[retired_kathy]

[IMG]jackDoncaster.gif[/IMG]

Actually,, the only good thing about last night was managing to sign Steve Sidwell on a free.

[retired_kathy]

Hopefully the banner has come up this time

[retired_amitesh]

Monday's session saw us start away to Northampton in the FA Cup. We turned in probably the worst performance of the season so far and crashed out 3-0. Back to the league and we faced my old club Leyton Orient at home. After a poor first half Masaryk put us ahead on the hour mark with a fine free kick. Orient equalised 10 minutes later and then took the lead a few minutes later. We created chances to grab an equaliser but couldn't take any and we lost 2-1.

Second placed Grays were next to visit. We produced a stunning performance in this game, Goals in the first half from Hviid, Masaryk & Crouch saw us go in 3-0 up at the break. We continued to dominate the game and Crouch got his second with juts over 15 minutes to go to make the final score 4-0 and give us a 4 point lead at the top. It was away to another of the promotion challengers when we faced Wrexham. We played well in the first half but only went in 1-0 up thanks to an own goal. Wrexham had the better of the second half and equalised just past the hour mark to make the final score 1-1.

Thursday's session started at home to Notts County. We had a poor first half and went in 1-0 down. We were much better in the second half and youngster McGonigle on his debut scored right after the restart. We had chances to win the game but had to settle for a 1-1 draw. Scuunthorpe away was next. This was a very tight and even game. Hunt gave us the lead after 17 minutes. Scuunthorpe had a couple of goals chopped off. Both sides had chances to score but couldn't take them and we won 1-0 to go 5 points clear.

Boston United were our next visitors. We dominated the first half, taking an early lead thanks to crouch. Then on the stroke of half time we were reduced to 10 men as Wilson was sent off after conceding a penalty that Boston scored to make it 1-1 at the break. After struggling in the second half Crouch scored with 4 minutes to go and then in stoppage time to complete his hat trick and give us a 3-1 win. Darlington at home followed this. We should have won this but had to settle for a point in a 1-1 draw with Crouch scoring again.

3 away games followed starting at Barnet. A really good first half saw us go in 2-0 up thanks to goals from Crouch & Hunt. Moussa added a third from a free kick shortly after half time. Barnet pulled one a short time later but we held on to win 3-1. Our next away game was at Walsall. This was another tight game that ended 1-1 with Crouch getting our goal. Our run of 3 away games in a row ended at Woking. This was a shocking performance against the bottom team in the league and we lost 2-0.

It was third placed Tranmere at home next. We produced an absolutely stunning performance. 2 from Crouch and goals from Felicio & Moussa saw us run out 4-0 winners. We had another 2 back to back away games starting at Brighton. Another good performance saw us run out 2-0 winners thanks to Crouch & Masaryk. Chester away followed. A good first half performance saw us go in 2-1 up thanks to Felicio & Hunt. Hunt added a third at the start of the second half before Chester pulled one back on the hour mark. Crouch scored with less than 10 minutes to go to settle things and make the final score 4-2. This left us 11 points clear with 7 games to go.

[retired_amitesh]

The final push for promotion started at home to Mansfield. This wasn't one of our better performances but we scrapped a 1-0 win thanks to Hviid. A win in our next game at home to Oldham would see us promoted. After a poor first half we stepped it up in the second half. Goals from Hunt, Wilson & Crouch saw us run out 3-0 winners and clinch promotion.

We travelled to Grimsby knowing that a win would seal the title. We fell behind early one before Hunt equalised on the half hour mark. We went behind again 10 minutes later and went in 2-1 down. Felicio missed a penalty with just over 15 minutes to go as we did everything but score and ended up losing 2-1. It didn't matter as our closest challengers also lost and so we were champions.

With the championship secured I started looking to next season, resting a few players and giving other players a run out. Our next game was at home to Torquay. A goal from Crouch and an own goal saw us run out 2-1 winners. We travelled to Peterborough. A decent performance and a penalty from Crouch saw us draw 1-1. Carlisle were the visitors for our final home game of the season. A late strike from Gibbs saw us win 1-0.

We finished the season away to Oxford. We played poorly in this game with Fordyce missing a penalty in a 0-0 draw. This was a really good season as we were only expected to finish in the top half, the media predicting 10th. We should be in good shape next season as we didn't use any loan players and with a few additions we might even challenge for back to back promotions.

