EPL Challenge (The Ultimate Premiership Experience) FM08

We're back! And this time we're going to try and get our lazy arses into gear and post a few updates.

Yes, EPL Challenge is reforming with the old regulars back for another campaign in the Premiership. Who will succeed this time in being the first manager to lift that gleaming Premiership trophy and forever write themselves into EPL history? And who will conquer Europe in the Champions League to become the new special one? Will some of the young "whippersnappers" of the group be able to out perform the old fogies (that's me & you Mo ) on the virtual pitch that is FM08? These questions and many more to be decided on Tuesday, Thursday and Sunday nights over the coming year.

In no particular order here are The Managers.

Arthur NoSurname - Wigan

Arthur's got the toughest task in the Premiership with Wigan imo, but reportedly, the Irishman is well known for liking a gamble. At the moment there's pretty short odds on him surviving to Xmas but apparently Arthur is well chuffed with the £13m he says he has at his disposal!

Dave Allen - Fulham

Dave's taking on the tough task of managing west end strugglers Fulham. Can't see him having too much cash to play around with at Fulham, so consolidation in the Premiership will be his initial aim, I would guess.

Andy Nilsen - Manchester City

The Goat is back at the club where he made his name in CM03/04. Goat's basically going to do another Sven Goran and buy loads of players he's only ever seen on video. Difference probably will be that Sven's were pretty good but Goat's ....Anyway, Goat is always one of the top players in EPL and I'm sure this year will be no different for Andy.

David Pagi - Tottenham

Pagi at Tottenham, the club he supports. Can he do better than current incumbent Martin Jol? You would like to think so. With a talented but underachieving squad at his disposal, can Pagi lead the Spurs where they are destined never to travel. The top four? He'll have a damn good crack at it anyway!

Ben Jackson - Portsmouth

EPL host Ben has taken himself off to the South Coast and will hope to take Pompey into the UEFA cup at the first attempt. As always, at the first sign of a decent expectation, Ben is whinging about the quality of his squad In a very competitive league, you'd have to place Pompey in the group of clubs who could surprise.

Richard Liggins - Middlesbrough

It's the worst kept secret in football. Liggins is going to take over at the Riverside from Southgate. What we don't know is when? Ligs has done a disappearing act, probably on a few football management courses as we speak but when he takes the hotseat will again be a huge Murphy rival down at the Riverside.

Mo Ilyas - Blackburn Rovers

At 30+ Mo is entering the twilight years of what once was a great FM/CM career. He's a bit like Jimmy White. Once was great, now a bit rubbish, but without the flair and the speed associated with the Whirlwind Taking up camp at Ewood Park, Mo will determinedly built a dour defensive unit down there that will be excruciatingly hard to beat. Possible UEFA candidates for me.

Niall Murphy - Everton

Returning to the game after missing most of FM07, I wanted to go back to Goodison and finsih the job I had to abandon last year. Got a good squad at my disposal with decent cash to spend at the Toffees. With a few smart buys, hoping to gatecrash into the top 5 in the first season, but it will be tough with such a competitive league.

Sam Bouchard - Aston Villa

Sam, predictably, is back at the Villa. I think he is determined to finally win the title down there at what must be about his 4th game with the club. Looks like Sam has a better chance this time with Martin O'Neill having brought in some good players and promoted some class youngsters. And with Ellis gone, I assume Sam will be a big player in the opening transfer market. One to watch.

Steve Diprose - Newcastle United

And finally, it's Steve going "up north" to probably the biggest underachieving club in English football. Critics will claim he's got the easiest job here but Newcastle is never easy just cos it's Newcastle. Being fair though, Steve should be up there at the end of the season and I'm sure none of us will be relishing the trips to St James' Park.

Have fun lads.

We're back! And this time we're going to try and get our lazy arses into gear and post a few updates.

Yes, EPL Challenge is reforming with the old regulars back for another campaign in the Premiership. Who will succeed this time in being the first manager to lift that gleaming Premiership trophy and forever write themselves into EPL history? And who will conquer Europe in the Champions League to become the new special one? Will some of the young "whippersnappers" of the group be able to out perform the old fogies (that's me & you Mo ) on the virtual pitch that is FM08? These questions and many more to be decided on Tuesday, Thursday and Sunday nights over the coming year.

In no particular order here are The Managers.

