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08-20-2009, 11:40 AM
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Hattrick Moderator
Join Date: Jan 2003
Location: Pintendre, Qc, Canada
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July 15, 2009
We play a friendly against Dunfermline Athletic. They just promoted back to the Scottish Premier League after spending two seasons in the First Division. I wanted to give the start to Dean Brill to see if he could hold his own but he stubbed a finger the day after our last game and is a bit doubtful to even play today. Olivier Bernard is already match fit so I give the start to Ben Parker.
We are definitely playing much better again today which is very encouraging. We take a 1-0 lead on a goal by Sébastien Heitzmann in the 22nd minute and hold that score until halftime. They tie it in the 54th minute on a crazy bending free kick from a long range that went around the wall and right inside the post opposite to where Ian Bennett was standing. Dean Pearce gives us back the lead in the 64th minute, heading in a ball centered by Ryan Charles. The kid's been playing pretty well whenever asked to play, either as an MC or DMC. Final Score: 2-1.
We certainly showed we're no pushovers here, great performance from the lads. Dean Pearce walks away with the Man of the Match. The fans are pleased with the win. George Pilkington bruised some ribs in the game and he'll miss 8 to 10 days. Looking at his profile, I see that the dude is getting old fast and has lost some skills. Looking at my shortlist, I remember James Chester, a 20yo centreback recently released by Man U. He spent last season on loan with League 2 Bournemouth last season, averaging 6.81 in form over 24 appearances. He's got a sound skill set for a defender and I'm asking my assistant for a more recent report card on him. July 16, 2009 As expected, Lee Trundle rejected our contract offer. He cites two reasons for the rejection: the basic wage offered was too low and he would prefer a substantial bonus for his appearances in the first team. Oh well, was worth a try. There's not only bad news though, as I learn that Man U's Ritchie De Laet has agreed to come on a season long loan with us. This comes right on time following Claude Gnakpa's fairly pedestrian performance in our match against Dunfermline. Hi low positioning skill will probably make me nervous to play him in the middle, but he's got reasonable pace. He could be quite good in games where I need a more attacking fullback. My assistant gets back to me with a report on James Chester and he tells me he would be a great asset to our squad. Chester is looking for a 2 year contract worth $1,300 a week with a signing on fee of $1,000. I offer him $1,100 a week with a $16,000 signing on fee. July 18, 2009 As I keep shopping a bit, I come upon 31yo experienced centreback Pelé hailing from Cape Verde (a Cape Verdian?). He's currently a free agent but played with West Brom last season. Or more precisely trained with the first team and played with the reserves, as he didn't take part in one competitive match with them in their one season in the Premiership. The scout report I have is a bit dated but back then, my scout was saying he had to be regarded as a definite purchase. I ask my assistant for a new report card on him. He's a natural centreback but is also accomplished in playing at either MC or DMC. Profile below. While still looking at centrebacks and defenders, I remember Holmar Eyjolfsson who spent who joined us on loan from West Ham in the January transfer window last season. He averaged a form rating of 6.82 over 13 appearances and was pretty solid as a centreback for us despite being only 18 years old. He was offered to us by West Ham last year and is no longer listed as available for loan but I try my luck and offer to take him back on loan this season. I'm thinking it's worth trying. 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 : 08-20-2009 at 12:45 PM. |
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08-20-2009, 11:42 AM
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#52 | |
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Hattrick Moderator
Join Date: Jan 2003
Location: Pintendre, Qc, Canada
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Quote:
yeah, I'd seen that. Quite happy to have him on board and can't wait to see him on the field for our next friendly.  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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08-21-2009, 11:41 AM
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#53 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Hattrick Moderator
Join Date: Jan 2003
Location: Pintendre, Qc, Canada
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July 18, 2009
We play a friendly against Hibernian from the Scottish Permier League at Kenilworth Road. These three friendlie against Scottish sides at home were all offered to me, kinda interesting. As if we've got some Scottish connection or something...
Although Dean Brill is still a bit dinged from his injury, I decide to give him the start. Want to see if he can hold his own in case of an injury to old man Bennett. It's also the first time I'll see new loanee Ritchie De Laet in a Hatter jersey. I also give the start to youngster Dean Pearce, giving a breather to Kevin Nicholls. Brill's game starts laboriously as they take the lead in the 6th minute on a loooooong shot from 30 yards out. Looking at the shot coming, I thought he could have moved a bit toward the ball. We're losing possession by an absurd number early on, not pretty. They score another in the 36th minute. I put in Ian Bennett for the secon half and we play a bit better. Coincidence or simply the fact our guys are in better shape than theirs, thus playing better in the last 45 minutes? Final Score: 0-2.
Still, not a bad showing, considering again that this is a Scottish Premier side. The fans are pleased despite the loss. Dean Pearce had a solid if unspecacular game but Ritchie De Laet really tore it up with a very nice performance. He ended up with a 7.4 rating, 10 interceptions, won 10 of 10 tackles and completed 31 of 42 passes in 70 minutes of play. Back at the clubhouse, I learn that West Ham have accepted our offer for a friendly at Kenilworth Road on August 2nd. I let Bromley know that we will have to cancel our friendly with them that was planned for August 1st. July 19, 2009 Looking at the transfer rumours, I see the Luton Football Free Press reporting we might be getting close to signing 19yo midfielder Lee Sawyer on a loan from Chelsea. Hrm, interesting, never heard of him and what I see in his profile (see below) is sparse at best. I ask my assistant for a better report card on him. The kid's very determined and aggressive. Could fit well into the squad... I also see that Bradford appear to be close to sign trialist Ben Parker on a free transfer. I take a look at his wage requirements and they're a bit too rich for my taste. He's asking for $2,300 a week and I can't afford that much for a backup, especially considering I have Lewis Emanuel who can play left fullback if needed. I hear back from my assistant about 31yo centreback Pelé. He's saying the former West Brom player should be regarded as a definite purchase. You can read the scouting report below. And here's the kicker, he's only looking for $1,200 a week. Seeing how many League 1 are interested in him I offer him what he's looking for to come and be a key player for our first team. I also up his required signing on fee from $1,000 to $10,000. Fingers crossed. Our offer to loan West Ham centreback Holmar Eyjolfsson for the season has been accepted. Only to be seen if the 18yo is willing to come back for another season with 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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08-21-2009, 02:04 PM
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#54 |
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Hattrick Moderator
Join Date: Jan 2003
Location: Pintendre, Qc, Canada
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July 20, 2009
Woot! Holmar Eyjolfsson has agreed to come on loan with us. This will certainly boost our defensive backline. The 18yo told the London's Evening Standard that he was still learning his trade and that he felt the loan move would be a good step up from playing reserve team football. That's the kind of attitude I want to see. We're link to yet another possible loan move, this time for 18yo D/ML Karim Laribi from Fulham. Again, little is known about his skill set. I ask my assistant to fill me up a bit. I attend the English Trial Day. It's a game between two groups of free agents, set up so they can show off their skills. I attended the game last year and signed Andrea Lombardo on a free transfer following the game. While he fizzled a bit toward the end of the season, he had a monster first half and finished as our top scorer on the year. I also like reading that "Luton boss Steve Gougeon can be seen in attendance". My assistant has recommended a few players, namely 19yo left midfielder Matty Ritchie and some others. The game is a goalfest that features Matty Ritchie prominently. He ends up with the Man of the Match, two goals and a form rating of 8.4. He had a pretty good season last year with fellow League 2 side Dag & Red, averaging a form rating of 6.93 on 46 appearances, collecting 7 goals, 6 assists and 7 Man of the Match selection. Many teams are interested in his services but only one has offered him a contract so far. I make sure we're the second. He's asking for $1,200 a week and I offer him that with a signing on fee of $7,000, up from his required $1,000. Another player that caught my eye is the goalkeeper that played on Ritchie's team, a 22yo Irish fella named Darren Randolph. My assistant says he'd be a quality signing, that he is very close in skills to our best keeper, Dean Brill (interesting he mentions him and not Bennett) but has the potential to be a lot better than Brill. He's only looking for $950 a week and I offer him that. July 22, 2009 and WOOT again!! Pelé has agreed to the deal I offered him a few days ago. The fans are delighted that I have landed such a nice bargain with that signing. They feel the 31yo will prove to be a great piece of business. Oldham and Ross County have now offered contracts to Matty Ritchie. July 24, 2009 I learn that James Chester has accepted a contract offer from Dundee. Honestly, I don't really care now as the arrival of Heyjolfsson and Pelé have got us pretty well covered at centreback. Crawley are offering me to take Ryan Charles on a 6 months loan. He's only being paid $750 a week so they say they'll pay all of it. He's simply a backup and definitely not indispensable. I agree to the offer. Ouch, Sky Bet have published their League 2 promotion odds and we're not exactly at the top of their list. Bury and Darlington have been made 7-4 joint favourites to gain promotion to League 1 this season. After them come Shrewsbury (3-1), Nothampton (5-1), Exeter (5-1) and Stockport (5-1). The bookmakers have priced us at 40-1, clearly showing that relegation remains a clear possibility and that we should be gearing up for a long, hard, and ultimately disappointing season. I'd like to make them lie about this, I would really like to... 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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08-23-2009, 06:28 PM
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#55 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Hattrick Moderator
Join Date: Jan 2003
Location: Pintendre, Qc, Canada
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July 24, 2009
We play a friendly against Blue Square South side Weymouth. I'd have expected us to dominate more than that, but we end up drawing it only 1-1.
