The Rag(usa) Tale. (Challenge of the Ages)

retired_bootcamp_nat · 02-28-2006, 11:13 PM

Good response after staring relegation in the face last season EH!

I agree with the main benefit of taking up the youth challenge being that there are always huge numbers of youngsters that will move for nothing. Keep up the high turnover and you'll uncover a few more Gentiles i'm sure :thup:

retired_karamelkel · 03-01-2006, 07:08 PM

Cheers Haze I'll all the Gentiles I can accquire; I just hope they're all kosher!

October 2002:

This was a month where we returned to the fine art of drawing. Our last three matches of the month were draws- mostly in the Serie C Cup, where the games had no direct impact on our league form. We did win one, draw two and lose one league game to keep us anchored in a respectable fifth place, which is the cutoff for the promotion playoffs. Gentile Michel and Verdu continued to demonstrate that they were headed toward bigger things. I expect each to draw the attention of scouts any day now. I’m resigned to losing each at some point, mainly because each has a comparably low minimum release clause. Towards the end of the month, I did a squad assessment. Several players on the first team were sent down to the reserves and several farmhands who been performing well were called up. Lengent, Giaitti and Forester each provided instant goal scoring in the last three games of the month. I’ll do another assessment in January. The players sent down will be released (if they no longer get playing time in the reserves) or brought back up (if they regained their form in the reserves). But the current first team squad looks to be a tough nut to crack now. Once the second half squad is chosen in January, the scouts will resume their searches to fill holes left by released players.

<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre"> 6.10.02 Gela A Serie C2/C 0:0 2625 9.10.02 Prato A Serie C Cup 2nd Rnd Leg 1 2:1 4782 Cointe, Verdú13.10.02 Taranto H Serie C2/C 1:0 3467 Gentile20.10.02 Thiene A Serie C2/C 0:1 2473 23.10.02 Prato H Serie C Cup 2nd Rnd Leg 2 3:3 3472 Gentile, Lenglet 227.10.02 Tivoli H Serie C2/C 1:1 3499 Galetti30.10.02 Giulianova H Serie C Cup 3rd Rnd Leg 1 2:2 3487 Förster, Michel</pre>

retired_karamelkel · 03-02-2006, 08:52 PM

November and December 2002:

We contined to post a solid mark in the league during these two months. Unlike last year, our draws were punctuated bby wins and not losses. As we hit the halfway mark of the season we had a good 7 win, 7 draws and 2 losses season. As for the Serie C Cup, we contined to defeat opponents more on aggregates than actual wins. This formula worked until we rn into former Serie B side Bari in the quarter-finals. Bari swatted us like the proverbial fly and showed us just how far we had to go. For the most part, the reservists brought up in the first squad assessment performed competently. Forester staked a claim as a permanent first team member, while Thilalli showed some good defensive skill. Other callups did not fare as well. Galetti and Sorrentino were sent back down in the second squad assessment along with Bonn. But their fate was better than that of Panichi, last year’s hero, D’Alpice or Salani- all of whom were released outright. Up came Spinelli, Kupiers, Bohmer and the simply sensational Doria, who was ripping apart opposing reserve sides. In addition, Dubois, was the only member sent down to the farm in October who managed to play his way back onto the first team. The rest of the October group were released as they got no playing time in the reserves. In addition, a couple of foreign reservists were released when they admitted they were having a hard time coping with the Italian lifestyle. In short, the reserves were going to look very different in 2003. The second half of the season looked promising. A bid at promotion seemed likely, and a first team was really starting to take shape. All I had to do was sit back and enjoy the ride.

