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Thanks, pooscalery! [IMG]/infopop/emoticons/icon_smile.gif" alt="smile[/IMG] [IMG]/infopop/emoticons/icon_biggrin.gif" alt="big grin[/IMG]<P>29th of July 2004<P>Celtic’s progress to world domination of football continues unabated as Martin O’Neill splashes £19 million to bring Chilean striker Marcelo Salas from Lazio. He joins Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink, Christian Vieri, Pavel Nedved and Ariel Ortega amongst the ‘big-name’ signings at the Glasgow club.<P>1st of August 2004<P>It looks like I’m going to lose my Salvadoran wunderkid to second division Levante as the Valencia-based club offers me £450,000 for the attacking midfielder, which meets his min. release clause amount. I immediately offer him a new contract, but I fear that he will be leaving very shortly. In fact, it takes only an afternoon for �lvarez to make up his mind – he will go to Levante [IMG]/infopop/emoticons/icon_frown.gif" alt="frown[/IMG] : Cristian �lvarez (24 y/o, SLV 13 caps, 7 goals, AM C): 4(7) apps, 1 goal, 2 assists, av. rate: 6.64<P>3rd of August 2004<P>After spending months exhibiting interest in the young defensive midfielder, Villarreal finally offers me something concrete for Francisco �lvarez - £350,000. But I’m not interested, unless I can snare Villarreal’s own wonder-boy, the Norwegian Kristian Tanem, who has apparently fall out with the club’s hierarchy. That rates �lvarez at £3.5 million, whereas his min. release clause is £2.5 million – think they’ll go for it? [IMG]/infopop/emoticons/icon_wink.gif" alt="wink[/IMG]

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4th of August 2004<P>Friendly – Rushden & Diamonds v Cartagonova<P>It’s the first time in about two months we’ve kicked a ball in anger so it takes us some time to warm up, particularly with a host of new faces in the starting eleven. But most impress me in a good 3-0 victory over the Division 3 opponent, with Jaliens, Stubbs, Gibbens, Livermore and Esposito all impressing me. Vucko and Kokmeijer don’t play so well, but Esnáider is the best player on the pitch and we dominate, as expected. However, Alan Stubbs picks up an injury late in the match that will keep him out for a month, which is a bit of bad luck for us.<P>Rushden & Diamonds (4-4-2): Campbell; Butler, Walton (Chambers 69), Peters (c), Sutch (McNiven 50); Setchell (Anthony 56), Pennock, Hayward (Luckett 56), Riley (Dunkley 56); Thorpe, Liddell (Fell 69). <P>Cartagonova (4-1-2-1-2): Vidal (c); Curro Torres (Livermore 63), Filipescu (Castro 80), Stubbs (Ballesteros 84), Jaliens; Gibbens; Michel (O’Neill 46), Rufete (Box 63); Vucko (Esposito 46); Esnáider, Kokmeijer (Miranda 46).<P>Final score: Rushden & Diamonds 0:3 Cartagonova
MoM – Juan Eduardo Esnáider<P>5th of August 2001<P>Villarreal makes its final offer for Francisco �lvarez - £500,000. It isn’t sufficient to interest me.<P>6th of August 2004<P>Hércules is the next club to weigh into the race to convince me to sell �lvarez, faxing a bid through worth £600,000 to me. It’s becoming a little more tempting, but I’m still not ready to sell him just yet.<P>Friendly – Crewe v Cartagonova<P>This isn’t a great result for our build-up to the first leg of the Champions’ League qualifier. Crewe is the better side in the first half and they grab their reward when Kevin Street opens the scoring on 48 minutes. After a few substitutions, we begin to wake up and start firing in the shots at Myles Hogarth’s goal, particularly from Mauro Esposito. But we can’t find the equaliser and I’m sure the Crewe boys would get more out of this than we do.<P>Crewe (4-1-2-1-2): Hogarth; Wright (c), Foster (Dichio 36 (Blake 74)), Moore, O’Halloran (Dodd 91); Charnock (Wilnis 36); Street, Lunt; Frost (Hudson 20 (Rivers 56)); Doherty (Liddle 69), Rankin (Rix 27).<P>Cartagonova (4-1-2-1-2): Vidal (c); Curro Torres (Livermore 55), Filipescu, Jaliens (Ballesteros 59), Tetteh (Lacruz 72); Gibbens; Michel, Rufete (Box 55); Vucko (Miranda 72); Sosa (Esposito 55), Kokmeijer (O’Neill 72).<P>Final score: Crewe 1:0 Cartagonova
MoM – Darren Moore

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After the match, UEFA contacts me to name my 25-man squad for the European Champions’ League’s first stages. And here they are:<P>Iván Vidal (GK), Francesc Arnau (GK), JoaquÃ*n Moso (GK), Iulian Filipescu (SW/D/DM C), Ballesteros (D/DM RC), Kew Jaliens (D RC), José MarÃ*a Lacruz (D RL), Marcelo Moya (D RLC), Curro Torres (D/DM L), Fernando Manuel Couto (D/DM C), Mariano Fernández (D C), Óscar Ã�lvarez (D C), Francisco Ã�lvarez (DM C), Kevin Gibbens (DM C), Pablo Box (M RC), Paulo Miranda (AM RLC), Fernando Morán (AM RLC), Rufete (AM R), Jurica Vucko (AM/F RC), Mauro Esposito (AM/F LC), Michel (AM L), Keith O’Neill (AM/F LC), Oliver (AM L), Juan Eduardo Esnáider (AM/F C), Niels Kokmeijer (S C), José Manuel Redondo (S C).<P>7th of August 2004<P>Independiente offers me £190,000 for Roberto Sosa. I would like to get some more money for him, so I try for £500,000 in six months plus £250,000 after twenty league matches. Barakaldo offers me £210,000 for Luis Prieto, which meets his min. release clause. Anyway, I don’t want to keep him, so he’s free to negotiate with Barakaldo. Indeed, by the end of the day he agrees to join the Segunda Liga B club: Luis Prieto (25 y/o, ESP, D C): 1 app, av. rate: 8.00<P>8th of August 2004<P>Friendly – Manchester United v Cartagonova<P>Beckham looks dangerous early and forces Vidal into a good save. I assign Couto to look after the English international while Kokmeijer skips past Gareth Whalley’s tackle before curling a shot at Anders Helland’s goal, but the Norwegian pushes his shot away. Then Kew Jaliens tries his luck from Phil Neville’s half clearance from Rufete’s cross. On 20 minutes, Kokmeijer sets up Redondo, but Helland does well to block the shot. Eight minutes later, Redondo opens the scoring after being freed by Morán. That silences the parochial 50,000-strong crowd packed into the ‘Theatre of Dreams’. Three minutes later, Gary Neville slides through Redondo but while Redondo protests the referee’s decision, Morán plays the ball and scores. After half-time, I make a couple of substitutions and it begins to let Manchester United back into the game. Beckham increases his influence when Couto comes off and on 63 minutes, he pulls one back for his club. Manchester United keeps us on the back foot for the remainder of the match and they score an equaliser in injury time when youngster Sean Evers picks up Stewart’s cross and bundles it over the line.<P>Manchester United (4-4-2): Anders Helland; Phil Neville, Christian Dailly, David May (Peter Atherton 57), Gary Neville (c); Ryan Williams (Matthew Murray 64), Gareth Whalley (Michael Stewart 64), David Beckham, Sean Evers; Kevin Phillips (Danny Webber 51), Keith Lyons.<P>Cartagonova (4-1-2-1-2): Vidal; Lacruz (Curro Torres 51), Ã�lvarez, Ballesteros, Jaliens; Couto (c) (Filipescu 51); Oliver (Miranda 86), Rufete (Box 86); Morán; Redondo, Kokmeijer (Esposito 63).<P>Final score: Manchester United 2:2 Cartagonova
MoM – Fernando Morán

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9th of August 2004<P>My demands for Roberto Sosa are too much for Independiente.<P>11th of August 2004<P>European Champions League – Third Qualifying Phase, 1st leg: Cartagonova v Spartak Moskva<P>It’s our first competitive fixture for the season and it may well be the most important. So it’s good to get off to a good start. But Spartak Moskva bottle us up for the first 20 minutes or so and the dangerous Ghanaian forward Derek Boateg drives a shot wide of Vidal’s goal. But a couple of minutes later, Redondo takes the pass from Michel and looks for Kokmeijer. His cross is punched away by the Spartak keeper, but only into the path of Rufete and the winger hammers home the shot! [IMG]/infopop/emoticons/icon_smile.gif" alt="smile[/IMG] Kokmeijer then does everything except score a couple of minutes later and we’re punished when Kalinichenko leaves Couto for dead before finding Boateg unmarked. The Ghanaian thunders home the equaliser and Spartak has that dreaded away goal. [IMG]/infopop/emoticons/icon_mad.gif" alt="mad[/IMG] Thankfully, ten minutes later Morán’s pass breaches Spartak’s defence for Kokmeijer to head home a bullet shot past the Spartak keeper for his first goal of his Cartagonova career! [IMG]/infopop/emoticons/icon_biggrin.gif" alt="big grin[/IMG] Boateg takes the ball up the other end from kick-off, and Vidal makes a great double save to deny him going into half-time. But not before we find time to add a third goal. Couto uses his strength to win the contest with Khokhlov and finds Morán. The midfielder flicks the ball onto Rufete and the winger drills a vicious swerving shot beneath the Spartak keeper to bring the curtain down on the first half.<P>A brilliantly contrived motivational speech at half-time keeps up the impetus in the second half and Kokmeijer adds a fourth seven minutes after the re-start, finishing off a great move involving half the team. We spend the rest of the game trying to add a fifth goal, but Couto, Redondo and Michel are all denied the chance to add their names to the scoresheet with some inaccurate shots on Spartak’s goal. Kokmeijer almost scores a hat-trick on debut with a late run into the Spartak’s penalty box only halted by a desperate tackle from Bukievskiy. But I’m ecstatic with the result when the referee blows three blasts on the whistle to signal the end of the match. I think a three goal lead is enough to take to Russia in two weeks.<P>Cartagonova (4-3-1-2): Vidal; Lacruz, �lvarez, Ballesteros, Jaliens; Michel, Couto (c), Rufete; Morán; Redondo, Kokmeijer.<P>Spartak Moskva (4-4-2): Kabanov; Vlasov, Rada (Bukievskiy 52), Kuzmin, Parfenov (Khizaneyshvili 58); Tikhonov (c), Kalinichenko, Khokhlov, Simão; Bezrodny, Boateg.<P>Final score: Cartagonova 4:1 Spartak Moskva
MoM – Rufete

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In the evening – I don’t know how he managed it – but Curro Torres damages his shoulder and will sit out the next two weeks. He wants to impress me, but this isn’t the best way of doing it, mate.<P>13th of August 2004<P>Independiente renews its chase of Roberto Sosa, offering me a laughable £170,000. I laugh pretty hard at the Independiente manager before I bark out £350,000 + £250,000 after twenty league matches down the crackly line to Argentina.<P>14th of August 2004<P>Friendly – Cartagonova v Parma<P>An experimental side runs out against Parma as I rest every player who took part of the match against Spartak three days earlier. Parma is chock-full of internationals and they run the match in the first half, but Francesc Arnau stands up well to the barrage and we enter the break still locked at 0-0. However, we hadn’t created anything up front for Esnáider and Sosa. Esposito replaces Esnáider, but that doesn’t help much as Parma continue to threaten us again. Finally they gain a break when Filipescu, captain for the day, deflects a shot past Arnau into the back of the net. Then VÃ*tor Hugo makes it 2-0 to Parma on 61 minutes with a fierce drive. But Sosa sets up Miranda who sidesteps Lassissi before driving it beneath Buffon to slash Parma’s lead. On 82 minutes, Buffon trips up Mariano Fernández and receives his marching orders. Up steps Miranda and puts away the penalty to equalise. Worryingly, only about 2,000 showed up to see the Italian club.<P>Cartagonova (4-3-1-2): Arnau; Moya (Livermore 64), Filipescu (c), Fernández, Moya (Ballesteros 64); Miranda, Francisco Ã�lvarez (Gibbens 46), Box (Jofre 64); Vucko; Esnáider (Esposito 46), Sosa.<P>Parma (4-4-2): Buffon (c); Júnior (McClenahan 69), Lassissi, Bonomi (Falsini 69), Aho (Cafú 75); Alex, Appiah (Di Matteo 64), Giannichedda (Bjärsmyr 57 (Wuest 82)), Figo; Amoroso (VÃ*tor Hugo 57), Catanha (Montaño 57).<P>Final score: Cartagonova 2:2 Parma
MoM – Roberto Sosa<P>Keep smiling! [IMG]/infopop/emoticons/icon_biggrin.gif" alt="big grin[/IMG]
Dixie Flatline

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Back again!<P>15th of August 2004<P>Independiente still can’t find the money to afford the price I’ve put on Sosa’s head so it withdraws from the race for the striker.<P>18th of August 2004<P>Real Oviedo’s Emmanuel Petit obviously sees a lot of himself in Francisco Ã�lvarez as he makes what I think is a very desperate bid of £700,000 for the young midfielder, just on the back of half a match he has played so far this season. It is double the nominal value, but I still like the look of the midfielder and if other clubs are willing to throw a lot of money at me for a rough gem, then I think it would be worth taking the time refining that gem.<P>20th of August 2004<P>In the nick of time, I manage to sign the Dutch legend Dennis Bergkamp on a free transfer, beating off competition from Napoli for the striker’s signature. I managed to knock down his expected wage from £20,000/week to £11,250/week.<P>So, now that the transfer window has closed until 15th of December 2004, it’s time to first take a look at the Cartagonova squad and then the rest of the Primera Liga clubs.<P>Goalkeepers<P>Iván Vidal (25 y/o, ESP): 62(1) apps, 80 conceded, 5 MoMs, av. rate: 7.32 Definitely will be the number one keeper this year. He is improving every day as the coaches get to work with him. Could even start coming into consideration as one of Spain’s next crop of international-class keepers, although he has a little way to go before he should be properly considered for that honour. But at 25 he is only young and will continue to improve. Likely to clock up his 100th appearance for the club (in all competitions), which isn’t a bad return on the investment of £70,000!<P>Francesc Arnau (29 y/o, ESP): 12 apps, 11 conceded, 2 MoMs, av. rate: 7.25: Doesn’t provide that much competition for Vidal, but he is a competent keeper and does a good job when called upon. Definitely will occupy the reserve goalkeeper spot on the bench and if Vidal injures himself again this season, he will see some time on the park.<P>JoaquÃ*n Moso (25 y/o, ESP): 1(3) apps, 1 conceded, av. rate: 7.50: Looks a lot like Vidal in his technique and talent, but he misses some certain vital physical attributes that keep him out of consideration for the first team appearances that every footballer craves. Does a good job as a third-choice keeper, but I’m sure he will look for greener pastures elsewhere. But I’m not complaining about his dedication to the club cause at the moment.

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Defenders<P>Juan Carlos Castro (17 y/o, ESP, SW/D C): Purchased from Jaén earlier in the summer, he is a long-term development prospect. Doubtful he will get many minutes on the pitch this season, but I hope that the coaches and physios will turn him into a handy player for the club.<P>Iulian Filipescu (30 y/o, ROM 36 caps, 1 goal, SW/D/DM C): 37(1) apps, 3 goals, 4 assists, av. rate: 6.92: Hopefully will keep the defence together this season like he did last time around. He didn’t play against Spartak Moskva, and the defence looked a little shaky without him. I think he will be playing more often than not this season. He tells me every chance he gets that he likes playing for the club, which impresses me no end, because it isn’t easy playing for a small, under-resourced provincial club.<P>Kew Jaliens (25 y/o, HOL, D RC): 1 app, av. rate: 6.00: Purchased from Ajax for £2 million, he didn’t make an impressive impact on his debut against Spartak Moskva in the Champions’ League. But I think he has enough talent about him to force his way into the first eleven on a regular basis. He has pace to burn and can string together a good pass, but his tackling can let him down. Therefore, I like him better as a right-back rather than a centre half, which could pose problems for Ballesteros. I think that with careful and patient work, he will be a good investment for the club, despite the relatively hefty price tag. Won’t be short of compatriots at the club, which is a good thing for settling into a different culture.<P>José MarÃ*a Lacruz (26 y/o, ESP, D RL): 39(2) apps, 4 assists, av. rate: 6.70: A very quiet player, it’s sometimes easy to overlook him when he’s on the pitch. But I believe we would miss him if he wasn’t there, and I’m sure that he will be around at the end of the season with plenty more appearances for the club under his belt. Like Filipescu, he tells me that he enjoys playing for the club, which is a bonus. Averaged over three tackles a game last year, and if he can replicate that type of form this season, we will go a long way to having another successful season. I wonder if Athletic Bilbao miss him?

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Marcelo Moya (25 y/o, ARG, D RLC): 17(5) apps, 1 goal, av. rate: 6.91: Showed me a glimpse of his volatile nature last season when he took exception to an official warning I dished out to him. But I want to hang onto him because he has talent, if not bags of pace. A strong, powerful player with a crunching tackle, I want to see him take out opposition forwards and midfielders this season. But he will be battling for a position in the first eleven, especially with his non-EU status.<P>Stephen Tetteh (24 y/o, GHA 12 caps, D R): 4 apps, av. rate: 7.00: Needs to step up this season if he wants to remain at the club. Is attracting interest from another club and I feel the need to continue trimming the squad. But in training, he can do a lot of things that makes me think he should be more involved in match time. So, I’m still a little undecided about what to do with the Ghanaian defender.<P>Curro Torres (27 y/o, ESP, D/DM L): Coming on a player-exchange from Tenerife, he hasn’t impressed me so far in the friendlies we’ve played, so I have no reason to swap him with Lacruz. But he is talented and I’m sure he will be putting his name forward as a person to select regularly. His best asset is his pace but he is a no mean defender.<P>José Ramón Dacosta (29 y/o, ESP, D/M L): 0(2) apps, av. rate: 6.00: Transfer-listed and I hope to see the back of him by the end of the season.<P>Ismael (28 y/o, ESP, D LC): 38(2) apps, 3 assists, av. rate: 6.85: A good season in the Segunda Liga was followed by a shocker in the Primera Liga. With other players capable of playing his position coming into the club over the summer, he is no longer needed at the club. Therefore, he is transfer-listed.

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David Livermore (24 y/o, ENG, D/DM LC): Signed on a Bosman free transfer from Millwall, he has the makings of a good defender for the club. If he could pass better than average, then he would be a great player. Not afraid of dwelling on the ball, he also packs a powerful shot, so I hope several clubs this season will be surprised by the combative young player.<P>Mariano Fernández (25 y/o, ARG, D C): 2 apps, 1 assist, av. rate: 7.00: Will be unlucky not to play more often this season, but I can’t fit all the defenders into the first eleven, now can I! [IMG]/infopop/emoticons/icon_smile.gif" alt="smile[/IMG] But he is willing to stick it out and fight for a place in the starting eleven, which is something I like in the players I manage. I think all the physical attributes are just about there, but there are some mental attributes that need work on before he can really push me into selecting him more often than not.<P>Óscar �lvarez (27 y/o, ESP, D C): 41 apps, 1 goal, 1 MoM, av. rate: 7.05: Did well last season in tandem with Filipescu, but has made a poor start this season with a shocker against Spartak Moskva. He is capable of such inconsistencies, and I think that if we could somehow rid him of these, then he would be a truly excellent player. As it stands, I like having him in the team and I’m sure that he will be willing to atone for his poor display in the first competitive match of the season.

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Midfielders<P>Fernando Manuel Couto (35 y/o, POR 80 caps, 7 goals, D/DM C): 113(2) apps, 3 goals, 8 assists, 12 MoMs, av. rate: 7.40: Likely to overtake Stan Collymore’s league appearance record this season, he is still an integral part of my plans despite his advancing age. He had a good Euro 2004 tournament in front of his own fans, but will unlikely feature much more for his country. Showed some signs of fallibility in the first match this season, but he is an excellent leader and I’m glad that he continues to play for my club. The board still tell me that they think he shouldn’t be part of the club, but I continue to defend him to them – they know nothing of selecting footballers! [IMG]/infopop/emoticons/icon_biggrin.gif" alt="big grin[/IMG] Still has two seasons left on his contract and I think he could see both of them out at least. Isn’t interested in coaching after he retires from playing, but his experience is vital, particularly to players like Kevin Gibbens, David Livermore and Francisco �lvarez.<P>Francisco �lvarez (18 y/o, ESP, DM C): Yet to make a competitive appearance for the club after we concentrated on improving his skills and physical side of his game. I’d be more ready to play him if he had bulked up over the summer in the gym, but he is still too readily knocked off possession in midfield, as the match he played against Parma demonstrated. But he is a talented player and I’m willing to keep knocking back offers for him from other clubs in order to oversee his development as a home-grown hero.<P>Kevin Gibbens (24 y/o, ENG, DM C): Signed from Southampton in the summer for £375,000. At 24 years of age, his development curve will start to peak this season, but I think he could be an excellent long-term replacement for Couto. He has impressive passing skills and is cool and unruffled in possession. But he doesn’t quite have that tough, tackling mentality that I would like to cultivate in the central midfielder, whom I expect to take the middle of the park by the scruff of the neck. If he can develop that, he will be an excellent player for the club.