wigs7 Posted November 30, 2003 Author Share Posted November 30, 2003 hi folks.please forgive me starting from the start again it seems my old story has been deleted since it had been a couple of months since i posted.i had been giving the russian challenge a go but failed miserably so thought i would come back to this story. to cut a long story short at the beginning i had scooped the 20 million jackpot on the lottery and had decided to invest in my home town team of raith rovers. like so many of todays teams the clubs finacial status is poor and i wanted to take the club back to the top division and back in europe where we were less than 10 years ago. 15.6.2002 i walk in to san starko(starks park) as the new manager and quickly set about my task of rebuilding the side for an immediate return to the top flight.we had won the second division the previous season although we had done our best to lose it after being streets ahead.it was a big task and looking around at the squad i knew only a few would be good enough to stake a claim in the starting line up. i managed to arrange a glut of pre-season friendlies to tweak my squad. cska moscow on 29.6.2002 fife cup on sat6/sun7.7.2002 fulham on 10.7.2002las palmas on 20.7.2002 all these would be on home soil.next up was the task of new blood. 16.6.2002 first full day in charge and 4 new players arrive in the door.mark bosnich and patrick zere arrive on contracts while dutchmen robert wijnands and kofi mensah arrive on a 4 week trial period.many more players should be arriving as i went crazy on the free transfers.lol 19.6.2002 barcelona agree to my loan request and frenchman phillipe christanval signs up on loan for the season. 29.6.2002 cska moscow arrive in kirkcaldy for our first pre-season game and promptly wipe the floor with us.debut's for bosnich and christanval are not enough as we are easily beaten 3-0.to make matters worse we failed to even create a single chance. 30.6.2002 in early morning after yesterdays poor excuse of a game.main priority was a striker and this is how i would spend my day. 3.7.2002 after spending days looking at strikers i manage to aquire archie thomson from lierse on loan for the seaon.with 16 goals in 7 starts for australia he looked the part.only time would tell though. 6.7.2002 Fife cup weekend at san starko with 4 games in 2 days.the draw saw cowdenbeath v burntisland shipyard and raith rovers v east fife.the first game saw a shock with cowdenbeath going down by 2-0.in our game i decided to start with thomson up front with martin prest. a rather uneventful first half to say the least with neither side creating much.but within a minute of the second half the visitors were down to 10 men and the 2 front men clicked.a hattrick for thomson and 2 for prest saw us home comfortably. 7.7.2002 day 2 and east fife claimed 3rd with a 2-0 win over cowdenbeath.in the final i decided to try another striker with thomson in john sutton(chris suttons brother so the media keep telling us).sutton scored a penalty to give us the lead but they were level within a minute.two more goals early in the second half from sutton including another penalty gave him his hattrick before thomson completed the scoring in injury time.despite winning the trophy and scoring nine goals it took key decisions to break down lesser opposition and i knew many more players would need to be brought in if i was to challenge for the first division title. 10.7.2002 jerieme aliadiere was the next name through the door,joining on a season long loan from arsenal.he was immediately thrown in to action as english premiership side fulham rolled into town.he was paired upfront with thomson.a massive crowd of 217 turned up to see the clash and boy did they get their money's worth.thomson opened the scoring after 10 mins with a cute lob over van der sar.fulham then gave us a battering for the rest of the half but due to some fine goalkeeping from bosnich it took a deflected legwinski free kick to make the scores level at half time.second half was much the same as the first with bosnich making some amazing saves.but we hit them twice with the sucker punch.once through thomson who ran through on goal after a great long ball by talio and late on through prest who headed home from close in.although we were battered by a superior side a lot was taken from this fine 3-1 win.the twin strike force of prest and thomson really looks like flourishing. [This message was edited by wigs7 on 30 November 2003 at 20:04.] Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
wigs7 Posted November 30, 2003 Share Posted November 30, 2003 hi folks.please forgive me starting from the start again it seems my old story has been deleted since it had been a couple of months since i posted.i had been giving the russian challenge a go but failed miserably so thought i would come back to this story. to cut a long story short at the beginning i had scooped the 20 million jackpot on the lottery and had decided to invest in my home town team of raith rovers. like so many of todays teams the clubs finacial status is poor and i wanted to take the club back to the top division and back in europe where we were less than 10 years ago. 15.6.2002 i walk in to san starko(starks park) as the new manager and quickly set about my task of rebuilding the side for an immediate return to the top flight.we had won the second division the previous season although we had done our best to lose it after being streets ahead.it was a big task and looking around at the squad i knew only a few would be good enough to stake a claim in the starting line up. i managed to arrange a glut of pre-season friendlies to tweak my squad. cska moscow on 29.6.2002 fife cup on sat6/sun7.7.2002 fulham on 10.7.2002las palmas on 20.7.2002 all these would be on home soil.next up was the task of new blood. 16.6.2002 first full day in charge and 4 new players arrive in the door.mark bosnich and patrick zere arrive on contracts while dutchmen robert wijnands and kofi mensah arrive on a 4 week trial period.many more players should be arriving as i went crazy on the free transfers.lol 19.6.2002 barcelona agree to my loan request and frenchman phillipe christanval signs up on loan for the season. 29.6.2002 cska moscow arrive in kirkcaldy for our first pre-season game and promptly wipe the floor with us.debut's for bosnich and christanval are not enough as we are easily beaten 3-0.to make matters worse we failed to even create a single chance. 30.6.2002 in early morning after yesterdays poor excuse of a game.main priority was a striker and this is how i would spend my day. 3.7.2002 after spending days looking at strikers i manage to aquire archie thomson from lierse on loan for the seaon.with 16 goals in 7 starts for australia he looked the part.only time would tell though. 6.7.2002 Fife cup weekend at san starko with 4 games in 2 days.the draw saw cowdenbeath v burntisland shipyard and raith rovers v east fife.the first game saw a shock with cowdenbeath going down by 2-0.in our game i decided to start with thomson up front with martin prest. a rather uneventful first half to say the least with neither side creating much.but within a minute of the second half the visitors were down to 10 men and the 2 front men clicked.a hattrick for thomson and 2 for prest saw us home comfortably. 7.7.2002 day 2 and east fife claimed 3rd with a 2-0 win over cowdenbeath.in the final i decided to try another striker with thomson in john sutton(chris suttons brother so the media keep telling us).sutton scored a penalty to give us the lead but they were level within a minute.two more goals early in the second half from sutton including another penalty gave him his hattrick before thomson completed the scoring in injury time.despite winning the trophy and scoring nine goals it took key decisions to break down lesser opposition and i knew many more players would need to be brought in if i was to challenge for the first division title. 10.7.2002 jerieme aliadiere was the next name through the door,joining on a season long loan from arsenal.he was immediately thrown in to action as english premiership side fulham rolled into town.he was paired upfront with thomson.a massive crowd of 217 turned up to see the clash and boy did they get their money's worth.thomson opened the scoring after 10 mins with a cute lob over van der sar.fulham then gave us a battering for the rest of the half but due to some fine goalkeeping from bosnich it took a deflected legwinski free kick to make the scores level at half time.second half was much the same as the first with bosnich making some amazing saves.but we hit them twice with the sucker punch.once through thomson who ran through on goal after a great long ball by talio and late on through prest who headed home from close in.although we were battered by a superior side a lot was taken from this fine 3-1 win.the twin strike force of prest and thomson really looks like flourishing. [This message was edited by wigs7 on 30 November 2003 at 20:04.] Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
wigs7 Posted November 30, 2003 Author Share Posted November 30, 2003 12.7.2002 after showing promise in they're trial i decided to sign up bothrobert wijnands and kofi mensah hoping they would push each other for the right back slot. 17.7.2002 the squad is now beginning to take shape as another 3 players come on board.ivan hurtado is an experienced ecudorian centre half as is chilean centre half jorge vargas.the third player is juan jose jayo a peruvian with 62 caps who is a defensive midfielder. 18.7.2002 talented ghanian emmanual osei kuffour and former ukranian internationalist victor leonenko are also welcomed to the club.leonenko will also take on some coaching to help the youngsters. 19.7.2002 the cheque book finally comes out as £450,000 is paid to napoli for former lazio and torino central defender mauro bonomi.the italian would be my main defender and also the new club captain so big things was expected from him.he was more than happy to swap serie b for the scottish first division.i now feel i have a strong squad to challenge for the title and with spanish side las palmas in town ahead of our final friendly tomorrow i am feeling fairly satisfied with way things are panning out. 20.7.2002 our final friendly and an emotional day for our assistant manager paquito as his former side las palmas arrive for battle.i hand first starts to hurtado,jayo,kuffour and bonomi.after really low crowds for the earlier games it was nice to see over 3600 turn out to see the new raith rovers.good early play by thomson in the 7 minute saw him set up the opener for prest but just like in earlier games we were pegged back at half time when carmelo scored with their only effort.second half was completely one sided .prest set up thomson for 2-1.kuffour slotted home a penalty for 3-1.substitute vargas set up prest for 4-1 and 6 mins from the end vargas slotted home a penalty to give us a 5-1 victory.once again our two strikers have linked up well and should score a lot off goals in the impending season.a great performance and hopefully enough to entice the 3600 crowd back every week to cheer us on. 1.8.2002 the draw is made for the c.i.s challenge cup and we have a home draw against third division outfit east stirling.we are also made 7-4 joint second favourites with ayr united in the race for the title.st johnstone being the 6-4 favs with the bookies to go up.last seasons title winners falkirk(not promoted because of they're ground not being up to scratch if u didn't already know) were a tasty 12-1 but after loosing so many good players in the summer they werent expected to last the pace. 2.8.2002 great news as talented youngster freddy adu is awarded a work permit and joins up with the squad ahead of our first game of the season. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
wigs7 Posted December 1, 2003 Author Share Posted December 1, 2003 3.8.2002 queen of the south 0 raith rovers 1 great start to the season with a hard fought victory at dumfries.one of the longest trips of the season was worthwhile as the team seemed to gel quickly and the two strikers looking very impressive.thomsons great run set up prest who volleyed home from the edge of the box with only 12 mins remaining to seal the points. other scores:-ayr united 2 ross county 1,brechin city 1 st johnstone 1,falkirk 5 inverness 0,st mirren 0 clyde 1 10.8.2002 raith rovers 2 falkirk 0 a good crowd of over 3300 turned out for our first home game of the season.after falkirks impressive 5 goal demolition against inverness this was never going to be an easy game.falkirks russell latapy virtually ran the show for the visitors but for bosnich the score would have been different.the first goal in 18 mins was so simple.long free kick into the box by calderon was headed home by thomson.the second was falkirks own undoing.lawries slack infield pass was picked up by kuffour on the half way line and he ran to the edge of the box before rifling home high into the net.another 3 points and another clean sheet so overall not a bad day at the office. other scores:-clyde 0 queen of the south 0, inverness 0 ayr united 2, ross county 2 brechin city 0, st johnstone 3 st mirren 1. 12.8.2002 former nottingham forest ace bryan roy joins on trial and go's straight into the squad for the challenge cup game on the wednesday.also set to join is former belarusian international alexandr chaika who agrees to sign but must wait till the end off the month for his work permit hearing.the 26 year old left sided defensive midfielder has 16 caps and should fit straight into the side as calderons performances haven't been up to scratch. 14.8.2002 raith rovers 1 east stirling 2 to say this was an embaressment would be an understatement.defeated at home to one of the worst teams in scotland is bad enough but to help them win it like bryan roy did with a shocking pass back just takes the cake.roy's 12min pass back left bosnich in no mans land and full credit to mark campbell for his calm finish to give the visitors the lead.the writing was then on the wall as kuffour missed a 56min penalty and although prest did equalize 12 mins later a header from sean macauley 4 mins from time gave the visitors the victory. 15.8.2002 former psv youngster rene klomp is brought in on trial as cover for jayo who was injured early on in our cup defeat.the 28 year old central midfielder has good stamina and work rate and may be a good addition to the squad. 17.8.2002 ayr united 1 raith rovers 1. somerset park has been a bit of a bogey ground for ourselves for years so i was more than happy to come away with a point.like ourselves ayr had maximum points from they're first 2 games so a tight game was always on the cards.i decided to bring in young ryan blackadder on the left and klomp replaced jayo in the middle.in a game of few chances thomson had an early effort blocked while lyle tested bosnich at the other end.8mins from half time and blackadders cross from the left was headed on by thomson to prest who buried it to give us the half time lead.ayr came out battling in the second half and got theyre reward in the 65min.good play by aaron black and james grady left stewart kean with an easy tap in to give the home side a share of the spoils. other scores:- brechin city 2 inverness 1,falkirk 2 clyde 0,queen of the south 2 st mirren 0 and ross county 0 st johnstone 0. even after only 3 games the bookies favs top the table but in this league anything is possible and a couple of wins or a couple of defeats can see u move up high or slide down near the bottom. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
wigs7 Posted December 3, 2003 Author Share Posted December 3, 2003 24.8.2002 raith rovers 2 brechin city 0 a crowd of over 3000 turned up to see us back on a winning track.to be honest brechin never really threatened and the only surprise is we didnt create and score more chances.the first goal came 6 mins before half time,vargas's long ball found prest clear 40 yards out(looking rather offside) and he raced clear and slotted home.no2 arrived in the 65min and again vargas was the creater.the long ball this time found thomson who played in prest to slam home although the keeper really should have done better.one player who really is playing out his skin at the moment is 19 year old richard brittain down the right hand side.a real one for the future hopefully. other scores:- clyde 3 ayr united 1, inverness 3 ross county 1, st johnstone 4 queen of the south 0, st mirren 2 falkirk 5. 25.8.2002 scotland legend archie gemmill joins up as chief scout. 27.8.2002 rene klomp signs a 3 1/2 year deal after showing up well in his starts so far.bryan roy signs on till the end of the season and will play and coach in the reserves. 28.8.2002 former newcastle keeper john karelse is signed as cover to bosnich. 29.8.2002 alexandr chaika has his work permit granted and joins up as the close of the transfer window looms.although blackadder has done well i feel his best position is on the right so chaika should walk straight into the first team. 31.8.2002 ross county 0 raith rovers 3 another long trip and another excellent display.chaika in for blackadder was the only change made from last weeks victory.a long range thunderbolt from thomson after 2 mins set us up for a comfortable victory.2 goals in 4 mins from prest completed the scoring before half time.youngster brittain set up his first and new signing chaika set up the other.the home side were rather dissapointing and failed to create 1 effort in the whole off the game. other scores:-ayr united 3 st mirren 0, brechin city 0 clyde 2, falkirk 1 queen of the south 2, inverness 1 st johnstone 1. a very worrying start for st mirren who have lost all games so far with a few of them very heavily.needless to say their manager's jacket seems to be on a shaky peg this early in the season. 01.9.2002 my good early work in the job seems to be paying off as i am awarded the manager of the month award for august. 14.9.2002 raith rovers 2 inverness 0 after a 2 week break due to internationals it was good to see we hadnt lost our momentam.kuffour scored the first a 25 yard cracker from the edge of the box after a poor clearance from bobby mann.the killer second came on the 68 min, a long clearance from bonomi was headed on by prest to thomson who's shot was well saved by the keeper but the rebound fell to prest who tucked it away for his 7 goal of the season. other scores:- ayr united 3 st mirren 0, brechin city 0 clyde 2 , falkirk 1 queen of the south 2, inverness 1 st johnstone 1. 15.9.2002 graham "turnip head" taylor , roger spry and eddie gray are all signed up to help in the coaching of the club.all have good experience and should help the club achieve it goal. 21.9.2002 clyde 0 raith rovers 1 our unbeaten start continues as we scrape a slender victory today at broadwood stadium.although clyde rarely troubled bosnich the same could be said for ourselves.a poor game was spoiled even more by the card happy referee(no change there then).the only goal of the game was scored by thomson in the 32min,heading home a chaika corner.the only other brief note from the game was the 81min introduction of freddy adu who showed some neat touches. other scores:-falkirk 3 brechin city 3, queen of the south 2 ross county 0, st johnstone 0 ayr united 2, st mirren 2 inverness 2. 28.9.2002 raith rovers 2 st mirren 0 another good day all round.3 points in the bag and a fifth clean sheet in a row for bosnich. it was willie nanouwho was brought in for brittain (rested) that set up the opener.his floated cross from the right found thomson in space inside the box who tucked it away neatly.the second was another long ball upfield by bonomi who found thomson on his own on the centre circle and he exploited the space left by the injured and of the pitch mcgowne to run in on goal and seal the points. other scores:- brechin city 4 ayr united 1, inverness 2 queen of the south 2, ross county 2 falkirk 1, st johnstone 4 clyde 1. 1.10.2002 our unbeaten start is rewarded again with me being given the manager of the month award for the 2nd month in a row. 5.10.2002 raith rovers 0 st johnstone 1 our first defeat of the season and dissapointingly it came at home from our main title challengers.the first half was very tight and both klomp and prest tested the saints keeper without success.5 mins into the second half and the visitors stole the points with theyre first and only effort on goal.parker's header found the unmarked dods who scored easily.kuffour had an effort 9 mins from time but it wasnt to be and the saints had the win and narrowed the gap at the top of the table. other scores :- ayr united 0 falkirk 0, brechin city 2 queen of the south 1, inverness 2 clyde 1, ross county 3 st mirren 1. 9.10.2002 st johnstone 3 brechin city 1 the saints close the gap to one point with a comfortable win at home to brechin. raith rovers 3 queen of the south 0 back to winnings ways with a rather easy 3 goal victory over queen of the south.only sour note being the injury to chaika.the only surprise was it took 30mins to break the visitors down.chaika's teasing cross was headed home by thomson.it was thomson again in the 65min to make it 2,heading home after good play by the recalled richard brittain.the final goal 5mins from time was a cracker.a flowing 5 man move was finished superbly on the volley by leonenko. other scores:- clyde 3 st mirren 0, inverness 4 falkirk 2, ross county 2 ayr united 0. 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wigs7 Posted December 3, 2003 Author Share Posted December 3, 2003 oops in all my excitement i forgot to mention how we crashed out of the league cup at the first hurdle.despite having a home game against bitter rivals dunfermline we simply did not rise to the occasion.goals from former raith player stevie crawford on the hour and derek young on full time were enough to see them through.i was more annoyed with the shocking tackle on jorge vargas which left him with a serious knee injury which would sideline him for 9 months.