retired_vbrazon

1st Jan 10


oooohhhhhhhhh my head. Drink is great when your drinking it but when you stop the pain, the pain is o so bad. I always feel like this on New Years day but i suppose that's what i get for going home to see the boyz.
A special mention to Davey Ross who done a few things he will never be able to forget. Top Bloke you are mate and J.R hope the 5mins spent watching big james singing won't haunt you for life bud.

Anyway, the things that happened while i was at home.

Good News:
Freddy Guarin won the goal of the month for his goal against Ipswich.
Great News:
D'Alessandro won a few awards while i was away.
They are:
World Footballer of the year
European player of the year
European midfielder of the year.

well done son. Top bloke winning top awards that were fully deserved.

Bad News:
I got back this morning to find that Denny Landzaat who is retiring at the end of the season, has done more damage to his ankle than first thought and he is getting an op today that will keep him out for at least 4 months. I'm hoping he'll be fit for the run in. I hopew you'll all join me in wishing him good luck today and a swift recovery.

Anyway i'm off to speak to Gauston about our FA Cup game against Fulham.

HAPPY NEW YEAR TO YOU ALL

Hugo

retired_vbrazon

2nd Jan 10

Before i cut to todays game - Fulham(A) in the FA Cup.

I have 2 pieces of exclusive news for you all.
1. We have signed Mikael Landreau(GK) from Nantes on a pre-contract agreement
2. We have also signed DaMarcus Beasley(AMRL) from Everton on a pre-contract agreement.

2 excellent signings for whoever takes over my role at the club at the end of the season. I'd also like to make it clear that i am firmly putting my support behind Old Gauston's application because he has served his time as my assistant and if i'm honest he's taught me 99% of what i know about management.

Anyway, to todays game aginst Fulham who were the FA Cup holders but not anymore. 5-0 was the result and i'm flippin delighted. 5-0 gainst any EPL team is a great result especially away from home in such a important cup game.

The game was a joy for me to watch and a nightmare for anyone connected with Fulham.

The Line up had 2 of the young lads who have benn doing weel for the reserves in it and they fully justified there inclusion.

Team:
Murray
Bardsley-Stewart-Hofland-Stalteri
Guarin
W-Phillips-Nolan-Bierkofa
Raulin-Ewerthon

My idea was to put Stewart and Raulin beside good experienced pros so they could be talked through the game.

The game started like a dream for us and especially oung Raulin. After just 2mins Nolan had a shot which came back off the bar and Raulin done what all good strikers should, and followed up to pop the ball home.
The game was then swinging towards Fulham until 25mins in Djimi Traore, who had already picked up a yellow for a foul on Wright-Phillips fouled him again. The ref rightly sent him off in my opinion because he was incredibly late and luckily Shaun is a nimble wee fella and can take it.
That gave us a huge advantage with Fulham having to switch to a 441 formation.
It took us 9mins to add to our 1-0 lead and it was Kevin Nolan who scored. It was a simple finish after some good work and a nice cross from the left by Ewerthon. 2-0 and things were LOOOOKIN GOOOOOOOD.
2mins before half time we made the game certain. Ewerthon got some space in the box and Bierkofa picked him out with a good low cross. Ewerthon then took a touch and slotted it into the money bag. 3-0 at half time, we were on easy street and everyone knew it.
The 2nd half came was a case of damage limitation for Fulham and they manged to restrict us to 2 goals.
The 1st came in 64mins when Bierkofa raced through on goal and hit a shot that came back off the goalie and into his path so he could fire off a second shot that made its home the bottom corner of the net.
The 2nd goal of the 2nd half and the 5th of the game came after 66mins and it was a sublime move that involved 5 players.
Love who had come on for Raulin, played a nice pass to Bierkofa who then knocked it to Hofland, Hofland then hit a 30 yard pass to Nolan who beat 2 men before playing a one two with Bierkofa and crossing to the back post where Love who knocked the ball straight into the path of Ewerthon for him to prod home his 2nd of the game. 5-0 and a wonderful demonstration on how to dismantle 10 men.

I'm also well chuffed at the performances i got from Raulin and Chris Stewart who were both immense.

