Donners Posted May 26, 2004 Author Share Posted May 26, 2004 August, season 2009/2010 We had a series of friendlies to get some match fitness before the start of the league season, which was the very last day of August. A 3-0 win against Chieti kicked things off, with goals to Ole Brichkus, Chi Yuen Webb and Juan MartÃn Pietravallo – three of our “fringe†players. Bizarrely, veteran defender Tommy Berntsen signed a four-year contract. He was supposed to retire at the end of last season, so I moved him down to the reserves to keep him out of the way. Now, apparently, he has signed a new contract which I didn’t even offer, and hasn’t retired! My reserve coach isn’t set to offer contracts, so I have no idea what’s going on. The Champions Cup draw saw us set to face Groclin (a Polish club) in the third qualifying phase. We had time for one more friendly before the first leg, defeating Prato 3-0, though goals to Chi Yuen Webb, Markus Neumayr and Andrea Rabito. Webb has played well in two friendlies, and could well get a regular role this season. I re-signed him until 2014 on the basis of these performances. Our first leg against Groclin was away. Badr El Kadouri missed with an injury, but otherwise the side was at full strength. Disturbingly, they took the lead after only five minutes, but Rabito brought us level a minute later. The rest of the game went back and forth, but there were no more goals. A fairly unconvincing 1-1 result, but at least we have the lead on away goals. Our third friendly saw our third straight 3-0 win. Belhassen Gardiner missed a penalty, but Alessandro Zamperini, Brichkus and young midfielder Gustavo Crane put through the goals. Another solid win followed, Ancona 4-0 winners over San Marino in our final friendly. Freddy Adu and Darren Purse grabbed one each, while Ole Brichkus scored a brace. After that game, I loaned out defenders Mattia Cassani to Verona and Hélio Frimann to Torino, while I also received a £2.2M offer for José Julián de la Cuesta from Barcelona. I rejected that bid, since de la Cuesta is contracted until 2012 and is a key defender for the side. I also signed Mexican midfielder Taikai Torres on a free transfer. Takai Torres [26, AM C, MEX – 3/0] Torres is one of those players I tend to sign who have played few senior games, but look like they could be a decent player if given the chance. He’s lightning quick and a reasonably good passer who could play a rotational role in the middle. The second leg against Groclin saw us entering with a slight lead after the 1-1 away draw in the first leg. Rabito gave us a great start, stealing the ball from a defender in the 10th minute and slotting it past the keeper who had come away from the goal. A great long pass from Sarr 11 minutes later found Ole Brichkus in the area a long way from any defenders. He slammed it in for his first senior goal at Ancona, giving us a 3-1 aggregate lead. Papa Waigo gave him his second in the 63rd with a neat pass across the area, sealing our 4-1 aggregate win and putting us into the group stage. We have been drawn in a group with Liverpool, PSV and Austria Vienna, which will be quite a challenge. At least I got £2.7M for getting there. Our odds for the title were given as 40-1 – sixth best in the league. The fourth-best side, Inter, were our first opponents. Gardiner had a shot saved eighteen seconds in, but Brichkus gave us the lead within nineteen seconds. Inter equalised in the 26th, then took the lead six minutes later through a penalty conceded by Christian Gyan. By half time it was 1-3, and it looked like our season was off to a bad start. Markus Neumayr gave us a bit of a chance with an 81st minute penalty, but we still finished a goal short. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Donners Posted May 26, 2004 Author Share Posted May 26, 2004 September, season 2009/2010 Defender Norizam Luz arrived at the start of the month. Norizam Luz [26, Sw/D C, ARG] A decent player at River, Luz arrives to play a regular role in our defence. He’s tall and talented, and will hopefully do well. However, he will hold back Pappalardo and Hammond to some degree. World Cup qualifiers: Australia 2 [bresciano 10, 67] d. Fiji 0 World Cup qualifiers: Australia 5 [Emerton 3, 32; Viduka 24; Kisnorbo 46; Foxe 51] d. Tahiti 0 We received odds of 33-1 to win the Champions Cup, but had to deal with a league game against Roma first. Taikai Torres made his debut in the middle while Luz began on the bench. Roma led after only four minutes, but Rabito (playing as a forward) replied in the 10th minute. Six minutes later, Roma had the lead back, and they added a third late in the game. Two straight league losses is a disturbing start to the season. This was not a good lead-up to our first Champions Cup league stage match against Liverpool. They were ahead by the 11th minute, and we had few chances to get back in the game. A second yellow card to Gyan late did not help as we sunk to our third straight loss and a poor start to the league stage. Massimo Tabai made his debut in goal against Lazio back in Serie A after poor form from Tommy Lee. It only took him four minutes to concede a goal, fumbling a header for Andrea Briotti to put into his own net. A promising chance for Papa Waigo was hit straight at the goalkeeper, leaving us behind at half time. A 56th minute free kick made it 0-2. Freddy Adu came off the bench and scored by running around the keeper in the 67th, but while Tabai did well to keep Lazio to two, we could not grab an equaliser. Three league games for three losses. Against tough sides, but for a side expected to finish in the top few this is unacceptable. Rabito, Lennartsson and Kalú have been our only decent players so far this season. Darren Purse was dropped against Vicenza, replaced by Luz, while Tabai retained his spot. The first half saw little action at either end, and with a few missed shots to Papa Waigo in the second, the game finished in a dull 0-0 draw. Our second match in the Champions Cup league stage was at home to PSV. Tommy Lee replaced Tabai, since the veteran wasn’t registered, and likewise with Purse returning for Luz. They scored the opener in the 25th thanks to sloppy defending, but a run down the right from Kalú saw him pass into the area for Rabito (playing as a forward) to tap in an equaliser shortly before half time. After some hard work holding off frequent PSV attacks, we finally made it forward in the 67th with a long ball down the left from El Kadouri. Papa Waigo ran onto it and crossed the ball into the 6-yard box for Ancona to take the lead. It lasted less than ten minutes, with PSV scoring their second to level the scores again. Not a bad result at all, with a thankfully decent performance from Lee, but we will struggle to progress in the competition at this rate. Rabito will continue as a forward for at least the next few games, since Brichkus has been pretty flat. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Donners Posted May 27, 2004 Author Share Posted May 27, 2004 October, season 2009/2010 We had a chance to get our first Serie A win of the season against Chievo. Lennartsson hit the post with a free kick and we lost Kalú to injury in the opening minutes. Rabito snuck through the defence to score in the 36th and thanks to poor finishing from Chievo, that was enough for three points. German striker Sharle Agenor Eckhardt debuted for the senior side late in the game. It was a fortnight before our next game, against Bologna. Only a brilliant save kept Rabito from scoring in the 22nd , but an own goal was scored from an El Kadouri cross a few minutes later. A single goal always looked a weak lead against a side containing Supat Rungratsamee, and sure enough they scored in the 58th (though thankfully not through our former player). 1-1 was how it finished, leaving us with just five points from six games. The board has already gone from “thrilled†to “satisfiedâ€, and we’re barely a month in. We hosted Austria Vienna in the next Champions Cup league game. They took the lead in 11 minutes and with Lennartsson firing wild long-range shots for the rest of the half, our chances of getting level looked slim. Thankfully, Rabito put one through in the 56th after somehow finding space in the crowded area. Papa Waigo should have put us ahead ten minutes later when Rabito crossed perfectly to him, but instead of heading it straight ahead into the goal, Papa Waigo hit it across the goal straight to the goalkeeper. He made amends in the 79th, heading in an El Kadouri cross to give us the lead. A spin and powerful angled shot in injury time gave him a brace and sealed a great win. His first goals of the season and a critical win to Ancona. Undiese came next in Serie A, with Massimo Tabai returning in goal. A great run down the right and cross from Kalú gave Papa Waigo a goal in the first 24 seconds of the game. Kalú repeated the move in the 24th to give Ole Brichkus our second, but Udinese pulled one back shortly into the second half. Kalú continued his astonishing game to give Brichkus his second in the 73rd, but Udinese hit back quickly to make it 3-2. Some sharp passes from Udinese, and they were suddenly level in the 80th. Rabito came off the bench to try and get us back the lead, and nearly succeeded with two incredible long-range passes into the area. Unfortunately, both went just a bit too far for Brichkus, and despite an incredible game from Kalú we only got one point. Our second-last game of the month was against Piacenza. A dull first half was followed by a red card to Nordin Lennartsson shortly into the second. Midfielder Sobir White made his senior debut, but despite his exceptional pace he had no impact. Things got much worse in the 82nd minute, with Sarr giving away a penalty and getting sent off for a professional foul. The kick went over the bar, but we were left two players short – and I had already made three subs in an attempt to get a goal, leaving us with only two defenders (Zamperini and Purse). Somehow we held on for the 0-0 draw, but we need more than one point from our league games. This left us with both Lennartsson and Sarr missing through suspension against Parma, in addition to Freddy Adu and Taikai Torres (both disappointing so far) who were on international duty. Nonetheless, we played well early, and took the lead with a great goal to Rabito (playing on the wing for the first time in a month). As usual, it only took our opponents a few minutes into the second half to equalise. A 57th minute penalty to Parma after Hammond tripped a forward in the box looked set to put us behind, but thankfully it was hit straight at Tommy Lee. Again we could only manage a point, and received disastrous news after the game – Andrea Rabito suffered a torn groin muscle, and will miss two months. <pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">Holders - Milan | Pos | Inf | Team | | Pld | Won | Drn | Lst | For | Ag | G.D. | Pts | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 1st | | Atalanta | | 9 | 6 | 2 | 1 | 20 | 9 | +11 | 20 | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 2nd | | Milan | | 10 | 6 | 2 | 2 | 20 | 11 | +9 | 20 | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 3rd | | Sampdoria | | 9 | 6 | 1 | 2 | 20 | 10 | +10 | 19 | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 4th | | Juventus | | 8 | 6 | 0 | 2 | 12 | 5 | +7 | 18 | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 5th | | Parma | | 9 | 5 | 1 | 3 | 18 | 10 | +8 | 16 | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 6th | | Roma | | 9 | 4 | 4 | 1 | 14 | 6 | +8 | 16 | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 7th | | Palermo | | 9 | 3 | 4 | 2 | 11 | 6 | +5 | 13 | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 8th | | Brescia | | 9 | 4 | 1 | 4 | 10 | 12 | -2 | 13 | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 9th | | Lazio | | 9 | 4 | 1 | 4 | 14 | 20 | -6 | 13 | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 10th | | Reggina | | 9 | 4 | 0 | 5 | 11 | 15 | -4 | 12 | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 11th | | Chievo | | 8 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 12 | 8 | +4 | 11 | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 12th | | Fiorentina | | 9 | 3 | 2 | 4 | 9 | 11 | -2 | 11 | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 13th | | Piacenza | | 9 | 2 | 4 | 3 | 15 | 16 | -1 | 10 | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 14th | | Bologna | | 9 | 1 | 6 | 2 | 10 | 12 | -2 | 9 | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 15th | | Cagliari | | 9 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 9 | 12 | -3 | 9 | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 16th | | Inter | | 10 | 2 | 3 | 5 | 14 | 19 | -5 | 9 | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 17th | | Ancona | | 9 | 1 | 5 | 3 | 10 | 13 | -3 | 8 | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 18th | | Udinese | | 9 | 2 | 2 | 5 | 12 | 16 | -4 | 8 | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 19th | | Perugia | | 9 | 2 | 0 | 7 | 7 | 19 | -12 | 6 | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 20th | | Vicenza | | 9 | 0 | 5 | 4 | 5 | 23 | -18 | 5 | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| </pre> Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Donners Posted May 28, 2004 Author Share Posted May 28, 2004 November, season 2009/2010 A Champions Cup game against Austria Vienna came first. Ikechukwu Kalú, who has become a regular with Markus Neumayr’s mediocre form, started on the right wing in the absence of Rabito. It took barely a minute for our first goal; Papa Waigo putting it through after a great pass from Lennartsson. A red card to Sarr with half an hour to go (his second in as many matches) made holding our one-goal lead a little more tricky, sure enough they equalised only a few minutes later. A late header from Papa Waigo was tipped over, while a Lennartsson free kick from just outside the area went way over. Just when it looked like we were doomed to a draw, Papa Waigo got forward and ran around the keeper to put in his second and give Ancona an 89th minute lead. The game wasn’t over yet, though. Austria Vienna made it into the area, but while the first shot was parried back to the forward by Tommy Lee, he also parried the resulting shot from that. Unfortunately, the third parry went across the goal to an unopposed striker, who tapped the ball into the net one minute and twelve seconds into the two minutes of injury time. Our three substitutes – Hammond, Sobir White and Freddy Adu – combined shortly after the kick-off, with a defensive header from Hammond, a long pass from White and a flick-on header from Adu, to get Papa Waigo through on goal. His shot was seemingly straight at the keeper, but it was hit hard enough to go through his hands and into the net to give him a hat-trick. A lead with literally eight seconds to go in the game, and there was no losing it from there. We’re now on top of our group, but face tough games against PSV and Liverpool. Could we follow up on this impressive win in a Serie A game against Fiorentina? I dropped Ole Brichkus after dismal form (average rating 5.8 from 9 games, despite 5 goals), but with Rabito injured and Adu on international duty, I had few options to replace him with. Sharle Agenor Eckhardt partnered Papa Waigo, and only a few minutes in wasted a great El Kadouri cross by hitting it straight to the keeper. The first half was scoreless, but Papa Waigo showed Eckhardt how it was done, slamming in an El Kadouri cross two minutes into the second half. He then beat the defenders to a loose ball in the area to seal the 2-0 win in the 79th and continue his fine recent form. It was only our second league win in ten games, but at least now we’re looking a bit better. Generoso Rossi came in to take over the goalkeeping duties against Juventus. There were no real chances until the 75th minute, when Juventus suddenly took the lead when Ronaldo got the ball right in front of the goal. An attempt to fight back only saw shots from Adu and Juan Pietravallo saved, leaving us 0-1 losers. World Cup qualifiers: Australia 1 [skoko 34] d. New Caledonia 0 World Cup qualifiers: Australia 1 [Wesolowski 14 (pen); Teinert 40, 88] d. New Zealand 0 After a fortnight off, we faced Cagliari. Lennartsson and Kalú provided a threat from long range early, but their shots were saved. Papa Waigo put through a cross from El Kadouri in the 30th for the game’s opener, and two minutes after half time a Sarr cross was headed in by Norizam Luz for his first Ancona goal and a 2-0 lead to the club. Cagliari pulled one back in the 68th, with a shot deflecting off Kalú and into the net. Four minutes later, Tommy Lee was confronted with a shot from almost point-blank range, but somehow managed to parry it. Unfortunately, that parry went straight to a Cagliari player, and suddenly it was 2-2. Neither side managed a shot after that, so we again had to settle for just one point. One point would be quite a good result in our Champions Cup game against Liverpool. A scoreless first half (only thanks to weak Liverpool finishing and three saves from Tommy Lee) helped that goal, but a free kick from Lennartsson which was headed in by El Kadouri in the 51st was a heck of a lot better. It couldn’t last long, and sure enough they equalised six minutes later thanks to a combination of Michael Owen and Harry Kewell. A Man of the Match effort from Lee and solid defending kept them from adding to that; the 1-1 draw leaving us top of the group with one game to go. With £110K for the draw and £600K in gate receipts (a new record), this is looking like quite a profitable season. World Cup qualifier playoff leg 1: Australia 3 [Neill 17; Viduka 64; Tunbridge 74] d. Paraguay 0 Nonetheless, we were still sitting in a disturbingly low spot in Serie A – 15th – which was doing little good to club morale. A goal in under four minutes against Sampdoria, therefore, was quite useful. Freddie Adu put it through after a Kalú cross, and nearly had another in the 15th, but the ball came back off the post. Adu capped off his fine game as a forward by drawing the keeper out and then lobbing a pass to Papa Waigo for a simple finish in the 82nd. A much-needed win for Ancona and a promising performance from Adu. I re-signed midfielder Sobir White until 2013 on substantially increased wages after the game. <pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">| Pos | Inf | Team | | Pld | Won | Drn | Lst | For | Ag | G.D. | Pts | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 1st | | Atalanta | | 13 | 8 | 3 | 2 | 28 | 14 | +14 | 27 | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 2nd | | Milan | | 13 | 8 | 3 | 2 | 25 | 13 | +12 | 27 | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 3rd | | Juventus | | 13 | 7 | 2 | 4 | 14 | 8 | +6 | 23 | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 4th | | Roma | | 13 | 6 | 4 | 3 | 16 | 8 | +8 | 22 | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 5th | | Sampdoria | | 13 | 7 | 1 | 5 | 24 | 19 | +5 | 22 | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 6th | | Lazio | | 13 | 7 | 1 | 5 | 19 | 24 | -5 | 22 | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 7th | | Chievo | | 13 | 6 | 3 | 4 | 20 | 14 | +6 | 21 | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 8th | | Parma | | 12 | 6 | 2 | 4 | 21 | 12 | +9 | 20 | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 9th | | Fiorentina | | 13 | 6 | 2 | 5 | 15 | 13 | +2 | 20 | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 10th | | Palermo | | 13 | 4 | 6 | 3 | 19 | 9 | +10 | 18 | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 11th | | Reggina | | 13 | 6 | 0 | 7 | 17 | 21 | -4 | 18 | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 12th | | Inter | | 13 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 17 | 19 | -2 | 16 | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 13th | | Brescia | | 12 | 5 | 1 | 6 | 16 | 20 | -4 | 16 | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 14th | | Ancona | | 13 | 3 | 6 | 4 | 16 | 16 | 0 | 15 | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 15th | | Udinese | | 13 | 3 | 4 | 6 | 17 | 22 | -5 | 13 | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 16th | | Piacenza | | 13 | 3 | 4 | 6 | 22 | 29 | -7 | 13 | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 17th | | Cagliari | | 13 | 2 | 6 | 5 | 14 | 19 | -5 | 12 | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 18th | | Bologna | | 13 | 1 | 7 | 5 | 17 | 24 | -7 | 10 | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 19th | | Perugia | | 13 | 3 | 1 | 9 | 11 | 25 | -14 | 10 | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 20th | | Vicenza | | 13 | 1 | 6 | 6 | 10 | 29 | -19 | 9 | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| </pre> Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Donners Posted May 30, 2004 Author Share Posted May 30, 2004 December, season 2009/2010 I went out with pretty much a B-side for the home leg of our second round Italian Cup game against Verona. It quickly backfired, with the side a goal down in seven minutes. Thirty minutes later, a shot from Ole Brichkus was saved, but the ball came back off a defender and went into the net to make it 1-1. Papa Waigo came off the bench and quickly put us ahead in the 72nd thanks to a cross from Adu, but Verona drew level again three minutes later after Generoso Rossi made a great save from a free kick, only to give it straight back to a forward for a simple finish. It remained 2-2 at the final whistle, which could cause problems in the second leg since we conceded two away goals. World Cup qualifier playoff leg 2: Australia 0 drew Paraguay 0 (Australia qualifies for World Cup). Though I’d rested most senior players against Verona, I couldn’t afford to bring them back in the league game against Reggina, with our final Champions Cup league stage game three days later. The game was mostly uneventful until the final twenty minutes, when we had a huge number of chances. Despite numerous free kicks in the forward half and several shots on goal, our weakened side could not break through for a goal. Yet another draw in the league, but at least we pushed up to 12th. Our crucial final game in the Champions Cup group stage was away against PSV. We had a 2-2 draw with them in the home encounter, but both our goals came from Andrea Rabito, who missed this one through injury. The table was as follows entering the final game: <pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre"> | Pos | Inf | Team | | Pld | Won | Drn | Lst | For | Ag | G.D. | Pts | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 1st | | Ancona | | 5 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 9 | 7 | +2 | 8 | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 2nd | | PSV | | 5 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 6 | 6 | 0 | 6 | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 3rd | | Liverpool | | 5 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 6 | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 4th | | Austria Vienna | | 5 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 7 | 9 | -2 | 5 | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| </pre> As you can see, we could finish anywhere from first to fourth. A draw would probably keep us on top even if Liverpool won, but a loss would take us to at least second, and quite possibly third. I went with the following side: GK – Tommy Lee LB – Andrea Briotti CB – Darren Purse CB – José Julián de la Cuesta RB – Sarr LM – Badr El Kadouri CM – Nordin Lennartsson CM – Taikai Torres RM – Ikechukwu Kalú CF – Papa Waigo CF – Freddy Adu Sub – Hammond Sub – Markus Neumayr Sub – Tse Lung Pappalardo Sub – Alex Gibbs Sub – Juan MartÃn Pietravallo Sub – Alessandro Zamperini Sub – Generoso Rossi Ole Brichkus was out injured, so I reluctantly had to turn to Alex Gibbs as the backup striker. Only four minutes in, PSV had a great chance with a sharp pass into the area and volleyed shot to the far post, but Tommy Lee dived across to keep it out, and the ball was cleared. Adu received the ball in the area with quite a bit of space in the 14th after a cross from El Kadouri, but his shot was saved. That was about all for the half, with both our game and Liverpool vs. Austria Vienna 0-0 at half time. Just 56 seconds into the second half, Sarr gave away a penalty from a corner. The ball was put into the net, and suddenly we were down to second spot. I brought on Pietravallo for Torres in the hope of a successful long shot. The minutes ticked away, and when a Lennartsson free kick was tipped away in the 67th, our chances of finishing first seemed to be fading quickly. Darren Purse attempted to get us a penalty from the resulting corner, but only got a yellow card for diving. A few minutes later, PSV forced a save from Tommy Lee, with the ball deflecting to a forward. He quickly fired off a shot, which bounced off the post and trickled in to make it 0-2. With Austria Vienna 1-0 up against Liverpool, we still looked fairly safe – though equal with them on points, we were one ahead in goal difference. However, Liverpool had already had a player sent off, which meant they could well concede another. While we struggled to score, Austria Vienna did just that, putting through their second in the 87th minute. In 42 minutes we’d gone from a four-goal and three-point buffer to nothing. The only thing keeping us clear of them was the fact that we beat them twice – or at least I think it was, since I know nothing about this competition. Still, it would only take one goal to either PSV or Austria Vienna for us to drop to third, meaning we wouldn’t progress. We made it through regular time with no change, but 43 seconds into injury time disaster struck. Austria Vienna scored their third against Liverpool, moving ahead of us on goal difference. Just two minutes to go in our game (three minutes of injury time had been signalled), and we had to score in that time after being held goalless for 91 minutes. The seconds ticked away, but not only could we not score, it was only through a last-ditch tackle from Badr El Kadouri that we avoided conceding another. With eleven seconds to go in the allotted three minutes, the PSV keeper had the ball and held it up for ten seconds before finally booting it clear. It went straight to El Kadouri on the left wing, and he immediately raced ahead, passing the ball to Lennartsson on his right. The Norwegian turned beautifully around his marker, but wound up running into two defenders. 