FM2005: A Virgin Trip into LLM.

[Eaglesfan27]

After seeing my DC's consistently make bad plays, I continued my search through a variety of DC's who might join me on loan. After being rejected by 14 different players(!) I'm glad to announce the signing of Chris Brown (DC) from Huddersfield for the next 3 months at no cost to the club. I'm continuing to search for more help.

[Eaglesfan27]

Currently in 19th place, we are hosting 4th place Worcester which has had several notable loan players come onto their team this year. These include Jamie Pitman from Hereford, Mark Wright from Walsall, and Michael Townsend from the Wolves.

Not surprisingly, Worcester is even odds favorites while we are 9:4 odds to get a win. Yet we are desperate for a win. I'll be severely modifying this offense if we don't score some goals this game and get at least a tie. Also, I plan on going to my defensive 4-1-3-2 if we get a lead.

It's a dry cool 55 degrees.

My starting Lineup:

GK: Pettinger - averaging a 7.00 for form.
DL: Mark Barnard - averaging a 7.00 for form at this position
DC: Chris Brown - my loan player from Huddersfield will start immediately.
DC: Leigh Wood - The 21 year old defender hasn't been the problem. He has been averaging 7.33
DR: Grant Black - A solid 7 avg.
DMC: Mark Atkins - 7.33 playing a variety of positions, but mostly DMC.
MR: Christian Fox - avg 7.0, needs to start as Shepherd is injured.
ML: Andrew Wright - 8.0 avg, my best player by far at this point.
AMC: Colin Hunter - 7.0, hopefully will play better now that injury is healed.
SC: Turley - 7.0 - can't see to find the net.. would be replaced if Donaldson was healed.
SC: Farrell - 7.0 average playing surprisingly solid for young kid.

S1 - Buxton - need a backup keeper in case of disaster.
S2 - Lee Morris - Reserve Striker, hasn't seen the field yet. May this game.
S3 - Justin Jackson - reserve striker, 7.0 avg.
S4 - Lennie Curtis - now a reserve DC, as Brown has replaced him.
S5 - Richard Dunning - versatile player who could play a few spots.

Now onto the game..

[Eaglesfan27]

First 20 minutes are fairly quiet except for one close call by the opposition which barely sailed over the cross bar.

24 minute mark: Fox sends a great ball across the pitch to Turley. Turley as usual creates a breakaway with his speed... he shoots.. it's on goal.. turned away by the keeper. Corner kick which is stopped by the keeper.

44 minute mark: After several close calls our defense another good opportunity happen. Colin Hoyle takes the ball down the length of the pitch and plays a through ball for James Stevenson, the opponent's striker. Stevenson shoots it right past my apparently stunned keeper.

1-0 at the half.

53 minute mark: Farrell makes a brilliant steal from the defender.. he has a point blank shot at goal. He shoots.. straight into the keeper.. Colin Hoyle clears the ball down the pitch.

56 minute mark: Atkins takes a direct kick from just outside the 20 yard box.. it is hit hard off the defender.. deflected towards the goal... just wide right.

The remaining 34 minutes sees us get 2 good scoring opportunities that the defense shut down before a good shot can be made. The opposition played like a turtle totally stifling our offense. Our opponent wins 1-0.

They outshot us 9-6.

Carl Heeley, their DC, won MoM with an 8 for form. He completed 18 of 31 passes, 8 of 9 headers including 6 key headers, and he was a key component in shutting down our defense. He also won 5 of 7 tackles.

[Desnudo]

Have you thought about sacking the manager? Some pretty poor play there. Oh wait, you are the manager.

[Eaglesfan27]

As I approach the end of my first full month of league play, I find myself wondering how close I am to be fired. The chairman told me he wants to meet with me monthly to review my performance, and the first one of those is coming up in 3 short days. I certainly didn't expect my management career to start this way as I dreamed of managing Man Utd, before I took this job. I thought I'd blaze onto the scene.. hopefully, I can turn this around soon. I'm performing some tweaks to my 3 main tactics now.

The primary tactic is a 4-1-2-1-2, my secondary tactic is a 4-1-3-2, and my backup tactic is a plain 4-4-2. I'm tweaking the 4-1-2-1-2 as I think it still has some merit for this team...

[Eaglesfan27]

Originally Posted by Desnudo

Have you thought about sacking the manager? Some pretty poor play there. Oh wait, you are the manager.

Too bad I don't have an assistant manager. I could blame him and sack him

[Eaglesfan27]

Well the dreaded meeting happened. The chairman tells me that he still feels I'm the right guy to lead the club. That is reassuring. I just wish I believed it.

I do know that he is still expecting me to finish in the top half of the table, so we better get this thing turned around quickly. This will be my last game with the 4-1-2-1-2, if we don't score some goals it will be scrapped for a while..

[Eaglesfan27]

Well I finally got some good news. Barrow lost their star striker for the season due to injury. This should help us when we play them later in the year.

Also, a team agreed to let me have a player on a free transfer. Of course, he doesn't want to come play here... maybe a bit of a raise can convince him. My scout likes something in this young 17 year old keeper..

