Lunchtime Legends Presents: The Return of Cartagena

[Dixie Flatline]

We’re a game over the half-way point of the season, so now is a good time to summarise the progress my squad has made to date.

Goalkeepers

Iñaki (36 y/o, ESP, GK – 65 apps, 47 conceded, 35 clean sheets, 12 MoMs, av. rating: 7.38): 23 apps, 25 conceded, 10 clean sheets, 4 MoMs, av. rating: 7.39

José Esteban Yepes (33 y/o, ESP, GK – 3(1) apps, 11 conceded, av. rating: 6.50): 3(1) apps, 11 conceded, av. rating: 6.50

Iñaki has done a superb job for us this season, though he is becoming slightly inconsistent. Clearly the number one keeper at the club, but at the ripe old age of 36, I hope that I can replace him with a younger keeper in the new season. Yepes’ games for the club coincided with our worst form – we were in fact rabble – and his career statistics suffer for it. I’m sure he could do a better job than what they indicate if I were to give him an opportunity.

Defenders

Sergio Corino (31 y/o, ESP, SW/D C – 5 apps, 1 goal, av. rating: 7.60): 5 apps, 1 goal, av. rating: 7.60

Juanmi (23 y/o, ESP, D L – 2(1) apps, av. rating: 6.67): 0(1) app, av. rating: 6.00

Manu (33 y/o, ESP, D C – 17(3) apps, av. rating: 7.10): 6(1) apps, av. rating: 6.71

Alberto Merino (30 y/o, ESP, D C – 46 apps, av. rating: 7.26): 15 apps, av. rating: 7.13

Carlos (25 y/o, ESP, D/DM RL – 25 apps, av. rating: 7.00): 25 apps, av. rating: 7.00

Rafa Moreno (24 y/o, ESP, D/DM RL – 4(3) apps, av. rating: 6.29): 4(3) apps, av. rating: 6.29

Riccardo Cazzola (20 y/o, ITA, D/DM RC – 26 apps, 1 assist, 1 MoM, av. rating: 6.92): 26 apps, 1 assist, 1 MoM, av. rating: 6.92

Alain (28 y/o, ESP, D/DM L – 66 apps, 3 assists, av. rating: 7.20): 24 apps, av. rating: 6.96

The addition of Sergio Corino has already had a positive impact upon our defence. His experience and his calmness under pressure has proven vital to lifting the spirits of those around him. Cazzola looks like he will be a good player in the future, and I’m looking forward to nurturing his talent. Carlos has done a good job on the right of the defence without being too flashy; ditto for Alain who has tried his hardest. Merino has been a good servant for this club but he will have to step back and allow Corino to marshal the defence. Manu was always ever going to be a back-up, and at 33 years old, his value is fast diminishing. Rafa Moreno needs to work harder if he is to impress me sufficiently to keep his place on the roster next season.

[Dixie Flatline]

Midfielders

Julio Puig (28 y/o, ESP, D/M C – 37(3) apps, 3 goals, 4 assists, 1 MoM, av. rating: 7.17): 1(2) apps, av. rating: 6.33

Eduardo Conget (28 y/o, ESP, DM RC – 62(2) apps, 4 goals, 6 assists, 2 MoMs, av. rating: 7.19

Josep Guardiola (35 y/o, ESP 47 caps, 5 goals, DM C – 1 app, av. rating: 7.00): 1 app, av. rating: 7.00

Jordi (29 y/o, ESP, M R – 30(3) apps, 1 goal, 13 assists, av. rating: 7.30): 4(2) apps, 1 assist, av. rating: 7.00

Sipho Nunens (23 y/o, RSA 4 caps, M C – 11(3) apps, 3 goals, 3 assists, 3 MoMs, av. rating: 7.07): 11(3) apps, 3 goals, 3 assists, 3 MoMs, av. rating: 7.07

Jorge Azkoitia (31 y/o, ESP, AM R – 12(1) apps, 2 goals, 1 assist, av. rating: 6.85): 12(1) apps, 2 goals, 1 assist, av. rating: 6.85

Gianluigi Lentini (36 y/o, ITA 13 caps, AM RL – 9(1) apps, 1 assist, av. rating: 6.70): 9(1) apps, 1 assist, av. rating: 6.70

Juan Antonio Godino (27 y/o, ESP, AM RC – 19(2) apps, 3 goals, 2 assists, av. rating: 7.00): 19(2) apps, 3 goals, 2 assists, av. rating: 7.00

Francisco Javier De Pedro (32 y/o, ESP 12 caps, 2 goals, AM L – 2(1) apps, av. rating: 7.33

José Antonio Ortiz (33 y/o, ESP, AM L – 9 apps, 2 assists, av. rating: 7.00): 9 apps, 2 assists, av. rating: 7.00

Michel (30 y/o, ESP, AM LC – 3(1) apps, 1 goal, 2 assists, av. rating: 7.50): 3(1) apps, 1 goal, 2 assists, av. rating: 7.50

Alexandr Mostovoy (37 y/o, RUS 65 caps, 13 goals, AM C – 7(4) apps, 1 goal, 3 assists, av. rating: 7.00

It’s certainly a mixed bag when it comes to the midfielders I’ve used this season. Conget has performed admirably for the most part, in my view, while Nunens has shown glimpses of the type of player he might mature into. Godino has also been promising for us, and Michel has done a job since joining the club. Unfortunately, Lentini and Mostovoy came to the club in the deepening twilight of their careers and while they tried hard, they aren’t up to the level required to keep this club afloat in the Segunda Liga. Hopefully that won’t be the case for Guardiola, who will keep those ageing legs moving towards our survival this season. De Pedro has looked handy while Ortiz may yet get a reprieve from being out of the squad.

Forwards

Kali Ongala (26 y/o, CGO 3 caps, F C – 13(7) apps, 8 goals, 3 assists, 5 MoMs, av. rating: 7.70): 12(3) apps, 5 goals, 3 assists, 4 MoMs, av. rating: 7.73

Sívori (29 y/o, ESP, F C – 44(4) apps, 28 goals, 8 assists, 7 MoMs, av. rating: 7.46): 17(1) apps, 2 goals, 1 assist, av. rating: 7.00

Gabriel Bordi (30 y/o, ARG, S C – 5(13) apps, 1 goal, av. rating: 6.78): 3(6) apps, av. rating: 6.67

Fran Nogueira (33 y/o, ESP, S C – 47(3) apps, 26 goals, 3 assists, 2 MoMs, av. rating: 7.22): 19(2) apps, 7 goals, 2 assists, av. rating: 7.19

Iván Kaviedes (28 y/o, ECU 50 caps, 12 goals, S C – 3(1) apps, 1 goal, av. rating: 7.00): 3(1) apps, 1 goal, av. rating: 7.00

Loreto (34 y/o, ESP, S C – 10(12) apps, 4 goals, 2 assists, 1 MoM, av. rating: 6.86): 0(4) apps, 1 assist, av. rating: 7.00

Forwards have been our biggest problem this season, as we’ve been unable to find somebody who can hit the back of the net on a regular occasion. Since coming back from his ankle injury, Sívori hasn’t been the same player as he was before he suffered the ankle break. Let’s hope he can pick up in the second half of the season. Ongala has shown flashes of talent, but his inconsistency in front of goal is frustrating. He is currently away with the Congo on African Cup of Nations duty. Let’s hope he can shine there. Bordi has been a complete disappointment. He is a very ineffective striker and I’ll off-load him soon. Kaviedes has only recently arrived but has shown that he could be up to the task. Nogueira has tried his hardest but isn’t good enough for this division, and Loreto is simply over the hill.

[Dixie Flatline]

23rd of January 2006

Iñaki and Sergio Corino are selected in the Segunda Liga Team of the Week.

25th of January 2005

Segunda Liga – Game 23: Terrassa v Cartagena

With both sides looking to attack, it’s little wonder that some attractive football is played and 24 shots at goal are created by both sides. Terrassa manages to put only one shot on target, but it’s good enough to beat Iñaki, almost three minutes into injury time at the end of the first half. Perera is allowed to advance unhindered into our penalty box with the ball, before laying it off for Navas to blast home. However, we have our equaliser on 58 minutes when Moya, the Terrassa keeper, pulls off a double save from Sívori and Godino, but at the third attempt, Míchel bundles the ball over the line. Unfortunately, I lose both Sergio Corino and Iñaki to injury during the game and I’ll be a little short on first-team players when we host Salamanca next Sunday. A point is a satisfactory result, as it extends our unbeaten run to seven games, but wins are nicer.

Terrassa (4-3-3): Moyá; Garrido, Bunjevcevic, David Charcos, Ramis (González 72); Navas © (Guerra 58), Ismael, Luis López; Raúl Molina (Martín 58), Maikel, Jesús Perera.

Cartagena (4-1-3-2): Iñaki © (Yepes 79); Alain, Cazzola, Corino (Merino 7), Carlos; Conget; Míchel, Guardiola, Godino (Azkoitia 72); Kaviedes, Sívori.

Final score: Terrassa 1:1 Cartagena

MoM – Míchel

27th of January 2005

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Cartagena sign Venezuelan international midfielder Oswaldo Chaurant

Cartagena unveiled their latest acquisition, 21 year old Venezuelan international attacking midfielder Oswaldo Chaurant to the press assembled at Cartagena’s training base at the Estadio Municipal de Cartagena. Cartagena paid Numancia £75,000 for the Venezuelan. Señor Flatline said that he was looking forward to working with Chaurant, who moved to Numancia from Venezuelan club Deportivo Táchira last season. Señor Flatline expected that Chaurant would inject some youth and vitality into his squad and hoped that the player would make his debut against Xerez on the 5th of February, after he had recovered from a heel injury.

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Signing Chaurant for a ridiculously cheap amount is great news, but bad news for Sipho Nunens. The playing rules for the Segunda Liga permits only two non-EU citizens in the registered squad. I have three non-EU citizens available to me – Kaviedes, Chaurant and Nunens. It’s a tough decision, but unfortunately Nunens is the one unlucky to miss out. Hopefully we can fast-track the citizenship applications and get any one of them registered as a Spanish citizen.

[Dixie Flatline]

29th of January 2005

Segunda Liga – Game 24: Cartagena v Salamanca

I’m forced to make several changes to the starting eleven, with Iñaki, Corino and Godino all unavailable through injury. Yepes, Merino and Azkoitia step up to the first eleven. We begin the match strongly, matching Salamanca for endeavour and outplaying them in terms of creativity, as we force three corners in quick succession, but we are unfortunate not to make better use of them. The first goal arrives on 32 minutes thanks to a brilliant, defence-splitting pass from Conget, which finds the excellent run of Sívori. The forward coolly holds off his marker, rounds the Salamanca keeper and slots the ball in the net. With ex-Cartagena player Trobbiani booed by the home crowd every time he touches the ball, Salamanca probe for an opening to restore parity. Finally, they find a way late in the game when Lusarreta plays the ball through to Deus, who fends off Merino and slides the ball into the far corner of Yepes’ net.

At this point, I’m thinking to myself that at least we’ll pick up a point. But I did not reckon upon the contribution of the veteran striker Fran Nogueira, on for the tiring Kaviedes. He turns the game around on 89 minutes when he collects Conget’s excellent cross-field pass and calmly puts the ball past the keeper at his near post. Then, with just seconds remaining, Míchel knocks a pass down the line for Nogueira to pick up. He cuts inside the Salamanca defender and blasts a shot into the top of the net to make it 3-1 and the points safe! A great game from ‘super-sub’ Nogueira!

Cartagena (4-1-3-2): Yepes; Alain, Cazzola, Merino, Carlos; Guardiola; Míchel, Azkoitia, Conget ©; Kaviedes (Nogueira 68), Sívori.

Salamanca (4-1-2-1-2): Ricardo; Lusarreta, Aurelio ©, Carlos Casquero, Gañán; Redero (Markel 62); David Cano (Amieva 62), Trobbiani; Oskitz; Hornos (Deus 72), Raúl Sanchez.

Final score: Cartagena 3:1 Salamanca

MoM – Míchel

Unsurprisingly, the Board of Directors of Cartagena is delighted with the result, which pushes us into the giddy heights of twelfth place on the ladder, six points clear of the relegation zone and eight points behind third-placed Pontevedra.

30th of January 2005

Not unsurprisingly, Míchel and Nogueira are named in the Segunda Liga Team of the Week.

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Cartagena to strengthen squad through Bosman free transfers

Cartagena manager Señor Flatline was pleased to announce to the media this afternoon that several players will join Cartagena on Bosman free transfers during the summer.

First, Arsenal reserves player, the Dane Sebastian Svärd, will join Cartagena on a Bosman free transfer at the start of next season. Svärd, capped at Under-21 level by his country, is currently on loan to Preston, and is capable of playing in defence and as a defensive midfielder. The 23 year old is certainly not the best player in the world, but he’ll add depth and challenge Cazzola in particular to lift his game.

Secondly, 29 year old Ejido striker Jurica Vucko will join the club on a Bosman free transfer when his current contract expires on 31st of July 2006. Cartagena see Vucko as a potential source of goals and believes that his talents have not been properly utilised by his current club. Vucko is said to be delighted to have signed for a club that will allow him to fully realise his talents.

Thirdly, Real Madrid player, Javi Paredes, currently on loan to Ejido, has agreed to join Cartagena on a Bosman free transfer. The left back is excited at the prospect of playing football week-in, week-out, as Cartagena look to strengthen their defence which has at times looked shaky this season.

Argentine full-back Cristian Green will also join Cartagena on a Bosman free transfer during the summer after he rejected a contract offer from his current club Jerez. Capable of playing on either the left or the right, Green was a target for Cartagena during the current season, but Jerez was unwilling to part with the defender. Holding a Spanish passport, Green will look to cement a place in the Cartagena eleven next season.

Young Italian right back Corrado Quaresmini has decided to leave his native Italy and head to Spain and Cartagena on a Bosman free transfer. The 19 year old defender has failed to break into the Brescia first team in three seasons and believes that the time is right to move on to a different challenge in a different country. Quaresmini will face stiff opposition from the likes of Green and current Cartagena right back Carlos for the place in Señor Flatline’s eleven.

Finally, 30 year old defensive utility, Vicente, has agreed to join Cartagena on a Bosman free transfer after turning down a contract from current club Girona. Vicente will be used as a back-up to the first team, but his ability on the ball will be highly prized by the Cartagena management.

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[Dixie Flatline]

1st of February 2006

Cartagena signs Colombian international midfielder Javier Araújo. Again, he is a non-EU citizen, which means I now have four non-EU citizens in my overall squad. I decide to leave out Chaurant of the squad for the time being and include Araújo. It’s tough luck on Chaurant, but I need Kaviedes in the squad for the time being, and Araújo looks the better player. So much so that his current value exceeds his minimum release fee, so I hurriedly move to re-negotiate Araújo’s contract before anybody else catches wind of this and buys him from underneath my nose at a bargain price.

5th of February 2006

Five players are called up from Cartagena to international squads. They are Javier Araújo (Colombia), Oswaldo Chaurant (Venezuela), Kali Ongala (The Congo), Sipho Nunens (South Africa) and Iván Kaviedes (Ecuador).

Segunda Liga – Game 25: Cartagena v Xerez

We throw away an opportunity to score another victory as Xerez pull back from 2-0 down to draw 2-2 by the end of the game. Sívori scored both goals to take his season tally to five. The first came on 9 minutes when Alain’s cross was missed by the Xerez defender and unmarked Sívori easily scored. His second goal came on 39 minutes when he was allowed too much time and space inside the Xerez box to control Conget’s cross and fire it past the Xerez’s keeper. Two goals up, you’d think we’d cruise towards a comfortable victory, but our defence loses concentration crucially three minutes later, and a free kick is given away needlessly within range of Dani Pendín, who blasts a free kick from 25 yards into the far corner of Yepes’ net. Then, Xerez score the equalizer when our defence is pulled out of shape, Yepes deflects David Alonso’s shot away but it falls into the path of Pineda and he taps it in to level the scores on 79 minutes.

