retired_milissac

Unlucky on losing out in the FA Cup (again) but it looks like you could make a push for Europe even- and when the target was survival that would be excellent

retired_nela

We can indeed make a push for Europe - and I'm as surprised as anyone!

April, 2020

Leicester, Premier League, Home
With the Cup out of the way, our only focus was on the six remaining League games. We drew 2-2 with Leicester earlier in the season, and despite the curious signing of 35-year-old Leighton Baines, they are not a strong side. They had all the early action, but a quick break saw Vecchio pass across to Syarifudin, who squeezed in a goal at the near post. Ramos scored an absolute stunner in the 54th. He received the ball on the edge of the area, held off a defender, turned and put the ball right over the keeper's head and into the net. 2-0.

Birmingham, Premier League, Away
Birmingham are struggling to stay up in the League, sitting in 15th spot. Several times our defence was outnumbered, and Birmingham eventually scored with a chip over the keeper from veteran Stephen Hindmarsh. Page sent a shot across the goal in the 54th that looked about to be cleared off the line, but the defender put it in his own net instead. Birmingham were back in front just two minutes later and though we had stacks of chances, it wasn't until the 88th minute that Syarifudin brought us level again.

Blackburn, Premier League, Home
From a side fighting to stay up to one almost certain to go down. An appalling turnover from Heinonen gifted Blackburn a goal after just six minutes, and it wasn't until the 32nd that Vecchio scored for Rushden. Syarifudin was fouled in the area just before half time, and though Muñoz had is penalty shot saved, Ramos was able to follow-up with a goal. Blackburn had a player sent off for a professional foul, and we held on to win 2-1. It was sloppy, but three points nonetheless.

With three games left in the season, we sit in 8th spot and could realistically finish as high as 6th. We've done well without our top keeper, but the most important thing now is trying to work out a squad for next season – either re-signing current players, or getting replacements.

<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">Holders - Bolton| Pos | Inf | Team | | Pld | Won | Drn | Lst | For | Ag | G.D. | Pts | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 1st | | Newcastle | | 36 | 21 | 7 | 8 | 71 | 38 | +33 | 70 | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 2nd | | Man Utd | | 35 | 19 | 9 | 7 | 52 | 33 | +19 | 66 | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 3rd | | Everton | | 36 | 19 | 8 | 9 | 55 | 32 | +23 | 65 | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 4th | | Arsenal | | 35 | 16 | 13 | 6 | 48 | 31 | +17 | 61 | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 5th | | Liverpool | | 33 | 17 | 8 | 8 | 55 | 27 | +28 | 59 | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 6th | | Chelsea | | 36 | 14 | 16 | 6 | 44 | 31 | +13 | 58 | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 7th | | Cardiff | | 35 | 15 | 12 | 8 | 45 | 29 | +16 | 57 | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 8th | | Rushden | | 35 | 15 | 10 | 10 | 48 | 41 | +7 | 55 | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 9th | | Reading | | 36 | 13 | 9 | 14 | 41 | 32 | +9 | 48 | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 10th | | Ipswich | | 35 | 11 | 12 | 12 | 27 | 33 | -6 | 45 | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 11th | | Bolton | | 36 | 13 | 6 | 17 | 39 | 54 | -15 | 45 | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 12th | | Wigan | | 36 | 11 | 11 | 14 | 34 | 46 | -12 | 44 | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 13th | | Birmingham | | 36 | 10 | 10 | 16 | 32 | 40 | -8 | 40 | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 14th | | Leicester | | 36 | 9 | 13 | 14 | 46 | 55 | -9 | 40 | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 15th | | Sunderland | | 36 | 10 | 9 | 17 | 34 | 54 | -20 | 39 | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 16th | | Man City | | 36 | 9 | 11 | 16 | 36 | 46 | -10 | 38 | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 17th | | Barnsley | | 36 | 8 | 14 | 14 | 32 | 47 | -15 | 38 | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 18th | | Leeds | | 36 | 9 | 10 | 17 | 29 | 48 | -19 | 37 | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 19th | R | Blackburn | | 36 | 4 | 19 | 13 | 25 | 44 | -19 | 31 | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 20th | R | Tottenham | | 36 | 6 | 7 | 23 | 40 | 72 | -32 | 25 | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| </pre>

retired_nela

May, 2020

Leeds, Premier League, Away
Leeds are in danger of relegation, despite spending ₤5M on two players over January. Actually, both were out injured for this game, so it's perhaps no surprise they have been of little assistance. A few Leeds attacks were successfully cleared by Toth and Bozkurt, with the latter twice coming out of his area to confront opponents. Hermansson and Vecchio both missed good chances for Rushden in the scoreless draw.

