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02-10-2008, 10:49 AM
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#151 |
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Hattrick Moderator
Join Date: Jan 2003
Location: Pintendre, Qc, Canada
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ty
 FM
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A Black Belt is a White Belt who refused to give up... follow my story: The real life story of a running frog... |
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02-10-2008, 11:51 AM
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#152 |
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Coordinator
Join Date: Jun 2002
Location: The scorched Desert
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Holy crap, just finished catching up, can't believe Man City is down!
Do you think you will ever get the resources to make a serious run at the prem? |
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02-11-2008, 06:38 AM
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#153 | |
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College Starter
Join Date: Dec 2000
Location: Sweden
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Quote:
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San Diego Chargers (HFL) - Lappland Reindeers (WOOF) - Gothenburg Giants (IHOF) Indiana: A TCY VC - year 2044 - the longest running dynasty ever on FOFC! |
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02-11-2008, 06:56 AM
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#154 | ||
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Hattrick Moderator
Join Date: Jan 2003
Location: Pintendre, Qc, Canada
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Quote:
Thanks for reading! Quote:
From past lives, I'd say not reallly. It still didn't keep me from taking them to the Premiership and even the Champions League in the past. Did take the board two seasons up there before they decided to open up the coffers though. If we can only improve the stadium at the end of the season, I'll be happy... FM
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A Black Belt is a White Belt who refused to give up... follow my story: The real life story of a running frog... |
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02-11-2008, 06:59 AM
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#155 | |
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Hattrick Moderator
Join Date: Jan 2003
Location: Pintendre, Qc, Canada
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I really hope so but sometimes I'm thinking that Mikoliunas could be replaced. Look how we survived his five match ban. Wasn't pretty, but we got it down. I asked for what was left of the transfer budget be switched over to my wage budget so yeah, for now I'm left with nothing there. Don't think there'll be much available at the start of next season either, especially if we upgrade the stadium... FM
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A Black Belt is a White Belt who refused to give up... follow my story: The real life story of a running frog... |
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02-11-2008, 09:07 AM
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#156 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Hattrick Moderator
Join Date: Jan 2003
Location: Pintendre, Qc, Canada
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February 27, 2010
League Match #35: vs Sheff Wed (Luton 5-4 fav)
The current League One Title holders are currently in 15th place, fighting quite well against relegation. They are only 2 spots under us. This is the game where Matt Moussilou reveals all his talent, starting with a header goal on an Etienne Esajas free kick in the 13th minute, followed by another one in a crowd in the 23rd minute only to celebrate his hat-trick before the end of the half, converting a nicely centered ball from Laurent Montoya. 3-0 at the half following an amazing display of precision. We put 7 of 8 shots on target in that half. I get kind of worried that the fellas will let the lead slip when our opponents score on in the 50th minute, but Moose lay my fears to rest when he buries the ball for his fourth goal of the night in the 67th minute. He even adds insult to injury when his pace allows him to round a defender so easily that the other guy got frustrated and took the legs from under him. Bad news for him, he was the last defender and is shown the red card. They finish the last 9 minutes with 10 men. Final Score: 4-1 Match stats:
Team stats:
Wow, just WOW!  As you would expect, Matt Moussilou is select as Man of the Match with that awesome performance. Both he and Vincent van den Berg put 4 of their 5 shots on target. We really tested that keeper.Byron Moore comes out of the game nicked. He got a elbow to the face and will miss 6 days to 2 weeks. We remain in 13th place even with the win. I learn that this performance of four goals in a game by Moussilou is a new high for Luton in this era. The previous record was three goals and was held by Dean Morgan. FM
__________________
A Black Belt is a White Belt who refused to give up... follow my story: The real life story of a running frog... |
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02-11-2008, 09:17 AM
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#157 |
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Hattrick Moderator
Join Date: Jan 2003
Location: Pintendre, Qc, Canada
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March 1st, 2010
Wouldn't you expect it, Matt Moussilou has been selected to the Championship Team of the Week. The team board feel I should be performing slightly better in my role as manager of the team. I'm a bit worried about this assessment. I mean, we are doing quite well in league, much better than expected, but we did exit the two cups earlier than they expected us too, and the bank balance is melting like a snow cone in the sun in July... I can only laugh at their main complaint, the signing of keeper Bartosz Bialkowski, who's played quite well since being given more playing time. They do have a good point in saying that the signing of Matt Moussilou was a great signing, as early as it is in his career as a Hatter. Willie Kinniburgh has recovered from his virus and has begun full training again. FM
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A Black Belt is a White Belt who refused to give up... follow my story: The real life story of a running frog... |
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02-11-2008, 11:22 AM
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#158 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Hattrick Moderator
Join Date: Jan 2003
Location: Pintendre, Qc, Canada
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March 2, 2010
League Match #36: vs Wolves (Luton 6-4 fav)
Wolves are currently only 2 spots ahead of us, in 11th place. They do seem to have many players with low morale while ours is pretty high accross the board. A deflected shot from Jay Simpson gives us a 1-0 lead in the 29th minute. He can be thankful for the skilled work of Vincent van den Berg and Etienne Esajas on the left wing for that goal. 1-0 is the halftime score but more important is the split in shooting: 7(5) for us, 4(2) for them. We turn it up a notch still although we fail to capitalize on the chances created in the second half. Final score: 1-0. Match stats:
Team stats:
A relatively quiet win following the fireworks of our previous match, but I'll take it. Jay Simpson collects his second Man of the Match selection of the season in league play, third in competitive play. I like the kid, he makes things happen. Even better, over time, he's improved his stamina enough that he's able to play the right win slot for a whole game without being burned enough that a sub is necessary. Seeing how we'll be playing 21st place Stoke in our next match, I follow my assistant'S recommendation and warn the fellas about not getting too complacent. The win does nothing to change our position, although we're now 18 solid points from the relegation line. FM
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A Black Belt is a White Belt who refused to give up... follow my story: The real life story of a running frog... |
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02-11-2008, 11:41 AM
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Hattrick Moderator
Join Date: Jan 2003
Location: Pintendre, Qc, Canada
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March 6, 2010
League Match #37: at Stoke (Luton 6-4 fav)
In the pre-game reports, I see that one of their strikers has scored 21 league goals already. I give the players some specific instruction to always mark him tight and even to tackle him hard when they get the chance. Karim Touzani takes my recommendations a bit too seriously and there's not even one full minute played in the game when said striker comes in front of him. Touz takes him out with both feet forward, cleats showing like sharpened fangs looking for blood. The referee wastes no time and shows him the straight red. We'll have to play the last 89 minutes with only 10 men... I also need to make some tactical adjustments. There's no way we'll go the rest of the way with 10 men and only three defenders. I reluctantly pull out Eric Skora, who was just making a return to the starting eleven, and put in Ferrie Bodde in Touzani's spot. While we did spend quite a bit of time on our end of the pitch, the most amazing thing happens after that. Matt Moussilou's pace and acceleration are just so sweet that not once but twice will he be able to outrun a defender on long balls from Jay Simpson, both times finding himself in front of the keeper who's rushing out to him. What does he do both times? Chipped the ball over the keeper for goals. But the half is not even over that Vincent van den Berg will have added to our lead, then at 3-0, and Moose even completely his hat-trick on a beautiful individual effort. A simply amazing half, and with only ten men!!! We outshot them 12(8) to 7(1) in that first half. It doesn't even stop there, as Moose adds to his tally in the 58th minute to make it 5-0. I'm running out of words to say how amazed I am of this guy right now. A sceond four goal game in a three game span. They will score two goals before it's over, but with only ten men, comes a time where it had to be expected. Final score: 5-2. Match stats:
Team stats:
Wow, wow, wow, what a game! A third game in a row where we put double digits shots on target, and should I say it again, with only ten men this time. The guys are on freaking fire! Matt Moussilou, who else, got the MoM. Great game by Ferrie Bodde in replacement at centreback. For the third game in a row, the fans are pleased with the amount of times the team managed to test the opposing keeper. Karim Touzani has been automatically banned for one match. My assistant tells me it's up to me to challenge it or not. I take a second look at the incident and most comments are unanimous, Touzani lunged in recklessly at the opposing striker. I fine him one week of wages. He accept his fine without comment. The win allows us to move up one spot in the table.
