FM2005: A frog at Kenilworth Road

[FrogMan]

July 10, 2007
Training Camp starts!!! Everybody is put on a preseason training schedule that includes plenty of crosscountry running and laps around the field. Players love that

July 11, 2007
Joe Murphy signs a contract with Dunfermline. The transfer is immediate. We get $40k for the transfer, while we had paid $36k for the rights to Murphy in the final stretch of the 2005-06 season. Murphy strong play in that final stretch is what allowed us to have a strong run and eventually win the playoffs to promote to the Championship. The development of Rob Beckwith and his inspired play while the team was in the Championship led to the departure of Murphy after only one season.

We also play a home friendly against Wolves on the 11th. Given the departure of Murhpy, 16yo Ryan Morris, our promising and ambitious keeper prospect, will be the backup to Beckwith.

The game ends 0-0 with Ryan Morris getting named Man of the Match! He only played for the last 30 minutes but faced many shots and didn't let one in. Good show kid!! Richie Wellens and Jacob Burns fare quite well in their first appearances with Luton, both getting ratings of 7. On the other hand, Bartosz Tarachulski and Tony James both play poorly, getting ratings of 5.

Our keepers got sprayed, Wolves outshooting us 19 to 11 (5 to 3 on target). Wolves also won possession with 55%.

International Round Up
Ivan Kaviedes had a good game with Ecuador in their first Copa América match. He got a form rating of 7. The Copa América will be played during most of our preseason, so he won't participate in many friendlies, but should be match fit when he'll rejoin the team after that.

FM

[FrogMan]

July 16, 2007
We have a home friendly against Crystal Palace. We were up 2-0 at some point, playing some very inspired football. We were always first on headers and loos balls, nice to see. Goals came from Marc Bridge-Wilkinson on a penalty (33') and Lee Mansell (69'). They later scored a goal to bring the final score to 2-1 for us. We outshoot them 20 to 9 (9 to 6 on target) and also win possession barely with 52%. The nice thing is the 23% we spent controlling the ball in their end of the field.

Both keepers get ratings of 8 and everybody else get 7's, except the 3 defenders coming from the bench (Burton, Piotto, O'Connor) who get 6's.

Injury News
Jacob Burns could miss the start of the season. He suffered a groing strain in training and is said to be out for two weeks. The season starts in two and a half week. That's a bummer. Burns says he's frustrated that his injury is hampering his settling into his new club. Hopefully this won't set him too far back to other... That's an attitude that I like...

International Round-Up
Ivan Kaviedes looked in good shape in Ecuador's 2-2 draw against Paraguay, getting on the scoresheet in the process.

July 20, 2007
We have a friendly against League Two Oxford, on their pitch. It ends on a 0-0 score. We get many more chances eary, outshooting them 8 to 4 (4 to 1 on target) in the first half, but getting outshot 8 to 10 overall. Not getting a shot in the second half isn't very good. Richie Wellens is named Man of the Match with a rating of 8. He won 7 of 11 tackles and had 6 interceptions.

Since I had to sub out Marc Bridge-Wilkinson in the 17th minute, following a minor injury, thus giving plenty of playing time to Lee Mansell, I get to play 15yo Chris Chapman for the last 20 minutes or so. He does fairly well, getting a rating of 7.

International Round-Up
Ivan Kaviedes played the whole game for Ecuador in the Copa América quarter final, which they won 1-0 over Brazil. He did not play very well, however, getting a rating of 6 for his effort.

Injury News
Marc Bridge-Wilkinson, already behind the others after playing only 17 minutes in our last friendly, suffers strained wrist in training and will miss a week.

FM

[FrogMan]

July 23, 2007
We have our annual crowd pleaser friendly against a Premiership team. This time it's against Fulham. We lose it 0-3 and it was never close, although I have to say their third goal came from a deflected shot through our wall on a free kick. ghey outshot us 14 to 2 (4 to 0 on target) even though we still won possession with 51%. 25 of those were us trying to control the ball on our end... Neil Mellor is our only bright spot with a rating of 8. The crowd 9886, out of a capacity of 9975 was a nice sight, even though many of them left early when we went down by three...

We are left with two friendlies, both away, to lower sides: Gateshead and Sutton Utd.

International Round-Up
Ivan Kaviedes came in as a sub in the 45th minute, in Ecuador's win in penalty kicks against Peru, in the semi final of the Copa América. He ecen scored in the shootout. Looking as to why he came from the bench, I see he is very tired and the report even is that he will need to be nurtured back to fitness in time for the new season. Woah... Ecuador still has the final of the Copa América to play, on July 28, against Argentina.

July 25, 2007
With a little over a week in preseason, I switch training to all the players to either "goalkeeping", "late pre-season attacking", or "late pre-season defending", depending on the players' needs.


FM

[FrogMan]

July 26, 2007
We have a friendly against a Conference North side, Gateshead, to be played on their pitch. Our whole defensive unit is having a rough start. We went down 0-1 in the 12th minute and after they hit two posts on the 21st minute, we could even hear the question: Can Luton weather the storm? Rob Beckwith is having a very bad game, with a 5 so far, and he lets in a second goal in the 41st minute. Neil Mellor will later score for us, making it a final score of 1-2.

Mellor gets named the Man of the Match with his rating of 8, one goal, winning 6 headers out of 6, 3 of them key headers. Richie Wellens and Ryan Morris also both had ratings of 8. Rob Beckwith was pulled out with a rating of 5.

So much for us taking ourselves seriously. The game brought an amazing crowd of 85 people to the stands, weehee!!! This is very humbling...

Transfer News
Rotherham inquires about Kevin Foley. They want to know how much we'd want for him. Foley is coming off is best season ever, averaging ratings of 7.34 in 35 appearances in our one season in the English Championship. He's also still kinda youngish, at only 22 years of age. He's valued at $240k for now, I tell them that $600k would do it...

International Round-Up
Ivan Kaviedes played the whole game but didn't play very well in the final of Copa América. His condition was down to 41% (ouch, bring the I.V.!!!) at the end of the 2-0 loss of Ecuador against Argentina. Was a pretty good run by Ecuador though, as they were underdogs in their last three games...


FM

[FrogMan]

July 29, 2007
We play our sixth and last friendly against a Conference South side, Sutton Utd, on their pitch. The first goal from both teams came out of free kicks. Keith Keane scored to give us the lead first. Neil Mellor took control in the second half, scoring a pair of goals to bring the final score to 3-1. We outshot them 15 to 10, even though they outdid us on target, 6 to 5. We won possession with 53%. 16yo Ryan Morris was named Man of the Match with a rating of 9 in the 45 minutes he played. The season starts on August 4.

Loan News
Northampton want to have Rob Beckwith on loan for three months. As much as he is frustrating me right now, being outrated by the 16yo Morris, he is our best shot at winning games and is indispensable to the team right now. It's a resounding no...

Transfer News
Rotherham decide not to go forward on Kevin Foley. I guess the 600k I set was a bit too high for them...

Promotion Odds
The 2006-07 promotion odds have been announced. Three teams have been declared co-favourites to gain promotion to the English Championship, with odds of 7-4: Walsall, Swindon, and Derby. After that come Colchester and Barnsley with odds of 2-1, and Brighton with odds of 5-2.

We are priced at 12-1, which, according to pundits, suggests that following our relegation, we only have an outside chance of bouncing straight back up. By all account a mid-table position would be a more realistic bet for our team.

August 1st, 2007
The Luton Team Board is still very pleased with my performance as manager of the club. Let's hope it will stay this way...


FM

[FrogMan]

League Cup Draw
The draw for the 1st round of the League Cup happens. We will play League Two Oxford at Kenilworth Road on August 22. We played them to a 0-0 draw in a friendly on July 20, on their pitch.

Training News
I split all the players into my 4 main training schedule: defending, attacking, midfielders, goalkeeping.

August 4, 2007
Match #1: home vs MK Dons (finished 11th last season)
Odds: Luton evens (fav), MK Dons 9-4
S: Mellor/Kaviedes/Vine
AMC: Mansell
DM: Davis/Wellens/Foley (small up arrows on wingbacks)
DC: Bruce/James/Coyne
GK: Beckwith

Ivan Kaviedes is sort of back to being fit, even though he's got the lowest condition of all players with 93%, compared to mostly 99 and 100% for everybody else.

