sjg11 Posted July 21, 2016 Share Posted July 21, 2016 Hello everyone and welcome to my first career to be on a site like this. Anyway, first a little bit of background about the career. Well a while ago I was feeling nostalgic as I tend to do from time to time so I installed Champ Man 01-02 for my computer . I decided that, instead of picking a team from the start of the game I would let the game run for a couple of seasons before picking an interesting challenge to launch my career. Having let the game run for three whole seasons I finally found a job I liked in November 2004 at West Ham United who had just sacked their manager. West Ham started the game under Glenn Roeder but he was sacked in January 2002 and replaced by Millwall manager Mark McGhee with the club in the relegation zone. The team didn't improve under McGhee's stewardship and were relegated to Division One having finished in 19th. They also lost the FA Cup final to Leeds that season. In 2002-03 the team started the season well and looked a good bet for automatic promotion until a late dip in form which saw them drop down to 7th and out of the play-off places altogether. A poor run at the start of the 2003-04 season saw McGhee come under a lot of pressure but he turned the club's season around and took them to the play-off final where they lost on penalties to Crewe after a 2-2 draw. A poor start to the next season led to McGhee's sacking and I have come into the club to turn the club around. This is the current Division One table: Pos Team Pld Won Drn Lst For Ag Won Drn Lst For Ag Pts -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1st Derby 16 5 2 1 15 8 6 1 1 15 7 36 2nd Preston 17 5 2 2 17 12 5 1 2 13 11 33 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 3rd Tranmere 16 6 2 0 16 5 3 3 2 11 11 32 4th Middlesbrough 16 7 1 0 20 6 1 6 1 11 11 31 5th Q.P.R. 16 6 2 0 19 9 2 3 3 12 17 29 6th Aston Villa 14 4 1 0 12 5 4 3 2 13 11 28 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 7th Crystal Palace 17 7 1 0 15 6 1 3 5 14 21 28 8th Charlton 16 4 3 1 12 10 4 1 3 10 12 28 9th Bradford 16 3 1 4 11 13 5 2 1 15 11 27 10th Bristol C 17 6 1 2 22 11 2 1 5 9 11 26 11th Burnley 16 4 3 1 15 6 3 1 4 7 8 25 12th W.B.A. 16 2 3 3 10 11 4 0 4 12 10 21 13th Grimsby 17 3 3 2 17 15 2 2 5 9 12 20 14th Norwich 16 2 3 3 8 8 3 2 3 8 9 20 15th Nottm Forest 17 5 1 2 14 9 0 3 6 6 14 19 16th Southampton 16 3 3 3 10 11 1 3 3 9 12 18 17th Barnsley 17 4 3 2 14 10 0 3 5 5 14 18 18th Wigan 16 3 3 3 11 10 1 2 4 7 13 17 19th West Ham 17 3 1 4 11 12 1 4 4 12 17 17 20th Millwall 16 3 2 3 10 11 1 2 5 11 18 16 21st Rushden 17 3 1 5 11 13 2 0 6 11 18 16 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 22nd Ipswich 17 2 2 5 12 16 1 1 6 10 20 12 23rd Coventry 16 1 5 2 9 11 0 2 6 5 12 10 24th Walsall 17 0 4 4 9 14 0 4 5 7 20 8 As you can see the club is currently locked on the fringes of the relegation battle with an 11 point gap to make up to the play-offs making promotion unlikely this season. The board's expectations accept this as my target is merely to achieve a respectable league position this season. A major positive came when I saw my current transfer budget which is £20.5 Million. Which is a hell of a lot of money for a Division One club in the early/mid 2000s. More details on the squad coming up along with an overview of West Ham's season so far to be followed by an update surrounding how the football world has progressed to this point. People are welcome to ask for more details if they want them. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
sjg11 Posted July 21, 2016 Author Share Posted July 21, 2016 Squad Currently: GKs George Lock Chris Stringer- 6.79 We need a new keeper. The two we have currently simply aren't good enough. Stringer might serve as a decent reserve goalkeeper for a couple of seasons but this is one of my main priorities. DEFs Adam Newton (RB) Luke Young- 6.60 (RB/CB) Rigobert Song- 7.32 (RB/CB) Hasney Aljofree- 6.78 (LB/CB) Peter Clarke- 7.00 (CB) Joey Hutchinson- 7.14 (CB) Izzy Iriekpen- 7.00 (CB) Chris Morgan- 7.00 (CB) We have enough decent CBs and RBs for the moment. In the slightly longer term I'll make upgrades in those areas but it's not an urgent priority. We do need a LB though. We currently have one LB and my predecessor was playing Chris Morgan there for most of the season. And, frankly, our one LB (Hasney Aljofree) isn't a great player. This is definitely an area which needs some investment. MIDs Richie Wellens- 7.16 (CM) Gareth Williams- 6.33 (CM) Leon Britton- 6.67 (AM R/L/C) Damien Johnson- 7.26 (AM/F R) Jason Wilcox- 6.67 (AM L) Paul Murray- 6.68 (AMC) Geoff Pitcher- 6.78 (AMC) The midfield is the area which needs the highest quantity and quality improvements. Particularly since the systems I intend to use in the longer term need excellent midfielders and a decent number of them. I have my eye on a very young regen from Manchester United who I may be able to afford with my ridiculously large transfer budget but I'll need other improvements in this area. STs Paolo Di Canio- 7.00 (F R/C) Michael Ricketts- 7.26 (F R/C) Tommy Smith- 7.63 (F R/C) Svetoslav Todorov My strikers are the strongest area of the team. Tommy Smith is excellent on paper and on the pitch, Michael Ricketts has chipped in with plenty of goals and Todorov looks good on paper with Di Canio a decent enough, if ageing deputy. Cherno Samba has been rotting on the bench at Parma for a couple of seasons so, if possible, I'll try tempting him to Upton Park. Wayne Rooney may also be affordable and Ibra could be a possible loan signing but this is an area where I would need to be tempted by a top class player with enough of a budget left from strengthening the areas of the pitch which urgently need strengthening. And the team's results so far this season: Date Opposition Ven Competition Res Attend Scorers ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 15.7.04 Motherwell SCO H Friendly 1:2 ----- 21.7.04 Wycombe A Friendly 0:1 ----- 25.7.04 Caen FRA A Friendly 0:1 ----- 27.7.04 Gueugnon FRA A Friendly 0:0 ----- 30.7.04 Birmingham H Friendly 2:3 ----- 14.8.04 Southampton H First Division 3:2 ----- 21.8.04 Coventry A First Division 1:2 ----- 24.8.04 Hull A League Cup 1st Rnd 3:2 ----- 28.8.04 Bristol C H First Division 1:0 ----- 30.8.04 Wigan A First Division 1:1 ----- 11.9.04 Bradford A First Division 2:2 ----- 15.9.04 Middlesbrough H First Division 1:3 ----- 18.9.04 Crystal Palace A First Division 1:1 ----- 22.9.04 Southend A League Cup 2nd Rnd 1:2 ----- 25.9.04 W.B.A. H First Division 0:1 ----- 29.9.04 Nottm Forest H First Division 3:1 ----- 2.10.04 Walsall A First Division 3:1 6811 Smith 2, Ricketts 16.10.04 Q.P.R. A First Division 1:2 19106 G.Williams 19.10.04 Tranmere A First Division 0:2 13831 23.10.04 Derby A First Division 3:3 23089 P.Murray, D.Johnson, Di Canio 26.10.04 Grimsby H First Division 2:3 20511 Smith, Ricketts 30.10.04 Aston Villa H First Division 1:1 21054 T.Smith 3.11.04 Norwich H First Division 0:1 18029 6.11.04 Millwall A First Division 0:3 16644 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
sjg11 Posted July 21, 2016 Author Share Posted July 21, 2016 Just a quick update about what's been going on in the rest of the world for the past couple of seasons: Italy won the 2002 World Cup without conceding a goal in the entire tournament, beating Marcelo Bielsa's Argentina 2-0 in the final. Giovanni Trapattoni resigned to be replaced by Arrigo Sacchi. Spain and France were knocked out in the group stages which led to sackings for Roger Lemerre and Jose Antonio Camacho, to be replaced by Jean Tigana and Fernando Castro Santos respectively. Holland didn't qualify yet Louis van Gaal kept his job. England were beaten by Argentina in the quarter-finals having beaten Portugal after extra time in the last 16. Neither host nation got out of the group stages and Saudi Arabia were the tournament's surprise package, reaching the quarter-finals. Ireland under Mick McCarthy were beaten by Germany in the quarter-finals and none of the other home nations qualified. Italy also won the 2004 World Cup, beating Germany in the final. Spain didn't qualify yet did not sack Castro Santos. England were knocked out in the group stages, a respectable draw against Germany was followed by a shock defeat to Finland, competing in their first major tournament before a 3-3 draw against Yugoslavia confirmed England's elimination. Sven-Goran Eriksson was swiftly sacked to be replaced by Roy Hodgson because we all know an England team managed by Hodgson would never lose to a Scandinavian nation competing at their first major tournament. As for Finland, they reached the semi-finals, eliminating hosts Portugal in the quarter-finals before being beaten by eventual winners Italy in the semi-finals. Holland were knocked out in the group stages yet van Gaal kept his job. Jean Tigana successfully guided France to the semi-finals where they were beaten on penalties by Germany. The Champions' League was won by Matthias Sammer's Dortmund in 2002, beating Real Madrid, and Alberto Zaccheroni's Lazio in 2003 and 2004 beating Milan and Celtic in each final. Manchester United, Juventus and Schalke have won the UEFA Cup in that order beating Ajax, Wisla Krakow and PSV respectively. Arsenal won the Premier League in 2002, Terry Yorath's Leeds in 2003 and David O'Leary's Manchester United in 2004. PSG have won all three editions of Ligue 1 so far. Del Bosque's Real Madrid won La Liga in 2002 and 2003 but Valencia managed to win it in 2004 under Carlos Bilardo. In the Bundesliga, Dortmund have won it in 2002 and 2004 while Bayern won it in 2003. While in Italy, Capello's Roma won in 2002 followed by successive titles for a Lazio side who are currently dominant at home and abroad. If you want any more details about the game world just ask and I will provide. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
sjg11 Posted July 24, 2016 Author Share Posted July 24, 2016 November/December 2004 Ok so I started the save having an idea that the club had a good amount of money but a squad with some massive holes in it. Little did I know how right I was to be worried about the current state of the squad. West Ham vs Rushden (Brian Talbot) Our first game was an important one at the bottom of the table against Rushden. This was an even game for the most part but Rushden took the lead through a brilliant free kick from Stephen Clemence before Stringer, our goalkeeper, conceded a penalty on the hour mark which Duane Darby slotted in to double the lead for Rushden. A bad start to my West Ham tenure. West Ham 0-2 Rushden In between this game and the next one I secured the signing of Alex Neil from Tranmere. Neil can play at CM or RM and has been excellent for a strong Tranmere side so far this season. I also secured the signing of Japanese goalkeeper Yoshikatsu Kawaguchi but it would take a while for his work permit to go through so I was stuck with the awful George Lock once my appeal for Stringer's suspension failed. While scouting Kawaguchi, my scouts also found a promising RM called Daisuke Oku who also signed and who also needs a work permit. Preston (Steve McMahon) vs West Ham We were slaughtered at Deepdale against a good Preston team. Paul Kitson finished off a good passing move to put Preston ahead before Zat Knight doubled Preston's lead from a corner Preston 2-0 West Ham West Ham vs Ipswich (Kevin Gallacher) Ipswich were another side near the bottom of the table and we produced a significantly better performance than we had before this game. Tommy Smith gave us the lead just after half time from a Richie Wellens cross before Alexander Farnerud equalised for Ipswich. However Michael Ricketts was brought down in the area and Smith put us back in front. Unfortunately we couldn't hold onto three points as Darren Bent scored a late, late equaliser. West Ham 2-2 Ipswich Charlton (Alan Curbishley) vs West Ham George Lock had an absolute shocker here and single-handedly lost us the game. The game itself was actually fairly even but Lock conceded 5 goals from 6 shots on target, which is frankly abysmal. Two goals from Alan Taylor and another from James Harper gave Charlton a comfortable lead inside the first fifteen minutes. Harper then scored from a free kick just before half-time before Jo Tessem made it 5 with ten minutes left. Svetoslav Todorov managed to score a late consolation but this was the low-point. Kawaguchi could not come quickly enough. Charlton 5-1 West Ham Thankfully Kawaguchi's work permit came through after this game as did Oku's. We also signed Athur Gnohere from newly promoted Burnley, a player who had been in the League One team of the year two years in a row and can play at LB and at CB. I also signed Austin McCann from Hearts, another LB. Hasney Aljofree was atrocious and shall be shipped out at the end of the season. With that I feel like I've managed to plug the gaping holes in the squad and can now spend the remaining transfer budget (about 8 million) on a really good signing. Failing that, a LM and another CM would also be nice but not strictly necessary. West Ham vs Barnsley (Shaun Taylor) Gnohere, Oku and Kawaguchi all made their debuts in this game and the difference was instant. Kawaguchi got a very solid 8 in this game which was a huge step up from Lock's last game. Oku also played well while Gnohere had a slightly underwhelming debut. Michael Ricketts scored the only goal of the game after an Oku knock down from a cross by Richie Wellens. West Ham 1-0 Barnsley West Ham vs Coventry (Roland Nilsson) This was a great performance. I gave McCann his debut but he went off injured after 14 minutes. By that point Colin Cameron had been sent off for Coventry and we were already leading 2-0. Richie Wellens headed in a cross from Alex Neil and Tommy Smith pounced on an error by the Coventry goalkeeper. Svetoslav Todorov then tapped in a third goal before Daisuke Oku completed the rout with a goal from a corner. Very good performance. West Ham 4-0 Coventry Bristol City (David Moyes) vs West Ham We were poor again here. Lee McCulloch gave Bristol City the lead from a corner before doubling the lead with another header. We never looked like getting back into the match. Bristol City 2-0 West Ham Burnley (George Burley) vs West Ham This was a better performance and a fairly even game which was settled by an early goal from Michael Yates giving Burnley the three points. Burnley 1-0 West Ham Oku was injured in between this and the game against Southampton. Southampton (Stuart Gray) vs West Ham After losing every away game so far I decided to play a little bit more defensively here. It worked, to a point. A Richie Wellens header gave us the lead before James Beattie equalised for Southampton. The game was fairly even after that before the key moment arrived shortly afterwards. Damien Johnson and Svetoslav Todorov both went off injured and Southampton then snatched a winner through Tommy Black. Still, reasons to be optimistic. Southampton 2-1 West Ham West Ham vs Wigan (George Graham) Kawaguchi was excellent in this one after Alex Neil hobbled off to add to our growing injury list. A good strike from Paolo Di Canio gave us the three points. West Ham 1-0 Wigan So overall, we were appalling until I managed to find players to fill in some of the gaping gaps in the squad. Since then we've been inconsistent but our injury situation is worrying. McCann, Neil, Oku, Johnson, Todorov and Murray are all currently injured. Fortunately our next game is in the FA Cup against Carlisle so I intend to rest players there giving us two weeks until our next league game at the City Ground against Nottingham Forest. I tried a couple of different formations initially before settling on a simple 4-4-2 with forward arrows on my two wingers. This is currently our best line-up: GK: Yoshikatsu Kawaguchi LB: Austin McCann CB: Athur Gnohere CB: Peter Clarke/Chris Morgan RB: Rigobert Song RM: Daisuke Oku CM: Alex Neil CM: Richie Wellens LM: Damien Johnson ST: Tommy Smith ST: Svetoslav Todorov Chris Stringer is capable of deputising for Kawaguchi. George Lock is abysmal and will be sold shortly. If McCann gets injured I'll move Gnohere to LB and play Clarke and Morgan in the centre. If McCann and Gnohere are injured I'll bring in Aljofree as an emergency option. Clarke, Morgan, Gnohere, Hutchinson and Iriekpen give me enough CBs. Song can also move into the middle and Luke Young can slot in at RB. Luke Young is Song's deputy until I can find someone better. Johnson can move to the right to replace Oku and Jason Wilcox can move to LM. Neil can also slot into RM with Paul Murray coming into CM. Di Canio can also play RM reasonably competently. Johnson isn't actually a LM but since I tried him there he's got an 8, 6, 7 and a 7 which is significantly higher than Wilcox's ratings in the same position. I forgot earlier that Johnson is injured for two months though so I am going to have to spend some of the 8 million on a LM. I have plenty of numbers in CM but a few players are going to be sold in that position in the summer to make way for more able players to replace them. My forward four of Ricketts, Todorov, Smith and Di Canio works fine but if I can snag someone excellent I will. I wasn't a million miles away from persuading Cherno Samba to come but he elected to sign a new contract at Parma instead. I'm still hunting for other options. So that's where the squad is at currently. Here's the table: Pos Team Pld Won Drn Lst For Ag Won Drn Lst For Ag Pts -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1st Derby 27 8 3 2 27 18 9 2 3 25 16 56 2nd Preston 27 10 2 2 31 15 5 4 4 19 20 51 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 3rd Aston Villa 26 7 4 1 21 13 7 4 3 22 16 50 4th Burnley 27 9 4 1 24 8 5 3 5 16 14 49 5th Tranmere 27 10 3 0 26 7 3 7 4 14 18 49 6th Middlesbrough 27 11 1 2 30 10 1 9 3 19 22 46 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 7th Bradford 27 6 2 6 18 18 8 2 3 26 21 46 8th Q.P.R. 26 8 4 1 29 17 4 5 4 18 23 45 9th Bristol C 27 9 1 4 31 15 4 3 6 18 17 43 10th Crystal Palace 27 10 1 2 23 10 3 3 8 19 25 43 11th Charlton 26 6 5 2 19 13 4 5 4 16 19 40 12th Grimsby 27 7 3 3 27 20 3 3 8 14 22 36 13th Nottm Forest 27 7 5 2 21 12 2 3 8 9 17 35 14th Millwall 27 6 4 3 19 16 2 4 8 17 27 32 15th W.B.A. 27 3 4 6 15 19 5 3 6 16 17 31 16th Wigan 27 5 5 4 17 14 3 2 8 12 21 31 17th Norwich 26 4 5 4 17 18 3 4 6 11 18 30 18th Southampton 27 6 4 4 20 19 1 4 8 14 29 29 19th West Ham 27 6 2 5 19 16 1 4 9 14 29 27 20th Barnsley 27 4 7 3 20 17 1 3 9 8 23 25 21st Rushden 27 4 2 7 15 19 3 1 10 14 29 24 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 22nd Walsall 27 4 5 4 21 20 0 5 9 10 33 22 23rd Ipswich 27 4 4 6 19 20 1 2 10 14 29 21 24th Coventry 27 3 7 4 20 20 0 2 11 9 24 18 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lenzar Posted July 24, 2016 Share Posted July 24, 2016 Nice to see a CM01-02 save in here. Get Mark Kerr. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jimbokav1971 Posted July 24, 2016 Share Posted July 24, 2016 Nice to see a CM01-02 save in here.Get Mark Kerr. Or that Brazilian Diablo bloke. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