(dirty pars bast**ds) 26.10.2002 falkirk 0 raith rovers 0 once again russell latapy ran the show for the bairns but we were left wondering why we didnt pick up the 3 points particularly when falkirk played most of the second half with 10 men after the sending off of andy lawrie.falkirk came out flying at the beginning and bosnich had to save well twice in the opening 5 mins from lawrie and mcmenamin.prest and thomson had chances but a stalemate was probably a fair reflection in the end.the only winners here being st johnstone who narrowed the gap again at the top. other scores:- ayr united 0 inverness 2, brechin city 3 ross county 1, queen of the south 0 clyde 0, st mirren 0 st johnstone 3. 2.11.2002 raith rovers 1 ayr united 2 yet another poor home defeat and another central defender lost through a serious knee injury.christanval the unlucky player this time with the same injury as vargas and joins him on the sidelines for 9 months and the rest of the season.the game itself never livened up until 13mins from time when substitute hurtado headed home a chaika corner.the players seemed to think the points were in the bag and took theyre foot of the pedal and were punished big style.8 mins from time and grady robbed chaika and fed the ball to youngster andy ferguson who rifled home from close in.it was grady again in the 2 min of stoppage time this time feeding another ayr youngster in mark mccoll and he sent the visitors home happy.a bad day all round and with st johnstone winning a defeat that knocked us off the top spot. other scores:- clyde 2 falkirk 0, inverness 2 brechin city 0, st johnstone 2 ross county 0, st mirren 0 queen of the south 2. 9.11.2002 brechin city 1 raith rovers 3 our excellent away record continues and we are still undefeated on our travels.after loosing top spot last week it was important we got back to winnig straight away.again our luck seemed to be in as the sending off of scott mcculloch just on half time seemed to knock the heart out of the home side who were holding theyre own at the time and level at 1-1.thomson kept up his good scoring record to fire us ahead in 17 mins after another cracking cross from brittain.the lead only lasted 4 mins however and an unlucky bounce of freddy adu landed perfectly for grant johnson to simply tap home.prest sent thomson clear on the stroke of half time but he was caught late by mcculloch who was shown the straight red card by the referee.it took just 40 secs at the start of the second half to re-take the lead.excellent tackling by adu to rob the ball and a pin point through ball for thomson who had the easy task of running through and finishing high and hard past the keeper.leonenko secured the points 18mins from time after another great through ball this time by kuffour.with leaders st johnstone winning again this was a much needed win. other scores:-ayr united 3 clyde 0, falkirk 5 st mirren 1, queen of the south 1 st johnstone 2, ross county 1 inverness 0 11.11.2002 after talking with unlucky defender christanval it was decided to terminate his loan spell and let him go back to barcelona where he would get the best treatment and hopefully for him a speedier recovery.i wished him well and thanked him for his contribution and told him hopefully our paths would cross again sometime soon. 16.11.2002 raith rovers 1 ross county 0 we absolutely battered the side from dingwall and had enough chances to win 3 games never mind 1.the visitors failed to create any chances at all and on another day could have been looking at a hiding if it hadnt have been for theyre keeper.freddy adu made his first start in central midfield and never looked out of place.infact he set up the only goal in the 61min setting up kuffour who sent a screamer past the superb county keeper stewart.prest soon after wasted 3 great chances to add to the tally but it wasnt to be. other scores :-clyde 3 brechin city 4, queen of the south 3 falkirk 1, st johnstone 1 inverness 0, st mirren 0 ayr united 2. 23.11.2002 st johnstone 1 raith rovers 0 the biggy and once again we cant seem to break down the st johnstone rear guard.a good crowd of 6500 turned up to see us create twice as many chances as the home side but lost out to a 62min penalty from john robertson.thomson and prest both had good chances but craig nelson on the day was just unpassable.to win the league was going to take something special and i had to turn it around in the 2 remaining fixtures against the saints if i was going to succeed. other scores :-clyde 1 inverness 1, falkirk 5 ayr united 0, queen of the south 1 brechin city 1, st mirren 2 ross county 0. st mirren grab a rare win but still looked doomed to life in the second division next season. 30.11.2002 raith rovers 2 clyde 0 just like after previous defeats the team bounce back with a good win.at a rain soaked san starko once again the visitors are completely shut out with no efforts at all during the 90 mins.adu again shines in the middle of the park but is outshone by prest.kuffour was felled in the box 3mins from half time and it was he who stepped up to slot the spot kick home to give us the interval lead.poor defending 7 mins after the interval left prest with an easy through ball for thomson and the goal machine smacked the ball home to give us the 3 points.chaika and leonenko should have done better and the visitors were lucky not to have potter sent off for a blatant push on leonenko. other scores :-ayr united 0 st johnstone 2, brechin 5 falkirk 0, inverness 2 st mirren 2, ross county 0 queen of the south 1. any feedback would be most welcome.i know its not much too look at at the moment but i finished this season a while ago and am looking to pick this game up again where i left off.once this season is done im hoping to add a bit more to the game reviews as it will be fresher in my mind. so enjoy this story if you can and remember happy playing and winning to you all. [This message was edited by wigs7 on 04 December 2003 at 1:03.] Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
wigs7 Posted December 4, 2003 Author Share Posted December 4, 2003 7.12.2002 inverness 1 raith rovers 1 an injury time goal cost us another 2 points as again we failed to take our chances in front of goal.both our strikers looked well of the pace and never really threatned the visitors goal.it took the introduction of leonenko on the hour mark to try and win the game for us.indeed he was only on the park for 3 mins when he put us in front.golabek's slack pass across the middle of the park was intercepted by the ukranian and with the keeper miles off his line he lashed the ball high past the keeper and into the unguarded net.he should have doubled the lead 2mins later after good play by thomson but his shot was high and wide.this miss proved costly with liam keogh turning the ball home in stoppage time after good work by paul ritchie.this was made worse with the news that nearest challengers st johnstone had been thrashed at falkirk. other scores :- ayr united 4 queen of the south 1 , brechin city 3 st mirren 1 , falkirk 4 st johnstone 1 , ross county 3 clyde 0 . 14.12.2002 st mirren 1 raith rovers 2 despite their lowly position and poor overall form this season a crowd of over 6000 turned up at paisley to see an entertaining game.the saints took a lot of credit from this performance and should have maybe have had a share of the spoils.thankfully our 2 strikers turned up today and both scored a goal apiece.the first came in only 6 mins.adu found prest who run 30 yards with the ball before finding the unmarked thomson who calmy slotted the ball home.12 mins later and it was 2.dempsie's poor backpass was intercepted by prest who easily finished from 12 yards out.prest then twice had good efforts saved by woods in the saints goal and kuffour wasted a good chance right on half time.ricky gillies had 4 good chances in the second half before he and annand combined with 6 mins to go to give lavety the easiest goal of his career.substitute leonenko hit the woodwork with a minute to go as we pressed to kill the game off but 2-1 was how it finished. other scores :- ayr united 4 brechin city 3 , clyde 0 st johnstone 0 , falkirk 3 ross county 4 , queen of the south 1 inverness 1 . 16.12.2002 coach mike miller was relieved of his duties and i would actively seek a quality replacement 21.12.2002 queen of the south 0 raith rovers 1 just like the start of the season the long trip to dumfries produced another clean sheet and another 3 points.the game was held up in the 6min after a clash involving the queens keeper colin scott saw him have to be stretched off with a knee injury.he was replaced by young 17 year old stuart robertson who had a blinder including saving a second half penalty by kuffour.he did have to pick the ball out of the net once though thankfully.good play by kuffour saw his pass knocked on by prest and who else but archie thomson was there to slam the ball home,his 12th league goal of the season.he is fast becoming a fans favourite and no wonder as his partnership in whole with prest has been very fruitful. other scores :- ayr united 2 ross county 1 , brechin city 3 st johnstone 2 , falkirk 1 inverness 0 , st mirren 3 clyde 0 . 26.12.2002 raith rovers 2 falkirk 1 the final game of the 2002 calendar year and 3300 turned up on boxing day to see us see out the year with another victory.on the day falkirk played every bit as good football as ourselves and it was that man latapy who gave the bairns the lead after 12 mins.his stunning 25 yard free kick flying past the static bosnich.it took us 45 mins to create a shot on target with leonenko's effort saved by the flying ferguson.from the resulting corner however we were level.falkirk's peruvian striker maestri hooking the ball wildly into his own net.the winner came 10 mins into the second half with leonenko (in for the rested thomson) tucking home after good play from prest.thomson came on as a sub and twice tested ferguson late on ,as did the dangerous latapy for the bairns.the final whistle was met with relief by the home fans who went home fairly happy. other scores :- clyde 2 queen of the south 0 , inverness 4 ayr united 4 , ross county 1 brechin city 2 , st johnstone 2 st mirren 1 . after the game i decided to tempt the financially struggling falkirk with a £100k bid for man of the match latapy.much to my surprise they accepted and we offered terms to the former hibs and rangers player. 27.12.2002 russell latapy agree's terms and will sign up when the transfer window opens in january.i also send my scouts to follow a young 18 year old lad playing for inverness. richard robb was outstanding against us a few weeks back and was man of the match. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
HD Posted December 4, 2003 Share Posted December 4, 2003 what version of the game are you playing on? I'm confused as Brechin are in D1, but Ayr have still got Grady, etc... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
BobBev Posted December 5, 2003 Share Posted December 5, 2003 Wigs, like the content but a little more attnention to the formatting would make it more readable. For example, using capital letters where appropriate and having a space or two after a fullstop. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
wigs7 Posted December 5, 2003 Author Share Posted December 5, 2003 cheers for the comments guys.this game is being played on cm4 with ep5 and a simon treanor update. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
HD Posted December 5, 2003 Share Posted December 5, 2003 ah Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peacemaker7 Posted December 5, 2003 Share Posted December 5, 2003 Yup I agree with Bobbev. It may seem trivial, but capitalizing and stuff really does make a difference. I personally tend to be out off when I look at a story and its not formatted right, but this has a lot of potential so hope you can keep it going Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
wigs7 Posted December 6, 2003 Author Share Posted December 6, 2003 1.1.2003 A brand new year and and a big sore head after the night before. Thankfully a hair of the dog arrived in a bottle of champers for another manager of the month. Also Russell Latapy joins the club for £100k from first division rivals FALKIRK. Rather than bemoan my self inflicted hangover i set about the task of further improving my squad. No holidays for my scouts as they were all sent packing to sunny europe in the search for future stars.(whether the would actually come to a cold and damp and frosty Kirkcaldy was another story 4.1.2003 AYR UNITED 0 RAITH ROVERS 0 A cracking crowd of 7500 turned up to see this top of the table clash. AYR being only one of two teams to beat us so far this season and were left wondering how they never repeated the score. Top scorer Archie Thomson again found himself on the bench, while Calderon replaced the injured Chaika. All the early chances seemed to fall to Leonenko but either poor finishing or good tackling/goalkeeping denied the big striker the chance to add to his good goals per game ratio. As the half progressed the more the nippy Grady got involved and he created AYR'S best chances, but Bosnich was equal to everything being thrown at him. The second half was a damp squid and the best effort of the game came 18 mins from time when Hurtado fouled Whalen in the box and the ref had no hesitation in awarding the spot kick. Thankfully Bosnich saved Grady's spot kick and the spoils were shared. Latapy made an appearance late on but failed to create that winning chance, but showed enough to the travelling Rovers fans that he will be an asset. other scores :- BRECHIN CITY 3 INVERNESS 0 , FALKIRK 0 CLYDE 2 , QUEEN OF THE SOUTH 2 ST MIRREN 1 , ROSS COUNTY 1 ST JOHNSTONE 2 . 6.1.2003 Martin Risbjerg a young Danishman recommended by the scouts , joins from AARHUS for a fee of £20k. Although not the pacest of players , he shows good work rate and good determination and may be one for the future . 8.1.2003 Former swedish international Klas Ingesson joins as player/coach . He will mainly be employed for his coaching skills , but his vast experience in most of the top leagues in europe will also come in handy and will play in an emergency if needed. 11.1.2003 RAITH ROVERS 2 BRECHIN CITY 0 Russell Latapy making his first start and a recall for Archie Thomson are the two changes from last weeks starting line-up at AYR. All the main action from this game took place in the first 15 mins of this game. 8 mins in and Thomson's pass found Prest who easily found the bottom corner of the net. 3 mins later and the game was over. Again the two strikers combined, with Prest this time flicking the ball on to Thomson who slammed home from 18 yards out. BRECHIN'S misery was complete in the 14 min when Doyle was sent off for a two footed lunge on Kuffour . Latapy tormented the visitors with his passing and shooting but just lacked the killer touch. Practically the whole team were trying to get on the score sheet even defender Wijnands who's blistering effort near the death fizzed just wide . Once again the visitor's to san starko failed to create a single chance in the whole game and another 3 points towards our goal. OTHER SCORES :- CLYDE 1 AYR UNITED 0 , INVERNESS 3 ROSS COUNTY 1 , ST JOHNSTONE 2 QUEEN OF THE SOUTH 1 , ST MIRREN 1 FALKIRK 3 . Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
wigs7 Posted December 6, 2003 Author Share Posted December 6, 2003 17.1.2003 Promising youngster RICHARD ROBB arrives from INVERNESS after the scouts confirmed what i already knew. A fee of £50k is agreed which i find is a bit of a bargain . He will be put in the squad for the forthcoming trip to Dingwall to face ROSS COUNTY but will probably have to settle for a place on the bench. 18.1.2003 ROSS COUNTY 0 RAITH ROVERS 1 A cold but dry day at Dingwall and another satisfying afternoons work. The first piece of action came in the 12 min and led to the only goal of the game. A quick throw in by WIJNANDS found LATAPY in space and his cross was controlled by THOMSON who controlled the ball and drilled the ball home from a narrow angle. PREST then tested the keeper with a crashing drive which flew just over , as we pretty dominated the first half. After the restart it was more of the same with PREST and THOMSON both having good efforts , but the keeper had them both covered. As the game wore on LYNCH had two good efforts for the home side. The first was well saved by BOSNICH while his second and best effort crashed off the underside of the bar before being cleared by the static defence. Overall a lucky win but another clean sheet for the impressive BOSNICH and two point gained as ST JOHNSTONE slipped to a 1-1 draw at INVERNESS. OTHER SCORES :- AYR UNITED 5 ST MIRREN 0 , BRECHIN CITY 0 CLYDE 0 , FALKIRK 4 QUEEN OF THE SOUTH 3 , INVERNESS 1 ST JOHNSTONE 1 . After the game we announce the signing of BRAZILIAN ADAILTON for a fee of £650,000 from SERIE B side VERONA. The 25 year old holds an ITALIAN passport so will sign straight away and go into the squad to face ST MIRREN in the scottish cup third round next week . 20.1.2003 More good news is announced as we unveil that IVORIAN defender SALIOU LASSISSI has agreed terms and will sign up on a bosman free in the summer from top ITALIAN cracks ROMA. 25.1.2003 ST MIRREN 0 RAITH ROVERS 2 ADAILTON makes a quicker debut than expected as THOMSON fails to shake off a knock he picked up in last weeks victory. The game turned out to be a lot more tougher than we had expected. Despite struggling in the league , the home side played some excellent football in front of a large crowd of just under 9000. Just like in some previous matches it was our early play that was rewarded and we were 2 goals up before the saints knew what had hit them. On 25 mins ADAILTON'S cross found PREST in the box and his effort went in off the unfortunate defender VAN ZANTEN. 2 mins later and it was 2-0. ADU'S effort from the edge of the box was parried by the keeper and PREST was on hand to tuck away the rebound. The rest of the match was all the home side with GILLIES the architect behind all the saints good moves. MURRAY , MCKNIGHT AND NOBLE all coming close to bringing the home side back into the game , but a gutsy performance by all the players ensured we made it into the hat for the next round. 27.1.2003 The draw for the fourth round of the cup is made and we have the small trip to local rivals COWDENBEATH to look forward to. Although struggling at the foot of the Third Division , we won't be taking them for granted after the debacle that was EAST STIRLING earlier in the season. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
wigs7 Posted December 7, 2003 Author Share Posted December 7, 2003 1.2.2003 RAITH ROVERS 6 INVERNESS 0 Yet another manager of the month award is presented before the game . The resulting game then ending in a rout where for once , just about everything we created ended up in the back of the net . The undoubted star of the show being ADAILTON who was making his home debut . He took just 52 secs to mark it with a goal , controlling BRITTAIN'S through ball and firing it under the advancing keeper . Just 5 mins later and he made it 2 , this time smashing home a flick from PREST . The BRAZILIAN was also involved in the next goal when it was he that was upended in the box by MANN and HURTADO stepped up to slot home the 17 min penalty . ADAILTON then completed his hat-trick 3 mins from half time after a great one-two between himself and PREST . The second half was rather dull in comparision with only 2 further goals , both coming late on. CHAIKA headed home the fifth after good play by ADU . The final goal came 5 mins before the end , and who else but man of the match ADAILTON heading home substitute THOMSON'S cross for his fourth goal of the game. OTHER SCORES :- CLYDE 0 ROSS COUNTY 1 , QUEEN OF THE SOUTH 2 AYR UNITED 0 , ST JOHNSTONE 4 FALKIRK 0 , ST MIRREN 0 BRECHIN CITY 5 . 8.2.2003 RAITH ROVERS 6 ST MIRREN 0 For the second succesive week the visitors are blown away at san starko . After his 4 goals last week ADAILTON picked up where he left off with another brace . The first goal of the afternoon came in the 14 min after a flowing move involving four players . PREST heading home ADAILTON'S cross . PREST then returned the favour 4 mins later and ADAILTON hammered home from just inside the box . LATAPY was unlucky moments later but his effort rebounded of the post and the saints for once managed to clear their lines. 6 mins from half time and the game was over . Once again PREST and ADAILTON combined for the BRAZILIAN to knock home his 6 goal in just 2 games . KUFFOUR'S stunning half volley in first half stoppage time pretty much summed up the way the team was playing at the moment . There was to be no let up in the second half as two quick fire goals condemned the saints to another heavy defeat . FREDDY ADU bent one in from the edge of the box on the 52 min and almost straight from kick off PREST found himself clear after a good through ball from ADAILTON and he made it six . The home fans made it clear they wanted more but the players took theyre foot off the gas and settled for six . Unbelievably this was the same side that 2 weeks earlier ran us so close in the cup and the saints manager must now be planning for life in the Second Division . If he still has a job that is OTHER SCORES :- BRECHIN CITY 1 AYR UNITED 0 , INVERNESS 3 QUEEN OF THE SOUTH 0 , ROSS COUNTY 3 FALKIRK 2 , ST JOHNSTONE 2 CLYDE 0 . 12.2.2003 CLYDE 0 RAITH ROVERS 3 Another top drawer performance in this re-arranged midweek fixture. With a top of the table clash with ST JOHNSTONE at starks park on saturday , my main worry was if my players would put too much into this fixture . As it turned out , much to my satisfaction our opponents failed to create a single chance in the entire game and we won at walking pace . Our main strength seems to be scoring early goals and not allowing the opposition a chance back in to the game . This was the case again , with the unlucky POTTER putting through his own net in the 4 min trying to cut out CHAIKA'S teasing cross . LATAPY AND PREST then tried their luck from long range before once again ADAILTON took over . In the 41st min he squeezed a BRITTAIN cross home from 8 yards out . Then for his next trick he lobbed home a HURTADO clearance from 35 yards out much to the delight of the small travelling rovers support . The BRAZILIAN seems to be the final part in the jigsaw and hope's are high that we have the edge on ST JOHNSTONE in the final run in . OTHER SCORE :- ST JOHNSTONE 1 AYR UNITED 0 . 15.2.2003 RAITH ROVERS 2 ST JOHNSTONE 0 A somewhat dissapointing crowd of 3500 turned out to see us move 5 points clear at the top of the table. The visitors had no answer to our play today as we dominated the whole 90 mins . MARTIN PREST was the star of the show today with 2 well taken goals , with one in each half . Good early chances fell to ADAILTON AND LATAPY , before the breakthrough came 2 mins from half time . CHAIKA'S deft through ball set PREST clear and he calmy rounded the keeper before stroking the ball home from close in. PREST AND ADAILTON both created chances in the second half without troubling NELSON in the saints goal . The clincher came 14 mins from time after great wing play from BRITTAIN . He skinned a couple of defenders before crossing from the by line for PREST to nod home . The disappointing visitor's created nothing and they're only effort was a long kick out from keeper NELSON that BOSNICH gathered with not a saints player in sight. OTHER SCORES :- AYR UNITED 5 FALKIRK 1 , BRECHIN CITY 3 QUEEN OF THE SOUTH 0 , INVERNESS 0 CLYDE 2 , ROSS COUNTY 2 ST MIRREN 0 . 19.2.2003 OTHER SCORE :- ST MIRREN 4 INVERNESS 3 22.2.2003 COWDENBEATH 0 RAITH ROVERS 2 Scottish Cup Round Four A wet day at central park (probably one of the worst grounds in Scotland) , saw us comfortably through to the fifth round without too many scares . Recent signing RICHARD ROBB started at right back , while KLAS INGESSON made the bench . PREST had some good chances to put us in the lead before he was booked on half time for diving inside the box . He made up for it 3 mins after the break however , firing home after an excellent long pass from ROBB . ADU then put a shot just wide , before LATAPY doubled the advantage with a free kick from the edge of the box . Both INGESSON AND ALIADIERE were introduced late on but failed to increase the margin . COWDENBEATH'S MCINALLY saw red in stoppage time for a second yellow card. OTHER CUP SCORES :- ALBION ROVERS 1 MORTON 2 , CELTIC 2 ABERDEEN 0 , ELGIN CITY 2 DUNFERMLINE 0 (hehe) , GRETNA 0 ST JOHNSTONE 2 , HIBS 2 DUNDEE 3 , INVERNESS 3 MOTHERWELL 0 , LIVINGSTON 0 RANGERS 4 . LEAGUE SCORES :- FALKIRK 2 BRECHIN CITY 0 , QUEEN OF THE SOUTH 3 ROSS COUNTY 0 . Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
wigs7 Posted December 7, 2003 Author Share Posted December 7, 2003 23.3.2003 DRAW FOR SCOTTISH CUP QUARTER FINAL :- CELTIC V RANGERS , DUNDEE V ELGIN CITY , RAITH ROVERS V INVERNESS , ST JOHNSTONE V MORTON . 1.3.2003 RAITH ROVERS 0 QUEEN OF THE SOUTH 0 . Back down to earth with a bang as we are held at home by the doonhammers . In a poor first half it was the visitors that created the best chances . A close range header from WOOD was well saved by BOSNICH before REID saw his header well saved by the AUSSIE stopper . It took us almost an hour to create our first chance , with ADAILTON going close with a stinging shot . Former RANGERS youngster COLIN SCOTT was having a blinding day in goal and denied PREST on 3 seperate occasions , as well as saving well from THOMSON . Overall dissapointment at dropping 2 home points but the big plus was BOSNICH who's fine saves early on earned him a tenth straight shut out in a row . I am awarded manager of the month for the 3rd straight month . OTHER SCORES :- CLYDE 3 ST MIRREN 1 , INVERNESS 2 FALKIRK 0 , ROSS COUNTY 2 AYR UNITED 2 , ST JOHNSTONE 4 BRECHIN CITY 0 . 8.3.2003 FALKIRK 1 RAITH ROVERS 3 . We suffer an early blow as PREST is stretchered off in the first minute . Fortunately we have top scorer THOMSON on the bench to replace him . He has been unlucky since his injury and hasn't been able to get back into the side , making just brief substitute appearances on the way . It didn't take him long to get involved as it was his cross in 5 mins that fell to the unmarked ADAILTON and he volleyed home from just inside the box . The pair combined 7 mins later but this time the keeper was equal to the task . The second came 10 mins before the break and this time BRITTAIN was the provider . His long pass (a la BECKHAM ) split the defence and ADAILTON ran through on goal and buried it for his 10 goal of his brief season so far . 2-0 then at half time but within a minute of the restart FALKIRK were back in the game . FLAVIO MAESTRI slotting home the loose ball after a mistake in our defence . To say BOSNICH was angry would be an understatement , as this was the first goal he had conceded in 1024 mins of football . The comeback was to be brief however as just 5 mins later THOMSON picked up on a poor pass back and lobbed the home keeper from the edge of the box . Chances went a begging for both sides and the game fizzled out for a 3-1 scoreline in our favour . OTHER SCORES :- AYR UNITED 3 INVERNESS 0 , BRECHIN CITY 4 ROSS COUNTY 0 , QUEEN OF THE SOUTH 1 CLYDE 0 , ST MIRREN 0 ST JOHNSTONE 2 . Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
wigs7 Posted December 9, 2003 Author Share Posted December 9, 2003 12.3.2003 BRECHIN CITY 1 RAITH ROVERS 3 Another 3 points collected at a cold and wet Glebe Park . Kuffour set the ball rolling in the 16th min rolling the ball home after good build up by ADAILTON . Left back STANIC then tried his luck 12 mins later , but his tame shot was comfortably held by the City keeper . Straight from the kick out however , BRECHIN managed to get themselves in a mess and when THOMSON'S shot was blocked , CHAIKA picked the ball up and cut it back to LATAPY who bent one in to the top corner with the keeper helpless . This only seemed to inspire the home side and they pulled a goal back on the stroke of half time . GIBSON picked up a slack ball 25 yards out and hit a screamer past BOSNICH . BRECHIN started the second half well and should have equalised when DOYLE was left free inside the box but his header flew over the bar . The game was put beyond the home side 7 mins from time . NANOU robbed the ball deep inside his own half , he found THOMSON inside the centre circle who fed ADAILTON and the striker ran through before rounding the keeper and slotting the ball into the empty net . OTHER SCORES :- QUEEN OF THE SOUTH 0 ST JOHNSTONE 4 , ROSS COUNTY 3 INVERNESS 1 . 15.3.2003 RAITH ROVERS 3 AYR UNITED 0 Finally our hoodoo is gone as we eventually overcome a stubborn AYR side . The visitors cause wasn't helped when key player STEWART KEAN was taken off injured after just 10 mins . In the 23rd min we were ahead . KUFFOUR'S free kick was knocked on by THOMSON and ADAILTON easy fired home . AYR had the ball in the net 9 mins from half time , but sub GRADY was ruled offside . A minute later and BOSNICH had to fly full length in his goal to turn round the post an effort from WHALEN . 3 mins after the break and it was almost 2-0 . Again the two strikers combined well but THOMSON'S effort was poor . It was to be 2 in the 54 minute though . ADAILTON'S shot was blocked by the keeper but the rebound fell to THOMSON who scored easily . Substitute LEONENKO completed the scoring 8 mins from time after excellent play again from ADAILTON . With ST JOHNSTONE looking unbeatable like ourselves and a trip to PERTH still to come , it was crucial we kept on winning . OTHER SCORES :- CLYDE 1 FALKIRK 0 , INVERNESS 1 BRECHIN CITY 2 , ST JOHNSTONE 1 ROSS COUNTY 0 , ST MIRREN 1 QUEEN OF THE SOUTH 0 . 22.3.2003 SCOTTISH CUP QUARTER FINAL RAITH ROVERS 3 INVERNESS 0 An excellent all-round team performance see us coast into the semi-final of the Scottish Cup . Amazingly it took 29 mins to take the lead , with the visitors defence taking an absolute battering . THOMSON had 4 good efforts alone before his next effort was only parried by the keeper and ADAILTON tucked it home . 3 mins later he had his and our 2nd . Again BROWN in the INVERNESS goal could only parry LATAPY'S free kick and the BRAZILIAN wont score an easier goal . The second half followed much the same path although DUNCAN should have been red carded for a kick at THOMSON he was surprisingly let off with a booking . Supersub LEONENKO grabbed an injury time goal to seal the victory . OTHER SCOTTISH CUP SCORES :- CELTIC 4 RANGERS 1 , DUNDEE 3 ELGIN CITY 0 , ST JOHNSTONE 2 MORTON 1 . LEAGUE SCORES :- AYR UNITED 1 CLYDE 0 , FALKIRK 3 ST MIRREN 0 . 23.3.2003 DRAW FOR THE SCOTTISH CUP SEMI FINALS :- ST JOHNSTONE V DUNDEE , RAITH ROVERS V CELTIC . 24.3.2003 On reflection the draw could have been a lot better but we would probably have had to face the favourite's at some time and anything is possible in a one off game . 1.4.2003 Yet another manager of the month award is presented to myself . 5.4.2003 RAITH ROVERS 3 ROSS COUNTY 0 This game had just about everything . The referee seemed to lose the plot somewhat and awarded no fewer than 5 penalties , with 4 of them being awarded to ourselves . We managed to make a hash of it and missed 3 of them with the visitor's missing one of their own . THOMSON grabbed the first 20 mins in when the County defence seemed to back off , and he practically walked the ball home . THOMSON , CHAIKA and LATAPY all went close in first half stoppage time as County threatned to self destruct . The first penalty came 3 mins after the interval but HURTADO blasted it over the bar . 6 mins later and it was ADAILTON'S turn to miss as his effort crashed off the bar . ADAILTON made up for his miss in the 56th min , netting after good wing play by fullback STANIC . In the 68th min HANNAH had the chance to pull one back but screwed his kick wide . 12 mins from time it was THOMSON'S turn to miss with the keeper also saving his rebound . From the resulting corner there was a push inside the box and this time THOMSON made no mistake. OTHER SCORES :- CLYDE 0 BRECHIN CITY 4 , QUEEN OF THE SOUTH 3 FALKIRK 1 , ST JOHNSTONE 4 INVERNESS 1 , ST MIRREN 3 AYR UNITED 0 . 9.4.2003 INVERNESS 1 RAITH ROVERS 4 . For the second time in just over 2 weeks INVERNESS prove no match for us as ARCHIE THOMSON has a field day . He opened the scoring in the 3rd min , knocking home after BROWN spilled ADAILTON'S close range shot . INVERNESS equalised 13 mins later with they're first chance . MCCAFFREY and BINGHAM combining well for MUNRO to slot the ball under the advancing BOSNICH . There was only one man after that with THOMSON going goal crazy . In the 26 minute he sprung the offside trap and easily lobbed the advancing keeper , then 10 mins from half time he outjumped the defence for 3-1 . 7 mins into the second half he cracked one home from the edge of the box for his fourth goal of the game and his 23rd of the season . OTHER SCORE :- FALKIRK 0 ST JOHNSTONE 2 . 12.4.2003 RAITH ROVERS 2 CLYDE 0 A good day soon turned into a great day as news of ST JOHNSTONE'S draw at AYR mean't we could afford to go to PERTH and lose , although we would most definetely be going to win . For the third time this season CLYDE failed to create a single effort in the game . THOMSON missed two easy chances early on before finally slot home in the 29th min after poor defending from the visitor's . CLYDE keeper MORRISON then made 4 stunning saves before finally being beaten by a LATAPY free kick from the edge of the box . Sub PREST missed 2 chances late on but the visitor's were well beaten by then . OTHER SCORES :- AYR UNITED 1 ST JOHNSTONE 1 , BRECHIN CITY 0 FALKIRK 2 , INVERNESS 2 ST MIRREN 1 , ROSS COUNTY 0 QUEEN OF THE SOUTH 0 . 19.4.2003 SCOTTISH CUP SEMI - FINAL SCORE :- ST JOHNSTONE 0 DUNDEE 0 . LEAGUE SCORES :- AYR UNITED 0 QUEEN OF THE SOUTH 2 , BRECHIN CITY 1 ST MIRREN 0 , ROSS COUNTY 1 CLYDE 0 . 20.4.2003 SCOTTISH CUP SEMI - FINAL SCORE :- RAITH ROVERS 1 CELTIC 2 Sadly it wasn't to be as we crashed out of the cup to the GLASGOW giants . A rather poor crowd turned out at HAMPDEN PARK to see a game of very few chances . To be fair to our players the score was a lot closer than i was expecting , but come full time i was left dissapointed we hadn't taken them to a replay . The game opened at a frantic pace with PREST being the first to try his luck , but a last ditch block by MJALLBY saved the day . Next up was AGATHE but his effort came back of the bar and was cleared . LATAPY put a free kick just wide while KILTY went close for CELTIC . 11 mins from half time and we took the lead with the classic counter attack . ADAILTON picked up a clearance header from the edge of our box and fed PREST who's long pass found THOMSON and he out ran the defenders before rounding the keeper and tucking home . We managed to keep the lead till the 58th min when HARTSON finished of a good move involving SUTTON . HARTSON should have given them the lead 4 mins later when clean through but BOSNICH came to our rescue . Similarly in the 71st min PREST was clean through but HEDMAN came to CELTIC'S rescue blocking his weak shot . The winner came 9 mins from time when MJALLBY was left alone in the box and he headed home ALAN THOMSON'S inswinging corner . ARCHIE THOMSON then had a chance to level in stoppage time but instead of passing he shot into the side netting . 23.4.2003 SCOTTISH CUP SEMI - FINAL REPLAY SCORE :- DUNDEE 3 ST JOHNSTONE 1 1.5.2003 Manager of the month for the fifth month in a row. 3.5.2003 ST JOHNSTONE 1 RAITH ROVERS 0 Despite just needing a point to clinch promotion it wasn't to be and ST JOHNSTONE fully deserved the victory . For once our attack just wasn't at the races and we never troubled the keeper once . Wether the loss of CHAIKA in the 21st minute unbalanced the side or not we had no excuses and had to wait until the last game of the season at home to relegated ST MIRREN . The only goal of the game came in the 31st minute and was largely down to great play by KEIGAN PARKER . He did all the donkey work before laying it of to ROBERTSON who buried past the helpless BOSNICH . DONNELLY and ROBERTSON could and should have added to the tally , while our best effort came in the 88th min but ADAILTON'S effort was to high . OTHER SCORES :- CLYDE 0 INVERNESS 3 , FALKIRK 3 AYR UNITED 1 , QUEEN OF THE SOUTH 2 BRECHIN CITY 0 , ST MIRREN 0 ROSS COUNTY 2 . Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
wigs7 Posted December 10, 2003 Author Share Posted December 10, 2003 10.5.2003 ST MIRREN 0 RAITH ROVERS 1 CHAMPIONS . Relegated ST MIRREN put up a dogged fight but we managed to get the points . Despite only needing a point due to our superior goal difference it was nice to go out with a win . The home side created all the chances in the first and should have been ahead before ARCHIE THOMSON popped up in first half stoppage time to give us the lead . ADAILTON held the ball up , then he fed STANIC who's through ball split the defence and from just inside the box the big AUSSIE smashed the ball home . The Saints continued to dominate with LAVETY a constant menace . We managed to create a few chances at the end but we had done enough and the title was our's . OTHER SCORES :- AYR UNITED 2 BRECHIN CITY 0 , CLYDE 0 ST JOHNSTONE 2 , FALKIRK 1 ROSS COUNTY 0 , QUEEN OF THE SOUTH 1 INVERNESS 0 . (I ORIGINALLY WON THIS GAME 3-1 AT A BREEZE BUT MY LOVELY COMPUTER FROZE IN PRE-SEASON AND I LOST IT) END OF SEASON HONOUR'S FIRST DIVISION CHAMPIONS TOP GOAL SCORER :- ARCHIE THOMSON 26 GOALS FANS PLAYER OF THE YEAR :- MARTIN PREST OTHER HONOUR'S SCOTTISH PREMIER DIVISION CHAMPION'S :- DUNDEE SCOTTISH CUP WINNER'S :- DUNDEE SCOTTISH LEAGUE CUP WINNER'S :- RANGERS SCOTTISH BELLS CHALLENGE CUP WINNER'S :- HAMILTON ACCIES EUROPEAN CUP WINNER'S :- LAZIO UEFA CUP WINNER'S :- CSKA MOSCOW Quite ironic that the first team we played in a pre-season friendly and that they gave us a doing went on to lift the UEFA Cup . ST MIRREN and INVERNESS were both relegated to the Second Division . LIVINGSTON was relegated from the Premier League ALLOA and MORTON were promoted to Division One GRETNA and PETERHEAD were promoted to Division Two STENHOUSEMUIR and BERWICK RANGERS were relegated to Division Three [This message was edited by wigs7 on 11 December 2003 at 0:28.] Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
wigs7 Posted December 12, 2003 Author Share Posted December 12, 2003 12.5.2003 Given the manager of the year PRE - SEASON JUNE 2003 Not much happening in the this month . With the players all on holiday i set about the task of strengthning my squad for the forthcoming season . With their contract's expiring at the end of the month , SHAUN DENNIS , ANTONIO CALDERON and BRIAN ROY were all told they were no longer required and free to end or restart their career elsewhere . Scout GARY MCKENZIE was also shown the exit door . On a plus note talented FRENCHMAN PHILIPE MEXES was recruited on a year long loan deal from AUXERRE . I also managed to fix up 6 friendly matches to tune up the squad for the tough season ahead . I decided to play 2 teams we had faced last season before taking the club on a mini tour of ENGLAND AND WALES . The fixtures were as follows :- 5.7.2003 AWAY TO FALKIRK 9.7.2003 AWAY TO ST MIRREN 13.7.2003 AWAY TO CHARLTON ATHLETIC 17.7.2003 AWAY TO CARDIFF CITY 20.7.2003 AWAY TO NOTTINGHAM FOREST Lastly we would meet the mighty MANCHESTER UNITED at Starks Park on the 28.7.2003 just five days before we start our league campaign with a trip to our bitter rivals DUNFERMLINE . 1.7.2003 The building continue's as SALIOU LASSISSI arrive's on a bosman from ROMA . We are now well covered in central defence and my attention's turn to the wide player's . 2.7.2003 DUTCHMAN IBRAHIM AFFELAY arrive's on a free transfer . Despite playing in the lower regions of DUTCH football for a year , this former PSV youngster is only 17 years old and looks a good prospect for the future . 3.7.2003 GRETNA are paid £80k compensation for 15 year old PAUL CONNELLY who my scouts assure me has a big future ahead of him . 5.7.2003 FALKIRK 1 RAITH ROVERS 0 KEVIN CHRISTIE'S 32min penalty was enough to seperate the side's in this typical pre-season game . Despite the defeat it was a good work out and some of the youth player's should some promise . It also gave me the chance to try out a few trialist's . Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peacemaker7 Posted December 12, 2003 Share Posted December 12, 2003 Well done on the promotion. Decent little story this is becoming Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
wigs7 Posted December 13, 2003 Author Share Posted December 13, 2003 Thanks peacemaker . Hopefully i have as much luck in the top flight . Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
wigs7 Posted December 13, 2003 Author Share Posted December 13, 2003 9.7.2003 Just before our next game away to ST MIRREN i managed to agree a deal with Sir Alex for a season long loan deal for BOJAN DJORDJIC . An excellent prospect that i hoped would add some craft into the midfield , but i wouldn't be stopping there and fingers crossed more quality should be added before the big kick off . ST MIRREN 0 RAITH ROVERS 1 Amazingly a crowd of over 10500 turned up at Love Street for this friendly fixture . PREST set up the only goal in the 13th min flicking on for ADAILTON to fire home from the edge of the box . DJORDJIC played the full 90 mins and seemed to fit in very well . Another player showing up well was a trialist by the name of PODESTA . The URUGUAYAN liked to command the midfield and i was interested in adding him to the squad , but unfortunatly he opted to sign for ALAVES instead . 11.7.2003 With 2 days to go before our trip south i was delving in the transfer market again . CEDRIC VAN DER GUN arrived on a season's loan from AJAX and also joining was RICHIE PARTRIDGE who signed from LIVERPOOL for a fee off £1million pounds . I had tried to get PARTRIDGE in on loan last season , but he had decided to go to QPR instead . With these two signing's it gave us excellent options on both flank's . 13.7.2003 The only trouble i was having in bolstering my squad was the distinct lack of striker's . With this in mind and not having much luck persuading players to join , i bit the bullet and resigned ARCHIE THOMSON on another season's loan . CHARLTON ATHLETIC 0 RAITH ROVERS 0 A full strength CHARLTON side were held to score-less draw and to be perfectly honest we were much the better side . Despite a good performance i decided that trialist MICHELE SERENA didn't fit in my future plans and told hom he would be freed after the CARDIFF CITY game . 17.7.2003 CARDIFF CITY 0 RAITH ROVERS 3 An excellent performance saw us win this game pretty comfortably . PARTRIDGE was in irresitable form and tore the defence apart . 2 goals from ARCHIE THOMSON in the first half and one from ADAILTON in the second settled the game . 19.7.2003 ST JOHNSTONE are paid £250k for PAUL LOVERING , who shone for them last season at left back . 20.7.2003 Joining up before the game is LIVERPOOL striker NEIL MELLOR for a fee of £1.7million pounds and he goes straight into the team for the game . NOTTINGHAM FOREST 0 RAITH ROVERS 1 The final game of our mini tour and another victory . The most pleasing element of the tour has been despite trying different players at the back we failed to concede a single goal . I hope that we don't start conceding goals for fun in the league instead !!!! The only goal of the game came in the 9th min from PREST and it was all made by new boy MELLOR . It should have been a lot more but overall a very successful tour indeed and most of the new signing's have bedded in very well . 27.7.2003 A work permit is finally granted for ANDREJS STOLCERS and the former FULHAM player should add a bit of competition in a number of spots in the side . 28.7.2003 RAITH ROVERS 0 MANCHESTER UNITED 0 Despite fielding their strongest side , the high profile visitors couldn't break us down . Who knows what might of happened if i had fielded my first team . I now feel more than ready for the challenge ahead and feel i have a squad capable of finishing in the top half of the league . Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
