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07-17-2006, 02:29 PM
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#1 | ||
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Hattrick Moderator
Join Date: Jan 2003
Location: Pintendre, Qc, Canada
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WSM2006: 2011/12 - do or die at Kenilworth Road
The 2010/11 season was not one of my most glorious one. In only our second season in the EPL, we started with a very rough start and could not recover from, ending it in 13th place, a couple spots lower than in our first season back up. Never was I given the dreaded "vote of confidence" by my team board, but many, if not most, of my players had the feeling that we were underachieving. I received an offer to leave Kenilworth Road about midway through the season to take over control of Paris St Germain in the France Ligue 1. I pondered and pondered about making the move but finally decided that I'd give it my all at Kenilworth Road, thus the title of this thread. I will either right this ship, or I'll drown with it...
This is where I'll post the story of the 2011-12 season... FM
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A Black Belt is a White Belt who refused to give up... follow my story: The real life story of a running frog... |
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07-17-2006, 02:51 PM
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#2 |
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Hattrick Moderator
Join Date: Jan 2003
Location: Pintendre, Qc, Canada
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June 3, 2011
Christian Wilhelmsson agrees to a one year contract extention that will keep him at the club until June 2012. I felt that the 31yo Swede was plenty worth it if simply because of his versatility and the depth he gives us. He can play all three of our attacking midfield positions as well as the striker spot. He signed for $2k less per week than what he was earning this last season. June 4, 2011 I've also been offering backups and unneeded players around. I received and accepted offers for right fullback Ibrahim Tall. He says he would agree to move to Nimes for a lower salary but on the condition that we pay the difference for the year that would be left on his Luton contract. This will come to $6k per week. we agree and he agrees to move. Nimes will pay us $475k when Tall joins them. It's less than the $2M we paid for him, but he's not become the dependable fullback we expected him to be, instead leaving way for Kevin Foley to become so. I'd also received offers from many clubs for backup winger Fabrice Fernandes. Most of the team interested in signing him are smaller clubs and he snubs all 6 of them. Well, you might ride the pine here my friend... The European qualifiers for 2011/12 have been announced: Champions League: Chelsea (holders), Arsenal, Manchester United, Liverpool UEFA Cup: Blackburn (Carling Cup winners), Bolton (FA Cup finalists), Middlesbrough Inter-Toto Cup: Tottenham, Manchester City I hope to soon see the Luton Town name in this list. June 5, 2011 In what comes as a shocking move, Liverpool sack Rafa Benítez. Seems the pressure from the supporters was too big for them to leave him in place. They had just finished the season in 4th place for the 3rd season in a row, wow, that's kind of harsh. Seeing that and looking at how rough last season went, I don't even think about applying for the job... June 10, 2011 Liverpool have hired Graeme Souness as their new manager. They are already expecting him to bring the team to a challenge of the EPL title this season. FM
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A Black Belt is a White Belt who refused to give up... follow my story: The real life story of a running frog... |
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07-17-2006, 03:40 PM
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#3 |
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College Prospect
Join Date: Apr 2002
Location: Whitman, MA
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I'm up for following some Hatter footy, hopefully the new season turns out better than the last one. That sophmore jinx is always a bummer to suffer through.
Tell
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FOOL - Ann Arbor Winged Lingerines FOOLX - Portland Axemen Hattrick - Fizzle United (222968) |
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07-17-2006, 05:01 PM
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#4 |
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High School Varsity
Join Date: Nov 2003
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I will be reading along. Goodluck this season FM!
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07-18-2006, 09:06 AM
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#5 |
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Hattrick Moderator
Join Date: Jan 2003
Location: Pintendre, Qc, Canada
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thanks guys!
 Tell, hopefully, it was only sophomore season jitters and we'll be back to better form. I think the team has comparable talents to teams that finished between 6th and 10th last year so with a few tweaks (very few though, I want to build some cohesion) maybe we could do well... FM
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A Black Belt is a White Belt who refused to give up... follow my story: The real life story of a running frog... |
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07-18-2006, 09:08 AM
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#6 |
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Hattrick Moderator
Join Date: Jan 2003
Location: Pintendre, Qc, Canada
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June 19, 2011
Well, there's one thing to be said about the Luton Town board, it's that they spend their money wisely. For the third season in a row, in fact before each and every season we've in the Premiership so far, they have announce plans to enlarge the stadium at Kenilworth Road. What was once a tiny stadium of only 9950 seats had been improve to some 15000 the first year, then to 22000 or so the following year and it will have some 4180 seats more in four months when this renovation is over. Sweeeet! Part of the money needed for that improvement came from the new 5 year sponsorship deal worth $5M per annum that the board announced today. This is like a 1250% increase from the previous $400k per annum sponsorship deal we had. Sweeeet!! What's not so sweet is that the board is still a bit stiff in regards to transfer spending as they announce the transfer budget of $9.5M for next season. They even add that next season's initial TV revenue has been taken into account. They do offer me some alternative budgets, and this is what they look like: $9.5M transfer, $400k wage $7.5M transfer, $425k wage $5.25M transfer, $475k wage $3.5M transfer, $500k wage While I know they rarely give me more transfer money, they often adjust the wage budget upward, or let me go overboard without complaining much, so I take the highest possible transfer budget... The team total wage does look ugly at a current value of $485k against a budget of $400k, but oh well... June 20, 2011 Rey Volpato has been voted Luton's Player of the Year by supporters. He succeeds Giannis Taralidis and Arjan Wisse, the previous two winners, and Luton legend Steve Howard who had won it for the first three seasons of my tenure at Kenilworth Road. The team board say they are pleased with my performance in the last season. They had that the team is expected to achieve a safe mid-table position within the Premiership in the coming season, the same goal we failed to reach this season. Hopefully we will not let them down. With the improved ground, the average attendance of 13783 over the last season is a new team record. We should shatter that record this season, as the missing seats due to the renovation will only bring the total available seats down to 21k and change, compared to having only 11k available for the first half of last season... The average rating of 7.57 by Zac Barrett over 26 appearances last season is also a new Luton team record. Good to see a local kid do well in the club. I can breathe a sigh of relief now. Everybody's at home and they are no longer slightly concerned that the team is underachieving. Clean slate, time to start anew June 22, 2011 Frankfurt are enquiring about how much I'd want to let Philippe Senderos go. He's valued at $5.5M but is invaluable to the team as he was the steadiest of our defenders last season. I tell them $13M. 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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07-18-2006, 11:44 AM
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#7 |
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Hattrick Moderator
Join Date: Jan 2003
Location: Pintendre, Qc, Canada
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June 23, 2011
I'm working the transfer list a little, trying to come up with what kind of player might be useful to bring to our club. The left fullback position has been a problem for a long time and I'm thinking about doing something about it. Ironically, it's at Frankfurt that I find an interesting player, Benoît Assou-Ekotto. He's valued at some $5M but they paid $11.5M to get him in the Summer of 2008 so I had offer them $9M. They got back to me today and told me they'd accepted the offer. Woah. He's earning $60k per week with them right now and with the way we're overbudget right now, I can only offer him $39.5M. That may be a shot in the water but I'll try my luck. He's proven to be a pretty solid player for Frankfurt since getting there three seasons ago. He's not averaged under 7.2 in form for the last two seasons and at 27, he would bring some experience to our relatively young back line. June 24, 2011 In some sort of summer cleanup, I had sent feelers to other teams offering them left fullback Lesley Fellinga and attacking midfielder Marcio Junquiera. I'm receiving offers for both of them, offers that I accept. Frankfurt have let me know that they will not be putting in a bid for Philippe Senderos. I honestly didn't believe they would. Among interesting EPL news, Liverpool's Graeme Souness has decided to make a splash in the market by bringing to the club Freddy Adu from Roma for a fee of $25M. Click the thumbnail for Adu's profile:  Interesting but not worth $25M for a frugal spender like me The end of the day strikes me with a pleasant surprise: Benoît Assou-Ekotto has agreed to a deal to join Luton! Click the thumbnail to see his profile.  As you can see, he should be a welcomed addition to the Hatters roster. He's not the best at marking his man but he's got good pace and is a great tackler and passer. Here are his stats over his last few years:  And his stats for last season, note the high completion percentage of his passes, something I love in a defender, and his fairly high average of tackles per game with a reasonable number of fouls (lest than half a game):  FM
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A Black Belt is a White Belt who refused to give up... follow my story: The real life story of a running frog... |
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07-18-2006, 11:58 AM
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#8 |
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Hattrick Moderator
Join Date: Jan 2003
Location: Pintendre, Qc, Canada
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June 27, 2011
