FM: Harrogate - Will they hit the Ceiling?

[Eaglesfan27]

Welcome to the continuing adventures of Harrogate and Christopher Engles (i.e. Eaglesfan27's alter alter ego.)

For anyone who wishes to catch up on our history. Here is a link to the first season where I had a rough season in the English Conference North and truly thought I'd be fired at several points: http://dynamic2.gamespy.com/%7Efof/f...ad.php?t=32963


However, we pulled it together and started the second season strong and managed to eventually gain promotion to the English Conference National. Here is a thread detailing the 2nd season: http://dynamic2.gamespy.com/%7Efof/f...ad.php?t=33340


Once, we started moving on up, the ascent continued through a sometimes rocky but ultimately triumphant third season. Here is the thread detailing that adventure: http://dynamic2.gamespy.com/%7Efof/f...ad.php?t=33908


That Brings us into the 4th season. We are now in League 2, and I believe this is a huge jump from the English Conference (National.) I expect us to struggle this season. Of course, I hope I'm wrong.

Here is a summary of the last post from our last season when the expectations for this season were laid out by the board:

June 21st, 2007 -

It's officially the end of the year.

Greg Kelly has won player of the year as voted by the club's supporters.

We've received a hefty 420,000 dollars for League 2 TV rights for the upcoming season.

The Board is very pleased with my performance. I'm expected to fight bravely against relegation this upcoming year, and I will have a transfer budget of 36,000 dollars to do so.

Colin Hunter has announced he will retire after this year is over.

Now, we progress into the rest of June and prepare for this upcoming season.

[Eaglesfan27]

June 24th, 2007 -

Nigel Martyn surprised me with his announcement that he was retiring effective immediately from coaching.

I'm sort of glad as this opens up some salary and I haven't been that happy with Martyn's training results despite his impressive resume.

I decide that I'm going to move Derek Saunders into the head keeper coaching slot. He has the ability to do quite well with them. I also decide that I'm going to immediately start looking for an assistant manager who will be a capable outfield coach. The downside to this is that Atkins may become upset, but he really doesn't have the acumen to be a great coach.

[Eaglesfan27]

June 27th, 2007 -

Today I met with our first candidate for the Assistant Manager's job. Noel O'Reilly is a 52 year old coach from Ireland. He trained under Brian Kerr who is a manager in Ireland whom I've heard good things about. O'Reilly really struck me as someone who could evaluate talent in our meeting. I also liked his ideas of how to affect training. Word is that he is very good with training both outfielders and keepers. I had heard that he was a very disciplined coach, and I was quite impressed with his demeanor in my office. I know that I could interview several other candidates, but I feel it is essential to get the right guy in place ASAP. I ask him how much he is requesting to take over our Assistant Manager's position.

He replies, "900 dollars/week for the next year."

I reply, "Agree to stay for 3 years, and I'll give you 900/week."

He agreed.

I wonder how the team will react to the new assistant manager.

[Eaglesfan27]

July 1st, 2007 -

Ian Marshall our physio surprises me by saying that he is retiring immediately. He has wanted to spend more time with his family for a while, and he feels the time is right now. I immediately begin looking for a new physio to replace him.

[SirFozzie]

Interesting, all the guys comfortable with non-league coaching now fleeing when Harrogate hits the (slightly bigger) big time?

[Eaglesfan27]

Originally Posted by SirFozzie

Interesting, all the guys comfortable with non-league coaching now fleeing when Harrogate hits the (slightly bigger) big time?

It could be

I'm actually glad that both of them left. Martyn is victim of being a past player and only being able to coach the first team schedule (which is now exactly the same as my custom goal keeper schedule), and his departure adds some flexibility in my thinking.

That physio is good, but not very good or better. Now, I can hopefully upgrade

[Eaglesfan27]

July 2nd, 2007 -

As expected, Kevin Keegan left Southampton to become coach of Newcastle.

Simon Sturdy's contract expired today and we let him go on a free transfer.

Scout Stuart Lee's contract expired and we allowed him to leave the club.

David Bellion was released by Manchester United on a free transfer. I *strongly* doubt he will agree to come play for us, but I make him a very hefty offer of 15,000/week. (I feel insane for even offering it, but the board says they will pay that much!)

I also decide to approach Seyi Morgan, an interesting combo centreback/striker who is quite talented, to see if he wants to come join us on an immediate Bosman transfer.

[Eaglesfan27]

July 5th, 2007 -

In what is probably a fortunate thing, Bellion rejected the offer saying he felt he deserved to be on a high calibre of team.

Seyi Morgan rejected two other teams offers and agreed to come play for us. Hopefully, this 20 year old can continue to develop.

[Eaglesfan27]

July 6th, 2007 -

Mick Byrne, originally from Ireland, has agreed to come work as a physio on our team. His references are impeccable and most rate him as a top notch physio.

Seyi Morgan arrived to practice with us today. He has less footspeed than I expected, but could be either a stay at home defender or an excellent target striker.

