retired_hollieo

Superb report Sam.

retired_ron

You never complement my reports

retired_maggie123

thats no report it's a bloody fairytale story

BLiND

As I settled into the managers chair I surveyed what lay round me at AV.

The goalkeeping department was sound with good backup and 1st team keeper. Looking at the defence I knew changes had to be made.

Midfield was also sound without being exceptional. Only outstanding members of the squad were Barry and Solano who were valued at £5.5 and 4 million respectively, not world class by a long way.

Attack is where AV really excel with ~Vassell and Angel leading the line with Cole and Moore as backup.

The first delve into the transfer market was to recruit some more scouts to search for those precious players who could turn this average squad into something a little more special.

A bit of a surprise the first signing who was Robert (£1 mill)coming down from Newcastle to provide a bit of flair on the LW. Whittingham to provide backup down the left wing with Samuel at LB.

First out the door was Mellberg going to Middlesbrough for £4.8 mill. Not the best deal but wanted to free up some money for future spending

His immediate replacement was Frank De Boer (Now 34) who came in on a free transfer. I’ve decided he’s only a stop gap until I can get a replacement center half or get some younger players with 1st team experience.

Next out was Wayne Henderson off to Aldershot for 210k.

By now most other managers had brought in 4/5 players and were looking at AV wondering what was going on. The next few transfers showed what AV were aiming at.

First Vorisek came in from Sparta Prague for 500k to fill the DMC spot. Veron then came in for 4mill and Dyer in a cut price 2 mill. Wages would be the stumbling block but for Newcastle continuing to pick up half has wages. These 2 transfers were crucial to bolstering the AV midfield and creating the chances to be put away by Angel and Vassell.

Last played in was Sonk – a young defender who I hope will be a good player in the future.

Onto the games – first up

Portsmouth 3 -1 Aston Villa

A lot of my new signings had their debuts but it wasn’t to be – after initially holding them to 1-1 to half time Portsmouth turned in the style in the second half to win 3-1 at fratton park. Not the most ideal start to a managerial career, especially when I was hoping to start with at least a point.


After a disappointing start Aston Villa had to travel to big spenders Newcastle. Before the game the Newcastle manager was confident of a win.

Newcastle 0 – 1 Aston Villa

A confident counter attacking display from Aston Villa, with a few shaky moments in defence, led to a 1-0 win with Veron scoring his second in 2 games.

Aston Villa 3 – 0 WBA

A good win with Aston Villa’s first home game of the season. The goals were shared around with Angel opening his account for the season as well as Vassell chipping in too. Most pleasing was seeing Vorisek opening is account for the club with a long range strike. Man of the match was Angel showing his worth to the team

Tottenham 0 – Aston Villa 0

Nothing of note to say in this match – not worth watching apart form the two shots that Robinson scrambled away. Robinson was in fact the only difference between the two teams in a match short on quality and goals

Aston Villa was however rocked after the WBA match in that Dyer has broken his leg and will be out for the next 8 months. Solano is expected to deputise with Lee Hendrie providing backup.

retired_hollieo

Deadline day signings bolster Everton's challenge

Everton are pleased to announce three new signings to add depth to a threadbare squad and which will, hopefully, prevent us falling through the relegation trap door this season. I just hope that the Everton administration bug is fixed or I'm screwed.

First into the arrivals lounge is the second Polish player to join the squad in defensive midfielder, Mariusz Lewandowski, who was signed from Shakatar Donetsk for £3.5m. Joining him is Czech U21 international and again a defensive midfielder, Tomas Sivok who cost a bargain £600k from Sparta Prague. And completing the deals in is, talented left winger Tobias Hysen a Swedish U21 international who has had an immediate impact in his first two games.

Everton 6 - 2 Charlton Athletic

A comprehensive hammering of the Addicks who had previously held Newcastle and West Brom to draws. Two goals in the opening three minutes was an indication of what was to become a rout, as Everton raced into a 5-0 lead before Charlton pulled two goals back. Everton scorers were Osman, Zurawski, Hysen, a Hreidarsson og and two from the brilliant boot of Tomas Gravesen who, ominously for the rest of the Premiership, looks to be on fire at the minute.

