FM2005: A frog at Kenilworth Road

[FrogMan]

OH! I know what I'm gonna do!!!

I'm gonna build a dungeon and hide him, for real!!!



FM

[SirFozzie]

A bit of good news, he may be able to play at some point during 16th year..

Wayne Rooney (Now with Man Yoo) made his debut for Everton before he turned 17.

[FrogMan]

good to know, I'll keep a very good eye on him. As I said, he turns 16 in December and we're now in the middle of November, so we're getting close to one milestone. We'll see from there...

I'll post his player profile tonight. You won't tell anyone, right? Wouldn't want the pundits to hear about him, they'd start some fake buzz

FM

[SirFozzie]

Just remember.. once you play him, hiding him is not an option.

But if you piss him off and hide him, resigning him may not be one either

[FrogMan]

Originally Posted by SirFozzie

Just remember.. once you play him, hiding him is not an option.

But if you piss him off and hide him, resigning him may not be one either

hrm, what if he plays on my U18 squad? He's got to play some games to learn something, right?

Oh well, if he wants to go, he'll go, bah...

FM

[Desnudo]

Originally Posted by SirFozzie

Since he's on a schoolboy contract, he can "jump ship" at any time and sign with a bigger team (or more accurately, transfer to a bigger team's academy) and you only get paid for his training.

HIDE HIM, then the day he hits 17, sign him on a professional contract!

I'm not sure exactly how it works, but the top youth players <17 will cost you millions in compensation. Unless that's considered the cost of their education? So there is some protection in place.

[FrogMan]

Originally Posted by Desnudo

I'm not sure exactly how it works, but the top youth players <17 will cost you millions in compensation. Unless that's considered the cost of their education? So there is some protection in place.

The playoffs in Conference N/S work a little different in that the winners of the North and South playoffs play each other for the final promotion spot. Also, only the top team from each division promotes. You can see the rules by going to View - Rules on the league table screen.

Yeah, most of the times I've seen a nice 16yo I was tempted in getting, I always found the cost a bit steep, so let's hope that if somebody wants him, the compensation will at least be nice. Or maybe he's a total shmuck and I'm the only one who sees any good in him, heh

About the playoffs, I think you're confusing me with EaglesFan27. My Luton Town team is in League One. The playoffs and promotion rules I quoted are coming from what I was seeing in the league rules, in the screen you mentionned. I was only unsure about what I understood...

Here's the screenie of my league rules (may be useful for future reference):
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v3...2005/rules.jpg

FM

[FrogMan]

Originally Posted by Desnudo

You must have been typing while I was deleting.

haha, cool then

FM

edit: and again, I post before the post I reply to... getting tired of this...

[Desnudo]

You must have been typing while I was deleting.

[FrogMan]

I finally added the screenie for the League One rules. It may be useful for future reference...

FM

[condors]

i believe the compensation is determined from his weekly pay rate (although i could be wrong but i swear i remember reading it someplace)

[daedalus]

You can play him at 16, his contract just won't be protected. In the demo, I snuck Anthony Vanden Borre out of Anderlecht (cost me around 800K or so) and Alessio Cerci out of Roma (he was expensive, around a million) and played them with the big team occasionally. With certain players, I was able to offer their teams some money to sign them instead of just signing them and saved money that way.

[FrogMan]

I don't really plan on playing him for now, but wouldn't really want to lose him before I really know he's a shmuck

FM

[Desnudo]

I think the main risk you face playing a 16 year old is if he tears it up he'll ask for a lot more money when it comes time to sign him to a contract.

[daedalus]

I would be tempted to toss him into an easier game or two (whatever cups you get a nice and easy match up in) once he turns 16. And there's always putting him into games yourself on the U-18 level.

[FrogMan]

Here's the player card of my wonderkid, Kevin Joyce

[FrogMan]

November 23, 2005
away at Peterborough (FA Cup round 1)
S: D'Sane/Howard/Hammond
AMC: Jones
DMC: Wilder/Chambers
D: Davis/Williams/Coyne/Foley
GK: Beckwith

I keep the same tactics as the match before (AMC very forward, arrows up for DMC, no arrows for DL/DR), but I need to shuffle a few players among the starters because of some injuries (Blinkhorn and Tarachulski) and the fact that we have many games in few days, for a few weeks...

The game was only 71 seconds old when they pumped a long ball down the left side, only to center and score a very quick goal. Everybody on our side was napping on that one and they all seem to have almost already given up, as they all show form ratings of 5, only a few minutes into the game. Darn guys, COME ON!!!

In the 55th minute, a beautiful combination play between Elvis Hammond and Steve Howard leads to a goal by Howard, but it's disallowed. They say Howard was offside...

The game goes without us ever imposing our rythm. We play loosely and because of that, they always seem to have control of the ball, or be able to take away from us when we have it.

Elvis Hammond is taken out of the game in the 67th minute, for sheer bad play. His form ratings is a stupendous 4, something that had not happen to a player from the first squad yet this season.

We just can't convert any of our chances and we lose the match 0-1. For some reason, I'm very unhappy with the loss, even though it was very close, based on all statistics, and the fact we had control of the ball 52% of the time. I guess I just hate losing...

Final Score: Luton 0, Perterborough 1
Shots (on target): Luton 9 (6), Oldham 8 (3)
MoM: Peterborough's Jai DeMerit with a ratings of 8
HoM: Kevin Foley with a ratings of 7, although I was very tempted to not give this award to anybody, since nobody really stood out. Still Foley completed 25 of 31 passes and won 10 of 11 headers...

Steve Howard comes out of this game with a sprained wrist and will be out for 1 week, which means he could miss as much as two matches...


FM

[FrogMan]

Staff News
Ten people responded to our coach advert and I skim through them. Only a guy named Ludek Midlosko could fit the bill as a goalkeeper coach, but he wants $2200 as wage and we really can't afford that, so we will leave the advert open, in hope of getting some new applicants that would fit us better. Meanwhile, I go on an independant search for coaches with great goalkeeper training skills and find Stewart Nicholson, a 36yo Englishman, who's not only good with keepers, but also a very well rounded coach, who could also help in other areas. Since he's not very well known, he's only asking for $700 a week, we make him an offer for that amount.

FM

[FrogMan]

November 26, 2005
home vs Huddersfield (currently in 5th, 8pts ahead of us)
S: Showunmi/Tarachulski/Hammond
MC: Bridge-Wilkinson (with arrow up)
DMC: Johnson/Chambers (no up arrows)
D: Carbon/Williams/Davies/Keane (fullbacks with up arrows)
GK: Goodlad
Enoch Showunmi gets another start with Matthew Blinkhorn and Steve Howard both out with injuries.

I see that Huddersfield play a 3-5-2 with the five middies on a straight line. I adjust my team passing setting to a bit of a longer passing, to try and pump balls over the head of their midfielders.

3rd minute: Following a corner kick right to the box, they score on a header, even though the scorer was double teamed. We are putting ourselves in trouble early on again, it's getting a bit old and I may have to take a hard look into what's causing these early goals. We're down 0-1.

22nd minute: Marc Bridge-Wilkinson gets a red card for a reckless challenge. He supposedly went in with two feet. We'll have to finish this game with only 10 men on. Seeing how Elvis Hammond isn't pulling his weight, I make a swift sub. Steve Robinson goes in as a middie, while I move Tarachulski to the right forward position, leaving us with only 2 strikers.