Cartagena (4-1-3-2): Yepes; Alain, Cazzola, Merino, Carlos; Guardiola; Míchel (De Pedro 69), Godino, Conget ©; Kaviedes (Nogueira 69), Sívori.

Xerez (4-4-2): Alberto; Bertin, Cañas, Franz, Cristante (Cordero 59); Slovak, Dani Pendín ©, Quiñónez (Rios 57), Camuñas; Pineda, Mena (Alejo 57).

Final score: Cartagena 2:2 Xerez

MoM – Sívori

11th of February 2006

Segunda Liga – Game 26: Murcia v Cartagena

A derby game, but Murcia are much higher on the ladder than we are and with so many of my first team regulars missing, I’m not surprised to see us go down 3-0 losers, ending an unbeaten run of 10 games. Tomás did the damage to us, scoring two goals in the space of 3 minutes on 35 and 38 minutes. The first was a bullet header past Iñaki from Karanka’s cross. The second was the exact duplicate, though this time it came from Alonso’s cross. His late runs into the box had cost us two goals and basically any chance of taking anything from this game, as my forwards were well marshaled by the Murcia defence. Just on 71 minutes, Alonso applied the icing on the cake when he out-bustled Rafa Moreno and forced the ball past Iñaki to score Murcia’s third goal of the game. To compound my problems, I lost De Pedro to an injury late in the game and he joins my ever-growing injury list.

Murcia (4-1-2-1-2): Olave; Javi Prats (Platero 62), Cuadrado, Maciel, Juanma; Natxo (Figueroa 62); Tomás, Pulido ©; Richi; Iván Alonso, Karanka (Tato 71).

Cartagena (4-1-3-2): Iñaki ©; Alain, Cazzola, Merino, Rafa Moreno; Guardiola (Araújo 59); De Pedro (Ongala 87), Godino, Conget; Nogueira, Sívori.

Final score: Murcia 3:0 Cartagena

MoM – Tomás

[Dixie Flatline]

15th of February 2006

Segunda Liga – Game 27: Cartagena v Real Madrid B

Unsurprisingly, we also lose this game, thanks to a ninth minute strike from Juan Sebastián Verón, who is played on-side by Alain and Cazzola yet is left unmarked inside our penalty area. We try our hardest, but Real Madrid B is a cut above us and deservedly take the three points today.

Cartagena (4-1-3-2): Iñaki ©; Alain, Cazzola, Corino, Carlos; Guardiola (Jordi 45); Araújo, Godino, Conget; Nogueira (Kaviedes 75), Sívori (Ongala 75).

Real Madrid B (4-2-2-2): Díego López; Palencia (Robles 45), Duque, Rubén, Arbeloa; Meléndez, Soldo ©; Verón (Víctor 61), Adrián (Juanfran 45); Portillo, Adrián.

Final score: Cartagena 0:1 Real Madrid B

MoM – Ãlvaro Arbeloa

16th of February 2006

A piece of good news as I persuade ex-Danish international defender Thomas Gaardsøe to leave England and come to Spain and specifically Cartagena. The 26 year old defender, currently playing for West Bromwich Albion in the Championship, is a tough, strong, powerful defender. Furthermore, he’s willing to take a substantial pay cut to come to Cartagena.

19th of February 2006

Segunda Liga – Game 28: Sporting Gijón v Cartagena

Sporting are the better side on the day, but desperate defending and excellent goalkeeping from Iñaki preserves the goalless draw throughout the 90 minutes. It’s becoming clear to me that without Míchel we don’t seem to have a lot of creativity through midfield, and the lack of his influence was clear to see as we struggled to create any chances for the strikers. Sporting, on the other hand, had no such problem – their issue was finishing. This game isn’t one for the memory banks.

Sporting Gijón (4-4-2): Roberto; Supasepa (Lombardo 61), Ivisson (Alberto 61), Christian Díaz, Sastre; Juan ©, Samuel, Dani Borreguero, Pablo Ãlvarez; Calandria (Ãlvaro 71), Ismael.

Cartagena (4-1-3-2): Iñaki ©; Alain (Rafa Moreno 24), Cazzola, Corino, Carlos; Conget; Araújo, Ongala, Godino (Jordi 63); Nogueira (Kaviedes 80), Sívori.

Final score: Sporting Gijón 0:0 Cartagena

MoM – Pablo Ãlvarez

20th of February 2006

Sergio Corino is named in the Segunda Liga Team of the Week for his excellent effort against Sporting.

Alain was forced out of the last game on 24 minutes after fracturing his ribs. He will miss a month. I admit to the media that his loss is a blow, but I’m confident that we have the cover to replace him for that time. Rafa Moreno in particular will need to step up.

25th of February 2006

I’m pleased to announce another Bosman free transfer, with Palermo striker Davide Matteini agreeing to join Cartagena from 1st of August 2006. The striker, currently on loan to Serie B club Foggia, has caught the eye of both my scouts and myself and I was keen on bringing him to the club earlier than the end of the season. However, we couldn’t agree a fee so I let the matter rest for a while. Palermo aren’t particularly keen to keep him at the club and he was willing to join on relatively cheap terms.

The manager of our next opponent, relegation battler Extremadura, tells the media he is confident of beating my club at our home. I decide to give Ciski, the manager, a back-handed comment, telling the media that while others might think Ciski is useless, I believe he is competent enough.

[Dixie Flatline]

26th of February 2006

Ciski decides that he will be friendly towards me and comments in the match preview published in La Marça that he thinks I’m doing a sterling job at Cartagena and the fans were lucky to have me.

We’ve had the wood over Extremadura in our three meetings to date, with two wins and a draw. Let’s hope this form continues and we can put ourselves back amongst the winners.

Segunda Liga – Game 29: Cartagena v Extremadura

As I suspected, bringing Míchel back gives us a spark of creativity that has been sorely lacking in his absence. His vision creates the first goal on 43 minutes when he accepts Rafa Moreno’s short throw-in, swivels on the ball and fires the ball low across the teeth of Extremadura’s goal, where Sívori is eagerly awaiting to knock it past the Extremadura keeper! However, Extremadura hit back when veteran Brazilian striker Adhemar judges Salas’ cross best and heads it past Iñaki on 49 minutes. But we reclaim the lead on 69 minutes when Kaviedes plays a brilliant ball through the defence for the advantage of Sívori, and the forward doesn’t miss too many of those. The last 20 minutes see a titanic struggle as Extremadura refuse to concede defeat and we strive to kill the match off with a third goal. However, neither side scores again and we run out 2-1 winners. The only downside is an injury to substitute striker Fran Nogueira which he sustained only moments after coming on to replace Kaviedes.

Cartagena (4-1-3-2): Iñaki ©; Rafa Moreno, Cazzola, Corino, Carlos; Guardiola; Míchel, Godino, Araújo; Kaviedes (Nogueira 70 (Ortiz 75)), Sívori.

Extremadura (4-4-2): Pata; Ruiz, Gámiz, Luis Manuel, Robles; Gaizka (Salas 45), Marco ©, Rivera (Soler 63), Simeón; Adhemar (Roberto 70), Pavone.

Final score: Cartagena 2:1 Extremadura

MoM – Pata

The victory pushes us back into twelfth place on the ladder, six points clear of relegation and 15 points short of promotion.

Sívori now becomes our leading goalscorer of the campaign, with seven goals to his name.

Nogueira suffered a damaged elbow and will miss a week.

27th of February 2006

Sergio Corino is making a habit of this – again, he is named in the Segunda Liga Team of the Week. That’s four times in six weeks!

I persuade Guardiola to sign a contract extension that will keep the veteran midfielder at the club until the end of the 2007 season.

[Dixie Flatline]

5th of March 2006

Segunda Liga – Game 30: Pontevedra v Cartagena

Pontevedra need a win to keep their promotion hopes alive and they get their wish with a comfortable 2-0 win over my mob. To be truthful, Pontevedra looks the classier side and with six shots on target compared to our three, they make the better chances. Iñaki is left stranded when his parry from a shot falls nicely for Cabrera to pass off to the better positioned Calle, and he makes no mistake from five yards on 38 minutes. Calle causes us problems on 61 minutes when he runs into the box and fires a drive at Iñaki. Patri is on hand to turn in the rebound, getting to the ball ahead of Cazzola.

Pontevedra (4-4-2): Moso; Neretljak, Peña, Frassetto, Pedro Martí; Cabrera (Jaime 72), Salcedo (Casablanca 72), Pepelu ©, Padín (Xaco 81); Calle, Patri.

Cartagena (4-1-3-2): Iñaki ©; Rafa Moreno (Juanmi 63), Cazzola, Corino, Carlos; Guardiola; Míchel, Godino, Araújo (Conget 63); Kaviedes (Nacho García 63), Sívori.

Final score: Pontevedra 2:0 Cartagena

MoM – Calle

6th of March 2006

I dish out an official warning to Rafa Moreno for his poor performance. He doesn’t take it well. I’m going to drop him in favour of Juanmi for our next match against Ejido.

Sipho Nunens’ patience is beginning to wear thin at not playing regular football, particularly as he is now a South African international, and he tells La Marça so. I’m sympathetic with the midfielder’s plight, but at this stage of the season, I believe my two non-EU citizen slots on the roster can be better filled by Araújo and Kaviedes.

12th of March 2006

Segunda Liga – Game 31: Cartagena v Ejido

As promised, Rafa Moreno is dropped in favour of Juanmi. Godino is suspended for this game, so Conget comes in on the right of a three-man midfield, with Araújo shifting into the centre. Kaviedes is injured and is replaced by Nacho García.

The match begins poorly for us when Ejido’s midfielders waltz through our defence and tee up an easy opportunity for Sabino to score on 28 minutes. However, in the second half, the match changes complexion as Araújo finds his confidence to run at defenders with the ball at his feet. We equalize on 55 minutes when Corino cuts out a long ball and feeds it to Sívori. The forward cleverly draws several Ejido defenders to him, freeing Nacho García. The ball is passed to the striker and he uses the space and time effectively to drill an unstoppable shot into the back of the net!

Then on 74 minutes we take the lead when again we strip Ejido of the ball. Nacho García and Conget put the ball in Sívori’s path, and he sees the unmarked Araújo rushing towards goal. Araújo commands the ball be played to his feet and Sívori obliges. The Colombian international dances his way into the box and lets fly with a powerful drive that leaves the Ejido keeper with no opportunity! We make the points safe a couple of minutes later when Ejido fail to adequately deal with a Guardiola corner, Carlos picks out the run of Sívori, who feeds the ball across the Ejido penalty area for Araújo to blast goalwards. The Ejido keeper does well to get a hand to the shot, but it deflects into the path of Nacho García and he makes no mistake from 6 yards! With my defenders probably playing their best game of the season, Ejido have no chance of staging a revival, and the match statistics of 14 on-target shots to two by Ejido tell a story in themselves!

Cartagena (4-1-3-2): Iñaki ©; Juanmi, Cazzola, Corino, Carlos; Guardiola; Míchel, Araújo, Conget; Nacho García, Sívori.

Ejido (4-4-2): Kike; Javi Paredes (Llorens 21), Pedro, Urbano (Kirian 69), Pineda; Vellisca, Víctor Salas, Martí ©, Sierra; Toedtli, Sabino (Vucko 69).

Final score: Cartagena 3:1 Ejido

MoM – Javier Araújo

Understandably, the Board is delighted with the win over a top four side – indeed, since Real Madrid B cannot be promoted, Ejido is in line for promotion at the end of the season.

[Dixie Flatline]

16th of March 2006

We have a season-high three players in the Segunda Liga Team of the Week: Sergio Corino, Míchel and Javier Araújo.

19th of March 2006

Segunda Liga – Game 32: Cartagena v Almería

A single goal settles this game, in our favour, as Nacho García scores a goal on 21 minutes when he is given too much space and time by the Almería defence to place his shot from Araújo’s pass. In total, we fashion 14 shots at Almería’s goal, but only three on target, while Almería conjure up 9 shots at our goal, but again with only three on target. However, this is a much more satisfying result than being on the receiving end of a hiding like we were the last time we played Almería.

Cartagena (4-1-3-2): Iñaki ©; Rafa Moreno, Cazzola, Corino, Carlos; Conget; Míchel, Araújo, Jordi; Nacho García (Ongala 90), Sívori.

Almería (4-5-1): Ceballos; Manel (Acasiete 23), Soria, Rebosio, Galván (Gálcã 63); Ibon Begoña, Guié-Mien (Cervián 63), Jamelli, Lozano, Juanma; Ortiz ©.

Final score: Cartagena 1:0 Almería

MoM – Jamelli

The victory pushes us into a season-high eleventh place, and we’re now 11 points clear of the relegation zone with ten games to play.

[Dixie Flatline]

20th of March 2006

Sergio Corino and Míchel are named in the Segunda Liga Team of the Week.

26th of March 2006

Segunda Liga – Game 33: Cartagena v Málaga

I’m excited to see us take the lead with a nicely crafted goal from Sívori on 9 minutes who actually manages to head Jordi’s cross home – it’s not often that Sívori scores a goal with his head. We last until half-time and actually look the better side, but my counterpart must have launched a rocket in the visitor’s dressing room as they come after us with everything they have in the second half. The equalizer comes on 56 minutes when the dangerous Basti slips his marker and fires a shot at Iñaki, who proceeds to fumble the ball over the line. I’d settle for a point against the league leaders, but a coast to coast move on 64 minutes sees Basti give Cazzola the runaround before slipping the ball inside Iñaki’s near post. Two bad errors from my goalkeeper and captain result in us going behind. Then on 85 minutes, Alex Geijo finds himself matched by Carlos and Carlos has no chance of clearing ex-Cartagena player Carlos Isach’s cross and Geijo comfortably nods it home to cap off the comeback.

I’m not particularly pleased with the efforts of my defenders today.

Cartagena (4-1-3-2): Iñaki ©; Rafa Moreno, Cazzola, Corino, Carlos; Conget; Míchel, Araújo (Ongala 69), Jordi; Nacho García (Kaviedes 88), Sívori.

Málaga (4-4-2): Calatayud; Valcarce, Juanito, Fernando Sanz, Evanílson; Duda (Edgar 57), Miguel Ãngel, Romero ©, Manu (Isach 60); Wanchope (Geijo 57), Basti.

Final score: Cartagena 1:3 Málaga

MoM – Kléber Marcelo Romero

We drop back a spot to twelfth.

2nd of April 2006

Segunda Liga – Game 34: Elche v Cartagena

Finishing was the difference in this game, as we had only two shots on target but scored two goals, while Elche had nine shots on target but did not score. Our goals did not come until late in the second half. First, Sívori benefited from a clever ball played by Araújo, fended off his markers just long enough and slid the ball between the legs of the Elche keeper on 76 minutes. Secondly, despite close attention being paid to him, Araújo accepted Conget’s low cross and belted it past the Elche keeper on 86 minutes. Clinical, efficient finishing by both players gains us three invaluable points.

Elche (4-4-2): Unanua; Marc, Unai, Benja ©, Txiki (Sergio 61); Rubén (Gil 72), Iriney, Kiko Torres, Elías (Zárate 61); Nino, Peragón.

Cartagena (4-1-3-2): Iñaki ©; Alain, Cazzola, Corino, Carlos; Guardiola; Míchel, Araújo, Conget; Nacho García, Sívori.

