EPL Challenge (The Ultimate Premier League Experience) FM2005 [Established Clan]

BelfastNiall · January 12, 2005

Obviously not Ligs.

The game may be delayed slightly tomorrow as I'm going to buy this memory upgrade anyway and will have to install it, which means obviously opening the machine etc. Also may have to pick up the missus around 7ish. I'll post on the EPL Forum tomorrow.

Any game updates being provided this week?

Blind · January 12, 2005

I was waiting for a game to be played before updating

AsherDSSc · January 13, 2005

Boult Fired Up For Curtain Raiser

After 4 weeks out of football patching up his relationship with his Mrs, manager Rick Boult is back on the Blackburn scene and ready to take on any pretenders to his rightful Premiership crown...

'I can confirm myself and my wife have been attending a relationship clinic to sort out our troubled relationship. This is sure to bring up some speculation towards my sexuality but i love her and thats all that matters. As for Mr Murphy, i will not be drawn into comments surrounding the pending game and will only wish him the best of luck in this and any future games between ourselves.'

BelfastNiall · January 13, 2005

After learning of Rick Boults pre-match comments on Talk Drivel UK, Niall Murphy reponded in a similar vein to the Blackburn coach.

"For my part, I'd like to take the opportunity to welcome Mr Boult back into the football world after his recent sexual problems, as long as they aren't contagious.

I'm eagerly anticipating my managerial debut at Ewood Park later on this evening in what could either be a cracking tie or a dull 0-0 draw. I'm not one for cliches but at the end of the day, the side who is in the lead after 90 minutes deserves the points.

Aye and if ye believe that you'll believe anything. Up the Toffees, down with the Rovers -What? What do you mean it is still recording?"

skintsaint · January 13, 2005

Super Start for Steels Saints

So 3 games gone, Saints sit 3rd with a game in hand to go top. Saints fans couldnt have asked more from there Rookie manager.

His wheeling and dealing has taken a mid table team into possible UEFA cup challengers. His current signings include :

Jamie Redknapp - 400k

Guy Demal - Â£55k

Emmanuel Petit - Free

Patrik Berger - Â£700k

Pierre Wome - Free

Martin Petras - $500k

Arnold Kruiswijk - Â£3m

Darren Ambrose - Â£1m

Milan Ivana - Â£600k

He has gone with experiance with a couple of young impressionable europeans. He tried to get Yobo from Everton but Niall was having none of it. Steel was asked if he was dissapointed with not capturing his main target, he replied "Nah not really, he aint all that, plenty more fish in the sea and seagulls always follow trawlers, dont they?" What he means no one knows!?.

It is certainly working dividends at the moment but we are still very very early in the season. Out has gone some of the deadwood including many youngsters, but significant leavers are :

Mikael Nilsson - Â£1m

Brett Ormerod - Â£800k

Marian Pahars - Â£750k

Guy Demel - Â£950k

Fabrice Fernandes - Â£1.3m

Rory Delap - Â£700k

Chris Baird - Â£750

On being asked on what happened with Demel, and his 4 day stint at Saints, Steel replied "Well the day after he signed for us, after training he offered all the lads to go on the beers with him, his treat. Obviously I cannot have this behavour at a professional club, so took him to one side and warned him of his conduct. He then abused me, calling me names so I sent him home. Next day his agent calls saying Man City want him, and after what happened I decided to let him go".

It seems Steels decision proved correct as he is already causing a stir in Manchester!!

After a good pre season, 1st match was on the horizon. Crystal Palace, fresh from promotion and eager to prove they wont be the whipping boys of the league. Tough match to call. Steel went with a defensive formation to try and keep them at bay and hopefully hit them on the break. It did the trick as Beattie and Jakobsson scored to make it a confortable win.

Crystal Palace 0 - 2 Southampton

Beattie

Jakobsson

The next game was much tought, Benitez brought his title chasing Liverpool to St Marys. Steel went more attacking in this game as he knew Liverpool are weak at the back. This nearly backfired as Liverpool totally dominated the 1st half and should of been at least 2 goals up. Only the heroics of Paul Smith kept the scoreline level. 2nd half liverpool were awarded a debatable penalty as Jakobsson was adjudged to have fouled Baros from a corner. Carragher duly converted from the spot. Steel then went 343 all out attack. Saints nicked a point as Phillips was sent clear by a great ball from the impressive Kenton, and Phillips made no mistake from just inside the area.

Southampton 1 - 1 Liverpool

Phillips Carragher

Next was a trip to Birmingham, who had a impressive start to the season and was 5th place coming into this game. Again Steel deployed the same tactic as he did against Palace. Again Saints went 2 up, Beattie and Svensson scoring break away goals. Brum immediatley hit back through Morrison and pressured Saints all the way to the final whistle> But somehow Saints survived and another 3 points in the bag!

Birmingham 1 - 2 Southampton

Morrison Beattie

Svensson

Big derby game followed, and the war of words started between the managers, Steel started by saying "I hope Pompey fail in every competion that they enter", Redknapp replied angrily "I hope we beat saints convincingly", to which Steel again replied "You pike team is going down fatboy" Pompey started much the brighter as Saints defensive tactics where no match for a very attacking formation. It was not surprising that Pompey took the lead through a 25 yrd Quashie effort. It was what the deserved and Steel had a job to do at half time to save this game! So he brought on his new Czech signing Milan Ivana and went 343. The new signing was immediately brought down in the box. The 20yr old showed great composure to pick himself up and slot the ball away and sent the away support mad!!! It then became end to end with Lua Lua have 2 opportunites to score but then after a hefty challenge 35yds out, Patrik Berger, booed throughout the game and many people shouting Judas c**t, stepped up and buried one in the top corner. He then proceeded to run towards the Pompey fans and mocked them as he run past!!! Saints then went 5-4-1 and killed the game. Steel became a instant heroe on the South Coast!!

Portsmouth 1 - 2 Southampton

Quashie Ivana

Berger

So a great start, but can they keep it up?

Only time will tell!

UP THE SAINTS

ligs · January 13, 2005

Slow start for Boro

1 win from the opening 5 games was not the start I had in mind, but the last 2 performances have shown that the team, which includes many new signings, is finally beginning to gel.

First the transfers, plenty of ins and outs so far, and with 2 days left until the transfer window closes there's still the prospect of more deals being completed.

IN

Nicky Butt - DMC - Â£2m from Newcastle

Olof Mellberg - DC - $4.8m from Villa

Radoslaw Kaluzny - DMC - Â£80k from Leverkeusen

Hakan Yakin - AMC - Â£300k from Stuttgart

Ernest Faber - DC - Free Transfer

Nicola Avitabile - Gk - Â£80k from Juventus

Stefano Maino - DC - Â£300k from Juventus

Patrice Luzi - Gk - Â£50k from Liverpool

Eddie Pope - DC - Â£950k from MetroStars

Sun Jihai - DR - Â£1.7m from Man City

Mikael Dorsin - DL - Â£1.7m from Rosenborg

Total spend - Â£12m

OUT

Notable exits:

Boudewijn Zenden - Â£1m to Bolton

Gareth Southgate - Â£100k to Spurs

Ray Parlour - Â£750k to Portsmouth

Joesph-Desire Job - Â£2.1m to Sochaux

Plus various other youth/reserve team players, bringing in a total of Â£4.3m

With a nett of just over Â£8m spent, expectations were high for the season opener at St Andrews.

Birmingham 2-0 Boro

After the original 1-0 win had been chalked off, the inevitable happened. On loan albino Forssell put them 1-0 up against the run of play on the stroke of half time, and as Boro pushed for an equaliser in the second half, on loan Aliadiere made it 2-0 after 76, to wrap up the points. Maik taylor continued to make save after save, earning the MOTM award.

Boro 1-2 Man Utd

A tough first home fixture of the season, and one that should have earned at least a point. The visitors took the lead after 21 minutes, when the referee gave the sort of penalty that only Man Utd seem to be awarded, Sun Jihai apparently having handballed. Giggs scored from the spot. The lead lasted just three minutes however, as Mark Viduka finished off a flowing team move to grab his first Boro goal. But in the 3rd minute of injury time at the end of the 1st half (only 2 were added on,) Saha headed home a near post Giggs corner. The second half saw Boro press but unable to beat visiting keeper Roy Carroll, who walked off with the MOTM award.

Portsmouth 4-0 Boro

Arse. Portsmouth took a deserved lead at the end of the first half, having already seen old boy Parlour miss a penalty, through Lua Lua (44), forcing Middlesbrough to rethink their strategy. unfortunately, going gung-ho from the 2nd half kick-off wasn't wise and further strikes from Cisse (55), Taylor (63) and Stefanovic (70) made Boro look very amatuerish.

Middlesbrough 2-3 Blackburn

Fair play to Rick Boult, if you can win by cheating then well done. In an entertaining game that Boro edged, Blackburn's thuggish tactics caused Nicky Butt and Stewart Downing to both be stretchered off injured (Butt out for 4 weeks, Downing for 2.) Rovers led through Tugay (16) only for Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink to grab his first Boro goal 3 minutes later. Paul Gallagher (34) gave the visitors the advantage once again, only for Hakan Yakin to bag his first in the Boro red (40). 4 minutes after the break came the winning goal: Barry Ferguson's off target shot struck a Boro defender and fell perfectly into the path of Matt Jansen, who had the simple task off passing into an empty net. This was the sort of luck that had thwarted Boro in the opening few fixtures. Despite all that Boro could throw at Blackburn for the remaining minutes, the visitors held on to take a good victory back to Lancashire.

Newcastle 0-2 Boro

4 games gone, 4 games lost, so the one team you don't wanna face is Newcastle, the summer's big spenders, in their own back yard, in a local derby, with the pressure really on. Jay Da Costa had been giving it large in the press, spouting his usual tripe about how Newcastle would steamroll Boro, but that only riled the visitors.

To be fair, Newcastle were unlucky in the first half. They started off the better, and after only 5 minutes Mark Van Bommel rocketed a shot against the upright. But 18 minutes in, Boro put together a wonderful flowing counter attack, which was sublimly finished by big Mark Viduka. 5 minutes before the break Newcastle were given a lifeline, when Boro conceded their 3 penalty in 4 games, sub Robinho fouled by Sun Jihai, only for James Milner to show everyone how he'd been to the Jaap Stam school of penalty taking.

The 2nd half started in the same fashion, but Da Costa made an attacking change that Boro were able to exploit. Yakin had already fired a shot from 25 yards off the crossbar before Radoslaw Kaluzny finished off another superb attack (64) to put Boro on their way to their first points of the season. The disappointed home fans made their feelings known to new boss Da Costa, leaving well before the end.

Well 5 games in I'd have hoped to have more points, but the performances in the last 2 games have been very encouraging, and hopefully the lads should build on their derby success in the upcoming games. Hopefully the UEFA Cup doesn't prove too much of a distraction, and indeed the tough draw against Maritimo could prove a blessing in disguise if Boro were to go out (always good to get the excuses in early)

BelfastNiall · January 14, 2005

Well the new season finally arrived and it was off in the old team bus (yes a subtle reference to our lack of cash, get used to those ) for the opening fixture of the campaign away to Rick Boult's Blackburn Rovers.

Amazingly, the pre-match headlines were stolen by Boult who was suddenly rushed to hospital complaining of a rash on his arse. That Paul Dickov had been seen in the vicinity aroused much suspicion, but on this occasion Murphy declined to comment on the strange goings on under Boults helm.

Having not had much opportunity to build a side in pre-season, Niall Murphy's first Everton team sheet contained just two debutants and had a very familiar look about it.

<LI>GK. Wright. R

<LI>LB. Naysmith

<LI>RB. Hibbert

<LI>CB. Hughes (Aaron)

<LI>CB. Yobo

<LI>CM. Gravesen

<LI>CM. Cahill

<LI>RM. Watson

<LI>LM. Kilbane

<LI>AM. Osman

<LI>CF. Zurawski

Blackburn Rovers 1 - 1 Everton

This tricky assignment ended in disappointment for the Everton management team, as a man of the match performance by Brad Friedel in the Blackburn goal prevented us turning a good point into an excellent three.

Everton played with purpose throughout the game but fell behind against the run of play midway through the first half. As Murphy encouraged his lads from the dugout to quicken the tempo and the attack, Friedel was compelling us again and again.

That was until the 74th minute, when Irish wing wizard Kevin Kilbane (a thorn in Lucas Neill's side all afternoon) blasted home the equaliser to earn Everton a well deserved point. An encouraging start from the lads and Murphy declared himself satidfied with the result and the performance.

Everton 0 - 2 "Lucky Lucky" Newcastle

Murphy arrived for his first home fixture at Goodison Park eagerly anticipating the match against Newcastle after a pre-game war of words between both managers. DaCosta had proved in the build up to have a fantastic ability to fire up a few of my players by opening his mouth without engaging his brain on more than one occasion. A trait I'm sure the Geordie fans will get used to over the coming months.

After a good point at Blackburn, I trusted the same eleven players to take on a team that had abused it's already favourable position to a great extent in the pre-season, spending what now must be close to Â£50m.

On the day, fate conspired against us here. Lowly Everton mainly outplayed the Toon with Tim Cahill and Leon Osman in a particular missing some great chances to put us into the lead. Newcastle looked dangerous on the break with Kluivert and Crespo both putting in very good performances, but in the main Wright was untroubled in goal.

That was until Crespo took up a position on the far Newcastle right, not far from the corner flag early in the second half. With Naysmith tracking there appeared little danger, until Crespo looked up to cross into the box. With an off balance swing of his boot, Crespo sliced across the ball, and both I and Richard Wright watched with barely hidden bemused anger as the ball floated into the far corner giving Newcastle a lucky lead.

This was the turning point and not long after, as we chased the game, Newcastle added a second goal to take the points.

At the end of the game, Murphy's war of words with DaCosta continued, the Everton manager who is usually so graceful in defeat was heard to comment.

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote">quote:<HR>Newcastle have spent an absolute fortune this summer and yet they struggled to beat our lads who perform on a shoestring budget week in and week out. Newcastle have had lady luck on their side today, and to be honest I can't see them having any chance of lifting a trophy this season if they continue to play like this. <HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

West Brom 2 - 2 Everton

West Brom have made some good signings in the summer, but were let down by their manager Morris in this fixture, who decided he's rather go out on the lash than watch his side entertain the Toffees.

At the end of the day, that was probably a wise decision as a 90th minute equaliser by Leon Osman denied the Albion a good victory and provided Everton with our second away point. The game was also notable for the first goal in an Everton shirt by the Pole Dancer, Zurawski, who twisted his way through the Albion defence before slamming a great goal past Russell Hoult.

Everton 2 - 1 Tottenham Hotspur

The pre-game news was poor as Kilbane was ruled out of the match and Spurs had made a very good start to the season under Sam Bouchard. In a fantastic game where both sides just spent the entire 90 minutes going at each other, Gravesen gave Everton the lead after 10 minutes.

For most of the game it looked as if Everton would win as Robinson made inspired save after save, until with around 15 minutes left, the dangerous Holm slalomed through our defence to equalise.

Both sides were going for it now and indeed there was to be a winner as in the final minute, substitute Nicky Chadwick fed Zurawski inside the area. The Pole neatly rounded the inspirational Robinson to slot home a probably just deserved winning goal.

Chelsea 3 - 0 Everton

4 games in and already the top of the Premiership read Chelsea, Arsenal, Man Utd and er, Southampton??? Pretty predictable, as was this result at Stamford Bridge.

