Scottish Reprise- Return to East Stirling

[Spav]

I thought Higuain would be a good signing for you and he certainly seems to have gained your approval.

Well done on your current 3rd place - it's a fine debut season that you're having in the top flight.

[Faramir]

Thanks Spav- a bit better than I expected...

***

16.1.10

Celtic (1) East Stirling (0)

We played a very solid match against Celtic in front of 57000 hostile fans. We made one mistake defensively and that was the difference in the match as Craig Beattie got up above Anthony Hallam and deflected a long cross from Michael Parkhurst past Ibrahim Arslan midway through the first half. Other than that, our backline gave a good effort as we were able to keep control on all the crosses they were driving into our area. We had a few good chances to equalize, but Alexander Hysen was very steady in keeping the shots away from danger. Gonzalo Higuain came closest, but his lightning drive was pushed around the post in the opening moments of the second half. A bad moment for us was when Markus Paatelainen went down late in the match. He suffered a hip injury that will keep him out most of the remainder of the season. We will have to get by with what is on hand and hope Marc McCusker heals quickly as he is just back in full training after his injury.

[Faramir]

18.1.10

I must have made an impression on St.Johnstone as they offered me their job as Manager. I politely told them I wasn't interested.

***

21.1.10

Our forward situation improved when Sean McKenna accepted our contract offer over five other clubs that were in the bidding for him. The 21 year old Scot had been playing at Bury and Weymouth. Weymouth accepted 60K for McKenna and Sean was very happy to be coming home. I am pleased to add him as he has proven he can score and we may well need that.

On the other hand though, the time is now for Steve Lewis. I am going to give Steve a full run at showing he can be an effective forward- one that I believe he will be. He hasn't scored yet this season, but I have been using him as a sub and not starting him. Now he gets the full shot- with McKenna, Marc McCusker (when match ready) and Steve McDonald now our main cover for Lewis and Fejzullahu.

[Faramir]

23.1.10

Hibernian (4) East Stirling (3)

Our backline cost us both a win and a draw as we wasted a terrific effort by Steve Lewis in losing to Hibernian 4-3. The Hibernian combo of Andy Bagshaw and Derek Riordan put our backline to the sword as they each had a brace to overcome Lewis' hattrick. Bagshaw started things by scoring in early moments as Danny Black lost track of him and he was left alone for an easy goal. Lewis answered quickly with a shot from the doorstep. Bagshaw flicked a header past Ibrahim Arslan to give them back the lead, but again Lewis answered by capping a nice touch passing sequence to send us to half even at 2-2. Lewis struck for his hattrick and we had our first lead when he drilled home a rebound past Gaetano Romano. We wasted the lead when Anthony Hallam failed to be aggressive in challenging Riordan on a counterattack and Riordan made the chance work as he scored. We then handed them the win in the late stages when our backline failed to come back quickly enough and Riordan struck for a header for his 15th of the season and a dramatic match winner.

[Faramir]

29.1.10

I let the transfer deadline go by without any more purchases. Though we fell behind Hibernian with the loss- they took over 3rd from us- I want to make it through the season with the players we have versus making a panic purchase.

***

30.1.10

Ok, maybe I made the wrong choice. By the time practice ended today we had three more players injured and out for awhile. Sergio Zijler, Adam Andrzjec and Miklos Kollat all joined Paatelainen and Adrian Nevins as our injury list lengthened significantly. Not much choice at this point other than to hope that the cover players can step up and perform.

***

4.2.10

Ryan Carr joined the injured list as well when he strained his back lifting weights. That means Jeremey Nieus will be making his debut against Aberdeen.

[Faramir]

6.2.10

Aberdeen (1) East Stirling (1)

There are two ways I can take this match. One is to be satisfied that we managed to earn a draw at Pittodrie despite playing few of our regulars. The other would be to be disappointed that we wasted a fine effort that could and should have been a win. What I feel is closer to the second, as we came so close to winning this match. Niels Ringoot gave us the lead in the first half when Marc McCusker laid the ball off for him and he scored his 1st goal for us. We allowed them to equalize in the opening moments of the second half when Chris Hamilton tried to clear a ball and instead flicked it right to Barry Nicholson, who vollied a shot past Steven van der Deyl. We pressured Aberdeen, despite removing both McCusker and Steve McDonald for exhaustion, but Thomas Hopp came up with three huge saves in the late going to help ensure the home side split the points with us. Jeremy Nieus had an impressive debut as he earned MOM honours. It has been a very difficult set of three consecutive road matches and we are glad to be heading back to Firs Park for our next match on Wednesday.

[Faramir]

10.2.10

East Stirling (2) Livingston (2)

In a portion of the season where I hoped we would really be gearing up for the drive to the end of the season, instead we look like we just trying to gel again- due to injuries and the shuffle on our backline. We took the early lead in the match when Nathan Goris converted the penalty kick after Lars Marten Engedal pushed Erton Fejzullahu in the area. I was hoping to get to halftime with the lead, but Nazad Asaad danced between Jeremy Nieus and Goris before drilling a shot past Steven van der Deyl. The second half saw both sides with plenty of chances to grab the lead, but it was Livingston who finally did when Alessandro Simonetta scorched a shot past van der Deyl midway through the half. I was beginning to despair of getting the equalizer when Fejzullahu took a nice pass from Gregor Balazic and chipped a shot past Kari Dryden to even things at 2-2. Neither side had much left in them and that is the way the match finished.

[Faramir]

13.2.10

East Stirling (1) Ross County (4)

There isn't any other way to look at this match- we embarassed ourselves in getting beaten by the last placed side at Firs Park. Things started fine as Steve Lewis and Erton Fejzullahu played a pretty 1-2 and Lewis scored to give us the early lead. We fell apart after that though as our backline again cracked like an eggshell. Anthony Hallam bobbled away the ball and Martin Bernburg quickly scooted down and scored past Ibrahim Arslan. Less than two minutes later, Nathan Goris couldn't keep Bernburg marked closely enough and he deflected a cross past Arslan. It was frustrating going into halftime trailing as we had played a solid first half that included hitting the upright, the crossbar and losing a goal to an offsides call. What was disappointing was the second half collapse. Bernburg made it a hattrick in the opening moments of the second half as Goris again failed to mark him closely enough. Danny O'Donnell then added insult to injury as he deflected a corner past Arslan and our fans had seen enough. It was easily our worst match of the season and I let the boys know I was embarrassed at the effort today.