25th minute: The tactical move pays off and Enoch Showunmi goes deep to the line and centers a beauty of a ball to the far post, where it meets with Tarachulski's head, sending it back to Robinson who finishes it off with a nice volley for the 1-1 goal.

38th minute: Carbon goes up to make a throw in, deep on the left side of their zone. A quick throw in to Robninson who centers to the middle of the 6 yard box, to the near post. Tarachulski is there to finish it neatly. We're up 2-1.

42nd minute: HOLY MOLY! A second red card is given to one of our players, as Adam Chambers gets the early shower. Now with 8 outfielders, our tactics are getting a bit screwy. I drop the forward arrows on the fullbacks and I move Tarachulski to AMC and Showunmi to center striker. Robinson is moved down to DMC in place of Chambers. For those of you scoring at home, we're now playig a 4-2-1-1

47th minute: In injury time for the first half, they center an easy ball. Goodlad goes out to challenge the striker but th strikers gets the last word, with the equalizer, 2-2. Goodlad is clearly not having his best game...

50th minute: Well, I'll be damned! Mark Williams get called for tripping an opponent. This referee is pretty quick on the cards, yellow or red, see above) and Williams draws the yellow. It's Williams' first game as our captain, so I guess he is feeling very important and he decides to b*tch to the ref. Bad idea, he collects a second yellow and is sent off. I don't move any player to compensate for him being out, as he's a defender. We're now playing a 3-2-1-1, with two fullbacks and one centreback.

78th minute: As if anything could go any worse, Matt Carbon picks up a knock and has to go out. I have no more subs left, having used my 3rd and last when I put in Chris Coyne, usually a defender, in place of defensive middie Richard Johnson, since Johnson was totally burned out. We'll have to finish the game with one less player, leaving us with only 6 outfielders and a keeper. I drop Coyne to DC and bring Keane in closer to the remaining DC, Davies and play all three centrebacks with down arrows. We are now playing a 3-1-1-1, the the 1-1-1 part is DMC-MC-AMC, no strikers are really involved anymore, even though Tarachulski is a striker, but I play him a notch lower, at the AMC position.

The last 12 minutes are excruciating, but we hold on and WE GET THE DRAW!!! Wow!!! I've never been this happy about getting a draw. We showed amazing resiliency and held them, even with only 6 outfielders out there, again, wow!

Final Score: Luton 2, Huddersfield 2
Shots (on target): Luton 4 (2), Huddersfield 14 (5)
MoM: Bartosz Tarachulski with a rating of 8, but I'd be tempted to name the remaining 6 outfielders all men of the match!!!
Show you how bad we were getting bombarded and how good we held on, we had possession of the ball for an amazing 35% of the time, in our defensive zone, in the second half...

For those of you curious to see what the team tactics looked like at the end of the match, here's a screenshot of my tactics screen.

We stay in 10th place after the draw...

FM

[FrogMan]

Injury News
Matt Carbon suffered a broken jaw in the draw to Huddersfield and will miss a month. I'll need Sol Davis to hold on tight and cover the left fullback spot during that time.

Disciplinary News
We get the news that Marc Bridge-Wilkinson's one match ban may be extended when a disciplinary committee will meet on December 3. I decide to appeal of the ban.

FM

[FrogMan]

Staff News
Stewart Nicholson accepts the $700/week offer and becomes the latest member of our coaching staff. His main job will be coaching goalkeepers, but he also seems to have some accute skills in evaluating player skills and potential, so I may rely on his evaluations a bit more than the ones from some of my other coaches

Suspension News
The FA thinks we did not have valid grounds for our appeal of Marc Bridge-Wilkinson's one match ban. We'll have to wait for December 3rd to see if he'll be banned for more than one match...

November 29, 2005
quarter-final, LDV Vans Trophy South
home vs Millwall (currently 1st in League One)
S: Showunmi/Tarachulski/D'Sane
AMC: Jones
DMC: Johnson/Chambers (with up arrows)
D: Davis/Coyne/Davies/Foley (fullbacks with up arrows)

We are decimated by injuries and suspensions, following the crazy match against Huddersfield. The one silver lining is that the suspensions will be served in the Cup, leaving the players available for our next league match.

In the morning before the match, I decide to go to the media and criticise Elvis Hammond for his recent string of bad performance. By doing that, I hope to send a clear message to all the other players, that I won't accept bad performances, we need them to do well.

I also comment on Pater Jackson, no not the one behind the LOTR trilogy, the manager of Huddersfield, saying to the media that I'm not his biggest fan. This also in the hope of whipping my players a little...

While gameplanning, my thinking was that our only chance was to generate a lot of offense, give the ball to the strikers. To do so, I play with an AMC right behind the strikers and I push both defensive middies and fullbacks forward with up arrows.

16th minute: Since the beginning of the game, our goal is being sprayed left and right by shots from their middies and strikers. I decide to alter our tactics by giving an order of slowing the tempo, and asking the players to play with shorter passes.

20th minute: Looks like the tactic change is working and we mount an attack. From Richard Johnson to the left, to Enoch Showunmi, who heads it center to Bartosz Tarachulski who loses no time and hits a lovely strike in the top corner for the 1-0 goal.

48th minute: Ast the second half starts, Showunmi gets another nice pass, this time from Sol Davis. He takes the ball deep on his own and tries a cross toward the 6 yard line. Their keeper mishandles it, it's an OWN GOAL!!! We're up 2-0. Millwall goes to a 4-2-4 formation, with which we usually struggle...

81st minute: We've held on so far, but they center a sweet ball from the left, toward the near post and it is headed in. We're still up, but only by on, 2-1...

The game ends on this score, we move on to the semi-final, woot!

Final Score: Luton 2, Millwall 1
Shots (on target): Luton 10 (7), Millwall 12 (3)
MoM: Bartosz Tarachulski with a rating of 8, but again, I'd be tempted to give it to somebody else, as Enoch Showunmi had a heck of a game, creating many chances of scoring from the left side...

Injury News
The Millwall games has generated two more casualties in keeper Mark Goodlad, out for 3 days with a bruised rib, and defensive midfielder Richard Johnson, who will be out for a week with a damaged shoulder... They should be fine for our next game, as it's only on December 7th.

FM

[FrogMan]

Supporters News
Hatters fans lambast Hammond in the press. A spokeperson for the supporter's club go so far as saying that, given the amount of money Hammond takes each week, he had no excuses for turning in such lacklustre displays.

December 1st, 2005
Beginning of a new month, time for a board confidence update. They say they are very pleased with my management of the team. The supporters are also very pleased with the progress the team has been making, and they are in full support of my management of the club.

Cup News
The draw for the LDV Vans Trophy South semi-finals happens. We will play Watford, on their pitch, on January 24, 2006.

FM

[FrogMan]

Disciplinary News
The dreaded December 3 disciplinary committe meeting comes and we get the news that Marc Bridge-Wilkinson has been suspended for two extra games.

U18 News
Kevin Joyce plays his first match for our U18 squad since returning from his loan. He does well, getting a ratings of 7. I'll update you every once in a while on how the kid progresses...

FM

[FrogMan]

December 7, 2005
away vs Torquay (currently 23rd, with 15pts, we have 23pts)
S: Showunmi/Tarachulski/D'Sane
AMC: Jones
DMC Chambers/Keane
D: Davis/Coyne/Davies/Foley

Other than a few injured players, everybody is pretty well rested up. We've had some tough games with Torquay in the last year, so I don't let their 23rd place fool me. I know they finished in the top 10 last season, so I have to be careful. Being on the road, I take off all the up arrows on the full back and defensive midfielders.

