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Post by coffers on Oct 1, 2006 19:22:34 GMT
Barrow 1 vs 0 Gravesend, ENC LeagueThis was one god awful game, we only had 2 on target shots plus 1 off target attempt all game, Graves end were worse, they had 3 off target attempts. Still we got the all important win with a 33rd minute Moller penalty after Hedlunds upended in the area. The fans are ecstatic as are the board who describe our promotion as unbelieveable, ex players can't believe the achievement and Hedlund and Sergio are praising me to the high heavons. The press are told that the re-building for next season starts now. The comments meet with a mixed reception. The Up to Date League Table 7th April:
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Post by Sonic on Oct 2, 2006 1:30:20 GMT
I meant to comment on that Baz thing too Have you thought about going 3 at the back with a DMC?
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Post by Sonic on Oct 2, 2006 1:38:02 GMT
Oh, and I'd congratulate you on promotion, but then, it was a given so I'll congratulate you instead on kicking out the DL, he who shall not be named ever again at Barrow.
:thumb:
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Post by Sonic on Oct 2, 2006 1:40:52 GMT
I'd watch out for Burton if I was you, they're on one hell of a streak right now by the looks of things. Just check out the last couple of tables.
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Post by coffers on Oct 2, 2006 7:46:02 GMT
Burton? Lost 1 game between the last two tables and are already relegated, They lost all their games in the previous month too. I'm missing something here.
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Post by Moo on Oct 2, 2006 8:42:10 GMT
:cab:
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Post by coffers on Oct 2, 2006 22:32:13 GMT
Halifax 2 vs 0 Barrow, ENC LeagueTwo days after winning the title we produce what is probably our worst display of the season so far. Halifax go two up early in the game with goals on 3 and 12 minutes. We need a big display to come back but we don't produce one. Where have I seen this before, following a title win. A few cages are rattled in the post match conference. Barrow 1 vs 1 Forest Green, ENC LeagueWe dominate the game against our FA Trophy Final opponents, but despite that our attacking play is woeful. Forest take the lead on 17 with a goal that was so blatantly offside it was unbelievable. We'd already had the ball in the net that the linesman ruled against, entirely wrongly in my opinion and the replays prove me right. To make matters worse one of our starting Centre backs, Brush fractures his ribs on 52 and will be out for the rest of the season. The gods are against us. With time running out, Guerin thumps a deep cross to the far post and Harwood stabs it in from 5 yards, it's the equaliser on 82, and it's enough to give us 100 points for the season. We should have won easily and morale is ebbing. It's like the team don't care any more. Stevenage 6 vs 4 Barrow, ENC LeagueStevenage secure their playoff place in this utterly ridiculous game. Talbot heads Stevenage into the lead on 5, Hedlund equalises on 8 hitting a curler from 18 yards. Dennis heads into his own net on 21 to give Stevenage the advantage after Baxter let the ball run out of play, but it didn't. Harwood equalised on 24 prodding in a Guerin cross from 7 yards. Hedlund put us in front on 29 after Harwood broke and set him up with a sitter. Knight equalised fro Stevenage on 34 after the midfield and defence were bypassed with a long ball through the middle. On the stroke of halftime Cooper hit an 18 yard shot into our net to give the home team the lead, Knight was 3 yards offside and stood in front of the keeper. On 47 Matthews tackled Knight in the area, a penalty was awarded and Stevenage went 5-3 up, the pundits reckoned it was a terrible decision. On 62 Knight twisted the knife and we were 6-3 down. From the kickoff Booth collected the ball and ran half the length of the field, beating two Stevenage players in the process and lamped a glorious goal from 16 yards. It turned out to be good enough to take 2nd place in the Goal of the Month and 3rd place in the Goal of The Season Awards. That was it. Baxter had a nightmare of a game as did Rose and most of the rest of the defence. The goals we did get ensured that we had scored more than 100 league goals in the season, but that was scant consolation after that abysmal defensive display. Barrow 0 vs 0 Crawley, ENC LeagueThe only memorable thing about this game was that it was instantly forgettable. Morale is totally shot. What a way to end a successful league campaign. We have two weeks to prepare for the FA Trophy final and we need a morale booster, so a home friendly is arranged against Baku of Azerbaijan. Barrow 5 vs 0 Baku, FriendlyJust what the doctor ordered a cake walk. Goals from Hedlund (11 & 15), Dennis (20), th (33) and an own goal on 57 eased us to a comfortable victory and more importantly lifted morale. Barrow 4 vs 0 Forest Green, FA Trophy FinalAfter an early battle we eased our selves into control and from the moment Booth struck a 30 yard opener on 2o minutes we never looked back. On 30 a superbly worked passing movement ended when Hedlund crossed and Harwood headed in from 8 yards. On 56 Sergio sent a ball across the 6 yard box and Ward half volleyed home at the far post. Two minutes into injury time Hedlund completed the rout with a drive from 10 yards. Fans and directors alike were ecstatic, it was the first time since 1990 that Barrow had won the FA Trophy, I hoped it would be the last time as I intended that the club would climb up the league and would never have to enter the competition again. Eight Players made it into the Team of The Season: GK: Rose, DEF: Sergio, Brush, Moller, MID: Booth, Guerin, ATT: Hedlu & SUB: Harwood. I was made manager of The Season, Hedlund was the league's top goalscorer. Sundstrom's free kick against cambride City in August was 2nd in the Goal of the Season, and Booth's solo effort in teh 6-4 defeat against Stevenage was 3rd. Goalkeeping coach Liguori announces his retirement date so we sign a replacement in the shape of Ukranian Portable Nintendo. The Final League Table:I now need to sort out some new defenders, I'm concerned that we just don't have enough ability in that department following our dreadful end of season run-in. We also need to improve the strike force which just isn't deep enough when one of our attackers is injured.
