retired_rainmaker

November 2007

Once again we added to our ranks as we completed another signing.

Edouard Meka, Striker, 23 years, Norwegian
Meka has managed to score 76 goals for Fortuna in the first division in just 110 games. Pretty impressive for the youngster who has surprised everybody. I’m curious as to how he will do at this level, but he will do fine as the fourth choice keeper at the club.

For the return leg of our clash with AIK I decided to rest more than half the first team thanks to our four-goal lead. The many changes caused some serious disruptions to our flow, but it was still not enough to give the Swedes a real chance. Even using our second string we were strong enough to win it thanks to a goal from Mustapha. The draw was not too kind to us though. Awaiting us in the third round is Borussia Dortmund.

Sadly the first string seemed to have difficulties getting back to their usual level after getting a break and we found ourselves trailing Twenty 0-2 at half time. A substitution and some pretty big words helped and we managed to tighten the defence and score the two goals we needed to salvage a point.

Our unbeaten run has made quite a few pundits raise their eyes and we’re suddenly being discussed as a serious contender for the title. Pressed for a statement of our goals this year I informed them that we expected to be in the running as our goal is a place in the Champions League and a quarter final in the Uefa cup. Obviously this caused both the fans and my boss to be happy and optimistic.

The players obviously listened too as we shattered the Telstar defence a few days later. Beating them 4-1 with four different players scoring I think it is safe to say that we are ready to face the German giants.

Not too surprisingly we fell behind when Brazilian Robert scored. It didn’t last long before our Portuguese wonder, Nélson Marques had pulled us back level and when van Dijk got the winning goal for us in the second half we added another concern to the club who has had a terrible start to the Bundesliga.

Lying in second place meant that it was a real top clash we had in store as we travelled to second placed AZ Alkmar. Once again we were close to being able to field our strongest side We had by far the most chances in the first half, but their keeper were playing a real blinder and managed to keep us at bay for 56 minutes before we scored on him. To my shock we then dropped everything in the last half hour where we let AZ back in the match. They are too good to be given such help and they summarily punished us by scoring twice and inflicting our first league defeat upon us.

Facing PSV Eindhoven a few days after our first defeat is not really what I wanted. It would be the perfect way to bounce back, but could also result in another defeat which might turn into a trend. For the first hour it was all square and so even that nobody could predict a winner. Then Collinson suffered brain damage and committed a stupid penalty which not only resulted in a goal but also had him sent off. Something had to be done and in a desperate gamble Meka was sent on to add weight to our attack. To my immense surprise and the delight of the crowd he actually managed to score deep in injury time gaining us a single point.

retired_rainmaker

December 2007

We ended the year with an extremely busy month. If all went well we would not only progress in Europe but also start the new year lying in first place.

MVV Maastricht turned out to be almost predatorlike in their approach. We took an easy 3-0 lead, but then they got one goal back and refused to unleash the almost vice-like grip they got on us. Maintaining the pressure they made it 2-3 and finally pulled level to 3-3. An amazing comeback and not one which leaves me a happy man.

I hope the lapse in concentration was due to the players looking forward to the home leg against Dortmund and that it would make them 110% ready for this important game. My hopes were quickly dashed though when Rosicky gave the Germans the lead after six minutes. The dismissal of Robert later gave us back hope as we were still leading on awaygoals. Both teams fought hard for the goal that should settle the match and eventually it came thanks to the head of de Lange….. and then the bloody game crashed!

During the replay we actually won 2-1 at MVV and then Dortmund won 1-0. Still, it made little difference from the first match as the same team progressed in both versions. The main difference this time being that we had Musampa sent off.

The fourth round draw smiled upon us. Seems like we are being rewarded for our difficulties as we drew Lille. They are a good team, but I don’t fear them. Also, we played them in pre-season and they didn’t scare me then.

RBC Rosendaal was up next and with 3 months to our next European match it was time to focus on the Eresdivisie. Before being injured, again, de Lange managed a brace of goals and set us up on the path to victory. Meka also got him a brace while Marques just got one. Even so it was enough for an emphatic 5-1 win. Now I’ll just have to see how Zongo and the board reacts to my decision to bench the crowd please and biggest name at the club.

The sale of van Fessem combined with the suspension of Collinson and the fact that all my young keepers were out on loan meant we would have to manage two games with no keeper on the bench. The first match went sort of ok. Two golden minutes gave us a 2-0 lead, but two golden minutes for Go Ahead in the second half made it all square again. With no further goals we dropped two points in our hunt for Feyenoord.