On reflection, it was probably a mistake to choose this game to recall Nigel Martyn to the goalkeeping position. Especially as we were without both first choice wide men in Watson and Kilbane, the 3 week injury to Watson being a particular blow to morale.

Chelsea fully deserved the victory in a totally dominant display. Two goals from Kezman the highlight of the game.

So 5 points from 15. Not a bad return considering I've been to Stamford Bridge and played the big spenders Newcastle at this early stage. We probably were the better side against Blackburn but were fortunate to equalise late on at Albion, so all in all, fair enough so far.

I continue to be optimistic about Everton's future, especially now I've added young Italian Emmanuele Calaio to the attack, giving me more options and more firepower to aim at my opponents.

I got divorced over this g · January 14, 2005

Excitement, Frustration and Jealousy - A few months in the life of Geordie JDC

Excitement- Geordie Transfer News

So over the course of the close season, JDC states his intent to run a tight ship and out go all the troublemakers, namely -

1. Steve Harper

2. Titus Bramble

3. Robbie Elliott

4. Aaron Hughes

5. Kieron Dyer

6. Jermaine Jenas

7. Nicky Butt

8. Laurent Robert

9. Alan Shearer

10. Shola Ameobi

11. Lee Bowyer

12. Craig Bellamy

Not a bad team, but not good enough for the high standards that are expected.

Combined total = 20m

In come the quality big guns

1. GK â€“ Still be be filled.

2. Jankulovski

3. Buxton

4. Billy Jones

5. Sylvain Distin

6. Michael Dawson

7. Mark Van Brommel

8. Damiano Tommasi

9. Daniel Omoya Braaten

10. Herman Crespo

11. Robert Davidson

12. Neil Janczyk

13. Robinho

Combined total â€“ 37.5 m

Money well spent.

Frustration - The season starts

So off the season startedâ€¦â€¦â€¦

Record W1 D1 L3!!!!!!! (reports to follow)

Manager JDC nominated for the worst Manager in the Game awardâ€¦and living up to his reputation again!

â€˜Itâ€™s so not fairâ€™ JDC was heard to mutter as yet another shot hit the post.

Jealousy

With the stress of management getting to some of the other managers, the mind games started and accusations and animosity spilled over into the pre and post match interviews, with particular envy coming from Smallwood and Murphy.....

What will time hold for JDC..... Watch this space.

Inter · January 15, 2005

Good Start for City

Well, 5 games played, 3 games won, 1 drawn and 1 defeat. Its been a good start for Hardy's Manchester City and the supporters have been given a surprising glimmer of hope from their new rookie manager.

Here's the Man City transfer news so far with only 3 days of the transfer period left.

Person From Fee

Guy Demel Southampton Â£950k

David Weir Everton Â£50k

Titus Bramble Newcastle P/Ex

Fabrice Fernandes Southampton Â£1.3M

Kevin Campbell Everton Free

Total Â£2.3M

Hoping to sign 2 more players before the transfer window closes.

Players Out:-

Person To Fee

Sylvain Distin Newcastle Â£2M-P/Ex

Kasper Schmeichel Everton Â£250k

Sun Jihai Middlesbrough Â£1.7M

Kevin Campbell Free Transfer Free

David Sommeil Bordeaux Â£575k

Total Â£4.5M

The Competetive Fixtures

Man UTD 3-0 Man City

A very hard first fixture for City at Old Trafford as Man UTD hammered them 3-0 and should have been more.

Manchester City really didnt deserve anything from the game as they were played off the park all match. A very dissapointing start.

The United goalscorers were Van Nistelrooy, Scholes and Giggs.

Man City 1-0 Portsmouth

A well hard-fought victory for City in Hardy's first home game incharge.

It was quite even for most of the match before substitute Robbie Fowler won the game in the 76th minute with a simple tap-in.

Man of the Match, Shaun Wright-Phillips ran the game for City out on that right wing.

Blackburn 0-0 Man City

This game was built-up by the Blackburn manager Rick Boult by him saying that Blackburn will definetly win at Ewood.

Blackburn competly dominated the first 20mins or so with De Pedro dominating the game and Lucas Neill winning everything in defence. They should really have scored about 5 goals before half-time with John Stead andBrett Emerton missing several easy chances between them. Towards the end, Anelka had a brilliant chance to win the game with a 1-on-1 but put it over the bar. The only 2 players that kept Man City in the game were MOTM David James and solid defender Richard Dunne.

Man City 1-0 Newcastle

After seeing the summer signings that Jay Da Costa had made, which boasted players like Van Bommel and Robinho, Hardy and the City fans not surprisenly expected the worst.

The game started with Newaslte controlling the game with Van Bommel hammering the post from 30-35yards outs and Robinho creating a few good chances but the Man City defence played well al game and deserved another clean sheet. Hardy's cautious aproach to the games seems to be paying off recently after a formation change against Man United.

The winning goal came for City in the 94th minute and was the last kick of the game. It was a sloppy goal for Newcastle to conceed as it quite a mad scramble and super sub Antoine Sibierski nodded in his first goal for Man City. New man Fernandes put in another great performance in this match and receiving the man of the match award.

West Brom 0-3 Man City

The first convincing victory of the season and the 4th consecutive clean sheet. This was the kind of match where WBA had to perform and they didnt, so I dont think they can survive the drop, sorry Chris

The match was won by 2 goals from Fernandes and another from substitute Sibierski.

So, with performances by the defence like these of late, good counter-attacks by Anelka and co., and a bit of look, Manchester City should do allright this season with their new manager Leo Hardy.

It's Sam Bouchard's Spurs next and with confidence high at the City of Manchester Stadium, hopefully its going to be another 3 points for us and further improve on our 5th position in the league.

Lets just hope that the good fortune keeps going and we dont start slipping down the table then

I got divorced over this g · January 15, 2005

Simply not good enough

Thatâ€™s the verdict so far from the first 5 resultsâ€¦â€¦.

Newcastle 0 Charlton 0

So with expectations high after a pre-season spending spree, Newcastle took to the field to play the re-started game at home to Charlton. Expectations of the near sellout 46,000 crowd were raised even higher given the 3-1 score of the previously abandoned game a few days earlier.

BUT, down they came in true Newcastle style as a boring 0-0 draw opened the season of expectation! ;Why why why do I have such bad luck?â€™ DaCosta muttered to anyone who would listen.

Everton 0 Newcastle 2

Get in!!! Those that travelled down the M6 got the reward as the team thrashed Everton, however DaCosta was too distracted with some of the messages in the media to notice some of the problems Everton exposed, but luckily failed to capitalise on, in the Newcastle defenceâ€¦.

Newcastle 0 Aston Villa 1

And those problems were exploited by Aston Villa

So the crowds poured into St. James, and with a near full house witnessed the lack of luck that has had DaCosta complaining about in his sleep. Newcastle failed to score despite the best efforts of Robinho, Crespo, Braaten, Miller and Kluivert.

Man City 1 Newcastle 0

And for the second game in a row Newcastle unbelievably failed to score.

Newcastle 0 Middlesbrough 2

In flocked the crowds to fill St James for the first time this season, and the home crowd witnessed unbelievable bad luck once again. With Middlesbrough 1-0 up, Robinho was fouled in the area, and St. James held itâ€™s breath as Miller stepped upâ€¦â€¦

And the young midfielder ballooned over the barâ€¦.

With Van Brommel running midfield, no one was surprised that he popped up in the area, only to hit the post with a fantastic shot. Middlesbrough exploited Newcastle on the break late on and Newcastle failed to score for the 3 game running.

Lets hope DaCosta puts in the overtime on the training pitch to show the strikers where the goal is and lady luck turns up for the next gameâ€¦..

Morrizio · January 15, 2005

Changes in the team, but not in the results

Young WBA manager Chris Morris' intense dealings in the transfer market has shocked everyone in the footballing world. Over the past weeks he's gutted out the entire squad and brought in a mix of international talent. Unfortunatly it appeared to take its toll as he disappeared for four weeks, missing the start of the campaign, and stupidly leaving assistant manager Frank Burrows in charge. Burrows went on to get just the one point from four games, simply not good enough for Morris incredibly high standards. Match reports coming up...

But first, heres a breakdown of the transfers:

IN

Scott Agnew - 120k

Scott Brown - exchanged

Dwight Pezzarossi - Free

Bogdon Lobont - 525k

Argel - 26k

Vasilis Tsiartas - Free

Daniel Bierofka - 400k

Thomas Zdelbel - 120k

Jan Kristiansen - 1.3m

Miroslav Matusovic - 1m

Nicky Hurt - Exchanged

Zdenek Pospech - 700k

Freddy Guarin - 775k

Morris declared himself particularly happy with the transfers of Guarin, Bierofka and Tsiartas as these were players being chased by 'higher profile' clubs. Luckily the lads made the right choice in the end, all declaring 'Morris' charm' was a major influence in their decisions, their words, not mine

out

Lloyd Dyer - Exchanged

Rob Hules - 1m

Artim Sakiri - Free

Bernt Haas - 500k

Paul Robinson - 250k

Scott Dobie - 100k

Joe Murphy - 250k

James O'Conner - 100k

Zoltan Gera - exchanged

And so all those who were deemed not good enough packed their bags, and off they went....

Match Reports

WBA 0 Chelsea 1

A good effort from the lads here, as we kept Chelsea out for the majority of the game, until Kezman broke the deadlock on 45mins. It looked as if the floodgates could open, but the baggies didnt give in and left with their pride intact, that wouldnt last long

WBA 2 Everton 2

A lucky escape for Everton when they visited the Hawthorns, Matusovic getting his first goal for West Brom as it looked as though they would hold out for the victory. But last minute equaliser salvaged a point for the toffees (lucky sods) I wasnt there but was assured Osmans goal was a fluke

Villa 3 WBA 0

Then it got worse... Goals for Vassell, Angel and Vorisek gave Villa the win as west brom rarely threatened. The big man in the sticks Bogdan Lobont looked shaky, Morris has said should stop buying players with silly names. He then denied rumours of being interested in Spanish younster Banana.

WBA 0 Man City 3

Another 3-0 loss completed a disappointing start to a promising season. In a fairly balanced match fortune smiled on City as they hit a few long rangers which beat Lobont for the 9th time in four games. Man City Leo Hardy was later reported to say that WBA are favourites for the drop, sounds like he was a bit jealous of the potential he saw in the West Brom team.

It can only get better from here on in!

EmmYouEffSee · January 15, 2005

So So Spurs

Well...5 games gone and currently the mighty Tottenham Hotspur are living up to expectation, with 7 points from 15, placing them a slightly fortunate 8th place. I'm very sorry to say it but the chief at Everton, Niall Murphy (emphasis on chief ), is currently onto a winner with predictions. Personally, i believe with the right amount of quality and and the sheer driving force that i can put into the team, can push us beyond mid table and into europe. Hey, if De Costa can have some of the best talent this world has to offer, and still manage to pull a 0-0 draw against the MIGHTY Charlton outta the bag, then AAAAAAANYTHING'S possible!

Anyway, onto the transfer goings on at White Hart Lane.....

Transfers In

Daniel Fredheim Holm - Valerenga - Â£1m

Alan Shearer - Newcastle - 800k

Pablo Thiam - Wolfsberg - 200k

Gareth Southgate - Middlesborough - 100k

Tim Cincken - Feyenoord - 300k

James McFadden - Everton - Â£1.5m

Fredy William Thompson - Comunicaciones - 150k

Players Out

Jamie Redknapp - Southampton - 400k

Paul O'Donogue - Accrington - 45k

Soon after Alan Shearer arrived, we spoke about him having a future role within the club, maybe as a coach and even one day progressing to Assistant Manager. His eyes lit up and must've seen it as a good oppertunity to 'speak his mind' so to speak and well, i let him. The thing is, he impressed me. I'll hold my hands up and admit when i made a mistake and this was a mistake. For the two hour period that we were talking for, he had shown such an appreciation for the chance that i'd given, and even began talking like a manager. So much infact that the next morning, when i arrived at training, i was greeted by two new faces, of which Alan introduced me to as Tim Cincken and James McFadden. The initial thoughts that entered my head were quite obscure.

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote">quote:<HR>An agent and a presenter here....but why?

Friends of Alan? He's only been here a week, why is he introducing me to his friends? <HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

I'd taken this into account and ever so slowly began to think more about who they actually were. I'd seen Tim the previous week on Blue Peter, whilst watching it with the youth squad. As for McFadden, the wife had just bought Kerry's album and thought it was a disgrace so i felt i had to say bring it up. Looking on the brightside, i'd had to cancel Ken Dodd for the pre-season party, because the local Travel Lodge didn't have enough rooms for the diddy men. So, i had a bit of a notion (no i'm not quoting the Beach Boys) that a person from scouseland with a big pair of jublies that try's to sing now and again, and somebody that can make a papier mache Tracey Island could bring the team's enthusiasm for the upcoming season!

After being told that they'd cost me well over one and a half MILLION to buy and place on contract for over 4 years! Well.....after hearing it was Shearer who 'invested' in such 'talent', i knew he'd gone on a power oversurge. Well...

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote">quote:<HR>Is he having a laugh? I'd have had a few diddy men stay with me if i knew i'd have to pay that much. Blinkin hell, i'd gotta sell em. Why not offer Shearer too. Bloody cheak offering my money for useless so called 'talent'. The 'Zie shize is about to hit zie fan' as the Germans would say. <HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

After placing signings on the transfer list as soon as they came in, i was ready to get down to football. Days passed, and the interest flew about for the footballers in question, and soon enough i'd made a few sales, potentially selling players, recouping the money i'd lost through Shearer. With that in mind, i was able to assess the squad and pick a team for the season.

After Friendly's against the Soccer AM Badgers, Wattenscheid, and ULM, i felt the team had enough enough energy and spirit there to take on anybody. The world's giants were calling, the premiership elite, even a Chinese XI rang up, but i opted to hang on until the league season where the heights of Norwich City were calling.

Saturday 14th August

Tottenham Hotspur [2]: Carrick(61), Defoe(69)

Norwich City [0]:

A very confident opening day display from Spurs, showing glimpses of pure quality along the left wing through debutant Fredy William Thompson, and the extremly adiquate centre of defence with King and Southgate bossing the defensive zone. If it wasn't for Man of the Match Craig Flemming, the scoreline may well be extremly different, with Kanoute being shut down everytime he stepped near the edge of the area. Overall, a good display and and impressive debut for Gareth and Fredy.

Wednesday 18th August

Chelsea [2]: Geremi(11), Lampard(52)

Tottenham Hotspur [0]:

After the previous display i beleved the team would be in great shape to face the team i felt would go on and win the league title, and to some extents i was right. Shots bombarded Robinson's goal, but he stood tall, keeping whatever he could well away from the back of the net, until the game was taken out of his hands so to speak. Moments into the game Steve Bennett the referee, took it upon himself to stamp his authority on the game, much to the annoyance of the Tottenham defence. At half time the home fans were getting the tinsel out in the belief that it was Christmas time already, as they too were surprised by the ammount of cards the team had recieved. The 6 Yellows and one Red, given to Tarrico, turned the second half plan straight upside down, turning the attacking thoughts into those of a defensive nature, ruining anychance of a Spurs comeback. Adding to the international duty that called upon a couple of the stars from the previous game, and the sheer quality gleaming from the Chelski teamsheet, the chance of walking away with 3 points was that of a pipedream, as the game finished 2-0.

