BelfastNiall Posted January 31, 2005 Author Share Posted January 31, 2005 Should be around for 7:30 for a T&T this evening, with continue to be pressed at 8pm or thereabouts. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
BelfastNiall Posted February 1, 2005 Author Share Posted February 1, 2005 Lads, please see my message on the EPL forum and leave a response. Don't read and ignore. Cheers Niall Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
BelfastNiall Posted February 3, 2005 Author Share Posted February 3, 2005 Poor run for Everton After the draw with Spurs, the Toffees began an incredible losing streak that brought them into the bottom three with only 14 games to ensure survival. We also got knocked out of the FA Cup in a 4th Replay against Arsenal by 2-1 after holding the Gunners to a 0-0 draw at Highbury. Carling Cup dreams were cruelly dashed at the semi final stage by Charlton Athletic who won 1-0 at Goodison courtesy of a Euell breakaway goal and then completed the job 2-1 at the Valley. To add to Murphy's misery, Charlton repeated the trick in the Premiership a few days later by the same scoreline. An unfortunate 1-0 defeat to Villa at home, and a 1-0 loss at the City of Manchester Stadium, made things begin to look very bleak. The Recovery Norwich 1 - 3 Everton When you need a win desperately, the is no better place to visit surely than Carrow Road as Norwich looked doomed in 19th position. However, the morale of the first team was almost exclusively very low, and we were taking nothing for granted. Just as well as Norwich started very brightly with a three pronged attack forcing our fullbacks to defend. But on 20 minutes, a loose back header from Alan Drury fell right at the feet of Emmanuel Calaio, who netted for his goal of the season. On 56 though, Everton old boy Tim Cahill came back to haunt us as he played a fantastic ball through to Darren Huckerby to fire past the helpless (some would say hopeless) Nigel Martyn. Game on again. Fortunatley for us, onloy two minutes later a biblical re-enactment of the parting of the Red Sea occurred as Calaio split the Canaries defence asunder, and Zurawski finished the miracle of Everton being ahead in an away game with half an hour to go, rounding Green to finish. We wrapped up the game and put pressure on Pompey's Andy Nilsen to follow our lead by adding a third through Gravesen on 83. Everton 2 - 1 Middlesborough Well with Middlesbrough still competing in the UEFA Cup and the FA Cup, we were in the handy position of being able to rest up for 3 weeks, while Liggins' Boro side jaunted over to Turkey and faced a tough 5th Round Cup game against Pagi's Bolton. With Boro changing to a new 4-2-3-1 formation and looking strong in recent weeks, I decided to play it nice and tight in a 4-5-1 formation, hoping to hit Ligs' side on the counter. For once, both managers played it coy in the press, with neither coach feeling confident enough about their prospects to "give it large" as they say. Onto the game, and Middlesborough started brightly. On four minutes, memories of Liggins' luck at the Riverside came flooding back, as Boateng lined one up from 25 yards. Today however, Lewandowski was well out of the way and the shot went harmlessly wide. It took 31 minutes for Everton to offer there first serious effort, as new midfielder Koren hit a shot narrowly wide. But Boro countered and barely a minute later, opened up the Everton defence as Downing put Phillips in, but Martyn was up to the shot. On 40 minutes we were ahead and it was a goal that Liggins would have to admire. Zurawski, surging from his own half to the right flank and an inch perfect pass into the path of Stefan Selakovic. 1-0! Four minutes later it was two nil. Boro failed to clear from an Everton throw in and as Holneak took the ball off Gravesen, he cleverly played in Hysen, who beat the keeper from just outside the box. Middlesborough continued to threaten though and got their reward early in the second half through a typical Hasselbaink pile driver. Although Boro gamely tried to get an equaliser, some smart saves from Nigel Martyn kept them out whilst Calaio missed the chance to wrap it up near the end. All in all though, a satisfactory win over a good side who may end up picking up a cup this season. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Simmo Posted February 3, 2005 Share Posted February 3, 2005 I noticed that you said you had a vacancy, and I poseted on your forums in order to apply. Just letting you know, so my message gets read Thanx Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ligs Posted February 4, 2005 Share Posted February 4, 2005 New year, new formation, same old Boro Well despite a change in formation that’s resulted in more goals and praise from fellow managers, the same inconsistent league form has dogged our bid to close on the top 7. First a transfer round up, a handful of deals going through before the January window shut: IN Paolo Montero, £40k from Juve. What a bargain, will add great strength and experience to the back line. Kevin Phillips, free transfer from the Saints. Good back up for Jimmy and Viduka. Eugen Bopp, 3 month loan from Forest. Switching to a formation with 3 AM’s, and only having 2 AM’s in the squad, thought I should bring in some more bodies. Bopp was the best option, should contribute the odd goal/assist. OUT Michael Reiziger, £180k to AZ Alkmaar Stuart Parnaby, £50k to Leeds Loads of games to catch up on, seemingly most of them from the cup: FA Cup 3rd round: Boro 4-0 Coventry First game with the new 4-2-3-1 formation, but against weak opposition. A reserve defence and midfield with an experienced front 4 ran out comfortable winners, Nemeth (31) Hasselbaink (39, 48) and Viduka (86) with the goals. Boro 3-3 Newcastle What a disappointment, threw this game away. Dawson (14) headed the visitors ahead from a corner, but Nemeth (22) Hasselbaink (34) and Boateng (39) gave Boro a comfortable half time lead. Boro continued to dominate, until the last 5 minutes. As they eased their foot of the pedal, Crespo (87, 90) stole a thoroughly undeserved point for the visitors. FA Cup 4th Round: Boro 3-0 Nottingham Forest 79 minutes gone and the unwelcome prospect of a replay loomed. The Forest keeper Wapenaar gifted the ball to Viduka, who had the simple task of passing into an empty net. Hasselbaink (84) and Butt (90) gave the scoreline a more realistic look – Rensing wasn’t forced into 1 save all afternoon. West Brom 1-1 Boro A mid table scrap saw the points shared. Yakin (31) put Boro ahead against the run of play, before a Koumas free kick (40) beat the superb Rensing to level the scores. Boro edged the 2nd half, but neither team did enough to win the game. Boro 3-2 Spurs Sam Bouchard brought his 2nd place title contenders to the Riverside, only to go home with their tales between their legs. The game started off badly, with Sun Jihai being sent off after only 4 minutes for two bookings by the over zealous ref Matt Messias, who produced 10 yellow cards and 1 red in the game. Despite this Boro went 2-0 up, Hasselbaink (7, 33) with the goals, before Defoe pulled one back in 1st half injury time. 2nd half saw Spurs take the initiative, making use of their numerical advantage, Carrick (67) bagging the equaliser. But Boro never gave up, Viduka (81) restoring the lead, before Butt hit the bar with minutes remaining. A very good win against a very good Spurs side. Chelsea 4-1 Boro A game that I wasn’t expecting anything from, and at no stage did we ever look like getting something. Half an hour gone, Chelsea had had 4 attacks, and they’d scored 4 goals: smack-head Mutu (4, 12, 31) and Terry (19) with them. To be fair after this Boro bossed the game and won the 2nd half, Yakin (65) getting the goal. Boro 5-1 Charlton A good response the Chelsea hammering, Hasselbaink (15, 40) Yakin (27) and Doriva (77, 85) with the Boro goals, a direct free kick from Murphy (69) was all the visitors could offer. UEFA Cup 1st knockout stage 1st leg: Boro 4-0 Hearts A nice easy tie to help us progress, Yakin (4) Hasselbaink (14, 44) and Phillips (90) getting the goals. UEFA Cup 1st knockout stage 2nd leg: Hearts 1-1 Boro A 2nd string team played out the second leg, Yakin having had a goal disallowed and Hasselbaink having hit the post before the latter put the visitors ahead on the hour. Pereira equalised (85) for Hearts, who’d had Scott Robertson sent off 4 minutes earlier. FA Cup 5th Round: Boro 3-2 Bolton Another home draw, and a tough game against Pagi’s Bolton. Kaluzny (16) gave Boro the lead, before Pedersen (42) and Speed (44) shocked the home side with 2 breakaway goals just before the break. The 2nd half saw Boro come out fighting, and when Jaaskelainen fouled Sun Jihai just 2 minutes into the half, Dorsin made no mistake from the spot. Kaluzny was then sent off for 2 bookings in as many minutes, but a minute later Yakin mad light of the numerical disadvantage by scoring a magnificent individual goal (81) to win the tie. Everton 2-1 Boro Probably one of the least hyped Murphy/Liggins clashes ever, and the game lived up to its quiet billing. Everton had more shots (although mainly due to Murphy’s annoying tactic of getting his players to shoot as soon as they entered the opposition half) but Boro had the better chances. Selakovic (41) and Hysen (45) gave Boro a huge blow just before the break, but they responded quickly after half time, Hasselbaink (50 scoring yet another goal. The visitors pushed on but couldn’t get an equaliser, which they probably just about deserved. UEFA Cup 2nd knockout stage 1st leg: Boro 0-1 Besiktas By far the hardest game of the campaign so far, the Turk came, defended deep and counter attacked with great pace. But the tie looked to be heading for a stalemate before Ibrahim headed home a near post corner with the last kick of the game (90+4) to give the visitors an undeserved win. League Still to inconsistent, but 7th place isn’t out of the reckoning with 10 games to go. FA Cup Man Utd at home in the Quarters, a tough game but win-able UEFA Cup 1-0 and facing a trip to Turkey needing to beat Besiktas – looks like this is the end of the European campaign, but considering it’s Boro’s first ever venture into Europe, everyone concerned can be very proud. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
EmmYouEffSee Posted February 6, 2005 Share Posted February 6, 2005 Dont Stop Me Now As time goes on, many are beginning to speculate about where Tottenham are going to actually finish this season in the league. Some are saying that we can push on and maybe have a crack at the top two, where as others are slightly more sceptical, predicting a mid table finish. Whilst the half way mark in the season passed, Spurs sat second in the league, looking quite comfortable in amongst the Premier League giants, whilst others seem to be struggling to keep up with Norwich. The fans at White Hart Lane hadn't seen a Tottenham manager with a decent hair cut in years, and change looked to be beyond the club, but with confidence running high and the goals pouring in, surely nobody could stop the mighty Spurs? Sunday 19th December Newcastle United [0]: Tottenham Hotspur [2]: Defoe(7), Kanoute(59) St James' Park had seen so much money go through it, you'd have thought it was on a day trip to Amsterdam, however unlike the Red Light District, Newcastle never really used the cash to score. In a match that were to be Jay De Costa's last, Newcastle lost a match against a high flying Spurs side, who never really looked like losing it. Jermaine Defoe sneaked in at the near post to volly home a corner early on, whilst Kanoute hit the Geordies below the belt, as he chipped Given from the edge of the area after a wonderful piece of movement from the Tottenham striker. A Robinson mistake just before half time should've gifted Kluivert with a goal, however a mis hit shot sent the ball just wide of the goal where defenders were arriving. Spurs trundle on, as De Costa trundels home, final score Newcastle 0 Tottenham 2. Wednesday 22nd December Tottenham Hotspur [2]: Defoe(21), Kanoute(28) West Brom [0]: Chris Morris brought his team down to White Hart Lane in search of 3 points. Instead of that, he left with none, and a team with some confidence issues to boot. There wasn't really much to say about the match really, as the team from Birmingham struggled to gain possession of the ball, and didn't really mount the challenge that was to be expected. The win lifed Tottenham up to third place, their highest this season, as Man United dropped points. Sunday 26th December Norwich City [0]: Tottenham Hotspur [2]: Defoe(13), King(70) The Boxing Day fixtures delt Spurs the fortunate short trip to Norwich, as it all proved to be a bit too much for the east-anglian side. Worthington's tried his best to keep his team riled up for the Premier League challenge, after their 9 year absense, but against Tottenham they weren't really putting up much of a fight. In a game where Spurs could and perhaps should've scored 4 or 5, they managed to net only two, with goals coming froma confident looking Defoe, and a headed goal later on in the match from the centre half King. After Carrick hit the bar and twice the ball was cleared off the Norwich line, the final whistle blew, giving Tottenham their 11th straight league win, and making it nine from nine in all competitions. Tuesday 28th December Tottenham Hotspur [0]: Chelsea []: Kezman(45) The Christmas period is the toughest time for many teams during the season, yet Spurs were seemingly flying through it without problems. That was until they reached the slight turbulance of a fixture against Chelsea. After having trained the previous day, Tottenham looked to have a slight edge over Chelsea, but with their clinical form as of late, the Blues weren't going to come along nicely so to speak. Jose Mourinho seemed to have been watching video tapes of Niall Murphy's greatest hits, after he managed to gain an extra 4 minutes injury time just before the break. This enabled Chelsea to snatch a vital goal, the only of the game, which knocked the stuffing out of Spurs. The second half came and went in what felt like 10 minutes, as Chelsea kept hold of the ball nicely and defended very well and dispite great efforts from Defoe and Kanoute managed to keep the ball out of the net. A sending off to Southgate may have hindered a Tottenham come back late on, however the game wasn't going to go anywhere with a 5 man defence and 17 foot Cech in goal. Transfer Window The transfer window enabled me to bring in three players, to which i felt were needed to add depth to the squad. Vincent Kompany joined for £5m from Anderlecht, Freddy Guarin joined from West Brom sending Daniel Fredheim Holm in the opposite direction, and young George Junior Weah left AC Milan for a cool £300k. Saturday 1st January 2005 Charlton [1]: Euell(40) Tottenham Hotspur [3]: Weah(33), Kanoute(45,67) A solid comeback from the Chelsea match, meant capturing all three points from a tough game against Charlton. A start for all three new signings, and a goal for debutant Weah just after the half hour mark seemed to settle the team down. Weah went on to capture man of the match after superbly assisting Kanoute twice to give Spurs the win. Monday 3rd January 2005 Tottenham Hotspur [0]: Everton [0]: Afte a grueling Christmas schedule, Bouchard decided to rest several players for the match against Murphy's Everton, and the away side had to work damn hard for their point. Without Defoe, Robinson and a whole host of other certain regular starters, who'd have thought that the team would still manage to control the match, and at times play some truly superb attacking football. The domination of the midfield was unbeluevable, with Everton struggling to gain control of the ball for more than a few seconds at times. The only thing that lacked was a quality finish at the end of each move, but it wasn't to be. Everton still managed to gain credit through their goalkeeper and at times their defence, however if Spurs'd been at full strength, this could well have been a very different story. Saturday 8th January 2005 Tottenham Hotspur [2]: Defoe(16), Guarin(64) Stoke City [0]: All bar Jermaine Defoe, it was as you were from the previous week against Everton for this League Cup match. With the bulk of players rested, this match took a while to get going, unlike the previous, but when it did, Spurs managed to keep hold of the ball and work it well, earning their place in the next round, and getting one step closer to the Millenium Stadium. Wednesday 12th January 2005 Arsenal [1]: Gilberto(73) Tottenham Hotspur [0]: Kanoute(14,25,89) Going into the match against Arsenal, i honestly thought that the game was to be as tough as that with Chelsea, and i was right. An Arsenal side that were second in the table, seemingly matching Chelsea for every point, and dominating their opponents with hefty scoreline's to show for it. Arsenal started strong, holding possession in their own half, before pieces of attacking football through Henry and Pires, but they never seemed to get inside the box, and the long shots didn't phase Robinson between the sticks. After a couple of Arsenal attacks, the tables turned, only this time, the ball ended up in the back of the net. A swift counter attack along the right with Davies, a crossed ball, and a Kanoute half volley to the bottom corner. That really did kick the Gooners hard, and the only way to knock them back again, was to take control. That is exactly what the lads did. Superb wide play through McFadden and Davies, enabeling the midfield to advance up the field, forcing Campbell at the back to worry about who to mark. Kanoute got on the end of a corner just before the half hour mark which sent the Spurs fans crazy! After the break Spurs again took control, creating attacking chances, but nothing really materialised as the Arsenal defence harderned up at half time. Gilberto finished of a cool counter attack for the reds with 15 minutes to go making Tottenham sweat for the points, but Kanoute rounded it up jst before the end with a fantastic strike into the top corner, just inside the area. <BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR>Well, what can you say! We've just taken apart one of the best sides in the modern game. I'm extatic about the result, i couldn't have asked for anything more from the boys, anything at all. Solid