Marc Bridge-Wilkinson lacks match fitness but is available to play. He'll start on the bench.

We go with the 3-4-3, a formation I've grown to like. MK Dons show a 4-4-2 formation with moderate push from the wingers.

The first half ends with a 0-0 score. We're outshooting them with a 2-1 ratio (8 to 4, 4 to 2 on target) and controlling the ball a lot on their end, but couldn't convert.

46': We give them the ball right on the kickoff and they take to our penalty box, converting off the post. Down 0-1.

Their keeper got injured in the 80th minute, after they had done their three subs, so they finished with 10 players and a regular player as keeper, yet we didn't take advantage of that, losing the match 0-1. Very frustrating loss...

Final Score: Luton 0, MK Dons 1
Shots: Luton 14(8), MK Dons 10(3)

MoM: MK Dons' keeper David Martin, with a rating of 9 (before he got injured)
HoM: nobody stood out...

Possession: (us/them)
our zone: 6/14
middle: 21/24
their zone: 22/13
Overall: 49/51

We open the season in 18th place.


FM

[FrogMan]

August 8, 2007
Match #2: home vs Walsall (16th with 1point)
Odds: Luton 7-4, Walsall 5-4 (fav)
S: Mellor/Kaviedes/Vine
AMC: Bridge-Wilkinson
DM: Davis/Wellens/Foley (small up arrows on wingbacks)
DC: Bruce/James/Coyne
GK: Beckwith

They drew 1-1 in their 1st game. They show a 4-4-2 formation with moderate push from the wings.

The first half ends scoreless. We're getting outshot 3 to 8 (1 to 2 on target) even though we're winning possession with 54%.

57': Richie Wellens launches a great long pass to Neil Mellor on the right. Mellor moves into the box and his center to the 6 yard box finds Enoch Showunmi. Show scores! Up 1-0.

65': They get a player sent off. They switch to a 3-4-2 formation.

90': They score following a crazy long pass, this looked like it was offside by about a mile!!! Tied 1-1. This will be the final score.

Final Score: Luton 1, Walsall 1
Shots: Luton 9(2), Walsall 12(3)

MoM: Walsall's Michael Standing, with a rating of 10, without a goal.
HoM: nobody stood out... Got a bunch of 7's although Neil Mellor finished strong, after startng very slowly. He was rated at 5 for most of the first half and finished with a 7.

Possession: (us/them)
our zone: 16/12
middle: 21/20
their zone: 17/14
Overall: 54/46

We controlled the ball, it's a shame we couldn't get more scoring chances out of it...

We move up to 17th following the draw.

Injury News
Chris Coyne twists his knee in training. He will miss two weeks. We have a fairly deep defensive unit, we should be able to cover this loss...


FM

[FrogMan]

August 11, 2007
Match #3: away at Swansea (14th with 2 points, 2 draws in 2 games)
Odds: Luton 7-4, Swansea 5-4 (fav)
S: Showunmi/Kaviedes/Mellor
MC: Wellens
DM: Davis/Evans/Keane (small up arrows on wingbacks)
DC: Bruce/James/O'Connor
GK: Beckwith

They show a 4-4-2 formation with heavy push from the wingers.

14': They head in a center on the near post. Down 0-1.

22': They score a 2nd goal. Down 0-2.

The first half ends on that 0-2 score. A rough first half, in which we're outshot 4 to 11 (2 to 4 on target) and where they control the ball 57% of the time...

49': We go down 0-3 as they do just about whatever they want on the pitch...

55': After many short passes, Ivan Kaviedes powers a header into the net. Still down, 1-3 now.

57': Rob Beckwith rushes out but he miscalculates his rush and can't quite get a hand on the ball. Down 1-4. Beckwith has a rating of 5, I pull him out. In comes 16yo Ryan Morris for his first ever league appearance.

82': Morris lets one more goal in, even though he's doing not so bad overall. Down 1-5.

That was an ugly game, in which the only bright spot was to see Ryan Morris break the record of youngest player to ever play in a league for the Hatters by 587 days.

Final Score: Luton 1, Swansea 5
Shots: Luton 5(3), Swansea 22(11)

MoM: Swansea's Lee Trundle with 1 goal and a rating of 9.
HoM: nobody, really...

We drop to 21st and into the drop zone, not the kind of start to the season I was looking for...

Player News
Adam Chambers goes to the media. He wants first-team football. He's a D/DM RC that was shown to be lacking a little last season. He got plenty of chances to show his stuff while Keith Keane was on loan, but he never impressed me. I have Richie Wellens and Paul Evans who will man the central defensive middie position for the foreseeable future, and Keith Keane and Kevin Foley will alternate at the right wingback position. As for playing him on defense, he's shown me in the past that this isn't his position of choice. For now, I'll let him sulk...

FM

[FrogMan]

August 17, 2007
Match #4: away at Huddersfield (3rd with 2 wins and 1 draw in 3 games)
Odds: Luton 9-4, Huddersfield evens(fav)
S: Showunmi/Kaviedes/Mellor
AMC: Bridge-Wilkinson
DM: Davis/Wellens/Foley (small up arrows for wingbacks)
DC: Bruce/James/Burton
GK: Beckwith

They show a 4-4-2 formation with heavy push from the wingers.

19': Richie Wellens steals the ball on the right and quickly passes it all the way to the left side, to the feet of Enoch Showunmi. Show pumps it back to center, where Ivan Kaviedes' volley makes it 1-0.

38': A rare defensive blunder from Tony James leads to their first goal. He gave them the ball on the right. Tied 1-1.

46': One minute into injury time, Marc Bridge-Wilkinson gets a free kick just outside their penalty box. He unexpectedly plays it back to Ivan Kaviedes who promptly plays it forward to Kevin Foley, who scores from the penalty spot. The foul that caused the free kick was a professional foul, the player get sent off. They switch to a 3-4-2 formation. We're up 2-1.

Halftime score is 2-1. Although we're getting outshot 4-6, we're having putting more shots on target (2-1). They are winning possession with 53%, 25 of which on our end of the field. This isn't good...

51': A great BW to Kavi exchange, then Kavi to Show. Show has no angle, but he still goes for it and scores!!! Up 3-1. Show is having a great game.

63': Kevin Foley pumps a beautiful long pass to a BW on the run. Behind the line of defender, he won't miss his chance. Now up 4-1!

Final Score: Luton 4, Huddersfield 1
Shots: Luton 8(6), Huddersfield 11(1)

MoM: Ivan Kaviedes with a rating of 10. He scored a goal and completed 14 of 17 passes, 6 of them key passes.

Possession: (us/them)
our zone: 15/19
middle: 18/23
their zone: 13/11
Overall: 46/54

We lost possession, got outshot, but put more on target, where it did count. We ended the night with 7 players with a rating of 8, and another one with a rating of 9 (Richie Wellens). It just was one of those nights, where everything clicked...

The Luton Town Chairman could not hide his delight following the win, and all the players felt relieved at the big win. A great morale booster!

Achievement News
Richie Wellens and Ivan Kaviedes are both named on the League One Team of the Week. It's the first time ever that Kavi has been named on any team of the week in England. Wellens, on the other hand, has been a regular of these type of award. I even see that he was Blackpool fans' player of the year for the last three season (04/05, 05/06, and 06/07)


FM

[terpkristin]

Well, glad to see that the early loss to Swansea was at least countered by the win against Huddersfield. Seems like the start of your season has been kind of difficult! Let's keep our fingers crossed for no more injuries, as it definitely seems your squad gets injured a lot!

~tk

[FrogMan]

August 22, 2007
League Cup, Round 1: home vs Oxford (7th in L2, 1win 3draws)
Odds: Luton 5-4(fav), Oxford 7-4
S: Showunmi/Kaviedes/Vine
AMC: Mansell
DM: Davis/Wellens/Foley (small up arrows for wingbacks)
DC: Bruce/James/Burton
GK: Beckwith

They show a 4-4-2 formation with moderate push from the wingers.

46': One minute into injury time, they score on a deflected ball through our wall on a free kick. I hate deflected balls like that! Down 0-1.

77': Great teamwork among 3 Hatters lead to the equalizer. From Neil Mellor to Enoch Showunmi, who passes it back to Sol Davis. Davis centers it to Mellor who converts to bring us back in the game. Tied 1-1.