[Eaglesfan27]

July 8th, 2007

Time for our first friendly. Today we will travel and play Slough (English Conference South.) This game will hopefully get our guys some conditioning and work on confidence.

This game we will start out likely starting 11 at this point:

GK: Scarsella
DL: Barnard
DC: Barnett
DC: Wall
DR: Black
ML: Wright
MC: Surey
MR: Collett
AMC: Kelly
SC: Smyth
SC: Palmer

S1: O'Conner
S2: Shepherd
S3: Davies
S4: Morgan
S5: Foulkes
S6: Baker
S7: Krief
S8: Marc Smith
S9: Dunning
S10: Farrell
S11: Morley
S12: Hunter

[Eaglesfan27]

10 minute mark: Lee takes a free kick which he floats into the box.. Hodges outjumps Barnett.. heads it towards goal.. past Scarsella.. GOAL. Down 1-0.

Guys got some work in, but not much else. They didn't look particularly sharp. Barnett in particular looked lazy out there. Kelly looked good but no else looked really good.

Halftime: Down 1-0.

I sub in the entire second team at halftime. I'm interested in seeing if Morgan can do anything as a target striker.

68 minute mark: Farrell gets it in the left corner.. crosses for Morgan.. he heads it.. Wide left.

O'Conner has a couple of saves after the 72 minute mark.. very nice.

Game over.

1-0 loss.

We outshot them 7-4 (3-3 on goal)

Kenny Schofield, their keeper, wins MoM.

[Eaglesfan27]

July 11th, 2007 -

Today we are traveling to play Barrow in a friendly match. They are still in the English Conference North.

My goal is to get the guys some work and hopefully see some better teamwork.

I'm using the same lineup as last game.

[Eaglesfan27]

OOC Note: Had to pause the game for over an hour due to being on call tonight and having a patient present to the ER /OOC


2 minute mark: Barnard passes to Wright down the left sideline.. Wright passes to Smyth.. Smyth centers for Kelly.. Kelly shoots.. just wide right.
7 minute mark: Collett steals the ball from the centreback in their box.. Collett shoots.. past the keeper.. GOAL!!! 1-0.

21 minute mark: Surey feeds the ball into the left corner for Smyth.. he crosses for Kelly.. Kelly heads it... over the bar.

26 minute mark: They get Kewley the ball inside the box.. only about 10 yards away as the midfielder Bulford makes a great pass around wall.. Kewley shoots.. into the left side of the net. GOAL. 1-1.


Halftime: 1-1.


I sub in the entire second team.


51 minute mark: Davies with a great dribble into the box (he is playing in the AMC spot - i.e. the Kelly spot)... he is tripped in the box.. penalty shot awarded. I look over to my new assistant manager and ask him who we should have take the penalty shot. He says that Foulkes should take it. Foulkes steps up.. shoots.. to the left of the keeper.. GOAL!!!! 2-1.

85 minute mark: Dunning at DC intercepts a pass, passes it to Baker at midfield.. Baker with a nice through pass to the edge of the box.. Farrell gets to it.. dribbles to his right.. around the keeper.. drills it into the right side of the net.. GOAL!!!! 3-1.

Game over 3-1 win in our second friendly.

We outshot them 15-11 (8-5 on goal)

Richard O'Connor wins MoM. The young keeper is looking good in early action.

[Eaglesfan27]

July 13th, 2007 -

A story appeared in a local newspaper that Surey is unhappy with his current contract. I really wish this hadn't appeared in the newspaper, but I have to admit that several guys are underpaid, and the board appears ready to allow us to raise wages somewhat.

I decide to meet with him and see how much he wants. I nearly choke when he tells me that he wants 2,200 dollars/week! Interestingly, the board is stating that we can pay him up to 11,000 dollars/week. I decide to offer him 1400 dollars/week for 3 years.

[Eaglesfan27]

July 14th, 2007 -

Surey rejected my offer. Now, I need to make a tough decision. I decide to up my offer to 1,800 per week. If he rejects this and doesn't lower his offer, I'm going to demand that he play another year on his current deal (he still has 2 years left.)

[Eaglesfan27]

July 14th, 2007 -

Today we host Derby (League 1) in our 3rd friendly. I hope to see more cohesion today. Hopefully, my starter's endurance has improved enough that they can go 60 minutes this match.

I'm using my same starting lineup for now.

[RPI-Fan]

Good luck in the football league.

Largely because of your dynasty, when I got fired from my Cannes team that I had gotten really attached to, I started a new career in the Conference South with Sutton. We got off to a slow start, but now as we approach the 2005 calendar year are in 2nd place with incredible form.

(I used fictional players).

I thought your guy, Kelly, was amazing. I have another incredible player, though. Robert Griffin is really pretty ordinary, except he seems to be built like a bodybuilder and knows how to head the ball into the net. He wins EVERYTHING in the air, and if it's near the goal, puts it in the net. He has 22 goals in 17 appearances so far! And it's not like he's the "Lone gunman" - I have another guy (a pesky-type, darting in and out of gaps with great speed - total opposite of Griffin), named Colin Jackson, with 10 goals. And I have a handful of others with a couple goals each. Plus, I have two guys with double-digit assists! (Jackson has 6, and Griffin amazingly has 0).