Another awaymatch waited, this time against Heracles. For some reason they were much easier game than Go Ahead was. Three goals in the first half, two of them from Marques, gave us a strong lead which we refused to relinquish. With yet another goal in the second half we took a good 4-0 win. The perfect way to prepare for the last game of the year, the visit from Feyenoord.

A win would see us open up a good lead as we lie tied on points right now. It would also be a good morale boost going in to 2008 in first place. The action was fast-paced in the first half, both teams having their chances. The first goal went the way of the visitors while the next pulled us level. Surprisingly there were no further goals in the second half though both teams had plenty of chances. With the draw both clubs will enter 2008 with 40 points… just like Ajax who has caught up to us.

retired_rainmaker

January 2008

A quiet month due to the winter break, but we still made some headlines when we announced the sale of Zongo to Standard Liege for £2,9m.

We did have a single match though as we faced MVV in the third round of the Dutch Cup. Whatever doubts the fans might have had over my decision to sell Zongo soon vaporised as Meka scored twice in our 3-1 win. Much more annoying was the fact that Besselink was sent off for two yellow cards.


February 2008

Back in the league things started well as Yezer gave us the lead with his first goal for the club. There were no more goals, but that is acceptable as it gave us the three points we needed to keep us on top of the situation.

Another surplus striker left when I managed to sell Rahamat Mustapha to Ajax for £2,8m. Somewhat over his value, but it is only to be expected since I agreed to let them pay over 18 months. It does leave us a little weak up front though. We need that fourth striker.

Injuries and suspensions hit us hard as we travelled to Heerenveen for the quarter final in the Dutch Cup. At right back we had to play an only 18-year old player who was yet to play for the first team. Quite a match to get your debut in. He did well though in an even match that went to extra time after a 2-2 draw. With no further goals it went to penalties. Both teams converted their first three shots before Collinson saved from Tim Manders. It then depended on Frank Bakker and as he converted our fifth shot we won the shootout 5-3 and moved in to the semis.

To help out with the reduced squad we signed the 33-year old Dogan Corneille from Twente as a back-up. Playing right defence he will stand in in case of injuries. At a price of just £35k it is not exactly breaking the bank.

The match away to RKC Waalwijk started out terribly. After just four minutes we were forced to make our first substitution as Djemba-Djemba picked up an injury. Even so we managed to stay competitive and his direct replacement, van Dijk, also put us 1-0 up. In defence we were having a bad day, but Collinson was awake and up to the task as he was only passed once. As Meka scored again this was enough to enable us to go home with the three delicious points.

Heerenveen was our opponents yet again, but this time we would be facing them in the league. Yet again Meka gave us the lead before a dubious penalty let them back in the match. Luckily Meka was not about to be denied his bragging rights as match winner and scored yet again to secure the 2-1 win.

We were close to our strongest possible line-up as we took the trip to Eindhoven in order to face PSV. A difficult match, but one I’m confident we can get a result from. Meka rattled the bar after ten minutes sending a warning out to the home crowd. Surprisingly the first goal came from Frank Bakker just before the break passing Frans Koornberg on one of his rare runs from midfield. Our lead was doubled just two minutes into the second half thanks to Meka. I wonder why he is not an international. Norway must have some good strikers. Frustratingly we couldn’t hold on. Two extremely late goals from Kezman made it all square and we had to settle for the draw. Bummer.

The month concluded with another difficult match as we went to France for our Uefa Cup clash with Lille. An own goal deflated the Frenchmen and with their morale broken it was easy for us to rack up a 3-0 win and more or less secure our passage to the next round.

