retired_destiny1124

18.1.03
Dundee United (4) Rangers (1)
Dundee United- M.Nicholls 20 C.Miller 45 Butra 81 A.Barsom 90
Rangers- G.Teale 7
MOM- Abgar Barsom, Dundee United

"I think Sammy G. may be a little quiet about this one," laughed Gond.

"Likely so," stated Faramir wryly. "It was very nice to not only end their 13 match unbeaten streak- but to pummel them while doing so. That was one of our strongest offensive performances this season."

"Don't forget the good work defensively early on though- because they had early pressure and Thomas (Myhre) held firm after Teale's goal."

***

"If they are willing to accept 700K for him, he is a bargain," stated Gond.

"That's what I thought and even though we have a full stable of forwards- I think he would be a good addition."

Dundee United Adds a 'Shef'
Dundee United announced the transfer purchase of Finnish forward Shefki Kuqi from Stockport. The 24 yr old FRC had been unhappy about his lacking of playing time at the English side and ready to move anywhere that would offer the prospect of starting. The reported purchase price was 700K, much less than Kuqi was originally rated at.

***

25.1.03
Hibs (1) Dundee United (2)
Hibs- M.McIntosh 55
Dundee United- A.Barsom 7 S.Kuqi 22
MOM- Thomas Myhre, Dundee United

"Another match, another penalty- and this one wound up being much too close because of it. Those last moments were a bit heart-stopping, watching Thomas (Myhre) string one good save after antother together."

"At least we saw that Shefki (Kuqi) will fit right in. If Iversen starts hitting the net with his shots- those two could be a pretty potent combo," answered Gond.

retired_destiny1124

29.1.03
Dundee United (0) Raith Rovers (0) Scottish Cup 3rd round
Dundee United- None
Raith- None
MOM- Allen Morkore, Dundee United

"Unfortunately, that is why I felt we needed to add Shefki (Kuqi) and Steffen (Iversen)- we just weren't getting scoring from some of other forwards. We didn't get it today either."

Gond nodded thoughtfully, "That and the fact that we took them for granted. That isn't a bad little club they have- and Nacho Nova is definately an SPL class forward."

"Just have to put a better lineup out there for the replay."

***

Dundee United Finds Farnerud
Dundee United beat out Sheffield Wednesday in the pursuit of promising young Swedish midfielder Alexander Farnerud. The 18 yr old AMFRLC was playing at Landskrona and the reported purchase price was only 50K. Farnerud may see some senior level play this season.

***

5.2.03
Raith Rovers (2) Dundee United (3)
Raith- R.Huggon 40 R.Mathieson 60
Dundee United- R.Youssef 9,64 T.Venetis 86
MOM- Rabi Youssef, Dundee United

"It certainly wasn't the prettiest win, but we kept battling for it," stated a tired Gond.

An equally tired Faramir rubbed his hand through his hair, "I was surprised that Tassos (Venetis) wasn't able to really play a great match- they didn't match up with him at all. He just doesn't seem to have that extra gear in his pace that he had last season."

Gond shrugged, "He was there in time to fire home the match winner."

"True, have to give him that. Rabi (Youssef) played great today and the youngster (Alexander Farnerud) had a solid debut- I think he will help us a lot in depth down the stretch."

retired_destiny1124

8.2.03
Dundee United (4) Livingston (0)
Dundee United- S.Iversen 10 C.Miller 21 M.Kerr 48 A.Barsom 72
Livingston- None
MOM- Tassos Venetis, Dundee United

"That was a nice win, but we could have done without all the associated injuries," said a perturbed Faramir. "What does the physio's score card look like Barry?"

"Thomas (Myhre) and Darren (Moore) should only be out about 10 days. Charlie (Miller) will miss at least two weeks with his ankle- it looks a mess right now."

"It was great to see Tassos step up- that was his first time in as a sub."

