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04-27-2005, 11:19 AM
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#251 |
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Grizzled Veteran
Join Date: May 2003
Location: Ashburn, VA
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See, I'm not the only addict here.
 Also, I see it looks like you're dropping a LOT of players at the end of the season. I guess that just means, though, looking at how it rounds out, that your squad is currently pretty darn large! /tk
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GO TERPS! https://www.flickr.com/photos/terpkristin https://twitter.com/terpkristin |
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04-27-2005, 11:35 AM
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#252 |
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College Prospect
Join Date: Oct 2001
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ok, so where's the rest of it?
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04-27-2005, 11:40 AM
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#253 | ||
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Hattrick Moderator
Join Date: Jan 2003
Location: Pintendre, Qc, Canada
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Quote:
No you're not, you do have a prefered status though Quote:
I'm dropping everybody on the current U18 squad since every one of the kid who promoted from our youth program in the last offseason was complete shite. Then, there are a bunch of obvious, players that just wouldn't cut it in the premiership. You learn to know those players when you can find any kind of reason to play a younger kid in front of him. Take Chris Chapman getting playing time instead of a guy like John Oster, or easily playing Igor Nadal Lázaro instead of Steve Brooker, or again Chapman instead of dudes like Nigel Quashie or Marc Bircham... The face of the team has changed in this first season in the EPL, and it will keep on changing with the free transfers coming in... FM
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A Black Belt is a White Belt who refused to give up... follow my story: The real life story of a running frog... |
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04-27-2005, 11:40 AM
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#254 | |
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Hattrick Moderator
Join Date: Jan 2003
Location: Pintendre, Qc, Canada
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Quote:
LOL! okay, you asked for it, there we go for another round  FM
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A Black Belt is a White Belt who refused to give up... follow my story: The real life story of a running frog... |
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04-27-2005, 11:42 AM
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#255 |
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Hattrick Moderator
Join Date: Jan 2003
Location: Pintendre, Qc, Canada
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March 1st, 2011
The Team Board are delighted again this month. The fans are still telighted about the signing of Clemens Fritz, which I think is nice. Marcus Kelly is named the English Premier Division Player of the Month. wow! He had form ratings of 10, 8, and 8, in his three league games in February. Jeppe Lund Curth's magical goal of February 18 against Fulham is the Goal of the Month. Remember, it was him on the wing with a crazy bending shot with no angle. Was indeed a very sweet goal, as if he had made a center to the 6 yard box, only for the wind to bend it in. March 2, 2011 The three month loan period of Nigel Quashie with Derby comes to an end. He has indicated that he has enjoyed his spell at Derby. Looking at the future, he also fears he has no future at Q.P.R. and has indicated that he would be interested in a permanent move to Derby if one becomes available. Nigel has served us very well, but I don't see him as a viable option for us in the future, especially in lights of the Li Tie signing. His contract is unprotected and I fully expect that one team will offer him a contract before we get to the month of June. 'Cross wants improved contract' is the title of a message I had in my inbox. He has suggested publicly that his agent could get him a better contract at another club. The right winger is unhappy with his current deal and is expecting negotiations to begin immediately. Ahhh, the spoiled little brat is back. I go see his salary requests and I burst out laughing. He wants $55k per week with a signing fee of $700k, hahahahaha... No way Jose, not after I've signed Clemens Fritz to take your place on the pitch... The one thing that pisses me off though is that he's got a damned minimum release fee clause to his contract. The clause is set at $4.8M and he's already valued at over $6M. I don't plan on transfer listing the kid just yet, but I probably will next season... FM
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A Black Belt is a White Belt who refused to give up... follow my story: The real life story of a running frog... |
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04-27-2005, 11:45 AM
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#256 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Hattrick Moderator
Join Date: Jan 2003
Location: Pintendre, Qc, Canada
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March 5, 2011
League Match #30: we play Blackburn on their pitch. They're currently in 6th place, 2 tiny points ahead of us, and are evens favourites to win this game. A win would push us ahead of them. It's our real A team in there today, with about everyone at 100% or very close to it. They show a 5-3-2 formation with 2 wingbacks with up arrows. It looks so easy in the 4th minute. A long headers from Keith Keane goes all the way to Clemens Fritx's feet on the right wing. Fritz takes it to the byline, unchallenged, then just inside the penalty area, where he centers it to Youssouf Hersi, standing alone on the edge of the 6 yard box. Hersi scores the 1-0 goal. Great vision from Fritz, but we also had 3 men standing near their 6 yard box, the keeper couldn't do a thing. We add a second goal to our lead in the 39th minute on a short corner from Fábio Rochemback to Marcus Kelly. Kelly gives the ball back to Roch who swiftly centers it to the 6 yard box, where the head of Danny Shittu meets the ball for the 2-0 goal. The half ends with us ahead 2-0. We're outshooting them 8(6) to 5(2) but possession is very close to 50-50. I then made a big mistake. I pulled the team back when I souldn't have. We should have kept playing with the same mentality and we could have kept them at bay that way, possibly even adding another goal. Instead, they got within one when Igor Biscan scored an own goal in the 68th minute. They kept attacking us and after 2 minutes of injury time, they scored the equalizer, ARRRRRRGGGGGGGHHHHH!!!!!! Final Scores: 2-2 They end up outshooting us 15(6) to 13(8), goes to show how screwing up your tactics can hurt you. Youssouf Hersi received a rating of 9 while Kasper Schmeichel, Clemens Fritz, and Fábio Rochemback all got rated at 8. We drop to 9th with the draw, as Manchester City won their game.