I expected it to be like the FA Cup where you get a replay when it's tied, but apparently, it is not. We're going into extra time.

112': Neil Mellor gets injured and has to leave the field. Obviously, in the 112th minute, we don't have any subs left, so we'll have to go the distance with only 10 on the pitch.

The game gets to penalty kicks!

Both teams score on their first two chances (Marc Bridge-Wilkinson, Paul Evans for us) and then miss their third (Tony James for us). Both fourth player scored (Sagi Burton for us). Rob Beckwith then took matter into his own hands, saving kicks number 5, 6, and 7, while Kevin Foley kicked wide and Sol Davis kicked it over the net. Alex Bruce finally nailed one to give us the win after 7 kicks on both sides!!!

*sidenote* I started this game on Sunday night at 10:40PM, thinking I'd play it, write down what was needed, then it kept on going, and going, and going. First thing I realized, I had been interrupted twice by poor kiddo having a rough sleep and it was 11:30. I completely forgot to write any stats down about the game, other than we won and will be playing in round 2 of the League Cup, something that has not happened often for our team in recent years.


FM

[FrogMan]

Originally Posted by terpkristin

Well, glad to see that the early loss to Swansea was at least countered by the win against Huddersfield. Seems like the start of your season has been kind of difficult! Let's keep our fingers crossed for no more injuries, as it definitely seems your squad gets injured a lot!

~tk

Thanks for reading along

Yeah, injuries are bothering me a little. I mean, injuries during a game are something I don't have much to do with, but injuries in training may be a sign that players are being overtrained or something. Anybody got a clue as to numbers of injuries and what may cause them, or is it only a case of terpkristinitis???

FM

[FrogMan]

Found the stats!!!
They were on another sheet from the notepad, weee... Here we go...

Final Score: Luton 1, Oxford 1 (4-3 on pk)
Shots: Luton 13(2), Oxford 11(3)

MoM: Oxford's Jonathan Ashton with a rating of 8
HoM: Sol Davis is the only one above 7 in rating, with an 8.

Possession: (us/them)
our zone: 8/14
middle: 21/24
their zone: 18/15
Overall: 47/53

We get $36,000 for the win and move on to the 2nd round. We get very bad news about Neil Mellor. He has a damaged knee cap (ouch!) and will miss one month.

FM

[FrogMan]

Question from Medias
Just as I'm trying to figure out who will be the new starting striker to replace Neil Mellor, a journalist from a local newspaper asks me a question. His question: "Neil Mellor injured himself in the match today and it looks as if he could be out for some time. Will he be missed?"

If there's one spot where we have some depth, it's up front. Bartosz Tarachulski could play there, James Pinnock could play there, Roscoe D'Sane could play there, Lee Morris will be back from months of physiotherapy soon. I answer simply that one player doesn't make a team. My squad is capable of covering for Neil's absence.

Loan News
What are they drinking?!? Northampton still want Rob Beckwith on loan for 3 months. Another resounding no...

League Cup, round 2 draw
The draw for round 2 of the League Cup happens. We will play Crewe, a team from the English Championship, at Kenilworth Road, on September 18. We never played them, since they had a one year stint in League One the same season we were in the Championship...

Transfer News
Stoke make a bid for Kevin Foley. It's a respectable bid, $440k + 10% of next sale. Foley is now valued at 280k and has averaged 7.33 in form rating so far this season. I up their offer to 800k, making sure that if Foley leaves, we'll get something very good for him...


FM

[FrogMan]

August 27, 2007
Match #5: home vs Derby (14th with 5pts, we have 4 pts)
Odds: forgot to write them down
S: Showunmi/Kaviedes/Vine
AMC: Bridge-Wilkinson
DM: Burns/Wellens/Foley (small up arrows for wingbacks)
DC: Bruce/James/O'Connor
GK: Beckwith
I give the start to Jacob Burns at left wingback, it's is first game in a while. I will have Sol Davis on the bench, ready to jump in if he falters.

They show a 4-4-2 formation with moderate push from the wings.

28': They score on a bending free kick from 35 yards out. Rob Beckwith didn't look at his sharpest on this one...

The half ends with us down 0-1. They are dominating us with the shots, on target or off. It's still a pretty close game possession wise...

We can't get anything going in the second half, although they don't either. We lose 0-1.

Final Score: Luton 0, Derby 1
Shots: Luton 3(0), Derby 7(2)

MoM: Inigo Idiakez with a rating of 8 and one goal.
HoM: Alex Bruce with a rating of 8. He won everything in the air, going 13 for 13 on his headers.

Possession: (us/them)
our zone: 14/14
middle: 22/25
their zone: 10/14
Overall: 46/54

We drop to 21st. The silver lining in that loss is that we are keeping games close, despite Rob Beckwith not pulling his best play so far this season. He's had 3 ratings of 6, one of 7 and one of 5 for an even average of 6. We will need him to come out of his slump if we're to have some sort of success this season.

Transfer News
Stoke withdraw their bid for Kevin Foley. My guess is they'll be back someday...

September 1st, 2007
The end of one month and the beginning of another bring another appraisal of the Team Board. They are still very pleased with my managerial performance, despite the modest start to our season...

LDV Vans Trophy South draw
The 1st round draw for the LDV Vans Trophy South happens, and what a crappy draw!!! We'll be playing at home, cool, but we'll be playing Swansea, who just spanked up 5-1. Bleh. The game will be played on September 25.

Injury News
ARRRGGGG!!!!! Two more players are injured in training. Bartosz Tarachulski and Chris Coyne will miss one and two weeks respectively. Tarachulski twisted his knee while Coyne strained his groin. Seeing that, I decide to tweak the training schedule and had a few "resting" periods in all three main training schedule (i.e. not for the goalkeeping one). Hopefully this will help. I will also ask for a report from my physios on Tarachulski and Coyne. I seemed to remember my physios telling me that Coyne would possibly have to have surgery to completely heal a recent injury (not the last one he had, one at the end of last season)...


FM

[FrogMan]

September 8, 2007
Match #6: away at Swindon (currently 1st with 4 wins, 1 draw)

odds: Luton 7-4, Swindon 5-4(fav)
S: Showunmi/Vine (both with outward arrows)
AMC: Pinnock/Bridge-Wilkinson (both with outward arrows)
DM: Davis/Wellens/Foley (no up arrows))
DC: Bruce/James/O'Connor
GK: Beckwith
With Ivan Kaviedes out on international duty for a pair of Ecuador's World Cup qualifier matches, and some injuries (Neil Mellor, Lee Morris). I decide to play a bit different formation. Could be seen as a somewhat modified 3-5-2, with 2 AMC and 3 DM... James Pinnock is kind of versatile in that sense, being a F RC and not strictly a S C, I feel not so bad playing him at AMC to start the game, leaving me with Lee Mansell as a sub for later in the game.

Swindon is a very good team, as shown by their spotless record of 4 wins and a draw in 5 games. They show a 4-3-3 formation with the outside striker taking a wide stance.

2': Damn early goals! A quick throw in followed by a perfect center to the 6 yard box and they score. The goal came from our old friend Elvis Hammond... Down 0-1.

17': We get a free kick, about 35 yards out of their goal. James Pinnock, probably feeling it's out of his range, play it short to Sol Davis who swiftly centers it to the 6 yard box. Rowan Vine is there, alone with the keeper. He ties the game for us, 1-1.

The half is over on that 1-1 score. The Vine goal was our only shot of the half, while Swindon shot 8 times, 2 on target. Weirdly, we are winning possession, with 53%, but most of this ball control is happening in the midfield for us.

The second half goes scoreless, even though we increased our pressure on them, getting 6 schots, 2 of them on target.

Final Score: Luton 1, Swindon 1
Shots: Luton 7(3), Swindon 14(3)

MoM: Sol Davis with a rating of 9. He won 9 tackles out of 9 and had 4 interceptions.
Five other players had ratings of 8, while Rob Beckwith is still in his slump, getting a rating of 6...

An away game, against the top team in the league, and we come up with a 1-1 draw, I can't be unhappy about that...

Possession: (us/them)
our zone: 17/16
middle: 20/18
their zone: 17/12
Overall: 54/46

Rowan Vine Picked up his 5th yellow in 6 appearances. He's banned for one match.

International Round-Up
Ivan Kaviedes did well in Ecuador's 0-2 loss to Paraguay. He got a rating of 7.

