Terk Posted March 3, 2008 Author Share Posted March 3, 2008 It is said that there are some undiscovered gems plying their trade in the English Football Leagues, but that Premiership managers aren’t willing to take the risk on them. The recent success of players such as Kevin Doyle, Ashley Young and Joe Hart suggests that it may be the case that there are some who deserve their chance at a higher level (we’ll gloss over David Nugent’s complete failure at Portsmouth). To prove it beyond doubt, the Football League XI was created. A place in the Premiership was bought (at the expense of Derby who, let’s face it, no one wanted in the Premiership anyway) and twenty-three of the finest players at clubs outside the Premiership were ‘bought’. Could they compete at that level? Would they do as Wigan, Reading and Ipswich before them and stun everybody with a top half finish? Or would they embarrass themselves and set a new record low points total? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Terk Posted March 3, 2008 Share Posted March 3, 2008 It is said that there are some undiscovered gems plying their trade in the English Football Leagues, but that Premiership managers aren’t willing to take the risk on them. The recent success of players such as Kevin Doyle, Ashley Young and Joe Hart suggests that it may be the case that there are some who deserve their chance at a higher level (we’ll gloss over David Nugent’s complete failure at Portsmouth). To prove it beyond doubt, the Football League XI was created. A place in the Premiership was bought (at the expense of Derby who, let’s face it, no one wanted in the Premiership anyway) and twenty-three of the finest players at clubs outside the Premiership were ‘bought’. Could they compete at that level? Would they do as Wigan, Reading and Ipswich before them and stun everybody with a top half finish? Or would they embarrass themselves and set a new record low points total? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Terk Posted March 3, 2008 Author Share Posted March 3, 2008 First, before we move onto the squad, let’s deal with the basics. The scheme could only have been the brainchild of one football league chairman, the completely off-his-rocker Ken Bates. A thirty-thousand seater stadium (The Coca Cola Arena) was built in London and £10M was raised to give the club a healthy bank balance to begin with. During the first season, no players will be bought or sold - unless there is an emergency in which case players can be brought in on loan. During subsequent seasons, the only players who may be signed are those who featured in the ‘Team of the Season’ from each of the Championship, League One and League Two in the previous campaign. All players were selected from FourFourTwo magazine’s 2008 ’50 Best Football League Players’ list. A staff of coaches and physios were plucked from their Championship clubs to work at the Football League XI, and Charlton’s Phil Parkinson was given the job of assistant manager. Further than that, we work as any other football club would. And we’ll probably be relegated quicker than we can blink. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Terk Posted March 3, 2008 Author Share Posted March 3, 2008 The Squad Name (List number – Club poached from) Goalkeepers Adriano Basso (#13 – Bristol City) Lee Camp (#33 – Q.P.R.) Wayne Hennessey (#22 – Wolves) Defenders Frankie Simek (‘Best of the Rest’ – Sheffield Wednesday) Billy Jones (‘Best of the Rest’ – Preston) Paul Robinson (#20 – WBA) Jay DeMerit (#19 – Watford) Mark Hudson (#39 – Crystal Palace) Ryan Shawcross (#23 – Stoke) Danny Shittu (#21 – Watford) Péter Halmosi (#35 – Plymouth) Midfielders Zheng Zhi (#5 – Charlton) Zoltán Gera (#10 – WBA) Jonathan Greening (#4 – WBA) Michael Kightly (#3 – Wolves) David Norris (#12 – Ipswich) Kris Commons (#44 – Nottingham Forest) Brian Howard (#16 – Barnsley) Ãkos Buzsáky (#17 – Q.P.R) Strikers Andy Keogh (#18 – Wolves) James Beattie (#6 – Sheffield United) Andy Gray (#2 – Charlton) Kevin Phillips (#1 – WBA) Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Terk Posted March 3, 2008 Author Share Posted March 3, 2008 The Friendlies Carlisle, Brunton Park Tuesday 11th July 2006 A nice easy game to begin with. At least it was supposed to be. During the first half Carlisle were quite clearly the better side and our team of Championship stars were close to being embarrassed. We changed a few personnel at the break and looked much better in the second half. We took the lead when Ãkos Buzsáky headed home Brian Howard’s corner. The win was secured seven minutes from time with a fine finish from Andy Keogh after being put through by Phillips. Carlisle 0 – 2 Football League XI (Buzsáky 63, Keogh 83) Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Terk Posted March 3, 2008 Author Share Posted March 3, 2008 Volendam, Veronica Stadion Friday 14th July 2006 The side that finished the Carlisle match was the one that started our trip to Dutchland – save for Wayne Hennessey replacing Adriano Basso in goal. It was a pretty even game until Buzsáky bent a stunning shot into the top corner from thirty yards. A few changes at half-time again and we played even better in the second forty-five. James Beattie latched onto Norris’ through