Freddy Sears scored after stealing a back pass to their keeper. His pace and acceleration certainly helped him there. Interesting, from our club info page, I see that the media are predicting a 3rd place for us this season. July 25, 2009 I transfer list George Beaven in hope of cutting some dead wood. I'm asking for nothing in return, simply take him off my hands. I receive 35 offers for him. You can see his profile below.Looking at Dean Pearce's profile, I see that Crystal Palace are interested in him. ARG!! He's only 16, could they simply sign him away from me? I'm taking no chance and offer him a pre-contract that'd come effective when he'll turn 17 in November. July 27, 2009 George Beaven has accepted a contract offer from Welling and will join them. It's only $600 less in weekly wages but 2 or 3 players like that might mean a backup at $1500 or $1800 in extra. Bah, Matty Ritchie has accepted the offer from Ross County in the Scottish First Division. Dean Pearce agrees to the contract offered. He's ours for only $140 a week. I'm sure he'll command much more than that very quickly. July 28, 2009 We play a friendly against Dundee United from the Scottish Premier League at Kenilworth Road.
They take a 1-0 lead in the 25th minute but Sébastien Heitzmann ties the game for us with a screamer from 25 yards out in the 38th minute. They put the game away on a very nice play in the 79th minute. Final Score: 1-2.
While they did have many more scoring chances than we did, never did I feel we were really outclassed. A good game but with a bad news. Daniel Jones bruised a rib and will miss 8 to 10 days. This injury means Emanuel Lewis will start but I have no real backup for him late in games. I start looking at possible loanees and one catches my eye, Graeme Owens, a 21 year old fella who can play both right and left wing. Sure is forte is the right side, but he could certainly help us on the left in a bind. His profile is below. He is listed as being available for loan by Middlesbrough. I offer to take him for a 3 months loan with no payment on wages from our part. July 30, 2009 We play a friendly against Norwich at Kenilsworth Road. Couple player news before the game. Darren Randolph has agreed to our contract offer. In fact, my assistant reports he's better than our current best keeper Dean Brill so I will give him the start today. Other news is that apparently trialist Ben Parker has signed a contract with Falkirk. Never heard of anything. Would have thought someone would have told me...
Game starts well and after 15 minutes it's 1-0 for us when Tom Craddock's shot finds its way past the keeper. They are pushing us hard though and they tie it in the 23rd minute. We come out flat to start the second half and go down 1-2 in the 48th minute. It's the final score.
Other than us losing the possession battle big time, it wasn't such a bad game against a Championship level side. As for the previous two games, the fans are pleased with it, despite the result. Following the game, I learn that our offer to loan Graeme Owens has been accepted. July 31, 2009 Graeme Owens has accepted to come on loan with us. I think he'll give us decent cover in case of injuries. August 1st, 2009 Bah, the board feel I should be performing slightly better inmy role as manager. This could be a looong season, especially if we simply linger outside of playoff position 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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08-24-2009, 09:11 PM
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Hattrick Moderator
Join Date: Jan 2003
Location: Pintendre, Qc, Canada
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August 2, 2009
We play our final friendly against West Ham at Kenilworth Road.
Fred Sears and Holmar Eyjolfsson are ineligible since they come on loan from West Ham. In the morning, news breaks that Rangers are interested in Dean Pearce. GRRR. I issue a hands off warning. Don't know what my alternatives are as he's only 16, but I'll make sure other teams know he's ours. Gah, as we are ready to head to the field, Rangers put in a bid for Pearce. Basterds are cocky as all hell. They are offering to take him off our hands for free with 20% of profit from next sale. Are they frigging out of their minds?!? I simply reject the offer. I'd rather have them try to sign him off before he turns 17 and live with whatever the compensation will be to us. The game itself is rough for us. Down 0-1 after 7, 0-2 after 14, 0-3 at the half. It end 0-4 as we play a much better second half. Still much, much better than the 0-12 drubbing we took when we played Newcastle. Ryan Charles is set to go on loan to Crawley. August 4, 2009 As I look at my assistant team report, I see he's pretty happy with the amoun of depth we've got but that we are still a bit weak in goal. I'd agree with that and start looking at transfer listed keepers. Mike Pollitt, a 37yo journeyman keeper currently playing for Wigan is an interesting prospect. One of my scouts saw him play only two weeks ago and he's saying that he's twice the keeper that Dean Brill is and that I should sign him whatever the price. He played three games for Wigan last season and had a rating of 6.93, with two clean sheets, in the Premiership no less. Wigan are asking for $35k for him and I try my usual ploy of $0 and 50% of next sale. August 5, 2009 Wow, that was quick. Wigan have accepted our offer for Mike Pollitt. Hrm, he's getting paid $7,500 a week right now by Wigan. Getting him to agree to come play for us will not be as easy as getting Wigan to agree to a free transfer. I offer him the max my board will allow me to for a key player which is $4,600, with an appearance fee and a clean sheet bonus of both $925, also the max my board will allow me. I also offer him a $90k signing on fee. Strangely, the board doesn't really regulate that kind of thing. So you know, I'm currently running $240 a week over my wage budget. For me, it's REALLY good.  George Pilkington is falling to pieces. He hurt his foot in training and will be out 3 to 4 weeks. FM
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A Black Belt is a White Belt who refused to give up... follow my story: The real life story of a running frog... |
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08-25-2009, 09:15 AM
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Hattrick Moderator
Join Date: Jan 2003
Location: Pintendre, Qc, Canada
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August 8, 2009
League Match #1: at Hereford (Luton 4-5 fav)
GRRR, Rangers are back with another transfer offer for Dean Pearce and again, they must feel like they are doing us a favor by taking him off our hands. They are offering nothing plus 20% profit from next sale and a friendly against them. WTF!!! I'm setting a real price for the kid. If Rangers, or anybody else for that matter, want him, it'll be ONE... MILLION... DOLLARS!!! MUHAHAHAHAH!!! No seriously, where would I go with "only" one million dollar, it'll be $3.5M for Mr. Pearce. I'll see if they bite... Hereford are a newly relegate club to League 2 so nothing easy on this one, despite the media predicting an easy win for us. In hope of freeing some wage money, I offer Drew Talbot around to other clubs. I also offer a contract to trialist Kevin Nicholson. He's only asking for $1000 a week for 2 years and I offer him a meager $600 a week for only one season. Only a half hearted try I'd say. Dean Pearce is set to start the game for us and is even listed as key man to watch in the pre-game reports. I tell everyone I think we can win this one but make sure to remind Pearce that there's no pressure on him. It's a rough game for us. We're winning possession early on but we're spending too much time in our own end of the pitch. They take the lead in the 40th minute when an incoming corner is kick in off a volley. We go on the attack in the second half, even pulling out the 4-2-4 for the last two minutes and while we play much better and do have some chances of scoring, we failed to tie it. Final Score: 0-1.
Dean Pearce was one of our strongest player, his form rating at 7.0. He won 8 of 9 tackles and 4 of 5 headers. The fans are disappointed with the loss. Shiva-Star N'Zigou left the game injured in the 27th minute. He suffered a gashed leg following a late tackle. He will miss 2-3 weeks. August 9, 2009 I receive a slew of offers for Drew Talbot, all for the $20k I'm asking for the strikers valued at $35k. Rangers have withdrawn their bid for Dean Pearce but more importantly, Mike Pollitt HAS ACCEPTED OUR OFFER!!! He arrives at the clubhouse later in the day. As you can see from his profile, the 37yo journeyman goalkeeper is pretty well rounded. His coach report mentions shot stopping as a strength and no real weaknesses. Former manager and Luton favourite Mike Harford likes the signing. He thinks I have landed the club a real bargain with the signing of Pollitt. He believes the signing will really catch the imagination of the supporters and feels that the 37yo will prove to be a great piece of business. Pollitt also goes on record, speaking of his relief of signing with Luton. He revealed that he had been extremely frustrated with the lack of first-team football at Wigan and was looking forward to getting his career back on track at Kenilworth Road. I can tell you, if he can deliver like I hope he can, I'll work him raw. More on the house cleaning side of things. I offer Dean Morgan around, asking $50k for the striker valued at $80k. August 12, 2009 MK Dons offer us $60k fro striker Sébastien Heitzmann. I knew there was some interest for the Frenchman but had not realized that four clubs were interested in him. Heitzmann is currently valued at $30k but is worth much, much more to us. Their offer consists of $20k up front and $40k over the next 12 months. I tell them it'll be $375k up front plus the monthly installments. Let's see if their interest is really genuine. I field some offer for Dean Morgan, all for the requested amount. I accept all of them. I'll need the wage decrease now more than ever, following the Pollitt signing. August 13, 2009 Holy Crap! MK Dons match the offer for Heitzmann!!! I accept it. It's a potential value of $415k for a player we got on a free transfer. It's just too good to turn down. Drew Talbot has accepted a contract offer from Exeter. 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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08-25-2009, 10:27 AM
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#58 |
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Join Date: Nov 2003
Location: Morgan Hill, CA
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That's some nice cash from that transfer.