<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre"> 3.11.02 Acireale H Serie C2/C 2:2 3486 Galetti, Förster6.11.02 Giulianova A Serie C Cup 3rd Rnd Leg 2 1:0 3691 D'Apice10.11.02 Pavullese A Serie C2/C 1:0 1994 Michel17.11.02 Matera H Serie C2/C 1:1 3486 Michel20.11.02 Bari H Serie C Cup Qtr Final Leg 1 0:2 3460 24.11.02 Potenza A Serie C2/C 2:1 3318 Feudi pen, Moreira27.11.02 Bari A Serie C Cup Qtr Final Leg 2 0:0 38737 1.12.02 Catanzaro H Serie C2/C 0:0 3457 8.12.02 Palmese A Serie C2/C 2:2 5983 D'Apice, Verdú15.12.02 Olbia H Serie C2/C 0:0 3062 22.12.02 Fidelis Andria A Serie C2/C 2:1 4057 Tirelli, SorrentinoFirst half roundup:****************************************** ************************************************** **** Italian Serie C2/C - Wednesday 1st January 2003********************************************** ************************************************** ================================================== ============================================== 2002/3 Table============================================= ================================================== =Pos Team Pld Won Drn Lst For Ag Won Drn Lst For Ag Pts--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------1st Paternò 16 5 1 2 13 12 5 2 1 17 10 33 --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------2nd Thiene 16 7 0 1 18 4 3 1 4 11 11 31 3rd Catanzaro 16 5 2 1 14 10 3 3 2 13 14 29 4th Ragusa 16 3 5 0 9 4 4 2 2 10 8 28 5th Palmese 16 3 4 1 16 10 4 2 2 14 10 27 --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------6th Tivoli 16 5 1 2 16 10 2 4 2 9 10 26 7th Matera 16 5 1 2 12 9 2 3 3 12 12 25 8th Fidelis Andria 16 2 4 2 11 10 4 1 3 12 11 23 9th Taranto 16 3 5 0 22 17 2 2 4 10 13 22 10th Nocerina 16 3 3 2 20 18 2 4 2 17 19 22 11th Acireale 16 4 1 3 9 7 2 2 4 17 17 21 12th Martina 16 3 1 4 9 9 2 4 2 11 10 20 13th Pavullese 16 2 2 4 7 10 3 2 3 11 13 19 --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------14th Olbia 16 4 1 3 13 12 1 2 5 12 20 18 15th Gela 16 3 2 3 8 8 1 0 7 6 16 14 16th Brindisi 16 3 2 3 14 13 0 2 6 9 18 13 17th Potenza 16 2 2 4 19 19 1 0 7 3 13 11 --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------18th Giugliano 16 2 2 4 15 19 0 3 5 7 20 11 ************************************************** ********************************************** Ragusa - Thursday 9th January 2003********************************************** ************************************************** ================================================== ============================================== 2002/3 Senior Club Stats============================================= ================================================== =No Name Apps Gls Con Pens Asts Yel Red MoM Av R--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Abate, Francesco 16 (1) 2 0 0 3 0 0 1 6.71 - Abiven, Philippe - - - - - - - - ---- - Alessandro Indricchi, Pao 10 0 12 0 0 0 0 1 6.90 - Andrès, Julien 12 (1) 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 6.69 - Antenucci, Mattia 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 ---- - Böhme, Dennis - - - - - - - - ---- - Born, Edgar 11 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 6.36 - Bourget, Mathieu - - - - - - - - ---- - Brachet, Jimmy 15 (2) 0 0 0 0 4 0 1 7.18 - Brambilla, Ivan - - - - - - - - ---- - Brescia, Gianluca - - - - - - - - ---- - Brunel, Anthony - - - - - - - - ---- - Calleja, Albert 3 (1) 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 6.50 - Doria, Vittorio - - - - - - - - ---- - Dubois, Nicolas 5 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 6.20 - Feudi, Simone 16 2 0 1 (1) 2 1 0 0 6.75 - Fierens, Gert - - - - - - - - ---- - Förster, Steffen 8 2 0 0 0 0 0 1 7.13 - Galetti, Giacomo 10 (1) 2 0 0 1 1 0 0 6.45 - Gentile, Giorgio 17 (1) 5 0 1 (1) 1 0 0 1 7.39 - Heylen, Kris 7 0 0 0 0 1 0 1 7.00 - Kuipers, Paul - - - - - - - - ---- - Lenglet, Julien 6 (1) 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 7.00 - López, Alberto - - - - - - - - ---- - Malouda, Cédric 7 (2) 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 6.56 - Mantioni, Adriano 12 (2) 1 0 1 (1) 1 1 0 0 6.79 - Marco, Gonzalo - - - - - - - - ---- - Michel, Cédric 15 (1) 5 0 0 6 0 0 1 7.25 - Moreira 13 (1) 2 0 0 2 1 0 0 7.07 - Novello, Lucas 4 (2) 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 6.67 - Oddo, Lorenzo - - - - - - - - ---- - Sammarco, Alessio - - - - - - - - ---- - Sanders, Carlos - - - - - - - - ---- - Schiavone, Paolo - - - - - - - - ---- - Scholz, Ronny - - - - - - - - ---- - Schröder, Markus 16 0 10 0 0 0 0 2 7.00 - Secondini, Enrico 6 0 0 0 1 1 0 1 6.83 - Sette, Francesco 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 ---- - Sorrentino, Tonino 6 (2) 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 6.38 - Spinelli, Tiziano - - - - - - - - ---- - Tedeschi, Vito - - - - - - - - ---- - Tirelli, Paolo 4 (1) 1 0 0 1 1 0 0 6.60 - Verdú, Eduardo 17 2 0 0 0 1 0 2 7.29 - Vico, Oscar - - - - - - - - ---- - van Wijk, Ruud - - - - - - - - ---- - van den Berg, Paul - - - - - - - - ---- </pre>

