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Post by Boony on May 6, 2008 21:08:46 GMT
Congrats on the first win! Good to get tactics nailed so early. Good luck in the final friendly, then on to the league... KUTGW :thumb:
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Post by coffers on May 7, 2008 8:15:58 GMT
A couple of days before our final friendly Cigar-Man walked into my office and threw a couple of sheets of paper onto my desk, "'Here take a look at that lot and see if any will be useful, then I want you to interview them one by one, they are waiting outside".
"What the?" I started but before I could finish he continuted "it's the response from the adverts placed in the media for coaches, Ass-men, scouts etc."
"Oh I'd forgotten about that" I replied, "I think we have everyone we need now to be honest".
"Don't worry about it, just give them the once over and chuck 'em out if they are no better than what we have" Was Cigar-Man's response, he turned to leave and tossed a parting shot "See you on Sunday at the game".
Scratching my head I picked up the papers and ran throught the applicants, no one looked particularly promising and the Ass-men were immediately discounted as the only applicants were internal ones, I'd already filled that particular post with the best we had.
The morning dragged by as a stream of nonentities came and went, finally I had one bright spot a Physiotherapist who sounded as if he knew what he was about, I didn't really need another Physion but he was better than one of the two others on the books so he was offered a post, he started the very next day, Rich Tea Sushi was welcomed into the 'family'. As for what was left I did offer a couple of posts to some likely looking scouts, but we couldn't match the wages they were asking for, so I had to give it all up as a bad job.
With the backroom stuff dealt with, I slumped wearily into my chair and contemplated the forthcoming game. Should I keep the same tactics and starting lineup or should they be tweaked? We were at home so I decided that what was good for the last game should be good fo the next, I also, the only changes to the starters was Nil By Mouth came in for Sings Like a Pig who was still a bit tired after the last game and Child's Play started in goal as UHT Milk was suffering from a knock picked up in the previous game.
I walked out of the office and posted the team sheets onto the players notice board and then went out to supervise the final training sessions before match day, it looked pretty bad to be honest, but I could see improvements in fitness here and there, unfortunately there had been no improvements in squad personnel, my over optimistic approaches to free agents were all rejected out of hand and the scout reports hadn't started flowing yet, so we would have to go with what we had.
I must say I was enjoying what was seemingly turning out to be a quiet life at the moment, but their was still a nagging worry that it could all change in a flash...........
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Post by coffers on May 7, 2008 13:39:34 GMT
The day of the final friendly arrived quicker than expcted, isn't it funny how time flies when you are busy doing things other than lazing around enjoying yourself? There wee no new additions to the squad to report so as mentioned before we went with what we had:
Anapolis kicked off and immediately hoofed the ball out for a throw, we took possession attempted a few long balls that were hoofed straight back before Nil By Mouth tooko a loose ball, beat one man and then put the ball into the 6 yard box, Evandro collected turned and hit a mis-hit cross which turned into a shot the keeper parried it, Happy Campers picked up the loose ball, turend and tapped in the opener. Only 46 seconds had passed between kick-off and the goal, I have to say every one was delighted. From Kick-off Anapolis lost the ball again and we went in search of another goal but this time they held us at bay before aunching attacks of their own. Rubber Watch was cautioned on 7 minutes and Anapolis hit a thundering free-kick from the restart, Child's Play held onto the shot easily though. Even though we took the early lead we seemed uneasy as Anapolis built up wave upon wave of attacks, Child's Play was on form though and when they did break throught our hard working midfield and defence, our keeper stood up well and did what was asked. In the 32nd minute both Brandy Snap and happy Campers missed glorious oppotunities to extend our lead, thankfully Child's Play was on hand a minute later t prevent us from rueing the missed chances. On 37, Happy Campers got possession and beat his man with a nifty turn, he knocked it down the line to Brandy Snap, he looked up and chipped the ball to the in-rushing Diving Scroat who jumped above the panic stricken defence to claim our second goal with a powerful header. Two minutes later Nil By Mouth collected a pass from Denilson, he put his foot on the ball before sending a cross towards Happy Campers, needless to say our residant dwarf didn't win the ball, but it fell loose to Brandy Snap who with only the goalie to beat claimed our third with relative ease. The rest of the game was a pile of gash. Players tired and grays were sent on and made the beautiful game look like the worst game in the world, still we ended up with a 3-0 win which is good by any way you rate a game. Only 90 people had bothered to turn out to witness our latest success, which was probably disappointing.