Final score: Elche 0:2 Cartagena

MoM – Iñaki

The only downside to the victory is that Cazzola picked up his fifth yellow card for the season and will miss our next game, away to Mallorca B.

The Board is pleased with the result.

We go back into eleventh position on the league ladder.

[Dixie Flatline]

3rd of April 2006

Iñaki and Sergio Corino are named in the Segunda Liga Team of the Week.

9th of April 2006

Segunda Liga – Game 35: Mallorca B v Cartagena

We play possibly the best first half of football under my stewardship against the hapless Mallorca B. By half-time, we lead 5-1, with Sívori claiming a hat-trick and Araújo a brace! The carnage begins on 8 minutes when comical defending by Mallorca B allows Sívori in to smack the ball past the stranded keeper. I had a chuckle at the sight of the Mallorca B defenders desperately trying to clear the ball only for Sívori to waltz in and bang the ball home. Five minutes later, Araújo passes the ball neatly for Nacho García to have a shot, only for it to bounce back off the post. However, Araújo is on hand to tuck home the rebound. On 21 minutes, Guardiola rips the ball off Luciano and feeds Nacho García, who squares the ball to Conget on the right. The vice-captain lofts a cross into the box where the unmarked Araújo is on hand to volley it past the Mallorca B keeper to make it 3-0. Then on 38 minutes, Guardiola finds Sívori unmarked on the edge of the box from a corner and Sívori strolls in before planting it beyond the Mallorca B keeper. A moment before half-time, Mallorca B spoil our party when Javi prods home Francis’ free kick, but straight from kick-off, we have our revenge when Conget finds Sívori lurking on the edge of the box and the forward makes no mistake!

The second half is a more sedate affair, although Mallorca B squander a penalty on 63 minutes when Alfageme fires it wide of the post. I bring on Kaviedes and Godino as substitutes, and it is the former who is instrumental in Sívori’s fourth goal of the game. Kaviedes dribbles his way through the Mallorca B defence before shooting at goal. The keeper palms it away but it falls straight at Sívori’s feet and he cannot miss. We end the game, finishing 6-1 up, which is a great boost for our goal difference.

Mallorca B (4-4-2): Cabrero; José, Camacho ©, Rafita (Dani González 45), Iván; Javi Moreno, Francis, Fran (Cheche 45), Javi; Luciano (Pi 62), Alfageme.

Cartagena (4-1-3-2): Iñaki ©; Alain, Merino, Corino, Carlos; Guardiola; Míchel, Araújo, Conget (Godino 71); Nacho García (Kaviedes 71), Sívori.

Final score: Mallorca B 1:6 Cartagena

MoM – Sívori

10th of April 2006

Unsurprisingly, five players from Cartagena are named in the Segunda Liga Team of the Week: Sergio Corino, Míchel, Eduardo Conget, Javier Araújo and Sívori.

19th of April 2006

Quite a gap to our next game, which is at home against Ferrol.

Segunda Liga – Game 36: Cartagena v Ferrol

Again, a single goal decides this game, in our favour. Nacho García receives the ball from Javier Araújo and runs at the Ferrol defence, causing them no end of heart palpitations, as it should, because our striker calmly puts the ball into the far corner of the Ferrol net. Ferrol miss a gilt-edged opportunity to equalize with the last kick of the game, as the ball ends up on the wrong side of the net with substitute keeper Yepes looking on, praying frantically that it won’t creep into his net. But we basically control the game and deserve to win.

Cartagena (4-1-3-2): Iñaki © (Yepes 89); Alain (Rafa Moreno 66), Merino, Corino, Carlos; Guardiola; Míchel, Araújo, Conget; Nacho García, Sívori.

Ferrol (4-4-2): Diego; Iznata (Moreno 64), Santana, Alberto, Vosahlo; Solabarrieta (Andrés 70), Alaña (Cobas 64), Ba****i, Carlos; Jandro, Mario Bermejo.

Final score: Cartagena 1:0 Ferrol

MoM – Míchel

The win comes at a price, with Iñaki deeply bruising a thigh and Sergio Corino straining a wrist. Both are in doubt for our next game on the weekend.

However, it lifts us into tenth position on the ladder, our highest position to date, with a record of 13 wins, 12 draws and 11 losses for the season, and a goal difference of -6.

[Dixie Flatline]

22nd of April 2006

Málaga secures promotion to the Primera Liga this afternoon after lowly Numancia defeats Real Madrid B 1-0 in Soria.

23rd of April 2006

Segunda Liga – Game 37: Ciudad de Murcia v Cartagena

Another derby game, but one we should win, as our opponent sits nineteenth and in danger of relegation. We dominate proceedings but poor finishing and excellent keeping means we only win the game 1-0. Sívori breaks clear of the defence after accepting the pass from Araújo and runs at the Ciudad de Murcia defence, dragging two defenders with him. Araújo is in clean air and accepts Sívori’s pass on the edge of the area. The Colombian then coolly slots the ball home. With eleven on-target shots for the game, we really should have had more goals, but that is our third win on the bounce and a satisfying result.

Ciudad de Murcia (4-4-2): Miki; Jesule, Córdoba, Amaya, Sergio Ramos; Aguilar © (Ferrón 73), Gibanel, Quino, Rivero (Arturo 63); Cuevas, Birchall (Borrell 63).

Cartagena (4-1-3-2): Iñaki ©; Alain, Merino, Cazzola, Carlos; Guardiola; Míchel, Araújo, Conget (Godino 45); Nacho García, Sívori.

Final score: Ciudad de Murcia 0:1 Cartagena

MoM – Javier Araújo

The win pushes us up to the dizzying heights of ninth place with 37 games completed.

Málaga is crowned the Segunda Liga champion, with 84 points from a possible 108 (so far).

As the victory today was over a local rival, the Board is again pleased with the result.

Another Bosman free transfer will join the club in the summer, bringing the number of new players to 11 overall (all Bosman free transfers, too). West Ham sweeper Hayden Mullins is the latest to agree to come to the club.

24th of April 2006

Míchel and Javier Araújo are named in the Segunda Liga Team of the Week.

[Dixie Flatline]

30th of April 2006

Segunda Liga – Game 38: Cartagena v Real Vallodolid

This ends up being a somewhat understated match where the points are shared. We take the lead on 12 minutes when Sívori is left unmarked at the edge of the area at a corner, Guardiola finds him and Sívori does the rest. But on 18 minutes, Guardiola plays a poor ball to his defenders, and the Real Vallodolid forwards pressure my defence into going the backpass route. Iñaki isn’t the best player with the ball at his feet and the pressure is on. Merino manages to clear the ball once, but it goes to a Real Vallodolid player, who plays in their key striker, Víctor, and he scores at the near post on 19 minutes. After that, not much else happened.

Cartagena (4-1-3-2): Iñaki ©; Alain, Merino, Cazzola, Carlos (Rafa Moreno 74); Guardiola; Míchel, Araújo, Conget; Nacho García (Kaviedes 83), Sívori.

Real Vallodolid (4-5-1): Barreto; Marcos, Boris (Mateo 60), Borja, Cristian Ãlvarez; Camacho, Nando, Sousa, Javi Jiménez ©, Chema (Richetti 60); Víctor (Aduriz 72).

Final score: Cartagena 1:1 Real Vallodolid

MoM – Sívori

We stay ninth and with four games to play in the season, we sit 19 points clear of relegation, which means that we are safe for this season. Surprisingly, we are only 12 points behind third-placed Racing Santander, but we would need to win every game and every club above us (including Racing Santander) must lose every game for us to creep into the third promotion spot. It’s not going to happen this season.

For some reason, the papers are beginning to criticize my selection of Guardiola, saying that the best is behind him and I should look to younger players in my squad. I’m personally very happy with Guardiola’s contribution in the half-season he has played for us and I think a little bit of gratitude should be shown.

2nd of May 2006

My public defence of Guardiola is reflected in the supporters’ collective opinion, as a report appears in the local newspaper saying that the fans are loving every moment of his recent performances.

[haze.13]

Great story dixie keep it up!

[Dixie Flatline]

7th of May 2006

Segunda Liga – Game 39: Tenerife v Cartagena

This is another action-packed encounter where we shade Tenerife by the odd goal in five. Tenerife has a player sent off for a professional foul against Araújo on 6 minutes. We open the scoring on 16 minutes when Bermudo, under pressure from Sívori, puts the ball in his own net from Míchel’s cross. But Tenerife hit back on 23 minutes when Kiko has the better of Merino in the air from La Paglia’s cross, nods the ball down to his advantage, rounds the hesitant Iñaki and scores. Then Iñaki makes another blunder when he misses Antonio’s fiercely struck drive on 38 minutes and lets Tenerife take the lead.

But on the hour mark, Míchel strips his opponent of the ball and plays a delicious through-ball, all of 40 yards, for the run of Sívori, and my forward doesn’t miss, equalizing the scores. Then, deep in injury time at the end of the game, Míchel provides a golden opportunity for the substitute Kaviedes to score, and the Ecuadorian obliges, rolling the ball gently past the Tenerife keeper and making it 3-2 in our favour with effectively the last kick of the game.

Tenerife (4-4-2): Kelemen; Bermudo, Corona (s/o 6), Bell, Iker Garai; Capdevila, La Paglia, Antonio, Raúl Martín (Vázquez 60); Kiko (Medina 71), Keko © (Bombarda 60).

Cartagena (4-1-3-2): Iñaki ©; Alain, Merino, Cazzola, Carlos; Conget; Míchel, Araújo, Godino; Nacho García (Kaviedes 45), Sívori.

Final score: Tenerife 2:3 Cartagena

MoM – Míchel

Our promotion chase is officially over as Racing Santander, currently third, defeats Real Madrid B 2-0 to remain 12 points clear of us, but with only three games left in the season.

Extremadura is the first club to have its relegation from the Segunda Liga confirmed.

I give an official warning to Nacho García for his woeful performance on the weekend. He doesn’t like it.

8th of May 2006

Míchel is named in the Segunda Liga Team of the Week as reward for his outstanding performance.

14th of May 2006

Segunda Liga – Game 40: Cartagena v Córdoba

We record a comfortable 3-0 victory thanks to a goal to Araújo on 38 minutes, and a double strike from Sívori in injury time at the end of the first half. The first goal is the result of patient build-up involving Araújo, Míchel and Guardiola, with Míchel laying on the opportunity for Araújo to fire home from about 15 yards. Then on 45 minutes, Míchel bends a cross from the left wing across our opponent’s goal for Sívori to stoop and head home decisively. Then with two minutes of injury time played, Míchel and Araújo combine for the Colombian to slip a neat ball through our opponent’s defence for Sívori to latch on to and fire home. Nice and easy.

Cartagena (4-1-3-2): Iñaki ©; Alain, Corino, Cazzola, Carlos; Guardiola; Míchel, Araújo, Conget; Kaviedes (Ongala 69), Sívori.

Córdoba (3-5-2): Jáuregi; Maínz (Selu 73), Bouzón, Berruet; López Ramos ©, Jorge Pérez (Sérvulo 73), Francisco, Sarmiento (Óscar Pérez 39), Geli; Armentano, Villa.

Final score: Cartagena 3:0 Córdoba

MoM – Sívori

The victory lifts us into eighth.

[Dixie Flatline]

15th of May 2006

Míchel and Sívori are named in the Segunda Liga Team of the Week.

17th of May 2006

Manchester United wins the UEFA Cup, defeating FC Schalke 4-2.

Real Madrid is crowned the champion of Spain this evening. Next season, we’ll be joined by Getafe as they are relegated from the Primera Liga.

20th of May 2006

Recreativo is relegated from the Segunda Liga.

21st of May 2006

Talk about job pressure! It is rumoured that the Juventus board has issued an ultimatum to Signor Fabio Capello: Deliver the title or get out. Currently, Juventus sits three points behind AC Milan in the chase for Lo Scudetto with a game to play in the season. Juventus have a superior goal difference to AC Milan and host Atalanta, currently in eleventh position. AC Milan are away to ninth placed Chievo Verona and need only to draw the game to guarantee its nineteenth championship.

Segunda Liga – Game 41: Numancia v Cartagena

Unfortunately, our unbeaten streak comes to an end this afternoon as Numancia defeats us by a solitary goal, scored by Miguel on 78 minutes. That’s not to say this was a boring game – far from it, it’s just that the finishing left a little to be desired, particularly from my players. We conjured 8 shots at goal, but only two were on target. This was not our best game for the season.

Numancia (4-4-2): Ãlvaro Núñez; Tchato, Otxoa (Molina 71), Antonio, Juanpa; Reina, Palacios (Miguel Ãngel Núñez 61), Denílson (Merino 61), Miguel Pérez ©; Miguel, Fernandez.

Cartagena (4-1-3-2): Iñaki ©; Alain, Corino, Cazzola, Carlos; Guardiola; Míchel, Araújo, Godino; Kaviedes (Nacho García 72), Sívori.

Final score: Numancia 1:0 Cartagena

MoM – Míchel

Racing Santander and Murcia are promoted to the Primera Liga. Ciudad de Murcia is relegated.

We drop a position to ninth after our defeat.

22nd of May 2006

Sergio Corino and Josep Guardiola are named in the Segunda Liga Team of the Week.

24th of May 2006

Inter Milan is the new champion of Europe after coming back from 1-0 down to defeat Barcelona 2-1 in Bern.

[Dixie Flatline]

27th of May 2006

Málaga may have swept all before them in their run towards the Segunda Liga championship, but their 3-0 loss at the hands of Barcelona in the Copa del Rey final illustrates the gulf between the crème de la crème of the Primera Liga and the rest.

28th of May 2006

Well, Juventus kept up its end of the bargain by defeating Atalanta 1-0 at the Dell’Alpi, but AC Milan prevailed 2-1 over Chievo Verona to claim the Serie A championship. The issue becomes whether Juventus will now sack their manager, Signor Capello, after issuing him the ultimatum a week ago.

Segunda Liga – Game 42: Cartagena v Recreativo

Last game of the season, finally, and we celebrate the end of the season in style with a comfortable 2-0 win. The first goal is ridiculously easy – Míchel takes charge of a free kick near the Recreativo penalty box and finds the unmarked Javier Araújo. The Colombian international gleefully hits a powerful shot into the back of the net on 34 minutes. We wrap up the game on 65 minutes when substitute Kali Ongala drags defenders towards him with his run and then slips the ball through to the unguarded Sívori, who smashes the ball into the far corner of the net. It’s a simple game, really, once it’s worked out!

Cartagena (4-1-3-2): Iñaki ©; Alain, Corino, Cazzola, Carlos; Guardiola; Míchel, Araújo, Conget; Kaviedes (Ongala 59), Sívori.

Recreativo (3-5-2): Nacho; Desserne (Benítez 45), Martínez, Rambier; J. Merino ©; Schreuder, Pablo Sanz, Cheli (Aitor 45), Garrido; Karlsson (Moreno 62), Uche.