retired_karamelkel · 03-03-2006, 07:40 PM

January and February 2003:

The results were a mixed bag. We came off the Christmas break at a blistering pace, winning three games in a row that weren’t hard-fought contests. The new blood in the first team seemed to propel the team, for a while at any rate. Then, we hit a brick wall, dropping two straight to fall to 5th place, after a stint flirting with first. The new first team players ran out of gas and began to play at a more ordinary level. A couple would be in danger of being sent back down when we did the third squad assessment sometime in March. Bohme revealed that he couldn’t hack the Italian life, so he was released and Wilk brought up to replace him. We also added more youth players in a January gold rush that saw some pretty good talent arrive. As long as they don’t get homesick, many could play significant roles next season. Mad Al was actually leaving me alone because of our success. I felt that we could make it to Serie C1 and stick there. The new youth prospects could compete at that level and win. As you can tell, I was already thinking about next year.

<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre"> 9.1.03 Nocerina H Serie C2/C 2:0 3471 Michel, Brachet19.1.03 Martina H Serie C2/C 4:2 3469 Mantioni, Brachet, Gentile, Michel26.1.03 Paternò A Serie C2/C 2:0 5709 Kuipers, Abate2.2.03 Brindisi H Serie C2/C 1:3 3394 Doria16.2.03 Giugliano A Serie C2/C 1:2 2709 Lenglet23.2.03 Gela H Serie C2/C 2:1 3490 Böhme, Feudi********************************************* ************************************************** * Italian Serie C2/C - Sunday 2nd March 2003********************************************** ************************************************** ================================================== ============================================== 2002/3 Table============================================= ================================================== =Pos Team Pld Won Drn Lst For Ag Won Drn Lst For Ag Pts--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------1st Catanzaro 22 8 2 1 22 14 5 4 2 16 15 45 --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------2nd Paternò 22 6 1 3 14 14 8 2 2 24 15 45 3rd Thiene 22 8 0 4 22 9 5 1 4 19 14 40 4th Palmese 22 5 5 1 20 11 6 2 3 21 13 40 5th Ragusa 22 6 5 1 18 10 5 2 3 13 10 40 --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------6th Acireale 22 7 1 4 20 10 3 3 4 22 21 34 7th Taranto 22 4 5 2 26 22 5 2 4 14 13 34 8th Matera 22 6 2 4 16 16 3 4 3 17 16 33 9th Pavullese 22 5 3 4 12 12 4 2 4 12 14 32 10th Tivoli 22 6 1 3 18 11 2 5 5 11 15 30 11th Fidelis Andria 22 2 5 3 15 15 5 2 5 16 17 28 12th Olbia 22 6 1 4 18 18 1 3 7 17 28 25 13th Martina 22 3 1 6 12 14 3 4 5 15 19 23 --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------14th Nocerina 22 3 4 3 23 22 2 4 6 21 30 23 15th Gela 22 5 2 4 13 13 2 0 9 8 20 23 16th Potenza 22 5 2 5 27 22 1 1 8 7 18 21 17th Brindisi 22 3 3 4 17 19 1 2 9 13 23 17 --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------18th Giugliano 22 3 3 5 18 23 0 3 8 9 30 15 </pre>

retired_karamelkel · 03-04-2006, 07:35 PM

March 2003:

The month saw us drawing a pair of games. The one thing I can say about this year’s team is that they can scrape those single points that can make all the difference. During the middle of the month I performed the last squad assessment of the year, bringing up a defender, a midfielder and a forward who were doing well in the reserves. We sent down players in turn, who had not performed well lately, like Dubois, Forester and Lengent. The players called up to the first team squad would get roughly eight games to prove that they deserved spot on the squad next season. There would be more spots open on the first team than usual this offseason. I had reached the painful decision to sell Gentile, Brachet and Verdu during the summer. The reason was simple. Their contracts would run out over the next couple of seasons and they would be too old to resign. So, the best thing to do would be to sell while we could get a reasonable price for them. Nobody knew I was going to do this, so it would be a nasty shock to everyone and alienate the fans, but prudent financial management dictated that we do it. Besides, our young players in the reserves needed something to play for and the best motivator is the grail of a roster spot, which can’t be achieved if first-teamers are blocking the door.

