retired_swmchick2006

<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre"> *************************************** Dover Athletic - Saturday 13th October***************************************==== =================================== Squad=======================================No Name Position(s) Nat Born Age Caps Gls Wages Expires Value---------------------------------------- Abbott, Matt D RLC ENG 16.11.79 21 - - £150 24.6.02 Free - Barraud, Philippe SW/D C FRA 18.10.82 18 - - £120 23.6.05 £4K - Blondeau, Jean-Marc D C FRA 13.8.76 25 - - £425 28.6.06 £14K - Boli, Dominique D C FRA 10.5.77 24 - - £275 25.6.05 £10K - Camara, Guillaume D R FRA 28.8.72 29 - - £400 27.6.06 £12K - Campbell, Mark S C SCO 31.1.82 19 - - £45 16.6.05 £4K - Castro, Cyrille GK FRA 20.9.75 26 - - £400 28.6.05 £4K - Commodore, Yaw F RC GHA 25.9.72 29 - - £425 20.6.06 Free - Coué, Sylvain AM RC FRA 11.2.82 19 - - £140 23.6.05 £5K - Diagouraga, Christophe AM R FRA 24.11.82 18 - - £120 28.6.04 £5K - Docherty, Ross F C SCO 30.3.72 29 - - £180 28.6.04 £14K - Holt, Brian GK ENG 7.4.63 38 - - £425 23.6.02 Free - Jézéquel, Grégory D C FRA 13.4.76 25 - - £350 27.6.05 £8K - Knox, Darren GK SCO 8.9.67 34 - - £55 27.6.05 £4K - Le Bert, Pierre D/M R FRA 9.1.82 19 - - £120 23.6.04 £6K - Martel, Christophe D RC FRA 3.10.69 32 - - £450 27.6.05 £10K - McManus, Paul D L SCO 19.11.80 20 - - £350 13.6.04 £16K - Nicol, Steven GK SCO 31.3.82 19 - - £45 16.6.04 £4K - Paterson, Graeme F LC SCO 27.11.80 20 - - £130 18.6.05 £7K - Roach, Glenn S C ENG 9.6.67 34 - - £425 25.6.03 Free - Scott, Ian M C SCO 11.7.78 23 - - £400 13.6.04 £20K - Scott, Stephen M C SCO 19.9.71 30 - - £425 1.6.02 £24K - Stone, Steven D C ENG 13.9.71 30 - - £210 20.6.03 Free - Thomson, George S C SCO 19.7.71 30 - - £180 26.6.05 £12K - Troussier, Alain M RC FRA 4.12.82 18 - - £80 20.6.04 £9K - Troussier, Mickaël D C FRA 13.3.70 31 - - £450 1.6.05 £4K - Vahirua, Xavier M C FRA 3.9.77 24 - - £240 27.6.04 £22K - Ward, Peter AM/F RC ENG 21.3.85 16 - - £200 28.6.04 £10K - Young, Graeme M RC SCO 1.4.76 25 - - £170 28.6.05 £12K ==================================Senior Club Stats==================================No Name Apps Gls Con Pens Asts Yel Red MoM Av R------------------------------------ Abbott, Matt - - - - - - - - ---- - Barraud, Philippe 1 (1) 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 6.00 - Blondeau, Jean-Marc 12 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 6.67 - Boli, Dominique - - - - - - - - ---- - Camara, Guillaume 13 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 6.54 - Campbell, Mark 1 (2) 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 7.00 - Castro, Cyrille 7 0 5 0 0 0 0 0 6.86 - Commodore, Yaw - - - - - - - - ---- - Coué, Sylvain 6 (4) 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 7.00 - Diagouraga, Christophe 0 (4) 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 6.50 - Docherty, Ross 7 2 0 1 (1) 1 0 0 0 7.43 - Holt, Brian - - - - - - - - ---- - Jézéquel, Grégory 1 (3) 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 6.25 - Knox, Darren 7 0 3 0 0 0 0 0 7.29 - Le Bert, Pierre 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 7.00 - Martel, Christophe 14 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 6.93 - McManus, Paul 4 0 0 0 1 0 0 1 7.50 - Nicol, Steven - - - - - - - - ---- - Paterson, Graeme 14 6 0 0 2 0 0 2 7.29 - Roach, Glenn - - - - - - - - ---- - Scott, Ian 14 0 0 0 1 0 0 1 7.07 - Scott, Stephen 14 4 0 0 2 0 0 0 6.93 - Stone, Steven - - - - - - - - ---- - Thomson, George 4 (3) 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 6.71 - Troussier, Alain 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 7.00 - Troussier, Mickaël 10 1 0 0 0 1 0 3 7.50 - Vahirua, Xavier 2 1 0 0 2 0 0 1 8.50 - Ward, Peter 3 (3) 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 6.67 - Young, Graeme 13 1 0 0 2 0 0 1 6.85 </pre>