Arthur NoSurname - Wigan

Arthur's got the toughest task in the Premiership with Wigan imo, but reportedly, the Irishman is well known for liking a gamble. At the moment there's pretty short odds on him surviving to Xmas but apparently Arthur is well chuffed with the £13m he says he has at his disposal!

Dave Allen - Fulham

Dave's taking on the tough task of managing west end strugglers Fulham. Can't see him having too much cash to play around with at Fulham, so consolidation in the Premiership will be his initial aim, I would guess.

Andy Nilsen - Manchester City

The Goat is back at the club where he made his name in CM03/04. Goat's basically going to do another Sven Goran and buy loads of players he's only ever seen on video. Difference probably will be that Sven's were pretty good but Goat's ....Anyway, Goat is always one of the top players in EPL and I'm sure this year will be no different for Andy.

David Pagi - Tottenham

Pagi at Tottenham, the club he supports. Can he do better than current incumbent Martin Jol? You would like to think so. With a talented but underachieving squad at his disposal, can Pagi lead the Spurs where they are destined never to travel. The top four? He'll have a damn good crack at it anyway!

Ben Jackson - Portsmouth

EPL host Ben has taken himself off to the South Coast and will hope to take Pompey into the UEFA cup at the first attempt. As always, at the first sign of a decent expectation, Ben is whinging about the quality of his squad In a very competitive league, you'd have to place Pompey in the group of clubs who could surprise.

Richard Liggins - Middlesbrough

It's the worst kept secret in football. Liggins is going to take over at the Riverside from Southgate. What we don't know is when? Ligs has done a disappearing act, probably on a few football management courses as we speak but when he takes the hotseat will again be a huge Murphy rival down at the Riverside.

Mo Ilyas - Blackburn Rovers

At 30+ Mo is entering the twilight years of what once was a great FM/CM career. He's a bit like Jimmy White. Once was great, now a bit rubbish, but without the flair and the speed associated with the Whirlwind Taking up camp at Ewood Park, Mo will determinedly built a dour defensive unit down there that will be excruciatingly hard to beat. Possible UEFA candidates for me.

Niall Murphy - Everton

Returning to the game after missing most of FM07, I wanted to go back to Goodison and finsih the job I had to abandon last year. Got a good squad at my disposal with decent cash to spend at the Toffees. With a few smart buys, hoping to gatecrash into the top 5 in the first season, but it will be tough with such a competitive league.

Sam Bouchard - Aston Villa

Sam, predictably, is back at the Villa. I think he is determined to finally win the title down there at what must be about his 4th game with the club. Looks like Sam has a better chance this time with Martin O'Neill having brought in some good players and promoted some class youngsters. And with Ellis gone, I assume Sam will be a big player in the opening transfer market. One to watch.

Steve Diprose - Newcastle United

And finally, it's Steve going "up north" to probably the biggest underachieving club in English football. Critics will claim he's got the easiest job here but Newcastle is never easy just cos it's Newcastle. Being fair though, Steve should be up there at the end of the season and I'm sure none of us will be relishing the trips to St James' Park.

Have fun lads.

Superb opening thread dude! I trust Steve-o will get the logo's sorted before we kick off

Here's to another successful few seasons battering the hella crap out of Mo Bring on that Cup final!

Nice one Niall, good to see you boys back in the frame. Look forward to seeing how you do Pagi seeing as I've got Spurs in our clan. Don't go showing me up now

good to have the EPL Challenge back

all the best.

Quality first post Niall but me whinging? I like to think I'm preparing the ground in case I struggle .

I'm quietly confident that Pompey will surprise a few people .

Vote of confidence there for me Niall? I'm sure I can replicate the usual Newcastle form.. you lads will look FORWARD to coming to St. James' Park rather than dread it, I'm sure.

Anyway it'll be nice to actually have some money to spend for once, after Sunderland and Watford in FM06 and FM07 respectively!

I'll get cracking with some ideas for logos soonish

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Andy Nilsen - Manchester City

The Goat is back at the club where he made his name in CM03/04. Goat's basically going to do another Sven Goran and buy loads of players he's only ever seen on video. Difference probably will be that Sven's were pretty good but Goat's Razz ....Anyway, Goat is always one of the top players in EPL and I'm sure this year will be no different for Andy. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

i was doing a 'Sven' before doing a 'Sven' was fashionable

Good to see EPL back again in the FM Online forum. Good luck lads, no doubt it will be a success as always.

Any problems with idiots posting crap in this thread then gimme a shout on msn if you need me to tidy your thread up.