Achievement News
Sol Davis is named on the League One Team of the Week, followin his great performance against Swindon. I praise him in the media. The fans applaud the praise, saying he is a bright spot on our squad. He's averaged form ratings of 7.57 since the start of the season.

International Round-Up
Ivan Kaviedes looked in good shape as he played the whole match dor Ecuador, getting on the scoresheet in the process. He got a rating of 8 for the game, which was won 2-0 by Ecuador over Venezuela.

Injury News
I finally think about asking my physios for a detailed report on Chris Coyne. All three physios recommend letting a specialist examine this injury to avoid further complications in the future. Chris is said to be fit in 6 days. Sending him to rehab says it could take from 2 to 4 weeks. The season is still young and I have backups at the defender spot, so I send him to rehab. The verdict comes quickly, it'll take 3 weeks of physiotherapy before he gets back with the team.

One good news on Neil Mellor though, as the physios have no immediate concerns about his health.

We currently have 8 players injured, not all starters though...


FM

[FrogMan]

Season News
Like I did for last season, I'll split the season in 7 blocks of 6 matches and one last 4 match block. We've played 6 matches so far, time to take a quick look back on how we did...

Match #1: Luton 0, MK Dons 1
Match #2: Luton 1, Walsall 1
Match #3: Luton 1, Swansea 5
Match #4: Luton 4, Huddersfield 1
Match #5: Luton 0, Derby 1
Match #6: Luton 1, Swindon 1

Well, 1 win, 2 draws and 3 losses is not how I wanted to start the season. Apart from the Swanseas debacle, we can almost say we can shut down opponent. The sad thing is, we can't seem to be able to put some balls in the flipping goal!!! Taking a quick look at my players form rating shows me that we can split the team in three parts. Part one: Rob Beckwith is having a very bad start to the season, bad enough that I'm about to start shopping for a replacement. Part two: defenders and midfielders are playing pretty well. Despite some lowly performances from some defenders to start the season, almost everybody in that group is avergaing above 7 in form rating. Third part: strikers are not playing up to the level I need them to be for the team to be successful. Dang, I usually have 3 strikers out there, if they can't put goals in the net, we're not gonna win very often...

September 15, 2007
Match #7: home vs Rushden & Diamonds (currently 11th, with 8pts, we have 5 pts in 21st)
Odds: Luton 5-4(fav), Rushden 7-4
S: Showunmi/Kaviedes (outward arrow on Show)
AMC: Morris/Bridge-Wilkinson (no outward arrows)
DM: Davis/Wellens/Keane (up arrow for Keane only)
DC: Burton/James/Bruce
GK: Beckwith

With a suspension to Rowan Vine, and Neil Mellor's injury, we go with the 2 strikers only. I try something and ask the player to try and pump balls toward the right side, where I have a wingback supporting Kavi on top.

They show a 4-4-2 formation with moderate push from the wingers.

24': A Sol Davis throw in is stolen at Lee Morris' feet. They quickly center it and score. Down 0-1.

The half ends with us down 0-1. We're simply not getting the ball up there, and they are killing in the midfield. Ivan Kaviedes is having an atrocious game so far, with a rating of 4 at the half!

The second half goes scoreless and we lose the game 0-1. We can't seem to be able to deal with being the favorite in any game...

Final Score: Luton 0, Rushden 1
Shots: Luton 4(3), Rushden 4(2)

MoM: Rushden's Jamie Yates with a rating of 8.
HoM: nobody really. Rob Beckwith is not getting better, actually getting worse. He got a rating of 5 in this game. I'm of the opinion that to have some success, you need to have a keeper that inspires your team. Beck is not getting the job done in that regard. I will start shopping around for another keeper, as I don't feel too good giving the job the a 16yo. But hey, it could happen...

Possession: (us/them)
our zone: 12/13
middle: 17/31
their zone: 13/14
Overall: 42/58

We remain in 21st after the loss.

I go to the media and publicly criticize Ivan Kaviedes for the poor showing in that game...


FM

[FrogMan]

Transfer News
I start souting the transfer list for possible help to Rob Beckwith at keeper. I see a 32yo keeper currently a backup for Sunderland. Name is Brian Jensen and his contract, which runs through June 30, 2008, is unprotected. He's valued at 90k and that would be the compensation I'd have to pay if I were to sign him straight. He has not played much in the last 2 season, but he has some strong skills. Maybe a veteran presence in the back is all my kids would need to perform. I ask my scouts to give me a report on him.

Media News
Following my criticising of Ivan Kaviedes, the team's fans lambast him in the media. They say that with the kind of money he takes home every week, he should be playing better.

Among other news, the media question Rob Beckwith's ability. An article in a local newspaper has criticized his recent form, asserting that his inconcistency is costing Luton valuable points. I can only agree on that point...

Weird News
Have you ever seen a keeper score a goal? okay, not from a free kick, or a penalty kick? Well, Luton Reserves keeper, 17yo Simon Hodges scored one on a long kick that bounced in between Luton striker Roscoe D'Sane and the opposing keeper, on the edge of their penalty box, then over the head of the keeper and into the goal. I had to go watch the replay a couple of times... If anybody wants to have the match file for that game, just let me know and I'll make it available.

Injury News
GRRRR! Jacob Burns twisted his knee in training and will miss 2 weeks. Seems like he's always injured...


FM

[FrogMan]

September 18, 2007
League Cup, Round 2: home vs Crewe Alexandra (15th in the English Championship, 3wins, 1draw, 4losses)
Odds: Luton 13-8, Crewe 6-4(fav)
S: Showunmi/Kaviedes/Vine
AMC: Mansell
DM: Davis/Evans/Foley (small up arrows for wingbacks)
DC: O'Connor/James/Bruce
GK: Morris

Ryan Morris, the 16yo wonderkid, gets the start at keeper. I need to shake things up and anything will do for now. That and it's a cup match, so if we lose it, yeah we're out, but we're not hurting our league standing...

They show a 4-4-2 formation with moderate push from the wingers.

17': Going for a header, James O'Connor fouls an opponent inside the penalty box. PENALTY!!! The kick goes straight to Ryan Morris' hands, he keeps it!!!

26': They get a corner to the center of our penalty box. Morris can't do anything against the perfectly placed volley that followed. Down 0-1.

The half ends with us down 0-1. They are outshooting us 7 to 3 (4 to 2 on target) and they're winning possession with 54% so far. Ryan Morris is having an outstanding game so far, with a rating of 8 in the first half.

47': A 3 man attack. Three strikers in the box with Enoch Showunmi, Rowan Vine, and Ivan Kaviedes going very aggressively at it. Show ends up with a loose ball, puts it in off the post. Tied 1-1.

59': They score a freakish goal. What does "score in a bizarre fashion" mean anyway??? bleh, down 1-2.

We lose 1-2, but we gave it all we had. Great effort.

Final Score: Luton 1, Crewe 2
Shots: Luton 9(6), Rushden 12(5)

MoM: Crewe's Gary Roberts with 1 goal (the bizarre one) and a rating of 8.
HoM: Ryan Morris with an impressive 8 rating. Lee Mansell and Enoch Showunmi also both had ratings of 8 and everybody else came in at 7.

Possession: (us/them)
our zone: 10/16
middle: 20/20
their zone: 16/17
Overall: 46/54

Kevin Foley suffered a groin strain in the game and will be out of commission for the next 2 weeks. Dang! Good thing we got Keith Keane waiting in the fold. Let's hope he'll be up for it.

FM

[terpkristin]

I fully take any blame for passing any terpkristinitis to your players.

Has Ivan responded to the criticism from both you and your fans?

~tk

[FrogMan]

heh, I guess some of my players will need to meet with doctor Myerson soon...

Ivan didn't respond per se, but players don't always react to criticism in the press. They usually react when you give them a warning though. What I did was simply go to the media (simply ). He played well in the loss to Crewe and scored in an upcoming, unreported match, but you shouldn't know about this right now... cue TV voice: COMING UP!

FM

[FrogMan]

September 22, 2007
Match #8: away at Colchester (2nd with 16 points, we have 5 points)
Odds: Luton 13-8, Colchester 6-4 (fav)
S: Showunmi/Kaviedes/Vine
AMC: Bridge-Wilkinson
DM: Davis/Wellens/Keane (up arrow for wingbacks)
DC: O'Connor/James/Bruce
GK: Morris

Ryan Morris is back at keeper. He inspired us in our last game, Let's see if he can do it in league play.