retired_swmchick2006

It is difficult to work in a country you hate, surrounded by people you hate… it can begin to wear on you. If I was working further inland away from the coast (Here at least I could imagine a more cultured, intelligent, classier set of people)… I might have gone crazy.

At Dover though, with the mainland just across the waves, surrounded by countrymen of my heritage… I can just stay this side of sane.

After a pointless replay against Leigh RMI (we thankfully went out on pks eventually, despite playing a 2nd choice team), we couldn’t find the net in a 0-0 draw at Hayes. Again, a stellar performance from their keeper and a central defender kept us at bay in a game we dominated. To be fair, James Forrester is actually a pretty good player… to bad he’s English.

Against Leigh RMI in the league, we ran afoul of an anti-French, anti-Scot referee by the name of Jim Bridgewater. His xenophobic racist views denied us 3 clear penalties, which after Mickael Troussier was sent off, didn’t do us again good. (Troussier was suspended after an appeal for 3 games, but since he got injured just before his suspension missed nothing that he could have played in.) Leigh scored in the first half and Coue missed a penalty to tie the game late, after the referee spit in his face, and kicked him in his shooting leg. If there is anything I hate in this world, it’s a racist… damn English *******.

Against Farnborough another ridiculous referee gave the visitor’s a dubious penalty to force us to settle for a 1-1 draw, and against Chester, loaned-in Aston Villa keeper Stuart Lewis was named MOM in another one of ‘those’ games.

Two stupid English pointless FA Trophy Games followed as we drew Barnet 2-2 (despite playing mostly back-up players) and then lost 0-2 (in a game I told my team not to bother with) in the replay. These smelly, overbearing, mind-numbing English and their meaningless cups.

One good aspect of this stupid schedule (after 8 league games in September, we only had 5 league games in October and November combined) is the time it gives us to track down new signings. One player I’m very hopeful about is 34-year old veteran Scot Garry Marshall, a left winger who immediately moves into the starting line-up and could be our best overall player now.

We had two 3-1 wins to start December thanks to very strong play from Xavier Vahirua who scored twice and assisted two other times. Paul McManus our left-back signing continued his good play after being named Young Player of the Month in October. (Ian Scott rightfully won Player of the Month for November as he continues to shine.)

A home game to Stalybridge was won by us as Vahirua scored again to give us a 1-0 win. He nearly got the win for us again in the next game against Morecambe, but a lucky set-piece goal made us settle for a 1-1 draw.

After a somewhat disappointing stretch (considering how many lazy English players most of these opponents have)… one thing that never disappoints is my hate for you.