at the back, Henry was snuffed out by Kompany all game and never saw the light of day back there. Kanoute was phoenominal, that boy's a real talent and i'm so pleased he's here at Spurs. <HR></BLOCKQUOTE> Saturday 15th January 2005 Aston Villa [0]: Tottenham Hotspur [2]: Kanoute(64), Weah(70) Confidence flowed throughout the side during this match, and dispite Mark Smallwood's desperate efforts, Tottenham dominated the game. This showed late on in the second half after two goals in 6 minutes from the on form Kanoute and impressive George Junior Weah. Up to second in the league, 4 points clear of Arsenal, who could only draw at Birmingham. One down point from the game was another injury to the somewhat prone Defoe on the half hour mark. Saturday 22ns January 2005 Sunderland [1]: Brown(86) Tottenham Hotspur [2]: Weah(5), Kanoute(76) The third round of the legendary FA Cup drew Spurs against lower league opposition in the form of AFC Sunderland. Spurs saw it fit to rest a couple of players, gifting thr promising youthful wing back Stephen Kelly a chance in the first team. Sunderland were hit by a counter attack after 5 minutes, and the pace of Weah was too much for the defence, giving him time and space to slot home Tottenham's first. After the break a somewhat dodgy penalty was given to the home side after Vincent Kompany was judged to bring down Marcus Stewart in the box. Carl Robinson stepped up, and Paul Robinson watched the ball fly past him and fortunatly the post. Kanoute scored late on to make it 5 goals in 3 games for the high flying striker, and only a late rare Robinson error in the penalty area was enough to offer Sunderland any form of hope. A reasonably comfortable third round tie even with a fairly shakey goalkeeper in the shape of Paul Robinson. Saturday 29th January 2005 Tottenham Hotspur [1]: Kompany(17) Manchester City [1]: Anelka(67) Leo Hardy's side produced everything and anything they could muster up within the first 10 minutes, with looping balls and different kind of movements in the Spurs half that baffled many of the home players and fans alike, yet they couldn't produce a goal. A very strong City side came to White Hart Lane and against a tiring Tottenham side, they faired quite well. The deadlock was broken on 17 minutes when Vincent Kompany headed home after a far post corner from Davies to secure his first goal for the club. The tactical changes flowed and changed practically every 5 minutes, to the point where the substitutes for City were holding up notices to inform the team of the changes. Hardy even took the 4th official's board to indicate a change in formation for his side's team in their push for something out of the game. On 67 minutes they got their goal, and a well worked one at that, pushing down the right hand side spinning Tarricco like a plate on a stick before Anelka took charge and buried one in the back of the net. Dispite a late Tottenham surge, yet more tactical changes and a red card for Danny Mills in the final minutes, the scoreline stayed the same. Wednesday 2nd February 2005 Middlesborough [2]: Hasselbaink(7,33), Viduka(83) Tottenham Hotspur [2]: Defoe(45), Carrick(67) This match will be remembered by 'boro fans for years to come, as it seemed to be their team's finest hour. A marvelous display by Richard Liggins' men throughout the game showed why English football is the best in the world. Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink glided through the defence scoring two marvelous goals of top quality in the first half an hour. A Defoe goal on half time gave the away side a glimmer of hope, but as the whistle blew the momentum seemed to stop dead. 'Boro came out for the second half with the same attitude as they did in the first, but this time Spurs matched them. A goal from substitute Michael Carrick in the 67th minute meant that Ligs would have to gear up his team one more time for a final surge against one of the most on form teams in the country. They threw on number '99' Philips, who bewildered the defenders who thought they were seeing double with the number, who sprinted through the defence of Spurs and set up Mark Viduka with minutes to spare. A shoddy refareing display marred the game a little, after providing more cards than clinton's could ever provide, with a free kick and/or booking for nigh on every tackle made. Saturday 5th February 2005 Tottenham Hotspur [1]: Defoe(40) Bolton Wanderers [2]: Okocha(25pen), Mansiz(84) The ever critical David Pagi brought his ever changing Bolton side down to London in hope of three points. In a team full of players all of which are to be shipped out come the end of the season, i didn't really see what they had to offer against us, but yet again terrible refareing decisions went against Spurs, giving Bolton the edge. An extreme joke of a decision for the penalty, as diving in the box proved to be worthy of a penalty. Okocha stepped up and calmly slotted it home for Pagi's men. Matt Messias continued to have a nightmare booking players almost as frequent as the ref in the previous match against 'Boro. Defoe scored his 16th of the season just before halftime, but this only seemed to anger Messias more. At half time Pagi was seen entering the refaree's room with a packet of HobNob's and a flask. Kanoute saw this happen, and as the ref emerged, he spoke to him about it. Kanoute was booked in the tunnel for aparent violent behavior. The second half brought no change to the game at all, as the ref yet again offered a penalty to Bolton. A wound up Robinson saved Okocha's second spot kick of the afternoon, before booting the ball down the field in anger. Mansiz showed skill to weave in and out of the left side of the field, going around the lindsman at one point to move inside and then score a good goal, in the only diecent move Bolton made all day. Defoe signalled that the ball was off the pitch as Mansiz took it round the lino, but the ref wasn't interested, and instead offered only a red card to Jermaine. 5 minutes to go and thegame was all but over, another shocking bunch of refaree's decisions costing points at the top of the table. Saturday 12th February 2005 Southampton [1]: Beattie(43) Tottenham Hotspur [3]: Guarin(10), Kanoute(22,89) After being made to look at the league table over and over again, the Spurs players must've been fired up for this one, at the thought of entering the Champions Legaue next year, and the promise of an £8.57 bonus for each player included in such squad. A very good performance from Tottenham, shown off through Freddy Guarin's free kick on 10 minutes. A truly superb bending freekick right into the top corner set the tone for the away side. A much more attacking Tottenham kept possession of the ball throughout and scored another fantastic goal through Kanoute on 22 minutes. Although Beattie scored late on, it didn't offer much in the way of a chance for a comeback for the Saints, as Tottenham pushed on and late on nicked a third goal. A rest for Simon Davies and a second spot in the league was what Spurs got out of the game, and all to their credit. Saturday 19th February 2005 Tottenham Hotspur [5]: Weah(5), Guarin(38), McFadden(45), Kanoute(49,90) Arsenal [1]: Edu(36) Simply Magnificent. I dont think any other words can express my feelings towards this match. The complete team performance. Everybody worked for everybody, everyone celebrated the goals together and a real team ethic was felt. A number of Arsenal fans left at half time in shame after conceding 3 in 45 to their most fierce rivals. A Phoenominal performance, and without the suspended Jermaine Defoe. Saturday 5th March 2005 Tottenham Hotspur [0]: Arsenal [1]: Bellamy(40) Internationals took place last week, and to be honest Spurs just weren't ready to face Arsenal again. After distroying the Highbury based side previously, they went to pieces after Bellamy scored the only goal of the match. After a decent half time team talk, Spurs went out with an attacking attitude, to which Arsenal did what nobody expected....they put 11 men behind the ball, with 6 men at the back. The chance for a Tottenham equaliser was slim, and Arsenal whittled out any chance that arose. A much better organised Arsenal team came at a rather tired and unprepared Spurs side. A disheartening loss after such a fantastic win previously, down to forth in the league, such dissapointment. Saturday 12th March 2005 Birmingham City [2]: Aliadiere(3), Dunn(36) Tottenham Hotspur [2]: Guarin(83), Kompany(87) A less than comfortable draw at St Anderews was the outcome of the clash of these two giants. Brum must've been watching Spurs closely over the past couple of weeks, because they seemed to know how every move was going to go. A quick paced attacking Birmingham team scored two goals that really took the wind out of Tottenham's sails. A very dissapointing game for away fans, that was until the 83rd minute. An attacking bit of play lead to a change in tactics, and fortune as Guarin knocked home another of his now trademark freekicks. Kompany on as sub stormed through the Brum defence late on and pelted home a crucial shot that took the fixture to a replay. A great bit of tactical play from the Spurs boss enabeled this on going cup run to continue. A replay of the quater final at White Hart Lane in a couple of week's time could well be the making or breaking of Spurs this season. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
BelfastNiall Posted February 6, 2005 Author Share Posted February 6, 2005 Excellent report again Sam. Lets hope we see a few updates from the stragglers this week. You know who you are. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted February 6, 2005 Share Posted February 6, 2005 I really wanna join have ya got any space and how do i join if you have? thanks Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ligs Posted February 6, 2005 Share Posted February 6, 2005 NEWSFLASH!! Boro's Euro adventure continues! That's right, the lads continue to confound the pundits and defy the odds, and have made it to the semi's of the UEFA Cup to face the might of Borussia Dortmund, Rosicky et al. Full Report to Follow Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ligs Posted February 7, 2005 Share Posted February 7, 2005 UEFA Cup 2nd knockout stage 2nd leg: Besiktas 1-2 Boro agg 2-2 (Boro win on away goals) After the first leg, expectations weren't high, but Hasselbaink (5, 10) gave Boro a start they couldn't have though possible in their wildest dreams. Ibrahim (21) scored a carbon copy of his first leg goal, heading home at the near post from a corner, to put the tie in the balance. Besiktas pushed for the goal they needed, but Boro defended well and had chances of their own. In the end, a great result for the lads. Boro 2-1 Villa A close game that Boro just about deserved to win. Hasselbaink (15) scored from the spot after Laursen fouled Downing, only for Angel (25) to equalise. The winner came midway throgh the second half, Butt (67) heading home Doriva's corner. FA Cup quarter final: Boro 1-0 Man Utd A great performance, the scorline doesn't do it justice. Hasselbaink (51) got the only goal Man City 2-0 Boro By this stage Boro had 2 different teams operating: their first 11 in the cups, and a second 11 in the league. Boro had the better of this game, but were caught cold early on by Giovanni (4, 19). All credit to Leo Hardy nevertheless UEFA Cup quarter final 1st leg: Liverpool 1-1 Boro Liverpool, Anfield, European night, You'll Never Walk Alone, marvellous, isn't it, hmm? Well no, not in the first half anyway. Boro were over-awed on their most important game in their history, lucky to be only 1-0 down at the break, Rensing finally beaten by Smicer (33). The 2nd half was a much tighter affair, and when Steve Finnan hacked down Hakan Yakin, half-fit sub Hasselbaink scored from the spot (81) to give Boro an undeserved but valuable away goal, and mean the return leg at the Riverside started level Norwich 1-1 Boro Despite the complaints and worries in the media of Murphy and Nielsen, Boro's 2nd string didn't roll over and let relegation candidates win. Boro were the better team throughout and were frustrated by the skill of keeper Green, who saved practically everything. Jonson (41) put the visitors ahead against the run of play, and it wasn't until Nemeth (71) finally beat Green that the Pompey and Everton managers could breathe a bit more easily. UEFA Cup quarter final 2nd leg: Boro 1-1 Liverpool aet, agg 2-2, Boro win 5-4 on pens. Well this was it, the big one, could Boro reach the last 4? The team new a 0-0 draw would be enough, but could they hold off Liverpool for 90 minutes? 10 mins Bopp hits the post 28 mins Cisse's shot from 18 yards deflects off Eddie Pope past Rensing. 0-1 32 mins Boro had to respond quickly, and they did, Queudrue firing in from 25 yards past Dudek. 1-1 52 mins Faber injured, on comes Sun Jihai 81 mins Boatend injured, on comes Mendieta. Downing also replaced by Morrison. 90 mins Full time. Bopp off injured, Boro down to 10 men. The 2nd half barely contained a chance for either team, the tie had become to tense for either team to take any risks. 106 mins Hasselbaink off injured, Boro down to 9 men 120mins Full time, the lottery of penalties awaits. Mendieta: scores 1-0 Carragher: scores 1-1 Butt: scores 2-1 Luis Garcia: scores 2-2 Sun Jihai: scores 3-2 Sinama-Pongolle: scores 3-3 Ehiogu: saved 3-3 Diouf: saved 3-3 Morison: saved 3-3 Riise, to win: saved 3-3 Yakin: Chris Waddles's it over 3-3 Josemi, to win: wide 3-3 Pope: scores 4-3 Hamann: scores 4-4 Queudrue: scores 5-4 Gerrard: SAVED 5-4 Rensing the hero, the Riverside erupts, Boro are through to the semi's of the UEFA Cup. No-one will forget this night in a hurry. The league form has now become irrelevant - anywhere between 9th-14th is likely, and with 2 tough games against Dortmund, plus an FA Cup semi final to come (just 33 days after the heroics against Liverpool) against Birmingscum, who've done the double over us in the league, where we finsh there isn't all that important. What is crucial is that we beat Birmingham, as with Chelsea looking the most likely cup final oppponents (sorry Chris) that would mean Europe again. That's assuming we don't win the UEFA Cup that is Worrying is the number of injuries that are occuring. Will the lads be able to make it through the end of the season in tact? Only about a month to go, but the last 2 months have been very hectic, and the next 4 weeks look even busier. Up the Boro! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
BelfastNiall Posted February 7, 2005 Author Share Posted February 7, 2005 Relegation Battle Update - who will go? Newcastle, Portsmouth or Everton? With six games to left to save their Premiership skins, Everton's manager Niall Murphy today responded to the fear of relegation that is engulfing the blue half of Merseyside. His side currently sit uncomfortably in 17th place. Moreover, just when Everton needed all their best players available to pick up valuable points, the Toffees have been hit by a sudden injury crisis ruling out star players Hysen, Gravesen, Zurawski, Calaio, Selakovic and Sivok. Rumours are sweeping Merseyside that Andy Nilsen was spotted in the city wearing a balaclava and wielding a baseball bat in the dead of night. These stories are currently unsubstantiated. With the gap between Everton and Newcastle in 18th place a meagre four points and with Portsmouth a point clear of the blues, Murphy was philosophical as always: <BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR> There is no point in me coming on here and misleading the supporters but it has to be pointed out that the terrible and unjust decision by the English Football Association to dock the club nine points has put us into a spot of bother. Clearly, without this unwarranted intervention we would have more than enough points on the board to be comfortable at this stage, and it would be a straight scrap between the real poor sides this season - Portsmouth and Newcastle for the final relegation place. We have to face facts and we have a vital away fixture at Crystal Palace approaching and with hard fixtures against Manchester United and Liverpool to play at home, we need to take the three points at Selhurst to put the onus back on Newcastle and Portsmouth. The last thing we need is for the situation to drag onto the last day of the season. Although the hype surrounding the relegation dogfight would probably be the biggest in EPL history - a showdown with Nilsen's Portsmouth at Fratton Park on the final day wouldn't be good for anybody's nerves. Nilsen knows we are capable of beating his side anywhere. We have a large number of injuries to contend with but we'll be fighting with our last drop of sweat to ensure this travesty doesn't occur. With three points at the Palace we can go a long way to securing survival. <HR></BLOCKQUOTE> Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
I got divorced over this g Posted February 7, 2005 Share Posted February 7, 2005 Come on newcastle Good luck Niall. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
