BarryLFC

Tommy Svindal Larsen

Skoooby

This story hasn't been abandoned. Due to some computer problems last week I was delayed in finishing the winter months. I'm finished now and I'll have a Winter report up later today.

The format of my story will be 4 seasonal reports a game year, with a possible stretch run report if warranted. I play a bit slowly so there might be up to two week gaps between reports.

Skoooby

Winter

The winter got underway with a top of the table clash. First place Nuremburg away to 2nd place Duisburg. It wasn’t much of a contest. Goals from Ghioane, Pope and Larsen sealed a 3-0 victory. The beat went on the next week when we had another clean sheet (2-0) against Aachen. But then we came up against Cottbus who got off to a fast start, scoring in the 1st minute. We equalized 32 minutes later, but late in the match they once again went ahead. However, a fantastic run from Vittek down the left side ended in a cross that Müller headed in. The match ended in a 2-2 draw, our third blemish of the season. On the positive side our young Belorussian signing Pavel Beganskiy had his efforts recognized by being named player of the month for October.

After a poor match a punching bag is just what is needed and we got that with Trier in the 2nd Round of the German Cup. Four goals in the first half sealed the contest. This victory propelled us to couple of strong wins in the 2.liga. Oberhausen fell 2-0 and the following week we defeated Lübeck 3:0 in their stadium. That good form brought us into our 3rd Round German Cup match against Mainz on their pitch. Utilizing the home advantage they got off to a strong start, scoring in the 2nd minute. Three goals midway in the first half put us up and Fabian Gerber being sent off appeared to seal the deal. Mainz, however, had other ideas. Before the half was over they had scored again to pull within a goal. Most of the second half was fought in the midfield, but our defense broke down against a side a man down in the 83rd minute when Mainz leveled the match. Looking very much like a match that would go the distance, we received a favorable hand-ball in the box call and Krzynowek converted the penalty in extra time to win the match. We go to the quarterfinals against Bochum who defeated Dortmund.

Our run of form continued in the 2.liga after the German Cup victory. Both Trier and Bielefeld fell 2-1 in successive weeks. Looking ahead to our German Cup match against Bochum, we dropped two points to Regensburg when they drew against us 2-2. So, along came our quarterfinal match against Bochum. After drop two goals to Hashemian and Diabang (we pulled one back on a Krzynowek penalty kick), the clocked ticked away and we were nearing full-time. Vlademir, who came on for Driller earlier, however had late game heroics in him. In the 89th minute he picked up a nice pass from Ghioanne and slotted it past the Bochum keeper to send the goal into extra time. Our travelling fans were through the roof, but it was very much an anti-climax. After using our three substitutes earlier in the match, we went down a man when Djenic came up lame in the opening extra time minutes. Bochum immediately pounced, scoring twice in the first 15 minutes to settle the issue. They were on to the semi-finals, were were on to the Winter Break.

During the winter break we were very active in the transfer market but the effort didn’t result in favorable outcomes. Many pursuits at Bosman signings simply were not interested in coming to Nuremburg. We would need to enhance our reputation before we got the quality players. Nevertheless, we weren’t entirely unproductive. Christian Hassa was bought from Karlsruhe for £26k. He’s a right sided midfielder who is a superb passer, has some quickness, but is weak on the ball. He is also known to the 1.FCN community having played a couple of seasons in the late 90s with the club, resulting in 38 appearances and a couple of goals. He’ll probably be a fringe player for us, but will be a decent third choice at the Bundesliga level. With a sizable lead in the league, he’ll probably see plenty of action to develop his skills for next year.

Leaving us during the Winter window was Wiblishauser for £400k (£300k deferred) to Rostock. We attempted to sign him to a new deal but his salary demands were not realistic. Djenic will probably spend the bulk of the time at left back for the 2nd half of the season. Both Dieter Frey and Sanneh will be joining Krzynowek in leaving us on a Bosman. We attempted to re-sign Sanneh but he was looking for a longer term deal than his 33 year-old body warranted. We didn’t attempt to re-sign Frey. Wiesner will see plenty of time at right back given our comfortable lead in the league.

In other news around football, the awards came out at the end of the year. Bayern Munich was represented with Kahn named European goalkeeper of the year, Rau European Defender of the Year, Ballack European midfielder of the Year and Makaay third choice as European striker of the year. Ronaldo was named World Player of the Year, Roberto Carlos World Footballer of the Year and Rio Ferdinand European Footballer of the Year. Germany was proud of Dortmund’s Jan Koller coming in third place for WFoY.