Welcome back, good luck guys.

I'll suggest this newbies - Do not post your email addresses - it's basicly the easiest way to get a ban.

Secondly, were a very well established clan that takes players with experience and enthusiasm as well as knowledge of online play as well as FM play over the years.

Were full to the brim of the usual EPL talent, and wont be taking any more players on at this time. When we are open for new players we'll be in the thread saying so. Until then, keep the hell out of our report thread will ya!

Let that be that please! This thread is for EPL members only. If you wish to become one....sit and pray that Pagi has a fit earlier than usual, and then get yourself a damn good application ready.

Wooo Hoo...EPL Challenge is back

......well....whenever this bloody patch is out!

Hope you crash and burn fellas

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by EmmYouEffSee:

Let that be that please! This thread is for EPL members only.. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

Go easy Sam eh, they're just looking a game.

Unless Steve beats me to it, I'll be sorting out some nice logos for us to use once I get my pc back .

Yes, I know that it seems to be permanently broken lol .

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by STFC will rule again:

Unless Steve beats me to it, I'll be sorting out some nice logos for us to use once I get my pc back .

Yes, I know that it seems to be permanently broken lol . </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

When'd ya get it back?

This week sometime hopefully .

The first meet of the season is this Sunday (28th) and hopefully we'll decide on the leagues to include and get us all in the game.

The sooner we're all there and happy with things - we'll get going!

Lock up the GPG, throw away that shoddy list of players from last year and let's get going!

We've got our limit of 10 managers already so please don't post asking to join, there are simply no places left to take .

Thanks for clearing up the stupid posts, Rashidi .

Good to see you boys around, have always tried to keep upto date with this clan.

Good Luck all

Portsmouth have today signed the managerial greatness of Ben Jackson to take control of their club and take them to new heights with entertaining flowing football .

Goalkeepers

With the experienced veteran David James and a competent backup in Jamie Ashdown, the goalkeeping is looking reasonably good but will look to eventually replace James and bring in an experienced backup to take over from Ashdown.

Defence

The defence is probably the strongest part of the squad with Taylor, Lauren, Distin and Campbell making a very solid backline but the depth is a bit worrying if injuries start kicking in with only Johnson who'll eventually take over from Lauren being Premiership quality. I'll look to sell onTraore, Paramot, Hreidarsson and Cranie straight away then bring in some quality to give us decent options.

Midfield

The midfield has a good mixture of hard workers and flair players. The definite starters are Kranjcar, Muntari, Diop and Mendes but a right midfielder/winger is desperately needed plus some backup in case of injuries. Definitely a area to look at.

Attack

With the experienced Kanu along with Utaka, it has the making of a very decent partnership but i'm not sure Kanu can last more than a season. The attack definitely needs looking at with a strike partner for Utaka needed and I don't think Benjani is the answer so he'll be straight out the door. One plus is Nugent who'll be very decent backup and might even be the

answer to the partner for Utaka.

With a good amount to spend on transfers and wages and the board expecting mid-table at least, I can see us pushing for a top six finish .

EPL is back so sit back in your seat, strap on your seatbelt and hold on for the ride as we're back!!! .

In a shock move, Newcastle United owner Mike Ashley has today sacked Sam Allardyce as manager of the club. It is rumoured that Allardyce has been AWOL for over a week now, with speculation mounting that Fat Sam has grown to such a size that he cannot leave his own house.

Anyway, rookie manager Steve Diprose was today appointed as Allardyce’s successor. Newcastle fans are said to be angry with the appointment, confounded as to why this nobody is now in charge of their club. When asked, Diprose brushed this unease off: “I applied for the job, I had a really good interview, and I gave a good enough account of myself to convince the owner that I had something extra that the other applicants didn’t. No sexual favours or anything.â€

So here I am.

Season Expectations

The board aren’t being too demanding of me in both their and my first season at Newcastle, and have let me set my own aims for a top half finish in the league. This I feel should be very achievable, if I am able undo the damage done by my predecessor in the transfer market.

Squad

Keepers

I am pretty happy with the last line of defence here at St. James Park. We have a world class keeper in the form of Shay Given and a very capable backup in Steve Harper. However, as Given is currently injured and not due back for some time, I may look to bring in a backup keeper.

Defence

The defence here is rather a mixed bag. Jose Enrique and Steven Taylor on one hand are undoubtedly excellent, but on the other, signings such as Cacapa and Rozenahl are not. We will be in the market for at least one centre back, as well as possibly some cover.