BelfastNiall Posted February 7, 2005 Author Share Posted February 7, 2005 Just checked my hotmail and I must have about 20 emails from applicants, a lot I think due to the demise of FM Fanatics. While it's great to see so many players applying, I unfortunately can't take in everyone and I haven't got the time to email everyone personally. Basically, I have promised a place to Dunga for season two and may take one more player, but with the current hosting difficulties with 4.1.2. we may stick with 11 until we see what the score is with 4.1.3. as unfortunatley we are not one of the clans that has been asked to test it. In the meantime, if people are genuinely interested, the best thing to do is leave details on our forum link on the website, and I'll get back to you as soon as I have further information. Thanks all for getting in touch. Niall Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Inter Posted February 8, 2005 Share Posted February 8, 2005 Still Too Inconsistant City January transfers: Joao Pinto from Boavista for £1.3M Giovanni from Olympiakos for £1.9M Match Reports Man City 0-2 Chelsea An expected defeat for City, totally deserved to lose the one-sided game dominated by Chelsea. Charlton 2-1 Man City Charlton got the better of this mid-table clash. Pinto scoring the early goal, but Murphy and Euell scored the winning goals in the second-half. Man City 1-0 Everton I wasnt present for this game.... Shaun Wright-Phillips with the winner Man City 1-0 Portsmouth (FA Cup 5th Round) Man City sneaked this one, where a draw seemed to be the fairest result. Portsmouth can certainly count themselves unlucky Aston Villa 3-0 Man City A very tough game at Villa Park for City against the UEFA Cup placed team, Villa. Their quality shone all through the match and thouroughly deserved the three points. All credit to their manager who was tactically spot-on in this match. WBA 4-2 Man City (FA Cup 6th Round) A very good game in my opinion. Both managers went for it and it was a tense finish when Anelka brought the scores back to 3-2, but another late goal conceeded ensured victory for the impressive Baggies. After the match, Hardy was full of praise for Morris' quality management of his relatively poor side. Norwich 1-1 Man City 1-1 against Norwich??? was going on? A digraceful result in a match City completely dominated. Man City 2-0 Middlesbrough Another game where the draw would have been the fair result really, but for two Giovanni crackers early on. It was just one of those games for Liggins where the ball just wasnt going to go in the back of the net. Bolton 0-2 Man City Yet again, the draw was on the cards in this mid-table Man City 1-0 SouthamptonMan City 2-0 Southamptonclash, but City got the two goals right at the end from subs Shearer and Macken. Pagi no-doubt will feel hard done by. Man City 1-0 Southampton A very uneventful match hear. Giovanni with the winner bang on half-time. Arsenal 3-0 Man City Well what do you expect when you go to highbury?! The Wenger Boys completely took control of the full game getting all three of their goals in the second-half. Second-half sub, Robbie Keane was the diference on the day, he was outstanding. Man City 2-2 Fulham I was more dissapointed with this result than the one earlier this season (8-1). We completely took control of this one just as Arsenal did in the previous game. Only difference in this game was that Fulham were able to claw their way back into the game with two undeserved goals. Volz was the man who scored the last kick of the game to put me in a complete downer. Crystal Palace 0-1 Man City One of the worst performances by my team I've seen. We totally didnt deserve the win at all. Things were made harder when Giovanni got sent off after just 33 mins. The man who saved us a massive embarrasment was Alan Shearer who came on for Anelka and scored in the 90th, good finish and all. Man City 1-0 Liverpool A class result for City here, defended well and counter-attacks worked well. Transfer listed Antoine Sibierski made a rare start to score the winning header rising above the keeper. Well just one more game to play. Playing for ninth spot with Chris and Ligs, should be a good last game of the season. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
BelfastNiall Posted February 8, 2005 Author Share Posted February 8, 2005 Everton survive!! Well it was too bloody tight for my liking but in the end Everton secured their Premiership status with a game to play and avoided a massive relegation playoff against Andy Nilsen's Portsmouth. Despite a huge injury crisis the lads clung in there and fought tooth and nail, with Sam Bouchard's Spurs sinking the Geordies on the penultimate day. Here's how it was done: Crystal Palace 1 - 2 Everton After 58 minutes we had been losing 1-0 for the majority of the match and I knew if we lost this one to already relegated Palace, we were going down. No doubt about it, I was in agony watching this game as Naysmith missed a sitter and Palace were playing like bloody Champions, not relegation fodder. So with half an hour remaining I put on an extra striker (Chadwick - so it was a pure gamble) and luckily for us, we managed to assert ourselves, Watson and Sivok notching what would prove to be vital goals. After going 2-1 up, Palace again looked like bloody Brazil but fortunately for us, we held out to win this six pointer. Everton 1 - 1 Liverpool Missed this game but we were 1-0 up for a long spell through a Koren long ranger before the legend that isn't Biscan notched from a corner. Don't usually concede from there so I'm blaming the assistant. Was pleased with the point though. Birmingham 1 - 1 Everton It really was a tough run in and a trip to Brum has ended in defeat for many of my fellow managers. It looked grim when Forrsell scored with Wright again looking suspect after 13 minutes. Surprisingly though, we began to play good football and got our reward on 43 minutes when Lewandowski scored a rare Everton goal from a corner. After this the game largely went our way, but with 4 mins added time added on, I was delighted to take another vital point here when the whistle blew. Everton 0 - 0 Manchester United Pure backs to the wall performance with United dictating play and Ronaldo giving me a heart attack every time he took on Hibbert down our right flank. We held on for dear life as long shots peppered our goal, but we managed to keep Van Nistelrooy and Saha relatively quiet. In the second half, United brought on Rooney and immediately looked more dangerous. A goal for the scum looked imminent until sub Zurawski came on and hit the bar for Everton. Late in the game the dirty scummer known as Keane took out Sivok, and the Irishman must have been well wound up as 5 minutes later he hit the bar. At this stage though, as news of other results filtered in (and I've never been as happy to hear a delighted Bouchard ) I knew a point was enough and we saw the game out to move into 16th place. All I can say is phew. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
BelfastNiall Posted February 9, 2005 Author Share Posted February 9, 2005 All the other details have now been added to the website. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
goat261 Posted February 9, 2005 Share Posted February 9, 2005 The Gods against Pompey? Well at last the transfer window opened so I could bring in some much need quality to the squad so I worked my magic and bought in Dracena 5m (Class young centre back who will tighten up the defence no doubt) Tsiartis 1.5m (perfect playmaker) Oakley 900k (very impressive while on loan so I decided to buy him) Romario 250k (LEGEND!!) Terlizzi 240k (an unbelievable bargain for a classy Italian centre back) Maestri free (decent striker to ad depth) After those player came in the amazing run began with a game against the champions at Fratton Portsmouth 2-2 Arsenal The good run starts but the bad luck continues. We totally outplayed the champions but again we missed atleast 5 one on ones, had 1 cleared off the line and also hit the woodwork twice. Tsiartis played a 10 which saw him also receive motm award with another new signing Maestri scoring both the goals. Unlucky boys but well played Fulham 1-1 Portsmouth Fulham are an awesome team aren’t they Leo ? They missed a few chances and were unlucky not to get the winner but AGAIN we were unlucky when for no reason at all Fulham were awarded a penalty which Malbranque slotted home Portsmouth 5-0 Palace REVENGE IS SWEET! After my embarrassing loss to Palace earlier on in the season I was looking for some payback and the boys dished it up in abundance with the demolishing of a below average (putting it nicely) palace team. Liverpool 1-2 Portsmouth Anfield was silenced as we went there and again dominated another top team. Just when it looked like a 1-1 draw and another unlucky result but up pops Romario in the 90th minute to score a wonder goal and give us the 3 points. Portsmouth 0-0 Birmingham UNBELIVEABLE. 19 shots for me to there 1 on target and I still don’t win, don’t think you need to guess who was MOTM of course it was the opposition keeper (like it seems to be every game against me lately) . Man United 0-1 Portsmouth Can you say Portsmouth for the title next season? You bet your arse we can. We joined Chelsea in being the only teams to take 3 points from united at Old Trafford after Kamara scored in the first mins. The defence kept United at bay for the rest of the game as United had all the possessing but didn’t have the creative spark needed to brek us down. Portsmouth 0-0 Norwich Green for England! Were the cries from all around Fratton as they witnessed on of the greatest goal keeping performances of all time from the Norwich number 1. 16 shots to there 0 on target tells the story of how unlucky we were again. Portsmouth 0-1 Blackburn Can you believe it? ANOTHER opposition keeper gets motm and Blackburn even have the nerve to knick the points at the death thanks to our favourite butter hands Mr Hislop. Our first loss in 8 and what a way to end it. WHY OH WHY AM I SO UNLUCKY???? Newcastle 1-2 Portsmouth A 6 pointer which if I won would of virtually guaranteed my safety but if I were to lose I would be right back in the relegation battle. Well on a run like this there was only going to be one winner and yes it was the mighty pompey. Earlier on in the season the Everton Manager Mr Murphy said “Portsmouth will go down and they will never finish above Everton†Well how do you like us now Niall with us sitting in 15th while you are below us in 16th. Also I have been asked about the recent sacking of Pagi and all I have to say is HAHAHAHAH . Ive heard that there is a manger taking his place who looks very similar but lets hope he doesn’t manage the team similar and that includes buying 50 players. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
BelfastNiall Posted February 10, 2005 Author Share Posted February 10, 2005 Murphy responds to Nilsen's barbs After learning of Andy Nilsen's comments on Everton at his recent press conference, Murphy responded with the following comment: <BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR> Yes, I have heard that Nilsen has been getting uppity lately and as per usual we take his bluster about Everton with a huge dose of salt. Everybody knows that Pompey are improving slowly, but the reality of the situation is that Portsmouth are only above us by one point after we had been deducted nine points. That must be a cause of some embarrasment to Nilsen and we understand this entirely. The facts are that we've played Portsmouth off the park twice already this season, including knocking his side out of the Carling Cup. I'm surprised Nilsen neglected to mention that!! The reality is that Nilsen fears us and the chances are that he will be below us in the table when the whistle blows for the last time this season on Saturday. I'm eagerly anticipating handing out another beating to his side at Fratton Park. <HR></BLOCKQUOTE> Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ligs Posted February 10, 2005 Share Posted February 10, 2005 FA Cup Semi Final: Boro 2-0 Birmingscum After having had the humiliation of having the enemy do the league double over me, I was determined to make sure we won this one. Despite an early disallowed goal for them, Boro were always in control; a Stewart Downing free kick (18) and a solo goal from Christie (88) put Middlesbrough through to yet another cup final Southampton 0-0 Boro Quite a lively game, despite the scoreline suggesting otherwise. Steel's Saints were the better side for the first hour, but Boro did enough in the final 30 minutes to have earned all 3 points. But in the last minute, Saints broke from a Boro corner and Beattie hit the inside of the post, only for Schwarzer to gather the rebound. Butt then had a free header from a corner only to put it wide. Boro 0-2 Arsenal After the hammering at Highbury, Arsenal must've been confident of all 3 points, and they certainly showed the confidence as they bossed an understrength Boro side, who had one eye on Thursday's UEFA semi final, from start to finish. Henry (22 pen) and Keane (90) got the goals UEFA Cup Semi Final 1st leg: Boro 3-0 Dortmund Borussia Dortmund, former winners of the European Cup, one of the big German clubs, world class talent like Rosicky and Dede in their team, were humbled against a small outfit from north England. No Boro fan could've dreamt of this scoreline, a result that gave Boro the unlikely opportunity to gain a final appearance at their first attempt in European competition. The first half was all Boro: Yakin (21) opened the scoring, latching on to fit again Hasselbaink's through ball. Next a lightning counter attack saw Yakin return the favour for Hasselbaink (36), before a rasping shot from 20 yards by Boateng (40) put Boro in dream land. This result sent shocks around Europe and disappointed many people, including Everton's ever outspoken "manager" Niall Murphy, who even went as far as posing in a newspaper wearing a "Rosicky" Dortmund shirt. I've always found the Irish to be a jealous bunch Fulham 2-1 Boro This was a game that Boro needed to win if they hoped of finishing above the Londoners, but with cup commitments still playing on everyone's mind, a weakened team couldn't do the good on the field. The visitors took the lead when Downing (23) rounded Van Der Sar and finished from a narrow angle, and should have been leading at the break but for a laspe in concentration, allowing Malbranque (44) in to equalise. Fulham grabbed an undeserved winner when Collins John (75) headed home at the far post. UEFA Cup Semi Final 2nd leg: Dortmund 2-0 Boro. Boro win 3-2 on aggregate A 3 goal lead looked very convincing, but a trip to the Westfalenstadion was an ominous prospect. Just one goal for Boro would've left the Germans needing to score 5, but the last thing Boro wanted to do was concede an early goal. Dortmund came out with an expansive 4-3-3 formation, but in essence it was more like a 4-0-6 as midfield was routinely bypassed, target man Koller being used efficiently. At it was the Czeck giant who struck after only 10 minutes, not the start Boro had wanted. 2 minutes later Rosicky headed against the post, much to the disappointment of chief flag-waver Murphy no doubt, watching at home on tv (the only way he'll ever experience a European game .)On 15 minutes should've come the end of the tie, Downing through one-on-one could only find the keeper's legs. The half then calmed down, both teams having the odd chance, before a controversial penalty, scored by Ricken (45) put the tie right back in the balance. The 2nd half seemed to last forever, although on reflection Dortmund didn't really have any clear-cut chances, but every attack made Liggins' heart skip many beats. Indeed it was Downing who missed the 2 best chances of the half, 2 more one-on-ones wasted. But it was irrelevant in the end, Boro were through to the UEFA Cup final to face Sevilla. Dede, joining Boro in the summer on a free transfer, must've been duly impressed with his soon-to-be employers. Boro 2-0 Palace After the joys of Thursday night, back down to earth with Palace, the worst team in the history of the Premiership, with only 2 wins to their name. Despite losing Schwarzer to injury (7) and Dorsin to two yellow cards (35) Boro dominated the game, but it took them 45 minutes to brake the deadlock, Kevin Phillips firing hom just before the break. Viduka (67) got the other goal, and also hit the bar late on. Boro 1-0 Bolton Bolton were under a new regime after the HUMILIATING SACKING of manager David Pagi after throwing away a 2-0 lead to lose 3-2 at home to Fulham the weekend before. Their new, streamline manager David Pagi II was looking to make a good impression in his first game in charge, but his side were well beaten, Hasselbaink (18) getting the only goal. The scoreline really did flatter Bolton Liverpool 1-2 Boro Boro needed a win to have a chance of finishing 9th, but needed both Man City and WBA to pick up no more than a point. They also had the predicament of having to rest their 1st choice team, because of the UEFA Cup final 4 days later, meaning the 2nd string had another outing, including young Avitabile in goal. After the UEFA Cup first leg at Anfield, in which Boro were played off the park for 75 minutes, the visitors took a more cautious approach this time around, and it worked a treat. Smicer (19) did give the hmoe side the lead, but the lead lasted only 7 minutes, Phillips (26) bagging the equaliser. Boro were on top in the second half and deservedly scored a winning goal, substitute Yakin (72) getting it. 9th place was looking on the cards, with WBA losing at home to Spurs, but an 88th minute Jaoa Pinto goal gave Man City an excellent win away at Birmingscum, to keep them in 9th. Boro therefore only leapfrogged Chris Morris' Baggies, to finish in 10th place. Considering most of the league games since March had been played by my 2nd string team, I was happy with 10th place. The first team may have been able to reach 7th, but realistically no higher position would've been possible. But would the tactic of resting the 1st team so much for the cup competitions have been worth it? How did the 2 finals go? Stay tuned for the next installment... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
