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01-13-2008, 08:14 PM
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#1 | ||
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College Benchwarmer
Join Date: Dec 2002
Location: St. Catharines, Canada
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WWSM2008: Unproven Canadian Takes Helm at Cambridge City FC
First of all, thanks go out to Frogman, Coffee Warlord and BYU 14 for motivating me through their own dynasties to get off my butt and do some writing again and also to all the posters at the WWSM/FM impressions thread that make it a must-read every day.
While the game can be intimidating at first, especially for those who don't quite understand all the nuances of the sport, like myself, it's just so deep and sucks you into the gaming world like no other text sim ever made. For those on the fence about the game due to their lack of knowledge about soccer, the complicated transfer system and the seemingly difficult-to-master tactics, trust me, it's worth the extra effort to learn. The game is just that good. So, with that in mind, I bought WWSM and decided to fire up a new dynasty. Here is what my gaming world looks like:  There is method to my madness when deciding which nations and leagues to have active in my universe and it all centers around the Champions League. Every country listed above have two or more representatives in the Champions League: Spain, England and Italy have four; Germany, France and Portugal have three while the others have two. The only exception is obviously the USA but I kept that league active just in case I decide to ever try my hand managing Toronto FC.  I also import all players from Canada just in case I ever get the chance to manage the national team in the future.My ultimate goal is to eventually manage a club at the top levels in the sport so I will always keep an open mind when better opportunities present themselves on the job market. The dream job would be a manager's position at Watford FC, my favourite English club who currently play in the Championship. I start my career as an unemployed manager and decide to wait until the first open opportunity presents itself. Interestingly enough, I can't find any jobs for well over six months of game time. A few jobs open up in Spain and Italy but I decide that the language barrier might present problems for me as a rookie manager and continue to look to England for my first club. Of course, I get laughed at and quickly rejected whenever I apply for a job at a professional club in the Football League and know that I'm going to have to start my career at the bottom, in this case the Blue Square North or South. Finally, in Februay of 2008, a job opens up in the Blue Square South when Gary Roberts gets sacked at Cambridge City FC and I quickly apply for the job. I was keeping my fingers crossed for a top real life semi-professional club like Lewes FC to fall on hard times but having Marc Vaughan's favourite non-league club offer me a spot seemed too perfect. They approach me the next day with no transfer budget and a contract offer of £160 per week. No further negotiations are necessary.  Let my life as a manager in football-mad England begin!
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MY CURRENT FM19 DYNASTY - FM19: "Ludere causa Ludendi - To Play for the Sake of Playing" - Queen's Park FC (Scottish League Two) MY OLD FM11 DYNASTY - FM11: From Semi-Pro Minnows to the EPL - Dover Athletic FC My Personal Blog - Now on the Tee - Golf, Sports, Poker, Life 2006 GOLDEN SCRIBE AWARD WINNER FOR BEST 'OTHER SPORT' DYNASTY - EHM2005: Sharpening Swords in Buffalo |
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01-13-2008, 08:20 PM
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#2 |
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Hattrick Moderator
Join Date: Jan 2003
Location: Pintendre, Qc, Canada
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woot! no need to say, I'll be reading.
Good luck! 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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01-13-2008, 08:38 PM
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#3 |
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Head Coach
Join Date: Oct 2002
Location: Colorado Springs
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We are so taking over this entire board.
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01-13-2008, 08:44 PM
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#4 |
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College Benchwarmer
Join Date: Dec 2002
Location: St. Catharines, Canada
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 Cambridge City have had at least one spectacular result this season. In a High Court judgement delivered on the 19th of September in 2007, City won back the rights to stay at their Milton Road ground until 2010 and to benefit from 50% of the profit (‘overage’) on its future development. Landlords Ross River Ltd, an Isle of Man company to which the previous Board of Directors sold the ground, had hoped to evict City in May 2007, but the Court ruled that the club had been the victim of "fraudulent misrepresentations" during sale negotiations and restored the previous lease and overage. This was a fantastic victory for the Club in its centenary season, giving it some stability and the opportunity to plan ahead. That City have made it to their centenary season at all is quite an achievement for the club and its supporters. In the dark days of early 2006, the previous Board announced plans to have City absorbed into Cambridge United. The plan was to leave Milton Road, scrap the first team and have a ‘City’ youth team playing at United’s Abbey Stadium at county league level. A fans’ campaign forced Directors to resign, to be replaced by members of the Cambridge City Supporters’ Trust. The new Board kept the club alive and discovered the evidence which led to the successful High Court action. Early years In less turbulent times, the club was formed in 1908 as Cambridge Town and quickly established itself by winning several titles and cups in its early years. A rivalry developed with Ipswich Town during the 1930s, with trouble on the pitch often spilling over to the terraces. Both clubs’ success in the Southern Amateur League prompted invitations to join the Football League. Ipswich accepted, but the Cambridge Directors declined on account of their commitment to the principles of amateur football, so the two Towns went their separate ways. Cambridge moved on to the Spartan League, where they won three league titles between 1945-50. When Cambridge was granted City status in 1951, Town and Eastern Counties League neighbours Abbey United both applied to change their name to Cambridge City. Town’s application was first to arrive at the Cambs FA and was accepted, leaving Abbey United to change their name to Cambridge United. Southern League Champions City finally left the amateur game in 1958 to join the Southern League, gaining promotion in their first season and winning the Premier Division in 1962/63 by edging out Cambridge United in an enthralling title race. The absence of a pyramid system and automatic promotion put a lid on City’s ambitions. Nevertheless, City remained one of the top non-league clubs in the country during the early to mid 1960s. Pipped at the post But by 1970 City had been relegated and Cambridge United were in pole position to replace Bradford Park Avenue in the Football League. Yet in 12 Southern League seasons together, City had finished ahead of United in 8 of them. City continued to have success in the Southern League, gaining promotion in 1969/70 and finishing Premier Division runners up in 1970/71. But relegation in 1975/76 saw crowds dwindle and the club fall into a decline. Directors attempted in 1977 to return to amateur status but, as in 2006, were to find they could not ignore the views of the supporters. Protests forced out most of the Directors and the club retained its semi-pro status. Better times…. City gradually improved and a new generation of fans mobbed their heroes after the 1985/86 Southern League South championship was won on the last day of the season. The goalscoring exploits of Gary Grogan were instrumental in the club’s recovery, according him a ‘City Legend ‘status. On the field, City have been models of consistency and are now in their 23rd consecutive season in the second tier of non-league football. In the FA Cup City have reached the 1st round proper five times and the 2nd round once since 1993 - this is a far better record than achieved by the more illustrious City sides of the 1960s. The enthusiastic fans of the ‘Shed’ have made Milton Road one of the noisier grounds in the League. The future The club’s fixture in the High Court was the one that mattered most this season. Cambridge City will now embark on its next 100 years as a club run by the fans, for the fans. Having gone through so much to keep City alive and kicking, we would not have it any other way.
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MY CURRENT FM19 DYNASTY - FM19: "Ludere causa Ludendi - To Play for the Sake of Playing" - Queen's Park FC (Scottish League Two) MY OLD FM11 DYNASTY - FM11: From Semi-Pro Minnows to the EPL - Dover Athletic FC My Personal Blog - Now on the Tee - Golf, Sports, Poker, Life 2006 GOLDEN SCRIBE AWARD WINNER FOR BEST 'OTHER SPORT' DYNASTY - EHM2005: Sharpening Swords in Buffalo |
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01-13-2008, 08:48 PM
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College Benchwarmer
Join Date: Dec 2002
Location: St. Catharines, Canada
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Quote:
Awesome and thanks for the good luck wishes...I'll need them! Quote:
Hehe...yes we certainly are! 
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MY CURRENT FM19 DYNASTY - FM19: "Ludere causa Ludendi - To Play for the Sake of Playing" - Queen's Park FC (Scottish League Two) MY OLD FM11 DYNASTY - FM11: From Semi-Pro Minnows to the EPL - Dover Athletic FC My Personal Blog - Now on the Tee - Golf, Sports, Poker, Life 2006 GOLDEN SCRIBE AWARD WINNER FOR BEST 'OTHER SPORT' DYNASTY - EHM2005: Sharpening Swords in Buffalo |
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01-13-2008, 08:59 PM
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#6 |
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College Benchwarmer
Join Date: Dec 2002
Location: St. Catharines, Canada
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One of the things that appealed to me about the Cambridge City FC job was the fact that the team was in a relatively safe, mid-table position in the Blue Square South, sitting in 13th position.
Here is a look at the table on my first day on the job:  Yes, only six points clear of the relegation zone but on the positive side, only seven points out of a playoff spot. Seems strange to let your manager go when the chairman was getting exactly what he wanted from Roberts - a comfortable position in the BSS standings. I quickly found out the reason why Roberts was let go. The Cambridge finances are a mess, something I couldn't see before accepting the position. The club is just bleeding red ink at the moment and have lost over £64,000 on the season and sit with a negative bank balance of £52,000. Oh boy, this is going to be an immense challenge. We are averaging only 345 fans per game, a pitiful total right near the bottom of the league and our gates are suffering as a result. Our first order of business will be to lower our wage expenditures and hope that we can possibly get a few bucks for a player or two to help get closer to break even. I don't like my chances there... I've included a screenie of our club information as it stands on the day I take over management of the 'Lilywhites':  Not much to look at there at the moment but we're pretty close to meeting the media's prediction of 10th spot in the table, not bad considering the financial turmoil the team is under. The challenge will be to somehow maintain our competitiveness while also shedding salary. It's time to start pouring over the Cambridge City roster...