FM
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A Black Belt is a White Belt who refused to give up... follow my story: The real life story of a running frog... |
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02-11-2008, 02:06 PM
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Hattrick Moderator
Join Date: Jan 2003
Location: Pintendre, Qc, Canada
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March 8, 2010
We've placed four players on the Championship Team of the Week: Laurent Montoya, Etienne Esajas, Ferrie Bodde, and Matt Moussilou. It's a second appearance in two weeks for Matt Moussilou. March 9, 2010 League Match #38, vs Bristol City (Luton evens fav)
They are in 16th place at the moment and even though they just beat Leicester 2-1, they lost 0-4 to Preston a couple games ago and it looks like that loss is still on their mind. Many players seem to have low morale at the moment. Willie Kinniburgh comes back to the lineup just in time to replace suspended Karim Touzani. We come out of the locker room flying and Vincent van den Berg takes less than minute to fire a shot which is blocked. He's quick enough to regain possession of the rebound and is able to bury that one for the 1-0 lead after only 42 seconds! Van den Berg's awareness is as the start of anoth goal in the 24th minute when he picks up another blocked shot near the left corner. His centered ball to the 6 yard box is converted by Saulius Mikoliunas into a 2-0 lead. It remains that way until the half and the boys are really playing some inspired football right now, a joy to watch! We're completely dominating them after 45 minutes, outshooting them 12(7) to 1(0). The score remains the same for the rest of the game, but it's not for lack of trying on our part. Final Score: 2-0. Match stats:
Team stats:
Fourth game in a row with double digits shots on target, simply amazing. Many fellas had very good games but it's Saulius Mikoliunas who gets the Man of the Match award. We remain in 12th place, but now 8 points from a playoffs spot and more importantly 23 points over the relegation line.
March 10, 2010 Following a nice 3-0 win by our reserves, my attention goes to their current position in the reserves league. They are in 1st place. Even more, our U18 squad is also in 1st place in their U18 league. There's something to be said about the great depth at Kenilworth Road, that's for sure... FM
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A Black Belt is a White Belt who refused to give up... follow my story: The real life story of a running frog... Last edited by FrogMan : 02-11-2008 at 02:06 PM. |
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02-11-2008, 08:09 PM
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Hattrick Moderator
Join Date: Jan 2003
Location: Pintendre, Qc, Canada
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March 13, 2010
League Match #39: vs Preston (Preston 5-4 fav)
Tough, tough match for us, playing 4th place Preston. I have now decided to decline comment on most pregame questions. I mean, the team is hot right now, why risk making the guys nervous before a big game? Right before heading to the game, we learn that Karim Touzani's ban has been extended by two more games. As I look at his replacement into the centreback slot, Ibrahim Tall, I see that he is now open to talk about a possible contract extention. He is currently earning $16,250 a week and is looking for a three year contract at $21k a week. That is the most my board will allow me to offer to a key player. I decide to gamble a little and offer him $19k with a slightly higher appearance fee and signing on bonus. I try to take as much weight off the fellas' shoulders and tell them that pressure is off for this game, that they should simply go out and enjoy the game. It sure seems to work early on, as we're holding our own against a very competitive Preston side. Matt Moussilou even gives us a 1-0 lead in the 26th minute thanks to a hard low shot. They do tie the game in the 35th minute and only three minutes later, we have to say goodbye to David Edwards who comes off injured. We keep mounting pressure against their keeper and during injury time, one of their defenders needs to trip Vincent van den Berg inside the penalty area. The referee points the spot almost hesitantly... PENALTY!!! They Preston player feel it's a harsh penalty decision but we don't care. Willie Kinniburgh (huh?) lines up for the kick and scores the go ahead goal. Turns out Sam Parkin was the only guy listed on my PK takers. 2-1 is the halftime score, a first half in which we outshot them 8(7) to 4(3). We're still quite effective in putting the ball on target. The trend continues in the second half and we get a few more quality chances. One of them following the nice work of our two strikers van den Berg and Moussilou which results in another Hatter goal. Up 3-1 after 79 minutes! Preston are a very good team and I doubt they'd imagined they'd be down two this late in the game against a team that should be fighing against relegation. Frustration mounts and one of their strikers lands a left hook on van den Berg. The punch is even described as a great one too! The referee fears losing control of the game and gives him his marching orders right away. Four minutes of injury time to play but Preston play them with only 10 men. They do make me real nervous as they succeed to score one on the ensuing throw in, but fours minutes is too little for them to score another one... Final Score: 3-2Match stats:
Team stats:
Wow, what a great win! Two more goals from Matt Moussilou and one more Man of the Match for the acquisition of the year. The guy now has 11 goals in 9 games and a 44% hit rate on those MoM selections, that's quite something.  I also see that while he's committed only 5 fouls in those 9 games, he's been fouled 22 times, or 2.4 times a game. The guy is seriously creating havoc in our opponent's backfield with his acceleration and overall pace. And it seems his high level of play has elevated the play of others around him. Niiiiice!Also, don't look now but we've now win 5 in a row, with scores ro 4-1, 1-0, 5-2 (10 men remember), 2-0, and 3-2. Lotsa goals in there! The win pushes us forward to 11th place, now only 6 points from a playoff spot...
March 14, 2010 One done, two to go. Ibrahim Tall has agreed to the new contract I'd offered him. We now have Saulius Mikoliunas and Etienne Esajas to worry about... March 15, 2010 And speaking of that trio, all three of them have made it to the Championship Team of the Week. I'd really like to see what the two selected strikers have done to be in there ahead of Matt Moussilou... FM
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A Black Belt is a White Belt who refused to give up... follow my story: The real life story of a running frog... |
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02-12-2008, 11:43 AM
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Hattrick Moderator
Join Date: Jan 2003
Location: Pintendre, Qc, Canada
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March 18, 2010
Ugh, good thing Jimmy Nielsen is playing well at the moment because we've just our other keeper. Bartosz Bialkowski strained some knee ligaments in a training session and will miss one to two months. March 20, 2010 League Match #40: at Leyton Orient (Luton evens fav)
Fellow promotee Leyton Orient are fighting for their survival in the Championship and cannot be taken for granted. They are currently in 20th place. I keep on avoiding the media regarding a prediction of the result for this game. Gah, we start the game slowly and even go down by one in the 19th minute. Luckily for us, a long ball by keeper Jimmy Nielsen is well controlled by Richard Hughes who relayed it to Eric Skora. Skora is alone with the keeper and he finds the back of the net to tie the game in the 27th minute. We dodge one in the 36th minute when Laurent Montoya clears a ball right off the line after a save from Nielsen. So much for the effort though as they score only a couple minutes later. Down 1-2 after 38. We do tie it before the break, again following a nice restart from Jimmy Nielsen. Matt Moussilou took the long ball, and sensing that the referee was about to whistle for the end of the half, sent in a scorcher from 35 yards out. The shot is perfect and we head to the locker room tied at 2-2. Shots are 9(3) for us and 9(5) for them at the break in a very close game. Etienne Esajas was not having a good game so I replaced him in the 62nd minute. Seven minutes later, Vincent van den Berg hooked up with his replacement, Byron Moore who took the ball to the byline before centering it to the 6 yard box to Matt Moussilou. Moose's first shot is blocked but he pounces on the rebound and buries it to give us the lead for the first time in this game. Eric Skora ends up being in the right spot at the right moment in the 89th moment when he inherit a rebound from a Jay Simpson shot. He's got an empty goal in front of him and he easily scores his second of the game. Final score: 4-2. Match stats:
Team stats:
The guys pulled together to make up for a lousy, by our newfound standards, start to the game. 12 shots on target out of 22 is pretty good overall but 10 out of 13 in the second half is quite awesome. Forget Matt Moussilou,Eric Skora is the new talk of the town with his two goals and Man of the Match selection. He draws the plaudits and is even called "Sweet Skora" in the media. Huh? Sweet Skora? I mean, yeah, I appreciate the performance today and all, but if not for David Edwards injury, the guy was having a hard time being a starter. Odd how the media can react sometimes. Meanwhile, that win was our sixth in a row and it allows to move up to 8th place in the league table and within 3 tiny points of a spot in the playoffs with only 6 games to be played by everyone. Wow...