Sooooo frustrating. I guess you can chalk that up to being a young team in terms of EPL experience... There's a wow item in there, and that's Southampton already clinching relegation with still 9 games to play for them. Ouch, 1 win, 2 draws, and 26 losses, with 70 goals conceded... that's 2.4 goals per game played... The other promotee, Gillingham, isn't doing much better, with 20 points, 13 below the relegation line. Looks like the Rangers might be the only team who will survive their first season in the Premiership, who would have thought that, huh? Looking at how we crumbled in the middle in the end of the game, I vow to make my next acquisiton a centreback. I find Anthony Vanden Borre, forget who he's playing for, but he's a 23yo cultured centreback, for whom we wouldn't have to pay compensation. He doesn't believe Q.P.R. can meet his demands, but I feel like trying to offer him a contract. He's got great skill, and at 23, could still grow and become an amazing centreback for years to com for us. I offer him this crazy deal: $48k per week + $2.4M signing fee (since he'd be a free transfer, I don't have a problem with a huge signing fee) + 9.6k per appearances + minimum release fee clause at $9.6M. We'll see what he says... I go back to another player for whom I had asked my scouts to give me some reports. Name is James Collins, a 27yo D C currently playing with Nottm Forest. Neither of my scouts think he has any future in professional football, and my assistant doesn't think that signing him would be worthwhile. He's got great heading, marking, passing, tackling, and positioning with also good decision making skills, determination and concentration. In spite of the bad reports my scouts and assistant gave me, I decide to offer him a contract. He's currently earning $13k and he wants to increase that to $24k. I offer him $20k. FM
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A Black Belt is a White Belt who refused to give up... follow my story: The real life story of a running frog... |
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04-27-2005, 11:48 AM
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#257 |
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Hattrick Moderator
Join Date: Jan 2003
Location: Pintendre, Qc, Canada
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March 7, 2011
Youssouf Hersi is named on the English Premier Division Team of the Week. March 8, 2011 Hull offer a contract to Nigel Quashie. March 9, 2011 James Collins is ecstatic to have agreed terms with Q.P.R. He said that he is really optmistic of rising to the challenge of playing at a higher level. As I said before, I think he's got a good skill set for a centreback, even though he lacks a little pace. His good positioning could hopefully make up for it. You can click on the following thumbnail to see his profile.  March 10, 2011 Anthony Vanden Borre snubs us. He felt the basic wage wasn't acceptable and he doesn't even want ot negotiate. I don't lose hope and I have him on my shortlist. Maybe his current club will let him before a free agent and he'll be more willing to listen once he's unemployed... March 11, 2011 Nigel Quashie has agreed to terms with Hull. He'll joined them on July 1st. Good for him... FM
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A Black Belt is a White Belt who refused to give up... follow my story: The real life story of a running frog... |
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04-27-2005, 11:52 AM
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#258 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Hattrick Moderator
Join Date: Jan 2003
Location: Pintendre, Qc, Canada
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March 11, 2011
FA Cup round 6: we play West Brom at Loftus Road. They're currently 12th in the Premiership. and are 5-4 favourites to win this game. It's the first of back to back games against West Brom, both of them at Loftus Road. They beat us 0-3 earlier in the season, on their pitch. Hopefully the home crowd will give us a boost. 6th round could also be known as the quarter final. Other matches that will take place are: Blackburn - Norwich Machester United - Arsenal Manchester City - Gillingham Looking at this lineup, we were dealt a pretty favorable draw. No changes in our lineup, both teams played on March 5, so a week ago. In the 20th minute, Clemens Fritz plays a great crosspass, from one wing to the other, to Marcus Kelly. Kelly then centered it to Igor Nadal Lázaro who's one on one with the keeper. He won't miss his chance. Up 1-0! Fritz goes at it again only 2 minutes later. This time, he beats three defenders, bringing the ball from the wing to the penalty spot, where he beats the keeper for a wonder goal!!! We're up 2-0! Shocker in the 31st minute: Youssouf Hersi is sent off on a straight red. I didn't catch why, so I go read the match report and dang, he simply pull the shirt of an opponent while going for the ball. I've seen many calls for that, sometimes a yellow is given, but never a red straight up. Then a thought hit me. Who's the ref? You guessed it: Rob Styles  I automatically switch everybody to easy tackling, but it's already too late for Hersi, we'll have to do without him. One thing though. When you're up 2-0, one of the players you can do without is possibly one of your strikers, or in this case, the attacking midfielder...The half ends with us ahead 2-0. Defensively, we shut them down of any scoring chance, while shooting 6(4) ourselves. We're "outcarding" them 2 yellows and a red to "only" two yellows, heh... Our two yellows had happened before Hersi's red, thus before I switched everybody to easy tackling. Fritz is again in the middle of the action for our third goal, when Marcus Kelly gets dispossed of the ball while driblling, Fritz is right there and he pounces on the bal with a very hard kick from 25 yards out. With only 10 men, we go up 3-0 after 62 minutes! They score a garbage goal in the 87th minute, after the ball deflected off Igor Biscan. Final Score: 3-1 Wow, with 10 men on the field for nearly 60 minutes, we outshot them 12(6) to 6(4), a great game! Marcus Kelly gets named Man of the Match with a rating of 10. Clemens Fritz rates at 9, while Fábio Rochemback and Igor Nadal Lázaro both rate at 8. We've been awarded $700k for the win and we're through to the Semi Final!!! Shitty news about Hersi though. He'll be banned for one match after being sent off. I'm given the possibility to appeal this ban and I do, if only because it's Rob Styles we're talking about... The $800k gates receipts for this FA Cup match is a new Q.P.R. record, sweet! Matthew Bates requests to be transfer listed. I grant him his wish. Results of the other Round 6 matches were as follows: Blackburn 0 - 0 Norwich Manchester United 1 - Arsenal Machester City - Gillingham will be played only on March 23 FM
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A Black Belt is a White Belt who refused to give up... follow my story: The real life story of a running frog... |
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04-27-2005, 11:56 AM
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#259 |
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Hattrick Moderator
Join Date: Jan 2003
Location: Pintendre, Qc, Canada
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March 14, 2011
The FA thinks I did not have valid ground for my appeal against the one match ban for Youssouf Hersi, bah... The FA Cup Semi Final draw happens. The first match will be the winner of the Manchester City/Gillingham taking on Manchester United, while we're slated to play the winner of the Blackburn/Norwich . Both the Mac City/Gillingham match and the Blackburn/Norwich replay are set to be played on March 23. Blackburn and Norwich played each other to a boring 0-0 draw on Blackburn's pitch... March 15, 2011 Paul Davies requests to be transfer listed. I grant him his wish. FM
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A Black Belt is a White Belt who refused to give up... follow my story: The real life story of a running frog... |
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04-27-2005, 02:18 PM
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Hattrick Moderator
Join Date: Jan 2003
Location: Pintendre, Qc, Canada
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March 20, 2011
League Match #31: we play West Brom at Loftus Road. They're still in 13th place and again are 5-4 favourites to win this game. March 20 is Sunday and all the Saturday games have left the league table with us having a shot at 6th place, depending on the result of the Man U/Man C game to be played after ours today. Danny Shittu strained his neck in training. He still has 5 days to go before being back to top shape. I'll keep him on the bench for this game, starting David Marek Rozehnal and Igor Biscan. Ben Watson is in for the suspended Youssouf Hersi. This game is on TV and the key men are presented as being Marcus Kelly for us and striker Dmitry Sychev for them. They point out that Sychev has scored 14 goals in 27 games so far this season. The Evening's Standard's prediction for this game: West Brom have been poor of late and I can see this game fizzling into a bore draw. And boy were they right for the first half, as it ends 0-0 with shots going 1(1) for us, 2(1) for them. Igor Biscan suffered a minor injury but I keep him in. Even though the action picks up from the start of the second half, it'll take us until the 81st minute to finally score one. Clemens Fritz's center from the byline to the 6 yard box is hit on a volley shot by Luca Maioli for his first Q.P.R. goal! He had come in for Ben Watson earlier in the half. Was nice to hear the home crowd noise get higher as Fritz made his move toward the byline. We thought we had it in the bag until Tom Howell plays a sloppy pass toward Keigan Parker in the middle of our zone. It's intercepted and converted immediately into a goal from long range for the equalizer, DAMN!!! We tried going all out attack for the last few minutes, but to no avail. Final Score: 1-1 We outshot them 12(9) to 5(3). It's a shame we couldn't come away with the win, but again goes to show that we're still not mature enough to always win the big games. Sure we've pulled a few nice ones, but we can be even better, and we will be, once we've learned how to play under pressure... We still won possession with 56%, split 11-21-24, so it's not as if we played very poorly, just that one play... Clemens Fritz is named Man of the Match with a rating of 10. He had 16 runs past opponents in this game. Everybody else on our team got rated a very grey 7. bleh. Man City got beat 0-3 by Man U, so we're in 8th place after the match, only one point from 6th place, not bad... Igor Biscan suffered a chest injury and will miss 6 days. FM