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MY CURRENT FM19 DYNASTY - FM19: "Ludere causa Ludendi - To Play for the Sake of Playing" - Queen's Park FC (Scottish League Two) MY OLD FM11 DYNASTY - FM11: From Semi-Pro Minnows to the EPL - Dover Athletic FC My Personal Blog - Now on the Tee - Golf, Sports, Poker, Life 2006 GOLDEN SCRIBE AWARD WINNER FOR BEST 'OTHER SPORT' DYNASTY - EHM2005: Sharpening Swords in Buffalo |
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01-13-2008, 10:10 PM
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#7 |
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Coordinator
Join Date: Jun 2002
Location: The scorched Desert
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Cambridge City is my favorite lower league club!! I'll be following.
BTW, where do you get those skins? Very nice! |
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01-13-2008, 10:45 PM
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#8 |
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College Benchwarmer
Join Date: Dec 2002
Location: St. Catharines, Canada
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Goalkeepers -
 GK, 21 Years Old, English, Uncapped 6'1" 182lbs Joined Club: July 1, 2007 (from Cambridge United - Free) Value: £2,000 Wages: £200/wk 2007-08 Stats: Cambridge City (BSS) 31 Apps, 42 Conc, 6 Cln Herbert joined the Norwich City academy for the 2000-01 season and eventually joined Gillingham in the latter part of 2005-06 on loan. He joined Cambridge United last summer and appeared in 13 late season games before joining City on a free in the summer of 2007. He has a solid command of his area, is a fine shot stopper and is likely our top choice in goal.  GK, 17 Years Old, Scottish, Uncapped 6'4" 205lbs Joined Club: July 27, 2005 (Cambridge City Academy) Value: £0 Wages: £10/wk 2007-08 Stats: Cambridge City (BSS) None McLauchlan is a decent looking youngster and a City academy graduate. My assistant manager, Barry Green, feels that McLauchlan is very close in ability to our current starter Herbert but that there is more upside with the older Herbert. McLauchlan hasn't seen action yet but after the recent transfer of veteran Martin Davies to Maidenhead, he may see a game or two before the season ends. Overall Thoughts - We also have another 17-year old keeper in our youth program in Gary Coulson, a physically mature youngster who has more upside than McLaughlan but is a bit greener at this stage of his career. I'm okay with Herbert for now but I will eventually be looking to get stronger in goal either through loan or free transfer.
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MY CURRENT FM19 DYNASTY - FM19: "Ludere causa Ludendi - To Play for the Sake of Playing" - Queen's Park FC (Scottish League Two) MY OLD FM11 DYNASTY - FM11: From Semi-Pro Minnows to the EPL - Dover Athletic FC My Personal Blog - Now on the Tee - Golf, Sports, Poker, Life 2006 GOLDEN SCRIBE AWARD WINNER FOR BEST 'OTHER SPORT' DYNASTY - EHM2005: Sharpening Swords in Buffalo |
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01-13-2008, 10:54 PM
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College Benchwarmer
Join Date: Dec 2002
Location: St. Catharines, Canada
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Quote:
Awesome! A fan of the Lilywhites! After much back and forth, I'm currently using the Steklo skin but with a slight personal modification, incorporating the background from the Black-in-2 skin as the main default background. I think I got the idea from someone in the 'Impressions' thread for that but I may be wrong. Either way, it works pretty well IMHO. I'm a complete graphics junkie and spent hours adding to some of the communities' competition and stadium backgrounds with some of my own and also made my own cutout Cambridge City FC facepack, the pictures that you'll see here as I go through my roster. There wasn't one available online so I learned how to do it myself so I could see what my players really looked like in-game! I'll likely upload it to Sortitoutsi in the near future so others can utilize it. The background picture you see in my information screen is one I got from the official City webpage and I have player background photos for each City player as well that pop up whenever I look at their profiles. It all adds to the immersion factor for me.
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MY CURRENT FM19 DYNASTY - FM19: "Ludere causa Ludendi - To Play for the Sake of Playing" - Queen's Park FC (Scottish League Two) MY OLD FM11 DYNASTY - FM11: From Semi-Pro Minnows to the EPL - Dover Athletic FC My Personal Blog - Now on the Tee - Golf, Sports, Poker, Life 2006 GOLDEN SCRIBE AWARD WINNER FOR BEST 'OTHER SPORT' DYNASTY - EHM2005: Sharpening Swords in Buffalo |
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01-13-2008, 11:06 PM
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#10 |
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Coordinator
Join Date: Jun 2002
Location: The scorched Desert
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You should host that skin set some where, I would love to have it.
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01-14-2008, 12:23 AM
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College Benchwarmer
Join Date: Dec 2002
Location: St. Catharines, Canada
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Quote:
I'll send you a PM tomorrow night with the locations of where I downloaded all my backgrounds and such and can certainly email you anything I've done personally. I'll have the rest of my roster up tomorrow night after I get home from work. I just can't wait to get started!
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MY CURRENT FM19 DYNASTY - FM19: "Ludere causa Ludendi - To Play for the Sake of Playing" - Queen's Park FC (Scottish League Two) MY OLD FM11 DYNASTY - FM11: From Semi-Pro Minnows to the EPL - Dover Athletic FC My Personal Blog - Now on the Tee - Golf, Sports, Poker, Life 2006 GOLDEN SCRIBE AWARD WINNER FOR BEST 'OTHER SPORT' DYNASTY - EHM2005: Sharpening Swords in Buffalo |
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01-14-2008, 08:06 AM
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#12 |
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College Prospect
Join Date: Jan 2005
Location: Inland Empire, PRC
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and now there are four!!!
ATHJGHJASDFJALDFJ LASKJDFLA FKJ |
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01-14-2008, 10:53 PM
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#13 |
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College Benchwarmer
Join Date: Dec 2002
Location: St. Catharines, Canada
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Defenders -
 Luke Bennett D RC, 19 Years Old, English, Uncapped 6'2" 169lbs Joined Club: October 10, 2007 (from Oxford City - Free) Value: £4,000 Wages: £50/wk 2007-08 Stats: Cambridge City (BSS) 20 Apps, 1 Goal Bennett was a midseason signing, coming over from Oxford City on a free. A hard-working and determined defender, he offers more character than talent but probably will find a regular spot on my squad. My assistant manager feels he's our best option in the middle of the defense but also indicates he's having a hard time adapting to his new team. Interesting.  Joe Bruce D RC, 24 Years Old, English, Uncapped 5'10" 171lbs Joined Club: June 9, 2007 (from Welling - Free) Value: £0 Wages: £180/wk 2007-08 Stats: Cambridge City (BSS) 3 (1) Apps Bruce is the definition of mediocre and my AssMan hilariously says he's the sixth best defender on the squad. Faint praise indeed! He works hard and has some pace but that's about it. He was transfer listed by the previous regime and will remain that way, as I hope to move his salary off the books.  Lee Chaffey D LC, 23 Years Old, English, Uncapped 6'2" 189lbs Joined Club: July 13, 2003 (from Ipswich Town - Free) Value: £1,000 Wages: £200/wk 2007-08 Stats: Cambridge City (BSS) 5 (3) Apps Chaffey has been around for quite awhile, all things considered, coming over on a free from Ipswich in 2003. Determination seems to be a common trait among most of the Lilywhites, something that certainly makes this manager happy and Chaffey possesses it in spades. He's a hard worker and influential but technically leaves a lot to be desired. However, at this level of football, hard work and determination goes a long way and I intend to keep him around even though he is curiously listed as available for loan by the previous regime.  Matthew Mitchell-King D C, 24 Years Old, English, Uncapped 6'3" 200lbs Joined Club: October 15, 2007 (from Histon - Free) Value: £1,000 Wages: £140/wk 2007-08 Stats: Cambridge City (BSS) 15 Apps, 1 Goal; Histon (BSP) 4 (3) Apps, 1 Goal Here's a guy who just LOOKS like a football player. Mitchell-King was a shrewd pickup from Histon of the BSP at midseason and has resolute characteristics in addition to some fine centerback attributes. My goal is to get this guy signed to a longer-term deal, as his contract expires at the end of this season. He is currently suffering from a twisted knee but will likely be ready to go in about a week or so. Looks like a keeper here.  Stuart Wall D C, 20 Years Old, English, Uncapped 5'11" 165lbs Joined Club: October 10, 2006 (from Peterborough - Free) Value: £1,000 Wages: £200/wk 2007-08 Stats: Cambridge City (BSS) 13 (3) Apps Wall is currently the vice-captain of the squad, something I'm not particularly fond of considering his young age. However, I wasn't willing to compromise to make a change before the season's end due to worries about team chemistry. Ultra-determined with some strong physical attributes, Wall is very similar in talent to Bennett and Mitchell-King and at the very least can be thought of as a rotation player. His long-term future is in doubt, however, as he has pretty much no versatility and can only play in the center of the defense.  Adam Everitt D/M L, 25 Years Old, English, Uncapped 6'0" 180lbs Joined Club: July 1, 2006 (from Yeading - Free) Value: £1,000 Wages: £180/wk 2007-08 Stats: Cambridge City (BSS) 11 Apps, 1 Assist Everitt lacks talent and was transfer-listed by the previous regime. A loyal fullback with good pace but lacks talent in pretty much every technical attribute. We'll likely look to move him.  Ben Fillery D/M L, 22 Years Old, English, Uncapped 5'4" 145lbs Joined Club: September 27, 2007 (Free) Value: £1,000 Wages: £45/wk 2007-08 Stats: Cambridge City (BSS) 17 Apps, 1 Goal Fillery looks to be the jokester on the team, a tiny class-clown type with a lot of heart and bravery. My AssMan likes him quite a bit but I worry about his lack of pace and stamina, two things I deem pretty important for the fullback position. At 5'4", he's obviously a non-factor in the air as well. For now, he'll remain on the team but I need an upgrade here... Overall Thoughts - We also have five kids on our youth squad, with two of them being of interest: Michael Gosling, a 16-year old aggressive centerback and Ryan Shakespeare, another 16-year old centerback both carry values of £35,000, substantial figures for a team of my size. Both look like they have the potential to be decent players at the BSP level and I'll look to move them to help balance my books. I highly doubt anyone is willing to pay that much for them but we'll see. As far as the main squad goes, I'd love to upgrade but at the very least, we have a couple decent centerbacks in Mitchell-King and Bennett but are pretty weak at fullback.
