ChaosClive

Clive English - Back to the motherland - APOP Geroskipou 2026/27 Season Review Karatassos came in with a lot of pressure on him, but performed well in the circumstances, picking up 12 clean sheets and would have been player of the season if it wasn't for Zalikas having another standout season up front. There was a good spread of assists throughout the team, but Clive was worried that it was mainly Zalikas getting on the end of the crosses/passes, and that if he got injured, Geroskipou would be in a pickle. The board decided to cut wages by about £1k p/w, not ideal for a team that is already the lowest spenders in the league looking to get out. Clive's Cuttings

Clive English - Back to the motherland - APOP Geroskipou May 2027 A great month results wise, but still frustrating personally for Clive. A month with 3 wins from 3, making it 5 wins from the last 5 games was topped off with a 6-0 mauling of Pafos. The form table looked great for Geroskipou, Clive was wondering why they could not replicate this 5 more times and then promotion would be almost guaranteed. Final Table The final table saw Geroskipou jump to 8th, finishing only 12 points away from the promotion places, and 24 points from relegation, so in Clive's eyes they were now an established Second Division side.

Clive English - Back to the motherland - APOP Geroskipou April 2027 It was always an annoyance for Clive that his side always chose the last few games of the season to show what they were capable of. This season, it was a 3-0 win against Pegeia, followed by a 4-1 win over Doxa, who now only sat 5 points ahead of them in the table. May Fixtures Clive wondered if the form could continue into May, although he had his doubts as only 1 game was a certainty in Omonoia Aradippou. The other 2 games were too dicey to predict, with Pafos and Agia Napa both well above them in the table. If they could win all 3 though, a top half finish was more than possible.

Clive English - Back to the motherland - APOP Geroskipou February/March 2027 Being the committed man that he was, Clive was jetting back and forth from Cyprus to the AFCON to watch both his sides play, leaving him little time to rest, which is why February and March seemed like one big month for him. On the club front, there was a single win against Onisilos, where they turned on the style to win 5-0. This was a great response to the 2-0 loss against Akritas a few weeks before. Going into March, it became apparent that his players were demotivated with nothing to play for in the league, as they lost 3-1 to table toppers Karmiotissa and to round out the month, another failure to beat Deryneia cemented the fact that they had a new arch rival. Sitting comfortably in mid-table, although it is a far cry from when Clive had hopes of promotion after 9 games. April Fixtures Both league games in April were targeted as wins, with Pegeia sitting bottom and Doxa being a chance to show some resemblance of the team that Geroskipou were early in the season.

Clive English - Back to the motherland - APOP Geroskipou February 2027 - AFCON Special Qualifiers Main Tournament Nigeria eased through to the Second Round, with the draw coming in the last match of the group stage, with a completely changed starting 11. One thing that worried Clive was that his side had conceded in every game of the group stage so far. But so long as his team scored more, he did not have much to worry about. The Second Round pitted Nigeria against Uganda, which a fully rested side won with ease 4-0, including a hattrick from Okereke. The QF pitted Nigeria against Senegal, which was a tight and tense game. The only goal came from the spot to send Nigeria through to the Semi's. Before the Semi Final, Clive told his players that whoever won this next game would more than likely go on to win the rest of the tournament, so with fire in their bellies, Nigeria raced out to a 1-0 lead within the first minute of the game. They doubled it on the 38th minute and then it was just a case of keeping Mali at bay. Despite Mali pulling a goal back, Nigeria held on to reach the final. The final was played in front of 52,000 people. Nigeria dominated the whole game, and Clive's prediction came true at the final whistle, with Nigeria winning the AFCON with a 2-0 win against DR Congo. In the tunnel after the game, Clive found the president of the Nigerian FA and formerly handed in his resignation. The president did try and convince him otherwise, saying about the World Cup and how well Nigeria could do under his leadership. Clive had Geroskipou to think about though.