<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre"> ************************************************** ********************************************** Dutch Premier Division - Saturday 1st March 2008********************************************** ************************************************** ================================================== ============================================== 2007/8 Table============================================= ================================================== =Pos Team Pld Won Drn Lst For Ag Won Drn Lst For Ag Pts--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------1st Vitesse 23 9 3 0 25 9 5 5 1 24 16 50 --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------2nd Ajax 23 10 1 1 27 9 5 4 2 20 14 50 3rd Feyenoord 23 9 1 1 21 10 6 3 3 20 15 49 4th AZ 24 8 3 1 20 8 6 2 4 18 15 47 5th PSV 23 6 5 0 19 11 3 5 4 18 21 37 6th MVV 23 4 5 3 25 18 5 4 2 18 15 36 7th Groningen 23 6 3 3 21 17 3 3 5 13 13 33 8th Heracles 23 2 4 5 16 21 5 4 3 22 14 29 9th Heerenveen 23 3 4 4 16 17 4 2 6 13 17 27 10th Willem II 23 5 1 6 16 15 3 2 6 12 19 27 11th Telstar 23 4 4 3 18 19 3 2 7 10 24 27 12th Twente 23 6 2 4 22 15 1 3 7 12 27 26 13th Den Bosch 23 5 3 4 10 11 1 3 7 9 18 24 14th Go Ahead 23 3 2 6 18 20 3 3 6 20 24 23 15th RBC 23 4 3 4 22 20 2 2 8 10 24 23 --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------16th de Graafschap 23 3 3 6 19 21 3 1 7 13 19 22 17th RKC 24 1 5 5 11 16 2 5 6 13 23 19 --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------18th NEC 23 2 5 5 12 18 1 4 6 10 20 18 </pre>

Oh... and someone explain to me how the Dutch Golden Boot thingy works

retired_rainmaker

March 2008

The visit of NEC from Nijmegen was a nice change of pace. Rooted at the bottom of the table they were one of the teams we just have to beat and we did so without too much trouble. Nice for once not to have to work all-out for the points. Eventually we won it 4-1, their goal coming from the young debutant, Ronald de Vries.

The return leg against Lille was another easy match. Being three goals down they had little or no hope already from the kick-off and with a 2-0 lead at half time we were able to more or less do as we pleased in the second half and gear down without fear. With a 2-1 win we’re through to the quarters where we will face Chelsea. Oh, dear.

A real test came up when we made the trip to Amsterdam. The away fixture to Ajax is one of the hardest games we have left and I’d be happy to sell it for just a single point. Bakker was carried off after just 10 minutes giving us a poor start, but we managed to keep them from scoring in the first half. Instead substitute Marques gave us a surprising lead in the second half. Hard pressure from Ajax led to nothing and in the end we took all the points and Collinson picked up the MoM award.

The game at Stamford Bridge would later be described by the pundits as boring, but I saw it as a brilliant display of tactics and defensive football. Knowing we were outclassed and outgunned we concentrated on keeping them away so that they would have to rely on long shots. Our tactics frustrated them and it ended with no goals to either side. This gives us a good chance to progress.

Frustratingly de Graafschap gave us a taste of our own medicine, even taking the lead at the Gelredome. A late goal from de Lange saved us, but it was an allround disappointing performance and the two lost points can cost us dearly later.

The second leg against Chelsea gave us major problems. Due to Yugoslavia playing an international Kujovic was away with the team leaving me without a replacement keeper on the bench. A brace from Meka gave us a good lead before two goals in as many minutes saw Chelsea take the lead on away goals. As we tried to get the decisive goal they instead hit us on the counter and left us suffering a humiliating 2-4 defeat.

After the game, in the middle of March, the Dutch FA then started with their awards. For the transformation of Vitesse I was awarded the honour of being Manager of the Year. Not bad, not bad indeed. Collinson was second in the Keeper of the Year ceremony, Frank Bakker won the Young Player of the Year with Marques coming in third and, amusingly, being second in the Player of the Year. Interesting to be second-best player, but only third-best youngster. A nice collection of prizes for the club.

Losing to Den Bosch was not part of the plan though. Now we’re suddenly four points behind Feyenoord and we still have to face them away. Even worse there are only 7 games left for us to catch them in. This will be hard.

Trouble then came in paradise. We are making money now that the wages have successfully been reduced and several expensive players offloaded. Still, we need to improve training facilities and invest in our youth. A meeting with the board concerning this issue didn’t go well and relations between me and them soured considerably when I announced I’d look after another job if they didn’t take responsibility and build on the success. Luckily I have the full support of the fans in this matter.

We rounded the month off against MVV and managed to present a new player just before. Mattias Lindström, a Swedish forward has joined for £275k and looks like an impressive player. He has a good debut, but it was once again Meka who stole the headlines with two of the goals in our 3-0 win.

retired_rainmaker

April 2008

Yet another signing came through as Danielle de Rossi joined us from Cagliari. Sold by Siegen after I left the club, the Italian signed him for £2,1m and now, just a year later we got him for £800k. Still young and full of talent he will pressure Djemba-Djemba for the place in the team.

Hot on the heels of that one we complete the £3,4m signing of Greek striker Andreas Sakeleropoulos from PAOK. He is fast, strong and has a furious shot. He will fulfil the role of third choice striker and should do very well. 3 new players in a week? Well, that’s just the way it goes sometimes.

