Deutschland über alles - The Return

[Harleqin]

<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre"> ************************************************************************************************

Dutch Premier Division - Saturday 2nd June 2007

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2006/7 Table

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Pos Team Pld Won Drn Lst For Ag Won Drn Lst For Ag Pts

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1st C Feyenoord 34 12 4 1 36 13 11 2 4 33 26 75

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2nd PSV 34 12 1 4 39 16 9 3 5 29 27 67

3rd Ajax 34 9 3 5 29 22 10 3 4 35 22 63

4th Vitesse 34 7 4 6 34 27 11 2 4 44 21 60

5th MVV 34 9 4 4 26 20 7 3 7 26 23 55

6th Telstar 34 6 6 5 26 23 8 2 7 23 24 50

7th Groningen 34 9 1 7 30 27 6 4 7 21 27 50

8th AZ 34 8 3 6 26 21 6 4 7 23 27 49

9th Twente 34 7 5 5 29 22 6 4 7 22 26 48

10th de Graafschap 34 8 1 8 24 22 7 2 8 23 26 48

11th NEC 34 7 4 6 25 21 5 3 9 24 32 43

12th Heracles 34 5 4 8 22 25 7 2 8 18 20 42

13th Heerenveen 34 5 5 7 27 33 5 6 6 25 30 41

14th RBC 34 4 5 8 28 31 6 2 9 18 23 37

15th Den Bosch 34 5 4 8 12 16 4 4 9 11 21 35

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16th RKC 34 4 5 8 20 30 4 4 9 16 28 33

17th R Zwolle 34 5 3 9 18 25 2 8 7 19 30 32

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18th R VVV 34 5 1 11 17 31 2 5 10 15 35 27

</pre>

[Harleqin]

June 2007

My estimation of a busy month was not far off. Several players left the club as their contracts expired, but we also welcomed two new players on the 10th.

Marcel Besselink, Central Defender, 22 years, Dutch

Marcel has joined us for a fee of £550K double that if he gets ten international caps. He has already been capped at the U-21 level for Holland and looks like a major talent. He is strong in most defensive aspects and young enough to get even better. He joins us from Utrecht in the first division so he will have to adapt to the slightly higher pace. He was involved in 19 games this season and scored twice. He got three yellow cards and two MoM awards.

Christian Mikolajczak, Left Wingback, 26 years, German

Another former U-21 player Miko joins us on a Bosman from the German side Ahlen who has just been relegated from the Bundesliga. He too played in 19 games and while he didn’t do as well as Besselink he will provide valuable cover and should push for a starting place in the team.

Two more contracts have been agreed, but the players are still to arrive. Let’s just say that we are still hunting for a keeper and a midfielder. To help find them the entire corps of scouts has been despatched, mainly to Scandinavia and Africa.

Another player came in. Once again mainly as a backup player though he has experience enough to do a good job.

Melchior Schoenmakers, Defensive Midfielder, 31 years, Dutch

Arriving on a Bosman from MVV the former Groningen and Heerenveen player is here to add experience to the squad and to serve as a backup in midfield should it be needed. He probably wont be in the starting XI, but he should get his fair amount of games.

Just as the month was coming to a close I got an offer I just couldn’t refuse. I might have 3 good strikers already, but one of the leading scorers in Holland available on a free? I’d be a fool to reject him. He might be a little expensive, but it gives me even more options up from.

Dirk Kuijt, Striker, 29 years, Dutch

Released on a free from Feyenoord after failing to negotiate an extension I swooped to add him to my team in Arnhem. Scoring on average half a goal per game he should provide some added lethality in my strikeforce. Fast and strong he should do very well.

[Harleqin]

July 2007

July is always accompanied by a flurry of transfer activity. Lots of players changed clubs and there were also a few new faces at the Gelredome.

Rune Bolseth, Midfielder, 26 years, Norwegian

Coming in for a million pounds from the South African club Sundowns this Norwegian international should do very well. Scoring 10 goals in 26 starts last year is a very good stat for a midfielder and he is extremely hardworking. He looks like a bargain at the price, but time will tell if he is good enough for us.

Volodymyr Yezerskij, Central Defenders, 30 years, Ukrainian

It was a struggle to sign Yezer as plenty of clubs were interested in him. He comes on a small £170K fee from Dynamo Kijev where he was one of their central players. An extremely talented defender it is amazing he has only been capped once by his nation.

<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">

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Vitesse - Tuesday 3rd July 2007

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2007/8 Transfers

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Date Player In From Fee

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10.6.07 Marcel Besselink Utrecht £550K

10.6.07 Christian Mikolajczak Ahlen Bos

12.6.07 Melchior Schoenmakers MVV Bos

29.6.07 Dirk Kuijt Free Transfer Free

1.7.07 Rune Bolseth Sundowns £1M

1.7.07 Volodymyr Yezerskiy Dinamo Kiev £170K

1.7.07 Milos Ninkovic Juventus Bos

Date Player Out To Fee

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

8.6.07 Jaap Houba Released Free

10.6.07 Onür Kaya Emmen Bos

10.6.07 Nick van Es Go Ahead Bos

10.6.07 Richard Terpstra Den Bosch Bos

15.6.07 Arjan Pronk Released Free

18.6.07 Marc Bakker Released Free

18.6.07 Tim De Meersman Sète Bos

19.6.07 Johan Witschge Veendam Bos

21.6.07 Chris Nijhuis Released Free

22.6.07 Fauzi El Brazi Released Free

24.6.07 Henk Kooiman Released Free

27.6.07 Jermaine Renfurm Released Free

30.6.07 Aleksandar Rankovic MVV Bos

1.7.07 Nick Hofs Boavista Bos

</pre>

The draw for qualification to the UEFA Cup was kind to us as we drew the Latvian team FK Ventspils. We should be able to knock them out without too much difficulty.

As part of the preparations for the new season we participated in a small tournament in Lille. After beating Young Boys Bern, Lille and losing to Martigues… as well as injuring two players…. We won the small cup and got the first silverware of the season.

[Harleqin]

<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre"> ************************************************************************************************

Vitesse - Sunday 12th August 2007

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================================================================================================

Squad

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No Name Position(s) Nat Born Age Caps Gls Wages Expires Value

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30 Bakker, Frank M RC HOL 23.8.87 19 - - £550 3.6.11 £850K

18 Besselink, Marcel D C HOL 12.1.85 22 - - £3.4K 26.6.12 £1.1M

8 Bolseth, Rune M C NOR 4.7.80 27 2 - £9K 12.6.12 £2M

- Bosman, Robert M C HOL 21.7.88 19 - - £525 24.6.10 £300K

2 Cornelisse, Tim D R HOL 3.4.78 29 - - £10K 2.6.10 £2.2M

34 Esajas, Dennis D/DM C HOL 28.6.90 17 - - £725 13.6.11 £375K

6 Heitinga, John SW/D RC HOL 15.11.81 25 - - £8.25K 25.6.09 £1.9M

9 Kuijt, Dirk S C HOL 22.6.78 29 - - £15.5K 25.6.10 £4.3M

13 Kujovic, Vladan GK YUG 23.8.78 28 2 - £9.5K 6.6.09 £2.6M

28 Langeveld, Michael DM C HOL 2.11.86 20 - - £600 20.6.12 £625K

- Laros, Alfred D C HOL 20.12.86 20 - - £500 23.6.08 £180K

25 Lurling, Cor SW/D C HOL 3.12.87 19 - - £1K 19.6.11 £500K

19 Marques, Nélson F C POR 15.11.86 20 - - £6.5K 19.6.10 £3.3M

21 Mikolajczak, Christian D/DM L GER 15.5.81 26 - - £5K 16.6.12 £1M

- Molenaar, Dick AM/F R HOL 18.12.87 19 - - £575 13.6.10 £775K

15 Munthali, Heston M RC MWI 12.10.82 24 4 1 £8.75K 18.6.09 £1.7M

14 Musampa, Edwin SW/D C HOL 12.10.85 21 - - £600 15.6.10 £975K

7 Mustapha, Rahamat F RC GHA 10.10.81 25 7 - £13.75K 10.6.09 £2.4M

24 Ninkovic, Milos AM RC YUG 4.10.83 23 - - £575 11.6.12 £675K

23 Rensen, Sjoerd GK HOL 18.4.83 24 - - £1.5K 9.6.08 £300K

22 Schaars, Stijn D/DM L HOL 11.1.84 23 - - £6.5K 24.6.10 £825K

20 Schoenmakers, Melchior D/DM C HOL 22.10.75 31 - - £6K 2.6.11 £1.2M

26 Seedorf, Mario GK HOL 30.3.84 23 - - £1K 7.6.10 £475K

3 Shew A Tjon, Etienne D/DM L HOL 24.11.79 27 - - £4.9K 26.6.11 £1.8M

16 Sone, Kalle F RC CMR 5.5.82 25 22 7 £6.5K 12.6.08 £1.4M

12 Stojanovic, Sasa F LC YUG 27.1.81 26 - - £7.75K 9.6.10 £2.5M

5 Yezerskiy, Volodymyr SW/D C UKR 15.12.76 30 1 - £8K 20.6.11 £1.1M

10 Zongo, Mamadou F RC BFA 8.10.78 28 24 12 £21.5K 4.6.09 £4.2M

11 de Lange, Ronald AM/F LC HOL 6.5.84 23 - - £6.5K 22.6.10 £4.1M

- van Bochem, Rick DM R HOL 18.10.82 24 - - £5.25K 16.6.08 £850K

4 van Dijk, Gregor DM RC HOL 16.11.81 25 - - £9K 27.6.10 £2.2M

1 van Fessem, Jimmy GK HOL 8.7.75 32 1 - £13.25K 9.6.08 £825K

17 van der Gun, Cedric AM/F RC HOL 5.5.77 30 - - £7.5K 7.6.09 £1.7M

</pre>

[Harleqin]

August 2007

Both the Confederations Cup and the World Club Cup was played as the new season drew close. Fabio Liverani scored the matchwinning goal as Italy beat Brazil to win the CC while Inter Milan won the Club Cup. Not a bad start to the season for the Italians.

In between those finals we more or less book our passage to the Uefa Cup thanks to an outstanding 5-0 win in Latvia. Almost too easy.

The domestic season kicked off in Heerenveen and after a slow start it was the home side that took the lead. The scoreline lasted to half time in a one-sided affair where we never looked neither threatening or even about to get some control over events on the pitch. The substituted Sone gave us some speed and some power and it was no surprise when he levelled the score. All things considered we were extremely lucky to come away with a point and it was not a fair result. Still it ended tied with a goal a piece.

The first game at the Gelredome was against the oddly named Go Ahead. Yezers home debut lasted for only two minutes before an insane tackled forced us to substitute him. At half time I didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. We dominated the match completely, but were a goal down. Pretty ironic. Once again Sone replaced Zongo, but to no avail. Instead it was Schaars who got his first goal for the club deep into the added time giving us the second 1-1 result in a row.

Maybe the bad results are due to the influx of too many new players? It’s not good to know, but it didn’t keep me from bringing in yet another new player.

Eric Djemba-Djemba, Defensive midfielder, 28 years, Cameroonian

Coming in on a free transfer after not having been wanted any more by Manchester United I was shocked that no other clubs were after him. He is very good and were willing to join us for peanuts as well. He should provide quite a lot of punch in midfield.

Shockingly the Uefa Cup return leg only resulted in a small 1-0 win for us. After the thrashing we gave them in Latvia I had wanted another morale-boosting massacre, but it was not to be. Even so we were through and were rewarded/cursed with a draw against the strong Germans from Schalke 04.

The match against RBC in Rosendaal ended in yet another draw seeing us undefeated but also without any wins in our first three games. The only bright thing to take from the game was that we scored three goals, but with three against as well our defence was getting worse. Squandering a 3-1 lead with twenty minutes remaining is also something that leaves me pretty annoyed.

Trying to counteract our leaking defence I spent an insane amount of money, £3,4m, on buying the English international keeper.

John Collinson, Keeper, 24 years

Capped once by his nation the former York, Lens and Man City keeper had problems with his manager and wanted top flight football. While I doubt we can keep him for long he is very good, he is young and he was willing to join us. Bloody expensive though.

[Harleqin]

September 2007

The first win of the season finally came against RKC Waalwijk. A brace from Djemba-Djemba either side of a strike from Marques sent most of the 21,000 fans into ecstasy. An allround solid performance from us and a doubling of our league points.

The next game was just as important as it was the one against Schalke. Due to the late arrivals of Collinson and Djemba, they were unable to play which weakened our team significantly. Not unexpectedly they caused us a lot of problems and took a 0-2 lead. We managed to pull level, but just as we thought we were about to actually turn it around they scored again leaving us with an almost impossible task in Germany.

Continuing the string of home fixtures we welcomed Den Bosch to the Gelredome. Young Besselink gave us the lead as he scored his second of the season and later Marques doubled our lead. It was also time to give Kuijt his debut, but he is still weak after a long period out. It finished 2-1 but there was never any doubt of our win due to their late goal.

Just before the return leg against Schalke 04 we managed to make a good deal of money by selling John Heitinga for £5,25m to Aberdeen. He has slipped out of the starting XI despite being a part of the Dutch A-squad. He managed 74 games for Vitesse, but only two goals. He has always done well, but it became time to cash in on him.

Knowing we had to beat the Germans by two goals and having to face them with several key players missing looked like a hopeless task and therefore we were resigned to go down fighting, try to hit them on counter attacks and generally hope for the best. Amazingly we took a two goal lead which we kept until the break. The Germans then hit us back before Marques scored again to give us a 3-1 lead. The Germans pushed to pull a goal back and send it into extra time but all to no avail. We managed the unlikely and went on through to the second round. Now, let’s hope for an easier draw.

The draw was made the following day and while it could have been better I’m not about to complain about facing AIK Stockholm.

Riding on a wave of confidence we were certain of getting a good result away to de Graafschap. Maybe we were a bit overconfident, but we seemed to be in our right as de Lange and Marques gave us the half time lead. Like we dominated the first half so did the home side dominate the second. When they pulled one goal back they pushed forward and looked for the equaliser. Several times Collinson had to save us, but he stood like a rock. Eventually Djemba-Djemba got the finishing touch on a pass after a fast counter and that late goal deflated the home team.

[Harleqin]

October 2007

We opened October with the match against Ajax, the first of the seasons encounters with the big three. Going out we were eager to avenge the defeat which saw us finish fourth last year and the match opened with a high pace. Both teams scored around the half-hour mark, first van der Vaart for Ajax and then Zongo for us. The second half was more even and only one more goal was scored, coming about 10 minutes before time. To the delight of the fans the goal came once again from the feet of Marques. He is really turning out to be a star.

Willem II were next to visit us and after the success of the last few games it was expected that we would win this without too many problems. While we did win thanks to a brace from van der Gun it was a major disappointment that less than 20,000 had found it worth their time to come, especially considering that we have room for 29,000. Still it can only improve now that we have reached second place in the league.

Following our good domestic results it was time to travel up north and face AIK in Stockholm. Even playing a weakened XI the difference in class was obvious and the Swedes had to thank their keeper after the match. It just wasn’t enough for him. Though he played a perfect match we still took a 4-0 with us back to Holland. I think we can call that a match point.

Next came the team we all love to hate, if nothing else then for being located in the same area as the Raptor Group. Naturally we outclassed the inbred farmers, but due to them being chicken and digging in we were forced to make do with a narrow 1-0 win.

NEC from Nijmegen was the next team. I wonder why they have to call all their clubs some silly short name nobody understands. They provided an interesting challenge. They had only one shot on goal which went in while we unleashed a torrent of shots against them. Still we could only score once until they had a man sent off leaving us a bit more room. We did eventually win it 2-1 but we had to work harder than we have for a long time.

<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre"> ************************************************************************************************

Dutch Premier Division - Wednesday 31st October 2007

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2007/8 Table

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Pos Team Pld Won Drn Lst For Ag Won Drn Lst For Ag Pts

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1st Feyenoord 11 5 0 1 13 7 3 1 1 7 4 25

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2nd Vitesse 10 5 1 0 11 4 2 2 0 9 6 24

3rd AZ 12 3 2 1 7 2 4 0 2 10 7 23

4th PSV 10 4 1 0 9 5 2 2 1 11 11 21

5th MVV 12 0 5 1 10 11 4 2 0 11 7 19

6th Ajax 10 4 1 0 11 6 1 2 2 10 11 18

7th Groningen 12 2 3 1 10 9 3 0 3 8 6 18

8th Twente 11 5 0 1 14 5 0 2 3 4 11 17

9th Telstar 12 3 2 1 14 13 1 2 3 6 12 16

10th RBC 12 2 2 2 13 12 2 1 3 6 9 15

11th Go Ahead 12 2 0 4 11 11 1 3 2 9 10 12

12th Heracles 11 1 2 2 8 8 1 3 2 9 11 11

13th Den Bosch 11 2 1 2 4 3 1 1 4 8 11 11

14th de Graafschap 11 2 1 3 11 10 1 1 3 5 10 11

15th Heerenveen 11 0 3 2 5 7 2 1 3 7 9 10

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16th Willem II 12 2 1 3 8 7 0 2 4 6 13 9

17th RKC 12 0 3 2 5 7 1 2 4 6 12 8

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18th NEC 12 1 2 3 5 9 0 3 3 4 9 8

</pre>

[Harleqin]

November 2007

Once again we added to our ranks as we completed another signing.