***

12.2.03
St.Johnstone (0) Dundee United (2)
St.Johnstone- None
Dundee United- Butra 78,90
MOM- Butra

"Great match for Butra, he sparked us as usual," asserted Barry Gond.

"Their manager, Joe Royale, was screaming bloody murder after the match. I might have been as well- having lost two goals to offside calls, before we scored either of ours. Both calls were close, but they looked correct on tape."

"I doubt that will sway him much."

"It wouldn't me either, but then we were on the right side of the whistle this time around."

retired_destiny1124

19.2.03
Aberdeen (1) Dundee United (0) League Cup Semifinal
Aberdeen- R.Winters 20
Dundee United- None
MOM- Jonathan Gould, Aberdeen

"That was a woeful performance, and we deserve every bit of scorn we garner for it," declared Faramir.

"Give Gould credit, he may have earned himself back on to the National side with that brilliant bit of keeping," answered Gond.

"It is still hard for me to believe, despite his heroics, that we could not score when we had a two man advantage on them for most of the second half- with their best players, Darren and Derek Young both off on their 2nd yellow cards. We *should* have scored- that is all there is to that."

Aberdeen Aces Dundee United
by Sammy Gohl
Aberdeen had to fight some of the most blatant favored officiating ever seen in an important Cup match- but was able to persevere and overcome as they will move on to the finals of the League Cup on their 1-0 win over Dundee United. With their two Youngs (Derek and Darren) in a flurry of bad decision yellow cards- they still managed to prove that Dundee United's moribund offense was no match for their defense. The Board of Dundee United should be seriously looking at why they allowed their Manager to waste their funds on Iversen and Kuqi.

***

22.2.03
Dundee United (5) St.Johnstone (0) Scottish Cup 4th round
Dundee United- S.Kuqi 37,90 T.Venetis 54 J.Fullarton 56 C.Easton 63
St.Johnstone- None
MOM- Shefki Kuqi, Dundee United

"Looks like Shefki (Kuqi) was a little upset at Sammy's comments," said Gond with a smile.

"He was out there to make his presence known tonight. I loved the fact when he would talk to the other reporters, but wouldn't answer any of Sammy's questions. It didn't take long for the other press to pick up on that either," laughed Faramir.

retired_destiny1124

26.2.03
Motherwell (0) Dundee United (0)
Motherwell- None
Dundee United- None
MOM- Ange Oueifio, Motherwell

"Lovely match, but it would have been much better if we had scored," sighed Gond.

"Both clubs gave it their best effort. We had chances to win, but so did they- it was a good match by both (Mark) Brown and Thomas (Myhre)."

***

1.3.03
Dundee United (3) Celtic (2)
Dundee United- A.Barsom 25,69 M.Kerr 61
Celtic- J.Hartson 14-P S.Nicholas 84
MOM- Abgar Barsom, Dundee United

"That penalty call - and Hartson's goal- really seemed to wake us up, we weren't sharp in the early going," commented Gond.

"It was about then that Abgar finally got it in gear too- from that point on, they couldn't defend him," agreed Faramir.

"Mark (Kerr) had a good match too- he hadn't been playing well in practice and I was worried about him."

"I was more worried that I couldn't use Tassos (Venetis) in the match. Darren (Moore) really shouldn't have been in there- with him not fully recovered- but I felt we needed him in again."

***

8.3.03
Dundee United (4) Partick Thistle (0) Scottish Cup 5th round
Dundee United- A.Barsom 7 S.Kuqi 16,28,44
Partick- None
MOM- Shefki Kuqi, Dundee United

"Yes, he does know how to score," grinned Gond.

"Well, given that this was an undermanned Partick Thistle side- yes he has little problem scoring when the backline can't handle him physically. Hopefully, he will continue to exert that presence in League games."

"I wish we could get Iversen going at the same time- if both of them were on fire, we would be tough to beat down the stretch."

***

Faramir banged his desk with his hand. "I knew this was going to happen!"

Gond leaned into the door, "What's wrong?"