Everton 2 - 0 Norwich City

Third home win on the trot was recorded through a routine victory. A 30 yard rocket from Gravesen registered his fourth goal of the season and set us on our way after 24 minutes. Italian forward Emmanuel Calaio wrapped up the points with his first goal for the club on 83, after an outstanding one-two with Gravesen on the edge of the box.

So, up to 6th place but it gets serious now as after the League Cup match at Sunderland, I begin a tough set of matches against my fellow managers. Away to Mark's on fire Aston Villa, home to Leo's unpredictable Man City, away to Ligs' struggling Boro outfit, before entertaining Pagi at Goodison and a trip down the south coast to Rob's Southampton. Should be an entertaining session on Tuesday night.

retired_teresa assis

Only 1 piece of transfer news before the window shut, Carlo Nash wash shipped out to Celtic for £150k

Boro 0-2 WBA

An even game where a draw would've been fair, which in all honesty is a poor performance for a club supposedly pushing for a UEFA cup spot at home to a relegation favourite. WBA owed their first goal to Mark Schwarzer, who decided to go walkabouts while Tsiartas had the ball 30 yards out, and the Greek promptly lobbed it over the Abo's head and into the net, giving the Baggies an early lead.
As Boro pushed in the 2nd half, Kanu (looking very offside) latched onto a through ball and finished calmly.

UEFA Cup: Boro 4-0 Maritimo

Now this was more like it. Viduka (59) Mendieta (70, 74) and Nemeth (90) bagged the goals in a convincing victory, which should be enough to put Boro through to the group stages, barring a catastrophe in Madeira.

retired_ron

Blackburn Riding High

New manager Rick Boult calls it a 'revelation', but us here at Sky Sports New call it 'the best managing since the great Sir Matt Busby!'

Pre Season

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR> Due to me missing most of pre season for personal reasons which i have already gone into, i have not been very active in the transfer market. With the Goalkeeping area and the defence already seen to be deemable, and a very competative midfield, i just felt the need to add some class into the squad. I feel this has been done with the arrival of Mario Santana and Labinot Harbuzi, with the finishing exploits of Karl Noon on loan. This has taken up all our transfer money so unless the board pull the sheep out of there ass things will look the same until the next transfer window in 2016. Things are looking up though, undefeated in preseason with good wins at Barnet and Preston <HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Signings

Mario Santana - 3.3Mil - Palermo - Quality winger, can play left or right side, only 22
Labinot Harbuzi - 45k - Feyenoord - Can play accross the middle, strong with the ball, good finisher
Karl Noon (Loan) - Liverpool - Striker with great potential, hopefully secure full transfer in Summer

The Season Kicks Off

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR> With no players exiting in preseason, the squad is looking healthy with competition in all places. As long as the likes of Dickov and Stead can bang in the goals, Brad Friedel has told me personally he will only concede 10 goals this season <HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

EPL - Everton (H) - 1-1 - Scorers - Ferguson, B
Assistant was left in charge as bladder problems kept me in hospital overnight. Not the start i wanted but slighty wiped the smile off Niall's face.

EPL - Man City (H) - 0-0 - Scorers - N/a
A very strong performance by Blackburn who were definately the better side. Emerton should have had a bagful but great keeping kept the Blue Manc Scum in it. A late chance for Anelka could have stole the points but Friedel stood tall and was counted.

EPL - Boro' (A) - 3-2 - Scorers - Tugay, Gallagher, Jansen
First win of the season suprisingly away from home. Boro manager Ligs after the game spoke of the great tactics employed to injure 2 of his top players. An early 2nd half goal from Jansen after woeful defending won the game, with some great last ditch defending from Gresko and Friedel making sure the points came back home to Lancashire.

