retired_yolander

Winter off-season; 2002/3

9/12 -02: Christian Vieri of Internazionale was described as a goal machine by a leading television expert today. Vieri’s wonderful form has however not been enough to save manager Héctor Raúl Cúper’s job. Internazionale’s 4th position in the league after 13 rounds and the crashing out of the UEFA Cup 2nd Round was enough to convince chairman Massimo Moratti that a change was overdue. Marco Tardelli later takes the vacant manager position.

12/12 -02: Manchester United complete the signing of Atlético Madrid playmaker Demetrio Albertini for a fee of £ 11,000,000.

13/12 -02: Jon Lundblad leaves Örebro under the Bosman ruling. Jon is a very talented forward that I’d love to add to my squad. However his salary demands could prove a stumbling block. He’s asking twice of what I can afford. English 34-year old central defender Charlie Bishop joins on an one week trial at the club.

15/12 -02: Juan Román Riquelme leaves Barcelona for Atlético Madrid. The Catalan club let’s Riquelme go for a fee of £ 11,750,000.

17/12 -02: Karl Ståhl signed on a free transfer. Ståhl was released by his club GIF Sundsvall a few weeks ago and although I would readily admit it being a gamble, I decided to try and sign him. This as plenty of other clubs have tried to persuade him in signing for them. If I were to wait for my scouts to make their reports he would be snapped up by another club in the mean time. So, I moved and secured his signature.

Karl Ståhl (29), D/LC.
An experienced player that lacks some speed, but has good stamina, is hard working and a team player through and through. Will undoubtedly take a place in my central defence, hopefully giving it further stability.

Veteran Charlie Bishop meanwhile rejects an initial contract offer that would see him signing on as player/coach. I don’t believe he has anything to offer as a player, but as a coach he seems very competent, so a renewed bid has been made for the ex Northampton players signature.

18/12 -02: The Intercontinental Cup Final

The Intercontinental Cup Final in Tokyo between the best European and best South American teams turned into a thriller, but in the end it would be Juventus that turned out victorious after an amazing turn around of the game.

Juventus vs. River 3-2 (1-2, 2-2)
National Stadium, Tokyo, Japan: 61963.
Juventus (4-4-2): Buffon - Pessotto (Iuliano, 8), Thuram, Tudor (Ferrara, 36), Birindelli - Nedved, Camoranesi, Baiocco, Zambrotta - Del Piero, Trezeguet.
River (4-1-2-1-2): Comizzo - Rojas (Lequi, 54), Demichelis, Garcé, Cuevas - Gómez - Alvarez (Franco, 66), Coudet - D‘Alessandro - Dominguez (Sand, 54), Cavenaghi.
Match Facts: 0-1 Coudet (5), 0-2 Gómez (35), 1-2 Camoranesi (41). 2-2 Trezeguet (49). 3-2 Nedved (109).
River started the game by taking a 2-0 lead after just over a half hour played. 1-0 came after a Andres D‘Alessandro corner that was blasted at the top corner by Eduardo Coudet. At the second goal it was defensive midfielder Marcelo Gómez that pulled off an amazing move. He continually moved up field, dribbling past both Baiocco and Nedved before hitting a low right footed drive into the corner of the net. River seemed to be cruising, but Camoranesi scored the all important goal just before half time - after an excellent move inside the box. At the other side of the half time interval Baiocco made a good run and finished it by hitting a low pass into the path of Trezeguet, who was left with a simple finish. Both teams now became more defensive minded and the contest went in to extra time. There it was Pavel Nedved of Juventus that became the hero of the day as he roamed forward and scored the fifth and last goal of the day. Juventus overcame an early 2-0 disadvantage and turned the game around. They showed good team morale and won in the end well deservedly.

retired_yolander

20/12 -02: I make a loan bid for Malmö FF’s experienced defensive midfielder Jeppe Vestergaard. They have already accepted a loan bid from Danish First Division side Hellerup, so I don’t have too high hopes of luring him here, but he would be an excellent signing - albeit only on a season long loan deal. Charlie Bishop has meanwhile completed his trial at the club and left with a fresh contract offer.

Swedish star Zlatan Ibrahimovic has picked up this years Dutch First Division Golden Boot award.

21/12 -02: Jeppe Vestergaard joins Hellerup rather than us, while Charlie Bishop rather stays unemployed than joining us.

23/12 -02: IFK Lidingö, that won our group but failed to get promoted, made a £ 20,000 bid for the services of Isac Löwhagen. The offer was accepted. Jesper Bengtsson suffers a groin strain in training and will be out for three weeks. Happy holidays!