Final score: Cartagena 2:0 Recreativo

MoM – Míchel

So, after 42 games in the Segunda Liga, we complete the season in a very creditable seventh position, with a goal difference of 0 (51 scored; 51 conceded):

<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">

Pos Team Pld Won Drn Lst For Ag G.D. Pts

-----------------------------------------------------------

1st C Malaga 42 29 8 4 93 36 +57 95

2nd P Racing 42 20 17 5 51 21 +30 77

3rd P Murcia 42 22 8 12 56 28 +28 74

-----------------------------------------------------------

4th Real Madrid B 42 20 10 12 52 43 +9 70

5th Ejido 42 19 12 11 71 55 +16 69

6th Vallodolid 42 17 15 10 53 33 +20 66

7th Cartagena 42 17 13 12 51 51 0 64

8th Xerez 42 16 15 11 58 50 +8 63

9th Salamanca 42 16 15 11 47 39 +8 63

10th Pontevedra 42 17 8 17 61 54 +7 59

11th Almeria 42 15 10 17 56 48 +8 55

12th Elche 42 13 16 13 52 52 0 55

13th Sporting 42 11 21 10 46 46 0 55

</pre>

[Dixie Flatline]

Let’s quickly run down the squad, starting with the goalkeepers:

Goalkeepers

Iñaki (36 y/o, ESP, GK – 83 apps, 64 conceded, 42 clean sheets, 13 MoMs, av. rating: 7.;36): 41 apps, 42 conceded, 17 clean sheets, 5 MoMs, av. rating: 7.34

José Esteban Yepes (33 y/o, ESP, GK – 5(3) apps, 14 conceded, 3 clean sheets, av. rating: 6.88): 5(3) apps, 14 conceded, 3 clean sheets, av. rating: 6.88

I am very pleased with Iñaki, who was a tremendous influence on the rest of the team. Now at the ripe age of 36, his best years are probably behind him and I hope that Bonnefoi will challenge Iñaki for the no. 1 keeper’s spot next season. Slightly inconsistent this year, but definitely my no. 1 keeper. Yepes’ time between the sticks coincided with our worst period of the season and his statistics do not flatter him at all. He is a better keeper than his statistics reflect, but he will not be my no. 1, unless something drastic happens.

Defenders

Sergio Corino (31 y/o, ESP, SW/D C – 19 apps, 1 goal, av. rating: 7.53): 19 apps, 1 goal, av. rating: 7.53

Juanmi (24 y/o, ESP, D L – 3(2) apps, av. rating: 6.80): 1(2) apps, av. rating: 6.67

Manu (33 y/o, ESP, D C – 17(3) apps, av. rating: 7.10): 6(1) apps, av. rating: 6.71

Alberto Merino (31 y/o, ESP, D C – 54(1) apps, av. rating: 7.26): 23(1) apps, av. rating: 7.17

Carlos (26 y/o, ESP, D/DM RL – 44 apps, av. rating: 7.14): 44 apps, av. rating: 7.14

Rafa Moreno (24 y/o, ESP, D/DM RL – 9(6) apps, av. rating: 6.47): 9(6) apps, av. rating: 6.47

Riccardo Cazzola (20 y/o, ITA, D/DM RC – 44 apps, 1 assist, 1 MoM, av. rating: 7.05): 44 apps, 1 assist, 1 MoM, av. rating: 7.05

Alain (28 y/o, ESP, D/DM L – 81 apps, 4 assists, av. rating: 7.22): 39 apps, 1 assist, av. rating: 7.10

Julio Puig (29 y/o, ESP, D/M C – 37(3) apps, 3 goals, 4 assists, 1 MoM, av. rating: 7.17): 1(2) apps, av. rating: 6.33

The introduction of Sergio Corino into the defence during the winter transfer period did wonders to stiffen it and to enable the defence to withstand pressure from our opponents. Merino was a good defender until that point of the season, but he did not really have the skill and ability that Corino possesses to marshal the defence. Cazzola showed signs of promise as he played just about every game he could this season and I am gratified with his progress. Alain on the left flank and Carlos on the right were also quite serviceable and certainly didn’t let me down. Rafa Moreno failed really to settle. Manu and Juanmi are out of contract and I’m not sure whether I’ll renew their contracts, given that I’m expecting to land quite a few defenders during the off-season on Bosman free transfers. Julio Puig can be very disappointed that he did not force his way into my team more often after his good first season under my management. He needs to show improvement markedly to retain his place on the roster.

[Dixie Flatline]

Midfielders

Eduardo Conget (28 y/o, ESP, DM RC – 79(3) apps, 4 goals, 13 assists, 2 MoMs, av. rating: 7.20): 40(3) apps, 3 goals, 10 assists, 2 MoMs, av. rating: 7.14

Josep Guardiola (35 y/o, ESP 47 caps, 5 goals, DM C – 17 apps, 2 assists, av. rating: 7.35): 17 apps, 2 assists, av. rating: 7.35

Juan Ignacio Piombo (24 y/o, ARG, DM C – 14(3) apps, 1 goal, av. rating: 7.24): 0(1) app, av. rating: 7.00

Jordi (29 y/o, ESP, M R – 32(5) apps, 1 goal, 14 assists, av. rating: 7.27): 6(4) apps, 2 assists, av. rating: 7.00

Sipho Nunens (24 y/o, RSA 9 caps, 1 goal, M C – 11(3) apps, 3 goals, 3 assists, 3 MoMs, av. rating: 7.07): 11(3) apps, 3 goals, 3 assists, 3 MoMs, av. rating: 7.07

Jorge Azkoitia (32 y/o, ESP, AM R – 13(2) apps, 2 goals, 1 assist, av. rating: 6.87): 13(2) apps, 2 goals, 1 assist, av. rating: 6.87

Gianluigi Lentini (37 y/o, ITA 13 caps, AM RL – 9(1) apps, 1 assist, av. rating: 6.70): 9(1) apps, 1 assist, av. rating: 6.70

Javier Araújo (21 y/o, COL 16 caps, 2 goals, AM RLC – 16(1) apps, 7 goals, 5 assists, 2 MoMs, av. rating: 7.65): 16(1) apps, 7 goals, 5 assists, 2 MoMs, av. rating: 7.65

Juan Antonio Godino (28 y/o, ESP, AM RC – 28(4) apps, 3 goals, 3 assists, av. rating: 6.97): 28(4) apps, 3 goals, 3 assists, av. rating: 6.97

Fransisco Javier De Pedro (32 y/o, ESP 12 caps, 2 goals, AM L – 3(2) apps, av. rating: 6.80): 3(2) apps, av. rating: 6.80

José Manuel Ortiz (33 y/o, ESP, AM L – 9(1) apps, 2 assists, av. rating: 7.00): 9(1) apps, 2 assists, av. rating: 7.00

Míchel (30 y/o, ESP, AM LC – 20(1) apps, 2 goals, 9 assists, 6 MoMs, av. rating: 8.05): 20(1) apps, 2 goals, 9 assists, 6 MoMs, av. rating: 8.05

Alexandr Mostovoy (37 y/o, RUS 65 caps, 13 goals, AM C – 7(4) apps, 1 goal, 3 assists, av. rating: 7.00): 7(4) apps, 1 goal, 3 assists, av. rating: 7.00

Until the winter transfer period, I struggled really for creativity out of our midfield. Then, the winter transfer period arrived and I signed Míchel, Araújo and Guardiola (amongst others) who all helped to propel Cartagena up the table and away from relegation. Conget was excellent as I shifted him out of defence and into midfield, but the best signing I made was capturing the unhappy Míchel from Murcia for a bargain-basement price of £250,000. Unfortunately, he is already 30, but his creativity and capacity for threading the pass through the defence were key to our success in the second half of the season. Javier Araújo is just beginning to find his feet in Spain, but already his talent has been well show-cased in the Segunda Liga. I just hope that I can hold on to him long enough to realize that talent. Godino played his part, but was prone to inconsistency, while the likes of De Pedro, Ortiz, Azkoitia and particularly Lentini and Mostovoy came to the club in the twilight of their careers and did not do enough when here. All are candidates for being sold in the off-season.

Forwards

Kali Ongala (26 y/o, CGO 6 caps, F C – 14(13) apps, 8 goals, 4 assists, 5 MoMs, av. rating: 7.48): 13(9) apps, 5 goals, 4 assists, 4 MoMs, av. rating: 7.45

Sívori (29 y/o, ESP, F C – 64(4) apps, 44 goals, 11 assists, 11 MoMs, av. rating: 7.47): 37(1) apps, 18 goals, 4 assists, 4 MoMs, av. rating: 7.26

Gabriel Bordi (31 y/o, ARG, S C – 5(13) apps, 1 goal, av. rating: 6.78): 3(6) apps, av. rating: 6.67

Fran Nogueira (33 y/o, ESP, S C – 50(6) apps, 28 goals, 3 assists, 2 MoMs, av. rating: 7.22): 22(5) apps, 9 goals, 2 assists, av. rating: 7.19

Iván Kaviedes (28 y/o, ECU 52 caps, 12 goals, S C – 11(6) apps, 2 goals, 2 assists, av. rating: 7.12): 11(6) apps, 2 goals, 2 assists, av. rating: 7.12

Loreto (35 y/o, ESP, S C – 10(12) apps, 4 goals, 2 assists, 1 MoM, av. rating: 6.86): 0(4) apps, 1 assist, av. rating: 7.00

Nacho García (30 y/o, ESP, S C – 11(4) apps, 5 goals, 1 assist, av. rating: 7.00): 9(2) apps, 4 goals, 1 assist, av. rating: 6.91

In the second half of the season, a change in formation and the addition of a new striker helped Sívori find his goalscoring boots and he went from 2 goals after 22 rounds to 18 goals by the end of the season. Let’s hope he keeps up that vein of scoring next season as he is our most dangerous striker. Kaviedes did a job when he came to the club, though a few more goals would have been nice. Ongala showed glimpses of talent, especially early in the season, but he found it difficult to break into the eleven in the second half of the season. Nacho García played reasonably well, but not well enough to convince me that his contract should be renewed. Bordi is a disappointment and if I can find a club willing to take him, he will go in the summer. Loreto and Fran Nogueira are too old for the rigours of Segunda Liga football and both will leave the club in the summer.

Signing off, for the moment!

[Dixie Flatline]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by haze.13:

Great story dixie keep it up! </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

Thanks! I'm glad you're enjoying it!

[Dixie Flatline]

Back with some more from Cartagena

29th of May 2006

Míchel is named in the Segunda Liga Team of the Week. He pips Sergio Corino for the number of times a Cartagena player has been named in that team – Míchel was named ten times, Corino nine.

30th of May 2006

There is one last fixture to play to complete the season’s formalities – Málaga easily defeats Tenerife 2-0 to move to 98 points for the season. Relegated from the Segunda Liga are Ferrol, Ciudad de Murcia, Recreativo and Extremadura.

31st of May 2006

Iñaki finishes runner-up in the Segunda Liga Goalkeeper of the Year award, behind Córdoba’s Xavier Jáuregi.

1st of June 2006

I can find no takers at this stage for my unwanted players.

7th of June 2006

The World Cup kicks off in Germany with Brazil defeating Mexico 3-0 and Tunisia holding Spain to a goalless draw.

13th of June 2006

Spain defeats Mexico 2-0.

14th of June 2006

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">

US international Freddy Adu will join Cartagena

Cartagena announced this afternoon that they had secured the signature of US international Freddy Adu after he was released by DC United in the run-up to the World Cup. Adu, currently with the US team for its participation in the World Cup, released a statement via his agent stating his happiness at finding a new club so soon after being released. Adu, 17 years old but already capped 5 times by his country, is one of the most exciting prospects to emerge out of the US youth system and he hopes he can make his mark on Spanish football next season.

</div></BLOCKQUOTE>

[Dixie Flatline]

18th of June 2006

I’m advised by the Board that my transfer budget for the forthcoming season will be £300,000, plus whatever I can raise through the sale of players.

At this stage, I’m more concerned about reducing the ballooning wage bill. Hopefully the retirement of some players will assist in that cause.

1st of July 2006

Gianluigi Lentini retires from professional football.

A whole host of players join the club today, including Landry Bonnefoi, Hayden Mullins, Thomas Gaardsøe, Sebastian Svärd and Jorge Acuña.

8th of July 2006

Raúl leaves the club without playing a game, joining Linares for £9,000. Raúl (22 y/o, ESP, M C): 0 apps

9th of July 2006

Italy defeats Germany 4-3 on penalties after the two countries drew 0-0 to win the World Cup. The Netherlands finished third after defeating Uruguay on penalties as the teams could not be separated, finishing the game 1-1 after extra time.

Diego Gottardi informs me that he has agreed personal terms with Italian club Melfi and will leave Cartagena on 1st of August 2006 on a Bosman free transfer.

10th of July 2006

Sívori is named the Fans’ Player of the Season for 2005/06. I’m not surprised with that outcome.

From the sale of television rights by the league, Cartagena is given £2 million.

My performance at the helm last season has led to the Board upgrading its expectations – instead of bravely battling relegation, I’m expected to lead the club towards a safe mid-table position. To assist, I’m given a transfer budget of £300,000.

[Dixie Flatline]

12th of July 2006

José Manuel Ortiz retires from professional football today.

13th of July 2006

Helsingborg comes in with a £10,000 bid for Nacho García. I wasn’t planning on extending his contract, which was due to expire at the end of the month, so the money is more than welcome. After due consideration, Nacho García decides that his future lies away from this club and agrees to the transfer: Nacho García (30 y/o, ESP, S C): 11(4) apps, 5 goals, 1 assist, av. rating: 7.00

14th of July 2006

Manu retires from professional football.

15th of July 2006

I sign right back Jordi Ferrón on a free transfer.

16th of July 2006

Regi Blinker retires from professional football.

17th of July 2006

Gabriel Bordi joins Orihuela on loan for a season. His new club has undertaken to pay all his wages for the duration of the loan.

19th of July 2006

I’m a little surprised that one of my physios, David Zapata, has decided to retire from professional football with immediate effect. I don’t recall that he gave me any indication that he was going to do so. I still have another physio on the books, so I’m not fussed.

22nd of July 2006

Loreto retires from professional football.

28th of July 2006

I’ve been in negotiations with Leganés over Eduardo Conget. I have to admit I’m tempted to sell our vice-captain as I think that he won’t be good enough to succeed in the Primera Liga in the event we make it there, and I could do with shaving some wages off the wage budget as we’re still well over the Board’s limit. However, the club’s vice-captain has been an excellent servant for two seasons and I believe I owe it to him to have a crack at promotion to the Primera Liga rather than dropping a division. So I call off the negotiations and reject Leganés’ final offer, which, if it came off, would have seen us collect £750,000, but only £250,000 up front.

1st August 2006

The remainder of my Bosman free transfers join the club today, including Jurica Vucko, Davide Matteini, Javi Parades, Cristian Green, Corrado Quaresmini and Vicente.

The contracts of Uvi, Nando Sanz, Juanmi and Juan Ignacio Piombo all expired yesterday. Diego Gottardi left the club and joins Melfi on a free transfer. Uvi and Nando Sanz, already transfer-listed, decide to leave the club immediately. I decide to release Juanmi and Piombo from the club.

Uvi (30 y/o, ESP, AM C): 2(1) apps, av. rating: 7.00

Nando Sanz (30 y/o, ESP, AM C): 5(6) apps, 3 goals, 1 assist, av. rating: 7.00

Juanmi (24 y/o, ESP, D L): 3(2) apps, 6.80

Juan Ignacio Piombo (24 y/o, ARG, DM C): 14(3) apps, 1 goal, av. rating: 7.24

Diego Gottardi (24 y/o, ARG, AM LC): 0 apps

[Dixie Flatline]

5th of August 2006

I manage to sell Rafa Moreno to Lleida for £12,000: Rafa Moreno (25 y/o, ESP, D/DM RL): 9(6) apps, av. rating: 6.47

A £1,000 goes to Lorca due to a 10% sell-on clause.

8th of August 2006

I sell Juan José Herviás to Lleida for £12,000. He did not play a game for the club in the two seasons he was here. Juan José Herviás (23 y/o, ESP, D/DM C): 0 apps

12th of August 2006

F1 Cup I – Semi-Final: Cartagena v Levante

The last time we played Levante, in a pre-season friendly game last year, we were beaten soundly 2-1 by our Primera Liga opponent. However, we turn the tables on Levante with a relatively comfortable 2-1 win. Oswaldo Chaurant puts us on our way on 14 minutes when he bends the ball into the top corner of the net from 25+ yards with a fantastic strike. Davide Matteini doubles our lead on 50 minutes thanks to good work by Nunens and Adu. We concede a goal on 86 minutes to Manchev, who loses Paredes and lobs Bonnefoi with a neat chip. We survive Levante’s late pressure spell to come away with the win.

