FM2005: A frog at Kenilworth Road

[FrogMan]

Useless News
My game status now say I've been playing this career for 4 days, 1 hour, 14 minutes, and my addictedness level says something like "real football managers don't need food"

Loan News
I offer to loan a youngster from Nottingham Forest. Ricky Hanson is an 18yo D/DM/F RC with a nice set of skills, and with three positions, lots of use I could make of. He's currently valued at 200k, so I could make a bid for him after the loan is over. I ask to get him on loan for the whole season, in which I wouldn't pay one bit of his salary. Not much risk there...

July 18, 2006
Friendly #2, away at Farnborough.
We win this one 2-0 on goals from Matthew Blinkhorn and Steve Robinson (penalty). It's an even game, in which we got more dominant as the game wore on. Curtis Davies gets the MoM with a rating of 8, while Joe Murphy and Tony James also get 8's. No injuries in the match, which is the best of news.

International Round-up
Jacopo Piotto got sent off in the 60th minute and had a bad showing overall (rating of 5) in Italy U19's draw against Greece U19.

Team Board News
On a whim, I decide to ask the board if they could not, possibly, think about investing some money on improving the training grounds, even though they'd already allowed an improvement that took place at the end of the 2004-05 season.

I was fully expecting a nice "no, sorry" kind of answer, but instead got this: "The Luton Team Board" of Directors have admitted that the club's training facilities are pretty poor in comparison to other clubs of the same standard and have unanimously agreed that they should be improved" Wow, talk about a politician's answer, now when?

Training News
This just in: I'm an idiot. On the 15th of July or so, I set everybody to the "pre-season" training schedule. We're up to the 22nd now and I just realized I had no coaches assigned to that schedule... oops :o

Loan News
The Loan for Ricky Hanson is accepted and he agrees to come to Luton. In his profile, I see that he's described simply as "defender", but I think he could be a jack of all trades for us, pluggin holes here and there...

July 23, 2006
Friendly #3, home vs Southampton
We lose 0-2 again. This time, we don't get near their goal very often. They look much faster than us in about every facet of the game. Oh well, that was a practice game...

International Round-Up
Jacopo Piotto played one of those good but not excellent game, getting a rating of 7 in Italy U19's 2-0 win over Turkey U19.


FM

[FrogMan]

Contract News
We sign free agent left footed forward Lee Morris for a 3 weeks trial. He has good acceleration and pace, with good ball skills (first touch, technique) and decent crossing skill. Thing is for now, my assistant isn't too impressed with him and won't allow me to offer him more than $6200, while Morris is asking for $7200. I think I could offer him 6200 and probbaly get away with it, but I'd like to see Morris play in a few friendlies before I make a formal offer to him. He won't be allowed to play in competitive matches while on trial with us. In 8 matches while on loan at Peterborough (L2) last season, he scored 2 goals, 5 assists, and averaged a form rating of 7.38.

Training News
Matt Carbon is again absent from training today. I fine him one week of wages this time. He's a weird cookie, as he again acknowledge that his behaviour is unacceptabel and that he deserved the fine, good boy...

July 27, 2006
Friendly #4, home vs Birmingham
I'm trying a new formation in this one, I call it a 3-4-3, simply because it has 3 defenders and 4 middies. The strikers remain the same as in my usual 4-3-3. Here's how this new one looks like:



It remains to be seen if the individual arrows will stay like that, or if I will not had maybe to down arrows to the outside central defenders. I'll see as I go...

Wow! We win the game 2-0! Bartosz Tarachulski is the Man of the Match with 2 goals coming from very long crosses. One of them came from Enoch Showunmi. Him with his simple 8 in crossing, and I'm here trying to find a replacement, or at the very least an alternative, and he comes in and makes some plays... Must feel the heat.

Speaking of replacements, Lee Morris has a very bad game, with a rating of 4 before being replaced. This may be because it's his very first game of the season, so I'll hold off judgment. One that concerns me a little more is D/DM R Kevin Foley, in his first game as defensive middie. He usually plays more of a full back position, but in this game, with the long arrows and all, he gets a 5. Will keep a close eye on him...


Overall, we had good possession numbers even though the ball was often around our end zone, but we got the clean sheet. We also got a few good plays from the outside, which is nice...

FM

[FrogMan]

July 29, 2006
Friendly #5, home vs Ajax
We play the 3-4-3 again, and I start Lee Morris at left striker and Kevin Foley at right defensive middie. I want to see if their bad games were just flukes or if they're really uncomfortable playing this formation...
With two friendlies left, some players are starting to show as match fit, a good sign that the season is coming up.

One bad thing though is that my two most important defensive middies, Paul Evans and Richard Johnson, are dinged up and not playing right now. Johnson is still hampered by a groin strain, while Evans suffered a broken nose in training. They should be available for the last friendly, but their lack of playing time could make things tougher in the start of the season, adn I'm not sure we'll be able to afford a bad start if we want to avoid relegation.

We lose the game 1-3. Our scorer is Marc Bridge-Wilkinson.

Morris gets a 7, as does Foley, so things are sort of better now.

For now, I kind of like the 3-4-3. We get reasonable possession numbers, a bit high on our end, but we control the ball and are not letting in an outrageous amount of goals. The 3 centrebacks seem to be doing a good job of cleaning the front of the goal.

FM

edit: I had put the date of the friendly as July 31st, but it's actually July 29. Our last friendly is played on the 31st and will be reported below...

[tanglewood]

Still a good read FM.

NB: In footie parlance, a 'defensive middie' on the flank (i.e. not a full back, not a winger) is called a 'wingback'. Just though it'd be helpful to know what to call one of your new positions.

[FrogMan]

Originally Posted by tanglewood

Still a good read FM.

NB: In footie parlance, a 'defensive middie' on the flank (i.e. not a full back, not a winger) is called a 'wingback'. Just though it'd be helpful to know what to call one of your new positions.

ahh, thanks, very helpful indeed, and much faster to type than "defensive middie"

And thanks for the good word, glad you're enjoying it.

FM

[FrogMan]

July 31, 2006
Friendly #6, away at Crawley.
We go back to the 4-3-3, if only because I want to give my two main defensive middies (Evans and Johnson) a bit more playing time.
We lose 0-2. We even lose pretty badly in possession, but we still had shots, mostly because it was a conference level team...

Bring on the season now!!!

August 1st, 2006
The Luton Team Board is still very pleased with my performance as manager.

We get the odds for the 2006-07 season of the Championship. Leeds and Leicester are joint favorites to gain promotion, with offs of 7-4. Then come Wolves at 2-1, Derby also at 2-1, Crystal Palace at 3-1, and Sunderland at 6-1. I see our odds at 80-1, and that was expected. Pundits seem to think that these odds point more to the fact that my side should be more concerning with avoiding relegation than thinking about promotion. Well, duh...

Question from the media
I get approached by a local newspaper with the following question: "The bookies are tipping you for relegation this season. Do you think you will have to bolster your squad in order to stay up?"

My answer is the followin: "Definitely Not. I believe we've got the players with the ability to keep us up"

Once put into the paper, this translates into: "You have suggested that your team should not even be thinking about relegation" Wow, awfully confident, huh?!?

Player Reactions
Following my answer to the question we get two different reactions among players.

The first one, I kind of like. Matthew Blinkhorn, Adam Chambers, and Sol Davis all say they're pleased I'm not looking for reenforcements to bolster our fight against relegation and they hope they to repay the faith I have shown in the current squad. Nice.

The second one shows who may be the lazy ones on the squad, and bothers me a little bit, not much, but a little. Joe Murphy, Marc Bridge-Wilkinson, and Keith Keane all say they're pleased they won't have to compete too hard for a first team place. hrmmm...

League Cup News
The draw for the 1st round of the League Cup happens. We get a toughie to start, as we'll play fellow Championship team Tranmere. At least, it will be at home...

U18/Contract News
Sheffield United contacted 16yo Kevin Joyce and offered him a contract. Bastages!!! I decide to at least offer him what he wants, which is currently $280 per week, up from his previous 200. I'm afraid I will lose him before long...


FM

[FrogMan]

August 5, 2006
match #1, home vs Coventry (finished 20th in the Championship last season)
Odds: Luton 3-1, Coventry 4-5(fav)
S: Showunmi/Tarachulski/Vine
AMC: Bridge-Wilkinson
DM: Davis/Evans/Foley (long arrows on wingbacks)
D: Davies/James/Coyne (down arrow on James)
GK: Murphy

We go with the 3-4-3 for this first match of the season. They played a 4-4-2 with moderate push from the wingers in their last match and show the same formation at the beginning of this one.

14th minute: We get a good chance coming from Enoch Showunmi, but he puts the ball in the side netting. This chance was directly created by a Sol Davis in full support to the left side of the offense, all because of the new tactic. Still 0-0 though.

40th minute: They score on a corner kick that's headed right in, but wait! IT'S DISALLOWED!!! We get a free kick. Still 0-0.

The first half comes to an end with a 0-0 score. Joe Murphy is having a superb game so far, but Showunmi and Bartosz Tarachulski are not. They both have ratings of 5 in this first half. I move Tarachulski to the outside, in the place of Rowan Vine, and put Vine in the middle, in hope of creating something.

53rd minute: And create something, it does! The ball moves up the right side, from wingback Kevin Foley to Tarachulski in the wing. Tarachulski centers it to the 6 yard box, where Show puts it in. We're up 1-0!

64th minute: Bartosz Tarachulski plays much better since he's on the outside. He makes a great pass to Marc Bridge-Wilkinson who moves in on the goal. With only the keeper to beat, he seems to have pushed the ball too far and the keeper will get it, but at the last moment, BW steals it and scores on a nice half volley. We're up 2-0. They will never catch us.

Final Score: Luton 2, Coventry 0
Shots (on target): Luton 11 (5), Coventry 19 (12)
MoM: Joe Murphy with a perfect rating of 10. At some point, he was putting his hand to just about every shot they were making. Marc Bridge-Wilkinson also played a great game, with a rating of 9.

Possession: (us/them)
our zone: 20/14
middle: 21/20
their zone: 10/15
Overall: 51/49

It's a great start to our first season in the Championship, as we hop to 3rd place. We now gotta hope to be able to bring down the number of shots they take, or else my keeper and defenders will have to always play at their best, or we could be in trouble... I gotta say though, that at some point, they were taking just about every long shot possible, from every angle...

FM

[FrogMan]

U18/Contract News
First message I saw was this: "Kevin Joyce has rejected Luton's offer of a new contract. He feels the basic wage offered is unacceptable"

I go: "well, I'll offer more" but I don't see a negotiate button, hrmm, strange.