My preseason schedule of friendlies is all booked. We will start it with a 3 game tour in France and then come back home for four friendlies in England. Here's the list: 07/02 @ Lyon 07/07 @ Paris-SG 07/11 @ Nice 07/17 vs QPR 07/23 vs Real Madrid 07/31 @ Hull 08/06 vs Lecce We kick off the season on 08/13 at Kenilworth Road against Aston Villa. Wow, Liverpool's Graeme Souness is really aggressive on the transfer market. After signing Adu for $25M less than a week ago, he adds Vincent Kompany to his tally, for a fee of $27.5M. Ouch, in a week, that's more than I've spent in 6 years... June 28, 2011 Marcio Junquiera has agreed a deal with Dutch side NEC. Funny thing, it was the one place offering more for him. They came up with some wicked offer of $1.5M up front and some other conditional payments that could boost the sale another $3.8M. I think I was asking something like $975k for him and that's what all the other team were offering. Good choice Marcio! Lesley Fellinga has also agreed a deal with a new team, Köln in his case. He will move to them for a fee of $1.8M on July 1st. Considering he was a free signing only a season ago, I feel that's not a bad deal, maybe made even better now that we've secured the services of Benoît Assou-Ekotto. Speaking of which, I had asked my scouts to report on Assou-Ekotto and their reports just got in. Both guys who saw him play agree that he would instantly command a place in the Luton first team. Good to know. 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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07-18-2006, 02:20 PM
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#9 |
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Hattrick Moderator
Join Date: Jan 2003
Location: Pintendre, Qc, Canada
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July 1st, 2011
The team board is still pleased with my performance as manager of the club. They have also relaxed their views on the wage budget, something I almost counted on, and they now allow me to go up to $516k in total wages. Our current wage total now looks pretty nice, some $30k below the limit, at $486k. As we get ready to play our first friendlies, I will go with the position by position roundup reports. Since I have not changed much in the squad, some, many of them will be reposts from the last thread with some adjustments... 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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07-18-2006, 02:21 PM
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#10 |
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Hattrick Moderator
Join Date: Jan 2003
Location: Pintendre, Qc, Canada
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Team Overview: Goalkeepers
Zac Barrett, 22yo  Zac really established himself as the clear cut starter last season when Niki Mäenpää went down with a 2 months injury. He had a crazy high average form over the season and I really hope the kid can keep it up this season. Niki Mäenpää, 26yo  As you just read above, Niki was injured and missed significant time in the second half of last season. Prior to that, he'd had some very good games for us but he never was able to replicate these showings after coming back from his injury. I hope he can complement Barrett the same way he did in the first half of the season. Oswaldo Sanchez, 37yo  Oswaldo is with us as an all around coach who plays at the same time. He's barely played for the first team and the times he did, he was not very impressive. He's announced his retirement for next June. Richard Wright, 33yo  I have tried offering Richard to other teams as I don't see him getting playing time for us. Sadly for him, unless I offer him for nothing, nobody wanted to make a bid... 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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07-18-2006, 02:24 PM
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#11 |
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Hattrick Moderator
Join Date: Jan 2003
Location: Pintendre, Qc, Canada
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Team Overview: Centrebacks
Philippe Senderos, 25yo  Big Phil has really been a rock for our defense ever since stepping on the field for us, very impressive play from him. He wins many headers in the middle and can move the ball well. As you just read, I gave a strong hands off message to Frankfurt when they approached me to possibly sign him. I see many seasons as a hatter for him. Curtis Davies, 25yo  Curtis has shown a tiny tendency to take a night off every once in a while and that worries me a little. He's still pretty solid, but I'll make sure to give him his night off before he decides to take it on hiw own from now on. Edmílson, 34yo  I was glad that he decided to sign the one year extention I offered him late last season. He's good depth for us, capable of holding his own either on the back line and or in our defensive midfield. I like having him on the bench sometimes as he's useful for late in games when I want to pull out a striker for either a second DMC (4-2-2-1-1) or a third DC (5-1-2-1-1). Paul Reid, 28yo  Paul is really disgruntled, maybe even straight unhappy about not playing enough with the first team. We were lucky with injuries to our centrebacks last year and didn't have to resort to using him there, but he could do if we needed him to. He is described as a centreback first. Spyros Vallas, 29yo Markus Heikkinen, 32yo Geri Çipi, 34yo Of these three only Spyros Vallas remains, as Heikkinen and Çipi left in the offseason. This means I might be in the market for an experienced centreback to give us more depth, or a younger player to groom for the future. 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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07-18-2006, 02:26 PM
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#12 |
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Hattrick Moderator
Join Date: Jan 2003
Location: Pintendre, Qc, Canada
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Team Overview: Fullbacks
Kevin Foley, DR, 26yo  Kevin really is a strong asset for us, especially as an attacking fullback. He tends to go forward quite a bit which sometimes can mean trouble for the other defenders, but he's one of a kind for his passes inside the box from far on the wing. Benoît Assou-Ekotto, DL, 27yo The sole newcomer on the team this offseason so far, Benoît comes from Frankfurt with great promise. I'm counting on him to solve our problems at the left of ouf defensive and to feed to James Simmonds our left winger. Michael Timlin, DL, 25yo  Michael will now play more in his primary left winger position but he's shown he can do plenty well at the fullback spot. Keith Keane, DR, 24yo  Kinda strange since he's described primarily as a fullback in his profile, but Keith seems more consistant at DM than he can be at the fullback spot. He still makes a very valid backup. Adam Green, DL, 27yo  Adam remains on the team as a deep backup and could see some playing time in the case of an injury rash (read acute terpkristinitis  .Andy O'Brien, DR/DL, 19yo Andy was once thought a very bright Luton youth squad prospect but his lack of determination has kind of hindered his development and he has stalled at a level that will never make him an EPL fullback. Sad... 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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07-18-2006, 02:27 PM
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#13 |
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Hattrick Moderator
Join Date: Jan 2003
Location: Pintendre, Qc, Canada
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Team Overview: Defensive Midfielders
Giannis Taralidis, 29yo  Hopefully, the injuries that plagued Giannis' season last year were only fluke bits because we really need him out there. Once a Hatter player of the year, I hope he can go back to that kind of form. BTW, his skills are really deflated, given that he's been injured for so long... Keith Keane,24yo As I said in the fullback overview, Keith, despite being described as a fullback, seems to play better football in the middle of our defensive midfield. That might be due to his relatively low positioning, which is not as high as many of his other skills. Cédric Fernandez, 21yo  Cédric got on the team in the January transfer window last season, and has shown some good potential. At times, he can even be listed ahead of Taralidis on my assistant manager's team report... Paul Reid, 28yo Paul was brought in to Kenilworth Road as a free transfer gamble out of Cardiff. Gamble since he is a pure MC who doesn't have either the DMC or the AMC position listed next to his name. He can also play DC, but I mainly bought to play midfield and that might have been a mistake, as he struggles. I've played him sometimes as a straight MC with a DMC behind him, but that take a bit of our offense out of the game. Edmílson, 34yo While this is not his primary position, Edmílson can help the team out there when needed and late in games be switched down to DC if we need 5 defenders to protect a lead. Lubos Loucka, 28yo Lubos is still on the team because nobody I've offered him to wants of him. I might have to try him out a bit during our friendlies. James Watkins, 19yo Once thought to be a great prospect for us, he too suffered from a lack of determination that undermined his development. He's on a month to month contract, paid some $200 a week... Andy Fox, 18yo Yet another youngster with some spotty good skills plagued with very low determination. He's done not so bad for the U18 squad last season and will see some playing time during friendlies to see if he can do the trick... 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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07-18-2006, 02:28 PM
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#14 |
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Hattrick Moderator
Join Date: Jan 2003
Location: Pintendre, Qc, Canada
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Team Overview: Attacking Midfielders
Youssouf Hersi, 28yo  Maybe it's the age, but I found that giving a game off to Youssouf every once in a while did wonders to him last season. He would often have killer games on games after he was left off. I may try doing it again, subbing him with Scott Donnelly. Scott Donnelly, 23yo  Scott is another of my QPR ties. I saw him grow before my eyes in my previous life and I added him to my shortlist fairly early in this current life. He didn'T play as much as he might have wanted last season, mostly because he was cup tied for many of our games, and it showed in his confidence. Hopefully, he can adapt to life at Kenilworth Road and be a big contributor to the team's success. Simon Feindouno, 25yo Rey Volpato, 24yo Grégory Bettiol, 24yo Christian Wilhelmsson This group is a mix and match of strikers and wingers who can all play the AMC spot if we need them to. They will be presented more in depth when in their respective primary position. Regarding the AMC position, I'm not afraid to go to a 2 DMC formation with two strikers, expecially late in games, so often not having an AMC is not that big a deal. FM
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A Black Belt is a White Belt who refused to give up... follow my story: The real life story of a running frog... |
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07-18-2006, 02:35 PM
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#15 |
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Hattrick Moderator
Join Date: Jan 2003
Location: Pintendre, Qc, Canada
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Team Overview: Wingers