After a trip down to southern Italy to play a friendly against Napoli (1-1), we got the season back under way at home against 12th place Osnabrück. Hassa scored on his debut and it was all we needed. The big fireworks came out the following week when we absolutely demolished Karlsruhe 6:0. The game included five goals from Driller, three of which were assisted by strike partner Beganskiy. It was a Nuremburg record and probably one that won’t be exceeded.

The tanning we gave Karlsruhe went to our head. The following week fortunes were revered. It started off comfortable enough when we were up 2-0 at the half against Mainz, but we fell apart in the second half. Mainz opened the frame with a goal, but we kept that 2-1 edge until the 75th minute when they leveled the score on a Sarpei goal. Facing late match adversity before, I ordered my men to attack but it didn’t work. In fact it worked to our opponents advantage. They scored again in the 77th minute, the 83rd minute, and the 85th minute. Five unanswered goals from Mainz sent us down 5:2. So ends a 11 match unbeaten streak, but we remained eleven points ahead of 2nd place.

We redoubled our efforts in training the following week, but the end result didn’t change. We lose 1:0 to Aue in a boring match that saw only four shots - two from each side. Spring is a time for rebirth. If we didn’t change things it could be a time for dramatic death.

BarryLFC

I can see snowdrops and lambs already

retired_confal2

Glad this has resumed
Micoud rocks the Bundesliga :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 | | 22 | 16 | 3 | 3 | 45 | 16 | +29 | 51 | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 2nd | | Ahlen | | 22 | 12 | 4 | 6 | 42 | 24 | +18 | 40 | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 3rd | | Mainz | | 22 | 11 | 5 | 6 | 46 | 31 | +15 | 38 | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 4th | | Duisburg | | 22 | 12 | 2 | 8 | 25 | 23 | +2 | 38 | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 5th | | Bielefeld | | 21 | 10 | 4 | 7 | 42 | 37 | +5 | 34 | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 6th | | Aachen | | 22 | 10 | 3 | 9 | 39 | 26 | +13 | 33 | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 7th | | Aue | | 22 | 9 | 6 | 7 | 24 | 22 | +2 | 33 | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 8th | | Lübeck | | 22 | 10 | 3 | 9 | 38 | 37 | +1 | 33 | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 9th | | Karlsruhe | | 21 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 39 | 36 | +3 | 31 | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 10th | | Greuther Fürth | | 22 | 9 | 3 | 10 | 31 | 33 | -2 | 30 | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 11th | | Union Berlin | | 22 | 8 | 6 | 8 | 27 | 29 | -2 | 30 | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 12th | | Osnabrück | | 22 | 9 | 2 | 11 | 38 | 49 | -11 | 29 | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 13th | | Oberhausen | | 22 | 6 | 8 | 8 | 19 | 29 | -10 | 26 | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 14th | | Trier | | 22 | 7 | 4 | 11 | 31 | 32 | -1 | 25 | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 15th | | Cottbus | | 22 | 6 | 6 | 10 | 25 | 33 | -8 | 24 | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 16th | | Burghausen | | 22 | 5 | 6 | 11 | 21 | 30 | -9 | 21 | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 17th | | Unterhaching | | 22 | 5 | 6 | 11 | 24 | 39 | -15 | 21 | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 18th | | Regensburg | | 22 | 3 | 4 | 15 | 16 | 46 | -30 | 13 | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| </pre>