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MY CURRENT FM19 DYNASTY - FM19: "Ludere causa Ludendi - To Play for the Sake of Playing" - Queen's Park FC (Scottish League Two) MY OLD FM11 DYNASTY - FM11: From Semi-Pro Minnows to the EPL - Dover Athletic FC My Personal Blog - Now on the Tee - Golf, Sports, Poker, Life 2006 GOLDEN SCRIBE AWARD WINNER FOR BEST 'OTHER SPORT' DYNASTY - EHM2005: Sharpening Swords in Buffalo |
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01-15-2008, 01:22 AM
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#14 |
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College Benchwarmer
Join Date: Dec 2002
Location: St. Catharines, Canada
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Midfielders -
 D/WB/M R, 25 Years Old, English, Uncapped 6'2" 163lbs Joined Club: July 1, 2007 (from AFC Wimbledon - Free) Value: £2,000 Wages: £200/wk 2007-08 Stats: Cambridge City (BSS) 13 (1) Apps, 1 Assist Wales is the current captain of the club but is hardly the most influential or determined player on the squad. I'd love to strip the captaincy from him but I'm afraid of the impact it might have on the club, even though my AssMan says he's not really fitting in well. Regardless, Wales, a force in the air and with some decent pace, is transfer-listed and will stay there as I attempt to move him. If I'm successful, I'll get my chance to name my own captain. Wales does offer great versatility and can play capably almost anywhere on the right side of the pitch so he's not a total wash.  D/AM R, 20 Years Old, English, Uncapped 5'10" 171lbs Joined Club: January 9, 2008 (from Watford - *ON LOAN*) Value: £3,000 (Watford FC Property) Wages: £0/wk (£400/wk paid by Watford) 2007-08 Stats: Cambridge City (BSS) 6 Apps Osborne is our only player here on loan and he looks to be a pretty special player, especially at our level. My assistant manager thinks he's the greatest thing since sliced bread but he's been misused by the previous regime, spending most of his time at fullback instead of his natural attacking midfield position. Junior has great pace and some decent flair and will get the opportunity to play on the wing under my watch, although I must be conscious of the fact that I have much more depth at wing than I do at fullback. So he might have to play a bit back there as well. I'm curious to see how he does and if he succeeds, perhaps I can sign him myself, although I doubt a Championship-level player would want to play longterm for us.  D/WB/AM L, 18 Years Old, English, Uncapped 5'11" 185lbs Joined Club: July 1, 2006 (from Durham - Free) Value: £0 Wages: £180/wk 2007-08 Stats: Cambridge City (BSS) 5 Apps Radcliffe is a versatile performer who works hard but is still considered 'lethargic' by my assistant due to poor natural fitness levels. He doesn't offer much else and I'm surprised that he wasn't transfer-listed by Roberts. I'll likely try to move him out, as we are too overloaded at the midfield position at the moment.  M C, 24 Years Old, English, Uncapped 5'11" 185lbs Joined Club: July 15, 2006 (from Yeading - Free) Value: £6,000 Wages: £250/wk 2007-08 Stats: Cambridge City (BSS) 30 Apps, 8 Assists Bowditch is one of our better players, very athletic with excellent stamina, good traits for a man in the middle of the pitch. The problem is that I envision playing with an AM C and a DM C and Bowditch is a bit awkward at those spots. I'll likely amend my tactics to suit his strengths but Bowditch is currently out for a couple of weeks with a banged up elbow.  M C, 24 Years Old, English, Uncapped 6'4" 198lbs Joined Club: November 12, 2007 (Free) Value: £0 Wages: £45/wk 2007-08 Stats: Cambridge City (BSS) 15 Apps, 2 assists Jenkins was out of football before Roberts came calling in November and he has played some solid ball in his 15 appearances. He has played for Crewe in the past and has decent pace and flair. He's cheap but lacks versatility. I'll likely keep him around for awhile due to the low wages and his solid performances.  M C, 20 Years Old, English, Uncapped 5'10" 167lbs Joined Club: July 1, 2007 (from Cambridge United - Free) Value: £2,000 Wages: £250/wk 2007-08 Stats: Cambridge City (BSS) 5 (4) Apps, 1 Assist Simpson is yet another central midfielder and he's got the potential to be decent but I'm unsure whether he will get the chance to show it off for us. His wage is relatively high for a squad of our size and I don't feel I'm getting proper return as far as performance on the pitch. I may try to move him.  AM R, 24 Years Old, English, Uncapped 5'10" 169lbs Joined Club: September 27, 2007 (Free) Value: £3,000 Wages: £50/wk 2007-08 Stats: Cambridge City (BSS) 20 Apps, 2 Goals, 3 Assists Paschalis has played some college ball in the United States for Furman and we were able to scoop him up on a free in September. He has a lot of flair and pace and my assistant likes him quite a bit. I'm definitely going to keep him around for the rest of the year but since I want to try Osborne at right wing, Paschalis will likely see time on the bench as a substitute.  AM RC, F C, 29 Years Old, English, Uncapped 5'9" 154lbs Joined Club: January 22, 2007 (from Kettering - Free) Value: £1,000 Wages: £200/wk 2007-08 Stats: Cambridge City (BSS) 6 Apps, 1 Goal The veteran Midgley is on his last legs by the looks of things here. He's a hard worker but his skills have evaporated to almost nothing. Midgley was transfer listed by my predecessors and will stay on that list, much to his chagrin, as he's a Cambridge-born lad who doesn't want to leave the club.  AM L, 24 Years Old, English, Uncapped 5'7" 154lbs Joined Club: July 7, 2003 (from Heybridge - Free) Value: £0 Wages: £150/wk 2007-08 Stats: Cambridge City (BSS) None Baillie has been around for over four years and doesn't really offer anything to the club and has been transfer-listed. He's got some decent pace I suppose and my AssMan appreciates the fact that he gets up for big matches but he's just not talented enough for this level of football and will be moved. David Berks AM LC, 25 Years Old, English, Uncapped 5'11" 171lbs Joined Club: February 15, 2008 (Free) Value: £0 Wages: £45/wk 2007-08 Stats: Cambridge City (BSS) 0 (1) Apps Goodness, was it really necessary to sign ANOTHER midfielder? No wonder Roberts was sacked! Berks is very pacy but has very poor technical skills and would never amount to anything more than a sub at this level. Goodness we have to unload a lot of deadweight here...  AM LC, 23 Years Old, Maltese, Uncapped 5'11" 156lbs Joined Club: March 6, 2007 (from Hayes - Free) Value: £2,000 Wages: £200/wk 2007-08 Stats: Cambridge City (BSS) 12 Apps, 1 Assist And the redundancy continues at City with the strangely-named E'Beyer who is called 'the 8th best left midfielder at City' by my assistant. He's a gamer with some decent pace but he'll be transfer listed with that ridiculous salary.  AM L, 21 Years Old, English, Uncapped 5'6" 141lbs Joined Club: July 1, 2007 (from Bishop's Stortford - Free) Value: £1,000 Wages: £200/wk 2007-08 Stats: Cambridge City (BSS) 0 (2) Apps, 1 Goal The diminutive Fuller hasn't seen a lot of action this year but has some talent by the looks of things. However, my assistant calls him 'selfish' and 'inconsistent'. His contract expires at the end of the season so I don't have much time to decide whether to keep him around or not. Robert Taylor AM L, 21 Years Old, English, Uncapped 5'11" 165lbs Joined Club: August 28, 2007 (Free) Value: £3,000 Wages: £45/wk 2007-08 Stats: Cambridge City (BSS) 27 Apps, 7 Goals, 11 Assists I don't know where Roberts found this guy but he has just torn shite up here at City in his 27 appearances, with a stellar 18 points. He's second in the BSS in assists with 11 and seemingly came out of nowhere. He looks to be in control of the set pieces and my assistant likes his consistency and ambitious nature. I'll have to look at getting him locked up for a longer period of time. Overall Thoughts - We have six kids on the youth team that play midfield, none of whom look to be anything worth writing about. We are overloaded at this position and it's no wonder our finances are in such disarray. Why would anyone managing a team at this level need so many midfielders?!? Boggles my mind. Anyway, there is some decent talent here but I may look to supplement it with a loan signing if possible. I've already got my eyes on someone but we'll see if it goes through.
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MY CURRENT FM19 DYNASTY - FM19: "Ludere causa Ludendi - To Play for the Sake of Playing" - Queen's Park FC (Scottish League Two) MY OLD FM11 DYNASTY - FM11: From Semi-Pro Minnows to the EPL - Dover Athletic FC My Personal Blog - Now on the Tee - Golf, Sports, Poker, Life 2006 GOLDEN SCRIBE AWARD WINNER FOR BEST 'OTHER SPORT' DYNASTY - EHM2005: Sharpening Swords in Buffalo |
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01-15-2008, 11:40 PM
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#15 |
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College Benchwarmer
Join Date: Dec 2002
Location: St. Catharines, Canada
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Strikers -
 Michael Gash ST, 21 Years Old, English, Uncapped 5'9" 167lbs Joined Club: July 1, 2005 (Free) Value: £4,000 Wages: £250/wk 2007-08 Stats: Cambridge City (BSS) 31 Apps, 9 Goals, 2 Assists Gash is a decent looking striker with some flair and pace and looks to be our second best option at the position. My assistant isn't completely sold on his potential but says he could approach Lee Roach's current ability in the future. A likely starter.  Lee Roach ST, 23 Years Old, English, Uncapped 5'5" 156lbs Joined Club: July 15, 2006 (from Yeading - Free) Value: £8,000 Wages: £250/wk 2007-08 Stats: Cambridge City (BSS) 32 Apps, 18 Goals, 1 Assist Roache is our most dangerous player and his league-leading 18 goals certainly tell the story. He's a pretty good finisher, has great pace and is extremely determined. He will be the focal point of our offense, without doubt.  Danny Dobson ST, 16 Years Old, English, Uncapped 6'0" 176lbs Joined Club: July 27, 2005 (Free) Value: £5,000 Wages: £10/wk 2007-08 Stats: Cambridge City (BSS) None Dobson is a youngster who has worked his way through the City youth system. He has tremendous acceleration and gets up for big matches. My assistant thinks he can be a solid performer at our current level in due time. He will play a role on our bench most likely. Overall Thoughts - We have two other kids in the youth system that play up front in Ryan Abbey and Mark Barton, both local boys and neither of whom look to be anything special. In a pinch, midfielders Neil Midgley and Eliot Paschalis can man the forward position. Roache is a keeper and thankfully is under contract for another full year. I also like Gash but I might look into signing another striker sometime before next season.