EPL - Bolton (H) - 3-0 - Scorers - Dickov, Stead x2
Dickov opening the scoring with the manager minutes earlier telling Stead to warm up. It hadn't been the best of games for Paul before then with boo's coming from the home terrace and the manager. The substitutaion was then made later in the second half and Stead hit twice to make it 2 wins in a row and the fans were starting to believe Boult was a miracle worker.

Conclusion

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR> With the signings coming late on into the transfer window, they are as of yet to gel completely into the team. Once this happens, things, although looking good at the minute, should get better. Quality performers such as De Pedro and tugay may be rested for the upcoming game away to Southampton who are also unbeaten. <HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Boult was quietly confident ahead of the game, which saw him once again lock horns with current Saints manager Rob Steel. Both teams are unbeaten in the Premiership this season and with the winning team possibly going second, it looks like there could be some fireworks early on in this already, memorable season.

retired_teresa assis

Boro progress after slow start

9 points from the last 4 league games and progression into the UEFA Cup group stage represents good progress for the lads, after their poor start to the season. 5 games to catch up on:

Boro 2-1 Chelsea

Lying 19th in the league before this one, the pressure was on against a team with 18 points from a possible 21. Even Niall Murphy was crowing about the predicament Boro would be in after this game, as defeat to him was almost inevitable. But, as usual, Murphy showed why many in the media usually ignore most of his comments. Boro took the lead in the 39th minute, Hasselbaink firing a thunderous volley against his former club, a goal which won the Goal of the Month competition. But shortly after the break normal service was resumed: as Chelsea piled on the pressure, Boro gave away their 4th penalty of the season, which Lampard duly converted.
With Chelsea still in total control, things were looking ominous. But with 20 minutes left, a free kick from Ehiogu was flicked on past the stuttering Cech by Viduka to Hasselbaink, who got his second against his former club. The last 20 minutes saw Boro put 10 men behind the ball, and Chelsea failed to create any more clear chances. And excellent 1st home win of the season.

UEFA Cup: Maritimo 0-0 Boro

A dull game with little of note happening, the damage had already been done in the 1st leg.

Unfortunately Boro were given a tough group in the draw. Stuttgart and Dunfirmline will visit the Riverside, while away games at Parma and GAK will be played. 3rd place is enough to qualify, and that should be do-able.

Charlton 1-2 Boro

A second away win on the spin, and a fully deserved one. Downing (14) gave Boro a deserved early lead, rounding Kiely to finish off a good team move, latching onto Butt's through pass. Things were going smoothly until 5 minutes before the break, when left back Dorsin was stretchered off injured. With no replacement on the bench, centre half Pope had to play out of position.
The re-arrangement at the back unsettled the Boro defence, and injury-prone FA Cup lookalike Jeffers showed his 'fox-in-the-box' instincts that forced Wenger to waste £10mil on him, scoring after only just coming on the pitch (75). Unperturbed, Boro went on the attack, and Mendieta curled home a sweet 20 yard free kick (80). Cue 10 men behind the ball, and Boro again shut the game out with ease.

Tottenham 2-0 Boro

In the end this was quite an even game in which Boro could count themselves unlucky not to get a point, but the damage had been done in the first 20 minutes. Spurs started off very brightly, but were again indebtted to Boro's annoying habit of giving away penalties (that's 5 in 9 games now) and Luzi's apparently pushed Kanoute; Defoe dispatched the spot-kick (16). 5 minutes later in was 2-0, Thiam's shot took a wicked deflection of Queudrue, leaving Luzi totally wrong-footed.
Afterwards Boro started to take control without ever dominating, although Spurs keeper Robinson was repeatedly forced into action in the final 15 minutes, keeping out all Boro could throw at him.



Next up was Everton at home, who had recently been deducted 9 points for financial irregularities, which wouldn't surprise anyone who knew Niall "brown envelope" Murphy and his managerial ethics. This result had actually put Everton below Boro in the table, and the Irishman was very unhappy. This didn't stop him spouting out his usual guff in the press, saying his side would start their recovery of their lost points at the Riverside, no doubt about it; the win was guarenteed.