March 22, 2010 We again put four players on the Championship Team of the Week: Willie Kinniburgh, Saulius Mikoliunas, Eric Skora, and Matt Moussilou. FM
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A Black Belt is a White Belt who refused to give up... follow my story: The real life story of a running frog... |
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02-12-2008, 02:05 PM
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Hattrick Moderator
Join Date: Jan 2003
Location: Pintendre, Qc, Canada
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March 27, 2010
League Match #41: at Northampton (Luton 4-5 fav)
Wow, the media are really spinning that Skora thing out of control. They're now quoting Northampton manager Stuart Gray as saying he "fears Skora threat". And the media agree to that. No talk about Matt Moussilou and his multiple four goals games or anything like that, it's all about Eric Skora who just scored two goals... Karim Touzani is back in the starting eleven after serving his suspension. Anyway, Northampton are sitting in 19th place as we enter that match. They are showing a 5-3-2 formation going into this game and it proves difficult to deal with early on although that formation is not what Northampton can thank for taking the lead in the 27th minute. The assistant referee is. That's gotta be the most blatantly missed offside call I've ever seen. Seriously, boooooooo. Going down 0-1 on a botched call sucks. We go in down 0-1 at the break and we just can't seem to find room up front with that dang 5-3-2 formation. They're outshooting us 8(4) to 3(1) after 45 minutes even thought we're winning possession with 58%. It's more of the same for pretty much the whole second half even though we get a few more scoring chances than we got in the first half. We finally pull even one minute into injury time when a corner kick from Saulius Mikoliunas finds its way to Jay Simpson through a crowd. Simpson's kick toward the net hit a couple of legs before finally crossing the goal line. Phew! Final score: 1-1. Match stats:
Team stats:
We were not much more successful in the second as much as we did shut them down almost entirely. The post game comments in the media are all talking about how offside that goal was. They are baiting me into commenting. Vincent van den Berg is even saying he felt there was an offside when the ball was played and the goal should not have been given. I don't bite. I will not be pulled into this as I don't want to be fined again. I decline to comment. We drop to 9th place with the draw and a win by Charlton means we'Ve also dropped to 5 points from that coveted playoffs spot...
Ugh, our bank balance has now officially fallen into the red, now at -153k.  April 1st, 2010 Woohoo, March was the Luton month!!! Not only did Matt Moussilou claimed the Player of the month award, his teammates Willie Kinniburgh and Saulius Mikoliunas came respectively in second and third place. `Add to this that yours truly has won the Championship Manager of the Month award!!! The Hatters had an unbeaten month, rounding it out with 5 wins and a draw. FM
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A Black Belt is a White Belt who refused to give up... follow my story: The real life story of a running frog... |
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02-12-2008, 05:38 PM
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#164 |
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College Prospect
Join Date: Jan 2001
Location: Raleigh, NC
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Enjoying the dynasty. I can sympathise with your current position - I too am a few points off the final playoff spot in my game (League 2 though) and I am agonizing every point down the stretch.
Keep up the good work. |
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02-13-2008, 09:08 AM
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Hattrick Moderator
Join Date: Jan 2003
Location: Pintendre, Qc, Canada
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April 3, 2010
League Match #42: vs Nottm Forest (Luton 4-5 fav)
Apparently, Eric Skora remains a pretty big threat to opposing offenses, and "he must be stopped". Odd thing, the referee for this game will be the same referee that officiated our match against Northampton on March 27. I've not seen many leagues who don't at least try to avoid referees doing back to back matches of one team... No big deal, simply odd... Going into the game, Nottm Forest are showing a much more inviting 3-4-3 formation. Let's see if Moussilou and van den Berg can run freely against three defenders... Ugh, it's not really the three defenders we should worry about as much as their three strikers. They take a 1-0 lead after only 3 minutes played. In Jimmy Nielsen's defense though, the ball did deflect off Richard Hughes right after the shot was kicked and its trajectory took a weird turn. Only 3 more minutes are necessary to Matt Moussilou to work his magic up front. He took the ball from just outside the center circle on their side of the field, all the way down to the keeper, running by a couple of defenders before taking a first shot and then converting his own rebound tie it 1-1. We take the lead in the 19th minute when the blocked shot of Etienne Esajas, off a Laurent Montoya corner kick, is buried by Karim Touzani for his first ever goal as a Hatter. Well, maybe Eric Skora is quite a threat. He scores off another rebound from a shot in the 39th minute to make it 3-1. We've not only been quite opportunistic in that first half, scoring three times off three blocked shot, but we've done what we'd done so well before the Northampton game and that is put the ball on target. We're outshooting them 12(8) to 4(2) after 45 minutes. And it doesn't stop there. Saulius Mikoliunas takes a nice pass from Ibrahim Tall in the 52nd minute and centers it as he approaches the penalty box. The ball looks apparently destined for Matt Moussilo but he fakes the shot and let it continue to Vincent van den Berg who's facing a completely empty net. Easy goal, 4-1. Matt Moussilou doubles his tally in the 80th minute as they let him run free on the right wing. He scores his 15th of the season already, on yet another rebound. They will score a second goal in the 89th minute but it was too little, too late. Final Score: 5-2. Match stats:
Team stats:
Wow, another exciting win. Matt Moussilou with two more goals and another Man of the Match selection. We move back up to 8th place and with Charlton's heavy 0-3 loss to Plymouth, we're now sitting only 2 points off a potential playoff spot.
FM
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A Black Belt is a White Belt who refused to give up... follow my story: The real life story of a running frog... |
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02-13-2008, 09:10 AM
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#166 | |
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Hattrick Moderator
Join Date: Jan 2003
Location: Pintendre, Qc, Canada
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Quote:
Thanks for the kind words. Glad you're enjoying it. Seems it's always the same when the end of the season is in sight, no matter if I'm fighting for 10th place, automatic promotion, a simple spot in the playoff, or against relegation, I always get excited with our position and every tiny point seems to have so much importance... Good luck with your team! FM
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A Black Belt is a White Belt who refused to give up... follow my story: The real life story of a running frog... Last edited by FrogMan : 02-13-2008 at 09:12 AM. |
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02-13-2008, 11:52 AM
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#167 |
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College Prospect
Join Date: Jan 2005
Location: Inland Empire, PRC
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come on, fm...
i need results! are you in the playoff or not!?!!?!?!? |
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02-14-2008, 06:46 AM
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#168 |
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Hattrick Moderator
Join Date: Jan 2003
Location: Pintendre, Qc, Canada
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LOL!