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MY CURRENT FM19 DYNASTY - FM19: "Ludere causa Ludendi - To Play for the Sake of Playing" - Queen's Park FC (Scottish League Two) MY OLD FM11 DYNASTY - FM11: From Semi-Pro Minnows to the EPL - Dover Athletic FC My Personal Blog - Now on the Tee - Golf, Sports, Poker, Life 2006 GOLDEN SCRIBE AWARD WINNER FOR BEST 'OTHER SPORT' DYNASTY - EHM2005: Sharpening Swords in Buffalo |
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01-15-2008, 11:44 PM
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#16 |
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Coordinator
Join Date: Jun 2002
Location: The scorched Desert
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Good to see the Gasher still around, my favorite Cambridge City player ever!
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01-16-2008, 12:23 AM
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#17 | |
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College Benchwarmer
Join Date: Dec 2002
Location: St. Catharines, Canada
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Quote:
He looks to be awesome in 'real life' and is scoring goals by the bushel load for City this year. I just hope he performs as well for me in my alternate reality! 
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MY CURRENT FM19 DYNASTY - FM19: "Ludere causa Ludendi - To Play for the Sake of Playing" - Queen's Park FC (Scottish League Two) MY OLD FM11 DYNASTY - FM11: From Semi-Pro Minnows to the EPL - Dover Athletic FC My Personal Blog - Now on the Tee - Golf, Sports, Poker, Life 2006 GOLDEN SCRIBE AWARD WINNER FOR BEST 'OTHER SPORT' DYNASTY - EHM2005: Sharpening Swords in Buffalo |
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01-19-2008, 11:19 PM
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College Benchwarmer
Join Date: Dec 2002
Location: St. Catharines, Canada
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Thursday February 28, 2008
My predecessor moved out longtime fan favourite Glen Fuff earlier in the year, selling him to Maidenhead for £1,000. I have my assistant provide me with a scouting report, just in case I want to bring him back to appease our dwindling fan base but I'm told that we should avoid signing him due to lack of talent. It was worth a shot. Friday February 29, 2008 Youth player Michael Gosling signed a two-year deal with us, stating 'his love for the club was the main reason for putting his pen to paper'. His value drops down to £2,000 so it's probably not worth the effort to move him now, especially with a wage of £10/week. Saturday March 1, 2008  ODDS - CAMBRIDGE CITY: 7-4 DRAW: 11-5 THURROCK: 5-4 (FAV) "High flying" Thurrock comes to City having lost only one match in ten games, a 3-1 decision to 9th place Hayes & Yeading. Thurrock's 55 goals place them second in the division behind Lewes and their 41 goals against place them third. This is a very tough opponent for my first game at the helm of City. I'm told they play a defensive 4-4-2 and attempt counter-attack football. The danger man in the match is midfielder Matthew Paine, whose stats (3g 3a) must not tell the whole story. Their club obviously benefits from a balanced attack, as their top scorer, Che Stadhart, has only 11 goals. The press bring up the fact that Thurrock are playing well above expectations but I don't bite, instead saying that they pose as much a threat as any other club in the division. This seems to motivate talented winger Robert Taylor and striker Michael Gash on my club, as they are 'really fired up for today's match'. Sweet! Ben Bowditch is also pumped up but he's still nursing an elbow injury and will be watching from the sidelines.  My assistant wants to tell the players that there is 'no pressure' on them during the pregame talk but I don't like that way of thinking, instead just wishing them luck. I pull aside both my captain, Steve Wales and veteran Neil Midgley and tell them I have faith in their ability. Both have had rough seasons and are being featured in major roles in this contest so I need their head in the game.
Weather-wise, it was mild and raining at kickoff and we come out of the gates aggressively but Thurrock get the first few chances, as Tyron Sealey got in twice, one time striking the ball wide and the other time he forced Shane Herbert into making a fingertip save. At around the eleven minute mark, we force a turnover on a Thurrock throw-in and Gash is able to feed a great through ball to AMC Midgley, who calmly settles the ball down and fires it past the keeper for the goal!!! 1-0 CAMBRIDGE CITY! Thurrock continue to control the majority of possession but the transfer-listed Midgley is just all over the field making plays for us midway through the first half. He had a couple glorious chances during a furious scramble inside the Thurrock box but they eventually were able to clear. On the counter attack, the pacy Michael Yates beat my defender to the ball to gain possession and after a few passes, he was found once again right in front of the keeper and he made no mistake, punching it past Herbert for the tying marker in the 37th minute. 1-1 TIE It was a relatively clean first half of football so only one minute of extra time was added. It was all we needed to make one final push in the half. Watford loanee Junior Osborne flew down the right wing and crossed a ball into the far post to a waiting Lee Roache, who was promptly bodychecked by Thurrock defender Steve Searle. Referee Ken Powell conferred with his assistant and awarded the injury time PENALTY SHOT as the Thurrock players protested furiously. Searle, Craig Morley and Greg Lincoln were all shown yellow cards for the unsportsmanlike conduct. Who else could take the spot kick other than the veteran Midgley, who already had one marker on the day. He steadied himself and proceeded to knock the ball in right off the upright! Midgley has bagged a brace! CAMBRIDGE CITY LEAD 2-1!!! The halftime whistle sounds almost immediately after the kickoff and the play by play announcer is impressed with Midgley's "sensational" first half performance. In the locker room, I tell the lads to make sure they don't get complacent while praising Midgley and using his performance as an example for the rest of the club to try to aspire to. I don't change too much tactically, maintaining my aggessive philosophy but as the second half wore on, I slowly changed my tactics to more of a defensive outlook. I also looked to slow the pace of the game down and tried to clog the middle of the pitch as much as possible. For the most part, the changes worked well, as my possession rates started increasing throughout the half. We also started controlling the chances in the match and Gash especially had some wonderful opportunities but couldn't bury any of them. I brought on midfielder Ashley Fuller for Gash and changed our tactic to a 4-2-3-0-1 as we looked to keep more men back. I also instructed our players to waste time whenever possible to try to run out the clock. We were lucky to avoid a foul inside our box when Stuart Wall won a challenge and Thurrock again started yelling at the ref, drawing more warnings for their side. I brought on Eliot Paschalis in the 84th minute for DMC Josh Simpson, who had been yellow carded minutes earlier after a challenge. I continued to try to waste time, bringing on my third and final substitute, defender Adam Everitt for the aforementioned Wall then pulled Junior Osborne back to right fullback as we finished the game in a 5-2-2-0-1. I was stunned that Yates and Sealey were both able to get the ball into our box in the late going on long runs but neither were able to get shots on target. We would hold on and win my first match as manager! CAMBRIDGE CITY 2, THURROCK 1!
I tell the lads I'm very pleased with their performance and contemplate praising Midgley even more but decide against it. After the match, the press are all over the controversial penalty in the 45th minute. Thurrock manager Hakan Hayrettin refused to openly criticise the referee for fear of being reprimanded by the Football Association while I simply stated that the referee made the right decision in awarding the spot foul. Elsewhere in the BSS, mid-table Welling absolutely destroyed Havant & Waterlooville 6-0, prompting the H & W board to fire manager Ian Baird. This after the team had been on a run with only one loss in twelve matches and a spot in the FA Trophy semi Finals! Moral of the story for a rookie manager? Don't ever allow six goals in a game! Our win kept us in 13th position on the table, as many of the mid-table clubs pulled out victories this week. We're now 7 points clear of the drop zone and only 4 away from 5th place and a playoff spot. However, there are seven other teams in between us and hopeful playoff glory!