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Fan of SF Giants, 49ers, Sharks, Arsenal |
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08-25-2009, 11:19 AM
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Hattrick Moderator
Join Date: Jan 2003
Location: Pintendre, Qc, Canada
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August 15, 2009
League Match #2: vs Aldershot (Luton 2-5 fav)
We're heavy favourites for that one. I had not formally put him into the first team squad so Dean Pearce will be ineligible for today's game since he's already played with the U18 squad earlier in the day. I'll make sure this doesn't happen again. He may be only 16 but he's got his spot for him with the big boys. The draw for the second round of the League Cup happens in the morning and what a crappy draw we get. We will play Premier side Stoke City. They're in their second season in the Premiership, three levels above us. We also learn that we will play League 1 Colchester United as part of the Johnstone's Paint Trophy South first round. They were in teh Championship only a couple seasons ago but played last season in League 1. Another rough draw for us. Ingame shit: Something odd happened between two playing sessions. The gamefile apparently got corrupted and I am now unable to see any past domestic league records for any team, including my own. For example, Even going back to check on Stoke City now, the only seasonal record that shows is for this season. Nothin about seasons prior to this one. This is not a game breaker but kinda sucks cause I often use that kind of information to get an idea about whoever I face in Cup games. Fortunately, individual player informations are still there and the game saves and loads normally. This is Mike Pollitt's big debut as a Hatter. It'll also be is 500th league appearance. We start this game with lots of possession and have tried 8 shots by the 20th minute. Sadly not one was on target, but 5 were blocked. Freddy Sears hit the bar once. We are really buzzing about their goal. We finally take a 0-1 lead in the 31st minute when Sears heads in a perfect cross from Ritchie De Laet. 1-0 is the halftime score and we're eating the ball with 58% possession by then. They tie the game in teh 58th minute after taking advantage of a mistake by Keith Keane. A crazy, and sad, play gives them their second goal when in the 70th minute a long ball played over the head of our defenders sees Mike Pollitt rush out to try and get it only to see him get dribbled around. Their striker scores an easy goal and Pollitt gets the blame for the goal. Final Score: 1-2
What a letdown. We freakishly dominated them but a lack of cohesion within our ranks and we let that one slip away on silly mistakes. We got lots of new players on the pitch and I can only hope they'll gel soon. Pollitt ends his first game as a Hatter with a form rating of 5.1, but I just can't blame him for that one mistake. Had he not come out he would have faced a crazy one-on-one that he was almost certainly to lose anyway. I let it known in the post-match press conference that he had a good solid game and I expect more of the same from him. The fans are still pleased despite the losing result. Kevin Gallen stubbed a toe in the game and will be out for 8 to 10 days. Interesting news coming out in the press. Sébastien Heitzmann, probably through a translator, or with simply broken English, comes out and denies wanting out. He says he has never asked to leave Luton nor requested that he be allowed to talk to Darlington (another interested team). The 29 yo striker added that he was under contract at Kenilworth Road and would therefore continue to work hard for the club and his teammates. The media report concluded by saying that Heitzmann was currently considering a contract from MK Dons and was widely expected to sign in the next few days. Kevin Nicholson accepted a contract offer from York. August 17, 2009 Dean Morgan has accepted a contract offer from Exeter. His $50k move makes it the second Hatter to transfer out to Exeter in the last week. In a surprise twist, we learn that Sébastien Heitzmann has rejected the contract offer from MK Dons. He simply said that the basic wage offered was unacceptable. Well, the transfer money would have been nice but I'm sure Heitzmann can help us quite a bit. August 19, 2009 Hrm, looking at my profile, I see that I'm now described as an "under-pressure manager". Not sure I like that. My job status is still at "stable" though. It dipped to "insecure" for a little while last season. FM
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A Black Belt is a White Belt who refused to give up... follow my story: The real life story of a running frog... |
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08-25-2009, 11:21 AM
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#60 | |
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Hattrick Moderator
Join Date: Jan 2003
Location: Pintendre, Qc, Canada
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Quote:
It could have been although the board are saying I'll be getting only 5% of any incoming transfer money, no doubt due to the precarious financial position we got into in the offseason. 5% of $415k is only $20,750. Still much better than nothing, but I've been able to find nice players on free transfers so I don't mind the lack of transfer kitty right now... 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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08-25-2009, 11:53 AM
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#61 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Hattrick Moderator
Join Date: Jan 2003
Location: Pintendre, Qc, Canada
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August 22, 2009
League match #3: at Notts County (Luton evens fav)
We've beat Notts Co twice last season with a combined score of 4-1. Let's hope we can repeat. Mike Pollitt is still not completely match fit but I cannot not start him, regardless of his "mistake" of last game. We start the game with a bang when Sébastien Heitzmann scores one of his typical goal on a screamer from far out. From 35 yards out to be exact. A perfectly placed ball. Up 1-0. Holmar Eyjolfsson misses an interception in the 20th minute and they make him pay. Tied 1-1. Dang! Mistakes continue and this time it's right fullback Ritchie De Laet who gives away an easy ball and they score. Down 1-2. We do tie it before the end of the half when Freddy Sears finds himself alone on the edge of the 6 yard box. 2-2 at the half. It's bit crazy and I remind the fellas that we can win this game. I tell both Heyjolfsson and De Laet that I have faith in their abilities. We do have our chances in the second half but they dominate in possession and transform that possession into a 3-2 lead in the 68th minute. Sears bangs in a late equalizer, converting a nicely centered ball by Kristian O'Leary in the 85th minute. We even have a couple at winning the game in injury time but we can't convert them. Final Score: 3-3
Crazy game, very open. Freddy Sears gets the Man of the Match with two goals and an 8.5 form rating. We definitely played a much better second half than the first. The fans go back home in a buoyant mood following the late equalizer. The post-match conference presents an interesting question. I'm aksed what the future of Dean Pearce is at Luton, considering the recent transfer rumors. I reply categorically that he definitely has a future in my team, no doubt about that. He's still a bit unsettle but is please with my comment. Poor kid, 16yo is young to have to deal with stuff like that.
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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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08-25-2009, 02:02 PM
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#62 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Hattrick Moderator
Join Date: Jan 2003
Location: Pintendre, Qc, Canada
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August 24, 3009
Shiva-Star N'Zigou resumes full training following his shin injury. Same goes for George Pilkington although I'm not sure there's a starting spot left for Old George anymore. I'll have him get back into form with the reserves and will see later on. August 26, 2009 League Cup round 2: at Stoke City (Stoke City 2-5 fav)
Ugh, this is looking like a rough one. When the fans of the other team expect their club to pile on the misery for fans of the other club, you can expect the worse. I tell the guys that the pressure is off for this one. They should go out and enjoy the game. I thought the game had started reasonably well, with possession about even between the two clubs with maybe a little edge to Stoke. That was before I took a look at the shots stats. After 16 minutes, they had take 8 shots, with 6 of them being blocked, to none for us. They finally put one past Mike Pollitt about a minute later. We don't put much pressure on their keeper and when we finally do in the 25th minute, their keeper pulls off the miraculous save. We're only down 0-1 at the half but their outshooting us 13(3) to 1(1). They add to their lead twice in the second half, in the 56th and 70th minutes. Final Score: 0-3.
