09-07-2009, 08:29 AM | #101 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Hattrick Moderator
Join Date: Jan 2003
Location: Pintendre, Qc, Canada
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December 11, 2009
Olivier Bernard resumes full training. December 12, 2009 League Match #20: at Barnet (13th) (Luton 6-4 fav)
We thought we'd get up by one in the 14th minute but one of their defenders cleared the ball right on the line. We didn't wait much though, as Sébastien Heitzmann gives us the lead in the 22nd minute, converting an in-swinging corner from Daniel Jones. What worries me a bit at that point is that we're losing possession heavily. Another corner by Jones is at the source of our second goal, but this time our pressure didn't lead to us putting it past the keeper, but one of their defenders did. It's an own goal and we're up 2-0 at the half. Kevin Nicholls suffered a nick and he's taken out at the half. Daniel Jones also has to leave the game after being nicked in the second half. They'll take one back in the 89th minute but it was too little, too late. Final Score: 2-1
A pretty even game that could have gone either way. I warn the lads about complacency in our next game. Stockport beat Lincoln 4-0 so we're still in 2nd place. Kevin Nicholls comes out of the game unhurt but Daniel Jones sustained a gashed leg and will miss 2 to 3 weeks. December 15, 2009 Dean Pearce resumes full training after missing three weeks. FM
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A Black Belt is a White Belt who refused to give up... follow my story: The real life story of a running frog... |
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09-07-2009, 08:45 AM | #102 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Hattrick Moderator
Join Date: Jan 2003
Location: Pintendre, Qc, Canada
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December 19, 2009
League Match #21: vs Wycombe (19th) (Luton 4-7 fav)
The full 7 days between games has been nice. Daniel Jones is now 6 to 10 days away from coming back from his injury. Morale is insanely high in the locker room prior to the game and it translates into a lightning fast strike Sébastien Heitzmann beats his previous record and scores the fastest ever Luton goal, scoring only 19 seconds after the start of the game. Hi s previous record was of 28 seconds. It'll be complete domination from there on with two goals from Andrea Lombardo before the end of the half, and another from Shiva-Star N'Zigou to start the second. We're coasting to an easy victory. Final Score: 4-0
As expected, Andrea Lombardo gets the Man of the Match. The fasn are delighted by the convincing win. Even better, Stockport lost to Oxford and we're now within one point of them and 1st place in the table. December 20, 2009 Interesting tidbit of news in the transfer rumours. It's being circulated that I might be interested in bringing Etienne Esajas to Kenilworth Road. Might sound out of the blue but those of you who've read my previous dynasty (WWSM2008: Long live The Hatters and their FrogManager!) might remember that I had brought him in to the Hatters. He's been transfer listed by Sheff Wed but they're asking $45k for the left winger. I'll keep an eye on him. December 22, 2009 Mike Pollitt and Andrea Lombardo have been selected to the League 2 Team of the Week. FM
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A Black Belt is a White Belt who refused to give up... follow my story: The real life story of a running frog... |
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09-07-2009, 08:54 AM | #103 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Hattrick Moderator
Join Date: Jan 2003
Location: Pintendre, Qc, Canada
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December 26, 2009
League Match #22: at Chesterfield (6th) (Luton 4-5 fav)
We go down one in the 24th minute on a crazy long and well placed shot that Mike Pollitt just couldn't save. Dean Pearce's mistake is pointed as the reason for the goal. The kid will not play well after that mistake. We put some pressure, but it's a down game for us. We go down by two in injury time. Final Score: 0-2.
An ugly, ugly game for us and I tell the guys I'm disappointed by their effort. Good news is that Stockport also lost, to Dag & Red, so we're still only one point behind. This was our first defeat in six games. December 27, 2009 Daniel Jones resumes full training. FM
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A Black Belt is a White Belt who refused to give up... follow my story: The real life story of a running frog... Last edited by FrogMan : 09-07-2009 at 08:54 AM. |
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09-07-2009, 09:44 AM | #104 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Hattrick Moderator
Join Date: Jan 2003
Location: Pintendre, Qc, Canada
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December 30, 2009
League Match #23: vs Rotherham (15th) (Luton 4-6 fav)
Prior to the game, I get tons of notices of contracts that will expire in 6 months time. Kevin Gallen is among them. Is okay as a backup but at 34, with about no speed left (pace=5, acceleration=3) and little stamina left (9), I can't justify offering him contract. I'll also hold off on Olivier Bernard who, at 30, could probably be replaced by a younger, just as effective left defender. Keith Keane is a young one, but his skill set just can't justify $3,300 a week. As for the game, we go up 1-0 on a Kevin Nicholls penalty in the 20th minute but they tie the game only 5 minutes later. They go down to 10 players in the 29th minute when one of their guys is sent off after having pushed Andrea Lombardo in the chest during a stoppage of play. It's 1-1 at the half but we take a 2-1 lead on a Sébastien Heitzmann goal only 4 minutes into the second half. We put some heavy pressure on their back line but the craziest thing happen when they tie the game at 2 a piece 50 second into injury time. ARRRRGGG!!!!! Ten men and their lone scorer ran through three defenders!!! and he really looked to be offsides. This really sucks. Final Score: 2-2.
