WWSM2008: Long live The Hatters and their FrogManager!

[FrogMan]

April 13, 2009
League Match #44: vs Oldham at Kenilworth Road (Luton 4-7 favourites)

Pkd	Inf	Name	Position	Morale	Form	Con	Apps	Gls	Av Rat
GK	PR	Julián Speroni	GK	Okay	7-8-8-7-7	100%	50	-	7.18
DR	Wnt	Ibrahim Tall	D RC	Superb	7-7-7-7-7	93%	52	1	7.13
DL		Carl Dickinson	D/WB L	Superb	7-7-7-8-8	100%	14 (2)	-	7.13
DC		Håvard Nordtveit	D C, DM	Okay	7-7-6-6-6	95%	15 (16)	1	6.61
DC	PR	Willie Kinniburgh	D C	Good	8-8-7-7-6	93%	52	1	7.12
DMC		Russell Duncan	DM	Good	6-7-7-7-6	92%	19 (2)	-	6.67
MR	PR	Saulius Mikoliunas	AM R	Good	7-8-7-7-7	92%	45 (1)	4	7.28
ML		Jonathan Hayes	AM RL	Very Good	7-7-8-7-7	97%	7 (27)	1	7.09
AMC		Matthew Spring	M C	Superb	7-8-6-8-8	99%	24 (2)	2	6.88
FC	Tut	Sam Parkin	ST	Very Good	8-6-6-6-6	95%	34 (7)	20	7.20
FC		Dean Morgan	ST	Okay	6-9-8-7-6	92%	42 (7)	25	7.04
S1	Unh	Mikko Vilmunen	GK	Good	7-6-6-7-8	100%	3	-	6.67
S2		José-Karl Pierre-Fanfan	D C	Very Good	7-7-7-7-6	88%	45	1	6.96
S3	Wnt	Vincent van den Berg	AM R, ST	Very Good	7-7-7-7-6	98%	3 (12)	2	6.60
S4		Etienne Esajas	AM L	Poor	6-7-7-7-7	89%	45 (4)	4	7.24
S5	Wnt	Calvin Andrew	ST	Good	6-8-7-8-5	92%	8	2	6.88
-	PR	Richard Jackson	D RL	Okay	7-7-8-7-7	89%	46	1	7.20
-	Unh	Danny Granville	D L	Good	7-7-7-6-8	100%	2	-	7.00
-	Inj	Jay Simpson	AM R, ST	Okay	7-7-7-6-6	62%	15 (20)	12	6.66
-		Daniel Fox	D/WB L, DM, M LC	Good	7-7-6-6-7	97%	19 (23)	-	6.55
-		David Fernandez	AM/F C	Superb	7-6-6-6-8	99%	13 (4)	1	6.65
-		Eric Skora	AM C	Okay	7-8-7-7-6	92%	24	1	6.92

Looking at the league table, it hits me. This 6 points lead over 3rd place QPR with only three games to play means that we can clinch a tie for promotion with simply a win from us or a loss by QPR. Any very simple double combination (win/draw or draw/loss) would mean we'd clinch promotion without going through the playoffs... QPR play 8th place Leyton Orient on the road...

We go into this game with many players having their conditions close to 92 or 93 which is not something I really like. But we need all our big guns and skipper José-Karl Pierre-Fanfan and Etienne Esjas are the only one we'll be resting for this game. Kowing how I often sub my wingers, there's a good chance that Esajas will probably come in late in the game though, and do good, against tired defenders...

I go into the game telling the guys I expect a win, something I rarely do.

We gotta thank the assistant referee for our first goal, as he's the one who put the flag up to indicate a foul to the referee. Oh, yeah, it was for a... PENALTY!!! Sam Parkin takes it and makes it 1-0.

It's only 1-0 at the half, but we are fully in charge of that game as indicated by our 57% possession and 10(5) to 5(1) shots dominance. Oh, and don't forget the fact we were accorded 8 corners to none for them, and 19 throw-in to only 9 for them. They are kicking the ball away from anywher under the heavy pressure.

My assistant feels like a whiny bitch and recommends me to tell them I'm disappointed. What the heck are you smoking man??? I decide to give the guys encouragement.

The second half starts and it's still 1-0 through 60 minutes when I take a look around the league for the QPR score. Sweet lord, they are down 0-1. Southend are winning but the updated league table would have us in first with 84 poitns to Southend's 77 points with two games to play...

We make it 2-0 when a hard and low shot from Calvin Andrew (in for Dean Morgan) following a nice flowing one-two with Sam Parkin finds its way past the keeper.

Match stats:

Luton	Statistic	Oldham
2	final score	0
14	Shots	9
8	On Target	3
6	Off Target	6
50%	Possession	50%
9	Corners	3
14	Free Kicks	14
35	Throw-Ins	17
9	Fouls	12
5	Offsides	3
59%	Passes Completed	62%
18%	Crosses Completed	11%
53%	Tackles Won	69%
68%	Headers Won	47%
0	Yellow Cards	3
0	Red Cards	0

Luton player stats:

No.	C	Name	Inf.	Pas	Cmp	Key	Tck	Won	Key	Hea	Won	Key	Int	Run	Off	Fou	Fld	Ast	Sho	Sot	Con	Rat	Gls
33		Julián Speroni		30	10	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	99	8
8		Ibrahim Tall		30	19	1	2	1	0	9	9	0	13	0	0	1	2	0	0	0	79	7
18		Carl Dickinson		23	15	1	2	1	0	4	3	0	7	0	0	2	0	0	0	0	80	7
28		Håvard Nordtveit		17	11	1	2	1	0	5	4	1	10	0	0	1	1	0	1	1	77	7
3		Willie Kinniburgh		26	19	0	1	1	0	6	4	2	10	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	80	7
12		Matthew Spring (c)		26	18	3	2	1	0	6	1	1	5	0	0	1	0	0	1	1	78	7
22		Jonathan Hayes		19	11	3	0	0	0	1	1	0	5	3	0	0	1	0	0	0	76	7
25		Russell Duncan	sub 72	24	15	4	1	1	0	4	4	0	3	0	0	0	1	0	1	0	80	7
11		Saulius Mikoliunas	sub 72	11	4	0	4	2	0	1	0	0	3	0	0	1	3	0	1	0	82	7
9		Sam Parkin		12	6	2	1	0	0	5	2	1	1	0	2	1	2	1	5	4	76	8	1
7		Dean Morgan	sub 62	11	9	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	2	2	2	0	1	0	82	6
30		Mikko Vilmunen
4		José-Karl Pierre-Fanfan	on 72	1	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	88	7
27		Vincent van den Berg	on 72	5	5	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	98	7
44		Etienne Esajas
20		Calvin Andrew	on 62	7	2	0	0	0	0	5	3	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	3	2	87	7	1

I give the game ball to Sam Parkin for his goal and four shots on target out of five. The Oldham keeper received the MoM.

The even better news is that QPR went on to lose their game 2-1 meaning that...










































THE HATTERS HAVE SECURED PROMOTION TO THE CHAMPIONSHIP!!!

Pos	Inf	Team		Pld	Won	Drn	Lst	For	Ag	G.D.	Pts
1st	P	Luton		44	24	12	8	65	34	+31	84
2nd	Pl	Sheff Wed		44	22	16	6	75	41	+34	82
3rd	Pl	Southend		44	22	11	11	69	49	+20	77
4th		Q.P.R.		44	22	9	13	74	46	+28	75
5th		Millwall		44	20	11	13	59	45	+14	71
6th		Brighton		44	20	11	13	60	50	+10	71
7th		Yeovil		44	19	13	12	71	54	+17	70
8th		Leyton Orient		44	20	10	14	67	67	0	70
9th		Notts Co		44	16	17	11	51	47	+4	65
10th		Doncaster		44	16	14	14	59	59	0	62
11th		Hull		44	17	10	17	84	69	+15	61
12th		Bradford		44	15	16	13	50	44	+6	61
13th		Swindon		44	17	10	17	39	38	+1	61
14th		Leeds		44	15	16	13	50	50	0	61
15th		Crewe		44	16	10	18	54	54	0	58
16th		Huddersfield		44	17	6	21	61	73	-12	57
17th		Walsall		44	15	9	20	67	75	-8	54
18th		Oldham		44	14	11	19	59	72	-13	53
19th		Hartlepool		44	13	11	20	60	74	-14	50
20th		Peterborough		44	11	12	21	54	76	-22	45
21st		Rotherham		44	11	12	21	40	67	-27	45
22nd		Carlisle		44	12	6	26	49	70	-21	42
23rd		Port Vale		44	8	15	21	52	68	-16	39
24th	R	Gillingham		44	9	6	29	53	100	-47	33

The fans are overjoyed that we have secured promotion. A spokeperson for the official supporters' club stated that I'm the sort of manager who simply thrives on the pressure that chansing success entails. Wow.

The Hatters board have announced to the press that they are extremely pleased that the team have secured promotionfrom the League One. A spokeperson for the board added that the promotion had not been in the cards at the start of the season and that the board wanted to put on record their gratitude to me for delivering the unthinkable.

Then something odd hit me. A journalist comes to me with some sort of weird question. After congratulating me on the promotion, he asks me if I intend to stay at Luton Town and attempt ot ensure The Championship survival next season... "What kind of stupiud question is that???" is my first thought, but I restrain myself and tell him that I coudln't dream of leaving Luton and promotion has been the icing on the cake and that I will certainly be staying. The idiot journalist puts that down as me saying that winning promotion has only made me hungrier for more success with Luton.

That news article has a couple players nervous and hoping that I won't be too overconfident about next season. sigh...

FM

[FrogMan]

Originally Posted by vex

Good stuff so far.

thanks, and it all got better right after your post

FM

[vex]

Ha! And even better. Congrats!

[FrogMan]

April 14, 2009
Matthew Spring has agreed to the deal offered to him. Not sure he'll see the field much, but I'm happy he's staying.


April 15, 2009
Stephen O'Leary strained some knee ligaments during a reserves match and will miss the rest of the season.


April 17, 2009
Damn, it's Richard Jackson's turn to fall victim to terpkristinitis. He pulled a hamstring in training and will miss 3 weeks to a months, or effectively the last two weeks of the season.

FM

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

Originally Posted by FrogMan

April 15, 2009
Stephen O'Leary strained some knee ligaments during a reserves match and will miss the rest of the season.


April 17, 2009
Damn, it's Richard Jackson's turn to fall victim to terpkristinitis. He pulled a hamstring in training and will miss 3 weeks to a months, or effectively the last two weeks of the season.

FM

I'm currently coaching in the C1/B league in Italy. One difference that has stood out after a few years is the difference in how the playoffs are scheduled. I believe that the English leagues start right after the regular season ends. That can be a significant problem if you have a late rash of injuries similar to what your team is dealing with. Obviously, you don't have to worry about that this year.

In the Italian leagues, there's a 20-25 day space between the end of the season and the playoff matches. It's really nice because you have time to rest/heal your players before the most important games of the season. I really like having that time available.

[NoSkillz]

Great job FM! Whoo!

[FrogMan]

April 25, 2009
League Match #45: away at Port Vale (Luton 4-7 favourites)

Pkd	Inf	Name	Position	Morale	Form	Con	Apps	Gls	Av Rat
GK	Unh	Mikko Vilmunen	GK	Very Good	7-6-6-7-8	95%	3	-	6.67
DR	Wnt	Ibrahim Tall	D RC	Superb	7-7-7-7-7	100%	53	1	7.13
DL		Carl Dickinson	D/WB L	Superb	7-7-8-8-7	100%	15 (2)	-	7.12
DC	PR	José-Karl Pierre-Fanfan	D C	Superb	7-7-7-6-7	100%	45 (1)	1	6.96
DC	PR	Willie Kinniburgh	D C	Superb	8-7-7-6-7	100%	53	1	7.11
DMC		Russell Duncan	DM	Good	7-7-7-6-7	100%	20 (2)	-	6.68
MR	PR	Saulius Mikoliunas	AM R	Very Good	8-7-7-7-7	100%	46 (1)	4	7.28
ML		Etienne Esajas	AM L	Good	6-7-7-7-7	100%	45 (4)	4	7.24
AMC		Eric Skora	AM C	Good	7-8-7-7-6	100%	24	1	6.92
FC	Tut	Sam Parkin	ST	Superb	6-6-6-6-8	100%	35 (7)	21	7.21
FC	Wnt	Calvin Andrew	ST	Superb	8-7-8-5-7	100%	8 (1)	3	6.89
S1	PR	Julián Speroni	GK	Good	8-8-7-7-8	100%	51	-	7.20
S2		Håvard Nordtveit	D C, DM	Good	7-6-6-6-7	98%	16 (16)	1	6.63
S3	Wnt	Vincent van den Berg	AM R, ST	Very Good	7-7-7-6-7	97%	3 (13)	2	6.63
S4		Jonathan Hayes	AM RL	Good	7-8-7-7-7	98%	8 (27)	1	7.09
S5	PR	Dean Morgan	ST	Good	9-8-7-6-6	100%	43 (7)	25	7.02
-	Inj	Richard Jackson	D RL	Superb	7-7-8-7-7	67%	46	1	7.20
-		Matthew Spring	M C	Very Good	8-6-8-8-7	100%	25 (2)	2	6.89
-	Unh	Danny Granville	D L	Very Good	7-7-7-6-8	98%	2	-	7.00
-	Inj	Jay Simpson	AM R, ST	Very Good	7-7-7-6-6	61%	15 (20)	12	6.66
-		Daniel Fox	D/WB L, DM, M LC	Very Good	7-7-6-6-7	96%	19 (23)	-	6.55
-		David Fernandez	AM/F C	Superb	7-6-6-6-8	98%	13 (4)	1	6.65

Mikko Vilmunen missed yet another training session, the day I decided to let him be the keeper for the last two games of the season. sigh. I fine him two weeks of wage, and he again accept the fine. Guy must have a drinking problem...

Dean Morgan really is a weird one. His form fluctuates so much that even though he's scored plenty of goal for us and at one point was seen as the 2nd or 3rd best striker on the squad, he is now seen by my assistant as only the 6th best striker. ugh...

While we did take a 1-0 lead on a Sam Parkin goal as early as the 5th minute, the half ends with us tied 1-1, and what a ugly half it was for us. 46% possession and 3(1) to 10(5) in shots is not what I call good football.

We played a tiny bit better second half althought the final score doesn't reflect it. They a score a nice goal in the 79th minute but their third goal was a fluke deflection off the wall on a mid range free kick...

Match stats:

Port Vale	Statistic	Luton
3	final score	1
16	Shots	13
9	On Target	2
7	Off Target	11
52%	Possession	48%
4	Corners	4
28	Free Kicks	11
17	Throw-Ins	13
6	Fouls	21
5	Offsides	7
65%	Passes Completed	62%
22%	Crosses Completed	9%
53%	Tackles Won	76%
41%	Headers Won	71%
0	Yellow Cards	3

Luton player stats:

No.	C	Name	Inf.	Pas	Cmp	Key	Tck	Won	Key	Hea	Won	Key	Int	Run	Off	Fou	Fld	Ast	Sho	Sot	Con	Rat	Gls
30		Mikko Vilmunen		18	6	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	95	6
8		Ibrahim Tall		32	18	1	3	3	0	7	5	1	16	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	85	7
18		Carl Dickinson		22	14	3	4	2	0	2	2	1	9	0	0	2	2	0	0	0	79	7
4		José-Karl Pierre-Fanfan (c)		18	8	1	4	4	0	4	4	1	10	0	0	4	0	0	0	0	76	7
3		Willie Kinniburgh		20	10	0	4	3	0	11	11	3	8	0	0	3	1	0	0	0	83	7
17		Eric Skora		33	24	6	2	0	0	0	0	0	9	0	0	4	1	0	1	0	83	7
44		Etienne Esajas		30	20	4	2	2	0	5	4	1	5	3	1	2	0	1	3	0	76	8
25		Russell Duncan		26	17	2	1	1	0	2	2	0	8	0	0	2	0	0	0	0	80	7
11		Saulius Mikoliunas	sub 70	12	8	0	1	1	0	2	1	1	2	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	88	6
9		Sam Parkin		19	15	3	0	0	0	7	2	0	2	0	0	1	1	0	2	1	78	7	1
20		Calvin Andrew	sub 53	20	17	0	0	0	0	8	4	0	0	0	5	0	0	0	2	1	89	6
33		Julián Speroni
28		Håvard Nordtveit
27		Vincent van den Berg	on 53	8	3	1	0	0	0	1	0	0	2	0	1	1	0	0	1	0	89	6
22		Jonathan Hayes
7		Dean Morgan	on 70	4	4	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	4	0	99	6

As I said, the score looks uglier than the end of the game really was for us, as we rallied to play a good second half. I realize a funny thing following the game. Following that simple start, Mikko Vilumnen isn't unhappy at the lack of first team playing time anymore.

That loss means we've slipped to second place, one point behind Sheff Wed. I'm afraid we can pretty much kiss our title hopes goodbye. Not that I really care, as I viewed promotion as a much bigger deal than winning the title which still would have been nice...

Pos	Inf	Team		Pld	Won	Drn	Lst	For	Ag	G.D.	Pts
1st	P	Sheff Wed		45	23	16	6	78	41	+37	85
2nd	P	Luton		45	24	12	9	66	37	+29	84
3rd	Pl	Southend		45	23	11	11	71	49	+22	80
4th	Pl	Q.P.R.		45	23	9	13	76	46	+30	78
5th		Leyton Orient		45	21	10	14	69	68	+1	73
6th		Yeovil		45	19	14	12	73	56	+17	71
7th		Millwall		45	20	11	14	59	48	+11	71
8th		Brighton		45	20	11	14	61	52	+9	71
9th		Notts Co		45	17	17	11	54	48	+6	68
10th		Swindon		45	18	10	17	41	38	+3	64
11th		Hull		45	17	11	17	86	71	+15	62
12th		Leeds		45	15	17	13	51	51	0	62
13th		Doncaster		45	16	14	15	60	62	-2	62
14th		Bradford		45	15	16	14	50	46	+4	61
15th		Crewe		45	17	10	18	57	54	+3	61
16th		Huddersfield		45	17	6	22	61	75	-14	57
17th		Walsall		45	15	10	20	68	76	-8	55
18th		Oldham		45	14	11	20	59	74	-15	53
19th		Hartlepool		45	13	11	21	60	77	-17	50
20th		Carlisle		45	13	6	26	52	71	-19	45
21st		Peterborough		45	11	12	22	55	79	-24	45
22nd		Rotherham		45	11	12	22	40	69	-29	45
23rd		Port Vale		45	9	15	21	55	69	-14	42
24th	R	Gillingham		45	10	6	29	55	100	-45	36

May 1st, 2009
The board are still satisfied with my management of the club and have the same good comments and concerns as a month ago.

FM

[FrogMan]

May 2, 2009
League Match #46: vs Carlisle at Kenilworth Road (Luton 1-2 favourites)

Pkd	Inf	Name	Position	Morale	Form	Con	Apps	Gls	Av Rat
GK		Mikko Vilmunen	GK	Good	6-6-7-8-6	100%	4	-	6.50
DR	Wnt	Ibrahim Tall	D RC	Very Good	7-7-7-7-7	100%	54	1	7.13
DL	Unh	Danny Granville	D L	Good	7-7-7-6-8	97%	2	-	7.00
DC		José-Karl Pierre-Fanfan	D C	Very Good	7-7-6-7-7	99%	46 (1)	1	6.96
DC	PR	Willie Kinniburgh	D C	Poor	7-7-6-7-7	100%	54	1	7.11
DMC	PR	Russell Duncan	DM	Superb	7-7-6-7-7	100%	21 (2)	-	6.70
MR	PR	Saulius Mikoliunas	AM R	Superb	7-7-7-7-6	100%	47 (1)	4	7.25
ML		Etienne Esajas	AM L	Good	7-7-7-7-8	99%	46 (4)	4	7.26
AMC		Eric Skora	AM C	Okay	8-7-7-6-7	100%	25	1	6.92
FC	Tut	Sam Parkin	ST	Very Good	6-6-6-8-7	100%	36 (7)	22	7.21
FC	Wnt	Calvin Andrew	ST	Good	7-8-5-7-6	100%	9 (1)	3	6.80
S1	Wnt	Julián Speroni	GK	Good	8-8-7-7-8	100%	51	-	7.20
S2		Håvard Nordtveit	D C, DM	Good	7-6-6-6-7	97%	16 (16)	1	6.63
S3	Wnt	Vincent van den Berg	AM R, ST	Very Good	7-7-6-7-6	96%	3 (14)	2	6.59
S4		Jonathan Hayes	AM RL	Good	7-8-7-7-7	97%	8 (27)	1	7.09
S5		Dean Morgan	ST	Good	8-7-6-6-6	100%	43 (8)	25	7.00
-	Inj	Richard Jackson	D RL	Superb	7-7-8-7-7	64%	46	1	7.20
-		Matthew Spring	M C	Very Good	8-6-8-8-7	99%	25 (2)	2	6.89
-	Inj	Jay Simpson	AM R, ST	Very Good	7-7-7-6-6	60%	15 (20)	12	6.66
-		Daniel Fox	D/WB L, DM, M LC	Good	7-7-6-6-7	95%	19 (23)	-	6.55
-		Carl Dickinson	D/WB L	Very Good	7-8-8-7-7	100%	16 (2)	-	7.11
-		David Fernandez	AM/F C	Superb	7-6-6-6-8	97%	13 (4)	1	6.65

Carlisle are currently in 20th place and I tell an inquiring journalist that I believe my team has what it takes to beat them.

We start the game on a good beat, holding the ball quite well until they score a goal in the 12th minute. It all went downhill from there...

They add to their lead in the 35th minute and I let the fellas have it at the halftime break. I tell them they are letting the team down. They outshooting us 12(8) to 4(2), so it really had turned ugly...

It stays ugly for most of the second half although we keep them from scoring...

Match stats:

Luton	Statistic	Carlisle
0	final score	2
9	Shots	14
6	On Target	8
3	Off Target	6
48%	Possession	52%
3	Corners	2
9	Free Kicks	20
22	Throw-Ins	26
12	Fouls	6
8	Offsides	3
53%	Passes Completed	63%
27%	Crosses Completed	22%
83%	Tackles Won	86%
53%	Headers Won	56%
1	Yellow Cards	1
0	Red Cards	0

Luton player stats:

No.	C	Name	Inf.	Pas	Cmp	Key	Tck	Won	Key	Hea	Won	Key	Int	Run	Off	Fou	Fld	Ast	Sho	Sot	Con	Rat	Gls
30		Mikko Vilmunen		39	14	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	99	6
8		Ibrahim Tall		34	19	1	3	3	1	0	0	0	10	1	0	1	0	0	2	0	85	6
21		Danny Granville		28	14	0	0	0	0	7	2	0	11	0	0	2	0	0	0	0	67	5
4		José-Karl Pierre-Fanfan (c)		14	7	0	1	1	0	2	2	1	4	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	80	5
3		Willie Kinniburgh		26	17	1	2	2	1	7	5	0	19	0	0	4	0	0	0	0	84	7
17		Eric Skora		25	15	3	2	1	0	3	1	0	4	1	0	1	0	0	0	0	80	6
44		Etienne Esajas		31	12	3	1	1	0	7	4	0	4	1	0	3	0	0	0	0	74	6
25		Russell Duncan	sub 60	14	6	0	1	1	0	2	1	0	2	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	90	5
11		Saulius Mikoliunas		14	8	1	1	1	0	1	0	0	2	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	83	6
9		Sam Parkin		18	12	2	0	0	0	9	3	1	2	0	4	0	0	0	5	4	79	5
20		Calvin Andrew	sub 69	26	14	0	1	0	0	13	8	0	1	0	4	0	2	0	1	1	81	5
33		Julián Speroni
28		Håvard Nordtveit	on 60	16	12	1	0	0	0	1	1	1	7	0	0	1	1	0	0	0	92	7
27		Vincent van den Berg
22		Jonathan Hayes
7		Dean Morgan	on 69	3	3	1	0	0	0	1	1	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	1	1	99	7

To lose 0-2 at home, against the 20th team in the league is unacceptable and I let the guys have it. I explain to them that the result was ambarrassing for the team.

