retired_bbcarr

November 2005

Had the game against Arsenal at Highbury been called off at half-time, I’d have been a very happy manager. Anders Svensson had given us the lead in the seventeenth minute, and by the break the home side hadn’t been able to pull level. Unfortunately, they did more than that in the second half, goals from Reyes and Aliadière giving them all three points.

Our league cup heroics against Liverpool weren’t enough to scare Tottenham, unfortunately, as just like they had done in the league, they came to the JJB and played us off the park. The two goals they managed – through Robbie Keane and Ledley King – were not full reward for their domination, and Thomson’s last minute effort made the scoreline look even more flattering on us, but we were still out of the tournament.

The Valley was next on our list of away trips, and Charlton didn’t prove to be the most hospitible of hosts (in the first twenty minutes at least). Two goals from Shaun Bartlett had them well in control, but a Joe Cole double brought us level by the break. Radostin Kishishev put the home side back in front on the hour, but late efforts from Bent and Cavenaghi (brought on as a winger to replace Lennon) gave us the points and some measure of revenge.

League Position: 7th

retired_bbcarr

<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">| Pos | Inf | Team | | Pld | Won | Drn | Lst | For | Ag | G.D. | Pts | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 1st | | Man Utd | | 15 | 12 | 1 | 2 | 34 | 8 | +26 | 37 | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 2nd | | Arsenal | | 15 | 12 | 1 | 2 | 37 | 13 | +24 | 37 | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 3rd | | Chelsea | | 15 | 9 | 5 | 1 | 23 | 9 | +14 | 32 | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 4th | | Liverpool | | 15 | 9 | 3 | 3 | 20 | 6 | +14 | 30 | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 5th | | Middlesbrough | | 15 | 9 | 1 | 5 | 25 | 19 | +6 | 28 | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 6th | | West Brom | | 15 | 8 | 1 | 6 | 22 | 19 | +3 | 25 | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 7th | | WIGAN | | 14 | 7 | 2 | 5 | 25 | 22 | +3 | 23 | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 8th | | Charlton | | 15 | 7 | 1 | 7 | 19 | 20 | -1 | 22 | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 9th | | Fulham | | 15 | 6 | 3 | 6 | 22 | 21 | +1 | 21 | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 10th | | Everton | | 14 | 6 | 3 | 5 | 20 | 19 | +1 | 21 | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 11th | | Newcastle | | 15 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 15 | 15 | 0 | 20 | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 12th | | Bolton | | 14 | 5 | 3 | 6 | 16 | 18 | -2 | 18 | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 13th | | Aston Villa | | 15 | 5 | 3 | 7 | 14 | 16 | -2 | 18 | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 14th | | Norwich | | 15 | 4 | 3 | 8 | 10 | 20 | -10 | 15 | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 15th | | Man City | | 15 | 3 | 5 | 7 | 16 | 27 | -11 | 14 | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 16th | | Tottenham | | 14 | 4 | 1 | 9 | 16 | 22 | -6 | 13 | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 17th | | Crystal Palace | | 15 | 4 | 0 | 11 | 10 | 20 | -10 | 12 | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 18th | | Wolves | | 15 | 3 | 3 | 9 | 17 | 28 | -11 | 12 | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 19th | | Southampton | | 15 | 3 | 2 | 10 | 9 | 34 | -25 | 11 | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 20th | | Leicester | | 15 | 2 | 4 | 9 | 11 | 25 | -14 | 10 | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| </pre>

BarryLFC

Award eligible \o/

retired_bbcarr

\o/

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December 2005

Daylight Robbery. It was the only way to describe our win over Manchester United at the JJB on the first weekend in December. For eighty minutes the visitors pounded us with wave after wave of attack, but they had clearly forgotten to pack their shooting boots, as only three shots were on target. Frustrated at their lack of accuracy, they let us back into the game, and Ligüera was on the end of a quick break to put us ahead before, three minutes into injury time, Ashley Young made the points safe with a rasping twenty yard drive.

Even with confidence flying high, I gave us absolutely no chance of coming away from Anfield with a similar three point haul. Even though Liverpool were understrength thanks to an injury crisis, they should have had more than enough quality to see us off. However, when Perez put us ahead after five minutes and Cavenaghi doubled our lead after twelve, even I began to believe. Djibril Cissé pulled one back for the home side early in the second half, but Jack Tuyp made sure the points were safe with fifteen minutes left, claiming us a wonderful double.