We completely dominated them but our defenders had a collective brain fart to let that one guy go through with time fading away... Ugh, the game's taken a toll on us too. Kevin Nicholls will miss 3 weeks after suffering a thigh strain. Shiva-Star N'Zigou came out of the game after getting nicked but he comes out okay. FM
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A Black Belt is a White Belt who refused to give up... follow my story: The real life story of a running frog... |
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09-07-2009, 10:29 AM | #105 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Hattrick Moderator
Join Date: Jan 2003
Location: Pintendre, Qc, Canada
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January 1st, 2010
The board are satisfied with my management of the team. The fans are still unhappy with the 0-2 loss to Chesterfiel though. I come in third for Manager of the Month. The Hatters collected 10 points in December while Paul Simpson's Shrewsbury collected 11 points. Close call I'd say... Rumours fly as the tranfer window opens. We're again tied to a move for Etiennne Esajas but also to 33yo MC Ian Ashby. He looks good on paper, but at 33, and playing at which we're well stocked, I'm not too sure I need him. Dean Brill's $20,000 move from Luton to Wrexham is finalized, freeing us of $3,300 on our weekly wage bill. As we're getting ready for our FA Cup clash with Swindon, we're hearing that the fans are hopeful for us to win it. January 2, 2010 FA Cup round 3: vs Swindon (10th in L1) (Luton 5-4 fav)
(sorry for the cut-off info. no clue what happened here) We're comfortable favourites, maybe the fans had reasons to feel hopeful. Neither of my captain, Kevin Nicholls, nor his co-captain, Kristian O'Leary will be of the starting eleven so Sébastien Heitzmann will act as captain for this game. We're having a rough start but Sébastien Heitzmann pinpoint freekick, rounding a five man wall from just outside the penalty area, gives us a 1-0 lead in the 27th minute. You can see where the ball went in the screenie below. We really pick up our play level after that goal and we hold the lead at the halftime break. We play a tight defensive game for the second half, but they are knocking at the door like crazy. They get a corner kick in the 86th minute where their keeper comes up to be the 10th man inside the box. We hold on to our lead! Final score: 1-0.
We're through to round 4!!! That second half was simply us pushing them out. A cool crowd of 7117 was their to enjoy the win. We're given $110k for the win. We did lose Daniel Jones for 7 to 10 days though. He suffered a bruised rib following an accidental collision. He's making me nervous as he looks a bit brittle. January 4, 2010 Mike Pollitt was selected to the League 2 Team of the Week. Seeing how Daniel Jones is again injured, I try my luck and put in a bid for Etienne Esajas. They're asking for $40k for him but I only have $10k in my transfer kitty. I offer them that plus 50% of the next sale. The draw for round 4 of the FA Cup happens and we'll play Wigan, at Kenilworth Road. Won't say it out loud, but this may be where our run ends. January 5, 2010 Our offer for Etienne Esajas has been accepted! Sadly, his agent informs us that he not currently willing to discuss terms of a deal with us. Maybe later when he'll have evaluated all the options, but not now. Blech. I still offer him a contract, not a big one, nothing to break the bank, but still something to mull over. FM
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A Black Belt is a White Belt who refused to give up... follow my story: The real life story of a running frog... |
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09-08-2009, 09:07 AM | #106 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Hattrick Moderator
Join Date: Jan 2003
Location: Pintendre, Qc, Canada
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January 6, 2010
League Match #24: vs Hereford (15th) (Luton 1-2 fav)
They beat in week 1, we beat them in the Johnston Paint Trophy a few weeks later. Daniel Jones is 2 to 4 days from coming back fully. As for Kevin Nicholls, he is 8 to 13 days from coming back. It's a cold day to play football, -2 C is what the thermometer indicates today at Kenilworth Road. I'm used to that but these English lad are all freezing. Oh, and we're playing with that funky orange winter ball. The cold weather is probably what makes this game a very defensive one. It's scoreless until the 76th minute when Andrea Lombardo scores. We double our lead when Kevin Gallen scores one of his rare goals in the 88th minute. Sadly, he'd had to come in because of an injury to Shiva-Star N'Zigou. Final Score: 2-0
Score sure wasn't close only because we didn't try. Look at that domination in the stats. Shots, possession, corners, throw-ins, percentage of pass completion. We seriously ran them over. Kevin Gallen's late goal makes him he Man of the Match. The fans are delighted with the win but oh crap. My physio informs me that Shiva-Star N'Zigou has suffered a torn calf muscle and will miss 4 to 5 months. Or in other words, he's gone for the season. That's a slap in the face. Sure is better for it to happen early in the tranfer window. I go back to Graeme Owens, see if he's changed his mind a few months later and I offer Middlesbrough to take him back on loan. January 7, 2010 Looking for replacement wingers, I also spot a winger available for loan at parent club West Ham. Name is Junior Stanislas, 20, who could probably be of good use to us. January 8, 2010 Heh, Middlesbrough have rejected our offer to loan Graeme Owens. They say they are not willing to allow him to leave on loan du to his first-team commitments to the team. He's listed as a backup to the first team. January 9, 2010 League Match #25: at Aldershot (17th) (Luton 1-3 fav)
We've never won in three games against Aldershot (2L, 1D). Sébastien Heitzmann makes sure it doesn't stay that way with a brace in the first half and after 36 minutes, we're up 2-0. It's still a very close game and at the half, I tell the guys not to let their performance drop. Stockport is currently losing 1-2 to Grimsby. They take one back in the 57th minute and damnit, they tie the game in the 73rd minute. Looks like we went on the defensive a bit too early. I crank up the tempo a bit and we finally get back ahead in the 83rd minute when Andrea Lombardo heads in a nicely centered ball from Heitzmann down to the byline. Final Score: 3-2.
