ChaosClive

Clive English - Back to the motherland - APOP Geroskipou 2030/31 Pre-Season Going into the club's first season in the First Division, Clive thought that this would elevate the clubs reputation to at least around about the same size as other First Division sides. He could not be more wrong. According to reports, Geroskipou were still roughly a mid-table Second Division club. That meant the following message pretty much redundant, as players in Cyprus did not want to join the club, let alone other countries in Europe. With the enhanced budget and scouting region, Clive wanted to experiment with a new, improved HoYD, just to see if some good players could come through the youth system. He splashed out massively, offering £750 p/w for his chosen candidate, but only time would tell if this was a good move. Transfers A lot of new players came in during the off-season, a lot of these players would not play, but Clive was desperate to try anything to try and pull off the impossible. Going into the season, it was obvious that Geroskipou were up against it, with them only spending £285,000 p/a on wages, where on the other end of the spectrum, APOEL were spending £12,180,000 p/a. It was then suprising, that in the middle of pre-season, Clive got an email from a P.Petridis, the chairman of APOEL offering him an interview for their manager's position. This was tempting for Clive, but he still had work to do at Geroskipou. Pre-Season Fixtures A good pre-season, only conceeding 1 goal over the 7 games. September Fixtures Clive was not concerned too much about the cup, just wanting to focus on the league and survival.

Clive English - Back to the motherland - APOP Geroskipou 2029/30 Season Review Finally, a final promtion for Clive. After 7 years in the Second Division, and with little to no budget, he had managed to build a side that was capable of not only getting promoted, but winning the league in dramatic fashion. It was clear however that a lot of work would need to be done in order to keep them up in the First Division. Another issue with the promotion was that Geroskipou's stadium was not an all seater, which did not comply with the First Division rules, which requires all seater stadiums. Geroskipou's home games were now 30 minutes away from their acutal stadium, and Clive wondered why they could not reach a groundshare agreement with Pafos to move into a bigger and closer stadium instead. van Looy topped the scoring charts with 37 in all competitions. Scarily though, there were only 8 seperate scorers throughout the whole season. Clive's Cuttings

Clive English - Back to the motherland - APOP Geroskipou May 2030 Final day of the season vs Karmiotissa Going into the final game of the season, Clive knew that anything other than a win would not be enough to be promoted, especially knowing that there were other sides hot on their tail. He was lucky that nobody got injured in training the week leading up to the biggest game in the clubs history, at the end of their 10th season as a club no less. Also adding to the positivity toward the game was that in the home leg, Geroskipou had won and was the result that started the great run of form that they had been on. All of this positivity was shortlived however, with Karmiotissa opening the scoring after just 3 minutes. On 13 mins, Markou had to be stretched off and replaced on the left wing. Geroskipou now needed 2 goals without reply and without their main creative threat. Other scores were coming in via the radios in the stands, Agia Napa were ahead in their game, now sitting on 59 points, and ahead of Geroskipou. Just before the half hour mark, a long ball forward reached the onrushing Viegas, who then slipped it past the Karmiotissa goalkeeper to level the scores up at 1-1. It seemed like the tide had turned in the game. Karmiotissa were committing fouls left and right to try and keep the midfielders from launching any kind of play, and just after picking up their 4th yellow card of the match on 35 mins, Viegas struck again to make the score 2-1 Geroskipou. Half Time: Karmiotissa 1 - 2 APOP Geroskipou Confidence was sky high at half time, maybe too high though, as not long after the break, ex Pafos striker Labbe tucked a slow shot, that probably should have been easily saved, to make it 2-2. Geroskipou now needed a goal in the next 40 mins or it would all be over. Geroskipou were knocking on the door, just after the hour mark, they had a corner a brilliant save from the Karmiotissa goalkeeper. Both centre halfs lumbered up in the 6 yard box, and Bonde came in with a header that no keeper would save! 3-2! They were now top of the table. Would Geroskipou manage to hold on? Clive did not change anything majorly tactically, if they had hold of the game and scored a goal every 20 mins on average, why change and conceed a late heartbreaker? Duly though, despite some minor scares, which all turned out to be massively offside, the referee blew his whistle for the final time. Full Time: Karmiotissa 2 - 3 APOP Geroskipou Geroskipou had manage to win the Second Division! Final League Table Despite having a worse goal difference, the head to head record was 4-2 in Geroskipou's favour. Clive offered his commiserations to Agia Napa, losing out on promotion by a single point, and Pafos, their cross town rivals, who for the first time they would be playing in a higher division. Both of these were rejected. A great end to the season, 3 wins from 3. First half of the season Second half of the season 3x the current wage budget! Surely this wouldn't be enough for a survival season? Time would tell.

