GB68

Think the only hooliganism going on is the refereeing In Poland. Just copped my 4th touchline ban in 5 seasons

Maybe I should start fining myself?

GB68

2012/13 Motor Lublin Polish 1st Division

This year, the board wanted a title challenge and armed with a decent transfer budget, off I went like a kid in a candy shop! I was confident and so was the team and it showed.

Predicted - 2nd
Transfer Budget - 1.8 million
Players In - 8 for 1.45 million
Players Out - 7 for 490k
League - 1st (of 16) P:30 W:18 D:8 L:4 F:69 A:26 Pts:62
Polish FA Cup - Winners! Beat Gornik Zabzre 3-1
Polish League Cup - Runners-up. Lost to Legia Warsaw 3-2 AET.
Euro Cup - Eliminated at Group Stage

So close to completing a triple. Won the League with 3 games to spare (then proceeded to get only 1 point from my last 3 games). Board and fans were happy.

But the highlight for me was the run in Europe, made it through the qualifying rounds, including a 2-1 agg win over Anderlecht, to reach the group phase and was very close to qualifying for the knock-out stage if not for an injury time goal in the last game away to AEK Athens.
Real Betis 2-0 (L) away
Spartak Moscow 2-2 (D) home
Levski Sofia 2-1 (W) home
AEK Athens 2-1 (L) away. A draw would have given us 2nd in the group surprisingly, but a 92nd minute defensive lapse saw us out and Spartak scrap through and make it all the way to the final before eventually losing to Inter 3-0.

POTY - now 30 y-old Club Fav ST who returned to form after a couple of injury plagued seasons.
41 Apps 35 Gls 8 Ass 8 MOM 7.40 avg

Renewed my contract for 1 more year to have another shot at the Champions Cup. Plus this stellar season has me liking the team again, especially with 3 or 4 great signings and another couple of prospects on the way up. Next year should be fun, then I'll look for new horizons.

PinkhamJ

Really enjoyed these updates never experienced Poland before! Looking forward to next update.. now you've conquered Poland your reputation musn't be to bad.. you thinking of staying in the country or moving out?

GB68

My Reputation is 'Contintental' now. Must have achieved this sometime in the past season? But I've never had any offers to leave? My name has been linked to a few jobs, and I can only recall having to comment on speculation once. And that was to Rapid Bucharest, I think? So said not interested anyway :thdn:

Thinking definitely to move elsewhere. Nothing really exciting happens in Poland ?

PinkhamJ

I say give the champions league a go first then move on.. maybe think about conquering Eastern Europe? Rapid Bucharest wouldn't be a bad idea? Big following and history?

kes1551

Really enjoying this thread! KUTGW!

snavey

Bribery?
KUTGBrownPaperBagW!

GB68

Not sure about bribery, but something funny is going on in Lublin? This years youth intake includes a 16 year old FC of great promise who hails from Ghana

Hmmmm.... we have no known connection with Ghana or have we ever had a Ghanaian player or staff? Don't quite know where he came from, but I'm not complaining. He's already banging the goals in for my U-21's, looks promising.

PinkhamJ

Whats your average attendance like and estimated value?

GB68

Our stadium was 8000 capacity (I think) at the start. Has had an expansion 2 seasons ago to 11800 (8300 seats). We are currently averaging 11170 this year, so another expansion may be on the cards soon?

Club is valued at 8.25 million, now the 4th highest valued club in Poland :eek: (Wisla Krakow is valued at 10.5 million) I had not checked that in several seasons, but I know we where ranked about 40th for value back then!

And our Euro ranking is now 201 up from 330 something, a few years ago. Hopefully with a decent performance in Europe this year we can move up some more!

Ghanaian Update - Now 17 y-old, Has made his 1st team debut in League Cup group match, and scores in the 7th minute!!
Has scored 14 goals in 11 matched for U-21's.