[Eaglesfan27]

September 4th, 2004 -

Watched the World Cup qualifying match today between England and Austria. I can only dream to manage such talent one day. England mopped up Austria 4-0 as Michael Owen scored 2 goals, Ledley King and Darius Vassell each added a goal. David Beckham was the best player on the pitch as he set up 3 of the goals and made many great passes in this match.

[Eaglesfan27]

September 8th, 2004 -

England defeated Poland 3-0 as Ledley King set up 2 goals and Beckham set up another. Steven Gerrard and Michael Owen finished the Beckham passes. Emile Heskey scored the 3rd goal as a late sub in the game. According to the TV, England's fans are quite pleased with the national team at this time.

[Eaglesfan27]

YES!!! My persistence pays off as I find another player willing to come play for us. Blackburn's Jemal Johnson is agreeing to come play for us for 3 months as he wants first team football! My scouts believe he will immediately step into the 1st team, and I plan on using him in the pivotal AMC spot to hopefully jump start this offense..

[Eaglesfan27]

Currently in 21st place, we are traveling to 12th place Alfreton. Call me foolish, but I think we have a good chance against this team after perusing their roster.

Not surprisingly, Alfreton is a 6-4 favorite while we are at 13:8 odds to get a win. I have the tweaked 4-1-2-1-2 installed. I now have a potentially better AMC in the pivotal role.

It's a dry cool 53 degrees.

My starting Lineup:

GK: Pettinger - averaging a 7.00 for form.
DL: Mark Barnard - averaging a 7.00 for form at this position
DC: Chris Brown - my loan player from Huddersfield will start immediately.
DC: Leigh Wood - The 21 year old defender hasn't been the problem. He has been averaging 7.33
DR: Grant Black - A solid 7 avg.
DMC: Mark Atkins - 7.33 playing a variety of positions, but mostly DMC.
MR: Christian Fox - avg 7.0, needs to start as Shepherd is injured.
ML: Andrew Wright - 8.0 avg, my best player by far at this point.
AMC: Jemal Johnson - this loan player from Blackburn has great potential..
SC: Turley - 7.0 - can't see to find the net.. would be replaced if Donaldson was healed.
SC: Farrell - 7.0 average playing surprisingly solid for young kid.

S1 - Buxton - need a backup keeper in case of disaster.
S2 - Lee Morris - Reserve Striker, hasn't seen the field yet. May this game.
S3 - Justin Jackson - reserve striker, 7.0 avg.
S4 - Lennie Curtis - now a reserve DC, as Brown has replaced him.
S5 - Richard Dunning - versatile player who could play a few spots.

Now onto the game..

[jbmagic]

this is a great dynasty read...


for this league...what place you need to be to make the playoff? how the playoff format works?

[SirFozzie]

jbmagic: Most leagues in Europe do not do playoffs. Instead, they work on a promotion and relegation factor.. where the top teams move up a level and the worst teams move down a level.

But in this case: The top team in each of the regional conference levels automatically move up to the next level (the Conference National), and the 2nd through fifth place team in both the north and the south move in to an 8 team playoff,(usually a home and home series, with most total goals winning) with the winner of the playoff also moving up

[RPI-Fan]

Originally Posted by Eaglesfan27

As I approach the end of my first full month of league play, I find myself wondering how close I am to be fired. The chairman told me he wants to meet with me monthly to review my performance, and the first one of those is coming up in 3 short days. I certainly didn't expect my management career to start this way as I dreamed of managing Man Utd, before I took this job. I thought I'd blaze onto the scene.. hopefully, I can turn this around soon. I'm performing some tweaks to my 3 main tactics now.

The primary tactic is a 4-1-2-1-2, my secondary tactic is a 4-1-3-2, and my backup tactic is a plain 4-4-2. I'm tweaking the 4-1-2-1-2 as I think it still has some merit for this team...

Just curious - what kind of tactics "tweaks" do you do? The little dashed arrows? Just asking b/c I always heard a ton of talk on tactics but it seems to me there is certainly a finite number of ways you can position guys on the pitch.

[RPI-Fan]

Originally Posted by Eaglesfan27

YES!!! My persistence pays off as I find another player willing to come play for us. Blackburn's Jemal Johnson is agreeing to come play for us for 3 months as he wants first team football! My scouts believe he will immediately step into the 1st team, and I plan on using him in the pivotal AMC spot to hopefully jump start this offense..

I believe Johnson is an American.

Also, did you set your nationality as American or as English? If the former, it's definitely why you're having so much trouble getting anyone who is willing to play for you.

[Desnudo]

Originally Posted by RPI-Fan

I believe Johnson is an American.

Also, did you set your nationality as American or as English? If the former, it's definitely why you're having so much trouble getting anyone who is willing to play for you.

That is a big factor, but it also has to do with team rep and coach rep.

[Eaglesfan27]

11 minutes into the match, my optism is damaged as Chris Bettney feeds a long pass that finds Kevin Rapley just outside the box.. Rapley dribbles twice.. shoots.. he scores low and away to the right corner of the net.

Matt Fisher has to hold Johnson to stop him from getting a breakaway. Fisher gets the yellow card, but it's outside the box and we only get a direct kick... no good.