Saturday 14th August

Tottenham Hotspur [4]: Carrick(6), Defoe(19,20,61)

Charlton Athletic [0]:

3 goals in the opening 20 minutes killed the game off completly, with Charlton losing hope by the minute. Curbishly instructed the kit man to drive the team coach onto the field and park it just infront of Kiely, as to which put a slight end to the goalscoring, that until Defoe managed to knock it into the roof of the net via the wingmirror of the coach. After the previous defeat, the lads weren't going to lose this London derby, and proved it in some style with the final score. After the game, i checked the e-mail in the office before leaving, and caught a glimpse of the pitch, where i saw the Charlton squad pushing the bus out of the penalty area and towards the gate. I thought they'd worked hard enough today, so i told security to open the gate.

Saturday 14th August

Everton [2]: Gravesen(10), Zurawski(97)

Tottenham Hotspur [1]: Fredheim Holm(75)

After a glorious match full of flourishing pieces of attacking play and moments of marvelous defending, the game finished deep into the 97th minute, after Niall Murphy removed his hand from the 4th official's ass after sorting out the time added on board. A Fantastic piece of thinking from the man from Northern Ireland, clearly using his charm along with half a tube of lube to get the result he needed. Must remember to do that next week against Villa.

Saturday 14th August

Tottenham Hotspur [0]:

Aston Villa [0]:

This game seemed to wizz by really, with the only activity coming at the ref's whistle as he blew for half and then full time. Neither side could pull a move together, and the ball stayed pretty much in the centre citcle. As the time ticked by and it aproached the 90th minute, i eyed up what i thought was the 4th official. Following on from Niall Murphy's move the previous week i attempted to change my team's fortune's. The time was signalled out to be two minutes added on, not what i had in mind at all. The further my arm went in, the quicker the time seemed to fly, and as the whistle blew it was only then that i'd been touching up a steward. After removing my arm, i offered the man a couple of weeks off fully paid to recover, as well as the chance to take Dean Richards away with him for free to use as a 'poofe' for the lounge. He refused saying he'd come into contact with one to many of them recently. I didn't really get it but anyway...

Final Thought

Well, were 5 games in, i'm still with the TV star and the singer's sister, as well as the wanna be dictator Mr Shearer. Spurs have one of the worst discaplinary records the premiership's ever seen, with 12 bookings and 2 yellow cards. On the positive side, Defoe's top of the scoring charts, Robinson's playing out of his skin and the steward that was assaulted has returned back to work, all be it on the opposite side of the stadium.

Tis a funny old game really, i take my Spurs side to Manchester next to face an inform, no i'm not joking, that's an inform Manchester City at their new council paid gaff.

BelfastNiall · January 15, 2005

Superb report Sam.

AsherDSSc · January 15, 2005

You never complement my reports

David Pagi · January 16, 2005

thats no report it's a bloody fairytale story

Blind · January 16, 2005

As I settled into the managers chair I surveyed what lay round me at AV.

The goalkeeping department was sound with good backup and 1st team keeper. Looking at the defence I knew changes had to be made.

Midfield was also sound without being exceptional. Only outstanding members of the squad were Barry and Solano who were valued at Â£5.5 and 4 million respectively, not world class by a long way.

Attack is where AV really excel with ~Vassell and Angel leading the line with Cole and Moore as backup.

The first delve into the transfer market was to recruit some more scouts to search for those precious players who could turn this average squad into something a little more special.

A bit of a surprise the first signing who was Robert (Â£1 mill)coming down from Newcastle to provide a bit of flair on the LW. Whittingham to provide backup down the left wing with Samuel at LB.

First out the door was Mellberg going to Middlesbrough for Â£4.8 mill. Not the best deal but wanted to free up some money for future spending

His immediate replacement was Frank De Boer (Now 34) who came in on a free transfer. Iâ€™ve decided heâ€™s only a stop gap until I can get a replacement center half or get some younger players with 1st team experience.

Next out was Wayne Henderson off to Aldershot for 210k.

By now most other managers had brought in 4/5 players and were looking at AV wondering what was going on. The next few transfers showed what AV were aiming at.

First Vorisek came in from Sparta Prague for 500k to fill the DMC spot. Veron then came in for 4mill and Dyer in a cut price 2 mill. Wages would be the stumbling block but for Newcastle continuing to pick up half has wages. These 2 transfers were crucial to bolstering the AV midfield and creating the chances to be put away by Angel and Vassell.

Last played in was Sonk â€“ a young defender who I hope will be a good player in the future.

Onto the games â€“ first up

Portsmouth 3 -1 Aston Villa

A lot of my new signings had their debuts but it wasnâ€™t to be â€“ after initially holding them to 1-1 to half time Portsmouth turned in the style in the second half to win 3-1 at fratton park. Not the most ideal start to a managerial career, especially when I was hoping to start with at least a point.

After a disappointing start Aston Villa had to travel to big spenders Newcastle. Before the game the Newcastle manager was confident of a win.

Newcastle 0 â€“ 1 Aston Villa

A confident counter attacking display from Aston Villa, with a few shaky moments in defence, led to a 1-0 win with Veron scoring his second in 2 games.

Aston Villa 3 â€“ 0 WBA

A good win with Aston Villaâ€™s first home game of the season. The goals were shared around with Angel opening his account for the season as well as Vassell chipping in too. Most pleasing was seeing Vorisek opening is account for the club with a long range strike. Man of the match was Angel showing his worth to the team

Tottenham 0 â€“ Aston Villa 0

Nothing of note to say in this match â€“ not worth watching apart form the two shots that Robinson scrambled away. Robinson was in fact the only difference between the two teams in a match short on quality and goals

Aston Villa was however rocked after the WBA match in that Dyer has broken his leg and will be out for the next 8 months. Solano is expected to deputise with Lee Hendrie providing backup.

BelfastNiall · January 16, 2005

Deadline day signings bolster Everton's challenge

Everton are pleased to announce three new signings to add depth to a threadbare squad and which will, hopefully, prevent us falling through the relegation trap door this season. I just hope that the Everton administration bug is fixed or I'm screwed.

First into the arrivals lounge is the second Polish player to join the squad in defensive midfielder, Mariusz Lewandowski, who was signed from Shakatar Donetsk for Â£3.5m. Joining him is Czech U21 international and again a defensive midfielder, Tomas Sivok who cost a bargain Â£600k from Sparta Prague. And completing the deals in is, talented left winger Tobias Hysen a Swedish U21 international who has had an immediate impact in his first two games.

Everton 6 - 2 Charlton Athletic

A comprehensive hammering of the Addicks who had previously held Newcastle and West Brom to draws. Two goals in the opening three minutes was an indication of what was to become a rout, as Everton raced into a 5-0 lead before Charlton pulled two goals back. Everton scorers were Osman, Zurawski, Hysen, a Hreidarsson og and two from the brilliant boot of Tomas Gravesen who, ominously for the rest of the Premiership, looks to be on fire at the minute.

Everton 2 - 0 Norwich City

Third home win on the trot was recorded through a routine victory. A 30 yard rocket from Gravesen registered his fourth goal of the season and set us on our way after 24 minutes. Italian forward Emmanuel Calaio wrapped up the points with his first goal for the club on 83, after an outstanding one-two with Gravesen on the edge of the box.

So, up to 6th place but it gets serious now as after the League Cup match at Sunderland, I begin a tough set of matches against my fellow managers. Away to Mark's on fire Aston Villa, home to Leo's unpredictable Man City, away to Ligs' struggling Boro outfit, before entertaining Pagi at Goodison and a trip down the south coast to Rob's Southampton. Should be an entertaining session on Tuesday night.

ligs · January 16, 2005

Only 1 piece of transfer news before the window shut, Carlo Nash wash shipped out to Celtic for Â£150k

Boro 0-2 WBA

An even game where a draw would've been fair, which in all honesty is a poor performance for a club supposedly pushing for a UEFA cup spot at home to a relegation favourite. WBA owed their first goal to Mark Schwarzer, who decided to go walkabouts while Tsiartas had the ball 30 yards out, and the Greek promptly lobbed it over the Abo's head and into the net, giving the Baggies an early lead.

As Boro pushed in the 2nd half, Kanu (looking very offside) latched onto a through ball and finished calmly.

UEFA Cup: Boro 4-0 Maritimo

Now this was more like it. Viduka (59) Mendieta (70, 74) and Nemeth (90) bagged the goals in a convincing victory, which should be enough to put Boro through to the group stages, barring a catastrophe in Madeira.

AsherDSSc · January 17, 2005

Blackburn Riding High

New manager Rick Boult calls it a 'revelation', but us here at Sky Sports New call it 'the best managing since the great Sir Matt Busby!'

Pre Season

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote">quote:<HR> Due to me missing most of pre season for personal reasons which i have already gone into, i have not been very active in the transfer market. With the Goalkeeping area and the defence already seen to be deemable, and a very competative midfield, i just felt the need to add some class into the squad. I feel this has been done with the arrival of Mario Santana and Labinot Harbuzi, with the finishing exploits of Karl Noon on loan. This has taken up all our transfer money so unless the board pull the sheep out of there ass things will look the same until the next transfer window in 2016. Things are looking up though, undefeated in preseason with good wins at Barnet and Preston <HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Signings

Mario Santana - 3.3Mil - Palermo - Quality winger, can play left or right side, only 22

Labinot Harbuzi - 45k - Feyenoord - Can play accross the middle, strong with the ball, good finisher

Karl Noon (Loan) - Liverpool - Striker with great potential, hopefully secure full transfer in Summer

The Season Kicks Off

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote">quote:<HR> With no players exiting in preseason, the squad is looking healthy with competition in all places. As long as the likes of Dickov and Stead can bang in the goals, Brad Friedel has told me personally he will only concede 10 goals this season <HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

EPL - Everton (H) - 1-1 - Scorers - Ferguson, B

Assistant was left in charge as bladder problems kept me in hospital overnight. Not the start i wanted but slighty wiped the smile off Niall's face.

EPL - Man City (H) - 0-0 - Scorers - N/a

A very strong performance by Blackburn who were definately the better side. Emerton should have had a bagful but great keeping kept the Blue Manc Scum in it. A late chance for Anelka could have stole the points but Friedel stood tall and was counted.

EPL - Boro' (A) - 3-2 - Scorers - Tugay, Gallagher, Jansen

First win of the season suprisingly away from home. Boro manager Ligs after the game spoke of the great tactics employed to injure 2 of his top players. An early 2nd half goal from Jansen after woeful defending won the game, with some great last ditch defending from Gresko and Friedel making sure the points came back home to Lancashire.

EPL - Bolton (H) - 3-0 - Scorers - Dickov, Stead x2

Dickov opening the scoring with the manager minutes earlier telling Stead to warm up. It hadn't been the best of games for Paul before then with boo's coming from the home terrace and the manager. The substitutaion was then made later in the second half and Stead hit twice to make it 2 wins in a row and the fans were starting to believe Boult was a miracle worker.

Conclusion

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote">quote:<HR> With the signings coming late on into the transfer window, they are as of yet to gel completely into the team. Once this happens, things, although looking good at the minute, should get better. Quality performers such as De Pedro and tugay may be rested for the upcoming game away to Southampton who are also unbeaten. <HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Boult was quietly confident ahead of the game, which saw him once again lock horns with current Saints manager Rob Steel. Both teams are unbeaten in the Premiership this season and with the winning team possibly going second, it looks like there could be some fireworks early on in this already, memorable season.

ligs · January 18, 2005

Boro progress after slow start

9 points from the last 4 league games and progression into the UEFA Cup group stage represents good progress for the lads, after their poor start to the season. 5 games to catch up on:

Boro 2-1 Chelsea

Lying 19th in the league before this one, the pressure was on against a team with 18 points from a possible 21. Even Niall Murphy was crowing about the predicament Boro would be in after this game, as defeat to him was almost inevitable. But, as usual, Murphy showed why many in the media usually ignore most of his comments. Boro took the lead in the 39th minute, Hasselbaink firing a thunderous volley against his former club, a goal which won the Goal of the Month competition. But shortly after the break normal service was resumed: as Chelsea piled on the pressure, Boro gave away their 4th penalty of the season, which Lampard duly converted.

With Chelsea still in total control, things were looking ominous. But with 20 minutes left, a free kick from Ehiogu was flicked on past the stuttering Cech by Viduka to Hasselbaink, who got his second against his former club. The last 20 minutes saw Boro put 10 men behind the ball, and Chelsea failed to create any more clear chances. And excellent 1st home win of the season.

UEFA Cup: Maritimo 0-0 Boro

A dull game with little of note happening, the damage had already been done in the 1st leg.

Unfortunately Boro were given a tough group in the draw. Stuttgart and Dunfirmline will visit the Riverside, while away games at Parma and GAK will be played. 3rd place is enough to qualify, and that should be do-able.

Charlton 1-2 Boro

A second away win on the spin, and a fully deserved one. Downing (14) gave Boro a deserved early lead, rounding Kiely to finish off a good team move, latching onto Butt's through pass. Things were going smoothly until 5 minutes before the break, when left back Dorsin was stretchered off injured. With no replacement on the bench, centre half Pope had to play out of position.

The re-arrangement at the back unsettled the Boro defence, and injury-prone FA Cup lookalike Jeffers showed his 'fox-in-the-box' instincts that forced Wenger to waste Â£10mil on him, scoring after only just coming on the pitch (75). Unperturbed, Boro went on the attack, and Mendieta curled home a sweet 20 yard free kick (80). Cue 10 men behind the ball, and Boro again shut the game out with ease.

Tottenham 2-0 Boro

In the end this was quite an even game in which Boro could count themselves unlucky not to get a point, but the damage had been done in the first 20 minutes. Spurs started off very brightly, but were again indebtted to Boro's annoying habit of giving away penalties (that's 5 in 9 games now) and Luzi's apparently pushed Kanoute; Defoe dispatched the spot-kick (16). 5 minutes later in was 2-0, Thiam's shot took a wicked deflection of Queudrue, leaving Luzi totally wrong-footed.

Afterwards Boro started to take control without ever dominating, although Spurs keeper Robinson was repeatedly forced into action in the final 15 minutes, keeping out all Boro could throw at him.

Next up was Everton at home, who had recently been deducted 9 points for financial irregularities, which wouldn't surprise anyone who knew Niall "brown envelope" Murphy and his managerial ethics. This result had actually put Everton below Boro in the table, and the Irishman was very unhappy. This didn't stop him spouting out his usual guff in the press, saying his side would start their recovery of their lost points at the Riverside, no doubt about it; the win was guarenteed.

Boro 2-1 Everton

9 minutes had gone and Everton launched the games first attack: Osman played the ball to an offside Calaio, who petulantly ignored the decision and kicked the ball into the net. But, remarkably, no desicion was given, and Everton found themselves in the lead. As you can imagine, Murphy was running Mourinho-esque down the sidelines celebrating. The lead, however, was short lived, as George Boateng smacked an unstoppable 25 yard screamer into the top corner (17). 1-1, game on. The rest of the half was undramatic, both teams cancelling each other out and having few chances.

At half time, the sound of smashing tea cups could be heard in the away teams' dressing room, and cries of "we've gotta win this one, it's our cup final" coming from Murphy. To be fair, all the comotion seemed to be working, as Everton came out and slowly began to take control. Sivok hit the bar (60) and other chances were missed, as the tension rose up a notch. Cue tactical genius from Liggins; the tired Nemeth and Butt were replaced by Doriva and Christie. Then, in the 82nd minute, as Everton had lost the impetus they'd had for most of the half, Doriva played a brilliantly weighted slide-rule ball into the path of Christie, who rounded Richard Wright and slid the ball into the open goal.