retired_swmchick2006

<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre"> ******************************************** English Conference - Saturday 22nd December****************************************** **Pos Team Pld Won Drn Lst For Ag Won Drn Lst For Ag Pts--------------------------------------------1st Dover 21 6 3 2 13 6 6 3 1 16 5 42 ---------------------------------------------2nd Farnborough 20 4 3 2 19 11 7 3 1 23 13 39 3rd Northwich Vics 21 7 3 1 12 5 4 2 4 12 12 38 4th Stalybridge 20 5 2 2 19 10 5 3 3 14 11 35 5th Margate 19 6 2 3 16 7 4 2 2 10 7 34 Goalsos Player Club Apps Gls-------------------------------------------------------------------------1st Shaun McCann Doncaster 19 15 2nd Andrew Murphy Farnborough 20 15 3rd Joe Turner Stalybridge 19 14 4th Marcus Williams Dag & Red 18 10 5th Michael Payne Morecambe 19 10 11th Graeme Paterson Dover 21 7 Assistsos Player Club Apps Asts-------------------------------------------------------------------------1st Stuart McKenzie Barnet 18 9 2nd Greg Gordon Doncaster 17 9 3rd Jason Harrison Stalybridge 20 8 4th Craig Thomson Wigan 7 8 5th Danny Richards Dag & Red 12 8 22nd Xavier Vahirua Dover 10 4 25th Graeme Paterson Dover 21 3 Average Ratingos Player Club Apps Av R-------------------------------------------------------------------------1st Simon Elliott Hereford 11 7.82 2nd Andrew Murphy Farnborough 20 7.80 3rd Shaun McCann Doncaster 19 7.79 4th Joe Turner Stalybridge 19 7.63 5th Danny Richards Dag & Red 12 7.58 24th Darren Knox Dover 14 7.29 26th Mickaël Troussier Dover 16 7.25 Man of the Matchos Player Club Apps MoM-------------------------------------------------------------------------1st Joe Turner Stalybridge 19 8 2nd Shaun McCann Doncaster 19 6 3rd Andrew Murphy Farnborough 20 6 4th Gary Roach Southport 19 5 5th Kevin Joyce Yeovil 11 (2) 5 13th Mickaël Troussier Dover 16 3 23rd Graeme Paterson Dover 21 2 </pre>

retired_swmchick2006

I won't be able to update for about a week as I'm going on vacation, but I'm a little further ahead in the game than updates, so when I get back I should be able to finish off this first season

---

After the game against Morecambe, I finally decided to go ahead and purchase right midfielder Liam Martin. I had planned to sign him after his contract expired in the summer, but recent performances (if you could actually call them “perform”-ances) from the players we had convinced me he would be worth bringing in early.

This made two of my previous signings superfluous to my needs. (Diagouraga and Le Bert) I sat them down and told them they would be shifting to the reserves and that this didn’t mean I hated them… they weren’t English after all… but that they just probably wouldn’t get a game. I expect most of them will be listed eventually.

For our next game we had a disappointing 2-0 loss to Scarborough. I would have been even more upset except that their man of the match was Ian Reynolds, a very good Irish player. Which although not Scottish or French, is pretty good anyway.

A 0-0 draw with Telford was next… another brilliant goalkeeping day from our opposition. And another dodgy English swill-drinking referee…

Another 0-0 followed, this time to Doncaster. These English sides and their dull, dull, un-imaginative, silly, pig-smelling tactics.

At home against last place Woking the first half was made difficult, but two second half goals (one from Ian Scott and the other from McManus) gave us a deserved win.

0-0 again after that… to Hereford. I smell Englishman conspiracy. Can’t stand to see a French and Scot team win a league, eh?

Finally at home against Nuneaton Borough, the team woke up again… Vahirua broke through twice and generally tore the opposition defense apart. A 3-1 win was generous to the visitor’s.

Away in what appeared to be a difficult match-up against the prototypical mind-numbingly dull and fully English Northwich Vics… Vahirua was again MOM and led us to a 3-1 victory. After going behind early, the team switched to a direct hard-pressing style and took apart the cowardly English midfield.

On into February the games came, and the weekly schedule seemed to be serving the squad much better than the horrible English ‘rush’ approach. Slower really satisfies some better… know what I mean? Oh wait, you’re English you obviously don’t. Bet you’re more of a direct fast and quick approach, hmmm?

A 1-0 win over Southport was far more one-sided than the score would suggest. Young Mark Campbell got the only goal showing that his talent was a bit better option than out of form Docherty.

Campbell scored again in the 2-1 win over Forest Green with Paterson getting the other before Marc Dawson scored on a last minute freekick for the losers. (That would be you English.)

Away at Leigh RMI Campbell did it once again with a 2nd minute goal, but despite dominating the whole game it took 2nd half substitute George Thomson (a player/coach) to seal the win after the home side tied it up. Garry Marshall continued his fine form setting up both goals.

