ChaosClive

Clive English - Back to the motherland - APOP Geroskipou 2031/32 Season Review As everyone already knew, the board were not prepared to upgrade the stadium to an all seater, so despite only moving to the APOP Geroskipou Stadium in 2027, it would now lie dormant for the second season in 5 years, and possibly forever if Clive could keep his team up in the future. Big news from the boardroom too, as current chairman Marios Andreou would be stepping down after 'overseeing' a successful period in the club's history. Only to be replaced by another prawn sandwich eating toff, instead of opening the club up to an oil rich billionaire, like Clive had suggested in his brief meetings with the board. Another load of cash needed to keep the club afloat. At least this would not add to the loan repayments. After the season, former assman Andreas Konstantinou realised that the grass was not greener on the other side, and came back to Clive to beg for another oppertunity to work with the great man himself. Clive was gracious with his, mainly due to his fantastic ability and low wage demands. Hopefully this would be the last season with red plastered everywhere in the revenue statements put out by the club's accountants at seasons end. But Clive had thought this before. Clive's Cuttings van Looy continued his goal scoring at over a goal a game, with 12 assists to boot, mainly to his strike partner Viegas. The wingers Embalo and Carvalho also chipped in with 11 and 13 assists respectively, but Clive knew that he needed someone who could also provide goals and assists down the middle of midfield. van Looy's final goal of the season saw him overtake club legend Zalikas as all time top scorer.

I think the fact that most players didnt have any interest from other clubs massively helped, especially van Looy and Viegas. Fingers crossed second time round!

Clive English - Back to the motherland - APOP Geroskipou May 2032 Clive's team only needed 3 points, and yet came away with 7. But it would not have mattered either way, as ASIL slipped at the first hurdle, allowing Geroskipou to win the league with a draw against lowly THOI. The other games were a formality, but Clive had to settle one final demon, with this the last time he was hoping to ever play Deryneia, he sent his strongest side out, and put them to the sword in a 4-0 win. Final Table In the end, Geroskipou romped to a 2nd Second Division title, winning by 11 points. In some bad news for football in Pafos, Pafos were relegated into the Third Division, how the mighty have fallen.

Clive English - Back to the motherland - APOP Geroskipou April 2032 As Clive had expected, the board had to step in to prevent a small disaster, injecting £85k into the coffers. Results A slip up against Doxa meant that the league could not be secured in April but due to the rules of nature it seemed, the 3-2 loss was followed up by a 5-1 spanking of Paralimni, who were sitting ahead of Doxa in the table before the match. Table With Clive's C at GCSE in maths behind him, he worked out that Geroskipou only needed 2 points from the final 3 games to win the title. May Fixtures Which as they were playing THOI in the first game of May, made them everyones favourites to win the league.

Clive English - Back to the motherland - APOP Geroskipou March 2032 A short, yet perfect month. A laboured win against Ypsonas, followed by a 2-0 win against Pafos in from of a bumper crowd of 1,564 rounded out the month... The 2-0 win against Pafos along with Paralimni slipping up means that Geroskipou won promotion straight back into the First Division. A massive increase in wages to boot. £20.5k a week is a 4 fold increase on the current season, which should be more than enough to help keep Geroskipou up. Table With promotion guaranteed, the only goal left for the season in Clive's mind was to win the league outright. With his side 8 points clear with 5 games to go, it was looking more and more like a foregone conclusion. April Fixtures The final charge towards the league title would start with Doxa away and then 3rd place Paralimni at home.

Clive English - Back to the motherland - APOP Geroskipou January/February 2032 Transfers Clive was already thinking about another season in the First Division when signing Bozicic, who would be an upgrade in goal. He did demand a massive wage of £550p/w, so it would be a waiting game to see if the gamble would pay off, but if anyone came in to match the release clause of £150,000, it would smash the club record fee. The second signing was more of a power move. The ability to even speak to someone at Inter, even if it was in their U19 side, would have only been a pipedream a few years ago. But that along with the media calling Beltrame a promising midfielder was enough for Clive to bring him in until the end of the season for £0p/w. Results van Looy scoring in all 6 league games went further to justify the massive contract that he was given. But as a team, every player in the matchday 18 had played their part in starting what would hopefully be an unbeaten run in and another league title. Table With the likes of ASIL, Paralimni, and Olymp. Nicosia not being able to keep up with Geroskipou, a league title was looking ever more likely, the gap was now 8 points with 7 to play. Fixtures A win against Ypsonas would be enough to remove them from the title race, and a win against cross-town rivals Pafos could see them head into the relegation zone if other results do not go their way.

