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[vrabbit]

Quote: Originally Posted by vrabbit

Newport County A.F.C. '18-'19 October/November Update Spoiler The Roster Spoiler Goalkeepers: Emiliano Martinez (71 OVR), Hayato Matsuki (65 OVR)*, Eiichi Suzuki (64 OVR)* Fullbacks: Jerome Binnom-Williams (75 OVR), Moses Odubajo (72 OVR), Nicolai Fernandes (72 OVR)*, Mehmet Çelik (68 OVR), Gregorio Miranda (67 OVR)*, Magnus Dahle (64 OVR)*, Atsushi Nagatsuka (59 OVR)*. Centre-backs: Luan (75 OVR), Sebastian Vegas (73 OVR), Tyler Blackett (70 OVR), Taylor Moore (68 OVR), Bondz Laslie (62 OVR)*. Midfielders/Wingers: Rohan Ince (75 OVR), Clark Gordon (75 OVR)*, Bondz Moore (73 OVR)*, Hwang In Beom (73 OVR), Jack Giles (70 OVR)*, Ben Potter (69 OVR)*, Youssef Feddal (69 OVR)**, Cristiano Dall'Oglio (67 OVR)*, Hikaru Ichigawa (67 OVR)*, David Fox (67 OVR)*, Taylor Nelson (65 OVR)*, Juan Pablo (64 OVR)*, Mark Miller (61 OVR)*, Satoshi Kagome (55 OVR)*, Yoshi Ishinomori (55 OVR)*. Strikers: Thierry Ambrose (76 OVR), Marcus Thuram (71 OVR), Patrick Miller (67 OVR)*, Cedric Diomandè Gondo (67 OVR)**, Kjetil Ringdal Støvland (66 OVR)*, Aaron Collins (61 OVR). * Academy Graduates ** At the club on loan Starting XI (4-4-2 Diamond Wide) Martinez Odubajo/Luan/Blackett/B-Williams Ince Giles ------------------ B. Moore Gordon Ambrose ------- Thuram ___________________________________ League Match 11 Newport County - MK Dons (2-2) Gordon 28' (Thuram) Reeves 43' Ince 54' (B-Williams) Powell 90+' The Dons never allowed The Exiles to feel in control even if they were playing at Rodney Parade, limiting Newport to four shots (all on goal) and allowing the visitors to steal a point at the end. Spoiler Ben Reeves got to this ball just before Emiliano Martinez to head it underneath the diving goalkeeper for a goal before the end of the half. League Match 12 Rotherham Utd - Newport County (2-1) Bowery 51' Ward 62' Potter 67' (pen) Smallwood 90+' The Exiles' B-squad was unable to get a good result at New York Stadium despite playing the hosts pretty evenly. After a tightly-contested first half Rotherham was able to break through for a couple of goals in a 10-minute window early in the second half and Newport was unable to get much done after Potter's penalty kick. Richard Smallwood literally took one for the team, committing a hard foul on a breakaway by Potter in stoppage time in what looked like a scoring opportunity for Newport which earned his second yellow card of the game and a subsequent red card. League Match 13 Newport County - West Brom (6-0) Ambrose 4' (Thuram) Gordon 30' (B-Williams) Thuram 40' (Gordon) Ambrose 52' (Ince) Odubajo 57' (Ince) Ambrose 80' (Thuram) Spoiler The Exiles ANNIHILATED The Baggies at Rodney Parade, scoring at will from beginning to end to put together arguably the most dominant performance in club history. After a game like this it was difficult to explain that the losing team had spend the previous season in the BPL while the winning team had been playing in League One. In the big picture West Brom is a much better team than showed on this day but man did Newport County have a blast. Spoiler Clark Gordon scoring in the 30th minute. Marcus Thuram gave up would had been a brace for him to get Thierry Ambrose a better shot for what would be the hat-trick. Ambrose walked away with the game ball. League Match 14 Brentford - Newport County (1-1) MacLeod 14' Ambrose 45' (pen) The Exiles were unable to build on their previous game as Brentford kept most of the game around midfield, and as a result each team was only able to get three shots on goal. League Match 15 Newport County - Derby County (3-1) Weimann 7' Ambrose 47' (Gordon) In Beom 78' (Giles) Ambrose 81' The underwhelming Rams did everything they could to make a game of this match-up after failing to hold on to an early lead but Ambrose finished them in the 81's minute after stealing the ball from a defender near the box and scoring from outside after catching the goalkeeper out of position. Spoiler Ambrose can't stop scoring. Capital One Cup - Round of 16 Fulham - Newport County (2-0) McCormack 49' (pen) Hyndman 64' The Cottagers were the better team for most of the game, showing that despite of their struggles this season they're still a BPL team for a reason. Their high-energy on defense was aided by the heavy rain and they could had opened up the scoring earlier if McCormack hadn't missed a penalty kick in the first half. The Exiles bid adieu to the COC after a good run. League Match 16 Nott'm Forest - Newport County (2-6) Ambrose 2' (Thuram) Lansbury 5' Thuram 25' (Luan) Thuram 34' (Giles) Assombalonga 66' Ambrose 83' (Giles) Thuram 86' (Ichigawa) Thuram 90' (Ambrose) For the second time in four league games The Exiles scored six goals, this time lead by a poker from Thuram. Ambrose returned the favor for his fellow countryman this time around, giving up what would had been a hat trick for him in the 90th minute to get Thuram a