Was a pretty bad day for us to play so poorly as Senegal boss Henryk Kasperczak was in attendance. It is believed he was there to take a good look at Ibrahim Tall for his next Senegal squad. While Tall didn't have a horrendous game, he's had some much better ones this season.

We close the season in 2nd place.

Pos	Inf	Team		Pld	Won	Drn	Lst	For	Ag	G.D.	Pts
1st	C	Sheff Wed		46	24	16	6	80	41	+39	88
2nd	P	Luton		46	24	12	10	66	39	+27	84
3rd	Pl	Southend		46	23	11	12	71	52	+19	80
4th	Pl	Q.P.R.		46	23	10	13	77	47	+30	79
5th	Pl	Yeovil		46	20	14	12	77	58	+19	74
6th	Pl	Leyton Orient		46	21	11	14	71	70	+1	74
7th		Millwall		46	20	12	14	59	48	+11	72
8th		Brighton		46	20	11	15	61	54	+7	71
9th		Notts Co		46	17	17	12	54	49	+5	68
10th		Hull		46	18	11	17	89	71	+18	65
11th		Swindon		46	18	11	17	42	39	+3	65
12th		Leeds		46	15	18	13	51	51	0	63
13th		Doncaster		46	16	15	15	61	63	-2	63
14th		Bradford		46	15	17	14	51	47	+4	62
15th		Crewe		46	17	11	18	58	55	+3	62
16th		Huddersfield		46	17	7	22	63	77	-14	58
17th		Walsall		46	15	10	21	70	80	-10	55
18th		Oldham		46	14	12	20	61	76	-15	54
19th		Hartlepool		46	13	12	21	61	78	-17	51
20th		Carlisle		46	14	6	26	54	71	-17	48
21st	R	Peterborough		46	12	12	22	56	79	-23	48
22nd	R	Rotherham		46	11	13	22	42	71	-29	46
23rd	R	Port Vale		46	9	16	21	58	72	-14	43
24th	R	Gillingham		46	10	7	29	58	103	-45	37

Our feeder club Cambridge United rallied quite a bit toward the end of the season and they will close the season in 12th place after spending much of the middle part of the season in the drop zone.

FM

[FrogMan]

May 9, 2009
With the end of the season come the bargain hunters. I should know, I'm one myself...

Stoke have an eye on left fullback Carl Dickinson but they wanna go the cheap way. They are offering me only $28k and some unknown 21you defensive midfielder named Robbie Garrett whom I have absolutely no scouting information on. Only thing I know is that he's not played one competitive match for them this season and only averaged 5.80 in form in the 10 non competitive appearances he's made. Hrm, not really good... Dickinson is only valued at $45k on the market but he's got a much bigger value in my eyes and I reject the offer.

Ipswich Town are also after one of my defenders. It's Ibrahim Tall that they fancy now. Sure He's only valued at $190k, but to get another one as dependable as him could probably cost me close to a million. No way I'm letting him go for their very generous $210k, even if Tall's agent is indicating that his client would like to be able to discuss terms with Ipswich. They're only one step up, in The Championship, right where we will be next season. Tall doesn't complain when I reject the offer though...

Yeovil play host to QPR in the first leg of their playoff semi final. Yeovil get a 2-0 lead in the two game series.


May 10, 2009
Leyton Orient play host to Southend in the first leg of their playoff semi final. Leyton Orient take a 1-0 lead in the series.


May 12, 2009
Yeovil hold QPR to a 1-1 draw in the second game of their series, winning the series with an aggregate score of 3-1.

FM

[FrogMan]

May 13, 2009
Leyton Orient hold Southend to a scoreless draw in the second game of their series, winning the series with an aggregate score of 1-0. They will play Yeovil in the one game playoffs final.

I see that Sam Parkin is now open to discuss terms on a contract renewal. He is currently earning $7,500 per week and is looking for $11,250 a week to stay on. My assistant says that Parkin should be regard as a key member of the first-team squad and I loved his consistency but looking at his skill set, I fail to be super impressed. I'm taking a chance and offer him a two year deal at $10,000 a week with a tiny bit more signing on bonus.


May 15, 2009
My assistant Sam Ellis announces that he will will retire at the end of the season. At first I'm thinking it'll be a good opportunity to improve the position, but I see that "end of the season" actually means the end of the 2009-10 season. We'll make due with good ole Sam for one more season...

Sam Parkin liked what he saw on that contract offer and he agrees to stay on with us. I'm happy with the news as Parkin is still seen by my assistant as the best striker at the club. His 22 goals and 14 assists last season show he can finish as well as prepare goals... He is also valued at $3.2M and if another club is ever interested in him, I might be tempted to let him go fi the offer gets anywhere close to that amount...


May 16, 2009
Chelsea win the FA Cup final 1-0 over Arsenal.


May 18, 2009
Darren Currie announces he will retire at the end of the season. His contract runs out this season so he will be retiring with another team, or finishing his last year at home...

Woah, looking at the job security screen, I see that they have me listed with a "Very Secure" job status. Man, the fans and board sure did love that promotion.

FM

[FrogMan]

May 24, 2009
It suddenly hits me, my contract runs out at the end of June, maybe it'd be time to ask for a new one. I turn in my request for a new contract. The board agree that I deserve a new contract and tell me they hope to be in a position to make me an offer in the very near future.

Leyton Orient won the League One playoffs final 3-1 over Yeovil. They will promote to the Championship with Sheff Wed and us. Funny thing is, they finished the season in 6th place...

With this, the season closes on League One and we're handed a tiny $200k for our 2nd place in the league. I'll be damn though, I know I had agreed to pay higher than usual bonuses to the squad in the competitions entered, but this squad bonus is gonna hurt our finances. We are paying out $2.6M to be shared among the squad on a pro-rata basis. Daaaamn. This brings our balance down to $1.5M or so. We started at bit over $6.5M of which I used some $3M for players but got some back on some sales. I also ran over budget on wags most of the season, meaning that once we got ousted from the cups, we started incurring losses on a monthly basis...


May 25, 2009
Mike Newell of Sheffield Wednesday has won the League One Manager of the Year award. The cool news is that I came in just behind him in second place. Newell collected 947 manager points while I collected 480 and third place Martin Ling collected 469.

Etienne Esajas found his way to the League One Team of the Year on the left wing.

The squad has gone on holiday until pre-season begins...


May 28, 2009
Some freak rumour starts coming from the media. They title: "Gougeon could leave Luton". WHAT... THE... FUCK!!! They are saying that the board are preparing to open discussion with me but are also making contingency plans in case I decide to leave. Make me an offer and I'll stay damnit!


May 31, 2009
The board have finally offered me a new contract. No wage increase, I'd stay at $6,000 a week, the same as in my previous two year long contract, and they are saying they'll want the team to survive in The Championship by the end of a four year plan. That seems reasonable and I accept the offer...

Chairman David Pinkney is absolutely delighted that I have agreed to renew my contract with the club. He feels I have shown fantastic commitment to the club by signing the new deal which he is sure will please the players and fans alike.

Inverness CT are interested in Carl Dickinson. They are offering me less than his value of $45k. I respectfully reject the offer, saying it's not good enough.

FM

[FrogMan]

June 1st, 2009
Overall, the board are pleased with my management of the team. The team's fantastic overall performance in the League One has been a particular highlight while they say the fans have voiced concerns over Dean Morgan's performances. I don't care much about concerns over one player in particular to be honest with you...


June 4, 2009
Frustration grows in me. Even though we've now entered the month of June and we're getting inside the last month of the contract of many players in England. I can't make any decent offers to anyone since I'm over the wage budget. Yeah, over the budget for now, but that budget will change the moment they confirm our move up to the Championship... sigh...

One player I have spotted from my souts report is DMC/DC Ferrie Bodde who is currently playing for Swansea. Described as a cultured midfielder, he could be a huge help in mounting attacks from the back line of our midfield. Sad thing is that while he's only asking for weekly wages of $6,500, my board is only allowing me to offer him up to $2,000, even as a key player... I pass for now and read that Aberdeen have offered him a contract.

Dunfermline enquire about Carl Dickinson. I tell them it'll be at least $220k for the fullback valued at $45k.

The English qualifiers for European competitions have been determined:
Champions League: Chelsea, Tottenham, Man Utd, Liverpool
UEFA Cup: West Ham, Everton, Derby, Arsenal (holders)
Inter-Toto Cup: Middlesbrough

Seeing Arsenal only in the UEFA Cup makes me wonder where they finished the season...

Pos	Inf	Team		Pld	Won	Drn	Lst	For	Ag	G.D.	Pts
1st	ECC	Liverpool		38	27	5	6	69	29	+40	86
2nd	ECC	Man Utd		38	22	6	10	55	37	+18	72
3rd	ECC	Chelsea		38	20	9	9	64	36	+28	69
4th	ECC	Tottenham		38	20	7	11	57	39	+18	67
5th	EC	Arsenal		38	20	6	12	68	49	+19	66
6th	EC	West Ham		38	16	10	12	52	49	+3	58
7th	EC	Everton		38	17	6	15	54	51	+3	57
8th	EC	Derby		38	15	9	14	52	60	-8	54
9th		Reading		38	15	8	15	54	54	0	53
10th	EV	Middlesbrough		38	13	13	12	50	44	+6	52
11th		Newcastle		38	14	10	14	49	53	-4	52
12th		Bolton		38	14	7	17	52	55	-3	49
13th		Sunderland		38	13	7	18	46	53	-7	46
14th		Coventry		38	9	15	14	50	65	-15	42
15th		Portsmouth		38	10	11	17	43	55	-12	41
16th		Aston Villa		38	9	12	17	40	60	-20	39
17th		Watford		38	7	16	15	39	49	-10	37
18th	R	Wigan		38	7	15	16	42	54	-12	36
19th	R	Birmingham		38	9	8	21	37	62	-25	35
20th	R	Preston		38	7	12	19	45	64	-19	33

Wow, 5th place...


June 5, 2009
Hrm, not too sure what has changed, but I see I'm now only $375 over my wage budget and the board are now allowing me to offer up to $11,250 to Ferrie Bodde as a first teamer, not even a key player. He's looking for a 4 year contract worth $6,250. My assistant tells me I should regard him as a definite purchase, and some other teams have offered him a contract so I offer him a tiny bit more, $6,500 a week. We'll see...

Another player I'd spotted is sweeper/central defender Karim Touzani, currently playing with Aberdeen. I think he could help out a lot on our back line, especially with José-Karl Pierre-Fanfan's skills fading like snow in the sun. He's looking for a 2 year contract at $7,000 a week and a signing on bonus of $5k but I reverse the offer a bit. I offer a sneaky contract: $4,200 a week, $3,300 per appearance (up from his demand of $700) and $70k signing on bonus. The breakeven between the two offers stands at 43 appearances, which I'm not too sure he will get... Take a look at this geeky table

sign on	5000	70000
wk	7000	4200
per app	700	3300
app	43	43
sign on	2500	35000
wk wage	364000	218400
app bonus	30100	141900
	396600	395300

To be noted, Touzani is also competent at playing the defensive midfielder spot...


June 8, 2009
Dunfermline will not follow up on their enquiry regarding Dickinson.


June 9, 2009
Wow, didn't take long: "Bodde set for Luton" title the papers. He will join us on July 1st.

Interesting thing, he was on the League One Team of the Year in 08-09 and is part of Swansea's overall Best Eleven.


June 10, 2009
And again, looks like that offer to Karim Touzani wasn't so crazy after all. He agreed to it and will also join us on July 1st. He too is part of his team's (Aberdeen) overall Best Eleven.

FM

[FrogMan]

June 14, 2009
The board have finally announced that construction has begun on the upgrade of the training facilities. This expansion will only take a short time to complete apparently...

Dang, the club's bank balance is at an all time low since I've joined the club. We are barely over $1M.


June 19, 2009
We get the league summary reports and here are some highlights from the League One report...
Overachievers: Notts Co
Underperformers: Leeds
Signing of the season: Southend's Will Antwi ($75k), runner up: Walsall's Stefan Moore ($110k)
Worst signing of the season: Luton's Jay Simpson ($900k), runner up: Hull's Ryan Conroy ($375k)

Yeah, I guess paying that much money for Simpson wasn't my brightest move. But I did bring in a couple of free signings that did wonders for us. Free signings probably didn't count in that thing...


June 20, 2009
Dean Morgan has been voted as Luton's Player of the Year by the fans. Not sure I really agree, but I know he's loved by the fans. He did score a ton of goals, but he disappeared midway through the season.

The Best Eleven for this season has two very odd picks, look at this:

Morgan . Parkin
Spring
Esajas . . . . . . . . . . . Mikoliunas
Nordtveit
Jackson . Pierre-Fanfan . Kinniburgh . Tall
Speroni

================
Vilmunen, GK
Skora, AM C
Hayes, AM RL
Simpson, AM RC, F C
Fox, D LC, DM

I don't see Spring and Nordtveit finding their way in there. Skora was way more effective as an AMC than Spring...

Four new players have been inducted into the Luton All-Time Best Eleven. They're in blue in the listing here:

Morgan . Parkin
Spring
Esajas . . . . . . . . . . . Mikoliunas
Fernandez
Goodall . Kinniburgh . Pierre-Fanfan . Jackson
Speroni

================
Brill, GK
Tall, D RC
Bell, AM RLC
Duncan, DM
Coyne, D C

Fernandez has no reason to remain in there as a DMC which tells they are seeing the two central mid spots as simple central mid and not making a real difference between the DM and AMC spots... And Tall and Jackson should be the fullbacks. Goodall only played last year, Tall played this year and Tall was way more important to the squad than Goodall was last year. And even Jackson had a better season this year playing slightly out of position on the left than Goodall did last year...

We've been given $1.9M for The Championship TV rights over the forthcoming season. That's a relief...

And the expectations have come... The minimum expectation is that the team stay clear of relegation this season. That's the easy part. The tough part is that I'll be given a big flat goose egg for tranfer budget. Yep, nada, nothing, nix, zero, zilch, zip, $0!!! Can't really blame them, since there isn't much in the bank account, but still, it sucks.

Sure, they are offering me the possibility of increasing both the wage and transfer budgets if I have higher aspirations than avoiding relegation, but I can't say I'm super confident this year. Wage budget will be set at $190k and we are currently at about $180k with a few players retiring in the next few days...

And it's not this season that our U18 squad will stop sucking. Steve Acton is apparently the best of the new breed. Judging by that 5 in natural fitness and stamina, the 16 yo must be have been a pretty big smoker since the age of 11 or so, sheesh...


June 24, 2009
I offer a contract to oldie striker Henri Camara. The 32yo Senegalese striker is a free agent after having been released by Wigan at the end of May. He's not getting any younger, but he's not asking for a whole lot of money and would provide nice depth.

All the kids who were on season long loans (Hayes, van den Berg, Nordtveit) return to their respective clubs. All of those three were helpful as loanees with maybe Hayes pulling his weight a bit more than the other two.

Chris Coyne accepts a pay cut to remain at the club for one more year. He will provide depth to the first squad.

FM

[FrogMan]

June 28, 2009
Henri Camara has agreed to our contract offer and will join us on July 1st. 19 clubs in all were interested in his services...


June 30, 2009
We sign Matt Haigh on a free transfer from Wales side Llanelli. He is a 17yo central defender one of my scouts found while scouting Wales. Even with the little information I had on him at first, his 16 in heading and 14 in positioning made him a kid with potential. Add that to the $275 a week I'll pay him and he'll do well on our U18 squad...


July 1st, 2009
The transfer window has opened and with it, our new signees (Bodde, Camara, Touzani, Haigh) come on board. Matt Haigh is the one I'm most interested in meeting, since I really had little information on him. I like his skill set for a kid.

A couple things regarding last year loanees. Jonathan Hayes and Havard Nordtveit are still available for loan this year and I make offers for season loans again. Arsenal have let Vincent van den Berg's contract expire and while he's staying on the club for now, he's available to be signed without compensation. Prior to June 30, the compensation was $900k. I offer him a contract.He's only asking for $2,900 a week but I offer him $3,500 and a $6,500 per goal bonus. There are a number of other clubs that have already offered him a contract.

Bleh, the board think I should be performing slightly better in my management of the team. Pretty sure it's all based on the low bank balance. Hopefully it won't come back to bite me in the ass later on...

FM

[finkenst]

Jay Simpson scored in the FA Cup over the weekend.

[bulletsponge]

good read

[FrogMan]

I've vastly outplayed my reporting time in the last few days so I will try to streamline what has happened in order to get back up to speed...


07/03 We lose a friendly against QPR, 0-1. Not much to say, some new players getting acquainted with one another...

Seeing how we've only got two keepers in Julian speroni and Mikko Vilumen, I offer a contract Leicester's Jimmy Nielsen who was out of contract. He accepts the contract and joins us on July 8.

07/08 We lose a friendly to Arsenal 0-1. Not a bad game, but they are still certainly way out of our league.

07/09 Vincent van den berg signs with us for $3,500 a week. No compensation were paid to Arsenal for the signing.

07/12 We get Jonathan Hayes back for a second season long loan. He was helpful as backup to Etienne Esajas last year and I'm happy to have him back.

07/14 We lose 1-3 in a friendly to Espanyol. Played a strong first half but it all fell apart when I subbed out most starters for backups at halftime. Richard Jackson got injured and will miss 2 weeks

07/19 Ugly, ugly 0-6 loss to Betis. Seriously, very ugly. Shots 5(2) to 31(20), ugh. In the loss, Willie Kinniburgh rated at 4, Ibrahim Tall and Saulius Mikoliunas at 5 among others.

07/20 Just realized my board is now allowing me to scout the whole continent and not only the immediate areas. Weehee!

07/21 Hrm, Leicester offer $1M for Julian Speroni, his value. I put my asking price at $2.5M. They match the $2.5M and our chairman accepts the bid, saying it was too good to pass up. I gotta say I almost agree with him, but losing Speroni will suck.

07/24 Promotion odds are announce: Birmingham 7-4, Preston 2-1, Ipswich 5-2, Man City 5-2. We've been priced at 40-1 which is not the worse I've ever been, so maybe we have a shot at staying up. I see the media prediction is 18th for us, so out of the drop zone...

07/25 Big friendly win over Dinamo Kiev, 4-2. Shots: 17(12)-12(7). A GREAT game, lots of spunk and fighting for the ball, Camara with 2 goals. With Speroni's future in doubt with us, Jimmy Nielsen started the game.

07/26 The inevitable happens and Julian Speroni moves to Leicester for $2.5M. We'd paid only $240k for him two years ago. Nielsen/Vilmunen are the only two keepers left but the bank balance is now at $6.8M. The transfer budget is now at $1.7M.

07/29 Etienne Esajas, Dean Morgan, and Saulius Mikoliunas are in last year of contract. Not one wants a new deal.

I resign Calvin Andrew to a cheap deal without any increase.

07/30 Richard Jackson injured again, 2 more weeks off. Grr...

FM

[FrogMan]

08/01 Easy 3-0 win over Cambridge. Easy as it should be against a conference side.

Eric Skora and Willie Kinniburgh both agree to new deals.
David Edwards does too. I see that his value has soared to $475k, it was at $50k last year.

Carl Dickinson resigns too. If Richard Jackson is gonna break down all the time like that, Dickinson might see the field a lot.

Drew Talbot also signes an extention.

Balance now at 7.6M with season ticket sales aimed to get to 7100.

José-Karl Pierre-Fanfan is really not good enough to play first team anymore. I still leave him as captain with Ibrahim Tall vice-captain.

08/05 We lose our last friendly, 0-2 to Sunderland. We did play a good second half though.

08/08 We open the season with a weird 3-3 draw against West Brom. We started the game quickly going donw 0-3, then worked our way back up to 3-3. Showed no cohesion whatsoever early on with sometimes two players letting a loose ball go between them without making a move. Three guys made their debut in that game. Here's what the starting eleven looked like:

Pkd	Inf	Name	Position	Morale	Form	Con	Apps	Gls	Av Rat
GK		Jimmy Nielsen	GK	Good	6-6-7-7-6	100%	-	-	-
DR	Wnt	Ibrahim Tall	D RC	Superb	7-5-7-8-7	95%	-	-	-
DL	Wnt	Carl Dickinson	D/WB L	Very Good	6-7-7-8-6	98%	-	-	-
DC		Karim Touzani	SW, D C	Good	7-6-6-8-7	99%	-	-	-
DC	Wnt	Willie Kinniburgh	D C	Very Good	7-4-7-7-7	99%	-	-	-
DMC		Ferrie Bodde	D C, DM	Very Good	7-6-7-6-7	92%	-	-	-
MR		Saulius Mikoliunas	AM R	Superb	8-5-7-7-7	96%	-	-	-
ML		Etienne Esajas	AM L	Good	7-6-7-8-6	97%	-	-	-
AMC		Eric Skora	AM C	Very Good	6-6-7-7-6	98%	-	-	-
FC		Sam Parkin	ST	Very Good	8-6-8-8-6	99%	-	-	-
FC		Calvin Andrew	ST	Very Good	6-6-7-7-6	96%	-	-	-
S1	Wnt	Mikko Vilmunen	GK	Good	8-6-6-7-6	94%	-	-	-
S2		Russell Duncan	DM	Okay	6-6-6-7-6	97%	-	-	-
S3	Wnt	David Edwards	AM RC	Superb	7-6-7-7-7	94%	-	-	-
S4	Wnt	Jonathan Hayes	AM RL	Good	6-6-8-7-7	89%	-	-	-
S5		Jay Simpson	AM R, ST	Good	6-6-7-7-7	96%	-	-	-
-		José-Karl Pierre-Fanfan	D C	Very Good	7-6-7-7-7	93%	-	-	-
-	Inj	Richard Jackson	D RL	Very Good	7-6-7-6-7	63%	-	-	-
-		Henri Camara	ST	Good	6-6-8-6-6	90%	-	-	-
-	Inj	Dean Morgan	ST	Very Good	7-6-6-7-8	68%	-	-	-
-	Wnt	Vincent van den Berg	AM R, ST	Very Good	6-7-7-6	88%	-	-	-

08/12 Reassuring 4-1 Carling Cup win over League Two Cheltenham. We did again start the game by allowing a quick goal to start it 0-1, then work our way back into the game.

08/15 League loss, 1-3 to Sheff Utd. It was not pretty but we still outshot them 21(10) to 17(9).

08/16 I let go of Daniel Fox to Crewe for $50k and a player, Byron Moore, a 20yo AM RL/ST with cheaper wage than Fox. I figured that with Ferrie Bodde and Russell Duncan on board as defensive midfielders, Fox wouldn't get much playing time and I liked the offer of Moore who can play both wings as well as the striker spot.