ball and chipped Rogier Polman before then setting up strike partner Andy Gray to slot home the third. Volendam 0 – 3 Football League XI (Buzsáky 33, Beattie 55, Gray 62) Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Terk Posted March 3, 2008 Author Share Posted March 3, 2008 Sparta, Sparta Stadion Tuesday 18th July 2006 Ãkos Buzsáky was clearly out to impress. After goals in each of our first two friendlies he had already created a favourable impression, and he reinforced it against Sparta when he scored the opening goal, curling a free kick over the wall and into the corner of the net. We should have been further ahead but some wayward finishing meant we went into the break with only a one goal lead. That came back to bite us in the ass, as did the fact that Lee Camp was playing in goal as the former Derby and Q.P.R. ‘keeper ballsed up two easy saves, gifting goals to Nick Sabajo and Andrew de Weijze. Sparta 2 – 1 Football League XI (Sabajo 56, De Weijze 80; Buszáky 13) Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Terk Posted March 3, 2008 Author Share Posted March 3, 2008 AGOVV, Berg en Bos Stadion Friday 21st July 2006 It’s difficult to describe this match as anything other than the dullest match ever played. There was barely a moment of note in the ninety minutes and no one would have blamed the referee if he had put it out of its misery (and everyone else’s) a good half hour early. We looked tired after our efforts against Volendam and Sparta, whilst AGOVV just looked totally rubbish. Ah well, it’s only a friendly. AGOVV 0 – 0 Football League XI Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Terk Posted March 3, 2008 Author Share Posted March 3, 2008 Kaiserslautern, Coca Cola Arena Tuesday 25th July 2006 Fielding what had proven to be our strongest eleven throughout the previous four friendlies, we were confident of being able to provide the Germans with some serious problems. We did just that, taking the lead through Zheng Zhi’s perfectly hit free kick, and just four minutes later that lead was doubled when Kris Commons finished a penalty area scramble with a thumping shot beyond Daniel Seeger. We kept up our performance in the second half despite bringing on six new faces and James Beattie wrapped up the win with a piledriver of a shot from the edge of the penalty area. Football League XI 3 – 0 Kaiserslautern (Zhi 26, Commons 30, Beattie 74) Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
CAFCIan Posted March 3, 2008 Share Posted March 3, 2008 Fantastic idea for a story, being a Championship football fan myself I will be reading this one with interest Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Amaroq Posted March 3, 2008 Share Posted March 3, 2008 Wait, Andy Gray .. so whose doing the commentary, then? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
flipsix3 Posted March 3, 2008 Share Posted March 3, 2008 Good old FourFourTwo - always good for some ideas. I think I did something similar once - but for just one season. Great dea, and bound to be 'fun' to play with those restrictions Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom =) Posted March 3, 2008 Share Posted March 3, 2008 Looks interesting, will keep watching this Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Terk Posted March 4, 2008 Author Share Posted March 4, 2008 Cheers for the support guys I do remember something similar being done before, and if we get relegated this might just be for one season as well ----------------------------------------------- The Real Stuff Bolton, Reebok Stadium Saturday 19th August 2006 Two minutes into the opening day, the Football League XI were wishing they were back playing in front of the three men and a dog that visit Championship games. Adriano Basso came to claim a Ryan Shawcross backpass but was beaten to it by Nicolas Anelka. The Frenchman tucked his shot into the back of the net and we were facing embarrassment. Shawcross redeemed himself by battering a ball upfield for Andy Keogh, the Ireland U-21 striker to control and shot past Ali Al-Habsi. Keogh was causing Bolton all kinds of trouble, and before half time his run and cross had presented Kris Commons with an easy chance to put us in front. We looked comfortable in the second half until just after the hour when Zheng Zhi hacked Kevin Nolan down with a dreadful two-footed challenge and was rightly sent off. Bolton took advantage with Ricardo Gardner’s injury time equaliser, but at least it was a point on the board. Bolton 2 – 2 Football League XI (Anelka 2, Gardner 90+1; Keogh 13, Commons 38, Zhi s/off 63) Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Terk Posted March 4, 2008 Author Share Posted March 4, 2008 Chelsea, Coca Cola Arena Tuesday 22nd August 2006 This was never going to go well, was it? Not even the a cup game have Chelsea lost to a bunch of Championship duffers since the Russian Moneybags came in, so it was hardly going to happen in the league. Didier Drogba stopped diving for long enough to head home the first goal on ten minutes, and did the same just after half-time, though by then he could easily have had himself a couple of hat-tricks. Salomon Kalou rounded off the win with a cheeky lob over Basso eighteen minutes from time and our home debut in front of a packed stadium hadn’t been stunning. Football League XI 0 – 3 Chelsea (Drogba 10, 47, Kalou 72) Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gennaro08 Posted March 4, 2008 Share Posted March 4, 2008 Great idea, adds an extra dimension to the game when playing with restrictions. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Terk Posted March 12, 2008 Author Share Posted March 12, 2008 Fulham, Craven Cottage saturday 26th August 2006 At the home of a team expected to struggle for survival alongside us, a point would have been a good result. For eighty-one of the ninety minutes we looked good for that point, having hardly been worried by the hosts' attack. Two Fulham goals in as many minutes, however, had us dead in the water. Simon Elliott got the first, stealing in at the back post to head home Diomansy Kamara's left wing cross. Whilst we were still reeling from the shock of going behind, Clint Dempsey pounced to complete the misery, robbing Ryan Shawcross of the ball and thundering a shot beyond Adriano Basso. This could be a long, long season. Fulham 2 - 0 Football League XI (Elliott 82, Dempsey 84) Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Terk Posted March 12, 2008 Author Share Posted March 12, 2008 cheers for the support, by the way, gennaro ----------------------------------------------- There were two pieces of stunningly bad injury news in the aftermath of the Fulham game. Andy Keogh had limped off with a broken foot which would see him sidelined for up to four months whilst Kevin Phillips broke down in training the following day having suffered a damaged achilles tendon. The veteran striker would miss eight to twelve weeks of action. That meant we were left with only two strikers, so the emergency loan rule was used to bring in DJ Campbell for five months from Leicester. -- Newcastle, Coca Cola Arena Monday 11th September 2006 The injuries were mounting up. As well as Keogh and Phillips, Danny Shittu had broken his shoulder in training and would sit out a month whilst Michael Kightly was ruled out of the Newcastle game with a bruised shin. It was another tight affair in which we probably deserved a point but weren't quite good enough to get one. We had been the better side for much of the first half, but Newcastle redoubled their efforts in the second and it paid off with James Milner scoring a fifty yard effort which left Basso embarrassed. Football League XI 0 - 1 Newcastle (Milner 73) Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Terk Posted March 13, 2008 Author Share Posted March 13, 2008 Kris Commons was the latest to join the injury list, a back strain suffered in training would keep him out of the side for the best part of a month. -- Sunderland, Stadium of Light Saturday 16th September 2006 The start of the season had provided us with more than enough games against sides who were going to be fighting for survival, and I felt we had to win at least one of them if we were indeed going to win our battle. Our hopes at Sunderland took a big blow when Jay DeMerit turned Michael Chopra's shot into his own net in just the eighth minute, and by half time the home side could have had two or three were it not for their poor finishing and some nice work by Basso. We fought harder in the second half, limiting them to little more than long range shots which Basso had no trouble dealing with. The only problem was that we looked even less likely to get a goal ourselves. With ninety-five minutes on the clock most of our traveling fans had left, but they were wrong to do so as David Norris' last gasp free kick found Zheng Zhi's head and the Chinese bulleted his effort past Craig Gordon. Another point. Sunderland 1 - 1 Football League XI (DeMerit (OG) 8, Zhi 90+5) Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Terk Posted March 13, 2008 Author Share Posted March 13, 2008 Derby, Coca Cola Arena, Carling Cup 2nd Round Wednesday 20th September 2006 Derby were flying high at the top of the Championship, eager to prove that they hadn't deserved to be booted out of the Premiership in favour of us. We, of course, knew that we deserved our place and set about proving it. We were the better side early on and took the lead on the quarter hour with a rasping shot from Andy Gray. Unfortunately Derby reacted well and Kenny Miller pulled them level before the break. There were no further goals in the regulation ninety minutes, but Rob Earnshaw looked to have earned Derby a place in the third round with his extra time penalty, only twelve minutes from the end. Twelve minutes later they were still leading, but before the referee could blow for full time, he was forced to award us a penalty which James Beattie dispatched past Stephen Bywater. The resultant penalty shoot-out progressed past the normal five each with the scores tied a three-all. Four more penalties to each side were needed to decide the matter, and after Mo Camara saw his attempt saved, Paul Robinson stepped up and thumped his effort home to book us a spot in the next round. Football League XI 2 - 2 Derby (Football League XI win 7-6 on penalties) (Gray 15, Miller 34, Earnshaw pen 108, Beattie pen 120) Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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