FM2005: A Virgin Trip into LLM.

[Eaglesfan27]

Originally Posted by jbmagic

awesome dynasty

can you post the current standings for your division

thanks

Thanks, and yes I can. Thanks to the print function working in FM2005 and the easy editor on this board, this should work fairly decent.


Opening the newspaper today, I notice that our fans can see that we have finally climbed a bit out of the cellar. Of course we are still far from the top half of the league as was/is expected of us:

[Eaglesfan27]

This week in practice as we work on the 4-5-1 more, I see a new lively step in the players. Morale is better than it has been all season. This big win could be the springboard to a winning streak. It's amazing how fast things can change. Hopefully, we can keep the good feelings around the team and get on a good roll.

[Eaglesfan27]

Today we host 1st place Nuneaton. They have no loan players, but it's clear to see why they are number 1. Their top striker is Gez Murphy and he is a 25 year old entering his prime. He is a very dangerous finisher and already has 9 goals on the season in 10 appearances. Left Winger, Stuart Whittaker is a relentess pacey veteran who is dangerous with the ball in the midfield. Gary Fitzpatrick is a 33 year old veteran midfielder who is losing his physical skills, but makes up for it with excellent mental awareness on the field. He rarely makes mistakes. Their top DC, Steve Welsh is injured which should help our chances some. Not surprisingly, they are 5:4 favorites to win the match.

We are going with a 4-5-1 today, in part because of the offensive ability of our opponent. The other obvious reason was our scoring burst in the last game once we implemented the 4-5-1. We will focus on playing very defensively and counterattacking where the opportunity presents itself.

The Lineup:

GK: Pettinger
DL: Barnard
DC: Brown
DC: Wood
DR: Black
ML: Wright
MC: Atkins
MC: Shepherd
MC: Johnson
MR: Fox
SC: Farrell (He earned this start with his 2 goals last game.. it was a tough choice, but Donaldson is a loaner and if Farrell can start scoring he will get the starts when I go to 1 striker)

S1 Buxton
S2 Donaldson
S3 Hunter
S4 Curtis
S5 Dunning

It's a dry cold 37 degrees today. The match is about to start.

[LionsFan10]

Hey Eagles, great read as always. I was just wondering if you were being forced to watch your U18 and Reserve teams play while in-between the "big" games? I am being forced to watch these matches, even though I have my asst. manager set to control these teams, well everything except contract negotiations, which I take care of. I'm playing Exeter in the English Conference National with a fake league universe. Just wondering I missed an option somewhere ...

[Eaglesfan27]

4 minutes into the match Brown makes a key header away on a cross. Atkins feeds the ball long for Farrell, but the defense catches him and forces the ball out of bounds giving us a corner. Unfortunately, the keeper easily intercepts the corner kick.

7 minutes: Carl Adams gets a yellow card for holding Farrell on the counter attack.

20 minute mark: Our defense seems to have been frustrating the opposition as they aren't getting any good scoring opportunities. At this point, our counter attack strikes again as the long pass from Atkins heads towards Farrell, the keeper comes way out of goal outside the box to kick away the pass. However, he misstrikes the ball and sends it right to Farrell who was chasing the ball down. The keeper can't do anything but look as Farrell dribbles past him and easily shoots the ball into the goal from 25 yards out! GOAL!!!!!!

40 minute mark: Farrell fights past the defender to get off a shot on goal which is tipped over the bar. On the ensuing corner kick the defender heads it back towards the corner taker, Wright. Wright then passes back to Johnson who draws the defenders towards him. Johnson then passes the ball back to Wright who is outside the box to the left of goal. Wright crosses towards Atkins.. Atkins heads the ball. Love the defender for Nuneaton tries to handle Atkins header, but he just redirects it past his own keeper for the goal!!!!

2-0 us. Love gets blame for an own goal.

Our defense continues to frustrate the opposition and at the 45 minute mark Farrell almost scores again on the counter attack as Wright sends him a great ball. Farrell's shot just hits the crossbar and skims over it.

2-0 at the half.

52 minute mark: Black makes a key block on a shot by Gez Murphy and deflects it out of bounds.

62 minute mark: I sub Donaldson in for the winded Farrell, Dunning comes in for the tired Wright, and Hunter comes in for Johnson.

70 minute mark: Brown heads away a pass intended for Murphy. Dunning takes the ball up the left side of the pitch, and makes a nifty pass to Atkins. Atkins passes back to Dunning who centers for Donaldson. Donaldson shoots... it's.. high.

85 minute mark: Our defense stops a flurry of shots (prior to them reaching the keeper) and then finally clears it. Fox takes it up the right wing and centers for Chris Brown?!? (What the heck is he doing up there) Brown shoots.. far wide right.

We end up preventing up any further good scoring opportunities.

Game over 2-0 win!!

We were outshot 4-2, but certainly made those 2 count.

Atkins won MoM with 33 of 37 passes complete, 1 of 2 tackles won, 4 of 4 headers won, 2 passes intercepted.

[Eaglesfan27]

Originally Posted by LionsFan10

Hey Eagles, great read as always. I was just wondering if you were being forced to watch your U18 and Reserve teams play while in-between the "big" games? I am being forced to watch these matches, even though I have my asst. manager set to control these teams, well everything except contract negotiations, which I take care of. I'm playing Exeter in the English Conference National with a fake league universe. Just wondering I missed an option somewhere ...

