23.11.01Someone bids for Hand of God who since his arrival has made 12 appearances with 3 goals and 8 assists and a 7.67 rating in the hole behind the solo striker. Not that we'll see any of the money, because he's another loanee.
24.11.01We're up against Estudiantes (9th). We're now in 1st with only Los Andes in close quarters (1pt behind).
I realise we're on Defensive mentality (duh) explaining the previous games girly tendencies, so we go attacking once more and we're 2 up through Arriba within 12 minutes. They peg us back to 2-2 by halftime (poofs) but a couple of late subs seal the game with Missing You More smashing home a rebound, and Wrong Number putting in shot number 90,000,000.
Us: 11 shots 4 goals.
Them: 3 shots 2 goals.
Infuriating.
24.11.01Hand of God will be joining Banfield next season. Booo!
December 2001
02.12.01Up against Espanol we concede an early effort, but Wrong Number pegs them back. The game swings back and forth until the 32nd minute when they're given a dodgy penalty and slot it home. We have a couple of efforts well saved, but the lack of clinical finishing is killing our philosophy (especially with no support from LW) and we're unable to do anything before they stick in a 3rd. We lose 3-1, our second away loss of the campaign. We're secure in 2nd by 2pts from Platense, with a further 3pts back to Espanol.
Metropolitan Zone
Pos Team Pld Won Drn Lst For Ag Won Drn Lst For Ag Pts
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1st Los Andes 15 6 2 0 22 9 4 1 2 17 10 33
2nd San Miguel 14 3 4 0 16 10 6 0 1 16 9 31
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3rd Platense 15 5 2 0 16 4 3 3 2 17 14 29
4th Def. y Justicia 15 7 0 1 13 4 1 1 5 5 19 25
5th Nueva Chicago 15 7 1 0 22 6 0 2 5 2 10 24
6th Español 14 4 1 2 8 8 3 1 3 10 8 23
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7th Almagro 14 6 0 1 18 6 1 1 5 9 12 22
8th Ferro 14 5 0 2 11 5 2 1 4 7 10 22
9th Arsenal de Sarandí 15 3 1 3 10 12 4 0 4 8 9 22
10th Estudiantes (BA) 15 3 1 3 13 11 2 1 5 6 12 17
11th All Boys 15 3 1 3 11 7 1 0 7 8 26 13
12th Italiano 15 1 1 6 2 12 0 1 6 4 15 5
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13th Alte. Brown 14 0 1 6 5 19 0 3 4 4 13 4
08.12.01==
IN==
Dices The Fence - 20 Argentinian, FRL - Hopefully he can play LW better than the current bunch of misfits. He has good attributes including technique and heading.
08.12.01Dices goes straight into the line-up for the game vs Def. y Justicia. We start off brightly, Auld Man Ribbon forcing two saves before he finally gets lucky with a free kick. Zantac relief 2 minutes later doubles the lead with 32 minutes gone, and Dices The Fence pops up on the stroke of halftime to score. Oh yesh.
Unfortunately we lose At Long Last from RB immediately after the restart, so Alesha has to fill in the role. The rest of the game dribbles to a close.
After momentarily dropping down the table, we pop back up the 1st overall as Los Andes lose to Platense meaning we now have a 1 and 2pt lead respectively.
At Long Last is down for 10 days, but might not miss any game time.
14.12.01Auld Man Ribbon announces his retirement for the end of the season. Since arriving he has scored 3 times and created 3 goals, with a 7.5 average rating from the midfield in 12 games.
15.12.01We're away against Nuevo Chicago. At Long Last misses the game as he's still at 73%. In 6 games since arriving he has assisted on 3 goals and provided essential leadership at the back.
Ultimate Ribena makes a return to the starting line-up at CB with Lesbian Lover moving to RB.
Wrong Number keeps up his strike rate with a 28th minute effort, but Chicago equalise immediately. We have 3 solid efforts and a penalty shout turned down before Zantac Relief scores again to put us 2-1 at halftime. Zantac in the 76th minute sets up The Fence for his 2nd goal in consecutive games. We play hard to the 90th minute when Lesbian Lover goes down injured (and out for 3 weeks), and they pull back a late consolation effort. 3-2 win.
31.12.01With the transfer window open we make our first genuine signing of the season by bringing in a 17 year old Brazilian centrehalf who'll also give us LB cover. I also cut 4 tossers to give us squad space for free agents.
===
IN===
Could Be a Regen - 17 Brazilian, DLC - jumps, heads, positioning, teamwork, workrate, determination, marking and decent pace. Instant starter!
===
OUT===
Pink On Five
Hospital Smell
Unnamed Pleb
Cult of Pasta
January 2002
02.01.02Board is pleased to see I have developed a rapport with the fans.
03.01.02Other loans.
===
IN===
Swwwwweeet - 24 Argentinian, FR - provides us with more options up front.
Tall Fook - 29 Argentinian, SW/DC - experienced blocker.
Mighty Fine - 23 Argentinian, DMC - solid midfield fodder.