The message right above is this: "Kevin Joyce has agreed on a deal with Sheffield Utd. He rejected the offer from Luton" SAY WHAT?!? I click on his name, he's now listed as with Sheffield Utd. I take a look at his wage, guess what? 280 freaking dollars, the exact same I've offered to him!!!

At that point, I'm not happy, but the very next message is what got to me: "Sheffield Utd have landed defender Kevin Joyce from Luton on a free transfer." SAY THAT AGAIN!!! NOTHING FOR ME... WELL FUCK!!! I'm genuinely pissed off about this. I kind of knew he'd go somewhere, but to not get one fucking penny for him, that's the worst of all.

I go back see his profile, now with Sheffield Utd, and it says his value is now at 220k, I still can't believe it. Anybody know what happened? Was it that his value was too low when he was with us? It went up to about 50k at first, then dropped about every week, to about 20k, iirc... That is very sad...

Injury News
Adam Chambers strains his calf in training and will miss the next 2 weeks. I don't lack depth with my defensive middies, so I'm not too worried for now...


FM

[terpkristin]

Grats on your first regular season win this season!
Sucks about Joyce, though I know nothing about why it may have happened...

~tk

[SirFozzie]

Check your finances, you will have been paid for him, but it's for his training and such. You will have a chance to get him back, in six months, his contract will be unprotected and he can be grabbed back (you will need to pay them as well), as long as he hasn't turned 17 in the mean time.

The second I see someone interested in my super youngsters, I immediately offer them a huge contract. That way, I keep the player most of the time, and since you get paid back for their training, if they still sign your guy, you get more money out of it

[SirFozzie]

as for his value: Is Sheffield Utd rated higher then you in Renown? Obviously, he's on a bigger team, he's worth more...

[FrogMan]

Originally Posted by SirFozzie

Check your finances, you will have been paid for him, but it's for his training and such. You will have a chance to get him back, in six months, his contract will be unprotected and he can be grabbed back (you will need to pay them as well), as long as he hasn't turned 17 in the mean time.

I checked my finances the minute I saw the transfer and didn't see any unusual income. There was nothing in the "player sold" line, and I didn't see anything in the last month income that would indicate I had received any money.

To add salt to the wound, I went back to check on Joyce, and I tried to approach him to sign. First it said that Joyce was not interested in a move to Luton, ouch. But worst was that it said that Sheffield Utd would have to be compensated with 380k!!! Damn, that's my money!!! Oh well...

FM

[FrogMan]

Originally Posted by SirFozzie

as for his value: Is Sheffield Utd rated higher then you in Renown? Obviously, he's on a bigger team, he's worth more...

They are certainly more renowned than we are, they've been in the Championship for a few years. My point wasn't really that he was worth more, only that I should have received something...

FM

[FrogMan]

Originally Posted by terpkristin

Grats on your first regular season win this season!
Sucks about Joyce, though I know nothing about why it may have happened...

~tk

Thanks tk. I'll take the wins as they come, not sure we'll have too many of them

The Joyce crap, oh well, I'll survive it

FM

[FrogMan]

August 8, 2006
match #2: away at Plymouth (finished 11th last season, drew 2-2 in first match)
Odds: Luton - 7-4, Plymouth 5-4(fav)
S: Pinnock/Vine/D'Sane
MC: Mansell (with up arrow)
DM: Davis/Johnson/Keane (small arrows on wingbacks)
D: Williams/James/Coyne (down arrow on James)
GK: Murphy

We go with the 3-4-3 again, but this time I pull back the attacking midfielder to a more central midfielder position with a forward arrow. I also make the wingbacks go a little less forward.

They show a 3-5-2 formation with 2 wingbacks with long arrows. Their midfield is a triangle of 2 MC and 1 AMC. One of their starting striker is suspended.

22nd minute: Wow, they just got 4th yellow card while we've not received one. I'm ready to bet we'll get plenty at some point in the game. Still 0-0.

25th minute: Following a throw in, they center to the box. That center was touched twice by Luton players. First at the start by Sol Davis, then at the arrival by Tony James, yet, they score on it. Down 0-1.

45th minute, 1 minute into injury time: Chris Coyne is having a bad first half with a rating of 5. It get even worse when he handballs a coming center. PENALTY!!! It's a bullet, Joe Murphy can't do anything. We're down 0-2.

First half score is 0-2. We get good possession and some chances, I guess we were sort of unlucky so far. Richard Johnson goes in for Paul Evans.

90th minute, 1 minute into injury time: We leave a player wide open in our 6 yard box on a corner. The kick is perfect, right to his feet, an easy finish. Down 0-3. This will be the final score.

Final Score: Luton 0, Plymouth 3
Shots (on target): Luton 10 (3), Plymouth 20 (8)
MoM: Plymouth's keeper Roman Larrieu
HoM: nobody, really played great, although nobody played bad either. Each and every player that got in the game gets a 7.

Possession: (us/them)
our zone: 14/21
middle: 18/23
their zone: 14/10
Overall: 46/54

Possession-wise, the first half was much better than the second, very close to 50-50. We fell apart in the second half when we tried to push too hard to make up for the 2 goal deficit.

We drop down to earth with the loss. We're now in 13th place.

FM

[FrogMan]

Player News
James Pinnock is now content with his role at the club. He says he is prepared to wait for a first-team opportunity at Luton if necessary. He also said that I have convinced him that he has the ability to force his way into the first-team if he remains patient and continues to work hard.

Regular readers may have seen that I've been playing Pinnock on and off on the first team, for a little while now. I was in fact wondering when he'd stop being unhappy. I guess this answers it, as the "UNH" tag has disappeared next to his name. His average rating was 7.06 in 18 appearances (11 as starter) last season, with 6 goals. He's got good skills, but especially an amazing ability with set pieces (see playoffs games at the end of last season).

Discipline News
Matt Carbon again failed to report for training today. I fine him for 2 weeks of pay. At this rate, I won't pay him, as he's not reporting at least once every two weeks...

He accepts his fine without comment. A release on a free for him would cost us 160k, while he is earning $3400 per week. I don't think he'll ever see the field with the first team, so I'm seriously considering releasing him. Say there's about 10.5 months left before the end of his contract, that's 10.5*4.33=45 weeks or so. 45*3400=153k... hrm would make a lot of sense if only to get rid of him and his whining... Maye I'll offer him a mutual termination, we'll see...

Funny Fact
While looking at past results for Luton, I see that they were in the Premiership from 82/83 until 91/92, then they were in the Championship (formerly Division I) from 92/93 to 95/96. So I brought them back to the Championship for the first time in the last 10 years

Open question to anyone who knows
What are the rules with the U18 squads? I mean, I just realized I had a 19 year old in there so, anybody gonna come and slap my fingers? I also just realized, at the start of my 3rd season, that there's a U18 League Cup... hehe, will follow that one


FM

[Desnudo]

I'm not sure exactly how it works, but what I've noticed is that even youth contracts can expire and the player will be on a month to month or part time paycheck. When that happens, the player can apparently be signed for no compensation. So if you check the profile and the contract expiration date is N/A then they can be had on free.

[daedalus]

RE: U-18 . . . I'm guessing it's if they're 18 at the start of the season, maybe?

RE: Joyce . . . Sucks. You might be able to ink him back. I'd just give it a whirl.

RE: Hanson . . . By the way, I had the best luck with him as a right fullback with decent performances at defensive middie and centreback. He should be okay as a wingback for you. He didn't seem to enjoy playing up front very much when I was tinkering with the demo. I, uhh, went around and snagged young players from a bunch of different teams when I tinkered with the demo. He was one of them.

[FrogMan]

Originally Posted by Desnudo

I'm not sure exactly how it works, but what I've noticed is that even youth contracts can expire and the player will be on a month to month or part time paycheck. When that happens, the player can apparently be signed for no compensation. So if you check the profile and the contract expiration date is N/A then they can be had on free.

Assuming you are referring to Joyce, I know for sure that his contract was not expired. He was unprotected as it should be with any 16yo, but it was a valid contract...

FM

[FrogMan]

Originally Posted by daedalus

RE: U-18 . . . I'm guessing it's if they're 18 at the start of the season, maybe?

Maybe, frankly, I have not checked if the 19yo player had just turned 19 or not, I just move him to reserves...

Originally Posted by daedalus

RE: Joyce . . . Sucks. You might be able to ink him back. I'd just give it a whirl.

For now, his agent tells me he is not interested in a move to Luton. Weird thing is his favorite team said Luton before he signed with Sheffield. At 380k of compensation, I don't think he'd be worth it. I need better first team players...

Originally Posted by daedalus

RE: Hanson . . . By the way, I had the best luck with him as a right fullback with decent performances at defensive middie and centreback. He should be okay as a wingback for you. He didn't seem to enjoy playing up front very much when I was tinkering with the demo. I, uhh, went around and snagged young players from a bunch of different teams when I tinkered with the demo. He was one of them.

Interesting, thanks for the tip. He played in a few preseason friendlies, getting mixed results as both a centreback or central defensive middie. I'll see what I'll do with him. For now, he was moved to the reserves in order to stay in shape for when I'll need him...

FM

[FrogMan]

Transfer News
I make a bid for a Senegalese defender currently playing for Vittoria in Italy. He is nicknamed simply Sarr and has good heading, marking, tackling, and positionning, all required skills for a good defender. He's also capable of play to the right, center, or even left, which would make him the perfect backup defender. He's valued at 170k, I make my first bid at 130k.

August 12, 2006
match #3: home vs Reading (finished 16th last season, currently 12th with a win and a draw)
Odds: Luton 9-4, Reading evens (fav)
S: Showunmi/Vine/Tarachulski
AMC: Bridge-Wilkinson
DM: Davis/Evans/Foley (big arrows on wingbacks)
D: Davies/James/Coyne (down arrow on James)
GK: Murphy

Reading's goalkeeper Jamie Young was once onloan for 3 months with us, in the 2004-05 season. He averaged only 6.67 in ratings. He's having a killer start to the season this year, averaging ratings of 8.5, 2 MoM in 2 matches played...

They played a 4-3-3 formation in their last match, and that's what they show as we get to this one, with 3 middies on a line in the middle.

2nd minute: Woah, Rowan Vine gets injured and has to leave. Darn early. James Pinnock takes his place.

9th minute: Curtis Davies's header out of our penalty box is returned with amazing precision from 25 yards out, top corner. Joe Murphy can't do anything. We go down, 0-1.

First half score is 0-1. At some point, they were kicking our butt, but we found some rythm toward the end of the half. Paul Evans has picked up a know and has to go out. Keith Keane comes in.

This will be the final score. They won't allows us to get close to their goal in the second half.