1-0 at the half and Johnson only has a 6 and is a minor disappointment at this point.

48 minute mark.. Fisher holds Johnson again.. a whistle is called but Fisher gets away with just a warning.

71 minute mark.. Johnson feed a great ball to Turley.. he has the breakaway.. he shoots.. hits the crossbar.. the keeper pounces on it.

82 minute mark: Turley on the breakaway.. he is about to score.. flag for offsides. My keeper argues.. yellow card to the keeper.

90 minute mark: Fisher feeds Holmes.. Holmes takes it into my box. Holmes shoots, he scores. 2-0 for Alfredton.

Game over and the end of the 4-1-2-1-2 is here.

We were outshot 12-1!

Lennie Curtis, my DC won MoM as he had 10 of 10 tackles and 7 of 7 headers..

[Eaglesfan27]

Originally Posted by RPI-Fan

Just curious - what kind of tactics "tweaks" do you do? The little dashed arrows? Just asking b/c I always heard a ton of talk on tactics but it seems to me there is certainly a finite number of ways you can position guys on the pitch.

In my case, I changed how aggressive my guys were being. How creative they were being in their passing. I also changed how wide they were working the ball and which flank they were passing the ball down. There are sliders to control all of these things. That being said, I think this tactic has been a disaster..

[Eaglesfan27]

I set my nationality to English. I think I got Johnson because he might be rubbish in the guise of a relatively high valued player

I think my team rep and my coach's rep as obscure is hurting me from getting most of these guys.. I certainly can't get any of my top choices who might really be very helpful to the team.

[RPI-Fan]

Originally Posted by Eaglesfan27

I set my nationality to English. I think I got Johnson because he might be rubbish in the guise of a relatively high valued player

I think my team rep and my coach's rep as obscure is hurting me from getting most of these guys.. I certainly can't get any of my top choices who might really be very helpful to the team.

Well in Johnson's case I don't think anybody has ever even talked about him re: US National team, while there are other teenagers who have been highly hyped (Szetela, Gavin, Adu [of course]). I think the general impression among American soccer fans is that he's like a Mike Magee or Arturo Alvarez - not a bad prospect, but not someone anyone thinks will ever be a USMNT regular.

That is if I am even thinking of the correct player, here.

Also, thanks for the note on tactics - that is one thing that is very nice about FM2005 (and the whole CM4) series - "tweaks" like that never used to be possible.

[Eaglesfan27]

I just checked and Jemal Johnson is a 20 year old American kid, so I think you are thinking of the same guy

In the game, he also has English nationality. He has been with Blackburn the last few years. His reputation is only local which probably helped me get him. Also, his personality is now showing up as "unambitious." He is still likely to help my team. I'm tweaking my 4-4-2 now, and am going to try that as my primary tactic for the next few games at least..

[Eaglesfan27]

Today my 21st ranked team hosts the 15th ranked Worksop town. Worksop recently add Richard Kell from Scunthorpe on loan, and appears to have a talented squad but the pieces haven't worked too well for them this year. We are actually 6:4 favorites and I'm hoping the oddsmakers finally get this one right.

On a positive note, we have Clayton Donaldson back from his broken arm, and he will start. We are using a 4-4-2 as our new tactic which will be a fairly aggressive attack in a hope to start scoring some goals..

GK: Pettinger
DL: Barnard
DC: Chris Brown
DC: Lennie Curtis
DR: Grant Black
ML: Andrew Wright
MC: Mark Atkins
MC: Jemel Johnson
MR: Paul Shepherd (demoting Fox who has been disappointing)
SC: Farrell
SC: Donaldson

S1: Buxton
S2: Morris
S3: Fox
S4: Turley (also been demoted)
S5: Dunning

It is a pleasant dry 57 degrees and the match is about to start..

[Eaglesfan27]

After dominating the time of possession for the first 12 minutes, I'm sure we are about to score when I see Wright send a lofty long pass for Donaldson. Donaldson races past his defender... he chases the ball down, but he can't quite get to it as the keeper races out and grabs it.

16 minute mark: Pettinger makes a great save on a hard shot by Richard Kell that I thought was going to be a goal for sure..

17 minute mark: Donaldson is tackled as he is about to score.. unfortunately, the penalty shot is not awarded, but we do get a direct kick outside the box. The ball deflects off of one of my own guys and goes out of bounds for the goal kick.

25 minute mark: Grant Black comes up from the right full back spot.. he lofts a pass into the box to Donaldson. Donaldson shoots, the keeper deflects it back towards Donaldson.. the keeper races to it.. Donaldson races to it.. Donaldson wins the race.. he taps it in past the keeper...... GOAL!!!!!!!

38 minute mark: Atkins receives the throw in from Black.. Atkins looks around he centers it to a wide open Chris Brown who has drifted forward.. Brown blasts a shot.... it deflects off the defender.. and past the keeper.. GOAL!!!!

39 minute mark: Gavin Smith passes from the middle of the field to the right wing where Richard Peacock takes a look around.. he centers to Kell.. Kell shoots and he scores.