Skoooby

<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">1st in German Second DivisionSquad Screen| Pkd | Inf | Name | Apps | Gls | Asts | MoM | Pass | Tck | Drb | Sh Tar | Av R | Value| | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | | | Driller, M* | 22 | 9 | 10 | 4 | 72 % | 0.30 | 0.35 | 64 % | 7.82 | £95K | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | | Loa | Ghioane, T | 17 (1) | 7 | 4 | 2 | 76 % | 3.96 | 0.45 | 56 % | 7.56 | £2.1M| | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | FC | | Vittek, R | 12 (4) | 7 | 3 | 3 | 71 % | 1.16 | 2.86 | 66 % | 7.38 | £625K| | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | SB6 | Trn | Krzynowek, J* | 13 (3) | 6 | 6 | 5 | 71 % | 4.10 | 2.01 | 68 % | 7.56 | £1.2M| | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | SB7 | | Beganskiy, P | 15 | 5 | 6 | 3 | 59 % | 1.12 | 1.43 | 71 % | 8.00 | £2M | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | SB2 | | Kos, T* | 21 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 85 % | 1.57 | 0.05 | 92 % | 7.19 | £425K| | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | SB5 | Yel | Tiffert, C | 17 (1) | 4 | 7 | 1 | 63 % | 3.28 | 1.80 | 42 % | 7.33 | £850K| | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | FC | Fgn | Vlademir | 3 (8) | 4 | 0 | 0 | 70 % | 0.22 | 0.45 | 90 % | 6.73 | £210K| | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | ML | | Müller, L | 4 (9) | 2 | 1 | 0 | 77 % | 2.51 | 0.94 | 50 % | 6.92 | £525K| | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | DC | Wnt | Nikl, M | 7 (7) | 2 | 0 | 0 | 81 % | 1.64 | 0.33 | 100 % | 6.93 | £450K| | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | | Fgn | Aidoo, L | 2 (5) | 1 | 1 | 0 | 73 % | 4.17 | 4.17 | 83 % | 7.14 | £1.6M| | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | DL | Yel | Djenic, P | 19 (1) | 1 | 0 | 0 | 78 % | 2.67 | 0.82 | 64 % | 7.10 | £675K| | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | MR | | Hassa, C | 3 (1) | 1 | 0 | 0 | 60 % | 4.74 | 0.39 | 100 % | 6.00 | £375K| | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | | Inj | Kügler, M | 4 (4) | 1 | 1 | 0 | 63 % | 1.78 | 0.20 | 37 % | 6.38 | £250K| | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | SB4 | | Mintal, M | 4 (8) | 1 | 1 | 0 | 82 % | 1.94 | 0.53 | 33 % | 6.92 | £700K| | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | DC | Fgn | Pope, E | 23 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 81 % | 2.30 | 0.22 | 100 % | 6.78 | £350K| | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | MC | | Svindal Larsen, T | 8 (13) | 1 | 3 | 0 | 77 % | 2.16 | 1.47 | 44 % | 7.00 | £375K| | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | DR | Yel | Wiesner, C | 13 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 73 % | 2.62 | 0.85 | 50 % | 6.85 | £180K| | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | SB3 | Trn | Frey, D | 5 (5) | 0 | 2 | 0 | 85 % | 2.82 | 0.18 | 25 % | 7.00 | £170K| | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | MC | | Kukielka, M | 18 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 86 % | 3.01 | 0.30 | 52 % | 7.06 | £525K| | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | GK | Loa | Nicht, K | 8 (1) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 49 % | - | - | - | 6.00 | £150K| | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | | Fgn | Sanneh, A | 13 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 73 % | 2.81 | 0.63 | 100 % | 6.92 | £130K| | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | SB1 | | Schäfer, R | 17 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 53 % | - | - | - | 6.53 | £150K| | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | | | Stehle, T | 4 (1) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 72 % | 1.35 | 0.27 | - | 6.00 | £400K| | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | | | Wolf, A | 0 (1) | 0 | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | - | 7.00 | £190K| | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| </pre>

Skoooby

Good to see some reading this. :thup:

Skoooby

Spring 2004

2.Liga

Back in December, when our lead in the 2.liga reached double digits, I began rotating out players on loan or who were leaving us for prospects whose contract the club controlled. Once the league resumed after the winter break the transformation was complete, with players like Kügler, Larsen and new signing Hassa seeing regular starts. This rotation ended up biting me on the ass when we dropped six points in consecutive weeks to end the winter session.

In response to this mini crisis, I brought players like Tiffert, Krzynowek and Ghioane back into the starting XI and also tightened up our tactics to conserve our eleven point lead in the league. In the following weeks our conservatism, while not flashy or fashionable, proved pragmatic. A twin bill of Bavarian opponents (Unterhaching and Burghausen) saw us leave with six points even though the scores were close (1-0 and 2-0 respectively). The following week we dropped two points away to Union Berlin, but coming away with a point was still acceptable. And so it continued. A 1-0 victory over rivals Greuther Fürth was followed by a 2-2 draw against high flyers Ahlen. Each match we were close to promotion and silverware. The following week a less than convicing 1-0 victory against the Zebras (Duisburg) saw us clinch promotion. So, out came the reserves and back into the shelf went our mercenaries. On the 29th matchday, away to Aachen, we clinched the league in decidely undramatic fashion (a scoreless draw), but my first mission was accomplished. We undoubtedly proved that the FC Nuremburg were a cut above the Second Division. Next year we will need to prove that we are more than a team that resides in the purgatory between Heaven and Hell.

