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Well, for my LLM campaign I decided to take on Vauxhall Motors seeing as they're the next best thing to Liverpool...at least at this level anyway. So having loaded all players and leagues from the UK, I looked forward to an exciting British experience. In hindsight, maybe I should have opted for more variety. Ah, simple rookie mistake realised too late...
2006/7 (Conference North)
Media Prediction: 22nd (AKA Rock Bottom!) Board and fans expectation: Fight bravely against relegation
Anyway, arrived to a typical (and by typical, I mean less than welcoming) reception to a club destined for relegation. Fans were already questioning the wisdom in appointing a foreigner. Couldn't ask for a better challenge. Perfect.
After a humiliating run of 13 games without a win, the media prediction seemed justified. Frequent injuries to players who were just starting to show form compounded problems and with my loanees gone, things were looking grim indeed.
The midseason break allowed me to concentrate on recruitment so in came a bevy of staff and a few players who would immediately command a first team spot. Excellent. Injuries continued to plague us but with the players settling in, we managed to notch up enough wins to climb out of 22nd and an eventual finish of 11th place. Talk about a revival! Hallelujah! HALLelujah! gettit?
Position: 11th
P W D L F A D Pts
42 16 7 19 65 67 -2 55
FA Trophy: 1R 2-0 away loss to Harrogate. An abrupt end after starting to show some promise.
FA Cup: 3QR 5-1 thrashing at the hands of Droylsden on home soil. Truly embarrassing.
Highs: Goal fest in the FA Trophy 3QR replay. Leading 2-0 at the break, fortunes quickly changed as we let in 4 in 10 minutes. 5 min later, it was our turn as we snuck in 2 to force the match into ET. Our reliable striker completed his hat-trick in the 117th min to end the game of the season.
Lows: A new club record of 13 league games without a win.
Top goalscorer: Reliable Striker with 13 goals. Star player: Versatile 29 y.o with 11 goals to his name. Fans' POTY: Hardworking winger and trusty set-piece taker who had a knack of showing our strikers just how it's done.
Finances: 2K in transfer funds remained unused and the club was in the green towards the end of the season. Transfers In: An aging GK who doubled as coach, 2 defenders, a midfielder and a striker for a grand sum of 0K. Yep, yep, real stingy manager. Transfers Out: Pacy midfielder for 2K. $weet deal indeed. Loans: A couple. 6 or so over the season.
Other Info: Man Utd win the Premiership, Chelsea the FA Cup, Arsenal the Champions League and Holland pick up the European Cup. Internacional win the World Club Championship to mirror real life.
Media Prediction: 16th Board and fans expectation: Fight bravely against relegation
The second season was surprisingly forgettable. A topsy-turvy affair had me dreaming of Brazil and cursing myself for not including more leagues in the game. A slump in form had us drop from play-off contention towards mid-table mediocrity. Going into the final two games, we needed to win both to challenge for that final playoff spot. 4 points wasn't enough as we missed the boat by 2. Curses!!!
Anyway, made it my New Years resolution to stick with the team to the death. No more glances to exotic Brazil while my relationship with the Motormen is still intact. Ha, weird analogy there...double weird!...
Position: 8th
P W D L F A D Pts
42 18 8 16 68 56 +12 62
FA Trophy: 2R 2-0 defeat to Cambridge as we carried our poor league form into the cup.
FA Cup: 4QR Unlucky 2-1 loss to Northwich after having our keeper sent off in the 6th min for a professional foul. Seriously?! Down 1-0 after the resulting penalty, an own goal gave us a life-line which lasted barely a minute as we conceded immediately after. Seriously?! I mean, SERIOUSLY?! Was that some kind of sick joke?!
Highs: None worth remembering. I guess my Powerful Striker getting 2 hat-tricks is something. Even if we still lost in one of those games. Argh!.
Lows: Inconsistency. Injuries. Curses!
Top goalscorer: Powerful Striker with 22. Star Player: Star Midfielder only 20 years of age. Best 0K I've ever spent! Fans' POTY: Powerful Striker.