With my greedy eyes now firmly fixed on a European place, we welcomed Wolves to the JJB without the services of either Junqueira, or the mightily impressive Nosworthy. We seemed not to mind early on, Thomson putting us ahead after four minutes, but when Lennon limped off in the first half, our creativity went with him, and Henri Camara forced a second half equaliser for the visitors.

We should have taken three points from our trip north to Newcastle, the hosts were reduced to ten men in just fifteen minutes when Andy O’Brien threw an elbow at Cavenaghi, but we couldn’t force home the advantage. The Magpies packed their defence after O’Brien’s dismissal, straight away determined to get out of the match with a draw, and despite our potent attackers being on the field, we simply could not break them down.

Against Norwich on Boxing Day, it wasn’t a case of not being able to break down their defence as it had been against Newcastle, but rather that we were faced with a goalkeeper in inspired form. Rob Green showed his England credentials with a string of wonderful saves which saw us, for the third consecutive game, take only a point where we should have had three.

The final game of 2005 saw us back at the JJB after two games on the road, and the visitors were Fulham. The first half played out much as the game against Newcastle had, their defence keeping our attack quiet, but as they inched forward in the second period, trying to find a goal of their own with which to steal the game, we struck twice in quick succession. First it was Ligüera, stabbing home a rebound in the fifty-second minute, and only three minutes later we doubled that lead, Perez rounded off a superb move when he clipped a shot beyond Edwin van der Sar.

League Position: 7th

Sarah

Good read, sorry if its mentioned but I couldnt see it - which version of fm is this?

retired_iva terry

Good work, Terk. Keep it up.

retired_bbcarr

cheers, damien swfc, the game is being played on FM05, still my favourite of the FM games.

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January 2006

New Year’s day saw a new player at the JJB as we completed a deal for Paraguayan international midfielder Edgar Barreto from Dutch side NEC. He didn’t make the squad for our visit to Tottenham, but I’m not sure even he could have spared us from another Spurs beating. This time we managed to keep it to 2-0, Lescott’s own goal and Fredi Kanouté’s penalty putting them in control before the break, but we never looked even remotely likely to pull ourselves back into it.

We didn’t appear to be doing much better when Bolton came to Wigan, Ricardo Vaz Te grabbing a double inside the first ten minutes to put us well on the back foot. Barreto had started, though he didn’t make much impression; his teammates did, however, as Thomson and Cavenaghi levelled the match before the break. Ashley Young dealt us a blow when he was sent off a minute inside the restart, but Joe Cole scored twice to give us an unlikely win.

We entered the FA Cup at the third round stage with a tough tie at Villa Park. Lee Hendrie gave the home side the perfect start with a sixth minute goal, and Luke Moore followed it up ten minutes later to once again put us two down. Hendrie made it three before half time, and Aston Villa were as good as through. We improved in the second half, Cavenaghi bagging himself two goals, but we weren’t good enough to claim the equaliser, and bowed out.

I tried to convince myself that I wasn’t too unhappy at exiting the cup; it would allow us to concentrate on our bid for european competition. I didn’t do a particularly good job, and neither did the players on the pitch as Southampton came calling. Kevin Phillips put the visitors ahead just before the break, and it looked as if we were heading for defeat until Cavenaghi pulled an equaliser out of the bag with four minutes left.

If we were to continue on track for Europe, we needed to get a few wins on the board, and looked to be back on form when Bent and Barreto gave us a two goal lead inside twenty-two minutes against Crystal Palace. The players obviously thought they had the game won, and let Sándor Torghelle – who hadn’t scored at all in the season – net twice when unmarked in the six yard box. Big Fat Andy Johnson added another two goals for the visitors, but the excitement continued as Kenneth Perez bagged a double to earn us a point.

Cavenaghi was missing for the trip to face Manchester City, a strained wrist would keep him out for ten days, and we looked far less incisive without the Argentinian’s threat. The first half was goalless, but Derek Riordan changed that on fifty-eight minutes when he gave the home side the lead, though Jack Tuyp at least earned us a fourth consecutive league draw.