4th minute: We start fast, as Enoch Showunmi dribbles down the left side and ceters the bacl to Bartosz Tarachulski, who promptly loses it to a defender. Good thing that Mark Jones was right there, as he steals it from the defender and quickly strikes from twenty 20 yards out, GOAL!! We're up 1-0.

30th minute: Following a corner, there's a scramble right on the edge of our penalty box and in the confusion, they convert with a crazy goal. Tied at 1-1.

This is a pretty uneventful game, where we outshoot them, but lose the possession (45/55). I'm kind of happy we get out of there with a draw.

Final Score: Luton 1, Torquay 1
Shots (on target): Luton 9 (3), Torquay 6 (4)
MoM: Toqruay's Kevni Hill with a ratings of 8, completing 32 of 38 passes, and scoring a goal.
Hom: Curtis Davies with also a ratings of 8, winning 8 or 9 tackles and intercepting 4 passes.

We drop to 12th place with the draw.

FM

[FrogMan]

Contract News
Since we're getting close to the beginning of January, and I have a bunch of players that will drop to within 6 months of the end of their contract, I take a quick look at who I'd want to resign and who I want to offer around.

Seeing how he can be very hot, but also very cold, I offer Elvis Hammond around.

I Offer Chris Coyne 3600 per week, as per my Mick Harford's (my assistant manager) recommendation. Coyne Wants some big time first time player money, something like $5400 per week, a big jump from the $2400 he is currently earning. I just can't afford that. We'll see if he'S willing to go below his initial demands.

I offer Steve Howard around to other clubs. This pains me greatly as he a major goal scorer for the club (17 goals last season and 13 already this season), but when I go make him an offer, his agent tells me that Steve is not interested in renewing his contract with Luton Town right now. I was getting the same message last season, but I kept making offers, adding tiny bits of incentives here and there. He's now earning $5800 per week with good bonus for every goal he scores. I may just have to let him go after this season. This would be sad, but he's also 29, and doesn't have the greatest pace. He just seem to score goals, that's all

I also offer defender Russell Perrett around, for FREE. He was useful last season, when I had depth troubles, but he's been relegated to the reserve team this season, and I will definitely not renew his contract when it will be over.

I offer Steve Robinson a one year, $2200 per week contract with a $4000 signing fee. It's the exact same amount he's being paid right now. Robinson is a very valuable commodity, as he can play just about anywhere in the midfield.

FM

[FrogMan]

Contract News
A few days pass and I get the news that Steve Robinson has agreed to a new deal that will keep him at the club until June 30, 2007.

At the same time, we hear from Chris Coyne. He rejects our first offer, but he is willing to negotiate. I up the weekly wage to $4000 per week and add a bonus of $400 for every appearance in a game.

U18 News
Kevin Joyce plays in his second U18 game, on his 16th birthday, getting another ratings of 7. Looking at the U18 squad, I see that he has the dreaded WNT tag next to his name. Peterborough seems interested in him. To be followed closely.

FM

[MikeVick7]

Hey FrogMan...good read so far. I'm currently in my first season with Blackpool and it looks like I am just one week ahead of you at this point. I've been using a 4-1-3-2 attacking and am really satisfied with it so far as it has taken me up to 2nd place. Is Sheff Utd ripping it up in your dynasty as well? They're ahead of me by 10 pts at the moment.

Good luck!

[FrogMan]

Originally Posted by MikeVick7

Hey FrogMan...good read so far. I'm currently in my first season with Blackpool and it looks like I am just one week ahead of you at this point. I've been using a 4-1-3-2 attacking and am really satisfied with it so far as it has taken me up to 2nd place. Is Sheff Utd ripping it up in your dynasty as well? They're ahead of me by 10 pts at the moment.

Good luck!

Thanks. If you're in your first season, then I'm about one season minus one week ahead of you I'm into my second season.

I don't remember exactly how it's gone with Seff Utd. I'll have to check it out tonight. I'll also check if Blackpool is giving me a hard time

FM

[MikeVick7]

Oh wow...2nd season already. So yeah you're right...I'm definitely behind you. I'm guessing the Sheff Utd may have promoted after last season then.

[FrogMan]

December 10, 2005
away vs Doncaster (currently 14th, only 1 point behind us)
S: Blinkhorn/Howard/Hammond
AMC: Mansell
DMC Wilde/Robinson
D: Davis/Williams/Davies/Foley
GK: Beckwith

I see they play a 4-2-4 formation, the kind of formation that has given me fits in the past.

3rd minute: Sold Davis plays too aggressively and way to far forward, which leaves a man open behind him. They convert a good 1-2 combination into the first goal of the game. We go down 0-1 early.

6th minute: We get right back at them, as Lee Mansell, following a few quick exchanges, fires a 35 yards screamer that deflects off a defender, leaving the keeper on the ground on the wrong side of the goal. We tie, 1-1.

26th minute: a great combination Howard-Hammond-Howard finishes with a centered ball headed straight in by Steve Howard. We take the lead, 2-1.

39th minute: Things are looking good as Sold Davis flight a 40 yard pass down the left, to Matthew Blinkhorn. The keeper rushes out, but Blinkhorn is quick enough to hit the long shot. We take another one, up 3-1.

44th minute: While waiting to get to the tactics screen, where I want to sub out Rob Beckwith since he's not having a good game (5 ratings at the time), I see them mount an attack, charging right up the middle, with a nice center that's headed straight in. We're still up, but now by only 1, 3-2. I take Beckwith out of the game, Mark Goodlad comes in.

58th minute: The ball rebounds between 3 or 4 players in our penalty box, before falling to the feet of one of their strikers, who wastes no time, scoring the tying goal. 3-3.

69th minute: A wild game that just gets wilder, as Elvis Hammond scores a sensational goal after dribbling the ball through a maze of Doncaster defenders. We're back up 4-3

87th minute: Hot dang!!! Our defenders just can't keep up with their four strikers as they easily center a ball from the left, and they convert for yet another tying goal.

At that moment, I realize one thing. I had set my defenders to play push up and play the off side trap. That being said, I realize we have drawn them offside only twice, while our own team has commited 4 offside already. Maybe our defenders are not really good at executing the trap, or their strikers are very bright. Anyway, I take the defenders off the offside trap tactic and tell them to play a bit deeper. I had also told the players to play "super defensive" following our latest go ahead goal, since I'm kinda pissed, I tell them "screw it, we'll outscore them, or we'll die", as I set them to an "all out attack" mentality.

88th minute: The tactic changes pay off immediately, as I watch Adam Chambers pump a high, long ball over a defender. Howard takes it on the run and hits a perfect half volley, giving us the lead again, now 5-4.

91st minute: Keeper Mark Goodlad clears is area with a long kick toward Mark Jones. Following a few exchanges in the middle section of the field, Jones passes the ball to Howard for the finish. He's got a HAT TRICK!!! We're now up 6-4.

A wild, wild, wild game, in which we lose Lee Mansell for 5 days because of a thigh sprain.

Final Score: Luton 6, Doncaster 4
Shots (on target): Luton 15 (9), Doncaster 13 (6)
MoM: Steve Howard, easily, with a ratings of 10 and a hat trick. Many other players had very good games, as 4 others had ratings of 8 and Goodlad, the subbed in keeper, gets a 9 for his 47 minutes of work.