So we had won another game, All Be It a friendly. Wins are always good for morale. if we could just sign some players that would be even better for morale well for mine anyway and I was happy with the way the tactics were working. We had seen 46% of the possession but as we all know it's not possession that wins games, it's what you do with the ball that sees to that.
Cigar-Man met me after the game and told me to expect good news over the coming week as the scouts had reported back to him claiming that they were in the process of watching games and making contacts with agents who had fingers in pies etc. He then left to talk with a shady looking character smoking an even worse looking cigar than his own brand. One or two gestures the Shady Guy was making appeared to be aimed at me, but Cigar man had a serious look on his face and was shaking his head vigorously. They then moved on to Cigar-Man's office which set me wondering what was going on. I didn't like the look of the new character and nobody that I asked knew who he was.
There was nothing I could do about that now, but keep my wits about me, I sought out the players and congratulated them on the performance even if, it was shoite on the whole, you got to keep the players happy at all times, so I didn't stint on the praise area. Nil By Mouth was singled out for the Man of The match Award even though he was one of 9 players to pick up a rating of 8, I would say it was based on work-rate more than skill, but you can't have everything.
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Post by coffers on May 7, 2008 14:32:28 GMT
Cigar man wasn't kidding on Monday morning I was met by a pile of faxes scattered over my office floor, all from Surging Tide and Bet Fred announcing the uncovering of player after player whom they reckoned was a star of the future, the faxes continued to bombard me as the week went on and a significant amount of time was spent weeding out the players who were free to sign, each and every one was offered a trial at the very least but some were offered contracts immediately as they were clearly stars now. Unfortunately the latter category invariably were out of our salary league and quickly replied with a polite fook off more often than not. Some just left me hanging and waiting before signing for more illustrious clubs. By the end of the week there were no break-throughs so after the initial excitement it was back to the humdrum labours of preparing for a the start of the State Championships.
Cigar-Man was philosophical about the events of the week and just said "Be patient, this is Brazil, there's no rushing these things", he wasn't very forthcoming about the Shady Character either when I approached him about the obvious secret meeting following the last game. He instructed me to attend to my business and he would take care of everything else.
With that I had no option but to prepare the tactics and team for the opening game against CFZ(DF), which was at home and also televised. We were winning so there was no need to change tactics, but I decided that there was room for one change in the starting line-up, Sings Like A Pig was brought in for the jaded Brandy Snap.
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Post by Moo on May 8, 2008 8:38:38 GMT
Nice read, sir! :thumb:
Is this the season where the Brazilian Federation decided it was a good idea to have Minimum Release Clauses for all players? Check those out and be cautious....
KUTGW!
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Post by coffers on May 8, 2008 9:04:56 GMT
Nice read, sir! Is this the season where the Brazilian Federation decided it was a good idea to have Minimum Release Clauses for all players? Check those out and be cautious.... KUTGW! Yeah I noticed that when I tried to sign someone without a release clause. By natural instinct I always multiply the requested minimum release amount by at least 10, then work downwards from there if they refuse to sign because of it.
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Post by coffers on May 8, 2008 10:23:24 GMT
Finally the big day arrived, with no more additions to the squad it remained just to play the game. As the pre-match team talk got under was a cloud of smoke appeared around the door pre-ceding the bulky figure of Cigar-Man "Just popped in to wish everyone good luck and say let's start this year with a win" he said. "I'll second that" I added and with that we the squad left the changing rooms for the pitch.
I had that familiar tingling sensation that you get in you bones at the start of the season proper, tinged with a feeling of nervousness as you let the doubts creep in, especially after a phone called from an old friend MooDotSki warned me to be wary of CFZ. New Age Slave sensing my pre-match nerves tried to allay my fears, "Don't worry boss, I think we can do a good job this season and this lot are here for the taking. New players will arrive soon, I'm sure, once word gets out that we mean business". It was the first time that he'd given me any sort of real encouragement and I have to say even though he was employed by me, it felt good.