Clive English - Back to the motherland - APOP Geroskipou January 2027 Obviously things just 'got out of hand' at the NYE party, as Geroskipou would go winless for the whole of January, including a loss in the cup, again getting to the QFs but no further. The string of poor performances saw Clive's men drop into 10th, with 9 games left, promotion was pretty much out of the picture, but so was relegation. Finance News February Fixtures February looked promising for Clive, with Akritas and Onisilos both being just outside the relegation zone and having poor seasons.

Clive English - Back to the motherland - APOP Geroskipou December 2026 Clive was overjoyed at the club's New Year's Eve party, as Geroskipou were unbeaten in December, which included a 5-1 win over Agia Napa and a 6-0 win over APEA. Draws against Pafos and Omonoia Psevda were small blemishes on the celebrations, as both were winnable games. The cherry on the cake was a 1-1 draw with Ermis Aradippou in the cup. The improvement saw Geroskipou end the year at 9th in the league, with a win in the next match seeing them possibly move into 5th, and right back into the promotion race. Other News Finances are doomed. January Fixtures Some more big games, first against Aris Limassol in their game in hand, then the return leg of the cup. The month ends with games against 8th, 11th, and 1st.

Clive English - Back to the motherland - APOP Geroskipou November 2026 The month started off so promising for Geroksipou, overturning the deficit in the cup with a convincing 6-0 win against Pafos with Zalikas getting 5. Then, the wheels came off. It started with a predictable loss against Karmiotissa, followed by a good draw against Deryneia. Then Doxa enjoyed the 3 points after a good fightback in the second half. Lastly, a disgraceful attacking performance which included 0 shots on target condemned Geroskipou to a single point from 4 games. A string of terrible performances see Geroskipou drop to 8th. December Fixtures Clive thought that the 6-0 against Pafos could hopefully boost confidence for the next game in the league. Apart from the Agia Napa game, Geroskipou could also get wins for the rest of the league games.

Clive English - Back to the motherland - APOP Geroskipou October 2026 Another solid month for Geroskipou, despite the early wasted opportunity against Ypsonas, which was completely undeserved in Clive's eyes. His side quickly made up for this by winning the next 3 games though, before a defeat in the first leg of the cup against Pafos. The effects were still showing in the last game of the month against a newly promoted Pegeia side, where tired bodies could only draw 1-1. A big blow came in the game against ASIL, where star striker Katsantonis, who was averaging a goal a game, tore his thigh and would be out for the majority of the season. Geroskipou were still in the drivers seat for promotion, but only just, with a big pack forming just behind them. November Fixtures A massive month loomed in November starting with the return leg of the cup against Pafos, with Karmiotissa, bogey side Deryneia, Doxa and Omonoia Aradippou all following.

Clive English - Back to the motherland - APOP Geroskipou September 2026 Geroskipou started the season the way they finished the previous one, with an impressive showing in the first 3 games of the season, with the first 2 seeing them easily into the Cypriot Cup Second Round. A 5-0 win against Omonoia Psevda followed before the first blip of the season against APEA, a team that Clive knew that they should be beating. Then the big shock of September was a 4-2 win against promotion hopefuls Aris Limassol, with Zalikas and Katsantonis both bagging a brace before finishing the month off with a tighter 1-0 win against Othellos. The most important thing was that at the end of the first month, Geroskipou were clinging to dear life on 1st place. October Fixtures Looking at the month ahead, Clive saw a few stumbling blocks, namely ASIL in the league and Pafos in the cup, but an easier October to ease their way into the season with.