44 minute mark: Pettinger makes a big save of a hard Dene Cropper shot. Pettinger has really been impressing me with some of the saves he has made.

85 minute mark: After a long quiet period, Kell shoots a hard shot on our goal.. Pettinger barely deflects it over the bar. On the ensuing corner, Caudwell heads the corner.. my breath catches as it barely goes wide.

The last 6 minutes seem to drag as Worksop makes several charges at us, but our defenders and midfielders turn each away before they get too close..

Our first win!! 2-1.

We were outshot 11-4.

Mark Atkins won MoM by completing 42 of 50 passes, 5 of 6 tackles, 3 of 3 headers, and he had one key intercepted pass.

[SirFozzie]

Alright Guv! Now let's keep the Momentum!

[Eaglesfan27]

September 20, 2004 -

I've been notified that we will be playing Hucknall on their pitch in the 2nd round of the qualifying phase for the English FA Cup. It will be on their pitch on October 2nd.

[daedalus]

I think your 4-1-2-1-2 leaves you too thin in the middle. With a burner at striker, have you considered tinkering with a variation of 4-5-1 with long ball and counterattacking in mind? I would take the second striker and use that spot for a central midfielder to provide a link between your third and the opposition's.

Good luck with the cup games. Lots of money there! Woohoo!

[MizzouRah]

Nice job on the win!


Todd

[Eaglesfan27]

Daedalus - Thanks for the advice. I agree that the 4-1-2-1-2 was leaving us too thin in the middle. It's my favorite formation with top clubs, but this club just couldn't make it work. I've definitely considered a 4-5-1. I guess one of my concerns is my relative lack of depth in the midfield. I don't have that many midfielders that I want to play regularly.. I have 5 that I feel comfortable with on the pitch, but if they get tired or injured that would be a problem. Also, I have 3 strikers that I think have potential at this level. The burner is the 3rd of these at this point as his shooting is so wildly inaccurate (not surprising as his finishing and long shooting are both low.)

Todd - Thanks!
I've been thinking about this dynasty btw patients at work. Can't wait til my work day is done (not that I can complain as I will be done early today.)

[Eaglesfan27]

Oh yeah, I might consider switching to the 4-5-1 if I can get another midfielder on loan and I can't get another striker on loan when Donaldson leaves. If he goes, I only have 2 strikers that I really want on the pitch.

[path12]

Great read -- look forward to more! Are you using long passing? I've found at these lower levels that my preferred short and mixed passing are really useless due to the quality of the players.

[Eaglesfan27]

I went out with a buddy after work and just returned home. Thanks for the compliment. Will be writing more in a little while. As far as passing, I know that short/mixed passing rarely works in the lower levels, yet I'm trying it some games as I have two wingers who are really decently rated for this level. Other games I'm sticking to long ball..

[Desnudo]

I used the 4-5-1 with long pass and CA until I got out of the Conference. It works well enough, especially if you're a mediocre team. Definitely won't make you look forward to those 2-D matches though.

[Eaglesfan27]

Today my 21st ranked team travels to 19th ranked Droylsden. Droylsdan recently added Benjamin Collett from Man Utd on loan, and appears to have a talented squad, particularly Left winger Andy Lee and their two strikers Steve Brodie and Jody Banim but the pieces haven't worked too well for them this year. We are actually 6:4 favorites and I'm hoping the oddsmakers have this one right.

We are using the same lineup as last game since it got us a win..

GK: Pettinger
DL: Barnard
DC: Chris Brown
DC: Lennie Curtis
DR: Grant Black
ML: Andrew Wright
MC: Mark Atkins
MC: Jemel Johnson
MR: Paul Shepherd (demoting Fox who has been disappointing)
SC: Farrell
SC: Donaldson

S1: Buxton
S2: Morris
S3: Fox
S4: Turley (also been demoted)
S5: Dunning

It is a cool 48 degrees and the match is about to start..

[Eaglesfan27]

6 minutes into the match, Chris Brown sacrifices his body to stop a likely goal from Steve Brodie inside the box, but Droylsdan gets the corner..

8 minute mark: Atkins feed the ball up ahead to Donaldson on the counter attack.. Donaldson is outracing the defense.. he is about to enter the box, and is tackled from behind.. Gary Burke gets the yellow card for Droylsdan.. direct kick just outside the box. Atkins takes the free kick and just misses the upper left corner of the goal as he hits it just a little high and wide.

11 minute mark: On the counter attack, Burke feeds it into the middle of the field where Collett quickly feeds it to Brodie, Brodie plays a perfect ball btw my two central defenders for Jody Banim.. Banim shoots from just inside the box.. past the keeper.. hits the left goal post.. into the goal. 1-0

23 minute mark: Wright feeds a good ball to Johnson who takes it past the defender.. he shoots from just outside the center of the box... keeper tips it over the bar.. corner kick.

34 minute mark: Collett makes a great move on Johnson, dribbles past mid field.. past another defender.. he passes to Banim who is just inside the box.. my DC makes Banim go wide.. the keeper comes out to cut down the angle.. Banim shoots.. the keeper controls the shot.

