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03-25-2014, 06:49 PM
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#301 |
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College Benchwarmer
Join Date: Dec 2002
Location: St. Catharines, Canada
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Sat. October 1, 2022
Barclays Premier League Chelsea (5-0-1, 15 points, 3rd) vs. Dover (5-1-0, 16 points, 1st) Zola Stadium, London, UK Betting Odds: Chelsea: Evens (Favourites) Draw: 11-5 Dover: 11-5 Past Meetings: 1W 2D 6L The past record looks ugly but after starting 0-0-6 against them, we are undefeated in our last three matches against Chelsea. The Blues are playing well but were modest spenders in the transfer window, with one big splash made on Sevilla's AML/ST Tony Nijhuis, a Dutch international who was purchased for £16.5 million. He has three goals in six games so far. They are getting balanced scoring out of the gates and they have many dangerous players throughout the lineup, including last year's big signing Miguel Sousa, a MR and veteran striker Romelu Lukaku. We will be coming up on an international break next week so we can safely go with a full lineup today, knowing we have a two week rest. Shanon Andrea is back to full training after stubbing his toe last week but won't dress, as he's still a bit tired. So Said Henni will be back in the starting lineup alongside Chiquinho. We'll go with a counter attacking mentality on the road and as underdogs. Dover: 4-4-2 Counter GK - I. Wilke D - R. Gaucho, C. Contreras, R. Hamon, S. Loucif M - A. Bamba, N. Cairney, A. Rocca, G. Bolis S - S. Henni, Chiquinho Bench - D. Traore, K. Zagos, G. Fanfoni, Mancini, G. Allan, Z. Bardi, P. Moses Chelsea are in a 4-4-2 DM formation (4-2-3-1) with Lukaku alone up front and Luis Carballo in behind. Newcomer Nijhuis is on the left flank and Sousa is on the right. Rafael Romo is in goal. Lets play well for the travelling supporters today! 10' - It's mostly Chelsea in the early goings and after a weird exchange between Andrea Rocca and Rayane Hamon gets intercepted, Lukaku gets loose and has a go at goal that's stopped by a diving Ingo Wilke. 25' - No real chances on either side, as Chelsea seem to be dominating possession but can't break us down. We get loose on a counter and Rocca sends it up to Henni. He hesitates as he nears the penalty area and shoots a weak shot that Romo easily saves. 28' - Chelsea midfielder El Arabi with a great, low shot from outside the area and Wilke makes a brilliant save. 39' - Chelsea have possession and midfielder Villa passes to Carballo. He takes a perfect, curling shot from outside the area that goes into the left corner of the goal past an outstretched Wilke and Chelsea have a lead. That's a sublime finish on an innocent looking play - lots of skill there. CHELSEA GOAL 0-1 HALFTIME - This is the first time in a long time that I can say we're being dominated. Chelsea are holding 59% of possession and a huge 14-5 (5-1 on target) shot advantage. We obviously need to change tactics here and we'll go to a control mentality for the start of the second half. 47' - We have a breakdown and Nijhuis is in all alone but he hits the post and Wilke grabs the rebound and hold on. 51' - We an inexplicable mess today. Lukaku gets a rocket of a low shot off, forcing Wilke into a great save then on an innocent cross into the box, Claudio Contreras isn't paying attention and the ball almost deflects off him into our net. 55' - We get a great chance with Chiquinho but his low blast is saved by a diving Romo. 57' - Chiquinho forces a turnover and we have a 2 on 2 break. His shot is saved and just as Henni is about to put in the rebound, a Chelsea defender tackles it away. 58' - We're starting to take the game to them a bit, as Rocca sends a great long ball up to Henni. He's has half a step on the defender but his shot is once again saved by Romo. 68' - Bamba is exhausted so I take him and Chiquinho out and in come Paul Moses and Zoltan Bardi. Henni moves into left midfield. 70' - Moses with a great rush up field and his cross is right to Andrea Rocca but his left footed shot is once again saved by Romo. That was our chance!! 71' - Moses again after a great pass from Henni and he storms in and Romo again is up to the task. 74' - Yellow card for Salim Loucif. 81' - Moses AGAIN is robbed by Romo, who has been sensational in this half. Moses had a clear cut opportunity there. Damnit! 83' - Graham Allan is on for a tired Said Henni. We move to an Overload mentality. 88' - Give and go between Moses and Rocca results in Rocca shooting just wide into the side netting. 90'+1 - Moses with a rocket from distance but it's right at Romo. A much better second half but we can't beat the excellent Rafael Romo and we suffer our first defeat of the year. Chelsea 1 - 0 Dover Goals - Assists - Man of the Match - Rafael Romo (Chesea GK - 8.8) Other Dover Notables - Ingo Wilke (7.9) Attendance - 57,568 Again a much better half but Chelsea deserved this win. They held 58% of possession and outshot us 20-17 (7-9 on target). -- Newcastle shock Liverpool 2-0 and United can only manage a draw against Middlesbrough. City win 2-0 over Sheffield Wednesday and move into first place, with Chelsea taking over second. We are in third and Arsenal and Tottenham also move up after wins. BARCLAYS PREMIER LEAGUE - STANDINGS (ALL TEAMS HAVE PLAYED 7 GAMES UNLESS NOTED) 1. Manchester City - 19 points 2. Chelsea - 18 points 3. Dover - 16 points 4. Tottenham - 15 points ---------------------------------------------------- 5. Arsenal - 15 points 6. Manchester United - 14 points 7. Sheffield Wednesday - 13 points ---------------------------------------------------- Dover U18 Update -- We defeat MK Dons U18s 3-2, with goals scored by Joshua Stokes, Ben Patterson and Lyubomir Kunchev. -- Fine young midfield prospect Emmerson Harvey suffers a torn groin (OUCH) and will miss around six weeks of action. October Board Confidence Update -- The board are very pleased with my overall leadership of the team. The main positive is our 6-0 win over Burnley and the only disappointment is the departure of Youssouf Sylla. -- We make a profit of £459,000 last month. International Duty -- We have 18 players called up for international duty. 14 of the players gain caps, including Steve Reed & Paul Moses (England U21), Kostas Kalfas (one goal for Greece U21), Lyubomir Kunchev (Bulgaria U21), Chiquinho (with four goals in two games for Belgium), Daniel Traore & Arsene Bamba (Ivory Coast), Neil Cairney & Graham Allan (Scotland - Allan scored two goals), Said Henni and Salim Loucif (Algeria - Henni scored two goals), Giorgos Gesios (one goal for Greece), Zoltan Bardi (a hat trick for Hungary) and Mwemere Mutesa (Rwanda). Dover Reserves Update -- Behind SIX goals from Zoltan Bardi, we win 8-2 over Reading's Reserves. Also scoring for Dover are Ben Patterson on a penalty and we also benefited from a Reading own goal. -- Wayne Rooney had two assists in the game but got hurt. He'll miss a week with a bruised rib. Injury Update -- In addition to Rooney's injury, we get some good news and some bad news. First, reserve GK Louis Read returns to full training after missing eight weeks with a dislocated shoulder. However, we also get word that young DC Mohamed Lamine Yilmaz strains his back during a workout session and will miss the next four weeks of action. -- Crap. Now we find out that Paul Moses pulled a hamstring while playing for England's U21 team and he will miss three weeks. Geez. Dover Reserve Team Update -- With the two weeks in between "real" games, we have a second reserves game and this time we lose 2-0 to Arsenal's Reserves. Next Up -- We are finally back in action, hosting Reading in Premier League play.
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MY CURRENT FM19 DYNASTY - FM19: "Ludere causa Ludendi - To Play for the Sake of Playing" - Queen's Park FC (Scottish League Two) MY OLD FM11 DYNASTY - FM11: From Semi-Pro Minnows to the EPL - Dover Athletic FC My Personal Blog - Now on the Tee - Golf, Sports, Poker, Life 2006 GOLDEN SCRIBE AWARD WINNER FOR BEST 'OTHER SPORT' DYNASTY - EHM2005: Sharpening Swords in Buffalo |
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03-26-2014, 12:23 AM
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#302 |
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College Benchwarmer
Join Date: Dec 2002
Location: St. Catharines, Canada
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Sat. October 15, 2022
Barclays Premier League Dover (5-1-1, 15 points, 3rd) vs. Reading (4-1-2, 13 points, 7th) Crabble Athletic Ground, Dover, UK Betting Odds: Dover: 5-4 (Favourites) Draw: 11-5 Reading: 7-4 Past Meetings: 6W 2D 2L We face Reading for the second time in less than a month after knocking them off 3-2 in League Cup action. We'll have to do a better job against James Hunter and Hani Megahed today. We get Shanon Andrea back and that means we're fully healthy among our starting eleven and all will play today. Control mentality at home. Dover: 4-4-2 Control GK - I. Wilke D - R. Gaucho, C. Contreras, R. Hamon, S. Loucif M - A. Bamba, N. Cairney, A. Rocca, G. Bolis S - S. Andrea, Chiquinho Bench - D. Traore, K. Zagos, S. Spall, Mancini, G. Allan, S. Henni, Z. Bardi Hmm. I just realized that Hani Megahed is hurt and won't be playing today. Reading go with newcomer Lorenzo Cini, a 27 year old striker they picked up from Ligue 1 this offseason. He's alone up front but the ever-dangerous James Hunter sits right behind him in the 4-4-2 DM formation. Antonio is in goal for Reading. My assistant wants me to tell the players to perform well for our supporters and I go with it. 5' - A bit of a slow start with some sloppy play on both sides but we finally get possession with Shanon Andrea. He runs toward the centre of the defence, drawing both of the Reading DCs and that opens up a passing lane for Chiquinho and Andrea feeds a lovely ball through to him. He's in all alone and he makes no mistake, putting it low into the right corner for the great start! DOVER GOAL 1-0 12' - He's already been lectured for an earlier foul so it's no surprise to see Arsene Bamba get a yellow card on his second incident. 17' - I'm not particularly pleased with our game right now, as we are playing slow and gifting Reading possession all over the field. That said, Andrea draws a foul and Rocca sends the free kick to Neil Cairney just outside the area and his low, one time blast is saved and deflected behind the goal. We can't do anything with the corner. 22' - Rocca with a corner and it's headed at the near post by Chiquinho toward goal and headed again by Claudio Contreras but Antonio is in good position for the save. 25' - We have a throw in deep in their end and Rocca ends up crossing into the box and Salim Loucif, inexplicably pinching in from his right fullback position, heads it at goal but Antonio makes the save! 34' - Their dangerous midfielder James Hunter is hurt and needs to come out of the game. That certainly won't hurt our chances the rest of the way. 35' - Chiquinho takes a pass from Cairney at midfield and bursts past his marker and in on goal but his shot is over the net. HALFTIME - I'm not happy with the way we're playing, as Reading are controlling possession on our home pitch. We only hold 46% of possession but outshoot them 9-8 (7-2 on target). I encourage the players to keep pressing - I want more possession and more shots on target. 49' - Chiquinho takes down a man and gets a yellow card. 75' - Nothing happening at all. What a shit game. Out come Bamba and an ineffective Gianluca Bolis and I bring in Said Henni and Graham Allan. 77' - Rocca scores but we're called immediately for offsides. We are completely disjointed today and there is absolutely no excuse with all eleven starters healthy. 79' - Rocca comes off and I bring in Mancini. 87' - I switch to a counter attacking mentality. 89' - Neil Cairney with a turnover and he hauls the man down. Yellow card. Ugh. Just a mess today. It wasn't pretty but we'll take the three points. Dover 1 - 0 Reading Goals - Chiquinho (7.3) Assists - Shanon Andrea (6.8) Man of the Match - Patson Seleman (Reading DR - 7.8) Other Dover Notables - Salim Loucif (7.5), Rayane Hamon (7.2), Claudio Contreras (7.6) Attendance - 16,589 Just a lethargic performance, with no second half shots on target for us. We only hold 47% of overall possession and outshoot them 15-10 (7-3 on target). We need to be better than this. -- City throttle Burnley 6-1, Chelsea beat Birmingham but United can only manage a draw versus Derby. That allows us to hold onto third place in the league. Tottenham and Arsenal both draw in different games, giving us a three point cushion on fourth for the moment. BARCLAYS PREMIER LEAGUE - STANDINGS (ALL TEAMS HAVE PLAYED 8 GAMES UNLESS NOTED) 1. Manchester City - 22 points 2. Chelsea - 21 points 3. Dover - 19 points 4. Tottenham - 16 points ---------------------------------------------------- 5. Arsenal - 16 points 6. Manchester United - 15 points 7. Sheffield Wednesday - 14 points ---------------------------------------------------- Dover U18 Update -- Our youngsters win 2-0 over Oxford, with Damian Thorne and Eddie Robinson scoring the goals. Champions League Update -- Four of the groups play today and in Group E, Grasshoppers continue to get destroyed, this time by OM 5-0. CSKA Moscow beat Real Madrid in a huge upset 2-1 as well. In Group F, Le Mans FC and Benfica draw 1-1 and Man City win 2-1 over Hoffenheim. In Group G, Fenerbahce and Sampdoria tie 1-1 while Bayern Munich beat Shakhtar 3-0. And in Group H, Atletico Madrid edge Fiorentina 1-0 while Liverpool beat up on Partizan 4-1. Next Up -- We host Spanish LIGA side Sevilla in Champions League group play at Crabble Athletic Ground.
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MY CURRENT FM19 DYNASTY - FM19: "Ludere causa Ludendi - To Play for the Sake of Playing" - Queen's Park FC (Scottish League Two) MY OLD FM11 DYNASTY - FM11: From Semi-Pro Minnows to the EPL - Dover Athletic FC My Personal Blog - Now on the Tee - Golf, Sports, Poker, Life 2006 GOLDEN SCRIBE AWARD WINNER FOR BEST 'OTHER SPORT' DYNASTY - EHM2005: Sharpening Swords in Buffalo |
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03-26-2014, 07:18 PM
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#303 |
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College Benchwarmer
Join Date: Dec 2002
Location: St. Catharines, Canada
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Wed. October 19, 2022
UEFA Champions League - Group B Dover (2-0-0, 6 points, 1st) vs. Sevilla (2-0-0, 6 points, 2nd) Crabble Athletic Ground, Dover, UK Betting Odds: Dover: 13-8 Draw: 2-1 Sevilla: 6-4 (Favourites) Past Meetings: 0W 0D 0L Sevilla are a big club that constantly finish near the top of the Spanish LIGA table but have only won the league one time and that was in 1946! They finished in third place last year to gain entry into the Champions League. They added a few key players during the offseason, including our very own striker Giorgos Gesios on season-long loan. He isn't eligible to play against us in this competition, thankfully. Other big additions were MR Erik Noll from RC Strasbourg for £5.75 million and ML Dario Galeano for £5.5 million from HSV. They've got a strong defensive structure, with their three top valued players playing centre half or defensive midfield. 25 year old Octavio Hernandez is worth over £16 million and is a highly skilled Mexican international. Against my better judgement, I'm going with the exact same lineup as the Reading game. This is our starting group and they need to be better today. At home, we'll stick with a control mentality. Dover: 4-4-2 Control GK - I. Wilke D - R. Gaucho, C. Contreras, R. Hamon, S. Loucif M - A. Bamba, N. Cairney, A. Rocca, G. Bolis S - S. Andrea, Chiquinho Bench - D. Traore, K. Zagos, S. Spall, Mancini, G. Allan, S. Henni, Z. Bardi Sevilla play a 4-4-2 diamond formation, something we usually play well against. They have Mahatma Otoo and Emmanuel Asamoah up front, Javier Pastore is at AMC, Hernandez is at DMC and Juan Nsue is in goal. I tell them to go out and perform better for the supporters and pull aside young Claudio Contreras to tell him to pick up where he left off in the Reading game. 4' - Great, Rayane Hamon gets injured making a tackle and needs to come off. I move Salim Loucif to DC and bring in Kostas Zagos. 20' - No real shots on target for either side. Neil Cairney gets a blast off from distance that nicks the post and is out of play. 23' - Bolis takes a nice feed from Andrea and cuts in toward goal but Nsue puts up his hand and blocks the high shot away. 28' - Now these guys tackle Andrea Rocca and he's hurt and needs to come off. Ridiculous. Mancini comes in for our injured playmaker. 32' - We have a free kick and Cairney sends it into the box and they foul Chiquinho in the area. Since it's Chiquinho, I'm waiting for the dive call and a yellow card but the ref awards the PENALTY! Neil Cairney steps up and SCORES!!! DOVER GOAL 1-0 38' - We have a corner and Cairney's kick is sent toward goal by Renato Gaucho but it's cleared off the line by Sevilla's defence as it reaches the near post. 44' - A Cairney corner is cleared out to Mancini and his rocket blast from outside the area is pushed over the bar by a diving Nsue! 45'+2 - Mancini with another shot from distance and this time, Nsue has trouble with it and Shanon Andrea pounces and puts it into the goal. But it's ruled offsides? Oh man, they COMPLETELY screwed that up, as we see on the replay that Andrea was onside by at least five feet. TERRIBLE CALL!! HALFTIME - Wow, what a shit call as we head into the break. We are dominating the proceedings with 56% possession and a 9-3 (7-0 on target) shot advantage. I tell the team I'm pleased with their efforts so far. Let's get another one and put these guys away. 46' - Andrea gets fouled almost immediately upon kickoff and we move the free kick up to Cairney. He sends a pass up to Andrea and he turns on the defender and runs past him into the area before shooting low to the near side and it's IN! Quick goal only 40 seconds after the restart and we have a two goal lead! DOVER GOAL 2-0 71' - You HAVE to be kidding. Now Pastore tackles Mancini, who has been everywhere since coming on for the injured Andrea Rocca, and he can't get up. I'm forced to take him off as well. Three injuries already. Shaun Spall comes on. 79' - In a play that looks remarkably similar to our last goal, it's Cairney feeding Andrea and he once again turns and runs in on goal, shooting low to the short side and it's in again! A brace for Andrea! DOVER GOAL 3-0 Sevilla move to a 4-2-4. 82' - We work a counter with Bamba sending the ball up field to Andrea. He heads it up to Chiquinho and he's dribbling with a man right on his heels. His shot is saved and the rebound comes to Andrea. He's tripped in the area and there is no call this time as Sevilla clear behind the goal. 85' - Chiquinho with a yellow card. Spectacular game as we continue to roll and play up to the level of our competition, especially in Champions League play. Dover 3 - 0 Sevilla Goals - Shanon Andrea 2 (8.8), Neil Cairney PEN (9.1) Assists - Neil Cairney 2, Gianluca Bolis (7.3) Man of the Match - Neil Cairney Other Dover Notables - Claudio Contreras (7.7), Renato Gaucho (7.3), Kostas Zagos (7.4) Attendance - 21,616 Neil Cairney was sensational and he's finally fulfilling that immense promise we had for him upon his signing two and a half years ago! We hold 51% of possession and outshoot them 21-8 (12-0 on target) - domination! Now, about those injuries…hopefully nothing severe... -- Oh lord. Mancini suffers a broken leg and he will miss 5 to 6 MONTHS. Geez. Andrea Rocca's injury is a groin strain and he'll miss the next 2-3 weeks, which is manageable. Rayane Hamon twisted his knee and will miss two weeks. The Mancini injury hurts - he's our top substitute off the bench at central midfield but we do have capable cover with guys like Shaun Spall and youngsters Gian Marco Fanfoni and Emmerson Harvey. Fanfoni especially will be a constant on the bench, along with Spall. -- We win £696,000 for the victory. -- We also set a gates receipts record with £675,000, beating our previous record from a Barcelona Champions League game by 25k. Champions League Update -- The other match in our group sees Porto beat up on Slovan Bratislava 3-0. In Group A, Dortmund win 1-0 over Anderlecht and Olympique Lyonnais win 3-0 over AaB. In Group C play, Celtic and Panathinaikos battle to a scoreless draw while Man United win 3-1 over Galatasaray. Finally, in Group D, Barcelona KILL AZ 6-0 while Palermo win 4-0 over Dinamo. Next Up -- We welcome traditional Premier League powerhouse Manchester United to Crabble Athletic Ground.
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MY CURRENT FM19 DYNASTY - FM19: "Ludere causa Ludendi - To Play for the Sake of Playing" - Queen's Park FC (Scottish League Two) MY OLD FM11 DYNASTY - FM11: From Semi-Pro Minnows to the EPL - Dover Athletic FC My Personal Blog - Now on the Tee - Golf, Sports, Poker, Life 2006 GOLDEN SCRIBE AWARD WINNER FOR BEST 'OTHER SPORT' DYNASTY - EHM2005: Sharpening Swords in Buffalo Last edited by NoSkillz : 03-26-2014 at 07:35 PM. |
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03-26-2014, 10:21 PM
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#304 |
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College Benchwarmer
Join Date: Dec 2002
Location: St. Catharines, Canada
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Sat. October 22, 2022
Barclays Premier League Dover (6-1-1, 19 points, 3rd) vs. Manchester United (4-3-1, 15 points, 6th) Crabble Athletic Ground, Dover, UK Betting Odds: Dover: 11-5 Draw: 11-5 Manchester United: Evens (Favourites) Past Meetings: 2W 2D 8L We face a United team that is perhaps at its most vulnerable in all of my time in the Premier League, with decent odds (albeit still underdogs) and a four game undefeated streak against them in all competitions. Incredibly, they only bought THREE players during the summer transfer window, splashing £12.75 million on Sampdoria veteran defender Lucas Digne and £11.75 million on 27 year old midfielder Francesco Simone from Koln. As always, their danger man is striker Yaya Sanogo but he's 29 years old and right around the age that he will see a decline in skills. Sanogo has six goals, tied for the team lead with fellow striker Tom Bull and Ishak Belfodil has five. We'll be seeing former top Dover prospect Cristian Rodriguez, who likely has settled into life at United by now. We'll make a couple of changes today, mostly by necessity, as we have injury issues to two of our starters. Kostas Zagos will start at right fullback, his first Premier League start for us and vice-captain Salim Loucif moves into the middle of the defence. Shaun Spall will take over for Andrea Rocca in the midfield. I'm also putting Arsene Bamba on the bench today and starting Said Henni. Bamba has only one point in eight league games so far this year and needs a spot on the bench to think about it. Control mentality at home, as usual. Dover: 4-4-2 Control GK - I. Wilke D - R. Gaucho, C. Contreras, S. Loucif, K. Zagos M - S. Henni, N. Cairney, S. Spall, G. Bolis S - S. Andrea, Chiquinho Bench - D. Traore, S. Reed, G. Fanfoni, G. Allan, A. Bamba, W. Rooney, Z. Bardi United are in a flat 4-4-2 with Belfodil and Sanogo up front. Emiliano Viviano is in goal. I tell the team they can win this game and pull aside Chiquinho and Henni to say I expect a performance from them both today and also pull aside Andrea to tell him to pick up where he left off in the Sevilla game. 24' - No real chances through the first 20 minutes but we finally get a glorious one, as Bolis crosses into the area to Andrea but his shot from in close is WIDE. That was pretty much a sitter there. 26' - They do the same thing, as Sanogo sends fellow striker Belfodil in past Loucif and from in tight, he curls one just wide. 31' - United with nice ball movement and it's Sanogo sending one through to right midfielder Zamani but Wilke is in good position to make the save. 39' - We have back and forth action as Andrea is sent forward on a special pass from Spall but he's stripped of the ball while in the penalty area on a tackle that certainly looked like a foul. United scream back down field and Sanogo has a bloody breakaway but Wilke makes the brilliant stop to keep the game scoreless! 40' - Spall takes a man down and is given a yellow card. 43' - Our defence is much weaker without Hamon in the lineup and it's Belfodil racing past Contreras and getting off a shot that Wilke saves and we clear just before Sanogo cleaned up the rebound. 45'+3 - There's three minutes of extra time and we're coming up on the whistle but Wilke gets off a long goal kick and Chiquinho wins the header over to Andrea. He's about ten yards outside the area and bursts past our old friend Cristian Rodriguez and shoots low to the right corner and it's past Viviano and IN! What a late half dagger! DOVER GOAL 1-0 HALFTIME - A very evenly played match thus far - possession is a dead heat and shots are 7-7 (4-3 on target) in favour of United. I tell the team I'm pleased and we keep the same tactics for now. 52' - Cairney with a great low shot from distance that Viviano has trouble with but the ball squirts just wide of the post. 54' - Cairney with an overly exuberant tackle and he's given a yellow. On the free kick that follows, Sanogo gets a step on our defence and sends a low blast that Wilke does well to push aside. 59' - In a WILD play, there's a 50/50 ball between Chiquinho and a United midfielder and our striker BLATANTLY pushes him over. The ball is free and everyone is expecting a foul call, Chiquinho included but play goes on. Chiquinho grabs the ball at midfield and races toward goal, with Cristian Rodriguez chasing. Just as Chiquinho is about to shoot, Rodriguez tackles the ball away but it's past a diving Viviano and sitting right in front of the goal line. Chiquinho recovers and is about to put the ball into the empty net but Rodriguez AGAIN tackles him, this time sending the ball right into the net! CRAZY play unlike any I've seen and we have a two goal lead!!! DOVER GOAL 2-0 61' - Off the ensuing kick, Salim Loucif drags down a player and is given a yellow, our third of the game. 62' - We switch to a counter attacking mentality. 64' - On a very innocent play, Sanogo is one on one with Contreras and lets go with a weak change-up of a shot that fools Wilke and it's IN. Maybe one of the weakest goals I've ever seen Wilke let in and at a very inopportune time. MANCHESTER UNITED GOAL 2-1 73' - We make a double substitution, taking out Said Henni and bringing in Graham Allan and also taking out Shaun Spall for Gian Marco Fanfoni. 84' - Now Wayne Rooney comes on for the excellent Shanon Andrea. Lets hold them off guys! 88' - You have to be kidding. Sanogo runs down the right and crosses into the middle and Belfodil is completely unmarked and easily slots it into the net. United pull level from two behind. Disgraceful. MANCHESTER UNITED GOAL 2-2 Fuck this. Back to a control mentality. 90'+1 - Wow, we let Sanogo in all alone again, as he abuses Contreras but Wilke makes the game-saving stop! 90'+3 - We have possession in their end and the ball comes to young Gian Marco Fanfoni. Wayne Rooney is blatantly offsides in the penalty area but Fanfoni's pass into the area goes to Chiquinho, who is ONside. His first touch is around Viviano and he is able to somehow slot the ball into the net from an awkward angle. United protest but the ref tells them to bugger off. What a pass from Fanfoni and Chiquinho with the world class finish in A SHOCKER!!! DOVER GOAL 3-2 Dover 3 - 2 Manchester United Goals - Shanon Andrea (7.6), Cristian Rodriguez OG, Chiquinho (8.0) Assists - Neil Cairney (7.9), Chiquinho, Gian Marco Fanfoni (6.9) Man of the Match - Ishak Belfodil (Manchester United ST - 8.4) Other Dover Notables - Salim Loucif (7.0), Said Henni (7.1) Attendance - 19,508 Wow. What a result! We hold 52% of possession and outshoot them 17-11 (7-8 on target). I thought we had blown the game but we come through in the end on 18 year old loanee Gian Marco Fanfoni's brilliant pass. Fanfoni has played two games as a substitute and has two assists. He'll get a start during the week in our League Cup game on that play alone. Wonderful last minute victory over United!!! -- City beat Reading 2-1, Derby hold on for a draw against Arsenal, Chelsea beat Everton 3-2 and Tottenham beat Burnley. So things stay the same at the top. BARCLAYS PREMIER LEAGUE - STANDINGS (ALL TEAMS HAVE PLAYED 9 GAMES UNLESS NOTED) 1. Manchester City - 25 points 2. Chelsea - 24 points 3. Dover - 22 points 4. Tottenham - 19 points ---------------------------------------------------- 5. Arsenal - 17 points 6. Manchester United - 15 points 7. Sheffield Wednesday - 15 points ---------------------------------------------------- Dover U18 Update -- The kids destroy Southampton 6-0, with David Smith bagging a brace and singles being scored by Pete Smith, Lyubomir Kunchev, Phil Whitbread and Jay Doyle. Injury Update -- We are in some dire straits with injuries right now, especially in the middle of the park, with DC Rayane Hamon, DC Mohamed Lamine Yilmaz, MC Mancini, MC Andrea Rocca and ST Paul Moses all currently on the shelf. Moses will likely be back soon. In addition, Emmerson Harvey is on the shelf for the U18s, otherwise he'd likely be in our lineup right now with our desperate need at central midfield. Next Up -- We are in the 4th round of the League Cup and head to Liverpool to face Everton at Goodison Park.
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MY CURRENT FM19 DYNASTY - FM19: "Ludere causa Ludendi - To Play for the Sake of Playing" - Queen's Park FC (Scottish League Two) MY OLD FM11 DYNASTY - FM11: From Semi-Pro Minnows to the EPL - Dover Athletic FC My Personal Blog - Now on the Tee - Golf, Sports, Poker, Life 2006 GOLDEN SCRIBE AWARD WINNER FOR BEST 'OTHER SPORT' DYNASTY - EHM2005: Sharpening Swords in Buffalo Last edited by NoSkillz : 04-16-2014 at 08:53 AM. |
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03-27-2014, 12:16 AM
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#305 |
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College Benchwarmer
Join Date: Dec 2002
Location: St. Catharines, Canada
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Tue. October 25, 2022
League Cup - 4th Round Everton vs. Dover Goodison Park, Liverpool, UK Betting Odds: Everton: 11-5 Draw: N/A Dover: Evens (Favourites) Past Meetings: 5W 1D 4L We are road favourites against Everton, who we beat 2-1 at Goodison Park in our season opener. They are off to a very uncharacteristically poor start, sitting in 15th place right now on the table. They are coming off a 3-2 weekend loss to Chelsea. Lots of changes today, including our usually static formation. Everton play well against a flat 4-4-2 so we'll go with our one striker formation and three attacking mids today. Said Henni is alone up front with Zoltan Bardi in behind him. Arsene Bamba and Graham Allan will be on the wings and young Gian Marco Fanfoni will start for the first time in a Dover kit alongside Neil Cairney. Kostas Zagos will play left fullback and Daniel Traore is in at DC. Manuel Perez is in goal today. A couple key players aren't even dressing, as I give Renato Gaucho and Chiquinho the night off. Lyubomir Kunchev is called up from the U18s to be on the bench. Dover: 4-4-2 DM (4-2-3-1) Control GK - M. Perez D - K. Zagos, D. Traore, C. Contreras, S. Loucif M - N. Cairney, G. Fanfoni AM - A. Bamba, Z. Bardi, G. Allan S - S. Henni Bench - C. Guzman, S. Reed, S. Spall, L. Kunchev, G. Bolis, W. Rooney, S. Andrea Everton are definitely starting a "B" side today, as top striker Chris Wood is on the bench and they are in a 4-4-2 diamond formation. Pierre Anton and John Guidetti are up front and I've never heard of either player. Franco Di Capua is in goal and Jack Rodwell is on defence, otherwise it's a pretty nondescript bunch at first glance. Oh, I see old friend Jozef Kuciak is starting at right fullback today too. Still, we can't take them lightly! I tell the team they can win this and pull aside Fanfoni to say there's no pressure on him tonight and also tell Graham Allan, who has struggled with us so far, that I have faith in his ability. 7' - We're not doing well with possession in the early goings and the first chance is to Everton off a free kick from distance but Perez is there to make the save on the header from Anton. 10' - Terrible defending as Anton is sent on a clear break but Perez again makes the stellar stop. 16' - Fanfoni sends a ball up to Henni and he's off to the races but Di Capua is up to the challenge and makes the save on his hard blast. 20' - Cairney is "ill-disciplined" tonight according to my assistant and he takes down an Everton midfielder and is given the yellow. 23' - We play some give and go passes in their end and eventually it's Neil Cairney from about ten yards out shooting a blast that hits the crossbar, then Di Capua's back and it deflects into the net! Officially an own goal by Di Capua but we're ahead! DOVER GOAL 1-0 HALFTIME - Wow. What a horrible game this is. No flow whatsoever on either side. Everton hold 55% of possession but we outshoot them 5-2 (1-2 on target). We don't look great so I switch to a flat 4-4-2 with a control mentality to start the second half. I tell the team I'm pleased thus far. 51' - Said Henni loses a race for the ball in Everton's end and blatantly fouls the guy who beat him. Yellow card. 55' - We win a corner and it's Bamba taking it. His cross to the far post is headed toward goal by Daniel Traore and then it's redirected en route by Said Henni and it's IN. Clever little touch by Henni and we have a two goal lead! DOVER GOAL 2-0 72' - Cairney was hurt and needed some treatment so with the game seemingly in hand, I take him out to rest him up for our next game. Shaun Spall comes in. 79' - Wayne Rooney comes on for Said Henni. 85' - We bring in U18 winger Lyubomir Kunchev for his first senior level game, taking out Arsene Bamba. Dull match but it's a win and we move on. Everton 0 - 2 Dover Goals - Franco Di Capua OG, Said Henni (7.6) Assists - Neil Cairney (7.0), Arsene Bamba (7.2) Man of the Match - Said Henni Other Dover Notables - Salim Loucif (7.4), Claudio Contreras (7.1), Daniel Traore (7.4), Kostas Zagos (7.4), Gian Marco Fanfoni (7.5) Attendance - 35,662 Bore game, as they edge us in possession 51% to 49% but we outshoot them 15-6 (3-2 on target). Yawn. Solid defence though and Fanfoni was impressive once again. He's got a lot of talent and with Rocca and Mancini out, I may give him a shot alongside Cairney for a bit to see how he does. Shaun Spall hasn't been the same player since breaking his leg last year. -- We reach the League Cup quarterfinals, officially the furthest we've ever progressed in this competition. Injury Update -- Paul Moses is back to full training after missing a few weeks with a pulled hamstring. Dover Reserve Team Update -- We win 4-1 at West Brom, with Lyubomir Kunchev scoring twice and Paul Moses and Wayne Rooney adding singles. Midfielder Jamie Matthews had two assists in the contest. Injury Update -- Now we get Mohamed Lamine Yilmaz back to full training after missing three weeks with a back strain. League Cup - Quarterfinals Draw -- There are eight teams left and incredibly there are two League One teams remaining, with Colchester and West Ham United bucking the odds to get this far. We are drawn fifth and have a home match against West Ham, one hell of a draw! Next Up -- We head on the road to face mid-table Aston Villa in a possible trap game.