Phew, dodged one there. As you'd expect, Heitzmann is the Man of the Match with two goals and an assist in a truly wonderful performance. Stockport lose their match to Grimsby, 1-2 and we're sitting on top of the league table!
January 10, 2010 Portuguese Filipe Morais is another possible winger I could bring in. The 24yo is currently playing with the Rangers reserve team and while he's valued at $275K, Rangers seem to be intent on letting him go as they have listed him for only $14K. I take my usual shot and offer them nothing up front but 50% of next sale. Etienne Esajas accepted a contract with Leyton Orient. I never had any hope of landing him, really. January 11, 2010 Mike Pollitt is again selected to the League 2 Team of the Week. It's now been 11 times this season. Our offer for Filipe Morais has been accepted and I set to work on a deal to bring him to Kenilworth Road. Woah, the greedy bastage is looking for a lot of money. He's currently earning $4,100 a week at Rangers, something I would have thought to be a bit high for us, but now he's looking for lots more money, $7,100 a week to be exact. We can't afford that much. I offer him the max our board will allow me, $4,600 with a signing on fee of $30k, based off the evaluation of my scout that he's to be regarded as a definite purchase. Sweet, Junior Stanislas has agreed to join us on loan until the end of the season. He's still a bit raw, but he comes from a much bigger team so he could probably contribute. Coach report mentions he should be regarded as a key member of the first team squad. January 13, 2010 Filipe Morais rejected our contract and while he's willing to negotiate, I will never be able to meet his demands so I break off talks. Looking at my assistant's team report, I see that he feels we are weakest in defence, especially at the left fullback spot. I sorta agree with that, thus my decision not to offer yet a contract to Olivier Bernard. He recommends 22yo Rhoys Wiggins as a potential tranfer target. He's currently playing with the reserve team at Crystal Palace but while he's tranfer listed, when I go to make an offer to Crystal Palace, I'm told he has already accepted a contract offer. I can't see anything anywhere until I realize that Crystal and Southampton seem to have a part exchange organized. Might be only the other player left to accept a contract. I'll keep an eye on him in case that deal falls through. FM
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A Black Belt is a White Belt who refused to give up... follow my story: The real life story of a running frog... Last edited by FrogMan : 09-08-2009 at 09:09 AM. |
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09-08-2009, 09:11 AM | #107 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Hattrick Moderator
Join Date: Jan 2003
Location: Pintendre, Qc, Canada
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January 16, 2010
League Match #26: vs Notts County (21st) (Luton 1-2 fav)
This'll be Junior Stanislas debut as a Hatter. I tell him there's no pressure on him today. We take a 1-0 lead in the 9th minute when Olivier Bernard lays a perfect pass for Andrea Lombardo who dribbles past a defender before beating the keeper. We double our lead only 4 mintues later when Dean Pearce scores his first ever goal as a Hatter, again following nice play by Lombardo and Bernard. We're up 2-0 after 45 but it's been a rough first half. Both Daniel Jones and Sébastien Heitzmann's have taken hits and are limping slightly. I replace them both to start the second half. The second is uneventfu and we hold on to our lead. Final Score: 2-0
My assistant is odd sometimes. We win it with our keeper getting a clean sheet and he recommends I give no team speech and that I tell Mike Pollitt, Ritchie De Laet and Pelé that I'm disappointed in their performance. They got form ratings of 6.9, 6.9, and 7.0 respectively, and A CLEAN SHEET for our keeper. I tell the guys collectively that it was well done. Andrea Lombardo is the Man of the Match and the fans are pleased with the win. This was our third straight league win. We remain in first place and even pull away a little with a draw by Stockport. Progression report is attached. Kevin Nicholls resumes full training following his thigh injury. January 16, 2010 Hrm, rumour is that Leyton Orient might be ready to shell out up to $3.5M for Dean Pearce. If they really want to, I'll gladly take the money... January 18, 2010 And again, Mike Pollitt is selected to the League 2 Team of the Week. January 19, 2010 Seeing how Watford was now also interested in Dean Pearce, I upped his required price to $4M. Sure enough, the rumour is now that Watford could be ready to pay that much for Pearce. January 20, 2010 Oh crap! My physio wants to see me. He's got the long face that never announces good news. Turns out Ritchie De Laet tore his hamstring while attempting a sprint in training today. No clue as to how long he will be out, but it's not looking good. News comes in the afternoon. Ritchie'll be out for 3 months, essentially ending his season. With the limit on the number of players on loan, I terminate his loan effective immediately. January 21, 2010 Remember Rhoys Wiggins? Well, he's now available again. Crystal Palace are looking for $6k for the defender valued at $60k. I offer them only 30% of next sale. FM
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A Black Belt is a White Belt who refused to give up... follow my story: The real life story of a running frog... |
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09-08-2009, 11:18 AM | #108 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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January 23, 2010