Bulgarian international Dimitar Berbatov was sold to 1860 München from Bayer Leverkusen for £ 8,500,000.

24/12 -02: Fellow Second Division side Askim IK make bids on two of my players that are both accepted. £ 20,000 for Isac Löwhagen and £ 30,000 for Erik Johansson. Elfsborg reject a loan bid I’d made for their out of favour left winger Pär Karlsson.

25/12 -02: Isac Löwhagen sold to IFK Lidingö for £ 20,000. IFK Lidingö and Vallentuna have bids for Erik Johansson accepted.

26/12 -02: Sittichai Pongrugthai voted supporters player of the year! A well founded decision I think. When in the mood he’s been absolutely superb. However, his constant bitching about his training schedule has become slightly irritating to say the least...

Scout Emil Norling recommends Ängelholm’s 22-year old striker Johan Holm as a good signing. As he’s currently available for loan I approach to make a season long loan deal.

27/12 -02: Jesper Ahlström will once again be out due to injury after sustaining a sprained ankle in training. He’ll be out for two weeks.

Trelleborg’s manager Jonas Brorsson has meanwhile been sacked and assistant manager Lars Larsson promoted to take his role.

28/12 -02: Erik Johansson sold to IFK Lidingö for £ 24,000, the fee will increase to £ 35,000 if he appears in one league game for Lidingö. Jon Lundblad rejects my contract offer and opts to join Brazilian side CRB instead.

29/12 -02: Johan Holm joins Sirius on loan from Ängelholm until 27/11 -03. Couldn‘t afford buying him, but we managed to loan him from fellow Second Division side Ängelholm - without having to pay his wages for the period.

Johan Holm (22), Striker (Centre).
A fast striker with excellent off the ball movement and good stamina. Goes straight in to the starting XI.

31/12 -02: Scout Emil Norling has been working hard and now found me another excellent player available for loan. I waste no time in submitting a loan bid for Kalmar FF’s 24-year old attacking full back Jon Björklund.

retired_aliciabh2000

Missing this story, hope it hasnt come to an end!

retired_enid_whitten

I agree!!
This has been my favorite yet.
Though I am perhaps interested because it takes place in Uppsala, and when I saw Sirius play they ran out 8(or something)-1 winners.

retired_yolander

Well, back on popular demand (I guess)
Although very busy, I'll try and keep weekly updates from now on.
Thanks for the support :thup:

------------------------------
2003

1/1 -03: The board declare themselves pleased with my general management of the club and are happy to see I have built a rapport with the fans. Financially December was a good month going £ +112,743 in the green. However, the overall economic situation for the year of 2002 wasn't very upliftning reading:
Income: 433,738 - Expenditure: 510,513 = £ -76,775. Balance = £ -244,966

2/1 -03: Jon Björklund joins Sirius on loan from Kalmar FF until 28/11 -03. He has a release clause set at £ 40,000 so will have to see how long he’ll stay, wish I had the money myself as he seems like a very good player. Don’t pay him any wages though on the bright side.

Jon Björklund (24), Defensive Midfielder (Left).
A hard working team player, with good off the ball movement and stamina. Will take the left wing position as his, as long as we can hang on to him.

3/1 -03: Bayer Leverkusen sign Palmeira’s powerhouse forward Juninho for a fee of £ 12,000,000. Patrick Viera of Arsenal has meanwhile been named as one of the best players on the world stage by former French star Maxime Bossis. Arsenal manager Arsène Wenger could only agree that Viera is a top class player.

4/1 -03: Charlie Bishop signed on a free transfer as player/coach. Finally managed to convince Charlie to sign on as a player/coach after giving in to his demands to be treated as a squad player and not just a back-up. Yeah right…

Charlie Bishop (34), Defender (Centre) & Coach.
As a player Charlie has nothing going for him. As a coach however he‘s quite competent; a disciplinarian who’s great working with youngsters.

9/1 -03: Sunderland’s Swedish player/coach Stefan Schwartz moves back home to take over the reigns of newly promoted Second Division side Köping. Barcelona meanwhile sign Sporting’s striker Jardel for £ 10,750,000.

11/1 -03: Kjell Johansson has been without contract for some while and has now decided to leave the club in search for a new employer. I hold talks with him about him signing on as a player/coach for a year or two. I believe his experience within the club could be put in to good use as a coach. He later agrees and signs on to a two year contract.

14/1 -03: Andreas Fällström‘s proposed transfer to GAIS falls through as they can’t afford the transfer fee. Due to him being the clubs highest wage earner with £ 350 a week, whilst only being a back-up player, I decide to release him on a free instead.