We move up to 9th. It's encouraging, even though we're still a good 5 points off the 6th place and a spot in the playoffs.


FM

[FrogMan]

Team Board News
The Team Board is extremely pleased with the 6-4 win over Doncaster. To quote their words: "a strong series of results has seen the club emerge as one of the form sides of the division and whilst they are not expected to seriously challenge for the title, it is pleasing for many fans to see progress being made at the club"

I don't tell them just yet, but *I* expect to challenge for the title

Contract News
Chris Coyne signs a new contract that will keep him at the club until June 30, 2008. Weekly wage agreed upon is for $4000 per week.

Achievement News
Chris Coyne and Steve Howard are named on the League One Team of the Week.

Transfer News
I see that Steve Howard has the WNT icon next to his name. Tranmere seems interested in him, I offer him to them, as he's still not interested in renewing his contract with Luton, per his agent.

FM

[FrogMan]

December 13, 2005
home vs Chesterfield (8th place, 1 point ahead of us)
S: Showunmi/Tarachulski/D'Sane
AMC: Bridge-Wilkinson
DMC Chambers/Johnson (with up arrows)
D: Davis/Williams/Coyne/Keane (full backs with up arrows)

Back at home, I decide to take the same kind of tactics than the one use in our LDV Vans quarter final match against Millwall. That is, give the ball to the strikers, generate some attack. To do so, I play both the defensive middies and the full backs with forward arrows.

2nd minute: Enoch Showunmi steals the ball from their right full back and his quick center results in a scramble in the box. After two quick shots have been stopped by their keeper and a defender, Roscoe D'Sane finally converts for his first ever goal with Luton. We're up 1-0.

71st minute: Not much else has happened until their keeper fires a goal kick straight in the middle of our defensive zone. We let them operate at will and, with only their second shot of the game, the first on target, they tie it to 1-1.

79th minute: Mark Jones send a throw in to Bartosz Tarachulski, who takes the ball inside the box. His shot is stopped, but Showunmi is there to head in the rebound. We're back in command, 2-1. This will be the final score.

Final Score: Luton 2, Doncaster 1
Shots (on target): Luton 12 (5), Chesterfield 3 (1)
MoM: Chesterfield's goalkeeper Tony Caig who gets a well deserved ratings of 8. We bombarded him all game long.
HoM: Richard Johnson, with a ratings of 8. He completed 22 of 26 passes while also winning 5 of 5 tackles.

We move up to 7th place, only 2 points from 6th place!!!

FM

[FrogMan]

Transfer News
Transmer say they are not interested in Howar. Something about it not being enough value for the price asked. I'm thinking they are keeping an eye on him for when his contract will become unprotected, i.e. when he'll have less than 6 months to go on his current contract.

December 19, 2005
away at Colchester (currently in 19th with 20 points, we have 30 points right now)
S: Tarachulski/Howard/Hammond
AMC: Jones
DM Chambers/Johnson (with up arrows)
D: Davis/Davies/Coyne/Foley (fuul backs with up arrows)
GK: Goodlad

While scouting them, I see that they last played a 4-4-2 formation very similar to the one Torquay played against us in our last game. Because of that, I decide to play the same formation we played against Torquay, even though we'll be on the road this time and I usually to play with forward arrows on the road.

However, as I get to the match, they show a 4-3-3 formation very similar to ours. Hmmm, that's a curveball... I don't change anything on my tactics, but I'll be on the lookout if we start on the wrong key...

56th minute: Mark Jones was having an off game, so I replace him with Marc Bridge-Wilkinson. It pays off quickly, as he completes a great play started by Adam Chambers and Steve Howard. We're up 1-0.

65th minute: Cool throw in from Sol Davis to Chambers, who quickly centers the ball to the 6 yard box, where it's headed in by a diving Howard. Nice goal! We're up 2-0 and this will be the final score...

Final Score: Luton 2, Colchester 0
Shots (on target): Luton 15 (6), Colchester 7 (4)
MoM: Sol Davis for the first time of the season, even thought he's averaging a 7.2 ratings. In this game, he got a ratings of 8, winning 10 of 12 tackles and intercepting 5 balls.

We also had 8 other players with ratings of 8! We're red hot right now and we move into 6th place following the win, tied with Huddersfield, beating them on what I assume would be the second tiebreaker (goald differential is a tie at +10 both, but we have more goals for, with 35, to 29 for them)

FM

[FrogMan]

Team Board News
The Team Board is extremely pleased with the 2-0 win over Colchester, saying: "The Hatters continue to dazzle this season, defying the critics' predictions of mid-table anonymity"

From the media we can read that "many fans now feel that the club has proven its ability to battle with the big boys for the title and are hopeful that the team can sustain it magnificent form into the final third of the season".

ahh, music to the ears

U18/Loan News
Peterborough wants Joyce ona 3 months loan. I tell them no, saying that he's a hot prospect for the future. I feel like a dad who's afraid of letting his child out of the house, for fear he would not come back...

Budget News
Seeing how the Team Board is delighted with my performance as manager of the club, I ask them for more wage budget. They refuse, saying that they think that the current wage structure should allow me to attract players of a sufficient caliber to succeed. I decide not to push the issue for now, but I know we are still 6k per week over the wage budget.

FM

[FrogMan]

December 26, 2005
home vs Stockport (currently in 13th, 5 points behind us)
S: Showunmi/Howard/Blinkhorn
AMC: Jones
DMC: Chambers/Robinson (both with up arrows)
D: Davis/Williams/Coyne/Keane (full backs with up arrows)
GK: Goodlad

With the week of rest since our last match, everybody is at 100%. I've taken an habit of playing both the defensive middies and full backs a little pushed up (up arrows) on home games, and this game is no exception. I see that Stockport played a 4-4-2 with moderate push from the wingers in their last game.

7th minute: Crazy, crazy goal as their defenders are trying to organize an attack, we put pressure on them, so much so, that one of their centrebacks turns around and passes it back to their keeper. Thing is, their keeper didn't look like he was expecting it, as he remains very deep in his goal, he turns around and IT'S AN OWN GOAL!!! Woah, I know it's Christmas time, but you don't have to give us nice presents like that! We'll take it anyway, up 1-0.

63th minute: Great long goal kick by Mark Goodlad that get only flicked forward by Steve Howard. Their keeper comes to the edge of the box and tries to clear it to with a short pass to his left but Matthew Blinkhorn, quick as a cat, pounces on the ball and scores on a 30 yard strike. We're up 2-0, they will never catch us.

It was a very defensive match, as you'll see from the number of shots taken, that was fought mostly in the middle section of the field. Followin the centreback to keeper fiasco, I'm kind of curious and take a look at their players ratings. Their keeper got a 5, while the centreback, who's also their captain, got a 4...

Final Score: Luton 2, Stockport 0
Shots (on target): Luton 3 (1), Stockport 2 (0)
MoM: Matthew Blinkhorn with a ratings of 7 and a goal.

We stay in 6th after the win.


FM

[FrogMan]

December 28, 2005
away at Cheltenham (currently in 16th with 16 points, we have 36 points)
S: D'Sane/Tarachulski/Hammond
AMC: Bridge-Wilkinson
DMC: Wilde/Johnson (up arrow on Johnson only)
D: Davis/Davies/Williams/Foley (no up arrows)

This two games in three days is tough, but looking at Cheltenham's fixtures list and roster, I see that they also played on the 26th, but they have way less depth than we do. While scouting them, I also note that their the team which has conceded the most goals in League One this season, with 41. As a comparison, we're in the middle of the pack with 25 conceded goals.