Both new players got their debuts at Groningen in what was a very close match. Still, we proved to be just that tad better that gave us the points after a strike from Lindström. Even so we were lucky and had to be grateful for Collinson who saved us time after time.

To call our Dutch Cup semifinal against Twente uneventful would be an understatement of titanic proportions. Feeling threatened by the new signings both Marques and Bakker scored in the opening minutes. After the goal Bakker was then blocked by Dante López. The Dutchman pushed him away to which the Paraguayan responded with a beautiful right hook dropping Bakker to the ground. Both players were sent off for their infight before the match resumed. Lindström made it three and then the hosts pulled two goals back. Sadly there were no goals in the second half, but 3-2 was enough to send us to the final.

Better news came after the game when we learned that Ajax had beaten Feyenoord in the league. This means we are first with a single point lead and more importantly it means that a draw at De Kuip will be a great result.

Speaking of the devil we had the reigning champions next. The build-up to the match was good though when Bakker had his ban revoked. The start was perfect. Marques snapped off a shot that van Fessem could only block and Meka could easily tap the rebound home. An hour later the situation was reversed and this time the talented Portuguese made it 2-0, a score that would last the match. With four games left it looks like we will lift the trophy in the end.

Once again we had to face Twente, though this time in the league. This match was less dramatic except for the result which was a 1-3 loss to us opening the title race up again. Three games remain and three clubs are neck to neck.

As it is we can still decide our own fate, but we couldn’t afford dropping any more points. 4-1 with every goal scored by a different player. Yes, I like that. Could to know we still have the touch and managed to bounce back like that.

<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre"> ================================================== ============================================== 2007/8 Table============================================= ================================================== =Pos Team Pld Won Drn Lst For Ag Won Drn Lst For Ag Pts--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------1st Vitesse 32 11 4 1 34 14 9 5 2 32 18 69 --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------2nd Feyenoord 32 12 2 2 26 14 9 3 4 29 20 68 3rd Ajax 32 13 1 2 38 11 7 5 4 28 20 66 4th AZ 32 11 4 1 25 9 7 3 6 21 21 61 </pre>

retired_rainmaker

May 2008

Time to make or break. Two games left. Two games between glory and shame. And we had to face AZ first. We tried hard to get the early goal, but AZ is a good and well organised team so we had quite a few problems with it. We did get it about a quarter of an hour before full time and we’re looking set to taking the victory when Tim Plaggenborg equalised for them two minutes into stoppage time. Talk about going from heaven to hell in a minute. Even more peculiar we then went straight back to heaven. Ajax had drawn with Go Ahead and Feyenoord had lost at Twente. This looks like an interesting last round. If we lose then both of the others can win it and we we draw then Feyenoord should retain their title.

This is it. The final round. We have to face Telstar away. They are already scheduled for the play-outs so their motivation will be low. Feyenoord are at home to Willem II and should win while Ajax have a tough match at Heerenveen.
We managed no goals at half time though Ajax was leading their game and it was 1-1 in Rotterdam. Then, after 65 minutes Djemba-Djemba split the Telstar defence with a deep pass, inch-perfect to Meka, who took a quick move around a defender and then fired it home with no chance for the keeper. As there were no further goals then we could celebrate the first title ever to Vitesse. Too bad it had to happen in front of only 3200 fans. Rather disappointing.

As we returned to Vitesse we were greeted by cheering fans and for once even the board is amazed. I haven’t forgotten their treatment though and with both the German and the Dutch title under my belt I feel I’ve proven my worth. I’ll still be looking for another club. One with vision.

Just one thing remained to really crown our season and that was beating NEC in the Cup final. We started out well having a slight advantage in an open and fast-paced affair. Even so neither team managed to score any goals and coming no closer than the two shots we had on the posts. Even thirty minutes of added time failed to break the deadlock and in the end penalties would decide the 2007/08 Dutch Cup Final. NEC had a terrible time here. First Fred Witschge blasted it over and then Collinson saved their third shot meaning that our fourth shooter, captain Edwin Musampa, could decide it and with a well-placed shot he won us the double. What a season.

