FM: P'boro Utd., Year 4 (07-08) -- One More Step

[Butter]

Our next chance to clinch the title is at home to Cardiff. Lineup:
GK: Grant
Def: Pritchard, El Karkouri, Sarr, Dakinah
Mid: Campo, Monkhouse, Lunt, Nemeth
Str: Johansen, Hammond

April 19, Match 44
24-12-7, 1st pl., 84 pts.
v. Cardiff (17-11-15, 11th pl., 62 pts.)
Series: Even, 1-1-1
Fav: Posh, 6:4

No chances early... we're playing quite tentatively, not creating anything.

36'- Lunt's 25 yard free kick hits the post!

43'- Nemeth nearly scores on a low drive from 25 yards.

81'- Robnik and Valois in for Hammond and Nemeth... Monkhouse moves to the center of attack.

Cardiff pretty much pack their back line for the 2nd half, and we can't break it. It ends scoreless. Grant picks up our only 8.

Draw, 0-0
Shots/on target: Posh 10/1, Cardiff 2/2
Poss: 53-47, Posh
A: 15,077

As the final whistle goes, we head to the locker room to hear the crowd break out in a cheer... as it is announced that West Ham have lost on the road to Leeds, 3-1! We are the champions of the Championship!

It only took 4 years, but we are going to the Promised Land... the English Premier League!

[Butter]

Hey, this headline looks familiar:

Butter brings glory to Peterborough

Peterborough fans are in a jubilant mood, after Butter led them to the incredible feat of winning the English Championship.

A fans' spokesperson announced that Butter is undoubtedly one of the best managers around.

A prominent member of the Peterborough board could not contain his delight following the team's triumph.

Sadly, Luton was relegated for sure sometime last week. Wolves and West Ham have clinched playoff spots, with Wolves now holding a goal difference edge on West Ham for 2nd place.

With 2 games left, time to bring up the youngsters. We bring up the following players from the reserves:
AM-L Charlie Daniels
Str. James Faulkner
AM-C Inzaghi
GK Peter Karlsson
F-RLC Alexis Kubilskis
Str. Jami Puustinen
D/DM-RC Mads Reginiussen
D/DM-RC Gideon de Graaf

And from the U-18 squad:
DC Ian Holmes

We've only lost twice in the league since the new year, yielding just 1 goal in our last 6 matches, and 5 goals in the last 10.

Unlike real life, it appears that Harry Redknapp is just now about to be sacked by Portsmouth... they're 13th in the EPL, but safe from relegation. Meanwhile, Southampton boss Jurgen Klinsmann has leaped to the same job with Tottenham Hotspur... pretty much a lateral move, as Spurs are just 2 places higher in the table at 8th right now, with not much chance to move up to a UEFA Cup spot.

Champions League Semifinals, Leg 1
Barcelona 1:2 Chelsea
Man. Utd. 1:0 Juventus

Kofi Dakinah makes it known that he wants a better contract. I'll consider it during the offseason.

Then, this interesting nugget:
Aston Villa approach Butter
Aston Villa chairman Doug Ellis has offered you the managerial job at Villa Park with the condition that you work to secure the club's long-term financial security.

Ellis indicates that the board would be able to offer you a transfer budget in the region of $15M to fund the purchase of new players.

With the current wage bill also well above budget at around $56,000,000 p/a (per year), the board will require this figure to be significantly reduced should you take charge.

Interesting, but I'm not a big Villa fan. Not a goal of mine to coach there, so I pass.

UEFA Cup Semifinals, Leg 1
Ajax 2:1 Southampton
Parma 0:0 Lazio

Next up, we travel to Gillingham... Gills clinch a playoff spot with a win. Sadly for Reading, the 7th place team, I'll be playing the youngsters today. Lineup:
GK: Karlsson
Def: Pritchard, Holmes, Carr, de Graaf
Mid: Reginiussen, Daniels, Kubilskis, Inzaghi
Str: Faulkner, Robnik

April 26, Match 45
24-13-7, 1st pl., 85 pts.
@ Gillingham (20-11-13, 5th pl., 71 pts.)
Series: Even, 1-1-1
Fav: Posh, Evens

I wouldn't be the favorite if they knew the lineup I was starting.

6'- Inzaghi with an outswinging corner, right to Robnik who is tackled down and the penalty is given... sadly Faulkner hits it straight at the keeper.