Clive English - Back to the motherland - APOP Geroskipou 2026/27 Pre-Season Back in Geroskipou, Clive had yet another tough summer transfer window of adding quality without any real kind of wage budget. The players that he had shortlisted were not interested in playing for such a small club, despite only being a few places from the First Division, as reputation-wise, Geroskipou were still mixing it with the teams in the Third Division and a long way off even the worst teams in the Second Division. With the looming threat of financial difficulty, Clive hoped for a miracle, and was downtrodden when rumours of a takeover bid started to be disputed in the media. On the 'plus' side of this dire situation, a new batch of TV money was coming in. At this point though it was a drop in the ocean of what Geroskipou needed. So with very little money coming in, the only way that the wage bill would be slashed was to release a lot of the players and have a mini rebuild. Clive got to work handing out the P45s to players that did not fit into his new system of being good footballers. This mass exodus allowed at least some players to come in, and for the first time in his career, and probably against his better judgement, Clive handed cold hard cash over for a player! Panagi hopefully could bring some sort of crossing ability into the team, and along with Manhas, Clive had almost completed the right hand side of his new look midfield. A lot more business was done in a short space of time, some important players looked to be Bousekas to fill in the BWM role, and Augusto to play alongside him as a CM(A). Christou came back on loan for another year from Achna, and Bernardo was also bought in on a free to partner him at DC. Karatassos was hopefully going to be a replacement for last season's hero Igor Bastos in goal, who did not want to come back for another spell on loan. Lastly, Sambu also came in to compete at DL. Results Some easy tune up games swung heavily in Geroskipou's favour and set them up well for another hard slog of a season. Pre-Season Odds After all that squad building, the media still thought that a 15th place finish and relegation was destined. September Fixtures

Clive English - Back to the motherland - APOP Geroskipou 2026/27 Pre-Season (International) Another hectic summer 'off' for Clive. After the successful U20 AFCON Qualifiers, Clive was looking in the international job market once again to see if anything peaked his interest. As it just so happened there were 3 jobs that he applied for, Cameroon, Liechtenstein, and Nigeria so he applied in hope more than anything. A few days went by with no responses, something he was used to back in England, until in one day, all 3 FA's came back to offer the job without an interview. Clive was flattered but in his mind, there was only one international job that he wanted. He had been promoted from within to take charge of the Nigerian senior side. They were ranked 14th in the world at that point and the top African team. The AFCON was also coming up and the boys in green were heavy favourites to win. Could Clive win his first major silverware outside of Cyprus?

Clive English - Back to the motherland - APOP Geroskipou Nigeria U20s 2025/26 Clive came into the Nigeria U-20 job with a baptism of fire against Brazil, but his new side fought valiantly, scoring a consolation goal in the 90th min to at least have something to show for the friendly. The U20 AFCON qualifiers flew by for Nigeria, with only 4 games being played due to the seeding for the 2 legged qualification matches. Their campaign started with the embarrassment of Mauritania 10-0, with Omeje grabbing 6 of those goals. Obviously a fully rotated squad was selected by Clive for the return leg a week later, with Nigeria only winning 2-0. Togo were to be the team to stand between Nigeria and the U20 AFCON. A solid 4-0 win in the first leg helped calm the nerves before another 3-1 win the following week. And that was that for international management for the season for Clive. He had managed to win all the matches that mattered and tick 4 countries off the travel globe in Brazil, Mauritania, Togo, and Nigeria.

Clive English - Back to the motherland - APOP Geroskipou 2025/26 Season Review After such a massive swing compared to the season before, Clive hoped that now Geroskipou had managed to not only survive, but thrive in the Second Division, that they could really kick on and start realistically thinking about promotion in the coming seasons. Looking over his final squad list for the season, he knew that he would have to try and sign a lot of his current loans, namely Bastos, Christou, Panagiotou and Andreou, who were instrumental to the 6th place finish. A decrease in the wage budget was not expected, but Clive had faced worse challenges than £250p/w taken away from him. Clive's Cuttings Zalikas continuing his goalscoring form into the 25/26 season and becoming the top assist getter validated a new contract. Finances were at an all time low, and Clive was unsure how to fix it with the little money coming in from ticket sales only coming to around £40k per year, less than the yearly wage budget. Finances

Clive English - Back to the motherland - APOP Geroskipou May 2026 With nothing else on the line apart from pride to play for, Geroskipou suddenly turned on the style. A 4-2 win and 2-1 win against the teams previously in 3rd and 4th, mainly with the help of Christou's head (4 goals including a hattrick for a DC isn't anything to sniff at) resulted in a 6th place finish. Final Table Another season done, this time, Clive was resentful of the dropped points in February and March, as these 8 points left on the table would have seen Geroskipou promoted in 2nd place. Other News 0