08/17 I add some depth at the keeper position in signing Southampton youngish keeper Bartosz Bialkowski for $150k. He's only 22yo and apparently close to Jimmy Nielsen in talent according to both my scout and my assistant.

08/22 Great league win over said Southampton, 1-0, on an 84th minute goal by Vincent van den Berg. Bialkowski didn't play and won't play with the first squad for a while. He's way out of being match fit... We're in 13th place after three league games.

08/26 Round 2 of the Carling Cup home vs Leicester. The return of Julian Speroni and for all the times where the media make a big deal of stupid players returning to Kenilworth Road, that one really means something. Even funnier is Jimmy Nielsen was with Leicester before coming to us. We lose it 0-2 after w bad first half killed us. Board wanted 3rd round, we don't get that far, out in the second round.

08/28 We secure the signing of free agent defensive midfielder Richard Hughes. Hughes is 30 and was seen as a definite signing of us by my scout. He's seen as a 7 stars player by my assistant and on par with our other strong DM Ferrie Bodde. He's a solid passer, great worker and has good overall physical skills. (profile to come later when I can access photobucket)

We have also signed left fullback Laurent Montoya from Scottish side Kilmarnock. It cost us $350k to get him, but I think it'll be well worth it, especially with how Richard Jackson kept getting hurt and with how unimpressed I've been with Carl Dickinson so far this season. (profile to follow). Montoya, 28yo, is a solid all around kind of player with great decision making and who's also very brave.

08/29 Sensational 4-0 league win over Burnley. We blanked them of any shots in the whole first half. A great debut for Laurent Montoya too. After 4, we're in 6th place.

Eric Skora got injured in that game, will miss 2 weeks.

FM

[FrogMan]

09/07 We lose one of our first team coach who moves on to become the assistant manager over at Birmingham. The departing John Carver will be replaced within a few days by free agent Stanislav Varga, who's much better in coaching both fitness and defending. (profiles to come later)

09/11 I sign Reading's James Henry on a three months loan. Henry's a 20yo right winger with a lot of potential. He's already comparable to our starting right winger Saulius Mikoliunas according to my assistant. (profile to come later) He makes it known that he's hoping to get some invaluable first team experience by coming over to us on loan.

09/12 Woah, 2-0 league win over Cardiff, on the road, to move up to 3rd place. I honestly don't expect this position to hold for very long for us, but it's nice to see that we're sort of capable of fighting with the big boys. David Edwards with a goal and the MoM

09/14 We put four on the Championship Team of the Week: Tall, Touzani (who's playing great at centerback), Esajas, and Parkin.

Grr, Bartosz Biakowski's return to match fitness is slowed with an nick. Will miss up to a week.

09/15 Frustrating 0-1 home loss to Man City. We held them in check and even put a lot of pressure late in the game, against a 10 men side, but they didn't let us have it.

09/16 Jonathan Hayes pulled hamstring in a match with the reserves and will miss 3 weeks to a month.

09/19 1-1 draw against Plymouth. Went down 0-1 on a penalty kick early on, then worked our way back into the game, showing a lot of character.

09/26 A very frustrating loss against the current League One title holders, Shee Wed. We controlled the game, on the road, yet they ended up with a lucky goal when playing the 4-2-4 from hell in the 88th minute. 1-2 is the final score.

Looking at the average crowds in the league, I realize that we are averaging 10215 spectators per game on a capacity of 10300. Hrm, the bank balance isn't bad, how about I test the waters for a stadium expansion. I go to the board with my craz idea and by God, they agree. They say that Kenilworth Road needs to be improved if the club is to fulfil its full potential. They assure me that there are plans afoot to expand the stadium. Weehee!

09/29 At Birmingham, we go down 0-2 in the first half and never recover. One was a headed corner while the other was a deflected ball. They sprayed Nielsen with 14 balls on target.

FM

[FrogMan]

October 1, 2009
League Match #10: vs Swansea at Kenilworth Road (Swansea evens favourites)

Pkd	Inf	Name	Position	Morale	Form	Con	Apps	Gls	Av Rat
GK		Jimmy Nielsen	GK	Superb	8-7-7-6-7	100%	11	-	6.73
DR		Ibrahim Tall	D RC	Good	8-7-7-6-6	92%	11	-	7.00
DL		Laurent Montoya	D/WB L	Okay	8-7-7-7-7	91%	6	-	7.33
DC		Karim Touzani	SW, D C	Poor	8-7-7-7-7	92%	11	-	7.27
DC		Willie Kinniburgh	D C	Okay	7-7-7-7-7	93%	11	-	7.00
DMC		Ferrie Bodde	D C, DM	Okay	8-7-6-7-7	100%	9 (1)	-	6.80
MR	Wnt	James Henry	AM RC	Good	7-7-7	99%	0 (3)	-	7.00
ML		Etienne Esajas	AM L	Very Good	8-6-7-8-8	93%	11	1	7.55
AMC		Eric Skora	AM C	Good	7-7-6-8-8	96%	7	1	7.29
FC		Sam Parkin	ST	Good	8-6-7-6-6	93%	11	4	6.91
FC		Vincent van den Berg	AM R, ST	Very Good	6-6-8-7-6	97%	6 (3)	4	6.89
S1	Unh	Mikko Vilmunen	GK	Okay	7-6-7-6-6	97%	-	-	-
S2		Russell Duncan	DM	Good	6-6-6-6-7	98%	0 (5)	-	6.20
S3		Saulius Mikoliunas	AM R	Very Good	7-7-5-7-7	92%	11	2	7.09
S4		Byron Moore	AM RL, ST	Very Good	7-7-7	99%	0 (2)	1	7.00
S5		Jay Simpson	AM R, ST	Okay	7-6-6-6-6	92%	4 (6)	3	6.40
-		José-Karl Pierre-Fanfan	D C	Very Good	7-6-7-7-6	93%	-	-	-
-		Richard Hughes	DM	Okay	6-7-6-7-7	90%	2 (2)	-	6.75
-		Calvin Andrew	ST	Very Good	6-6-7-6-8	94%	1 (1)	-	6.00
-	Wnt	David Edwards	AM RC	Very Good	6-8-7-6-7	92%	4 (4)	1	6.63
-	Inj	Jonathan Hayes	AM RL	Okay	7-7-7-7-7	60%	0 (5)	-	7.00
-	Wnt	Carl Dickinson	D/WB L	Good	8-6-7-7-7	99%	5	-	7.00

Swansea are only in their second season back up to Championship level. We'll be playing Ferrie Bodde with a down arrow and Karim Touzani with a down/left arrow toward the central sweeper position, his natural position. We've played him that way for a little while now and he's responded very well to the call... This game is the second of a crazy three match stretch. We played two days ago and play again on the 3rd, thus the many low 90's in condition already.

We catch a break when they have a goal disallowed in the 17th minute because of a offside. Laurent Montoya plays a freak long throw up to Sam Parkin inside the 6 yard box in the 26th minute. Parkin quickly flicked it to Eric Skora, perfectly place to make it 1-0. Parkin will add to his great performance by scoring a goal of his own in the 40th minute.

Vincent van den Berg adds to our lead midway through the second half running away with a great throug ball from Byron Moore, in for Etienne Esajas. Already vdB's 5th goal of the season. They do take one back, but by the time it happens, we're already into injury time and time is running short.

Match stats:

Luton	Statistic	Swansea
3	final score	2
21	Shots	24
9	On Target	15
12	Off Target	9
45%	Possession	55%
6	Corners	6
17	Free Kicks	12
17	Throw-Ins	26
10	Fouls	11
2	Offsides	7
54%	Passes Completed	62%
50%	Crosses Completed	30%
56%	Tackles Won	85%
74%	Headers Won	28%
2	Yellow Cards	1
0	Red Cards	0

Luton player stats:

No.	C	Name	Inf.	Pas	Cmp	Key	Tck	Won	Key	Hea	Won	Key	Int	Run	Off	Fou	Fld	Ast	Sho	Sot	Con	Rat	Gls
1		Jimmy Nielsen		26	6	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	99	7
8		Ibrahim Tall (c)		34	20	1	3	2	0	6	6	1	14	0	0	3	1	0	0	0	74	6
28		Laurent Montoya		23	12	2	4	2	0	3	3	1	11	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	74	7
10		Karim Touzani		19	9	0	0	0	0	6	5	1	6	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	75	7
3		Willie Kinniburgh		19	15	0	1	0	0	7	6	2	9	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	80	7
17		Eric Skora	sub 74	11	8	3	1	1	0	3	2	1	2	0	0	3	1	0	5	2	82	7	1
44		Etienne Esajas	sub 74	19	8	2	2	0	0	4	3	2	3	2	0	0	1	1	5	1	78	8
5		Ferrie Bodde		28	19	1	1	1	0	5	4	0	10	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	79	7
36		James Henry	sub 74	18	6	0	1	1	0	1	1	1	4	6	1	1	2	0	0	0	80	7
9		Sam Parkin		24	14	4	0	0	0	6	5	0	0	0	1	1	2	1	1	1	73	8	1
22		Vincent van den Berg		15	11	0	2	1	0	10	3	1	1	0	0	0	2	0	9	5	73	8	1
30		Mikko Vilmunen
25		Russell Duncan	on 74	1	1	0	1	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	98	6
11		Saulius Mikoliunas	on 74	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	91	7
27		Byron Moore	on 74	4	3	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	1	0	1	0	0	98	7
13		Jay Simpson

Parking runs away with the MoM in what turned out to be a wide open kind of game.

After 10 games, we're still sitting in 10th place which is pretty good for us...

Pos	Inf	Team		Pld	Won	Drn	Lst	For	Ag	G.D.	Pts
1st		Birmingham		10	6	4	0	17	5	+12	22
2nd		Man City		9	7	1	1	17	6	+11	22
3rd		West Brom		9	6	2	1	22	11	+11	20
4th		Charlton		10	5	4	1	16	9	+7	19
5th		Swansea		10	5	2	3	22	13	+9	17
6th		Wigan		9	5	2	2	14	7	+7	17
7th		Preston		9	5	2	2	16	11	+5	17
8th		Norwich		9	5	2	2	12	9	+3	17
9th		Leicester		10	4	4	2	18	13	+5	16
10th		Luton		10	4	2	4	16	14	+2	14
11th		Wolves		10	4	2	4	11	10	+1	14
12th		Sheff Wed		10	4	2	4	14	15	-1	14
13th		Southampton		9	3	4	2	13	12	+1	13
14th		Plymouth		10	2	6	2	14	13	+1	12
15th		Bristol City		10	3	2	5	16	22	-6	11
16th		Sheff Utd		10	2	4	4	14	17	-3	10
17th		Cardiff		9	3	1	5	11	15	-4	10
18th		Nottm Forest		10	3	1	6	9	18	-9	10
19th		Ipswich		9	2	3	4	15	19	-4	9
20th		Leyton Orient		10	2	2	6	9	15	-6	8
21st		Northampton		10	2	2	6	6	12	-6	8
22nd		Burnley		10	2	2	6	9	20	-11	8
23rd		Stoke		10	1	3	6	9	23	-14	6
24th		Barnsley		10	0	3	7	9	20	-11	3

Following the game, I give a bit of a hard time to Ibrahim Tall. He's capable of playing much better than what he's done recently. He does agree with my assessment.

FM

[FrogMan]

October 3, 2009
League Match #11: vs Charlton at Kenilworth Road (Charlton evens favourites)

Pkd	Inf	Name	Position	Morale	Form	Con	Apps	Gls	Av Rat
GK		Jimmy Nielsen	GK	Superb	7-7-6-7-7	100%	12	-	6.75
DR	PR	Ibrahim Tall	D RC	Superb	7-7-6-6-6	91%	12	-	6.92
DL		Laurent Montoya	D/WB L	Good	7-7-7-7-7	91%	7	-	7.29
DC		Karim Touzani	SW, D C	Poor	7-7-7-7-7	91%	12	-	7.25
DC		Willie Kinniburgh	D C	Good	7-7-7-7-7	92%	12	-	7.00
DMC		Richard Hughes	DM	Okay	6-7-6-7-7	94%	2 (2)	-	6.75
MR		Saulius Mikoliunas	AM R	Very Good	7-5-7-7-7	94%	11 (1)	2	7.08
ML		Etienne Esajas	AM L	Very Good	6-7-8-8-8	92%	12	1	7.58
AMC		Eric Skora	AM C	Good	7-6-8-8-7	93%	8	2	7.25
FC		Sam Parkin	ST	Very Good	6-7-6-6-8	90%	12	5	7.00
FC		Jay Simpson	AM R, ST	Okay	7-6-6-6-6	95%	4 (6)	3	6.40
S1	Unh	Mikko Vilmunen	GK	Okay	7-6-7-6-6	97%	-	-	-
S2		Russell Duncan	DM	Good	6-6-6-7-6	99%	0 (6)	-	6.17
S3	Wnt	James Henry	AM RC	Good	7-7-7-7	93%	1 (3)	-	7.00
S4		Byron Moore	AM RL, ST	Very Good	7-7-7-7	99%	0 (3)	1	7.00
S5		Dean Morgan	AM L, ST	Very Good	8-7-8-7-8	92%	-	-	-
-		José-Karl Pierre-Fanfan	D C	Good	7-6-7-7-6	95%	-	-	-
-		Ferrie Bodde	D C, DM	Good	7-6-7-7-7	92%	10 (1)	-	6.82
-		Calvin Andrew	ST	Very Good	6-6-7-6-8	96%	1 (1)	-	6.00
-	Wnt	David Edwards	AM RC	Very Good	6-8-7-6-7	95%	4 (4)	1	6.63
-	Inj	Jonathan Hayes	AM RL	Okay	7-7-7-7-7	60%	0 (5)	-	7.00
-	Wnt	Carl Dickinson	D/WB L	Good	8-6-7-7-7	99%	5	-	7.00
-		Vincent van den Berg	AM R, ST	Very Good	6-8-7-6-8	90%	7 (3)	5	7.00

I grant Danny Granville his transfer request. I don't see him on the field, even less now with Laurent Montoya on the squad.

The good thing about the crazy scheduling is that everyone seems to have the same and Charlton have some players on low condition going in too. Interesting fact, newly signed Richard Hughes is seen as the key man for our side on this game.

And he is at the heart of our first goal, only 8 minutes into the goal when his run to the left side followed by a nice center to Eric Skora allows Skora to smash one behind the keeper. 1-0 early on!

It's the halftime score and we are quietly in control. Sam Parkin gets a chance to increase our lead in the 55th minute when a penalty is called. Not only does the keeper save it, but Parkin is not even able to score on the rebound!

Would you believe it though, another penalty is called in our favor only 5 minutes later. This time Parkin doesn't miss and it's 2-0.

They do reply 10 minutes later and we're back to only one goal lead. 2-1 after 68.

Match stats:

Luton	Statistic	Charlton
2	final score	1
14	Shots	9
6	On Target	2
8	Off Target	7
49%	Possession	51%
8	Corners	3
20	Free Kicks	19
22	Throw-Ins	22
15	Fouls	15
4	Offsides	7
63%	Passes Completed	59%
20%	Crosses Completed	9%
91%	Tackles Won	72%
62%	Headers Won	46%
1	Yellow Cards	0
0	Red Cards	0

Luton player stats:

No.	C	Name	Inf.	Pas	Cmp	Key	Tck	Won	Key	Hea	Won	Key	Int	Run	Off	Fou	Fld	Ast	Sho	Sot	Con	Rat	Gls
1		Jimmy Nielsen		20	3	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	99	6
8		Ibrahim Tall (c)		35	23	0	1	1	0	5	3	1	15	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	76	7
28		Laurent Montoya		25	18	2	3	3	0	2	1	0	6	0	0	2	0	0	0	0	73	6
10		Karim Touzani		19	13	0	0	0	0	7	6	2	7	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	76	7
3		Willie Kinniburgh		23	15	1	1	1	0	10	10	1	7	0	0	1	3	0	1	0	77	7
17		Eric Skora	sub 90	25	19	3	1	0	0	0	0	0	4	0	0	1	1	0	2	1	73	8	1
44		Etienne Esajas		28	11	1	3	3	0	4	1	0	2	4	0	1	1	0	1	0	73	7
29		Richard Hughes		47	33	3	2	2	0	4	3	3	5	0	0	4	0	1	2	1	73	7
11		Saulius Mikoliunas	inj 76	10	6	1	0	0	0	1	0	0	3	2	0	2	1	0	0	0	82	7
9		Sam Parkin	sub 90	19	16	3	1	1	0	5	1	0	1	0	1	1	3	0	4	2	73	8	1
13		Jay Simpson		13	11	1	0	0	0	7	2	0	0	0	3	1	4	1	4	2	75	7
30		Mikko Vilmunen
25		Russell Duncan	on 90	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	99	6
36		James Henry	on 76	1	0	0	0	0	0	1	1	1	1	1	0	1	1	0	0	0	92	7
27		Byron Moore
7		Dean Morgan	on 90	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	92	6

Sweet result and another MoM for Parkin. Saulisu Mikoliunas had to leave the match because of an injury. He will miss 3 days to a week.

Sometimes I don't get why a keeper get the form rating that they get. Maybe he looked bad on the one goal he allowed, but it's sometimes hard to see...

FM

[FrogMan]

And this covers everything I had to report. When I said I had outplayed my reporting, I wasn't kidding. I had saved exactly 1156 screenshoots to cover what had not been reported.

FM

[vex]

Yeah, I hate that my keeper might have a shutout but still only get a 7 rating. I don't care if he only had 5 shots at him, the clean sheet is all that matters to me

[FrogMan]

promised profiles of new players/coaches...

Goalkeeper Bartosz Bialkowski


AM RL/ST Byron Moore


Left back Laurent Montoya


Defensive midfielder Richard Hughes


Right winger James Henry


Departing first team coach John Carver


New coach Stanislav Varga


FM

[FrogMan]

October 4, 2009
Would you believe it, after playing three matches within 5 nights of one another, we'll go 14 days without playing before our next match. That's a bit crazy...


October 10, 2009
Jonathan Hayes resumes training following his thigh injury.


October 2009
Ugh, Jay Simpson came down hard following a robust challenge in a training sesssion. He has sustained a concussion and will miss 6 days to 2 weeks.


October 15, 2009
Danny Granville wants to be taken off the transfer list now. I grant him his request.


October 17, 2009
League Match #12: vs Norwich at Kenilworth Road (Luton 6-4 favourites)

Pkd	Inf	Name	Position	Morale	Form	Con	Apps	Gls	Av Rat
GK		Bartosz Bialkowski	GK	Good	7-6-7-7	100%	-	-	-
DR		Ibrahim Tall	D RC	Superb	7-6-6-6-7	100%	13	-	6.92
DL		Laurent Montoya	D/WB L	Very Good	7-7-7-7-6	100%	8	-	7.13
DC		Karim Touzani	SW, D C	Okay	7-7-7-7-7	100%	13	-	7.23
DC		Willie Kinniburgh	D C	Superb	7-7-7-7-7	100%	13	-	7.00
DMC		Richard Hughes	DM	Very Good	7-6-7-7-7	100%	3 (2)	-	6.80
MR		Saulius Mikoliunas	AM R	Good	5-7-7-7-7	98%	12 (1)	2	7.08
ML		Etienne Esajas	AM L	Very Good	7-8-8-8-7	100%	13	1	7.54
AMC		Eric Skora	AM C	Very Good	6-8-8-7-8	100%	9	3	7.33
FC		Sam Parkin	ST	Superb	7-6-6-8-8	100%	13	6	7.08
FC		Vincent van den Berg	AM R, ST	Superb	6-8-7-6-8	97%	7 (3)	5	7.00
S1		Jimmy Nielsen	GK	Superb	7-6-7-7-6	100%	13	-	6.69
S2		Ferrie Bodde	D C, DM	Good	7-6-7-7-7	100%	10 (1)	-	6.82
S3	Wnt	James Henry	AM RC	Good	7-7-7-7-7	100%	1 (4)	-	7.00
S4		Byron Moore	AM RL, ST	Very Good	7-7-7-7	98%	0 (3)	1	7.00
S5		Henri Camara	ST	Very Good	6-8-6-8-7	100%	-	-	-
-		Richard Jackson	D RL	Very Good	7-8-8-7-6	98%	-	-	-
-		Calvin Andrew	ST	Superb	6-6-7-6-8	95%	1 (1)	-	6.00
-	Inj	Jay Simpson	AM R, ST	Good	6-6-6-6-7	69%	5 (6)	3	6.45
-	Wnt	David Edwards	AM RC	Superb	6-8-7-6-7	100%	4 (4)	1	6.63
-	Wnt	Carl Dickinson	D/WB L	Very Good	8-6-7-7-7	97%	5	-	7.00

Wow, I know we're playing on our pitch, but it's still the 6th place Norwich we're facing here, yet we are still favourites. A home match is as good a place as any to give Bartosz Bialkowski his debut as a Hatter. Interesting, Vincent van den Berg is seen as the key man for us in this one... Seeing the odds, I tell the guys I think they can win this one today.

One of their midfielders savagely jumps to tackle Willie Kinniburgh with both feet first. The ref thinks it was a bit rough and shows him the red straight up. That was in the 22nd minute.

What do we do with them down a man? We let them go up the field and score within two minutes of the sending off. Damn, damn, damn. And we were not playing badly, actually quite in control. Such an unlucky goal that came off a long shot that deflected off Karim Touzani. Down 0-1 after 25.

We keep mounting some crazy pressure and are denied a penalty in the 35th minute. They keeper is stopping everything we're throwing at him. Shots are 11(2) to 5(2) for us at the half with 55% possession for us, yet we couldn't tie it.

More or the same in the second half, more shots, more possession, no goals.

Match stats:

Luton	Statistic	Norwich
0	final score	1
17	Shots	7
8	On Target	2
9	Off Target	5
58%	Possession	42%
9	Corners	3
21	Free Kicks	13
13	Throw-Ins	20
9	Fouls	19
4	Offsides	2
73%	Passes Completed	50%
12%	Crosses Completed	14%
37%	Tackles Won	89%
46%	Headers Won	64%
0	Yellow Cards	1
0	Red Cards	1

Luton player stats:

No.	C	Name	Inf.	Pas	Cmp	Key	Tck	Won	Key	Hea	Won	Key	Int	Run	Off	Fou	Fld	Ast	Sho	Sot	Con	Rat	Gls
31		Bartosz Bialkowski		30	16	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	99	6
8		Ibrahim Tall (c)		68	55	0	0	0	0	5	5	0	24	2	0	1	3	0	1	0	85	7
28		Laurent Montoya		46	32	0	0	0	0	4	1	1	11	1	0	2	1	0	0	0	79	6
10		Karim Touzani		54	44	1	0	0	0	4	1	1	16	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	86	7
3		Willie Kinniburgh		28	20	0	0	0	0	8	7	0	13	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	88	7
17		Eric Skora	sub 83	26	23	4	4	1	0	1	0	0	1	0	0	1	6	0	4	1	87	6
44		Etienne Esajas		29	15	2	1	0	0	8	4	2	5	6	2	0	2	0	1	1	79	7
29		Richard Hughes		60	49	2	1	1	0	2	2	0	9	0	0	1	1	0	3	2	79	7
11		Saulius Mikoliunas	sub 61	15	9	0	1	0	0	3	1	0	1	2	0	1	0	0	1	1	90	6
9		Sam Parkin	sub 61	8	6	0	0	0	0	8	2	1	0	0	1	0	1	0	4	2	93	6
22		Vincent van den Berg		12	11	0	0	0	0	3	0	0	1	1	1	0	4	0	2	0	79	7
1		Jimmy Nielsen
5		Ferrie Bodde
36		James Henry	on 61	8	3	0	1	1	0	1	0	0	0	3	0	0	0	0	1	1	96	6
27		Byron Moore	on 83	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	97	6
16		Henri Camara	on 61	1	1	0	0	0	0	3	0	0	0	0	0	2	1	0	0	0	95	6

AAAAARRRRRGGGGG!!!!! One of the most frustrating losses I've had in a long time. We buzzed and buzzed around their nets yet nothing came of it. I tell the guys I'm disappointed with their performance as a team. We dropped to 10th place with that loss. Sure, Bialkowski rated at 6, giving up a goal on two shots on target, but it was a FRIGGING DEFLECTED BALL!!! Nothing he could really do about it...