BelfastNiall Posted February 11, 2005 Author Share Posted February 11, 2005 Portsmouth 1 - 1 Everton To Fratton Park, where Nilsen's Portsmouth "entertained" us on the final day of the season despite their negative home line up. The game ended in a 1-1 draw with both the goals coming in the second half. Everton took the lead through Zurawski and Murphy was stretched out on the bench catching a few rays in the May sunshine, such was the comfort of our lead. That was until the referee took it upon himself to send off our right back Miroslav Holneak . After re-organising, Portsmouth won a free kick which lead to an 82nd minute equaliser the Pompey maybe just an incey wincy bit deserved. A fair result in a disappointing game, with Nilsen and Murphy sharing a class of cheap Tesco wine - you don't expect much when you travel to Nilsen's - after the game, they agreed that next year would hopefully tell a different tale for their respective clubs. End of season round up Well my first season as Everton manager has drawn to a close and it was a mixed experience containing a few excellent highs on the pitch (though not as many as I would have liked ) and also the challenges presented by the adversity of managing a club in administration. I knew when I first accepted the job that it was going to take a few seasons to restore Everton to the ranks of clubs that challenge for a European Champions League position. I have seen nothing in 2004/05 to change my mind. Considering the manager doesn't have the same in-depth knowledge of the Eastern European market that WBA's Chris Morris appears to have , it may be difficult to bolster the squad sufficiently with the pathetic £1.9m I was given to spend in pre-season to change that for 2005/06. Time will tell. The season was dominated by the fight against relegation, the docking of points putting us into trouble when our performances, points and indeed final league table position suggest we are comfortably a mid table side, alongside the likes of Southampton, Middlesbrough, WBA and Man City. After beginning the season mainly with the squad left by David Moyes, I was quite pleased that I was able to go about the process of adding new players in and removing those who didn't fit into my plans without any significant effect on team performance. By the end of the season, the key men in the Everton Squad were: <UL TYPE=SQUARE> <LI>GK: Richard Wright <LI>GK: Nigel Martyn <LI>RB: Miroslav Holneak <LI>RB: Tony Hibbert <LI>LB : Aaron Hughes <LI>LB: Gary Naysmith <LI>LB: Alesandro Pistone <LI>CB: Joseph Yobo <LI>CB :Teddy Lucic <LI>CB: Pavel Besta <LI>CM: Mattieu Flamini <LI>CM: Tomas Sivok <LI>CM: Marius Lewandowski <LI>CM: Thomas Gravesen <LI>AM: Robert Koren <LI>LM: Tomas Hysen <LI>RM: Stefan Selakovic <LI>RM: Leon Osman <LI>FW: Emmanuele Calaio <LI>FW: Maciej Zurawski Overall, I feel the Everton midfield is quite strong, but defensively we still need to improve. Holneak has been an excellent signing for the RB slot. Tomas Sivok and Tomas Hysen also had an excellent season but the outstanding player was undoubtedly Zurawski, whose talents most teams reacted to in disgraceful fashion trying to kick the Pole off the park. And sometimes succeeding. Maciej Zurawski's 12 Premiership goals saw him rewarded with the Everton Fans Player of the Year award and the subject of a cheeky bid from his admirer in chief, Richard Liggins, at the outset of the close season. Out of your league my friend. We still require a top notch goalkeeper, a top centre half to partner Yobo, a left back, a couple of strikers and to improve the quality and depth of the flanks. Where do I get the money to do this, so overall, there remains a lot of work to be done at the club but I'm looking forward to getting stuck into it. Season highs - definitely the run to the semi finals of the Carling Cup, a competition we seemed to save some of our best football for. The wins at Steel's Southampton and in particular - Nilsen's resurgent Portsmouth being very satisfying indeed. Must of course mention the win over Liggins' Middlesbrough at Goodison Park, revenge was sweet for our most unlucky and undeserved defeat of the season at the Riverside. I was also delighted to take four points from Bouchard's high flying (at least they were when we played them ) Tottenham Hotspur. Roll on season two and the hopefully continuing tale of a resurgent Everton. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
EmmYouEffSee Posted February 12, 2005 Share Posted February 12, 2005 Tough At The Top As Spring rolled through and the leaves began to re-appear on the tree's, the Premier League table began to shape up. Chelsea stretched their already rather large commanding lead at the top, offering little compensation for the losers. Arsenal picked up some form after a somewhat suspect time over Christmas and New Year with very mixed results whilst Manchester United were going from 5th gear to reverse from week to week with their form probably the most erratic of the legaue. Well, they probably did have that title to their name, however Spurs were determined to take it away from them, and in fine form they did. Saturday 19th March 2005 Fulham [2]: Boa Morte(23), Legwinski(30) Tottenham Hotspur [0]: In one of the most dissapointing fixtures all season, Spurs conceded two goals to a rather poor Fulham side costing yet more valuable points at the top of the table. Injury's hit Spurs harder than a swift pelt to the 'testiclay's', as 4 players hobbled out of Craven Cottage onto the team bus. Any attacking threat which could've been formed through Defoe or Rickett's or McFadden or Davies was taken away, as all men in question were taken down, out and subsiquently off. With only defenders left, the chance of an goal feast was far away in the second half as it ended up quite a boring 45. Tottenham's 8th league loss this season pretty much seals their Championship hopes...who'd have thought that'd even be contemplated 8 months ago! Wednesday 23rd March 2005 Tottenham Hotspur [1]: Weah(4) Birmingham City [3]: Aliadiere(33), Ambrose(77), Dunn(85) The replay to the FA Cup quater final went as expected for Steve Bruce and his Birmingham team. With any attacking force taken outthrough injury's in the prior match, Birmingham seemed destined to attack the Spurs goal with no defenders left at the back. Weah took advantage before being taken off injured just before half time. With officially no attacking threat avaliable Freddy William Thompson stepped up to attack the Brum goal. First attempt at goal.....and yep you guessed it, taken down by David Dunn and injured in the process. B'ham were able to counter the move and the ball ended up between the Spurs goal. A Carrick injury late on brought the tally up to 6 injured for Tottenham, quite a joke for the Spurs boss to comprehend. Saturday 2nd April 2005 Tottenham Hotspur [5]: Ricketts(17), Davies(51), Kanoute(63,71,90) Crystal Palace [0]: A completly unfit Spurs side still managed to score 5 past a bewildered Palace dispite 5 players starting way below 100%. The most out of form team the Premier League could produce was taken apart by players that couldn't run the full length of the pitch in less than 7 minutes. A Kanoute hat-trick, combined with a great strike from Ricketts and a deflected shot from Davies rounded up the scoring for the home side. Finally something to shout about at White Hart Lane after watching their side lose 3 of the last 4 and play very poorly throughout the past 3 weeks. The victory seemed more trouble than it's worth as a whole host of ambulances carted players off to Hospital afterwards for medical attention. 8 Days until a trip to Liverpool and i really can't see Spurs getting anything from it other than another injury. Sunday 10th Apirl 2005 Liverpool [2]: Cisse(13), Gerrard(84) Tottenham Hotspur [1]: Ricketts(44) Liverpool were more Jammy than a 19 foot doughnut from Greggs in this game, by having hardly any possession of the ball and a very very VERY small amount of chances. The chances were there for the away side and Ricketts took one just before the break however it wasn't anything that could rumble the home side. Two sloppy sides on a rather shocking Anfield pitch where the ball never really left the middle of the park. The only winner in today's game was Aston Villa's Mark Smallwood as he gained ground on Spurs. Wednesday 20th April2005 Man Utd [3]: Ronaldo(45), v.Nistelrooy(50), Ferdinand(87) Tottenham Hotspur [2]: Carrick(8), Kanoute(71) The first real bit of action in the game and Carrick pelts the ball home from 25 yards to stun the Old Trafford faithful. Pretty exciting football from both sides followed, with United having a slight edge over the away side. Yet another injury for Tottenham, and yet another injury for Jermaine Defoe as he limps of with a thigh strain on 35 minutes. A Ronaldo break on the left side of the field soon after offered him the space to trick the defence and get a shot in, all be it from a very acute angle, and with the aid of the wind, went into the roof of the net above Robinson. The second half found a fired up United against a delapedated Spurs full of injury's and tiredness. Ruud scored a goal after following on from a Giggs through ball to give United the lead. Kanoute equalised 20 minutes after, but United always looked like winning it, and very late on Rio Ferdinand managed to out jump the 5 foot Carrick and head the ball home from a corner. Overall a dissapointment considering the team's position and team points already allocated this season, but what can ya do when there's 283738723974934 injury's in your side. Saturday 23rd April 2005 Tottenham Hotspur [0]: Portsmouth [1]: Tsiartas(24) It's a sad day when the opposing manager feel's it neccessary to make a publicity stunt to divert the attention of the players. Andy Neilsen took it upon himself to remove a makeshift blow up goat from his pocket before stripping infront of the White Hart Lane crowd before proceding to, and i quote, 'bone it'. He was subsiquently removed from the dugout and taken back into the changing rooms by Police, but not before showing his 'meat 'n' veg' to the world - as written on his chest. Everyone on the field took notice of the procedings, especially Tsiartas who used his initiative and maybe thought it was a tactical change, taking the ball and sent a little bender into the back of the net. Somehow Kanoute was injured in the procedings, a newspaper journalist from the Sun told me that the goat ran on and tried to hump for poor Spurs forward, injuring him in the process.... Wednesday 27th April 2005 Tottenham Hotspur [3]: Carrick(6,34), King(56) Birmingham City [0]: The same teams may have lined up three times prior this season, but the results couldn't have been more differnt. After going out of the FA Cup to the 'Brum Spurs couldn't have had much hope for the league challenge, but they managed to win the match quite comfortably. A tired-ish line up really wanted to prove a point today and they did just that, making one more step towards that Champions League place. Man of the Match James McFadden was instrumental as was Michael Carrick in this one of the best team performances of the season. Saturday 30th April 2005 Blackburn Rovers [1]: Dickov(Pen 42) Tottenham Hotspur [0]: On the team coach coming up to Inbread County or Blackburn as it's otherwise known, the Spurs players were on the coach trying to pass the time. McFadden and Davies were playing dominoes, Kanoute and Defoe were piling the bags up against the toilet door to prevent Robinson leaving it, and the rest of the team were playing a game of I Spy lead by the gaffer. <BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content"> I Spy with my little eye something beginning with.......G. 'Grapes'...Nooo....'Glass'.....Noooooo....'Galvanised Steal?'.....What the fu....no Mr Davis no.........'How bout Goatfcuker'...you what?....'Goatfcuker'.....where's that then Sean....'field! there!'..Oh My God....he's at it again. </div></BLOCKQUOTE> Bouchard instructed the driver to pull over into the layby ahead, to which he did. On closer inspection the person in the field was indeed the Portsmouth manager Andy Neilsen. Bouchard got off the coach and ran with a couple of the team into the field and grabbed the Pompey boss, and amidst kicking and screaming managed to get him back to the coach. Soon after the Police arrived and took the manager away to a nearby Police Station whilst the media followed on. The same reporter from the Sun was there and spoke to Bouchard about what happened. <BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">We were just playing a game of I Spy, and well Hawkeye over there, Sean Davis spotted something that he saw on tele the other night. Tell 'em Sean. Well, i thought i'd seen it the other night on Sky channel 992. You'll have to confirm it, but the situation was very much like the one i stumbled across last night. </div></BLOCKQUOTE> Police heard banging from the side of the coach almost as if somebody was stuck, but Kanoute and Defoe were dead sure it wasn't anything, especially not Robbo. After returning to the coach the news was breaking on the telebox, as the country's media began to flock around the story. Leo Hardy was being interviewed about his match with City, but stopped to confirm the channel 992 in the story was correct. When asked how he knew, he informed the Sky camera's that he was an adimant viewer and thought the £97 he had to pay each day perscription was well worth it, especially now he had Sky+ and could pause it at 'vital moments'. As the game kicked off some 3 hours later it was back to playing poorly for the Away side. The events of the day must've worn them out, and a most perculiar site of Paul Robinson perminantly crouched down on view between the sticks throughout the match. Saturday 7th May 2005 Tottenham Hotspur [3]: Defoe(10), Davies(77), Ricketts(86) Newcastle United [0]: This match sealed the fate of Newcastle United who although some would say poorly managed at the start of the season, hadn't faired any better with fan's favourite Kevin 'i'd love it' Keegan. Very attacking football from the home side enabeled goals to flow through and for the first time in a while, some confidence. Defoe lobbed the keeper from 30 yards whilst Ricketts grabbed an absolute screamer from the edge of the box into the top corner. Saturday 14th May 2005 West Brom [1]: Koumas(49) Tottenham Hotspur [0]: Kanoute(7), Carrick(20) Chris Morris pleaded with Sam Bouchard to play a weaker team and in theory, let his West Brom side win. Now it's not a very well known fact, but Bouchard isn't a very big fan of the midlands, least of all Birmingham, and so wasn't very willing to grant Morris' request. A strong Spurs side defeated West Brom with a fair amount of ease. Other results wouldn't have affected the scoreline anyway so Morris can't help but accept the result! A Forth place finish to the season is something that i really couldn't have anticipated. Very pleased with the team's performance and wouldn't really change much next season, which is just as well going on the TINY TINY MINISCULE budget the greedy b******s on the Spurs board have offered me. Robinson, King and McFadden all were picked in the best 11 of the season which is also something that wasn't matched by another fellow online manager. I feel proud to have led my team into Champions League football, long live the Spurs. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
goat261 Posted February 12, 2005 Share Posted February 12, 2005 <BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Tottenham Hotspur [0]: Portsmouth [1]: Tsiartas(24) It's a sad day when the opposing manager feel's it neccessary to make a publicity stunt to divert the attention of the players. Andy Neilsen took it upon himself to remove a makeshift blow up goat from his pocket before stripping infront of the White Hart Lane crowd before proceding to, and i quote, 'bone it'. He was subsiquently removed from the dugout and taken back into the changing rooms by Police, but not before showing his 'meat 'n' veg' to the world - as written on his chest. Everyone on the field took notice of the procedings, especially Tsiartas who used his initiative and maybe thought it was a tactical change, taking the ball and sent a little bender into the back of the net. Somehow Kanoute was injured in the procedings, a newspaper journalist from the Sun told me that the goat ran on and tried to hump for poor Spurs forward, injuring him in the process.... </div></BLOCKQUOTE> A mans got to do what a mans got to do Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Inter Posted February 12, 2005 Share Posted February 12, 2005 Man City's Season Ends on a High The transfer window has been re-openned and the Man City signings have been arriving at the impressive City of Manchester Stadium. These transfers are: Karadeniz Gokdeniz - free transfer from Trabzonspor Dianbobo Balde - free tansfer from Celtic Joleon Lescott - 852K from Wolves Didier Agathe - free transfer from Celtic Sunday Oliseh - free transfer from Dortmund John Hartson - free tansfer from Celtic Mbulelo Mabizela - free transfer from Tottenham Soumaila Coulibaly - free transfer from SC Freiburg Edwin Van Der Sar - free transfer from Fulham Stephane Henchoz - free transfer from Liverpool Simone Padion - free transfer from Vicenza Future Transfers Tim De Cler - free transfer from AZ Tomas Locatelli - free transfer from Bologna Giuseppe Scarlata - free transfer from Juventus Alessandro Simonetta - free transfer from Roma There is still contract negotiations going on with one or two players and there is yet to be a player sold this summer. Plenty of players available for transfer now then at Manchester City. Well as you can see, plaenty of players coming in and some very good ones, Oliseh being the best one of the bunch probably. All these signings making me optimistic for next season. Final League fixture of the season report. Birmingham 0-1 Man City This was a very important game for City who was pushing for that 9th spot to get in the Inter-toto Cup and the lads delivered the much needed win in the closest, most two-sided game Man City have been involved in all season. In the end, the team who wanted the win more got it, showing their aggresive attitude with Birmingham only winning 39% of their tackles won to Man City's 64%. The goal came in the 88th minute from substitute Joao Pinto who brilliantly headed in a Shaun Wrigh-Phillips corner. That was the goal that sent City to the Intertoto Cup in a well fought game at St. Andrews against the EUFA Cup team, Birmingham. Celebrations all-round for Man City who now have a good chance to get into the EUFA Cup. Intertoto Cup 2nd Round The team who Man City have to beat to progress to the 3rd round are Agro Chisinua, a very weak Moldovian team who should surely be brushed aside by a strong Man City team. End of Season Summary Well, the end of a very enjoyable season for me, with many ups and downs. More ups I feel though Here are a few final team stats: Final Position - 9th with 55 points. Man City Top Goal Scorer - Nicolas Anelka with 16 goals and 13 league goals. Man City top Assister - Shaun Wrigh-Phillips with 12 assists overall and 7 in the league. Man City top performer - Shaun Wright-Phillips with a 7.91 average permance. Man City end of season form - 4th, LXWWW. Man City player of the season - Shaun Wright-Phillips. Man City 1st choice 11 of season 04/05 GK - David James DL - Ben Thatcher DR - Danny Mills DC - Guy Demel DC - David Weir DC - Richard Dunne ML - Fabrice Fernandes MR - Shaun Wright-Phillips DMC - Claudio Reyna AMC - Giovanni FC - Nicolas Anelka Subs: Sub 1 - Ronald Waterreus Sub 2 - Titus Bramble Sub 3 - Michael Brown Sub 4 - Joao Pinto Sub 5 - Alan Shearer Hopes for next season Finish in a EUFA Cup place, semi-finals of League Cup, Semis of FA Cup. Well until the next match report, cyas around. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ligs Posted February 12, 2005 Share Posted February 12, 2005 UEFA CUP FINAL: SEVILLA v MIDDLESBROUGH Well here it is, the biggest game in the history of the club. How would the players handle the occasion, a sold out Estadio Jose de Alvalade in Lisbon, the chance to right their names into history? Boro came out with an attacking formation, but soon went more conservative as Sevilla exposed a few gaps in the defence. Sevilla lost Blasi to injury after only 5 minutes, and at half time the score remained at 0-0, both sides having chances, but nothing too dangerous. A very even first half. 58mins The turning point. Javi Navarro, already booked, fouled Hasselbaink and was shown his marching orders. From this point on, Boro totally dominated proceedings; Sevilla didn't have a kick. But despite this, everything Boro threw at the Spaniards either went off target or was saved by the brilliant Esteban in goal. Yakin went off injured after 86 minutes, and full time arrived without the scorers being troubled. Extra time continued in the same vain - Boro domination. This was further helped when David went off injured after 95 minutes, and having used all their subs, Sevilla played the remaining 25 mins with only 9 men. But they held on, thanks to MOTM Esteban, to force the game to penalties. Hasselbaink; scores: 1-0 Fernando Sales; SAVED: 1-0 Boateng; scores: 2-0 Renato; SAVED: 2-0 At this stage, the Boro bench was finding it hard to contain their excitement... Nemeth; SAVED: 2-0 Antonito; scores: 2-1 Phillips; SAVED: 2-1 ...and all of a sudden the euphoria was starting to die down... Julio Baptista; MISSES: 2-1 ...so up steps Nicky Butt, Liggins' first signing, with the chance to win the UEFA Cup for Middlesbrough... Butt; SCORES: 3-1 ...and he does it, to complete one of the greatest stories in European club football history!! (well inmy eyes anyway) In the end it was thoroughly deserved: upto the sending off the game was in the balance, both sides cancelling each other out. But once Boro gained the numerical advantage, they did more than enough to win the game in normal time. Sevilla had NO attacks after the 45th minute. We had 23 shots (9 on target) to their 8 (3 on target) and had 51% of the possession. And the most important stat of them all, Boro won! FA CUP FINAL: Chelsea 2-0 Boro After the heroics in Lisbon, this was always going to be tough against a Chelsea side needing victory to complete the treble. The game itself was more tight and even than the first 60 minutes of the UEFA final, but it was Chelsea's superior finishing and the referee that won it on the day. Mutu (41) headed home at the near post, before the controversy started: Yakin was sentoff for 2 ridiculous booking in a minute (77), and then immediately Tiago (78) wrapped up the win, tapping home a rebound. So who was the ref? If I told you there were 5 bookings for each team and 1 red card shown during the game, it'd come as no surprise that it was Rob "wa**er" Styles in charge. The game was very evenly poised, with Boro pushing for an equaliser. The match stats showed Boro had 55% of possesion, but Chelsea just created more chances (11 - 9, with 5 - 7 on target.) So that's the first season over with, and what a season it's been too! 10th in the league, 4th round of the league cup, FA Cup runners up and UEFA Cup winners. Nobody, especially not manager, Liggins, would've expected such a successful first season in charge. Much of the success was down to super Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink, who's 33 goals in 40 games really provided a genuine goalthreat in every game. For next season, more of the same please. The cups will again offer Boro the best chance of glory, but with the league form improving after Christmas (coinciding with a change to both the formation and mentality) a better, more consistent league campaign would be appreciated. Up the Boro! (UEFA Cup winners 2004/5, just incase any of you missed it ) Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Inter Posted February 13, 2005 Share Posted February 13, 2005 Man City Inter-toto Cup Progress Update Man City 2-0 Agro (Inter-toto Cup 2nd Round 1st leg) A very convincing win from City here. Agro the out-classed visitors had no luck at all in this fixture. Giovanni openned the scoring with a good header, then later in the second half Shearer hit a buety from 20 yards out curling into the keepers top left corner. Man of the Match, Shaun Wright-Phillips was outstanding as he completely controled the game down the right flank. Gokdeniz also made a good debut and padion when he came on. Agro 0-5 Man City (Inter-toto Cup 2nd Round 2nd leg) (Man City win 7-0 on aggregate Another great display against the poor Moldovians. The difference in this game to last match was that City finished their good chances. Anelka got a hat-rick including two penalties. Again Shaun Wright-Phillips was outstanding, so if Pompey want him, they'll have to pay top dollar. The other goalscorers were Giovanni and Demel. Dundee in the 3rd round, not the easiest but I feel we should still progress. Two transfers were done after the match. Danny Mills went to the improving Leicester for 1.8mil and Dellas came on a free transfer after leaving Roma. He rejected a contract from atleast 12 other clubs to join City, must have only came for the money then. Graveson Signs for Manchester City Man City have completed the signing of Danish midfeilder Thomas Graveson for £3.4 million from Niall Murphy's Everton. This is almost certainly the last signing Hardy will make this summer and has declared himself to be delighted with his aquisisions, especially Oliseh and Graveson. Inter-toto Cup 3rd Round 1st leg Man City 2-0 Dundee UTD This was a game that Man City really didnt deserve to win without conceeding. The Dundee UTD's midfeild was very impressive and ran the show. But they were restricted to long shots all game and never really looked like scoring. However, they did get one magnificent chance to change the game, when Gokdeniz's clumbsy challenge in the box gave gave the Scottish side a well deserved penalty. David James did well to turn away before Gokdeniz cleared the rebound. The two goals came early for City who did start well and took advantage of it with Giovanni scoring a lovely finish in the box and then Michael Brown hitting a 25 yard buety to make the game look in the bag for City. Manchester City definetly missed Wright-Phillips as Gokdeniz struggled to make the same impact in that position. Well the second leg to play next and its advantage City. Lets just hope we can take our advantage and get to the semis of the back door to Europe cup. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dunga99 Posted February 13, 2005 Share Posted February 13, 2005 Birmingham appoint 4th manager within a year Birmingham City today announced that big Sam Allardyce will be the fourth manager to leave Birmingham city within the space of 12 months. First on the manager casualty list was Steve Bruce then Chris Oestrich and now Sam Allardyce. Danny King will take control of team affairs from Sam Allardyce with immediate effect. This has come as a massive shock to Brum fans due to Birmingham City 8th place finish in the premiership. In a press release to the fans chairman Ralph Gold explained <BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">We feel the time is right to go with a young manager with new ideas about how the game should be played to come in and take over. Danny King is a highly-experienced coach and I am delighted that he has accepted what to me is one of the most prestigious positions in Premiership. He has a reputation for creating well-organised teams capable of playing attractive football. He is very technically minded with a good knowledge of both English and European football, in addition to first class man-management skills. </div></BLOCKQUOTE> Karen Brady went on in saying <BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content"> We offered Big sam a place on the board which he rejected but we wish him all the luck in future as long as he doesn't come up against Birmingham City </div></BLOCKQUOTE> Needless to say, the fans are a bit sceptical with all the going on at St Andrews over the last 12 months but are willing to give Danny King some time to see what he can do. My First peace of business was to head towards the transfer market and try a bring in some players who I hope will turn Birmingham City in a top half team. The board have given me 2.5 million and told me I can keep 100% on all future transfers. Players In... Chris Riggot from Boro for 2 million plus Darren Ambrose I needed a good strong centre back and Riggot fitted that bill. Mainly unused at the Middlesboro but I can see him making a good partnership with my other two centre backs. Richard Wright from Everton for 1 million I was on the look out for a goal keeper and when Niall Murphy offered out Wright I was only to happy to do business for 1 million pounds. I'm hoping he show me the form that earned him a move to Arsenal a few years back. Mark Duffy for Fee A hot prospect for the future. This kid looks like he will be able to do it all under the right managemant. Loans In.. John Welsh from Liverpool season long loan (100% wages) A decent wing back who will fit well into my formation. If this lads does as well as I hope he can earn himself a move to St Andrews next season. Players Out... Gronkajaer to Liverpool for 5.25 million Sold Gronkajaer because I needed funds to rebuild my team. Liverpool came in with an offer of 5.25 million which I accepted and then a few days later Manchester Utd came in with a better offer of 7.5 million which I also accepted but he chose to go to Liverpool and left me 2.25 million out of pocket. Darren Ambrose P/Ex in the Riggot deal Wanted to get this player of my wages as I would never use him. More to follow soon.. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
BelfastNiall Posted February 14, 2005 Author Share Posted February 14, 2005 [img:top] [/img] Host round up Season One Well, after a number of issues EPL Challenge has completed a very good first season. Here are just a few memorable moments. Despite the huge lag, everybody set out with high hopes with Newcastle's Jay Da Costa established as the bookies favourite, ignoring the sceptical and unprintable comments of Spurs manager Sam Bouchard. As pre-season went into full swing, talented player after talented player arrived at St James' - but surprisingly - quite a few talented players also left the Geordies, as their revolving door transfer policy went into overdrive. Da Costa soon became a hero at.....Villa Park - as he handed Mark Smallwood - Kieron Dyer and Laurent Robert on a plate, even paying Dyer a weekly wage just to play for the Villans. 10 minutes later, Smallwood had purchased Juan Seba Veron to set up a frightening looking midfield and Da Costa was starting to irritate other managers as well used his club rep to hoover up top youth talent. Poor Mr Smallwood had even gone to the lenghts of noting Van Den Borre's 17th birthday in his diary, before being pipped at the post by the dirty Geordies and a £43K a week contract for a 17 year old. One was not amused in the Midlands. However, what occurred will forever go down in EPL legend as we witnessed the quickest decline of a top club that I have ever seen. After 10 games on their own patch, Newcastle had not only failed to win, but had failed to even score a goal - before my own Everton side turned up at St James Park and promptly conceded three. Needless to say the goings on at Newcastle dominated proceedings in the EPL and although the banter was lighthearted - the failings soon became too much for Jay to bear. By Christmas he was gone and Kevin Keegan rode into St James' - in the end narrowly failing to pip Pagi's Bolton in a last day battle for survival. Therefore, the once mighty magpies (for those with a very long memory, eh Andy) are now a Championship club - to the detriment of the Premiership as a whole. However, Jay provided much entertainment to the game and although he had a bad experience here, we wish him all the best if he returns to online managing. The next big shock to hit the EPL has to be Sam Bouchard's Spurs team, who were simply class from August to around March when it all became too much for him and his boys. Injuries and a drop in form stopping an unexpected title challenge in its tracks. Sam's success certainly surprised me after I had given him a bit of a slagging about re-uniting England's Euro 96 squad with the signings of Alan Shearer and Gareth Southgate early on. The Spurs fans were checking their daily papers to make sure Gazza wasn't primed for a Spurs comeback approaching the age of 40!! However, Sam's lads have gone on to complete an achievement, probably well above the wildest hopes of the Spurs board on his appointment, by qualifying for the Champions League in 4th place so a big well done there to Mr Bouchard, EPL's sole Champions League participant in 2005/06. Another talking point soon arose as Everton slid into administration. Nine points deducted, and the vultures swooping as Gravesen, Yobo and Zurawski. Everton's future prospects looked bleak to say the least. Within a few weeks though, Murphy was back on his feet as Everton received new investment, his squad still intact and his determination to build a championship winning side at Goodison doubled. Ever seen a team buy 50 players? Well we just did as Bolton's David Pagi went berserk and purchased a flood of unknown Bosmans to his team, all timed to arrive in July. Pagi appeared to have gone crazy as his Bolton slumped dangerously towards a previously unexpected relegation war. In the end, Bolton survived, but Pagi didn't...booted out of the Reebok with his tail between his legs and his P45 shoved up his ass It's a funny old game though and amazingly, a day later, Bolton appointed a very similar looking manager who just happens to go by the name David Pagi II. All in all, you just never know what these Pagi's are up to tbh and sometimes it is best not to ask too many questions. Lets just say there is slightly more interest in Bolton's prospects this season than last, and I for one would love a peak at their wage budget. Of course while this was going on, the European and Carling Cup competitions began. In the Carling Cup 2nd Round, someone always gets knocked out in the second round to a pack of lower division cloggers and half the pressure is just avoiding that shame. This year, that dubious pleasure fell to Mark Smallwood and Rick Boult, giant killed by Preston and Plymouth respectively (before Boult took himself off to Florida). The Carling Cup progressed, Chris Morris eliminated by Man Utd, Sam Bouchard falling to the Wenger Boys, Andy Nilsen and Rob Steel thwarted by the mighty Toffees. In the end Niall Murphy and David Pagi reached the semi finals but unfortunately we were denied an Everton vs Bolton final, to the relief of all the other managers who have sat through Murphy vs Pagi games in the past. Rafa Bentiez went on to lift the cup for the red side of Merseyside and collected his first trophy in his first full season for Liverpool. A sign of an Anfield resurgence perhaps? In Europe though there was another story breaking. Jay Da Costa and Richard Liggins were both striving for UEFA Cup glory. As expected, Newcastle's poor league form soon affected their European hopes and the Geordies were eliminated. However, Liggins appeared to have made the UEFA Cup his top target for the season. The UEFA Cup has of course changed format and to the annoyance of everyone else who had no games on a Thursday, Liggins went on and on and on and on in the competition destroying European dream teams like Hearts, Dunfermline and Besitkas along the way Eventually Liggins progressed to the semi final and now it was time to earn his corn as firstly Dortmund and then Sevilla (who haven't the name but definitely now have the team) stood in his way. Could Liggins break his duck and win his first trophy for Middlesbrough and indeed his first trophy in EPL Challenge? In a tense final that ended 0-0, the game went into extra time and then penalties. Boro and Liggins held their nerve and the UEFA Cup was delivered to the Riverside in Ligs' first season. An excellent achievement by the Boro manager and EPL Challenges' undisputed human manager of the year. In the Champions League, Jose Mourinho took home the cup beating Bayern Munich in the final capping an outstanding season for the Portuguese manager. The Premiership soon wound up as well. In a complete turn around from the previous game, Murphy and Nilsen were caught up in a relegation quagmire, both surviving by the skin of their teeth. Pagi soon joined them. Steel, despite many a fit along the way, managed a respectable mid table finish . Blackburn's Rick Boult buggered off to Florida and his team chugged along, looking like they might get dragged down but just staying afloat. Chris Morris hit the heights of 11th spot and reached the FA Cup semi's losing on penalties to Chelsea and impressing all his fellow managers in the process. Leo Hardy gets a well deserved top half finish and Mark Smallwood comes in fifth a solid performance. We also owe Mark a huge thanks for stepping in on hosting duties. As expected Chelsea, Arsenal and Man Utd dominated in the Premiership, Chelsea with an incredible 96 points completing the treble of European Cup, Premiership and FA Cup. Will anyone be able to match or beat this in the coming years. You can bet your life we'll be giving it a damn good try.... Roll on season 2 and a big welcome to Danny King at Birmingham City. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ligs Posted February 14, 2005 Share Posted February 14, 2005 Quiet day at work Niall? Nice report, although I'd like to add I also reached the FA Cup final Season 2 oughta be good, doubt there'll be so many human managers so perilously close to the drop Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
BelfastNiall Posted February 14, 2005 Author Share Posted February 14, 2005 Cheers Ligs, good to see your thinking ahead as you, as manager of the year, can do the old predictions this time around and face the firing squad. Was just thinking you'll be getting to know Jose Mourinho quite well soon as you have Chelsea in the Charity Shield, the Super Cup Final and the opening day of the season. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