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Post by coffers on Oct 2, 2006 22:43:04 GMT
Some Player Stats for the seasonPlayer Contract Stuff: Gadgie Stats:Peter Hedlund is voted Player of the year by the fans. One player is promoted from the academy, nothing great but not awful, so he'll get a chance. We receive £230k in TV revenue. The board give me a transfer budget of £55k and a wage budget of £46.5k per month. They expect a brave fight against relegation and we have turned Professional. Sundstrom is the only player to return to training injured.
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Post by Sonic on Oct 3, 2006 2:09:13 GMT
Yes that's what I was pointing out. They'd stayed on 19 points for a while :cab:
A good season there Coffers, and I agree, Defenders and a GK and a Midfield and a striker or two and a couple of wingers, fullbacks should sort you out.
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Post by coffers on Oct 3, 2006 7:21:09 GMT
Ah.... irony.
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Post by coffers on Oct 3, 2006 12:42:23 GMT
June passed by without too many hitches, the following players joined the club: 17yo MC John Wright, signed whilst on trial. 18yo French ST, Romain Joly, joined on a Bosman from Dreux, and is possibly a mistake. 23yo Belgian DC Bram Michiels, joined on a Bosman from Chatelet, probably another mistake. 21yo Belgian DC/DM Frederick Wouters, another Bosman to add depth, from Wintam 19yo ST Tony Hill, bought fom Sheff Wed for £7k plus 25%. 23yo Spaniard DR/WB/M/R: Gonzalo Ortega, a Bosman from real madrid and pretty useful looking. 28yo Spaniard DM: Miguel Valdes a Bosman from Terrassa, Will challenge Moller for the DM spot, but Moller could drop into defence. 19yo DC Simon Peters joins from reading for £1k plus extras. 17yo Finnish ST Jukka Nieminen joins from MaPa for £10k plus extras. Players on the way out:Gary Wright and John Smith went to Lancaster on frees and David may went to Barnet for £14k plus extras, the Barnet fans are not happy about the addition of May fearing that he could unsettle the squad. Star MC Stephen Booth is currently locked in talks with Bolton after I accepted a bid of £1M plus 25%. He'll be a loss but we have a fair few midfielders who could fill in and the £1M will be a handy lump sum to play with. The first friendly in a tour of Wales ended with us beating Afan Lido 3-1, goals from Guerin, Dawe and Nieminen on 7, 47 and 59 eased us to the win in front of 45 Welshmen and assorted sheep. Afan's goal came on 36. We've got bids in for freebies all over the show, but most of them are over ambitious. Booth leaves for Bolton and we have £1M in our pocket, As he leaves Booth informs the waiting journalists that he is sad to leave my stewardship, claiming that I had offered him invaluable guidence and support in his time at Barrow and it was a wrench to leave. How nice. A number of contracts are renegotiated to full time.
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Post by Moo on Oct 3, 2006 13:45:11 GMT
Nice update, Coffer. :thumb: Also nice to see others making very silly mistakes in the transfer market.