Back at the clubhouse, a journalist is asking me about that denied penalty. The general consensus is that my side should have been awarded a penalty and he wants to know my opinion of the incident. I tell him that my players and I were pretty unhappy about the call. What's not my surprise to see that he's reporting that I insisted that the officials got the decision wrong. WHAT! THE! FUCK!

Sure as the night follows the day, the FA gets on my case. I'm fined $1800 for my comment and my team board is pissed at me. They urge me to curb my comments in the media in the future. I said I wouldn't back my whining players in the past. Now I'm completely done complaining about anything regarding a ref call, just not worth it...

FM

[FrogMan]

October 20, 2009
League Match #13: away at Wolves (Wolves 4-5 favourites)

Pkd	Inf	Name	Position	Morale	Form	Con	Apps	Gls	Av Rat
GK		Jimmy Nielsen	GK	Superb	7-6-7-7-6	100%	13	-	6.69
DR		Ibrahim Tall	D RC	Very Good	6-6-6-7-7	95%	14	-	6.93
DL		Laurent Montoya	D/WB L	Good	7-7-7-6-6	94%	9	-	7.00
DC		Karim Touzani	SW, D C	Okay	7-7-7-7-7	95%	14	-	7.21
DC		Willie Kinniburgh	D C	Very Good	7-7-7-7-7	96%	14	-	7.00
DMC		Ferrie Bodde	D C, DM	Good	7-6-7-7-7	100%	10 (1)	-	6.82
MR	Wnt	James Henry	AM RC	Okay	7-7-7-7-6	100%	1 (5)	-	6.83
ML		Etienne Esajas	AM L	Very Good	8-8-8-7-7	94%	14	1	7.50
AMC	Wnt	David Edwards	AM RC	Superb	6-8-7-6-7	99%	4 (4)	1	6.63
FC		Sam Parkin	ST	Very Good	6-6-8-8-6	98%	14	6	7.00
FC		Vincent van den Berg	AM R, ST	Very Good	8-7-6-8-7	94%	8 (3)	5	7.00
S1		Bartosz Bialkowski	GK	Okay	7-6-7-7-6	100%	1	-	6.00
S2		Richard Hughes	DM	Very Good	6-7-7-7-7	94%	4 (2)	-	6.83
S3		Saulius Mikoliunas	AM R	Good	7-7-7-7-6	96%	13 (1)	2	7.00
S4		Byron Moore	AM RL, ST	Very Good	7-7-7-7-6	97%	0 (4)	1	6.75
S5		Calvin Andrew	ST	Superb	6-6-7-6-8	95%	1 (1)	-	6.00
-		Henri Camara	ST	Very Good	8-6-8-7-6	99%	0 (1)	-	6.00
-		Jay Simpson	AM R, ST	Good	6-6-6-6-7	79%	5 (6)	3	6.45
-	Wnt	Carl Dickinson	D/WB L	Very Good	8-6-7-7-7	97%	5	-	7.00
-		Eric Skora	AM C	Very Good	8-8-7-8-6	96%	10	3	7.20

Wolves are sitting in 13th place at the moment. Looking at my assistant's assessment of Saulius Mikoliunas, I'm kinda shocked to see he sees him as the 3rd best right winger on the squad. He even lists James Henry instead of him on his team report starting eleven squad. I'll give the start to Henry and we'll see... Seeing how we're the underdogs in this one, I tell the guys the pressure is off.

It's a boring, scoreless first half that we play. Only one shot on target on each side and an even 50-50 split in possession.

The decision to play James Henry on the right wing finally pays off in the 56th minute when he fights the ball away from the opposing left fullback before running down the right sideline all the way down the byline. He then cut to the 6 yard box and unleashed a hard ball that the keeper couldn't control. Vincent van den Berg was there to pick up the rebound and he carefully redirected it to the back of the net for the 1-0 goal.

We're under some very heavy pressure from then until the end of the game, with Wolves even going to the dreaded 4-2-4 as early as the 74th minute. I dropped us to a 4-2-2-0-2 formation to counter it, that's 4 D, 2 DMC, MR/ML, no AMC and 2 strikers with down arrows. It worked quite well and we run away from Molineux with a fantastic 1-0 win and the three points!

Match stats:

Wolves	Statistic	Luton
0	final score	1
12	Shots	14
4	On Target	6
8	Off Target	8
51%	Possession	49%
1	Corners	6
12	Free Kicks	14
19	Throw-Ins	19
10	Fouls	10
4	Offsides	2
69%	Passes Completed	64%
23%	Crosses Completed	22%
66%	Tackles Won	92%
54%	Headers Won	53%
1	Yellow Cards	1
0	Red Cards	0

Luton player stats:

No.	C	Name	Inf.	Pas	Cmp	Key	Tck	Won	Key	Hea	Won	Key	Int	Run	Off	Fou	Fld	Ast	Sho	Sot	Con	Rat	Gls
1		Jimmy Nielsen		24	9	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	98	8
8		Ibrahim Tall (c)		41	24	1	6	6	1	1	1	0	10	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	77	8
28		Laurent Montoya		35	23	1	1	1	0	7	3	0	15	0	0	1	2	0	0	0	73	8
10		Karim Touzani		29	22	1	4	3	1	5	4	0	7	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	77	8
3		Willie Kinniburgh		15	13	0	4	4	1	6	4	1	10	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	80	8
24		David Edwards	sub 45	17	12	1	2	2	0	3	2	0	1	0	0	1	1	0	3	1	77	6
44		Etienne Esajas	sub 70	17	8	1	1	1	0	2	1	0	2	2	0	2	0	0	1	1	78	7
5		Ferrie Bodde		52	33	0	4	4	0	2	1	0	4	0	0	3	0	0	2	0	71	6
36		James Henry		18	14	2	0	0	0	7	3	3	4	5	0	0	2	1	4	3	75	8
9		Sam Parkin		16	9	2	0	0	0	9	3	0	0	0	1	2	3	0	0	0	76	7
22		Vincent van den Berg	sub 90	24	16	1	1	0	0	3	1	1	0	0	1	0	2	0	4	1	69	8	1
31		Bartosz Bialkowski
29		Richard Hughes	on 45	22	17	0	2	2	0	2	2	1	3	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	79	7
11		Saulius Mikoliunas
27		Byron Moore	on 70	14	10	0	0	0	0	2	1	0	0	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	93	7
20		Calvin Andrew	on 90	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	96	6

Wow, from one frustrating loss to a very gratifying win. I seriously beginning to think we should be able to stay up this season, something I doubted about when the season started. Many players played quite well in this game, especially our back four, but the MoM goes to Vincent van den Berg, probably for his winning goal.

We remained in 10th place even with the win and I really like where we are right now. It's still pretty early in the season, although a good fourth of it is gone, yet we've put 6 points between us and the drop zone and we're only three points from challenging for a spot in the playoffs.

Pos	Inf	Team		Pld	Won	Drn	Lst	For	Ag	G.D.	Pts
1st		West Brom		13	9	3	1	36	17	+19	30
2nd		Preston		13	9	2	2	27	12	+15	29
3rd		Man City		13	9	1	3	26	15	+11	28
4th		Birmingham		13	7	4	2	23	9	+14	25
5th		Swansea		13	7	3	3	28	15	+13	24
6th		Norwich		12	7	2	3	15	12	+3	23
7th		Leicester		13	5	5	3	22	15	+7	20
8th		Wigan		13	6	2	5	18	11	+7	20
9th		Charlton		13	5	5	3	20	16	+4	20
10th		Luton		13	6	2	5	19	16	+3	20
11th		Sheff Wed		12	5	2	5	16	17	-1	17
12th		Southampton		13	4	5	4	18	22	-4	17
13th		Wolves		13	4	3	6	12	13	-1	15
14th		Plymouth		13	3	6	4	18	21	-3	15
15th		Cardiff		13	4	3	6	16	21	-5	15
16th		Bristol City		13	4	3	6	20	27	-7	15
17th		Ipswich		12	3	5	4	20	20	0	14
18th		Burnley		13	4	2	7	14	25	-11	14
19th		Nottm Forest		13	3	3	7	12	22	-10	12
20th		Leyton Orient		12	3	2	7	13	19	-6	11
21st		Northampton		12	3	2	7	8	16	-8	11
22nd		Sheff Utd		13	2	4	7	17	28	-11	10
23rd		Barnsley		12	2	3	7	12	21	-9	9
24th		Stoke		13	1	4	8	11	31	-20	7

Also, for as shaky as our defense looked early on, we've conceded the 10th least amount of goals in the whole league while coming also in 10th for the most goals scored. We're really a 10th place team right now...

FM

[FrogMan]

October 24, 2009
League Match #14: vs Stoke at Kenilworth Road (Luton evens favourites)

Pkd	Inf	Name	Position	Morale	Form	Con	Apps	Gls	Av Rat
GK		Bartosz Bialkowski	GK	Good	7-6-7-7-6	100%	1	-	6.00
DR		Ibrahim Tall	D RC	Superb	6-6-7-7-8	95%	15	-	7.00
DL	PR	Laurent Montoya	D/WB L	Okay	7-7-6-6-8	94%	10	-	7.10
DC	PR	Karim Touzani	SW, D C	Poor	7-7-7-7-8	94%	15	-	7.27
DC	PR	Willie Kinniburgh	D C	Okay	7-7-7-7-8	95%	15	-	7.07
DMC		Richard Hughes	DM	Very Good	7-7-7-7-7	96%	4 (3)	-	6.86
MR	Wnt	James Henry	AM RC	Very Good	7-7-7-6-8	95%	2 (5)	-	7.00
ML		Etienne Esajas	AM L	Very Good	8-8-7-7-7	94%	15	1	7.47
AMC		Eric Skora	AM C	Very Good	8-8-7-8-6	100%	10	3	7.20
FC		Sam Parkin	ST	Superb	6-8-8-6-7	95%	15	6	7.00
FC		Vincent van den Berg	AM R, ST	Very Good	7-6-8-7-8	94%	9 (3)	6	7.08
S1		Jimmy Nielsen	GK	Superb	6-7-7-6-8	100%	14	-	6.79
S2	Yel	Ferrie Bodde	D C, DM	Superb	6-7-7-7-6	94%	11 (1)	-	6.75
S3		Saulius Mikoliunas	AM R	Good	7-7-7-7-6	100%	13 (1)	2	7.00
S4		Byron Moore	AM RL, ST	Superb	7-7-7-6-7	97%	0 (5)	1	6.80
S5		Calvin Andrew	ST	Superb	6-7-6-8-6	94%	1 (2)	-	6.00
-		Henri Camara	ST	Very Good	8-6-8-7-6	99%	0 (1)	-	6.00
-		Jay Simpson	AM R, ST	Good	6-6-6-6-7	92%	5 (6)	3	6.45
-	Wnt	David Edwards	AM RC	Superb	8-7-6-7-6	95%	5 (4)	1	6.56
-	Wnt	Carl Dickinson	D/WB L	Very Good	8-6-7-7-7	97%	5	-	7.00

Stoke are having a rough time this season, sitting in 24th and last place in the league table with only one win and a minus 20 goal differential. I play it cocky and tell a journalist I honestly believe we have what it takes to win this game. Ugh, three defenders (Touzani, Kinniburgh, Montoya) are now unsure they can win it, wtf??? I give the start to Bartosz Bialkowski in goal and again to James Henry on the right wing. I even tell the guys I think they can win this guy, still staying short of telling them I expect them to win.

It's a drab, scoreless first half to start it off, both teams apparently unable to put the ball on target. Vincent van den Berg had to leave the match after a rough challenge left him unable to continue in the 37th minute. Calvin Andrew finished the match in his place.

Bialkowski is left to himself in the second half. He did the saves on a couple of hard shots but both times no defenders were around to take care of the rebounds and we let one in at the 68 minute mark and another one at the 88th minute mark.

Match stats:

Luton	Statistic	Stoke
0	final score	2
12	Shots	12
4	On Target	5
8	Off Target	7
49%	Possession	51%
3	Corners	2
22	Free Kicks	20
13	Throw-Ins	19
15	Fouls	18
5	Offsides	4
61%	Passes Completed	61%
5%	Crosses Completed	25%
100%	Tackles Won	66%
50%	Headers Won	55%
3	Yellow Cards	3
0	Red Cards	0

Luton player stats:

No.	C	Name	Inf.	Pas	Cmp	Key	Tck	Won	Key	Hea	Won	Key	Int	Run	Off	Fou	Fld	Ast	Sho	Sot	Con	Rat	Gls
31		Bartosz Bialkowski		27	5	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	99	6
8		Ibrahim Tall (c)		32	21	1	2	2	0	7	7	2	11	0	0	1	2	0	1	0	81	7
28		Laurent Montoya		31	23	0	0	0	0	6	2	1	9	0	0	2	2	0	0	0	78	6
10		Karim Touzani		30	17	1	1	1	0	6	3	0	13	0	0	0	2	0	1	0	82	7
3		Willie Kinniburgh		14	12	1	1	1	0	11	7	1	6	0	0	4	0	0	0	0	85	6
17		Eric Skora	sub 79	16	10	1	1	1	0	1	1	0	1	0	0	3	3	0	2	1	81	7
44		Etienne Esajas		26	14	2	0	0	0	1	1	1	5	0	0	0	1	0	3	2	74	7
29		Richard Hughes		40	31	1	0	0	0	1	0	0	7	0	0	3	2	0	2	0	77	6
36		James Henry	sub 68	6	3	2	0	0	0	1	0	0	1	2	0	1	2	0	0	0	84	7
9		Sam Parkin		17	9	1	0	0	0	10	4	0	2	0	1	1	3	0	3	1	79	7
22		Vincent van den Berg	inj 37	7	5	0	0	0	0	3	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	89	6
1		Jimmy Nielsen
5		Ferrie Bodde
11		Saulius Mikoliunas	on 68	2	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	99	7
27		Byron Moore	on 79	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	97	6
20		Calvin Andrew	on 37	14	10	3	0	0	0	6	2	0	0	0	3	0	1	0	0	0	86	6

A disappointing loss, and I tell so to the players. Bialkowski isn't the only one to blame. Looks like the guys in front of him took a day off too, something we can't afford in the Championship... We dropp to 11th place with the loss.

Van den Berg will miss 5 days to a week with a bruised shin.


October 26, 2009
Jimmy Nielsen and James Henry have been selected to the Championship Team of the Week.

My assistant tells me of three players who are getting restless at not being part of the starting eleven. Not too sure I'll do cartwheels to get a start to Chris Coyne or David Fernandez, but Henri Camara might start in our next game if Vincent van den Berg isn't fit in time. Thing is, at the same time that my assistant is suggesting me that I should start involving Camara in more first-team duties, he's also assessing him as the 7th best striker on the squad. That is pretty low, behind the obvious guys like Parkin and van den Berg, then lower than Simpson, Andrew, Morgan, and then even lower than a kid like Drew Talbot...

FM

[FrogMan]

October 31, 2009
League Match #15: away at Birstol City (Bristol City 5-4 favourites)

Pkd	Inf	Name	Position	Morale	Form	Con	Apps	Gls	Av Rat
GK		Jimmy Nielsen	GK	Superb	6-7-7-6-8	100%	14	-	6.79
DR		Ibrahim Tall	D RC	Very Good	6-7-7-8-7	100%	16	-	7.00
DL	Wnt	Carl Dickinson	D/WB L	Very Good	8-6-7-7-7	96%	5	-	7.00
DC		Karim Touzani	SW, D C	Poor	7-7-7-8-7	100%	16	-	7.25
DC		Willie Kinniburgh	D C	Okay	7-7-7-8-6	100%	16	-	7.00
DMC		Richard Hughes	DM	Good	7-7-7-7-6	99%	5 (3)	-	6.75
MR		Saulius Mikoliunas	AM R	Okay	7-7-7-6-7	100%	13 (2)	2	7.00
ML		Etienne Esajas	AM L	Good	8-7-7-7-7	98%	16	1	7.44
AMC		Eric Skora	AM C	Good	8-7-8-6-7	100%	11	3	7.18
FC		Sam Parkin	ST	Very Good	8-8-6-7-7	99%	16	6	7.00
FC	Unh	Henri Camara	ST	Good	8-6-8-7-6	99%	0 (1)	-	6.00
S1		Bartosz Bialkowski	GK	Okay	6-7-7-6-6	100%	2	-	6.00
S2	Yel	Ferrie Bodde	D C, DM	Very Good	6-7-7-7-6	100%	11 (1)	-	6.75
S3	Wnt	James Henry	AM RC	Good	7-7-6-8-7	100%	3 (5)	-	7.00
S4		Byron Moore	AM RL, ST	Superb	7-7-6-7-6	97%	0 (6)	1	6.67
S5		Dean Morgan	AM L, ST	Superb	8-7-8-6-8	96%	0 (1)	-	6.00
-		Richard Jackson	D RL	Very Good	8-8-7-6-9	95%	-	-	-
-	Unh	Mikko Vilmunen	GK	Very Good	7-6-6-8-8	99%	-	-	-
-		Russell Duncan	DM	Good	6-7-6-6-8	95%	0 (7)	-	6.14
-		Laurent Montoya	D/WB L	Poor	7-6-6-8-6	99%	11	-	7.00
-		Calvin Andrew	ST	Very Good	7-6-8-6-6	93%	1 (3)	-	6.00
-		Jay Simpson	AM R, ST	Good	6-6-6-6-7	97%	5 (6)	3	6.45
-	Wnt	David Edwards	AM RC	Superb	8-7-6-7-6	99%	5 (4)	1	6.56
-	Inj	Vincent van den Berg	AM R, ST	Good	6-8-7-8-6	72%	10 (3)	6	7.00

Jimmy Nielsen is back between the posts for this one. Henri Camara gets his first start as a Hatter and he shows he still has it in the 8th minute when he takes the ball from the central circle and he runs with it unchallenged until he's down to 20 yards from the goal. He then unleashed a nicely placed ball to beat the keeper and make it 1-0 Luton. It was sadly the end of the celebration for us right then and there though. We are dominated and it takes Jimmy Nielsen to multiplie saves after miraculous saves for us to keeper our lead.

It's too much for him in the 45th minute though and he lets one in after saving eight in the first half. It's 1-1 at the half and we're being outshot 15(9) to 3(2) and losing possession 45-55, a sad showing.

They eventually take the lead 2-1 in the 66th minute when Willie Kinniburgh leaves a striker unmarked right in front of the net on a centered ball from wide left.

Match stats:

Bristol City	Statistic	Luton
2	final score	1
20	Shots	6
11	On Target	3
9	Off Target	3
52%	Possession	48%
9	Corners	1
21	Free Kicks	13
17	Throw-Ins	18
6	Fouls	14
7	Offsides	7
70%	Passes Completed	61%
25%	Crosses Completed	27%
69%	Tackles Won	79%
47%	Headers Won	70%
1	Yellow Cards	2
0	Red Cards	0

Luton player stats:

No.	C	Name	Inf.	Pas	Cmp	Key	Tck	Won	Key	Hea	Won	Key	Int	Run	Off	Fou	Fld	Ast	Sho	Sot	Con	Rat	Gls
1		Jimmy Nielsen		23	6	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	99	8
8		Ibrahim Tall (c)		30	17	0	3	2	0	5	5	1	10	0	0	2	1	0	0	0	82	6
18		Carl Dickinson		19	12	1	2	2	0	3	1	0	11	0	0	2	0	0	0	0	75	7
10		Karim Touzani		17	12	1	4	2	2	8	8	3	5	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	81	7
3		Willie Kinniburgh		15	8	1	5	3	0	5	3	1	5	0	0	4	0	0	0	0	85	6
17		Eric Skora		42	31	5	2	2	0	0	0	0	4	0	0	1	1	0	1	0	80	7
44		Etienne Esajas	sub 87	26	11	3	3	3	1	6	3	1	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	74	7
29		Richard Hughes	sub 68	32	20	1	1	1	0	2	2	0	4	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	86	6
11		Saulius Mikoliunas		29	22	4	4	4	0	4	3	1	6	1	0	1	1	1	0	0	79	8
9		Sam Parkin		16	10	4	0	0	0	9	5	2	0	1	3	0	1	0	3	2	78	7
16		Henri Camara	sub 68	10	8	0	0	0	0	2	0	0	0	0	3	2	0	0	1	1	79	8	1
31		Bartosz Bialkowski
5		Ferrie Bodde	on 68	11	10	1	4	3	0	1	1	1	1	0	0	1	2	0	0	0	96	6
36		James Henry
27		Byron Moore	on 87	2	2	0	1	1	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	1	0	0	1	0	97	7
7		Dean Morgan	on 68	4	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	96	6

We really didn't deserve even one tiny point in that game. Well, maybe Jimmy Nielsen deserved one for his performance, but the rest of the team was pretty pathetic, even Saulius Mikoliunas and Henri Camara who rated well for their performance, because as a team, we didn't get the job done...

We remain in 11th position even with the loss. We're exactly 6 points from both a playoff appearance and from the relegation zone. Can't let go...

Pos	Inf	Team		Pld	Won	Drn	Lst	For	Ag	G.D.	Pts
1st		West Brom		15	11	3	1	42	20	+22	36
2nd		Preston		15	11	2	2	33	13	+20	35
3rd		Man City		15	10	2	3	30	18	+12	32
4th		Birmingham		15	9	4	2	28	11	+17	31
5th		Swansea		15	8	3	4	29	18	+11	27
6th		Leicester		15	7	5	3	28	15	+13	26
7th		Norwich		15	8	2	5	20	18	+2	26
8th		Wigan		15	7	3	5	22	13	+9	24
9th		Charlton		15	6	5	4	23	19	+4	23
10th		Ipswich		15	5	5	5	26	26	0	20
11th		Luton		15	6	2	7	20	20	0	20
12th		Cardiff		15	5	4	6	20	22	-2	19
13th		Wolves		15	5	3	7	18	18	0	18
14th		Bristol City		15	5	3	7	22	31	-9	18
15th		Sheff Wed		15	5	2	8	19	23	-4	17
16th		Southampton		15	4	5	6	20	27	-7	17
17th		Plymouth		15	3	7	5	21	25	-4	16
18th		Sheff Utd		15	4	4	7	20	29	-9	16
19th		Barnsley		15	4	3	8	16	25	-9	15
20th		Leyton Orient		15	4	2	9	16	25	-9	14
21st		Burnley		15	4	2	9	16	29	-13	14
22nd		Nottm Forest		15	3	4	8	12	25	-13	13
23rd		Northampton		15	3	3	9	8	20	-12	12
24th		Stoke		15	2	4	9	13	32	-19	10

FM

[FrogMan]

November 1st, 2009
The board are satisfied with my management of the team. They say my capture of Karim Touzani, qualified by the fans to be an extremely good signing, has been particularly pleasing. They note the bad loss to Bristol City as their most negative point.