Yellow Streak - 21 Argentinian, AMFRL - exciting wing prospect.
February 2002
02.02.02In our first game for over a month we're up against Los Andes. 7 games remaining in the regular season, I don't look forward to our final game of the year vs All Boys who have been extremely active in the loan market and brought in gazillions of top division players. Copycats. Hand of God is injured for a month which stumps our offence a bit.
GK - Magic Hat
LB - Token
RB - At Long Last
CB - Could Be a Regen
CB - Tall Fook
MC - Zantac Relief
MC - Auld Man Ribbon
AMC - Hanging Monkey
AMFLC - Dices The Fence
AMFRC - Vamos Pendecho
SC - Wrong Number
Bench: Missing You More, Mighty Fine, Yellow Streak, Swwwwweeet, Arriba, Ondelay!
4-0 at halftime. Emphatic.
4-1 at fulltime. Miserable.
Auld Man Ribbon injured. Hanging Monkey scores on his return to the team, Wrong Number bags a brace and Zantac Relief (a month apart) scores his 3rd in 3 games.
Metropolitan Zone
Pos Team Pld Won Drn Lst For Ag Won Drn Lst For Ag Pts
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1st San Miguel 18 5 4 0 23 11 7 0 2 20 14 40
2nd Los Andes 18 7 2 0 23 9 4 1 4 21 18 36
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
3rd Platense 17 6 2 0 20 7 3 4 2 18 15 33
4th Almagro 17 8 0 1 22 8 1 1 6 9 14 28
5th Ferro 17 6 0 2 12 5 3 1 5 9 12 28
6th Español 18 5 2 2 12 10 3 2 4 13 12 28
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7th Arsenal de Sarandí 18 4 1 4 11 14 4 0 5 8 10 25
8th Def. y Justicia 18 7 0 2 13 5 1 1 7 7 26 25
9th Nueva Chicago 17 7 1 1 24 9 0 2 6 3 12 24
10th Estudiantes (BA) 17 5 1 3 19 13 2 1 5 6 12 23
11th All Boys 18 4 2 3 15 9 2 0 7 9 26 20
12th Italiano 16 1 1 6 2 12 0 2 6 4 15 6
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
13th Alte. Brown 17 0 2 6 5 19 0 3 6 4 15 5
09.02.02Our next game is up against 5-3-2, Ferro.
And we draw 0-0. We dominate, but can't find a way past their keeper once again this year as we lack our starting creative players.
16.02.02Arsenal de Sarandi feel the power of an almost full strength team as the 90% Hand of God returns and we're 3-0 at halftime through Swwwwweeet bags a brace by halftime on his debut, and Austin Maestro scores his second of the season.
We concede a 90th minute consolation goal, but our defence has been rock solid otherwise. 3-1 win.
We qualify for the "Second Promotion" stage of the second division.
19.02.02Fantango - 25 Argentinian, DL - a high quality defender left.
23.02.02Alte. Brown 4-0. Yellow Streak bags a penalty, Wrong Number scores a brace. Auld Man subs on late to score a header as we absolutely smash them.
March 2002
02.03.02Wrong Number gives us a win against Italiano, which should have been 8-0 but only ends up 1-0.
Metropolitan Zone
Pos Team Pld Won Drn Lst For Ag Won Drn Lst For Ag Pts
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1st Pl San Miguel 22 7 4 0 27 12 8 1 2 24 14 50
2nd Pl Los Andes 22 9 2 0 27 11 5 1 5 23 19 45
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3rd Pl Platense 21 8 2 0 24 8 4 5 2 22 16 43
4th Ferro 21 7 1 2 13 5 5 1 5 14 14 38
5th Español 21 7 2 2 17 10 3 3 4 14 13 35
6th Almagro 21 9 0 2 25 12 1 2 7 13 19 32
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7th Estudiantes (BA) 21 7 1 3 24 13 2 1 7 6 16 29
8th Nueva Chicago 21 7 2 2 26 12 1 2 7 5 14 28
9th All Boys 21 4 3 3 16 10 3 1 7 12 27 25
10th Arsenal de Sarandí 21 4 1 5 11 16 4 0 7 9 14 25
11th Def. y Justicia 21 7 0 4 13 8 1 1 8 7 28 25
12th Italiano 21 1 3 6 6 16 0 2 9 5 23 8
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
13th Alte. Brown 20 0 2 8 5 26 0 3 7 5 17 5
05.03.02===
IN===
Al Fingers Brother - 25 Norwegian, DC - the future is now.
Scouting Scandinavia pays off with a bigtime freebie signing.
09.03.02Platense equalise in the 90th minute after Yellow Streak look set to give us the away win with a 63rd minute free kick after we absolutely dominate. 1-1.
We qualify for the "First Promotion Semi Finals"
09.03.02Our International career lifts off with the announcement of our Euro Championships group. Azerbaijan, Finland, Malta, N.Ireland and Spain gives us a bloody good chance of going through as we should bag 2nd. No pressure like Moo.
I have to announce our first squad for a friendly against Poland.