Midfield

The midfield is quite good, but not good enough for my liking. Geremi is an experienced and dependable player, whilst Milner and N’Zogbia are young and exciting talents. There will, however, more than likely be some serious changes here.

Strikers

Owen and Martins are two outstanding strikers, and will hopefully form a lethal strikeforce up top. However, we need something different available when things need mixing up, and I don’t think that Viduka offers this. If there is enough money available, there will be another change to the squad up top.

I don’t see a place in the team for Alan Smith, Emre, Celestine Babayaro, Steven Carr, Nicky Butt or Joey Barton, and I will be looking to offload these players as quickly as I can, for as large a total as I can, so as to provide enough funds to rebuild.

My assessment of the squad is undoubtedly harsh, but I feel that is a realistic one. I hope to bring in flair and excitement, and ultimately enough quality to win us matches and to help us push for Europe.

hey i wouldn't mind joining and being reading or so on lol

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by fmfan08:

hey i wouldn't mind joining and being reading or so on lol </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

I'd quite like a gold toilet but it's just not on the cards sunshine

O'Neill Ousted As Learner Gets Randy For Bouchard

Just as Martin O'Neill thought it was safe in the hotseat at Aston Villa, he's been thrown out on his ear after an aparent pass at Chairman Randy Learner.

The story broke late last night as news filtered through the networks around Villa Park. Learner had spent last night discussing contract details with O'Neill over a glass of while - which the Irishman is partial to from time to time! After one too many, on conclusion of the meeting O'Neill told the American boss his feelings for him! After Learner tried to leave his desk, O'Neill cornered the 'chief' and tried make a move on him....it left the ever so straight and narrow Learner no choice but to dismiss his aproaching employee!

Before the American could attack, staff rushed into the office to escort Mr O'Neill off the premesis. Lead Security Guard Sam Bouchard was complimented by Chairman Learner for his swift approach on the situation. After a strange evening, and another meeting this afternoon - it turns out the HOS at Villa Park has been appointed the new gaffer!

Learner had this to say;

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">I wont tolerate what happened last night at my football club. I spoken to Mr Bouchard last night and have decided upon those talks that he's the man to lead Aston Villa forward. He's managed before, all be it in the Essex Senior Leagues, but he did lead his side to victory in the Essex Cup two years in a row!

I believe he's got what it takes and because of this i'm placing him in charge here at Villa Park. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

This somewhat perculiar appointment is not too strange in the Premiership this season however. Some 10 clubs have sacked their generals in hope of a big attack at the top 4 in the league. This gives Bouchard a chance to lock hornes once again with some of the players he played with during his time as a player. Mo Ilyas, Niall Murphy and of course Ben Jackson are all former players within the lower leagues and this season looks set to be one of the freshest we've had in years in the English Premier League.

Roll on the Charity Shield!

Lerner ffs

With the board expecting we'll be challenging the big clubs after only two seasons the pressure is on at Goodison Park as the club attempt to improve upon David Moyes' excellent work at Everton. Early days have seen some important backroom changes with new scouts added to the club to supplement the two blokes we had responsible for scouting the whole world. Think you'll agree that is quite a workload eh. Also appointed a few new coaches to help out with the old training.

On the transfer front, we made an early impression on the market, beating Arthur O'Shea's West Ham and almost every other club to the signature of 27 year old, Russian defender, Sergey Ignashevich on a free from CSKA Moscow. We then pounced on Lille to wrap up the £6.25m (possibly rising to £8m) signing of Jean II Makoun who hopefully will mean the end of the "legend" that is Lee Carsley's playing days.

With left midfield also not being a strong position at Everton we've taken a punt on Szabolcs Huszti, a 24 year old Hungarian international who was playing for Hannover in the German first division. Scout reports were positive on this player so I'm hoping he'll turn out to be a pretty good gamble.

The biggest decision taken so far on transfer outs was the decision to offload Yakubu back to Lig's Middlesbrough for £5m. This is about half of what David Moyes paid for the player so represents a huge loss for the club. Yakubu also receives the dubious honour of being a record signing that never kicked a ball for the club.

Word is also reaching the press that Scottish hero James McFadden has been offered a contract by Wigan Athletic and could be signing for the Latics in the next few days in a £5m pounds deal.