Marshall has also had the captain’s armband since Ian Scott was injured back at the end of January. It looked to be a severe blow, but we managed to sign veteran defender and defensive midfielder Gary Stewart to cover. His form has been so strong as to keep Scott on the bench since his return.

The current first choice squad looks something like this: Knox, McManus, Troussier, Martel, Camara, Stewart (or Ian Scott), Marshall, Martin, Vahirua, Paterson, Campbell.

retired_swmchick2006

<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">***************************** English Conference - Saturday 23rd February*****************************Pos Team Pld Won Drn Lst For Ag Won Drn Lst For Ag Pts-----------------------------1st Dover 31 9 3 2 19 7 9 6 2 23 10 63 -----------------------------2nd Doncaster 31 10 3 3 31 12 8 2 5 32 20 59 3rd Chester 31 11 3 2 33 19 6 1 8 11 28 55 4th Northwich Vics 31 9 3 3 17 10 7 3 6 19 16 54 5th Stalybridge 31 8 5 3 29 18 7 3 5 22 18 53 Goalsos Player Club Apps Gls-------------------------------------------------------------------------1st Shaun McCann Doncaster 31 24 2nd Andrew Murphy Farnborough 31 21 3rd Joe Turner Stalybridge 29 21 4th Michael Payne Morecambe 30 16 5th James Neville Hayes 29 15 20th Graeme Paterson Dover 31 9 30th Xavier Vahirua Dover 20 8 Assistsos Player Club Apps Asts-------------------------------------------------------------------------1st Steve Leach Dag & Red 26 12 2nd Greg Gordon Doncaster 29 12 3rd Simon Elliott Hereford 22 11 4th Stuart McKenzie Barnet 28 11 5th Danny Richards Dag & Red 21 11 11th Garry Marshall Dover 14 8 Average Ratingos Player Club Apps Av R-------------------------------------------------------------------------1st Shaun McCann Doncaster 31 8.00 2nd Robbie Foster Barnet 17 7.76 3rd Simon Elliott Hereford 22 7.68 4th Andrew Murphy Farnborough 31 7.68 5th Joe Turner Stalybridge 29 7.66 12th Paul McManus Dover 19 7.42 17th Darren Knox Dover 24 7.38 21st Xavier Vahirua Dover 20 7.30 Man of the Matchos Player Club Apps MoM-------------------------------------------------------------------------1st Joe Turner Stalybridge 29 10 2nd Shaun McCann Doncaster 31 8 3rd Andrew Murphy Farnborough 31 7 4th Kevin Joyce Yeovil 22 (2) 6 5th Jay Kershaw Northwich Vics 25 6 28th Mickaël Troussier Dover 26 3 </pre>

retired_swmchick2006

March.

If we win the conference this year, it will be because of our games in March. 6 in all from March 2nd to March 30th.

If we win the conference this year, it will be because Mark Campbell decided he was going to make English defenses look silly… okay, even more silly. Campbell came into March having scored in every game in February, taking his total to 5 in a row. (Young Player of the Month for February, him.) Not surprisingly, we had won every one of those games.

It was as if in March every English Conference side decided to ditch their defenses and focus on scoring goals. Quite fun taking advantage of that, actually.

First up in March, for the beginning of a three game home stretch, were Margate who were intent on getting revenge for a 1-0 loss earlier in the year. They looked like there were going to get it scoring twice in 33 minutes through their horrible midfielder Charlie Pearce. He’s really terrible, but for some reason he’s scored 10 goals this season. I took it personal that such a horrible English player could have such success and threw everyone to a full out direct attack… It paid off as Martel scored his first of the season, and McManus and then George Thomson scored to reverse the deficit and get the 3 points.

Against Stevenage, Campbell looked recovered thanks to only playing a half against Margate, and scored twice in just over 45 to give us a 2-1 win. Vahirua was the key man on the day, stripping the English defenders to the underwear on multiple occasions. (Right, you wish that wasn’t just a metaphor…)

Up next was Yeovil, and you have to give credit to the visiting side as they were outshot 18 to 7 but kept the score respectable at 5-3. Campbell got another brace, but it was Liam Martin who was the MOM on the day setting up two and getting one for himself.