Jimmy Nielsen has been selected to the Championship Team of the Week. Dude is doing good work for us, gotta say that...


November 3, 2009
League Match #16: vs Northampton at Kenilworth Road (Luton 4-5 favourites)

Pkd	Inf	Name	Position	Morale	Form	Con	Apps	Gls	Av Rat
GK		Jimmy Nielsen	GK	Superb	7-7-6-8-8	100%	15	-	6.87
DR		Richard Jackson	D RL	Very Good	8-8-7-6-9	98%	-	-	-
DL		Laurent Montoya	D/WB L	Poor	7-6-6-8-6	100%	11	-	7.00
DC		Karim Touzani	SW, D C	Poor	7-7-8-7-7	94%	17	-	7.24
DC		Ibrahim Tall	D RC	Very Good	7-7-8-7-6	94%	17	-	6.94
DMC		Richard Hughes	DM	Good	7-7-7-6-6	95%	6 (3)	-	6.67
MR		Saulius Mikoliunas	AM R	Good	7-7-6-7-8	94%	14 (2)	2	7.06
ML		Etienne Esajas	AM L	Good	7-7-7-7-7	92%	17	1	7.41
AMC		Eric Skora	AM C	Good	7-8-6-7-7	94%	12	3	7.17
FC		Dean Morgan	AM L, ST	Superb	7-8-6-8-6	98%	0 (2)	-	6.00
FC		Henri Camara	ST	Very Good	6-8-7-6-8	94%	1 (1)	1	7.00
S1		Bartosz Bialkowski	GK	Okay	6-7-7-6-6	100%	2	-	6.00
S2	Yel	Ferrie Bodde	D C, DM	Very Good	7-7-7-6-6	100%	11 (2)	-	6.69
S3	Wnt	James Henry	AM RC	Good	7-7-6-8-7	100%	3 (5)	-	7.00
S4	Wnt	Jonathan Hayes	AM RL	Very Good	7-7-8-8-7	93%	0 (5)	-	7.00
S5		Jay Simpson	AM R, ST	Good	6-6-6-6-7	97%	5 (6)	3	6.45
-		José-Karl Pierre-Fanfan	D C	Very Good	7-7-6-7-7	90%	-	-	-
-		Sam Parkin	ST	Very Good	8-6-7-7-7	93%	17	6	7.00
-	Yel	Willie Kinniburgh	D C	Poor	7-7-8-6-6	95%	17	-	6.94
-	Unh	Mikko Vilmunen	GK	Very Good	7-6-6-8-8	99%	-	-	-
-		Russell Duncan	DM	Good	6-7-6-6-8	98%	0 (7)	-	6.14
-		Calvin Andrew	ST	Very Good	7-6-8-6-6	94%	1 (3)	-	6.00
-		David Edwards	AM RC	Superb	8-7-6-7-6	99%	5 (4)	1	6.56
-	Wnt	Carl Dickinson	D/WB L	Good	6-7-7-7-7	89%	6	-	7.00
-		Byron Moore	AM RL, ST	Superb	7-6-7-6-7	97%	0 (7)	1	6.71

Northampton are currently in 23rd place but I play it safe and declare to the media that they pose as much of a threat as any other team. We've played them twice in the past and I realize it was a couple seasons ago, in League One play. They promoted that season and finished last year barely out of the relegation zone, in 19th place. I also make sure to tone down my assistant's proposed speech of "I expect a win" to "I think we can win". I'm trying something here, putting Ibrahim Tall in the centreback spot and Richard Jackson at the right back spot. Willie Kinnibrugh had not been playing really well lately and maybe a little break will help him focus a bit more. Dean Morgan also gets his first start of the season, alongside Henri Camara...

It's a funky weather for that game. No real snow on the ground but the temperature is at -5 C and they've pulled out the orange ball for the game.

They play a very hermetic 3-2-3-2 formation (3 centrebacks, 2 wingbacks, 3 centermidfielder, 2 strikers) and we're having a hard time getting to the keeper, despite controlling possession early on.

A fluke goal gives us a 1-0 lead in the 31st minute when a crossed ball by Saulius Mikoliunas, aimed to the far post, is let go by everyone and finds its way right inside the post to the back of the net. Maybe the hard ground played something on the trajectory of the ball, or its speed, I don't know but it was a really odd goal...

The 39th minutes sees the return of someone I've wanted to see for a long time: Dean "The Poacher" Morgan! Henri Camara tried a hard shot but was denied by the opposing keeper. Sure enough, Morgan was right there for the rebound and he scores his first of the season. 2-0 after 38!

That's the halftime score and while it's nice and all, I tell the guys not to let their performance down.

Morgan comes close to doubling his tally in the 71st minute but his apparent goal is disallowed by a ghost offside call...

They take one back in the 88 minute and I get all worried then. Seen too many double quick goals in my career not to take anything for granted with 2 minutes plus injury time to play. Eric Skora calms my fear when he scores in the 94th minute following some pinball play after a free kick.

Match stats:

Luton	Statistic	Northampton
3	final score	1
12	Shots	11
6	On Target	5
6	Off Target	6
53%	Possession	47%
2	Corners	0
14	Free Kicks	20
28	Throw-Ins	21
12	Fouls	12
8	Offsides	2
70%	Passes Completed	64%
19%	Crosses Completed	30%
100%	Tackles Won	57%
50%	Headers Won	65%
1	Yellow Cards	1
0	Red Cards	0

Luton player stats:

No.	C	Name	Inf.	Pas	Cmp	Key	Tck	Won	Key	Hea	Won	Key	Int	Run	Off	Fou	Fld	Ast	Sho	Sot	Con	Rat	Gls
1		Jimmy Nielsen		25	6	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	98	7
2		Richard Jackson		49	39	0	3	3	1	3	2	1	13	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	78	8
28		Laurent Montoya		40	31	0	0	0	0	2	2	0	9	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	83	7
10		Karim Touzani		31	22	0	1	1	0	3	3	0	11	1	0	1	0	0	0	0	79	8
8		Ibrahim Tall (c)		19	11	0	0	0	0	3	3	2	12	0	0	2	0	0	1	1	85	8
17		Eric Skora		36	30	1	4	4	0	1	0	0	4	0	0	0	3	0	3	2	73	8	1
44		Etienne Esajas	sub 78	33	22	3	2	2	0	0	0	0	5	2	1	4	2	0	1	0	78	7
29		Richard Hughes	sub 85	42	33	0	2	2	0	5	3	1	4	0	0	2	0	0	0	0	76	7
11		Saulius Mikoliunas		29	21	1	1	1	0	1	0	0	3	1	1	1	2	0	2	1	73	8	1
7		Dean Morgan		10	7	0	0	0	0	4	0	0	0	1	2	1	1	0	2	1	79	8	1
16		Henri Camara	sub 74	17	12	1	0	0	0	6	1	0	0	0	4	0	3	1	2	1	75	8
31		Bartosz Bialkowski
5		Ferrie Bodde	on 85	8	5	0	2	2	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	99	6
36		James Henry
55		Jonathan Hayes	on 78	9	5	2	0	0	0	1	1	0	2	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	93	7
13		Jay Simpson	on 74	4	3	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	1	0	0	96	7

I rarely us that team talk line but following the two bad games we've just been through, it felt appropriate to ask the fellas why they can't play like this every match... It seems to have angered some of them but maybe it'll bring the competitor out in them...

Saulius Mikoliunas gets the Man of the Match, fluke goal or not. Odd, my assistant rates him as a 6 star player, yet he still says he considers him to be the team's 3rd best right winger...

We move back up to 10th place with the win, now 5 points from the playoffs and a solid 9 points in front of the relegation line.

Pos	Inf	Team		Pld	Won	Drn	Lst	For	Ag	G.D.	Pts
1st		West Brom		16	11	3	2	44	23	+21	36
2nd		Preston		16	11	2	3	33	16	+17	35
3rd		Birmingham		16	10	4	2	32	11	+21	34
4th		Man City		16	10	3	3	31	19	+12	33
5th		Leicester		16	8	5	3	31	15	+16	29
6th		Swansea		16	8	4	4	30	19	+11	28
7th		Wigan		16	8	3	5	23	13	+10	27
8th		Norwich		15	8	2	5	20	18	+2	26
9th		Charlton		16	6	6	4	23	19	+4	24
10th		Luton		16	7	2	7	23	21	+2	23
11th		Wolves		16	6	3	7	21	20	+1	21
12th		Ipswich		15	5	5	5	26	26	0	20
13th		Sheff Wed		16	6	2	8	21	24	-3	20
14th		Cardiff		16	5	4	7	20	26	-6	19
15th		Bristol City		15	5	3	7	22	31	-9	18
16th		Southampton		16	4	5	7	21	29	-8	17
17th		Plymouth		16	3	7	6	21	26	-5	16
18th		Sheff Utd		15	4	4	7	20	29	-9	16
19th		Nottm Forest		16	4	4	8	14	25	-11	16
20th		Barnsley		15	4	3	8	16	25	-9	15
21st		Burnley		16	4	3	9	16	29	-13	15
22nd		Leyton Orient		16	4	2	10	16	27	-11	14
23rd		Northampton		16	3	3	10	9	23	-14	12
24th		Stoke		15	2	4	9	13	32	-19	10

FM

[FrogMan]

November 7, 2009
League Match #17: away at Preston (Preston 1-3 favourites)

Pkd	Inf	Name	Position	Morale	Form	Con	Apps	Gls	Av Rat
GK		Jimmy Nielsen	GK	Very Good	7-6-8-8-7	100%	16	-	6.88
DR		Richard Jackson	D RL	Superb	8-7-6-9-8	96%	1	-	8.00
DL		Laurent Montoya	D/WB L	Okay	6-6-8-6-7	96%	12	-	7.00
DC	PR	Karim Touzani	SW, D C	Very Poor	7-8-7-7-8	95%	18	-	7.28
DC		Ibrahim Tall	D RC	Superb	7-8-7-6-8	97%	18	-	7.00
DMC	Yel	Ferrie Bodde	D C, DM	Very Good	7-7-6-6-6	100%	11 (3)	-	6.64
MR		Saulius Mikoliunas	AM R	Very Good	7-6-7-8-8	94%	15 (2)	3	7.12
ML		Etienne Esajas	AM L	Good	7-7-7-7-7	94%	18	1	7.39
AMC	PR	Eric Skora	AM C	Superb	8-6-7-7-8	94%	13	4	7.23
FC		Dean Morgan	AM L, ST	Superb	8-6-8-6-8	96%	1 (2)	1	6.67
FC		Vincent van den Berg	AM R, ST	Good	6-8-7-8-6	95%	10 (3)	6	7.00
S1		Bartosz Bialkowski	GK	Good	7-7-6-6-7	100%	2	-	6.00
S2		Richard Hughes	DM	Good	7-7-6-6-7	95%	7 (3)	-	6.70
S3	Wnt	James Henry	AM RC	Good	7-7-6-8-7	100%	3 (5)	-	7.00
S4	Wnt	Jonathan Hayes	AM RL	Very Good	7-8-8-7-7	98%	0 (6)	-	7.00
S5		Jay Simpson	AM R, ST	Good	6-6-6-7-7	96%	5 (7)	3	6.50
-		José-Karl Pierre-Fanfan	D C	Superb	7-6-7-7-7	89%	-	-	-
-		Sam Parkin	ST	Very Good	8-6-7-7-7	99%	17	6	7.00
-	Yel	Willie Kinniburgh	D C	Okay	7-7-8-6-6	100%	17	-	6.94
-	Unh	Mikko Vilmunen	GK	Very Good	7-6-6-8-8	98%	-	-	-
-		Henri Camara	ST	Superb	8-7-6-8-8	95%	2 (1)	1	7.33
-		Russell Duncan	DM	Very Good	7-6-6-8-7	93%	0 (7)	-	6.14
-		David Edwards	AM RC	Superb	8-7-6-7-6	98%	5 (4)	1	6.56
-	Wnt	Carl Dickinson	D/WB L	Good	6-7-7-7-7	93%	6	-	7.00
-		Byron Moore	AM RL, ST	Superb	6-7-6-7-8	90%	0 (7)	1	6.71

Promotion contenders Preston are heavy favourites for this one and I play it safe in the media, saying I'm not expecting a win, but as long as my players play well, I'll be happy. Tactically, I take the up arrows off both wingers and add down arrows to Ferrie Bodde and to both centrebacks. Speaking of centrebacks, Ibrahim Tall gets his second start at that place with Richard Jackson again taking his place on the right side. I tell the guys that the pressure if off.

Even though the first half ends scoreless, it was far from boring. Shots equal at 8(4) on each sides of the field, it was a hard fought first half.

I told the guys I'm pleased at the half and maybe they took that as a message to take it easy but we can't make anything work in the second half. We do keep it scoreless, but we never really mount any kind of very dangerous attack.

Match stats:

Preston	Statistic	Luton
0	final score	0
18	Shots	10
7	On Target	5
11	Off Target	5
52%	Possession	48%
2	Corners	5
23	Free Kicks	19
23	Throw-Ins	10
13	Fouls	18
6	Offsides	5
66%	Passes Completed	52%
30%	Crosses Completed	8%
53%	Tackles Won	88%
64%	Headers Won	41%
0	Yellow Cards	5
0	Red Cards	0

Luton player stats:

No.	C	Name	Inf.	Pas	Cmp	Key	Tck	Won	Key	Hea	Won	Key	Int	Run	Off	Fou	Fld	Ast	Sho	Sot	Con	Rat	Gls
1		Jimmy Nielsen		29	3	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	99	7
2		Richard Jackson		25	13	1	1	1	0	5	4	2	10	1	0	3	0	0	0	0	75	7
28		Laurent Montoya		36	18	1	4	3	0	5	2	0	20	2	0	3	1	0	0	0	73	7
10		Karim Touzani		11	5	1	1	1	0	2	2	0	7	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	80	7
8		Ibrahim Tall (c)		22	9	0	3	3	1	13	10	2	5	0	0	0	1	0	1	0	84	7
17		Eric Skora		27	19	1	1	1	0	2	1	0	2	1	0	1	0	0	2	2	74	7
44		Etienne Esajas	sub 65	24	12	3	3	2	0	4	1	0	2	2	0	2	0	0	0	0	79	7
5		Ferrie Bodde		35	28	1	3	3	0	3	1	0	14	0	0	2	1	0	0	0	78	7
11		Saulius Mikoliunas	sub 84	13	5	0	2	2	0	1	0	0	7	2	0	2	4	0	0	0	78	7
7		Dean Morgan		18	11	2	0	0	0	7	1	0	1	0	3	0	2	0	1	0	75	7
22		Vincent van den Berg	sub 65	16	11	1	0	0	0	7	0	0	0	1	2	0	2	0	6	3	81	6
31		Bartosz Bialkowski
29		Richard Hughes
36		James Henry	on 84	3	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	99	7
55		Jonathan Hayes	on 65	9	5	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	1	0	2	0	0	0	0	93	7
13		Jay Simpson	on 65	4	4	0	0	0	0	4	0	0	1	0	0	1	1	0	0	0	94	6

It wasn't a super impressive game from anyone in particular on our side, but a very good team effort against a pretty impressive team. Fickle fans are disapointed with the draw however. What the heck to you want people, these were promotion contenders in a division we didn't belong to just a season ago?!?

We'd dropped to 11th place the day after our last match and we remain in that spot with the draw. Next game is only in 14 days...

FM

[FrogMan]

November 9, 2009
Woohoo! The board have announced that the planned expansion to the club's training facilities has been completed! The facilities have gone up from being average to now being good training facilities. Hopefully this will reflect in the players' skill improvements.


November 13, 2009
David Fernandez is granted his request to be transfer listed. I even offer him around but nobody is interested.


November 14, 2009
Danny Granville is also granted his request to be transfer listed.


November 16, 2009
Damn PMS, now Granville says he wants to stay. Dude, make up your mind already!


November 21, 2009
League Match #18: vs Leyton Orient at Kenilworth Road (Luton 4-6 favourites)

Pkd	Inf	Name	Position	Morale	Form	Con	Apps	Gls	Av Rat
GK	PR	Jimmy Nielsen	GK	Superb	6-8-8-7-7	100%	17	-	6.88
DR		Ibrahim Tall	D RC	Superb	8-7-6-8-7	100%	19	-	7.00
DL		Laurent Montoya	D/WB L	Okay	6-8-6-7-7	100%	13	-	7.00
DC		Karim Touzani	SW, D C	Poor	8-7-7-8-7	100%	19	-	7.26
DC	Yel	Willie Kinniburgh	D C	Good	7-7-8-6-6	100%	17	-	6.94
DMC	Yel	Ferrie Bodde	D C, DM	Very Good	7-6-6-6-7	99%	12 (3)	-	6.67
MR	PR	Saulius Mikoliunas	AM R	Superb	6-7-8-8-7	100%	16 (2)	3	7.11
ML		Etienne Esajas	AM L	Good	7-7-7-7-7	100%	19	1	7.37
AMC	PR	Eric Skora	AM C	Superb	6-7-7-8-7	100%	14	4	7.21
FC		Sam Parkin	ST	Good	8-6-7-7-7	100%	17	6	7.00
FC	Unh	Henri Camara	ST	Good	8-7-6-8-8	99%	2 (1)	1	7.33
S1		Bartosz Bialkowski	GK	Okay	7-7-6-6-7	99%	2	-	6.00
S2		Richard Hughes	DM	Good	7-7-6-6-7	100%	7 (3)	-	6.70
S3	Wnt	James Henry	AM RC	Good	7-6-8-7-7	100%	3 (6)	-	7.00
S4		Byron Moore	AM RL, ST	Superb	6-7-6-7-8	97%	0 (7)	1	6.71
S5		Vincent van den Berg	AM R, ST	Good	8-7-8-6-6	99%	11 (3)	6	6.93
-		Richard Jackson	D RL	Very Good	7-6-9-8-7	100%	2	-	7.50
-	Unh	Mikko Vilmunen	GK	Good	6-6-8-8-7	99%	-	-	-
-		Russell Duncan	DM	Good	7-6-6-8-7	99%	0 (7)	-	6.14
-		Dean Morgan	AM L, ST	Superb	6-8-6-8-7	100%	2 (2)	1	6.75
-	Wnt	Carl Dickinson	D/WB L	Good	6-7-7-7-7	96%	6	-	7.00

The third team promoted to the Championship in the offseason, Leyton Orient are not faring as well in the championships as Sheff Wed and us. They are currently in 22nd position and seriously being considered as relegation candidates. I play it safe in the media and say that I believe they have the ability to cause us problem but that we could win if we play our best.

I put Willie Kinniburgh back into the starting lineup and I pair Henri Camara with Sam Parkin up front.

Right before the game, I told the guys I thought they could win, but it didn't look like it was enough to spark them up. It's a boring snoozefest of a first half that we play. 0-0 at the half with only one shot on target per side.

I still told the guys I thought we can win and it looked like this time it worked and we finally get ahead in the 65th minute when Vincent van den Berg, in for the disappointing Henri Camara, fired a shot that "no keeper in the world could have saved" after intercepting a pass and running from midfield to the edge of the opposing penalty box.

We kept putting pressure for the next 20 minutes but were unable to add to our lead until they got a corner. Yeah, it's on one of their corner kicks that we scored. In the 85th minute their keeper decided to come forward to make a push on a corner kick. Richard Hughes denied them with a header on the edge of the six yard box, a header so strong that it went all the way to the sideline where Sam Parkin recovered it and was able to bury the ball in an empty net from the midfield line, some 70 yards away!

That goal sealed the deal for us...

Match stats:

Luton	Statistic	Leyton Orient
2	final score/td>	0
12	Shots	7
6	On Target	3
6	Off Target	4
52%	Possession	48%
9	Corners	3
19	Free Kicks	17
15	Throw-Ins	24
12	Fouls	16
5	Offsides	3
67%	Passes Completed	61%
6%	Crosses Completed	20%
83%	Tackles Won	86%
50%	Headers Won	60%
2	Yellow Cards	3
0	Red Cards	0

Luton player stats:

No.	C	Name	Inf.	Pas	Cmp	Key	Tck	Won	Key	Hea	Won	Key	Int	Run	Off	Fou	Fld	Ast	Sho	Sot	Con	Rat	Gls
1		Jimmy Nielsen		21	10	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	99	7
8		Ibrahim Tall (c)		50	33	3	5	4	0	4	4	0	17	0	0	3	1	0	0	0	83	7
28		Laurent Montoya		33	25	1	2	2	0	5	3	0	10	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	82	7
10		Karim Touzani	sub 77	27	19	1	2	2	0	8	7	2	6	0	0	0	2	0	0	0	87	7
3		Willie Kinniburgh		30	19	1	3	3	0	10	4	1	10	0	0	0	2	0	1	1	86	7
17		Eric Skora		30	24	4	0	0	0	3	1	0	4	0	0	2	2	0	3	0	83	7
44		Etienne Esajas		32	15	3	5	3	0	1	1	1	4	4	0	1	2	0	2	1	81	8
5		Ferrie Bodde		41	34	0	4	3	0	9	3	1	8	1	0	3	2	0	1	0	77	7
11		Saulius Mikoliunas		18	10	1	1	1	0	1	1	0	5	2	0	1	0	0	0	0	81	7
9		Sam Parkin		18	14	2	0	0	0	5	0	0	1	0	3	0	3	0	3	2	80	8	1
16		Henri Camara	sub 63	5	4	1	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	1	0	1	0	0	0	86	6
31		Bartosz Bialkowski
29		Richard Hughes	on 77	8	2	1	1	1	0	2	2	1	4	0	0	1	0	1	0	0	99	6
36		James Henry
27		Byron Moore
22		Vincent van den Berg	on 63	8	7	0	1	1	0	3	0	0	1	0	1	1	0	0	2	2	94	7	1

Sam Parkin got the Man of the Match selection, although it wasn't only for that one garbage goal. He really had a good game, shadowing Henri Camara up front. Ibrahim Tall also had a gread game back on the right side of our defence.

We moved back up to 10th place with the win, satying still only 6 points from the playoffs line.

Pos	Inf	Team		Pld	Won	Drn	Lst	For	Ag	G.D.	Pts
1st		West Brom		18	13	3	2	50	26	+24	42
2nd		Preston		18	12	3	3	35	16	+19	39
3rd		Birmingham		18	10	6	2	33	12	+21	36
4th		Man City		18	10	5	3	33	21	+12	35
5th		Leicester		18	9	6	3	34	17	+17	33
6th		Norwich		18	10	3	5	24	20	+4	33
7th		Wigan		18	9	4	5	26	15	+11	31
8th		Swansea		18	8	6	4	33	22	+11	30
9th		Charlton		18	7	7	4	28	22	+6	28
10th		Luton		18	8	3	7	25	21	+4	27
11th		Ipswich		18	7	5	6	33	31	+2	26
12th		Wolves		18	7	4	7	29	24	+5	25
13th		Bristol City		18	7	3	8	30	38	-8	24
14th		Cardiff		18	6	4	8	23	29	-6	22
15th		Sheff Wed		18	6	3	9	22	27	-5	21
16th		Southampton		18	4	7	7	25	33	-8	19
17th		Plymouth		18	3	9	6	24	29	-5	18
18th		Nottm Forest		18	4	5	9	17	29	-12	17
19th		Barnsley		18	4	4	10	17	30	-13	16
20th		Burnley		18	4	4	10	17	31	-14	16
21st		Sheff Utd		18	4	4	10	22	38	-16	16
22nd		Leyton Orient		18	4	2	12	16	30	-14	14
23rd		Northampton		18	3	4	11	9	24	-15	13
24th		Stoke		18	3	4	11	18	38	-20	13

FM

[finkenst]

i see.. you play on the weekends and update from work.