Meanwhile, the monthly awards for February were announced today, with Dorchester's Jamie Gleeson taking home the Player of the Month award while Newport County's Peter Beadle took home the Manager of the Month honours after guiding his club to three wins and a draw in four fixtures. ON TAP NEXT WEEK Cambridge City vs. St. Albans City
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MY CURRENT FM19 DYNASTY - FM19: "Ludere causa Ludendi - To Play for the Sake of Playing" - Queen's Park FC (Scottish League Two) MY OLD FM11 DYNASTY - FM11: From Semi-Pro Minnows to the EPL - Dover Athletic FC My Personal Blog - Now on the Tee - Golf, Sports, Poker, Life 2006 GOLDEN SCRIBE AWARD WINNER FOR BEST 'OTHER SPORT' DYNASTY - EHM2005: Sharpening Swords in Buffalo |
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01-20-2008, 08:16 PM
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College Benchwarmer
Join Date: Dec 2002
Location: St. Catharines, Canada
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Monday March 3, 2008
 I get word back that there are no clubs interested in Byron Jenkins, David Berks, Eliot Paschalis, Robert Taylor, Josh Simpson, Steve Wales, Midgley, Mark E'Beyer, Lewis Baillie, Joe Bruce, Craig Radcliffe or Adam Everitt. The only player who has generated interest of any kind is injured midfielder Ben Bowditch, as we were approached with an offer of £6,000 for his services from AFC Telford of the Blue Square North. Telford is currently in 4th position on the BSN table, 9 points clear in the race for a playoff position but 7 points behind first place Kettering. They obviously see Bowditch as a missing piece in their goal of moving up to the Blue Square Premier League. I fire back a counter offer of £10,000, even though Bowditch's value was £6,000. Tuesday March 4, 2008 Defender Matthew Mitchell-King has returned to full training after his knee injury and will be ready to regain a spot in our starting eleven. Excellent news! Wednesday March 5, 2008 Championship side Southampton, currently second on the table, accepted our loan offer for Lloyd James, a talented Welsh DM with 8 U21 caps on his resume. This would be huge if he accepts the move, something I'm hopeful for as he's looking for first team football opportunities and we've already been successful luring Championship-calibre talent to City Ground. I'm keeping my fingers crossed! Friday March 7, 2008 Well, that didn't take long. James announces he has no intention of going on loan to City.  Damn.This is important as AFC Telford increased their bid on Ben Bowditch to £10,000, matching my asking price. However, there is no wiggle room any longer, as Telford has indicated it's a "take it or leave it" offer. With a negative bank balance of more than £50,000, I feel obligated to accept the deal and say goodbye to one of our top players. Saturday March 8, 2008  ODDS - CAMBRIDGE CITY: 7-4 DRAW: 11-5 ST. ALBANS CITY: 5-4 (FAV) St. Albans come to City Ground off a 2-1 away win over Hayes & Yeading last week and my scout indicates they play a low-tempo 4-4-2 and concentrate their play through the middle of the pitch. Their recent form hasn't been anything to write home about but they are still ahead of us on the table and a win today would pull us even with them in points. Striker Lee Clarke leads their club in goals with 15, placing him T-4th in the league. Winger Adam Brown is considered to be the biggest threat on their club but I decide against commenting on his presence in the match. The media want me to comment on the fact that St. Albans are playing disappointing football and that their 8th place standing is below expectations but I once again say we'll have to be at our best to match their attack. Again, this seems to motivate Robert Taylor and striker Michael Gash and Lee Roache also is particularly pumped up about this one.
I decide to dress Matthew Mitchell-King as a substitute and stick with the same back four from the previous game, as Mitchell-King is still a bit tired after his rehab. I tell the lads in the locker room before the game that they can win this game and pull Midgley and Gash aside to tell them to continue to build off last week's performances. Our opening ten minutes were beyond horrible. St. Albans was controlling possession at a rate close to 65% and their superior pace was evident at the nine minute mark when midfielder Jamie Smith, a young loanee from Crystal Palace, shot right by Midgley and rifled a shot on goal. Shane Herbert did well to stop it but Smith controlled the rebound and poked it home for the quick opening goal. 1-0 ST. ALBANS St. Albans continued to pour on the pressure and at times it was overwhelming. What a difference a week makes! Herbert had to make a couple of big saves and we finally got our first shots on goal around the 20 minute mark, as Lee Roache and Gash were both turned aside on shots inside the box. Defender Steve Wales almost headed in a corner taken by fellow defender Luke Bennett but it hit the side netting to keep us one back. Our opponents would respond shortly thereafter. They gained possession on a throw in and midfielder Adam Brown's through ball was met by a streaking Lee Clarke, whose clinical finish ended up behind Herbert to give the visitors a two goal lead. 2-0 ST. ALBANS I was obviously furious at this point and started changing my tactics. The unbelievably pacy Smith flew past my defenders yet again and just missed what would have been a death blow, putting the ball into the side netting just seconds after the kickoff. Less than a minute later, we finally broke through, as a Junior Osborne cross into the box was met by the galloping Gash and he promptly put it past the St. Albans keeper to get us back within one! 2-1 ST. ALBANS We continued to lose the possession battle over the next ten minutes despite closing down throughout the pitch in spurts. At the 37 minute mark, a Bennett foul just outside our box set up the freekick and it was Jamie Smith once again taking advantage. He stuck the ball right off our wall and it deflected past a stunned Herbert for his second goal of the game to restore the two-goal St. Albans advantage. To celebrate, he dove face first and skidded right to the touchline. Play-by-Play Announcer: "Now THAT'S how you celebrate a goal!" Screw you. 3-1 ST. ALBANSWe made it to halftime without further scoring and I told the team I was disappointed and expected a much better second half performance. The only player with a rating above 6 at this point was our goalscorer Gash. Smith was just incredible in that half and looked like a man among boys...and this is a 17-year old kid we're talking about! I went to a very aggressive attack, moved Midgley up as a third striker as we moved to a 4-3-3. We played much better and I'd say we even started to control the game a bit as the second half wore on but we were unable to cash in on our precious few chances. I eventually brought on Ashley Fuller, Eliot Paschalis and defender Mitchell-King and we went to an ultra-aggressive 3-0-3-2-2 but again, it was to no avail. Our fans were so disgusted with the performance that they started leaving in the 80th minute. Injury was added to insult when goalscorer Gash picked up an injury after a hard tackle and had to hobble off in the 86th minute. He would return a few minutes later after treatment but we were unable to get any further chances as I suffer my first loss in charge of City.
I tell the team I'm very disappointed in their performance in the post-game team talk. The supporters were disappointed in our inability to convert chances into goals but really, this was not a game we deserved to win. Jamie Smith won man of the match honours, obviously, for his superlative performance. My assistant came to me after the game and suggested a players only meeting to try to turn around our fortunes. I'm worried that team captain Wales isn't the right man to chair the meeting, especially considering the fact he's transfer listed. I decide to sit on that for the moment. In other bad news, Gash's injury was a blow to the head and he might miss our next match against 3rd placed Dorchester. Speaking of Dorchester, they smoked Bath City 5-2 on the road at Twerton Park so things are unlikely to be any easier next week when we travel to Avenue Stadium for our upcoming match. We fall one spot to 14th on the table and we have eight games remaining to hold our position in the BSS.
Sunday March 9, 2008 The media decide to jump all over goalkeeper Shane Herbert, blasting his recent performances and saying I should stop featuring him so regularly. When asked why I keep throwing him out there, I simply respond that I feel he'll soon play himself back into form. Needless to say, my positive outlook isn't shared by the player himself, as doubt seems to be setting in with my young keeper. He feels he doesn't deserve my confidence and might be better off recovering his form away from the media spotlight. Hey Shano! You're playing for CAMBRIDGE CITY, not Manchester United! Get over yourself...and quickly! Needless to say, we may be using Paul McLaughlin for our next game in what would be his first ever senior team appearance. There is some positive news, as Ben Bowditch accepted a contract offer from AFC Telford, completing the £10,000 transfer. These are much needed funds for our club as I try to get our books a bit closer to being balanced. I'll tell you something. St. Albans really want to make a push for a playoff spot, as they pick up yet another loan player from Crystal Palace in defender Arron Fray, another speedy youngster. Palace and St. Albans aren't officially affiliated but they seem to have a relationship similar to what's developing between us and Watford. I need to find a couple more players as well... ON TAP NEXT WEEK Cambridge City at. Dorchester Town
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MY CURRENT FM19 DYNASTY - FM19: "Ludere causa Ludendi - To Play for the Sake of Playing" - Queen's Park FC (Scottish League Two) MY OLD FM11 DYNASTY - FM11: From Semi-Pro Minnows to the EPL - Dover Athletic FC My Personal Blog - Now on the Tee - Golf, Sports, Poker, Life 2006 GOLDEN SCRIBE AWARD WINNER FOR BEST 'OTHER SPORT' DYNASTY - EHM2005: Sharpening Swords in Buffalo |
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01-21-2008, 12:35 PM
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College Benchwarmer
Join Date: Dec 2002
Location: St. Catharines, Canada
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Wednesday March 12, 2008
After Portsmouth accepted a loan offer from us for DM Jean-Francois Christophe on Tuesday, the Guadeloupe vice-captain promptly refused to join our club. No real surprise there but disappointing nonetheless. Saturday March 15, 2008  ODDS - DORCHESTER: 4-5 (FAV) DRAW: 2-1 CAMBRIDGE CITY: 3-1 As indicated earlier, Dorchester blew away a very solid Bath City club 5-2 on the road last weekend and now sit comfortably in 3rd place on the table. They are called a 'surprise package' by the press, as the media predicted a 17th place finish in the preseason. The club plays a 4-1-2-1-2 regularly, just like we do and I'm told that midfielder Jon Docker is the man to watch. Indeed, looking at his 10 goals and 9 assists in 33 league matches tells me the 22-year old will likely be a factor in this one. Their two-man wrecking unit up front consists of 9 goal man Jones Awuah and Luke Nightingale, who has struck for 12 league markers. They also have a dangerous looking central midfielder in Jamie Gleeson, who has tallied 13 assists in only 21 appearances, putting him second in the league in that statistic. Dorchester have won three straight as they look to lock up a playoff spot in the BSS. I talk down about our chances, instead just saying that I'm looking for my team to play well tactically and of course, that fires up my meek goaltender Shane Herbert, who doesn't like having pressure put upon him. He will get the chance to redeem himself today. Robert Taylor is seemingly up for this one as well but I haven't been impressed with him at all in his two games, especially his disturbing lack of pace at left wing. I will sit him in this match in favour of youngster Ashley Fuller. Striker Michael Gash is still out with a bruised head so I'm going to change my tactics to a counter attacking 4-4-1-1. We'll have to be at our defensive best to get a result in this one.