better shot for the poker. When Newport plays like this they look unbeatable: they took six shots, all on target, all resulting on a score. Thuram has shown he is a Championship-caliber striker. League Match 17 Newport County - Wigan Athletic (3-1) Gordon 7' (Thuram) Huws 11' Ambrose 33' (Giles) Ambrose 45' The result is secondary in this game as it was the benching of Sebastian Vegas after Huws' goal that grabbed all the attention. After a shot from the left side of the box was blocked by Martinez and lifted in the air towards the second goal post, Vegas was in position to clear the ball out but mistimed his jump missing the ball altogether and clearing the path for Huws to tap it in. Vegas had been put back into the lineup after a few games off in September due to bad form but he had continued to struggle and this might be a point of no return for him. During his post-game press conference Marccelino confirmed he had benched Vegas as a result of his mishap and that he had already discussed the issue with the Chilean defender after the game. The coach confirmed Tyler Blackett would remain the starter at LCB for the immediate future. League Match 18 Ipswich Town - Newport County (1-2) Ambrose 25' (Thuram) B. Moore 58' (Ambrose) Sears 85' (pen) Ince 80' Ambrose continued to carry The Exiles with a score and an assist to lead Newport County to another victory. The game was pretty much in control for the visitors throughout until Sears penalty kick in the 85th minute made the game closer than it actually was. League Match 19 Newport County - Burnley (2-4) Gordon 8' (Odubajo) Lawton 12' Vokes 14' Keane 53' B. Moore 76' (Gordon) Blanco 79' Clark Gordon got the game going with this: However, The Exiles hard-work over the last couple of months to close out the gap on the top teams on the table suffered a big hit as they looked outmatched against the 2nd-place team in the league. This was an opportunity for Newport to close the gap on Burnley but instead it was the visitors who widened the gap. Top Scorers 1. Ambrose (Newport County) - 18 T2. Gray (Burnley) - 11 T2. Falatah (Reading) - 11 Assists 1. Gordon (Newport County) - 10 2. Thuram (Newport County) - 7 T3. Giles (Newport County) - 6 T3. Grimes (Burnley) - 6 Clean Sheets 1. Federici (Leeds United) - 8 2. Hrádecký (QPR) - 7 3. Martin (Bolton) - 6 ... T5. Martinez (Newport County) - 4 Spoiler Marccelino's Dairy: Sigh, that was a rollercoaster-ish couple of months. It's difficult to not be excited about moving from 6th to 3rd on the table but the loss to Burnley in the last game surely took a bit of joy out of it and I'm so troubled by what's been going on with Sebastian. Full disclosure, I've come to regret the way I benched him in the game against Wigan Athletic. Acting that way isn't going to be helpful to the situation and even though he has clearly struggled it is part of my job to help the players work through these kinds of issues. I'll work on putting a plan in place to get Sebastian some more playing time in the near future. It doesn't help that Tyler isn't running away with this opportunity. But back to our performance in league play so far, we have done a very good job all things considered in the first four months of the season and that's something we can build on (hopefully) in the second half of the season. The Academy CAM - Daniele Martella (58 OVR, 93-94 POT): Having concluded their evaluations our scouts unanimously believe this 17-year old from Italy has elite potential. As a result of that extra time is being spent with this youngster to make sure he's developed at a rapid and efficient pace. CDM - Doke Boëtius (61 OVR, 81-87): 17-year old from Netherlands standing at 6'3" and 169lbs. He joins a crowded group of youngsters at CDM (Dall'Oglio, Ichigawa, Kagome) so he'll need to be patient and continue to work hard in the academy for his opportunity. He could become a loan candidate as soon as next season. CAM - Andrea De Girolamo (66 OVR, 78-84): 18-year old from Italy whose skill set is probably on par with the core of players who provide depth for the club. Standing at 5'7", 145lbs, De Girolamo is a demon with the ball at his feet in the academy thanks to his combination of agility (75), ball control (75), dribbling (75), and acceleration (71). Due to his age and progress in development he's likely to be promoted before January to be available for loan. RB - Willem Van Hout (50 OVR, 79-85): This 16-year old from Belgium is still very raw but exhibits good potential and coaches in the academy are trying to make sure he remains focused on working on developing his game. Doesn't possess the pace the team would like at the position but Marccelino is keeping more of an open mind when it comes to that after watching Nicolai Fernandes play. * Recent addition December Schedule 12/1: at Birmingham City 12/4: vs Charlton Athletic 12/15: at Bolton 12/22: vs Sheffield Wed 12/29: vs Bournemouth 10/31: vs Leeds United That's all for this update