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Post by coffers on Oct 3, 2006 16:19:33 GMT
I've just checked on the finance situation and I've been given £745k of the £1M from the Booth transfer to buy new players. The salary budget is £53.5k per months and we are currently spending £46.5k per month. The bids for freebies all come to nothing. The next tour game was away to Haverfordwest and they were disposed of with ease, 2 goals from Hedlund and one one form Harwood saw us take a 3-0 lead into the break, new striker Tony Hill added the fourth in the second period. A number of our players are interesting bigger clubs, namely Baxter who I'm trying to find back up for, Moller, Anderson, Ward and Guerin. I'm putting off bids by asking for daft sums of money, but if anyone bites then their hands might be bitten off damned fast. In the meantime 20yo DLC/ML Scott Ferguson joins us from Crystal Palace for £35k plus extras, after nearly 6 months of attempting to sign him and him saying no, he has finally decided that we are now in a high enough division to join us. That's Baxter's back up sorted out, having said that Ferguson could well take Baxter's place. The final tour game saw us dominate Mold Alexandra but we only came away with a 1-1 draw. I think some of the defenders I thought might be mistakes proved that they were. We opened on 75 when Nieminen latched onto a poor pass out by their keeper and drove the ball into the net from 16 yards. They equalised 4 minutes later on a long ball counter attack, the errant defenders had all wandered up the pitch to see what they could do to help the attack, every single one of them. Nieminen nearly repeated his first goal on 86 but this time he was 30 yards out and his strike missed by about a yard. I now have to find a goalkeeper better than what we have already got, but that is proving difficult.
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Post by coffers on Oct 3, 2006 21:18:20 GMT
The first in a series of home friendles is next up, a home game against fellow League two side, Walsall. Alan Fisher opens on 17 with a deep cross that goes in off the underside of the bar. Walsall are level two minutes later, our defence backs off and the ball is fed to Rhodes to slot in at the near post. On 31 were back in the lead a clever free-kick from Fisher is smashed in from 15 yards by Hedlund. The lead is increased on 40, Tony Hill heads in a deep cross from Moller at the near post. Walsall pulled a goal back two minutes into injury time when Rhodes tapped in a parried shot from Smith. Harwood completed the scoring on 63 driving in a 16 yard shot after being put in by Nieminen. 116 fans turn out.
I'm getting a feeling that some of my recruits could be better than I first thought. Tony Hill is looking a clever player as is Nieminen who is also fast. Valdez, Ferguson and Ortega are looking pretty solid players too. They all need to boost their fitness levels though. We have lucrative home game against Tottenham next, hopefully a decent crowd will turn out.
Any hopes we had of causing an upset against Spurs quickly disappeared in the 23rd and 24th minutes as Spurs raced into deserved a 2 goal lead. They made it 3 and 4 on 49 and 51 as we just weren't at the races. Some respectability came to town in the shape of Licka on 87 and Harwood on 89 pulling a couple of goals back. So we lost 4-2 in the end but it could have been worse. We were out of our depth and I aught to shoot the idiot who set this game up, but it did attract a crowd of 4420 paying fans.
The next home game was against League One Hartlepool and we made a better game of it. Hedland opened on 21 from 12 yards after Rose had hoofed a long kick down field, the defender made a hash of his back header to the keeper leaving Hedlund in the clear. Guerin missed a penalty on 28 and sliced the rebound wide. we were made to pay for that when Hartlepool carved us apart on 36 with a back post headed goal following a deep cross. The 1-1 draw was probably a fair result in what was essentially an even game.
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Post by coffers on Oct 3, 2006 22:03:12 GMT
The final friendly, a home game against Newcastle Reserves, started badly as they cantered to a 3-0 lead by the 22nd minute. The fight back started on 31 when Guerin got on the end of a deep ball by Sergio and headed in from 8 yards. Valdes headed in a second from a Murray corner, 15 seconds into injury time. We thought the comeback was complete on 82 when Fisher took down a long ball from Rose, turned and struck a low drive, inside the left post, from 18 yards to equalise. We were wrong a stupid ex Newcastle winger called Anderson decided that 2 minutes from time was a good time to foul someone inside our area as he went for a corner. There was absolutely no danger, but Newcastle won and converted the penalty, to send us to an undeserved 4-3 defeat.
Bostord I was pissed off big time, I wanted a win to lift spirits before our first game in the new campaign, I now have some rather demoralised players on my hands, who need to be lifted in time for the big kick-off away to Southend in a weeks time. I have one contract rebel on my hands Jonathan Dawe won't sign a new contract and is whinging that he expects first team football, he's put on the transfer list, offered out and relegated to the reserves. No one is interested. The search for a new goalkeeper goes on. Sundstrom returns to full time training and boosts the attack, but it will be a few games before he is back in contention for a starting spot.
The draw for the first round of the League Cup sees us drawn at home to Leeds. So that's a money-spinning run off the menu then.
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Post by Sonic on Oct 4, 2006 0:46:56 GMT
Isn't squad depth at this level the same as a possible mistake in signing the player too?