Edouard Meka, Striker, 23 years, Norwegian

Meka has managed to score 76 goals for Fortuna in the first division in just 110 games. Pretty impressive for the youngster who has surprised everybody. I’m curious as to how he will do at this level, but he will do fine as the fourth choice keeper at the club.

For the return leg of our clash with AIK I decided to rest more than half the first team thanks to our four-goal lead. The many changes caused some serious disruptions to our flow, but it was still not enough to give the Swedes a real chance. Even using our second string we were strong enough to win it thanks to a goal from Mustapha. The draw was not too kind to us though. Awaiting us in the third round is Borussia Dortmund.

Sadly the first string seemed to have difficulties getting back to their usual level after getting a break and we found ourselves trailing Twenty 0-2 at half time. A substitution and some pretty big words helped and we managed to tighten the defence and score the two goals we needed to salvage a point.

Our unbeaten run has made quite a few pundits raise their eyes and we’re suddenly being discussed as a serious contender for the title. Pressed for a statement of our goals this year I informed them that we expected to be in the running as our goal is a place in the Champions League and a quarter final in the Uefa cup. Obviously this caused both the fans and my boss to be happy and optimistic.

The players obviously listened too as we shattered the Telstar defence a few days later. Beating them 4-1 with four different players scoring I think it is safe to say that we are ready to face the German giants.

Not too surprisingly we fell behind when Brazilian Robert scored. It didn’t last long before our Portuguese wonder, Nélson Marques had pulled us back level and when van Dijk got the winning goal for us in the second half we added another concern to the club who has had a terrible start to the Bundesliga.

Lying in second place meant that it was a real top clash we had in store as we travelled to second placed AZ Alkmar. Once again we were close to being able to field our strongest side We had by far the most chances in the first half, but their keeper were playing a real blinder and managed to keep us at bay for 56 minutes before we scored on him. To my shock we then dropped everything in the last half hour where we let AZ back in the match. They are too good to be given such help and they summarily punished us by scoring twice and inflicting our first league defeat upon us.

Facing PSV Eindhoven a few days after our first defeat is not really what I wanted. It would be the perfect way to bounce back, but could also result in another defeat which might turn into a trend. For the first hour it was all square and so even that nobody could predict a winner. Then Collinson suffered brain damage and committed a stupid penalty which not only resulted in a goal but also had him sent off. Something had to be done and in a desperate gamble Meka was sent on to add weight to our attack. To my immense surprise and the delight of the crowd he actually managed to score deep in injury time gaining us a single point.

[Harleqin]

December 2007

We ended the year with an extremely busy month. If all went well we would not only progress in Europe but also start the new year lying in first place.

MVV Maastricht turned out to be almost predatorlike in their approach. We took an easy 3-0 lead, but then they got one goal back and refused to unleash the almost vice-like grip they got on us. Maintaining the pressure they made it 2-3 and finally pulled level to 3-3. An amazing comeback and not one which leaves me a happy man.

I hope the lapse in concentration was due to the players looking forward to the home leg against Dortmund and that it would make them 110% ready for this important game. My hopes were quickly dashed though when Rosicky gave the Germans the lead after six minutes. The dismissal of Robert later gave us back hope as we were still leading on awaygoals. Both teams fought hard for the goal that should settle the match and eventually it came thanks to the head of de Lange….. and then the bloody game crashed!

During the replay we actually won 2-1 at MVV and then Dortmund won 1-0. Still, it made little difference from the first match as the same team progressed in both versions. The main difference this time being that we had Musampa sent off.

The fourth round draw smiled upon us. Seems like we are being rewarded for our difficulties as we drew Lille. They are a good team, but I don’t fear them. Also, we played them in pre-season and they didn’t scare me then.

RBC Rosendaal was up next and with 3 months to our next European match it was time to focus on the Eresdivisie. Before being injured, again, de Lange managed a brace of goals and set us up on the path to victory. Meka also got him a brace while Marques just got one. Even so it was enough for an emphatic 5-1 win. Now I’ll just have to see how Zongo and the board reacts to my decision to bench the crowd please and biggest name at the club.

The sale of van Fessem combined with the suspension of Collinson and the fact that all my young keepers were out on loan meant we would have to manage two games with no keeper on the bench. The first match went sort of ok. Two golden minutes gave us a 2-0 lead, but two golden minutes for Go Ahead in the second half made it all square again. With no further goals we dropped two points in our hunt for Feyenoord.

Another awaymatch waited, this time against Heracles. For some reason they were much easier game than Go Ahead was. Three goals in the first half, two of them from Marques, gave us a strong lead which we refused to relinquish. With yet another goal in the second half we took a good 4-0 win. The perfect way to prepare for the last game of the year, the visit from Feyenoord.

A win would see us open up a good lead as we lie tied on points right now. It would also be a good morale boost going in to 2008 in first place. The action was fast-paced in the first half, both teams having their chances. The first goal went the way of the visitors while the next pulled us level. Surprisingly there were no further goals in the second half though both teams had plenty of chances. With the draw both clubs will enter 2008 with 40 points… just like Ajax who has caught up to us.

[Harleqin]

January 2008

A quiet month due to the winter break, but we still made some headlines when we announced the sale of Zongo to Standard Liege for £2,9m.

We did have a single match though as we faced MVV in the third round of the Dutch Cup. Whatever doubts the fans might have had over my decision to sell Zongo soon vaporised as Meka scored twice in our 3-1 win. Much more annoying was the fact that Besselink was sent off for two yellow cards.

February 2008

Back in the league things started well as Yezer gave us the lead with his first goal for the club. There were no more goals, but that is acceptable as it gave us the three points we needed to keep us on top of the situation.

Another surplus striker left when I managed to sell Rahamat Mustapha to Ajax for £2,8m. Somewhat over his value, but it is only to be expected since I agreed to let them pay over 18 months. It does leave us a little weak up front though. We need that fourth striker.

Injuries and suspensions hit us hard as we travelled to Heerenveen for the quarter final in the Dutch Cup. At right back we had to play an only 18-year old player who was yet to play for the first team. Quite a match to get your debut in. He did well though in an even match that went to extra time after a 2-2 draw. With no further goals it went to penalties. Both teams converted their first three shots before Collinson saved from Tim Manders. It then depended on Frank Bakker and as he converted our fifth shot we won the shootout 5-3 and moved in to the semis.

To help out with the reduced squad we signed the 33-year old Dogan Corneille from Twente as a back-up. Playing right defence he will stand in in case of injuries. At a price of just £35k it is not exactly breaking the bank.

The match away to RKC Waalwijk started out terribly. After just four minutes we were forced to make our first substitution as Djemba-Djemba picked up an injury. Even so we managed to stay competitive and his direct replacement, van Dijk, also put us 1-0 up. In defence we were having a bad day, but Collinson was awake and up to the task as he was only passed once. As Meka scored again this was enough to enable us to go home with the three delicious points.

Heerenveen was our opponents yet again, but this time we would be facing them in the league. Yet again Meka gave us the lead before a dubious penalty let them back in the match. Luckily Meka was not about to be denied his bragging rights as match winner and scored yet again to secure the 2-1 win.

We were close to our strongest possible line-up as we took the trip to Eindhoven in order to face PSV. A difficult match, but one I’m confident we can get a result from. Meka rattled the bar after ten minutes sending a warning out to the home crowd. Surprisingly the first goal came from Frank Bakker just before the break passing Frans Koornberg on one of his rare runs from midfield. Our lead was doubled just two minutes into the second half thanks to Meka. I wonder why he is not an international. Norway must have some good strikers. Frustratingly we couldn’t hold on. Two extremely late goals from Kezman made it all square and we had to settle for the draw. Bummer.

The month concluded with another difficult match as we went to France for our Uefa Cup clash with Lille. An own goal deflated the Frenchmen and with their morale broken it was easy for us to rack up a 3-0 win and more or less secure our passage to the next round.

<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre"> ************************************************************************************************

Dutch Premier Division - Saturday 1st March 2008

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================================================================================================

2007/8 Table

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Pos Team Pld Won Drn Lst For Ag Won Drn Lst For Ag Pts

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1st Vitesse 23 9 3 0 25 9 5 5 1 24 16 50

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2nd Ajax 23 10 1 1 27 9 5 4 2 20 14 50

3rd Feyenoord 23 9 1 1 21 10 6 3 3 20 15 49

4th AZ 24 8 3 1 20 8 6 2 4 18 15 47

5th PSV 23 6 5 0 19 11 3 5 4 18 21 37

6th MVV 23 4 5 3 25 18 5 4 2 18 15 36

7th Groningen 23 6 3 3 21 17 3 3 5 13 13 33

8th Heracles 23 2 4 5 16 21 5 4 3 22 14 29

9th Heerenveen 23 3 4 4 16 17 4 2 6 13 17 27

10th Willem II 23 5 1 6 16 15 3 2 6 12 19 27

11th Telstar 23 4 4 3 18 19 3 2 7 10 24 27

12th Twente 23 6 2 4 22 15 1 3 7 12 27 26

13th Den Bosch 23 5 3 4 10 11 1 3 7 9 18 24

14th Go Ahead 23 3 2 6 18 20 3 3 6 20 24 23

15th RBC 23 4 3 4 22 20 2 2 8 10 24 23

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16th de Graafschap 23 3 3 6 19 21 3 1 7 13 19 22

17th RKC 24 1 5 5 11 16 2 5 6 13 23 19

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18th NEC 23 2 5 5 12 18 1 4 6 10 20 18

</pre>

Oh... and someone explain to me how the Dutch Golden Boot thingy works

[Harleqin]

March 2008

The visit of NEC from Nijmegen was a nice change of pace. Rooted at the bottom of the table they were one of the teams we just have to beat and we did so without too much trouble. Nice for once not to have to work all-out for the points. Eventually we won it 4-1, their goal coming from the young debutant, Ronald de Vries.

The return leg against Lille was another easy match. Being three goals down they had little or no hope already from the kick-off and with a 2-0 lead at half time we were able to more or less do as we pleased in the second half and gear down without fear. With a 2-1 win we’re through to the quarters where we will face Chelsea. Oh, dear.

A real test came up when we made the trip to Amsterdam. The away fixture to Ajax is one of the hardest games we have left and I’d be happy to sell it for just a single point. Bakker was carried off after just 10 minutes giving us a poor start, but we managed to keep them from scoring in the first half. Instead substitute Marques gave us a surprising lead in the second half. Hard pressure from Ajax led to nothing and in the end we took all the points and Collinson picked up the MoM award.

The game at Stamford Bridge would later be described by the pundits as boring, but I saw it as a brilliant display of tactics and defensive football. Knowing we were outclassed and outgunned we concentrated on keeping them away so that they would have to rely on long shots. Our tactics frustrated them and it ended with no goals to either side. This gives us a good chance to progress.

Frustratingly de Graafschap gave us a taste of our own medicine, even taking the lead at the Gelredome. A late goal from de Lange saved us, but it was an allround disappointing performance and the two lost points can cost us dearly later.

The second leg against Chelsea gave us major problems. Due to Yugoslavia playing an international Kujovic was away with the team leaving me without a replacement keeper on the bench. A brace from Meka gave us a good lead before two goals in as many minutes saw Chelsea take the lead on away goals. As we tried to get the decisive goal they instead hit us on the counter and left us suffering a humiliating 2-4 defeat.

After the game, in the middle of March, the Dutch FA then started with their awards. For the transformation of Vitesse I was awarded the honour of being Manager of the Year. Not bad, not bad indeed. Collinson was second in the Keeper of the Year ceremony, Frank Bakker won the Young Player of the Year with Marques coming in third and, amusingly, being second in the Player of the Year. Interesting to be second-best player, but only third-best youngster. A nice collection of prizes for the club.

Losing to Den Bosch was not part of the plan though. Now we’re suddenly four points behind Feyenoord and we still have to face them away. Even worse there are only 7 games left for us to catch them in. This will be hard.

Trouble then came in paradise. We are making money now that the wages have successfully been reduced and several expensive players offloaded. Still, we need to improve training facilities and invest in our youth. A meeting with the board concerning this issue didn’t go well and relations between me and them soured considerably when I announced I’d look after another job if they didn’t take responsibility and build on the success. Luckily I have the full support of the fans in this matter.

We rounded the month off against MVV and managed to present a new player just before. Mattias Lindström, a Swedish forward has joined for £275k and looks like an impressive player. He has a good debut, but it was once again Meka who stole the headlines with two of the goals in our 3-0 win.

[Harleqin]

April 2008

Yet another signing came through as Danielle de Rossi joined us from Cagliari. Sold by Siegen after I left the club, the Italian signed him for £2,1m and now, just a year later we got him for £800k. Still young and full of talent he will pressure Djemba-Djemba for the place in the team.

Hot on the heels of that one we complete the £3,4m signing of Greek striker Andreas Sakeleropoulos from PAOK. He is fast, strong and has a furious shot. He will fulfil the role of third choice striker and should do very well. 3 new players in a week? Well, that’s just the way it goes sometimes.

Both new players got their debuts at Groningen in what was a very close match. Still, we proved to be just that tad better that gave us the points after a strike from Lindström. Even so we were lucky and had to be grateful for Collinson who saved us time after time.

To call our Dutch Cup semifinal against Twente uneventful would be an understatement of titanic proportions. Feeling threatened by the new signings both Marques and Bakker scored in the opening minutes. After the goal Bakker was then blocked by Dante López. The Dutchman pushed him away to which the Paraguayan responded with a beautiful right hook dropping Bakker to the ground. Both players were sent off for their infight before the match resumed. Lindström made it three and then the hosts pulled two goals back. Sadly there were no goals in the second half, but 3-2 was enough to send us to the final.

Better news came after the game when we learned that Ajax had beaten Feyenoord in the league. This means we are first with a single point lead and more importantly it means that a draw at De Kuip will be a great result.

Speaking of the devil we had the reigning champions next. The build-up to the match was good though when Bakker had his ban revoked. The start was perfect. Marques snapped off a shot that van Fessem could only block and Meka could easily tap the rebound home. An hour later the situation was reversed and this time the talented Portuguese made it 2-0, a score that would last the match. With four games left it looks like we will lift the trophy in the end.

Once again we had to face Twente, though this time in the league. This match was less dramatic except for the result which was a 1-3 loss to us opening the title race up again. Three games remain and three clubs are neck to neck.

As it is we can still decide our own fate, but we couldn’t afford dropping any more points. 4-1 with every goal scored by a different player. Yes, I like that. Could to know we still have the touch and managed to bounce back like that.

<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre"> ================================================================================================

2007/8 Table

================================================================================================

Pos Team Pld Won Drn Lst For Ag Won Drn Lst For Ag Pts

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

1st Vitesse 32 11 4 1 34 14 9 5 2 32 18 69

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

2nd Feyenoord 32 12 2 2 26 14 9 3 4 29 20 68

3rd Ajax 32 13 1 2 38 11 7 5 4 28 20 66

4th AZ 32 11 4 1 25 9 7 3 6 21 21 61

</pre>

[Harleqin]

May 2008

Time to make or break. Two games left. Two games between glory and shame. And we had to face AZ first. We tried hard to get the early goal, but AZ is a good and well organised team so we had quite a few problems with it. We did get it about a quarter of an hour before full time and we’re looking set to taking the victory when Tim Plaggenborg equalised for them two minutes into stoppage time. Talk about going from heaven to hell in a minute. Even more peculiar we then went straight back to heaven. Ajax had drawn with Go Ahead and Feyenoord had lost at Twente. This looks like an interesting last round. If we lose then both of the others can win it and we we draw then Feyenoord should retain their title.

This is it. The final round. We have to face Telstar away. They are already scheduled for the play-outs so their motivation will be low. Feyenoord are at home to Willem II and should win while Ajax have a tough match at Heerenveen.

