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Post by coffers on Mar 5, 2010 10:59:19 GMT
Oh I forgot to add that I offered a contract to another trialist Cast And Go who is a young AMR/ST, he played some really neat passes in the friendlies and I'm sure will be the provider of many a goal in the season to come. I'm awaiting his final decision.
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Post by Sonic on Mar 5, 2010 12:56:59 GMT
What's the process when your looking for a child care centre called?
Well done Coffers, excellent season. Hope you get someone in like that Chilli guy.
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Post by coffers on Mar 5, 2010 20:25:02 GMT
So looking back over the season I'm pleased with how things went, given how poor the starting squad was I think we did teh city of Alghero proud. The whole achievment was based ona solid defence despite the attacking formations I used. The defendes att he club weren't bad to start with so I always figured taht if we could keep the goals against down we would do betetr than expected and so it proved. The attacking idea of 3 up front as I@ve always said was based on teh fact that most of teh attackers and midfields weren't that good so number might make a difference. The addition of one decent loanee strike and we had a focus once he settled in.
The main squad who made teh running were:
Goalies
Stop In The Name Of Love 24yo and co-owned with Cagliari, he's nothing special but decent enough for teh lower levels and worth £160k. He does have his moments of rushing out and mis-kicking to oppenents though, on 2 occassions that has cost us points, but he's better than the rest. He can't kick a dead ball very far.
Twin Castles 24 year old backup keeper, he'll do at a pinch but I'm sure we can do better.
Defenders
Discerning Robber 32yo DR/DM/MC who we brought in part the way through the season and he's a first choice now, still got some class even at his age. worth about £20 and will probably be 1st choice next season too. His back up Twin Carb is a solid player too, he's also aged 31 so this could be an area to consider strengthening for next season.
Pasta Packet 19yo a long term loanee from some Seria A outfit who mad teh LB position his own, we have him on a Bosman so he'll be back next season. His understudy 24yo London Suburb is not a bad player either so I have that position covered. Furtehr down the tree is DL/DC Serene Simon 30yo and not that good.
In The Centre of defence we had English Mustard a 24yo from Paraguay who started out on Long Term Loan from Cittadella but was so good we paid good money to keep him here in the transfer wind. He was joined by 22yo Shaken Not Stirred both quality Centre backs who I think will do a good job next season in Serie C1. There were cameo appearences from Female Workout DVD and teh already mentioned Serene Simon. It doesn't look as if we have much cover here, but most of out DM's can turn their hand to central defence so I don't feel desperate to build in this area. However if a quality player is available i cetainly won't be backward in coming forwards.
I'll pick up on the midfied and attack later.
Tomato Puree was named Alghero Fans Player of the Year.
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Post by coffers on Mar 5, 2010 20:48:20 GMT
The Fans Alghero Team of the Year:
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Post by coffers on Mar 6, 2010 20:52:30 GMT
Midfield We had an absolute ton of players in Central midfield over the season but the main players were: 31yo Watchman in DMC until he took a bit of a spell on the long term injured list, Tomato Puree who was voted fans player of the year and had a very good season, though the ass-man thinks he's overpaid and we should do something about it. He's also 30 so maybe we should do something about it. We also had loanee Giro Sack who was young and good but would have cost too much to keep and Grilled Alice who at 25 isn't particularly skillful but he does have good physical stats. Steamy Window came in frequently for injured players but I'm not sure he will feature much in the coming season other than being a backup. The future star of the current crop is likely to be Calamari Cocktail who we acquired late in the day and at 19 years old is a good player now so I'm very hopeful he has a lot of development to come.
Forwards The star of the team had to be Chili Burger at 18 years old he was the teams leading scorer but unfortunately he had to go back to his owners as there was no way we could afford the transfer fee. He was partnered more often than not by Disney World and Pudding Basin who whilst adequate are never going to be world beaters. We landed some late free bargains who look to be the future of the team for the next season or two and they looked useful in the few games they played: Kimono Dragon and Simple Cooking. An Honorable mention should go to Clown Impersonator who sat in the wings for most of the season without complaint and who I think would have filled in adequately had any of the other strikers been out through injury.
But things were about to change.........
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Post by coffers on Mar 6, 2010 21:02:26 GMT
July the 1st arrived and before I knew it I was thrown into turmoil, I had to make bids for the part owned players, I could have delayed the process, but I though let's get this out of the way and then we will know where we stand going forward.
I could much for any of the players as I had only been given a transfer budget of £1k for the coming season, the wage budget was set at £23.5k per week to avoid relegation, which meant I had £10k to play with based on the current salary payments.