Hopefully! But you are right, a win and only a win would be good enough considering everyone elses oppositions in the last round of games.

Good luck in Mongolia, I managed there for about 30 seasons. Money problems in the Asian Champions League were an issue, but one of my most enjoyable saves on FM.

Clive English - Back to the motherland - APOP Geroskipou May 2030 Going into this title race, Clive took a clipping of the remaining fixtures for all the teams still in the race. Ypsonas had the easiest run, and were only 4 points off promotion. Doxa had the hardest run though, still needing to play 1st, 2nd and 10th. But hopefully, they could help Geroskipou out without knowing it, as long as Geroskipou kept their end of the bargain up. Agia Napa - Game 28 A very nervy game for Geroskipou, as they were under the kosh for the whole of the first half. It took until the 81st minute for the deadlock to be broken by van Looy. He then pounced again in the 83rd while Agia Napa looked weak. With Olymp. Nicosia losing against Pafos, Geroskipou were now only 1 point away from 2nd place, with 2 games still remaining. Deryneia - Game 29 Going into the Deryneia game, Clive decided that he wanted to do some research into previous results, something he had barely done in the last 10 years, and found some worrying patterns, especially given that this was a must win game. You would think that looking over the past matches played with each other, Geroskipou would be a division below. Geroskipou had not beaten Deryneia in 2 years, and before that, there was a 4 year gap in wins. Clive knew that his players would have to pull an ace from their sleeves to win this one, and despite Deryneia being near the relegation zone, this would potentially be the toughest game of the season. After going 3-0 up in the space of 23 minutes, Geroskipou looked to be cruising to another heavy win. But this was Deryneia after all. After pulling a goal back, Clive sat in the dugout and just hoped and prayed. Viegas responded to the prayer, scoring another to make it 4-1, before things started to collapse. 2 quick goals made it 4-3, and in the 93rd minute, the final kick of the game, they had scored again. Only for it to be ruled of by a tight offside call. Geroskipou had survived by the skin of their teeth. In the other fixtures, Doxa scored in the 93rd minute of their game to beat Olymp. Nicosia 3-2, meaning that they had dropped down to 5th place, but more importantly, Geroskipou were now in 2nd place with 1 game remaining against top of the table Karmiotissa. There were now 4 teams that could finish 2nd and only 2 that could top the table come the final whistle of the final game of the season.

Clive English - Back to the motherland - APOP Geroskipou March/April 2030 The friendly wins do make the run of results look better on Clive's wall, but 3 wins from 4 is still a nice return, especially as the 3 wins were all clean sheet wins. The run resulted in Geroskipou just 3 points away from 2nd and a promotion during their 10th season as a club. May Fixtures The final 3 games of the season on the fixture list terrified Clive, why could they not play Assia, THOI and Akritas again? But no, it was 3rd place Agia Napa, 2nd place Karmiotissa and Geroskipou's bogey side Deryneia.

Clive English - Back to the motherland - APOP Geroskipou February 2030 Despite beating ASIL 4-0 in the first game of the season, the usual inconsistency reared its ugly head in the second game, losing 3-1 to promotion hopefuls Ypsonas. Other results saw Geroskipou remain in 3rd place, and solidify their position somewhat. March/April Fixtures Assia and THOI both coming up in the next few months for Geroskipou, which should be 6 points. The tougher matches were going to be Pafos and Doxa, who in the previous round of games, only garnered 1 point for Clive's side.

Clive English - Back to the motherland - APOP Geroskipou January 2030 Geroskipou's form continued into the new decade, winning the first 3 games of the new year, only narrowly losing to Paralimni in the last game of the month. Clive had mixed opinions, obviously over the moon at the turn in form, but slightly angered about the final result, as it would have been enough to see his side move into 2nd place, even if it was temporary. February Fixtures Moving into the 2 game a month, which for Clive meant near the end of the season, and constant stress. Wins in both games in February would see a buffer between them and 6th place going into the final 7 games of the season.

Clive English - Back to the motherland - APOP Geroskipou December 2029 A really solid looking month for Clive, especially defensively in the last 3 games of the decade. Both losses were close, 0-1 against Agia Napa and 1-2 against bogey side Deryneia. The big suprises were the wins against Karmiotissa (1-0) and Olymp. Nicosia (3-0) to kick the second half of the season with 2 wins from 2 games. January Fixtures Clive was looking for his side to take advantage of the new good run of form, especially as Geroskipou were playing 4 sides all sitting below them in the table and Akritas and Omonoia Psevda sitting in 14th and 15th respectively.