We managed no goals at half time though Ajax was leading their game and it was 1-1 in Rotterdam. Then, after 65 minutes Djemba-Djemba split the Telstar defence with a deep pass, inch-perfect to Meka, who took a quick move around a defender and then fired it home with no chance for the keeper. As there were no further goals then we could celebrate the first title ever to Vitesse. Too bad it had to happen in front of only 3200 fans. Rather disappointing.

As we returned to Vitesse we were greeted by cheering fans and for once even the board is amazed. I haven’t forgotten their treatment though and with both the German and the Dutch title under my belt I feel I’ve proven my worth. I’ll still be looking for another club. One with vision.

Just one thing remained to really crown our season and that was beating NEC in the Cup final. We started out well having a slight advantage in an open and fast-paced affair. Even so neither team managed to score any goals and coming no closer than the two shots we had on the posts. Even thirty minutes of added time failed to break the deadlock and in the end penalties would decide the 2007/08 Dutch Cup Final. NEC had a terrible time here. First Fred Witschge blasted it over and then Collinson saved their third shot meaning that our fourth shooter, captain Edwin Musampa, could decide it and with a well-placed shot he won us the double. What a season.

<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">************************************************************************************************

Dutch Premier Division - Saturday 31st May 2008

************************************************************************************************

================================================================================================

2007/8 Table

================================================================================================

Pos Team Pld Won Drn Lst For Ag Won Drn Lst For Ag Pts

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

1st C Vitesse 34 11 5 1 35 15 10 5 2 33 18 73

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

2nd Feyenoord 34 13 2 2 28 15 9 3 5 30 23 71

3rd Ajax 34 13 2 2 40 13 8 5 4 33 22 70

4th AZ 34 11 4 2 25 11 7 4 6 22 22 62

5th PSV 34 10 6 1 28 17 4 6 7 26 29 54

6th MVV 34 5 8 4 31 24 7 4 6 24 28 48

7th Heracles 34 6 5 6 28 28 6 5 6 29 25 46

8th Groningen 34 8 4 5 26 23 5 3 9 18 21 46

9th Twente 34 8 3 6 29 26 4 5 8 27 38 44

10th RBC 34 8 4 5 33 24 4 3 10 16 30 43

11th Heerenveen 34 4 5 8 21 31 7 3 7 28 29 41

12th RKC 34 5 5 7 22 22 4 7 6 17 24 39

13th Go Ahead 34 6 4 7 30 30 4 4 9 26 34 38

14th de Graafschap 34 5 3 9 26 30 5 5 7 21 25 38

15th Willem II 34 6 2 9 22 27 4 3 10 18 29 35

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

16th R Den Bosch 34 7 4 6 14 15 1 6 10 12 26 34

17th R Telstar 34 5 4 8 24 28 3 3 11 12 31 31

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

18th R NEC 34 3 8 6 26 31 2 4 11 18 34 27

</pre>

<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">================================================================================================

2007/8 Goals

================================================================================================

Pos Player Club Apps Gls

-------------------------------------------------------------------------

1st Tomas Daumantas MVV 34 21

2nd Edson Nimbley RBC 19 (3) 18

3rd Edouard Meka Vitesse 19 (3) 17

4th Hubert Dijk Go Ahead 34 17

5th Ruslan Valeev Heracles 32 (1) 17

6th Mateja Kezman PSV 32 17

7th Ralf de Haan Twente 27 (2) 15

8th Nélson Marques Vitesse 31 (1) 15

9th Rudy Mann Groningen 34 14

10th Robin Nelisse Feyenoord 31 14

</pre>

<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">================================================================================================

2007/8 Average Rating

================================================================================================

Pos Player Club Apps Av R

-------------------------------------------------------------------------

1st Edouard Meka Vitesse 19 (3) 8.32

2nd Martijn de Jong AZ 18 (3) 8.19

3rd Rafael van der Vaart Ajax 33 8.15

4th Nélson Marques Vitesse 31 (1) 8.03

5th Senteno Ajax 19 (4) 8.00

6th Ronald de Lange Vitesse 18 7.83

7th Tomas Daumantas MVV 34 7.79

8th Ruslan Valeev Heracles 32 (1) 7.79

9th Mario Melchiot Ajax 32 7.78

10th Hatem Trabelsi Ajax 26 (2) 7.75

</pre>

<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">************************************************************************************************

Vitesse - Saturday 31st May 2008

************************************************************************************************

================================================================================================

2007/8 Senior Club Stats

================================================================================================

No Name Apps Gls Con Pens Asts Yel Red MoM Av R

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

30 Bakker, Frank 45 10 0 0 11 2 1 4 7.42

18 Besselink, Marcel 31 (3) 3 0 0 4 9 1 1 7.35

8 Bolseth, Rune 49 1 0 0 12 1 0 3 7.20

- Bosman, Robert - - - - - - - - ----

29 Collinson, John 35 0 33 0 0 0 1 2 7.46

33 Corneille, Dogan 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 7.00

2 Cornelisse, Tim 47 0 0 0 4 1 0 1 7.13

6 De Rossi, Daniele 0 (5) 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 6.40

27 Djemba-Djemba, Eric 36 7 0 0 5 2 0 0 7.31

34 Esajas, Dennis - - - - - - - - ----

9 Kuijt, Dirk 6 (4) 1 0 1 (0) 0 0 0 0 7.20

13 Kujovic, Vladan 8 (1) 0 7 0 0 0 0 0 7.44

28 Langeveld, Michael 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 ----

- Laros, Alfred 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 ----

7 Lindström, Mattias 9 4 0 0 0 1 0 0 7.33

25 Lurling, Cor 1 (3) 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 6.50

32 Manders, Martin 2 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 7.00

19 Marques, Nélson 43 (1) 21 0 0 6 1 0 5 7.98

31 Meka, Edouard 27 (3) 22 0 1 (1) 4 1 0 5 8.13

21 Mikolajczak, Christian 3 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 7.00

- Molenaar, Dick 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 ----

15 Munthali, Heston 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 ----

14 Musampa, Edwin 37 (2) 1 0 0 4 8 1 3 7.31

24 Ninkovic, Milos 6 (3) 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 6.67

- Polman, Sander - - - - - - - - ----

23 Rensen, Sjoerd 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 ----

- Rutten, Richard - - - - - - - - ----

10 Sakelaropoulos, Andreas 1 (3) 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 7.00

22 Schaars, Stijn 45 4 0 1 (1) 3 4 0 0 7.27

20 Schoenmakers, Melchior 1 (2) 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 6.67

26 Seedorf, Mario 28 0 44 0 0 0 1 0 6.82

3 Shew A Tjon, Etienne 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 ----

16 Sone, Kalle 0 (3) 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 7.00

12 Stojanovic, Sasa 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 ----

5 Yezerskiy, Volodymyr 33 1 0 0 2 7 0 0 7.21

11 de Lange, Ronald 29 7 0 0 13 0 0 1 7.66

- van Bochem, Rick 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 ----

4 van Dijk, Gregor 13 (3) 5 0 0 2 2 0 3 7.69

17 van der Gun, Cedric 12 (2) 4 0 0 4 0 0 4 7.64

- van der Laan, Richard - - - - - - - - ----

</pre>

[Harleqin]

June 2008

Around Europe other leagues also came to a conclusion and found their champions. In Denmark the small town of Herfølge with just about 5000 inhabitants shocked the nation by clinching the title ahead of giants Brøndby and FC Copenhagen. The Cup saw Aalborg BK beat first division side Næstved by a 2-0 margin.

Arsenal took the English title ahead of Man Utd, Chelsea and Liverpool (where did I hear that before?) and Chelsea lifting the FA Cup thanks to a 4-1 win over Bradford. Surprisingly, first division Bradford beat Arsenal 4-1 to lift the League Cup. Bradford will however play in the Premier League next season after being promoted along with Southampton and Charlton.

In France Montpellier repeated their 2006 triumph by finishing first once again with Nantes second. In the second division Lyon were promoted back to the top flight and Monaco won the National to get back to the second division. The Cup was surprisingly lifted by Wasquehal who beat Montpellier in the final. The League Cup was won by Nantes.

Germany was also a special case. Hertha Berlin took the title while the formerly so strong Siegen finished 13th after drawing 17 matches. With such a dismal domestic performance it was even more impressive that they made it to the semis of the Champions League. Both German Cups were won by Nürnberg.

Parma won their first league title in Italy edging out Roma and AC Milan. A deserved win for the club after finishing second two years in a row. The Cup was claimed by Fiorentina who is slowly rising to a return to their former glory.

Both Real Madrid and Barcelona had a bad year in Spain meaning that they finished second and third after champions Real Sociedad. Even in the Copa del Rey there were no glory for the teams as minnow Elche took the title and a place in Europe.

The Champions League was won by Scottish champions Celtic over Real Madrid while the Uefa Cup went to Newcastle who beat Chelsea in the last match.

On the seventh the 2008 Euro Championships in Switzerland kicked off with the home side playing Croatia. A 1-2 defeat was not what the Alp Nation wanted though but as a neutral spectator I didn’t care and was just happy to see it start. All the while watching for available jobs.

There were few surprises in the groups though results such as Finland’s 4-2 win over Sweden raised a few eyebrows.

During the tournament other awards were handed out. I was a bit surprised to see Darren Purse win the European Defender of the Year prize, while Gombert won the keeper award and Farnerud the midfielder. Wow, three of my former players honoured. Needless to say I called each to offer my congratulations.

Back at the championships Croatia surprisingly beat their way to the final eliminating both Holland and England. Even so they just lacked the last bit to take the title as they were overcome 2-1 by France.

[Harleqin]

July 2008

A quiet month this, spent mostly on getting the squad more in order and attending UEFA meetings. We did receive a note though, telling us that in order to qualify for the Champions League we would face either Besiktas or Odd Grenland.

We also kept it down to a single friendly match as I wanted the players to be hungry for action when it really mattered and tear their way into the Champions League. Even so a 3-0 win over Bordeaux was a good warm-up to the season where I aim to retain the title and reach the knock put stages in Europe. Unless I get that attractive job offer I’m hoping on.

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR>

SQUAD Review 2008/09

Voetball International, July 29th, 2008

Vitesse Arnham were the surprising winners of last seasons Eredivisie. Since that unexpected triumph charismatic boss, Karl Franz von Mannstein, has strengthened what was already a good team. He raised a lot of eyebrows last year by not only declaring his side to be title challengers, but also by selling several fan favourites, including Mamadou Zongo. Despite heavy doubts he has proven right in his actions by not only winning the title, but also by signing players who made the team even better and cost the club less to have on the books. Ahead of their important Champions League qualifying matches against Besiktas rumours about though that he has had a falling out with the board and am looking to leave the club behind. One can only hope for the fans that this will not happen.

The entire team is strong, but their Achilles was always their keeper. The club had Dutch international Jimmy van Fessem in goal, but he was sold as he wasn’t considered strong enough. Instead the club spent a then record-breaking fee of £3,4m for the services of English keeper John Collinson. Neither club nor player has had reason to resent that as he played superbly and got titles and now ChL footie in return. As backups to Collinson the club has both the Croatian international Vladan Kujovic, the young Uzbeki Mamur Ikromov and some talented youngsters.

Ahead of Collinson is a strong back four consisting primarily of the captain, Tim Cornelisse, on the right, Edwin Musampa and Volodymyr Yezerskij centrally and Christian Mikolajczak on the left. A strong defence where the captain is the only one never to have received either U or A caps for his nation. Backing them up are strong players like Marcel Besselink, Stijn Schaars. Not a defence filled with big names, but one of very solid players who gets the job done with a minimum of fuss.

Midfield is, as always, a very strong point for Vitesse. Held together by Eric Djemba-Djemba, it is expected that the two new signings, Danielle de Rossi and the new record signing, 4-million-pound-man Labinot Harbuzi will flank him. It does make it more defensive than last year and it is expected that another offensive midfielder will be signed. Trying to force their way into the team is Frank Bakker who had such an amazing season last year, Rune Bolseth and Gregor van Dijk.

Finally the strikeforce is more than competent. The incredibly potent Edouard Meka has made the fans forget all about Zongo since the young player averages almost a goal pr game. How long Vitesse are allowed to hold on to this star is a good question, especially if he continues his good form. He is backed up by the ever improving Nélson Marques and Mattias Lindström in their 3-man offense. Backing them up are players like Ronald de Lange who is continually linked to Ajax, Dirk Kuijt and Andreas Sakelaropoulos.

Players: 40

First Team Age: 25,28 years

Squad Age: 24,52 years

Total wages pr week: £220k

Average wage pr week: £5,5k

<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">************************************************************************************************

Vitesse - Monday 4th August 2008

************************************************************************************************

================================================================================================

Squad

================================================================================================

No Name Position(s) Nat Born Age Caps Gls Wages Expires Value

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

12 Bakker, Frank M RC HOL 23.8.87 20 - - £6.75K 8.6.13 £2.1M

20 Besselink, Marcel D C HOL 12.1.85 23 - - £3.4K 26.6.12 £1.7M

24 Bolseth, Rune M C NOR 4.7.80 28 7 - £9K 12.6.12 £2.3M

- Bosman, Robert M C HOL 21.7.88 20 - - £525 24.6.10 £300K

1 Collinson, John GK ENG 4.3.83 25 1 - £15K 22.6.10 £2.8M

21 Corneille, Dogan D/M R HOL 28.2.74 34 - - £2.4K 10.6.11 £250K

2 Cornelisse, Tim D R HOL 3.4.78 30 - - £10K 2.6.10 £2.6M

4 De Rossi, Daniele DM LC ITA 24.7.81 27 - - £8.5K 28.6.13 £1.5M

8 Djemba-Djemba, Eric DM RC CMR 4.5.79 29 7 - £8.5K 15.6.12 £2.2M

40 Esajas, Dennis D/DM C HOL 28.6.90 18 - - £725 13.6.11 £775K

7 Harbuzi, Labinot AM C SWE 4.4.86 22 - - £15.25K 26.6.11 £3.1M

25 Ikromov, Mamur GK UZB 12.6.82 26 - - £4K 26.6.12 £1.2M

14 Jansen, Raymond D RC HOL 8.2.86 22 - - £1K 12.6.13 £950K

19 Kuijt, Dirk S C HOL 22.6.78 30 - - £15.5K 25.6.10 £2.7M

13 Kujovic, Vladan GK YUG 23.8.78 29 2 - £9.5K 6.6.09 £1.3M

32 Langeveld, Michael DM C HOL 2.11.86 21 - - £600 20.6.12 £950K

11 Lindström, Mattias AM/F C SWE 18.4.80 28 - - £8K 28.6.13 £2M

33 Lurling, Cor SW/D C HOL 3.12.87 20 - - £1K 19.6.11 £750K

- Manders, Martin D/DM R HOL 6.8.89 18 - - £575 Rolling £26K

10 Marques, Nélson F C POR 15.11.86 21 - - £8.25K 28.6.10 £5.5M

9 Meka, Edouard S C NOR 1.7.84 24 1 - £5K 28.6.11 £4.4M

23 Mikolajczak, Christian D/DM L GER 15.5.81 27 - - £5K 16.6.12 £1.5M

- Molenaar, Dick AM/F R HOL 18.12.87 20 - - £575 13.6.10 £650K

- Munthali, Heston M RC MWI 12.10.82 25 6 1 £8.75K 18.6.09 £1M

5 Musampa, Edwin SW/D C HOL 12.10.85 22 - - £4K 6.6.12 £1.5M

27 Ninkovic, Milos AM RC YUG 4.10.83 24 - - £575 11.6.12 £1.2M

- Polman, Sander D/DM LC HOL 21.6.89 19 - - £550 Rolling £18K

- Rutten, Richard DM RC HOL 15.10.89 18 - - £625 19.6.10 £425K

30 Sakelaropoulos, Andreas S C GRE 6.9.84 23 - - £9K 2.6.12 £875K

3 Schaars, Stijn D/DM L HOL 11.1.84 24 - - £6.5K 24.6.10 £1.8M

18 Schoenmakers, Melchior D/DM C HOL 22.10.75 32 - - £6K 2.6.11 £1.1M

29 Seedorf, Mario GK HOL 30.3.84 24 - - £1K 7.6.10 £375K

- Shew A Tjon, Etienne D/DM L HOL 24.11.79 28 - - £4.9K 26.6.11 £2.1M

16 Stojanovic, Sasa F LC YUG 27.1.81 27 - - £7.75K 9.6.10 £1.7M

- Vanenburg, Dennis AM/F R HOL 21.6.90 18 - - £550 Rolling £140K

6 Yezerskiy, Volodymyr SW/D C UKR 15.12.76 31 2 - £8K 20.6.11 £1.4M

22 de Lange, Ronald AM/F LC HOL 6.5.84 24 - - £6.5K 22.6.10 £4.2M

17 van Dijk, Gregor DM RC HOL 16.11.81 26 - - £9K 27.6.10 £1.6M

15 van der Gun, Cedric AM/F RC HOL 5.5.77 31 - - £7.5K 7.6.09 £825K

31 van der Laan, Richard S C HOL 16.6.85 23 - - £475 8.6.11 £1.3M

</pre>

[Harleqin]

August 2008

With a full team to choose from thanks to neither injuries nor bans I was hopeful of a good result in Turkey and from the looks on the players they wanted one too. Surprisingly to me and disappointing to the 23,000 fans the game finished just as it started with no goals scored. I’d rather have had a 1-1 draw, but still it is now our advantage.