^^^ Previous update

Newport County A.F.C.

'18-'19 December Update

The Roster

Spoiler

Goalkeepers: Emiliano Martinez (71 OVR), Hayato Matsuki (66 OVR)*, Eiichi Suzuki (64 OVR)*
Fullbacks: Jerome Binnom-Williams (75 OVR), Nicolai Fernandes (73 OVR)*, Moses Odubajo (72 OVR), Mehmet Çelik (68 OVR), Gregorio Miranda (67 OVR)*, Magnus Dahle (65 OVR)*, Atsushi Nagatsuka (60 OVR)*.
Centre-backs: Luan (75 OVR), Sebastian Vegas (73 OVR), Tyler Blackett (70 OVR), Taylor Moore (68 OVR), Bondz Laslie (63 OVR)*.
Midfielders/Wingers: Clark Gordon (76 OVR)*, Rohan Ince (75 OVR), Bondz Moore (73 OVR)*, Hwang In Beom (73 OVR), Jack Giles (71 OVR)*, Ben Potter (70 OVR)*, Youssef Feddal (69 OVR)**, Hikaru Ichigawa (68 OVR)*, Cristiano Dall'Oglio (67 OVR)*, David Fox (67 OVR)*, Andrea De Girolamo (66 OVR), Taylor Nelson (65 OVR)*, Juan Pablo (64 OVR)*, Mark Miller (61 OVR)*, Satoshi Kagome (56 OVR)*, Yoshi Ishinomori (55 OVR)*.
Strikers: Thierry Ambrose (77 OVR), Marcus Thuram (71 OVR), Kjetil Ringdal Støvland (67 OVR)*, Patrick Miller (67 OVR)*, Cedric Diomandè Gondo (67 OVR)**, Aaron Collins (61 OVR).
* Academy Graduates
** At the club on loan

Starting XI (4-4-2 Diamond Wide)

Martinez (C, 71)

Odubajo (72)/Luan (75)/Blackett (70)/B-Williams (75)

Ince (75)

Giles (71) ------------------ B. Moore (73)

Gordon (76)

Ambrose (77) ------- Thuram (71)
___________________________________

League Match 20
Birmingham City - Newport County (1-2)
Cotteril 33'
Ince 35' (Gordon)
Ambrose 53' (Thuram)

The Exiles received a good challenge from the home team but they weathered the punches and came away with a solid road victory. Right after going down 0-1 Newport responded with this feed from Gordon to Ince:



It's such a luxury to have a defensive midfielder who can strike it from outside like that. The French duo upfront would hook up early in the second half to give Marccelino's squad the lead and the subsequent 3 points.