You'll have to wait for when I'll find some time. Stayed home with the kids yesterday because of a tiny storm that close the oldest's school. Did a bit of playing, no reporting. As a result of being out of work, today will be a bit crazy so no clue how much time I'll get to do reporting... And yeah... I've played out the end of the season. Just won't tell you any results yet.  And yeah, I'm a tease. FM
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A Black Belt is a White Belt who refused to give up... follow my story: The real life story of a running frog... |
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02-15-2008, 08:22 AM
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#169 |
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College Starter
Join Date: Oct 2000
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taps foot
looks at his watch grumbles to himself |
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02-15-2008, 09:04 AM
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#170 | |
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Hattrick Moderator
Join Date: Jan 2003
Location: Pintendre, Qc, Canada
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Quote:
LOL!!!  It's coming, it's coming.  FM
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A Black Belt is a White Belt who refused to give up... follow my story: The real life story of a running frog... |
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02-15-2008, 09:08 AM
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Hattrick Moderator
Join Date: Jan 2003
Location: Pintendre, Qc, Canada
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April 5, 2010
League Match #43: at Leicester (Luton 4-5 fav)
Prior to the match, I learn that Karim Touzani, Saulius Mikoliunas, and Matt Moussilou have made it to the Championship Team of the Week. For the game itself, I find it a nice change that the papers are making it to be that Leicester is facing a tough Luton Challenge. Used to be the other way around... I always hate having two games in three nights. Luckily for us, the guys are in pretty good condition overall, only two changes are needed from our last game. The good teamwork of Etienne Esajas and Matt Moussilou forces former Hatter Julian Speroni to leave a long rebound. Eric Skora is there and has the goal for him to make it 1-0 after 17 minutes. Matt Moussilou is the initiator of a nice pass to Vincent van den Berg in the 34th minute, a pass that left vdB alone with the keeper. His strikes leaves no chances to Speroni and it's 2-0 at the half. The second is almost disappointing for us, as we sit back on our lead and don't push very hard up front. One possible reason to that lack of effort in the second half is that I pretty much simply let the guys with their thoughts in the locker room. No halftime talks at all. (note: well that was more a keyboard screw ups than anything else as I hit the space bar just as the team talk screen popped up, oops ) Final score: 2-0Match stats:
Team stats:
Matt Moussilou showed the creative part of his play, as evidenced by his two assists. Vinent van den Berg reaped the benefit of Moose's passes, scoring a goal and being selected Man of the Match. We move up to 7th place but we're actually tied in points to current 6th place holders Charlton. They do have a much better goal differential though...
Nice news is that the worse we can finish is in 11th position. Quite nice for our first season up. Just realized something. Vincent van den Berg, the kid I signed off the hands of Arsenal not too long ago now has a value of $3.8M. Kid was worth $525k when he was with Arsenal, wow... FM
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A Black Belt is a White Belt who refused to give up... follow my story: The real life story of a running frog... Last edited by FrogMan : 02-15-2008 at 09:09 AM. |
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02-15-2008, 11:39 AM
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Hattrick Moderator
Join Date: Jan 2003
Location: Pintendre, Qc, Canada
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April 10, 2010
League Match #44: at Wigan (Wigan 4-6 fav)
Wigan are currently in 5th place and one of the teams we really need to beat if we wanna prove that we belong to the playoffs. We drew 1-1 with them earlier in the season so a win is not all that impossible... One of their strikers has scored 33 goals in 43 league starts, way ahead of their second best scorer who only has 8 on the season. I start Ferrie Bodde in the DMC spot and assign him to man mark that striker. I also tell the guys to mark him tight in general and to tackle him hard whenever they can. Hopefully there won't be any overzealous two footed tackles this time around... Gah, we are indeed aggressive toward that striker and Willie Kinniburgh gets a yellow card for a late tackle early in the game. Matt Moussilou scores to give us a one goal lead in the 20th minute, the result of a nicely played short corner kick by Laurent Montoya. They left Moussilou all alone at the corner of the 6 yards box, a big no no... They pul back even in the 33rd minute and we head to the locker room locked in a 1-1 tie after 45. I fear the worse when Kinniburgh goes rough on a tackle in the 53rd minute, but the referee only gives him a warning. The rest of the half is pretty much us only surviving to mutiple attacks. They come from every angle, but we don't let one in. Final Score: 1-1. Match stats:
Team stats:
Just so you know how much that second half belonged to Wigan, We had 8(3) shots at the half, they had 10(6)... Matt Moussilou still had a strong game, getting the MoM. I turn around and look at scores around the league and I'm stare in disbelief. Charlton were playing on the road against #3 Birmingham and they lost their game. This means we've gained a one point lead over Charlton and even though we're tied in points with Sheff Utd, we do own the goal differential tiebreaker over them. We are now sitting in a playoffs spot!
From now on, we control our destiny. If we can keep on winning, we'll be in the playoffs. Back at the clubhouse, I enquire with Etienne Esajas and Saulius Mikoliunas and they both say they're not ready to discuss terms of a contract renewal. There's something kinda funny though, my assistant tells me that there's a possiblity that Esajas would want parity with Mikoliunas in terms of basic wage, and vice versa. FM
__________________
A Black Belt is a White Belt who refused to give up... follow my story: The real life story of a running frog... |
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02-15-2008, 11:54 AM
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Hattrick Moderator
Join Date: Jan 2003
Location: Pintendre, Qc, Canada
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April 24, 2010
League Match #45: vs Barnsley (Luton 4-7 fav)
Hrm, exactly the kind of matchup to make me real nervous. Barnsley are currently sitting in 21st place and we seem to play down to the level of lower ranked teams. We now have a 10 game unbeaten streak going, let's hope we can stretch a bit longer... I set the guys to go into this game with a fairly attacking mentality, even putting up arrows on both Eric Skora and Richard Hughes and it pays off very early in the game. Matt Moussilou gets a cleared ball to his head and he nods it forward to himself. After getting the ball and getting past the last defender, he's one on one with the keeper but his shot is blocked. Etienne Esajas is at the right place at the right time and he's got an empty net in front of him. Easy goal to make it 1-0 after 4 minutes of play. We almost double our lead very late in the half but that one is called back. Vincent van den Berg was apparently offside. Up 1-0 at the half and very much in control. We're outshooting them 9(2) to 1(0) after 45 minutes and have been given 6 corners to none for them. A great sequence of play leads to Moussilou scoring his first goal of the game in the 58th minute. Richard Hughes played the ball down the right wing where Saulius Mikoliunas was able to run it, all alone, until he centered a perfect ball for Moussilou. Final Score: 2-0 Match stats:
Team stats:
Etienne Esajas only played 45 minutes after getting nicked late in the first half, but I guess that was a very good half, as he receives the Man of the Match selection. His nick wasn't too bad though and he gets off okay. Sheff Utd also won their game and we remain tied in point with them. The same still applies, we win, we're in.
FM
__________________
A Black Belt is a White Belt who refused to give up... follow my story: The real life story of a running frog... |
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02-15-2008, 01:13 PM
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#174 | |
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General Manager
Join Date: Aug 2001
Location: Kansas City, MO
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Quote:
***biting nails and smacking myself in the head*** |
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02-15-2008, 01:22 PM
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#175 |
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College Prospect
Join Date: Jan 2001
Location: Raleigh, NC
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Go Luton!!!