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MY CURRENT FM19 DYNASTY - FM19: "Ludere causa Ludendi - To Play for the Sake of Playing" - Queen's Park FC (Scottish League Two) MY OLD FM11 DYNASTY - FM11: From Semi-Pro Minnows to the EPL - Dover Athletic FC My Personal Blog - Now on the Tee - Golf, Sports, Poker, Life 2006 GOLDEN SCRIBE AWARD WINNER FOR BEST 'OTHER SPORT' DYNASTY - EHM2005: Sharpening Swords in Buffalo |
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03-29-2014, 09:17 PM
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#306 |
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College Benchwarmer
Join Date: Dec 2002
Location: St. Catharines, Canada
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Sat. October 29, 2022
Barclays Premier League Aston Villa (4-1-4, 13 points, 10th) vs. Dover (7-1-1, 22 points, 3rd) Villa Park, Birmingham, UK Betting Odds: Aston Villa: 6-4 (Favourites) Draw: 2/1 Dover: 13-8 Past Meetings: 4W 1D 5L We don't have an awful lot of success against Aston Villa and their tight formation with 3 AMCs always gives us difficulties. We'll have to prevail somehow! Villa are a mid-table constant in the Premier League and have been at the top level since the 1988 season. They've finished 10th three of the last four years and sit in the same position right now. They were huge sellers at the transfer deadline, moving such notable players as DC Kevin Renton to Man City (for £18.75 million) and midfielder Anderson to Tottenham for £7.75 million. They only spent £2 million on players and £1.625 million of it were on loan fees. One of the players they brought in on a free is English international Reece Butcher and he leads the team with 3 goals in 9 games. Striker Mohamed Messaoudi and 29 year old Will Keane are their usual danger men up front. I've gone back and forth about which formation and mentality to use but being underdogs on the road, I'll start with a counter attacking mentality and stick with our flat 4-4-2 in order to get both Shanon Andrea and Chiquinho on the pitch. Gian Marco Fanfoni will start his first ever league game for us today in place of injured Andrea Rocca. Daniel Traore will start in the middle of defence for injured Rayane Hamon. Dover: 4-4-2 Counter GK - I. Wilke D - R. Gaucho, D. Traore, C. Contreras, S. Loucif M - A. Bamba, N. Cairney, G. Fanfoni, G. Bolis S - S. Andrea, Chiquinho Bench - K. Zagos, S. Reed, S. Spall, G. Allan, S. Henni, Z. Bardi, P. Moses Villa are in that 4-2-3-1 formation with 3 AMCs. Will Keane is alone up front and Antonio Kraljevic is in goal. I tell the team this is a winnable game and pull aside Bamba, Fanfoni and Traore to tell them I have faith in their abilities. 1' - We get a chance right off the opening kick, as Gianluca Bolis storms in and shoots for the far corner but Kraljevic makes the spectacular diving save. It may have been going wide but still a fine effort. 10' - So far we are doing alright but no great chances. Bamba with a shot from the outer edge and Kraljevic again with the nice stop. 12' - We work the ball up field, with Wilke throwing in to Renato Gaucho and then he sends it up to Bamba. Bamba lays it off to Shanon Andrea and then he immediately spots Chiquinho breaking through the defence. It's an excellent pass and Chiquinho is in all alone and deposits the ball low and hard past Kraljevic and it's in the net! What great movement on that goal! DOVER GOAL 1-0 16' - Keane gets through our defence and shoots but Wilke makes the fine stop. 21' - Cairney with a corner kick and it's headed toward goal by Traore but Kraljevic makes the brilliant diving stop! 27' - Villa is starting to make some nice moves and this formation with three attacking mids is causing issues. One of those attackers, Scott Lewis, gets past our defence and is in on Wilke but our keeper has the angle covered and makes the point blank save. HALFTIME - Villa is starting to take over a bit but overall, it was a good half, with us holding 53% of possession and a 10-7 (4-3 on target) shot advantage. I encourage the players in the room and hope we can get one more goal here. 46' - Lewis gets a good chance again but Wilke is there in great position to stop it. 49' - Villa with a free kick and the ball is in the penalty area and headed past Wilke by Scott Lewis and Villa pull level. Crap. ASTON VILLA GOAL 1-1 51' - Off the ensuing kick, Andrea storms down field and shoots for the near side but Kraljevic makes the nice save. I've seen Andrea score from that angle so many times and I almost expect him to put it in the net every time these days! Villa are currently in a flat 4-4-2 now. 54' - Holy crap. Villa send the ball long over Renato Gaucho and there is Man City loanee Scott Lewis again, barring on goal and shooting past Wilke and IN. Two for Lewis and we are coming completely undone. ASTON VILLA GOAL 1-2 Villa now are in a 4-4-2 DM (4-2-3-1 with two wide attacking mids). 56' - We get another great chance off the kickoff, this time with Chiquinho being sent in alone. It's similar to his goal today but this time, Kraljevic is there for the stop. 58' - WOW. Bamba takes a corner and he delivers it to Cairney in the box but he's taken down by Marouane Fellaini. That's a PENALTY! Cairney steps up to take it and it's IN!!! That's Cairney's fourth penalty goal already this year!! DOVER GOAL 2-2 And Villa switch formations AGAIN, this time back to the flat 4-4-2. I'm sticking with a control mentality in hopes of getting that third goal now. 60' - Our defence is terrible today, as we let Reece Butcher dribble through the middle and he gets off a hard low shot that Wilke gets a piece of but we clear before they can gobble up the rebound. 61' - We work back up field and Bolis sends a great ball through to Bamba. He's in all alone and shoots WIDE! Ugh! 62' - I take out Daniel Traore and bring in Kostas Zagos. Salim Loucif moves into the middle and Zagos takes over at right fullback. 70' - Wilke has to make a brilliant stop on a deflected free kick. I bring out Gian Marco Fanfoni and bring in Shaun Spall. 77' - Spall with a free kick and his cross into the box is headed toward goal by Andrea but Kraljevic makes the save. 85' - Villa spring one of their strikers and he's on a partial break. He's fouled by Claudio Contreras and I know what's coming. RED CARD for Contreras. Damn. I am forced to take out Shanon Andrea and bring in defender Steve Reed. We move to a 4-4-1 counter mentality. 87' - On the free kick that follows, Arinze Issah takes a brilliant shot that no keeper in the world would stop and Villa take the lead. Crazy shot! ASTON VILLA GOAL 2-3 We move to an overload mentality and put Bolis and Bamba up at forward in a 4-2-3 formation. 89' - Spall with a free kick and we have a header chance but Kraljevic with a spectacular game-saving stop! Fun game…lousy result. Aston Villa 3 - 2 Dover Goals - Chiquinho (7.3), Neil Cairney PENALTY (7.2) Assists - Shanon Andrea (7.6) Man of the Match - Arinze Issah (ASTON VILLA MC - 8.8) Other Dover Notables - Gianluca Bolis (7.0), Salim Loucif (5.8), Claudio Contreras (5.9) Attendance - 35,485 I was worried about this being a trap game and I was right. Possession was dead even and we outshot them 18-16 (9-9 on target). We continue to struggle against Villa at Villa Park especially. A really rough game for our defence especially. -- Claudio Contreras gets an automatic one game Premier League ban for the red card and it could be more, I'm assuming, pending FA review. I also get warned by the FA for questioning the refs in my post-game press conference and my board isn't pleased either, saying they don't like the attention. -- In other action, Chelsea and Man City battle to a draw in a big 1 vs. 2 game and Manchester United throttle Stoke 6-2. Arsenal win 2-0 over Middlesbrough while Sheffield Wednesday DESTROY Tottenham 5-0! We stay in third spot even with the loss. Lets look at the full standings for the first time this year: BARCLAYS PREMIER LEAGUE - STANDINGS (ALL TEAMS HAVE PLAYED 10 GAMES UNLESS NOTED) 1. Manchester City - 26 points 2. Chelsea - 25 points 3. Dover - 22 points 4. Arsenal - 20 points ---------------------------------------------------- 5. Tottenham - 19 points 6. Manchester United - 18 points 7. Sheffield Wednesday - 18 points ---------------------------------------------------- 8. Reading - 16 points 9. Sunderland - 16 points 10. Aston Villa - 16 points 11. Newcastle - 15 points 12. Liverpool - 14 points 13. Huddersfield - 11 points 14. Middlesbrough - 11 points 15. Everton - 8 points 16. Burnley - 8 points 17. Derby - 6 points ---------------------------------------------------- 18. Birmingham - 4 points 19. Stoke - 4 points 20. Wolves - 1 point November Update -- We have a ridiculous month coming up. FIVE Premier League games and some toughies (AT Liverpool, vs. Arsenal, AT Newcastle, vs. Middlesbrough, AT Derby), two Champions League games (AT Sevilla and AT Porto) and our League Cup quarterfinal versus West Ham. So eight games for sure, basically two each week. Ugh. We're decimated at central midfield and also at central defence right now but hopefully we'll start getting some of our injured players back soon. -- We get positive training reports for Gian Marco Fanfoni and Arsene Bamba, along with ST Tomas Liska from the U18 club. Poor reports come back for three youth players: Jay Doyle, Shane Holmes and solid prospect Mwemere Mutesa. Premier League Monthly Awards -- Darijo Jukic from Sheffield Wednesday scored four goals in as many games to claim the Player of the Month award. -- 19 year old Man City defensive midfielder Stephen Johnston wins Young Player of the Month honours. Renato Gaucho comes second and Claudio Contreras comes in third. -- Man City's Carlo Ancelotti adds to his huge trophy closet by winning yet another Manager of the Month award. November Board Confidence Update -- The board are very pleased with my overall leadership. The 6-0 win over Burnley is the highlight and the sale of Youssouf Sylla is still the negative. -- We lost £345,000 last month Buyout Clauses -- The board negotiate a number of buyouts for clauses we included in the sale of Aitor Zubizarreta, Cameron Murray, Ryan Bodin and Jonathan Adam. In the end, I accept them all and pocket close to £1.8 million. Not bad. Injury Update -- Rayane Hamon returns to full training. He won't be fit enough to play against Sevilla but perhaps he'll be ready for Liverpool this weekend. He missed a couple of weeks with a twisted knee. Next Up -- We head to Spain to face Sevilla in Champions League group play.
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MY CURRENT FM19 DYNASTY - FM19: "Ludere causa Ludendi - To Play for the Sake of Playing" - Queen's Park FC (Scottish League Two) MY OLD FM11 DYNASTY - FM11: From Semi-Pro Minnows to the EPL - Dover Athletic FC My Personal Blog - Now on the Tee - Golf, Sports, Poker, Life 2006 GOLDEN SCRIBE AWARD WINNER FOR BEST 'OTHER SPORT' DYNASTY - EHM2005: Sharpening Swords in Buffalo Last edited by NoSkillz : 03-29-2014 at 09:20 PM. |
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03-29-2014, 11:05 PM
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#307 |
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College Benchwarmer
Join Date: Dec 2002
Location: St. Catharines, Canada
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Tue. November 1, 2022
UEFA Champions League - Group B Sevilla (2-0-1, 6 points, 2nd) vs. Dover (3-0-0, 9 points, 1st) Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan, Sevilla, Spain Betting Odds: Sevilla: 4-5 (Favourites) Draw: 2-1 Dover: 3-1 Past Meetings: 1W 0D 0L We beat Sevilla 3-0 at home two weeks ago but I am guessing this will be our toughest group stage matchup. That said, with a 3-0-0 record, this isn't a must-win by any means and we will put a few backups in today just to keep our squad fresh for our league match this weekend. Said Henni will start up front with Chiquinho. Graham Allan will get the call today at right midfield and Shaun Spall will play MC. Kostas Zagos will play right fullback and Salim Loucif will play in central defence with Claudio Contreras. Manuel Perez, who has been excellent so far this year, will play goal. Dover: 4-4-2 Counter GK - M. Perez D - R. Gaucho, C. Contreras, S. Loucif, K. Zagos M - A. Bamba, N. Cairney, S. Spall, G. Allan S - S. Henni, Chiquinho Bench - C. Guzman, D. Traore, G. Fanfoni, G. Bolis, Z. Bardi, W. Rooney, P. Moses Sevilla are in a 4-4-2 diamond formation. Emmanuel Asamoah and Mahatma Otoo are up front and Juan Nsue is in goal. I tell the team they can win today and pull aside Spall, Bamba and Allan to say I have faith in their abilities. 14' - It's ALL Sevilla right now. They are simply dominating possession. No great chances yet, thankfully. 25' - The first great chance comes form the foot of Asamoah, as he speeds in past Loucif and Contreras but his low, hard blast is saved by Perez. 28' - We cough the ball up deep in their end and for some reason, Salim Loucif is way up on the play and completely out of position as Sevilla storm down the field. It's Otoo sent in on a full breakaway and he shoots just as Contreras gets back and Perez makes the great stop! 35' - Chiquinho takes down a man unnecessarily and is given a yellow. He'll miss our next Champions League match for yellow card accumulation. HALFTIME - Sevilla are in complete control here - they held 51% of possession and outshot us 13-6 (6-0 on target). Henni has been pathetic up front and Graham Allan no better, as we're generating nothing. With little to lose, I'm going to switch to a control mentality in the second half. My assistant wants to use the subtle approach and say we're pleased to be level so I do that while switching the tactics but also pull aside Henni ("I have faith in you") and Chiquinho and Zagos ("Prove a point out there"). 55' - A better start to the half as we have some possession but no shots on target still. Sevilla have it deep in our end and Contreras brings down Asamoah just outside the box and he's given a yellow. 64' - Asamoah again avoids a tackle from Contreras and walks right in but Perez is up to the task. 65' - I take out Chiquinho and bring in Paul Moses. We need offense and still don't have one shot on target. 69' - Contreras continues to get skinned by Asamoah and Perez is forced to make another brilliant stop. Geez. 71' - Kostas Zagos with the yellow card now. I immediately take out Zagos and bring in Daniel Traore, moving Loucif back to his natural right fullback position. 85' - And topping off a wonderfully pathetic performance, their cultured midfielder Javier Pastore back heels a beauty into our area and there is Asamoah and he finally is able to beat poor Manual Perez, who has gotten ZERO support today and Sevilla deservedly have their lead. SEVILLA GOAL 0-1 We bring in Wayne Rooney for the completely invisible Said Henni and move to an Overload mentality. 87' - Perfect. Arsene Bamba gets hurt and needs to come off. We're down to ten men and we can NOT afford to lose another midfielder. Horrible performance. Sevilla 1 - 0 Dover Goals - Assists - Man of the Match - Octavio Hernandez (Sevilla MC - 8.6) Other Dover Notables - Salim Loucif (7.2) Attendance - 43,343 Pure domination for Sevilla, as they hold 55% of possession and a 22-9 (10-0 on target) shot advantage. ZERO shots on goal - I'm not sure if that's ever happened to us at any level. I tell the team I'm supremely disappointed in their efforts. Our lack of depth at MC and MR is showing - I can't believe how bad Graham Allan has played for us so far - I thought he'd be a huge upgrade as a backup for Gianluca Bolis but he's having great difficulty settling in…or he simply isn't as good as I thought he was. Perez was sensational for us in goal but only got a 6.8 for some reason. -- Thankfully, Arsene Bamba's injury isn't bad - he'll miss a week or so with a bruised rib. -- In other Champions League action, Porto destroy Slovan Bratislava 5-0 so they are still alive in our group. They'll need to beat us and likely beat Sevilla to have a true chance but that huge win (and away no less) will help their cause tremendously. In Group A, Olympique Lyonnais win 3-1 over AaB and Anderlecht win 3-0 over Dortmund. In Group C, Man United cruise over Galatasaray 4-1 and Panathinaikos and Celtic battle to a scoreless draw. In Group D, Barcelona and AZ draw 2-2 in a bit of a surprise while Palermo throttle Dinamo 5-0. -- The next night, in Group E, Real Madrid toppled CSKA Moscow 3-0 and OM walloped Grasshoppers 5-0. In Group F, Benfica beat Le Mans FC 4-2 and Man City held off Hoffenheim 1-0. In Group G, FC Bayern won 3-0 over Shakhtar and Sampdoria won 2-1 over Fenerbahce while in Group F, Atletico Madrid wins 3-1 over Fiorentina and Liverpool beat up on Partizan 3-0. Dover Reserves Team Update -- Paul Moses continues to tear it up for our reserves, scoring two goals and assisting on two others in a 4-2 win over Chelsea's reserves. Jonathan Gauthier and Lyubomir Kunchev (on a penalty) scored the other goals. Injury Update -- Andrea Rocca returns to full training. Hopefully he'll be ready for our midweek game against Arsenal but at worst he should be good to go for next weekend against Newcastle. Next Up -- We hope to break our losing streak against Liverpool, who are struggling a bit to start in Premier League play.
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MY CURRENT FM19 DYNASTY - FM19: "Ludere causa Ludendi - To Play for the Sake of Playing" - Queen's Park FC (Scottish League Two) MY OLD FM11 DYNASTY - FM11: From Semi-Pro Minnows to the EPL - Dover Athletic FC My Personal Blog - Now on the Tee - Golf, Sports, Poker, Life 2006 GOLDEN SCRIBE AWARD WINNER FOR BEST 'OTHER SPORT' DYNASTY - EHM2005: Sharpening Swords in Buffalo Last edited by NoSkillz : 03-29-2014 at 11:07 PM. |
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03-30-2014, 12:18 AM
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#308 |
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College Benchwarmer
Join Date: Dec 2002
Location: St. Catharines, Canada
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Sat. November 5, 2022
Barclays Premier League Liverpool (4-2-4, 14 points, 12th) vs. Dover (7-1-2, 22 points, 3rd) Liverpool Stadium, Liverpool, UK Betting Odds: Liverpool: Evens (Favourites) Draw: 11-5 Dover: 11-5 Past Meetings: 3W 2D 8L Liverpool brought in only two players in the offseason but one of them was a major target of mine: young 6' 6" striker Cheikh Bocande from Sporting CP. He's been excellent so far for Liverpool with 7 goals in 12 matches. We'll have to keep a close eye on that 23 year old. Liverpool also spent £9.75 million on DR/MR Chanda Mbesuma from Derby but he's been pedestrian at best so far. Liverpool are struggling in the league so far but playing very well in Champions League play so perhaps their attention is elsewhere so far. They aren't a super deep club so that might be one reason for their issues. We get Rayane Hamon back and it's a good thing too, as Claudio Contreras will miss today's game due to suspension. I'm changing tactics and going with a 4-4-2 DM formation (4-2-3-1) with Shanon Andrea alone up front and with Zoltan Bardi in behind. Said Henni will play AML for the injured Arsene Bamba. Gian Marco Fanfoni is back in at central midfield. Dover: 4-4-2 DM (4-2-3-1) Control GK - I. Wilke D - R. Gaucho, D. Traore, R. Hamon, S. Loucif M - N. Cairney, G. Fanfoni AM - S. Henni, Z. Bardi, G. Bolis S - S. Andrea Bench - C. Guzman, K. Zagos, S. Reed, S. Spall, G. Allan, Chiquinho, P. Moses Liverpool are in a flat 4-4-2 with Piotr Parzyszek and Bocande up front and Chris Dunn in goal. I tell the team they can win today. 10' - Shanon Andrea gets a yellow card. 15' - Things are pretty even but again, no shots for us. Liverpool get the first chance and it's the ever-dangerous Parzyszek but his rocket is saved well by Wilke. 34' - I'm already thinking about my team talk at half, as once again, we've generated NOTHING but as I'm pondering it, 18 year old midfielder Gian Marco Fanfoni steals the ball at midfield and storms up the pitch. He makes a little bit of space for himself and hits the ball WITH FURY as he enters the area and it's past Chris Dunn and into the top corner of the net for the brilliant strike! That's Fanfoni's first goal for Dover!!! DOVER GOAL 1-0 39' - Bardi with a delightful through ball to Andrea and our top striker is in all alone but Dunn makes the great save. Crap! 42' - We are starting to play with confidence after that goal and we work another counter with Andrea making a great move at the byline, cutting back to the goal and shooting but Dunn does well to turn it behind the net. 45' - Bocande gets a header off a corner but it's off the crossbar and out of play. 45'+2 - Henni gets the ball down the left and crosses in and there's Fanfoni again but Dunn makes a SPECTACULAR save from in tight. I thought that was a sure goal!! HALFTIME - We're doing well so far. 53% of possession in our favour and a 6-4 (4-1 on target) shot advantage. I'm tempted to go to a counter attack mentality but I'll hold off for now. I tell the team I'm pleased. Fanfoni has been fantastic. 53' - Yikes. There's some sloppy play in the Liverpool box after a throw in and Henni goes down. The ref calls a PENALTY! Neil Cairney has a lot of practice this year and hasn't missed yet. Fingers are crossed as he steps up to take the kick - he always goes to the right and I'm screaming for him to shoot to the left. Of course, he goes right, Dunn guesses correctly but the ball gets by him anyway and is IN! Another penalty goal for Cairney and we lead by two!! DOVER GOAL 2-0 54' - We steal possession but then gift it right back when the completely ineffective Zoltan Bardi coughs it up. That allows Parzyszek to get away but Wilke absolutely stones him to keep us in a two goal lead. 64' - Double substitution, as I'm not pleased with Zoltan Bardi's performance. I take both him and Shanon Andrea out and bring in Paul Moses and Chiquinho. We move to a flat 4-4-2 and change to a counter attacking mentality. Lets hold them off boys! 83' - Liverpool score off a throw in but the scorer, substitute winger Axel Parisot, is blatantly offsides. No goal! 85' - We use our last substitution, bringing in Kostas Zagos to play left fullback for Renato Gaucho. MUCH better! Liverpool 0 - 2 Dover Goals - Gian Marco Fanfoni (8.3), Neil Cairney PEN (7.0) Assists - Said Henni (7.7) Man of the Match - Gian Marco Fanfoni Other Dover Notables - Ingo Wilke (7.2), Salim Loucif (7.6), Rayane Hamon (7.4), Daniel Traore (7.4), Renato Gaucho (7.5), Gianluca Bolis (7.1), Zoltan Bardi (7.2) Attendance - 52,970 We hold 51% of overall possession and outshoot them 11-10 (5-4 on target). Everyone in our starting lineup except for Shanon Andrea gets a rating over 7.0. Efficient game and GIan Marco Fanfoni is named man of the match in a great performance. Solid road win after a couple of dud performances. -- Well, I guess it's not just us! Aston Villa, a week after knocking us off, shock table toppers Man City 1-0. Tottenham get blasted 5-0 for a second consecutive week (!!) by Chelsea and that allows the Blues to move to the top of the table. United win 3-0 over Birmingham. BARCLAYS PREMIER LEAGUE - STANDINGS (ALL TEAMS HAVE PLAYED 11 GAMES UNLESS NOTED) 1. Chelsea - 28 points 2. Manchester City - 26 points 3. Dover - 25 points 4. Manchester United - 21 points ---------------------------------------------------- 5. Sheffield Wednesday - 21 points 6. Arsenal - 20 points (10 games played) 7. Sunderland - 19 points ---------------------------------------------------- Premier League Team of the Week -- Young 18 year old loanee Gian Marco Fanfoni parlays a great game against Liverpool into a Team of the Week honour! Next Up -- The games are coming fast and furious, as we head home for the first time in four matches to host Arsenal in Premier League play.
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MY CURRENT FM19 DYNASTY - FM19: "Ludere causa Ludendi - To Play for the Sake of Playing" - Queen's Park FC (Scottish League Two) MY OLD FM11 DYNASTY - FM11: From Semi-Pro Minnows to the EPL - Dover Athletic FC My Personal Blog - Now on the Tee - Golf, Sports, Poker, Life 2006 GOLDEN SCRIBE AWARD WINNER FOR BEST 'OTHER SPORT' DYNASTY - EHM2005: Sharpening Swords in Buffalo Last edited by NoSkillz : 03-30-2014 at 12:22 AM. |
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03-30-2014, 02:03 AM
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#309 |
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College Benchwarmer
Join Date: Dec 2002
Location: St. Catharines, Canada
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Tue. November 8, 2022
Barclays Premier League Dover (8-1-2, 25 points, 3rd) vs. Arsenal (6-2-2, 20 points, 6th) Crabble Athletic Ground, Dover, UK Betting Odds: Dover: 7-4 Draw: 11-5 Arsenal: 5-4 (Favourites) Past Meetings: 3W 2D 7L Arsenal are doing well in Europa League group play right now and are holding their own in the league as well, sitting in sixth with a game in hand on most in the league. They had a few big signings in the offseason, spending £24 million in total and £9 million was on veteran Inter midfielder Alexander Kacaniklic and he has 2 goals and 5 assists in 15 matches so far. They also spent £6.25 million on Dutch right fullback Patrick van den Berg but he's being brought along slowly and has only played in four matches. Veteran midfielder Jack Wilshere is leading the team in scoring with 6 goals so we'll need to be mindful of him. As always, striker Lee Ross and DC/ST Nchimunya Munyao are the danger men. We get Andrea Rocca back from injury and he's good to go today. He may not make it through the whole match but at the very least, I can get 70 minutes out of him. Claudio Contreras also returns from suspension and Arsene Bamba is on the bench but not ready to start so Said Henni gets a second consecutive game on the left wing. Control philosophy at home, as we hope to replicate our 6-0 win over the Gunners from last year. Dover: 4-4-2 Control GK - I. Wilke D - R. Gaucho, C. Contreras, R. Hamon, S. Loucif M - S. Henni, N. Cairney, A. Rocca, G. Bolis S - S. Andrea, Chiquinho Bench - D. Traore, K. Zagos, G. Fanfoni, S. Spall, G. Allan, A. Bamba, P. Moses Arsenal are in a 4-5-1 formation. Lee Ross is alone up front, Wilshere is in the midfield and Munyao is at DC for now. They are starting 31 year old Brazilian Renan in goal - this is his first league start for Arsenal since coming over from Stuttgart in the offseason. I tell the team to express themselves for the supporters and pull aside Chiquinho, Henni and Bolis for individual talks. 16' - There's a wild scene in the Arsenal penalty area after a Chiquinho cross. Andrea gets a header on goal that Renan stops and we get two more cracks at it as Arsenal clear into the top row of the stadium to relieve the pressure. 21' - On an innocent looking play, Lee Ross takes the ball with his back to goal and turns to his left foot and shoots and it's off Wilke and IN. Claudio Contreras is giving him WAY too much room and Arsenal take the lead. ARSENAL GOAL 0-1 30' - Henni takes a pass and cuts in but his curling shot is saved nicely by Renan. 35' - We're getting pressure now and it's Rocca with a curling shot and again, Renan makes the save near the post. HALFTIME - We've been lights out at home for quite awhile but not today. Arsenal have 53% of possession but we outshot them 7-6 (5-1 on target). We need much, much more from pretty much a full strength lineup. I tell the players I'm not satisfied and want more from them. 48' - Bolis with a cross and Andrea Rocca with a rare header that almost crosses the line but somehow Renan gets there for the save. He's been excellent for the Gunners. 63' - We finally strike! Rocca has a corner and his cross is to the far post and it's Claudio Contreras heading it into the far corner and we're on the board! DOVER GOAL 1-1 68' - NO! Said Henni steams down the left side and gets a cross into the area and Gianluca Bolis is all alone but his shot from point blank range is RIGHT AT Renan and he makes the stop! My God!! 69' - As expected, Rocca is exhausted at 70 minutes so I take him out and bring in Gian Marco Fanfoni. 70' - We're not getting great play from our strikers lately and now it's Chiquinho giving up possession and that allows substitute Adam Hlousek into our area but Wilke makes the fine save. 75' - Oh for goodness sakes. Arsenal have possession and their midfielder Kyrylo Petrov sends an absolute ROCKET past Wilke and into the net. Our damn defence was sitting there with their hands in the air as if someone was offsides but they just stopped playing and it costs us bigtime. ARSENAL GOAL 1-2 We immediately take out Shanon Andrea and Said Henni and bring in Paul Moses and Arsene Bamba. Overload mentality. We get no great chances in the last fifteen minutes as we drop our third match in four. Officially a slump? Dover 1 - 2 Arsenal Goals - Claudio Contreras (7.4) Assists - Andrea Rocca (6.9) Man of the Match - Kyrylo Petrov (Arsenal MC - 8.3) Other Dover Notables - Attendance - 18,999 Arsenal edge us on possession 51%-49% but we outshoot them 15-11 (7-3 on target). Both of their goals were pretty much unstoppable but a very disappointing performance again as our strikers have suddenly gone cold. -- In other mid-week action, Everton drops Aston Villa 3-1 and Manchester United walk into Etihad Stadium and win 3-1 over City. Chelsea also beat up on Sunderland 4-1 to maintain their comfortable early season lead. BARCLAYS PREMIER LEAGUE - STANDINGS (ALL TEAMS HAVE PLAYED 12 GAMES UNLESS NOTED) 1. Chelsea - 31 points 2. Manchester City - 26 points 3. Dover - 25 points 4. Manchester United - 24 points ---------------------------------------------------- 5. Arsenal - 23 points (11 games played) 6. Sheffield Wednesday - 22 points 7. Reading - 19 points ---------------------------------------------------- Dover Reserves Team Update -- Paul Moses continues to be a man amongst boys at this lower level, scoring three goals and adding three assists in 60 minutes of action as we WALLOP Sheffield United's reserves 10-1! Zoltan Bardi also scored a hat trick, Graham Allan scored twice and Shaun Spall and Steve Ingram added singles. -- Of course, Moses got hurt in this game as I was contemplating starting him this weekend but thankfully, he'll only miss a few days with a bruised rib. Next Up -- We head out on the road to face mid-table Newcastle.
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MY CURRENT FM19 DYNASTY - FM19: "Ludere causa Ludendi - To Play for the Sake of Playing" - Queen's Park FC (Scottish League Two) MY OLD FM11 DYNASTY - FM11: From Semi-Pro Minnows to the EPL - Dover Athletic FC My Personal Blog - Now on the Tee - Golf, Sports, Poker, Life 2006 GOLDEN SCRIBE AWARD WINNER FOR BEST 'OTHER SPORT' DYNASTY - EHM2005: Sharpening Swords in Buffalo |
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03-30-2014, 01:46 PM
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#310 |
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College Benchwarmer
Join Date: Dec 2002
Location: St. Catharines, Canada
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Sat. November 12, 2022
Barclays Premier League Newcastle (4-5-3, 17 points, 11th) vs. Dover (8-1-3, 25 points, 3rd) St. James' Park, Newcastle, UK Betting Odds: Newcastle: 5-4 (Favourites) Draw: 11-5 Arsenal: 7-4 Past Meetings: 3W 1D 2L After going down to the Championship for the 2019/20 season, Newcastle are back for their third year in the Premier League, where they are common midtable finishers. They made one big splash in the offseason, spending £7,500,000 on DC Fraser Baxter from Blackpool. This is a team that plays a pretty tight style so we may have to be content trying to score one goal and winning by a narrow margin. Their danger man is striker Stanislas Vigneau, who has 9 goals in 13 matches. We actually have a full week off after this game before the two-a-weeks start up again so we can go with a full strength side today, including having Arsene Bamba back in the starting eleven. We'll go with a counter mentality on the road as underdogs. Dover: 4-4-2 Counter GK - I. Wilke D - R. Gaucho, C. Contreras, R. Hamon, S. Loucif M - A. Bamba, N. Cairney, A. Rocca, G. Bolis S - S. Andrea, Chiquinho Bench - D. Traore, K. Zagos, G. Fanfoni, S. Spall, G. Allan, S. Henni, Z. Bardi Newcastle are in a 4-4-2 DM (4-2-3-1) formation with Vigneau alone up front. Tough goalkeeper Jak Alnwick has always had big games against us. I tell the team to express themselves for the travelling supporters and pull aside struggling strikers Chiquinho and Andrea, along with the returning Bamba, to say I have faith they'll work themselves out of their slumps. 10' - Disaster for Newcastle and aforementioned defender Fraser Baxter. He gains control of the ball and tries to fire a pass to fellow defence partner Frederic Begue but the pass is past him and in the open field. Shanon Andrea jumps all over the miscue, heads in on Alnwick and fires low into the near side and it's in! Great start! DOVER GOAL 1-0 27' - We're doing fine but no real chances on either side until we cause a turnover and Shanon Andrea bursts down the field. He has half a step on the defenders as he enters the penalty area and his shot is past Alnwick but hits the post! Andrea pounces on the ball again and with Alnwick getting back into position, Andrea BACK HEELS a pass to an oncoming Arsene Bamba and that new angle is all our returning midfielder needs to deposit the ball into the net for the two goal lead! Great play Andrea! DOVER GOAL 2-0 28' - Right off the ensuing kick, Newcastle get a free kick and it's a lob to the top of the area. For some reason, Ingo Wilke chooses to attack the ball and Newcastle midfielder David Maclennan wins the header and it's lobbed toward the empty goal and it's in. BIG mistake from Wilke there - he didn't need to go after that ball and Newcastle strike back immediately. Ugh. NEWCASTLE GOAL 2-1 35' - This is all pretty incredible, as every shot on goal seems to be going in so far. We get a free kick and from 30 yards out, Andrea Rocca delivers his trademark, curling ROCKET that bends around the Newcastle wall and into the top right corner of the net. Devastating shot from Rocca and our two goal cushion is restored! DOVER GOAL 3-1 43' - And so it continues. Newcastle work the ball into the box and despite being covered closely by Claudio Contreras, danger man Stanislas Vigneau avoids the tackle, turns and fires and it's past Wilke and IN. Horrendous defence today on both sides. NEWCASTLE GOAL 3-2 HALFTIME - So much for the tight game I guess! And yeah, every shot on target has entered the net. We edge them in possession with 52% of the ball but they outshoot us 13-5 (2-3 on target). I realize I have a somewhat frail team right now with the three losses in four games so I tell them I'm pleased so far. Wilke had a poor half (5.8) so I tell him I have faith in his ability. Newcastle switch to a 4-4-2 diamond formation to start the half. 57' - Wilke with perhaps the first save of the game, albeit on a shot from considerable distance. Then down the other end seconds later, Alnwick returns the favour on a curling blast from the edge of the area by Shanon Andrea! 60' - Alnwick is in good position in the net for yet another free kick from Rocca. 66' - Great. Rocca is hurt AGAIN and needs to come off. We bring in young Gian Marco Fanfoni. 78' - I take out Chiquinho and bring in Zoltan Bardi. 80' - We show some fine offensive movement and it culminates with Fanfoni breaking into the area but his shot is weak and Alnwick is there for the routine stop. 89' - We try to milk the clock and bring in Daniel Traore for Renato Gaucho. We'll take the win. Newcastle 2 - 3 Dover Goals - Shanon Andrea (8.5), Arsene Bamba (7.9), Andrea Rocca (7.5) Assists - Shanon Andrea, Chiquinho (6.9) Man of the Match - Shanon Andrea Other Dover Notables - Neil Cairney (7.4), Ingo Wilke (5.8) Attendance - 33,794 We locked it down pretty well in the second half, holding 52% of overall possession but they outshot us 19-12 (5-8 on target). A bit too loose in the first half but we did a good job defensively in the last 45 minutes. Shanon Andrea was fantastic after a few poor games in a row. -- Thankfully, Andrea Rocca is fine with no lingering effects of the injury suffered during the match. -- United beat Everton 4-0, Arsenal destroyed Birmingham 6-0, Sheffield Wednesday continue to play well in a 3-0 away win at Burnley and Chelsea knock off Huddersfield 2-0. In essence, everything went according to script today, with the possible exception of Liverpool battling Man City to a 1-1 draw. That allows both us and United to pass City in the standings. We're actually in great shape at this point, as our schedule will really start to soften over the next month, with games against relegation candidates like Birmingham, Stoke, Derby and Wolves all on the sked. BARCLAYS PREMIER LEAGUE - STANDINGS (ALL TEAMS HAVE PLAYED 13 GAMES UNLESS NOTED) 1. Chelsea - 34 points 2. Dover - 28 points 3. Manchester United - 27 points 4. Manchester City - 27 points ---------------------------------------------------- 5. Arsenal - 26 points (12 games played) 6. Sheffield Wednesday - 25 points 7. Sunderland - 22 points ---------------------------------------------------- Dover U18 Team Update -- The U18s throttle AFC Wimbledon 5-0 behind a brace from Pete Smith. Jay Doyle, Phil Whitbreak and Eddie Robinson scored singles. Young wide midfielder Lyubomir Kunchev had three assists in the contest. International Break -- We have 19 players called up by their respective countries for international duty. -- Getting youth caps were Steve Reed (England U21s), Emmerson Harvey & Louis Read (England U20s), Hans Briers (Belgium U20s) and Marcel Quade (Austria U20s). -- Senior caps go to Kostas Zagos (England), Chiquinho (two goals for Belgium), Neil Cairney & Graham Allan (Scotland), Said Henni & Salim Loucif (Algeria - Henni with a goal), Zoltan Bardi (two goals for Hungary) and Mwemere Mutesa (Rwanda). Injury Update -- Reserve left midfielder Steve Ingram is out a week after straining a wrist lifting weights. He will never play in a game that matters so no harm done. We get news that on loan striker Giorgos Gesios broke his foot playing for Sevilla and will miss 3 months. That won't help his value in the transfer market... Next Up -- We host 13th placed Middlesbrough in Premier League action at Crabble Athletic Ground.
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MY CURRENT FM19 DYNASTY - FM19: "Ludere causa Ludendi - To Play for the Sake of Playing" - Queen's Park FC (Scottish League Two) MY OLD FM11 DYNASTY - FM11: From Semi-Pro Minnows to the EPL - Dover Athletic FC My Personal Blog - Now on the Tee - Golf, Sports, Poker, Life 2006 GOLDEN SCRIBE AWARD WINNER FOR BEST 'OTHER SPORT' DYNASTY - EHM2005: Sharpening Swords in Buffalo |
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03-30-2014, 05:38 PM
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#311 |
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College Benchwarmer
Join Date: Dec 2002
Location: St. Catharines, Canada
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Sat. November 19, 2022
Barclays Premier League Dover (9-1-3, 28 points, 2nd) vs. Middlesbrough (5-2-6, 17 points, 13th) Crabble Athletic Ground, Dover, UK Betting Odds: Dover: 4-5 (Favourites) Draw: 2-1 Middlesbrough: 3-1 Past Meetings: 5W 1D 4L Middlesbrough have been mid-table constants in the Premier League since their last promotion after the 2010/11 season, finishing as high as 4th (!!) in 2014/15. Their biggest off-season signing was from us, when they bought DC Thomas Andersen for £4.7 million. Actually, if Andersen plays today, we'll be due an additional £250,000 in bonus clauses for him playing in his tenth league game. Their big signing, however, was a £4.2 million deal for 25 year old SC Cambuur striker Roland Hoxha and he's been sensational for Middlesbrough, with 10 goals in only 12 games already. He has 9 goals in 8 league starts so he's definitely in-form at the moment and along with midfielder Thorgan Hazard, their danger men for the match. With a HUGE midweek Champions League matchup against Porto forthcoming, I'm rolling the dice here a bit and going with a number of backups. Paul Moses will get his first league start alone up front in our 4-4-2 DM (4-2-3-1) formation. Zoltan Bardi will sit behind him at AMC and he'll have Said Henni on his left and Graham Allan on his right as we go with four backups in attack. Gian Marco Fanfoni will spell Neil Cairney as well and Manuel Perez is in goal. The defence is our normal starting four and Andrea Rocca will also start. Middlesbrough have trouble with this formation according to our advanced scout and we did beat them convincingly last year in an FA Cup tie (I believe) with the one striker set. Dover: 4-4-2 DM (4-2-3-1) Control GK - M. Perez D - R. Gaucho, C. Contreras, R. Hamon, S. Loucif M - G. Fanfoni, A. Rocca AM - S. Henni, Z. Bardi, G. Allan S - P. Moses Bench - D. Traore, K. Zagos, Neil Cairney, S. Spall, G. Bolis, A. Bamba, S. Andrea Middlesbrough are in their own 4-2-3-1 with Hoxha up front alone and Hazard amongst three tight AMCs right behind him. Sinan Bolat is in goal. I tell the team to perform well for their ardent supporters and pull aside Graham Allan, Said Henni and Zoltan Bardi for personal chats. 4' - Henni with the first chance, as he takes a Renato Gaucho pass, gets into the box and forces Sinan Bolat into a tough save. 8' - We're applying pressure in their area and their defence head it out of danger but right to Zoltan Bardi. He takes the ball back into the box and with his weaker left foot, hits an absolute screamer across his body and into the far right corner of the goal! Great shot Bardi! DOVER GOAL 1-0 13' - Rocca takes a pass from Graham Allan and shoots but Sinan Bolat is in good position for that one. 17' - AHHH. Contreras starts a quick counter and sends it up the right flank to Paul Moses. He BLOWS by the defenders and sends a perfect cross right onto the foot of Bardi but our goal scorer shoots right at the goalkeeper and the ball is deflected away. What a chance! 21' - Rocca takes a corner and the very active Bardi heads it toward goal but Sinan Bolat somehow keeps it out and Middlesbrough clear. 37' - Off a throw in, Bardi takes it and sends a little pass right into the box to Rocca but his one-time blast is off the post! We're pouring on the pressure here! 39' - Moses has the ball but he's fouled and the ball squirts up to Henni. The ref allows play to thankfully continue and Henni cuts in on goal but Sinan Bolat makes the huge save to keep Middlesbrough in it. HALFTIME - Sheer domination but we only have one goal to show for it. We held 55% of the ball and outshoot them 17-5 (7-0 on target). We deserve better. I tell the team I'm pleased and no tactics changes. 52' - Moses has a breakaway and for some reason, pulls up a bit after trying to round the keeper and we get no shot off. He's not playing with confidence for some reason, even though he's been tearing it up for our reserves. 55' - Hoxha finally makes his presence felt with a nice little move to the inside and a hard shot but Perez is there for his first save of the night. 60' - And there it is! Henni wins a battle down the left flank deep in Middlesbrough territory and he crosses it into the area and it's Paul Moses, shooting immediately and it's off a defender and in the net! Moses with his second of the year and we have a cushion! DOVER GOAL 2-0 63' - That's all Moses needed to boost his confidence, as he sends in Allan but his hard shot is right at Sinan Bolat and the save is made. 66' - It's Allan again with a rocket from the corner of the area and Sinan Bolat makes the sprawling stop! 70' - Time to start thinking about our Porto game. Rocca and Loucif come off and in their place come Shaun Spall and Kostas Zagos. 73' - We have it on the left side and Fanfoni lays the ball off for Renato Gaucho. He sends a high arching cross into the area - Moses tries the header but misses it but the ball comes right to Graham Allan, who hits it on the volley and blasts it into the net. Allan's first ever goal for Dover! Beauty! DOVER GOAL 3-0 78' - Hamon takes down Hoxha just outside the area and gets a yellow card. We immediately take out Hamon and in comes Daniel Traore. 83' - Bardi with a great through ball to Moses and he's in all alone. He beats Sinan Bolat but it slams off the crossbar! Said Henni gets the rebound and heads it toward the empty net but the Middlesbrough keeper dives back and makes the spectacular stop again. WOW! 90'+1 - We have a corner and Graham Allan's kick is headed by substitute Daniel Traore and it's IN! Traore's second of the season and we strike for four goals! DOVER GOAL 4-0 Awesome! Dover 4 - 0 Middlesbrough Goals - Zoltan Bardi (8.5), Paul Moses (8.1), Graham Allan (9.1), Daniel Traore (7.4) Assists - Renato Gaucho (8.4), Graham Allan, Said Henni (7.7) Man of the Match - Graham Allan Other Dover Notables - Manuel Perez (7.4), Salim Loucif (7.8), Rayane Hamon (7.5), Claudio Contreras (7.2), Andrea Rocca (7.0), Gian Marco Fanfoni (7.1) Attendance - 16,588 Middlesbrough actually edge us in possession with 51% but we outshoot them by a whopping total of 32-13 (13-3 on target). A wonderful performance with five backups in the lineup. Easily Graham Allan's best performance so far for us and Bardi was great too. -- The tough Sheffield Wednesday club hold Chelsea to a 1-1 draw, while United win over Spurs 2-0 and City beat Arsenal 3-2. We gain two points on Chelsea and remain in second. BARCLAYS PREMIER LEAGUE - STANDINGS (ALL TEAMS HAVE PLAYED 14 GAMES UNLESS NOTED) 1. Chelsea - 35 points 2. Dover - 31 points 3. Manchester United - 30 points 4. Manchester City - 30 points ---------------------------------------------------- 5. Sheffield Wednesday - 26 points 6. Arsenal - 26 points (13 games played) 7. Aston Villa - 23 points ---------------------------------------------------- Premier League Team of the Week -- Four of our players make the Barclays Premier League team of the week, including GK Manuel Perez, DL Renato Gaucho, MR Graham Allan and AMC Zoltan Bardi. Champions League Update -- In Group E, Real Madrid edge Grasshoppers 1-0 and OM win 3-1 over CSKA Moscow. Those results lock away spots in the knockout stages for both winners. -- In Group F, Benfica walk all over Hoffenheim 5-2 while Man City edge Le Mans FC. The winners there both lock up qualification to the knockout stages as well. -- In Group G, Sampdoria shock FC Bayern 1-0 in Germany while Shakhtar edge Fenerbahce by the same score. Again, the results are meaningless now, as both Bayern and Sampdoria have locked away spots in the knockout stages. -- And finally, in Group H, Atletico Madrid and Liverpool win their games and qualification into the next round. So with a game remaining for all teams in these four groups, all of the qualification spots are accounted for! Next Up -- We head to Portugal to face Porto in a Champions League Group B match.