12th minute: A short corner by Marc Bridge-Wilkinson gets headed back to him and he centers it switfly, straight to Bobby Wilde, who heads it toward the net. It's in and we're up 1-0.

39th minute: Bridge-Wilkinson, who is having a good first half, squeezes in between two defenders and intercepts the ball. He fires a very long shot that catches Cheltenham's keeper napping, 2-0.

60th minute: It all happens on the left for our third goal, starting with a great play and pass by Sol Davis to Roscoe D'Sane who moves the ball to Bartosz Tarachulski. Tarachulski then tips the ball to Lee Mansell, right outside the box, where he fakes the keeper out of his shorts. Great goal, we're up 3-0 by now...

86th minute: We can not save the clean sheet as they keep spraying our goalkeeper with shots. After one that hit the bar, they get the rebound and convert, we're still up, 3-1.

It ends on that score, after maybe one of the longest last 10 minutes of a game. They really went on full attack, shooting from about every angle possible, but we held on. It was a wild offensive game.

Final Score: Luton 3, Cheltenham 1
Shots (on target): Luton 16 (8), Cheltenham 19 (5)
MoM: Marc Bridge-Wilkinson with a sensational match and a 10 ratings. He complete 26 of 31 passes, 5 of them key passes, while also shootin 5 times, 4 of them on target.

With this win, we remain unbeaten in our last 7 games and we move up to 5th place.

U18 News
While we were playing, the Luton U18 also played and Kevin Joyce showed sensational form, receiving Man of the Match award with a ratings of 9. He intercepted 9 balls in his match.

Team Board News
The Luton Team Board is once again extremely pleased with the nice win. They again say that they think we have proven that we're able to fight with the big boys... I agree that we are on an amazing roll, just gotta hope we won't fall flat...

FM

[FrogMan]

Originally Posted by MikeVick7

Hey FrogMan...good read so far. I'm currently in my first season with Blackpool and it looks like I am just one week ahead of you at this point. I've been using a 4-1-3-2 attacking and am really satisfied with it so far as it has taken me up to 2nd place. Is Sheff Utd ripping it up in your dynasty as well? They're ahead of me by 10 pts at the moment.

Good luck!

As I said I would, I went to check on Sheff Utd, but I gottta assume you meant Sheff Wed, since Utd was already in the Championship in 04-05. Anyway, Sheff Wed didn't really tear the league apart last season, as they finished in 6th place with 70 points. They are doing very well this season however, as they sit in 2nd place, with 46 points, to my 39. I've played them 3 times so far, beating them them twice (3-2, 1-0) and them beating us once (1-2).

About Blackpool, they finished in the middle of the pack, in 13th place exactly, last season and they are doing much the same this season, as they sit in 11th place at the midseason point. I've also played them 3 times, beating them twice (4-3, 3-0) and getting a 0-0 draw in the other game.

FM

[FrogMan]

Midseason Evaluation
As the new year comes, with it comes the midseason mark. Here's what the league table looks like at this point in time:

Pos	Team	Pld	Won	Drn	Lst	For	Ag	G.D.	Pts
1st	Millwall	23	15	2	6	44	21	+23	47
2nd	Sheff Wed	23	14	4	5	40	20	+20	46
3rd	Cardiff	22	13	5	4	35	16	+19	44
4th	Swindon	23	11	8	4	31	23	+8	41
5th	Luton	23	10	9	4	40	26	+14	39
6th	Port Vale	23	9	10	4	30	20	+10	37
7th	Watford	23	9	9	5	33	28	+5	36
8th	Huddersfield	23	9	7	7	30	25	+5	34
9th	Chesterfield	23	10	4	9	31	33	-2	34
10th	Wrexham	21	9	6	6	29	20	+9	33
11th	Blackpool	23	9	6	8	31	30	+1	33
12th	Barnsley	23	8	6	9	20	24	-4	30
13th	Stockport	23	8	5	10	29	32	-3	29
14th	Boston Utd	23	8	5	10	24	29	-5	29
15th	Bournemouth	21	7	7	7	28	27	+1	28
16th	Doncaster	23	7	6	10	32	41	-9	27
17th	Rushden	23	6	7	10	19	24	-5	25
18th	Cheltenham	23	6	7	10	29	44	-15	25
19th	Walsall	23	6	6	11	19	29	-10	24
20th	Bradford City	23	5	8	10	23	32	-9	23
21st	Oldham	22	4	9	9	19	25	-6	21
22nd	Colchester	23	5	6	12	23	33	-10	21
23rd	Torquay	23	3	9	11	20	35	-15	18
24th	Chester	23	5	3	15	18	40	-22	18

I can't say I expected us to do this good, especially after the very rough first season I experience in 2004-05, but I am very happy with how the team is playing right now. This is coming to a point that I see every game as a winnable game, not that I think we will win them all, but I think that with a bit of luck, we can win against anybody.

Here's the same league table, but presenting the home and away results separately:

			HOME					AWAY
Pos	Team	Pld	Won	Drn	Lst	For	Ag	Won	Drn	Lst	For	Ag	G.D.	Pts
1st	Millwall	23	7	1	3	23	11	8	1	3	21	10	+23	47
2nd	Sheff Wed	23	6	2	3	22	11	8	2	2	18	9	+20	46
3rd	Cardiff	22	8	2	1	23	7	5	3	3	12	9	+19	44
4th	Swindon	23	5	5	1	16	9	6	3	3	15	14	+8	41
5th	Luton	23	6	3	2	18	10	4	6	2	22	16	+14	39
6th	Port Vale	23	4	4	3	11	7	5	6	1	19	13	+10	37
7th	Watford	23	5	5	2	20	14	4	4	3	13	14	+5	36
8th	Huddersfield	23	5	4	3	16	10	4	3	4	14	15	+5	34
9th	Chesterfield	23	7	2	3	23	14	3	2	6	8	19	-2	34
10th	Wrexham	21	5	3	2	16	7	4	3	4	13	13	+9	33
11th	Blackpool	23	4	3	4	17	17	5	3	4	14	13	+1	33
12th	Barnsley	23	5	1	6	14	14	3	5	3	6	10	-4	30
13th	Stockport	23	5	3	4	21	14	3	2	6	8	18	-3	29
14th	Boston Utd	23	4	4	3	10	9	4	1	7	14	20	-5	29
15th	Bournemouth	21	4	4	2	16	11	3	3	5	12	16	+1	28
16th	Doncaster	23	4	3	5	19	21	3	3	5	13	20	-9	27
17th	Rushden	23	4	4	3	13	8	2	3	7	6	16	-5	25
18th	Cheltenham	23	4	3	5	16	19	2	4	5	13	25	-15	25
19th	Walsall	23	3	3	5	9	10	3	3	6	10	19	-10	24
20th	Bradford City	23	3	3	6	11	15	2	5	4	12	17	-9	23
21st	Oldham	22	2	4	5	11	11	2	5	4	8	14	-6	21
22nd	Colchester	23	2	4	6	9	13	3	2	6	14	20	-10	21
23rd	Torquay	23	2	6	4	13	15	1	3	7	7	20	-15	18
24th	Chester	23	2	1	9	10	23	3	2	6	8	17	-22	18

One unexpected thing I see in there is that while we are giving up more goals away than at home, which is normal, we are also scoring more goals. This is good, I like that...