Boro 2-1 Everton

9 minutes had gone and Everton launched the games first attack: Osman played the ball to an offside Calaio, who petulantly ignored the decision and kicked the ball into the net. But, remarkably, no desicion was given, and Everton found themselves in the lead. As you can imagine, Murphy was running Mourinho-esque down the sidelines celebrating. The lead, however, was short lived, as George Boateng smacked an unstoppable 25 yard screamer into the top corner (17). 1-1, game on. The rest of the half was undramatic, both teams cancelling each other out and having few chances.
At half time, the sound of smashing tea cups could be heard in the away teams' dressing room, and cries of "we've gotta win this one, it's our cup final" coming from Murphy. To be fair, all the comotion seemed to be working, as Everton came out and slowly began to take control. Sivok hit the bar (60) and other chances were missed, as the tension rose up a notch. Cue tactical genius from Liggins; the tired Nemeth and Butt were replaced by Doriva and Christie. Then, in the 82nd minute, as Everton had lost the impetus they'd had for most of the half, Doriva played a brilliantly weighted slide-rule ball into the path of Christie, who rounded Richard Wright and slid the ball into the open goal.
For the final 10 minutes, Boro went to their normal 'end game' formation, and like Chelsea and Charlton, Everton couldn't find a way through. At the final whistle, a disappointed Murphy shook Liggins' hand, knowing full well his pre-match bravado had come back and kicked him in the arse.


Progress is being made, performances are good, a home tie against Hartlepool should see the side advance to the 4th round of the league cup, and a place in the latter stages of the UEFA Cup isn't out of our reach. The main problem is the ultra competetive league, where anyone seems to be able to beat anyone. Lying in 12th place, but only 2 wins off 6th, this good run of form (4 wins in the last 6 games) must be continued.


Oh, and for the record, Everton are 8, that's EIGHT, points behind us

retired_punk_and_roses

DaCosta considers quitting


With Newcastle only recording on win in the first 10 games, beleaguered Manager JDC is said to be considering his future. With rumours of dressing room discontent and his signings being questioned, JDC called a hastily arranged press conference

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR>‘It’s the inability for the strikers to score, the midfield to create and the defence to defend that is the problem. We are working hard to consider the options, but we must improve if we are to secure the 4th spot necessary to complete the 3 year plan we have for this club.

We are just a soft touch, clubs are coming here and winning 1-0 when they have only had one shot!’ <HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

JDC also said that he questioned his abilities when challenged by a fan named Sam, who was so disgruntled he verbally attacked JDC at his home commenting about selling the club down the river.

However JDC called the talk of moving to Milton Keynes and renaming the club as AFC Newcastle as malicious.

As the vultures gathered late last night and the players agents started ringing other clubs, JDC said he would not be selling anyone regardless of his decision.

retired_cycleman8

Reality hits the Saints!

After a super start to the campaign, Steels team hit the ground with a big bump. First of a injury to star player James Beattie ruled him out for 5 months. Add to that the inability to bring in a quality replacement meant that Saints were going into the next 3 months with only Phillips, Crouch and Ivana as the only senior strikers.

No players were brought in or sold before the window shut till January.

Southamption 1 - 3 Man Utd

Hopes were up for this top of the table clash. But all them hopes were finished after 35mins as Smith and Saha bagged a goal each to go 2-0 up at half time. Saints didnt even have a chance and so Steel changed from a lone striker to a three man attack for the second half. Immediatly the change brought dividends, for Man U that is, after wave after wave of attacks came streaming on the Saints goal. Only Niemi kept the score down. If it was a boxing match the ref would have stopped the game after Giggs made it 3 on 56min after Saha missed a penalty. Steel then decided to go 5-4-1 to keep the scoreline respectable and indeed got a consolation when phillips was scythed down in the area and Wome stepped up to score his first goal for Southampton.

Southampton 0 - 1 Blackburn Rovers

Rick brought his small northern outfit down to St Marys for a game between the only 2 unbeaten human managers at this stage. It was a largely even affair but Rovers created more chances and that legendry striker Karl Noon (who) popped up from a corner to nod past Niemi. It was largely a non event of a game and Rovers hung on to win 1-0. A dissapointing game and highlighted the weakness Saints have from defending corners!