FA Cup Round 4: vs Wigan (3rd in Championship) (Wigan 4-6 fav)
Fans are openly pessimistic about the outcome of this game. Let's say I'm not too optimistic myself either, but I try not to let it show to the players. We've already attained the goal set out by the board, I only hope we don't get destroyed too much. Setting up for the game, I get the news that our offer for Rhoys Wiggins has been accepted. Going to offer him a contract, I find that his demands are quite acceptable. He's looking for a two year deal worth $1,300 a week. We're currently $4,500 under our weekly wage budget and I offer him what he's looking for. Immediately following that offer, I get the news that Blackpool have offered $2,000 To Crystal Palace for Wiggins. Kevin Nicholls is match fit and will be back in the starting eleven for this important match. Again, my assistant is acting a bit silly. He recommends telling the guys they can win this match. Huh, oookay. I end up telling them to play this one for the fans. We're playing really well early on, but it's Wigan who score first. Down 0-1 after 22 minutes and that's the score after 45. We put all sorts of crazy pressure to start the second half. Kevin Nicholls put a fierce shot just above the bar and Sébastien Heitzmann heads one just wide. We finally tie the game in the 75th minute when Heitzmann bends a nice ball using the outside of his foot. We've done it, we're back into this! From then on, we're surprisingly in charge of play, yet we can't pierce their defensive wall. Final Score: 1-1.
Arg, at home is where we should have won this thing. Will be much tougher to go win this thing in the replay match on their pitch. Still, a very good game in which we at least showed we're no pushovers. Look at the number of throw-ins for us. This tells me they were simply defending for some time in the game and juts kicking the ball out. Andrea Lombardo is the Man of the Match. He had 14 runs past opponents in the game. Replay match is planned for February 3rd. January 24, 2010 There's an open rumour that Scottish Premier side Kilmarnock are hot after Dean Pearce. It's being said that a fee upward of $2M could be necessary to get Pearce. I SAID $4M, NOTHING LESS!!! Seriously, I issue a hands off warning. January 25, 2010 The draw for the fifth round of the FA Cup is today and it dawns on me that if we succeed to win again Wigan, we'll have made it into the sweet sixteen. Then holy moly, it hits me. I'm thinking about us having a shot at winning. The it hits me again when the draw is over. The winner of our match will play Chelsea at Stamford Bridge. FM
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A Black Belt is a White Belt who refused to give up... follow my story: The real life story of a running frog... |
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09-08-2009, 11:20 AM | #109 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Join Date: Jan 2003
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January 26, 2010
League Match #27: at Oxford (16th) (Luton evens fav)
The first half is a bore to watch. We're not able to get anything going and I chew a few guys up at the halftime break. While we start the second half stronger, it still takes about 20 minutes for use to creat something worth cheering for. Junior Stanislas dribbles the ball wide right, all the way to the byline, before crossing the ball to the far post to an unmarked Andrea Lombardo. We hold on to that one goal lead until the end. Final Score: 1-0.
A win is a win, and an away win is quite okay in my book, but it was a poor match. Mike Pollitt collects his first Man of the Match selection of the season, surprisingly enough, given how many times he's been part of the Team of the Week. Pelé reached the limit of 5 yellow cards and will be banned for one match starting February 2. Grr, he'll play the League match against Torquay on the 30th but will miss the Wigan FA Cup replay match. Following the game, we learn that Rhoys Wiggins has agreed to the terms of the contract we offered him. He joins us right after the match and rightaway, my assistant says he should be regarded as a key member of the first-team squad already. FM
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A Black Belt is a White Belt who refused to give up... follow my story: The real life story of a running frog... |
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09-08-2009, 11:59 AM | #110 |
Head Coach
Join Date: Nov 2003
Location: Morgan Hill, CA
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Nice job FM. The squad continues to be in excellent form.
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Hattrick Moderator
Join Date: Jan 2003
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February 2, 2010
FA Cup Round 4 replay: at Wigan (3rd in Championship) (Wigan 2-5 fav)
Well, this is comforting. Not only is an easy win being predicted for Wigan, but their fans expected their club to pile on the misery for our fans. I tell the guys the pressure is off. We're having a rough first half but we keep it scoreless and even take the lead late in the half. Sébastien Heitzmann take a free kick from the left and contrary to his habit of driving the ball to the net, he floats a nice ball to the far post, and ball that Andrew Lombardo runs under and heads past the keeper. Up 1-0 at the half. Possession is about even at that point, but they are outshooting us badly. Still, we're up 1-0, anything can happen now. I tell the guys to do it for their fans. They seem to respond very well to that as they start denying Wigan of chances after chances. Kevin Nicholls clears a couple of very dangerous balls and we're playing a tight defensive game for the rest of the way. Final Score: 1-0.