Other Club News

We were not terribly active in the transfer market during the winter window, thought not due to lack of trying. So, when a scout came back with a gloving review on a Peruvian central midfielder creator that would cost us precisely that amount, I jumped at the chance. To be completed in July, we have conditionally signed 28 year-old Jean Franco Ferrari from Universitario for £1.8M. He’ll be the centerpiece of our attack next year.

To shore up our backline, I also signed another American to pair with Eddie Pope. On Pope’s recommendation we scouted David Stokes, a strong centerback from DC United, and liked what we saw. Especially the pricetag which was the bargain of £65k. He is unlikely to start for us in the Bundesliga, but adds much needed depth.

Pavel Beganskiy, our dynamic young Belorussian striker, was honored a second time as Player of the Month, this time for his February performance – three goals in three matches. He ended up this year with 19 appearances which was about right for his age (22). While I play him paired up with our target man, Martin Driller, because he has the speed to be a rapid striker, I project him to take Driller’s spot in the coming years. He has a great mentor in Driller who was deservedly honored as Fan’s Player of the Year.

Other Football News

It was Bayern’s year. They win both the Bundesliga and the Champions League – their fifth – after defeating Manchester United 2-0 at Westfalenstadion in revenge for the 1999 match. The only blemish on the season was a 2-1 extra-time loss to Hamburg in the German Cup.

Liverpool won a record 4th UEFA Cup in a 1-0 victory over Sporting Lisbon. Grønkjaer was the hero with his extra-time winner.

Chelsea won the FA Cup over Tottehnam

Hanover, Rostock and 1860 Munich were booted from the Bundesliga. It’s too bad for us that we cannot renew our rivalry against 1860.

Arsenal, Inter and Real Madrid were all champions in their respective leagues.

Summary

A tight tactical style saw 1.FCN grind through the final third of the league in consistent but conservative fashion. Promotion by matchday 28 and the league championship by matchday 29, gave us plenty of opportunities to rotate in reserve players to evaluate them for the coming year. Central midfielder Jean Franco Ferrari and central defender David Stokes were both signed for transfers in July. Mission one (promotion) was complete, but I was less successful in finding Bavarians to fill the ranks. I’ll earn my pay next year when I attempt mission two (stay up).

[This message was edited by Andrew K on 02 May 2004 at 19:45.]

Skoooby

<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">Holders - Nürnberg| Pos | Inf | Team | | Pld | Won | Drn | Lst | For | Ag | G.D. | Pts | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 1st | C | Nürnberg | | 34 | 23 | 7 | 4 | 59 | 20 | +39 | 76 | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 2nd | P | Aue | | 34 | 17 | 9 | 8 | 44 | 30 | +14 | 60 | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 3rd | P | Ahlen | | 34 | 16 | 8 | 10 | 62 | 40 | +22 | 56 | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 4th | | Bielefeld | | 34 | 16 | 8 | 10 | 62 | 51 | +11 | 56 | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 5th | | Duisburg | | 34 | 16 | 6 | 12 | 47 | 42 | +5 | 54 | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 6th | | Mainz | | 34 | 15 | 8 | 11 | 67 | 54 | +13 | 53 | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 7th | | Lübeck | | 34 | 15 | 8 | 11 | 54 | 46 | +8 | 53 | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 8th | | Karlsruhe | | 34 | 14 | 10 | 10 | 59 | 55 | +4 | 52 | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 9th | | Cottbus | | 34 | 12 | 10 | 12 | 45 | 43 | +2 | 46 | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 10th | | Union Berlin | | 34 | 11 | 13 | 10 | 38 | 40 | -2 | 46 | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 11th | | Greuther Fürth | | 34 | 13 | 6 | 15 | 45 | 49 | -4 | 45 | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 12th | | Aachen | | 34 | 11 | 9 | 14 | 50 | 45 | +5 | 42 | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 13th | | Osnabrück | | 34 | 12 | 3 | 19 | 59 | 81 | -22 | 39 | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 14th | | Trier | | 34 | 10 | 7 | 17 | 45 | 53 | -8 | 37 | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 15th | R | Oberhausen | | 34 | 9 | 10 | 15 | 30 | 49 | -19 | 37 | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 16th | R | Burghausen | | 34 | 7 | 10 | 17 | 35 | 53 | -18 | 31 | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 17th | R | Unterhaching | | 34 | 7 | 10 | 17 | 36 | 60 | -24 | 31 | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 18th | R | Regensburg | | 34 | 8 | 6 | 20 | 39 | 65 | -26 | 30 | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| </pre>