sjg11 Posted July 24, 2016 Author Share Posted July 24, 2016 January/February 2005 Alright so we move into January after a period of improved form in December. I'm still hunting for a couple of new signings and we start the month with the third round of the FA Cup away at Division Two Carlisle. Just before the game I signed Paul Konchesky from Charlton to add depth at LM. I've decided to play a reserve team for this game which lines up like so: GK: Chris Stringer LB: Hasney Aljofree CB: John Walsh CB: Gareth Burke RB: Steven Clark LM: Paul Konchesky CM: Gareth Williams CM: Lee Butler RM: Daisuke Oku ST: Chris Beardsley ST: Michael Reddy These players are largely youth products with the exceptions of Konchesky and Oku. Konchesky had just signed and I wanted to take a look at him while Oku had just come back from an injury and this seemed like a good warm up for bigger league games to come. Carlisle (Roddy Collins) vs West Ham This was a very good performance and result for us. Chris Beardsley put us in front from a cross by Michael Reddy before doubling the lead from a Paul Konchesky cross. Konchesky had a good debut while Steven Clark, Michael Reddy and Beardsley played well from the youth products. Steven Clark has probably displaced Luke Young as second choice RB while I'm tempted to give Reddy and especially Beardsley a run out in the league at some point. Carlisle 0-2 West Ham We'll travel to either Manchester City or Runcorn in the Fourth Round (unsurprisingly Man City won the replay) Some bad news before the game against Forest that Richie Wellens wants to leave the club leaving me no real choice but to transfer list him. Nottingham Forest (Richard Money) vs West Ham Here's our line-up: GK: Yoshikatsu Kawaguchi LB: Austin McCann (Back from injury) CB: Athur Gnohere CB: Chris Morgan RB: Steven Clark (Rigobert Song was suspended) LM: Paul Konchesky CM: Geoff Pitcher CM: Richie Wellens RM: Daisuke Oku ST: Chris Beardsley ST: Tommy Smith The first half was a decent performance as we probably had the better chances in the first half. After half time the game turned though, Marian Pahars giving Forest the lead before Tommy Smith equalised. Unfortunately Stern John headed Forest back into the lead before Kawaguchi was sent off after giving away a penalty which John converted to secure the points for Forest. This was disappointing. Nottingham Forest 3-1 West Ham West Ham vs Bradford (Roy Evans) Alex Neil was back to fitness and replaced Pitcher. Song also replaced Clark. The rest of the team stayed the same. Alex Neil got injured again 15 minutes into the match. We created plenty of chances in this game but we frankly couldn't score to save our lives. If some of our players could actually stay fit for longer than about 10 minutes it would help. West Ham 0-0 Bradford Manchester City (David Mitchell) vs West Ham I named the same side as I did against Carlisle in the last round with the exception of Geoff Pitcher in for the injured Lee Butler. Good news is that this game counts as one of Kawaguchi's suspended games. Jason Euell scored a header from a corner to put City in front before scoring a goal from long range to double their lead. Gareth Williams then became out latest injury after 15 minutes. We created some chances but couldn't convert any of them. Manchester City 2-0 West Ham Middlesbrough (Bryan Robson) vs West Ham We had the same side for this game that played at Forest except with Song in for Steven Clark and Stringer in for the suspended Kawaguchi. Middlesbrough were flying high so I didn't have high hopes for this game. We had a good penalty shout turned down early on which made me livid when Boro got a penalty twenty minutes later which Marino Rahmberg converted. Hamilton Ricard then scored from a corner to double Boro's lead. Konchesky pulled a goal back with 5 minutes left but it was too little too late. Middlesbrough 2-1 West Ham West Ham vs Crystal Palace (Danny Wilson) Todorov was fit again so I decided to bring him in for Chris Beardsley. I also gave Peter Clarke a run out in place of Chris Morgan. An excellent first half performance followed with Daisuke Oku opening the scoring after a great run before Tommy Smith doubled the lead with a near post header from a Konchesky cross. A nervy second half followed however and Palace probably should have got at least one back but failed to convert some decent chances. A vital win that keeps us a comfortable distance away from the relegation zone. West Ham 2-0 Crystal Palace West Brom (Gary Megson) vs West Ham I named an unchanged line-up from the win against Palace. Or almost unchanged, Kawaguchi returns from his suspension. The first half was dominated by West Brom who continued to dominate until Adam Oliver put the Baggies in front. At that point I brought Chris Beardsley on and he had an immediate impact, heading home the equaliser from Oku's cross. A good point, particularly considering how poor we were for the first hour or so. West Brom 1-1 West Ham In between this game and the game at home to Walsall I signed Dutch midfielder Pascal de Vries and Ivorian striker Bonaventure Kalou who replaced Neil and Todorov respectively in the starting line-up. West Ham vs Walsall (Ray Graydon) This was a disgrace to football. We absolutely slaughtered Walsall but couldn't hit a cow's backside with a banjo (and not for the first time this season) only for Walsall to snatch the win with a goal from Barry Lavety. We had 15 shots to 4 along with 56% possession and somehow didn't win the match. West Ham 0-1 Walsall Norwich (Brian Horton) vs West Ham Even first half but Norwich got the goals, two headers from Luke Beckett giving them a 2-0 lead. Konchesky pulled a goal back but it was too little too late. Norwich 2-1 West Ham I signed Samir Fazlagic from Peterborough too, a player who has made 43 assists in two seasons in Division Two. Guy should be a step up from Konchesky and goes straight into the side against QPR. West Ham vs QPR (Nicky Law) This has been an excellent performance with us racing into a three goal lead after 25 minutes, Oku converting a Fazlagic cross, Tommy Smith firing in a half-volley from Wellens' knock-down before Fazlagic scored a spectacular volley. Austin McCann then scored his first goal for the club through a great strike from 20 yards out. Chris Beardsley then converted a Fazlagic cross to make it 5-0 before Smith completed the rout. Another Fazlagic cross caused havoc, Beardsley's header was saved and Smith tapped in the rebound. Unsurprisingly, Fazlagic got a 10 for his performance in the match. West Ham 6-0 QPR Pos Team Pld Won Drn Lst For Ag Won Drn Lst For Ag Pts -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1st Derby 35 12 3 2 38 19 11 3 4 30 20 75 2nd Aston Villa 35 11 5 1 34 18 9 4 5 28 21 69 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 3rd Burnley 35 12 5 1 33 11 7 4 6 24 22 66 4th Middlesbrough 35 14 2 2 36 12 3 10 4 23 26 63 5th Tranmere 35 13 3 1 36 12 4 8 6 20 27 62 6th Preston 35 11 4 3 34 18 6 4 7 21 27 59 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 7th Q.P.R. 35 11 4 2 39 22 5 6 7 24 39 58 8th Bradford 35 7 3 8 22 22 9 5 3 28 22 56 9th Crystal Palace 34 12 2 3 29 16 4 4 9 22 29 54 10th Bristol C 35 11 1 6 39 20 5 4 8 23 24 53 11th Nottm Forest 35 10 6 2 30 15 2 4 11 14 26 46 12th Charlton 34 7 7 3 22 16 4 6 7 18 27 46 13th Wigan 35 8 6 4 24 17 4 3 10 15 26 45 14th Grimsby 35 9 5 3 37 25 3 4 11 20 37 45 15th Norwich 35 8 5 4 28 24 3 5 10 14 30 43 16th W.B.A. 35 6 5 6 28 23 5 4 9 19 24 42 17th Southampton 35 7 5 6 25 24 3 4 10 21 36 39 18th Millwall 35 7 5 5 25 21 2 5 11 18 32 37 19th West Ham 35 8 3 6 27 17 1 5 12 18 37 35 20th Ipswich 35 7 4 7 25 23 1 6 10 20 35 34 21st Rushden 35 6 4 7 23 23 3 2 13 17 37 33 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 22nd Coventry 35 5 8 5 28 25 2 2 13 14 30 31 23rd Barnsley 35 5 8 5 25 24 1 3 13 10 34 29 24th Walsall 35 4 7 6 25 27 1 5 12 13 44 27 Ok, we're still in the relegation picture but I doubt we're going to go down. I'd love to see an improvement in our away form between now and the end of the season. On paper I'm happy with my side now and we have a few months to gel now before next season starts. Assuming I don't manage to get relegated that is. Current first XI GK: Yoshikatsu Kawaguchi RB: Rigobert Song CB: Peter Clarke/Chris Morgan CB: Athur Gnohere LB: Austin McCann RM: Daisuke Oku CM: Richie Wellens CM: Paulo de Vries LM: Samir Fazlagic ST: Tommy Smith ST: Bonaventure Kalou I'm also comfortable with the depth in every position with the possible exception of CM. Results have been underwhelming so far but this season was always going to be about re-shaping a poor squad into something that can seriously challenge next season while keeping the team's head above water. Thus far I'm delighted with how my options are developing for next season and the results are... just about good enough. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
sjg11 Posted July 24, 2016 Author Share Posted July 24, 2016 Nice to see a CM01-02 save in here.Get Mark Kerr. I tried, he's at Everton and couldn't prise him away with my remaining transfer budget. Besides if I wanted to blow a lot of money on a midfielder, United have a regen who's even better than Kerr by the looks of things. As for To Madeira, I actually had a bid accepted but he didn't want to move because he didn't feel like he would fit in with English culture. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
sjg11 Posted July 24, 2016 Author Share Posted July 24, 2016 ****, my computer froze and I lost the progress since the 1-0 win against Wigan. I'll have to replay the last few months of the save, the last update is effectively totally useless now. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
withnail316 Posted July 24, 2016 Share Posted July 24, 2016 Is Andri Sigþórsson available? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
sjg11 Posted July 25, 2016 Author Share Posted July 25, 2016 January 2005 Alright, after yesterday's mishap let's re-do this segment of the game. And make sure to save it this time. Alright so we move into January after a period of improved form in December. I'm still hunting for a couple of new signings and we start the month with the third round of the FA Cup away at Division Two Carlisle. Just before the game I signed Paul Konchesky from Charlton to add depth at LM. I've decided to play a reserve team for this game which lines up like so: GK: Chris Stringer LB: Hasney Aljofree CB: John Walsh CB: Luke Young RB: Steven Clark LM: Paul Konchesky CM: Gareth Williams CM: Lee Butler RM: Daisuke Oku ST: Chris Beardsley ST: Michael Reddy These players are largely youth products with the exceptions of Konchesky and Oku. Konchesky had just signed and I wanted to take a look at him while Oku had just come back from an injury and this seemed like a good warm up for bigger league games to come. Both Clarke and Song were injured before the Carlisle game. Carlisle (Roddy Collins) vs West Ham Richie Foran put Carlisle in front after an even opening before substitute Geoff Pitcher, on for the injured Gareth Williams struck an instant equaliser for West Ham. Unfortunately Foran then headed in a 90th minute winner for Carlisle to secure a place in the fourth round. Carlisle 2-1 West Ham I signed Fazlagic in between this and the Forest game. Nottingham Forest (Richard Money) vs West Ham Song was suspended for this game but is back from injury while Austin McCann was able to make his debut for us. Fazlagic came in for Konchesky while Wellens and Pitcher started in midfield due to Alex Neil's injury. Marian Pahars headed Forest in front with 20 minutes gone. Steve Lomas blasted in a second for them. We didn't play well here at all. Nottingham Forest 2-0 West Ham In between this and the Bradford game I signed CM Legend Tonton Zola Moukoko from Derby. West Ham vs Bradford (Roy Evans) So Tonton Zola Moukoko immediately slots in to replace Geoff Pitcher in the centre of midfield. Let's see how this works. Oh and Song comes back into the side to replace Steven Clark. Chris Beardsley had a header ruled out for offside before Isaiah Rankin put Bradford in front with a powerful shot from the edge of the box. Eoin Jess then doubled Bradford's lead after a counter-attack. However the game was about to change, a quick brace from Tonton Zola Moukoko putting us back level at 2-2. Zola Moukoko then hit the post right at the end but still a good point considering that we were two goals down at one point. Samir Fazlagic picked up an injury and will be out of action for three weeks. West Ham 2-2 Bradford I'll do more tonight before posting a table and a squad update. As for Sigthorsson, I tried signing him but he was overpriced as he had just been signed by someone. I'll look at him again next year. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nobby_McDonald Posted July 25, 2016 Share Posted July 25, 2016 Rushden & Diamonds - The non league team that started with millions in the bank. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
withnail316 Posted July 25, 2016 Share Posted July 25, 2016 Rushden & Diamonds - The non league team that started with millions in the bank. Otherwise known as Rubbish & Dustbins... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
sjg11 Posted July 26, 2016 Author Share Posted July 26, 2016 Rushden & Diamonds - The non league team that started with millions in the bank. Aye, unsurprisingly they got back to back promotions before nearly getting a third promotion to the Prem. This season has been harder for them. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
sjg11 Posted July 27, 2016 Author Share Posted July 27, 2016 February 2005 Middlesbrough (Bryan Robson) vs West Ham One change to the starting line-up as Konchesky comes in for the injured Fazlagic. Darren Eadie gave Boro the lead after 22 minutes before Daisuke Oku equalised from a corner after 40 minutes. Oku then hit a brilliant free kick to put us in front on 62 minutes. I brought Michael Ricketts on for Tommy Smith and he headed in an Oku cross at the near post to complete a very good victory. Middlesbrough 1-3 West Ham West Ham vs Crystal Palace (Danny Wilson) Unchanged starting line-up before a big opportunity for the team to really pull away from the drop zone. Tonton Zola Moukoko put us in front with a good shot after a strong run after 8 minutes. Another run and shot from Zola Moukoko doubled the lead after 14 minutes. I have a feeling that my midfield woes may have been solved with Moukoko's transfer to the club. Richie Wellens curled in a third from the edge of the box on 40 minutes. Slightly foolishly I used all three subs at half time to give some fringe players a run out and Chris Morgan went off injured leaving me with ten men for the last 30 minutes and needed switch to a back three of Song, Gnohere and Steven Clark. However Palace keeper Jimmy Walker evened the numbers with a foul in the area, giving away a penalty which Svetoslav Todorov converted. An excellent result for the Hammers which puts us 6 points above the relegation zone. West Ham 4-0 Crystal Palace Morgan's injured for 3 weeks which is a blow. Fortunately we had a week off due to West Brom's participation in the FA Cup so plenty of time for the players to rest. Paul Konchesky also picked up an injury but, fortunately, Fazlagic is fit to fill his slot. Damien Johnson also comes back from injury. I signed Norwegian CDM Frode Kippe from Lillestrom. He's a decent player and I want a CDM for the formation I'm going to try out shortly against Walsall. West Ham vs Walsall (Ray Graydon) Alright so I switched to a narrow midfield diamond for this one to see whether it works or not. The normal defence with Peter Clarke deputising for the injured Morgan. New signing Frode Kippe will sit as the CDM behind a midfield duo of Zola Moukoko and Richie Wellens. Samir Fazlagic will then play behind a partnership of Smith and Todorov. We dominated the first 30 minutes before Fazlagic blasted home from 30 yards to give us the lead. We dominated the rest of the first half before a quiet second half passed without incident. Three straight wins in the league now. We're now seven points above the relegation zone with a game in hand. West Ham 1-0 Walsall I also signed Pascal de Vries again. Guy's a good midfielder and pretty much completes my squad. Next priority is to get rid of some deadwood but that can wait until the summer. Norwich (Brian Horton) vs West Ham Luke Beckett headed home a free kick to give Norwich the lead after 25 minutes. Todorov then put a cross in which Fazlagic converted for the equaliser. Baldur Bett then scored a tap in to put Norwich back in front after we had a penalty appeal turned down. However in injury time substitute Daisuke Oku (on for Wellens) got away down the right and put in a cross which Tommy Smith converted to score a late, late equaliser. Norwich 2-2 West Ham Overall an excellent month with three wins and a draw from four league games. 7 points above the drop zone with a game in hand means we can now relax for the rest of the season without worrying about relegation. This month has also left me feeling extremely optimistic about a serious promotion push next season. With the squad I have anything less would be an appalling season. Pos Team Pld Won Drn Lst For Ag Won Drn Lst For Ag Pts -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1st Derby 34 10 4 2 34 21 10 2 6 30 27 66 2nd Tranmere 34 13 3 0 31 8 5 7 6 22 23 64 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 3rd Aston Villa 33 8 5 3 28 22 10 4 3 28 17 63 4th Middlesbrough 34 14 1 3 38 16 3 9 4 24 27 61 5th Bradford 34 8 3 7 26 23 9 4 3 33 27 58 6th Preston 34 11 2 4 35 21 6 4 7 25 33 57 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 7th Burnley 33 10 4 3 27 12 6 3 7 20 18 55 8th Bristol C 34 12 1 4 38 15 4 3 10 20 27 52 9th Q.P.R. 34 9 5 3 36 24 5 5 7 26 33 52 10th Nottm Forest 34 10 5 3 27 13 3 4 9 14 21 48 11th Grimsby 34 10 3 4 37 29 4 3 10 17 30 48 12th Charlton 34 7 6 4 23 18 5 5 7 19 24 47 13th Crystal Palace 33 11 1 4 26 15 3 3 11 21 34 46 14th Norwich 33 6 6 4 26 21 5 6 6 20 25 45 15th Southampton 33 9 4 4 27 22 2 6 8 19 31 43 16th Millwall 33 8 5 3 27 20 2 4 11 17 31 39 17th West Ham 33 8 3 5 26 18 2 5 10 19 34 38 18th W.B.A. 33 5 4 7 22 23 5 4 8 18 24 38 19th Wigan 34 6 7 5 23 19 3 2 11 13 26 36 20th Coventry 34 6 7 5 33 24 2 3 11 13 26 34 21st Ipswich 34 6 5 6 25 21 2 3 12 18 38 32 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 22nd Rushden 34 4 4 8 19 24 4 3 11 19 34 31 23rd Walsall 34 7 5 5 26 25 0 5 12 12 40 31 24th Barnsley 34 5 7 5 24 24 1 3 13 11 34 28 [/CODE] Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
sjg11 Posted July 28, 2016 Author Share Posted July 28, 2016 March 2005 West Ham vs QPR (Nicky Law) An injury to Athur Gnohere means I have to replace him with Chris Morgan (Morgan-Clarke now the CB partnership). We had the better of the first half but couldn't break QPR down. At half time I brought Oku on for Fazlagic, moving Zola Moukoko into CAM as well as bringing Beardsley on for Todorov. Unfortunately QPR took the lead through a Leroy Griffiths header from a free kick. Fortunately for us the QPR goalkeeper then brought Moukoko down in the box, got sent off for dissent after an initial yellow card and Frode Kippe converted to score his first goal for the club. We then created numerous good chances in the final 10 minutes but couldn't find a winner. West Ham 1-1 QPR West Ham vs Tranmere (Dave Watson) I decided to bring Paul Konchesky in for McCann at LB for this one. Other than that, I stuck with the same formation. An excellent counter-attack led to Samir Fazlagic firing us in front after half an hour after a dominant first half. Tranmere had a dangerous spell at the start of the second half which was ended when Chris Beardsley, on for Todorov headed home from a corner to double our advantage. Tonton Zola Moukoko then completed a strong performance with a great run and strike. That puts us 10 points clear of danger with a game in hand. West Ham 3-0 Tranmere West Ham vs Derby (Chris Kamara) A suspension for Richie Wellens meant that Pascal de Vries was handed his West Ham debut in the centre of midfield. Other than that this was an unchanged line-up. We started very strongly cutting Derby apart at will but it was Derby who scored the first goal through a Philip Mulryne free kick. However de Vries equalised after a cross from the left from Fazlagic found him in the box. Fazlagic then cut the ball back to the edge of the box for de Vries to smash in a second West Ham goal. A great win against the league leaders. West Ham 2-1 Derby Grimsby (Lennie Lawrence) vs West Ham A few players were a little bit tired before this game so I had to put Fazlagic and de Vries on the bench leaving Oku and Wellens as the midfield partnership with Zola Moukoko playing CAM. I also put Beardsley in for Tommy Smith. A run and shot from Beardsley put us in front after 10 minutes. Daisuke Oku then doubled the lead after a Moukoko lay-off. Just after half time a shot from Jonathan Rowan flew in to put Grimsby back in the match. Fortunately Richie Wellens scored a volley shortly afterwards to restore the two goal advantage. Grimsby 1-3 West Ham Unfortunately Tonton's out for 10 days after an injury in training. West Brom (Gary Megson) vs West Ham Athur Gnohere was back fit so replaces Peter Clarke and Fazlagic comes in for Zola Moukoko. Tommy Smith replaces Todorov too. A terrible start as Scott Dobie heads West Brom in front almost straight from the kick off. Unfortunately we never really looked like breaking West Brom down to get an equaliser. West Brom 1-0 West Ham Oku's injured for two weeks as well. Pos Team Pld Won Drn Lst For Ag Won Drn Lst For Ag Pts -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1st Derby 38 13 4 2 38 22 10 2 7 31 29 75 2nd Aston Villa 38 10 5 3 32 22 11 4 5 33 22 72 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 3rd Bradford 38 9 4 7 29 25 11 4 3 39 29 68 4th Middlesbrough 38 14 2 4 40 19 4 9 5 27 31 65 5th Tranmere 38 13 4 1 32 10 5 7 8 22 27 65 6th Burnley 38 11 4 4 31 14 6 5 8 22 21 60 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 7th Bristol C 38 13 1 5 40 16 5 4 10 22 28 59 8th Nottm Forest 38 11 6 3 29 14 5 4 9 16 21 58 9th Preston 38 11 2 6 38 28 6 4 9 28 40 57 10th Q.P.R. 38 10 5 4 38 28 5 6 8 28 36 56 11th Crystal Palace 38 13 2 4 32 18 4 3 12 24 38 56 12th Charlton 38 9 6 4 27 19 5 6 8 20 29 54 13th Norwich 37 8 7 4 37 26 5 7 6 23 28 53 14th Grimsby 38 11 3 5 42 33 4 3 12 17 32 51 15th Southampton 38 10 4 5 28 23 3 7 9 21 33 50 16th West Ham 38 10 4 5 32 20 3 5 11 22 36 48 17th W.B.A. 38 8 4 7 29 24 5 4 10 20 30 47 18th Coventry 38 6 7 6 34 27 5 3 11 18 28 43 19th Millwall 38 9 6 3 29 21 2 4 14 20 41 43 20th Wigan 38 7 7 6 25 21 4 2 12 16 30 42 21st Ipswich 37 6 5 7 25 22 3 3 13 20 40 35 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 22nd Rushden 38 5 5 8 25 29 4 3 13 21 38 35 23rd Walsall 38 8 5 6 28 27 0 6 13 13 42 35 24th Barnsley 38 5 7 7 26 28 1 4 14 13 37 29 As you can see, we're no longer worrying about relegation. Play-offs are probably beyond us though which is a shame. If our massive improvement had occurred a little bit earlier we may have had a good shot at them this season. Still, very positive signs for next season. Tonton and Fazlagic have been incredible. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