With a top half finish being our season's expectation, & a 2 year plan to break into the challenging group for the premiership title; Club Chairman Eggert Magnusson has given the club a hefty £28M transfer budget.

With the long-term expectations in mind, my first priority was to strengthen the squad in all areas so injuries could not hamper our progression towards our goals.

Miguel, a season long loan signing from Atheltico Madrid was our first capture. Being very versatile in attack he will provide excellent backup to the team.

Niklas Barkroth was our next capture, the talented 15 year old was snatched from IFK Goteborg before he could sign a professional contract and will work his way through our youth system to the full team. With only paying £350k in compensation, he will be a real bargain for us in the future.

The majority of our singings were youngsters to create a talented future at Upton Park. Such signings include German Marko Marin from Gladbach - £90k, Argentinian Pablo Piatti from Estudiantes - £1M, Norwegian Per Cijan Skjelbred from Rosenborg for £1.4M. Also 2 collosal players were signed in Matthew Spiranovic from Nurnberg for £1.2M & Giorgos Samaras from Man City for £1.5M. The defender and striker duo both come in at a massive 6"4' and will dominate the air when they break into the setup.

We've had good relations with Newcastle pre-season, capturing 3 of their transfer listed players in bargains; those include Belozoglu Emre (£2.5M), Alan Smith (£2.7M) & Cacapa for a mere £200k.

Mexico has also provided us with some talented players, Jorge Rojas (DL) signing for £1M and full Mexican international Juan Pablo Rodriguez (MC) signing on a steal of £1.5M, Rodriguez also having a very wicked long-shot which the Hammers' faithful will be relishing seeing in action.

Luke Young was another of our captures, landing the right back in a straight-swap deal for John Pantsil to Middlesborough.

Marek Sapara was also signed from Rosenborg for £1.6M, the talented midfielder is ready to show off his abilities at Upton Park, he is our free-kick specialist and we'll be hoping to see him piledrive in a few throughout the season.

Last & certainly not least, our biggest signing so far, Romanian goalkeeper Bogdan Lobont signing from Dinamo Bucharest for £3.3M. He has forced Robert Green onto the bench and will take the #1 jersey this season.

With only Jimmy Walker leaving the club for £210k and no other departures, our transfer budget has decreased, but there has still been promises of 1 of 2 more signings with the remaining budget before the window closes at the end of August. Departures will mostly take place in the January transfer window when we can assess how much depth we'll require to finish the season.

Preparations for our first match were frantic, as we had to travel to Manchester to play Goat's Man City - not a game we were looking forward to! With Nielsen signing Rodrigo Palacio from Boca who we were interested in, we knew what to expect from them up front.

Man City vs. West Ham United (Saturday 11th August 2007)

The City of Manchester Stadium, Manchester

We tried playing defensively in this match, but the first 10 mins were all Man City bar the odd counter attack. Bogdan Lobont was in good form early on, denying Man City on several occasions breaking the deadlock. But he wasn't able to do anything on 10 mins when Fernando Belluschi latched onto a left-wing cross, and he couldn't miss from 3 yards out. 1-0 City

We managed to create a few chances against the run of play, Marek Sapara coming closest forcing Schmeichel into a great save from a 35 yard free-kick. It was on 25 mins where he had another free-kick attempt, he drilled it into the wall from 25 yards before Bellamy came crunching in on Micah Richards with 2 feet. It was an instant red for Bellamy and we were left chasing the game with 10 men.

On 51 mins we were hit again, Palacio broke through our defence and forced Lobont into a great save, however he was unable to get to the rebound and Belluschi got on the end of it to get his second and make it 2-0.

With 20 mins left we tried to make a game of it, and were given a lifeline on 77 mins when Sapara's corner was headed home from point blank range on the far post by captain Matthew Upson.

Sapara then had to come off injured 4 minutes later, being replaced by Freddy Ljunberg, who made an instant impact. Within a minute he was able to create space on the right side and cut inside the box beating a few players in the process, his cross into the 6 yard box was perfect & Ashton only needed to make contact to the ball to send the travelling fans crazy. There were still 7 mins left but we were able to hold strong to limit City to just a point. Labont was our saviour in goal and we'll be thanking him for this result with a string of fine saves

Man City 2-2 West Ham United

Belluschi 10

Bellamy s/o 25

Belluschi 51

Upson 77

Ashton 83

We face Sam's Villa at home next & are looking forward to playing in front of our home fans for the first time this season!