[Faramir]

27.2.10

East Stirling (3) Rangers (1)

It is amazing that we came through with an effort like this- dealing a death blow to 'Gers title hopes- after the debacle against Ross County. Steve Lewis sparked us in the first half, scoring at 16 minutes when Ryan Serrant dawdled and lost control of his dribble which Lewis promptly stepped up and drilled past Jamie Jones into the left side of the net. Danny Black then played a beautiful through ball that Lewis ran onto and Lewis took it to the right before burying his shot in the goal for a brace and a 2-0 lead into halftime. Ibrahim Arslan deserves a lot of credit for the win as he had a great first half, but they scored early in the second half as Erton Fejzullahu made a bad choice and his giveaway allowed a counterattack. Craig Lee crossed and Danny Segers deflected the ball past Arslan to narrow the match. Arslan came up with two fingertip saves to keep us in the lead and then Fejzellahu made up for his mistake by blasting a shot past Jones after Gonzalo Higuain headed the ball down for him. The 3-1 win was a result we desperately needed. Having Danny Black and Adrian Nevins paired again in center defense did a lot to help us stabilize our backline play.

[Faramir]

3.3.10

Dundee United (0) East Stirling (2)

It was another big win for us as we seemed to have righted ourselves in time to make a push for Europe. Though the match was scoreless at halftime, we had limited them to a few chances, while generating more ourselves. We finally finished an opportunity early in the second half as Erton Fejzullahu started his way to MOM honours by flicking a header past Mark Brown on a centering pass from Gonzalo Higuain. Midway through the half it was a brace for Fejzullahu as he took a pass from Niels Ringoot and slipped past Jonathan Bottinelli before sliding a shot inside the right post. Our backline again played well and they ably supported Ibrahim Arslan as he earned a clean sheet. Jeremy Nieus has played very well in the last two matches and I will face a difficult choice when Adam Andrzej is finally back to full fitness.

[Faramir]

7.3.10

Hearts (0) East Stirling (2)

Another great effort was rewarded with a 2-0 win over Hearts in front of a disappointed Tynecastle Stadium crowd on National TV. The momentum appeared to be all Hearts when Adrian Nevins was redcarded at 17 minutes. To say I was furious with the officiating would be an understatement as Bjarne Ingebretson appeared clearly offside on the play and when they didn't call it Nevins was sent off for a professional foul. We turned lemons into lemonade though as Sergio Zijler made a terrific curving cross-the-pitch pass to find Gonzalo Higuain breaking in free from the left. Higuain made no mistake in driving his shot under Swen Konig to give us the lead at the midway point of the first half. Things were even better when Higuain made it a brace, including his 5th of the season, as he drilled in a 25 yard shot off a Danny Black free kick that sent us to the dressing room ahead 2-0 and put him on his way to MOM honours. Hearts made a big effort to get back into the match in the second half, but our midfield and backline did a super job in limiting them to few less than premium chances in supporting Ibrahim Arslan to another clean sheet.

[Faramir]

13.3.10

East Stirling (0) Dunfermline (0)

It was a disappointing scoreless draw for us as we hosted 11th placed Dunfermline. We had a good amount of possession in the first half, but just couldn't break down the staunch defense of their backline. Our lack of shooting touch didn't help matters as we rarely troubled Simone Villanova when we finally did create a chance. The second half was worse than the first half as they clogged the midfield. Ibrahim Arslan had another solid effort in earning his clean sheet, but this was a match we could have won if we had executed better.

***

14.3.10

Celtic defeated Rangers 3-1 to win the League Cup.

[Faramir]

20.3.10

Dundee (2) East Stirling (0)

Sometimes you can play a good game and still lose and that was the case today as we suffered a stinging loss to Dundee despite outplaying them for most of the match. Dundee took advantage of an early free kick as Ala'a Hubail flicked in a rebound after we failed to clear the ball away. Midway through the half Juanma Pena demonstrated his sniper abilities as Danny Black left him a step too much space and he flicked a cross past Ibrahim Arslan to make it 2-0. Those were about the only scoring chances we allowed them in the match. On the other end Mehdi Rahmati was enroute to earning MOM honours as we just could not find a way to beat him. He was everywhere he had to be and came up with several brilliant saves in both halves to keep us off the scoreline. It was difficult for us, as I was pleased with how well we moved the ball on offense- but we came away with nothing to show for it except a 2-0 loss that drops us to 4th place, one point behind Hibernian.

[Faramir]

21.3.10

I was forced to tell Mick Watt that I was withdrawing Danny Black from the New Zealand side for their upcoming friendly. We are facing a huge match against Celtic next- who haven't lost a match all season- and I want Danny ready and in our lineup for that one.

***

28.3.10

East Stirling (1) Celtic (2)

We had them. It was there for us to hand them their first loss of the season. Instead we failed to show poise and allowed them to take the match away from us in a heartbreaking 2-1 loss at Firs Park. Erton Fejzullahu had scored a pretty goal to give us the lead at halftime. Things were going well in the second half- we had just missed a couple of excellent chances to add to the lead as Alexander Hysen made big saves. The match seemed there for us to win, but Maciej Zurawski scored an equalizer at 79 minutes on a highly disputed call- as it appeared he was well offside on the play. Despite our protests, Zurawski's 200th league goal stood. They then handed us the bitter loss when Craig Beattie- who has given us lots of problems in defending him- got up on the far post to deflect a corner past Ibrahim Arslan for the match winner at 89 minutes. It was a difficult loss to stomach. The match was also costly injury wise as Steve Lewis suffered a broken jaw and will miss the remainder of the season. Sean McKenna also was injured and foot injury will likely make him miss all our remaining matches as well.

[Faramir]

29.3.10

I finally received a bit of better news as Markus Paatelainen is now back in regular training. He may actually return to match fitness in time for a couple matches at the end of the season- which would be a huge boost for us.