Clive English - Back to the motherland - APOP Geroskipou April 2026 What a topsy turvy month. First thing that came through Clive's inbox after the new month began was an article from the Cypriot Football Messenger about the title race, Clive skimmed over it until he realised that ,according to the media, Geroskipou were still in the hunt, something that he had come to terms with them not being able to do. Although looking at the fact that 10 out of 16 teams in the league were on the list, he assumed that the media didn't know what they were talking about as per usual. The first game was against Pafos, were a Zalikas brace helped Geroskipou to another win against Pafos and actually putting them back into the title race, was this a mystical prediction from the media or just sheer dumb luck?? Obviously dumb luck, as the next game against Xylotybou was lost 2-0 despite the fact that the opposition were already relegated from the Second Division and Geroskipou dominated the game. Title race over. In Clive's frustration, he took to the touchline against Doxa without taking his usual snippings so would have to include it in this update They lost 2-0. May 2026 Two tough games to finish off the season, Othellos and Olymp. Nicosia, who were the only two sides still in with a shot of promotion. Clive expected nothing to come from these games apart from heavy losses. Youth Intake Nothing to see here.

Clive English - Back to the motherland - APOP Geroskipou March 2026 And just like that, Clive's ambitions of promotion were gone. Another 4 points dropped against teams in and around them in the table effectively shut the door on promotion. Now Geroskipou were 8 points from 2nd place with 5 games to go. Clive thought about the maths, and if his side had not dropped 8 points in the last 4 games, they would be sitting in 2nd, admittedly by the slimmest of margins, but the top 5 were dropping points like they were going out of fashion. The one bright spot for the month was Katsantonis scoring 2 goals in 2 games to continue his hot streak for his new side. April Fixtures Pafos was obviously the harder fixture of the 2, with Xylotybou basically already relegated. But like Xylotybou, Geroskipou had almost no hope of getting what they wanted from the season either.

Clive English - Back to the motherland - APOP Geroskipou February 2026 A very disappointing February for Clive, and in his eyes, it was 4 points dropped rather than 2 points collected. Ypsonas went 2-0 up in the first game, only for the point to be salvaged in the second half, with the game ending 2-2. The following league game got off to a better start against APEA, but Geroskipou were pegged back just before HT and could not find a second breakthrough, with that game finishing 1-1. Both teams were below Geroskipou by a long way, and if they had managed to get the full 6 points on offer, they would be sitting in 4th place, just 3 points behind the 3 way tie for 1st and 2nd. March Fixtures This would be make or break time for Geroskipou, 6 points were expected against teams in and around them to hopefully build some momentum going into more challenging games. Transfers After Zailkas' injury ruling him out for 2 months, Adamou was bought by Aris, meaning his loan was cancelled, leaving Clive with 2 fit strikers. He went out into the free agent market looking for a new striker, even if this new player would just be coming in as a stopgap. But what he found was almost a gift sent from heaven. Andreas Katsantonis, with a good record in internationals (3 goals in 7 caps) instantly being able to move into the first team and lead the line. Bernardo also came in at the back end of the window, but only for injury cover in the middle of the park.

Clive English - Back to the motherland - APOP Geroskipou January 2026 An important point was taken in the first match of the new year, a 0-0 draw with Agia Napa, but this was then followed by an important 3 points dropped in a 4-3 collapse against ASIL, who had climbed up the table over the month. The 6 points that were targeted by Clive were achieved though, a 3-0 win against Omonoia Psevda and a 1-0 win against PAEEK moving Geroskipou 16 points from relegation with 9 games left, effectively ensuring survival. February Fixtures Only 2 league games for Geroskipou coming up, and Clive sensed this was a good opportunity to try and play catch up to achieve an unrealistic promotion with 2 games against 'weaker' opposition. Other News The league's top scorer Zalikas was ruled out for the best part of 2 months, fortunately, Geroskipou had hit the point in the season where there are only 2 games a month, so he would only be missing around 4 games.