Clive English - Back to the motherland - APOP Geroskipou December 2031 "An unbeaten streak can't last forever" was all Clive could muster after the final game of the calendar year, a tight 1-0 loss against ASIL. Despite the 13 game unbeaten streak coming to an end, the players and staff did not let the result ruin the end of year party, especially van Looy, who had scored 7 over the month. After all, they had just come off the back of a streak that saw them finish the year off in a commanding position in the league. Table Geroskipou were almost nailed on to gain promotion back to the First Division at the first time of asking. January/February Fixtures January in particular would be a great test for Geroskipou, playing a lot of sides in and around the promotion push, some wins here would be imperative in their realising their own ambitions and put a 'catch us if you can' message out to the rest of the league.

Clive English - Back to the motherland - APOP Geroskipou November 2031 A positive month for Geroskipou, with the only slight hiccup coming in a 0-0 draw with Deryneia, who Clive still feared slightly when their name comes up in conversation. But apart from that, a wall of green littered the month. Table With the unbeaten streak sitting at 9, it was no suprise that Geroskipou still sat top going into the festive month of December. December Fixtures With the Paralimni game re-arranged, December was made ever so tougher. One positive for the month was the relative poor form of Karmiotissa, who were sitting in 11th.

Clive English - Back to the motherland - APOP Geroskipou October 2031 A real statement was shown by Geroskipou in October, winning all 4 games by an aggregate margin of 16-2, with van Looy grabbing 9 of the goals. Table It came as no shock to anybody that the recent run of results saw Geroskipou sitting top of the league. November Fixtures Geroskipou's November fixtures would be a true test of how good they thought they were, with difficult games such as Deryneia and Paralimni coming up.

Clive English - Back to the motherland - APOP Geroskipou September 2031 400 up for Clive. By now he thought that he would be sipping at a strawberry daiquiri on a beach after a Champions League match, but instead, he was having a pre match tea in a temporary building in Geroskipou. Results Despite turning around a 3-1 deficit away from home against a First Division side, Geroskipou crashed out of the cup on penalties. The league was a mixed bag, drawing with ASIL but then battering Akritas 7-1. The next week it was Geroskipou's turn to get battered, this time 5-1 by Olymp. Nicosia. The month was rounded off by a 2-0 win away to Olympos. League Table October Fixtures Clive saw 3 winnable games and a possible win against Othellos to try and get Geroskipou in a best a position as possible early on in the season.

Clive English - Back to the motherland - APOP Geroskipou 2031/32 Pre-Season Before the preseason had even got underway, APOEL came in once more with their tounges wagging for Clive. He didn't think about leaving Geroskipou for one second and turned it down, stating in the local paper that he was at home. With the goalscoring exploits of van Looy sure to attract big attention from other clubs, Clive had a sit down with him to discuss a new contract, and to his knowledge, it was the most ridiculous contract he would ever make to keep his star man at the club. Another reason for this contract was the board had announced cutbacks the previous season due to a bank loan being taken out. Now the day that they had to start paying it back had finally come. Mid way through getting ready for the first training session of the season, Clive checked his emails one last time, and saw that there was still room in the budget for him to start taking his exams for his Cont.A licence. Carvalho had been bought in on a free transfer after his successful loan period, which checked off the need to find a new starting MR. But then came the loan army that Clive had commissioned for the upcoming season. Pre-Season results It was the usual tune up games for the pre-season. Bookmakers odds Perhaps it was the 3-3 draw against Pafos in the pre-season that bookies were paying attention to, or maybe the tight wage budget, but despite being relegated last season, Geroskipou were not even favourites for promotion straight back up. September Fixtures A mixed bag of fixtures were to come, with First Division opponents in the cup, before both top and bottom table teams to start the new season.