Final Score: Luton 0, Reading 1
Shots (on target): Luton 4 (0), Reading 8 (3)
MoM: Reading's Bobby Convey with a rating of 8 and the only goal of the match.
HoM: nobody, really played great, but two played simply awfully. Bartosz Tarachulski and Curtis Davies each end the game with ratings of 5.

Possession: (us/them)
our zone: 12/14
middle: 19/28
their zone: 12/15
Overall: 43/57

We drop to 16th with the loss. Bigger loss still is Rowan Vine. He'll be gone for two months with a broken toe. I'm seriously thinking about offering Lee Morris a contract. His trial is about to be over and he's set to play in tomorrow's friendly between my reserves and U18 squads. I'll see then...

FM

[FrogMan]

Restraining Order News
No he has not gone to the court for one, but he may be about to . My scout watches Kevin Joyce, as he not only starts, but plays a whole league match for Sheffield Utd, getting a rating of 8 in the process... That big sound you just heard is me crying and whining...

Transfer News
The Sarr bid is rejected. They don't even look like they want to negotiate, but I make another offer anyway. I offer them his valued price this time, 170k.

Contract News
Lee Morris has completed his trial period and leaves the club. He got another 7 in the Reserves vs U18 friendly match, and with Rowan Vine's injury, I decide to offer him a contract. He's now asking for $6200 per week with a signing fee of $2000. This is down from his initial demands of $7200 and $600 signing fee. Considering he's sitting at home, and not many other teams seem to have contacted him, I offer him $5000 per week and 2k signing fee...

August 15, 2006
match #4: away at Millwall (currently 9th with 6pts, 3 ahead of us)
S: Showunmi/Pinnock/D'Sane
MC: Mansell (with up arrow)
DMC: Keane/Evans (no up arrows)
D: Davis/James/Coyne/Foley (no up arrows)
GK: Murphy

We go back to the 4-3-3.

Some of you may remember that Millwall were the team that beat us 0-5 late in last season, with their damned 4-2-4 formation. They seem to have played a 4-4-2 formation in their last match, but they show that freaking 4-2-4 formation as we get to the game. Oh sweet lord, it's gonna be a long day at the office...

24th minute: Out of nowhere, one of their midfielders launches a crazy bending kick, from 30 yards out, it's in, we go down already, and their 4 strikers have little to do with it, sadly... 0-1.

35th minute: As if they needed help, Sol Davis pushes one of their strikers just inside the box, PENALTY!!! It's a perfect strike, just inside the post, we go down further, 0-2.

76th minute: A beauty of a counter attack starts with a brilliant pass from Marc Bridge-Wilkinson to Bobby Wilde, who had just been resigned to a full-time contract from his pert-time month per month status. Wilde flicks the ball on to Roscoe D'Sane on the right. D'Sane kicks it to the keeper's left for the goal. We're still down, but working on it, 1-2.

87th minute: Enoch Showunmi goes way deep on our left side to take a throw in (note to self: check throw in takers). The balls ends up to Keith Keane who passes it to Bobby Wilde. Wilde moves inside the box and fires a perfect strike, with is 1 in finishing, just inside the post for the equalizer!!! 2-2. This will be the final score, we have (sort of) defeated the 4-2-4!!!

Final Score: Luton 2, Millwall 2
Shots (on target): Luton 8 (5), Millwall 12 (3)
MoM: Millwall's Bobby Muscat with a rating of 8.
HoM: Who else other than Bobby Wilde who got a rating of 8, scored a goal and prepared the other. More on Wilde in a moment. Chris Coyne and Keith Keane played solid games, both getting ratings of 8.

Possession: (us/them)
our zone: 13/24
middle: 20/22
their zone: 13/8
Overall: 46/54

We move up to 15th with the draw.

Special Player Profile
Bobby Wilde is a special breed. Not that he has amazing skills, in fact he has not. He's probably the player with the most 1's that can produce, that I have ever seen. Here's his player profile card...



I signed him in the middle of my first season ever on a free transfer, to a two year contract that paid him $600 per week. At first, I needed him out there, as a starterm then I started using him mostly as a reserve, or second stringer for those times when I hade three games in a week. He's often pulled ratings of 8 in the left side DMC position, even though, one might think he'd failed miserably. He's obbviously not there for his defensive skills. I like setting him to cross the ball often, even though he's more often in the center than on the wing. Gives some long passes that are often nice to see. Anyway, his conract ran out on June 30, 2006. At that time, he was asking for 1200, and I couldn't justify that amount to now a third teamer, behind Evans, Johnson, Chambers, Keane. He remained at the club on a part-time month to month contract, for $700 per week until this week, when I offered him $800 per week, after seeing that he was still pulling nice ratings in the reserves vs U18 friendlies. After today's match, I'm glad I offered him a contract...
FM

[FrogMan]

Loan News
I make a bid to loan Manchester United's striker, Giuseppe Rossi. The loan would be for 3 months.

Contract News
Lee Morris agrees to our terms and signs a contract with Luton. The good thing is that since he's played in a bunch of friendlies during his trial, he's already match fit and ready to step in...

Transfer News
The latest Sarr bid is rejected, I let it go, for now...

August 19, 2006
Match #5: home vs Burnley (currently 18th, but tied on points with us, with 4)
odds: Luton 13-8, Burnley 6-4 (fav)
S: Morris/Pinnock/Tarachulski
AMC: Bridge-Wilkinson
DMC: Keane/Evans (with up arrows)
D: Davis/James/Coyne/Foley (full backs with up arrows)
GK: Murphy
As we get to the game, they show a 4-4-2 formation with moderate push from the wingers.

34th minute: We're giving them a pretty good run for their money, 6 shots to one for us. That is until they center a lucky ball and convert it. We go down 0-1.

44th minute: Oh crap! Paul Evans gets his second yellow, both within the last 5 minutes and he's sent off. Trying to come from behind with only 10 mean is never easy.

52nd minute: They pump a long ball to a man that makes himself free in the 6 yard box. He's got an easy finish. We're down 0-2. This will be the final score.

For once, we dominate in shots, but can't convert. We can't let that happen too often this season. Wins will be tough enough to achieve, we can't drop them like that...

Final Score: Luton 0, Burnley 2
Shots (on target): Luton 12 (4), Burnley 9 (4)
MoM: Burnley's keeper Danny Coyne with a rating of 8. They also had a total of 7 of the starters that had 8's...
HoM: Keeper Joe Murphy with an 8. However, he was the only one with a rating of 6 at some point into the second half, until he made a couple of big saves.

Possession: (us/them)
our zone: 16/14
middle: 21/22
their zone: 12/15
Overall: 49/51

We drop to 19th. Relegation zone starts at position 22, with only three teams of the 24 that relegates.

Paul Evans is banned for one match for being sent off on 2 yellows. Another bad news is an injury to Kevin Foley. He twisted his knee in the game and will miss 2 weeks.

Loan News
Manchester United accpets our loan bid for Giuseppe Rossi. Now we'll see if he accepts to come on loan with us.

FM

[FrogMan]

Staff News
With the rash of injuries, I'm starting to think I don't have enough physios on staff. I place an advert for a physio.

Loan News
Manchester United's Giuseppe Rossi has agreed to join us on a 3 month loan. Rossi is a 19yo FC, so he could be played as a striker or as an attacking midfielder, if need be. He has great finishing and acceleration, with good pace and stamina. To complete, he has fair heading, long shots ability, and off the ball skills. He'll be with us until November 21, 2006.

August 23, 2006
League Cup
Round 1: home vs Tranmere (currently 23rd in Championship, 5 consecutive losses)
Odds: Luton 13-8, Tranmere 6-4 (fav)
S: Morris/Pinnock/D'Sane
AMC: Bridge/Wilkinson
DM: Davis/Keane/Hanson (long arrows on wingbacks)
D: Williams/James/Coyne
GK: Murphy

Tranmere were in League One in 04-05, when they promoted to the Championship. We played them twice in that season, getting destroyed in the last game 1-4.

This game is the first of a home-and-home series, as we will play them again on August 26, in league action.

We are going with the 3-4-3 since we're getting low on pure central defensive middies. I hesitated a long deal between Ricky Hanson and Ian Hillier for the right wingback slot, finally going with Hanson since Hillier has lost some playing time due to injury lately and is not match fit.

They played a 4-4-2 with moderate pusch from the wingers in their last match and show the same formation at the beginning of this one.

Just before the match, I see that Keith Keane is being scouted by Northampton. Interesting...

13th minute: Right following a throw in on the right side, they center behind our line of defenders, to a player that gets to the 6 yard line. They score, we're down early, 0-1.

70th minute: James Pinnock gets his second yellow of the match. Both yellows were for getting angry and arguing with the referee, this is unacceptable and I will issue him a warning once the game is over.

With ten men on, we are never able to put any kind of last second push and we lose the match 0-1.

Final Score: Luton 0, Tranmere 1
Shots (on target): Luton 4 (1), Tranmere 16 (9)
MoM: Tranmere's Danny Granville
HoM: Keeper Joe Murphy with a 9.

Possession: (us/them)
our zone: 15/17
middle: 18/25
their zone: 8/16
Overall: 41/59

We kept the score close, but it took an amazing performance from our keeper to do so. This is another first round exit in the League Cup for us.

Ricky Hanson was pulled after 51 minutes. He had only a rating of 6 by then...

Discipline News
I issue a formal warning to James Pinnock for his dismissal in our last match. He acknowledges that he deserved a warning for his dismissal. He also indicates that he will do his utmost to improve this side of his game in future matches.

International Call Up
Keith Keane gets called up for the September 5 match of the Ireland U21 squad against the Moldova U21. This match is part of the U21 European Championship Qualifs.


FM

[FrogMan]

August 26, 2006
Match #6: away at Tranmere
odds: Luton 7-4, Tranmere 5-4 (fav)
S: Showunmi/Tarachulski/Blinkhorn
AMC: Bridge-Wilkinson
DMC: Evans/Chambers (with up arrows)
D: Davis/James/Davies/Keane (no up arrows)
GK: Murphy
The 3-4-3 didn't work three days ago, let's unwrap the good old 4-3-3. They show the same kind of 4-4-2 than the one they played three days ago.

39th minute: After a great pass from Marc Bridge-Wilkinson, Matthew Blinkhorn and Enoch Showunmi are faced with only one defender and the keeper in the box. Blinkhorn passed to Show, but the keeper blocks his shot. Don't know how he did that, great save. Still 0-0

Tied 0-0 at the half. Both teams have 7 shots, both teams with 3 on goal. Possession is split45/55 in their favor.

70th minute: Their keeper gets a loose ball and tries a low pass that's too close to Matthew Blinkhorn who deflects it toward Enoch Showunmi. He's left with a one on one with the keeper, whom he beats with a precise strike. We're up 1-0.