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A Black Belt is a White Belt who refused to give up... follow my story: The real life story of a running frog... |
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04-27-2005, 02:19 PM
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#261 |
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Hattrick Moderator
Join Date: Jan 2003
Location: Pintendre, Qc, Canada
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March 23, 2011
In their replay for the 6th round of the FA Cup, Blackburn needed penalty kicks to overcome Norwich on their pitch. It was 2-2 after regulation. We will play Blackburn in the Semi Final, at Wembley Stadium, on April 20. I've had good luck the two times one of my team has played at Wembley in the past, both times in a playoffs final. Hopefully, this is a good sign The other Semi Final will be Manchester City against Manchester United. March 25, 2011 Youssouf Hersi is called up to the Holland squad. He is currently uncapped, at 28 years of age. Tom Howell, who has also never played in an international match, is called up for a friendly match with the England U19 squad. Nice! To round it out, Andrew Johnson played the whole match with the England U21 squad and showed good composure, scoring their two goals in 2-0m win over Austria in a Euro U21 Championship qualifying match. He got named Man of the Match, rating at 9 while completing 15 of hi 18 passes, winning 5 of the 9 headers he went for and havign 4 runs past opponents. Nice game! Matt Cross also started for England in that game, playing 60 minutes before being substited. He got rated at 7. March 26, 2011 It's a round of Euro 2012 qualifying matches and a few QPR players took part in games. Keith Keane played the whole match in the Republic of Ireland's 0-0 draw with Liechtenstein. He rated at 7. Jeppe Lund Curth start and played 69 minutes in Denmark's 1-0 win over Belarus. Kasper Schmeichel was the backup keeper for Denmark in that game. David Marek Rozehnal played the whole match and rated at 7 in the Czech Republic's 1-1 draw against FYR Macedonia. In other news, Mathew Sadler wants to play with the first team. Well, get used to play with the reserves kid... March 28, 2011 Tom Howell was the starting left winger and played 68 minute in a friendly with the England U19 squad. He rated at 7 as a winger, interesting... FM
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A Black Belt is a White Belt who refused to give up... follow my story: The real life story of a running frog... |
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04-27-2005, 02:20 PM
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#262 | |
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Hattrick Moderator
Join Date: Jan 2003
Location: Pintendre, Qc, Canada
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March 29, 2011
Andrew Johnson keeps impressing the international crowd as he scored the lone England U21 goal again, playing the whole game in England's 1-1 draw against Switzerland. Matt Cross also played but got injured and had to leave the game. He will have to miss 3 weeks with strained ankle ligaments, dang! March 30, 2011 Keith Keane, who had played in the last two matches of the Republic of Ireland, is officially called up to the team. Youssouf Hersi earns his first international cap for Hollad. He came in at the half and, apparently, he played as a left winger, which is a bit unusual for him. Nevertheless, he completed 12 of 15 passes and put 2 of his 4 shots on target, rating at 7 in a 0-2 loss against Norway. This nice news tidbit showed up after that game: Quote:
 FM
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A Black Belt is a White Belt who refused to give up... follow my story: The real life story of a running frog... |
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04-27-2005, 02:29 PM
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#263 | |
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Hattrick Moderator
Join Date: Jan 2003
Location: Pintendre, Qc, Canada
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April 1st, 2011
The team board is still delighted with my managerial performance. Kind of odd, no monthly awards seem to have been awarded this month... I get a bunch of reminders about contracts which are three months from expiring. The following players will not get any contract offers: Chris Day, John Oster, John Boyle, Mathew Sadler. Lee Mansell, I may keep for sentimental reasons, and because he's looking for only a couple thousands in wages... Igor Biscan wants a 2 year deal at $16k per week and a signing fee of $190k. I offer him $14k and a $100k signing fee for a 1 year deal. I like the depth that the 32yo, soon to be 33, D/DM C brings to our squad. As for Keith Keane, I would like to keep him. He wants $31.5k per week and a $360k signing fee for a 3 year deal. Bruno Conti thinks we could easily replace him and recommends only $20k per week. He's only 24 and starting to play internationally, but all my coaches think he is a useful member of our squad. This is kind of bland and I sort of agree that we could possibly replace him, but he's indeed improved many of his skills in the last season or so. I'll wait a little before offering him a new deal. On the eve of our match with them, Arsenal manager Michael Laudrup said he felt sympathy for me, knowing the magnitude of the task to keep Queens Park Rangers up, saying he wouldn't like to be in my position. He made it clear however that he wouldn't be doing my team any favours in Saturday's game. I see a bit of overconfidence in the reaction of two of my players. Marcus Kelly and Igor Nadal Lázaro both think that Laudrup is right and avoiding the drop will happen without too much effort. Seeing how we're placed in the league table, with 7 league games to go, I answered it just the way I felt it. Here's how it came out: Quote:
In other news, David Marek Rozehnal suffered strained knee ligaments in training. Originally said to be missing one full month, the diagnosis was reviewed to two weeks once he was sent to the physiotherapist. FM
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A Black Belt is a White Belt who refused to give up... follow my story: The real life story of a running frog... |
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04-27-2005, 02:31 PM
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#264 |
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Hattrick Moderator
Join Date: Jan 2003
Location: Pintendre, Qc, Canada
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well, I'm done with any unreported stuff. The wife has a night of class tonight, so I should play some, see ya tomorrow with more
FM
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A Black Belt is a White Belt who refused to give up... follow my story: The real life story of a running frog... |
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04-27-2005, 04:24 PM
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#265 |
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Coordinator
Join Date: Jul 2003
Location: Here and There
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With the TV money + finishing position money, I'm sure your wage budget will increase substantially in the offseason. Hopefully you'll be allowed to offer more in wages.
Vanden Borre makes an outstanding attacking fullback if you can get him. He can also fill in well at right midfield. Highly recommended.  |
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04-27-2005, 06:26 PM
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#266 | |
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Hattrick Moderator
Join Date: Jan 2003
Location: Pintendre, Qc, Canada
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Quote:
We still have something like $12M left in the bank account. TV money was at $24.5M, don't know if it goes up or not, but that will be big, yeah, but finishing position money??? I like the sound of that, how much for finishing between 8th and 13th in the Premiership? You have definitely wet my appetite Vanden Borre, yeah, he's got winner all over him. I'm gonna keep a close tab on him, although he's described as a cultured centreback in my game, but I do remember him having positions D/DM RC, I think, not sure though... FM
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A Black Belt is a White Belt who refused to give up... follow my story: The real life story of a running frog... |
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04-27-2005, 06:39 PM
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#267 |
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College Prospect
Join Date: Oct 2001
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that's it? man, maybe i should wait a month before i come back
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04-27-2005, 06:42 PM
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#268 | |
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Hattrick Moderator
Join Date: Jan 2003
Location: Pintendre, Qc, Canada
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hahaha, start your own, we'll see who's more productive It takes me about 3 weeks to a month to play a season, and I find it almost fast for that kind of game, never been so much into a game as I am into this one... FM
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A Black Belt is a White Belt who refused to give up... follow my story: The real life story of a running frog... |
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04-27-2005, 08:25 PM
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#269 | |
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Coordinator
Join Date: Jul 2003
Location: Here and There
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Quote:
Why ruin the suprise? It's substantial though. 8th-13th? Have a little confidence. Vanden Borre is described as a centre-back in my game too, but his lack of heading skill worries me. Plus his creative skills go to waste there. Last edited by Desnudo : 04-27-2005 at 08:25 PM. |
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04-28-2005, 02:39 AM
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#270 |
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Pro Rookie
Join Date: Oct 2000
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Nice job advancing so far in the FA Cup and still maintaining a good position in the table. Kudos.