Clive English - Back to the motherland - APOP Geroskipou 2030/31 Season Review Finances Compounding the bitter taste of relegation, having battled for 7 years to get into the First Division, Clive received even more bad news from the board. A BIG debt. This news is sure to decimate the finances of the club, which were already nearly at breaking point. This would culminate with the board dropping the wage budget down to the usual £5,750 p/w. Clive was worried, and rightfully so. His gamble of signing key players with relegation release clauses was now leaving the squad open to gutting from first division clubs. Also not helping the situation was the Cypriot tax man, who took no mercy on the club. The club was now needing to pay £22.5k p/m to the bank, but with only £77.5k for the entire 31/32 season, it looked like they would need a miracle cup run to even think about keeping up with the payments. Some positive news to come from the relegation was a move back to Geroskipou Stadium though, meaning that fans would no longer be required to make the long drive to Pegia. Squad It was obvious that retaining the loans would be key for an instant return to the First Division, especially players like Viegas, who linked up with van Looy to score a combined 43 goals and assist 14 more, not bad for a strike partnership of a relegated side. Clive thought that if these loans go through along with players like van Looy and Iosidifis staying at the club, they would have a good shot at promotion. Clive's cuttings

Will this mean all 3 leagues will need to be completed to move on? If that is the case, how many leagues are there in total to complete the challenge?

Clive English - Back to the motherland - APOP Geroskipou Matchday 32 - vs Karmiotissa Another game where Geroskipou should have come away with at least a point. The season was now over with a 1-0 loss, but more sadly, relegation. Even if they had won, due to the Achna-Alki game ending in a draw, they still would not have been safe. Looking over the goals scored, his side were average for the league, but on the opposite side in defence, it was a shambles, with the most conceded in the league.

Clive English - Back to the motherland - APOP Geroskipou Matchday 31 - vs Aris Limassol Another frustrating game for Clive, with his team being the better on paper, but as everyone knows, football is not played on paper. Sloppy defending lead to both Limassol goals and despite having some good chances, nobody on the team decided to show up in the second to last game. Sitrep - Geroskipou were now 3 points adrift from safety, the final game against Karmiotissa was a must win but ultimatley, lady luck also had to look favourably with them. Alki and Achna were due to play each other in their final game of the season. Clive did some long and drawn out maths to figure out what Geroskipou would need to survive. As the league sorting rules were aggregate scores between teams - away goals scored between teams - goal difference: Agg. score vs Achna - 3-8 Achna Agg. score vs Alki - 9-9 Away goal agg vs Alki - 4-4 This meant the following had to happen: 1. Geroskipou win over an already relegated Karmiotissa 2. Achna to beat Alki 3. A 10 goal swing to occur somehow

Clive English - Back to the motherland - APOP Geroskipou Matchday 30 - vs Achna The first cup final of the run in did not go to plan for Geroskipou. Despite having more shots and more on target, Clive's strike partnership couldn't conjure up chances of note, whereas Achna did show up on the day, and finished the game 3-1 victors. Geroskipou were back in the familiar red spots in the table. There were now 2 games left for Clive to try and survive in his first season in the First Division.

Clive English - Back to the motherland - APOP Geroskipou April 2031 A massive win against Alki after a strong start in the first half lifted Geroskipou out of the relegation zone for the second time all season. This performance was followed up with a disapointing draw against Apol. Limassol, where they could only come away with a 2-2 draw, leaving them 3 points above the relegation zone with only 3 games remaining. May Fixtures The biggest 3 games in the clubs history approached in May, with Clive asking his side to treat all games as cup finals. A win against Achna and a draw against either Aris Limassol or Karmiotissa would ensure survival without needing to worry about other results, but a loss against Achna would see Geroskipou right back in the middle of the dogfight

Clive English - Back to the motherland - APOP Geroskipou March 2031 A real hit and miss month for Geroskipou. A thumping victory over Apol. Limassol was then followed by a disapointing 2-1 loss against the other Limassol team (Aris). A win against Karmiotissa and a heavy loss against Achna saw Geroskipou finish the month in the relegation zone with the 5 games to go. A heavy blow for Clive, as Petrovic was an ever present either at DL or BWM. April Fixtures A win against Alki would be critical in Geroskipou's survival chances, with them both sitting on the same number of points. Over the course of the season, the team had done well against Apol. Limassol, so Clive was hopeful on picking up 3 points in that game.

Clive English - Back to the motherland - APOP Geroskipou February 2031 - Post split After a morale boosting friendly win against Kedros, Geroskipou marched into their next game against Alki and pulled off a 4-2 win. This would also be the last game that Geroskipou would be missing van Looy. For the first time in the season, Geroskipou had finished the month outside of the relegation zone. Clive knew that it would be a 50/50 on relegation, as their early season form may come back to haunt them. van Looy was injured again, this time he would be out for 7 weeks, but luckily because the fixtures were moving into the 2 a month period, he would not miss as many games as first feared. March Fixtures With van Looy out for the first half of the second phase of the season, Clive was pinning hopes on the team to be able to rally around Viegas, who was becoming an important cog in the machine this season. He asked his God if it would be too much to ask for 4 wins in the league to trade getting hammered in the cup against APOEL.