There are sweeping changes in the starting eleven. Matthew Mitchell-King starts for the first time since returning from injury and will lineup at DC. David Berks gets his first start for the Lilywhites as a central midfielder alongside Diagouraga, who's moved back from the AMC position. Neil Midgley moves back up to the AMC spot after dropping back last game with little success and Lee Roache is all by himself up front. 16-year old striker Danny Dobson was called up to the senior team as a substitute just in case we are behind or need to add some speed to the lineup in the late goings. I tell the team that the pressure is off, since no one expects us to get a result today then pull aside both Luke Bennett and Midgley to tell them I have faith in their ability. It was a much different start in this contest, as our slower tempo 4-4-1-1 seemed to help our possession game immensely. This was the first time in my three contests that I didn't feel obligated to check my tactics every five minutes or so, as we were seemingly in control. Overall possession was slightly in our favour through the first twenty minutes and even though they were getting more shots off, they were coming from well outside the box and most were missing the target. There finally was a bit of a breakdown in the 21st minute and we were able to take advantage. Lee Roach and newcomer Toumani Diagouraga played a beautiful give-and-go at midfield and Roache was sent in all alone. With defenders in hot pursuit, the BSS league leader in goals made a move to the middle and struck a glorious 25-yarder from outside the box into the top corner of the net to give us the shocking lead! 1-0 CAMBRIDGE CITY We continued to play excellent football, making great decisions and just generally taking the play to Dorchester. However, the speed of top goalscorer Nightingale was showcased beautifully as their defender longballed a pass up field and the striker blew past our defense and struck a rocket into the net to knot the score in the 40th minute. One mistake and boom, it's tied. SCORE TIED 1-1 Halftime arrived shortly thereafter with our club controlling possession at a rate of 53% and I told the kids I was pleased with their first half efforts but told them not to get complacent. The second half was more of the same, as we controlled possession for the most part and got a few good chances while Dorchester became more and more frustrated, changing their tactics constantly to get more offensive flow. They started scaring me a bit by the 70th minute, as they changed to a very aggressive 4-2-4 to try to score the winning goal. But our under-fire keeper Shane Herbert was constantly up to the task, making a number of key saves. I almost had a heart attack when substitute Stuart Wall tripped up Nightingale in our box in the 75th minute. A PENALTY SHOT IS AWARDED! Oh goodness no! We protest, of course and Junior Osborne gets yellow carded but the call stands. Dorchester sub and super striker Awuah took the penalty and shockingly enough, Herbert made the INCREDIBLE DIVING STOP! YES! We actually got a couple of great chances in injury time on counter attacks, as Dorchester was focused entirely on pushing forward but we couldn't capitalize. However, a draw on the road against promotion contenders Dorchester is a great result!
Herbert won the man of the match honours for his spectacular comeback performance - maybe the naysayers will shut their yaps after that display! I tell the team I'm very pleased with their effort in the postgame team talk. Unbelievably, our supporters are DISAPPOINTED in the result, thinking we could have scored one more goal with some of the chances we had. I have a feeling a lot of this has to do with the fact that Dorchester are a surprise outfit this year and many of our supporters likely think we're in their class despite the discrepancy in the table. Speaking of which, we fall one more spot down to 15th after the draw and we need a couple of wins to guarantee our position in the BSS next year. The playoffs look to be lost at this point, as we fall 8 points back of 5th place St. Albans with nine teams in between us. We do have a couple games coming up against relegation candidates, including a fixture against Maidenhead next weekend. We need those three points!
Sunday March 16, 2008 I was able to schedule a friendly match for our reserve & youth squad, which isn't part of an acutal league so the players are just sitting there training for nothing other than a possible senior spot. I have the Newcastle U18s coming to City Ground on Wednesday this coming week. ON TAP NEXT WEEK Cambridge City Reserves vs. Newcastle U18s (FRIENDLY) Cambridge City vs. Maidenhead United
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MY CURRENT FM19 DYNASTY - FM19: "Ludere causa Ludendi - To Play for the Sake of Playing" - Queen's Park FC (Scottish League Two) MY OLD FM11 DYNASTY - FM11: From Semi-Pro Minnows to the EPL - Dover Athletic FC My Personal Blog - Now on the Tee - Golf, Sports, Poker, Life 2006 GOLDEN SCRIBE AWARD WINNER FOR BEST 'OTHER SPORT' DYNASTY - EHM2005: Sharpening Swords in Buffalo |
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01-26-2008, 03:04 PM
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College Benchwarmer
Join Date: Dec 2002
Location: St. Catharines, Canada
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Wednesday March 19, 2008
The Cambridge City reserves and youth team got together in a friendly at City Ground against the Newcastle U18 squad. There were all of 86 in attendance to see our team drop the decision 2-nil. Unfortunately, there were no noteworthy performances from our perspective but at least everyone got playing time. Saturday March 22, 2008  ODDS - CAMBRIDGE CITY: EVENS (FAV) DRAW: 9-4 MAIDENHEAD: 9-4 We welcome relegation favourites Maidenhead United to City Ground for an important matchup in our bid to stay in the BSS. United have actually been on a decent run of form lately, coming off a 3-2 home win over Bath City last week and they are a respectable 3-2-1 in their last six fixtures. They won't be a pushover, lets put it that way. I'm told they play a defensive 3-5-2 formation and like to play counter-attacking football. I'm told that they are weak on defense and vulnerable to pace and crosses into the box. My scout also informs me that their strikers pose no aerial threat. 11-goal man Manny Williams is considered their danger man for the match. They currently have two former Lilywhites on their roster through transfers before my arrival: GK Martin Davies and D C Glen Fuff. Davies hasn't seen league action while Fuff has one goal in 18 starts. I notice that they also have an 18-year old loanee from Ebbsfleet of the BSP in striker Luke Coleman, who has 3 goals in 7 starts with United. I'll have to contend with him as well. This is the first contest where we are favourites since I've taken over and I'm going to make sure we don't get overconfident. I tell the media that our on-form opponents likely fancy their chances and we'll have to step up and match their efforts. This gets a rise out of Robert Taylor, Lee Roache and defender Stuart Wall.
We make a number of changes from our lineup that drew Dorchester last weekend. The biggest news is giving GK Paul McLauchlan his first ever senior team start in goal. We play again in two days against Fisher so I'll go back to Herbert for that away game. Up front, we are able to move back to a two-striker system with Michael Gash's return to fitness but I'll go with a slightly more conventional 4-3-1-2 formation. Taylor comes back in at left wing for Ashley Fuller and Wall will play in the center of the defense in place of Luke Bennett. Maidenhead came out with a bit of fire and actually had the possession advantage through the first ten minutes. McLauchlan was forced to make a beautiful fingertip save off their top striker Williams to keep the game scoreless. We were able to finally break them down in the 12th minute. Winger Robert Taylor was able to get a cross in that deflected off their defender Gary Baker and went right to Michael Gash, who calmly knocked in the tap-in for the first goal of the contest! CAMBRIDGE CITY LEAD 1-NIL We would keep the pressure on after the goal. In the 15th minute, Junior Osborne took the ball down the right flank and crossed it into the box. Gash was there again for the half volley but the aforementioned Baker bravely dove in front of the blast and blocked it. However, Toumani Diagouraga was able to shake his marker and knock in the rebound for his first goal as a Lilywhite! CAMBRIDGE CITY LEADS 2-0 Our intense pressure on Maidenhead continued, as we had countless opportunities to go up 3-nil but all were turned aside by keeper Tommy Dunn. However, in the 42nd minute, skpper Steve Wales made a gorgeous pass into the box to Gash, who confidently struck a rocket past the beleaguered Dunn for his second of the game and 12th league goal to give us a commanding 3-goal advantage! CAMBRIDGE CITY LEADS 3-0 Halftime soon arrived as the announcers praised Gash's superlative first half. I told the team I was very pleased with their efforts. I toned down our aggressiveness at the start of the second half and I feel our club started to get a bit lackadaisical in their approach. This would cost us, as their top striker Williams was able to blow by Matthew Mitchell-King on a counter attack and strike one past McLaughlin to put Maidenhead on the board in the 49th minute. CAMBRIDGE CITY LEADS 3-1 You can imagine how upset I was when Williams would strike again only seven minutes later. Winger Kevin James threw a gorgeous cross into the box and Williams was able to head it past McLaughlin for his second of the game and 13th of the season to get his team within one. CAMBRIDGE CITY LEADS 3-2 Maidenhead toned down their offense a bit after their second marker and that enabled us to regain our composure and start taking the play to our opponents once again. It was Gash again who provided the key play, getting alone in the penalty area before getting taken down by defender Jamie Whisken. Referee Russell Tiffin would call a penalty on the play and our confident midfielder Neil Midgley would pull up his socks and strike the supposed death blow, knocking the ball into the net for his fourth of the year to help us regain a two-goal cushion! CAMBRIDGE CITY LEAD 4-2 We would continue to play well but were unable to keep them from adding to their scoring totals, as substitute Errol Telemaque, on for the injured Luke Coleman, used his superior pace to beat Mitchell-King and pound a shot into the net to once again get Maidenhead within one. CAMBRIDGE CITY LEADS 4-3 Our keeper Paul McLaughlin would have to make one more key save but we were able to hang on in a thriller, defeating our counterparts 4-3!
Michael Gash deservedly won the man of the match honours for his 2 goal, 1 assist performance. I told the team that even though I was upset with the second half, it was a good result and it was a job well done. The supporters are pleased with our efforts as well and pundits were impressed, saying this game should be "taped and shown to any doubters of the beautiful game". Very cool! Of course, the game wasn't without controversy, as the media pointed to the controversial penalty on Gash that resulted in Midgley's winning penalty. Again, I said the referee made the right call when asked about my opinion, one that obviously wasn't shared by my counterpart Johnson Hippolyte. It was a big three points in our battle to stay afloat in the BSS. We move up to 12th position on the table and see ourselves six points out of a playoff position but most importantly, 8 points out of the drop zone! I'd say we're pretty safe from relegation now! In other BSS news, Bromley sacked their manager Mark Goldberg after his team dropped a 2-nil decision to Eastleigh. Newport County continue to hold onto top spot and have a five point advantage over Lewes in a bid to move to the Blue Square Premier division.