Ipswich, Premier League, Away
Our second-last game came against mid-table Ipswich. After an even first half, we fell apart and conceded two goals.

Liverpool, Premier League, Home
We were unable to move from 8th spot, so I went out with pretty much a reserve team in this game. Bozkurt let through an early goal but was otherwise brilliant, saving many shots – even a penalty in the second half. Aguilera scored from long-range to bring us level, but another goal to Liverpool denied us a point.

retired_nela

The season in review

Summary

<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre"> Holders - Newcastle| Pos | Inf | Team | | Pld | Won | Drn | Lst | For | Ag | G.D. | Pts | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 1st | ECC | Newcastle | | 38 | 22 | 7 | 9 | 73 | 40 | +33 | 73 | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 2nd | ECC | Man Utd | | 38 | 20 | 11 | 7 | 54 | 34 | +20 | 71 | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 3rd | ECC | Liverpool | | 38 | 19 | 10 | 9 | 61 | 32 | +29 | 67 | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 4th | EC | Everton | | 38 | 19 | 9 | 10 | 57 | 35 | +22 | 66 | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 5th | ECC | Arsenal | | 38 | 17 | 14 | 7 | 50 | 33 | +17 | 65 | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 6th | EC | Chelsea | | 38 | 16 | 16 | 6 | 49 | 33 | +16 | 64 | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 7th | EC | Cardiff | | 38 | 17 | 12 | 9 | 50 | 33 | +17 | 63 | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 8th | EV | Rushden | | 38 | 15 | 11 | 12 | 49 | 45 | +4 | 56 | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 9th | | Ipswich | | 38 | 13 | 13 | 12 | 32 | 34 | -2 | 52 | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 10th | | Bolton | | 38 | 15 | 6 | 17 | 43 | 54 | -11 | 51 | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 11th | | Reading | | 38 | 13 | 10 | 15 | 42 | 34 | +8 | 49 | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 12th | | Birmingham | | 38 | 11 | 11 | 16 | 36 | 43 | -7 | 44 | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 13th | | Wigan | | 38 | 11 | 11 | 16 | 35 | 51 | -16 | 44 | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 14th | | Leicester | | 38 | 10 | 13 | 15 | 47 | 57 | -10 | 43 | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 15th | | Barnsley | | 38 | 9 | 14 | 15 | 34 | 49 | -15 | 41 | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 16th | | Sunderland | | 38 | 10 | 11 | 17 | 36 | 56 | -20 | 41 | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 17th | | Leeds | | 38 | 9 | 12 | 17 | 29 | 48 | -19 | 39 | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 18th | R | Man City | | 38 | 9 | 11 | 18 | 36 | 48 | -12 | 38 | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 19th | R | Blackburn | | 38 | 5 | 19 | 14 | 28 | 47 | -19 | 34 | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 20th | R | Tottenham | | 38 | 6 | 7 | 25 | 41 | 76 | -35 | 25 | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| </pre>