Too late now for any last minute changes, the game kicked off and CFZ were immediately on the attack and pressed hard for an opener in the first 12 minutes, but made little impression and we managed to shock them with a couple of well times counter attacks that came to nothing. By this time we had weathered the initial storm and we were easing into a rhythm of our own, giving CFZ something to think about and be wary of. In the eighteenth minute Rubber Watch collected a return from a throw-in by our own corner flag, he looked up and played a long raking ball down the right wing, Sings Like a Pig chased it, but Evandro got to it first, not expecting a lot from the un-contracted player I was pleasantly surprised when he delivered a superb cross to the back post that was met by Nil By Mouth's head and we suddenly had the lead. Six minutes later Evandro showed why I was surprised by missing a total sitter from 3 yards. We were now in the ascendancy, CFZ seemed deflated by our goal and were contributing nothing to the game. It came as no surprise when we doubled the lead on 30, Age Of Toes had a shot charged down, the ball spun right and Sings Like A Pig chased it, with his back to goal and to defenders chasing him down, him shimmied, turned and beat the two of them, he then moved across goal and fooled everyone with a left foot shot which had the crowd on their feet. As I jumped in the air to celebrate I turned to New Lucid Slave and said " I though he only used that leg to stand on?", "So did I" was the joyful reply. Apart from one CFZ attack after that we controlled the game for the rest of the half.
The half time team talk didn't take long, more of the same, keep up the pressure and don't let them back into the game with a few reminders to the less experienced of what their job was. Back onto the pitch for the second period and we started brightly, however it didn't last long, from a 47th minute corner CFZ broke and that was the signal for a 4 minute spell of pressure that led to Rubber Watch upending Wallace in the penalty area. Ricky stepped up to take it and made no mistake, CFZ were back in with a shout, Sings Like A Pig was struggling so I sent on Brandy Snap, CFZ continued to press after winning the ball back from kick-off, but it wasn't long before we restored the 2 goal margin, 2 minutes to be precise. Linoleum Ceiling hoofed a ball from our halfway line into the CFZ penalty area, Evandro got up and headed the ball goal-wards, it beat the keeper but cannoned back off the bar, Hello Campers got to the loose ball first and slotted into the gaping goal. 3-1 Paranoa! Sensing that the game could be lost, CFZ upped the tempo and went onto the attack, but they didn't really pose a lot of problems, the heat of the day 84 degrees was taking it's toll and both sides started to wilt as the game drifted to the inevitable end. We spent the last 8 minutes of the game penned in our own area but held out to record a remarkable win. Overall we probably just about edged the game but if I had been the CFZ manager I would have been pretty upset by the result.
There were plenty of plaudits for the team as a whole but Nil By Mouth got the biggest after claiming t he Man Of The Match award with a rating of 9, Linoleum Ceiling wasn't far behind also claiming a 9. Hello Campers and Evandro manged ratings of 8 which was pleasing. The board were strangely quiet on the subject of the game, but Cigar-Man took me to one-side and claimed that we would make a break through with the signing of new players in the coming week. To say that I was pleased with that news is an understatement, it's very worrying having to send out non-contracted players midway through a game because your stars are on their last legs, we needed professionals if we were to move forward as I intended us to.
At the end of a pleasing day I reflected on the game with New Lucid Slave, "Let's not get carried away yet" I said "A lot can happen to change things in the coming weeks and I don't know what the real level of opposition we can expect. I have to say that I was pleased with the attendance of 909, but I hope that will improve too in the not too distant future, we will need to finance a hefty wage bill if we want success". In other results Brasiliense had beaten Unai 9-0 and Ceilandia had won 3-0 against Sobradinho, so we started the Championships in 3rd place on goal difference.
The Ass-Man was in full agreement with everything I said, but he seemed to be stringing out the conversation and taking us off in tangents as if to delay my departure for the day. A lot of what he was blathering about didn't make sense, nor was it relevant to the team and it's performance. I finally managed to extricate myself from where this interlude was taking us and made for the door, New Lucid Slave seemed to accept the chat was over and followed, leaving the ground staff to clear things and lock up. I left the offices just in time to see two articulated lorries pass in a cloud of dust, heading towards the main highway and leaving tracks in the dusty ground that seemed to start from the area of the empty warehouse that I had been kept 'hostage' in at the start of this adventure.
I decided to take a quick look around despite Slave's protestations, but the warehouse was locked up and there appeared to be no way to get into the place easily. I made a mental note to keep a wary eye on the place, it was unusual for anything to be operating in t he area at this time of a Sunday evening, I couldn't help feeling it was all linked to something Cigar-Man was up to..............