We're through, WE'RE THROUGH!!!! then it hits me. Oh SH*T! we're playing Chelsea next! Oh well, we'll deal with it when we get there. Claude Gnakpa is the Man of the Match. Romain Beynié played solidly in his debut, despite severely lacking in match fitness. The fans are delighted with the win. We're given $150k for the win. Now we're talking! We'll play Chelsea at Stamford Bridge on February 13. Tough news following the game though. Lewis Emanuel pulled a hamstring and will miss around 4 weeks. What's with this darn left side of the field??? Looks Like Gavin Swankie's signing has now become really important. FM
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A Black Belt is a White Belt who refused to give up... follow my story: The real life story of a running frog... |
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09-08-2009, 06:12 PM | #112 |
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thanks, I'm quite pleased with the form myself. Apart from a couple of flat games, which we managed not to lose, we've been doing quite well. FM
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09-08-2009, 06:59 PM | #113 |
Head Coach
Join Date: Nov 2003
Location: Morgan Hill, CA
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Bring on Chelsea.
They got nothing on you!
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Fan of SF Giants, 49ers, Sharks, Arsenal |
09-08-2009, 08:07 PM | #114 |
Head Coach
Join Date: Sep 2004
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Wow! Knocking off Wigan on their home pitch!!! Great job you've done thus far and Lombardo has really kicked ass for you this season it seems.
__________________
2006 Golden Scribe Nominee 2006 Golden Scribe Winner Best Non-Sport Dynasty: May Our Reign Be Green and Golden (CK Dynasty) Rookie Writer of the Year Dynasty of the Year: May Our Reign Be Green and Golden (CK Dynasty) Last edited by Izulde : 09-08-2009 at 08:08 PM. |
09-08-2009, 10:02 PM | #115 |
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LOL, gotta love the optimism. So you know, While we were toying with Wigan, they just knocked Arsenal out of the FA Cup to get to round 5. heh... FM
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A Black Belt is a White Belt who refused to give up... follow my story: The real life story of a running frog... |
09-08-2009, 10:05 PM | #116 | |
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Quote:
that Wigan away game was surreal. And that free kick floated for like 5 mintues on the way to the far post. To see Lombardo run under it, pas the defender who simply stayed there and never saw it coming, it was beautiful. I kinda agree about Lombardo, he's been on hot streaks at time. The nice thing is that him and Heitzmann have relayed each other on goal scoring duties, so much so that it has not left much space for Fred Sears. All the better for me, as these two will be there after this season. Even better is that Lombardo is still relatively young. FM
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A Black Belt is a White Belt who refused to give up... follow my story: The real life story of a running frog... |
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09-08-2009, 11:03 PM | #117 |
College Starter
Join Date: Oct 2000
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congrats, KUTGW!
Last edited by condors : 09-08-2009 at 11:03 PM. |
09-09-2009, 08:30 AM | #118 |
College Starter
Join Date: Apr 2007
Location: Arlington, VA
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Hatters Top Wigan!
Congratulations on your great cup run. How is the gate split in the FA cup? At the very least, I would expect that the Chelsea match will be a big payout for you. |
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February 6, 2010
League Match #29: at Accrington (22nd) (Luton 1-3 fav)
These away games where we're heavy favourites always make me nervous, but we are 3-0 against Accrington in the last two seasons. We talked about Andrea Lombardo being a fixture for us up front, well he does it again in the 32nd minute. Kudos to Sébastien Heitzmann for winning an aerial battle with an opposing defender that sprung Lombardo's run to the net. It's 1-0 at the half and I encourage the players. While we're winning possession, all other stats are pretty even between the two teams. For some odd reason, many guys start the second half playing nervously, but they get a hold of themselves eventually and we hang on to win it. Final Score: 1-0
Not a real dominant win, but a win's a win. The fans are pleased with the away win which was our six straight win in a row. Stockport also won their game and we keep 'em one point away with two games on hand.
February 8, 2010 Our FA Cup match against Chelsea has been brought forward to 12:30 for television coverage. Game is in 5 days. This is gonna be big. February 10, 2010 League Match #30: at Morecambe (24th) (Luton 1-6 fav)
Wow, I know they're dead last, but those are some heavy odds in our favour. This is one of our games on hand and we're the only two teams in action in League 2 today. Injury status time: Rhoys Wiggins, 1-2 days Daniel Jones, 2-3 weeks Lewis Emanuel, 2-3 weeks Shiva-Star N'Zigou, 2-3 months I'm sitting out Kevin Nicholls for this game and going with a youngish inner midfield of Romain Beynié and Dean Pearce. Beynié is still lacking in match fitness quite a bit. Sébastien Heitzmann will also rest in preparation for the Chelsea match. Andrea Lombardo will act as captain for this match. Kind of a tiny reward for his nice season. I toyed with the idea of telling the guys I expected them to win but I decided to tell them to do it for the fans. My assistant warns me of overconfidence in the locker room and maybe it's the reason for how flat we play in the first half. Odd too is how by the 40th minute or so, 9 players are playing nervously, maybe fearing they'll make a mistake and cause us to go one down. A boring scoreless first half is followed by more boring soccer and a scoreless second half. Final Score: 0-0.