So the fallout from the co-ownership bargaining is as follows:
We get to keep Disney World thankfully, Stop In The Name Of Love thankfully and midfielder Even Slower Bus who I would have been happy to lose.
We lost out on: Clown Impersonator and Pudding Basin because we didn't have the funds to match our bid for either of them. SO they went to Cagiari. So that's 3 strikers gone from last seasons line up, 2 of them regular performers and one an able backup. That makes my late signings towards the end of the season even more important and possibly gives a pointer to where I want to strengthen in the close season.
I currently have number of offers on the table for unattached players and there has just been a release of players by clubs so another trawl of the freebie lists is about to begin.
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Post by coffers on Mar 12, 2010 10:29:24 GMT
This is progressing nicely if somewhat tinged with a little disappointment after my last game before the midwinter break. I'll try to make some time to give a swift overview of results and progress over the weekend.
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Post by Sonic on Mar 12, 2010 10:37:01 GMT
Whatever you can do will be fine Coffers. I'll read whatever you have the time to do. Good to hear your progressing.
I've started playing FM10 too, though I've not gone down to this yet. I'm pretty much doing what I typically do, start with Liverpool and then take it from there.
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Post by Moo on Mar 12, 2010 15:25:14 GMT
I'm really struggling for time to play FM, which is an obvious shame.
You're keeping us in suspenders here, Coffers. An image you wouldn't want, I guarantee it. KUTGW! :thumb:
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Post by coffers on Mar 12, 2010 15:46:09 GMT
I certainly wouldn't want that image in anyones head.
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Post by coffers on Mar 12, 2010 20:50:52 GMT
July saw a lot of new players joining the club all unattached and therefore costing me nothing other than wages:
Theme Park A 4* 21 year old DM/MC who we took from Atlanta when his contract ran out. This guy looks a good option. Pasta Packet a 3.5* Left Back who we had on loan last season and whose club Fiorentina didn't want badly enough to let us have him for free an almost certain starter.
I've already mentioned the 3 we got in the part ownership lottery only one of who will be considered a starter, namely Stop In The Name Of Love
Honda Advert was next through the door a 22yo potentially a 2.5* French Striker, a position that I needed more depth in, he's naturally left footed. Bozo an 18yo Goalkeeper, rated at 3.5* potential, so I'm hoping he'll eventually be the starting Keeper. Finca Special 20yo AM/LC rated at 3* with an extra 0.5 of potential, he's an AM/LC which means we could have options to play with wingers in the odd game. Brusque Cage an 21yo D/LC with 2.5* potential, seen more as a backup in an area with even less decent cover than the forward line. Tetchy Fly a 23yo DR/MC rated 2* and at the top of his game by the ass-man, but again we need more cover at right back as the current two RB's on our books are at 31, aging a little bit.
The final newcomer in July was striker Water Sauce a player the ass-man recommended, at 29 he has experience and the stats look fin for this level, he's playing at he top of his game and is rated 3.5*. The fans in particular were excited by this purchase.
The outbound in July were the already mentioned players we lost in the lottery plus Whalebone Corset who went to Poggibonsi on a free.
We had one friendly in July an away game against Pro Vercelli, which we won 1-0, Calamari Cocktail scored the only goal in a dour game after only 7 minutes, a 25 yard pearler. I'm sure we can do better when everyone achieves match fitness. If we can't we are in trouble.
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Post by coffers on Mar 14, 2010 20:21:07 GMT
I've tried to do an August update 3 times and the bloody keyboard is acting up again, I keep losing the update, I'm done with it for now and will update another time.
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Post by Moo on Mar 15, 2010 9:16:38 GMT
Looks like the squad is stronger, so fingers crossed that the match fitness gets there and you get knocked out of the Serie C cup early doors, as we know how much of a pain in the arse that is.
KUTGW! :thumb:
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Post by coffers on Mar 15, 2010 9:53:04 GMT
I think I can remember the gist of what happened in the next two games so here goes:
The 1st of August saw us pay a visit to Rimini in the 1st Qualifying Round of the Italian Cup. We struggled to say the least but went in at the break tied at 0-0. That didn't last long as Rimini scored straight from the 2nd half kick-off andpretty much held us for the rest of the half. That is until with seconds on teh clock Theme Park played a through ball fro Kimono Dragon to hit first time and equlaise with 93 minutes on the clock. The game went to extra time, everyone was kanckered so nothing happened. On to penalties and we lost 9-8 with Tomato Puree the being the only player to miss his penalty, the 18th of the shout-out. Rimini are in our divison so it gave us a chance to see what we were up against and it looked as if it might be a tough season.