39 minute mark: Johnson beats Collett with a great speed move.. he draws out the DC.. passes around him to Atkins.. Atkins shoots... the keeper deflects it over the bar.

39 minute mark: Carl Regan controls heads the corner shot away to Lee on the left wing.. Lee sends a long pass to Collett.. Collett dribbles past Lennie Curtis.. he shoots from just outside the box.. wide left..

1-0 at halftime.

47 minute mark: Atkins gets a yellow card for obstructing Collett.

57 minute mark: Farrell gets called for a BS offside. I'm pissed and so is Barnard. Barnard argues with the ref and gets a yellow card..

65 minute mark: Brown makes a key intervetion on a pass from Banim to Brodie.. he heads it up to Atkins who sends it wide to Wright.. Wright dribbles a few steps and sends it long to Farrell.. Farrell beats the lone defender.. he has the keeper right in front of him.. he shoots from the center of the box.. around the keeper.. just wide left of the goal post.

67 minute mark: Wright steals it from the midfielder, he hits a pass from midfield right to Farrell.. the keeper comes out to intercept the pass.. Farrell controls it.. shoots.. right into the keeper who has come out to get the pass.. the keeper deflects it.. Farrell shoots it again.. wide left on the rebound attempt.

69 minute mark: Atkins trips Collett in the open midfield.. whistle.. the ref comes and talks to Atkins.. Atkins gets away with a warning and I let out a gasp of relief.

71 minute mark: Atkins steals a pass from Collett, Atkins passes it long to Donaldson who races past the defenders.. Donaldson is challenged by the keeper who comes out to cut off the angle.. Donaldson shoots.. the keeper deflects it.. it's dribbling towards the goal line.. Carl Regan races back and clears the ball.

72 minute mark: Donaldson picks up a minor injury, but he is clearly limping out there and isn't even at 50%. I sub in Turley. I also sub in Fox for Atkins who is getting tired and already has a yellow card. Finally, I sub in Dunning for Barnard who also has a yellow card.

75 minute mark: Dunning makes a big steal from Brodie.. passes it up the left wing to Wright.. Wright sends a long pass to Johnson who is racing up the middle of the field.. Johnson shoots from just outside the box.. it is just a little high and grazes over the bar.

84 minute mark: Johnson steals the ball from Collett.. he passes it down the center of the pitch to Farrell.. Farrell looks around and sends it out wide to left winger Wright.. Wright holds the ball for a second drawing a defender towards him and then lofts the ball towards goal.. Turley races past his defender and beats him to the ball just inside the box... he controls it.. the keeper comes out to challenge him.. he makes a move to the left.. the keeper is out of position.. Turley taps it... into the goal!!! Finally he scores his first goal!!! 1-1 tie game.

90 minute mark: Collett takes the ball up the middle of the field.. he dribbles past Fox.. he passes it to Banim.. Banim shoots.. just whistles over the bar..

92 minute mark: Johnson feeds ball from midfield to Turley who is just outside the box. Turley puts a move on the defender.. he shoots from outside the box.. back to his wild shooting ways.. wide and high to the right.

94 minute mark: Dunning steals it from Banim.. dribbles up the left side of the pitch.. sends it forward to Wright.. Wright centers it to Fox.. Fox dribbles up the pitch.. he passes it to Farrell.. Farrell shoots.. the keeper stops the shot relatively easily.

Game over 1-1 tie on the road. Least it is better than a loss, but still disappointing against one of our fellow bottom dwellers.

Each team had 10 shots.

Andrew Wright won his 3 MoM with an 8 for form. He completed 31 of 34 passes, won 3 of 3 tackles, 3 of 3 headers, and 2 passes intercepted.

[Eaglesfan27]

My team is ranked at the bottom of the barrel. We are 22nd and hosting 17th place Altrincham. Altrincham is surprisingly not winning as they have 4 relatively impressive loan players in their starting lineup. These include Steven Breckenridge from Macclesfield who looks like a dangerous right winger, Aaron Hardy from Huddersfield who looks like a young promising midfielder, David Beharall a steady central defender from Oldham, and Tim Deasy who is actually going to be the backup keeper for this game. Colin Little appears to be their key striker, and he is a 31 year old veteran with some dangerous shooting skills and is known to be a determined player. Altrincham is a 5-4 favorite to win this match.

I'm using the same lineup for a 3rd straight match. We considered switching our lineup in part because in 4 days we have the cup qualifying game, but our guys will potentially have a 2 week rest after the cup game, and we need to win every league game at this point.

It's a cold dry 37 degree day here at the stadium.

Edited to correct: Farrell is injured.. so Turley is moved into the starting lineup and Justin Jackson becomes a sub on the bench.

[Eaglesfan27]

5 minutes into the match.. Wright steals the ball from his man.. he passes it to the left corner of the opposition's side. Turley uses his speed to track the ball down.. he looks energized to be back in the starting lineup.. he centers it.. Donaldson heads it.. just wide left of the goal post.

13 minute mark: Colin Little steals it from Atkins.. he fires the ball up to his fellow striker Peter Wright.. Wright shoots.. Pettinger controls it calmly with a good save.