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Post by coffers on May 8, 2008 14:04:21 GMT
The following day there was no time to follow any hunches regarding warehousing as tings started to hot up. The first thing I noticed at the offices were a couple of workmen taking down the entrance hall doors on questioning our receptionist regarding what was going on she flashed me a wry smile and said "Oh Cigar-Man requested some new revolving doors installed, he seems to think things were going to get very busy over the coming weeks". I picked up my mail and wandered towards my office, reflecting on the fact that the last time I had seen anything like it was when in the days, Manchester City had a minimum number of managers per season policy in operation, on the one hand I was hopeful, on the other I felt a tad sad at the possible prospect of possibly losing a job I was starting to enjoy. Surely it wouldn't come to that. As the week wore on I came to realise the doors were not for managers, but the comings and goings of potential recruits. I've not seen anything like it, t he number of unattached players that Surging Tide and Bet Fred seemed to be finding was unbelievable. Many of them were still way beyond considering but I was like a kid in a candy shop with what was left. Contracts were offered left right and centre and then I realised that maybe I should ease up, there were that many maybe I could afford to pick and chose. Our first signing came that very 1st day, a 20 year old right winger called Soft Spread agreed terms before I could finish my verbal offer, he was the only winger in the lists that the scouts had complied and it was a position we were short in, so I was happy with that to say the least, then came the bad news the idiot injured himself 20 minutes after the ink dried on his contract. Due to the sheer numbers of options I was offering everyone who wasn't immediately offered a contact, 4 week trials just to get the verdict of the coaches as well. Just dealing with the paperwork was a nightmare and it kept me out of trouble and well away from things that I was probably best kept away from. Next to sign up was a 20 year old striker called Train Of Thought, it was another area that was in desperate need of strengthening. At 5' 10" I felt that Train could possibly compliment Hello Campers and at least had a chance of winning a header or two. Train agreed terms 3 days before our next game. One day later we managed to snare a left back, Andrex Glow at 22 years old, he hadn't been attached to a club for 3 years, so obviously I was a bit apprehensive, but again we didn't have any left backs on the books and he was the only free one on the list at the time. The stupid thing is he is 4 inches taller than my only contracted Central Defender. The final signing a day before the 2nd game of the season was a 21 year old DM called Board & Lodge he seemed as if he might have some potential, but I suspect he will end up a back up as we already have 2 players on the books in his position, both are better players at this stage. But beggars can't be choosers. Give the paucity of players on the books I'll take anyone, and then try to retrain them later if I can. So we had made four new signings in the week, but that wasn't all we had done, we had a shed-load of players hanging around the place on 4 week trials some being assessed others thinking about contract offers. The real good news was that I found out I can use trialists in State Championship games. We actually had enough players of potential professional quality to field a full side plus a bench of players with only one gray non-contracted player on it, or so I thought. The day before the 2nd game I sat back in my chair and thought I think we might have cracked it, things are looking up, I picked up a piece of loose paper and filled out a team sheet for the following day, I also put some tactical instructions together and distributed them to the coaches for the final preparations. Tomorrow might just be a good day for football. I hadn't even noticed the absence of Cigar-Man and his fellow directors since the previous game, but I did notice the new doors were getting some hammer.............................
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Post by coffers on May 8, 2008 14:18:36 GMT
An hour before I left for the day, I received a belated report from Skippy claiming that our next opponents played a 3 man defence with 5 across the middle formation, that immediately set some alarm bells ringing, the tactics I was planning to use invariably failed miserably when faced with a flooded midfield, we didn't have the power to lump balls bypassing the midfield either, so I hastily redrew my plans and ended up with two DM's protecting the defence of 4, a couple of wingers plus an attacking midfielder playing in a hole behind a sole striker. That put paid to my plans to use trialists and contacted players only. I ended up with two non-contacted players in the winger slots. I gave Train Of Thought the sole striker role as Hello Campers clearly didn't suit it. In the centre of defence we had trialist Cuppa Rosie Lee aiding Linoleum Ceiling and new signing Andrex Glow got to start at left back. The new guys were sadly lacking some fitness having only started training in the past week, so it was a case of crossed fingers that they would last the game. Our original players were responding well to the training regime and were certainly showing signs of improvements in the skills and fitness that they were training in.
I quickly instructed New Lucid Slave to inform the players of the change in plan and appropriate instruction on how to best prepare them in the limited time available. With that I took my leave, I had done more than my bit for the club this week an now needed some rest so that I could make quick off the cuff decisions during the game the following day...................