Two more players came into the team, we welcomed back Chili Burger on another season long loan, he was delighted to come back as he claimed he loved the club. The other incoming player was a free 19 year old goalie called Ebay Bid, he turned out to be not as promising as he first looked, so he was promptly placed into the U20's.
Next up was a home game against fellow promotee's Gela, Simple Cooking opened on 43 but we were pegged back on 57 and the game ended in a 1-1 draw. Maybe it's just fitness and lack of match practice but we don't look as good as we were last season so far. It could also be the influx on new players needing time to gel of course.
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Post by Moo on Mar 15, 2010 12:19:34 GMT
The team gelling thing is something that I have thought about in my FM hiatus and I now think that is something I have severeley overlooked and would probably be part of the reason why I can't get teams to play for me. It's not just my ineptitude tactically, but that I always change a good amount of the squad every year. People always go on about a settled side, but would a settled squad be just as important? I'm starting to think so.
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Post by coffers on Mar 15, 2010 12:56:00 GMT
I do think it is a factor to keep in mind, you only have to look at the Assman's In game suggestions to see players might be having trouble blending into the squad and the comments on report cards show to some extent if a player will blend in more easily or not. I think youth inconsistancy is a bigger factor in this version than I've seen before too. I've seen one or two of teh older more experienced but less talented players play better than the younger more talented players in the squad on a number fo occassions.
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Post by coffers on Mar 15, 2010 21:39:23 GMT
Away to Treviso and things started to come together, Kimono Dragon struck on 7 and 14 to ease us into an early 2-0 lead. Chili Burger came hot on Dragon's heels and hit a pair on 17 and 24. It looked like a rout was in store, but that was that. We eased up and won the Game 4-0.
Then followed a home game against Sabadel, Water Sauce opened on 8 and Chili Burger added a second on 27. Sabadell pulled a goal back on 34 before Simple Cooking completed the scoring on 57. Won 3-1. That completed the pre-season games.
The Real Work Starts Here 2010/2011
We opened the league season with a home game against Grosseto after a cagey first half we exploded in the second, Full back Tetchy Fly was played in midfield and opened the scoring on 49 and centre back Shaken Not Stirred made certain of an opening day win on 55. Won 2-0.
There was time for another signing before the transfer window closed and the final game in August was played. 23 year old DMC/MC Fire Lighter was picked up on a free after being released by Pescara, he comes in rated at 3 stars both in current ability and potential. The fans were over the moon with his signing.
Firelighter went straight into the starting line up for the away game at Sorrento, but though he was our second best player on the day he didn't enjoy a win. Sorrento opened on 30 and Kimono Dragon equalised on 37. To be honest we weren't good value for the equaliser and justice was probably done when Sorrento claimed the winner on 51. Lost 2-1.
So August's fixtures and transfers completed we had started the season with a win and a draw. uring the close, pre and early days of the new season we had replaced a lot of staff one way or another and the coaches and scouts were more numerous and more talented so I was hoping to see improvemenst in the payers as the season progressed. One thing I wouldn't be expecting were improvements in teh U20's as for the most part they were crap whichever way you looked at them.
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Post by coffers on Mar 15, 2010 21:59:10 GMT
September and Chili Burger opened the scoring in a home game against Virtus Lanciano witha real poachers effort on 7, Lanciano equalised on 52 with a well worked goal. Kimono Dragon scored teh winner on 75 heading in a cracking Cast And Go cross. Won2-1.
We travelled to Pro Patria next and struggeld for most of teh game. Pro Patria opened on 64 and looked to be heading for a win when Finca Special pounced on a Cast And Go flick on to finish from close range with 93 minutes on the clock to earn us a point. Drew 1-1 The draw keeps us in the play-off places.
A home game against Varese follows and we keep up the short unbeaten sequence, Calamri Cocktail hit a 40 yard opener that the keeper didn't see after 9 minutes. Water Sauce added a second with his head following a neat cross from Shining Teddy. Won 2-0.
We travelled to Figline next and what followed was awful, neither side showed enough to score a goal and teh game ended goal-less. Drew 0-0.
our decent home form continued when Melfi visited, Chili Burger got us off to a flyer after 50 seconds, pouncing on a rebound after Water Sauce was tackled by the keeper. On 21 Chili Burger put Water Sauce through to strike from the corner of the penalty area. Melfi pulled on back from a corner on 31 and that was that. Shining Teddy was stretchered off on 78 with what proved to be a long term ham string tear. Won 2-1
That completed September's fixtures and we were doing well holding on to 2nd place, with Crotone looking to be the likely champions. I wasn't getting too excited as none of the wins looked convincing, but at least we were getting points in the bag.