Disappointing, and I tell the guys it was just not good enough. Seriously, we should have destroyed these guys. At least we didn't let in a fluke goal and we scrape away a tiny point. The fans, just like me, are disspointed. Chesapeake mentioned gate receipts and as I checked, our bank balance shows upward of $315k, much, much higher than what it was just a year ago at the same time. Those two round 4 matches have certainly helped us. I see gate receipts close to $500k for January, that's about as high as what we had in July, when we had some very high profile friendlies. Through all of last seasons, we never had a month go higher than $275k (November 2008). Looking forward to see how much that match at Stamford Bridge will bring in. Certainly, win or lose, we should get something for or coffers. FM
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A Black Belt is a White Belt who refused to give up... follow my story: The real life story of a running frog... |
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09-09-2009, 10:22 AM | #120 |
Head Coach
Join Date: Nov 2003
Location: Morgan Hill, CA
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FM - I don't have '09, but I see you mention your guys playing nervously. Is there a mention of that during the game or does it show up on one of the in-game screens? Or is it just to make the write-ups more interesting?
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Fan of SF Giants, 49ers, Sharks, Arsenal |
09-09-2009, 11:36 AM | #121 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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February 13, 2010
FA Cup Round 5: at Chelsea (1st in Premiership) (Chelsea 1-8 fav)
What nice headlines in the papers yesterday: "Chelsea fans expecting comfortable win" & "Luton face the impossible". Well, they are sitting 1st in the Premiership and if they can knock Arsenal out of the Cup, we surely are not much on their radar screen. Rhoys Wiggins resumes full training but will not be suiting up for this match. I go with my more experienced lineup and while my assistant is all upbeat and wants to tell the guys that they "can win it today!" I tone it down a bit and tell them that the pressure is off. They pressure us from the opening kickoff and even score in the 8th minute, but it's disallowed. Our offside trapped worked just fine that time. It won't be long before they score and after a crossbar in the 16th minute, it's their. Down 0-1. We're hanging in there though and surprisingly, the guys are playing with motivation and confidence. We're just not getting out of our defensive zone much. By the 34th minute, they've attempted 12 shots to none for us. They finally score another just before the end of the half on a very nice play, almost unstoppable for us. We finally have our first shot in injury time of the first half and it took a great save from their keeper to keep us from cutting into their lead. Still, reality is we're down 0-2 and they are dominating us, as they were expeted to, but we're surviving and not completely being destroyed, which is, in all honesty, better than what I expected. We hold on until the 79th minute before letting a third goal go in and while we're not really challenging their keeper, we manage to fire a couple shots. Final Score: 0-3.
Okay, don't look at the match stats. Oh, too late? Well it was not much prettier than what the stats indicate, but we stuck in there and came out of it taller, if only in experience. I mean, this was a match on TV, in front of a hostile crowd of more than 34,000 screaming fans. I tell the guys that despite the loss, it was a good effort. The fans are still pleased even though we lost the game. We're out of the FA Cup and the team board declare themselves delighted that we reached the 5th round, much higher than their expectation of a 3rd round. But holy moly! this last Cup match has brought in close to $950k in gate receipts and close to $400k in TV revenue. That's a cool $1.35M in our coffers. Rock on! Our bank balance now sits at over $1.5M. While we were playing, the whole of League 2 were in action and Stockport regained possession of 1st place witha 2-1 win over Aldershot. We still have two games on hand though and even with these two games on hand, we're still 5 points ahead of 4th place Cheltenham and the autopromotion line.
February 15, 2010 Mike Pollitt has again been selected to the League 2 Team of the Week. Seriously, if he's not an easy selection to the League's Best Eleven of the season, I'll cry to the media. FM
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A Black Belt is a White Belt who refused to give up... follow my story: The real life story of a running frog... |
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09-09-2009, 11:38 AM | #122 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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February 17, 2010
League Match #31: at Darlington (6th) (Luton 4-5 fav)
Interesting stats, in three games against Darlington, we've beat them 4-0 and 3-0 at home while we've lost our only away game to them 0-1. This game is away and as thus, makes me nervous. Pelé has been struggling recently and I give him a game off. Junior Stanlislas scores his first goal as a Hatter to give us a 1-0 lead in the 21st minute. He's played quite well since joining us. He received a nice pass from our other new winger, Gavin Swankie. The second half starts with Claude Gnakpa upending an opponent inside the penalty area. PENALTY! Former Hatter from way in the past, Richard Langley, buries the ball to tie it at one a piece. We can't find a way to score another goal and it ends in a tie. Final Score: 1-1.