EmmYouEffSee Posted February 14, 2005 Share Posted February 14, 2005 Lookin' forward to season 2 now....Champions League your havin a laugh! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
I got divorced over this g Posted February 14, 2005 Share Posted February 14, 2005 Nice one Niall - keep going lads and let me know how Newcastle and Robinho, Van Brommel et all get on.... Good read this lot. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
EmmYouEffSee Posted February 14, 2005 Share Posted February 14, 2005 T&T Tonight Niall? Also, Ligs doesn't get to play Chelski in the Charity Shield do they? Thought it was second place that took that spot if the league winners win the FA Cup too? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
BelfastNiall Posted February 15, 2005 Author Share Posted February 15, 2005 Hopes high for the new season at Goodison Park With Everton's pre-season transfer ins and outs more or less completed the squad looks in far better shape now than it did last season. This season should be tough with many of the clubs looking a lot stronger but I'm confident we can push for a top half spot. Transfers Out Thomas Gravesen - Man City £3.4m + 20% sell. Sorry to lose this influential midfielder and an excellent signing for Leo Hardy. Facts were he had one year left on his contract and required £42k a week to stay, way beyond our budget. Helped finance a major signing. Richard Wright - Birmingham £1m + 20% sell on. Surplus to requirements and again one of our highest paid players so I was prepared to take a million squid when it was offered by Danny King. Leon Osman - Leeds £1.2m Solid flair player who got 8 assists last season but I needed money and he was the easiest position to cover. Marco Streller - £3.9m Young Boys Berne Bought for £350k the previous season and sold for a healthy profit, this player is good but lacked pace which I wanted up front. Tony Hibbert - £650K Leicester Again a good signing for newly promoted Leicester who look to have bought wisely in the summer. Steve Watson - £180K - Leicester Not much to say about a solid if unspectacular player who will be remembered fondly for the winning goal at Fratton Park in the League Cup, which sunk Nilsen's Pompey. Players In Jean Alain Boumsong - £6.25m from Rangers The pick of the bunch and hopefully the cream of the crop. I was chasing a quality partner for Yobo all pre-season and I reckon I have my man. Robert Green - £3m from Norwich Everybody was impressed by Green last season so Everton look the plunge and splashed the cash to land a good goalkeeper. Frederico Piovaccari - 900K from Inter Good Italian prospect - striker. Paul Lancaster - £190k from Liverpool Promising goalkeeper Frees Olivier Bernard - Newcastle Solid attacking full back to replace Naysmith and Bolton bound (who isn't) Pistone. Ilayian Stoyvanov - Levski Sofia Bulgarian international defender who can also play left back. Nice. Pablo Oscar Cavallero - Celta Vigo Highly rated goalkeeper who will battle it out with Robert Green for the number one shirt. Claudio Marchisio - Juventus Extremely highly rated midfielder from Juventus (19 years old) who had Liggins salivating wildly at his quality. Jimmy Smith - No club England U21 attacking midfield prospect. Jeremie Aliadiere - Arsenal This guy does two things only. Runs quick and scores goals. That will do for me. Real Madrid sniffed the next day but were given a short shift. Paolo De Ceglie - Juventus Another talented youngster for the future snapped up from the Juve academy. All in all I'm quite pleased with the summer considering I had £1.5m at the outset and only Gravesen and surprisingly Streller to bring in a modest amount of cash. £10.25m spent, and £10.25m recouped. I feel the defence is now very strong with Boumsong, Yobo, Bernard and Holneak, backed up by two good goalkeepers who should be an improvement on Wright and Martyn. Midfield was already up to Premiership standard and with Zurawski, Calaio and Aliadiere to play up front, I'm hopeful we will score enough goals to get us into the top 8 clubs this season. Priced rightly at 150-1 for the Championship, our aim this season is to break into Europe and hopefully win one of the domestic cups. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
AsherDSSc Posted February 15, 2005 Share Posted February 15, 2005 With the new season almost upon us, Blackburn Manager Rick Boult has been doing somewhat of a dissapearing act to the dismay of the fans and the press. After searching high and low for the talented yorkshiremen, we were finally able to get this statement. <BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content"> Things at Ewood Park were going well last season. I felt i left the team in a strong 7th in the league with a healthy defence and a solid midfield. My family and i felt that, as things were going so well, a holiday was in order. Now, i know Murphy was against this idea and i don't want to tell him how to run his club but stfu and concentrate on your leaky defence. Now, when i returned to the club, the season had came to a close and we were in the not so great position of 14th. Now, i tell you this, if i was in charge of the club, nothing but a top 4 finish would have occured. </div></BLOCKQUOTE> With Boult's defence somewhat keeping them in the division, it seemed strikers would be on the agenda in the summer with the mamjority of the cash going there. As it turned out, 300k was all the manager was given which was seen somewhat as a punishment for the goings on in the previous season. Players In Philip Cousins - 35k - Portsmouth - 17 year old midfielder whom will no doubt be pushing for a starting place in the near future Karl Noon - Free - Free 18 year old striker was on loan last season. Improved greatly and secured a full time deal James Eyles - 200k - Portsmouth 17 year old striker will be looking to partner Noon in seasons to come Mario - Free - Free 23 year old Spanish defender with good spead to partner McEveley Filipe Oliveira - Free - Chelski 21 year old striker should slot straight into the first team with Estoyanoff Scott Marshall - Free - Free 18 year old english midfielder in the same calebre as Cousins Ryan Smith - Free - Free 18 year old left sided striker, could also be played out on the left flank kiran Bechan - Free - Free 22 year old dutch right winger, pick of the free transfers for me, watch this space Loans In Joleon Lescott - Man City 22 year old centre half on loan for 3 months looking for first team experience Joey Barton - Man City 22 year old defencive midfielder will replace Tugay who had retired the previous season After a cash injection of 500k Boult must have been wondering what he had done to deserve such a fruitless job. He had to look no further than down the road at Goodison Park. <BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content"> I knew that soab knew what he was doing. Coaxing me into this job saying everything would be alright. I have a good job to go down there and pull that french git Boumsongs legs off. This season the board wants safety and the fans want a safe midtable finish. If you ask me, i think a top 10 finish is reachable if the strikers brought into the club do what there paid to do. I've also brought in 2 full time coaches and Nigel Spackman as the new Assistant Manager. Hopefully he does a better job than the last, as i have promised the wife another trip to America. It seemed i had not taken her to DisneyWorld and so another 2 week trip is planned. In fact, i'm off to the travel agents now to book it. </div></BLOCKQUOTE> With the fans still upset about Boult's mid season crisis last year, who knows what there reaction will be when they find out this bombshell news. All in all, it could be another turbulant year at Ewood Park Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
EmmYouEffSee Posted February 16, 2005 Share Posted February 16, 2005 Spurs Oke Koke As the 2004-2005 season ended the 2005-2006 was just beginning as Spurs manager Sam Bouchard relished the prospect of another season at White Hart Lane amongst supporters and players alike. A good first season at the club meant that there was a European spot next year, and with that comes the responsibility on the managers shoulders to succeed. In his first interview since hearing the odds for the next season Bouchard had this to say; <BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">I thought last year's squad worked extremly hard and because of that they got the reward of a bonus at the end of last season. This year i want to be able to give out medals to my side, and to do that you've got to win things. Winning things comes at a cost and right now, the finances aren't in great shape. It's unfortunate to have the bulk of the squad play in fairly similar positions, offering little in the way of variety and adaptation to the squad. Particularly towards the end of last year there was a huge amount of injuries to the team and i dont think that they could've coped better given the situation, but i dont want to have to struggle to offer a replacement for a player who i know will do just as well. The players were leaning towards complacency towards the end of the season i could see that. So to fix this, i placed a hidden message into the team's cd's and to what was listened to on match days and training. I'd hired bands such as Korn, the O'Jays and Dizzee Raskel to record the same song but in their own way. That song being the 'Oke Koke'. A slightly adapted version all be it, but still, the Oke Koke. </div></BLOCKQUOTE> The Spurs manager at this time instructed Martin Jol to press play on the cd player as the press sat and listened to such music. You put your first team in, You take your first team out, In Out In Out, Shake it all about, You do the oke koke and u throw them out, That's what it's all about...ohhh! ..... As the press laughed at Bouchard's efforts the Spurs manager tried to explain. <BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">This was done to try and one....motivate the team...and two....see who would be willing to listen to what i told them to do. Most of the team took notice, however many didn't, and because of this, failed to notice my hidden message. Those players have been either released or sold to other clubs. Since deciding this i've bought a few players too, all young players of which 3 or 4 could go straight into the starting line up and i'd be quite happy. </div></BLOCKQUOTE> Transfers Out Mbulelo Mabizela - Man City - Free Johnnie Jackson - Aston Villa - Player Exch £0 Goran Bunjevcevic - / - Free Sean Davis - Leicester - £2.6m 4 Youth Players - / - Free Transfers In Ed Brand - Chelsea - £140k Luke Moore - Aston Villa - Player Exch £0 Anthony Vanden Borre - Newcastle - £2.1m David Jones - Man Utd - £220k Scott Carson - Leeds Utd - £620k An array of talent brought in for an amount of different reasons. Brand is a very young but solid looking right back of the future, snatching him from Chelsea when they didn't really want to let him leave. Luke Moore was an exchange for Midfield short Aston Villa who took Johnnie Jackson in exchange. This force upfront should help ease the attacking worries that i've faced this season, enabeling me to offer Defoe and Kanoute rests before they can get injured. Anthony Vanden Borre is a very highly rated defender who was only glad to leave struggling Newcastle to line up with a fellow young Belgium player Vincent Kompany. This aquisation to the Spurs squad will more than strengthen the already strong young defence. David Jones was under close inspection for a while and it was only recently when Martin Jol spotted an oppertunity for a quick signing for a fraction of his value, that Spurs stepped u and bought him. A Solid young central midfielder with a mix of Paul Scholes' flair with Roy Keane's determination....definatly one to watch for the future. Scott Carson was the final piece of the rather young puzzle, fitting in as a first class replacement for Paul Robinson. Robbo being only 24 wouldn't be replaced full time however 19 year old Carson has vastly improved over the past 12 months, stepping up well into the Leeds lineup, helping them greatly in the previous campaign. Bet 365 came out with the odd's for this season's Premier League offering Chelsea at a very high price of 2-1. The Blues were followed by Man United, Arsenal and Liverpool respectivly, but the surprise at the top was Spurs. At 25-1 they'd been seen to have the squad to mount a challenge, and with a bit of luck could pull off a league title. After opting against joining fellow managers in a round of friendly's at the beginning of August, Sam Bouchard prepared his team for the challenge of French runners up Monaco in the Champions League. The two legged affair pitted Spurs in European competition for the firs time in years to which fans were extatic about. Wednesday 10th August 2005 - Champions League 3rd Round Qualifying Leg One Tottenham Hotspur [5]: Defoe(6,15,39,51), Moore(69) Monaco [0]: The team were sent out to attack from the back, and that they did. Runs along both wings threw Monaco off as they obviously didn't expect Spurs to be so attacking. A Kanoute run in the second minute gave Monaco the warning they didn't need as the ball pounded off the post and nearly into the way of Jermaine Defoe who was crowded out in the middle of the area. This put the bit between the teeth that Spurs needed as they ran the show completly from start to finish. Long shots from the away side was all that was offered in the form of a comeback to the onslaught on the Monaco goal. A 5 star display from Defoe upfront was all that was needed to kill them off. This lad can be sumed up in two words....'****'Ot'. An gashed leg to Carrick just before half time meant that David Jones could pick up his debut for the club. A good game from Freddie Kanoute meant that he could be brought off with half an hour to spare, giving 19 year old Luke Moore a chance to shine. That he did, getting on the end of a fantastic counter attack 9 minutes after entering the fray. After that, Monaco put 11 men behind the ball....still managing to shoot from the half way line towards the Spurs goal but providing anything but trouble for Paul Robinson in goal. Spurs manager Sam Bouchard was extatic with his players performance so much so that afterwards he took them all out to KFC and then on to his gaff for a drink.....what a nice man. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Morrizio Posted February 16, 2005 Share Posted February 16, 2005 Season one round up So with the first season done and dusted West Brom fans have to be happy with the overall performance of the boys. The season included a few memorable moments like the 3-2 win at Anfield and reaching the semis of the FA cup, only to lose to Chelsea on penalties. For a team destined for the drop a mid table finish is quite an achievment, and its been acomplished by a squad of no-bodies bought for next to nothing! And it could have been better had things went WBA's way. Having comfortably held 9th place for many weeks, they were only displaced in the last two games, as Leo Hardy's Man City sneaked in and nabbed the inter-toto cup spot. Ah well stupid competition anyway. The final two games ended in a 1-0 loss to Man utd, and a 2-1 loss to Spurs as the un-sympathetic Sam Bouchard fielded a full strength side despite having nothing to play for. Saying that though Morris was quoted as saying he was "not overly impressed with a side supposedly making a challenge for the title" he added "they beat us, fair enough, but to be honest we're rubbish". Transfer News Lots to tell on this front, mainly the selling of two major assets in return for lots and lots of lovely cash. Bye Bye Bierofka Daniel Bierofka, player of the year and fans favourite, had been turning heads all season with his incredible trickery on the left wing. And it was only inevitable that someone would put a bid in. Chelsea did. 15m smackers, offer accepted. Despite the fans being obviously upset about his departure they have to have faith in their managers ability to make the team stronger with this new found wealth. Suddenly players who had never heard of West Brom had a sudden interest in joining the club. Brazilian star Elano is awaiting a work permit and there is talk of Belozoglu Emre arriving at the Hawthorns, what money can do. Boro nab Matusovic With Boro getting a handy cash injection it was well known fact they'd be on the lookout for new players. Liggins obviously thinking back to the Baggies 2-0 win at the Riverside deceided to raid their squad. Offers for Pospech and Matusovic were made, a 9mil offer for Matusovic being knocked back. WBA's top scorer however had an 11mil release clause and despite last minute attempts to get a new contract sorted out, Matu (as we called him ) left for Boro, a sad sight. Profits A lesson here on how to make money from footballers. Sign them for 1.4mil and sell for 26mil, not bad! Other transfers in Jiri Koubsky - 325k - Decent looking defender for a small fee Yuri - 45k - Forward to bolster the squad Vladimir Ivic - free - Back-up midfielder Pieter Collen - free - Another defender, strong and good in the air Robin Faber - 575k - Dutchman found by scout, looks rubbish Daniel Moreira - 6mil - first major purchase from the bierofka fund, scored 20+ goals in the french first division and has looked promising in pre season. Jonathan Spector - 650k - A bargin buy from Man Utd, bags of potential. Luca Carretto - Free - Looks like a great player, but time will tell whether he's as good as he looks Mike Zonneveld - Good pace and dribbling abilities should make him a worthy replacement for Bierofka. out Aside from the two biggies, not much of note happening. A few reserve players left on frees and Earnshaw was offloaded to Pompey. Looking Forward Its difficult to call how West Brom will perform this season. If a few of the main transfers go through then it could be a succesfull one. However, with the loss of Matusovic, big Holm will have to have a good season and hopefully Moreira can cut it in this league. But there is always the comfort of having £19mil in the transfer kitty, if things get too bad Morris will simply have to splash the cash, but you'l just have to ask Newcastle fans if thats always the answer... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dunga99 Posted February 16, 2005 Share Posted February 16, 2005 Birmingham City sign there No1 summer transfer target Birmingham City today announced they have signed there No1 transfer target of the summer, 24 year old Mikael Forssell from Chelsea football club for 4.4 million. King could not hide his joy as he gave a statment to the press. <BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Forssell's goals have kept Birmingham flying high last season and he has that knack that he is there when the ball bounces off his elbow, backside and legs and into the net, he was out top goal scorer last season with 13 league goals. While we were in pole position to make the move permanent, there is the lingering fear that German side Bayer Leverkusen could make a bid to sign him as well. They have kept tabs on Forssell ever since he impressed in a loan spell for their rivals Borussia Monchengladbach a few seasons ago, but in the end it was the love for this club that made him sign. </div></BLOCKQUOTE> King, meanwhile, hopes that his Birmingham team-mates can follow the lead of Forssell and start chipping in with some goals. He added: "We all know that the problem is that little bit of creativity in scoring a goal. I am aware of it. "That is one area we are looking at at the present time. But in terms of endeavour, spirit and attitude the players are first class." Birmingham way into Europe Yes big Sam Allardyce left us with a chance of European football via the Euro Vase cup (inter-toto cup). Qtr Final 1st leg AEL 1 Elia 37 Birmingham City 4 Pahars 42, 45, 90 Savage 51 Man of the Match: Pahars 10/10 Brimingham City Attendance-9339 Refereed by Kim Nielsen Well my first game in charge and with Forssell still making up his mind about a transfer to Birmingham City I went for Emile Heskey, Clinton Morrison and Marian Pahars with 3 up front. First half there was not much happening until we gave away a free kick just outside the box. Up steps Elia and hit it in the bottom corner, 1-0 to AEL. Time for the man of the match to put on a show, Pahars pulls us level with a goal after some great play by Savage then 3 minutes later gives us the lead with another sweet goal. Savage also gets in the act with a long range effort and then Pahars seals his hat trick in the last minute of the game to give us a 4-1 Win. I'm more than happy eith my first game. Qtr Final 2nd leg Birmingham City 3 Dunn 1, 72 Morrison 45 AEL 0 Man of the Match: Dunn 8/10 Brimingham City Attendance-19255 Refereed by Kim Nielsen Again still no Forssell so I stuck with Emile Heskey, Clinton Morrison and Marian Pahars but rested Carter and Savage by giving Dunn and Izzet a game. Another good game for me will Dunn getting us off to a great start in the first minute of the game with a well worked goal. Morrison hit another just before half time with a good solo effort before Dunn got his second of the game after some fine work by Welsh to give us a 3-0 Win. Semi Final 1st leg Osijek 2 Mark 72 Novak 75 Birmingham City 2 Morrison 8 Savage pen 64 Man of the Match: Carter 8/10 Brimingham City Attendance-4809 Refereed by Kim Nielsen Still no Forssell and the teams fitness starting to show with all these games so soon in the season but again I kept with 3 up front with Emile Heskey, Clinton Morrison and Marian Pahars taking the starting places. We totally dominated this game having both most of the posession and the most shots on goal and Morrison gave us a good start with a goal in the 8th minute to give us a 1-0 lead at half time. Second half was more of the same with Birmingham City being awarded a pen after Pahars was fouled in the area. From there on it fell apart with two quick goals in 3 minutes by Mark 72 and Novak 75. I can't moan to much with 2 away goals. 2-2 Draw Semi Final 2nd leg Birmingham City 4 Savage 32, 90 Heskey 69 Forssell 82 Osijek 1 Primorac 39 Man of the Match: Forssell 10/10 Brimingham City Attendance-19021 Refereed by Erol Ersoy At last I had Forssell signed up for selection for he first match as a Birmingham City player and much of the match hype was about that. So I went with Mikael Forssell, Emile Heskey and Clinton Morrison and the lad didn't let me or the fans down with a awesome display. Scoring 1 and setting 2 up. Also on the score sheet was Heskey and 2 for Savage but who cares this match was all about 1 man oh yes and I think one of there blokes got a goal. 4-1 Win. Final 1st leg Atalanta 2 Natali 34 Pazzini 40 Birmingham City 0 Man of the Match: Taibi 8/10 Atalanta Attendance-26502 Refereed by Carlos Davila Once this draw was made I knew it would be a tough tie and was not looking forward to it. As usual I played 3 up front with the lads Mikael Forssell, Emile Heskey and Clinton Morrison and I was hoping Upson would be able to man mark there danger man Pazzini out of the game. First half it could have been a different story if Emile Heskey goal was allowed in the 15 minute but he didn't time his run right and it was offside. After that Atalanta hit us on the break with some good passes and finished well by Natali then even worse Pazzini had lost Upson and managed to get a shot on goal and scored with it. Second half was alot better by my lads but we couldn't beat there goal keeper Taibi who was on great form. I don't hold out much hope now getting into the UEFA Cup but you never can tell what could happen in the second leg. 2-0 Defeat Well season 2 is almost on us I give my report soon on my hopes for the season Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
chef Posted February 17, 2005 Share Posted February 17, 2005 good reports there, i do look forward to reading the updates. KUTGW! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ligs Posted February 17, 2005 Share Posted February 17, 2005 Season 2 – 2005/6 Well it’s my turn to do the predictions this season, apologies in advance for being totally inaccurate. I blame it on doing these before the summer transfer window has ended. Birmingham City – Manager: Danny King Danny makes his EPL debut this season, so he’s somewhat of an unknown quantity. The signing of Forsell means the goals shouldn’t be a problem, but repeating last season’s feat of 8th place could be a tough achievement. League – 10th FA Cup – 5th round League Cup – 3rd round Blackburn Rovers – Manager: Rick Boult Blackburn were going well last season before Rick went off on his holibobs, before slipping back to 14th. With little to no money available, Blackburn’s squad hasn’t improved a great deal, and with some of the teams who finished below Rovers last season having improved, this season could be tough. League – 15th FA Cup – 4th round League Cup – 4th round Bolton Wanderers – Manger: David Pagi II With Pagi last season almost relegating Bolton, it was upto Pagi II to save them in the last 2 games. Despite losing them both, the club survived and Pagi II brought in about 30 players in the summer. This policy could well backfire, and much is being expected of old man Batistuta to score the goals. They should survive the drop, but it could be very close again. League – 16th FA Cup – 4th round League Cup – 2nd round Everton – Manager: Niall Murphy Even despite the financial problems, Niall underachieved last season, only avoiding the drop on the penultimate weekend of the season. But a new board and some shrewd signings have left Everton looking a very tidy outfit: Green in goal with the Boumsong-Yobo CB partnership should be hard to break down. With Murphy saying, and I quote “We’ll be tighter than a duck’s arse this season,†expectations are high. League – 8th FA Cup – Semi Final League Cup – Quarter Final Manchester City – Manager: Leo Hardy Last year Leo surprised many with his push on at the end of the season, finishing in 9th place and claiming an Intertoto cup place, which looks like turning into a UEFA Cup place. The Intertoto campaign should ensure City start the season flying, but how long before they begin to feel their early start to the season? With some shrewd signings, City look good to maintain their top half position. League – 9th FA Cup – 5th round League Cup – 3rd round Middlesbrough – Manager: Sir Richard Liggins After the success of last year, bringing the UEFA Cup to darkest Teeside, almost doing the same with the FA Cup, the pressure will be on Liggins. After only spending a net £10k going into August, Mr Gibson suddenly made an extra £15mil available, with £11mil going on Matusovic. The January-May form of Boro rescued a poor start to lift the club to 10th, and anything less than that will be seen as a disappointment. Also, the defence of the UEFA Cup should provide a stiff challenge. Time to put the pressure on myself. League – 7th FA Cup – Semi Final League Cup – Quarter Final Portsmouth – Manager: Andy Nielsen After being unable to make any signings before September 1st last season, Andy did his best in the January window to bring in the players to rescue Pompey from what seemed inevitable relegation. He did that and lifted the club upto 15th, and looks in good shape for a far better 2005/6 season. League – 11th FA Cup – 5th round League Cup – Quarter Final Southampton – Manager: Rob Steel Rob’s Saints epitomised mid table blandness last season, finishing 12th and being between 8th and 14th pretty much all season. Despite not having spent a penny during the transfer window, no major players have left and a number of quality free transfers have come in. Despite this, I think more of the same could be in store for the St Mary’s faithful League – 13th FA Cup – 4th round League Cup – 3rd round Tottenham Hotspur – Manager: Sam Bouchard Sam had a cracking first season, getting the side into the Champions league qualifiers, and looking almost certain to make the group stages. Add to this a good squad bolstered by a handful of arrivals, and at least £14million burning a whole in the chairman’s pocket, Spurs should be able to match last year’s achievements, and could well do even better. League – 3rd FA Cup – Runners Up League Cup – 4th place West Bromwich Albion – Manager: Chris Morris Despite being one of the favourites for the drop, manager Morris directed his team to 11th place, and held 9th position for a long part of the season. But his two star men, Bierofka and Matusovic have left, and despite getting £26million for the pair, will he be able to replace them with the same quality? The pressure will be on Moreira to provide the firepower. Oh, and he must also be praised for bringing back everyone’s favourite, Mike Zonneveld, back into the league. Niall Murphy still has nightmares about that day at the Riverside League – 12th FA Cup – Quarter Final League Cup – Semi Final Well there we go, good luck one and all Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
skintsaint Posted February 17, 2005 Share Posted February 17, 2005 Boring Season Round up! Season 1 is finished and after a long season, Saints finish midtable and comfortably above the relegation zone. Highs Beatin Man City in League Cup 5-0 Reachin Quarters of League Cup Lows Losing in Quarters of League Cup Losing to near on every human manager Not Qualifying for europe. So season 2 approaches what can Steel do to change Saints fortune. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
BelfastNiall Posted February 17, 2005 Author Share Posted February 17, 2005 Top notch Ligs as per. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
wantasweety Posted February 17, 2005 Share Posted February 17, 2005 hi all soz but im new to this all wer to i sign up to join up for the next one would be a gr8 help dudes fanx?? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Inter Posted February 17, 2005 Share Posted February 17, 2005 The Season Starts... Inter-toto Cup 3rd Round 2nd leg Dundee UTD 2-3 Man City A close game which City won in the end. On to the Semis against Galatasaray Galatasaray 1-1 Man City This was a very good away result for City who were probably lucky to get this result. The tie was set up nicely for the next leg. Man City 1-0 Galatasaray Man City through to the final with a good home win. The late goal was brilliantly hit in by Alan Shearer. Inter-toto Cup Final 1st leg Slavia (Sofia) 0-2 Man City An easy and expected win for Man City who now should really qualify for the UEFA Cup... FA Barclaycard Premiership Leeds United 1-0 Man City This was a very poor performance from Man City against the newly promoted Leeds. Matthew Spring hit the only goal of the game in the first half just before Rob Styles decided to send off Leeds right-back, Gary Kelly. No real chances created by City, so they deserved to lose, also some very shabby defending. On the bright side, Thomas Graveson played well when he came on in the second half for Oliseh. To be fair, the players were very tired off playing in the Inter-toto Cup, and it certainly took its toll. Man City 1-0 Portsmouth Andy Nilsen brought his revamped team to the City of Manchester Stadium and will count themselves unlucky not to get a point. The goal that won the game was scored by new man John Hartson. A cool finish on his debut puts him in the running for a regular first team place above Anelka, Shearer and Simmonetta, but unfortunately he got injured early in the second half. This could damage his first team chances for a game. New Portsmouth signing Ezquerro on his debut missed a sitter...Nilsen will probably feel frustrated with that. Overall, the teams should've shared the points. Andy Nilsen clearly wasnt best pleased with the result. Pompey just cant beat City...simple as that Inter-toto Cup Final 2nd leg Man City 1-1 Slavia (Sofia) ( Man City win 3-1 on aggregate) Well Man City qualify for the UEFA Cup after a 3-1 aggregate win over Slavia. The only team who posed a threat in the competition to City was Galatasaray who were brushed aside. From there on in, it was easy stuff. FA Barclaycard Premiership Man City 1-0 Tottenham This was a very close game throughout with plenty of action. Both teams could have scored about 5 each, but it was the single goal from Alan Shearer who headed in a perfect cross from Shaun Wrigh-Phillips who played his first league game this season. The City defence stood strong all game and mainly reduced Spurs to long range efforts from Defoe and Davies. All credit to Sam Bouchard who made some great tactical changes, but it just wasnt to be. So....a good start but can City keep it up? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ligs Posted February 17, 2005 Share Posted February 17, 2005 Season 2 – Time to enter the next level After a successful 1st season, the media and everyone involved in football were surprised that manager Richard Liggins was only given a transfer budget of £1million for the forthcoming season. This despite having been given £6million the previous season in his rookie year, and producing a UEFA Cup winning side (have I told anyone about that yet?) and a team getting that got to the final of the FA Cup, as well as performing adequately in the league. This was surely a bit harsh on the manager, who had a few words to say to anyone who’d listen. Working on this budget, players had to be shipped out before any quality could be brought in: OUT 9 free transfers Andrew Davies to Bolton - £30k + sell on clause Mark Schwarzer to [/i]Wolves[/i] - £1.7mil Franck Queudrue to Lens - £2.1mil Scott Clarke to Southport - £50k Chris Riggott to Birmingham - £2mil + P/Exchange Richard Wallace to Forest Green - £10k Terry Smith to Tamworth - £24k Kevin Phillips to Sunderland - £275k Radoslaw Kaluzny to Murcia - £30k Doriva to Fluminese – £10k Stefano Maino to Everton – season loan + £100k, Everton pay 100% of wages. As you can see, some absolute bargains were had as the wage bill was trimmed and money desperately tried to be raised. IN Mariano Herron from Llieda – Free Transfer Dede from Borussia Dortmund – Free transfer Darren Ambrose from Birmingham – P/Exchange (Dr) Quincy Owusu Abeyie – Free Transfer Lado Burduli from Dinamo Tbilisi - £475k Mikel Arteta from Real Sociedad - £6mil The Dede deal was a real confidence booster for everyone involved in Middlesbrough, a genuine world star at the club. With a formation that plays 3 AMC’s, Boro only had 3 players capable of playing that position, so that area needed strengthening. Cue Arteta, quality and still only 23, plus Ambrose and Burduli, adding further depth to the squad. Massimo Maccarone also returned from his loan and was immediately placed in the 1st team squad. As you can see, £6.475mil had been spent, with £6.25 being recouped, a net spend of only £20k. And we were supposed to push forward and challenge for more honours on that budget? Disgraceful. Enter Steve Gibson. All of a sudden he’d said that his previous budget had been harsh, and that he’d deliver more money shortly. He left, only to return 5 minutes later with a suitcase full of £50 notes, to the value of £15.25million. Well I couldn’t believe my luck, some proper money to spend at last. After playing with it for a while, fanning myself with it and throwing it all in the air and letting it rain on me, I carefully considered who to buy. I came to the following conclusions: IN Miroslav Matusovic from WBA - £11mil Umit Davala from Schalke - £500k Igor Tudor – Free Transfer Michele Paziena from Udinese - £450k After spotting Matusovic had a minimum fee release clause, I though he’d be perfect to steal from Chris Morris and fill an AMC slot, filling in up front whenever Lord Hasselbaink wasn’t fit. Umit Davala, at 30, still has plenty to offer bombing down the right flank from RB. Tudor, at 27, is an excellent player at either CB or DMC Pazienza was a bit of a steal: after scouring the transfer-listed players, I spotted Michele, who was no longer on my shortlist. After discovering he was discussing terms with Genoa and Pompey, a quick deal was brokered to bring him to the Riverside, where he’ll provide fine back up. OUT 2 big earners were gotten rid of: Mark Viduka to Charlton - £50k – what a bargain, but good to have his £160k p/m off the wage bill Szilard Nemeth to Sunderland - £300k – another big earner gone With 5 days of the window left, trading at Boro seems to have drawn to a close, despite money still being left in the kitty. With £18.375mil being spent and £6.6mil recouped, a net spend of around £11.5mil sees Middlesbrough as one of the summer’s big spenders. The pressure will be on to get results. How will they handle the pressure? Will they be able to progress from a perennial mid-table side to genuine top 6 challengers? Only time will tell…. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