No, that is odd but I haven't had to watch any U18 or reserve matches

I don't have an AM to run those matches either. I'm not getting reports about those games either. It's processing right now, but will check that in a second...

Well crap! I'm glad you asked that question. Apparently my 2 U18 players and my 3 reserves haven't played any games all year!! I thought their would be a league schedule for the reserves and U18's automatically? Apparently not, and since I don't have an AM no friendlies were arranged for them. I guess I have some friendlies to arrange to get these guys some PT.

[Eaglesfan27]

October 25th, 2004 -

West Ham has fired Alan Pardew today. Javier Clemente is also the favorite for this job.

Paul Merson has been fired by Walsall today as well. Trevor Francis is the favorite to take over the job according to the newspaper.

Also, Marseille has fired Jose Anigo. Gerard Gili is the favorite to take over that job.

Finally, today we received some potentially excellent news as the 1st round draw for the English FA cup occurred. We will host Croydon Athletic in the 1st round which should be a winnable game for us. Particularly, if we can continue the good play of late.

[Eaglesfan27]

Dola - I'm a little confused how I'm in this cup match as I lost the 2nd round qualifying match?

[Desnudo]

Are you sure it wasn't FA Trophy instead of FA Cup?

[Eaglesfan27]

My bad. You are correct, I'm now scheduled to play the 1st round of the FA trophy against Croydon Athletic. Thanks for clearing that up. The match will be in 8 days on Nov 6, 2004.

[Eaglesfan27]

October 30th, 2004 -

Jupp Heynckes, the German born manager, takes over the head job at Leeds.

The highly respected Argentian manager, Carlos Bianchi takes over management of Marseille.

[Eaglesfan27]

Today we are in 16th place, and we are hosting 8th placed Southport. Jerome Fitzgerald their right fullback is the rock of their defense so far this year. Kevin Leadbetter has been their main thread among forwards with 2 goals and 4 assists. Steve Pickford has been the main man in the midfield. Their team looks average in many ways, and I'm surprised that they are 4:5 favorites and the odds for us winning are 3:1.

Given the success last game, I'm using the 4-5-1 again, and the exact same lineup. Morale is high among the guys playing, and I'm riding the hot hands right now.

It's a dry cool 33 degrees today.

[Eaglesfan27]

7 minutes: Alex Mortimer, their main DC is given a yellow card for tripping Farrell who might have burnt him otherwise.

9 minute mark: Farrell receives the long pass from Atkins to the left corner of the pitch. He holds up a minute waiting for some help.. he centers to Johnson.. Johnson is in the box and heads the ball.. the keeper dives to his left.. he barely tips it over the bar.

19 minute mark: Atkins receives a corner kick from Fox.. He has a second to wind up.. he drills the shot right into a defender.. the ball bounces harmlessly away.

23 minute mark: Black makes a huge tackle as the opposition somehow managed to get a 3 on 2 breakaway. Fortunately, Black sends it out of bounds after making the tackle.

42 minute mark: Atkins gets a nice pass back from Farrell. He drills a shot, but the keeper makes the save.

45 minute mark: Wright picks up a minor injury, but seems to be limping. I have a tough decision on whether to yank him.. I'm going to watch him closely for the next few minutes to see if he can shake it off..

0-0 at the half.

50 minute mark: Wright seems to be fine now. On a free kick (thanks to a penalty drawn by Farrell) Atkins kicks it back a bit to Chris Brown who unleases a hard shot on goal from 30 yards out. It barely goes over the bar.

55 minute mark: Liam Watson gets a yellow card for pulling on Chris Brown's shirt as brown is getting himself more involved with the offense than I necessarily want him to be.

64 minute mark: I sub out the injured/tired Wright for Dunning. I put Hunter in for Johnson who has just picked up a minor injury (hopefully), and I sub in Donaldson for Farrell who is tired.

75 minute mark: Atkins sends a ball from the center of midfield into the box.. Donaldson is racing towards it, but the keeper beats him to it and kicks it out of bounds around midfield.

87 minute mark: Fox takes the corner kick which Shepherd heads towards goal. The keeper punches it away. Brown gathers the rebound and shoots.. over the net.

92 minute mark: Fox takes the corner kick and Donaldson connects with the header... but the keeper tips it over the bar. The ensuing corner is cleared by the defense.

0-0 tie is the final score.

We outshot our opposition 12-2.

Jemal Johnson wins MoM with 19 of 22 passes completed, 4 of 5 tackles won, 4 of 6 headers won, and 1 pass intercepted.

[Eaglesfan27]

November 1st, 2004 -

Met with my boss today. He is "satisfied" with my performance. Not exactly a ringing endorsement. I better keep up the winning and start moving further up the table towards the top half like he expected for this season.

[Eaglesfan27]

Nov 6, 2004 -

Today we host Croydon Athletic. They are a semi-professional team that don't have any full time players. As a result, I don't have any statistics to review. It looks like we should dominate this team in the 1st round of the English FA trophy. We are 1:8 favorites with 12:1 odds that Croydon will win. This is by far the best odds I've ever had with this team.

Despite our expected dominance, I'm keeping my defensive 4-5-1 with a counterattack offense, as we haven't lost since we went to this formation.

I'm keeping the same lineup as last match, as we desperately need the money from this trophy, and I can't take the chance of taking any team too lightly.

It's a crisp dry 46 degrees.

