The Dons and I (FM08)

[sovereignstar]

My second attempt at a FM dynasty this summer commences in 3, 2, 1...



For this dynasty I will be taking over League Two side Milton Keynes Dons FC. The club is probably most popular for it's 2002 relocation from Wimbledon to Milton Keynes, a city of 180,000+ 45 miles northwest of London. It was a highly controversial move and in 2006 it was agreed upon that MK Dons would give up all history, trophies, and memorabilia prior to the 2004-2005 season to ensure the membership of it's own supporters club. The Dons and I will be moving into a brand spanking new stadium, dubbed 'stadium:mk' (how trendy, yes?), this season. It currently seats 22,000.

stadium:mk


We're expected to win promotion this season and "survive in the League One by the end of the three year plan." Fairly lofty goals, but I should have the resources to pull this off. We've got around 1.6 million pounds in cash and my transfer budget is around 350,000 pounds. Salary-wise I've got a budget of 34,826 pounds, 30,843 of which is already used. Should be noted that these values reflect the status of where I currently am in the game, which is one day before the start of the League One season. I have only used 150 pounds of my transfer budget so far though.

The initial squad of MK Dons was strong and hasn't been tinkered with much. My talented (and edited - eek) Assistant Manager Steve Wigley believes we can be confident that we can achieve promotion. I've not the savviest FM gamer, so I do rely quite a bit upon the evaluations of my AssMan and the star ratings he hands out. More on the squad later. Our training and youth facilities are both deemed average. We do have a youth academy.

It's worth mentioning that one of the first things I did when I started this career was to ask the board to look at possible feeder and parent clubs. They did and bam-bam I've got a parent team in Arsenal a feeder club in Blue Square Premier side Rushden and Diamonds. Arsenal will be a pleasure to work with, but I'm also excied that I was able to get a full-time squad as my feeder team. I have already taken advantage of both relationships as will be mentioned later.

It's currently August 10th, 2007, and tomorrow we've got our first league match on the road against forum-favorite Lincoln. Just four days after that we've got a 1st Round Carling Cup matchup with Championship side Charlton Athletic, a match that will be played at home. We obviously won't be favored to win the latter as Charlton is favored to win the Championship this year (ack!).

I'm just going to jump right in and introduce my squad. Then I'll throw in a few other notes, maybe a word or two on how the preseason went, then finally get on with the games. Comments, insight, and your momma jokes are always welcome. As I alluded to before, I'm the best or most experienced at this game, so if you want to give me a pointer or two that's cool.

Go onward we shall.

home, away, 3rd

[sovereignstar]

Prior to the arrival of Arsenal prospect Vitto Mannone I wasn't very sold on the ability of my top 3 keepers. Now that the 19-year old Italian is on my squad, I feel a lot better. I didn't really plan on bringing him over, since he wasn't labeled as being available for loan. Arsenal just sent him my way one day and I was like, "OK mang!"

Willy Guéret spent the past two seasons as the main guy with Swansea. The Frenchman's initial squad status was first team and I am willing to label him my top keeper because of that and his experience. How much I'm going to start Mannone is a relative unknown at this point. If Guéret struggles some, that will be an easier question to answer. My goal is to win promotion, not develop Arsenal's Mannone or stroke Guéret's ego. As of right now Guéret will start the league opener against Lincoln and Mannone will start at home versus Charlton in the Carling Cup matchup. I guess that could change depending on how our first match goes.

Ademola Bankole is actually a player/coach who I decided to keep around. He is a Nigerian national and he looked horrible in my second preseason match against unknown English team Girvan. I have him slotted as the 3rd guy, but it's more of a toss-up than that would suggest. Nathan Abbey split time with Torquay and Brentford last season and played in 40 games.

It's obvious that I will probably need to add a younger (and talented) keeper at some point in the future, especially if I win promotion.

Which one is Mannone???

[sovereignstar]

No stars here, that's for sure. On the left side Dean Lewington is first team, but I'm really not sold on him. I realized quickly that I needed to add a bit more depth, so I brought in Yeovil's Craig Alcock on loan. It wasn't until Lewington got injured that I added Lleyton Orient's Aiden Palmer on loan. The injury should give me a good look at how Palmer can be expected to perform. As of now I'll probably rotate the both of them when Lewington returns, which should be in 2-4 weeks. Alcock is just depth and can player both other defensive positions if push comes to shove. Sam Collins might be offered to Rushden if someone else doesn't come a knocking soon.

The right side is similar. Gareth Edds is a 'key player' that doesn't look that key to me. His best position is centre mid, but I'm stacked there. Figured I would plug him in at right defense, so he doesn't get pissed at me too quickly. Arsenal has a stud DR who is valued at more than 3 million pounds. I tried to bring him in, but he wasn't down with it. Okay, that's fine. Have fun playing for Chelsea Reserves, asswhite. I wouldn't have been able to bring Palmer in on loan anyways as I would've hit the under-23 loan limit (4).