18 minute mark: Atkins feeds it past the defender to Turley who beats his man yet again. Turley centers for Donaldson but the keeper rushes out and intercepts the pass inside the box.

22 minute mark: Robert Matthews, their midfielder takes the ball after a keeper kick at midfield.. he makes a crisp pass to Hardy, Hardy sends a nice ball long to Wright.. Wright has it at the left side of the box.. Pettinger comes out to challenge him some.. Wright shoots.. Pettinger stops the shot.

24 minute mark: Paul Shepherd finally makes a nice play stealing the ball from his man.. he runs up the right side of the pitch.. he crosses it beautifully to Turley who has a point blank shot from 6 yards out at an angle just left of the goal.. Turley shoots.. Stuart Coburn barely tips it over the bar.

38 minute mark: Wright steals the ball from his defender with a spot tackle.. he gets up races down the left wing.. he centers for Shepherd who has the keeper out of position.. shepherd is just outside the box right of the center.. Shepherd shoots.. wide right!

39 minute mark: On the ensuing goal kick, Hardy takes it in the middle of the pitch.. he passes wide right to Little.. Little runs out to the right corner of the pitch.. my defender approaches.. Little centers the ball.. Hardy jumps with Lennie Curtis. Hardy wins the aerial battle.. he heads it.. it's high.. but it hits the crossbar and bounces downward.. and in.. goal. 1-0.

1-0 at the half and Altrincham is now playing a 4-5-1 turtle defense. (they were in a 4-4-2 attacking at the beginning of the match)

47 minute mark: Wright takes it up the left side of the pitch and crosses it for Donaldson.. Beharall wins the battle and heads it away.. Atkins controls the deflection around midfield and sends a long pass to Donaldson.. Donaldson controls it.. shoots quickly.. right into the keeper's arms.

54 minute mark: Johnson steals a pass in enemy turf.. he passes it to Atkins who takes a step to the edge of the box.. he shoots but Beharall gets in the way and deflects it away.

58 minute mark: A wide flurry of attempts by Johnson, Atkins, and Donaldson that never reach the mark as 9 defenders are fighting hard and sacrficing themselves to deflect each shot before it even gets truly close to the goal..

70 minute mark: Turley receives a good pass from Atkins.. he takes it wide left.. around the defender.. he centers for Donaldson who is at the near post.. Donaldson heads it.. just wide of the goal.

79 minute mark: Another flurry of attempts that never reach the goal because the defenders are blocking the shots.. until Johnson gets a rebound and blasts a shot.. that hits the crossbar and bounces back.. Beharall clears it.

79 minute mark: Donaldson is looking winded: I sub in Morris for him. Also, Shepherd is really winded. I sub in Fox for him. I consider subbing out Wright who has been so key for us but is now winded, but decide we need this game too much and his sub Dunning is just not good enough to put in at this point..

88 minute mark: Atkins plays a nice through ball for Turley who turns on the speed.. he is inside the box.. he shoots.. the keeper deflects it just wide of the goal. On the ensuing corner.. Curtis receives a nice kick from Fox.. Curtis has an opportunity.. point blank range.. and he fumbles with the ball tapping it out of bounds..

91 minute mark: Brown intercepts a long pass and heads it towards wright.. Wright passes it long to Turley who gets behind the defense.. Turley races towards the left corner of the box.. he shoots.. just high over the goal.

1-0 final.. The 311 fans who showed up are dejected. The team is dejected. I need to find a way to lift their spirits..

We actually outshot them 10-6.

David Beharall won MoM with 27 of 35 passes completed, 11 of 12 headers won, 8 of 9 tackles won, and 8 intercepted passes.

[Eaglesfan27]

September 29th, 2004 -

Boston Utd becomes the first team to offer me a deal on one of my players. They want one of my few U18 players. 16 year old Josh Bowker who plays the right wing. Bowker has limited technical talents at the moment, but fair physical talents. He is a remarkably determined young man who shows great dedication to practice. His wonderful mental attributes make me excited about the prospects for this kid.

Boston Utd is offering 0 dollars and 10% of his next sales price. I respectfully decline.

[Eaglesfan27]

October 1st, 2004 -

Despite my pathetic showing so far, the board let me know that they are still sure they made the right choice in hiring me.

I'm anxiously tweaking my 4-4-2 as I prepare to face Hucknall in the qualifying game for the cup..

[Eaglesfan27]

Today my 22nd ranked team travels to 18th ranked Hucknall for the English FA cup 2nd round qualifying match. Hucknall has Shaun Harrad on loan from Notts Co as one of their top strikers. Paul Mitchell and Roy Hunter are their key midfielders and are really the driving force for this team. David Artell anchors their defense. We are actually 6:4 favorites and I'm hoping the oddsmakers have this one right.

We are using the same lineup as last game since it got us a win..

GK: Pettinger
DL: Barnard
DC: Chris Brown
DC: Leigh Wood (I've demoted Curtis who has disappointed me)
DR: Grant Black
ML: Andrew Wright
MC: Mark Atkins
MC: Jemel Johnson
MR: Paul Shepherd (demoting Fox who has been disappointing)
SC: Turley
SC: Donaldson

S1: Buxton
S2: Morris
S3: Fox
S4: Farrell (back from injury - but Turley's speed continues to tantalize.)
S5: Dunning

It is a sunny day and 57 degrees and the match is about to start..