The injury time looks freakishly long and as one of their strikers bore down on goal, we hear the final whistle. We won!

Final Score: Luton 1, Tranmere 0
Shots (on target): Luton 12 (6), Tranmere 15 (5)
MoM: Tranmere's Kevin Cooper with a 9.
HoM: Many players have ratings of 8, in fact 6 of them have. Most notable are Paul Evans and Sol Davis. Evans completed 31 passes out of 42, with 4 of them key passes and he also intercepted 7 passes. Davis completed 22 of 27 passes and won 9 of 12 headers, 5 of them key headers.

Possession: (us/them)
our zone: 13/27
middle: 20/21
their zone: 13/6
Overall: 46/54

We only moved up to 18th with the win...

The Luton Team Board is extremely pleased with the win. I'm thinking that with the odds that were put for us, they'll be pleased with just about every point we'll get this season The board are not the only one who are happy with the win, it's a major morale booster as all starters now show superb morale. Maybe it'll help us steal a point or two in the coming match.

That was a costly win though, as I learn that Bartosz Tarachulski twisted his knee in game. He will miss 2 weeks.


FM

[FrogMan]

Injury News
Yet another injury to a starter. Now it's Sol Davis who twists his ankle in training. He will also miss 2 weeks.

Transfer News
Sheffield Wednesday offer me keeper Allan McGregor. And he's on the cheap too: $500k

He's only valued at 80k and they signed him on a free transfer in July 2005. I'm not falling for the bait. More than that, Murphy is still playing well, averaging 7.71 in form rating.

In other transfer news, I decide to offer Keith Keane around, again asking 1.6M for the kid. We'll see...

International Call Up
Alex Tiesse gets called up by the Ivory Coast Manager It's apparently for the qualifier round of the African Cup of Nations. Wow, we learn something new everyday. Tiesse is currently on a month by month part-time contract and was signed on a free transfer a while ago. He never developped enough to be a starting attacking midfielder for the first team. He is currently uncapped internationally.

Staff News
The respong to our physio advert is average, with 3 or 4 Americans responding to it. I don't offer any contract and continue the advert.


FM

[FrogMan]

Season News
I have decided to view the season as 7 blocks of 6 matches and one final stretch of 4 matches. We have come to the end of the first block, here's how we did:

Match #1: Luton 2, Coventry 0
Match #2: Luton 0, Plymouth 3
Match #3: Luton 0, Reading 1
Match #4: Luton 2, Millwall 2
Match #5: Luton 0, Burnley 2
Match #6: Luton 1, Tranmere 0

So 2 wins, 3 losses and one draw for 7 points and a goal differential of -3. We've not been so outclassed, or at least not in scoring. Sometimes we lost possession pretty badly, but it didn't always translate into big scoring for our opponents, except in the Plymouth match, but they scored one on a penalty and one garbage goal in injury time at the end of the game. We will have to start scoring goals at some point though, because getting shut out half of the time will not win us many games.

My objectives are to at least get 7 points per block, basically win 2 and draw 1, as we just did, and try to split the final 4 games. This would give me 55 points, which I think would be enough to avoid relegation. This won't be easy, but that's what I think we'll have to do to survive in the Championship. I think the first season will be the toughest, after that, I should be able to afford better players and improve the squad overall...

August 29, 2006
Match #7: home vs Cardiff City (currently in 15th, both teams have 7 points)
odds: Luton 3-1, Cardiff 4-5 (fav)
S: Morris/Pinnock/D'Sane
MC: Mansell (with up arrow)
DM: Wilde/Evans/Hillier
D: Williams/James/Coyne
GK: Murphy

We drew 2-2 twice against Cardiff last season in League One.

The injury to Sol Davis really screws my 4-3-3. It's either play an unproven Jacopo Piotto at left full back, or go to the 3-4-3 with Bobby Wilde at left wingback. Seeing how they played a 3-5-2 with 5 middies on a line, I decide to go with the 3-4-3, to try and at least stay up with them in the middle. I pull Lee Mansell to more of a MC position, with a forward arrow.

They still show the same 3-5-2 as we get to the game.

9th minute: With a couple of short passes, they bring the ball into our penalty box, in between Mark William and Tony James. Joe Murphy gets a hand on the incoming kick, but it's too hard and goes in. Down 0-1.

We're down 0-1 at the half, but we're winning possession slightly, 51-49.

62nd minute: They catch our whole back four (defenders AND keeper) sleeping on their second goal. They pump a long to the right to clear their box to start the play. Mark Williams just couldn't keep up with his man on that side and everybody watches on as their striker centers
the ball to the edge of the 6 yard box, where another of their striker sneaked up. Joe Murphy was especially out of position. We go down 0-2.

71st minute: Roscoe D'Sane redeems himself after being called offside. He blocks the ensuing free kick and the ball gets deflected all the way to the center/left side of the field to a Lee Morris free of defenders. He applies the finish for his 1st goal with Luton. Still down, now 1-2.

They pull back both wingers and we can't get to their box from then on...

Final Score: Luton 1, Cardiff City 2
Shots (on target): Luton 3 (1), Cardiff 7 (4)
MoM: Cardiff's Stephen Warnock
HoM: Roscoe D'Sane gets the only 8 of the team. Joe Murphy has a pretty bad game. His rating of 5 leads me to believe he had many little mistakes like the one that led to them scoring their second goal.

Possession: (us/them)
our zone: 9/14
middle: 18/24
their zone: 21/14
Overall: 48/52

We drop to 20th after the loss.

FM

edit: I had put this match as being away, but it was played at home. Correction made.

[FrogMan]

Championship News
The season is still you but Tranmere lost again. From a local newspaper: "Even at this ealry stage of the season, Rovers' fans look resigned to relegation. Unless a miracle can happen and they can turn their form around, they appear destined to remain in their current relegation spot."

Injury News
Matthew Blinkhorn strains his groin in training. He will miss two weeks. This is getting tough on us...

September 1st, 2006
The Luton Team Board are very pleased with my management of the team.

This one getting laughable. Kevin Joyce (remember him?) come in 3rd place for the Player of the Month award in the Englsih Championship. No, not Young Player of the Month, because that, he won easily... Here's the comment that came with the announce: "The 16 year old has really shown everyone what a good player he is with his last 4 appearances." He had ratings of 8, 8, 9, 7 in theses 4 appearances, with 2 goals and Man of the Match in the "9" match... I think I'm going to cry a little more...

Transfer News
I won't cry for long though, as flamboyant striker Ivan Kaviedes arrives to Luton Town, from Barcelona, Ecuador. We had signed the 28 year old striker a long time ago to possibly replace Steve Howard as the strong center striker, target man type. He has many great facet to his playing style, we'll just have to see if it will translate into buckets of goals, or if the search for a successor to Howard will have to start again from square one. In 15 appearances with Barcelona last season, he averaged a form rating of 7.53 with 13 goals. He also has 57 caps and 16 goals for Ecuador. His $6600 wage per week brings us to within $18 of our limit of $81k per week. Hopefully we won't need any new players soon.

Reserves News
Just as Kaviedes was stepping off the plane, Giuseppe Rossi was finishing his preseason fitness program, scoring 2 goals in the Luton Reserves' 3-1 win over the Colchester Reserves. He was also named Man of the Match. With all the injuries we have, he could see first team playing time sooner than later.

International Round-Up
Keith Keane played well without excelleing in Ireland U21's 2-1 win over Moldova U21.


FM

[FrogMan]

Reserves News
Ivan Kaviedes plays his first match with the Reserves, and what a match, Despite being out of form, he scored a goal, got an assist, and ended the game with a rating of 8 and Man of the Match honor. He completed 20 of 22 passes, won 5 of 8 headers and took 4 shots, although only one was on target. It's only with the reserves, but it is still good news to me.

Staff News
We get good response to our physio advert. 12 people responded. Jon Short is a little know physio with great skills. With a name like that, I had to offer him a contract He's currently with Bristol Rovers and they would have to be compensated with 24k, which is the lowest of all the compensation among the 12 physios who applied for the job. I offer him a wage of $500 per week while he's asking for $550...

September 9, 2006
Match #8: away at Stoke (currently 14th with 10 points, 3 ahead of us)
S: Morris/Kaviedes/D'Sane
MC: Mansell (with up arrow)
DMC: Johnson/Chambers (with up arrows)
D: Piotto/James/Coyne/Foley (no up arrows)
GK: Murphy

First you can see two new faces for us in the game, Jacopo Piotto and Ivan Kaviedes. Piotto because I feel like he's improved a lot in the last 2 seasons or so, I being away from home, I like the 4 defenders backfield better than the 3 defenders one. Sol Davis is still injured and Piotto is the first choice among players capable to play on the left side. Kaviedes is not ready to play full time yet, but I feel his condition is just good enough that he could give us one half of play before I pull him out. He's at 86% in the afternoon before the game, and at 91% as we step on the field. Him not being in top playing shape forces me to carry an extra striker on the bench and forego the backup defender. I usually go with GK-D-DM-AM-S, but today I'll have GK-DM-AM-S-S...

We also have the return of two injured players in Richard Johnson and Kevin Foley. The return of Johnson gives me the possibility to leave Paul Evans on the bench, as his recent production has not been up to what I was hoping for from him. Kevin Foley's return is very welcomed, as I could not really find anybody who does as well as him on the right side...

They played a vanilla 4-4-2 with moderate push from the wingers in their last match. While scouting them, I see that their star striker is on international duty and that they have a midfielder that is injured... As we get to the game, they show a 4-3-3 formation similar to ours on top, but with 3 middies on a line in the middle. I will need a strong performance from Joe Murphy against an attacking formation like that...

17th minute: They score a freakish goal to go up by one. One of their players kicks toward goal but it's blocked by Tony James, only to be headed back in the goal by that same player. We go down 0-1.

First half ends with us down 0-1. We're having a rough time getting our feet to the ball, controlling it only 42% of the half. Lee Morris' condition dropped to 37% after he needed the physio. He's out and James Pinnock goes in. Ivan Kaviedes' condition is at 69%, he'll stay in for now.

61st minute: Ivan Kaviedes' condition is now at 56% and I pull him out. Giuseppe Rossi comes in. Lee Mansell also comes out and Marc Bridge-Wilkinson takes his place.

65th minute: We get in the box, Marc Bridge-Wilkinson to Giuseppe Rossi but the keeper makes a spectacular save on Rossi. We're still down by one.

86th minute: I put everyone on all attack mode and it pays off. From a cleared ball by Kevin Foley to Roscoe D'Sane who pumps a long through ball for Giuseppe Rossi. Rossi loses the ball inside the penalty box, but OH! He's obstructed by a defender! PENALTY!!! Marc Bridge-Wilkinson calmly scores the equalizer with a kick just inside the post. Tied 1-1.