The loss isn't even the big highlight here. Daniel Jones, probably out of frustration, got sent off in the 82nd minute after kicking an opponent. I give him and official warning for violent behaviour which he accepts, indicating a willingness to control his temperament in future matches. He's automatically been banned for one match but a disciplinary committee will meet and could decide to extend the ban. Other bad news injury wise. Sébastien Heitzmann suffered a stubbed toe and will miss between 8 to 10 days. We're out of the League Cup with the loss but we had a bye for round 1. This means we made it to the board's expected 2nd round of the Cup and they are happy with it. 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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08-26-2009, 09:04 AM
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#63 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Hattrick Moderator
Join Date: Jan 2003
Location: Pintendre, Qc, Canada
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August 28, 2009
As the transfer window nears closure, rumors keep popping up about Sébastien Heitzmann being the target of some teams or others. The Luton Football Free Press are saying that MK Dons are apparently about to offer $220k for the striker. My assistant recommends I issue a hands off warning August 29, 2009 League Match #4: vs Morecambe (Luton 2-5 fav)
Bookies are predicting an easy win for The Hatters on this one. Morecambe manager Sammy Mcllrroy on the other hand thinks he has luxury to doubt capabilities to promote Luton to higher football. The backlash is immediate. I reply through the media that I am relishing an easy victory on his club today. They're currently in 20th place, one spot ahead of us. In the hope or bringing some stability back into our lineup, I give the start to Kristian O'Leary and Emanuel Lewis, two veterans returning from last season. I tell the guys in the locker room that not only I think we can win this one, but I expect a win! It's a very flat first half. We can't seem to complete our passes and finally go down 0-1 in the 34th minute. It's the halftime score. I lash out at the fellas at the half, asking them to show some passion damnit. It's of no use and while we play a bit better in the second half, we can't convert. Final Score: 0-1
What a disappointing loss. And a boring match to boot. 7 shots total, both teams combined. We lost possession BIG TIME with only 39%. I'm at a loss for words to describe how pathetic that display was... As you'd expect, the fans were also disappointed with the result and the showing from the team. August 31, 2009 Interesting, Mike Pollitt made it onto the League 2 Team of the Week. He rated at 6.6 for the Notts Co game and 6.7 for the Morecambe game. Nothing out of this world. I guess reputation has something to do in the selection of those awards... 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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08-26-2009, 09:05 AM
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#64 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Hattrick Moderator
Join Date: Jan 2003
Location: Pintendre, Qc, Canada
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September 1st, 2009
The team board are now satisfied with my management of the team. According to them, the capture of Fred Sears has been particularly pleasing. Even though I never had a say in it, I'll take whatever praise I can get. They negative is the unhappiness of fans regarding the performance of Kristian O'Leary. Oh well, at one point, given who we played in friendlies, we had something like 5 or 6 players that the fans were unhappy about, based mostly on form rating. Sure, starting with a 0-12 drubbing didn't help matters much. O'leary in particular had a rough outing against Stokes and was one of the worst players on the pitch against Morecambe. September 2, 2009 Johnstone's Paint Trophy, South first round: vs Colchester (L1) (Luton 6-4 fav)
Before heading out to the field, we learn that Daniel Jones has been banned for two more matches for his recent red card. We start this game with a neutral tactic and we're being manhandled early on. They're winning possession with 63% after 30 minutes but we've only allowed them four shots, that we've all blocked. It's a scoreless first half and I tell the guys that all we need is one goal, they can do it! Sure, we'll need to shoot at least once in the next 45 minutes for that to happen, something we failed to do in the first 45 minutes. We do take a few shots but the second half ends in a deadlocked 0-0 draw. Off to penalties! It's a goalfest in the shootout as both teams score on all of their first four shots until they miss one on their fifth one. Andrea Lombardo is our fifth kicker and he buries it to give us the win. Final Score: 0-0 (5-4 on penalties)
Our other scorers were Kevin Nicholls, Dean Pearce, Ritchie De Laet and Fred Sears, in that order. Fans are pleased with the win and we live, for the time being. We've been awarded $4,500 for the win, woohoo. September 5, 2009 We've been drawn to play fellow League 2 side Hereford in the second round of the Johnston's Paint Trophy. We'll hopefully be able to do better than we did in the season opener. Oh crap. Holmar Eyjolfsson got injured while playing for Iceland against Norway. It's not good, not good at all. My physion is a bit dense about how long he'll miss. He says between 8 weeks and 2 months. Well duh. 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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08-26-2009, 11:18 AM
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#65 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Hattrick Moderator
Join Date: Jan 2003
Location: Pintendre, Qc, Canada
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September 12, 2009
League Match #5: at Torquay (1st) (Luton 6-4 fav)
Always feels a bit odd when you play the top team in your league, on their pitch, and the bookies have you as favourites and you really don't feel like a winner. Maybe they're seeing something I'm not seeing yet. Sébastien Heitzmann gives us a 1-0 lead after Freddy Sears had use his pace to create separation from a defender in order to feed him a nicely centered ball. We're controlling the pace of the game at the half, winning possession with 57%. Heitzmann doubles his tally, and our lead, in the 68th minute when heads in a corner kick from Kevin Nicholls. While we do control the game, we're still prone to the same kind of mental mistakes and we lose our lead within 10 minute when they score goals in the 71st and 80th minute. Tied 2-2. Grrr... We finally put the game away in the 90th minute when Graeme Owens, who came into the game to replace Emanuel Lewis in the 69th minute, receives a perfectly centered ball by Nicholls, brought it into the box and beat the keeper one-on-one. Final Score: 3-2.
Heitzmann gets the Man of the Match with two goals. The fans are pleased with the win. It sure feels good to finally record the first win of the season. We'd had one draw and three losses so far, not really a stellar start to the season. September 15, 2009 Mike Pollitt and Kevin Nicholls have been selected to the League 2 Team of the Week. 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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08-26-2009, 11:20 AM
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#66 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Hattrick Moderator
Join Date: Jan 2003
Location: Pintendre, Qc, Canada
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September 16, 2009
League Match #6: vs Oxford (23rd) (Luton 4-6 fav)
Seeing how Graeme Owens gave us the win in our last game, I give him the start, despite the fact that Daniel Jones is back from his suspension. I also give a breather to kiddo Dean Pearce. This game starts just crazy. So crazy that within the first 13 minutes of play, we've knocked in three, THREE balls and we're leading 3-0. Fred Sears, Shiva-Star N'Zigou and Olivier Bernard, up forward from his fullback spot, are the three scorers. 3-0 is the halftime score but we're far from really dominating all over the field. Shot are pretty even, but we're losing possession big time with only 34%. At the halftime break, I tell the guys I'm pleased with their play and believe me, it'll take a long time before I tell 'em that again. They'll score three goals between the 56th and 65th minute to tie the game. I'm livid, just can't believe it. I want to jump on the pitch and give them all a personal whack behind the head. Final Score: 3-3.
Seriously would never have thought in a millon years that we could let go of a 3-0 lead. While many of our players' form rate upward of 7, I tell 'em all that it was not good enough. Undertandably, the fans are disappointed with the draw. After 6 matches, we're sitting in a very disappointing 19th place:
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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08-26-2009, 11:22 AM
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Hattrick Moderator
Join Date: Jan 2003
Location: Pintendre, Qc, Canada
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September 19, 2009
League Match #7: at Port Vale (7th) (Port Vale 5-4 fav)
For a rare time we're not favourites to win this one. Graeme Owens played well again in our match against Oxford so he earns another start. It's pretty even to the start of the game but we fall down one in the 26th minute. I decide to replace Freddy Sears at that time since his condition has dropped drastically after suffering a knock. Andrea Lombardo comes in off the bench. They take a 2-0 lead in teh 41st minute as we were playing with only ten men. Shiva-Star N'Zigou was down after a rough challenge. He'll keep playing though. We're down 0-2 at the half but all stats are pretty even. I tell the guys I want to see more from them. I may have added a few choiced words, I'm not too sure... We start the second half with a bang when N'Zigou'S nice play down the wing sets up Andrea Lombardo for an easy goal. We're playing with a lot more confidence in the second half and tie the game in the 70th minute with Kevin Gallen's first goal of the season, a goal created by Lombardo's pinpoint pass. Another Lombardo/Gallen exchange results in Lombardo's second goal of the game and it gives us the lead only 3 minutes later. Sébastien Heitzmann will add to our leads a minute into injury time. Final Score: 4-2.
Wow, what a game. I tell the guys I think they were sensational. Andrea Lombardo gets the Man of the Match. That was the good news. The bad news is that Freddy Sears twisted his ankle. My physio tells me that normally we could manage his injury with a course of injection but since he's only on loan, we have to wait and let him heal. No idea rightaway about how long he'll be out. September 21, 2009 Mike Pollitt and Andrea Lombardo have been selected to the League 2 Team of the Week. Turns out Fred Sears will miss between 4 and 5 weeks. Hopefully Andrea Lombardo can pull more nice performance like the one in our last match. 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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08-26-2009, 11:45 AM
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Hattrick Moderator
Join Date: Jan 2003
Location: Pintendre, Qc, Canada
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September 25, 2009
League Match #8: vs Accrington (6th) (Luton 1-3 favourites)
Wow, we're really heavy favourites for this one. In the pre-match press conference I'm asked about the interest surrounding Shiva-Star N'Zigou and how I rate my chances of holding onto him. I reply that I think my chances are very high. Accrington are coming of a convincing 4-1 win over Morecambe. We're now in 16th place, but only 3 points behind them. It's a logjam with only 4 points between 5th place Darlington (12 points) and us and Rotherham tied in 16th place with 8 points. Given our scoring in our last three match (3, 3 and 4 goals scored) I tell the guys to go all out to start the game. I also tell the guys I not only think we can win, but I expect them to go out and win it! Andrea Lombardo adds to his tally of last game in the 15th minute when he heads in a nicely centerd ball by Graeme Owens, then he repeats his goal tally of last game in the 30th minute, this time converting a ball coming from Shiva-Star N'Zigou on the other wing. It's 2-0 at the half and my assistant's recommendation is to tell the guys I'm pleased. Nuhuh, no way. I tell them not to let their performance drop. I don't want us to lose another nice lead by playing sloppy football. We don't add to our lead in the second half but it's not by lacking of chances. Final Score: 2-0.
Andrea Lombardo earns his second Man of the Match in two games. A confident performance from the whole team. The fans are please with the win that allows us to claim 5 spots in the standings, up to 11th place, and only 3 points off 4th place. Odd thing I see looking at Lombardo's profile. The rough start to our season has cause him, and some others, to feel that the team has more potential than it is showing. I'd agree with that although our last few games have been pretty solid. We're now tied for top scoring team in League 2 with 16 goals. October 1st, 2009 Woah, I have won the League 2 Manager of the Month award! The team ended the month of September with three wins and a draw (that should have been a win). Nice! The board are still satisfied with my management of the team. Their only negative comment is they're still rambling about our 0-3 loss to Stoke in the League Cup. Wow, get over it 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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08-26-2009, 01:52 PM
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#69 |
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Head Coach
Join Date: Sep 2004
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Congrats on rebounding your form and winning the monthly award.