93:10, and the ball was belted straight back out to the left wing. I was sure the final whistle was about to blow there, having already gone past the allotted three minutes, but it didn’t happen. El Kadouri had made it back to the wing just in time, and he headed the ball short to defender Andrea Briotti. Briotti, with an opponent close by, backed away and then spun and passed forward to Freddie Adu on the edge of the area. Lennartsson, Papa Waigo, Kalú and Pietravallo were all marked closely, but Adu was several metres ahead of his direct opponent. He brought the ball forward, and though Papa Waigo’s marker left him to chase Adu, the young American went for the shot himself was the keeper came out. At 93:18, the shot went inches past the onrushing keeper, scraped past the near post…and went straight into the back of the net. 1-2, taking us back to second spot eighteen seconds after the game was supposed to have finished. The final whistle blew before PSV could kick off, leaving us in 2nd place and putting us through to the second round (which will undoubtedly anger Austria Vienna, considering we did so 18 seconds beyond the signalled injury time). The draw for the second round of the Champions Cup saw us set to face Milan at home in February. I also received an enquiry from Elche regarding defender José Julián de la Cuesta, but my £4.5M asking price quickly chased them away. Our next league game was against Perugia. I went with the same side as I did against PSV, apart from replacing the suspended Sarr with Christian Gyan. Adu had a beautiful move in the 47th when he chipped the ball past a defender, then ran onto it and snapped off a shot, but it hit the post and bounced clear. De la Cuesta hit the bar in the 67th, while Perugia put several shots over the top. There was no last-second goal for Ancona this time – 0-0 for our eighth Serie A draw of the season. We received more than £2M from Bologna after the game, with Rungratsamee scoring his 20th league goal (£1.3M) and playing his 30th league game (£875K) for the club. The club’s bank balance is now just under £47M. I started with £2M. I also arranged the transfer of Croatian defender/midfielder Rados for June, but since he is non-EU and I have already signed one non-EU player from abroad this season (Norizam Luz), the deal will probably fall through. This will at least keep other clubs off him until that day arrives, when I can hopefully re-negotiate a deal to get him to arrive next season. The second leg of our Italian Cup clash with Verona saw us entering with a 2-2 aggregate, behind on away goals. Verona had two early shots which just barely went wide, while Taikai Torres got one-on-one with the keeper only to have his shot tipped over. Verona made it 2-3 on aggregate just before the break, meaning we needed two goals in the second half to progress. Their second for the game in the 50th put an end to it, and the rest of the game only saw embarrassing performances from our forwards. Brichkus had the lowlight, intercepting a defensive pass, running half the length of the pitch and hitting the ball straight to the keeper from inside the area. An embarrassing 2-4 loss to a Serie B side. I desperately need a new striker when the transfer window opens next month. We had something of a Champions Cup preview, hosting Milan in Serie A. Andrea Rabito had resumed full training, but was in no condition to start on the pitch. Tommy Lee was forced to make several saves in the first half, and when we finally got a chance in the second, Freddie Adu put it way over. Milan hit the back of the net in the 50th, but thankfully it was ruled offside. Rabito came on in the 73rd, but while he had no impact, Milan scored in the 80th. They had another goal ruled offside a few minutes later, but that one goal proved to be enough to sink Ancona 0-1. Our next league game was against Brescia. Adu and Papa Waigo both had close-range shots saved in the first half, but it took until the 59th minute for Papa Waigo to finally get around the keeper and score. Lennartsson scored a beautiful 30-yard curling strike eight minutes later to make it 2-0, and we finally held on for our first Serie A win of the month. Midfielder Webb [not Chi Yuen Webb] made his debut in the last 20 minutes. Considering our terrible league position, I may be very active when the transfer window opens in January. I intend to release Darren Purse, Markus Neumayr and Christian Gyan, among others, at the end of the season, so I need replacements. Re-signing El Kadouri could also be difficult. He’s demanding £36K and is currently on £5.5K, which seems a bit much. <pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">| Pos | Inf | Team | | Pld | Won | Drn | Lst | For | Ag | G.D. | Pts | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 1st | | Milan | | 17 | 10 | 5 | 2 | 32 | 18 | +14 | 35 | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 2nd | | Lazio | | 17 | 11 | 1 | 5 | 30 | 28 | +2 | 34 | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 3rd | | Atalanta | | 17 | 9 | 5 | 3 | 30 | 18 | +12 | 32 | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 4th | | Roma | | 17 | 9 | 5 | 3 | 21 | 9 | +12 | 32 | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 5th | | Juventus | | 17 | 10 | 2 | 5 | 22 | 11 | +11 | 32 | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 6th | | Sampdoria | | 17 | 10 | 1 | 6 | 32 | 21 | +11 | 31 | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 7th | | Palermo | | 17 | 6 | 6 | 5 | 23 | 13 | +10 | 24 | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 8th | | Parma | | 17 | 6 | 5 | 6 | 22 | 18 | +4 | 23 | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 9th | | Inter | | 17 | 6 | 5 | 6 | 24 | 23 | +1 | 23 | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 10th | | Brescia | | 17 | 7 | 2 | 8 | 25 | 29 | -4 | 23 | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 11th | | Chievo | | 17 | 6 | 4 | 7 | 22 | 22 | 0 | 22 | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 12th | | Fiorentina | | 17 | 6 | 3 | 8 | 19 | 21 | -2 | 21 | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 13th | | Piacenza | | 17 | 5 | 6 | 6 | 28 | 33 | -5 | 21 | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 14th | | Ancona | | 17 | 4 | 8 | 5 | 18 | 17 | +1 | 20 | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 15th | | Reggina | | 17 | 6 | 2 | 9 | 20 | 29 | -9 | 20 | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 16th | | Bologna | | 17 | 4 | 7 | 6 | 26 | 30 | -4 | 19 | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 17th | | Udinese | | 17 | 3 | 6 | 8 | 19 | 30 | -11 | 15 | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 18th | | Perugia | | 17 | 4 | 2 | 11 | 15 | 30 | -15 | 14 | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 19th | | Cagliari | | 17 | 2 | 7 | 8 | 18 | 27 | -9 | 13 | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 20th | | Vicenza | | 17 | 2 | 6 | 9 | 16 | 35 | -19 | 12 | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| </pre> Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Donners Posted May 31, 2004 Author Share Posted May 31, 2004 January, season 2009/2010 OFC Nations Cup Group B: Australia 2 [Cooney 71; Tunbridge 82] d. Samoa 0 OFC Nations Cup Group B: Australia 2 [Tunbridge 7; Zane 36] d. Solomon Islands 0 I made a huge number of bids for players with contracts expiring at the end of the season, but my reluctance to pay out large wages meant I missed out on all. I finally managed to get striker Vijay Singh on loan. Vijay Singh [26, AM C, IND – 15/9] *On loan from Fulham until 22/6/10 Valued at £8M, Singh had a great scoring record from 06/07 to 08/09, scoring 52 goals in the three Premier League seasons, but has fallen away this season with three in 19 games. He’s not overly tall or quick, but his ability to score goals puts him ahead of most of our other strikers... Best yet, I’m not paying any of his wages. OFC Nations Cup Group B: Australia 1 [Wilson 26] d. Tahiti 0 Singh started on the bench against Palermo, with Andrea Rabito returning to the starting side alongside Papa Waigo. Rabito had three shots on target in the first half, including some from close range, but all were saved. He set up Kalú beautifully in injury time in the first half, but Kalú wasted it with a weak shot. Palermo scored in the 59th with their first real chance, and in the 75th did it again with their second. An injury to Rabito late in the game just made an awful game even worse, but I didn’t realise how much worse until after the game. It turned out he’d suffered a broken leg, pretty much ending his season – and devastating ours. OFC Nations Cup Semi-final: Australia 1 [Aloisi 91] d. Fiji 0 Generoso Rossi got a run in goal against Atlanta. Vijay Singh, in his first start for Ancona, scored after a run into the box a dozen minutes in. El Kadouri was dangerous as always on the wing, and a little chip into the area 26 minutes in gave Papa Waigo a simple finish to make it 2-0. Atlanta scored in the final minute of regular time, which was a bit of a scare, but thankfully we held on for a much-needed win. OFC Nations Cup Final: Australia 4 [skoko 36; Tunbridge 39, 48; Ferrante 74] d. New Zealand 0. Australia wins the OFC Nations Cup. We attacked heavily in the early minutes of our game against Inter, eventually scoring in the 17th through a long-range shot from Neumayr. We led at half time and looked the better side. A typically good cross from El Kadouri in the 57th was met by the head of defender Norizam Luz, taking us to a 2-0 lead. Inter didn’t even manage to do what Atlanta did and score a single goal, so we walked away with our third league win in four games. Palermo made a £4.3M offer for de la Cuesta after the game. I negotiated it to £5M expecting them to end negotiations, but they agreed to that. I was left with a difficult decision, since that was a pretty decent sum, but eventually decided I was better off keeping him, especially since I intend to let Darren Purse go at the end of the season. I did, however, loan Generoso Rossi to Fiorentina in what could be a £750K deal if they choose to buy him. Our side for the game against 3rd placed Lazio was devastated, with Andrea Rabito and Sarr injured and Papa Waigo, Kalú, Gyan and El Kadouri all on international duty thanks to the African Nations Cup. 17-year-old Aldo Jair Kok made his debut on the left wing. Markus Neumayr got our weakened side off to a great start, scoring a great 30-yard goal in the 26th. Lazio equalised just after half time, with a powerful strike that hit Tommy Lee and went into the net. Freddy Adu and Hammond had to go off injured, as if the side wasn’t weakened enough, and a header from Lazio made it 1-2. We had no more chances and so finished with a loss. Not an unexpected result considering the strength of our opponents and our weakness, but we looked like we could get the win early on. Coach Tommy Berntsen finally retired as a player after the game, while I re-signed Antonio Perrone and Aldo Jair Kok. Markus Neumayr rejected a contract offer while, in even worse news, Andrea Rabito requested that he be transfer listed due to the club’s poor performance. He’s listed for £7.75M with no interest yet. Our situation was even worse against Vicenza, with Hammond joining the missing players and the others tired. Vicenza took the lead in the 31st, but thirteen minutes later a pass from Brichkus got Vijay Singh through the defence, and he didn’t waste the chance. The scores remained equal for just two minutes, with Vicenza scoring in injury time. We didn’t even get a shot on goal in the second half, losing our second straight league game. I finally had success on the very last day of the transfer window. I arranged the signings of Roma defender Fabrizio Grillo, Bolton winger Lee Martin (to replace El Kadouri) and the biggest of them all, Barcelona’s Slovenian international forward Bourt Semler. Unfortunately, all were due to arrive at the end of the season, and I needed more immediate help. Hence, I loaned in Austrian Nurullo Messner. Nurullo Messner [25, D/DM RC, AUT – 22/4] *On loan from Rayo until 22/6/10 Though on a £19.5K per week contract at Rayo, I’m not paying anything towards his wages. I wanted to sign him on a Bosman, but his excessive wage demands forced me to go with the next best thing. Messner is tall, quick and very talented with the ball. I’d love to use him on the right wing, but the absence of Sarr and Gyan means he will have to start at right back. Juventus were our final opponents of the month, and again we were missing a large number of key players. Messner debuted at right back, while Chi Yuen Webb came in to play on the right wing, with Adu playing alongside Singh up forward. With Aldo Jair Kok and Chi Yuen Webb on the wings and those two up forward, our weakened state was all to obvious. Against the top side in the league, no less. We actually managed a shot on goal in the first half, with Adu volleying a Webb pass, but that was saved and Juventus dominated the rest of the half. It was only thanks to their sloppy finishing that we were level at half time. We came close to scoring a few minutes into the second half, with an incredible pass from Webb allowing Adu to cross into the area, but Singh’s volley was parried. Just as it looked as if we were coming away with a draw, with the scores still level two minutes into injury time, our hurried defensive clearance was hit from the edge of the area straight into the net. Heartbreak for Ancona, with the final whistle blowing seconds later. The board is now merely “satisfied†with me, the fans think a new manager could bring a “fresh approach†to the side, and I have to hold out until the end of the season so that I can start to re-build the team with my new signings. <pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">Holders - Milan | Pos | Inf | Team | | Pld | Won | Drn | Lst | For | Ag | G.D. | Pts | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 1st | | Juventus | | 23 | 16 | 2 | 5 | 36 | 12 | +24 | 50 | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 2nd | | Milan | | 24 | 14 | 6 | 4 | 40 | 24 | +16 | 48 | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 3rd | | Lazio | | 23 | 15 | 2 | 6 | 44 | 34 | +10 | 47 | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 4th | | Sampdoria | | 24 | 13 | 5 | 6 | 42 | 26 | +16 | 44 | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 5th | | Roma | | 23 | 11 | 8 | 4 | 30 | 17 | +13 | 41 | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 6th | | Atalanta | | 23 | 11 | 6 | 6 | 36 | 28 | +8 | 39 | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 7th | | Palermo | | 24 | 9 | 7 | 8 | 32 | 22 | +10 | 34 | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 8th | | Inter | | 23 | 9 | 6 | 8 | 32 | 30 | +2 | 33 | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 9th | | Parma | | 24 | 8 | 7 | 9 | 28 | 29 | -1 | 31 | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 10th | | Brescia | | 23 | 9 | 4 | 10 | 31 | 34 | -3 | 31 | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 11th | | Bologna | | 23 | 7 | 9 | 7 | 37 | 35 | +2 | 30 | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 12th | | Fiorentina | | 24 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 25 | 27 | -2 | 29 | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 13th | | Piacenza | | 23 | 7 | 6 | 10 | 36 | 43 | -7 | 27 | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 14th | | Ancona | | 23 | 6 | 8 | 9 | 24 | 25 | -1 | 26 | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 15th | | Chievo | | 24 | 6 | 8 | 10 | 30 | 35 | -5 | 26 | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 16th | | Vicenza | | 24 | 5 | 9 | 10 | 25 | 42 | -17 | 24 | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 17th | | Reggina | | 23 | 6 | 5 | 12 | 27 | 41 | -14 | 23 | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 18th | | Perugia | | 23 | 5 | 5 | 13 | 20 | 36 | -16 | 20 | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 19th | | Udinese | | 23 | 4 | 7 | 12 | 24 | 39 | -15 | 19 | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 20th | | Cagliari | | 24 | 3 | 8 | 13 | 22 | 42 | -20 | 17 | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| </pre> Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Donners Posted June 2, 2004 Author Share Posted June 2, 2004 February, season 2009/2010 Though improving the side’s league position was clearly an important task, February was dominated by our Champions Cup game against Milan. I quickly added in loan signings Vijay Singh and Nurullo Messner for loaned out players Generoso Rossi and Mattia Cassani, and also added defender Norizam Luz for young striker Ping Loy Solberg. Our senior players finally returned for the game against Chievo. Only Kalú and Gyan remained out, with Messner playing on the right wing as Sarr regained right back. Daniel Ferrari came in for his first senior game of the season. We led after less than two minutes thanks to a 20-yard Lennartsson free kick, but Chievo equalised in the 7th. The first half was quite even, despite Chievo having a player sent off. However, we regained our lead thanks to a penalty from Neumayr three minutes into the second half, and then extended it to 3-1 when Papa Waigo hit in an El Kadouri cross with 20 minutes to go. Chievo scored a second in the 83rd, but Messner kept them busy with frequent attacking runs which allowed us to walk away winners. Kalú was still unavailable for the game against Piacenza, but with Messner looking great on the right it wasn’t a huge loss. Ole Brichkus came in due to Vijay Singh’s poor form, but showed little. Freddy Adu replaced him early in the second half, and after only four minutes on the pitch he crossed to Papa Waigo for the first goal of the game. Daniel Ferrari was unchallenged as we won easily. Kalú returned against Bologna, but I was forced to rest Papa Waigo on the advice of my physio. Vijay Singh and Freddie Adu formed a fairly unintimidating striking team. Kalú lasted just a dozen minutes before suffering an injury, while both Adu and Singh had shots saved at the other end. Our former striker Supat Rungratsamee scored for Bologna late in the first half, and our mediocre striking force had no answer, particularly after Bologna scored two more in the final minutes. An ugly 0-3 loss with a particularly disappointing performance from Daniel Ferrari. Ferrari was replaced by Tommy Lee against Udinese, while others such as Sarr, El Kadouri, de la Cuesta and Luz took a rest, with our critical Champions Cup game against Milan in three days. Chi Yuen Webb played particularly well in the first half, but his playmaking was wasted by weak shooting from Taikai Torres and Freddy Adu. A straight red to defender Antonio Perrone made attacking difficult, lest we wind up conceding a goal, so we had to settle for a 0-0 draw. Then came the big one – the home leg of the Champions Cup 2nd round match against Milan. El Kadouri was suspended, so Kalú played on the left wing and Messner on the right. Tommy Lee made a good save in the 25th, but despite dominance from Milan it was a free kick from Lennartsson in the 31st that put through the first goal of the game. Ten minutes later, striking partners Papa Waigo and Freddie Adu exchanged passes, and the latter got past the defence and struck the ball past the keeper for a shock 2-0 lead to Ancona at half time. Two brilliant saves from Lee (the second a close-range shot from Mutu) kept Milan out, and in the 60th a Kalú free kick from just past half-way found Messner on the edge of the area. The on-loan defender/midfielder hit a powerful header that went off the keeper and into the net. 3-0. Lennartsson gave up a penalty to give Milan a possibly important away goal in the 88th, but de la Cuesta completed an incredible game for Ancona by heading in an Adu corner in injury time. 4-1 is a great lead to take into the away leg. The month ended with a Serie A game against Parma. An early Adu header was cleared off the line, but Lennartsson scored from just outside the area moments into the second half. Sarr was sent off late in the game – his third red card of the season – but we held on for the 1-0 win. Ikechukwu Kalú played alongside Adu as a forward and did quite a good job. While Papa Waigo is clearly our best forward with Rabito injured, he’s already played 32 games this season and is quite tired, so I need to look for other options. With Messner capable in the midfield and Chi Yuen Webb also stepping up there, Kalú could be a useful option to partner Adu. <pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre"> Holders - Milan | Pos | Inf | Team | | Pld | Won | Drn | Lst | For | Ag | G.D. | Pts | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 1st | | Juventus | | 29 | 21 | 3 | 5 | 51 | 14 | +37 | 66 | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 2nd | | Milan | | 29 | 17 | 7 | 5 | 49 | 29 | +20 | 58 | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 3rd | | Lazio | | 29 | 17 | 2 | 10 | 55 | 45 | +10 | 53 | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 4th | | Sampdoria | | 29 | 15 | 6 | 8 | 50 | 37 | +13 | 51 | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 5th | | Roma | | 28 | 13 | 9 | 6 | 36 | 24 | +12 | 48 | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 6th | | Atalanta | | 29 | 13 | 8 | 8 | 44 | 35 | +9 | 47 | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 7th | | Palermo | | 29 | 12 | 9 | 8 | 40 | 25 | +15 | 45 | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 8th | | Bologna | | 29 | 11 | 10 | 8 | 53 | 40 | +13 | 43 | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 9th | | Inter | | 29 | 12 | 7 | 10 | 41 | 37 | +4 | 43 | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 10th | | Brescia | | 29 | 11 | 6 | 12 | 41 | 42 | -1 | 39 | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 11th | | Ancona | | 28 | 9 | 9 | 10 | 29 | 30 | -1 | 36 | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 12th | | Parma | | 29 | 9 | 8 | 12 | 33 | 35 | -2 | 35 | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 13th | | Chievo | | 29 | 8 | 9 | 12 | 38 | 43 | -5 | 33 | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 14th | | Fiorentina | | 29 | 8 | 8 | 13 | 31 | 42 | -11 | 32 | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 15th | | Reggina | | 29 | 8 | 7 | 14 | 31 | 46 | -15 | 31 | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 16th | | Udinese | | 29 | 7 | 9 | 13 | 32 | 43 | -11 | 30 | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 17th | | Perugia | | 29 | 7 | 7 | 15 | 27 | 46 | -19 | 28 | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 18th | | Piacenza | | 29 | 7 | 6 | 16 | 39 | 59 | -20 | 27 | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 19th | | Vicenza | | 29 | 5 | 11 | 13 | 30 | 53 | -23 | 26 | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 20th | | Cagliari | | 29 | 4 | 9 | 16 | 28 | 53 | -25 | 21 | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| </pre> Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Donners Posted June 2, 2004 Author Share Posted June 2, 2004 March, season 2009/2010 Sarr and de la Cuesta both missed March’s opening game, which was against Roma, through suspension. Tommy Lee made some great early saves, but eventually conceded under heavy pressure in the 23rd. The game evened out a bit after that, though Roma still had most of the play. With 20 minutes to go, a great pass out of defence from Hammond found Kalú. He passed it on to partner Freddie Adu, who snuck around his marker and scored with a shot that just scraped past the goalkeeper. Not only did we keep from conceding a goal, we actually should have won after substitute Vijay Singh was put through by Pietravallo. Unfortunately, his shot was weak, and we had to settle for a draw. I selected a weakened side against Fiorentina due to the second leg of our Champions Cup game against Milan three days later. It looked like being a dull game early, but Kalú finally woke us up in the 55th, scoring after El Kadouri headed a throw-in to him. Surprisingly, despite his fine form in the midfield, that was actually his first goal for the club. Ole Brichkus made it 2-0 a few minutes later after receiving an El Kadouri cross, which prompted me to rest the likes of Kalú and Andrea Briotti. Fiorentina pulled one back in the 72nd, with a long drive which deflected off Gyan and worried me for a moment that they were about to fight back. However, El Kadouri made it a hat-trick of assists, setting up a 35-yard Singh goal with a neat pass. I made an attempt to re-sign El Kadouri and Messner after the game, but for some reason my board is only allowing me £11.25K for them, despite a supposed maximum for a first team player of £34K, so I can’t get close to their demands. Despite a 4-1 lead going into our away leg against Milan, there was still some pressure that we might somehow make a mess of it. A 24th minute goal to our opponents sent some jitters through our side, but by half time those worries were gone. Papa Waigo brought our aggregate lead back to four goals in the 39th after a nice header from Lennartsson put him through on goal, and Kalú then ensured our progression by hitting in a parried Papa Waigo shot just before half time. Papa Waigo capped off a Man of the Match performance by heading in a Kalú cross just after half time for a brilliant 7-2 aggregate win over Milan. Now if only we could do this in the league… We will face Barcelona in the quarter final. Could we continue that form in the league? I went with the same side against 3rd placed Sampdoria – one place below Milan in Serie A. However, the game had nothing of interest at either end, finishing in a dull 0-0 draw. With the Champions Cup quarter final coming up, I rested most of the senior side against Reggina. For goodness sake, Antonio Perrone was the captain! It was no surprise that they took an early lead, but Messner got us back in it with a goal three minutes before the break. We received a lucky penalty in the 55th, and Vijay Singh took full advantage from the spot to make it 2-1. Striker Narimon O’Brien made his senior debut late in the game and soon set up partner Ole Brichkus with a cross for the Lithuanian to head in his seventh goal of the season. A solid 3-1 win from a game which I had been prepared to sacrifice. Next came the big one – the away leg against Barcelona in the Champions Cup quarter final. We looked to be in trouble after only three minutes when Javier Pedro Saviola got a shot on goal from within the area, but Lee parried it and Luz blocked the follow-up shot. Lennartsson came close with a lob in the 22nd, but Kalú had the best chance of all when he broke clear of the defence three minutes later and carried the ball into the area. Disappointingly, his shot went straight to the keeper, and the opportunity was wasted. At least we showed we were capable of being a threat. The second half was quiet for the most part, with only a powerful Xavi free kick causing concern (though it went wide). However, in the 83rd minute Lennartsson won the ball in the midfield and hit it forward for Papa Waigo. It actually went straight to Papa Waigo’s marker, but deflected off him and trickled past him towards the goal. Papa Waigo ran onto it, swerved around the keeper and put it into the net. Barcelona immediately went on the attack, and just two minutes later a long clearance from Luz found Papa Waigo and Kalú in the forward half with just one opponent. Papa Waigo went all the way himself, taking the ball agonizingly close to the goalkeeper before grabbing it and running around him again to make it 2-0. Saviola scored a late goal, but we still take a 2-1 lead, plus the ever-important away goals, into the second leg. Defender and captain (due to Purse’s poor form) Andrea Briotti made his Italian international debut against Colombia at the end of the month. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Terk Posted June 3, 2004 Share Posted June 3, 2004 excellent result against barca. nice to see you doing well in europe Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Donners Posted June 3, 2004 Author Share Posted June 3, 2004 If only we could have some of that form in the league. April, season 2009/2010 We had a fortnight’s break between the legs of the Champions Cup quarter final. I went with the same side that defeated them 2-1 in the away leg, and hoped we could hold on. A 17th minute red card to Nordin Lennartsson made a mess of things, but just one minute later a Barcelona defender misread a pass from Briotti, putting Papa Waigo through on goal. Despite being on a tight angle, he snuck it between the keeper and the near post for a 3-1 aggregate lead. Messner came within inches of scoring later in the half, just barely missing the post with an angled shot past the keeper. It was rendered irrelevant in the 65th when Kalú and Papa Waigo charged forward, with the former sending a nice pass to the latter for his second of the match. Barcelona scored their first of the game in the 74th, but the 5-2 aggregate was too much for them. We are now through to the semi final against Schalke 04. Despite Papa Waigo’s exceptional form (9 goals in his last 7 games), I decided to rest him against Perugia. Though we had a strong side, we showed little attacking flair, and with the scores still nil-all with fifteen minutes to go, it looked like being another boring draw. After some bad misses from Kalú, I brought on Ole Brichkus as his partner, in the hope that Kalú could play more of a passing role. Sure enough, a neat pass into the area from Kalú in the 76th gave Brichkus a shot on goal, and while his first attempt was parried, there was no stopping the second. Six minutes later, Kalú headed a long Neumayr pass to Brichkus, who stepped around the goalkeeper and made it 2-0. There’s few better feelings than when a move works just the way you planned it. I rested most of the senior side for the midweek game against Cagliari. It was a pretty flat performance from Ancona for the most part, with captain Adu missing several chances. Just as it looked like the game was headed for a scoreless draw, Chi Yuen Webb found substitute Vijay Singh with a great pass, and he finished off the move with a clean strike into the net. The 1-0 win left us in 10th place, but with four league games to go we have a chance to move to a better position. The first of that quartet of games was against Brescia. I continued with a weakened side, as the Champions Cup semi final was just three days later. Sobir White was dangerous early, but Brescia took the lead in the 16th. An attempt to equalise in the second half only saw Brescia make it 0-2, and while substitute Nurullo Messner scored our first in the 83rd with a great run from the middle, it was too late to avoid defeat. Then it was time for the semi final of the Champions Cup, with Ancona at home to Schalke 04. The other game saw Roma facing FC Bayern. Central midfielders Markus Neumayr and Nordin Lennartsson both missed through suspension, so Kalú and Torres paired up in the centre, with Adu and Papa Waigo together up forward. The first half was entirely uneventful, finishing scoreless. The second half was a very different story. Juan MartÃn Pietravallo replaced Messner after he took a knock soon after it began, with Kalú moving to Messner’s position on the right wing. In the 57th minute, Kalú started on a run from the midfield in the 57th, but didn’t get far before he was pushed over. Pietravallo sent the ball into the area with a long pass, and rising up to meet it was Mexican midfielder Taikai Torres, who headed it beautifully past the keeper for his first Ancona goal. Ten minutes later, de la Cuesta returned a weak Schalke clearance with a header. Papa Waigo was tackled as he got the ball, which sent it spilling loose towards the goal…and into the path of Freddie Adu. The young American charged into the area and slotted it straight into the top corner for a 2-0 lead. A late Adu pass put Papa Waigo through on goal, and for a moment it looked like we’d have our third. However, three defenders chased after him and eventually one of them managed to boot the ball clear. Nonetheless, we retained our 2-0 lead at the final whistle, which puts us in a great position to make it through to the Champions Cup final. For a change, I went with a nearly full-strength side against Palermo in Serie A, with only Messner rested. Unfortunately, it did little good. Palermo were on the back foot the entire time, and neither side had any real chances to score. It looks like we’ll be stuck in 10th place for the remaining two league games. <pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">Holders - Milan | Pos | Inf | Team | | Pld | Won | Drn | Lst | For | Ag | G.D. | Pts | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 1st | C | Juventus | | 36 | 26 | 5 | 5 | 62 | 17 | +45 | 83 | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 2nd | | Milan | | 36 | 21 | 8 | 7 | 63 | 35 | +28 | 71 | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 3rd | | Sampdoria | | 36 | 18 | 10 | 8 | 63 | 42 | +21 | 64 | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 4th | | Lazio | | 36 | 19 | 4 | 13 | 64 | 57 | +7 | 61 | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 5th | | Bologna | | 36 | 16 | 12 | 8 | 67 | 43 | +24 | 60 | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 6th | | Brescia | | 36 | 17 | 6 | 13 | 58 | 48 | +10 | 57 | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 7th | | Palermo | | 36 | 14 | 13 | 9 | 45 | 29 | +16 | 55 | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 8th | | Atalanta | | 36 | 15 | 10 | 11 | 52 | 43 | +9 | 55 | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 9th | | Roma | | 36 | 14 | 12 | 10 | 42 | 33 | +9 | 54 | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 10th | | Ancona | | 36 | 13 | 12 | 11 | 40 | 35 | +5 | 51 | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 11th | | Chievo | | 36 | 11 | 11 | 14 | 50 | 52 | -2 | 44 | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 12th | | Inter | | 36 | 12 | 8 | 16 | 47 | 59 | -12 | 44 | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 13th | | Parma | | 36 | 11 | 9 | 16 | 40 | 48 | -8 | 42 | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 14th | | Udinese | | 36 | 9 | 12 | 15 | 43 | 54 | -11 | 39 | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 15th | | Reggina | | 36 | 10 | 9 | 17 | 44 | 56 | -12 | 39 | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 16th | | Vicenza | | 36 | 9 | 12 | 15 | 46 | 63 | -17 | 39 | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 17th | | Fiorentina | | 36 | 9 | 9 | 18 | 39 | 60 | -21 | 36 | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 18th | | Perugia | | 36 | 9 | 7 | 20 | 35 | 64 | -29 | 34 | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 19th | | Piacenza | | 36 | 9 | 6 | 21 | 42 | 70 | -28 | 33 | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 20th | R | Cagliari | | 36 | 5 | 11 | 20 | 33 | 67 | -34 | 26 | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| </pre> Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Donners Posted June 4, 2004 Author Share Posted June 4, 2004 May, season 2009/2010 With the Champions Cup semi final second leg approaching, it was a second-string Ancona side that took to the pitch against Atlanta. We fell behind after 17 minutes and a second to Atlanta sealed it in the 72nd. Kalú scored a late consolation goal. That result was irrelevant with the Champions Cup semi final away leg next. We had a 2-0 lead, but that was not a guarantee of progression. Briotti and Sarr missed through suspension, with Zamperini and Messner filling in on either side of defence. Schalke 04 attacked hard in the first half, but missed their shots. In contrast, Papa Waigo slammed a shot into the back of the net in the 44th…only to have it ruled out due to an offside. Unfazed, he took an El Kadouri cross a minute later, ran around the goalkeeper and slotted it in. Not just a 3-0 aggregate lead, but an away goal for Ancona meaning they had to score four times in the second half to win. Instead, we just romped home. Papa Waigo scored a second in the 62nd minute and then gave Adu one ten minutes later. A late goal to Schalke meant nothing as we pushed through to the Champions Cup final, where we will face FC Bayern. I re-signed Markus Neumayr until 2013 after the game. Only Papa Waigo and Andrea Rabito were missing from the senior side as we faced Milan in our final Serie A game of the season. We could not move from 10th spot, but I wanted to go out with a bang. As it turned out, we actually started with a bang – namely a goal in 24 seconds from Kalú after good passes from Lennartsson and El Kadouri. Milan equalised in the 27th, but eight minutes later we were back ahead through Freddie Adu, with help from Kalú. A penalty to Markus Neumayr just before half time made it 3-1, and despite a late penalty to Milan (ironically, conceded by Neumayr), we held on for a 3-2 victory against one of the top sides in the league. I also completed a big signing after the game, getting Nurullo Messner to agree to a three-year contract for £18K a week (the highest at the club). It was the biggest game in Ancona’s history to finish the season. Andrea Rabito had just resumed full training, but having not played in four months I started him on the bench. My side was as follows: GK – Tommy Lee LB – Andrea Briotti CB – Norizam Luz CB – José Julián de la Cuesta RB – Sarr LM – Badr El Kadouri CM – Nordin Lennartsson CM – Markus Neumayr RM – Nurullo Messner CF – Papa Waigo CF – Ikechukwu Kalú Sub – Hammond Sub – Sobir White Sub – Darren Purse Sub – Chi Yuen Webb Sub – Juan MartÃn Pietravallo Sub – Andrea Rabito Sub – Daniel Ferrari Our opponent’s side included Wes Brown, Oliver Khan, Alex, Michael Ballack, Sebastian Deisler, Sebastian Kehl, Roque Santa Cruz, Miroslav Klose and Tobias Rau, so we were thoroughly outmatched on paper. Though we managed the first shot on goal, with de la Cuesta firing in a shot from outside the area, it went well over. Schalke 04 had a free kick in the 19th which went into the area. Deisler’s header was parried by Tommy Lee, but straight back to the midfielder who put it straight into the open goal. 0-1 down less than twenty minutes in. A Lennartsson shot late in the half was easily held, and we finished the half a goal down. Roque Santa Cruz missed a straightforward shot in the 53rd, while Lee made two good saves. A throw-in from Sarr six minutes later was headed into the area by Messner. Papa Waigo was on the end of it, and while his first shot was saved, the rebound went straight back to him for an easy finish. 1-1. Messner came forward in the 63rd, but as he approached the area he was tackled and the ball was knocked clear. Lennartsson got onto it and sent in a curling long-range shot, but it was held by Kahn. Lee in turn held a long-range effort nine minutes later, then saved a header in the 79th. I brought on Rabito for the tired El Kadouri with ten minutes in regular time to go. He had a go at goal in the 82nd from just outside the area, but there was no fairytale – it went well wide. Messner sent in a free kick in the 84th which was headed by Papa Waigo…and knocked clear by Kahn. The remaining minutes ticked away, and we went to extra time. With nothing of interest in the first half of extra time, I brought on Darren Purse for Luz as a specialist penalty taker. The second half was equally uneventful, so the Champions Cup final went to penalties. Schalke 04 took the first kick and scored, which was answered by Markus Neumayr. Their second kick changed everything – Alex hit it straight at Lee, who parried it away. A goal to de la Cuesta, and we were ahead. Both Schalke and Ancona scored from the next two kicks (Lennartsson and Purse for us), which left their scorer to take their fifth kick. A miss would give us the Champions Cup. He stepped up…and put it to the right of Lee and into the net. Nonetheless, with a score of 4-4 on penalties and our fifth kick to go, all we had to do was score. Sarr took the kick. With the hopes of all Ancona fans resting on this one shot, he fired it in – and put it over the bar. A reprieve for Schalke, leaving the scores level at 4-4 after five kicks. A successful penalty to Roque Santa Cruz, and suddenly we were behind, needing to score to keep in the game. Ikechukwu Kalú took the kick. He’d been one of our best players all season, but that counted for nothing. It came down to just one shot – probably the second-most important shot in Ancona history. The most important one had been missed by Sarr, but could Kalú put us back in the game? After an agonizing delay, he finally fired in a shot. It beat Oliver Kahn…as it flew over the bar. Heartbreak for Ancona, as we came within a kick of winning the Champions Cup but finished runners-up. After such a disappointing league season, a win here was vital to keep both the fans and players happy, but it was not to be. At least it was a profitable result – we made £11.25M from TV rights and were awarded £2.7M for finishing as the runner-up. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Terk Posted June 5, 2004 Share Posted June 5, 2004 really thought you were going to win it great run though (just one comment, weren't you playing bayern in the final? the report seems to keep saying schalke) Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
DirtyJoe Posted June 5, 2004 Share Posted June 5, 2004 Pity your league form is dismal, but a great run considering your squad in the CL. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Donners Posted June 5, 2004 Author Share Posted June 5, 2004 <BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Terk: (just one comment, weren't you playing bayern in the final? the report seems to keep saying schalke) <HR></BLOCKQUOTE> Ah, quite right. Not sure how that one slipped through. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Donners Posted June 7, 2004 Author Share Posted June 7, 2004 The season in review Summary <pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre"> Holders - Juventus | Pos | Inf | Team | | Pld | Won | Drn | Lst | For | Ag | G.D. | Pts | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 1st | C | Juventus | | 38 | 28 | 5 | 5 | 66 | 19 | +47 | 89 | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 2nd | | Milan | | 38 | 21 | 8 | 9 | 65 | 40 | +25 | 71 | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 3rd | | Sampdoria | | 38 | 19 | 11 | 8 | 65 | 43 | +22 | 68 | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 4th | | Bologna | | 38 | 17 | 12 | 9 | 70 | 45 | +25 | 63 | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 5th | | Palermo | | 38 | 16 | 13 | 9 | 50 | 30 | +20 | 61 | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 6th | | Brescia | | 38 | 18 | 7 | 13 | 63 | 50 | +13 | 61 | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 7th | | Atalanta | | 38 | 17 | 10 | 11 | 57 | 44 | +13 | 61 | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 8th | | Lazio | | 38 | 19 | 4 | 15 | 64 | 62 | +2 | 61 | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 9th | | Roma | | 38 | 14 | 13 | 11 | 45 | 38 | +7 | 55 | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 10th | | Ancona | | 38 | 14 | 12 | 12 | 44 | 39 | +5 | 54 | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 11th | | Chievo | | 38 | 11 | 12 | 15 | 52 | 55 | -3 | 45 | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 12th | | Inter | | 38 | 12 | 9 | 17 | 49 | 64 | -15 | 45 | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 13th | | Parma | | 38 | 11 | 11 | 16 | 43 | 51 | -8 | 44 | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 14th | | Udinese | | 38 | 10 | 13 | 15 | 46 | 56 | -10 | 43 | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 15th | | Reggina | | 38 | 11 | 9 | 18 | 47 | 58 | -11 | 42 | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 16th | | Vicenza | | 38 | 9 | 14 | 15 | 47 | 64 | -17 | 41 | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 17th | | Fiorentina | | 38 | 9 | 10 | 19 | 40 | 63 | -23 | 37 | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 18th | R | Perugia | | 38 | 9 | 9 | 20 | 38 | 67 | -29 | 36 | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 19th | R | Piacenza | | 38 | 9 | 7 | 22 | 44 | 73 | -29 | 34 | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 20th | R | Cagliari | | 38 | 6 | 11 | 21 | 35 | 69 | -34 | 29 | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| </pre> <pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">10th in Italian Serie A Squad Screen | Pkd | Inf | Name | Apps | Gls | Asts | MoM | Pass | Tck | Drb | Sh Tar | Av R | Value | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | FC | | Kalù, I | 44 (1) | 4 | 11 | 4 | 57 % | 2.49 | 4.33 | 65 % | 7.44 | £6M | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | MC | | Neumayr, M | 44 (1) | 5 | 0 | 1 | 74 % | 2.32 | 0.43 | 52 % | 6.93 | £3.1M | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | DL | Unh | Briotti, A* | 44 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 74 % | 2.26 | 0.85 | - | 7.09 | £3.5M | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | GK | Unh | Lee, T | 42 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 42 % | - | - | - | 6.79 | £1.3M | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | DC | Unh | de la Cuesta, J | 42 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 74 % | 3.06 | 0.31 | 62 % | 7.24 | £4M | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | MC | Unh | Lennartsson, N* | 41 (1) | 4 | 6 | 1 | 72 % | 2.96 | 1.02 | 34 % | 7.07 | £9M | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | ML | Unh | El Kadouri, B* | 40 (1) | 2 | 15 | 1 | 68 % | 2.13 | 1.28 | 45 % | 7.00 | £5M | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | FC | Unh | Papa Waigo | 37 (3) | 25 | 10 | 13 | 66 % | 0.90 | 2.01 | 79 % | 7.82 | £12.5M | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | DR | Unh | Sarr | 36 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 65 % | 3.77 | 0.53 | 100 % | 6.92 | £1.8M | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | DC | | Luz, N | 28 (2) | 2 | 3 | 0 | 75 % | 2.45 | 0.11 | 100 % | 6.90 | £1.7M | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | | | Adu, F | 27 (8) | 6 | 6 | 1 | 65 % | 0.77 | 1.29 | 71 % | 6.60 | £0 | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | SB3 | Unh | Purse, D | 25 (5) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 70 % | 2.82 | 0.08 | 50 % | 6.63 | £190K | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | | Unh | Brichkus, O | 17 (7) | 9 | 3 | 4 | 66 % | 1.04 | 0.33 | 86 % | 6.33 | £1.9M | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | MR | Trn | Messner, N | 16 (2) | 3 | 1 | 1 | 55 % | 2.45 | 3.00 | 61 % | 7.44 | £2M | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | | Unh | Torres, T | 14 (8) | 1 | 0 | 1 | 68 % | 3.90 | 0.21 | 33 % | 6.82 | £3.2M | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | | Unh | Gyan, C | 14 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 64 % | 2.85 | 1.05 | - | 6.50 | £575K | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | | Unh | Zamperini, A | 13 (3) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 67 % | 2.51 | 0.91 | - | 6.69 | £1.5M | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | SB6 | Req | Rabito, A | 12 (5) | 8 | 0 | 3 | 68 % | 1.85 | 2.85 | 64 % | 7.41 | £4M | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | | Loa | Singh, V | 11 (4) | 5 | 0 | 1 | 62 % | 0.47 | 0.75 | 69 % | 6.33 | £4.4M | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | SB2 | | Hammond | 9 (3) | 0 | 1 | 0 | 73 % | 1.93 | 0.43 | 100 % | 6.67 | £1.5M | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | SB5 | | Webb, C | 7 (5) | 0 | 2 | 0 | 63 % | 3.97 | 0.50 | - | 6.92 | £1.8M | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | SB4 | Unh | Pietravallo, J | 6 (13) | 0 | 1 | 0 | 69 % | 1.84 | 0.19 | 40 % | 6.47 | £1.6M | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | SB7 | | White, S | 5 (8) | 0 | 1 | 0 | 70 % | 2.68 | 0.89 | 50 % | 6.92 | £1.1M | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | | Req | Perrone, A | 5 (6) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 72 % | 2.08 | 0.35 | 100 % | 6.73 | £675K | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | SB1 | Loa | Ferrari, D | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 42 % | - | - | - | 5.50 | £775K | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | | | Taibi, M | 4 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 50 % | - | - | - | 6.75 | £75K | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | | Unh | Arthur | 3 (4) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 75 % | 1.34 | 0.54 | 60 % | 6.71 | £1.9M | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | | | Kok, A | 3 | | | | 71 % | 1.33 | 0.25 | 44 % | 7.00 | £725K | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | | | Gardiner, B | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 73 % | - | 0.60 | 66 % | 4.00 | £170K | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | | | Pappalardo, T | 1 (4) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 79 % | 1.32 | 0.44 | 100 % | 6.80 | £1.1M | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | | Lst | Gibbs, A | 1 (2) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 37 % | - | - | - | 5.00 | £1.3M | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | | | O'Brien, N | 1 (1) | 0 | 1 | 0 | 85 % | 1.96 | - | - | 7.00 | £600K | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | | Loa | Webb | 0 (1) | 0 | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | - | 7.00 | £180K | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| </pre> Wow. Though our league performance was undoubtedly a disappointment, our Champions Cup performance was superb. The main problem is that we won’t get another chance there next season due to our low league finish. Several players stepped up a level this season, most notably Kalú in the middle and even as a forward last season. Such a talented and adaptable player could prove very useful. Papa Waigo also firmly established himself as a star and Messner earned his spot in the squad for next season. Finding a partner for Papa Waigo was a constant problem, though we at least had the excuse that Rabito was hit so badly with injuries. Unfortunately, aside from Chi Yuen Webb, none of the young players showed huge promise, so I may have to start looking for new blood. Freddy Adu continues to meander along in mediocrity, even though this was his best season at Ancona. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Donners Posted June 8, 2004 Author Share Posted June 8, 2004 Wrapping it up The end of season awards saw four Ancona members get a mention. I was the runner-up as Serie A Manager of the Year, Kalú (on the left wing) and Messner (on the bench) made the Serie A Team of the Year, Freddy Adu was runner-up as Young Player of the Year and Nurullo Messner was named the Serie A Defender of the Year. As expected, my signing of Colombian defender Rados failed, as I’d already signed one non-EU player this season. I tried to sign him in a deal which would take place next season, but instead he re-signed with his club. I did arrange another signing – German Under-21 international striker Mohd Nizaruddin Hoffmann, but it won’t take place until the end of November. Goalkeeper Massimo Tabai announced his intention to retire at the end of the season. Midfielder Lee Martin arrived as previously arranged. Celtic purchased Under-20s defender Shavkat Gregory for £18K with a 40% sell-on clause, while Fiorentina bought backup goalkeeper Generoso Rossi for £575K. both their contracts were about to expire anyway, so I didn’t mind at all. Defender Héctor Alejandro Morgan will join Preston on a free transfer. World Cup Group G: Australia 2 [Moore 70, Viduka 90+5] d. Romania 0 I brought in plenty of 17-18-year-old players on trials, but found few players of interest. Former Manchester United defender Richard Mooney was the only one of those I signed, but I also managed to arrange the signing of 27-year-old Brazilian left winger Thiago Motta as a replacement for El Kadouri. World Cup Group G: Australia 0 lost to China 2 [sun Jihai 52; Nbubuisi Sun 82] World Cup Group G: Australia 0 lost to Morocco 1 [Mahamudu 81] (Australia eliminated) Around the world: major awards and results Ancona Supporters’ Player of the Year: Papa Waigo World Player of the Year: Dédé (Barcelona) World Footballer of the year: Reçber Rüstü (Barcelona) England: Arsenal Spain: Real Sociedad Champions Cup: FC Bayern UEFA Cup: Chelsea 2010 FIFA World Cup: England Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brammeke Posted June 10, 2004 Share Posted June 10, 2004 Great story!!!! Best i've read in months!!! Greetz, Bram Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Donners Posted June 10, 2004 Author Share Posted June 10, 2004 Thanks. The Transfers Transfers In <pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">| Date | Person | From | Fee | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 5.7.2009 | Brichkus, Ole | Free Transfer | Free | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 7.7.2009 | Kok, Aldo Jair | Triestina | £150K | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 25.8.2009 | Torres, Taikai | Free Transfer | Free | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 1.9.2009 | Luz, Norizam | River | Free | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 22.6.2010 | Mooney, Richard | Free Transfer | Free | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | | | | | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | | Total | | £150K | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | | | | | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------| </pre> Transfers Out <pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">| Date | Person | To | Fee | | -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 31.7.2009 | Redavid, Vito | Free Transfer | Free | | -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 31.7.2009 | Ajide, Olasunkanmi Akande | Free Transfer | Free | | -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 31.7.2009 | Munitis, Pedro | Free Transfer | Free | | -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 31.7.2009 | Vianello, Marco | Free Transfer | Free | | -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 31.7.2009 | Pezzarossi, Dwight | Free Transfer | Free | | -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 31.7.2009 | Cattani, Manuel | Free Transfer | Free | | -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 1.8.2009 | Stendardo, Guglielmo | Free Transfer | Free | | -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 2.8.2009 | Mazzocchitti, Daniele | Free Transfer | Free | | -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 3.8.2009 | Stendardo, Guglielmo | Fiorentina | Free | | -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 13.6.2010 | Gregory, Shavkat | Celtic | £18K | | -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | | | | | | -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | | Total | | £18K | | -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | | | | | | -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| </pre> Loans In <pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">| Date | Person | From | Fee | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 5.1.2010 | Singh, Vijay | Fulham | Loan | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 30.1.2010 | Messner, Nurullo | Rayo | Loan | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | | | | | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | | Total | | £0 | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | | | | | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------| </pre> Loans Out [code| Date | Person | To | Fee | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 6.7.2009 | Baggio, Takayasu | Lucchese | Loan | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 20.8.2009 | Cassani, Mattia | Verona | Loan | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 26.8.2009 | Frimann, Hélio | Torino | Loan | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 3.1.2010 | Eckhardt, Sharle Agenor | Crotone | Loan | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 19.1.2010 | Rossi, Generoso | Fiorentina | Ln Fee £190K | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 14.3.2010 | Gregory, Shavkat | Bolton | Loan | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | | | | | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | | Total | | £190K | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | | | | | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| [/code] Staff In <pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">| Date | Person | From | Fee | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 1.8.2009 | Taibi, Massimo | Atalanta | £0 | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 14.12.2009 | Krobbach, Peter | Free Transfer | £0 | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | | | | | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | | Total | | £0 | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | | | | | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------| </pre> Staff Out <pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">| Date | Person | To | Fee | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 31.7.2009 | Tomasson, Jon Dahl | Free Transfer | Free | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 31.7.2009 | Zanon, Paulo Roberto | Free Transfer | Free | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | | | | | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | | Total | | £0 | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | | | | | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| </pre> Not a lot of action in the transfer market for Ancona this season. Luz was the only new signing to become a regular in the senior team, while Torres had little impact and Brichkus struggled. Kok at least managed three senior games, but Di Dio came along a bit slower than I hoped. Vijay Singh didn’t have much impact on loan, but Messner did so well I wound up signing him on huge wages. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Donners Posted June 11, 2004 Author Share Posted June 11, 2004 Pre-Season 2010/2011 Thankfully, little money was given away to shareholders – just £1.7M. With over £8M for TV revenue, that left me with well over £70M in the bank. My board decided to limit my transfer funds to £29.5M after my “extravagant spending†(exactly £150K ), telling me to finish in a mid-table position. Happily, Andrea Rabito asked to be removed from the transfer list, which is one less thing to worry about. I loaned out forwards Alex Gibbs and Takayasu Baggio to Ternana and Crotone respectively, and midfielder Aldo Jair Kok also to Crotone. Valencia made a £4.1M bid for de la Cuesta, but this was about £3M short of what I’d even consider. The beginning of August saw significant changes to the side. Not only did players such as Mattia Cassani, Webb (not Chi Yuen), Héctor Alejandro Morgan, Badr El Kadouri, Alessandro Potenza and Darren Purse leave on free transfers, but our players in included three who “increased shirt sales†– Nurullo Messner, Borut Semler and Thiago Motta, as well as defender Fabrizio Grillo. I added former Perugia and Milan striker Nicola Pozzi to the list of newcomers with a free transfer. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Donners Posted June 12, 2004 Author Share Posted June 12, 2004 The Squad <pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">1st in Italian Serie A Squad Screen | Pkd | Inf | Name | Squad Status | Basic Wage | Contract Expiry | Offer Options | Asking Price | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | MR | Lmp | Rabito, A | Key Player | £15,000 | 31.7.2012 | None | £3.7M | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | DL | | Briotti, A* | First Team | £9,000 | 31.7.2011 | None | £3.6M | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | SB3 | | Grillo, F | First Team | £4,600 | 31.7.2013 | None | £1.7M | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | MC | Lmp | Lennartsson, N* | First Team | £10,750 | 31.7.2011 | None | £9.25M | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | SB4 | Unf | Luz, N | First Team | £4,000 | 31.7.2012 | None | £1.8M | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | ML | Lmp | Martin, L | First Team | £6,500 | 31.7.2013 | None | £5.5M | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | DR | | Messner, N | First Team | £18,000 | 31.7.2013 | None | £4.7M | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | SB2 | Inj | Motta, T | First Team | £8,500 | 31.7.2013 | None | £6.75M | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | FC | | Papa Waigo* | First Team | £4,000 | 31.7.2011 | None | £13.25M | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | FC | | Semler, B | First Team | £12,000 | 31.7.2013 | None | £6.75M | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | DC | Inj | de la Cuesta, J | First Team | £2,400 | 31.7.2012 | None | £5.25M | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | SB6 | Inj | Adu, F | Rotation | £3,500 | 31.7.2013 | None | £7.25M | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | | | Brichkus, O | Rotation | £4,500 | 31.7.2012 | None | £1.9M | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | | | Hammond | Rotation | £3,200 | 31.7.2012 | None | £1.5M | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | MC | Lmp | Kalù, I | Rotation | £3,000 | 31.7.2012 | None | £6.25M | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | GK | | Lee, T | Rotation | £3,700 | 31.7.2012 | None | £1.4M | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | SB5 | | Neumayr, M | Rotation | £9,000 | 31.7.2013 | None | £3.1M | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | SB1 | | Pozzi, N | Rotation | £4,500 | 31.7.2013 | None | £3.2M | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | DC | | Sarr | Rotation | £6,000 | 31.7.2013 | None | £1.7M | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | SB7 | Lmp | Torres, T | Rotation | £4,000 | 31.7.2012 | None | £3.1M | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | | | Zamperini, A | Rotation | £5,000 | 31.7.2012 | None | £1.5M | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | | Loa | Arthur | Backup | £575 | 31.7.2013 | None | £1.9M | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | | Wnt | Frimann, H | Backup | £2,200 | 31.7.2011 | None | £925K | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | | Lmp | Gardiner, B | Backup | £3,500 | 31.7.2011 | None | £170K | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | | Req | Perrone, A | Backup | £575 | 31.7.2012 | None | £700K | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | | Unh | Pietravallo, J | Backup | £2,000 | 31.7.2012 | None | £1.6M | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | | Wnt | Ferrari, D | Hot Prospect | £725 | 31.7.2012 | None | £775K | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | | Lmp | Pappalardo, T | Hot Prospect | £550 | 31.7.2013 | None | £1.2M | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | | | Webb, C | Hot Prospect | £575 | 31.7.2014 | None | £1.8M | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | | | White, S | Hot Prospect | £1,000 | 31.7.2013 | None | £1.2M | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | | | O'Brien, N | Youngster | £160 | 31.7.2011 | None | £600K | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | | | | | | | | | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| </pre> Total Players: 44 Wage Budget: £775,000 Total Weekly Wages at 3/8/10: £156,032 Goalkeepers Daniel Ferrari [21, GK, ITA – 5 U21/0] – 4, 7, 0 Ferrari had little impact last season, which was disappointing. With Rossi gone and Tabai retired, Ferrari is now unquestionably our top backup keeper, so it’s important he does well. Tommy Lee [24, GK, ENG – Capped at U21 level] – 2, 90, 0 Lee did much better in his second season at the club, but is still below the level of most other first-choice players in the side. If Ferrari does well early, he could cause Lee some difficulty. Defenders Andrea Briotti [24, D LC, ITA – 1/0] – 4, 113, 2 Now an Italian international after several solid seasons at Ancona, Briotti should continue to play a regular role at the back. This is the final season of his current contract, and I’m not yet sure whether I will re-sign him. 06/07 Serie A Young Player of the Year, Ancona captain 09/10-present José de la Cuesta [27, D LC, COL – 23/2] – 3, 85, 4 One of our best players last season, de la Cuesta is perhaps the most important member of our defence. He’s attracted interest from several sides, but I’ve yet to receive an acceptable offer. Hélio Frimann [23, D L, DAN – Capped at U21 level] – 2, 9, 0 After an unsuccessful loan spell in Serie B with Torino (just one senior game for the season), Frimann looks stuck at the club for one more season before being released. Fabrizio Grillo [23, Sw/D C, ITA – Capped at U21 level] One of our new signings, Grillo spent the past eight seasons at Roma but played just seventeen senior games. He looks to be a quite solid and talented defender who could play a regular role. Hammond [21, D C, ENG – 6 U21/0] – 2, 17, 0 Though he’s struggled to get senior games, Hammond still looks to be a talented player. Purse may be gone, but Grillo has probably taken the spot ahead of Hammond, so he will have to impress early. Norizam Luz [26, Sw/D C, ARG] – 1, 30, 2 A quite solid season at the back from Luz, taking over from Purse alongside de la Cuesta. He’s not quite settled in the first team, and with so much competition he can’t afford to drop in form. Nurullo Messner [26, D/M RC, AUT – 24/4] – 1, 18, 3 After impressing while on loan from Rayo, I signed Messner on club-high wages. It’s a bit dangerous considering he’s mostly unproven, but on what he showed last season, he’s more than capable of having a major impact. I prefer him on the right wing, but he may have to play at right back with Gyan gone. 09/10 Serie A Team of the Year, 09/10 Italian Defender of the Year Tse Lung Pappalardo [20, D C, ITA – 10 U21/4] – 4, 18, 0 After getting a few senior games early in the year, Pappalardo was squeezed out of the seniors by our defensive depth. Unfortunately, the same problem looks to be present this season, so he will probably struggle to play many games. Antonio Perrone [24, D C, ITA] – 4, 13, 0 Though a solid defender, Perrone is too unremarkable to step ahead of our many other quality centre backs. Sarr [26, D RC, SEN – 43/0] – 4, 108, 3 Having sealed his place at right back after two strong seasons, Sarr now faces a bit of competition from Messner. I’ll probably start with Messner at right back and Sarr in the centre, but with so much competition there he has to play consistently well. Part of World Cup 2006 winners Senegal Alessandro Zamperini [27, D LC, ITA] – 5, 125, 0 With Briotti settled at left back and centre back certainly covered, Zamperini will have to settle for an occasional game as a backup. Midfielders Freddy Adu [21, AM/F RC, USA – 45/5] – 7, 116, 8 Despite playing a useful role as a forward at times last season, Adu will probably revert to a fringe role again this season with the signing of Semler. Ikechukwu Kalú [26, AM RLC, NGA – 11/1] – 2, 74, 4 One of our finest players last season, Kalú did wonderfully both on the wing and, later in the season, as a forward, helping to cover the loss of Rabito. He will now be an automatic selection in the side, and another strong season would be useful. 09/10 Serie A Team of the Year Nordin Lennartsson [27, AM C, SWE – 11/6] – 5, 171, 27 While last season was not his best at the club, he continued to be a solid performer in the midfield. This is the final year of his contract, and while I think he’s a useful player, it could be very costly to re-sign him. Lee Martin [23, AM RL, ENG] Martin comes to Ancona having spent time at Manchester United and Bolton over the last seven seasons. He spent most of that time out on loan to lower division sides, but finally had a full season with Bolton in the First Division last season. He’s quite slow for a winger, but has excellent ball skills and could set up plenty of goals. A regular role on the left wing looms, but (unlike El Kadouri), he can fill in on the right if required. Thiago Motta [27, AM L, BRA – Capped at U21 level] Quite a big name, who’s spent time at clubs like Rayo, Barcelona, Real Sociedad and FC Bayern. Unfortunately, he hasn’t played a full season since being bought for £2.8M by Real Sociedad back in 07/08, and will likely be behind Martin here. He didn’t play against us in the Champions Cup final, but looks to have the pace and skill to be a useful player. Markus Neumayr [24, M C, GER – Capped at U21 level] – 3, 101, 9 Though I expected to release him last season, reasonably good form combined with an acceptable wage demand saw him signed up for three more seasons. He’s probably not quite in the First XI, but should get a regular run in the middle. Juan MartÃn Pietravallo [28, DM C, ARG – Capped at U21 level] – 3, 31, 0 Unquestionably a waste of £950K, Pietravallo will play an occasional role in the senior side at best. Andrea Rabito [30, F RLC, ITA – 6/0] – 5, 163, 45 After a season devastated by injuries, our biggest-name player returns. He’s getting on a bit in years and a season out injured obviously wouldn’t help his skills, but his presence gives me a few more options. I may play him on the right wing to start, but he could certainly serve as a forward if we have problems there. Serie A Player of the Year runner-up 07/08, Supporters’ Player of the Year 08/09 Taikai Torres [27, AM C, MEX – 3/0] – 1, 22, 1 A talented but now fairly redundant player, Torres will struggle to get a regular spot in the midfield now that Neumayr has been re-signed. Chi Yuen Webb [18, DM RLC, ENG – 7 U21/4] – 2, 13, 0 Having looked fairly impressive in his senior games last season, Webb may get a bit more of a run this season. However, with our depth, he will find it difficult to break into a regular role. Sobir White [20, AM RC, ENG] – 3, 13, 0 Though White doesn’t appear to be an overly talented player, he possesses plenty of pace, which is always useful. He looked quite good in the seniors last season, but will probably spend most of this year in the Under-20s. Forwards Ole Brichkus [26, S C, LTU – 19/7] – 1, 24, 9 Brichkus looks to have joined Gardiner and Gibbs as a failed attempt to find a senior striker. He has a good run in March and April this year, but otherwise struggled. Semler is clearly well ahead of him, and Pozzi would also be preferred. Papa Waigo [26, F LC, SEN – 27/14] – 2, 77, 44 A star last season, Papa Waigo was the major reason for our success in the Champions Cup. He played brilliantly despite the lack of a quality partner, and scored regularly against tough opponents. I have next to no chance of re-signing him, with his wage demands likely to go through the roof. Supporters’ Player of the Year 09/10 Nicola Pozzi [24, S C, ITA – Capped at U21 level] A late signing, Pozzi showed enough promise to be bought by Perugia from Milan for £3M back in 06/07, but he did nothing after that. He’s a reasonably well-rounded player, but his scoring potential is unknown. Borut Semler [25, F RC, SVN – 22/10] Like Pozzi, Semler is a mostly unproven player, but looks to have plenty of ability. He’s been on the lists of FC Bayern, Atlético Madrid and Barcelona, though without having much impact at senior level. He has the pace, height and skill to be a great partner for Papa Waigo. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Donners Posted June 13, 2004 Author Share Posted June 13, 2004 The Likely Side: (Playing with a 4-4-2) GK – Tommy Lee LB – Andrea Briotti CB – José Julián de la Cuesta CB – Sarr RB – Nurullo Messner LM – Lee Martin CM – Nordin Lennartsson CM – Ikechukwu Kalú RM – Andrea Rabito CF – Papa Waigo CF – Borut Semler Sub – Norizam Luz Sub – Taikai Torres Sub – Nicola Pozzi Sub – Thiago Motta Sub – Markus Neumayr Sub – Fabrizio Grillo Sub – Freddy Adu All Up… I only wish I had this squad in the Champions Cup last season. We are strong in every area except goalkeeping, though that is a pretty significant area to be weak in. Defence looks good. There are heaps of options for centre back, while both sides are covered by established players. The midfield has a great blend of experience, pace, skill and youth, with options for every midfield spot and up-and-coming players like Webb and White pushing the more established ones. Forward is a bit less clear, with a few unproven players and a long list of failures. However, Rabito and Papa Waigo could make a great team even if Semler and Pozzi fail, so I don’t have any major concerns. Striker Mohd Nizaruddin Hoffmann is due to arrive at the end of November. This should be a great season, particularly with no European football to distract from our league games. The Staff Giacomo Tafuro (Assistant Manager) Gilberto Vallesi (Coach) Roberto Bocchino (Coach) Roberto Corti (Coach) Giannicola Pinotti (Coach) Giuseppe Venturelli (Coach) Udalrico Tretter (Coach) Stéphane Wiertelak (Coach) Daniel Borimirov (Coach) Massimo Tabai (Coach) Tommy Berntsen (Coach) Salvatore Gnisci (Physio) Massimo D’Ambrosio (Physio) David Jarrett (Scout) Rob Campkin (Scout) Julian Carrera (Scout) Tim Davies (Scout) Peter Krobbach (Scout) Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wacal Posted June 14, 2004 Share Posted June 14, 2004 I read this last night and this is very good story. I enjoy to follow it. Keep up the good work! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Terk Posted June 14, 2004 Share Posted June 14, 2004 hope you can sort your league form this season. it'd be nice to see ancona win the title Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Donners Posted June 15, 2004 Author Share Posted June 15, 2004 That would indeed be nice, but one step at a time. August, season 2010/2011 With no senior games this season, I’ll simply provide the scores and goalscorers from the friendly games. Ancona 3 [Rabito 35; Lennartsson 46; Semler 52] drew Spal 3 Ancona 2 [semler 38; Arthur 63] d. Stade-Lausanne 0 Ancona 3 [Lennartsson 12; Semler 30; Papa Waigo 40] d. Thun 0 Ancona 2 [Papa Waigo 35, 53] d. Sion 0 Ancona 0 drew Cesena 0 Ancona 3 [Gardiner 3; Pappalardo 43; O’Brien 87] d. Lanciano 0 Quite a successful series of friendlies, with Semler particularly impressive. Pozzi struggled, though, and Rabito did not do much. I received a bid of £1M for Daniel Ferrari, but decided to hang onto him. I did, however, loan out Arthur (Salernitana), Chi Yuen Webb (Cagliari) and Hélio Frimann (Avellino). I have no real use for Arthur and Frimann, while Webb could do with a regular run in Serie B rather than a dozen senior games over the season for Ancona. We were given mediocre odds of 50-1 to win the Serie A title, with Juventus and Milan the stand-out favourites. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Donners Posted June 16, 2004 Author Share Posted June 16, 2004 September, season 2010/2011 Our first senior match of the season was against Torino. I went with our full-strength side, but Torino played particularly well in the scoreless first half. Torino continued to dominate in the second half, finally scoring in the 78th. A fumble from Lee made it 0-2 in the 83rd, with only the post saving us a few minutes later. Semler was tripped on the edge of the area after a great run from the midfield (his only highlight of a poor debut), but Kalú hit the post from the free kick. A third to Torino in injury time capped off a dismal start to the season for Ancona. We had the chance to improve on that against Fiorentina. They had our former backup keeper Generoso Rossi in goal, and after seven minutes had the lead. Lennartsson scored ninety seconds after the break with a free kick that took a lucky deflection off the wall, levelling the scores. He then scored a bit more convincingly ten minutes later, heading in a Papa Waigo cross for the lead. Semler scored a beautiful solo effort in the 70th, running from the midfield with half-a-dozen players pursuing him and scoring with an angled shot to seal the win. Papa Waigo curled a fourth around the keeper from 25 yards in the dying minutes, leaving us with a dramatically improved performance and 4-1 result. I had no idea what to expect against Bologna after those two results, particularly with Tommy Lee out with a foot injury. Papa Waigo had a shot from close range deflected, and Bologna took advantage with a successful free kick a minute later. Messner gave the ball up in the middle two minutes after that, setting up a Bologna counter-attack that made it 0-2 after 26 minutes. Rabito had two good chances saved in the 56th, but set up Semler for our first with a great cross ten minutes later. We could not score in the remaining 25 minutes, finishing with our second loss in three games. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Donners Posted June 17, 2004 Author Share Posted June 17, 2004 October, season 2010/2011 We had to improve on our poor start to the season last month. Rabito partnered Papa Waigo up forward against Udinese just for something different, while Ferrari remained in goal. A Thiago Motta corner in the 14th saw a penalty awarded when Papa Waigo was pushed, and while Markus Neumayr’s first attempt was parried, he was able to score from the rebound. Motta went off injured soon after, replaced by Lee Martin. Papa Waigo scored in similar fashion to Neumayr in the 28th, having his shot from a beautiful Lennartsson pass parried, then scoring on the second attempt for a 2-0 lead. Martin gave up a penalty in the 55th for Udinese to score their first and sloppy defending from Sarr made it 2-2 eight minutes later. Four minutes after that, Rabito received a great flick on from Papa Waigo but seemed to waste it by letting the ball trickle to the keeper. However, for some reason the keeper didn’t gather it, and he ran straight past him to knock in his first of the season. Papa Waigo headed in a Martin corner late in the game to seal the win, which was completed by a great Neumayr strike in injury time to make it 5-2. At least we’re having no trouble scoring, but Sarr and Ferrari have not looked good. Tommy Lee returned for our toughest game so far, away to Parma. Semler hit an early shot straight at the opposing keeper, but Nicola Pozzi scored in the 6th, heading in a Martin cross. Semler made up for his miss in the 40th, stealing the ball from a defender and slotting it in from outside the area. Lee finally kept a clean sheet in the 2-0 win. Fabrizio Grillo was ruled out for two months with a groin strain after the match. Lennartsson, Neumayr and de la Cuesta took a rest against Palermo. The quiet first half finished scoreless, but Sarr came out of nowhere to head in a Kalú free kick for a 60th minute lead. We held off a few late attacks from Palermo and came away 1-0 winners. Our first Italian Cup game, in the first round, was against Serie B side Bari. A Papa Waigo header from point-blank range was parried, but a beautiful 14th minute free kick from Lennartsson made it 1-0. He scored his second ten minutes later with a 25-yard rocket, and then Rabito joined in the fun with a goal from 30 yards. The 53rd minute saw Rabito’s second from long-range, and nine minutes later Lennartsson got his hat-trick – again, from 30 yards out. Semler made it 6-0 just before the end of the game with a shot that was relatively point-blank – from the edge of the area. A new record for Ancona, and done in remarkable fashion – not one of the six goals was scored from inside the area. Lee missed the game against Roma with a minor knee injury. Roma took the lead after only three minutes, continuing Ferrari’s poor form. Papa Waigo gave Lennartsson an equaliser in the 30th (from inside the area, for a change), and ten minutes later Taikai Torres scored from a penalty after Papa Waigo was tripped in the area. A throw-in from Rabito found Nicola Pozzi in the area in the 55th, leading to a successful half-volley to make it 3-1. Roma had two players sent off in the second half, making it easy to retain the lead. A great month for Ancona, with progression in the Italian Cup assured and five league wins on the board. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Donners Posted June 18, 2004 Author Share Posted June 18, 2004 November, season 2010/2011 Juventus provided a threat to our recent good form. They had not lost in their last 30 games Nonetheless, it was Ancona with a bright start. A great pass from Thiago Motta gave Papa Waigo our first in the 12th minute, then a header from Luz allowed Semler to get around the keeper seven minutes later. It remained 2-0 at the final whistle. Not only did that end Juve’s great streak, but created a new Ancona record with six straight wins. On our recent form, one could assume we would walk all over Verona. Kalú made it through three tackles in an early run from the midfield, but his shot went well over. Verona snatched the lead in the 14th, while we wasted several chances. Semler had a perfect chance, with a beautiful flick pass from Lennartsson evading three opponents and giving him an open goal, but he missed badly. Papa Waigo made up for it in the 33rd, scoring with a beautiful, low, curling shot that went around the keeper and into the net. Semler wasted another great chance just after the break, hitting a header straight at the keeper from less than six yards out after a great Papa Waigo cross. Evidently fed up with this, Andrea Rabito took over Semler’s spot for a nearly identical cross a minute later, and this time was successful. Lennartsson ended a great run with a goal in the 66th, ending the match 3-1. With a 6-0 lead, I gave a number of young players a run against Bari in the second leg of our Italian Cup match. It was a pretty disappointing showing, with our winning streak broken with a 0-1 loss. At least our senior players got a rest, which was useful with a game against Milan next. They were expected to be in the top few, but have struggled so far. Papa Waigo put through his 50th Ancona goal from a tight angle seven minutes in, but Lee conceded an equaliser in the 32nd after several fumbles. Three minutes later, Milan came from nowhere to snatch the lead. Despite our great scoring record so far, we couldn’t even score one more to equalise in the remaining minutes, making it two straight losses. We continued to struggle against Atlanta, with a curling shot from Lennartsson that hit the post our only chance of the first half. Only two good saves from Lee in the 62nd kept us in touch, but they finally scored in the 75th. Papa Waigo finally managed to get around the keeper in the 82nd, and though he got a hand to it, it trickled into the net to level the scores. The final minutes ticked away, ending the game 1-1. With the side in a slump, we needed a good performance against Napoli. Semler gave us a great start, heading in a 4th minute Papa Waigo cross. He made it 2-0 when a Kalú shot was parried to him sixteen minutes later, and though it took until two minutes into injury time in the second half, he got his hat-trick. It was a magnificent strike, too – a 25-yard half-volley with the outside of his foot that flew into the corner of the net. Not a bad way to get back into form and jump to second on the table. Sampdoria were next. Papa Waigo missed a chip in the 25th and despite numerous chances to both sides the first half finished without a goal. Sampdoria scored abruptly in the 75th, but a quickly taken free kick from Martin three minutes later gave Semler an equaliser. Sampdoria snatched the lead back in the 83rd, and this time there was no equaliser. 1-2 the final score. Vicenza were our last opponents of an up-and-down month. Again we conceded the first goal, this time after only fourteen minutes. A great pass from Lennartsson ninety seconds into the second half gave Neumayr plenty of time to hit the ball into the net to make it 1-1. That’s the way it remained, with Semler again wasting a good chance – this time hitting a Pozzi cross straight to the keeper. Striker Mohd Nizaruddin Hoffmann arrived at the end of November, as planned. Mohd Nizaruddin Hoffmann [19, S C, GER – 1 U21/0] The latest in my attempt to get a regular striker at the club. Semler has done reasonably well, but Pozzi has been unremarkable and Papa Waigo will likely go at the end of the season. Hoffmann has superb ball control and is strong in the air despite not being particularly tall. He scored reasonably regularly at Gladbatch, and will hopefully do the same here. <pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">Holders - Juventus | Pos | Inf | Team | | Pld | Won | Drn | Lst | For | Ag | G.D. | Pts | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 1st | | Juventus | | 14 | 9 | 3 | 2 | 26 | 8 | +18 | 30 | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 2nd | | Inter | | 14 | 9 | 2 | 3 | 27 | 15 | +12 | 29 | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 3rd | | Ancona | | 14 | 8 | 2 | 4 | 28 | 16 | +12 | 26 | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 4th | | Brescia | | 14 | 7 | 4 | 3 | 30 | 19 | +11 | 25 | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 5th | | Bologna | | 14 | 7 | 4 | 3 | 23 | 13 | +10 | 25 | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 6th | | Vicenza | | 14 | 7 | 3 | 4 | 26 | 20 | +6 | 24 | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 7th | | Palermo | | 14 | 7 | 2 | 5 | 28 | 15 | +13 | 23 | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 8th | | Parma | | 14 | 7 | 2 | 5 | 21 | 18 | +3 | 23 | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 9th | | Sampdoria | | 14 | 6 | 5 | 3 | 17 | 19 | -2 | 23 | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 10th | | Roma | | 14 | 6 | 3 | 5 | 23 | 19 | +4 | 21 | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 11th | | Milan | | 14 | 5 | 6 | 3 | 24 | 22 | +2 | 21 | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 12th | | Atalanta | | 14 | 4 | 5 | 5 | 22 | 27 | -5 | 17 | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 13th | | Lazio | | 14 | 3 | 7 | 4 | 17 | 22 | -5 | 16 | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 14th | | Reggina | | 14 | 4 | 3 | 7 | 16 | 18 | -2 | 15 | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 15th | | Verona | | 14 | 4 | 2 | 8 | 14 | 27 | -13 | 14 | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 16th | | Fiorentina | | 14 | 3 | 4 | 7 | 19 | 25 | -6 | 13 | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 17th | | Udinese | | 14 | 4 | 0 | 10 | 13 | 32 | -19 | 12 | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 18th | | Chievo | | 14 | 2 | 5 | 7 | 15 | 29 | -14 | 11 | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 19th | | Torino | | 14 | 1 | 6 | 7 | 14 | 28 | -14 | 9 | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 20th | | Napoli | | 14 | 2 | 2 | 10 | 16 | 27 | -11 | 8 | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| </pre> Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Harleqin Posted June 19, 2004 Share Posted June 19, 2004 <BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Donners: My board decided to limit my transfer funds to £29.5M after my “extravagant spending†(exactly £150K :rolleyes <HR></BLOCKQUOTE> That'll teach you to squander money away Looks like a decent start to the season, but with four defeats already you shouldn't get too many more if you want to finish on top of the pile (Or however the expression goes ) Forza Ancona! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Donners Posted June 19, 2004 Author Share Posted June 19, 2004 Juventus only lost five for the entire season in 09/10, so you're quite right that we need to be very careful to avoid any more. December, season 2010/2011 Mohd Hoffmann debuted alongside Papa Waigo against Reggina. We grabbed the lead just ninety seconds in, thanks to Neumayr’s clean gather and strike from a Thiago Motta corner. Hoffmann earned a penalty in the 36th, which Neumayr put through for his second. Reggina pulled one back just before half time and hit the post with a long-range effort in the 52nd. Adu came on as a substitute and gave Papa Waigo our third with a nice cross in the final minutes. 3-1 the final result. I re-signed captain Andrea Briotti until 2013 after the win. Our second round Italian Cup game was against Atlanta. I rested a number of players, and our task wasn’t helped with the early dismissal of Sarr for a cynical foul. As if that weren’t bad enough, Taikai Torres picked up a second yellow early in the second half, taking us down to nine men. A powerful strike gave Atlanta the first of the game in the 54th, while Hoffman had two shots from within the area saved. A second to Atlanta in the 54th made our chances of progression quite small even with a second leg to play, and a third to Atlanta in the final minutes pretty much eliminated those chances altogether. It didn’t get any easier in the next game, which was against Lazio. Lee made a great save eight minutes in and another a couple of minutes later. Semler failed to take advantage, blasting over a shot in the 19th after getting past the defence. Lazio took the lead two minutes into the second half, while Neumayr missed a great chance to equalise in the 66th. Lennartsson had a great long-range shot saved in the 84th, seemingly ending our chances of getting a point. I brought on Adu and Messner in hopes of a last minute attack, but more than one minute into the two minutes of injury time Lee Martin had the ball on the left wing. He passed to Freddy Adu in the middle, but the defence had got back and outnumbered the forwards. Thus, Adu hit it from 25 yards…and put it straight into the net with 20 seconds to go. Not a convincing performance, but one point is better than nothing… Daniel Ferrari returned to face Brescia. Neither he nor Lee have been at all impressive this season. Papa Waigo grazed the bar with a header midway through the first half, but a pass from Kalú in the 40th somehow snuck through a few defenders and was hit into the goal by Semler (with help from a deflection). Semler put through his second moments into the second half, combining well with Papa Waigo to get around the keeper. He missed a few chances to score his hat-trick in the remaining minutes, but Papa Waigo made it 3-0 with a great run in the 82nd. Our Italian Cup game against Atlanta provided an almost impossible challenge, with Ancona entering with a 0-3 deficit. Having a Papa Waigo goal disallowed in the first minute didn’t help at all. He put through one in the 18th, but we still only had the one goal at half time. A Rabito corner in the 56th was hit in by Kalú, making it 2-3 on aggregate, but not only did our goals dry up, Atlanta scored two more in the final minutes for a 2-5 aggregate. The last game of 2010 was away to Chievo. Messner headed in a Rabito corner in the 16th for the lead, then Papa Waigo made it 2-0 with a powerful strike straight past the keeper five minutes after. Lennartsson knocked in a cross from Papa Waigo in the 31st minute, then Sarr smacked in a 25-yard strike just before half time to leave us 4-0 up at the break. Chievo scored the only goal of the second half, leaving us in second place at the end of the year. Juventus are looking nearly unstoppable at top, but I’d be more than happy with a spot in Europe. <pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">Holders - Juventus | Pos | Inf | Team | | Pld | Won | Drn | Lst | For | Ag | G.D. | Pts | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 1st | | Juventus | | 18 | 13 | 3 | 2 | 36 | 9 | +27 | 42 | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 2nd | | Ancona | | 18 | 11 | 3 | 4 | 39 | 19 | +20 | 36 | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 3rd | | Brescia | | 18 | 10 | 4 | 4 | 38 | 23 | +15 | 34 | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 4th | | Sampdoria | | 18 | 9 | 6 | 3 | 24 | 19 | +5 | 33 | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 5th | | Bologna | | 18 | 8 | 6 | 4 | 31 | 21 | +10 | 30 | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 6th | | Inter | | 17 | 9 | 3 | 5 | 29 | 20 | +9 | 30 | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 7th | | Milan | | 18 | 8 | 6 | 4 | 32 | 26 | +6 | 30 | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 8th | | Palermo | | 18 | 9 | 2 | 7 | 34 | 21 | +13 | 29 | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 9th | | Parma | | 18 | 9 | 2 | 7 | 26 | 22 | +4 | 29 | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 10th | | Roma | | 18 | 8 | 4 | 6 | 30 | 24 | +6 | 28 | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 11th | | Vicenza | | 17 | 8 | 3 | 6 | 30 | 26 | +4 | 27 | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 12th | | Atalanta | | 18 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 31 | 33 | -2 | 24 | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 13th | | Lazio | | 18 | 4 | 8 | 6 | 21 | 28 | -7 | 20 | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 14th | | Reggina | | 18 | 5 | 3 | 10 | 19 | 27 | -8 | 18 | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 15th | | Napoli | | 18 | 4 | 4 | 10 | 23 | 30 | -7 | 16 | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 16th | | Verona | | 18 | 4 | 4 | 10 | 17 | 35 | -18 | 16 | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 17th | | Udinese | | 18 | 5 | 1 | 12 | 16 | 36 | -20 | 16 | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 18th | | Fiorentina | | 18 | 3 | 5 | 10 | 21 | 32 | -11 | 14 | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 19th | | Chievo | | 18 | 2 | 6 | 10 | 19 | 40 | -21 | 12 | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 20th | | Torino | | 18 | 1 | 7 | 10 | 14 | 39 | -25 | 10 | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| </pre> Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Donners Posted June 20, 2004 Author Share Posted June 20, 2004 January, season 2010/2011 I rejected a £1.7M bid for Sarr from Reggina and made a number of attempts to sign players on Bosmans. I missed out on my preferred signing, young Everton goalkeeper Aymen Ormerod, but did get young French defender Syed Dupuy to agree terms to join in June. Our first game of the new year was a big one, at home to Inter. A great long-range strike from Andrea Rabito put us ahead ten minutes in, though the lead lasted just fourteen minutes. Rabito switched roles in the 31st, setting up Borut Semler to take the scores to 2-1. Another great strike from Rabito – this time from 30 yards out right on the corner of the area – made it 3-1 at the break and gave him the Goal of the Month award. While Inter pulled one back late, it wasn’t enough to prevent us taking the three points. The big news came after the game, with leading scorer Papa Waigo agreeing to a two-year extension on his contract at £20K per week. Torino came next. A beautiful pass from Markus Neumayr mid-way through the first half put Semler through for a simple goal. Only three minutes later, Neumayr hit the ball into the area where it was met with a header from Lennartsson. It was parried, but straight to young striker Mohd Hoffmann in his fourth game, who scored his first for the club. Hoffmann then earned a penalty just before the break, which was put through by Neumayr. 3-0 at half time, and with a scoreless second half, that’s the way it remained at the end. A number of senior players were rested against Fiorentina. Tommy Lee made a great save early while Freddy Adu had two shots saved just before the break. Thiago Motta looked to have broken the deadlock in the 53rd with a great strike, but a free kick had already been signalled. Neither side managed to get a breakthrough after that in the 0-0 draw. A return to the full-strength side saw us hit the front in ten minutes against Bologna. Papa Waigo received a magnificent pass from Rabito that went more than half the pitch and put him past the defence where he chipped the keeper. Supat Rungratsamee equalised in the 38th with his 19th goal of the season, and it was level at the break. Papa Waigo and Semler combined for the latter to put us back into the lead a few minutes into the second half, then Papa Waigo made it 3-1 ten minutes later after intercepting a defensive pass and getting around the keeper. Nordin Lennartsson capped it off with a late free kick that deflected off a defender and into the net. Due to international call-ups, our game against Udinese was our last of the month. Lennartsson and Semler missed a few early shots, but Neumayr finally put through a penalty just before the break. Lennartsson had nine shots for the game, but did not put any through. Thankfully, it didn’t matter – a 1-0 win to Ancona. I purchased goalkeeper Marco Storari for £725K at the end of the month. Marco Storari [34, GK, ITA] Due to the inconsistency of Ferrari and Lee, I’ve signed the veteran keeper from Atlanta on a one-year contract. He was the runner-up as Serie A Goalkeeper of the Year last season, and will hopefully perform solidly in goal for us. I also loaned out midfielder Juan MartÃn Pietravallo to Perugia and arranged the free transfer of German forward Hartwig for November. <pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">Holders - Juventus | Pos | Inf | Team | | Pld | Won | Drn | Lst | For | Ag | G.D. | Pts | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 1st | | Juventus | | 24 | 17 | 5 | 2 | 44 | 11 | +33 | 56 | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 2nd | | Ancona | | 23 | 15 | 4 | 4 | 50 | 22 | +28 | 49 | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 3rd | | Vicenza | | 24 | 13 | 5 | 6 | 46 | 32 | +14 | 44 | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 4th | | Brescia | | 24 | 12 | 7 | 5 | 52 | 34 | +18 | 43 | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 5th | | Sampdoria | | 24 | 11 | 7 | 6 | 32 | 28 | +4 | 40 | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 6th | | Palermo | | 23 | 11 | 4 | 8 | 39 | 26 | +13 | 37 | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 7th | | Milan | | 24 | 10 | 7 | 7 | 41 | 34 | +7 | 37 | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 8th | | Inter | | 23 | 11 | 3 | 9 | 43 | 34 | +9 | 36 | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 9th | | Bologna | | 24 | 9 | 9 | 6 | 39 | 31 | +8 | 36 | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 10th | | Roma | | 24 | 10 | 6 | 8 | 46 | 40 | +6 | 36 | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 11th | | Lazio | | 24 | 8 | 9 | 7 | 35 | 35 | 0 | 33 | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 12th | | Parma | | 24 | 9 | 4 | 11 | 27 | 30 | -3 | 31 | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 13th | | Napoli | | 24 | 8 | 6 | 10 | 29 | 31 | -2 | 30 | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 14th | | Atalanta | | 24 | 8 | 6 | 10 | 39 | 44 | -5 | 30 | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 15th | | Reggina | | 24 | 7 | 3 | 14 | 30 | 45 | -15 | 24 | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 16th | | Torino | | 24 | 4 | 9 | 11 | 26 | 51 | -25 | 21 | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 17th | | Verona | | 24 | 4 | 8 | 12 | 26 | 47 | -21 | 20 | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 18th | | Udinese | | 24 | 6 | 2 | 16 | 21 | 44 | -23 | 20 | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 19th | | Chievo | | 24 | 3 | 8 | 13 | 27 | 53 | -26 | 17 | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 20th | | Fiorentina | | 23 | 3 | 6 | 14 | 23 | 43 | -20 | 15 | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| </pre> Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Terk Posted June 20, 2004 Share Posted June 20, 2004 it'll be a big ask to pull back 7 points, even with the game in hand. still a top read though Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Donners Posted June 22, 2004 Author Share Posted June 22, 2004 It's a good thing your enjoyment of the story isn't relative to our success after this month... February, season 2010/2011 New goalkeeper Marco Storari made his debut in a big game against 6th placed Palermo. Defender Fabrizio Grillo also returned from injury. Lennartsson missed an early free kick, and at the other end Palermo got one through Storari after only three minutes. They retained their lead at half time and added to it late in the second half. A third and fourth to Palermo in the final minutes made it a pretty miserable debut for Storari. It was our first league defeat in eleven games. Despite that terrible start, I gave Storari another go against Parma. Parma