For the final 10 minutes, Boro went to their normal 'end game' formation, and like Chelsea and Charlton, Everton couldn't find a way through. At the final whistle, a disappointed Murphy shook Liggins' hand, knowing full well his pre-match bravado had come back and kicked him in the arse.

Progress is being made, performances are good, a home tie against Hartlepool should see the side advance to the 4th round of the league cup, and a place in the latter stages of the UEFA Cup isn't out of our reach. The main problem is the ultra competetive league, where anyone seems to be able to beat anyone. Lying in 12th place, but only 2 wins off 6th, this good run of form (4 wins in the last 6 games) must be continued.

Oh, and for the record, Everton are 8, that's EIGHT, points behind us

I got divorced over this g · January 19, 2005

DaCosta considers quitting

With Newcastle only recording on win in the first 10 games, beleaguered Manager JDC is said to be considering his future. With rumours of dressing room discontent and his signings being questioned, JDC called a hastily arranged press conference

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote">quote:<HR>â€˜Itâ€™s the inability for the strikers to score, the midfield to create and the defence to defend that is the problem. We are working hard to consider the options, but we must improve if we are to secure the 4th spot necessary to complete the 3 year plan we have for this club.

We are just a soft touch, clubs are coming here and winning 1-0 when they have only had one shot!â€™ <HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

JDC also said that he questioned his abilities when challenged by a fan named Sam, who was so disgruntled he verbally attacked JDC at his home commenting about selling the club down the river.

However JDC called the talk of moving to Milton Keynes and renaming the club as AFC Newcastle as malicious.

As the vultures gathered late last night and the players agents started ringing other clubs, JDC said he would not be selling anyone regardless of his decision.

skintsaint · January 19, 2005

Reality hits the Saints!

After a super start to the campaign, Steels team hit the ground with a big bump. First of a injury to star player James Beattie ruled him out for 5 months. Add to that the inability to bring in a quality replacement meant that Saints were going into the next 3 months with only Phillips, Crouch and Ivana as the only senior strikers.

No players were brought in or sold before the window shut till January.

Southamption 1 - 3 Man Utd

Hopes were up for this top of the table clash. But all them hopes were finished after 35mins as Smith and Saha bagged a goal each to go 2-0 up at half time. Saints didnt even have a chance and so Steel changed from a lone striker to a three man attack for the second half. Immediatly the change brought dividends, for Man U that is, after wave after wave of attacks came streaming on the Saints goal. Only Niemi kept the score down. If it was a boxing match the ref would have stopped the game after Giggs made it 3 on 56min after Saha missed a penalty. Steel then decided to go 5-4-1 to keep the scoreline respectable and indeed got a consolation when phillips was scythed down in the area and Wome stepped up to score his first goal for Southampton.

Southampton 0 - 1 Blackburn Rovers

Rick brought his small northern outfit down to St Marys for a game between the only 2 unbeaten human managers at this stage. It was a largely even affair but Rovers created more chances and that legendry striker Karl Noon (who) popped up from a corner to nod past Niemi. It was largely a non event of a game and Rovers hung on to win 1-0. A dissapointing game and highlighted the weakness Saints have from defending corners!

Bournemouth 0 - 2 Southampton

After 2 defeats on the bounce the last thing Steel wanted was a south coast derby in the Coca Cola cup. He fielded a strong team as he considers this Saints best chance of silverware this season. The premiership team were always in control throughout 90mins and the scoreline doesnt reflect on the amounth of chances Saints created. Goals from Kevin Phillips and Peter Crouch ended Bournemouths quest for a upset. Next round Man Shitty at home.

Southampon 0 - 4 West Brom

Well what can I say except for the referees a w*nker. Saints were hopeful of 3 points against this Championship side, in the Premier League for season. It was a even game until Argel popped up at the near post from a corner to nod home. Again Saints frailities from a corner exposed!! Then the first sending off, Petras 2 bookings, from which Matusovic scored from the resulting free kick. Saints went to a 2-5-2 gung ho formation to try and get a result. That ended when Matusovic again scored from a nice move in the 50th min. Then Ambrose was sent off for two bookings in the 60th min and also Folly recieved his marching orders in the 67th min for another 2 bookings. Rob Styles (w*nker) must of thought it was xmas the way he was handing cards out to Saints players! So saints changed to a 2-3-2 formation and held out until the 83rd min when nwanko kanu scored from close range. Another home defeat and 3 league defeats on the bounce for Saints.

Tottenham 1 - 3 Southampton

Before the game Sam Bouchard wished me well for a good game, and reminded me of the fact that his team never lose at White Hart Lane. This made this result even more satisfying. Spurs dominated the 1st 45 mins, but couldnt stop the elegant Peter Crouch banging in a goal from the edge of the box after the Spurs defence decided to muck about with it. Second half and Spurs came straight back into the game as Southgate, now 82 yrs old, stole in at the front post from a corner to nod in past Niemi, again a goal from a corner. The scores were only level for 11 mins as Petit lined up a 27yd free kick and bent it around the wall into the top corner! Robinson no chance, and Petit the ex gooner, milked the celebrations to annoy the Spurs fans. After that Spurs had 1 or 2 good chances to equalise but Berger ended the game with a fierce effort from the edge of the box! Nether the less the Saints Board were happy with beating the North London Yobbos!!!

Newcastle 0 - 1 Southampton

After seeing the line up of Newcastle, which included Van Bommel, Crespo, Kluivert and Robinho, Saints boss was after a solid away point. Things didnt look good after 19mins as Kruiswijk got injured after 19mins and Steel didnt put a Centre Back on the bench. So after a bit of a shuffle round the game restarted. Saints kept Newcastle to long range efforts mainly, but Crespo and Robinho should of done better inside the box. 0-0 at half time Steel was pleased. Things got even better within 5 mins of the restart as Jakobsson smashed a header home in the 49th min. Newcastle werent in the game second half and we held on for a great 1-0 win. Jay has a tough time on his hands to avoid the dreaded sack before xmas!!

Southampton 0 - 2 Chelsea

What a boring game this was. A free flowing exhibition of football was anticipated but instead got a exhibition in the art of Italian style footie! Saints had another injury to a key player, this time Jakobsson after 5 mins. This meant Kenton and Petras were centre backs. I could of signed a Pygmy and played him centre half to have given me more height!!! Anyway 2 chances within 10mins gave Chelsea a 2-0 head start. Ballack and Terry both scoring headers (they didnt even have to jump). After that they sat back and just soaked up the limp Saints attack and the game drifted to 90 mins.

So 10 games gone, sitting in 8th place. Just the sort of position where you either challenge for Uefa or dissapear down the bottom of the table with the likes of Everton, Newcastle and Portsmouth. Steel can see his problems with this stat :

Home

Played 5 - Won 0 - Draw 1 - Lost 4

Away

Played 5 - Won 5 - Draw 0 - Lost 0

Impressive away form but at home it needs to be sorted!!!

Until next time Adios!!

UP THE SAINTS!!!

BelfastNiall · January 19, 2005

Murphy in a rage as Everton go into financial meltdown

Well I wanted a challenging job for this years clan game and it looks like I've got it, big time. Everton are in a world of crisis trapped in a quagmire of financial hell thanks to the expolits of the previous few regimes. It will take a lot of effort to steer the club through what is undoubtabley the most difficult period of its history.

The fans are in a rage and the manager is putting on a brave face after being put in the position of having to watch powerlessly as his impressive early season start is totally wiped out by boardroom shennanigans and a slide into administration. This nine point deduction sees Everton go into freefall down the Premiership table from the heights of sixth place to a lowly and ultimately false position of 17th. FFS, even Southampton are above us and they have the "legendary" Peter Crouch up front. Enough said.

Understandably, some of the fans have questioned the managers role in this outcome but most agree with his explanation that he was virtually powerless to prevent such an outcome. On taking control of Everton, the squad was already threadbare, with around 20 professional footballers on the books. The reserves and youth team did not contain any players of Premiership quality. In the first team squad, only Yobo and Gravesen would have attracted offers that would have made any dent in a bank balance that was already sitting at Â£10m in the red.

More significantly, the combined sale of both players, with the additional cost of having to delve into the transfer market to replace them and the difficulty in attracting players as good given our wage retraints of around Â£10K a week, would most likely have seen the situation become even worse if the club slid into the Championship, perhaps never to return.

With receivers currently dealing with all transfer activity, I am pleased to see that when the vultures swarmed (barely 30 seconds after the news was broken) over Yobo, Gravesen and Zurawski - they had the intelligence to give Nilsen, Steel, Bouchard and Hardy (who even had the gall to offer us the sh1te Bosvelt) a flea in the ear. Feck off you mercenary swines.

I am currently hoping that the boardroom problems are sorted out asap and I'll soon be weloming a new board and an influx of cash to the club, which would make Everton competitive once again.

Despite this, results on the pitch continued to encourage the manager that his new signings were settling in well and that at this early stage in his Everton career, Murphy is on the right track.

Carling Cup 2nd Round

Sunderland 0 - 2 Everton

A tricky lie away to the Stadium of Light. Everton started the game brightly with a midfield stiffened by the inclusion of Lewandowski, Gravesen and Sivok. Polish international forward Zurawski ploughing a lonely furrow up front by himself.

From the kick off, Everton took control and early long rangers from Sivok and Hysen just narrowly missed the target. On 40 minutes the pressure told. A nice triangle of play between Naysmith, Sivok and Tobias Hysen, resulted in the Swedish youngster firing over a bullet cross that was beauitifully converted by Zurawski at the near post. A cracking goal as the Polish international's clever movement left Gary Breen for dead. The tie was wrapped up in the 53rd minute when a long ball by Teddy Lucic, was superbly taken down on the turn by the magnificent Pole Dancer yet again. Breen was dumped on his arse, Zurawski fired into the bottom corner. Beauitiful.

After the game Murphy complimented the team performance with barely concealed enthusiasm

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote">quote:<HR> Everton have been a light touch in this competition for a number of years so it was great to be come to such an intimidating atmosphere and dominate the game. Let me assure the fans that we'll be taking this competition seriously this season. It's about time Evertonians had a trip to a Cup Final once again. <HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

FA Barclaycard Premiership

Aston Villa 0 - 0 Everton

Villa lined up in 4-1-3-2 fashion as appears to be quite popular in FM already. Everton put five across the midfield to counteract the threat of Veron. All in all, Everton were the better side in a largely dull game. With the onus being on Villa at home I was pleased to restrict them to 1 shot on target compared to our 5.

Everton 2 - 2 Manchester City

This is already going down as Everton's game of the season so far in a superb tactical battle between both managers - exactly what FM is all about. Before the game I was quietly confident we would take the erractic City side at home, especially after an unshevelled Hardy confirmed with a pale, sweaty face at his press-conference that his main threat Nicolas Anelka would be sidelined through injury. He He I chuckled as I sipped a whisky in the office watching Hardy on Sky Sports News. However, I was soon seen necking the whisky down when the news that my own star striker had sustained an injury and would also miss the game filtered through.

City started the game with an attack in the first minute that had goal written all over it. Mills split our defence with a long raking pass to Fabrice Fernandes. As the Frenchman rounded Wright and got ready to pull the trigger, Joseph Yobo sprinted like a cheetah and superbly made up the ground to block the shot. A minute later Everton were ahead. Gravesen surging through the midfield sprayed a lovely ball out to Leon Osman on the right. Osman's cross was perfect for the onrushing Gravesen to bullet the ball past Dodgy Keeper James, who was on his PS2 at the time.

After this it was a case of Everton domination but it took until the 70th miute for us to extend our lead when Gravesen's corner was nodded home by Calaio for his second Everton goal. From here the match turned on two decisions. Everton's domination was so complete, Murphy felt he could risk withdrawing the injured Calaio for Chadwick and substituted the influential Gravesen for Sivok. Around the same time Hardy went more attacking and suddenly I knew the risk had backfired as Chadwick struggled to hold possession when we moved forward.

In the 86th minute Fernandes pulled one back for City and as Everton moved to slow the tempo and keep their shape, an 88th minute equaliser from Shaun Wright Phillips rocked Goodison Park to the core. In fact, Hardy was unlucky not to win it as Wright made an outstanding save from Fowler in the final minute.

After the game Murphy was full of praise for Hardy's managerial expertise.

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote">quote:<HR> From our perspective I'm very unhappy at the slack defending that let City in for two late goals. That was a right royal kick in the nads. However I have to credit Hardy for his brave managerial decisions in the last ten minutes. Many other clubs would have thrown in the towel, but City's adventure in attack gave them a point they barely deserved over the course of the ninety minutes. <HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Next after the news of administration came through, I knew I was in for a tough time up at Middlesbrough. The squad were queuing up to see the chairman about their futures and it was a tough task for me to keep their minds on the game. To that end, I cleverly released a few statements to the press regarding the importance for the club to get back on its feet as soon as possible. There could surely be no better place to start than at the Riverside.

Middlesbrough 2 - 1 Everton

Well it appeared that my plan paid off despite a defeat in a game we dominated from start to finish. How Middlesbrough were still in the game to bag a breakaway winner will go down in legend as one of those unanswerable mysteries of life. My explanation is simple however. Liggins was a jammy bas**rd!!

The opening goal of the game was absolutely superb. From a corner, Everton kept possession and as Osman threaded a nice pass to Hysen, the Boro defence looked tight just like their manager when it comes to his round in the pub. However, they didn't reckon on another moment of magic from the Swede. With a perfectly timed reverse pass, Hysen sent the entire Boro defence the wrong way as he played Calaio in on goal. With one touch the Italian controlled then fired past Patrice Luzi.

To my amazement Liggins came rushing out of his dugout a face as red as beetroot. I thought he was about to berate his defence, but instead Liggins rushed to the linesman haraginging him about offside. to my amazement Liggins grabbed the flag off the lino and started waving it furiously in the air, hoping the ref would see him and chalk off the goal. Such desperation and unsurprisingly the ref ignored the Boro managers protests. For god sake man, the basic rule of football is play to the whistle. The goal rightly stood and Liggins sat down in a huff.

Unfortunately for us luck was now to completely desert Everton. The lead was shortlived as Boateng - a player not renouned for his long shooting took aim from 30 yards. As expected, the shot was bound for the corner flag but took an astonishing deflection of the Everton number seven, Lewandowski and deflected viciously into the net. A typical Boro goal but that didn't deter Liggins from performing a little jig on the touchline. Riverdance it wasn't.

At half time I urged the lads on. And they responded. On 47 a vicious shot from Calaio flashed just wide. On 55 Hysen blasted narrowly over. And two minutes later Liggins took a starring role in the Great Escape as Sivok smashed a 25 yarder off the bar. Boro were hanging on. Everton continued to pepper the Boro goal with effort after effort but the winner just wouldn't come.

And then, the injustice. 80 minutes on the clock and as an Everton attack was broken up, Doriva played Malcolm Christie in on goal. As the Everton defence scrambled back, Christie calmly rounded right, his shot just beating Lewandowski and Yobo to the goalline. Even after this setback Everton responded, Watson firing two good chances straight at Luzi. The whistle blew and I congratulated an ecstatic Liggins before disappearing down the tunnel cursing my luck....

To be continued.

BelfastNiall · January 20, 2005

Just a quick update on the website.

Unfortunately, neither Mark nor I can gain access to the webserver at the moment, which is the reason why the tables haven't been put on the web. This has been the case for quite some time now so if we can't get access soon, we'll look into moving it somewhere else.

