How to make your way in the Primera Liga (or not as the case may be)

[Dixie Flatline]

After exhorting my players to try harder to keep possession and attack Celta Vigo at the break, I’m gratified to see us have the first meaningful shot at goal in the second half as Notman thumps another rocket towards goal, only to have Asper scramble across in time to tip it away. Then we lose Jaime Garrido to what turns out later to be a broken toe on 51 minutes - Juan Hernández replaces him with Clegg going to right of midfield. It doesn’t seem to faze us, however, as an intricate move beginning with Hernández is finished off magnificently well by Notman, who chips Asper from 20 yards! It stuns the boisterous home crowd and sets Celta’s players back on their heels. Redondo almost adds to our lead on 63 minutes when he smashes a clever shot with the outside of his foot towards goal, but the Swedish keeper is good enough to stop it from going in. Vidal saves against all odds a moment later from Xavi when the midfielder seemed destined to score, and I begin to believe that we might, just might, come out of here with all three points. Lasa is doing brilliantly at the back, and I’m loathe to upset the balance of the side.

On 74 minutes, Hernández flights a very clever ball into the path of Michel, but the winger can’t head the ball accurately enough to evade Asper’s out-stretched finger tips, and we have to settle for a corner. Notman thumps a volley from Lasa’s flick-on towards goal, but again that Swede is there to deny us. Michel, a moment later, sends in a teasing cross designed for Redondo to have a crack, yet Asper is good enough to save from him, too! It’s becoming frustrating and then when the referee starts awarding dubious decisions against us, I think it’s only a matter of time before we concede. Redondo hits a brilliant half-volley shot with a few moments to go. However, Asper is there to stop it going in, and then when he saves from Hernández’s shot, the sheer odds see the ball finally drop at a Celta Vigo player’s feet, and Astudillo manages to send it down field, where Smith is adjudged, harshly, to have fouled Diego Ribera. Up steps veteran midfielder Julen Guerrero, and he rescues an undeserved point for his club. Hernández sends a shot drifting inches wide of the mark in injury time, but justice is denied today.

It’s made worse by the news filtering through from Barcelona that Espanyol did indeed defeat Real Madrid 4-2. We could have been top at the end of this afternoon. Instead, we’re still second, although we’re now tied on points.

Celta Vigo (4-3-2-1): Asper; Domínguez, Quique Ãlvarez, Marchena ©, Tuzzio (Carlos 69); Xavi, Astudillo, Morales (Casquero 62); Gustavo López, McCarthy (Guerrero 62); Diego Ribera.

Cartagonova (4-1-2-1-2): Vidal ©; Lacruz, Smith, Lasa, César; Gavião; Michel, Garrido (Hernández 51); Clegg; Redondo, Notman.

Final score: Celta Vigo 1:1 Cartagonova

MoM - Mattias Asper

The physios diagnose Jaime Garrido as suffering from a broken toe. It’ll take about ten days to heal properly, so he is touch and go for the coming Saturday’s international friendly against England.

[Dixie Flatline]

22nd of March 2008

International Friendly - Spain v England

So, I hope you all have your tickets for this big game which pits two of Europe’s biggest football countries (although both have a history of choking at the tournaments!). Spain currently lies third on FIFA’s international ratings, behind the Netherlands and Argentina, while England is eleventh overall. I can tell you that Jaime Garrido failed a medical this morning and is ruled out of contention for the game, and I decide that Ballesteros’ recent form does not merit a game today. Otherwise, Cartagonova is well-represented in Spain’s first choice eleven, with Vidal, César, Gavião and José Manuel Redondo all participating in the game from the start. So, at Barcelona’s Nou Camp, in front of around 65,000 fans, we kick off the game. It’s a very slow start to the game, and it isn’t until the 40th minute that we finally unleash our wealth of attacking options upon England. But it is worth the wait, as Oakes’ mis-hit goal kick is picked off by Gavião, playing his role to perfection. The midfielder finds Gerard, who flicks the ball onto the clever Raúl, and the striker has his 52nd goal in his 102nd game for his country. A moment later, Redondo has the ball in the back of the net after he converts Vicente’s cross, but the linesman adjudicates that Angulo was off-side when Vicente played the pass, so the goal does not count. However, the fans are quite happy with the scoresheet at half-time, as we continue to lead England through the captain’s goal.

Straight after half-time, Kevin Keegan’s men throw caution to the wind and attack us, with Gary Birch unlucky to hit Vidal’s cross-bar two minutes into the second half. In search of inspiration, Keegan gives a debut to Clegg, who comes on to replace Mark Williams of West Ham. On the other hand, I take off Vicente and replace the Roma winger with Deportivo’s Mista. On 68 minutes, Redondo livens up the crowd with a spectacular bicycle kick attempt on goal that Thompson, on for the substituted Oakes, does well to get his hand to. From Angulo’s corner, however, Gerard outleaps Clegg and meets the ball with a powerful header to double our lead! Clegg then proceeds to lose the ball from kick-off, and quickly Gerard puts the ball ahead of Redondo, and my striker doesn’t let me down, crashing home a veering, dipping rocket that gives Thompson no chance of stopping! England aren’t quite finished yet, and Keith Lyons finds a way past Iván Amaya to head Kevin Davies’ cross wide of Vidal’s goal, and with six minutes to play, they pull a consolation goal back through Bradley Maylett. But we finish the game stronger, as substitutes Diego Ribera and Artur miss chances to extend the lead. I’m fairly happy with our performance, and I look forward to the re-match at Wembley Stadium in a month.

Spain (4-3-1-2): Vidal; Borja, Amaya, Marchena, César; Vicente (Mista 59), Gavião (Artur 82), Angulo (Zubizarreta 82); Gerard; Raúl © (Ribera 82), Redondo.

England (4-4-2): Oakes (Dyer 67); Upson, Iriekpen, Richardson (Howe 54), Neville ©; Bullard (Jeffers 85), Gerrard (Thompson 67), Hardy, Williams (Clegg 54); Benjamin (Maylett 54), Birch (Lyons 54).

Final score: Spain 3:1 England

MoM - Gerard

In other international friendly games played in Europe this afternoon, Jean-François Gillet’s Belgium lost 2-1 to Bulgaria in Sofia, with Gillet in goal for the Belgians. Not even a late brace from Peter Madsen could save Denmark against Russia in Copenhagen, as the Danes, with Martin Smith playing, lost 3-2 to Russia. However, Alex Notman enjoyed more success as he hit two goals in Scotland’s 5-0 hammering of Austria at Hampden Park, despite losing Manchester United’s veteran defender Scott Walker to a red card after 54 minutes. Kristian Tanem scored one of Norway’s four goals, and Per Vener Rønning also played the first half, as Norway thrashed Yugoslavia 4-1 in Belgrade. However, Rønning comes back to his club with a gashed leg that will keep him out of football for a fortnight.

In other interesting results, Croatia defeated the Czech Republic 3-0, Greece upset Ireland 2-1 at Lansdowne Road, while France had both goalkeepers sent off in an extraordinary game against Italy in the Stadio Olimpico. Unsurprisingly, Italy ran out 5-0 winners against the 1998 World Cup winner. Northern Ireland enjoyed success on the road as they defeated Lithuania 2-1 in Vilnius, while Sweden defeated Romania 3-1 in Stockholm. Co-host Wales also celebrated a friendly victory in her build-up to Euro 2008 by defeating Albania 2-1 at the Millennium Stadium. Portugal and the Ukraine were forced to call it even in Lisbon after they drew 1-1 all.

Keep smiling!

Dixie Flatline

[Guest]

Senor Flatline, your tale is truly enjoyable to read - I spent the better part of this afternoon skimming through the thread all the way from page one. For newbies to story telling like myself, this should be a 'must-read' as an example of how matches and club management can be brought to life. I'm only in the third month of my first attempt at CM Stories and at CM itself, and I'd love to be able to keep readers interested for a lengthy period, as you have. Keep it up!

Chris

[Dixie Flatline]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by dagrims:

Senor Flatline, your tale is truly enjoyable to read - I spent the better part of this afternoon skimming through the thread all the way from page one. For newbies to story telling like myself, this should be a 'must-read' as an example of how matches and club management can be brought to life. I'm only in the third month of my first attempt at CM Stories and at CM itself, and I'd love to be able to keep readers interested for a lengthy period, as you have. Keep it up!

Chris<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Thanks very much Chris! I'm very glad you enjoyed the story and that you feel this to be a "must-read". I try my best! I'm not done just yet, so keep reading!

Dixie

[Dixie Flatline]

The show must go on!

22nd of March 2008 (cont.)

After the game, I’m informed that Spain has been drawn in Group 6 of the European Qualifiers for the World Cup along with the powerhouses of European and world football, Armenia, Georgia, Malta, Poland and Wales! In the other groups, Group 1 brings together Bosnia, Bulgaria, Lithuania, Sweden and Turkey. The Czech Republic, Estonia, FYROM, Slovakia and the Ukraine are in Group 2. England, Finland, Greece, Luxembourg and Portugal form Group 3, while Group 4 sees the Faeroe Islands, Italy, Moldova, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Yugoslavia battle for qualification for the World Cup. In Group 5, there are Belarus, Belgium, Croatia, Latvia and Switzerland, while Group 7 pulls together Cyprus, Hungary, Romania, Russia and Slovenia. In Group 8, there are Albania, Andorra, Denmark, the Netherlands, Ireland and Israel. Finally, Group 9 boasts Austria, Azerbaijan, France, Iceland, Norway and San Marino. The matches kick off at the end of August.

In the meantime, African World Cup qualifiers kick off rather sooner. I’m contacted by representatives of Senegal, Nigeria and Cameroon, asking respectively for the services of Djibril Diawara, Shola Ameobi and Salomon Olembé.

[Dixie Flatline]

24th of March 2008

My first ever assistant manager, Trobiani, calls me to tell me that he resigned from his post as manager of Éibar today. It was only a matter of time, though, before he was sacked. He didn’t even have a full playing complement, and almost always had to rely upon ring-ins to fill the numbers. No wonder his former club is struggling to avoid the drop out of the league altogether. Too bad I don’t have a place for him any more at my club.

26th of March 2008

Primera Liga - Game 30: Cartagonova v Alavés

After the fun of blowing England off the pitch last weekend, it’s back to the bread-and-butter of the football world - club football. With Real Madrid not playing until the weekend, we have a golden opportunity before us to put the pressure right back on them if we can score points - preferably three - against Alavés, who lie a respectable fifth on the table going into today’s game. They begin the game treating us with plenty of respect, but the irrepressible Alex Notman quickly disabuses them of that notion when he fires a hurried volley over the bar after just four minutes of play. On 10 minutes, he hits a free kick towards Dudek’s goal, but unfortunately, Lakis gets in the way and it deflects away for a wasted corner. But on 24 minutes, we give the Alavés defence too much to think about. Lacruz finds Elias Krantz in the area, and the Swedish winger touches the ball into the path of Clegg. The English international immediately thunders a cracking shot towards goal, which Dudek can do nought but parry straight into the path of the gleeful Gavião, who puts us in the lead on 25 minutes! With 12 minutes to play in the half, Notman thumps a header towards goal that Dudek does well to get a couple of fingers to, but right on the stroke of half-time, the Alavés defence cracks once more, and once again a rebound is at the heart of Alavés’ problems. Redondo cleverly plays in Michel cutting in from the left, and the winger lashes a drive towards Dudek’s goal, but the Polish keeper manages to claw it away. However, it falls nicely into the path of Clegg, and before anybody can react, he doubles our lead!

Notman is a constant menace to Alavés, and Dudek is again busy after the break (on 52 minutes, to be exact) trying to stop the Scotsman adding to his already impressive scoring record for the club. A moment later, and Clegg forces another corner with an excellent header matched by an excellent save from Dudek. On 58 minutes, Clegg orchestrates the corner for Michel to have a crack and again Dudek is required to stop us going to 3-0 ahead. On 67 minutes, I decide to give Juan Hernández a go, replacing the tiring Clegg. On 82 minutes, we score our third goal of the game when Lacruz overlaps brilliantly down the left, picks up Michel’s pass, and crosses it into the box where Notman rises above the Alavés defence to thump a header into the top corner of Dudek’s net! It is his 50th league goal for the club in a short, but brilliant career for Cartagonova!

Cartagonova (4-3-1-2): Vidal ©; Lacruz, Gershon, Lasa, César; Michel, Gavião, Krantz; Clegg (Hernández 67); Redondo, Notman.

Alavés (4-4-2): Dudek; Hill, José, Altena, Contra ©; Sávio (Estecha 56), Ismael Ruiz (Giuly 63), Lakis, Lara; Iván Pérez (Figueroa 56), Epitié.

Final score: Cartagonova 3:0 Alavés

MoM - Gavião

The board is delighted about the excellent victory that we notched up, and since it is our thirtieth league game of the season, I should put up the league table:

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

Pos Team Pld Won Drn Lst For Ag Won Drn Lst For Ag Pts

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

1st Cartagonova 30 15 1 0 46 15 6 5 3 29 21 69

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

2nd Real Madrid 29 12 1 2 35 21 9 2 3 27 15 66

3rd Barcelona 30 9 4 2 32 19 10 1 4 30 17 62

4th Celta 30 9 3 3 22 11 8 2 5 21 18 56

5th Alavés 30 10 2 3 26 12 5 6 4 17 18 53

6th Valencia 29 9 1 5 35 24 5 4 5 17 23 47

7th Elche 29 7 1 6 21 19 6 2 7 21 25 42

8th Real Sociedad 29 6 4 4 25 16 5 4 6 19 21 41

9th Athletic Bilbao 30 7 5 3 22 17 3 4 8 14 23 39

10th Espanyol 29 8 4 3 27 17 3 2 9 14 25 39

11th Betis 30 5 3 7 21 20 6 2 7 13 17 38

12th Numancia 30 6 2 6 19 18 4 5 7 16 25 37

13th Villarreal 29 5 3 6 18 16 5 3 7 14 24 36

14th Racing Santander 30 4 4 6 13 15 5 5 6 18 27 36

15th Sporting Gijón 30 5 5 6 16 18 4 3 7 13 18 35

16th Osasuna 29 4 5 6 13 16 5 1 8 18 20 33

17th Extremadura 30 6 4 4 14 10 3 2 11 18 33 33

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

18th Deportivo 29 6 2 7 13 18 2 5 7 11 15 31

19th Levante 30 3 3 9 12 20 3 3 9 10 18 24

20th Sevilla 30 1 4 10 11 26 1 0 14 8 38 10

</pre>

Elsewhere in Europe, going first to England, Arsenal has just about wrapped up the title with eight games to go. After 30 matches, they enjoy a 20 point lead over closest rival to the title, Watford, and can wrap up the title if they pick up some points against 12th-placed Middlesbrough on Teesside next weekend. Behind Watford are Newcastle and Liverpool, while defending champion Charlton is more concerned about surviving the drop than letting its crown go, as they are in 16th position, just three points clear of the drop zone. Currently, Luton, Bradford and Manchester City fill the relegation positions. It is much, much closer in Italy. The top four clubs in Italy are separated by only four points with seven games to play. Lazio leads AC Milan by a point, and AC Milan has the same gap back to third-placed Bari. But Bari only have one point to play with over AS Roma. At the other end of the table, Treviso, Pistoiese, Ancona and Foggia seem set to be relegated at the end of the season. In Portugal, Benfica holds a five point lead over Porto with 27 games played. Chaves lies in third position, but already trail Porto by eight points, and Benfica by 13 points. At the other end, Espinho, Braga and Farense are on course for the unwanted sinking feeling.