Luvvvvvvelly and a great excuse to go out and celebrate tonight. :cool:

Our next game is in the League Cup semi 1st leg:
Birmingham(A)

See you soon

Hugo

retired_vbrazon

6th Jan 10

Hellllllllllllllo,

Hows we all doing today, fantastic, shiney, nice.

Past few days news:
Well we've been drawn against Newcastle away in the FA Cup but to make it a little more interesting, when the draw was made i was on the phone with Freddy Shep. He was on the phone asking about Thomas Buffel or "buffy" as i like to call him. Buffel's contract is up at the end of the season and i don't intend on renewing it so i thought what the hell lets strike a deal.
We've sorted a deal out for Buffy to go up north and for 600k and Chris Dyer to come down to London.
Chris Dyer is a central defender and has 4 caps for the England u21's. I'd had my eye on him before Newcastle picked him up so it has actually worked out really well for me. He will start of training with the reserve lads but like Raulin, Grosbahs and a few others i'd be surprised if he isn't making a impact under whoever is here next season.

Anyway the 1st leg of the League Cup.

Birmingham(A)

I decided to adopt a more defensive outlook because i figured we could do the damage when we got them down to white hart lane.

Team:
Westerveld
Mabizela-Alex-Hofland-Gardener
Guarin
Kallon-Nolan-Ono-Trochowski
Keane

Well i suppose my tactics might have played a part in the game being thee most boring i've ever, and i mean EVER seen. It was murder and i didn't even have a beer to sooth the pain.
The only thing of note in the first 80mins was that Damien Johnson got sent off for tackling Keane at knee height. It was a wreckless challenge and he should have been red carded 3 times and done for assault in my book.
Then the only thing to make the game worth it for us was Kallon scoring after 85mins. He latched on to a good cross from Bierkofa and hit it on the volley into the corner of the net.

A 1-0 win, not bad but i've no intentions of watching the video of that game.

Anyway i'm shooting off now cos i'm having a wee poker night at mines and the boys are due round in about an hour so i better start bending a few of the cards although knowing those cheeky sods, they'll probably bring a deck just to make sure i don't knobble them.

Have a good week

Hugo

retired_vbrazon

10th Jan 10

Ohhhh, people. I lost 10k the other night. I tried to bluff Rui Costa and he done me up like a kipper.
It was a sore one i can tell you.

Down to business eh....

Team against Everton(H)
Robinson
Stalteri-King-Upson-Kleber
Geremi-Guarin-Hitzelsperger
D'Alessandro
Keane-Ewerthon

The game is one i felt we needed to win as we are starting to drift away from Man Utd.

The game started brightly enough and after 11mins Robbie Keane slammed home the ball from 8 yards after some good work on the right flank from Stalteri and Geremi.
Later in the half we had chances to close the game out but we just didn't take them. Guarin being the main culprit with a header that flew over from 4 yards out.

The 2nd half became more of a struggle. We were trying for a second goal and Everton were trying to hold out and hit on the break. I felt we had enough momentum to eventually get another goal but i was wrong. Everton cleared there lines and the ball fell on the halfway line to Andy Johnson who shifted his butt into or box pronto before slotting the ball through Robbo's legs and into the net.
The goal really took it out of us and we were lucky that Everton missed a good chance with 4mins to go.

1-1 final score.

I can't have to much of a go at the boys because it was me who told them to go for a second and credit where it's due, Gary Megson set his team up well in the second half and i suppose they deserved a point.

If i'm honest i think the title is out of reach for us now. Man Utd are 8 points clear and on a strong run of form. We will try to catch them but it will be tough and i believe some bookies are already paying out on them so that says a lot.

Have a good week

Hugo

retired_vbrazon

16th Jan 10

Evenin All.

Hope you've all ahd a more enjoyable day after a horrible afternoon.

As per usual i'll give you the news befoer i talk about todays FA Cup match.

First off, we have rejected a 2.2mil offer for young Lee Dennis from Leverkusen. The young lad will be a future captain of this club if he carries on performing like he has been.

Then another exclusive to you folks, i'm hoping this will cheer up your day a wee bit.
Alexander Farnerud will be joining in the summer. I left the final decision to old Gauston and he feels Farnerud is a top notch so he has been given a deal.

Now the bit i'd rather not talk about.

Newcastle(A) FACup 4th Rd.