18'- Gills score off a set piece, with a nice header from a corner kick... Carr lost his man on the play, creating the chance.

25'- de Graaf with a great ball down the right touch line... Kubilskis tracks it down just before it goes out of play, then swings a cross back across the six, where Charlie Daniels is attacking the far post... he volleys it back across the goal mouth and nestles it inside the right post for his first Posh goal! Nice move there to even the game.

31'- Gills re-take the lead with a long cross in from the right that finds a head inside the six yard box... Karlsson looked helpless.

42'- Karlsson is slightly injured, so we remove him in favor of Argenio.

Not much happens for a LONG time.

83'- Eriksson on for Daniels, Cataldo for Robnik.

90'+- After 2 minutes of up-and-down the field action, Reginiussen passes to Cataldo at around 45 yards, and Franco just takes off, leaving one defender in the dust, then drawing out the keeper and slotting it inside the left post past him! Nice individual effort to level the match.

The match ends even, a better result than I expected. Reginiussen was probably the most impressive player from the action I saw. He picked up an 8, as did de Graaf, Holmes, and Inzaghi amongst the youngsters.

Draw, 2-2
Shots/on target: Gills 8/3, Posh 16/6
Poss: 56-44, Gills
A: 10,698

Good news for Gillingham as Reading only manage a draw in their match to ensure Gills a playoff spot.

Hull lead Reading by 2 points for the final playoff spot, while Wolves drop 3 points behind West Ham by losing their game and watching the Hammers win later that day. They'll have to win and have West Ham lose next week to clinch the 2nd automatic promotion spot. Everton is solidly in 4th place with a playoff spot as well.

At the foot of the table, it's Plymouth, Barnsley, and Nott'm Forest all fighting against being the two teams to join Luton in League One next season. They're all within two points of each other.

West Bromwich Albion has also clinched relegation from the EPL, so we'll miss out on them next year.

[Butter]

Kevin Blackwell, former Leeds and West Brom boss (and sacked from both), is hired as Southampton's new manager.

Champions League Semifinals, Leg 2
Chelsea 0:3 Barcelona (Barca adv. 4-2 on agg.)
Juventus 1:2 Man Utd. (Man U. adv. 3-1 on agg.)

UEFA Cup Semifinals, Leg 2
Lazio 1:1 Parma (Even, 1-1, Parma adv. on away goals)
Southampton 1:0 Ajax (Even, 2-2, Southampton adv. on away goals)

Manchester United clinches the Premiership title, while Sunderland are relegated.

Our final match is a home clash with Crewe. Lineup:
GK: Karlsson
Def: Burton, Cave, Holmes, de Graaf
Mid: Reginiussen, Daniels, Kubilskis, Inzaghi
Str: Faulkner, Robnik

May 4, Match 46
24-14-7, 1st pl., 86 pts.
v. Crewe Alexandra (17-13-15, 13th pl., 64 pts.)
Series: Posh lead 1-2-0
Fav: Posh, 4:5

2'- Kubilskis with a terrific pass to Robnik, who has found a soft spot in the defense, but misses an open 8 yarder.

6'- de Graaf with a bad giveaway, trying to work around an attacker instead of clearing the ball, he loses possession deep in our half, and one pass and a shot later we're down a goal.

Not much happens again for quite a while.

47'- Kubilskis attempting to cross in for Faulkner nearly scores a long range goal, but it's tipped over.

55'- Burton with a great free kick into the box, Inzaghi gets up to flick it onto goal, but it just blazes over the bar.

We get one more chance, but a great cross by Reginiussen is headed away from the onrushing Daniels.

Our final match is a loss this year, but it's hardly disappointing. Daniels picks up a 5, and everyone else a 7.

Loss, 0-1, finish 5 pts. clear of West Ham for title
Shots/on target: Posh 7/4, Crewe 8/1
Poss: 50-50
A: 7,098

Our first small crowd in quite a while. Can't blame them, really.

Wolves win, but West Ham hang on for a draw at Coventry to win the 2nd promotion spot. Hull beat Plymouth Argyle to make Reading's result a moot point for the final playoff spot.

Barnsley beat Everton at home, while Nott'm Forest can only manage a draw at home to Gillingham to make Forest and Plymouth the unlucky final 2 relegated sides.

[Butter]

At this time last year, I said we just needed a couple of more players to get over the hump. Well, Kenny Lunt was pretty much the only main player we added, although Alessandro Potenza had a terrific half-season before he got injured, then we traded him away for a keeper, which we also desperately needed. And Franco Cataldo provided some much needed punch off the bench.