[SirFozzie]

The FA Trophy's for non-League teams (by that, it means no Premiership, Championship, League 1 and League 2 teams), so it's for the Conference down.. it's a cup tho.. and be nice to play at Wembley, huh?

[Eaglesfan27]

5 minute mark: Black steals the ball from Croydon's striker. He feeds the ball up ahead to Atkins who passes wide to Wright. Wright plays the ball up to Farrell who easily beats the defense.. Farrell takes it into the box.. and loses control of the ball, bad dribble, giving the defense time to get back and clear it.

19 minute mark: Barnard comes off with an injury. He can't play any longer. I'll sub Dunning in for him.

27 minute mark: Brown steals a pass in our own box, he sends a long pass ahead to Johnson.. Johnson shoots from outside the box.. stopped by the keeper.

29 minute mark: Farrell receives a corner kick. He turns.. he shoots.. blasts the shot.. the keeper punches it away.. Johnson shoots.. the keeper punches it away.. Brown gets the rebound.. shoots over the bar.

44 minute mark: Farrell gets a breakaway.. he shoots.. keeper deflects it.. Atkins picks up the rebound.. shoots.. hits a defender in the body.. Johnson gets the rebound.. shoots.. hits a defender... Farrell gets the rebound.. shoots.. hits the crossbar.. defense clears it..

Halftime: 0-0.

57 minute mark: Fox dribbles down the right side of the pitch.. plays a great cross.. Farrell is by the far post.. keeper comes out and grabs it just before it reaches Farrell.

64 minute mark: Wright picks up a minor injury, but I decide to remove him. I move Dunning up to the left wing spot. I bring Curtis into the DL spot (he can play DC or DL), and I yank Shepherd who is winded, and switch to a 4-4-2 (defensive orientation still with the counter attack) by bringing Donaldson onto the pitch to play alongside Farrell.

66 minute mark: I question the wisdom of my move as Croydon gets their first break away 2 minutes after I make this move... Richard Harris receives a long pass on the counter attack.. Chris Brown is back.. but Richard Harris makes a move on him faking left and going right.. he burns Brown.. into the box.. he shoots towards the upper right corner.. my keeper dives.. tips it.. still finds the net. 1-0

74 minute mark: Brown heads a crossing pass away. Atkins collects the ball at midfield.. he sends it up the field to Farrell.. Farrell takes the ball into the box.. he fakes left, goes right.. shoots to the lower right corner.. off the post... and in!!!! GOAL!!!!! 1-1

77 minute mark: Brown heads away the keeper's very long pass just outside our box. Atkins passes it up ahead to Farrell. Farrell is all alone.. FLAG for offsides. No wonder he was all alone.

78 minute mark: Wood heads away a long pass by the opposition.. he heads it just short of midfield... Farrell takes it.. he flicks it ahead to Donaldson.. Donaldson races past the defense.. he dribbles from 40 yards out.. 30 yards out.. 20 yards out.. into the box.. he looks at the keeper for a second and flicks it into the lower right corner... goal!!!!! 2-1

88 minute mark: Atkins sends another long ball into the Box.. Donaldson collects it.. pressured by the defense from behind.. he shoots... just wide left.

89 minute mark: Farrell steals the ball at midfield.. he flicks a long pass up to Donaldson.. Donaldson is being chased down from behind.. he runs into the box.. he aims for the lower left corner.. he shoots... he scores!!!! 3-1. Our 171 fans erupt into applause.

91 minute mark: Dunning steals the ball from the right winger.. he dribbles up the field towards the corner.. he centers it.. Farrell controls it.. he sends a quick pass to Donaldson.. can he get the hat trick... Donaldson shoots.. over the bar..

3-1 Final score. Our fans give us a standing ovation (all 171 of them).

We outshot them 18-2

Atkins gets a 10 for form and wins MoM with 62 of 68 passes complete, 0 tackles, 5 of 5 headers, and 1 credited assist.

[Eaglesfan27]

Originally Posted by SirFozzie

The FA Trophy's for non-League teams (by that, it means no Premiership, Championship, League 1 and League 2 teams), so it's for the Conference down.. it's a cup tho.. and be nice to play at Wembley, huh?

Yes, it would be

[Eaglesfan27]

Yes!!!

We were awarded 4,000 dollars for winning the 1st round the FA trophy.

No! Mark Barnard will miss about a month with strained knee ligments. Dunning will likely have to play left full back, With Colin Hunter being my main backup for all midfield positions now.

A local newspaper journalist wants to know how we will handle playing without Barnard. I debated on several different ways to handle this situation. I don't want to disparage Mark's contributions, but I need to let the team know that I'm not worried (even if I am) I tell the reporter that one player doesn't make a team, and that my squad will cover his absence well.

[MizzouRah]

Originally Posted by Eaglesfan27

Yes!!!

We were awarded 4,000 dollars for winning the 1st round the FA trophy.

No! Mark Barnard will miss about a month with strained knee ligments. Dunning will likely have to play left full back, With Colin Hunter being my main backup for all midfield positions now.

A local newspaper journalist wants to know how we will handle playing without Barnard. I debated on several different ways to handle this situation. I don't want to disparage Mark's contributions, but I need to let the team know that I'm not worried (even if I am) I tell the reporter that one player doesn't make a team, and that my squad will cover his absence well.

Wow, this game seems really deep. Which by the way, I figured just by the CM enthusiasts here, but I've never really thought much of CM and I think I've been too short on trying to like the FM Demo.