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Post by coffers on May 8, 2008 14:55:52 GMT
Match day was once again upon us and a relatively short trip across Brasilia saw us arrive at Ceilandia another team competing in one of the national 3 division competitions. I was hopeful of anything pretty, games where teams flood the midfield tend to be pretty turgid affairs at the very best.
Our coaches seemed happy enough with my plans and preparation and the pre match talk went well, with everybody nodding amiably at my instructions. It was another hot dry day, 91 degrees in the shade and I wondered how they guys would fair with my pressing approach to the game.
We kicked off, and Train Off Thought had the first chance of the match after only 4 minutes, he was put through one-on-one with the keeper and fluffed his shot, sending the ball wide. Two minutes later and Cuppa Rosie Lee picked up a yellow card for a trip on Abimael. Linoleum Ceiling was heavily tackled on 8 and needed attention, but thankfully managed to continue for the rest of the game. Those exchanges pretty much set the tone for the day. It wasn't pretty and both sides were getting stuck in. It has to be said that Ceilandia were having the better game but we were defending manfully, the odd break that we did get was either wasted or dealt with by the Ceilandia keeper. On 23 Rubber Watch tripped Anderson in the area to give away his second penalty in two games, thankfully Normando hit it straight at Child's Play who parried it and then managed to clear it in the resulting scramble. Ceilandia were pressing and their fans were getting restless as they failed to make the breakthrough. On 28 Diving Scroat received a Yellow for pulling back Bocoa, we were under the cosh and things got worse 3 minutes later when Cuppa Rosie Lee received his second yellow for pulling back Animael by the shirt. Down to 10 men with nearly an hour to play. This was bad, Hard decisions needed to be made. I quickly consulted with Slave and decided that to try to preserve things we needed 5 in midfield, I switched to a 3 man defence and kept the substitutions intact. The scene was set for a hard day on the park. Ceilandia continued to hold the possession and hammered away at our goal, we held out manfully and even managed to give them the odd scare or two on the way. Somehow we made it to half time, where Cuppa Rosie Lee received a bollocking and the rest of the team received high praise for their efforts. I asked for more of the same, lots of effort and closing down, I wanted players who would die for their team mates and by George I got it.
Andrex Glow was suffering from a knock so Jailson was sent out in his place. We had a bright spell at the start of the half, but the game soon reverted to the pattern of the first half. On 57 Hello Campers and Sings Like A Pig were sent on for Train Of Thought and Pereira. The substitution lifted us a bit and Hello campers had a wasted one-on-one chance five minutes after he came on. Nil By Mouth then had a thunderbolts stopped by the Ceilandia keeper. Then it was back to Ceilandia holding sway, as the game wore on tiredness crept in, Ceilandia started to open up as they looked for the goal to win the game, this left us with some chances to win the game for ourselves, but neither side was good enough to break the deadlock. We left the field to the jeers and cat-calls of the opposing fans but we were happy to take a point from a match that we should have lost by a street. The atmosphere in the ground was terrible, I felt that at any point a riot could break out, but there were so few fans there a couple of policemen would probably have sorted it out in a jiffy.
I let the lads have their moment they had worked hard for their point, Child's Play, Nil By Mouth and Diving Scroat were singled out for particular praise as they all put in a tremendous amount of good work, but I was left fearing that the new additions may have upset some balance that we had developed in the team during t he previous few games. There wasn't a lot of time to dwell on matters as we had a coach to catch, Cigar-Man hadn't been seen up to that point but as we boarded the team coach, I saw an Artic' pull up behind and a passenger looking suspiciously like Cigar-Man quickly ducked down beneath the dashboard. There was no time to do a lot about it as the coach doors shut behind me and we were on our way back to Paranoa.
We were still 3rd in the mini league. Brasiliense had beaten Sobradinho 3-1 and CFZ had beaten Unai 6-0.
The bad news was that Cuppa Rosie Lee was suspended for one match and Linoleum Ceiling would miss the next game due to the injury he picked up today. On t he bright side, Cuppa Rosie Lee at least accecpted that he had acted like an idiot to get himself sent off, so there is hope for him to learn from today's mistakes.
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Post by Boony on May 9, 2008 8:15:12 GMT
A good start, Coffers. Nice work building up the squad, just need to get some team cohesion back now. I like the depth here, too - what on earth is Cigar-Man up to?
:thumb:
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Post by Moo on May 9, 2008 8:32:22 GMT
You'll both love and hate the Brazilian leagues, Coffers.