League Match 21
Newport County - Charlton Ath (1-0)
Binnom-Williams 3'

Fans who failed to arrive to Rodney Parade on time missed out on this:



That was off an early free kick taken from the right wing by Gordon. Replays confirmed the ball bounced inside the goal in its entirety. The Exiles would go on to create a number of opportunities thereafter (8 shots, 6 on target) but B-Will's goal would be the only one of the day as Newport collected its second win in a row.

League Match 22
Bolton - Newport County (1-2)
Trotter 36'
Thuram 45+' (B. Moore)
Ambrose 60' (pen)

The Exiles got themselves a winning streak by once again earning a come-from-behind win on the road. Bondz Moore found Thuram on a nice feed right before the half to even up the game going into the break and Ambrose earned a penalty kick by making his presence felt inside Bolton's box to then score what would be the game-winner.


League Match 23
Newport County - Sheffield Wed (1-1)
Matias 57'
Giles 65' (Ambrose)
Gordon 27' (Sprained knee, out 3 weeks)

The Exiles' attack came fast and furious throughout this game but the visitors stepped up to the challenge with a fine defensive performance to steal a point at Rodney Parade. Below is an illustration of the type of defense on display on this date by Sheffield Wednesday ...


Lewis McGugan saves his team at the goal line early on.

League Match 24
Newport County - Bournemouth (1-1)
Ambrose 35' (pen)
Arter 41' (pen)

It was PK city at Rodney Parade as a total of four shots from the penalty strike were called by the referee but Ambrose had a PK saved by Ryan Allsop in the second half after the league's leading scorer decided to switch the location from his earlier shot and later in the second half Marcus Thuram got a chance to give The Exiles the three points on another PK but his shot went high above the cross bar. To add more controversy to the game, the PK called for the visitors was a phantom call in the eyes of many viewers but Newport certainly had plenty of opportunities to go ahead (9 shots, 5 on target) after holding Bournemouth to just 2 shots (both on goal).

League Match 25
Newport County - Leeds United (1-1)
Doukara 6'
Ringdal Støvland 72' (Feddal)

The Exiles' B-squad earned a very valuable point on the road against The Whites to keep Leeds United below them in the standings. Youngster promise Kjetil Ringdal Støvland stepped up big time for Newport County, continuing to build up on a series of strong performances he's had so far this season (the few times he's been called upon, mostly with the B-squad). Another aspect of note is Marccelino finally gave academy-product Hayato Matsuki the role as the B-squad's starting goalkeeper and the 6'7", 196lbs youngster from Japan responded with a strong game (8.4 rating).




Top Scorers
1. Ambrose (Newport County) - 21
2. Falatah (Reading) - 13
3. Gray (Burnley) - 12

Assists
1. Gordon (Newport County) - 11
2. Thuram (Newport County) - 8
T3. Ambrose (Newport County) - 6
T3. Giles (Newport County) - 6
(3 others with 6 also)

Clean Sheets
1. Federici (Leeds United) - 10
T2. Hrádecký (QPR) - 7
T2. Gerken (Ipswich) - 7
T2. Hahn (Reading) - 7
...
T5. Martinez (Newport County) - 5

Marccelino's Dairy: Three draws to close out the month isn't ideal but we managed to go undefeated heading into the winter transfer window which is a positive for us as we fortify our third place in the standings. While we have made up a good chunk of ground on QPR a lot of that had to do with them going winless over the same stretch and unfortunately for us Burnley did not go into such funk, actually increasing their lead over us. Nevertheless, at the midway point we have established ourselves as a contender in the league which is pretty remarkable considering the road we've been in. This upcoming transfer window could be very important for all of the teams fighting for promotion as any acquisition or sale could have a big impact on the race. Our budget remains a glass ceiling for us so we'll to get creative during the window but there are definitely some moves I'll like to make if the opportunities arise.