Our first domestic game was the Super Cup. As we won both the title and the cup we had to face Feyenoord and the match might give a good indication as to which was the stronger side this year. While we won it 2-0 it was one of those games where the result doesn’t tell the entire story and a 2-1 or 1-1 result might have been more fair. Still, I’m not complaining and doesn’t mind having the bragging rights.

Our first proper league game was away to no-hopers Groningen. To their credit they fought bravely against the odds and only lost 1-2. I suppose they are just too thick to realise that they are supposed to get relegated

Disastrously the team then failed where it really mattered as we lost the home game to Besiktas and crashed out of the Champions League before it even started. A 1-2 defeat is just unacceptable.

Following hot on the heels of that shock we had to face Feyenoord at the Gelredome. Talk about a hard way to start the year. We started where we let off a few days before as the visitors took the lead while de Rossi also saw red in the third minute. Great. Let’s shoot ourselves in the foot. Carrying on we then lost Musampa after 13 minutes to an injury. Yezer was then sent off a few minutes before full time and with such a performance it was no wonder that we lost it 2-4.

Looking at the draw for the Uefa cup was a bit of a downer after our expectations. Still, we will do our best and Helsingborg in the first round should pose too much of a threat.

[fergusdacat7]

I like the way you've done this story. Very easy to read because in the end the main points rae all easily accessible.

well done on winning the lge.

R

[Harleqin]

Cheers fergusdacat

----------

September 2008

At least things started out much better this month. Our Uefa Cup match in Sweden was won 2-0 thanks to a brace from Meka and this should see us go on to the second round. We just have to be strong enough not to concede twice at our own ground to an inferior team.

Back at the Gelredome we entertained AZ. Yet again a club with a weird name. I wonder what it stands for. We took the lead early on, but an injury to Cornelisse forced us to seriously restructure. The visitors used the confusion to pull level, but luckily Marques had chosen this day to score his first goal of the season and that proved just enough to give us the three points.

A comforting 4-0 victory away to Heracles boosted morale even further. It looks like the results we needed in August are finally coming. Better late than never, I suppose. This time the goals came from Meka and Lindström who both netted twice.

Luck and skill was evident when we faced Heerenveen. Or perhaps the lack of those two things. The Frieslanders had three shots on target and two of those passed an otherwise strong Collinson. That 2-0 lead lasted until the last quarter where first Meka and then Lindström managed to equalise. Even so we had complete control of the match and truly dominated it, but still it took more than 75 minutes before we finally scored and started the comeback that gave us a single point.

Deja vú struck as Helsingborg just needed five minutes to take the lead in the return clash. Doubts and fears had already started to cloud over both teams and fans before Harbizu made it 1-1. That goal was all it took to make the players relax again. Relaxed a bit too much actually as the Swedes regained the lead before Sake and Djemba-Djemba decided to end the nonsense and secure our 3-2 win. Next up a return to Turkey to meet Trapzonspor.

Then it finally happened… I got offered a job at a major European club which was struggling domestically… but would I take it..?

[Harleqin]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR>

Dear Mr. von Mannstein

After extensive meeting in the board I am pleased to inform you that the board of Girodins de Bordeaux have agreed that you are the most suited person for bringing our club forwards. We will expect you to achieve a midtable position this season. To help you in this aim we have a large squad and as a rich club we are prepared to make a substantial amount of money available to you in order to build your own squad.

We await to hear of your acceptance of this offer within the next 24 hours after which we’ll schedule a press conference.

Sincerely

Dominique Imbault

Chairman, Girodins de Bordeaux

<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

[Harleqin]

Of course I accepted the job. I was also lucky. I had 16 days in which to prepare before our first game. First off I needed to assess the squad though and determine who would be surplus and where we would need extra players.

Bordeaux First Team Squad 2008/09

1. Iván Echeverría, Keeper

Wow…. Is this our number one keeper? He is the best at the club, but his skills are appalling for this level. Even my old reserve keeper is better. This is definitely an area I need to look at. On the bright side he is very cheap.

36. Julien Sabathier, Keeper

Second choice keeper and not very good. While he might improve with age I am not too confident. He does have first team experience though.

30. Pierre Chicaut, Defender

An incredibly strong and powerful defender. Without a doubt one of the best in France and if not, then I’d like to see who’s better. He will be my captain and I expect him to perform well and be a rock of security.

18. Johann Malacarne, Defender

Young talent who might get some games depending on injuries and suspensions.

14. Fabijan Cipot, Defender/Forward

A good talent, but getting old. Also, he is earning way too much at £22k a week. I could get two equally good players at that cost. He is still contracted for almost 2 years, but if I can pick up a replacement he will be free to leave.

13. Rune Larsen, Defender

A decent player, but not at this level nor worth the money we pay him. Until sold or otherwise replaced he will remain in the first team squad.

12. Alexandre Loison, Defender

Another young talent who could get some games. There is still room for improvement, but he could get big.

3. Juan Pablo Sorin, Defender/Midfielder

A true quality player, but on an outrageous wage. Making £44k a week he is clearly too expensive. He will also be 35 in the spring, but as the contract is about to run out I expect I’ll keep him on the books for now.

4. Abdoulaye Barry, Defender

Another young talent though I rate him just behind Malacarne.

31. Benoît Pédretti, Defender/Midfielder

Another major player. While he is approaching 30 he is pure class and will be forming half of my central defence. Why he has played so little for the club is something I don’t understand.

6. Eric Perez, Midfielder

Another young talent. He will find playing time hard to come by.

David Roland, Midfielder

Young talent. Behind Perez in the pecking order.

17. Julien Sablé, Midfielder

Experienced player who has almost never played for the club since joining it over a year ago. For me he will be an important part of the midfield puzzle.

41. Lionel Mathis, Midfielder

Highly talented player in his best age. Unfortunately this is reflected in his wages which could be lower. Even so he will form the central axis with Sablé and both could and should prove worth the cost.

20. Patrick Barraud, Midfielder/Forward

Young and talented. He will play a lot as he is the only player I have capable of truly playing in the hole.

8. Alex Brosque, Midfielder

Experienced and capped player. He is quite good, but not star quality. He will play until I find someone better to replace him.

23. Iordanis Orfanidis, Midfielder

Quite decent actually, but just not strong enough to make the team. He might look at being transferred before too long.

11. Paulo Costa, Forward

A fast and good player, but not scoring enough goals. A bit of a “Helder Postiga†player. He will get the chance though.

37. Pedro Luis Esterilla, Striker

Another one of the players who do everything right in training and is completely incapable of scoring in a competitive match. Hopefully I can change that.

38. Péguy Luyindula, Striker

Back-up player.

Well, it looks simple. I need a goalkeeper, a right-sided defender, an offensive midfielder and two proven goalscorers. How hard can it be?

<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">************************************************************************************************

Girondins de Bordeaux - Saturday 27th September 2008

************************************************************************************************

================================================================================================

Squad – First Team

================================================================================================

No Name Position(s) Nat Born Age Caps Gls Wages Expires Value

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

1 Echeverría, Iván GK ECU 22.4.84 24 - - £1.8K 26.6.11 £650K

36 Sabathier, Julien GK FRA 8.1.90 18 - - £600 29.7.09 £130K

4 Barry, Abdoulaye D C GUI 27.11.84 23 - - £3.1K 3.6.11 £600K

30 Chicaut, Pierre SW/D C FRA 29.9.83 24 - - £9.75K 1.6.12 £2.6M

14 Cipot, Fabijan D/F RC SVN 25.8.76 32 43 2 £22K 27.6.10 £1.7M

13 Larsen, Rune D/DM RC NOR 5.6.82 26 - - £10.25K 16.6.12 £1.4M

12 Loison, Alexandre D LC FRA 14.5.86 22 - - £1.9K 19.6.10 £425K

18 Malacarne, Johann SW/D C FRA 19.11.88 19 - - £525 10.6.10 £750K

31 Pédretti, Benoît D/DM C FRA 12.11.78 29 3 - £13.5K 10.6.11 £1.7M

3 Sorín, Juan Pablo D/M L ARG 5.5.74 34 36 5 £44K 23.6.09 £525K

8 Brosque, Alex AM C AUS 12.10.81 26 8 - £9.25K 20.5.09 £1.6M

42 Mathis, Lionel AM RC FRA 4.10.79 28 - - £37K 19.6.10 £2.9M

23 Orfanidis, Iordanis AM C GRE 6.7.85 23 3 - £6K 14.5.10 £2.5M

6 Perez, Eric DM C FRA 7.2.89 19 - - £800 2.6.10 £675K

- Roland, David DM C FRA 9.3.89 19 - - £375 20.6.09 £70K

17 Sablé, Julien DM C FRA 11.9.78 30 - - £9K 14.6.11 £1.7M

20 Barraud, Patrick AM/F C FRA 21.10.87 20 - - £675 31.5.12 £1M

37 Esterilla, Pedro Luis S C ECU 28.10.84 23 16 3 £8.75K 11.6.11 £4.2M

38 Luyindula, Péguy S C FRA 25.5.77 31 1 - £18.5K 24.6.10 £2.1M

11 Paulo Costa F RC POR 5.12.79 28 27 3 £26.5K 7.6.11 £3.6M

================================================================================================

Squad – Reserve Team

================================================================================================

- Colin, Olivier GK FRA 30.8.88 20 - - £400 15.6.09 £40K

26 Foulon, Cyril GK FRA 18.7.89 19 - - £1.3K 11.6.11 £300K

28 Laurenti, Vincent GK FRA 17.3.88 20 - - £600 22.6.09 £40K

5 Coué, Jean-Marc D C FRA 16.3.90 18 - - £350 15.6.09 £85K

34 Gallien, Christian D/DM RL FRA 23.9.90 18 - - £650 3.6.09 £110K

- Gomes, Florian D/DM LC FRA 24.7.88 20 - - £475 6.6.09 £130K

2 Gomis, Sylvain D R FRA 10.5.92 16 - - £230 16.2.09 £28K

32 Poulingue, Vincent SW/D C FRA 11.9.89 19 - - £375 16.6.09 £65K

44 Roussel, Franck D R FRA 6.2.91 17 - - £210 10.7.09 £45K

22 Bracigliano, Stéphane D/M L FRA 10.10.87 20 - - £950 20.6.09 £130K

- Aubry, Gérard M C FRA 14.12.89 18 - - £375 23.6.09 £70K

- Fabien, Romain M LC FRA 14.6.88 20 - - £375 22.6.09 £60K

- Lacombe, Pascal M C FRA 31.1.92 16 - - £230 4.8.09 £90K

- Nicolaï, Jérôme DM RLC FRA 14.11.91 16 - - £550 10.8.09 £170K

25 Brunet, Hervé F C FRA 18.10.87 20 - - £725 26.6.09 £275K

10 Correzze, Alexandre S C FRA 16.8.87 21 - - £1.1K 25.6.09 £450K

29 Delamontagne, William F RC FRA 15.8.90 18 - - £500 4.6.09 £180K

46 Keller, Michel S C FRA 28.11.91 16 - - £600 9.7.09 £220K

9 Lopez, Antoine S C FRA 5.6.91 17 - - £1.1K 3.6.12 £925K

================================================================================================

Squad – Listed

================================================================================================

24 García, Luis Alberto D/DM C COL 15.4.75 33 2 - £18.25K 12.6.09 £825K

- Ducourtioux, Anthony DM R FRA 17.6.90 18 - - £350 16.6.09 £55K

33 Dewilder, Jean-Luc M L FRA 1.1.90 18 - - £400 18.6.09 £120K

35 Deyanov, Metodi M C BGR 3.4.75 33 7 1 £19.75K 6.6.09 £700K

21 Fernandes, Fabrice AM/F RL FRA 29.10.77 30 8 - £21K 3.6.10 £3.7M

7 Mbayo, Marcel AM/F R DRC 23.4.78 30 65 6 £18.25K 3.6.11 £2.6M

15 Nicolaï, Pierre AM RL FRA 30.1.87 21 - - £400 22.6.09 £190K

19 Lefebvre, Jérémy AM L FRA 17.9.89 19 - - £1.5K 16.6.09 £375K

27 Baticle, Jean-Marc F R FRA 5.1.90 18 - - £325 8.6.09 £120K

</pre>

[fergusdacat7]

good luck with the transfer hunt.

[Harleqin]

October 2008

The Bordeaux merry-go-round soon started as several of the listed players departed. Replacing them the first new signing was Olalekan Babatunde, a 25-yo Gabonese international who joined for mere peanuts. The forward was listed at just £300k and looks like a bargain at the price. He hasn’t scored much for Catania, but has done very well on loan at other clubs. I think he will do just fine in a rotation. I do need to mainly bring in EU players though.

My Bordeaux career got off with a shaky start as we only drew 1-1 at home to Le Havre. Not good enough, but at least not a defeat. Still, there are plenty of games left to get the winning style going.

The exact same team took the field against Valenciennes as we once again had home advantage and looked to turn it into points. Things went much better this time. Brosque got his first goal in three years, mainly due to the fact that he wasn’t a regular before, and Esterilla got a brace. For him more than a year had also passed but now he’s back in the team and on fire. A good 3-0 win here.

The awaytrip to Strassbourg proved another close match and in the end it was decided by a single goal. That goal came from Paulo Costa and gave us a valuable victory. The team is actually quite decent, but it is still not European top class nor does it have any squad depth.

A problem then came. I signed a player only for the transfer to be terminated. Apparently I can only sign one player at this point of time due to some obscure rule. FFS. Why didn’t I go to Italy? .

The last game in my first month there ended with a 4-2 win over Stade Rennes. That makes it 10 points in my first four games in charge. Not bad, but, as always, the real challenge is to overcome my Champions League curse where I always seem to do poorly.

[Harleqin]

November 2008

Another three points were picked up against Toulouse though we really had to work for them. We are doing well though now and if we can keep it up we might even qualify for the Champions League this year. Still, I will need about 6-8 new quality players in the team before we are ready to win it and that may take years.

We fell behind when we visited Nîmes, but a good second half and another superb performance from Alex Brosque soon turned it around and netted us another three points. Already we are being named challengers for the title, but we’ll have to wait and see. So far I’m mainly surprised at how easy the ride has been.

For our cup game at Brest it was time to rest some players and see how could some of the reserves actually are. With a 4-0 demolition of the home side and two of the goals coming from Babaunde he must be said to have passed his test.

Typical bad management then struck as a blast from the past. Alex Brosque suddenly decided to leave the club at the end of his contract. The old manager never used him but he has become a key player for me. Just typical.

Our good run came to an end in the most unexpected way possible the following weekend. A trip to second from last, Laval, was not expected to be a problem, but they overcame our confidence and arrogance and punished us as we slumped to a 1-2 defeat. Crap.

The reserves got another outing in the French Cup as we played Orleans and again they did well as we cruised to a 5-1 win over them.