 Yeah, Vanden Borre is listed as D/DM RC with the description of cultured centreback. I'm guessing based on his technical skill. I'm really curious how he's developing now. I haven't been able to resist signing him away from Anderlecht in the demo since he has Arsenal listed as a favourite team. By the way, could you do me a favour and check to see how Sebastien Larsson is developing? He starts the game as a young midfielder with Arsenal. |
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04-28-2005, 06:58 AM
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#271 | ||
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Hattrick Moderator
Join Date: Jan 2003
Location: Pintendre, Qc, Canada
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Quote:
hehe, okay, we're getting there anyway Quote:
*tease alert* come back later on today, I'll have more on Vanden Borre FM
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A Black Belt is a White Belt who refused to give up... follow my story: The real life story of a running frog... |
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04-28-2005, 07:06 AM
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#272 | |||
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Hattrick Moderator
Join Date: Jan 2003
Location: Pintendre, Qc, Canada
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Quote:
Thanks, amazingly happy with the season so far, as much for the unexpected league results and for my best ever showing in either of the Cups. I'm guessing the low number of games in the season might have something to do with that. I mean 38 games if 8 less than I was used to play in lower leagues, and I'm not in any European competition. Who knows for next season, that could change *tease alert #2* again, more on the Cup when I get to it today Quote:
Yeah, I remember seeing Arsenal has his favorite... *repeat of tease alert #1* Quote:
I've taken a note to grab a screenshot of him tonight... FM
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A Black Belt is a White Belt who refused to give up... follow my story: The real life story of a running frog... |
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04-28-2005, 08:49 AM
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#273 |
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Hall Of Famer
Join Date: Nov 2000
Location: The State of Insanity
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One good thing is if you make the FA Cup final, it is very likely you'll be heading to Europe no matter what, since the FA Cup place in the UEFA Cup can go to the loser of the FA Cup Final IF the winner has already qualified through their final standings.
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Check out Foz's New Video Game Site, An 8-bit Mind in an 8GB world! http://an8bitmind.com |
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04-28-2005, 09:07 AM
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#274 |
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Hattrick Moderator
Join Date: Jan 2003
Location: Pintendre, Qc, Canada
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April 2, 2011
Filled with a lot of curiosity, I decided to have another look at Anthony Vanden Borre. Mainly, I wanted to have a feel for if there was any chance that he'd be available later on if we were not able to sign him now, i.e. was there anybody else interested in him. Oh the shock, four other teams were listed as being interested in him. One Spanish I had never heard of, Mallorca, but three English teams on top of us, Middlesbrough, Bolton, and Aston Villa. Bastages! The other interesting thing, Vanden Borre isn't thinking Q.P.R. doesn't have the resources to meet his demands anymore, hmmm very interesting. He's asking for $61k per week, with a $650k signing fee for a three year deal. I still can only offer him $48k, but I'm willing to put a package together. Let's see what he thinks of this: basic wage: $48k per week + $2.4M signing fee + 20% yearly wage rise + $9.6k appearance fee + $9.6k assists bonus + $9.4M minimum release fee clause. I hate putting the minimum release fee clause in there, as I've found it can piss me off to no end, but I've also found that it is sometimes a good deal sweetener with some players. The $2.4M signing fee doesn't bother me at all, I see it as a disguised transfer fee, since Vanden Borre would come to us on a free transfer... It's also saying that he is currently considering a contract offer from the team he is with, Belgium club Anderlecht. We'll see if he snubs us again... FM
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A Black Belt is a White Belt who refused to give up... follow my story: The real life story of a running frog... |
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04-28-2005, 09:08 AM
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#275 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Join Date: Jan 2003
Location: Pintendre, Qc, Canada
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April 2, 2011
League Match #32: we play Arsenal on their pitch. They're currently 3rd in the league and are 1-3 favourites to win this game. They have a few injured players: Edu, Christopher Eagles, and their starting right full back Justin Hoyte all appear to be out of this game. They drew 1-1 to Wigan in their last games but have lost 3 straight prior to that one: 0-1 to Man U in the FA Cup, 0-1 to Werden Bremen in the Champions Cup 1st knockout (was leg 2 and they'd won leg 1 4-0, so they're through anyway), and 0-2 to Man U again in league play. They show a 4-2-3-1 formation, pretty wide setup. The 3 is 3 attacking midfielders (R-C-L) and the 2 is 2 MC right behind them... This game is on TV and key men are presented as being Youssouf Hersi for us and Gianpaolo Pazzini, their lone striker, for them. The Football365.com's prediction: Arsenal will continue their recent impressive form by beating Q.P.R.. You never quite know which Q.P.R. side are going to turn up away from home and that's not likely to change for this game. They really are too much for us to handle, and that from early on in the game. They score once in the 19th minute, after a ball bounces off Youssouf Hersi and gets to the feet of Pazzini who scores. Kasper Schmeichel had anticipated the path of the shot and was caught off position. Both centrebacks are having a really low start to this game, both rating at 5 early on. They score again in the 32nd minute, when a shot barely gets in, off the post. We're not first on the ball, and when we get there on time, we're not winning the challenges, especially the headers. The half ends with us down 0-2. They are outshooting us 12(5) to 3(1). Igor Biscan is rating at 5, Danny Shittu isn't much better and rates at 6. We're doing slightly better in the second half, stopping them from adding to their lead, but we can't score one either... Final Score: 0-2 They outshot us 18(7) to 6(2). Kasper Schmeichel had a good game, both goals being almost impossible to stop. He received a rating of 8. Danny Shittu also finished the game with a rating of 8, but his, and Biscan's, darn slow start has probably cost us the early goals... We drop to 9th with the loss. With 6 games to go, we're still only 3 points off 6th place. 5th place is just about out of reach though...
FM
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A Black Belt is a White Belt who refused to give up... follow my story: The real life story of a running frog... |
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04-28-2005, 09:18 AM
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#276 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Hattrick Moderator
Join Date: Jan 2003
Location: Pintendre, Qc, Canada
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April 3, 2011
Igor Biscan signs a new deal with Q.P.R., apparently for 2 years. Hrm, I thought I had limited it to one year... Oh well, he'll be 35 when the deal's over April 4, 2011 Manchester City win 1-0 over Wigan in League play. We drop to 10th place but our next match is against said Manchester City. Will be a must win to stay in the race... April 6, 2011 Persistence pays off!!! Vanden Borre rejects Anderlecht offer Vanden Borre set for Q.P.R. These are the two news items I had in my inbox today! WEEHEE!!! Vanden Borre even revealed that he is very keen to take on the challenge of playing at a level befitting his ability. I may regret the minimum release fee in the future, but he's money in the bank for however long he'll be with us. So, who's this gem? As you see in his player profile (thumbnail below), he's got skills. Described as a cultured centreback, mainly because of his very good first touch and technique with the ball, he can also pass it with pinpoint accuracy. He's also great off the ball and shows great composure. Finaly, he shows great versatility, being able to play as a sweeper, a defender or a midfielder on either the right side of the center of the pitch.  Looking at his stats sheet at the bottom of his profile, or his stats for the last few years (below) you can see that he's able to set up his teammates on nice scoring opportunities, getting a fair amount of assists every year.