KUTGW! :thumb:
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Post by Boony on May 9, 2008 9:08:17 GMT
When was the last time you were in Brazil, Moo? I've not ventured there yet, but I know you really enjoyed your time over there.
I've done a bit in Colombia (in that network game I did with you Moo, was it CM0304?) and a few seasons in Argentina on 00/01 on my Ma's PC back home (another screwy league system - three year averages for promotion and relegation or something, and impossible to sign players - almost my entire starting XI was loanees, and I generally never use loanees), but never Brazil...
One of these days I'll start up a South American game, involving all the leagues there, which could be quite cool. Conquer each country in turn!
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Post by coffers on May 9, 2008 9:43:36 GMT
I've done Mexico, Peru and Columbia before, all were fun in their own way, though the lack of leagues to work your way through becomes a bit boring in the end. This is my first time in Brazil though and so far it's fun. I especially like the system that allows trialists to play in competitive games, giving you the chance to see them in games that matter.
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Post by coffers on May 9, 2008 12:04:40 GMT
On Monday morning the doors were spinning faster than ever as more diminutive people clamored for a chance to take part in Paranoa's historic rebuilding programme. It was certainly going to be a busy week again, I had to let t he coaches just get on with training those that were already contracted. The next game would be against Sobradinho a non-league outfit so just reverting to the tactics I had settled for in the opening game of the season.
New Lucid Slave was told to monitor the progress of the trialists and keep me informed on their abilities, I concentrated on trying to persuade the better players that their long term future was with us.
On Tuesday I had some hits as 3 new players were registered with the Brazilian FA:
Charnel Mound a 17 year old DC, who at 5' 10" was almost a giant compared to a lot of our players, it will be a good if the rest of the Brazilian players are anything like us in size., in our final chat before he signed on the dotted line he said he hoped to emulate his heroes; Ronaldinho, David Beckham, Eduardo and Paolo Maldini. I'll be a bit worried if he plays like the first three do in defence. Mound is of mixed race, part Brazilian and part German so he has a dual passport, I have a feeling that Cigar-Man played a large part in the signing of this player, behind the scenes of course.
Next in line was an 18 year old striker called Ribena Bar Steward at 5' 9" he has more potential than he has current abilities. However that said we were filling slots, so I guess you could say the rebuilding exercise was going well. However what didn't go so well was Bar Steward's second training session, he promptly got himself injured with a groin strain and would be out for a couple of weeks.
My final talks of the day were with Goodbye Silver Lining a 16 year old AMC/FC, though at 5' 9" he hardly constitutes what I consider to be an old fashioned FC. Another one with potential rather than current day ability.
With immediate contracts sorted I set about tapping up likely trialists, that meant everybody who wasn't currently on a contract and there were plenty of them. A number rejected our offers outright and I felt that they would never sign, however I intended to make use of them whilst they were here, so once the training duties were over they were set to work tiding the ground, rolling and watering the dust bowl that we called a pitch and doing a bit of painting and decorating work around the offices. Cigar-Man wouldn't recognise the place if/when he returned for a brief appearance.
The rest of the week went on much the same way, Wednesday saw 3 more players agree terms, and on Thursday we completed the final signing of the week:
Horse Of Rock a 22 year old 5' 10" DM signed up telling me he was confident that he would be a success at the club, if his ability is as big as his ego then he might well be, however he isn't going to replace Age Of Toes or Diving Scroat anytime soon.
Cuppa Rosie Lee the guy that was red-carded in the last game also signed a contract, he's a DC standing at 5' 8" and probably wears stilts to come in at that height. Given his acceptance of my earlier bollocking he seems to know right from wrong.
Roger Over And Out a 5' 9" 21 year old striker is described as a talented individual with a great future ahead of him, he certainly has a good first touch and finishing abilities and he also has pace, but work is needed elsewhere.
The final signing of the week is Thyroid Notebook another 5' 8" centre back who doesn't lack for ambition. at 21 years of age he's so-so as far as I can see, but given that both our contracted centre backs are out for the next game, he and Charnel Mound could be the best signings this week.
We could finally field a team of contracted players. Friday came and I confirmed the tactics that I would against Sobradinho, after watching the early training sessions and was please to note the improvements in fitness and skill levels of those who had been here longer than 2 weeks. it was time to sit down with Slave and pencil in the players for the forthcoming match.