Nice post Arthur

Everton steal the points vs Mo's Blackburn Rovers

The opening game of the season pitted two very closely matched sides in Everton and Blackburn against each other at Goodison Park. With one of the ancient regime also in charge at Ewood Park, there was a fair dose of rivalry surrounding this fixture.

As always, Mo didn't disappoint with his Blackburn Rovers putting up a composed defensive performance with some lovely moves on the counter attack to boot. On another day Mo would have walked away with all three points from the game but today, the highly rated Benny McCarthy didn't have his shooting boots on and missed a couple of glorious chances.

Everton played quite well with encouraging debuts from Ignashevich and Makoun in particular. However, our attack couldn't really click in gear and Rovers limited us to a few pops from range, comfortably dealt with by the experienced Friedal.

As the game was petering out into a 0-0 score bore Everton were awarded a penalty with four minutes left on the clock which Arteta duly converted to leave Murphy with a smile on his face and Mo empty handed.

A relatively fortunate win then for my lads and a tough looking assignment vs Steve Diprose's Newcastle at St James Park next up.

Session on tonight if everyone's about .

Who do you all think has had the best of the transfer window so far?

Goat's signing of Palacio looks damn fine.

I like the look of Huszti and Makoun, could be big players for Niall at the Toffees and Goat seems to be buying the whole of Argentina but can't deny that most of them are quality signings .

I'm hoping to bring in a couple of top quality players before the transfer window closes .

Obviously me just like always

Palacio (i think hes the only player who i have bought every year and every year he DOESNT deliver lol so he better do this time!)

Coloccini (one of Argentinas best defenders who can slot in at right back too as he showed in the world cup)

Pinola (only a matter of time before this quality left back gains his first international call up)

Belluschi (bought last 2 years and just like Palacio he has underachieved)

Kenia (the new kinkladze)

Thiago (wonderkid from barca who everyone in spain are raving about)

Pineda (50 caps for Mexico already = quality)

Chevanton (hoping he can relive his form from his Monaco days)

Cassetti (Quality Italian right back)

need i go on

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by goat261:

need i go on </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

Honestly, I think I've heard enough

A new campaign, a new era of Liggins for Boro fans. This time out looks likely to be the hardest however, with funds being tight and squad quality/quantity being very poor. Yakubu, John Pantsil and Lloyd Doyley have joined the squad, Tuncay, Arca, Rochemback and Luke Young leaving, mainly to free up some funds. £6mil spent, £6.5mil recouped, although with Steve Gibson only giving 75% of funds received, I've just about broken even. However with the start to the season we've had, he might have to loosen the shackles somewhat...

Boro 0-1 Bolton

A bout of food poising robbed Boro of their manager for this game, which finished 10 v 10. Anelka grabbed the winner.

Man Utd 4-0 Boro

Boro 3-3 Birmingham

These two games were again controlled by the assistant, who will be getting the sack shortly after throwing away a 3 goal half time lead.

Liverpool 2-1 Boro

The first real game under the new boss, and a promising performance. A Kutyt penalty and Torres strike put the Reds two up, before a 3rd goal in 4 games from Yakubu set up a tense finish.

LEAGUE CUP - Forest 1-4 Boro

Everton boss Niall "Envy" Murphy was spouting off in the press how he'd be along to watch, believing a Forest win was on the cards. As the £rd Boro goal went in after 22 mins Murphy could be seen skulking out of the Directors box, potato cocktail in hand, heading for the exit. Shawky and Aliadiere with two goals apiece ensured a much changed and inexperienced (more so than normal) Boro's passage safely through to Round 3.

Joe Ledley was added to the squad on transfer deadline day, just in time for the visit of Fulham, although manager Dave Allen was again AWOL.

Boro 2-1 Fulham

A 1st win in the league lifting us out of the drop zone. Yakubu with an early goal, getting on the end of Ledley's pass, the young Welshman having an impressive debut. Fulham unjustly equalised, but justice was done in injury time when Yakubu bagged his 5th goal in 5 games. £5mil? Cheers Mr Murphy

A slow and truncated start (only being in charge for 2 of the 5 league games) but signs are there that the young team is starting to gel. But they're only a young, small squad, honest bunch of lads, don't expect too much from them.

Up the Boro

Hi Guys

As you are one of the more established clans, can I ask a question. How well does your game run with 10 players over the net? I am running a online game but people are complaining about the speed. All my settings are the same as 07 and that ran fine but 08 seems to have problems.