He'll complement our defensive unit and will back up Clemens Fritz nicely. Another signing that I'm very excited about. Next season should be an exciting one at Loftus Road! FM
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A Black Belt is a White Belt who refused to give up... follow my story: The real life story of a running frog... |
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04-28-2005, 11:33 AM
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#277 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Hattrick Moderator
Join Date: Jan 2003
Location: Pintendre, Qc, Canada
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April 9, 2011
Ben Watson twisted his knee in practice and will miss one week. On the eve of our big match, Manchester City manager, my friend Arsčne Wenger, once again has nice things to say about me. He said he truly hoped the the best win in our clash on Sunday. He also commented that I was a good manager and that I deserved every success with The Rs. Following his comment, Danny Shittu is happy I'm getting the praise I deserve, while a trio of players (Fritz, Kelly, Lázaro) feel the team cannot fail to perform whilst under my guidance. I decide to flatter Wenger and I tell the media I admire him, that I was delighted to read his comments about my managerial ability, that I often look to him for guidance and that I advise that young managers use him as role model. Talk about some sweet ass kissing Following this little exchange, I see that my reputation has been bumped to World Class. Nice! Fulham won their game today, 2-0 over Blackburn, pulling to 6 points from us in 6th place.
April 10, 2011 Shit, Youssouf Hersi strained his wrist in training this morning and will miss a week. With Ben Watson already out, it's a double blow... FM
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A Black Belt is a White Belt who refused to give up... follow my story: The real life story of a running frog... |
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04-28-2005, 11:35 AM
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#278 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Hattrick Moderator
Join Date: Jan 2003
Location: Pintendre, Qc, Canada
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April 10, 2011
League Match #33: we play Manchester City at Loftus Road. They're currently 7th and are 4-5 favourites to win this game. It's a must win game for us if we wanna stay in the race for 6th place. I start Luca Maioli in Youssouf Hersi's place. Manchester played in the Euro Cup only three days ago. The first half goes scoreless. Would have been fun to watch if there had been any real highlights, but I kept getting only text messages. I HATE TEXT UPDATES! We're outshooting them 5(1) to 3(3). We're winning possession with 55% split 9-26-20, and I nudge the team's mentality on tick more attacking. This little adjustment pays off, big time as we score twice within 6 minutes. First in the 53rd, like the good old time, Jeppe Lund Curth fires a shot from close range. It's stopped but the keeper let go a long rebound. Keigan Parker is on the other side of the net and picks up the ball with an empty net in front of him. Parker adds another one when Marcus Kelly finds him, unmarked, inside Man City's penalty area. He scores his second of the game for the 2-0 lead. We even add a third one when Luca Maioli fires a vicious shot, aiming for the top corner... Final Score: 3-0 We outshot them 12(6) to 7(4) on the game. Great win! Marcus Kelly is named Man of the Match with a rating of 10. He had 12 tuns past opponents. Rochemback, Maioli, Parker, Curth, and Schmeichel all got rated at 8. We move back to within 3 points of 6th place, now in 8th place with 5 games to go!
April 11, 2011 Jeppe Lund Curth and Marcus Kelly are both named on the Premier Division Team of the Week. FM
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A Black Belt is a White Belt who refused to give up... follow my story: The real life story of a running frog... |
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04-28-2005, 11:41 AM
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#279 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Hattrick Moderator
Join Date: Jan 2003
Location: Pintendre, Qc, Canada
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April 16, 2011
League Match #33: we play Bolton on their pitch. They're currently in 5th place and are 4-5 favourites to win this game. Our FA Cup Semi Final is only in 4 days, on April 20, I gotta keep that in mind. Hopefully, I'd like to pull both wingers (Clemens Fritz and Marcus Kelly) at the half. Youssouf Hersi isn't playing today but should be ready, even if not at 100%, for the Semi Final. Funny blurb from the scouting report of Matt Gibson, my scout in charge of reporting about my next opponents. Look at this:  "Ricardo Gardner is a potent threat in a pacey attacking line and Ricardo Gardner is the spark in a creative midfield" Talk about a jack-of-all-trades this Ricardo Gardner They score in the 17th minute on a free kick from just outside our penalty area. Kasper Schmeichel got a hand on it, but couldn't completely stop it. The half ends with us down 0-1. They're outshooting us 6(3) to 3(1). I go against my initial plan and decide to leave Fritz and Kelly in the game for the beginning of the second half. Igor Nadal Lázaro passes the ball back to Keith Keane on the centerline in the 71st minute. Keane sees the run of Luca Maioli and connects with him on a lovely through ball. Maioli won't miss his chance alone with the keeper. We'Ve pulled even! Sadly, we collapse in the middle again, as they move the ball to the edge of the box through the center of our defense and they score what will be the winning goal... Final Score: 1-2 They outshot us 13(7) to 7(3) but we played well as a whole. A frustrating loss... Kasper Schmeichel is named Man of the Match with a rating of 8. Keane and Biscan also got rated at 8, although Biscan was in the middle of the play on their last goal... We stay in 8th place despite the loss, but Manchester City and Blackburn both have a game on us.
FM
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A Black Belt is a White Belt who refused to give up... follow my story: The real life story of a running frog... |
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04-28-2005, 11:42 AM
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#280 |
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Hattrick Moderator
Join Date: Jan 2003
Location: Pintendre, Qc, Canada
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April 17, 2011
The other FA Cup Semi Final, opposing the two Manchester club, is played and WOW! Manchester City comes out on top, winning the game 1-0. Our Semi Final against Blackburn is in three days... April 18, 2011 David Marek Rozehnal resumes training followin his physiotherapy. The specialist who treated him is optimistic that he has recovered fully from his injury. I find it ironic, since I questioned his rating in the game, but Igor Biscan is named on the English Premier Division Team of the Week. April 20, 2011 Getting the lineup ready for our match against Bolton, the "Unh" tag is showing again for Matt Cross, instead of the "Inj" tag that had been showing for almost a month. This reminds me of the little spoiled brat whining about his contract. I take a look at his demands now, and I'm pleasanlty surprised. Maybe the time off the field got him thinking, but the kid has lowered his demands from $55k+ per week to a more reasonable $28.5k per week, with a $440k signing fee, for a three year deal. He's currently earning $17k, so $10k more per week won't kill us, and he could still improve on his current skills. I offer the requested $28.5k per week, but I lower the signing fee to $260k. There's also a minimum fee release clause to this deal, but it's going up from a current $4.8M to $9.4M... FM
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A Black Belt is a White Belt who refused to give up... follow my story: The real life story of a running frog... |
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04-28-2005, 12:02 PM
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#281 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Hattrick Moderator
Join Date: Jan 2003
Location: Pintendre, Qc, Canada
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April 20, 2011
FA Cup Semi Final: we play Blackburn at Wembley Stadium. They're currently in 10th place in the Premiership and are 5-4 favourites to win this game. Their roster shows a lot of guys with very poor morale and looking at their fixtures list, that's a bit understandable. They have lost their last three games, all by scores of 0-2. One of their starting DC (in 5-3-2) is suspended. Both time we've played them this season, we drew 2-2. Youssouf Hersi is back in as starter. I really wanted to give the start to Igor Nadal Lázaro as he's done so well for us in Cup play, scoring 7 goals in 4 starts, but the recent loss dropped his morale to very poor and that's got me a bit worried. I reunite Keigan Parker with Jeppe Lund Curth instead. Lázaro will be on the bench with Andrew Johnson sitting this one out. They show a 5-3-2 formation, the same the showed the last time we played them, with 2 wingbacks with up arrows. The first half goes scoreless, but it's not because we're not trying. Their keeper is keeping them in the game, as we outshot them 8(3) to 2(1) and we win possession with 58%, split 9-21-28. The second half is more of the same, although we got even closer, but couldn't even shoot. We won possession in the second half with 63%, split 4-22-37  and we're outshooting them 11(4) to 2(1) after 90 minutes. They didn't shoot once in the last 45 minutes...I expected to see "Final Whistle" with a replay to be played later, but instead I was surprised to see "End of 90 minutes". I guess there are no replays in the Semi Final. I tweaked the mentality to push it a nudge further in attack. I'm getting worried they could get a lucky goal on a counter attack, we gotta convert early on! And we do!!! In the 103rd minute, Fábio Rochemback tries a kick from very long range and it hits the crossbar! Keigan Parker is all alone to get the rebound and he buries it for the 1-0 goal! At the half of extra time, we're outshooting them 14(5) to still 2(1) In the 1st minute of the second half of extra time, Parker fires a shot that is blocked, but not controlled by their keeper. Igor Nadal Lázaro pounces on the rebound and strikes the ball with fury, burying the ball for the insurance goal. Final Score: 2-0 WE WON! WE'RE THROUGH TO THE FINAL!!!! We outshot them 17(8) to 3(1) on the game and we deserved that win! Fábio Rochemback is named Man of the Match with a rating of 9. He completely 46 of his 57 passes. We have 5 others at 8. The FA Cup Final will also be played at Wembley, on May 28, when we'll take on Manchester City and my friend Arsčne Wenger. Hopefully my luck at Wembley, and against Wenger, won't fail me on that day One thing bugs me though, looking at the fixtures list, I already know that Tom Howell will be unavailable for that game, as he'll be in the middle of a bunch of qualifier for the U19 Euro Championship at that time. Bugger! Marcus Kelly suffered a facial injury (!) and will miss 3 days. FM