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02-15-2008, 02:04 PM
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#176 |
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Hattrick Moderator
Join Date: Jan 2003
Location: Pintendre, Qc, Canada
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April 27, 2010
Saulius Mikoliunas and Richard Hughes have been selected to the Championship Team of the Week. My physio comes to me with the long face. Turns out Karim Touzani strained his back during a weight session. He will miss 3 weeks to a month. Might as well say his season is over. And I'll be damned. I never realized it but Wojciech Szczesny's loan was only a three month loan. It ends today and the kid is going back to Coventry. We're out of the free transfer and loan period. Bartosz Bialkowski should be coming back from his injury within a week. Hopefully we'll be all right. April 28, 2010 Dean Morgan misses a training session. I issue him a formal warning, which he finds harsh. Wah, wah, wah... His contract is running out at the end of June and I doubt I'll be renewing him. Not that he's been used all that much but my physio also lets me know that Drew Talbot has injured himself during a reserves match. He'll miss one to two weeks. May 1st, 2010 Matt Moussilou's performance in April has been just as good as it was in March and he get his second Championship Player of the Month award in a row. I come in third for Manager of the Month. The board are pleased with my management of the team. They say that the team's fantastic overall performance has been a particular highlight. FM
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A Black Belt is a White Belt who refused to give up... follow my story: The real life story of a running frog... |
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02-15-2008, 02:09 PM
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#177 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Hattrick Moderator
Join Date: Jan 2003
Location: Pintendre, Qc, Canada
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May 2, 2010
League Match #46: at Ipswich (Ipswich 5-4 fav)
Wow, tough game to close it out, and one that is important to both teams, as Ipswich are currently sitting in 8th place, only 2 points behind us. They could, with a win over us and a loss by Sheff Utd, get in the playoffs ahead of both teams... Catastrophe strikes early for us. On a centered ball coming from our left side, deep near the byline, Ibrahim Tall is running toward the goal and stretches to keep the ball from reaching the striker behind him when he slips and taps the ball behind Jimmy Nielsen. AN OWN GOAL!!! NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!! Down 0-1 and I seriously fear that Tall will spiral down and never recover from that mistake. He does not however and remains a rock in the middle of our defense after that mistake. We keep on working hard and finally even up the score when Etienne Esajas flights in a free kick through the wall from 20 yards out. A beautiful kick and some luck with a weird deflection mean we're tied 1-1 after 37 minutes. It's 1-1 at the half and we've regain some sort of control over our destiny after letting in that first unfortunate goal. A quick look at the other games reveals that Sheff Utd are losing their last match 1-2 against Nottm Forest. For now, that leaves us with sole possession of that coveted 6th place. I tell the guys I'm pleased with their first half display and I hope for the best in the second half. The home crowd goes wild first, then wilder still in the 50th minute. An apparent Ipswich goal has just been disallowed for offside. I was out of my chair and jumping. The guy was offside by a good ten feet. We use that scare to lull our opponent to sleep and Eric Skora's tackle is inch perfect just 5 minutes later. His tap on the ball is just enough to send it right at the feet of Matt Moussilou. Moussilou plays a one-two with Saulius Mikoliunas and he finds himself behind the last line of defenders. his strike is perfect and he makes it 2-1. Sheff Utd are still losing in their game, 2-3 now. Ipswich go to the dreaded 4-2-4 formation with 10 minutes to play and it takes a couple of miraculous fingertips saves by Jimmy Nielsen in order for us to save our lead. Their keeper even joins the attack on a corner kick one minute into injury time. The attack failed and he had time to get back to his goal but the attention of his defenders is divided and they leave Matt Moussilou unmarked 90 seconds later. He scores his second of the game to put it away. Final Score: 3-1! Match stats:
Team stats:
Matt Moussilou gets the Man of the Match with two goals. We've done it, we're in the playoffs!!! The Sheff Utd is irrelevant now. We did it on our own merit and I find it quite an achievement, given how we had been tipped for relegation from the start of the season.
We will be playing Birmingham in the semi final of the playoffs. FM
__________________
A Black Belt is a White Belt who refused to give up... follow my story: The real life story of a running frog... |
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02-15-2008, 03:13 PM
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#178 |
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College Benchwarmer
Join Date: Dec 2002
Location: St. Catharines, Canada
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Whooo! What a great achievement! Congratulations and good luck in the playoffs.
__________________
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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02-15-2008, 03:19 PM
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#179 |
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Pro Starter
Join Date: Apr 2003
Location: Alabama
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Woohoo! Go Luton Beat Birmingham!
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02-15-2008, 04:24 PM
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#180 |
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High School Varsity
Join Date: Nov 2003
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Congrats! Goodluck in the playoffs FM.
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02-16-2008, 12:56 PM
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#181 |
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Coordinator
Join Date: Jun 2002
Location: The scorched Desert
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Nice job FM, good luck on getting to the Prem!!
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02-17-2008, 12:57 AM
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#182 |
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College Starter
Join Date: Oct 2000
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good luck in the playoffs
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02-18-2008, 11:40 AM
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Hattrick Moderator
Join Date: Jan 2003
Location: Pintendre, Qc, Canada
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May 3, 2010
We again place multiple players on the Championship Team of the Week. This time, it's Jimmy Nielsen, Willie Kinniburgh and Matt Moussilou who've been selected. Bartosz Bialkowski resumes full training following his injury. That's good news, now if he can only stay injury free for a a couple weeks... I see that both the Luton Reserves squad and the Luton U18 squad have won thei respective leagues, niiice! The reserves table:
The U18 table:
May 8, 2010 Wigan have taken a 3-1 lead after the first leg of their playoff semi final against Preston. Second game will be on Preston's pitch. FM
__________________
A Black Belt is a White Belt who refused to give up... follow my story: The real life story of a running frog... |
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02-18-2008, 11:43 AM
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Hattrick Moderator
Join Date: Jan 2003
Location: Pintendre, Qc, Canada
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May 9, 2010
Championship Playoffs semi final, leg 1: vs Birmingham (Birmingham 5-4 fav) Prior to getting to the game, I learn that Bartosz Bialkwoski has resumed full training. He's not match fit, but will be ready in case anything happens to Jimmy Nielsen. This might prove to be a very tough series for us as Birmingham have not only beat us twice this season, but they've outmatched us both times. Looking at their roster I see that striker Garry O'Connor has scored 33 league goals in 42 appearances. I assign Richard Hughes to man mark him and tell the guys to tackle him hard. In my excitement to play this game, I forgot to save a copy of the starting eleven. It's the exact same as for our last league match of the season. No changes at all... The game starts and it's evident that we're outmatched again. Shots are coming from every angle and Jimmy Nielsen needs to be on top of his game many times to make sure not one of the 6 first half shots on target gets past him. Sure "only" 6 shots on target, but they did try 16 times overall... It's 0-0 after 45 minutes and we're struggling to keep up with them. We're still outmatches early in the second half but the football gods are looking upon us in the 54th minute when a centered free kick from Etienne Esajas finds its way just inside the right post for a fluke goal. Up 1-0!!! Okay, celebrations didn't last long. We're back even only some 8 minutes later. They have a goal disallowed for offside but they keep on buzzing around our goal for the rest of the half. We hang in there though, even getting close to putting one in during injury time... Final Score: 1-1. Match stats:
Team stats:
Etienne Esajas' fluke goal is good enough to earn him the Man of the Match award, but as you can see from the match stats, we got spanked. We at least go into the second leg of the series for a slight hope of getting one other fluke goal, who knows? FM
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A Black Belt is a White Belt who refused to give up... follow my story: The real life story of a running frog... |
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02-18-2008, 11:46 AM