Simon Feindouno, MR, 25yo  In my opinion, Simon has everything in his skill set to be a great winger for us and that was my thinking when I paid $4.1M to bring him to Kenilworth Road from Rangers. So far, while has not been disappointing, he has only shown tiny moments of brilliance. I have now appointed him the starting winger over Christian Wilhelmsson and I'm hoping the increased playing time will translate to some improvement in his level of play. James Simmonds, ML, 23yo  While not blessed with the greatest pace, a bit slow for a winger in fact, James can do wonderful things with the football. So much so that I didn't feel it was necessary to renegotiate the contract of Urby Emanuelsson to remove the minimum release fee from his contract when he started gathering attention. I was "forced" to let go of Emanuelson on January 25th when the $6.5M minimum fee clause was met, but I felt good with leaving Simmonds as our main left winger out there and he's not disappointed me so far. He's young and should be with us for a long time. Christian Wilhelmsson, MR/ML, 31yo  I was glad Christian agreed to sign the one year extention we offered him very late in the season. He was a starter for most of the first half, and he gave us great goals. Now, he'll be a backup and a good one at that, since he can play just about anywhere on the attacking side of the pitch. Michael Timlin, ML, 25yo  Michael has not played much on the wing last season. Him being described as a winger in his profiled and seeing how nicely he played as a fullback, I'd assume he will do the trick when asked to step up. Grégory Bettiol, MR, 24yo  Grégory was kid of shy when asked to play wing last year, even though it was his second full season after coming to us as a free transfer from Lyon in July 2009. I'd hope he would be more agressive at times. Fabrice Fernandes, MR/ML, 31yo  Old man Fabrice has been with us forever it seems. He did sign with us in July 2006 as a free transfer out of Bolton. His best years are behind him although he provides a steadying presence capable of playing on either side of the pitch. Arjan Wisse, ML, 25yo Rey Volpato, ML, 24yo Shane Paul, MR, 24yo Here's a trio of strikers all capable of playing wing if we ever need them although I'll be very hard pressed to use them there, given that our depth at striker is a bit less than on the wings. Scott Donnelly can also play bench right winger although he seems much more comfortable in the middle of the attacking midfield, right behind the strikers. 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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07-18-2006, 02:38 PM
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#16 |
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Hattrick Moderator
Join Date: Jan 2003
Location: Pintendre, Qc, Canada
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Team Overview: Strikers
Arjan Wisse, 25yo  Ever since coming from Aberdeen for a fee of $250k in July 2008, Arjan has been a fan favourite, capable of scoring goals almost at will. He was voted Luton's player of the year by the supporters two years ago and always seem to play well. Rey Volpato, 24yo  Signed as a free agent in July 2009, Rey was just voted Luton's player of the year for last season. He had a slow start with us but really caught on fire this past season. I hope he can keep this up. The one sad thing with him up front means I have to left footed striker as opposed to my usual combination of leftie/rightie that I usually prefer. Shane Paul, 24yo  Brought in from Hull last January for a fee of $675k, Shane can score goals as well as disappear from games at times. If he can score goals late in game coming off the bench, I will be able to forget his 6-rated games every once in a while. Grégory Bettiol, 24yo Christian Wilhelmsson, 31yo Simon Feindouno, 25yo Just as with the attacking midfielder position, these three can play backup strikers just about anytime. 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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07-19-2006, 09:03 AM
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Hattrick Moderator
Join Date: Jan 2003
Location: Pintendre, Qc, Canada
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July 2, 2011
We play the first of our three games on our "Tour de France" This is what the lineup looks like, and barring injuries pretty much what it could look like for the start of our season:
I will switch everybody at halftime, unless an injury forces me to do so before that. The few "slt" tag you see in there are totally unrelated to anything regarding underachievement from the team. Hersi is still pissed I asked him to have an injection at the end of last season and Reid and Sanchez want some clarifications as to their roles with the team. Nothing to write home about for now... We play Lyon in this first friendly and this is kind of weird. They don't seem to have gone to holiday yet. Their league table is still showing the results of the season that just finished. They ended in 3rd place, only 3 points off league winners Nantes. They also fared pretty well in the UEFA Cup, geting knocked out in the second knock out round by Dortmund. They are a top notch team and we're out of shape and it shows. We only get one shot off in the first 45 minutes while they fire away at will, or at least it seems. Still, most of these shots must have been weak ones from far away as they can only score once on us. Final Score: Luton 0, Lyon 1 They outshot us 22(8) to 2(0) but 19(7) of these happened in the first half for them, so I'd say we recovered kind of nicely at the end. Still, the start of that game, seeing update after update of them mounting attacks toward our goal kind of made me freak out a bit. I was seeing too much of the same things that plagued us last season, but I have to remind myself that it's only a friendly, that we will get better. I hope... 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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07-19-2006, 09:04 AM
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#18 |
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Hattrick Moderator
Join Date: Jan 2003
Location: Pintendre, Qc, Canada
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July 3, 2011
$2.9M left in transfer budget is really not much this late into offseason to bring in a dependable backup central defender. Looking at my shortlist, the names of Abubakiri Yakubu (ring a bell?) and Dominic Shimmin (now at West Ham, formerly at QPR) strike me as possible transfers who could even be starters for us. I lunch enquiries about their availability to their respective teams. July 6, 2011 Well, so much for that enquiry, both Marseilles (for Yakubu) and West Ham tell me that neither player will be moving anytime soon. July 7, 2011 We play the second of our three friendlies in France, this time against the team I could be managing right now, Paris-SG. Starting lineup remains the same as well as the halftime switch strategy. I wanted to give some playing time to Lubos Loucka, but he's recovering from a virus at home and might miss up to 2 weeks. The game starts with an interesting first half in which we control the ball better than they do, but they are deadly in putting their shots on target. They take the lead 1-0 in the 34th minute. We can get anything going in the second half and they take over control of the game, fireing shots from every angle, although a bit less on target. Final Score: Luton 0, Paris-SG 1 Another 0-1 loss that doesn't worry me so much but I'd still want to see our offense score a goal at one point. 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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07-19-2006, 09:05 AM
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#19 |
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Hattrick Moderator
Join Date: Jan 2003
Location: Pintendre, Qc, Canada
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July 8, 2011
Newcastle and Parma approach me with offers for Rey Volpato. Newcastle offer me $8.5M up front and 20% of next sale. Parma seem more interested in him as they offer me $10M and 20% of next sale. Volpato's agent indicates that he would like to be able to discuss terms with Parma. That second offer is kind of interesting. I counter to both teams with offers of the minimum fee in his contract, i.e. $12.75M. I kind of regret it the moment I send it as I'm thinking I could find a replacement for him with the $10M and the $2.9M I have left in my budget. While he was Luton's player of the year last year, it was mostly for his incredible run of good form in the cup games, not really in league play... We'll see... Looking at more central defenders, I'm reminded of my good friend Danny Shittu over at QPR. He's now 31yo but looks like he could play well for us. He's valued at $2.9M and I enquire to my good friend Mick Harford about his availability. I'm shot down before the day is over... July 10, 2011 Parma and Newcastle withdraw their bid for Rey Volpato but another team is scouting him, Bolton this time. FM
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A Black Belt is a White Belt who refused to give up... follow my story: The real life story of a running frog... |
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07-19-2006, 09:11 AM
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#20 |
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Hattrick Moderator
Join Date: Jan 2003
Location: Pintendre, Qc, Canada
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July 11, 2011
We play Nice on our final friendly in France. They finished 17th last season, one spot out of relegation, so hopefully we can start putting in some goals. They show a funky 4-2-2-2 formation with 2 DMC and 2 MC with outside arrows. No wingers to that formation making is a very narrow one. I ask my guys to play it wider that we usually do and it pays off big time in the first half as we build a 4-0 lead before the 45 minute mark, thanks to a hat trick from Arjan Wisse and a goal from Rey Volpato. Feels great to see them two click up gront although we're shut down in the second half, but that mey be due to playing more of a B team after the break. Final Score: Luton 4, Nice 0 Feels good to finally score one, let alone four goals. 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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07-19-2006, 11:39 AM
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#21 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Join Date: Jan 2003
Location: Pintendre, Qc, Canada
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July 16, 2011
I've talked about Dominic Shimmin in the past and I decide to take a shot at getting him. He's a 23yo defender who's been playing with first teams for a number of years already. He's valued at $2.1M and I decide to offer West Ham everything I have left in my budget, i.e. $2.9M, for him. Youc can click the thumbnail below to see his profile...  I've also found a promising centreback currently playing at Portsmouth, Stuart Kelly. The kid's only 20 and while I find that young for a centreback, it would fit nicely for us, as he could take time to develop and get more regular playing time later on. He's valued at $2.4M and I offer them $2.9M plus 20% of next sale for him. Click the thumbnail for his profile...  July 17, 2011 We play QPR at Kenilworth in our first friendly back in England. Here's the starting lineup I'm using for this one:
As you can see, I'm moving players around, even sitting a couple out. It's nothing real special, only that some of my regulars have already the "match fit" status and I want to take it easy on them as well as play some others I don't always get a chance to see. The first half goes smoothly and we're very accurate on our shots. We take the lead in the 44th minute and we're unlucky to have scored only one as we put 5 of our 6 shots on target and not all easy shots at that. Youssouf Hersi was our first scorer and he's followed by Grégory Bettiol (58'), and Simon Feindouno (68') to give us a comfortable lead and the win. Final Score: Luton 3, Q.P.R. 0 We put 9 of our 12 shots on target on the game, a solid showing. It didn't take long. After the game, I learn that both my bids for Shimmin and Kelly were rejected. This has me frustrated and looking at the more than $27M sitting in the bank account of the club, I go to the team board and ask for more transfer money. Yeah, I expected that answer. They politely remind me that they have yet to see a return from the money spent this season. Grrrr. 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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07-19-2006, 11:40 AM
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#22 |
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Hattrick Moderator
Join Date: Jan 2003
Location: Pintendre, Qc, Canada
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I'm officially done with my reporting of what's been played so far so nothing new to come today.