We're solid in the center. This is one spot where I'd like to have a stud, but I'm going to roll with what I've got for now. Danny Swailes, who's in from League Two side Macclesfield, is the top dog here. He'll be paired with my current captain Sean O'Hanlon. Drissa Diallo provides decent depth at both DC and DR. I'm underwhelmed with Jude Stirling. He's listed as being in the rotation, but I'll be damned if that is going to happen under my watch.

The guys listed in dark gray are on loan at other clubs. Both Kieran Murphy and Sam Page are playing first-team football for Welsh Premier side TNS, who earlier this season played in the Champions League, albeit very briefly.

Top row is Lewington (duh), Palmer, Alcock

[sovereignstar]

Hmmm.. think I need to add some guys on the left wing ()? Upgrading at that position was definitely my focal point in the preseason. Lloyd Dyer is solid, but for nostalgic reasons I usually like to have a very good guy at this position as well. I searched long and hard for a good, young AML and settled on an interesting 26-year old at Colchester. For a good bit I was under the impression that I was going to be adding his services, but something that I'm sure has happened to you before happened and two other teams (Crewe and Doncaster) jumped in at the last moment and he finally settled with Crewe. The bidding went up to 180,000 pounds, which is more than half of my entire transfer budget. I was bummed as I even went to the media in hopes of unsettling him at his current squad where he was a backup. I even praised him and perhaps too much. Maybe for the best anyways as he starting acting like a total douche as soon as he signed with Crewe. Two media items popped up after he signed and they are labeled 'McLeoad to teach fans real football' and 'McLeod demands to be centre of attention'. Yeah, have fun with that guy! Needless to say I've been trying to find some depth before the season starts and I think I've found someone, just haven't inked him yet.

On the right side I've got Mark Wright tabbed as a first teamer. He's decent enough and if he gets injured I've got a few guys who could take his place even if it's not their best position. I tried to sign Kelvin Etuhu (valued at 450k), who was on a month-to-month with Manchester City, on a free transfer. The problem was that I had to promise him first-team football. He didn't like that and signed an extended contract with his current squad. Lovely because he's fine with being a 'hot prospect' with them, but not MK Dons. Fair enough I guess. Well, as you can see I then decided to take him on loan instead. He's probably best as a striker, but if he wants to get the most playing time he'll have to spell Wright every once in awhile. He is vice-captain of the U19 Nigerian team. Mustapha Carayol is dang near worthless.

[sovereignstar]

Feeling plenty good with what we've got going here. Haven't really mentioned it yet, but I play an attacking 4-4-2 with both a defensive-minded centre mid and an offensive-minded centre mid. The guys highlighted in yellow have DM listed as one of their positions, while the others don't.

Keith Andrews is a former Hull player and my current vice-captain. I could do a lot worse than him. Alan Navarro is a competent backup and Paul Mitchell isn't bad for a guy who is normally putting out professional hair styling products, though he is injured and expected to miss 3 more months.

As for a more offensive-minded mid I've got the veteran Scot Colin Cameron slotted to play in the Top XI. He played for Coventry last season. The lanky Aaron Wilbraham looks to spell him. He excels in the air and can play a secondary role as a target striker. I think he's got a chance to become one of my favorite players on the squad. Luke Howell just left to join Conference North side Cambridge City on loan.

[sovereignstar]

Another position I'm sitting pretty well at. Generally I like to have a target man and more of a pace guy here. At this level I'm not afraid to put any combo of strikers on the field though.

Jemal Johnson and Kevin Gallen are tied as the highest paid players at MK Dons (3,000 pounds/wk). Both are key players as well. Johnson is both an American and English national who was born in New Jersey, but moved to Macclesfield at the age of 5. He joined Blackburn Rovers' Academy at age 16. He's not very technical, but he does bring a bit of speed and has thus far been impressive twice being named Man of the Match in the preseason. Leon Knight is another pacey back and a nice option on the bench. Dude is small though - 5'5 and 134 pounds. Wonder if he likes to ride horses. Scott Taylor isn't bad for a striker who'll spend the vast majority of his time on the reserves squad. Etuhu could also see time if injuries ever become an issue.

Gallen will line up with Johnson and should compliment him fairly well. Drewe Broughton is one-dimensional, but that's fine. He has also stood out during the preseason.

John Hastings looks like a career backup and Stefan Koffi doesn't look to have a bright future at the club. Sorry, kid. It's the tough truth. Sam Baldock was sent on loan to Rushden and has 2 goals and 1 assist in his first two games with them.