With that in mind I decided to promote Andrea De Girolamo from the academy. I believe he's ready to, at worst, contribute with the C-squad but mostly I'm hopeful he'll get a loan opportunity for the rest of the season on a team that will provide him with plenty of playing time. He's showing great potential and his secondary position is at CF so he's an emergency option there although he needs to develop that part of his game further. Depending on what our budget looks like after the transfer window we'll probably send all three of our scouts out in search of young talent but for now the youth squad remains made of these guys:

CAM - Daniele Martella (59 OVR, 93-94 POT): Having concluded their evaluations our scouts unanimously believe this 17-year old from Italy has elite potential. As a result of that extra time is being spent with this youngster to make sure he's developed at a rapid and efficient pace. He stands at 6'1" and 154lbs.

CDM - Doke Boëtius (62 OVR, 81-87): This 17-year old from Netherlands standing at 6'3" and 169lbs is our next top prospect at the position, joining a crowded group of youngsters at CDM (Dall'Oglio, Ichigawa, Kagome). He'll need to be patient and continue to work hard in the academy for his opportunity. He could become a loan candidate as soon as next season.

RB - Willem Van Hout (51 OVR, 79-85): This 16-year old from Belgium is still very raw but exhibits good potential and coaches in the academy are trying to make sure he remains focused on working on developing his game. Doesn't possess the pace the team would like at the position but Marccelino is keeping more of an open mind when it comes to that after watching Nicolai Fernandes play.
* Recent addition

January Schedule

1/6: vs Reading (F.A. Cup)
1/12: vs Rotherham Utd
1/18: at MK Dons
1/26: vs Bolton

Although the schedule could change depending on our progress in the cup. That's all for this update

[moose141]

Episode #73: NEYMAR WONDER GOAL!

[texasbum06]

[vrabbit]

Quote: Originally Posted by texasbum06

Fire your trainer for sure. You still have a 20pt lead don't you?

[_ChicoBass]

Quote: Originally Posted by texasbum06

What the?! Have you had to forfeit games yet?! Perfect time to hand out youth promotions at least that must be fun. Did you increase the injury sliders??


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[texasbum06]

Quote: Originally Posted by vrabbit

Fire your trainer for sure. You still have a 20pt lead don't you?

Luckily yes! Although it makes my run in the Coupe much more difficult. I saw you asked earlier which round I was in and currently it is the round of 16 I'm pretty sure.

Quote: Originally Posted by _ChicoBass

What the?! Have you had to forfeit games yet?! Perfect time to hand out youth promotions at least that must be fun. Did you increase the injury sliders?? Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

No forfeits haha, although I played a match where I had maybe only 1 more player I could have moved into my active squad which means I was cutting it pretty close. And yeah the sliders I use do increase injury frequency, but the severity is really low which means that seeing 4 ACL tears and a MCL tear is just insane and highly improbable. Maybe my style of play is just reckless!

[vrabbit]

The Globetrotter CM



Winter Transfer Window Update

TRANSFERS

OUT: Marko Simić (CB, 66 OVR), sold to Sivasspor for $425K. Abdulaziz Demircan (GK, 70 OVR), sold to Konyaspor for $1.2 million. Larrys Mabiala (CB, 72 OVR), sold to Eskişehirspor for $1.8 million. Sandros Lampros (CAM, 71 OVR), loaned on short-term to Konyaspor. Argus Gianakos (CAM, 71 OVR), loaned on short-term to Aston Villa. Selim Özçal (CB, 66 OVR), loaned on short-term to Osmanlıspor.