Child's Play would start in goal, backed up by UHT-Milk. In defence we would have Rubber, Watch, Andrex Glow, Thyroid Notebook and Charnel Mound. Age Of Toes would hold on to the holding role. Across the middle of the pitch we would have Nil By Mouth, Diving Scroat and Goodbye Silver Lining. Roger Over And Out would lead the attack with Train Of Thought.
Apart from UHT Milk, the other substitutes would be: Comrade Love Token (A useful looking Left back and trialist), Board & Lodge, Jocier (a gray FC), Priceless Tenor (A DC/DM trialist), Horse Of Rock and Hello Campers.
Slave was in pretty much agreement with my arguments and we were both dithering over whether to include Road Rage a 6' 3" trialist keeper instead of UHT Milk. He had the height but the other two had proved that they had reasonably safe hands so I eventually decided against using him.
Surging Tide and Bet Fred were still sending plenty of reports, but the source of free players seemed to be drying up.
Reviewing the current squad and trialists I noted that I had exceeded my salary budget and the board were getting a bit stingy with what I could offer potential new players. I made a pact with New Lucid Slave to only consider talented players or players with a good future ahead of them from now on. Anyone who just had potential if they worked hard, would be left alone, unless they could fill a gap that we needed filling.
So to the end of a busy week, we moved on to the final game of January 2005..................
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Post by Boony on May 9, 2008 12:07:45 GMT
Signing of the week Make sure that door is well oiled, fella. Good luck in the next game :thumb:
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Post by coffers on May 9, 2008 14:40:44 GMT
On to match day, with the ground less than 25% full, Sobradinho kicked off and that plus one goal kick was about all they managed to do before we scored. On 4 minutes Roger Over And Out was put through one-on-one with the keeper and blasted high over the bar. Five minutes later Goodbye Silver Lining got the ball on the right and floated a nice cross to the far post that was met by Age Of Toes and he put a powerful header beyond the keeper for goal number one. After that it was all Paranoa but we failed to add to our tally before the break. Sobradinho managed their first and only shot of the half a minute before the break but Child's Play dealt with it easily. Despite a massive amount of possession we were failing to convert it into goals, but we were winning so I offered encouragement, and asked for more of the same, claiming the goals would come.
They didn't, on 51 I sent on Hello Campers for Train Of Thought who wasn't having the best of games. Sobradinho then had a little purple patch where they held the ball for a while and even had another shot that went well wide, but their attempts to get back in the game fell apart when they had forward Patricio sent off for up-ending Comrade Love Token, who had replaced Andrex Glow when he was injured 30 minutes earlier. On 66 Board & Lodge came on for Diving Scroat who was carrying an injury. On 71 Board & Lodge played a ball through the middle that put Hello Campers in the clear, he made no mistake from 22 yards out. The rest of the game played out like the rest of the game, Sobradinho played no more real part and we failed to take a number of chances. The whistle went after 2 minutes injury time had been played and we trooped off with a 2-0 win.
Sixteen year old Goodbye Silver Lining claimed the Man Of The Match honours and was praised effusively. and all the team played well apart from the starting forwards, but they probably need time to settle.
As I walked to my car after the game some reporter shouted for a comment regarding Roger Over And Out, claiming that his debut had been wretched. I made the mistake of replying that he would no doubt improve when he gets used to our training and tactics.
This led to a mini showdown the next day with the targeted front-man. He claimed that I didn't have confidence in him, quite how he twisted that around I don't know, but he may need watching or molly-coddling in the future.
We were still 3rd in the championship, Brasiliense drew 0-0 with CFZ and Ceilandia beat Unai 3-0, these results left 3 of us on 7 points but Brasiliense had the better goal difference with Ceilandia coming 2nd in those stakes.
The month ended and I was horrified to find that we had made a loss of £26,000, and that I was operating at £6,000 per month over and above my salary budget. However the board re-iterated that they still think they made the right decision in head-hunting me, which was a phrase I don't think I liked to be honest.
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Post by Boony on May 9, 2008 15:10:20 GMT
Another win! Top stuff... Roger Over and Out is a poof, quite clearly. Get those wage bills down, and keep on lurking....
:thumb: :pops:
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Post by Moo on May 9, 2008 16:01:40 GMT
5'8" centre halves? Are you mad?