90th minute: For half a second I think about pulling back from the all out attack mode we're in, but I think "what the heck!", and it pays off again! Kevin Foley once again starts it all with a beautiful ball to a Marc Bridge-Wilkinson on the run. BW continues inside the box and beats the keeper to the near post for his second goal of the night. We go up 2-1!

We absolutely turned the game around in the last 10 minutes, they can't catch us after that. We win!

Final Score: Luton 2, Stoke 1
Shots (on target): Luton 8 (4), Stoke 16 (2)
MoM: Kevin Foley with a rating of 9 and an assist. He also completed 18 of 22 passes, 5 of them key passes, while also intercepting 9 balls and winning 12 of 13 tackles. All in all an exceptional return to the field for our right fullback

Many players had good games. Richard Johnson also got a 9, winning 9 of 12 tackles and intercepting 4 balls.

Giuseppe Rossi got a 7 in his first competitive match for us, completing 7 of 7 passes and putting his 2 shots on target.

Ivan Kaviedes also did well in the 61 minutes he played in his debut as a Hatter. He completed 23 of 24 passes and received a 7 for form.

Joe Murphy didn't the kind of good match I was hoping for, receiving a 6 for his effort, but it's better than the 5 he pulled in the last match.

Finally, 19 year old Jacopo Piotto had a strong performance, getting an 8 in his first ever league game, for Luton, or anyone else for that matter.

Possession: (us/them)
our zone: 12/27
middle: 20/24
their zone: 11/6
Overall: 43/57

We move up to 16th place with the win.

The team board is extremely pleased with the unexpected win, as are most of the players. This win, as were the first 2 we had this season, is a great morale booster.


FM

[FrogMan]

Injury News
Enoch Showunmi is the latest to fall in training. He damaged his foot (?) and will miss two weeks. This is really puzzling me. I don't recall changing the training schedule since the middle of last season, and nobody go hurt like that in the second half of the season...

Loan News
Rushden want Jacopo Piotto for a 3 month loan. Maybe later, but for now, he's emerging as a potential backup to Sol Davis, and even starter while Davis is out. I reject the offer, maybe later...

Achievement News
Kevin Foley and Richard Johnson both get nominated on the English Championship Team of the Week. They are the first two hatters to be on the Team of the Week since we've moved up to the Championship.

Player News
Mark Jones is unhappy. He feels that he is surplus to requirements (huh?) and that I don't rate him as a player. He had lots of first-team playing time last season, but I demoted him to the reserve squad early on this season, as Lee Mansell was playing very well in combination to Marc Bridge-Wilkinson. He will eventually get some first-team playing time again, but will probably be pissed off for a while...

Player Praise
I decide to praise Kevin Foley for his recent performance. It's not so much only for his latest match, but also for his average form since the start of league play. He's average a form rating of 7.4 in league play so far this season. The fans applaud my praise of him, saying he's been lighting up Kenilworth Road with his great form.

Reserves/Injury News
I see that Ivan Kaviedes got injured with some chest injury in training. He's supposed to be out for 5 days, but he's already at the orange tag status. Despite that injury, Kavi plays and even scores a goal in the Luton Reserves' 2-1 win over the Hereford Reserves. Right after the game, I move him back to where he belongs, with the Senior squad.


FM

[FrogMan]

Injury/Player News
Following Ivan Kaviedes's injury, while looking at his player profile, I see that he is now frustrated that his injury is hampering his settling into his new club. I had never seen this one before. Looking at other injured players, I see that Rowan Vine (broken toe) has the same frustration.

Roscoe D'Sane, who's also recovering from some bruise suffered in training, hopes I will stick by him while he is injured. That's another one I had never seen before.

Nice touch...

September 16, 2006
Match #9: home vs Ipswich Town (currently 7th with 14 points, 4 ahead of us)
odds: Luton 9-4, Ipswich evens (fav)
S: Morris/Rossi/Tarachulski
AMC: Mansell
DMC: Evans/Chambers (with up arrows)
D: Davis/James/Coyne/Foley (full backs up arrows)
GK: Goodlad

Keeper Joe Murphy bruise some ribs in training and has not played very well in his last few starts, so I will start Mark Goodlad instead. We have 4 strikers in bad condition/injured: Roscoe D'Sane, Ivan Kaviedes, Enoch Showunmi, and Rowan Vine. Yet, I am able to find three starter level strikers to put on the field. I also start Lee Mansell on the attacking midfielder spot, as I like having Marc Bridge-Wilkinson come off the bench, when their defenders are getting a bit tired later on in the game.

Ipswich played an attacking 3-5-2/5-3-2 formation in their last match, with an attacking midfielder on top of 2 central midfielders, and long arrows for the wingbacks.

They show a modified 3-5-2/5-3-2 as we get to the game. They now have small arrows on the wingbacks and three midfielders on a line in the middle, no attacking midfielders.

3rd minute: Mark Goodlad kicks a perfect goal kick past the center line. It's headed on by Paul Evans, to Bartosz Tarachulski who kicks in the second gear and gets past the line of defenders, now alone with the keeper who rushes him. Tarach beats him with a ball inside the post for his first goal of the season. We're up 1-0.

7th minute: Giuseppe Rossi is injured and has to go off. James Pinnock comes in.

25th minute: We're putting a lot of pressure on them, but they get out of it. They center from the right and Mark Goodlad anticipates a bit too much where the ball is going, he isn't in position to cover the header. They tie us 1-1.

First half ends with both teams squared at 1-1. We're very much in the game, outshooting them 8 to 6, but they are one better on shots on target. They win possession so far with 54%.

84th minute: Both teams exchange breakaways. Lee Morris was in the box a second ago, but unable to convert and they come right back, with two beautiful crosses, first from left to right, the to center. Their striker is alone with Mark Goodlad who gets a hand on the ball, but it's not enough, it goes in. We go down 1-2. We will not recover from that last goal.

Final Score: Luton 1, Ipswich 2
Shots (on target): Luton 12 (5), Ipswich 16 (7)
MoM: Keeper Mark Goodlad with a rating of 8. Bartosz Tarachulski also receives a rating of 8.

Possession: (us/them)
our zone: 15/15
middle: 20/22
their zone: 12/16
Overall: 47/53

I know it's only match #9 of 46 and the season is still very young, but I'm frustrated by that loss. It was possibly the first match where I had the feeling we really belonged in the Championship, and we dropped the game...

We move *up* to 16th despite the loss. It's because Derby lost 0-3 and they moved down due to goal differential.

My physio tells me after the game that Giuseppe Rossi suffered a torn groin muscle (ouch!) and will miss 4 weeks.


FM

[FrogMan]

September 23, 2006
Match #10: home vs Queens Park Rangers (currently 12th with 12 points, only 2 ahead of us)
odds: Luton 9-4, Q.P.R evens(fav)
S: Morris/Kaviedes/Tarachulski
MC: Mansell (with up arrow)
DMC: Evans/Johnson (with up arrows)
D: Davis/James/Coyne/Foley (full backs up arrows)
GK: Goodlad

This match is on TV, the only one on the schedule for now. The pre match analysis doesn't give us much of a chance, we'll try to prove them wrong.

Marc Bridge-Wilkinson strained his neck in training, will not be at full speed before 4 days. He's still at 83%, so I keep him on the bench.

Ivan Kaviedes is now at 95%, but is still not declared match fit. I still start him, but will keep a good eye on him.

We go very offensive, up arrows for 5 players.

Q.P.R. played 4 days ago in League Cup, while we last played one week ago.

As we get to the game, they show a 4-4-2 formation with moderate push from the wingers.

42nd minute: Chris Coyne clears a loose ball from the box, to Lee Morris who gets on the move. He goes forward unchallenged. Ivan Kaviedes is disrupting the defenders, Morris passes him a short ball. Kavi turns around and fires a half-volley bullet from 30 yards out. IT'S IN!!! Kavi's first goal with Luton! We're up 1-0.

First half is over with us up 1-0. It's a very even game, both teams shooting 5 times, 2 on target. Possession is the same for both in our zone and in the middle, while they control the ball on their end. Kaviedes is at 77% and stays in the game for now.

77th minute: They center a long ball from the left, to a player that we're not marking at all. He's left with an easy finish. Tied 1-1.

81th minute: Only 4 minutes later, we let them them do what they want with the ball. They eventually score after many short passes. A huge letdown to let it go like that... Down 1-2.

1st minute of injury time: We're on full attack mode, but they control the ball and we don't challenge them. They score a goal very similar to their first one. In fact, it's a hat trick for that player, we got killed by one player... Down 1-3.

Final Score: Luton 1, Q.P.R. 3
Shots (on target): Luton 9 (3), Q.P.R. 16 (8)
MoM: Q.P.R.'s Jamie Cureton, with a 10, and 3 goals (who else?)
HoM: maybe Ivan Kaviedes, got a 7 like everybody else, but scored a goal on a nice strike.

Marc Bridge-Wilkinson and Adam Chambers were quite unimpressive as subs, both getting ratings of only 6.

Possession: (us/them)
our zone: 15/15
middle: 22/21
their zone: 10/17
Overall: 47/53


It's exhilarating when your team gets red hot in the end of the game, but when you're on the other end of things, well, it sucks. That was a sucky end of a game...

We drop to 20th after the loss, only 3 points ahead of the relegation line.

Manager Mind Game
Following the game, the manager of Q.P.R., Ian Holloway says he feels I'm facing a tough battle to keep my Luton Town side in the Championship (well, duh!).

He added that looking at our recent results, he was unsure of what I could do to turn thing around and start getting points on the board.

When I go to answer, I see that his relationship to me is that je just wants to keep his fans happy by enjoying some success over my teams.

I answer that I'm confident my team can avoid relegation. (sidenote: I could have answered that "there is no way we'll relegate" of that I was "*very* confident we would avoid relegation", so I thought kind of the lowest degree of confidence )

Player Reactions
There are two reactions, one mostly positive, the other more uncertain.

Three players have a positive attitude about the comments: Chris Coyne, Tony James, and Marc Bridge-Wilkinson. They all say they are determined to prove Holloway wrong and help the team avoid the drop.

Two players are more unsure about the the team's chances: Richard Johnson and Adam Chambers. They say they are unsure whether the team can avoid the drop. Come on guys! Believe!!!

FM

[FrogMan]

Internation Call Ups
Keith Keane and Kevin Foley get called up to the Ireland U21 squad to face Russia U21 on October 10, as part of the European U21 Championship Qualifying.

Loan News
Northampton has offered to loan Keith Keane. They offer to pay 100$ of his $16500 weekly wages. I add a right to recall to the offer before accepting. Will wait for their answer.

