mavericktango

Before we go any further I'd better introduce myself, my name is Roberto Loughnane. I was born in 1959, the son of an Italian U19 footballer and a Dublin barmaid.
My father soon vanished back to Italy and my mother slogged on in quiet village pubs. Me? I did very little but dream about following in the footsteps of my father who was now a moderately successful international.
Unfortunately my football skills were non existant although I did show a flair for spoting where the players should be while watching footie on the box, so life sort of passed me by as my mother toiled on struggling to support the two of us.
All of this changed when my mother passed on last year, I was 45 with no visible means of support and no much idea of what was to be done. My father refused to have "Paddy O'Feckwit" in the same country as him but enrolled me and paid my way on a computer course run by an ex-international colleague of his in Cardiff, Wales.
Surprisingly I took to this like a duck to water and within a year I was working for a large company called Total Network Solutions and enjoying life. But I still wished I could have had a football career.
My life was to change dramatically this year and at last I found a way to get the football career I craved.

mavericktango

My boss called me into his office and explained the companies plan to gain national exposure by getting more involved with the football club they sponsored. Trouble was they didn't want to spend too much to do this and they saw me as the cheap option to run the show.
They reasoned that the son of an international must have contacts and I could therefore lead TNS to glory at a fraction of the cost of Sir Bobby or any other luminary. I could have enlightened them but this was my big chance, a career in football !
It wasn't probably going to be a long one though, they had handed me a club with 24 players, 4 coaches and a cheque for £14,000 to take on the world. At least I could offer them some wages, out of a budget of 9.5K I had almost 2K left.

mavericktango

My coaches told me the one goalie we had was quite good but injuries were up in 2006 so I'd better plan on getting another one and while the strikers were fancied there wasn't much signed on.
A phonecall to my father illicited the now normal "Vaffanculo, little feckwit" but a last minute thought came to him as he was about to hang up. "I have a halfwit cousin you'd get on with, he could be your assistant manager. He knows some football insults, I'll send him to you."
That was how 51 year old Egiziano Frediani became TNS' Assistant Manager and he was soon joined as my mother's brother's cousin's nephew knew ex-Ireland international Terry Phelan. Terry wasn't during anything right now and he reckoned even at 38 he could still play so was the heck - he became the player/assistant manager.
Two Englishmen Simon Morgan & Kevin Moore just started turning up and I soon learnt that Terry had paid off a debt by making them coaches while the biggest debtor to the club bar, Dave Norman ended up working his debt off as well.
The start of the pre-season went surprisingly well, despite the only arrival being Huddersfield's promising midfielder Adnan Ahmed on a season's loan but the results came.
Two goals by Marc Lloyd-Williams saw off Llanelli Steel and a trip to Scotland yielded a draw and a win. First goals by Michael Wilde & Scott Ruscoe in the last minute snatched a 2-2 draw at East Stirling then a Wilde hat-trick helped TNS win 4-2 at Linlithgow Rose, John Toner adding the fourth. Huddersfield Reserves were beaten 2-0 with goals by Nicky Ward and Wilde as the news reached us that we would face a difficult tie against Georgian side Dinamo Tbilisi in the first qualifying round of the UEFA Champions League.

mavericktango

Sorry - forgot the tech stuff ! I'm using FM2006 and running all the home countries leagues plus france, belguim, italy, iceland, china, hong kong, singapore and south korea (never managed in the far east, might give it a try later)

mavericktango

As we returned home to face Antwerp in our first home friendly, keeper David Mathieson joined us from Gretna for £4,000. He's played 249 games for various Scottish clubs and says he was tempted by the prospect of European football, you'd have thought he'd have guessed it would probably only last two games.
So as we approached the week of the Champions League game this was the squad registered

GK

23 yr old Gerard Doherty (NIR)
27 yr old David Mathieson (SCO)

DEFENCE

DR 27 yr old Martyn Naylor (ENG)
DL 17 yr old Mark Davies (ENG)
DL 38 yr old Terry Phelan (IRL) player/ ass mgr
DC 25 yr old Tommy Holmes (ENG)
DC 26 yr old Steve Evans (WAL)
WBL 24 yr old Chris King (ENG)

MIDFIELD

MRC 22 yr old Barry Hogan (ENG)
MRC 21 yr old Adnan Ahmed (ENG) loan
AML 24 yr old Alfie Carter (ENG)
ML 27 yr old Nicky Ward (WAL)
DM 22 yr old Phil Baker (ENG)
ML 23 yr old John Lawless (ENG)
ML 17 yr old Michael Collister (WAL)
AMRC 21 yr old Steven Beck ENG)
AMRC 17 yr old Taurean O'Sullivan (ENG)
AMC 26 yr old John Leah (WAL)
AMC 27 yr old Scott Ruscoe (WAL)

FORWARDS

FC 28 yr old John Toner (ENG)
ST 26 yr old Jamie Wood (CAY)
ST 45 yr old Ken McKenna (ENG) player/coach
ST 21 yr old Michael Wilde (ENG)
ST 32 yr old Marc Lloyd-Williams (WAL)
ST 20 yr old Tommy Rooney (ENG)

That would probably have to be the more or less the final squad as I now had less than £250 left of my weekly wage budget. My last option would be a few more loan signing as I was allowed to bring in five during the season.
As I wrote this news reached me of our first injury setback, Mckenna had slipped a disc which at his age would probably finish his playing career.

flipsix3

Woohoo always had a soft spot for the Welsh league, started a story with TNS myself once upon a time (in CM3) but never really got stuck in, then had two good run with Cefn Druids.