[sovereignstar]

FRIENDLIES
7.14 - The Dons 3, Motherwell 1 (H)
7.17 - Girvan 2, The Dons 0 (A)
7.21 - The Dons 2, Altrincham 0 (A)
7.26 - Wolves 3, The Dons 0 (H)
8.6 - The Dons 7, MK Dons Under 18s 3 (H)

The match against SPL side Motherwell was a great game to start off a career. We then managed to look pretty crappy the rest of the way. We were actually tied with my U-18 squad up until halftime (3-3).

In the news today we drew fellow L2 side Brentford as our first round opponent in the Football League Trophy (aka the Johnstone's Paint Trophy). The single elimination game will be played at Brentford on September 4th. Brentford is predicted to finish 3rd in League Two (we're predicted to finish 3rd). My board had already informed me that they expect me to advance to the 2nd round. Hopefully I can pull an upset off. On to our first league match!

[sovereignstar]

So I don't know exactly how I'm going to report most of my games. If anything, I'll probably try a few different approaches, so bear with me.

Lincoln are the slight favorites to win (6-4) in my away match against them. 2-1 to draw and 13-8 for The Dons to win. Almost even.

[sovereignstar]

League Two, Match One: MK Dons (0-0-0) at Lincoln (0-0-0)

-Lincoln strikes first 3 minutes into the game. Corner kick to header.
-the guy who kicked the last corner is named Frecklington or something - he's an MC. He just kicked another one in the 18th minute and he scares me.
-43rd minute and O'Hanlon lunges to save his keeper who was late on a rush and barely removed the ball from harm. Looked like a sure goal.
-Lincoln had another great chance right before the half. They have 3 shots on target, we have zero. 4 corners to 0 as well.
-I replace Gallen with Knight at striker during the half.
-Knight gets a chance within 23 seconds...
-Ugh. 51st minute and they get another one off of a corner. Same guys scores a slop goal off of a header that we couldn't clean up in front of the net. Not good.
-3-0 on a free kick play in the 61st minute. This is disgusting! Diallo in for O'Hallon.
-Broughton for Johnson in the 72nd.
-game ends 3-0 for the bad guys. 0 shots on target to finish. By golly that blows.
-I'm going to put the same damn lineup out there against Charlton and they better pray they score.

Final: Lincoln 3, The Dons 0

[sovereignstar]

That was a tough one to start off with, but they were favored and it was away and it was only the first game of the season. More bad news as I'm now seeing that Mannone is apparently cup tied. I don't believe I got a chance to change any terms in the loan agreement, since they are my parent club. That could obviously go into affect should Gueret get injured. 4,000 season tickets sold for the season. Okay.

Just signed ML/DL Netan Sansara on a transfer from Walsall. Cost 6k+. He's not ideal insurance at ML as he's only 18. Hopefully he suffices. AssMan saw him as a 2/5 guy, now he sees him as a 3/4. Really didn't see many other options other than going big.

[sovereignstar]

Carling Cup, First Round: Charlton (0-1-0) at MK Dons (0-0-1)
Odds: MK Dons 9-2, Draw N/A, Charlton 1-2(Fav)

-in the 9th minute we score on a beautiful long throw by Palmer to Gallen, who then strikes it from 25 yards over an out of position keeper. Nice!
-Gallens scores his second in the 17th on some beautiful short passing. Johnson with the assist. Do I switch to a defensive style at home this early? Will at least do some minor tweaking.
-Gueret stops a nice Charlton chance in the 26th minute.
-Someone just dribbles around Andrews and just gets bailed out in the 28th
-Son of a. They score on a free kick in the 31st. The kick went just past my keeper. These set pieces are a bitch.
-Gallen gets injured in the 43rd and needs to come off. Will put in the physical Mr. Broughton.
-2-1 good guys at the half. Good match thus far.
-in the 9th minute we score on a beautiful long throw by Palmer to Gallen, who then strikes it from 25 yards over an out of position keeper. Nice!
-Gallens scores his second in the 17th on some beautiful short passing. Johnson with the assist. Do I switch to a defensive style at home this early? Will at least do some minor tweaking.
-Gueret stops a nice Charlton chance in the 26th minute.
-Someone just dribbles around Andrews and just gets bailed out in the 28th
-Son of a. They score on a free kick in the 31st. The kick went just past my keeper. These set pieces are a bitch.
-Gallen gets injured in the 43rd and needs to come off. Will put in the physical Mr. Broughton.
-2-1 good guys at the half. Good match thus far.
-Wooooo! On an indirect free kick it goes Cameron to Broughton to Wright who runs past his guy and puts it past the keeper. 3-1.
-GOAL GOAL GOAL! Just 3 minutes later in the 56th Johnson runs by everyone on a beautiful long ball from Palmer on the left. 4-1 good guys!!
-Start the bus, baby. Palmer is playing out of his mind. Cameron wins a loose ball in front of the net and puts it over the keeper. This is getting ugly! 5-1 in the 64th. This is all happening with a defensive tactic. Counter attack ftw.
-Bring in Wilbraham for Cameron in the 71st. Still getting used to carrying only 5 subs. Wish I had other guys available.
-O'Hanlon gets a yellow card for tugging on some girlyman's shirt in the 81st. I figure I'll sub him out. Diallo in.
-Final is 5 to 1. Gallen is MoM, but many played well.