Great read!

Todd

[Eaglesfan27]

November 8th, 2004

Atkins twisted his knee in practice today and is expected to miss a week. Our midfield will now be very thin (particularly if I run the 4-5-1) and we will be in significant trouble if another injury occurs. Despite this, I feel good about our current streak of no losses in the last 4 games.

[Eaglesfan27]

Originally Posted by MizzouRah

Wow, this game seems really deep. Which by the way, I figured just by the CM enthusiasts here, but I've never really thought much of CM and I think I've been too short on trying to like the FM Demo.

Great read!

Todd

Thanks for the compliment. Yes, it is very deep. By viewing player profiles, I see that most of the team is really happy with my response, and want to reward the confidence I'm showing in them. Not too surprisingly, Barnard is a little unhappy at my comment and his morale has gone down some (of course the injury could have done that too.)

[Eaglesfan27]

November 9th, 2004 -

The 2nd round of the FA Trophy was drawn today. I get the call and hear that we will be hosting our league foe Moor Green. We haven't played them yet this year, but they have several good transfer players. I'm glad it is least on our pitch.

[Eaglesfan27]

November 9th, 2004 -

We are now in 14th place and we host 6th place Stafford Rangers today. Stafford has a dangerous right winger, Robin Gibson who already has 7 assists and 2 goals. Neil Grayson is their *veteran* striker. The 40 year old hasn't slowed down much and he is their leading scorer with 8 goals on the season. His mental awareness on the field is truly a sight to behold. Chris Smith, their DC, is a rising star, and he is already playing very consistent defense. Their keeper James Lindley doesn't let many soft goals in and we will have to work to beat him. They are 5:4 favorites to beat us.

Our Starting Lineup:

GK: Pettinger
DL: Dunning
DC: Brown
DC: Wood
DR: Black
ML: Wright
MC: Hunter (I don't have much of a choice with the injury to Atkins)
MC: Shepherd
MC: Johnson
MR: Fox
SC: Farrell

S1 Buxton
S2 James Turley - I may have to play the speedster in the midfield (well out of position)
S3 Clayton Donaldson
S4 Lennie Curtis - really played subpar defense, but he is my top backup defender now
S5 Dominique Krief - the kid has great speed, but not much else. I might have to play him in the midfield.


It's a dry cool 37 degrees today, and the match is about to begin.

[MizzouRah]

How many games are in a season?


MR

[Eaglesfan27]

Crap. Just before the match is about to begin Atkins lets me know that he has lost confidence in my ability to manage, and thinks he should be manager of this team. He is playing the best on the team (7.54.) I'll have to think about how to handle this. Least he isn't saying this in front of the whole team. I'll have to monitor the team in practice, to see if I think I'm losing anyone else..

Well, it's game time:

2 minute mark: Neil Kelly gets a yellow card for a hard tackle on fox out on the wing.

9 minute mark: Craig Lovatt gets a yellow card for a hard tackle on Farrell. Mr. Sukhdev Thiarra seems to be a ref who calls a tight match.

24 minute mark: Gibson dribbles up the right wing... takes it in some towards the right corner of the box.. sends a short cross to Mulligan.. Mulligan heads it.. Pettinger waves futilely as it sails over his left shoulder. Goal. 1-0

35 minute mark: Hunter steals the ball at midfield.. he sends a quick pass to his right to Shepherd. Shepherd send a very good 20 yard pass into the box towards Farrell. The keeper races towards it.. Farrell races towards it.. Farrell gets it.. feints to the right of the keeper and taps it in around him!!! GOAL!!!!!!! 1-1 That is Farrell's 5th of the year in league play.

44 minute mark: Grayson unleashes a powerful shot from just outside the box.. it deflects off Brown.. towards the goal.. I'm amazed as Pettinger dives and catches it just before it crosses the line.

Halftime: 1-1

48 minute mark: Dunning makes a brilliant sliding tackle to prevent Grayson from getting a very good shot at goal from point blank range.

57 minute mark: Farrell on the break, he takes it into the left corner of the box.. he crosses to Fox.. Fox unleashes a powerful volley towards the left upper corner of the net.. the keeper barely tips it over.

61 minute mark: Gibson gets the ball to Grayson right in the center of the box with a good pass. Grayson shoots.. Pettinger calmly saves it and clutches it to his chest.

63 minute mark: Farrell is winded, so Donaldson is subbed for him. Also, Wright is quite winded. I move Dunning up to left wing, and put Curtis in at left full back.

71 minute mark: Shepherd is injured, and I decide to go to a 4-4-2 as a result, and put Turley in his natural position of Striker.

82 minute mark: Dunning dribbles it up the left side of the pitch.. he crosses it short to Turley. Turley shoots.. wide right on the sharp angled shot.

84 minute mark: Pettinger makes a wonderful save on a point blank shot from Gibson.

Final score: 1-1

We were outshot 13-8

Neil Kelly wins MoM, 15 of 25 passes complete, 11 of 14 tackles, 7 of 8 headers won, 4 passes intercepted.

[Eaglesfan27]

Originally Posted by MizzouRah

How many games are in a season?


MR

42 regular season games in the league I'm in (I play each opponent once at home and once away.) I'm currently 4-3-5 and in 14th place.