It has absolutely nothing to do with Everton being 17th.

BelfastNiall · January 21, 2005

Pagi and Steel brushed aside - Andy Nilsen to suffer cup exit, probably!!

Yes three games to catch up on, starting with Pagi's first visit to Goodison Park.

Everton 3 - 1 Bolton

The first shock was that it was the Bolton team bus that Pagi stepped off this season and not his beloved Charlton Athletic!! Once I had got over that, a quick look at the Bolton team sheet revealed that Pagi was in difficulties and struggling to put out a side for this fixture - six injuries decimating his squad before the match. Having heard whispers Pagi was considering reverting back to his favoured 3-5-2 formation, Everton were under pressure to deliver in a game they were now big favourites to win.

The match got off to the worst possible start. Bolton kicked off and went straight onto the attack. Tricky winger Giannakopoulos got into the box and after performing his worst poncy Ronaldo step over impression, managed (just like the spotty Man U player) to con the referee into awarding a penalty against Lewandowski. A blatant act of gamesmanship from the Greek lad as Speed stepped up to open the scoring.

Everton were level on 10 minutes, a flowing move from the midfield and Osman's cross is headed on by Hysen, for Zurawski to fire in a magnificent volley. Everton's superiority began to tell and the next 20 saw Jaaskelainen make a few excellent stops. On 41 though we broke through to take the lead with a deadly cross from Hysen, met with a bullet header from close range by Calaio. And on 49 another cross from Hysen was met by the same man to tap in and wrap up the game.

Carling Cup 3rd Round

Everton 4 - 0 Leicester City

Everton progress to the last 16 and an away tie with Andy Nilsen's Portsmouth, courtesy of a hammering of Leicester City at Goodison. Premiership quality told hugely here as Yobo (22); Calaio (32, 40) and Zurawski (90) wrapped up the win.

Premiershhip

Southampton 0 - 2 Everton

Before the game Rob Steel was highlighting Southampton's very poor home form and underplaying his sides chances in the game. As Everton had failed thus far to win away from home in the Premiership, Murphy responded by also playing down his sides chances. Most pundits were predicting a draw in this match.

However on the day, Everton put in their best away performance of the season to date, completely dominating the entire match, registering 13 efforts on goal to the Saints' three. We were helped by getting off to a magnificent start. On 6 minutes Tomas Gravesen curled a fantastic free kick past Niemi from 30 yards to give us the lead. It would be hard to top that goal, but on 21 minutes, Zurawski did just that with a goal that finished 3rd in the goal of the month competition. Taking a short pass of Sivok, Zurawski had enough space to turn and fire a curling effort from just outside the area into the far corner. Superb again from the Pole who is turning into a real Premiership hot shot.

16th place then with a record of 5-4-3. A pleasing nights work.

Morrizio · January 21, 2005

Mixed results for the Baggies

Couple of players brought in :

Young striker Marcus Berg came in for 10k from IFK Goteborg.

David Limbersky was signed for 650k to provide cover in the midfield, although he has been pushing for a first team spot.

Improvement

After a disappointing start to the season, manager Morris reassured fans that the team will come good, and there were glimpses of it in the following matches.

Middlesbrough 0 - WBA 2

A good result for West Brom, although a pretty even contest, WBA had the cutting edge that Boro seemed to lack. Tsiartas justified his 25k a week showing some delightful vision to lob Schwarzer from 30 yards. A counter attack in the second half killed the game as Kanu wrapped things up with a very well timed run and calm finish.

WBA 4 - Bolton 1

Another day another human manager defeated Bolton took the lead early on through Kevin Davies, but he paid for that later as he got carried out on a stretcher in the 56th min, heheh.. anyway an N'gotty OG, penalty scored by Zdebel, and strikes from the ever potent Matusovic and Pezzarossi earned another three points for the baggies.

WBA 2 - Sheff Utd 2 (WBA win 3-2 on pens)

What should have been a fairly straight forward cup tie turned into serious hard work as we had to come from behind to take the game into extra time and eventually penalties. Andy Gray and Stuart McCall were on target for Sheffield as they took the game to West Brom. Matusovic got the two goals which got WBA level adding to his ever growing reputation. Comments about Matusovic's talents have been made by many, including Everton gaffer Murphy. No chance mate especially with the state of your club

But anyway WBA marched on to the next round of the carling cup!

Saints 0 - WBA 4

A scoreline no one would have predicted as Southampton hit the self destuct button having three players sent off, and then blaming the ref, tut tut WBA were already in control by the first dismissal , a header from Brazilian defender Argel from a corner kick putting them ahead. The first red card came in the 44th min, Petras the man to go. Matusovic got his first of two goals from the freekick, the lad just cant help but bang em in! Kanu added the forth after two more saints players left the field. Manager Chris Morris later congratulated the referee Rob Styles on a fine performance Next up was Arsenal, and spirits were high!

WBA 0 - Arsenal 4

Heres what happens when you get cocky against Arsenal. You get hammered. Henry hatrick, disappointment all round

Fulham 2 - WBA 0

With morale at a record low from the dubbing the week before, the team produced one of their worst performances of the season. Only a couple of shots on goal, and lucky to concede just the two. It looked as if West Brom were slipping back into bad habits, not what we want at all

WBA 3 - Palace 1

But what better way to get smiles back on faces than a visit from Crystal Palace? With Palace rooted to the bottom of the table with 3 points (even less than Newcastle! ) a win was always on the cards. Goals from Kanu and Matusovic in the first ten minutes set the mood for an easy afternoon, before Julian Speroni decided 'if you cant beat em join em' and threw the ball into his own net. Zdebel got sent off which evened things up a bit, but Palace never looked good enough to threaten, although they did get one back through the on-loan Nicola Ventola, they will surely get relegated.

WBA 3 QPR 0

A few reserves made appearances in the Carling Cup 3rd round as the Baggies recorded a comfortable victory. Teenagers Marcus Berg and Scott Agnew came on off the bench and did well. The goals came curtosy of Matusovic, Pezzarossi and Argel. The reward for the victory? A visit from Manchester United in the 4th round, so an easy path to the next round then

Liverpool 2 - WBA 3

A truely memorable match at Anfield where WBA showed they are not a 'Championship side' by any stretch of the imagination. Jan Kristiansen put West Brom ahead in the 25th, leading to a tactical move which tried to slow the game down and contain the home side. It didnt work. Jermaine Jenas' sublime 30 yard strike into the bottom corner levelled the scores. Xabi Alonso made it 2-1 Liverpool after half time and hope seemed to be slipping away.. Another change of tactics saw WBA pressing every ball, and playing at an incredibley fast pace. It paid off as clinical striker Matusovic levelled the scores on the 80th minute much to the disgust of the home support. Three minutes later he repeated the feat to secure a well deserved victory. Fantastic!

An entertaining few weeks leaves West Brom mid table on seventeen points, a position well above the relegation scrap everyone expected them to be in. Although still early on, if Matusovic continues to slot em away who knows where it could take WBA this season. The future is bright!

BelfastNiall · January 24, 2005

Two Premiership defeats keep Everton in potential trouble

Mixed news after last nights session. Firstly, Everton finally came out of administration as a new board takes control, wiping out Everton's Â£15m debt and providing some much needed funds for the transfer kitty. Great news as Murphy escapes with his squad intact.

Gary Naysmith puts his contract worries behind him, signing up to June 2006 and Tomas Sivok underlines his potential by winning the young player of the month award for September.

On the pitch it was mixed:

Premiership

Everton 0 - 1 Arsenal

The Wenger boys came to town riding high in the league as expected. With Everton on a good run I was optimistic that we would get something from the game. Lining up in a 4-5-1 formation, the players were told to keep it tight and try and get something on the break, as we expected Arsenal to control possession.

The game followed the expected pattern. Arsenal's class in all areas told during the game with Everton relying on Zurawski to create something up front. Arsenal put on incessant pressure for the entire game but to their credit Everton refused to submit to the superior skill.

With 91 minutes on the clock, Murphy was getting ready to celebrate a hard fought point, when Patrick Vieira picked up the ball just outside the Everton box. Moving into the area, unchallenged, Vieira hit the most composed shot of Arsenal's afternoon, winning the game by firing into the bottom corner. Totally gutting!!

Carling Cup 4th Round

Portsmouth 1 - 2 (aet) Everton

A fantastic match at Goat's Fratton Park which ended with an amazing 42 attempts at goal. Both Shaka Hislop and Richard Wright had outstanding games as both sides forgot all about defending and just went for it.

For the majority of the 90 minutes, Everton were the better side and went into the lead through Leon Osman just before HT. However after about 80 minutes, Nilsen changed things and all of a sudden Pompey were on a roll. Their domination of the last 10 minutes of the game lead to an 87th minute equaliser, as Everton struggled to contain Kamara.

However, Nilsen had employed cynical kicking tactics in his attempt to win the game, forcing Murphy to withdraw Zurawski after 62 minutes following repeated dirty hackings. Pompey's yellow card total continued to mount, and Nilsen's tactic spectacularly backfired in ET, as his side were reduced to ten men. Fighting fatigue, Everton rallied and got their just reward, when Steve Watson slotted home late in the day. This sets up an away quarter final to Rob Steel's Southampton.

Premiership

Fulham 2 - 0 Everton

Fulham are a good side and I wasn't looking forward to this fixture. On the day, Fulham deserved to win, although it took an awesome free kick from full back Bocanegra to give them the lead. A cracking shot which beat Wright and the defender on the line all ends up.

Everton couldn't really get a foothold in this game and with time running out, the Toffees moved into an adventurous formation. With the equaliser refusing to materialise, we were caught out in the 91st minute by a Brian McBride header, to give Fulham the points.

AsherDSSc · January 24, 2005

Boult's Credentials Questioned

After a very successful start to the premiership season, Blackburn Rovers fans were over the moon with the appointment of rookie manager Rick Boult. As the weeks have passed, results have began to slip due to injuries and suspensions. Now, in the wake of a tough christmas calender, Boult has decided to takw a leave of absence from the managering role for 2 weeks to 'sort his head out.'

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote">quote:<HR> It is true, results have been hard to come by in recent weeks but i feel once the squad is back to full strength we can keep up the push for a top 10 finish. The fans have been very understanding and the board know rome wasn't built in a day. The squad here is relatively small compared to other premiership clubs but within the next few years players will be added to boost the squad. it is also true that i shall be taking 2 weeks out of my managering role for 2 weeks. I have not yet made a good enough excuse for the leave of absence so i am unable to quote further <HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

With manager Boult gone and morale at Rovers low, will the club and its fans be able to taste premiership football next season or will they fall short, leaving the club the laughing stock of Lancashire (well, still ahead of City).

BelfastNiall · January 24, 2005

Enjoy your holiday Rick.

See you in two weeks

Inter · January 24, 2005

The Unpredictables

Ok, eleven matches to report on now, so here they are:

Man City 1-3 Spurs

A very very dissapointing result for us in this game. The defence and midfeild looked very shabby. It seemed that the midfeild had forgot how to pass and the defence just couldnt contain the inform Defoe who scored. Also David James was back to his usual form after a surprising good run.

Chelsea 4-2 Man City

Despite the scoreline I was happy and impressed by my teams attitude and performance against one of the championship challengers. It was all looking great at half-time as it was 2-1 to City, who scored a goal just before the break with a free-kick from Reyna. The goal conceeded was a soft one to be fair but I was content. In the second-half Chelsea really turned on the style with three well worked goals.

So, in the end a well won game for Chelsea and an expected one.

Leeds 2-2 Man City (Man City won on Penalties) (Legue Cup 2nd Round)

A draw would have been a fair result, but ofcourse it had to go to extra-time and pens. Man City were very lucky not to lose this one as Sibierski again scored in the last few minutes(86th).

To be honest, apart from the four goals and penalties, it was a very uneventful match with not many clear-cut chances. Leeds only had one good chance and scored it, the other was scored from a wonder strike by former WBA player, Sakiri.

Through to the third round then with a tie against Southampton at St. Mary's.

Man City 1-1 Charlton

Man City's run of bad form in the last few games continued as they played a very dissapointing draw aginst Charlton at the City of Manchester Stadium.

A dull match again with no real excitement in it(nothing that made me jump out my seat like normal anyway).

Next up was Niall Murphy's Everton. A tough test for Hardy's unpredictable team.

Everton 2-2 Man City

This has without doubt been Man City's most exciting and tense game of the season. Any hope of getting a result seemed to be out of City's reach when Hardy found out that Anelka would still be out through injury. Good news shortly followed however after Zurowski, the star Everton striker got an injury and would also miss the game.

City started the game in the first minute with an excellent chance, Fernandes wouldve scored after rounding the keeper if it wasnt for some terrific defending by the class Yobo. A few seconds after that attack Everton came back at City and scored a goal to round off a great move. The goal was scored by the brilliant Graveson who headed the ball firmly into the back of the net after an inch perfect cross from Leon Osman. David James was completely helpless.

The goal set Everton off as they continued to press City and they got their reward again in the second half when Calaio headed in a poorly defended corner. From there it looked like Everton weere home and dry, dominating the game and by now they were taking off a couple of their key players to rest them. As soon as this was done Hardy changed the tactics around a bit and the attacking seemed to be working as City started to take control and the defence was starting to win everything against Chadwick.

The pressure finaly paid off with a goal in the 86th minute scored by Fernandes, 2-1, game on. Then just two minutes later, Shaun Wright-Phillips arrived in the area too head in a great equaliser. City almost won it with a fowler 1-on-1, but the keeper stood big to make a great save and save a point for Everton.

This was a game that felt like a win for Man City after that late, late come-back and surely felt like a defeat for Everton as they just say couldnt manage to hold on to a two goal advantage. In fairness, Everton certainly deserved the win.

It was truely a great battle of the tactics so to speak from the two managers.

Southampton 5-0 Man City (League Cup 3rd Round)

What can I say about this one apart from we got absolutly torn apart?

A bad tactical decision in the second half let Southampton to go on and score three goals.

After this match Hardy went mental and started fining players all-over the place and also started kicking boots at players and just about anything-else that was lying around.

I didnt want to win this crappy competition anyway

Middlesbrough 2-0 Man City

I cant really comment on this game as I was banned from it by the board for my 'over-reaction'.

Nicky Butt scored the two goals so I was informed

Man City 2-1 Aston Villa

Another quite unneventful match for City who managed to just scrape a 2-1 win.

Shearer scored the only goal in the first-half. Vassel equalised in the second and Anelka wrapped it up in the 63rd minute.

It was nice to come back to a win after a one match ban.

Man City 0-1 Bolton

This was a game that in my opinion, we didnt deserve to lose. It seemed the draw would be the fairer result, but Jay Jay Okocha won the game with the only goal of the game.

This is how even it was:

Man City 11 shots

Bolton 10 shots

There was remarkably no bookings in this game, much to my relief as I cant afford to lose any more players. Five key players out now.

Southampton 2-2 Man City

Southampton still couldnt manage to register their first home win in the Premiership against the recent strugglers.

In another even game throughout except the last 10 minutes or so where the Saints dominated, Man City still couldnt get 'the rub of the green' to snatch a late win.

The goalscorers in this game was:

Southampton-Phillips(5), Ivana(57)

Man City-Anelka(10), Shearer(60)

Man City 2-0 Norwich

A comfortable win here where Nowrich had not a single clear-cut chance. No surprise with the win then.

With this win, City have gone into 10th position. Only 3-4 points away from the EUFA Cup spots. Arsenal up next to spoil things again obviousely.