I'll add some individual player evaluation tonight, with some player and team stats, and that position movement chart I presented before. I simply forgot to take a screenshot yesterday night...

Hope you are all enjoying the read...

FM

[Tellistto]

I like it, FM, keep it up.


Tell

[FrogMan]

I was kind of worried we'd go down for a couple of weeks, just as I was getting into the meat of my mid season report, and all the contract negoiating that happen around December 31st... phew... I'm sure you are all as relieved as I am

Luton Town - Goals
Steve Howard	14
Matthew Blinkhorn	4
Elvis Hammond	4
Mark Jones	3
Lee Mansell	3
Bartosz Tarachulski	3
Bobby Wilde	2
Steve Robinson	2
Marc Bridge-Wilkinson	2
8 others	1

Steve Howard really is a goal scoring machine. He scored 17 all season long last year and he's already up to 13 this season. Interestingly enough, my three atatcking midfielders (Mansell, Jones, Bridge-Wilkinson) have combined for a total of 8 goals. I find it interesting since there's usually only one of them at once on the field, while there are three strikers...

Luton Town - Assists
Bartosz Tarachulski	6
Richard Johnson	4
Enoch Showunmi	3
Matthew Blinkhorn	3
Mark Jones	3
Elvis Hammond	3
Adam Chambers	3
Keith Keane	2
Lee Mansell	2
Steve Howard	2
Marc Bridge-Wilkinson	2
6 others	1

Bartosz is a great striker in that he can set up goals, or have them be set up for him and finish them with style... Richard Johnson really is an unsung hero of that first half of the season, as will become even clearer with the next two stats tables...

Luton Town - Form Ratings (top 5 with min 10 app.)
Richard Johnson	7.33
Steve Howard	7.30
Keith Keane	7.29
Sol Davis	7.28
Adam Chambers	7.21

As I just said, Johnson is a very valuable member of the club, an anchor in the middle of the defensive middie scheme that is the basis for both our attack and defense. Another one we don't always hear much about, but who's having a great season, is left full back Sol Davis. He's really stepped up his play when Matt Carbon went down with a month long injury...

Luton Town - Man of the Match awards
Richard Johnson	4
Steve Howard	3
Mark Goodlad	3
Bartosz Tarachulski	2
Matthew Blinkhorn	1
Mark Jones	1
Bobby Wilde	1
Matt Carbon	1
Elvis Hammond	1
Adam Chambers	1
Sol Davis	1
Marc Bridge-Wilkinson	1

Johnson again shines in the MoM nominations, but it's also good to see keeper Mark Goodlad being mentionned here too. He's certainly kept a few games closer than expected this season...

General Stats Comments

We are averaging an attendance of 8205 so far this season, good for a 10th place in League One. Our stadium is a 9975 all seater, so we're filling at 82%.

We currently have a 13 games without losing streak in league play, THAT is impressive...

The team is second in Goals For, with 40, and 11th in Goals Conceded, with 26.

Steve Howard is second in league goal scored, with 13, trailing the first goal scorer by only 1.

Bartosz Tarachulski is 12th in assists.

Richard Johnson's four Man of the Match awards give him 4th place for the most MoM awards in league play.

Sol Davis is 12th in tackles per game, with an average of 4.47 tackles per game.

Enoch Showunmi is 1st in driblles per game, with an average of 3.98 dribbles per game.

Mark Goodlad has recorded 6 clean sheets in 20 starts, while Rob Beckwith has 3 in 8 starts.


FM

[FrogMan]

Contract News
December 31 comes and with it, about half a ton of message from my assistant manager, reminding me about all of my players, and players on my shortlist, that enter the last 6 months of their current contracts. I'll first detail what I think of our own players with contracts coming to terms...

Elvis Hammond is asking for $3800 a week. I'm very unsure of offering that kind of money for a player who can sort of disappear at times. For now, I'm gonna wait.

Steve Howard is still not interested in renewing with Luton, per his agent. This saddens me a great deal. Renewing him for 2005 was a long and tough back and forth negotiation that ended with a $5800 a week contract, with a significant signing fee. I'm thorn on this one. I have plenty of strikers, and will probably want to carry many again next season, at least 6 starting caliber strikers, so I may have to cut somewhere. Also, when Howard got injured, I felt like the other strikers were sort of able to pick up the slack left by the loss of the 29yo striker. For now, I'm going to wait.

Russell Perrett is currently earning 1400 a week and is of no use to the team, and probably won't be until his contract ends. I release him on a free, this costs us only $36,000.

Mark Williams, who's earning $3000 right now, is saying he would accept a pay cut to $2800 a week. He's been of great use this season, but I'll probably go for a younger centreback for next season, so I don't offer him a new contract.

Bobby Wilde is a weird one. He basically has no skills, other than great crossin and corner skills, and some physical abilities, yet he gets good form ratings. He's earning $600 right now and since he's been transfer listed all season, he's unsure if he wants to sign back with the team. I may offer him a contract later on, if I can get him to sign for something around 600 or less... He's definitely a bargain for a backup at that price.

Next are three youngsters in SC Luke Maitland, D RLC Nick Mountford, and MC Sean Ridgeway. All three have very limited skills and I don't expect to offer them contracts.

Michael Leary is a center midfielder earning a fair $700 a week as a developmental project, playing with the reserve team. He never really developped into a player that could break into the starting lineup. I'm still unsure if I want to offer him anything.

Stephen O'Leary is a 20yo M RC, earning $400 a week right now. Similar to Leary, he's playing with the reserves. I'm also unsure if I want to offer him a contract...

Keeper Rob Beckwith wants $600 a week, the exact same wage he is currently earning. He could easily take the place of Mark Goodlad if he were to fall to injury, so I offer him a $600 a week contract for 3 years.

Reserve goalkeeper Dean Brill is still young (20) but I'm doubting he'll ever develop into a good keeper as I've never seen him with more than 8 at handling. Still, his earning only400 a week on his current contract and could be worth keeping around, in case of double injuries to my two first team keepers.

Backup keeper Dino Seremet, 25yo, is currently earning $1100 a week. He wants $1350 but I find this a bit high for a perennial backup who's not seen the field with the first team in two seasons. I will wait before deciding to make him an offer...

Striker Enoch Showunmi, whom I call "Show", is crazy. He wants $6800 a week, plus $12000 in signing fee. The team board won't allow more than $6000 for a key player, which Show just isn't. My assistant, Mick Harford, tells me that Show is a undervalued member of our first team and that I should offer him a contract valued at about...... $2400 a week. At that level, I would be more than okay with resigning Show to a new contract, but until he comes back to earth, I'll wait before offering him anything. He's 23yo and will turn 24 on April 21, so he isn't subject to the Bosman rule yet. I'll keep a good eye on the striker who's currently valued at $750k.

Among players outside of my team, one is really interesting me. Rowan Vine, a striker from Swindon that was on loan with us for the whole 2004-05 season, season where he scored 13 competitive goals for our club. He's 23yo with some great skills and has been on the transfer list for quite a while now. While he is valued at $1.7M, Swindon is "only" asking 650k for him, saying he doesn't fit into their plans. His contract expires on March 3, 2006, but he's currently on loan at Portsmouth. I'll keep a close check on him, and could possible make some kind of low offer, with all of the $236k that I have left in my transfer budget...