Final: The Dons 5, Charlton 1

[sovereignstar]

That sure was a swing of some sorts. We win 20,000 pounds and move on in the Carling Cup. Met my first goal. And OH SHIT Gallen broke his leg during the match. He's out for 5-6 months. Scores two goals in one half, gets his leg broken. Bleh.

Now I have to decide whether this is worth reacting to. I have plenty of depth at striker, so my initial reaction is that we can get through this without panicking. I don't want to jeopardize my chances at promotion though, so I'll have to chew on this a bit. Maybe browse the transfer wire and see if there is something I can't pass on. The next Carling Cup draw is in 3 days.

[sovereignstar]

[sovereignstar]

League Two, Match Two: MK Dons (0-0-1) at Shrewsbury (1-0-0)
Odds: MK Dons 13-8, Draw 2-1, Shrewsbury 6-4(Fav)

-Broughton fills in for Gallen. Mannone gets his first start in the net today.
-Shrewsbury strikes first in the 29th minute with a far post header.
-1-0 Shrewsbury at the half. I bring in Etuhu for Wright at MR.
-in the 57th Etuhu crosses it beautifully for Johnson and he puts it past the keeper off of his feet. 1-1.
-Mannone makes a nice save in the 79th to keep the score even.
-Ends without any fireworks. 1-1 draw. MoM is Shrewsbury's scorer.

Final: The Dons 1, Shrewsbury 1

[sovereignstar]

My ML Dyer hurt his foot during the last match and will be out for 2-4 weeks. Yikes. The 18-year old I signed just days ago will get thrown into the fire quickly and his match fitness is not good yet.

The media thinks our victory over Charlton was the biggest upset thus far in the Carling Cup. Lincoln also won against Championship team Stoke City. In the 2nd Round Draw we get set up with Fulham. We'll play the Premiership squad at stadium:mk on August 29th.

[condors]

good luck, I will be following along

[sovereignstar]

Nice to hear from you, condors.

My U18 squad beat Preston's in the U18s Cup the other day. Went to penalty kicks. Preston had two guys sent off due to multiple cards before the match was over.

[sovereignstar]

League Two, Match Three: Bury (0-2-0) at MK Dons (0-1-1)
Odds: MK Dons Even(Fav), Draw 9-4, Shrewsbury 9-4(Fav)

-Sansara did get match fit playing in a Reserves game a few days ago. He's at 89% though.
-zzzzzzzzzzzzz at 30 minutes in
-Broughton has a great chance in the 35th. He missed an open far post header off of a free kick.
-Andrews gets a yellow in the 45th
-Johnson gets tripped inside the box trying to make something happen. We get awarded a penalty kick...
-Cameron nails it! 1-0 at the half.
-Sansara gets dinged up early in the 2nd half. He's just going to have to fight it cos' he's staying in!
-Unexciting 2nd half up to the 75th. I bring in Navarro at MC and Etuhu at MR.
-We bag it 1-0.

Final: The Dons 1, Bury 0

[sovereignstar]

Sansara has a thigh strain and will be out 2-3 weeks. Great. Going to try moving Wright over to ML for the week or so that I'll need him. He's unconvincing over there. Cameron (unconvincing) and Knight (awkward) are options too.

[sovereignstar]

I signed a 27-year old Scot who was playing with Scottish First side Morton. I had to give him first team status, so this will more than likely cause some problems when Gallen returns February/March. Just didn't want to stand pat.

Click here for his card. He has interesting attributes. He can jump, but his heading ability pretty much sucks.

Also sent young DL Sam Collins to Rushden.