If you got a comment, now's the best time FM
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A Black Belt is a White Belt who refused to give up... follow my story: The real life story of a running frog... |
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07-19-2006, 12:26 PM
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#23 |
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College Starter
Join Date: Oct 2000
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good luck on getting a centerback,
fwiw Curtis Davies has been a stalwart on my Rushden team that finished 2nd in epl (behind Liverpool). Although for the 2nd time we did less than acceptable in the Champions League  |
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07-19-2006, 12:48 PM
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#24 | ||
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Hattrick Moderator
Join Date: Jan 2003
Location: Pintendre, Qc, Canada
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Quote:
Thanks, although I'm kinda resigned to keep Paul Reid and Spyros Vallas on the roster if only to keep some depth. Reid has played reasonably well so far this offseason. This went unreported but I had offered Vallas to teams for a fee of $0. That's right, I only wanted to release him with no termination fee. A couple of teams had replied with an offer of $0 but by that time, I had written the team overview report and had realized how thin we were in the middle of our defense, so I rejected the offers. Vallas didn't seem to mind the rejection Quote:
yeah, he can have great games and as I said, he's even more special for me, being that he was at Luton before his first move to West Brom, and he was one of my first big ticket spending. Thanks for reading! FM
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A Black Belt is a White Belt who refused to give up... follow my story: The real life story of a running frog... |
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07-20-2006, 09:11 AM
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#25 |
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Hattrick Moderator
Join Date: Jan 2003
Location: Pintendre, Qc, Canada
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July 23, 2011
We play Rela Madrid in our yearly friendly. I had not realized but I have arranged a friendly with them for three years in a row if you include this one. Kinda cool. Arjen Robben is playing for them and has been since 2006, when he moved there for a fee of *gulp* $79M *gulp*.  The match is on TV and even though this is only a friendly, I take solace in reading the pregame analysis that says there's not much difference between the two clubs... They still did finish 6th in the Primera Division and it's their third friendly of this offseason, so they should be beginning to be in shape. This game starts off reall bad for us. After only 22 seconds, we're done 0-1. We do get a hold of ourselves and that's the score at the half. We get out of the locker room with a roar and just subbed in Shane Paul finds the back of the net in the 51st minute. They get their lead back in the 59th minute and add the winning goal in the 65th minute. Shane Paul adds a second goal to his tally in the 78th minute but it was too little too late. Final Score: Luton 2, Real Madrid 3 A very entertaining game that had a very nice crowd of 9566 fans screaming. Think about it, only three seasons ago, we did even have 9566 seats in this stadium. Despite the loss, I feel very good about this game. We outshot them 12(6) to 9(4) and won possession with 55%. 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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07-20-2006, 11:54 AM
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#26 |
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Hattrick Moderator
Join Date: Jan 2003
Location: Pintendre, Qc, Canada
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July 24, 2011
Squad numbers have to be decided today. For some childish reasons, I like to do that. I like thinking about which number any newcomer would feel like wearing... Six of our first half matches have been chose for live television coverage. We usually get between 3 and 5 in any half of a season, it's the first time I've seen 6. They are: 08/28 @Swansea 09/18 @Chelsea 10/01 @Man City 10/16 vs Everton 11/21 vs Blackburn 12/4 @Leicester Looking through the training reports from my new assistant, René Meulensteen, I find some interesting comments, stuff like he's happy that newcome Benoît Assou-Ekotto is a good player worthy of a first team spot, but I also see an interesting one regarding Grégory Bettiol. Meulensteen is concerned that even though Bettiol has been part of the team for a reasonable period, he is not progressing at an acceptable rate. I kind of agree with that. I never felt like he picked up speed in the two seasons he's been with us, although he usually makes a good backup. Looking at his stats, he's averaged form ratings of 6.5 and 6.53 over the last two seasons in 16 and 19 appearances. I decide to put him on the transfer list, asking 900k for the winger valued at 1.4M. It doesn't take long for a couple of teams to put in a bid, before even the day is over even. SpVgg Unterhaching, a German side from under the Bundesliga I assume, and Scottish side Motherwell both approach me with offers that include either lots of backloaded money (over many months) or with a goal minimum to reach. I adjust the offers and accept them. July 26, 2011 Both my counter offers for Bettiol have been accepted. We'll see if one of these will be able to come to terms with him. July 28, 2011 Bolton had been scouting Rey Volpato for a little while now and they come to me with a crazy, idiotic offer. Seriously, they are offering me no money, but two players, an 18yo sweeper named David Phillips of whom I know little (see the link for his profile to see what I mean) and a 27yo AM/F C named a Mounir El Hamdaoui valued at $4.8M. Maybe he could offer me something similar to what Volpato is but he's never been a goal scoring machine, other than 2006-07 when Bolton were in the Championship. I mean, come on, that's the kind of offer *I* would make if I wanted to take advantage of a hole in the AI (I love this game, it's so sneaky ). I reject the offer without blinking an eye...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 : 07-20-2006 at 11:59 AM. |
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07-20-2006, 02:20 PM
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#27 |
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Hattrick Moderator
Join Date: Jan 2003
Location: Pintendre, Qc, Canada
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July 29, 2011
I swear, I must be wearing a "I got a weak trading AI, try me!" sign on my back cause Celtic is trying the same trick that Bolton just tried. At least this time, they're offering me some money ($4.8M) and a player who's got some more potential in AM RL Robbie Foy. The dude is 25yo and more of a left winger than a both side winger. He seems to play above what his skills would indicate, with big seasons from 2006/07 to 2009/10 although he seemed to have an off year last season. All this is with Celtic in the Scottish Premier League though so I take it with a grain of salt as I'm not sure it would translate directly to the same kind of form ratings with us. On top of that, I'm fairly happy with the state of my left wing with kidster James Simmonds developping quite well. I also reject that offer without any negotiation. July 30, 2011 Among some transfer news I just received, I see something about John Welsh, a defensive midfielder formerly from Liverpool who is now playing with AEK. A few teams are getting in the bidding for his service and looking at his skills and especially at his description as a "model professional" I'm think he might be a nice addition to our team. I only have $2.9M left in my transfer budget but I try something. I offer them $2.8M up front and anothe $500k over the next 24 months. They get back to me within the hour and my offer is accepted. That's where it might stop. Welsh is looking for a weekly wage of $48k in addition of a $425k signing on fee. I'm not ready to offer that much to a guy I'm not sure would unseat either of the guys I see as my DM, Giannis Taralidis and Cédric Fernandez, whom Meulensteem seems really high on. I offer him $35k per week with his requested $425k signing on fee. We'll see... Grégory Bettiol has agreed a deal to join Motherwell. We receive $875k for this transfer. Not bad, considering that Bettiol was a free transfer a couple of seasons ago... July 31, 2011 We play Hull on their pitch. Following the Real Madrid game, I'm hoping that we will be able to avoid a let down and we come out roaring. Not so much that we're shooting on goal like crazy but we're very effective and after only 32 minutes, we're up 3-0 with with only 4 shots, all on target, and a hat-trick to Arjan Wisse nullified because he was apparently offside. The second half is a bit more boring as we kind of lay back and wait for them to come to us with the result that they score one. Final Score: Luton 3, Hull 1 I didn't like that without really going overboard defensive in the second half tactics, the subs did play it kind of loosely, but it's 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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07-20-2006, 02:22 PM
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#28 |
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Hattrick Moderator
Join Date: Jan 2003
Location: Pintendre, Qc, Canada
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August 1st, 2011