I'm also intrigued by striker Mark Smyth, who is on loan at our club, from Liverpool. He's a 20yo center striker with some skills who is now playing exclusively on our reserve team. At some point, some of my coaches were saying not to bother pursuing him, while others were saying he could develop into a good player, and one of my scouts said he was a player with potential, that's got me a bit confused. Looking at him, he's not as well rounded as some of my other strikers. He's on loan with us until the end of the season, currently transfer listed with an asking price of $180k, while he is valued at $850k.

FM

[FrogMan]

January 1st, 2006
HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!
And with the new year comes a new month. The Luton Team Board are delighted with my performance as manager, this always sounds nice to my ears If only to confirm that they have good reasons to be delighted, I come in second place for the Manager of the Month award, second only to Paul Sturrock, the manager of Sheffield Wednesday, who had a monstrous month.

Marc Bridge-Wilkinson is name League One Player of the Month. WOW! That is the first time a member of the club has been named for this award since I've taken over the management of the club, other than Mark Jones winning the Young player of the month award a few months ago. Not only does a Hatter win it, but Steve Howard gets mentionned as the third place finisher...

Elvis Hammond's sensational goal in the 6-4 win over Doncaster comes in second place for the goal of the Month award. I watched it over and over, and while some will say I may be biased, I think it was worthy of first place. While revisiting that goal, I have a crazy idea, offer game files to you to sort of give you the chance to watch my most memorable games. I saved the game in which Hammond scored his great goal, but only forgot to upload it to my webspace. I will upload it tonight and will let you know when it's available.

FM

[FrogMan]

January 1st, 2006
home vs Wrexham (currently 10th, 6 points behind us)
S: Showunmi/Howard/Blinkhorn
AMC: Jones
DMC: Chambers/Johnson (both with up arrows)
D: Davis/Davies/Coyne/Keane (full backs with up arrows)

This is the 3rd of 3 very close games, but we'll get a break after that, as our next game is only on January 7th. The break we get is that Wrexham also played on the 26th and 28th, so we should be even. They played a 3-5-2 formation in their last match, with the five middies on a straight line. I also see that Alan Neilson, former Hatter, is now playing for them.

When I get to the match, I see that they are putting some twist in their tactics, drawing back their two wingers with very long down arrows. I guess they are adjusting to our attacking firepower, or I'd like to think it is so...

The first half is pretty uneventful, as they are clearly going for the 0-0 tie. We get 6 shots, with only one on target, while they don't even get one. Lack of shot for them can easily be explained with us controlling the ball 39% of the time, IN THEIR ZONE!!!

92nd minute: In the middle of 4 minutes of injury time, we finally break the tie following a throw in by Keith Keane to Steve Robinson, who centers a long ball accross the field, to the far post, where Enoch Showunmi takes it and scores, right inside the left goal post...

We escape this one at the last minute...

Final Score: 1, Wrexham 0
Shots (on target): Luton 12 (4), Wrexham 0 (0)
MoM: Sol Davis, with a ratings of 8. He completed 31 of 38 passes, with 8 key passes.
Possession:
our zone: 3/10
middle: 21/21
their zone: 40/5

I'm trying to find a way to report possession numbers, but they look weird. Anyway, "Our zone", "middle", and "Their zone" represent when the ball was in our defensive zone, the central zone, our their defensive zone. For both, the first number is our possession percentage, while the second is theirs... As you can see in this game, we spent close to half the game while controlling the ball IN THEIR ZONE!!!

We move to 4th place with the win, awesome!!!

However, I learn that Richard Johnson has damaged his elbow and will miss a week. Good thing our next game is only in 6 days...

[daedalus]

Y'know, one good thing about not re-signing Hammond will be the possibility for that inevitable "has left the building" comment.

[FrogMan]

Originally Posted by daedalus

Y'know, one good thing about not re-signing Hammond will be the possibility for that inevitable "has left the building" comment.

hehe, weird enough, it never occured to me

How do you like the read so far?

FM

[FrogMan]

Transfer News
I see that Brighton and Gillingham appear interested in Enoch Showunmi. Well, let's see if I can get them to bite to an offer so I offer him to a select few teams. I'm asking $500k and an extra $52k after 10 appearances for Show...

Achievement News
Right full back Kevin Foley and attacking midfielder Marc Bridge-Wilkinson are named on the League One Team of the Week. It's the first time ever for Foley and the first time for Bridge-Wilkinson as a Hatter. He was part of the team of the week 4 times when he was playing for Stockport.

Staff News
I sign Jon Lock to a cheap scout contract. Cheap as in only $280 a week. Lock is a little known scout with great skills at judging a player's ability (20) and potential (18). Immediately upon arrival, I send him on a scouting trip of England, looking for players between 15 and 25 years of age. We'll see what he can find.

Contract News
Keeper Rob Beckwith agrees to a 3 year deal that will pay him $600 per week. The deal will keep him with the club until June 20, 2009.

Injury News
Defender Matt Carbon resumes full training after missing a month of action. Seeing how well Sol Davis as played as his replacement at left full back, Carbon will probably be used more as a centreback when he's completely back to game shape.

Loan News
Dunstable offers to loan Michael Leary, but they only want to pay half of his $700 weekly wage. I make them a counter offer, in which they would pay 100% of his salary. Three days later, they withdraw their loan bid.

Transfer News
When I get a message from my scouts that 27yo sweeper/defender Tony James was about to be taken off my shortlist, I decide to take a look at his skills. I find him very interesting and I decide to declare my interest through the branches. The press is right on the case and start the buzz machine, even saying I would be ready to put in a bid valued at $240k, our current transfer budget. I'm not so sure I'd be ready to put that much, but I find it interesting. I'll see if the fans have anything to say against James. He is currently playing for Hereford in League Two and is valued at $160k.

FM

[FrogMan]

January 6, 2006
away at Boston United (currently in 14th with 29pts, we have 42pts)
S: Hammond/Howard/Tarachulski
AMC: Bridge-Wilkinson
DMC: Chambers/Keane (with up arrows)
D: Davis/Coyne/Williams/Foley (fuul backs with up arrows)

Boston United seem to be having a nice season for a team that just promoted from League Two this season. They played a 4-4-2 with moderate forward play by the wingers. I see from a look at their roster that they'll have 4 injured players and 1 suspended one for our match.

10th minute: Marc Bridge-Wilkinson takes the ball just outside our penalty box, only to pass it to Elvis Hammond on the left side. Hammond then makes a beauty of a cross, over the head of a defender and right to the feet of Steve Howard, who's alone with the keeper. He scores his 15th goal of the season as we go up 1-0.

26th minute: Another great Hammond-Howard combination is the source of our second goal. This time, Howard heads the ball in, 2-0.

60th minute: PENALTY!!! Bartosz Tarachulski is pushed while trying to get a center from Matthew Blinkhorn. Steve Howard is our penalty guy, he nails it, IT'S A HAT TRICK!!! We're up 3-0.

63th minute: Mark Goodlad loses his clean sheet when he is unable to makes two saves in a row. They score on the rebound of the first shot. 3-1. We hold and that's the final score...

MoM: Steve Howard with 3 goals, 25 of 29 passes, 4 shots on goal on 8 shots, and a perfect ratings of 10.
Chris Coyne also had a great game, winnign 10 of 11 tackles, while 6 other players finish the game with ratings of 8.

We remain in 4th after the win.