This is the way it is for me in the league then:

Position-10th

Played-14

Won-5

Drawn-4

Lost-5

For-17

Against-19

Goal difference--2

Points-19

Well as you can see, a very up and down season, but we're still looking and hopeful for that top-half finish.

Inter · January 24, 2005

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote">quote:<HR>(well, still ahead of City). <HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

lol, no your not City 10th, Blackburn 14th.

BelfastNiall · January 24, 2005

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote">quote:<HR> I cant really comment on this game as I was banned from it by the board for my 'over-reaction'. <HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Just want to clarify this had nada to do with me.

ligs · January 24, 2005

Inconsistent Boro

Still yet to draw a game in the league, and that tells the story. Win one lose one at the moment, although performances have been good.

8 games to catch up on:

Villa 3-0 Boro

Well what can I say, Mark Smallwodd wont have a victory gifted to him like this one again in a long time. Absolutely nothing went right for Boro. 12 minutes in Mellberg picked the ball up and, obviously wanting to impress on his return to Villa Park, started sprinting out of defence. His run didn't get far, Robert intercepting and playing Angel into 20 yards of space, who calmly finished. Straight from Boro's kick off it was 2, as the ball was played bac to keeper Luzi, who passed perfectly to the feet of Vassell, who was never going to miss. 2 minutes later Mendieta thumped a shot against the bar, and then on 25 minutes Butt was sent off for a 2nd bookable defence by the over-zealous and incompetent D'Urso. 5 minutes before half time Vassell made it 3, totally unmarked from a corner. Total rubbish.

League Cup round 3: Boro 3-0 Hartlepool

A comfortable win for the 2nd string, goals by Doriva (7, 26) and Yakin (24)

Boro 2-0 Man City

Before the game confusion reigned, as opposition manager Leo Hardy was nowhere to be seen. The game was delayed but, as he couldn't be present, it kicked off without him in control of his team, and boy did they miss him. This was the best Boro performance of the season, as they dominated from start to finish, racking up an impressive 35 attempts at goal versus City's 8. Disappointingly only 2 goals were scored, both by Nicky Butt (13, 51), as the impressive David James kept the scoreline respectable.

UEFA Cup group stage: Parma 0-3 Boro

A highly impressive and surprisingly comfortable win at the Ennio Tardini. Things started badly with Nicky Butt being stretchered off injured after only 5 minutes, but a brace from Viduka (19, 24) put Boro in control at the break. I'd expected at half time to see Parma come out all guns blazing for the 2nd half, but a Hasselbaink goal a minute into the half put payed to those plans.

Boro 2-0 Norwich

Like the previous home game against City, the visitors were outplayed and dispatched with ease. 2 goals from Hasselbaink (35, 72), the first being an absolute belter, put payed to the Canaries.

League Cup round 4: Newcastle 2-1 Boro

Well Jay Da Costa got revenge for the league defeat in an entertaining clash. Boro again put out a 2nd string team, and it wasn't good enough to match the might of the Newcastle 1st team. The 1st half was even and goal-less, but Da Costa made an inspirational change in bringing on Kluivert, who immediately scored (47). Newcastle were well on top and Crespo doubled the lead (79) after a fine counter attack. But Boro wouldn't lie down, Nemeth (83) setting up a tense finish, youngster Kennedy wasting a glorious chance to force extra time.

Bolton 2-1 Boro

Another away game, yet more disasterous goalkeeping, this time Mark Schwarzer in the role of the clown. Boro had the kick off, and after a few passes the ball was returned to the Abo between the sticks, who played the ball straight to Gardner, who in turn set up old boy Zenden to score after only 29 seconds! Soon after, a weak goal kick was headed forward and Gay Gay Okocha (17) made it 2-0. Boro, though, continued to have all the play, and Hasselbaink (40) pulled one back.

The 2nd half sore Jasskalainen pull off a number of fine saves, meaning Boro went down to an undeserved defeat against Pagi's thugs. Bruno N'Gotty had earlier broken Hasselbaink's cheekbone, putting him out for a month, an act that ref Mark Battenburg only saw fit to award a yellow card for. What a pudding.

UEFA Cup Group Stage: Boro 2-0 Dunfirmline

Another comfortable home win, and another clean sheet, 4 games without conceeding in the competition. A Boro side missing both Viduka and Hasselbaink for a further 3 weeks with injury created many chances, but the only goals came from the reserve strike force Christie (24) and Downing (78)

The league is still very close, there's a huge mid-pack scrap going on. The home form at the moment is very impressive, the away from not so, although performances have been generally sound, except in the goalkeeping department. Both Schwarzer and Luzi have a habit of arsing thing up, 18 year old Avitabile has impressed in his 2 league cup starts and may be in line for a league debut. Next up are Rob's Saints at home

ligs · January 24, 2005

Apologies for the typo's, it is 3am, where's the edit button gone?

Also, where's the website gone Niall?

BelfastNiall · January 25, 2005

Mr Smallwood is the "culprit" on the website. No idea what he is up to but he assures me that a working, and more importantly updatable website will be available today.

Good old Mr Blind.

Blind · January 26, 2005

It works now

BelfastNiall · January 26, 2005

Yeah great stuff Mark, well done amigo.

The embarrassing (for some) league table is up and a surprisingly few number of big transfers added in, plus the early trophies.

If you've any ideas for adding something, let us know.

Yes, that's Murphy and Nilsen near the bottom!!

BelfastNiall · January 26, 2005

Apols to Mozilla users for the site, that part needs recoded. A huge oversight since I use Mozilla now myself.

Best for IE consumption atm.

ligs · January 26, 2005

6 more games gone, and there's a general pattern emerging with league fixtures.

Boro 2-1 Southampton

The game had been going on for almost half an hour, neither keeper had had a save to make. Southampton had had a few shots, but all off target. Then, Nemeth's right wing cross was bravely headed home by the flying Nicky Butt, 1-0 Boro.

The second half was following the same pattern, wayward shots being fired in, before Kevin Phillips equalised after a goal-mouth scramble (64). With 10 minutes remaining, a clever tactical change by Liggins saw Downing go up front, and immediately he latched onto a Yakin through ball and slotted pat the helpless Niemi. Southampton pushed forward for the equaliser, Folly hitting the post, but they couldn't get a goal. At the end of the game, the unlucky and very annoyed Saints boss Rob Steel stormed down the tunnel and out of the stadium proclaiming he was quitting football, only to change his mind minutes later when he was reminded how much money he was earning.

UEFA Cup Group Stages: GAK 1-1 Boro

Before the game Boro knew a draw was enough to put them through to the knock-out stages, and a draw the duly got. Hakan Yakin (6) put the visitors ahead with a cool finish, and the win looked more than likely once Weber was sent off for kicking out at Downing (51). But GAK, knowing they needed something to be in with a chance of qualifying, got an equaliser through Wartinger (57)

Arsenal 5-1 Boro

Boro set out at Highbury with a very attacking formation, and to start with everything was working fine. After only 3 minutes Downing was left in acres of space to rush through and round Lehmann. 2 minutes later it was almost 2-0, Nemeth's cross headed onto the bar by Mendieta, who then struck the post with a freekick just a minute later. Nicky Butt then hit the side netting after a swift counter attack. Seeing this gave Liggins the foolish thought that this would be a stroll in the park. 17 minutes and 4 goals later [Henry (12, 16) Bellamy (21) & Reyes (23)] Liggins was wishing he'd switched to his defensive formation when he had the chance. Arsenal were on a roll, and only the brilliance of young Avitabile, making his Premiership debut, kept the score down. Henry completed his hatrick in the 2nd half (88). A disappointing end to a day that started so well.

Boro 2-1 Fulham

A good recovery from the set back at the Library. Fulham were being talked up for a win in the media by the likes of Murphy, although judging by this performance that was just a tactic by the not-so-wiley Irishman to deflect critisicm away from his underperforming Everton side, who had recently been humbled at Craven Cottage.

Boro finally had some fit strikers for the game, Viduka back in the starting line-up, Hasselbaink on the bench. But it was the stand in Nemeth who opened the scoring after being played through by Mendieta (14). Radzinski (49) capitalised on yet another poor clearance by Schwarzer, and as chances rained in on Van Der Sar's goal, it looked like being another frustraiting afternoon for Boro. But with just 6 minutes left, Mendieta's corner found Boateng with far too much room, and he turned and fired home the winner. "Are you watching Niall Murphy" came the chants from the Riverside faithful.

UEFA Cup Group Stage: Boro 5-0 Stuttgart

Both teams had already qualified, but Stuttgart needed a point to win the group, Boro needed all 3. Both teams played full strength sides, and a brilliant game of football followed. Hasselbaink marked his return from injury with a blistering hatrick (18, 26, 27) to put the game out of reach by half time. Christie (67) and Nemeth (69) added insult to injury to the Germans in the second half. A thoroughly convincing performance that sent shockwaves across Europe.....possibly.

Crystal Palace 1-1 Boro

Palace had only 3 points to their name from 17 games, after beating Goat's struggling Pompey at home, so this should've been a comfortable victory. But, unfortunately Boro don't win two league games in a row. Boro bossed the game throughout, but went behind to a Nicola Ventola header (50), after yet another gaffe by Schwarzer; his poor kickout resulted in a Johnson cross, which he came for and got absolutely nowhere near. But parity was restored soon enough, Butt finishing off Hasselbaink's freekick (62). Despite more Boro pressure, no further goals were added.

P18 W8 D1 L9 is the record in the league, the Palace game being the first draw of the season. 10th place in the league and only 2 points off 7th, but just 5 points ahead of 15th, with the bottom 5 seemingly adrift If only we could win 2 games in a row in the league then we might be higher up: some of the performances have certainly warranted more. 2 home games next before a tough Christmas period, Liverpool at home before a trip to Old Trafford. It's been said before and will be said again, but this really is the most important part of the season.

The UEFA Cup form has been pleasing, 6 wins and 1 draw, only conceeding once. We face Hearts in the 1st knockout stage, then either Besiktas or Rosenborg in the next, should we make it past the Jambo's, which would be very difficult. To be honest, I was relieved to get through the group stages, and if we progress any further it'll be a bonus. Hopefully the board will allow a bit more money to be spent in the transfer window, as a couple more players really could see this season finish a successful one.

The FA Cup 3rd round draw gave Boro a favourable home tie to Coventry.

BelfastNiall · January 27, 2005

League form remains erratic as Everton move closer to the Carling Cup Final.

Four league games in the last session. Two at home and two on the road and on this occasion two very tough ties. Murphyâ€™s first Merseyside Derby at Anfield, then a trip to Old Trafford to face title challengers Manchester United.

Everton 3 â€“ 0 Crystal Palace

The session began with a comprehensive 3-0 victory over Crystal Palace with Calaio again amongst the goals. Before the game, Portsmouth manager Andy Nilsen took time out from sunning his bake on his usual jaunt to South America to â€œplayer searchâ€ and had been talking up Palace - in particular their Italian striker Nicola Ventola.

However, Murphy shrugged off Nilsenâ€™s assertion that because Ventola had managed to bury Nilsenâ€™s Portsmouth in a previous league game to record their only win of the season, that the same would necessarily happen to Everton.

From an Everton perspective, we felt we had proved our mettle with the 2-1 win at Fratton Park just a few weeks earlier, which should have removed any doubt from Nilsenâ€™s mind as to the potential in the Everton side.

As expected, we won convincingly although Ligginsâ€™ Middlesbrough did manage to hold Palace to a credible draw a couple of weeks later. Perhaps all is not lost for the Eagles and my fellow Irishman Ian Dowie just yet.

Liverpool 2 â€“ 1 Everton

Rafael Benitez has a lot to answer for. After causing a major rumpus before the game and increasing the prospect of crowd trouble, by casting doubt upon Evertonâ€™s chances of playing Premiership football again next season, just before the game.

Obviously the Spaniard has settled into EPL Challenge life quite quickly but Murphy wasnâ€™t slow to remind him that Everton were in a false position due to the intervention of the FA earlier in the season.

The game settled quickly into the usual blood and thunder derby with no love lost between the sides. However, Liverpool were exposing deficiencies in the Everton defence quite regularly and raced into a 2-0 lead through Garcia and a Teddy Lucic own goal.

Throwing caution to the wind, Everton attacked and on 74 minutes, Calaio confirmed to Murphy that he has to find a way to include the Italian striker in his away formation, by slotting home to set up a tense last 15 minutes.

Unfortunately, the equaliser didnâ€™t materialise, but Murphy was happy that Everton had made Benitez look like he had an itchy arse on the bench â€“ showing the ludicrousness of his earlier statements.

Everton 3 â€“ 0 Birmingham

Another very good home performance, showing the inconsistency between home and away.

Manchester United 1 â€“ 0 Everton

Although United dominated the game with Giggs a constant thorn in the side, I felt we were unlucky not to take a point when we pushed on in the last 20 minutes, hitting the bar and forcing Howard into some very good saves, one from Hysen being particularly good.

Carling Cup Quarter Final

Southampton 0 â€“ 2 (aet) Everton

Rob Steel had been going through a â€œdifficultâ€ time prior to the match, as his Southampton side failed to maintain their impressive early season form.

After, what the press had euphemistically titled the â€œRage at the Riversideâ€, Murphy didnâ€™t waste the opportunity to further inflame the situation by commenting that heâ€™d be hoping to provoke another fit by the Saints manager, by dumping his side out of the cup.

Indeed what transpired will go down in Everton legend. After a very even first half, where both sides sparred without ever looking like landing the knockout blow, Southampton manager Steel had obviously laid into his players at half time, as they came out flying.

Berger and Ambrose began to expose the space on our flanks and for 15-20 minutes Southampton had us on the ropes. A few good saves from Wright and a goal-line clearance keeping us in the cup tie.

After this Murphy had had enough of this nonsense and re-organised his defence, setting Hibbert out to man mark Ambrose and sticking Naysmith right in Patrick Bergerâ€™s face. As a result, the threat from Southampton subsided and Everton began to play a bit more in the opposition half. However, at full time the scoreline was 0-0.

Into extra time and as Zurawski tired, Murphy nodded to Calaio to warm up. However, while Murphy was looking at a fit bird in the stand, the refereeâ€™s assistant held up the wrong number, and onto the pitch trotted Aaron Hughes to play up front â€“ as Calaio and Murphy looked on aghast at the mix up.

With all three subs used, there was nothing for it but to cross my fingers and hope. And did Hughes deliver? Did he just. As a cross came in from the Everton right, Hughes jumped highest in the box and planted a firm header past Niemi to give Everton the lead. As David Coleman used to say - one-nil! The Toffeeâ€™s bench jumped for joy.

Saints attacked, committing themselves to one man at the back. Suicide â€“ as Hughes added a second â€“ unmarked again in the box, to wrap up the win and set up a two legged semi final against Charlton.

BelfastNiall · January 27, 2005

Looks like my suit search has been cancelled for another week. Session as per usual tonight, 7pm.

skintsaint · January 27, 2005

Saved from doing the housework!! woohoo

EmmYouEffSee · January 27, 2005

Tottenham Hotspur.....Championship Contenders....Surely Not!