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2006 Golden Scribe Nominee 2006 Golden Scribe Winner Best Non-Sport Dynasty: May Our Reign Be Green and Golden (CK Dynasty) Rookie Writer of the Year Dynasty of the Year: May Our Reign Be Green and Golden (CK Dynasty) |
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08-26-2009, 02:04 PM
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#70 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Hattrick Moderator
Join Date: Jan 2003
Location: Pintendre, Qc, Canada
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October 2, 2009
League Match #9: vs Darlington (3rd) (Luton 4-7 fav)
How about taking on the 3rd placed team in your league to test out of your recent good form has only been a fluke? They are only 4 points ahead of us, sitting in the last autopromotion spot. Once again, at home, I tell the guys to go all out to start the game. And holy moly did it pay off or what. We won the toss and elected to start with the kickoff. The ball is sent down the left wing where Graeme Owens takes it almost to the corner flag before centering it. Shiva-Star N'Zigou's first try gets blocked but there was no way Sébastien Heitzman's vicious top corner shot could be stopped. This is a new record, only 28 seconds to score a goal. It's still 1-0 at the half, but we're quietly in control. Only 8 minutes into the second, one of their players makes a Daniel Jones of himself and shoves Graeme Owens in the chest during a stoppage of play. The referee doesn't hesitate, it's a straight red! They go to a very hermetic formation with 4 defenders, a DMC, 2 MCs and AMR/AML but no strikers. I pull my guys back a bit to make sure we don't let them take advantage of any long counter attack. We get into a crazy ball control game from then on and will, amazingly enough, increase our lead by not one but two goals. Andrea Lombardo first, following a nice pass from Graeme Owens, then Heitzmann with his second of the game, converting on a corner kick, again from Owens. From experience, I've always found it extremely difficult to score against a team which is a man down. To score two is simply great. Final Score: 3-0.
Sébastien Heitzmann gets the Man of the Match with his two goals. We controlled the ball 67% of the second half, up from only 49% in the first half. Looking at the guys play, I got the feeling they had finally gelled. Nice passing, no balls left where there was nobody to pick it up. Great playing overall. Media called it a highly polished performance. Fans are delighted with the win. They were particularly pleased with how much more dangerous the team looked in the final third of the pitch. The win moves us up to 8th place, now only 2 points off second place and 5 points off 1st place:
Nice to see our progression through the league table. (see below) October 5, 2009 Mike Pollitt (again!), Graeme Owens and Sébastien Heitzmann have all be selected to the League 2 Team of the Week. Wow, I'm now described as a "talented manager" on my profile. Sure looks a whole lot better than being called an "under-pressure manager".
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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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08-26-2009, 02:49 PM
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#71 |
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College Starter
Join Date: Apr 2007
Location: Arlington, VA
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Heitzmann has really responded well to almost being shipped out of town. What a professional!
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08-26-2009, 02:59 PM
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#72 |
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Head Coach
Join Date: Nov 2003
Location: Morgan Hill, CA
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Nice run you have going FM
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Fan of SF Giants, 49ers, Sharks, Arsenal |
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08-26-2009, 03:44 PM
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#73 |
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Hall Of Famer
Join Date: Nov 2000
Location: Behind Enemy Lines in Athens, GA
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I'm still back one page chuckling at the "8 weeks to 2 months" diagnosis
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"I lit another cigarette. Unless I specifically inform you to the contrary, I am always lighting another cigarette." - from a novel by Martin Amis |
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08-26-2009, 07:02 PM
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#74 | |
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Hattrick Moderator
Join Date: Jan 2003
Location: Pintendre, Qc, Canada
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Quote:
thanks, quite happy about it. Probably shouldn't have been surprise to have won it given the month we'd had, but it took me a bit by surprise anyway. 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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08-26-2009, 07:06 PM
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#75 | |
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Hattrick Moderator
Join Date: Jan 2003
Location: Pintendre, Qc, Canada
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Quote:
you are right, I hadn't thought about it that way. He sure had a rough start with us, I mean the first few games he played with us last year were borderline atrocious and I was worried I had signed a dud, but he's tuned out all right. He's also got a basic English now. Shiva-Star N'Zigou still only speaks French. Makes for long speeches in the locker room when I have to translate everything to him. FM
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A Black Belt is a White Belt who refused to give up... follow my story: The real life story of a running frog... |
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08-26-2009, 07:08 PM
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#76 | |
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Hattrick Moderator
Join Date: Jan 2003
Location: Pintendre, Qc, Canada
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Quote:
thanks, hopefully it'll continue And I say this really without having seen anything more. Up until that last post today, I had some two days of playing time accumulated in screenshots, but now I'm all caught up. 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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08-26-2009, 07:10 PM
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#77 | |
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Hattrick Moderator
Join Date: Jan 2003
Location: Pintendre, Qc, Canada
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Quote:
know what, I had to read it two or three times when I first opened his profile. Wasn't too sure if there was not some information that was missing or something. heh. For some extra info, Eyjolfsson is now 13 days to 3 weeks away from coming back while Fred Sears is 11 days to 3 weeks from coming back. 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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08-27-2009, 02:02 PM
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Hattrick Moderator
Join Date: Jan 2003
Location: Pintendre, Qc, Canada
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October 6, 2009
Johnstone's Paint Trophy, South second round: at Hereford (Luton 2-5 favourites)
I hate those games where we're billed as heavy favourites, or even worse, when an easy win is predicted by the fans as well as the media. Gotta be careful with those. I'd probably want to rest a starter or two, given how unimportant the Johnstone's Paint Trophy seems to be to the eyes of our team board, but I'm afraid I'l disrupt the great chemistry we've worked so hard to build. I do one tiny change and it's to start Daniel Jones in the place of Graeme Owens. I tell all the guys they can win this game but I take Sébastien Heitzmann aside and tell him to pick up where he left off. That little aside certainly seems to have worked as he scores 66 seconds into the game. Daniel Jones drove the ball down the left side of the pitch and centered him a very nice ball. A perfect header later, we were up 1-0. The first half ends with that score and while we didn't score, we're in total control of the game at that point. 68% possession while not allowing one shot from our opposition, well done. But I don't want to give 'em an inch. While my assistant recommends to encourage them, I bluntly tell them not to get careless. The second half will stay scoreless but it's not because of a lack of chances on our part. We hit a couple of posts and one or two crossbars in that 45 minutes. Final Score: 1-0.
Yeah, 1-0 might look unimpressive, especially to the pundits who were predicting an easy win for us, but let me tell ya, we were in complete control in that game. Compare the possession figures (60/40), the number of corners (7/1) and the number of throw-ins (24/13) and you'll see that they spend the whole game simply defending themselves against our assaults. October 6, 2009 My words get twisted in the press. In yesterday's post match press conference, I was asked what my reaction was to the narrow win, given how we were expected to win by far more. Given how we have a pretty determined bunch of players, I decided to answer that I thought there was room for improvement. The London's Evening Standard stated in big letters that I was disappointed at the embarassingly poor win. Huh, not really what I said there guys... A couple guys didn't react well to my comment and dropped in morale, but otherwise all others stayed at superb morale. October 9, 2009 Kevin Gallen strained his neck after jumping to challenge for the ball during a training session today. He'll miss 11 days to 2 weeks. While he's not a starter anymore, he's mighty useful to close out games. Kristian O'Leary or Keith Keane will probably have to be used as backups to Shiva-Star N'Zigou. That or I give the left midfield starting spot to Daniel Jones, and I keep Graeme Owens (MR) and Lewis Emanuel (ML) as my two wingers on the bench. Jones had a pretty solid game against Hereford. October 10, 2009 We've been drawn to play League 1 Leyton Orient in the Johnstone's Paint South quarter final. They're currently sitting in 4th place of League 1. 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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08-28-2009, 09:09 AM
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Hattrick Moderator
Join Date: Jan 2003
Location: Pintendre, Qc, Canada
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October 13, 2009
My assistant informs me that Holmar Eyjolfsson's three month loan is coming to terms soon. I quickly ask West Ham if they're willing to extend it. October 14, 2009 League Match #10: at Northampton (17th) (Luton 4-6 fav)
Hrm, this match was rearranged due to international callups, but it doesn't look like it helps much. Edward Asafu-Adjaye, Ritchie De Laet and Pelé will all miss this match due to being away on international duty. I'm quite worried about starting Kristian O'Leary and George Pilkington in the middle of our defensive backline. Also, given Kevin Gallen's injury, I shuffle my winger spots and give the start for on the left wing to Daniel Jones, keeping Graeme Owens to come in late for Shiva-Star N'Zigou. Interesting fact, Mike Pollitt has not conceded a goal in 319 consecutive minutes of football. Huh, have I just jinxed us but even simply reading that line out loud? It's a very uneventful first half that ends scoreless. Sébastien Heitzmann is having one of his rare subpar performances. I tell him I have faith in his abilities, in hope it will boost his confidence. We get a great chance to go one up in the 74th minute but Graeme Owens puts it just wide. The final whistle comes and the media call it a bore draw. I call it stealing a point. Final Score: 0-0.