Sevilla’s Señor Carlos Tornadijo resigns from his position as manager, admitting defeat in an increasingly lost cause. His club lies rock-bottom of the Primera Liga, with only two victories from thirty games. They are fourteen points behind the next worse club in the league, Levante, and an astonishing 23 points from safety with eight games to play, so they will be relegated if they drop any further points from now.

[Dixie Flatline]

30th of March 2008

Glasgow Rangers makes me sit up straight in my bed when I’m contacted by a representative of their manager, Mr Dick Advocaat, who verbally offers me £7.75 million for George Clegg. The offer becomes written by the time I reach the fax machine, but it still doesn’t change my mind. A player of George’s qualities and calibre is worth at least £10 million, and nothing less should be paid to the club for me to consider selling him.

Primera Liga - Game 31: Racing Santander v Cartagonova

“... Cartagonova overcame a very stubborn Racing Santander to consolidate its grip upon top spot in the Primera Liga by running out 3-2 winners at El Sardinero. But they were certainly not at the peak of their form, and the Barcelona scouts in the 10,000 strong crowd would not have been too impressed with the form of the defending champion ahead of Wednesday’s crucial first leg in the European Champions' League quarter-finals. In fact, it was just an eight minute stretch of brilliance, separated by the half-time break, that allowed Cartagonova to take all three points back to the south of Spain as Racing Santander was often the better club for long stretches in the game. A remarkably simple move after just 10 minutes unlocked Cartagonova’s defence and Ivan Leko was the man to benefit when he drove a crashing shot past Vidal. Racing then did well to deny Cartagonova an opportunity to hit back until the 33rd minute when English international George Clegg picked off Nuno’s poor goal kick and tried to catch the keeper off-guard with a viciously struck shot, but Nuno managed to get his finger-tips to the shot to spare his blushes. But with their next attack, Cartagonova struck gold. Gavião and Gershon combined to put the ball ahead of Redondo, and the wily striker cunningly found his team-mate Alex Notman. However, the Scotsman still had plenty to do as Urbano marked him tightly. The striker, though, was too good for the Racing defender and he scored a magnificent bending effort for his 30th goal of the season so far.

“Cartagonova didn’t spend long on level terms, as just on the stroke of the break, Gavião teed up Michel for a jinking run down the left side of the midfield. Michel cut past Jorge and fired a low, stinging drive into the bottom right corner of Nuno’s net to put Cartagonova into the lead going into the interval. Eight minutes into the second half, and Cartagonova had the lead out to 3-1 as Lasa played a clever pass to the feet of Notman, and the striker did the rest from 20 yards. He almost had his hat-trick on 59 minutes, but a quick turn and snap-shot was too much for him to master and the shot veered well wide of the mark. Redondo and Krantz both missed good chances to extend Cartagonova’s lead after the hour mark, but with eleven minutes to play Leyder Preciado gave the home side a chance of sneaking a point when he converted Toñito’s cross. At the end of the game, Cartagonova had their midfield dynamo Gavião sent off for headbutting Urrutia, and it is expected that the Spanish international will face the Spanish FA’s disciplinary committee tomorrow night to face further ban on top of the one match automatic suspension. It was the only sour note on an otherwise entertaining game, but still Cartagonova maintain their newfound favouritism for the title, as Real Madrid lost to Alavés 3-1 on the road and are now six points behind Cartagonova, although with a game in hand…â€

Racing Santander (4-4-2): Nuno; Baños (Neru 61), Urbano, Jorge ©, Urrutia; Leko, Jonathan, Diego, Husaín (Toñito 61); Butra, Preciado.

Cartagonova (4-1-2-1-2): Vidal ©; Lacruz (Ballesteros 59), Gershon, Lasa, César; Gavião; Michel (Djordjic 74), Krantz; Clegg; Redondo (Carreño 74), Notman.

Final score: Racing Santander 2:3 Cartagonova

MoM - Jorge

After the game, I officially warn José María Lacruz for a poor performance, which he accepts without comment, and Gavião for being sent off, an act which he apologises for.

[Dixie Flatline]

31st of March 2008

“… Making news this hour in Spanish football, Cartagonova and Spanish international midfielder Gavião has been banned for eight league further matches after he was sent off for head-butting Racing Santander’s Urrutia yesterday at El Sardinero. The incident occurred in stoppage time at the end of the game and left the Racing Santander defender requiring treatment after the game. Gavião, appearing with his solicitor and club officials before the Spanish FA disciplinary committee, refused to comment after the hearing was concluded, with the club spokesman saying that the club would also impose discipline on the midfielder. With Cartagonova due to play only six further league games this season, it puts Gavião’s place in the national squad in jeopardy, although he is still eligible to participate in Cartagonova’s European Champions' League campaign…â€

Well, I suppose I was expecting the news to be this bad. You don’t get away with head-butting an opponent on the pitch these days, and Gavião certainly couldn’t complain about the punishment he has received from the Spanish FA. It is only fair. I’m going to miss his drive, however, and with Tanem yet to properly settle in and produce consistent efforts in the centre of the park, I’m worried that we might slip up in the league without Gavião there to hold it all together.

1st of April 2008

“… Cartagonova manager, Señor Dixie Flatline, has joined Valencia, Lazio and Real Betis in offering Segunda Liga club, Real Zaragoza £2.6 million for Yugoslav defender Milan Martinovic. Capped 41 times for his country, Milan is a utility defender capable of playing in the centre of defence or in midfield, and his skills mean he wouldn’t be out of place at any of those clubs. At 28 years of age, he is certainly experienced enough to cope with the demands of regular first team football, and obviously Señor Flatline sees him as a valuable addition to the squad, if he can land his man. Real Zaragoza is yet to accept any offer for the Yugoslav international, however, but it appears almost certain that after Euro 2008, he will be at a new club.

“In other transfer news, it has come to light that Cartagonova has again rejected an offer, rumoured to be in the vicinity of £6.75 million, from Glasgow Rangers for Scottish international striker Alex Notman. Notman has generated a fair amount of interest recently, but his club has issued a press release telling other clubs firmly that he is not for sale at any price. His arrival at Cartagonova has coincided with the club’s most successful period of its brief but illustrious history, and he already has over 30 goals this season and is on course to exceed the 35 goals he scored in last season. He will be pivotal to Scotland’s chances at the forthcoming Euro 2008, but Señor Flatline is determined to ensure that he will not remain in Scotland after the tournament has concluded.â€

How is the media so good at ferreting out this type of news? I thought I had done a good job of keeping it quiet. I suppose it is, however, April Fool’s Day, so somebody would feel obliged to drop a dime to the press.

2nd of April 2008

My terse treatment of their earlier offers do not deter Glasgow from making a bid of £8 million for Alex Notman. This for a striker I personally rate worth at least £20 million, so you can quickly figure out my response to their latest bid.

“… Cartagonova manager, Señor Dixie Flatline, announced this morning that his club will sign Bosnian international forward Zlatan Muslimovic from Borussia Dortmund for £5 million after Euro 2008. The 26 year old forward has spent three seasons with the former European champion without making much of an impact, but Señor Flatline believes that his investment will be repaid handsomely. The tall, powerful forward is excellent with the ball at his feet, and like most forwards, doesn’t mind having a crack. He will have to battle the likes of George Clegg, Jaime Garrido and Byron Bubb for a place in Cartagonova’s starting eleven, but Señor Flatline welcomes his addition to the squad…â€

This move only appeared recently when it became known to me through the right contacts that Zlatan was becoming disillusioned with his lack of regular football at Dortmund. I quickly made the right offer, and while Zlatan was hesitant at first in uprooting himself to another country with another language, a signing on fee to the tune of £2 million quickly eased that burden substantially - but don’t tell the club accountants! He is certainly experienced on the international stage, collecting 47 caps for 21 goals, which is quite a healthy strike rate considering he represents Bosnia! He should be good for the club, I think.

European Champions' League - Quarter-Final, 1st leg: Cartagonova v Barcelona

It’s almost an impossible task of my team to win a game against Barcelona without conceding a goal in the process. It is the dream result, but in eighteen previous games against Barcelona, we’ve only done it three times - a 2-0 win at the Estádio Municipál de Cartagena in the first time we played Barcelona, a 0-0 draw in the Nou Camp, and a 4-0 win at the Estádio Municipál de Cartagena. Further, Barcelona will look to avenge the 6-2 blow-out we handed to them earlier this season, and I’m sure they will be a lot tougher to crack today. What I don’t count on is my strikers being absolutely useless in front of goal, especially Alex Notman. We engineer a typical move on 11 minutes with Notman at the finishing point, but he sprays what should be an easy goal way over Laínez’s bar, who is made to work much harder when Clegg has a go five minutes later. Unfortunately for us, he makes the save.

After defending for 27 minutes, Barcelona finally venture forward, and Argentine striker Cristian Bardaro draws the best out of Vidal with a thumping drive that the Spanish No. 1 manages to claw away. Before Ronaldo can react, César is there to tackle the Brazilian international. We sweep the ball down the other end, but Notman undoes all our good work with a wayward shot that ends up closer to the corner flag than the goal. In the meantime, the triumvirate of Barcelona strikers again opens up my defence and Vidal comes to the rescue with a fine save from a Kluivert header on 33 minutes. Two minutes later, and Vidal has another highlight for his own tape, while I’m furiously gesturing towards the defenders to tighten up on Barcelona’s danger-men. It doesn’t work as Kluivert hits the bar on 40 minutes but at least we give them something to think about as in injury time, Gershon tests Laínez with a well-crafted free kick that is unfortunately not quite good enough to sneak past the Spanish No. 2. Six minutes after half-time, my warnings and rants go right out the window as Brighi’s pinpoint 30 yard pass is controlled expertly by Kluivert, who leaves Lasa trailing in his wake, and then thunders a drive past Vidal into the back of our net. We seriously haven’t looked like scoring today, and Barcelona can take back a dreaded away goal to the Nou Camp in a fortnight.

This is not good, but nine minutes later, Michel gives me hope that we can salvage something out of this evening when he scores from 30 yards to cap a fine Cartagonova move that shows the home crowd what we’re capable of. With 12 minutes left, Notman and Redondo try to turn provider for Michel, but Laínez is there to stop us taking the lead. At the break in play while Garrido organises the corner, I withdraw Notman from action and replace him with Carreño. Michel finds sufficient space to get a header towards goal, but it doesn’t trouble Laínez at all. Five minutes left, and it is that man Kluivert who causes me grief when he waltzes through my tiring defence and tests Vidal one more time. Vidal is equal to the task, thankfully. Carreño should have, however, won it for us but he misses two glorious opportunities in the last couple of moments and we have an uphill struggle to reach the final four of the competition.

Cartagonova (4-3-1-2): Vidal ©; Lacruz, Gershon, Lasa, César; Michel, Gavião, Garrido; Clegg; Redondo, Notman (Carreño 78).

Barcelona (4-3-2-1): Laínez; Zanetti, André Luiz, Cannavaro, Varela; Brighi, De La Rosa (Haaland 91), Gerard ©; Ronaldo (Jorge 62), Bardaro (Alex 54); Kluivert.

Final score: Cartagonova 1:1 Barcelona

MoM - Patrick Kluivert

At least I can salvage something from the night as news filters through from the Santiago Bernabéu that Real Madrid lost yet again - their third straight loss in the league - this time to Osasuna 1-0 at home! We’re slated to meet them next week at the Estádio Municipál de Cartagena, and if we win, we extend our lead at the top to nine points with six games to play in the season!

Keep smiling!

Dixie Flatline

[Guest]

I'm only up to Pg 8, but felt I HAD to reply when, by the looks of things, it seems you are a Hawthorn man. It's been extremely entertaining reading to this point, and I will be cheering doubly as hard for you with this revelation. KUTGW and carn the Hawks!

[Guest]

Dixie,

So far, i have only read parts of this Epic tale but i will devote my life from now on reading it all starting with your (second) attempt when you aplied for the job at Cartagonova from Seville.

It's great!

When you finish this (or should i say if you finish this??), it's a Hall of Fame thing no doubt!

It kept me smiling

[Dixie Flatline]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by hermolt:

I'm only up to Pg 8, but felt I HAD to reply when, by the looks of things, it seems you are a Hawthorn man. It's been extremely entertaining reading to this point, and I will be cheering doubly as hard for you with this revelation. KUTGW and carn the Hawks! <HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

G'day Hermolt! Thanks very much for replying, and hopefully the next 24 pages are as good as the first 8. Somewhere buried in the archives are the previous seasons from Segunda Liga B and the Segunda Liga, and one day I'll get around to reposting them! As for the mighty Hawks, yes, I am a fan, though for some reason I haven't managed this season to get to a game - and yesterday's result wasn't too flash was it? I still think we'll be there in September, and not just as spectators!

Cheers,

Dixie

[Dixie Flatline]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Abe Lenstra:

Dixie,

So far, i have only read parts of this Epic tale but i will devote my life from now on reading it _all_ starting with your (second) attempt when you aplied for the job at Cartagonova from Seville.

It's great!

When you finish this (or should i say _if_ you finish this??), it's a Hall of Fame thing no doubt!

It kept me smiling <HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Well, I'm glad you're back to read this one, Abe! I'm not sure when I'm going to finish this - it may depend on whether I get to keep the Spanish job, because I would like to take them to the World Cup 2010, which is two seasons away at the moment. More immediately, I want to recapture the title, which could be possible this season, and also try to advance in the European Champions' League, but unfortunately, a 1-1 draw with Barcelona has made it difficult, so there is another thing to try to do next season. So, I think I'll be doing this story for a while!