[Eaglesfan27]

At the beginning of the match, I note the opposition is in a 3-2-2-1-2 with an emphasis on the attack.. I'm telling my defenders to hang back and going with a more defensive posture than usual to start the match, but keeping a 4-4-2 formation.

8 minutes into the match: Barnard makes a key header on a cross pass saving a likely goal as my keeper was out of position..

15 minute mark: Harrad receives a long pass from Artell, Harrad has a clear shot at goal.. Pettinger does a nice job to not only stop the shot but control the rebound.

28 minute mark: Black tackles Harrad in the box after Harrad receives a great pass from Roy Hunter. Penalty called.. Penalty shot awarded! Hunter takes the penalty shot.. low and to the left.. Pettinger dives.. and saves it!!

Lots of hard fighting with no scoring opportunities for the next 17 minutes.

At the 45 minute mark, Chris Brown plays a long ball for Turley.. Turley races ahead of the defense.. he is tackled from behind in the box.. he is called for diving!!! (Btw, this is the first time I've seen this so I think the patch fixed this issue) Yellow card for Turley.

0-0 at the half.

49 minute mark: Johnson is called for a trip on Hunter.. Johnson becomes angry and argues with the ref. Yellow card. Then, Turley becomes angry with the ref and argues.. Yellow card for him too.. his second... he is ejected!

We switch to a 4-4-1 as start going for the long ball to Donaldson...

65 minute mark: Shepherd is injured and has to come off the pitch. This is a hard fought battle with plenty of hard tackling..

I sub in Fox for Shepherd on the right wing. Also, Farrell comes in for Donaldson who is clearly becoming winded.

75 minute mark: Hunter gets called for a hard tackle on Atkins at midfield. Yellow card for Hunter.

On the ensuing direct kick, Atkins is elbowed hard by Mark Ward just outside the box. Yellow card for Mark Ward. We now have a free kick from just outside the box.

77 minute mark: After the defenders deflected the free kick away they mounted a counter attack that our defense stopped. Chris Brown fed a long ball to Farrell who races past the defense. However, he looks like he was a little offsides and gets called for it.

92 minute mark: Danny Holland takes the ball partially down the left side of the pitch. He sends a long pass into the box where Paul Mitchell has moved into position from the midfield. Mitchell heads the ball.. into the upper left corner of the net.. goal.

92 minute mark: Atkins plays the ball off of the tap down the pitch to Farrell.. Farrell makes a move on the defender. He shoots.. the keeper tips it over the bar.

93 minute mark: Wright feeds the ball to Farrell. Farrell gets off a last second shot from outside the box. The keeper deflects it. Artell clears the ball and the whistle sounds. Another disappointing loss, 1-0.


We are outshot 12-4. Grant Black wins MoM with 14 of 27 passes complete, 11 of 12 tackles won, 1 of 2 headers won, and 9 passes intercepted.

[Eaglesfan27]

Paul Shepherd has a strained groin (ouch!) and will be out for a few weeks. This will likely move Fox back into the starting 11.

[Eaglesfan27]

As I wait for the next match and tweak my tactics some more, I realize I have another problem. Our finances are a mess. We aren't even halfway through the season and our 50,000 dollar balance is used up. We have a wage budget of 4,600 per week and we have only been spending 4,300 per week. However, we are getting killed ground maintenance and "other" misc. fees. We are now 20,000 dollars in debt. I'm still not sure how that happened, but we need to find a way to draw more money into the club. We are averaging about 7,000 dollars a month in gate receipts.

[Eaglesfan27]

October 9th, 2004 -

As I watch England play Wales, I find myself wondering if my dream of managing that calibre of talent will ever be realized.

The Welsh keeper plays an incredible game and wins MoM but England's superior firepower finally breaks through in the 79th minute as Beckham sets up Michael Owen's game winning goal.

[Eaglesfan27]

October 13th, 2004 -

Watching England decimate Azerbaijan 3-0, I found myself day dreaming that I hate Rio Ferdinand to shore up my defense. He was spectacular, and he even scored a goal on a corner kick to make it 3-0. Joe Cole and Frank Lampard scored the other 2 goals. Steven Gerrard assisted on 2 of the goals with Owen Hargreaves assisting on the other.

Our next game is against Redditch and we are favored. I find myself dreaming up new tactics in case we don't win our next match...

[Eaglesfan27]

October 17th 2004,

Leeds manager Kevin Blackwell is the first big name to be fired. Javier Clemente is expected to take over the club according to most experts.

Also of note, another slew of players have refused to come join me as loan players despite their home clubs wanting them to come and get first team experience..

[Eaglesfan27]

October 19th, 2004 -

We are currently 22nd in the league and we are traveling to play Redditch today. Redditch is one of the few competitors who seem to be having trouble getting loan players. Simon Hollis their left winger has been their most consistent player. Matt Clarke their right full back has been anchoring the defense. Norman Sylia has been their top scorer and their most dangerous forward. We are 6-4 favorites, not that the oddsmakers have been doing much right when they pick us to win.