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#185 |
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Hattrick Moderator
Join Date: Jan 2003
Location: Pintendre, Qc, Canada
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May 10, 2010
It's all Birmingham and Luton on the Championship Team of the Week as we put four in there: Jimmy Nielsen, Richard Jackson, Willie Kinniburgh and Etienne Esajas. Other than Esajas, it's not fluke that our other three representatives are memebers of our defensive side of the field. That was a strong performance in that last match. David Fernandez misses training again. I fine him two weeks of wages, fine that he accepts without comment. May 11, 2010 Wigan and Preston draw the second leg of their semi final playoff series. Wigan are through 4-2 on aggregate score. FM
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A Black Belt is a White Belt who refused to give up... follow my story: The real life story of a running frog... |
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02-18-2008, 11:49 AM
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#186 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Hattrick Moderator
Join Date: Jan 2003
Location: Pintendre, Qc, Canada
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May 12, 2010
Championship Playoffs semi final, leg 2: at Birmingham (Birmingham 4-6 fav)
I decide to start Ferrie Bodde at DMC but will not ask him to man mark in this one. I do tell the guys to mark him tight and to tackle him hard though. In hope of shaking things up up front and because of some fairly pedestrian performances lately, I bench Vincent van den Berg and start Dean Morgan in his place. It's another rough start for us, down 6(2) to nothing in shots after 18 minutes, but we at least have kept them from scoring so hope is still alive. Not for long though. In the 24th minute, Garry O'Connor shows me why I should have kept a man in man marking on him as he makes it 0-1, 1-2 on aggregate. Gotta say that the goal didn't come from a freakish run in the open but on a corner kick headed in. After 25 minutes, they are outshooting us 10(4) to 1(0), it's not pretty although we miss a chance to tie it in injury time when Ferrie Bodde's kick goes a hair over the bar. The halftime score is 1-2 on aggregate but they are outshooting us 15(6) to 4(0). Jimmy Nielsen saves many more shots in the second half and the score is still unchanged three minutes into injury time when we get one last chance. Sadly, Jay Simpson puts it wide... Final Score: 0-1 (1-2 aggregate) Match stats:
Team stats:
After 13 match without defeat, our brilliant run has finally come to a halt and byt the same token, our season is over. I can't find fault to any of the guys although it's a bit sad that we've come to end the season being dominated in such a rude fashion. The fans were very disappointed with that loss. I just wanna go to the press and tell people to get a grip. We've been beaten by a team that just came down from the Premiership and will likely go right back up, or at least should have finished in the top 2 to go right back up without playing the playoffs. I'm smilling a bit when I read about a Birmingham player pointing the finger to his manager for his poor choice of team talk. Apparently the winning manager didn't like that his team didn't win by more. FM
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A Black Belt is a White Belt who refused to give up... follow my story: The real life story of a running frog... |
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02-18-2008, 11:51 AM
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#187 |
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Hattrick Moderator
Join Date: Jan 2003
Location: Pintendre, Qc, Canada
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May 15, 2010
Hrm, interesting. Newly promoted to the Championship Hull have some interest in Calvin Andrew. Well enough interest that they feel he is worth $475k up front with a 30% of next sale clause. Seeing how Andrew is only valued at $85k and I can't seem to find a spot for him to play, I decide to accept the offer. I'd be sad to let him go, but given the sad state of our bank balance, I can't let an offer like that pass... May 18, 2010 Despite de loss, we still put four players on the Champsionship Team of the Week, all defensive players: Jimmy Nielsen, Richard Jackson, Willie Kinniburgh, and Ibrahim Tall. May 19, 2010 It didn't take long. Calvin Andrew has agreed to terms with Hull and will join them on July 1st. The money will definitely help as we are currently $1.8M in the red. May 24, 2010 Okay, this will make more sense than it did at the end of last season. I'm talking about squad bonus payouts and what we got for our final league position. We received $3M for our 6th place in the Championship and we will redistribute $1.2M of that to the players. This brings us to $355k in the red. FM
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A Black Belt is a White Belt who refused to give up... follow my story: The real life story of a running frog... |
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02-19-2008, 09:09 AM
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#188 |
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Hattrick Moderator
Join Date: Jan 2003
Location: Pintendre, Qc, Canada
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May 25, 2010
I find some small consolation in the fact that not only did Birmingham win the playoffs final against Wigan, 2-1, they outclassed them. They held the ball 56% of the time and outshot them 24(13) to 10(8) over the course of the game. We ended up losing to the time that promoted to the Premiership. I'd like to think we were "that" close... The squad have now gone on holiday until pre-season begins. Looking at my two main possible free agents, I decide to offer Etienne Esajas a contract, even though his agent says he's still waiting unti he has evaluated all avenues open to him before beginning talks one a renewal. I offer him the max my board allows me, $21k per week, with a $500k signing on bonus. That's a lot of money, but he's had a heck of a season and would quite certainly cost me more than that to get a player as good as him, money I probably would not have in transfer budget anyway... May 27, 2010 Grrr, Esajas has turned down the offer although he indicates that he's ready to negotiate. There's not much wiggle room here. I offer him the max my board will allow in appearance fee, $4300 per appearance, and add a minimum fee release clause at $2.5M. Esajas is currently valued at $975k. May 28, 2010 Woohoo, Etienne Esajas has agreed to terms on a new contract. Two down (including Ibrahim Tall), one to go! I was kind of afraid that Saulius Mikoliunas would want parity with Esajas but his agent still tells me he want to wait until he's avaluated all his options. I dive in and take my shot anyway. I don't seen him as being as valuable to us as Esajas so I offer him a bit, $15,000 a week with a signing on bonus of $250k and an appearance fee of $4200 per appearance. With Esajas' extention worked out, we're currently running $11,250 over our wage budget... May 30, 2010 Going through the people whose contracts will expire in a month, I see the name of our only physio. Yeah, all this time, we'd been surviving with only one physio, and not the best one money could pay. Dean Riddell is only rated at 16 in physiomanship. Looking around I see a little known kid of 27 years of age, currently employed by Dorchester who is seemingly a genius physio (read rated at 20). The kid is looking for only $675 a week in wage, compared to $1,100 for Riddell. I offer Adam Butler a three year contract. If he agreed to it, we'd have to compensate Dorchester with $70k, money that we temporarily have in transfer budget with the sale of Calvin Andrew. Not only that, but I've found a second genius physio, Sean Riley, this one currently working for Altrincham. He's only looking for $475k a week and we'd have to compensate them only $9k if we'd sign him so I offer him a contract. June 2, 2010 Sweet news #1: Adam Butler has agreed a deal with us. He joins us as a physio immediately. Sweet news #2: Sean Riley has agreed to the contract we offered him. He too joins us as a physio effective immediately. We'll have three physios on board until Riddell's contract runs out. Sweet news #3, the sweetest of all: Saulius Mikoliunas has agreed to the terms of the contract we offered him, signing a 2 year extention worth $1.9M. Woohoo!!! The core of our starting eleven that did so well late in the season will remain intact! The rough news is we are now back to being $1.55M in the red for one, but now the board have double reasons to bitch at me because we're also running close to $20k over our wage budget. I see one easy way out though and the name I have in mind is Dean Morgan. The dude is curently being paid $20.5k a week and I have about zero interest in even offering him a renewal. I decide to ct him lose a month early. While that will cost me a bit, about the lost wage he'd have been paid in four weeks anyway, it will at least get the board off my case on one of two counts... June 5, 2010 I try to remind the board that I'd like to see the stadium expanded. They politely remind me that they are already considering the expansion of Kenilworth Road. Oops... June 8, 2010 Funny thing. The day after releasing him on a free, I asked one of my scouts to give me a report on Dean Morgan. The report is in and the verdict is not good for Morgan. My scout believes I should avoid signing this player. June 12, 2010 My assistant had set a date for his retirement at the end of this season earlier in the year. I check and see that it's officially set for June 26. Hrm, time to look for a replacement. I find a 35yo retired Italian player, Vicenzo Montella who's got some interest to come as an assistant. While he doesn't speak a word of English, he's great at judging player ability and potential and is also good at discipline and at training attacking. I offer him a contract. I looked into releasing my current assistant from his contract but I'd have to pay him $400k in compensation. I guess I'll wait out the two weeks... June 13, 2010 Pardon my French but shit!  Due to strong local opposition the local council have denied the club planning permission for the proposed ground improvement. Damn, that's a blow. June 14, 2010 Montella has agreed to the contract I offered him but another blow comes. The team board has cancelled the deal because they feel the club doesn't need another assistant manager. GRRRRR! June 16, 2010 I decide to remind the board that yeah, I really, we really need the stadium to be expanded. They again politely remind me that they are considering the expansion of Kenilworth Road. sigh... FM