Finances: Minimal spending (staff mostly) meant we managed rake in a few pounds in profit. Went over the wage budget but with the finances looking healthy, wasn't too concerned. Transfers In: Managed to get some truly quality players who I'm sure will be the backbone of my team next season once they've settled in. 1 GK, 4 MF and 2 ST for the grand total of...0K. OMG, I've got to overcome this phobia and spend some of that $weet looking 55K. That's right. Transfers Out: Let go off a few players on a free but alas, no dough this year. Bah, who cares? (Maybe a little..) Loans: 3, 2 of which I signed later.
Other Info: Liverpool wins the Premiership! Woohoo! Barnsley win FA Cup!??? Valencia win in Europe and Arsenal are World Club Champions. Chelsea is surprisingly quiet.
Media Prediction: 13th Board and fans expectation: Stay clear of relegation
Who says commitment doesn't pay off? 2008/9 would be as perfect a season as there ever would be. Developed a close friendship with the Southport manager hoping it would pay dividends in the near future seeing how they had stormed through the Conference North last season (100 points! Blimey!).
Things got a little tense as the off season drew to a close and I was yet to sign any players. Panicked a little which resulted in 10 players coming through including a veteran keeper for 2K who was already past his prime. What a waste. Nevermind though, the rest were quality and my regulars from the previous season were pushed to the reserves.
I had enough quality to field two teams and it showed. Despite some players being injury prone, the results kept coming thanks in part to a young prodigy (Explosive Forward) from Crewe who was on loan to Southport last year. Snapped him up for...you know the deal. Another prodigy who shall be referred to as The Gatekeeper kept the sheets clean too many times to count. Last year's Star Midfielder was as consistent as ever but the pressure was getting to him - him and a few more players.
Suffice to say, by midseason, it would've been a tragedy if these players were not playing in the Conference National next year. Well I won't go any further, the results speak for themselves:
Position: 1st!
P W D L F A D Pts
42 33 6 3 82 21 +61 105
FA Trophy: 1R 1-0 loss to Mansfield as our Explosive Forward got hit by the injury bug. Lost interest in that comp anyway, the real excitement was in the...
FA Cup: 3R 1-0 loss to Oldham. Despite rushing in the Explosive Forward from injury, we were unable to break the Oldham defence and so ended our dream money-making run. $weet $tuff indeed.
Highs: I was on a high all season long. Still, one game did stand out - A 2R FA Cup tie against Rochdale. Down 2-0, an inspiring HT talk did the trick and the boys came out firing to triumph 3-2.
Lows: I'm still tempted to retire and move to Brazil...dammit!...
Top goalscorer: Explosive Forward with 27. Lost his way a bit towards the end but still managed to chip in with an assist or two. At only 20 years of age, this is one for the future. Star Player: The Gatekeeper with an impressive 31 clean sheets. Another impressive 20 y.o. The future looks bright indeed. Fans' POTY: Explosive Forward. No suprise there.
Finances: Income from the FA Cup and gate receipts left us with around half a million in the bank. Went over the wage budget again and hopefully the board will be looking to raise it even further to accommodate the increase in salary next season due to the promotion clause. Transfers In: 12 players for 3K. Quality, all of them. Except 2. Transfers Out: Released more players although did manage to get 1K for 2006/7 Fans' POTY. Major culling is likely for next season. Loans: 3 although only 1 played regularly. A promising 18 y.o winger who I re-trained as a striker. He's too expensive to sign now and is probably better off at his club where he'll be able to develop fully. I'll keep a tab on him...
Other Info: Liverpool retains Premiership title! Tottenham enjoy FA Cup and Euro glory!!!??? Valencia is the new World Club Champions. Chelsea? Hello? ...
don't mean to tempt you to brazil more but have you thought about all those gorgeous samba babes who will be crawling at your feet as you would become a samba legend??? think of them.......... THINK OF THEM MORE.............
Originally posted by mkus:
That has to be the most illiterate thread title for a while, unless I've missed a play on words somewhere (or you want to live in a mansion).
Ah, wait - is it because you're VauxHALL Motors?
You missed it by a mile. :p
Speaking off, how far is Rivacre Park from Anfield ?
Originally posted by tallen1985:
don't mean to tempt you to brazil more but have you thought about all those gorgeous samba babes who will be crawling at your feet as you would become a samba legend??? think of them.......... THINK OF THEM MORE.............
In For The Long HALL! 
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