To my delight though Mathis not only signed a new contract when I discovered his was running out, but he also took a paycut reducing his wages from 37k to 25,5k per week. Good man

<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">************************************************************************************************

French First Division - Sunday 30th November 2008

************************************************************************************************

================================================================================================

2008/9 Table

================================================================================================

Pos Team Pld Won Drn Lst For Ag Won Drn Lst For Ag Pts

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

1st Nantes 13 3 3 0 10 6 6 0 1 15 8 30

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

2nd Lyon 16 6 1 1 15 9 3 2 3 12 12 30

3rd Paris-SG 15 6 1 1 14 4 3 0 4 10 11 28

4th Bordeaux 15 3 2 2 15 7 4 0 4 11 11 23

5th Sochaux 14 5 2 1 15 8 1 3 2 9 10 23

6th Le Havre 13 5 0 2 14 6 1 3 2 4 8 21

7th Caen 14 2 1 4 8 11 4 1 2 12 9 20

8th Nîmes 15 4 1 2 11 9 2 1 5 10 15 20

9th Wasquehal 13 4 3 0 13 7 1 1 4 4 7 19

10th Toulouse 14 4 0 3 11 9 2 1 4 5 12 19

11th Strasbourg 15 3 1 4 7 8 2 2 3 5 9 18

12th Auxerre 9 3 0 1 7 4 2 2 1 7 7 17

13th Le Mans 15 4 2 2 13 6 0 3 4 7 16 17

14th Rennes 14 4 0 3 15 11 1 2 4 4 10 17

15th Valenciennes 16 3 4 1 10 6 0 4 4 6 13 17

16th Troyes 16 2 2 4 10 11 2 2 4 10 16 16

17th Montpellier 12 2 3 1 8 6 2 0 4 5 11 15

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

18th Laval 12 3 1 1 8 5 1 0 6 5 15 13

19th Marseille 14 3 1 2 8 5 1 0 7 2 14 13

20th Lille 11 1 1 4 8 10 1 2 2 5 6 9

</pre>

[Harleqin]

December 2008

The trip to Paris for the clash with PSG was the hardest so far in my French career. Everybody would need to be at their best for us to come away from the game with a point. Interestingly I met up with Mounir Jailitti whom I had sold years ago to the club from Siegen. Nice to meet a familiar face again. We took the early lead and fought hard to defend it when we suddenly got the match handed to us on a silver platter due to the incorrect dismissal of a PSG player. 2-0 and three welcome points made the trip home with us.

After the triumph against PSG we looked forward to repeating it against Wasquehal. Their defensive attitude made them a much tougher opponent though and with their keeper having a blinder of a game it was made even harder. To top it off they then hit us on the counter attack 3 minutes before time to win the match 1-0. Bummer. And with a goalscorer called Casanova, no less.

The trip down south to Marseille became another big problem. It took them less than a minute to score and from there it became an uphill struggle for us. We soon fell two goals behind and even though we pulled one back it wasn’t enough. To top of we had two injuries and a man sent off.

Half the team was allowed to rest against Brive in the French Cup. Brive play non-league football and the difference between the two teams showed clearly as we collected a 7-2 victory. Well, I’m sure it won’t keep being so easy.

The opening of the transfer window saw the start of some heavy action in Bordeaux. First to arrive was the Liberian Champion Weah who signed on from AC Milan for £4,8m. He looks like an extremely talented striker and should do very well and will be one of the 3 non-EU players I aim for in the squad.

Next up arrived the Swedish keeper Marcus Martinsson from Hibs in Scotland. Having once played for the Swedish U-21 team he is touted as a big prospect for the future and the £1,7m transfer fee might look big, but should pay off as he is only 23 years old.

Swedish international defender Erik Edman was next as he arrived for £1,2m. He may be thirty now, but he will be a good replacement for Sorin I think. Mattias Lindström whom I brought to Vitesse was the next one in the door for a fee of £1,6m. Getting expensive, but we’re not done yet.

Greek right back, Yourkas Saitaridis, then joined from Panathinaikos for £2,9m. The 27-year-old international should do very well here.

Walter Ibanëz is a young Argentinian defensive midfielder and joined us for us £475k. The discovery of him thanks to some good scouting there. Quite lazy, but extremely talented.

A huge fee of £8,25m then saw the French B-International Jimmy Briand join the club arriving from Lille. Briand is a strong and very sharp striker who will be welcome here at the club.

Meanwhile a host of young players were released on frees while Antoine Lopez was sold to Caen for £950k and Alex Brosque left for Nîmes in a deal worth £1,6m.

[Harleqin]

January 2009

Marcel Mbayo was sold to Sochaux for £700k on the first day of the new year and I was happy to see the reserve leave us.

A good start so far, but I still need players. Mainly two defenders and two midfielders. However with the closure of the transfer window it will have to wait.

The first test for the new players were away to Le Mans in the League Cup. It didn’t go well as we recorded a 1-2 defeat, but Weah did get his first goal for Bordeaux after coming on as a substitute.

Just two days later we had to play Montpellier away. Not the best planning there. A few changes were made in the team as players returned from suspension Again we struggled to make any decent chances and in the end we were forced to settle for a 0-0 draw. On the bright side we didn’t concede.

Hopefully the turningpoint came when we fought back from a goal down against Caen to win the match 2-1. Rather troubling though the strikeforce is not scoring much, but I hope it will come as they get used to the tactics and each other.

The French Cup and a visit down to Monaca were next. After being knocked out of the League Cup this was out best chance of silverware this year. It proved to be the day of the defenders. While we won it 2-1 every single goal was scored by a defender and for us it was Edman and Chicaut who found the net.

Lyon was beaten 3-1 in a match that was rather quiet until just five minutes before half time. First the visitors took the lead before Sablé and Babatunde who had come on for the injured Briand scored. Babatunde added his second later in the game and gave us a good win over one of the strongest teams in France. It is a relief to win so sure a win. It is a sign that my signings aren’t all wrong.

[Harleqin]

February 2009

We returned to Le Mans eager to avenge our defeat in the league cup, but once again we blew and lost. This time we went down 1-3 and had to endure the taunting chants from the home fans. I really hate Le Mans.

The result only confirms the odd yo-yo form we are in. There is just no consistency whatsoever in the results. To prove it we followed up by beating Stade Rennes. We need to start winning regularly. Not just two in three, but better.

Trélissac in the French Cup was our next assignment. Having reached the tenth round we are slowly getting to the point where the lower-ranked clubs are knocked out, but many still remain. A quiet day at work saw us run out 3-0 winners in order to book our ticket to the next round.

Three vital points were picked up at Le Havre in the north thanks to a 3-2 win over the hosts. Once again we feel behind before turning it around and our inability to defend as well of a lack of creativity in midfield is starting to concern me no end.

Our game at home to run-away leaders Nantes posed a major problem. Injuries and suspensions ravaged both our defence and attack leaving us more or less with a strengthened reserveteam. It was therefore quite surprising that we managed to inflict upon them their fourth defeat of the season thanks to a good 2-0 win.

After resting a whole day we were back in action against Auxerre. While we did win yet again it was an expensive victory as we now have our central defence out injured and have to rely on less good players. I really need to pick up some decent players in the summer.

Valenciennes was easily seen off 3-0 thanks in part to two penalties. That rounded of a good month for us that would have been excellent for the defeat at Le Mans.

[Harleqin]

March 2009

We opened against Lille in what turned out to be a frustrating game. First we were riding high as we took a three-goal lead, but then they scored twice on their only chances in the game. Massive defensive blunders from us there. Finally we regained some composure by restoring a two-goal lead to win it 4-2.

The 11th round of the French cup was for us a local derby against Stade Bordelais. They are one of the few non-league sides remaining so we were lucky to draw them. For the first hour or so we struggled as they fought the best they could against their big brother, but as their strength ran out it became more and more easy for us and we could rather easily score all of the goals in the last half hour. Final score: Bordelais 0, Bordeaux 4.

Briand finally got his first goal for the club in his seventh match as he opened the scoring at Toulouse. Even so it wasn’t enough to stop us from slumping to a 2-3 defeat even with us being a man up for more than half the match. Simply not good enough.

Fortunately we bounced back against Strassbourg winning it 2-1 to maintain our position in the fun end of the table. Even so, it is still a long struggle to be ensured of the place we all want the club to finish.

Following that win we had a terribly tough match waiting as we travelled to face Nantes who sit top of the table. They are no further away than a win might allow us to catch up, but we will need both the win and the help of others. We got off to a brilliant start thanks to a Briand goal, but the tables had been turned at half time. Lindström pulled us back level in the 76th minute and with just two minutes to go he got the winning goal in what was a terrific match.

After such a magnificent win we had only a few days to get back to earth before we entertained Paris SG in the French Cup Quarter Finals. Two goals in the first half gave us a moral advantage and with a goal a piece in the second half we cruised into the semis against second division Lens.

<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">************************************************************************************************

French First Division - Wednesday 1st April 2009

************************************************************************************************

================================================================================================

2008/9 Table

================================================================================================

Pos Team Pld Won Drn Lst For Ag Won Drn Lst For Ag Pts

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

1st Nantes 30 10 4 1 30 15 7 3 5 20 17 58

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

2nd Bordeaux 31 10 2 3 34 16 8 1 7 26 23 57

3rd Paris-SG 32 10 3 4 30 15 5 3 7 19 22 51

4th Caen 31 10 1 5 24 19 5 3 7 21 25 49

5th Toulouse 29 10 1 5 26 18 5 2 6 15 22 48

6th Wasquehal 32 7 7 2 27 20 5 4 7 16 15 47

7th Le Havre 32 9 2 4 29 14 4 5 8 18 26 46

8th Strasbourg 31 8 3 4 18 12 5 4 7 15 21 46

9th Nîmes 30 10 4 3 25 17 3 2 8 14 22 45

10th Auxerre 30 8 3 5 23 19 3 7 4 14 17 43

11th Sochaux 31 8 5 3 26 20 3 4 8 18 26 42

12th Lille 30 7 3 5 22 14 4 5 6 19 24 41

13th Lyon 31 8 3 3 21 13 4 2 11 17 31 41

14th Montpellier 32 5 7 3 17 11 5 3 9 16 26 40

15th Marseille 32 10 2 4 26 12 2 2 12 5 26 40

16th Le Mans 31 7 6 3 24 12 2 6 7 14 25 39

17th Laval 31 7 3 6 19 17 3 1 11 11 28 34

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

18th Troyes 31 4 4 6 17 18 4 4 9 22 34 32

19th Rennes 31 7 1 7 24 23 2 3 11 11 25 31

20th Valenciennes 32 4 6 5 16 18 2 6 9 12 23 30

</pre>

[Wag]

I've just caught up with this...

KUTGW

[Harleqin]

April 2009

After the fans had started to quiet down from discussing the possibility of taking the double we gave them something new to talk about as we announced the capture of Sylvain Distin who would join the club in the summer to bring skill and experience to the team.

No rest left for the wicked as we went to Troyes to resume our league campaign. Mathis gave us the lead after Briand had had a goal ruled out, his third in his Bordeaux career, before he scored one that wasn’t ruled out to secure the 2-0 win.

The visit of Laval turned out to be an enjoyable one. The club is stuck in the relegation mire and after we sent them home packing a 1-5 defeat they were left even deeper in trouble. Too bad for them, but good for us if we are to keep up the pressure on Nantes.

We repeated the performance with another 5-1 victory though this time it was midtable Nîmes we tore apart. The only sour grape here was the dismissal of Mathis and the fact that Nantes too are winning all their games. It will be a close run, but we’re steadily improving our goal difference.

After the game we were happy to announce the signing of Irish international defender Andy O’Brien who would also join us in the summer for the low fee of £1,9m.

The cup semifinal was our next task and a home game against a second division side should not be a problem for a club trying to win the title. True enough we overcame them without too much difficulty and booked out place in the final.

In the league we travlled to Lille where we picked up a stunning 3-4 defeat. To make matters worse we had even been 3-1 up and missed a penalty. This could prove costly in the end since Nantes won and now lead by four points with 3 games to go.

[Harleqin]

May 2009

Round 36 would be vital. We entertained Paris SG at home while Nantes had a tough trip away to third-placed Toulouse. Rising to the occasion we beat them 4-0 thanks in part to a brace from Paulo Costa and then raced to learn the result of the other game. Sadly Nantes had won it 2-0 and this more or less kills off our last hopes.

To comfort on the lost chance of winning the title we went to the Stade de France for the cup final against Nîmes. The first goal came after 5 minutes when Costa was brought down in the box. Greek midfielder Orfanidis stepped up to take it as usual and drilled it home. A little later in the half we doubled the lead. This time it was the other Greek, Saitaridis, who sent in a cross which connected with Briand to clinch our 2-0 win. Winning the Cup gives us a ticket into Europe, but we are counting on a Champions Cup place instead.

After the match I was pleased to hear the fans chanting my name and to hear a supporter spokesman saying that they are witnessing the birth of a world class team. Nice to now that the fans have recognised my goal.

Well, with six points left to play for we needed to play our chance and beat Wasquehal. As it was the match was decided by the single goal Briand scored after half an hour, but with Nantes also winning it didn’t matter. I suppose second place isn’t too bad either all things considered.

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR>

Legend signs for Bordeaux

www.somefootballsite.com

After leaving Arsenal on a free transfer in order to find a new challenge the experienced French striker, Thierry Henry, didn’t have to wait long before finding a new club. The 33-year-old has expressed his delight at returning to France and his anticipation of playing at a club must people expect to go places. He hopes to lead them to the championship and to European glory. Henry has signed a 2-year contract.

Name: Thierry Henry

DoB: 17/08-1975

Nationality: French

Career: Monaco, Juventus, Arsenal, Bordeaux

Titles and honours: 120 caps, European Champion 2004 & 2008, UEFA Cup winner 2006, English champion 2002 & 2008, Confederations Cup winner 2005. French Player of the Year 2001, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007 and 2008, English Player’s Player of the Year 2004/05 & 2007/08, World Footballer of the Year 2004/05, World Cup Dream Team 2002.

<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

We rounded off the season at home to Sochaux and were keen on giving the fans a good farewell before coming back for the next season. With neither team having anything to play for it became a match filled with free-flowing football. It ended 5-5, but we came across a problem when our keeper was sent off and we had run out of substitutions forcing us to go with an outfield player in goal. The score was 4-3 at the time, so it didn’t matter much though. Another thing to remember from the game was the stunning hattrick scored by Costa. A nice way to round off the season. Not surprisingly it was also a new high-scoring match in the first division.

Wasquehal surprisingly came in with a £3,3m offer for Babatunde whom we had purchased only last autumn for a price of £300k. With such a profit to be made and knowing Henry would join in ten days time I would be foolish not to offload the Gabonese striker. He has scored a lot, but I’m still not sure he is European class and at any rate he is only third choice as it is. Even so they wanted to pay in rates over half a year which I’ll only allow if they toss in a 20% sell-on clause.

It turned out to be agreeable to them and I allowed the club to speak to Babatunde. Terms were quickly agreed and the player moved on.

16. Olalekan Babatunde; Gabonese; 14(1) games; 12 goals; 8,27 avr.

Joined from Catania on October 13th, 2008 Babatunde did well for Bordeaux scoring a fair amount of goals. He never threatened to uphold a regular spots and thus found himself on the bench despite his record. He was bought for £300k and sold on May 31st, 2009 for £3,8m.

The last day of the month saw some new players unveiled and especially the capture of Andy O’Brien caused the fans to cheer and talk excitedly about great things to come. Even the national media have started speaking about the glories that await the new big French team And when we then unveiled Thierry Henry in his new Bordeaux shirt the crowd quite simply went nuts. It looks like a good year is in store for us. Club captain, Julien Sablé, put it perhaps the best way by saying that signings such as these reinforce the club’s position as one of the best in France and its ambitions to be one of the best in Europe.

<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">************************************************************************************************

French First Division - Sunday 31st May 2009

************************************************************************************************

================================================================================================

2008/9 Table

================================================================================================

Pos Team Pld Won Drn Lst For Ag Won Drn Lst For Ag Pts

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

1st C Nantes 38 14 4 1 39 17 10 3 6 27 19 79

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

2nd Bordeaux 38 13 3 3 53 23 10 1 8 32 27 73

3rd Caen 38 12 2 5 30 21 6 6 7 25 27 62

4th Toulouse 38 10 2 7 29 24 9 3 7 26 27 62

5th Lille 38 10 4 5 32 19 6 7 6 28 30 59

6th Paris-SG 38 10 4 5 33 19 6 4 9 24 31 56

7th Strasbourg 38 11 3 5 26 19 5 5 9 17 27 56

8th Nîmes 38 10 6 3 25 17 5 3 11 21 34 54

9th Wasquehal 38 8 8 3 30 22 5 5 9 18 19 52

10th Auxerre 38 8 6 5 25 21 5 7 7 21 26 52

11th Le Mans 38 10 6 3 31 15 2 9 8 15 28 51

12th Montpellier 38 7 9 3 23 14 5 4 10 19 30 49

13th Le Havre 38 9 4 6 30 19 4 5 10 20 31 48

14th Sochaux 38 8 7 4 28 25 4 5 10 26 35 48

15th Marseille 38 11 3 5 29 15 3 3 13 6 29 48

16th Lyon 38 9 4 6 25 21 4 4 11 20 34 47

17th Rennes 38 8 3 8 28 28 3 4 12 12 26 40

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

18th R Valenciennes 38 6 6 7 23 25 2 8 9 17 28 38

19th R Laval 38 7 5 7 22 21 3 3 13 15 37 38

20th R Troyes 38 4 5 10 20 27 4 5 10 23 36 34

</pre>

[Harleqin]

Please note that Marseille only scored 6 goals in 19 away fixtures

[Harleqin]

June 2009

A month for awards I didn’t expect much seeing that we didn’t play in Europe. Still, I was pleased to see Paula Costa pick up the French Player’s Player of the Year award. Also, the forward was selected along with Julien Sablé and Jimmy Briand to be part of the Team of the Year.