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A Black Belt is a White Belt who refused to give up... follow my story: The real life story of a running frog... |
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04-28-2005, 12:04 PM
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#282 | |
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Hattrick Moderator
Join Date: Jan 2003
Location: Pintendre, Qc, Canada
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Quote:
I can now comment on this As you've seen, with who is through to the final, I doubt that Man City will qualify for the Euro Cup with their league position. So it's either we finish in 6th, or we win the FA Cup. I say we crush Man City again FM
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A Black Belt is a White Belt who refused to give up... follow my story: The real life story of a running frog... |
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04-28-2005, 12:41 PM
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#283 |
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College Prospect
Join Date: Oct 2001
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note for the future, if it's being played at wembley, their ain't no replay
and congrats on being through to the final, make sure you're best team is prepared for that one! |
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04-28-2005, 12:46 PM
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#284 | ||
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Hattrick Moderator
Join Date: Jan 2003
Location: Pintendre, Qc, Canada
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Quote:
I know now, but thanks Stil lots of stuff I learn as I go on, but it's fun like that, keeps it refreshing I'm happy it wasn't too late when I started that game. I've set myself a last hour limit of about 10:45 to start a game. Sometimes, my addiction gets the best of me and I start one around 11:10 or so and it ends at 11:30 and the wife gets pissed, she doesn't understand my addiction... Quote:
Thanks, unless we get hit by a sever case of terpkristinitis, we should have a well rested squad for that game, as our last league match is on the 14th and the Cup Final is on the 28th... Will have to make sure I have a left fullback who's match fit though, either Matthew Bates or Mathew Sadler... FM
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A Black Belt is a White Belt who refused to give up... follow my story: The real life story of a running frog... |
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04-28-2005, 02:01 PM
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#285 |
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Hall Of Famer
Join Date: Nov 2000
Location: The State of Insanity
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FA Cup Semi Finals and Final are always single games with Extra Time/Penalties at a neutral site.
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Check out Foz's New Video Game Site, An 8-bit Mind in an 8GB world! http://an8bitmind.com |
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04-28-2005, 02:26 PM
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#286 |
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Hattrick Moderator
Join Date: Jan 2003
Location: Pintendre, Qc, Canada
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We got 6 players set to join the club on free transfers on July 1st. I thought I'd put 'em all together in one post...
César Augusto Fawcett, 26yo D/DM L, projected starting left fullback  Quincy Owusu Abeyie, 24yo S C, projected striker on squad rotation  Li Tie, 33yo DM C, backup midfielder, mainly backup defensive midfielder  Ross McCormack, 24yo S C, projected starting striker (maybe on rotation)  James Collins, 27yo D C, possible starting centreback, depending on how he settles in Anthony Vanden Borre, 23yo SW/D/DM RC, possible starting centreback or right fullback, and backup right winger I think I've done good so far, especially snatching free transfers like that. We'll see... I'll probably lay low until the new wage budget and transfer budget are announced following the end of the season. FM
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A Black Belt is a White Belt who refused to give up... follow my story: The real life story of a running frog... |
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04-29-2005, 01:12 AM
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#287 |
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Pro Rookie
Join Date: Oct 2000
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Congrats on making it through to the final.
I think the best part of adding all these talent is having done so without spending money. With his reputation, Vanden Borre should satisfy your chairman's desire for a big signing so you've met his requirement and STILL managed to hang onto your money. That'll leave you to spend that money however you want. That'd rock. |
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04-29-2005, 06:58 AM
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#288 | ||
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Hattrick Moderator
Join Date: Jan 2003
Location: Pintendre, Qc, Canada
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Quote:
Thanks! Quote:
Agreed about it being a good thing that they're all free signings. Not sure how it'll work out with the chairman's desire, or if he'll keep me on as short a leash with the new season's transfer budget. I had barely national reputation at the start of last season, so they may have felt they needed to make sure I wouldn't spend money crazily left and right. Now this time around, I've gain reputation not only to a continental level, but now even to a world class level. Maybe they'll have the feeling I know what I mean if we're the only club out of the promotees of a year ago who stays up About Vanden Borre, he'll certainly be seen as a high profile player, mostly because of his style, but he's not even the guy among the new dudes with the most reputation. His reputation is currently only at national, probably because he played with Anderlecht and not in England, or Italy, or Spain. César Augusto Fawcett et Ross McCormack, both coming from Rangers, both have continental reputation... FM
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A Black Belt is a White Belt who refused to give up... follow my story: The real life story of a running frog... |
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04-29-2005, 09:08 AM
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#289 |
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Hattrick Moderator
Join Date: Jan 2003
Location: Pintendre, Qc, Canada
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April 22, 2011
Tom Howell wants an improved contract. The 19yo left D/DM is currently earning $2,600 per week and is looking to increase that to $27k per week, with a signing fee of $650k, 15% yearly wage increase, and a minimum fee release clause set to $14.5M. He's currently valued at $8.2M. Bruno Conti recommends offering a contract around $22k per week, as he says Howell still has a lot to learn. I offer on the low side, at $22k per week, with a signing fee of $300k, dropping the yearly wage rise, but keeping the minimum release fee at the requested level. I also put him as being on a squad rotation, since César Augusto Fawcett is coming to sort of take his left full back spot next season. Matt Cross has put pen to paper on a lucrative 3 year deal worth $4.4M. The kid has kept on growing this season, even though I didn't see him as an every day starter, I think he's got a bright future. FM
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A Black Belt is a White Belt who refused to give up... follow my story: The real life story of a running frog... |
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04-29-2005, 09:10 AM
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#290 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Hattrick Moderator
Join Date: Jan 2003
Location: Pintendre, Qc, Canada
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April 23, 2011
League Match #35: we play Chelsea on their pitch. They're currently in 2nd place and are 1-2 favourites to win this game. Luca Maioli is ineligible to play in this game, being that he is on loan with us but club contracted to Chelsea. Following his recent minor injury, Marcus Kelly's condition is only at 65%, so I sit him out. Tom Howell starts at left wing and Mathew Sadler starts at left full-back. They show a pyramid-like 4-3-2-1 formation. This match is on TV and key men for both are presented as being Youssouf Hersi for us and Ronaldhino for them. The Londond's Evening Standard's prediction is as follows: Chelsea are on a high and that form should be enough to get them a victory over Q.P.R. today. For one of the rare occasions, it's us who have had the least rest since our last match. Chelsea last played on April 16, we last played on April 20. That's because we're still in the FA Cup and Chelsea are not, na na na na na na The first half goes scoreless. They're outshooting 7(3) to 3(0) but we're holding tight. We're winning possession with 56%, but we're having a heck of a tough time getting it out of our zone, as expressed with the 26-27-3 split. Jeppe Lund Curth's condition dipped to 67% after he got nicked following a challenge late in the first half. I pull him and put Igor Nadal Lázaro in his place. Igor Biscan gets dispossessed deep in our zone and that leads to their one, and only goal, as they went into a funky lineup with some probably very heavy defensive setting. It may be only my newbiness, but I had never seen a formation like this. Click the thumbnail to take a peek.  Final Score: 0-1 We fought with all we had, but couldn't get that one goal to tie it. They outshot us 11(5) to 9(2). Tom Howell and Fábio Rochemback both had down games... We stay in 9th place as Aston Villa, Fulham, and Manchester City all lost.