September 30, 2006
Match #11: away at Nottingham Forest (currently 12th with 13 points, 3 points ahead of us.)
odds: Luton 3-1, Nottingham Forest 4-5(fav)
S: Morris/Kaviedes/Tarachulski (Kavi with down arrow)
MC: Bridge-Wilkinson (with up arrow)
DMC: Evans/Johnson (with up arrows) (no up arrows)
D: Davis/James/Coyne/Foley (full backs up arrows)
GK: Murphy

Ivan Kaviedes got injured in training again, bruising his shin. He will start the game, but I'll keep two strikers on the bench to make sure I can cover for him in the second half.

Joe Murphy is back as the starting keeper.

Regarding these injuries, I changed some training sessions to rest session in all of my training schedules. I use 4 training schedules: goalkeeping, defenders, midfielders, and attackers. They are based one the basic schedule available in the game as we start. I had slightly modified some of them, but I decided to pull back on some...

Nottingham Forest played a 3-5-2 in their last match and show the same formation as we get to this one.

27th minute: Tony James trips one of their strikers just inside the box. PENALTY!!! He scores, even though Joe Murphy gets a hand on the ball. They've been manhandling us so far, and we're now down 0-1.

42nd minute: Joe Murphy rushes out toward an incoming attacker. He makes the first save, but nobody's there to cover the rebound. Down 0-2. They had 6 men in the box.

First half is over, we're down 0-2 and it's not pretty. They controlled the ball 42% IN OUR END!!! Overall, they had the ball 68% of this first half...

78th minute: They score again, this time following a free kick on the left. Down 0-3. We're always second on the ball, they look like superhumans out there...

Final Score: Luton 0, Nottingham 3
Shots (on target): Luton 3 (0), Nottingham Forest 27 (12)
MoM: Nottingham Forest's Kris Commons
HoM: hrm, nobody...

Not counting when I had no clue what to do in my first season, this is the ugliest match I've ever seen my team play, seriously. (sidenote: it was about 10:50pm when I asked myself if I should play "just one more" and I shouldn't have, but my addiction got the best of me. I went to bed very frustrated)

We remain in 20th.

Possession: (us/them)
our zone: 8/42
middle: 13/21
their zone: 11/5
Overall: 32/68

We have a 2 weeks gap before our next match, let's hope the training tweak will mean no more training injury and everybody will be in top shape for our next match.

FM

[FrogMan]

Loan News
Northampton accept the terms I set for the 3 months loan of Keith Keane. Up to him to accept to go on loan or not. He's currently playing with the reserves...

October 1st, 2006
The Luton Team Board is delighted by my managerial performance. It's hard to believe after our last loss, but we're still out of the relegation zone and they want us to fight bravely against relegation. One could say we're fighting

Kevin Joyce (him again) is named Player of the Month in the English Championship. Craziness, I tell you. He's now averaged form ratings of 8.29 in his league games this season and his compensation is now set at 400k. He still isn't interested in a move back to Luton though, bleh.

Kevin Foley comes in 3rd for Young Player of the Month. I told you he was playing great.

Loan News
Rushden want Keith Keane on loan for 3 months. I add the recall clause and send the counte offer their way...


FM

[FrogMan]

Loan News
Rushden accept our counter offer for the loan of Keith Keane. Northampton and Rushden are now in the race to land a Keane loan. The next day, we learn that Keith Keane has agreed to go on loan at Northampton an rejected the Rushden loan offer, off he goes...

International Round-Up
Bartosz Tarachulski came in as a sub in the 0-2 loss of Poland against Turkey and did well rating at 7. The game was mostly spent in Poland's defensive zone.

Injury News
Two days later, Bartosz Tarachulski strains his calf in training. He will miss 2 weeks.

October 14, 2006
Match #12: away at Derby County (currently 19th, both teams with 10 points)
S: Morris/Kaviedes/Vine
MC: Bridge-Wilkinson (with long up arrow)
DMC: Evans/Chambers
D: Davis/James/Coyne/Foley
GK: Murphy

With this much rest in between games, everybody's condition is at 100%. Derby played a 4-4-2 with moderate push from the wingers in their last match. They are about to have a mutiny on their hands. Morale is very low all around, many player are unhappy, saying the team is underachieving. For us, team morale isn't as bad as you'd think, with players ranging from poor to very good, many at good.

As we get to the game, they show a 4-4-2 formation with heavy push from the wingers.

26th minute: After a long run, one of their striker saves a long ball from going to goal kick on our end. He centers it in the box. We touch it twice, but can't clear it out the box. That's when they put foot to it and score. Down 0-1.

First half is over with us down 0-1. We only got 1 shot, not even on target. We're not getting the ball up there...

60th minute: Flamboyant striker Ivan Kaviedes isn't so flamboyant today, as he's having a bad game. At some point, he even had a form rating of 4. I pull him out and put James Pinnock in.

We played a bit better in the second half, but don't get any good chances...

Final Score: Luton 0, Derby 1
Shots (on target): Luton 3 (0), Derby 9 (4)
MoM: Tony James, with a form rating of 9. He won 11 of 11 headers, 7 of them key headers. I've seen the comment about him winning everything in the air a few times already. He was a good acquisition.

Possession: (us/them)
our zone: 11/26
middle: 22/22
their zone: 12/7
Overall: 45/55

We drop to 21st, one mere point out of relegation zone.


FM

[FrogMan]

Training News
Giuseppe Rossi resumes training after missing 4 weeks with a groin injury.

Season News
We've come to the end of a second block of 6 games. This one has not been so good. Let's take a look:

Match #7: Luton 1, Cardiff City 2
Match #8: Luton 2, Stoke 1
Match #9: Luton 1, Ipswich 2
Match #10: Luton 1, Q.P.R. 3
Match #11: Luton 0, Nottingham Forest 3
Match #12: Luton 0, Derby 1

So it's 1 win, 5 losses. yipes... I'm trying to cheer myself up, since other than the Nottingham Forest debacle, all the other games were pretty close. Even the 1-3 loss to Q.P.R. wasn't as bad, as we had the lead for a long time before collapsing. Yet, the 3 tiny points we got here are quite less than the 7 points objective I had set for every block...

Injury News
Adam Chambers suffers a groing strain in training. He will miss 2 weeks.

Achievement News
Tony James has been selected in the English Championship Team of the Week.

Manager Mind Games
Gillingham manager, Andy Hessenthaler, says that, even though he respects me, he will be doing everything in his power to keep his team away from the drop zone and if that meant Luton Town going down, then so be it. We play Gillingham in our next match.

I tell him not to expect to get anything from the upcoming match. Somehow, it translates in the newspapers to me telling him that his Gillingham side stand absolutely no chance of coming away from the game with the points. That I can live with, but the newspaper added this dibit at the end: "Gougeon also added that he didn't think Gillingham would still be in the Championship come the end of the season"... Well...

Two reactions happen following the comments:
(1) After Hessenthaler's comments, Marc Bridge-Wilkinson, and before I make my comment, Chris Coyne, and Bartosz Tarachulski all tbelieve the team can cope with big occasions and that they can win the big games without much effort. I wouldn't say "without much effort" but I like the confidence.

(2) After my comment, Paul Evans, Chris Coyne, and Bartosz Tarachulski all are determined to go from strength to strength. I don't get this one. I see also for some of the players on the other team...


FM

[FrogMan]

October 21, 2006
Match #13: home vs Gillingham (currently 14th with 15 points, 5 ahead of us.)
odds: Luton 13-8, Gillingham 6-4(fav)
S: Morris/Kaviedes/Pinnock
AMC: Mansell
DM: Davis/Evans/Foley (long arrows on wingbacks)
D: Davies/James/Coyne (down arrow James)
GK: Murphy

I decide to go with the 3-4-3, for no other reason than to mix it up a little.

32nd minute: We're not getting many chances, only two so far, both to Ivan Kaviedes. No goals yet.

First half is over with everything all square. Possession is pretty even with them winning it with 54%. Joe Murphy is saving us so far.

We get more chances in the second half, but can't convert. The game ends 0-0.

Final Score: Luton 0, Gillingham 0
Shots (on target): Luton 5 (2), Gillingham 14 (8)
MoM: Joe Murphy with a rating of 9. Curtis Davies is lacking match fitness and it shows, as he gets a rating of 5.

Possession: (us/them)
our zone: 19/15
middle: 19/21
their zone: 10/16
Overall: 48/52

We move up to 20th, now 2 points out of relegation.

Kevin Foley suffered a groin strain in the game. He will miss 2 weeks.

FM

[FrogMan]

October 28, 2006
Not much happened in the week, other than a few more injuries in training. Lee Morris suffered a damaged shoulder just this morning and will miss 5 days. Adam Chambers is still out with a groin injury. Curtis Davies bruised a rib 2 days ago and will miss one more day. Kevin Foley and Bartosz Tarachulski are still injured too.

Match #14: away at Crystal Palace (currently 4th with 24 points, we have 11 points)
odds: Luton 3-1, Crystal Palace 4-5(fav)
S: Showunmi/Kaviedes/Vine
MC: Mansell (with up arrow)
DM: Davis/Evans/Hanson (small arrows on wingbacks)
D: Williams/James/Coyne (down arrows to all)
GK: Murphy

I don't understand these optimistic odds.

They played a 3-4-3 with 3 middies on a line, and they show the same formation as we get to the game.

I set a 3-4-3 again, but a bit less offensive.

23rd minute: They kick a corner in the penalty, to a man we left open. Down 0-1.

24th minute: We've just kicked off and I see them charging again. What looked like a competitive start from us is now turning into a disaster as we go down 0-2 after a centered ball is kick right in.

38th minute: Not even to the half, and I'd want it to end right now. Each and every highlights is them taking a shot or three to our goal. They score another as they pinball the ball around. We just can't match up with them. Down 0-3.

The first half is over with us down 0-3. Possession is bad, they own us with 63%. 39% of them time is them with the ball in our zone... They'Ve already shot 17 times, 7 times on target.

46th minute: No joke, to figure out how many of their players are in our box, it's easier to count the ones that are outside. 1, 2, 3, plus the one that just centered, 4 outside leaves 6 in the box. Yet they didn't score this time.

48th minute: As if they needed the help, Richard Johnson handballs the incoming free kick. He's inside our penalty box, PENALTY!!! Joe Murphy blocks it!!!

50th minute: After a rare through ball, Lee Mansell is offside. The ensuing free kick is sent all the way over our line of defenders, to a free man on the run in our penalty box. He's left with an easy finish. Down 0-4.

54th minute: We get a free kick outside their box. Richard Johnson kicks it over the wall, top corner for his first goal of the season. Still down 1-4.