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Post by coffers on Mar 16, 2010 0:15:46 GMT
Another road trip this time to Spal, I attempt a formation change, to see if I can improve our poor away form, and play one up front. It fails rather dramatically. Spal open on 25 and add a second on 67. We are poor so throwing caution to the wind we go for it big style, it works briefly as Water Sauce reduces the arrears on 78, heading in a Discerning Robber cross from the right. The reprieve didn't last long as Javi Moreno put the final nail in our coffin on 85. Verdict: we were dismal. Lost 3-1.
The next game we could do without a home tie in the Serie C Cup against Canavese a Serie C2 outfit who gave us a tough time. They opened on 2, but Water Sauce equalised on 29 after being played in by Chili Burger. A minute into first half injury time saw Calamari Cocktail hit a long ball over the top allowing Water Sauce to collect his 2nd after a little bit of work on his part. The lead didn't last that long, Canavese plundered an equaliser on 53 and even went into the lead again on 66.The defence were playing like a bunch of Muppet's. Thank God for Chili Burger, a long ball out of defence by Fire Lighter on 78 put Chili Burger in the clear from the halfway line, he just loves those situations, he raced in on goal making an angle for himself and drove low into the left corner to make it 3-3. The game went to extra time, this time we managed to finish the job without going to penalties. Chile Burger was on hand to collect a Theme ark through ball on 98 to make it 4-3 and then again for a Honda Advert pass to complete his hat-trick on 109. Won 5-3. A great game for the fans but a waste of time and energy in my opinion.
Another away trip and more foreboding, especially as our opponents raced into a 2-0 lead after only 21 minutes had passed. Calamari Cocktail led the fightback, lamping home a Theme Park Pass on 23 and then thumping in a cross-field pass from Kimono Dragon on 44 to equalise. The second half went our way and on 70, Calamari Cocktail threaded the ball through a crowded defence to pick out Water Sauce whose low drive proved to be the winner. English Mustard missed a penalty on 85 and Finca Special was carted off injured on 91. Won 3-2
Our next game was at home to lowly Bassano and they showed why they were so low. On 20 Theme Park played in Chili Burger for the opener, he repeated the trick this time with Kimono Dragon to apply the finishing touch on 47. Then on 55 Theme Park picked out Water Sauce who notched the final goal of the game. Won 3-0. The down side was an injury to AMC Lost Saint.
So a game against Cittadella in the Serie C cup was an unwanted distraction, it was dire and ended 0-0 even after extra time. We lost the shootout 4-2, English Mustard and Discerning Robber missing our first two penalties. Thank god for that the midweek cup games seem to knackered the players. Drew 0-0, lost on penalties.
The final game in October was at home to Taranto and it ended in our favour, a thunderous strike from Calamari Cocktail on 6 opened the scoring and Cast And Go completed the job on 58 stroking in a calamari Cocktail pass from close range. Won 2-0.
With October over we could look back at our results with some pride I think, we had maintained our playoff place throughout the month rattling around between 4th and 2nd without looking particularly dangerous. As the month closed I felt proud to be sitting in 2nd place.
Things started going slightly downhill after this but more of that later.
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Post by Sonic on Mar 16, 2010 12:12:17 GMT
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Post by coffers on Mar 16, 2010 13:00:48 GMT
I had teh email that one was out but was resisting installing it for the minute, for no otehr reason that I hate DB updates that have mid season changes applied atthe start of a season. I never saw the point in that. The season started with players that it started with, not player that joined a club in a January transfer window.
I'll download once I have the DB backed up. which will be after I return from Vegas.
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Post by Moo on Mar 16, 2010 13:26:24 GMT
I think you can opt out of the DB update usually.
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Post by coffers on Mar 16, 2010 13:56:39 GMT
As far as I recall Moo it's down to copying the DB somewhere safe and then copying it back after the update is applied. SOmething I failed to do when I applied the 10.2 patch.
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Post by coffers on Mar 16, 2010 21:00:11 GMT
Enter November with a mini injury problem, mid-fielders are starting to camp in the physio's room and Chili Burger joins them. Did Nurse Garraway move in without telling me?
We rolled into the November game starting with a trip to struggling Valle Del Giovenco and blow them out of the water. First Cast And Go feeds Water Sauce and the striker thumps an angled drive in from the edge of the D after 5 minutes. Twenty minutes later Calamari Cocktail plays a ball into the area, the keeper comes, hesitates and Kimono Dragon pounces to hit the ball into an effectively unguarded goal. On 41, Kimono Dragon plays a square ball to cast and Go on the edge of the D, he shimmies wrong foots a defender and hits the third from 18 yards. As is often the case in games like this the second half is a non-entity. Won 3-0 This keeps us in 2nd place.