Team:
Murray
Stalteri-Bardsley-Hofland-Gardener
Guarin
W.Phillips-Anderson-Hitzelsperger-Bierkofa
Aruna

I was going for width more than anything in this game.

It was brutal. I can't even describe how brutal other than to say that being 3-0 down by half time is horrendous. Baros a player i'd sold to Newcastle a year ago had banged in a hat-trick.

I couldn't speak at half time i was just so disappointed. Although i felt the ref was being extremely harsh on my boys for nothing tackles i couldn't complain about the 3-0 bit.

The 2nd half we perked up a bit and got a goal after 61mins. A free kick from Hitzelsperger zipped past the goalie. I figured i'd take 3-1 because we were so bad. Then something seemed to happen, we actually started to make a mark in the game and after some brilliant passing and moveent from Love and Kamara my 2 2nd half subbies, Love hammered home from just inside the area. Things were looking up. Then bang, that idiot Rob Styles sent Hofland off with 4mins to go for a nothing challenge on Ameobi. Styles if ou read this, you are a f****** idiot. You are thee most card happy son of a b**** i've ever seen. You seem more happy about being on tele than refin the game. PLONKER!
To add to my misery Ameobi went through on goal with a minute to go and made it 4-2.

The result is a blow because we were so close to pulling back a 3 goal margin that i could smeel it. Then that idiot Styles sends off Hofland, he also booked 7 of my players and i can only think of 2 or 3 that even came close to justifying yellow cards.

Anyway it's gonna hurt but i'll get over it.

I'll no doubt get sanctioned by those numpties at the FA for my rant but screw them.

Hugo out.

retired_vbrazon

20th Jan 10

Lots of news today folks plus the 2nd leg of the League Cup semi vs Birmingham.

News first:
Both Man Utd and Chelsea have made offers for Ewerthon.
Man Utd 21mil
Chelsea started at 17mil but are now at 25mil
both offers are good and i'll be having a chat with Ewerthon in the next few days to see what he thinks. I'm hoping he'll stay but i'm always honest with my boys and i hope they'll be honest with me.
Calum Davenport has left us to join Sunderland for 1.1mil with 30% of his next fee also thrown in. I took Cal for a few beers to wish him all the best. He was a good lad, he's just unlucky that our central defence is so strong.

Todays game then folks:
Team:
Westerveld
Stalteri-Alex-Upson-Kleber
Nolan-Prutton-D'Alessandro
Kamara
Keane-Ewerthon

1-0 up on aggregate

First thing i'm going to say before i talk about the game is, how could the FA possibly give us Rob Styles again he's a flippin muppet. If they are fussed about paying this plonker off i'll pay whatever it takes. He even banned me from having a few beers in my chair. STYLES, STYLES get to f*** was the chant through most of the game so FA take a hint.

1st HALF:
It started off in a tence manner as Birmingham needed a goal but didn't want to go gung-ho and we wanted a goal to make it hard on them but didn't want to throw to much forward and leave ourselves open.
The game then sprung into life after 20mins Karyaka sped forward and hit a great shot which Westerveld done well to get a hand to. They then tested him from the corner which followed but his punch out was good.
The game was starting to go from end to end and it was only a matter of time before one of us scored. Thankfully it was Robbie Keane who opened the scoring, he latched on to a long throw, turned and slid the ball home. 1-0 34mins gone.
Then 2mins later Upson rose to smash a header off the post from a D'Alessandro corner. Close but no cigar and all that.
Half time 1-0.
I told the boys at half time to try and kill the tempo of the game and play tidy football.
2nd Half:
We pretty much controlled the game and were putting together some nice passing moves to keep Birmingham on the defensive.
After 66mins we broke them down. We were given a corner which D'Alessandro whipped in low towards the near post, Ewerthon just popped out a toe and directed it home. 2-0 and a goal for the man who might have playing in his last game for the club.
Birmingham then got a flukey goal throygh Stephen Luckett. He flighted a long ball forward which took a nasty bounce and ended up in the net. 2-1.
We got back into our stride again and finished Birmingham off with 2mins to go. Kamara was the benifactor of some wonderful play from Ewrthon and Robbie Keane who left him one on one with the goalie. He then faked a shot and nipped round the goalie to make int 3-1 on the night and 4-1 on aggregate.