[Eaglesfan27]

November 10th, 2004 -

Paul Shepherd is out for a few weeks with a groin strain. We are now very thin in the midfield, and I'll likely have to shelf the 4-5-1 for a week or two, and go to a defensive 4-4-2. Also, I've been monitoring the guys in practice today, and I don't think anyone besides Atkins is disillusioned with my management. However, that could change in time..

[Eaglesfan27]

November 17th, 2004 -

We are currently ranked 15th, and we are traveling to face 18th ranked Stalybridge. Stalybridge is being led by the veteran striker Andy Hayward who has 7 league goals. Gregg Pearce is the anchor of the defense. The relatively weak midfield is being led by Nathan Wharton. Craig Dootson has been very good in goal, but has been barraged by shots. Likely due to home field advantage Stalybridge is 6:4 favorites.

Starting Lineup:

GK: Pettinger
DL: Dunning
DC: Brown (whose loan expires in a few days - I'm attempting to renew it.)
DC: Wood
DR: Black
ML: Wright
MC: Hunter (in for the injured Atkins and Shepherd)
MC: Johnson
MR: Fox
SC: Farrell (the kid is steadily improving and could be an important part of our future, or part of our money making efforts..)
SC: Donaldson

S1: Buxton
S2: Turley
S3: Simon Sturdy (the kid might get some PT with the injuries..but that would be bad if it happens as he looks unprepared in practice.)

S4: Curtis
S5 Krief

It's dry and 45 degress today. The match is about to begin.

[Eaglesfan27]

1 minute mark: Grant Black gets a yellow card for tripping Hayward. Fortunately, this is judged to have occured outside the box.

2 minute mark: Donaldson is called for offsides on the counter attack. Donaldson is furious. He argues with the ref. He gets a yellow card.

7 minute mark: Calcutt receives the ball in the midfield.. he flicks it ahead to Hayward who makes it into the box.. Hayward shoots.. Pettinger blocks it but can't control the rebound. Damien Hindle gets to the rebound.. he shoots... low and towards the left corner. My keeper doesn't have a chance. Hindle scores. 1-0

30 minute mark: Farrell gets the ball in the box.. he tries to fake out the keeper.. the keeper stays in front of him.. he is cleanly tackled by a defender who has had a chance to catch up.

37 minute mark: Hunter feeds a great through pass between 2 defenders to Johnson.. Johnson is just outside the box.. the keeper is coming out to meet him.. Johnson shoots.. way over the bar!

41 minute mark: Fox gets called for holding Whealing's jersey and receives a yellow card.

43 minute mark: Farrell makes a nifty pass from just left of the box to Donaldson who passes to his right to Johnson. Johnson shoots.. he beats the keeper, but it is just left of the goal post.

1-0 at the half and I notice that Fox is having the worst half of football so far that I've seen from any of my guys.. I debate on pulling him, but there are no good viable replacements. Despite that I will pull him if he doesn't start making better plays in the next 10 minutes..

52 minute mark: Fox gets called for tripped Haywood inside our half. Stokes takes the free kick from about 30 yards out. Stokes shot deflects off the wall (I think it was Curtis) and goes into the upper right portion of the net. The keeper is totally out of position for this deflection, but I can't blame him as that was a fluke deflection. 2-0 Stalybridge

Fox has a 4 for form, and he has made several bad plays. I yank him. I bring in the speedster Krief to see what he can do.

56 minute mark: Krief fights his man for the ball.. they are fighting furiously with their feet.. vying for the ball.. Krief finally wins control.. he dribbles furiously down the right sideline.. he crosses.. not a bad pass, much better than I've seen in practice.. Farrell has a shot.. he shoots.... Over the net.

65 minute mark: Donaldson is winded and has a yellow card, so I sub in the speedster Turley.

80 minute mark: Turley receives a long pass from Hunter. Turley dribbles into the box. He shoots.. the keeper stops it.

81 minute mark: Krief gets called for pulling the shirt of his man. Yellow card.

2-0 final score.

We were outshot 16-7 and I feel like this was one of our poorest efforts this season. I don't know if it is just because the team misses Atkins who is out on injury. He has been our captain all year. Conversely, is his discontent spreading to the rest of the team..

Gregg Pearce won MoM with stellar defense. He completed 22 of 29 passes, 4 of 4 tackles, and 12 of 13 headers.

[Eaglesfan27]

November 21st, 2004

Chris Brown's team, Huddersfield, rejected my initial attempt to renew his loan. I up my offer to pay 20% of his contract and see if they will accept.

West Ham has hired "legendary" manager Javier Clemente.

[Eaglesfan27]

Today we travel to play 10th ranked Kettering Town. We are currently 19th in the league. Kettering's defense is lead by their loan player Ashley Westwood (Northampton). Simon Ward has been playing spectacularly in goal for Kettering with 4 clean sheets already this year. Oliver Burgess is the main man in the middle of the field. He has 4 assists and 3 goals so far this year. Darren Lynch is the main force at Striker and he has 3 goals on the year with 2 assists. Kettering is heavily favored at 4:5 odds.

We are switching to our 4-5-1 as Atkins is back from his injury. I have to play him as he is so important to the team, and hope that I can win back his trust. I thought about disciplining him, but I need him to be giving 100%.

Our starting lineup is exactly the same as last time except Atkins is starting in the midfield between Hunter and Johnson. Donaldson moves back to the bench. Simon Sturdy moves back to the reserve team. Krief stays on the bench as he did make one good play last game..