Clive English - Back to the motherland - APOP Geroskipou December 2025 4 points from 4 games was not what Clive had set out for, but maybe he was getting way ahead of himself. He was reminded in the papers that this time last year, Geroskipou were on 6 points, and now they were 3 points from the promotion spots and had a total of 25 points. They were lucky to draw with Doxa, needing a Georgiou goal in the 89th minute to save them, and even luckier in the Achna game, where super sub Efstathiou scored the winner with the last kick of the game. The two losses were unfortunate, but Geroskipou's efforts saw them finish the year off in 6th place. January Fixtures Agia Napa was obviously the most challenging game in the January fixture list, ASIL could also be tricky opponents, but Omonoia and PAEEK were must wins in the promotion hunt. Other News Clive had finally finished his studying once again. This time for his Continental B Licence, only 2 more until he was finally done with burying his nose into books!

Clive English - Back to the motherland - APOP Geroskipou November 2025 Another perfect month in terms of league performances for Geroskipou. Clive was over the moon as his side beat their cross-town rivals Pafos 3-1 away from home, and managed 6 points against the teams that he had targeted at the end of October. 2 more than respectable performances against Onisilos and Omonoia Aradippou helped bump Geroskipou to within 3 points of the promotion spots! A far cry from the struggles of last season. In the cup, Clive backtracked on his plans to play a rotated squad, and Apol. Limassol's class shone through, beating Geroskipou 5-3 on the night despite being 2-0 down after 16 minutes, the first shootout loss of Clive's career and Geroskipou were knocked out of the Cypriot Cup. December Fixtures A massive month was on the cards, Geroskipou faced 1st, then 5th, then 2nd and finally 3rd. This run would potentially be make or break time for their promotion push, but at least they had a 10 point cushion on the relegation spots. Other News Nikolaou was seen to be leaving the T T Bar in the early hours on a game day. Unfortunately for him, he did not possess the skills of world class drunks like George Best or Maradona to be able to pull off such a stunt, so Clive sent him packing to the U19s to cool off for a bit. In lighter news, Clive had now reached the impressive milestone of 200 games in management, all for his now beloved APOP Geroskipou. In another shock twist, he was also named manager of the Nigeria U20s, updates on this will be sporadic, as this job was only taken to broaden player knowledge.

Cheers mate, appreciate.

Clive English - Back to the motherland - APOP Geroskipou October 2025 An unbeaten month! Clive sat back in his chair after the massive shock win against Apollon Limassol and reflected that his side had done more than enough during the month. Despite being pegged back in the 88th minute during the PAEEK game and in the 91st minute of the Omonoia Psevda match, his side were now a whole 5 points clear from relegation and sitting comfortably in mid table. All he could hope for was more of the same going into November. November Fixtures The return leg in the cup was coming up, and Clive thought that he would rest some fringe players as they were 3-1 up on aggregate, and the league was a much more pressing issue at this point in the season. He knew that at least 2 wins were necessary, namely against Xylotybou and Othellos. Other News In a massive shock, and presumably a joke, Clive put his name into the hat for the open position as Nigeria U20s manager. He did this mainly to extent scouting knowledge for possible future transfers.

Clive English - Back to the motherland - APOP Geroskipou September 2025 Clive was pleasantly surprised with his teams wins in both legs in the cup, but this gave him false hope going into the league fixtures, although a respectable 0-0 draw with Achna sat well within the camp. A 2-0 loss to Deryneia was then compounded with a 1-0 loss against Agia Napa, in a game that form suggested should have gone the other way. In the final game of the month, Geroskipou finally got on the scoresheet and looked to be making up for missed time, scoring 5 in a more than comfortable win against recently relegated ASIL, with Efstathiou scoring a hattrick. The results saw Geroskipou 1 point above the relegation zone, with everyone starting off the season relatively well. October Fixtures 4 winnable games in the league, all in and around Geroskipou's position, although it was still early days to be making any conclusions. In the cup, Apollon Limassol were drawn as the away team in the first leg. Clive did not expect much from this though, as they were an established team in the First Division.

