Skoooby

I think Cameron Diaz is one of the yummiest women on the planet. A buddy of mine thinks she is tore up.

Skoooby

The 2003-2004 Season

The First Third

Trouble scoring goals during the pre-season extended into the regular which got underway on a beautiful August day in Osnabrück. The goal drought almost marred such an idyllic setting, but late in the match substitute Svindal-Larsen saved the day by splitting the opposition backline with a beautiful through ball that Ghioane latched upon and delivered past the Osnabrück goalkeeper. It was the first goal of the season and the only one needed that day to secure the three points.

The next weekend the goal drought reared its ugly head again, but at least in this match we had an excuse. The blame fell squarely on horrendous weather. The unseasonably cold temperatures mixed with gale force winds made it very difficult to pass or shoot the ball, not to mention stay warm. The 28,003 brave souls who came to the home opener at Frankenstadion left having had witnessed a scoreless draw. The local media pounded me with accusations of playing negative football, none more so than a local Dutch scribe, but the following week we plodded along with our same drills and formation believing that chances would eventually be finished. At least I hoped so, but my faith was born out when both Kos and Ghioane buried chances against Karlsruhe. That one was off a corner gave some fuel to our detractors, but a 2-0 victory is a good way to silence critics.

We drew minnow Velbert in the German Cup and dispatched them with extreme prejudice 3-1 after they got up early. We drew 2.Liga side Trier for our 2nd Round German Cup match, which will be played at Frankenstadion. The Karlsruhe match and the fodder that was Velbert got our attack clicking. At home we notched 3 goals to Mainz’s 1 for a three points against a strong 2.Liga side. Tiffert was the hero of the match, scoring once and assisting on the other goals, and his form continued to the next week when he assisted on both goals in a 2-0 victory over Aue. With 13 points in 5 matches and only one goal given up on the year we were off to a strong start to the year.

After our good run of form criticism didn’t end, it simply shifted. Instead of playing negative football, I was criticized for relying on players who wouldn’t be with the team beyond this year. It was a legitimate criticism and therefore stung. However, to reach the Board’s first goal I felt obligated to play the best XI available to me and if it included Tiffert, Ghioane, Vittek, Aidoo and Krysnowek so be it. In the meantime I thought about the future by selling off some youth players who had low potential ceilings and buying a few who had higher one’s. It was of course not recognized.

After Aue, we hosted Munich suburb side Unterhaching and sent them packing in a tense 1-0 victory. In the second half of our Bavarian stretch, we travelled to remote Burghausen and in a similar match as the week before we won 1:0 in another nail biter. The two tight matches were followed by a laugher against Union Berlin in Nuremburg. Three early goals from our Temporary Legion ended the contest almost before it started and Driller converted the penalty he drew in the second half to drive the final nail into the coffin. While attention was focused on our skilled temporary players, it had gone unnoticed how well our defense was playing which was 100% pure Nuremburger. In the eight league matches we had only conceded two goals.

Our undefeated season came to a screeching halt the next weekend when Ahlen, a side hovering in the top 5, took the full three points away from us at Frankenstadion in a 1-0 loss. So, when arch-rival Greuther Fürth scored in the opening moments in the away match the following weekend, I have no doubt many had thought our bubble had burst. But it wasn’t long before we answered and answered twice. A third goal before the half put us comfortably ahead until GF scored a second to make it close. And close it was. The final 20 minutes was a wild affair with both sides trading body blows like two heavyweights in the final rounds. A huge mistake near injury time by Sven Neuhaus, the GF keeper, that allowed an Aidoo shot to pass through his legs settled the matter. We won 4-2 and end the first third in first place, but only a point ahead of Duisberg who we are due to play the next weekend.

On the transfer front I had little success in spending the £1.3M tranfer fund I had built up. I am willing to only buy players who I think will be able to contribute not only this year in the 2.Liga but next year in Bundesliga. The options were few and they were mostly overpriced. When I did finally find a Argentinian leftside midfielder who would be an asset I discovered that since he was on loan I couldn’t secure him until next July. So, I didn’t commit myself to him but he is an option if other pursuits don’t succeed.

[This message was edited by Andrew K on 14 April 2004 at 20:33.]

[This message was edited by Andrew K on 14 April 2004 at 20:34.]

[This message was edited by Andrew K on 14 April 2004 at 20:35.]