[sovereignstar]

Carling Cup, Second Round: Fulham (0-2-1) at MK Dons (1-1-1)
Odds: MK Dons 9-2, Draw N/A, Charlton 1-2(Fav)

-hmmm, exact same odds as my match against Charlton.
-decide to put Cameron over at ML due to his ability to reasonably use his left foot. Gueret in goal, Wilbraham in Cameron's usual place, and Templeman makes his debut.
-McBride, Dempsey, Bocanegra all starting for Fulham. Keller on the bench.
-I have a feeling McBride is going to manhandle my defense.
-Fulham getting all the chances in the first 20 minutes. And they're winning headers in front of my box...
-they're mucking it up quite a bit. McBride with a warning and finally Pearce gets a yellow in the 33rd.
-Fulham gets a penalty when O'Hanlon gets too rough in the box. Healy misses the kick!
-they finally score in the 41st. Nice passing and McBride ends up all alone in the box.
-1-nil at the half. Fulham is just too fast. They're swarming around the field. No subs at the half.
-just noticed that 12,000+ showed up for the match (normally get around 5,000). That has to help the income.
-Dempsey with a yellow in the 62nd. Knight in for Johnson up front. Etuhu in for Wright at MR.
-Templeman gets a nice chance in the 75th, but can't get it past their keeper. We're definitely fighting here, which is pleasant. I up my attacking and bring in Navarro for fresh legs in the middle.
-couldn't break through and we lose 1-0. Didn't complete one cross (ack) and were dominated in the air. McBride was MoM. I guess the two saves their keeper made were great as well, since he tied McBride with a game form of 8.

Final: Fulham 1, The Dons 0

[sovereignstar]

Hard to displeased with that result I guess. No one looked very out of place and that's good, since we're pretty injury-plagued at this point. Another interesting stat: 3 of my starting XI against Fulham were on MK Dons last season.

[sovereignstar]

[sovereignstar]

The Chesterfield manager is talking shit days before our upcoming match. I play some mind-games and some of my boys are ready to respond. Transfer deadline comes and goes.

[sovereignstar]

League Two, Match Four: Chesterfield (2-0-1, t4th) at MK Dons (1-1-1, t12th)
Odds: MK Dons 5-4(Fav), Draw 11-5, Chesterfield 7-4(Fav)

-Mannone in goal, Wright at ML, Etuhu at MR
-the wanker that makes predictions thinks Chesterfield will win this...
-red card to their MC in the 14th!
-Oh dear. Nice counter attack and they score in the 23rd.
-Bleh. 1-0 at the half. Dominating possession, but not getting the greatest chances. Broughton in for Templeman.
-Eff. Broughton heads it to Johnson who rockets a shot off of the crossbar in the 58th.
-Broughton is getting his head on some balls, just can't direct them goalward.
-Knight and Navarro in at the 77th
-Good lord. We lose 1-0. We had 17 shots, 9 on target. They had 2 shots, 1 on target. Gross.

Final: Chesterfield 1, The Dons 0

[sovereignstar]

Up next is our Johnstone's Paint Trophy matchup with Brentford. Got news that Diallo will be unavaiable for our Sept. 8 match up with Mansfield as he'll be on internationaly duty with Guinea (Note: Now see that our date with Mansfield has been rescheduled due to callups). Young defender Kieran Murphy, who's playing with Welsh side TNS, will be on international duty with the Ireland U19 squad for a couple of upcoming games as well. Mark Wright was named to the League Two Team of the Week. Interesting as he last played out of position, though he got a 8 form rating.

[Anthony]

tovereignstar writes better dynasties.

[sovereignstar]

It was tovereigntar, turd bucket.

[sovereignstar]

Johnstone's Paint Trophy (South), Round 1: MK Dons (1-1-2, t16th) at Brentford (0-2-2, t21st)
Odds: MK Dons 9-4, Brentford Even(Fav)

-both Wright and Swailes are low on confidence. Will keep both out I guess. Guiret in goal.
-Andrews to Templeman to Johson in the 8th. 1-0 good guys. The game says a certain DC was responsible and he's immediately taken off. lol
-Templeman gets his head on another ball and Johnson cleans up the trash in front of the net. 2-nil in the 22nd.
-Johnson feeds Templeman in the 36th and he misses what probably should've been an easy chance.
-someone missed putting a body on someone and Brentford strikes in the 42nd.
-then the same guy dribbles past Diallo and nods the score up with a beautiful shot past Guiret. All squared at 2 a piece.
-Half time. No subs.
-Templeman outhustles a guy to the ball and puts it by the keeper for his first goal. 3-2 Dons.
-sub in Stirling at DC for O'Hanlon in the 66th. Diallo has an 8 form rating for the match, so I've got my #3 and #4 guys back there.
-in the 72nd Templeman steals the ball at the half line and dribbles it up to the box and just misses a shot to the corner as the keeper came sprawling out.
-Navarro in for Wilbraham at the 77th. Two DMC's in now.
-Eff. Diallo gets a foul right outside the box and their guy puts it in over the wall. Tied up at 3.
-Going to penalties
-----
-Cameron goes first.. and scores!
-their guy.. scores
-Templeman.. scores!!
-their guy.. scores
-Etuhu.. SCORES
-their guy.. shoots is wide! 3-2 us.
-Edds.. SCORES
-their guy.. scores
-Andrews, our vice-captain ftw. HE SCORES!!