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A Black Belt is a White Belt who refused to give up... follow my story: The real life story of a running frog... |
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02-19-2008, 11:39 AM
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#189 |
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Hattrick Moderator
Join Date: Jan 2003
Location: Pintendre, Qc, Canada
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June 19, 2010
Jonathan Hayes' loan has ended and he returned to Leicester. He wasn't as useful with Byron Moore on board with us last season than in his first loan stint the season before that. Might still be interested in bringing him back if Leicester still want to loan him out... We've been designated as the "overachiever" of the Championship for the 2009/10 season. I guess that's cool, and not totally unexpected. We've been ranked in 49th place for club values in England with a value of $10.25M. June 20, 2010 Etienne Esajas has been voted Luton's Player of the Year by the fans. I'm pretty sure if Matt Moussilou had been with us the whole year he would have had the award. Will be interesting to see if Moose will be able to keep the pace for a whole season... The Luton Town Best Eleven for 2009/10 goes as follows: GK: Jimmy Nielsen (37 app, 0 goal, 6.76 rating) DR: Ibrahim Tall (48 app, 0 goal, 7.19 rating) DL: Laurent Montoya (31 app, 0 goal, 6.84 rating) DC: Karim Touzani (43 app, 1 goal, 7.07 rating) DC: Willie Kinniburgh (42 app, 1 goal, 7.00 rating) DMC: Ferrie Bodde (43 app, 0 goal, 6.63 rating) MR: Saulius Mikoliunas (38 app, 4 goals, 7.24 rating) ML: Etienne Esajas (49 app, 4 goals, 7.33 rating) AMC: Eric Skora (39 app, 9 goals, 7.15 rating) FC: Vincent van den Berg (45 app, 14 goals, 6.89 rating) FC: Matt Moussilou (18 app, 19 goals, 7.89 rating) === subs === Bartosz Bialkowski (13 app, 0 goal, 6.69 rating) Sam Parkin (29 app, 9 goals, 6.86 rating) Richard Hughes (38 app, 1 goal, 6.61 rating) Byron Moore (24 app, 1 goal, 6.88 rating) Jay Simpson (34 app, 7 goals, 6.59 rating) Agree with absolutely all the picks, without exception. Three new players have been inducted in the all-time Luton Town Best Eleven: Eric Skora, Jimmy Nielsen, Jay Simpson. They all made it only as subs though and here is where I disagree with the picks. Here's what the All-Time Luton Town Best Eleven goes: GK: Julian Speroni (97 app, 0 goal, 7.04 rating) DR: Ibrahim Tall (103 app, 1 goal, 7.15 rating) DL: Richard Jackson (92 app, 1 goal, 7.01 rating) DC: Willie Kinniburgh (97 app, 2 goals, 7.05 rating) DC: José-Karl Pierre-Fanfan (100 app, 1 goal, 6.95 rating) DMC: Russell Duncan (46 app, 3 goals, 6.93 rating) MR: Saulius Mikoliunas (87 app, 8 goals, 7.23 rating) ML: Etienne Esajas (100 app, 8 goals, 7.28 rating) AMC: Matthew Spring (71 app, 8 goals, 6.96 rating) FC: Sam Parkin (106 app, 37 goals, 6.97 rating) FC: Dean Morgan (105 app, 53 goals, 6.98 rating) === subs === Jimmy Nielsen (38 app, 0 goal, 6.76 rating) Eric Skora (65 app, 10 goals, 7.02 rating) David Bell (50 app, 2 goals, 7.14 rating) Jay Simpson (69 app, 19 goals, 6.62 rating) Chris Coyne (53 app, 2 goals, 7.06 rating) In my mind, Eric Skora fully deserved to be on the starting eleven in front of Matthew Spring, not in as a sub. And where is Vincent van den Berg? I see him ahead of Jay Simpson, easily. I do understand about Matt Moussilou. After all, the guy has only played half a season with us. We've been given $1.9M for TV rights for the upcoming season. Any money is good money right now... The Team Board have stated their expectations for our upcoming season in the Championship. They are looking for at least a respectable position within the Championship. Looking at what I could negotiate with them, I come to the conclusion that "respectable position" means "top half finish". I'm okay with that, I guess. What I'm not too okay with is the $0 transfer budget though. They have set a wage budget of $210k for that kind of expectations. I could change these expectations to promotion, title challenge, or even winning the title, but I don't wanna push the luck. That and changing the expectations would only give me more wage budget (up to $300k in order to try to win the title), something which I know we would not be able to live with. I can't afford to drag the team in the red with too high of a wage total. I see on our team page that the media prediction has moved from 20th last year to 10th this year... I also note that Etienne Esajas is now the sole favoured personel of the fans. He's also listing Luton as one of his favoured clubs, as well as Ajax and A.C Milan. Our U18 squad has received yet another crapastic load of youngsters. I might ask the board to improve the youth facilities at some point... June 25, 2010 James Henry's loan ends and he returns to Reading. Same for Rui Fonte and Scott Huntchinson who both return to Arsenal. They never saw the field in competitive play for us. FM
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A Black Belt is a White Belt who refused to give up... follow my story: The real life story of a running frog... |
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02-19-2008, 02:03 PM
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#190 |
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Hattrick Moderator
Join Date: Jan 2003
Location: Pintendre, Qc, Canada
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June 26, 2010
My assistant Sam Ellis finally retires and now I realize I'm kinda screwed since Vincenzon Montella is not interested in a position as an assistant manager anymore. I offer him a contract but he rejects it before the day is over... All the other dudes with high skills at judgin player potentials and abilities are all coaches or scouts and none seem interested in an assistant manager position. Grrr... I find one Jamie Hughes with only 15 in judging player ability and 13 in judging player potential whom could fill in for a year. Thing is, with zero transfer budget, I can't even tap into some other team's staff. I offer Hughes a one year contract with the idea that I'd replace him in a year... June 30, 2010 Friendly vs Espanyol. We go into our friendly matches with absolutely no new players on the squad, a first in all of my seasons in any life I've had as a manager. This is the first of many money making friendlies, although I have seen that the expected revenues from friendlies have been going down quite a bit. (not: I patched to 8.0.2 right before June 1st and I would think this is an effect of the patch. Used to see expected revenues of $350k quite often and now the highest they go is around $275k and often around $200k, that's gonna be a blow). We get schooled badly in that one. Down 0-2 after three and a half minutes, down 0-4 at the half, we finally lose it 0-5. Kind of expected with our first friendly, but still disappointing. I simply sympathise with the guys. FM
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A Black Belt is a White Belt who refused to give up... follow my story: The real life story of a running frog... |
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02-19-2008, 04:55 PM
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#191 | |
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n00b
Join Date: Mar 2005
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Quote:
It's been my experience that when you see that message, that the game has already set your stadium to its maximum size and will never expand it. It is possible that later on, if your club has enough millions, they may build a new stadium. |
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02-20-2008, 09:12 AM
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#192 |
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Hattrick Moderator
Join Date: Jan 2003
Location: Pintendre, Qc, Canada
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July 1st, 2010
Jamie Hughes has rejected the contract offer on the basis that the length is not good enough. I offer him a two year contract. Calvin Andrew moves out to Hull. The contracts of a few players have run out. Among them are Chris Coyne and Stephen O'leary who have both decided to remain at the club on a month to month basis. O'leary is currently earning $4,400 a week and I offer him $2,200 a week with a $3,700 appearance fee. I'm sure he could fill in case of need at the right wing spot. Same thing with Coyne, I think he could help us in case of an injury rash on the defensive front. His current contract was paying him $4,500 a week and he's looking for a two year deal at $1,700 a week. I offer him $1,200 a week with also a good appearance fee at $3,100 per appearance. The appearance fees at least don't count directly against the wage total compared to the wage budget. July 2, 2010 Jamie Hughes has agreed to a contract and becomes my new assistant. As you can see in his profile, he'll also be very helpful as a defending coach. July 4, 2010 Stephen O'leary accepts the terms of our contract offer. Woah, we received $425k because of a 20% sell-on clause for David Bell's transfer from Burnley to Southend. Niiiiice!!! We'd sold him to Burnley for $1.1M back in 2008 and he now just got transfered for $2.1M.Our bank balance now looks a bit better, now at $1.436M. Yes, that is in the black, not the red. I also have a tiny bit of transfer budget, really tiny, since the board only allows me to keep 30% of sales. I remember seeing that percentage at 15% when we were deeper in the red. Current transfer budget stands at $127k. FM