ON TAP NEXT WEEK MONDAY: Cambridge City at Fisher Athletic SATURDAY: Cambridge City vs. Bognor Regis
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MY CURRENT FM19 DYNASTY - FM19: "Ludere causa Ludendi - To Play for the Sake of Playing" - Queen's Park FC (Scottish League Two) MY OLD FM11 DYNASTY - FM11: From Semi-Pro Minnows to the EPL - Dover Athletic FC My Personal Blog - Now on the Tee - Golf, Sports, Poker, Life 2006 GOLDEN SCRIBE AWARD WINNER FOR BEST 'OTHER SPORT' DYNASTY - EHM2005: Sharpening Swords in Buffalo |
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01-26-2008, 03:25 PM
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Coordinator
Join Date: Jun 2002
Location: The scorched Desert
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Still have a shot at the playoffs....Come on you Lilywhites!!
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01-27-2008, 04:56 PM
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College Benchwarmer
Join Date: Dec 2002
Location: St. Catharines, Canada
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Monday March 24, 2008
 ODDS - FISHER: 9-4 DRAW: 9-4 CAMBRIDGE CITY: EVENS (FAV) We head to Champion Hill Stadium in East Dulwich to face Fisher Athletic. It seems like everyone is beating up on Bath City these days and Fisher is no exception, having defeated them 3-2 on Saturday. They play a defensive 4-4-2 formation and look to utilize the counter attack in their game. I'm told that the pitch at Champion Hill is on the short side so there will be some congestion in the middle. Like Maidenhead, their defense is vulnerable to pace and crosses in the box and their strikers lack the ability to win balls in the air. Striker Shaun Batt is considered their most dangerous player by my scout, with 7 league goals to his credit. They also have another pacy striker in Sol Pinnock, who will likely start in place of injured Gavin Tomlin. In fact, Fisher have four key players injured for this matchup so hopefully we can take advantage. This is our first game as favourites on an opponent's pitch since I took over so I decide to play down our chances, just calling for a good performance when the media comes calling. Interestingly, this makes defender Ben Fillery nervous about the matchup while guys like Robert Taylor, Stuart Wall and Lee Roache, as usual, are pumped up about the matchup. None of the three, however, are in my starting eleven for the game.
There are a number of big changes we make to the roster, mostly due to the fact we played only two days earlier. We will start with a 4-3-2-1 formation with Luke Bennett back in the middle of the defense in place of Wall. Ashley Fuller plays left wing for Taylor while David Berks gets his second start at AMC alongside Neil Midgley. Michael Gash is alone up front, as I decide to use the tired Roache as a substitute for this contest. My assistant wants to tell the team they can win the game in the pregame team talk but I go for the more conservative route, wishing them luck instead. I also pull aside Fillery and young Bennett and tell them I have faith in their abilities while I tell Junior Osborne to pick up where he left off against Maidenhead. I come out a little less aggressive than usual and it likely cost us. In the 9th minute, goaltender Shane Herbert made a nice stop on Pinnock but couldn't corral the rebound. It went right to Tony Taggart and he tapped in the gimmie to give Fisher the early advantage. FISHER LEAD 1-NIL Ashley Fuller was beside himself after the goal, proclaiming offside but the replay looked like the play was fine. Fisher continued to hold us off and we had a very difficult time breaking them down. We finally started picking things up about a half hour into the contest, getting a few shots off. Berks got free in the 24th minute but rattled one off the crossbar for our one real chance. We started to gain a bit of an advantage in possession near the end of the half but Fisher continued to hold a 1-nil lead after 45 minutes. I simply told the team that I expected more from each and every one of them in the second half and left the room to let them think about it. I made my first substitution only 5 minutes into the second half, taking out the ineffective Midgley and replacing him with Lee Roache. I went to my normal 4-3-1-2 formation and told the lads to be the aggressors out there. We also started to close down all over the field in an attempt to get them to cough up the ball. The possession percentages started swinging in our favour but we still couldn't break through with an equalizer. I ended up bringing in Robert Taylor in place of Matthew Mitchell-King and went to an ultra-aggressive 3-2-2-3 formation in an effort to get a scoring chance. Things looked really bleak in the dying minutes, as Fisher employed every time wasting tactic known to man, whether it was taking thirty seconds on a throw-in or goal kick or taking every ball to the corner post. An exhausted Michael Gash broke free in the 88th minute but his blast went just over the bar. Ugh. Three minutes of injury time were added and unbelievably, Roache would crack through the defense, taking a long Fuller pass, moving the ball to his right foot and pounding it past Fisher keeper Simon Overland for the dramatic, injury-time equalizer!!! GAME TIED 1-1 The referee brought the proceedings to a close just moments after the kickoff as we are able to squeeze out a tie against Fisher!
Fisher's Taggart won the man of the match award after scoring the game's first goal. I sympathized with the team after the game, as I really feel we were the better club on this day but just couldn't get enough quality scoring chances even though we dominated possession. Indeed, others felt the same way, as an unnamed Fisher player indicated to the press that they were lucky to get away with a point and that his club was outclassed in the contest. Our supporters were also on our side, surprisingly, thinking that our performance was excellent against a 'reputable team'. The supporters were more happy with this draw than they were for our victories over Thurrock or Maidenhead, perhaps because it was on an opposing pitch. We held onto our 12th place position on the table with the point gained but now fall seven points back of a playoff position, something that's becoming quite unrealistic with only five games left on the schedule. We're nine points clear of relegation, however. Newport County defeated Eastleigh 1-nil to guarantee themselves a playoff spot at the worst and gained two points on second-placed Lewes, who only could muster a 1-1 draw against Dorchester Town. Tuesday March 25, 2008 One of my U18 players, M C Jamie Pennock, signed a 2-year deal to remain with our club. He doesn't look like he'll amount to anything more than a substitute at our level, however. First-teamer Luke Bennett turned down my initial contract proposal but indicated he'd be willing to look at another offer. Wednesday March 26, 2008 I was able to sign four more players to new deals today. Michael Gash, Shane Herbert, Matthew Mitchell-King and Bennett all signed brand new one year deals. In fact, all four signed for slightly LESS money than their previous contracts so I'm pretty pleased to reduce my wage bill while locking up four key players. Defender Ben Fillery rejected my offer and may be put out a bit, as he didn't indicate a desire to renegotiate. I send him another offer anyway. Friday March 28, 2008 St. Albans, currently in 4th place on the table, have made an offer of £2,000 for our midfielder Eliot Paschalis. I haven't been really impressed with him to be honest but I'm reluctant to sell him to a divisional rival. I have a week to think about it... Saturday March 29, 2008  ODDS - CAMBRIDGE CITY: 5-4 (FAV) DRAW: 11-5 BOGNOR REGIS: 7-4 We welcome Bognor Regis Town to City Ground for this contest. Bognor Regis is one spot behind us on the table and are winless in their last three matches coming into this one. Like Fisher, they play a 4-4-2 defensive formation and look to employ counter attacking tactics. The athleticism of midfielder Scott Harris will pose the biggest threat according to my assistant manager. Harris is a former Premiership player with Portsmouth so I'll have to be careful with him. The team has an affiliation with Brighton from League One and have two of their players on loan in striker Joe Gatting, who has 12 goals, and AM RL Wes Fogden. Ryan Sugden, another striker, leads the team with 16 league goals. We're favoured in this contest and the media seem to be grasping to the fact that we're on a three-game run without a loss. I decide to take the conservative route once again and say that our recent form makes it even more important that we guard against complacency. Roach and Taylor seem motivated by my comments.
We go back to our now-regular 4-3-1-2 formation and decide to utilize Luke Bennett at right fullback instead of captain Steve Wales, who had a rough game against Fisher. Wall comes back in as a center back, Taylor is in for Fuller at left wing and Roache is back in the starting eleven as well. I decide to go with my assistant and tell the team they can win this game, while telling young Bennett that the pressure is off. We come out of the gates with a lot of passion and take an early lead. In the 9th minute, Roache got in behind the defense after stripping Trevor Challis and pumped one home! CAMBRIDGE CITY LEAD 1-NIL Roache was everywhere in the early goings but in the 20th minute, he got called for a diving foul and was shown a yellow card for unsportsmanlike conduct. This gave Bognor Regis a bit of momentum but we were able to hold them off during a brief 10 minute rally. We took the 1-0 advantage into half and told the lads that they shouldn't get complacent in the final 45 minutes. It didn't take long for us to hit the scoreboard once again. In the 51st minute, Neil Midgley made a great tackle on our side of the pitch and longballed one down the field. Roache beat the defenders to the ball and drilled in a rocket from outside the box for his second of the game! CAMBRIDGE CITY LEAD 2-NIL We'd continue to run hot. Only three minutes later, Junior Osborne skillfully played a ball into the box and it was Roache AGAIN, beating the defenders and calmly striking another shot past the stunned Bognor Regis keeper for his hat-trick! CAMBRIDGE CITY LEAD 3-NIL Our opponents made a substitution to try to stem the tide and it worked, as the play started to settle down into more of a defensive battle for about ten minutes. Bognor Regis would finally crack our defense in the 78th minute. Striker Joe Gatting ran to meet a ball at the edge of our penalty area and was held back by Stuart Wall. The referee awarded a penalty and Gatting made no mistake to bring his club to within two. CAMBRIDGE CITY LEAD 3-1 They would get a few more quality chances but in extra time, we would strike for our fourth. On a play that definitely looked offside, Michael Gash corralled a long pass and sent it into the middle to the molten Roache, who drilled his FOURTH GOAL OF THE GAME past keeper Sam Mott to end the game in style! CAMBRIDGE CITY LEAD 4-1 What a decisive victory for our club!
Roache's spectacular four-goal performance made him the easy choice for man of the match. I tell the lads I'm ecstatic with their performance. It was a record performance from our striker, as the four goals are a team record for a single game. I tell the press after the contest how pleased I am with his recent form but that I expect him to keep it up. Even with the win, our playoff hopes are fading, as we still remain seven points out of 5th place. However, we've moved into 10th with the win and we've pretty much guaranteed ourselves a spot in the BSS again next year at worst.