<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre"> 2.3.03 Taranto A Serie C2/C 2:2 9275 Gentile, Abate5.3.03 Thiene H Serie C2/C 1:1 2493 Feudi pen9.3.03 Tivoli A Serie C2/C 2:0 3980 Heylen, Verdú16.3.03 Acireale A Serie C2/C 2:1 3619 van Wijk, Danotti og23.3.03 Pavullese H Serie C2/C 2:0 3329 Abate, Sammarco30.3.03 Matera A Serie C2/C 2:2 4988 Doria, Mantioni</pre>

retired_karamelkel · 03-05-2006, 08:35 PM

April and May 2003:

Three straight wins brought us to the pinnacle of success in C2C. We took possession of first place and clung to it. We lost against Olbia in the first match after we ascended to the top, but fortunately, the team behind us lost as well. However, they kept pace with us and the battle for C2C supremacy came down the final day. Fittingly enough, we clinched the C2C title with a 0-0 draw. At least we could go straight to C1 without worrying about the playoffs. The catalysts for the late season run were Gentile and late season callup Anthony Brunel, who cemented a spot in next years first team squad. Of the late season caluos, Brunel was the only one who could make this claim. His fellows were busted back down to the reserves as players like Forster and Lengent reclaimed spots in next season’s first team. In addition in the shuffling, several players were released outright, mainly because I deemed them too old to play reserve ball. There would be great competition over the dummer to fill these first team spots vacated by Andrens, Abate, and Moriea. Last, but not least, Brachet, Gentile and Verdu were placed on the transfer list. I didn’t want to resign them and the club needed money. Only Brachet drew any interest as the summer opened. Although we couldn’t sign players and have them join the team until July 1, I sent my scouts back out across Europe and they began reporting back young players. We made deals wioth a couple of these players and they would be primed to join Ragusa on July 1. Until then, all we could was train hard in preparation for a new division.