Just a simply brilliant offensive team. We have our defensive lapses, but since November basically, we've even been great on defense. And we just brought in a loan signing who we're playing at right back, and have a 21 year old quite good central defender coming in February who should also give us much-needed depth on the backline.

Again, I just can't put into words how great my attack seems to be. I'm playing a simple 4-1-2-1-2, with no arrows for the defense, the D-mid getting a small arrow forward, the wingers getting small arrows forward, and that's it. We play slightly defensive and straight-forward, and counterattack (which I think is our key... we move the ball up the wings at blazing speed, and then have 4 or 5 guys in the attack right away, just overpowering the defense). If we had a keeper who could bail us out on occasion, we'd be simply unstoppable.

Just got through with an uber-long session (including re-playing after a couple of crashes, which I always find EXTREMELY hard to do), so figured I'd gush a bit.

Also, one thing I noticed, is that there's just not very much talent in the Conference North/South. I'm not sure any of my current starters, including the amazing goalscorer, Griffin, would be good enough to start on my Cannes team from the French National Division. Most of my rotation guys on that Cannes team would easily be in my Sutton United starting lineup.

Oh, and I guess I'll add in this one minor thing that I really noticed today that makes FM so cool - I got this guy, Peter Wilkie, on loan from Arsenal. He's a forward, and is pretty skilled and looked like he'd help my team. But my other two strikers, Griffin and Jackson, are just so much more tenacious that Wilkie doesn't even really hardly ever sniff the starting lineup. However, when Wilkie is in there, I notice that his skills are better. A perfect example is when a long-ball comes over the top for him... he brings it down deftly on his chest, to get a great scoring position. However, he is slow to move with the ball, and the defense gives him trouble. Jackson, on the other hand, let's the ball bounce a little farther than I'd like, but is so agressive he gets there with plenty of time to apply a finish (and he seems to love going near-post top shelf... I wonder if it's just a coincidence or if players have shooting tendencies). Just a nice little touch that you can notice even subtle differences like this, with the 2D match engine.

Sorry for rambling, and good luck - I'm enjoying reading!

~rpi-fan

[Eaglesfan27]

40 minute mark: Both teams have been playing very smart football throughout the 1st half.. finally their striker Ben Wilkinson gets a good scoring opportunity.. Scarsella with a great save. They appear to be playing mostly backups this game.

Halftime: 0-0. Great play by both teams.

60 minute mark: My entire second team comes in.

93 minute mark: Andy Cox draws a trip from Morley in the box.. Penalty shot awarded.. Mario steps up to take the penalty shot.. shoots to O'Conner's right.. O'Conner dives.. he can't get to it.. GOAL. 1-0.

Game over. 1-0 loss.

They outshot us 12-3 (3-1 on goal)

Their centreback Pablo Mills wins MoM, 28 of 32 pases, 3 of 3 tackles, 13 of 14 headers, 7 passes intercepted. The guy appears to be quite talented.

[Eaglesfan27]

Originally Posted by RPI-Fan

Good luck in the football league.


Largely because of your dynasty, when I got fired from my Cannes team that I had gotten really attached to, I started a new career in the Conference South with Sutton. We got off to a slow start, but now as we approach the 2005 calendar year are in 2nd place with incredible form.

(I used fictional players).

I thought your guy, Kelly, was amazing. I have another incredible player, though. Robert Griffin is really pretty ordinary, except he seems to be built like a bodybuilder and knows how to head the ball into the net. He wins EVERYTHING in the air, and if it's near the goal, puts it in the net. He has 22 goals in 17 appearances so far! And it's not like he's the "Lone gunman" - I have another guy (a pesky-type, darting in and out of gaps with great speed - total opposite of Griffin), named Colin Jackson, with 10 goals. And I have a handful of others with a couple goals each. Plus, I have two guys with double-digit assists! (Jackson has 6, and Griffin amazingly has 0).

Just a simply brilliant offensive team. We have our defensive lapses, but since November basically, we've even been great on defense. And we just brought in a loan signing who we're playing at right back, and have a 21 year old quite good central defender coming in February who should also give us much-needed depth on the backline.

Again, I just can't put into words how great my attack seems to be. I'm playing a simple 4-1-2-1-2, with no arrows for the defense, the D-mid getting a small arrow forward, the wingers getting small arrows forward, and that's it. We play slightly defensive and straight-forward, and counterattack (which I think is our key... we move the ball up the wings at blazing speed, and then have 4 or 5 guys in the attack right away, just overpowering the defense). If we had a keeper who could bail us out on occasion, we'd be simply unstoppable.

Just got through with an uber-long session (including re-playing after a couple of crashes, which I always find EXTREMELY hard to do), so figured I'd gush a bit.