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MY CURRENT FM19 DYNASTY - FM19: "Ludere causa Ludendi - To Play for the Sake of Playing" - Queen's Park FC (Scottish League Two) MY OLD FM11 DYNASTY - FM11: From Semi-Pro Minnows to the EPL - Dover Athletic FC My Personal Blog - Now on the Tee - Golf, Sports, Poker, Life 2006 GOLDEN SCRIBE AWARD WINNER FOR BEST 'OTHER SPORT' DYNASTY - EHM2005: Sharpening Swords in Buffalo |
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03-30-2014, 09:39 PM
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#312 |
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College Benchwarmer
Join Date: Dec 2002
Location: St. Catharines, Canada
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Wed. November 23, 2022
UEFA Champions League - Group B Porto (2-0-2, 6 points, 3rd) vs. Dover (3-0-1, 9 points, 1st) Estadio do Dragao, Porto, Portugal Betting Odds: Porto: Evens (Favourites) Draw: 11-5 Dover: 11-5 Past Meetings: 1W 0D 0L We beat Porto in a close game at Crabble earlier this year and expect another tight contest in Portugal against the Liga Zon Sagres current second placed club. Striker Sergiy Yakymchuk has been clinical this year, with 14 goals in 20 appearances. Chiquinho is suspended today due to yellow card accumulation so Zoltan Bardi will start up front for a second consecutive match, this time alongside Shanon Andrea in our flat 4-4-2. The rest of the lineup will be our normal starting eleven, with the exception of Daniel Traore, who I will start in place of Claudio Contreras. Counter mentality on the road today. A win today will automatically qualify us for the knockout stages and make our last game against Slovan Bratislava meaningless. Dover: 4-4-2 Counter GK - I. Wilke D - R. Gaucho, D. Traore, R. Hamon, S. Loucif M - A. Bamba, N. Cairney, A. Rocca, G. Bolis S - S. Andrea, Z. Bardi Bench - C. Contreras, K. Zagos, G. Fanfoni, S. Spall, G. Allan, S. Henni, P. Moses Porto are in a flat 4-4-2 as well, with Yakymchuk up front with Jorge Andres Aguinaga and the dangerous Jairo Flores at right midfield. Sergio Romero is in goal. I tell the players to perform well for our travelling supporters that came all the way to Portugal. 2' - Andrea with a great pass up field to Bardi and he's in all alone but shoots WIDE. 3' - Romero hits a goal kick up field and Rocca heads it back over the defence. Andrea chases and takes down a Porto defender but there is no call! That leaves Andrea all alone with Romero but the Porto keeper makes the splendid save! 17' - Andrea's speed is too much for Porto's central defence but his weak shot is right at Romero. He has to do better than that. 19' - Andrea takes down a player for the third time tonight and finally gets a yellow card. He's very ill-disciplined so far. 30' - Porto have been doing a good job maintaining possession but we steal deep in our end and start up field. Bardi feeds Andrea and he just turns on the afterburners and comes in on goal, shooting low to the far corner past Romero and in! That's Andrea's 10th of the year and we're ahead! DOVER GOAL 1-0 34' - Bolis with a yellow card. 41' - Porto score but it's clearly offsides and called as such. No goal! 43' - Porto with a move down the left flank and the cross is in to a sliding Aguinaga but Wilke makes the SPECTACULAR stop!!! WOW! HALFTIME - Yikes. Porto are DOMINATING possession to the tune of 62% to 38% but we outshoot them 7-5 (4-1 on target). I tell the team I'm pleased so far - despite the possession disadvantage, we have been the more dangerous team. 46' - Off a throw in down the left, Andrea again gets a great chance and Romero does brilliantly to keep it out. 47' - Porto move right back down field and they get their best chance of the night so far when Flores gets past Renato Gaucho but Wilke makes the fine stop. 51' - We win the ball in midfield and who else could it be but Shanon Andrea. He uses his speed advantage to bolt all the way in from centre half and he shoots low past Romero and it's IN! Andrea is on fire and we lead by two! DOVER GOAL 2-0 62' - Zoltan Bardi is tired so we bring in Said Henni to play up front. 69' - Henni is sent in by Rocca but his shot is stopped by Romero. 73' - Porto have a corner and the kick from Islam Maouche is headed into the far corner of the goal, past Wilke by Yakymchuk and Porto are on the board. PORTO GOAL 2-1 75' - We pull Arsene Bamba and bring in Graham Allan. Allan moves up to striker and Said Henni moves to left midfield. 83' - We have possession in their end with Andrea, who lays the ball back to Rocca. He one touches it through to Graham Allan, barely onside but he is in on goal and shoots hard and low past Romero and in! Allan with the insurance marker as a substitute! DOVER GOAL 3-1 86' - We take out Andrea Rocca and bring in Shaun Spall. And that's it! A great win and we're officially through to the knockout stages with one group game left to play! Porto 1 - 3 Dover Goals - Shanon Andrea 2 (8.9), Graham Allan (7.3) Assists - Rayane Hamon (8.0), Andrea Rocca (7.1), Zoltan Bardi (7.0) Man of the Match - Shanon Andrea Other Dover Notables - Salim Loucif (7.1), Renato Gaucho (7.2) Attendance - 48,952 A dominating second half allowed us to cut into their significant possession advantage - in the end, they held 54% of possession but we outshot them 14-9 (10-3 on target). A very efficient and professional win! Now, we can play an entire squad of backups against Slovan Bratislava in our final group stage match. -- As usual, we win £696,000 for the victory. -- As expected, Sevilla win 3-0 over Bratislava so they too are through to the knockout stages from our group. -- In Group A, AaB knock off Anderlecht in a shock result 3-1 away while Dortmund beat Olympique Lyonnais 3-2. No matter, as Dortmund and OL move on. -- In Group C play, Galatasaray wallop Celtic 4-0 and United beat Panathinaikos 3-1. United is through to the knockout stage while Galatasaray and Celtic are still fighting for a chance to move on. Celtic plays United next so they are the definite underdogs to move through. -- Finally, in Group D, AZ knock off Dinamo 4-0 while Barcelona beat Palermo 5-3. Barca is through and the second spot will either go to AZ or Palermo - with AZ having to face Barca next, I'd suggest that Palermo is in the driver's seat despite being a point back of AZ. Next Up -- We are back in action in the Premier League with an away matchup against relegation candidates Derby.
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MY CURRENT FM19 DYNASTY - FM19: "Ludere causa Ludendi - To Play for the Sake of Playing" - Queen's Park FC (Scottish League Two) MY OLD FM11 DYNASTY - FM11: From Semi-Pro Minnows to the EPL - Dover Athletic FC My Personal Blog - Now on the Tee - Golf, Sports, Poker, Life 2006 GOLDEN SCRIBE AWARD WINNER FOR BEST 'OTHER SPORT' DYNASTY - EHM2005: Sharpening Swords in Buffalo |
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03-30-2014, 10:57 PM
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#313 |
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College Benchwarmer
Join Date: Dec 2002
Location: St. Catharines, Canada
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Sat. November 26, 2022
Barclays Premier League Derby (1-7-6, 10 points, 17th) vs. Dover (10-1-3, 31 points, 2nd) Pride Park, Derby, UK Betting Odds: Derby: 3-1 Draw: 2-1 Dover: 4-5 (Favourites) Past Meetings: 7W 0D 2L We are huge road favourites against perennial relegation candidates Derby. They've only secured one win out of 14 matches so far. Their big offseason purchase was £7 million rated midfielder Stefan Holm from AZ and the Swedish international has 2 goals in ten matches so far. Striker Niels Hendriks, with 9 goals in 15 games, is their danger man. We'll start a full strength side today, for the most part. I'm going to reward Graham Allan for his fine recent play with a starting spot over out-of-form Gianluca Bolis. Chiquinho is back in at striker after missing the last two games - one was a rest day and the other a suspension. Kostas Zagos is in at left fullback for Renato Gaucho. Control mentality as favourites on the road. Dover: 4-4-2 Control GK - I. Wilke D - K. Zagos, C. Contreras, R. Hamon, S. Loucif M - A. Bamba, N. Cairney, A. Rocca, G. Allan S - S. Andrea, Chiquinho Bench - Renato Gaucho, D. Traore, G. Fanfoni, S. Spall, G. Bolis, S. Henni, Z. Bardi Derby start in a 3-5-2 formation, standard practice for them. I guarantee at some point they'll move to five defenders. Old friend Fraser Forster is in goal and Joao Henriques Almeida and Hendriks are up front. I tell the team they can win this and pull aside Shanon Andrea to tell him to keep his good form up. 18' - We head up field over the defence and Chiquinho wins the race but his shot is right at Forster. We're dominating the highlights but getting no good chances, just shots from distance and most are off-target. 26' - Hendriks gets a through ball and his hard shot is saved by Wilke. Champions League letdown so far for us... 32' - Cairney with a curling blast that's off the crossbar! HALFTIME - Derby are content to sit back and let us control the game but it's 0-0 so they are obviously doing well. We hold 59% of possession and an outrageous 16-3 (1-1 on target) shot advantage. We simply aren't hitting the target. I tell the team this is winnable still. As expected, Derby drop into a 5-3-2 formation. 57' - Nothing happening with Derby just defending and not moving forward but we win a corner. Rocca's cross is to the near post and Hamon heads it toward goal. Forster makes the save but the rebound is right on the foot of the ever-dangerous Shanon Andrea and he pumps it in and we lead! DOVER GOAL 1-0 72' - We're completely in control but Derby work a counter and it's the dangerous Hendriks spotting Wilke being way too aggressive and shooting from distance and Wilke is able to just get enough of the ball to send it wide. 75' - We move to a counter attacking mentality. 79' - Gian Marco Fanfoni is on for Andrea Rocca. 90'+1 - Yawn. Daniel Traore is in for Claudio Contreras. These guys are still in a five defender formation…at home…down a goal. Incredible. Derby suck. Derby 0 - 1 Dover Goals - Shanon Andrea (7.3) Assists - Rayane Hamon (7.9) Man of the Match - Rayane Hamon Other Dover Notables - Ingo WIlke (7.4), Salim Loucif (7.4), Claudio Contreras (7.1), Kostas Zagos (7.4) Attendance - 19,432 What a boring team Derby are. We hold 62% of overall possession and outshoot them 28-6 (4-2 on target). Good defending today but too many shots from distance and we get nothing from Chiquinho again. -- Chelsea, Manchester United, Manchester City, Arsenal and Sheffield Wednesday all win so there's no change whatsoever on the table. Dover U18 Update -- Emmerson Harvey gets two assists in his return from a long injury as our kids win 3-1 over Aldershot. James Campbell, Lyubomir Kunchev and Eddie Robinson score the goals. FA Cup - 3rd Round Draw -- We have more than a 50/50 chance of getting a non-Premier League side but we draw Wolves in a game to be played at Crabble. Not bad, as they are relegation candidates in our league this year. The game will be played on New Year's Eve. Next Up -- We are at home to face League 1 side West Ham in League Cup quarterfinals action.
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MY CURRENT FM19 DYNASTY - FM19: "Ludere causa Ludendi - To Play for the Sake of Playing" - Queen's Park FC (Scottish League Two) MY OLD FM11 DYNASTY - FM11: From Semi-Pro Minnows to the EPL - Dover Athletic FC My Personal Blog - Now on the Tee - Golf, Sports, Poker, Life 2006 GOLDEN SCRIBE AWARD WINNER FOR BEST 'OTHER SPORT' DYNASTY - EHM2005: Sharpening Swords in Buffalo Last edited by NoSkillz : 03-30-2014 at 11:11 PM. |
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03-31-2014, 12:44 AM
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#314 |
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College Benchwarmer
Join Date: Dec 2002
Location: St. Catharines, Canada
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Tue. November 29, 2022
League Cup - Quarterfinals Dover (2nd in Premier League) vs. West Ham (3rd in League 1) Crabble Athletic Ground, Dover, UK Betting Odds: Dover: 1-4 (Favourites) Draw: N/A West Ham: 9-1 Past Meetings: 3W 0D 0L We are MONSTER favourites at home versus League 1 promotion contenders West Ham. They are only one point back of division leaders Barnsley but are a defence first club, scoring only 23 goals in their 18 league matches. Their top scorer is striker Iain Beddard and winger Mel Hawkins is also someone to watch. Still, we should smoke these guys. I'm starting a pretty full compliment of backups today but a few key players in slumps will start, namely Gianluca Bolis and Chiquinho, who has gone five games without a goal. Hopefully, playing some weaker opponents will get them on their games. Paul Moses will be up front with Chiquinho. Dover: 4-4-2 Control GK - M. Perez D - R. Gaucho, D. Traore, M. Yilmaz, K. Zagos M - S. Henni, G. Fanfoni, S. Spall, G. Bolis S - P. Moses, Chiquinho Bench - Carlos Guzman, S. Reed, E. Harvey, A. Rocca, G. Allan, W. Rooney, Z. Bardi West Ham line up in a defensive 4-5-1 with Beddard alone up front. Former Dover prospect right midfielder Ismail Mkhize is starting as well for the Hammers. Jonny Holden is in goal and I hope we test him early and often. I tell the team I want a great performance for the supporters today. Lets entertain them and I tell Paul Moses to pick up where he left off last game. 1' - Right off the bat we move in and Henni's shot is right at Holden. 7' - Chiquinho storms down the right flank and crosses into Moses but his header is over the bar. 36' - Wow. Nothing happening against a League 1 side? Embarrassing! Fanfoni sends in Henni and Holden makes a spectacular save to keep it scoreless. Where are Chiquinho and Moses?? 41' - Speaking of the devil. West Ham have a goal kick and Daniel Traore wins a header up field and over the defence. Chiquinho wins the race and shoots and the ball is off Holden and just into the corner of the goal. DOVER GOAL 1-0 43' - Traore takes down Beddard and is given a yellow card. HALFTIME - We are playing down to our competition and have actually allowed a League 1 team in our stadium hold a 54% possession edge! Disgraceful. We do outshoot them 10-1 (4-0 on target). I encourage the players instead of peeling paint like I really want and pull aside Bolis (6.1 at half) to tell him I'm angry with his lack of passion today. 52' - Bolis dribbles all the way from the right flank at half into the centre of the box but his shot is right at Holden and he saves easily. 53' - Kostas Zagos with a yellow card. 55' - And now Bolis with the yellow. Ugh. 59' - Moses finally does something, dribbling into the area and shooting with his left foot but Holden makes the diving stop. 62' - We are getting chances and now it's Bolis cutting in and shooting right at the keeper. Another easy stop. 64' - I take out Shaun Spall and bring in U18 player Emmerson Harvey. 70' - Fanfoni with a nice feed into Moses but his hard blast is again right at the keeper. 77' - Kostas Zagos with a brutal giveaway and Beddard gets a chance all alone in a play that looks terribly offsides but Perez makes the point blank stop. 79' - I'm livid with our performance. Zagos and Bolis are pulled and I bring in young Steve Reed and Graham Allan. 87' - Chiquinho with a fierce free kick but Holden is playing like God today and makes the stop. 88' - Allan with a corner and Mohamed Lamine Yilmaz heads it off the cross bar. Sigh. Off the ensuing goal kick, Yilmaz fouls his opposite number and is given a yellow, our fourth of the game. Pretty pathetic display but we win. Dover 1 - 0 West Ham Goals - Chiquinho (7.2) Assists - Daniel Traore (6.9) Man of the Match - Jonny Holden (West Ham GK - 7.8) Other Dover Notables - Manuel Perez (7.2), Kostas Zagos (7.1), Mohamed Lamine Yilmaz (7.2), Renato Gaucho (7.1), Gian Marco Fanfoni (7.1) Attendance - 16,061 Holden was great for them but we made him look like a superstar, with shot after shot right at him. Possession was dead even for the match and we outshot them 26-8 (10-2 on target). Lets move on from this - I told the team in the room that the performance was terrible despite the positive result. Injury Update -- U18 left fullback Sebastien Kraft will miss a month with a back strain after a weight lifting session gone bad. Dover Reserves Team Update -- We get goals from young Emmerson Harvey and veteran Wayne Rooney in a comfortable 2-0 win over Fulham's Reserves. December Update -- We get a little bit of a break this month but still have plenty of action to consider, with five Premier League matches, four of which are at home (vs. Stoke, AT Birmingham, vs. Wolves, vs. Manchester City, vs. Everton), a Champions League group match at home versus Slovan Bratislava and a New Year's Eve FA Cup match at home versus Wolves again. So seven games in December and six of them are at home! -- We get positive training reports for Gian Marco Fanfoni, Mohamed Lamine Yilmaz and Steve Reed and negative reports for Rayane Hamon and Wayne Rooney. Postive reports come in for U18 players Ben Lee, Ben Patterson and David Smith, with a negative report coming in for Shane Holmes. November Premier League Awards -- Sheffield Wednesday striker Steve Pates scores five goals in as many games to win the Player of the Month award. -- Stephen Johnston from Man City wins Young Player of the Month honours. -- Jurgen Klinsmann from United wins Manager of the Month honours for November and I come in third. December Board Confidence Update -- The board are delighted with the leadership qualities I'm demonstrating. Our stature increase is the main plus and our Champions League loss to Sevilla is the only disappointment. -- We made a profit of £778,000 last month. Legend to Retire Wayne Rooney officially announces that he will be retiring at the end of the season "while in his prime". Ha! Well, he was awesome for us last year but he's simply not good enough to play much this year. Hopefully I can get him a couple games near the end of the year and maybe even a start at some point. League Cup - Semi-Finals Draw -- We once again draw Wolves in a cup match, as we'll face them here, in the FA Cup 3rd round and also in league play in December! Contract Extension -- We're delighted to lock up fine young fullback Renato Gaucho for an additional three years! He sees his salary skyrocket to £24,500 per week but the 21 year old has consistently played at a high level since joining our team three years ago. Next Up -- We host relegation candidates Stoke City in Premier League play.
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MY CURRENT FM19 DYNASTY - FM19: "Ludere causa Ludendi - To Play for the Sake of Playing" - Queen's Park FC (Scottish League Two) MY OLD FM11 DYNASTY - FM11: From Semi-Pro Minnows to the EPL - Dover Athletic FC My Personal Blog - Now on the Tee - Golf, Sports, Poker, Life 2006 GOLDEN SCRIBE AWARD WINNER FOR BEST 'OTHER SPORT' DYNASTY - EHM2005: Sharpening Swords in Buffalo |
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04-01-2014, 09:03 PM
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#315 |
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College Prospect
Join Date: Apr 2002
Location: Whitman, MA
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So, do you see Perez as the starter at GK going forward into the dynasty? I find it interesting that he's not gotten more of a look given that you gave him such a high salary to sign. He's seemed to do quite well in the write ups that you've done for his games.
Do you believe he's the answer to your better GK quest? Tell
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FOOL - Ann Arbor Winged Lingerines FOOLX - Portland Axemen Hattrick - Fizzle United (222968) |
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04-02-2014, 09:34 AM
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#316 | |
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College Benchwarmer
Join Date: Dec 2002
Location: St. Catharines, Canada
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Quote:
The short answer is yes. I think I'm a bit jaded after so many other goalkeepers have come in here and not produced behind Wilke so I'm being perhaps overly careful in giving Perez Cup ties or easy league games. He still hasn't grasped the English language yet and I get notes every game about him still trying to fit into the squad so until that goes away, I'm going to keep giving Wilke the majority of playing time. And truthfully, while Perez has been great when called upon, this may be Wilke's finest season yet! His average rating right now is over 7.20 for the season, a pretty spectacular number for a keeper. It's amazing that he's been with us since our League 1 days and still is producing at such a high level. That all said, Perez is definitely the future and I'm elated that he's done so well in the early stages with our club.
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MY CURRENT FM19 DYNASTY - FM19: "Ludere causa Ludendi - To Play for the Sake of Playing" - Queen's Park FC (Scottish League Two) MY OLD FM11 DYNASTY - FM11: From Semi-Pro Minnows to the EPL - Dover Athletic FC My Personal Blog - Now on the Tee - Golf, Sports, Poker, Life 2006 GOLDEN SCRIBE AWARD WINNER FOR BEST 'OTHER SPORT' DYNASTY - EHM2005: Sharpening Swords in Buffalo |
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04-09-2014, 08:21 AM
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#317 |
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Pro Starter
Join Date: Jan 2001
Location: Rennes, France
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I hope you're fine or just in vacation as I am missing my daily "dose" of Dover dynasty.
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04-10-2014, 12:01 AM
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#318 | |
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College Benchwarmer
Join Date: Dec 2002
Location: St. Catharines, Canada
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Quote:
Ha! Yes, I was just on vacation! More updates to come soon!
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MY CURRENT FM19 DYNASTY - FM19: "Ludere causa Ludendi - To Play for the Sake of Playing" - Queen's Park FC (Scottish League Two) MY OLD FM11 DYNASTY - FM11: From Semi-Pro Minnows to the EPL - Dover Athletic FC My Personal Blog - Now on the Tee - Golf, Sports, Poker, Life 2006 GOLDEN SCRIBE AWARD WINNER FOR BEST 'OTHER SPORT' DYNASTY - EHM2005: Sharpening Swords in Buffalo |
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04-12-2014, 11:39 AM
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#319 |
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College Benchwarmer
Join Date: Dec 2002
Location: St. Catharines, Canada
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Sat. December 3, 2022
Barclays Premier League Dover (11-1-3, 34 points, 2nd) vs. Stoke (1-2-12, 5 points, 19th) Crabble Athletic Ground, Dover, UK Betting Odds: Dover: 1-6 (Favourites) Draw: 5-1 Stoke: 10-1 Past Meetings: 3W 1D 0L I don't think we've EVER been as big a favourite in all my years as manager of this team than we are today. Stoke have stumbled immensely since getting promoted, with only a single win and two draws in their 15 Premier League games this year. They finished 2nd in the Championship to gain promotion and spent £6 million in the transfer window to add to their squad, reserving £5 million of it on 25 year old Fulham attacking midfielder Wim Georges. He has a goal and four assists in 16 matches so far. Their top goal scorer is striker Filip Pivkovski, a 28 year old Swede. This is a team we should be defeating soundly but complacency could be an issue - thankfully, my squad is usually professional enough to get results against the league's cellar dwellers. I'll be going with a full strength side with one exception - right winger Gianluca Bolis will be on the bench. He's been very average for about a month now, with no goals or assists and he will watch from the sidelines today. Despite my advanced scout saying Stoke play well against a 4-4-2, we are going with our standard formation at home. Dover: 4-4-2 Control GK - I. Wilke D - R. Gaucho, C. Contreras, R. Hamon, S. Loucif M - A. Bamba, N. Cairney, A. Rocca, G. Allan S - S. Andrea, Chiquinho Bench - Carlos Guzman, K. Zagos, G. Fanfoni, S. Spall, G. Bolis, S. Henni, Z. Bardi Stoke are in a 4-4-2 diamond formation with Pivkovski and Richard Valenta up front, with Georges in behind at AMC. Asmir Begovic is in goal. No fooling around today - I tell the team I expect a big victory. 2' - Andrea up to Chiquinho and from just outside the area, he blasts a shot off the woodwork! 6' - Rayane Hamon takes down Pivkovski at midfield and is given a yellow. He'll miss our next league game due to yellow card accumulation. 8' - Wow. Chiquinho AGAIN with a blast off the crossbar! It's going to be like that, is it? 9' - We're dominating the early goings here and Chiquinho with a nice touch pass inside to Rocca but his quick shot is saved nicely by Begovic. 20' - Andrea gets a great chance after a Stoke turnover but his shot is pathetically weak and right at Begovic. 30' - It was coming I guess. Rocca wins a 50/50 ball and delivers a pass to Cairney. His pass towards the Stoke penalty area deflects off a defender and goes right to the lethal Shanon Andrea. He sends a quick shot towards goal from the edge of the area and it's perfectly slotted past Begovic into the left corner of the net. We're finally on the board. DOVER GOAL 1-0 37' - We retain possession after a failed corner kick and Cairney sends the ball to the right to Graham Allan. He sends a pass to Chiquinho in the box and with his back to the goal, he quickly turns and fires a bullet past Begovic into the near corner and we now lead comfortably! DOVER GOAL 2-0 39' - Stoke work a nice pass play and somehow, our defence allows Georges to get through all alone but his shot is WIDE. Terrible effort from their big transfer man. 42' - Allan is overaggressive on a tackle and gets a yellow card. HALFTIME - A good half of football - it took awhile to finally break them down but now we lead comfortably. We have a meaningless Champions League tie against Slovan Bratislava in a few days and I plan on playing backups for that game so no need to protect players. I encourage the team to keep going during my team talk. For the half, we held 59% of possession and outshot them 12-7 (5-1 on target). 46' - Right off the opening kick, we move up field and it's Rocca with a low blast that Begovic has trouble with. There's a huge rebound and Chiquinho is there to put it in the net. But wait…he's offsides! The replay confirms it and it's NO GOAL. 49' - We earn a free kick just outside the area and Rocca curls one off the post! Third piece of woodwork already today! 54' - We win possession in midfield and work back up field with Allan. He passes into Chiquinho and from the most rotten angle you can imagine, the Belgian somehow delivers a rocket that finds the goal on the near side! WONDERFUL strike from Chiquinho, his second of the game and we're up three! DOVER GOAL 3-0 57' - Stoke defender Micah Richards, already with a yellow card and a subsequent telling off after another foul by the referee, takes down Arsene Bamba and we know exactly what's coming! RED CARD for Richards! Stoke are down to ten men. Stoke move to a tight 4-1-2-1-1 formation. 62' - We make a couple of substitutions, taking out Shanon Andrea and Andrea Rocca and bringing in Said Henni and Gian Marco Fanfoni. 64' - We win a corner with Graham Allan and his cross is headed off the crossbar by Hamon! FOUR pieces of woodwork today!. On the ensuing scramble, Bamba takes a man down and is given a yellow, our third of the game. 66' - Stoke have possession and shoot from distance. It's a bullet right at Wilke and he saves it but there's a big rebound. Pivkovski gets there first and shoots it past Wilke and IN. Stoke score with 10 men. Terrible. STOKE GOAL 3-1 Stoke move to a 4-1-2-2 with a DMC and two central mids. 74' - We work a counter and it's Bamba streaking past his man down the left flank. He delivers a glorious cross into the box and there is Chiquinho but his header is saved brilliantly by Begovic! That was Chiquinho's hat trick chance! 81' - We use our last substitution, bringing in young Carlos Guzman for the yellow carded Rayane Hamon. Renato Gaucho moves into the centre of the defence. 86' - We have a free kick deep in their territory down the right side and Cairney sends a quick pass to Fanfoni lurking outside the area. He delivers a quick pass to the very effective Graham Allan and his attempted shot hits a Stoke defender and pops right out to Said Henni. His header goes past a diving Begovic and IN. Henni strikes as a substitute and we have our three goal lead back. Great game by Graham Allan today! DOVER GOAL 4-1 90'+2 - We get a free kick just to the right edge of the box and Allan delivers a cross into Renato Gaucho and he's fouled. That's a PENALTY!! Up steps Chiquinho, sitting on two goals already to take the kick and he BLASTS it right into the middle of the net for the hat trick! Fantastic! DOVER GOAL 5-1 Superb. Dover 5 - 1 Stoke Goals - Chiquinho 3 (9.6), Shanon Andrea (7.7), Said Henni (7.3) Assists - Graham Allan 2 (8.7), Renato Gaucho (8.2), Neil Cairney (8.5), Gian Marco Fanfoni (7.2) Man of the Match - Chiquinho Other Dover Notables - Salim Loucif (7.7), Rayane Hamon (7.0), Claudio Contreras (7.3), Andrea Rocca (7.0), Arsene Bamba (7.1) Attendance - 17,151 Pure domination! We hold 61% of overall possession and outshoot them 32-10 (13-3 on target). No complacency, just a professional and efficient performance! Graham Allan was superb and is starting to fit in nicely here! -- As indicated, Rayane Hamon will miss our next league match against Birmingham due to yellow card accumulation. Shouldn't be an issue against the worst team in the league. -- Man City lose in a shocker on their own pitch, dropping a 1-0 decision to Middlesbrough. The aforementioned Birmingham escape the basement after beating Derby 2-1. Sheffield Wednesday continue to play well, defeating Aston Villa 2-1 and Manchester United continue to nip at our heels, destroying Huddersfield away 6-1 behind four goals from the great Yaya Sanogo. In other action, Arsenal battles to a scoreless draw against struggling Spurs and Chelsea retain their hold on first place in a 5-0 annihilation over Wolves. BARCLAYS PREMIER LEAGUE - STANDINGS (ALL TEAMS HAVE PLAYED 16 GAMES UNLESS NOTED) 1. Chelsea - 41 points 2. Dover - 37 points 3. Manchester United - 36 points 4. Manchester City - 33 points ---------------------------------------------------- 5. Arsenal - 33 points 6. Sheffield Wednesday - 32 points 7. Aston Villa - 26 points ---------------------------------------------------- U18 Update -- Our U18 squad shockingly LOSE 3-1 to Woking. We went undefeated last year and this is our second loss of the year already. We don't have a real great U18 striker this year so that's one of the main reasons I believe. Ben Patterson scores our only goal. Premier League Team of the Week -- We get three of our players named to the team of the week: Renato Gaucho, Graham Allan and Chiquinho all get selected for their fine performances. Injury Update -- We are pretty injury free right now, with only midfielder Mancini on the shelf. He is out for another few months with his broken leg. Giorgos Gesios, on loan at Sevilla, is still out for them with a broken foot. Next Up -- We host Slovan Bratislava in our final group stage match in the Champions League. We've already guaranteed qualification to the knockout stages so this game doesn't mean an awful lot.
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MY CURRENT FM19 DYNASTY - FM19: "Ludere causa Ludendi - To Play for the Sake of Playing" - Queen's Park FC (Scottish League Two) MY OLD FM11 DYNASTY - FM11: From Semi-Pro Minnows to the EPL - Dover Athletic FC My Personal Blog - Now on the Tee - Golf, Sports, Poker, Life 2006 GOLDEN SCRIBE AWARD WINNER FOR BEST 'OTHER SPORT' DYNASTY - EHM2005: Sharpening Swords in Buffalo Last edited by NoSkillz : 04-16-2014 at 09:40 AM. |
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04-12-2014, 01:08 PM
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#320 |
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College Benchwarmer
Join Date: Dec 2002
Location: St. Catharines, Canada
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Tue. December 6, 2022
UEFA Champions League - Group B Dover (4-0-1, 12 points, 1st) vs. Slovan Bratislava (0-0-5, 0 points, 4th) Crabble Athletic Ground, Dover, UK Betting Odds: Dover: 4-6 (Favourites) Draw: 9-4 Slovan Bratislava: 7-2 Past Meetings: 1W 0D 0L This game is meaningless in the grand scheme of things, as we've already guaranteed qualification into the knockout stages. Bratislava haven't even scored a goal in the group stage and have allowed 18. We are starting ALL substitutes today with one exception being DC Rayane Hamon - he will miss our next league game on the weekend due to yellow card accumulation so I'm starting him today. We are going with a 4-4-2 DM (4-2-3-1) formation and will start two kids in the midfield in Gian Marco Fanfoni and U18 player Emmerson Harvey. I've also called up Lyubomir Kunchev from the U18s and he will likely get a chance to play at some point today as well. Dover: 4-4-2 DM (4-2-3-1) Control GK - M. Perez D - C. Guzman, D. Traore, R. Hamon, K. Zagos M - E. Harvey, G. Fanfoni AM - S. Henni, Z. Bardi, G. Allan S - P. Moses Bench - M. Yilmaz, S. Reed, S. Spall, E. Agbo, L. Kunchev, S. Ingram, W. Rooney The Slovaks will line up in a standard 4-4-2 with Juraj Rehak, a ten goal scorer this year up front alongside Nail Guschin. Bohdan Spanik is in goal. Despite starting a young squad, I tell them I expect a win today. 4' - We win a corner and hold possession down the right. We start a gorgeous three way passing play in the box, with Fanfoni first feeding Allan, who feeds Paul Moses and the young on-loan striker delivers a first touch shot past Spanik and IN! Great start men! DOVER GOAL 1-0 6' - Kostas Zagos with an unnecessary foul well away from goal and he's given a yellow. 15' - Graham Allan is ON FIRE! We cause a turnover and it's Allan streaking up field. He crosses into the area and there is Zoltan Bardi to one-time it past Spanik and we lead by two!!! DOVER GOAL 2-0 29' - Incredible passing off a throw in down the right side. All one touch passes, from Bardi, to Zagos, to Allan, back to Bardi then a cross. It's headed out but right onto the foot of Gian Marco Fanfoni and the 18 year old on loan midfielder strikes the ball with FURY into the back of the net and we lead by three!! I LOVE this kid! DOVER GOAL 3-0 35' - The speed of Moses is breathtaking, as he makes up at least ten yards on the retreating defender and beats him to the ball. Moses gets in on goal and Spanik does well to turn it behind the net for the corner. We can't do anything with that corner and Fanfoni actually ends up getting a yellow card for a foul. 44' - We win a corner and Allan's cross is headed toward goal at the far post by Daniel Traore. Paul Moses ends up getting a last touch on the ball, kicking it over the goal line and IN for his second of the game and we have ourselves a ROUT! DOVER GOAL 4-0 HALFTIME - EASY! We hold 59% of possession and outshoot them 17-1 (8-0 on target). They are no match for our backups, which is great to see. Another splendid half from both Moses and Allan! I tell the team I'm pleased! 60' - We head up field after a Bratislava clear and Moses has a step on the defender. Just as he approaches the area, he's taken down from behind and that's a straight RED CARD! The Slovaks are down to ten men. Spanik makes a nice save off Fanfoni's free kick. 70' - We take out the excellent Graham Allan and bring in Lyubomir Kunchev. We also take out Emmerson Harvey and bring in Shaun Spall. 85' - With Daniel Traore off for some treatment, Bratislava send a man through our defence and force Manuel Perez into a nice save to maintain the shutout. 86' - Terrible defence, as Carlos Guzman completely whiffs on a tackle at midfield and that allows Peter Hricov to dance past him. The 18 year old feed a nice pass up to substitute striker Gabriel Rubio and he makes no mistake, pounding a shot that Perez gets a piece of but not enough and Slovan Bratislava have their first goal in the group stages. SLOVAN BRATISLAVA GOAL 4-1 I take out Daniel Traore and bring in Emmanuel Agbo. This is Agbo's first official professional appearance. That's all. Easy win. Dover 4 - 1 Slovan Bratislava Goals - Paul Moses 2 (8.8), Zoltan Bardi (7.8), Gian Marco Fanfoni (8.3) Assists - Graham Allan 3 (9.1) Man of the Match - Graham Allan Other Dover Notables - Kostas Zagos (7.6), Rayane Hamon (7.1), Daniel Traore (7.3), Carlos Guzman (7.2), Said Henni (7.1) Attendance - 17,034 Another comfortable win! 59% of possession and a 24-4 (9-2 on target) shot advantage, as we definitely took our foot off the accelerator in the second half. -- We earn £696,000 for the victory and finish first in Group B on goal differential! -- Here's a look at the final Group Stage results: GROUP A 1. Dortmund - 15 points 2. Olympique Lyonnais - 12 points 3. AaB - 6 points 4. Anderlecht - 3 points GROUP B 1. Dover - 15 points 2. Sevilla - 15 points 3. Porto - 6 points 4. Slovan Bratislava - 0 points GROUP C 1. Manchester United - 16 points 2. Galatasaray - 7 points 3. Celtic - 5 points 4. Panathinaikos - 4 points GROUP D 1. Barcelona - 16 points 2. AZ - 9 points 3. Palermo - 8 points 4. Dinamo - 0 points GROUP E 1. Real Madrid - 15 points 2. OM - 12 points 3. CSKA Moscow - 9 points 4. Grasshoppers - 0 points GROUP F 1. Manchester City - 16 points 2. Benfica - 8 points 3. Hoffenheim - 6 points 4. Le Mans FC - 4 points GROUP G 1. FC Bayern Munich - 15 points 2. Sampdoria - 11 points 3. Shakhtar - 5 points 4. Fenerbahce - 2 points GROUP H 1. Atletico Madrid - 16 points 2. Liverpool - 11 points 3. Fiorentina - 7 points 4. Partizan - 0 points Next Up -- Our relatively easy schedule continues, as we face relegation favourites Birmingham, the 19th placed team in the league in Premier League play.