Cartagena (4-1-3-2): Bonnefoi; Paredes, Mullins (Svärd 63), Gaardsøe, Green (Ferrón 63); Vicente (Acuña 63); De Pedro (Nunens 45), Chaurant, Conget ©; Adu (Ongala 63), Matteini (Vucko 63).

Levante (4-5-1): Cavallero (Mora 83); Harte (Alexis 50), Reinhardt (Piqué 74), Mjällby © (Steinwarth 83), Descarga (Eger 74); Jofre (Heldt 65), González (Saizar 83), Enguix (Alfredo 50), Lozano (Hampel 65), Ettien (Manchev 65); Congo (Loro 74).

Final score: Cartagena 2:1 Levante

MoM – Pablo Oscar Cavallero

In the other semi-final, Naval edged out Cartagena U-18s on penalties after the sides drew 2-2.

13th of August 2006

F1 Cup I – Final: Cartagena v Naval

We edge this contest 1-0 thanks to a goal on 51 minutes from Croatian striker Jurica Vucko. Míchel was the provider, bending a cross from the left side across the Naval goal where Vucko is unmarked for a split-second, but long enough to bang the ball home. Overall, we were the more creative team, producing 10 shots at goal (5 on target) compared to Naval’s 5 shots (2 on target).

Cartagena (4-1-3-2): Bonnefoi; Paredes (Quaresmini 55), Mullins (Svärd 55), Gaardsøe (Corino 68), Green; Vicente (Acuña 68); Chaurant (Míchel 45), Nunens (Araújo 45), Conget © (Jordi 45); Adu (Ongala 45), Matteini (Vucko 45).

Naval (4-4-2): Peraltinha; Cândido (Ramos 64), Paulo (Carlos 64), Migliónico (Jorge 64), Gomes (Fernandes 78); Sérgio André, Strachan (Pereira 78), Regueira © (Alexandre 64), Sousa (Ferreira 51); Daniel (Vieira 45), Ferreira (Pedro 51).

Final score: Cartagena 1:0 Naval

MoM – Pedro Peraltinha

[Dixie Flatline]

20th of August 2006

I sign Sívori to a new two year contract. Negotiations with Míchel and Javier Araújo continue.

There will be live television coverage of the game between Cartagena and Tenerife on 25th of November 2006, I’m advised today.

Friendly – Cartagena v Linense

Against non-league opposition, we warm ourselves up with a nice 4-0 win. Three goals come in the first half, one each to Vicente (on 14 minutes), Godino (on 20 minutes), and Matteini (on 23 minutes). Substitute Jurica Vucko adds our fourth goal on 74 minutes. This was really a walk in the park and wasn’t intended to be a test for my team; just a confidence builder before the hard stuff begins.

Cartagena (4-1-3-2): Bonnefoi (Iñaki 81); Paredes (Green 60), Mullins (Svärd 60), Cazzola, Ferrón (Quaresmini 60); Vicente (Acuña 81); Chaurant (Míchel 60), Godino (Araújo 81), Conget © (Jordi 60); Sívori (Adu 60), Matteini (Vucko 60).

Linense (4-4-2): A bunch of amateurs, really

Final score: Cartagena 4:0 Linense

MoM – Juan Antonio Godino

21st of August 2006

Vicente Flor and Jorge Azkoitia join newly promoted Hospitalet in the Segunda Liga B on season-long loans. Flor goes for the experience; Azkoitia goes because I want to get rid of him and I hope that by playing often he’ll attract some attention.

22nd of August 2006

The bookmakers believe that Cádiz, relegated last season, will go straight back up, naming the club as the favourite to win promotion. Real Vallodolid, Xerez, Albacete, Ejido and Getafe are the next clubs favoured to win promotion. We’re listed at 25-1 odds to be promoted, which is much better than the 200-1 odds we were given last season.

Eduardo Conget extends his contract at Cartagena and picks up a nice boost to his weekly wage.

23rd of August 2006

I sell left-back Alain to Segunda Liga B club Recreativo for an initial £300,000, rising to £550,000 depending on appearances. Alain was a solid servant for this club in the two seasons I’ve managed Cartagena, but with extra players capable of playing at full-back brought into the club during the summer, I think I can do without him. Alain (28 y/o, ESP, D/DM L): 81 apps, 4 assists, av. rating: 7.22

However, Julio Puig rejects terms offered by Novelda and remains at the club, at least for the foreseeable future. Novelda had offered me £8,000 for the defensive utility, but Puig is not yet prepared to drop divisions.

[Dixie Flatline]

24th of August 2006

Alavés starts to sniff around Javier Araújo, making a formal inquiry as to my valuation of the Colombian international midfielder. Mindful that his minimum release clause is a paltry £2.5 million and that I’ve been unable to renegotiate his playing contract since he joined the club as my hands are tied by the Board concerning wages, I hope against hope that Alavés does not look too closely into his contract and name £3.4 million as my price.

26th of August 2006

Friendly – Cartagena v Real Madrid B

We were no match for Real Madrid B last season in the Segunda Liga, so today should be a good test for us. Thankfully, we pass it with flying colours, sticking four goals past the Madrid B keeper. Sívori and Matteini both scored braces, with three of the four goals coming in an eight-minute period between 14 and 21 minutes. Matteini added his second goal shortly after half-time to put a good complexion upon the scoresheet.

Cartagena (4-1-3-2): Bonnefoi (Iñaki 75); Paredes (Quaresmini 85), Mullins (Gaardsøe 75), Cazzola (Svärd 75), Ferrón (Green 75); Vicente (Acuña 75); Chaurant (Míchel 55), Godino, Conget © (Jordi 55); Sívori (Ongala 55), Matteini (Vucko 55).

Real Madrid B (4-2-2-2): Cruz (Polo 77); José, Galán (Gutiérrez 55), Rubén, Rojas (Fernández 55); Meléndez (Canini 55), Alè; Manu (Juanfran 46), David (Riki 46); Portillo (Diego 48), Diego © (Manu 83).

Final score: Cartagena 4:0 Real Madrid B

MoM – Juan Antonio Godino

Unfortunately, Chaurant strained a groin muscle and will miss two weeks of football.

27th of August 2006

Alavés informs me that they will not pursue further their interest in Araújo at this stage. So I’ve bought myself some time.

28th of August 2006

Not great news as Josep Guardiola tore a calf muscle during training this morning and will miss three months of football. I’ve taken him out of my 25 man squad as a result, as he’ll be unavailable until November anyway.

I reject an offer from Leganés for Eduardo Conget worth just £240,000.

31st of August 2006

The transfer and registration windows are closed for the summer, so it’s time to quickly summarise the squad.

Goalkeepers

Landry Bonnefoi (22 y/o, FRA, GK): 0 apps

Iñaki (36 y/o, ESP, GK): 83 apps, 64 conceded, 42 clean sheets, 13 MoMs, av. rating: 7.36

Landry Bonnefoi is I believe going to be an outstanding keeper. He will have plenty of time to perfect the art of goalkeeping as I plan to make him my new no. 1 keeper for the season, replacing the serviceable but ageing Iñaki. I’m comforted by the fact that if Bonnefoi is not, after all, up to the task, I have somebody like Iñaki who can step in and do a job, at least in the short term, while I find another keeper to plug the gap. Yepes is still a member of the squad, but is not registered to play.

Defenders

Sergio Corino (31 y/o, ESP, SW/D C): 19 apps, 1 goal, av. rating: 7.53

Hayden Mullins (27 y/o, ENG, SW/D C): 0 apps

Corrado Quaresmini (20 y/o, ITA, D R): 0 apps

Thomas Gaardsøe (26 y/o, DEN 3 caps, D C): 0 apps

Alberto Merino (31 y/o, ESP, D C): 54(1) apps, av. rating: 7.26

Jordi Ferrón (28 y/o, ESP, D/DM R): 0 apps

Carlos (26 y/o, ESP, D/DM RL): 44 apps, av. rating: 7.14

Cristian Green (28 y/o, ARG, D/DM RL): 0 apps

Riccardo Cazzola (20 y/o, ITA, D/DM RC): 44 apps, 1 assist, 1 MoM, av. rating: 7.05

Sebastian Svärd (23 y/o, DEN, D/DM RC): 0 apps

Javi Paredes (24 y/o, ESP, D/DM L): 0 apps

Quite a few new faces in my defensive line-up this season. Corino, Cazzola and Carlos are basically the old hands at playing for Cartagena, because it would need disasters of epic proportions for Merino to make an appearance. I think that all of the new defenders I have signed for this club over the summer will have a role to play in our promotion push – some more so than others, obviously, but look for the likes of Mullins, Green, Paredes and Ferrón to be influential.

[Dixie Flatline]

Midfielders

Vicente (30 y/o, ESP, D/DM C): 0 apps

Eduardo Conget (29 y/o, ESP, DM RC): 79(3) apps, 4 goals, 13 assists, 2 MoMs, av. rating: 7.20

Jordi (29 y/o, ESP, M R): 32(5) apps, 1 goal, 14 assists, av. rating: 7.27

Javier Araújo (21 y/o, COL 16 caps, 2 goals, AM RLC): 16(1) apps, 7 goals, 5 assists, 2 MoMs, av. rating: 7.65

Juan Antonio Godino (28 y/o, ESP, AM RC): 28(4) apps, 3 goals, 3 assists, av. rating: 6.97

Fransisco Javier De Pedro (33 y/o, ESP 12 caps, 2 goals, AM L): 3(2) apps, av. rating: 6.80

Míchel (30 y/o, ESP, AM LC): 20(1) apps, 2 goals, 9 assists, 6 MoMs, av. rating: 8.05

Again, I think you’ll see a midfield triumvirate of Araújo, Míchel and Conget, with Vicente playing the anchor role behind these three players. The other players are simply back-up.

Forwards

Kali Ongala (27 y/o, CGO 6 caps, F C): 14(13) apps, 8 goals, 4 assists, 5 MoMs, av. rating: 7.48

Sívori (29 y/o, ESP, F C): 64(4) apps, 44 goals, 11 assists, 11 MoMs, av. rating: 7.47

Davide Matteini (24 y/o, ITA, S C): 0 apps

Jurica Vucko (29 y/o, CRO 3 caps, S C): 0 apps

Sívori has done the business for us in front of goal two seasons in a row. I expect him to be as sharp, if not sharper, this season. Matteini has shown very promising signs of being a consistent goalscorer in the pre-season friendlies we have played. Vucko is also a dangerous player coming off the bench.

8th of September 2006

We’re drawn to play Segunda Liga B club Figueres away from home in the first round of the Copa del Rey on 25th of October 2006.

[Pred]

Wooooooooooooooooooooo!!!

Wooooooooooooooooooooo!!!

I'm honestly at a loss for any other way to say i'm happy to see you back at it DF.

[Dixie Flatline]

Thanks, Pred!

[Dixie Flatline]

10th of September 2006

Segunda Liga – Game 1: Cartagena v Salamanca

Two goals late in the match rescue this game for us, as we were staring down the barrel of an opening-day loss thanks to Silvio González’s 74th minute strike, when he was given far too much time and space at a Amieva-orchestrated corner and gleefully scored. However, on 86 minutes, Matteini was in the right place at the right time to knock in the rebound from Araújo’s blocked shot, and Hayden Mullins bobbed up right at the end of the game to bang home Vucko’s cross. The win comes at a cost, however, with Vucko damaging his shoulder late in the match and he’s doubtful for our next game.

Cartagena (4-1-3-2): Bonnefoi; Javi Paredes, Corino, Mullins, Green; Vicente; Míchel (Godino 87), Araújo, Conget © (Jordi 87); Sívori (Vucko 63), Matteini.

Salamanca (4-1-2-1-2): Aragoneses; Aurelio, Jeffrey, Alexis, Ibertsberger; Pablo García (Rogério 61); David Cano, Redero; Josemi (Amieva 61); Raúl Sánchez ©, Manu Busto (González 45).

Final score: Cartagena 2:1 Salamanca

MoM – Landry Bonnefoi

17th of September 2006

Segunda Liga – Game 2: Real Unión v Cartagena

We notch up a comfortable victory over our newly-promoted opponent. Sívori hits the back of the net on 19 minutes to culminate a beautifully crafted move with Míchel at the heart of things, pulling the strings. We double our lead on 52 minutes when Davide Matteini blasts a rocket past the keeper, having controlled nicely Conget’s cross. Matteini has the ball in the net on 72 minutes, but his goal is ruled out for off-side. Real Unión were willing, but there was a little bit of a gulf in the skill and class of the two sides today and we were deserved winners.

Real Unión (3-4-1-2): Otermin; Mikel Azparren (Alberto 52), Cordón, Larraínzer; Joseba (Lombraña 66), Iturralde, Muñozguren, Badiola ©; Butrón (Zarzuelo 66); Sukia, Gorka.

Cartagena (4-1-3-2): Bonnefoi; Javi Paredes, Corino, Mullins, Green; Vicente; Míchel (Godino 61), Araújo, Conget ©; Sívori (Vucko 61), Matteini.

Final score: Real Unión 0:2 Cartagena

MoM – Landry Bonnefoi

[Dixie Flatline]

1st of October 2006

Segunda Liga – Game 5: Cartagena v Xerez

Davide Matteini carried over his goalscoring form by netting the only goal of the game on 52 minutes from Conget’s good cross. Xerez will feel disappointed they didn’t come out of this game with at least a point as they were very busy for the 90 minutes while we hardly seemed to move out of third gear. But I’ll take the three points.

Cartagena (4-1-3-2): Bonnefoi; Javi Paredes, Corino, Mullins, Green; Vicente; De Pedro (Godino 76), Araújo, Conget ©; Sívori (Ongala 76), Matteini.

Xerez (4-4-2): Alberto; Bertin, Franz, Cañas, Cristante; Slovak, Dani Pendín ©, Quiñónez (Cachorro 68), Pablo Ãlvarez (Cordero 57); Pineda (Lekic 57), Camuñas.

Final score: Cartagena 1:0 Xerez

MoM – Sergio Corino

We drop to second on the ladder as we’re overtaken on goal difference by Cadíz.

2nd of October 2006

Sergio Corino is named in the Segunda Liga Team of the Week.

Iván Kaviedes bleats to the local press about not playing football this season. Unfortunately, since he does not hold an EU passport and I’m only allowed to field 2 non-EU citizens in my registered playing squad, Kaviedes needs to sit out for a while, because I think Araújo and Vucko are better players for the club than Kaviedes. I might think about selling Kaviedes in the winter transfer period.

15th of October 2006

We enjoy a bit of a break while the international games are played. Our next game is away to Elche.

Segunda Liga – Game 6: Elche v Cartagena

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">

As Cartagena puts five past Elche, Cartagena goes back to the top

Cartagena went back to the top of the Segunda Liga ladder after smashing Elche 5-0 in Elche. Míchel, restored to the first eleven in place of the dropped Francisco Javier De Pedro, put Cartagena in the lead on 22 minutes with a wonderfully struck free kick. Matteini doubled Cartagena’s lead at the second attempt on 34 minutes after seeing his first shot blocked by Unanua – Araújo played a wonderful ball to Matteini. Then only a minute into the second half, Matteini scored his second and the club’s third following a great through-ball from Míchel. On 57 minutes, Sívori capped off a brilliant passing move by Cartagena to make the score 4-0, and he grabbed his second ten minutes later, accepting Jordi’s wonderful cross-field pass before slipping it into the far corner of the net. Sívori then missed a penalty on 75 minutes, but it mattered little as Cartagena ran out deserving 5-0 winners.

