released players want for contract, I see that I can now offer up to $70k to some players. Hrm, this is big. I quickly go to see if my wage budget has been increased and IT SURE HAS BEEN!!! WOAH! It's now up to $700k. Wow Among said released players I've been checking out there's one Fábio Rochemback and one Gilberto Looking at Rochemback's contract demands, and armed with an almost endless spending limit, I decide he's more than worth an offer. The 24yo DMC is requiring a 3 year contract with wages around $66k in addition of a signing on fee of $600k. My assistant believes he would become a useful member of the team and he recommends that we offer him a contract in the region of $52k. Strangely enough, the board is limiting my offer to $52k for him. I decide to play it tougher a bit and I offer the free agent a contract worth $40k per week but with a signing on fee of $900k. As for Gilberto, his contract has run out at Arsenal, but he's still on their roster. His agent has indicated that he is not interested in a move to Q.P.R. Bah, let's see if money can make him change his mind... I offer him a two year contract with weekly wages of $60k and a $750k signing on fee. FM
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A Black Belt is a White Belt who refused to give up... follow my story: The real life story of a running frog... |
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10-05-2005, 10:10 AM
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#150 |
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Hattrick Moderator
Join Date: Jan 2003
Location: Pintendre, Qc, Canada
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July 2, 2006
Michael Ball and Peter Lovenkrands both arrive to Loftus Road from Rangers. Betis offer us a friendly at Loftus Road on July 30. I accept and make it our 8th friendly. This is what our preseason schedule looks at the moment: 07/10, at Gillingham 07/14, vs Chelsea at Loftus Road 07/19, at Luton Town 07/23, at Brighton 07/28, vs Arsenal at Loftus Road 07/30, vs Betis at Loftus Road 08/03, vs Aston Villa at Loftus Road 08/08, vs Benfica at Loftus Road Other than the 07/28-07/30 sequence, they are pretty well spaced out. While still shopping for players on unprotected contracts, I find this Englishman playing for the Deportivo U18 squad, 17yo Steve Singh. He's a D/DM L with a nice set of skills and very weird, signing him would cost us any compensation to Deportivo. He's looking for a 3 year contract with wages around $18.5k per week and a signing on fee of $18k. My assistant believes that Singh has considerable talent for his age and recommends we offer him a contract of $8200 per week. I offer him $10000 per week with a fat signing on fee of $500k. July 3, 2006 Fábio Rochemback is not even considering our contract, still says he's looking for a new club. I decide to send him another offer worth $46k per week but I lower the signing on fee to $400k. July 4, 2006 Steve Singh has agreed terms with Q.P.R. and will join us on August 1st. You can see the young fullback's profile below:  The one sad thing about him is his lack of determination, but otherwise, he's not too bad... FM
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A Black Belt is a White Belt who refused to give up... follow my story: The real life story of a running frog... |
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