League Position: 6th

retired_bbcarr

<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">| Pos | Inf | Team | | Pld | Won | Drn | Lst | For | Ag | G.D. | Pts | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 1st | | Man Utd | | 25 | 20 | 1 | 4 | 62 | 18 | +44 | 61 | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 2nd | | Arsenal | | 25 | 15 | 5 | 5 | 58 | 28 | +30 | 50 | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 3rd | | Chelsea | | 25 | 13 | 9 | 3 | 42 | 21 | +21 | 48 | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 4th | | Liverpool | | 25 | 14 | 5 | 6 | 41 | 17 | +24 | 47 | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 5th | | Middlesbrough | | 25 | 15 | 2 | 8 | 47 | 36 | +11 | 47 | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 6th | | WIGAN | | 25 | 11 | 8 | 6 | 43 | 34 | +9 | 41 | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 7th | | West Brom | | 25 | 12 | 4 | 9 | 33 | 34 | -1 | 40 | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 8th | | Newcastle | | 25 | 11 | 6 | 8 | 27 | 20 | +7 | 39 | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 9th | | Aston Villa | | 25 | 10 | 6 | 9 | 28 | 24 | +4 | 36 | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 10th | | Charlton | | 25 | 11 | 2 | 12 | 33 | 37 | -4 | 35 | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 11th | | Bolton | | 25 | 8 | 9 | 8 | 30 | 33 | -3 | 33 | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 12th | | Fulham | | 24 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 31 | 31 | 0 | 29 | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 13th | | Tottenham | | 25 | 9 | 2 | 14 | 25 | 38 | -13 | 29 | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 14th | | Southampton | | 25 | 7 | 8 | 10 | 28 | 44 | -16 | 29 | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 15th | | Wolves | | 25 | 7 | 6 | 12 | 36 | 41 | -5 | 27 | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 16th | | Everton | | 24 | 7 | 5 | 12 | 27 | 38 | -11 | 26 | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 17th | | Man City | | 25 | 5 | 8 | 12 | 21 | 40 | -19 | 23 | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 18th | | Norwich | | 25 | 5 | 5 | 15 | 14 | 38 | -24 | 20 | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 19th | | Crystal Palace | | 25 | 5 | 2 | 18 | 20 | 42 | -22 | 17 | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 20th | | Leicester | | 25 | 4 | 5 | 16 | 21 | 53 | -32 | 17 | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| </pre>

Sarah

cheers, I'd been thinking about returning to an older version but for the life of me cant find any

retired_bbcarr

As I say, I've just not been able to get into 07, and 06 was a poor game, so I'm pretty resolutely sticking with 05, and the occasional venture back to CM01/02.

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February 2006

A deadline day deal saw Hugo Viana join the club just half an hour before the registration window closed. The Portuguese international cost us £500,000 from Newcastle and signed an eighteen month deal. He was given a start for his home debut against Everton, though we had to make do without Pieter Collen, who suffered a torn groin in training and would be missing for a month.

The game itself had plenty of action, Andy Griffin managing to get himself sent off for two bookable offences inside the first five minutes, leaving the rest of his visiting team-mates with an uphill struggle. Kenny Lunt took advantage to give us the lead, but then joined Griffin in leaving early when he picked up a second yellow card himself, just before the half time whistle.

The second half saw two penalties given – one to each side. First, we had the chance to wrap up the game, but debutant Viana hammered his effort off the crossbar, and then Paul Hopkins made his agony worse, converting from the spot after Hayden Mullins had handled the ball.

Three days later we were back in action, this time facing West Brom at the Hawthorns. We started horribly, letting in a goal from Noel Hunt, and it could have been three or four for the home side by the break. On the hour mark, Darren Bent replaced Cavenaghi up front, and it was Bent who fortuitously got us level, his long range effort deflected in. Nothing, however, could have prepared us for what would happen in the final ten minutes.

With eighty minutes on the clock, Oli gave West Brom back their deserved lead with a header from eight yards, and three minutes later they had a two goal advantage thanks to Lloyd Dyer. Many would have given up, but Bent was on a mission and pulled one back with three minutes left. From the re-start, Baretto won possession and fed a long ball to Bent who had made straight for the penalty area, and the former Ipswich man tucked his shot beyond Tomasz Kuszczak. I was delighted with the point, but Bent had one more trick up his sleeve, firing in a twenty-five yard free kick with a minute of injury time passed to hand us the three points.

Middlesbrough had become a team I fully enjoyed playing, and that wasn’t about to change when they were the opponents for our next home game. Bizarrely, it being only the eleventh of the month, it would also be our final game in February, but we went out on a high, Cavenaghi netting just before half time, and Bent replacing him just after the hour before grabbing his fifth in two games.

League Position: 6th