<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre"> 2.4.03 Potenza H Serie C2/C 3:1 3464 Gentile, Abate, van Wijk6.4.03 Catanzaro A Serie C2/C 2:1 7661 Michel, Brunel13.4.03 Palmese H Serie C2/C 2:1 3492 Doria, Brunel20.4.03 Olbia A Serie C2/C 1:2 4996 Malouda27.4.03 Fidelis Andria H Serie C2/C 1:0 3460 Gentile pen4.5.03 Nocerina A Serie C2/C 0:0 5963 2002-03 Year End Roundup:****************************************** ************************************************** **** Italian Serie C2/C - Wednesday 7th May 2003********************************************** ************************************************** ================================================== ============================================== 2002/3 Table============================================= ================================================== =Pos Team Pld Won Drn Lst For Ag Won Drn Lst For Ag Pts--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------1st C Ragusa 34 10 6 1 27 13 8 5 4 24 18 65 --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------2nd Pl Catanzaro 34 12 3 2 32 21 6 6 5 20 22 63 3rd Pl Paternò 34 8 5 4 26 25 10 3 4 36 28 62 4th Pl Palmese 34 8 7 2 29 18 7 4 6 28 23 56 5th Pl Thiene 34 10 0 7 30 16 7 4 6 28 22 55 --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------6th Pavullese 34 8 4 5 21 17 6 5 6 18 20 51 7th Tivoli 34 10 2 5 29 20 3 8 6 17 22 49 8th Fidelis Andria 34 6 7 4 25 21 7 3 7 22 23 49 9th Matera 34 8 5 4 27 24 5 4 8 24 29 48 10th Taranto 34 4 10 3 33 32 7 4 6 25 24 47 11th Olbia 34 9 3 5 30 27 4 5 8 30 37 47 12th Martina 34 7 3 7 23 19 5 6 6 24 28 45 13th Acireale 34 7 2 8 24 19 5 5 7 30 31 43 --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------14th Pl Nocerina 34 6 7 4 35 29 2 6 9 26 42 37 15th Pl Brindisi 34 8 4 5 35 30 2 2 13 22 35 36 16th Pl Gela 34 7 5 5 23 20 2 2 13 12 30 34 17th Pl Potenza 34 7 2 8 34 31 2 3 12 14 29 32 --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------18th R Giugliano 34 4 4 9 24 34 0 4 13 16 44 20 ************************************************** ********************************************** Ragusa - Wednesday 7th May 2003********************************************** ************************************************** ================================================== ============================================== 2002/3 Senior Club Stats============================================= ================================================== =No Name Apps Gls Con Pens Asts Yel Red MoM Av R--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Abate, Francesco 28 (3) 6 0 0 3 0 0 1 6.68 - Abiven, Philippe - - - - - - - - ---- - Alberts, Henk - - - - - - - - ---- - Alessandro Indricchi, Pao 18 0 18 0 0 0 0 2 7.17 - Andrès, Julien 16 (1) 0 0 0 1 2 0 0 6.65 - Antenucci, Mattia 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 ---- - Antonioli, Alessandro - - - - - - - - ---- - Born, Edgar 11 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 6.36 - Brachet, Jimmy 27 (3) 2 0 0 0 6 0 1 7.20 - Brambilla, Ivan - - - - - - - - ---- - Brescia, Gianluca - - - - - - - - ---- - Brunel, Anthony 7 2 0 0 1 0 0 0 6.71 - Dal Santo, Angelo - - - - - - - - ---- - Doria, Vittorio 11 3 0 0 4 0 0 2 7.09 - Dröge, Torsten 5 (1) 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 6.67 - Dubois, Nicolas 9 (1) 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 6.20 - Feudi, Simone 27 (1) 4 0 2 (2) 6 3 0 0 6.71 - Fierens, Gert - - - - - - - - ---- - Förster, Steffen 12 2 0 0 0 0 0 1 6.92 - Galetti, Giacomo 10 (1) 2 0 0 1 1 0 0 6.45 - Galli, Federico - - - - - - - - ---- - Gentile, Giorgio 30 (2) 9 0 2 (2) 1 1 0 2 7.41 - Heylen, Kris 21 1 0 0 1 1 0 1 7.14 - Kuipers, Paul 11 (1) 1 0 0 2 1 0 0 6.75 - Lenglet, Julien 9 (2) 3 0 0 1 0 0 0 6.91 - López, Alberto - - - - - - - - ---- - Malouda, Cédric 10 (4) 1 0 0 1 1 0 0 6.64 - Mantioni, Adriano 22 (4) 3 0 1 (1) 3 1 0 1 6.81 - Marco, Gonzalo - - - - - - - - ---- - Michel, Cédric 27 (3) 8 0 0 9 1 0 2 7.10 - Moreira 16 (3) 2 0 0 3 1 0 0 7.11 - Novello, Lucas 4 (2) 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 6.67 - Oddo, Lorenzo - - - - - - - - ---- - Rizzo, Guido - - - - - - - - ---- - Sammarco, Alessio 3 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 6.33 - Sanders, Carlos - - - - - - - - ---- - Sartini, Luca - - - - - - - - ---- - Schiavone, Paolo - - - - - - - - ---- - Scholz, Ronny - - - - - - - - ---- - Schröder, Markus 26 0 23 0 0 0 0 2 7.00 - Schulte, Stefan - - - - - - - - ---- - Sorrentino, Tonino 6 (2) 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 6.38 - Spinelli, Tiziano 14 0 0 0 3 0 0 0 6.71 - Tirelli, Paolo 6 (1) 1 0 0 1 1 0 0 6.43 - Vastola, Danilo - - - - - - - - ---- - Verdú, Eduardo 27 3 0 0 0 2 0 4 7.30 - Vink, Hans - - - - - - - - ---- - de Boer, Dick - - - - - - - - ---- - van Wijk, Ruud 4 (1) 2 0 0 0 1 0 1 6.40 - van den Berg, Paul 4 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 6.75 </pre>

retired_iamcyclotron · 03-05-2006, 08:44 PM

Wow nobody has ever commented on your story, do you find it hard to keep going? Congrats on promotion after so nearly getting relegated the previous season.