wigs7 Posted December 14, 2003 Author Share Posted December 14, 2003 Here is my squad for the forthcoming challenge in the SPL . Goalkeeper's :- MARK BOSNICH :- What is there left to say about this guy ? Had an absolute stunning season last year with 27 clean sheets in only 42 appearance's . AUSTRALIAN 17 caps 1 goal . 31 YEARS OLD JOHN KARELSE :- Still to make an appearance in the first team , the former NAC BREDA and NEWCASTLE UNITED player was brought in as cover for BOSNICH . DUTCH . 33 YEARS OLD Defender's :- PHILIPE MEXES :- Talented defender who is on a season long loan deal from AUXERRE . Big things expected of him and he should play most of the games this season at centre half . FRENCHMAN 1 cap . 21 YEARS OLD JORGE VARGAS :- Just coming back from a serious knee injury and another contender for the centre half's position . May struggle to dislodge the other defender's and a place on the bench at best look's his best target when fully fit . CHILEAN 8 caps . 27 YEARS OLD MAURO BONOMI :- Club captain and so far outstanding at the back . In his prime and should be the rock at the back for a good few years to come . ITALIAN . 31 YEARS OLD SALIOU LASSISSI :- One of the many close season signing's . Had a good career in the top flight in ITALY with PARMA and SAMPDORIA but never managed to break into the top team at ROMA . Another player with great potential but only time will tell if he fulfill's it here . IVORIAN 4 caps . 25 YEARS OLD RICHARD ROBB :- Signed after impressing in a struggling INVERNESS side last season , this youngster has a good right foot and should be pushing hard for a first team slot very quickly . SCOTTISH . 20 YEARS OLD PAUL LOVERING :- Left sided defender who was signed from ST JOHNSTONE in the close season . This former AYR UNITED and HIBS player was the best left back in the First Division last year and should make that position his own on merit . SCOTTISH . 27 YEARS OLD IVAN HURTADO :- Vastly experienced player who came in for the injured VARGAS last season and didn't dissapoint . He is almost certain to be the first player on the team sheet . ECUADORIAN 80 caps 3 goals . 29 YEARS OLD ALEXANDR CHAIKA :- Although mainly a defensive midfielder he can play anywhere on the left hand side and did a sterling job on the left wing last season . Another player with good international experience , he chipped in with goals and assist's last season and i have no qualm's throwing him in when needed . BELARUSIAN 16 caps . 27 YEARS OLD Midfielder's RICHIE PARTRIDGE :- Big money signing from LIVERPOOL in the close season , this guy has bags of ability and electric pace and should cause defence's no end of problem's . He can also play on either side but will mainly be plying his trade on the left . EIRE . 22 YEARS OLD CEDRIC VAN DER GUN :- On a season long loan deal from AJAX this guy has loads of pace and should cause havoc down the right flank . Has failed to make the right hand side his own at AJAX and hopefully that is their loss and our gain . He is also comfortable in the centre of midfield and equally effective up front if needed . DUTCH . 24 YEARS OLD BOJAN DJORDJIC :- Rated very highly by the MAN UTD management this guy is technically a left winger but will play just inside to accomodate PARTRIDGE . Also on a season long loan deal his flair , technique and pace should be an asset to the side and maybe he can chip in with a few goals as well as assist's . SWEDISH . 21 YEARS OLD FREDDY ADU :- Outstanding prospect at such a young age , he has already settled in quickly and featured largely in last season's championship winning side . He made 23 substitute appearance's last season as well as starting 12 game's but will be used mainly as a sub this season to avoid burn out . Very comfortable with both feet as well this guy seems to have it all . AMERICAN . 14 YEARS OLD RUSSELL LATAPY :- Was signed from FALKIRK for £100k in the transfer window last season after impressing in 3 of our meetings last season . Despite coming to the end of his career , he is still a big talent and we should get a season out of him in the top flight . TRINIDAD AND TOBAGAN 93 caps 35 YEARS OLD Forward's ANDREJS STOLCERS :- Another recent signing , he was brought in as cover for the strikers mainly but hopefully has enough experience to play in midfield as well . Has a wealth of experience internationally which can hopefully rub off on our younger players . Previously with FULHAM . LATVIAN 61 caps 11 goals . 29 YEARS OLD ADAILTON :- Arrived in SCOTLAND with a bang and couldn't stop scoring last season . Also signed in the transfer window last season and went on to score 15 goals in just 17 appearances . Will probably start the season as first choice striker . BRAZILIAN . 26 YEARS OLD MARTIN PREST :- The fans player of the year , he chipped in with 15 goals last season and built up a great partnership with ARCHIE THOMSON . He almost made as many goals as he scored and can also play on the left hand side of midfield . Unfortunatly for him he may struggle to start and the bench looks the best option for him at the beginning of the campaign . ARGENTINIAN . 24 YEARS OLD NEIL MELLOR :- Record buy in the close season from LIVERPOOL for £1.7 million , he is a must starter and hopefully he can justify the money and faith i have shown in him . Still only young but has been learning his trade behind a world class striker in OWEN so if just a bit of that has rubbed of on him we should be laughing . ENGLISH . 20 YEARS OLD ARCHIE THOMSON :- On loan from BELGIAN club LIERSE for a second succesive season . Arrived in Kirkcaldy as a virtual unknown but soon set the place alight . Finished as the club's top goalscorer with 28 goals in all competitions . Has good pace and also links up well with other's , but may have to wait for his chance . Time will tell if he can repeat last year's feat . AUSTRALIAN 7 caps 16 goals . 24 YEARS OLD Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
wigs7 Posted December 17, 2003 Author Share Posted December 17, 2003 1.8.2003 Long odds are offered for us to win the league , but after DUNDEE'S shock win last season anything is possible . The board seemed to have raised their expectations of me and after wanting me to consolidate last season in Division One they now want me to qualify for Europe in my first season . Let the challenge commence and as long as we take full points from the smelly Pars i will be more than happy . 2.8.2003 EAST END PARK , DUNFERMLINE . DUNFERMLINE 0 RAITH ROVERS 2 Dream start to the season as a crowd of just under 11000 turned up to see us do them over big style . With 7 new players this was going to be a hit or a miss and thankfully it was a huge hit . DJORDJIC went close twice early on before the home side also had 2 good efforts . The opener arrived in the 28th min and it was record signing MELLOR who scored , heading home a corner from PARTRIDGE . Moment's later he should have scored again but was superbly denied by RUITENBEEK . The second goal came 4 mins from half time when ADAILTON fired home after good play by VAN DER GUN . MASON came close for the home side midway through the second half but it wasn't to be and we had our first three points in the bag . ATTEN :- 10921 SCORERS :- MELLOR 28 , ADAILTON 41 OTHER SCORES :- ABERDEEN 1 RANGERS 2 , CELTIC 2 KILMARNOCK 0 , DUNDEE 4 HIBERNIAN 0 , HEARTS 2 MOTHERWELL 1 , PARTICK THISTLE 1 DUNDEE UNITED 0 . 9.8.2003 STARKS PARK , KIRKCALDY RAITH ROVERS 2 ABERDEEN 1 Although the scoreline may not suggest it , ABERDEEN were blown away on a dry , crisp afternoon in this SPL fixture . Once again the star man on show was NEIL MELLOR who grabbed both the goals . EASSON in the Dons goal had a busy afternoon and had to save twice from MELLOR early doors before ADAILTON tried his luck . The opening goal arrived in first half stoppage with VAN DER GUN causing havoc down the wing before crossing for MELLOR to out jump the defence and head home . Within a minute of the restart and the game was level again . TIERNAN outjumping the home defence this time to head the ball low past BOSNICH . This was to be the visitor's one and only chance in the game and it only seemed to spur us on . PARTRIDGE first tried from distance which the keeper did well to parry , then 17 mins to go he picked up a long cross field pass from BONOMI before flicking the ball on too MELLOR who closed in on goal and struck the ball past the despairing keeper . Substitute THOMSON had an effort just over , before MELLOR fluffed his hat-trick chance in injury time . So maximum points from 2 game's and even more pleasing was the way most of the new signing's had settled in already . ATTENDANCE :- 6575 SCORER'S :- MELLOR 45,73 / TIERNAN 46 OTHER SCORES :- DUNDEE UNITED 4 HEARTS 2 , HIBERNIAN 2 CELTIC 2 , KILMARNOCK 3 DUNFERMLINE 0 , MOTHERWELL 3 DUNDEE 0 , RANGERS 1 PARTICK THISTLE 0 . 16.8.2003 FIRHILL , GLASGOW PARTICK THISTLE 0 RAITH ROVERS 2 RICHIE PARTRIDGE is turning out to be a revelation so far and worth every bit the £1million we forked out for him . PARTICK just couldn't contain him as he ran them ragged . He created the opening goal in the 20th min , disposessing the rather poor ROWSON before running to the corner flag and crossing majesticly for the powerful MELLOR , who rose to head home his 4 goal in just 3 starts . MCBRIDE , MITCHELL and BRITTON all tested BOSNICH but it was left to the other flying winger VAN DER GUN to set up the killer second . BOSNICH'S long throw found the DUTCHMAN and his 40 yard pass caught out the Thistle defence allowing ADAILTON clean through and he made no mistake shooting home from just inside the box . ATTENDANCE :- 6093 SCORER'S :- MELLOR 20 , ADAILTON 70 OTHER SCORE'S :- ABERDEEN 4 KILMARNOCK 1 , CELTIC 3 DUNDEE 0 , DUNDEE UNITED 1 MOTHERWELL 3 , DUNFERMLINE 5 HIBERNIAN 1 . 17.8.2003 OTHER SCORE :- HEARTS 1 RANGERS 3 In the first live game on Sunday RANGERS proved to be too strong for HEARTS with GREEK strike sensation ANESTIS AGRITIS the 2 goal hero for the dark blues . 23.8.2003 STARKS PARK , KIRKCALDY RAITH ROVERS 5 HEARTS 2 What a cracker of a game this turned out to be at a soggy Kirkcaldy . HEARTS raced into a 2 goal lead inside 20 mins but went on to fall apart at the seams . 4 mins in and SIMMONS cracked one home after a good lay off by DE VRIES . With their second effort in the 19th min it was 2 . Once again DE VRIES set it up , this time heading on for ANDY KIRK to slot the ball past the stunned BOSNICH . Within 6 mins the deficit was cut . VAN DER GUN'S ball inside found PARTRIDGE and as the defence seemed to freeze he beat 3 men before firing past the keeper who really should have done a lot better . DJORDJIC hit the side netting moment's later but the equaliser was to come 12 mins from half time . ADAILTON was fouled at the edge of the box and LATAPY curled the ball past GORDON into the top of the net . The visitor's misery was complete 6 mins from the interval with one of the goals of the season contender's . PARTRIDGE picked the ball up just inside HEARTS half before going on a mazy run past 4 player's and tucking it under the advancing keeper . VAN DER GUN set up ADAILTON for number 4 and within an hour the game was over with PARTRIDGE finding LATAPY who curled home his second of the game . PARTRIDGE headed straight at the keeper , while sub STOLCERS fluffed his shot right at the death . Things don't get much better than this and already we are showing that a place in Europe is not beyond us . I do though however remind our player's not to get too carried away as there is a long way to go and we still haven't played either of the favourite's . ATTENDANCE :- 7482 SCORER'S :- PARTRIDGE 25,39 LATAPY 33,60 ADAILTON 55 / SIMMONS 4 KIRK 19 OTHER SCORE'S :- DUNDEE 0 DUNFERMLINE 1 , KILMARNOCK 3 PARTICK THISTLE 0 , MOTHERWELL 1 CELTIC 0 , RANGERS 3 DUNDEE UNITED 0 . 24.8.2003 OTHER SCORE :- HIBERNIAN 2 ABERDEEN 0 HIBS grabbed their first win of the season in this week's live game while the hapless DONS crash to their 3 defeat in 4 games . 30.8.2003 TANNADICE , DUNDEE DUNDEE UNITED 1 RAITH ROVERS 0 Our first defeat of the season despite the fact we dominated the game for large spells . Again PARTRIDGE was the best man on the pitch but for once even he couldn't create the killer pass . The only goal of the game came midway through the second half from CHARLIE MILLER who headed home a PATTERSON corner . With the unbeaten RANGERS next up at home i can't really complain after making such a stunning start . ATTENDANCE :- 12224 SCORER : - MILLER 58 OTHER SCORES :- ABERDEEN 3 DUNDEE 0 , HEARTS 3 KILMARNOCK 0 , PARTICK THISTLE 2 HIBERNIAN 0 , RANGERS 4 MOTHERWELL 0 . Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
wigs7 Posted January 4, 2004 Author Share Posted January 4, 2004 First of all before i resume my story i would just like to wish all cms readers and writers a happy new year . Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
wigs7 Posted January 17, 2004 Author Share Posted January 17, 2004 1.9.2003 MANAGER OF THE MONTH :- ALEX MCLEISH (RANGERS) PLAYER OF THE MONTH :- RICHIE PARTRIDGE (RAITH ROVERS) YOUNG PLAYER OF THE MONTH :- BOJAN DJORDJIC (RAITH ROVERS) 13.9.2003 STARKS PARK , KIRKCALDY RAITH ROVERS 1 RANGERS 2 Rangers continued there impressive start to the season with a hard fought victory over ourselves. On the day our best was not enough , but i was very pleased with the effort shown by our team . ANESTIS AGRITIS opened the scoring for the visitors in the 12th min after a neat one two with STEVEN THOMSON . The tricky play of the young GREEK striker was causing all sorts of havoc and he and FUGLESTAD both had good efforts denied by BOSNICH . On the half hour mark the game was tied as we sneaked an equaliser with our first effort on goal . MELLOR and DJORDJIC combined well and the tall scouser had the easy chance of tapping it home . The game took a while to settle in the second half but the best early chance fell to ADAILTON but somehow KLOS made a wonder save . The winner arrived 18 mins from time and it was former PRESTON striker RICHARD CRESSWELL , stooping to head home an inswinging corner from FUGLESTAD . ATTENDANCE :- 7499 . SCORERS :- AGRITIS 12 , MELLOR 30 , CRESSWELL 78 OTHER SCORES :- CELTIC 3 ABERDEEN 1 , DUNDEE 3 PARTICK THISTLE 0 , KILMARNOCK 1 DUNDEE UNITED 3 , MOTHERWELL 1 DUNFERMLINE 1 . 14.9.2003 OTHER SCORE :- HIBS 2 HEARTS 4 The live sunday game produces 6 goals in the Edinburgh derby , but HIBS poor start to the season is reflected in the result. 20.9.2003 STARKS PARK , KIRKCALDY RAITH ROVERS 2 MOTHERWELL 0 After back to back defeats we managed to get back on track with a comfortable home win against MOTHERWELL . Once again we managed to score with our first real effort on goal ,with MELLOR again the man on the score sheet . All the good build up to the goal was made by STOLCERS who had been hugely dissapointing so far in his short spell with the club , but his quick feet and pace got him to the corner flag and his cross was meet by the head of the incoming MELLOR who guided it inside the left hand post . The visitors huffed and puffed without really threatning our goal and it was no surprise when substitute THOMPSON fired home 7 mins from time to seal the points . ATTENDANCE :- 6915 . SCORERS :- MELLOR 17 , THOMPSON 83 . OTHER SCORES :- ABERDEEN 2 DUNFERMLINE 0 , DUNDEE UNITED 2 HIBS 2 , PARTICK THISTLE 1 CELTIC 1 . 21.9.2003 OTHER SCORES :- HEARTS 2 DUNDEE 0 , RANGERS 0 KILMARNOCK 1 . Rangers lose their 100% record at a gale force IBROX with PAUL DI GIACOMO scoring the games only goal for the KILLIE . 24.9.2003 STARKS PARK , KIRKCALDY SCOTTISH LEAGUE CUP ROUND 2 RAITH ROVERS 3 FALKIRK 2 A.E.T Talk about scraping through by the skin of your teeth . This was supposed to be a walk in the park but all credit to the visitors who walked of at the end absolutely gutted by the winner in the 120th minute! It was FALKIRK who took the lead in only the 7th min . FLAVIO MAESTRI found room inside the box and from a narrow angle squeezed his shot under BOSNICH . Within 15 minutes the game had turned on its head as we scored twice in three minutes . FREDDY ADU nipped in ahead of team mate STOLCERS to send a right footed effort into the corner on 19 mins , then 3 mins later ADAILTON converted MELLOR'S cut back to make it 2-1 . Former NOTTS FOREST striker JASON LEE took the game to extra time when he easily fired home in the 66th min after good work by MAESTRI . With no clear chances in extra time and the game heading for penalties , a little bit of speed and craft by ADAILTON found him in space down the right and his pinpoint cross was met by MELLOR who broke FALKIRK'S heart with the winner . OTHER ROUND 2 SCORES :- FORFAR 2 KILMARNOCK 0 , ELGIN CITY 0 HIBS 3 , ARBROATH 0 ST JOHNSTONE 2 , DUNDEE UNITED 1 HEARTS 0 , GRETNA 3 EAST FIFE 0 ,QUEEN OF THE SOUTH 0 BRECHIN CITY 2 , ALBION ROVERS 1 PARTICK THISTLE 0 , INVERNESS 3 MONTROSE 5 , AYR UNITED 4 STIRLING 0 , ABERDEEN 3 CLYDE 0 , PETERHEAD 1 DUNFERMLINE 0 . 26.9.2003 SCOTTISH LEAGUE CUP ROUND 3 DRAW DUNDEE UNITED V BRECHIN CITY MONTROSE V MOTHERWELL FORFAR ATHLETIC V ALBION ROVERS ST JOHNSTONE V RANGERS DUNDEE V HIBS AYR UNITED V RAITH ROVERS PETERHEAD V CELTIC ABERDEEN V GRETNA 27.9.2003 RUGBY PARK , KILMARNOCK KILMARNOCK 1 RAITH ROVERS 1 We travelled to KILMARNOCK with mixed feelings after taking into account the 2 previous results of KILLIE . One week they ended RANGERS 100% start to the season , then last week amazingly lost out 2-0 to FORFAR in the cup . What we ended up with was probably a bit unfair as the home side dominated the majority of the game . STEVIE FULTON gave the KILLIE the perfect start with a goal after just 12 mins . MAHOOD teed the ball up at the edge of the box and FULTON slammed the ball home past a motionless BOSNICH . The equaliser came 9 mins later and for once it wasn't from the boot of MELLOR . KUFFOUR'S long ball upfield caught the defence napping and ADAILTON gleefully lobbed the ball over the advancing keeper to earn a share of the spoils . The KILLIE strikers then thankfully had an off day as they wasted chance after chance , although BOSNICH didn't really have to make much effort with any of them . ATTENDANCE :- 10121 SCORERS :- FULTON 12 , ADAILTON 21 OTHER SCORES :- CELTIC 2 HEARTS 0 , DUNFERMLINE 0 PARTICK THISTLE 2 , HIBS 1 RANGERS 2 , MOTHERWELL 2 ABERDEEN 5 . 28.9.2003 OTHER SCORES :- DUNDEE 2 DUNDEE UNITED 1 Once again the Sunday live game is a hard fought derby affair with DUNDEE running out the deserved winners after totally dominating the game . 1.10.2003 MANAGER OF THE MONTH :- ALEX MCLEISH (RANGERS) PLAYER OF THE MONTH :- NEIL MELLOR (RAITH ROVERS) YOUNG PLAYER OF THE MONTH :- BOJAN DJORDJIC (RAITH ROVERS) Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
wigs7 Posted January 17, 2004 Author Share Posted January 17, 2004 4.10.2003 STARKS PARK , KIRKCALDY RAITH ROVERS 2 HIBERNIAN 1 Another tight game but thankfully with the right result at the end of 90 mins . BRAZILIAN ADAILTON the 2 goal hero for us . His first strike came after 19 mins , springing the offside trap before calmly slotting home under COLGAN . The lead however only lasted 2 mins with O ' CONNOR shooting home on the half volley after good work by BREBNER . MELLOR came close with an effort , as did MCMANUS for the visitor's . The winner however came from a hottly disputed penalty . ADU'S shot was blocked by COLGAN and the ball seemed to bounce up onto MURRAY'S arm accidently , but the ref decided it was a spot kick . ADAILTON slotted home easily from the spot . Both sides had good effort's late on in the game but we had done enough to claim the victory . ATTENDANCE :- 7494 SCORER'S :- ADAILTON 19 , 44(PEN) O ' CONNOR 21 OTHER SCORE'S :- DUNDEE UNITED 2 CELTIC 1 , HEARTS 3 DUNFERMLINE 0 , PARTICK THISTLE 1 ABERDEEN 0 . Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
mavericktango Posted January 17, 2004 Share Posted January 17, 2004 This story has improved no end since the early days. Keep up the good work, all the extra details make it a good read. One thing though, how about a few tables? Or at least a little paragraph to say where the teams are. (to import a table, print it to file, open it with word/wordpad, copy what you want and paste it in the reply between code /code , using [ brackets to enclose the word code & /code) Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