***

3.4.10

East Stirling (1) ICT (1)

Same tune, different match. We thoroughly dominated visiting ICT, but gave away a penalty kick and missed numerous scoring chances as we wound up with another draw. We just could not buy a break in the first half as we had four chances where we had open goals due to rebounds yielded by Joe Lewis- but we just couldn't get to the ball first on any of them and they were cleared away. Lewis played well in net and made several fine stops. Their only scoring chance of the first half was thanks to a terrible decision by Kaan Onur- as he challenged Vitor Vinha in the area and was whistled for the penalty in first half injury time- on a play he didn't need to try for the tackle on. Romone Rose converted the penalty kick past Steven van der Deyl and we were behind in a half that we should have been out ahead. We equalized early in the second half as Marc McCusker, just back from injury, slotted home his 5th goal of the season off a nice cross from Gregor Balazic. After that, well we missed the net on many good chances- and I wound up stalking off the pitch again. Our last three matches we have played well in- but this draw is the lone point we have to show for our good efforts.

[Faramir]

9.4.10

Well, Steve McDonald's return season hasn't been a happy one for either of us. After his outburst in the press, I allowed him to go on the transfer list at his own request. He just hasn't measured up in BSP level play up front- one reason I went out and purchased Erton Fejzullahu.

***

12.4.10

With Celtic's defeat of ICT- we are finally caught up and can begin our Playoff Groupings. Celtic's win clinched them their 5th straight BSP Championship and they remain without a loss this season. We managed to stay 4th despite our recent woes and still have a chance at 3rd if we can get back to playing better.

BSP Championship Group

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

1- Celtic 87 pts (+58)

2- Rangers 71 pts (+46)

3- Hibernian 50 pts (+3)

4- East Stirling 48 pts (+13)

5- Dundee 46 pts (-8)

6- Hearts 42 pts (-4)

Also

7- Dundee United 40 pts (-3)

</pre>

[Faramir]

15.4.10

Hearts (2) East Stirling (2)

Another match that we should have won, but we allowed Lasse Jensen to score a brace early in the second half to let them fight back for a disappointing 2-2 draw. We played very well offensively and at least had a pair of first half goals to take a 2-0 lead into the second half. Erton Fejzallhu flicked a header past Christopher Kallqvist on a looping centering pass from Rincon to score first. Sergio Zijler wheeled around and snapped a shot home off a corner for the second goal. We came out trying to play the same type of match in the second half- but on both goals Gonzalo Higuain gave the ball away with awful choices deep in our end and both times Jensen escaped coverage by Danny Black to score with well placed shots past Ibrahim Arslan. With Marc McCusker tiring badly, I had to bring on Miklos Kollat and his performance ensured a place on the transfer list (again...) as he showed no bravery and then when set up beautifully for a one-on-one, he missed badly. It was another draw that should have been a win for us. Our club obviously has some holes that I need to work on correcting this summer.

[Faramir]

18.4.10

East Stirling (0) Celtic (5)

It was embarrassing to get beaten this badly at Firs Park by Celtic after playing so well over the last several matches. Ibrahim Arslan, and later Steven van der Deyl have to bear their fair share of the blame in this match- though our backline didn't help them much. Celtic only outshot us 10-8 and we had some wonderful chances of our own, especially in the first half when the match was still close, but David Marshall made the big saves for them. Arslan and van der Deyl made no big saves and I was disappointed in both of them tonight. It was just a bad match that we will have to write off and forget- so we can concentrate on our three remaining matches. Celtic's Emrah Ekin had a brace, Fitz Hall, Maciej Zurawski and Craig Beattie had single markers as they remained without a loss in league play for the season.

***

18.4.10

The report from our physios wasn't good. The loss cost us Gregor Balazic for the balance of the season due to an injured heel and also Erton Fejzullahu for at least the next match with bruised ribs. This means we are desperately short of forwards, though Markus Paatelainen may be close to match ready for our next one. Marc McCusker is not full strength and with Steve Lewis and Sean McKenna still out too- we are left starting unhappy Steve McDonald and calling up 17 year old David Webster off the Under-19 side as a gameday reserve.

[Faramir]

24.4.10

Hibernian (2) East Stirling (1)

The frustration continued for us as Dundee scored a goal in the last minute of second half injury time to hand us a heartbreaking 2-1 defeat. We struggled in the first half, but our defensive effort was back and Ibrahim Arslan righted himself with a strong effort today. Derek Riordan made us pay when he used his pace to scoot down the pitch and Adrian Nevins couldn't get over to close him down before he scored. With Markus Paatelainen clearly not up to full fitness, I had to bring on David Webster and he made his debut a memorable one as he took a pass from Miklos Kollat and buried it in the goal past Gaetano Romano for the equalizer early in the second half. We came oh so close to taking the lead twice in the second half, but Romano came up with the stops. I was ready to accept a 1-1 draw as a worthy effort, but our players blew the coverage on one of our own free kicks as I was yelling for Rincon to get back- but he strayed up the pitch. Of course that turned into a counter attack and Riordan was left alone in front to make it a brace with the dramatic match winner. With two home matches remaining, against Dundee and then 'Gers- we can finish anywhere from 4th to 8th depending on the results.

[Klapp]

Awesome game Faramir! Hope you go on for many seasons, so that we can see The Shire become one of the greatest forces in Europe! I've been following your posts with great enthusiasm, because I love playing in Scotland too. One question: Do you have only the Scottish leagues running or do you have others?

[Faramir]

Klapp- thanks Story is set to go on for awhile yet I only have Scottish Leagues running for this story

***

28.4.10

East Stirling (5) Dundee (2)

A huge, desperately needed win for us as we managed to defeat Dundee 5-2 at Firs Park and more or less lock up 4th place in the standings. Gonazalo Higuain drilled a 20 yard shot past Mehdi Rahmati to give us the lead in the opening moments and Markus Paatelainen converted a penalty kick following a trip by Tom Zoontjes in the area to make it 2-0 in the early going. Erton Fejzullahu then took over and completed the demolition of the visitors as he put their backline to the sword- scoring a hattrick in a 10 minute stretch to make it 5-0 for us. We played conservatively after that and they managed to score injury time as Juanma Pena drilled a shot past Ibrahim Arslan. They added a consolation goal in second half injury time, but we had the 5-2 win over the club we were tied with for 4th place. Our goal differential is too much to overcome, so even a loss to 'Gers in our final match will keep us here. Markus Paatelainen again left with injury and will be out until midsummer.