scored from their first chance in the 30th, and put through two more just before half time. Ouch. In contrast, Rabito, Papa Waigo and Semler were kept at bay by fine goalkeeping as we crumbled to a 0-3 defeat. Worse yet, there was significant injury news after the match. Papa Waigo would miss two weeks with a knee injury, while a torn groin muscle would sideline Andrea Rabito for two months. With both Grillo and Storari apparently duds, our fight for the title could be in some jeopardy. As you could probably guess, Tommy Lee came back in for Storari against Atlanta. Mohd Hoffmann and Freddy Adu came in for Papa Waigo and Rabito respectively. Just after half time, those two combined for Hoffmann to score the first and, as it turned out, only goal of the game. Friendly: Australia 0 lost to Russia 2 [izmailov 36; Guerk 88] Papa Waigo returned from injury and headed in a goal just two minutes into our match against Roma. They scored during the first half’s injury time, leaving scores level at the break. The second half went back and forth with decent chances to both sides. Papa Waigo had three shots saved, but a great run into the box from Kalú in the 65th changed things. Semler knocked his cross into the net with a diving header, then four minutes later Papa Waigo took the scores to 3-1 with a powerful strike into the top corner. A nice win. Lee didn’t have a great game, but at least he’s doing better than Storari… Could our recovery continue against Verona? The first half saw some superb saves at both ends until finally a chip from Lennartsson finally got Semler through and around the keeper for the first of the game. Semler and Papa Waigo had superb chances to score late in the first half, but both were cut off by defenders. A huge pass from Sarr sent Semler and Papa Waigo at the goal against only one defender, and a cross from the former to the latter made it 2-0, which is how it remained at the end. Unfortunately, Papa Waigo suffered a groin strain during the game, and will miss a month. <pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">Holders - Juventus | Pos | Inf | Team | | Pld | Won | Drn | Lst | For | Ag | G.D. | Pts | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 1st | | Juventus | | 28 | 19 | 6 | 3 | 50 | 13 | +37 | 63 | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 2nd | | Ancona | | 28 | 18 | 4 | 6 | 56 | 30 | +26 | 58 | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 3rd | | Vicenza | | 28 | 15 | 7 | 6 | 55 | 37 | +18 | 52 | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 4th | | Brescia | | 28 | 13 | 8 | 7 | 56 | 40 | +16 | 47 | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 5th | | Palermo | | 28 | 13 | 7 | 8 | 49 | 30 | +19 | 46 | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 6th | | Sampdoria | | 28 | 13 | 7 | 8 | 36 | 34 | +2 | 46 | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 7th | | Inter | | 28 | 13 | 5 | 10 | 47 | 37 | +10 | 44 | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 8th | | Bologna | | 28 | 10 | 11 | 7 | 43 | 33 | +10 | 41 | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 9th | | Milan | | 28 | 10 | 9 | 9 | 45 | 40 | +5 | 39 | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 10th | | Lazio | | 28 | 10 | 9 | 9 | 40 | 42 | -2 | 39 | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 11th | | Parma | | 28 | 11 | 5 | 12 | 33 | 33 | 0 | 38 | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 12th | | Roma | | 28 | 10 | 6 | 12 | 50 | 50 | 0 | 36 | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 13th | | Napoli | | 28 | 9 | 8 | 11 | 32 | 35 | -3 | 35 | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 14th | | Atalanta | | 28 | 9 | 6 | 13 | 42 | 50 | -8 | 33 | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 15th | | Reggina | | 28 | 9 | 3 | 16 | 34 | 52 | -18 | 30 | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 16th | | Torino | | 28 | 5 | 12 | 11 | 32 | 54 | -22 | 27 | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 17th | | Verona | | 28 | 6 | 8 | 14 | 33 | 54 | -21 | 26 | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 18th | | Udinese | | 28 | 7 | 4 | 17 | 24 | 49 | -25 | 25 | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 19th | | Chievo | | 28 | 4 | 11 | 13 | 33 | 57 | -24 | 23 | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 20th | | Fiorentina | | 28 | 4 | 8 | 16 | 30 | 50 | -20 | 20 | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| </pre> Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Donners Posted June 25, 2004 Author Share Posted June 25, 2004 March, season 2010/2011 A big game to kick off March, with Ancona facing Milan away with Rabito and Papa Waigo injured. A 6th minute penalty gave them the lead, and despite numerous shots from Lennartsson, it was still 0-1 at half time. A second to Milan late in the game ended it. Lennartsson had nine shots, with four on target, but didn’t score from any. We had a two week break before our game against Napoli. They hit the front after only five minutes, but a two-minute burst late in the half from Semler made it 2-1 through a header and 35-yard strike. Napoli grabbed a second in the 58th, which was met by Semler’s hat-trick four minutes later, regaining the lead for Ancona. We looked to be doing well to hold onto that 3-2 lead until Napoli suddenly scored a third with barely ten minutes to go. My attempt to go on the attack only saw two more goals to Napoli for an awful 3-5 loss. I think the problem is still the goalkeeping (Lee in this case), but the defenders had an off game here. Marco Storari returned to the side after his horrible first two games. It was for a major game as well – a home match against league leaders (dominators?) Juventus. Only poor shooting kept Juventus from scoring early, so it was extremely lucky that we grabbed the lead in the 24th through a Lennartsson free kick. Kalú was tacked in the area after getting in great position to score, and while there was no penalty and the chance went begging, we remained in front at the break. Mohd Hoffmann had a shot parried in the 67th, but was able to get on the rebound and take the scores to 2-0. Storari held on for a clean sheet, though mostly through poor finishing than good keeping, as we pulled off one of our best wins of the year. Papa Waigo returned for the last game of the month, against Sampdoria. What looked to be an early Semler goal was ruled offside, and it took until the 50th for Lennartsson to collect a long pass from Andrea Briotti, get around a defender and smack it in from 30 yards for the Goal of the Month. Storari made it two clean sheets in a row, giving us another good win. The title is still not out of reach, but at the very least we look a good chance for the Champions Cup. <pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">Holders - Juventus | Pos | Inf | Team | | Pld | Won | Drn | Lst | For | Ag | G.D. | Pts | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 1st | | Juventus | | 32 | 21 | 6 | 5 | 53 | 16 | +37 | 69 | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 2nd | | Ancona | | 32 | 20 | 4 | 8 | 62 | 37 | +25 | 64 | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 3rd | | Vicenza | | 32 | 17 | 7 | 8 | 62 | 42 | +20 | 58 | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 4th | | Brescia | | 32 | 16 | 9 | 7 | 64 | 45 | +19 | 57 | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 5th | | Palermo | | 32 | 15 | 9 | 8 | 55 | 34 | +21 | 54 | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 6th | | Sampdoria | | 32 | 14 | 8 | 10 | 41 | 41 | 0 | 50 | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 7th | | Bologna | | 32 | 12 | 13 | 7 | 50 | 37 | +13 | 49 | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 8th | | Roma | | 32 | 13 | 7 | 12 | 64 | 53 | +11 | 46 | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 9th | | Milan | | 32 | 12 | 10 | 10 | 51 | 42 | +9 | 46 | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 10th | | Inter | | 32 | 13 | 6 | 13 | 52 | 45 | +7 | 45 | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 11th | | Parma | | 32 | 12 | 6 | 14 | 36 | 38 | -2 | 42 | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 12th | | Atalanta | | 32 | 12 | 6 | 14 | 50 | 54 | -4 | 42 | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 13th | | Lazio | | 32 | 10 | 9 | 13 | 41 | 54 | -13 | 39 | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 14th | | Napoli | | 32 | 10 | 8 | 14 | 41 | 46 | -5 | 38 | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 15th | | Reggina | | 32 | 10 | 4 | 18 | 41 | 62 | -21 | 34 | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 16th | | Udinese | | 32 | 9 | 6 | 17 | 30 | 51 | -21 | 33 | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 17th | | Verona | | 32 | 8 | 9 | 15 | 40 | 62 | -22 | 33 | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 18th | | Torino | | 32 | 5 | 13 | 14 | 35 | 63 | -28 | 28 | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 19th | | Chievo | | 32 | 5 | 12 | 15 | 37 | 64 | -27 | 27 | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 20th | | Fiorentina | | 32 | 6 | 8 | 18 | 34 | 53 | -19 | 26 | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| </pre> Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Donners Posted June 26, 2004 Author Share Posted June 26, 2004 April, season 2010/2011 We took on Brescia in the first game of April. Semler put us in front with an 11th minute goal which was matched by Brescia fifteen minutes later. Storari put his first few games behind him with some spectacular saves in the remaining minutes of the first half, keeping it level at the break. Both sides had a huge number of chances but unfortunately for Ancona it was Brescia who finally scored in the 79th. Storari continued his great game with three more saves, and with five minutes to go in regular time Semler flicked on a great Messner pass from outside the area straight into the net. A sitter for Brescia was put inches wide, while the returning Ole Brichkus (his first game since a back injury in October) hit one straight at the keeper. Injury time went for five minutes with chances for both sides, but it was still 2-2 at the end, with Storari Man of the Match. Juventus actually lost to 18th placed Torino, so we missed a big chance to pull much closer to them. Andrea Rabito returned from his leg injury against 3rd placed Vicenza, but started on the bench. A long pass from Briotti in the 5th floated over the defence to leave Semler for a simple finish but Vicenza equalised just before the break. Semler and Papa Waigo had their chances to score early in the second, and those chances were made to look even worse with a goal to Vicenza in the 60th. I brought on Rabito, and in just one minute he smacked in a Papa Waigo cross to bring us level. We looked good until the 75th minute, where it all fell apart. Vicenza suddenly hit in three goals before the final whistle, pretty much ending our title hopes with a 2-5 hammering. So much for Storari’s recovery, though I had switched to a 3-4-3 formation to accommodate Rabito. Tommy Lee took over in goal against Reggina. Papa Waigo set up Semler for our first five minutes in, then Lennartsson extended the lead with a 22nd minute free kick. Semler added a third early in the second half, again thanks to his partner, while Reggina could only manage a late consolation goal. It’ll be difficult for us to reach top spot, and Vicenza will challenge us for second. <pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">Holders - Juventus | Pos | Inf | Team | | Pld | Won | Drn | Lst | For | Ag | G.D. | Pts | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 1st | | Juventus | | 34 | 21 | 7 | 6 | 54 | 18 | +36 | 70 | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 2nd | | Ancona | | 35 | 21 | 5 | 9 | 69 | 45 | +24 | 68 | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 3rd | | Vicenza | | 34 | 19 | 7 | 8 | 70 | 45 | +25 | 64 | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 4th | | Palermo | | 35 | 17 | 9 | 9 | 61 | 35 | +26 | 60 | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 5th | | Brescia | | 34 | 16 | 10 | 8 | 66 | 49 | +17 | 58 | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 6th | | Sampdoria | | 35 | 16 | 9 | 10 | 48 | 44 | +4 | 57 | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 7th | | Bologna | | 35 | 13 | 15 | 7 | 55 | 41 | +14 | 54 | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 8th | | Milan | | 34 | 13 | 11 | 10 | 54 | 44 | +10 | 50 | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 9th | | Roma | | 35 | 14 | 7 | 14 | 70 | 58 | +12 | 49 | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 10th | | Inter | | 34 | 14 | 7 | 13 | 53 | 45 | +8 | 49 | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 11th | | Atalanta | | 35 | 14 | 7 | 14 | 57 | 58 | -1 | 49 | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 12th | | Parma | | 35 | 14 | 6 | 15 | 41 | 40 | +1 | 48 | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 13th | | Napoli | | 35 | 10 | 10 | 15 | 43 | 49 | -6 | 40 | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 14th | | Lazio | | 35 | 10 | 10 | 15 | 44 | 61 | -17 | 40 | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 15th | | Verona | | 35 | 9 | 11 | 15 | 47 | 66 | -19 | 38 | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 16th | | Udinese | | 35 | 10 | 6 | 19 | 35 | 59 | -24 | 36 | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 17th | | Reggina | | 35 | 10 | 4 | 21 | 42 | 72 | -30 | 34 | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 18th | | Torino | | 34 | 6 | 14 | 14 | 38 | 65 | -27 | 32 | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 19th | | Chievo | | 35 | 5 | 15 | 15 | 41 | 68 | -27 | 30 | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 20th | | Fiorentina | | 35 | 6 | 8 | 21 | 36 | 62 | -26 | 26 | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| </pre> Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Donners Posted June 27, 2004 Author Share Posted June 27, 2004 May, season 2010/2011 Our third-last game was away against Lazio. Lee remained in goal while Rabito was rested. Semler continued his incredible run of form (five goals in the last three games), scoring fourteen minutes in. A mistake from de la Cuesta gave Lazio an equaliser in the 23rd, but a shove on Lennartsson in the area three minutes later saw Neumayr put through our second from the spot. Semler did well to get around a defender in the 36th, and though his shot was parried, Papa Waigo pounced on the rebound for our third. Semler hit in a pass from Andrea Briotti just before half time, leaving us with a seemingly unbeatable 4-1 lead at the break. The first thirty minutes of the second half were quite dull until finally Semler tackled a defender, got past another opponent and slammed in his hat-trick. Eight goals in four games for the forward. I brought on Thiago Motta and Ole Brichkus for a run in the final fifteen minutes, and in the 84th, Motta headed down a Kalú pass for Lennartsson to volley in. I almost certainly won’t be able to re-sign Lennartsson (he’s rejected up to £25K, and I’m not going any higher), which is a shame considering how well he’s done this season. Brichkus struck home a Motta corner a few minutes later, leaving it as a record 7-1 win against a mid-table side. We may be unlikely to take top spot, but that’s a hell of a statement right there. Vicenza and Juventus both drew their games. Following that match, I re-signed coach Stéphane Wiertelak and assistant manager Giacomo Tafuro. The midweek games saw some interesting results. Juventus and Vicenza had played one fewer game than us until these, so this took us level on games with two more in the season. While Vicenza defeated Brescia 3-0, bringing them to within three points of us, Juventus lost 1-2 to Inter. Not only did this keep them level on points with us, it cut their goal difference advantage to 6. Before the Lazio game, the goal difference between Ancona and Juventus was so huge that it would have been laughable to consider it as a factor. Now, it’s not quite so far-fetched. The penultimate game of the season for Ancona was at home against 19th placed Chievo. Lennartsson and Motta missed with suspension and injury respectively, but Rabito started on the right wing. Juventus were facing Bologna (8th), while Vicenza played Inter (9th). The first half of our game was pretty quiet, with several Semler shots saved in the scoreless half. Juventus was also 0-0, while Vicenza were two goals down at the break. After 67 minutes, the situation was the same. While it certainly wasn’t a bad position, I really wanted three points out of this game against a weaker opponent. It was not to be. Vicenza managed to get one goal back, but fell away from us with a 1-2 loss, while we remained equal on points with Juventus. Since we’re still behind them on goal difference, we will have to rely on them losing or drawing in order to take top spot. It all came down to the final match of the season. Ironically, we were facing Inter – the side that helped us out by defeating Juventus and Vicenza in their last two games. Juventus were facing Udinese, one of the weaker sides in Serie A. Then again, that didn’t mean much when we faced Chievo… Inter took the lead in the 6th with a shot that went in off the post. Could those couple of inches between going in and out cost us the title? Rabito made it all the way from the midfield to the area in the 36th with an incredible shot, but his shot from the edge of the area went just wide. Juventus were still level with Udinese at the break, so we needed two more goals. I pushed Rabito forward and Messner to the midfield, leaving us with only three defenders, which only succeeded in allowing Inter to score a second in the 53rd. That just about ended our title chances, particularly with a goal to Juventus moments later. Udinese equalised in the 70th, but a third to Inter in the 75th made sure there was no title for Ancona. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Donners Posted June 28, 2004 Author Share Posted June 28, 2004 The season in review Summary <pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre"> 2nd in Italian Serie A Squad Screen | Pkd | Inf | Name | Apps | Gls | Asts | MoM | Pass | Tck | Drb | Sh Tar | Av R | Value | | -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | MC | Wnt | Lennartsson, N* | 36 | 13 | 9 | 7 | 70 % | 3.27 | 0.85 | 54 % | 7.53 | £9.75M | | -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | FC | | Semler, B | 36 | 27 | 5 | 5 | 58 % | 0.96 | 1.86 | 71 % | 7.64 | £11M | | -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | DC | Wnt | de la Cuesta, J | 36 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 72 % | 3.04 | 0.42 | 100 % | 7.00 | £5.25M | | -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | FC | | Papa Waigo | 34 | 17 | 16 | 7 | 64 % | 0.70 | 1.94 | 72 % | 7.68 | £13.75M | | -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | DL | | Briotti, A* | 33 (1) | 0 | 5 | 0 | 74 % | 2.78 | 1.03 | 100 % | 6.94 | £3.7M | | -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | DR | | Messner, N | 32 (4) | 1 | 3 | 0 | 64 % | 3.69 | 2.28 | 88 % | 7.39 | £6M | | -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | MC | | Neumayr, M | 29 (3) | 8 | 1 | 1 | 74 % | 2.96 | 0.37 | 70 % | 7.09 | £3.9M | | -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | ML | Unh | Kalù, I | 28 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 62 % | 3.24 | 2.89 | 47 % | 7.25 | £4.7M | | -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | SB3 | | Martin, L | 27 (4) | 0 | 9 | 0 | 70 % | 1.85 | 0.80 | 60 % | 6.84 | £6.5M | | -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | MR | | Rabito, A* | 27 (1) | 7 | 7 | 3 | 55 % | 2.56 | 3.67 | 46 % | 7.32 | £8.75M | | -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | DC | | Luz, N | 24 (1) | 0 | 1 | 0 | 75 % | 2.44 | 0.13 | 80 % | 7.12 | £2M | | -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | GK | | Lee, T | 24 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 44 % | - | - | - | 6.33 | £875K | | -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | SB5 | Wnt | Sarr | 19 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 68 % | 2.67 | 0.40 | 66 % | 7.16 | £2M | | -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | | Inj | Ferrari, D | 12 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 42 % | - | - | - | 6.25 | £850K | | -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | | | Motta, T | 11 (6) | 0 | 5 | 0 | 69 % | 2.07 | 0.99 | 54 % | 6.76 | £5.75M | | -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | | | Zamperini, A | 11 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 76 % | 2.32 | 0.96 | - | 6.91 | £1.4M | | -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | SB1 | Unh | Hammond | 8 (1) | 0 | 0 | 1 | 74 % | 2.39 | 0.13 | - | 6.56 | £1.6M | | -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | SB7 | Unh | Hoffmann, M | 7 (2) | 3 | 4 | 0 | 64 % | 0.81 | 2.30 | 91 % | 7.11 | £2.8M | | -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | | | Torres, T | 6 (2) | 1 | 0 | 0 | 78 % | 2.91 | 0.18 | 33 % | 6.75 | £3.1M | | -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | | | Storari, M | 6 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 46 % | - | - | - | 6.00 | £725K | | -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | SB2 | | Adu, F | 5 (12) | 1 | 2 | 0 | 55 % | 2.83 | 1.08 | 60 % | 6.76 | £0 | | -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | | | Pozzi, N | 4 (4) | 2 | 1 | 0 | 59 % | 1.11 | 0.22 | 70 % | 6.75 | £3.1M | | -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | SB6 | Unh | Grillo, F | 4 (1) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 65 % | 1.36 | - | - | 6.00 | £1.5M | | -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | | | O'Brien, N | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 46 % | - | - | 33 % | 3.00 | £130K | | -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | | | Pappalardo, T | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 75 % | 1.00 | - | - | 6.00 | £1.3M | | -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | | | Perrone, A | 0 (5) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 86 % | 1.89 | - | - | 6.40 | £650K | | -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | SB4 | | Brichkus, O | 0 (3) | 1 | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | - | 7.00 | £1.9M | | -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | | | Gardiner, B | 0 (3) | 0 | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | - | 6.33 | £40K | | -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| </pre> <pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre"> Holders - Juventus | Pos | Inf | Team | | Pld | Won | Drn | Lst | For | Ag | G.D. | Pts | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 1st | C | Juventus | | 38 | 21 | 10 | 7 | 58 | 23 | +35 | 73 | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 2nd | | Ancona | | 38 | 22 | 6 | 10 | 76 | 49 | +27 | 72 | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 3rd | | Vicenza | | 38 | 20 | 8 | 10 | 75 | 50 | +25 | 68 | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 4th | | Brescia | | 38 | 19 | 10 | 9 | 73 | 55 | +18 | 67 | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 5th | | Palermo | | 38 | 18 | 10 | 10 | 68 | 39 | +29 | 64 | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 6th | | Sampdoria | | 38 | 16 | 12 | 10 | 49 | 45 | +4 | 60 | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 7th | | Inter | | 38 | 17 | 8 | 13 | 60 | 47 | +13 | 59 | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 8th | | Bologna | | 38 | 14 | 16 | 8 | 59 | 44 | +15 | 58 | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 9th | | Milan | | 38 | 15 | 12 | 11 | 60 | 49 | +11 | 57 | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 10th | | Parma | | 38 | 17 | 6 | 15 | 48 | 43 | +5 | 57 | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 11th | | Atalanta | | 38 | 16 | 8 | 14 | 63 | 60 | +3 | 56 | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 12th | | Roma | | 38 | 15 | 7 | 16 | 72 | 61 | +11 | 52 | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 13th | | Napoli | | 38 | 11 | 10 | 17 | 46 | 54 | -8 | 43 | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 14th | | Lazio | | 38 | 11 | 10 | 17 | 47 | 71 | -24 | 43 | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 15th | | Udinese | | 38 | 11 | 8 | 19 | 39 | 61 | -22 | 41 | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 16th | | Torino | | 38 | 8 | 15 | 15 | 45 | 71 | -26 | 39 | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 17th | | Verona | | 38 | 9 | 11 | 18 | 50 | 77 | -27 | 38 | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 18th | R | Reggina | | 38 | 10 | 4 | 24 | 42 | 76 | -34 | 34 | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 19th | R | Chievo | | 38 | 5 | 17 | 16 | 43 | 71 | -28 | 32 | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 20th | R | Fiorentina | | 38 | 6 | 10 | 22 | 38 | 65 | -27 | 28 | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| </pre> I certainly didn’t see that coming at the start of the season. It’s disappointing to think of the points we threw away in the first few games, considering how tight the finish was. Nonetheless, we are now back in the Champions Cup and could well have an impact there again. I’m not quite sure how to explain our dramatic improvement. Goalkeeping was our biggest glaring weakness twelve months ago, and it remains that way today, so that certainly didn’t help. The inclusion of Semler was obviously very important – not only did he score plenty, but for perhaps the first time in our history, he actually provided a deadly striking *team* with Papa Waigo. Bucchi and Rungratsamee never played much together and Rabito and Papa Waigo didn’t work out due to Rabito’s injuries, so this was a refreshing change. perhaps the best reason is simply that apart from goalkeeping, we were solid in every area with both stars and solid backups. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Terk Posted June 28, 2004 Share Posted June 28, 2004 so close Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Donners Posted June 29, 2004 Author Share Posted June 29, 2004 I know. But then again, did we really deserve to finish ahead of a side which conceded 23 goals in 38 games?! Wrapping it up We had some success in the Serie A awards, with Borut Semler third as the Serie A Player of the Year and top goalscorer and Semler, Messner and Lennartsson in the Team of the Year. Messner came third in the award for the Foreign Player of the Year, with former Ancona forward Supat Rungratsamee second. I finally managed to re-sign Nordin Lennartsson for another three seasons. He actually became the highest-paid player at the club with the £22K per week deal, and will hopefully prove himself worthy. Marco Storari announced his retirement, so there’s £725K down the drain. Confederations Cup Group A: Australia 2 [Tunbridge 88, Teinert 90 (pen)] d. Canada 0 My only signing of the off-season was 15-year-old striker Kent B. Guisti, for £150K from Cittadella, and that won’t take place until July. I made a £4.4M bid for Italian international goalkeeper Ivan Pelizzoli, but he wasn’t interested in joining. Confederations Cup Group A: Australia 1 [bresciano 68] lost to France 3 [Anelka 43, 88; Arfa 90] Confederations Cup Group A: Australia 0 lost to England 2 [Owen 20, 28] (Australia is eliminated from Confederations Cup) Around the world: major awards and results Ancona Supporters’ Player of the Year: Papa Waigo World Player of the Year: Jay Bothroyd (Chelsea) World Footballer of the year: Philippe Mexés (Real Madrid) England: Arsenal (six straight!) Spain: Celta Champions Cup: Real Sociedad UEFA Cup: Mallorca Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Donners Posted June 30, 2004 Author Share Posted June 30, 2004 The Transfers Transfers In <pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre"> | Date | Person | From | Fee | | -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 22.6.2010 | Mooney, Richard | Free Transfer | Free | | -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 1.7.2010 | Martin, Lee | Bolton | Free | | -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 24.7.2010 | Manzoni, Habib | Free Transfer | Free | | -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 1.8.2010 | Semler, Borut | Barcelona | Free | | -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 1.8.2010 | Grillo, Fabrizio | Roma | Free | | -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 1.8.2010 | Motta, Thiago | Real Sociedad | Free | | -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 1.8.2010 | Messner, Nurullo | Rayo | Free | | -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 4.8.2010 | Pozzi, Nicola | Perugia | Free | | -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 29.11.2010 | Hoffmann, Mohd Nizaruddin | Gladbach | Free | | -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 28.1.2011 | Storari, Marco | Atalanta | £725K | | -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | | | | | | -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | | Total | | £725K | | -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | | | | | | -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| </pre> Transfers Out <pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">| Date | Person | To | Fee | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 1.7.2010 | Rossi, Generoso | Fiorentina | £575K | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 31.7.2010 | Potenza, Alessandro | Free Transfer | Free | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 31.7.2010 | Gyan, Christian | Free Transfer | Free | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 31.7.2010 | Cassani, Mattia | Free Transfer | Free | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 31.7.2010 | Webb | Free Transfer | Free | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 1.8.2010 | Morgan, Héctor Alejandro | Preston | Free | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 1.8.2010 | Purse, Darren | Empoli | Free | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 1.8.2010 | Eckhardt, Sharle Agenor | Free Transfer | Free | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 1.8.2010 | Krause | Free Transfer | Free | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 1.8.2010 | McGowan | Free Transfer | Free | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 1.8.2010 | El Kadouri, Badr | Free Transfer | Free | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | | | | | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | | Total | | £575K | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | | | | | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| </pre> Loans Out <pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">| Date | Person | To | Fee | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 8.7.2010 | Kok, Aldo Jair | Crotone | Loan | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 28.7.2010 | Gibbs, Alex | Ternana | Loan | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 31.7.2010 | Baggio, Takayasu | Crotone | Loan | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 26.8.2010 | Frimann, Hélio | Avellino | Loan | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 27.8.2010 | Arthur | Salernitana | Loan | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 27.8.2010 | Webb, Chi Yuen | Cagliari | Loan | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 29.1.2011 | Pietravallo, Juan MartÃn | Perugia | Loan | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | | | | | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | | Total | | £0 | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | | | | | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| </pre> It’s tempting to call the 10/11 transfers a success on the back of Semler’s performance alone. He was stunning, and a major reason for our success. Messner was also great, while Hoffmann showed promise and Martin was solid. It wasn’t all good news, though. Pozzi was unremarkable, Grillo and Motta were at best mediocre, Storari was a dismal failure and the young players showed nothing. Our players out were no real loss or gain to the side. At least the loans out were of some use, with Webb cementing a senior spot with fine form in Serie B, Kok showing promise and Frimann and Arthur at least saving a bit of money by going out. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Donners Posted July 1, 2004 Author Share Posted July 1, 2004 Pre-Season 2011/2012 Plenty of big news to kick off the season. I picked up £9M in TV rights, and only lost £1.4M to shareholders. I was given the reasonable expectation of a respectable spot (though the fans expect us to win the title) with a transfer budget of £31.5M. Most amazing of all, I finally got some players up from my academy! They are: striker Eleandro José D’Innocenzo (capped at Schoolboy level), midfielder Mauricio Omar Iodice and defender Schiavi. I also received quite a shock, being sacked as Australian manager. I hadn’t had great success, but against sides like France and England with very few players to choose from (I wasn’t running the Australian league), what chance did I have? Defender Syed Dupuy and striker Kent B. Guisti arrived as planned at the start of the month. I failed to sign goalkeepers Stuart Taylor (he chose Liverpool over us) and Ivan Pelizzoli (Deportivo). I gained a mere £24K from goalkeeper Federico Agliardi’s sell-on clause after he was bought by Lazio for £120K. A number of bids around £1.6M from major teams came for English defender Hammond, and considering my strength in this area combined with his poor form in the seniors, I agreed to them. He eventually decided on a loan deal at Newcastle, with £400K up front and a further £1.2M if they wanted to buy him. Arthur was loaned out to Triestina. The turn of the month saw a number of changes to the squad, most going out. Strikers Alex Gibbs, Belhassen Gardiner and Narimon O’Brien, defender Hélio Frimann and winger Michael Berntsen were released, as were a number of youth players and coach Daniel Borimirov. German forward Hartwig was the only player to arrive. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Donners Posted July 2, 2004 Author Share Posted July 2, 2004 The Squad <pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">| Pkd | Inf | Name | Squad Status | Basic Wage | Contract Expiry | Offer Options | Asking Price | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | MR | | Rabito, A* | Key Player | £15,000 | 31.7.2012 | None | £8.75M | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | DL | | Briotti, A | First Team | £10,250 | 31.7.2013 | None | £3.7M | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | MC | | Lennartsson, N* | First Team | £22,000 | 31.7.2014 | None | £9.75M | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | DC | | Luz, N | First Team | £4,000 | 31.7.2012 | None | £2M | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | ML | | Martin, L | First Team | £6,500 | 31.7.2013 | None | £7.75M | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | DR | | Messner, N | First Team | £18,000 | 31.7.2013 | None | £6.5M | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | FC | | Papa Waigo* | First Team | £20,000 | 31.7.2013 | None | £13.75M | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | FC | | Semler, B | First Team | £12,000 | 31.7.2013 | None | £10.5M | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | DC | Wnt | de la Cuesta, J | First Team | £2,400 | 31.7.2012 | None | £5.25M | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | | | Adu, F | Rotation | £3,500 | 31.7.2013 | None | N/A | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | SB5 | | Dupuy, S | Rotation | £4,000 | 31.7.2014 | None | £1.7M | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | SB1 | Unh | Hoffmann, M | Rotation | £3,500 | 31.7.2013 | None | £2.6M | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | MC | Unh | Kalù, I | Rotation | £3,000 | 31.7.2012 | None | £4.7M | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | GK | | Lee, T | Rotation | £4,200 | 31.7.2012 | None | £875K | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | SB2 | | Motta, T | Rotation | £8,500 | 31.7.2013 | None | £5.75M | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | SB3 | | Neumayr, M | Rotation | £9,000 | 31.7.2013 | None | £3.9M | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | SB4 | | Sarr | Rotation | £6,000 | 31.7.2013 | None | £2M | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | | | Torres, T | Rotation | £4,000 | 31.7.2012 | None | £3.1M | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | | | Zamperini, A | Rotation | £5,000 | 31.7.2012 | None | £1.4M | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | | | Brichkus, O | Backup | £4,500 | 31.7.2012 | None | £1.9M | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | | Unh | Grillo, F | Backup | £5,250 | 31.7.2013 | None | £1.5M | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | | | Hartwig | Backup | £2,900 | 31.7.2014 | None | £3M | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | | | Perrone, A | Backup | £575 | 31.7.2012 | None | £650K | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | | | Pozzi, N | Backup | £4,500 | 31.7.2013 | None | £3.2M | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | SB6 | Wnt | Ferrari, D | Hot Prospect | £750 | 31.7.2012 | Rej lower offers | £850K | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | | | Pappalardo, T | Hot Prospect | £675 | 31.7.2013 | None | £1.4M | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | SB7 | | Webb, C | Hot Prospect | £625 | 31.7.2014 | None | £2.1M | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | | | White, S | Hot Prospect | £1,100 | 31.7.2013 | None | £1.6M | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | | | | | | | | | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| </pre> Total Players: 42 Wage Budget: £750,000 Total Weekly Wages at 5/8/11: £188,433 Goalkeepers Daniel Ferrari [22, GK, ITA – Capped at U21 level] – 5, 19, 0 After failing to cement his spot in the side last season despite the poor form of Tommy Lee, Ferrari’s place at the side has to be in some doubt. This is his last season under contract, and at this rate it may not be renewed. Tommy Lee [25, GK, ENG – Capped at U21 level] – 3, 114, 0 Having failed in my attempts to replace Lee, I guess I’m stuck with him as #1 goalkeeper for another season. He only let through just over a goal a game, but never looked reliable in goal. I may have to re-sign him if I can’t find a replacement. Defenders Andrea Briotti [25, D LC, ITA – 2/0] – 5, 147, 2 Another good season from Briotti, who continues to hold together our defence. I’ve thankfully signed him until 2013, so that’s one less thing to worry about. 06/07 Serie A Young Player of the Year, Ancona captain 09/10-present José Julián de la Cuesta [28, D LC, COL – 25/3] – 4, 121, 4 Still attracting attention from major clubs like FC Bayern, de la Cuesta has been a key part of our defence for the last four seasons. His contract ends this season, which is a major concern. Perhaps a sale in the next few months would be my best bet, but that would weaken the defence. Syed Dupuy [21, Sw/D C, FRA – 17 U21/3] Yet another centre back, Dupuy spent time at Newcastle and Paris-CG without ever making much of an impact. He’s very tall but otherwise pretty unremarkable. Fabrizio Grillo [24, Sw/D C, ITA – Capped at U21 level] – 1, 5, 0 Dropped out of the senior side after an early groin injury and never looked good enough to get back in. It’s hard to see him playing much this season. Norizam Luz [27, D C, ARG] – 2, 55, 2 Another good season from the centre back, who formed a sold team with Briotti, de la Cuesta and Messner. He should do the same again this season. Nurullo Messner [27, D/M RC, AUT – 32/4] – 2, 52, 4 Though I prefer him on the right wing, Messner did an excellent job at right back throughout last season. He should do the same again this year. 09/10, 10/11 Serie A Team of the Year, 09/10 Italian Defender of the Year, 10/11 Serie A Foreign Player of the Year 3rd placed Tse Lung Pappalardo [21, D C, ITA – 12 U21/4] – 5, 19, 0 Played only one game last season and didn’t look too flash in the Under-20s. It’s time for him to perform, but it’ll be difficult to get in with so many centre backs around. Antonio Perrone [25, D C, ITA] – 3, 18, 0 Has had no impact in three seasons, and is unlikely to find a spot in the seniors. Sarr [27, D RC, SEN – 46] – 5, 127, 5 Dropped out of the senior side to an extent due to the fine form of Messner, but still did enough to be part of my plans for this season. He’s a solid and dependable player, which is how I like my defenders. Alessandro Zamperini [28, D LC, ITA] – 6, 136, 0 Only a fringe player, but with hopefully a long Champions Cup run, I can use plenty of depth. Zamperini could be very useful in this regard. Midfielders Freddy Adu [22, AM/F RC, USA – 52/6] – 8, 133, 9 While he looks to have improved his game over the past few years, Adu is yet to come close to consistent good performances on the pitch. With White and Webb coming through, he may find himself out of the seniors picture. Ikechukwu Kalú [27, AM RLC, NGA – 15/2] – 3, 102, 5 After such a great 09/10, last season was a bit of a disappointment from Kalú. He didn’t create nearly enough goals, and only scored one for the season. I’m not sure about re-signing him yet. 09/10 Serie A Team of the Year Nordin Lennartsson [28, AM C, SWE – 18/8] – 6, 220, 40 Last season was Lennartsson’s best, scoring at a rate of more than a goal every three games (many from free kicks) and setting up several others. He’s now our highest-paid player, and should continue to star in the middle. 10/11 Serie A Team of the Year Lee Martin [24, AM RL, ENG] – 1, 31, 0 A pretty solid start from Martin at Ancona, playing mostly on the left and setting up a few goals. He didn’t have as much impact as I’d like, and will be under pressure from Motta this season. Thiago Motta [28, AM L, BRA – Capped at U21 level] – 1, 17, 0 Not a bad season from Motta considering he didn’t get many chances. Should play a bit more this year with the increased number of games. Markus Neumayr [25, M C, GER – Capped at U21 level] – 4, 133, 17 A big improver last season, Neumayr was a dependable member of the midfield. He doesn’t create nearly enough goals for a playmaker, but controls the play in the middle. Juan MartÃn Pietravallo [29, DM C, ARG – Capped at U21 level] – 4, 36, 0 Did nothing on loan at Perugia and will have no role to play this season. Andrea Rabito [31, F RC, ITA – 7/2] – 6, 191, 52 A fine return to form for our star after injury. He scored regularly from the right wing and set up several goals. He doesn’t seem to have lost any of his skill, and I will seriously consider re-signing him. 07/08 Serie A Player of the Year runner-up, Supporters’ Player of the Year 08/09 Taikai Torres [28, AM C, MEX – 9/0] – 2, 30, 2 Hasn’t earned a regular spot in the seniors and will struggle to play many games. Chi Yuen Webb [19, DM RLC, ENG – 8 U21/4] – 3, 13, 0 Starred on loan in Serie B with Cagliari last season, and will get a chance at Ancona’s seniors this year. He’s got plenty of pace and his skills are improving. Sobir White [21, AM C, ENG] – 4, 13, 0 White became quite vocal at his absence from the seniors late last season, and he will get a shot at senior football early this season to see if his complaints are justified. Very quick and pretty good with the ball. Forwards Ole Brichkus [27, S C, LTU – 24/9] – 2, 37, 10 Brichkus only played three games last season due to a spinal injury, but looked quite dangerous in those games. Should play a semi-regular role this season. Hartwig [20, F LC, GER – 7 U21/0] Hartwig arrives from Elche as a promising forward. He scored six goals in twenty-six games in the Spanish First Division before being dropped to their “B†side and eventually released. He’s quick and classy, and should get a few senior games this season. Mohd Nizaruddin Hoffmann [19, S C, GER – 4 U21/0] – 1, 9, 3 Hoffmann looked quite good in his few games last season. He could form a decent side with fellow promising German forward Hartwig, as both will play senior football this season. Papa Waigo [27, F LC, SEN – 31/17] – 3, 111, 61 Though not our leading scorer last season, Papa Waigo still had a massive impact with seventeen goals and sixteen assists. I was very pleased to sign him for another two seasons, as there’s no reason why he can’t continue this incredible form. Supporters’ Player of the Year 09/10, 10/11 Nicola Pozzi [25, S C, ITA – Capped at U21 level] – 1, 8, 2 Had little impact last season, and with two promising young strikers likely to play, he may not get many chances to prove himself. Borut Semler [26, F RC, SVN – 27/15] – 1, 36, 27 An incredible performance on his first season with Ancona. Semler formed a brilliant partnership with Papa Waigo, scoring at an astonishing rate. With both signed for two more seasons, there could be plenty of goals for them to share in the near future. 10/11 Serie A Player of the Year 3rd placed, Serie A leading goalscorer runner-up 10/11, 10/11 Serie A Team of the Year Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Terk Posted July 2, 2004 Share Posted July 2, 2004 if lee has a better season between the sticks(unlikely) and waigo and semler continue their excellent partnership (more than likely) perhaps ancona can make that final step and take the title. i live in eternal optimism FORZA ANCONA!! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Donners Posted July 3, 2004 Author Share Posted July 3, 2004 The beauty of it is that even with a weak goalkeeper, we have enough scoring power to be able to beat sides even after conceding a goal or two. We may be in trouble if Semler or Papa Waigo get injured/out of form, though... The Likely Side: (Playing with a 4-4-2) GK – Tommy Lee LB – Andrea Briotti CB – José Julián de la Cuesta CB – Norizam Luz RB – Nurullo Messner LM – Lee Martin CM – Nordin Lennartsson CM – Ikechukwu Kalú RM – Andrea Rabito CF – Papa Waigo CF – Borut Semler Sub – Daniel Ferrari Sub – Taikai Torres Sub – Sarr Sub – Thiago Motta Sub – Markus Neumayr Sub – Mohd Nizaruddin Hoffmann Sub – Chi Yuen Webb All Up… Last season, I said I wish I had that squad for the Champions Cup. We are now just as strong as we were then – perhaps slightly stronger – and it’s time to see what this squad is capable of in the top club competition. Goalkeeping is still the glaring weakness. Neither Ferrari nor Lee are reliable, and I have failed to sign a replacement. This places plenty of pressure on the defence, but at least that’s an area where we’re looking good. Messner, de la Cuesta, Luz and Briotti form a strong quartet, and there’s enough backup there to ensure that even a few injuries won’t have too much impact. Our midfield looks great, with plenty of creativity and scoring potential. Add in the youth of Webb, White and Adu, and you have a pretty strong line-up. Our forwards are probably the key to our success. Papa Waigo and Semler were unstoppable last season. Hoffmann and Hartwig look capable backups, but it’s the two stars who will have plenty of pressure on them to perform again. Perhaps the biggest concern is the number of senior players whose contracts expire at the end of this season. Kalú, Ferrari, Lee, Luz, Rabito, Zamperini and de la Cuesta are among them, which could see our wage bill blow out significantly. I’ve had enough trouble finding a goalkeeper, so I certainly don’t want to replace my two current ones – but nor do I want to pay them large wages after such poor performances. The Staff Giacomo Tafuro (Assistant Manager) Gilberto Vallesi (Coach) Roberto Bocchino (Coach) Roberto Corti (Coach) Giannicola Pinotti (Coach) Giuseppe Venturelli (Coach) Udalrico Tretter (Coach) Stéphane Wiertelak (Coach) Massimo Tabai (Coach) Tommy Berntsen (Coach) Salvatore Gnisci (Physio) Massimo D’Ambrosio (Physio) David Jarrett (Scout) Rob Campkin (Scout) Julian Carrera (Scout) Tim Davies (Scout) Peter Krobbach (Scout) Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Donners Posted July 4, 2004 Author Share Posted July 4, 2004 August, season 2011/2012 I grabbed top coaches França and Å°mit Davala at the start of August, but missed out on a few good strikers who had been released. I did, however, purchase one (gasp!) – Colombian Carlos Daniel Hidalgo. Carlos Daniel Hidalgo [25, F RLC, COL – Capped at U21 level] Signed for £500K, Hidalgo has been a devastating force for Pasto in the Colombian First Division. He’s put through 122 goals in 175 games, and looks to be a very well-rounded player who could fill in as a partner for any striker at Ancona. He probably won’t continue his exceptional scoring record at quite the same rate in Serie A, but the occasional goal would be useful. Ancona 0 drew Napoli 0 Ancona 1 [Hartwig 72 (pen)] d. Cittadella 0 I grabbed 19-year-old former Roma goalkeeper Fantini on a free transfer as a long-term prospect. Tenerife made an £875K bid for 18-year-old midfielder Aldo Jair Kok, but I decided to hang onto the promising young player. Ancona 2 [Hoffmann 23; Webb 67] d. Avezzano 0 Bologna came in with a £2.5M bid for striker Nicola Pozzi just before the start of the season. On the one hand, I was happy at this – I had no first team plans for him, had already signed a new striker and could use the money with plenty of extra wages and signing-on fees to be paid in a few months. On the other, I was a little suspicious. He hadn’t shown much, so that’s a pretty big bid to be making for an unproven player. Other managers have a habit of knowing a bit more about players than I do, which made me suspect Pozzi was a bit better than I thought. Nonetheless, the money was tempting, so I accepted the deal. I guess I’ll have to wait and see whether it was a good choice or not. I also sent Aldo Jair Kok on loan to Reggina, but rejected a loan bid from Chievo for Chi Yuen Webb. Both Chelsea and Deportivo made £6M bids for José de la Cuesta in the final days of August, leaving me in a difficult position. I wanted to keep him around for our Champions Cup run, but his wage demands of £27K (ten times what he’s currently getting) made it pretty difficult for me to re-sign him beyond the end of this season. I accepted the bids and went looking for another defender. Before I could work out de la Cuesta’s fate, we faced Bologna in the first and only league game of the month. Semler started the season as he finished the last, hitting two goals in the first half. The first was from a sharp Nordin Lennartsson pass, the second came from his own parried shot. Supat Rungratsamee put one through for Bologna in the 56th, but we held him off after that. Carlos Daniel Hidalgo made his debut late and put Lennartsson through with a short header for the midfielder to seal the 3-1 win with two minutes to go. Ancona were named in a Champions Cup group with Celta, Montpellier and Austria Vienna – not a bad result at all. We were also given odds of 33-1 to win the title – equal third best in Serie A. Unfortunately, while José de la Cuesta accepted Chelsea’s £6M bid, a delay of a few days for a work permit took the deal to September – beyond the transfer window. Rather than being re-scheduled for January, the deal was cancelled. Rats. I may well re-sign him if he plays well, but I’d have preferred the £6M. My other attempts to sign players, such as Syrian midfielder M Al-Qader and Argentinian international defender Gonzalo RodrÃguez failed. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Donners Posted July 5, 2004 Author Share Posted July 5, 2004 September, season 2011/2012 Papa Waigo had a powerful start against Parma in our second league game of the season, forcing three saves in the first 25 minutes. Nordin Lennartsson also had several attempts at goal, but despite seven shots between these two in the half, we weren’t just scoreless, but a goal down thanks to a 35th minute strike from Parma. Finally, Messner came forward in the 59th, got past a defender and fired the ball at the goal. The keeper got across to save it, but Semler volleyed in the rebound. Papa Waigo followed up with a great solo effort a few minutes later to make it 2-1. Lennartsson had a long-range shot held in the 67th and while it looked like Parma equalised with ten minutes to go, it was ruled out due to an earlier free kick. I brought on Chi Yuen Webb as a defensive midfielder to help us hold out, but as it turned out fellow substitute Mohd Hoffman hit our third just before the final whistle after winning the ball from a defender. Three goals in two games for Semler, as well as a second convincing league win for Ancona. We were given odds of 25-1 to win the Champions Cup, while new defender Syed Dupuy complained about his inability to settle in Italy. José de la Cuesta missed our next game against Napoli after suffering a slight injury playing for Colombia. Syed Dupuy debuted in his place. We struggled to break through early, but finally scored in the 37th when a Lennartsson free kick deflected off a defender and into the net. A diving header in the 54th brought Napoli level, but Semler quickly regained the lead for Ancona a dozen minutes later. Lennartsson hit his second three minutes after that to seal the game. A brilliant save denied him his hat-trick in the final minutes, but a 3-1 win was good enough for me. Our first Champions Cup game was at home against Montpellier, a side sitting on the bottom of the French First League after eight games. They were missing five first-team players, including two star midfielders, so I was quite confident of a positive result. Unfortunately, by the end of the first half, we’d had just one shot, and that player – Andrea Rabito – had been sent off for a second yellow card. The second half did not go much better, and when I brought on Freddie Adu for Norizam Luz in the 70th, it all fell apart. Montpellier suddenly slammed on two goals in the next eight minutes, then added another two before the final whistle, with a fifth disallowed. Tommy Lee and the defenders were simply carved up as we crumbled to a loss that could come close to destroying our chances in the Champions Cup even at this early stage. A few senior players were rested against Torino after that terrible loss. Lennartsson had seven shots in the first half, but not one got through. Nothing happened in the second half, leaving us with a 0-0 draw. Our next game against Vicenza was only three days later, so a number of senior players were rested. Fringe players Chi Yuen Webb and Ole Brichkus had early shots saved, with Brichkus also hitting the upright with one shot from within the area. Vicenza scored from their first real chance just after half time and looked like holding it with Carlos Daniel Hidalgo missing several shots. However, a corner from Lee Martin in the 65th saw a Brichkus header parried straight to Hidalgo. He finally slotted it in for his first Ancona goal. Webb gave him a chance for a second in the 85th with a short header, but his finish was disappointing. Briotti sent a 50-yard pass forward in the 89th, which Webb managed to get on the end of. He didn’t pass it off this time, running into the area and slamming the ball home to cap off a Man of the Match performance while earning us a 2-1 win. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Donners Posted July 6, 2004 Author Share Posted July 6, 2004 October, season 2011/2012 A big match to start October, with Ancona facing Milan. Unfortunately, it did not bring a big performance from our players. With Ferrari in goal, we were two goals down after just eighteen minutes, pretty much killing off our chances. The game petered out after that for our first league loss of the season. Our second Champions Cup game, away against Celta, was up next. After a 0-4 loss to French strugglers Montpellier, we had to do well here, but were without Andrea Rabito through suspension. Tommy Lee returned to keeping duties. The first half had little action to speak of, with one save at each end. The second half was a very different story. José de la Cuesta, who had an awful game, conceded a penalty in the 53rd with a trip. However, Tommy Lee managed to save it, and we made Celta pay with Kalú and Papa Waigo combining for the latter to put through the first of the game three minutes later. Celta equalised slightly after that, and with misses to Lennartsson and Semler, we looked set for a draw. A Celta header which deflected off Kalú and into the net with five minutes to go put that in significant jeopardy. I switched to a 3-5-2 formation, moving Nurullo Messner from defence to midfield. This was a dangerous move which cost us several goals against Montpellier, and was made even worse by the poor performances from Norizam Luz and de la Cuesta. Lee made a save early in injury time, but Celta controlled most of the play. We forced them into a hurried clearance two minutes into injury time, which was picked up by Luz in the middle. He came down the right, totally unopposed, and crossed from near the edge of the pitch to the near post. There to meet it was Nurullo Messner, rising above a defender and heading the ball into the net with seconds to go. The final whistle blew before there was time for a kick off. We remained on the bottom of our group, but at least had a point on the board. After two pretty flat performances, we needed to get back on track against Perugia in Serie A. A great chance for Papa Waigo was saved early, then Perugia took the lead in the 14th. It only lasted one minute, with Semler getting around two defenders and the goalkeeper to score. Just two minutes later, Perugia were back to a goal in front. It was a game played in an attacking spirit, with plenty of chances at both ends, but somehow Perugia’s keeper kept everything out. I switched to the 3-5-2 formation with twenty minutes to go, but it only took five for Semler to intercept a clearance, run at the keeper and blast in his second. I remained with the attacking approach in hopes of claiming the three points, but we had to settle for just one. Roma came next. Both Lee and Ferrari were struggling badly, but I decided to give Ferrari another chance. I also left out de la Cuesta and Neumayr due to their poor form. Messner passed to Rabito for a powerful strike to put through our first in the 13th, and it remained 1-0 at half time. Roma equalised just after the break and it was only through a brilliant Ferrari parry in the 71st that we kept from going behind. The minutes ticked away without incident, again leaving us with only one point. Most of the first team players took a break against Sampdoria due to Ancona’s Champions Cup game a few days later. Kalú and Ole Brichkus missed shots in the first few minutes, and we went behind in the 22nd from Sampdoria’s first real chance. A second to Sampdoria ten minutes into the second half made things tougher and a third in the 73rd ended it. Three more in the final minutes left us with a dismal 0-6 hammering. With or without first team players, that’s a disgrace. Somehow we had to come back from that to face Austria Vienna in the Champions Cup. Martin sent in a 24th minute cross to Papa Waigo in the area. Unselfishly, he flicked in on to Semler alongside him, who hit it into the net for a much-needed good start for Ancona. Ferrari found Papa Waigo with a long clearance in the 41st, and his header put Semler straight through the defence for number two. The second half was just the Semler show. He looked certain to put through his hat-trick in the 48th with a close-range shot, but it was barely parried away. His lob three minutes later just floated over the crossbar, while his 71st minute long-range effort was held by the keeper. He got through the defence again in the 84th and fired the ball at the top corner only to see it come back off the upright. No hat-trick for the forward, but the win (our first of an awful month) took us to second spot in the group with three games to go. Our last game of this terrible October was away against Palermo. Andrea Rabito scored from a great solo effort 11 minutes in while Papa Waigo had a shot saved just before half time. Both Papa Waigo and Borut Semler had a ridiculous number of chances to seal the game in the second half, but Papa Waigo alone had four shots saved while Semler missed several. Thankfully, the defence (including the much-improved de la Cuesta) held on for the 1-0 win. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
DirtyJoe Posted July 6, 2004 Share Posted July 6, 2004 Well Donnors, looks like after an indifferent Oct, whip the boys back in shape for the Christmas run. Great Story btw Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Donners Posted July 7, 2004 Author Share Posted July 7, 2004 "Indifferent" is polite. I'd go with awful. But thanks anyway. November, season 2011/2012 I entered November hoping the poor performances of the previous month were well and truly behind us. Well, obviously the performances from last month were behind us, but I think you know what I mean. We faced Atlanta first, missing the in-form Rabito due to a minor leg injury. The first half was scoreless, but the second saw plenty of action in the first few minutes. Papa Waigo’s scoreless run (just two goals for the season) continued when he had a shot saved, while at the other end, Ferrari parried one shot but couldn’t stop the follow-up, leaving us behind after 54 minutes. Atlanta put one off the post in the 84th to end our chances of a win. Not really a bad performance, but the 0-2 result still hurt. Udinese came next. Chi Yuen Webb replaced the out-of-form Freddie Au on the right wing (who, in turn, was replacing Rabito), while Carlos Hidalgo partnered Borut Semler up forward. Eight minutes in, Hidalgo headed the ball down for Semler to fire into the net. Carlos Hidalgo gathered a 27th minute Briotti throw-in and crossed it neatly into the area. He was aiming for de la Cuesta, but fellow defender Norizam Luz rose up and headed in our second. Udinese pulled one back in the 36th, leaving it 2-1 at half time. Semler made sure of it with his 10th of the season with 25 minutes to go, thanks to a 45-yard Lennartsson pass, giving us a quite solid win. Since our only win from three Champions Cup games so far had come away against Austria Vienna, we needed a similarly good result from our home encounter with them. Papa Waigo helped set up our first, heading down a long Luz pass for Lennartsson to volley in from outside the area. Papa Waigo and Semler continued their recent trends, having shots saved and missing them altogether respectively. Nonetheless, we still held our lead mid-way through the second half, and looked like continuing to do so with some excellent saves from Ferrari. Mohd Hoffman came on for Papa Waigo late and looked set to score in the 90th minute, but was kept at bay by a last-ditch tackle. Three minutes into the four minutes of injury time, Austria Vienna got the ball into the area. Ferrari managed to block the first shot, but not the second. 1-1 with less than a minute to go. That went by all too quickly, leaving us with a draw. We remained in second place, but since Montpellier have already qualified, we have to fight two other sides for the remaining spot in the next stage. Back to the league, and strugglers Cagliari. Semler and Papa Waigo took a break, to be replaced by the forward team of young Takayasu Baggio (eight goals in eleven Under-20s games) and veteran Andrea Rabito. Cagliari scored the first early, putting pressure on the new forward team. In the following ten minutes, Baggio nearly scored with a wayward pass, missed a sitter and then hit the post. Matters got worse just before half time, with Luz picking up a red card. A 30-yard goal to Cagliari shortly into the second didn’t help. I replaced the forwards with Mohd Hoffmann and Carlos Hidalgo, and they combined to make it 1-2 in the 75th. I pushed for an equaliser, but with 10 men, that was just asking for trouble. Cagliari added a third a few minutes later, and it was suddenly 1-5 after 90 minutes. Lennartsson grabbed our second late, but it was far too late to get anything out of the game. Ferrari played badly and also suffered a calf strain, putting him out for three weeks. Despite that awful result, I received my first job offer after the game. It came from Roma, a side just slightly below us on the table. Though they had plenty of money and some big-name stars (Walter Samuel, Francesco Totti, Eidur Gudjohnsen, Tobias Rau), they weren’t in Europe and didn’t look to have much in the way of up-and-coming players. Therefore, I rejected the offer. Inter made an offer immediately after Roma, and provided a tougher choice. Though they were sitting behind both Ancona and Roma on the table, they had even more money and stars. Again, though, the side just didn’t seem prepared for the future, and the expectations would be just too high for such a big club. Again, I rejected the offer. Zamperini, Luz, Ferrari and Lennartsson all missed the next match against Como through a combination of injuries, suspension and fatigue. I also left out Baggio, bringing back Papa Waigo and Semler. Papa Waigo repaid me in 38 seconds, though most of the credit belongs to Nurullo Messner. He won the ball on the right wing shortly after the kick-off, charged forward and hit the ball straight through the defenders to Papa Waigo to run onto and score. Papa Waigo nearly had two in as many minutes, with a header from a Thiago Motta chip, but it was parried. Semler managed to get hold of the loose ball, however, and made it 2-0. He came into the area looking for his second fifteen minutes later, but was tackled. There to gather the ball was Andrea Rabito, playing on the right wing this time, and he put it straight into the top corner. 3-0 after 17 minutes. The goals dried up after that, but Semler put through his second in the 54th for a 4-0 win – albeit against the bottom-placed side. A big game next, with Ancona facing Montpellier away. We lost 0-4 in our last encounter, and needed a win to have a strong chance of progression. Rabito missed with a minor injury, but we still had most of the early play. Unfortunately, Semler missed three shots and then was forced off with a knock half-way through the first half. The first half finished scoreless, but four minutes into the second half, Luz and Messner exchanged passes before the former lobbed the ball into the area. Lennartsson was the unlikely target, sending a header into the net. Kalú made it 2-0 in the 73rd after a good run, sealing our progression to the next stage with a win against the previously undefeated Montpellier. <pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">Holders - Juventus | Pos | Inf | Team | | Pld | Won | Drn | Lst | For | Ag | G.D. | Pts | | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 1st | | Brescia | | 14 | 11 | 0 | 3 | 30 | 10 | +20 | 33 | | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 2nd | | Juventus | | 14 | 10 | 1 | 3 | 27 | 10 | +17 | 31 | | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 3rd | | Atalanta | | 14 | 9 | 2 | 3 | 35 | 22 | +13 | 29 | | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 4th | | Milan | | 14 | 8 | 4 | 2 | 27 | 12 | +15 | 28 | | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 5th | | Vicenza | | 14 | 8 | 2 | 4 | 26 | 15 | +11 | 26 | | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 6th | | Sampdoria | | 14 | 7 | 3 | 4 | 24 | 14 | +10 | 24 | | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 7th | | Parma | | 14 | 7 | 3 | 4 | 19 | 11 | +8 | 24 | | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 8th | | Ancona | | 14 | 7 | 3 | 4 | 24 | 23 | +1 | 24 | | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 9th | | Perugia | | 14 | 5 | 3 | 6 | 22 | 24 | -2 | 18 | | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 10th | | Roma | | 14 | 5 | 3 | 6 | 21 | 25 | -4 | 18 | | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 11th | | Inter | | 14 | 6 | 0 | 8 | 20 | 26 | -6 | 18 | | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 12th | | Lazio | | 14 | 5 | 2 | 7 | 19 | 26 | -7 | 17 | | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 13th | | Verona | | 14 | 4 | 4 | 6 | 23 | 26 | -3 | 16 | | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 14th | | Udinese | | 14 | 5 | 1 | 8 | 19 | 24 | -5 | 16 | | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 15th | | Torino | | 14 | 3 | 6 | 5 | 19 | 26 | -7 | 15 | | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 16th | | Bologna | | 14 | 4 | 3 | 7 | 14 | 22 | -8 | 15 | | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 17th | | Cagliari | | 14 | 5 | 0 | 9 | 18 | 28 | -10 | 15 | | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 18th | | Napoli | | 14 | 4 | 1 | 9 | 16 | 29 | -13 | 13 | | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 19th | | Palermo | | 14 | 3 | 2 | 9 | 8 | 18 | -10 | 11 | | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 20th | | Como | | 14 | 1 | 3 | 10 | 10 | 30 | -20 | 6 | | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| </pre> Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Donners Posted July 8, 2004 Author Share Posted July 8, 2004 December, season 2011/2012 Juventus were our first opponents for December. Zamperini, Rabito and Luz were still missing, and we were two goals down after sixteen minutes. It was 0-4 after forty minutes, and the worst bit was that Tommy Lee wasn’t playing that badly. A fifth from a penalty in the second half, but thankfully there were no more goals after that. 0-5 was bad enough. Maybe I should have accepted that Inter offer… Our first game in the Italian Cup was in the second round against Como, with the first leg at home. I rested most senior players, but Alessio Zamperini was able to set up Takayasu Baggio for his first Ancona goal in the 25th. Como came back with an away goal in the 54th, and 1-1 is how it remained at the final whistle. With a poor start to the month, I wanted a good performance against Lazio. We had our chances early, but shots from Rabito, Lennartsson and Papa Waigo missed. Ferrari made a great save early in the second half, while at the other end Semler finally put through our first goal in the 64th. Semler missed no less than four shots after that, including one which came off the post. This proved costly, with a goal to Lazio with ten seconds of regular time remaining. Too late for an equaliser, giving us our third straight disappointing performance. With the result of our final Champions Cup group stage game pretty much irrelevant, I went with a second-string side against Celta. Oddly enough, we hit the lead after only fourteen minutes when a corner from Motta was headed towards the goal by defender Syed Dupuy and knocked in by midfielder Sobir White. Hoffmann almost scored just before the break, but his powerful header was cleared off the line. With thirty minutes to go, Thiago Motta raced down the left and crossed the ball in for Freddy Adu. Mohd Hoffmann was much bigger, though, and was able to head in our second. Carlos Hidalgo came off the bench and gave Ole Brichkus his first, then scored one for himself with a chip in the final moments of the game. Our win combined with Austria Vienna’s defeat of Montpellier took us to the top of the group. We also set a new club record of £625K in gate receipts. Interestingly, our second round match will be against FC Bayern, the side that defeated us in the 2010 Champions Cup final. <pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">| Pos | Inf | Team | | Pld | Won | Drn | Lst | For | Ag | G.D. | Pts | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 1st | Q | Ancona | | 6 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 11 | 7 | +4 | 11 | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 2nd | Q | Montpellier | | 6 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 10 | 7 | +3 | 10 | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 3rd | | Austria Vienna | | 6 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 5 | 6 | -1 | 6 | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 4th | | Celta | | 6 | 0 | 4 | 2 | 3 | 9 | -6 | 4 | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| </pre> Our full-strength side returned against Inter. The opening minutes were quiet until a long pass from Luz which was headed into the area by Semler. Papa Waigo broke free of his marker and slammed the ball into the net for a 21st minute lead. A dozen minutes later, a 40-yard pass from captain Andrea Briotti took Semler into the area where he struck the ball past the keeper for a 2-0 lead. Inter pulled one back in the 67th when a pass deflected off Luz and into the path of an open striker, but Chi Yuen Webb came off the bench and set up the sealer for Semler in the final minutes. Our last game of the year was the second leg of the second round Italian Cup tie with Como. The previous game saw a 1-1 draw, leaving us behind on away goals. We dominated the first half, with shots from Semler, Papa Waigo and Lennartsson in the first fifteen minutes. Papa Waigo eventually scored in the 37th when a Lee Martin floated over a defender, putting us ahead on aggregate. Those two combined again for Papa Waigo to seal it with his second just after half time. We’ll face Brescia in the quarter final. <pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">| Pos | Inf | Team | | Pld | Won | Drn | Lst | For | Ag | G.D. | Pts | | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 1st | | Juventus | | 17 | 12 | 1 | 4 | 35 | 14 | +21 | 37 | | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 2nd | | Milan | | 17 | 11 | 4 | 2 | 32 | 13 | +19 | 37 | | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 3rd | | Brescia | | 17 | 12 | 0 | 5 | 36 | 16 | +20 | 36 | | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 4th | | Atalanta | | 17 | 10 | 3 | 4 | 41 | 27 | +14 | 33 | | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 5th | | Vicenza | | 17 | 10 | 2 | 5 | 32 | 17 | +15 | 32 | | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 6th | | Sampdoria | | 17 | 9 | 3 | 5 | 28 | 18 | +10 | 30 | | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 7th | | Parma | | 17 | 8 | 5 | 4 | 23 | 14 | +9 | 29 | | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 8th | | Ancona | | 17 | 8 | 4 | 5 | 28 | 30 | -2 | 28 | | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 9th | | Perugia | | 17 | 7 | 3 | 7 | 29 | 27 | +2 | 24 | | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 10th | | Roma | | 17 | 7 | 3 | 7 | 26 | 32 | -6 | 24 | | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 11th | | Inter | | 17 | 7 | 0 | 10 | 27 | 34 | -7 | 21 | | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 12th | | Lazio | | 17 | 6 | 3 | 8 | 21 | 28 | -7 | 21 | | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 13th | | Udinese | | 17 | 6 | 1 | 10 | 24 | 31 | -7 | 19 | | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 14th | | Cagliari | | 17 | 6 | 1 | 10 | 24 | 35 | -11 | 19 | | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 15th | | Napoli | | 17 | 5 | 2 | 10 | 18 | 31 | -13 | 17 | | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 16th | | Verona | | 17 | 4 | 4 | 9 | 26 | 34 | -8 | 16 | | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 17th | | Torino | | 17 | 3 | 7 | 7 | 24 | 35 | -11 | 16 | | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 18th | | Bologna | | 17 | 4 | 4 | 9 | 17 | 28 | -11 | 16 | | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 19th | | Palermo | | 17 | 4 | 3 | 10 | 13 | 22 | -9 | 15 | | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 20th | | Como | | 17 | 2 | 5 | 10 | 16 | 34 | -18 | 11 | | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| </pre> Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Terk Posted July 8, 2004 Share Posted July 8, 2004 good to see progression in the champions league and italian cup but it may even be a struggle to land a CL qualifying spot in the league needless to say a good second half to the season is needed. hopefully you can get some good revenge on bayern as well Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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