For next year, I would think that we've got to add a bit more quality. The first half of the season will likely be spent feeling out who can and can't perform in the top flight. For those who can't, no loyalty will be shown. We'll have a transfer budget, and I won't be afraid to use it to bring in talent.

Final table


Team stats
Not all-inclusive, because then I'd have to drag up all those marginal reserves that played at the end of the year. The reserve squad stats are for reserve games. Our reserve team once again finished second in their Group, just behind Luton. Luton's reserves were champions, but their senior squad were by far the worst team in the Championship. Maybe they should've brought some of those kids up.



Contract status
As you can see, Paul Devlin is the only senior squad member not to already be re-signed for next year... mainly because we're not going to keep him. All reserve squad members not already re-signed are also not going to return to the club next year.

[Butter]

Roster review and preview for 2008/09

Glancing at the stats, I'd have to say that striker Franco Cataldo's impact was greater than his average rating indicates, mostly because there were several matches where he was brought on for the final few minutes and didn't have a chance to rate higher than a 7. The same would go for Tobias Eriksson and Alan Navarro as well. Navarro played better than expected, after last year's poor effort he showed how much he wanted to be part of the team. Eriksson finally started to show some flash from the left wing, and will hopefully begin to prove himself next season.

Szilard Nemeth had an impressive 7 assists playing in only about half the season's games, and many of those from the bench. He played often out of position, but proved that he had the skill to compete for the starting AMC job next year. Monkhouse and Lunt are likely the starting wingers for next year, and Nemeth will be given the opportunity to win the starting AMC job. Hammond and Johansen will enter the season as incumbents as well, though Cataldo may edge out Johansen if we have the opportunity to sell him... Johansen still hasn't backed down from wanting well over $1.5 million per year on a new contract, which our board simply will not allow.

As far as new players coming in, we have one good defender and a new keeper slated to join the squad in the pre-season. Lee Grant did well after settling in at keeper, but he was still a little too up and down for my taste. Hopefully, Graham Stack of Coventry, the new guy, will help settle our keeper situation.

The new defender, Zambian Sashi Chalwe, adds to our glut of talent at centerback, and will likely facilitate the use of either he, Campo, or El Karkouri out of position at left back. Both Campo and El Karkouri lacked the control of the game I like out of a defensive midfielder, so that will likely be a target of ours in the offseason. Sarr and Dakinah were our top-rated defenders, and will begin the pre-season as likely to start at center and right-back respectively.

Jean-Louis Valois was signed to one more year, but didn't really have it this season as he did in the past on the left wing. He was mostly benched for the final 1/4 of the season. Carr, Burton, and Pritchard will mostly be spot starters to rest the main back 4. And Dejan Robnik didn't have much of an opportunity to show me anything at striker, though he did flash the speed. He'll be on the bench more next year. Inzaghi will start the year with the reserves, and Pasquale Argenio will as well.

[Butter]

May 2008

QPR is the final team to be relegated from the Premiership.

Championship Playoffs
Semifinals, Leg 1
Gillingham 0:1 Hull
Everton 1:1 Wolves

Semifinals, Leg 2
Hull 2:3 Gillingham (Even, 3-3, Hull adv. 4-2 on PK's)
Wolves 0:0 Everton (Even, 1-1, Wolves adv. 4-2 on PK's)

Final - From Wembley
Hull 1:2 Wolves
-Francis Jeffers scored twice in the first 20 minutes to propel Wolverhampton back into the top flight after spending just one season in relegation. Hull fought back with a 22nd minute goal from striker Jason Euell, but could manage no more against a packed in Wolves defense.


UEFA Cup Final - From De Kuip, Rotterdam
Parma 4:2 Southampton (in extra time)
-This was maybe the most amazing extra time in Europe in 10 years. Parma started the scoring in the 26th minute from a Daniele Bonera goal, when the defender got a header in off a corner kick at the back post, as David Prutton failed to clear it with his own head. But midfielder Matthew Oakley scored off a 25 yard direct free kick 2 minutes before halftime to head into the break level at 1. The second half was fairly tentative, neither team wanting to give up that winning goal. But when the match went to extra time, it seemed that neither side wanted it to end in PK's either. Parma got things started in the 92nd minute, as Saints keeper Antti Niemi misplayed a free kick, and watched substitute striker Alberto Gilardino head it in behind him. Saints strike back just 2 minutes later, as David Prutton finds midfielder Yoann Folly on the left of the box, and his short chip found the head of James Beattie, who heads it home to even it at 2. Unfortunately for Saints, Gilardino wasn't finished... he headed in a corner in the 101st, then completed the amazing extra time hat trick with a score on a breakaway against a pushed up Saints backline, when he chipped a charging Niemi in the 113th minute. The Saints narrowly miss winning their first ever European hardware, while Parma wins the UEFA Cup for the first time since 1999.