sjg11 Posted July 28, 2016 Author Share Posted July 28, 2016 April/May 2005 The start of a ridiculously busy month (7 games). We don't have much to play for so I intend to sit back and simply enjoy the games this month. West Ham vs Millwall (Billy Davies) Tonton replaces the injured Oku, Austin McCann comes in for Konchesky and Todorov replaces Beardsley. Chris Morgan gave us the lead from a corner after 10 minutes. Tonton Zola Moukoko doubles the lead after picking up a loose ball on the edge of the box. Ben Thatcher picked up a red card for Millwall after 32 minutes after an assault on Todorov. The Millwall keeper saved a shot from Beardsley (on for Tommy Smith) but Samir Fazlagic was there to poke in the rebound. Another excellent performance. West Ham 3-0 Millwall Aston Villa (Joe Kinnear) vs West Ham de Vries replaces Wellens and Konchesky replaces McCann for this one. A reasonably uneventful yet entertaining first half followed before, just after half-time, Svetoslav Todorov converted a Fazlagic cross to give us the lead. Unfortunately Finidi equalised for Villa with 10 minutes left. A very good point away at the best side in the league. Aston Villa 1-1 West Ham Ipswich (Managerless) vs West Ham Wellens back in for de Vries, other than that an unchanged line-up. Tonton Zola Moukoko put us in front with a header from a Richie Wellens free kick. Unfortunately Marcus Stewart headed in another late equaliser. Ipswich 1-1 West Ham Unfortunately I had to sell Rigobert Song, who has been very good for me so far, for 1.8 Million. He wanted to leave and it was all I could get for him. Still, nearly two million to be spent on defensive reinforcements for next season. West Ham vs Charlton (Alan Curbishley) I put McCann in for Konchesky, Oku in for Wellens and gave Beardsley a start alongside Todorov. After 15 minutes Beardsley headed us in front. Unfortunately, continuing this month's theme, Alan Taylor equalised for Charlton. At least this time we had 65 minutes to snatch a win anyway. Just after half time a Moukoko header was saved but Fazlagic was able to bundle in the rebound. Taylor equalised again though, actually in the same minute that Stewart equalised in the last game. Again we dominate and are let down by a late goal. West Ham 2-2 Charlton Rushden (Brian Talbot) vs West Ham We had a game on the Monday so plenty of changes had to be made. Geoff Pitcher got a run out at CAM, Oku and Wellens were the CMs, Steven Clark came in at RB while Smith and Todorov started up front. A half-volley from Todorov gave us the lead after twenty minutes or so. Unfortunately we decided to let another lead slip through a Leo Roget header. However Simon Bryant then put Rushden in front with 25 minutes left. I brought Tonton and Beardsley on but it was too little too late. Rushden 2-1 West Ham Todorov demanded to be placed on the transfer list after this game. West Ham vs Preston (Steve McMahon) Song, Tonton, Oku, Fazlagic and Konchesky come in replacing Clark, Wellens, de Vries, Pitcher and McCann respectively. A bad start as Pedro Miguel Matias puts Preston in front after 12 minutes. Fortunately Tonton Zola Moukoko rifles in a half-volley to equalise. Moukoko then puts in front after a brilliant run and shot. Beardsley came on for Todorov at half time and scored a header to secure the points on 74 minutes. West Ham 3-1 Preston Barnsley (Sam Allardyce) vs West Ham Next up a trip to already relegated Barnsley who had recently hired Sam Allardyce to rebuild them next season. I decided to bring de Vries in for Oku and to give Beardsley a run out in place of Smith. What followed was a genuinely shocking game of football. A classic end of season match. Barnsley 0-0 West Ham West Ham vs Burnley (George Burley) To finish the season we hosted Burnley. A win for Burnley would guarantee a play-off place. We have nothing to play for but causing another team to fail after a season of hard work is always fun. Only one change pre-game, Kawaguchi is on international duty for Japan so I give a start to young keeper Joakim Moberg. Other than that, no changes. A strike from Moukoko puts us ahead after 12 minutes. However Carl Fletcher heads home an equaliser shortly afterwards. Fortunately Fletcher then diverted a Tommy Smith header into his net to restore our lead. Todorov then gave us a comfortable lead with a shot from a Moukoko lay-off. Unfortunately this result didn't cost Burnley a play-off place. West Ham 3-1 Burnley End of Season Table Pos Team Pld Won Drn Lst For Ag Won Drn Lst For Ag Pts -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1st C Derby 46 16 5 2 46 26 12 2 9 37 35 91 2nd P Aston Villa 46 13 7 3 42 25 12 4 7 38 30 86 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 3rd Pl Middlesbrough 46 16 3 4 44 20 7 10 6 37 37 82 4th Pl Tranmere 46 15 5 3 36 12 5 9 9 25 32 74 5th Pl Bradford 46 11 4 8 32 27 11 4 8 42 43 74 6th Pl Burnley 46 14 4 5 39 16 7 6 10 27 28 73 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 7th Bristol C 46 16 2 5 49 21 5 7 11 24 31 72 8th Q.P.R. 46 12 7 4 45 31 7 7 9 34 42 71 9th Charlton 46 12 7 4 36 23 7 7 9 26 34 71 10th Nottm Forest 46 13 7 3 33 14 5 7 11 17 24 68 11th Norwich 46 12 7 4 53 32 5 9 9 32 41 67 12th Preston 46 12 3 8 45 36 7 5 11 34 48 65 13th Southampton 46 13 4 6 35 30 5 7 11 27 39 65 14th West Ham 46 13 5 5 43 24 3 8 12 25 40 61 15th Crystal Palace 46 13 5 5 35 22 4 4 15 27 45 60 16th Grimsby 46 14 3 6 50 38 4 3 16 19 41 60 17th Coventry 46 10 7 6 44 31 5 4 14 20 34 56 18th W.B.A. 46 10 6 7 35 27 5 4 14 25 41 55 19th Millwall 46 10 6 7 34 29 4 4 15 26 47 52 20th Wigan 46 8 9 6 30 24 4 3 16 19 42 48 21st Ipswich 46 8 7 8 36 32 4 4 15 24 47 47 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 22nd R Rushden 46 7 6 10 32 35 4 4 15 22 44 43 23rd R Walsall 46 9 7 7 34 33 0 8 15 16 50 42 24th R Barnsley 46 7 9 7 32 31 1 5 17 16 45 38 So, the end of my first half a season at West Ham. I'm very happy overall, I've built a strong squad which can be reflected in the results from February onwards. Next season we need to play well for the whole season though rather than scraping along for most of the season and only waking up for the last 3/4 months of the season. Next season the target is simple. Get promoted. We have the squad. We have the talent. We have the money to use if necessary. Promotion is a necessity. Frankly I don't care if we swan home with over 100 points or get promoted having qualified for the play-offs with 65 points in a play-off final against Tranmere thanks to a last-minute goal that goes in off of Tommy Smith's backside. Put I have faith in the team. Well, I have faith in Tonton to guide us to salvation. Tomorrow will be an end of season post and a preliminary look at where I'm aiming to strengthen for next season. P.S. Speaking of Rushden, their time in the Championship didn't last long. Walsall and Barnsley join them in League One. Bolton, Crewe and Spurs come to join us for next season from the Prem. Wycombe and Brighton have been promoted from League One while Villa and Derby go up from the Championship. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nobby_McDonald Posted July 28, 2016 Share Posted July 28, 2016 Bye Rushden. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
sjg11 Posted July 29, 2016 Author Share Posted July 29, 2016 End of Season Round-Up 2004-05 Champions' League Phase 1 Group A Pos Team Pld Won Drn Lst For Ag Won Drn Lst For Ag Pts -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1st Q Milan ITA 6 3 0 0 9 3 1 1 1 1 2 13 2nd Q Porto POR 6 2 0 1 3 1 1 0 2 4 4 9 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 3rd Arsenal ENG 6 3 0 0 5 0 0 0 3 0 5 9 4th Ankaragücü TUR 6 1 1 1 1 3 0 0 3 2 7 4 Phase 1 Group B Pos Team Pld Won Drn Lst For Ag Won Drn Lst For Ag Pts -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1st Q Celtic SCO 6 3 0 0 7 0 0 2 1 2 4 11 2nd Q Real Madrid ESP 6 3 0 0 6 2 0 1 2 1 5 10 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 3rd Paris-SG FRA 6 1 2 0 5 2 0 1 2 3 7 6 4th HJK FIN 6 0 3 0 2 2 0 1 2 0 4 4 Phase 1 Group C Pos Team Pld Won Drn Lst For Ag Won Drn Lst For Ag Pts -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1st Q Barcelona ESP 6 2 1 0 6 2 2 1 0 6 1 14 2nd Q Roma ITA 6 2 1 0 4 1 1 2 0 2 0 12 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 3rd Newcastle ENG 6 1 1 1 1 2 1 0 2 2 4 7 4th Bordeaux FRA 6 0 0 3 0 6 0 0 3 1 6 0 Phase 1 Group D Pos Team Pld Won Drn Lst For Ag Won Drn Lst For Ag Pts -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1st Q Dortmund GER 6 2 1 0 3 1 2 0 1 3 2 13 2nd Q Ajax HOL 6 3 0 0 6 0 1 0 2 3 3 12 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 3rd PAOK GRE 6 1 1 1 2 3 0 1 2 2 5 5 4th Sint-Truiden BEL 6 1 0 2 2 4 0 1 2 0 3 4 Phase 1 Group E Pos Team Pld Won Drn Lst For Ag Won Drn Lst For Ag Pts -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1st Q Inter ITA 6 3 0 0 9 1 2 1 0 7 3 16 2nd Q Man Utd ENG 6 2 0 1 4 4 2 0 1 3 1 12 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 3rd Lokomotiv Moscow RUS 6 1 1 1 6 4 0 0 3 2 8 4 4th AEK GRE 6 1 0 2 3 3 0 0 3 0 10 3 Phase 1 Group F Pos Team Pld Won Drn Lst For Ag Won Drn Lst For Ag Pts -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1st Q Lazio ITA 6 2 1 0 7 2 3 0 0 6 1 16 2nd Q HSV GER 6 2 0 1 12 5 1 0 2 6 9 9 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 3rd PAO GRE 6 0 1 2 3 6 1 1 1 4 7 5 4th Sporting POR 6 1 0 2 3 5 0 1 2 2 8 4 Phase 1 Group G Pos Team Pld Won Drn Lst For Ag Won Drn Lst For Ag Pts -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1st Q Schalke 04 GER 6 3 0 0 7 0 1 1 1 2 2 13 2nd Q Liverpool ENG 6 2 1 0 5 0 1 1 1 3 3 11 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 3rd Wisla POL 6 1 1 1 6 5 1 0 2 1 5 7 4th Lens FRA 6 1 0 2 1 3 0 0 3 2 9 3 Phase 1 Group H Pos Team Pld Won Drn Lst For Ag Won Drn Lst For Ag Pts -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1st Q PSV HOL 6 2 1 0 3 0 2 0 1 5 4 13 2nd Q Rangers SCO 6 2 0 1 5 4 0 3 0 0 0 9 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 3rd Valencia ESP 6 2 1 0 7 0 0 0 3 0 5 7 4th Silkeborg IF DEN 6 1 1 1 2 2 0 0 3 1 8 4 Phase 2 Group A Pos Team Pld Won Drn Lst For Ag Won Drn Lst For Ag Pts -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1st Q Real Madrid ESP 6 3 0 0 8 1 0 2 1 0 2 11 2nd Q Lazio ITA 6 2 1 0 5 2 1 0 2 1 3 10 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 3rd Porto POR 6 1 1 1 1 1 1 0 2 4 8 7 4th Dortmund GER 6 1 0 2 3 4 1 0 2 3 4 6 Phase 2 Group B Pos Team Pld Won Drn Lst For Ag Won Drn Lst For Ag Pts -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1st Q Barcelona ESP 6 3 0 0 6 1 2 0 1 4 3 15 2nd Q Ajax HOL 6 1 0 2 2 3 2 0 1 5 3 9 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 3rd Milan ITA 6 2 0 1 4 3 0 1 2 1 3 7 4th Rangers SCO 6 0 1 2 2 4 1 0 2 1 5 4 Phase 2 Group C Pos Team Pld Won Drn Lst For Ag Won Drn Lst For Ag Pts -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1st Q Liverpool ENG 6 1 2 0 4 3 1 2 0 3 2 10 2nd Q PSV HOL 6 2 1 0 4 1 1 0 2 2 3 10 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 3rd HSV GER 6 2 0 1 3 2 0 1 2 2 6 7 4th Inter ITA 6 1 1 1 5 3 0 1 2 2 5 5 Phase 2 Group D Pos Team Pld Won Drn Lst For Ag Won Drn Lst For Ag Pts -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1st Q Schalke 04 GER 6 2 0 1 2 1 2 0 1 2 1 12 2nd Q Roma ITA 6 1 1 1 3 1 2 1 0 3 1 11 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 3rd Man Utd ENG 6 2 1 0 3 1 0 2 1 1 2 9 4th Celtic SCO 6 0 1 2 1 3 0 0 3 0 5 1 Quarter-Finals Schalke 04 a 2-2 PSV Roma 2-1 Liverpool Real Madrid 0-1 Ajax Barcelona 3-2 Lazio Semi-Finals Roma 5-3 Barcelona Schalke 04 1-0 Ajax Final Roma 2-1 Schalke 04 Roma maintained Roman domination of the Champions' League after successive victories for city rivals Lazio, eliminated by Barcelona in the quarter-finals. Barca themselves were eliminated after a 4-0 defeat to Roma in the second leg of the semi-final. They beat Schalke, UEFA Cup holders, 2-1 in the final to claim their first Champions' League title. Of the English contingent only Liverpool reached the quarter-finals before succumbing to Roma in the quarter-finals. Arsenal in particular were disappointing, being eliminated from a group they should have progressed from. Newcastle had a tough group so it's difficult to be too harsh about their performance. Valencia won the UEFA Cup after beating Koln 2-0 in the final. Premier League Pos Team Pld Won Drn Lst For Ag Won Drn Lst For Ag Pts -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1st C Man Utd 38 14 2 3 43 12 12 3 4 26 14 83 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2nd Leeds 38 13 5 1 31 13 10 5 4 23 13 79 3rd Arsenal 38 14 1 4 36 10 10 4 5 41 26 77 4th Liverpool 38 13 5 1 37 8 9 1 9 26 23 72 5th Chelsea 38 14 2 3 31 13 8 4 7 19 15 72 6th Wolves 38 8 3 8 33 28 9 3 7 25 24 57 7th Newcastle 38 10 7 2 24 11 4 6 9 22 29 55 8th Everton 38 11 3 5 35 22 5 1 13 15 39 52 9th Fulham 38 11 3 5 26 20 3 6 10 13 33 51 10th Sheff Wed 38 9 4 6 35 24 4 4 11 17 36 47 11th Man City 38 8 4 7 31 29 5 4 10 18 35 47 12th Blackburn 38 6 6 7 20 21 4 10 5 14 13 46 13th Wimbledon 38 9 4 6 23 20 3 6 10 18 34 46 14th Portsmouth 38 8 7 4 24 23 4 3 12 16 36 46 15th Birmingham 38 11 2 6 31 19 1 7 11 11 29 45 16th Leicester 38 8 6 5 19 13 4 3 12 19 35 45 17th Sunderland 38 7 6 6 31 21 4 5 10 23 39 44 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 18th R Crewe 38 7 5 7 35 35 2 4 13 14 29 36 19th R Tottenham 38 7 4 8 22 16 1 6 12 18 36 34 20th R Bolton 38 3 8 8 21 33 0 2 17 13 50 19 Manchester United retained the title after a very good season. A win on penalties against Newcastle in the FA Cup Final alongside a win over Arsenal in the League Cup Final allowed them to complete a domestic treble. Their Champions' League run was disappointing but they were eliminated by the two finalists. Definitely the dominant force in English football currently. Leeds, Arsenal and Liverpool took the other Champions' League spots, Liverpool just pipping Chelsea to the final spot. Chelsea will qualify for next season's UEFA Cup alongside surprise package Wolves and Newcastle. Crewe, Spurs and Bolton drop down to Division One to be replaced by Villa, Derby and play-off winners Middlesbrough. Division Two Pos Team Pld Won Drn Lst For Ag Won Drn Lst For Ag Pts -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1st C Wycombe 46 15 3 5 43 22 11 7 5 42 24 88 2nd P Brighton 46 15 4 4 47 18 11 3 9 30 28 85 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 3rd Northampton 46 15 2 6 40 26 10 3 10 39 45 80 4th Peterborough 46 13 5 5 37 18 9 7 7 34 24 78 5th Blackpool 46 13 7 3 40 21 9 4 10 35 47 77 6th P Sheff Utd 46 11 5 7 43 36 11 3 9 37 36 74 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 7th Watford 46 14 3 6 36 20 7 5 11 22 29 71 8th Doncaster 46 13 5 5 42 21 7 4 12 40 52 69 9th Swansea 46 12 4 7 33 30 8 5 10 28 36 69 10th Port Vale 46 12 5 6 50 34 5 9 9 25 33 65 11th Carlisle 46 11 8 4 36 23 5 7 11 25 36 63 12th Reading 46 11 4 8 38 34 6 8 9 32 38 63 13th Halifax 46 13 5 5 39 28 6 1 16 27 43 63 14th Cardiff 46 14 4 5 32 18 3 6 14 16 36 61 15th Swindon 46 10 4 9 29 30 5 11 7 24 31 60 16th Oldham 46 11 6 6 45 30 5 5 13 24 36 59 17th Darlington 46 9 7 7 35 33 6 5 12 24 34 57 18th Stoke 46 11 7 5 44 37 4 5 14 28 49 57 19th Bury 46 9 7 7 42 41 6 4 13 26 37 56 20th Luton 46 9 8 6 29 26 5 3 15 23 40 53 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 21st R Lincoln 46 10 6 7 33 26 3 7 13 22 46 52 22nd R Stockport 46 8 4 11 26 29 5 8 10 25 34 51 23rd R Huddersfield 46 6 9 8 37 38 2 7 14 18 36 40 24th R Mansfield 46 4 7 12 21 34 5 2 16 27 47 36 Wycombe, Brighton and play-off winners Sheffield United join Division One next season. Lincoln, Stockport, Huddersfield and Mansfield drop down to Division Three. Elsewhere, PSG won a fourth successive Ligue 1 title. Bayern Munich reclaimed the Bundesliga title from reigning champions Dortmund. Lazio won a third straight Serie A title while Real Madrid won La Liga. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
forzalazio87 Posted July 29, 2016 Share Posted July 29, 2016 What happened to Di canio? Also pretty happy about Lazio's success. Makes me wonder what could have happened if Cragnotti hadn't gone bankrupt. Could you maybe screenshot what their team looks like now? Laziali and the irons always have to stick together haha Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
sjg11 Posted July 31, 2016 Author Share Posted July 31, 2016 On 29/07/2016 at 22:25, forzalazio87 said: What happened to Di canio? Also pretty happy about Lazio's success. Makes me wonder what could have happened if Cragnotti hadn't gone bankrupt. Could you maybe screenshot what their team looks like now? Laziali and the irons always have to stick together haha I didn't use Paolo much, put simply he's 36 now and is, unfortunately a little bit past it. His wages are also pretty high so I'm going to release him at the end of the season. Well, more accurately I'm not renewing his contract. No Name Position(s) Nat Born Age Caps Gls Wages Expires Value ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 40 Bachini, Jonathan M RL ITA 5.6.75 29 2 - £21.5K 14.6.09 £6.5M 38 Berrettoni, Emanuele F RLC ITA 17.5.81 24 - - £1.5K 30.6.05 £120K - Bianco, Ferdinando D L ITA 30.5.85 20 - - £525 12.6.06 £100K - Boccolini, Alessandro GK ITA 14.7.84 20 - - £450 17.6.05 £3K 34 Boshnjaku, Denis AM/F R ITA 14.7.84 20 - - £350 22.6.06 £50K 30 Calandrelli, Fabio D/M C ITA 4.3.82 23 - - £1K 19.6.05 £35K 4 Cannavaro, Fabio SW/D C ITA 13.9.73 31 68 1 £100K 20.6.09 £9M 6 Carbone, Benito AM/F RC ITA 14.8.71 33 6 2 £55K 3.6.06 £2.9M 3 César D/DM L BRA 24.10.74 30 11 - £47K 5.6.09 £6.75M 39 Cinelli, Gasperino S C ITA 3.1.82 23 - - £825 13.6.06 £850K 7 Claudio López F LC ARG 17.7.74 30 43 8 £70K 20.6.08 £13.5M 10 Crespo, Hernan Jorge S C ARG 5.7.76 28 63 42 £85K 19.6.10 £21M 2 D'Amato, Luca D RC ITA 4.3.83 22 - - £650 27.6.07 £875K - De Angelis, Marco M LC ITA 27.10.83 21 - - £350 7.6.06 £50K 23 De la Peña, Iván López AM C ESP 6.5.76 29 - - £80K 3.6.09 £5.5M 29 Evacuo, Felice S C ITA 23.8.82 22 - - £350 4.6.05 £2K 19 Favalli, Giuseppe D L ITA 8.1.72 33 1 - £14.5K 15.6.06 £625K 20 Fiore, Stefano AM LC ITA 17.4.75 30 53 6 £70K 27.6.08 £13.25M 32 Formica, Mauro DM R ITA 26.9.87 17 - - £475 13.6.06 £95K 25 Gazzi, Alessandro M RC ITA 28.1.83 22 - - £650 14.6.06 £600K 16 Giannichedda, Giuliano DM C ITA 21.9.74 30 4 - £90K 18.6.08 £5.75M 21 Inzaghi, Simone S C ITA 5.4.76 29 1 - £30K 30.6.05 £250K 28 Kujovic, Ajsel AM R SWE 6.3.85 20 - - £875 3.6.07 £1.6M - Le Noci, Giuseppe DM LC ITA 22.1.82 23 - - £350 9.6.07 £140K 48 Luciani, Maurizio DM C ITA 26.3.87 18 - - £625 2.6.06 £325K 35 Merondi, Daniele M LC ITA 9.5.82 23 - - £700 16.6.06 £600K 27 Moratti, Alessio AM/F L ITA 26.1.87 18 - - £575 6.6.06 £240K - Moretti, Marco D RC ITA 28.1.83 22 - - £375 16.6.07 £200K 12 Mouselimis, Michalis GK GRE 31.1.81 24 - - £1.2K 27.6.06 £825K 18 Negro, Paolo D RC ITA 16.4.72 33 4 - £20K 25.6.06 £550K 13 Nesta, Alessandro SW/D C ITA 19.3.76 29 69 1 £80K 8.6.09 £19.5M 24 Ola, Daniel D C GHA 26.11.82 22 5 - £3.6K 12.6.06 £1.2M 26 Pagano, Matteo AM L ITA 10.11.85 19 - - £1K 22.6.06 £450K 41 Pagella, Antonio GK ITA 13.7.83 21 - - £775 25.6.06 £50K 8 Palermo, Martín S C ARG 7.11.73 31 20 7 £70K 24.6.08 £12.25M - Palumbo, Giovanni D R ITA 9.1.87 18 - - £450 25.6.06 £75K 15 Pancaro, Giuseppe D/DM RL ITA 26.8.71 33 39 4 £65K 11.6.06 £2.3M 9 Pecoraro, Lorenzo F LC ITA 23.10.84 20 - - £500 3.6.05 £2K 36 Peralta, Horacio Walter AM/F RLC URU 3.6.82 22 11 1 £24.5K 8.6.10 £7.75M 50 Peruzzi, Angelo GK ITA 16.2.70 35 26 - £44.5K 8.6.07 £3.3M 1 Pratesi, Enrico GK ITA 13.2.85 20 - - £575 23.6.06 £50K - Saccone, Enrico D R ITA 21.11.84 20 - - £350 6.6.06 £50K 22 Salvati, Cristiano D RC ITA 15.11.88 16 - - £525 18.6.06 £180K - Scienza, Riccardo M L ITA 12.7.85 19 - - £550 1.6.06 £70K 14 Simeone, Diego Pablo DM C ARG 28.4.70 35 125 14 £60K 7.6.05 £8K 31 Stam, Jaap SW/D C HOL 17.7.72 32 61 6 £75K 3.6.08 £7M 17 Stankovic, Dejan DM RC YUG 11.9.78 26 54 9 £19.75K 30.6.05 £3.4M 33 Ticchi, Gabriele D L ITA 5.6.82 22 - - £1.7K 12.6.06 £725K 11 Turchetta, Alessandro F LC ITA 7.10.82 22 - - £3.8K 25.6.06 £1.6M 37 Vecchi, Andrea DM C ITA 17.9.85 19 - - £675 12.6.06 £210K And there's the Lazio squad. Crespo in particular is incredible and, frankly, you have to respect any side where Fabio Cannavaro and Jaap Stam struggle to get into the team (I'm actually a little bit surprised they haven't switched to a 3-5-2 or something like that with those three in their squad). Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