I tell the guys I sympathise with them even though my assistant was disappointed with the showing. Sure the stats are not real good, but we survived it. The fans are pleased with the draw. We move up to from 11th to 8th place with that tiny point, no sitting just outside the playoff zone. Second place is only 3 points away. Our offer to extend Eyjolfsson's loan has been accepted by West Ham. Waiting to hear from him on it. October 15, 2009 Bah, what a downer. Holmar Eyjolfsson has agreed to continue his stay on loan with us but it is turned down by the FA. There's apparently a rule that a player cannot spend more than three months on short term loan at one club during one season. I'll see if I can't get him back until the end of the season when the January window opens. For now, the last couple of months have shown that we can survive without him so I'm pretty sure we'll be okay. FM
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A Black Belt is a White Belt who refused to give up... follow my story: The real life story of a running frog... |
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08-29-2009, 06:43 AM
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#80 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Hattrick Moderator
Join Date: Jan 2003
Location: Pintendre, Qc, Canada
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October 17, 2009
League Match #11: vs Shrewsbury (3rd) (Luton 1-2 fav)
This match has been picked up to be a fan day. Any season ticket holder can brin a friend to that match at half-price. We're currently ranked 4th in all of League 2 in average crowd with a bit over 5500 spectators per game. On the injury front, Holmar Eyjolfsson will not get better before his loan spell ends, but Fred Sears is now between a day and two days from going back to training full time. We're in 8th place but only 3rd point off Shrewsbury. Not too sure I like the crazy kind of odds they are giving us. We start the game on all out attack but we're losing possession big time so I tone it down after 15 minutes. It pays off in the 18th minute when Graeme Owens puts a volley from a tight angle behind their keeper. 1-0 is the score at the half and we're playing okay. My assistant again tells me to encourage the guys but I just want to whip them and I end up telling them not to get careless. It's a very tight second half with keeper Mike Pollitt making a few big saves to keep his clean sheet. Once the game is done, he's played for 499 minutes without conceding a goal. Final Score: 1-0.
Graeme Owens gets the Man of the Match with his goal and overall good presence. Stats are quite even, as you would expectd when playing a time that high in the standings. The fans are pleased with the win. We move up from 8th to 5th place with the win, now only 1 point from 3rd place and 2 points from 2nd. Stockport have sorta pulled away a bit for now:
Our progression through the table is still mighty impressive. (see below) After the game, I learn that the fan day brought in an impressive crowd of 6956 to Kenilworth Road. Unfortunately, they're saying the the match experience was somewhat of a disappointment and the board are unsure if the event will help boost club attendances in the long run. What the heck more did they want? We won, it was a close match, plenty of shots were taken on either side of the pitch. Really don't know what more we could have done. October 19, 2009 This time I expected it following the nice saves he made in the Shrewsbury match, but Mike Pollitt was again selected to the League 2 Team of the Week. FM
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A Black Belt is a White Belt who refused to give up... follow my story: The real life story of a running frog... |
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08-29-2009, 03:24 PM
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#81 |
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Pro Starter
Join Date: Jan 2001
Location: Rennes, France
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fans wanted more goals
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08-31-2009, 09:06 AM
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Hattrick Moderator
Join Date: Jan 2003
Location: Pintendre, Qc, Canada
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October 20, 2009
League Match #12: at Lincoln (3rd) (Luton 4-6 fav)
Holmar Eyjolfsson has completed his loan spell at Luton and returns to West Ham. He'd been out of the starting lineup for a while anyway due to his injury. Fred Sears has begun full training following his foot injury. Going into this game, keeper Mike Pollitt has not conceded a goal in the last 499 minutes. Our conditionning seems a bit better than theirs. Even though we have many players in the low 90%'s, they have three in mid-80% condition heading into pre-game warmup. The first half is all Sébastien Heitzmann and Graeme Owens with a goal and an assist each. They both helped set up each other's goal in very similar ways. Up 2-0 at the half. Heitzmann adds a second goal to his tally in th 70th minute, this time on a nice pass from Daniel Jones, in for Owens. Final Score: 3-0
Great performance from the lads that has the supporters delighted. To fall the 3rd placed team, on their pitch, is a good way to show we're into it to win it. Heitzmann receives the Man of the Match but we get some bad news regarding Andrea Lombardo. The striker twisted his knee and will be out around three weeks. Good thing Freddy Sears is ready to come back. Mike Pollitt extended his run without conceding a goal to 589 minute, or six and a half games! The win moves us up to 4th place. 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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08-31-2009, 09:07 AM
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#83 | |
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Hattrick Moderator
Join Date: Jan 2003
Location: Pintendre, Qc, Canada
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Quote:
yeah, you're probably right. Guess they got used to high scoring affairs and it was just a bad day for our offense to stall. We got the win, that's all that counts in my book. 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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08-31-2009, 11:46 AM
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Hattrick Moderator
Join Date: Jan 2003
Location: Pintendre, Qc, Canada
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October 24, 2009
League Match #13: vs Stockport (1st) (Luton 4-7 fav)
Wow, played 3rd place Lincoln four days ago and now we play the 1st place team. Talk about an important stretch in our schedule. I give the start to Fred Sears despite him being a bit low in conditionning. Lotsa milestones mentioned in the pre-match report: Mike Pollitt having shut down opponents for 589 minutes now, Sébastien Heitzmann needing only 2 goals to reach 100 career league goals, if we're not beaten today, we'd beat our previous record of 10 games without a loss, and if we collect a clean sheet today, we'll beat the previous record of 6 consecutive matches without a goal... Only reading these makes me nervous. Something has got to go wrong at one point... It's a fairly uneventful first half that ends in a deadlocked 0-0 tie. The second half starts on the wrong foot for us as Stockport takes a 1-0 lead only 97 seconds into the half. Down 0-1. At the time I was afraid we'd simply crumble as 2 or 3 players appeared to be playing nervously, but we rolled up our sleeves and Sébastien Heitzmann tied the game only two minutes later, converting a nice pass from Fred Sears. We keep applying pressure and building confidence on it until the 67th minute when a free kick to the near post from a crazy tight by Daniel Jones is picked up by Heitzmann who uses it to make it his 100th career goal! Up 2-1! We'll add to our lead later in the game when we're awarded a penalty. Kevin Nicholls scores from the spot. Final Score: 3-1.
What a vital win for us! Heitzmann gets the Man of the Match with his two goals and we move into autopromotion zone. The fans are simply "pleased" but I tell the lads I thought their performance was sensational.
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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08-31-2009, 12:17 PM
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#85 |
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Head Coach
Join Date: Nov 2003
Location: Morgan Hill, CA
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Sweet!
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Fan of SF Giants, 49ers, Sharks, Arsenal |
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08-31-2009, 02:03 PM
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Hattrick Moderator
Join Date: Jan 2003
Location: Pintendre, Qc, Canada
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October 25, 2009
I get a notice that Graeme Owens' loan is coming to an end. Following what happened with Holmar Eyjolfsson, I'm not to hopeful that it'll work, but I ask for a renewal of the loan. October 26, 2009 Middlesbrough have accepted our offer to renew the loan for Graeme Owens. Mike Pollitt and Sébastien Heitzmann have been selected to the League 2 Team of the Week. We've been drawn to play League 1 Tranmere in the first round of the FA Cup. They're currently in 16th place and underachieving. October 27, 2009 League Match #14: at Dag & Red (24th) (Luton 1-6 fav)
Those are mighty big odds for an away match for us, no matter who we're playing. As we're getting ready to head out to the clubhouse, I learn that Graeme Owens has rejected the offer to come back on loan for us. I thought we were giving him plenty of playing time, and that he was playing quite well for us. That decision seals the deal and I give the start to Daniel Jones on the left wing. Hrm, these odds might have been right after all. Only 6 minutes into the game and Shiva-Star N'Zigou had given us a 1-0 lead. We double that lead only11 minutes later when Sébastien Heitzmann's fierce shot finds the back of the net. We'll never look back from that point on. Final Score: 2-0.
N'Zigou gets the man of the match but more importantly, Daniel Jones had a very fine game on the left wing, finishing with an assist on N'Zigou's goal. We move up one more spot, now in 2nd place. 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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08-31-2009, 02:05 PM
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#87 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Hattrick Moderator
Join Date: Jan 2003
Location: Pintendre, Qc, Canada
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October 31, 2009
League Match #15: vs Cheltenham (15th) (Luton 1-6 favourites)
Another game in which we're heavy favourites to win. Graeme Owens' loan comes to an end and he leaves the club. Lewis Emanuel will be backing up Daniel Jones. It's odd, as if our confidence bubble had pierced early on. We're leaving the ball to be picked up by opponents, passing erratically, pretty much giving away possession. Cheltenham are awarded a penalty in the 24th minute and they don't miss their chance to go one up on us. We get to the half down one and I question the lack of passion from the lads. Eight of our eleven players are either playing nervously or looking complacent. We do put tons more pressure in the second half, but we just can't break in. Final Score: 0-1.