Clive English - Back to the motherland - APOP Geroskipou November 2029 As Clive predicted, November was yet another frustrating month for Clive, although wins at Assia and THOI kept them in the hunt, disapointing results against Pafos and Doxa meant they were still an arms length away. Onisilos also knocked Geroskipou out of the cup, so no massive prize money was coming in to help Clive with his clubs now crippling debt. December Fixtures The end of a decade approached, and with this, 1st, 2nd, and 3rd all awaited Geroskipou in what could make or break this, their 7th season in the Second Division. Deryneia were also up in the fixture list. The worst case scenario for Clive would be 4 losses from the first 4 games of the month that would end any hopes for promotion.

Clive English - Back to the motherland - APOP Geroskipou October 2029 Despite only winning 2 games in October, the van Looy show was on, with him picking up 5 in the 8-0 win against Akritas, and 3 more in the other October games. October's results saw Geroskipou finish the month off in 6th position. November Fixtures Clive stared wide-eyed when he saw that the final 2 games of November would be against the two newly promoted sides THOI and Assia, eyeing up 2 wins from those games. Pafos and Doxa would be more dificult, but Clive was growing frustrated by his side's failure to play consistency, but this was a chance for them to prove him wrong.

Clive English - Back to the motherland - APOP Geroskipou September 2029 Two polarising games in the cup saw Geroskipou advance to the 2nd Round. The first leg had a combined total of 38 shots on goal, the second by contract only had 14. The first 3 league games resulted in 7 points and gave the oppertunity to go top of the table with a win in their game in hand against top of the table Olymp. Nicosia in the re-arranged fixture. October Fixtures A busy month, with a certain level of fixture congestion. The cup draw had been kind in ways, at least Geroskipou had managed to avoid any First Division sides, with a very winnable tie against Onisilos, who they had just drawn 2-2 gainst in the league.

Clive English - Back to the motherland - APOP Geroskipou 2029/2030 Pre-Season Some interesting transfers for the upcoming season, but definately ones that improved the side. Some of Clive's best prospects were Polykarpou, joining on loan from APOEL at DR, Embola and Markou to compete with each other at ML, Jose and Benard to compete for the MR spot. Amonone also came in to take over the GK duties (Forgot to take a screenshot) One scary thing happened on the outgoing section though, with Doxa Dramas offering a measley £5,250 for the promising van Looy. Luckily for Clive though, he had just signed a massive 2 year contract, which included a £15,000 release clause. So despite van Looy's agent trying to scare him into accepting the offer, Clive rejected it and told the media it would take a significant offer to consider selling the dutchman. Pre-Season Results Another typical summer of tune up games to try and increase revenue but not get spanked by larger opposition. Pre-Season Odds The bookmakers clearly did not rate Clive's side despite decent additions during the off-season. Clive did consider putting a tenner on his side, as he did not think the betting rules would be enforced in the Second Division in Cyprus quite as stringently as in the Premier League, but in the end thought against it, despite the temptation of 20 to 1 odds. September Fixtures A difficult cup tie against another top division side would probably mean that Geroskipou would be out of the cup early doors in order to focus on the league, which started against one of the front runners Olymp. Nicosia. The other 3 games looked promising though, all rated lower by the media, but Clive would have to wait and find out. For the first time in his management career, Clive actually had the option to postpone a game due to international call ups! If you would have told him that before he came to Cyprus, he would have laughed you out of the building.

Clive English - Back to the motherland - APOP Geroskipou 2028/29 Season Review Another 5th place finish for Geroskipou showed some sort of consistency for Clive, and the transfer of van Looy now meant that there were 3 goalscoring options up front for the first time since he took over the club way back when. Next season, Clive wanted to be at least the best of the rest, by finishing 3rd at a minimum. This was until he saw that the board had cut wages again! £5,500p/w surely was not enough to make good additions to his squad, he thought that the saying was that you need to spend money to make money. Clive's Cuttings

Clive English - Back to the motherland - APOP Geroskipou May 2029 The promtion chase was officially over when Geroskipou fell 1-0 to Olymp. Nicosia. For some reason in recent years, Clive's players seem to turn on the style for the last game of the season. This season it was a 6-2 win against Karmiotissa. Final Table The final push saw Geroskipou overtake Ypsonas and Karmiotissa to finish in 5th place once again.

Clive English - Back to the motherland - APOP Geroskipou April 2029 Another disapointing game against a promtion challenger effectivley ended Geroskipou's chances of gaining promotion. Clive was at least happy that the team bounced back with a 3-2 win against Akritas, this result almost secured a 3rd-6th place finish in the league. May Fixtures With nothing else to play for apart from pride at this point against 3rd and 4th, Clive obviously was hoping for 2 wins to try and secure that 3rd place spot for Geroskipou.