sjg11 Posted July 31, 2016 Author Share Posted July 31, 2016 Pre-Season Squad Update Date Player In From Fee ----------------------------------------------------------------------- 12.6.04 Luke Young Charlton Bos 8.7.04 Tommy Smith Watford £1.5M 8.7.04 Michael Ricketts Bolton £1.9M 28.7.04 Joakim Moberg Blackpool £18K 18.8.04 Frank De Clerck Aarschot £100K 2.9.04 Peter Clarke Everton £1.8M 6.9.04 Joey Hutchinson Birmingham £300K 5.10.04 Gareth Williams Walsall £700K 30.10.04 Chris Morgan Wycombe £950K 14.11.04 Alex Neil Tranmere £2M 30.11.04 Athur Gnohéré Burnley £4M 1.12.04 Austin McCann Hearts £2.5M 7.12.04 Yoshikatsu Kawaguchi F Marinos £4.5M 9.12.04 Daisuke Oku Verdy £1.9M 6.1.05 Paul Konchesky Charlton £1.6M 12.1.05 Samir Fazlagic Peterborough £1.9M 18.1.05 Tonton Zola Moukoko Derby £3.1M 17.2.05 Frode Kippe Lillestrøm £275K 26.2.05 Pascal de Vries Emmen £350K Date Player Out To Fee ----------------------------------------------------------------------- 4.6.04 Laurent Courtois Beauvais £625K 28.6.04 Trevor Sinclair Sheff Wed £4M 7.7.04 Brad Friedel Burnley £1.7M 11.7.04 Jermaine Defoe Celtic £10M 5.9.04 Christian Dailly Wimbledon £1.9M 13.9.04 Chris Hope Birmingham £2M 18.9.04 Peter Fear Clyde Loan 10.10.04 Christopher Todd Southampton £275K 29.10.04 Peter Fear Blackpool £350K 4.11.04 Anwar Uddin Clyde Loan 5.11.04 Abdeslam Ouaddou Norwich £400K 25.11.04 Leon Britton Tranmere £525K 26.11.04 Adam Newton Southampton £950K 6.1.05 Mark McGregor Bournemouth £600K 27.1.05 George Lock Bristol C £110K 31.1.05 Izzy Iriekpen Aston Villa £475K 5.2.05 Paul Murray Coventry £1.2M 14.2.05 Michael Reddy Peterborough £1.4M 20.3.05 Luke Young Ipswich £700K 29.5.05 Rigobert Song St-Etienne £1.8M Alright, so here are the transfers from last season just to keep you up to date with the ins and outs of last season (there were a lot of them). In the ins column my first signing was Alex Neil while Leon Britton marks the start of my reign in the outs column. The only out which wasn't planned was Song who I couldn't keep for any reason. A few players will leave the club due to their contract running out and them not being needed at the club but I'll update that at the start of September. Anyway, my senior squad as it currently stands: GKs: Yoshikatsu Kawaguchi- 7.87- 21 goals conceded in 23 games- 29 Chris Stringer- 6.74- 40 goals conceded in 23 games- 21 Joakim Moberg- 7.00- 1 goal conceded in 1 game- 19 Kawaguchi was one of my best signings last season. He was pretty expensive but I think his performances last season more than justify the transfer fee paid. The guy's an excellent goalkeeper and I'm very happy for him to be my first-choice keeper again next season. Unfortunately, he plays for the Japanese national team. This is really bad news because, in the game, the Asian World Cup qualifiers take place this season meaning he'll be playing for Japan every week from August until 21st October. He may be available for the first couple of games. This is incredibly frustrating. Chris Stringer is an able deputy but I'm unsure about whether he can last for that amount of time as the main goalkeeper in the squad while Kawaguchi's away on international duty. Stringer's pretty young and is very good for a 21 year old, and my intention is that he will replace Kawaguchi in the starting line-up when Kawaguchi grows older. Moberg's a young keeper whose reasonably promising and can step in in an absolute emergency. This is a bit of a dilemma, I'm unsure about whether to trust Stringer or whether to get someone in on loan for a couple of months to cover Kawaguchi's absence. My current plan is to trust Stringer as I can always bring someone in if I he's playing poorly. And if he plays well and gets a couple of months in the team it could really help his development. Urrgghh... internationals. DEFs Steven Clark- 6.75- 3 starting appearances with 5 off the bench- 23- LB/CB/RB Hasney Aljofree- 6.74- 23 appearances- 26- LB/CB/LDM/CDM Athur Gnohere- 6.76- 21 appearances- 26- LB/CB Paul Konchesky- 7.43- 12 appearances with 2 off the bench- 3 assists- 24- LB/LM Austin McCann- 6.45- 11 appearances- 25- LB/LM Peter Clarke- 6.90- 29 appearances with 1 off the bench- 1 assist- 23- CB Joey Hutchinson- 7.13- 8 appearances- 23- CB Chris Morgan- 7.07- 29 appearances- 1 goal- 27- CB Yeesh. My defence. By a comfortable margin the weakest aspect of my squad currently. LB is fine. Konchesky's a very good starting LB while McCann can deputise there as can Gnohere and Clark. The rest of the defence... is a big issue. Song leaving makes RB a priority position. Clark can play there but he's not good enough to replace Song and I have no cover if he gets injured. I need a starting RB next season, it's my main priority. As for Clark, he's versatile and solid so he's useful to have in the squad even if he doesn't start much. As for CB... well Chris Morgan's good enough to stay for next season. Hutchinson's not good enough to stay at the club, neither is Aljofree and I intend to get rid of them this transfer window. I intend to bring in one very good CB to complete this area of my squad. Peter Clarke's alright but not great while Gnohere was probably my biggest disappointment, I had high hopes for him which he didn't deliver on. MIDs Frode Kippe- 7.27- 15 appearances, 1 goal, 3 assists- 27- CB/CDM Alex Neil- 6.82- 9 appearances with 2 off the bench, 1 assist- 27- CM/RM Daisuke Oku- 7.12- 12 appearances with 5 off the bench, 4 goals, 4 assists- 29- CM/RM Richie Wellens- 7.16- 41 appearances with 3 off the bench, 4 goals, 8 assists- 25- CM Gareth Williams- 6.00- 3 appearances with 4 off the bench, 1 goal- 23- CM Pascal de Vries- 6.90- 5 appearances with 5 off the bench, 2 goals- 28- CM Damien Johnson- 7.15- 26 appearances, 2 goals, 9 assists- 26- AMR/FR Samir Fazlagic- 7.40- 15 appearances, 5 goals, 2 assists- 22- AML Jason Wilcox- 6.55- 20 appearances, 1 assist- 33- AML Tonton Zola Moukoko- 7.88- 16 appearances with 1 off the bench, 10 goals, 6 assists- 21- CAM/FC Geoff Pitcher- 6.67- 3 appearances with 12 off the bench, 1 goal, 2 assists- 29- CAM Midfield. Initially the weakest part of the team, now probably the strongest. In the diamond formation I've been using for a while, the CM slots are sorted, Wellens, de Vries, Oku, Neil and Zola Moukoko all play well as CMs. The attacking midfielder is also fine with Fazlagic as first choice and Zola Moukoko able to slot in if Fazlagic is injured. The biggest issue is at CDM. Frode Kippe has performed well so far but I need someone to come in if Kippe gets injured/suspended. That's my second priority after finding a starting RB. Wilcox and Williams are crap and will be shipped out swiftly in the summer. Damien Johnson is a good player who doesn't fit into a diamond and who I can get some good money for. I was tempted to sell Pitcher but he's not completely useless and may be necessary if Faz and TZM are unable to play for any reason. He won't last long though. Oku, unfortunately, has the same issue as Kawaguchi as they're both Japanese internationals. Richie Wellens is on the transfer list at his own request, if he does get sold I'll get £2 million to find a good replacement so I'm not too concerned with losing Wellens if I have to. STs Paolo Di Canio- 7.00- 4 appearances with 13 off the bench- 2 goals, 2 assists- 36- FR/C Michael Ricketts- 6.93- 22 appearances with 8 off the bench- 11 goals, 2 assists- 26- FR/C Tommy Smith- 7.21- 44 appearances with 3 off the bench- 14 goals, 3 assists- 25- FR/C Svetoslav Todorov- 7.11- 23 appearances with 5 off the bench- 6 goals, 5 assists- 26- FR/C Chris Beardsley- 7.00- 8 appearances with 12 off the bench- 4 goals, 3 assists- 22- ST Alright the attack. Di Canio's leaving at the end of the season and Todorov wants to leave. That means that I'm probably going to have to keep Ricketts for another season while Smith and Beardsley I actively want to keep. I reckon I'm going to end up signing one more striker in the summer, hopefully a really, really good goalscorer to complement my collection of good but not great strikers. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lenzar Posted July 31, 2016 Share Posted July 31, 2016 Starting to sign the 'cheat' players, I see. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
forzalazio87 Posted August 1, 2016 Share Posted August 1, 2016 Thanks for sending the Lazio team! It looks incredible! It even features my favorite forward of all time Martin Palermo. I bet that defense is unstoppable. Keep on going with this save, its a great read Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
sjg11 Posted August 1, 2016 Author Share Posted August 1, 2016 August 2005 The transfer window has been... both disappointing and fruitful. Disappointing in that I've had a lot of bids which didn't fall through for one reason or another. Fruitful because I feel like I've sorted out the main positions which needed strengthening. Anyway, here are the transfers from the summer: Date Player In From Fee ----------------------------------------------------------------------- 4.6.05 Isaak Okoronkwo Shakhtar £625K 5.6.05 Cherno Samba Parma Loan 10.6.05 Tony Carss Burnley £825K 11.8.05 Mike Duff Norwich £2.8M 11.8.05 Danny Smith Northampton £625K Date Player Out To Fee ----------------------------------------------------------------------- 5.6.05 Richard Garcia Released Free 5.6.05 Neil Jones Released Free 5.6.05 Anwar Uddin St. Mirren £300K 6.6.05 Hasney Aljofree Hearts £925K 15.6.05 Mick Powell Released Free 17.6.05 Shaun Byrne Aldershot Bos 20.6.05 John Harris Released Free 24.6.05 Damien Johnson Wycombe £1.4M 25.6.05 Joey Hutchinson Charlton £1M 25.6.05 Darren Williamson Released Free 26.6.05 Gareth Evans Released Free 28.6.05 Lee Butler Released Free 29.6.05 Colin Ward Released Free 29.6.05 Gareth Williams Peterborough £650K 30.6.05 Joe Sealey Released Free 1.7.05 Omer Riza Clyde £375K 14.7.05 Paolo Di Canio Released Free 16.7.05 Richie Wellens Middlesbrough £2.1M 23.7.05 Jason Wilcox Released Free Yep, the only sale which wasn't planned was Richie Wellens but he wanted to leave and Boro offered a decent sum of money so he left. I'm still in the market for a CM to replace him in the squad but, other than that, I'm happy with my squad. Samba's on loan until October but I'll try to extend that loan when it expires. West Ham vs Ipswich (Nigel Winterburn) First up a home game against an Ipswich side that struggled last season. I expect a win to start our campaign off in the best possible way. Annoyingly Tonton's on international duty for the Ghanaian U21s. Fortunately Oku and Kawaguchi are around for a while before their extended international leave begins. GK: Yoshikatsu Kawaguchi RB: Mike Duff CB: Isaac Okoronkwo CB: Chris Morgan LB: Paul Konchesky CDM: Frode Kippe CM: Daisuke Oku CM: Pascal de Vries CAM: Samir Fazlagic ST: Cherno Samba ST: Tommy Smith We dominated the first 25 minutes before a fierce strike from Tommy Smith put us in front. Pascal de Vries then doubled the lead after a shot from Kippe was saved. Unfortunately Joey Gudjonsson pulled one back for Ipswich from a cross to put them back in the match. Fortunately de Vries then fired in a third goal after 65 minutes to put us 3-1 in front. At that point I brought Todorov and Beardsley on for the front two and Todorov immediately fired in another goal. Marcus Stewart then fired in another goal for Ipswich but that was it. A very strong performance and a very strong result to start the season. West Ham 4-2 Ipswich I sold Peter Clarke after this game as I no longer really needed him and I could fetch a decent amount for him (£1.1 million). Wycombe (Brian Laws) vs West Ham Next was a trip to newly promoted Wycombe. Tonton was back and replaces Oku for this one. Nightmare start as David Pounder fires Wycombe in front after 19 minutes. However a great run and strike from Cherno Samba levelled the match after 33 minutes. Unfortunately a late, late winner from West Ham alumni Damien Johnson snatched the win for Wycombe. Wycombe 2-1 West Ham Geoff Pitcher was sold for £600,000 to Southampton after this. West Ham vs Brentford (John Gregory) League Cup tie so the reserves play (Stringer: Duff, Gnohere, Clark, McCann, Carss, de Vries, Neil, Ricketts, Todorov, Beardsley). Frankly I couldn't care less about the League Cup. A great run and shot from de Vries continued his impressive start to the season after 4 minutes. Unfortunately Stringer then spilled a shot and Kevin O'Connor equalised. Chris Beardsley then converted a Tony Carss cross to put us back in front. Beardsley then converted an Alex Neil centre after a Ricketts knock down to seal the points. A trip to Cardiff is next in the League Cup West Ham 3-1 Brentford West Ham vs Brighton (Micky Adams) Some ridiculous scheduling means we have a trip to Grimsby two days after this match so rotation will be necessary before that game. Kawaguchi and Oku begin their absence here (I hate internationals). Team is (Stringer, Clark, Gnohere, Okoronkwo, McCann, Kippe, de Vries, Neil, TZM, Todorov, Beardsley) I hate this game sometimes. We dominated the first half, had a penalty appeal turned down hit the post three times yet Brighton went in a goal up at half time through a Dirk Lehmann header. I brought Fazlagic, Samba and Smith on at half time and Samba blasted in an equaliser just after half time to put us level. Moukoko then unleashed de Vries who continued his incredible run of form with another goal shortly afterwards. Another great strike from Samba then put us 3-1 up. Tommy Smith then flicked in a Moukoko cross to make it 4-1. Elvis Hammond then headed in a late consolation for Brighton. West Ham 4-2 Brighton Grimsby (Lennie Lawrence) vs West Ham I actually got to use Kawaguchi and Oku here (more surprisingly they were both at 100% fitness). Team line-ups as follows (Kawaguchi: Duff, Morgan, Okoronkwo, Konchesky: Carss, Oku, Moukoko, Fazlagic: Smith, Samba) Alan Pouton put Grimsby in front from their first attack. However I brought Todorov on for Smith (also brought de Vries on for Oku) at half time and he rewarded me with a headed equaliser just after half time. Tony Carss then powered in a goal to put us in front. Unfortunately Bradley Allen then smashed in an equaliser to level the game. Bad news in that Okoronkwo is out for 2 weeks. Grimsby 2-2 West HamTable: Pos Team Pld Won Drn Lst For Ag Won Drn Lst For Ag Pts -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1st Wigan 4 2 0 0 3 1 1 1 0 4 3 10 2nd Norwich 4 1 0 0 2 1 2 0 1 6 3 9 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 3rd Tottenham 4 1 0 1 3 2 2 0 0 3 0 9 4th Coventry 4 2 0 0 4 2 1 0 1 4 4 9 5th West Ham 4 2 0 0 8 4 0 1 1 3 4 7 6th Wycombe 4 1 0 1 3 3 1 1 0 3 0 7 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 7th Crystal Palace 4 1 0 1 6 4 1 0 1 3 3 6 8th Burnley 4 1 0 1 5 3 1 0 1 2 2 6 9th Nottm Forest 4 1 0 1 3 1 1 0 1 2 2 6 10th Ipswich 4 2 0 1 6 3 0 0 1 2 4 6 11th Millwall 3 2 0 0 5 3 0 0 1 0 2 6 12th Brighton 4 1 0 1 3 3 1 0 1 5 6 6 13th W.B.A. 4 2 0 0 4 0 0 0 2 1 6 6 14th Tranmere 3 1 0 0 4 2 0 2 0 2 2 5 15th Crewe 4 1 1 0 4 2 0 1 1 3 4 5 16th Charlton 4 0 1 1 2 5 1 1 0 3 1 5 17th Southampton 4 0 1 1 1 3 1 1 0 2 1 5 18th Sheff Utd 4 1 1 0 5 4 0 0 2 1 3 4 19th Bradford 4 0 1 1 1 3 1 0 1 4 4 4 20th Bolton 4 0 1 1 2 5 1 0 1 3 3 4 21st Grimsby 4 1 1 0 5 4 0 0 2 2 7 4 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 22nd Preston 4 0 0 2 2 4 1 0 1 4 5 3 23rd Bristol C 4 0 1 1 0 2 0 0 2 2 6 1 24th Q.P.R. 4 0 0 2 0 3 0 0 2 3 6 0 Overall, a good but not great start to the season. Plenty of reasons to be optimistic though. Our attack is firing really well. Our defence is conceding two goals a game though which is worrying. In terms of other news: Argentina won the Copa America beating Ecuador in the final. Brazil were knocked out by a last minute Crespo winner in the semi-final. Italy beat France in the Confederations Cup to continue their run of success at international level. Schalke won the Club World Championship thing. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
sjg11 Posted August 1, 2016 Author Share Posted August 1, 2016 On 31/07/2016 at 16:51, Lenzar said: Starting to sign the 'cheat' players, I see. *Looks at loan signing of Samba* *Looks away again sheepishly* Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
sjg11 Posted August 1, 2016 Author Share Posted August 1, 2016 35 minutes ago, forzalazio87 said: Thanks for sending the Lazio team! It looks incredible! It even features my favorite forward of all time Martin Palermo. I bet that defense is unstoppable. Keep on going with this save, its a great read Palermo's an incredible striker. Believe it or not, Crespo's even better though, he's been the best striker in the whole save so far, maybe even the best player. The defence is incredible, Italy had a similar defence in 02 (unlike Lazio they played three at the back and they had Maldini in place of Stam) and won the whole tournament without conceding a goal. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
forzalazio87 Posted August 1, 2016 Share Posted August 1, 2016 Thats great. Crespo's best year was at Lazio and even though he only stayed for a few years he is considered a legend. Yeah that Italian defense is unbeatable. Its really funny to see this alternative history with an Italy not rocked by calciopoli and bankruptcy. You'll have to see if Italy wins the 06 world cup. And yeah I think lazio likes working with the wing players with Favalli and Pancaro, even with 3 of the best cbs in the world. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
sjg11 Posted August 1, 2016 Author Share Posted August 1, 2016 5 minutes ago, forzalazio87 said: Thats great. Crespo's best year was at Lazio and even though he only stayed for a few years he is considered a legend. Yeah that Italian defense is unbeatable. Its really funny to see this alternative history with an Italy not rocked by calciopoli and bankruptcy. You'll have to see if Italy wins the 06 world cup. And yeah I think lazio likes working with the wing players with Favalli and Pancaro, even with 3 of the best cbs in the world. Pancaro tends to play RB instead of RM and they tend to play Carbone at RM. Despite being 34 he managed to get 24 assists last season (Carbone that is) which is one of the stranger stories in the save considering that he started the game at Bradford. Favalli also hasn't played much in the save. Their one issue is that their squad is starting to get a bit old now. I anticipate a decline from Lazio over the next couple of seasons. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