</div></BLOCKQUOTE>

Well, that was another stellar performance from my team and keeps up our wonderful start to the season. There’s little more I could ask my team to do when they play games like this – and it’s already the second time this season we’ve put a club to the sword. Let’s hope we keep doing it!

Elche (4-4-2): Unanua; Ayoze, Pepe Saavedra, Turiel (Iriney 57), Lizarazo ©; Rubén (Gil 68), Casas, Txiki, Elías; Nino, Ibán Espadas (Tonino 57 (inj 84)).

Cartagena (4-1-3-2): Bonnefoi; Javi Paredes, Corino, Mullins, Green; Vicente; Míchel, Araújo, Conget © (Jordi 65); Sívori, Matteini (Ongala 65).

Final score: Elche 0:5 Cartagena

MoM – Míchel[

Unsurprisingly, both the Board and the fans are very pleased with our start to the season and the Chairman gives a doorstop telling everybody how well we’ve been going so far.

[Dixie Flatline]

16th of October 2006

Hayden Mullins, Sergio Corino, Javier Araújo, Míchel, and Sívori are selected in the Segunda Liga Team of the Week.

I sign a new coach, the 60 year old Italian Oscar Piergallini.

17th of October 2006

Enrico Chiesa, the former Italian international, with a career including Fiorentina and Siena, joins the club as a coach.

18th of October 2006

Segunda Liga – Game 7, Sporting Gijón v Cartagena

Unfortunately, we’re rather deflated by this game, as it ends in a goalless stalemate. Sporting had a player sent off on 36 minutes and from then on were rather defensive, while my strikers seemed to leave their shooting boots back home. A rather forgettable match, actually.

Sporting Gijón (4-4-2): Roberto; Dorado, Vázquez (Alegre 71), Christian Díaz ©, Sastre; Ãlvaro (De Luca 61), Samuel, Dani Borreguero, Miguel Pérez (Isma 61); Ismael, Calandria (s/o 36).

Cartagena (4-1-3-2): Bonnefoi; Javi Paredes, Corino, Mullins, Green; Svärd; Míchel, Araújo, Conget ©; Sívori, Matteini.

Final score: Sporting Gijón 0:0 Cartagena

MoM – Míchel

We drop back to second as Cadíz wins.

22nd of October 2006

I sign an 18 year old striker, Chema, from Jerez for an initial £35,000. He’s been highly recommended as a player with plenty of potential by my scouts.

Segunda Liga – Game 8, Cartagena v Ejido

Again, we’re held to a draw, this time 1-1. Ejido strike first through last season’s top-scorer, Mariano Toedtli, on 12 minutes. Davide Matteini responds for us on 18 minutes. Toedtli is able to hold off several defenders and nod Sierra’s cross past Bonnefoi. Six minutes later, Míchel sends the ball down the left channel for Araújo to pick up and cross for Matteini to lash past the Ejido keeper. We had the better of proceedings afterwards, but could not find the winning goal, especially with Matteini and Araújo needing to be substituted as a precaution against injury at half-time, with both players picking up knocks during the first half.

Cartagena (4-1-3-2): Bonnefoi; Javi Paredes, Corino, Mullins, Green; Vicente; Míchel, Araújo (Godino 45), Conget ©; Sívori, Matteini (Vucko 45).

Ejido (4-4-2): Oliva; Jesule, Iglesias, Paco García (Torres 64 (s/o 70)), Pineda; Sendoa (Manolo 60), Víctor Salas, Marbuzi, Sierra ©; Toedtli, Aranda (Silva 70).

Final score: Cartagena 1:1 Ejido

MoM – Víctor Salas

[Dixie Flatline]

25th of October 2006

Copa del Rey – First Round: Figueres v Cartagena

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">

A hat-trick from Sívori rescues Cartagena

Cartagena needed a hat-trick from goalscoring machine Sívori to rescue the tie against Segunda Liga B club Figueres. Trailing from 22 minutes thanks to a Roberto Losada goal, Sívori equalized the game on 74 minutes and pushed the tie into extra-time. The striker then struck twice, first on 98 minutes then on 110 minutes to extend the score to 3-1 in the visitors’ favour, before Davide Matteini added a fourth from the penalty spot at the end of the game.

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Well, we made much tougher work out of that than I wanted. Conceding a goal to Losada on 22 minutes certainly wasn’t in my plans, and we needed to huff and puff against a well-organised Figueres defence before we finally breached it thanks to a good goal from Sívori on 74 minutes. But even then we had to go into extra-time before we could make the tie safe. I don’t like playing these games any longer than they need to be played.

Figueres (3-4-3): José; Cantini (Alfred 73), Serra, Pablo Suárez; Pina (Valdifiori 61), Santi Asensio, José Manuel ©, Freixa; Gorka Pintado, Alfi (Ramírez 61), Losada.

Cartagena (4-1-3-2): Iñaki ©; Javi Paredes, Corino, Cazzola (Mullins 63), Ferrón; Svärd; De Pedro (Míchel 63), Araújo, Jordi (Vucko 63); Matteini, Sívori.

Final score: Figueres 1:4 Cartagena (aet)

MoM – Sívori

27th of October 2006

We’re drawn to face Valencia in the second round of the Copa del Rey, to be played at the Estadio Municipal de Cartagena on 8th of November 2006.

[Dixie Flatline]

29th of October 2006

Segunda Liga – Game 9: Cartagena v Mallorca B

No Davide Matteini available for this game, as he fails a late fitness test on a severely stubbed toe he suffered during our game against Figueres. That means that Vucko will partner Sívori up front, and it is the Croatian’s first start of the season. I drop De Pedro for Míchel and Jordi for Conget.

On five minutes, we begin the game well as Míchel angles a lovely cross perfectly for Vucko to head past the Mallorca B keeper. The same combination works a peach on 37 minutes when again, from out wide left, Míchel sends a cross over to Vucko for the latter to volley home. Our 2-0 lead is extended to 3-0 22 seconds into the second half when Araújo is the ultimate beneficiary of excellent work by both Sívori and Míchel. Míchel completes his hat-trick of assists on 84 minutes when he finds Sívori unmarked at a corner, and the forward delights in smashing it past the Mallorca B keeper for a 4-0 win. Good stuff.

Cartagena (4-1-3-2): Iñaki ©; Javi Paredes, Corino, Mullins, Green; Svärd; Míchel, Araújo, Conget (Godino 74); Sívori, Vucko (Ongala 74).

Mallorca B (4-4-2): Javi; Padilla ©, Valdés, Martín, Dani González (Giménez 63); Carmona, Ãlvarez, Fran (Edu 45), Llorente; Busi (Miguel 63), David Eto’o.

Final score: Cartagena 4:0 Mallorca B

MoM – Míchel

We remain second, but close to within two points of league leader, Cadíz, and we now have a superior goal difference.

The Board of Directors is very pleased with the result and the start we have achieved so far. After 9 games, we remain unbeaten, with six wins and three draws.

30th of October 2006

Sebastian Svärd, Sergio Corino and Míchel are named in the Segunda Liga Team of the Week.

1st of November 2006

I’m disappointed to miss out on free agent striker Sabino, who was inexplicably released by his former club Ejido during the summer. The 28 year old striker, however, decided to go to Algeciras for far less wages than I was willing to pay him.

[Dixie Flatline]

2nd of November 2006

I’m happy to announce that the club will on the 15th of December 2006, acquire the services of Slovenian international attacking midfielder Dalibor Stevanovic. I see the 22 year old attacking midfielder as a long-term replacement for Míchel, who has been a brilliant player for us in the season (almost) he has played for us, but is on the wrong side of 30. Blessed with plenty of creativity and a wonderful pass, Stevanovic should be capable of creating many goals for us when he joins the club.

5th of November 2006

Segunda Liga – Game 10: Ourense v Cartagena

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Cartagena remains undefeated after ten games; tops the table

Cartagena went back to the top of the Segunda Liga ladder after comfortably defeating Ourense 3-1 in Ourense. Eduardo Conget got things underway for the league leaders on 17 minutes after putting the ball inside the far post, following good work by Araújo and Sívori. Tevenet equalized for Ourense on 57 minutes, squeezing the ball inside Iñaki and the near post after Cartagena failed to properly clear the corner. However, Cartagena took back the lead on 71 minutes after patient build-up from a corner which resulted in Araújo heading home Conget’s cross. In injury time at the end of the game, Sívori added a third goal when the Ourense keeper failed to hold on to Araújo’s shot.

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Well, that was a good win and I’m happy that after ten games we haven’t lost a game in the league. This is a good start for us, and I hope that we can maintain it. Possibly the only bad news to come out of the game is that both Jurica Vucko and Davide Matteini picked up slight knocks. I took both off as precaution against worsening any injury they might have suffered.

Ourense (4-4-2): Basauri; Bermudo, Aira, Aitor Fresan ©, Pedro; Aitor (Martínez 57), Gibson, Redondo (Sanromán 20), Roberto (Currás 57); Tevenet, Durán.

Cartagena (4-1-3-2): Iñaki ©; Javi Paredes, Corino, Mullins, Green; Svärd; Míchel, Araújo, Conget; Sívori, Vucko (Matteini 47 (Ongala 90)).

Final score: Ourense 1:3 Cartagena

MoM – Javier Araújo

Again, the Board is delighted with our victory and the start to the season, the Chairman informing the press that he is extremely happy with the win.

6th of November 2006

Five Cartagena players are named in the Segunda Liga Team of the Week – Sebastian Svärd, Sergio Corino, Hayden Mullins, Míchel and Javier Araújo.

[Dixie Flatline]

8th of November 2006

Six players from my squad are called up by their respective countries for international friendlies. They are Freddy Adu (USA), Oswaldo Chaurant (Venezuela), Jorge Acuña (Chile), Javier Araújo (Colombia), Iván Kaviedes (Ecuador) and Sipho Nunens (South Africa).

Copa del Rey – Second Round: Cartagena v Valencia

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Gallant Cartagena bow out of Copa del Rey

A gallant Cartagena, at home in front of almost 15,000 spectators, bowed out of the Copa del Rey after being defeated 4-2 by Valencia. Both clubs were determined to attack from the get-go, and despite some odd refereeing decisions to penalize both sides, the goals flowed. Valencia got on the board first when Cartagena’s Italian right back, Corrado Quaresmini, was adjudged to have handled the ball inside the penalty box. Claudio Pizzarro converted the spot-kick to give Valencia the lead. However, within a space of 14 minutes in the second half, Cartagena hit the lead. First, Colombian international Javier Araújo played a delicious through-ball that completely cut out the Valencia defenders for the advantage of Italian striker Davide Matteini, who calmly slotted the ball into the back of the Valencia net on 50 minutes. Fourteen minutes later, Matteini turned provider, playing a wonderful ball through the Valencia defence to find substitute Jurica Vucko who made no mistake, and suddenly Cartagena was looking at the possibility of an upset.

However, Valencia moved up a gear and on 72 minutes were level. Italian international Marco di Vaio played a superb cross-field ball to find Navarro inside the Cartagena penalty box. Javi Paredes managed to get the tackle in before Navarro could pull the trigger, but the ball ended at the feet of Spanish international Ruben Baraja, who let fly with a rocket from the edge of the area. Iñaki simply had no chance and suddenly Valencia were level. Two minutes later, Valencia was in front when Di Vaio found Aimar, who skipped past several Cartagena would-be tacklers and carefully placed the ball inside the near post, much to the chagrin of the home fans. Then, to put the icing on the cake, Aimar went coast to coast as a Cartagena move broke down inside the Valencia box and the Argentine was fed the ball by Di Vaio inside the Valencia third of the pitch. Skipping past tackles without a care in the world, Aimar found himself in a perfect position to shoot, and he did so, scoring his second goal and icing the win for Valencia. It was heartbreak for the hosts, but a superb finish to an absorbing contest.

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Well, unfortunately we didn’t kill the giant today, though we gave it our best shot. Changes in defence – bringing in Thomas Gaardsøe and Corrado Quaresmini in for Hayden Mullins and Cristian Green – unsettled my back four, and Iñaki unfortunately was not playing top-notch football this evening. Valencia’s superior class over the field told in the end, though to see first Araújo and then Matteini bend the ball to pierce the Valencia defence was a joy to see, and briefly, when we held the lead, I thought we were on course for a famous victory. Alas, it wasn’t to be, but at least we can now concentrate solely on promotion.

Cartagena (4-1-3-2): Iñaki ©; Javi Paredes, Corino, Gaardsøe, Quaresmini; Svärd; Míchel, Araújo, Conget; Sívori (Vucko 60), Matteini.

Valencia (4-4-2): Cañizares; Cole (inj. 67), Marchena, O’Shea, Mario; Xisco (Aimar 59), Sissoko (Navarro 59), Baraja, Poulsen; Podolski (Di Vaio 64), Pizarro.

Final score: Cartagena 2:4 Valencia

MoM – Pablo Aimar

Only two real upsets in the second round. Segunda Liga B club, Recreativo, defeated Alavés 1-0 after extra time. Alumnus Alain was involved, but ex-captain Romain Rambier was not. The second upset was Segunda Liga Elche defeating Primera Liga Levante 2-1 after extra time.

One good thing did come out of our defeat – with almost a full house in attendance, we received our highest gate takings, with £250,000 being banked from the game.

Signing off, for the moment...

[maollelujah]

As good as always...

mao

[Dixie Flatline]

Thanks, mao!

Hope you continue to enjoy this little story.

[Dixie Flatline]

Cartagena continues!

11th of November 2006

Two Cartagena players play in the afternoon for their countries, and unfortunately, one returns with an injury. Kaviedes will be out for a month after straining knee ligaments early in Ecuador’s game against French Guyana.

In the evening, Javier Araújo is a second half substitute for Colombia in its 0-0 draw with Norway. Sipho Nunens played the last 29 minutes of South Africa’s upset 2-1 win over Spain in Santander. Freddy Adu was a second half substitute for the USA, but the USA lost 1-0 to Finland in Los Angeles’ Rose Bowl.

Five of my players are called up to international friendlies – only Kaviedes misses out due to his injury.

13th of November 2006

Our next game, against Albacete, is postponed a week due to international call-ups.

19th of November 2006

Segunda Liga – Game 11: Pontevedra v Cartagena

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Cartagena continues unbeaten run at Pontevedra’s expense

Cartagena’s unbeaten league run continued this evening with a comfortable 3-1 win over Pontevedra in Pontevedra. All four goals came in the second half, with Cartagena opening the scoring on 60 minutes through Javier Araújo, who headed Matteini’s cross home past the Pontevedra keeper, despite close attention being paid by Pontevedra’s defenders. Sergio Corino extended Cartagena’s lead on 73 minutes, powerfully heading home Míchel’s corner. Pontevedra found some hope when Calle broke free of his marker just long enough to turn in Padín’s cross, but Svärd made the points safe for Cartagena with his first goal of the campaign in injury time, heading home Conget’s free kick.

After the game, Cartagena manager Señor Flatline expressed his satisfaction with the start his club has made to this season’s campaign, and hoped that his players would continue to play to the same high standard in the future. However, when questioned about his club’s promotion credentials, Señor Flatline refused to be drawn on whether he considered his team good enough to go up at the end of the season, preferring instead to turn his side’s attentions to their forthcoming home game against Albacete this coming Wednesday.

