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Staff News
Stewart Nicholson accepts the $700/week offer and becomes the latest member of our coaching staff. His main job will be coaching goalkeepers, but he also seems to have some accute skills in evaluating player skills and potential, so I may rely on his evaluations a bit more than the ones from some of my other coaches
Suspension News
The FA thinks we did not have valid grounds for our appeal of Marc Bridge-Wilkinson's one match ban. We'll have to wait for December 3rd to see if he'll be banned for more than one match...
November 29, 2005
quarter-final, LDV Vans Trophy South
home vs Millwall (currently 1st in League One)
S: Showunmi/Tarachulski/D'Sane
AMC: Jones
DMC: Johnson/Chambers (with up arrows)
D: Davis/Coyne/Davies/Foley (fullbacks with up arrows)
We are decimated by injuries and suspensions, following the crazy match against Huddersfield. The one silver lining is that the suspensions will be served in the Cup, leaving the players available for our next league match.
In the morning before the match, I decide to go to the media and criticise Elvis Hammond for his recent string of bad performance. By doing that, I hope to send a clear message to all the other players, that I won't accept bad performances, we need them to do well.
I also comment on Pater Jackson, no not the one behind the LOTR trilogy, the manager of Huddersfield, saying to the media that I'm not his biggest fan. This also in the hope of whipping my players a little...
While gameplanning, my thinking was that our only chance was to generate a lot of offense, give the ball to the strikers. To do so, I play with an AMC right behind the strikers and I push both defensive middies and fullbacks forward with up arrows.
16th minute: Since the beginning of the game, our goal is being sprayed left and right by shots from their middies and strikers. I decide to alter our tactics by giving an order of slowing the tempo, and asking the players to play with shorter passes.
20th minute: Looks like the tactic change is working and we mount an attack. From Richard Johnson to the left, to Enoch Showunmi, who heads it center to Bartosz Tarachulski who loses no time and hits a lovely strike in the top corner for the 1-0 goal.
48th minute: Ast the second half starts, Showunmi gets another nice pass, this time from Sol Davis. He takes the ball deep on his own and tries a cross toward the 6 yard line. Their keeper mishandles it, it's an OWN GOAL!!! We're up 2-0. Millwall goes to a 4-2-4 formation, with which we usually struggle...
81st minute: We've held on so far, but they center a sweet ball from the left, toward the near post and it is headed in. We're still up, but only by on, 2-1...
The game ends on this score, we move on to the semi-final, woot!
Final Score: Luton 2, Millwall 1
Shots (on target): Luton 10 (7), Millwall 12 (3)
MoM: Bartosz Tarachulski with a rating of 8, but again, I'd be tempted to give it to somebody else, as Enoch Showunmi had a heck of a game, creating many chances of scoring from the left side...
Injury News
The Millwall games has generated two more casualties in keeper Mark Goodlad, out for 3 days with a bruised rib, and defensive midfielder Richard Johnson, who will be out for a week with a damaged shoulder... They should be fine for our next game, as it's only on December 7th.
FM
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