<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">********************************************* ************************************************** * Dutch Premier Division - Saturday 31st May 2008********************************************** ************************************************** ================================================== ============================================== 2007/8 Table============================================= ================================================== =Pos Team Pld Won Drn Lst For Ag Won Drn Lst For Ag Pts--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------1st C Vitesse 34 11 5 1 35 15 10 5 2 33 18 73 --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------2nd Feyenoord 34 13 2 2 28 15 9 3 5 30 23 71 3rd Ajax 34 13 2 2 40 13 8 5 4 33 22 70 4th AZ 34 11 4 2 25 11 7 4 6 22 22 62 5th PSV 34 10 6 1 28 17 4 6 7 26 29 54 6th MVV 34 5 8 4 31 24 7 4 6 24 28 48 7th Heracles 34 6 5 6 28 28 6 5 6 29 25 46 8th Groningen 34 8 4 5 26 23 5 3 9 18 21 46 9th Twente 34 8 3 6 29 26 4 5 8 27 38 44 10th RBC 34 8 4 5 33 24 4 3 10 16 30 43 11th Heerenveen 34 4 5 8 21 31 7 3 7 28 29 41 12th RKC 34 5 5 7 22 22 4 7 6 17 24 39 13th Go Ahead 34 6 4 7 30 30 4 4 9 26 34 38 14th de Graafschap 34 5 3 9 26 30 5 5 7 21 25 38 15th Willem II 34 6 2 9 22 27 4 3 10 18 29 35 --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------16th R Den Bosch 34 7 4 6 14 15 1 6 10 12 26 34 17th R Telstar 34 5 4 8 24 28 3 3 11 12 31 31 --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------18th R NEC 34 3 8 6 26 31 2 4 11 18 34 27 </pre>

<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">============================================= ================================================== = 2007/8 Goals============================================= ================================================== =Pos Player Club Apps Gls-------------------------------------------------------------------------1st Tomas Daumantas MVV 34 21 2nd Edson Nimbley RBC 19 (3) 18 3rd Edouard Meka Vitesse 19 (3) 17 4th Hubert Dijk Go Ahead 34 17 5th Ruslan Valeev Heracles 32 (1) 17 6th Mateja Kezman PSV 32 17 7th Ralf de Haan Twente 27 (2) 15 8th Nélson Marques Vitesse 31 (1) 15 9th Rudy Mann Groningen 34 14 10th Robin Nelisse Feyenoord 31 14 </pre>

<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">============================================= ================================================== = 2007/8 Average Rating============================================ ================================================== ==Pos Player Club Apps Av R-------------------------------------------------------------------------1st Edouard Meka Vitesse 19 (3) 8.32 2nd Martijn de Jong AZ 18 (3) 8.19 3rd Rafael van der Vaart Ajax 33 8.15 4th Nélson Marques Vitesse 31 (1) 8.03 5th Senteno Ajax 19 (4) 8.00 6th Ronald de Lange Vitesse 18 7.83 7th Tomas Daumantas MVV 34 7.79 8th Ruslan Valeev Heracles 32 (1) 7.79 9th Mario Melchiot Ajax 32 7.78 10th Hatem Trabelsi Ajax 26 (2) 7.75 </pre>

<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">********************************************* ************************************************** * Vitesse - Saturday 31st May 2008********************************************** ************************************************** ================================================== ============================================== 2007/8 Senior Club Stats============================================= ================================================== =No Name Apps Gls Con Pens Asts Yel Red MoM Av R--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------30 Bakker, Frank 45 10 0 0 11 2 1 4 7.42 18 Besselink, Marcel 31 (3) 3 0 0 4 9 1 1 7.35 8 Bolseth, Rune 49 1 0 0 12 1 0 3 7.20 - Bosman, Robert - - - - - - - - ---- 29 Collinson, John 35 0 33 0 0 0 1 2 7.46 33 Corneille, Dogan 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 7.00 2 Cornelisse, Tim 47 0 0 0 4 1 0 1 7.13 6 De Rossi, Daniele 0 (5) 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 6.40 27 Djemba-Djemba, Eric 36 7 0 0 5 2 0 0 7.31 34 Esajas, Dennis - - - - - - - - ---- 9 Kuijt, Dirk 6 (4) 1 0 1 (0) 0 0 0 0 7.20 13 Kujovic, Vladan 8 (1) 0 7 0 0 0 0 0 7.44 28 Langeveld, Michael 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 ---- - Laros, Alfred 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 ---- 7 Lindström, Mattias 9 4 0 0 0 1 0 0 7.33 25 Lurling, Cor 1 (3) 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 6.50 32 Manders, Martin 2 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 7.00 19 Marques, Nélson 43 (1) 21 0 0 6 1 0 5 7.98 31 Meka, Edouard 27 (3) 22 0 1 (1) 4 1 0 5 8.13 21 Mikolajczak, Christian 3 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 7.00 - Molenaar, Dick 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 ---- 15 Munthali, Heston 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 ---- 14 Musampa, Edwin 37 (2) 1 0 0 4 8 1 3 7.31 24 Ninkovic, Milos 6 (3) 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 6.67 - Polman, Sander - - - - - - - - ---- 23 Rensen, Sjoerd 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 ---- - Rutten, Richard - - - - - - - - ---- 10 Sakelaropoulos, Andreas 1 (3) 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 7.00 22 Schaars, Stijn 45 4 0 1 (1) 3 4 0 0 7.27 20 Schoenmakers, Melchior 1 (2) 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 6.67 26 Seedorf, Mario 28 0 44 0 0 0 1 0 6.82 3 Shew A Tjon, Etienne 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 ---- 16 Sone, Kalle 0 (3) 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 7.00 12 Stojanovic, Sasa 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 ---- 5 Yezerskiy, Volodymyr 33 1 0 0 2 7 0 0 7.21 11 de Lange, Ronald 29 7 0 0 13 0 0 1 7.66 - van Bochem, Rick 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 ---- 4 van Dijk, Gregor 13 (3) 5 0 0 2 2 0 3 7.69 17 van der Gun, Cedric 12 (2) 4 0 0 4 0 0 4 7.64 - van der Laan, Richard - - - - - - - - ---- </pre>