Bournemouth 0 - 2 Southampton

After 2 defeats on the bounce the last thing Steel wanted was a south coast derby in the Coca Cola cup. He fielded a strong team as he considers this Saints best chance of silverware this season. The premiership team were always in control throughout 90mins and the scoreline doesnt reflect on the amounth of chances Saints created. Goals from Kevin Phillips and Peter Crouch ended Bournemouths quest for a upset. Next round Man Shitty at home.

Southampon 0 - 4 West Brom

Well what can I say except for the referees a w*nker. Saints were hopeful of 3 points against this Championship side, in the Premier League for season. It was a even game until Argel popped up at the near post from a corner to nod home. Again Saints frailities from a corner exposed!! Then the first sending off, Petras 2 bookings, from which Matusovic scored from the resulting free kick. Saints went to a 2-5-2 gung ho formation to try and get a result. That ended when Matusovic again scored from a nice move in the 50th min. Then Ambrose was sent off for two bookings in the 60th min and also Folly recieved his marching orders in the 67th min for another 2 bookings. Rob Styles (w*nker) must of thought it was xmas the way he was handing cards out to Saints players! So saints changed to a 2-3-2 formation and held out until the 83rd min when nwanko kanu scored from close range. Another home defeat and 3 league defeats on the bounce for Saints.

Tottenham 1 - 3 Southampton

Before the game Sam Bouchard wished me well for a good game, and reminded me of the fact that his team never lose at White Hart Lane. This made this result even more satisfying. Spurs dominated the 1st 45 mins, but couldnt stop the elegant Peter Crouch banging in a goal from the edge of the box after the Spurs defence decided to muck about with it. Second half and Spurs came straight back into the game as Southgate, now 82 yrs old, stole in at the front post from a corner to nod in past Niemi, again a goal from a corner. The scores were only level for 11 mins as Petit lined up a 27yd free kick and bent it around the wall into the top corner! Robinson no chance, and Petit the ex gooner, milked the celebrations to annoy the Spurs fans. After that Spurs had 1 or 2 good chances to equalise but Berger ended the game with a fierce effort from the edge of the box! Nether the less the Saints Board were happy with beating the North London Yobbos!!! :thup:

Newcastle 0 - 1 Southampton

After seeing the line up of Newcastle, which included Van Bommel, Crespo, Kluivert and Robinho, Saints boss was after a solid away point. Things didnt look good after 19mins as Kruiswijk got injured after 19mins and Steel didnt put a Centre Back on the bench. So after a bit of a shuffle round the game restarted. Saints kept Newcastle to long range efforts mainly, but Crespo and Robinho should of done better inside the box. 0-0 at half time Steel was pleased. Things got even better within 5 mins of the restart as Jakobsson smashed a header home in the 49th min. Newcastle werent in the game second half and we held on for a great 1-0 win. Jay has a tough time on his hands to avoid the dreaded sack before xmas!!

Southampton 0 - 2 Chelsea

What a boring game this was. A free flowing exhibition of football was anticipated but instead got a exhibition in the art of Italian style footie! Saints had another injury to a key player, this time Jakobsson after 5 mins. This meant Kenton and Petras were centre backs. I could of signed a Pygmy and played him centre half to have given me more height!!! Anyway 2 chances within 10mins gave Chelsea a 2-0 head start. Ballack and Terry both scoring headers (they didnt even have to jump). After that they sat back and just soaked up the limp Saints attack and the game drifted to 90 mins.

So 10 games gone, sitting in 8th place. Just the sort of position where you either challenge for Uefa or dissapear down the bottom of the table with the likes of Everton, Newcastle and Portsmouth. Steel can see his problems with this stat :

Home
Played 5 - Won 0 - Draw 1 - Lost 4

Away
Played 5 - Won 5 - Draw 0 - Lost 0

Impressive away form but at home it needs to be sorted!!!

Until next time Adios!!

UP THE SAINTS!!!