New man Thierry Henry also picked up yet another honor as he was named European Player of the Year as well as European Striker of the Year.

Elsewhere I noted Siegen player Alexander Farnerud won the German Golden Boot, while Arjen Robben was topscorer in Italy

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR>

Bordeaux Break Bank

www.footballtransfers.com

French club Bordeaux continue their spending spree as they’ve spent £8,75m on buying the German B-international Marco Hermann from Bochum. The attacking midfielder is being touted as a major prospect and several clubs were in the race to sign the player. For many it is just a matter of time before he is being made a full international.

<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

2008/09 round-up

As we already are aware Nantes took the title in France while Bordeaux won the French cup. The League Cup on the other hand was won by Wasquehal.

Going south we come to Spain where Barcelona won the title in a season where they only lost once in the league. They were denied the double though by rivals Real Madrid who took home the Copa del Rey winning over Albacete.

Crossing over to Italy the Scudetto ended up in the capital where Roma won it ahead of AC Milan and Juventus. The cup though went to Inter Milan.

In Germany Schalke 04 won the title while there was a major upset in the cup where regional team Darmstadt actually beat Bundesliga side Hamburger SV. Amazing to the the lowly team go all the way. The league cup also ended up with Schalke who could celebrate a small double.

To the north of them in Denmark Brøndby won the title with the cup going to AC Horsens.

Holland saw things return to normal with Ajax winning the title, though it warms the heart to see Vitesse beat Feyenoord to win the cup. Nice to know the work I did there has helped the club.

Finally, in England Manchester United won the title ahead of Liverpool. Continuing the fall Aston Villa was relegated down to the second division and Wolverhampton went down to the third division. The FA Cup was won by Liverpool with Manchester U taking the league cup.

Manchester United also won the Champions League while Schalke 04 won the UEFA Cup.

[Harleqin]

July 2009

A quiet month with our primary focus on getting the team to gel. Interestingly AC Milan came in with a £2,8m offer for Thierry Henry. Easy money, but he is signed to help the team to glory. They even returned with offers of £3,4m and £4,1m. Eventually they were told they could have him for £20m up front. Should scare them off. Dortmund then offered £6,25m and to my horror I discovered a minimum release clause matching the offer. Damn!

There were also a few friendlies, mainly the Bordeaux cup consisting of us, SS Lazio, Vitesse Arnhem and SF Siegen.

We started out against Vitesse and only managed to draw 2-2 before they knocked us out on penalties Collinson saving twice. This meant we would have to face Lazio and that match also ended in a draw, this time 1-1. At least we won the shoot-out this time. The final was won by Siegen thanks to a goal from Nuno Mata.

Following the cup Henry came up and calmly stated that he was moving to Dortmund! God-damn-money-grubbing-son-of-a-French-whore! The only bright point is that we got him for nothing and now get more than six million. To make matters worse the sale upset the squad. Like I have a ****ing choice in the matter!

As weak compensation we complete the signing of Portuguese U-21 international Tiago Monteiro to strengthen our midfield.

The Super Cup against Nantes was not something I looked forward to. While it would be nice to see if we were stronger, we were missing some players due to international call-ups and the departure of Henry still hurt. A 1-5 defeat would indicate that we still have a lot of work to do.

<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">************************************************************************************************

Girondins de Bordeaux - Thursday 30th July 2009

************************************************************************************************

================================================================================================

Squad

================================================================================================

No Name Position(s) Nat Born Age Caps Gls Wages Expires Value

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

20 Barraud, Patrick AM/F C FRA 21.10.87 21 - - £675 31.5.12 £1.4M

- Barry, Abdoulaye D C GUI 27.11.84 24 6 - £3.1K 3.6.11 £500K

9 Briand, Jimmy S C FRA 2.8.83 25 - - £20K 28.6.11 £4.1M

- Brunet, Hervé F C FRA 18.10.87 21 - - £1.3K 24.6.13 £1.2M

23 Chicaut, Pierre SW/D C FRA 29.9.83 25 - - £9.75K 1.6.12 £2.7M

3 Distin, Sylvain D LC FRA 16.12.77 31 6 - £34.5K 28.6.12 £1.7M

- Echeverría, Iván GK ECU 22.4.84 25 - - £1.8K 26.6.11 £425K

18 Edman, Erik D L SWE 11.11.78 30 31 - £12K 24.6.12 £1.4M

- Foulon, Cyril GK FRA 18.7.89 20 - - £1.3K 11.6.11 £275K

7 Hermann, Marco AM C GER 20.2.84 25 - - £34K 13.6.12 £3.6M

6 Ibáñez, Walter D/DM C ARG 13.7.82 27 - - £8K 27.6.13 £1.1M

- Keller, Michel S C FRA 28.11.91 17 - - £800 20.6.12 £675K

16 Larsen, Rune D/DM RC NOR 5.6.82 27 - - £10.25K 16.6.12 £1.3M

13 Lindström, Mattias AM/F C SWE 18.4.80 29 - - £6.75K 27.6.14 £2.2M

19 Loison, Alexandre D LC FRA 14.5.86 23 - - £1.9K 19.6.10 £350K

- Luyindula, Péguy S C FRA 25.5.77 32 1 - £18.5K 24.6.10 £625K

- Malacarne, Johann SW/D C FRA 19.11.88 20 - - £525 10.6.10 £375K

1 Martinsson, Marcus GK SWE 3.7.85 24 - - £6.75K 21.6.14 £900K

8 Mathis, Lionel AM RC FRA 4.10.79 29 - - £25.5K 28.6.11 £3.2M

24 Monteiro, Tiago AM C POR 9.3.88 21 - - £7K 15.6.14 £1.4M

- Nicolaï, Jérôme DM RLC FRA 14.11.91 17 - - £550 10.8.09 £9K

4 O'Brien, Andy D C IRL 29.6.77 32 52 1 £29.5K 13.6.13 £2.5M

12 Orfanidis, Iordanis AM C GRE 6.7.85 24 3 - £6K 14.5.10 £3.9M

10 Paulo Costa F RC POR 5.12.79 29 34 4 £26.5K 7.6.11 £4.1M

5 Pédretti, Benoît D/DM C FRA 12.11.78 30 3 - £13.5K 10.6.11 £1.7M

- Perez, Eric DM C FRA 7.2.89 20 - - £800 2.6.10 £325K

17 Sabathier, Julien GK FRA 8.1.90 19 - - £1.7K 28.6.13 £325K

15 Sablé, Julien DM C FRA 11.9.78 30 - - £11.75K 2.6.13 £2.3M

2 Seitaridis, Yourkas D R GRE 4.6.81 28 13 1 £10K 21.6.14 £2.1M

14 Vercoutre, Rémy GK FRA 26.6.78 31 - - £9.75K 28.6.13 £1.4M

21 Weah, Champion S C LBR 21.6.85 24 13 10 £6K 20.6.14 £3.7M

22 van der Laan, Ron S C HOL 30.8.86 22 - - £2.3K 7.6.13 £825K

</pre>

[Harleqin]

August 2009

The first competitive match of the season was also a really important one as we hosted Greek side Olympiakos in the 3rd round Champions League Qualifying match. True to style when we’re in Europe we fell behind. Costa pulled us level, but two minutes before the final whistle they made it 1-2 giving me yet another European defeat. To top it off Ibáñez was injured and would be out for three weeks.

Just three days later the French league kicked off and we really needed to avenge ourselves as we welcomed Paris SG to our stadium. Unsurprisingly we went 0-2 down and even though we fought our way back still had to settle for a 3-3 draw. Appears that the keeper I signed during the summer just doesn’t cut it so he can look forward to a long spell on the bench.

A trip to Strassbourg followed and again we fell behind. Anyone sensing a theme here? A double strike from Costa put us ahead before they pulled level again on a penalty in the 88th minute. Fortunately the substitute Weah got a goal in injury time to give us a vital 3-2 win.

The return leg in Greece was our next match and it was already to be the most important game of the season as it alone would mean the difference between Champions League and the Uefa Cup. It was a question about honour and money. We started out aggressively knowing that we needed to score at least twice. After ten minutes Briand opened the scoring to set us up with an actual chance. Our odds became even better when Sablé doubled the lead later in the first half. As Champion Weah then made it three we looked set to do the impossible and actually go through. Briand was sent off later when we were 3-1 up, but even though they scored twice in injury time we still went through with a 4-3 win and 5-5 on aggregate.

The following day we were drawn in the group of death with Glasgow Rangers, Dortmund and Juventus.

Le Mans, our nemesis, was the last game of the month. As expected we dominated them completely and just as expected we failed to win as we drew 0-0.

[Wag]

Shame about Thierry, but a nice little earner for you all the same

[Harleqin]

September 2009

With qualification assured and the first encounter with our nemesis out of the way it was time to start reaping points and a visit to Rennes did not make us tremble. I shouldn’t have been surprised then when we fell 0-2 down and ended out losing it 1-2. I just don’t get it. We are playing terribly and the team is stronger than ever.

After that disappointment we returned to Bordeaux to prepare for the visit of German Giants Dortmund and the return of the now loathed Theirry Henry. Sadly we had a distinct off-day, particular in midfield and were more than a little lucky to only lose it 0-1. I’m beginning to think I need to change tactics a bit and go more for clean sheets than many goals.

The following match against Nîmes only had one bright point and that was the three points we earned thanks to a goal from Briand. Yet again we failed to create chances and had to see our opponents actually be the more dangerous side. It doesn’t look too good.

Following up with a visit to Juventus is just about the last thing we need in our position, but we had no choice. Just for kicks Chicaut then headbutted an opponent and were sent off after just nine minutes. His replacement, Pedretti, was sent off after 37 minutes with us 0-3 down and that was just the end. We eventually lost it 5-2, but I am furious and hefty fines will be handed out.

We continued the losing streak at Metz and I swear I’ll do something drastic soon!

[SI]

AHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!

Viking charms isn't enough to keep the stars at that mickey mouse-club, eh?

[Harleqin]

October 2009

We changed the formation slightly trying a more defensive minded 4-1-3-2 tactic. Hopefully this would reduce the number of goals we are conceding. The first test of this change came away to Rangers. It appeared to work as we were the best team in the first half and took a deserved lead with us at half time. The trend continued in the second half where we were unlucky not to add to our lead. Still, we kept them from scoring and with a 1-0 win we were not back in the competition.

Returning to the French league it was time to test our new tactic at home against Lens. Agan we dominated the match even if we failed to keep a clean sheet. I didn’t care much though as the two goals from Briand were enough to earn us a 2-1 win and make it two wins in two.

The next destination was Lille where we faced the local side. An exceptional first half saw us go three goals up and it seemed obvious that we would win. Still, we have thrown such leads before but this time we held firm and as Briand netted his second of the match we gleefully collected a 4-0 victory.

We stayed on the road as we had to visit Caen who is riding high at this early stage of the season. The combination of their high morale, home advantage and 3-5-2 system gave us massive difficulties in midfield and we ended up with a not completely deserved 1-2 loss.

It looked so good before the visit of Wasquehal despite the defeat at Caen, but during the final training the day before no less than three players were injured giving us some problems up front. It will however mean a debut to Ron van der Laan. Amazingly the Dutchman outshone everybody else and sealed a great night for him with the last goal in our 3-0 demolition of the guests. He appears to be ready to make the step up.

He would get another chance to prove his mettle a few days later when Glasgow Rangers came to town. It was essential that it gave us three more points Even though the youngster didn’t score again he was once more a vital part of the team as we took Rangers apart with a 2-0 win which was at least 3 goals too small. Looks like we’re back on track again. Still, we need to do our best if we are to progress from this group.

Last years champions from Nantes have had a season as unstable as our so the trip north to visit them was viewed as an open match. This proved true in a match that ended 2-2 but where we have to be a little unhappy at not holding on as we were 2-1 up as we reached the 90th minute. Still, it is a deserved result, so no reason to be too miserable.

Westphalenstadion in Dortmund is a true fortress. The team is yet to surrender any points in Europe and have even beaten Juventus twice. We know we need to pick up at least one point there in order to handle things ourselves with a win over Juventus in the last match. The first half was more of a boxing match than a football with freekicks marring the action. Still, we took the lead on our only real chance in the half and managed to keep the Germans at bay. Of course the ******* scored in the second half and as they added one more, we lost it 1-2. Results meant that in order to progress we would need to beat Juventus by four goals in our last game. Shoot.

The month was rounded off with a visit to surprise leaders, Montpellier. We hoped to surprise them and come away with a point. The hopes seemed dashed when the ever-young Anelka gave them the lead. Even so a strong second half saw both Costa and van der Laan score giving us a surprising win. Now we just need to build it and use it to pay back Juventus.

[Harleqin]

November 2009

With two home games before the visit of the Italian Giants we looked out to take 6 points from them to build our confidence even higher. The first of those points came as we beat Auxerre by 3-0. A good start to the month, but the four goal win we need still looms like a dark cloud on the horizon.

Lyon is another club who has fallen upon hard times and as we collected our second consecutive 3-0 win we were about as ready asd we were going to get to thrash Juve.

Finally, D-Day arrived and the stadium was packed with fans trying to cheer us on. Even so it mattered little against an Italian side who quite simply were much better than us. It ended with a 0-2 defeat and we will have to settle for third place in our group.

Interestingly a job offer then came out of the blue when Hertha Berlin wanted me to come and help them. This required serious thought on my part. Eventually though I decided to turn them down. Their squad is just too poor and I don’t feel like building a new one all over again.

NOTE: I am getting tired of the game and a return to Germany would have completed the circle nicely

Wanting to avenge our defeat in Europe we welcomed Toulouse to the block. While it wasn’t the demolition and summary execution I had hoped for, it was still a very nice 3-1 win which keeps us on top.

Our fifth home fixture in a row was a bit of a downer for us as it was the UEFA Cup third round against Porto instead of what we had been hoping for. To make matters worse we actually lost it 1-2 to a goal in the third minute and a penalty in injury time.

Eventually the month came to an end as we travelled to Le Havre looking for three points. A dull match where the less that is said, the better. The result? Well, we lost.

[Harleqin]

December 2009

Paulo Costa was the big star as we welcomed Beauvais to our home. With three goals in a thrilling first half he was instrumental in our leading us to a comfortable 4-0 win. Still, we need to be at our best so Caen won’t gain a lead at the top of the table.

Needless to say the second leg against Porto also resulted in a defeat even though we kept them at bay for most of the match. It wasn’t until they had a man sent off they started scoring and conceding twice against ten men is just not good enough.

Continuing the theme of failing we then lost 0-2 at Sochaux, a team struggling at the foot of the table. How insulting and irritating. I must admit to having difficulties adjusting to the French lifestyle.

To my delight and the pleasure of the fans we bounced back a week later when Rennes showed up to pay us a visit. Being the good hosts we are we decided to beat them so they shouldn’t risk the wrath of our fans. With a sure 3-0 score we leaped back up to third place.

Naturally our yo-yo form continued in the capital where we lost to PSG despite Hermann scoring twice in our 2-3 defeat. I’m not sure what I can really do to improve the players. They are just not performing like I know they can.

During the re-opened transfer window we sought to make the team even stronger, mainly through the signings of promising, young players. One older player did arrive though as we agreed terms with the 30-yo Iker Casillas who had been released by Real Madrid despite him having 19 caps. He should make us much stronger at the back.

[Harleqin]

January 2010

Our new keeper would get his debut at Marseille as we looked to get off to a good start to 2010. Of course, losing Hermann to injury after seven minutes was not part of the plans. Of course we then proceeded to lose the match 0-1 and later found that our German midfielder would be out for a month.

The footballing world was then shocked when we splashed out £8,25m on the just 18-yo Italian U-21 defender Carmelo Puglia. Still, he has been watched for a long time and I feel justified in paying it.

I decided to play for both cups this year and in the League Cup we opened our campaign at home to Metz. A relatively quiet day at work gave us a 3-0 win and progressed us on to the third round.