[Faramir]

2.5.10

East Stirling (0) Rangers (2)

There was no magic left for us today as 'Gers completely outclassed us in defeating us 2-0. We never got untracked offensively and Andrea Gasberroni gave them a lead after they relentlessly pressured us in the first half. Ibrahim Arslan had no chance on the rising shot that sailed past him late in the half. We were in a deeper hole after Anthony Hallam was called for a push in the area and ? converted the penalty kick. There was no offensive spark for us today and we went quietly in losing 2-0 to finish the season. Still, we finished in 4th place and I consider that a nice accomplishment given the challenges of the season.

***

2.5.10

BSP Table- Final

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

1- Celtic 99 pts (+67)

2- Rangers 83 pts (+54)

3- Hibernian 57 pts (+1)

4- East Stirling 52 pts (+8)

5- Dundee 49 pts (-16)

</pre>

[Faramir]

4.5.10

Our reward for finishing 4th in the BSP was 1.1 Million, which will help the overall financial picture. We are currently almost 5.4 Million in the black. The Board's current weekly wage budget is 65K a week and we currently have a wage total of 49K a week. We still have just over 2 Million available in transfer funds.

It was very pleasing to have 4 East Stirling players selected to the BSP Players Team of the Year. Selected as starters on the side were Ibrahim Arslan- Keeper, Danny Black- Defender and Sergio Zijler- Winger. Peter Merkestijn was selected as an alternate.

***

9.5.10

As I consider last season, there is much to be pleased about and much that didn't work out as well as I had hoped. We had a very strong stretch in the runup to the final portion of the season, but then we just didn't play very well- or at least didn't execute very well- as we disappointingly slumped.

What went right? We managed to find a 'core' of younger players to build around. Markus Paatelainen, Erton Fejzullahu, Peter Merkestijn, Gregor Balazic, Sergio Zijler and Gonzalo Higuain all stepped up and showed a lot of potential. Most of them slumped down the stretch though too and Paatelainen missed a significant portion of the season with injury and was still our leading goal scorer. Ibrahim Arslan generally played very steady in our net, but doesn't always make the big save. Despite our solid defensive stats, our backline is one area where we didn't develop well. Most of the backline showed flashes of brilliance, that were tempered with bouts of stupidity. Missing Danny Black for well over a month due to his committments to New Zealand hurt us as well.

The question now is where do we go from here? We have room under the Board's salary budget to add players and still have a significant transfer fund available, but to an extent I am loathe to give up flexibility in either of those, because we still don't have the kind of reputation that will draw 'name' players. I believe the approach we will have to take is to continue finding undervalued young players and working them into the mix. I will be the first to accept the blame for our current mix of players not working out well. The depth I was hoping that the existing players on the club would be didn't show up well during the season, and that left me overusing the key players- likely a reason we faded down the final stretch.

So, my goal for the summer is to allow the unhappy players to find new homes. I need to decide who the 'complimentary/depth players' are on the current squad and then trim the squad accordingly while keeping a close eye for unhappy younger players who could contribute here.

Our biggest need is to add quality depth at forward, because beyond Paatelainen and Fejzullahu we had only Steve Lewis and Marc McCusker that contributed anything. Backline is our next most important area and I hope to add a veteran center defender who can help stabilize the youngsters here.

[Faramir]

10.5.10

As I begin my attempt to restructure the club, it was painful to offer to other clubs such players as Lee Sichi, Mark Gourlay, Kevin Gaughan- who have been stalwart players as we moved up to BSP. The reality is that though they have helped us, they just aren't BSP caliber players, and should do better for clubs in lower levels. I also negotiated mutual termination releases of Steve McDonald and Stewart Greacen after no clubs were interested in them- despite my offering them on free transfer. Going the mutual termination route allows them to leave- which they both pointedly wanted- and it also removes their fairly hefty weekly wage amounts from our total, which gives me a bit more flexibility during the summer.

***

12.5.10

Barcelona defeated Chelsea on penalties after battling to 1-1 regulation score in the Champions Cup. Earlier, Roma had won the Euro Cup for their 2nd time in a row.

[Faramir]

30.5.10

I guess I should have seen it coming, but truthfully I didn't. The Chairman called me to tell me the wonderful news that they were completely revamping Firs Park. The expansion, when complete, will add 5500 seats and give us a wonderful place to play. In the meantime- which should be about 5 months- we will ground share with Camelon at Carmuirs Park.

I was overjoyed, until he also gave me the bad news that they appreciated all my past efforts to save the club money and because of that, the club would only be 2.2 Million in the Red. And, oh- by the way- the club is now about 10K above the Board's budgeted weekly wage amount, so could I please consider bringing us back into line.

That was a bit disheartening. The only good news is that all of our key players are signed through the end of 2012 right now, so we won't have to worry about not being able to meet their various contract demands. The other bad news is that the two transfer purchases I had set up for the summer will likely be deemed null and void- which will cost us Davide Ferrante a 20 year old center defender from Inter that I dearly wanted to add. The Board suggested that I use this season to feature youth players, since we will obviously have no transfer funds. This is going to be a difficult season for sure.

***

2.6.10

More fallout from the issue of our Park and club debt. Rincon stunned everyone on the club when he came out with comments indicating that he would like to move to a Major club to continue his quest for trophies. I am afraid I was a little forceful in my response that I planned to keep the better players (well, those who don't have minimum fee releases) because I also want to progress toward trophies.

[Faramir]

3.6.10

I was interested to hear from the press and my staff that Rincon responded surprisingly well to my reply. He has backed off for the moment on his stance.

It was very unfortunate timing-wise to see Rangers come in with a 1.3 Million bid- the minimum fee release amount- for Erton Fejzullahu. There is nothing I can do about it and I am certain he is on his way to play for them. This would help us with both our debt and our weekly wage (since he is the highest paid player on the club at 6500/week), but will kill us at forward- where we are already dreadfully thin. I can't help but believe that 'Gers are also pursuing this because it really knocks a huge hole in our offense and will make it very difficult for us to do as well as last season.

***

6.6.10

The transfer window opened and I was pleased that both my deal with Inter for Davide Ferrante and also my minor deal with Morton for David Armour were allowed to go through. Ferrante should become a starter- paired with Danny Black in our center defense. Armour will alternate with Gonzalo Higuain to give us depth we didn't have at leftwing.

The sale of Miklos Kollat for 100K to Motherwell was also completed. Though this will thin our depth out further, Kollat wasn't going to help us and it removes another 2200/week from the wages.