retired_rainmaker

June 2008

Around Europe other leagues also came to a conclusion and found their champions. In Denmark the small town of Herfølge with just about 5000 inhabitants shocked the nation by clinching the title ahead of giants Brøndby and FC Copenhagen. The Cup saw Aalborg BK beat first division side Næstved by a 2-0 margin.

Arsenal took the English title ahead of Man Utd, Chelsea and Liverpool (where did I hear that before?) and Chelsea lifting the FA Cup thanks to a 4-1 win over Bradford. Surprisingly, first division Bradford beat Arsenal 4-1 to lift the League Cup. Bradford will however play in the Premier League next season after being promoted along with Southampton and Charlton.

In France Montpellier repeated their 2006 triumph by finishing first once again with Nantes second. In the second division Lyon were promoted back to the top flight and Monaco won the National to get back to the second division. The Cup was surprisingly lifted by Wasquehal who beat Montpellier in the final. The League Cup was won by Nantes.

Germany was also a special case. Hertha Berlin took the title while the formerly so strong Siegen finished 13th after drawing 17 matches. With such a dismal domestic performance it was even more impressive that they made it to the semis of the Champions League. Both German Cups were won by Nürnberg.

Parma won their first league title in Italy edging out Roma and AC Milan. A deserved win for the club after finishing second two years in a row. The Cup was claimed by Fiorentina who is slowly rising to a return to their former glory.

Both Real Madrid and Barcelona had a bad year in Spain meaning that they finished second and third after champions Real Sociedad. Even in the Copa del Rey there were no glory for the teams as minnow Elche took the title and a place in Europe.

The Champions League was won by Scottish champions Celtic over Real Madrid while the Uefa Cup went to Newcastle who beat Chelsea in the last match.

On the seventh the 2008 Euro Championships in Switzerland kicked off with the home side playing Croatia. A 1-2 defeat was not what the Alp Nation wanted though but as a neutral spectator I didn’t care and was just happy to see it start. All the while watching for available jobs.

There were few surprises in the groups though results such as Finland’s 4-2 win over Sweden raised a few eyebrows.

During the tournament other awards were handed out. I was a bit surprised to see Darren Purse win the European Defender of the Year prize, while Gombert won the keeper award and Farnerud the midfielder. Wow, three of my former players honoured. Needless to say I called each to offer my congratulations.

Back at the championships Croatia surprisingly beat their way to the final eliminating both Holland and England. Even so they just lacked the last bit to take the title as they were overcome 2-1 by France.

retired_rainmaker

July 2008

A quiet month this, spent mostly on getting the squad more in order and attending UEFA meetings. We did receive a note though, telling us that in order to qualify for the Champions League we would face either Besiktas or Odd Grenland.

We also kept it down to a single friendly match as I wanted the players to be hungry for action when it really mattered and tear their way into the Champions League. Even so a 3-0 win over Bordeaux was a good warm-up to the season where I aim to retain the title and reach the knock put stages in Europe. Unless I get that attractive job offer I’m hoping on.