[FrogMan]

Originally Posted by finkenst

i see.. you play on the weekends and update from work.

sort of

Obviously, I play when I'm home, with more playing time during the weekend yeah. And I just can't bring myself to not play and sit down to do a writeup when I can fire up the game and play some...

I usually do my writeups during coffee breaks and in the lunch hour although with the Super Bowl hoopla and overflowing work, I've not found time to write much about the team in the last couple days which means I have four days of screenshots and match reports to go through now. I see some streamlining reports in the near future...

FM

[FrogMan]

Welcome to the streamlined version of the dynasty...

11/21
Ferrie Bodde picked up a one match ban with his fifth yellow in the match against Leyton Orient.

11/24
Esajas and Parkin in the Championship Team of the week.

Played a league match at Nottm Forest. Very close first half but we took control of the game in the second half. Just couldn't the go ahead goal despite putting 10 on target. 0-0 draw. Good games by Nielsen, Tall and Touzani.

11/25
After transfer listing then offering him to clubs, we get a few offers for Matthew Spring. His $5700 a week contract makes him expandable. I accept offers from Hull and Cheltenham.

11/28
League match vs Leicester and former keeper Julian Speroni. My assistant lists Drew Talbot as part of his starting eleven in his team report so I decide to give him a shot as a starting striker. He repays my faith when he ties the game 1-1 to give us a draw in the 86th minute. Leicester did control much of the game though. Tall reaches 5 yellow cards and will be suspended for a match starting on December 5.

11/29
34yo Danny Granville sets a date for his retirement at the end of this season.

11/30
The draw for the 3rd round of the FA Cup happens. We will play Man Utd in our first game of the FA Cup. Oh crap, they're expecting us to reach 4th round but I don't see that happening...

12/01
Matthew Spring agrees to a contract with Cheltenham and will move out on January 1st.

League match at 22nd place Barnsley. I give the start to Bartosz Bialkowski in goal but the poor kid is left all alone in front of the opposing team. It's 0-3 after 45 minutes with both fullbacks (Jackson and Montoya) rating at 5 in form. The game ends 0-3 and four players rate at 5 (Montoya, Touzani, Talbot and van den Berg). I'm very disappointed with that showing and let the guys know about it. It was a very winnable game for us and there was no reason for the guys to let Bialkowski down like that. We're now in 12th place after that game.

12/08
We play Wigan at home. Only 2 shots were put on target by both teams combined in the first half, but we're lucky enough to get out on top 1-0 after 45. Drew Talbot the scorer then. The second half is much more lively although it's not all positive as we see them tie the game in the 85th minute. 1-1 is the final score of a much better game for us. Their keeper got the MoM.

FM

[FrogMan]

12/12
James Henry has completed his three month loan with us and he returns to Reading. I can't even ask for an extention as we're out of the free/loan signing window. Next chance will be at the January window...

We play Ipswich at home. They're evens favourites and play like it. They do take a 1-0 lead after only 5 minutes but that's not the highlight of the game. Saulius Mikoliunas pulls a Zidane in the 45th minute as he decides to headbutt an opponent in the face, apparently unprovoked. He gets the red card, as you would expect. My oh my... From being down 0-1 at the half, it all went down to hell after that and we lose it soundly, 0-5. Seriously, a shameful performance. Montoya and Touzani end the game both wit form rating of 4 that will earn them a formal warning. Nielsen, Hughes, Parkin and Hayes (in as a sub) also all rated at 5. Ipswich ended up shooting 16 times on target out of 27 shots. A ugly, ugly second half...

Luton	Statistic	Ipswich
9	Shots	27
3	On Target	16
6	Off Target	11
50%	Possession	50%
2	Corners	4
10	Free Kicks	16
23	Throw-Ins	17
11	Fouls	6
6	Offsides	4
61%	Passes Completed	68%
20%	Crosses Completed	26%
85%	Tackles Won	88%
57%	Headers Won	56%
0	Yellow Cards	0
1	Red Cards	0

Mikoliunas has been given an automatic one match ban for his red card and I don't even think about appealing. I fine him one week of wage right off the bat. A disciplinary committee will be meeting in a week and may decide to extend the loan. He accepts his fine, indicating that he will try to control his temperament in future matches. Both Montoya and Touzani accept their warnings and both show willingness to work harder.

Sheesh, what a nightmare of a game...


12/15
We have a tough home match with West Brom. Sigh, much of the same from the guys as we go down after only two and a half minutes of play. After 7, Willie Kinniburgh is rating at 5 in form. They add to their lead in the 36th minute and we're down 0-2 at the half, being outshot 10(6) to 2(0). We do play much better in the second half but can't make up the two goal deficit. The game ends 1-2 after Drew Talbot scored in the 79th minute. We're now in 13th place after 24 games and have gone 6 without a win...

Weirdest thing happens after this game. I decided to play a 5-3-2 formation with Ferrie Bodde being a third centreback. Following the loss, some fans come and complain that I seemed reluctant to consider changing my 5-3-2 approach and that an unwillingness to experiment could spell trouble if the team's form does not improve. WHAT... THE... FUCK!!! I just did that, changing my usual tactics, what else do you want?!?


12/19
The hammer falls: Mikoliunas has been given a five match ban for his red card. Damn, that one's gonna hurt...


12/22
Richard Jackson signs a contract extention. I tried offering one to other players with contracts ending in June, but nobody is open to talking contracts. These players include Saulius Mikoliunas, Etienne Esajas, Ibrahim Tall, and Dean Morgan among others.


12/26
We play Sheff Utd on their pitch. Vincent van den Berg is in for Saulius Mikoliunas. We play a weird first in which we get only one shot, off target, while they put 3 of 6 shots on target. Weird in the sense that we are winning possession with 54%, but keeping it scoreless after 45. Like it's happened quite a bit lately, it all goes to hell in the second half and we lose this one 1-3.

I'm now criticize for my 4-1-3-2 tactics, sigh...


12/28
Etienne Esajas made it into the Championship Team of the week.


12/30
It's another tough game that awaits us as we play Southampton at Kenilworth Road. Even though they're in 20th place, they are favourites for this one. I give the start to Bialkowski after seeing that my assistant is now listing him as the starting keeper on his team report. He's even listed as the key man for the Hatter in the pregame reports. We hold a 1-0 lead at the half, thanks to a chip over the keeper by Dean Morgan, making one of his rare start. That lead goes down the drain when they score on a perfect strike in the 55th minute. We kept putting some heavy pressure and we regain that lead in the 87th minute when Morgan scores his second of the game, off a rebound. That's Bialkowski's first win as a starting keeper. He faced 12 shots on target off of 23 total shots while the opposing keeper only stopped 7. The other keeper got the MoM. Heh...

That win was a good morale booster and made the fans very happy.

FM

[mrkilla22]

Originally Posted by FrogMan

11/29
34yo Danny Granville sets a date for his retirement at the end of this season.

I wish I could retire at age 34.

[FrogMan]

January 1st, 2010
The transfer window reopens and Arsenal want to offer us a couple of youngster on loan. Young striker Rui Fonte and attacking full back Scott Hutchinson are the candidates. Fonte, 19, is capable of playing both the AMC or the SC spot and might have some playing time possibility although we are loaded at the position. Hutchinson is primarily a left wingback with no proper experience at the full back position. We don't use a wing back so I'm not too sure what we'd do with him, although I'd take them both if at zero salary.

Matthew Spring moves to Cheltenham for $45k. This saves us $5700 a week in wages.


January 2, 2010
FA Cup round 3 vs Man Utd (Man Utd 1-2 fav)

Pkd	Inf	Name	Position	Morale	Form	Con	Apps	Gls	Av Rat
GK		Bartosz Bialkowski	GK	Good	6-7-7-6-7	100%	4	-	6.25
DR		Richard Jackson	D RL	Very Good	7-7-6-7-7	100%	5 (1)	-	7.00
DL		Carl Dickinson	D/WB L	Very Good	7-8-7-7-7	94%	9	-	7.00
DC		Karim Touzani	SW, D C	Okay	7-5-4-7-7	93%	26	-	7.04
DC		Ibrahim Tall	D RC	Good	7-6-7-7-8	94%	27	-	7.04
DMC		Richard Hughes	DM	Superb	6-6-5-7-6	100%	10 (8)	-	6.44
MR	Wnt	Vincent van den Berg	AM R, ST	Very Good	6-6-8-7-8	93%	17 (6)	7	6.83
ML	PR	Dean Morgan	AM L, ST	Okay	7-8-7-6-8	94%	3 (5)	3	6.88
AMC	PR	Eric Skora	AM C	Superb	7-6-7-7-8	93%	23	5	7.04
FC	PR	Jay Simpson	AM R, ST	Very Good	8-8-6-6-6	99%	5 (10)	3	6.40
FC	Wnt	Drew Talbot	ST	Good	5-8-7-6-6	96%	6	3	6.67
S1		Jimmy Nielsen	GK	Superb	6-7-5-6-6	100%	24	-	6.75
S2		Ferrie Bodde	D C, DM	Good	7-7-6-7-7	93%	18 (3)	-	6.71
S3		Byron Moore	AM RL, ST	Superb	7-7-7-7-7	96%	1 (13)	1	6.86
S4	PR	Etienne Esajas	AM L	Very Poor	7-6-7-8-8	92%	27 (1)	1	7.29
S5		Sam Parkin	ST	Poor	7-6-5-6-6	100%	22 (1)	7	6.83
-	PR	Willie Kinniburgh	D C	Superb	7-6-6-6-7	95%	26	-	6.81
-	Sus	Saulius Mikoliunas	AM R	Good	7-7-6-8-7	100%	21 (2)	3	7.09
-	Unh	Mikko Vilmunen	GK	Very Poor	8-8-7-6-8	99%	-	-	-
-		Russell Duncan	DM	Very Good	6-8-7-7-7	93%	0 (7)	-	6.14
-		Laurent Montoya	D/WB L	Poor	7-6-5-4-6	100%	19	-	6.63
-		Calvin Andrew	ST	Superb	6-7-9-6-6	97%	1 (3)	-	6.00
-		David Edwards	AM RC	Superb	7-6-7-8-7	95%	5 (4)	1	6.56

Prior to the game I offer to loan James Henry again, this time until the end of the season. Chris Hutchinson has accepted to join us on loan.

We hang in there for the first 21 minutes of the game until we let one in, then another one 11 minutes later. From there on out, the pressure is just too much. They're outshooting us 26(13) to 1(0) at the half, ugh... Final score, a 0-4 loss...

Match Stats:

Luton	Statistic	Man Utd
4	Shots	38
0	On Target	18
4	Off Target	20
47%	Possession	53%
0	Corners	9
11	Free Kicks	16
14	Throw-Ins	16
11	Fouls	6
5	Offsides	5
62%	Passes Completed	75%
23%	Crosses Completed	28%
83%	Tackles Won	93%
47%	Headers Won	64%
0	Yellow Cards	0
0	Red Cards	0

Player Stats:

No.	C	Name	Inf.	Pas	Cmp	Key	Tck	Won	Key	Hea	Won	Key	Int	Run	Off	Fou	Fld	Ast	Sho	Sot	Con	Rat	Gls
31		Bartosz Bialkowski		41	14	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	99	6
2		Richard Jackson		38	25	3	1	1	0	2	1	0	8	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	78	6
18		Carl Dickinson		31	16	0	3	2	0	1	1	0	6	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	78	5
10		Karim Touzani		33	20	0	2	1	0	5	5	0	16	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	76	6
8		Ibrahim Tall (c)		29	21	0	2	2	0	9	8	4	12	0	0	2	1	0	0	0	82	6
17		Eric Skora		16	12	0	1	1	0	7	2	0	1	0	0	2	0	0	2	0	73	6
7		Dean Morgan	sub 72	16	10	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	3	2	1	0	0	0	0	0	80	7
29		Richard Hughes	sub 72	21	14	1	1	1	0	1	0	0	9	0	0	2	1	0	0	0	80	6
22		Vincent van den Berg	sub 72	24	18	0	0	0	0	2	0	0	4	1	0	0	2	0	0	0	75	7
13		Jay Simpson		8	7	0	0	0	0	10	3	1	1	0	2	0	0	0	1	0	79	6
19		Drew Talbot		19	17	0	0	0	0	7	1	0	1	2	2	0	1	0	1	0	77	6
1		Jimmy Nielsen
5		Ferrie Bodde	on 72	10	8	0	2	2	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	2	0	0	0	0	92	6
27		Byron Moore	on 72	3	2	0	0	0	0	1	1	1	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	95	7
44		Etienne Esajas	on 72	10	4	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	2	0	0	0	0	91	6
9		Sam Parkin

It's the worst our fans have ever been disappointed in a loss. To tell the non initiated to the '08 version, fans confidence/happines towards results is presented with a line. The fuller it is, the happier the fans were with the results. For this game, the line is absolutely empty... Look at the match stats, they speak for themselves, a very rough game. Let's hope it won't drag the team down too much and we can pul together to stay in the Championship...

Our offer for Henry has been accepted and Rui Fonte has agreed to join us on loan, whatever...

I learn that the ManU game has set a record for gates receipt. Good thing cause we are bleeding money right now, and our stadium still has not been upgraded.


January 4, 2010
Etienne Esajas made it into the Championship Team of the Week.

Bartosz Bialkowski will miss 5 days with a stubbed finger suffered in training.

James Henry accepts to come to Luton on loan.

FM

[finketr]

is there "intent to injure" button on fouls?

[FrogMan]

January 9
We play Burnley on their pitch. This game starts out bad when we go down 0-1 after only four and a half minutes of play. We do pull ourselves together and play well for the rest of the half when yet another right winger is sent off when James Henry goes into a challenge with two feet. Ugh. Down 0-1 at the half and now playing with only 10 men.

Gets worse in the 51st minute when they double their lead but the most amazing comeback then takes shape. Jay Simpson's great work as a right winger in for Henry, coupled with Vincent van den Berg's explosiveness up front lead to a first goal by Simpson in the 62nd minute. Van den Berg scores only 2 minutes later on an excellent move from the right wing where Simpson fed him a great pass to allow him to be one-on-one with the keeper. Final score: a 2-2 draw.

Match Stats:

Burnley	Statistic	Luton
10	Shots	17
5	On Target	10
5	Off Target	7
51%	Possession	49%
4	Corners	4
20	Free Kicks	16
25	Throw-Ins	21
10	Fouls	15
6	Offsides	5
68%	Passes Completed	59%
15%	Crosses Completed	25%
68%	Tackles Won	74%
41%	Headers Won	72%
1	Yellow Cards	3
0	Red Cards	1

Player Stats:

No.	C	Name	Inf.	Pas	Cmp	Key	Tck	Won	Key	Hea	Won	Key	Int	Run	Off	Fou	Fld	Ast	Sho	Sot	Con	Rat	Gls
1		Jimmy Nielsen		26	5	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	97	6
8		Ibrahim Tall (c)		39	26	5	4	3	2	4	3	0	10	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	82	8
28		Laurent Montoya		33	19	4	7	7	0	2	2	0	13	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	79	7
10		Karim Touzani		26	16	0	3	2	0	9	8	1	8	0	0	0	2	0	0	0	78	7
3		Willie Kinniburgh		16	7	0	5	5	0	8	8	2	12	1	0	4	0	0	0	0	85	7
17		Eric Skora		26	22	5	0	0	0	3	2	1	3	0	1	1	2	0	2	2	80	7
44		Etienne Esajas	sub 88	15	10	3	2	2	0	3	2	1	3	3	0	2	2	0	3	1	80	7
29		Richard Hughes	sub 60	31	19	2	5	3	0	1	0	0	6	0	0	3	0	0	1	0	83	6
33		James Henry	off 41	10	4	0	4	1	0	3	3	0	2	0	0	2	1	0	1	1	88	7
9		Sam Parkin	sub 41	6	2	0	0	0	0	6	3	0	0	1	1	2	0	0	1	1	90	6
22		Vincent van den Berg		15	12	4	2	1	0	2	0	0	0	1	3	1	0	0	5	3	76	8	1
30		Mikko Vilmunen
5		Ferrie Bodde	on 60	15	10	1	2	1	0	0	0	0	2	0	0	0	0	1	2	1	95	7
27		Byron Moore
7		Dean Morgan	on 88	1	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	99	7
13		Jay Simpson	on 41	8	6	2	1	1	0	3	0	0	1	1	0	0	1	1	2	1	91	8	1

Dang, a match we should have won! Even with only ten players on for half the game, we dominated some long periods of play.

That game proves to be a costly one though. Willie Kinniburgh and Richard Hughes have reached five yellow card and will both miss our next match, as will James Henry, following his red card in the game. The bigger kicker is the fact that both our full backs got nicked in the game. Laurent Montoya will miss 3 weeks to a month witha twisted ankle and Ibrahim Tall will miss 2 to 3 weeks with a thigh strain. Ouch, ouch, ouch. This is not gonna be a pretty lineup in our next game...

We're in 13th place after 27 games, 12 points over the drop zone and still a reasonable 10 points from the playoffs line. I'm honestly simply hoping to avoid relegation given how the team has played lately.

Pos	Inf	Team		Pld	Won	Drn	Lst	For	Ag	G.D.	Pts
1st		West Brom		27	17	7	3	63	34	+29	58
2nd		Preston		27	16	7	4	49	22	+27	55
3rd		Birmingham		27	15	9	3	45	18	+27	54
4th		Man City		27	16	6	5	58	36	+22	54
5th		Leicester		27	13	10	4	47	24	+23	49
6th		Charlton		27	11	11	5	46	30	+16	44
7th		Wigan		27	12	7	8	38	25	+13	43
8th		Ipswich		27	12	7	8	51	45	+6	43
9th		Wolves		27	11	7	9	48	37	+11	40
10th		Swansea		27	10	10	7	42	33	+9	40
11th		Norwich		27	11	6	10	33	35	-2	39
12th		Sheff Utd		27	10	5	12	41	49	-8	35
13th		Luton		27	9	7	11	33	39	-6	34
14th		Bristol City		27	10	4	13	44	55	-11	34
15th		Sheff Wed		27	9	6	12	39	44	-5	33
16th		Cardiff		27	8	7	12	35	49	-14	31
17th		Nottm Forest		27	7	9	11	35	45	-10	30
18th		Southampton		27	6	10	11	37	48	-11	28
19th		Stoke		27	8	4	15	34	58	-24	28
20th		Plymouth		27	5	12	10	30	41	-11	27
21st		Burnley		27	6	6	15	25	48	-23	24
22nd		Leyton Orient		27	6	4	17	24	44	-20	22
23rd		Barnsley		27	5	5	17	25	44	-19	20
24th		Northampton		27	4	8	15	14	33	-19	20

FM

[FrogMan]

January 16
League Match #28: vs Cardiff (Cardiff 4-6 fav)

Pkd	Inf	Name	Position	Morale	Form	Con	Apps	Gls	Av Rat
GK		Jimmy Nielsen	GK	Superb	7-5-6-6-6	100%	25	-	6.72
DR		Richard Jackson	D RL	Good	7-6-7-7-6	99%	6 (1)	-	6.86
DL	Wnt	Carl Dickinson	D/WB L	Okay	8-7-7-7-5	100%	10	-	6.80
DC		Karim Touzani	SW, D C	Poor	4-7-7-6-7	99%	28	-	7.00
DC	Unh	Chris Coyne	D C	Good	7-7-7-7-8	100%	-	-	-
DMC		Ferrie Bodde	D C, DM	Okay	6-7-7-6-7	100%	18 (5)	-	6.70
MR	PR	Jay Simpson	AM R, ST	Very Poor	6-6-6-6-8	100%	6 (11)	4	6.47
ML	PR	Etienne Esajas	AM L	Very Poor	7-8-8-6-7	100%	28 (2)	1	7.23
AMC	PR	Eric Skora	AM C	Superb	7-7-8-6-7	100%	25	5	7.00
FC		Sam Parkin	ST	Poor	6-5-6-6-6	100%	23 (1)	7	6.79
FC	Wnt	Vincent van den Berg	AM R, ST	Very Good	8-7-8-7-8	99%	19 (6)	8	6.88
S1		Bartosz Bialkowski	GK	Okay	7-7-6-7-6	98%	5	-	6.20
S2	Wnt	Russell Duncan	DM	Good	6-8-7-7-7	98%	0 (7)	-	6.14
S3		Byron Moore	AM RL, ST	Very Good	7-7-7-7-7	95%	1 (14)	1	6.87
S4	PR	Dean Morgan	AM L, ST	Very Poor	7-6-8-7-7	100%	4 (6)	3	6.90
S5	Wnt	Drew Talbot	ST	Good	8-7-6-6-6	100%	7	3	6.57
-	Sus	James Henry	AM RC	Very Good	7	98%	5 (7)	-	6.92
-	Sus	Richard Hughes	DM	Superb	5-7-6-6-6	100%	12 (8)	-	6.40
-	Sus	Willie Kinniburgh	D C	Superb	6-6-6-7-7	100%	27	-	6.81
-	Sus	Saulius Mikoliunas	AM R	Good	7-7-6-8-7	98%	21 (2)	3	7.09
-	Bid	Mikko Vilmunen	GK	Good	8-8-7-6-8	98%	-	-	-
-	Inj	Ibrahim Tall	D RC	Good	7-7-8-6-8	72%	29	-	7.03
-	Inj	Laurent Montoya	D/WB L	Okay	6-5-4-6-7	71%	20	-	6.65

I learn that James Henry has been banned for two matches following his sending off in our last match. With this being Saulius Mikoliunas' last banned match, and everyone else who's missing, we will be starting a rag tag kind of team. Even Chris Coyne gets a rare start, his first of the season. Can'T say this makes me overconfident in our chances...

Surprisingly enough, even though it's a scoreless first half, we are playing quite well, even outshooting them 8(5) to 6(1) at the half.

We keep on playing well and even take the lead in the 59th minute, when Vincent van den Berg converts a great one-two exchange with Sam Parkin. We had a cuple more chances in the next few minutes but they tie it in the 66th minute. An exciting second half leads both team to a 1-1 draw.