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A Black Belt is a White Belt who refused to give up... follow my story: The real life story of a running frog... |
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02-20-2008, 09:15 AM
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#193 |
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Hattrick Moderator
Join Date: Jan 2003
Location: Pintendre, Qc, Canada
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July 5, 2010
We play a friendly against Chelsea. Another one where we get pummeled for some gate money, but not as bad as the first one. We lose it only 0-1 but they I don't kid myself, they didacted the tempo of the game with mostly a B team. Many of their starters are away at the World Cup. July 6, 2010 Chris Coyne agrees to the contract we offered him, giving us that much more depth on the defensive front. July 8, 2010 We play a friendly against Man Utd. After fighting well against Chelsea, it's kind of disappointing to see us being manhandled like that by Man U. They jump to a 0-3 lead before the first half is over and they sit back for the second half, toying with us by holding the ball for 63% of the game overall. Not really pretty. Final score: 0-3. One scare and one definite bad news in this game. Matt Moussilou got away with only being nicked, phew, but Karim Touzani wasn't as lucky. He sprained an ankle and had to be subbed. He will mis around a month. July 11, 2010 England have won the World Cup with a convincing 3-0 win over Italy. FM
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A Black Belt is a White Belt who refused to give up... follow my story: The real life story of a running frog... |
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02-20-2008, 09:17 AM
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#194 | |
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Hattrick Moderator
Join Date: Jan 2003
Location: Pintendre, Qc, Canada
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Quote:
Yeah, I remember getting that message in a past life but don't remember if they ever relented and allowed the improvement though... FM
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A Black Belt is a White Belt who refused to give up... follow my story: The real life story of a running frog... |
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02-21-2008, 11:53 AM
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#195 |
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Grizzled Veteran
Join Date: Jul 2001
Location: Tulsa
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FMM could help. Just sayin
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02-21-2008, 02:06 PM
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#196 | |
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Hattrick Moderator
Join Date: Jan 2003
Location: Pintendre, Qc, Canada
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Quote:
From what I've read, no it wouldn't help me. I run the boxed version of WSM2008. And even if it could help me, I know the real life Hatters have been battling with ground problems for a long while and I'd like to see if I could survive with them long enough to bring them up, then make enough money so they'd go for a new stadium... It'll be that or I'll move to another team, as sad as that would make me... FM
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A Black Belt is a White Belt who refused to give up... follow my story: The real life story of a running frog... |
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02-21-2008, 02:12 PM
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#197 |
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Hattrick Moderator
Join Date: Jan 2003
Location: Pintendre, Qc, Canada
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July 12, 2010
We play a friendly against A.C. Milan. We play a very good game in this one against the team that has finished 2nd last year in the Serie A and won the title the year before. Sure, it was their first friendly and many of their players went into the game with very low condition, but I'll take the kind of passing we did anyday. We worked more like a cohesive unit in this game than in any friendly so far. July 14, 2010 Some more sales of season tickets have now pushed the bank balance to $2.4M. It's odd, when I go to take a look if Jonathan Hayes is still available for loan, I see that he's now with Colchester, not with Leicester. They apparently let his contract run out and he was signed on a free transfer by Colchester. Shame I was never made aware of a contract offer to him cause I probably would have liked to sign him on the cheap as a backup for Etienne Esajas... July 16, 2010 We play a friendly at Ayr. Nope, it wasn't part of our money making preseason round. The Second Division Scottish side simply offered us a friendly and I decided to accept it. We win this one 3-1 in a match that we dominated. We simply were too strong for them. We outshot them 25(8) to 4(2) and won possession with 59% July 17, 2010 I secure the the return of goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny to Luton on a season loan from Coventry. He probably won't get a start as long as either of Jimmy Nielsen or Bartosz Bialkowski will be healthy, but he'll definitely provide some cover in case of injury. I had put a few loan offers out there but I kept being rejected so they went unreported here. Szczesny here is the first one I got to accept to come to us. And there's another one. We've secured a season long loan for 21yo Tottenham striker Tomas Pekhart. The kid's not real fast, as opposed to most of my strikers at the moment, but he's a heck of a jumper who likes to play with his back to the keeper. We also will not pay one dime of his salary which is always a bonus. (profile to follow tonight) He did play on a loan with Plymouth in the Championship last year and averaged a form rating of 6.82 while scoring 4 goals in 11 appearances. He's got 3 goals in 2 friendlies this season so far. My assistant says his is not far from Matt Moussilou's standard as the best striker of our club. Music to my ear... I'm still trying to add to the wings with a loanee or two... FM
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A Black Belt is a White Belt who refused to give up... follow my story: The real life story of a running frog... |
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02-24-2008, 11:06 AM
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#198 |
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Hattrick Moderator
Join Date: Jan 2003
Location: Pintendre, Qc, Canada
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July 20, 2010
After seeing how all the guys I ask to loan from Arsenal just don't want to come to us, I go to the board and ask them to consider getting us a second parent club. They say they are prepared to consider my request for a replacement English parent affiliate. Hrm... I'd really like to keep Arsenal as my parent team, but it's becoming more and more annoying that all of their youngsters who could have some impact for us keep on rejecting us... July 21, 2010 We play Derby in a Friendly at Kenilworth Road. They'd challenged us to that match and while I didn't think much of it at first when I accepted it, I now see it as a good test for our team. Derby were just relegated from the Premiership after spending three seasons up there. It'S a pretty even match which ends in a 1-1 draw. Shots and possession were split quite evenly which sort of reassures me about the nice end of season we had last year... FM
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A Black Belt is a White Belt who refused to give up... follow my story: The real life story of a running frog... |
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02-26-2008, 11:35 AM
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#199 |
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Hattrick Moderator
Join Date: Jan 2003
Location: Pintendre, Qc, Canada
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July 24, 2010
We play a friendly against Juventus in which we get totally dominated. Final score is a 0-2 loss but they outshot us 22(7) to 4(1). July 28, 2010 We play our annual friendly against Arsenal. Another game where we get dominated, although we put two past their keepers in a 2-3 loss. They did outshoot us 28(15) to 6(3).Jimmy Nielsen played the last 45 minutes of the game and earned the MoM... July 30, 2010 The Championship promotion odds are announce by Sky Bet. Wigan, Derby and Preston have been made 7-4 co-favourites to gain promotion from the Championship this season. The other main contenders are: Crystal Palace (2-1), Blackburn (2-1), and Sheff Utd (10-1). For us, the bookmakers have priced us at 14-1, indicating that they don't believe we are far behind the top teams in the division in term of quality. Indeed there is a feeling on the betting floor that if we can perform well against them we might be able to achieve promotion... FM
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A Black Belt is a White Belt who refused to give up... follow my story: The real life story of a running frog... |
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02-26-2008, 11:37 AM
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#200 |
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Hattrick Moderator
Join Date: Jan 2003
Location: Pintendre, Qc, Canada
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and with that, I will be taking a break from reporting. It was fun for the month and a half while it lasted but work has become tougher and I can't see myself typing frantically for all my breaks...
Hope you enjoyed last season's nice run... I might come back to simply let you know where we stand at some point in the future, no promises though... FM
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A Black Belt is a White Belt who refused to give up... follow my story: The real life story of a running frog... |
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