retired_zjx510

I smell 3 players for each position for Primera Division teams with 3 mansons in it :p.

retired_trisha myette

I also smell only 3 people posting updates (relatively) regularly...

retired_confal2

Sorry Alex. Real life keeps rearing its ugly head and I've had to put the story on hold. I promise I'll make an effort :o

Koz, I'm a bit perplexed by your post. Do you mean we Mansons have exaggeratedly large squads? Is there any empirical evidence to support this?

Hope life is going well for you. It's not too bad at this end :cool:

retired_trisha myette

WILL XEREZ SURVIVE AMONG THE ELITE?

A new season has started, and it seems a new era too has begun in Spanish club football. The last couple of seasons have seen the rise of traditionally small clubs to the highest division in Spain, which is itself one of the most competitive leagues in the world. Thus, Albacete, Tenerife, Ciudad Murcia, Valladolid and Xerez reached the Primera Liga and look all poised to stay there (at least in the short term).

Four games have been played so far, and all of these clubs are playing above expectations, except Valladolid who have had a difficult start to the season.
Xerez manager Alexis Manson has made five signings over the summer, mainly reinforcing the defence, as expected.
Justo Villar, Paraguyan international, goalkeeper.
Andres Felipe Gonzalez, Colombian international, central defender, who rejected offers from Milan, Barcelona and Real Madrid (to name but a few) to join the Primera Liga minnows.
Fabio Santos, Brazilian under 21 international, left back. Yohan Cabaye (DMC) and Pape Waigo (SC) also joined the club on loan to add more depth to the team in case of injuries.

Xerez's start has been very promising despite a very tricky first couple of games. They faced Atletico Madrid, who finished second last season, at home. Against all odds, Manson's men escaped with a draw, in a game that was thoroughly controlled by Atletico.

The second game was even harder, as they travelled to the Nou Camp to battle against Primera Liga champions Barcelona. In a surprisingly even game, Barca managed to scrape through 3-1. Xerez created chances but failed to capitalise on them, while Barca's finishing, and more precisely Eto'o's world class skills proved to be the difference between the two sides on the day.

On day 3, Xerez came back from 0-2 down to finally beat Valladolid 3-2. Xerez had been unlucky to go 2-0 down, and fought admirably until the end, which shows the team has a lot of character and belief. Kuky's men however need to learn how to manage a lead. They never looked a confident side, even when they were 2-0 up. It might be a tough season for them ahead unless Kuky finds a way to motivate his players into giving their best, or unless he adds quality to the team in January, though it is perhaps a little early to think about that just now.

In their fourth game, Xerez brushed relegation battlers Mallorca aside, though the 5-2 scoreline was probably a little flattering. Indeed, Mallorca resisted until the last 20 mins, when they completely collapsed.

Promising start for Xerez, but there is still a long way to go, so it is important that the the whole club keeps their heads firmly screwed on their shoulders to ensure the team's form continues.

retired_confal2

I've had to give up on the story, as I'd just fallen too far behind with respect to the game itself. I might continue it in the Stories Forum eventually, but right now I simply don't have the time.

Anyway, in terms of an update, it's the beginning of the third season ('07-08), and Tenerife somehow managed to stay in Primera despite a very poor first year in the top flight.

What kept the 'Chicharreros' up was a run of five league wins in six games, between mid-December and the end of January, but the lack of firepower was all too obvious by the end of the season, with playmaker Curro ending up top scorer for '06/07 with just 11 goals...

The summer has seen some some changes in the squad, with Oyvind Hoas leaving for Derby, and goalkeeper Erick Delgado off to Wigan. Airam, Kirian and Xisco were all offloaded too, generating around 9M Euros in sales overall.

On the arrivals front, the big news was the signing on a free transfer of former Marseille favourite Didier Drogba, who has been an instant hit with ten goals in his first seven competitive games. He is partnered up front by Serb giant Nikola Zigic, who also arrived on a free, as did Fabio Bazzani, young keeper Mathieu Dreyer, Mickaël Chrétien and Guillermo Pereyra. Central defence was also considerably strengthened by the arrivals of Younes Kaboul (5.25M E) and Leandro Gioda (4M E), two players who should have bright futures ahead of them.

The opening stages of the season have gone well, with four wins, one draw and two defeats to date in Primera, as well as a comfortable 6-1 win for the second string in the Spanish Cup Third Round, against Segunda B side Melilla. The club is currently lying in 4th place in Primera, with 13 points from 7 games.

Armada Sur para siempre!

retired_trisha myette

Four human teams were fighting for the top three promotion spots, but David and Kuky always looked like getting the first two places.

It was a fierce battle between Simon and Alexis for third place, and though Alexis spent much of the season in third position, in the end it was Simon who just about made it into the Primera Liga.

Patrick and James, though they finished in very good positions, never posed any challenge to the top four teams for promotion. The gap between Ciudad Murcia and Gimnastic would be much greater the next season.

Mika's team never managed to take off, and struggled all season. He was soon sacked and took over Cartagena in the 3rd division, got into the playoffs with them, but failed to achieve promotion.
Damo missed the first few sessions as he his laptop died on him after the very first session, and was therefore unable to make all the deals and signings he perhaps would have made had he been present. He had to make do with an average team and just was not able to do as well as he would have wished to.

A summary of the second season will be posted on sunday.

retired_trisha myette

Oh, forgot to say thank you to Damo for adding the player names next to their teams on the screenshot. :thup:

retired_trisha myette

Oooooops I made a really stupid mistake... deleted the screenshot on Photobucket... anyway, here are the screenshots of the second season's league standings.



As you can see, it was a relatively tough first season for the newcomers. Albacete, in an enormous stroke of luck, qualified for the UEFA cup, as Spain was selected as one of the most fair-play leagues in Europe, and Simon's team had the best fair play record in the league.
Ignore Celta. At the time it was still being managed by a computer-controlled manager.
I now bring you... the Segunda Liga!



Ciudad and Xerez were much too strong for the rest of the pack. It was an exciting finish. Though Ciudad dominated the league from start to finish, Xerez managed to get a point ahead of them with just a handful of games remaining, but then Ciudad won at Xerez in a beautiful game which ended 2-4, and finished strongly to win the title.
It was another dull season for Damo who just has not been able to bring success to Lleida. Credit to him for finishing pretty strongly though after an abysmal start to the season.
James was sacked a couple of months into the season (I think?!) and joined Algeciras, a Divison B4 team.
Let us now look at division 2 B3.



Mika really deserved to get promoted following a superb season, but what is effectively the third division is Spain is in fact a cruel one. Only one team achieves promotion, and it isn't even the champion! The first four teams have to play against each other in playoffs, and Mika was eliminated in the semi-finals. Better luck next time!



James picked Algeciras, one of the strongest sides in their division, but just missed out on the playoffs. He has been criticising this league from the moment he set foot in it, claiming that it's 'impossible to get out of'. And I have to admit, the poor man has a point!

retired_trisha myette

Screenshots of the current season will be posted tonight or tomorrow.

retired_lauriecat

I have a point but the kuky monster wont change the rules...