Away at Barnet, and Campbellhelped himself to a first-half hattrick as we cruised to an easy 3-1 win. Martin was again impressive, but went down with injury just before time.

Chester came to the Crabble after that, and went away on the end of a 3-1 loss thanks to a strike from MOM Marshall, a solo goal from Vahirua and Paterson getting on the scoresheet late.

A letdown was inevitable, and Dag & Red were the beneficiaries as a 1-1 draw away was all we could achieve. Jezequel got his first ever goal having been given the start after Martel was sent home with a bad cold. Who could blame him?

It’s March in England, it’s 8 degrees outside and it hasn’t stopped raining in about a month.

One could almost feel sorry for you…

I said almost you mud-swilling Englishman.

retired_swmchick2006

<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre"> ************************** English Conference - Saturday 30th March**************************Pos Team Pld Won Drn Lst For Ag Won Drn Lst For Ag Pts--------------------------1st Dover 37 13 3 2 32 14 10 7 2 27 12 79 --------------------------2nd Doncaster 37 11 3 4 33 14 11 3 5 38 23 72 3rd Northwich Vics 37 12 3 3 25 11 7 4 8 20 19 64 4th Stalybridge 37 10 6 3 36 21 8 3 7 26 22 63 5th Dag & Red 37 9 6 4 37 26 8 3 7 30 31 60 Goalsos Player Club Apps Gls-------------------------------------------------------------------------1st Shaun McCann Doncaster 34 25 2nd Andrew Murphy Farnborough 37 25 3rd Joe Turner Stalybridge 34 22 4th Michael Payne Morecambe 36 20 5th James Neville Hayes 34 19 11th Mark Campbell Dover 12 (11) 13 19th Graeme Paterson Dover 37 11 Assistsos Player Club Apps Asts-------------------------------------------------------------------------1st Danny Richards Dag & Red 25 13 2nd Greg Gordon Doncaster 35 13 3rd Steve Leach Dag & Red 30 12 4th Simon Elliott Hereford 28 12 5th Dave Jackson Leigh RMI 32 12 9th Garry Marshall Dover 20 10 Average Ratingos Player Club Apps Av R-------------------------------------------------------------------------1st Shaun McCann Doncaster 34 7.94 2nd Dave Roberts Southport 23 7.74 3rd Andrew Murphy Farnborough 37 7.68 4th Robbie Foster Barnet 23 7.65 5th Joe Turner Stalybridge 34 7.62 14th Paul McManus Dover 25 7.40 22nd Darren Knox Dover 30 7.30 30th Garry Marshall Dover 20 7.25 Man of the Match: Pos Player Club Apps MoM-------------------------------------------------------------------------1st Joe Turner Stalybridge 34 10 2nd Shaun McCann Doncaster 34 9 3rd Andrew Murphy Farnborough 37 8 4th Gary Roach Southport 31 6 5th Kevin Joyce Yeovil 28 (2) 6 24th Xavier Vahirua Dover 26 4 </pre>

retired_swmchick2006

Conference Manager of the Month for March – Me, of course. Even the idiot English judges couldn’t miss that.

Conference Select Team – Darren Knox, Mickael Troussier (Only non-Englishmen.)

Dover 2 Hayes 1 (Doncaster 1 Scarborough 2) - This combination of results may just have made our lead in 1st unassailable. With only 4 to play we sat 10 points ahead. Only one more victory from our side was needed and we’d be moving up to the 3rd Division next year.

We didn’t have to wait long. Away at Farnborough just 2 days later, and it was all over. Despite a dubious penalty going the home sides way in the 45th to make it 1-1, Docherty scored in the 73rd to gives us a 2-1 lead. The player was brought off to high applause getting his due reward for his contribution to the season (though his poor form kept him out for most of it): Scoring twice in the first game of the season and scoring in the clincher. His substitute, young Gary Lamont then came on and in 17 minutes earned MOM by scoring one and setting up another. By that time, Farnborough had given up completely.

The title and promotion were clinched. 17 games unbeaten put us out of reach with 3 games to play.

Those last three games were something of a joke, as we won out to take our record to 20 games unbeaten to win the season. Against Boston United a back-up squad got a 2-1 thanks to a 84th minute Alain Troussier goal.