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I truly am enjoying the start we have made to the campaign. Unlike last season, we seem to have no problem in creating chances, and we’ve been able to take them, with some good predatory striking by the likes of Matteini, Sívori and Araújo from midfield. And it’s even more satisfying to see other players chip in with goals from time to time, as it tends to lessen the burden upon the forwards to come up with the winning goals.

Pontevedra (4-4-2): Muñoz; Neretljak, Unai, Frassetto, Izquierdo; Romo (Salcedo 72), Kiko Torres (Elm 72), Pepulu, Mikel Alonso (Padín 60); Calle, Javi Rodríguez ©.

Cartagena (4-1-3-2): Bonnefoi; Javi Paredes, Corino, Mullins, Green; Svärd; Míchel, Araújo, Conget ©; Sívori, Matteini.

Final score: Pontevedra 1:3 Cartagena

MoM – Hayden Mullins

[Dixie Flatline]

20th of November 2006

Four Cartagena players feature in this week’s Segunda Liga Team of the Week – Sebastian Svärd, Hayden Mullins, Míchel, and Davide Matteini.

22nd of November 2006

Segunda Liga – Game 12: Cartagena v Albacete

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">

Cartagena’s fine unbeaten run ended by Albacete

Albacete knocked off the league leader Cartagena with a hard-fought 2-1 victory at the Estadio Municipal de Cartagena this evening. Albacete struck first when on 16 minutes, Cartagena’s Cristian Green’s mishit pass was picked off by González and his headed pass was perfect on the rain-sodden pitch for Pacheco to run on to. The Albacete striker duly converted, slotting the ball between Bonnefoi’s legs for the opening goal. With Matteini, Míchel and Conget all substituted by half-time, Cartagena looked under-manned and unable of fighting back, but a superb run by Araújo down the left flank culminated in a beautiful pull-back from the Colombian to Sívori who superbly blasted the ball home to equalize on 61 minutes. However, Albacete had the last laugh when Cartagena could not properly clear a corner and on 82 minutes, Francisco was left alone and unattended at the far post to head home Luismi’s cross.

Señor Flatline said in the post-match press conference that the result fairly reflected the play by both sides and that Albacete fully deserved their victory, but he hoped that his team would bounce back on Saturday in the live televised home match against Tenerife.

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Well, it had to come, I suppose. It’s a long season and it would be difficult to go through it undefeated. We didn’t really play to our strength this evening, and possibly the driving rain was not going to help us, either, really. But full credit to Albacete – they did a number on us this evening. However, we’ll remember it in time for the return match later in the season. My more immediate concern, however, is the fitness of the likes of Matteini, Míchel and Conget, all of whom are essential cogs in my team.

Cartagena (4-1-3-2): Bonnefoi; Javi Paredes, Corino, Mullins, Green; Svärd; Míchel (Jordi 37), Araújo, Conget © (Ongala 45); Sívori, Matteini (Vucko 45).

Albacete (4-3-3): Casto; Paco Peña (Luismi 65), Stoyanov, Lembi, Gaspar; González, Ãlvaro ©, Elías (García 60); Manuel (Buadés 60), Pacheco, Francisco.

Final score: Cartagena 1:2 Albacete

MoM – Mark González

It’s difficult to believe that Albacete currently sits 20th in the division, after they were relegated from the top flight at the end of last season.

25th of November 2006

Segunda Liga – Game 13: Cartagena v Tenerife

Just 2½ days after our last game, we have to front up once more, as this match is televised live around Spain, and kicks off at 12 noon. As you might expect, we’re a little jaded and Tenerife can probably consider themselves unfortunate to lose this one, when right at the death, Javier Araújo finds the back of the net when he heads home Míchel’s cross. Tenerife have their dangerous moments but are unable to convert their chances into goals, and that’s the difference this afternoon.

Cartagena (4-1-3-2): Bonnefoi; Javi Paredes, Corino, Mullins, Green; Svärd; Míchel, Araújo, Conget ©; Sívori, Matteini (Vucko 72).

Tenerife (4-4-2): Etxeberría; Rubiales, Belli, Corona, Iker Garai; Juan (Capdevila 71), Jesús Vázquez, La Paglia, Antonio; Aloisi (Pi 60), Keko (Kiko 60).

Final score: Cartagena 1:0 Tenerife

MoM – Míchel

[Dixie Flatline]

29th of November 2006

Segunda Liga – Game 14: Melilla v Cartagena

I’m disappointed after this game, as we dropped three valuable points thanks to Guede’s goal on 7 minutes to Melilla. Guede, taking Yamal’s low cross in his stride, was able to bustle his way past Corino and beat Bonnefoi at the far post. We tried hard to get the goal back for the rest of the game, but we could not do it on this occasion, and suffered our second loss of the season.

Melilla (4-4-1-1): García Rodríguez; Calderón, Germán, Jurado, Rodolfo (Mohamed 71); Pablo Niño (Orta 71), Liparteliani (Moki 81), Abela, Yamal; Guede; Mauri ©.

Cartagena (4-1-3-2): Bonnefoi; Javi Paredes, Corino, Mullins (Cazzola 61), Green; Vicente; Míchel (De Pedro 81), Araújo, Conget ©; Sívori (Vucko 81), Matteini.

Final score: Melilla 1:0 Cartagena

MoM – Yamal

After 14 games, the top three teams are all locked together on 30 points. We lead the league, however, by virtue of a superior goal difference.

Hayden Mullins strained his back quite badly during the game and will miss three weeks. I’m approached by the local media to comment on how I think his injury will affect my team. I publicly shrug off Hayden’s injury, saying that we have plenty of depth to cover his absence.

30th of November 2006

My assistant manager tells me that Hayden has been in high spirits of late, despite his injury. Apparently, Hayden is keen to prove me wrong when he is able to play again. That’s dandy.

1st of December 2006

The registration window opens for another two months, and I decide to rest Araújo for the moment. Sipho Nunens takes his place amongst the registered group of 25, while Josep Guardiola also returns to the group of players registered to participate.

[Dixie Flatline]

3rd of December 2006

Segunda Liga – Game 15: Cartagena v Córdoba

This is another high-scoring, tense affair. In two previous matches, we’ve defeated our opponent twice, the first by a scoreline of 4-3 and the second a much more comfortable 3-0 win.

Sipho Nunens comes straight into the eleven, at the expense of Araújo and Thomas Gaardsøe fills in for the injured Mullins, ahead of Riccardo Cazzola, who stays on the bench. We get things under way when Míchel is given too much time and space to pick out the unmarked Sívori who coolly scores his tenth goal of the season on 14 minutes. But we give away a penalty on 30 minutes when Green is adjudged to have fouled inside the box – it is a dubious penalty but the referee is having none of our protests. Montenegro keeps his cool and easily dispatches the penalty past Bonnefoi. Six minutes later, and Montenegro puts Córdoba ahead from a set piece, bending the ball over our wall and in the back of Bonnefoi’s net. However, we equalize almost immediately, with Míchel, so dangerous down the left, finding Matteini who is able to beat the opponent’s keeper at his near post.

With Míchel and Gaardsøe carrying slight knocks at the break, I decide to be cautious and substitute them both, for De Pedro and Cazzola respectively. Cazzola cuts out a Córdoba sortie forward and finds De Pedro steaming down the left flank. De Pedro looks up and fires a wonderful ball through to the advantage of Matteini, who tries to beat the Córdoba keeper, only to see his shot blocked. However, Sívori beats the defenders to the rebound and casually knocks it in to the empty net on 62 minutes. That turns out to be the crucial goal, as it allows us to claim the victory.

Cartagena (4-1-3-2): Bonnefoi; Javi Paredes, Corino, Gaardsøe (Cazzola 45), Green; Vicente; Míchel (De Pedro 45), Nunens, Conget ©; Sívori, Matteini.

Córdoba (4-4-2): Jáuregi; Marc, Pedro Baquero, Bouzón, Juanmi; Jorge Pérez (Sérvulo 73), Sarmiento, Verza, Montenegro (Francisco 63); Bilic ©, Armentano (Velázquez 73).

Final score: Cartagena 3:2 Córdoba

MoM – Davide Matteini

[Dixie Flatline]

10th of December 2006

Segunda Liga – Game 16: Burgos v Cartagena

Despite having a week to rest and recuperate from our last game, I’m not overly impressed by our performance today. In the end, it takes a blinder of a goal from Nunens to give us victory, which on balance we probably deserved. In particular, the goal, a bending rocket from 35 yards scored at the death, was good reward for the South African international midfielder, who worked tirelessly all day and was actually our most potent threat in front of goal, with seven shots, all on target, at Burgos’ goal. Burgos, for their part, were really intent on containing us, as they need points to escape a relegation dogfight, and they didn’t trouble my defence particularly. Things to think about, but the important thing is, we scored a win and took home a valuable three points.

Burgos (4-1-2-1-2): Juantxo; Zubizarreta, Dani, Fanari (Alain 72), Charles; Cubillo; Marcos Vales (Iñigo 61), Lucio (Mara 61); Corona; Niedzielan, Hugo Grandío ©.

Cartagena (4-1-3-2): Bonnefoi; Javi Paredes, Corino, Gaardsøe, Green; Vicente; Míchel, Nunens, Conget ©; Sívori, Matteini.

Final score: Burgos 0:1 Cartagena

MoM – Sipho Nunens

The Chairman of the club declared himself pleased with the result.

The win pushes us three points clear at the top of the league, ahead of Cádiz and Real Vallodolid, whom we play next weekend, away from home in our toughest league game to date this season.

11th of December 2006

Míchel and Eduardo Conget are named in the Segunda Liga Team of the Week.

14th of December 2006

I’m surprised to read on the Internet that Celta Vigo is interested in purchasing my Venezuelan midfielder Oswaldo Chaurant to bolster the quality of the squad. I’m asked for my opinion by the local newspaper. My assistant manager believes that Chaurant is a dud, but I think that Chaurant has potential to become a very good midfielder for the club, but has been overshadowed by Araújo and Nunens in particular. So, I decide to respond by saying that Chaurant is available, but only at the right price.

15th of December 2006

Two new players are unveiled this afternoon by the club. First, 18 year old striker, Chema, joins from Xerez for an initial £35,000. Secondly, 22 year old Slovenian international attacking midfielder, Dalibor Stevanovic, joins from Domzale for an initial £250,000.

16th of December 2006

Iván Kaviedes resumes training after his knee injury. I decide to transfer list him and determine whether I can cultivate any interest in the Ecuadorian international striker, as he is now surplus to requirements.

The ‘Yellow Submarines’ – otherwise known as Villarreal – enquire about Javier Araújo. I tell them that an initial £3.5 million is necessary, along with a 10% sell-on clause, a friendly match between the two clubs, and a further £1 million, composed of £500,000 after 20 league games and £500,000 after 10 internationals, is the least they can pay to obtain Araújo. I hope they don’t check his contract too closely and find he has a minimum release clause of £2.5 million, which I’ve been trying, in vain, to increase ever since he arrived at the club.

Oswaldo Chaurant is asked his opinion about a possible move to Celta Vigo. Oswaldo is careful to pledge his loyalty to Cartagena, but admits that a move to Celta would intrigue him. I can’t say I blame him, as I’ve found it difficult to fit him into the squad with so many other non-EU citizens ahead of him.

[Dixie Flatline]

17th of December 2006

Segunda Liga – Game 17: Real Vallodolid v Cartagena

It’s first away to third this evening, and it is the host that prevails in a fairly lopsided affair. Real Vallodolid deservedly takes all three points courtesy of a goal to Sousa on 51 minutes, when he somehow manages to evade the attentions of my defenders long enough to convert Sánchez’s cross. Real Vallodolid are the more attacking side this evening, and Bonnefoi is in good form to deny them adding to the scoresheet during the 90 minutes. With our forwards well held, Sipho Nunens tries his luck from range, but cannot get his shots on target enough to cause trouble to Real Vallodolid’s keeper and I substitute him on the hour for new signing Stevanovic, who looks very useful operating in the centre of midfield. Stevanovic almost sets up a goal for us late in the game, but we don’t deserve to draw and in the end we succumb to the 1-0 scoreline.

Real Vallodolid (4-5-1): Barreto; Marcos, Boris, Egemen (Jonathan 66), Cristian Ãlvarez; Óscar Sánchez (s/o 89), Javi Jiménez © (Robles 66), Richi, Sousa, Chema; Víctor (Rafa 45).

Cartagena (4-1-3-2): Bonnefoi; Javi Paredes, Corino, Gaardsøe, Green; Vicente; Míchel, Nunens (Stevanovic 60), Conget ©; Sívori, Matteini.

Final score: Real Vallodolid 1:0 Cartagena

MoM – Diego Daniel Barreto

The loss drops us to third on the table, with Cádiz going top and Real Vallodolid leapfrogging us into second.

18th of December 2006

Valencia approaches me with an enquiry concerning Chaurant. I play hard ball and demand a lot of money in order for Valencia to discuss signing him.

[Dixie Flatline]

20th of December 2006

Segunda Liga – Game 18: Cartagena v Almería

With Eduardo Conget suspended for a match due to five bookings this season, and Sipho Nunens dropping the ball a little, I decide to bring in Araújo and Freddy Adu into my squad. Araújo takes over Conget’s place, while Adu sits on the bench.

We begin the game badly when our visitors conjure a goal on 6 minutes. Jonathan Torres picks up possession on the edge of our box after Sívori was beaten to a clearing header, and bends the ball into the top corner of the net at Bonnefoi’s near post, who probably thought that the shot was going to go wide.

However, we strike back almost immediately when on 10 minutes, Stevanovic rewards my decision to play him from the start with the equalizing goal. Vicente’s free kick is not properly cleared, and the anchor man finds Míchel on the left. The winger quickly fires the ball into the box where Stevanovic is lurking inside the 6 yard box. The Slovenian gleefully turns the ball into the net.

After that, it’s almost a game of cat and mouse with both sides reluctant to concede the next goal, but looking to attack at almost every opportunity. The winner doesn’t come until injury time at the end of the game, and it’s Cartagena who grabs it. With 93 minutes on the clock, Matteini plays a magnificent cross-field pass for the advantage of substitute De Pedro, who cuts inside his man and fires across the keeper into the far corner before the next defender could cut him off. It turns out to be the last kick of the game, literally, and we escape with all three points.

Cartagena (4-1-3-2): Bonnefoi; Javi Paredes, Corino, Gaardsøe, Green ©; Vicente; Míchel (De Pedro 79), Stevanovic, Araújo; Sívori (Adu 79), Matteini.

Almería (4-5-1): Rubio; Manel (Cervián 63), Galán, Aitor Ocio, Juanma; Ibon Begoña, Gálcã, Jamelli, Jonathan Torres (Sahnoun 74), Guié-Mien (Isaac 63); Ortiz ©.

Final score: Cartagena 2:1 Almería

MoM – Davide Matteini

The win takes us back to the top of the ladder, with a two point lead over Real Vallodolid, and three points over Cádiz, whom we play in our next game, after Christmas.

Freddy Adu now enjoys the distinction of being the youngest player, at 17 years of age, to appear for Cartagena in a competitive fixture.

Valencia decides that my terms for Chaurant are too much and they withdraw their approach for the Venezuelan.

21st of December 2006

Atlético Madrid has been tracking the progress of Sebastian Svärd for some time now, and today makes an offer for the Danish midfielder. I decide to up the ante, requiring an immediately paid fee of £1.5 million, a 10% sell-on clause, a friendly match between the two clubs, £500,000 if he plays 20 league games for the club and £500,000 if he makes 10 international appearances.

[Dixie Flatline]

24th of December 2006

Atlético Madrid withdraws its offer for Svärd.

Julio Puig agrees to join Novelda on loan for the remainder of the season.

25th of December 2006

It’s a nice Christmas for Francisco Javier De Pedro, as he is named in the Segunda Liga Team of the Week.