Sorry to have bothered you with this but i have been following your clan for a long time and have enjoyed watching your progress and thought if anyone could sort it you guys would have.

Cheers

RichG

It runs fine for us, we turn off all player/manager pictures, logos/badges and background pictures and also make sure that the host has a good enough pc to run it quickly otherwise that'll slow things right down.

TRANSFERS IN = 19m

Valeri Bojinov 4m Man City

Eddie Johnson 2.6m Kansas City

Al Bangura 2m Watford

Olivier Kapo 2m Birmingham

Paul Robinson 2m + David James Tottenham

Shaun Maloney 1.7m Aston Villa

James Keene 1.2m Elfsborg

Benoit Assou-Ekotto 1m Tottenham

Anthony Gardner 800k Tottenham

Jelle Van Damme 700k Anderlecht

Frederick Holster 400k Hacken

Cagri Erdem 325k FC Kobenhavn

Nicolaj Agger 300k Brondby

Hossam Ghaly P/Ex Tottenham

Charlie Adam Loan Rangers

Jermaine Pennant Loan Liverpool

Jonathan Evans Loan Man Utd

TRANSFERS OUT = 18.25m

Lauren 3.5m Palermo

Benjani 3.1m Empoli

Nwankwo Kanu 2m Catania

Sean Davis 1.6m Birmingham

Pedro Mendes 1.5m + Hossam Ghaly Tottenham

Richard Hughes 1.5m Stoke

Sol Campbell 1.5m Sampdoria

Djimi Traore 1m Birmingham

Hermann Hreidarsson 1m Livorno

Martin Cranie 800k Stoke

Franck Songo'o 500k Crewe

Asmir Begovic 250k Doncaster

Callum Reynolds 110k Hull

David James P/Ex Tottenham

SQUAD

Goalkeepers - Ashdown & Robinson

Defenders - Assou-Ekotto, Distin, Evans, Gardner, Johnson, Paramot, Primus & Van Damme

Midfielders - Adam, Bangura, Diop, Ghaly, Kapo, Kranjcar, Maloney, Muntari & Pennant

Attackers - Bojinov, Keene, Johnson & Utaka

It's been a busy summer of transfers at Portsmouth but I feel that the quality has improved in the squad and we have managed to sign some quality players especially Valeri Bojinov from Man City who I feel will develop into a world class striker.

Still got money left to spend if needed in the January transfer window and hopefully the chairman will add more on top so we can continue to improve and develop the squad.

Portsmouth 1-2 Liverpool

Liverpool dominated the early going with Robinson pulling off a couple of decent saves but we took the lead with a debut goal from Johnson against the run of play to put us 1-0 up. It didn't last long as Liverpool got a free-kick just outside the box and Alonso curled it past Robinson to make it 1-1 at half-time.

The second half was pretty even between both teams until Taylor was caught out and Sisokko was put clean through to put Liverpool 2-1 up and seal the three points.

Fulham 0-1 Portsmouth

The next mactch saw us up against Dave's Fulham team which even throughout with Robinson having to be on his toes to keep out several shots and Johnson terrorising the Fulham defence with his searing pace which lead to the late winning goal as Johnson outpaced the defenders and finished neatly past Niemi to hand us the unlikely victory.

Portsmouth 1-0 Blackburn

The third match of the season was against Slow Mo's Blackburn side which saw my team put in the performance of the season with fast, flowing passing helping to create numerous chances which we continually wasted as Blackburn showed their resilient qualities throughout the match but we managed to take one of our chance's with a third goal in a row from Johnson just before half-time helping us to three points.

Newcastle 2-1 Portsmouth

We took the long trip upto Tyneside to face Steve's Newcastle side in what promised to be a good game and it didn't disappoint. We took the lead through another goal from Johnson as he easily outpaced the Newcastle defence and placed it in the top corner past Given but the lead didn't last long as Owen capitalised on a melee in the box to make things all square going into half-time.

We were looking for a good start to the second half but Taylor got above his marker and headed in a corner to grab all three points for Steve but a point each would have been a fair result with the match and number of chances being even.

Doncaster 2-0 Portsmouth

We lost badly... that's about all I want to say on this match apart from I made alot of changes which cost me badly lol.