wigs7 Posted January 18, 2004 Author Share Posted January 18, 2004 5.10.2003 OTHER SCORES :- KILMARNOCK 1 MOTHERWELL 3 , RANGERS 3 DUNDEE 0 . Sundays live game is another cracker with just about everything happening at Rugby Park . Although hardly an eyecatcher on paper , 4 goals , a missed penalty and a sending off all added to the enjoyment . In the other game RANGERS continued their dominance with another win and the title already looks to be heading back to Glasgow , on the other hand last season's winners DUNDEE cant seem to buy a victory . 8.10.2003 DENS PARK , DUNDEE DUNDEE 0 RAITH ROVERS 0 A point apiece was probably about fair after this disappointing midweek match . The home side however might feel a bit agreived as FABIEN CABALLERO'S stunning volley was harshly ruled offside . Neither keeper was seriously troubled and both set's of fans seemed to go home happy . ATTENDANCE :- 7903 OTHER SCORES :- ABERDEEN 3 HEARTS 0 , CELTIC 1 RANGERS 2 , DUNFERMLINE 0 DUNDEE UNITED 2 , HIBS 1 KILMARNOCK 0 , MOTHERWELL 2 PARTICK THISTLE 1 . 13.10.2003 A work permit is finally granted for CROATIAN striker IVAN BOSNJAK and he will join up at the end of the season for a fee of £50,000 from AL ITTIHAD TRIPOLI . 14.10.2003 We decide to appeal after a work permit is denied for 34 year old TURKISH utility man TEMIZKANOGLU OGUN . After recently been freed by FENERBACHE , despite his age , the man with 79 international caps would surely do a job till the end of the season . I was hopeing his experience would rub off on some of our younger players . I had tried to sign him at the start off the season but had only just managed to persuade him to come , alas it looks as though he will be denied by the DoE . 18.9.2003 STARK'S PARK , KIRKCALDY . RAITH ROVERS 1 CELTIC 0 Kirkcaldy is rocking after the mighty CELTIC are tamed at a rain lashed Starks Park . To take nothing away from our boys it was fully deserved although at the end of the day it is only 3 points . Star of the show was young 17 year old IBRAHIM AFFELAY (signed on a free after being released by PSV ) who's darting run's down the right had the CELTIC defence at sixes and seven's . It was quite a debut for the youngster considering he is feeling unsettled in the area and looking to move on . The only goal of the game came after 23 mins and was an exsquisite lob by MELLOR . BONOMI'S long clearance upfield was misjudged by the CELTIC defence and as the keeper came out to clear the ball MELLOR nipped in and chipped it over him . CHRIS SUTTON and HARTSON both looked a threat just after the goal but failed to make their effort's count . The second half was dominated by ourselves , with ADAILTON wasting 3 good chances and MELLOR almost grabbing a second at the death . ATTENDANCE :- 7745 SCORER :- MELLOR 23 OTHER SCORES :- DUNDEE UNITED 0 ABERDEEN 3 , HEARTS 0 PARTICK THISTLE 2 , KILMARNOCK 2 DUNDEE 1 , MOTHERWELL 4 HIBS 1 , RANGERS 4 DUNFERMLINE 0 . 22.10.2003 SOMERSET PARK , AYR SCOTTISH LEAGUE CUP ROUND 3 AYR UNITED 0 RAITH ROVERS 2 Safely through to the Quarter Final after a comfortable victory over the Ayrshire side . After the struggle in the last round against First Division opposition , there was no way we were going to under estimate them . KLAS INGESSON made his first start of the season to add a bit of bite in the midfield and breezed through the game . Both goals again came from NEIL MELLOR who has proved to be a sensation for us . The first arrived in first half stoppage time and was a tap in after good play by strike partner ADAILTON . The pair combined again 10 mins after the break to kill the tie . A long kick out by BOSNICH was headed on by MELLOR to ADAILTON who's quick pass set the big man free and he raced through and smashed the ball past the keeper for his and our 2nd goal . Two late chances also fell to him but neither tested the keeper . ATTENDANCE :- 7818 SCORER'S :- MELLOR 45 AND 55 OTHER SCORES :- DUNDEE UNITED 3 BRECHIN CITY 4 (A.E.T) , MONTROSE 1 MOTHERWELL 3 , FORFAR 3 ALBION ROVERS 0 , ST JOHNSTONE 1 RANGERS 0 , DUNDEE 4 HIBS 1 , PETERHEAD 0 CELTIC 4 , ABERDEEN 2 GRETNA 0 . Despite flying high in the league , RANGERS were sensationally dumped out of the cup at Perth . In the other shock result BRECHIN scored an injury time equaliser to take the game to extra time , then came from behind with 2 second half extra time goals to dump the sorry Arabs out of the cup . 24.10.2003 SCOTTISH LEAGUE CUP QUARTER FINALS DRAW ABERDEEN V BRECHIN CITY DUNDEE V FORFAR ATHLETIC MOTHERWELL V ST JOHNSTONE RAITH ROVERS V CELTIC 25.10.2003 OTHER SCORES :- DUNDEE UNITED 2 PARTICK THISTLE 0 , HIBS 1 DUNDEE 4 , KILMARNOCK 0 CELTIC 0 , MOTHERWELL 4 HEARTS 1 , RANGERS 1 ABERDEEN 1 . 26.10.2003 STARKS PARK , KIRKCALDY RAITH ROVERS 2 DUNFERMLINE 2 The sunday live game produces another goal bonanza for the audience but for myself i was absolutely fuming after this performance . With leaders RANGERS dropping 2 points yesterday this was a great chance to narrow the gap at the top , however we managed to throw away a two goal lead . It was one of those famous games of 2 halves . The first goal came in the 11th min with MELLOR jumping highest to head home a PARTRIDGE corner . DJORDJIC'S fine run and cut back in the 25th min found the recalled THOMPSON who side footed home for 2-0 . THOMPSON should have added a third moments later , before on the stroke of half time the referee amazingly only booked WILSON for a kick at MELLOR . YOUNG and BULLEN both tested BOSNICH straight from the restart , and BULLEN'S perciverance paid off as he struck in the 71st and 79th min to earn the Pars a share of the spoils . ATTENDANCE :- 7489 SCORER'S :- MELLOR 11 , THOMPSON 25 , BULLEN 71 & 79 HERE IS THE TABLE AFTER 12 LEAGUE GAMES PLAYED:- LEAGUE Hope the link works ok.if not try refreshing it a couple of times.seems to work then. Cheers for the comments MAVERICKTANGO its much appreciated . I hope to be adding the tables from now on. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
mavericktango Posted January 18, 2004 Share Posted January 18, 2004 very good, link works after a fashion on the works intranet. I will try it later on the broadband at home to see if it works any quicker Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
wigs7 Posted January 26, 2004 Author Share Posted January 26, 2004 Sorry the link for the league table has ceased to work.Isn't technology great. Anyway here is the new link :- TABLE AFTER 12 GAMES 1.11.2003 MANAGER OF THE MONTH :- ALEX MCLEISH ( RANGERS ) PLAYER OF THE MONTH :- RICHIE PARTRIDGE ( RAITH ROVERS ) YOUNG PLAYER OF THE MONTH :- JAMES MCFADDEN ( MOTHERWELL ) PITTODRIE STADIUM , ABERDEEN ABERDEEN 0 RAITH ROVERS 0 A large crowd of just over 18,000 turned up to see this dire no scoring draw . Just six chances were created in the whole of the game , with the home side's only chance coming through SUMMERBELL 10 mins after the restart . It took us until the 79th min to create our first chance . The normally prolific MELLOR heading over from close in and then with 3 mins to go ADAILTON shooting over from the edge of the box . Overall a point each a fair result considering the game served up . ATTENDANCE :- 18133 OTHER SCORES :- CELTIC 4 HIBS 0 , DUNFERMLINE 1 KILMARNOCK 5 . 2.11.2003 OTHER SCORES :- DUNDEE 2 MOTHERWELL 1 , HEARTS 1 DUNDEE UNITED 1 , PARTICK THISTLE 1 RANGERS 3 . The live sunday game see's HEARTS absolutely batter DUNDEE UNITED but failed to take full point's , indeed they had to come from behind . 5.11.2003 SCOTTISH LEAGUE CUP QUARTER FINALS STARKS PARK , KIRKCALDY RAITH ROVERS 2 CELTIC 0 Once again the mighty CELTIC are rumbled at Starks Park . Again the star of the show is youngster IBRAHIM AFFELAY who seems to relish playing against the Glasgow side . Even on loan winger CEDRIC VAN DER GUN (who is close to full fitness again) will find it dificult to break back into the side . The opening goal came in the 34th min and it was RICHIE PARTRIDGE who created all the panic in the visitors box . His teasing corner was partially cleared by the defence , but when he received the ball again this time the cross was met by MELLOR who headed the ball home . AFFELLAY twice went close before a poor kick out by HEDMAN was pounced on by DJORDJIC and his through ball set PARTRIDGE free and he made the keeper pay . ATTENDANCE :- 4931 SCORERS :- MELLOR 34 PARTRIDGE 74 OTHER SCORES :- MOTHERWELL 2 ST JOHNSTONE 0 , DUNDEE 2 FORFAR 0 , ABERDEEN 3 BRECHIN CITY 1 . 7.11.2003 TEMIZKANOGLU OGUN see's his move to Kirkcaldy collapse after he is refused a work permit . 8.11.2003 CELTIC appoint DAVIE MOYES as their new manager . OTHER SCORES :- DUNDEE 0 CELTIC 0 , HIBS 0 DUNFERMLINE 3 , KILMARNOCK 2 ABERDEEN 0 , MOTHERWELL 0 DUNDEE UNITED 2 , RANGERS 2 HEARTS 0 . 9.11.2003 STARKS PARK , KIRKCALDY RAITH ROVERS 2 PARTICK THISTLE 0 Sunday's live game and we are back to winning way's . Indeed in the first 20 mins we were flying and should have scored a barrowload . 9 mins in and we took the lead , ADAILTON picked up a loose ball and hammered the ball into the corner . 8 mins later and it should have been 2 but LATAPY put his penalty wide . We didn't have long to wait though for the second . ADAILTON again took advantage of a loose ball in the 19th min to tuck it away for his second of the game . Chances then went a begging , then on the stroke of half time Thistle missed their best chance when they also missed from the spot kick , GERRY BRITTON seeing his kick coming back of the woodwork . ATTENDANCE :- 6328 SCORER'S :- ADAILTON 9 , 19 13.11.2003 Future signing IVAN BOSNJAK suffer's an injury but thankfully it isn't serious and he will be back in 3 month's . 14.11.2003 With the transfer window just round the corner i decided to renegotiate a few contract's on less money to free up the wage budget . Also a few players were told that they can look for new clubs . The players listed are JORGE VARGAS , KOFI MENSAH , GORAN STANIC , PATRICE ZERE , JUAN JOSE JAYO , WILLIE NANOU , EMMANUAL KUFFOUR and after interest by SHEFFIELD UNITED and a poor start ANDREJS STOLCERS . Our bid of £1.5million for ALEXANDER FARNERUD has been rejected and i decide to back off this move and focus on other target's 15.11.2003 EUROPEAN CHAMPIONSHIP QUALIFIER PLAY-OFF FIRST LEG SCOTLAND 2 SLOVAKIA 2 The Scots chance's of qualifying take a dent with this dissapointing draw although on the day the result was probably fair . 19.11.2003 EUROPEAN CHAMPIONSHIP QUALIFIER PLAY-OFF SECOND LEG SLOVAKIA 2 SCOTLAND 2 The Scots bow out on penalties after a battling 2-2 draw leaves the game all square on agg . 22.11.2003 TYNECASTLE STADIUM , EDINBURGH HEARTS 1 RAITH ROVERS 0 Quite simply one of the worst performance's the team has shown since i took over . To be fair to the home side they did create plenty of chances and more than deserved to win by more than the one goal . It took a 47th min penalty to win the game after KIRK was fouled in the box by VARGAS and VALOIS stepped up to send the keeper the wrong way . ATTENDANCE :- 15469 SCORER :- VALOIS 47 . OTHER SCORE'S :- CELTIC 2 MOTHERWELL 0 , DUNDEE UNITED 3 RANGERS 1 , DUNFERMLINE 2 DUNDEE 0 , PARTICK THISTLE 1 KILMARNOCK 3 . Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
wigs7 Posted January 26, 2004 Author Share Posted January 26, 2004 Sorry the link for the league table has ceased to work.Isn't technology great. Anyway here is the new link :- TABLE AFTER 12 GAMES 1.11.2003 MANAGER OF THE MONTH :- ALEX MCLEISH ( RANGERS ) PLAYER OF THE MONTH :- RICHIE PARTRIDGE ( RAITH ROVERS ) YOUNG PLAYER OF THE MONTH :- JAMES MCFADDEN ( MOTHERWELL ) PITTODRIE STADIUM , ABERDEEN ABERDEEN 0 RAITH ROVERS 0 A large crowd of just over 18,000 turned up to see this dire no scoring draw . Just six chances were created in the whole of the game , with the home side's only chance coming through SUMMERBELL 10 mins after the restart . It took us until the 79th min to create our first chance . The normally prolific MELLOR heading over from close in and then with 3 mins to go ADAILTON shooting over from the edge of the box . Overall a point each a fair result considering the game served up . ATTENDANCE :- 18133 OTHER SCORES :- CELTIC 4 HIBS 0 , DUNFERMLINE 1 KILMARNOCK 5 . 2.11.2003 OTHER SCORES :- DUNDEE 2 MOTHERWELL 1 , HEARTS 1 DUNDEE UNITED 1 , PARTICK THISTLE 1 RANGERS 3 . The live sunday game see's HEARTS absolutely batter DUNDEE UNITED but failed to take full point's , indeed they had to come from behind . 5.11.2003 SCOTTISH LEAGUE CUP QUARTER FINALS STARKS PARK , KIRKCALDY RAITH ROVERS 2 CELTIC 0 Once again the mighty CELTIC are rumbled at Starks Park . Again the star of the show is youngster IBRAHIM AFFELAY who seems to relish playing against the Glasgow side . Even on loan winger CEDRIC VAN DER GUN (who is close to full fitness again) will find it dificult to break back into the side . The opening goal came in the 34th min and it was RICHIE PARTRIDGE who created all the panic in the visitors box . His teasing corner was partially cleared by the defence , but when he received the ball again this time the cross was met by MELLOR who headed the ball home . AFFELLAY twice went close before a poor kick out by HEDMAN was pounced on by DJORDJIC and his through ball set PARTRIDGE free and he made the keeper pay . ATTENDANCE :- 4931 SCORERS :- MELLOR 34 PARTRIDGE 74 OTHER SCORES :- MOTHERWELL 2 ST JOHNSTONE 0 , DUNDEE 2 FORFAR 0 , ABERDEEN 3 BRECHIN CITY 1 . 7.11.2003 TEMIZKANOGLU OGUN see's his move to Kirkcaldy collapse after he is refused a work permit . 8.11.2003 CELTIC appoint DAVIE MOYES as their new manager . OTHER SCORES :- DUNDEE 0 CELTIC 0 , HIBS 0 DUNFERMLINE 3 , KILMARNOCK 2 ABERDEEN 0 , MOTHERWELL 0 DUNDEE UNITED 2 , RANGERS 2 HEARTS 0 . 9.11.2003 STARKS PARK , KIRKCALDY RAITH ROVERS 2 PARTICK THISTLE 0 Sunday's live game and we are back to winning way's . Indeed in the first 20 mins we were flying and should have scored a barrowload . 9 mins in and we took the lead , ADAILTON picked up a loose ball and hammered the ball into the corn Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
wigs7 Posted January 26, 2004 Author Share Posted January 26, 2004 23.11.2003 OTHER SCORE :- ABERDEEN 2 HIBS 1 A freezing cold day at Pittodrie (no change there then) see's the home side come out on top with 2 goals by AUSTRALIAN striker DAVID ZDRILIC . 24.11.2003 My scout comes back with a very favourable report on 22 year old JURGEN COLIN who is currently languishing in the PSV reserve team . He is quite pricy at £1.5 million , but is available for loan and may come into my plans later . 27.11.2003 SCOTTISH LEAGUE CUP SEMI - FINAL DRAW MOTHERWELL V DUNDEE RAITH ROVERS V ABERDEEN 29.11.2003 IBROX STADIUM , GLASGOW RANGERS 2 RAITH ROVERS 0 If last weeks performance was the worst performance this one was abysmal . It took RANGERS all of 3 mins to open the scoring and once again it came from the penalty spot . Just like last week VARGAS was the guilty party , pushing AGRITIS to the ground . The profilic GREEK youngster took the kick himself and scored with ease for his 12 goal of the season and his 50th in his short spell so far in Scotland . FUGLESTAD had an effort ruled out in the 54rth minute , before 3 mins later LOVENKRANDS finished the game off by springing the offside trap before rounding the keeper and rolling the ball into the empty net . I knew the game was going to be tough before hand but was rather annoyed that we never even tested their goal once . On reflection after this game i knew that VARGAS had become a liability and after the game he was immediately put on the transfer list and i stepped up the hunt for atleast one new centre half . ATTENDANCE :- 43121 SCORER'S :- AGRITIS 3(pen) LOVENKRANDS 57 OTHER SCORE'S :- DUNDEE UNITED 1 KILMARNOCK 1 , DUNFERMLINE 0 MOTHERWELL 2 , HEARTS 2 HIBS 0 . 30.11.2003 OTHER SCORE'S :- ABERDEEN 2 CELTIC 4 , PARTICK THISTLE 2 DUNDEE 2 . The live game on Sunday see's CELTIC move into 2nd place in the table after a hard earned victory at Pittodrie . The Dons leading to their own downfall by conceding 2 own goals . LIVINGSTON relegated last year , find that life in the First Division isn't much easier and after slipping into a relegation place , decide to sack manager ROY EVANS with immediate effect . 1.12.2003 MANAGER OF THE MONTH :- OWEN COYLE (DUNDEE UNITED) PLAYER OF THE MONTH :- PAUL DI GIACOMO (KILMARNOCK) YOUNG PLAYER OF THE MONTH :- STEPHEN HUGHES (RANGERS) 2.12.2003 Our bid of £2.5million for Defender ISAAC OKORONKWO is accepted by WOLVES and we offer the player personal terms . 3.12.2003 ISAAC OKORONKWO agree's to our terms and looks set to join . 4.12.2003 Having played in all of WOLVES games so far this season , a work permit is granted immediately for the NIGERIAN and he will join up with us when the transfer window opens on the 25th of this month . With losing second place in the league to CELTIC by way off goal difference i feel the need to further strengthen the squad and i inform ARCHIE THOMSON that as we cannot agree a fee with his club i may have to terminate his loan spell to free up a loan space for someone with a better pedigree . Only time will tell if i can actually pull this off . Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
wigs7 Posted January 26, 2004 Author Share Posted January 26, 2004 Sorry folks not sure how i managed to have 2 sections with the same bit . By the time i realised it was too late to edit it . Oh well sh*t happens as they say. Anyway here is a link to the table after 16 games played and as you can see i have fell back into third place due to goal difference . TABLE AFTER 16 GAMES Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
wigs7 Posted February 1, 2004 Author Share Posted February 1, 2004 6.12.2003 STARKS PARK , KIRKCALDY RAITH ROVERS 1 DUNDEE UNITED 1 The spoils are shared as third plays fourth at a soggy Starks Park . We made a great start aswell , with only 5 mins in NEIL MELLOR rose the highest in the box to head home an excellent corner from PARTRIDGE . By half time it should have been a lot more but for the heroic's of PAUL GALLACHER in the United goal . GALLACHER was at it again in the second half as he foiled MELLOR when it looked easier to score . Into the last 20 mins and the visitor's finally made a game of it , and it was no surprise when 8 mins from time COLLIN SAMUEL headed home a MCINNES corner . Indeed a late long range effort from MCINNES almost won it although it would have been a tad unfair on ourselves . Overall a dissapointing result but after last week's disaster we have to be thankfull of the point. ATTENDANCE :- 7042 SCORER'S :- MELLOR 5 SAMUEL 82 . OTHER SCORE'S :- CELTIC 4 DUNFERMLINE 0 , DUNDEE 1 ABERDEEN 3 , HIBERNIAN 1 PARTICK THISTLE 1 , MOTHERWELL 0 RANGERS 3 . 7.12.2003 OTHER SCORE'S :- KILMARNOCK 1 HEARTS 2 . Despite having SCOTT SEVERIN sent off early on , the Jambo's proved too good for Killie although they did have to wait till the 90th min for the winner from GARY WALES . 13.12.2003 FIR PARK , MOTHERWELL MOTHERWELL 0 RAITH ROVERS 1 Back to winning ways but we managed to make it dificult for ourselves . The first half was a complete non event and the first clear chance fell to the home side just after the break . KINNINBURGH'S volley bringing out the best from BOSNICH . The deadlock was finally broken in the 59th min , ADAILTON firing home at the second attempt . It should have been two 5 mins later but for a poor penalty from PARTRIDGE which he put wide . JAMES MCFADDEN had the best chance for the Well but he put it wide . ATTENDANCE :- 11802 SCORER :- ADAILTON 59 OTHER SCORE'S :- CELTIC 2 PARTICK THISTLE 0 , DUNFERMLINE 1 ABERDEEN 3 , KILMARNOCK 2 RANGERS 4 . 14.12.2003 OTHER SCORE'S :- DUNDEE 5 HEARTS 2 , HIBS 1 DUNDEE UNITED 0 . In the live game a 14th min strike from TOM MCMANUS gave bottom side HIBS a rare victory over high flying DUNDEE UNITED , while in the other game last season's champions DUNDEE finally found some form with an impressive demolition of HEARTS . FABIAN CABALLERO with 2 late strikes earning the Dens Park side a precious victory . 17.12.2003 We decide to make a bid for LEEDS youngster AARON LENNON , while an enquiry for his team mate MARK VIDUKA looks a non-starter . 20.12.2003 STARK'S PARK , KIRKCALDY RAITH ROVERS 4 KILMARNOCK 0 It took all of 36secs to get us on the way in this largely one sided game . Great play down the right from AFFELAY saw him cut the ball back from the by line and ADAILTON had the easiest header he is ever likely to have , his 11 goal of the season . The second goal in the 29th min was all down to another cracking corner from PARTRIDGE , who found the head of MELLOR and the keeper just stood and watch it fly past him into the net . 9 mins into the second half and it was 3 and yet again a header . This time the roles of the first goal were reversed as AFFELAY nodded home ADAILTON'S free kick . ADAILTON completed the rout 3 mins from time after more good play by PARTRIDGE . ATTENDANCE :- 6670 SCORER'S :- ADAILTON 1 , 87 MELLOR 29 AFFELAY 54 OTHER SCORE'S :- ABERDEEN 0 MOTHERWELL 1 , DUNDEE UNITED 2 DUNDEE 4 , PARTICK THISTLE 5 DUNFERMLINE 1 , RANGERS 5 HIBERNIAN 1 . 21.12.2003 OTHER SCORE'S :- HEARTS 1 CELTIC 1 HEARTS bounced back from last weeks mauling with a battling draw against CELTIC in the live game . JOHN HARTSON gave the visitor's the interval lead but STEVEN BOYACK'S goal in the middle of the second half gave them a deserved share of the point's . 22.12.2003 Youngster AARON LENNON calls to say he is unhappy with the contract on offer and goes away to mull over a new improved one . 24.12.2003 The deal to sign AARON LENNON is dead as he reject's the contract and decide's to stick it out where he is . I decide to not hang about and launch bids for both JAMES MCFADDEN and KIM KALLSTROM . As a back up plan i put out a few feeler's for other possible target's . 25.12.2003 NIGERIAN international ISAAC OKORONKWO is welcomed to Kirkcaldy and goes straight into the pool for the forth coming game , away to bottom side HIBS . 26.12.2003 EASTER ROAD , EDINBURGH HIBERNIAN 0 RAITH ROVERS 3 Despite sub zero temperature's at Easter Road , the game was never in doubt and after this victory we were very pleased . HIBS may be stuck to the foot of the table but created as much , if not more chances than ourselves but failed to take any of them . A 10th min free kick from ADAILTON seemed to set the ball rolling but for an onslaught from the home side who really should have been ahead at half time . On the hour mark and the second goal , a rather scrappy one from CEDRIC VAN DER GUN , seemed to finally knock the stuffing out of HIBS . If it didn't the third 2 mins later certainly did , an easy header by MELLOR from LOVERING'S free kick . MELLOR certainly has proved his worth since his summer move from LIVERPOOL and now has 15 goals for the season . ATTENDANCE :- 15102 SCORER'S :- ADAILTON 10 , VAN DER GUN 60 MELLOR 62 OTHER SCORE'S :- ABERDEEN 0 PARTICK THISTLE 1 , CELTIC 2 DUNDEE UNITED 0 , DUNDEE 2 RANGERS 2 , DUNFERMLINE 0 HEARTS 3 , MOTHERWELL 4 KILMARNOCK 0 . After watching the game in the stands ARCHIE THOMSON returns to BELGIUM after we agree to terminate his loan contract . 27.12.2003 Our bids for JAMES MCFADDEN and KIM KALLSTROM are both rejected by their clubs . I decide to launch a cheeky loan bid for VALENCIA'S out of favour striker DIEGO ALONSO . 31.12.2003 KLAS INGESSON'S contract expire's and he is freed to pursue pasture's new . 1.1.2004 MANAGER OF THE MONTH :- DAVID MOYES (CELTIC) PLAYER OF THE MONTH :- FABIAN CABALLERO (DUNDEE) YOUNG PLAYER OF THE MONTH :- NEIL MELLOR (RAITH ROVERS) Transfer window opens 3.1.2004 Our ambitious bid for DIEGO ALONSO fails as his club refuse point blank despite him being on the transfer market . 4.1.2004 SCOTTISH CUP ROUND 3 DRAW DUNDEE V FORFAR ATHLETIC HEARTS V BRECHIN CITY PARTICK THISTLE V HAMILTON ACCIES MORTON V COWDENBEATH RANGERS V QUEENS PARK LIVINGSTON V EAST FIFE ROSS COUNTY V DUMBARTON RAITH ROVERS V HIBERNIAN ALLOA V FALKIRK DUNFERMLINE V ST JOHNSTONE PETERHEAD V STENHOUSEMUIR DUNDEE UNITED V SPARTANS AYR UNITED V ABERDEEN KILMARNOCK V QUEEN OF THE SOUTH CELTIC V CLYDE MOTHERWELL V ARBROATH 5.1.2004 Yet another ambitious loan swoop this time for MARCELO SALAS of JUVENTUS is also knocked back . 6.1.2004 We have a bid of £1.5million for ALEXANDER FARNERUD turned down . Club captain MAURO BONOMI dislocate's his shoulder in training and will be out for up to a month . Now i need to up my search for a defender as well as a striker . 8.1.2004 MANCHESTER UNITED'S DIEGO FORLAN is the latest loan attempt knocked back by his club . Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