Final: MK Dons 3 (5-3p), Brentford 3

[sovereignstar]

Well, I reached another one of the board's expectations. We win a whopping 3,000 pounds for that victory and move on in the cup. Nice to see penalty shooting like that. 8 days of rest until we face Mansfield on the road.

Dyer and Lewington are close to being healed. We draw an away game with Yeovil on Oct. 9th for our next Johnstone's Paint Trophy match.

Didn't get an e-mail, probably because they are here on loan, but both Mannone and Etuhu are playing internationally as well. Etuhu was MoM in Nigeria's win over Burkina Faso at the U19 level.

[sovereignstar]

League Two, Match Five: MK Dons (1-1-2, 18th) at Mansfield (3-0-1, t4th)
Odds: MK Dons 6-4(Fav), Draw 2-1, Mansfield 13-8

-Mannone in goal. Dyer back at ML. Swailes and Wright back in the lineup.
-Quiet 1st half until Johnson finds some space in front of the goal and puts it in in the 39th minute.
-1-nil at the half.
-Dyer dribbles by an over aggressive defender and just narrowly misses a shot less than a minute into the 2nd half.
-Mansfield scores in the 48th as a mess ensues after a deflection off of the goalpost.
-in the 91st they score on a free kick wall deflection. Brilliant.

Final: Mansfield 2, The Dons 1

[sovereignstar]

League Two, Match Six: Chester City (2-2-1, t8th) at MK Dons (1-1-3, 18th)
Odds: MK Dons 5-4(Fav), Draw 11-5, Chester City 7-4

-Guiret in goal. Lewington back in action at DL. Diallo in for very unconfident Swailes. Etuhu joins Johnson up front.
-Some early chances for both teams. Etuhu gets tripped just barely inside the box. Penalty kick upcoming...
-Cameron nails it. Don't believe we've missed one yet.
-Etuhu latches onto a ball in the box and puts it past the keeper in the 32nd. It's hard to keep this kid out of the lineup. He just goes around everyone.
-four minutes later and Andrews makes someone pay for a bad clearance attempt as he booms one from afar.
-Diallo gets beat on a long ball not long after that and gets bailed out as the Chester strikers wiffs big time.
-and not long after that the ref brandishes a red card for Chester in the 42nd. Good thing we have 3 goals already.
-3-nil at the half. I bring in Knight for Johnson. He hasn't seen action for awhile.
-O'Hanlon collides with someone and he needs to come off. Stirling in for him.
-in the 67th minute Edds floats a beauty to Etuhu in the box and he notches his 2nd goal of the game. 4-0 Dons!
-that's it. Etuhu deservedly wins Man of the Match.

Final: The Dons 4, Chester City 0

[sovereignstar]

Phew! We definitely needed that one. O'Hanlon is out for 3-4 weeks with a dislocated jaw. My U18 team is 4-0-0 and has outscored their opponents 13-0.

Probably it for tonight.

[sovereignstar]

And down goes Swailes, who fractures his skull in a reserve match that I put him in to regain confidence. He's out for 2-3 months. My top two central defenders are out...

[sovereignstar]

League Two, Match Seven: MK Dons (2-1-3, 14th) at Dag & Red (0-2-4, 24th)
Odds: MK Dons 4-6(Fav), Draw 9-4, Dag & Red 7-2

-Dag and Red are newly promoted and obviously struggling. We're pretty heavily favored for an away game.
-the opposition comes out firing. Two good chances in the first 5 minutes.
-the field is just drenched btw.
-they score in the 24th. This doesn't look like a team in bad form...
-Cameron has to come off in the 42nd. Wilbraham in.
-At halftime it's still 1-0 bad guys. Wright was knocked up a bit earlier and I might as well just put in Etuhu now and save myself the trouble.
-Now Wilbraham has to come off in the 68th. Geez, these had better not be serious injuries. I'm getting decimated now. I have to move Johnson back to AMC and bring in Broughton.
-Another penalty kick coming up for us in the 73rd. This time Cameron isn't around to knock it in. Broughton is my next best guy apparently.
-WOW. He hit that hard. 1-1.
-Then Templeman lofts a shot over the wall on a free kick to make it 2-1. Quick, get that defensive tactic in!
-Bah. They run right by us in the 85th. Of course. 2-2.
-And they were just inches away from getting a goal off of a corner.

Final: The Dons 2, Dag & Red 2

[sovereignstar]

Cameron has a bruised jaw (1-2 wks) and Wilbraham has a bruised head (1 wk).

Three home league matches coming up.