A 4-2 win at Stalybridge was notable only for Mark Campbell getting a first half hat-trick to take his season goal total to 20.

Ian Scott got a late winner in the last game of the season, a home win over Telford to wrap things up.

As I said, sometimes it’s just too easy. Our Scottish and French side made easy work of the English Conference.

I look forward to a long and relaxing vacation, away from the stink and grime of England.

What else do you want to know about this season? Chelsea won one cup (League) and lost in another (UEFA). Manchester United won the Premiership with 4 Frenchman and 3 Scots (of varying playing time) but lost to a Dortmund side (with no Scots or Frenchmen) in the Champions League final. Liverpool won the FA Cup (thanks in no little part to their French goalkeeper and captain Pascal Durand.)

What else?

You’re a bunch of chinless, gormless… weenies.

and I hate you.

Signed: Pascal McIntosh, English Conference Manager of the Year

End of Season One

<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre"> ************************** English Conference - Saturday 4th May**************************Pos Team Pld Won Drn Lst For Ag Won Drn Lst For Ag Pts--------------------1st C Dover 42 16 3 2 37 16 12 7 2 35 15 94 --------------------2nd Doncaster 42 12 3 6 38 20 12 3 6 42 27 78 3rd Northwich Vics 42 13 4 4 31 17 9 4 8 24 21 74 4th Stalybridge 42 11 6 4 41 26 10 4 7 33 25 73 5th Dag & Red 42 10 7 4 42 29 11 3 7 38 36 73 ...19th Hayes 42 7 4 10 33 40 4 4 13 24 37 41 --------------------20th R Stevenage 42 4 5 12 25 36 6 5 10 24 35 40 21st R Morecambe 42 6 3 12 28 35 3 7 11 22 33 37 22nd R Woking 42 3 5 13 29 45 4 5 12 22 40 31 Goalsos Player Club Apps Gls-------------------------------------------------------------------------1st Shaun McCann Doncaster 39 30 2nd Andrew Murphy Farnborough 42 29 3rd Joe Turner Stalybridge 39 25 4th James Neville Hayes 37 22 5th Michael Payne Morecambe 41 22 7th Mark Campbell Dover 17 (11) 18 21st Graeme Paterson Dover 41 12 Assistsos Player Club Apps Asts-------------------------------------------------------------------------1st Danny Richards Dag & Red 29 16 2nd Steve Leach Dag & Red 35 14 3rd Greg Gordon Doncaster 40 14 4th Jason Harrison Stalybridge 38 (3) 13 5th Garry Marshall Dover 24 13 Average Ratingos Player Club Apps Av R-------------------------------------------------------------------------1st Shaun McCann Doncaster 39 7.92 2nd Dave Roberts Southport 28 7.75 3rd Andrew Murphy Farnborough 42 7.69 4th Steve Leach Dag & Red 35 7.69 5th Robbie Foster Barnet 28 7.64 11th Paul McManus Dover 28 7.39 15th Mickaël Troussier Dover 36 7.36 18th Darren Knox Dover 33 7.33 19th Xavier Vahirua Dover 27 7.33 30th Garry Marshall Dover 24 7.25 Man of the Matchos Player Club Apps MoM-------------------------------------------------------------------------1st Shaun McCann Doncaster 39 10 2nd Joe Turner Stalybridge 39 10 3rd Andrew Murphy Farnborough 42 8 4th Matt Barrett Yeovil 18 8 5th Gary Roach Southport 36 6 23rd Mickaël Troussier Dover 36 4 28th Xavier Vahirua Dover 27 4 </pre>