It was time once again to face the hated Le Mans. Something must have gone terribly wrong somewhere though cause we actually managed to win. Not only that, but we did it in a convincing style that saw new hope being lit in the eyes of the players.

The 9th round of the French Cup, the cup where we are holders, sent us to La Roche. Several key players were rested as I expected an easy time of it. A narrow 1-0 win thanks to a van der Laan goal was not expected though. However, credit is due their keeper who played a blinder of a match. Still, it just wasn’t enough.

Nîmes are always a tough preposition. They continually work to get stronger and stronger and are by many considered to be almost ready to start challenging. Hopefully we could get away from their ground with something. As expected it was a close match, but our greater skill made the difference and allowed us to steal home with a 4-2 victory.

Time to return to the league cup this time against Alés. Once again one of those matches where the result should never be in doubt. While we did win it as expected we had more problems than anticipated with both goals coming in the last 20 minutes. Even so it was enough and we still have a shot at the domestic treble.

[Harleqin]

February 2010

Once we played Metz at the start of the month, but this time the stakes were higher as points were at stake. History more or less repeated itself as we collected another win, but this time we had to settle for a 2-0 scoreline courtesy of two goals from Costa.

Following the win I was yet again offered a job in Germany, this time by VfB Stuttgart. Then again, going from title challengers to a team trying to beat off the drop? No thanks.

A trip to Lens was our next challenge and we were looking to pick up vital points. The top of the league is extremely close and losing points is just not an option. Fortunately the players had understood the importance and that allowed us to pick up a thrilling 4-3 win even if I’m not pleased with letting in three goals.

After that we resumed our cup run this time with the 10th round of the French Cup where we had home advantage against Lille. To my supreme irritation they had two chances and scored on them both. To make matters worse both goals were scored by Pongolle who has now scored four times against us this season. Needless to say their keeper also stood a blinder so that we crashed out.

Caen in first place was our next task, a game we under no circumstances could afford to lose. It turned out to be the day of the midfielder. Our three goals in the 3-0 win were shared by the three players with offensive missions. Sadly though the midfield is almost scoring more than the strikeforce which is not the idea. Never mind, the win moves us first. Now we just have to hang on.

Then it came… the offer I just couldn’t refuse. The offer that would truly complete the circle. It was time to say farewell to France and transfer to…

[Harleqin]

<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">************************************************************************************************

German First Division - Wednesday 17th February 2010

************************************************************************************************

================================================================================================

2009/0 Table

================================================================================================

Pos Team Pld Won Drn Lst For Ag Won Drn Lst For Ag Pts

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

1st Dortmund 21 9 1 0 25 4 4 4 3 9 8 44

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

2nd 1860 München 21 6 4 0 21 9 5 4 2 17 12 41

3rd Nürnberg 21 7 3 1 25 8 5 1 4 12 11 40

4th Werder Bremen 21 7 2 1 16 7 3 1 7 16 20 33

5th Leverkusen 21 6 2 2 11 5 3 3 5 13 17 32

6th Schalke 04 21 5 2 3 19 12 4 2 5 14 19 31

7th SVW Mannheim 21 3 4 4 14 14 5 2 3 14 9 30

8th SF Siegen 21 4 3 4 15 19 4 3 3 15 9 30

9th FC Bayern 21 7 2 2 24 12 2 0 8 12 21 29

10th Hertha BSC 21 5 3 3 17 12 3 2 5 10 19 29

11th 1.FC Köln 21 5 4 2 15 10 1 6 3 14 16 28

12th HSV 21 5 1 4 12 13 3 2 6 17 21 27

13th Offenbach 21 4 5 1 16 10 2 2 7 11 20 25

14th Frankfurt 21 6 2 3 16 9 0 4 6 5 20 24

15th VfB Stuttgart 21 5 2 3 16 14 0 6 5 7 20 23

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

16th Bochum 21 4 1 5 12 14 3 1 7 9 19 23

17th Union Berlin 21 4 2 5 12 12 1 2 7 3 12 19

18th Duisburg 21 3 3 5 10 17 0 1 9 3 23 13

</pre>

<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">************************************************************************************************

Sportfreunde Siegen - Wednesday 17th February 2010

************************************************************************************************

================================================================================================

Squad

================================================================================================

No Name Position(s) Nat Born Age Caps Gls Wages Expires Value

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

19 Báez, Javier S C ARG 7.6.91 18 - - £1.1K 12.6.13 £2.6M

9 Beigang, Nico S C GER 24.8.82 27 9 4 £26K 19.6.14 £5M

- Benthin, Manuel D/DM RL GER 3.3.79 30 - - £11.5K 22.6.11 £1.2M

- Borghi, Claudio D/M R ITA 26.10.85 24 - - £2.6K 1.6.11 £850K

- Busch, Peter M RC GER 4.8.91 18 - - £600 2.6.11 £450K

18 Cappa, Mariano AM LC ARG 30.1.84 26 - - £15.75K 25.6.12 £2M

- Cassano, Mario GK ITA 8.11.83 26 - - £1.4K 19.6.12 £1.1M

4 Cichon, Thomas D C GER 9.7.74 35 - - £9.25K 9.6.11 £300K

- Döring, Nils D/DM L GER 23.4.80 29 - - £7.75K 24.6.11 £675K

- Drews, Matthias D R GER 4.4.92 17 - - £300 20.9.10 £65K

- Eulentrop, Jan DM RL GER 29.4.92 17 - - £375 19.8.10 £130K

11 Farnerud, Alexander AM/F RLC SWE 1.5.82 27 30 10 £24.5K 14.6.14 £11M

14 Förster, Martin AM RLC GER 8.8.88 21 - - £1K 16.6.13 £4.1M

1 Gombert, Marcel GK GER 2.10.84 25 1 - £28.5K 10.6.13 £3.3M

31 Guillon, Lionel AM/F RC FRA 3.12.89 20 - - £1.7K 21.6.11 £875K

17 Gyepes, Gábor D/DM RC HUN 26.6.81 28 36 1 £9.25K 10.6.14 £1.8M

- Heider, Robert D R GER 20.1.93 17 - - £350 26.8.10 £90K

27 Jakic, Stipan AM/F RLC GER 3.5.78 31 - - £11K 14.6.11 £1.8M

3 Jorginho D/DM L BRA 20.2.80 29 1 - £17K 21.6.12 £3.9M

12 Klose, Marko D/DM L GER 27.11.88 21 - - £700 20.6.11 £1M

25 Kreuzer, Michael D C GER 4.8.91 18 - - £750 20.6.11 £350K

23 Kulpaka, Grzegorz D RL POL 1.2.83 27 - - £4.4K 25.6.12 £1.1M

20 Kurth, Mike D/DM C GER 5.8.91 18 - - £700 20.8.10 £190K

2 Lastovka, Josef D R CZE 20.2.82 27 - - £11.75K 3.6.13 £2.3M

22 Litimba, Skito AM LC DRC 7.7.77 32 4 1 £9.5K 13.6.11 £1.1M

5 Manikas, Panagiotis D C GRE 1.6.79 30 10 - £17.75K 21.6.12 £4.4M

15 Martin, Stefan S C GER 10.2.91 19 - - £300 25.6.10 £70K

33 Müller, Dirk GK GER 17.11.89 20 - - £1.5K 11.6.14 £1.1M

32 Ndjoumeck, Jean-Paul D C CMR 27.10.82 27 10 - £17K 13.6.15 £2.5M

13 Nuno Mata D/DM RC POR 25.2.83 26 28 1 £15.5K 28.6.14 £3.6M

28 Pinto, Carlos F LC BRA 14.8.87 22 - - £1.9K 6.6.12 £4.7M

30 Rill, Stephan DM C GER 10.7.88 21 - - £6.5K 3.6.14 £2.6M

24 Scharrer, Martin GK GER 23.2.83 26 - - £4.7K 19.6.11 £2M

26 Scholz, Jürgen AM/F L GER 12.12.92 17 - - £275 25.10.10 £170K

16 Semberas, Deividas D/DM R LTU 2.8.78 31 61 2 £6.25K 22.6.11 £825K

7 Solís, Alonso AM RC CRC 14.10.78 31 51 19 £18.25K 17.6.11 £4.3M

10 Tonelli, Fabio F C ITA 20.11.82 27 - - £24K 17.6.13 £10M

29 Vukcevic, Dalibor GK YUG 23.2.90 19 - - £825 1.6.14 £1M

6 Weissenberger, Michael SW/D/DM C AUT 25.3.81 28 - - £10K 22.6.14 £3M

8 Zé Roberto AM C BRA 13.5.78 31 - - £8.75K 3.6.11 £3.3M

21 da Costa, Rogério D/AM R BRA 10.2.88 22 14 3 £2.3K 2.6.13 £7M

</pre>

[Harleqin]

Siegen. The place where it all started and, fittingly enough, the place where it would all end. My plan was to win the biggest title of them all in just three years, starting after the summer break. A lot of work needed to be done though. The club was filled with players not of the right making and they would have to leave.

With only a few days to get the team together I wasn’t too pleased about opening with a home fixture against Dortmund. Naturally the ****ers injured Beigang after less than 20 minutes before the ****ing Henry gave them the lead. Losing 0-2 despite actually playing the best was not the start I was looking for, but there is not much to do about it.

Weak play by Gombert saw us lose again the following week to Bochum despite having taken a lead. The team looks extremely poor defending and a lot of work will need to be done. It also looks like Gombert hasn’t developed a bit since my last stay at the club.

March 2010

It was about time to resume the winning ways if we wanted to secure a place in Europe. That meant that we just had to win over Duisburg. Fortunately we had Farnerun back from injury and the Swedish forward was instrumental in our win with two goals. Not to be outdone Báez also nettet twice while Tonelli rounded off our 5-0 win.

With the first points secured we felt good as we travelled to visit the struggling FC Bayern team. My old, powerful duo of Solís and Farnerud both scored in the first half to give us a two goal lead. I was amazed at how Bayern had weakened in the years I’d been gone and as Mata scored in the second half we could claim a 3-0 win and boost our morale even further.

After those two wins it was expected that Stuttgart wouldn’t pose any challenge and that we were about to skyrocket up through the league. Tonelli gave us a lead late in the first half and an own goal doubled that. Seeing that all was lost the spiteful Stuttgarters then injured two of my players. Not much I can do except complain to the FA.

[Harleqin]

April 2010

Incredibly we extended our run to four games with no goals against us as we played FC Köln. Sadly though we failed to score as well and thus it all finished as it started. Even so the players look to grow more and more.

All good things must end though and against Union Berlin we conceded for the first time in a month. To make matters worse we even fell behind again after pulling level and only an own goal during injury time saved us from an embarrassing defeat.

Second-placed Nürnberg away would be a tough match after the unstable performances we had managed so far during April. We started out well and hit the bar after five minutes which signalled the start of intense pressure from us. After half an hour it turned though and Nürnberg took firm control. They took a deserved lead in the second half and try as we might we couldn’t get back and slumped to a 0-1 defeat.

To my delight we then beat Hertha Berlin 4-1. It moves us back up a bit, but with just four games remaining it is going to be tough. I estimate that we need to pick up around nine points out of the twelve available to qualify for Europe.

During the internationals at the end of the month Fabio Tonelli finally got his Italian debut. Interestingly this actually caused a number of big clubs to suddenly take note where none wanted him before. Funny.

[Harleqin]

May 2010

A trip to Mannheim started the month for us. Looking at the list of fixtures it should be possible to get something here, but it would be a tough match. Happily Farnerud gave us the lead and we should be strong enough not to let them score twice. While we did let them score once it didn’t matter much as the impressive Swede scored to restore our lead and clinch the 2-1 victory.

Travelling to already relegated Frankfurt should hopefully add another three points to our tally. Tonelli opened the scoring as we created chance upon chance. Even so a momentary lapse saw them score twice and even with another goal from the Italian it ended 2-2 which just isn’t good enough if we wish to avoid the Inter-TOTO.

Our final home match of the season saw fourth-placed 1860 München visiting. A close match saw very few chances created, but even so we managed to convert one through Solís to give us the lead. It looked like three certain point until we suffered a defensive mistake in the 92nd minute which allowed them to pull level. Now I don’t think we can qualify for Europe directly. We should have a shot at the TOTO though.

Sadly our last game was away to Schalke 04 who lie in third place. It would be extremely hard to gain something from that game, but we quite simply had to. Oddly enough we played best in the first half, but much of that changed when they starting tackling harder and injured two of my players. That ruined much and since the referee also ruled consistently for the home side it was an impossible mission which we obviously failed with a 1-2 defeat and no less than three (!) injuries. Worst of all was the injury to Tonelli which will keep him out of the World Cup and the start of the next season.

As far as I can tell following the match 8th place should grant us an Inter-TOTO place. We will need to win that competion to get into Europe proper.

<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">************************************************************************************************

German First Division - Saturday 29th May 2010

************************************************************************************************

================================================================================================

2009/0 Table

================================================================================================

Pos Team Pld Won Drn Lst For Ag Won Drn Lst For Ag Pts

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

1st C Dortmund 34 14 1 2 33 7 8 5 4 19 11 72

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

2nd Nürnberg 34 11 4 2 37 13 10 2 5 26 17 69

3rd Schalke 04 34 12 2 3 35 14 6 4 7 23 28 60

4th 1860 München 34 9 5 3 30 18 5 8 4 21 21 55

5th SVW Mannheim 34 7 5 5 28 21 8 3 6 21 13 53

6th Hertha BSC 34 9 5 3 26 12 6 3 8 17 27 53

7th Leverkusen 34 10 3 4 20 11 5 4 8 20 28 52

8th SF Siegen 34 7 5 5 29 25 6 5 6 25 18 49

9th Werder Bremen 34 10 3 4 24 17 5 1 11 24 36 49

10th FC Bayern 34 11 3 3 41 20 3 0 14 18 35 45

11th Union Berlin 34 9 3 5 24 17 3 5 9 9 20 44

12th Bochum 34 9 1 7 27 23 5 1 11 16 32 44

13th 1.FC Köln 34 7 5 5 22 17 3 8 6 22 30 43

14th Offenbach 34 7 7 3 31 21 3 5 9 13 25 42

15th HSV 34 7 4 6 18 20 5 2 10 24 30 42

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

16th R VfB Stuttgart 34 7 4 6 25 27 0 6 11 15 36 31

17th R Frankfurt 34 6 4 7 19 19 0 5 12 9 33 27

18th R Duisburg 34 4 5 8 12 24 0 2 15 4 41 19

</pre>

<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">************************************************************************************************

Sportfreunde Siegen - Saturday 29th May 2010

************************************************************************************************

================================================================================================

2009/0 Senior Club Stats

================================================================================================

No Name Apps Gls Con Pens Asts Yel Red MoM Av R

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

19 Báez, Javier 10 (4) 4 0 0 2 0 0 1 7.00

9 Beigang, Nico 10 (6) 3 0 0 1 0 0 0 7.19

- Benthin, Manuel 14 (1) 0 0 0 2 2 0 1 6.53

- Borghi, Claudio 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 ----

- Busch, Peter - - - - - - - - ----

18 Cappa, Mariano 3 (8) 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 6.55

- Cassano, Mario 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 ----

4 Cichon, Thomas 9 (5) 1 0 0 1 1 0 0 6.71

- Döring, Nils 13 0 0 0 2 1 0 0 6.77

- Drews, Matthias - - - - - - - - ----

11 Farnerud, Alexander 33 (1) 13 0 0 5 3 0 6 7.71

14 Förster, Martin 34 (1) 7 0 1 (1) 11 4 0 4 7.34

1 Gombert, Marcel 32 0 43 0 0 0 0 0 7.03

31 Guillon, Lionel 14 (1) 0 0 0 5 1 0 0 7.07

17 Gyepes, Gábor 6 (8) 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 6.50

- Heider, Robert - - - - - - - - ----

27 Jakic, Stipan 4 (4) 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 6.50

3 Jorginho 35 1 0 0 1 3 0 1 7.09

12 Klose, Marko 1 (1) 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 6.00

25 Kreuzer, Michael 0 (1) 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 6.00

23 Kulpaka, Grzegorz 5 (1) 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 6.67

20 Kurth, Mike - - - - - - - - ----

2 Lastovka, Josef 18 (2) 0 0 0 1 0 0 1 6.90

22 Litimba, Skito 2 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 7.50

5 Manikas, Panagiotis 31 (1) 2 0 0 0 4 0 1 7.38

15 Martin, Stefan - - - - - - - - ----

33 Müller, Dirk 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 ----

32 Ndjoumeck, Jean-Paul 4 (1) 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 6.80

13 Nuno Mata 20 (7) 2 0 0 0 8 0 0 7.15

28 Pinto, Carlos 13 (4) 4 0 0 6 0 0 1 7.53

30 Rill, Stephan 11 (1) 0 0 0 1 4 0 0 6.58

24 Scharrer, Martin 7 0 6 0 0 0 0 1 7.57

26 Scholz, Jürgen - - - - - - - - ----

16 Semberas, Deividas 20 0 0 0 5 0 0 1 7.75

7 Solís, Alonso 34 9 0 0 5 1 0 5 7.62

10 Tonelli, Fabio 34 (2) 9 0 0 8 2 0 1 7.47

29 Vukcevic, Dalibor 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 ----

6 Weissenberger, Michael 25 (1) 1 0 0 1 5 0 1 6.96

8 Zé Roberto 14 (3) 1 0 0 3 2 0 0 7.00

21 da Costa, Rogério 29 (2) 2 0 0 2 1 1 0 7.13

</pre>

<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">************************************************************************************************