"Chelsea just made a bid that met Charlie Miller's minimum fee release. Just when he had gotten comfortable with the idea of staying here- and we had just begun negotiations on a new contract."

"Any chance he will stay?"

Faramir gave Gond a slow glance, "What do you think?"

"Ah, no chance at all."

"I wouldn't mind losing him after the season, but right in the middle of our stretch run- not to mention for our Scottish Cup Semifinal against Hibs- oh well. At least we have the depth to survive the loss in the short-term, and it will please the Board since it will be a record transfer sale."

Chelsea Chooses Charlie
Chelsea, involved in a battle to grab a spot in Europe next season, splashed out 7.75 Million to purchase Charlie Miller from Dundee United. Miller, one of the keys to Dundee United's success the past two seasons, was happy for the chance to move to the storied side and prove himself against EPL competition.

retired_destiny1124

15.3.03
Hearts (0) Dundee United (2)
Hearts- None
Dundee United- T.Venetis 49-P M.Kerr 61
MOM- Tassos Venetis, Dundee United

"When Robert Tomaschek hacked Tassos (Venetis) down in the area, I wasn't sure they were going to call anything- let alone a penalty," said a weary Barry Gond.

"I think it must have looked worse from the angle the referee was at. I did not expect him to give him a red card though. The penalty was reward enough- after Tassos converted the kick at least. Overall, it was a very good effort today."

"There didn't seem to be too much ill effects of losing Charlie (Miller)- at least today."

***

29.3.03
Dundee United (3) Dundee (2)
Dundee United- M.Kerr 57 Butra 64 S.Iversen 90
Dundee- F.Caballaro 21,47
MOM- Fabian Caballaro, Dundee

"We dug ourselves out of quite a hole in that one," observed a happy Gond.

"The first half looked like a replay of our last loss to them. We lost a goal on offsides and watched (Mike) Franks play out of his gourd in net. Still, we managed to right ourselves this time."

"It was some good, hard work in their end that earned us our goals."

"Looked like they expected us to back off the pressure once we got back to 2-2."

"A draw wouldn't have helped us, not with Rangers already on a winning way, we had to keep going for the win. I am glad Steffen got the match winner after losing his earlier goal on Shefki's offside- he really did deserve to get the goal."

***

5.4.03
Hibs (3) Dundee United (1) Scottish Cup Semifinal
Hibs- M.McIntosh 16-P L.Andrews 45 C.Guntveit 62
Dundee United- S.Kuqi 14
MOM- Martin McIntosh, Hibs

"You are going to get fined for that one," commented Gond.

"Let them fine me! I don't care! I can't believe that kind of officiating in a Semifinal match. Here, you look at the stat sheet- we were called for *21* offsides- they were called for 1? We lost two goals to those offsides calls. Beyond that, he awards them a penalty- and then ignores the same kind of foul on Mark (Kerr) in the area?" At that pointed comment, Faramir sent his clipboard crashing against the wall. "Look, I give Hibs a lot of credit, because they played well- and I included that in my remarks. But if the officiating isn't going to give us a chance to win it ourself, I am going to comment on it."

***

Faramir Loses Cool Over Loss
by Sammy Gohl
In an all too typical unsportsmanlike act, Dundee United's manager Faramir cried foul over the officiating in the Scottish Cup Semifinal. To hide his club's poor effort that saw them broomed from their 2nd straight Semifinal, he attempted to bring blame upon the referee. To this observer, it is only so many sour grapes- as the officiating was surely fair and even.

Faramir threw the paper back on the table after reading it, "You know, I intensely dislike him- but he is right in this case. I lost my cool and we are certain to get no help from the referees the rest of this season because of that."

Gond laughed, "Like we have gotten any help from them anyways? Are you forgetting the number of penalties awarded against us this season? No, I don't think we are going to be missing much."

retired_confal2

Nice to see this still going strong. Looking forward to more, as usual :thup:

retired_destiny1124

Thanks OMD- there is plenty more to come (since story is lagging well behind actual playing of the challenge)

***

The voice seemed to awaken him in the night. Still groggy he lay there.