26th of December 2006

Somebody has done their homework and realized that Javier Araújo’s minimum release fee is only £2.5 million. Numancia makes me an offer for the Colombian international that I cannot refuse.

27th of December 2006

Segunda Liga – Game 19: Cartagena v Cádiz

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">

Freddy Adu’s first goal sinks Cádiz

Cartagena consolidated top position in the Segunda Liga thanks to Freddy Adu’s first goal in Spanish football. The two clubs, first and third going into the game, were evenly matched for most of the game, although Cartagena looked to attack more and Cádiz looked to hit their hosts on the break. However, with the game nearing completion and without either side registering a goal, Freddy Adu’s contribution proved decisive. Araújo controlled the ball at close quarters, drawing Cádiz defenders to him like honey draws bees, before finding Míchel lurking on the left. The winger quickly gave the ball to Adu who without hesitation picked his spot and fired it home coolly and calmly.

The goal stunned the visitors and they had precious little time to respond, and with the fans’ cheers ringing in their ears, the single goal was enough to bring up Cartagena’s 13th win of the season to date.

</div></BLOCKQUOTE>

Well, Freddy Adu certainly looks like he will be a very special player for this club in years to come, if his performance today was any indication. At 17, there is still plenty of maturing to be done for the American international, but I’m excited at what I may have to work with in the future. Adu had his angles just right for the goal – a little too left would have seen the keeper save it, but a little too right would have seen it miss entirely. In the context of the season to date, it’s a very important goal.

Cartagena (4-1-3-2): Bonnefoi; Javi Paredes, Corino, Mullins ©, Green; Svärd; Míchel, Stevanovic, Araújo; Sívori, Matteini (Adu 74).

Cádiz (3-5-2): James; Colin, Bréchet, Amaya; Sesma, Cziommer, Manolo Pérez ©, Giacomazzi, Dani Navarrete (Bertolini 60); Jankauskas (Oli 72), Benjamin (Armada 72).

Final score: Cartagena 1:0 Cádiz

MoM – Míchel

[Dixie Flatline]

29th of December 2006

That may well have been Javier Araújo’s last game for Cartagena, as Deportivo La Coruña joins Numancia in offering £2.5 million for the Colombian international.

Juan Carlos joins Hospitalet on loan for the remainder of the season.

I persuade Míchel to extend his contract with us for another couple of years, albeit at higher wages than previously.

30th of December 2006

I offer Cádiz £250,000 for their young English striker Cherno Samba, and the offer is accepted. The former Millwall player quickly agrees terms and joins us.

1st of January 2007

Míchel is once again named in the Segunda Liga Team of the Week.

Young striker Chema joins Orihuela on loan for the rest of the season.

3rd of January 2007

I sign Lleida forward Nákor on a Bosman free transfer, so he will join when his current contract expires on 1st of July 2007.

7th of January 2007

Segunda Liga – Game 20: Terrassa v Cartagena

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">

Davide Matteini a hat-trick hero as Cartagena win easily

Cartagena won their encounter with 17th-placed Terrassa easily, recording a comfortable 4-1 win over their hosts, as Davide Matteini bagged a hat-trick.

Things began brightly for the visitors as Matteini and Míchel exchanged a lovely series of passes culminating in the Italian comfortably slotting home the first goal on 2 minutes. Slovenian midfielder Dalibor Stevanovic added Cartagena’s second three minutes later when he was left unmarked inside the Terrassa penalty area to turn in Araújo’s low cross following good work by Matteini.

With Míchel injured and substituted on 16 minutes, his replacement, Francisco Javier De Pedro flighted a wonderful cross for the advantage of Matteini, who outjumped the Terrassa keeper and flicked the ball into the empty net on 53 minutes. On 69 minutes, Terrassa suddenly found a flicker of hope when Paredes let Maikel get goal-side of him, and Maikel was quick to pounce, easily beating Bonnefoi at his near post. However, Cartagena wouldn’t be denied and Matteini wrapped up his hat-trick and the scoring on 82 minutes, exchanging passes with substitute Freddy Adu before finding the back of the net in great style.

Cartagena continues to defy the odds and sits on top of the ladder with a handy four point break over closest rival Real Vallodolid.

</div></BLOCKQUOTE>

A great match to watch where everybody played their part in setting up the win. Maikel certainly is a dangerous striker and a loss of concentration on the part of Paredes allowed him in to score a goal, but it was really no more than consolation as we dominated proceedings and deserved to win as we did.

Terrassa (3-4-1-2): Morales; Navas, Bunjevcevic, David Charcos; Garrido (Pirri 69), Ismael ©, Abraham González, Cregg (Jahic 69); Uranga (Besora 78); Sergio García, Maikel.

Cartagena (4-1-3-2): Bonnefoi; Javi Paredes, Corino, Mullins ©, Green; Svärd; Míchel (De Pedro 16), Stevanovic (Conget 75), Araújo; Sívori (Adu 69), Matteini.

Final score: Terrassa 1:4 Cartagena

MoM – Davide Matteini

Míchel gashed his leg and will miss six days of football, including our game at home against Getafe in three days.

[Dixie Flatline]

8th of January 2007

Sebastian Svärd, Sergio Corino, Francisco Javier De Pedro and Davide Matteini are all named in the Segunda Liga Team of the Week.

10th of January 2007

Segunda Liga – Game 21: Cartagena v Getafe

Two goals late in the game from Matteini and Stevanovic settle the game in our favour. In a close and enjoyable encounter, on 84 minutes, Matteini broke the game open when he headed home Adu’s clever cross, much to the delight of the home crowd who had seen Getafe resist all previous attempts at prising open their goal. Getafe seemed demoralized to concede the goal late in the game, and we added the second goal in injury time, when Araújo, completely unmarked in the Getafe box, was able to pick out Stevanovic, who headed home to continue his scoring run. A nice victory to round off a successful first half of the season for us.

Cartagena (4-1-3-2): Bonnefoi; Javi Paredes, Corino, Mullins, Green; Svärd; Araújo, Stevanovic, Conget ©; Sívori (Adu 72), Matteini.

Getafe (4-4-2): Sánchez Broto; Ivo, Pulido, Filipescu ©, Javi Venta; Kosowski, Jurado (But 62), Trobbiani (Vivar Dorado 62), Miñambres; Pachón, Alberto (Thyer 74).

Final score: Cartagena 2:0 Getafe

MoM – Dalibor Stevanovic

So, after 21 games of the season, let’s take a look at the ladder half-way through:

<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">

Pos Team Pld Won Drn Lst For Ag G.D. Pts

-------------------------------------------------------------------------

1st Cartagena 21 15 3 3 41 12 +29 48

2nd Vallodolid 21 13 5 3 30 14 +16 44

3rd Cadiz 20 11 3 6 33 21 +12 36

-------------------------------------------------------------------------

4th Getafe 21 11 3 7 37 27 +10 36

5th Ejido 21 11 3 7 37 21 +16 36

6th Xerez 21 10 4 7 38 27 +11 34

7th Cordoba 21 9 7 5 30 27 +3 34

8th Numancia 20 9 6 5 23 18 +5 33

9th Almeria 21 8 7 6 28 24 +4 31

10th Pontevedra 21 8 7 6 34 29 +5 31

11th Real Madrid B 21 8 6 7 27 31 -4 30

</pre>

I just do the top half, this time. Albacete, Real Unión, Salamanca and Elche are in relegation trouble, currently.

[Dixie Flatline]

Let’s take a brief look at the squad.

Goalkeepers

Landry Bonnefoi (23 y/o, FRA, GK – 19 apps, 11 conceded, 10 clean sheets, 2 MoMs, av. rating: 7.32): 19 apps, 11 conceded, 10 clean sheets, 2 MoMs, av. rating: 7.32

Iñaki (37 y/o, ESP, GK – 87 apps, 70 conceded, 43 clean sheets, 13 MoMs, av. rating: 7.32): 4 apps, 6 conceded, 1 clean sheet, av. rating: 6.50

Bonnefoi has been able to slot in nicely between the posts and has been quite a competent goalkeeper for us this season. However, I’m coming to the conclusion that in the event we are promoted to the Primera Liga, I’m going to need somebody more experienced between the posts, as Bonnefoi is prone to the odd lapse in concentration that can cost us goals. At 37 years of age, Iñaki’s time with Cartagena is, I believe, beginning to come to an end. He has been an excellent servant of the club in my time here, but at 37, he is beginning to slow down.

Defenders

Sergio Corino (32 y/o, ESP, SW/D C – 42 apps, 2 goals, 1 MoM, av. rating: 7.43): 23 apps, 1 goal, 1 MoM, av. rating: 7.35

Hayden Mullins (27 y/o, ENG, SW/D C – 17(1) apps, 1 goal, 1 MoM, av. rating: 7.61): 17(1) apps, 1 goal, 1 MoM, av. rating: 7.61

Corrado Quaresmini (20 y/o, ITA, D R – 1 app, av. rating: 6.00): 1 app, av. rating: 6.00

Thomas Gaardsøe (27 y/o, DEN 3 caps, D C – 5 apps, av. rating: 7.20): 5 apps, av. rating: 7.20

Jordi Ferrón (28 y/o, ESP, D/DM R – 1 app, av. rating: 8.00): 1 app, av. rating: 8.00

Carlos (26 y/o, ESP, D/DM RL – 44 apps, av. rating: 7.14): 0 apps

Cristian Green (28 y/o, ARG, D/DM RL – 21 apps, av. rating: 7.29): 21 apps, av. rating: 7.29

Riccardo Cazzola (21 y/o, ITA, D/DM RC – 45(2) apps, 1 assist, 1 MoM, av. rating: 7.03): 1(2) apps, av. rating: 6.67

Javi Paredes (24 y/o, ESP, D/DM L – 23 apps, av. rating: 7.26): 23 apps, av. rating: 7.26[/i]

This season, I’ve been afforded the luxury of fielding a relatively settled back four of Javi Paredes, Sergio Corino, Hayden Mullins and Cristian Green. Therefore, they’ve been able to understand how each of them plays the game, their strengths and their weaknesses. Consequently, we’ve been able to develop the meanest defence in the league, conceding just 12 goals in 21 games, two less goals than Real Valladolid.

Although the likes of Ferrón, Gaardsøe, Quaresmini and Cazzola haven’t played much this season, I also feel confident that in the event they are needed to play for Cartagena, they will do their best and fill in admirably for those players that are missing.

[Dixie Flatline]

Midfielders

Sebastian Svärd (23 y/o, DEN, D/DM RC – 11 apps, 1 goal, 1 assist, av. rating: 7.73): 11 apps, 1 goal, 1 assist, av. rating: 7.73

Vicente (31 y/o, ESP, D/DM C – 12 apps, av. rating: 7.33): 12 apps, av. rating: 7.33

Eduardo Conget (29 y/o, ESP, DM RC – 98(4) apps, 5 goals, 19 assists, 2 MoMs, av. rating: 7.21): 19(1) apps, 1 goal, 6 assists, av. rating: 7.25

Josep Guardiola (35 y/o, ESP 47 caps, 5 goals, DM C – 17 apps, 2 assists, av. rating: 7.35): 0 apps

Jordi (30 y/o, ESP, M R – 33(9) apps, 1 goal, 15 assists, av. rating: 7.24): 1(4) apps, 1 assist, av. rating: 7.00

Sipho Nunens (24 y/o, RSA 12 caps, 1 goal, M C – 14(3) apps, 4 goals, 3 assists, 4 MoMs, av. rating: 7.18): 3 apps, 1 goal, 1 MoM, av. rating: 7.67

Javier Araújo (22 y/o, COL 17 caps, 2 goals, AM RLC – 36(1) apps, 11 goals, 15 assists, 3 MoMs, av. rating: 7.70): 20 apps, 4 goals, 10 assists, 1 MoM, av. rating: 7.75

Juan Antonio Godino (28 y/o, ESP, AM RC – 28(10) apps, 4 goals, 3 assists, av. rating: 6.98): 0(6) apps, 1 goal, av. rating: 7.00

Francisco Javier De Pedro (33 y/o, ESP 12 caps, 2 goals, AM L – 6(6) apps, 2 goals, 1 assist, av. rating: 6.92): 3(4) apps, 2 goals, 1 assist, av. rating: 7.00

Míchel (31 y/o, ESP, AM LC – 39(2) apps, 3 goals, 22 assists, 12 MoMs, av. rating: 7.93): 19(1) apps, 1 goal, 13 assists, 6 MoMs, av. rating: 7.80

Dalibor Stevanovic (22 y/o, SLO 6 caps, AM C – 4(1) apps, 3 goals, 1 MoM, av. rating: 7.20): 4(1) apps, 3 goals, 1 MoM, av. rating: 7.20

Improving midfield has been my goal this season, and I believe that a midfield quartet of Svärd or Vicente as the anchor midfielder, Míchel, Araújo and Conget has done very well so far this season. Players like De Pedro, Stevanovic, and Godino have chipped in with valuable contributions also, but it’s those five players (for four positions) that have carried us this season so far. I’ve found it difficult to split the defensive midfield role between Svärd and Vicente so far this season. They have both been very useful for this club this season, but I suppose in the long-term future of the club, by dint of his youth, Svärd is the likely candidate.

Araújo has received the plaudits from the media this season, for his electrifying pace and close control, but in my view, Míchel has been the more valuable player. Thirteen assists in 19(1) appearances speaks volumes for his ability to create goals and we’ve often turned to him to make our chances for the forwards to take. At 31, Míchel isn’t going to be around forever, so I hope that Stevanovic, who is a comparable player with the Spaniard in terms of his ability to create chances and his passing capabilities, will step up to the plate.

Araújo is likely to depart before the winter transfer period closes, so I hope that either Sipho Nunens or the hitherto unutilized Oswaldo Chaurant will fill his place.

Forwards

Samba (21 y/o, ENG, F RC – 0 apps): 0 apps

Freddy Adu (17 y/o, USA 9 caps, F LC – 0(4) apps, 1 goal, 2 assists, av. rating: 7.00): 0(4) apps, 1 goal, 2 assists, av. rating: 7.00

Kali Ongala (27 y/o, CON 8 caps, F C – 14(19) apps, 8 goals, 4 assists, 5 MoMs, av. rating: 7.39): 0(6) apps, av. rating: 7.00

Sívori (30 y/o, ESP, F C – 87(4) apps, 55 goals, 13 assists, 12 MoMs, av. rating: 7.43): 23 apps, 11 goals, 2 assists, 1 MoM, av. rating: 7.30

Davide Matteini (24 y/o, ITA, S C – 21(1) apps, 16 goals, 7 assists, 4 MoMs, av. rating: 7.73): 21(1) apps, 16 goals, 7 assists, 4 MoMs, av. rating: 7.73

Jurica Vucko (30 y/o, CRO 3 caps, S C – 2(9) apps, 3 goals, 2 assists, av. rating: 7.18): 2(9) apps, 3 goals, 2 assists, av. rating: 7.18

Sívori and Matteini have both carried the bulk of our attacking prowess so far this season, and both have done very well. Matteini in particular is capable of scoring big bags of goals, scoring two hat-tricks already this season, and with 14 goals in 19(1) league appearances, the burly Italian centre-forward is in the hunt for the top scorer in the league. Sívori is the reigning fans’ player of the year, but he might have some stiff competition.

Jurico Vucko has been a handy back-up, but his non-EU citizen counts against him. Adu has shown signs of being an excellent player, even though he is only 17, and he certainly isn’t overawed about playing with the men, having appeared for the USA in the World Cup last year. Ongala has not really had a great opportunity to shine, but he keeps plugging away in training and he always comes under consideration. Samba is a new signing and is still finding his feet at the club.