[sovereignstar]

League Two, Match Eight: Brentford (1-3-3, t19th) at MK Dons (2-2-3, t15th)
Last Match: The Dons 3 (5-3p), Brentford 3 (9/4/07@Brentford)
Odds: MK Dons 5-4(Fav), Draw 11-5, Brentford 7-4

-Mannone in goal. Andrews and Navarro at MC. Broughton and Johnson up front. Rest is the same.
-Oof. Quick half. Both teams get some chances, but neither convert.
-Broughton heads on some nifty passing and we strike first in the 49th.
-Same combo again. Navarro to Broughton. This time off of a corner in the 53rd. Broughton certainly dominates the air against some teams.
-bring in Knight for Johnson in the 65th.
-Broughton got dinged a bit earlier and isn't getting any fresher. I replace him with Templeman in the 72nd.
-Templeman cleans up the garbage in front of the net minutes later. 3-0 Dons! Etuhu for Wright at MR as we put this one in the bag.
-Finally, Knight outhustles some guys around the net and scores to make it 4-nil.
-She's done.

Final: The Dons 4, Brentford 0

[sovereignstar]

I'll post some end of the month stuff tomorrow (ie league table).

[Qwikshot]

Good read so far...

I loved when my minnow team York got ManU to be their parent club...that was nice...

I've been playing here and there and my Magpies team has managed to into the blue square prem league and I'm running away with it currently...if I keep the pace, League Two shouldn't be far ahead...that's where I think I'll start running into real problems...

Sadly, no parent club for me, I guess the board is finding it too difficult a search...

[gi]

Good stuff, I'll be following

[sovereignstar]

Pos	Team		Pld	Won	Drn	Lst	For	Ag	G.D.	Pts
1st	Peterborough		8	6	1	1	15	4	+11	19
2nd	Lincoln		8	5	3	0	15	5	+10	18
3rd	Chesterfield		8	5	2	1	10	5	+5	17
4th	Mansfield		8	5	2	1	13	9	+4	17
5th	Shrewsbury		8	4	4	0	11	6	+5	16
6th	Wrexham		8	4	1	3	14	11	+3	13
7th	Hereford		8	3	3	2	9	9	0	12
8th	Macclesfield		8	4	0	4	9	15	-6	12
9th	MKDons		8	3	2	3	13	9	+4	11
10th	NottsCo		8	3	2	3	13	12	+1	11
11th	Bury		8	3	2	3	8	7	+1	11
12th	Grimsby		8	3	2	3	8	9	-1	11
13th	Barnet		8	2	4	2	19	12	+7	10
14th	Bradford		8	3	1	4	12	11	+1	10
15th	Morecambe		8	3	1	4	9	10	-1	10
16th	Wycombe		8	2	3	3	9	9	0	9
17th	Rochdale		8	2	3	3	12	14	-2	9
18th	Darlington		8	2	2	4	10	11	-1	8
19th	Stockport		8	1	5	2	9	12	-3	8
20th	Chester		8	2	2	4	9	21	-12	8
21st	Rotherham		8	2	1	5	11	15	-4	7
22nd	Accrington		8	2	0	6	8	15	-7	6
23rd	Brentford		8	1	3	4	7	17	-10	6
24th	Dag&Red		8	0	3	5	7	12	-5	3

[sovereignstar]

4 Dons players are named to the final September 'League Two Team of the Week': Gareth Edds, Lloyd Dyer, Keith Andrews, and Drewe Broughton

[sovereignstar]

League Two, Match Nine: Rotherham (2-1-5, 21st) at MK Dons (3-2-3, 9th)
Last Match: N/A
Odds: Even (Fav), Draw 9-4, Rotherham 9-4

-couple players are listed as being fired up for this match. Let's hope so.
-Gueret in goal. MC's Cameron and Abraham are tired as they recover from injury. Won't be of much use.
-they strike quick as they shoot bullets at Gueret off of a free kick. He's definitely not to blame.
-ugh. They get another one and make my defense look like swiss cheese. 2-0 bad guys.
-someone from my team just hit the post. Not sure who though. lol
-Navarro almost puts a free kick in. Nice save.
-ha! We score in the 35th while striker Johnson gets treatment on the sidelines. Goal for Dyer!
-in fact I need to take Johnson off now before the half even ends. Etuhu ftw.
-still down 2-1 at the half. No subs made.
-Etuhu is making his presence known. Almost hits on a long shot.
-I want a goal dammit. I bring in Broughton for Templeman in the 59th. Cameron will be the next man on.
-ugh. Time is going quickly. Cameron in at the 74th.
-boom! Cameron to Etuhu in the 77th. These guys make me look like a genius sometimes.
-Etuhu almost puts us on top in the 81st.
-meh.
-Dyer is MoM.

Final: The Dons 2, Rotherham 2

[Coffee Warlord]

Heh, it's great when you read a dynasty and see you bringing in some of the guys I signed a few seasons back when I was down in that level.