<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre"> 8th in English Premier Division| Pkd | Inf | Name | Apps | Gls | Ast | MoM | Pas | Tck | Drb | Sh T | Av Rat| | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | DL | Hol | Péter Tóth | 35 (1)| - | 3 | 2 | 71% | 3.29 | 0.48 | - | 7.06 | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | S4 | Hol | Juho Heinonen | 34 (2)| 1 | - | 3 | 67% | 3.76 | 0.38 | 51% | 7.14 | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | S1 | Hol | Ernesto Muñoz | 30 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 75% | 3.12 | 0.27 | 26% | 7.37 | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | - | Hol | Rubén Ramos | 29 (1)| 7 | 9 | 9 | 63% | 0.22 | 1.09 | 47% | 7.53 | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | DC | Hol | Chris Morris | 29 | - | - | 2 | 64% | 4.41 | 0.10 | - | 7.17 | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | - | Hol | Alvin Page | 28 (5)| 2 | 4 | - | 68% | 1.72 | 1.72 | 50% | 7.03 | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | - | Inj | Rasmus Dudek | 26 | - | - | - | 70% | 3.92 | 0.27 | - | 7.23 | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | - | Inj | Roy Simons | 24 | - | - | 2 | 53% | - | - | - | 7.21 | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | - | Hol | Keith Watson | 22 (1)| 1 | 3 | - | 68% | 4.05 | 0.54 | - | 7.00 | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | AMC | Hol | Murray Kelly | 21 (2)| 2 | 2 | - | 73% | 1.34 | 1.00 | 33% | 6.87 | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | - | Hol | Ricardo Pérez | 21 | - | 2 | - | 71% | 1.11 | 2.58 | 33% | 7.19 | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | - | Hol | Muhammad Syarifudin | 20 (2)| 10 | 7 | - | 77% | 0.31 | 0.98 | 46% | 7.00 | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | S5 | Hol | Emiliano Vecchio | 20 | 6 | 5 | 2 | 75% | 1.69 | 1.08 | 47% | 7.55 | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | - | Hol | Adam Sherwood | 18 (1)| 2 | 2 | 1 | 73% | 2.09 | 1.75 | 40% | 7.00 | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | S3 | Hol | Kjetil Sørensen | 16 (5)| 9 | 5 | - | 70% | 0.36 | 1.26 | 48% | 7.05 | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | GK | Hol | Nuri Bozkurt | 16 | - | - | 2 | 59% | - | - | - | 7.25 | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | DC | Hol | Andy Ferguson | 12 (2)| - | 1 | 1 | 64% | 3.25 | 0.17 | - | 7.00 | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | DR | Hol | Laurence Nelson | 12 | - | 2 | - | 72% | 3.17 | 0.25 | - | 7.08 | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | S2 | Hol | Conall Hawe | 11 (7)| 9 | 4 | 1 | 68% | 0.16 | 1.34 | 45% | 7.06 | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | DMC | Hol | Fernando Aguilera | 10 (5)| 1 | 1 | - | 73% | 2.73 | 0.60 | 26% | 7.07 | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | ML | Hol | Mikael Hermansson | 8 (2) | - | 1 | - | 69% | 2.60 | 1.77 | - | 6.80 | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | FC | Hol | Paul Rose | 6 | 1 | - | - | 62% | 0.38 | 0.95 | 41% | 6.33 | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | MR | Hol | Mark Mooney | 5 (5) | 1 | 2 | - | 70% | 1.97 | 2.68 | - | 6.80 | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | FC | Hol | Majid Al-Shamrani | 5 | - | - | - | 64% | 0.20 | 0.80 | - | 6.40 | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | - | Hol | Gunnar Gylfason | 3 (3) | 2 | - | 1 | 77% | 0.32 | 2.88 | 52% | 7.00 | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | - | Hol | Danny McCoy | 2 | - | 1 | - | 72% | 3.44 | 5.73 | - | 8.00 | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | - | Hol | Shane Bayliss | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| </pre>

For the second time, a Rushden player with an expiring contract was named Players' Player of the Season. This time it was Ramos, following in the footsteps of fellow towering striker Salvatore Foti. Muñoz, Heinonen and Ramos all made the Select side, and Muñoz was third as English Footballer of the Year.

Given my goal was survival, 8th spot is a good result. We qualified for Europe and are now ranked 111th in Europe. Making the semi final in the FA Cup was a good result, our best ever, but we fell short of the final.

Though we had a lot of good players, it is disturbing that many are unlikely to be at the club next season. Ramos was a star, dominating just as Foti did for three seasons. Vecchio belied his age to launch countless attacks with his skill and class, Sørensen scored nine goals while Tóth, Dudek and Nelson held steady at the back. All are likely to be gone soon. Mooney, Rose and Al-Shamrani were big disappointments, spending most of the season in the reserves.

Speaking of the reserves, they finished 5th, while the Under-18s were 2nd.

Around the world: major awards and results

Rushden Supporters’ Player of the Year:
Rubén Ramos

World Player of the Year:
[b]Theo Walcott[b] (Newcastle)

World Footballer of the year:
[b]Kim Jong-Kyung[b] (Liverpool)

England:
Winner: Newcastle
Relegated: Man City, Blackburn, Tottenham
Promoted: Middlesbrough, Fulham, Hull