forzalazio87 Posted August 1, 2016 Share Posted August 1, 2016 Thanks for letting me know. Yeah it would be cool to get see how they do as it really does look like an old team.. legendary but old.. Hopefully Loco Palermo can keep them going. thanks for all the updates and keep on going with this awesome thread! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
sjg11 Posted August 1, 2016 Author Share Posted August 1, 2016 September 2005 West Ham vs Sheffield United (Justin Crowe) We complete our games against the newly promoted sides by hosting Sheffield United. Kawaguchi, Oku, Fazlagic and Todorov were all on international duty and Okoronkwo was injured. Team (Stringer: Duff, Morgan, Gnohere, Konchesky: Kippe, de Vries, Neil, TZM: Samba, Smith Chris Clarke fired Sheffield United ahead from the penalty spot. Grant Smith doubles their lead after a run and shot. Beardsley came on for Smith and headed us back into the match with 10 minutes left. We dominated the second half but couldn't find a way through. I hate internationals (for some reason, despite having more internationals than anyone else we were selected as the side to play this weekend despite it being an international weekend). Oh Chris Morgan also went off injured just to compound my anger. West Ham 1-2 Sheffield United Crystal Palace (Martin Keown) vs West Ham (Kawaguchi: Duff, Smith, Kippe, Konchesky: Carss, Oku, TZM, Fazlagic: Samba, Smith) For some reason Kawaguchi and Oku were both available but they were at 100% fitness so they start. A corner is cleared but hits Kippe and deflects in to give us the advantage. A volley from a tight angle from Tonton Zola Moukoko then doubled our advantage. A very important win to get us back on track after the nightmare against Sheffield United Crystal Palace 0-2 West Ham West Ham vs QPR (Nicky Law) QPR hadn't won a game yet this season so I expected a win here. de Vries replaces Oku in the only change. We started quickly, cutting QPR apart apparently at will before Cherno Samba headed us in front from a corner. Beardsley came on for Smith in the second half and headed in a free kick to double our lead. Beardsley then headed in a third goal from Konchesky's cross. Samir Fazlagic then poked in another cross to further extend our advantage. Richard Pacquette then headed in a consolation for QPR West Ham 4-1 QPR Bolton (David Moyes) vs West Ham Stringer in for Kawaguchi (have I mentioned my dislike for internationals yet?). I also had to replace Samba and TZM with Alex Neil and Beardsley. Once again the fixture monkeys had messed up and had decreed that we had to play on the Friday having played QPR on the Wednesday. For those keeping count, that's now the third time we've been affected by the decrees of the fixture monkeys. Cherno Samba eventually put us in front during a dull game after 70 minutes. Tommy Smith then got clear and managed to double our lead. Smith then extended the lead after an Alex Neil cross. A win at a recently relegated side having only played two days earlier? I'll take that. Take that fixture monkeys. Bolton 0-3 West Ham Cardiff (Steve Bruce) vs West Ham League Cup game, time for the reserves to come out. Well the reserves, Kawaguchi and Oku just to spite internationals (Kawaguchi: Clark, Gnohere, Smith, McCann: Kippe, Neil, Oku, Fazlagic: Beardsley, Todorov) Kawaguchi spilled a shot and Michael Appleton gobbled up the rebound to put Cardiff in front. Svetoslav Todorov then converted a McCann cross to equalise. Martin Butler headed in a Cardiff winner. Words cannot express how little I care. Cardiff 2-1 West Ham West Ham vs Nottingham Forest (Richard Money) (Kawaguchi (Japan didn't play this week): Duff, Okoronkwo, Kippe, Konchesky: Carss, de Vries, Tonton, Fazlagic, Smith, Samba) Cherno Samba put us in front after Tonton stormed through the Forest defence to create the opening. Mike Duff then converted a de Vries cross to double the lead. Riccy Scimeca pulled one back for Forest but it wasn't enough for them. West Ham 2-1 Forest Pos Team Pld Won Drn Lst For Ag Won Drn Lst For Ag Pts -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1st West Ham 9 4 0 1 15 8 2 1 1 8 4 19 2nd W.B.A. 8 4 0 0 8 2 2 0 2 4 7 18 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 3rd Coventry 9 4 1 0 11 3 1 1 2 7 8 17 4th Wigan 8 3 1 0 11 7 2 1 1 8 8 17 5th Tottenham 8 2 1 1 6 4 3 0 1 5 2 16 6th Crewe 8 2 2 0 8 5 2 1 1 7 5 15 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 7th Burnley 8 3 0 1 11 4 1 2 1 5 5 14 8th Norwich 8 2 1 0 6 4 2 1 2 8 7 14 9th Ipswich 8 3 1 1 11 6 1 0 2 4 6 13 10th Charlton 8 1 2 1 4 6 2 1 1 6 3 12 11th Wycombe 8 2 0 3 6 8 1 2 0 5 2 11 12th Grimsby 8 3 1 0 12 7 0 1 3 4 10 11 13th Sheff Utd 9 2 1 1 6 5 1 1 3 6 9 11 14th Crystal Palace 8 2 0 2 8 6 1 1 2 5 6 10 15th Millwall 7 2 1 1 6 5 1 0 2 2 5 10 16th Bradford 7 0 2 1 2 4 2 1 1 8 7 9 17th Southampton 8 1 1 2 3 5 1 2 1 4 4 9 18th Preston 8 1 0 3 6 8 2 0 2 5 7 9 19th Tranmere 7 2 0 1 7 3 0 2 2 2 4 8 20th Nottm Forest 8 1 1 2 4 3 1 1 2 4 5 8 21st Bolton 7 1 1 2 4 8 1 0 2 4 7 7 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 22nd Brighton 9 1 1 2 6 8 1 0 4 8 16 7 23rd Bristol C 8 0 2 1 2 4 0 0 5 5 15 2 24th Q.P.R. 8 0 0 4 3 9 0 1 3 8 14 1 An incredible month which puts us right in promotion contention. Things are going very well so far. If only we'd beaten Sheffield United we'd be in an extremely comfortable position. Lazio Update: They're currently top in Serie A and third behind Rangers and Betis in their CL group. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
sjg11 Posted August 2, 2016 Author Share Posted August 2, 2016 October 2005 Some really bad news to start the month as the excellent Kawaguchi demands a move away. Nothing I could do other than transfer list him without angering my entire squad. I want 5 million for him though otherwise he's staying. Southampton (Stuart Gray) vs West Ham We start the month with a tough trip to Southampton. Stringer replaces Kawaguchi (on international duty currently) in the starting line-up. Tommy Smith found Cherno Samba who followed us in front after 9 minutes. Tonton Zola Moukoko then headed in a Fazlagic cross to double the lead after 18 minutes. Southampton were actually the better side after this but three points are ours. Southampton 0-2 West Ham Samba's loan period ends here, I'm hoping to get him back until the end of the season. Yep, not going to be able to persuade Samba to come back for the moment. Maybe when we're in the Prem. Tranmere (Dave Watson) vs West Ham Todorov replaces Samba in an otherwise unchanged line-up. The first half of this game shows how big a miss Samba will be. We dominated but couldn't score and David Thompson put Tranmere in front. We pressed for an equaliser in the second half but couldn't find it. Tranmere 1-0 West Ham West Ham vs Bristol City (Nigel Spackman) Next up a must win home game against a struggling Bristol City side. Kawaguchi comes in for Stringer, Oku slots into midfield alongside de Vries and Tonton pushes up behind the strikers. One thing I hadn't noticed previously is that Fazlagic has decided to re-invent himself as an AML and has forgotten how to play AMC. This, and Samba's departure, may necessitate a change in formation pretty quickly. Tonton Zola Moukoko puts us in front after 18 minutes, gobbling up a rebound from a Tommy Smith header. Bristol City goalkeeper, a certain George Lock then brought down Moukoko in the box and Svetoslav Todorov slotted in the penalty. Pascal de Vries then blasted in a volley from a Todorov cross to put us further in front. West Ham 3-0 Bristol City I'm changing Fazlagic's training schedule to ensure he remembers how to play CAM. Until then I'm hoping a slightly experimental formation will work for me. Norwich (Brian Horton) vs West Ham A trip to Norwich seems like as good a time as any to test out the new formation. Stringer in goal behind the usual defence. Carss holding the midfield with Neil (no Oku) and de Vries as CMs. Tommy Smith with TZM in behind and Fazlagic out on the left. This may work well, it may be a terrible idea, I don't know yet. Alex Neil heads us in front from a corner after 4 minutes. Unfortunately Ronald Gomez then equalised for Norwich. Unfortunately Ronald Gomez then headed in a late winner for Norwich. Unbelievably though Frode Kippe poked in a rebound to rescue a point from another corner. Not a bad point away at a team in the play-off places. Particularly since we dominated. The formation seems pretty successful if not quite an unqualified success. Norwich 2-2 West Ham West Ham vs Tottenham (Billy Davies) Next up a big game against recently relegated Tottenham. Oku in for Neil and Kawaguchi in for Stringer. Other than that, same formation. Despite a dominant start a run and shot from Titi Camara put Spurs in front. Quinton Fortune then doubled their lead. I'm getting sick and ****ing tired of dominating games and not putting our bleeding chances away. I switched back to the diamond at half time to freshen things up a bit. A run and shot from Tony Carss put us back in contention. West Ham 1-2 Tottenham I was also forced to sell Kawaguchi for 5.75 million to bloody Liverpool after this game. Just to continue my present irritation. Preston (Steve McMahon) vs West Ham Regular diamond formation, same personnel with Todorov on for Fazlagic playing alongside Smith with TZM in behind. I also put Morgan in for Kippe at CB. As an aside Oku's back permanently now. Pascal de Vries blasted in a volley to put us in front from a Tony Carss cross. A run and strike from TZM then doubled our lead. A huge win. Preston 0-2 West Ham Pos Team Pld Won Drn Lst For Ag Won Drn Lst For Ag Pts -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1st West Ham 15 5 0 2 19 10 4 2 2 14 7 29 2nd W.B.A. 14 6 1 1 13 4 3 0 3 7 10 28 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 3rd Coventry 15 6 1 0 14 3 2 2 4 12 14 27 4th Wigan 15 5 1 1 16 11 3 1 4 16 19 26 5th Norwich 14 5 3 0 20 11 2 1 3 9 9 25 6th Tottenham 15 4 1 3 12 9 4 0 3 9 7 25 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 7th Charlton 14 3 2 1 9 8 3 4 1 11 7 24 8th Sheff Utd 15 5 1 1 12 7 2 2 4 10 13 24 9th Crewe 14 4 2 0 11 6 3 1 4 9 12 24 10th Bradford 14 2 3 1 11 7 3 3 2 13 11 21 11th Tranmere 14 5 0 3 13 7 1 3 2 4 5 21 12th Burnley 15 4 1 2 17 12 2 2 4 9 14 21 13th Southampton 14 3 2 3 8 9 2 3 1 5 4 20 14th Ipswich 14 4 1 1 14 7 2 1 5 10 18 20 15th Crystal Palace 14 3 1 3 14 10 2 2 3 11 10 18 16th Nottm Forest 14 2 4 2 9 5 2 1 3 6 8 17 17th Millwall 14 4 2 2 13 9 1 0 5 5 13 17 18th Preston 14 2 1 4 12 15 2 3 2 9 11 16 19th Grimsby 14 4 2 0 17 11 0 2 6 8 21 16 20th Bolton 15 3 1 4 12 17 2 0 5 8 17 16 21st Brighton 16 2 2 4 10 12 2 1 5 12 21 15 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 22nd Wycombe 15 2 1 4 8 11 1 4 3 8 10 14 23rd Bristol C 15 3 4 1 14 11 0 0 7 6 20 13 24th Q.P.R. 15 1 2 5 7 13 0 1 6 14 24 6 Well I have good news and bad news. The good news is that we're top of the league and Stringer is playing well now that Kawaguchi's left. The bad news is that I'm struggling to keep hold of my players and every... single... time... I try to sign someone I get "X rejected the move to West Ham" despite having bids accepted for players. It is slowly driving me insane having this much money and being unable to spend it on anyone. This is isn't even from good clubs either, players from Goteborg and Sogndal are rejecting me at the moment. We really need to get promoted. A prolific striker would guarantee promotion. If Samba's loan had been for a season I would already be counting the Premier League TV money I feel. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
withnail316 Posted August 2, 2016 Share Posted August 2, 2016 Any chance of Andri Sigþórsson yet? He was the finest CM striker of all time, IMO. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nobby_McDonald Posted August 4, 2016 Share Posted August 4, 2016 Next up you'll sign Tonton Moukoko Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
sjg11 Posted August 6, 2016 Author Share Posted August 6, 2016 On 02/08/2016 at 22:30, withnail316 said: Any chance of Andri Sigþórsson yet? He was the finest CM striker of all time, IMO. He's the one who rejected me to Sogndal. He seems immune to the charms of East London Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
sjg11 Posted August 6, 2016 Author Share Posted August 6, 2016 On 04/08/2016 at 23:07, Nobby_McDonald said: Next up you'll sign Tonton Moukoko A little late for that. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
sjg11 Posted August 6, 2016 Author Share Posted August 6, 2016 November 2005 Sorry for the gap between updates, I was out on Wednesday, hungover on Thursday and lazy on Friday. I've just signed a new striker, Leon Knight from Chelsea for 5 Million. He's a very good young striker and I'm hoping that he'll be the prolific goal scorer I've been missing (excluding Cherno Samba's brief period here). West Ham vs Millwall (Craig Johnston) I name an unchanged line-up from the win at Preston. Nightmare start as Christophe Kinet fires Millwall in front after 21 minutes. Fortunately Chris Morgan then drilled in from a corner to equalise. A run and strike from Tonton Zola Moukoko then put us in front on the stroke of half time. Unfortunately Kinet then volleyed in another equaliser for Millwall. Incredibly frustrating result in a game we should have won. West Ham 2-2 Millwall West Ham vs Burnley (George Burley) The only change comes with Leon Knight replacing Todorov. We dominated the first half but it took 44 minutes for Tommy Smith to divert home a cross from Daisuke Oku to put us in front. Continuing this month's apparent theme Paul Paterson scored from Burnley's only real chance to equalise. Again we dominate. Again we don't take our chances. Again we drop points due to a late equaliser. Again I'm frustrated. Oh please come back Cherno. West Ham 1-1 Burnley Coventry (Roland Nilsson) vs West Ham Unchanged line-up again. Tommy Smith fired us in front after 7 minutes after a Leon Knight shot was saved. Leon Knight then got clear in the box and fired in to double the advantage. Unfortunately Ysrael Zuniga pulled one back for Coventry from a corner. Fortunately, this time we held on for the three points. An excellent away win. Coventry 1-2 West Ham Tonton now wants to leave as well. We're top of the league and about to be promoted. Wait no, he's withdrawn his transfer request! I'm ashamed to admit I may have cheered when I saw that. Crewe (Dario Gradi) vs West Ham I decided to give Frode Kippe a start in place of Morgan. Other than that it's an unchanged side. Tommy Smith headed us in front after 4 minutes from a Mike Duff cross. A run and shot from Pascal de Vries then doubled our lead. Chris Beardsley then came on for Leon Knight and headed in a Tonton free kick to complete the rout. Crewe 0-3 West Ham West Brom (Gary Megson) vs West Ham I decided to start Danny Smith in place of Kippe for this one. Other than that, why change a winning formula? This was a top of the table clash by the way with both sides level on points coming into it. Leon Knight fired us in front after a Tommy Smith shot was saved. Tommy Smith then headed in a Tony Carss cross to double the lead. Just after half time Wayne Maden scored to pull one back for West Brom. Chris Beardsley (on for Knight again) then fired in a goal from a Tonton pass. However Anthony Boyce immediately pulled another one back for West Brom. Fortunately we held on for three more massive points. West Brom 2-3 West HamTable Pos Team Pld Won Drn Lst For Ag Won Drn Lst For Ag Pts -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1st West Ham 20 5 2 2 22 13 7 2 2 22 10 40 2nd W.B.A. 20 7 1 2 18 9 5 0 5 16 20 37 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 3rd Wigan 20 7 2 1 20 13 4 1 5 22 27 36 4th Crewe 20 7 2 1 18 13 3 3 4 12 15 35 5th Tottenham 20 5 1 4 17 14 6 0 4 15 12 34 6th Charlton 20 3 5 2 13 13 5 4 1 17 9 33 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 7th Tranmere 20 7 0 3 18 9 2 4 4 8 11 31 8th Sheff Utd 20 6 2 2 15 10 3 2 5 13 17 31 9th Ipswich 20 7 1 2 23 13 2 1 7 12 22 29 10th Coventry 20 6 1 3 18 10 2 3 5 15 18 28 11th Preston 20 4 1 5 22 22 4 3 3 18 18 28 12th Millwall 20 6 2 2 17 10 2 2 6 12 19 28 13th Norwich 20 5 3 2 23 16 2 3 5 13 16 27 14th Bradford 20 3 5 2 17 14 3 4 3 16 15 27 15th Southampton 20 4 3 3 12 11 2 6 2 7 7 27 16th Grimsby 20 7 3 0 26 12 0 2 8 8 25 26 17th Crystal Palace 19 5 1 4 20 14 2 3 4 14 14 25 18th Burnley 20 4 3 3 21 17 2 3 5 11 18 24 19th Brighton 20 2 3 5 12 15 4 1 5 17 24 22 20th Bristol C 20 4 4 2 17 14 2 0 8 10 23 22 21st Wycombe 20 3 2 5 14 17 2 4 4 12 15 21 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 22nd Nottm Forest 19 2 5 3 11 10 2 2 5 8 12 19 23rd Bolton 20 3 2 5 15 21 2 0 8 10 24 17 24th Q.P.R. 20 2 2 6 10 17 1 3 6 19 28 14 After the draw against Burnley I was really worrying, our strikers were out of form, we'd dropped a lot of points recently and our next three games were away from home against very tough opposition. However, at that moment our strikers (Smith, Knight and Beardsley in particular) all seemed to hit form simultaneously and we blew our opponents away with great attacking football culminating in a brilliant performance at a very good Crewe side. We then went and won a genuinely great game against West Brom allowing us to sit pretty at the top of the table as we head into December. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