[Faramir]

8.6.10

The sale of Erton Fejzullahu was completed today. The 'Gers were very happy and me not so much. Still, our debt is now under 1 Million and things are looking up a bit on our bottom line.

***

8.6.10

Ross Hepburn was sold to Boston United for 22K with a 20% sell-on clause. Ross has an excellent future, but didn't fit in well with our attacking system.

***

10.6.10

The toughest call so far- I received a flood of transfer offers for Rincon, apparently due to the publicity. These were pretty generous offers and after thinking long and hard- I counter offered every one of the major clubs back with a flat 3 Million up front and a 20% sell-on clause. Some of the clubs offered friendlies, but I didn't counter offer that unless they initially offered. Though I am loathe to lose the world class right back, he wants to move and the money would bring us completely out of the hole and allow us to operate in the black financially- something I dearly want to do. I did reject Celtic's bid for him though- no sense giving him to them.

[Faramir]

15.6.10

We are going to play in the Euro Vase competition! It is hard to believe that we made it to qualify. With Rincon's fate awaiting contract negotiations being completed, I will have to leave him off our 25 man roster that is due today.

Our starting lineup as we will face AaB will be:

GK- Ibrahim Arslan

DR- Danny Black

DL- Adam Andrzej

DC- Adrian Nevins (Davide Ferrante injured)

DC- Anthony Hallam

MR- Sergio Zijler

ML- Gonzalo Higuain

MC- Peter Merkestijn

MC- Gregor Balazic

SC- Marc McCusker

SC- Steve Lewis (Markus Paatelainen still not healthy yet)

Sub- James Flood

Sub- Chris Hamilton

Sub- David Armour

Sub- Steven van der Deyl

Sub- Nathan Goris

Sub- Carl Laurie

Sub- Niels Ringoot

***

16.6.10

Well, it's official now, but the actual transfer won't occur until July 20th. Rincon agreed to a contract with Atlante in Mexico and will be moving there. It surprised me he turned down offers from Sao Paulo and Corinthians to return to his home in Brazil- but I guess it is all about money.

I will be following through on my previous plan to move Danny Black to rightback, since we have depth in our center defense.

[Faramir]

20.6.10

Peter Merkestijn was selected as our Fan's Player of the Year. Peter certainly deserved the honour and recognition as he is a key player on our club.

***

20.6.10

We received our TV money and to both the Board's relief and mine as well- we moved back into the black with a positive balance of 400K. The Board relayed that they understood that our financial condition had short circuited my plans to improve the side and that they wanted us to battle to avoid relegation this season.

***

20.6.10

AaB (1) East Stirling (2) Euro Vase 1st Round 1st Leg

I was so pleased at the poise our club showed as we edged AaB on the road in our first exposure to Europe. We could have won this match by even more, but I was happy that we managed to pull out the last minute win. We struck first in the first half when Marc McCusker started the play with a pretty pass to send Steve Lewis in free. Henrik Poulsen, who had Lewis' number all match, stopped his shot, but Gonzalo Higuain ran down the rebound and sent a cross back that found McCusker. McCusker had hustled to get back into the play and was rewarded with a goal as he deflected Higuain's cross past Poulsen. We had excellent chances to add to the lead as Lewis' pace caused the AaB backline huge problems, but Poulsen made three more one-on-one saves against him. Danny Black handed them the equalizer when his lazy throw-in was deflected by Michael Jensen to Cristian Thomsen. Thomsen made a well placed shot past Ibrahim Arslan to equalize in the opening moments of the second half. We tried to regain the lead, but it looked like we were going to have to settle for a 1-1 draw. Sergio Zijler put his pace advantage to great use as he broke free down the right. Lars Svendsen was forced to hold him in the area which earned him a yellow card and gave us a penalty kick in second half injury time. Gregor Balazic calmly stepped up and fired the penalty past Poulsen for a well earned 2-1 road win.

[Klapp]

Hey Faramir, I'm still enjoying your story enormously! In fact, I've just started a new game as East Stirling manager on FM07. I remember you posted that you have climbed all the way up to the SPL being a part-time club... despite that, have you offered professional contracts to your players back then?

[Faramir]

Klapp- Thanks for the kind words It is going back a ways but I am pretty sure I was able to offer professional contracts to at least some of my players. Good luck with your East Stirling run

***

21.6.10

Injuries again- this time we will be missing Peter Merkestijn for at least 2 weeks, and likely closer to a month due to a twisted ankle. We will be testing our depth early as Chris Hamilton will move into the starting lineup.

***

26.6.10

East Stirling (2) AaB (0) Euro Vase 1st Round 2nd Leg- East Stirling advances on 4-1 aggregate

Even without Peter Merkestijn we didn't miss a beat as we handily defeated AaB 2-0 in our first match at our home-away-from-home Carmuirs Park. James Flood earned MOM honours today and he created the first opportunity when Lars Svendsen continued his penchant for causing penalties by tripping Flood in the area. Flood stepped up and hooked his shot inside the left post past Henrik Poulsen to put AaB in a bad way. Flood then skinned defender Thomas Bak and made it a brace to send us to halftime leading 2-0. We contented ourselves in supporting Ibrahim Arslan's clean sheet in the second half and final whistle found us celebrating our advancement in Euro Vase. Next up for us is Illichivets Mariupol of Ukraine.

[Faramir]

26.6.10

I guess it shouldn't have surprised me when Markus Paatelainen discussed moving to a bigger club in the press. I gave him the same answer that I passed along to Rincon, that we both wanted the same goals and he should stay and help us achieve them. He also reacted well and backed off his demands.

***

30.6.10

The day after I submitted our 25-man roster for our matches against Illichivets- we lost Danny Black for at least the next couple of weeks. Carl Laurie will almost certainly have to be our starting rightback at this point.

***

30.6.10

Another impatient player, as Gregor Balazic came out with comments that he would need to move to a larger side. I politely pointed out to him that *we* were a club playing in Europe and that I hoped to move on to bigger and better things. I am sure some of this will go away when we get our finances in better shape- namely when sale of Rincon is completed- and also when we move into the new, improved Firs Park venue.

***

1.7.10

One leaving and one arriving as the transfer window opened again. Leaving us is rightback Ross Harvey, who was sold to Cambridge for 80K. Joining us is promising 17 year old Scot forward Jamie Scott. Scott signed with us from the Dunfermline youth program and I am hoping he can step in and help us a bit this season, though that is probably a bit unfair to the youngster.