After winning so many games we might have had reasons to lose, we finally lose one. One we should have won easily. The fans are disappointed with the loss. Still, we only drop one spot in the league table. Olivier Bernard has reached the yellow cards limit and will be banned one match starting on November 7. 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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08-31-2009, 02:06 PM
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#88 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Hattrick Moderator
Join Date: Jan 2003
Location: Pintendre, Qc, Canada
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November 1st, 2009
For the second month in a row, I win the League 2 Manager of the Month award. We played a crazy schedule of 7 league matches in October, winning 5, drawing 1 and losing 1. The board are satisfied with my management of the team. They're still happy with the signing of Fred Sears and their only negative points to pick on is that the siging of Darren Randolph turned out to be a disappointment. Sure, sure, but Mike Pollitt has been a beast. November 3, 2009 Jonhstone's Paint Trophy South Quarter Final: at Leyton Orient (Leyton Orient 5-4 fav)
Leyton Orient are currently in 14th place in League 1 but they use to hang around 3rd to 6th place at one point a few matches ago. They did beat fellow League 2 side Exeter 6-1 to get to this point in the Johnstone's Paint Trophy. Boy oh boy does this one turn ugly fast. We go down 1 in the 21st minute but by the 35th minute, we're already down 0-3. It' 0-5 at the half and nothing I tell the guys seems to have any effect on their level of confidence. We let two more go in during the second half. Final Score: 0-7.
Ouch. I couldn't care less about that competition, but I'm sure hoping it won't kill team morale as we've still got plenty of League games to play. Olivier Bernard finished the game with a rarely seen rating of 3.7. The fans are very disappointed with the heavy loss. FM
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A Black Belt is a White Belt who refused to give up... follow my story: The real life story of a running frog... |
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09-01-2009, 09:08 AM
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#89 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Hattrick Moderator
Join Date: Jan 2003
Location: Pintendre, Qc, Canada
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November 7, 2009
FA Cup round 1: vs Tranmere (8th in League 1) (Luton 6-4 fav)
Hrm, interesting. Tranmere are higher than Leyton Orient in League 1 and they even beat them while Leyton Orient destroyed us, and we're still seen as favourites to win this one... They do have tons of players that are either ineligible or injured or suspended for this game. We're talking five out of their eleven starters in their most recent match will not be in uniform for our match. Gah, the board's initial expectations are for us to reach round 3 of the FA Cup. A loss in round one would not be good for the board confidence. This adds up to make me real worried that we could spiral downward. I mean, it all started two games ago with a loss in a game we should have won, ending an eleven game unbeaten streak, then we got severely trounced by Leyton Orient, now this one that could very well go all wrong... And it starts rough. Only 4 minutes in, Dean Pearce, playing nervously, makes a mistake that directly leads to a goal for Tranmere. He'll never get over that mistake and will play skingly all game long although the rest of the team pick themselves up and Shiva-Star N'Zigou ties it in the 25th minute. Tranmere were calling for an offside on that goal and I can only wonder if it was maybe offside. Sure was a close call. The referee ends up giving a yellow to one of their complaining players after the goal. This crazy, action packed first half ends in a 1-1 tie. We start the second half a bit shaky and it takes a couple of brilliant saves from Mike Pollitt to keep us in the game, at least until the 70th minute when Sébastien Heitzmann breaks the tie between the two teams with a piledrive of a freekick from way far out. We wil never look back after that, putting together a masterful performance of defensive football. Final Score: 2-1.
I tell the guys I'm delighted with the win, a truly inspired end of the game for us. We dodged a bullet and save our team morale. I'm a bit surprised it has not gone up more though. N'Zigou received the Man of the Match with a goal and 8 runs past opponents. We're given $30,000 for the win and are through to round 2 of the FA Cup. November 8, 2009 Andrea Lombardo resumes full training after missing three weeks with a knee injury. FM
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A Black Belt is a White Belt who refused to give up... follow my story: The real life story of a running frog... |
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09-01-2009, 02:08 PM
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#90 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Hattrick Moderator
Join Date: Jan 2003
Location: Pintendre, Qc, Canada
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November 9, 2009
We've been drawn to play League 1 Crewe Alexandra in the second round of the FA Cup. At least that one will be at Kenilworth Road. They are currently in 19th place in League 1. November 12, 2009 Happy Birthday to you Dean Pearce! The youngster turns 17 today putting into effect the contract he had pre-signed earlier on. He effectively becomes a pro and will start training with the seniors. He stated that his love for the club was the main reason behind him signing the new deal, worth a whopping $140 a week. I sure hope he's still living with ma and pa. Joke aside, I'm pretty happy that nobody decided to steal him from us. He's done quite well for us and I'm sure he's got a great future ahead of him.I get a notice that the loan and free transfer deadline will be in one week. I'Ve had this Greek defender/midfielder free agent on my shortlist for a long time but never decided myself to pull the plug and offer him a contract. Name is Christos Karypidis and you can see his profile below. Reason why I never offered him a contract, despite running at about $1,900 below the weekly wage budget is that he was asking for close to $4,500 a week to come play for us. Now, maybe seeing that he'll have to wait another month and a half to get a chance to play organized football again, he's lowered his demands to $3,500 a week. He's not too old at 26 and has a pretty nice set of skills. Add to that the fact that he's quite determined and my scout says he'd only add to the determined nature of our team even though we've already got a group of pretty determined players. I try a lowball type of first offer at $2,500 a week, upping the appearance fee and signing on fee a bit. November 14, 2009 League Match #16: at Exeter (5th) (Luton 4-6 fav)
We've got many former Hatters playing for this Exeter squad, including both their starting strikers, Drew Talbot and Dean Morgan, and centreback Rossi Jarvis. The game turns out to be a boring affair. Few shots are tried, even fewer were put on target. We go down 0-1 midway through the second half and never recover. Final Score: 0-1
My assistant recommends that I tell the guys I'm disappointed in their performance but it's a road game and was real close, despite it being unspectacular and I decide to sympathise with the lads. Sébastien Jeitzmann had a stinker of a game although I let it flow. We need to rebuild some of that team morale. We drop to fourth place with the loss but we're still only 2 points from the two teams tied in second. Following the game, Fred Sears vows to end his goal drought that's been going on for 553 minute now. Sure would help us if you scored one here or there Freddy... November 15, 2009 Christos Karypidis rejects our first contract offer but he's willing to negotiate further. I up the weekly wage from $2,500 to $2,700 and up the appearance fee from $500 to $600 and the signing on fee from $30k to $35k. November 16, 2009 Mike Pollitt, now quite used to the mention, has been selected to the League 2 Team of the Week. If he's not selected into the League's Team of the Year, I'll be really surprised. And sweet news! Christos Karypidis has agreed to the terms of our most recent offer. He revealed that he was looking forward to being part of a team once again. He joins the club in the afternoon and Luton favourite Mick Harford says he's relishing the opportunity to watch the new signing in action. He believes I have really stirred up the fans with this signing and thinks the current atmosphere around Kenilworth Road could help spur the club on. Furhermore, the fans are delighted that I have landed the club a real bargain with the signing of the Greek defender. Karypidis will sport the #3 jersey, left unused with the end of Holmar Eyjolfsson's loan. You can see coach reports for Karypidis below. He's a pretty versatile player who's a right fullback first but could very well play centreback too, and be of use to cover the central midfield positions. With that signing, we're now running $849 over the weekly wage budget which is still VERY good for me. November 18, 2009 Tom Craddock bruised a rib while playing with the reserves. He'll miss between 7 and 10 days. No big deal when the trio of Heitzmann/Sears/Lombardo is all healthy. FM
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A Black Belt is a White Belt who refused to give up... follow my story: The real life story of a running frog... |
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09-02-2009, 09:07 AM
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#91 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Hattrick Moderator
Join Date: Jan 2003
Location: Pintendre, Qc, Canada
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November 21, 2009
League Match #17: vs Grimsby Town (18th) (Luton 2-5 fav)
Another easy victory predicted for the Hatters. Those always make me nervous. Instead of simply telling the guys they can win this game, I tell them to play it for the fans. The team talk pays off early, and often. Andrea Lombardo scores in the 10th minute, ThenOlivier Bernard, up from his fullback spot, scored in the 23rd minute and finally, Lombardo adds to his tally in the 38th minute, converting a great assist from Shiva-Star N'Zigou. At that point, we were dominating with 63% possession and outshooting them 8(5) to 1(0). I take a chance and simply tell the guys I'm pleased at halftime. It's a rough second though, not so much on the scoreboard but in the physio room as Dean Pearce and Shiva-Star N'Zigou have to leave the match injured. Final Score: 3-0.