A few tweaks to the lineup:

GK: Pettinger
DL: Barnard (consistent at left full back)
DC: Chris Brown (loan player living up to my expectations)
DC: Leigh Wood (I haven't been happy with any of the options at this position, but he has been the best of the lot)
DR: Grant Black (Despite consistent ratings, he has disappointed, but I lack better options.)

ML: Wright (by far my most consistent guy IMO)
MC: Atkins (solid but not great like I expected.)
MC: Johnson (ditto - solid but not great like I expected.)
MR: Fox (poor production here all year.. Shepherd is onto the bench.)

FC: Farrell (Turley is suspended a game for his 2 yellow cards last game.)
FC: Donaldson (He hasn't really produced as much as I want, but he is my best forward even if he is a loaner. 7.12 avg is not as high as I'd like.)

S1: Buxton
S2: Colin Hunter (really only has skills for AMC IMO, but I want to see if I can work him in at some other spots, might even try him at forward.)
S3: Shepherd (will play only if injury to other midfielders)
S4: Justin Jackson (backup forward)
S5: Richard Dunning (want to get him more time)

It's a wet, muddy, 45 degrees today. Will be interesting to see how the team does on the slop.

[Eaglesfan27]

5 minutes in: My team is relying on the long ball more due to the wet conditions. Wood sends a long long pass to Donaldson who outjumps the defender. Donaldson heads it up the field.. he races to the ball.. the keeper races to the ball.. the keeper barely wins the race as he dives on it.

17 minute mark: Atkins plays a great long ball to Donaldson who beats his defender.. he runs into the box and is about to shoot when Nick Williams makes a crucial tackle stopping Donaldson from getting off a shot.

19 minute mark: Atkins plays a long ball right into the box and Farrell chases it down.. he is about to shoot when is tackled from behind by Williams.. Penalty shot awarded! Without Shepherd on the pitch, Barnard is the best penalty kicker. He takes it and drills it into the right lower corner. Goal!!!!

30 minute mark: Nick Williams floats a long pass from the right wing to Jordan King who heads it (despite being bracketed by both of my DC's) and Pettinger stares in shock as the ball floats past his left hand.

1-1 at the half as lots of hard tackling occurs but no more scoring opportunities materialize.

52 minute mark Brown gets a yellow card as he lays a hard tackle on Norman Sylia.

58 minute mark: Asa Charlton picks up a yellow card for a hard tackle on Donaldson.

60 minute mark: Barnard becomes daring dribbling the ball up the left side of the pitch.. he passes to wright.. and then instead of retreating as one might expect him to do, he races up the left side of the field. Wright hits him with the pass. Barnard crosses to Donaldson who is in the center of the box. Charlton tries to head the ball but misses. Donaldson gets it and heads it past the keeper into the middle of the net.. GOAL!!!!!! 2-1 us.

62 minute mark: Leigh Wood gets a yellow card for a hard tackle on Norman Sylia. I don't mind as it was likely a goal saving tackle with Sylia having open pitch in front of him.

64 minute mark: Realizing that Donaldson is getting winded, and that I have the lead. I decide to pull him and try out the 4-5-1 I've been tinkering with. I put Shepherd in as the 5 midfielder (center) and I sub in Dunning for Atkins who is winded. Also, going to a rather defensive posture looking for the counter attack..

68 minute mark: Wood makes a key header out of bounds to stop a potentially dangerous cross by the opposition through the box.

74 minute mark: After a flurry of deflections by our defenders that the opposition controls, Brown steals a pass and sends it long to Farrell. Farrell races back.. he takes it into the box.. he shoots low and hard towards the left corner.. the keeper dives.. he can't get it.. GOAL!!!! 3-1!

83 minute mark: Brown makes a great intervention on a Richard Leadbeater dribble into the box. Brown tackles him hard and Leadbeater is hurt, but it was a nice clean tackle that lead to a clearance..

92 minute mark: My keeper feeds it up to Farrell.. Farrell passes it back to Dunning.. Dunning is at the midfield circle. He passes it up to Johnson.. Johnson feeds a through ball between two defenders to give Farrell a 1-1 opportunity with the keeper.. he shoots hard and straight.. the keeper deflects it.. but it still goes in!! GOAL!!! That is 2 for Farrell who is showing that he does have some potential. I'm also thinking that the 4-5-1 has more potential than I gave it credit for..

Final score 4-1 Win for Harrogate Town!!! This was our first road win.

We were outshot 15-9.

Andy Farrell wins MoM due to completing 21 of 25 passes, 2 of 4 tackles, 1 of 7 headers, and 2 big goals. He drew 2 fouls and had 4 of our 9 shots.

[jbmagic]

awesome dynasty

can you post the current standings for your division

thanks

[Eaglesfan27]

The Chairman made an announcement to the local press today that he was very pleased with our 4-1 win over Redditch United.

Stalybridge Celtic Manager Peter Wragg is talking trash to the press about Droylsden saying he believes they will be relegated to the England Regional Divisions this season. Interesting to see how the feud between these two will play out.