sjg11 Posted August 7, 2016 Author Share Posted August 7, 2016 December 2005 As we end 2005 I'm hoping we simply pick up where we left off at the end of last month and just keep winning. West Ham vs Bradford (Roy Evans) Morgan in for Smith. Otherwise unchanged again. Leon McKenzie fired Bradford in front after 29 minutes. We looked dangerous but couldn't score. Fortunately both David Wetherall and Kevin Dixon then got sent off for Bradford, reducing them to nine men. Tonton Zola Moukoko then tapped in a rebound after an Alex Neil (on for Oku) shot was saved. Chris Beardsley (on for Knight) then had a goal disallowed before Isaak Okoronkwo headed us in front from a corner. Chris Morgan then put in a cross which Beardsley headed in to seal the win. Another three points for us. West Ham 3-1 Bradford West Ham vs Wigan (George Graham) Unchanged line-up for this one. Big game against another side near the top of the league. We took the lead after 24 minutes, a cross from Pascal de Vries being volleyed in by Daisuke Oku to put us in front. Paul McKnight then turned in a cross to put Wigan level before Tonton Zola Moukoko diverted in a Mike Duff cross to help us regain the lead. Just after half time Oku made a run, beat a few Wigan players and set up Tonton to extend our lead. Another brilliant performance and result against one of our main challengers. West Ham 3-1 Wigan In the FA Cup we'll travel to either Wrexham or Doncaster. In between this and the Wycombe I managed to snap up a brilliant young defended called Alan Tate from United fora meagre £825,000. The guy's a brilliant defended and isn't even costing me 1 Million. As he's arriving at the club I can offload a CB so Athur Gnohere gets placed on the transfer list after failing to impress after his move from Burnley. West Ham vs Wycombe (Brian Laws) I brought Tate in for Morgan. Other than that, unchanged team. De Vries put in a cross which was fired home by Leon Knight to give us the advantage here. Unfortunately Gavin Gordon headed in a cross to equalise for Wycombe. Fortunately Chris Beardsley (on for Tommy Smith) then headed in a cross from Leon Knight with about 10 minutes left to put us back in front. Gavin Gordon then had a goal disallowed (thankfully, it's insanely nerve-wracking the way they show you a goal is offside in this game) and that was that. Yet another win for us. West Ham 2-1 Wycombe Ipswich (Nigel Winterburn) vs West Ham Next up for us is a trip to Portman Road. Unchanged line-up from the Wycombe game. Tommy Smith headed us in front after 13 minutes from a Leon Knight cross. Smith then set up Tonton who volleyed in a second goal for us. Mike Duff then cut the ball back for Beardsley (on for Knight) to make it 3-0. Another great result for us. Ipswich 0-3 West Ham Wrexham beat Doncaster by the way so they'll be our opponents in the FA Cup. I also snapped up Norwegian free agent Ereland Hanstveit. He's a very good player who can play at LB and I don't think that poor old Paul Konchesky is going to be able to perform in the Premier League, decent Division One player that he is. I decided to place Austin McCann on the transfer list as he is no longer needed. Charlton (Alan Curbishley) vs West Ham Time for another tricky away game, this time at a Charlton side who always seem to cause us problems. Hanstveit comes in for Konchesky for his first start. Tonton made a run and set up Daisuke Oku who fired home to give us the lead. Tommy Smith then headed home a de Vries cross to double the lead. Smith then fired home a third goal on 32 minutes. Since we were three goals up I brought Beardsley, Todorov and Neil on for de Vries, Smith and Knight. On 72 minutes Beardsley and Svetoslav Todorov linked up well and the Bulgarian fired in a fourth goal. Beardsley then headed in a fifth from a Todorov cross. I actually felt a little bit sorry for Charlton after this. Charlton 0-5 West Ham Oh dear... I think I may have done something incredibly stupid. Apparently Okoronkwo's contract has a release clause of 425,000 which I hadn't noticed until now. Birmingham have met it and Okoronkwo has decided to jump ship. Note to self, check for release clauses before signing players in the future. I also sign promising young Swedish forward Mattias Lindberg from Norrkoping for 1.2 million. His first start will come in the Cup against Wrexham next month. Sheffield United (Justin Crowe) vs West Ham Ah yes yet another away game this time against a Sheffield United side who beat us at Upton Park earlier in the season. Danny Smith comes in for the now departed Okoronkwo. Other than that no changes. David Fox drilled them in front after 6 minutes. Fortunately Pascal de Vries then headed in a Tonton cross to equalise on 14 minutes. Michael Brown then fired them back in front after 60 minutes. de Vries then scored a second equaliser from a rebound after a Tonton shot was saved. Daisuke Oku then put us in front for the first time after a Chris Beardsley (on for Tommy Smith) effort was saved. An incredibly entertaining/nerve-wracking which we were a little bit lucky to get a win from. Sheffield United 2-3 West Ham I won Manager of the Month for the team's performances this month. Okoronkwo's departure was irritating though. This is kinda how it went: I see Birmingham make a bid of below 500 K for him. I laugh and their stupidity and reject the offer. A message comes "You cannot reject this bid as Birmingham have met his release clause". Oh ****... Table: Pos Team Pld Won Drn Lst For Ag Won Drn Lst For Ag Pts -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1st West Ham 26 8 2 2 30 16 10 2 2 33 12 58 2nd Tottenham 26 7 1 4 27 16 9 0 5 24 14 49 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 3rd W.B.A. 26 10 1 3 25 12 6 0 6 18 22 49 4th Crewe 26 9 2 1 23 13 5 3 6 18 23 47 5th Wigan 26 8 3 2 25 17 5 1 7 25 32 43 6th Sheff Utd 26 8 3 3 25 17 4 2 6 17 20 41 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 7th Bradford 26 5 5 2 22 16 5 5 4 23 22 40 8th Tranmere 26 8 0 4 21 12 3 5 6 14 18 38 9th Millwall 26 7 3 3 18 11 4 2 7 17 25 38 10th Coventry 26 7 2 3 22 12 3 5 6 21 23 37 11th Ipswich 26 9 1 4 27 18 2 2 8 14 28 36 12th Charlton 26 4 5 4 14 21 5 4 4 18 16 36 13th Nottm Forest 26 6 5 3 23 14 3 2 7 11 16 34 14th Grimsby 26 9 5 0 32 14 0 2 10 8 31 34 15th Southampton 26 6 3 5 16 17 2 6 4 8 10 33 16th Crystal Palace 25 7 1 5 25 18 2 4 6 16 21 32 17th Burnley 25 6 3 3 26 17 2 5 6 13 23 32 18th Preston 26 4 2 6 24 26 5 3 6 21 25 32 19th Bristol C 26 5 4 3 20 16 4 0 10 16 29 31 20th Norwich 26 5 4 3 27 21 2 4 8 14 23 29 21st Brighton 26 3 3 8 20 28 5 1 6 19 29 28 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 22nd Wycombe 26 4 4 6 20 20 2 4 6 13 18 26 23rd Bolton 26 5 2 6 18 23 2 1 10 14 30 24 24th Q.P.R. 26 3 2 9 16 24 2 3 7 24 36 20 We are going up. We are going up. And I reckon we're going to do pretty well when we go up too. I'm assembling a very talented young team. And this time I won't have to sell my best CB due to not reading the release clause. Oh and I've placed Michael Ricketts on the transfer list. If anyone cares considering he's done the square root of **** all for me this season. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
sjg11 Posted August 7, 2016 Author Share Posted August 7, 2016 January 2006 So we move onto 2006 hoping to maintain our excellent form and maybe go on a Cup run as well. Oh wait no, Oku also snuck a release clause into his contract without me noticing and guess which group of blue-shirted wankers from the West Midlands have decided to meet that clause. I'm telling you I really want to give Birmingham a stuffing at some point next season after this. West Ham vs Grimsby (Lennie Lawrence) Morgan in for Smith. Other than that no changes. Tommy Smith headed in a Tony Carss cross to give us the lead after 12 minutes. Tony Carss then thumped in a second after 28 minutes. Leon Knight and Chris Beardsley (who had come on for Knight) then had goals disallowed. Julian Joachim then pulled one back for Grimsby after 63 minutes. We held on for the three more points. West Ham 2-1 Grimsby Unfortunately Beardsley got injured and will be out for about a month. A shame as he's been in really good form this season. Oh and Oku decided to jump ship to ****ing Birmingham. I don't think I've ever detested a side on Football Manager more than I do that Birmingham team. Just wait until next season... just you wait... In reality Oku wasn't going to play too much beyond this season anyway so it's not the end of the world. Just really, really frustrating. Particularly after the Okoronkwo signing. Wrexham (Brian Flynn) vs West Ham Team (Moberg: Clark, D. Smith, Gnohere, Konchesky: Kippe: Neil, de Vries: Fazlagic: Lindberg, Todorov) We dominated the first half but a strike from Junior Mendes put Wrexham in front after 31 minutes. Fortunately Samir Fazlagic then put us back in front after a run and shot on 58. Mattias Lindberg then scored his first goal for the club on 68 minutes to put us in front. Unfortunately Gavin Mahon then equalised to force a replay. Wrexham 2-2 West Ham If we get through the replay we host Huddersfield or Cardiff in the fourth round. I've signed a young German CB called Peter Hoffmann from Croatian side Sesvete for £600,000, Gareth Whalley (a CM) for £650,000 from QPR, largely to replace Oku in the squad, an insanely good Dutch regen called Henk Boere joins from Croatian side Sibenik for £2.8 million (really excited about this signing). I transfer listed Danny Smith after Hoffmann's arrival. QPR (Chris Banks) vs West Ham Team: (Stringer: Duff, Hoffmann, Tate, Hanstveit: Carss, de Vries, Tonton: Lindberg: Boere, T. Smith) Let's see how things go at Loftus Road after my latest splurge. We took the lead on 17 minutes as a de Vries was deflected in off QPR player Stephen Foster. de Vries then doubled the lead after a well timed run into the box. QPR defender Chris Plummer then got sent off for two yellow cards but the game was effectively over by that point. We march on. QPR 0-2 West Ham Some bad news came due to the fact that Alan Tate picked up an injury ruling him out for 10 days. And another excellent regen, Jamie Browne, joins from Grimsby for £1.8 million. Chris Morgan gets transfer listed. West Ham vs Crystal Palace (Danny Wilson) Team (Stringer: Duff, Browne, Hoffmann, Hanstveit: Carss, de Vries, Tonton, Fazlagic: Lindberg, Boere) Pascal de Vries got sent off after 9 minutes immediately ensuring that this game became a major threat to our winning run in the league. Darren Byfield then poked Palace in front after 31 minutes. Unfortunately Mark Kinsella doubled Palace's lead after Stringer spilled a shot giving Palace all three points. de Vries was in such good form that I really didn't think he would be the one to let me down. Fortunately de Vries' suspension will be lessened due to the fact we're playing in the Cup for a little while now. West Ham 0-2 Crystal Palace West Ham vs Wrexham (Brian Flynn) And so we end the match with one, hopefully two Cup games. Firstly a home game against Wrexham. I decided to go for it here as we're comfortable in the league and I want a decent Cup run (Stringer: Duff, Tate, Hoffmann, Hanstveit: Kippe, Whalley, de Vries, Fazlagic: Boere, Lindberg) We dominated but seemingly couldn't find a way through until the 89th minute. de Vries crossed it into the box and Henk Boere volleyed in the goal to send us into the fourth round. The first goal of what I hope will be a very profitable career for Boere. West Ham 1-0 Wrexham West Ham vs Cardiff (Steve Bruce) And so we move onto the fourth round against Cardiff. Only changes from the replay were Carss in for Kippe and Lindberg behind a front two of Tommy Smith and Boere. A good first half saw Tommy Smith smash the ball in to put us in front after 28 minutes. Fazlagic (on for Lindberg) then intercepted a poor clearance from the Cardiff keeper and Smith drilled in another goal. An excellent performance and we march onto the fifth round. West Ham 2-0 Cardiff We travel to Liverpool in the next round. I have a feeling we'll progress no further than this. Still, a good opportunity to test ourselves against a top team. Table: Pos Team Pld Won Drn Lst For Ag Won Drn Lst For Ag Pts -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1st West Ham 29 9 2 3 32 19 11 2 2 35 12 64 2nd Tottenham 29 9 1 4 32 16 9 0 6 24 15 55 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 3rd Crewe 29 10 3 1 27 14 6 3 6 20 23 54 4th W.B.A. 29 10 1 4 25 13 7 1 6 21 24 53 5th Wigan 29 9 4 2 26 17 6 1 7 29 32 50 6th Bradford 29 7 5 2 28 17 5 5 5 24 25 46 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 7th Tranmere 29 10 0 4 27 13 3 5 7 14 19 44 8th Millwall 29 8 3 3 22 11 5 2 8 19 28 44 9th Sheff Utd 29 8 3 4 26 19 4 4 6 18 21 43 10th Ipswich 29 9 2 4 29 20 4 2 8 17 29 43 11th Southampton 29 7 3 5 19 18 4 6 4 13 13 42 12th Crystal Palace 29 7 2 6 26 21 4 4 6 20 21 39 13th Burnley 29 8 3 3 29 18 2 6 7 15 27 39 14th Coventry 29 7 2 5 23 16 3 6 6 22 24 38 15th Grimsby 29 10 5 0 35 15 0 2 12 9 34 37 16th Charlton 29 4 6 5 14 22 5 4 5 19 19 37 17th Nottm Forest 29 6 6 3 24 15 3 2 9 12 21 35 18th Preston 29 5 2 7 30 30 5 3 7 21 29 35 19th Bristol C 29 6 4 5 22 19 4 0 10 16 29 34 20th Norwich 29 6 5 3 30 23 2 4 9 14 25 33 21st Wycombe 29 4 4 6 20 20 3 6 6 16 20 31 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 22nd Brighton 29 3 3 9 20 32 5 1 8 20 36 28 23rd Bolton 29 6 2 6 21 24 2 1 12 16 38 27 24th Q.P.R. 29 3 2 10 16 26 2 3 9 24 39 20 10 points clear of third placed Crewe suits me very nicely at this stage of the season. Our squad also just keeps on getting stronger and stronger. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
sjg11 Posted August 7, 2016 Author Share Posted August 7, 2016 February 2006 Brighton (Micky Adams) vs West Ham And on we go, back to League action with a trip to struggling Brighton. Fazlagic is also unhappy with his training schedule so I'm going to have to sell him as he doesn't fit into my formation unless he re-learns how to play as CAM. Which he clearly isn't going to do so I may as well recoup a couple of million by selling him. A shame, I had high hopes for Fazlagic. Oh and I managed to ship off Ricketts for £2.1 million. Not bad for my seventh choice ST at this point. Unfortunately de Vries is actually suspended for this one so Whalley and Tonton play at CM with Lindberg playing behind Tommy Smith and Boere. Stringer in for Moberg and Jamie Browne comes in for Hoffmann. Richard Jackson tapped in a goal to put Brighton in front after 15 minutes. We dominated the second half but, unfortunately, Tommy Smith had one of those games where he couldn't hit a cow's backside with a banjo. Still we march on. Brighton 1-0 West Ham West Ham vs Southampton (Stuart Gray) Boere was injured so I decided to start Knight alongside Smith. Other than that, unchanged side. Tommy Smith put us in front after 40 minutes from a Moukoko pass. Gareth Whalley then headed in a Lindberg cross to double the lead. Not a brilliant game but a strong result to get us back on track before the trip to Anfield. West Ham 2-0 Southampton Liverpool (Gerard Houllier) vs West Ham So this is it. Our first game against a genuinely top team in this save and a real test of how far we've progressed as a side. Liverpool may never have won the Premier League and the Champions' League but they're still top quality opposition. Hoffmann replaces Browne, who's cup-tied and other than that it's the same 11 that played against Southampton. de Vries is suspended from this game for some reason despite not being suspended for the two FA Cup games preceding this. Liverpool started dangerously but we started growing into the game before, unbelievably Tommy Smith rifled in the opener after 28 minutes. Unfortunately Emile Heskey then headed Liverpool level after 51 minutes. In a major sucker punch Michael Owen then immediately put them in front. However Tony Carss then drilled in a shot which deflected in off Liverpool defender Torben Hoffmann for the equaliser. Unfortunately, and incredibly cruelly Owen then went on a run, beat three defenders and fired in a winner in injury time. Still, we actually had the better of the game (we had more shots and shots on target) and dominated this so a massively encouraging performance. Liverpool 3-2 West Ham West Ham vs Norwich (Brian Horton) Next up we host Norwich at Upton Park. Browne replaces Hoffmann in an otherwise unchanged side. Oh, and de Vries replaces Whalley. We dominated the first half but it took 25 minutes for us to break through as Tonton tapped in after a Leon Knight shot was saved. Norwich had a seriously dangerous spell just before half time but couldn't find an equaliser. Lindberg then set up super-sub Chris Beardsley (on for Knight) who doubled our lead. The ball broke to Beardsley again on 88 minutes and he fired in a goal to seal the game. Another very strong performance from us. West Ham 3-0 Norwich Millwall (Craig Johnston) vs West Ham Hoffmann in for Browne. Whalley in for Tonton. Other than that an unchanged side. Lindberg limped off injured after about a minute to be replaced by Tonton. Tonton then opened the scoring after 15 minutes, catching the Millwall goalkeeper off his line and looping a header over him and into the goal. A run and strike from Tommy Smith then sealed the three points with 10 minutes left. Millwall 0-2 West Ham Lindberg was ruled out for 10 days after the game. Table: Pos Team Pld Won Drn Lst For Ag Won Drn Lst For Ag Pts -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1st West Ham 33 11 2 3 37 19 12 2 3 37 13 73 2nd Tottenham 34 10 2 4 34 17 10 1 7 27 18 63 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 3rd Wigan 34 10 4 3 30 20 8 1 8 34 34 59 4th W.B.A. 34 11 3 4 32 18 7 2 7 24 28 59 5th Crewe 34 11 4 1 29 14 6 3 9 22 30 58 6th Tranmere 34 12 1 4 35 18 4 6 7 18 22 55 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 7th Crystal Palace 33 9 2 6 30 23 6 4 6 25 23 51 8th Bradford 34 7 6 3 29 19 6 5 7 28 30 50 9th Southampton 34 8 4 6 22 20 5 6 5 15 16 49 10th Millwall 34 9 4 4 25 14 5 3 9 20 31 49 11th Ipswich 34 10 2 5 32 22 4 5 8 23 35 49 12th Charlton 33 5 7 5 17 24 7 4 5 23 20 47 13th Sheff Utd 34 8 3 6 27 24 4 6 7 22 27 45 14th Grimsby 34 12 5 1 41 18 0 3 13 10 37 44 15th Coventry 34 7 2 7 27 22 4 7 7 25 28 42 16th Norwich 34 8 5 4 36 28 3 4 10 17 28 42 17th Burnley 34 8 4 4 30 20 2 7 9 18 33 41 18th Bristol C 33 6 4 6 24 22 6 1 10 19 30 41 19th Nottm Forest 33 7 6 4 26 17 3 4 9 15 24 40 20th Preston 33 5 3 8 30 33 6 3 8 23 31 39 21st Wycombe 34 5 5 7 23 24 4 6 7 20 24 38 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 22nd Bolton 34 8 2 7 26 28 3 1 13 20 43 36 23rd Brighton 34 4 5 9 25 36 5 1 10 20 39 33 24th Q.P.R. 34 3 4 11 17 29 2 4 10 24 40 23 If anyone thinks we're not going to get promoted this season speak now or forever hold your peace. 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sjg11 Posted August 7, 2016 Author Share Posted August 7, 2016 March 2006 Nottingham Forest (Tony Coton) vs West Ham Browne in for Hoffmann. Tonton in for the injured Lindberg. Boere in for Knight. Other than that same team. Delroy Facey headed Forest in front after 11 minutes. The Forest keeper then saved a Tonton shot but Pascal de Vries snapped up another goal to equalise. Tonton then fired in a shot after a powerful run to put us in front. Tommy Smith then fired us 3-1 in front. Nottingham Forest 1-3 West Ham West Ham vs Bolton (David Moyes) Unchanged line-up for this one. Tonton put us in front drilling in after a cut-back from de Vries. Tonton then doubled the lead, tapping in a Mike Duff cross. Tony Carss then tapped in after a Whalley shot was saved. Another comfortable win. West Ham 3-0 Bolton Bristol City (Nigel Spackman) vs West Ham Knight in for Boere. Other than that an unchanged side. Alan Tate headed us in front after 9 minutes from a Tonton free kick. I then foolishly used all three subs at half time and, of course, Tonton was almost immediately injured. Fortunately it didn't affect us, Henk Boere (on for Knight) scoring from a de Vries cross to seal the win. Frankly I can see why Bristol City are struggling, they were abysmal even when we had 10 men. Bristol City 0-2 West Ham Tonton is out for 3 months! Oh no! Of all of my players couldn't it have been anyone else but Tonton? West Ham vs Tranmere (Nicky Law) Both CMs were also unfit so I had to experiment here (Stringer: Clark, Kippe, Hoffmann, Konchesky: Kippe, Fazlagic, Neil, Lindberg: Smith, Boere) Henk Boere put us in front, converting a Fazlagic cross. Tommy Smith then blasted in a second. Alex Neil then drilled in a third. Mikael Gustavsson then converts a penalty to get Tranmere back in the match. Stuart Barlow flicked another goal back for Tranmere but they then conceded a penalty as Kippe was fouled and Kippe himself converted to take the points. In his new CM role Fazlagic got an 8 which is making me re-think transfer listing him. West Ham 4-2 Tranmere This result guaranteed at least a play-off place for us. Burnley (George Burley) vs West Ham Next up Burnley who always seem to cause us problems. Team (Stringer: Duff, Tate, Browne, Hanstveit: Carss, de Vries, Fazlagic, Lindberg, Smith, Boere) Paul Paterson headed Burnley in front after 15 minutes before Tommy Smith blasted in an equaliser on 36 minutes. Chris Beardsley (on for Smith) then blasted us in front after 59 minutes. Super-sub really does describe Beardsley. Pascal de Vries then found some space and fired in a third to guarantee three more points for us. Fazlagic got a 9 in this one, I think playing him on the left of the diamond suits him well. Burnley 1-3 West Ham West Ham vs Preston (Steve McMahon) Hanstveit was injured on international duty so Konchesky replaces him. Knight also comes in for Boere. Other than that, an unchanged team. Richard Cresswell caught Stringer off his line and lobbed him to put Preston in front. Fortunately Fazlagic almost immediately converted a Browne cross to equalise. We had a spell of real pressure towards the end of the game but couldn't break them down to take the three points. West Ham 1-1 PrestonTable: Pos Team Pld Won Drn Lst For Ag Won Drn Lst For Ag Pts -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1st Pl West Ham 39 13 3 3 45 22 15 2 3 45 15 89 2nd Tottenham 39 12 3 4 44 18 10 1 9 28 24 70 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 3rd Crewe 38 13 4 1 33 14 8 3 9 25 30 70 4th Wigan 39 12 4 4 36 23 8 2 9 34 38 66 5th Bradford 39 10 6 3 37 21 8 5 7 33 33 65 6th W.B.A. 39 12 4 4 35 19 7 2 10 28 40 63 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 7th Tranmere 39 13 1 5 39 21 4 7 9 23 32 59 8th Southampton 39 9 5 6 27 24 7 6 6 21 19 59 9th Ipswich 39 12 3 5 39 24 5 5 9 27 39 59 10th Charlton 39 6 9 5 23 29 9 4 6 29 26 58 11th Grimsby 39 14 5 1 46 18 1 5 13 16 42 55 12th Millwall 39 10 5 4 26 14 5 4 11 25 40 54 13th Crystal Palace 39 9 3 8 34 29 6 5 8 28 28 53 14th Coventry 39 9 3 8 33 26 4 8 7 25 28 50 15th Sheff Utd 39 9 3 8 29 27 4 7 8 22 28 49 16th Wycombe 39 7 5 8 30 27 5 7 7 24 27 48 17th Burnley 39 10 4 5 36 26 2 8 10 19 36 48 18th Bristol C 37 7 4 7 27 26 6 1 12 19 32 44 19th Nottm Forest 39 7 6 7 30 25 4 4 11 17 28 43 20th Preston 38 5 5 9 34 38 6 5 8 24 32 43 21st Norwich 39 8 5 6 37 32 3 4 13 20 36 42 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 22nd Bolton 39 8 3 8 30 33 4 1 15 22 49 40 23rd Brighton 39 5 5 10 28 41 6 1 12 24 47 39 24th Q.P.R. 39 3 5 11 17 29 3 6 11 28 46 29 7 games to play and we're already nearly on 90 points. My aim now is to break the 100 barrier which would make for a pretty special season from us. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