And, in reality, there is the lure of 1,000 posts, which I think would be the first time in the board's history that a story has reached that milestone!

Cheers,

Dixie

[T_Side]

Have spent some hours of my life reading through this - what a story! No, story doesn't do it justice, a well-written endurance test, maybe?

Keep it up all the same, please.

[T_Side]

Have spent some hours of my life reading through this - what a story! No, story doesn't do it justice, a well-written endurance test, maybe?

Keep it up all the same, please. Happy to help you in some small way to reach your 1,000 posts target.

[Dixie Flatline]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by T_Side:

Have spent some hours of my life reading through this - what a story! No, story doesn't do it justice, a well-written endurance test, maybe?

Keep it up all the same, please. Happy to help you in some small way to reach your 1,000 posts target.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Thanks, T_Side! I hope that you enjoy the story as it continues!

Cheers,

Dixie

[Dixie Flatline]

The story must go on!

After the game, Gavião compounds his league suspension with an injury to his groin in the warm-down session, putting him out of the game for a month and therefore effectively ending his club season. It will be touch-and-go as to whether he goes to Scotland and Wales with the Spanish squad now.

5th of April 2008

African World Cup qualifiers occur this afternoon, and Cartagonova players are involved in them. Salomon Olembé helps Cameroon win 2-0 over Chad, Shola Ameobi misses a penalty for Nigeria, but they still triumph 2-0 over Central African Republic, but Djibril Diawara wasn’t so successful as Senegal only drew 0-0 with Swaziland.

8th of April 2008

Moments after learning that Milan Martinovic, one of my targets, has rejected a chance to move to Spain’s champion in favour of going to Lazio, I’m flabbergasted to hear one of Spain’s heroes, Fernando Hierro, say that we have no chance of winning Euro 2008! I can’t believe he said something like that, and I don’t hold back, telling the press that while Hierro was an excellent player for Spain, it is negativity such as his that historically has cost Spain the opportunity of adding to its trophy cabinet, and I’m determined to right that in a couple of months.

9th of April 2008

Primera Liga - Game 32: Cartagonova v Real Madrid

“… Cartagonova moved a step closer to securing a second consecutive league championship when they triumphed 3-2 over Real Madrid in an entertaining game at the Estádio Municipál de Cartagena this evening. Slack Real Madrid defending and superb finishing from Cartagonova’s master marksman, Alex Notman, helped the defending champion to race to 2-0 by 33 minutes as the Scottish international scored twice in the space of eight minutes. The first goal was created by the industry of George Clegg, who picked up the ball when Notman was tackled, held it long enough for Notman to recover, then fed him with a perfect ball that Notman crashed past a despairing Iker Casillas. Eight minutes later, Michel and Garrido combined to set up Notman, and he did the rest expertly, cushioning his header perfectly to evade the dive of Casillas.

“Real Madrid, stunned, looked to hit back just before the break, but Sabino, back on his old ground, could only hit the bar on the stroke of half-time, and Cartagonova looked the far happier team entering the break. But Real Madrid aren’t about to give up the fight for this title quite so easily, and when Ronaldinho picked off Vidal’s poor clearance on 63 minutes, Pablo Aimar gave his side a sniff of getting back into the game with an excellent 25 yard finish past the stricken Spanish international keeper. Four minutes later, it was Notman’s turn to hit the bar when played through by Redondo. Real Madrid took confidence from Aimar’s goal, and they almost had their equaliser on 72 minutes when substitute, Rubén Navarro had a superb shot saved wonderfully by Vidal. Five minutes later, though, and Real Madrid were level thanks to Olivera, who was set up magnificently by Aimar. But Cartagonova had the last laugh when substitute Juan Hernández scored the eighth goal of his season to seal victory and put a nine point gap between Cartagonova and the rest of the chasing pack…â€

Well, it certainly was an entertaining game, and if it wasn’t for Hernández we may not have had the reward that our play in the first half said that we deserved. But all credit to Real Madrid, who fought out the game well. Aimar was a midfield playmaker of the highest calibre during the game, and if his teammates could have played like him, then we would really have been in trouble. The game was certainly one of those clichéd ‘six pointers’, because if we had lost it, we would only have had a three point gap, but since we won it, we enjoy a nine point buffer over Real Madrid and Barcelona with six games left in the season.

Cartagonova (4-3-1-2): Vidal ©; Lacruz, Gershon, Lasa, César; Michel (Hernández 67), Tanem, Garrido; Clegg; Redondo, Notman.

Real Madrid (4-5-1): Casillas; Roberto Carlos, Rubio, Bornes (Helguera 60), Grillito; Ronaldinho ©, Davids, Aimar, Baronio, Colusso (Rubén Navarro 68); Sabino (Olivera 68).

Final score: Cartagonova 3:2 Real Madrid

MoM - Pablo Aimar

[Dixie Flatline]

International call-ups are announced this evening. I’m surprised to see that Ariel Carreño is required by Argentina for its game against Italy in Buenos Aires. Bojan Djordjic receives the call from Sweden to join the training camp for the game against Denmark. On the other side of the ledger, Martin Smith, but again not Daniel Jensen, will fly out to Denmark for that game. Kristian Tanem and Per Vener Rønning will have the chance to play another game for Norway when they face Belgium. Opposing them, Jean-François Gillet is likely to stand the posts. Alex Notman is probably the first name on David Moyes’ squad, for its friendly with Turkey. Shimon Gershon is included in Israel’s squad to face Latvia.

In the meantime, I mull over selection difficulties. I’m happy to keep Sabino in for Rubén Navarro, despite the former failing to make an impact in tonight’s game. With injuries to players like Gavião and Diego, further changes to the squad are made to travel to England. Gavião is replaced by Barcelona’s rising star, José de la Rosa, while Diego is replaced by club team-mate Jonathan. I also bring back César of PSV Eindhoven, in place of unlucky Espanyol man, Juanma. Also remember that I dropped Rubén Navarro, who has not had much time on the pitch since joining Real Madrid in the winter, for his club team-mate Sabino. So the squad of 26 players travelling to London are:

Goalkeepers

Iván Vidal (29 y/o, ESP 2 caps, GK): Cartagonova

Iker Casillas (26 y/o, ESP 3 caps, GK): Real Madrid

César Laínez (30 y/o, ESP 8 caps, GK): Barcelona

Defenders

Ballesteros (32 y/o, ESP 13 caps, D/DM RC): Cartagonova

César (28 y/o, ESP 7 caps, D RL): Cartagonova

Jordi Ferrón (29 y/o, ESP 8 caps, 1 goal, D RL): Real Zaragoza

Borja (29 y/o, ESP 17 caps, D LC): Valencia

Iván Amaya (29 y/o, ESP 41 caps, 1 goal, D C): Deportivo La Coruña

César (29 y/o, ESP 49 caps, 1 goal, D C): PSV Eindhoven

José (26 y/o, ESP 1 cap, D C): Alavés

Carlos Marchena (28 y/o, ESP 7 caps, D C): Celta Vigo

Midfielders

José de la Rosa (20 y/o, ESP, D/DM C): Barcelona

Artur (26 y/o, ESP 4 caps, DM C): Villarreal

Jonathan (24 y/o, ESP, M C): Racing Santander

Diego (29 y/o, ESP 15 caps, 3 goals, M/S C): Racing Santander

Miguel Ãngel Angulo (30 y/o, ESP 44 caps, 6 goals, AM/F RC): Valencia

Joseba Etxeberría (30 y/o, ESP 68 caps, 18 goals, AM/F RC): Athletic Bilbao

Jaime Garrido (24 y/o, ESP 7 caps, 5 goals, AM/F RLC): Cartagonova

Francisco Javier Zubizarreta (22 y/o, ESP 11 caps, 4 goals, AM/F RC): Espanyol

Mista (29 y/o, ESP 3 caps, 1 goal, AM/F LC): Deportivo La Coruña

Vicente (26 y/o, ESP 58 caps, 16 goals, AM/F LC): Roma

Gerard (28 y/o, ESP 43 caps, 7 goals, AM C): Barcelona

Forwards

Raúl (30 y/o, ESP 102 caps, 52 goals, AM/F LC): Paris-Saint-Germain

Diego Ribera (31 y/o, ESP 13 caps, 6 goals, S C): Celta Vigo

Joseba Llorente (28 y/o, ESP 5 caps, 4 goals, S C): Real Sociedad

José Manuel Redondo (32 y/o, ESP 3 caps, 2 goals, S C): Cartagonova

Sabino (30 y/o, ESP, S C): Real Madrid

Unfortunately, it’s tough luck for George Clegg, who is dropped by Kevin Keegan for his squad to play us.

[Dixie Flatline]

12th of April 2008

Primera Liga - Game 33: Elche v Cartagonova

Barcelona is held to a drew yesterday by Athletic Bilbao, so a victory today against Elche would certainly help us pull away from one title rival. However, our historical record against Elche isn’t as good as it ought to be, particularly away from home, where we’ve only collected one victory in five attempts. After an early attempt by Redondo that unfortunately hits the bar on five minutes, Elche do indeed take control of the play. Nano pulls away from Gershon just enough to try his luck on 14 minutes, but thankfully the shot flies harmlessly over the bar. On 21 minutes, however, he forces Vidal into making a save low to his left. However, we’re not so lucky on 32 minutes when Nano sets up Bernd Kree, and the 19 year old German rockets a shot past Vidal to give the home side the lead.

I launch a rocket around the dressing room at half-time, as we were absolutely woeful in terms of creating chances in the first half. I expect a much better performance in the second. We begin almost with a blaze of glory as Dorronsoro pushes Notman’s point-blank header into the path of Redondo, but before my striker can react properly, the keeper is at his feet to knock the ball away four minutes into the second half. Ten minutes later, Garrido tries his luck from inside the penalty box, but Dorronsoro is there again to foil us. Gershon almost catches out Dorronsoro with a fluke attempt a moment later, but he should really have been doing his job to stop Mario from having a header at Vidal’s goal on 70 minutes. Four minutes later, though, it doesn’t matter quite so much as César’s intelligent pass is headed home by Redondo! That puts a half-smile on my face as I consider what next to do. Nano misses an excellent opportunity to put Elche back in the lead, and then Lacruz is there to clear off the line from his free kick with 9 minutes to play. But with 86 minutes on the stadium’s clock, Redondo scores a dramatic winning goal when he blasts a bullet that fizzes past the helpless Dorronsoro in Elche’s goal! Perhaps we didn’t deserve the victory, but at this point in the season, we’ll take every point we can get!

Elche (4-5-1): Dorronsoro ©; Biri, Mascorro, Cuadrado, Ettien; Roy González (Grønkjær 78), Mario (Pablo 72), Kree, Duscher, Juanjo (Cortés 84); Nano.

Cartagonova (4-1-2-1-2): Vidal ©; Lacruz (Cabrera 85), Gershon, Lasa, César; Tanem; Michel (Krantz 67), Garrido; Clegg (Carreño 67); Redondo, Notman.

Final score: Elche 1:2 Cartagonova

MoM - Nano

I’m forced to replace Valencia’s Miguel Ãngel Angulo in the selected squad for Spain’s next friendly against England, as he is injured in Valencia’s weekend game. I replace him with Real Sociedad’s Mikel Aranburu: Mikel Aranburu (29 y/o, ESP 4 caps, AM RL): Real Sociedad

“… Cartagonova manager, Señor Dixie Flatline, this evening announced that his club will spend £4.5 million to bring back former Celta Vigo bad boy Edú from Germany. The Brazilian international spent four seasons with Celta before falling out with other members of the squad and was sold to Borussia Dortmund for £8.75 million. The 29 year old, however, has not been a great success in Germany and it is the widespread view that £4.5 million is on the cheap side for somebody with his potential. It probably spells the end of Daniel Jensen’s association with the club, as he and the Brazilian international play in exactly the same position and so far, Daniel’s career with Cartagonova has not been a success. Nevertheless, Edú will not be guaranteed a regular place in the eleven, although it is no secret that Señor Flatline is looking for a successor to Redondo as partner for Notman in the future…â€

[Dixie Flatline]

16th of April 2008

European Champions' League - Quarter-Final, 2nd leg: Barcelona v Cartagonova

Having been held to a 1-1 draw at the Estádio Municipál de Cartagena and therefore facing the possibility of going out on the away goals rule (although Barcelona have never been shy about attacking!), the last thing I need is to find out that my key striker, José Manuel Redondo, has to sit out this game because he strained his wrist and it wouldn’t be wise to risk him. Also, Elias Krantz manages to break his nose in training and therefore I have to go into this game without cover for the tired Jaime Garrido, who is pressed into action one more time. We need to take the initiative in this game, but it isn’t until the 23rd minute of the game that we actually get somewhere. Michel drives down the left side of midfield, but runs into a brick wall in the shape of Fernando Varela. But Varela’s clearance is poor and it lands at the feet of Clegg, who accepts the gift gleefully by banging a sizzling drive past Laínez. A moment or so later, Barcelona’s keeper brings down Clegg in the area and Gershon easily converts to put us 2-0 ahead! Barcelona are rightfully furious with their terrible play and Kluivert gives us fair warning of what is surely to come when he rifles a half-volley wide of the mark on 29 minutes. But then Laínez is forced from the field with an injury, necessitating that my compadre uses up a substitute to bring on Sergio for him.

On 39 minutes, Vidal makes his first proper save of the game when he gets his fingers to Kluivert’s stinging drive and then does well to stop André Luiz heading home Brighi’s corner. On the stroke of half-time, Ronaldo fires his first shot in anger but Vidal deals with it comfortably. We gain a corner from a deflection off Nesta and Notman goes agonisingly close to making it 3-0. The second half begins frantically and unfortunately Barcelona drag themselves back into the game when André Luiz opens his account for the season after just three minutes of the new half. Within eight minutes of the new half, they are level when Ronaldo leaves Lacruz sprawled on the turf behind him then proceeds to make Vidal look silly with a cheeky lob over the Spanish international.

But Barcelona are robbed of one of their more potent weapons when Kluivert loses his head and scythes down Carreño, thereby earning himself a red card! We try actively to make the extra man count in our favour, but Gershon misses a free kick then Carreño curses himself for hitting a fierce drive over the bar on 63 minutes. Nevertheless, after Kluivert’s dismissal, Barcelona’s players seem short on ideas and Ronaldo has one last desperate roll of the dice on 90 minutes to score the winner. He misses, thankfully, and I take the opportunity to burn up some time in the referee’s mind when I remove Michel for Rønning. After five minutes of stoppage time, the referee finally puts the whistle to his lips to put us all out of our misery!