Match Stats:

Luton	Statistic	Cardiff
14	Shots	17
7	On Target	7
7	Off Target	10
49%	Possession	51%
3	Corners	6
13	Free Kicks	17
11	Throw-Ins	25
13	Fouls	11
4	Offsides	2
68%	Passes Completed	68%
19%	Crosses Completed	14%
63%	Tackles Won	73%
50%	Headers Won	55%
0	Yellow Cards	1
0	Red Cards	0

Team Stats:

No.	C	Name	Inf.	Pas	Cmp	Key	Tck	Won	Key	Hea	Won	Key	Int	Run	Off	Fou	Fld	Ast	Sho	Sot	Con	Rat	Gls
1		Jimmy Nielsen		31	6	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	98	6
2		Richard Jackson		45	38	4	1	0	0	5	4	1	16	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	78	7
18		Carl Dickinson		41	22	0	4	3	0	3	3	1	11	1	0	1	2	0	0	0	73	7
10		Karim Touzani		23	18	2	5	5	0	9	7	5	12	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	79	7
6		Chris Coyne		25	18	0	0	0	0	9	6	3	13	0	0	2	0	0	0	0	82	7
17		Eric Skora		40	36	2	1	0	0	7	1	1	6	0	0	4	1	0	2	2	77	7
44		Etienne Esajas	sub 78	27	17	1	3	2	0	2	2	1	7	5	0	2	1	0	1	0	81	7
5		Ferrie Bodde		62	46	2	3	1	0	2	2	1	12	0	0	0	1	0	1	0	78	7
13		Jay Simpson	sub 78	17	11	1	1	1	0	3	0	0	3	3	0	1	1	0	0	0	81	7
9		Sam Parkin (c)	sub 88	14	13	3	1	1	0	5	1	1	1	0	3	0	2	1	3	0	79	7
22		Vincent van den Berg		19	12	0	3	1	0	8	0	0	1	1	1	1	2	0	5	4	74	8	1
31		Bartosz Bialkowski
25		Russell Duncan
27		Byron Moore	on 78	4	3	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	1	0	0	1	0	0	0	96	7
7		Dean Morgan	on 78	7	4	1	0	0	0	1	1	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	99	7
19		Drew Talbot	on 88	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	2	1	99	6

Van den Berg was selected Man of the Match in a game we could have won. The draw leaves us in 13th place.

I grant Henri Camara's reuqest to be transfer listed and even offer him to clubs. Nobody shows any interest.


January 18
Chris Coyne's recent start might be is last before a while. Not only is everybody else coming back, he's injured and will miss up to a week with a stubbed toe.


January 21
I'd been fielding offers for Mikko Vilmunen so I look for a backup. I offer to loan Coventry Reserves' keeper Wojciech Szczesny (not enough vowels in there) until the end of the year.


January 23
Mikko Vilmunen agree to a deal with Hereford. We get $30k for him.

Our loan bid for SzCzesny has been accepted.


January 25
Ibrahim Tall resumes full training.

Wojciech SzCznesny agrees to join us on loan until the end of the season. I'll probably play him only in case of injury to both Nielsen and Bialkowski.

FM

[FrogMan]

Originally Posted by finketr

is there "intent to injure" button on fouls?

Not sure I understand what you mean here. Nowhere in the commentary for either of our red cards was it mentionned there was intent to injure, although they clearly stated what had happened as I reported it here (heabutt in the face for Mikoliunas and two feet first tackle for Henry).

FM

[FrogMan]

and with this, I've reported about everything played up to now. Coming up next will be a tough away game against Manchester City.

I'll also post profiles for the three new loanees...

FM

[FrogMan]

January 26 (part 1)
Things move fast when we get close to the closing of the transfer window and here I am, on the morning of our match vs Man City and stuff is indeed happening. First regarding a player you've never heard cause I knew we'd never sign him. I'm talking about right winger Nicolas Marin, a 29yo frenchman who was looking to sign a huge contract that even if I'd thought he was worth it, my team board wouldn't allow me to offer. He definitely turned our latest offer down, shooting down any hope of us landing him.

There's another player though, this time 27yo striker Matt Moussilou from Nice, a seven star ranked player according to my scouts many evaluation, with amazing pace and acceleration and said to be a fairly consistent performer. Ever since my scout first saw him back in October, he'S been saying we should sign him whatever the price. Valued at $1M back then, nice had set an asking price of $725k. I tried to get them down to the $500k-550k range but they wouldn't budge. Then came the transfer window and I saw they had lowered their demands to $475k. I offered them $400k, they balked and I offered the requested $475k for him, ofer which they accepted on January 10.

Reason why I never talked about him here is that just like with Marin, I also never thought we'd be able to get him. First wage talks with him had him asking for $26k a week while our board only allowed me to offer $20.5k. I tried to sweeten the deal by boosting the appearance and goal bonuses, but he rejected my first offer. He still said he was open to negotiate. That was back on January 22nd. I bumped his signing on fee a bit, but then the weirdest thing happened, or the best timing possible, Moussilou's possible signing by the Hatter came up in the news. The media started talking about how the out of favor striker was on my radar screen and how I believed he would significantly improve my current squad. Hmmm... I jumped on it. To the journalist asking me to confirm the speculation that I would like to sign Moussilou, I answered that he would indeed be a great signing and that hoped to make him a Luton player as soon as possible. Not only that, I added some more by formally declaring my interest in Moussilou and said to the press that I would do my utmost to sign him.

Here we are 5:30pm on January 26, sitting in the locker room at The City of Manchester Stadiuma when there's a knock on the door. Who shows up but Matt Moussilou with a signed and approved copy of his contract offer. He wants to be a Hatter, or at least, he told me in the only language he speaks: "Je veux être un Chapelier!". He adds that he looking to revive his career after being having been frozen at Nice. I'm ecstatic, as are the players, and my first idea is to try and find him a jersey to have him play with us tonight. We have this old number 12 jersey with "Spring" sewed on the back. I rip it off and we hastily have our trainer put together a "Moussilou" name tag. The guy is so impressed with the new signing that he misspells it "Moosilou". I think the "Moose" nickname with stick to that guy, especially with the fans who are simply adulating me for securing the signature of the lanky striker.

First reports from my assistant are in the same line as the ones my scout was sending me. Moussilou is seen as a fairly consistent performer with great pace and with an acceleration that underpins his overall speed. Pace and acceleration have allowed Jay simpson the possibility to create plays and it's without contest in my mind that Moose is much better than Simpson. He had 3 goals in his 10 appearances with nice this season (4 starts and 6 off the bench), averaging 7.10 in form.

You can see Moussilou's profile by clicking the thumbnail below.


And here are the profiles of the other players who joined us on loan in this January transfer window...







FM

[FrogMan]

January 26 (part 2)
League Match #29: at Man City (Man City 1-3 fav)

Pkd	Inf	Name	Position	Morale	Form	Con	Apps	Gls	Av Rat
GK		Bartosz Bialkowski	GK	Okay	7-7-6-7-6	98%	5	-	6.20
DR		Richard Jackson	D RL	Good	6-7-7-6-7	100%	7 (1)	-	6.88
DL	Wnt	Carl Dickinson	D/WB L	Good	7-7-7-5-7	100%	11	-	6.82
DC		Karim Touzani	SW, D C	Okay	7-7-6-7-7	100%	29	-	7.00
DC		Willie Kinniburgh	D C	Very Good	6-6-6-7-7	100%	27	-	6.81
DMC		Ferrie Bodde	D C, DM	Poor	7-7-6-7-7	100%	19 (5)	-	6.71
MR		Saulius Mikoliunas	AM R	Good	7-7-6-8-7	97%	21 (2)	3	7.09
ML		Jonathan Hayes	AM RL	Very Good	7-7-5-8-8	97%	0 (8)	-	6.75
AMC	Yel	Eric Skora	AM C	Very Good	7-8-6-7-7	100%	26	5	7.00
FC		Sam Parkin	ST	Okay	5-6-6-6-7	100%	24 (1)	7	6.80
FC	Wnt	Vincent van den Berg	AM R, ST	Very Good	7-8-7-8-8	100%	20 (6)	9	6.92
S1	Wnt	Wojciech Szczesny	GK	Good	-	94%	-	-	-
S2		Richard Hughes	DM	Superb	5-7-6-6-6	99%	12 (8)	-	6.40
S3	Yel	Etienne Esajas	AM L	Very Poor	8-8-6-7-7	100%	29 (2)	1	7.23
S4		Jay Simpson	AM R, ST	Poor	6-6-6-8-7	100%	7 (11)	4	6.50
S5	Wnt	Matt Moussilou	ST	Okay	-	95%	-	-	-
-		Jimmy Nielsen	GK	Very Good	5-6-6-6-6	71%	26	-	6.69
-	Sus	James Henry	AM RC	Very Good	7	97%	5 (7)	-	6.92
-		Ibrahim Tall	D RC	Good	7-7-8-6-8	81%	29	-	7.03
-	Req	Henri Camara	ST	Okay	6-7-8-6-6	90%	5 (1)	1	6.83
-	Inj	Laurent Montoya	D/WB L	Okay	6-5-4-6-7	67%	20	-	6.65
-		Calvin Andrew	ST	Very Good	9-6-6-7-7	89%	1 (3)	-	6.00
-		Dean Morgan	AM L, ST	Poor	6-8-7-7-7	99%	4 (7)	3	6.91
-	Yel	David Edwards	AM RC	Superb	6-7-8-7-7	97%	5 (4)	1	6.56
-	Wnt	Drew Talbot	ST	Good	7-6-6-6-6	100%	7 (1)	3	6.50

Jimmy Nielsen and Ibrahim Tall are only getting back from injury so Bartosz Bialkowski and Richard Jackson will respectively replace them in our starting eleven.

We go down one early on and it's almost a catastrophe in the 11th minute when a second goal of theirs is disallowed because of an offside. We still go down 0-2 a couple minutes before the end of the half. It's a bit disheartening because we'd been playing quite well, at least well enough no to deserve to be down 0-2 like that...

I don't know what part of my "pressure if off" halftime speech got to the players but they come out roaring and it pays off early. Only two minutes into the second half, Sam Parkin receives the ball from Saulius Mikoliunas and relays a pinpoint pass in front of Vincent van den Berg's run. Vincent is positionned perfectly and can simply put the bal right by the opposing keeper.

If that little goal was not enough of a morale boost, we tie the game only 6 minutes later when Mikoliunas, again, plays a great high ball to Parkin's head. Parkin heads it straight to the back of the net for the 2-2 goal!!!

No more goals will be exhanged until the end of the game, but it's not for a lack of trying. Their keeper had to make at least of couple of magical saves while Karim Touzani had to save Bialkowski's butt by clearing a ball off the line in the 88th minute. Final Score: 2-2

Match stats:

Man City	Statistic	Luton
24	Shots	13
13	On Target	8
11	Off Target	5
50%	Possession	50%
10	Corners	3
13	Free Kicks	18
9	Throw-Ins	9
9	Fouls	10
9	Offsides	3
69%	Passes Completed	62%
23%	Crosses Completed	14%
40%	Tackles Won	82%
58%	Headers Won	48%
0	Yellow Cards	1
0	Red Cards	0

Team stats:

No.	C	Name	Inf.	Pas	Cmp	Key	Tck	Won	Key	Hea	Won	Key	Int	Run	Off	Fou	Fld	Ast	Sho	Sot	Con	Rat	Gls
31		Bartosz Bialkowski		37	14	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	97	6
2		Richard Jackson		32	22	0	4	3	1	3	2	0	8	0	0	2	0	0	0	0	77	6
18		Carl Dickinson		35	22	3	4	3	0	6	4	2	9	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	76	7
10		Karim Touzani		34	20	1	5	4	0	6	4	1	17	0	0	3	0	0	0	0	77	7
3		Willie Kinniburgh (c)		20	14	0	4	4	0	17	8	5	8	0	0	0	2	0	0	0	81	7
17		Eric Skora		40	31	5	3	3	1	5	3	1	2	1	0	2	0	0	3	1	76	7
55		Jonathan Hayes	sub 83	23	12	1	0	0	0	3	1	1	4	1	0	1	2	0	1	1	74	7
5		Ferrie Bodde	sub 90	43	27	1	3	3	1	2	2	0	5	1	0	0	0	0	1	1	76	7
11		Saulius Mikoliunas	sub 90	16	11	2	2	2	0	4	3	1	0	2	0	1	0	1	0	0	76	8
9		Sam Parkin		10	6	1	2	1	0	17	4	0	1	0	3	0	1	1	1	1	77	8	1
22		Vincent van den Berg		14	9	0	1	0	0	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	3	0	7	4	79	8	1
30		Wojciech Szczesny
29		Richard Hughes	on 90	1	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	98	6
44		Etienne Esajas	on 83	2	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	100	7
13		Jay Simpson	on 90	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	99	6
12		Matt Moussilou

I can't believe Bialkowski only rated at 6. I mean, he faced 13 shots on target. Maybe they were all easy shots.

Sam Parkin was selected as Man of the Match and the great play by both strikers early in the second half kept me from allowing Matt Moussilou to make his debut. That and I thought it was more important to have a fresher DMC than a better striker to at least save the draw.

We dropped the 14th place after the draw.

Following the game, I make Matt Moussilou available for the Reserves match of tomorrow. We'll see what he can do then and if he can regain match fitness. He's currently severely lacking in match fitness...

FM

[FrogMan]

January 27, 2010
Henri Camara wants to stay. I unlist him.

That one game Chris Coyne started was probably his last as a Hatter. He tore a calf muscle whilst chasing a ball during the Reserves match. His season is pretty much over as he'll miss three to four months with the injury.

Speaking of that Reserves match, it's not often that one of their matches is followed so much. Matt Moussilou collected the Man of the Match mention, providing the Reserve Hatters with their two goals on their way to a 2-1 win. He put 5 of his 8 shots on target, 5 of the 7 shots put on target by the whole team.

I offer Russell Duncan around for free.


January 28, 2010
League Match #30: vs Plymouth (Luton 4-5 fav)

Pkd	Inf	Name	Position	Morale	Form	Con	Apps	Gls	Av Rat
GK		Bartosz Bialkowski	GK	Okay	7-6-7-6-6	99%	6	-	6.17
DR		Ibrahim Tall	D RC	Very Good	7-7-8-6-8	93%	29	-	7.03
DL	Wnt	Carl Dickinson	D/WB L	Very Good	7-7-5-7-7	95%	12	-	6.83
DC		Karim Touzani	SW, D C	Very Good	7-6-7-7-7	95%	30	-	7.00
DC		Willie Kinniburgh	D C	Superb	6-6-7-7-7	96%	28	-	6.82
DMC		Ferrie Bodde	D C, DM	Good	7-6-7-7-7	95%	20 (5)	-	6.72
MR		Jay Simpson	AM R, ST	Poor	6-6-8-7-6	99%	7 (12)	4	6.47
ML	Yel	Etienne Esajas	AM L	Very Poor	8-6-7-7-7	100%	29 (3)	1	7.22
AMC	Yel	David Edwards	AM RC	Superb	7-8-7-7-7	93%	5 (4)	1	6.56
FC	Wnt	Vincent van den Berg	AM R, ST	Superb	8-7-8-8-8	95%	21 (6)	10	6.96
FC		Sam Parkin	ST	Good	6-6-6-7-8	95%	25 (1)	8	6.85
S1		Jimmy Nielsen	GK	Very Good	5-6-6-6-6	92%	26	-	6.69
S2		Richard Hughes	DM	Very Good	7-6-6-6-6	98%	12 (9)	-	6.38
S3		Jonathan Hayes	AM RL	Superb	7-5-8-8-7	95%	1 (8)	-	6.78
S4		Saulius Mikoliunas	AM R	Very Good	7-6-8-7-8	93%	22 (2)	3	7.13
S5		Calvin Andrew	ST	Very Good	9-6-6-7-7	92%	1 (3)	-	6.00
-	Sus	James Henry	AM RC	Superb	7	97%	5 (7)	-	6.92
-		Richard Jackson	D RL	Very Good	7-7-6-7-6	95%	8 (1)	-	6.78
-		Matt Moussilou	ST	Superb	8	86%	-	-	-
-	Inj	Laurent Montoya	D/WB L	Good	6-5-4-6-7	66%	20	-	6.65
-		Dean Morgan	AM L, ST	Good	8-7-7-7-7	93%	4 (7)	3	6.91
-	Wnt	Drew Talbot	ST	Superb	6-6-6-6-6	96%	7 (1)	3	6.50
-	PR	Eric Skora	AM C	Superb	8-6-7-7-7	95%	27	5	7.00

Ugh, the referee for this match will be Rob Styles who has shown 33 yellow cards and 3 red cards in his nine games so far this season. That's 3.67 yellows a match and one red every three games.

Matt Moussilou's match with the reserves left him a bit winded and he will sit this one out. Looking at my assistant's team report I see that he lists David Edwards instead of Eric Skora in the AMC spot so I decide to give him the start. Looks like a good decision as he's listed as Luton's key man in the pregame report.

It's an unlucky start for us. Despite holding the ball for 60% or the first 17 minutes, it's Plymouth who jumps to a 1-0 lead in the 18th minute. Bleh, and even worse, that 60% was not even us just moving the ball around in our end of the field, but also in midfield and a lot in their end of the field...

That possession pays off in the 38th minute when Jay Simpson takes the ball down the right and centers it to Vincent van den Berg, unmarked on the penalty spot. Ven den Berg then unleashed a hard shot that that got push by one of their defenders behind the goal line for an own goal. Tied at 1-1.

Even better, Sam Parkin is able to find the top corner of the net just as injury time started in the first half. Up 2-1 after 45.

We're awarded a penalty in the 69th minute but Sam Parkin puts it over the bar. Final Score: 2-1.

Match stats:

Luton	Statistic	Plymouth
18	Shots	12
9	On Target	7
9	Off Target	5
54%	Possession	46%
9	Corners	1
24	Free Kicks	12
18	Throw-Ins	12
10	Fouls	22
2	Offsides	3
72%	Passes Completed	52%
9%	Crosses Completed	41%
84%	Tackles Won	68%
63%	Headers Won	50%
0	Yellow Cards	4
0	Red Cards	0

Team stats:

No.	C	Name	Inf.	Pas	Cmp	Key	Tck	Won	Key	Hea	Won	Key	Int	Run	Off	Fou	Fld	Ast	Sho	Sot	Con	Rat	Gls
31		Bartosz Bialkowski		24	10	3	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	98	7
8		Ibrahim Tall (c)		58	41	5	1	1	0	4	3	1	21	0	0	1	2	0	0	0	73	8
18		Carl Dickinson		51	35	10	1	0	0	2	2	0	10	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	75	8
10		Karim Touzani		37	24	1	4	4	1	5	1	0	14	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	76	7
3		Willie Kinniburgh		24	20	0	0	0	0	16	11	0	11	0	0	1	3	0	1	1	79	7
24		David Edwards		28	25	8	2	2	0	2	0	0	7	0	0	1	4	1	2	0	73	8
44		Etienne Esajas		23	10	0	0	0	0	4	4	1	6	8	1	1	4	0	4	1	77	7
5		Ferrie Bodde		59	53	5	2	2	0	4	4	1	11	1	0	0	2	0	0	0	71	7
13		Jay Simpson	sub 84	11	8	1	3	2	0	2	1	0	3	3	0	0	1	0	0	0	78	7
22		Vincent van den Berg	sub 67	13	10	5	0	0	0	6	2	1	0	0	0	2	1	1	6	5	79	6
9		Sam Parkin		15	11	3	0	0	0	2	1	1	1	0	1	0	3	0	4	2	72	8	1
1		Jimmy Nielsen
29		Richard Hughes	on 67	11	11	3	0	0	0	0	0	0	4	0	0	2	1	0	1	0	96	7
55		Jonathan Hayes
11		Saulius Mikoliunas	on 84	3	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	92	7
20		Calvin Andrew

Sam Parkin gets the MoM and David Edwards had a very good game. Even better, we got out of this game without one yellow card!!!

We move up to 13th place after the win, 10 points from a playoffs position, but more importantly 14 points over the relegation line.

Pos	Inf	Team		Pld	Won	Drn	Lst	For	Ag	G.D.	Pts
1st		West Brom		30	19	8	3	70	36	+34	65
2nd		Birmingham		30	17	10	3	51	19	+32	61
3rd		Man City		30	18	7	5	63	39	+24	61
4th		Preston		30	16	8	6	49	25	+24	56
5th		Leicester		30	13	11	6	50	29	+21	50
6th		Charlton		30	12	13	5	51	33	+18	49
7th		Ipswich		30	13	9	8	57	48	+9	48
8th		Wigan		30	13	8	9	40	28	+12	47
9th		Swansea		30	12	11	7	49	38	+11	47
10th		Norwich		30	13	6	11	41	38	+3	45
11th		Wolves		30	12	7	11	50	40	+10	43
12th		Sheff Utd		30	12	6	12	47	52	-5	42
13th		Luton		30	10	9	11	38	43	-5	39
14th		Sheff Wed		30	10	8	12	44	47	-3	38
15th		Bristol City		30	11	5	14	48	61	-13	38
16th		Nottm Forest		30	8	11	11	43	49	-6	35
17th		Cardiff		30	8	9	13	38	53	-15	33
18th		Stoke		30	8	5	17	36	64	-28	29
19th		Plymouth		30	5	13	12	32	48	-16	28
20th		Southampton		30	6	10	14	40	57	-17	28
21st		Barnsley		30	7	5	18	30	48	-18	26
22nd		Burnley		30	6	7	17	29	56	-27	25
23rd		Northampton		30	5	9	16	19	39	-20	24
24th		Leyton Orient		30	6	5	19	26	51	-25	23

Russell Duncan has accepted a contract offer from Bristol Rovers. That move will free $6250 in weekly wages. Might look like little savings, but we were running a good $8.5k over the weekly wage budget after the signing of Matt Moussilou. With that saving, and by converting what was left of the transfer budget, I'm back under control.

We're losing a lot of money every month though, as much as $800k to $1M a month. The bank balance is now down to only $1.5M and that has me scared for the rest of the season. The stadium really needs upgrading. Hopefully if could stay up, they'll get ot upgrading it in the offseason.

FM

[FrogMan]

February 6, 2010
League Match #31: at Swansea (Swansea 4-5 fav)

Pkd	Inf	Name	Position	Morale	Form	Con	Apps	Gls	Av Rat
GK		Bartosz Bialkowski	GK	Very Good	6-7-6-6-7	100%	7	-	6.29
DR		Ibrahim Tall	D RC	Superb	7-8-6-8-8	99%	30	-	7.07
DL	Wnt	Carl Dickinson	D/WB L	Superb	7-5-7-7-8	99%	13	-	6.92
DC		Karim Touzani	SW, D C	Superb	6-7-7-7-7	99%	31	-	7.00
DC		Willie Kinniburgh	D C	Superb	6-7-7-7-7	100%	29	-	6.83
DMC		Ferrie Bodde	D C, DM	Very Good	6-7-7-7-7	99%	21 (5)	-	6.73
MR		Saulius Mikoliunas	AM R	Very Good	6-8-7-8-7	99%	22 (3)	3	7.12
ML		Etienne Esajas	AM L	Poor	6-7-7-7-7	99%	30 (3)	1	7.21
AMC		David Edwards	AM RC	Superb	8-7-7-7-8	99%	6 (4)	1	6.70
FC		Matt Moussilou	ST	Superb	8-7	91%	-	-	-
FC		Sam Parkin	ST	Superb	6-6-7-8-8	99%	26 (1)	9	6.89
S1		Jimmy Nielsen	GK	Very Good	5-6-6-6-6	98%	26	-	6.69
S2		Richard Hughes	DM	Very Good	6-6-6-6-7	98%	12 (10)	-	6.41
S3		Jonathan Hayes	AM RL	Very Good	7-5-8-8-7	100%	1 (8)	-	6.78
S4		Jay Simpson	AM R, ST	Okay	6-8-7-6-7	100%	8 (12)	4	6.50
S5	Wnt	Vincent van den Berg	AM R, ST	Superb	7-8-8-8-6	99%	22 (6)	10	6.93
-		James Henry	AM RC	Superb	7	96%	5 (7)	-	6.92
-		Richard Jackson	D RL	Very Good	7-7-6-7-6	100%	8 (1)	-	6.78
-		Laurent Montoya	D/WB L	Very Good	6-5-4-6-7	86%	20	-	6.65
-		Dean Morgan	AM L, ST	Very Good	8-7-7-7-7	100%	4 (7)	3	6.91
-	Wnt	Drew Talbot	ST	Superb	6-6-6-6-8	96%	7 (1)	3	6.50
-		Byron Moore	AM RL, ST	Superb	7-7-7-8-8	89%	1 (15)	1	6.88
-		Eric Skora	AM C	Superb	8-6-7-7-7	100%	27	5	7.00

We're in 13th place, they are in 9th place at the moment. Matt Moussilou is still lacking in match fitness, and his conditionning is a bit low compared to others on the squad, but I decide that today will be his debut. He is even listed as the key man for my Hatters.