[Faramir]

3.7.10

East Stirling (1) Illichivets (0) Euro Vase 2nd Round 1st Leg

We managed to survive losing both Gregor Balazic and Chris Hamilton in the first half to defeat Ukraine side Illichivets Mariupol 1-0 at Carmuirs Park in our 1st leg match. The lone goal came early on in the match as Sergio Zijler and Marc McCusker played a 1-2 that allowed Zijler enough space to drive a cross into the middle. Steve Lewis slipped between two defenders to deflect the cross past Denys Melnyk. Both Balazic and Hamilton left with injuries late in the first half, forcing me to play Neils Ringoot and Gonzalo Higuain in center mid roles that they are not well suited for. It worked out fine as we continued to control the tempo of play in helping Ibrahim Arslan earn a clean sheet in the close win. With Balazic and Hamilton out for the 2nd leg, Adam Tiran and Kaan Onur will get the call in center midfield. Davide Ferrante had a solid debut for us in the match.

[Faramir]

4.7.10

We signed a couple youngsters who were released from youth programs. 20 year old center back Mark Staunton had been released by Celtic and 18 year old center midfielder Derek Brown had been released by Dundee United. Both are on the Scot Under-21 Team and both of them were liked a lot by my scouts.

***

5.7.10

We also made a small transfer purchase, paying 24K to Livingston for 22 year old rightback Alan Lowing. I had extensively scouted Lowing previously and had only went out and purchased Rincon because Lowing wasn't interested in coming to us at that time. Lowing is a good young rightback, but Danny Black will still be first choice when he returns from injury.

***

8.7.10

Another signing on free for us as we landed 22 year old Scot forward John Bruce. Bruce had been with Aberdeen, but out on loan for the last few seasons. Though he has never proven to be a good scorer up front, he is a well-rounded forward and we can certainly use him with our lack of depth up there.

***

9.7.10

Though my assistant doesn't think he will be more than a fringe player, it was with pleasure that we signed veteran Scottish center midfielder Brian Kerr. Kerr, who was released by Rangers after last season, should help us depthwise and also help us with his poise in our dressing room.

[Faramir]

10.7.10

Illichivets (0) East Stirling (3) Euro Vase 2nd Round 2nd Leg- East Stirling advances on 4-0 aggregate

We continue to demonstrate that we do belong in European competition as we upset favored Illichivets 3-0 in Mariupol. Marc McCusker gave us command of the tempo right away as he finished with a vengence as his laser shot sailed past Denys Melnyk after a good pass from MOM Sergio Zijler. McCusker made it a brace when he scored just midway through the half by finishing off a superb cross from Ryan Carr. Ibrahim Arslan had to be sharp in the early going of the second half to keep Illichivets from rallying. We put the match away when Gonzalo Higuain whisked in a 15 yard shot to make it 3-0. Arslan was very happy to earn another clean sheet. With our aggregate win, we will face Wolfsburg in the 3rd round.

***

11.7.10

We lost Alan Lowing for a long time, before he could even play a match for us, as he suffered a hip injury that needed consultation with a specialist. He will likely miss at least the next three months, if not longer, in recovering.

[Spav]

Faramir, it's good to see East Stirling in the heady realms of European football. Best of luck against Wolfsburg as that appears to be a much tougher task than your earlier rounds.

[Faramir]

Too true Spav- Wolfsburg looks like a real test for us...

***

11.7.10

In front of 95,000 in Johanesburg, Spain finally came through in a big match as they defeated England on penalties to capture the World Cup. England struck early in the match as Wayne Rooney scored in the 5th minute. Spain answered as Fernando Torres flicked a header past Chris Kirkland late in the first half. Both sides battled through regulation and extra-time, but it came down to the shoot-out and Spain didn't falter at the end, winning 4-3 to send their fans into a frenzied celebration.

***

11.7.10

With a flurry of firings on the National scene, I took advantage to apply for the openings to manage the Ireland and Belgium National sides. Realistically, I have little chance- but I would like to manage Internationally at some point in my career and it doesn't hurt to start making my hopes known at this point.

***

11.7.10

The injuries continue to pile up. Now Carl Laurie will miss at least two weeks due to calf injury. Our fullback situation isn't particularly good at the moment.

***

12.7.10

If we are fortunate enough to get past Wolfsburg our likely opponent should be Auxerre, as they face Romanian side Farul on the bracket opposite ours.

[Faramir]

14.7.10

As I keep trying to add depth without a lot of expense, it is adding players like 20 year old Scottish forward Martin Watt that make the effort worthwhile. Watt was released by Hearts and we had heavily scouted him last season, so it was a quick offer to him. He accepted the contract and his hot prospect status as I want him to work with the Reserves for the moment.

***

14.7.10

We lost our first friendly of the season to Club Brugge 2-1. It was a credible effort on our part as the lineup featured none of our first or second line players, because of the 1st leg with Wolfsburg coming up on Saturday. Jonathan Blondel and Gregory Dufer scored for them, while Paul Blake banged home a rebound for us.

***

15.7.10

I was really happy to complete the 120K transfer purchase of 22 year old Scottish rightwinger David Gray. Gray is one of the most talented young right side players I have seen and he was happy to be coming back to Scotland from his stint of not playing at Colchester. His addition may lead to finding a new home for Niels Ringoot- who hasn't worked out as well as I had hoped.

[Faramir]

17.7.10

East Stirling (1) Wolfsburg (2) Euro Vase 3rd Round 1st Leg

Our European dream has dimmed a bit after Wolfsburg scored a goal in second half injury time to edge us 2-1 and put us in a bad situation for our 2nd round match. They were clearly the superior club for most of the match, but Ibrahim Arslan had a heroic effort in net. They scored to take the lead early in the second half following an entertaining first half. Mimoun Amazouagh, who earned MOM honours, capped a pretty passing sequence by blasting a 30 yard shot past Arslan. We answered midway through the second half as Gonzalo Higuain took a throw in and marched into the area before drilling a shot inside the far right post past Simon Jentzsch. I was hoping we could finish out even 1-1, but Davide Ferrante made an ill-advised foul in the center of the pitch and after Amazouagh blasted the free kick off the post, Juan Carlos Menequez snapped home the rebound to hand us a crushing last moment loss. Markus Paatelainen continues to be a star-crossed player as in his first match back from assortment of injuries he suffered a broken cheekbone, which will put him out another month.