Barcelona (4-3-2-1): Laínez (Sergio 30); Zanetti, André Luiz, Nesta, Varela; Brighi, de la Rosa, Gerard ©; Ricardo Jorge (Nedved 84), Ronaldo; Kluivert.

Cartagonova (4-1-2-1-2): Vidal ©; Lacruz, Gershon, Lasa, César; Tanem; Michel (Rønning 91), Garrido; Clegg; Carreño, Notman.

Final score: Barcelona 2:2 Cartagonova

Aggregate score: Cartagonova 3:3 Barcelona (Cartagonova advances on away goals rule)

MoM - Sergio

The board is surprisingly disappointed with the result. Perhaps we did concede two soft goals early in the second half, but I thought we played quite well, and let’s face it, we’re in the semi-finals of the European Champions' League - you have to be happy about that! In the other games, Roma and Arsenal draw 2-2 at Highbury, but Roma advances 5-3 on aggregate. AC Milan wins 1-0 in the San Siro against PSV Eindhoven to go through 2-1 on aggregate. Porto takes back a 1-1 draw from Spartak Moskva to win 5-2 on aggregate.

Italy brings back Christian Vieri into the international fold as a squad player.

[Dixie Flatline]

18th of April 2008

We are informed by UEFA that we have been drawn to play AC Milan in the European Champions' League semi-finals. The first leg will be held on 30th of April 2008 at the San Siro.

19th of April 2008

Salomon Olembé helps Cameroon defeat Chad 2-0 and by all accounts played quite well as a midfielder. Djibril Diawara played for Senegal as they defeated Swaziland 3-0 away from home.

I have more interest in a game between Sporting Gijón and Real Madrid. To my great delight, Sporting defeat Real Madrid 2-0 at home with both goals scored by Rubén. It means that Real Madrid now only have four games to make up the deficit of nine points, and if we win our next game against Numancia, we may well wrap up the title for the second season in succession! However, it’s more likely that we’ll have to wait to, ironically, our home match against Sporting Gijón to be mathematically assured of clinching the championship.

20th of April 2008

After another weekend of Primera Liga fixtures - one in which we don’t actually participate - I’m contacted by a representative of Barcelona to inform me that I’ll lose Gerard for not only the forthcoming friendly against England but also Euro 2008 after he tore a groin muscle against Real Betis. While it’s good news as far as Cartagonova is concerned to have Barcelona’s captain sidelined, looking at the big picture, and the news isn’t quite so good.

In the end, I decide to call up Juan Hernández to the squad. No doubt I’ll be criticised in the press for calling up yet another Cartagonova player, but apart from Francesco Javier Casquero, who is now 31 years of age and has missed the boat as far as his international career is concerned, there isn’t much else out there to call upon playing in Gerard’s position and plays regularly! Players like Iván de la Peña don’t play often enough for their clubs to be seriously considered, and while Hernández hasn’t exactly commanded a spot in my team, he has played 11(15) games this season: Juan Hernández (22 y/o, ESP, AM/F C): Cartagonova[

Mallorca achieves promotion back to the Primera Liga after spending a season in the Segunda Liga. With five games to go, they look on course to capture that title, too, leading Real Zaragoza by seven points. Currently, Atlético Madrid sit third, 13 points behind Mallorca and four points ahead of Málaga.

23rd of April 2008

International Friendly - England v Spain

“… Bookies tonight are lengthening the odds for Spain and slashing them dramatically for England after today’s lacklustre performance by Spain and an excellent game from England in front of just under 65,000 supporters at New Wembley. England came away from the game 3-1 winners as a depleted and inexperienced Spain were blown apart in the space of 15 minutes in the first half. With Gavião and Gerard injured, Raúl rested and a string of newcomers in the Spanish side, manager Señor Dixie Flatline gambled that talent alone could win the day for Spain. However, he lost the game, and spectacularly. England looked positive from the start, and Joe Cole scored a goal with a brilliant overhead kick after just 45 seconds, only to have it ruled out for off-side against the AC Milan man. Vidal then saved from Arsenal’s Gary Birch on 10 minutes after excellent work from debutant Daniel Cold. Then on 20 minutes, Steven Gerrard teed up Joe Cole, and the midfielder picked his spot. Unfortunately for him, the shot smashed against Vidal’s post, but it rebounded back to him, and he fed Kevin Hardy. The Bolton Wanderers winger had no compunctions about trying his luck, and to the general acclaim of the crowd, he curled in a stunning 20 yard shot to open the account for England.â€

“But Spain hit back immediately when Vicente, playing behind the front two strikers instead of out wide on the left, dribbled his way into a shooting position and let fly with a shot that Glynn Thompson had no hope of getting to. However, they were equal for only six minutes, and when the Spanish defence couldn’t handle the rebound falling to Iriekpen, the AC Milan defender punished them, putting England ahead on 27 minutes. England were toying with Spain now, and they could do what they liked. Birch and Owen put on a cameo of striker work, but Birch wasted the golden opportunity by heading the cross over Vidal’s bar from just 5 yards out. Joseba Llorente fashioned a chance out of nothing really to pull Spain level on the half-hour mark, but Thompson’s excellent reflexes saved the moment for England. Then on 35 minutes, England killed off the game as a contest. Gerrard out-muscled and out-jumped Jonathan, one of Spain’s debutants, and found Joe Cole. The most dangerous man on the pitch looked up, measured the angles to perfection, then hit a sizzling drive that left Vidal grasping at thin air. It was a splendid goal and one to look forward to again and again.â€

“Llorente had another opportunity saved by Thompson a few moments later, but Spain really weren’t in the hunt today. At the break, no doubt Señor Flatline gave them all a proper roasting and made immediate changes. Off came Jonathan, Amaya and César, and in their places stepped another debutant, de la Rosa, Marchena and Ballesteros. De la Rosa’s first contribution was to find Ribera, but Thompson was good enough to save the Celta Vigo striker’s header. Ribera then couldn’t turn in the rebound, to the annoyance and frustration of Señor Flatline and his support team on the bench. Spain were so diabolical that for a time, they couldn’t even keep possession in their defensive half, and it wasn’t as though England was really pressing them. Señor Flatline responded with more substitutions and a change in tactics, but there was no joy. England attacked when they wanted to, with Joe Cole still in charge of their game play. Vicente was battling hard, but he was without much support, and Vidal was certainly the busier of the two keepers in the last ten minutes of the game. Still much work to be done by both sides ahead of the imminent Euro 2008…â€

I’m absolutely furious with my back four. While I did put in a few new boys to give them a taste of it, I relied upon four boys at the back who should have done a lot better. Iván Amaya and César of PSV Eindhoven have between them almost 100 caps worth of experience at international level. They should know what it takes to play a defensive game to perfection. César of Cartagonova and Borja also aren’t complete muppets in the international arena, but if you’ve never seen a Spanish game before, you wouldn’t have believed me. Jonathan will probably only have one Spanish cap in his career - he looked completely at sea in the first half, but I thought his replacement, Barcelona’s José de la Rosa, did fairly well in difficult circumstances when he came on. But to be perfectly and brutally honest, most of these boys won’t make it to Euro 2008.

England (4-4-2): Thompson; A. Cole (Richardson 41 (Maylett 71)), Upson, Iriekpen, Neville ©; Cold, J. Cole, Gerrard (McMaster 61), Hardy (Williams 54 (Woodgate 71)); Owen, Birch (Lyons 54 (Jeffers 90)).

Spain (4-1-2-1-2): Vidal; Borja, Amaya © (Marchena 46), César, César (Ballesteros 46); Jonathan (de la Rosa 46); Aranburu (Zubizarreta 71), Garrido (Sabino 60); Vicente; Llorente (Hernández 83), Ribera.

Final score: England 3:1 Spain

MoM - Joe Cole

[Dixie Flatline]

In other games featuring Cartagonova players, Shimon Gershon enjoys success as Israel beat Latvia 2-0 in Tel-Aviv. Kristian Tanem is grinning like a fool after he smashed four goals past Jean-François Gillet in Norway’s 6-2 demolition job on Belgium. Per Vener Rønning was also involved in the game for Norway. Not surprisingly, Kristian came away with the man of the match award for his superb efforts. Alex Notman played 79 minutes in Scotland’s hard-fought 3-2 victory over Turkey in Glasgow. Hugh Murray of Tottenham scored the last-minute winner to deny the Turks a deserved draw. Bojan Djordjic came off the bench on 64 minutes to score a goal as Sweden routed Denmark 5-1 in Stockholm as the Danes lost their keeper Kragh-Thomsen to a red card on 16 minutes. Martin Smith played for the destroyed Danes.

Other interesting games include Italy’s 5-3 win over Argentina where AC Milan’s Francesco Totti bagged a second half hat-trick to give the Italians the win in Buenos Aires. Northern Ireland put four past Cyprus in a big victory for them. A brace from Nicolas Anelka and a goal inside the last ten minutes from substitute Jérôme Rothen were too much for Germany, who did take the lead on 12 minutes through Markus Kreuz. The Netherlands and Croatia played out a 0-0 draw in the Amsterdam Arena, although Barcelona’s Patrick Kluivert missed a penalty on 39 minutes. Portugal’s horror run of form continued as they crashed 2-1 in Lisbon to Bulgaria. Georgiev gave the Bulgarians the lead on 33 minutes, but Portugal drew level through Bruno Alves. However, Iliev struck the winner with 2 minutes on the clock to give the Bulgarians the deserved victory. Wales’ Neil Roberts struck the only goal of the game on 45 minutes to give Euro 2008 co-host a victory away from home against Lithuania.

27th of April 2008

Primera Liga - Game 34: Numancia v Cartagonova

“… Cartagonova escaped Soria with a point after they were played off the park by Numancia for 75 minutes of the game. Goals to Gorka on 13 minutes, Bruno Ribeiro on 58 minutes and Carlos Martins on 67 minutes put Numancia 3-0 to the good. Cartagonova seemed unable to test Ãlvaro Núñez, Numancia’s goalkeeper, let alone score a goal. Time and again, Cartagonova’s forwards seemed unable to hit the target, and the departure of George Clegg through injury two minutes into the second half at the time did little to assist their cause. In the meantime, everything that Numancia touched seemed to turn to gold, as Gorka profited from a poor clearance from Vidal on 13 minutes, Ribeiro found himself unmarked to smash home Fernando Morán’s fine pass on 58 minutes, and Carlos Martins did well to control Morán’s cross before volleying it past the stranded Vidal.â€

“But Cartagonova turned the game around on 75 minutes when Rodri put Redondo’s speculative free kick past his own keeper. Then, substitute Ariel Carreño scored twice in the space of four minutes to drag Cartagonova level. Notman played supplier on 79 minutes when he put a through-ball into the path of Carreño, and the Argentine striker made no mistake. On 82 minutes, fellow substitute Juan Hernández found the perfect pass to put Carreño in the clear and from 25 yards, the Cartagonova striker had his club level. Hernández then missed an excellent opportunity to give his club the undeserved lead on 84 minutes, but they were then rescued by the linesman’s flag when Carlos Martins’ goal was ruled out for off-side against Gorka. But with Cartagonova limping away with only a point, it gives fresh hope to Barcelona and Real Madrid that the title chase is not yet finished…â€

Numancia (4-1-3-2): Núñez; Gustavo, Quatrocchi (Manzano 58), Babangida, Melgar; Rodri; Carlos Martins ©, Gorka, Morán; Óscar (Agustín 88), Ribeiro.

Cartagonova (4-1-2-1-2): Vidal ©; Lacruz, Gershon (Carreño 58), Lasa, César; Tanem; Michel (Rønning 58), Garrido; Clegg (Hernández 47); Redondo, Notman.

Final score: Numancia 3:3 Cartagonova

MoM - Juan Hernández

Juan Hernández and Ariel Carreño make the Team of the Week’s starting eleven, while Alex Notman sits on the bench. We lead Barcelona by six points with four games to go (Barcelona only has three games), and Real Madrid by seven points (Real Madrid also has only three games to go).

I lose George Clegg for only a week with a badly bruised shin. I thought it was much more serious, and while he misses the first leg in the San Siro against AC Milan in the European Champions' League on Wednesday night.

[Dixie Flatline]

30th of April 2008

European Champions' League - Semi-Final, 1st leg: AC Milan v Cartagonova

I make a few changes to the side that drew pitifully against Numancia last weekend. Out go Shimon Gershon and Michel through lack of form. They are replaced by Martin Smith and Per Vener Rønning. George Clegg is injured, so Juan Hernández comes in for him. José Manuel Redondo is not at full fitness, so Ariel Carreño has the opportunity to impress me from the start. We begin confidently as Notman tests Abbiati with a well-hit free kick on 4 minutes, but unfortunately the AC Milan keeper manages to hold onto the drive past the wall. A few moments later, Notman unfortunately hits the post when played through by Hernández. But on the first time our defence is seriously tested by AC Milan on 22 minutes, it is found wanting as Totti is able to reach the by-line without Lacruz putting in the challenge, and his low cross is turned in by Iaquinta at the near post. Abbiati then does brilliantly to foil Carreño’s shot on 25 minutes at bringing us level. But AC Milan can’t adequately clear the corner kick out of their penalty box and when Conteh recklessly challenges Carreño inside the box, luck goes our way and we have a penalty. Rønning takes charge and makes no mistake to have us level and give us an important away goal.

Joe Cole jinks his way through the heart of my defence on 36 minutes, but Vidal does well to save from the English international midfielder, while Carreño’s acrobatic bicycle kick is well saved by Abbiati at the other end on 45 minutes. The second half begins slowly but explodes into life on 58 minutes when Bono’s cross is spectacularly converted by a bicycle kick executed by Francesco Totti. We struggle to fashion a chance of an equaliser, and it isn’t until the 87th minute that we actually have a shot on goal, as Carreño’s header flies well over the bar. To make matters worse, Totti does it again in injury time to give AC Milan the definite advantage heading into the second leg.

AC Milan (4-1-2-1-2): Abbiati; Coco, Cardinale, Conteh, Centofanti (Adami 68); Ambrosini; Totti, Bono; Cole; Shevchenko ©, Iaquinta.

Cartagonova (4-1-2-1-2): Vidal ©; Lacruz (Cabrera 67), Smith, Lasa, César; Tanem; Rønning, Garrido; Hernández (Djordjic 67); Carreño, Notman.

Final score: AC Milan 3:1 Cartagonova

MoM - Vincenzo Iaquinta

2nd of May 2008

I read in the morning’s newspapers news from German football that former Cartagonova and current FC Schalke striker Niels Kokmeijer will miss Euro 2008 and a good deal more football after breaking his ankle in training. He’ll miss six months football.