Great game, the kind of performance I expect from us against lower ranked sides. Andrea Lombardo gets the Man of the Match with two goals. Great form from pretty much everyone and the fans are delighted with the win. They were especially pleased with how much more dangerous the team looked in the final third of the pitch. The win gets us back to second place, ahead on the goal differential tiebreaker and only 5 points behind first place Stockport. The news is not good from our physio. Dean Pearce pulled a hamstring and will miss about 4 weeks while Shiva-Star N'Zigou suffered a gashed leg and will miss between 13 days and 2 weeks. That's quite precise if you ask me. November 23, 2009 Four Hatters have been selected to the League 2 Team of the Week, including Mike Pollitt, Ritchie De Laet, Olivier Bernard and Daniel Jones. FM
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A Black Belt is a White Belt who refused to give up... follow my story: The real life story of a running frog... |
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09-02-2009, 09:46 AM
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#92 |
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College Prospect
Join Date: Jan 2005
Location: Inland Empire, PRC
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I'm on board too with my first visit to fofc in 6 weeks..
keep up the good work, FM. |
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09-02-2009, 11:43 AM
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#93 | |
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Hattrick Moderator
Join Date: Jan 2003
Location: Pintendre, Qc, Canada
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welcome aboard, I wondered when you'd show up. FM
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A Black Belt is a White Belt who refused to give up... follow my story: The real life story of a running frog... |
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09-02-2009, 02:06 PM
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#94 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Hattrick Moderator
Join Date: Jan 2003
Location: Pintendre, Qc, Canada
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November 24, 2009
League Match #18: at Chester (6th) (Luton 5-4 fav)
Christo Karypidis is still severely lacking in match fitness but he'll have to do as I set him to make his debut, in replacement for the injured Dean Pearce. He played one match with the reserves upon arrival at the club and rated at 7.1 in form. I'm sure he'll do at least okay. Sébastien Heitzmann has been shaky lately so I sit him out and start Freddy Sears in his place. Gah! we've been playing for 6 minutes when Olivier Bernard falls down and doesn't get back up right away. He has to be replaced and Lewis Emanuel comes in. We were playing an okay first half until the 22nd minute when they take a 0-1 lead. We're down 1 at the half and I challenge the lads, where's the passion guys?!? We put a bit more pressure and it finally pays off with 10 minutes to play when Andrea Lombardo puts one past the opposing keeper. Tied 1-1. Chester feel the goal was offside and I can't really say it wasn't. We put tons more pressure the rest of the game but can't break through. Final Score: 1-1.
There's a game we should have but I feel happy simply drawing. Our first half play wasn't as good as the second half. Good if not really specacular showing by Karypidis in his debut. We remain in 2nd place with the draw but dropped two points to Stockport. New is not so good about Olivier Bernard. My physio mentions he could get a course of injection and play next week but could be out 4 to 5 weeks after that, or simply be treated by the physio and miss about 3 weeks. I leave him with the physio. FM
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A Black Belt is a White Belt who refused to give up... follow my story: The real life story of a running frog... |
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09-02-2009, 05:00 PM
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#95 |
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High School Varsity
Join Date: Nov 2003
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Nice job so far FM! I always love reading your WWSM dynasties.
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09-02-2009, 05:01 PM
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#96 |
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High School Varsity
Join Date: Nov 2003
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dola. Actually I've started my own Luton career recently.
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09-03-2009, 11:50 AM
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#97 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Hattrick Moderator
Join Date: Jan 2003
Location: Pintendre, Qc, Canada
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November 28, 2009
FA Cup round 2: vs Crewe Alexandra (19th in L1) (Luton 5-4 fav)
Interesting that we are favourites for this one. Might be the reason why the fans are so hopeful ahead of this tight clash. I'm in sort of a bind up front. Both Sébastien Heitzmann and Fred Sears are in a slump both with an average form rating around 6.2 over their last 5 appearances. I've seen both of them start games and go down in form, playing a bad first half, before going back up, or sometimes not and ending with a bad game overall. They both had a great game against Tranmere, but everyone played great in that game. I end up starting Heitzmann but I won't wait much before making a switch. I would usually use a defensive setup against a higher opponent like Crewe but I decide to tell the guys to go on the attack since we're at home. This decision turns out to be the right one as we get up by one 9 minutes into the game. Kevin Nocholls let go of a screamer of a volley from 35 yards out. The pass from Christo Karypidis that led to that goal was pinpoint perfect. Crewe tie the game at one a piece in the 33rd minute but it's their first shot, on or off target. We're keeping them on their end of the pitch and all they seem to be doing at that point is kick the ball to the sideline. We take back the lead only 5 minutes later when Daniel Jones scores his first ever goal as a Hatter, the result of a great centered ball by Ritchie De Laet. Crewe do put some more pressure in the second half, but we hold on and we're through to the 3rd round! Final Score: 2-1
Sweet game in which Andrea Lombardo was the one striker to let me down. Kevin Nicholls gets the Man of the Match. The fans are pleased with the win. We're given $45k for our win and while it doesn't sound like much, when you're losing close to $140k a month, it'll make a world of difference. Next game is in 7 days and here's a roundup of our injured players: Shiva-Star N'Zigou, 3 to 6 days Olivier Bernard, 13 days to 2 weeks Dean Pearce, 2 to 3 weeks FM
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A Black Belt is a White Belt who refused to give up... follow my story: The real life story of a running frog... |
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09-03-2009, 11:51 AM
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#98 | ||
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Hattrick Moderator
Join Date: Jan 2003
Location: Pintendre, Qc, Canada
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Thanks and cool about playing with Luton. That 30 points deduction coupled with their financial situation make them an interesting challenge. Not quite LLM, but really not too up on the ladder of English clubs. Good luck with them! FM
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A Black Belt is a White Belt who refused to give up... follow my story: The real life story of a running frog... |
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09-03-2009, 02:13 PM
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#99 |
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Hattrick Moderator
Join Date: Jan 2003
Location: Pintendre, Qc, Canada
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November 29, 2009
I realize I never reported that a couple weeks ago, keeper Dean Brill requested to be transfer liste, a request that was granted at the time. I see that Wrexham are scouting him out and I decide to move things forward a bit. Brill is currently being paid $3,300 a week for not even being the starter on the reserve squad. That is way too much and it would allow us to get back under the wage budget. He's currently valued at $9,000 but I fax an offer for him at $20,000 to other clubs around England. November 30, 2009 Wrexham have put in a bid for Dean Brill. They're offering $3,000 up front and $16k over the next 24 months. I accept the offer on the spot. We've been drawn to play another League 1 side in the 3rd round of the FA Cup. It'll be Swindon at Kenilworth Road this time around. I guess we could have drawn worse. They are currently in 11th place in League 1 and have dropped mostly in the last 7 or 8 games after starting very strong. December 1st, 2009 The board are satisfied with my management of the team. Kinda odd, the positive thing they have to say is that the positive atmosphere among the players has been a contributing factor. I don't really get it. Sure, say you're delighted we're on par to get promoted, but to say you're happy that players are getting along? Oh well. Oh, they're still pissed at the 0-7 loss against Leyton Orient. December 3, 2009 well, that was fast. Dean Brill has agreed to a contract with Wrexham and will join them on January 1st. Shiva-Star N'Zigou has resumed full training following his injury. December 4, 2009 Ian Bennett, our starting keeper for all of last season, has set his sight on retirement at the end of the season. He really had declined in skills from the end of last season to the beginning of this season. FM
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A Black Belt is a White Belt who refused to give up... follow my story: The real life story of a running frog... |
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09-06-2009, 06:58 PM
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Hattrick Moderator
Join Date: Jan 2003
Location: Pintendre, Qc, Canada
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December 5, 2009
League Match #19, vs Bury (9th) (Luton 4-5 fav)
Sébastien Heitzmann gives us a 1-0 lead in the 23rd minute, heading in the ball. We're putting lots more pressure in the second half and in a span of 3 minutes, hit the post or the crossbar three times. We finally put the game away when Keith Keane converts a nicely centered ball from Daniel Jones. Final Score: 2-0
A good performance overall. Keith Keane gets away with the Man of the Match, coming off the bench. The fans are delighted with the win. We remain in 2nd place with the win.
December 6, 2009 With January 1st looming over, I take a look at who will have his contract running up in June 2010. Here's a list:
Of these players, I offer new contracts to a few. To Shiva-Star N'Zigou, for $200 less than what he's currently receiving. To Andrea Lombardo, for what he's presently being paid. Kristian O'Leary is now 32, but he's only asking for $800 a week and I offer him that. Kevin Gallen is 34 and I will let him walk away at the end of his contract. Sébastien Heitzmann want what he's already getting and I also offer him $200 less than that. Edward Asafu-Adjaye is not getting lots of playing time, but he's still young and has potential. He's also only asking for $825 a week for a year. I up his signing on fee to tack on another year to his deal. George Pilkington has played well for us this season and I realized he is younger than I first thought at "only" 27. He's looking for $2,000 a week and I offer him $1,800. Lewis Emanuel is another one of those "useful but not indispensable". He's looking for $2,100 a week but I offer him only $1,600. He's currently being paid $2,200. December 7, 2009 Answers are coming already. Kristian O'Leary, Lewis Emanuel, Edward Asafu-Adjaye and Sébastien Heitzmann have all agreed to the offered contracts. Nice! Awaiting answers from Pilkington, N'Zigou and Lombardo. December 9, 2009 It's now George Pilkington who's agreed to the offered contract. I've gone from being $849 a week over the wage budget to being $295 UNDER budget. Well done! December 10, 2009 And there they are. Andrea Lombardo and Shiva-Star N'Zigou have both agreed to new deals. 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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