sjg11 Posted August 7, 2016 Author Share Posted August 7, 2016 April 2006 I won Manager of the Month, Fazlagic won Player of the Month and Boere won Young Player of the Month Tottenham (Billy Davies) vs West Ham Next up a trip to a good Spurs team who are our main challengers near the top of the league. Whalley in for Fazlagic, Hoffmann in for Browne, Boere in for Knight and Kippe in for Carss are the four changes. This game started badly when Harpal Singh put Spurs in front after Stringer spilled a shot from Quinton Fortune. Fortunately, Pascal de Vries equalised after the Spurs keeper spilled a shot from Boere. To be honest though Spurs were all over us in the first half and we were lucky to go in level. However Chris Beardsley then did what he does best. Namely coming in for Tommy Smith and scoring, this time converting from a Konchesky cross. Somehow we held on for the win despite continued pressure from Spurs. Best of all this win clinched the title. At White Hart Lane against our main challengers. It doesn't get much sweeter than that. It also sealed the title. Oh and apparently we've already broken the record points tally. With 6 games of the season left. Dominant doesn't even begin to describe how our season's gone. Spurs 1-2 West Ham Four players were chosen in Team of the Year. Tony Carss and Chris Stringer got in the starting line-up. Pascal de Vries got onto the bench. Amazingly Tonton ended up on the bench and wasn't selected for the first team. West Ham vs Coventry (Roland Nilsson) Team (Stringer: Duff, Browne, Tate, Konchesky: Carss, de Vries, Fazlagic, Lindberg: Smith, Boere) Mattias Lindberg put us in front firing in after a Fazlagic cross picked him out in the area. Unfortunately we allowed Jobi McAnuff to equalise almost immediately for Coventry, Stringer made an error. Chris Beardsley then came on for Smith and, super-sub that he is, headed in a Fazlagic cross to put us back in front. Frustratingly McAnuff them immediately fired in another Coventry equaliser. A frustrating afternoon. West Ham 2-2 Coventry West Ham vs Crewe (Dario Gradi) Unchanged team for this one. I want to get to 100 points as quickly as possible. Frustratingly Dean Ashton put Crewe in front from a penalty before Fazlagic headed in an equaliser just before half time. That was it, yet more frustration for us. West Ham 1-1 Crewe West Ham vs West Brom (Gary Megson) (Stringer: Duff, Kippe, Hoffmann, Hanstveit: Carss, Whalley, Neil, Smith: Knight, Boere) Yeah I had to make some changes due to this, game on the Monday means players are tired and need resting. A great run and strike from Leon Knight gave us the lead after 5 minutes. Frode Kippe then decided that, after getting a yellow card, the smartest thing to do was to start yelling at the ref to pick up another one. Matthew Turner then equalised for them before Boere fired in a goal to put us back in front. And we then held on to take 3 points. West Ham 2-1 West Brom Bradford (Roy Evans) vs West Ham (Stringer: Duff, Tate, Browne, Hanstveit: Carss, de Vries, Fazlagic, Lindberg: Knight, Boere) Samir Fazlagic volleyed home after 13 minutes to put us in front. Leon McKenzie then equalised for them (Stringer was caught out of position again). Unfortunately Toni Kallio then managed to net a winner for them. Bradford 2-1 West Ham I'll finish the season tomorrow. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
sjg11 Posted August 31, 2016 Author Share Posted August 31, 2016 End of Season 2005-06 First off an apology to anyone reading this for the long gap in between updates, I've been abroad/preparing to go abroad since my last update but I'm back now and should be providing regular updates from this point. Wigan (George Graham) vs West Ham Unchanged line-up So we start our final two games with a trip to a Wigan side who are still chasing automatic promotion. Should be a fun game. Unfortunately this game quickly spun away from us, Kristian Bye Andersen drilling Wigan in front before Paul Shaw lobbed Stringer to double Wigan's advantage. Robin Hulbert then tapped in a third for Wigan. Stringer then got sent off and Pedro Miguel Matias smashed in a fourth for them from the resulting penalty. Samir Fazlagic then drilled in a goal to at least pull one back. This was a terrible result and an abysmal performance. We were ****. Wigan 4-1 West Ham West Ham vs Charlton (Alan Curbishley) (Stringer: Duff, Hoffmann, Tate, Hanstveit: Carss, Whalley, Fazlagic, Lindberg: Tommy Smith, Boere) Tommy Smith headed us in front after 12 minutes from a Hanstveit cross. Mattias Lindberg then doubled the lead just before half time. Samir Fazlagic then completed his impressive end to the season with a drilled shot just after half time. Chris Beardsley then headed in a Tommy Smith cross for a fourth (Beardsley came on for Boere at half-time). A great way to wrap up the season after the shambles at Wigan. West Ham 4-0 Charlton ================================================================================================ 2005/6 Table ================================================================================================ Pos Team Pld Won Drn Lst For Ag Won Drn Lst For Ag Pts -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1st C West Ham 46 15 5 3 54 26 16 2 5 49 22 100 2nd P Tottenham 46 15 3 5 51 21 11 2 10 33 29 83 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 3rd Pl Wigan 46 14 5 4 45 24 10 4 9 45 47 81 4th Pl Crewe 46 16 5 2 43 20 8 4 11 27 36 81 5th Pl Bradford 46 13 6 4 45 26 10 5 8 40 38 80 6th Pl Tranmere 46 16 1 6 44 24 6 7 10 28 35 74 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 7th W.B.A. 46 14 5 4 39 19 7 2 14 31 48 70 8th Charlton 46 7 9 7 28 36 11 4 8 32 31 67 9th Wycombe 46 9 5 9 34 28 8 8 7 33 31 64 10th Ipswich 46 13 3 7 45 31 5 7 11 33 48 64 11th Millwall 46 10 8 5 32 21 7 4 12 31 44 63 12th Southampton 46 9 7 7 33 31 7 7 9 24 27 62 13th Coventry 46 10 3 10 38 31 6 10 7 31 32 61 14th Crystal Palace 46 11 3 9 39 31 6 7 10 32 35 61 15th Sheff Utd 46 12 3 8 36 27 5 7 11 26 34 61 16th Grimsby 46 15 6 2 51 23 1 7 15 23 52 61 17th Norwich 46 11 6 6 47 38 5 4 14 22 39 58 18th Nottm Forest 46 10 6 7 37 27 5 5 13 23 38 56 19th Burnley 46 10 5 8 42 36 4 8 11 22 38 55 20th Bristol C 46 9 5 9 34 35 7 1 15 20 39 54 21st Bolton 46 10 5 8 40 40 5 1 17 27 57 51 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 22nd R Preston 46 6 5 12 37 45 6 5 12 27 45 46 23rd R Brighton 46 5 5 13 32 49 7 2 14 27 52 43 24th R Q.P.R. 46 5 6 12 22 31 4 7 12 34 51 40 Well I said my goal this season was promotion. Luckily for my nerves we achieved the "finish with 100 points playing great attacking football" option rather than squeaking over the line. Our season was largely split into three sections. We started well but didn't look as dominant as we would later become, generally staying top without ever excelling. The win at a decent Coventry side was a turning point as we suddenly became unbeatable. From the game against Coventry to the title winning match against Spurs this was our record: P 23 W20 D1 L 2 We dropped 8 points out of a possible 69 in that period. Winning the league at White Hart Lane was particularly sweet as an Arsenal fan, particularly since we robbed them a little bit in that game. Unfortunately we then dipped alarmingly towards the end of the season, the game at Wigan was a particularly low point before finishing the season by slaughtering Charlton (we had an aggregate score of 9-0 against the poor sods by the end of the season). The dip means I'm going to change to a narrow 4-1-2-2-1 for my first season in the Premier League as it would appear, on the surface, that opposition teams have finally figured out how to beat my diamond. Plus being a little bit more defensive isn't going to hurt against the higher quality opposition we'll face next season. Of course, as a newly promoted side, our first goal next season will simply be to survive. Personally though the style with which we achieved promotion means I'm targeting a top-half finish next season. Plus our squad's incredible. Particularly our attacking options. Next up will be the end of season review before a squad overview to finish today's updates. Tomorrow will signal the start of the 2006-07 season and our first season in the top flight. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
sjg11 Posted August 31, 2016 Author Share Posted August 31, 2016 End of Season Review Champions League Phase 1 Group A Pos Team Pld Won Drn Lst For Ag Won Drn Lst For Ag Pts -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1st Q Leeds ENG 6 3 0 0 10 1 2 0 1 4 3 15 2nd Q Roma ITA 6 2 0 1 7 2 1 1 1 4 3 10 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 3rd Valencia ESP 6 1 2 0 4 3 1 0 2 4 6 8 4th St. Mirren SCO 6 0 0 3 1 7 0 1 2 1 10 1 Phase 1 Group B Pos Team Pld Won Drn Lst For Ag Won Drn Lst For Ag Pts -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1st Q Celtic SCO 6 2 1 0 6 0 0 2 1 1 3 9 2nd Q PSV HOL 6 1 1 1 3 2 1 1 1 2 3 8 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 3rd Porto POR 6 1 1 1 2 1 1 1 1 2 5 8 4th IFK Göteborg SWE 6 1 2 0 5 3 0 1 2 1 5 6 Phase 1 Group C Pos Team Pld Won Drn Lst For Ag Won Drn Lst For Ag Pts -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1st Q Milan ITA 6 3 0 0 11 0 3 0 0 7 2 18 2nd Q FC Bayern GER 6 2 0 1 8 2 0 0 3 3 9 6 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 3rd Rosenborg NOR 6 2 0 1 6 7 0 0 3 2 10 6 4th Ionikos GRE 6 2 0 1 7 6 0 0 3 3 11 6 Phase 1 Group D Pos Team Pld Won Drn Lst For Ag Won Drn Lst For Ag Pts -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1st Q Arsenal ENG 6 3 0 0 4 0 1 1 1 3 3 13 2nd Q Real Madrid ESP 6 3 0 0 8 0 1 1 1 5 5 13 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 3rd Club Brugge BEL 6 1 1 1 7 6 0 0 3 1 7 4 4th Wisla POL 6 1 1 1 4 5 0 0 3 2 8 4 Phase 1 Group E Pos Team Pld Won Drn Lst For Ag Won Drn Lst For Ag Pts -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1st Q Lazio ITA 6 2 0 1 7 2 1 2 0 1 0 11 2nd Q Rangers SCO 6 2 1 0 6 0 0 2 1 0 1 9 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 3rd Betis ESP 6 1 2 0 1 0 1 1 1 3 7 9 4th PAOK GRE 6 0 2 1 1 2 0 0 3 0 7 2 Phase 1 Group F Pos Team Pld Won Drn Lst For Ag Won Drn Lst For Ag Pts -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1st Q Paris-SG FRA 6 3 0 0 10 2 2 0 1 6 4 15 2nd Q HSV GER 6 2 0 1 9 3 2 0 1 5 3 12 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 3rd Red Star YUG 6 2 0 1 9 6 1 0 2 6 9 9 4th Sparta Prague CZE 6 0 0 3 2 6 0 0 3 0 14 0 Phase 1 Group G Pos Team Pld Won Drn Lst For Ag Won Drn Lst For Ag Pts -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1st Q Man Utd ENG 6 3 0 0 8 2 1 0 2 2 3 12 2nd Q Ajax HOL 6 3 0 0 6 0 0 0 3 1 5 9 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 3rd Atalanta ITA 6 2 0 1 6 2 0 1 2 0 4 7 4th Sint-Truiden BEL 6 2 1 0 3 1 0 0 3 2 11 7 Phase 1 Group H Pos Team Pld Won Drn Lst For Ag Won Drn Lst For Ag Pts -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1st Q Barcelona ESP 6 3 0 0 7 0 2 1 0 5 1 16 2nd Q Fenerbahçe TUR 6 2 0 1 2 2 0 1 2 1 4 7 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 3rd Feyenoord HOL 6 1 2 0 3 2 0 1 2 1 4 6 4th Académica POR 6 0 2 1 2 4 0 1 2 1 5 3 Phase 2 Group A Pos Team Pld Won Drn Lst For Ag Won Drn Lst For Ag Pts -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1st Q Milan ITA 6 3 0 0 8 0 1 0 2 1 9 12 2nd Q Man Utd ENG 6 2 0 1 7 1 1 0 2 2 5 9 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 3rd Real Madrid ESP 6 2 0 1 8 3 1 0 2 2 5 9 4th PSV HOL 6 0 0 3 1 4 2 0 1 3 5 6 Phase 2 Group B Pos Team Pld Won Drn Lst For Ag Won Drn Lst For Ag Pts -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1st Q Leeds ENG 6 2 1 0 6 2 2 0 1 3 2 13 2nd Q Paris-SG FRA 6 1 1 1 1 1 2 0 1 4 3 10 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 3rd Fenerbahçe TUR 6 1 1 1 4 5 0 2 1 2 5 6 4th Rangers SCO 6 1 0 2 3 2 0 1 2 1 4 4 Phase 2 Group C Pos Team Pld Won Drn Lst For Ag Won Drn Lst For Ag Pts -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1st Q Lazio ITA 6 3 0 0 10 1 1 1 1 3 3 13 2nd Q Ajax HOL 6 2 1 0 4 0 1 0 2 6 6 10 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 3rd Arsenal ENG 6 2 1 0 7 4 1 0 2 4 7 10 4th HSV GER 6 0 0 3 2 10 0 1 2 2 7 1 Phase 2 Group D Pos Team Pld Won Drn Lst For Ag Won Drn Lst For Ag Pts -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1st Q Roma ITA 6 3 0 0 7 2 1 2 0 2 1 14 2nd Q Barcelona ESP 6 1 2 0 5 4 1 0 2 4 7 8 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 3rd Celtic SCO 6 1 2 0 3 2 0 1 2 2 5 6 4th FC Bayern GER 6 1 0 2 4 4 0 1 2 4 6 4 Quarter-Finals Roma 3-0 Ajax Barcelona 1-6 Lazio Leeds 5-0 Manchester United PSG 0-1 e Milan Semi-Finals Leeds 1-4 Milan Roma 2-0 Lazio Final Roma 0-1 Milan Rome's dominance in the Champions' League ended but Italian dominance continued as AC Milan won the title. This was also the second all Italian final since the save started. Lazio had an impressive dismantling of Barca to their name before succumbing to their rivals in the semi-final. Of the English sides, Arsenal beat Liverpool in the third qualifying round (*cough* glitch *cough*) before doing the normal Arsenal thing and getting knocked out in the last 16 of the Champions' League. Leeds beat United in the quarters before a 4-0 defeat at Elland Road to AC Milan ended Leeds' run. Liverpool did go on to win the UEFA Cup, beating Schalke in the final. This was now the third season in a row where Schalke reached the final of a European competition. Premiership Pos Team Pld Won Drn Lst For Ag Won Drn Lst For Ag Pts -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1st C Man Utd 38 14 4 1 46 12 10 4 5 33 21 80 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2nd Liverpool 38 12 2 5 37 20 12 3 4 29 21 77 3rd Arsenal 38 13 3 3 37 16 9 2 8 35 25 71 4th Chelsea 38 15 3 1 34 10 5 5 9 19 25 68 5th Wolves 38 11 1 7 35 23 7 7 5 21 22 62 6th Leeds 38 11 4 4 25 10 5 9 5 30 34 61 7th Middlesbrough 38 9 4 6 35 27 8 5 6 28 27 60 8th Newcastle 38 7 8 4 26 19 8 7 4 31 30 60 9th Blackburn 38 12 5 2 35 16 4 5 10 15 24 58 10th Sunderland 38 11 3 5 39 27 5 3 11 18 27 54 11th Leicester 38 10 5 4 31 17 6 1 12 17 35 54 12th Fulham 38 9 2 8 23 26 5 8 6 26 32 52 13th Sheff Wed 38 9 5 5 28 19 5 3 11 23 37 50 14th Birmingham 38 6 9 4 22 17 4 4 11 17 29 43 15th Everton 38 4 7 8 28 26 5 6 8 26 34 40 16th Portsmouth 38 5 3 11 18 26 5 5 9 17 35 38 17th Man City 38 5 8 6 30 34 4 2 13 19 39 37 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 18th R Wimbledon 38 4 9 6 31 36 3 6 10 19 34 36 19th R Aston Villa 38 4 3 12 29 35 3 6 10 19 30 30 20th R Derby 38 1 6 12 16 35 1 3 15 9 44 15 So in the Prem, United won their third successive title but Liverpool in particular ran them close. Arsenal and Chelsea join the top two in the CL. Sunderland beat Chelsea 1-0 to win the FA Cup while Arsenal won the League Cup with a win against Everton. Wolves, Leeds and Sunderland enter the UEFA Cup next season while Wimbledon, Villa and Derby go down. Derby were abysmal only winning twice all season. Which is amazingly better than they actually did in their last spell in the Prem in real life. Wigan won the play-offs beating Bradford on penalties in the final. Second Division Pos Team Pld Won Drn Lst For Ag Won Drn Lst For Ag Pts -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1st C Swansea 46 16 4 3 52 29 8 10 5 35 29 86 2nd P Wrexham 46 15 4 4 51 33 9 6 8 47 41 82 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 3rd Carlisle 46 15 3 5 56 39 10 2 11 38 44 80 4th Barnsley 46 13 7 3 43 28 8 7 8 50 44 77 5th Port Vale 46 13 6 4 52 36 9 4 10 40 43 76 6th P Watford 46 11 9 3 43 29 8 6 9 41 43 72 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 7th Bournemouth 46 12 5 6 49 32 8 5 10 30 37 70 8th Blackpool 46 10 6 7 38 32 9 6 8 37 36 69 9th Luton 46 10 8 5 35 26 8 5 10 43 50 67 10th Rushden 46 15 4 4 37 20 3 8 12 22 40 66 11th Peterborough 46 9 8 6 41 34 8 6 9 44 41 65 12th Darlington 46 12 3 8 40 35 6 7 10 34 45 64 13th Cardiff 46 10 8 5 41 29 6 7 10 34 41 63 14th Oldham 46 10 7 6 52 38 8 1 14 41 50 62 15th Northampton 46 13 3 7 48 35 3 11 9 40 49 62 16th Reading 46 10 7 6 44 36 7 4 12 40 50 62 17th Swindon 46 11 5 7 40 38 6 6 11 31 43 62 18th Doncaster 46 9 7 7 36 30 7 5 11 30 36 60 19th Torquay 46 13 3 7 43 30 3 6 14 27 48 57 20th Stoke 46 10 6 7 45 36 6 2 15 29 39 56 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 21st R Bury 46 7 7 9 48 51 7 4 12 36 51 53 22nd R Walsall 46 10 4 9 49 48 5 3 15 39 56 52 23rd R Plymouth 46 6 5 12 26 40 2 7 14 13 33 36 24th R Halifax 46 3 3 17 26 54 3 4 16 17 46 25 A good season for Welsh clubs in the third tier, Swansea and Wrexham both going up. Wrexham actually achieved back to back promotions. Watford beat Barnsley to go up via the play-offs. Walsall achieve successive relegations to go down to the fourth tier. Plymouth, Halifax and Bury also drop down a level. Rushden weren't too bad after relegation. Third Division Pos Team Pld Won Drn Lst For Ag Won Drn Lst For Ag Pts -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1st C Notts Co 46 15 3 5 47 27 10 5 8 39 32 83 2nd P Farnborough 46 16 2 5 53 32 7 7 9 32 36 78 3rd P Gillingham 46 10 9 4 36 24 12 2 9 44 41 77 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 4th P Southend 46 14 6 3 34 18 5 11 7 18 20 74 5th Oxford 46 12 8 3 39 20 8 5 10 27 30 73 6th Mansfield 46 13 6 4 35 20 8 4 11 31 42 73 7th Cambridge Utd 46 9 6 8 35 31 11 4 8 44 37 70 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 8th Huddersfield 46 11 7 5 40 32 7 7 9 31 35 68 9th Leyton Orient 46 11 6 6 31 22 7 8 8 35 41 68 10th Lincoln 46 9 7 7 29 26 8 7 8 27 30 65 11th Brentford 46 9 6 8 33 28 8 6 9 34 33 63 12th Hartlepool 46 13 4 6 37 23 4 8 11 22 33 63 13th Shrewsbury 46 7 8 8 32 38 9 6 8 32 31 62 14th Morecambe 46 11 3 9 33 31 7 4 12 33 38 61 15th Exeter 46 11 4 8 44 35 5 7 11 32 45 59 16th Scunthorpe 46 10 5 8 33 30 6 6 11 31 40 59 17th Macclesfield 46 12 3 8 41 39 4 7 12 27 34 58 18th Hull 46 11 7 5 36 25 4 4 15 18 32 56 19th Rotherham 46 7 8 8 30 38 8 2 13 34 41 55 20th Chesterfield 46 12 5 6 31 19 1 9 13 19 37 53 21st Stockport 46 7 8 8 21 28 6 4 13 21 30 51 22nd Bristol Rovers 46 8 9 6 39 36 3 8 12 25 44 50 23rd Colchester 46 7 7 9 33 38 5 5 13 20 39 48 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 24th R Rochdale 46 7 5 11 33 40 5 6 12 24 34 47 Notts County and Gillingham go up with no real surprises. Farnborough are a little bit more of a surprise this being just their third season of league football. Southend beat Mansfield in the play-off final with the two teams from the university cities losing in the semis. Rochdale drop out of league football to be replaced by Scarborough. Serie A Pos Team Pld Won Drn Lst For Ag Won Drn Lst For Ag Pts -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1st C Roma 34 14 1 2 33 9 13 2 2 29 8 84 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2nd Lazio 34 14 3 0 36 3 9 5 3 21 6 77 3rd Inter 34 11 6 0 31 8 8 5 4 27 17 68 4th Pl Milan 34 11 6 0 30 7 8 4 5 23 19 67 5th Pl Juventus 34 12 3 2 25 8 9 1 7 27 27 67 6th Torino 34 11 2 4 31 18 4 6 7 16 26 53 7th Atalanta 34 8 3 6 31 19 4 5 8 19 27 44 8th Bologna 34 8 5 4 15 9 3 5 9 8 24 43 9th Fiorentina 34 7 6 4 29 25 3 6 8 19 30 42 10th Lecce 34 7 2 8 18 16 4 6 7 18 23 41 11th Genoa 34 4 10 3 14 10 4 5 8 15 23 39 12th Bari 34 7 5 5 22 18 2 6 9 16 32 38 13th Verona 34 6 4 7 21 22 4 4 9 15 28 38 14th Parma 34 4 7 6 19 24 5 2 10 12 30 36 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 15th R Ancona 34 6 3 8 18 24 3 3 11 10 28 33 16th R Udinese 34 4 4 9 14 25 2 6 9 12 25 28 17th R Perugia 34 5 4 8 20 20 2 2 13 8 28 27 18th R Salernitana 34 1 4 12 12 32 1 5 11 2 18 15 Roman dominance of Serie A continued here, Roma ending Lazio's run of three successive titles here. Age finally catching up