They show a 4-3-3 formation with outward arrows on the outside strikers.

10': Marc Bridge-Wilkinson plays a beautiful long ball over everybody's head, in front of Rowan Vine. Alone with the keeper, he doesn't miss his chance. Up 1-0.

13': They charge right back in. A corner is headed straight in. Tied 1-1.

14': Wow, this is an all out start to the game, as I witness a great excahnge between Richie Wellens and Marc Bridge-Wilkinson who flicks the ball over to Ivan Kaviedes who fires a power shot for the goal! Up 1-0.

The half ends with us ahead 2-1. We're also outshoting them 7 to 6 (5 to 3 on target, despite not controlling the ball very well. They had the ball 60% of the first half.

63': The referee calls a dubious penalty on Keith Keane. Ryan Morris can't do anything this time around. Tied 2-2. This will be the final score.

Final Score: Luton 2, Colchester 2
Shots: Luton 12(6), Colchester 14(6)

MoM: Tony James with a rating of 8. He won 10 of 13 headers, 7 of them key headers.

Ryan Morris had another good game with a rating of 7, still much better than what Rob Beckwith has given us so far this season. Three other player had ratings of 8.

We move up to 19th.

As I turned off the light in the clubhouse (read shutdown my game/computer) a couple things caught my eyes. First, this trio of strikers (Show/Kavi/Vine) has score 7 of the 9 goals by the team in League play (2 for Show, 3 for Kavi, 2 for Vine). The second thing makes me nervous a little. I'm beginning to see some "UNH" tags, this tag means "UNHappy". I'll report more about this later, but from what I saw (and what I remember), Ivan Kaviedes and Marc Bridge-Wilkinson were feeling that the team is underachieving, while a third, Paul Evans was saying he had lost confidence in his manager. The bastage!

This comes at a time where I felt we were turning things around starting to score more goals and such... Maybe I was too patient with Beckwith... As I said, I'll report more about this later.
FM

Edit to show Morris and not Beckwith at keeper

[FrogMan]

Player News
As reported earlier, players are starting to get unhappy with how it's going with the team. Ivan Kaviedes and Marc Bridge-Wilkinson both think the club is underachieving, while Paul Evans has a slight concern that the club is not topping the table, and a major that he has lost confidence in his manager's (me, heh) ability... They're all willing to remain at the club, for now at least.

Injury News
Kevin Foley is recuperating from his groin injury, about one week from being back on the field. I ask my physios for a health report. The three of them all think I should let a specialist examine the injury to avoid further complications in the future. I ask about sending him to rehabilitation. They say 2 to 4 weeks. I take the risk, he'll be out for 3 weeks attending physiotherapy.

Transfer News
I spent a good while asking coach reports on about each and every one of my players, starters and some reserves. Following my coaches' recommendation, I offer Lee Morris around. They were telling that it was probably time I'd transfer list him. I'll start by a round of offer before listing him.

September 25, 2007
LDV Vans Trophy South, round 1
home vs Swansea City (7th in League One with 15pts, we have 6pts)
Odds: Luton 7-4, Swansea 5-4(fav)
S: Showunmi/Kaviedes/Vine
AMC: Mansell
DM: Davis/Evans/Keane (up arrow for wingbacks)
DC: O'Connor/James/Bruce
GK: Morris

I go again with Ryan Morris at keeper.

They show a 4-4-2 formation with moderate push from the wingers.

14': They have a throw-in on our right side. We leave a winger unmarked, he gets the ball, centers it, they score. Down 0-1.

25': Ivan Kaviedes is injured and has to go off, DAMN!

The half ends with us down 0-1. WE ARE DOMINATING THEM!!! We just can't buy a goal. As a proof of our somewhat good play, we are outshooting them 11 to 3 (5 to 1 on target), and we're winning possession in the middle (21/19) and on their end (23/15)...

47': We put two more on target, now 13 shots, 7 on target.

79': It's now Marc Bridge-Wilkinson's turn to get hurt. And it had to happen 5 minutes after we had done our third and last substitution. We'll have to try and mount the comeback with only 10 players. It will not happen. We lose 0-1.

Final Score: Luton 2, Swansea 1
Shots: Luton 16(8), Swansea 7(2)

It's not like we're not putting the shots on target DAMNIT!!!

MoM: Sure thing, their keeper, Nick Colgan gets it.
HoM: Keith Keane, with the only 8 on the squad.

Possession: (us/them)
our zone: 11/11
middle: 21/23
their zone: 19/13
Overall: 51/49

Ryan Morris only pulls a 6 in this game, probably his rookie wall.

We get $4000 for losing in first round, oh so nice...

Ivan Kaviedes strained a knee ligament in the game, set to miss a month. I ask my physios for a report immediately and they tell me I should probably let a specialist examine him. Said specialist says it will be between 2 to 4 weeks of physiotherapy for him to be like new. Can't be worse than a month, so I go for it. Verdict is 4 weeks (a month, duh)...

Marc Bridge-Wilkinson has fractured some ribs and will miss 3 weeks. My physios don't have any concerns for his long term fitness though, which is sort of a good news, we can't use more of these right now.

Ironically, the attendance for that game marked a record for the team... the lowest attendance in a competitive match. Nice.

Following this loss, Rowan Vine is now also unhappy. He too thinks the team is underachieving.


FM

[FrogMan]

Injury/Training News
Neil Mellor resumes full training after missing one month due to injury.

While looking at my training screen, I see 7 players currently on the "resting" schedule due to injury. Five of them are first-team regulars (4 real regulars and one would be regular): Kevin Foley, Ivan Kaviedes, Chris Coyne, Marc Bridge-Wilkinson, and Jacob Burns (he's the would-be, since he's been injured from day 1 as a Hatter)...

Player News
Neil Mellor is the latest to show his discontent. He also says he's lost confidence in his manager's ability.

From now on, every little loss will scare me a little more...

Among other player news, Curtis Davies, currently playing with the reserves, want first-team football. Ironically, a national football website took the time to poll the Hatter fans, asking them if they felt Davies should be playing with the first team. The results: 6% say yes, 92% say no, and 2% are undecided. (seriously, I got this email about one of my reserve player, I didn't make this up)

September 29, 2007
Match #9: home vs Wrexham (21st with 6 points, like us)
Odds: Luton 5-4(fav), Wrexham 7-4
S: Showunmi/Morris/Vine
AMC: Mansell
DM: Davis/Wellens/Keane (up arrow on wing backs)
DC: O'Connor/James/Bruce
GK: Beckwith

Lee Morris is the latest unhappy player, thinks the team is underachieving.

Rob Beckwith gets the start, mostly because Ryan Morris has already played with the U18 squad today. Morris also had a rating of 6 in our last match.

They show a 4-4-2 formation with moderate push from the wingers.

3': A corner kick goes in between the legs of two of our defenders and straight to the feet of one of their strikers in the 6 yard box. He scores. Down 0-1.

41': They pass it long and James O'Connor lets his man go on one-on-one against Rob Beckwith. Down 0-2.

The half ends with us down 0-2. Once again, we're very much in the game, except on the scoreboard. They're barely outshootin us 5 to 4, but we're tied with 3 shots on target on both sides. We are winning possession big time, with 57%. More than that, we've controlled the ball 27% of the time inside their defensive zone. yet could not score.

Rob Beckwith is having another shitty game, with a rating of 5 so far. The sad thing is that 2 of my 3 striker are also having bad games. Ivan Kaviedes and Enoch Showunmi both show 5 as their form rating so far...

60': We pull to within one goal when Richie Wellens' corner kick is headed in by Lee Mansell. Still down, 1-2. Too little too late though, we lose again.

Final Score: Luton 1, Wrexham 2
Shots: Luton 7(5), Wrezham 6(3)

We shut 'em down in the second half, kept pushnig hard on their end, yet couldn't come up with the 2 goals we needed...

MoM: Lee Mansell with a rating of 8 and 1 goal.

Possession: (us/them)
our zone: 8/12
middle: 21/21
their zone: 27/10
Overall: 56/44

Enoch Showunmi ends the game with a rating of 5 while Keith Keane, Sol Davis, and Richie Wellens pulled good games with ratings of 8.