Half way through the season, and the mighty Spurs sit in 4th place of the Premier League, ammounting a 4 point and one game lead over closest challengers Liverpool. Arsenal, Chelsea and Manchester United occupy the top 3 places, just ahead of Spurs, with only a marginal lead of 5 points, that of which can be recouperated over the games that spurs have in hand over United and Chelsea. The best league in the world has thrown up some results this year that have shocked many, but the top three have stormed through without much of a blip against mid and lower table teams. Much of the same can be said of Tottenham, losing only 3 games so far and drawing just the once against a strong Villa side, picking up many points along the way, stretching themselves from their predicted position by bookmakers earlier in the campaign.

Forth place comes at a cost, that being the exhile of many players in the soon to arrive transfer window, enabeling the strengthening of the defence, midfiend and one for the future in attack. Vincent Kompany has agreed a Â£5m deal with the club, Freddy Guarin has decided to up sticks from DIRTY West Bromwich - signing a deal sending Fredheim Holm in the opposite direction, and the scouting of AC Milan went well, enabeling Spurs to sign George Junior Weah for a minor 300k.

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote">quote:<HR>Holm came to me after signing and was extremly pleased to have made a deal with such a big club and such a challenge for the season. I told him it was going to be hard, but the last few months have been anything but! Mid-table West Brom showed some interest, and well, he's off to a challenge, especially that of the language as he was handed an English to Brum dictionary after agreeing terms by myself for his own help. <HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

As transfers were set aside, the focus was placed on playing, to which the match reports for the autumn and beginning of winter are as follows;

Saturday 11th September

Man City [1]: Macken(43)

Tottenham Hotspur [3]: Defoe(2), Thaim(13), Kanoute (81)

After the dissapointment of the somewhat lubed up injury time winner at Everton a couple of weeks prior, I instructed my men to go out and fight and pull out of the rubble 3 points at the end. That they did, with a fantastic 3-1 win against a subdued City. Defoe caught City half asleep at the back, and nipped in to punish them early on. Pablo Thaim making his second start of the season netted just before the quater of an hour mark with a nice drive just inside the box straight past an outstretched David James. Before the break former Man United youngster Jonathan Macken scored a breathtaking free kick to give Leo's men something to talk about at half time over their Jaffa Cakes and orange juice. The second half was a dissapointing one for City, after having Shearer lose his temper just avoiding a booking after he mistook the Millenium Stadium for his old playschool, and Paul Robinson as the trampoline, and rose like a samon for the ball, which was a clear 20 feet into the air from the corner, smashing it into the net. The goal was of course disalowed by the refaree who had to confront Shearer after his 'paddy' in the penalty area. The match was wrapped up late on as Kanoute slotted home a goal past a lazy James, who didn't even dive after it, just turned and instructed the ball boy 2 get the ball out of the net for him. The only down point about the game was that of the injury recieved to Jermaine Defoe. A Scan later showed a minor neck injury, but was a worry for the team after being shown as their leading man at the start of the game.

Tuesday 21st September

Swansea [0]:

Tottenham Hotspur [2]: Gueret(og68), Holm(80)

The League Cup drew Spurs away to Lee Trundle's Swansea, as the london side crossed the boarder to their first European Away since Wrexham in '85. The reserves were handed a chance to prove themselves, whilst the first team were rested for the away trip to Bolton at the weekend. Swansea held up well until late on, when a spell of Tottenham pressure produced an own goal from Willam Gueret. Fredheim Holm polished of the game with 10 minutes to go, which silenced the Swansea fans, giving many the oppertunity to leave as the gates opened soon after.

Saturday 25th September

Bolton [0]:

Tottenham Hotspur [1]: Defoe(Pen 15)

A very quiet game against David Pagi's side, who put up a brick wall from minute one, almost refusing to attack on a fear of the counter attack that the away side had become famous for this season. Defoe himself was brought down in the area, and slotted it past Jussi J*cough*linen. If you cant beat 'em, join 'em was the half time phrase in the away team dressing room, as the game hardly moved out of the centre circle for the 2nd half. 1-0 Win, was always going to stay like that with the Manager's tactics.

Saturday 2nd October

Tottenham Hotspur[1]: Southgate(45)

Southampton [3]: Crouch(14), Petit(60), Berger(86)

After putting away the sledge hammers from trying to knock down the wall last week at Bolton, Spurs were challenged in a way that i dont even think Southampton were expecting to play. The usual tactics weren't good enough to push Southampton at all, and it showed as their attacking prowess pushed us down further into the ground everytime we moved over the halfway line. Southgate toe-poked a shot in from a corner just after half time, but it was never enough to challenge the Saints. They managed to bag 3 goals in a result that truly flattered their performance, but on the day ultimatly, Spurs weren't good enough and admitted to their first defeat in 4.

Wednesday 6th October

Tottenham Hotspur [2]: Defoe(15), Thaim(21)

Middlesborough [0]:

The exact opposite of the previous weekend took place tonight, and actual good football was being played at White Hart Lane. The two goals in reasonably quick succession proved to kill off Boro', who never really looked like attacking Paul Robinson's net. The game was controlled completly by Spurs, who should've really added a third and possibly forth in the first half before the break. The second half, Boro' really didn't look to fazed about letting Spurs play, and although had spells of possession, they ultimatly had prepared for an onslaught of their goal again, and just played keep ball. Simon Davies back from injury and into the starting line up played out of his skin, makiung quite the impression, and picked up the man of the match trophy after.

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote">quote:<HR> After Wednesday's game, i fell ill with flu, and missed the subsiquent games against Fulham (league), Arsenal (cup) and Crystal Palace (league). Martin Jol took charge for the games proving he may well be ready for management. <HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Saturday 23rd October

Tottenham Hotspur [2]: Defoe(16), Brown(20)

Fulham [0]:

Wednesday 27th October

Tottenham Hotspur [1]: Kanoute(17)

Arsenal [3]: Reyes(33), Gilberto(65), Henry(90)

Saturday 30th October

Crystal Palace [1]: Ventola(79)

Arsenal [3]: Davies(1), Defoe(36), Holm(90)

Saturday 6th October

Tottenham Hotspur [2]: Kanoute(15,47)

Liverpool [0]:

After recovering from a bout of flu, I took charge of the Liverpool game without many huge expectations. 9th in the league was a good position i was trying to hang on to, and with the inconsistancy in form that the team'd been producing, i couldn't see how i was going to get anything more than a draw out of the game. To my surprise the team responded to my appearance in the dressing room, much like that of a child's expression after seeing their parents after visiting Michael Jackson, extreme delight to be back! I never did question Jol or any of the players on the matter, however that dutch accent does remind me a little of Goldmember....anyway! The game was so fast, it was unbelievable. Liverpool had shots on our goal, and we had shots on theirs, but ours went in and Robinson was having a stormer. The Liverpool team looked stunned after Kanoute scored his second just after the break, and soon settled into a defensive jig, that we were unable to break through. Keeping the ball frustrated the scousers, much to my delight! The final whistle blew and we moved above 'pool, taking 4th spot.

Saturday 20th November

Birmingham [1: Aliadiere(72)

Tottenham Hotspur [3]: Holm(42), Sean Davis(87), McFadden(91)

A Jermaine Defoe injury made me think the worse of the game, as after 25 minutes, he was butchered just inside the Birmingham half. Daniel Fredheim Holm stepped up, put on his shirt and ended up running around the pitch like a grayhound for the next 20 minutes. He was rewarded with his goal just before the break, which slowed him down slightly much to Birmingham's relief. Goals from Davis, deflected 30 yard shot, and McFadden, headed rebound from Kanoute's penalty miss, in the second half wrapped it up for Spurs in the second half, making it 7 wins from 8 league games.

Saturday 27th November

Tottenham Hotspur [2]: Kanoute(37), McFadden(64)

Man Utd [0]:

After scoring in the previous match after his first start of the season, James McFadden did it again, this time against the might of Manchester United. This result really proved Tottenham to be playing up there with the big boys, as the win cemented our place in the top 4. Manchester United pushed at our goal, very much unlike City did, offering a tough challenge for King and Southgate in defence, but they stood strong. A Dubious penalty decision against King on Scholes late on proved to sum up their day. Scholes himself stepped up, but the shot was tipped onto the post by Robinson and cleared by Carrick high into the stand. A truly fantastic result for Tottenham.

Saturday 4th December

Portsmouth [0]:

Tottenham Hotspur [1]: McFadden(88)

Attacking football at it's best with Portsmouth proving a tough cookie to crack for Spurs top men. Mabizela played his first game of the season in place of the suspended Tarrico in defence, impressing me, offering a glimmer of hope of a new deal. A Bid from Aston Villa at half time sealed his fate for January though, dispite his good work. It wasn't until the 88th minute, when a superb bit of attacking football ended up with James McFadden drilling the ball into the back of the net from the centre of the area. Top marks to Pompey, a fine challenge, and a surprise to see them leaning towards the foot of the table.

Wednesday 27th October

Tottenham Hotspur [4]: Sean Davis(8), Carrick(13,56), Defoe(Pen 67)

Blackburn [0]:

Simply not Blackburn's day. A Deflected shot from Davis early on set the tone for the match, with a cruel goal against Blackburn, who were under the attacking motions of Spurs since the kick off. Michael Carrick burst through the midfield, wrestling off Pederson and after a Simon Davies cross, headed in a corker of a ball. The wait for the next goal was until the 56th minute, but was well worth the wait, as Carrick added to his tally, blasting one in from well outside the area, beating a full stretched Friedel into the roof of the net. Blackburn fans applauded the players effort, seeing through the dissapointment that their defenders were offering as he sprinted through the park. The day was topped off for the away side after Neill tripped Defoe in the 66th minute, and he poked it away bottom corner oozing coolness and confidence. 4-0 Loss for Blackburn, putting them in 17th place, and giving a good chance for them to be caught up in the relegation battle going on.

The form guide doesn't lie, with Spurs in 2nd place with 6 of their last league games being victory's only matched by Arsenal. With 37 points in the bag, and a number of games in hand, Spurs look to have a real chance of pushing for Champions League football this season, possibly even pushing for the league title. Who would've predicted that 4 months ago when i took charge.....certainly not a Mr Niall Murphy?

goat261 · January 27, 2005

At last the GOAT arrives but is it too late to save Portsmouth from the drop?

Well first I will update you on how the club was doing before I joined the club on 28/8/04.

Transfers In

Harper 1m Newcastle

Elliot 500k Newcastle

Parlour 750k Middlesbrough

Well as you can see the ex manager wasted all the transfer funds on crap so lets see who he sold to make up for it.

Transfers out

Berger 700k Southampton

Buxton 500k Newcastle

Things get from bad to worse when I see one of my only class players have gone to our local rivals for less than 1m. Then thereâ€™s Buxton who is oozing potential but Redknapp sells him to Newcastle for hardly anything compared to what he will be worth in a few seasons.

With the club in financial difficulties and a squad with only three decent/good players I had to sell and these were the ones in the firing range

Yakubu 6m (good player but need the money)

Faye 3m (same as Yakubu)

Harper 500k (got half of what Redknapp paid but not bad considering how talent less harper is)

Duffy 500k (decent youngster who is not needed)

Unsworth 450k (decent left back but heâ€™s old, on high wages and I have Taylor who is better)

Quashie 300k (decent amount of cash for a player who is not good enough for top flight football)

Elliot 100k (another recent buy going out the door. Crap and highly paid)

Curtis 100k (not even fit for my reserves)

Stone 55k (donâ€™t think I have to explain selling him lol)

With only 2 days left before the transfer window closed I had to make a few rushed deals (well 1 since no one would join me)

Soetaers 800k (didnâ€™t have 1 left winger in my team so just needed to buy what I could find)

Oakley loan (what a bargain, hes now joining us fulltime in Jan for 850k)

With selling a lot of first team players and not being able to bring anyone in I knew it was going to be a struggle until January when I will finally have some replacements.

Redknapp had started the season poorly with 7 games played, 2 wins and 5 defeats leading me too believe it was going to be even harder for me since I basically have to play reserves.

League Cup 2nd round

Portsmouth 2-0 Oxford

Total domination with Oakley having the perfect debut receiving the MOTM award with a match rating of 9. Kamara and Parlour also showed that there a class above the rest of a below average Portsmouth team.

Palace 1-0 Portsmouth

Palace were yet to pick up a single point but guess what happened here? Yes thatâ€™s right they take the whole 3 points winning 1-0 thanks to there keeper playing an 8 and my strikers not being able to hit the target from 3 yards. Kamara was MOTM with a rating of 9, if only he could of taking 1 of his many chances. Ventola predictably was the scorer as he scores against me all the time, just like Pinga used too (remember him Niall ).

Portsmouth 1-1 Liverpool

Kamara early on made it 1-0 and once again stole the show picking up the MOTM award. Liverpool dominated the second half though and equalised thanks to cisse, after that not much happened.

Birmingham 1-0 Portsmouth

Another 1-0 defeat away and this time it was against Birmingham who did deserve the points so cant have any complaints in this one apart from us being ABSOLUTELY AWFUL! Parlour and LuaLua were injured though which doesnâ€™t help when the rest of your team are reserve players.

Portsmouth 0-1Man United

After the abysmal performance in the last game the boys came out for this one and boy did they play well. Well apart from cisse who was sent off inside the first 30 mins sending us down to 10 men for over an hour against one of the best teams in the league. We played so well and easily deserved a point atleast but Nistelrooy scored there only shot on target .

League Cup 3rd round

Portsmouth 2-0 Reading

Kamara started were he left off in the last game with another MOTM performance with a rating of 10 and this time he even scored. Ok so it was a penalty and it was against Reading but they all count donâ€™t they.

Norwich 3-0 Portsmouth

Our luck goes from bad to even worse as we dominate this game but just cant score then Norwich have 3 shots and score them all thanks to the piece of crap that is Hislop . Still havenâ€™t scored away from Fratton Park and only scored 1 in 5 which is abysmal.

Blackburn 0-2 Portsmouth

SHOCKING NEWS

Portsmouth score on a different ground other than fratton and more importantly pick up there first win since god knows how long. Oh and they kept a clean sheet.

Parlour (our only decent player other than Kamara and Oakley) stole the show scoring twice and of course receiving the MOTM award. Kamara and Oakley both played a 9 too in our first dominating win away from home, in fact its my first win at all.

Portsmouth 0-1 Newcastle

In came Jayâ€™s Newcastle full of world class stars but somehow struggling in the league. It was a very even game with both teams having 9 shots with 3 on target, both teams went down to 10 men early on and the magpies also had 7 bookings but most importantly Newcastle were the team that scored after Shaka â€˜Crappyâ€™ Hislop gave the ball straight to Van Bommel who couldnâ€™t miss.

League Cup 4th round

Portsmouth 1-2 Everton

All the hype was around this match (even though its only the league cup) with the two most successful managers in EPL history facing off for the first time with there new clubs. Who was going to score? Who was going to win? Most importantly of all who was going to have the bragging rights of knocking the other out of the cup?

Well the first half was ALL Everton and they finally took one of there chances right at the end of the first half even though Stefanovic should of blocked it on the line. Nothing much happened for the first 25mins of the second half untill I changed tactics and then we totally dominated hitting the post and having chance after chance after chanceâ€¦. But they all were falling to Lua-Lua who is the worst finisher anyone has ever seen. Finally we scored when Kamara hit a screamer from the edge of the box.

In extra time we started were we left off dominating but still missing chances, we have now had 20 shots in the last 30mins which atleast 8 were 1 on 1s with Wright but he was just too good playing a 10. Then all of a sudden Cisse lost the plot and got himself a red card, soon after Everton sored on the counter and that was the end of our league cup dreams.

Great game with 40+ shots but Murphyâ€™s good luck (now becoming a trademark of his) and my bad luck is what separated the two teams.