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MY CURRENT FM19 DYNASTY - FM19: "Ludere causa Ludendi - To Play for the Sake of Playing" - Queen's Park FC (Scottish League Two) MY OLD FM11 DYNASTY - FM11: From Semi-Pro Minnows to the EPL - Dover Athletic FC My Personal Blog - Now on the Tee - Golf, Sports, Poker, Life 2006 GOLDEN SCRIBE AWARD WINNER FOR BEST 'OTHER SPORT' DYNASTY - EHM2005: Sharpening Swords in Buffalo Last edited by NoSkillz : 04-12-2014 at 01:09 PM. |
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04-12-2014, 08:05 PM
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#321 |
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College Benchwarmer
Join Date: Dec 2002
Location: St. Catharines, Canada
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Sat. December 10, 2022
Barclays Premier League Birmingham (2-1-13, 7 points, 19th) vs. Dover (12-1-3, 37 points, 2nd) St. Andrews, Birmingham, UK Betting Odds: Birmingham: 9-2 Draw: 13-5 Dover: 1-2 (Favourites) Past Meetings: 2W 0D 1L Birmingham only finished fifth in the Championship last year but prevailed in the playoffs to get the shocking promotion to England's top league for the first time since the 2014-15 season. They were very modest spenders during the transfer window, only splashing £2.6 million on six players, with £825K spent on Everton striker Marcus Leigh, a 22 year old who hasn't suited up yet for the senior team. Welsh striker Sam Vokes has six goals in 15 matches and is their most dangerous player. He usually lines up alongside Joe Mason, who has four goals. Full starting lineup today and Gianluca Bolis returns after a two game benching that saw his replacement, Graham Allan, contribute FIVE ASSISTS in those two games. Bolis better be sharp today! Daniel Traore will play again today in place of suspended Rayane Hamon. We are huge favourites on the road and we will push hard to score goals today. Dover: 4-4-2 Control GK - I. Wilke D - R. Gaucho, D. Traore, C. Contreras, S. Loucif M - A. Bamba, N. Cairney, A. Rocca, G. Bolis S - S. Andrea, Chiquinho Bench - M. Yilmaz, K. Zagos, S. Spall, G. Fanfoni, G. Allan, S. Henni, P. Moses Standard 4-4-2 for Birmingham today with Vokes and Mason up front and Edwin Leferink in goal. They also have former Dover midfielder Arron Williams, once a decent prospect for us. I tell the team they can win today…lets bury these guys. 3' - Wow, a very quick start sees us win a throw in down the left side. Renato Gaucho throws to Shanon Andrea and he turns and sends a high cross into the box. Chiquinho is there and heads it forcefully past Leferink and it's IN! Chiquinho scores on a rare header and we have the dream start at St. Andrews! DOVER GOAL 1-0 9' - Rocca with a free kick just left of the penalty area and he sends a pass to Neil Cairney lurking outside in the middle of the field. He sends a bullet to goal and Leferink makes the great diving stop! 31' - Birmingham with a free kick and they curl one in that Wilke has trouble with but we thankfully clear the rebound to safety. 33' - All of a sudden Birmingham are taking the play to us and it's Vokes taking a wonderful pass and he's in alone. Wilke makes a spectacular save and we're fortunate to stay ahead for now. 37' - We have possession in their end and Andrea Rocca sends a great ball through the defence to Shanon Andrea. He's in the area and taken down from behind. PENALTY! Neil Cairney has been money so far this year and he step up to take the kick. As usual, he goes right and the goalkeeper doesn't even move and it's IN! That's Cairney's SIXTH penalty conversion in as many attempts this year and we're up two! DOVER GOAL 2-0 40' - Chiquinho wins a tackle at midfield and just streaks down the middle of the field. He has a step on the defenders as he approaches the area and shoots past Leferink and IN! Chiquinho has two and we are up three! Sensational goal by Chiquinho! DOVER GOAL 3-0 44' - Bolis with a cross and for some reason, Renato Gaucho is pinching in from his fullback position and heads it off the crossbar! Wow! HALFTIME - We continue to dominate lesser opposition! We hold 63% of possession on the road and outshoot them 13-4 (4-3 on target). I tell the lads I'm pleased and tell Gianluca Bolis I have faith in him despite his recent struggles. 72' - Not much happening in this half but we continue to dominate possession. Andrea Rocca has the ball near midfield and sends a splendid pass through the defence and it's there for Shanon Andrea to latch onto. He has a clear breakaway and makes no mistake, putting the ball low past Leferink and in! DOVER GOAL 4-0 76' - We take out Andrea Rocca and Daniel Traore and bring in Gian Marco Fanfoni and Mohammed Lamine Yilmaz. 79' - In something that's becoming a little too common, we give up a late goal. Birmingham with a free kick down the left and the cross is a beauty to the head of Sam Vokes, as he outjumps 6' 6" Claudio Contreras and heads it past Wilke and in. BIRMINGHAM GOAL 4-1 Nothing else of note. Good road win. Birmingham 1 - 4 Dover Goals - Chiquinho 2 (8.8), Neil Cairney PEN (7.7), Shanon Andrea (9.2) Assists - Shanon Andrea 2, Daniel Traore (8.2), Andrea Rocca (7.7) Man of the Match - Shanon Andrea Other Dover Notables - Salim Loucif (7.8), Renato Gaucho (7.7), Arsene Bamba (7.3) Attendance - 13,670 We continue our roll, winning for the fifth time in a row in Premier League play and eight in a row across all competitions. The roll could continue, as we play FIVE GAMES IN A ROW at home after this contest! Shanon Andrea has continued to play at a ridiculously high level - he's up to 14 goals and 11 assists in 17 games overall this year! WOW! For the game, we held 58% of possession and a 22-8 (5-4 on target) shot advantage. Excellent! -- In other Premier League action, Chelsea continue to roll as well, knocking off Aston Villa 3-1. Arsenal beat Huddersfield 1-0 away and Man City get back on the winning track against lowly Stoke 3-0. United also win 2-0 over Burnley and Sheffield Wednesday continue to surprise, knocking off Liverpool. BARCLAYS PREMIER LEAGUE - STANDINGS (ALL TEAMS HAVE PLAYED 17 GAMES UNLESS NOTED) 1. Chelsea - 44 points 2. Dover - 40 points 3. Manchester United - 39 points 4. Manchester City - 36 points ---------------------------------------------------- 5. Arsenal - 36 points 6. Sheffield Wednesday - 35 points 7. Sunderland - 26 points ---------------------------------------------------- Premier League Team of the Week -- We get four players named to this week's team, with Salim Loucif, Renato Gaucho, Daniel Traore and Shanon Andrea all getting honoured. Rocca Unhappy -- Andrea Rocca's agent wants me to open contract talks but I turn down the request, necessitating a personal chat with Rocca. He understands my rationale, as he's already signed for another two and a half years and I'm not prepared to open talks this soon. To be honest, Rocca is starting to regress ever so slightly and there's a chance he'll be in tough to retain his starting position in the coming years. Still, he's a set piece demon and he works well with Neil Cairney so he'll be an important part of the team in the years ahead no matter what. Champions League - 1st Knockout Round Draw -- If you asked me to pick three teams that I'd prefer to face in the 1st Knockout Round, three-time defending Liga ZON Sagres champions Benfica would have been one of the choices. It's a pretty decent draw, despite them being undefeated in league play once again. Our first game will be in Portugal in mid-February. -- In other matchups, Sevilla faces Manchester United, Liverpool play Dortmund, Sampdoria play Real Madrid, OM play Barcelona, Galatasaray face Manchester City, AZ face Atletico Madrid and finally, Olympique Lyonnais play FC Bayern. Next Up -- We start a five game home stand, facing 15th placed Wolves in Premier League action.
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MY CURRENT FM19 DYNASTY - FM19: "Ludere causa Ludendi - To Play for the Sake of Playing" - Queen's Park FC (Scottish League Two) MY OLD FM11 DYNASTY - FM11: From Semi-Pro Minnows to the EPL - Dover Athletic FC My Personal Blog - Now on the Tee - Golf, Sports, Poker, Life 2006 GOLDEN SCRIBE AWARD WINNER FOR BEST 'OTHER SPORT' DYNASTY - EHM2005: Sharpening Swords in Buffalo Last edited by NoSkillz : 04-12-2014 at 08:06 PM. |
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04-12-2014, 10:25 PM
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#322 |
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College Benchwarmer
Join Date: Dec 2002
Location: St. Catharines, Canada
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Sat. December 17, 2022
Barclays Premier League Dover (13-1-3, 40 points, 2nd) vs. Wolves (4-2-11, 14 points, 15th) Crabble Athletic Ground, Dover, UK Betting Odds: Dover: 1-2 (Favourites) Draw: 13-5 Wolves: 9-2 Past Meetings: 4W 2D 1L Wolverhampton always give us a tough game and they play an organized, tight, defensive style that's difficult to break down. Last year, we only managed two draws against them and again this year, they are in similar form, sitting above the relegation zone having given up only 24 goals in 17 matches while scoring a measly 18 themselves. They spent some money in the transfer window, splashing £16.25 million on nine players, most notably £6 million on Fulham's 25 year old AML Evgeny Maltsev, who has responded with 3 goals in 20 games and £4.6 million on DC Stewart Jones from Sunderland. They also spent £3 million on striker Guy Luckett from Blackburn and the 23 year old Englishman has responded with 9 goals in 19 games across all competitions to lead the club in scoring. Rayane Hamon is back in the lineup after serving his one game suspension, otherwise there are no other changes from the Birmingham victory. Dover: 4-4-2 Control GK - I. Wilke D - R. Gaucho, C. Contreras, R. Hamon, S. Loucif M - A. Bamba, N. Cairney, A. Rocca, G. Bolis S - S. Andrea, Chiquinho Bench - D. Traore, K. Zagos, S. Spall, G. Fanfoni, G. Allan, S. Henni, P. Moses Usually, Wolves play with two DMC's but today they are in a standard 4-4-2. Luckett is up front with Emanuele Testardi and Wayne Hennessey is the goalkeeper. I tell the team to perform well for their supporters and pull aside Gianluca Bolis to tell him I expect a better performance today. He's been highly disappointing lately and Graham Allan is breathing down his neck right now and deserves more playing time. 5' - We have possession and it's Neil Cairney feeding Shanon Andrea. He shows INCREDIBLE SKILL, juking right then moving back to his left to evade a defender and he enters the area, moves the ball to his left foot and shoots past Hennessey and into the middle of the net. My God, Andrea is SUPERB! DOVER GOAL 1-0 9' - It's Cairney again as the architect, sending a wonderful ball up to a charging Arsene Bamba. For some reason, the Wolves defenders back off and take away the pass and that allows our wide midfielder to break in on goal and shoot low into the far corner, past Hennessey and IN. What a start and Wolves already are coming undone! DOVER GOAL 2-0 10' - OH MY GOD! Off the ensuing kick, Neil Cairney tackles a player and the ball comes up to Chiquinho. He passes to the left to Shanon Andrea and he notices the goalkeeper way out at the top of the box so he shoots from 10 yards INSIDE HALF and it's over Hennessey's head and INTO THE NET! HOLY SHIT! It's a David Beckham goal for Andrea and we're up three inside of ten minutes. WOWOWOW. DOVER GOAL 3-0 18' - Luckett takes a pass on the outer edge of our area with his back to goal, turns and shoots but it's right at Wilke. Poor effort from their leading scorer. 22' - Bolis takes a crack and his curling effort is saved in fine fashion by Hennessey. I really thought that one was going in for the snake bitten Bolis. 26' - Wolves have a corner and we clear it out of the box but not out of trouble. They attempt a cross back into the area and it hits Claudio Contreras and deflects all the way across to the far post to a wide open Evgeny Maltsev and their big offseason signing makes no mistake, pounding the ball past Wilke and Wolves are on the board. WOLVES GOAL 3-1 29' - We have possession and it's Cairney again feeding the molten hot Andrea. He turns from outside the area and fires an absolute HOWITZER into the far corner and he has an incredible hat trick! "Andrea has been AN ASSASSIN IN FRONT OF THE GOAL TODAY" says the announcer and it's not hyperbole! DOVER GOAL 4-1 39' - Despite our incredible half, GIanluca Bolis continues to struggle. He makes an ill-advised pass right to a Wolves defender and forces Neil Cairney to take him down. Yellow card for Cairney and our supreme setup man today will miss our next league match, which I believe is against Manchester City. Damn. 45'+1 - Cairney with a blast off a free kick and Hennessey makes the tough stop and his defenders clear it away from danger. HALFTIME - So much for the low scoring affair! Andrea and Cairney were sensational in that half! We hold 56% of possession and a 12-4 (6-2 on target) shot advantage. I'm pleased. 58' - Goodness! From a horrific angle and on his weaker left foot, Andrea drills a shot at goal and Hennessey makes an acrobatic save to keep him from scoring his fourth. 60' - Another great passing play culminates in Andrea getting a curling shot at goal but Hennessey makes the diving stop. 61' - We're just working on all cylinders right now. Andrea again gets loose but the ball is tackled away by the Wolves defence. However, it's right to a following Chiquinho and he gets two great cracks at goal but the very busy Hennessey makes two fine saves! 62' - Rocca has a corner and it's cleared out to Cairney. He sends the ball back to a retreating Claudio Contreras and the big defender then passes into the middle to Rocca. He sends a trademark curling blast from outside the area past the beleaguered Wolves keeper and we strike for our fifth! BEAUTY! DOVER GOAL 5-1 65' - We work possession again and Rocca delivers a great pass through the defence and into the area and it's ANDREA AGAIN getting it and putting it in the net! But wait…OFFSIDES?!!?! SUPER marginal call, as it was Arsene Bamba who was offsides and Andrea looked fine. No goal. We take out the EXCELLENT Shanon Andrea and the EXCELLENT Neil Cairney and bring in Said Henni and Gian Marco Fanfoni. Wolves have moved to a 4-1-4-1 with a DMC. 68' - We suffer a bit of a breakdown as Ashley Butler gets in on goal but Wilke makes the good save. Wilke had time to charge out and get that ball but he hesitated and was fortunate to make the save. 80' - We use our last substitution, taking out Andrea Rocca and bringing in Shaun Spall. 89' - Wolves are down to ten men after Ashley Butler gets hurt on a challenge from Renato Gaucho. We have possession a couple minutes later in their end and it's young Fanfoni again, sending a delightful ball to the out-of-form Gianluca Bolis. He uses his trademark speed to gun into the area and his low blast is at Hennessey but squirts through him and into the net! That's EXACTLY what Bolis needed…an ugly goal! DOVER GOAL 6-1 Awesome performance once again! Dover 6 - 1 Wolves Goals - Shanon Andrea 3 (9.6), Arsene Bamba (8.3), Andrea Rocca (8.1), Gianluca Bolis (8.3) Assists - Neil Cairney 3 (8.9), Claudio Contreras (7.1), Chiquinho (7.9), Gian Marco Fanfoni (6.9) Man of the Match - Shanon Andrea Other Dover Notables - Ingo Wilke (7.0), Salim Loucif (7.9), Rayane Hamon (8.1), Renato Gaucho (7.7) Attendance - 18,406 We are on a SERIOUS roll right now, destroying the teams we need to be destroying and this was no different. 55% possession and a 21-7 (12-3 on target) shot advantage. Sensational stuff. -- As indicated, the seriously in-form Neil Cairney will miss our huge game against Manchester City due to yellow card accumulation. -- Chelsea stay four ahead after beating Reading 2-1. Sunderland stun Arsenal at Emirates Stadium 1-0 while United cool off Sheffield Wednesday 2-0 at Old Trafford. Man City also keep pace, beating up on Derby 4-0. BARCLAYS PREMIER LEAGUE - STANDINGS (ALL TEAMS HAVE PLAYED 18 GAMES UNLESS NOTED) 1. Chelsea - 47 points 2. Dover - 43 points 3. Manchester United - 42 points 4. Manchester City - 39 points ---------------------------------------------------- 5. Arsenal - 36 points 6. Sheffield Wednesday - 35 points 7. Sunderland - 29 points ---------------------------------------------------- Bonus Clause Money IN -- We receive £250,000 from Middlesbrough, as Thomas Andersen plays in his tenth league game for their club after being transferred out in the summer window. We'll take it! Dover U18 Team Update -- The youth team get back on the winning track with a 3-0 win over Eastbourne Boro. Pete Smith scores twice and Ben Patterson notches a single in the victory. Premier League Team of the Week -- Once again, we get four players named to this week's team, with Rayane Hamon, Gianluca Bolis, Neil Cairney and Shanon Andrea all getting honoured. Dover Reserves Team Update -- Zoltan Bardi scored late as a substitute as we come back from two goals down to defeat Wolves 3-2. Promising winger Lyubomir Kunchev and Wayne Rooney also scored in the contest. Next Up -- A huge Boxing Day matchup against Manchester City in Premier League holiday action.
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MY CURRENT FM19 DYNASTY - FM19: "Ludere causa Ludendi - To Play for the Sake of Playing" - Queen's Park FC (Scottish League Two) MY OLD FM11 DYNASTY - FM11: From Semi-Pro Minnows to the EPL - Dover Athletic FC My Personal Blog - Now on the Tee - Golf, Sports, Poker, Life 2006 GOLDEN SCRIBE AWARD WINNER FOR BEST 'OTHER SPORT' DYNASTY - EHM2005: Sharpening Swords in Buffalo |
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04-13-2014, 12:23 AM
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#323 |
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College Benchwarmer
Join Date: Dec 2002
Location: St. Catharines, Canada
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Mon. December 26, 2022
Barclays Premier League Dover (14-1-3, 43 points, 2nd) vs. Manchester City (12-3-3, 39 points, 4th) Crabble Athletic Ground, Dover, UK Betting Odds: Dover: 13-8 Draw: 2-1 Manchester City: 6-4 (Favourites) Past Meetings: 1W 1D 7L We finally got our first win against City in our last game of the year last year and we are the slightest of underdogs against the holders of the Champions League and Premier League titles for the last three seasons (four years in a row in the Champions League). The big news in the summer, of course, was the sale of the world's best player, lethal striker Enrique, to super rich Barcelona. In his place, City spent an absolutely absurd £73 million on Inter ST/AMC Mario Brito, a 22 year old Portugal international. He has five goals and six assists in 18 games as he tries to settle into English football. City have RIDICULOUS MONEY, as they spent an incredible £179 MILLION in the summer transfer window while selling off £72 million, 70 of it on Enrique. Without that stalwart player, City are relying on balanced scoring for the first time in years, with Yahia Traore leading the way with only 9 goals and fine young striker Jelle Hoegee just behind him with 8. Winger Bruno is a sensational player and has 6 goals and 10 assists on the year in all competitions. We will greatly miss Neil Cairney today, as he's suspended due to yellow card accumulation. Fine young loanee Gian Marco Fanfoni will suit up in his place. At home, we'll stick with the same formation and mentality as usual. We're on a serious roll but this is the litmus test - if we can beat City, we *may* have a chance at winning the league... Dover: 4-4-2 Control GK - I. Wilke D - R. Gaucho, C. Contreras, R. Hamon, S. Loucif M - A. Bamba, G. Fanfoni, A. Rocca, G. Bolis S - S. Andrea, Chiquinho Bench - D. Traore, K. Zagos, S. Spall, G. Allan, S. Henni, Z. Bardi, P. Moses City line up in their favoured 4-5-1 formation, with Hoegee up front and Brito at MC. Veteran Joe Hart is in goal. I tell the team to put together a good performance for the supporters. Lets do this! 20' - So far, no shots on goal for either team. Pretty even contest so far…much different than our last number of games! 25' - A HORRIBLE call, as Rayane Hamon takes down Jelle Hoegee and is given a STRAIGHT RED CARD! He didn't have a breakaway, it was a 50/50 ball. Horrific. We temporarily switch to a 3-4-2 Counter attacking formation. 35' - We win a corner and Rocca's cross gets deflected out to Gianluca Bolis. His shot is off the goal post! So close! 36' - City come right back down the field and it's Hoegee getting behind our defence and scoring but it's blatantly offsides. No goal! 43' - Yellow card for Andrea Rocca for a tackle at midfield. HALFTIME - The Hamon red card has put us in a tough situation - we have held our own going with only three defenders but I figure I should just play for a tie right now. I'll keep a close eye on things and be ready to move back to four defenders if need be. We held 51% of possession for the half but were outshot 8-6 (2-1 on target). I tell the lads to keep fighting for the fans. 52' - Wonderful. Andrea Rocca gets absolutely destroyed by one of their midfielders and he's injured and needs to come off. We bring in Daniel Traore and he moves back to defence, giving us a 4-3-2 formation. 55' - Some nice passing sees us get our first real good chance in the game, as Chiquinho finds Bamba but his shot is right at Joe Hart and he makes the easy save. Then, Hoegee goes down field the other way, gets past Traore and shoots but Wilke makes the great stop! 56' - Wilke with a BRILLIANT stop on Hoegee from in close, as City are pressing hard now. 57' - We win a free kick deep in their end and it's Bamba taking it. His cross is blocked but it pops right out to Chiquinho. Our striker turns and fires and it's past Hart and IN THE NET! Woooo! DOVER GOAL 1-0 80' - We're doing great with ten men! I take out Chiquinho and bring in Zoltan Bardi. Bardi drops into midfield and we're now playing a 4-4-1 formation. 90' - Five extra minutes to kill. Ugh! I bring in Shaun Spall and take out Shanon Andrea. Hold them off guys!!! 90'+7' - Are you FUCKING KIDDING ME?!?! The ref lets play continue for an extra three minutes and City hit us on the break, with Hoegee converting a header on a cross and they tie it up. I've never seen anything like that before. MANCHESTER CITY GOAL 1-1 90'+10 - MY GOD. The ref keeps letting play go on and we win a corner!?! Bamba sends it in and Claudio Contreras heads it to goal but it's kicked off the line by a defender protecting the post! Wow. Well, good result considering we were at ten men for most of the match. Dover 1 - 1 Manchester City Goals - Chiquinho (7.5) Assists - Arsene Bamba (7.8) Man of the Match - Arsene Bamba Other Dover Notables - Shanon Andrea (7.0) Attendance - 21,761 We held a 52% shot advantage despite playing with ten men and City outshot us 19-16 (5-4 on target). A good match. -- DAMNIT. Andrea Rocca has a hip injury and will miss two to three months. I am sending him to a specialist and my doctors inform me that could help get him back up to a month quicker. We may have to look for a player on the transfer market but for now, Gian Marco Fanfoni will get more starting time. -- Rayane Hamon will miss our next match due to his straight red card. I appeal the ban, as I thought it was a ridiculous call but I expect the appeal to be turned down and he could miss additional action. -- Manchester United beat Chelsea 1-0 at Old Trafford to move past us into second place on the table but we gain a point on first, creeping to within three of Chelsea. Sunderland beat Middlesbrough 2-0 and Sheffield Wednesday beat Arsenal at Emirates Stadium 3-1 to move past them on the table. Here are the standings at the halfway point of the season: BARCLAYS PREMIER LEAGUE - STANDINGS (ALL TEAMS HAVE PLAYED 19 GAMES UNLESS NOTED) 1. Chelsea - 47 points 2. Manchester United - 45 points 3. Dover - 44 points 4. Manchester City - 40 points ---------------------------------------------------- 5. Sheffield Wednesday - 38 points 6. Arsenal - 36 points 7. Sunderland - 32 points ---------------------------------------------------- 8. Aston Villa - 30 points 9. Reading - 26 points 10. Liverpool - 26 points 11. Everton - 25 points 12. Middlesbrough - 24 points 13. Tottenham - 24 points 14. Newcastle - 23 points 15. Wolves - 17 points 16. Huddersfield - 15 points 17. Derby - 14 points ---------------------------------------------------- 18. Burnley - 11 points 19. Birmingham - 8 points 20. Stoke - 6 points -- We are blazing a trail this year, with 9 more points than last year at this same point and our 51 goals is easily our best total at the midway point. We are tied for the league lead in goals with Chelsea and United and we're tied for fourth in goals conceded with 17 Here's a look at some Barclays Premier League stat leaders: GOALS - 1. Shanon Andrea, Dover, 12 1. Chiquinho, Dover, 12 1. Darijo Jukic, Sheffield Wednesday, 12 1. Yaya Sanogo, Manchester United, 12 5. Ishak Belfodil, Manchester United, 11 5. Tom Bull, Manchester United, 11 5. Roland Hoxha, Middlesbrough, 11 5. Stanislas Vigneau, Newcastle, 11 5. Luis Carballo, Chelsea, 11 5. Steve Pates, Sheffield Wednesday, 11 -- Neil Cairney is tied for 18th with 6 and both Andrea Rocca and Gianluca Bolis have 4 to put them in a tie for 37th. ASSISTS - 1. Shanon Andrea, Dover, 10 1. Steve Pates, Sheffield Wednesday, 10 3. Bartosz Salamon, Chelsea, 8 3. Bruno, Manchester City, 8 3. Said Adan, Sheffield Wednesday, 8 6. Neil Cairney, Dover, 7 SIX OTHERS TIED WITH 7 - Chiquinho is tied for 17th with 5 and Graham Allan, Said Henni, Gian Marco Fanfoni, Andrea Rocca, Gianluca Bolis and Renato Gaucho all have 3 which is tied for 45th. AVERAGE RATING - 1. Shanon Andrea, Dover, 7.78 2. Luis Carballo, Chelsea, 7.69 3. Ishak Belfodil, Man United, 7.62 4. Bartosz Salamon, Chelsea, 7.61 5. Eden Hazard, Man United, 7.58 6. Steve Pates, Sheffield Wednesday, 7.57 7. Neil Cairney, Dover, 7.55 8. Darijo Jukic, Sheffield Wednesday, 7.52 9. Chiquinho, Dover, 7.51 10. Miguel Sousa, Chelsea, 7.50 -- Renato Gaucho is T17th at 7.37, Gianluca Bolis is 25th at 7.25, Andrea Rocca is 35th at 7.24, Salim Loucif is 37th at 7.23, Arsene Bamba is 38th at 7.22 and Rayane Hamon is 44th with 7.20. Not bad! Pre-Game Press Conference -- I get "ridiculed" for saying that Gian Marco Fanfoni is a viable option as a starter in the absence of Andrea Rocca. A bunch of my key players and Fanfoni himself are now "worried". Great. Guess I put too much pressure on the kid…I may have to keep him out of the lineup against Everton in my next match. FA Ban Hamon -- The FA disciplinary committee considered my appeal but uphold the one game suspension for Rayane Hamon. He'll miss the Everton match. Next Up -- We face 11th placed Everton two short days after the Man City match at Crabble Athletic Ground.
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MY CURRENT FM19 DYNASTY - FM19: "Ludere causa Ludendi - To Play for the Sake of Playing" - Queen's Park FC (Scottish League Two) MY OLD FM11 DYNASTY - FM11: From Semi-Pro Minnows to the EPL - Dover Athletic FC My Personal Blog - Now on the Tee - Golf, Sports, Poker, Life 2006 GOLDEN SCRIBE AWARD WINNER FOR BEST 'OTHER SPORT' DYNASTY - EHM2005: Sharpening Swords in Buffalo |
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04-13-2014, 02:19 AM
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#324 |
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College Benchwarmer
Join Date: Dec 2002
Location: St. Catharines, Canada
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Wed. December 28, 2022
Barclays Premier League Dover (14-2-3, 44 points, 3rd) vs. Everton (7-4-8, 25 points, 11th) Crabble Athletic Ground, Dover, UK Betting Odds: Dover: 4-5 (Favourites) Draw: 2-1 Everton: 3-1 Past Meetings: 6W 1D 4L Everton are a mid-table constant and that's no different this year, as they are on a four game unbeaten streak in all competitions but against decidedly weak clubs (Newcastle, Derby, Middlesbrough and Stoke). Striker Chris Wood leads the club with 9 goals and wide midfielder Daniele Bentivoglio is second with 8. We have a very tired squad and I'm starting a whole slew of backups. Neil Cairney will play after missing the Man City game due to suspension and Salim Loucif will also start and captain the club, as usual. Claudio Contreras will also start but it's all backups other than that. Dover: 4-4-2 Control GK - M. Perez D - K. Zagos, D. Traore, C. Contreras, S. Loucif M - S. Henni, N. Cairney, S. Spall, G. Allan S - P. Moses, Z. Bardi Bench - M. Yilmaz, R. Gaucho, G. Fanfoni, G. Bolis, A. Bamba, W. Rooney, S. Andrea Everton are in a 4-4-2 diamond formation. Wood is up front with Erik Uhrik and Bentivoglio will be dangerous on left wing. Franco Di Capua is in goal for Everton. I tell the team to perform for their fans today. 4' - Everton have a free kick and send it into our area but we head it out. Shaun Spall has it and sends it up to Paul Moses at midfield and he simply sprints past the defender and he has a half-field breakaway. The defence can't catch him and he gets to the box and shoots low past Di Capua and it's in! Spectacular individual effort from young Moses and we have the dream start! DOVER GOAL 1-0 6' - Off the ensuing kick, Everton keep possession and work upfield. Uhrik lays off a pass to Bentivoglio and for some reason, Manuel Perez comes out after him, allowing the Everton midfielder to lob him and easily score into the vacant goal. TERRIBLE decision from Perez, his first glaring mistake since joining us and Everton have an instant reply. EVERTON GOAL 1-1 23' - There's a lot of action but no shots on net until now, as we work a throw in to Shaun Spall. He delivers a pass to Cairney and his blast is saved by a diving Di Capua but Said Henni is there for the rebound and he left foots it past a recovering Di Capua and into the net! Nice goal! DOVER GOAL 2-1 28' - Graham Allan makes a tackle and is hurt. I have to replace him with Gianluca Bolis. 39' - Off a free kick, Contreras sends it up to Paul Moses and he makes a defender look SILLY, dribbling right past him and in on goal but Di Capua stones him! 41' - Said Henni fouls a player and thankfully only gets a lecture. On the ensuing free kick, we take the ball away and start up field with an odd man rush in our favour. Moses sends it up to Henni and he spots Neil Cairney running in unmarked. The ball is sent to Cairney and just as he's about to shoot, Everton defender Tomas Kalas slides and knocks the ball away from him but into his own goal! We'll take it! DOVER GOAL 3-1 HALFTIME - Another fine half of football from a squad of mostly backups. We hold 56% of possession and a 14-5 (6-2 on target) shot advantage. I'm pleased! 50' - Another injury, this time to Daniel Traore and he also needs to come off. We bring in Mohamed Lamine Yilmaz. 52' - Brilliant pass from Moses up to Zoltan Bardi and he's in all alone but Di Capua makes the game saving stop! 55' - We earn a free kick from near centre half and Shaun Spall delivers a gorgeous cross deep into the area and it's Claudio Contreras, sliding at the ball and sending it past Di Capua for the stunning goal! Awesome. DOVER GOAL 4-1 61' - Cairney wins a ball at midfield and passes to Moses. He speeds past the defence and in on Di Capua, who makes the save. The rebound is there for Bardi and with a gaping net staring at him, he left foots it wide! Ahh! 67' - Di Capua with a great save in close on Gianluca Bolis. 69' - Di Capua sends a ball up field and Cairney heads it back over the defence. Bardi wins the race to the ball and is in on goal but Jack Rodwell tackles it away and again it's into the net. A SECOND own goal for Everton! DOVER GOAL 5-1 80' - Henni sets up Moses and his blast is again turned aside by Di Capua. 81' - I take out Claudio Contreras and bring in Renato Gaucho. Loucif moves to DC and Zagos moves to right fullback. We continue to ROLL! Dover 5 - 1 Everton Goals - Paul Moses (8.6), Said Henni (9.2), Tomas Kalas OG, Claudio Contreras (8.1), Jack Rodwell OG Assists - Shaun Spall 2 (8.4), Neil Cairney 2 (9.0), Said Henni Man of the Match - Said Henni Other Dover Notables - Salim Loucif (7.8), Kostas Zagos (7.5), Zoltan Bardi (7.1), Gianluca Bolis (7.0) Attendance - 18,948 We continue to score at an unprecedented rate and hold 55% of possession and a 26-9 (12-2 on target) shot advantage. Not a bad effort from our second stringers! Shaun Spall was excellent today, as was Henni. -- The injuries are starting to pile up. Daniel Traore suffered strained knee ligaments and will miss 5-6 weeks. Thankfully, Graham Allan, also injured in the match, suffered nothing serious and is fine. -- In other action, Chelsea knock off Liverpool 2-1 to maintain their lead at the top but Man United can only manage a draw at home against Reading. Also, Birmingham SHOCK Manchester City 1-0, Arsenal beat Burnley, Sheffield Wednesday win over Newcastle to move into fourth ahead of City and Sunderland hold off Derby. We move back ahead of United and into second place on the table. BARCLAYS PREMIER LEAGUE - STANDINGS (ALL TEAMS HAVE PLAYED 20 GAMES UNLESS NOTED) 1. Chelsea - 50 points 2. Dover - 47 points 3. Manchester United - 46 points 4. Sheffield Wednesday - 41 points ---------------------------------------------------- 5. Manchester City - 40 points 6. Arsenal - 39 points 7. Sunderland - 35 points ---------------------------------------------------- He Likes Me! HE REALLY, REALLY LIKES ME! -- In news that makes me incredibly happy and all warm and tingly inside, I notice that young on-loan striker Paul Moses now has me listed under his favoured personnel. Remember, last year he and I feuded all season long but we've been on great terms since his return from Manchester United and things are looking very good for a possible long-term partnership. I have the option of buying him at any point during the loan deal for an admittedly large fee but Moses is definitely going to be worth it. He's easily one of the top striker prospects in all of football and English to boot, which certainly helps with our continental registration needs. Change Season Expectations -- I'm offered the chance to change our season expectations in a meeting with my chairman and I tell him I think we can challenge for the title as opposed to our preseason plan of continental qualification. That adds £75,000 per week to my wage budget, which I can likely use to bump up my transfer kitty, something that will be welcomed when I decide to finally bite the bullet and buy Paul Moses from Manchester United through the loan buyout clause I negotiated. January Update -- We continue to be VERY busy, especially since we're still alive in the League Cup. We have five Premier League matches, with home ties against Sunderland, Sheffield Wednesday and Chelsea along with road matchups against Huddersfield and Tottenham. We play Wolves two more times this month, once in the FA Cup third round and also in the League Cup semi finals. If we beat them in the FA cup, we'll also have a 4th round tie at the end of the month. So that's EIGHT possible matches in January. -- We get word that GIan Marco Fanfoni, Shanon Andrea and reserve GK Louis Read trained well last month, along with U18 prospects Ben Patterson, Jay Doyle and Shane Holmes. Failing to impress are veteran Wayne Rooney and young fullback Carlos Guzman. Guzman will get a talking to... England's Best Eleven -- DR Kostas Zagos is named to the 2022 England Best Eleven at right fullback. A nice honour! 2022 Yearly Awards -- Hugo Cruz from Dortmund wins the European Striker of the Year award. -- Miguel Angel Lozano from Schalke wins European Goalkeeper of the Year. -- Sevilla's Octavio Hernandez wins European Midfielder of the Year, the FIFA Ballon d'Or AND World Player of the Year. -- Ivan Prado from Real Madrid wins European Defender of the Year. Premier League Monthly Awards -- Sunderland's Nicola Papaleo wins Player of the Month honours. No Shanon Andrea? -- Newcastle's Pierpaolo Bartoli wins Young Player of the Month and Claudio Contreras finishes second. -- Shanon Andrea finishes in third in the Premier League Goal of the Month for his "David Beckham" goal against Wolves. -- Sunderland manager Dennis Wise wins Manager of the Month honours and I finish third. What do I have to do to win this thing!? Haha. Transfer Window Re-Opens -- Ahh, the fun begins. Offers immediately filter in for Neil Cairney and Salim Loucif and all are rejected. Next Up -- We host Wolves once again, this time in FA Cup 3rd Round action at Crabble Athletic Ground.