The team board is pleased with my performance as manager. We even made a profit of $1.67M which is kind of surprising considering that we're still in the offseason. Weehee!!! The team board also tells me that they are pleased to announce that as a result of an improvement in the club's financial position, they have raised my current transfer budget by $5.75M to $9.5M. Still not the biggest amount given that the club still has more than $27M in the bank but I'll take it nonetheless. August 2, 2011 Oh crap! I'm informed that our friendly with Lecce on the 6th has been cancelled due to a clash with a game of theirs in the Coppa Italia. That's just stupid, they were the ones who offered us the friendly! This was supposed to be our last friendly, a full week before the season was to start. I can't let us go 14 days without a game right before the season. Try as I might, everybody is turning us down and that's understandable as every team in England below the Premiership have started ther regular season. I finally book one with Barrow, a conference side, on Agust 7th. I at least was kind enough to offer to go play on their pitch, giving their fans a rare chance to see some Premiership caliber football. August 3, 2011 With that new found transfer money, I take a look at who's transfer listed and the name of Florent Sinama-Pongolle catches my eye. After leaving Liverpool to Birmingham for free after the 2007/08 season, he was sent to Tottenham for a big fee of $14M in the middle of the 2009/10 season. The Spurs have him listed at $5.25M while he is valued at $7M. This has gone unreported but I've tried signing him in the past couple of weeks but Tottenham have played me, usually trying to get over $8M from me for him. I offer them the straight $5.25 they have him listed for. In the couple of season where he has played regularly, he's scored 16 and 12 goals. Being that he's a rightie, he would probably match better with Arjan Wisse and would allow me to shop Rey Volpato around. I'm not too sure how I'd work Sinama-Pongolle's $80k per week wage in but we'll see when we get there if I can work up a deal with Tottenham. 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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07-21-2006, 11:46 AM
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#29 |
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Hattrick Moderator
Join Date: Jan 2003
Location: Pintendre, Qc, Canada
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August 4, 2011
My assistant advises me of the players entering their last year in their contracts. Philippe Senderos, Arjan Wisse, and Zac Barrett are the most important ones that I will have to deal with. Southampton puts in a bid for West Ham's Dominic Shimmin and I find it a bit rich for my taste at $6M. Yeah, he'd probably be a bargain, but I'm looking more for a backup and that's not the kind of money I wanna plunk in a backup. August 7, 2011 We play our final friendly, visiting smallish conference side Barrow. We only lead 1-0 at the half but it's not because we're not dominating them, as would be expected, with 61% possession and 5 shots on target out of 11 against one shot for them. We crank it up a notch in the second half and win it 4-0 on a Rey Volpato hat-trick. Final Score: Luton 4, Barrow 0 We outshot them 22(10) to 2(0) and end the game with 58% possession. Spirits are flying high entering the new season. Wolves have also got in the bidding for Dominic Shimmin, offering now 6.25M to West Ham. August 8, 2011 Totalbet.com have announced the odds for the series title in the Premiership this season. Title holders Chelsea have been made 6-4 favourites to retain their title. the other contenders include Arsenal (7-4), Man Utd (7-4), Liverpool (5-2), Middlesbrough (40-1), and Newcastle (40-1). As for us, we are priced at 100-1, making it apparent that the bookmakers don't believe we have any real chance of winning the title. From what the media say, a high mid-table finish is probably the best we can hope for. Boys, it's now our job to make 'em regret their predictions. 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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07-21-2006, 11:52 AM
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#30 |
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Hattrick Moderator
Join Date: Jan 2003
Location: Pintendre, Qc, Canada
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August 10, 2011
Not that I expected him to come to us, given the low deal we had offered him, but Johh Welsh has agreed a deal to go to Bolton. August 12, 2011 Tottenham wants to negotiate our offer regarding Florent Sinama-Pongolle. We offer them $1.5M up front and $6.75M over 24 months. That offer is accepted within the hour but well, we won't get much further than that. Sinama-Pongolle is adamant about keeping his $80k per week salary. First, my board would allow me only to go up to $50k per week, and even if they would allow me more, I would probably not go there as my assistant tells me that he believe he would only be a fringe player at the club. Not gonna take that big a risk... 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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07-21-2006, 12:02 PM
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Join Date: Jan 2003
Location: Pintendre, Qc, Canada
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August 13, 2011
League match #1: vs Aston Villa (Luton 6-4 favourites)
As you can see, many players were dropped to the reserves as we start the season without any injuries of note. This changes pretty quick in this game as we lose two before the game is over. Cédric Fernandez had to leave the game in the 33rd minute with some fractured ribs which will force him to rest for one to two months, and Kevin Foley had to leave in the 85th minute, forcing us to end the game with only 10 men. However, he won't miss any more time due to that injury. The game was a good one, even though they got lucky to score the lone goal of the game in the 23rd minute. We dominated play after that, putting much pressure on them and outshooting them 13(4) to 7(5). We had trouble putting the ball on target though... Final Score: Luton 0, Aston Villa 1 Hopefully we can bounce back right away and not spiral down like we did last season, leading to a dreadful start and all the morale problems... Kinda funny, despite losing some seating due to the ongoing renovation, the crowd of 21810 at this game still was a record for the club, as well as the $1.1M collected in gate receipts. Neat! Following the game, I see that Newcastle is now scouting Rey Volpato, as well as Celtic who never gave up their interest in him. He just had a poor game, rating only at 6. 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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07-21-2006, 02:18 PM
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#32 |
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Hattrick Moderator
Join Date: Jan 2003
Location: Pintendre, Qc, Canada
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August 16, 2011
Still looking for maybe a central defender, maybe a striker to bring to Kenilworth Road, I see this 24yo sweeper/central defender that I have very limited information about, but he's got 20 header skill and 20 tackling. Name is Leonel Romero, a swiss currently playing on the Sheff Utd reserve squad. He's valued at $3.2M but I offer them to loan him until the end of the season, even offering to pay 40% of his 17.75k weekly wage. In a crazy kind of move, I decide to not wait until the last week of the transfer window and I offer Rey Volpato to other clubs even though he's not formally transfer listed. I'm asking $10M for him, which money I hope would give more than plenty to get a real difference maker up front. I used to be in his favoured personnel, I see I am not anymore, heh. August 18, 2011 Huhoh, Rey is pissed. He says he's bitterly disappointed about my decision to offer him to other clubs. He also said that by doing that, I had made it clear that he was no longer wanted at Luton... West Ham's Dominic Shimmin has accepted to join Southampton. They had to pay $4.2M plus a young centreback to get him. Probably more than I wanted to pay... Some offers come later in the day about Rey Volpato. Newcastle and Zaragoza offer me $8.75M plus 20% of next sale. While Volpato's agent has indicated that he would like to talk with them, I have a third offer, from Celtic this time, for $10M on the table. I up both their offers to $10M, dropping the next sale clause, and I accept the Celtic offer. August 20, 2011 Sheff Utd has rejected our offer to loan Loenel Romero. They are not willing to allow this player to leave on loan to a divisional rival. I kept seeing bids for him and I realize that he's listed at $2.2M despite being valued at $3.2M. Even with the limited information I have on him, I take a chance and put in a $2.2M bid for him. 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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07-21-2006, 02:20 PM
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Join Date: Jan 2003
Location: Pintendre, Qc, Canada
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August 20, 2011
League match #2: @ Newcastle (Newcastle evens favourites)
Well, transfer talks must have fired up Rey Volpato as he scores the first goal of the game, giving us a 1-0 lead in the 24th minute. Then, finally, we get a freakish bizarre kind of goal as Benoît Assou-Ekotto centres a first-time ball off a Newcastle throw-in in the 43rd minute. The ball goes right in off the right post for the 2-0 goal. The score was 2-0 at the half, but we are far from dominating them at that point. They pulled within one in the 87th minute and I was afraid we'd break down and let them pull even before the end of it, until Arjan Wisse centered a nice ball for Youssouf Hersi and he nailed their coffin shut. Final Score: Luton 3, Newcastle 1 A solid, fairly defensive performance for us. They did outshoot us 17(8) to 9(5), but we held on. The board is pleased with the win and they hope I will be able to use it as a platform to build on. Following the game, I get the news that our bid for Leonel Romero has been accepted by Sheffield United. My assistant believes he would become a useful member of the team and I offer him what he wants which is $21.5k per week and a $200k signing on fee over a 4 year deal. We're currently $37k under the wage budget. August 21, 2011 Paul Reid as suffered a strained neck and will be out of commission for up to 2 weeks. August 22, 2011 Both Newcastle and Zaragoza have withdrawn their bids for Rey Volpato. Looking at his profile, I see that he is considering a contract offer from Celtic although he seems to say that he doesn't want to leave the club, still listing Luton as one of his favoured clubs. 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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07-21-2006, 02:22 PM
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Join Date: Jan 2003
Location: Pintendre, Qc, Canada
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August 24, 2011
League match #3: vs Middlsebrough (Middlesbrough 6-4 favourites)