I'm extremely happy with the character the guys showed tonight and they can look forward to there first League Cup Final.
The game is against Man Utd who beat Sheffield Utd 4-0 on aggregate.

It'll be a tough game but it's a one of game so we might as well have a pop at it.

The only downside to tonight is that Alex is out for 2 weeks after picking up a knock to his knee in tonights game.

Hope you all enjoyed tonights game and i'll be back on the 23rd after our game away to Newcastle, we will do better this time.

Hugo

retired_rubbia

I'm still loving this story. The added extras that you are throwing in make it so entertaining. :thup:

retired_vbrazon

cheers ryno.

retired_vbrazon

23rd Jan 10

Evening all,

Hmmm, where to start.

Well today and the last few days have been very interesting to say the least.

On thursday i met with Ewerthon for lunch after training to discuss what he wanted me to do about the offers from Man Utd and Chelsea. The outcome being that he'd rather go abroad but because i'm leaving at the ed of the season he would go to either Man Utd or Chelsea if nothing else came up. I phoned the club and asked them to send faxes to the likes of Milan etc offereing Ewerthon for 25million. We will se what happens with that over the next few days.

Yesterday, we received a unexpected offer of 7.5mil for Kevin Nolan from Aston Villa. I've spoken with Kevin and he has also indicated his desire to leave because he wants more games. I can't argue with that so it looks like he'll be off by Monday.

Lee Dennis has gone out on loan to Reading for 3 months just to get him some more competitive games.

Arsenal and Liverpool both made offers for Wright-Phillips but i haven't even looked at them. I just tore the fax up. Shaun is happy here and i'm happy to have him.

Todays game: Newcsatle away.

Well i should have known it was going to be a bad day as i woke up feeling really drowsy and a bit sick. I phoned Charlotte Cowie and she came round and has said i've got some sort of virus and that i've to stay at home for 4 or 5 days as i could risk giving it to the players. This means my reports are going to be results only and what i see on tv etc.

The team Gauston started with was:
Westerveld
Stalteri-King-Hofland-Kleber
Kallon-Guarin-Hitzelsperger
D'Alessandro
Keane-Ewerthon

Ewerthon had told me he wanted to play every game until he moves so i'm assuming he told Gauston the same.

Unfortunately we lost 3-2
goals for newcastle from 3 of our ex players.
Baros- 2mins
Buffel- 89mins
Davis- 91mins

our goals came from:
Ewerthon-51mins
Stead- 82mins

I've not seen the game yet but "Champagne" Charlie said that we were murder in the 1st half and brilliant for 40mins in the 2nd half and then were hit with 2 goals that he reckons could be in contention for goal of the season.

I'll watch the highlights in the morning as i'm to tired to watch them tonight. I think i'll just get myself a hot chocolate and drag my butt to bed.

I'll post again asap.

Have a good weekend folks

Hugo

retired_vbrazon

30th Jan 10

Hi folks,

I'm still at home in my kip. This virus has been a absolute killer. I've lost 10 pounds in weight, which could be described as a good thing as the old beer belly was kickin in.

I can only really tell you what i've been told over the phone from Old Gauston and Rudi Vollborn.

Nolan's deal has been done with Villa. Nolan phoned me to tell me himself and we wished each other all the best. I hope he doess well up there.

Ewerthon is looking like he is off to Chelsea. Milan offered 17mil and Frank Arnesen apparently knocked it back. I would have let him go if he wanted to. He has been a great player for the club and he arrived on a free. Chelsea have offered 21mil plus 4mil based on goals etc.

Anyway todays game: Sheffield Utd away
Again i haven't seen it but Rudi phoned to say they won 1-0 with a goal from Kallon after 82mins.
He told me the team played well but Paul Gallacher pulled off a string of saves to keep the score at 0-0 for so long.
The only down side was big John Stead picked up a knock and will be out for 2/3 weeks.

I'm not sure what the team was but i trust Gauston to use his ability to judge who should play.

Anyway i'm just lying about and taking it easy. My mum has phoned a few times to check how i'm doing and Charlotte Cowie is round every day to check me over. That is probably the only enjoyable part of being ill.

Anyway have fun folks and if your in the pub this weekend have a pint for me.

Hugo