Skoooby

League Table (Top 5)

1. Nuremburg__25
2. Duisburg___24
3. Ahlen______21
4. Mainz______19
5. Karlsruhe__16

Nuremburg Goalscorers
1. Beganskiy_4
2. Ghioane___3
3. Kryznowek_3
4. Tiffert___3

retired_karamelkel

Code Alert!

Skoooby

I fixed it. Is there way to post tables without getting it stretched out?

retired_karamelkel

Ise the <pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre"> Hi </pre> funtion at the top of the reply screen. It's the red icon next to the email icon. click on it and then Cut/Copy and paste your text between the two "code" words that appear in the message box.

crazyvols@comca

Nice start, anyway, I'm always a fan of a start that isn't English or Scots...

retired_amyslack

As Kenneth Williams once said "Infamy, infamy, they've all got it infamy!" :thup:

Skoooby

<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre"> Holders - SC Freiburg| Pos | Inf | Team | | Pld | Won | Drn | Lst | For | Ag | G.D. | Pts | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 1st | | Nürnberg | | 10 | 8 | 1 | 1 | 18 | 4 | +14 | 25 | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 2nd | | Duisburg | | 10 | 8 | 0 | 2 | 12 | 5 | +7 | 24 | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 3rd | | Ahlen | | 10 | 7 | 0 | 3 | 17 | 7 | +10 | 21 | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 4th | | Mainz | | 10 | 6 | 1 | 3 | 22 | 15 | +7 | 19 | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 5th | | Karlsruhe | | 10 | 5 | 1 | 4 | 22 | 17 | +5 | 16 | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 6th | | Cottbus | | 10 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 13 | 12 | +1 | 15 | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 7th | | Trier | | 10 | 4 | 2 | 4 | 12 | 9 | +3 | 14 | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 8th | | Bielefeld | | 10 | 4 | 2 | 4 | 14 | 17 | -3 | 14 | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 9th | | Burghausen | | 10 | 4 | 1 | 5 | 14 | 11 | +3 | 13 | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 10th | | Aachen | | 10 | 4 | 1 | 5 | 16 | 14 | +2 | 13 | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 11th | | Aue | | 10 | 3 | 4 | 3 | 10 | 10 | 0 | 13 | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 12th | | Lübeck | | 10 | 4 | 1 | 5 | 13 | 16 | -3 | 13 | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 13th | | Oberhausen | | 10 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 10 | 13 | -3 | 12 | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 14th | | Unterhaching | | 10 | 3 | 2 | 5 | 13 | 19 | -6 | 11 | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 15th | | Osnabrück | | 10 | 3 | 0 | 7 | 12 | 20 | -8 | 9 | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 16th | | Greuther Fürth | | 10 | 3 | 0 | 7 | 11 | 20 | -9 | 9 | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 17th | | Regensburg | | 10 | 2 | 2 | 6 | 9 | 19 | -10 | 8 | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 18th | | Union Berlin | | 10 | 2 | 2 | 6 | 9 | 19 | -10 | 8 | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | | | | | | | | | | | | </pre>

Skoooby

Nuremburg goals through 11 matches

<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre"> 1st in German Second DivisionSquad Screen| | | | | | | | | | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | FC | | Beganskiy, P | 4 | | MC | Loa | Ghioane, T | 3 | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | SB3 | Trn | Krzynowek, J* | 3 | | MR | Loa | Tiffert, C | 3 | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | FC | | Driller, M* | 2 | | SB7 | | Vittek, R | 2 | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | | Fgn | Vlademir | 2 | | SB5 | Fgn | Aidoo, L | 1 | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | DC | | Kos, T* | 1 | | ML | | Djenic, P | 0 | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | SB4 | | Frey, D | 0 | | MC | | Kukielka, M | 0 | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | | | Mintal, M | 0 | | | | Müller, L | 0 | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | SB1 | Loa | Nicht, K | 0 | | DC | Wnt | Nikl, M | 0 | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | | Fgn | Pope, E | 0 | | DR | Fgn | Sanneh, A | 0 | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | GK | | Schäfer, R | 0 | | | Wnt | Stehle, T | 0 | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | SB6 | | Svindal Larsen, T | 0 | | DL | Wnt | Wiblishauser, F | 0 | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | | | Wiesner, C | 0 | | SB2 | | Wolf, A | 0 | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| </pre>