Gillingham have clinched relegation making us the only promotee from last season who will apparently avoid going back down after only one season... That kind of make me proud FM
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A Black Belt is a White Belt who refused to give up... follow my story: The real life story of a running frog... |
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04-29-2005, 09:20 AM
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#291 |
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Hattrick Moderator
Join Date: Jan 2003
Location: Pintendre, Qc, Canada
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April 24, 2011
Tom Howell rejects our first offer but is willing to negotiate. Look kid, you got a valid contract, you're just unhappy about it... I offer him $23k per week with a $400k signing fee, the rest is unchanged. April 25, 2011 Another spoiled kid this Tom Howell. He rejects our offer again. I up it to $24k per week, $440k signing fee and add a 5% yearly wage rise. April 26, 2011 Bruno Conti reports that Paul Davies was nowhere to be seen for today's training session. I issue him a warning for unprofessional behaviour. Later in the day, Davies accepts his warning and acknowledges that his unprofessional behaviour was unacceptable and that he deserved the warning. I indicates a willingness to improve his behaviour in the future. Tom Howell rejects our offer again. He's pretty quick at replying to our offers, gotta say that... I offer him $24.5k, 480k and again 5%. April 29, 2011 Marc Bircham strained his groin in training and is originally said to be missing 2 weeks. Now you know what a groing strain mean, right? Stinking rehab. I send him to see the specialist and he says he'll be good to go in only 3 weeks. Tom Howell now took a couple days to reject our latest offer, still willing to negotiate. I offer him $24.5k again, this time with 600k as a signing fee and 10% yearly wage rise. FM
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A Black Belt is a White Belt who refused to give up... follow my story: The real life story of a running frog... |
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04-29-2005, 09:47 AM
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#292 |
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Grizzled Veteran
Join Date: May 2003
Location: Ashburn, VA
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Screw Tim Howell, he's beginning to think he's worth a lot more than he seems to be. I mean, his demands seem somewhat outrageous and your offers seem a nice middle ground. What a punk.
Great game with Chelsea! That was incredibly close. /tk
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GO TERPS! https://www.flickr.com/photos/terpkristin https://twitter.com/terpkristin |
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04-29-2005, 09:58 AM
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#293 | ||
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Hattrick Moderator
Join Date: Jan 2003
Location: Pintendre, Qc, Canada
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Quote:
Wow, you're taking that very seriously! I like Tom, but I know he won't even be starting for us next season, so I kind of want to keep the offer in line with that. I know I'll have a slew of other players who will be looking for new contracts soon. Marcus Kelly, who's been our most constant player over the last two years, is still being paid only $6,000 per week, although he isn't complaining about it one bit. Funny thing about Tom Howell though. Not sure I reported that, maybe I did, but when Lennart Rhee left PSV to come on loan with us, there was a comment from a PSV player saying that Rhee leaving would bring a breath of fresh air to their locker room. The minute Rhee got to our team, I saw a comment from Rhee to the effect that Howell shouldn't take himself so seriously, and a comment from Howell saying that Rhee will never realize his fullest potential if he doesn't change his attitude. These are not publicly made comments, simply blurbs you see on the player profile page, under "bad relationships"... Just thought it was interesting. Either it's they both have an attitude problem, or it's only one of them... It's interesting... It's sometimes hard to gauge for some players like with Tom here, then for others, it's more clearcut. Take Mat Cross, he's already asked twice to renegotiate, and I've called a "spoiled little brat" more than once, mostly because he's described as "unsporting" which isn't the nicest compliment you could get to define your personality... Quote:
It was indeed close. If you take out the second Arsenal game, we've played surprisingly well against big clubs this season, at least I like to think so. Hopefully the offseason additions will give us the boost we need to really challenge them next season FM
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A Black Belt is a White Belt who refused to give up... follow my story: The real life story of a running frog... |
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04-29-2005, 11:33 AM
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#294 |
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Hattrick Moderator
Join Date: Jan 2003
Location: Pintendre, Qc, Canada
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April 30, 2011
The three month loan of Luca Maioli ends today and he returns to Chelsea. Too bad Chelsea wanted so much for him because I think he could have been pretty good in Clemens Fritz's place on the right wing. I'm happy with Fritz's production, no complaint here, but let's face it, Maioli is 21 and Fritz is 30. Maioli will certainly keep on getting better with the years. I'll keep him on my shortlist and may try to get him on loan again, possibly for all of last season, if Chelsea is open to it which they probably won't, or Maioli won't want to come back on loan with us...FM
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A Black Belt is a White Belt who refused to give up... follow my story: The real life story of a running frog... |
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04-29-2005, 11:37 AM
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#295 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Hattrick Moderator
Join Date: Jan 2003
Location: Pintendre, Qc, Canada
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April 30, 2011
League Match #36: we play Everton on their pitch. They're currently in 14th place and are 4-5 favourites to win this game. Tom Howell goes back to left full back and Marcus Kelly is back in on the left wing. Igor Biscan is out, David Marek Rozehnal is back in following his injury. They show a 4-1-3-2 formation with 3 MC and 1 DMC. Li Tie, who's joining us on July 1st, is playing the lone DMC in that formation. The first half, or should I say the first 35 minutes of the game are simply crazy. By the time the 36th minute had rolled in, we'll find ourselves ahead by 4, having scored 5 goals and allowed one. Everything worked for us, here's how we scored... First in the 15th minute, Clemens Fritz scored what will from now on be known as a "Fritz", a goal like only he can make happen, and make it look easy. He took the ball from just inside our side of the pitch, dribbled it on the right wing, around one opponent, then he cut to the center, always keeping control of the ball, brought it in their penalty area and just when he got inside the area, launched a top corner kick. A truly beautiful goal! Now, only 5 minutes later, the left wing is where it's happening, when Marcus Kelly centers a nice ball to Igor Nadal Lázaro who scores from 25 yards out. And when I said everything was going for us, you better believe it as only 4 more minutes later, in the 24th minute, it's Fábio Rochemback's turn to make a nice play, stealing the ball from one of their midfielders with an inch-perfect tackle. Kelly picks the loose ball and finds Jeppe Lund Curth who scores his fifth of the season. At that point we were up 3-0 but the fireworks had just started. They tried applying pressure on the ensuing kickoff, only for us to stop them, dump the ball forward, where it's a matter of pinballing the ball around, Hersi-Kelly-Hersi and Youssouf Hersi scores the 4-0 goal, only 2 minutes after our third goal. Believe it or not, we got a bit cocky at that point, and they caught us with too many of our players forward on a corner kick. They