59th minute: Tony James is a bit agressive and upends an opponent inside the penalty box, PENALTY!!! But again, Joe Murphy blocks it!!! Against the same player who he frustrated the first time. And that player is no slouch, he's rated at 18 in penalty.

79th minute: I can't wait for this game to be over. I was under the impression it was going better since I had told the guys to press more, but we get scored on again following a perfect center. Down 1-5.

Final Score: Luton 1, Crystal Palace 5
Shots (on target): Luton 4 (2), Crystal Palace 28 (12)
MoM: Crystal Palace's Sandor Torghell with a 10 and 4 goals. They had two more players with ratings of 10.
HoM: Richard Johnson with a rating of 7. He scored our only goal to avoid the clean sheet.

Possession: (us/them)
our zone: 10/37
middle: 15/22
their zone: 11/5
Overall: 36/64

We drop to 22nd and in the relegation zone, 1 point off of 21st (Millwall).

I had good reasons not to believe the optimistic odds...


FM

[FrogMan]

October 31, 2006
Match #15: home vs West Ham (currently 18th with 14 points, only 3 ahead of us)
odds: Luton 9-4, West Ham evens (fav)
S: Showunmi/Pinnock/D'Sane
AMC: Jones
DM: Davis/Evans/Hanson
DC: Williams/James/Coyne
GK: Murphy

We go with a 3-4-3 formation again, but this time very agressive in closing down. I give the start to Mark Jones at attacking middie.

They played a 4-3-3 with 3 middies on a line in their last game, and they show the same formation as we get to the game.

16th minute: A great sequence starts with a beauty of a cross from Roscoe D'Sane on the right all the way to Sol Davis on the left side. Davis puts it in the 6 yard box, where Enoch Showunmi takes it and score. We lead, for once, 1-0.

First half ends with us in the lead. The ball is awfully often on our end, but we are controlling it prety well.

54th minute: They score ona a fluke deflection. Man we can't buy a win!!! Back to square one, 1-1. This is how it will end.

Final Score: Luton 1, West Ham 1
Shots (on target): Luton 11 (7), West Ham 14 (3)
MoM: Joe Murphy with a rating of 9.

Possession: (us/them)
our zone: 19/16
middle: 17/22
their zone: 10/16
Overall: 46/54

We remain in 22nd place, now tied in points with the 20th place.

November 1st, 2006
The Luton Team Board is still delighted with my performance as a manager. I guess we're still fighting bravely enough against relegation for their taste...

We don't appear in anay awards, which isn't a shocker. What is a shocker is that neither does Kevin Joyce. Don't know why, but this makes me feel good.

FM

[FrogMan]

November 4, 2006
Match #16: away at Wolves (currently 1st with 35pts, we have 12 pts )
S: Showunmi/Kaviedes/Vine
AM: Mansell
DMC: Johnson/Chambers (with up arrows)
D: Davis/James/Coyne/Hanson (full backs with up arrows)
GK: Murphy

I go back to 4-3-3, if only to have 4 defenders in the back, as I expect them to be very strong. They played a 4-4-2 with moderate push from the wingers in their last game and show the same formation as we get to this game.

2nd minute: They have us running around early on. We leave a man open in the 6 yard box and they go for the kill. Very bad start in form as everybody but two players show 5's. Down 0-1 very early.

4th minute: We kick off, they steal the ball and do it again. I feel like a I'm coaching a team of kids, about 4 feet tall, playing against an all pro team... Down 0-2.

15th minute: They get a throw in from the sideline to right inside our penalty box. Top corner follows, down 0-3. Ricky Hanson is having a dog of a game, rating for of 4. 17 minutes into the game, they have shot 8 times already, 5 times on target.

30th minute: As if they needed more help, Rowan Vine gets 2 yellows in about 3 minutes. He's sent off...

32nd minute: Being 10 on the field is hurting us fast, as a centered ball is headed in. We go down 0-4. From there and on, I drop everybody around the box except the strikers, whom I drop to the center line.

The first half is over, thankfully. They controlled the ball 72% of the time, 47% of which were on our end of the field.

46th minute: They head in a corner kick (can you believe I don't feel like taking notes by now...) Down 0-5...

Amazingly, they don't score any more, woah...

Final Score: Luton 0, Wolves 5
Shots (on target): Luton 2 (1), Wolves 36 (18)
MoM: Wolves' Claus Jorgensen with a rating of 10. He's one of 3 players with ratings of 10, the only one without a goal, must have played a heck of a game...
HoM: Seriously, you think anyone deserves to be Hatter of the Match???

Possession: (us/them)
our zone: 19/16
middle: 17/22
their zone: 10/16
Overall: 46/54

We remain in 22nd place.

I take back everything I said aftre the Nottingham Forest debacle, this one is the ugliest match I've ever seen us play. I must say some of it was brought down on us as I tried many different things to try and regain some sort of control, but to no avail...

We picked up half a ton of yellow cards in this match. Ricky Hanson and James Pinnock will both miss next match as they have reached the limit of 5 yellow cards. Rowan Vine will also be banned for a match because of his sent off...

FM

[FrogMan]

Media Question
Following the bad loss to Wolves, I get approached by a journalist from a local newspaper with a question. He asks: "Your side seem to concede a lot of goals. What do you intend to do about it?".

After going through two games where we conceded 5 goals apiece, I just want to bite his head off, à la Bill Parcells, but I take the Bill Belichick approach (more on this later). I answer: "I think the team as a whole is to blame. We just can't concentrate for 90 minutes".

Somehow this shows up in the paper as me stating that the team is to blame for our defensive inadequacies. I cringe when I read it, ready for some backlash by my players. Luckily, there's none. Maybe they feel like they have to share part of the blame.

Team morale is at an all time low. Just about everybody, except players that were injured, thus not part of the carnage, still have a shred of good morale. Everybody else has very poor morale. We have 14 days before our next game although some players have been called up for international duty, mostly friendlies though.

Transfer News
My Bill Belichick approach wasn't really in my answer, more in the unspoken words. I could have said that I absolutely needed to go shopping, but I didn't. This shouldn't keep me from shopping, right? I take a look at my shortlisted players and I see this 22yo central defender from Blackburn, currently on loan at Oldham. Name is Alex Bruce. He's young, with good heading, marking, tackling, and positionning. More so, he also has very good passing skils, which is what I think may be missing from my central defenders in order to clear the front of the net and start the offense back up. He is currenlty valued at $1.05M, but Blackburn have transfer listed him and they are only asking for $320k. He's on loan until December 31. I decide to make a first offer at $260k.

I also see a good D/DM RC in Marvin Elliott. Currently with Millwall, he is not transfer listed, and has a value of $1.1M. I declare my interest, to see if Millwall would be ready to let him go. Two days later, they say they would be ready to let him, but only if the offer meets the club's valuation of the player. $1.1M is a bit steep for my liking, as we only have 850k in transfer budget, so I set my scouts to take a look at him, and I'll wait things out.

FM

[FrogMan]

Transfer/Contract News
Blackburn accept our transfer bid for Alex Bruce! We can now talk contract with him. He is asking for $3200 per week, with a signing fee of $8000, and a minimum fee release clause of $650k. First thing I do is I up the release clause to $1.2M, seeing he's already valued at 1.05M. My assistant believes Bruce would become a useful member of the first team and he recommends a wage of $2200 per week. Bruce is currently paid $1800 per week. I make a first offer at $2200 per week and a signing fee of $10k.

Among other transfer news, while looking at player stats in League One, I find this young phenom, a 17yo central defender who's currently averaging 7.75 in form rating. Yeah, it may only be in League One, and when I take a look at his profile, he's got some holes in there, but could he be a second Kevin Joyce? Name is Jason Forbes and he's currently valued at 120k. With a very affordable current wage at $600, I would like getting him and having him play with my U18 and Reserves with an occasional game with the senior squad, maybe he could develop into a long term project... I decide to declare my interest.

The backlash is almost immediate. My fans are concerned that I'm interested in a player some say is on the fringes of the Watford squad. Fans are adamant that if Forbes isn't good enough to play for their biggest rivals, then he definitely isn't good enough to play for Luton. I'm gonna hold off on him for now, but I got news for the fans. I'm the one doing the groceries, to borrow a famous line, and Watford aren't our big rivals anymore... Meanwhile, one of my scouts reported to me that Forbes would be a good acquisition. We'll see..

International Round-Up
Ivan Kaviedes played well for Ecuador, before being substituted. He got a form rating of 7 in a friendly against Panama.

Transfer News
Sheffield Wednesday offers me keeper Allan McGregor again. This time the price if set at $20k. Funny how the computer uses tricks very similar to the ones I use myself. Sheffield first offered him to me at $550k, then dropped the price to $60k in a second offer, and now this third one. Nice touch!

FM

[terpkristin]

That's odd, the quick reply has shown up in the middle of your post, FM.
hmmm..

~tk

[FrogMan]

Contract News
Alex Bruce is said to be very happy at having agreed term with Luton. The transfer will go through at the end of his current loan deal, on January 1st, 2007. This leaves us with about a month and a half before he gets to us.

International Round-Up
Keith Keane came in as a sub in Ireland U21's friendly against Spain U21, and was largely disappointing. He was rated at 6.

Ivan Kaviedes again played well before being substituted in Ecuador's friendly against St Vincent. He was rated at 7.

November 16, 2006
Giuseppe Rossi's loan deal ends in 5 days. While he played very well with the reserves, averaging a form rating of 7.44, he got injured just as he was getting to be match fit. That injury killed about any chance he could have had of showing his stuff with the first team. He had two appearances with the senior squad, getting a 7 and a 6 in them...

Injury News
Damn! Bartosz Tarachulski sprins his wrist in training. Seems like he's been on the sideline most of the season so far. I ask my physios a report on him and all three of them are saying he will be out for 2 weeks with his wrist injury, while the first reports were saying 1 week, but they also say they have no concerns over his fitness. I was almost expecting them to tell me he is injury prone or something...

FM
PS: Comment about the game. I played about an hour last night. The ingame timeline went from November 4th to November 18th, from right after our last match, to right before our next, so I didn't in fact play a match, even though we're in the middle of the season. Yet, I felt like that was a very entertaining stretch, I kept going back to my squad listing, reading players profile. Then I went and looked at my shortlisted players, then at how it's shaping up in the Championship. Some people could think it's just too slow for them, but I love it. This game is amazing

[FrogMan]

Originally Posted by terpkristin

That's odd, the quick reply has shown up in the middle of your post, FM.
hmmm..

~tk

I don't understand what you mean tk?

FM

[terpkristin]

When I look at post #241, there is a grey block in it for some reason. Then when I try to click in the quick reply box, it defaults up to that grey box, for some odd reason. This is the only thread it's happening in, just an odd occurance.