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MY CURRENT FM19 DYNASTY - FM19: "Ludere causa Ludendi - To Play for the Sake of Playing" - Queen's Park FC (Scottish League Two) MY OLD FM11 DYNASTY - FM11: From Semi-Pro Minnows to the EPL - Dover Athletic FC My Personal Blog - Now on the Tee - Golf, Sports, Poker, Life 2006 GOLDEN SCRIBE AWARD WINNER FOR BEST 'OTHER SPORT' DYNASTY - EHM2005: Sharpening Swords in Buffalo |
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04-13-2014, 03:59 AM
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#325 |
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College Benchwarmer
Join Date: Dec 2002
Location: St. Catharines, Canada
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Sun. January 1, 2023
FA Cup - 3rd Round Dover (2nd in Premier League) vs. Wolves (15th in Premier League) Crabble Athletic Ground, Dover, UK Betting Odds: Dover: 1-3 (Favourites) Draw: 3-1 Wolves: 7-1 Past Meetings: 5W 2D 1L We just throttled Wolves 6-1 two weeks ago at home and face them again. We're even bigger favourites and I'm starting a pretty full strength side today. I'll rest Salim Loucif, Claudio Contreras and Gianluca Bolis today. Mohamed Lamine Yilmaz gets a rare start with Daniel Traore on the long-term injury lost. Dover: 4-4-2 Control GK - I. Wilke D - R. Gaucho, M. Yilmaz, R. Hamon, K. Zagos M - A. Bamba, N. Cairney, G. Fanfoni, G. Allan S - S. Andrea, Chiquinho Bench - C. Guzman, S. Reed, S. Spall, E. Harvey, G. Bolis, S. Henni, Z. Bardi Pretty similar look from Wolves today and it's Guy Luckett and Emanuele Testardi up front again, along with Wayne Hennessey in goal. Once again, I tell the team I expect a win today. 3' - A pretty sparse crowd today. I'm guessing only 12,000 or so. But we start quick once again, as Fanfoni moves the ball up to Graham Allan and the in-form winger finds Chiquinho on the edge of the area. He turns and fires a blast right at Hennessey but he can't corral the bullet and it's off his hands and into the net! Another great start! DOVER GOAL 1-0 7' - Wolves work possession in our territory and it's midfielder Darron Gibson lacing a rocket at goal but Wilke makes the splendid stop! 13' - Shanon Andrea embellishes on a potential foul and is called for diving. Deserved yellow card. 16' - Now it's Kostas Zagos with a takedown and he's given a yellow as well. 25' - WOW. Shanon Andrea dives AGAIN and he's given a second yellow card. HE'S GONE! We're down to ten men. Oh boy. We'll just go with a flat 4-4-1 for now. 28' - We have possession and Gian Marco Fanfoni, again showing poise beyond his years, sends a lovely touch pass into the area to Graham Allan and he rounds the keeper and deposits a left foot shot into the empty goal and we lead by two! DOVER GOAL 2-0 HALFTIME - We only hold 46% of possession but outshot them 9-5 (3-1 on target). A good half but we need to be careful with only 10 men on the pitch. I tell the team I'm pleased. I stay in a control mentality and the 4-4-1 formation. Wolves start the half in a 4-3-1-2 with an AMC. 46' - Wolves kick off but Renato Gaucho tackles a ball away and sends it up field to Chiquinho. He cuts in toward goal and shoots low to the far post and it curls IN! Chiquinho has two and we now lead comfortably! A dagger as we start the second half! DOVER GOAL 3-0 50' - Chiquinho is inspired today, taking a Bamba feed and drilling one at goal that Hennessey does well to stop. 56' - We are all over them despite being down to ten men. Allan and Cairney both get glorious chances but Hennessey makes a couple brilliant stops. 61' - In one of the worst defensive displays I've seen, Hennessey kicks the ball up field and Neil Cairney takes it off his chest. For some reason, the Wolves defence are all way up on the play and Cairney simply dribbles right through the middle from the centre half line and in on goal, shooting past Hennessey and IN! Astonishing goal by Cairney but equally bad defence by Wolves. They are no match even up a man on us. DOVER GOAL 4-0 64' - I start thinking ahead, taking out Cairney and Bamba and bringing in Emmerson Harvey and Said Henni. 67' - Harvey with a great pass up to Chiquinho and our striker, looking for the hat trick, speeds in on goal but Hennessey stops his hard blast. 78' - One final substitution, as we bring on little used Steve Reed and take out Renato Gaucho. Reed moves to right fullback and Zagos moves to the left side. 86' - Testardi steals the ball from Yilmaz in our area and shoots but Wilke is there for the fantastic stop. Good show boys! Dover 4 - 0 Wolves Goals - Chiquinho 2 (9.3), Graham Allan (8.9), Neil Cairney (8.1) Assists - Renato Gaucho (8.2), Graham Allan, Gian Marco Fanfoni (8.2) Man of the Match - Chiquinho Other Dover Notables - Ingo Wilke (7.4), Kostas Zagos (7.7), Rayane Hamon (7.6), Mohamed Lamine Yilmaz (7.5), Arsene Bamba (7.1) Attendance - 13,479 Wolves held 54% of overall possession with their man advantage but that was it, as we dominated the shots 20-9 (10-2 on target). We move on to the fourth round! -- We are given £69,000 for the victory. -- Shanon Andrea is suspended for one match for the double dive and two yellow cards and I fine him a week's wages for the display. He is VERY unhappy and maybe I shouldn't have done that to my leading scorer but after we go back and forth a bit, he finally backs off and admits he was in the wrong. Whew. January Board Confidence Update -- The board are very pleased with my overall leadership of the team. Our stature increase is the highlight and the departure of GK Youssouf Sylla, the negative. -- We lost £415,000 last month. Transfer Window Anguish -- Not good. Manchester United come calling for Said Henni, offering £15.5 million for him, which meets his minimum release clause so the offer is auto accepted. Henni is currently a "floater" player for us as he acclimates himself to English football. I could certainly live without him but I'd prefer to keep him here. I immediately offer him a new deal and also offer a new deal to Chiquinho - he's MUCH more important to our club and his minimum release clause of around £19 million needs to be increased before a bigger club comes calling for him. FA Cup - 4th Round Draw -- We will play the winner of a replay between Premier League side Sheffield Wednesday or Championship side Charlton in an away contest. Premier League Team of the Week -- We see FIVE of our players named to the team of the week, including Salim Loucif, Kostas Zagos, Said Henni, Neil Cairney and Paul Moses. Next Up -- We try to complete an undefeated five game home stand as we host Sunderland in Premier League action.
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MY CURRENT FM19 DYNASTY - FM19: "Ludere causa Ludendi - To Play for the Sake of Playing" - Queen's Park FC (Scottish League Two) MY OLD FM11 DYNASTY - FM11: From Semi-Pro Minnows to the EPL - Dover Athletic FC My Personal Blog - Now on the Tee - Golf, Sports, Poker, Life 2006 GOLDEN SCRIBE AWARD WINNER FOR BEST 'OTHER SPORT' DYNASTY - EHM2005: Sharpening Swords in Buffalo |
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04-13-2014, 01:13 PM
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#326 |
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College Benchwarmer
Join Date: Dec 2002
Location: St. Catharines, Canada
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Wed. January 4, 2023
Barclays Premier League Dover (15-2-3, 47 points, 2nd) vs. Sunderland (10-5-5, 35 points, 7th) Crabble Athletic Ground, Dover, UK Betting Odds: Dover: Evens (Favourites) Draw: 11-5 Sunderland: 11-5 Past Meetings: 4W 1D 4L Sunderland are on a great run of form right now and have moved all the way up to 7th on the table after going five games without a loss in the Premier League. Craig Flett continues to be their danger man up front with 10 goals in 22 matches and excellent midfielder Matt Barber has 6 goals in 23 appearances. We will greatly miss Shanon Andrea today, as he serves a one game suspension for his two yellow cards and subsequent sending off in our last match. Said Henni, currently considering contract offers from our club and Manchester United, will start up front with Chiquinho. Shaun Spall will play alongside Neil Cairney in midfield. Dover: 4-4-2 Control GK - I. Wilke D - R. Gaucho, C. Contreras, R. Hamon, S. Loucif M - A. Bamba, N. Cairney, S. Spall, G. Bolis S - S. Henni, Chiquinho Bench - M. Yilmaz, K. Zagos, G. Fanfoni, E. Harvey, G. Allan, Z. Bardi, P. Moses Sunderland line up in a flat 4-4-2 as well, with Flett and Lucas Alba up front, Barber in midfield and Sam Cowler in goal. Lets play well for the supporters! 1' - I don't even know what to say anymore. We have the opening kick and Said Henni dribbles immediately up field, sends a lovely ball to Chiquinho and from 25 yards, he strikes the ball with FURY and it's past Cowler and IN! That took all of 13 SECONDS!!! WOW! DOVER GOAL 1-0 2' - The last game we played against Sunderland was very physical and featured 10 yellows. We're off to a fine start, as Rayane Hamon tugs on Flett's jersey and gets an early yellow. 16' - Things calm down for a stretch until Henni sends another lovely touch to Chiquinho but his shot this time is weak and right at Cowler. Easy stop. 18' - A cleared cross is right on the foot of Cairney but his bullet from distance is again right at a well-positioned Cowler. 20' - Henni takes a poor clearance and streaks through the defence but Cowler makes a great save to keep Sunderland within a goal. 29' - Hamon is hurt on a challenge from Craig Flett and needs to come off. Wonderful. I bring in Kostas Zagos and move him to right fullback, bringing Salim Loucif into the middle. 32' - Said Henni gets another chance after some back and forth play but it's a weak left footed effort and Cowler makes the stop. 44' - On Sunderland's first real chance of the game, Alba feeds the lethal Craig Flett at the edge of the area and he takes one step before firing low past Wilke and it's in. Sunderland draw level late in the half. SUNDERLAND GOAL 1-1 HALFTIME - Weird half, as Sunderland somehow have a 52% possession edge but we outshot them 8-6 (6-1 on target). We thought it would be easy after the first minute goal but we need to get focused. I have the option to say "You're outplaying them everywhere" and my coach wants to go with that. Come on guys! 51' - Chiquinho with a glorious through ball to Henni but our in-demand striker hits the goal post! Ugh! 56' - Henni AGAIN is sent in nicely by Chiquinho but Cowler is there for the save. 63' - I take out Henni and bring in Paul Moses. 64' - Geez. Salim Loucif takes a man down JUST OUTSIDE the area and gets a yellow. I thought for sure that was a penalty. They do nothing with the free kick. 70' - I take out Shaun Spall and bring in Gian Marco Fanfoni. 80' - Sunderland have been controlling the play and are slowing things down in an attempt to get a result here. 81' - Great chance, as Chiquinho passes to Moses and he bursts into the area through the defence but Cowler alertly speeds out and grabs the ball just as Moses is about to shoot. 88' - Another great chance sees Moses send a shot to the far corner but the excellent Cowler dives full out to make the save. The rebound is to Bolis and he is tackled and the ball is about to go in the net but Cowler recovers just in time!!! 89' - I'm going to have a heart attack, as Bolis feeds Chiquinho and from way out, he rifles a shot off the crossbar! 90'+1 - Annnnd. It gets worse. We win a corner and Bamba's cross is headed toward goal by Contreras then headed again into the net by Paul Moses! But wait…a FOUL?!?! He didn't touch anyone?!!! This is ridiculous. No goal. They show a replay and even the announcers say it looks like a valid goal. TERRIBLE CALL. 90'+3 - Moses gets another chance and his rocket is saved again by Cowler, who has to be the man of the match today. We were robbed. Dover 1 - 1 Sunderland Goals - Chiquinho (7.3) Assists - Said Henni (6.7) Man of the Match - Lucas Alba (Sunderland ST - 7.5) Other Dover Notables - Salim Loucif (7.2), Claudio Contreras (7.2), Renato Gaucho (7.2) Attendance - 17,865 Possession was dead even but we outshot them by a wide margin, 20-13 (10-1). Alba is inexplicably the man of the match. I sympathize with the team in the room after the game. Tough draw. We deserved better. -- AANND. We are officially FUCKED. Rayane Hamon picks up the same injury as Andrea Rocca, sustaining a serious hip injury. He will miss about two months of action. Hamon is easily our best defender and we are now down to TWO central defenders and both are just KIDS in Claudio Contreras and Mohamed Lamine Yilmaz. Salim Loucif can also play DC in a pinch so we'll likely rely on him as well and we have a kid on the U18 squad who is a great prospect in Rwanda international Mwemere Mutesa -- Chiquinho's goal sets a new Dover record for fastest goal to start a game at only 13 seconds - the old record holder was Kofi Poyser back in January 2011 at 22 seconds! -- We do get some help around the league. Chelsea continue to roll, beating Newcastle but Wolves somehow manage a draw against United. Arsenal and Man City also win while Derby hold Sheffield Wednesday to a draw. BARCLAYS PREMIER LEAGUE - STANDINGS (ALL TEAMS HAVE PLAYED 21 GAMES UNLESS NOTED) 1. Chelsea - 53 points 2. Dover - 48 points 3. Manchester United - 47 points 4. Manchester City - 43 points ---------------------------------------------------- 5. Sheffield Wednesday - 42 points 6. Arsenal - 42 points 7. Sunderland - 36 points ---------------------------------------------------- Transfer Market -- I have a 27 year old Brazilian DC sign a contract with us on a free but he will need a work permit. Unfortunately, my scouts feel it won't be granted to us but there have been at least two instances where I was able to defy the odds in similar circumstances. We'll hope for the best - he's got a continental reputation and will give us some much needed cover in the middle of our defence while Rayane Hamon and Daniel Traore recover from their injuries. Transfer OUT -- Well, that didn't take long. New summer signing Said Henni rejects our contract offer and accepts the deal from Manchester United and he departs after just a few short months with our club in a £15,500,000 transfer deal, a number that matched his minimum release clause. Henni had 5 goals and 5 assists in 21 appearances (14 starts) after coming over from Anderlecht, the same club we purchased Chiquinho from. This is a tough loss but he wasn't a regular starter for us so we can take this money and use it to bring in a backup left midfielder while also guaranteeing that we'll be making an offer soon on Paul Moses just to fuck United over for stealing Henni from us! Major Contract Extension Announced -- We won't have the same thing happen to Chiquinho, as he accepts our contract extension offer. He gets a very modest bump in pay (£3K per week, now up to £84K/week) but we get an extra year on the deal (now expires at the end of 2027 season) AND increase the minimum release clause to £31.5 million. Next Up -- After five consecutive home matches, we head to the road to Huddersfield in Premier League play.
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MY CURRENT FM19 DYNASTY - FM19: "Ludere causa Ludendi - To Play for the Sake of Playing" - Queen's Park FC (Scottish League Two) MY OLD FM11 DYNASTY - FM11: From Semi-Pro Minnows to the EPL - Dover Athletic FC My Personal Blog - Now on the Tee - Golf, Sports, Poker, Life 2006 GOLDEN SCRIBE AWARD WINNER FOR BEST 'OTHER SPORT' DYNASTY - EHM2005: Sharpening Swords in Buffalo Last edited by NoSkillz : 04-13-2014 at 01:19 PM. |
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04-15-2014, 10:14 PM
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#327 |
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College Benchwarmer
Join Date: Dec 2002
Location: St. Catharines, Canada
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Sat. January 7, 2023
Barclays Premier League Huddersfield (5-6-10, 21 points, 16th) vs. Dover (15-3-3, 48 points, 2nd) The Galpharm Stadium, Huddersfield, UK Betting Odds: Huddersfield: 7-4 Draw: 11-5 Dover: 5-4 (Favourites) Past Meetings: 8W 0D 2L We've perhaps had more success against Huddersfield than any other Premier League club, winning eight of ten career matchups. They've been in the Premier League since the 2015/16 season but are just above the danger zone this year - that said, the bottom three teams are putrid this season and I'm guessing Huddersfield will survive. Veteran Nelson Oliveira has 11 goals in 29 games to lead the lug and 25 year old Kenyan international Musa Obiero, another striker, has nine in only 15 appearances. We will begin a run of matches without core defender Rayane Hamon, as he recovers from a hip injury that will likely keep him out until March. This means we'll be utilizing vice captain Salim Loucif in the middle as opposed to his normal right fullback position. He's not as adept in the middle but his speed will certainly help us there. This will also give English international Kostas Zagos a prolonged run in the first team - he's an excellent player and I'm less worried about him than I am about the 5' 10" Loucif doing battle against taller forwards. Shanon Andrea returns to the lineup after serving his one game suspension and Gian Marco Fanfoni will replace the ineffective Shaun Spall in the starting lineup at central midfield. We have a League Cup semifinal matchup against Wolves at home in three days but I'll be going with a lot of backups in that game, most likely. Dover: 4-4-2 Control GK - I. Wilke D - R. Gaucho, C. Contreras, S. Loucif, K. Zagos M - A. Bamba, N. Cairney, G. Fanfoni, G. Bolis S - S. Andrea, Chiquinho Bench - C. Guzman, M. Yilmaz, S. Spall, E. Harvey, G. Allan, Z. Bardi, P. Moses Nelson Oliveira and Paul Lumsden are up front in Huddersfield's flat 4-4-2. The dangerous Dennis Lotters is at midfield and Alex Smithies is in goal. I tell the team they can win today. 4' - INCREDIBLE. Claudio Contreras is hurt after a challenge from Paul Lumsden and needs treatment. He has the dreaded cross over his name but can stay in the game for now - we are already down two DCs and now this could be a third. I'm at a loss for words right now… 18' - Contreras gets banged up again. My God…I'm going to likely have to take him out at some point in this game. 29' - The first shot on net for either side in a seriously dull match devoid of highlights is off a corner and it's Renato Gaucho heading it towards goal and forcing Smithies into a diving stop at the goalline. 41' - We get two glorious chances with Shanon Andrea and Chiquinho both getting shots off but Smithies is there to make both the initial save and gobble up the rebound. 44' - They haven't even had a shot on goal but on their first chance in the area, Gianluca Bolis takes down a man and the referee points to the spot. PENALTY! Bolis gets a yellow card as midfielder Marino Pervan steps up to take the kick and he makes no mistake, freezing Ingo Wilke and Huddersfield lead. HUDDERSFIELD GOAL 0-1 HALFTIME - We are playing without any passion or flow. We hold 52% of possession and a huge 12-5 (3-1 on target) shot advantage but Bolis' mistake costs us. I tell the team I want to see much more from them in the second half. 54' - Off a failed corner, Neil Cairney gets a shot off from outside the area and Smithies makes the brilliant stop. 60' - Bolis with a desperation cross into the area that somehow gets through all the traffic and right to the foot of Shanon Andrea. With a gaping net to shoot at, he boots the ball RIGHT AT THE KEEPER who makes the reflex save. What is going on today? Simply put, we're not sharp AT ALL. 64' - Contreras, who is still hanging in there, gets a yellow card. 66' - Both Shanon Andrea and Gianluca Bolis have been TERRIBLE today so they are taken off. In their place come Paul Moses and Graham Allan. 69' - Chiquinho with a tackle and a third yellow for our team. 79' - Renato Gaucho went down a couple minutes ago and he's really banged up so I bring in Carlos Guzman in his place. We move to an Overload mentality. We need a goal. 88' - Paul Moses has the ball in the centre of the pitch and feeds a great ball up to Chiquinho. He cuts into the area and shoots but Smithies is there for the save. However, there is a big rebound and it's 18 year old Gian Marco Fanfoni booting it past Smithies and IN! Dramatic late equalizer!!! DOVER GOAL 1-1 We move back to a control mentality. 90' - Chiquinho, who my assistant tells me is playing "nervously", just shows it with a brutal giveaway at midfield, forcing Arsene Bamba into a tackle and a subsequent yellow. Not a great game but we'll take the point. Huddersfield 1 - 1 Dover Goals - Gian Marco Fanfoni (7.4) Assists - Chiquinho (6.9) Man of the Match - Gian Marco Fanfoni Other Dover Notables - Salim Loucif (7.3), Renato Gaucho (7.1), Neil Cairney (7.0), Arsene Bamba (7.0), Gianluca Bolis (5.4) Attendance - 12,558 Huddersfield played well that half but were content to sit back and protect their lead. They held 52% of possession but we outshot them 20-10 (7-1 on target). Terrible game from Bolis. -- Thankfully, Claudio Contreras will only miss a few days of training with a facial injury. -- League leaders Chelsea continue to roll after a 4-0 win over Middlesbrough. Man United are upset by mid-table Liverpool 3-1 at Old Trafford (!!) while Man City claw back into the race with a 3-0 win over Spurs. Sheffield Wednesday and Arsenal both won and Sunderland draw, with all three teams maintaining their positions on the table. BARCLAYS PREMIER LEAGUE - STANDINGS (ALL TEAMS HAVE PLAYED 22 GAMES UNLESS NOTED) 1. Chelsea - 56 points 2. Dover - 49 points 3. Manchester United - 47 points 4. Manchester City - 46 points ---------------------------------------------------- 5. Sheffield Wednesday - 45 points 6. Arsenal - 45 points 7. Sunderland - 37 points ---------------------------------------------------- Dover U18 Update -- The U18s destroy Kingstonian 7-0 behind two goals from both David Smith and Eddie Robinson. Lyubomir Kunchev, Sebastien Kraft and Pete Smith notch singles. Next Up -- We play Wolverhampton for the third time in a month, this time in the first leg of the League Cup semifinals at Crabble Athletic Ground.
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MY CURRENT FM19 DYNASTY - FM19: "Ludere causa Ludendi - To Play for the Sake of Playing" - Queen's Park FC (Scottish League Two) MY OLD FM11 DYNASTY - FM11: From Semi-Pro Minnows to the EPL - Dover Athletic FC My Personal Blog - Now on the Tee - Golf, Sports, Poker, Life 2006 GOLDEN SCRIBE AWARD WINNER FOR BEST 'OTHER SPORT' DYNASTY - EHM2005: Sharpening Swords in Buffalo |
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04-16-2014, 12:03 AM
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#328 |
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College Benchwarmer
Join Date: Dec 2002
Location: St. Catharines, Canada
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Tue. January 10, 2023
League Cup - Semi Final First Leg Dover (2nd in Premier League) vs. Wolves (15th in Premier League) Crabble Athletic Ground, Dover, UK Betting Odds: Dover: 4-6 (Favourites) Draw: 9-4 Wolves: 7-2 Past Meetings: 6W 2D 1L We've played Wolves twice in our last six games and this will be three in seven games. We've won by a combined score of 10-1 so far so and we beat them with ten men in our last contest by a 4-0 scoreline. That said, we are missing many key players today, either due to injury or squad rotation. We are going with a one striker formation and our 4-2-3-1 with Paul Moses alone up front, with Zoltan Bardi in behind at AMC. Graham Allan will play left wing for the first time this year. Carlos Guzman will start at left fullback and Mohamed Lamine Yilmaz is starting on defence. Manuel Perez will be in goal. DC Mwemere Mutesa is called up for the first time from the U18 and along with fellow youngster Lyubomir Kunchev will be on the bench today. Dover: 4-4-2 DM (4-2-3-1) Control GK - M. Perez D - C. Guzman, M. Yilmaz, S. Loucif, K. Zagos M - N. Cairney, G. Fanfoni AM - G. Allan, Z. Bardi, G. Bolis S - P. Moses Bench - R. Gaucho, M. Mutesa, S. Spall, E. Harvey, A. Bamba, L. Kunchev, Chiquinho Wolves are starting a full lineup today and it's Guy Luckett and Emanuele Testardi up front, as usual, with Wayne Hennessey in goal. I tell the team to perform well for the fans and pull aside Bolis to tell him I expect better from him today. It's snowing today and it's a very frosty field. 1' - Paul Moses turns and fires off a throw in and hits the goal post at 34 seconds. 5' - Off a Graham Allan free kick, the ball squirt back to Allan and he sends it in the area to Salim Loucif. Our vice captain turns and fires and it's off a Wolves defender and IN!!! That's an own goal, although I really think Loucif should get credit but we'll take the early strike! DOVER GOAL 1-0 7' - Testardi somehow gets way behind our defence and he's onside. He's in all alone and shoots WIDE. We're very lucky there. 10' - We work a counter and Bardi sends it up to Moses at midfield. He simply sprints through the defence and is on a breakaway but his hard shot is stopped by Hennessey. 11' - Zagos loses the ball and takes down his opponent, earning a yellow card. 20' - We work another counter and again it's Bardi up to Moses. He has too much speed and he gets into the area and shoots. Hennessey again makes the save and the rebound pops out to Neil Cairney but his follow up shot is WIDE. Ugh. 26' - Hennessey is on today, as he makes a nice save off a Bolis shot. 27' - Guy Luckett weaves down the field and gets off a rocket that hits the post and deflects out of play. Lots of skill there and again we're fortunate. 37' - Wolves with a free kick from distance and it's crossed into the area. Zoltan Bardi is called for a handball and that is a PENALTY! Evgeni Maltsev steps up to take the kick and he shoots low to the right but Manuel Perez guesses right and MAKES THE SAVE!!! Wow!! Off the ensuing throw, Paul Moses is able to once again get past his marker and run in on goal but Hennessey has his number tonight and makes the save. Incredible sequence! HALFTIME - Well, we're dominating the proceedings but I'm uneasy…very uneasy with only a one goal advantage. We hold 59% of possession and a 15-6 (8-2 on target) shot advantage. I decide to encourage the team and pull Bolis, ineffective again today (Prove a point!) and Moses (I have faith). 48' - Salim Loucif with a brutal tackle on Testardi just outside our area and he gets a deserved yellow card. 51' - Bolis streaks down the right flank on a counter attack and crosses into the area and there is Graham Allan, working inside from the left wing to tap it home and we are ahead by two! Big goal. DOVER GOAL 2-0 65' - We're starting to dominate play and we get another great chance as Allan cuts inside again into the area before getting taken down. That's a PENALTY! Up steps the very reliable Neil Cairney, perfect on the year and his shot is to the left side, strange for him but it fools Hennessey and it's IN!!! Fantastic! DOVER GOAL 3-0 68' - With a three goal lead, we can afford to think ahead to the weekend. Out come Neil Cairney and Salim Loucif and in come Emmerson Harvey and 18 year old Mwemere Mutesa for his first senior team appearance! 70' - And our young defence get stung big time, as Carlos Guzman just watches defender Nathaniel Clyne dribble right past him, drawing Mohamed Lamine Yilmaz out of position. Clyne crosses into substitute striker Stefano Zeno and he rifles a shot past Perez into the top corner and Wolves have a key away goal. WOLVES GOAL 3-1 72' - Oh boy our defence is completely overmatched right now with these youngsters. Zeno gets another chance inside the area and shoots wide. 77' - Oh my GOD. Guy Luckett gets into the area and for some reason, Perez comes out to challenge, even though young Mutesa is on him. Perez misses the ball and despite Mutesa attempting to tackle him, Luckett is able to slot the ball into the vacant goal and Wolves have clawed back to within one. Oh FUCK. WOLVES GOAL 3-2 No more fucking around. I bring in Renato Gaucho and take out Guzman to hopefully stabilize our defence for the last ten minutes. 87' - Fanfoni embellishes on a tackle in the Wolves area and is given a yellow card. We hold on but those two away goals could be key for Wolves in the second leg. Dover 3 - 2 Wolves Goals - Nathaniel Clyne OG, Graham Allan (8.4), Neil Cairney PEN (7.7) Assists - Salim Loucif (7.1), Gianluca Bolis (6.9), Graham Allan Man of the Match - Graham Allan Other Dover Notables - Mwemere Mutesa (5.4) Attendance - 22,947 We end up holding 55% of possession and outshoot them 23-14 (11-5) but those two late goals could really come back to haunt us in the second leg. Poor Mutesa was obviously in over his head in his first game and got blamed for the second Wolves goal, although in reality it was Perez being out of position that cost us there. -- We set a new attendance record, missing our first ever sell out at our expanded 23,000 seat stadium by less than a hundred! -- Arsenal destroy Colchester 5-1 in the other semi final so it looks like we'll be facing the Gunners should we advance. Midweek Premier League Action -- A few midweek games take place, with Man United beating Aston Villa 3-2 the most notable. United provisionally move ahead of us into second place but we have a game in hand. FA Cup - 4th Round -- Sheffield Wednesday win a replay and will face us in the fourth round of the competition at Hillsborough at the end of the month. A tough draw for us. Next Up -- Speaking of Sheffield Wednesday, we face them in a Premier League home match this weekend.
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MY CURRENT FM19 DYNASTY - FM19: "Ludere causa Ludendi - To Play for the Sake of Playing" - Queen's Park FC (Scottish League Two) MY OLD FM11 DYNASTY - FM11: From Semi-Pro Minnows to the EPL - Dover Athletic FC My Personal Blog - Now on the Tee - Golf, Sports, Poker, Life 2006 GOLDEN SCRIBE AWARD WINNER FOR BEST 'OTHER SPORT' DYNASTY - EHM2005: Sharpening Swords in Buffalo |
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04-16-2014, 02:24 AM
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#329 |
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College Benchwarmer
Join Date: Dec 2002
Location: St. Catharines, Canada
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Sat. January 14, 2023
Barclays Premier League Dover (15-4-3, 49 points, 3rd) vs. Sheffield Wednesday (13-6-3, 45 points, 5th) Crabble Athletic Ground, Dover, UK Betting Odds: Dover: 4-5 (Favourites) Draw: 2-1 Sheffield Wednesday: 3-1 Past Meetings: 5W 2D 4L Sheffield Wednesday are having a wonderful season and are challenging for continental play next season. Striker Steve Pates is a sensational player and has 16 goals in 24 games. Strike partner Darijo Jukic has 12 goals and their third leading scorer is our very own Kostas Kalfas with 5 - Kalfas is ineligible to play against us today. We'll start as strong a lineup as possible today - Claudio Contreras is still recovering from his facial injury and will be on the bench today. Mohamed Lamine Yilmaz will get his second consecutive start at DC. Gian Marco Fanfoni continues to play in the midfield. Back to a flat 4-4-2 today. Dover: 4-4-2 Control GK - M. Perez D - R. Gaucho, M. Yilmaz, S. Loucif, K. Zagos M - A. Bamba, N. Cairney, G. Fanfoni, G. Bolis S - S. Andrea, Chiquinho Bench - S. Reed, C. Contreras, C. Guzman, S. Spall, E. Harvey, G. Allan, Z. Bardi Sheffield are in a 4-4-2 diamond with Pates and Jukic up front and Erwin Mulder in goal. I tell the lads I want a better performance today in front of our home fans. It's snowing today and it's a very frosty field. 1' - Wilke is called upon early to make a save on a shot that looked blatantly offsides. 16' - After such a wonderful season last year, Gianluca Bolis continues to struggle immensely as he misses a wide open net by shooting high off a deflection. 19' - Gian Marco Fanfoni with a shot from just outside the area and his piledriver is turned aside by Mulder. 23' - We're all over them and Chiquinho has two great opportunities in succession but shoots wide both times. 27' - We continue to pour it on and move the ball beautifully over to Bamba down the left. He cuts into the area and is taken down viciously by a Sheffield defender. Bamba is hurt and needs to come off as the referee points to the spot! PENALTY! It's Neil Cairney in his familiar position and he goes left again and SCORES AGAIN! Cairney continues to be perfect on penalties this year and we have a much deserved lead! DOVER GOAL 1-0 35' - We have possession again at midfield and Andrea lays it off to Chiquinho. It isn't a dangerous looking rush but Chiquinho dribbles in and shoots from about five yards outside the area. It's a weak shot but Mulder completely whiffs on the save and the ball goes off the left post and IN. Wild. DOVER GOAL 2-0 39' - More great passing by our team and Andrea gets a shot off but it's right at Mulder and he makes the stop. 45'+3 - Chiquinho with a blast off the cross bar as time expires in the half! HALFTIME - Utter domination! We hold 54% of possession and a 17-2 (4-1 on target) shot advantage. I want more shots on net but I'm pleased. 58' - Not much going on until we win a free kick just on the right outer edge of the area. Cairney quickly drops the ball and kicks it back to Gian Marco Fanfoni and the youngster delivers a ROCKET into the far corner of the net! SENSATIONAL! This kid is quite something! DOVER GOAL 3-0 64' - Arsene Bamba has been banged up a couple of times today so taking no chances, I take him out and bring in Graham Allan. 69' - We have possession at midfield and a few crisp passes later, it's the tremendous Fanfoni sending one up to Chiquinho. He has two defenders all over him and Mulder charges out but the Belgian striker chips a left footed shot past him and it slowly rolls into the net. Chiquinho has two and we're up four!! DOVER GOAL 4-0 71' - Sheffield are obviously frustrated and midfielder Paul Herd takes it out on Renato Gaucho, going in with studs up on a challenge and our defender is down and hurt. Herd is given a STRAIGHT RED CARD for the offense and Sheffield are down to ten men. 72' - I take out Renato Gaucho and bring in Steve Reed. Reed moves to right fullback and Kostas Zagos switches to the left side. 76' - I take out the fantastic Gian Marco Fanfoni and bring in Shaun Spall. "Standing ovation for Fanfoni" says the announcer! 78' - Sheffield have their best chance of the game with only ten men, as they slowly move up field and it's substitute striker Habergham getting off a shot that Wilke dives and saves. 85' - We have a free kick near midfield and we send everyone up. Shaun Spall takes it and he delivers a ball right to the head of Chiquinho and our two goal man heads it into the far corner of the net and he has his HAT TRICK! Gorgeous!!! DOVER GOAL 5-0 87' - We continue to press on and it's Spall again, feeding Shanon Andrea just outside the area and he hits a VICIOUS shot on the half volley and it's in the top corner past Mulder! SIX! DOVER GOAL 6-0 90'+3 - Steve Pates finally gets a shot on goal but it's right at Wilke. Boy, have we neutralized their top man today and that's with Salim Loucif and Mohamed Lamine Yilmaz at DC! "Dover were simply brilliant here", says the announcer! Dover 6 - 0 Sheffield Wednesday Goals - Chiquinho 3 (9.6), Neil Cairney PEN (9.1), Gian Marco Fanfoni (9.1), Shanon Andrea (9.3) Assists - Shaun Spall 2 (7.4), Gian Marco Fanfoni, Neil Cairney, Arsene Bamba (7.3), Shanon Andrea Man of the Match - Chiquinho Other Dover Notables - Ingo Wilke (7.8), Kostas Zagos (8.0), Salim Loucif (8.0), Mohamed Lamine Yilmaz (8.0), Renato Gaucho (7.5), Gianluca Bolis (7.7) Attendance - 17,327 One of our most comprehensive wins of the year! 52% of possession and a crazy 29-4 (10-3 on target) shot advantage. Our whole starting lineup had ratings over 7.3. Superb. Our midfield tandem of Cairney and Fanfoni were incredible and I'm starting to give consideration to bringing Fanfoni here permanently considering his performances at only 18 years of age. Chiquinho is now up to 21 goals on the year by the way, as we continue to score by the bushel load! -- Chelsea, Man City and Liverpool all win while Arsenal draw against Man United 1-1. We are now a point ahead of United and also have a game in hand on them. BARCLAYS PREMIER LEAGUE - STANDINGS (ALL TEAMS HAVE PLAYED 23 GAMES UNLESS NOTED) 1. Chelsea - 59 points 2. Dover - 52 points 3. Manchester United - 51 points (24 games) 4. Manchester City - 49 points ---------------------------------------------------- 5. Arsenal - 46 points 6. Sheffield Wednesday - 45 points 7. Sunderland - 37 points ---------------------------------------------------- Bonus Clauses -- We receive £50,000 from Bolton, as Samir Nasri plays in his tenth game for their club, activating a clause I set in our transfer deal. -- Chiquinho gets a goal bonus of £850,000 for scoring his 15th league goal of the year. Worth every penny - as I said, he's up to 21 goals overall on the year now. Cairney Praise -- Dover icon Ben Hunt praises Neil Cairney in the press and why not? He has FINALLY blossomed and it's incredible to see how great he's become. How about these stats - last year, Cairney had 5 goals and 7 assists in 48 games. This year? How about 11 GOALS and 14 ASSISTS in only 29 games!!! SUPERB!!! Moses Signs New Extension -- Paul Moses just signed a contract extension with Manchester United. Not sure how that will effect things when I make my bid for him - I have a buyout clause in my loan agreement that I will be activating closer to the end of the season. It likely just meant that his wage request will be higher. -- Gian Marco Fanfoni REJECTS a contract extension from Inter. I have a buyout clause for him as well but I can't afford both him AND Moses…at least not yet. Dover U18 Update -- The U18s are starting to roll, defeating Wycombe 8-0 behind four goals from David Smith. Ben Patterson, Mwemere Mutesa, Sean Woolley and Jay Doyle notch singles. International Duty -- Salim Loucif and Arsene Bamba are called up by Algeria and Ivory Coast respectively for African Nations qualifying. -- On loan striker Orlando Scolari gets called up by the Argentina U20s for the South American U20 Championship. Premier League Team of the Week -- Five of our players (!!) are named to the team of the week: Salim Loucif, Neil Cairney, Gian Marco Fanfoni, Chiquinho and Shanon Andrea. Transfer IN -- The loss of Said Henni to Manchester United forced my hand, as we desperately need some capable cover at left midfield. So please welcome Helder Cruz to Dover!  Cruz comes over in a £2.5 million deal with Sporting CP in Portugal, where he scored 9 goals and added 10 assists in 33 career matches with the club, pretty decent numbers. He's a 2.5/3.0 player and has the great speed I desire at wide midfield (16 accel/17 pace), along with great crossing ability, excellent technique and a good work rate. We won't play him much until he learns the English language but I'm guessing he'll get about five starts or so before the season's out, mostly in Cup ties. Next Up -- We head on the road to face "oil-rich" disappointments Tottenham.
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MY CURRENT FM19 DYNASTY - FM19: "Ludere causa Ludendi - To Play for the Sake of Playing" - Queen's Park FC (Scottish League Two) MY OLD FM11 DYNASTY - FM11: From Semi-Pro Minnows to the EPL - Dover Athletic FC My Personal Blog - Now on the Tee - Golf, Sports, Poker, Life 2006 GOLDEN SCRIBE AWARD WINNER FOR BEST 'OTHER SPORT' DYNASTY - EHM2005: Sharpening Swords in Buffalo Last edited by NoSkillz : 04-16-2014 at 02:27 AM. |
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04-16-2014, 12:12 PM
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#330 |
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Pro Starter
Join Date: Jan 2001
Location: Rennes, France
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Excellent read as always ! A tiny remark on injuries happening during the game. Would be nice if you could "bolden" them too (or at least make them a tad more visible).
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04-17-2014, 08:50 AM
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#331 | |
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College Benchwarmer
Join Date: Dec 2002
Location: St. Catharines, Canada
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Quote:
Thanks Alf! I can easily do that. Thanks for reading.