We drop to 22nd after the loss...

Following the game I read the best one. Rob Beckwith of all people is unhappy and thinks the team is underachieving. It's almost enough for me to free transfer him right then and there, him and his 5.75 form average this season. DARN IDIOT, YOU ARE THE MAIN REASON WE'RE LOSING!!!!

I issue him a formal warning for poor performance.

The next day, he apologise for his poor performance in his previous match (I would say matches, but that's just me) and admits that he deserved his official warning. He also says he will try to motivate himself more for future matches. Kid, you better... If I'm going down, you're going down with me...


FM

[FrogMan]

October 1st, 2007
With another month comes another Team Board appraisal. Them who were once delighted, then very pleased with my managerial performance, are now only pleased (and I would almost say "barely pleased")... I really have to turn things around, or be have a bit more luck in balls going INTO the goals...

Achievement News
Sol Davis is named on the League One Team of the Week.

Player News
Alex Bruce is the latest to show his unhappiness. Like many others, me included, he thinks the team is underachieving.

Chris Coyne now thinks the same. He's a bit nervous too, since he still thinks I have signed replacement to take his place, even though I have played him each and every time he's been healthy.

Jacob Burns is also unhappy, but pushes it one step further. While all the other were still willing to remain at the club, he wants to leave. He has not requested to be transfer listed, but he clearly says he has lost confidence in my ability.

Transfer News
I had reported about Sunderland'S 32yo keeper Brian Jensen. Valued at 80k, Sunderland are asking only 48k for him. I'm bold and offer 36k.

The next day, we get news that our offer has been accepted for Jensen. We can talk contract with him.

He is seeking a contract of $5400 per week, but is currently earning $1600 per week. My assistant thinks he would become a useful first team member, a nice praise, and recommends we offer him $3400 per week. While the Team Board would allow me to offer up to $5400 per week, I offer him what my assistant recommends, $3400 per week.

Training News
Chris Coyne resumes training after his physiotherapy. The specialist who treated him is optimistic that he has recovered fully from his injury. Let's hope that taking this course of action in the future will mean that recurrence of injury will is less and less...

Injury News
Speaking of injury, Neil Mellor twists his knee in training and will be out for a week. I will seriously have to sit down and take one hard look at my training schedules... Someday...

Two days later, it's Lee Morris who twists a knee, out for 2 weeks. WTF!!! Are there holes in the newly upgraded training grounds!?!?!

Contract News
Brian Jensen rejects our first offer but is willing to negotiate. He now believes Luton doesn't have the resources to meet his demands. Say what?!? I off him as much as the Team Board will allow me, which is what he was first looking for, $5400 per week.

Player News
Unhappiness has now spread out to most of the first team. I feel like I'm about to have a mutiny on my hands, this is not pretty...

Contract News
Brian Jensen accepts our offer and signs with Luton Town! In the media, he says he is looking to get his career back on track at Kenilworth Road. This fits me well, I'm looking for a leader in the nets to put our team back on track...

You can see Jensen's player profile by clicking the thumbnail below:



FM

edit: to report October 1st, not September 1st...

[FrogMan]

October 13, 2007
Match #10: home vs Stockport (17th with 9pts, only 3 more than us)
odds: Luton 5-4(fav), Stockport 7-4
S: Showunmi/Tarachulski/Vine
AMC: Mansell
DM: Davis/Wellens/Keane
DC: Bruce/James/Coyne

GK: Jensen
Brian Jensen is set for his debut as a Hatter. Chris Coyne is back in the starting lineup despite lacking in match fitness. I'll keep an eye on him.

They show a 4-4-2 formations with moderate push from the wingers.

26': I HATE DEFLECTIONS!!! A friggin' deflection off our defensive wall on a free kick is the reason for their first goal. Down 0-1.

The half ends with us down 0-1. Shots are low on each side, but we're worse, shootin only twice, once on target. They are winning possession with 55%.

58': They get a penalty out of nowhere. No explanations, nothing. They score, down 0-2.

We lose and I get to laugh a little. Rob Beckwith is named Man of the Match after I put him in the game in the 75th minute and he ended the game with a rating of 8. Jensen gets a 5, but was at 8 for a long time. I'm blaming this on the lack of match pratice...

Final score: Luton 0, Stockport 2
Shots: Luton 2(1), Stockport 7(4)

We got blanked completely in the second half, not one shot on or off target, that sucks...

Possession: (us/them)
our zone: 16/14
middle: 17/27
their zone: 11/15
Overall: 44/56

We stay in 22nd after the loss.

Enoch Showunmi now has 5 yellows and will miss the next match.

I decide that we will go back to 4-3-3, no matter what. I hope it's not too little too late. The season is still young, but players are starting to get restless...

Training News
Kevin Foley resumes full training following his physiotherapy session. The specialist who treated him is optimistic that he's fully recovered from his injury.

Transfer News
Lee Morris requests to be transfer listed. I've already offered him around twice, without having him be transfer listed, and nobody wanted of him. I accpets his request.

Board Appraisal
Even though we're in the middle of the month, I check with the board. They are now only satisfied with my performance as manager of the club. Not looking good...

FM

[terpkristin]

Youch, rough season!!!
How did Coyne do in his first match back?

Bummer about Jensen getting a poor rating.

/tk

[FrogMan]

*** special heads-up: I'm writing this here cause I've got it in written notes, but you can expect it to stop in about a month of gametime play, at which time I stopped having fun writing it down. Reporting it here hurts. You'll know why in due time ***

October 17, 2007
Match #11: away at Tranmere (1st with 24 points, we have 6 points)
Odds: Luton 9-4, Tranmere evens(fav)
S: Pinnock/Mellor/Vine
AMC: Mansell
DMC: Evans/Wellens
D: Davis/Bruce/James/Keane (up arrows on fullbacks)
GK: Jensen

We're back to the goold old 4-3-3. While Rob Beckwith did well in the end of our last match, I start Brian Jensen again.

No scores in the first half, we're very much into the game. Possession is split 50-50, although it's happening a bit too much on our end to my taste.

67': They get a free kick outside our penalty box. It's headed in, damn! Down 0-1.

They kicked out butts in the second half, shooting on goal non stop.

Final Score: Luton 0, Tranmer 1
Shots: Luton 6(1), Tranmere 16(3)

MoM: Brian Jensen with a rating of 8. Starting him was a good decision after all...

Possession: (us/them)
our zone: 13/26
middle: 21/22
their zone: 13/5
Overall: 47/53

We remain in 22nd place.

Training/injury News
Marc Bridge-Wilkinson resumes full training after missing three weeks with fractured ribs.

Curtis Davies was reported absent from training yesterday. I issue a warning, which he accepts and acknowledges his unprofessional behaviour was unacceptable. He shows a willingness to improve his behaviour in the future.

FM

[FrogMan]

Originally Posted by terpkristin

Youch, rough season!!!
How did Coyne do in his first match back?

Bummer about Jensen getting a poor rating.

/tk

Coyne had an okay, if not very good game in that return. A 7, I think, which is about the average when I say a player has had an average game. 6 isn't a good game to me...

Jensen will bounce back, you'll see...

FM

[FrogMan]

October 20, 2007
Match #12: away at Watford (3r with 21 points, we have 6 points)
Odds: Luton 9-4, Watford evens(fav)
S: Showunmi/Mellor/Vine
AMC: Bridge-Wilkinson
DMC: Wilde/Wellens
D: Davis/James/Coyne/Keane
GK: Jensen

It's the return of Bobby Wilde to the starting lineup, if for no other reason that he's got superb morale, thanks to a stay on the reserves lineup, away from all the losing, and he's at 100% condition.

They show a 3-4-3 formation with the outside strikers roaming wide.

14': Neil Mellor pumps a neat ball to Rowan Vine on the right. Vine runs with the ball a a little before passing it to Marc Bridge-Wilkinson who only flicks it to Mellor who scores. Up 1-0.

27': They center the ball dead in the middle of our pack of defenders. Don't know how, but the ball gets headed in. Chris Coyne and Tony James were both out of position on that one. Tied 1-1.

41': Brian Jensen mishandles an incoming corner kick and scores an own goal to give them the lead. Down 1-2.

The half ends with us down 1-2. Both teams shot 6 times and both teams had 3 on target, eerie... They're controlling the ball too much on our end for my liking though...