Also, one thing I noticed, is that there's just not very much talent in the Conference North/South. I'm not sure any of my current starters, including the amazing goalscorer, Griffin, would be good enough to start on my Cannes team from the French National Division. Most of my rotation guys on that Cannes team would easily be in my Sutton United starting lineup.

Oh, and I guess I'll add in this one minor thing that I really noticed today that makes FM so cool - I got this guy, Peter Wilkie, on loan from Arsenal. He's a forward, and is pretty skilled and looked like he'd help my team. But my other two strikers, Griffin and Jackson, are just so much more tenacious that Wilkie doesn't even really hardly ever sniff the starting lineup. However, when Wilkie is in there, I notice that his skills are better. A perfect example is when a long-ball comes over the top for him... he brings it down deftly on his chest, to get a great scoring position. However, he is slow to move with the ball, and the defense gives him trouble. Jackson, on the other hand, let's the ball bounce a little farther than I'd like, but is so agressive he gets there with plenty of time to apply a finish (and he seems to love going near-post top shelf... I wonder if it's just a coincidence or if players have shooting tendencies). Just a nice little touch that you can notice even subtle differences like this, with the 2D match engine.

Sorry for rambling, and good luck - I'm enjoying reading!

~rpi-fan

Don't apologize for posting. I really enjoyed hearing about your team, as I enjoy reading everyone's FM dynasties. Glad you are enjoying reading this dynasty. That bulldozer guy sounds impressive. I need a good powerful striker, and I'm hoping Morgan can develop into one. He has no pace, but excellent strength, heading, and jumping.

I love the 2D match, and I do think that different players have different shooting tendencies. I know they advertise great players have favorite moves, but I think there are general tendencies for guys throughout the game. Palmer has this great way of fooling the keeper into coming out by letting the ball bounce past him.

Anyway, thanks for your comments

[Eaglesfan27]

July 15th, 2007 -

West Ham has agreed to sell Youssef Sofiane to me for only 16,000 dollars. Sofiane is a talented young striker whom I coveted for 3 years. I decide to offer him a contract, but he tells me he is not interested. I offer him 2,000 dollars/week as well as a 20,000 dollar signing bonus to see if I can change his mind.

[Eaglesfan27]

July 17th, 2007 -

Ben Surey accepted his new contract.

Greg Kelly came to me and told me he wants a new deal as well. I plan on starting negotiations immediately.

David Mannix of Liverpool has agreed to come join us on loan. The 21 year old midfielder appears to be a talented player who should play quite a bit for me during his 3 months with the club.

(OOC NOTE: Darn ER.. be back later - hopefully the board isn't down too long tonight during the maintenance.. perhaps I'll save some entries in a text file so that I can post them when it comes back up as I'm really in the mood to continue playing CM when I get back.)

[Eaglesfan27]

July 18th, 2007 -

Sofiane chose to go to Fontenay-Le-Comte instead of coming to Harrogate.

Mannix has joined the club to start his loan, and appears to be of starting calibre in the midfield from our first practice.

[Eaglesfan27]

July 18th, 2007 -

Kelly and I met to discuss a new contract for him. He is requesting 3,600 dollars/week, 200 dollars/assist, 160 dollars/goal and a 1.6million dollar release clause.

I counter with an offer of 3,000 dollars/week, 200/assist, 160/goal, and 1.7 million dollar release clause.

[Eaglesfan27]

July 20th, 2007 -

Today Middlesbrough Reserve Striker Jason Kennedy has agreed to come join us on loan. I hate to potentially retard the growth of Palmer, but Kennedy appears to be the better player on film and will likely start quite a bit for us. Least, Palmer should be fresher in the later part of the season.

[Eaglesfan27]

July 20th, 2007 -

I almost forgot to report the most important news. Kelly accepted his new deal! I just hope these expensive new deals don't force the team into bankruptcy.

[Eaglesfan27]

July 21st, 2007 -

David Moore of Wigan accepted my loan offer. I'm now getting a much higher percentage of acceptances than I'm used to, and I need to be more careful about firing out too many loan offers at once. However, I like depth among my strikers and don't want to be unprofessional, so I accept Moore's acceptance.

[Eaglesfan27]

July 22, 2007 -

Today we travel to play Hinckley in the English Conference North. This is our fourth friendly of the year, and I expect the guys to dominate this game. Hopefully, they meet my expectations.

I'm going to use what I will most likely use as my starting lineup, but I might reinsert Barnett into the starting lineup. Also, I'm giving Barnard the day off because I want to see what left fullback Marc Smith can do with the 1st team.

GK: Scarsella
DL: Smith
DC: Wall
DC: Morley
DR: Black
ML: Wright
MC: Mannix
MR: Collett
AMC: Kelly
SC: Smyth
SC: Kennedy

S1: O'Conner
S2: Shepherd
S3: Surey
S4: Moore
S5: Barnett
S6: Davies
S7: Farrell
s8: Foulkes
S9: Baker
S10: Palmer
S11: Morgan
S12: Fox

[Eaglesfan27]

1st minute: I immediately see that Kennedy has something special. He is currently valued at almost 3 million dollars, and I see that he has that special flash on the pitch. He is stopped on his first foray into the box, but I think he could do some great things in his 3 months here.