Right before we get to the game, I get the news that Rey Volpato has agreed terms to join Celtic. This forced me to shuffle my lineup and start Shane Paul in his place. We do get $10M for the transfer, giving us some $19M of transfer budget left... The funny thing is that the fans at Celtic are quite unsure about this signing. They are reportedly unhappy with their manager for gambling on a player whom they believe could disrupt the harmonay of their team. hehehehe With all that transfer budget left, I go back to a player I had listed as a potential replacement for Volpato, striker Tim Janssen whom, funny enough, plays for Celtic. Valued at $9.75M, I offer them $14M for him. He's described as an explosive striker and I think he would be a much better fit for us than Volpato was. Thing is, Celtic might think the same thing... Now to the task at hand, facing Middlesbrough. They are having a rougher start than us, losing once and drawing once so far. Their bad luck, to my own joy, just gets worse in the 4th minute as one of their defender kicks a Philippe Senderos cross into his own goal. Despite it being attributed to one of their defender, I felt like our moving of the ball forced them to go into scramble mode, kind of shaking their defense a bit. Their start striker Yakubu has to leave the game only a couple of minutes later, following a collision with Curtis Davies. Shane Paul has a goal disallowed because of a shady offseason decision less than ten minute later. We were really putting some pressure on them at the time. They draw even in the 82th minute and again, I get the bad feeling of a win slipping through our fingers when, following some strong pressure from us, they are forced to foul inside their penalty area. Giannis Taralidis doesn't miss and he scores the winning goal in the 89th minute. Final Score: Luton 2, Middlesbrough 1 We outshot them 12(9) to 6(4) on the game, an overall good game. Part of another good defensive performance, Curtis Davies notched his second selection as Man of the Match in a row. Following the game, I learn that our $14M bid for Tim Janseen has been turned down. I offer them $17M for him. 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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07-21-2006, 02:24 PM
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#35 |
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Hattrick Moderator
Join Date: Jan 2003
Location: Pintendre, Qc, Canada
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August 25, 2011
Our latest bid for Tim Janseen has also been turned down. I will keep on looking and might come back to them later on in the week but $17M is beginning to be a lot of money... Leonel Romero has agreed to terms with us and reveals that he is looking forward to working for me. Cool. I just now realize the kind of gamble I took, given the relative little information I had on him. I mean, here's the profile I was able to see when I offered him a contract:  And here's the player that showed up to our training ground:  Not all bad, I mean, he could have been plagued with some unseen 10 at positioning... August 26, 2011 Looking at who could be available to take over for Rey Volpato in our offense, I see my good friend from a previous life, Güiza. He's now 31yo and described as a determined experienced striker. While he doesn't have the greatest skills on paper, the man is a natural scorer. He's valued at $8.5M and I offer them $10M for him. He has a $13.25M minimum fee release clause although I'm not so sure I'd go that high for him. That first bid is rejected before the day is over. Back to the drawing board. I learn that Osasuna have put in a bid for Celtic's Tim Janssen. My eyes almost pop out of my head when I see the fee they are offering: $40M There's no way we can fight it out with them on that one...Crystal Palace's Ricardo Vaz Te is another player that would look good up front for us. I offer Crystal Palace $13.5M for him. Youngster Fabio Ferreira is another interesting prospect. Currently valued at $7M, the cultured striker would probably be a good player for us for a long time... I offer Wolves $13M for him. August 27, 2011 We get a rough second round draw in the Carling Cup as we will play at Tottenham. Both our bids for Fabio Ferreira and Ricardo Vaz Te have been rejected but wow, Osasuna's bid for Celtic's Tim Janssen has also been rejected. I guess they really don't want to let him go... I offer Wolves $18M for Ferreira. 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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07-22-2006, 01:39 PM
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Hattrick Moderator
Join Date: Jan 2003
Location: Pintendre, Qc, Canada
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August 28, 2011
League match #4: at Swansea (Luton 4-5 favourites)
As we get ready for this match, I see that our supporters are not happy that I sold Rey Volpato. Hopefully, I'll get to sign somebody they like to replace him... Swansea just promoted to the Premiership and it looks like the guys are taking them for granted. Not one of our guys seem to be playing with heart and we let them take a 1-0 lead about 3 minutes before the half. At halftime, I let the lads know that they need to play much better in the second half if we want to have a chance to get something out of this game. Looks like that talk paid off as we play much better indeed, drawing level on a diving header from Shane Paul on a cross to near post from Benoît Assou-Ekotto. Despite us putting tons more pressure to the end of the game, we can't get another goal and it ends in a draw, still much better than a loss... Final Score: Luton 1, Swansea 1 Youssouf Hersi gets the MoM selection with a rating of 8. We outshot them 14(6) to 6(4) on the game. Following the game, I decide to offer Crystal Palace $17M for Ricardo Vaz Te. With the signing of Leonore Romero, we've only got $17.2M left in the transfer budget. August 29, 2011 I've found the Giannis Taralidis of old as he gets selected to the EPL Team of the week. Our $18M bid for Fabio Ferreira has been rejected by Wolves. Sigh, this is getting old... But the next news has me smiling. Our $17M bid for Ricardo Vaz Te has been accepted! Looking to offer him a contract, he's looking for a 3 year contract worth $60k per week with a signing on fee of $1.1M. My assistant tells me he believes he would become a useful member of the first team and recommends an offer in the region of $50k per week. I offer him what he wants. Since the start of the season, the team board has reviewed our wage budget upward and I'm currently a solid $140k under budget. Wow, Roma has really opened their cheque book. They have signed left winger Stewart Downing from Liverpool for a whopping $43.5M. August 30, 2011 Weehee, Ricard Vaz Te has agreed to terms with us!!! As you can see from his profile, there's a lot to love about him, especially his determination and concentration. While he's simply desccribed as a striker, his personality is defined as being resilient which I kind of like. Gone is the unhappiness of our supporter over the sale of Rey Volpato, they are now delighted with the purchase of Ricardo Vaz Te. 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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07-22-2006, 03:59 PM
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#37 |
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Hattrick Moderator
Join Date: Jan 2003
Location: Pintendre, Qc, Canada
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August 31, 2011
With the closing of the transfer window coming up, I look for some affordable addition to the team, possibly an experienced player, if possible with good determination, to help lead the kids every once in a while. 34yo Maciej Zurawski fits the bill quite well if you ask me. His current club is asking a big flat nothing for him, probably trying to simply unload him. I offer them $5k anyway and they say, okay, you can have him. Going to offer him a contract, I see that he currently earns $20.5k per week but would be ready to accept a one year deal at $14.5 to come play for us. Given that our only backup striker, other that wingers capable of playing the position, is Shane Paul, I decide to offer him what he wants. He agrees to a deal at 22:15, less than two hours before the transfer deadline. He will come to Kenilworth road with plenty of experience, havign played for Celtic from 2005/06 to 2010/11, as a starter until 2009/10. He added that he is keen to rise to the challenge of playing for such an illustrious club. Cool In some crazy last minute signing, Roma have splashed the cash on Feyenoord's Salomon Kalou. They will pay an initial fee of $25.5M with some clauses that could increase the sale by another $33.5M, not to a total of, an increase of, wow... 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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07-22-2006, 07:07 PM
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#38 |
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Hattrick Moderator
Join Date: Jan 2003
Location: Pintendre, Qc, Canada
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September 1st, 2011
The team board is pleased with my work. September 3, 2011 Seeing how we're about $65k under budget for our team wage, I decide to take a look at who needs to be resigned this year, especially the obvious first teamers. Zac Barrett is currently earning a measly $425 per week and is looking to increase that to $20.5k per week for the next 3 years. My assistant recommends an offer around $17k per week and that's what I offer Barrett who lists both me and Luton among his favoured personnel and favoured clubs. Huhoh, Philippe Senderos's agent indicates that he's not willing to discus any new contract at the moment, something about him maybe talking once he's evaluated all the possible avenues available to him. Hrm, I still offer him a very generous $50k per week, up from his current $29.5k, as well as a $400k signing on fee. Arjan Wisse is looking to increase his current weekly wage of $26.5k to $55k. My assistant recommends me to offer him what he wants. I take my chance and offer him $45k, as he's not a complainer and might accept that lower offer. Damn, I learn that Kevin Foley bruised a rib in a match for Ireland. I decide to have him receive a course of painkillers so he can play in our next game. September 4, 2011 Yeah, my fears have been confirmed. Philippe Senderos has rejected our contract offer. He's still willing to listen to any offer though and I might try my luck later. The good news is that both Zac Barrett and Arjan Wisse have agreed to new deals with us. September 7, 2011 I send Giannis Taralidis home so he can recover from the flu. Don't want him contaminating everybody 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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07-22-2006, 07:54 PM
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#39 |
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College Prospect
Join Date: Apr 2002
Location: Whitman, MA
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Oof, you might have to qualify for Europe to keep Senderos around. I'd hate to think he'd just walk on you, as that would truly blow. Might have to evaluate things around the January transfer window to see where he stands then, and figure out what to do then.