wigs7 Posted February 1, 2004 Author Share Posted February 1, 2004 Mid season league table Mid season top goal scorers Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
wigs7 Posted February 8, 2004 Author Share Posted February 8, 2004 9.1.2004 KAUSERSLAUTERN make a loan bid for PSV'S young defender JURGEN COLIN , which virtually rules us out of the running should i wish to make a bid . 10.1.2004 STARK'S PARK , KIRKCALDY RAITH ROVERS 3 DUNDEE 1 Current champions DUNDEE came into this game on the back of a mini revival after recent good results , but ultimately left with nothing here today . It all started so well for the Tayside club as well , taking an early 15th min lead through STEVEN MILNE , slotting home an easy chance after good spade work by ROBERTSON . CABALLERO should have doubled the lead moments later after a quick counter attack but his finish was poor . They were made to pay 7 mins into the second half , when ADAILTON'S cute cut back was headed home by the diving MELLOR . MELLOR both started and finished the move with a little help from ADAILTON . LEE WILKIE was having a nightmare at the back and he was exposed again 6 mins from time as ADAILTON slotted home after SPERONI spilled PARTRIDGE'S effort . ATTENDANCE :- 7003 SCORER'S :- MELLOR 52 , 70 ADAILTON 84 MILNE 15 OTHER SCORE'S :- DUNDEE UNITED 3 DUNFERMLINE 2 , HEARTS 2 ABERDEEN 0 , PARTICK 2 MOTHERWELL 1 , RANGERS 3 CELTIC 0 . 11.1.2004 OTHER SCORE'S :- KILMARNOCK 7 HIBERNIAN 0 HIBS shocking season reached a new low as they were hammered in the live Sunday game . PAUL DI GIACOMO the KILLIE hero with a hat-trick . 16.1.2004 As my search for new talent continues without success , i do welcome one new siging . 16 year old striker GIANFRANCO VALENTINI signs up for £90,000 from ITALIAN lower league side LODIGIANI . They currently lead Serie C2C and with 10 goals in just 18 starts he looks a real good find . 17.1.2004 PARKHEAD , GLASGOW CELTIC 0 RAITH ROVERS 2 Our indian sign over the Glasgow giants continue as we consolidate 2nd place . With new centre back ISAAC OKORONKWO leaving after the game for the African Cup , it was vital that we took something from this game , but to take all three was outstanding . It took only 4 mins to open the scoring and what a strike from ADAILTON . A poor kick out by HEDMAN was headed by PARTRIDGE to ADAILTON and from 35 yards out he launched a blistering drive that flew into the top corner . Goal number two was a carbon copy of so many of our goals this season . PARTRIDGE with the inswinging corner and there was MELLOR to head the ball high past the keeper with only 14 mins played . The home side huffed and puffed without really threatning our goal . ATTENDANCE :- 51918 SCORER'S :- ADAILTON 4 MELLOR 14 OTHER SCORES :- DUNDEE 4 KILMARNOCK 5 , DUNFERMLINE 1 RANGERS 2 , HIBERNIAN 0 MOTHERWELL 2 , PARTICK THISTLE 3 HEARTS 3 18.1.2004 OTHER SCORES :- ABERDEEN 1 DUNDEE UNITED 1 The new firm derby finishes all square although ABERDEEN must feel slightly aggrieved after dominating the whole game . 19.1.2004 Our defence is in tatters as SALIOU LASSISSI is first called up by the IVORY COAST for the African Cup , but then suffers a pulled hamstring and is ruled out for up to a month . With OKORONKWO already away on international duty and club captain BONOMI still injured , it meant a frantic search for a back up centre half as well as the elusive striker . 21.1.2004 EAST END PARK , DUNFERMLINE DUNFERMLINE 1 RAITH ROVERS 5 How does the song go again , "Heaven is A Place Called Earth" well with a patched up defence it was five star heaven at East End Park as we ripped our rivals to shreads . PATRICK ZERE amazingly made his debut despite being one of my first signings and there was a recall for loanee PHILIPPE MEXES . There was also a place on the bench for young 16 year old defender PAUL CONNOLLY . It took just 3 mins to start the rout , with ADAILTON heading home after a lung bursting right wing run by PARTRIDGE . New boy ZERE didn't get of to the best start as he clattered BULLEN in the box , CRAWFORD the man to slot the penalty in to the net for the equalizer . A two goal burst just before half time then killed the game of . ADAILTON got the first after more good work from PARTRIDGE . DJORDJIC got the third , tapping home after RUITENBEEK denied ADAILTON his hat-trick . A 77th min penalty from MEXES and an injury time goal from forgotten man MARTIN PREST ensured our fans went home ecstatic . ATTENDANCE :- 10880 SCORER'S :- CRAWFORD 15(pen) , ADAILTON 3 ,36 DJORDJIC 40 , MEXES 77(pen) , PREST 90 OTHER SCORES :- ABERDEEN 0 RANGERS 1 , CELTIC 3 KILMARNOCK 0 , DUNDEE 3 HIBERNIAN 1 , HEARTS 3 MOTHERWELL 0 , PARTICK THISTLE 2 DUNDEE UNITED 1 22.1.2004 The SFA kindly postpone our Scottish Cup tie with HIBS due to international call ups . 24.1.2004 LUKE CHADWICK agree's to join us on loan to the end of the season . With this deal going through i decide to terminate the loan contract of CEDRIC VAN DER GUN who has failed to shine since returning from his injury . I decide try and replace him with a defender . SCOTTISH CUP ROUND THREE SCORES :- ALLOA 0 FALKIRK 4 AYR UNITED 3 ABERDEEN 1 CELTIC 4 CLYDE 0 DUNDEE 1 FORFAR ATHLETIC 0 DUNDEE UNITED 2 SPARTANS 0 DUNFERMLINE 2 ST JOHNSTONE 0 HEARTS 2 BRECHIN CITY 4 KILMARNOCK 1 QUEEN OF THE SOUTH 0 LIVINGSTON 3 EAST FIFE 5 MORTON 2 COWDENBEATH 0 MOTHERWELL 2 ARBROATH 2 PARTICK THISTLE 1 HAMILTON 0 PETERHEAD 1 STENHOUSEMUIR 0 RANGERS 4 QUEENS PARK 0 ROSS COUNTY 1 DUMBARTON 0 Cup weekend and a few major shocks . ABERDEEN and HEARTS both beaten by First Division sides , while MOTHERWELL are held at home by Second Division strugglers ARBROATH . 26.1.2004 After bids to bring in MICHAEL DUBBERY , STEPHEN PEARSON and a few other players fail , a deal is agreed for LIVERPOOL centre half DJIMI TRAORE who will join till the end of the season . 28.1.2004 Deals to sign DARREN FLETCHER and ROMANIAN international CATALIN MUNTEANU on Bosman's fall through but a deal is agreed with SERGEI REBROV who will join up if his permit is granted . 29.1.2004 Youngster MARK PEERS agree's a pre-contract with KIDDERMINSTER HARRIERS and will join them on the 1st of July. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
wigs7 Posted February 11, 2004 Author Share Posted February 11, 2004 29.1.2004 SCOTTISH CUP THIRD ROUND REPLAY ARBROATH 2 MOTHERWELL 2 (MOTHERWELL WIN 3-1 ON PENS) Second Division ARBROATH take their Premier opponents all the way , before coming a cropper on the lottery that is penalty kicks . 31.1.2004 BANK OF SCOTLAND PREMIER LEAGUE OTHER SCORE'S :- ABERDEEN 0 KILMARNOCK 3 , CELTIC 2 DUNDEE 2 , DUNDEE UNITED 0 MOTHERWELL 0 , DUNFERMLINE 1 HIBERNIAN 1 , HEARTS 0 RANGERS 1 . 1.2.2004 S P L MONTHLY AWARDS MANAGER OF THE MONTH :- STEPHEN DEWAR (RAITH ROVERS) PLAYER OF THE MONTH :- NEIL MELLOR (RAITH ROVERS) YOUNG PLAYER OF THE MONTH :- STEPHEN PEARSON (MOTHERWELL) 3.2.2004 C I S SCOTTISH LEAGUE CUP SEMI - FINAL MOTHERWELL 2 DUNDEE 0 Goals from JOE KEENAN and STEPHEN PEARSON book MOTHERWELL'S place in the final , although a late red card spoiled young KEENAN'S day . 4.2.2004 C I S SCOTTISH LEAGUE CUP SEMI - FINAL RAITH ROVERS 2 ABERDEEN 0 We manage to book our own spot in the Final after seeing of a dogged Dons side . We did however suffer a mini blow as key player RICHIE PARTRIDGE was taken of injured . It wasn't until first half stoppage time that we finally managed to break them down . NEIL MELLOR firing the ball home after intercepting a poor pass back by TIERNAN . 10 mins into the second half and it was 2 . AFFELAY was allowed to much space and from the edge of the box his sweet shot flew past the keeper . ROBERT WIJNANDS saw red in injury time for a second booking and will miss the HIBS Scottish Cup Tie . ATTENDANCE :- 5478 SCORER'S :- MELLOR 45 , AFFELAY 55 . 7.2.2004 BANK OF SCOTLAND PREMIER LEAGUE STARK'S PARK , KIRKCALDY RAITH ROVERS 5 ABERDEEN 0 After a workmanlike performance against the Don's in the Cup , the same side came to Kirkcaldy hell bent on revenge but left with thier tails between there legs . Quite simply this was 5 going 15 as we were awesome . We even had the luxury of missing a penalty 13 mins from time , with RUSSELL LATAPY the guilty party . The opening goal came after 4 mins and came on the back of the corners in a row , AFFELAY'S shot taking a deflection and squeezing past the despairing ESSON . ADAILTON then had two efforts disallowed for offside in the first half before making amends in the 53 min tapping home easily . PARTRIDGE had a similar tap in on the hour mark to make it 3 , MELLOR added a fourth in the 67th min then headed his second and the fifth in stoppage time . ATTENDANCE :- 6295 SCORER'S :- AFFELAY 4 ADAILTON 53 PARTRIDGE 60 MELLOR 67 , 90 . OTHER SCORE'S :- DUNDEE UNITED 1 HEARTS 3 , HIBS 0 CELTIC 4 , KILMARNOCK 1 DUNFERMLINE 2 , MOTHERWELL 3 DUNDEE 1 , RANGERS 3 PARTICK THISTLE 0 11.2.2004 SCOTTISH CUP THIRD ROUND STARK'S PARK , KIRKCALDY RAITH ROVERS 3 HIBERNIAN 0 Our good run continue's as we comfortably book our passage into the next round of the cup . The talk before the game and infact for week's before was the position of the HIBS manager BOBBY WILLIAMSON who has been giving a good few dreaded vote's of confidence . This was never going to affect our performance and again it was NEIL MELLOR who stole the show with a brace . The first goal came 2 mins from half time , a simple tap in after COLGAN denied the impressive CHADWICK who along with other new loan signing DJIMI TRIORE , have settled in very quickly . Number 2 came 11 mins from time and was created superbly by RICHIE PARTRIDGE and another of his mazy run's . HIBS woe was compounded in stoppage time when defender ZAMBERNARDI saw his wild clearance fly in to his own net . ATTENDANCE :- 2982 SCORER'S :- MELLOR 43 , 89 ZAMBERNARDI O.G 90 SCOTTISH PREMIER LEAGUE SCORE'S :- DUNFERMLINE 0 CELTIC 2 , HEARTS 1 KILMARNOCK 0 , RANGERS 3 MOTHERWELL 0 14.2.2004 SCOTTISH PREMIER LEAGUE SCORE'S :- DUNDEE 1 DUNFERMLINE 1 , HIBERNIAN 4 ABERDEEN 0 , KILMARNOCK 2 PARTICK THISTLE 0 , RANGERS 2 DUNDEE UNITED 1 15.2.2004 SCOTTISH PREMIER LEAGUE SCORE :- MOTHERWELL 2 CELTIC 0 CELTIC'S slight title hope's were finally sunk as they were easily beaten by MOTHERWELL . DEREK ADAMS the home side's hero with both goals . 16.2.2004 SCOTTISH PREMIER LEAGUE STARK'S PARK , KIRKCALDY RAITH ROVERS 1 HEARTS 0 HEARTS must have left here gutted after more than matching us on the night . STEVIE BOYACK had the best chance of the game but saw his effort brilliantly saved by BOSNICH . The winner came in second half injury time and was scored by a most unlikely source . Club captain and right back MAURO BONOMI popping up at the back post to rifle the ball home . ATTENDANCE :- 7268 SCORER'S :- BONOMI 90 18.2.2004 SCOTTISH PREMIER LEAGUE FIRHILL , GLASGOW PARTICK THISTLE 0 RAITH ROVERS 0 This game was absolutely dreadful . What with all the games recently a few player's had to be rested and it showed as we offered nothing in front of goal . The only plus point was the solid debut of 16 year old striker VALENTINI who had started in place of the jaded MELLOR . The ITALIAN had our only effort on goal , but never really troubled KENNY ARTHUR . IAN ROSS had the home side's best effort but he was foiled by BOSNICH . ATTENDANCE :- 6610 OTHER SCORE :- ABERDEEN 3 DUNDEE 0 19.2.2004 SCOTTISH CUP ROUND FOUR DRAW BRECHIN CITY V CELTIC DUNFERMLINE V FALKIRK EAST FIFE V DUNDEE UNITED KILMARNOCK V ROSS COUNTY PARTICK THISTLE V AYR UNITED PETERHEAD V MOTHERWELL RAITH ROVERS V DUNDEE RANGERS V MORTON 21.2.2004 SCOTTISH CUP ROUND FOUR STARK'S PARK , KIRKCALDY RAITH ROVERS 2 DUNDEE 1 NEIL MELLOR and IBRAHIM AFFELAY are both restored to the side as we move into the Quarter Final's . AFFELAY had a hand in the opening goal , setting up CHADWICK and his cross was turned home by CHAIKA . CABELLERO almost squared the game moments later but was denied by a brave stop by BOSNICH . MELLOR killed the game off 8 mins from half time , heading home a cracking cross from ADAILTON . STEVE LOVELL wasted two good chances to bring DUNDEE back into the game , although LEE WILKIE did head home a late header for a consolation goal . ATTENDANCE :- 2505 SCORER'S :- CHAIKA 23 MELLOR 37 WILKIE 88 OTHER SCORE'S :- BRECHIN CITY 1 CELTIC 4 , DUNFERMLINE 4 FALKIRK 2 , EAST FIFE 4 DUNDEE UNITED 3 , KILMARNOCK 0 ROSS COUNTY 0 , PARTICK THISTLE 1 AYR UNITED 2 , PETERHEAD 1 MOTHERWELL 1 , RANGERS 4 MORTON 0 22.2.2004 HIBS finally lose patience with BOBBY WILLIAMSON and he is sacked . 25.2.2004 SCOTTISH PREMIER LEAGUE TANNADICE STADIUM , DUNDEE DUNDEE UNITED 0 RAITH ROVERS 2 Despite being unbeaten for quite a few games , recently we have hardly been at our best . Today we finally got back to some decent form and won this game with something to spare . It seems to be a bit of an occuring theme with us scoring all our goals in the first half and then sitting back . On the 24th min OKORONKWO broke up a United attack and unleashed a long crossfield pass to PARTRIDGE who's run and cross was perfect for ADAILTON to fire home . 10 mins from half time and it was two . EVANS pass back was fluffed by PATTERSON and MELLOR pounched and then lobbed the advancing keeper for an easy goal . The home team rarely threatned , and never really looked like a team currently sitting in the top half of the table . ATTENDANCE :- 12211 SCORER'S :- ADAILTON 24 MELLOR 35 SCOTTISH CUP ROUND FOUR REPLAYS MOTHERWELL 2 PETERHEAD 1 ROSS COUNTY 0 KILMARNOCK 2 27.2.2004 SERGEI REBROV'S work permit is granted and he will join on the 28th July . 28.2.2004 SCOTTISH PREMIER LEAGUE SCORE'S :- CELTIC 3 ABERDEEN 1 , DUNDEE 1 PARTICK THISTLE 2 , HIBS 4 HEARTS 1 , KILMARNOCK 1 DUNDEE UNITED 2 , MOTHERWELL 3 DUNFERMLINE 0 29.2.2004 SCOTTISH PREMIER LEAGUE STARK'S PARK , KIRKCALDY RAITH ROVERS 3 RANGERS 1 Finally we manage to get one over the runaway leader's , however i still cant see us catching them at the top and second place seem's to be our best option . It never looked like it was going to be our day as RANGERS were quick of the mark . AGRITIS once again doing the damage after only 5 mins , with his quick pace he really is a handfull . One minute we had a throw down at their 6 yard box and the next the cool GREEK striker had majesticaly lobbed the keeper to give them the perfect start . The lead only lasted 6 mins however , LUKE CHADWICK curling a shot from the edge of the box into the top corner leaving the keeper no chance . PREST wasted a golden chance secs later , but he shot straight at KLOS . The second goal did come however and it was MEXES bullet header from a PARTRIDGE corner . HUGHES and LOVENKRANDS wasted good opening's , as did CHADWICK for ourselves . The killer third goal came 13 mins from time , PARTRIDGE sent ADAILTON clear and as KLOS tried to close him down he calmly lobbed him to seal the point's . FUGLESTAD blew 2 late effort's for the visitor's , ensuring we inflict only they're third league defeat of the season . ATTENDANCE :- 7483 SCORER'S :- CHADWICK 11 MEXES 37 ADAILTON 77 AGRITIS 5 1.3.2004 S P L MONTHLY AWARD'S MANAGER OF THE MONTH :- STEPHEN DEWAR (RAITH ROVERS) PLAYER OF THE MONTH :- RICHIE PARTRIDGE (RAITH ROVERS) YOUNG PLAYER OF THE MONTH :- IBRAHIM AFFELAY 6.3.2004 SCOTTISH PREMIER LEAGUE STARKS PARK , KIRKCALDY RAITH ROVERS 1 MOTHERWELL 0 Yet another tough match but thankfully with the right result . I decided to rest both AFFELAY and MELLOR after the tough win over RANGERS and recalled young striker VALENTINI . Our games against the 'Well have all been tough and this is reflected in their fourth position in the table . JAMES MCFADDEN who we tried to sign a couple of times is a real livewire and maybe should have done better with two first half efforts . FREDDY ADU had our best effort , but back came the visitor's and this time it was RAMSAY who stung the finger's of BOSNICH . The winning goal arrived in the 62nd min . PAUL LOVERING headed the ball upfield to ADAILTON who held of a couple of challenge's , before setting up VALENTINI and from the edge of the box he fired home . ATTENDANCE :- 6984 SCORER :- VALENTINI 62 OTHER SCORES :- DUNDEE UNITED 0 HIBERNIAN 2 , HEARTS 1 DUNDEE 3 , PARTICK THISTLE 0 CELTIC 2 , RANGERS 3 KILMARNOCK 0 . 7.2.2004 SCOTTISH PREMIER LEAGUE RESULT ABERDEEN 3 DUNFERMLINE 1 The sunday live game see's DUNFERMLINE'S premier league survival hanging by a thread . With HIBS recent mini revival they find themselves 6 points adrift at the bottom after a comfortable victory for the Don's . ROMANIAN international CATALIN MUNTEANU is granted a work permit and will join us on a Bosman free from ATLETICO MADRID on the 24th July . 10.2.2004 SCOTTISH PREMIER LEAGUE RESULT'S CELTIC 1 RANGERS 1 , DUNFERMLINE 0 DUNDEE UNITED 2 , HIBERNIAN 3 KILMARNOCK 0 , MOTHERWELL 1 PARTICK THISTLE 1 . TABLE AFTER 29/30 GAMES Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