Nice work on the Bolton front, and the statement from the player.
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Post by coffers on Oct 5, 2006 10:45:04 GMT
Southend 1 vs 0 Barrow, English League 2 Southend were favourites and expected to win easily, but in what was essentially a poor game we made them work hard for their single goal win. The winner came on 79 minutes, a corner to Michael Brown on the edge of our area, he lobbed the ball into the area and somehow it drifted in, a fluke and it summed up the game. It could have gone either way and we certainly had more shots than them. I felt we were unlucky this time out, but am worrying a bit about how it will affect morale already damaged from the pre season friendly losses. Valdes and Guerin had storming games the rest of the team was pretty average.
Barrow 3 vs 1 Chester, English League 2 A disappointing 1081 fans turned up to witness our return to League football. A return that resulted in a good win it has to be said. The game was fairly even overall and all the action took place in a six minute period around the break. The first goal came on the stroke of half time, Rose hoofed a long ball upfield, Harwood headed on and Hill pounced to drive low from 18 yards to give us the lead. Hill was subbed at the break for Nieminen as he had been carrying an injury for most of the first half. 20 seconds into the second half a neat passing movement straight from kick-off ended with Guerin feeding the ball into the area for Nieminen to slot in from 8 yards. Two minutes later Ortega caught a Chester forward in the area with a high challenge and Chester pulled a goal back from the spot. On 50 Moller hoofed a ball clear, Nieminen latched on and got clean through on goal, his low hard drive from 12 yards nearly burst the net. That was it, game over.
It was around this time that Hedlund who hadn't had the best of starts came in and asked for a better contract and was told to whistle for it, he asked for a transfer and was told to ferk off, though I knew then he was on his way out. He went into a sulk and it wasn't long before I was offering him around for £2M plus.
Leyton Orient 0 vs 1 Barrow, English League 2. An interesting game in which we allowed Orient a lot of possession but they didn't get much of a sniff at our goal. The game was settled after only 9 minutes when Valdes chipped the ball over the defence from just outside the area, Nieminen got behind everyone to head in from the edge of the box. Valdes and Sergio had outstanding games and Valdes easily took the man of the match award for his unstinting display in the holding role.
OB and Aigaleo make bids for Hedlund I ask for more in each case, OB continue and Aigaleo drop out. OB are in talks with Hedlund now. The deal is £300k up front plus £2.1M over 6 months plus 25% of any future sale.
Barrow 4 vs 3 Wycombe W, English League 2 Hedlund was dropped for this game. Wycombe were expected to hammer us and it looked as if they would when they started the game. They were all over us and they opened on 7 with a flowing passing movement that ended with a far post header from 6 yards, by Whitehead. Not to be outdone, Ferguson sent a cross over to the edge of the area on 11, it didn't look dangerous, but Moller rose above his marker and headed in the equaliser from 18 yards. Three minutes later Moller tackled Mills in the area, the ref controversially pointed to the spot and Wycombe were back in the lead. We then struggled for a while before we found our feet again. On 37 Ferguson played a ball to Hill down the left, the young striker crossed to the far post and Harwood was on hand to prod in the equaliser from 6 yards. The rest of the half was end to end stuff with both sides giving it their all. The second half was much the same but neither side could find an opening until 79 when Sundstrom nipped in to nab a mis-controlled ball off the keeper and slot in from 16 yards. On 83 Harwood played a square ball to Valdes outside the area and the DMC blasted a 25 yard curler into the corner of the net. Two minutes later Ortega played a ball across the middle of the park but it missed it's intended target and Rutherford raced away down the right and crossed to the unmarked Whitehead who pulled a goal back from 15 yards out. Wycombe mounted a final assault but we held on valiantly to claim another 3 points.
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Post by Boony on Oct 5, 2006 11:08:28 GMT
That's a nice start in the new league, coffers. You are a genius at this game. Can you write a tactics and training guide or something for us duffers?
Have you looked at the FM07 demo yet?
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Post by coffers on Oct 5, 2006 11:53:47 GMT
I can forward my training schedules to anyone that wants them with a few instructions. I basically use one base tactic which gets changed at the start of each game depending on opponents, the team I send out and gut feelings. I genarally change the team level settings and rarely change the individual settings unless I feel I need my defence to be more defensive than normal. Chnages are constantly made in game if the other team look like they are getting the upper hand, again that is mainly at a team level rather than individually.
I can forward my tactics file again to anyone who wants it. Just PM me your email addresses.
I've not downloaded the Demo of FM07 yet, I'm too engrossed in this game. Plus until I get my own PC I'm short on space on the works laptop.