Tell
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FOOL - Ann Arbor Winged Lingerines FOOLX - Portland Axemen Hattrick - Fizzle United (222968) |
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07-22-2006, 08:06 PM
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#40 | |
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Hattrick Moderator
Join Date: Jan 2003
Location: Pintendre, Qc, Canada
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Quote:
yeah, that's pretty much what I fear might happen. He's young and seems ambitious, although it doesn't clearly state so in his profile. I'll keep a close eye on any change on his thinking regarding signing a new deal. I think I mentionned that in the thread for last season, but I almost lost Youssouf Hersi like that a couple seasons ago. Back when our money situation wasn't as rosey and I was only allowed to offer contracts up to maybe $36k per week, Hersi wanted to get something like $55k or about. I offered him the most I could and a huge signing on fee and appearance fee but he would not sign, until he got injured for something like 4 or 5 months in March or about. He agreed to sign a deal like a week before he became a free agent... 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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07-23-2006, 11:02 AM
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#41 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Hattrick Moderator
Join Date: Jan 2003
Location: Pintendre, Qc, Canada
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September 7, 2011
International friendly: vs U.S.A.
Even though we got destroyed in about every statistical category in that game, we still controlled the ball well which led us to a very late winning goal. They outshot us almost outrageously, 25(11) to 13(6) but we won possession with 53%. The game was tied at one apiece at the half but they took the lead in the 47th minute. We kept working our ball control game and drew level in the 71st minute on a goal from Will Johnson and won it in the 89th minute on a goal from Josh Simpson. Final Score: Canada 3, U.S.A. 2 Following the game, Josh Simpson spoke of his delight at breaking his international duck (their words not mine ) witha a goal against U.S.A. He added that he wanted to thank me for havign faith in him.  Back home, I learn that Ricardo Vaz Te suffered a bruised rib cage in a game for Portugal against Ukraine. I leave him to be treated by our physios and he'll miss anywhere between 5 days and 2 weeks. Funny stuff, looking at who's unhappy and what not among my reserves, I take a lok at Paul Reid's profile. He only has a slight concern now, not really unhappy, but that slight concern is a weird one. The dude is concerned about who will be hired as the new manager. Say what? I'm not going anywhere and if you keep that attitude, you're not coming on the field anytime soon... Damn, I sent Giannis Taralidis home to recover from the flu and the first thing I hear is that he started a game for Greece. So much for quietly recovering at home, 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... |
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07-23-2006, 11:14 AM
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Hattrick Moderator
Join Date: Jan 2003
Location: Pintendre, Qc, Canada
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September 10, 2011
League match #5: vs Bolton (Luton 5-4 favourites)
With Ricardo Vaz Te unavailable for this game, I give the start to Shane Paul. I also start Edmílson in Giannis Taralidis's place. Paul pays back his start with a very nice pass to Arjan Wisse in the 43rd minute that leads to the 1-0 goal from Wisse. That's the halftime score. We really clamp the game shut in the second half, only allowing them one shot on target in the final 45 minutes after not allowing even one in the first 45. Final Score: Luton 1, Bolton 0 We outshot them 15(8) to 12(1) even though we lost possession with only 47%. Philippe Senderos was selected as Man of the Match. This win moves us up to 5th place and even though this is really early in the seaosn, it's very exciting! After 5 games for almost everyone, here's what the league table looks like:
Bad news though. Kevin Foley came in late in the game, able to play because of a course of painkiller injection, but he unluckily twisted his ankle, unrelated to his rib injury for which he'd had the injection. He will miss 3 weeks to a month with that new injury. September 14, 2011 Seeing how he's never going to even come close to playing for our starting eleven, I offer Frank Songo'o around. A stunning 12 teams come back with the requested $775k bid for the winger valued at $1.4M. September 15, 2011 Paul Reid requests to be transfer listed. I agree and list him. 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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07-23-2006, 01:53 PM
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Hattrick Moderator
Join Date: Jan 2003
Location: Pintendre, Qc, Canada
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September 18, 2011
League match #6: at Chelsea (Chelsea 4-7 favourites)
We go into this game with very high team morale overall, thanks to the great start we've had this season. I'm not all that happy with how Simon Feindouno played last game, so I start Christian Wilhelmsson in his place. Wilhelmsson also is more experienced. Chelsea have just lost 0-1 against Lyon in Champions League group play. We take the lead 1-0 in the 14th minute on header from Ricardo Vaz Te from a chipped in free kick from Christian Wilhelmsson. A goal on his debut, sweet! The reply in the 30th minute by heading in a corner kick, but we're not letting up and Arjan Wisse scores his 50th league goal for Luton in the added time of the first half. Vaz Te made the goal possible with a great pass. We are a bit lucky to be leading at that point, as Chelsea was outshooting us 15(9) to 5(3). They tie the game on a goal from Jermain Defoe in the 65th minute, but we fight our way back to the top with a Shane Paul goal in the 87th. That's where the train derailled completely. I don't know how, but we let Michael Owen alone not only once, but twice and within minutes, Chelsea are up 4-3. That winning goal came at 92:16... Final Score: Luton 3, Chelsea 4 So close and soooo frustrating. Frankly, we might not have deserved to stay this close, but we did. They outshot us 28(19) to 10(6) but it's simply the back four collpasing that allowed them the chance to win it since most of these shots had come from a distance until the very end. Following the game, a journalist asks me to comment on Ricardo Vaz Te's debut with Luton. I'm reserved and comment that while it was a nice debut, I'm surte that he will play even better once he gets accustomed to the play at Kenilworth Road. Vaz Te likes that comment and vows to repay the faith I have placed in him. I can't let it go that way though and I release a comment to the press for Jose Mourinho to the effect that I hope his side is beaten to the title. 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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07-23-2006, 02:05 PM
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Hattrick Moderator
Join Date: Jan 2003
Location: Pintendre, Qc, Canada
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September 19, 2011
Frank Songo'o has agreed a deal with Italian side Bari. He will move to them on January 1st for a fee of $775k. September 21, 2011 Carling Cup, round 2: at Tottenham (Tottenham 5-4 favourites)
No easy first cup match for us this year. Still I use this game to give their debut to two new players, Leonel Romero and Maciej Ruwaski. The final score won't show it, but it was as lopsided as it could be. We came out flat, flat, flat and never really challenged them to the ball. They were up 2-0 at the half and we got our lone goal in the 89th minute. We never were able to take advantage of the fact the their starting keeper, Paul Robinson, had to subbed out and replace with a 17yo kiddo who must have been shitting his pants. Final Score: Luton 1, Tottenham 2 And with that, we're out of the Carling Cup... Following the game, the media are after me again, this time about Leonel Romero's debut. They say he had a terrible debut (rated at 6) and while I sort of agree it wasn't very good, I go the same moderate way I went about Ricard Vaz Te's debut, saying that I'm sure that Leonel will play much better once he gets used to the player at Luton. This again makes my player feel very good and he too wants to repay my faith in him. Good! 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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07-23-2006, 02:15 PM
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Hattrick Moderator
Join Date: Jan 2003
Location: Pintendre, Qc, Canada
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September 24, 2011
League match #7: vs Arsenal (Arsenal 4-6 favourites)