"Let time and troubles wash over you. Seek to leave behind the foundations for those who would follow..." echoed in his dreamlike thoughts. He considered the thoughts and then finally surrendered to sleep again.

***

"You seem in good humor Lord." quizzically asked the Lady Galadriel.

"Yes, Lady. I believe I am guilty of lecturing the mind I am sharing with. I was just giving it some of my learnings on ruling."

***

7.4.03
Kilmarnock (2) Dundee United (2)
Kilmarnock- B.McKinlay 52 A.Calderon 64
Dundee United- A.Farnerud 31,74
MOM- Alexander Farnerud, Dundee United

"Great match from Alex, your purchase of him ranks highly in forethought- given the loss of Charlie (Miller)," offered Gond.

"I didn't expect to lose Charlie, but when he was available- it was dirt cheap for such a talented player and I couldn't turn it down."

"You were right on the referees today though, Mark Nicholls getting knocked over three straight times in the area with the referee sticking his whistle in his pocket was somewhat blatant- even if expected."

"You notice how I went out of my way to avoid commenting on today's officiating in the press conference?" asked Faramir with a grin.

***

19.4.03
Aberdeen (1) Dundee United (2)
Aberdeen- B.Bett 49-P
Dundee United- S.Kuqi 4 R.Youssef 67
MOM- Jonathan Gould, Aberdeen

"You know that really is the best way to answer those kind of calls," grinned Faramir.

"I was watching you," laughed Gond. "I thought for sure I would see you blow up when Thomas (Myhre) earned his 4th redcard this season and they evened the match on the penalty kick. But, you were calm, cool and collected- I couldn't even tell anything had happened by looking at you."

"I quit wearing my heart on my sleeve," chuckled Faramir. "It has been a valuable lesson to learn, both in humility and in leadership. Even better was Rabi Youssef torching their defense to score the match winner- that was a bit of sweet revenge all the way around."

"We aren't going to catch 'Gers though- with their win they need only one more win to clinch the SPL crown."

retired_destiny1124

26.4.03
Dundee United (3) Hibs (1)
Dundee United- S.Iversen 13,55 S.Kuqi 31
Hibs- L.Andrews 4
MOM- Steffen Iversen, Dundee United

"Now that was the kind of match I was hoping we would see out of him- sooner or later," cheerily stated Gond.

"No question about it, he was the dominant player on the pitch today. It was a good performance by both he and Kuqi up front."

"Celtic beat the Rangers 4-1 to keep our hopes alive."

"Now, all we need to do is beat them here in our next match- easier said than done."

retired_destiny1124

30.4.03
Dundee United (2) Rangers (2)
Dundee United- T.Venetis 55,84
Rangers- N.McCann 45 B.Ferguson 47
MOM- Tassos Venetis, Dundee United

"It's too bad we let down on defense against them at the end of the first half and start of the second half. We outplayed them overall for the match," commented Gond.

"Tassos (Venetis) really had a great match and almost carried through to the win. I thought that last second shot was in, but it clanged squarely off the crossbar after going by Klos. The draw means they will almost certainly clinch the title in their next match."

"It still was a good comeback though, even with not winning it. The boys showed a lot of heart."

***

3.5.03
Motherwell (2) Dundee United (2)
Motherwell- U.Fatello 36 D.Clarke 58
Dundee United- T.West 33 M.Kerr 59
MOM- Taribo West, Dundee United

"You're still holding yourself very well, you know," chortled Gond.

"Calm as ever," smiled Faramir. "Though you know if I was the type to blow my top- I would have when they waved off Iversen's last second goal on *another* offside."

"It was a good match, even if we didn't win."

"We have 2nd place locked up now at least- and Rangers clinched 1st."

***

10.5.03
Celtic (2) Dundee United (0)
Celtic- B.Petta 9 A.Thompson 68
Dundee United- None
MOM- Dianbobo Balde, Celtic

"That was a forgettable way to end the season."