4th of May 2008

Primera Liga - Game 35: Cartagonova v Sporting Gijón

“… Cartagonova claimed its second consecutive league title with a hard-fought 2-1 victory over Sporting Gijón here at the Estádio Municipál de Cartagena. Barcelona and Real Madrid failed to win crucial games elsewhere in Spain and as Cartagonova fought back from trailing 1-0 shortly after half-time to win 2-1, they had done enough to allow Iván Vidal, the club’s captain, to lift the Primera Liga trophy for the second year running. But it was a tough game for Cartagonova…â€

It certainly was a tough game. Sporting Gijón start the game brighter and David Ãvila narrowly misses with a fierce drive on 13 minutes. We open hostilities on 18 minutes when Tanem’s curling shot is tipped away by Sergio and Redondo then puts Cabrera’s corner over the bar. Just before the half-hour mark, Edgar fouls Juan Hernández in the air near Sporting’s goal and Redondo takes charge. Unfortunately, the striker’s drive is well-saved by Sergio. Just before half-time, Notman passes to Redondo but the Spanish international sends his shot wildly over the bar. We’re made to pay for our profligacy when three minutes into the second half, Sporting put together a great move to tear apart my defence and score the first goal of the game via David Ãvila. On 56 minutes, I take off the disappointing Juan Hernández for Ariel Carreño and shift to a 4-3-3 formation to trouble the Sporting defence. We certainly dominate possession but even so, we still can’t find a way past Sergio in goal for our opponents. That is, until the 64th minute when Rønning finds himself free on the left. The Norwegian international floats an inviting cross over the top of the Sporting defence where Carreño smashes home the header! I lose Garrido to injury a few minutes later, but that doesn’t allow Sporting to have any breathing space as we continue to bombard them with shots. On 83 minutes, our persistence pays off when Rønning crosses for Notman to head home past Sergio! Vidal then does well to save from Rubén with just a few moments left to play.

As Barcelona could only draw 3-3 with Osasuna in an exciting game in the Nou Camp, and Real Madrid crashes to a 4-2 defeat against Real Sociedad, with Rodrigo scoring all of Sociedad’s goals, we are officially crowned the champion of Spain for another season with three games up our sleeves! The players take the champagne shower and share it with the die-hard fans crammed into the Estádio Municipál de Cartagena! The party continues in the dressing rooms and I allow the players to have a few drinks, knowing that we need to now concentrate on our tilt at the European Champions' League next Wednesday against AC Milan.

Cartagonova (4-3-1-2): Vidal ©; Cabrera, Smith, Lasa, César; Rønning, Tanem, Garrido (Michel 66); Hernández (Carreño 56); Redondo, Notman.

Sporting Gijón (3-5-2): Sergio; Sergio (Estévez 88), Gerbaudo, Nakazawa; Rivarola, Edgar, Silva, Barselleta ©, Coria (Otero 58); Ãvila (Rubén 52), Pavlovich.

Final score: Cartagonova 2:1 Sporting Gijón

MoM - Per Vener Rønning

Keep smiling!

Dixie Flatline

[Philip Rolfe]

I do believe more congratulations are in order

well done Mr Flatline, the success and the story just gets better and better

[ghostwriter]

Woohoo , League title No.2...congratulations...

Now time to get past AC Milan and a chance at yet more glory..

[Guest]

Conratulations Senor Flatline on another league title, seems you are creating a new dynasty in Spain

Lets hope Real and Barcelona don't pull any big transfer out of the bag this summer to upset the apple cart...waiting with baited breath to see any new big name arrivals at the Municipal stadium... .

Good luck with the AC Milan second leg and bring on European, World and International domination.

Do you think you will have a nice brinze statue placed outside the stadium in honour of your achievements??

[Jack O\'Sullivan]

Congratulations on the title, and even more congratulations at keeping up such an amazing story throughout.

[Guest]

!Cartagonova Campeon! !Ole!

Let's give those greasy buggers from Milan a good pasting!

[Guest]

Congratulations! You deserve a well earned break Dixie.

Vamos Cartagonova!

B.E.

[Guest]

Came here after last night's beaut win over the Pies...replicated, it seems, by Cartagonova..here's hoping we get 2-0 in the return against Totti and those Milanese buggers..

EDIT: Missed a bloody 'O' in Cartagonova, what, Hull weren't good enough?

[Dixie Flatline]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Junichi Inamoto:

I do believe more congratulations are in order

well done Mr Flatline, the success and the story just gets better and better <HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Thanks very much Junichi. Your sentiments are appreciated greatly! I hope you continue to follow the story as it continues to unfold.

Cheers,

Dixie

[Dixie Flatline]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by ghostwriter:

Woohoo , League title No.2...congratulations...

Now time to get past AC Milan and a chance at yet more glory.. <HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Thanks, ghostwriter! I hoped you enjoyed watching us parade the Primera Liga trophy around the stadium after we beat Sporting 2-1 from your very comfortable VIP box!

Cheers,

Dixie

[Dixie Flatline]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Andy Wall:

Conratulations Senor Flatline on another league title, seems you are creating a new dynasty in Spain

Lets hope Real and Barcelona don't pull any big transfer out of the bag this summer to upset the apple cart...waiting with baited breath to see any new big name arrivals at the Municipal stadium... .

Good luck with the AC Milan second leg and bring on European, World and International domination.

Do you think you will have a nice brinze statue placed outside the stadium in honour of your achievements?? <HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Thank you very much Andy! I agree that I hope that Real Madrid and Barcelona don't try to spend the money again, although they keep doing it season after season and yet somehow we manage to cope. I'm really waiting for the day when Patrick Kluivert retires, because he just keeps Barcelona up there, season after season! Thank you in relation to the AC Milan game, but I hope that the money earmarked for the statute is diverted to redeveloping the training facilities, because the number and size of the potholes in the training pitch is just the same as it was when I first started this job!

Dixie

[Dixie Flatline]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Jack O'Sullivan:

Congratulations on the title, and even more congratulations at keeping up such an amazing story throughout.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Thanks Jack! I hope that you continue to find the story amazing in the future!

Cheers,

Dixie

[Dixie Flatline]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by vorobyey11:

!Cartagonova Campeon! !Ole!

Let's give those greasy buggers from Milan a good pasting!<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

We'll see how we go, mate!

Cheers,

Dixie

[Dixie Flatline]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by B.E.Gaity:

Congratulations! You deserve a well earned break Dixie.

Vamos Cartagonova!

B.E. <HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Thank you very much, B.E. Gaity! Unfortunately, I can't relax just yet - after the season is finished, I'm going to Wales to guide Spain in Euro 2008! And then it will be back to finalise transfers and hopefully strengthen the squad for next season. It is a tough job, but somebody has to do it!

Dixie

[Dixie Flatline]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by hermolt:

Came here after last night's beaut win over the Pies...replicated, it seems, by Cartagonova..here's hoping we get 2-0 in the return against Totti and those Milanese buggers..

EDIT: Missed a bloody 'O' in Cartagonova, what, Hull weren't good enough? <HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Yes, it's come together nicely, hasn't it, in the last day or so!

Sometimes, even I mis-spell the club's name when I'm writing the story. But, no, Hull wasn't good enough for me! Actually, I can't think off the top of my head of a harder club to spell correctly, but perhaps that's just because I'm tired...

Cheers,

Dixie

[Dixie Flatline]

A Brief Taste of the Cartagonova Experience!

Alex Notman’s winning goal also sets a new league goal record mark for Cartagonova, as he breaks the record set by José Manuel Redondo in 2002/03 and 2003/04 of 25 goals.

5th of May 2008

I have Gavião and George Clegg back in full training ahead of Wednesday evening’s crunch game in the European Champions' League against AC Milan.

6th of May 2008

A day before our game against AC Milan, I’m asked by FIFA to vote for my World Player of the Year as award season is almost upon us. The nominees are:

· Cristian Bardaro (30 y/o, ARG 32 caps, 16 goals, F RLC, Barcelona): 33(3) apps, 15 goals, 10 assists, 4 MoMs, av. rating: 7.64

· Hernan Jorge Crespo (32 y/o, ARG 98 caps, 71 goals, S C, Juventus): 38 apps, 23 goals, 4 assists, 9 MoMs, av. rating: 8.32

· Vincenzo Iaquinta (28 y/o, ITA 12 caps, 6 goals, S C, AC Milan): 50 apps, 21 goals, 34 assists, 19 MoMs, av. rating: 8.18

· Filippo Inzaghi (34 y/o, ITA 63 caps, 37 goals, S C, Roma): 28(1) apps, 19 goals, 6 assists, 8 MoMs, av. rating: 7.86

· Patrick Kluivert (31 y/o, NED 90 caps, 75 goals, S C, Barcelona): 33(3) apps, 34 goals, 4 assists, 12 MoMs, av. rating: 8.39

· Ronaldo (31 y/o, BRA 88 caps, 42 goals, S C, Barcelona): 37(5) apps, 22 goals, 6 assists, 6 MoMs, av. rating: 7.62

· Sabino (30 y/o, ESP 1 cap, S C, Real Madrid): 44 apps, 31 goals, 7 assists, 7 MoMs, av. rating: 7.93

· Andriy Shevchenko (31 y/o, UKR 82 caps, 44 goals, S C, AC Milan): 56 apps, 29 goals, 6 assists, 7 MoMs, av. rating: 7.95

· Francesco Totti (31 y/o, ITA 91 caps, 20 goals, AM/F RLC, AC Milan): 23 apps, 8 goals, 4 assists, av. rating: 7.87

· Uriel Pérez (32 y/o, URU 29 caps, 23 goals, S C, Roma): 37 apps, 26 goals, 19 assists, 12 MoMs, av. rating: 8.00

I’m very disappointed to see that Alex Notman isn’t amongst the nominees. I believe, for instance, that he has had a much better season than Cristian Bardaro, Ronaldo and Filippo Inzaghi, but the Powers that Be at FIFA obviously don’t agree with me. In the end, I decide to vote for Patrick Kluivert, because I’ve been able to watch him at close quarters, and single-handedly he’s kept Barcelona in the hunt (until last weekend, at any rate!).

[Dixie Flatline]

7th of May 2008

European Champions' League - Semi-Final, 2nd leg: Cartagonova v AC Milan

After we wrapped up the title last weekend, the only fixture that has any meaning for us this season is the second leg of the Semi-Final against AC Milan, who should be concentrating on overhauling Bari’s three-point lead at the top of the Serie A ladder to properly defend a 3-1 lead from the first leg. And for the first ten or so minutes, we are all over AC Milan, but can’t get that vital opening goal to reward our dominance. Notman’s low drive from 25 yards is well-saved by Abbiati for the cost of a corner on 5 minutes. But AC Milan quickly recovers its equilibrium and soon its players press forward. Andriy Shevchenko tests Vidal with a stinging drive on 15 minutes, while on 19 minutes Joe Cole escapes the attentions of Kristian Tanem long enough to hit a fierce shot from 25 yards that Vidal does well to save. Somewhat against the run of play, Notman hits a half-volley on 21 minutes, but Abbiati does well enough to parry the ball away and Adami completes the clearance. It proves a turning point, as three minutes later, Totti’s cute pass is well-controlled by Shevchenko, who finds a way through my defence and unleashes a thunderous drive past Vidal. That basically kills off our chance of rescuing the tie.

Redondo does, however, bring us level on 31 minutes when Juan Hernández, Tanem and George Clegg do all the hard work to create the chance for the Spanish international to claim his 25th goal of the season with a delicately cushioned header over the finger-tips of Abbiati. But AC Milan are soon back in front when on 41 minutes, Joe Cole finds too easily a way past César, cuts inside our penalty box and drives a scoring shot home past Vidal. If we were dead before, we’re buried now.

I try to give the boys a rev-up at half-time to try to motivate them for a big second half. But apart from an attempt on 51 minutes by Notman, nothing much seems to happen. That is, until the 64th minute when Redondo and Notman combine well to set up the advancing Tanem, who catches the AC Milan rearguard out with an intelligently timed run to put a swerving drive past Abbiati! Joe Cole does again what he did to César to Cabrera on 69 minutes, but it doesn’t help us when Vidal reacts too slowly to even try to stop the shot. The game and the tie are safe for AC Milan, although Abbiati does manage to blot his copy-book when he brings down Juan Hernández inside the area and finds himself sent off. Redondo converts the penalty kick to have us level 3-3 on the night, but we were never in this tie and we deserve to watch the European Champions' League Final on television, just like everybody else but AC Milan and Roma, who beat Porto 1-0 in Oporto to claim that tie 4-3 on aggregate.

Cartagonova (4-3-1-2): Vidal ©; Cabrera, Smith, Lasa, César (Ballesteros 65); Rønning, Tanem, Clegg; Hernández; Redondo, Notman.

AC Milan (4-1-2-1-2): Abbiati; Coco, Cardinale, Conteh, Adami; Ambrosini; Cole, Bono; Totti; Shevchenko ©, Iaquinta (Lung 88).

Final score: Cartagonova 3:3 AC Milan

Aggregate score: Cartagonova 4:6 AC Milan

MoM - José Manuel Redondo

I give Iván Vidal an official warning for his poor performance against AC Milan. He decides to accept it, but doesn’t indicate his regret for playing so badly like I thought he might consider appropriate to do so.

We managed to score 24 goals in the competition in 16 games, and frankly I’m not surprised. José Manuel Redondo was our top scorer in the European Champions' League with just five goals, followed by George Clegg on four goals, and Alex Notman only bagged three goals in the competition. We struggled to make it as far as the semi-final, and I don’t think we would really have deserved to win this competition. But that shouldn’t stop you from trying to win it!

Sorry to disappoint you all.

[Dixie Flatline]

10th of May 2008

Primera Liga - Game 36: Extremadura v Cartagonova

We compound our failure to defeat AC Milan at home by losing 2-1 to Extremadura after leading 1-0 at half-time. Granted, I did rest most of my select first team players, like Redondo, Notman, Cabrera, Lasa and Clegg, but we should have done better against a club struggling to escape relegation. Extremadura dominated the first half-hour of the game, with Vidal making a few good saves to stop them taking the lead. Against the run of play, we earn ourselves a penalty when Robles trips Juan Hernández in the area and Ameobi scores only his third goal of the season to put us ahead at the break. Carreño misses an easy chance to make the score 2-0 on 52 minutes, and on 76 minutes, Extremadura rip our defence apart to allow Gustavo Bartelt to equalise. Then in injury time at the end of the game, the referee evens the penalty count at one each when he says that Vidal fouled Luis López in the box. Vidal receives a yellow card and then picks out the winning shot of his net.