~tk

[FrogMan]

November 18, 2006
Match #17: away at Leicester (currently 6th with 27 points, we have 12 points)
odds: Luton 7-2, Leicester 4-6 (fav)
S: Morris/Kaviedes/D'Sane
AMC: Bridge-Wilkinson
DM: Davis/Chambers/Foley (small up arrows on wingbacks)
D: Oyedele/James/Coyne
GK: Murphy

Leicester have drawn their last 5 games, three of them scoreless. They played a 4-4-2 formation with moderate push from the wingers in their last match and they show the same formation as we get to the field today.

Ivan Kaviedes played twice with Ecuador during our two week break and is the only one not at 100%. He still gets the start, but I'll keep a close eye on him and will pull him if he dips too low in condition. Following the disater that was our last match, I switch tactics again, back to the 3-4-3, but with a bit less push from the wingbacks. Shola Oyedele gets the start at left centreback. He's been playing well with the reserves and will be the only player going into the game with superb morale. He's also got very decent passing skills, which could be what's missing for my defenders to clear the ball to the middies.

We have 3 players suspended in Rowan Vine, James Pinnock and Ricky Hanson, and a starter injured in Bartosz Tarachulski.

Two main tactic things I'm trying. First, I give Kavi carte blanche in creativity. I'm hoping he'll use his flamboyant style to create havoc in the middle of their defense. Second, I tell my outside strikers to stop crossing, or cross the ball as little as possible. I'm hoping they will either try to find closer teammate to pass it to, or they'll take the ball to the goal themselves.

18th minute: Few highlights showed us shooting over their goal, which in itself wasn't a bad thing, it meant we were getting chances, getting up there. But then the flurry happened. Many highlights followed that showed them into our box, getting shots, Joe Murphy deflecting them to corners. They finally score after too many passes inside our penalty box. Down 0-1. Feels like déjà vu...

32nd minute: They shoot from outside the box, but it hits the post. Joe Murphy can't get to the rebound before them, they score in the rebound. Down 0-2.

41st minute: We get a free kick just outside their penalty box. Marc Bridge-Wilkinson takes it and kicks it over the wall, top corner from 25 yard out. Still down, but now 1-2.

49th minute: We move the ball on the right side. A nice through ball for Kevin Foley. Foley and Roscoe D'Sane exchange a few balls inside the box. Foley gets fouled in the box! PENALTY!!! Marc Bridge-Wilkinson confidently converts it for his 5th goal of the season, we're back in the game! Tied 2-2.

56th minute: A freakish shot comes from one of their strikers on the right. First time I see it, Joe Murphy looks awfully out of position. Replay confirms that the ball defelcted on Shola Oyedele before going in the goal. Down again, 2-3.

86th minute: As I watch Lee Morris run with the ball, I'm thinking "WTF is he doing out there, no time for a Sunday walk in the park, idiot!" Right at that moment, he pumps a perfect pass (beautiful idiot!) to Matthew Blinkhorn, who had come in for Ivan Kaviedes a few minutes before that. Blink is alone with the keeper, he won't miss that one. We're tied again, 3-3!

88th minute: They come right back at us. Following a center from the right, Chris Coyne brings his man down in the box! PENALTY!!! But oh boy! Joe Murphy does it again, HE BLOCKS IT!!! We're still tied, but not for long as everybody is in shock and nobody thinks about going to get the ball. The player that kicked the penalty goes to pick it up and he send it back to an open man in the 6 yard box for an easy finish... We're down again, 3-4.

We push them real hard during the 3 minutes of injury time, but ot no avail. Honestly, that's the kind of loss I can live with. Very frustrating, but we had chances and we kept coming back...

Final Score: Luton 3, Leicester 4
Shots (on target): Luton 7 (3), Leicester 17 (13)
MoM: Leicester's James Scowcroft with 2 goals and a rating of 10.
HoM: Marc Bridge-Wilkinson with 2 goals and a rating of 9.

Possession: (us/them)
our zone: 14/27
middle: 19/20
their zone: 13/7
Overall: 46/54

We drop to 23rd, but still 1 point from the 21st which is the last position out of the drop zone.


FM

[FrogMan]

Loan News
Giuseppe Rossi has completed his loan period and returns to Manchester United. I don't even feel the need to try for an extension.

November 21st, 2006
Match #18: home vs Leeds (currently 19th with 19 points, 3 ahead of us)
odds: Luton 7-2, Leeds 4-6 (fav)
S: Showunmi/Kaviedes/Vine
AMC: Bridge-Wilkinson
DM: Davis/Evans/Foley (small up arrows on wingbacks)
D: Oyedele/James/Coyne
GK: Murphy

We basically go with the same tactics as the match against Leicester. Shola Oyedele gets his second start in as many games.

Leeds played a 4-4-2 formation with moderate push from the wingers in their last match and they show the same formation as we get to the field for this match.

Both teams played on the 18th, so conditions are similar on both sides.

1st minute: Their keeper is taking his sweet time after picking up a loose ball. That is, until Ivan Kaviedes decides he's had enough and he puts some pressure. The keeper freaks out and shanks his kick from the side of his foot. The ball falls to the feet of Kavi, the stuff dreams are made of, as the commentator said. Kavi doesn't miss such a chance, alone with the keeper. We go up early 1-0.

17th minute: They center from the left, to the edge of the 6 yard box. Four Hatters to 1, but he still heads it in, bleh. Tied 1-1.

24th minute: Joe Murphy plays a beautiful long pall to Ivan Kaviedes, straight down the middle. Kavi buys time by sending the ball to Enoch Showunmi to his left. Show sends it back in the middle to Marc Bridge-Wilkinson who scores with a precise shot! Up again, 2-1.

A crazy first half comes to an end with us up 2-1. We had 7 shots, they had 11. On target was a bit more even, 4-5 for them. Possession is an even 50-50 split.

52nd minute: A great pass from Paul Evans to the feet of Enoch Showunmi is at the source of our third goal. Show is left with only the keeper to beat and he forces him to rush out, leaving him to score with a nice shot. Up 3-1.

56th minute: A crazy bending cross is followed by a shot with absolutely no angle from their left striker. Somehow, it goes in. Still up, 3-2.

I just about die atfer 2 minutes of injury time, as they center a ball that their striker hist poorly, but Joe Murphy lets it in. Offside was called, however... We hang on to our lead, and get the win!

Final Score: Luton 3, Leeds 2
Shots (on target): Luton 11 (5), Leeds 17 (7)
MoM: Joe Murphy with a rating of 9. We also have 4 other players with ratings of 8.

Possession: (us/them)
our zone: 20/14
middle: 20/19
their zone: 12/15
Overall: 52/48

For a rare occurence, we win the possession battle. We move up to 21st, 1 point off of the relegation zone line.

The win is a huge morale booster. Almost everybody now has superb morale. This is important, since our next match is against relegation battlers Sunderland.


FM

[FrogMan]

Season News
With our 18th match played, we've come to the end of our 3rd block of 6 matches, let's see how it went:

Match #13: Luton 0, Gillingham 0
Match #14: Luton 1, Crystal Palace 5
Match #15: Luton 1, West Ham 1
Match #16: Luton 0, Wolves 5
Match #17: Luton 3, Leicester 4
Match #18: Luton 3, Leeds 2

Other than the two disasters, it's not been all that bad. 1 win, 3 losses, 2 draws for 5 points and a goal differential of -9. A tad under the 7 points I'd want to have in a 6 games stretch, but I'll take it. I especially like how we've started puttin goals in, even though the numbers of goals we are conceding is a bit of a concern. Hopefully the upcomin arrival of central defender Alex Bruce will help the line of defender hold their own a bit better.

Recap of how the first three blocks went:

Block #1: 2 wins, 3 losses, 1 draw, 7 points, -3 GD
Block #2: 1 win, 5 losses, 3 points, -7 GD
Block #3: 1 win, 3 losses, 2 draws, 5 points, -9 GD

Click on the following thumbnail to see how our league position has evolved over the first 18 matches of the season.


We are doing just what the Team Board and fans are asking, fighting bravely against relegation.


FM

[FrogMan]

November 25, 2006
Match #19: away at Sunderland (currently 22nd, only one point behind us)
odds: Luton 3-1, Sunderland 4-5 (fav)
S: Morris/Kaviedes/Pinnock
AMC: Bridge-Wilkinson
DM: Davis/Chambers/Foley (small up arrows on wingbacks)
D: Oyedele/James/Coyne
GK: Murphy

Looking at their fixtures list, I see the beat Crystal Palace 3-0 about 3 games ago, oh boy, doesn't look good... They do have 5 players injured though. They played a 4-4-2 with moderate push from the wingers in their last match but they show a 4-4-2 with heavy push by the wingers as we get to the field.

We have 2 players with minor injuries, both injured in training. Keeper Joe Murphy is at 83% with a bruised shin, should be full strength in 4 days. He'll get the start anyway. Rowan Vine is pulled from the lineup following a neck strain. He shows up only at 69%, not good enough for a striker. Other than shuffling a player or two, I don't change much to our 3-4-3 formation.

8th minute: A quick throw-in from Tony James to James Pinnock ends up to Kevin Foley's feet when Pinnock short passes it to him. Foley tries to feed the ball to Ivan Kaviedes, but a defender intercepts the ball and try to clear it to the back. He scores an own goal!!! We're up 1-0.

33rd minute: Marc Bridge-Wilkinson and James Pinnock have picked up minor injury but I leave them on the field. It may be one of the reasons why Sunderland moves around, until they get to our penalty box and they see an open man near our 6yd box. He beast Joe Murphy on the near side. Tied 1-1.

38th minute: Marc Bridge-Wilkinson holds the ball just long enough for Ivan Kaviedes to take a run in between to defenders. Bridge-Wilkinson sends a superb pass to Kavi, alone with the keeper, whom he fakes out of his shorts, finally putting the ball in the net. We're up 2-1.

First half is over with us leadin 2-1. They win possession with 53%, and lead us in shots 8 to 2 (4 to 1 on target), so we better watch out.

We get more chances in the second half but don't score. At least we spent much more time on their end than on ours. We win our second in a row!!!

Final Score: Luton 2, Sunderland 1
Shots (on target): Luton 7 (3), Sunderland 12 (6)
MoM: Tony James with a rating of 8. He also completed 17 of 21 passes, won 8 of 8 headers, 3 of them key headers. Lee Mansell set the tone for the second half when I pulled him back in the place of Marc Bridge-Wilkinson. We had 5 players with ratings of 8 in all.

Possession: (us/them)
our zone: 14/25
middle: 22/21
their zone: 13/5
Overall: 49/51

We move up to 20th, now 4 points out of the drop zone. We don't have any game for a whole week.

FM