Believe it or not, we're sitting in 4th place, playing 2nd place Arsenal. That sounds quite good don't you think? Still, we're in a 2 game losing streak and coming out strong would be nice... We don't do too badly actually at first, even though we're down 0-1 at the half. The goal came on a crazy bending long shot from 35 yards out by Jose Antonio Reyes. At the half, they were outshooting us 7 to 4, but we were better on target, 4 to 2. They shoot from every possible angle in the second half and they shut it tight to keep us from coming close. We just can't make up that one goal... Final Score: Luton 0, Arsenal 1 Disappointing and encouraging at the same time. I mean, a loss is a loss, and that's now three in a row, but we stayed with them. They did outshoot us badly, 23(7) to 8(5), but as I said, many of these were long range shots. We drop to 6th place with the loss. Following the game, Arsène Wenger tells me via the media that I shouldn't be disheartened by the loss as it is still early in the season, adding that he feels I can steer my side to success. I reply that I believe his team can challenge for the title, an envious comment that also reveals I would love to be able to attract the kind of players that Arsenal has. 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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07-23-2006, 04:13 PM
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Hattrick Moderator
Join Date: Jan 2003
Location: Pintendre, Qc, Canada
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September 30, 2011
Cédric Fernandez resumes full training following his fractured ribs. He has missed two months with the injur. October 1st, 2011 League match #8: at Manchester City (Man City 6-4 favourites)
Prior to the game, I learn that the team board is still pleased with my work. Trying to shake things off a bit and also because I'm not hapy with the performances of Zac Barrett, I gave the start to Niki Mäenpää. That was a mistake, as he gives away possession in the 13th minute and they convert it into an easy goal. They scored a second goal before halftime and although we were winning possession with a solid 55%, we were not in the game. Giannis Taralidis got back to within one on a penalty in the 61st minute, but they got another one back only 8 minutes later. We fought back again and this time, it was their keeper's turn to goof up and Maciej Zurawski was at the right spot at the right time to recover the ball and make it 2-3 in the 81st minute. Too little too late though... Final Score: Luton 2, Manchester City 3 Another loss by one goal, all games which we were close at one point or another. This loss drops us to 11th place. Right after the game, the news headers reads: "Sorry Luton lose again"... ouch. They mention that after a good start to the campaign, this poor run of form has seen The Hatters slip into their usual role as mid-table underachievers. There it is again, the bad "U" word... October 2, 2011 Funny unexpected news. Bordeaux have decided to sack their manager. Wanna know who he is? 39 year old Lilian Thuram... Kinda cool that a guy I just saw in the World cup (irl 2006) had retired and become a manager... October 3, 2011 Games are played in the EPL and with everybody having played exactly 8 games, we now stand in 13th place, blech... Here's the table at this point:
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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07-23-2006, 04:42 PM
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#47 |
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Hattrick Moderator
Join Date: Jan 2003
Location: Pintendre, Qc, Canada
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October 4, 2011
I try my luck again with Philippe Senderos. I offer him a three year deal as a key player that would pay him $60k per week with a signing on fee of $525k. October 5, 2011 Senderos rejects my latest offer. I up it the signing on fee to $1M and add a minimum fee release clause, at $20M, but still, there's one. heh. He shoots that deal down also. Breaking off talks for now... October 8, 2011 As I get ready to go manage Canada in a friendly against Mexico, I see the final score of England's latest Euro Championship qualifier against Andorra. They won it 15-0. ouch. Lampard and Owen both scored 4 and Rooney and Downing both had 3 each... Everybody rated at 10 except their keeper, whom I assume didn't get enough shot to get in the mood... 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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07-24-2006, 08:19 AM
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Hattrick Moderator
Join Date: Jan 2003
Location: Pintendre, Qc, Canada
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October 8, 2011
International friendly: vs Mexico (neutral field)
What starts as a major stinker, as we let them take a 3 goal lead before halftime, ends in a respectable 2-3 loss with our final goal coming in added time. It took a couple of tactics adjustments, but at first we really were simply letting them run around with the ball. The second half was much better. Final Score: Canada 2, Mexico 3 We outshot them 18(8) to 9(8) on the game but it was 7(3) for us to 6(5) for them at the half. We won possession with 59% on the game. Centreback Kevin McKenna and defensive middie Atiba Hutschinson were Canada's scorers. October 11, 2011 Kevin Foley resumes full training following his foot injury. October 12, 2011 Youssouf Hersi earns his first cap for Holland at age 29. He thanks me in the media for my support and he indicated that his call-up proved players don't have to move to big clubs in order to establish themselves on the international scene. 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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07-24-2006, 08:31 AM
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#49 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Hattrick Moderator
Join Date: Jan 2003
Location: Pintendre, Qc, Canada
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October 15, 2011
League match #9: vs Everton (Everton 6-4 favourites)
We got to get out of this run of bad form and soon, before the player starts believing we really are underachievers. We're coming in 17th place for team for over the lats 5 games with three consecutive losses... With Simon Feindouno and Curtis Davies both away on international duty, I give starts to both Christian Wilhelmsson and Leonel Romero. Oh man, this starts rough as we leave a striker unmarked in our penalty area and within one minute of play, we're down 0-1. We tie it before the half is over though. A nice combination between Benoît Assou-Ekotto, Arjan Wisse and finally Ricardo Vaz Te who heads it in for the 1-1 goal. Everton are putting tons more pressure though. The second half is much of the same but Zac Barrett does what he'd not done so much this season, after doing it over and over last year, he saved the game for us. His Man of the Match performance meant a draw in the books for us. I'll take it. Final Score: Luton 1, Everton 1 They outshot us 13(8) to 8(3) although we did win possession with 53%. Media are still talking about us slipping to our usual role of mid-table underachievers, as we keep searching for a win... October 17, 2011 Deservedly, Zac Barrett and Youssouf Hersi have been selected to the EPL Team of the week. Giannis Taralidis strains a wrist in training. Unsure if Cédric Fernandez is ready to take over the DM spot, I decide to have Taralidis get an injection, just in case I need him for our game against Birmingham in 5 days. October 19, 2011 Bummer! Curtis Davies suffered a facial injury in his international match for Sierra Leone against Rwanda. He'll be out 5 days to 2 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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07-24-2006, 09:08 AM
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#50 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Hattrick Moderator
Join Date: Jan 2003
Location: Pintendre, Qc, Canada
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October 22, 2011
League match #10: at Birmingham (Birmingham 6-4 favourites)
Cédric Fernandez is fit enough to play for Giannis Taralidis and Leonel Romero takes Curtis Davies' spot on defense. Birmingham just got drilled 0-4 by Blackburn, hopefully, that's ll affect their morale a bit... It'S a very tight, borderline boring game early on but we take the lead in the 39th minute, making it all of a sudden very interesting. A perfectly centered ball from the byline by Simon Feindouno to Arjan Wisse who shook a defender out of his shorts and we're up 1-0. They drew level in the 55th minute, but we hit right back on a perfect pass in space from Arjan Wisse ahead of Ricardo Vaz Te's run. Vaz Te beat the keeper easily for the winning goal. Final Score: Luton 2, Birmingham 1 We didn't really dominate statistically, but it was a strong performance with 7 players rating at 8 for us and Benoît Assou-Ekotto getting a 9 and the Man of the Match selection. He won all 10 of his tackles and 16 of the 18 headers he went for. We move up to 9th place with the win, although many teams still have to play their 10th game right below us... Following the game, I decide to praise Assou-Ekotto for his recent good play in the media. The fan agree, they can't get enough fo him! The board is pleased with the win. They hope we can use the result to build for the future. October 23, 2011 Games are played and now with everyone having played 10 games, here's how the league table is shaping up:
11th place isn't all bad, especially compared to how last season went. We will need to win the close games if we wanna get higher though... It's been a roller coaster ride thus far though, look at this:  October 24, 2011 Zac Barrett, Benoît Assou-Ekotto and Youssouf Hersi have all been selected to the EPL team of the week. It's two in two weeks for both Barrett and Hersi. 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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