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Post by Moo on Oct 5, 2006 11:56:35 GMT
Good start to the season, Coffers. :thumb:
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Post by coffers on Oct 5, 2006 12:49:45 GMT
Barrow 0 vs 2 Leeds United, League Cup 1st round This was the game where we found that our current players are not good enough to take on a Championship side, but that wasn't too much of a surprise. Leeds set about us as if they wanted to teach us a real lesson that we'd never forget and to be honest I won't forget the first 30 minutes as they completely demolished any hopes I might have had of a giant killing act. It took Leeds 16 minutes to open the scoring but they were passing the ball at will before that, Martin Simpson was given a run on goal and curled the ball around our keeper from just inside the area. We then managed to nobble a couple of their players which upset their rhythm a bit, but they went 2-0 up on the half hour, Sparrow crossed from their left and Nam Joon-Young smashed in from 12 yards. I changed tactics a bit which managed to contain Leeds but we were never really in with a shout. The 3492 fans that turned up to watch were all part of a Barrow attendance record.
OB were allowed to talk terms with Hedlund, but the deal collapsed when it was found that OB couldn't afford the agreed transfer fee, he was offered around again and is now in talks with Aigaleo. The fee being £220k plus £1.8M over 6 months and £6k after 30 goals plus 40% of any sell-on fee.
Macclesfield 0 vs 2 Barrow, English League 2 I thought this might have been tougher than it was as Macclesfield are sitting on the bottom of the division, I was wrong we played it steady and eased to a nice win. The first goal came 3 minutes before the break, hill played a ball into the area, Anderson tried to cut it back from the bye-line, but the keeper palmed it out, Hill was following up and lamped the ball into the gaping net from 8 yards. The final goal came with seconds of normal time remaining, Moller played a diagonal ball to the left over the defence, Ferguson collected and charged down the left wing, he crossed and Hill headed goal-wards, the keeper parried and Hedlund mopped up from just inside the box. That sends us into 3rd place in the table, Bristol Rovers and Hereford are above us on goal difference.
One game to go before August is done with and then I'll post a League table.
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Post by Moo on Oct 5, 2006 14:13:57 GMT
To keep the score down to two was a decent enough result against leeds, IMO. They are two divs above you, so a defeat was probably expected. Ah well...
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Post by coffers on Oct 5, 2006 15:54:25 GMT
Hedlund agrees a contract with Aigaleo and joins immediately after the Macclesfield game, Jonathan Smith joins Scarborough on a free, but we will get 10% of any sell on fees. Bugger I forgot about the 50% sell on clause in Hedlund's contract so we will only get half of the fees that Aigaleo send our way. Still I suppose that £1M+ shouldn't be sniffed at, especially as we only paid £18k for him. Barrow 3 vs 2 Bristol Rovers, English League 23rd place vs 1st place and we get off to a start that suggests we should be somewhere around bottom place. Bristol tear into us and blast themselves into a two goal lead with goals by John O'Conner in the 9th and 18th minute. They are ripping us a new pantfish. It's obvious that my direct approach is losing us vital possession so I move to short quick passing and close down the Bristol lads faster, moving the defence deeper also helps. So we start to stem the flow of the Bristol attacks and slowly make inroads into their territory, but we need to pull two goals back, can we do that? On 28 minutes, Sergio's cross-field ball is picked up by Ferguson who crosses to the edge of the 6 yard box, Sundstrom rises and heads in our first. On the stroke of half time Sergio sends a deep ball into the Bristol area, Harwood is the first to it and heads across the keeper for the equaliser. Game-On. Bristol are still reeling as we start the first half and attack from the off, on 47 the ball is worked through to Ward who splits the Bristol defence with a great pass to Harwood, he looks up and with time on his hand passes the ball into the net from 8 yards. From that point the game is killed, Bristol fail to mount one meaningful attack during the rest of the game, the only mystery is how we didn't score a couple more. The crowd of 4478 is a new attendance record for Barrow. The League Table At the End of August 2007We fail to get in a quality striker to replace Hedlund, nobody wants to come to Barrow even for 6 times what they are already being paid. Muppets. The transfer deadline passes, so we are stuck with the squad we have until January. Nicolas Guerin comes second in the Young Player of the Month Awards and I win the Manager of The Month Award for August.
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Post by coffers on Oct 5, 2006 16:17:01 GMT
Oh, and the Board are delighted and £142k profit was made in the last month.
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Post by Sonic on Oct 6, 2006 4:55:39 GMT
A good start to the season there Coffers, and what Moo said about Leeds.
KUTGW :thumb:
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