Portsmouth 2-1 West Ham

This was a cracker of a match against Arthur's West Ham side with their new big money signing Alex scoring to put them 1-0 up and looking very impressive throughout but we hit back with our own big money signing Bojinov who scored a debut goal to make it 1-1 going into half-time. We cancelled each other out throughout the second half and it looked destined for a draw until Muntari grabbed a injury time winner to steal the points for us which was cruel on Arthur as his team had easily done enough for the draw at least.

So it's a decent start to the season but we need to tighten up defensively if we're to make our top half finish target .

Current Table - 1st September 2007

I was going to do a report but I'll let the table speak for itself

Oh ok then.

Fast start from Everton...

Newcastle 0-3 Everton

This was a tough looking game on paper against Steve's Newcastle side but it surprisingly ended up being a one sided match with Everton controlling it from start to finish, putting three goals past Steve Harper in the process. Very pleased with this result. Steve, probably, not so pleased.

Everton 2-0 West Ham

Fellow Oirishman Arthur was next up with his Happy Hammers and arrived at Goodison with an adventurous 4-2-3-1 formation that was designed to score goals. On the day though, Everton managed to control the game and deservedly won the match, although we didn't seal the game until late on when we notched the second goal. Good performance from West Ham who have the makings of a good side.

Arsenal 0-0 Everton

No disrespect to my fellow managers. Oh ok, loads of it.

This was the first massive test of the new look Everton side and we had a massive stroke of luck when the game was played on a waterlogged Arsenal pitch which undoubtabley affected their usual passing game. Drafted in the experienced Lee Carsley for this one for his defensive abilities and with a tough central three of Makoun, Carsley and Gravesen on show, Arsenal struggled to play.

They did though have the slightly better chances as Everton hoped for a break on the counter but Howard dealt well with anything thrown at him. Very pleased with the point and to go 360 minutes without conceding a goal. That must be an early EPL Challenge 2008 record.

After this there was a short break for Carling Cup games and Murphy turned intrepid explorer as he took in brief highlights of games between Nottm Forest and Middlesbrough, Doncaster vs Portsmouth and West Ham vs Blackpool.

Unfortunatley, I was denied my first opportunity to give Ligs a bit of lip as his side surprisingly dealt well with Forest. Ben Jackson was not so lucky however as his expensive Pompey side faltered at Doncaster. Arthur managed to get past Blackpool with little trouble.

Then it was back to the Premiership:

Everton 2-1 Wigan Athletic

Wigan had given a few of the lads a shock as they had started the season well, so before the game this was a battle between 2nd and 4th. Wigan took the lead through Titus Bramble from a corner, but Everton came back to win 2-1, taking 13 points from a possible 15.

Next up it's Goat's even more expensively assembled Man City outfit. Looking forward to it.

Fulham Fans Left Gob Smacked!

Fulham fans are in shock today after Lawrie Sanchez was relieved of his duties as Fulham manager earlier today after the 1-0 defeat to Chelsea at Stamford Bridge. At first glance it may seem as if this is no surprise, a Fulham manager getting sacked after losing, but on the first day of the season, Al Fayed must surely be losing it.

The nail in the coffin for the Al Fayed fan base must be that he has now gone and replaced Sanchez with a completely unknown manager known as Dave Allen. Allen has no previous experience at managing at a Premiership level or any other level in fact. He claims that all you need to be successful is passion and a drive for success, although if that were true perhaps Stuart Pearce would still be at Manchester City.

With the Fulham board expecting to avoid relegation and still be in the Premiership in two years time Dave Allen will have a challenge on his hands but if he can get Fulham playing at their best then they should be able to avoid relegation and stay away from the relegation battles they have been involved with in the last few years. We will have to wait and see what this rookie manager can accomplish at a team that never really seems to do anything but survive.

Ben, if you still need someone to take the game drop me a text msg this evening and I'll download it.

our forums are up and running for messages like that niall, this topic is just for reports so stop cluttering up the Thread

i think Ben is going to try and host from spain, nice to see hes got his piorities in order

That sounds like lag city.

Ooh get the handbags out!

Can I join your clan please my email is in my account I have been in two other major clans before hope this is taken into considerastion

thanks

Jonny

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by saints ledgend:

Can I join your clan please my email is in my account I have been in two other major clans before hope this is taken into considerastion

thanks

Jonny </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

1. You can't spell "consideration."

2. You can't spell "legend."

3. It's not upto me, over to you Ben....

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by ligs:

3. It's not upto me, over to you Ben.... </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

There should have been a space between "up" and "to" there, Ligs.

Glad someone picked up on my intentional mistake...