[retired_kathy]

After Thursday's disastorous session yesterday we fully recovered to finish the season in mid-table.

We started with a 2-1 win over Wycombe. After a 2-1 defeat to Hereford we played the best we've played since I joined in a 2-0 win over Huddersfield.

A controversial goal was disallowed in the 2-0 defeat to Stevenage but we didn't play well anyway.

We then ended the season with three wins. 2-0 against Blackpool and Rushden and 1-0 against MK Dons.

Are survival was probably down to 5 goals in the session from my star striker Louis Dodds.

[retired_ck8300]

Let start off at last Thursdays session, well to keep it short it was terrible before the session I felt we could catch the top 2 teams but after maybe 1 win in about 6 games I was going to be lucky to finish in the playoffs at this point I couldn't take it and finished the session early leaving the rest of the session to my Assistant Manager.
When we started on Monday I was just outside the playoffs with 5 or 6 games left we dropped a few more points in the next few games and with 3 games left we basically needed to win the last 3 to have a chance of making the top 6, we played my old team Yeovil and the where currently 5 points above us with a far better goal difference so 3 points was a must and we managed to beat the 2-1 bringing us level with Birmingham and just 2 points behind Yeovil we all managed to win our next game leaving one game to go, Birmingham had a by far better goal difference about 11 goals better than ours and Yeovil had a 5 goal better goal deference than us, so I felt that if we won we needed Birmingham not to or Yeovil to loose well I was wrong because this is when a Roy of the Rovers run of matches started, Birmingham won there game thanks to a late winner and Yeovil managed a 0-0 draw but we hammered our opposition 6nil finishing above Yeovil on goal deference by just 1 goal and finished in the playoffs, we faced Bradford in the playoff semi finals and after the 1st leg at home we where 3-1 down after playing rubbish, in the 2nd leg we went in at half time 2nil down therefore loosing 5-1 on agg but then it happen the most amazing result I have ever had scoring 5 goals in the 2nd half and winning 5-6 on agg, I would not of believed it if I hadn't of seen it. On to the final we dominated the game from the start to the 120th min. but it ended 0-0, and like any movie script ending it had to go to pens. and after 4 pens each it was 4-4 but they missed there next one, so here we where the whole season decided on 1 pen. the pressure must have been immense but he didn't show it and slotted it into the side of the net a nail biting end to a unbelievable run of results and to be honest one of the most rewarding seasons I have ever had on the game, taking a rubbish set of ageing players who finished 4th from bottom only just not getting relegated on goals scored to a team with a average age of about 23 wining promotion.
This may not sound fantastic as I was Man City getting 52,000 attendances having 16mil to spend on players but considering I have received more on players going out than what I have spent on players coming in, I think I have done well considering I was expected to finish 18th.
Anyway to next season we currently have a team which would do very well in the Championship but in to Premiership the current set of players may struggle, I think I will be very busy during the off season bringing players in and letting players go, but hopefully I should have a decent transfer budget and if I can strengthen especially in on the wings we should be able to avoid relegation but only time will tell.

[retired_kathy]

We started last night's session im the off season, giving us a chance to make some signings.

I brought a young keeper in from MAn Utd on loan and signed Gareth Barry and Darius Vassell on free transfers.

Once the season started we made a great start and found ourselves in 5th place after three games.

[retired_ck8300]

Thursdays session started on the 1st of June, so I looked at what players where available so I could start to rebuild my squad for the upcoming Premiership Season but the more I looked at my current squad and what players that where available the more I felt my current set of players may have what it takes to stay away from relegation, there were bigger named older players but I believe most of my current players have more potential and to bring in these so called better players on big wages would disrupt the squad and may also stunt there growth of my current younger players who were getting a good share of 1st team football so I decided that I would give the team that got us promoted a chance to keep us up with only 1 or 2 new additions. Even though I decided to keep a settled 1st team I still brought in quite a few promising young players to play in the reserves and give us more numbers in case of injuries. We also let go a few of the older players the likes of R.Dunne and G.Barry, also we got a offer of 5mil for a young reserve player who I had signed a season before for 1mil and had yet to get into the 1st team, so with the abundance of promising forwards at the club I decided to accept the offer a 4mil profit on a player who had never made a 1st team appearance seemed too good to turn down.
So coming up to the 1st game of the season I think it would be a difficult season but we may just have enough to stay up. At the end of Thursdays session we got in 1 game and we managed a draw away so not a bad start.