ON TAP NEXT WEEK SATURDAY: Cambridge City at Eastbourne Boro
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MY CURRENT FM19 DYNASTY - FM19: "Ludere causa Ludendi - To Play for the Sake of Playing" - Queen's Park FC (Scottish League Two) MY OLD FM11 DYNASTY - FM11: From Semi-Pro Minnows to the EPL - Dover Athletic FC My Personal Blog - Now on the Tee - Golf, Sports, Poker, Life 2006 GOLDEN SCRIBE AWARD WINNER FOR BEST 'OTHER SPORT' DYNASTY - EHM2005: Sharpening Swords in Buffalo |
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01-27-2008, 05:05 PM
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College Benchwarmer
Join Date: Dec 2002
Location: St. Catharines, Canada
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Quote:
We're giving it our best shot but time may be running out on us.
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MY CURRENT FM19 DYNASTY - FM19: "Ludere causa Ludendi - To Play for the Sake of Playing" - Queen's Park FC (Scottish League Two) MY OLD FM11 DYNASTY - FM11: From Semi-Pro Minnows to the EPL - Dover Athletic FC My Personal Blog - Now on the Tee - Golf, Sports, Poker, Life 2006 GOLDEN SCRIBE AWARD WINNER FOR BEST 'OTHER SPORT' DYNASTY - EHM2005: Sharpening Swords in Buffalo |
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02-18-2008, 12:57 PM
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#25 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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College Benchwarmer
Join Date: Dec 2002
Location: St. Catharines, Canada
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Monday March 31, 2008
I get word that a number of contracts are set to expire in the next three months. Bryon Jenkins, Eliot Paschalis, Robert Taylor, Ashley Fuller, Stuart Wall and Mark Mullen are players with expiring deals while physio Joe Miller and assistant manager Barry Green also need extensions. I'm not tied to any of these staff members but will likely offer a few contracts in the next couple of weeks. One of the guys that had a contract due to expire, defender Ben Fillery, accepted a one-year extension for £45/week. Good value there for a starting fullback. We also get a couple of offers today. Grays of the Blue Square Premier have made an offer of £1,000 for AM R Taylor. He has 18 points this year for us but all of them were before I took over as manager. He was pointless in March, a span of six games. He's clearly our best option at left wing but I decide to make a counter offer for £4,000. Also, Alfreton of the Blue Square North are looking at getting D/WB/AM L Craig Radcliffe on a free transfer. I'd love to move his £180/week wage bill and gladly accept the offer. I also accept the bid made last week for Paschalis from St. Albans for £2,000. Tuesday April 1, 2008 Lots of business to take care of on my 35th birthday. First of all, we find out that Newport Country striker Alan Wilkes was awarded the March Player of the Month after scoring five goals in five games. Our very own Michael Gash came in second after scoring 3 goals and adding 2 assists in 5 matches while delivering a stellar average rating of 7.80 for the month. I thought I might have a chance at placing in the top three in the Manager of the Month for March but my 3-2-1 record must not have been good enough. The award went to 1st placed Newport County's Peter Beadle for the second consecutive month. My assistant gave some feedback on players who have trained well over the past month and thankfully, the three players mentioned, Fillery, Matthew Mitchell-King and Paschalis are all first-teamers while the three who failed to impress were reserves (Mark E'Beyer, Michael Gosling and Radcliffe). I also receive a new offer from Grays for Taylor, as they upped their bid to my requested £4,000. Hmm...I'll have to think about this one. Interestingly enough, I also am offered my first ever player in Danny Sonner, a Northern Irish international who was transfer listed by Walsall of League One. At 36 years old, he wouldn't really fit in with my team and I'm quite certain I wouldn't be able to offer him a contract that would be acceptable. I decide against making a bid. Wednesday April 2, 2008 Great...Paschalis rejects the move to St. Albans, saying the wage offer is unacceptable. This coming from a player making £50/week with me. Sheesh. Thursday April 3, 2008 In something that had to have been an oversight from my predecessor, I notice that Junior Osborne, my star loanee from Watford, is scheduled to return to the Hornets in a week's time. I ask for the loan to be extended for two more months and while Watford accepts, Osborne decides against it. Damn it! I request his services once again, this time for the remainder of the season (semantics, I know). I doubt I can swindle him into accepting... Friday April 4, 2008 Radcliffe rejects the contract offer from Alfreton so I'm stuck with him. No one wants to leave! Earlier in the week, I made an offer to Lewes for disgruntled winger Andy Drury, who has been in the press weekly talking of his displeasure with Lewes management and his lack of first-team football. He has a value of £14,000 so my free transfer offer was swiftly rejected. Saturday April 5, 2008  ODDS - EASTBOURNE BORO: 3-1 DRAW: 2-1 CAMBRIDGE CITY: 4-5 (FAV) We head to Priory Lane to face disappointing Eastbourne Boro in a pivotal Blue Square South contest. They are coming off a 2-1 loss to Bath City and are currently on a poor run of form, having lost six of their past eight matches. They play a 4-4-2 defensive formation and I'll have to be conscious of their short pitch. Like a few of my recent opponents, they lack talent on the back end and are vulnerable to pace and crosses into the box. Striker Scott Ramsay is deemed to be the most dangerous player on their squad and I comment to the press that we will have to watch him closely in this contest. Ramsay has 14 league goals to lead his club while strike partner Allan Tait sits with 13. Pat Harding is a striker who is often employed as a right winger and has 9 goals and 6 assists on the season, just another dangerous threat for Eastbourne Boro. I'm not entirely used to being favoured on the road and I tell the press that our four-game unbeaten run is meaningless and I'm just looking for a solid away performance. Lee Roach is a player who seems to really shine when the spotlight is off the club and of course, he is fired up by my comments and ready for a big game.
We stick with our now-regular 4-3-1-2 formation and the only changes from our big 4-1 win over Bognor Regis are to put skipper Steve Wales back in at right fullback and move Luke Bennett to centre back. Stuart Wall, who had a rough game against Bognor Regis, will sit this one out. Strange that in the match analysis, the commentator indicates that "Cambridge City have been poor of late" and feels that the match will end up a boring draw. Ha! We're undefeated in four, are coming off a decisive win in our last contest and playing a team that has lost 6 of 8. Can't say I understand that logic. I decide to go with my assistant and tell the team they can win this game, while telling Luke Bennett and Lee Roache to pick up where they left off in our last contest. We don't come out of the gates with a lot of fire, unfortunately. In fact, the commentators must have been clairvoyant, as the first twenty minutes are basically spent in the neutral zone. In the 21st minute, Boro finally break us down in the neutral zone, as Jerome Maledon plays a nice through ball to Allen Tait and his looper from just outside the box somehow eludes Herbert to give the home side the opening marker. EASTBOURNE BORO LEAD 1-NIL The rest of the half was all Boro, as they put constant pressure on our defense and our goaltender, who was up to the task. We are able to reach the half down only one and I tell the team I expect more from them in the second half. Our club comes out with a bit more passion in the second half and we dominate the possession for the first 15 minutes but are unable to get one past the Boro keeper. I am forced to substitute Eliot Paschalis in for a nicked up Junior Osborne, likely playing his last game for our club as he's still not interested in staying with us on loan. This break in the action gives Boro the chance to catch their breath and they score soon afterward on the break, as dangerman Ramsay pounces on a Tait rebound for the crippling goal. EASTBOURNE BORO LEAD 2-NIL Incredibly, we are able to respond right off the proceeding kickoff. Steve Wales intercepted a throw-in and lobbed the ball into the box to Diagouraga, who rifled a shot off the crossbar. Michael Gash pounced on the rebound and knocked it in for his 13th league marker and pull us back within one! EASTBOURNE BORO LEAD 2-1 I'd soon bring in David Berks and Ashley Fuller and move to a 3-3-4 formation in an attempt to even the scoreline. Lee Roache and Berks had great chances for the equalizer in the 81st and 82nd minute respectively but both hit the side netting on their attempts. That was as close as we got and we'd drop this decision 2-1.
Ramsay ended up taking man of the match honours with his winning goal. Interesting that the commentators piled on poor David Berks, saying our sub was to blame for us not equalizing things late due to his shocking late-game miss. We really controlled the play in the second half and ended up outshooting Boro 16 (7) to 11 (5). I sympathized with the team instead of laying into them after the game in the locker room. Lots of interesting things in the press after this one. The headline in the local paper reads "BOSELA'S TINKERING FINALLY COMES UNDONE", and the article talks of my reputation for changing tactics being my undoing in this one. Weird...I've kept the same tactic for a number of games now and only changed when we were down two goals. The writeups for the match indicated that things were close and could have went either way while another headline read "BRAVE CAMBRIDGE CITY FINALLY LOSE", with the article complimenting us on our four game unbeaten run while also mentioning that the last three games will be important for us to get out of 'mid-table obscurity'. With only three games left on the schedule, we fall back into 12th position on the table and our remote playoff hopes are pretty much dashed. The best we can hope for is a solid stretch run to move up into the top half of the table. In other BSS news, Lewes picked up a draw against Fisher Athletic to guarantee themselves a playoff spot at worst. It's looking like Newport County is set for promotion after defeating Basingstoke 3-1, giving themselves a comfortable 7-point cushion in the standings.
Sunday April 6, 2008 The bad news I had been expecting regarding Osborne comes in: he has no interest in staying on with us and will head back to Watford early next week, ending his loan spell with our club. We will really miss his contributions on the right wing. ON TAP NEXT WEEK SATURDAY: Cambridge City vs Braintree Town
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MY CURRENT FM19 DYNASTY - FM19: "Ludere causa Ludendi - To Play for the Sake of Playing" - Queen's Park FC (Scottish League Two) MY OLD FM11 DYNASTY - FM11: From Semi-Pro Minnows to the EPL - Dover Athletic FC My Personal Blog - Now on the Tee - Golf, Sports, Poker, Life 2006 GOLDEN SCRIBE AWARD WINNER FOR BEST 'OTHER SPORT' DYNASTY - EHM2005: Sharpening Swords in Buffalo |
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