Junior Stanislas is the Man of the Match but overall it was a disappointing performance from the lads and I tell them so. Bein the only team in action, we regain 1st place, tied on point The fans are pleased with the draw on the road. And Pelé will finds his spot back in the starting eleven real fast as George Pilkington suffered a pulled hamstring and will miss around 4 weeks. FM
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A Black Belt is a White Belt who refused to give up... follow my story: The real life story of a running frog... |
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09-09-2009, 11:40 AM | #123 | |
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Quote:
It is indeed part of the in-game "TV View" mode where one of the little info screen you can activate is a "motivation" module. For every player, it shows the mood they are in. Info I remember seeing are among the following: Playing okay (yellow/neutral Looking motivated (green/positive) Playing with confidence (green/positive) Having/had a good game (green/positive) Deserved his "x" goals (green/positive) Having/had a poor game (red/negative) Looking complacent (red/negative) Playing nervously (red/negative) Mistake led to goal (red/negative) I've included screenies from the TV View with the motivation module opened. #1 is from the Morecambe game with lots of guys playing nervously, #2 is from the Chelsea game when guys were still playing with confidence, #3 is with the Darlington player setting up for the penalty kick and #4 is to show how bad Claude Gnakpa felt about causing a penalty. I think it's a really nice feature, I quite love it and consult it numerous times per game, especially at halftime to adjust my team-talk to try and give a confidence boost to some players. Not much you can do about it during the game though. Maybe this'll be touched upon with the new in-game instructions I think you'll be able to make in FM2010. FM
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A Black Belt is a White Belt who refused to give up... follow my story: The real life story of a running frog... |
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09-09-2009, 04:09 PM | #124 | |
Head Coach
Join Date: Nov 2003
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Quote:
Definitely getting FM2010 now. I have 08, but this type of feature and all the other new ones I have read about are just to good to resist.
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Fan of SF Giants, 49ers, Sharks, Arsenal |
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09-09-2009, 04:46 PM | #125 | |
Hall Of Famer
Join Date: Nov 2000
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Quote:
That really is a nice looking feature. Pity I couldn't even get the demo to run (IIRC) on my poor old PC.
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"I lit another cigarette. Unless I specifically inform you to the contrary, I am always lighting another cigarette." - from a novel by Martin Amis |
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09-09-2009, 04:57 PM | #126 | |
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Quote:
What I found about '09 is that there's a lot more feedback available to you. Your assistant is a lot more useful this time around. I think I've mentioned about him recommending players in his team report. I think Rhoys Wiggins came to me as a recommendation from there. Say your assman will say he's happy with the depth of the club but that we could still improve in the defense area and then he'll recommend a player or two, most of the times, players I have no scouting reports on. You can also ask him to give you a report about possible players to get on loan, either at a certain club, or at large in a certain position (say "find me left defenders to loan"). There's also a lot more confidence ratings that you are evaluated upon and the team board seems a bit more "intelligent" in their evaluation. Like last season when I had a crappy draw in the League Cup and lost in first round. They expected me to make it to the 2nd round and said they were disappointed we got out in first round but that they could understand how we lost to the team we lost to. I can't believe '10 will have less of this, actually more and more is being advertised already. FM
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09-09-2009, 04:57 PM | #127 | |
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it's a pity indeed. FM
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09-10-2009, 09:09 AM | #128 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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February 20, 2010
League Match #32: vs Port Vale (3rd) (Luton evens fav)
Feels good to be back home. We've played our last five games on the road: at Wigan, at Accrington, at Morecambe, at Chelsea and at Darlington. Also, this long cup run came with a cost. Sure we have two games on hand over everyone, but we're suffering through fixture congestion, having just played three days ago while everybody else played 7 days ago, and we play again in three days, when nobody but us will be playing. This is a big one, against 3rd place team Port Vale. Third place is the line for autopromotion. Rhoys Wiggins is not in super shape, but I give him the start as he's our left back of the future. I had not realized this but it hits me when it's mentioned in the pre-game milestones. It's been a heck of a long time since Sébastien Heitzmann's last goal. 481 minute to be exact or more than 5 games. I tell him I have faith in his ability. Well, it made it to just a tad over 500 minutes before he scored, in the 22nd minute of the game to be exact. He took a great lofted ball from Dean Pearce into the box and the keeper just couldn't do anything. We keep putting pressure and have a goal disallowed for offside maybe 15 minutes later. It's almost odd looking at the stats since we're losing possession but are having more chances on goal than them. It's only 1-0 at the half and with that kind of tight game, I tell the guys not to get careless. Right after the start of the half, they hit a post that I was absolutely certain was going in. The ball's cleared and we take all the way down the other end where Gavin Swankie scores his first ever goal as a Hatter. Final Score: 2-0.
Great, confident performance by many of our guys. Good crowd of 7167 too. Dean Pearce did very well, assisting on both goals, but it's Gavin Swankie who's the Man of the Match. This win extends our unbeaten run to 10 league games. Stockport lost 0-1 at Rotherham and we move 3 points away from them.