With the transfer window coming up I guarantee that the second half of the season will be much brighter for Pompey.

I got divorced over this g · January 27, 2005

The end finally comes

After a false dawn against Everton and some fighting talk, Manager JDCâ€™s Newcastle reign came to a very limp end!

Having spent nearly Â£40m and having 3 of the seasons biggest signings he lost the dressing room before xmas (help if he had a map of the ground perhaps), the final straw coming in Newcastleâ€™s exit in the 4th round of the League Cup.

JDC tonight resigned and retired from football.

The results that brought his short but expensive reign to an end;

0-0 Charlton

2-0 Everton

0-1 Aston villa

0-1 Man city

0-2 Middlesbrough

0-3 Bolton

2-0 Dinpro

1-2 Arsenal

1-0 Dinpro

0-1 Fulham

0-1 Southampton

3-1 Wil

0-1 Liverpool

2-0 Wolves

1-2 Birmingham

3-1 Palace

0-1 Man u

2-1 Middlesbrough

2 1 Wolfburg

0 2 Blackburn

0 3 Auxerre

1 1 Norwich

2 3 Liverpool

0 1 Legia

0-2 Tottenham

Having left Newcastle with a tear in his eye and with Newcastle second bottom in the league, JDC headed home north west towards Blackpool, lets hope he gets home safe and doesnâ€™t jump off the towerâ€¦.

BelfastNiall · January 27, 2005

Thanks for playing Jay, better luck next time.

All of which opens up a manger vacancy, see our forums if you wish to be considered for a club, which won't be Newcastle who are now closed.

ligs · January 27, 2005

5 more games to catch up on:

Boro 0-0 Liverpool

Boring boring Liverpool, they came and parked the team coach infront of the goal, didn't have one highlight. 2 points dropped for Boro.

Boro 0-2 Birmingscum

2 strikes from Forsell (20, 52) sent Villa fan Liggins home feeling sick

Man Utd 2-2 Boro

After the disappointment of taking just 1 point from the 2 previous games, which had both been at home, the side travelled to Mold Trafford without a great deal of hope. Liggins had learned from his trip to Highbury and chose a more conservative formation, and it looked to be working; Downing played through Hasselbaink who finished in his normal clinical manner (16). 28 minutes in and the first moment of controversy; as Rooney fell over after the Swedish colossus Mellberg breathed on him, referee Dermot Gallagher unbelievably gave a penalty. Justice was done however, as Schwarzer saved Saha's tame effort. United were level soon after when the fat cheating thug Rooney slotted passed the Boro keeper (34) to send the teams in level at the half time break.

The 2nd half started with United pressure, but it took (yet another) sliced Schwarzer clearance for United to take the lead, Shrek grabbing his second (57). With 10 minutes to go, Boro threw caution to the wind, Christie replacing Downing. 4 minutes were left on the clock when Yakin's through ball found Christie, who finished beautifully from 30 yards. An undeserved but thoroughly pleasing point.

Boro 1-0 Portsmouth

A very convincing win, which was greeted at full time by the claims from opposition manager Andy nielsen that Boro were "the best side he's faced this season." Hasselbaink (27) grabbed the only goal in a game where Portsmouth, fielding multiple new signings, didn't get a kick. In fact the only thing they did kick was the opposition, Butt being stretchered off injured, and 5 different Portsmouth players being booked, but they showed all the committment needed to stay in the league.

Blackburn 1-1 Boro

Thankfully the last game of the hectic January schedule, but yet another disappointing result. Boro were the better side throughout but fell behind to a Paul Dickov goal (24), and had to wait until the 60th minute before parity was restored, Hasselbaink curling home a delightful free kick. Boro had chances to win but couldn't find the elusive goal.

The main talking point though was the tactics employed by the dirty northeners. Even in the absence of manager Boult, Blackburn repeated the tactics of earlier in the season, which saw 3 Boro players stretchered off in the correspondin fixture. They infact improved on that tally, forcing Boro into 3 changes before half time, then kicking Yakin out of the game for the final 30 minutes. The FA really need to look into these thuggish tactics.

The team remain in 10th place: after going through the first 17 league games without a draw, 4 have now come in the last 6 games. This has led to the team slipping away from the top 8, a few wins on the bounce are needed if that gap is to be made up. Next up is Coventry at home in the cup, a chance to rest some players after the exhausting recent schedule.

Some transfer activity a the re-opening of the transfer window:

Out

Patrice Luzi for Â£550k to Strasbourg.

He only lasted 4 months, but proved in that time what a clown he was. He was sold on though for a cool Â£500k profit.

In

Micheal Rensing for Â£950k from Bayern Munich.

Hopefully this should see an end to my goalie crisis. I don't care what the stats say, Schwarzer has definetelyNOT been the 9th best player in the league so far this season. Rensing looks far better a player, and will make his debut in the cup at the weekend, and I see him taking the number one slot by the end of the season without too much trouble.

Plenty of Bosman signings are being attempted, with the rumour mill going into overdrive. Of course, you'll all be the first to know if any more transfers go through

Up the Boro!

BelfastNiall · January 28, 2005

4 more matches last night as the crazy Xmas schedule hits the squad hard.

Everton 2 - 0 Portsmouth

Well my old mate Andy Nilsen was really struggling to put a side out, only able to put three subs on the bench. As always, both managers were keen to come out on top at this early stage, whilst busy trying to put together a squad capable of future success.

After a 2-0 victory for Everton, which was richly deserved, Nilsen again bemoaned his luck, but at the end of the day Maciej Zurawski was just too damn good for the Pompey defence, burying two fantastic headers.

I left with the impression that Pompey look relegation fodder in this game, but with Everton not too far in front, both managers are aware we could possibly slip through the trapdoor.

Everton 0 - 0 Blackburn

In Rick Boult's absence, Blackburn continued their policy of parking five men across the midfield and relying on Brad Friedel's excellence to stop the other team. It worked, two points dropped.

Newcastle 3 - 0 Everton

Well I have suffered the embarrasing scenario of seeing strugglers Newcastle doing the double over my side.

Keegan had certainly fired his side up for this one as the Geordies attempt to unravel the mess left by DaCosta's tenure. With Murphy unwittingingly telling his side to play offside - we quickly paid for it as Crespo and Kluivert finished lethally to end Newcastle's run of ten games without scoring at St James' Park.

Everton 1 - 3 West Bromwhich Albion

The pre-game news was grim, especially as Murphy was forced to field young Kasper Schmeichel in goal due to injuries to Richard Wright and the very poor morale of the old man Nigel Martyn. And we paid for it, despite referee Rob Styles doing his very best impression of an Everton fan.

With Koumas sent off after four minutes, I expected us to win comfortably, but Morris is proving to be a talented coach down at the Hawthorns and wasn't to be easily brushed aside. With two quick goals, both of which Murphy felt entitled to question a:The Keeper and b: the FM marking system which saw Hibbert on the central midfielder and not the winger where he should have been , Albion were on fire.

After reversing the tactical errors, I have to admit that even with ten men, WBA were an excellent opponent, certainly Everton's toughest yet. Throwing caution to the wind, we did pull one back on 74 minutes through Zurawski, but any chances of a come back were quickly killed by the WBA side responding a minute later.

Although I felt we were well beaten, I was surprised to see we had actually created more chances, but WBA were clinical on the day and deserved the points. More training required for my strikers.

Tottenham Hotspur 0 - 0 Everton

With Sam Bouchard's Spurs outfit continuing to shock the EPL by putting up a vigourous title challenge, I wasn't looking forward to visiting White Hart Lane just two days after losing to West Brom. Bouchard is certainly gaining the respect of his fellow managers after such an impressive campaign thus far.

Pre game the 4-5-1 was tweaked a little in the hope that our appalling away record could be improved a little. Bouchard's side, kicked off and had three close range efforts in the first minute which set the tone. With Ricketts and Davies having excellent games, Everton's midfield of Lewandowski, Cahill and Sivok struggled to contain the Spurs side.

The match was all Spurs, with Everton defending - at times desperately and at times with great composure. So to nick a 0-0 draw here gives me hope that we can yet turn around the form away from home, and push for a mid-table position in the second half of the season.

David Pagi · January 30, 2005

Jay Jay Oh...crapa

Oh dear,oh dear,oh dear... doesn't look very rosie at the Reebok.

BIG debt, BIG wages, BIG pile of w*nk players, with no BIG Sam to sort it all out.

Unfortunately I have the unenviable task of marshalling this sorry excuse of a club out of the duldrums, and it seems I have my work cut out. The majorty of the playing staff are ageing "has beens" just coming for 1 last pay day the b***ards, except Jay Jay of course The club's wage structure is currently 100k in excess of the budget, the club's bank balance is 6m in the red, (post a 4m cash injection courtesy of the board, saving the club from inevitable administration) In fact things are so bad I'm seriously considering offloading any prospective assests, in other words selling any of my decent players, just to get back to a clean slate. Affairs on the pitch aren't much prettier with the club currently hovering above the relegation zone.

On a bright note the club have reached the semi's of the Carling Cup with Liverpool standing in their way of a visit to Cardiff so it's not all bad, most of it is though

Major Transfers In

B.Zenden (M'boro) 1m

N.Legrottagile (Juve) 550k

A.Lennon (Leeds) 250k

Z.Gera (WBA) player exchange

M.Johnson (Derby) 210k

F.(Rubberlegs)Asprilla (VDA) 90k

I.Mansiz free BARGAIN!

D.Richards (Spurs) free

F.Richardson (Leeds) 500k

G.Le Saux (YMCA) free

Scullion (Dunfermline) 230k

Major Transfers Out

K.Nolan (Chelsea cos they needed another midfielder u see) 2.3m

Ivan Campo (Celta) 500k

N.Hunt (WBA) p/exchange

T.Ben Haim (Galatasaray) 350k

Southampton 1-1 Bolton

This game was noticeable for Sam's mysterious disappearance act a few minutes prior to kick off, Saints appeared to suffer in the gaffer's absence as we bossed the game. 15 mins in Stelios opened what seemed like the first of many Bolton goals, Okocha the architect of a intricate passing move following a corner, crossing for Stelios to ponce on the back post. Then the incident which had me blaring out every explicit under the sun at my dopey defence, as Saints solitary shot on goal wasn't even by a Southampton player btw, it was one my lot N'gotty, I think it was a case of "lost in translation" with Fin Jaaskelainen and Frenchman N'Gotty apparently getting their wires crossed as N'Gotty touched the ball back to Jussi under no pressure whatsoever, somehow the ball drifted straight in, needless to say I was not amused droppng 2 points because of the most bizarre OG EVER!

Bolton 0-2 Arsenal

This game personified the phrase "one-way traffic" as the arse mounted attack after attack, in truth could have been 4-0 but for the acrobatics of the flying fin Jussi between the sticks. Gilberto opened the scoring (35mins) smacked in it from close very close range after the Welsh whiner Bellamy drifted past Campbell on the left flank. Arsenal's second wasn't what we've come to expect from the French fancies as it had Route 1 written all over it, Lehmann spot kick, bergkamp plucked the ball out the air, as only Bergkamp can, sidestepped OG specialist N'Gotty and buried into the bottom right hand corner, Game Over!

Fulham 1-0 Bolton

Even stevens in this game as both teams created a similar amount of scoreable oppotunities. However the difference on the day was Fulham's Van Der Sar as the goalie donned his superman outfit pre-match and saved anything/everything within his vicinity, the dutch t*sser. Pembridge converted the spot kick on 55 min for the 1-0 win after Campbell upended some Fulham player. Asprilla came on at around the 60 min mark, and made a significant contribution, with two jinking runs as the old rubber legs slalomed round the Fulham rearguard but smashed the resulting shots off target, if only the Colombian drug barron could finish. He'd be a world beater.

Pompey 0-1 Bolton

Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz best way to describe this game. Pre-match signs were omnimus, as Goat paraded his new look Pompey team (post Jan's reopening of the transfer window)also known as Football's equivalent of the UN, Very little of interest materialised though. I had reason to be cheerful on the 14 min mark you could even say I was turkish delighted (read on you will understand ) as Asprilla forced crappy Hislop into a unconvincing parry and young Turk Ilhan Mansiz was the first to react the strikers fast becoming a Bolton legend due to the fact he's the only decent player I have and can actually score once in a while, unlike the rest of the muppets.

As Sheephead might say C'mmmmmmon u Whitemen

Inter · January 30, 2005

Man City for a boring mid-table finish

One signing to report on.- Michael Brown from Spurs for Â£1.3mil.

Bosvelt out to NEC for 60k

Ok, so on to the matches.-

Man City 1-3 Arsenal

An expected defeat for City who just couldnt handle the pace and flair of the Gunners.

Fulham 8-1 Man City

Well a boring game and nothing to report on....

lol. oh my god.

Scored the first goal then everything went wrong.

Man City 4-1 Crystal Palace

A good game for City who dominated the game after being on the end of a massive beating.

Liverpool 2-1 Man City

This was the worst defeat for me I feel. Liverpool didnt deserve a thing from this, they were terrible. Says something about our defence then...

Man City 0-3 Birmingham

A disgraceful defeat for the underperforming City....simple as that.

Man City 2-0 Man United

A change of tactics for City and a change of luck. We dominated this game with Shearer and sub Fowler with the goals.

Portsmouth 0-1 Man City

This game in all fairness had draw written all-over it. Pompey were very unlucky to lose this tight match. Fullar missing a couple of absolute sitters.

Man City 0-0 Blackburn

Man City were the only team to kick the ball in this one apart from Freidle who was outstanding again.

Blackburn had one long-range off-target shot in the whole game. The fans will be looking forward to Boult's return no doubt.

Newcastle 1-1 Man City

Another draw. Anelka equalising in the last ten minutes to salvage a point for City.

Newcastle were looking good as their revival with Kevin Keegan continues. A fair result for both teams in my opinion then.

Man City 2-0 Reading (FA Cup 3rd Round)

No cup shock in this one then. Man City controlled the game.

The goalscorers were:

Michael Brown (30)

Trevor Sinclair (89)

Man City 0-0 WBA

A load of sitters missed in this game by both teams.

The draw was certainly the fair result in the end admitted Chris Morris and myself. i was the happiest out the two I imagine as Chris has being working miracles at WBA lately and so might have expected a win.

A very good game of football in my opinion despite the scoreline.

Man City 3-0 Huddersfield (FA Cup 4th Round)

Easy win for City as Huddersfield struggled to really create anything at all.

Sibierski with two and Anelka the substitute with a goal ensured that there was no cup upset here.

On to the 5th Round then! Its Nilsens Portsmouth then.

Spurs 1-1 Man City

Well off to Sh*te Hart Lane to play the high-flying Spurs.

I wasnt too optiomistic about going there as Sam Bouchard has done a terrific job, challenging for the title in 2nd place.

New man Kompany scored for Spurs from a poorly defended corner by Weir, but in the second-half, Anelka again went one-on-one and buried his chance on the second attempt. City hung on for the rest of the game well, restricting Tottenham to long-range effets and David James put in another surprising good display.

So, unbeaten in eight since changed to a new tactic and looking OK. 13th in the league now, but time to pull things around and comfortably avoiding the drop.

There are also some good new players coming in the summer to help us acheive more next season, such as Sunday Oliseh.

Also a new board has taken control of my club, clearing all debts and making a generous amount of transfer funds available.

More updates to follow tomorrow, C'mon City!

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EPL Challenge (The Ultimate Premier League Experience) FM2005 [Established Clan]