Extremadura (4-4-2): Robles; Manusovich, Luis López ©, Lucic, Miladin; Petkov, Ibagaza, Dardai, Rommedahl (Montenegro 67); Sívori (Pineda 90), Bartelt.

Cartagonova (4-1-2-1-2): Vidal ©; Olembé, Gershon, Smith, César; Tanem; Rønning, Salas; Hernández (Djordjic 67); Carreño, Ameobi.

Final score: Extremadura 2:1 Cartagonova

MoM - César

The match is bad news for Levante, as it condemns them to next season in the Segunda Liga.

14th of May 2008

I’m approached in the morning by a representative of Real Betis, who claims he is authorised to offer me £3.5 million for veteran winger Michel. There is, of course, a catch to this deal. Real Betis wants to pay the money over an 18 month period. That is something I can’t countenance to my board of directors, because Michel is already heading into the twilight of his career and may not play 18 more months of football, particularly at the one club. If they could pay the money over six months, that would be a different matter.

Primera Liga - Game 37: Cartagonova v Deportivo La Coruña

“… At the end of 90 minutes, it was Cartagonova 4, Deportivo 0. No, not goals. The number of red cards shown to each side during the game. It began early for Cartagonova when Spanish international full-back, César, was sent off for a dangerous two-footed tackle on Deportivo’s Kim Källström. A few moments later, recalled defender Trent McClenahan was shown his first yellow card of the game when he fouled Mista badly. Mista then proceeded to hit a left-footed volley towards Gillet in goal for Cartagonova, but the shot slammed against the post and away to safety. On ten minutes, former Cartagonova midfielder David Cano burst into the box, but Gillet did just enough to put him off and preserve the 0-0 scoresheet. Cartagonova seemed to steady the ship, but Trent McClenahan again treated Mista too roughly on 34 minutes and the referee flourished a second yellow card to the Australian defender and sent him packing, much to the fury of Cartagonova manager, Señor Dixie Flatline.â€

“A few moments later, George Clegg went toe to toe with Spanish international defender Iván Amaya and picked up a yellow card for his troubles, something he would rue later in the game. In the meantime, at least Gillet was keeping his mind on the game and he knocked away Källström’s shot on 38 minutes and jumped at the feet of Cano as the midfielder prepared to pull the trigger. Bang on half-time, Djordjic tried a volley on Deportivo’s goal, but the referee’s attention was elsewhere as he raced across the pitch to flourish another yellow card, and then red, to Clegg. Apparently, the linesman had spotted Clegg barging Källström over behind play.â€

“With only eight players on the pitch, Cartagonova should have been buried by Deportivo, but the relegation-threatened club could only take the lead four minutes into the second half when Ballesteros gave away the penalty on Källström, who converted the penalty kick himself. On 68 minutes, Cartagonova’s evening plunged further into a nightmare when Ariel Carreño, no doubt frustrated by the lack of service from a severely depleted midfield and the tender ministrations of Deportivo’s defenders, lashed out at Joan Capdevila. The punch caught the defender squarely on the jaw and he made sure the referee saw the results. Carreño was shown a straight red card and is facing a hearing before the Spanish FA’s disciplinary committee next Monday evening. Cartagonova, remarkably, still had a chance of sneaking a point from this game, as Deportivo continued to throw away chance after chance to bury the game. At the end of the game, Swedish international Djordjic missed a perfect opportunity to square the game for the Spanish champion, but on an infamous day for Cartagonova, it wasn’t to be.â€

Well, that must have been one of the most bizarre games I’ve ever been involved in. It took me back to my first ever game in charge of Cartagonova when Marko Pantelic was sent off after just two minutes of my reign here in Cartagonova. On that day, at least we managed to salvage something from the game, but in truth, if we were facing a proper football side today, we would have been buried 5 or 6-0. We were atrocious, and while I file a complaint about the refereeing with the Spanish FA, I know that responsibility for today’s play lies squarely with the players. Luis Sosa fingers Trent McClenahan, but he was only on the pitch for the first 34 minutes of the game! Somehow, the aggression we normally channel towards the ball was diverted towards Deportivo’s players. No doubt the Spanish FA will have a closer look at this game in the next couple of days, and I wouldn’t be surprised if this game is analysed minutely by everybody in Spain and in Europe. It was simply unbelievable and I hope it is another eight years before I’m involved in another one like this, unless, of course, it is the opponent who suffers the same type of ignominy.

Cartagonova (4-3-1-2): Gillet; Olembé, Gershon ©, McClenahan, César; Djordjic, Keità (Rønning 68), Salas (Ballesteros 34); Clegg; Carreño, Notman.

Deportivo La Coruña (5-2-1-2): Segura; Capdevila, Boris, Amaya ©, Morquio (Juanito 52), Oliva (Cuesta 71); Vogel, Källström; David Cano (Vega 77); Mista, Manolín.

Final score: Cartagonova 0:1 Deportivo La Coruña

MoM - Jean-François Gillet

I drag all four players involved in the red card incidents into my office and give them all severe dressings-down. They all accept their warnings, although Ariel Carreño, surprisingly, takes his rather reluctantly.

[Dixie Flatline]

15th of May 2008

Real Betis renews its attempt to sign Gavião by this morning offering me £5.25 million. But the deal is structured ridiculously. To start, only £3.8 million is to be paid, over a period of 18 months (again), and the remainder is contingent on Gavião playing 20 league games for them. I can’t accept that bid, not in a million days.

The fall-out from our terribly ill-disciplined match against Deportivo hits the fan this evening. Ariel Carreño is banned for a further eight matches for punching his opponent, while César’s reckless tackle earns him a ban for a total of four matches.

16th of May 2008

Real Betis makes me laugh, and then annoyed, by offering only £7 million for Alex Notman. Doesn’t even come close, boys!

18th of May 2008

Primera Liga - Game 38: Levante v Cartagonova

The last day of the club season takes us to Valencia to play the relegated Levante in the Nou Estadi. Due to suspensions, I actually name a strong side for the last game of the season, recalling players like Martin Smith, Kristian Tanem, José Manuel Redondo and Per Vener Rønning to the starting eleven. Ballesteros takes César’s place at right back. Jean-François Gillet and Ramón Salas are the only two players who don’t normally play for Cartagonova that begin this game.

Notman still needs one goal to equal his best season for Cartagonova, and he almost scores it on 9 minutes when he hits, first time, Ballesteros’ excellent cross towards Levante’s goal. Unfortunately, Fahlman has the reflexes to scramble across to turn it away for a corner. Somehow, Tanem manages to beat Fahlman to Cabrera’s corner kick, but unfortunately the Norwegian is too far from goal to put us on the board. Javi Manzano nicks the ball away from the feet of Juan Hernández who is ready to pull the trigger and the former Cartagonova defender gratefully clears it away. While they might be relegated, Levante won’t go down without giving their fans some hope, and on 15 minutes, Pablo Domínguez almost capitalises on some defensive sloppiness when my defenders fail to clear Linares’ free kick. Fortunately, Gillet is good enough to stop the initial shot and while Levante retain possession they can’t find a clear opening to test the Belgian again. On 19 minutes, we take the lead when Cabrera and Rønning interchange passes before Cabrera crosses low to the far post when Salas steams in and cracks a low drive past Fahlman to score his first goal ever for the club! He might leave in the summer, but at least he will have that cherished memory to take with him. Let’s hope somebody has it on tape for him. Apart from a few half-chances falling to both sides, that about wraps it up for the first half action.

Shortly after the break, Juan Hernández tests Fahlman with a powerful header from Notman’s long pass, but Fahlman is in position to prevent us going 2-0 ahead. But that is exactly what we do on 59 minutes when Gershon hits an intelligent pass forward to Redondo, and the Spanish international breaks clear just long enough of his marker to half-volley Gershon’s pass through the legs of the stranded Fahlman! But on 66 minutes, veteran striker José Gálvez slices our lead in half when he fends off Smith and chips Gillet from 20 yards to cap a superb individual effort. He almost scores again a few moments later, but on 69 minutes, I make the inspired substitution, replacing the tiring Notman with Christian Vieri. The Italian’s first contribution is to take charge of a free kick, and he puts it directly where he wants it - in the top corner of Fahlman’s net with the goalkeeper glaring angrily at his defenders! Still, my defence can and is breached one last time for this season when Mantilla jinks his way past Shimon Gershon and finds a chink of space between Gillet and the post, and pops a shot through that gap. Vieri almost scores again on 81 minutes, but his header isn’t quite accurate enough to evade Fahlman, while Hernández’s volley is foiled by an excellent save from the Levante keeper with 88 minutes on the clock. Still, we run out winners for our last game of the season, and end the league eight points clear of Real Madrid, who defeated Barcelona 2-1 at the Nou Camp on the last day of the season to vault back into second place.

Levante (4-4-2): Fahlman; Linares, Domínguez, Sanz ©, Manzano; Santos (Calvo 57), Piekarski, Ladakis, Rodriguez; Sierra (Mantilla 57), Gálvez.

Cartagonova (4-1-2-1-2): Gillet; Cabrera, Gershon ©, Smith, Ballesteros; Tanem; Rønning, Salas; Hernández; Redondo, Notman (Vieri 69).

Final score: Levante 2:3 Cartagonova

MoM - Javi Manzano

The final league table of the season looks like this:

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

Pos Team Pld Won Drn Lst For Ag Won Drn Lst For Ag Pts

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

1st C Cartagonova 38 17 1 1 51 19 9 6 4 41 31 85

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

2nd Real Madrid 38 15 1 3 44 25 10 2 7 34 28 78

3rd Barcelona 38 11 5 3 42 25 12 3 4 38 19 77

4th Celta 38 12 4 3 31 11 10 3 6 25 21 73

5th Alavés 38 12 3 4 32 18 7 7 5 26 25 67

6th Valencia 38 12 2 5 44 28 7 4 8 22 30 63

7th Real Sociedad 38 10 5 4 40 20 5 6 8 23 27 56

8th Espanyol 38 10 5 4 33 24 4 5 10 23 30 52

9th Elche 38 7 4 8 25 26 8 3 8 24 28 52

10th Villarreal 38 10 3 6 29 19 5 3 11 16 34 51

11th Betis 38 9 3 7 28 21 6 3 10 14 29 51

12th Numancia 38 9 4 6 30 23 4 6 9 18 31 49

13th Sporting Gijón 38 8 5 6 22 20 5 5 9 18 24 49

14th Osasuna 38 6 6 7 19 18 6 3 10 23 28 45

15th Athletic Bilbao 38 7 7 5 25 22 3 7 9 17 27 44

16th Racing Santander 38 5 7 7 22 22 5 6 8 20 32 43

17th Deportivo 38 7 3 9 16 22 3 8 8 15 20 41

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

18th R Extremadura 38 7 5 7 16 15 3 2 14 21 45 37

19th R Levante 38 3 5 11 19 33 4 3 12 13 23 29

20th R Sevilla 38 1 7 11 14 31 1 0 18 11 50 13

</pre>

As you can see, Extremadura joins Levante and Sevilla in the Segunda Liga next season. Coming the other way are Mallorca (as champions), Real Zaragoza and Atlético Madrid. Around the other leagues, and going first to England, Arsenal finished 21 points clear of Manchester United as the North London club tightened its iron grip upon the Premier League championship. Luton, Bradford and Manchester City are all relegated, and they will be replaced by QPR (as champions), Birmingham and either Norwich or Brentford. Going to Italy now, and Bari finished three points clear of AC Milan with Roma a further two points back. Not only is it Bari’s first Scudetto, it is also their first ever trophy of any kind. Not celebrating are Ancona, Treviso, Pistoiese and Foggia who are all relegated to Serie B next season. Promoted from Italy’s second division are Atalanta (as champion), Cagliari, Palermo and Cosenza. Benfica won Portugal’s Primera Liga by a comfortable ten points from great rival Porto, with Sporting in third place another four points back. Relegated are Braga, Espinho and Farense, to be replaced by Estoril (as champion), Naval and Beira-Mar.

Keep smiling!

Dixie Flatline

[Dixie Flatline]

It's the weekend! It means more from Cartagonova!

Looking back over the season, I truly think that the turning point was the week when I threw down the gauntlet to our championship rivals, Real Madrid and Barcelona, and then proceeded to thrash Barcelona 6-2 at the Nou Camp. It must have inspired much confidence in the team that practically carried through to the end of the season. While we failed to get to the final in the European Champions' League, I still think that we had a very successful season, particularly when we knocked off the championship a couple of rounds before the finish and eventually won it by seven points from Real Madrid. Simultaneously, while we embarked on ten game winning streak and a twenty game unbeaten streak, Real Madrid dropped crucial points surprisingly and basically dropped the title into our laps. But we’ll take it, thank you very much!

Now, bring on Euro 2008!

21st of May 2008

But first, the final of the European Champions' League. Roma wins it in extra time after AC Milan took the lead through Damián Manso on 57 minutes. Juan Román Riquelme equalised on 64 minutes, and with four minutes to play before penalties decided it, English striker Cherno Samba bobbed up with the winning goal to take the European Champions' League prize back to the capital of Italy.

24th of May 2008

Celta Vigo takes out the Copa del Rey with an exciting 3-2 victory over Espanyol at the Nou Camp in Barcelona. Diego Ribera scored inside one minute for Celta, but Óscar equalised on 12 minutes. Uruguayan striker Sebastián Abreu put Espanyol ahead on 37 minutes, but midfielder Mauricio Astudillo scored a brace to give the victory to Celta Vigo.