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MY CURRENT FM19 DYNASTY - FM19: "Ludere causa Ludendi - To Play for the Sake of Playing" - Queen's Park FC (Scottish League Two) MY OLD FM11 DYNASTY - FM11: From Semi-Pro Minnows to the EPL - Dover Athletic FC My Personal Blog - Now on the Tee - Golf, Sports, Poker, Life 2006 GOLDEN SCRIBE AWARD WINNER FOR BEST 'OTHER SPORT' DYNASTY - EHM2005: Sharpening Swords in Buffalo |
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04-17-2014, 10:21 PM
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#332 |
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College Benchwarmer
Join Date: Dec 2002
Location: St. Catharines, Canada
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Wed. January 18, 2023
Barclays Premier League Tottenham (8-7-8, 31 points, 11th) vs. Dover (16-4-3, 52 points, 2nd) White Hart Lane, London, UK Betting Odds: Tottenham: 5-4 (Favourites) Draw: 11-5 Dover: 7-4 Past Meetings: 5W 3D 2L The Spurs are struggling immensely this year and that is likely causing a lot of stress in London, as their new oil tycoon owner has spent over £87 MILLION on new players to only sit 11th on the table. They just picked up midfielder Junior from Man City for £23 million in the past week and he could make his debut today. This is an aging club desperate for goal scoring and for a club used to high flying football, it's an absolute SHOCK to see that their leading scorer, striker Daniel Pacheco, has only FIVE goals. Another big offseason signing was former Dover striker Gerardo Escobar and he has four goals in 18 games. Knowing that he usually struggles when attention is placed on him, I singled out Escobar in my pre-match presser and he's evidently feeling pressure. We beat Spurs 3-0 at home earlier this year and I figure they'll be very focused today. Claudio Contreras will make his return today, otherwise we'll be going with the same lineup from Sunday. We'll go with a counter attacking mentality today, being underdogs on the road. Dover: 4-4-2 Counter GK - I. Wilke D - R. Gaucho, C. Contreras, S. Loucif, K. Zagos M - A. Bamba, N. Cairney, G. Fanfoni, G. Bolis S - S. Andrea, Chiquinho Bench - S. Reed, M. Yilmaz, S. Spall, E. Harvey, G. Allan, Z. Bardi, P. Moses Pacheco is on the bench and it's Escobar up front with Bojan. Gareth Bale is on left wing in their 4-4-2 and Matthieu Dreyer is in goal. Newcomer Junior, a £23 million signing, isn't in the lineup at all. I tell the team to go out there and perform well for the travelling supporters and pull aside the returning Contreras, who for some reason has poor morale, to tell him I have faith in him. 7' - Chiquinho with a routine shot from distance but Dreyer has trouble with it and it's over the net for a corner. Bamba's cross is headed toward goal by Contreras and it hits the cross bar! 24' - Claudio Contreras is banged up again and being tended to on the sidelines so we're temporarily at ten men. Spurs use that to their advantage as Bojan gets loose in the area but his shot is stopped nicely by Ingo Wilke. 27' - Cairney with a careless tackle and a yellow card. 34' - Andrea with a great run up field and he's in the area but shoots HIGH over the net. We're playing a bit "slow" today and Spurs are pressing quite a bit, giving us very little space. 39' - We're picking it up a bit here and it's Andrea again bursting past the defence and in on goal but Dreyer is there for the save. 42' - Escobar with a weak shot right at Wilke. HALFTIME - Dull half but we're looking like the team more likely to score. We hold 59% of possession and an 11-6 (2-4 on target) shot advantage. I reiterate that I want to see some entertaining football for our supporters. I may end up moving to a control mentality but for now, I'll stick with a counter attacking system. 46' - Chiquinho steals the ball at midfield and works a great one-two with Shanon Andrea and Chiquinho is in all alone…his shot is SAVED by a diving Dreyer! What a chance!! 56' - Another break sees Andrea get away and again it's Dreyer making a HUGE stop. We're pouring on pressure right now. 61' - I bring in Shaun Spall and take out GIan Marco Fanfoni. 67' - Andrea has been incredibly dangerous all game but just can't beat Dreyer. Again, he lets loose with a rocket from inside the area and the Spurs keeper is up to the task. 72' - I take out Gianluca Bolis and bring in Graham Allan. I also decide to switch to a control mentality. I want a goal here and we are dominating these guys. 82' - Somehow, Escobar gets behind our defence and he's in the area with a clean shot at goal but it's OFF THE POST! They get another chance and Wilke recovers and makes the stop! 89' - Shaun Spall with a yellow card. 90'+1 - Back to a counter attack mentality for the four minutes of injury time. 90'+4 - Loucif with a yellow card. We are the better team but they hang on for a scoreless draw. Tottenham 0 - 0 Dover Goals - Assists - Man of the Match - Renato Gaucho (7.4) Other Dover Notables - Ingo Wilke (7.3), Kostas Zagos (7.1), Salim Loucif (7.1), Claudio Contreras (7.0), Gian Marco Fanfoni (7.0), Neil Cairney (7.0), Chiquinho (5.9) Attendance - 34,571 We held 56% of overall possession and a 23-12 (9-6 on target) shot advantage. Dreyer was excellent for them. I'm not sure why Chiquinho got such a poor rating but he certainly wasn't super active today. We are now undefeated in our last 12 league games and in our last 17 games across all competitions. Wow! -- We get help from Arsenal, as they defeat Chelsea at Zola Stadium 2-1, helping us gain a point on first place. Man City cruise 5-0 over Wolves and Sunderland beat Stoke. City are now within a point of us on the table and we have a HUGE match in three days against the leaders Chelsea which could define our entire season. BARCLAYS PREMIER LEAGUE - STANDINGS (ALL TEAMS HAVE PLAYED 24 GAMES UNLESS NOTED) 1. Chelsea - 59 points 2. Dover - 53 points 3. Manchester City - 52 points 4. Manchester United - 51 points ---------------------------------------------------- 5. Arsenal - 49 points 6. Sheffield Wednesday - 45 points 7. Sunderland - 40 points ---------------------------------------------------- Transfer IN --We complete a modest £1.3 million deal to bring 17 year old French left midfielder Felix Hernandez to Dover!  Hernandez comes over from Reading and the youngster is a 1.0/3.0 player as a 17 year old. This is obviously a depth move for the future but I like his determination and perhaps down the road he can turn into a useable player. For now, he'll move to our U18 club and work on his skills. Bonus Clause Money IN -- We receive £250,000 in bonus money from our Cameron Murray transfer to Burnley, as he plays in his 20th league game to activate the clause put into his deal. Next Up -- We have the match of the season so far, a head-to-head battle with first placed Chelsea at our stadium.
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MY CURRENT FM19 DYNASTY - FM19: "Ludere causa Ludendi - To Play for the Sake of Playing" - Queen's Park FC (Scottish League Two) MY OLD FM11 DYNASTY - FM11: From Semi-Pro Minnows to the EPL - Dover Athletic FC My Personal Blog - Now on the Tee - Golf, Sports, Poker, Life 2006 GOLDEN SCRIBE AWARD WINNER FOR BEST 'OTHER SPORT' DYNASTY - EHM2005: Sharpening Swords in Buffalo |
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04-18-2014, 12:18 AM
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#333 |
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College Benchwarmer
Join Date: Dec 2002
Location: St. Catharines, Canada
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Sat. January 21, 2023
Barclays Premier League Dover (16-5-3, 53 points, 2nd) vs. Chelsea (19-2-3, 59 points, 1st) Crabble Athletic Ground, Dover, UK Betting Odds: Dover: 13-8 Draw: 11-5 Chelsea: 6-4 Past Meetings: 1W 2D 7L Chelsea didn't qualify for Europe after a sixth place finish on last year's table and that has allowed them to concentrate fully on the league. They are certainly taking advantage, sitting with a comfortable, for now, six point lead through 24 games. We are fortunate today, as their leading goal scorer, winger Luis Carballo, is injured and won't be playing today. Romelu Lukaku has ten goals in 17 matches and will be their danger man today. Their big offseason signing was winger Tony Nijhuis and he's got 5 goals in 19 appearances so far. One other to watch for is right winger Miguel Sousa. Chelsea beat us 1-0 earlier in the year so we're looking for some retribution today - a win gives us a great chance to contend for the Premier League title. A loss and we'll likely have to be content fighting for Champions League qualification. Arsene Bamba has left the team to be with his national team so we'll have to play Graham Allan on the left side today. That means Helder Cruz, our new signing, will dress for the first time and be ready on the bench. We're at home so I'll be going with a 4-4-2 control mentality - my advanced scout says Chelsea plays well against the flat 4-4-2 but at home, I'm content to go with my normal formation and make them stop me. Dover: 4-4-2 Control GK - I. Wilke D - R. Gaucho, C. Contreras, S. Loucif, K. Zagos M - G. Allan, N. Cairney, G. Fanfoni, G. Bolis S - S. Andrea, Chiquinho Bench - S. Reed, M. Yilmaz, S. Spall, E. Harvey, H. Cruz, Z. Bardi, P. Moses Chelsea are in a 4-4-2 DM (4-2-3-1) with Lukaku up front and Rafael Romo in goal. Sousa is on right wing - big signing Tony Nihuis isn't even dressed for some reason. I tell the team to do it for the fans. 1' - Chelsea kick off but we steal possession in our end and start working back up field. Neil Cairney sends one over the Chelsea defence and Chiquinho latches onto it. He's in the clear, reaches the penalty area and shoots low to the near side, past Romo and IN!!! "A nightmare start for Chelsea", says the announcer. BEAUTY!!! DOVER GOAL 1-0 4' - Chelsea have the ball in our area and off a scramble, a shot is directed at goal but Ingo Wilke is there for the key stop. 7' - Kostas Zagos with a takedown and he's given a yellow card. 18' - Salim Loucif botches a header and Chelsea are in the clear with Lukaku. He's in the area and Claudio Contreras tackles the ball away and he's called for a foul. PENALTY?! We surround the referee and he gives out a RED CARD to Contreras! WHAT?!?!?! Our players are FURIOUS as midfielder Andrea Sasso steps up to take the kick. He goes left and Wilke guesses right and MAKES THE BLOODY SAVE!!! WOW!!! For now, we are in a 3-4-2 formation with three DCs. 19' - We hit Chelsea on the break after another foul and it's Gianluca Bolis streaking down the right. He crosses to the far post and there is Graham Allan, breaking in and hitting a shot with his weaker left foot and it's past Romo and IN! Shocking goal with only ten men and we're up TWO! DOVER GOAL 2-0 38' - We're faring okay so far with only three defenders and we get another chance, as Chiquinho feeds Andrea and his low shot is turned aside by Romo. 45' - Chelsea get off a shot from the outer edge of the area and it's off the goal post. HALFTIME - Chelsea hold a 54% possession edge and outshoot us 12-10 (5-5 on target). We're doing fine but we need to be careful. I move to a counter attack but maintain my 3 DC backline…for now. I tell the team I'm pleased, especially with only ten men. Chelsea are now in a flat 4-4-2. 53' - The lack of a fullback hurts us, as Miguel Sousa gets loose down the right and crosses into the area. It's met by a sliding Romelu Lukaku and it's past Wilke and in. Damnit. CHELSEA GOAL 2-1 60' - We take out Gianluca Bolis and bring in Mohamed Lamine Yilmaz. He drops into defence as we switch to a 4-3-2 formation with 3 MCs. 64' - We show some nice playmaking off a throw in and the ball comes to the dangerous Chiquinho and his rocket is stopped by Romo. 68' - Another error by Loucif, as he tries to clear and it hits a Chelsea player and deflects right to Lukaku. It's a two-on-zero and Lukaku lays the ball off to Nassim Ben Khalifa and he has an empty net to shoot at and scores. Chelsea pulls level and we're coming undone with ten men. CHELSEA GOAL 2-2 Just a disaster. We move to a 4-4-1 formation and I revert back to a control mentality despite being at ten men. I also take out Shanon Andrea and bring in Helder Cruz to play left midfield in his first Dover appearance. 81' - We need some speed up front so I bring in Paul Moses and take out Chiquinho. 82' - Moses gets a great chance off an Allan pass and tries to lob Romo, who is out to challenge but the ball is just over the net! 90'+1 - Wow. Chelsea with a free kick from outside the area and Lukaku's shot deflects off one of our guys, it's past Wilke but hits the crossbar! So lucky... 90'+3 - We gain possession and send a long pass out to Moses at midfield. There are two defenders back but Moses, completely fresh since he just came on, simply BURSTS past them and he's got a partial break. Romo comes out to challenge and Moses shoots from the outer edge of the area and it's past Romo AND IN THE NET!!! Chelsea, for some reason, appeal for an offsides call (huh?) but to no avail. WOWOWOWOW!!! DOVER GOAL 3-2 Chelsea get one more VERY dangerous rush and a cross into the box off the ensuing kick but we clear behind the net for a corner then head the ball to safety shortly thereafter, sealing the crazy win. HOLY MOSES! Dover 3 - 2 Chelsea Goals - Chiquinho (7.5), Graham Allan (7.6), Paul Moses (8.0) Assists - Gianluca Bolis (6.9), Gian Marco Fanfoni (7.0), Neil Cairney (7.6) Man of the Match - Romelu Lukaku (Chelsea ST - 8.0) Other Dover Notables - Attendance - 17,991 Wow. Paul Moses was a man possessed in his 15 minutes on the pitch and almost gains man of the match honours. We had 48% of possession and were outshot 19-18 (7-9 on target). What a phenomenal win after allowing Chelsea to get back into the match. HUGE!!! -- Claudio Contreras gets a two-match ban for the straight red card. I appeal the decision, as the foul call was dubious at best but I'm not holding out much hope. We're in DIRE STRAITS right now at central defence, with Rayane Hamon and Daniel Traore recovering from long-term injuries and now Contreras is suspended. I'll have to call up one of my U18 youngsters for certain. -- We pull to within three points of Chelsea and Man City lose a shocker to Sheffield Wednesday. United destroy Middlesbrough 5-1 and Arsenal win as well. I'll post full standings here at the 25 game mark. BARCLAYS PREMIER LEAGUE - STANDINGS (ALL TEAMS HAVE PLAYED 25 GAMES UNLESS NOTED) 1. Chelsea - 59 points 2. Dover - 56 points 3. Manchester United - 54 points 4. Manchester City - 52 points ---------------------------------------------------- 5. Arsenal - 52 points 6. Sheffield Wednesday - 48 points (after 24 games) 7. Sunderland - 41 points ---------------------------------------------------- 8. Aston Villa - 34 points 9. Liverpool - 33 points (after 24 games) 10. Tottenham - 33 points 11. Reading - 32 points (after 24 games) 12. Newcastle - 29 points 13. Middlesbrough - 28 points (after 24 games) 14. Everton - 28 points 15. Huddersfield - 24 points 16. Wolves - 22 points 17. Birmingham - 21 points ---------------------------------------------------- 18. Derby - 17 points 19. Burnley - 16 points 20. Stoke - 8 points FA Appeal Decision --HOLY CRAP! In a definite first for me, the FA disciplinary committee considered my appeal on the two game ban handed to Claudio Contreras and they rule that I have valid grounds for the appeal and RESCIND THE BAN!!! Wow!!! So the ref DID make a poor decision, like I thought. It almost cost us the game but hey, we got three points AND get Contreras back. Splendid! International Duty -- Both Salim Loucif and Arsene Bamba play well for their countries in African Nations play. Injury Update -- Daniel Traore is a couple weeks away from returning to full training after straining knee ligaments. Andrea Rocca (hip), Mancini (broken leg) and Rayane Hamon (hip) are still a long way away from returning. Next Up -- We head to Wolverhampton for yet another matchup against Wolves. This time, it's the second leg of the League Cup semi finals where we have a slight one goal edge.
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MY CURRENT FM19 DYNASTY - FM19: "Ludere causa Ludendi - To Play for the Sake of Playing" - Queen's Park FC (Scottish League Two) MY OLD FM11 DYNASTY - FM11: From Semi-Pro Minnows to the EPL - Dover Athletic FC My Personal Blog - Now on the Tee - Golf, Sports, Poker, Life 2006 GOLDEN SCRIBE AWARD WINNER FOR BEST 'OTHER SPORT' DYNASTY - EHM2005: Sharpening Swords in Buffalo |
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04-18-2014, 02:06 AM
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#334 |
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College Benchwarmer
Join Date: Dec 2002
Location: St. Catharines, Canada
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Tue. January 24, 2023
League Cup - Semi Final Second Leg Wolves (2) vs. (3) Dover Molineaux, Wolverhampton, UK Betting Odds: Wolves: 4-1 Draw: 5-2 Dover: 4-7 Past Meetings: 7W 2D 1L We have only a slight edge heading into the second leg but inexplicably, we are bigger favourites on the road than we were in the home matchup a couple weeks ago. We've run wild over Wolves this year, winning all three games and scoring 13 goals in the process. We are resting a few players today and giving Paul Moses and Zoltan Bardi starts up front. Helder Cruz gets his first Dover start and Emmerson Harvey will start at midfield for the first time this year. Mohamed Lamine Yilmaz is playing DC today, as vice-captain Salim Loucif is still on international duty, along with Arsene Bamba. Graham Allan is in for Gianluca Bolis. Control mentality on the road as favourites. Dover: 4-4-2 Control GK - I. Wilke D - R. Gaucho, M. Yilmaz, C. Contreras, K. Zagos M - H. Cruz, N. Cairney, G. Fanfoni, G. Allan S - P. Moses, Z. Bardi Bench - S. Reed, C. Guzman, S. Spall, G. Fanfoni, G. Bolis, W. Rooney, S. Andrea No surprises with the Wolves, who start essentially the same key people as usual (Guy Luckett and Emanuele Testardi up front, Wayne Hennessey in goal and Evgeni Maltsev at ML) in their flat 4-4-2. We need a win or a tie to move on here so lets do it! I tell the team I expect a win…bold for a road game, I know... 7' - Moses shows his speed and is through the defence but while his shot beats Hennessey, it doesn't beat the goal post! So close! 18' - Wolves are actually controlling play by the looks of it but aren't getting any major chances. We break through with a Moses pass up to Bardi. Our seldom used striker bursts in and ALSO HITS THE GOALPOST! Ugh. 21' - Man. Wolves work possession and send a shot into the area. Luckett dives and kicks it at goal but Wilke makes a spectacular diving stop to keep the game scoreless. 28' - We steal and work a counter with Helder Cruz sending it to Moses. He has a full breakaway from centre half but his shot is WIDE! It's going to be like that, is it? 30' - We work another counter and it's Cruz again. He uses his great speed and he's got a step on his marker as he runs down the left sideline. His cross is PERFECT and right on the foot of Graham Allan and he smokes the ball past Hennessey and it's in! Great pass by the newcomer Cruz and we're ahead! DOVER GOAL 1-0 (4-2 AGGREGATE) 32' - We gain possession again and Emmerson Harvey feeds it to Moses just inside half. He turns on the jets and is in alone but this time, his shot finds the inside corner of the net and we have a second goal! We're up three on aggregate! DOVER GOAL 2-0 (5-2 AGGREGATE) 38' - Moses is in breathtaking form today and his speed is something to behold. He gets past the defence again but Hennessey makes a brilliant save on his hard shot. 41' - Crazy. We have a throw in on the left and Renato Gaucho sends it to Neil Cairney. He immediately feeds the ball into the area and both Graham Allan and Paul Moses are there and BLATANTLY OFFSIDES I might add. Allan gets it and easily beats Hennessey as I wait for the goal to be disallowed but the ref signals a goal and I'm stunned. It wasn't even close - they were both offsides by about five feet but we'll take it! Allan has two! DOVER GOAL 3-0 (6-2 AGGREGATE) 44' - Our defence is playing lax and we allow Testardi through but Wilke makes a great stop and we clear the ball to safety. A couple of our players, including Renato Gaucho, are looking complacent, according to my assistant. 45' - Again, VERY sloppy play in our area and Luckett gets a shot from in close but it's right at Wilke and he shows fine reflexes to make the stop. Tidy up guys! HALFTIME - We have a huge lead but Wolves are controlling possession, holding 54% of the ball. We outshoot them 10-8 (5-3 on target). I tell the team I better not see their performance drop in the second half. 53' - Young Emmerson Harvey has been very aggressive today and had a number of fouls. He knocks someone over again and this time, the ref gives him a yellow. I tell him to dial down the aggression. 58' - We make a couple substitutions. Zoltan Bardi is out and Wayne Rooney comes in. Also coming in is Shaun Spall for a tired and ornery Emmerson Harvey. 59' - Now it's Kostas Zagos with a yellow card. 62' - Evgeni Maltsev goes in studs up on Graham Allan and is given the STRAIGHT RED CARD! Wolves are down to ten men! Wolves move to a 4-3-2 with 3 MCs. 67' - Rooney with a horrific turnover and we're lucky that Luckett hits a defender and the shot goes wide. Rooney hasn't suited up for us in ages and this is why. 70' - Kostas Zagos is out and little used Steve Reed is in. Rooney gets the captain's armband. 85' - One of their substitutes, Armand Ella, hits the crossbar from distance and we clear to safety. That's it! We're through to the League Cup finals for the first time! Wolves 0 (2) - (6) 3 Dover Goals - Graham Allan 2 (8.8), Paul Moses (8.3) Assists - Emmerson Harvey (7.0), Neil Cairney (7.1), Helder Cruz (7.9) Man of the Match - Claudio Contreras (8.8) Other Dover Notables - Ingo Wilke (7.2), Kostas Zagos (7.0), Mohamed Lamine Yilmaz (7.7), Renato Gaucho (7.2) Attendance - 28,837 Wolves held 54% of possession but we outshot them 18-12 (8-3 on target). Good game and we're on to the finals!!! Contreras was a surprise man of the match winner but he did make some impressive last second tackles to save scoring chances. -- We will face Arsenal in the finals, as they get past League One Colchester 6-1 on aggregate. The League Cup final will take place at Wembley Stadium on Sunday February 26th. Dover Reserves Team Update --We have our first reserves game in over a month and of course, it's one day after a game I play a bunch of backups. So I field a very weak squad filled with U18 kids and we lose 1-0 to Derby's reserves. Premier League Update -- In a couple of makeup games, Reading beat Liverpool and Sheffield Wednesday can only manage a draw against Middlesbrough. Sheffield retain sixth place while Reading move up to 8th. Transfer Window Fun -- Emmerson Harvey is a target for a number of teams, most notably Reading, who come with a whopping £6 million offer. I reject it but man - that's a lot for the 18 year old prospect! -- We had a contract offer accepted and were awaiting confirmation on a work permit for Brazilian DC Carioca but the permit wasn't granted, even after going through a couple of appeals. We really could have used him with all of our injury issues. International Duty -- Ivory Coast beat Algeria 3-0 in African Nations play and both Arsene Bamba and Salim Loucif play well for their countries. Injury Update -- Gian Marco Fanfoni comes down with a virus and will miss a week or two. I send him home immediately to recover so as not to infect the rest of the club. Next Up -- Another cup tie, as we head away from home to face Sheffield Wednesday in FA Cup fourth round action.
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MY CURRENT FM19 DYNASTY - FM19: "Ludere causa Ludendi - To Play for the Sake of Playing" - Queen's Park FC (Scottish League Two) MY OLD FM11 DYNASTY - FM11: From Semi-Pro Minnows to the EPL - Dover Athletic FC My Personal Blog - Now on the Tee - Golf, Sports, Poker, Life 2006 GOLDEN SCRIBE AWARD WINNER FOR BEST 'OTHER SPORT' DYNASTY - EHM2005: Sharpening Swords in Buffalo Last edited by NoSkillz : 04-19-2014 at 08:51 PM. |
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04-19-2014, 08:10 PM
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#335 |
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College Benchwarmer
Join Date: Dec 2002
Location: St. Catharines, Canada
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Sat. January 28, 2023
FA Cup - 4th Round Sheffield Wednesday (6th in Premier League) vs. Dover (2nd in Premier League) Hillsborough, Sheffield, UK Betting Odds: Sheffield Wednesday: 13-8 Draw: 2-1 Dover: 6-4 (Favourites) Past Meetings: 6W 2D 4L Just 14 days ago, we throttled Sheffield 6-0 at Crabble Athletic Ground so I'm sure they will be looking for some revenge. This is a very good club and still sitting in a continental qualification position on the Premier League table. Strikers Steve Pates (17 goals) and Darijo Jukic (12 goals) are the danger men. We are expected to reach the sixth round of this competition by our board so we'll be taking today very seriously. We'll field as strong a lineup as we possibly can today in light of our injuries. Shaun Spall will be in the midfield alongside Neil Cairney, as 18 year old phenom Gian Marco Fanfoni is under the weather. Arsene Bamba and vice-captain Salim Loucif are still away on international duty so Kostas Zagos will captain our side today against his former club. I will have Manuel Perez in goal today. Both Emmerson Harvey and Lyubomir Kunchev are up from the U18 squad to help out on the bench today. Dover: 4-4-2 Control GK - M. Perez D - R. Gaucho, M. Yilmaz, C. Contreras, K. Zagos M - G. Allan, N. Cairney, S. Spall, G. Bolis S - S. Andrea, Chiquinho Bench - S. Reed, C. Guzman, E. Harvey, L. Kunchev, H. Cruz, Z. Bardi, P. Moses Sheffield are in a flat 4-4-2 with Pates and Jukic up front. I'm very worried about Pates' speed today without Rayane Hamon or Salim Loucif on defence. Hopefully Contreras and Yilmaz can handle him. Erwin Mulder is in goal. I tell the team they can win today. 12' - We've had most of the possession in the early going and Andrea lays off a nice pass to Allan. He cuts in from the left side and his shot is turned over the net by Mulder. 21' - We win a corner and Neil Cairney's cross is to the far post and an unlikely player in Gianluca Bolis heads it toward goal. Mulder gets his hands on it but not enough, as the ball hits the underside of the crossbar and falls just behind the goal line! Yes! DOVER GOAL 1-0 28' - Sheffield hasn't had a shot on target yet but they win a corner and it's headed toward goal by former Dover loanee Simon Woodman and it's IN. We're level. SHEFFIELD WEDNESDAY GOAL 1-1 34' - Man. Mohamed Lamine Yilmaz shows his inexperience with a horribly thought out backpass to Perez and Steve Pates gets there first. Thankfully, Perez charges out and makes a challenge, along with Kostas Zagos and we clear the ball to safety. 36' - We work up field and Allan feeds Shanon Andrea. He's cutting in from the left and goes to the near post but it's JUST into the side netting. 45'+1 - Chiquinho with a GREAT pass up over the defence to a charging Andrea. He's in all alone but his shot is saved brilliantly by Mulder! HALFTIME - We are definitely the better team so far but we need to be very careful. I'd be content with a draw, as that will give us a rematch at home but with so many games coming up, I'd obviously prefer to end it today. We have 55% of possession and a large 13-4 (3-1 on target) shot advantage. I tell the team I'm pleased so far. 52' - Perez makes a diving save on a shot from the right edge of the area. 61' - Gianluca Bolis with a yellow card. 64' - A very poor pass by Shaun Spall is intercepted and Claudio Contreras is forced to foul a player. Yellow card for Contreras. 71' - I take out Shaun Spall and bring in Zoltan Bardi to play midfield, a position he used to play but hasn't in years. I hope this doesn't cost us but Spall hasn't been very good today and he was tired. 79' - Graham Allan comes off and in comes Helder Cruz to play left midfield. 85' - Geez. Sheffield have possession and they pass through the defence to a charging Simon Woodman. He cuts in and shoots and it's past Perez but off the crossbar and OUT. Wow. 87' - Darijo Jukic takes out Kostas Zagos and he's hurt and has the dreaded cross above his name. He needs to come off. In comes Steve Reed as we hope it's nothing serious with Zagos, who has been injury prone his entire career…damn. DOVER INJURY - KOSTAS ZAGOS 90'+1 - Chiquinho with a yellow card. 90'+4 - A great bit of passing sees Andrea feed it through to a pinching Zoltan Bardi. Our fresh sub is in on goal and his shot is STOPPED by Mulder! There's a rebound and Chiquinho is there but it's kicked away by Sheffield just in time. Sooo close! Then Gianluca Bolis gets off a shot after we recover possession and Mulder is there again! Crazy. Sheffield Wednesday 1 - 1 Dover Goals - Gianluca Bolis (8.0) Assists - Neil Cairney (6.9) Man of the Match - Gianluca Bolis Other Dover Notables - Kostas Zagos (7.6), Claudio Contreras (7.0) Attendance - 26,485 We held 52% of overall possession and a 22-8 (6-2 on target) shot advantage. We deserved better and I tell the team I'm pleased with their efforts. Shanon Andrea (6.1) had a rough game in front of goal. He's only scored one goal in his last seven games and has ratings of 6.1, 6.4 and 6.3 in his last three games. He's officially slumping a bit and I have a little chat with him the next morning about his poor form, telling him I expect better. -- Kostas Zagos suffered a concussion in the collision but it's not super serious and he'll miss about a week of action. -- With that draw, we have now gone 20 games in a row without a loss across all competitions, setting a new club record!!! Dover U18 Team Update --Despite missing a few key players, our U18s beat Brighton 6-1 behind a brace from Tomas Liska. Also scoring were Pete Smith, Eddie Robinson, Mwemere Mutesa and new signing Felix Hernandez. FA Cup - 5th Round Draw -- If we make it past Sheffield Wednesday in our 4th round replay coming up in a couple weeks, we'll face Championship side Blackpool in the next round. Injury Update -- Still lots of key injuries. Gian Marco Fanfoni is at home recovering from a virus and Kostas Zagos is suffering from a concussion. Both should be back by next week. Daniel Traore is also close to returning to full training after straining his knee ligaments a couple months ago…and none too soon! We need someone back on defence! Andrea Rocca (hip), Mancini (broken leg) and Rayane Hamon (hip) are still out for awhile. -- We had a contract offer accepted and were awaiting confirmation on a work permit for Brazilian DC Carioca but the permit wasn't granted, even after going through a couple of appeals. We really could have used him with all of our injury issues. Premier League Update -- In Tuesday action, Arsenal beat Liverpool 4-2 to move into third place on the table while relegation candidates Derby shock Reading 1-0 away. We play Reading on the weekend. Transfer Window Closed -- The window closes without any further business. I'll hold off until June to buy Paul Moses. I also got a very interesting scouting report on a Mexican central defender and I'll be keeping a close eye on that kid for the future… February Update -- February will be FILLED with cup ties and only three Premier League games: Burnley (AWAY), Reading (AWAY) and Aston Villa (HOME). There is an international break coming up in a week which will be followed by an FA Cup replay against Sheffield Wednesday at home. If we win that, we'll immediately play a fifth round match against Blackpool. We finish off the month of cup ties with a Champions League knockout round game against Benfica in Turkey and finally, the League Cup FINALS against Arsenal at Wembley Stadium on the 26th. So six games for sure and possibly seven. Not too bad but that's a lot of cup matches! -- We get positive training reports for Shanon Andrea and Claudio Contreras for the senior team along with good notices for three U18 players in Garry Doyle, Ben Patterson and Richard Schaap. Negative reports come in for the aging Wayne Rooney and reserve winger Steve Ingram. Premier League Monthly Awards -- Chelsea winger Miguel Sousa wins Barclays Premier League player of the month honours. -- Our on-loan young phenom midfielder Gian Marco Fanfoni wins the Young Player of the Month award! Awesome! Renato Gaucho finishes second in the voting. -- Paul Moses finishes third in the Premier League goal of the month notices. -- Michael Laudrup from Arsenal is Manager of the Month. I haven't lost in 20 games and I don't even finish in the top three! Next Up -- Hopefully this isn't a trap game, as we head on the road again to face 19th placed Burnley in Premier League action.
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MY CURRENT FM19 DYNASTY - FM19: "Ludere causa Ludendi - To Play for the Sake of Playing" - Queen's Park FC (Scottish League Two) MY OLD FM11 DYNASTY - FM11: From Semi-Pro Minnows to the EPL - Dover Athletic FC My Personal Blog - Now on the Tee - Golf, Sports, Poker, Life 2006 GOLDEN SCRIBE AWARD WINNER FOR BEST 'OTHER SPORT' DYNASTY - EHM2005: Sharpening Swords in Buffalo Last edited by NoSkillz : 04-19-2014 at 08:51 PM. |
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04-19-2014, 10:00 PM
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#336 |
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College Benchwarmer
Join Date: Dec 2002
Location: St. Catharines, Canada
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Wed. February 1, 2023
Barclays Premier League Burnley (4-4-17, 16 points, 19th) vs. Dover (17-5-3, 56 points, 2nd) Turf Moor, Burnley, UK Betting Odds: Burnley: 11-5 Draw: 11-5 Dover: Evens (Favourites) Past Meetings: 1W 0D 2L We throttled Burnley 6-0 in our previous matchup this year and it's been a rude awakening for the club in their first year back in the Premier League since 2017/18. They simply can't score goals at this level, with only 15 in 25 games but they have played well enough to sit only 5 points from safety so I expect a much tighter defensive game from them today at home. Haris Seferovic has 9 of their goals across all competitions to lead the club. Left midfielder Cameron Murray, who we sold to Burnley in the offseason, has been a big disappointment and has no goals and only three assists in 24 starts for the club. I was very tempted to go with Paul Moses up front today for slumping striker Shanon Andrea but I'm going to hold out Moses until our next game against Reading on the weekend. Andrea will start up front with Zoltan Bardi today. With so many injuries and Salim Loucif (and Arsene Bamba) still away on international duty, I'm forced to give Steve Reed his first ever start for our club at right fullback. That means Emmanuel Agbo is on the bench, another rarity. We are REALLY testing our depth these days. Emmerson Harvey will line up alongside Neil Cairney in midfield. Ingo Wilke is back in goal. Dover: 4-4-2 Control GK - I. Wilke D - R. Gaucho, M. Yilmaz, C. Contreras, S. Reed M - G. Allan, N. Cairney, E. Harvey, G. Bolis S - S. Andrea, Z. Bardi Bench - E. Agbo, C. Guzman, S. Spall, L. Kunchev, H. Cruz, Chiquinho, P. Moses Burnley are in a flat 4-4-2 with Seferovic and Harry Kane up front. Dwayne Miller is in goal and Cameron Murray is on the left side. I'm tempted to ask for a win but instead just say the game is winnable. 2' - Graham Allan with a hard shot through traffic but it's right at Miller for the easy save. 3' - Shanon Andrea sends a ball through the defence to Gianluca Bolis and his shot is also stopped by Miller. 7' - Harry Kane avoids a tackle from Mohamed Lamine Yilmaz and gets to the top of the box before rifling a rocket off the crossbar! 9' - Unreal. Now Steve Reed is hurt and has the dreaded cross above his head. He can stay in the game for now but we'll have to check on his condition after the game. DOVER INJURY - STEVE REED (STAYS IN THE GAME) 25' - I'm nervous, as Burnley have unquestionably been controlling most of the possession in the last fifteen minutes but we win a corner. Cairney's cross hits Claudio Contreras, then deflects off a defender and hits the post. The ball comes back to Contreras and he whips a shot into the top corner for the opening goal! DOVER GOAL 1-0 28' - Zoltan Bardi has a clear breakaway from the midfield stripe but his shot is WIDE. You gotta finish that Zoltan if you want to play more! 35' - We've started controlling play and we have a free kick from distance. Our players go forward and Cairney's cross hits a Burnley defender and the ref immediately calls a foul for a handball. PENALTY! Neil Cairney, eight for eight on penalty kicks this year, steps up calmly to take the kick and it's SAVED by Miller, who guesses right! Crap! Cairney is stopped for the first time all year - he went right with the kick, something that is normal for him and the goalie obviously scouted him well. Burnley immediately move back up field and their danger man Seforovic gets past Reed and is in on goal and Wilke makes a tough save! Wow. 37' - Things continue to go against us, as Emmerson Harvey takes the ball off a throw in and immediately sends it into the area to a breaking Bardi. He slots it home on the first touch but he's ruled OFFSIDES. The replay confirms he was just inside the last defenders shoulder. No goal. 40' - We continue to press forward and it's Andrea and Bardi playing keep away. Andrea gets the last touch and fires a curling shot at goal but Miller is there with a spectacular diving save! HALFTIME - Burnley are actually holding a 52% edge in possession but we outshoot them 12-6 (7-1 on target). Dwayne Miller has been outstanding in goal for them but our best players, guys like Andrea and Bolis (6.3 rating) aren't making enough of an impact. I decide to encourage the players in the room at half. 48' - Emmerson Harvey says a prayer from about 10 yards outside the area and his blast is off the crossbar. 59' - Oh my. Shanon Andrea gets the ball at midfield and he springs Neil Cairney on a breakaway. Cairney, looking to make up for his missed penalty, is in on goal and Miller STONES HIM AGAIN! 65' - Gianluca Bolis and Zoltan Bardi come off. I move Graham Allan to right midfield and bring in Helder Cruz to play the left side. Chiquinho comes in at striker for Bardi. 70' - Cairney with a corner kick and it's to the far post and Yilmaz but his header is stopped by the in-form Dwayne Miller. He's been outstanding for Burnley today. 72' - Burnley with the goal kick and it's right at Cairney, who heads it back over the defence. Substitute Chiquinho has all of his speed since just coming on and he's in all alone. He uses his great skill to round Miller and he has an empty net to shoot at and makes no mistake! The 200th (!!!) league goal for Chiquinho and we have a two goal cushion!! DOVER GOAL 2-0 75' - Wilke is forced to make a sprawling save on a shot from distance. 86' - Neil Cairney comes out, as I look ahead to our weekend matchup against Reading. In comes Shaun Spall. 90'+2 - Spall with a free kick and his cross meets the head of Graham Allan but it goes off the crossbar! We'll take the three points. Burnley 0 - 2 Dover Goals - Claudio Contreras (7.7), Chiquinho (7.3) Assists - Neil Cairney 2 (8.1) Man of the Match - Ingo Wilke (8.3) Other Dover Notables - Steve Reed (7.2), Mohamed Lamine Yilmaz (7.4), Renato Gaucho (7.3) Attendance - 16,002 A good second half sees us hold off a very game Burnley club. Possession was dead even in the contest and we outshot them 22-10 (11-2 on target). Their keeper Dwayne Miller (7.6) was excellent but our keeper gets man of the match honours. -- INJURY: Steve Reed twisted his knee early on and will miss two weeks of action. We are getting killed by the injury bug. Hopefully Salim Loucif returns from international duty soon… -- Chelsea knocked off last placed Stoke 2-0 to maintain their three point edge on us in the standings. Also winning were Man City, Man United, and Sunderland while Sheffield Wednesday were upset 1-0 by Birmingham. BARCLAYS PREMIER LEAGUE - STANDINGS (ALL TEAMS HAVE PLAYED 26 GAMES UNLESS NOTED) 1. Chelsea - 62 points 2. Dover - 59 points 3. Manchester United - 57 points 4. Manchester City - 55 points ---------------------------------------------------- 5. Arsenal - 55 points 6. Sheffield Wednesday - 49 points 7. Sunderland - 44 points ---------------------------------------------------- February Board Confidence Update --The board are very pleased with my overall leadership of the team. Our stature increase is the positive but the signing of young Lyubomir Kunchev is a slight disappointment. That's grasping at straws if I've ever seen it - Kunchev is with our U18s and has been great for them (10 goals and 14 assists in 23 non-competitive games at right midfield). He's only 18 and has been a substitute in two games for the senior team. A bit early to press the panic button on the kid! -- We made a profit of £5.31 million last month, most of which came on the sale of Said Henni to Manchester United. Champions League Registration -- We confirm our team for the upcoming knockout stages of the Champions League. Newcomer Helder Cruz is ineligible for the rest of this year's tournament, as he is cup tied to Sporting CP. International Update -- We're coming up on an international break and there are 13 players being called up, a number I'm sure would be higher if not for our incredible number of injuries right now. Next Up -- We have our fourth consecutive road match, as we face mid-table Reading in Premier League play.