The game will end with that score. We have 5 players ratings of 8 (Jensen, Davis, Coyne, James, BW) but it wasn't good enough to win as we go shutdown by their keeper...

Final Score: Luton 1, Tranmer 2
Shots: Luton 8(4), Watford 13(6)

MoM: Watford's keeper Richard Lee.

Possession: (us/them)
our zone: 13/29
middle: 17/21
their zone: 13/7
Overall: 43/57

At this point, I'm getting frustrated by how the ball is not rolling our way. Highlights show our guys on one-on-one and shooting on the keeper, or hitting the post...

We drop to 23rd.

Training News
Ivan Kaviedes resumes full training after his physiotherapy. The specialist who treated him is optimistic he has recovered fully from his injury.

Injury News
Jacob Burns injures himself, again. And again, in training. The guy is made of popsicle sticks, I swear... Out one week with a twisted knee.

FM

[FrogMan]

October 27, 2007
Match #13: home vs Port Vale (19th with 13 points, we have 6 points)
S: Mellor/Kaviedes/Vine
AMC: Bridge-Wilkinson
DMC: Evans/Wellens (with up arrows)
D: Davis/James/Coyne/Foley
GK: Jensen

They show a 4-4-2 formation with moderate push from the wingers.

12': Marc Bridge-Wilkinson goes on a breakaway after receiving a beautiful pass from Rowan Vine. Alone with the keeper, he doesn't miss his chance. Up 1-0.

The half ends with us up 1-0. BW's shot was our sole shot in the half. Looks like we're simply controlling the ball on our end...

59': A great center from the right from Richie Wellens to a diving Neil Mellor is headed in. Up 2-0.

63': Our third goal is the fruit of a great Mellor to BW to Kaviedes combination, ending with Kavi putting on a display and scoring the goal. Up 3-0.

FINALLY!!! What a relief to win with some sort of a good lead...

Final Score: Luton 1, Port Vale 0
Shots: Luton 5(3), Port Vale 9(5)

MoM: Sol Davis with a rating of 9. He won 10 of 11 headers, 5 of them key headers. We had 5 other players with ratings of 8 (Jensen, Foley, James, Evans, Wellens)

We remain in 23rd despite the nice win.

Richie Wellens just picked up his 5th yellow card and will miss the next match. He also suffered some bruised ribs and would have probably missed the match anyway.

The win is a huge morale booster. Everybody who played now has superb morale. They're still unhappy though...

Achievement News
Sol Davis is named on the League One Team of the Week for the 3rd time this season. He is averaging a form rating of 7.54 in league play this season.

November 1st, 2007
With a new month, a board appraisal. The Team Board is satisfied with my work, blech...

FM

[FrogMan]

November 3, 2007
Match #14: away at Bristol Rovers (24th with 5 points, we have 9 points)
Odds: Luton 13-8, Bristol Rovers 6-4(fav)
S: Mellor/Kaviedes/Vine
AMC: Bridge-Wilkinson
DMC: Evans/Keane (with up arrows)
D: Davis/James/Coyne/Foley (full backs with up arrows)
GK: Jensen

They show a 4-4-2 formation with moderate push from the wingers.

8': Marc Bridge-Wilkinson passes it to Rowan Vine on the right. Vine keeps the ball, running it forward. He brings it into the box, alone with the keeper, whom he fakes to score. Up 1-0.

20': I HATE DEFLECTION. They score from 30 yards out as a free kick gets deflected going through our wall. Tied 1-1.

23': They hit right back, scoring on a quick breakaway. Down 1-2

The half ends with us down 1-2. We're not shooting as much as them but we're controlling the ball fairly well...

47': I HATE HOMER REFEREES!!! They get 2 dubious free kicks on back to back sequences, scoring on the second one. Down 1-3.

75': We're putting pressure on their defenders and Neil Mellor scores on a rebound from a shot by Tony James. Down 2-3. This won't be enough.

Back to our old ways of getting close, but not close enough, and losing to an opponent we should have beaten. Brian Jensen gets a rating of 5 in the loss.

Final Score: Luton 2, Bristol Rovers 3
Shots: Luton 10(5), Bristol Rovers 10(5)

MoM: Bristol's David Savage with 2 goals and a rating of 8.
HoM: Marc Bridge-Wilkinson with a rating of 8. He completed 40 of 44 passes, 7 of them key passes.

Possession: (us/them)
our zone: 16/15
middle: 23/20
their zone: 15/11
Overall: 54/46

Player News
Chris Coyne requests to be transfer listed. I accept his request, thinking there should some team interested in him and I have replacements in the back.

Injury News
Enoch Showunmi tears his hamstring in training. He will miss 3 months, grrr. I ask a physio report and all three recommend that he has surgery to correct a recurring injury. Rehab possibilities are from 2 to 6 months. I go ahead and send him to the OR. He'll be out 4 months recuperating from surgery.


FM

[FrogMan]

November 7, 2007
Match #15: away at Barnsley (10th with 21 points, we have 9 points)
Odds: Luton 9-4, Barnsley evens(fav)
S: Mellor/Kaviedes/Vine
AMC: Bridge-Wilkinson
DMC: Evans/Wellens
D: Davis/James/Coyne/Foley (full backs with up arrows)
GK: Jensen

They show a 4-1-2-1-2, basically a 4-4-2 with midfielders in a diamond shape in the center of the field (DMC-MC-MC-AMC)...

32': They center the ball to an open man behind the defenders line, in the 6yard box. He scores. Down 0-1. Both central defenders are rated at 6 so far in the game.

The half ends with us down 0-1. They are on top of us both in shooting (8 to 6, but both 3 on target) and in possession, with 55%.

76': They had one to their tally. Now down 0-2.

80': We get a consolation goal, as Paul Evans passes it to a Lee Mansell all alone. Mansell scores. Still down, 1-2.

Final Score: Luton 1, Barnsley 2
Shots: Luton 12(6), Barnsley 16(5)

MoM: Barnsley's Kris Littler with a rating of 9.
HoM: Sol Davis with a rating of 8. He won 10 of 11 headers.

Sol Davis has picked up 5 yellow cards and will miss the next match.

Player News
James O'Connor wants first-team play. He was pretty unregular on the first team, but I had kept him on the senior squad until about 3 weeks ago. Now he's keeping the form with the reserves and he's not happy. A national football website had the question on a poll. 10% think that he should play first team, 86% think not, and 4% are undecided. He'll stay with the reserves for now.

Achievement News
Sol Davis has been named on the League One Team of the Week again.

Training News
Curtis Davies is reported missing from training. Since it's the second time this has happened for Davies, I fine him one week of pay. He accepts the fine and indicates a willingness to improve his behaviour in the future.

Player News
Jacob Burns requests to be transfer listed. I accept. He is my worst signing in this career. All he did since getting with the team is get injured...


FM

[daedalus]

Man, it's funky to read about Richie Wellens in two dynasties.

Rough stretch for the team right now. Suckly.

[FrogMan]

November 11, 2007
Match #16: home vs Blackpool (21st with 13pts, we have 9 points)
Odds: Luton 13-8, Blackpool 6-4(fav)
S: Mellor/Tarachulski/Vine
AMC: Bridge-Wilkinson
DMC: Evans/Wellens
D: Piotto/James/Bruce/Foley (full backs with up arrows)
GK: Beckwith

Blackpool look like a team in turmoil, not unlike us. They have many unhappy players and they are averaging some kinda low form ratings, which is not the case with us. Tey have 3 starters injured and another one suspended. We can't let this one slip by.

Rob Beckwith is back in the nets, following two 8 rated matches with the reserves. Brian Jensen's 5 and 6 in the last two matches have not helped his cause either.

Ivan Kaviedes is away on international duty, as Ecuador plays a World Cup Qualification match.

This will be Jacopo Piotto's second league appearance ever, in replacement of suspended Sol Davis.

Blackpool show a 4-4-2 formation with moderate push from the wingers.

27': Paul Evans plays a deep ball on the right toward Marc Bridge-Wilkinson but their keeper pushed him. PENALTY!!! BW goes to take it, but the keeper saves it! Neil Mellor gets to the rebound, but their keeper saves it again!!! DARN IT!!!

36': One of their players gets a second yellow. They switch to a 5-2-2 formation.