IN: Rafael Romo (GK, 68 OVR), acquired from Udinese for $650K. Alan Henrique Ferreira B. Soares (CB, 72 OVR), acquired from CD Nacional for $1.2 million. Abdou-Aziz Thiam (CDM, 72 OVR), acquired on short-term loan from AS Monaco.

Transfer Window Recap

We weren't going to have a big acquisition unless we somehow netted some funds so I apologize for the lack of excitement. Touching first on the moves we did make, Simić was an older CB declining so fast the guys coming out of the academy were quickly surpassing him, so we were just happy to move him even if it was to our rival. I had mentioned in previous updates that Demircan had requested to be transferred after losing his job to Maisonnial so that move shouldn't have been much of a surprise. I had also mentioned dating back to the end of last season that I wanted to move on from Mabiala and I finally did. After that loaning three of our academy-products also doesn't need much explanation, I mostly try to make sure they go to a team where they'll get playing time (after deciding whether or not they're needed on our roster).

Because Maisonnial has the GK gig on lock and has potential into the 80's I wanted to bring in a GK I was familiar with who would accept a backup role and Romo is just that. I actually gave Romo a couple of starts with Venezuela in the most recent friendlies against New Zealand and Bolivia as a way of scouting him. At CB I really wanted to go back to the negotiations I had with FC Schalke 04 in the summer for Kaan Ayaan but I wasn't able to put together the budget for it. I also looked into Marcelo, a 31-year old Brazilian CB from Hannover 96, but he kept hustling me for a wage increase using interest from Trabzonspor as leverage and I drew the line at $50K. He didn't accept so we moved on and he ended up signing with Trabzonspor for $60K. Alan Henrique, even if he's rated the same as Mabiala, is an upgrade for us and has a little room for improvement. CB is definitely a position I'll look at again in the summer as I look for the right partner for Alonso. I also want to move on from Samba Sow and with that in mind I took a flyer on Thiam to get a better look at him these last few months and decide whether he's the guy I want to target in the summer.

Of course this target window would had been a lot different if the big spenders in the league hadn't had baffling approaches to negotiating wages with Deniz Türüç. After realizing we're not as dependable on him to score this season and figuring out I could still have an effective midfield even with his departure, I listened to any offers that came in for Türüç. A good number of them came, but only Galatasaray ($25M), Trabzonspor ($23M), and Fenerbahçe ($25M) met our fee demands. However, all three of those clubs proceeded to only offer Türüç wages at $70K when we've been paying him $90K, and naturally he ended up rejecting all the offers. He understood it was business though, so there's no concern about ill feelings going forward.

And that's all for this update. Thanks for reading as always

[Simppu12]

Moose - Good to see that you were able to bounce back in amazing fashion against Liverpool after only scoring once in three games! Cresswell's goal was ridiculous. Solid win against Bournemouth, too. Tough luck losing to Barcelona, although that Neymar goal was unbelievable! How has your star-filled midfield performed this season in your opinion? To me it seems like the midfielders are doing a very good job.

Rabbit - Kayseri: Overall strong performances to sit comfortably in fourth and to top your Europa League group. That was after November, though, and I think you forgot to post the December update for Kayseri. Anyhow, I was a bit surprised that you didn't sell any big players this time although you did explain why that didn't happen. Alan Henrique looks like a solid back-up defender.

Newport: You had a good December right up until the last three games where you dropped quite a few points. Third is still a good position and I believe that you will be able to achieve promotion at the end of the season. It's hard to describe how amazing Ambrose has been for you! I'm looking forward to seeing whether you went for Martial or Farfan at the end.

Tex - And I thought I had injury problems with two players out for two months each haha. Man, you are kidding me right now. Nine injuries? I can't believe how poor your luck has been with those injuries. It's good to hear that you haven't had to forfeit any games, though.

Chico - Oh no, that Bradford loss must've felt so bad! Huge shame about those two goals right at the end. On the bright side you progressed in the FA Cup and you are still leading the league. Good to see that Pigott has been stepping up!

SMH - 3-0 against Roma? Bloody well done! You have a big lead at the top of the table and you are doing a marvellous job in the cup so everything is going perfectly right now!