retired_frogchickie

Ok, been playing with TNS for a while now, so I thought I might share my experiences with you. My ambition has been to reach the Champions League or UEFA Cup group stages.

I'm probably going against the LLM ethic by enjoying Wales because of all its cup competitions! I love cups

retired_stelutaivan

Getting to the group stages with a Welsh team is very hard. Fell at the Last hurdle with Connah's Quay last season.

retired_frogchickie

Large Databases, all British and Irish leagues and divisions running


2004-05

Favourites for the league along with Bangor, and already in the UEFA Cup qualifying. A small, but decent squad, with a nominal transfer budget. Scouting limited to the British Isles.

I spent £17k on 8 players, the pick being a £9k DM from Dunfermline's reserves. 2 players left on free transfers.

Competitions in chronological order:

UEFA Cup: drawn against Nistru Otaci from Moldova, won the first leg 2-1, but beaten 4-0 in the return

Welsh Challenge Cup: 2 legged cup against fellow WPL teams - beaten 5-3 on agg by Aberystwyth in the Semis

Welsh Cup: a competition with a crazy number of upsets - beaten 2-0 by Grange Quins in the 4th round

FAW Premier Cup: the biggie against the 'English' welsh teams. Beat Conf South team Newport 2-0, but then lost 2-1 to Championship side Cardiff in the q-finals

WPL: An incredibly tight season, ended up with me winning the final 3 games, and pipping Bangor on goal difference (+42 / +27) to the title

Record : p34 20-9-5 pts 69

retired_frogchickie

Connah's Quay would have been even more impressive than TNS I would imagine though. :thup:

retired_frogchickie

2005-06

Pre-season favourites again. 6 players brought in, all on free transfers. The pick was a striker and attacking midfielder who had been released by EPL clubs. 8 players released over the season, again all on frees.

Champions League: un-seeded in the 1st round, drawn against Siroki Brijeg of Bosnia. Lost the away leg 2-1, but won the return 2-0 at Wrexham's Racecourse Ground.

second round v Ferencvaros of Hungary - beaten 3-2 at home and 4-0 away.

Welsh Cup: knocked out by nonleague Ton Pentre in the QFs. again, loads of shocks, all 4 semi-finalists were nonleague :o Barry Town went on to win it.

Challenge Cup: All the way to the final, and a first trip to the Millennium Stadium, beating Bangor 2-0

FAW Premier Cup: beat Newport again (in the QFs this time), then beat FAW side Cwmbran in the semis. Played League2 side Swansea in the final at home. Won 3-2 on pens after a 1-1 draw.

WPL: after losing both games in the xmas double header (2 games in 2 days), went unbeaten til the end of the season, for a second successive title.

Record: p34 27-5-2 pts 86

8 ahead of Bangor

A superb treble, and 100k for winning the Premier Cup :cool:

retired_duncan

You do love cups, don't you

retired_frogchickie

2006-07

Favourites again. A small transfer budget was offered, and £35k was spent on rival Bangor's key midfielder. 3 others brought in on frees, and £36k would be spent on 3 players in January.

The budget was funded by 12 player out for £325k, including £250k for a young keeper to Motherwell. The DM bought for £9k in the first season was sold to Gretna for £80k.

CL: unseeded again - drawn against Irish champs Drogheda in the 1st round. Lost 3-4 at home, then 1-3 away.

Premier Cup: drawn against Newport again, and beat them 4-0. then beaten 3-0 by Cardiff in the semis

Challenege Cup: Finalists again, hammering rivals Bangor 6-0 in the final

Welsh Cup: First time finalists (and first time on TV), beating Aberystwyth 1-0 in the final.

WPL: My best season to date. An incredible 24 game winning streak between September and March which I haven't come close to matching since, led me to win the league by a massive 27pts (over Bangor again)

Record: p34 30-2-2 pts92

Another treble, but of a different kind. :cool: No European progress yet though, and the Welsh co-efficient was still poor.

retired_frogchickie

The keeper was £240k btw, if you're wondering how 250+80 = 325

I love cups! The less league games the better

I've got about 5 more seasons to come, but I will stagger them a bit.

retired_duncan

KUTGW :thup:

retired_frogchickie

2007-08

Favourites again. I had a bit more to spend this time, and bought 3 players totalling £49k, and 5 more for £81k in January. The pick was a promising right back from Aberystwyth for £12k. 18 players, mainly youth rejects, left during the season, all on frees.

CL: unseeded again. 1st rd, drew the Irish champs again, this time Shelbourne. Lost 1-2 away and 0-2 at home. Out early again.

Welsh Challenge Cup: Finalists again, this time against Cwmbran. Won 1-0 for my 3rd success in a row.

Welsh Cup: Reached final again - also against Cwmbran. Possibly the most memorable match in charge:

h/t: TNS 2-0 Cwmbran
72mins: 2-4 (4 goals in 20 mins)
90mins: 4-4 (last minute equaliser)

I then went 5-4 up in extra time, before another equaliser. Finally, two more goals in the 2nd period of extra time, and I won 7-5 :eek:

Premier Cup: Didn't draw Newport. :o Beat Cardiff in the semis, then another epic final, beating Swansea 4-3 for a clean sweep of the cups.

WPL: not as crushing as the season before, but still a massive margin - 18pts to Bangor (yet again)

record: p34 26-7-1 pts85

The Quadruple :cool:

But my main aim, Europe was still a disaster

Job offers were coming in now from the Scottish and English lower divisions. I wasn't going to jump ship though!