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MY CURRENT FM19 DYNASTY - FM19: "Ludere causa Ludendi - To Play for the Sake of Playing" - Queen's Park FC (Scottish League Two) MY OLD FM11 DYNASTY - FM11: From Semi-Pro Minnows to the EPL - Dover Athletic FC My Personal Blog - Now on the Tee - Golf, Sports, Poker, Life 2006 GOLDEN SCRIBE AWARD WINNER FOR BEST 'OTHER SPORT' DYNASTY - EHM2005: Sharpening Swords in Buffalo |
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04-20-2014, 12:04 AM
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#337 |
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College Benchwarmer
Join Date: Dec 2002
Location: St. Catharines, Canada
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Sat. February 4, 2023
Barclays Premier League Reading (10-5-11, 35 points, 10th) vs. Dover (18-5-3, 59 points, 2nd) The Madejski Stadium, Reading, UK Betting Odds: Reading: 6-4 (Favourites) Draw: 2-1 Dover: 13-8 Past Meetings: 7W 2D 2L We have a solid career record against perennial continental contenders Reading. They have made it to the knockout stages of this year's Europa League but they'll be in tough to regain qualification for next year based on their league status unless they make a run in the FA Cup. They just lost a shocker to Derby at home so I expect they'll be playing with fire today. That said, two of their top three goal scorers are hurt and will miss the game: striker Hani Megahed (10 goals) and right midfielder Said Abdel Kader (9 goals) will not suit up but the ever-dangerous James Hunter and his 11 goals will be in the lineup. We're fortunate to get Salim Loucif back today, as Algeria was eliminated from the African Nations event. However, Arsene Bamba's Ivory Coast squad continues to play in the competition and is still abroad with his national team. Paul Moses will start up front in place of the ice cold Shanon Andrea. Chiquinho is also back in the starting lineup after scoring as a substitute against Burnley. Helder Cruz will make his first league start today on the left side. Despite being slight underdogs on the road, I'll go with a positive gameplan today and use our control mentality. Dover: 4-4-2 Control GK - I. Wilke D - R. Gaucho, M. Yilmaz, C. Contreras, S. Loucif M - H. Cruz, N. Cairney, E. Harvey, G. Bolis S - P. Moses, Chiquinho Bench - K. Zagos, C. Guzman, S. Spall, L. Kunchev, G. Allan, Z. Bardi, S. Andrea Reading are in a 4-4-2 DM (4-2-3-1) formation with one striker (James Hunter). Antonio is in goal. I tell the team to put on a good performance for our travelling supporters today. 2' - Moses gets a great chance early, driving a low shot at goal from just inside the area but Antonio makes the save. 10' - Reading send a long ball up to Hunter and Salim Loucif drags him down. Easy yellow card there. Their dangerous midfielder James Gregan, a guy I've looked at in the past, drives the free kick off the crossbar! 13' - Cairney with a free kick just left of the penalty area and he feeds it into an unmarked Claudio Contreras, who drives a low shot at goal that's stopped brilliantly by Antonio! 18' - Reading work a gorgeous three-way pass play, culminating in James Hunter sending a beautiful back heel pass into the area to Cees Duarte and he is all alone and makes no mistake putting it past Wilke and in. Great goal by Reading and we're down. READING GOAL 0-1 31' - We're not used to being down and we're not playing well. Helder Cruz isn't paying attention to a Renato Gaucho pass and the ball comes back our way. Veteran midfielder Jordan Henderson dribbles in and shoots but it's right at Wilke. 40' - We have possession at midfield and we move it around to Emmerson Harvey. He sends a little pass to Paul Moses and the 19 year old shows his ridiculous skill to get past Paul McLaughlin and Irish international Mark O'Brien and he slots the ball into the far corner for the equalizer. "Magical stuff from Moses!", shouts the announcer. Filthy! DOVER GOAL 1-1 43' - Cairney with a corner and it's headed toward goal by Mohamed Lamine Yilmaz but Antonio is in good position to make the save. 44' - Gregan gets a shot off from just inside the area off a scramble and Wilke makes the stop. HALFTIME - We knew this would be a tight contest. We hold 55% of possession and an 8-7 (4-3 on target) shot advantage. Claudio Contreras (6.0) and Helder Cruz (6.1) are having rough games so far. I tell the team I'm pleased and tell Cruz I have faith in his ability while also telling Moses I'm delighted with his impact so far. 49' - We have a corner and the ball is headed out to Emmerson Harvey, who drives one at goal only to have Antonio deflect it over. 57' - Neil Cairney is taken down hard by Gregan and needs medical attention. He should be okay but he's on the sidelines when Contreras takes down James Hunter. Yellow card for Contreras. 58' - Moses is in fine form today, sprinting through the defence once again and his hard shot is stopped by Antonio. 60' - Magaye Gueye, the Reading right midfielder, gets past Renato Gaucho and cuts in toward goal but his shot is stopped by Wilke! Great save there! 71' - Boy is Gregan dangerous, as he sends a long curling blast from way out that's destined for the top corner but Wilke dives headlong to make the spectacular stop! Reading get a corner and the ball is headed toward goal. Wilke makes a save but there is a rebound and a mad scramble but we clear it to safety. Sheesh! 75' - I make a double substitution, as the ineffective Gianluca Bolis makes way for Graham Allan. I also take out a tired Emmerson Harvey and bring in Zoltan Bardi to play midfield. 80' - Salim Loucif tries flopping to draw a foul call at midfield but the ref lets play go on. Reading start a counter attack and feed a long ball up to Hunter. Their leading scorer is in with a shot and Wilke makes the fantastic save to keep us tied! 86' - The excellent Moses is taken off, as he's gassed and I bring in Shaun Spall. Bardi moves up to striker and Spall is in midfield. 88' - Reading have possession deep in our end and Salim Loucif tackles the ball away from one of their attackers but the ball squirts into the middle and right to Cees Duarte. The Reading goal scorer evades Yilmaz, walks right in and roofs a shot past Wilke and we give up a devastating late goal. READING GOAL 1-2 We move to an overload mentality but can't get anything going. Tough loss. Reading 2 - 1 Dover Goals - Paul Moses (8.3) Assists - Emmerson Harvey (6.9) Man of the Match - Cees Duarte (Reading AMC - 8.8) Other Dover Notables - Ingo Wilke (7.4), Salim Loucif (7.1), Claudio Contreras (5.8), Renato Gaucho (5.9) Attendance - 16,660 We held 53% of overall possession and outshot them 16-14 (7-8 on target). Rough games for a couple of our defenders but it was a fluky bounce on that last minute Reading goal and we pay the price. Rough games for Contreras, Renato Gaucho and Gianluca Bolis. -- All of our key rivals win. Chelsea move six points up on us after defeating Birmingham, Arsenal, Man United and Man City also win. United move ahead of us on the table and it's truly ridiculous how top heavy things are, with only two points separating second from fifth. -- Reading end our superlative unbeaten streak. Oh well, time to start another one! BARCLAYS PREMIER LEAGUE - STANDINGS (ALL TEAMS HAVE PLAYED 27 GAMES UNLESS NOTED) 1. Chelsea - 65 points 2. Manchester United - 60 points 3. Dover - 59 points 4. Manchester City - 58 points ---------------------------------------------------- 5. Arsenal - 58 points 6. Sheffield Wednesday - 49 points 7. Sunderland - 44 points ---------------------------------------------------- Dover U18 Update --The kids win 2-1 over Reading's U18 club. Young striker Ben Patterson scored both of our goals. Injury Update -- DC Daniel Traore returns to full training after missing six weeks due to strained knee ligaments. We have a reserves game coming up in a couple of days so he should be good to go for that contest as he attempts to regain match fitness. -- Gian Marco Fanfoni also returns after getting over his viral issues. -- Andrea Rocca and Steve Reed are about two weeks away from returning to full training while Rayane Hamon and Mancini remain on the long-term injury list. -- Emmerson Harvey gets hurt while playing for England's U21 club, suffering a bruised thigh. He'll miss about a week. Reserves Team Update -- With half of our squad away on international duty, our reserves team earns a 2-2 draw against Aston Villa's Reserve Team. The returning Daniel Traore headed one home and young striker Ben Patterson scored on a penalty to bring us to level terms late in the game. Injury Update -- Bad luck follows Kostas Zagos. He just returned to action and gets hurt in his first game back for England, sustaining a gashed leg. He'll miss another week. International Round Up -- Gaining caps for their country were Paul Moses and Emmerson Harvey (England U21), Kostas Zagos (England), Zoltan Bardi (Hungary), Chiquinho (Belgium), Manuel Perez (Mexico), Lyubomir Kunchev (Bulgaria), Neil Cairney and Graham Allan (Scotland). -- That was Lyubomir Kunchev's first ever senior cap for Bulgaria, a great honour for the 18 year old! Next Up -- We finally head home after a four-game road trip, with a Premier League matchup against Aston Villa.
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MY CURRENT FM19 DYNASTY - FM19: "Ludere causa Ludendi - To Play for the Sake of Playing" - Queen's Park FC (Scottish League Two) MY OLD FM11 DYNASTY - FM11: From Semi-Pro Minnows to the EPL - Dover Athletic FC My Personal Blog - Now on the Tee - Golf, Sports, Poker, Life 2006 GOLDEN SCRIBE AWARD WINNER FOR BEST 'OTHER SPORT' DYNASTY - EHM2005: Sharpening Swords in Buffalo Last edited by NoSkillz : 04-20-2014 at 12:06 AM. |
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04-21-2014, 09:34 PM
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#338 |
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College Benchwarmer
Join Date: Dec 2002
Location: St. Catharines, Canada
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Sat. February 11, 2023
Barclays Premier League Dover (18-5-4, 59 points, 3rd) vs. Aston Villa (12-4-11, 40 points, 8th) Crabble Athletic Ground, Dover, UK Betting Odds: Dover: 5-4 (Favourites) Draw: 11-5 Aston Villa: 7-4 Past Meetings: 4W 1D 6L Villa beat us 3-2 earlier in the year so I'm hoping for a bit of retribution today. They've always been one of those mid-level Premier League clubs - good enough to beat the lower table teams but not quite up to the level of the top clubs. They aren't a prolific team by any means, with striker Will Keane leading the club with only 8 goals and on loan Man City striker Scott Lewis second with 6. We are missing a key cog to our offense today, as Neil Cairney is away on international duty for Scotland, along with Graham Allan. Both will be missed. With injuries to Andrea Rocca, Mancini and Emmerson Harvey, we are woefully thin at central midfield. I am starting Gian Marco Fanfoni and Shaun Spall at MC today but don't really have any natural MCs beyond them for the bench. We have six injuries right now and two others on international duty. It's pretty ridiculous, actually. Control mentality at home today. Dover: 4-4-2 Control GK - I. Wilke D - R. Gaucho, M. Yilmaz, C. Contreras, S. Loucif M - A. Bamba, S. Spall, G. Fanfoni, G. Bolis S - S. Andrea, Chiquinho Bench - D. Traore, E. Agbo, W. Rooney, L. Kunchev, H. Cruz, Z. Bardi, P. Moses Villa are in a tight 4-2-3-1 formation with 3 AMCs, a look that usually gives me issues. I'm hoping our good form and being at home trumps their formation. Will Keane is alone up front and Antonio Kraljevic is in goal. Lets do it for the fans, guys! I pull aside the slumping Shanon Andrea and tell him I expect a performance from him today. 1' - We have possession off the opening kick and we work the ball inside to Shaun Spall. He turns and fires and Kraljevic makes the diving stop on the weak effort. 20' - I'm NOT pleased with our play right now, as we look a step slower than our counterparts. That said, we feed wide to Bamba and he shoots for the far post. It deflects on the way off a Villa defender and is now headed to the near post but Kraljevic is sharp and in the right position to save and hold on. 31' - Nothing happening. I hate this lineup I'm fielding today! It's amazing how much we miss Cairney but I guess it's to be expected. Villa work possession and send through AMC Teco but he shoots wide on a complete sitter. Very lucky. 32' - Villa storm right back down the pitch with a long ball up to Keane. He shows great vision to send a pass back to a trailing David Foster and his shot from the edge of the area, going wide, hits Mohamed Lamine Yilmaz and deflects into the open net. Horrible. ASTON VILLA GOAL 0-1 37' - Just as I'm thinking of ways to peel paint in the dressing room at half, we head the ball to midfield. One of Villa's defenders pushes down the completely invisible (again) Shanon Andrea and now there's a battle for the ball between Chiquinho and another defender. Our striker wins that battle and streaks down the pitch. He's in on goal and shoots past Kraljevic and it's in. Quick equalizer and we're on level terms. DOVER GOAL 1-1 40' - On a turnover by Gianluca Bolis, Villa work back in and it's a brilliant individual effort by Teco, as he avoids a tackle from Claudio Contreras, dances in and shoots low past Wilke and Villa have their lead back. This is absolutely shocking. ASTON VILLA GOAL 1-2 HALFTIME - This is simply pathetic. We hold 53% of possession and a 10-7 (3-2 on target) shot advantage but the scoreline is in Villa's favour. I absolutely tear into the players at half, telling them I expect a result here and I want no excuses. 47' - I just can't believe what I'm watching. Teco, their midfielder having a "storming" game, just dances in and shoots weakly to the near corner and Wilke can't get there in time and it's IN. WTF?!?! ASTON VILLA GOAL 1-3 50' - Bolis gets away down the right and gets a cross into the box. Bamba heads it forcefully to goal but Kraljevic is there for the fine diving stop. 52' - We have possession at midfield and Andrea feeds a ball through the middle to a racing Chiquinho. He is being chased by defenders and tries the shot. It's going wide but hits Villa captain Phil Jones and deflects IN. Both teams have a deflected goal, this one counts as an own goal but we'll take it. DOVER GOAL 2-3 68' - Shaun Spall has been terrible so I take him out and bring in Wayne Rooney to play midfield. Also coming out is the completely invisible Shanon Andrea and in comes Paul Moses. 76' - Yellow card for Contreras for taking down Teco. 83' - I have young Lyubomir Kunchev ready to come on and I'm about to switch to an overload tactic when we feed Paul Moses. The young speedster bolts into the area and is tackled down by Phil Jones. Yellow card for Jones and that's a PENALTY!! With Cairney away on international duty, the next man up is Chiquinho. He fires it into the top left corner and IN! We dramatically pull level!!! DOVER GOAL 3-3 84' - Kunchev is in and Gianluca Bolis is out. I stay in a control mentality. 90' - Off a cleared corner, Wayne Rooney gets the ball and drills a shot back in and Kraljevic makes a brilliant, game-saving stop! The rebound is out to Bamba but he shoots WIDE! Ugh! We're fortunate to escape with a draw but I'm sure the neutrals loved this game. Dover 3 - 3 Aston Villa Goals - Chiquinho 2 (8.6), Phil Jones OG Assists - Chiquinho, Paul Moses (6.9) Man of the Match - Teco (Aston Villa AMC - 8.8) Other Dover Notables - Gian Marco Fanfoni (7.0), Arsene Bamba (7.1), Shaun Spall (5.9) Attendance - 16,575 For the game, we hold 54% of possession and a 18-13 (6-4 on target) shots edge. Teco was outstanding for them today. I'm so disappointed in GIanluca Bolis this year…what a letdown after such a highly decorated season last year. And Shanon Andrea did nothing again and I'm going to have to give serious consideration to having Paul Moses start more games for us. He's such a difference maker, even at 19 years young. -- In an absolute stunner, last placed Stoke defeat Manchester United 2-1! That allows us to pull level on points with them and we move ahead on goal differential. However, Arsenal win so they vault all the way from 5th into 2nd. It's THAT close in this bloody league right now! Sheffield Wednesday, our next opponents, defeat Tottenham in London 2-1 to maintain 6th place. Chelsea and Man City are idle but have a huge head-to-head matchup on Wednesday. BARCLAYS PREMIER LEAGUE - STANDINGS (ALL TEAMS HAVE PLAYED 28 GAMES UNLESS NOTED) 1. Chelsea - 65 points (27 games) 2. Arsenal - 61 points 3. Dover - 60 points 4. Manchester United - 60 points ---------------------------------------------------- 5. Manchester City - 58 points (27 games) 6. Sheffield Wednesday - 52 points 7. Sunderland - 44 points (27 games) ---------------------------------------------------- New Goalscoring King --I get a note that Chiquinho has set a new Dover record for most goals in a season with 25. Fantastic! Oh yeah, we still have two and a half months left in the season! That record, assuming he stays healthy, should be obliterated. Injury Update -- DR Steve Reed is close to returning to full fitness after twisting a knee. Same with Kostas Zagos (gashed lower leg). Andrea Rocca is still a couple weeks away from his return and I'm eager to see him come back. Rayane Hamon is about a month away (hip injury) as is Mancini (broken lower leg). -- And just like that, Steve Reed returns to full training. He's only a backup player but he'll get some time on our bench until some of our other players return. Champions League Update -- In First Knockout round action, Barcelona win 3-1 over OM in France to take command of that series while Man United beat Sevilla 2-0 away and have a firm grasp in that matchup. International Update -- Both Neil Cairney and Graham Allan represent Scotland in their 1-0 win over Northern Ireland in the Four Associations Tournament. They will both miss our FA Cup replay coming up tomorrow against Sheffield Wednesday. Next Up -- As mentioned, we are home to face Sheffield Wednesday in a FA Cup 4th Round replay at Crabble Athletic Ground.
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MY CURRENT FM19 DYNASTY - FM19: "Ludere causa Ludendi - To Play for the Sake of Playing" - Queen's Park FC (Scottish League Two) MY OLD FM11 DYNASTY - FM11: From Semi-Pro Minnows to the EPL - Dover Athletic FC My Personal Blog - Now on the Tee - Golf, Sports, Poker, Life 2006 GOLDEN SCRIBE AWARD WINNER FOR BEST 'OTHER SPORT' DYNASTY - EHM2005: Sharpening Swords in Buffalo |
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04-21-2014, 10:52 PM
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#339 |
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College Benchwarmer
Join Date: Dec 2002
Location: St. Catharines, Canada
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Wed. February 15, 2023
FA Cup - 4th Round Replay Dover (3rd in Premier League) vs. Sheffield Wednesday (6th in Premier League) Crabble Athletic Ground, Dover, UK Betting Odds: Dover: 4-5 (Favourites) Draw: N/A Sheffield Wednesday: 3-1 Past Meetings: 6W 3D 4L We tied Sheffield at Hillsborough a couple weeks ago, bringing on this replay. A couple weeks before that, we destroyed them 6-0 at Crabble and that must be one of the reasons for the betting line to be in our favour to such an extent. As usual, we'll have to watch for Steve Pates (18 goals) and Darijo Jukic (14 goals). Neil Cairney and Graham Allan are travelling back to the club today but will miss tonight's game. Emmerson Harvey is healthy again and will start in midfield. I'm also throwing Shaun Spall back out there - I have a Champions League match coming up next week and I'm saving Gian Marco Fanfoni for that contest. That said, Fanfoni will likely come on as a substitute at some point tonight. Paul Moses is in at striker for the way-out-of-form Shanon Andrea and I don't even have Andrea on the bench today. I also have Daniel Traore starting at DC today in place of Mohamed Lamine Yilmaz. The youngster Yilmaz has been very steady, for the most part, in relief of Traore and the still-injured Rayane Hamon but I'm giving Traore a chance today in a cup competition to regain his fitness. Manuel Perez will start in goal. Dover: 4-4-2 Control GK - M. Perez D - R. Gaucho, D. Traore, C. Contreras, S. Loucif M - A. Bamba, E. Harvey, S. Spall, G. Bolis S - P. Moses, Chiquinho Bench - M. Yilmaz, E. Agbo, G. Fanfoni, L. Kunchev, H. Cruz, W. Rooney, Z. Bardi No surprises for Sheffield, as they are in a 4-4-2 diamond with Pates and Jukic up front and Erwin Mulder in goal. I tell the team I expect a win tonight. 10' - A decent start for us but no great chances. Arsene Bamba avoids a tackle and cuts into the area but his sharp angled shot is turned aside by Mulder. 19' - The normally dangerous Simon Woodman, who is really better suited as a midfielder, is playing right fullback tonight and he allows Bamba past him for the second time already. It's a good rush and Bamba's cross is headed to goal by Paul Moses but Mulder is in good position again for the save. 23' - Some good passing, with Moses sending it to Emmerson Harvey and then it's laid off to Shaun Spall. His rocket is stopped well by Mulder. 27' - Spall again just outside the area and his one-touch shot is off the goal post! 30' - We've done everything but score, as we're completely dominating. Moses takes a little pass from Bamba and from a poor angle, shoots but Mulder makes the diving stop. HALFTIME - Utter domination everywhere but on the scoreboard, as we hold 60% of possession and a crazy 15-2 (6-0 on target) shot advantage. I tell the team they are outplaying them everywhere but we just need one goal. 52' - Sheffield keeper Erwin Mulder is en fuego today, as Bolis feeds a nice pass inside to Chiquinho and his hard shot is stopped. Great save! 63' - We just can't convert anything right now. Shaun Spall is out and Gian Marco Fanfoni comes in. 66' - Chiquinho with a great through ball to Bolis but his tight angle shot is once again saved by Mulder. 79' - Zoltan Bardi is in for Emmerson Harvey and will play midfield. 90' - With another FA Cup game possibly coming up in three days, I'm absolutely DREADING an overtime match but here we are. Chiquinho has it on an innocent looking rush down the right sideline and he reaches the byline before sending a cross into the area. For some reason, Sheffield decide not to even mark the ever-dangerous Paul Moses and our young striker takes a touch past Mulder then shoots into a yawning net for the shocking late goal! DOVER GOAL 1-0 90'+3 - I try to milk some time, taking out Chiquinho and bringing in Wayne Rooney. And that's it! We move on in the competition. Dover 1 - 0 Sheffield Wednesday Goals - Paul Moses (7.8) Assists - Chiquinho (7.0) Man of the Match - Paul Moses Other Dover Notables - Salim Loucif (7.2), Renato Gaucho (7.1), Arsene Bamba (7.1) Attendance - 12,612 We dominated the game but could only eke out the last minute goal. We held 55% of possession and a 32-3 (10-1 on target) shot advantage. We need to finish better but Mulder was excellent for Wednesday. We'll play Blackpool in the next round. -- We earn £92,000 for the win. Champions League Update --Dortmund beat Liverpool away 2-1 and Galatasaray SHOCK four-time defending champions Manchester City 2-1. WOW. City will need to get a positive result at home in the second leg to move on. Next Up -- We're right back at it in FA Cup play, as we face Championship side Blackpool in the 5th round at their stadium.
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MY CURRENT FM19 DYNASTY - FM19: "Ludere causa Ludendi - To Play for the Sake of Playing" - Queen's Park FC (Scottish League Two) MY OLD FM11 DYNASTY - FM11: From Semi-Pro Minnows to the EPL - Dover Athletic FC My Personal Blog - Now on the Tee - Golf, Sports, Poker, Life 2006 GOLDEN SCRIBE AWARD WINNER FOR BEST 'OTHER SPORT' DYNASTY - EHM2005: Sharpening Swords in Buffalo |
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04-22-2014, 12:32 AM
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#340 |
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College Benchwarmer
Join Date: Dec 2002
Location: St. Catharines, Canada
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Sat. February 18, 2023
FA Cup - 5th Round Blackpool (3rd in the Championship) vs. Dover (3rd in Premier League) Bloomfield Road, Blackpool, UK Betting Odds: Blackpool: 3-1 Draw: 2-1 Dover: 4-5 (Favourites) Past Meetings: 1W 0D 0L Interestingly enough, this is the first ever meaningful game between our two clubs, with our only previous matchup a preseason friendly back in 2019. Blackpool relegated from the Premier League just as we got promoted from the Championship five years ago and they are making a run at getting back to the top level with a fine performance so far this year in league play. They have a very prolific striker named Lazaros Sentementes, who has scored 20 times in 27 games. We'll have to watch him closely. Neil Cairney is finally back from international duty and will start today. With us playing a lower league club, I'm going to go with some backups, like Helder Cruz, Zoltan Bardi, Carlos Guzman and Mohamed Lamine Yilmaz along with some slumping players, most notably Gianluca Bolis and Shanon Andrea. I want to see something from those two guys today! We're going with a one striker formation today but will use a control mentality as favourites on the road. Dover: 4-4-2 DM (4-2-3-1) Control GK - I. Wilke D - C. Guzman, D. Traore, M. Yilmaz, S. Loucif M - N. Cairney, G. Fanfoni AM - H. Cruz, Z. Bardi, G. Bolis S - S. Andrea Bench - C. Contreras, K. Zagos, S. Spall, E. Harvey, A. Bamba, G. Allan, P. Moses Blackpool come out in a flat 4-4-1-1 with Sentementes up front. Uros Biscak is in goal. Lets do it for the travelling supporters today! 3' - Shanon Andrea gets ahead of the defence but is cut off. He attempts a cross but it deflects off a defender and right to fellow struggler Gianluca Bolis. The winger sends a blast to the far corner but it hits the goalpost and just misses going in the other side. That's what happens when you are slumping…bad break for Bolis! 7' - We win a corner and Cairney's cross is headed to the net by Zoltan Bardi. It hits a defender and deflects into the net. That's counted as an own goal - tough break for Bardi not to get credit but we'll take the lead. DOVER GOAL 1-0 9' - Yilmaz makes a great pass across to the left flank right onto the foot of Cruz. The left midfielder runs down the sidelines and feeds a gorgeous cross into the area to Andrea but his header is WIDE. Man. Snake bitten. 28' - Not much happening, as we continue to get chances and squander them. Blackpool midfielder Kenardo Forbes makes a beautiful pass through Yilmaz and Traore to send in their leading scorer Sentementes. He's in all alone and is clinical, putting it past a diving Ingo Wilke and it's IN. Blackpool pull level. BLACKPOOL GOAL 1-1 36' - We are taking these guys way too lightly and in a way, it's my fault for starting so many guys that are backups or slumping. There's another scramble in front of our net and Wilke just grabs the ball in time. We're getting outplayed by a Championship team. 37' - Just as I say that, one of the struggling players shows immense skill. Bolis takes the ball off a turnover around midfield and just SPEEDS through the middle and we have a 2 on 1 break, with Shanon Andrea to his left. Bolis dribbles all the way into the area and shoots and the ball curls past a diving Biscak and IN! Spectacular goal from our slumping winger and we're back ahead! DOVER GOAL 2-1 40' - Andrea and Bolis are at it again, as Andrea weaves in from midfield and feeds Bolis down the right. He cuts into the area and shoots but it's right at Biscak and he stops it. 42' - All of a sudden, there is END TO END ACTION! A crazy sequence culminates in Helder Cruz bolting down the left and feeding a ball into the middle. Zoltan Bardi is fouled in the box and the ref points to the penalty spot! Here comes Neil Cairney and he SCORES!!! DOVER GOAL 3-1 44' - We're too loose in the centre of our defence with Yilmaz and Traore and it's Sentementes getting loose again but Wilke makes a HUGE save. They win a corner and it's Kenardo Forbes getting another shot off but Wilke makes a SPECTACULAR save there too! Wow! 45' - Zoltan Bardi with a yellow card for a midfield take down. This game has gotten exciting. 45'+1 - Now Carlos Guzman, who is "playing nervously", gets a yellow. HALFTIME - Wild half, especially at the end. We only held 48% of the possession but outshoot Blackpool 9-6 (3-5 on target). Wilke and Helder Cruz were our best players in that half. I encourage the players to keep going in the dressing room. Blackpool drop back into a 5-3-2 formation to begin the second half. 51' - This Sentementes kid is playing great. Blackpool work a counter off a failed Cairney corner kick and Wilke again makes a tremendous save to keep us in a two goal lead. 60' - I get exactly what I was looking for, as Zoltan Bardi takes a pass from Cruz, then feeds the ball through the defence and there is Shanon Andrea. Our embattled striker bares in on goal and finishes perfectly into the corner past Biscak and in! Slump buster! DOVER GOAL 4-1 I take out Gianluca Bolis to save him for our Champions League game coming up and bring in Graham Allan. 72' - Now it's Neil Cairney coming off for Emmerson Harvey. 75' - We take down a man in our area but there is no call for some reason. He's holding his leg as we move swiftly up field and Andrea gets it at the midway line. He bolts into the zone and no one can catch him. He's in all alone but Biscak makes a spectacular stop to keep him from his brace. Great save. 77' - Out comes Fanfoni and in comes Shaun Spall. 85' - Helder Cruz, who has been very noticeable in a good way all game long, speeds down the left as we work a counter. He crosses and it's perfect again, right to the head of Andrea but it's deflected by a diving Biscak and it's off the crossbar and OUT. My goodness. Good result. Blackpool 1 - 4 Dover Goals - Gianluca Bolis (8.0), Neil Cairney PEN (7.8), Shanon Andrea (8.7) Assists - Zoltan Bardi 3 (8.6), Shanon Andrea Man of the Match - Shanon Andrea Other Dover Notables - Ingo Wilke (7.6), Salim Loucif (7.1), Mohamed Lamine Yilmaz (7.3), Daniel Traore (7.2), Carlos Guzman (7.0), Helder Cruz (7.1) Attendance - 15,414 A rare game where our opponents win possession, as we only had 48% of it but outshot them 18-10 (8-8 on target). Zoltan Bardi with three helpers today! -- We earn £184,000 for the win. -- In other FA Cup news, we see a blurb that indicates that Reading, who have won the FA Cup two years in a row, have set a new record, having gone unbeaten in 18 consecutive FA Cup games. Nuts! Dover U18 Update --Eddie Robinson scores a hat trick in a 6-0 win over West Ham's U18 club. David Smith bagged a brace and Joshua Stokes finished off the scoring. FA Cup - 6th Round Draw -- We've reached the quarterfinals but we're in for a battle, as we face our nemesis and the first placed club in our league, Chelsea. Thankfully, it will be in the comfy confines of Crabble Athletic Ground. Injury Update -- We're starting to get healthy! Andrea Rocca (hip) is close to returning to full fitness while our other key injured player, Rayane Hamon, will be back in a couple of weeks. Champions League Update -- In more First Knockout Round action, AZ and Atletico Madrid battle to a scoreless draw while visitors Real Madrid beat Sampdoria 1-0 to take hold of their series. Next Up -- We head to Lisbon, Portugal to take on their league's top club, Benfica, in Champions League First Round Knockout play.
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MY CURRENT FM19 DYNASTY - FM19: "Ludere causa Ludendi - To Play for the Sake of Playing" - Queen's Park FC (Scottish League Two) MY OLD FM11 DYNASTY - FM11: From Semi-Pro Minnows to the EPL - Dover Athletic FC My Personal Blog - Now on the Tee - Golf, Sports, Poker, Life 2006 GOLDEN SCRIBE AWARD WINNER FOR BEST 'OTHER SPORT' DYNASTY - EHM2005: Sharpening Swords in Buffalo |
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04-22-2014, 09:16 PM
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#341 |
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College Benchwarmer
Join Date: Dec 2002
Location: St. Catharines, Canada
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Wed. February 22, 2023
UEFA Champions League - First Knockout Round First Leg Benfica (1st in Portugal Liga ZON Sagres) vs. Dover (3rd in Premier League) Estadio do Sport Lisboa e Benfica, Lisbon, Portgual Betting Odds: Benfica: Evens (Favourites) Draw: 11-5 Dover: 11-5 Past Meetings: 0W 0D 0L Benfica are in a pretty good battle with Porto at the top of Portugal's top league, with Benfica currently leading by 3 points with a 15-2-2 record and looking for their fourth consecutive Liga ZON Sagres championship. They are two times Champions League winners (1961 & 1962) and finished runners up in 1990. This is a huge club by almost any measure, valued at £254 million (ranked 12th in the world) and they spent over £46 million so far in player signings for this season, notably spending £16.5 million on 23 year old DC Lorenzo Giacalone from Ascoli. Their leading scorer is striker Carlos Matto, who has 24 goals in 33 games but he's just returning to full training and won't play today. In his place will be 9 goal man Gustavo Garcia and I'll also be mindful of attacking midfielder Djamel El Hadjari, who has 11 goals in 32 matches. This is a deep club. We will start as good a lineup as possible today. Gian Marco Fanfoni will be in midfield and Kostas Zagos is at right fullback and Salim Loucif will play DC with Andrea Rocca and Rayane Hamon still nursing injuries. Otherwise it's our normal starters. Counter attacking mentality on the road today. Dover: 4-4-2 Counter GK - I. Wilke D - R. Gaucho, C. Contreras, S. Loucif, K. Zagos M - A. Bamba, N. Cairney, G. Fanfoni, G. Bolis S - S. Andrea, Chiquinho Bench - M. Yilmaz, D. Traore, S. Spall, E. Harvey, G. Allan, Z. Bardi, P. Moses Benfica come out in a 4-2-3-1 with Garcia up front and El Hadjari directly behind. The shocker is that leading scorer Carlos Matto is playing today at right wing despite being far from fully fit. I will instruct our players to tackle him hard - there's no way he can last more than a half and I'm wondering how effective he can be today. Gaston Monzon is their keeper. I tell the team they can win tonight and pull aside young Gian Marco Fanfoni to tell him I have faith in him tonight. 8' - We get an early chance with Shanon Andrea but he's on his weaker foot and the shot is turned aside by Monzon. 33' - No shots on goal for either side but we're doing well so far. Their lone striker Garcia is out of the game after a hard challenge by Salim Loucif that went without a foul call. On an ensuing play, Kostas Zagos gets a yellow card for a takedown. 45'+2 - Their striker substitute, Mohamed Said, gets past a sliding Loucif and is in on a race with Contreras. Said shoots but it's right at Wilke. HALFTIME - Couldn't be more dull. We held a whopping 59% of possession and outshoot them 5-4 (1-1 on target). Yawn. I tell the team I'm pleased but I'm thinking about opening it up a bit to try to get that coveted away goal. For now, I'll stick with this tactic and counter mentality. 48' - In a game of few chances, we get a free kick and Cairney's cross is headed just over by Gianluca Bolis. A legitimate chance there. 51' - Benfica has a corner and El Hadjari takes the kick. It's to the near post and super sub Said heads it into the yawning cage and Benfica lead. BENFICA GOAL 0-1 We need to move to a control mentality now. We need a goal. 54' - Chiquinho runs down the right, avoids a tackle by the left fullback and crosses into the box. It's a bit too far away from the goal line though and Bamba's header is easily saved by Monzon. 65' - Shanon Andrea with a yellow card now. We're generating nothing against these guys. 72' - Andrea is out and Paul Moses comes in. 73' - We get possession and Chiquinho feeds a ball into Moses. He simply BURSTS past the defender, gets into the area and shoots and it curls past Monzon into the right corner of the net! HOLY CRAP! Instant impact from Paul Moses and we're level!!! DOVER GOAL 1-1 We move back to a counter attack mentality. Benfica are now in a 5-3-2 with Matto up front. He's only at about 50% health right now but they've used all of their substitutes. 78' - Gianluca Bolis is out and in comes Graham Allan. 80' - Wilke has to make a diving stop off a Said shot. He's been excellent for them since coming on…very dangerous. 90' - Four minutes of extra time. We take out Gian Marco Fanfoni and bring in Shaun Spall. Good result! Benfica 1 - 1 Dover Goals - Paul Moses (7.3) Assists - Chiquinho (7.0) Man of the Match - Paul Moses Other Dover Notables - Arsene Bamba (7.0) Attendance - 62,917 We hold 57% of the possession but are outshot (a rare occurrence) 13-10 (5-4 on target). A very good result and a key away goal gives us an advantage heading home for the second leg! -- We will lose two players in the return leg due to yellow card accumulation. Both Shanon Andrea and Kostas Zagos will miss that contest. -- Benfica striker Gustavo Garcia suffered a torn calf muscle on that challenge from Salim Loucif. He'll miss FIVE MONTHS of action for them - it was a brutal challenge and I'm lucky Loucif didn't get a red card. Premier League Update --Man City beats up on Chelsea 3-0, a good result for us despite the fact that City move ahead of us. We drop to fourth place but stay five points back of first on the table. It will be super competitive for the coveted Champions League positions for next year between us, Chelsea, United, City and Arsenal. Injury Update -- Both Andrea Rocca and Mancini have resumed light training. Rocca is closer to being back but it's great to see some progress finally being made. Rayane Hamon is our only player not taking part in training right now. Dover U18 Update -- The kids win 5-2 over MK Dons U18s. Striker Tomas Liska scores a hat trick in the game and new midfielder Felix Hernandez scores a pair. Premier League Update -- As we prepare for our League Cup final, Premier League play goes on and Chelsea get back on the winning track with a 1-0 win over Everton. Sheffield Wednesday also win 3-1 over Sunderland to maintain their hold on 6th place. Next Up -- We head to a sold out Wembley Stadium to face Arsenal in our first ever League Cup final!