[Faramir]

20.7.10

We said goodbye to Rincon last night, as his transfer becomes official today. Rincon thanked me for the opportunity to show that he could play at the highest levels and wished all of us the best for the coming season. His sale puts us firmly into the black- 3.2 Million- and the Board adjusted their weekly wage budget accordingly- at present it will now be 70K a week. We currently have weekly wages of 44K a week. The current fund for transfer purchases is 2.6 Million, but I hope to not dip into that significantly and keep banking money up this season. Once we move into the revamped Firs Park, we should see a significant boost in income as well.

***

21.7.10

In our last friendly- we only had two, thanks to the Euro Vase competition- we stunned visiting Anderlecht with a match winning goal in second half injury time to win out 2-1. I was very proud and pleased of the effort, as we were again not playing any first or second line players. Youngsters Jamie Scott (off a great through ball from Adrian Nevins) and Paul Blake (on a super cross from Kenny McLean) were the scorers as we fought back after trailing 1-0 in the first half thanks to an Anatoly Gerk strike.

[Faramir]

24.7.10

Wolfsburg (1) East Stirling (0) Euro Vase 3rd Round 2nd Leg- Wolfsburg advances on 3-1 aggregate

Our first sojourn to Europe is over after we lost to Wolfsburg 1-0 to finish us. The first half was crucial and the referee played much too prominent a role in the match. Ryan Carr was yellow carded for a sliding tackle in the area in the 5th minute, but Ibrahim Arslan came up with a big save on Cacau's penalty kick. We dodged the bullet once, but not twice and Carr was called for a push in the air in the area and this time Piotr Trochowski fired the penalty kick past Arslan. It looked like we had gained a glimmer of hope back late in the first half when Steve Lewis scored after picking up a rebound, but that goal was waved off as Lewis was ruled offside on the disputed play. We couldn't crack the Wolfsburg defense in the second half, as they're tackling was superb and we just couldn't find enough space. It was a fun trip to Europe, but we were beaten by a better club.

[Faramir]

24.7.10

The culling of our club has begun today. We let Kevin Gaughan go on free transfer to Morton and accepted 10K from Morecambe for Kenny McLean. We still have several other unhappy players that I am trying to find homes for.

***

24.7.10

Celtic surprised me with a 1.9 Million offer for Ibrahim Arslan today. I turned them down on the offer. The money was nice, but we are nowhere without Arslan backstopping our efforts. Besides, why aid the side that has won the last 5 BSP titles?

***

27.7.10

More winnowing of the club as we sold Mark Torrance to Alloa for 14K and Sean McKenna to St.Johnstone for 22K.

***

28.7.10

Another one gone as we sold Scott Gallacher to Mansfield for 6K.

***

29.7.10

We made one transfer purchase today as we landed 21 year old Lithuanian center defender Justinas Borevicious from St.Johnstone for 50K. Borevicious had impressed me greatly when we played against them and I think he will be a good addition to mix of defenders.

[Faramir]

31.7.10

Dunfermline (1) East Stirling (2)

It was a good start to our season as we managed to edge Dunfermline 2-1 at East End Park. The first half was scoreless and saw both sides attacking fluidly up and down the pitch. Ibrahim Arslan and Bruno Costa were both playing well in net. Dunfermline's backline was doing a great job tackling and keeping Steve Lewis and Marc McCusker from making any impact in their area. The second half started off the same way, but McCusker shook loose from his marking and a terrific pass from MOM Gregor Balazic allowed him to snap a shot past Costa inside the near left post. Less than three minutes later we made it 2-0 when John Bruce, on for tiring Lewis, made a sensational debut as he took a pass from McCusker and moved past Anders Post Jacobsen on the dribble before finishing with a quick, scorching shot past Costa. Despite outplaying them, we let them back into the match minutes later when Jamie Ford made a youngsters mistake as he fouled Daniel in the area. Damien Rapeu calmly converted the penalty kick and we were right back in a dogfight. It was with relief that the final whistle sounded and we had scored a nice road victory to open the season.

[Faramir]

31.7.10

I don't like starting 18 year old Jamie Ford at rightback, but he is the only healthy one I have on the roster- as Danny Black, Alan Lowing and Carl Laurie all remain injured.

***

2.8.10

It was no surprise to see Celtic and Rangers both priced at evens in the odds posted for BSP for this season. Aberdeen is 12-1 and Dundee is 20-1. We are pegged at 50-1 odds, the longest of any club for the upcoming season.

***

7.8.10

East Stirling (1) Motherwell (2)

Well, we still have work to do. In a match that we controlled offensively, they finished better than we did and that was enough for them to knock us off 2-1. They only managed one shot the entire first half, but Ashley Chambers made it count as he deflected a long centering pass from Willie McLaren into the corner of the net past Ibrahim Arslan. We had pounded away at Patrick Bellabini, but had nothing to show for several good scoring chances. Things were made worse when ex-mate Miklos Kollat was first to a slightly deflected ball and fired it in to put them ahead 2-0. Our only goal was a consolation goal by David Gray in second half injury time. It is going to take time to sort out our backline and today was a match that Arslan didn't save us in. I will be glad to get Peter Merkestijn back for our next match, Chris Hamilton is a solid midfielder, but doesn't impact the match in the same manner that Peter does.

[Faramir]

8.8.10

We sold unhappy rightback Daniel Simpson to Barnet for 8K as part of our roster trimming. My coaches were all of the opinion Daniel wasn't going to improve further and that he should be allowed to play lower level football- so the sale made sense for both Daniel and the club.

***

13.8.10

We made the biggest transfer signing since I have been at East Stirling when we completed the 1.1 Million purchase of 23 year old English forward Paul Hopkins from Aston Villa. Hopkins is a left footer and has great awareness and creative abilities. With Markus Paatelainen close to resuming full training, I am looking at the pairing of those two as something that might work well. Mostly I made the transfer because we need some firepower up front and Hopkins has a past record of being able to score. I have always valued Steve Lewis highly and thought he was on the verge of a breakout, but he just doesn't have a great finishing touch around the net- yet.