2nd minute: Mannix gets the ball at midfield.. passes to Smyth on the left edge of the box.. Smyth heads the pass to Kelly.. Kelly buries it in the lower right corner. GOAL!!!! 1-0.

5 minute mark: Kelly gets called for a trip on Lamey in our box Penalty shot awarded.. Lamey blasts the penalty shot into the lower right corner of the net.

13 minute mark: Scarsella comes out to play a ball.. he is outside the box.. passes to Wall.. Wall passes back to Scarsella.. Scarsella attempts to pass to ..someone.. Lamey intercepts it.. shoots around Scarsella.. scores from 30 yards out! Down 2-1.

23 minute mark: Black picks up an injury and has to come off the pitch. I put Shepherd in for Black at right fullback.

Halftime: Down 2-1

70 minute mark: I sub in entire second team.


Game over. 2-1 loss. I know that friendlies don't count, and the guys play differently in the regular season, but this loss is disconcerting somewhat.

We outshot them 6-4 (4-3 on goal)

Nathan Lamey won MoM

On the plus side, young left fullback Smith played well with the first team.

[Eaglesfan27]

Post Match Info:

Grant Black dislocated his hip this match

He will need surgery and is expected to miss the next 5 months.

If any of my other DC's or DR's go down, I will have to start looking for a loan player.

[Eaglesfan27]

July 24th, 2007 -

I didn't realize Manchester United's long time manager had retired. They have hired Swedish National Coach Sven-Goran Eriksson to take over the manager's job at the club. The supporters expect them to win the EPL, of course.

[Eaglesfan27]

July 26, 2007 -

Today we are hosting an EPL team for a friendly. Hopefully, we'll get a big gate receipt out of this. Leicester will be a tough matchup even if they do end up using several backups.

We will start the same lineup as last game except Morley will slide to right fullback and Barnett will be back in the starting lineup.

Dunning gets added to the sub list.

[Eaglesfan27]

1st minute: Mannix with a nice steal.. passes to Kennedy who heads it to Kelly.. Kelly shoots for the lower left corner.. great save by their keeper, Ian Walker.

17 minute mark: Young left fullback Smith with a big tackle on their striker Andrew Johnson.

42 minute mark: Scarsella with a great save on a shot by Johnson from inside 10 yards.


0-0 at the half. Our guys are playing hard. Marc Smith picked up a yellow card just before the half, so I sub in Foulkes for him.

50 minute mark: Mannix picks up an injury.. I sub in Surey for him.

60 minute mark: I sub in the entire second team.

65 minute mark: Simon Francis gets a point blank shot on goal.. Great save by O'Conner!!

67 minute mark: Simon Francis gets another great scoring opportunity.. blasts it over O'Conner's shoulder for the goal. Down 1-0.

Game over. 1-0 loss.

We were outshot 7-3 (4-2 on goal)

Joey Gudjonsson won MoM.

[Eaglesfan27]

July 29th, 2007 -

Today we host Bristol Rovers in our final friendly game before the season starts. Unlike past years, we don't have a huge layoff between our last friendly and first league game. Therefore, I only expect to play my starters for 45 minutes today. I'll be playing my planned starting 11 for the regular season.


GK: Scarsella
DL: Barnard
DC: Wall
DC: Barnett
DR: Morley (at least until Black is recovered)
ML: Wright
MC: Surey
MR: Collett
AMC: Kelly
SC: Smyth
SC: Kennedy

S1: O'Conner
S2: Shepherd
S3: Surey
S4: Moore
S5: Palmer
S6: Dunning
S7: Davies
S8: Farrell
S9: Foulkes
S10: Baker
S11: Morgan
S12: Fox

[Eaglesfan27]

21 minute mark: Kennedy gets the ball at midfield.. great dribble down the field.. around a defender.. into the box.. passes to Kelly.. Kelly with a sharp shot.. great block by Paul Wilkerson.. Smyth beats Andy Moore to the rebound.. Smyth kicks it.. into the lower left corner.. GOAL!!!! 1-0.

29 minute mark: Mannix takes the corner kick.. aims for Wright by the near post.. Wright heads it past the keeper.. into the net! GOAL!!! 2-0.

30 minute mark: Wright steals the ball deep in our zone.. long perfect pass to Kennedy at the right corner of the box.. Kennedy dribbles towards the right post.. keeper comes over to block him.. great pass between the defender and the keeper.. Kelly has it.. easy tap in! GOAL!!!! 3-0.

Halftime: 3-0 lead. This is what I've wanted to see.. a dominant half of football from our team against a good opponent (they are in league 1)

I sub in the second half, and give the guys high fives as they walk off the pitch. We are ready for our game next week.

54 minute mark: Moore is injured on a tackle by the defender, I sub in my 12th guy, Farrell.