[sovereignstar]

I noticed it before, but now my AssMan warns me that Leon Knight is upset that he's not getting more time with the first team. Well too bad, short stuff.

[sovereignstar]

League Two, Match Ten: Barnet (2-5-2, 12th) at MK Dons (3-3-3, t8th)
Last Match: N/A
Odds: MK Dons 4-6(Fav), Draw 9-4, Barnet 7-2

-the oddsmakers like me too much. Interesting match as Barnet has the other AML I was looking to acquire (Jason Puncheon). They dismissed my enquiry though.
-Mannone in goal. Cameron back starting. Knight and Etuhu are the strikers. Better me my knight in shining armor, buddy boy.
-Knight heads a corner kick into goal, but the whistle blows as he shoved a man.
-quick half. Each team gets a few chances. 0-0.
-.....
-.....
-bah. 0-0. That was a doozie.

Final: The Dons 0, Barnet 0

[sovereignstar]

Johnstone's Paint Trophy (South), Round 2: MK Dons (3-4-3, 8th) at Yeovil (4-2-4, t7th in League One)
Odds: MK Dons 3-1, Yeovil 4-5 (Fav)

-we've been doing good in the extracurricular stuff. Should note that my #5 DC is Alcock right now and he's being loaned for Yeovil and looks like he can't play against his own team.
-Guiret in goal. Hope and pray my deteriorated defense can hold.
-hmmmm.. their players aren't in the best condition right now. Odd, they last played 3 days ago.
-they overpower us and score in the 3rd.
-in the 7th my DR Edds sends the ball across the field to the keeper and a pacey striker jumps on it and puts it past Guiret in the.. 7th. 2-0 Yeovil.
-they have a guy named Marvin Williams and he seems to be a good striker. He notches his 2nd goal in the 24th. This could get ugly.
-3-0 at the half. Don't think I have the horses for this race.
-Broughton gets his heads on a couple of balls, then Johnson finds space and scores in the 51st. 1-3.
-man, if Broughton was just a bit more studly he'd put some of these headers in. They almost always just miss.
-3-1 is the final. Could've been worse I guess.

Final: Yeovil 3, The Dons 1

[sovereignstar]

League Two, Match 11: MK Dons (3-4-3, t8th) at Wycombe (2-4-4, t19th)
Last Match: N/A
Odds: MK Dons 13-8, Draw 2-1, Wycombe 6-4 (Fav)

-hmmm.. just received a note that my backup keeper Abbey failed to show for training. Know your role! I warn him and he backs off.
-great. Diallo is playing with Guinea again and O'Hanlon isn't quite ready. I'm a mess at DC. Stirling and Alcock? Will be Alcock's first league action.
-Guiret in goal. Templeman starting. Rest the same old same old.
-action goes fast. Johnson gets a nice feed from Templeman, but gets denied by the keeper.
-as the pbp says, pretty drab match thus far. Halftime.
-in the 58th Dyer loses his man on a corner and they score.
-get the equalizer in the 89th. Subbed Broughton in 10 minutes earlier and he gets his head on a cross from Lewington. 1-1.
-a bad clearance and they score in extra time. This blows.

Final: Wycombe 2, The Dons 1

[sovereignstar]

League Two, Match 12: MK Dons (3-4-4, t12th) at Stockport (3-6-2, t8th)
Last Match: N/A
Odds: MK Dons 7-4, Draw 11-5, Stockport 5-4 (Fav)

-Mannone in goal. O'Hanlon is back. Etuhu and Broughton up front.
-Stockport is getting most of the chances and in the 34th Stirling has the ball taken away and we give one up
-Broughton gets his head on a long ball and nods it in front for Johnson, who just came in. Tied 1-1 in the 67.
-they score on a corner in the 86th.
-

Final: Stockport 2, The Dons 1

[sovereignstar]

League Two, Match 13: Hereford (5-3-4, t7th) at MK Dons (3-4-5, t17th)
Last Match: N/A
Odds: MK Dons Even (Fav), Draw 9-4, Hereford 9-4

-I try to inspire my team before the game by showing confidence in the press and now a couple of guys and now Lewington, Dyer, and Wright are useless. Guiret in goal. Navarro in for Andrews, who's serving suspension for 5 yellow cards. Johnson and Broughton up front. Etuhu on right wing. Wilbraham at MC for Cameron.
-Johnson creates a turnover and almost scores in the 9th.
-Effing turnover and they score in the 13th.
-Johnson and Broughton play give-and-go and Johnson scores in the 29th. Thank you.
-1-1 at the half.
-Broughton misses for the one billionth time.
-God dammit. Diallo gets blown by and they get one in the 83rd. This is getting really painful now. 2-1 bad guys.
-We lose. What a shock

Final: Hereford 2, The Dons 1