Look forward to your discovering the *cough* joys of life in the valleys!

mavericktango

TNS 1-0 Antwerp Att: 1940
(Lloyd-Williams 45)

We dominated the first half but failed to get the breakthrough untill injury time when Ward's deep cross was flicked into the path of Lloyd-Williams by Wilde. He buried it in the bottom corner and TNS deservedly led at the break. Antwerp rallied in the second half but an impressive MoM debut for David Mathieson kept them at bay.

Away at Dinamo Tbililsi (UEFA CL 1Q 1st leg)

Doherty reclaimed his place in goal after Mathieson was ruled out with a facial injury. Evans was a rock in defence in a poor match fought mainly in midfield and the traveling fans exploded when substitute Jamie Wood latched onto a dreadful backpass and slipped it passed the onrushing keeper. Michael Wilde completed the job slotting it into the empty net for the win. Ahmed has unfortunately though picked up a calf strain and will be out for some time.
D.Tbililsi 0-1 TNS (att: 28,357)
(Wilde 80)

On Friday (July 15th) we secured the services of 21 yr old striker Jamie Brooks on a season loan from Oxford and for only £160 a week contributions to his wages. French full back Thomas Roux also signed for £1,000 from part timers Sete. It was his first pro contract but I could only give him £150 a week, even that now puts me a few quid over my wage budget.

mavericktango

Home v Dinamo Tbililsi (UEFA CL 1Q 2nd leg)

Brooks went straight into the squad and Steven Beck, just back from injury himself, took over from Ahmed. It was Beck which sent the home fans into raptures as he got TNS off to a flyer in the seventh minute. Ruscoe played the corner short to him and he strode into the area before firing home from 12 yards through a crowded box. Lashvilli caught us on the break from the halfway line to level up after 10 minutes but Ruscoe restored the advantage five minutes later when he fired home a free kick after Brooks had been tripped on the edge of the area. Wilde made it 3-1 for rampant TNS in the 24th minute heading in Beck’s byline cross. Just before halftime the 1-8 on Georgian faverites seemingly lost all hope when winger Shota Babunashvili was dismissed for his second yellow card. At 4-1 down on aggregate at H/T, was the game up for Tbilisi? Despite myself ordering them to a very defensive outlook, TNS scored the only goals of the 2nd half, first Wilde slipped it across the six yard line to give impressive debutant Brooks a goaline tap-in in the 72nd minute before Beck fired in his second three minutes later. Beck scorned the chance of a hat-trick five minutes from time when he headed against the bar from six yards.

TNS 5-1 D. Tbilisi (att: 2,785)
(Beck 7, 75, Ruscoe 15, Wilde 25,Brooks 72)
Aggregate score: TNS win 6-1

mavericktango

The second Qualifier for the Champions league will pit TNS against Belguim side Anderlecht with the first leg being in Wales, it's ties like this I wish the board would let me move the tie from our minute stadium
Frediani has been busy and has brought in 17 yr old defender Alessandro Pozzo on a free from Serie C2/A side Ivrea. As he's staying with Frediani we sign him to a part time contract for £40 a week

mavericktango

[b]23/7/05 friendly at Dungannon w 2-1
(Wilde 17, 70)[/i]
All twenty-two players were used by TNS who dominated without putting much effort in, a comfortable win

Monday 25/7/05
56 yr old Italian Andrea Cecchetti signs on as goalie coach

Wednesday 27/7/05 home to Anderlecht (UEFA CL 2nd Quailifier, 1st leg)

Anderlecht were 1-20 on with bookies, the television pundits expected the visitors to be 2 or 3 up at h/t but TNS were determined to give a good account of themselves in this tie swapped to the Racecourse ground in Wrexham for T.V.
Scott Ruscoe opened the scoring in the seventh minute firing home a 20 yard free kick. TNS then faced the barrage as Anderlecht went to 3-4-3, they held out quite comfortably untill the 35th minute when Anatoly Gerk finally carved a little space in the area and slotted it into the corner from nine yards. Ruscoe was denied a second in the last minute of the half from a 30 yd free kick when keeper Zitka turned it round the post at the last minute but TNS went in happy to be level at the break. TNS spent the second half on the backfoot and survived several scares but created a couple of late chances of their own. In the 70th minute Beck got free in the area but his cross eluded both Lloyd-Williams and Wilde free on the back post. And it was Wilde that held his head in despair when his 86th minute shot beat Zitka but came back off the post, the referee played four minutes of injury time before signaling the end of a hard fought draw for TNS

TNS 1-1 Anderlecht (att: 4,843)
(Ruscoe 7)