Gond nodded, "We looked really tired and slow out there today. No zip at all."

"The match didn't mean anything, but it would have been nice to show a bit more heart and desire."

Celtic Finishes Out Dundee United
by Sammy Gohl
Celtic showed what little heart Dundee United had as they plowed them under in their 2-0 win at Celtic Park. Dundee United does not deserve to finish in 2nd place based on this and other showings during the season, but they have managed to wind up there due to some failings from clubs that could deservedly be much higher.

***

"It was great to see Mark (Kerr) was selected Young Player of the Year," said Gond happily.

Faramir, also extremely happy at the selection, replied, "Four Players on the Players of the Year team too- Thomas (Myhre), Tassos (Venetis) and Danny (Griffin) all got starting nods. Mark (Kerr) was selected as a reserve."

<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">********************************************* ************************************************** * Dundee United - Saturday 10th May 2003********************************************** ************************************************** ================================================== ============================================== 2002/3 Senior Club Stats============================================= ================================================== =No Name Apps Gls Con Pens Asts Yel Red MoM Av R--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------24 Barsom, Abgar 32 (10) 12 0 0 10 2 0 5 7.55 45 Boyce, Anthony 2 (2) 1 0 0 1 0 0 0 7.25 5 Buchan, Jamie 41 (1) 1 0 0 9 1 0 0 7.40 15 Butra 0 (30) 9 0 0 2 0 0 1 7.17 23 Combe, Alan 2 0 2 0 1 0 0 0 8.00 26 Davidson, Hugh 1 (1) 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 7.00 46 Duff, Stuart - - - - - - - - ---- 12 Easton, Craig 6 (10) 2 0 0 1 0 0 0 7.25 37 Farnerud, Alexander 2 (2) 2 0 0 1 0 0 1 7.25 47 Fionda, Tony - - - - - - - - ---- 17 Fullarton, Jamie 6 (13) 2 0 0 4 4 0 0 7.21 13 Gallacher, Paul 13 (4) 0 18 0 0 0 1 0 7.47 6 Griffin, Danny 38 1 0 0 1 4 0 1 7.66 11 Hannah, David 33 (2) 2 0 0 10 6 0 1 7.31 27 Iversen, Steffen 29 11 0 0 1 1 0 2 7.34 9 Keith, Marino 10 7 0 1 (1) 0 0 0 1 7.50 8 Kerr, Mark 41 12 0 0 9 0 0 5 7.68 34 Kuqi, Shefki 16 9 0 0 1 0 0 2 7.88 10 Lilley, Derek 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 7.50 19 McConalogue, Stephen - - - - - - - - ---- 18 McCracken, David 12 (2) 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 7.14 2 McCunnie, Jamie 20 (2) 1 0 0 3 0 0 1 7.23 31 McDonald, Kevin - - - - - - - - ---- 44 McDonald, Scott 14 (1) 3 0 0 1 0 0 0 7.60 30 Moore, Darren 31 0 0 0 1 7 0 2 7.87 3 Mørkøre, Allan 5 0 0 0 1 1 0 1 7.00 1 Myhre, Thomas 35 (1) 0 40 0 0 0 3 1 7.31 25 Nicholls, Mark 21 6 0 0 4 0 0 0 7.52 33 O'Connor, Sean 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 ---- 28 O'Donnell, Stephen - - - - - - - - ---- 14 Partridge, David 4 (8) 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 7.25 29 Reilly, Colin - - - - - - - - ---- 21 Schembri (II), Angelo 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 7.33 43 Shine, John - - - - - - - - ---- 7 Venetis, Tassos 39 (2) 17 0 4 (4) 9 3 0 7 7.68 20 West, Taribo 40 (1) 2 0 0 7 4 0 1 7.44 35 Winters, David - - - - - - - - ---- 38 Youssef, Rabi 11 (5) 8 0 0 0 0 0 2 7.38 </pre>

Phase 1 Completed