61 minute mark: Surey with a shot from 30 yards out.. it deflects of centreback Tom Wright.. into the left corner of the net.. GOAL!!!! 4-0.

65 minute mark: FOx picks up an injury and I have to drop to 10 men on the pitch since I've used everyone.

78 minute mark: Richard Walker gets into our box.. shoots.. O'Conner blocks it.. shoots again into the lower right corner... GOAL. 4-1.

82 minute mark: Ali Gibb with a long pass to Junior Agogo.. Agogo heads it.. into the net. GOAL 4-2.

88 minute mark: O'Conner with a solid save of a shot by Sos Yao.

Game over. 4-2 win for us. I like this is as a solid confidence booster heading into the regular season.

We outshot them 11-10 (7-6 on goal)

Richard O'Conner won MoM

[Eaglesfan27]

August 1st, 2007 -

David Bellion finally chose to go and place for Le Havre.

[Eaglesfan27]

August 1st, 2007 -

Today the oddsmakers announced who they believe will win promotion from League Two.


Blackpool are favourites at 5-4 to gain promotion. Bradford City and Brighton have 6-4 odds to gain promotion. Barnsley and Hereford have 7-4 odds to gain promotion, and Port Vale has 2-1 odds to gain promotions.

Our odds aren't quite as long as I thought they would be. The Oddsmakers have us at 20-1 odds to gain promotion.

Our fans and the board still just expect us to battle bravely against relegation.

[Eaglesfan27]

Aug 2, 2007 -

My scout has identified a player whom I believe would be a talent upgrade on the team. David Murphy of Derby is available, and he can play either left fullback or left wing. This isn't my weakest position, but Wright and Barnard are getting older and this player is an upgrade over either of them. I decide to offer the full 32,000 dollars that I have available in my transfer budget as well as 50% of next sale.

[Eaglesfan27]

August 3rd, 2007 -

The 1st round the English League Cup was drawn today, and we received a fairly favorable matchup all things considered. We will be hosting Bradford City also of League 2 in the first round match. The game will be played August 22nd, 2007.

[Eaglesfan27]

August 4th, 2007 -

Today we travel to play Wycombe in our first League 2 game! Wycombe finished 10th in the league last year and appear to be a talented team. Without a doubt, the star of their team is left fullack Colin Delahunty. He is a true intimidator along the defensive line. Striker Nathan Tyson is also a very talented player. He is extremely pacey. Liam Marshall is a solid midfielder. They have Rob Beckwith on loan from Luton playing goal for them.


We've never faced this team before.

They are 4:6 favorites.

It's going to be sunny with temperatures in the mid 70's.


Our Lineup:

GK: Scarsella
DL: Barnard
DC: Wall
DC: Barnett
DR: Morley
ML: Wright
MC: Mannix
MR: Collett
AMC: Kelly
SC: Smyth
SC: Kennedy

S1: O'Connor
S2: Shepherd
S3: Morgan
S4: Davies
S5: Palmer

[Eaglesfan27]

1st minute: Morley gets a yellow card for tripping Tyson. Least it is outside the box.

6 minute mark: Barnett gets a yellow card for tripping Tyson. This is not going well.

8 minute mark: Wright is called for tripping Marshall.. Kelly is furious.. he argues the call.. yellow card for Kelly. Mannix is upset.. Yellow card for Mannix.

This keeps getting worse.

9 minute mark: Wright gets the ball at midfield.. passes it to Smyth.. Smyth dribbles into the box.. shoots.. Beckwith blocks it.. Smyth races to the rebound.. Delahunty beats him to it.. Smyth tackles Delahunty.. Yellow card for Smyth. Sheesh, 5 yellow cards in 9 minutes.

11 minute mark: Delahunty gets the ball after Morley deflects a corner out of our box.. Delahunty with a quick pass to Terry Skiverton.. Skiverton shoots.. it deflects off Wall.. into the upper left corner.. Scarsella had no chance on the deflected shot. GOAL. Down 1-0.

12 minute mark: Collett has it at midfield.. sends it to Mannix.. Mannix to Collett in the middle of the field.. Collett passes to Wall who has come up to join the attack.. Wall shoots from 25 yards.. blistering shot... past the keeper.. into the upper left corner.. GOAL!!!! 1-1. That is Wall's first goal ever for Harrogate!

27 minute mark: Delahunty sends a long pass for Tyson.. it's over Tyson's head.. Scarsella comes out to collect it.. he bobbles it! Tyson gets the bobbled ball.. easily kicks it around Scarsella for the GOAL. Down 2-1.

30 minute mark: Philo takes the throw-in deep in our zone.. throws it to Delahunty.. Delahunty passes back to Philo. Philo crosses for the far corner. Matt Bloomfield heads it.. into the GOAL. Down 3-1 now

36 minute mark: Wright plays a nice through ball for Smyth.. he is racing towards the box.. Roger Johnson catches him from behind and tackles him.

39 minute mark: Wall with a big header to prevent Tyson from getting the ball.