February 22, 2010 Aaaaand Mike Pollitt has once again been selected to the League 2 Team of the Week. FM
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A Black Belt is a White Belt who refused to give up... follow my story: The real life story of a running frog... |
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09-10-2009, 11:43 AM | #129 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Hattrick Moderator
Join Date: Jan 2003
Location: Pintendre, Qc, Canada
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February 24, 2010
League Match #33: vs Northampton (9th) (Luton 1-2 fav)
Interesting question in the pre-match press conference. I'm asked for my views on the title chase. Been asked that question in the past and used to answer with the name of the team that was sitting in 1st place. We're currently sitting in 1st place so I get cute and answer the only team I could: Luton. There's no reaction from the players though. I was kinda worried about doubt, or overconfidence. This is the only game in the League today, we're playing that last game on hand. In injury status news, both Lewis Emanuel and Daniel Jones are 1 to 3 days away from being back to training while George Pilkington is 2 to 3 weeks away. I give a game off to Andrea Lombardo and the start to Fred Sears. Trying to build back up Sears's confidence, I tell him there's no pressure on him today. Maybe only a coincidence but he starts on a roar and scores only two minutes and a half into the game. Junior Stanislas's cross from the byline was simply perfect on that play. Christos Karypidis then doubles our lead in the 16th minute with his first ever goal as a Hatter. He is then called for a foul in our penalty area in injury time for the first half. He can't believe it, expressing to the referee that he thought it wasn't a penalty. Referee stands by his decision and they score on the ensuing kick. We're up 2-1 at the half, coolly in control. Fred Sears adds to his tally, again two minutes and a half into the half. He's having a heck of a game. Final Score: 3-1.
As expected, Sears is the Man of the Match, ending his own goal drought of more than 943 minutes with his 5th and 6th goals of the season. The fans are delighted with the win that puts us six points clear atop the league table and a cool eleven points safe into autopromotion. Even further, we're now 18 points ahead of the playoff line. February 25, 2010 Looking at the team stats, we're at the top of just about every stat category. Look at the attached screenie below, we've scored more goals than anyone else, and conceded less than anyone else. FM
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A Black Belt is a White Belt who refused to give up... follow my story: The real life story of a running frog... |
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09-15-2009, 10:51 AM | #130 |
Pro Starter
Join Date: Jan 2001
Location: Rennes, France
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I was saying : rock on !
Last edited by Alf : 09-15-2009 at 10:54 AM. |
09-15-2009, 02:08 PM | #131 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Hattrick Moderator
Join Date: Jan 2003
Location: Pintendre, Qc, Canada
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February 27, 2010
League Match #34: at Shrewsbury (8th) (Luton 4-5 fav)
Romain Beynié is still lacking match fitness but that darn fixture congestion is leaving Dean Pearce a bit out of breath so Beynié gets the start today. Grr, Gavin Swankie has to leave the game in the 19th minute because of an injury. Rhoys Wiggins is kinda low on conditionning but he'll have to do for the rest of the game. We play a reasonably good first half, but our last 8 minutes are really good in terms of pressure applied on the opposing defense. It finally pays off when Andrea Lombardo scores on a nicely centred ball by Junior Stanislas, two and a half minute into the announce three minutes of injury time. We add to our lead in the 60th minute when Freddy sears converts a pinpoint pass from Andrea Lombardo. Final Score: 2-0.
Andrea Lombardo is selected as the Man of the Match with a goal and an assist. He also completed 17 of 20 passes, 3 of them key passes. The fans are delighted with the win. Stockport destroyed Notts County, 5-1, so we remain 6 points ahead of them. Swankie was able to walk off his injury and comes out okay. The same cannot be said for Romain Beynié. He will miss 3 weeks with a twisted knee. The good news is that both Daniel Jones and Emanuel Lewis have returned to full training today. In other news, Liverpool have won the League Cup, beating Portsmouth 2-0. March 1st, 2010 Wow, February really was the Luton month! I was named Coach of the month while Dean Pearce was named Player of the Month and Junior Stanislas was selected as Young Player of the Month. The team won four games out of six, drawing the other two for 14 points. Second best were Chesterfield and Stockport with 12 points in their month of February. Dean Pearce and Junior Stanislas make for an interesting case. Pearce is 17 and Stanislas is 20. Pearce came in first for Player of the month while Stanislas came in second, but Pearce is not even mentioned in the top three for young player of the month. He's still only 17. Odd... Anyway, really, really happy with the awards. Mike Pollitt, Chirstos Karypidis and Andrea Lombardo have been selected to the League 2 Team of the Week. The board are still pleased with my management of the team. The club made a profit of $1.27M last month, thanks to that game at Stamford Bridge. FM
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A Black Belt is a White Belt who refused to give up... follow my story: The real life story of a running frog... |
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09-15-2009, 02:57 PM | #132 |
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Join Date: Dec 2002
Location: Little Rock, AR
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You are going to have to start beating clubs off with a stick for Dean Pearce when the window opens back up. I would not sell him for anything less then 6 million.
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Xbox 360 Gamer Tag: GoldenEagle014 Last edited by GoldenEagle : 09-15-2009 at 03:01 PM. |
09-15-2009, 04:27 PM | #133 | |
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Quote:
yeah, I think so too. He's had that "Wnt" tag for a while now, with currently 5 Championship sides interested in him: Norwich, Nottm Forest, Sheff Wed, Swandsea and Watford. Not sure they all have really deep pockets, but his current price tag of $4M will certainly be upped as we get closer to the reopening of the transfer window next Summer. FM
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A Black Belt is a White Belt who refused to give up... follow my story: The real life story of a running frog... |
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09-22-2009, 03:25 PM | #134 |
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Join Date: Jan 2001
Location: Rennes, France
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we want more !
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10-20-2009, 03:42 AM | #135 |
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Join Date: Jan 2001
Location: Rennes, France
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no time left ?
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