Sportfreunde Siegen - Thursday 3rd June 2010

************************************************************************************************

================================================================================================

2009/0 Transfers

================================================================================================

Date Player In From Fee

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

1.7.09 Josef Lastovka Rostock £1.4M

7.7.09 Dieter Trzolek Vélez £50K

9.7.09 Gábor Gyepes Ferencváros £210K

16.7.09 Dalibor Vukcevic Sutjeska £450K

25.8.09 Thomas Cichon Free Transfer Free

15.9.09 Javier Báez Atlanta £190K

5.10.09 Michael Weissenberger Tirol Innsbruck £475K

15.12.09 Stipan Jakic Schweinfurt £825K

15.12.09 Skito Litimba Ahlen £600K

19.12.09 Stephan Rill Denizlispor £6.25M

28.12.09 Dirk Müller SVW Mannheim £325K

10.1.10 Jean-Paul Ndjoumeck Frankfurt £2M

Date Player Out To Fee

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

1.7.09 Kai Binder Hertha BSC £625K

13.7.09 Torsten Kreuz Werder Bremen Free

24.7.09 Armin Spies Released Free

26.8.09 Rickard Dahlström Babelsberg £3M

29.8.09 Riccardo De Matteis Kaiserslautern £1M

31.8.09 Rune Pedersen Werder Bremen £575K

13.10.09 Nils Döring Unterhaching Loan

23.10.09 Lionel Guillon Mainz Loan

4.11.09 Deividas Semberas Oberhausen Loan

4.12.09 Manuel Benthin Hannover 96 Loan

15.12.09 Brian Helveg Nürnberg £2.7M

25.12.09 Grzegorz Kulpaka St. Pauli Loan

29.12.09 Marko Klose Ahlen Loan

26.4.10 Jan Eulentrop Released Free

1.6.10 Carlos Pinto Sporting £4.7M

</pre>

[Harleqin]

Summer 2010

Finding players of the right quality proved to be something of a hassle. There were loads of young players with the right skills, but of course there clubs wanted an exorbitant amount of money to let them go and even then it wasn’t a certainty that the player wished to leave.

While struggling to find the players that would help us challenge for the title we were then told that we should prepare for the TOTO-Cup. Not unexpected though it would hurt the vacation of the players.

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR>

WORLD ROUND-UP

Denmark: Viborg (champion and Cupwinner)

England: Newcastle (champion and FA Cup), West Ham (League Cup)

France: Bordeaux (champion), Auxerre (Cup), Caen (League Cup)

Germany: Dortmund (champion and Cup), Leverkusen (League Cup)

Holland: MVV (champion), PSV (Cup)

Italy: Sampdoria (champion), Roma (Cup)

Spain: Barcelona (champion and Cupwinner)

Champions Cup: Real Madrid

UEFA Cup: Nantes

World Cup: Italy

<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

A few new players also came. John Carew had been arranged to join by the old manager and I was pleased to welcome the aging Norwegian. The promising former Italian U-21 wingback Davide Musella also joined us and then there was the big name. The record signing. For a fee of £10,75m plus 6 million under certain circumstances we signed the English striker Daniel Nardiello. Very, very expensive, but he looks to be worth it.

A bombshell then fell when Nürnberg announced the signing of Brazillian international Kaká for a fee of £18m from AC Milan. Shocking. That is really a lot of money.

The money earned were quickly put to use as Milan then offered me more than £10m for Rogerio da Costa. Having just signed Musella to actually replace him I wasn’t completely opposed to this. I told them for just a little more and a sell-on clause we could do business. He is afterall a Brazillian international and I know they can afford it.

This turned out to be too much for them and instead Fiorentina made an offer. While they considered our reply that we wanted £12m up front for the talented player we made a signing of our own.

For just £1,4m I was happy to get Benjamin Clément to join from Toulouse. The player was free to discuss terms with any interested clubs and he is one I’ve been watching. Also, with Jorginhi getting older I need a replacement and he is it. A great player in the left side of defence. At least, he should be.

With plenty of activity yet on the transfer scene it was time to get started on the TOTO-cup. We opened at home against Zwolle, a game that shouldn’t be impossible to win with out superior squad. Nardiello opened his account after just 12 minutes and started paying off on the huge amount invested in him. Carew followed suit later and with a 2-0 lead we should be set to pregress to the next round.

Eventually I found that if I wanted to sell da Costa, then I wouldn’t be able to get the interested clubs to part with the sums I wanted and thus I finally shipped him off to Rangers for £10,75m. A good sum of money for a back-up player and money that will be quickly re-invested.

Sadly we had to say goodbye to Alonso Solís who wanted a new challenge. Having served us faithfully for 5 seasons and been a keyplayer throughout. At Siegen he managed to win the title once and a league cup. We will wish him luck at FC Bayern and just be happy about the £2,6m they paid us for him.

Returning to Zwolle we wanted to win to make our progress seem even more certain and instill some fright in our future opponent. Even so, we musn’t underestimate the Dutch. A goal from Weissenberger decided things though as it was extremely unlikely that they would score four times. It finished 1-1 moving us into the semis.

Preparing a massive move I was then shocked by another offer from AC Milan. £16,75m for Tonelli He is a good player, but that much? I didn’t hesitate here, but immediately accepted it. I can easily replace him. At least, I hope so. To my frustration the transfer was then cancelled because he failed a medical. FFS! What do you expect? He is still not ready to play after his injury, but he will be.

The European adventure continued at Montpellier. Interesting how I continually face clubs from leagues I’ve worked in. An interesting first half ended goalless. While the home team had enjoyed possession we were the side with the best chances. We should have won the match and even had a golden opportunity in the 86th minute, but Manikas managed to miss a penalty making the match end goalless.

<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">************************************************************************************************

Sportfreunde Siegen - Saturday 31st July 2010

************************************************************************************************

================================================================================================

2010/1 Transfers

================================================================================================

Date Player In From Fee

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

1.7.10 Daniel Nardiello G. Birligi £10.75M

1.7.10 Davide Musella Cagliari £3.4M

1.7.10 John Carew PSV £1.8M

8.7.10 Benjamin Clément Toulouse £1.4M

29.7.10 Holger Stadler Werder Bremen £1.6M

Date Player Out To Fee

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

1.6.10 Carlos Pinto Sporting £4.7M

26.6.10 Stefan Martin Released Free

1.7.10 Zé Roberto Wolfsburg £1.9M

1.7.10 Mario Cassano Greuther Fürth £800K

1.7.10 Thomas Cichon Burghausen £325K

1.7.10 Manuel Benthin Burghausen £1.1M

1.7.10 Martin Scharrer Werder Bremen £3.9M

1.7.10 Lionel Guillon Hertha BSC £900K

8.7.10 Peter Busch Released Free

17.7.10 Marko Klose Cottbus £1.4M

20.7.10 Rogério da Costa Rangers £10.75M

24.7.10 Alonso Solís FC Bayern £2.6M

</pre>

<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">************************************************************************************************

Sportfreunde Siegen - Saturday 31st July 2010

************************************************************************************************

================================================================================================

Squad

================================================================================================

No Name Position(s) Nat Born Age Caps Gls Wages Expires Value

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

19 Báez, Javier S C ARG 7.6.91 19 - - £1.1K 12.6.13 £2.9M

9 Beigang, Nico S C GER 24.8.82 27 9 4 £26K 19.6.14 £5.5M

- Borghi, Claudio D/M R ITA 26.10.85 24 - - £2.6K 1.6.11 £675K

18 Cappa, Mariano AM LC ARG 30.1.84 26 - - £15.75K 25.6.12 £1.7M

8 Carew, John S C NOR 5.9.77 32 89 32 £38K 17.6.12 £3.4M

28 Clément, Benjamin D L FRA 7.6.86 24 - - £4.6K 2.6.15 £2.8M

- Döring, Nils D/DM L GER 23.4.80 30 - - £7.75K 24.6.11 £525K

- Drews, Matthias D R GER 4.4.92 18 - - £300 20.9.10 £16K

11 Farnerud, Alexander AM/F RLC SWE 1.5.82 28 36 12 £24.5K 14.6.14 £10.5M

14 Förster, Martin AM RLC GER 8.8.88 21 - - £8K 8.6.15 £4.2M

1 Gombert, Marcel GK GER 2.10.84 25 1 - £28.5K 10.6.13 £3.6M

17 Gyepes, Gábor D/DM RC HUN 26.6.81 29 37 1 £9.25K 10.6.14 £1.8M

- Heider, Robert D R GER 20.1.93 17 - - £350 26.8.10 £12K

27 Jakic, Stipan AM/F RLC HRV 3.5.78 32 1 - £11K 14.6.11 £925K

3 Jorginho D/DM L BRA 20.2.80 30 1 - £17K 21.6.12 £4M

25 Kreuzer, Michael D C GER 4.8.91 18 - - £750 20.6.11 £300K

23 Kulpaka, Grzegorz D RL POL 1.2.83 27 - - £4.4K 25.6.12 £875K

20 Kurth, Mike D/DM C GER 5.8.91 18 - - £1.1K 20.6.13 £750K

2 Lastovka, Josef D R CZE 20.2.82 28 2 - £11.75K 3.6.13 £2.2M

22 Litimba, Skito AM LC DRC 7.7.77 33 4 1 £9.5K 13.6.11 £400K

5 Manikas, Panagiotis D C GRE 1.6.79 31 15 - £17.75K 21.6.12 £4.7M

33 Müller, Dirk GK GER 17.11.89 20 - - £1.5K 11.6.14 £1.2M

15 Musella, Davide D/DM R ITA 13.10.87 22 - - £14.25K 28.6.15 £2.8M

24 Nardiello, Daniel S C ENG 22.10.82 27 - - £32.5K 25.6.16 £10M

32 Ndjoumeck, Jean-Paul D C CMR 27.10.82 27 10 - £17K 13.6.15 £2.5M

13 Nuno Mata D/DM RC POR 25.2.83 27 30 1 £15.5K 28.6.14 £3.6M

30 Rill, Stephan DM C GER 10.7.88 22 - - £6.5K 3.6.14 £2.9M

26 Scholz, Jürgen AM/F L GER 12.12.92 17 - - £275 25.10.10 £60K

16 Semberas, Deividas D/DM R LTU 2.8.78 31 61 2 £6.25K 22.6.11 £750K

- Stadler, Holger F RC GER 1.7.87 23 - - £1.1K 25.6.15 £3M

10 Tonelli, Fabio F C ITA 20.11.82 27 1 - £24K 17.6.13 £9M

29 Vukcevic, Dalibor GK YUG 23.2.90 20 - - £825 1.6.14 £1.1M

6 Weissenberger, Michael SW/D/DM C AUT 25.3.81 29 2 - £10K 22.6.14 £2.7M

</pre>

[Harleqin]

August 2010

Montpellier was kind enough to pay us a visit for the return leg of the TOTO-semi final. With a goalless draw in the first match it was nice and simple for us. Just win. Well, we all know the routine. One shot, one goal. Extremely clinical finishing from the Frenchmen. It looked like they might even win when an own goal gave us a chance and two strikes from Nardiello in the last ten minutes clinched our 3-1 win. Now, we just need to win the final and we’re ready for Europe.

For the final we got the arguably toughest draw as we were paired with Spanish club Seville. Still, we will beat for we are better than them. We just have to be.

Sadly we didn’t manage to finish our last transfers until after the deadline for European registration so for the first few rounds we would be a bit weaker. Assuming we beat Seville naturally. The talented French defender Yves Cheyrou joined us from Lyon for a fee of £9,75m. At just 22 years of age he should be good for us for at least 8 seasons.

The first leg against Seville was at the Leimbachstadium. The story reminded me of our last match. One shot, one goal. The big difference this time was that we only managed a 1-1 draw giving us quite a big task in the return leg.

The domestic season opened against FC Bayern and I wasn’t in too good a mood. We’ve worked hard to bring in a new midfielder, but his club stalled for so long that the lower German league deadline hit and made us unable to buy him. On the pitch a crowd of around 23,500 saw us open our title challenge by beating the Bavarians by 3-0. An excellent start to the season.

After such a stort morale was high as we travelled to Dresden for our clash with Dynamo. Not wanting to let their boss down and gunning for a year of titles the lads delivered the goods winning 3-0 with Farnerud and Nardiello sharing the goals.

The TOTO-Cup return leg in Seville loomed on the horizon. A bad result would allow us to focus on the league and in all honesty that might be best as our squad is not the best, but all of us wanted to gather European experience.

We took an early lead, but then had to pay for it as we lost Farnerud. Later on we then lost Litimba. Why are all my key players habitually injured? It is getting more than a little frustrating. Nevertheless we won the match and are now through to the first round proper.

Injuries forced me to be creative as we faced Mainz in the first round of the German Cup. Most players had reserves ready, but Nuno Mata would try a new role as an offensive midfielder. Surprisingly he actually scored after seven minutes putting on track for an eventual 3-0 win.

Following the match we then announced the signing of French international Alexandre Petitfrére from Sochaux. At the age of 22 he has already been capped nine times and is looked upon as one of the hottest prospects in Europe. He didn’t come cheaply though as we agreed a £22m deal with £14m up front in hard cash.

<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">================================================================================================

2010/1 Transfers

================================================================================================

Date Player In From Fee

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

8.8.10 Yves Cheyrou Lyon £9.75M

29.8.10 Alexandre Petitfrère Sochaux £14M

Date Player Out To Fee

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

5.8.10 Jean-Paul Ndjoumeck Braunschweig £3.1M

16.8.10 Grzegorz Kulpaka Stuttgarter K. £850K

</pre>

[OMDave]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Harleqin:

Please note that Marseille only scored 6 goals in 19 away fixtures <HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Now look here, you....

Only just spotted this, but from now on I'll be paying more attention. Nice to see you back at Siegen.

[Harleqin]

Now what Dave? I found it pretty amusing that any side could do that bad and seing it was Marseille just made me laugh

Glad to see you following. I've spent more money this season than ever before on any CM game and I think I'm getting close to having a squad capable of winning the Champions League. Something I'm yet to do

-----

September 2010

Exceptig Manikas everybody in the squad was fit as we made the trip to Cologne to face FC Köln. Our new Frenchman would get his debut and the press was there in force to evaluate him. Of course, getting the idiot Gombert sent off didn’t really help our chances and it was no wonder that we proceded to lose 1-3. The bright point from the match was that Nardiello scored and our new signing got the assist.

Our real European campaign opened at home against the Macedonian side Vardar. We opened the party on the half hour mark courtesy of a Petitfrére strike and followed up throughout the second half with more entertainment as we collected a 4-0 win and all but booked our passage to the second round.

Returning focus to the league it was time to face Mannheim and we had to do so without Gombert. Quietly I had also begun looking at more capable keepers though. Things went well with a good 3-0 win which shows that we have a strong defence this year. We lost Nardiello to injury though and our star striker would be sidelined for a month which would weaken us.

Facing Nürnberg on their on turf will probably be one of our two hardest domestic games this year, the away fixture to Dortmund being the only one which is rated as harder. Even so we started brightly with Rill netting after five minutes only for Nürnberg to cancel it out a few minutes later and then take the lead. Farnerud then scored twice to restore the lead to us and give us the moral higher ground before the second half. Again Nürnberg equalled the score before Förster scored the final goal to give us a much deserved 4-3 away win.

The return leg in Macedonia was mainly a formality. Even so I let my strongest available XI take to the field judging it more vital to give them even more competitive time together than than the risk of injury. We won it 2-0 with both goals coming from Carew. The experienced striker is really enjoying his time out and is determined to make the most of it while Nardiello is out. Sadly we did suffer a major injury as Förster hurt his knee and would be out for about two months. Crap.