<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">************************* Dover Athletic - Saturday 4th May*************************====================== === Squad=========================No Name Position(s) Nat Born Age Caps Gls Wages Expires Value-------------------------- Abbott, Matt D RLC ENG 16.11.79 22 - - £150 24.6.02 Free - Barraud, Philippe SW/D C FRA 18.10.82 19 - - £120 23.6.05 Free - Blondeau, Jean-Marc D C FRA 13.8.76 25 - - £425 28.6.06 £16K - Boli, Dominique D C FRA 10.5.77 24 - - £275 25.6.05 Free - Camara, Guillaume D R FRA 28.8.72 29 - - £400 27.6.06 £12K - Campbell, Mark S C SCO 31.1.82 20 - - £45 16.6.05 £20K - Castro, Cyrille GK FRA 20.9.75 26 - - £400 28.6.05 £5K - Coué, Sylvain AM RC FRA 11.2.82 20 - - £140 23.6.05 £6K - Diagouraga, Christophe AM R FRA 24.11.82 19 - - £120 28.6.04 Free - Docherty, Ross F C SCO 30.3.72 30 - - £180 28.6.04 £7K - Holt, Brian GK ENG 7.4.63 39 - - £425 23.6.02 Free - Jézéquel, Grégory D C FRA 13.4.76 26 - - £350 27.6.05 £10K - Knox, Darren GK SCO 8.9.67 34 - - £55 27.6.05 £22K - Lamont, Gary AM C SCO 12.2.82 20 - - £45 18.6.04 £16K - Le Bert, Pierre D/M R FRA 9.1.82 20 - - £120 23.6.04 Free - Lima, Jérôme D RLC FRA 10.5.67 34 - - £325 24.6.04 £4K - Marshall, Garry AM L SCO 27.9.67 34 - - £325 15.6.04 £5K - Martel, Christophe D RC FRA 3.10.69 32 - - £450 27.6.05 £10K - Martin, Liam M RC SCO 13.1.80 22 - - £140 22.6.04 £22K - McManus, Paul D L SCO 19.11.80 21 - - £350 13.6.04 £45K - Nicol, Steven GK SCO 31.3.82 20 - - £45 16.6.04 £3K - Paterson, Graeme F LC SCO 27.11.80 21 - - £130 18.6.05 £10K - Roach, Glenn S C ENG 9.6.67 34 - - £425 25.6.03 Free - Scott, Ian M C SCO 11.7.78 23 - - £400 13.6.04 £55K - Scott, Stephen M C SCO 19.9.71 30 - - £350 2.6.04 £14K - Stewart, Gary D/DM LC SCO 11.8.66 35 - - £200 28.6.04 £5K - Thomson, George S C SCO 19.7.71 30 - - £180 26.6.05 £16K - Troussier, Alain M RC FRA 4.12.82 19 - - £80 20.6.04 £9K - Troussier, Mickaël D C FRA 13.3.70 32 - - £450 1.6.05 £7K - Vahirua, Xavier M C FRA 3.9.77 24 - - £240 27.6.04 £24K - Ward, Peter AM/F RC ENG 21.3.85 17 - - £200 28.6.04 Free - Young, Graeme M RC SCO 1.4.76 26 - - £170 28.6.05 £12K =======================Senior Club Stats=======================No Name Apps Gls Con Pens Asts Yel Red MoM Av R------------------------ Abbott, Matt - - - - - - - - ---- - Barraud, Philippe 3 (2) 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 6.00 - Blondeau, Jean-Marc 18 (1) 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 6.74 - Boli, Dominique 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 6.33 - Camara, Guillaume 39 0 0 0 3 1 0 0 6.46 - Campbell, Mark 21 (11) 20 0 0 1 0 0 4 7.13 - Castro, Cyrille 7 0 5 0 0 0 0 0 6.86 - Coué, Sylvain 8 (10) 3 0 1 (0) 0 0 0 0 6.89 - Diagouraga, Christophe 2 (4) 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 6.17 - Docherty, Ross 21 (2) 4 0 1 (1) 2 0 0 0 6.91 - Holt, Brian - - - - - - - - ---- - Jézéquel, Grégory 7 (8) 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 6.67 - Knox, Darren 35 0 26 0 0 0 0 0 7.31 - Lamont, Gary 2 (1) 1 0 0 1 0 0 1 7.00 - Le Bert, Pierre 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 6.00 - Lima, Jérôme 4 (2) 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 6.67 - Marshall, Garry 25 1 0 0 14 1 0 3 7.28 - Martel, Christophe 41 1 0 0 1 4 0 2 6.93 - Martin, Liam 14 1 0 0 6 0 0 1 7.43 - McManus, Paul 29 2 0 0 4 1 0 2 7.41 - Nicol, Steven 4 (1) 0 6 0 0 1 0 0 6.60 - Paterson, Graeme 42 14 0 0 5 0 0 2 7.10 - Roach, Glenn - - - - - - - - ---- - Scott, Ian 35 (2) 3 0 0 3 1 0 2 7.08 - Scott, Stephen 21 (5) 4 0 0 2 1 0 0 6.62 - Stewart, Gary 12 (2) 0 0 0 0 4 0 0 7.57 - Thomson, George 8 (16) 4 0 0 1 0 0 0 6.83 - Troussier, Alain 11 (1) 2 0 0 1 1 0 2 6.67 - Troussier, Mickaël 36 2 0 0 3 2 1 4 7.36 - Vahirua, Xavier 28 9 0 0 6 1 0 4 7.29 - Ward, Peter 5 (3) 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 6.63 - Young, Graeme 18 (6) 1 0 0 2 0 0 1 6.67 </pre>