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR>
SQUAD Review 2008/09
Voetball International, July 29th, 2008

Vitesse Arnham were the surprising winners of last seasons Eredivisie. Since that unexpected triumph charismatic boss, Karl Franz von Mannstein, has strengthened what was already a good team. He raised a lot of eyebrows last year by not only declaring his side to be title challengers, but also by selling several fan favourites, including Mamadou Zongo. Despite heavy doubts he has proven right in his actions by not only winning the title, but also by signing players who made the team even better and cost the club less to have on the books. Ahead of their important Champions League qualifying matches against Besiktas rumours about though that he has had a falling out with the board and am looking to leave the club behind. One can only hope for the fans that this will not happen.

The entire team is strong, but their Achilles was always their keeper. The club had Dutch international Jimmy van Fessem in goal, but he was sold as he wasn’t considered strong enough. Instead the club spent a then record-breaking fee of £3,4m for the services of English keeper John Collinson. Neither club nor player has had reason to resent that as he played superbly and got titles and now ChL footie in return. As backups to Collinson the club has both the Croatian international Vladan Kujovic, the young Uzbeki Mamur Ikromov and some talented youngsters.

Ahead of Collinson is a strong back four consisting primarily of the captain, Tim Cornelisse, on the right, Edwin Musampa and Volodymyr Yezerskij centrally and Christian Mikolajczak on the left. A strong defence where the captain is the only one never to have received either U or A caps for his nation. Backing them up are strong players like Marcel Besselink, Stijn Schaars. Not a defence filled with big names, but one of very solid players who gets the job done with a minimum of fuss.

Midfield is, as always, a very strong point for Vitesse. Held together by Eric Djemba-Djemba, it is expected that the two new signings, Danielle de Rossi and the new record signing, 4-million-pound-man Labinot Harbuzi will flank him. It does make it more defensive than last year and it is expected that another offensive midfielder will be signed. Trying to force their way into the team is Frank Bakker who had such an amazing season last year, Rune Bolseth and Gregor van Dijk.

Finally the strikeforce is more than competent. The incredibly potent Edouard Meka has made the fans forget all about Zongo since the young player averages almost a goal pr game. How long Vitesse are allowed to hold on to this star is a good question, especially if he continues his good form. He is backed up by the ever improving Nélson Marques and Mattias Lindström in their 3-man offense. Backing them up are players like Ronald de Lange who is continually linked to Ajax, Dirk Kuijt and Andreas Sakelaropoulos.

Players: 40
First Team Age: 25,28 years
Squad Age: 24,52 years
Total wages pr week: £220k
Average wage pr week: £5,5k