A home game against Rimini comes next ad we are still without Chili Burger. Rimini are pretty much all over us and open with a header on 17. It's a lead they hold right up to the break. I change attitudes at the break and on 47 Kimono Dragon feeds a ball inside for Cast And Go, he measures up his chances and smacks a rising ball between two defenders and it beat the keeper at the near post for the equaliser. Ten minutes later and Rimini break down the left, cross and Docente heads in at the near post. the defending is awful. On 68 there's a chink of light as Rimini go down to ten men. On 72 Kimono Dragon latches onto a poor back pass and slots the equaliser. We push for a winner and fail miserably. Drew 2-2 Not a great result but it maintains our 2nd place.
An away trip to Potenza sees us put in a dreadful performance, 3 shots at goal and only one on target tells the story. Potenza score on 32 with one of their 2 on target shots. Dire I tell you, absolutely dire. Lost 1-0. we drop down to 4th place.
For the final game in November we entertain Champions Elect; Crotone and they show their class from kick off. On 23 they take the lead when a break down the left ends in a cross and an unopposed header. On 29 they are 2-0 up, we fail to deal with a route one ball that is helped on it's way by Marco Moro. It's looking bad at this point. Crotone close shop and maybe that's where they went wrong. On 40 Theme Park starts and finishes a passing move involving Calamari Cocktail and Chili Burger to give us hope for the 2nd half. On 66 Chili Burger is put through by Calamari Cocktail and keeps his head to finish from 18 yards. Two minutes later we are down to 10 men as Shaken Not Stirred pulls down a Crotone striker on his way to goal and sees red. This is one occasion that I don't reprimand my own player, his action basically saved us a point as there is no further scoring. Drew 2-2.
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Post by coffers on Mar 16, 2010 21:30:48 GMT
December arrives and we are going into the next game without a win in 3 games and the defence is starting to look frail again especially with Shaken Not Stirred missing due to suspension, so I start hunting for more defensive cover. However a trip to Ternana come first: Ternana get off to a flyer scoring virtually straight from kick-off, route one stuff and the defence are caught cold. Thankfully we don't let that set-back affect us too much and on 29, Lost Saint splits the defence with a lovely pass and Chili Burger runs on to lob the advancing keeper with a cool finish. The game is pretty even from that point onwards apart from a neat pass by Finca Special into the area which Chili Burger picked up and surrounded by 4 players neatly passed the ball into the net beyond a bemused keeper. Won 2-1 We were back up to 2nd place and sitting pretty. It was at this point we unveiled 3 new players: Machete Movie a 24yo DLC who bay all accounts excited the fans, rated 3 stars both in ability and potential. Gorgon Penna a 20yo DC pretty much matching Machete Movie in current ability and potential, though mentally not as strong. Stolen Book a 19yo English DC who is currently rated at 3*'s but has an extra half of potential. he also has some pace which is one area that is lacking in the defence. His big weakness might be an inability to adapt to a new country. I'll have to take that as it comes. All the new players are free, Stolen Book and Gorgon Penna are both valued at over £100,000 which could point towards them being good investments for the future. We travel to struggling Foligno next and put in an insipid performance, thankfully so did they, the game ended goalless. Drew 0-0 and we drop down to 3rd place. In the final league game before the winter break we travel to Virtus Lanciano who who are also challenging for a play-off spot and you can see why as they dominate the game. They open on 10 and add two more on 50 and 59. So 3-0 down and heading nowhere caution is once again thrown to the wind and we show a mini revival, on 71 Theme park nudges a ball forward and Calamari Cocktail hits one back from 18 yards. On 82, Discerning Robber hits a hopeful cross in and Finca Special heads in at the far post, we are in with an undeserved shout. Well we were until the 85th minute when Lanciano hit home an 18 yard free kick to open a 2 goal gap. Game Over? No, on 88 Calamari Cocktail hits a ball over the top, Water Sauce chases it down and drives low under the keeper to make for a tempestuous finish. Unfortunately it wasn't tempestuous enough. Lost 4-3. We drop from 3rd place down to 8th and are out of the play-off places for the first time since the 3rd game of the season. There is time for one more game in December, a friendly at home to Novara. Disney World opened on 21, Novara replied with goals on 46 and 78 and we were staring at a shock defeat, well a shock for us but not the commentators it seems. Thankfully Honda Advert on 85 and Water Sauce on 88 delivered us a morale boosting win. Won 3-2The League Table:During December we have been busily lining up players and looking to offload players we don't want on our books any longer and there will be some changes in January.
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