wigs7 Posted February 14, 2004 Author Share Posted February 14, 2004 11.3.2004 HIBERNIAN surprise everyone by announcing that BULGARIAN DIMITAR PENEV is there new manager . Remarkably they have turned their season round lately , winning all 5 games since dismissing previous manager BOBBY WILLIAMSON propelling them above the now struggling DUNFERMLINE and hopefully for their sake to Premier League survival . 13.3.2004 SCOTTISH PREMIER LEAGUE RUGBY PARK , KILMARNOCK KILMARNOCK 2 RAITH ROVERS 0 Our build up to the League Cup final suffers a set back as we are well beat by mid table KILLIE . Hardly a classic but KILLIE took their chances and we , well we never created any to take . Half time substitute PAUL DI GIACOMO was the man who scored both goals . His first came in the 61st min , slotting home after BOSNICH could only parry an effort from O'NIELL . The crucial second came 4 mins from time as we pressed everyone forward looking for the equaliser , leaving him free on the half way line as the clearance came , he raced through and calmy finished past a helpless BOSNICH . Despite 5 mis of injury time , we failed to create a chance and the day's misery was complete when AFFELAY'S booking took him over the disciplinary points and he will miss the final . ATTENDANCE :- 10085 SCORER'S :- DI GIACOMO 61 , 86 OTHER SCORE'S :- CELTIC 1 HEARTS 3 , DUNDEE 2 DUNDEE UNITED 1 , DUNFERMLINE 0 PARTICK THISTLE 1 , HIBERNIAN 2 RANGERS 0 Not long after the Full Time whistle's , it was announced that JIMMY CALDERWOOD had been sacked as the DUNFERMLINE manager . Four straight defeat's in a row , coming on the back of the exact opposite at HIBS saw the PARS languishing 9 points adrift at the bottom . 14.3.2004 SCOTTISH PREMIER LEAGUE RESULT MOTHERWELL 3 ABERDEEN 2 MOTHERWELL set themselves up nicely for Wednesday's Cup Final with a hard fought victory over the Dons . Despite taking an early lead , they had to come from behind to win and it took an injury time penalty to seal the victory . 17.3.2004 SCOTTISH LEAGUE CUP FINAL HAMPDEN PARK , GLASGOW RAITH ROVERS 0 MOTHERWELL 1 Once again we fail to impress as the Fir Park take the plaudits with this Cup Final victory . The stats may show that both sides had the same amount of chances , but over the piece MOTHERWELL fully deserved the victory . The only surprise was it took 67 mins for them to finally find the net . Young centre back WILLIAM KINNIBURGH rising the highest to head home DAVID CLARKE'S teasing corner . It took us 76 mins to actually create a chance and although ADAILTON struck the bar in the 79th min it would have been a travesty if we had took the game to extra time . So MOTHERWELL book their place in next season's UEFA CUP which they must be pleased about as it looks unlikely they will finish above CELTIC to claim third spot . 19.3.2004 16 Year old PAUL CONNOLLY recieves a surprise call up to the SCOTLAND under 21's squad to face ROMANIA . 20.3.2004 SCOTTISH CUP QUARTER FINALS IBROX STADIUM , GLASGOW RANGERS 2 RAITH ROVERS 1 What a great time to run into a bad spell of form . Firstly beaten in the Cup Final and now dumped out of the Scottish Cup . To make it even more unbearable was the injury time goal that put us out , although to be fair you could see it coming a mile off(bloody game) . After a rather non event of a first half we had the cheek to even take the lead . NEIL MELLOR was left clean through after a defencive blunder and he rattled home his 26 goal of the season in the 56th min . The lead only lasted 15 mins however as PETER LOVENKRANDS brilliantly whizzed his way into the box and his cut back was knocked home by AGRITIS . STEPHEN HUGHES had a long range effort go just over moments later , but he had the last laugh with a similar effort in the first minute of stoppage time to take the Champions elect through to the Semi-Final . ATTENDANCE :- 43079 SCORER'S :- AGRITIS 71 HUGHES 90 MELLOR 56 QUARTER FINAL'S OTHER RESULTS :- KILMARNOCK 3 MOTHERWELL 0 AYR UNITED 3 DUNFERMLINE 1 EAST FIFE 2 CELTIC 0 Shock's galore in the 3 other tie's as all three favourite's to proceed were dumped out . The biggest being CELTIC'S shock defeat to lowly EAST FIFE at New Bayview . A near capacity crowd seeing BRIAN FAIRBAIRN scoring both goals to compell CELTIC'S bad season continue's . SCOTTISH PREMIER LEAGUE RESULT ABERDEEN 1 HEARTS 1 21.3.2004 SCOTTISH CUP SEMI FINAL DRAW EAST FIFE V RANGERS AYR UNITED V KILMARNOCK EAST FIFE'S reward for beating CELTIC is a tough tie against the favourite's RANGERS , while the other tie see's an all Ayrshire battle for a place in the Final . 24.3.2004 SCOTTISH PREMIER LEAGUE DENS PARK , DUNDEE DUNDEE 2 RAITH ROVERS 1 Our poor run continue's as we crash to another poor defeat . The writing was on the wall early doors as the home side took the lead from an 11th min penalty . LASSISSI felled MILNE in the box and up stepped HUTCHISON to send BOSNICH the wrong way . 12 mins later andd the Taysider's had the game in the bag . CARRANZA lead the defence a merry dance before crossing for MILNE who made no mistake . MELLOR normally so lethal in front of goal missed 3 good chance's in the First Half , before making amends in the 55th min after good work by CHAIKA . MILNE had the ball in the net again 8 mins from time but was rightly ruled offside . So another defeat and back to the drawing board i think before the next game . We are currently 8 points clear in second place , but if this run continue's who's to say we will finish there and take the second Champion's League spot . On the other hand RANGERS now need just 10 points from their remaining 7 games to regain the title . ATTENDANCE :- 10208 SCORER'S :- HUTCHISON 11(pen) MILNE 23 , MELLOR 55 26.3.2004 Youngster PAUL CONNOLLY is given most of the second half as the Scottish U21's win 2-1 away to their ROMANIAN counterpart's 27.3.2004 ALEXANDR CHAIKA and i have a little chat after he decide's he would like to move to a bigger club . I manage to talk him round and remind him that Champions League football could be here next season if the result's pick up again . Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
wigs7 Posted February 15, 2004 Author Share Posted February 15, 2004 1.4.2004 S.P.L MONTHLY AWARDS MANAGER OF THE MONTH :- DIMITAR PENEV (HIBERNIAN) PLAYER OF THE MONTH :- GARY O' CONNOR (HIBERNIAN) YOUNG PLAYER OF THE MONTH :- STEPHEN PEARSON (MOTHERWELL) 3.4.2004 SCOTTISH PREMIER LEAGUE STARK'S PARK , KIRKCALDY RAITH ROVERS 3 CELTIC 2 Back on track after 4 straight defeats , and hopefully will go a long way to secure 2nd place in the League . The opening goal in this 5 goal thriller came on the half hour mark . CHADWICK broke free on the right and when his cut back spun off BALDE , MELLOR was on hand to tuck the ball home . 10 mis later and it was 2-0 . A mazy run this time by DJORDJIC was clinically finished on the volley by MELLOR . CELTIC came out the second half a different side and had a goal back within 4 mins of the restart . VALGAEREN'S long pass found NICHOLSON and he drilled the ball underneath the advancing keeper . The match was level in the 57th min when MALONEY lashed home a wicked swerving shot that the keeper never even saw ! This seemed to wake us up again with the tide turning again . ADAILTON warmed the palms of HEDMAN before setting up MELLOR for his hat-trick and what turned out to be the match winner . MALONEY had a late chance to pinch a point , however his shot went high over the cross bar . ATTENDANCE :- 7506 SCORER'S :- MELLOR 30 40 71 , NICHOLSON 49 MALONEY 57 PREMIER LEAGUE OTHER RESULT'S :- HEARTS 0 PARTICK THISTLE 0 , KILMARNOCK 6 DUNDEE 3 , MOTHERWELL 3 HIBERNIAN 0 , RANGERS 2 DUNFERMLINE 0 After the game we found out that ADAILTON had suffered a bad injury which would rule him out for 2 months , and of course the remainder of the season . JIM DUFFY is the latest managerial casaulty as he sacked after their mauling at KILLIE . 4.4.2004 SCOTTISH PREMIER LEAGUE RESULT :- DUNDEE UNITED 0 ABERDEEN 2 DARREN MACKIE , the league's top goalscorer notched both goals in this lower table clash . He now has an impressive 30 goals this season and is sure to attract attention from bigger clubs . 10.4.2004 SCOTTISH PREMIER LEAGUE STARKS PARK , KIRKCALDY RAITH ROVERS 5 HIBERNIAN 3 Another win but i am starting to get a bit concerned about the amount of goals we have conceded in the last month or so . At one stage we had the best defensive record by a mile , ahead of even runaway leaders RANGERS . On the plus side however is the amazing goal scoring being shown by MELLOR . 4 mins in and he gave us the lead , knocking home a PARTRIDGE cross after being left wide open by a static HIBS defence . It wasn't to be all our own way and within 28 mins of scoring we were 2-1 behind . A defensive mix up between LOVERING and LASSISSI gave LEON JEANNE an easy equaliser on 8 mins , then MCMANUS beat BOSNICH to the ball in the 32nd min to give the Edinburgh side the lead . Their joy was shortlived however as we levelled 2 mins later through DJORDJIC'S banana bender from just outside the box . 3 mins after the interval and we were back in front . BONOMI'S long throw in was headed home by MELLOR . The hat-trick arrived just 6 mins later , half volleying the ball home after good play by PARTRIDGE . Thing's got a bit nervy again as HIBS pulled a goal back 3 mins from time , DARREN CAMPBELL making it 4-3 . We managed to hold on and in stoppage time MELLOR grabbed his fourth goal of the game to make it 5-3 . ATTENDANCE :- 7491 SCORER'S :- MELLOR 3 48 54 90 DJORDJIC 36 , JEANNE 8 MCMANUS 32 CAMPBELL 87 SCOTTISH PREMIER LEAGUE RESULT'S :- DUNDEE UNITED 0 CELTIC 4 , HEARTS 0 DUNFERMLINE 2 , KILMARNOCK 2 MOTHERWELL 1 , PARTICK THISTLE 0 ABERDEEN 2 , RANGERS 4 DUNDEE 0 11.4.2004 DUNFERMLINE appoint GERMAN legend LOTHAR MATTHAUS as they're new manager . 14.4.2004 SCOTTISH PREMIER LEAGUE RESULT'S :- CELTIC 0 KILMARNOCK 0 , MOTHERWELL 0 RANGERS 4 17.4.2004 SCOTTISH PREMIER LEAGUE STARKS PARK , KIRKCALDY RAITH ROVERS 3 HEARTS 0 A bad injury to on loan star LUKE CHADWICK soured this comfortable victory . HEARTS best and infact only chance came after 3 mins , but SIMMONS could only find the side netting . A bit of magic from IBRAHIM AFFELAY in the 15th min saw us take the lead . He managed to dribble his way into the box and despite the keeper blocking his first effort , he calmly followed it up to tap home . The talented DUTCHMAN then set up MELLOR in the second half to make it 2-0 . Midway through the second half and the game was over , MELLOR again the scorer , rising to bullet home a PARTRIDGE corner . ATTENDANCE :- 7262 SCORER'S :- AFFELAY 15 MELLOR 56 65 SCOTTISH PREMIER LEAGUE RESULT'S :- ABERDEEN 0 PARTICK THISTLE 0 , DUNDEE 4 HIBERNIAN 0 , DUNFERMLINE 3 DUNDEE UNITED 0 SCOTTISH CUP SEMI FINAL RESULT AYR UNITED 4 KILMARNOCK 1 AYR cause another big cup shock to book their place in the Final . Despite taking a fourth minute lead through PAUL DI GIACOMO , KILLIE can have no complaints as they were thoroughly beat on the day by the better side . Goals from GRADY , BAKER and 2 from KEAN see the First Division side through to the Final . While AYR UNITED make it through to the Final , First Division rivals BRECHIN CITY are crowned Champion's ahead of the Ayrshire club . 18.4.2004 SCOTTISH CUP SEMI FINAL RESULT EAST FIFE 4 RANGERS 2 EAST FIFE spring a massive surprise by dumping RANGERS to make the Final against AYR . Despite RANGERS domination of the game it was the lowly Second Division side that took their chance's on the day . Twice they were behind , but 2 goals apiece for FAIRBAIRN and WOODWARD saw them home . 24.4.2004 SCOTTISH PREMIER LEAGUE IBROX STADIUM , GLASGOW RANGERS 1 RAITH ROVERS 1 RANGERS shrug off the disappointment of last week to finally clinch the Premier League Championship . MELLOR and TRAORE had good early chances to give us lead , while AGRITIS did have the ball in the net but it was chalked off for offside . In first half stoppage time DJORDJIC picked the ball up on the half way line before picking his way straight through the middle of the RANGERS defence to give us a half time lead . It wasn't until 2 mins from time , before the equaliser came . AGRITIS setting up ETHERINGTON to prod home and send the home fans wild . ROBERT MALCOLM was shown the red card in stoppage time , but that didn't matter and RANGERS had won the title that had eluded them for 4 years . ATTENDANCE :-43040 SCORER'S :- ETHERINGTON 88 , DJORDJIC 45 SCOTTISH PREMIER LEAGUE RESULT'S :- DUNDEE UNITED 2 ABERDEEN 0 , HEARTS 1 CELTIC 0 , HIBERNIAN 0 DUNFERMLINE 3 , KILMARNOCK 3 MOTHERWELL 0 , PARTICK THISTLE 0 DUNDEE 0 1.5.2004 S.P.L MONTHLY AWARDS MANAGER OF THE MONTH :- JIM JEFFRIES (KILMARNOCK) PLAYER OF THE MONTH :- NEIL MELLOR (RAITH ROVERS) YOUNG PLAYER OF THE MONTH :- STEPHEN PEARSON (MOTHERWELL) SCOTTISH PREMIER LEAGUE FIR PARK , MOTHERWELL MOTHERWELL 0 RAITH ROVERS 1 A rather typical end of season encounter saw us gain revenge for the League Cup Final defeat . MOTHERWELL did start brightly with 2 good chances , MCFADDEN and PEARSON both going close . The only goal of the game however came in the 34th min . PARTRIDGE again the creater , finding MELLOR who volleyed home from just inside the box . Neither side looked interested after that and the game fizzled out for an away win . ATTENDANCE :- 11815 SCORER'S :- MELLOR 34 SCOTTISH PREMIER LEAGUE RESULT'S :- ABERDEEN 2 DUNFERMLINE 2 , CELTIC 3 RANGERS 2 , DUNDEE 2 DUNDEE UNITED 3 , KILMARNOCK 3 HEARTS 0 , PARTICK THISTLE 2 HIBERNIAN 1 8.5.2004 SCOTTISH PREMIER LEAGUE STARKS PARK , KIRKCALDY RAITH ROVERS 1 CELTIC 2 CELTIC finally get the better of us at the fifth attempt of trying this season . JOHN HARTSON was a constant menace early on , squandering a couple of good chances , before NICHOLSON took over and he created the opener for PETROV . Just on half time however we equalised through MELLOR . AFFELAY did all the build up and left MELLOR with an easy chance for his 38th goal of the season . The winner came in the 72nd min and was scored by the persistent HARTSON after a good ball from BALDE . Although disappointing to lose our final home game of the season , we had done enough to clinch second place and the Champions League place that goes with it . ATTENDANCE :- 7468 SCORER'S :- MELLOR 45 , PETROV 38 HARTSON 72 SCOTTISH PREMIER LEAGUE RESULT'S :- DUNDEE UNITED 3 PARTICK THISTLE 0 , DUNFERMLINE 0 DUNDEE 3 , HEARTS 2 MOTHERWELL 2 , HIBERNIAN 3 ABERDEEN 2 , RANGERS 2 KILMARNOCK 0 DUNFERMLINE are officially relegated from the Premier League and will be replaced next season by BRECHIN CITY Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
wigs7 Posted February 15, 2004 Author Share Posted February 15, 2004 15.5.2004 SCOTTISH PREMIER LEAGUE RUGBY PARK , KILMARNOCK KILMARNOCK 3 RAITH ROVERS 3 The end of another season and it looks like i may have to strengthen my defence . Plenty of goals for the fans to enjoy but damn annoying for the manager . The home side took a 3rd min lead when MAHOOD finished of a good move from BOYLE . BOYLE'S joy turned to despair in the 23th min when he handled inside the box , MELLOR firing home the spot kick . We had barely settled down when we were behind again . FULTON scoring after a fumble from BOSNICH . The scoring never let up and in the 34th min MELLOR headed home the equaliser from PARTRIDGE'S corner . The same two combined again 4 mins from half time to put us in front , although MELLOR should have scored his and our fourth in first half stoppage time . When MELLOR had to go off injured at the start off the second hlf the game turned again in the home side's favour . An equaliser looked a real possibility , and it was no surprise when it came in the 70th min . FULLARTON coverting after good play from ex Rovers player DARGO . ATTENDANCE :- 10086 SCORER'S :- MAHOOD 3 FULTON 24 FULLARTON 70 , MELLOR 23 (pen) 34 41 SCOTTISH PREMIER LEAGUE RESULT'S :- CELTIC 4 MOTHERWELL 0 , DUNDEE 1 ABERDEEN 2 , HEARTS 0 RANGERS 4 , HIBERNIAN 2 DUNDEE UNITED 1 , PARTICK THISTLE 1 DUNFERMLINE 0 FINAL LEAGUE TABLE TOP GOAL SCORERS 17.5.2004 PLAYERS PLAYER OF THE YEAR :- PHILIP EVANS (DUNDEE UNITED) MANAGER OF THE YEAR :- ALEX MCLEISH (RANGERS) Rather strange choice for the player of the Year but hey there you go . I also only had one player in the Team of the Year and it wasn't top goal scorer NEIL MELLOR either . BOJAN DJORDJIC the lucky guy . I also failed to finish in the Top three Managers of the Year as well which i was rather disappointed with . 22.5.2004 SCOTTISH CUP FINAL EAST FIFE 4 AYR UNITED 2 Defenitely the year of the underdog as EAST FIFE win an amazing final . With the score 2-1 to the Fifers and only 1 min left , JAMES GRADY equalised and must have thought had taken the game to extra time , however EAST FIFE had other idea's scoring in the 92nd and 94th to lift the cup . 23.5.2004 SCOTTISH PREMIER LEAGUE CHAMPIONS :- RANGERS RELEGATED FROM THE PREMIER LEAGUE :- DUNFERMLINE SCOTTISH FIRST DIVISION CHAMPIONS :- BRECHIN CITY RELEGATED FROM THE FIRST DIVISION :- ALLOA , CLYDE SCOTTISH SECOND DIVISION CHAMPIONS :- GRETNA PROMOTED FROM SECOND DIVISION :- FORFAR ATHLETIC RELEGATED FROM SECOND DIVISION :- ST MIRREN , HAMILTON SCOTTISH THIRD DIVISION CHAMPIONS :- MONTROSE PROMOTED FROM THIRD DIVISION :- ELGIN CITY WORST TEAM IN SCOTLAND TAG :- STIRLING ALBION SCOTTISH CUP WINNERS :- EAST FIFE SCOTTISH LEAGUE CUP WINNERS :- MOTHERWELL SCOTTISH CHALLENGE CUP WINNERS :- AYR UNITED UEFA CUP WINNERS :- FENERBACHE CHAMPIONS LEAGUE WINNERS :- BAYERN MUNICH Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
wigs7 Posted February 20, 2004 Author Share Posted February 20, 2004 PRE SEASON ROUND UP PLAYERS RELEASED :- IAN BROWN , VICTOR LEONENKO , KOFI MENSAH , ROBERT WIJNANDS , PATRICE ZERE , RUSSELL LATAPY , GORAN STANIC , DARREN BRADY , JOHN SUTTON , MARK PEERS AND CRAIG STANLEY PLAYER ARRIVALS IVAN BOSNJAK :- £50K signing from AL ITTIHAD TRIPOLI . With a severe lack of Striker's at the club and with ADAILTON still out for another 2 months , it could be sink or swim for Croat early on . GARY NAYSMITH :- Free Transfer . Surprisingly released by EVERTON , he will definetely be our gain as can play anywhere on the left . KASPER SCHMEICHEL :- Free Transfer . Released by MANCHESTER CITY , one for the future and if he is half as good as his dad he should be a great addition . LEE SIMS :- Free Transfer . Released by MANCHESTER UNITED , has potential but remains to be seen if the 19 year old right back can make the grade . CATALIN MUNTEANU :- Bosman Free From ATLETICO MADRID . Experienced ROMANIAN international with 22 goals who hopefully can help with our forth coming European challenge MARC SMYTH :- £750K signing from AYR UNITED . Still only 21 , a player with a great future ahead of him . Can play in defence or midfield , part of the Ayr side who made last seasons Cup Semi Final and finished runners up in the First Division . SERGEI REBROV :- Bosman Free From FENERBAHCE . Arrives with a big reputation , still to shine after leaving Dinamo Kiev , hopeing to kick start his faltering career here . STUART DOWNING :- Free Transfer . Released by MIDDLESBROUGH , another youngster with great potential . Will spend time in the reserve's but one to keep an eye on . COLIN CAMERON :- £575K signing from WOLVES . A former Rovers legend and part of the previous Raith team to play in Europe . Hopefully his return can attract the fans back to the club , still only 31 and hopefully still has a lot to offer the club . TRISTAN PEERSMAN :- Free transfer . Released by ANDERLECHT , this 24 year old keeper will start the season as back up to Mark Bosnich . SEBASTIAN ARIEL ROMERO :- Free Transfer . Released by REAL BETIS , this Argentinian left winger is brought in as cover but will be mainly be a squad player at best . PHILLIPE MEXES :- Season long loan from AUXERRE . Brought back for another year as cover for the defence . Did well last season without really shining but at 22 has a great future in the game . RAITH ROVERS 1 METZ 0 Rather uneventful warm up game before the Champions League qualifiers . The only goal of the game coming midway through the second half from new signing IVAN BOSNJAK after typical good play by RICHIE PARTRIDGE . The draw is made for the second qualifying stage of the Champions League and we are paired with YUGOSLAVIAN side PARTIZAN BELGRADE . Sadly mouthwatering Pre Season ties with CHELSEA and NEWCASTLE have to be cancelled to accomodate these games . Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
wigs7 Posted February 21, 2004 Author Share Posted February 21, 2004 28.7.2004 EUROPEAN CHAMPIONS LEAGUE SECOND QUALIFIERS FIRST LEG STARKS PARK , KIRKCALDY RAITH ROVERS 1 PARTIZAN BELGRADE 0 There are 3 player's handed their debut as we officially start our new season . In what turned out to be a very tight game , we just managed to edge it to take a slender lead to YUGOSLAVIA . In a rather dull opening 45 mins , the best chances fell to the visitor's SASA ILLIC , but thankfully he forgot to bring his striking boot's to Kirkcaldy . The only goal of the game came in the first min of the second half . RICHIE PARTRIDGE'S cross from the left was only partially cleared , and from the edge of the box COLIN CAMERON celebrated his homecoming by smacking home from the edge of the box . REBROV and MELLOR both testeed the keeper shotly after , but the keeper was not to be beaten again . 9 mins from time BOSNICH acrobatically saved from DULJAJ and we managed to hold on for the final whistle . ATTENDANCE :- 5019 SCORER'S :- CAMERON 46 2.8.2004 RANGERS are made 4/5 favourites to regain their trophy , closely followed by ourselves and CELTIC at 5/4 . 3.8.2004 RICHIE PARTRIDGE'S good form is rewarded as he receives an international call up for EIRE'S forthcoming World Cup Qualifier against POLAND . PAUL LOVERING also receive's his first call up for SCOTLAND'S Qualifier away to ROMANIA . 4.8.2004 EUROPEAN CHAMPIONS LEAGUE SECOND QUALIFIERS SECOND LEG STADION FK PARTIZAN , BELGRADE PARTIZAN BELGRADE 1 RAITH ROVERS 1 (AGG 1-2) Once again we more than matched our YUGOSLAV counterpart's to book our place in the next round . Indeed if it wasn't for slack defending 4 mins from time , we would have gone through more comfortably . As was to be expected , they came flying out the traps and had 4 good effort's on goal , thankfully BOSNICH was in fine form to deny them . 11 mins into the second half and a blow as we lose COLIN CAMERON to a shoulder injury , ALEXANDR CHAIKA brought on to replace him . We began to celebrate in the 63th min as NEIL MELLOR'S header from a PARTRIDGE corner looked to have sealed our passage in to the next round . MELLOR was then twice denied by the keeper , before the home side dominated in the last 10 mins , culminating with the equaliser in the 86th min from DULJAJ . Thankfully they couldn't muster anything after that and we await the draw for the next round . ATTENDANCE :- 9824 SCORER'S :- DULJAJ 86 , MELLOR 63 5.8.2004 The draw for the Third Qualifying Stage of the Champions League see's us paired with GEORGIAN side TORPEDO KUTAISI Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