launched a crazy long pass that a striker was able to get to before any of our defenders could. They make it 4-1 in the 33rd minute. But hey, we're not gonna let go now, are we? Igor Nadal Lázaro scores his second goal of the game, capping a wonderful team play after Jeppe Lund Curth's shot was blocked with a long rebound. The half ends with us ahead 5-1. We are putting evertything on target, or almost everything, outshooting them 11(9) to 4(3). Everybody is at either 8 or 9 in form, except Kasper Schmeichel who rates at a very pedestrian 6. Maybe I should put him at striker a bit... They keep playing long balls after long balls and one of them pays off in the 81st minute, when there's nobody left in the stands. They make it 5-2 and will not be able to get back in the game, despite firing many more shots in the second half than in the first. Final Score: 5-2 We outshot them 15(12) to 13(5). Despite the score, and I may surprise you here, I don't see this as our best game of the season. We let them fight their way back into the game, sort of and had it not been for a couple of lucky bounce, it could have been much closer. I'm definitely happy with it though Marcus Kelly is named Man of the Match with a rating of 10. Igor Nadal Lázaro also gets a 10 for form, while Clemens Fritz and Fábio Rochemback both received a 9. Every other starter but Schmeichel gets an 8. Schmeichel finished the game with a 6 while the non-starters finished at 7. We move up to 7th but Fulham and Man City are still to play. In fact, they play each other tomorrow. A drew result would be a draw between the two. Hey a man can dream
Back to the clubhouse, I get a message that Tom Howell rejected our latest contract offer. Hey kid, you're turning down the chance to boost your weekly wage about tenfold, from a tiny $2,600 a week to about $24,500 a week, what's the matter with you? I break off talks, we'll see later... (seriously, this is what happened and it's not guided by anything that tk may have said )FM
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A Black Belt is a White Belt who refused to give up... follow my story: The real life story of a running frog... |
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04-29-2005, 11:47 AM
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#296 |
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Grizzled Veteran
Join Date: May 2003
Location: Ashburn, VA
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Nice big win over Everton!
Why is it that everbody always considers the R's the underdogs even though you've consistently proven yourselves over this season? And tell Howell to take a hike. Do what Gary did to John Gilcrhist (UMD basketball reference) /tk
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GO TERPS! https://www.flickr.com/photos/terpkristin https://twitter.com/terpkristin |
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04-29-2005, 11:51 AM
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Hattrick Moderator
Join Date: Jan 2003
Location: Pintendre, Qc, Canada
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May 1st , 2011
The board are still delighted with my managerial performance. Huhoh, Everton sack their manager. I guess these first 35 minute of our last match might have been the final straw. That reminds me of when I got sacked by Luton. We had also just lost by a big score and they gave me the boot at that point. I feel bad for the dude, but oh well Marcus Kelly comes in 3rd for Player of the Month. He received form ratings of 7, 10, 7, and 10 in his 4 games in April. Clemens Fritz's goal against Everton, the first one dubbed a "Fritz", is selected as Goal of the Month. That's how impressive that goal was. Manchester City win 3-1 over Fulham and they move to 6th place. Aston Villa still has to play their 36th game.
May 2, 2011 Mathew Sadler sprained his wrist and will miss one week. My thoughts automatically go to the FA Cup Final. He should be fine by then. Marcus Kelly, Fábio Rochemback, and Igor Nadal Lázaro are all selected on the English Premier Division Team of the Week. It's a first for Igor. Aston Villa wins 3-1 over Wigan and thus regain 6th place. We're in 8th place, 4 points away from Aston Villa and 6th place. We play Aston Villa, at Loftus Road, on May 7.
Looking at my roster, I see that Matthew Bates has suffered a torn hamstring in training today and will miss three months. We're now down to Mathew Sadler as only left full back for the FA Cup Final... May 5, 2011 Andrew Johnson wants a new deal. He believes that other players in the division are on far better deals and is unhappy that is being denied a respectable wage. AJ isn't a full time starter yet, not at the EPL level. He's getting there though, and sometimes you can see a skill or two creep up to the level where they show in orange on his profiel (15). He's currently earning $2,200 a week and I see his contract is unprotected, probably because his last deal was for more than two seasons, but he's still under 23, so I'd expect anybody who would have wanted to sign him would have owed us some compensation. Woah! He wants $58k per week and a signing fee of $950k for a 4 yeard deal. Bruno Conti recommends offering him a deal worth around $38k per week... I split in the middle and offer him $43k with a $550k signing fee but for a 2 year deal. There's no minimum release clause involved as he didn't ask for one. May 6, 2011 Andrew Johnson is quick to put pen to paper on a lucrative 2 year deal worth $5.4M. If he keeps starting for the England U21 team, I'm sure he'll gain valuable experience and he could develop into an amazing player... FM
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A Black Belt is a White Belt who refused to give up... follow my story: The real life story of a running frog... |
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04-29-2005, 12:02 PM
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#298 | |
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Hattrick Moderator
Join Date: Jan 2003
Location: Pintendre, Qc, Canada
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Quote:
It's one area where the game falls short: adjusting perceptions as the season goes on. There are quite a few examples of that. First, in our team information, they're still listing us as "relegation battlers" even though, with two games left to the season, we're 15 points out of the drop zone. Then there's my assistant manager, who still thinks that the team needs to be strenghtened in many areas (not all anymore though) if we are to avoid relegation. And then there are the odds. I've been reporting them mostly to show how we've been picked as underdogs for most if not all the games so far this season. Take the FA Cup Final for example. Even though we've beat Man City twice, by an aggregate score of 8-0, they're still 5-4 favourites for that game... I don't mind it so much, as I don't base my hopes of winning/losing a game on the odds, nor do I buy players based solely on my assistant manager's opinions, as long as it doesn't have an effect on game results, it's something I can live without... FM FM
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A Black Belt is a White Belt who refused to give up... follow my story: The real life story of a running frog... |
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04-29-2005, 01:35 PM
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#299 |
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Coordinator
Join Date: Jul 2003
Location: Here and There
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The game sets odds mainly on club reputation, which changes very, very slowly.
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04-29-2005, 02:15 PM
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#300 |
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College Prospect
Join Date: Jan 2005
Location: Inland Empire, PRC
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fwiw,
my main formation i've been running is the 4 defensemen 1 DMC MR/MC/ML 0 2 F/C with the exchange of rooney for lampard, ui''ve started playing a 4 defense 0 mr/dmc as mc/ ml rooney at AMC 2 forward/centers and then once in a great while when i'm ahead and switching to more defense, i've been in a 5-3-1-0-2 or that 4-1-3-1-1. we won't talk about the ugly injury game where i ended in a 5-3-0-0-0 formation. --tim |
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