Champions League Final - Santiago Bernabeu, Madrid
Manchester United 2:2 Barcelona
-Carlos Tevez put Barcelona up 2-0 early, with a great individual effort in the 20th minute to score past Tim Howard on a through ball from Ronaldinho, then scoring on a penalty after Gary Neville brought down attacker Horacio Peralta in the box on a long throw in. But United grabbed one back before halftime, as former Hertha Berlin striker Ivica Olic scored on a straight steal from Carlos Puyol in the 42nd minute. Then, Djemba Djemba with a nice cross to Cristiano Ronaldo, who headed in at the far post in the 60th to even things at 2. After a tight extra 30 minutes, the game went to penalties. Barcelona took a 3-1 PK lead, but Ronaldinho and Sylvinho missed the clincher, while John O'Shea and Darren Fletcher both nailed sudden death attempts. Then, the shootout went another 5 rounds, including a score by Man U. keeper Tim Howard, before Barcelona's GK Victor Valdes missed the 10th and final Barcelona kick, while Rio Ferdinand converted the Red Devils' final PK to win it, 6-5 on spot kicks. It is Manchester United's first European championship since 1999.

FA Cup Final - From Wembley
Sunderland 1:0 Crystal Palace (in extra time)
-Sunderland gives a big "screw you" to the Premiership, as they win the FA Cup on their way to the Championship next season. A pretty boring game, all things considered, as neither team could hit the broadside of a barn. It came down to a 117th minute goal by little used striker Paul Edwards (formerly of Crewe) to win it for Sunderland. This was Sunderland's first FA Cup Finals appearance since 1992, and their first win since 1973.

And Crystal Palace finished 7th in the Premiership, but will be forced to rue this win a bit extra, as Sunderland get a UEFA Cup spot thanks to their win here, denying Palace automatic European placement.

2008/09 European qualifiers from England
Champions League: Manchester United (cup holder), Arsenal, Chelsea, Newcastle
UEFA Cup: Middlesbrough, Liverpool, Sunderland (national cup winner)
Inter-Toto Cup: Charlton, Crystal Palace


Financial report
The expiration of our current sponsorship deal, at just $51k per season, brings new money, as we reap a $380k per season deal for 5 years for a new sponsor, mainly thanks to our new foray into the Premiership.

The board also announce our new transfer budget for next year, and they loosen the purse strings a bit... giving us $4 million to work with... a good increase over our current $2.6 million.

Our current budget surplus is just over $9 million, thanks to very good ticket sales and merchandising. Our wage budget also was kept under the expected amount for most of the season. Our wage budget has increased from $4.6 million at the end of last season, to $6.6 million. We're currently over $2 million under budget. Also, the board will now allow us to spend up to $650k on a "key player", and up to $500k on a member of the first team. A large increase over last year's allowance of $480k/$400k. This should help us expand our focus when looking for new Posh-men.

[Butter]

Posh players in top-25 of final stats
Goals
4. Johansen - 19
9t. Hammond - 15

Assists
4t. Hammond, Lunt, Monkhouse - 11
11t. Valois - 10

Average rating
3t. Monkhouse, Dakinah - 7.65
7. Lunt - 7.59
18. Sarr - 7.49

Man of Match awards
11t. Monkhouse - 6

Average attendance: 14,031 (20th/24)
Goals For: 76 (1st)
Goals Against: 43 (2nd)

We also had the 2nd fewest red cards in the league, with just 1, and the fewest yellow cards in the league with 53.

Andy Monkhouse and Kenny Lunt were named to the 2007/08 Players' Select Team of the Year, and Sarr was named as a "sub" on the same team... and transferred keeper Thomas Myhre won the backup keeper honors on that team as well. Whoops.

I am also rewarded with Manager of the Year honors.

[Butter]

Continue on to Year 5.