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MY CURRENT FM19 DYNASTY - FM19: "Ludere causa Ludendi - To Play for the Sake of Playing" - Queen's Park FC (Scottish League Two) MY OLD FM11 DYNASTY - FM11: From Semi-Pro Minnows to the EPL - Dover Athletic FC My Personal Blog - Now on the Tee - Golf, Sports, Poker, Life 2006 GOLDEN SCRIBE AWARD WINNER FOR BEST 'OTHER SPORT' DYNASTY - EHM2005: Sharpening Swords in Buffalo |
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04-22-2014, 11:20 PM
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#342 |
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College Benchwarmer
Join Date: Dec 2002
Location: St. Catharines, Canada
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Sun. February 26, 2023
League Cup - FINALS Arsenal (3rd in Premier League) vs. Dover (4th in Premier League) Wembley Stadium, London, England Betting Odds: Arsenal: 4-6 (Favourites) Draw: N/A Dover: 7-2 Past Meetings: 3W 2D 8L Arsenal are big favourites today and have beaten us three straight times after our ridiculous 6-0 win at home over them last year. They've only lost one of their last 15 matches across all competitions so they are in fine form. Midfielder Jack Wilshere is their leading scorer with 13 goals and striker/defender Nchimunya Munyao has 10 goals in 37 games. They are completely healthy for today's contest. They aren't a high scoring team and play close to the vest. We go with the exact same lineup as the Benfica game with one exception: Paul Moses will start today. He deserves it - plus, I have a midweek game against Manchester United that Moses isn't eligible for so I'll use him today. Counter mentality to start. Dover: 4-4-2 Counter GK - I. Wilke D - R. Gaucho, C. Contreras, S. Loucif, K. Zagos M - A. Bamba, N. Cairney, G. Fanfoni, G. Bolis S - P. Moses, Chiquinho Bench - D. Traore, S. Spall, E. Harvey, H. Cruz, G. Allan, Z. Bardi, S. Andrea Very interesting. Arsenal are in a 4-5-1 formation with a DMC and they seem to be starting a squad filled with a bunch of second teamers. Boakye is alone up front - no Wilshere…no Munyao either and neither are even on the bench! Renan is in goal…wild. They still have a lot of talent so I won't be complacent but this is a winnable game. Lets do it for the fans! 4' - Moses gets the ball at midfield and he's GONE! Arsenal defenders catch up to him as he reaches the penalty area and he's forced to round the keeper to his weaker left side and ends up shooting into the side netting. Great chance. 13' - Off a failed corner, we move the ball back in to a retreating Renato Gaucho and his shot is saved by Renan. 17' - Arsenal have an extended period of possession and are playing keep away. Aaron Ramsey moves it up to Boakye and he turns to his right side on Contreras and lets a rocket off that is in the top corner. Great shot, great buildup and we're down. ARSENAL GOAL 0-1 36' - Off a throw in, we move it to Chiquinho and he lets loose with a blast but it's saved very well by Renan. 39' - Paul Moses is given a yellow card. 42' - We win a corner and Cairney's kick is headed toward goal by Contreras and on the way, it deflects off Paul Moses and it's IN!!! Yes! DOVER GOAL 1-1 HALFTIME - Sitting back, we hold only 49% of possession and they outshoot us 8-7 (1-3 on target). We're better than these guys - at least with this lineup that they've put out. I am changing to a control mentality and will try to play a more aggressive style in the second half. Lets bring home this trophy for our supporters! 51' - Moses with a BULLET from just outside the area but Renan is in good position and bumps it to safety. 59' - Cairney with a free kick from way out and his curling shot is destined for the left corner but it's saved "with style" by Renan. So close!! 60' - Boakye with a low hard blast and Wilke makes the great stop! 63' - My assistant claims that Chiquinho and Kostas Zagos are playing "nervously" and it's in evidence when Paul Moses feeds a beauty pass into the area and Chiquinho essentially whiffs on it. Come on Chiquinho! 64' - Gian Marco Fanfoni with a yellow card. 65' - Arsene Bamba is banged up a bit so in comes Helder Cruz. 66' - Wilke with a HUGE save off a Ramsey blast! 72' - We have possession in the middle of the field and move the ball around nicely. Gianluca Bolis sends it back to Fanfoni and he touches the ball over to Neil Cairney. From about ten yards outside the area, Cairney unleashes a vicious shot and it goes into the top left hand corner of the net past a sprawling Renan and we have A LEAD! What a shot! DOVER GOAL 2-1 75' - Neil Cairney with a yellow now, our third of the game. Time to dial down the aggression a bit. 78' - We have another corner and Cairney's cross is to the near post. Chiquinho heads it and it's over to the far post and headed again by Claudio Contreras and it's IN THE NET!! Holy crap!!! We have a two goal lead! DOVER GOAL 3-1 Arsenal move to a 4-2-4 formation. We move to a counter attacking mentality. 83' - Zoltan Bardi is in for Paul Moses. 90' - Shaun Spall is in and Gian Marco Fanfoni is out. Three minutes of extra time. Hold them off!!! 90'+2 - Chiquinho with a yellow card. That's it! DOVER WIN THE LEAGUE CUP!!!!!!!!! Arsenal 1 - 3 Dover Goals - Paul Moses (7.5), Neil Cairney (8.5), Claudio Contreras (8.8) Assists - Claudio Contreras, Gian Marco Fanfoni (7.8), Neil Cairney Man of the Match - Claudio Contreras Other Dover Notables - Renato Gaucho (7.0) Attendance - 90,000 We only held 45% of possession but ended up outshooting them 16-13 (7-3 on target), as we dialled up the aggression in the second half. SENSATIONAL! Contreras was a beast today. -- We won three FA Trophies back in our non-league days but this qualifies as our first major cup victory. Just a sensational moment for the club and the supporters are singing my name in the streets!  The board also state that they want to "ensure the manager is able to fully concentrate on preparing the club for future challenges". Sounds good to me!-- We are given £103,000 for the victory. Who cares…just pass me the damn trophy! We pay out a squad bonus of £145,000 for the win. -- With this win, we are guaranteed a spot in next year's Europa League. Obviously, we have bigger goals than the Europa! Premier League Update --Reading SHOCK Manchester City 2-0 in news very welcomed by us here at Dover! Lets take a look at the current table. BARCLAYS PREMIER LEAGUE - STANDINGS (ALL TEAMS HAVE PLAYED 29 GAMES UNLESS NOTED) 1. Chelsea - 68 points 2. Manchester City - 61 points 3. Arsenal - 61 points (28 games) 4. Dover - 60 points (28 games) ---------------------------------------------------- 5. Manchester United - 60 points (28 games) 6. Sheffield Wednesday - 55 points 7. Reading - 44 points ---------------------------------------------------- Injury Update -- Andrea Rocca returns to full training! He'll likely need some time to regain match fitness but it's great having him back. That said, Gian Marco Fanfoni has been a revelation in his place and deserves some playing time going forward. Dover U18 Update -- The kids win 5-2 over MK Dons U18s. Striker Tomas Liska scores a hat trick in the game and new midfielder Felix Hernandez scores a pair. March Update -- We have a ridiculously difficult schedule ahead of us, especially considering the quality of our opposition. We only have three Premier League games but look at our opponents: Manchester United (away), Liverpool (home) and Arsenal (away). We have an FA Cup Quarterfinals matchup at home versus Premier League leading Chelsea and we have the second leg of our Champions League First Knockout Round matchup at home versus Benfica. So only five games, which isn't bad but they are all toughies. -- I get positive training notices for Gianluca Bolis, Graham Allan and U18 players Damian Thorne, Sean Woolley and Geoff Williams. Negative reports come in for Andrea Rocca and Wayne Rooney. I'll give Rocca a pass since he was injured for two months straight and just returned to full training. Premier League Monthly Awards -- Man City's Yahia Traore wins Player of the Month honours after scoring four goals in three games. -- Burnley winger Jozef Durica wins Young Player of the Month. Our own Mohamed Lamine Yilmaz finishes third! Great honour for Yilmaz! -- Paul Moses continues to add to his resume, notching the Premier League Goal of the Month for his beauty against Reading on February 4th. -- Reading manager Bernd Schuster wins Manager of the Month honours and they had a win against us in February among their 3-0-0 record. March Board Confidence Update -- The board are very pleased with my overall leadership. Our League Cup win is the highlight and they are still disappointed with young Lyubomir Kunchev. Poor kid - he's been great so far for the U18s. -- We lost £535,000 last month. Next Up -- We head to Old Trafford to face Manchester United in a key Premier League matchup.
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MY CURRENT FM19 DYNASTY - FM19: "Ludere causa Ludendi - To Play for the Sake of Playing" - Queen's Park FC (Scottish League Two) MY OLD FM11 DYNASTY - FM11: From Semi-Pro Minnows to the EPL - Dover Athletic FC My Personal Blog - Now on the Tee - Golf, Sports, Poker, Life 2006 GOLDEN SCRIBE AWARD WINNER FOR BEST 'OTHER SPORT' DYNASTY - EHM2005: Sharpening Swords in Buffalo Last edited by NoSkillz : 04-24-2014 at 10:22 AM. |
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04-23-2014, 03:06 AM
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#343 |
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Pro Starter
Join Date: Jan 2001
Location: Rennes, France
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Congrats on that first big Trophy !
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04-25-2014, 07:39 PM
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#344 |
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College Benchwarmer
Join Date: Dec 2002
Location: St. Catharines, Canada
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Wed. March 1, 2023
Barclays Premier League Manchester United (18-6-4, 60 points, 5th) vs. Dover (18-6-4, 60 points, 4th) Old Trafford, Manchester, England Betting Odds: Manchester united: 4-7 (Favourites) Draw: 5-2 Dover: 4-1 Past Meetings: 3W 2D 8L After starting with 8 consecutive losses against United, things have swung around in our favour lately and we're undefeated in our last five matches against the traditional powerhouse. I'm knocking on wood as I write that! United were uncharacteristically quiet during the transfer windows this year, buying only four players in total and they took away Said Henni from us when the January window opened. He's only played two league games for them so far - perhaps not a smart move on his part to leave but hey, whatever floats your boat I guess! United continue to be led by veteran striker Yaya Sanogo, who has 29 goals in 31 games this year. They are huge favourites today at home and we'll be in tough to get a result. Paul Moses is ineligible to play against his parent club so we'll be going with our normal strike force of Shanon Andrea and Chiquinho today. Andrea Rocca will be on the bench for today's game but he's still trying to regain match fitness so Gian Marco Fanfoni will be in again today. Counter attacking mentality on the road against a big favourite today. Dover: 4-4-2 Counter GK - I. Wilke D - R. Gaucho, C. Contreras, S. Loucif, K. Zagos M - A. Bamba, N. Cairney, G. Fanfoni, G. Bolis S - S. Andrea, Chiquinho Bench - D. Traore, M. Yilmaz, A. Rocca, E. Harvey, H. Cruz, G. Allan, Z. Bardi United are in a flat 4-4-2 with Sanogo and Tom Bull up front. Said Henni is starting at left midfield and Liviu Dragomir is in goal, with normal keeper Emiliano Viviano sitting on the bench today. I tell the team they can win this game! It's POURING rain today. 1' - Omar Hernandez with a rocket right off the opening kick and Wilke needs to be sharp right away. 3' - Yaya Sanogo tackles Salim Loucif down and play is allowed to continue. Sanogo dribbles up field and Claudio Contreras, moving over to help the fallen Loucif, allows Tom Bull to get loose. Sanogo finds him with a pass and he's in on goal and makes no mistake. Terrible non-call on Sanogo and we're down early. MANCHESTER UNITED GOAL 0-1 20' - The ref has now allowed two clear United fouls to go without calls but Shanon Andrea takes a man down and is immediately given a yellow. The Old Trafford effect is in place tonight. 39' - Some decent chances on both sides but no shots on goal. Hernandez gets off a shot from just outside the area and Wilke turns it aside. HALFTIME - Not a great half. United are controlling the game and held 54% of the ball while outshooting us 11-4 (4-0 on target). I tell the team that I want to see more from them in the second half but resist the urge to change tactics, at least for the moment. I'll give them 15 more minutes in a counter attacking mentality but will switch if we're still down later in the half. 56' - Off a Wilke goal kick, Omar Hernandez heads it back over our defence. Salim Loucif has half a step on Sanogo BUT FALLS DOWN while running back and now Sanogo has a clear cut breakaway. He won't miss that and he doesn't. 30th goal of the year for Sanogo and we're in big trouble. MANCHESTER UNITED GOAL 0-2 60' - I switch to a control mentality. We need to score at least one in the next little bit if we have any chance. 66' - Well, this isn't going well at all. Still no shots on target for us. I start looking ahead and out come both Arsene Bamba and Neil Cairney and in come Helder Cruz and a returning Andrea Rocca. 76' - Still nothing. Renato Gaucho is off and Daniel Traore is in. 84' - Substitute striker Ishak Belfodil cuts in on Wilke and our keeper makes a great stop. 86' - Seconds after watching Shanon Andrea miss a wide open Chiquinho on a through ball, I slap my head in frustration when Helder Cruz loses track of the sideline and just dribbles out of bounds. Then, we give up a free kick and for some reason, Eden Hazard is completely unmarked and he simply slots the ball into the back of the net. This is a disaster of a game. MANCHESTER UNITED GOAL 0-3 Just a complete DUD. Manchester United 3 - 0 Dover Goals - Assists - Man of the Match - Omar Hernandez (Manchester United MC - 8.4) Other Dover Notables - Neil Cairney (7.2), Kostas Zagos (5.7) Attendance - 73,124 It was all United, as they held 54% of possession and outshot us 25-6 (7-0 on target). One of the most disjointed and flat performances I've seen from our club in some time. We were always a step behind. In hindsight, I should have started a fresher squad, as we've had a long run of games and are coming off a Cup win so there was bound to be a letdown. -- Sunderland beat Huddersfield 3-0 to climb back into 7th spot. We have dropped out of the Champions League positions and are now in fifth. BARCLAYS PREMIER LEAGUE - STANDINGS (ALL TEAMS HAVE PLAYED 29 GAMES UNLESS NOTED) 1. Chelsea - 68 points 2. Manchester United - 63 points 3. Manchester City - 61 points 4. Arsenal - 61 points (28 games) ---------------------------------------------------- 5. Dover - 60 points 6. Sheffield Wednesday - 55 points 7. Sunderland - 47 points ---------------------------------------------------- Next Up -- We are surprising underdogs at home versus Liverpool, who are languishing in the mid-table.
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MY CURRENT FM19 DYNASTY - FM19: "Ludere causa Ludendi - To Play for the Sake of Playing" - Queen's Park FC (Scottish League Two) MY OLD FM11 DYNASTY - FM11: From Semi-Pro Minnows to the EPL - Dover Athletic FC My Personal Blog - Now on the Tee - Golf, Sports, Poker, Life 2006 GOLDEN SCRIBE AWARD WINNER FOR BEST 'OTHER SPORT' DYNASTY - EHM2005: Sharpening Swords in Buffalo Last edited by NoSkillz : 04-25-2014 at 07:40 PM. |
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04-25-2014, 09:48 PM
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#345 |
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College Benchwarmer
Join Date: Dec 2002
Location: St. Catharines, Canada
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Sat. March 4, 2023
Barclays Premier League Dover (18-6-5, 60 points, 5th) vs. Liverpool (11-7-11, 40 points, 10th) Crabble Athletic Ground, Dover, England Betting Odds: Dover: 13-8 Draw: 2-1 Liverpool: 6-4 (Favourites) Past Meetings: 4W 2D 8L We got a rare away win at Liverpool, 2-0, earlier this season and that set the tone for a VERY disappointing season for the Reds so far. That said, they are still hanging around in the Champions League, having reached the knockout stages, like us. Three of their strikers have 11 goals to lead the club, including newcomer Cheikh Bocande. We have some VERY tired players today but I would have made changes anyway after the disastrous game against United midweek. We're going with a one striker formation today, with Paul Moses up front and Zoltan Bardi directly behind him. Graham Allan is in for the ineffective Gianluca Bolis while Andrea Rocca, despite being unfit, will start alongside Neil Cairney in midfield. Daniel Traore is in at DC. Despite being underdogs, we'll go with a control mentality today, as we look to play aggressive football at home. Dover: 4-4-2 DM (4-2-3-1) Control GK - I. Wilke D - R. Gaucho, D. Traore, C. Contreras, S. Loucif M - N. Cairney, A. Rocca AM - A. Bamba, Z. Bardi, G. Allan S - P. Moses Bench - K. Zagos, M. Yilmaz, S. Spall, E. Harvey, H. Cruz, W. Rooney, Chiquinho Liverpool come out in the same 4-2-3-1 look as us but have Greek forward James Efmorfidis up front, a man I haven't seen before. He's co-leader on the team with 11 goals. Jonvo Shelvey is right behind him at AMC and is always dangerous and the super tough Chris Dunn is in goal. I tell the team I expect a much better performance today in front of our home fans. 14' - Liverpool right midfielder Erik Koning with a shot from just outside the area and Wilke has to dive to make the save. Liverpool are controlling most of the possession in the early going on our pitch…not happy… 21' - Efmorfidis takes a long prayer from halfway in our end and it's off the crossbar. Sheesh. 22' - Now Wilke is forced to make a nice save off a headed corner. COME ON GUYS! No shots on goal for over 110 minutes now for us. 28' - Koning is dribbling in and Renato Gaucho tackles the ball away from him and the ball squirts into the area. There are no Dover players there and that allows Bo Quattara to latch onto it, round Wilke and easily deposit the ball into the back of our net. We are simply getting outplayed and I'm FURIOUS. LIVERPOOL GOAL 0-1 34' - This is HORRIFIC. We're gifting possession, with giveaways galore. Graham Allan loses the ball and Cairney takes down a man. Yellow card for Cairney. Still no shots on goal today and this is now almost 125 minutes without a shot on target. 45' - I think we're finally getting our chance, as Moses takes a Cairney pass at midfield and avoids a tackle. He sprints in on goal and shoots HIGH. My god. Liverpool boot the goal kick up field but we regain possession. Salim Loucif sends a long ball up to Moses and he's GONE! He's in all alone for the second time in a minute and this time his shot is on target and IN!!! Late half drama! DOVER GOAL 1-1 HALFTIME - Just as I was about to read the riot act, we score. We're outplayed severely by visiting Liverpool, as they hold 52% of possession and a 10-6 (4-1 on target) shot advantage over us. I reiterate to the team that we're in the entertainment business and I switch tactics, moving to a flat 4-4-2 with a control mentality. 49' - Erik Koning haas been very effective for Liverpool and he again forces Wilke into a fine stop. 53' - We start a counter off a LIverpool miscue at midfield and it's Rocca feeding it up the right to Allan. He cuts in and shoots but it's right at Dunn and he fists it out. However, it is right on the golden foot of Paul Moses and our young striker one touches it into the empty net and we ahead on his second of the game!! DOVER GOAL 2-1 Liverpool move to a weird looking 4-1-2-1-2, with no one out wide. 57' - Rocca has a free kick and it's into the wall. It deflects out to Neil Cairney and his shot from distance is off the woodwork!!! 62' - Andrea Rocca is exhausted so he's out and young Emmerson Harvey comes in. 67' - We are in complete control this half and some brilliant work by Bamba on the left side sets up Paul Moses right in front. He's got no room and his hard shot is stopped by Dunn! 76' - Allan gets away down the right again and crosses into the box. It's through the entire defence and Bamba is right there with a sitter but Chris Dunn DIVES HEADLONG TO MAKE THE SPECTACULAR SAVE! Holy crap - seriously one of the best saves I've seen in ages! 82' - Zoltan Bardi is out and Wayne Rooney is in. 84' - Man. Liverpool with a cross deep into the area to substitute Sokratis Papastathopoulos (what a mouthful!) and his header is saved in brilliant fashion by Wilke. There's a rebound and we clear it to safety just in time. We switch to a counter attacking mentality. 89' - My god I'm going to have a heart attack. Liverpool send a long ball up and our defence look like they've never played an organized game before, as two of their men are behind them. Shelvey is in all alone and beats Wilke but it hits the post! The ball deflects back out and Shelvey has another chance from point blank range but shoots right at the recovering Wilke and it's behind the net for a corner! We clear that to safety, thankfully! 90'+1 - With three extra minutes on the clock, we take out Cairney and bring in Shaun Spall to milk some more time. It works and we escape with a win thanks to Moses. Dover 2 - 1 Liverpool Goals - Paul Moses 2 (8.8) Assists - Salim Loucif (7.7), Graham Allan (7.0) Man of the Match - Paul Moses Other Dover Notables - Ingo Wilke (8.2), Claudio Contreras (7.0), Daniel Traore (7.0), Zoltan Bardi (7.0) Attendance - 19,181 We had a good second half and ended up with 52% of overall possession and a 18-17 (6-7 on target) shot advantage. Good stuff. Moses continues to blossom and at this point, I'm really thinking of giving Moses more of our first team reps. Wilke was sensational as well. -- Chelsea can only muster a scoreless draw against Spurs but they maintain their hold on first place. United and City both win but Arsenal and Stoke battle to a spirited 3-3 draw. We move ahead of the Gunners into fourth place but they continue to have a game in hand on us. BARCLAYS PREMIER LEAGUE - STANDINGS (ALL TEAMS HAVE PLAYED 30 GAMES UNLESS NOTED) 1. Chelsea - 69 points 2. Manchester United - 66 points 3. Manchester City - 64 points 4. Dover - 63 points ---------------------------------------------------- 5. Arsenal - 62 points (29 games) 6. Sheffield Wednesday - 58 points 7. Sunderland - 50 points ---------------------------------------------------- 8. Reading - 44 points (29 games) 9. Aston Villa - 44 points 10. Liverpool - 40 points 11. Tottenham - 40 points 12. Everton - 34 points (29 games) 13. Newcastle - 33 points 14. Wolves - 32 points 15. Middlesbrough - 30 points 16. Huddersfield - 28 points 17. Birmingham - 24 points ---------------------------------------------------- 18. Derby - 21 points (29 games) 19. Burnley - 16 points 20. Stoke - 12 points Premier League Team of the Week -- GK Ingo Wilke is named to the Barclays Premier League team of the week for his excellent display against Liverpool. Injury Update -- The news I've been waiting for! Rayane Hamon returns to full training!!! We've missed him in the middle of our defence so much! MC Mancini is our only injury now and he's close to a return as well. Champions League Update -- Barcelona draw at home versus OM 1-1 but win 4-2 on aggregate to move on to the quarterfinals. Joining them are Manchester United, who win 2-1 at Old Trafford over Sevilla and take the two game set 4-1 on aggregate. Man City storm back after losing in Turkey, beating Galatasaray 3-0 at home to win 4-2 on aggregate. And finally, Dortmund and Liverpool battle to a 2-2 draw but Dortmund move on with a 4-3 edge on aggregate. Next Up -- We have an FA Cup sixth round matchup against Premier League leading Chelsea, with the match taking place here at Crabble Athletic Ground.
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MY CURRENT FM19 DYNASTY - FM19: "Ludere causa Ludendi - To Play for the Sake of Playing" - Queen's Park FC (Scottish League Two) MY OLD FM11 DYNASTY - FM11: From Semi-Pro Minnows to the EPL - Dover Athletic FC My Personal Blog - Now on the Tee - Golf, Sports, Poker, Life 2006 GOLDEN SCRIBE AWARD WINNER FOR BEST 'OTHER SPORT' DYNASTY - EHM2005: Sharpening Swords in Buffalo |
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04-25-2014, 11:07 PM
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#346 |
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College Benchwarmer
Join Date: Dec 2002
Location: St. Catharines, Canada
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Sat. March 11, 2023
FA Cup - Sixth Round Dover (4th in Premier League) vs. Chelsea (1st in Premier League) Crabble Athletic Ground, Dover, England Betting Odds: Dover: 7-4 Draw: 11-5 Chelsea: 5-4 (Favourites) Past Meetings: 2W 2D 7L We had an exciting 3-2 win over Chelsea at home earlier this year with only 10 men and we'll look to build upon that today against the league leaders in FA Cup action. They have one injury and it's to influential winger Luis Carballo but he could play today. As usual, Romelu Lukaku is the danger man up front with 15 goals. With the exception of midfielder Mancini, we have a full complement of players. Rayane Hamon and Andrea Rocca are both still working to get back to full fitness but I'll be playing both players today. Shanon Andrea is up front with Chiquinho. Basically, with the exception of Manuel Perez in goal, we have a full starting lineup in today. Dover: 4-4-2 Control GK - M. Perez D - R. Gaucho, C. Contreras, R. Hamon, S. Loucif M - A. Bamba, N. Cairney, A. Rocca, G. Bolis S - S. Andrea, Chiquinho Bench - K. Zagos, D. Traore, S. Spall, G. Fanfoni, H. Cruz, G. Allan, P. Moses Chelsea are in their normal 4-4-2 DM with Lukaku up front alone, Miguel Sousa on the right wing and tough keeper Rafael Romo in goal. I tell the team to play well for the home fans and pull aside the struggling Andrea and Chiquinho to tell them I have faith in their goal scoring abilities. 1' - Chelsea make the first move, with Lukaku feeding Sousa coming late into the area but his shot is right at Perez and he saves easily. 11' - Off a free kick, the ball is sent back out and Renato Gaucho gets off a rocket but Romo dives full out to make the save! Wow. Great shot by Renato Gaucho! 16' - We are CLEARLY up for this game and playing well and I'm especially pleased that guys like Bolis and Andrea are looking good in the early goings. We have the ball out wide to the left and Bamba attempts a cross. Romo tries to push it away and does but it's right on the foot of Chiquinho and our leading scorer quickly boots the ball into the net and we have an early lead! DOVER GOAL 1-0 38' - Gianluca Bolis and Chiquinho with a nice give and go and Bolis' hard, low shot is turned aside by Romo. 45' - We send a long ball up field and Andrea latches onto it. He cuts into the area but is forced to his weaker foot as he gets a shot off on Romo. The save is made but there is another rebound and there is Chiquinho AGAIN, in the right place at the right time and he has his second! DOVER GOAL 2-0 HALFTIME - We are playing beautiful football today! 55% of possession is in our favour and a 13-6 (5-4 on target) shot advantage. I tell the lads I'm pleased! 49' - Shanon Andrea with a curling shot from outside the area and it's off the crossbar, then off the back of Romo and back off the crossbar again!!! WOW! Andrea just can't catch a break these days! 53' - Sousa gets through our defence and is in on goal but PEREZ with the splendid save!!! 67' - We work a counter attack and it's Chiquinho headmanning it up to Andrea. He speeds in and shoots and Romo saves but Chiquinho has the rebound. He's looking for his hat trick but Romo recovers, dives and makes the HUGE save! 70' - Rocca is out and Gian Marco Fanfoni is in. 73' - Chelsea work the ball on a counter up the left side and feed it up to Lukaku. Perez comes out to challenge him and Lukaku goes for the lob and just as it's about to go in, Renato Gaucho gets there and boots the ball off the post and OUT! Whew!! 79' - The brilliant Chiquinho has it at midfield and sends a GORGEOUS ball through the defence and Shanon Andrea speeds after it. It's a clear breakaway and our recently snake-bitten striker is in, rounds Romo and shoots into the far corner and IN! That's Andrea's 20th of the year and this game is put to bed! Great pass by Chiquinho, the easy man of the match choice! DOVER GOAL 3-0 Daniel Traore comes in for Rayane Hamon. 81' - We work a QUICK counter and it's Bamba streaking down the left. He crosses through the box and there is Chiquinho, with a completely wide open net for his hat trick and it's HIGH OFF THE CROSS BAR AND OUT! Oh my! Haha! 83' - Helder Cruz is on for the excellent Arsene Bamba. 85' - Well, we can't say Chiquinho isn't getting his chances today! Neil Cairney has a free kick and Chiquinho heads it over the bar. Another glorious chance! Great game! Dover 3 - 0 Chelsea Goals - Chiquinho 2 (9.3), Shanon Andrea (8.3) Assists - Arsene Bamba (8.2), Chiquinho, Shanon Andrea Man of the Match - Chiquinho Other Dover Notables - Manuel Perez (7.6), Salim Loucif (7.3), Rayane Hamon (7.1), Claudio Contreras (7.4), Renato Gaucho (7.4), Gianluca Bolis (7.0), Neil Cairney (7.4) Attendance - 18,163 Possession was dead even but we outshoot Chelsea 24-10 (10-6 on target). That's about as comprehensive a win as you can get against a league leader and we were definitely the better team today. Great to see Shanon Andrea play with some fire today and Perez was excellent in goal. -- We are given £367,000 for the victory. Dover U18 Team Update -- Our U18 team defeat Oxford 5-0 behind a brace from Eddie Robinson. Lyubomir Kunchev, Ben Patterson and Mwemere Mutesa notch singles. FA Cup - Semi Final Draw -- We will face Huddersfield in the FA Cup semi final at Wembley Stadium in mid-April. Manchester City will face the winner of the replay between two-time consecutive champions Reading and Newcastle. Champions League Update -- In two more matches, Atletico Madrid beat AZ 3-2 in a thriller to move on while Real Madrid and Sampdoria battle to a scoreless draw. Madrid move on to the next round by one goal on aggregate. Next Up -- We welcome Benfica to Crabble Athletic Ground for the second leg of the Champions League First Round Knockout, with the score currently deadlocked at one apiece.
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MY CURRENT FM19 DYNASTY - FM19: "Ludere causa Ludendi - To Play for the Sake of Playing" - Queen's Park FC (Scottish League Two) MY OLD FM11 DYNASTY - FM11: From Semi-Pro Minnows to the EPL - Dover Athletic FC My Personal Blog - Now on the Tee - Golf, Sports, Poker, Life 2006 GOLDEN SCRIBE AWARD WINNER FOR BEST 'OTHER SPORT' DYNASTY - EHM2005: Sharpening Swords in Buffalo Last edited by NoSkillz : 04-25-2014 at 11:11 PM. |
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04-26-2014, 12:40 AM
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#347 |
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College Benchwarmer
Join Date: Dec 2002
Location: St. Catharines, Canada
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Wed. March 15, 2023
UEFA Champions League - First Knockout Round Second Leg Dover (1) vs. (1) Benfica Crabble Athletic Ground, Dover, England Betting Odds: Dover: 6-4 (Favourites) Draw: 2-1 Benfica: 13-8 Past Meetings: 0W 1D 0L Benfica have pulled away in the Liga ZON Sagres, sitting with a 7 point lead on the table over rivals Porto and have already guaranteed a Europa League spot. I expect a full lineup today from Benfica, including leading scorer Carlos Matto, who has 26 goals in 38 total appearances thus far. Shanon Andrea and Kostas Zagos are suspended for today's game due to yellow card accumulation. Paul Moses will start at striker alongside Chiquinho and Ingo Wilke is back in goal, otherwise we'll start the same lineup as the Chelsea game. Control mentality at home. Dover: 4-4-2 Control GK - I. Wilke D - R. Gaucho, C. Contreras, R. Hamon, S. Loucif M - A. Bamba, N. Cairney, A. Rocca, G. Bolis S - P. Moses, Chiquinho Bench - D. Traore, M. Yilmaz, S. Spall, G. Fanfoni, G. Allan, W. Rooney, Z. Bardi Benfica are in a 4-2-3-1 formation with Careca (!?) up front. The 24 year old Italian has only started 11 games this year and only 1 in Champions League play. A bit of a roll of the dice in my opinion. Matto is playing right wing today and Gaston Monzon is back in goal. My assistant wants me to encourage the team today so I'll go with it. 5' - We get an early free kick and Rocca's shot is cleared out. We get it back and Neil Cairney fires with his left foot but Monzon makes the stop. Seconds later, we are in the area again and Bolis has a shot stopped, then Chiquinho follows with a rocket off the post and the rebound is ALSO sent off the post by Bolis!!! WOWOW!!! 10' - And in another WOWOWOW moment, Neil Cairney is fouled at midfield on an innocent looking play but Michal Bognar is given a STRAIGHT RED CARD!!! Wow! He must have elbowed Cairney and I'll have to check that out in the game recap afterwards. Benfica are down to ten men!!! 11' - Chiquinho with a great pass through to Bolis and his shot is turned aside by Monzon. Matto, by the way, is playing forward now and Benfica are playing the same 4-2-3-1 formation, only without a right winger. 14' - Matto with a dangerous rush up the left, into the area and he lays it off to Djamel El Hadjari but his shot is WIDE. Yikes. Come on guys! 21' - We win a corner and Rocca crosses to the far post and there is little Arsene Bamba, heading it past Monzon and IN! DOVER GOAL 1-0 (2-1 AGGREGATE) Now Benfica are playing with only one MC but have three attacking mids. 23' - We work a counter and Bolis has the ball. He's in the area, reaches the byline and tries to cross it into the middle but it hits defender Pedro Garcia and deflects into the net! That's an own goal and we're ahead by TWO!!! DOVER GOAL 2-0 (3-1 AGGREGATE) 32' - Matto with another dangerous rush and his shot is off Contreras and going for the far corner but Wilke makes the great stop! 39' - Andrea Rocca with a yellow card. 41' - Now it's Salim Loucif with a yellow. 42' - Cairney with a curling shot from distance and Monzon has to dive to stop it. HALFTIME - Well, we're dominating but they still have had a few good chances that have gone awry. We hold 58% of first half possession and a 14-6 (7-0 on target) shot advantage. I tell the lads I'm pleased. 57' - Arsene Bamba with a yellow. I instruct the team to be more cautious with their tackling. We don't need all of these yellows! 62' - Off a Wilke goal kick, the ball is sent up field to Moses. He begins a great three way passing play, moving it first to Chiquinho, then back to Rocca and then it's through the offsides trap to a breaking Gianluca Bolis. He is in on goal and shoots low, past Monzon and IN!!! We're THREE AHEAD! DOVER GOAL 3-0 (4-1 AGGREGATE) 72' - Andrea Rocca comes out and Gian Marco Fanfoni is in. Great game by Rocca today! We have a throw in as Fanfoni takes the field and Bamba throws it in to Paul Moses. He cuts in to the middle and passes to Fanfoni and from 30 yards out, the youngster turns and shoots and it's off a diving Monzon, off the post and IN! INSTANT IMPACT from Fanfoni! Wow! DOVER GOAL 4-0 (5-1 AGGREGATE) With the game out of reach, we bring in Wayne Rooney and Graham Allan and take out Chiquinho and Arsene Bamba. Superb! Dover 4 (5) - (1) 0 Benfica Goals - Arsene Bamba (8.2), Pedro Garcia OG, Gianluca Bolis (8.3), Gian Marco Fanfoni (7.3) Assists - Andrea Rocca 2 (8.2), Paul Moses (8.1) Man of the Match - Arsene Bamba Other Dover Notables - Salim Loucif (7.9), Rayane Hamon (7.4), Claudio Contreras (7.9), Renato Gaucho (7.8), Neil Cairney (7.1), Chiquinho (7.2) Attendance - 17,634 The red card certainly helped us on our way but what a huge win! We hold 54% of possession and outshoot Benfica 26-10 (12-0 on target). Wilke was untested all game. Sensational and we move on to the Champions League quarter finals for the second consecutive season! -- We are given £2,609,000 for playing in this stage of the event! Love it! -- I don't talk enough about stats but this is a cool one: Paul Moses entered this game having scored in seven of his last eight games (8 goals in total in those games). He's definitely on fire right now but only picked up an assist in this contest. Champions League - Quarter Final Draw -- We're down to the final eight: us, Atletico Madrid, Barcelona, Dortmund, Manchester City, Manchester United, Olympique Lyonnais and Real Madrid. Out of those teams, I'd definitely choose Dortmund as the weakest opponent. And the draw comes in and we get…Real Madrid. Ugh - the most successful team in Champions League history, having won the competition eleven times. Oh well. We've done well to make it this far for a second year in a row. We'll begin in Spain at Santiago Bernabeu on April 5th. Here are all the matchups: Atletico Madrid vs. Dortmund Real Madrid vs. Dover Manchester City vs. Olympique Lyonnais Manchester United vs. Barcelona U18 Team Update -- The U18s LOSE 3-2 to Southampton. Emmerson Harvey, recently sent back down to the U18s, scores along with Pete Smith. Injury Update -- Midfielder Mancini returns to full training. He missed FIVE MONTHS with a broken leg so it's nice to get him back. I don't see him making much of an impact the rest of the way this year. His contract is also expiring at the end of this season and I have to figure out whether I offer him an extension. His agent won't talk to me right now after I played hardball earlier in the season but I expect his stance to soften now that his player is healthy again. International Update -- We have 20 players that get called up for international duty next week. Next Up -- We have yet another tough match, heading to Emirates Stadium to take on Arsenal in a key Premier League tilt.
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MY CURRENT FM19 DYNASTY - FM19: "Ludere causa Ludendi - To Play for the Sake of Playing" - Queen's Park FC (Scottish League Two) MY OLD FM11 DYNASTY - FM11: From Semi-Pro Minnows to the EPL - Dover Athletic FC My Personal Blog - Now on the Tee - Golf, Sports, Poker, Life 2006 GOLDEN SCRIBE AWARD WINNER FOR BEST 'OTHER SPORT' DYNASTY - EHM2005: Sharpening Swords in Buffalo Last edited by NoSkillz : 04-26-2014 at 12:44 AM. |
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04-26-2014, 04:14 AM
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#348 |
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Hall Of Famer
Join Date: Nov 2000
Location: The State of Insanity
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you can beat Real!
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Check out Foz's New Video Game Site, An 8-bit Mind in an 8GB world! http://an8bitmind.com |
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04-26-2014, 05:11 AM
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#349 |
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College Prospect
Join Date: Oct 2000
Location: Alexandria, VA
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Great work!
Once again I'm going to question the game logic behind you not coming close to selling out a CL knockout round game. |
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04-26-2014, 03:17 PM
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#350 | |
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College Benchwarmer
Join Date: Dec 2002
Location: St. Catharines, Canada
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Quote:
Frankly, I agree! I think we're capable of getting past anyone but we'll need really solid performances in both games to do it.
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MY CURRENT FM19 DYNASTY - FM19: "Ludere causa Ludendi - To Play for the Sake of Playing" - Queen's Park FC (Scottish League Two) MY OLD FM11 DYNASTY - FM11: From Semi-Pro Minnows to the EPL - Dover Athletic FC My Personal Blog - Now on the Tee - Golf, Sports, Poker, Life 2006 GOLDEN SCRIBE AWARD WINNER FOR BEST 'OTHER SPORT' DYNASTY - EHM2005: Sharpening Swords in Buffalo |
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