Halftime: Down 3-1. The scary thing is that everyone is playing well except for Barnett and Scarsella.

49 minute mark: Wright with a pass to Kelly.. Kelly passes to Kennedy.. Kennedy with a powerful dribble into the box.. shoots.. just barely wide left.

55 minute mark: Smyth steals the ball from Delahunty deep in their zone.. dribbles into the box.. Beckwith playing the angle.. Smyth shoots the far right corner anyway.. barely wide.

59 minute mark: Tyson fakes Barnett out of his jock.. into the box.. shoots.. lower right corner.. great diving save by Scarsella.

65 minute mark: Bloomfield has it at midfield.. passes to right winger Danny Senda.. Senda dribbles into the box.. passes to Matt Bloomfield.. Bloomfield heads it towards the left upper corner.. GOAL. Down 4-1.

67 minute mark: Wall gets it deep in our zone.. sends a long pass to Kelly.. Kelly dribbles into the box.. two defenders close in on him.. take the ball away from him.

I sub in Morgan at striker for Smyth, Palmer for Kennedy, and Shepherd for Barnett at DC.

69 minute mark: Palmer getss a yellow card for tripping Philo.

73 minute mark: Collett gets a yello card for tripping Philo.

88 minute mark: Sub Shahed Ahmed takes the ball down the right wing.. crosses to the far post.. Youssou Diop rises above Wall.. heads it.. into the net.. GOAL. Down 5-1.

90 minute mark: Roger Johnson races back to stop a Palmer breakaway. Johnson has been thwarting our attack all day.

91 minute mark: Palmer manages to get into the box.. is tackled by Johnson.. right to Kelly who passes back to Palmer before being tackled.. Palmer shoots.. Beckwith saves it.

92 minute mark: Shepherd gets a yellow card for tripping Tyson.

Game over. 5-1 loss. I feel like we were dominated most of the match. Hopefully, this isn't a microcosm of the season to come.

We were outshot 17-12 (7-4 on goal)

Matt Bloomfield wins MoM, 11 of 17 passes, 1 of 4 tackles, 2 of 7 headers, 2 goals.

[Eaglesfan27]

Aug 7, 2007 -

Today we host Macclesfield. They finished in 22nd last year and barely avoided relegation. They are led by star striker Matthew Tipton. Midfielder Mark Hughes is very talented as well. Their other top striker, Andrew Barrowman, is out for the next 3 weeks with a back strain. Keeper Russell Howarth is extremely quick in reacting to shots.

We've never played them before.

They are slight 5-4 favorites.

It's going to be sunny with temperatures in the mid 70's today.

We are using the exact same lineup as last game. I hope and expect that this game will be much different.

[Eaglesfan27]

3 minute mark: Barnett heads away a pass intended for Tipton.

13 minute mark: Wall heads away a long pass from the keeper.. Mannix gets it.. feeds it to Smyth.. Smyth has a lead on the defender.. dribbles into the box.. shoots.. the keeper with a nice save on the shot.

18 minute mark: Mannix gets the ball to Smyth just past midfield.. he dribbles up the pitch.. being chased by two defenders.. they are right on his heels.. he shoots from 20 yards out.. over the bar.

21 minute mark: Collett dribbles down the right sideline.. crosses for Kelly at the center of the box.. Kelly heads it.. it's going into the net.. whistle.. Kelly gets called for jumping unfairly with the centreback.

36 minute mark: Wright gets the ball at midfield.. passes it down the left sideline.. Smyth gets to it.. crosses for the far post.. it's a nice pass.. right to Kennedy's foot.. Kennedy hits it into the open right corner easily.. GOAL!!!! 1-0.


Halftime: Up 1-0.


65 minute mark: I sub in Palmer for Kennedy who is very tired. I also sub in Shepherd for Mannix who is tired.

84 minute mark: Morley with a great pass to Collett who heads it to Kelly inside the box.. The defense quickly shuts him down before he can shoot.

Game over. 1-0 Win. Nice to get our first league 2 win, but I'm not encouraged by the fact that we barely held on to beat a team that barely avoided relegation last year.

We outshot them 11-6 (4-1 on goal)

Andrew Wright wins MoM, 23 of 31 passes, 0 tackles, 3 of 6 headers, 4 runs.

[Eaglesfan27]

August 8th, 2007 -

Andrew Wright came into my office today and told me that he has heard how several players have gotten raises. He feels he is deserving of a new contract as well. He is asking for 2,400 dollars/week for 3 years in addition to 120/assist. I counter with 2,200 dollars/week and 120/assist.

[Eaglesfan27]

August 11th, 2007 -

Andrew Wright agreed to my counter offer and signed the new contract.

[Eaglesfan27]

Aug. 11, 2007 -

Today we travel to play Chester. Chester finished 15th in league 2 last year and appear to have a talented team. Chester is led by Striker Daryl Clare who is a very good finisher. Scott Fitzgerald his partner up front is good at setting up Clare. Midfielder Paul Carden has played well this year. Centreback Danny Collins is quick and could be difficult to get past. Keeper Richard Martin is good, but not as good as the other two keepers we've faced. At least that is the perception of my scout. Hopefully we can get some shots past him.