Clive English - Back to the motherland - APOP Geroskipou February 2031 - Pre split The team was filled with hope after bouncing back to finish the first stage of the league really well, with a 2-1 win against Achna and a convincing 3-0 against Aris Limassol. The two wins still see Geroskipou in the relegation zone, but now they were level on points with Achna with 10 games left to go. February Fixtures - Post split Only 1 more game in February post split for Geroskipou, and it would be a big one. A loss against Alki would put them 8 points ahead of the relegation zone, potentially making the relegation race a 3 horse one.

Clive English - Back to the motherland - APOP Geroskipou January 2031 Another shock win in the cup, which was decided in the first leg by a very late Viegas goal. Geroskipou pushed their luck at times, and then in the very next game, karma came back to bite them, with a late collapse against Apol. Limassol. Predictable losses against Nea Salamina and Ermis Aradippou were sandwiched inbetween a good draw against Anorthosi, with Magi popping up with a 90th minute equaliser. The solitary point was a factor in seeing Geroskipou ending the month in dead last, now 6 points from safety. Toward the end of the month, disater struck. van Looy went down with a 6 week injury, seeing him miss some crucial matches for the start of the second phase of the league season. February Fixtures With 2 games left before the split, 2 wins were crucial in February.

Clive English - Back to the motherland - APOP Geroskipou December 2030 Not a good month for Geroskipou, first losing 3-1 against Alki. Next was a must win against Karmiotissa, where Viegas was out the blocks quick-ish, but after the scores were levelled, Geroskipou did not look like scoring again. This changed in the AEL game, where Geroskipou scored 3. It was just a shame that AEL got 5 of their own. The APOEL game was always a write off, but going away from home only losing by 2 goals is something that Clive urged his players to hold their heads up at. No league table unfortunately, the CFA must have forgotten to update the tables at the end of the month, Clive could only guess that Geroskipou were still stuck in 11th. January Fixtures Another set up cup games, in which the Geroskipou faithful were hopeful of at least a competitive tie. In the league, there were 2 winnable games in Clive's eyes, Limassol and Ermis Aradippou. 6 points would be very handy going into the second stage of the season.

Clive English - Back to the motherland - APOP Geroskipou November 2030 Another great month for Geroskipou, it was unfortunate that only 2 games were won, although at the minute to Clive, that didn't matter. A good win against Ermis Aradippou and a massive win in the 6 pointer against Aris Limassol topped and tailed the month off. The Achna game was frustrating, with Geroskipou hitting the post twice in the 1-0 loss. The cup journey also continued, with an emphatic 4-0 win over Apol. Limassol. Again, other teams around the relegation zone picked up points, leaving Geroskipou in 11th after 12 games played. A win against Achna would have seen them shoot into 8th. December Fixtures Wins against Alki and Karmiotissa would be massive wins if Geroskipou could play well enough to earn the points. APOEL and AEL would be tougher opponents.

Clive English - Back to the motherland - APOP Geroskipou October 2030 Geroskipou picked up their 1st win of the season in against Limassol. Sadly for Clive, it was then followed up by 2 massacres against Nea Salamina and Anorthosi. Another goalfest in the first leg of the cup ended the month, again against Limassol, where it finished 3-3. Results elsewhere had not been kind, with Geroskipou still stuck in the relegation zone, but level on points with Achna. November Fixtures Potentially two early season 6 pointers lay ahead in November against Achna and Aris Limassol, along with the second leg of the cup tie. Clive was hoping to get at least 6 points in the coming month to at least ease expectations going into the second half of the pre-split and get some points on the board.

Clive English - Back to the motherland - APOP Geroskipou September 2030 A 5-5 thriller in the cup set up a winner takes all game in the second leg, which Geroskipou duly took the oppertunity to do to make it through to the 2nd round. In the league however, a single draw with Karmiotissa sandwiched inbetween some tight losses saw Clive's side sit 11th after the first 5 games. There were some good performances, namely against 2nd place AEL, where the score was only 2-1. October Fixtures All months would be tough, but playing 3rd, then 4th, then 7th would be a challenging month. This would be followed up with another away trip to Limassol in the cup.