It's wet and 42 degrees today. The field is muddy.

[Eaglesfan27]

3 minute mark: Black stops a drive by Burgess. He flicks the ball out to Fox.. Fox dribbles up the right sideline to about midfield. Then, he is challenged and lofts a pass down the sideline. Johnson races to it.. He centers.. Farrell controls the center.. settles the ball.. shoots.. hard down and low towards the left corner of the net.. the keeper can't get it... GOAL!!!! 1-0

6 minute mark: Lynch gets a breakaway against us. He dribbles into the box.. Brown is chasing him down.. Lynch shoots.. over the bar.

9 minute mark: Drew Roberts gets called for holding Farrell. Yellow card to Roberts and we have a free kick from just outside the box.

12 minute mark: Lynch receives a long pass from Westwood.. he dribbles towards our box.. he passes it to Drew Roberts.. Roberts passes back to Lynch.. Lynch shoots... Pettinger tips it over the bar with a play to his left.

20 minute mark: Colin Hunter is called for holding Burgess' shirt. Yellow card.

24 minute mark: Burgess passes to Roberts who passes to Lynch.. Lynch unleashes a hard shot.. Pettinger does brilliantly to turn it over the bar!

27 minute mark: Dunk passes it to Lynch in the left corner of the box.. Lynch dribbles towards the goal.. he shoots.. hard and high angled shot to the upper right corner.. Pettinger waves at it, but he can't get to it.. goal.

29 minute mark: Niall Inman gets called for holding Atkins jersey, yellow card for Inman.

34 minute mark: Grant Black makes a great tackle in the center of the box to stop Lynch's shot from point blank range.

1-1 at the half.

46 minute mark: Johnson receives the ball and takes it up the right sideline.. he crosses it towards the far post.. Farrell controls it and shoots the angled shot towards the upper right corner of the goal... Ward tips it over the crossbar.

56 minute mark: Burgess sends it to the left corner of my zone. Lynch barely chases it down before it goes out of bounds. He sends a wild curving cross to Daniel French. French heads it towards goal.. Pettinger blocks it but can't control the rebound.. French taps in the rebound for the goal. 2-1

64 minute mark: Hunter is exhausted so I put Krief on for him. Also, Farrell is tired, so I put Donaldson on for him.

66 minute mark: Krief makes a surprisingly good long pass to Donaldson. Donaldson takes it into the box.. he puts a move on the keeper.. the keeper stays in front of him and cuts the angle off.. he shoots.. hard angle towards the left goal post.. past the keeper... and wide.

71 minute mark: Krief makes an important tackle back in the box on Lynch.. He gets up and flicks the ball ahead to Atkins who hits Donaldson with a perfect pass in the box. Ward comes out to cut down the angle.. Donaldson shoots.. Ward gets a piece of it.. it trickles towards the goal.. Westwood beats the ball to the goal line and clears it wide of the net.

75 minute mark: Burgress gets a yellow card for holding Krief.. the kid is playing better in a game than he practices..

80 minute mark: Wright is exhausted, so I pull him and bring Turley into the game putting him up front alongside Donaldson. I move Krief onto the left wing (significantly out of position)

85 minute mark: Krief makes a nice pass to Atkins who passes to Turley in the box.. Turley has to shoot immediately as the defense is closing down on him.. he shoots.. over the bar.

88 minute mark: Brown makes a key header on a cross from Lynch.. he sends it out to Atkins who flicks it ahead to Krief.. Krief runs past his man and races down the pitch.. into the box.. he shoots as the keeper rushes out to meet him.. it's WAY high.

Final Whistle Blows: 2-1 loss for us.

We were outshot 11-8

Darren Lynch won MoM as he was all over the pitch. 25 of 29 passes complete, 1 of 1 tackles won, 5 of 8 headers won, 1 goal and 1 assist.

[Eaglesfan27]

November 24, 2004 -

Chris Brown has gone back to his team as they refused to loan him any longer. I've also officially been rejected by 47 different players whose teams agreed to send the player, but the player refused to come on loan.

My defense just lost a big piece of stability.. and it will be interesting to see how we respond.

[Eaglesfan27]

Today we face Moor Green in the 2nd round of English FA Trophy. Moor Green is led by the excellent keeper they have on loan from Oldham, Craig Mawson. Since coming to the team last month, they have had 3 shutouts. Guy Sanders is a central defender who provides excellent defense in front of the Mawson. Neil Davis and Sean Dowdall are their tandem strikers who are a deadly duo and each has 7 league goals at this point. Despite all of this, we are 5:4 favorites.

Our Starting Lineup:

GK: Pettinger
DL: Dunning
DC: Shepherd (he can play midfield or DC, and we need his relatively good tackling and heading ability back there. Besides which I'm convinced Curtis cannot be trusted back there for prolonged periods.)
DC: Leigh Wood
DR: Black
ML: Wright
MC: Hunter
MC: Atkins
MC: Johnson
MR: Fox
SC: Farrell

S1: Buxton
S2: Turley
S3: Donaldson
S4: Curtis
S5 Krief (who is making an argument for being in the starting lineup.)

It's a dry cool 40 degrees today.

[Crapshoot]

Originally Posted by Eaglesfan27

November 24, 2004 -

Chris Brown has gone back to his team as they refused to loan him any longer. I've also officially been rejected by 47 different players whose teams agreed to send the player, but the player refused to come on loan.