Seriously though, keep an eye on the finances. UNless you're in a State where there are lots of D2 and D1 teams, you're going to struggle with gate receipts and go into the red very quickly. Remember that the D3 attendances aren't going to be great, so you need to make or save your money in the State Championships. What helps, ironically, is the number of players available every winter when the contracts run out. You won't miss your fringe players, as there will be others who can step in straight away.
Brazil is very different in this way to the other leagues you'll have played in before.
However, you can also say that with 127 other D3 teams, you're fighting for every player that is half decent. Very true, so I would suggest choosing your target carefully and going all out for them. You'll notice what I mean in a couple of seasons.
Boo - last time I played was the '06 version I think. I can't recall which team I was or anything, but IIRC I was relegated from the State Championships in my first season and stayed up in D3 for two seasons. The third season, when I was invited back to the SC, I was relegated from D3, so was sacked. I think I went in the huff and went elsewhere.
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Post by coffers on May 9, 2008 16:20:23 GMT
I think I'm starting to cotton on to that Moo, thanks for the heads up, I'm afraid it may be too late. I've already signed too many players, so may well have sealed my fate, I have probably already signed players onto contracts that are too long. Still it's a learning process.
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Post by coffers on May 9, 2008 16:40:19 GMT
Re the goalkeepers, they were already here I've no choice in the matter. There is only one available that is taller than them, he's a gangling freak and is refusing to sign.
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Post by Mr Bismarck's Electric Donkey on May 9, 2008 16:53:47 GMT
Brazil gives me a headache just reading about it.
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Post by Sonic on May 11, 2008 12:13:33 GMT
It does that Stu.
Well done on your signing of hoards and winning games Coffers :thumb:
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Post by coffers on May 15, 2008 11:28:58 GMT
The week following the Sobradhino game saw a complete slowdown in signings, in fact nobody signed anything apart from agreeing to a trial here and there.but the doors kept revolving and Cigar-Man was nowhere to be seen still.
Our next game was against the likely future winner of our group, Brasiliense, the only 1st divison team in the group, as the game was to be played on their patch I didn't expect to get anything out of it at all, so opted for my usual line up with a more defensive attitude, hoping to catch them on the break.
With them playing 4-3-1-2 and us playing witha 4-1-3-2 line up I hoped we had enough in us to counter their threat. As we left on the team coach I noticed a flurry of activity around the warehouse with at least 3 articulated lorrys parked up and in the proces of being loaded with what looked like large boxes about 3 foot x 3 foot x 3 foot in size. eminating from behind the nearest lorry I could see a familiar cloud of smoke emerging, but there was not time to investigate we had a game to get to..........
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Post by coffers on May 15, 2008 11:45:15 GMT
I'd like to say we gave Brasiliense a good game but in fairness to them we didn't. They were ahead within 5 minute of the start when a break down theri right ended with Oseas heading the opener from 12 yards. Seven minutes later they were 2 up when Agnaldo headed in a cross from the left, unopposed at the far post. We had no answer to their strength skill or power play. It came as no surpise when a Brasiliense 3rd was notched after only 21 minutes, Oliveira collected a near post corner from their left, spun his marler and blasted in from an acute angle. We were dead and buried. Somehow we limped to half time without conceding any mpre goals, but our opponents were clearly better than us by far.
At the break I gave a little pep talk trying to encourage the clearly demoralised troops, I also replaced Roger Over And Out and Goodbye Silver Lining with Train Of Thought and Sings Like A Pig respectively. The second half was much the same as the latter stages of the first half, just around the hour mark, Nil By Mouth was clattered and I took him off as a precaution, on went Soft Spread and I also decided that there was nothing to lose anymore so tweak the tactics to a more attacking outlook. I was surprised when we bucked up and had a real go at them after that point, but it was to no avail, they held us off quite easily and were still dangerous on the break. The game ended with no addition to the score. Though disappointed at the loss, I was happy that we were not totally humiliated by a clearly superior team.
Cigar Man was waiting in the dressing room when we trooped in and was all beaming smiles, I couoldn't work out why, he claimed we did better than he had expected and not to worry as we'd made a killing that day, I know 6971 people turned up to watch, but surely that wouldn't generate a lot of cash for us, especially as we were the away side? I gave him a questioning look and he replied with a beaming smile and a tap on his nose with his forefinger. With that he left and was last seen jumping into the cab of a lorry and disappearing into the city, leaving us to troop back onto our coach and head eastwards on the relatively short trip back to Paranoa.
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