Mondays session started with a few weeks of the transfer window left but I was not looking to make many changes but a few days before the end of the window Chelsea came in with a offer of 14mil for my 1st choice centre back he is only 20 or 21 and will be a great player in the future but 14mil for a developing player seemed to much to turn down so I accepted the offer but this caused so many problems as I had to try and find a replacement and there was only a few days of the window left so I quickly scouted a few players and bought 2 of them for a combined total of around 2.5mil and hoped 1 of them would be good enough, I also excepted a last min. bid for D.Sturridge of 5.5mil as I have allot of decent strikers but it was not completed in time which may be a good thing as he is currently 1st choice but there is not much to separate between 5 or 6 I currently own, I will try and resolve this in the January window.
Anyway at the end of Mondays session we got though the 1st 9 games of the season and we managed 3 wins - 3 draws and 3 losses, one being a 5nil win but another being a 4nil loss, but other than these 2 results the others where close and being on 12 points from 9 games and being 11th in the league 7 points above relegation I feel we have had a good start to the season I just hope it continues.

[retired_amitesh]

We made a few signings during the close season but we already had a good platform to build from and hadn't lost any players from last season. We were dealt a major blow before a ball was kicked as we lost Crouch for 3-5 months. Our opening game was at home to Hartlepool. This was a very tight even game with both sides playing well. The game was settled in our favour thanks to a Hunt goal after 15 minutes to give us a 1-0 win. Preston away followed this. This was a pretty poor game with few chances and it finished 0-0.

We played Northampton at home next. We took the lead after 20 minutes thanks to a Rainey penalty. Northampton equalised on the hour mark before scoring in stoppage time to condemn us to a 2-1 loss. We destroyed Northampton but we lacked a cutting edge without Crouch. Grays away was next. Efthymiou scored mid way through the first half on his debut to put us 1-0 up at the break. Grays levelled with about 20 minutes to go courtesy of an own goal. Hunt restored our lead with 15 minutes to go before Cook sealed the win in stoppage time make the final score 3-1.

Bristol City away in the League Cup finished Thursday's session. We had an absolute shocker and lost 3-0. Monday's session started with a trip to play Accrington Stanley. A good first half performance saw us go in 2-0 up thanks to a Hunt double. We were awful in the second half. We conceded 2 goals and had to settle for a 2-2 draw. Doncaster at home followed. We started well without scoring before we were reduced to 10 men when Van Den Broeck was sent off shortly before half time. Roberts gave us the lead just before the hour mark. Doncaster equalised before Hunt restored our lead. Doncaster had chances to equalise but we held on for a 2-1 win.

Nottingham Forest away was next. For the second game running we were reduced to 10 men when Scott was harshly sent off before the 10 minute mark. We held out until 10 minutes from time before Forest scored to win 1-0. We looked to bounce back at home to Barnsley. A goal from Roberts shortly before half time gave us a 1-0 win. Crewe away followed. Roberts gave us the lead after 3 minutes. Crewe equalised on the half hour with a penalty before scoring the winner in stoppage time and we lost 2-1.

Hereford were the next to visit. This was a truly shocking performance as we lost 2-0. We looked to get back to winning ways away to Gillingham. A stunning first half saw us go in 3-0 up thanks to Moussa and a double from Beesley, our loan signing who was making his debut after recovering from injury. A goal from Hunt made the final score 4-0 as the change in tactics worked. We looked to build on this when we hosted MK Dons. We played well again and won 2-0 thanks to goals from Pitt and Moussa.

We travelled to Southend next. We were awful in the first half and were lucky to go in only 1-0 down. We turned it around in the second half. Beesley equalised before Moussa gave us the lead 60 seconds later. Bunce put us 3-1 up before Pitt was sent off leaving us a man short for the last 10 minutes. Southend pulled one back from the spot with 4 minutes to but we managed to hold on and win 3-2. It was Blackpool at home next. Another good performance saw us win 3-0 with goals from Beesley, Hunt & Elliott. We finished the session at home to Brentford. We played Brentford off the park in the first half and missed a penalty before Elliott scored before half time. Moussa fired home a free kick on the hour mark to double our lead. Hunt added a third before Brentford pulled one back to make the final score 3-1.

A good start to the season which saw us sitting in 3rd place after 15 games, 3 points from the top.

[koolmartian]

hi can i join ur clan and ur game??