wigs7 Posted February 22, 2004 Author Share Posted February 22, 2004 7.8.2004 SCOTTISH PREMIER LEAGUE STARKS PARK , KIRKCALDY RAITH ROVERS 2 DUNDEE 0 The season's opener and a good start . After the thrill's and spill's of Europe , it was back to the bread and butter and on the day we were too good for our Tayside visitor's . ALEXANDR CHAIKA came in to replace the injured CAMERON . Two early chance's went a begging , before REBROV'S lack of confidence in front of goal was re-affirmed as he shot straight at SPERONI when it looked easier to score . It was left to strike partner MELLOR to save his blushes as he picked up where he left of last season . The first 7 mins from half time he rose the highest from a corner to head the ball home , then in first half stoppage time heading home from REBROV'S cross . PARTRIDGE caused all sorts of problem's in the second half , but his teasing crosses and stinging shot's amounted to nothing . BOSNJAK replaced REBROV midway through the second half and he also had a few effort's that went close to adding to the tally . ATTENDANCE :- 7156 SCORER'S :- MELLOR 38 45 SCOTTISH PREMIER LEAGUE RESULTS CELTIC 3 HEARTS 0 DUNDEE UNITED 3 KILMARNOCK 1 HIBERNIAN 0 ABERDEEN 3 MOTHERWELL 1 BRECHIN CITY 2 PARTICK THISTLE 0 RANGERS 0 10.8.2004 The new arrivals continue as we announce that REAL MADRID have agreed to sell us CLAUDE MAKELELE for £1.1mill . The FRENCHMAN brings a bit of steel to the midfield , which should hopefully cut out the sloppy goals we lost in the second part of the season last year . 11.8.2004 ROMANIA 4 SCOTLAND 0 SCOTLAND'S World Cup bid gets off to a shocking start as they are ripped apart by a rampant ROMANIA . Unfortunately our own CATALIN MUNTEANU is the main architect behind the win . 12.8.2004 Assistant manager PAQUITO is released and is replaced by JOE KINNEAR . 14.8.2004 SCOTTISH PREMIER LEAGUE GLEBE PARK , BRECHIN BRECHIN CITY 0 RAITH ROVERS 2 After their stunning opening day success at MOTHERWELL , we bring them back down to earth with another comfortable victory . New signing MAKELELE had to make do with a place on the bench as we started with the same team as last week . A nice flowing move from CHAIKA and AFFELAY in the 8th min gave MELLOR the easiest of chance's , his fourth goal of the season already . The home side were rather dissapointing and squandered the only chance they had , JACKSON shooting straight at BOSNICH when he should have placed it . All the chances seemed to be falling to MELLOR and it was no surprise when he scored the second at the start of the second half . MUNTEANU the creater this time , although the keeper really should have done better , allowing the big striker's shot to squirm through his hands and roll into the empty net . ATTENDANCE :- 3544 SCORER'S :- MELLOR 8 48 SCOTTISH PREMIER LEAGUE RESULTS ABERDEEN 1 CELTIC 2 DUNDEE 4 PARTICK THISTLE 1 HEARTS 4 DUNDEE UNITED 1 KILMARNOCK 4 MOTHERWELL 0 RANGERS 4 HIBERNIAN 0 We agree to sell SALIOU LASSISSI to PIACENZA for a fee of £500,000 plus 10% of any future fee . Signed on a Bosman free a year ago , he has failed to settle and never really claimed a first team slot and leaves with our good wishes . 15.8.2004 With a favourable draw in the Champions League and with it a place in the Group stages , another new player arrives . 20 year old ALEXANDER FARNERUD finally joins for a combined fee of £2.2 million . After about a year of trying , we finally manage to persuade his club LANDSKRONA to part with the youngster . 16.8.2004 GERMAN striker DAVID ODONKOR signs for a fee of £100k from MUNSTER . Freed in the summer from BORUSSIA DORTMUND , the super quick striker at only 20 years of age looks to have a promising career ahead of him . 17.8.2004 In the UEFA Cup Qualifier's , last season's surprise winners of the Scottish Cup EAST FIFE , were beaten 4-2 away from home at SPARTAK MOSCOW . 18.8.2004 EUROPEAN CHAMPIONS LEAGUE THIRD QUALIFYING STAGE FIRST LEG GIVI KILADZE , KUTAISI KUTAISI 0 RAITH ROVERS 2 A place in the group stage's came a step closer after an easy victory in GEORGIA . The even more pleasing part was the way we shut them out completely , not even allowing them a shot of any sort . Despite only being with the club for 2 days , ODONKOR was giving a starting slot up front with MELLOR , as i continued to look for an able partner with the continued absence of ADAILTON . It was MELLOR though again who stole the show with both goals . Despite only being at the club for just over a year , his 2 goals take's his tally to 48 goals in just 50 appearance's . His first goal was rather fortunete , taking a deflection of the hapless defender on the way in . The second , a close range shot after a good cross from ODONKOR . In truth it should have been a lot more , with MUNTEANU particularly outstanding in the wide right slot and PARTRIDGE flying down the left hand side . ATTENDANCE :- 5577 SCORER'S :- MELLOR 21 63 In the other Qualifier , RANGERS were too strong for CLUB BRUGGE and take a 4-1 lead to BELGIUM for the second leg . 21.8.2004 SCOTTISH PREMIER LEAGUE STARKS PARK , KIRKCALDY RAITH ROVERS 1 KILMARNOCK 0 A lot was learned about my team after this narrow victory against Killie . We had to play with 10 men for 75 mins after captain BONOMI was sent off for a shocking two foot tackle on STEPHEN MURRAY . Instead of sacrificing a striker i decided to play 3 at the back and the team responded superbly . MUNTEANU hit one straight at the keeper , then WHITLEY shot wide for KILLIE . 7 mins from half time and the only goal of the game came . BOYD handled in the box and from the resulting spot kick MELLOR sent the keeper the wrong way . Both keepers had a busy afternoon , but surprisingly it was the visitor's who had to make the most save's . Overall a good day and culminating in the other result's we go top of the league . ATTENDANCE :- 6824 SCORER :- MELLOR 38(pen) SCOTTISH PREMIER LEAGUE RESULT'S DUNDEE UNITED 2 CELTIC 2 HIBERNIAN 3 DUNDEE 1 PARTICK THISTLE 2 BRECHIN CITY 0 RANGERS 4 ABERDEEN 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
wigs7 Posted February 24, 2004 Author Share Posted February 24, 2004 22.8.2004 SCOTTISH PREMIER LEAGUE RESULT MOTHERWELL 4 HEARTS 0 The first live game of the season see's a thumping home win for League Cup Holders MOTHERWELL . JAMES MCFADDEN the hero , scoring all four goals . 26.8.2004 RANGERS bid £2.1 million for NEIL MELLOR . They are told in no uncertain term's to forget it , as he is not for sale . Contracts are offered to BENITO CARBONE and VALERIEN ISMAEL after fee's are agreed with their respective clubs . 27.8.2004 BENITO CARBONE signs from LECCE for £100k . VALERIEN ISMAEL reject's the contract and decide's to stay put at STRASBOURG . PORTUGUESE striker JOAO PAIVA joins on loan till the end of the season . 28.8.2004 SCOTTISH PREMIER LEAGUE TYNECASTLE STADIUM , EDINBURGH HEARTS 1 RAITH ROVERS 0 Hardly an ideal performance , especially with a European Qualifier round the corner . BENITO CARBONE made his debut up front , but failed to shine as did the rest of the team . Despite having almost twice as many chances as the home side , we failed to hit the target . The only goal arrived 8 mins into the second half , SCOTT SEVERIN outjumping MARC SMYTH to head home ALAN MAYBURY'S inswinging free kick . Substitute ODONKOR had two good effort's saved , then set up MELLOR who for once couldn't find the target . ATTENDANCE :- 15532 SCORER'S :- SEVERIN 53 SCOTTISH PREMIER LEAGUE RESULT'S BRECHIN CITY 4 HIBERNIAN 1 CELTIC 2 MOTHERWELL 1 DUNDEE 2 RANGERS 0 KILMARNOCK 3 PARTICK THISTLE 0 29.8.2004 SCOTTISH PREMIER LEAGUE RESULT ABERDEEN 4 DUNDEE UNITED 1 A SCOTT BOOTH hat-trick give's ABERDEEN the victory in the New Firm derby , setting them back on the winning trail after back to back defeat's by the Old Firm . With the transfer window near to closing , our attempt's to strengthen the defence seem's like failing . The latest player to reject a deal is BENFICA'S ARGEL . 30.8.2004 After their cheeky bid for NEIL MELLOR , RANGERS are back in but this time for RICHIE PARTRIDGE . The bid of £1.9 million is however dismissed as laughable and they are sent packing . 1.9.2004 CHAMPIONS LEAGUE THIRD QUALIFIER 2ND LEG STARKS PARK , KIRKCALDY RAITH ROVERS 5 KUTAISI 0 (agg 7-0) Qualification for the Group Stage is completed in style . RICHIE PARTRIDGE is the star man with 2 goals and 2 assist's . The first strike came in the 4rth min , PARTRIDGE picking the ball up on the centre circle , before running right through the defence and firing home from the edge of the box . MUNTEANU rifled home the second on the 29th min , a MELLOR header on 38 mins made it three . Then two mins from half-time PARTRIDGE made it four with another thunderbolt from the edge of the box . PARTRIDGE did blot his copybook with a silly booking that rules him out of the first group game , before setting up ODONKOR a minute from time for his first goal for the club . ATTENDANCE :- 5028 SCORER'S :- PARTRIDGE 4 43 MUNTEANU 29 MELLOR 38 ODONKOR 89 RANGERS won 3-1 away to CLUB BRUGGE to complete a 7-1 agg win to book their place in the group stages . MANAGER OF THE MONTH :- DAVID MOYES (CELTIC) PLAYER OF THE MONTH :- JOOS VALGAEREN (CELTIC) YOUNG PLAYER OF THE MONTH :- JAMES MCFADDEN 2.9.2004 EAST FIFE'S brief involvement in the UEFA Cup comes to an end after they are walloped 5-0 at home by SPARTAK MOSCOW , losing 9-2 on agg . 3.9.2004 The draws are made for the two European Trophy's . We are drawn in a tough Group C with MANCHESTER UNITED , PSV , VALENCIA . In Group E , RANGERS are drawn with BARCELONA , BOAVISTA , PARMA . In the UEFA Cup draw , CELTIC are drawn against SPARTA PRAGUE . 4.9.2004 SCOTTISH PREMIER LEAGUE STARKS PARK , KIRKCALDY RAITH ROVERS 4 CELTIC 0 League leader's CELTIC are brushed aside as we get set to pit our wit's away to MANCHESTER UNITED in the Champions League . After the dissapointing defeat last time out away to HEARTS , the players were hell bent on going to Old Trafford with a good performance under their belt . The result was never in question when we took the lead in 15 mins . Fresh from his first goal for the club in the last game , DAVID ODONKOR staked his claim for a permanent first team slot by heading home AFFELAY'S fine cross , although it did take a deflection on the way in . The scorer then turned provider in the 33th min , setting up MELLOR with the header this time . The young GERMAN was having a field day by this time and set up MELLOR again in the 68th min , the big striker scoring with a cute lob this time . Within 3 mins MELLOR had completed yet another hat-trick for us with a looping header that left the keeper in sixes and seven's . MAKELELE set up MELLOR near the end , but he rushed his shot and hit it wide . ATTENDANCE :- 7499 SCORER'S :- ODONKOR 15 MELLOR 33 68 71 SCOTTISH PREMIER LEAGUE RESULT'S DUNDEE 4 ABERDEEN 4 HIBERNIAN 1 KILMARNOCK 3 MOTHERWELL 4 DUNDEE UNITED 1 PARTICK THISTLE 2 HEARTS 0 RANGERS 1 BRECHIN CITY 0 After narrowly avoiding the drop last season , HIBS woe's continue as they languish at the bottom of the table after 5 games . The gamble taken on appointing BULGARIAN coach DIMITAR PENEV doesn't seem to have worked and his job looks in danger already . 6.9.2004 A work permit is applied for after EYGPTIAN international defender IBRAHIM SAID agree's to join in the january transfer window . Should it be granted he will join from AL-AHLY SPORTING CLUB , for a fee of £500k . Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peacemaker7 Posted February 29, 2004 Share Posted February 29, 2004 This weeks Story of the Week Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
bjorn Posted March 1, 2004 Share Posted March 1, 2004 Great choice Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
wigs7 Posted March 1, 2004 Author Share Posted March 1, 2004 Wow . just about to go to bed and thought i would check out what was happening here in storyland . totally shocked to see it as story of the week . Thanks guys . Wasn't sure if people would like it but seems to be going down ok . Should be updating in the next couple of days as ive just started my Champions League bid. Thanks again and happy reading . (Sorry just been watching a bit of the oscars and got a bit carried away) . Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
wigs7 Posted March 3, 2004 Author Share Posted March 3, 2004 7.9.2004 CHAMPIONS LEAGUE GROUP C MATCHDAY 1 OLD TRAFFORD , MANCHESTER MANCHESTER UNITED 2 RAITH ROVERS 1 Our very first Champions League match ends in defeat , but we can hold our heads high after a gritty performance . The home side made a typical flying start and were in front after just 2 mins . DECO bending in a free kick from 25 yards out , however keeper BOSNICH really should have done better than the flap he made trying to keep it out . DECO then popped up on his on goal line to clear a net bound effort from MELLOR . SCHOLES then went close with an effort , while VAN NISTELROOY came even closer , his effort rebounding back of the crossbar . SCHOLES made up for his miss 8 mins into the second half , firing home after great play by GIGGS . Straight from the restart however we managed to get back into the game . AFFELAY picked the ball up just inside their half and went on a mazy run before rifling home just inside the box . DECO was a constant menace and should have scored atleast another twice , while our best effort came in stoppage time but both the strikers seemed to get in each other's way with MELLOR'S final effort more of a passback than a shot . ATTENDANCE :- 57895 SCORER'S :- DECO 2 SCHOLES 53 , AFFELAY 54 In the other group game VALENCIA beat PSV by one goal to nil . 8.9.2004 RANGERS got off to the perfect start in their first game with a 3-0 win away to PARMA . RICHARD CRESSWELL the hero with 2 goals . 10.9.2004 IBRAHIM SAID has his work permit granted and will join up on the first of January . 18.9.2004 SCOTTISH PREMIER LEAGUE RESULT'S ABERDEEN 3 MOTHERWELL 0 BRECHIN CITY 0 DUNDEE 3 CELTIC 3 PARTICK THISTLE 0 KILMARNOCK 0 RANGERS 2 19.9.2004 SCOTTISH PREMIER LEAGUE RESULT HEARTS 1 HIBERNIAN 2 Sundays live game see's HIBS take the spoils in a close Edinburgh Derby . ANDY KIRK gave the JAMBO'S an early advantage , but back came HIBS through JEANNE and a late goal from GARY O'CONNOR gave them the victory . 21.9.2004 RANGERS were brought back down to earth in their second Champions League game , going down 2-1 at home to BARCELONA . 22.9.2004 CHAMPIONS LEAGUE GROUP C MATCHDAY 2 STARKS PARK , KIRKCALDY RAITH ROVERS 0 VALENCIA 2 Dissapointment all round after this poor showing , however the gulf between the 2 sides was clear for all to see . VALENCIA were superb on the day but were largely helped by another inept performance in goal by BOSNICH . ANDERSON POLGA'S 30 yard shot on 22 mins looked harmless enough , but the keeper let it go straight through him and that seemed to set the tone for the remainder of the game . 4 mins from half time and it was 2-0 . MANCINI intercepted a slack pass before drilling home past a badly placed BOSNICH . ODONKOR had a tame effort easily saved by CANIZARES as did substitute ADAILTON . AIMAR had a great chance to rub more salt into the wound but blazed over , while MELLOR missed in stoppage time as we looked for a consolation goal which we never really deserved . ATTENDANCE :- 7482 SCORER'S :- ANDERSON POLGA 22 MANCINI 41 In the other Group tie , MANCHESTER UNITED won 2-0 away to PSV with two goals from former CELTIC player HENRIK LARSSON . 23.9.2004 CELTIC look safely through to the next round in the UEFA Cup after a 4-1 away to SPARTA PRAGUE . CHRIS SUTTON leading the way with a first half hat-trick . 25.9.2004 SCOTTISH PREMIER LEAGUE STARKS PARK , KIRKCALDY RAITH ROVERS 1 MOTHERWELL 0 After 2 shaky performances in Europe , MARK BOSNICH is dropped and a debut is handed to BELGIAN TRISTAN PEERSMAN . ADAILTON is also recalled to the starting line up after nearly 5 months out through injury . After the poor midweek performance it was good to get back to winning ways in the League . MOTHERWELL always seems to run us close and this one was no different . Twice in the opening 20 mins , MCFADDEN came close to giving them the lead which was probably the wake up call we needed . PARTRIDGE set up MELLOR with an easy header , but he headed straight at the keeper . The winning goal came 6 mins from half time and it was the recalled ADAILTON who found space in the box after good work by MELLOR and he fired home . The second half was a one man show by MUNTEANU but it failed to bring the clinching second goal , thankfully we had done enough in the first half to merit the victory . The win was marred in stoppage time however with a bad injury to new keeper PEERSMAN , an injury that will see him sidelined for a minimum of 4 weeks . ATTENDANCE :- 7133 SCORER :- ADAILTON 39 SCOTTISH PREMIER LEAGUE RESULT'S BRECHIN CITY 1 ABERDEEN 2 DUNDEE 1 KILMARNOCK 1 PARTICK THISTLE 2 DUNDEE UNITED 0 RANGERS 4 HEARTS 0 26.9.2004 SCOTTISH PREMIER LEAGUE RESULT HIBERNIAN 0 CELTIC 0 HIBS victory last week in the Derby must have lifted the Easter Road side after a really poor start as they held a poor CELTIC to gain a share of the points . CELTIC created double the chances of the home side , but failed to test the keeper once in the entire 90 mins . 28.9.2004 RANGERS gain another point in their Champions League bid with a 0-0 draw away to BOAVISTA . 29.9.2004 CHAMPIONS LEAGUE GROUP C MATCHDAY 3 PHILIPS STADION , EINDHOVEN PSV 1 RAITH ROVERS 0 The consolation of a place in the UEFA Cup for finishing third looks a tall order after a third straight loss . NEIL MELLOR'S scoring touch seem's to have deserted him in Europe as he missed 2 golden chances early on . JOHANN VOGEL making us pay as he latched on to KEZMAN'S pass in the 19th min to score the games only goal . VAN BOMMEL , BOUMA and VOGEL again , all came close in a largely one sided first half after those early chances for us . The second half saw much of the same as KEZMAN and BOUMA both came close to adding to the scoreline . We failed to create anything at all the second half and now we must pick ourselves up for the return match at home next week . ATTENDANCE :- 28157 SCORER :- VOGEL 19 VALENCIA beat MAN UNITED 2-1 at home to move 3 points clear at the top of Group C . SCOTTISH LEAGUE CUP ROUND 2 RESULT'S BERWICK RANGERS 0 HAMILTON 0 (Berwick win 4-3 on pens) DUNDEE 3 AYR UNITED 0 DUNDEE UNITED 3 GRETNA 2 EAST STIRLING 4 ALLOA ATHLETIC 0 HEARTS 1 ELGIN CITY 0 KILMARNOCK 3 DUMBARTON 0 MORTON 0 BRECHIN CITY 2 PETERHEAD 1 ABERDEEN 0 ST JOHNSTONE 1 MOTHERWELL 0 STENHOUSEMUIR 3 HIBERNIAN 0 STIRLING ALBION 1 ROSS COUNTY 2 STRANRAER 1 FORFAR ATHLETIC 0 Holders MOTHERWELL are dumped out of the Cup at the first hurdle to First Division ST JOHNSTONE , while both HIBS and ABERDEEN also crash out to Second and Third Division sides respectivly . 1.10.2004 SCOTTISH PREMIER LEAGUE MANAGER OF THE MONTH :- ALEX MCLEISH (RANGERS) SCOTTISH PREMIER LEAGUE PLAYER OF THE MONTH :- STEVEN THOMSON (RANGERS) SCOTTISH PREMIER LEAGUE YOUNG PLAYER OF THE MONTH :- STEPHEN HUGHES (RANGERS) Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
wigs7 Posted March 8, 2004 Author Share Posted March 8, 2004 2.10.2004 SCOTTISH PREMIER LEAGUE PITTODRIE STADIUM , ABERDEEN ABERDEEN 0 RAITH ROVERS 0 A rather dissapointing game for the fans as both sides failed to create anything in front of goal . On the plus side for ourselves was another clean sheet , thats 5 in our opening 6 games . MAKELELE was the first to try his luck , blazing his half volley well wide . Next up was the recalled CAMERON , but his long effort sailed over the bar . The DONS started to get more into the game with STEVIE TOSH wasting two good efforts and LEIGH HINDS heading just over as the half time whistle blew . ADAILTON shot well wide from a narrow angle after the break , then made the keeper work on the hour before the game fizzled out for a dire draw and a share of the spoils . MARC SMYTH was taken of injured early in the first half and replaced by youngster RICHARD ROBB , but should be fit for the next game at PARTICK . ATTENDANCE :- 18162 SCOTTISH PREMIER LEAGUE RESULT'S CELTIC 3 RANGERS 1 DUNDEE UNITED 0 HIBERNIAN 1 HEARTS 3 DUNDEE 1 KILMARNOCK 4 BRECHIN CITY 2 MOTHERWELL 2 PARTICK THISTLE 0 6.10.2004 WORLD CUP QUALIFIERS GROUP 7 SCOTLAND 2 BELARUS 0 After the drubbing in ROMANIA , SCOTLAND got back on track with a comfortable home win . Goals in either half from KEVIN KYLE and GARETH WILLIAMS gave them their first points , however with ROMANIA winning away to MOLDOVA and the CZECH REPUBLIC also in the group , qualification is going to be a struggle . 7.10.2004 CELTIC confirmed their place in the Second Round of the UEFA Cup with a 2-0 home win over SPARTA PRAGUE , coasting through 6-1 on aggregate . 8.10.2004 The draw for the Second Round of the UEFA Cup see's CELTIC paired with STURM GRAZ whith the first leg in AUSTRIA . 9.10.2004 SCOTTISH PREMIER LEAGUE FIRHILL , GLASGOW PARTICK THISTLE 0 RAITH ROVERS 0 Another point on our travels but the home side were left gutted after failing to take their chances . Despite remaining goalless , it was end to end stuff but without the killer touch in front of goal . JAMIE MITCHELL tested BOSNICH , then MELLOR shot wide after good play from PARTRIDGE . PANTHER blazed over from a long way out , then back up the other end ADAILTON brought out a good save from ARTHUR . GIBSON and MITCHELL should have done better as should have MUNTEANU for ourselves . Overall a good point away from home and should we beat DUNDEE UNITED in the re-arranged midweek game , we would move to the top of the table by one point . ATTENDANCE :- 6979 SCOTTISH PREMIER LEAGUE RESULT'S BRECHIN CITY 4 HEARTS 0 HIBERNIAN 3 MOTHERWELL 1 KILMARNOCK 4 ABERDEEN 2 RANGERS 4 DUNDEE UNITED 0 10.10.2004 SCOTTISH PREMIER LEAGUE RESULT DUNDEE 2 CELTIC 1 CELTIC missed the chance to go top with this defeat at Dens Park . Two goals from FABIAN CABALLERO doing the damage , with CHRIS SUTTON grabbing the goal for CELTIC . 13.10.2004 SCOTTISH PREMIER LEAGUE TANNADICE STADIUM , DUNDEE DUNDEE UNITED 0 RAITH ROVERS 2 Finally after three games without scoring we managed to hit the net to take us top of the table . DUNDEE UNITED have made a bad start to the season and are currently languishing at bottom of the table and it showed as the victory proved quite easy in the end . FREDDY ADU was recalled to the starting eleven in place of MAKALELE who is finding it tough to settle in to Scottish Football . PAUL LOVERING'S long pass found ADAILTON unmarked at the edge of the box and he smashed the ball high past GALLACHER for the opening goal in the 19th min . Moments later MCINNES sent a free kick flying just over the bar as the home side pressed for an equaliser , however it was a brief spell as MELLOR and ADAILTON should have buried the game before half time . The frustration of the home side was beginning to tell early in the second half with bookings for both CHIARINI and DUFF . GALLACHER kept his side in it with a wonder save to deny MELLOR but was helpless in the 71st min as ADAILTON scored again to seal the victory . A long clearance out of defence was headed on by MELLOR and ADAILTON easily outpaced CHIARINI to fire past the unlucky keeper . It was all to much for the United manager who immediately substituted the extremely poor CHIARINI to the ITALIAN'S despair . ATTENDANCE :- 11563 SCORER'S :- ADAILTON 19 71 CURRENT LEAGUE STANDINGS Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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