It's an ugly start but we regain control a bit later in the first half and it's still scoreless after 45.

We lose Saulius Mikoliunas to injury in th 66th minute. It's a rough second half for us, but our bend but don't break style of defense prevails and we get away with a point. Final score: 0-0.

Match stats:

Swansea	Statistic	Luton
21	Shots	14
8	On Target	6
13	Off Target	8
48%	Possession	52%
4	Corners	4
15	Free Kicks	11
15	Throw-Ins	18
10	Fouls	8
1	Offsides	7
68%	Passes Completed	70%
13%	Crosses Completed	17%
82%	Tackles Won	86%
55%	Headers Won	53%
0	Yellow Cards	2
0	Red Cards	0

Team stats:

No.	C	Name	Inf.	Pas	Cmp	Key	Tck	Won	Key	Hea	Won	Key	Int	Run	Off	Fou	Fld	Ast	Sho	Sot	Con	Rat	Gls
31		Bartosz Bialkowski		27	8	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	3	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	99	8
8		Ibrahim Tall (c)		51	37	2	4	3	0	6	6	0	17	0	0	2	0	0	0	0	77	7
18		Carl Dickinson		33	23	2	4	3	0	2	2	0	14	0	0	2	0	0	0	0	77	7
10		Karim Touzani		20	15	0	2	2	0	11	8	0	11	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	77	7
3		Willie Kinniburgh		23	17	1	1	1	0	10	5	1	3	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	85	7
24		David Edwards		42	37	8	2	2	0	5	1	1	3	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	74	8
44		Etienne Esajas		23	13	4	1	1	0	5	2	1	4	3	0	0	3	0	1	1	77	8
5		Ferrie Bodde		59	48	2	5	4	1	6	6	3	11	0	0	1	1	0	3	1	72	7
11		Saulius Mikoliunas	inj 66	14	7	1	0	0	0	2	0	0	3	0	2	1	1	0	0	0	86	7
12		Matt Moussilou	sub 79	16	10	2	0	0	0	6	1	0	0	0	1	0	3	0	2	0	76	7
9		Sam Parkin	sub 59	9	6	1	2	2	0	5	2	1	1	0	3	1	1	0	3	1	73	6
1		Jimmy Nielsen
29		Richard Hughes
55		Jonathan Hayes	on 79	8	6	0	1	1	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	99	7
13		Jay Simpson	on 66	5	4	1	0	0	0	1	1	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	1	1	93	7
22		Vincent van den Berg	on 59	5	4	1	0	0	0	4	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	4	2	94	6

That draw was earned by Bartosz Bialkowski who got the Man of the Match selection for his performance. Shots were absolutely even after 45 but Swansea really took in the second half. They finished the last 17 minutes in a 4-2-4 formation. Moussilou had a solid if a bit unspecacular performance in his debut.

We dropped to 14th place with the draw which by the way was our sixth consecutive game without a loss.

Mikoliunas will miss 6 days to 2 weeks with a bruised thigh.

FM

[FrogMan]

February 9, 2010
League Match #32: vs Birmingham (Birmingham 4-6 fav)

Pkd	Inf	Name	Position	Morale	Form	Con	Apps	Gls	Av Rat
GK		Bartosz Bialkowski	GK	Superb	7-6-6-7-8	100%	8	-	6.50
DR		Ibrahim Tall	D RC	Superb	8-6-8-8-7	93%	31	-	7.06
DL	Wnt	Carl Dickinson	D/WB L	Superb	5-7-7-8-7	93%	14	-	6.93
DC	PR	Karim Touzani	SW, D C	Superb	7-7-7-7-7	93%	32	-	7.00
DC	PR	Willie Kinniburgh	D C	Superb	7-7-7-7-7	95%	30	-	6.83
DMC		Richard Hughes	DM	Very Good	6-6-6-6-7	98%	12 (10)	-	6.41
MR		Jay Simpson	AM R, ST	Okay	8-7-6-7-7	98%	8 (13)	4	6.52
ML	Yel	Etienne Esajas	AM L	Poor	7-7-7-7-8	93%	31 (3)	1	7.24
AMC	Yel	David Edwards	AM RC	Superb	7-7-7-8-8	93%	7 (4)	1	6.82
FC	PR	Matt Moussilou	ST	Good	8-7-7	92%	1	-	7.00
FC	Wnt	Vincent van den Berg	AM R, ST	Superb	8-8-8-6-6	99%	22 (7)	10	6.90
S1		Jimmy Nielsen	GK	Very Good	5-6-6-6-6	98%	26	-	6.69
S2	PR	Ferrie Bodde	D C, DM	Okay	7-7-7-7-7	92%	22 (5)	-	6.74
S3		Jonathan Hayes	AM RL	Good	5-8-8-7-7	100%	1 (9)	-	6.80
S4		James Henry	AM RC	Superb	7	96%	5 (7)	-	6.92
S5		Sam Parkin	ST	Superb	6-7-8-8-6	92%	27 (1)	9	6.86
-		Richard Jackson	D RL	Very Good	7-7-6-7-6	99%	8 (1)	-	6.78
-	Inj	Saulius Mikoliunas	AM R	Very Good	8-7-8-7-7	74%	23 (3)	3	7.12
-		Laurent Montoya	D/WB L	Very Good	6-5-4-6-7	90%	20	-	6.65
-		Dean Morgan	AM L, ST	Very Good	8-7-7-7-7	100%	4 (7)	3	6.91
-	Wnt	Drew Talbot	ST	Superb	6-6-6-6-8	100%	7 (1)	3	6.50
-		Byron Moore	AM RL, ST	Superb	7-7-7-8-8	92%	1 (15)	1	6.88
-	Yel	Eric Skora	AM C	Superb	8-6-7-7-7	100%	27	5	7.00

Tough match in this one. Birmingham is currently in 2nd place and chasing the league title.

They are really superior to us and it shows in this one. The first half ends with us down 0-1 and them dominating pretty every aspects of the game. We try to go more on the attack but that leaves us vulnerable in the back and they seal their win with a second goal in the 90th minute. Final Score: 0-2.

Match stats:

Luton	Statistic	Birmingham
8	Shots	16
3	On Target	9
5	Off Target	7
45%	Possession	55%
10	Corners	6
13	Free Kicks	14
22	Throw-Ins	16
11	Fouls	12
3	Offsides	1
59%	Passes Completed	75%
8%	Crosses Completed	18%
64%	Tackles Won	85%
32%	Headers Won	75%
0	Yellow Cards	1
0	Red Cards	0

Team stats:

No.	C	Name	Inf.	Pas	Cmp	Key	Tck	Won	Key	Hea	Won	Key	Int	Run	Off	Fou	Fld	Ast	Sho	Sot	Con	Rat	Gls
31		Bartosz Bialkowski		17	3	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	99	7
8		Ibrahim Tall (c)		31	19	3	1	0	0	2	2	1	15	0	0	1	1	0	0	0	81	7
18		Carl Dickinson		26	17	0	1	1	0	3	2	0	11	0	0	2	1	0	0	0	76	7
10		Karim Touzani		22	15	1	2	2	0	3	0	0	9	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	79	7
3		Willie Kinniburgh		27	16	0	5	4	0	7	4	1	6	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	82	7
24		David Edwards	sub 86	13	9	1	1	0	0	9	3	2	2	0	0	2	0	0	1	1	76	6
44		Etienne Esajas	sub 86	29	18	5	0	0	0	2	1	1	4	2	0	1	0	0	2	0	75	7
29		Richard Hughes	sub 72	28	19	1	3	3	0	1	0	0	15	0	0	2	4	0	0	0	77	7
13		Jay Simpson		17	7	1	1	1	1	2	0	0	2	2	1	0	2	0	2	1	80	6
12		Matt Moussilou		5	4	2	2	0	0	4	1	0	1	0	1	1	3	0	1	1	76	7
22		Vincent van den Berg		10	8	0	1	0	0	8	0	0	0	0	1	1	1	0	2	0	80	6
1		Jimmy Nielsen
5		Ferrie Bodde	on 72	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	92	6
55		Jonathan Hayes	on 86	3	1	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	99	7
33		James Henry	on 86	2	1	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	96	6
9		Sam Parkin

Not a bad match by anyone in particular on our side, we simply were outclassed by a superior team. My assistant suggests I tell the guys I'm disappointed, but I don't see it that way. I sympathise with them. At home or not, it was a tough one for us.

We remain in 14th place despite the loss.

FM

[FrogMan]

February 13, 2010
Willie Kinniburgh has come down with a virus, where's House when you need him??? I could either treat him at the club, which might mean a shorter time out, or send him home, which would be longer but would minimise the risk of the dang virus spreading to other players on the squad. I don't need my whole staff drinking from the same bottle to all fall at the same time so I send him home. He will be out for 2 to 3 weeks. Yeah, that's on heck of a virus. I'll move Ibrahim Tall to centreback and will start Richard Jackson on the right while Kinniburgh is out.

Gah, my physio informs me that Etienne Esajas has injured his heel coming down rough in training. I could have him get an injection or let him be treated by our physio. I don't want to risk long term injuries so I leave him to my physio and he will miss one to two weeks.


February 17, 2010
League Match #33: at Norwich (Norwich evens fav)

Pkd	Inf	Name	Position	Morale	Form	Con	Apps	Gls	Av Rat
GK		Bartosz Bialkowski	GK	Very Good	6-6-7-8-7	100%	9	-	6.56
DR		Richard Jackson	D RL	Very Good	7-7-6-7-6	98%	8 (1)	-	6.78
DL	Wnt	Carl Dickinson	D/WB L	Superb	7-7-8-7-7	100%	15	-	6.93
DC		Karim Touzani	SW, D C	Superb	7-7-7-7-7	100%	33	-	7.00
DC		Ibrahim Tall	D RC	Superb	6-8-8-7-7	100%	32	-	7.06
DMC		Ferrie Bodde	D C, DM	Okay	7-7-7-7-6	100%	22 (6)	-	6.71
MR		James Henry	AM RC	Superb	7-6	95%	5 (8)	-	6.85
ML		Jonathan Hayes	AM RL	Good	8-8-7-7-7	99%	1 (10)	-	6.82
AMC	Yel	Eric Skora	AM C	Superb	8-6-7-7-7	100%	27	5	7.00
FC		Matt Moussilou	ST	Good	8-7-7-7	100%	2	-	7.00
FC	Wnt	Vincent van den Berg	AM R, ST	Very Good	8-8-6-6-6	100%	23 (7)	10	6.87
S1		Jimmy Nielsen	GK	Superb	6-6-6-6-8	99%	26	-	6.69
S2		Richard Hughes	DM	Good	6-6-6-7-7	99%	13 (10)	-	6.43
S3		Byron Moore	AM RL, ST	Superb	7-7-8-8-8	96%	1 (15)	1	6.88
S4		Jay Simpson	AM R, ST	Okay	7-6-7-7-6	100%	9 (13)	4	6.50
S5		Calvin Andrew	ST	Superb	6-6-7-7-7	96%	1 (3)	-	6.00
-		Sam Parkin	ST	Superb	6-7-8-8-6	100%	27 (1)	9	6.86
-	Inj	Willie Kinniburgh	D C	Superb	7-7-7-7-7	70%	31	-	6.84
-		Saulius Mikoliunas	AM R	Very Good	8-7-8-7-7	90%	23 (3)	3	7.12
-	Inj	Etienne Esajas	AM L	Poor	7-7-7-8-7	67%	32 (3)	1	7.23
-		Dean Morgan	AM L, ST	Superb	7-7-7-7-8	100%	4 (7)	3	6.91
-	Yel	David Edwards	AM RC	Very Good	7-7-8-8-6	100%	8 (4)	1	6.75
-		Drew Talbot	ST	Superb	6-6-6-8-8	100%	7 (1)	3	6.50

We've got a couple of important injuries, but looking at their roster, I see they're going into this game with two starters suspended.

Matt Moussilou works his magic for the first time as a Hatter in the 41st minute. He took the ball from almost midfield, ran around a defender all the way to the penalty spot before letting go of a nicely place ball to make it 1-0.

1-0 is the halftime score and the fellas are playing quite well. We're outshooting them 9(3) to 7(2) at the half but possession is an even 50-50 split.

Our guys went from having a "decent" game in the first half to really playing great in the second half. We held the ball a clean 67% of the time in the first 20 minutes of the second half, mounting attack after attack. It finally pays off when Richard Hughes, in for Vincent van den Berg but playing as a second defensive middie, gave it his all, stealng the ball from a defender and then finding the back of the net on a great shot. Final Score: 2-0.

Match stats:

Norwich	Statistic	Luton
12	Shots	23
6	On Target	10
6	Off Target	13
46%	Possession	54%
2	Corners	6
12	Free Kicks	25
11	Throw-Ins	17
18	Fouls	8
7	Offsides	4
64%	Passes Completed	64%
20%	Crosses Completed	22%
80%	Tackles Won	73%
62%	Headers Won	52%
2	Yellow Cards	0
0	Red Cards	0

Team stats:

No.	C	Name	Inf.	Pas	Cmp	Key	Tck	Won	Key	Hea	Won	Key	Int	Run	Off	Fou	Fld	Ast	Sho	Sot	Con	Rat	Gls
31		Bartosz Bialkowski		27	10	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	99	8
2		Richard Jackson		47	28	1	2	0	0	3	3	0	20	0	0	1	3	0	1	1	74	8
18		Carl Dickinson		37	24	1	2	2	0	4	3	0	11	0	0	2	0	0	1	1	78	8
10		Karim Touzani		32	26	0	2	2	0	10	6	1	15	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	79	8
8		Ibrahim Tall (c)		18	10	0	5	5	0	9	8	3	7	0	0	1	0	0	1	0	87	8
17		Eric Skora		41	27	4	2	2	0	4	0	0	4	0	0	2	3	0	3	1	76	8
55		Jonathan Hayes	sub 64	23	15	1	0	0	0	1	0	0	3	0	0	0	2	0	0	0	84	7
5		Ferrie Bodde		51	39	5	2	2	0	3	2	1	8	0	0	0	1	1	1	0	78	8
33		James Henry	sub 64	15	9	1	1	1	0	2	1	1	4	1	0	0	1	0	1	0	82	7
12		Matt Moussilou		24	15	1	0	0	0	7	2	0	2	3	4	1	2	0	9	6	79	8	1
22		Vincent van den Berg	sub 81	12	7	1	5	1	0	7	1	0	2	1	0	1	1	0	4	0	77	6
1		Jimmy Nielsen
29		Richard Hughes	on 81	5	4	0	2	2	0	0	0	0	3	0	0	0	1	0	1	0	98	7	1
27		Byron Moore	on 64	11	8	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	4	0	0	1	0	1	1	92	7
13		Jay Simpson	on 64	6	3	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	3	0	0	3	0	0	0	96	7
20		Calvin Andrew

A fantastic second half and I tell so to the players. Matt Moussilou put in a Man of the Match performance, putting 6 of 9 shots on target.

There's something I can't understand about Richard Hughes. He can't seem to have good games on a consistent basis, despite my assistant's assessment that he's a 7 star player and would be a good signing for any Premiership side.

We moved up to 13th place with the win, now 15 over the drop line and 12 from the playoffs.

Pos	Inf	Team		Pld	Won	Drn	Lst	For	Ag	G.D.	Pts
1st		West Brom		33	21	8	4	75	38	+37	71
2nd		Man City		33	21	7	5	70	41	+29	70
3rd		Birmingham		33	19	10	4	56	20	+36	67
4th		Preston		33	17	9	7	53	28	+25	60
5th		Leicester		33	15	11	7	54	34	+20	56
6th		Charlton		33	14	13	6	58	37	+21	55
7th		Wigan		33	15	8	10	49	35	+14	53
8th		Ipswich		33	14	9	10	60	53	+7	51
9th		Sheff Utd		33	15	6	12	54	54	0	51
10th		Swansea		33	12	13	8	51	41	+10	49
11th		Norwich		33	14	6	13	43	42	+1	48
12th		Wolves		33	13	7	13	54	43	+11	46
13th		Luton		33	11	10	12	40	45	-5	43
14th		Sheff Wed		33	11	9	13	49	51	-2	42
15th		Bristol City		33	12	6	15	55	69	-14	42
16th		Nottm Forest		33	9	11	13	47	55	-8	38
17th		Cardiff		33	8	9	16	40	63	-23	33
18th		Southampton		33	7	11	15	47	64	-17	32
19th		Stoke		33	9	5	19	41	71	-30	32
20th		Plymouth		33	5	15	13	34	51	-17	30
21st		Barnsley		33	7	7	19	32	53	-21	28
22nd		Northampton		33	6	10	17	22	44	-22	28
23rd		Leyton Orient		33	7	7	19	30	54	-24	28
24th		Burnley		33	7	7	19	34	62	-28	28

FM

[FrogMan]

February 20, 2010
League Match #34: at Charlton (Charlton 4-5 fav)

Pkd	Inf	Name	Position	Morale	Form	Con	Apps	Gls	Av Rat
GK		Bartosz Bialkowski	GK	Very Good	6-7-8-7-8	100%	10	-	6.70
DR		Richard Jackson	D RL	Superb	7-6-7-6-8	93%	9 (1)	-	6.90
DL	Wnt	Carl Dickinson	D/WB L	Superb	7-8-7-7-8	94%	16	-	7.00
DC		Karim Touzani	SW, D C	Superb	7-7-7-7-8	93%	34	-	7.03
DC		Ibrahim Tall	D RC	Superb	8-8-7-7-8	96%	33	-	7.09
DMC		Richard Hughes	DM	Good	6-6-7-7-7	99%	13 (11)	1	6.46
MR		Jay Simpson	AM R, ST	Good	6-7-7-6-7	100%	9 (14)	4	6.52
ML		Jonathan Hayes	AM RL	Superb	8-7-7-7-7	95%	2 (10)	-	6.83
AMC		David Edwards	AM RC	Very Good	7-7-8-8-6	100%	8 (4)	1	6.75
FC		Matt Moussilou	ST	Very Good	8-7-7-7-8	94%	3	1	7.33
FC		Dean Morgan	ST	Superb	7-7-7-7-8	100%	4 (7)	3	6.91
S1		Jimmy Nielsen	GK	Very Good	6-6-6-6-8	99%	26	-	6.69
S2		Ferrie Bodde	D C, DM	Very Good	7-7-7-6-8	94%	23 (6)	-	6.76
S3		Byron Moore	AM RL, ST	Superb	7-8-8-8-7	97%	1 (16)	1	6.88
S4		Saulius Mikoliunas	AM R	Good	8-7-8-7-7	93%	23 (3)	3	7.12
S5		Sam Parkin	ST	Superb	6-7-8-8-6	100%	27 (1)	9	6.86
-		James Henry	AM RC	Superb	7-6-7	89%	6 (8)	-	6.86
-	Inj	Willie Kinniburgh	D C	Superb	7-7-7-7-7	68%	31	-	6.84
-	Inj	Etienne Esajas	AM L	Poor	7-7-7-8-7	65%	32 (3)	1	7.23
-		Drew Talbot	ST	Superb	6-6-6-8-8	100%	7 (1)	3	6.50
-		Eric Skora	AM C	Superb	6-7-7-7-8	93%	28	5	7.04
-	Wnt	Vincent van den Berg	AM R, ST	Superb	8-6-6-6-6	93%	24 (7)	10	6.84

Saulius Mikoliunas is still not entirely fit following his injury and James Henry was left tired from his start in our last game so Jay Simpson gets the start on the right wing. I give Dean Morgan a try up front too. Vincent van den Berg has been largely disappointing lately with four form ratings of 6 in a row.

We hand with them for most of the first half, even taking a momentary lead in the 23rd minute when Jay Simpson surprised everyone with a left footed goal. They do tie the game up in the 31st minute though and 1-1 is the halftime score.

We keep doing well at the start of the second half although it becomes clear that they have seriously moved to a second speed, a speed we don't have. Bartosz Bialkowski multiplies the nice saves but he finally gives up the go ahead goal in the 68th minute, after having blocked a series of three shots. They will add another goal on a breakawy late in the game when I have the guys all pushed up to try and tie the game. Final Score: 1-3.

Match Stats:

Charlton	Statistic	Luton
22	Shots	7
10	On Target	2
12	Off Target	5
47%	Possession	53%
6	Corners	6
23	Free Kicks	16
15	Throw-Ins	11
10	Fouls	19
6	Offsides	4
63%	Passes Completed	65%
33%	Crosses Completed	14%
64%	Tackles Won	73%
68%	Headers Won	36%
0	Yellow Cards	1
0	Red Cards	0

Team Stats:

No.	C	Name	Inf.	Pas	Cmp	Key	Tck	Won	Key	Hea	Won	Key	Int	Run	Off	Fou	Fld	Ast	Sho	Sot	Con	Rat	Gls
31		Bartosz Bialkowski		42	15	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	99	6
2		Richard Jackson		26	16	1	2	2	0	1	0	0	10	0	0	1	1	0	0	0	73	7
18		Carl Dickinson		33	23	1	4	3	0	7	2	0	14	0	0	1	1	0	0	0	71	7
10		Karim Touzani		37	25	2	4	4	0	3	2	0	13	0	0	2	1	0	0	0	73	7
8		Ibrahim Tall (c)		30	23	0	1	1	0	24	14	3	11	0	0	3	1	0	0	0	79	6
24		David Edwards		30	21	4	3	2	0	7	2	0	1	0	0	3	1	0	1	0	79	7
55		Jonathan Hayes	sub 66	13	6	1	2	0	0	1	1	0	1	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	81	7
29		Richard Hughes	sub 74	39	32	3	3	2	0	7	0	0	8	0	0	5	1	0	0	0	79	7
13		Jay Simpson		15	9	1	2	1	0	2	0	0	5	2	0	2	0	0	1	0	79	8	1
12		Matt Moussilou		16	10	1	0	0	0	14	3	0	1	0	3	0	2	0	1	1	76	6
7		Dean Morgan	sub 74	10	8	0	0	0	0	5	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	0	3	1	86	6
1		Jimmy Nielsen
5		Ferrie Bodde	on 74	4	2	0	2	2	0	1	1	0	2	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	91	6
27		Byron Moore	on 66	9	7	2	0	0	0	1	0	0	1	1	0	0	0	0	1	0	93	7
11		Saulius Mikoliunas
9		Sam Parkin	on 74	6	5	1	0	0	0	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	98	7

Jay Simpson had a great game but it wasn't enough to pull the whole team. Charlton had 10 shots on target out of 18 tries in the second half alone. That's what I meant by "second speed"...

We remain in 13th place despite the loss.


February 22, 2010
Ferrie Bodde was selected to the Championship Team of the Week.

I do a quick check of our big three possible free agents of the Summer, Mikoliunas, Esajas, Tall, and still not one of them is interested in renewing his contract.

FM

[bulletsponge]

gj