My defense just lost a big piece of stability.. and it will be interesting to see how we respond.

Yeah - its par for the course at that level.- no professional really wants to play in the conference..

On the bright side, if you get promoted- things will look better...

[Eaglesfan27]

6 minute mark: Dunning saves a definite goal as he stops Dowdall with a tackle right after Dowdall dribbles the ball past my keeper. Dunning clears the ball to Johnson who is called for unfairly jumping with a midfielder. Johnson is furious and argues with the ref. He gets a yellow card.

8 minute mark: Shepherd makes a big tackle on Dowdall that stops him from getting off a shot inside the box.

9 minute mark: My keeper sends it long to Wright on the left wing.. Wright sends a long pass to Farrell who outraces the defense.. 2 dribbles into the box.. defender approaching behind him.. he shoots.. low and to the right.. goal!!!!!! 1-0

20 minute mark: Pettinger kicks the ball long.. it bounces in the opposition's turf.. Farrell tracks it down.. the keeper comes out to challenge him.. Farrell shoots.. over the bar.

1-0 at the half.

52 minute mark: Shepherd clears a ball to the left wing.. Wright sends a pass into the oppositions Turf. Farrell chases it down.. he is about 15 yards out towards the left corner of the box.. he shoots.. and goes for the narrow angle.. keeper is surprised and barely tips it over the bar.

57 minute mark: Atkins steals a pass from the midfielder.. sends a sharp pass to Wright.. Wright sends a pass from the left side of the midfield that bounces into the box.. Farrell is onto the ball quickly.. from about 10 yards.. immediately shoots.. down and to the left.. it's in!!!!! GOAL!!!! 2-0

62 minute mark: Krief is subbed in for the tired Johnson. I decide to leave Farrell in so that he can attempt to get the hat trick.

72 minute mark: Krief steals it from the opposition just to the right of the central circle.. he passes it to Atkins.. Atkins passes to Farrell who passes back to Hunter. Farrell races ahead at this point.. and Hunter immediately lofts the long pass from him. Farrell runs and catches the ball and shoots from just outside the 20 yard box.. slams it into the upper left corner!!! GOAL!!!! He has the hat trick.. the fans start shouting his name! (all 183 of them)


3-0 final score.

We outshot them 7-6

Farrell wins MoM with 9 of 13 passes completed, 1 of 7 headers won, 1 pass intercepted and 3 goals scored.

[Tekneek]

Originally Posted by Eaglesfan27

On the 2nd opportunity, David Jervis crosses the ball from the left wing to Carl Alford at striker.

Back in CM3, Carl Alford was with Stevenage Borough (the Conference club I traditionally start with). He was usually one of the best finishers for me. No shame in giving up a goal to that guy.

[Eaglesfan27]

November 28th, 2004

We were awarded 6,000 dollars for our win in the 2nd round of the English FA Trophy!

I treated the guys to a night out at our local pub. During the evening, I felt I got a good gauge of how guys are feeling about my management. The general consensus is that most of the team thinks we have much more potential than we are showing. However, they also seem to be behind me firmly. Atkins still seems to think that he would be a better manager, but he is telling me he will try his best to raise our league position. I believe him, and he continues to play well. Since he is one of my best players, I will continue to play him each game.

[Tekneek]

Originally Posted by Eaglesfan27

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

A very interesting offer, but only because I've never seen one like that before. I'm holding off on ordering FM2005 until after the new year, so I'll be reading for any little tidbits that are unique to this release.

[Eaglesfan27]

November 29th, 2004 -

A dizzying number of managers are getting fired. I wonder how my meeting with my boss is going to go in 2 days.. In the meantime, I have a game to get ready for against my next opposition.

[MizzouRah]

Atkins still seems to think that he would be a better manager, but he is telling me he will try his best to raise our league position

What do you think would happen if you loaned this guy? (I'm assuming you can't trade him?)

I know he's a good player, but that has to be freaky having a good player wanting your job. Maybe he'll goto your boss and demand the position of coach or else he's leaving.

Todd

[Eaglesfan27]

November 29th, 2004

My lucky string of draws for the FA Trophy is over. At least I'll be the home team against Forest Green Rovers who are in the English Conference National. Perusing the newspaper, it appears they have several quality players.

My next game is against Hinckley on the road. They have Nicky Eyre on loan from Tottenham and he has been providing solid play in goal for them. He has 2 clean sheets in 5 matches. Adam Wills leads their defense and is playing spectacularly as their DC. Matthew Trevett is leading the midfield and has 7 assists. Nathan Lamey is their leading striker with 6 goals. We are 6:4 favorites.

I'm using the exact same lineup as last match despite it being only 3 days later.

It is a wet rainy day and the temperature is 54 degrees.

[Eaglesfan27]

Originally Posted by MizzouRah

What do you think would happen if you loaned this guy? (I'm assuming you can't trade him?)

I know he's a good player, but that has to be freaky having a good player wanting your job. Maybe he'll goto your boss and demand the position of coach or else he's leaving.

Todd

He used to play for top notch teams, and he still still good for my level of play, but honestly I can't get any money for loaning him. If I could, I would consider it. However, if I did that it would likely piss off the rest of my team since he is our captain and 3rd best player. That probably wouldn't be a good idea as right now at least the rest of the team is behind me. Also, he is my ONLY coach, so I wouldn't have anyone training the guys if I let him go. (For some reason, the manager can't coach any positions directly)

My best hope is that we start winning and he regains confidence in us..