Spain:
Barcelona

Italy
Milan

Champions Cup:
Arsenal

EURO Cup:
Liverpool

retired_nela

The Transfers

Players In
<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">| Date | Person | From | Fee | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 1.7.2019 | Rubén Ramos | Betis | Free | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 1.7.2019 | Mooney, Mark | Aberdeen | Free | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 1.8.2019 | Mifsud, Jeffrey | Sliema Wanderers | £12K | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 21.8.2019 | Ferguson, Andy | St. Mirren | Free | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 21.8.2019 | Murphy, Sam | Free Transfer | Free | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 1.12.2019 | Bohman, Tobias | Malmö FF | Free | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 1.1.2020 | Slade, Steven | Cork City | Free | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 1.1.2020 | van Dijk, Alfred | ADO Den Haag | £50K | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 1.1.2020 | Juodeikis, Marius | Ekranas | £10K | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 1.1.2020 | Pirtskhalava, Levan| WIT-Georgia | £80K | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 1.1.2020 | Bozkurt, Nuri | G. Birligi | Free | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | | Total | | £150K | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | | | | | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------| </pre>

Players Out
<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">| Date | Person | To | Fee | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 1.7.2019 | Collier, Tom | Free Transfer | Free | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 1.7.2019 | Stanford, John | Free Transfer | Free | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 1.7.2019 | Manning, Chris | Free Transfer | Free | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 1.7.2019 | Lerat, Christophe | Free Transfer | Free | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 1.7.2019 | MartÃ*nez, Juan Manuel | Free Transfer | Free | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 1.7.2019 | Borja Gómez | Leicester | Free | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 1.7.2019 | Henderson, Wayne | Free Transfer | Free | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 3.7.2019 | Martin, Adam | Free Transfer | Free | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 16.7.2019 | Halford, Gareth | Free Transfer | Free | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 20.7.2019 | Roland, Lars | Livorno | Free | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 17.8.2019 | Moussa, Franck | Ipswich | Free | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 6.1.2020 | Miskelly, Paul | Derby | £900K | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 10.1.2020 | Green, Craig | Brentford | £500K | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 21.1.2020 | Murphy, Steven | Derby | £110K | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 30.1.2020 | Svensson, Patrik | Barcelona | £4M | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | | Total | | £5.5M | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | | | | | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| </pre>

Loans Out
<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">| Date | Person | To | Fee | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 16.7.2019 | Giglio, Luca | Verona | Loan | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 17.7.2019 | McGovern, Frankie | Rugby Town | Loan | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 18.7.2019 | Scarsella, Tony | Rugby Town | Loan | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 5.8.2019 | Isaksson, Carl | Northampton | Loan | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 5.8.2019 | Underwood, Anthony | Colchester | Loan | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 6.8.2019 | Miskelly, Paul | Crystal Palace | Loan | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 7.8.2019 | Rhazdis, Sébastien | Colchester | Loan | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 12.8.2019 | Courtois, Olivier | Hibernian | Loan | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 24.10.2019 | Bayliss, Shane | Doncaster | Loan | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 21.11.2019 | Mifsud, Jeffrey | Charlton | Loan | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 2.1.2020 | Slade, Steven | Rugby Town | Loan | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 2.1.2020 | Bohman, Tobias | Boston Utd | Loan | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 7.1.2020 | Isaksson, Carl | Leicester | Loan | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 26.2.2020 | Jakobsen, Jacob | Colchester | Loan | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | | Total | | £0 | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | | | | | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------| </pre>

Youth In
<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">| Date | Person | To | Fee | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 20.6.2019 | Gentili, Daniele | Rushden | Free | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 20.6.2019 | O'Grady, Andy | Rushden | Free | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 20.6.2019 | Barratt, Shane | Rushden | Free | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 20.6.2019 | Butcher, Danny | Rushden | Free | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 20.6.2019 | O'Brien, Sean | Rushden | Free | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 20.6.2019 | Elliott, Peter | Rushden | Free | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 20.6.2019 | Robert, Joris | Rushden | Free | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | | Total | | £0 | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | | | | | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------| </pre>

Ramos was the obvious highlight, named Players' Player of the Year and runner-up as Signing of the Season. It was only a one-year deal, but he played an important role in seeing us settle in the EPL. In contrast, Mark Mooney did nothing and spent most of the time in the reserves. Nuri Bozkurt could well prove to be the best signing, having already shown himself as capable at first team level. The others are long-term prospects and came at little cost.

A few players we let go did well. Roland was a regular scorer in Serie A, Henderson did okay in the Championship with Brentford and Patrik Svensson did well for Barcelona's B side. Still, no major losses there.

Luca Gigolo actually played a few Serie A games with Verona and Bayliss did well in the Championship as Doncaster's number one keeper, but the others were unremarkable despite playing regularly.

retired_rkp278

European football! :thup: