retired_j9swim

August 2005

The season got off to a mixed start in August. We lost all 4 away games (2-1, 3-1 and 2-1 again to Wigan, Derby and Coventry) but won 2 and drew 1 at home against Cardiff 4-1, Plymouth 2-0 and 2-2 against West Brom. It was a busy month and the players were tired when the first round of the league cup rolled around. I rested some of the more exhausted players but still thought I had enough talent out there to beat Cheltenham away. Unfortunately I was wrong and we went down 2-1. I was a little dissapointed as I was looking forward to a decent cup run but not too much as I can now concentrate on the league until the FA Cup 3rd round comes.

September 2005

After the hectic first month it was something of a relief that there were only 4 games in September. It gave the players time to recover from the previous game and gave them longer for injuries to heal. A 1-1 draw against Stoke kept us unbeaten at home but the poor away form continued at the Priestfield stadium Gillingham as we went down 2-1. Nicky Barmby scored at Watford to end our winless away start to the season and that lifted the team for a home tie against Sheffield Wednesday. Trevor Benjamin scored twice in a 2-1 win.

retired_j9swim

October 2005

Again I was thankful that there were only four games this month as they were all tricky games against Promotion chasing sides and I would need my squad at full strength. Unfortunatley even a full strength team couldnt stop me losing 3-2 to Norwich at Carrow Road and then Blackburn inflicted our first home defeat of the season. We managed to recover and an excellent 2-1 win in Sunderland was followed by a satisfactory 2-2 draw at home to Bristol City.

November 2005

We were having no problems scoring a few goals this year but it has been the leaky defence that has let us down. I decide on a change of tactics. Gone is the 4-4-2 formation and in comes a more different 3-2-2-1-2 with 3 centre backs, 2 central defensive midfielders, 2 normal wingers and one attacking midfielder just behind the front two. The idea being that the cenral defenders are protected from being passed through by the defensive midfielders and there is an extra midfielder to help with the counter attack. Whether this works or not remains to be seen!

The new tactic will be tried out on the road first of all. Unfortunately it doesnt happen straight away and we lose 2-1 but I want to give a try so I will carry on. Thankfully the team get used to the system and stop leaking so many goals, this means that we are now starting to win more as the goals are still coming. 4 straight wins round off a pretty good month for us. Viana and Benjamin (2) score to see off Preston 3-1. 32,000 people show up to watch us defeat West Ham 2-1 and then our biggest win so far as we defeat Leeds at Elland Road. The month is rounded of in style with a 2-1 victory over QPR.

retired_Monica731

Good luck mate.

Where are you in the league at the moment

retired_j9swim

Cant remember. Currently just started season 06/07, wont spoil it by telling you what league I am in though!

retired_j9swim

December 2005

The good run continues into December and a Windass hattrick gives us a 3-2 win at Rotherham. Then a minor blip as a 1 all draw at home to Sheffield United and then a 2-1 defeat in Ipswich look to have ruined the festive period for us. But we bounce back with two good home wins either side of the Christmas defeating Burnley 4-2 and Wigan 2-1. The long trip to Plymouth takes its toll though as we go down 1-0 to end the year on a slightly low note.

January 2006

Defeat in the last game of 2005 is quickly forgotten as another long trip sees us win 4-2 at Ninnian Park, Cardiff. The FA Cup begins for us in the 3rd round this time and it gets off to a great start, with a 2-0 win over West Ham. Derby manage to snatch a point from us in our next home league game before Norwich are dumped out of the cup in the 4th round 2-1. Our 4th home game in a row ends in a 2-0 win over Coventry, but we end a pretty successful month with a 3-1 defeat on the road at high flying West Brom.

retired_j9swim

February 2006

February was one of those annoying months where home form and away form were completely different. Two home games against Watford and Gillingham were won comfortably 3-1 and 4-0 respectively. This was counteracted by three away defeats at Stoke 2-1, Promotion chasing Blackburn 2-0 and Sheffield Wednesday 2-1.

March 2006

March began with a 5th round FA Cup tie at Anfield. We fought hard but in the end their superior skills won the day 1-0. We returned to the league with a hard fought point against Norwich and a good narrow 1-0 win over Sunderland. Our poor away form continued in Bristol going down 2-1 to City. A 2-0 win over Reading at home followed but then a hammering at Preston seriously dented our confidence. I was more than a little annoyed when we went 2-0 down in the first half but a spirited comeback at the start of the second seemed to have rescued us but we then proceded to throw all our hard work away, conceded three goals in the last 10 minutes to lose 5-2.

retired_j9swim

April/May 2006

The performance against Preston took a while to get out of the system, we struggled to get a point at home to Leeds and we slumped to a three nil defeat at QPR. We managed to scrape another point at Upton Park before we just managed to beat Rotherham one nil at home. Our penultimate away game of the season saw more of the same, 2-1 to Sheffield United. For the final two games of the season we played like a completely different team. Our final home game of the campaign was against Ipswich and we treated the fans to a fine 5-0 rout. The final day of the season, and more of the same, this time a 4-0 win at Burnley and an excellent way to finish the season.

Rather surprisngly we had been in with a chance of a playoff place at a few stages in the season, but our away form ruined those chances. Our final placing of 8th was an excellent position for our first season in the Championship if rather surprising given our recent run of results. Our record was played 46, won 21, drawn 8, lost 17, goals for 81, goals against 65, a goal diff of +15 and achieving an 71 points.

Blackburn were the champions, QPR followed them up in second and Sunderland won the playoffs (even though we beat them home and away and they finished 6th in the league, but hey, thats football!). Plymouth, Cardiff and Derby were relegated, and will be replaced by Torquay, Millwall and Oldham. Chelsea sacked Jose Mourinho after they finished 5th in the Premiership and appointed Kevin Keegan as manager. Manchester City then promptly replaced Keegan with Mourinho! Stuart Elliott was named in the Championship team of the year after having the highest rating in the league; 7.57. He was also named Hull fans player of the year. Dean Windass was unlucky, coming 2nd in the goal of the season with a superb swerving 30 yard volley.

Scoring goals had not been a problem this season, 81 was the second most by any team in the league. It was the leaky defense that was costing us, 65 was poor for a team in our position, 18 other clubs in the league including one of the relegated sides had conceded fewer. This was obviously an area for improvement over the summer. Having not spent this years transfer budget I should be allowed to spend in the summer as we had been filling the stadium regularly throughout the season. An average of 29,980, was second only to West Ham, and hopefully with better players next year and better results that would continue to grow.

retired_2phat

Interesting way of writing, its quite nice to see a season encapsulated in a few posts. Are you going to bring it up to date and then post in the normal manner? i.e. game by game?

retired_j9swim

Probably not game by game but may add a little more detail as I will be able to remember more stuff that happens!

retired_j9swim

Preseason 2006/2007

Having avoided relegation with ease in our first season in the Championship, the board expected more and asked me to achieve a respectable position this year. But having finished 8th and after scoring so many goals, I felt that a playoff spot was not impossible. Maybe even automatic promotion if we got a bit of luck and strung a good run together. To achieve this I would need to bring in more quality, especially at the back where we were pretty poor last season.

The board kindly gave me £3.3m to spend but the only transfer fee I would pay was for a player that I had had my eye on for some time but up until now I was unable to afford. Freddy Guarin, an excellent Colombian defensive midfielder arrived for £1.3m to play just in front of the back three. He would be joined in centre midfield by Carlos Martins who signed after being released by Sporting Lisbon. To tighten up the defence I went for experience and brought in out of favour Aston Villa defender Mark Delaney. Having won many international caps for Wales and played in the Premier League for a long time, he has plenty of experience.

On their way out of the club were old hands Nicky Barmby and Dean Windass, they had decided that they were no longer good enough for this level and left after their contracts expired. Also to leave were Ben Burgess, Delroy Facey, Stuart Green, Junior Lewis and Dean Holden. They were all deemed not good enough and were all allowed to leave and persue their careers elsewhere, most likely at a lower level. This also had the benefit of freeing up the wage bill and it was freed up even more by the departure of 3 full backs who had lost their places due to the change in tactics. All went to fellow Championship sides, David McNamee went to Preston for £75k, Stephen Kelly to Wigan for £50k and Michael Falkenmayer was also sold for £50k this time to Reading.

These departures left a few holes in the squad and I needed to bring in some quality too. Freddy Adu would certainly add some quality and would find himself playing most of the season behind the front two. Last season's top scorer in the league, Robbie Blake joined on a free transfer and would fill in for Adu when he was away on internationals and injured. Depth was added up front in the shape of Andy Gray and Darren Huckerby. They would provide competition for places nad compensate for the loss od Windass. The late departure of Barmby meant that a quick fix would be required and a quick scout around found former Southampton winger Fabrice Fernandes had been released and was promptly snapped up to play on the right (even though he is left footed).

During the summer was the 2006 World Cup in Germany and England did very well reaching the final where they met Brazil. It was 0-0 after extra time and in true english style lost on penalties.

Two more players would join us in the new year when their contracts at Scandinavian clubs had finished. Ragnvald Soma would bring yet more quality to the defense and Sweden international Cristoffer Andersson looked a good prospect for the right wing position. Until then I would have to make do without them. Only two friendlies this season, an excellent two all draw against Chelski in front of 30k and a poor 1-0 defeat against Plymouth. Left me with mixed feelings about the season ahead...