retired_crbuffswimmer

Good update. :thup: Making it more of challenge starting so low down, but off to a strong start.

retired_swmchick2006

Thanks Ian. I stumbled across a striker who decided to score 18 goals in half a season, and that was enough to get out the conference. Might get a little more difficult now.

---

Ah… it’s so nice to get away from England. It’s nice to have good food and weather, intelligent conversations, and be able to actually see a few attractive women.

It’s so nice to see England go out on penalties in the World Cup. And who was the team that got to knock them out? France, of course.

Shame Scotland couldn’t have been there too, but they couldn’t overcome a cheating and bribed referee (or a 5-goal aggregate loss) in the play-off versus England.

It is the inevitability of England’s crapness which is so enjoyable.

Italy went on to win the Final on penalties over Portugal.

Running things from abroad wasn’t too difficult over the summer, the players were given time off… and the English non-playing staff was sent packing. It was a bit difficult rounding up Scots (since no French non-players are willing to come across the channel yet) but since last season’s veteran signing Gary Stewart showed a great deal of aptitude for coaching, he was given a player/assistant manager contract in July. Two new physios, a scout, and another coach rounded out the staff appointments.

As for the playing squad, despite having the surprising million pound cut of the Division 3 TV deal, decent prospects weren’t available in abundant numbers. It was a bit of a struggle, but eventually, nine new faces were brought in prior to the opening league games. (Dover did manage to grab invitations to a few friendlies, but the resulting games really showed nothing of importance.)

The first signing was young forward Patrick Isidore, only 16, considered a decent prospect, but will have to develop significantly. He won’t challenge for a first team spot for a while.

The already fairly strong defense was hopefully improved with the addition of attacking right-back Henri Keita, center-back Vincent Robin, and 18-year-old utility defender Mark Cooper.

Stirling was willing to part with teenage goalkeeping prospect Kenny Robertson whose only real downside at this point is his inexperience.

With the shock retirement of last season’s reliable left midfielder Garry Marshall, the addition of left winger Andre Marty became even more important than originally expected. Arnaud Desse was brought in on the opposite side to hopefully add some more attacking bite.

Lastly, two dribbling wizards were brought in with midfielder Paul Bennett and striker Neil Crawford. The latter was a needed signing to improve the front line as only overachieving Mark Campbell had a consistent season last year.

Going into the season opener, my expected first-choice line up looked something like this:
GK: Darren Knox with Robertson backing up
DL: Paul McManus (still first choice due to his overlapping ability)
DR: Keita (shockingly good shooter)
DC: Robin and Mickael Troussier (very solid, with Martel backing up)
DMC: Gary Stewart (when fit, otherwise Ian Scott)
ML: Marty
MR: Desse or Liam Martin
AMC: Vahirua
FC: Campbell and Crawford

Still plenty of room for improvement, but the better players just aren’t ready to commit to Dover…

Who could blame them? Bad food, bad weather, and 46 league games to play this season, with only 1 relegation spot to threaten even the worst of the Division 3 sides. And trust me when I say… there are a lot of bad ones…

Stupid, terrible, boring English-dominated sides…