[Dixie Flatline]

25th of May 2008

I confirm to UEFA my 22-man squad for Euro 2008, as follows:

Goalkeepers

Iván Vidal (29 y/o, ESP 3 caps, GK): Cartagonova

Iker Casillas (26 y/o, ESP 3 caps, GK): Real Madrid

César Laínez (30 y/o, ESP 8 caps, GK): Barcelona

Defenders

Ballesteros (32 y/o, ESP 14 caps, D/DM RC): Cartagonova

César (28 y/o, ESP 8 caps, D RL): Cartagonova

Jordi Ferrón (29 y/o, ESP 9 caps, 1 goal, D RL): Real Zaragoza

Borja (30 y/o, ESP 18 caps, D LC): Valencia

Iván Amaya (29 y/o, ESP 40 caps, 1 goal, D C): Deportivo La Coruña

César (30 y/o, ESP 50 caps, 1 goal, D C): PSV Eindhoven

Carlos Marchena (28 y/o, ESP 8 caps, D C): Celta Vigo

Midfielders

Artur (26 y/o, ESP 4 caps, DM C): Villarreal

Gavião (28 y/o, ESP 7 caps, 1 goal, DM C): Cartagonova

Diego (29 y/o, ESP 15 caps, 3 goals, M/S C): Racing Santander

Miguel Ãngel Angulo (30 y/o, ESP 43 caps, 6 goals, AM/F RC): Valencia

Joseba Etxeberría (30 y/o, ESP 68 caps, 18 goals, AM/F RC): Athletic Bilbao

Jaime Garrido (24 y/o, ESP 8 caps, 5 goals, AM/F RLC): Cartagonova

Francisco Javier Zubizarreta (23 y/o, ESP 11 caps, 4 goals, AM/F RC): Espanyol

Mista (29 y/o, ESP 3 caps, 1 goal, AM/F LC): Deportivo La Coruña

Vicente (26 y/o, ESP 57 caps, 16 goals, AM/F LC): Roma

Forwards

Raúl (30 y/o, ESP 102 caps, 52 goals, AM/F LC): Paris-Saint-Germain

Diego Ribera (31 y/o, ESP 14 caps, 6 goals, S C): Celta Vigo

Joseba Llorente (28 y/o, ESP 6 caps, 4 goals, S C): Real Sociedad

José Manuel Redondo (32 y/o, ESP 3 caps, 2 goals, S C): Cartagonova

I also decide to transfer list officially Djibril Diawara, Carl Laurie, Salomon Olembé, and Daniel Jensen. Of the four, Diawara and Laurie immediately attract interest.

[Dixie Flatline]

26th of May 2008

The haggling over Laurie begins early Monday morning when Lleida weighs in with a bid of £400,000 for him. Given that he is officially worth £1.2 million, that isn’t likely to entice me to sell him just yet. I’ll settle for £1 million.

27th of May 2008

Elche makes a disappointingly low offer of £325,000 for Carl Laurie. Let’s see how they respond to £1 million as the asking price.

In the evening, Norway announces its squad for Euro 2008. As expected, Kristian Tanem and Per Vener Rønning are included.

28th of May 2008

Lleida returns with an offer of £1 million for Laurie. I accept it.

29th of May 2008

Japanese club Urawa Red Diamonds offers me £2.2 million for Trent McClenahan. I’m urged to accept by the chairman’s representative, but I think that £3 million is more appropriate for the Australian defender.

Elche fails to match Lleida’s bid for Laurie.

30th of May 2008

Laurie agrees terms with Lleida and will move there when the transfer window opens on 19th of June 2008.

31st of May 2008

Urawa offers me £3 million for McClenahan. I accept their offer.

1st of June 2008

On the first day of summer, Trent agrees to the move to Japan. He’ll leave shortly: Trent McClenahan (23 y/o, AUS 3 caps, SW/D C): 24(1) apps, 1 goal, 3 assists, 1 MoM, av. rating: 6.48

At least, I thought he would be going. But then, the transfer is vetoed somewhere along the line.

[Dixie Flatline]

5th of June 2008

I announce to the press, wearing my Cartagonova cap, that I have signed Lleida’s Jesús for £3.9 million, spread over £2.9 million now plus a further £1 million if he plays ten internationals. He is a passing central midfielder, who is also capable of playing on the right flank. He is purchased to give protection to Gavião and Tanem, but is capable enough of holding down his own position in the squad if given half a chance of impressing. I’m quite happy to have snapped him up.

6th of June 2008

Patrick Kluivert is named FIFA’s World Player of the Year and World Footballer of the Year on the same evening.

7th of June 2008

So, ahead of the first game in Euro 2008, which pits the ‘auld rivals’, Scotland against England, let’s take a look at each of the 16 countries participating in arguably the second-most international competition in world football. We’ll begin in Group 1, with Austria. The Austrians will rely heavily upon Turkish-based midfielder Kahraman Volkan to provide the inspiration to make it through the group stage. With over 40 caps to his name, Volkan certainly has the experience at the highest level to influence his country’s fortunes, but he needs support, and at the moment, Austria’s squad doesn’t have the quality needed to really make an impact at Euro 2008. With prolific Austrian strikers as rare as hen’s teeth, it’s little wonder that Austria’s manager prefers to play a defensive 4-5-1 formation. Further, in Jürgen Macho and Alex Manninger, Austria have two class keepers - perhaps the only position in which Austria can boast more than sufficient talent.

Under the stewardship of Kevin Keegan, England has emerged as a true force and is regarded going into Euro 2008 as one of the favourites. Much of their status as favourites rests upon the shoulders of AC Milan midfielder, Joe Cole, whose talent has blossomed since he moved to Italy, first with Fiorentina and now with AC Milan, after beginning his career with West Ham United. Another Londoner, Gary Birch, is also an important player in Keegan’s plans for Euro 2008, as he, with Michael Owen, provide the cutting edge to the team. Veteran Manchester United defender, Gary Neville, provides plenty of experience and leadership to a young, inexperienced side, but England has enough talent to believe that not reaching the semi-finals at least of the competition would be a failure. Their first match against Scotland will be something to watch, at the home of Scottish football, Hampden Park in Glasgow.

[Dixie Flatline]

Since the dissolution of the USSR in 1991, Russia has struggled to make an impact at an international stage. Few would feel that this squad, under the management of Sergey Andreev, has what it takes to really challenge for honours at Euro 2008. Nevertheless, England, Scotland and Austria should be wary of the sleeping Slavic giant. Real Madrid striker, Dmitry Bulykin is very important to the chances of Russia, as he carries most of the hopes for scoring the goals, although in Vladimir Bestchastnykh and Alexandr Shirko, he has plenty of support for him. Roma winger, Rolan Gusev, has the pace and passing ability to cause defenders plenty of problems during Euro 2008, and if he can free himself of the tender attentions of his opponents, Russia will certainly be a dangerous side to play. But the defence may be the vulnerable point of Russia. With all of Russia’s defenders based in the Russian league - particularly Moscow clubs - there is not enough experience of continental football between these defenders to combat the skills, pace and power of European strikers. Whether Russia has what it takes to overcome group favourite England and co-host Scotland to grab one of the two places at the top of the group and qualify for the knock-out stage is only something that time will tell.

It is remarkable that a nation would handicap itself by leaving behind what many consider to be its best striker in a generation, but that is exactly what Scotland has done. The co-host has left Cartagonova striker Alex Notman back in Spain as it prepares to host, with Wales, Euro 2008. Notman was suspended for a match for picking up two yellow cards, and would have missed Scotland’s first game against England, but Scotland manager David Moyes thought that his country could do better without Notman at all. It will be interesting to see how Scotland get on without their best striker, and this increases the pressure on Portsmouth’s striker, Lee McCulloch, to produce the goods at Euro 2008. His colleagues are inexperienced at international level, and no doubt the bulk of Scotland’s inspiration will come from Manchester United’s Willie Howie, who will operate from the centre of midfield, and Ipswich veteran Stephen Glass, who will play wide on the left. Sergei Baltacha of Manchester United will also be another important player as he seeks to dominate midfield and allow the more attacking players to do their job and score goals. The bonus of playing in front of their home crowds will no doubt assist Scotland as they seek to qualify for the knock-out phase, but one wonders exactly how far they can progress without their most potent weapon at their disposal.

The four countries in Group 2 are all based in Wales. We begin with Croatia, who since the heady days of World Cup 1998 in France, have struggled to make an impact at an international stage. And many doubt that this squad has the firepower to really trouble the latter stages of the tournament. The country’s top scorer is defender Igor Biscan, and Croatia have turned to a whole set of international newcomers to lead the way. It makes the job of Real Zaragoza midfielder Jurica Vucko, Hertha Berlin’s Jurica Vranjes and the aforementioned, Monaco-based, Igor Biscan, to lead the way if Croatia are to make the second phase of the competition.

Two generations ago, the mere sight of Poland on the pitch would be enough to scare many opponents into losing the game. However, the talent that existed behind the ‘Iron Curtain’ slowly declined and Poland lost its ability to frighten opponents into losing games. Now, however, Poland is beginning to gain a new generation of talent. Experienced players like Miroslaw Szymkowiak of Juventus and Bari’s Maciej Zurawski have sufficient experience at international level to know what it takes to succeed at this level. Widzew Lodz’s Lukasz Maslowski is new to the international stage, with only five caps to his name, but many people believe that he has what it takes to really make an impact here at Euro 2008. Tomasz Mazurkiewicz of Heerenveen should also impress observers of football at Euro 2008, with his ability to play anywhere across midfield. Further, there is little to find wrong with Poland’s defence, with plenty of experience and talent in each position. Poland should be good enough of getting out of the group stage and even giving a semi-final position a shake.

[Dixie Flatline]

Coming into Euro 2008 via a play-off, the Ukraine pushed group winner Spain all the way in a tough group. However, very surprisingly, there is no place in the Ukraine’s squad for their all-time record goalscorer, Andriy Shevchenko, who is left behind in Italy to watch the performance of his countrymen. Perhaps this gives Strasbourg’s Michaël Yourrassowski the chance to step forward into the limelight and take over the mantle of the Ukraine’s leading striker. He will have plenty of support from Zenith St Petersburg’s Yury Yas’kov, while PSG veteran Sergei Rebrov is another man who should see plenty of action at Euro 2008. Perhaps the Ukraine’s defence is a little suspect, but there is sufficient talent in the squad to ensure that the Ukraine should bow out at the first hurdle.

While there is no room in Mark Hughes’ squad for former Manchester United colleague Ryan Giggs, there is still enough talent in Wales’ squad to cause some upsets at Euro 2008. There will be plenty of focus on Tottenham Hotspurs’ Matthew Jones and Arsenal’s Simon Davies, but one shouldn’t discount Newcastle United’s 23 year old utility Andy Owen, who is capable of playing in midfield or up front. Not only that, but Manchester United’s Craig Bellamy is another player capable of taking apart any defence on his day, and with 26 goals from 59 international experiences, Wales may have found a striker on a par with Ian Rush and Hughes himself. Brentford’s Eifion Jones is a stylish, impressive defender who can look to improve his football career with a good, consistent performance at Euro 2008, and with the impressive Millennium Stadium in Cardiff to pack in over 70,000 Welsh supporters, Wales may even progress in this tournament.

In every competition, there has to be an archetypal “Group of Death†and Group 3 is probably the one. We start our preview with Ireland, who came via the play-off after finishing runners-up behind England in Group 6 of the qualifiers. In the play-off, they disposed of the Netherlands on the away goals rule, meaning they cannot be taken lightly here at Euro 2008. Ireland are certainly strong in attack, with Arsenal’s Graham Barrett and Manchester United’s Robert Fay both capable of scoring a bagful of goals in this competition. They will be supported by Inter Milan’s Robbie Keane, who has already notched up 74 international caps for 24 goals. Behind them, Tottenham’s Adam Fleming has already been tipped as having a good Euro 2008 playing on the right of midfield but David O’Leary couldn’t find a place in the squad for Manchester United midfielder Andy Brady, who would have partnered Stephen McPhail in midfield. Geoff Bresland of Tottenham is likely to take his place. At the back, Watford’s Ray Shields looks likely to be asked to hold the defence together, along with Sheffield United’s Paul Dillon, while the goalkeeping situation is in flux with Shay Given left out of the squad.

Norway has finished third and second in the last two World Cups, and with substantially the same squad as the squad that lost the final against Germany in Germany two seasons ago, there is little doubt that Norway deserves its status amongst the favourites to take out Euro 2008. With talent like Bari’s Simen Brenne, Roma’s Christer George, and Torino’s John Carew all collected in the one place at the one time, supported by Cartagonova duo Kristian Tanem and Per Vener Rønning, Norway look very menacing when going forward. Their defence isn’t too bad either, with Manchester United’s Frode Kippe and Barcelona veteran Alf Inge Haaland likely to lead the way at the back. Even though Group 3 is the toughest group of the four, Norway should progress into the knock-out phase, and there onto the final of the competition.

[Dixie Flatline]

There might be plenty of talent in Señor Flatline’s Spain squad, there is little doubt that the nation’s fortunes turn upon the boot of one man - Paris-Saint-Germain’s Raúl. Behind legendary keeper Andoni Zubizaretta, Spain’s most experienced international in its history, Raúl has the ability to turn the game off his own boot and with 52 goals from 102 appearances, he has the record to walk the walk, so to speak. He will be ably supported by Roma’s Vicente, while Cartagonova’s rising talent, Jaime Garrido, will provide the creativity and width from the right of midfield. However, Spain’s historical reputation as a big-time Charlie at such tournaments precedes it, and it won’t be helped by the fact that the defence can be very brittle at times. That was demonstrated ably by its recent collapse against England at Wembley stadium when they crashed 3-1 to Keegan’s men. So much will rely upon Cartagonova midfielder Gavião to hold together the midfield and prevent the defence from absorbing too much pressure and cracking. Señor Flatline plays an attacking game, and it will certainly be entertaining to watch Spain play, but whether they have what it takes to achieve their long-held dream of winning another trophy is yet to be seen. Should be good enough to join Norway in the knock-out phase of the competition, but they may well be caught out in the end.

At his second stint of managing Yugoslavia, Bora Milutinovic enters this competition with a squad composed of fading veterans, and inexperienced internationals. Savo Milosevic will have his experienced mined as far as possible up front, while he will be joined by Darko Kovacevic in supporting Borussia Dortmund’s Mateja Kezman, who will be asked to score the bulk of Yugoslavia’s goals. Real Madrid’s Dejan Stankovic also has the pedigree and the experience to contribute towards Yugoslavia’s success, while Branko Boskovic of Atlético Madrid has the skill and excitement to enthuse the crowds and support his fellow players. But against the attacking flair of the likes of Spain and Norway, it is difficult to see Yugoslavia moving into the next round of Euro 2008.

Albania has done very well just to make it to Euro 2008 and nobody seriously expects them to trouble the likes of Germany and Italy to sneak into the second round of the competition. Much would need to be done by Reggina’s Erjon Bodgani up front, while the defence will have to be coordinated by Afrim Salievski and goalkeeper Ervin Fortouzi. For all their enthusiasm and determination, Albania won’t upset the odds here and progress past the group stage from Group 4.