Clive English - Back to the motherland - APOP Geroskipou March 2029 A tough, tough defeat away against Achna pretty much sealed them the title, meaning that there was now only one spot available for promotion. A 4-2 win against Onisilos lifted spirits amongst the squad, but next was the bogey team Deryneia. Geroskipou could only muster a 2-2 draw, probably karma's cruel way of getting back to them after scoring the 2 winning goals in the previous match both in the 90th minute. March's results saw Gerokipou remain in 6th, but now the gap was 5 points with 4 games remaining. April Fixtures Promotion hopefuls, and current 2nd place team Othellos were next to come to Geroskipou. Hopefully Clive could inspire his side to rock the apple cart once again.

Clive English - Back to the motherland - APOP Geroskipou February 2029 2 massive wins in the league for Geroskipou in February, and along with other results, see Geroskipou within touching distance of promotion. The gap was now only 2 points with 7 games to go. Clive was hoping that this form would continue into March. March Fixtures If February's matches were important, than March's were even more so, top of the table Achna and Deryneia were going to be the toughest games of the remaining run in Clive's opinion, but wins in these games could see Geroskipou take the lead for the race for 2nd place.

Clive English - Back to the motherland - APOP Geroskipou January 2029 A perfect month in the league was spoilt by what the fans in the stand behind Clive called an 'FMing', although Clive had no idea what that meant, he was just annoyed by the outcome of the game. Van Looy and Veigas combined for all of Geroskipou's 10 goals over the 4 game span and looked like they had a good partnership to close the season, although this did mean that club record goalscorer Zalikas was stuck on the bench. Clive now had to make up 7 points in 9 games, a feat that was achieved during the great escape season, but this time, the teams above were all in good form. February Fixtures 9 cup finals awaited Geroskipou from here on in, so 9 wins were wished for by Clive.

Clive English - Back to the motherland - APOP Geroskipou December 2028 The horrible run of form continued for Geroskipou, including an unfair 0-0 draw with bottom of the table ENAD. The run of results did not stop in the cup either, with Ermis Aradippou taking advantage full advantage and beating the boys in red 4-2. There was restbite in the final game of the calendar year, with a 5-0 win against Omonoia Aradippou though. The collapse saw Geroskipou seated back into mid-table obscurity. January Fixtures Clive did not care how the results would suddenly turn into a seas of green, just that it happened somewhere in January.

A great career mate. Looking forward to the new save.

Clive English - Back to the motherland - APOP Geroskipou November 2028 On the eve of the game against Achna, Clive was just leaving the training ground, when he was handed a newspaper from the day. Time had gone by so quickly since he started at Geroskipou, that he had no idea that the upcoming match would be his 300th in charge. Luckily, Blanuta was on hand to make it a win in the 91st minute. Another win against Onisilos had set Geroskipou up for a perfect month. Then Akritas ruined the party, taking their chances when Geroskipou could not to end the run of wins. Othellos was a game Clive would not have wanted to think about again, losing 4-1. Transfers Clive got a call from a young Dutch player called Devin van Looy saying he would be interested in playing for him. When he arrived for his trial, Clive offered him a contract before he could leave at the end of the session. He would be touted by Clive as if he were the best thing since sliced bread, and could help Geroskipou achieve that promotion. December Fixtures A tough month, but Clive was hoping for revenge on Pafos as an early Christmas present.

Clive English - Back to the motherland - APOP Geroskipou October 2028 Off the back of such a strong starting month, Clive was hoping for another good month. This did not come though. Only 1 win from 4 in the league, with all 3 losses coming with a margin of 2 goals saw Geroskipou slip down the league. The one bright spot was an aggregate win against Ypsonas in the cup to see them get through to the Quarter Finals once more. The most annoying thing for Clive, was that if they had won all 3 games, they would be sitting at the top of the table by a point, with a 6 point gap between 1st and 3rd. As it stood though, they were now 7 points from the promotion spots. November Fixtures Achna was going to be the toughest game in November, with Onisilos and Akritas both hovering around the relegation zone. Clive hoped that this woud be the month that restarted his sides season.

Clive English - Back to the motherland - APOP Geroskipou September 2028 A very successful month for Geroskipou, 2 wins in the cup against First Division opposition to send them through to the 2nd round. This was then followed up by 4 wins from the first 5 games. Sending Geroskipou close to the top of the table. October Fixtures Some big games were coming up for Geroskipou, including 3 games against current league leaders Ypsonas, twice in the cup and once in the league.