We beat them 3-0 in a friendly 2 years ago.

They are even odds favorites.

It's sunny with temperatures in the mid 80's today.

WE are using the same lineup except that Surey will be a sub instead of Shepherd.

[Eaglesfan27]

7 minute mark: Scarsella stops a good Clare shot.

17 minute mark: Mannix intercepts it at midfield.. passes to Collett on the right wing.. Collett passes to Kennedy at the right edge of the box.. Kennedy centers for Kelly.. Kelly shoots immediately.. into the lower right corner of the goal.. GOAL!!!! 1-0.

39 minute mark: Mannix makes an important interception of a crossing pass intended for Clare.

42 minute mark: Kennedy is tackled by the centreback.. he is howling in pain. Palmer will come on for him.


Halftime: We are up 1-0.


48 minute mark: Scarsella with a big save of a shot by Doolan.

54 minute mark: Barnard with a big header to prevent Fitzgerald from getting the ball.

56 minute mark: Barnett gets a yellow card for a trip on Collins.

66 minute mark: Davies on for the tired Kelly. Surey on for the tired Mannix.

75 minute mark: Barnett races back to stop Clare after he had received a long pass inside the box.. great play by Barnett! What speed.

Game over. 1-0 win on the road no less!

They outshot us 12-6 (but only 3-1 on goal)

Danny Collins wins MoM, 24 of 32 passes, 4 of 8 tackles, 6 of 6 headers, 4 interceptions.

[Eaglesfan27]

Post Match Info: Kennedy sprained his groin but should only miss 5 days.

[Eaglesfan27]

August 15th, 2007 -

David Murphy's club had accepted my offer of 36,000, 1,000 a month for a year, and 50% of next sale. However, unfortunately Murphy chose to go to Bournemouth instead. I can't say I blame him as they are in the Championship League. Oh well, I'll continue to keep an eye out for bargains that can upgrade my talent.

[Eaglesfan27]

August 18th, 2007 -

Today we host Port Vale which is currently in 3rd and was one of the favorites to win promotion. We are amazingly in 6th, but it is quite early in the season. Port Vale finished in 9th last year and they have a talented team. However, their top striker, Billy Paynter, is injured and this could give us a chance. Their left winger Gary Walsh is a true speedster who is an excellent passer. Right winger, Ian Armstrong is just as fast and skilled. Left Fullback Ryan Brown is very skilled and fast as well. He is a great attacking fullback. Fortunately, their keeper Paul Evans isn't that talented. Hopefully, we'll be able to get a few past him.


We've never played Port Vale before.

They are 4:6 favorites.

It's going to be sunny with temperatures in the high 80's today.


Our Lineup:

GK: Scarsella
DL: Barnard
DC: Wall
DC: Barnett
DR: Morley
ML: Wright
MC: Mannix
MR: Collett
AMC: Kelly
SC: Smyth
SC: Kennedy

S1: O'Connor
S2: Surey
S3: Morgan
S4: Davies
S5: Palmer

[Eaglesfan27]

1st minute: Scarsella with 2 big saves as there is a flurry of activity in front of the net.

19 minute mark: After an early attack against us, we are starting to hold our own.. nice breakaway is thwarted by Smyth being called for offsides.

25 minute mark: Gary Walsh with an amazing pass to striker Dave Hibbert.. Hibbert with the point blank shot.. Excellent save by Scarsella!

32 minute mark: Morley with a great interception in our zone.. long pass to Kennedy.. Kennedy is tackled from behind by Ryan Brown who made a nice play.

45 minute mark: Mannix with a very good pass between two defenders to Kelly in the box.. Kelly turns around to get by a defender.. shoots.. into the left side of the net.


Halftime: 0-0.


46 minute mark: Smyth takes a free kick 30 yards from the opposition's goal after being tackled.. Smyth kicks it.. it deflects off the wall at high speed.. into the lower right corner.. GOAL!!!! 1-0.

49 minute mark: Eldershaw receives a pass from Walsh.. Eldershaw with a powerful blast at goal.. Scarsella tips it over the bar.

60 minute mark: Palmer on for Kennedy. Kennedy has had a bad game with a 5 for form.

Barnard has a 4 for form, so I put in Morgan at left fullback.

63 minute mark: Smyth gets it at midfield.. passes to Palmer.. Palmer burns the defense.. Palmer shoots.. over the bar.

75 minute mark: Barnett intercepts the ball deep in our zone and heads it to Mannix at midfield, Mannix immediately passes to Palmer.. Palmer heads it to Kelly in the middle of the box.. Kelly fakes going right.. goes to his left.. great move.. shoots around the keeper.. into the center of the net.. GOAL!!!! 2-0.


Game over! 2-0 Win!

They outshot us 18-9 (8-2 on goal)

Scarsella wins MoM for his 8 save cleansheet!