Coming through the play-offs after finishing second, but eight points behind Croatia, Bulgaria is probably only a little more advanced than Albania in terms of its chances of advancing past the group stage here at Euro 2008. After the heady days of Hristo Stoitchkov and Krasimir Balakov, Bulgaria don’t seem to possess a regular goalscorer, and while Svetoslav Todorov tries his hardest to put the ball in the back of the net, one can’t really see him succeeding against the well-marshalled troops of Germany, the world champion, and Italy. Wily Salernitana midfielder Krasimir Chomakov will have to coordinate things from midfield, while Málaga’s Ivan Rousel will keep things together as far as possible in midfield. But Bulgaria doesn’t have the talent to succeed against the likes of Germany and Italy and they will likely be going home after the group stage has been completed.

The world champion, Germany once again brings to Euro 2008 a competitive and talented squad. Bayer Leverkusen’s Argentine born striker Luciano Galletti, who surprisingly hasn’t played for Germany so far, is likely to be asked to lead the lines for his adopted country, and one can’t imagine him not doing well. Veteran striker Carsten Jancker is still good enough to find his way into the German squad, while Wolfsburg’s Christian Tiffert is another likely candidate for scoring goals at this competition. Germany certainly doesn’t lack for talent in midfield, with Hertha Berlin’s Sebastian Deisler, Bayern München’s veteran Alexander Zickler and HSV’s Peter Rösler. The defence, of course, is strong and solid, particularly VfB Stuttgart’s Sebastian Kehl and Bayern’s Sebastian Backer. There is little doubt that Germany should make it through the group stage, and from then on, the sky is the limit.

Italy has long been seen as one of the world’s football powerhouses, but the bald fact remains that they have not won anything since 1982 when they claimed their third World Cup. Perhaps they should have beaten France at Euro 2000, but Signor Ivano Bonetti will feel the pressure if they fail to carry off the trophy this time around. Like many of the favourites, Italy are strong in attack, particularly with AC Milan’s Vincenzo Iaquinta and Torino’s Emanuele Calaiò. The inspiration from midfield will be borne by Bari’s Antonio Cassano, who has eased veteran midfielder Francesco Totti out of the squad, and Torino winger Vincenzo Sommese. Roma’s Maurizio Lanzaro and veteran Barcelona defender Alessandro Nesta, along with Parma’s Fabrizio Lorenzini are excellent defenders and once again they should ensure that Italy will be mean at the back. But since 1982, there has been some mental block holding Italy back from the glory that they seemed capable of attaining before the competition. In a group that also has Germany, Italy has some work to do to ensure that everything goes smoothly. Much will rely upon the partnership of Iaquinta and Calaiò up front, but there can’t be much doubt that Italy is a favourite for a good reason - they have a good squad.

[Dixie Flatline]

So there you have it. The entire 16 nations of Euro 2008 previewed. The competition begins at Hampden Park, with a game between Scotland and England. One goal on 77 minutes to Scotland’s Stephen Glass sees the co-host open the competition wonderfully well with a win over the old enemy. Spain plays tomorrow.

8th of June 2008

Croatia and Wales draw 2-2 at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff. Biscan put Croatia in the lead on 16 minutes, but Wales drew level through Robin Gibson ten minutes later. Sasa Toth converted a penalty on 67 minutes, but again ten minutes later, Neil Roberts equalised for Wales. In the meantime, at Ibrox in Glasgow, Germany and Italy shared the points in a 1-1 draw. Calaiò put Italy in the lead on 76 minutes, but Zickler rescued a point for the world champion with seven minutes to play.

Euro 2008 - Group 3, Game 1: Spain v Yugoslavia

So, in the evening at the Racecourse Ground in Wrexham, Wales, we take on Yugoslavia for the first game of our attempt to win Euro 2008. The last time we met on 15th of November 2006, we took out a 3-1 victory with Joseba Llorente scoring twice and Rubén Navarro coming off the bench to score the third.

This game, however, starts a little more sedately but as Garrido’s poor corner-kick is cleared away on 13 minutes, Yugoslavia sweep the ball towards the main striker, Mateja Kezman, and he drifts past Marchena but puts his shot well wide of Vidal’s goal. A few moments later, he does exactly the same thing, and I hope that my defence has learned its lesson, because otherwise I’m in for a long evening. Vicente, playing in behind the two strikers, however, lets Yugoslavia know that we’re willing to shoot on sight, but his swerving drive clears the bar by a few centimetres. Raúl tests Kovacevic for the first time on 21 minutes, and the keeper does well to save the shot, at a cost of a corner. But on 27 minutes, we go a man down, and then a goal down, as the referee adjudges Vidal to have clipped Dzodic’s feet as the Yugoslav tries to round him and sends him off. I sacrifice Llorente to bring on César Laínez, but Kezman easily converts the penalty. The last five minutes of the half, however, is all action as Amaya breaks up Yugoslavia’s attack and feeds Garrido on the right. Garrido tries his luck on goal, but sends his drive well over the cross-bar. Vicente then grabs the ball and crosses into the box where Garrido is waiting to tee up Raúl. The captain is quickly closed down but not before he finds the overlapping full-back Borja, but Leo Lerinc manages to get his foot in and Yugoslavia break away. Djordjevic streams out of the Yugoslavia half and then crashes a long-range effort that Laínez saves superbly.

At half-time, I urge the players to find an equalising goal, and even though we’re a man down, we still enjoy enough possession in Yugoslavia’s defensive third to cause them problems. If we could only find the right chink in the armour, then we may still get something out of this game. Vidal sits by himself, his head in his hands, as he wonders whether his international career is already over before it has properly begun. I let him alone to think about what he’s done. In the meantime, I give the final pep words to gee up the troops and then let them have a quick warm-up to combat the brisk Welsh evening before gathering them together for a chant and then onto the pitch for the second half.

But it is Yugoslavia who come out swinging, as Kezman forces Laínez into another good save straight after the resumption. However, on 52 minutes, the equaliser comes, and from an unlikely source. Mista and Garrido play a good one-two to set up Vicente, but Lerinc manages to get the ball away from him. Fortunately, it rolls into the path of the interested César and the Cartagonova full-back gleefully smashes the ball past the Yugoslav keeper! Kezman again wastes another golden opportunity to put Yugoslavia back in the lead, and they are punished when Garrido’s good corner is thumped home by the forehead of Gavião on 63 minutes, to maintain that Cartagonova connection! Laínez does brilliantly to preserve the lead when Milosevic almost scored on 68 minutes, and three minutes later, Garrido seemingly seals our victory when he drives home Mista’s good cross! But Yugoslavia still have the advantage of an extra man on the pitch, and Laínez is still a busy player. Leo Lerinc almost pulls a goal back for Yugoslavia on 78 minutes, but is foiled by Laínez and on 87 minutes, he does succeed in doing that when Boskovic’s forceful run is brought to an end by Borja, but only for the Yugoslav midfielder to retrieve the loose ball and scores from 25 yards. However, we hold on for the morale-boosting victory to set us on our way.

Spain (4-3-1-2): Vidal; Borja, Amaya, Marchena, César; Mista, Gavião, Garrido; Vicente; Raúl ©, Llorente (Laínez 28).

Yugoslavia (4-4-2): Kovacevic; Stefanovic (Vitakic 72), Dzodic, Martinovic ©, Dudic; Pecelj (Boskovic 65), Lerinc, Stankovic, Djordjevic; Milosevic, Kezman.

Final score: Spain 3:2 Yugoslavia

MoM - Gavião

[Dixie Flatline]

After the game, I’m contacted by the agent of Getafe’s Ola Otfors-Palmqvist, who is happy to agree terms to a move from the Segunda Liga club to the champion club of Spain. I’m happy to sign him, and I give the club my approval to circulate a press release announcing that I’ve signed the Swedish attacking midfielder for £1.9 million.

9th of June 2008

Poland is victorious over the Ukraine by the solitary goal scored by Radoslaw Kaluzny with eleven minutes left in the game. In the evening game, Russia triumphs 2-1 over Austria at Celtic Park in Glasgow. Real Madrid striker Dmitry Bulykin put Russia in the lead on 33 minutes, but almost straight from kick-off, Austria’s Jan-Uwe Wehlage equalised. But on 40 minutes, Roma’s Rolan Gusev struck to re-establish Russia’s lead and they dominated the game for the rest of the game without scoring again.

10th of June 2008

Norway takes the victory in the other Group 3 game over Ireland with Cartagonova players Per Vener Rønning and Kristian Tanem both prominent. Portsmouth’s Trond Andersen scored first for Norway on 42 minutes, and on 54 minutes, Torino’s John Carew doubled Norway’s lead. Inter Milan’s Robbie Keane scored a consolation goal for Ireland in injury time at the end of the game, but Norway dominated the game.

In the evening game, Albania overcame the early handicap of conceding a penalty on 3 minutes, converted by Bulgaria’s Krasimir Chomakov by winning 2-1 thanks to goals to Erjon Bogdani and Ylli Shabani. Many people thought that Albania would only be here to make up the numbers, but they have carried their qualifying form into the first game, at least, of Euro 2008 to notch up their first victory in an international tournament at their first attempt.

I’m asked in the evening for my views on the performances of Alex Notman during the season just completed. I responded by praising the striker’s consistently excellent contributions, both in terms of scoring goals and creating them for his teammates, and I wished, for Scotland’s sake, that he was at Euro 2008 instead of cooling his heels at home in Spain. I learn through the official supporters’ web-site that my comments went down very well with the supporters, while Alex phones me at the Spanish training camp to wish us luck and to thank me for my words of praise for him.

11th of June 2008

Real Betis thinks it has a chance with a bid of just £5 million for Notman. Needless to say, they have no chance in hell!

In the evening game from Euro 2008, Russia dents the hopes of Scotland qualifying for the knock-out stage by defeating them 2-0 in front of a disappointed home crowd at Hampden Park. Alexey Smertin on 19 minutes and Artem Bezrodny scored the goals that sunk Scotland.

I have been negotiating with several key Cartagonova players new contracts. Juan Hernández is the first one to sign on the dotted line for a contract that will pay him £4 million over four years. That’s a good bargain for both parties, as I seriously think that Hernández is already a great talent ready to emerge in the next few seasons.

[Dixie Flatline]

12th of June 2008

Real Betis thinks that an offer of £6 million will change my mind over Notman. It, of course, will not.

Wales tried valiantly, but like fellow host, Scotland, they succumbed in the end to Poland. In a pulsating affair at the Millennium Stadium, Newcastle’s Andy Owen scored for Wales on 29 minutes, but Mark Hughes’ charges conceded two quick goals to Kaluzny and Szymkowiak to go into half-time trailing 2-1. Owen scored again with 11 minutes to play and most thought that Wales would come away from this game with a point, but Pawel Brozek scored the winner for Poland with just a minute of normal time to play.

In the evening game from Hampden Park in Glasgow, England outclassed Austria 3-1. Trevor Benjamin scored the opening goal after just four minutes, while Arsenal’s Gary Birch scored a brace to make it 3-0 to England. Kahraman Volkan pulled a consolation goal back in injury time at the end of the game, but Austria was never in this contest.

13th of June 2008

Euro 2008 - Group 3, Game 2: Norway v Spain

After a defensively poor performance against Yugoslavia, I’m rather nervous going into this game against the runners-up in World Cup 2006. Nevertheless, I keep all ten outfield players that I used against Yugoslavia, with César Laínez the direct and natural replacement for the suspended Iván Vidal. But we make the brighter start, with Raúl trying his luck on 6 minutes, but his shot hits the side-netting. Amaya, however, gives away a free kick within the range of Christer George, and the Norwegian captain tests Laínez with a thumping free kick that the Barcelona keeper does very well to get his finger-tips to. Heggem’s corner is crossed low and hard into the box and it finds its way through to Andersen, but the Portsmouth midfielder fluffs his lines and sends the shot well wide of the mark. From the goal kick, Laínez launches it high into the atmosphere and it is well-controlled by Vicente. The Roma midfielder sees the Norwegian keeper out of position and bends a brilliant shot into the back of the net on 11 minutes! John Carew almost brings Norway level on 17 minutes, but Laínez is there to stop the equaliser. Christer George finds a way past Marchena on 21 minutes, but lets himself down with a poor shot that goes well wide of the goal. Vicente then misses two good opportunities in the space of 11 minutes mid-way through the first half, and on the stroke of half-time, we put together an excellent move that culminates in Mista doubling our lead with a brilliant long-range effort that really perks our spirits going into half-time.

I’m much more contented at half-time than I was in the Yugoslavia game. We have a comfortable lead, and apart from Christer George, my defence has controlled Norway quite well. I remind the boys that the game is only half over, however, and we could still drop the bundle in the second half if we’re not careful. So I want no complacency in this half and to consolidate our position in the top two in the group. Another goal would be a bonus, but so long as we don’t concede, we’ll be fine.

Norway come out swinging, just like Yugoslavia did in the earlier game, but Carew stubs his toe in the Welsh pitch when the goal beckoned before him on 50 minutes, Laínez saves well from an Andersen free kick on 52 minutes after Tanem was brought crashing to the ground by Amaya, and then Laínez takes the ball off Tanem’s boot a moment later. The quiet Simen Brenne finally has some influence on the game when he feeds George, but still Laínez is there to stop Norway from scoring an important goal. We try to put the pressure on, but Norway still dominates possession in the first twenty minutes of the second half. But on 75 minutes, we squash Norway’s chances of taking something out of this game when Rønning’s clearance is picked off by Marchena, who finds the overlapping full-back César. César sends the ball forward to Garrido who puts in the cross where Raúl gleefully heads home his 53rd career international goal. We now have one foot in the quarter-finals of Euro 2008!

Norway (5-3-2): Almenning Jarstein; Rønning, Riise, Gjørtz, Haaland, Heggem (Ophaug 51); Andersen, Tanem (Helstad 65), Brenne; Carew, George ©.

Spain (4-1-2-1-2): Laínez; Borja, Amaya, Marchena, César; Gavião; Mista, Garrido; Vicente; Raúl ©, Llorente.

Final score: Norway 0:3 Spain

MoM - Carlos Marchena

In the evening game, Italy and Bulgaria share the spoils in an exciting 3-3 draw at Ibrox Stadium in Glasgow. Torino winger Vincenzo Sommese put Italy in the lead on 16 minutes, and AC Milan’s Vincenzo Iaquinta doubled Italy’s lead on 40 minutes. But three minutes into the second half, Bulgaria struck back when Ivan Rousel scored. Italy thought it had wrapped up the victory when Alex Pinardi of Bari scored to make it 3-1, but Bulgaria scored twice in the period of three minutes to equalise. Ivanov scored on 56 minutes, two minutes after Pinardi had made it 3-1. Then Chomakov converted a penalty for an apparent hand-ball by Zauri in the area and Italy had thrown it away.