15/1 -03: Jonas Bylund‘s proposed transfer to IFK Luleå is cancelled as they can’t afford the transfer fee. Offer Bylund a new contract instead, which he accepts.

19/1 -03: Mathias Wallin is released from the Sirius coaching staff on a free transfer. With the arrival of two new player/coaches, Wallin’s dubious contributions as coach were no longer needed.

22/1 -03: Jeppe Vestergaard joins Sirius on loan from Malmö FF until 20/11 -03. As Jeppe’s loan at Hellerup ended, I was quick to make an approach which was accepted by both club and player. The Dane joins us on a season long loan, but as with the other loans, we need not to pay his wages during that period of time.

Jeppe Vestergaard (27), Defender/Defensive Midfielder (Centre).
Jeppe is a very good team player, with good off the ball movement, passing, determination and speed. Should become an important central midfielder to us.

23/1 -03: Valencia sign Athletic Bilbao’s attacking midfielder Julen Guerrero for a fee of £ 11,250,000.

27/1 -03: Kjell Johansson retires from the playing staff. Kjell finally has seen his limitations as a player, but will continue at the club in his coaching role. A good decision.

retired_yolander

28/1 -03: Deportivo sign Atlético Madrid midfielder Emerson for a fee of £ 9,250,000.

3/2 -03: Benito Floro has been sacked as manager of Villarreal after a poor first half of the season (currently 14th in the league). Paco Fortes later fills the vacant manager position.

5/2 -03: Los Angeles beat Olimpia of Paraguay in the Inter-American Cup after a thrilling penalty shoot-out. Both teams won their respective home games with 1-0 and it went to penalties in the second game. Los Angeles won the penalty shoot-out 3-2.

9/2 -03: GÃ*lson signed on a free transfer as player/coach. This Brazilian 37-year old may not be much of a player, but is reputably a very good coach. Promised him he’d be a part of the playing squad, but I seriously doubt that somehow…

GÃ*lson (37), Striker (Centre) & Coach.
Too old to be a competitive player for the squad, although he‘s both hard working and technical. Brilliant coach though. A good goalkeeper coach also, which I‘ve been lacking up until now.

18/2 -03: Thomas Arnesson signs a new three year contract.

28/2 -03: Jesper Dogan will be out for a month with a groin strain.

5/3 -03: Martin Berglund promoted from Sirius youth set-up. Our youth set-up keeps producing promising youngsters, with Berglund just being one in a long line of such. Sign him to a 3 year contract.

Martin Berglund (17), Defender/Attacking Midfielder (Right).
Martin must improve considerably in many aspects of the game. However, he does have talent and is hard working. Also he’s reasonably fast, a good finisher and has good stamina.

In the UEFA Cup Fourth Round the only surprises were the eliminations of Spanish teams Valencia and Real Betis against Bayer Leverkusen 1-4 [1-0, 0-4] and FC KØbenhavn 3-6 [2-3, 1-3] respectively.

Georgy Chupin will be out for a month with a groin strain.

While on the subject of strained groins I experienced something closely related. Swedish winters in January, February, can be as boring as hell freezing over. Constant darkness and minus degrees that will freeze you into an ice statue if you stand still for too long. The only escape from the climatic hell outside, is to creep up inside your home and turn up the heat. Gets boring and depressing spending so much time indoors - and as I’ve still not managed to find a partner to hug and kiss in the reflections of burning candles - I figured I might as well chat a bit with strange women on the Internet. Chatting with some of these strange women, with the emphasize on strange, I did actually meet one sane girl. She lived here in town, 21-years of age and lively as a mountain storm. After several weeks of chatting we met for the first time a week ago. We walked together along the frozen small river of Fyrisån, that runs through the centre of town, talking and getting acquainted. We enjoyed each others company and met again, going to the movies. Was today invited over to her apartment for a romantic dinner. It was romantic and very pleasant and I had no idea (well that’s perhaps not quite true) that it would lead to a sleepless night. She was as lively in bed as out of it and the electricity created could have fuelled the town for a week. She loved to love and wore me out completely. Never met anyone quite like her.
Might not be out for a full month, but I’ll definitely need a few days rest now...
-------------------------------------

retired_enid_whitten

Yeah, thats nice, lets hear about some more football!

retired_hardtrucker18

A Siriusly great story so far!!!

*ducks the stones flying at him*

You're quite the playa with the ladies...

retired_yolander

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Carrplos:
A Siriusly great story so far!!!

*ducks the stones flying at him*

You're quite the playa with the ladies...<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>
It's a tough job... but someone's gotta do it! :cool:

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by FujiSon:
Yeah, thats nice, lets hear about some more football!<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

You need help...

retired_enid_whitten

I just wasn't born with your gifts.