BelfastNiall Posted February 18, 2005 Author Share Posted February 18, 2005 Everton off to an flyer..... With the new season approaching, I was sitting in my office at Goodison Park mulling over the good work that had been completed in pre-season and feeling quite content with the squad. Just as I was about to go into the land of nod and dream of potential FA Cup glory, I was suddenly awoken by the shrill sound of my normally busy telephone. On the other line was none other than the agent of Borussia Dortmund central defender, Ahmed Madouni, a young player of Algerian descent that I had been following for some time. Quickly filling me in that Dortmund had made Madouni available for transfer, I lodged a £1.5m bid which was enough to satisfy the German club. After that the transfer was a formality, with the player flattered to be linked with a manager of the reputation of Murphy. With this deal, the squad building was completed and we looked forward to the new season. However, it is a true saying that you never know what is around the corner and as I was busy preparing the boys for the approaching home game against Arsenal, I was staggered to lift the Liverpool Echo the day prior to the game to the following headline: "Murphy underachieving at Goodison Park".....that cheeky French tart I thought to myself, until I began to read the article closely and discovered that the originator of these claims was not Wenger (a manager I have a lot of respect for) at all, but Liggins at Middlesbrough. Reading further though, it became clear that the papers had twisted Liggins' words as the Boro manager went on to praise our summer signings, proof that the Boro boss might just be a little afraid of the Toffee's this season. Suddenly it was upon us: Goodison Park, 14th August on a bright summers day..Football was back and the mighty Arsenal were visiting. FA Barclaycard Premiership 2005-06 Everton 3 - 1 Arsenal Once again the Gunners have been installed as one of the championship favourites, despite their failure to win anything last season. Surprisingly, Arsenal had made no summer signings but had retained all their players, so it was the usual awesome looking outfit that lined up against us. Everton went into the game in their favoured 4-5-1 formation, that had gone 6 Premiership games undefeated at the end of the previous season. The only selection issues were which goalkeeper to choose between Cavallero and Green - in the end I plumped for the Argie - and the RB slot, with Holneak suspended for the opening game of the season. Aaron Hughes getting the nod. Jean Alain Boumsong slotted in beside Yobo, with Bernard taking the left back slot. In midfield Tobias Hysen and Stefan Selakovic took up the wide positions, with the strength, steel and flair of Lewandowski, Sivok and Flamini taking on Vieira and Edu. Up front we stuck with the brilliant Zurawski who we know can cause any side trouble if he's in the mood. I barely had time to sit in my seat and it was 1-0....to Arsenal, which I know caused much delight at Ewood and the Riverside. A long ball was lumped into our box and as Cavallero and Vieira challenged for the ball, the Frenchman jumped highest and angled the header into the empty goal. Not the best of starts for my new keeper. We kept the faith though and on 18 minutes, Everton grabbed an excellent equaliser, Hysen feeding the ball into Zurawski just outside the 18 yard box. The Pole, seeing Lehmann struggling for position, took aim and found the net to set the game up once again. Then on 54 minutes came the turning point of a close game as Kolo Toure picked up his second yellow of the afternoon. Everton took control and soon took the lead. The Toffees were awarded a free kick just outside the box, and as newly appointed set piece expert Hysen stepped up, the crowd and Murphy held their breath. Would this be a moment of inspired managerial genius? Of course!! Hysen stepped up and curled a fantastic left footed curler into the roof of the net. Cure delirium on the Everton bench.... And better was to come. In the final 10 minutes Everton broke, substitute Koren picking out a fantastic pass to Hysen once again. The Swede, in his best game in an Everton shirt, neatly sidestepped Lehmann and the despairing dive of Ashley Cole, to slot the ball home. 3-1 game over...The Premiership shocked into a deathly silence. I loved it.... Charlton 1 - 3 Everton Naturally the club was on a high approaching this fixture and unsurprisingly, Murphy stuck with the same 11 who had defeated Arsenal the week before. On 3 minutes, we were in front with a tremendous individual goal from Tobias Hysen. As the ball bounced on the left flank, 40 yards from goal, Hysen looked up and spotted Kiely off his line. Bang...there went the shot and the net rippled..Fantastic!! It lasted 5 minutes, then the Addicks were level, scoring from a corner routine. Not to be denied, Everton kept plugging away, and in two minutes in the second half, killed the game. Zurawski slotting home two neat finishes, the second in particular memorable for an excellent through ball by Czech U21 international Tomas Sivok. Two games gone and Everton were sitting proudly at the top of the Premiership. West Brom 2 - 2 Everton Having picked up a few injuries in the previous games, a small reshuffle was required for the trip to Chris Morris' WBA. The Hawthorns is not an easy ground to visit, but I was quite pleased to be going there as Morris struggles to find a replacement for Matu, although unfortunately for us, Brazilian Dagoberto was signed by Albion just in time to make his debut against us. Albion got off to a flyer, a rocket shot from 30 yards beating Cavallero all ends up less than a minute in. However, Everton are putting a lot more faith in their system and continued to play their game and began to dominate, with odd moments of danger from Zonneveld on the Albion left. On around 21 minutes, Everton drew level, the Pole Zurawski netting his fourth of the season from close range. At this stage I felt we would go on and win, but we were rocked when a moment of skill from Zonneveld and a pinpoint cross, was met with a bullet header by the Albion holding midfielder. 2-1 down and it was undeserved but the fact of the matter. Into the second half and Everton continued to have the better highlights, but were not really troubling Labont in the Albion goal too much. With time running out, Murphy withdrew his defensive midfielder, moved Zurawski to the right flank and brought on Calaio and Piovaccari - an all Italian strike duo - whist increasing the tempo and widening our attack. And did it pay dividends...yes, as Albion held on ever so desperately, the inevitable equaliser arrived with about 5 minutes to go, Piovaccari remaining composed when through on goal with his first chance in an Everton shirt. All in all a good point against a good side. Everton 1 - 2 Manchester United Well we were undone by Man Utd at Goodison, a bit unfortunately I have to add as we attacked them well after going two goals down, pulling a goal back through Zurawski from the penalty spot. However, United are a strong side and our aim remains to get into Europe this season, not to actually win the league. We finish the session in fifth spot (I think) with my only concern being - Where is that tight arse defence??? I think Green may be called in for his debut pretty soon. 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BelfastNiall Posted February 18, 2005 Author Share Posted February 18, 2005 Tables online. 2005/06 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ligs Posted February 18, 2005 Share Posted February 18, 2005 Steady start for Boro 3 games gone and Boro remain unbeaten: any other EPL managers care to comment on how many games they've lost so far? Game 1: Chelsea 1-1 Boro Despite having the hardest fixture of the season on the opening day, I was glad for it, getting it out of the way, and facing the possibility that Chelsea might be a little rusty. This seemed to be the case, as the 1st half passed along without either team creating a great deal. But Chelsea did take the lead, Geremi (38) firing home from 12 yards. 2 minutes into the 2nd half and Boro were almost level, when Nicky Butt (who scored the winning penalty in the UEFA Cup final - i'll be mentioning that victory in every report, so get used to it ) headed a Downing corner against the post. This wasn't a sign of things to come though, as the more Boro pushed for an equaliser, the more exposed they left themselves to Chelsea counter attacks, although Chelsea couldn't get that crucial 2nd goal. And just when it all looked over, it was Boro who did a swift counter attack of their own, Matusovic playing a great ball through for Hasselbaink (89) to slot home with just 30 seconds of normal time remaining. An excellent away point, especially considering we got drubbed 4-1 here last season. Boro 3-1 Birmingham Dann King brought his boys to the Riverside, lining up with an aggresive 3-4-3 formation. Boro controlled the game from start to finish, Boteng headed against the bar on 20 minutes, but it took them 40 minutes to have their first shot on target. This did go in however, Mikel Arteta grabbing his first goal for the club. Both teams lost men either side of the break to injury, Morrison and Butt the unlucky players. 60 minutes in and Birmingham raised their first (and indeed last) attack of the game, and they equalised, Robbie Savage's wayward shot hit skipper Mellberg and the ball trickled into the corner: an unjust equaliser. But just when it looked like being a very lucky day for King, that man again Hasselbaink (88) again got on the end of a Matusovic pass, heading home just in the knick of time. Then in injury time, Upson brought down Hakan Yakin, and Mendieta (90) calmly slotted home the penalty. A deserved win, although for a long time it looked like it wasn't coming. Bolton 0-0 Boro A deeply frustrating game, against a poor and ultra defensive Bolton side being controlled by their assistant in the absence of manager Pagi II. On this evidence we could soon be seeing Pagi III in charge, as his team were awful, relying on Jussi Jaaskelainen to rescue them time and time again. The nearest Boro came was when Boateng hit the bar from a header for the second game running, meaning Boro had struck the woodwork in each of their games so far this season. Bolton didn't muster a shot on goal all game, and indeed their only 2 "shots at goal" were hopeful 25 yarders from Mansiz. Another away draw, 2 points dropped without a doubt. European Super Cup: Boro 1-2 Chelsea Much to Niall Murphy's relief (it's nice that my progress affects him so much ) Boro couldn't add another trophy to their cabinet. Boro fielded a team made of mainly players who'd expect to find themsleves on the bench at best this season, with the odd exception, and all was going well, they were the better team, until one of those exceptions Matusovic (21) dared to score. This angered Chelsea who replied through Cole (36) and Lampard (39) Chelsea sat back for the rest of the game, but Boro couldn't quite get that equaliser. Just like last years cup final, Chelsea edged an extremely competetive and tight game to take the silverware. 3 games gone, W1 D2 L0 F4 A2 Pts5, Boro lie 8th in the league with a game in hand. A solid start, far better than last season Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dunga99 Posted February 19, 2005 Share Posted February 19, 2005 Season 2.. Well my first season in EPL starts and with the bookies already offering odds 100-1 for the title I guess I can rule that out I would be more than happy keeping Birmingham City in the premiership this season and maybe having a good cup run to keep the fans and board happy. The board expects a safe mid table finish but it may take time for the footballs get used to the way I want them to play. Top pundit Ligs has gave his predictions on Birmingham City success this season. League – 10th -I be more than happy with this finish but I can't see me finishing so high this season. FA Cup – 5th round -Again another good prediction for me but it depends on the draws I get. League Cup – 3rd round -I hoping to go all the way in the league cup if the other managers don't take it that seriously. A couple more transfer dealing to tell you about are. Players In.. Lewis Buxton from Newcastle for 35k Buxton move from Portsmouth to Newcastle didn't work out in the way he had hoped for, so after Newcastle were relegated to the Championship and a new manager was installed who didn't rate Buxton that highly. He was put on the transfer market for 35k which I was only to happy to pay. Southampton also bid but I think the offer of more money won him over. In a statment to the press King said <BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">I admits there are "Still a few irons in the fire" in terms of transfer window signings. I've identified the two players we would like to improve us and, if we manage to get them, then it will be great. but if we don't then I've got nothing else lined up at all for the transfer window because I don't think people will be available. I am not going to bring in people for the sake of us who do not enhance the quality of the current squad at our disposal. </div></BLOCKQUOTE> Players Out.. Ian Bennett to Sunderland for free After picking up Richard Wright, Ian Bennett was no longer in my plans. So after 11 great years service to Birmingham City I gave the lad a free transfer in the hope he could find first team football. My Team for the start of season 2 GK Richard Wright Not to sure if I will stick with him or go with Maik Taylor this season. Wright needs to improve his kicking to stay in the team. DC Riggott A good strong defender who at the age of 24 can only improve. DC Upson Maybe my best defender in the team. I be looking to him for leadership on the pitch. DC Melchiot My weakest link in defence but will stick with him until Buxton can show me what he can do. DML Traora Couldn't cut in at Liverpool so what makes him think he can cut it here. Will be looking to replace him when I can. DMR Welsh Still only young but hoping he will make that spot his within the team. MC Savage He is my engine in midfield running all over the pitch and hopfully making a few goals. MC Dunn The player with flair and creativity in my team the can score goals. FC Forssell Star man***** Hoping his goals will keep us in this league amd still younger. FC Heskey Donkey, Donkey, Donkey, Donkey, Donkey and Donkey is all I can say about him. FC Morrison Another donkey but not as bad as Heskey will keep him in the team until I can get someone else in. Premiership Game 1 Birmingham City 0 Aston Villa 1 Angel 76 Man of the Match: Sorensen 8/10 Aston Villa Attendance-29971 Refereed by Martin Reid My first Premiership game in charge and it dosen't come much bigger at home to local rivals Aston Villa who only a few days earlier after the retirement of Mark Smallwood had placed former Birmingham City manager big Sam Allardyce as there new manager. The first half we was all over them and if it wasn't for Sorensen making some good save's we could have been 1 or 2 nil up by half time. Second half was more even with Aston Villa only real effort on goals coming via long shots. Then on the 74 minute Allardyce throws on Angel and within 2 minutes he scores the winning goal from 25 yards. After the game I admitt my team's failings in front of goal were a source of concern after the 1-0 defeat at home to Aston Villa. "We've had 70% of the possession, a lot of opportunities, but the simple fact is if you don't score a goal then you do have a big problem on your hands. 1-0 Defeat Premiership Game 2 Middlesbrough 3 Arteta 40 Hasselbaink 80 Mendieta pen 90 Birmingham City 1 Melberg og 59 Man of the Match: Dowining 8/10 Middlesbrough Attendance-35076 Refereed by Neale Barry Next game was current UEFA cup champions Middlesbrough managed by ligs. Before the game the big news for Birmingham City fans was Forssell was out after picking up an injury playing for Finland I went there with a game plan to try and nick a goal and keep it tight and 1st half its seemed to be working until the 40 min when Mikel Arteta scores with there first shot on target. After the break I went to a aggresive 3-4-3 formation to try and get my team back into the game. With my first attack of the game Robbie Savage's wayward shot hit Mellberg and the ball trickled into the corner to level the game 1-1. My team was holding on until Matusovic pass hit Hasselbaink on the ass and went in To add insult to injury the ref who had a bad game all day gave Middlesbrough a pen which Mendieta put away 90 min. Now I know why he got the name lucky Ligs 3-1 Defeat Final 2nd leg Birmingham City 1 Forssell 10 Atalanta 1 Saudati 39 Man of the Match: Taibi 9/10 Atalanta Attendance-29997 Refereed by Carlos Davila Thank god Forssell was back was back for this game but I didn't hold out much hope as he was only 92% fit and we were already 2 goals down. What I needed was a couple of early goals and within 10 minutes Forssell had given Birmingham City a 1-0 lead. After that it was all Birmingham City and again we came up against the team bus that is Taibi who was making save after save but then Atalanta hit us on the break via Saudati and now knowing we would need to score another 3 goal past Taibi I knew the game was up. Second half I withdraw Forssell to try and keep him fit for the next league game and the game ended with little highlighs in the second half. 1-1 Draw More to follow soon Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
BelfastNiall Posted February 20, 2005 Author Share Posted February 20, 2005 I'm afraid there will no game tonight lads, I'm as sick as a dog. Hope to be back on Tuesday. Laters Niall Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
BelfastNiall Posted February 22, 2005 Author Share Posted February 22, 2005 Just to let you know, I won't be ready to resume the game until Thursday evening. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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