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<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">********************************************* ************************************************** * Vitesse - Monday 4th August 2008********************************************** ************************************************** ================================================== ============================================== Squad============================================= ================================================== =No Name Position(s) Nat Born Age Caps Gls Wages Expires Value-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------12 Bakker, Frank M RC HOL 23.8.87 20 - - £6.75K 8.6.13 £2.1M 20 Besselink, Marcel D C HOL 12.1.85 23 - - £3.4K 26.6.12 £1.7M 24 Bolseth, Rune M C NOR 4.7.80 28 7 - £9K 12.6.12 £2.3M - Bosman, Robert M C HOL 21.7.88 20 - - £525 24.6.10 £300K 1 Collinson, John GK ENG 4.3.83 25 1 - £15K 22.6.10 £2.8M 21 Corneille, Dogan D/M R HOL 28.2.74 34 - - £2.4K 10.6.11 £250K 2 Cornelisse, Tim D R HOL 3.4.78 30 - - £10K 2.6.10 £2.6M 4 De Rossi, Daniele DM LC ITA 24.7.81 27 - - £8.5K 28.6.13 £1.5M 8 Djemba-Djemba, Eric DM RC CMR 4.5.79 29 7 - £8.5K 15.6.12 £2.2M 40 Esajas, Dennis D/DM C HOL 28.6.90 18 - - £725 13.6.11 £775K 7 Harbuzi, Labinot AM C SWE 4.4.86 22 - - £15.25K 26.6.11 £3.1M 25 Ikromov, Mamur GK UZB 12.6.82 26 - - £4K 26.6.12 £1.2M 14 Jansen, Raymond D RC HOL 8.2.86 22 - - £1K 12.6.13 £950K 19 Kuijt, Dirk S C HOL 22.6.78 30 - - £15.5K 25.6.10 £2.7M 13 Kujovic, Vladan GK YUG 23.8.78 29 2 - £9.5K 6.6.09 £1.3M 32 Langeveld, Michael DM C HOL 2.11.86 21 - - £600 20.6.12 £950K 11 Lindström, Mattias AM/F C SWE 18.4.80 28 - - £8K 28.6.13 £2M 33 Lurling, Cor SW/D C HOL 3.12.87 20 - - £1K 19.6.11 £750K - Manders, Martin D/DM R HOL 6.8.89 18 - - £575 Rolling £26K 10 Marques, Nélson F C POR 15.11.86 21 - - £8.25K 28.6.10 £5.5M 9 Meka, Edouard S C NOR 1.7.84 24 1 - £5K 28.6.11 £4.4M 23 Mikolajczak, Christian D/DM L GER 15.5.81 27 - - £5K 16.6.12 £1.5M - Molenaar, Dick AM/F R HOL 18.12.87 20 - - £575 13.6.10 £650K - Munthali, Heston M RC MWI 12.10.82 25 6 1 £8.75K 18.6.09 £1M 5 Musampa, Edwin SW/D C HOL 12.10.85 22 - - £4K 6.6.12 £1.5M 27 Ninkovic, Milos AM RC YUG 4.10.83 24 - - £575 11.6.12 £1.2M - Polman, Sander D/DM LC HOL 21.6.89 19 - - £550 Rolling £18K - Rutten, Richard DM RC HOL 15.10.89 18 - - £625 19.6.10 £425K 30 Sakelaropoulos, Andreas S C GRE 6.9.84 23 - - £9K 2.6.12 £875K 3 Schaars, Stijn D/DM L HOL 11.1.84 24 - - £6.5K 24.6.10 £1.8M 18 Schoenmakers, Melchior D/DM C HOL 22.10.75 32 - - £6K 2.6.11 £1.1M 29 Seedorf, Mario GK HOL 30.3.84 24 - - £1K 7.6.10 £375K - Shew A Tjon, Etienne D/DM L HOL 24.11.79 28 - - £4.9K 26.6.11 £2.1M 16 Stojanovic, Sasa F LC YUG 27.1.81 27 - - £7.75K 9.6.10 £1.7M - Vanenburg, Dennis AM/F R HOL 21.6.90 18 - - £550 Rolling £140K 6 Yezerskiy, Volodymyr SW/D C UKR 15.12.76 31 2 - £8K 20.6.11 £1.4M 22 de Lange, Ronald AM/F LC HOL 6.5.84 24 - - £6.5K 22.6.10 £4.2M 17 van Dijk, Gregor DM RC HOL 16.11.81 26 - - £9K 27.6.10 £1.6M 15 van der Gun, Cedric AM/F RC HOL 5.5.77 31 - - £7.5K 7.6.09 £825K 31 van der Laan, Richard S C HOL 16.6.85 23 - - £475 8.6.11 £1.3M </pre>

retired_rainmaker

August 2008

With a full team to choose from thanks to neither injuries nor bans I was hopeful of a good result in Turkey and from the looks on the players they wanted one too. Surprisingly to me and disappointing to the 23,000 fans the game finished just as it started with no goals scored. I’d rather have had a 1-1 draw, but still it is now our advantage.

Our first domestic game was the Super Cup. As we won both the title and the cup we had to face Feyenoord and the match might give a good indication as to which was the stronger side this year. While we won it 2-0 it was one of those games where the result doesn’t tell the entire story and a 2-1 or 1-1 result might have been more fair. Still, I’m not complaining and doesn’t mind having the bragging rights.

Our first proper league game was away to no-hopers Groningen. To their credit they fought bravely against the odds and only lost 1-2. I suppose they are just too thick to realise that they are supposed to get relegated :p

Disastrously the team then failed where it really mattered as we lost the home game to Besiktas and crashed out of the Champions League before it even started. A 1-2 defeat is just unacceptable.

Following hot on the heels of that shock we had to face Feyenoord at the Gelredome. Talk about a hard way to start the year. We started where we let off a few days before as the visitors took the lead while de Rossi also saw red in the third minute. Great. Let’s shoot ourselves in the foot. Carrying on we then lost Musampa after 13 minutes to an injury. Yezer was then sent off a few minutes before full time and with such a performance it was no wonder that we lost it 2-4.

Looking at the draw for the Uefa cup was a bit of a downer after our expectations. Still, we will do our best and Helsingborg in the first round should pose too much of a threat.

retired_vbrazon

I like the way you've done this story. Very easy to read because in the end the main points rae all easily accessible.
well done on winning the lge.
R