When I look at our fixtures list, I see that our next match will be a very big one, as we'll be playing Sheffield Wednesday, on their pitch. They are currently on a 9 game winning streak...
Suspension News
Bartosz Tarachulski will be suspended for one match, after he picked up his 5th yellow card.

FM

[FrogMan]

Transfer News
Hereford's manager, Graham Turner, gives a "hands off" warning to teams interested in acquiring sweeper/defender Tony James. This comes after I've made my interest clear. Turner makes a big show of saying he won't be bullied into selling the 27yo sweeper, but I know better. Anything can be bought, and a conference team sometimes can't say no to some extra money in their coffer...

In some weird coincidence while looking at my reserve team roster, I see that Hereford is interested in striker Andrea Valente. Valente was valued at close to a million dollars at some point, but his value has since plummeted, mostly because he now only plays for my reserve team. He was getting somewhat good ratings, but with the flurry of striker buys I made last offseason, he got demoted to reserve play only and he doesn't figure in the long term plans of the team. I decide to try something and I offer Valente and $20k for Tony James to Hereford. That's worth a try, especially since I had signed Valente on a free transfer in the middle of the 2004-05 season

Achievement News
Five players of our team make the League One Team of the Week: Adam Chamber, Chris Coyne, Sol Davis, Steve Howard, and Bartosz Tarachulski. Five out of eleven isn't too shabby

Transfer news
The day after we'd made the offer, we hear from Hereford and the offer is accepted!!! We are now allowed to offer a contract to Tony James. He is asking $4800 per week. My assistant think that he'd become an active memeber of our first team and so I should offer him a contract around $3800 per week. I offer $3000 per week + $50 per appearance, based on the fact that he's currently earning $1550 per week. On a sidenote, Andrea Valente is currently earning $2800 for us, money that we would save on our wage bill with the trade.

In other transfer news, Cheltenham makes a bid for keeper Rob Beckwith. They are offering $44k + 30% of the next sale. They set a deadline of January 17 for a reply, I'll think about it.

Contract News
Michael Leary resigned with us, a one year deal that will pay him $700/week.

Enoch Showunmi is now unhappy. Show says he wants to commit his future to the club and feel he deserves an improved contract. Down from 6800/week, then to 4800/week, he's now asking 2800/week plus a signing fee of $12000. He's currently paid $1550 per week, and I think I will wait a bit longer before making him an offer...

Transfer News
In a strange twist, Tony James signs a new contract with Hereford. HOLY MOLY!!! But now that I think about it, I think I remember seeing that he was considering a contract offer from them. Sure enough now, when I look at his transfer screen, there's no indication of a bid from us. What the heck, I'll try it again. This time, Valente + $32k for James, +10% of next sale. I offer a bit more, since he just signed a contract with them, which could mean he's worth a bit more to them.

In the same day, the accept the offer! I get to offer a contract to James again. He's still asking for $4800 per week. This time, I offer him $3400, which is still better than his new contract, at $2200/wk.

Contract News
Show is now asking only $2600 per week, still going down. I'll wait some more


FM

[FrogMan]

January 14, 2006
away at Sheffield Wednesday (currently 2nd, 7pts ahead of us)
S: Hammond/Howard/Blinkhorn
AMC: Bridge-Wilkinson
DMC Chambers/Johnson (with up arrows)
D: Davis/Williams/Coyne/Foley (full backs with up arrows)

Even though this should be a tough match on the road, I keep the up arrows on both my defensive middies and my full backs. This tactic as served me real well in the last few weeks, why screw it up. One things for sure, I'll be on the lookout to see if we are falling apart and will not hesitate to go on a more defensive scheme if need be.

Scouting them, I see that they played a pretty straight 4-4-2 with moderate push from the wingers in their last match. When I get to the game, I see that their are showing a much stronger push from the wingers, asking them to go way forward, similar to what Boston United did against us in our last match.

7th minute: Kevin Foley gets a loose ball on the right wing. He passes it on to Matthew Blinkhorn whos swiftly crosses the ball, all the way to the edge of the Sheffield's penalty box, a 45 yards pass. Elvis Hammond is there, waiting for the ball, with only the keeper to beat. Confidently, he scores the 1-0 goal.

24th minute: Adam Chambers is injured and has to go off. While on the tactics screen, I take off the up arrows on the defensive midfielders, as they are controlling way too much of what's going on in our defensive zone.

33rd minute: Chris Coyne is the architect of a great set pieces kick from right outside their penalty box. He kicks just over the wall, and scores the 2-0 goal from 20 yards out.

We dodge bullet right and left in this first half, as they outshoot us 12 (3 on target) to 5 (3 on target). Possession numbers are not pretyy either, as they controlled the ball 31% of the time in our defensive zone...

60th minute: Following some good passing in our penalty box, they seem to have scored, but wait, is that a raised flag I see there? Yes, yes it is, OFFSIDE!!!

We shut them down the rest of the game, after I changed our tactics to go to a much shorter passing game, and we hold on to the 2-0 lead to win it, YEAH!!! A clean sheet on their pitch, awesome!!!

Final Score: Luton 2, Sheffield Wednesday 0
Shots (on target): Luton 5 (3), Sheffield Wednesday 12 (3)
MoM: Mark Goodlad, with a ratings of 9. He made many saves, keeping the team in the game. Our whole defensive unit had a big game, as 3 of the 4 defensers had ratings of 8.
Possession: (us/them)
our zone: 9/34
middle: 18/24
their zone: 11/4

We stay in 4th place with the win, but Sheffield drops to 3rd, and we're now only 4 points off... We squashes their winning streak!!!

Team Board News
As would be expected, at least from me, the Luton Team Board are extremely pleased with the win over Sheffield Wednesday. Me, I'm ecstatic

Injury News
Adam Chambers is diagnosed with a damaged elbow, following the Sheffield Wednesday match. He will miss approximately one week. Our next game is only in a week, so he's only expected to miss a game.

FM

[FrogMan]

Transfer News
Interesting, Andrea Valente agrees to a deal with Hereford. We are still waiting to hear from Tony James on our offer.

Transfer/Contract News
And the news comes the very next day. Tony James accepts our offer and the transfer can happen. James makes it known in the paper that he "is very keen to rise to the challenge of playing for such an illustrious club". Nice to see us mentionned as an illustrious club. *cough* butt kissing *cough* But it's all good. He also states that he wants to impress his new manager. I'm curious to see if that will translate well to on field performance. I'll report on that after a few games...

Achievement News
Mark Goodlad and Sol Davis are named on the League One Team of the Week. That's a second week in a row for Davis.

Transfer News
I finally respond to the Beckwith bid by Cheltenham. I up he offer to $60, from their initial offer of $44k. My rationale is that Beckwith was once valued at $65k, when he played a lot more in the middle of last season. Maybe they'll see it this way and will be willing to pony up some more. And if not, I get to keep Beckwith as my unexpensive backup keeper.

U18/Loan News
Peterborough wants 16yo Kevin Joyce on loan. I try a bit of craziness and say "Why not, but bring on the dough" as I ask a $500k fee for them to have him on loan for three months... hehe

Transfer News
While looking at the players on my shortlist, seeing Rowan Vine's name, I have an idea. Why not try something similar to what I did with the James/Valente trade. I offer Portsmouth $100k and Enoch Showunmi for the 1.5M valued Vine. They have him currenlty transfer listed with an asking price of 650k. I doubt they'll say yes, but who knows...

In other transfer news, Cheltenham withdraw their bid for keeper Rob Beckwith.

FM