[Eaglesfan27]

12 minute mark: David Nugent beats Wright and dribbles down the left side line.. crosses sharply to Paul Barnes.. Barnes shoots.. Pettinger barely tips it over the bar.

18 minute mark: WTF!! Paul Barnes just shoot a 30 yard blast that had wicked curve on it! I haven't seen that before at this level of play. Pettinger barely manages to punch it away with a last second dive.

18 minute mark: Black gathers up the rebound, and he sends a pass the length of the pitch... Farrell outraces the defender.. he gathers the ball up inside the box.. he dribbles to his right.. the keeper comes out to cut down the angle.. Farrell shoots.. and blasts it past the keeper into the lower right corner of the net!!! GOAL!!!! 1-0

That was Farrell's 10th league of the year.

25 minute mark: Wright steals the ball and centers to Atkins at midfield.. Atkins dribbles a few steps and sends pass to Farrell.. Farrell dribbles around the defender.. shoots.. the keeper tips it over the goal.

31 minute mark: Richard Lavery is given a yellow card for a trip on Atkins.

36 minute mark: Wright steals the ball.. centers to Atkins.. Atkins dribbles and floats a pass into the box.. Farrell gets it.. shoots.. down and to the left.. just wide.

40 minute mark: hunter steals the ball and plays it up to Farrell who is around mid field.. Farrell dribbles between two defenders buying himself space.. he dribbles to just outside the box.. defenders are recovering.. he shoots towards the upper left corner.. just wide.

1-0 at the half.

48 minute mark: my opposition changes for a 4-4-2 to a 4-3-3.

The effects of playing on 3 days are showing.. Farrell is getting exhausted. So I sub him out at the 60 minute mark for Donaldson. Also Wright is exhausted. I sub in Krief for him. Finally, Johnson is exhausted so I sub in Turley (who is now clearly out of position as is Krief.)

70 minute mark: Atkins pass is intercepted by Matthew Trevett. Trevett passes to the left wing. Richard Lavery takes a few steps and sends a crisp low pass into the box. Matt Lewis takes the pass inside the box.. dribbles once.. shoots from left of goal.. he goes for the narrow angle and puts it into the upper left corner as my keeper was playing the wide angle. 1-1

89 minute mark: Krief makes a good move on his man and shoots a hard shot from outside the left side of the box.. the keeper deflects it.. Donaldson collects the rebound and passes it backwards to Turley.. Turley shoots at a WIDE open net.. over the bar.

1-1 Final Score.

I'm finding myself more and more impressed with Farrell every game.

We were outshot 20-8! (Mostly off target)

Nicky Eyre won MoM with a 9 form in goal.

[Eaglesfan27]

December 1st, 2004 -

I had the dreaded meeting with the chairman today. Surprisingly, (considering we are in 20th place) he is "pleased" with my performance. That is the word he used. I think that is better than satisfied. Hopefully, we can continue to improve our performance. The team morale seems to really be good now. Even Atkins seems to be less surly.

[Eaglesfan27]

December 8th -

We are currently ranked 20th and we host 2nd ranked Barrow today. This will be Jemal Johnson's last game with us as his loan is over and Blackburn wants him to return and won't extend the loan. Despite injuries to a few of their players Barrow has been playing explosive team ball. They have 4 goal scorers with at least 6 goals: Gavin Knight - a dangerous striker, Jamie Peterson - the best left winger I've seen yet, Michael Kewley - their 3rd dangerous striker (the 2nd is injured), and Graham Anthony their midfielder. Simon Bishop is a superior keeper who has 9 clean sheets in 15 league games so far. They are 6:4 favorites.

Our starting lineup has a slight alteration: Donaldson injured his wrist in practice yesterday, and will be out for a week or so. As a result, Lee Morris my backup striker will be the last sub.

It's a dry crisp 36 degrees today.

[MizzouRah]

You're doing well so far EF! Keep it up.


Todd

[Eaglesfan27]

16 minute mark: After a mostly defensive battle, Pettinger gets called for Pushing Gavin Knight in the penatly box! Penalty awarded. Graham Anthony takes the penalty shot.. low and to the left... my keeper doesn't even move.. Goal. 1-0

38 minute mark: Shepherd heads a crossing pass away from my goal area.. Atkins passes to Fox.. Fox passes it long to just outside the penalty box.. Farrell catches up to the ball. He shoots... the keeper deflects it.. Farrell races to the ball.. he taps it in.. GOAL!!!!! 1-1

1-1 at half time.

60 minute mark: Farrell is tired. I sub in Turley for him. Also, Johnson is tired, and I don't want him to make a mistake so I sub him out and put Krief into the match.

A surprisingly boring 2nd half ends with a 1-1 tie.

Edit: Forgot the summary.

They outshot us 8-4.

Graham Anthony won MoM for them. He completed 34 of 38 passes, 4 of 5 tackles, 3 of 4 headers, and he intercepted 5 passes.

[Eaglesfan27]

Originally Posted by 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.

December 10th, 2004 -

My second offer for this kid comes through. Wakefield and Emley are offering me 52,000 dollars for this kid immediately. That would be a nice boost to the coffers! That also makes me wonder how this semi-professional team can afford to pay so much money for him. It's a tough decision, that I will consider carefully in the next week that I have to respond.