[Faramir]

15.8.10

ICT (0) East Stirling (4)

The return from injury of Peter Merkestijn ignited the smoldering East Stirling offense as they punctuated a strong effort with two goals in each half to crush ICT. Merkestijn wasted no time adding his flare to the offense as he snapped a shot past Joe Lewis at the six minute mark after a good pass from Adam Andrzej. After dodging several other close calls the home side went to the dressing room down 2-0 as Gregor Balazic deflected an Andrzej corner past Lewis. Paul Hopkins capped a sensational debut by scoring early in the second half after Marc McCusker had missed an open net. Defender Justinas Borevicius also had a solid debut. Preben Vatle Hammersland scored his 1st ever goal for East Stirling on a late corner to polish off the 4-0 win. Sergio Zijler looked to have added to the lead, but his goal was waved off when Zijler was ruled barely offside. Ibrahim Arslan notched another clean sheet in the win. The bad news came after the match when Ibrahim Arslan was dianosed with a strained kneck that will keep him out for at least a week. With Steven van der Deyl also out with injury, we will have to use 3rd string keeper Russell Omand against Rangers.

[Faramir]

21.8.10

East Stirling (5) Rangers (2)

Every now and then the final scoreline doesn't reflect the match, and this is one of those cases. 'Gers outshot us 19-7 for the match and had our backline overmatched for portions of the game, but 3rd string keeper Russell Omand had the match of his life in his first Senior start in almost two years and his fine efforts kept our storied visitors from putting up more on the final scoreline. The only reason Omand wasn't selected as MOM was because Paul Hopkins continued to justify the large amout splashed out on him. Hopkins created havoc in the 'Gers backline and was the catalyst for much of their woes today. Hopkins struck for the first goal just past midway in the first half when Justinas Borevicius sent him a perfectly timed through ball and he snapped his shot past Jamie Jones after splitting the defenders. Less than three minutes later it was 2-0 when Hopkins made a beautiful layoff and Gregor Balazic blasted a shot just inside the far right post. 'Gers had threatened several times in the first half and finally made good on a chance in first half injury time as Adam Andrzej didn't step out quickly enough to challenge Danny Howard and he fired a shot past Omand. It looked like 'Gers would equalize in the early moments of the second half, but Omand made a series of terrific saves. Gonzalo Higuain slipped coverage on a corner and rifled a shot past Jones. It didn't take long for 'Gers to draw a goal back as Martin Kamburov easily knocked home a rebound after our backline was caught standing around when Omand came up with a brilliant parry on Howard. Res Strebel was forced to put a hold on Marc McCusker in the area and Hopkins made it a brace when he converted the penalty kick. David Gray, on for Sergio Zijler, added the punctuation point to the win when another Borevicius through ball found him with enough room to slip a shot past the diving Jones to finish the surprising win. The lone down note was Davide Ferrante suffering fractured ribs which will keep him out at least 3 weeks and maybe up to 2 months.

[Faramir]

24.8.10

With Justinas Borevicius now out for a couple weeks, we currently have 5 backline players injured. Fortunately, we do have depth- especially at center defender where we are hardest hit- to survive this wave of injuries.

***

25.8.10

If we had managed to survive against Wolfsburg- we would have wound up facing Roma to win a Final in the Euro Vase Cup. Wolfsburg wasn't able to accomplish that, as they lost 4-0 on aggregate to the powerful Italian side.

***

27.8.10

Stephen Hindmarch is moving to Southend after they offered him the best contract out of 7 that I accepted bids of 9K from. Hindmarch's contract ran out at the end of this season and it was time to cash in on the unhappy midfielder while we could.

***

28.8.10

As the transfer deadline looms, Rangers came to me with an offer that left me incredulous. They wanted to loan Gregor Balazic for the remainder of the season, and they wanted an option to buy him at a future fee of 375K. I gave them a simple 'no', but it made me wonder if they really thought I would accept such an offer from them.

[Faramir]

28.8.10

Hearts (1) East Stirling (0)

A close match that was within our reach, but ended up being a disappointing loss. We played a fine first half and had come close to taking the lead several times. It appeared we finally had when Markus Paatelainen, again just back from injury, flicked a header past Christoper Kallqvist in first half injury time. The goal was waved off when Paatelainen was ruled offside on the play. Hearts gathered themselves at halftime and played a much more attacking brand of football in the second half. The lone goal came when Salmin Cehajic saw Nathan Goris a few steps up the pitch and sent a ball past him to Lasse Jensen. Anthony Hallam could not get back in time to close Jensen down before he fired a rising shot past Russell Omand. Omand, who earned MOM honours, managed to keep the match close for us after that and we missed another couple sitters in finishing out the difficult road loss.

***

28.8.10

I have to admit that Russell Omand has opened some eyes on the staff- mine in particular- with his play in the last couple matches. He was very steady, exactly what we needed, and has earned his place on the Senior side- though he may not get a lot of starts.

[Faramir]

1.9.10

The only transfer deadline deal we made was to allow Russell Omand to go on loan to St.Johnstone for the remainder of the season. Omand deserves to have a full chance to play and both Ibrahim Arslan and Steven van der Deyl are close to full fitness.

Paul Hopkins earned Player of the Month honours in his first month here. Adam Andrzej, who has been scouted heavily by Celtic of late, was 3rd in the balloting.

***

11.9.10

East Stirling (3) Dundee (2)

We welcomed Ibrahim Arslan back to the lineup and he was solid in helping us to a 3-2 win that should have been more decisive. The first half belonged to us as we applied constant pressure on the Dundee backline. Due to good work by keeper Kari Dryden and timely tackling by the visitors' backline, all we had to show for our good execution was a goal from Gonzalo Higuain- after a nicely laid off pass from Paul Hopkins. I thought we might add to the lead when Sandy Paillot tripped Markus Paatelainen in the area, but Dryden made a terrific save on Hopkins' penalty kick. Rejuvanated by the save, Dundee stormed to the attack and scored the equalizer when Nathan Goris failed to fully clear a rebound away and Davide Furlan drilled a shot past Arslan. We moved back into the lead when Higuain made it a brace when he drove a rising shot past Dryden off a Danny Black corner. It looked like we had the match put away when Gregor Balazic drilled a loose ball into the right side of the net at 82 minutes, but Black handed them a penalty kick back when he bodychecked Juanma Pena in the area. Neil Woods converted the penalty kick and our fans had to sweat out another 8 minutes of play before we could relax- having held on for a 3-2 win.