The half ends scoreless. We are putting the ball on target, but darn we can't score...

More of the same in the second half, it ends with a 0-0 draw, blech.

Final Score: Luton 0, Blackpool 0
Shots: Luton 13(5), Blackpool 3(1)

MoM: Blackpool's keeper Lee Baxter with a rating of 8.
HoM: Richie Wellens and Marc Bridge-Wilkinson both got ratings of 8.

Possession: (us/them)
our zone: 6/11
middle: 25/21
their zone: 28/9
Overall: 59/41

Look at these numbers. I'll be damned, but I can't score for them. We controlled the ball, put it on target more than enough, and yet couldn't score one tiny, bitsy goal.

Rob Beckwith got a 7 in the loss. We remain in 23rd.

Tony James picked up his 5th yellow and will be banned for our next match.

International Round-Up
Ivan Kaviedes looked in good shape as he played the whole match against Uruguay, scoring a goal in the process. Ecuador still lost the match 2-4 though.

Injury News
Rowan Vine damages his shoulder in trainin. He will miss one week.

FM

[FrogMan]

Originally Posted by daedalus

Man, it's funky to read about Richie Wellens in two dynasties.

Rough stretch for the team right now. Suckly.

yeah, I was a bit surprised to see EF sign Wellens, cool

Rough stretch is a euphemism...

FM

[FrogMan]

November 21, 2007
FA Cup Round #1: away at Hereford (L2, 5th with 27pts, only 3 losses on the season)
Odds: Luton 4-6(fav), Hereford 3-1
S: Morris/Tarachulski/Mellor
AMC: Bridge-Wilkinson
DMC: Keane/Wellens (both with up arrows)
D: Davis/Coyne/Bruce/Foley (full backs with up arrows)
GK: Beckwith

Ivan Kaviedes is still away on international duty.

They show a 4-4-2 formation with heavy push from the wingers.

7': NOOOOO!!! With the ball in Rob Beckwith's hands, I see him surveying the field when the whistle blows, now what? Chris Coyne is adjudged to having pushed an opponent in the penalty box, PENALTY!!! A bullshit call that leads to us going down 0-1.

The half ends with us down 0-1. I pull Rob Beckwith from the game and put Brian Jensen in.

50': Neil Mellor pumps a lovely ball to Lee Morris on the left. Morris tries to center the ball but it gets deflected to Sol Davis who score his first ever goal for Luton! Now tied 1-1.

71': Bartosz Tarachulski intercepts a pass from the keeper. Alone with the keeper, he scores off the post. We finally catch a break. I switch the team to a more defensive style and we hang on to win it 2-1!!!

Final Score: Luton 2, Hereford 1
Shots: Luton 9(5), Hereford 9(4)

MoM: Hereford's Robert Purdie with a goal and a rating of 8.
HoM: Too many to mention them all. We had 8 players with ratings of 8. Brian Jensen is one of them.

Possession: (us/them)
our zone: 12/28
middle: 20/21
their zone: 13/6
Overall: 45/55

We receive $24k for the win. We will play Notts Co at home on December 1, 2007 in round 2.

International Round-Up
Ivan Kaviedes had a so-so match for Ecuador, even though he played the whole match.

Injury News
Sol Davis twisted his knee in practice and will miss a week. Jacopo Piotto will see some action while Davis is out of commission.

FM

[daedalus]

Originally Posted by FrogMan

7': NOOOOO!!! With the ball in Rob Beckwith's hands, I see him surveying the field when the whistle blows, now what? Chris Coyne is adjudged to having pushed an opponent in the penalty box, PENALTY!!! A bullshit call that leads to us going down 0-1.

That's why we need the complain to FA about referee feature back!

[FrogMan]

November 24, 2007
Match #17: away at Chesterfield (14th with 20 points, we have 10 points)
Odds: Luton 6-4(fav), Chesterfield (13-8)
S: D'Sane/Kaviedes/Mellor
AMC: Mansell
DMC: Keane/Wellens
D: Piotto/Bruce/James/Foley
GK: Jensen

I'm scratching my head at how the oddsmakers came up with these odds....

Following his good second half against Hereford, Brian Jensen is back in the nets.

Chesterfield shows a 4-4-2 formation with moderate push from the wingers.

10': A deflection through the wall on a free kick from 25 yards out leads to them taking a 1-0 lead.

13': Their spraying Jensen with shots. Three shots in 10 seconds is a bit much for him. Down 0-2.

The half ends with us down 0-2, they are killing us...

60': Jacopo Piotto is caught too far up, leaving a man open behind him. Down 0-3.

They will add a fourth, then a fifth goal before the game is over. I write that now, but I had stopped writing down stuff at the Piotto goal.

We will lose this match 0-5 and it's the last notes I've taken about my career.

I kept playing, trying to bring the team back on track. We didn't win much, and when I looked at the squad screen, all I could see was UNH everywhere. Players had definitely turned on me.

Despite us having possession, and often outshooting everyone, we kept losing tight games. Beginning of December, I got the first words through the media that my job could be in jeopardy. A second time a week later, until that ill-fated day where we lost 0-5, to whom I can't even remember. When I got to my inbox screen I had this message waiting for me:


Say it ain't so? Huh, it's not real? Even though I expected it to come, it still hit pretty hard. I was devastated, still am. I cared so much about this team, I am not pathetic, am I?

Oh well. December 22, 2007 marked the end. There is no frog at Kenilworth Road anymore

This will also mark the end of this dynasty... Thanks to the 4, 5 regulars that read almost every words in here, hope you had a good time.

As for me, well life doesn't end when you get fired, right. So I started applying for jobs. Four teams had open manager spots when I looked up on December 23rd. Two of them were Conference sides and I was looking for something a bit higher, so I didn't even apply there. Leeds was one of the other two, I applied there, but got rejected. The other place I had applied, before applying to Leeds, is Q.P.R. They hired me on January 1st, 2008, posting this announce in the news:


Fans didn't like the decision at first, as you can see here:


But I finally won their hearts with a few wins.

When I got with the team, almost half way into the 2007-08 season, they were in 23rd position. I got them up to 17th, and then overtweaked my tactics again to let us go back down to 22nd. The season is now over and we have been relegated to League One, where the board expects us to win the League. hrm, can you say deja vu all over again? This scares me a bit, although I must say the roster I have with this QPR squad is downright scary, as in scary good. Much better than what I had with Luton...

You know what hurts me the most? When I left Luton, I had them sitting in 23rd place, not good, not good at all. Well, they finished the season in 13th, bastages...

I have not even started playing friendlies in July 2008, and I will now fade into the sunlight, leaving you to our good Luton memories. Bye Hatters, see ya in league play in 2008...

FM

[FrogMan]

Originally Posted by daedalus

That's why we need the complain to FA about referee feature back!

yes, for bogus penalty calls, and for SirFozzie to be able to complain about Mark Cooper

FM

[tanglewood]

Excellent dynasty FM. Hope you do well at QPR too.

[daedalus]

Ungrateful bastards! Sucky, Frogger.

Give us updates of when you kick their behind in league play.

[FrogMan]

Originally Posted by daedalus

Ungrateful bastards! Sucky, Frogger.

Give us updates of when you kick their behind in league play.

That's an idea

To add a little bit about what I think did me in. I think that going up to the Championship when we were not really ready is what did it. I mean, we went up out of a 6th place, winning the playoffs out of nowhere. We went up, I was in way over my head, trying a bunch of stuff with my tactics in the Championship, while we were simply overmatched, then we got relegated. The Board and the fans expecting us to win the League One on our first season back down was a bit tough, or at least I tought so. Expectations were high and we didn't deliver. I also put way too much faith into a youngish keeper in Rob Beckwith. It looked like once his confidence went down the tank, nobody could help him out... Oh well. I signed two players out of Luton already in Lee Mansell as a cheapo backup AMC and Ivan Kaviedes. I like Kavi too much Funny thing, his English is now not only basic, but normal.

I love this game, frustrating as hell at times, but so close to real life.

FM

[mrkilla22]

Goodluck with Q.P.R. FM! I love reading your dynasty.

[FrogMan]

posting this here to bump it one last time and let know the people subscribed to this thread that there's a new FM on FM2005 dynasty in the works, albeit much looser and less structured. Check it out, it's called FM2005: a frog at Loftus Road...

FM