Clive English - Back to the motherland - APOP Geroskipou 2025/26 Pre-Season After what felt like an eternity back home in England, Clive slowly settled back into life at Geroskipou, and the idea of staying in the Second Division. Unfortunately upon his arrival, he realised that his AssMan was nowhere to be seen, it was then that the players told him that during the summer break, AEZ had managed to secure his services as their new manager without Clive's knowledge, something that deeply insulted him with a promise to never lose to him if they meet. Also unfortunately for Clive, while he was looking for his new AssMan, nobody that sent in their CV looked quite as good on paper, and given the fact that Geroskipou were still a 'small' club, the greatest applicants were not remotely interested in signing. He sorted through the CVs on his desk, and chose to appoint the best possible fit for the job, on the lowest wage possible. As stated, Geroskipou's miracle last season seemed not to even hit the back pages of the papers in Paphos, as their reputation was still that of a lower Third Division club, at least it was now above the STOK Elite Division. Transfers Clive knew that he needed a big rebuild to keep his side from out of the mess that they found themselves in the previous season, he scoured player lists for hours upon end to bring in a shortlist of players for as cheaply as possible, as money was still a massive issue facing the club. GK During his regular consultations with club scouts, they mentioned in passing that a GK from Ecuador had his agent send in a highlight video. And upon watching this, Clive knew that this was the player that he could bring in to be the first line of defence going into the new season. He tried speaking in very broken Spanish to the agent, who agreed on playing time and promises, but then when it came to wage demands, it was revealed that Pafos were also in the bidding process. Clive matched the £130p/w that Pafos had offered, but a week later, Bravo had made his decision, to go and be a backup across the road in the U19s instead of at Geroskipou, where he would have been a tacked on starter. Clive then took this opportunity to get back at Pafos, and put in an audacious loan offer for Igor Bastos, a player that somehow was not getting in the Pafos team, showing how much talent that they have in their squad. Thinking nothing of it, as there was no way that a player that good would come to Geroskipou, Clive nearly fell off his chair when he saw Bastos arrive at training 2 weeks later. Defence Clive now had a reliable goalkeeper, it was time to rebuild his back four. The first 3 signings of the new look Geroskipou side looked solid to say the least! A Greek U21 international in Katsogiannis coming in on a free. Stelios Christou came in on loan from Xylotybou, and already a nailed on starter. Marios Andreou also came in on loan from Aris Limassol, who will be a mainstay for the season at DL. Midfield Some notable players came in to help assist the goal scoring options, 4 new notable wingers came in under Clive's strict supervision. Georgiou came in for both his pace and crossing abilities, on a free, and for very cheap. Dimitris Malefitsakis also came in for even less money, Clive thought although he didn't have the out and out pace that Georgiou, his final cross and flair was good enough to be a creative outlet on the team. On the other wing, Giannis Fylaktou came running through the door, showing Clive that he had the pace to beat most if not all opposing fullbacks in the country, let alone league. As did Lysandrou, who would be a quality rotational player for the first team. The best was saved for last in the midfield signings, Kyriakou came out of nowhere to be, in Clive's eyes, the best outfield signing of the window. Forwards Adamou was secured on loan from AEK Larnakas in the First Division for the season, and would play an important role in the teams strike partnership. Finally, Efstathiou came in as a backup, despite the fact that he was also able to play as a centre half (apparently) Released Players Some old players to leave had no value to Clive, and therefore, he didn't even give them a call out as they left. After all of the comings and goings for the transfer window, Clive's new AssMan managed to sneak behind the curtain and pull some interesting facts for him. Namely, the player comparisons for the upcoming season, and to Clive's delight, Geroskipou were no longer the bottom of the rung at everything! GK DEF MID ATT Some money came into the club before the start of the season, notably TV money and some new sponsors. Results A really good showing in pre-season, only against lower opposition, but with an aggregate score of 30-1 over 7 games was hopeful. Pre-Season odds Despite the massive rebuild, Geroskipou were still predicted to go down, but this time not in last! Fixtures Clive's heart sank when he saw the cup had not been kind and drawn his side against Agia Napa, but then again, every draw would be difficult for Geroskipou. In the league, Clive wanted the best start possible to give some breathing space from the bottom of the table, although all 4 matches looked tough on paper.