with the Lazio players? Milan weren't actually that impressive in the league. La Liga Pos Team Pld Won Drn Lst For Ag Won Drn Lst For Ag Pts -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1st C Barcelona 38 19 0 0 60 9 10 5 4 33 21 92 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2nd Real Madrid 38 15 3 1 42 12 8 5 6 25 27 77 3rd Sevilla 38 13 5 1 37 18 8 3 8 27 27 71 4th Betis 38 14 2 3 38 15 8 2 9 25 22 70 5th Atlético Madrid 38 12 4 3 41 15 8 6 5 28 20 70 6th Celta 38 13 5 1 27 7 6 7 6 25 26 69 7th Valencia 38 14 3 2 35 12 6 4 9 24 32 67 8th Deportivo 38 12 3 4 31 13 4 8 7 14 19 59 9th Rayo 38 9 5 5 29 19 4 7 8 21 29 51 10th Villarreal 38 9 7 3 25 12 3 4 12 23 42 47 11th Alavés 38 12 5 2 31 15 0 4 15 9 41 45 12th Espanyol 38 7 8 4 20 13 3 6 10 16 30 44 13th Zaragoza 38 8 6 5 33 33 3 4 12 22 37 43 14th Mallorca 38 8 5 6 25 21 2 7 10 17 33 42 15th Elche 38 7 3 9 24 28 5 1 13 15 28 40 16th Real Sociedad 38 7 4 8 33 34 3 5 11 22 40 39 17th Osasuna 38 6 10 3 36 29 1 3 15 8 42 34 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 18th R Oviedo 38 7 1 11 32 32 2 3 14 10 39 31 19th R Athletic Bilbao 38 3 10 6 9 10 2 3 14 9 42 28 20th R Racing Santander 38 3 5 11 20 39 2 7 10 13 31 27 Barca snatch their first title of the save from Madrid. Bilbao, slightly surprisingly, go down. Bundesliga Pos Team Pld Won Drn Lst For Ag Won Drn Lst For Ag Pts -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1st C Dortmund 34 13 4 0 48 17 8 4 5 29 22 71 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2nd HSV 34 14 1 2 39 19 6 3 8 28 35 64 3rd Schalke 04 34 13 4 0 33 6 5 4 8 29 29 62 4th Werder Bremen 34 12 2 3 28 13 5 5 7 24 30 58 5th Frankfurt 34 11 4 2 30 14 5 4 8 17 21 56 6th FC Bayern 34 9 5 3 33 16 6 3 8 21 22 53 7th SC Freiburg 34 10 6 1 35 19 4 4 9 20 34 52 8th Kaiserslautern 34 11 1 5 36 25 4 4 9 15 27 50 9th 1.FC Köln 34 12 3 2 32 17 2 5 10 12 31 50 10th Leverkusen 34 11 2 4 29 14 3 3 11 18 33 47 11th Hertha BSC 34 11 1 5 31 15 1 7 9 15 29 44 12th VfB Stuttgart 34 6 3 8 21 28 6 5 6 23 28 44 13th Nürnberg 34 7 5 5 22 19 4 3 10 13 27 41 14th Wolfsburg 34 10 4 3 30 17 1 2 14 9 32 39 15th Rostock 34 7 5 5 21 20 3 2 12 18 39 37 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 16th R Hannover 96 34 8 5 4 34 24 1 2 14 14 35 34 17th R 1860 München 34 4 8 5 26 24 2 2 13 12 32 28 18th R M'gladbach 34 4 3 10 17 27 1 4 12 17 39 22 Dortmund re-take the Bundesliga title. So far the title-winners have gone Dortmund, Bayern, Dortmund, Bayern, Dortmund. Despite their recent European success, Schalke haven't challenged for the title while Bayern had an abysmal season in the league. Ligue 1 Pos Team Pld Won Drn Lst For Ag Won Drn Lst For Ag Pts -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1st C Paris-SG 38 17 0 2 52 17 9 7 3 35 19 85 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2nd Lyon 38 13 4 2 32 11 11 3 5 39 25 79 3rd Lorient 38 13 2 4 39 19 10 3 6 21 16 74 4th Bordeaux 38 14 4 1 34 12 8 4 7 24 23 74 5th Nantes 38 12 2 5 35 20 9 5 5 34 21 70 6th Guingamp 38 16 2 1 41 16 4 7 8 15 19 69 7th Lens 38 12 4 3 45 24 5 5 9 33 39 60 8th Lille 38 14 2 3 40 19 5 1 13 23 36 60 9th Auxerre 38 14 2 3 39 23 4 3 12 31 48 59 10th Troyes 38 7 7 5 31 25 6 4 9 18 25 50 11th Monaco 38 8 6 5 25 19 4 5 10 15 30 47 12th Sedan 38 9 5 5 25 13 3 4 12 14 32 45 13th Toulouse 38 8 4 7 29 26 5 1 13 25 37 44 14th Marseille 38 7 4 8 26 27 5 4 10 27 39 44 15th St-Etienne 38 8 2 9 23 22 5 3 11 19 36 44 16th Nîmes 38 6 5 8 32 36 3 8 8 20 27 40 17th Le Havre 38 5 8 6 22 28 3 3 13 20 42 35 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 18th R Rennes 38 5 5 9 25 40 4 1 14 16 41 33 19th R Nancy 38 4 6 9 22 30 4 2 13 21 37 32 20th R Laval 38 5 2 12 17 29 0 3 16 6 42 20 PSG secured a fifth successive title but Lyon ran them pretty close, Lorient, surprisingly claimed a Champions' League spot. And that's all for today. Tomorrow will start with a squad overview. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
sjg11 Posted September 1, 2016 Author Share Posted September 1, 2016 Pre-Season Squad Update ================================================================================================ 2005/6 Transfers ================================================================================================ Date Player In From Fee ----------------------------------------------------------------------- 4.6.05 Isaak Okoronkwo Shakhtar £625K 5.6.05 Cherno Samba Parma Loan 10.6.05 Tony Carss Burnley £825K 11.8.05 Mike Duff Norwich £2.8M 11.8.05 Danny Smith Northampton £625K 2.9.05 Darren Robinson Free Transfer Free 2.11.05 Leon Knight Chelsea £5M 16.12.05 Alan Tate Man Utd £825K 22.12.05 Erlend Hanstveit Free Transfer Free 28.12.05 Mattias Lindberg Norrköping £850K 12.1.06 Peter Hoffmann Sesvete £600K 12.1.06 Gareth Whalley Q.P.R. £625K 13.1.06 Henk Boere Sibenik £2.6M 17.1.06 Jamie Browne Grimsby £1.8M Date Player Out To Fee ----------------------------------------------------------------------- 5.6.05 Anwar Uddin St. Mirren £300K 5.6.05 Richard Garcia Released Free 5.6.05 Neil Jones Released Free 6.6.05 Hasney Aljofree Hearts £925K 15.6.05 Mick Powell Released Free 17.6.05 Shaun Byrne Aldershot Bos 20.6.05 John Harris Released Free 24.6.05 Damien Johnson Wycombe £1.4M 25.6.05 Darren Williamson Released Free 25.6.05 Joey Hutchinson Charlton £1M 26.6.05 Gareth Evans Released Free 28.6.05 Lee Butler Released Free 29.6.05 Colin Ward Released Free 29.6.05 Gareth Williams Peterborough £650K 30.6.05 Joe Sealey Released Free 1.7.05 Omer Riza Clyde £375K 14.7.05 Paolo Di Canio Released Free 16.7.05 Richie Wellens Middlesbrough £2.1M 23.7.05 Jason Wilcox Released Free 19.8.05 Peter Clarke Everton £1.1M 20.8.05 Geoff Pitcher Southampton £600K 31.8.05 Frank De Clerck Westerlo £450K 26.10.05 Yoshikatsu Kawaguchi Liverpool £5.75M 26.12.05 Isaak Okoronkwo Birmingham £425K 7.1.06 Daisuke Oku Birmingham £500K 22.1.06 Chris Morgan Barnsley £800K 2.2.06 Michael Ricketts Southampton £2.1M Ok so that's a reminder of the number of transfers that have been made in the past season. As with last season there was quite a high player turnover, I'm hoping I may actually be able to maintain a more settled squad for next season. Goalkeepers Chris Stringer- 7.72- 41 goals conceded in 40 games- 22 Joakim Moberg- 8.00- 3 goals conceded in 3 games- 20 After Kawaguchi's acrimonious departure to Liverpool, Stringer moved up to become my first-choice goalkeeper and performed well. I'd be happy to keep him as my first choice next season but he wants to leave. I'm hoping he'll stay at the club but it may prove necessary to sell him and replace him. He's also going to miss the first three games of next season due to a silly red card against Wigan towards the end of last season. Moberg's an able deputy but I don't really want him to be first choice for an extended period. I'm probably going to have to sign a new goalkeeper in the summer. Defenders Steven Clark (D R/L/C)- 7.17- 5 appearances with 1 off the bench- 24 Mike Duff (D/DM R)- 7.19- 48 appearances with 1 goal and 6 assists- 28 Alan Tate (D R/C)- 6.88- 24 appearances with 1 off the bench, 1 goal- 23 Athur Gnohere (D L/C)- 6.67- 5 appearances with 1 off the bench- 27 Erlend Hanstveit (D/M L/C)- 7.40- 20 appearances with 1 assist- 25 Paul Konchesky (D/M L)- 6.72- 29 appearances with 2 assists- 25 Austin McCann (D/DM L)- 7.33- 3 appearances with 1 assist- 26 Jamie Browne (D C)- 6.79- 13 appearances with 1 off the bench, 2 assists- 18 Peter Hoffmann (D C)- 6.38- 10 appearances with 3 off the bench- 22 Frode Kippe (D/DM C)- 7.00- 20 appearances with 1 off the bench, 3 goals and 1 assist- 28 Danny Smith (D C)- 7.11- 7 appearances with 2 off the bench- 23 So now moving onto the defence. Erlend Hanstveit is an excellent left back and Paul Konchesky provides cover with Steven Clark staying for emergencies. For this reason Austin McCann will be leaving the club this summer. Right-Back is a slightly different matter. Mike Duff is solid but I don't really have anyone beyond him other than Clark so I'm probably going to sign a new RB in the summer. I'm perfectly fine for CBs, I'm probably going to start Tate and Kippe as my first choice CBs next season with Browne providing cover and Danny Smith there for emergencies. I'm still trying to offload Athur Gnohere and Peter Hoffmann was probably a mistake and will also be leaving in the summer. I will only buy a CB if they are genuinely top quality. Midfielders Tony Carss (DM C)- 7.60- 44 appearances with 4 off the bench, 4 goals and 7 assists- 30 Alex Neil (M R/C)- 7.00- 9 appearances with 12 off the bench, 2 goals and 1 assist- 28 Gareth Whalley (M C)- 7.25- 12 appearances with 1 goal and 2 assists- 32 Pascal de Vries (M C)- 7.58- 43 appearances with 2 off the bench, 13 goals and 14 assists- 29 Mattias Lindberg (AM/F R/L/C)- 7.16- 19 appearances with 3 goals and 6 assists- 19 Samir Fazlagic (AM L)- 7.26- 23 appearances with 4 off the bench, 7 goals and 5 assists- 23 Tonton Zola Moukoko (AM/F C)- 7.84- 34 appearances with 4 off the bench, 14 goals and 15 assists- 22 So moving onto the midfielders. Tony Carss will start as CDM after a strong season with Kippe providing back-up if necessary. Pascal de Vries (who had a phenomenal season) and Fazlagic will play in front of him with TZM and Lindberg playing as the two CAMs. Fazlagic can move into the CAM position if necessary but I am aiming to bring in another attacking midfielder to provide depth. Overall I'm very happy with all of my midfielders (even Alex Neil) and have no desire to sell any of them. Tonton's incredible but then again I knew that before I signed him. Forwards Tommy Smith (F R/C)- 7.50- 44 appearances with 4 off the bench, 21 goals and 5 assists- 26 Svetoslav Todorov (F R/C)- 7.12- 8 appearances with 9 off the bench, 5 goals and 1 assist- 27 Chris Beardsley (ST C)- 7.23- 4 appearances with 40 off the bench, 17 goals and 5 assists- 23 Henk Boere (ST C)- 7.17- 16 appearances with 2 off the bench, 4 goals and 3 assists- 18 Leon Knight (ST C)- 7.26- 20 appearances with 3 off the bench, 4 goals and 4 assists- 23 Tommy Smith will probably be my main striker for next season as I think he's the best of a pretty strong forward line. Chris Beardsley will continue his role as super-sub, unfortunately he does tend to either score or do nothing. Leon Knight will probably replace Smith in the starting line-up if Smith gets injured and Henk Boere is a very talented young striker who will play in the Cups/ any game that doesn't actually mean anything to allow me to continue his development. Unfortunately I feel like it is time for Todorov to leave the club as I don't really have space in my squad for 5 strikers and his wages are pretty high. He's decent but my other forwards are better. I have a transfer budget of over £15 million so plenty of money to bring in new players. A GK, RB and CAM are the main positions that need strengthening, beyond that it's just trying to find any top talents to add to my squad. Overall I feel like this squad has the ability to be very competitive in the top flight. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
sjg11 Posted September 1, 2016 Author Share Posted September 1, 2016 World Cup 2006 Germany ================================================================================================ 2006 Tables ================================================================================================ Group A Pos Team Pld Won Drn Lst For Ag Won Drn Lst For Ag Pts -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1st Q Italy 3 2 0 0 8 0 1 0 0 2 0 9 2nd Q Sweden 3 2 0 0 4 0 0 0 1 0 1 6 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 3rd Kazakhstan 3 0 0 1 0 2 1 0 1 3 3 3 4th Liberia 3 0 0 1 2 3 0 0 2 0 10 0 Group B Pos Team Pld Won Drn Lst For Ag Won Drn Lst For Ag Pts -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1st Q Brazil 3 1 0 0 1 0 1 1 0 2 0 7 2nd Q Poland 3 0 0 1 0 2 2 0 0 2 0 6 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 3rd Colombia 3 1 0 1 2 2 0 0 1 0 1 3 4th Mexico 3 0 1 1 0 1 0 0 1 1 2 1 Group C Pos Team Pld Won Drn Lst For Ag Won Drn Lst For Ag Pts -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1st Q Ireland 3 2 0 0 5 0 0 1 0 1 1 7 2nd Q Germany 3 1 1 0 4 1 1 0 0 2 0 7 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 3rd Uruguay 3 0 0 1 0 2 0 1 1 0 2 1 4th Angola 3 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 6 1 Group D Pos Team Pld Won Drn Lst For Ag Won Drn Lst For Ag Pts -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1st Q Portugal 3 1 0 0 3 1 2 0 0 5 2 9 2nd Q Spain 3 1 0 0 3 0 0 1 1 1 3 4 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 3rd Nigeria 3 0 1 1 2 4 1 0 0 2 1 4 4th Japan 3 0 0 2 1 3 0 0 1 0 3 0 Group E Pos Team Pld Won Drn Lst For Ag Won Drn Lst For Ag Pts -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1st Q England 3 2 0 0 2 0 1 0 0 3 0 9 2nd Q U.S.A. 3 1 0 0 1 0 1 0 1 1 1 6 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 3rd Belgium 3 1 0 1 2 1 0 0 1 0 1 3 4th U.A.E. 3 0 0 1 0 3 0 0 2 0 3 0 Group F Pos Team Pld Won Drn Lst For Ag Won Drn Lst For Ag Pts -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1st Q France 3 1 0 0 6 0 2 0 0 5 0 9 2nd Q Bulgaria 3 2 0 0 5 1 0 0 1 0 6 6 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 3rd Czech Republic 3 0 0 1 0 1 0 1 1 1 3 1 4th Panama 3 0 1 1 0 4 0 0 1 0 2 1 Group G Pos Team Pld Won Drn Lst For Ag Won Drn Lst For Ag Pts -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1st Q Argentina 3 2 0 0 4 1 1 0 0 1 0 9 2nd Q Cameroon 3 0 1 0 1 1 0 1 1 3 4 2 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 3rd Greece 3 0 2 0 3 3 0 0 1 0 2 2 4th Paraguay 3 0 0 1 0 1 0 2 0 2 2 2 Group H Pos Team Pld Won Drn Lst For Ag Won Drn Lst For Ag Pts -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1st Q Holland 3 1 0 0 2 0 1 1 0 3 1 7 2nd Q Denmark 3 0 1 0 1 1 1 1 0 4 3 5 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 3rd South Korea 3 0 2 0 3 3 0 0 1 0 2 2 4th Ghana 3 0 0 2 1 4 0 1 0 1 1 1 Second Round Italy 3-0 Poland Portugal 0-2 Germany England 3-1 Bulgaria Holland 3-2 Cameroon Brazil 2-0 Sweden Ireland 3-0 Spain France 1-0 USA Argentina 2-0 Denmark Quarter-Finals Italy e 1-0 Germany England 0-1 Holland Brazil 0-1 Ireland France 2-0 Argentina Semi-Finals Italy 1-1 p Holland Ireland 0-1 France Third Place Match Italy 0-1 Ireland Final Holland p 1-1 France Oh yeah the World Cup happened this summer. The Dutch won it with a win on penalties over France. Vindication for their manager Louis van Gaal who somehow managed to stay in his job despite not qualifying in 2002 and being dumped out at the group stage in Euro 2004. For the French frustration, they finished runners-up in 2004 and runners-up again here. Jean Tigana, their manager, appears destined to be a nearly man. Italy's run of 12 World Cup clean sheets in a row came to an end against the Dutch. The reigning champions did well to dump out the hosts in the quarter-finals though. Mick McCarthy's Ireland were the big story though, managing to thrash a poor Spain team and beat Brazil before narrowly losing to France in the semis. As for England... well they were England. I would also like to announce two additions to my squad, Greek RB Manolis Dermitzakis joins from Borussia Monchengladbach and Greek GK Dionisis Chiotis joins from Southampton. Chris Stringer has left the club for Hearts and Austin McCann has left to go to Torquay. Overall, and adding in the prize money and stuff, my remaining transfer budget is £16.25 million. I still need a CAM but, even after that, I should have plenty of money to splurge on one great signing later in the window. The Board have also announced that my target this season is to battle bravely against relegation. There is little sweeter than knowing that you almost cannot get sacked this season no matter what. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
sjg11 Posted September 1, 2016 Author Share Posted September 1, 2016 August 2006 ================================================================================================ 2006/7 Transfers ================================================================================================ Date Player In From Fee ----------------------------------------------------------------------- 17.6.06 Manolis Dermitzakis M'gladbach £1.4M 3.7.06 Dionisis Chiotis Southampton £6M 22.7.06 Ryan Amoo Crewe £4.2M Date Player Out To Fee ----------------------------------------------------------------------- 12.6.06 Svetoslav Todorov Released Free 12.6.06 Michael Ferrante Blackpool Bos 16.6.06 Steve Laurie Leyton Orient Bos 24.6.06 Austin McCann Torquay £650K 5.7.06 Chris Stringer Hearts £2.5M Ok so the first piece of news from pre-season is negative. Hanstveit picked up an injury and is now out for three months. This means we're relying on *shudders* Paul Konchesky to fill in until mid-October. This could go badly. No more major departures happened although I signed CAM Ryan Amoo from Crewe for 4.2 million to add depth to that position. I'm not looking for a really top player to splurge a little bit of money on to help us in our quest to be competitive in the top flight. Full transfer dealings attached above. Oh, and one small error I made in my league reviews last season. England's co-efficient has dropped and they lost their fourth CL place to Germany. So Chelsea move into the UEFA Cup and Leeds are pushed to the Intertoto Cup which they failed to qualify from. We start with a trip to Fratton Park to face Portsmouth. Portsmouth (Dave Thompson) vs West Ham (Chiotis: Dermitzakis, Kippe, Browne, Konchesky: Carss: de Vries, Fazlagic: Tonton, Amoo: Tommy Smith) Let's see how the team and the new formation work with a testing trip to start the season. In reality this was a pretty dull game which we probably just shaded with Tonton and Tommy Smith both hitting the post in the first half. Still a point away from home suits me perfectly well on my Premier League debut. Portsmouth 0-0 West Ham West Ham vs Leeds (Terry Yorath) This is a tough game. Leeds who reached the CL semi-finals last year. Leeds who won the league not that long ago. This is a serious test of our Premier League credentials, make no mistake about it. I decide to name an unchanged line-up for this one. Leeds battered us in the first half. Let's not lie about it, they were all over us. However Tommy Smith managed to head home to give us a completely undeserved lead going into half time. After half time things got even better for us. Frode Kippe put in a cross and Pascal de Vries drilled in a second goal. Pascal de Vries who I plucked from obscurity against Emmen. Who cost me only £350,000 in my first season at the club. Now scoring against a side who reached the last four of the Champions' League last season. Then things get even better for us with Manolis Dermitzakis drilling home his first goal for the club with just 10 minutes left. 3-0. We won 3-0. I can't ****ing believe it. What a start to life back in the top flight. West Ham 3-0 Leeds Wolves (Dave Jones) vs West Ham Unfortunately our fixtures don't get any easier with a trip to a Wolves side who finished fifth last season. This will be another serious test of our Premier League credentials. Just one change, Fazlagic was looking a little bit tired so I bring Gareth Whalley into the starting line-up to replace him. Unfortunately Juris Laizans puts Wolves in front after 10 minutes. The rest of the half was fairly even. We didn't play that badly in this one but Wolves are a very good team in this save and a narrow defeat at Molineux is hardly a terrible result for a newly promoted side. Wolves 1-0 West Ham Pos Team Pld Won Drn Lst For Ag Won Drn Lst For Ag Pts -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1st Man Utd 3 1 0 0 2 1 2 0 0 6 1 9 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2nd Wolves 3 2 0 0 4 0 1 0 0 2 1 9 3rd Man City 3 1 1 0 5 3 1 0 0 3 1 7 4th Arsenal 2 2 0 0 5 1 0 0 0 0 0 6 5th Sunderland 3 2 0 0 5 1 0 0 1 1 2 6 6th Portsmouth 3 1 1 0 4 0 0 1 0 0 0 5 7th Chelsea 3 1 1 0 4 1 0 1 0 2 2 5 8th Tottenham 3 0 1 0 0 0 1 1 0 3 2 5 9th Sheff Wed 3 1 1 0 4 1 0 0 1 0 1 4 10th West Ham 3 1 0 0 3 0 0 1 1 0 1 4 11th Fulham 3 0 1 0 1 1 1 0 1 3 2 4 12th Leeds 3 1 0 1 5 4 0 0 1 0 3 3 13th Leicester 2 1 0 0 2 1 0 0 1 0 3 3 14th Liverpool 2 0 0 1 0 4 1 0 0 1 0 3 15th Newcastle 3 1 0 0 1 0 0 0 2 1 7 3 16th Wigan 3 0 0 2 1 4 0 1 0 1 1 1 17th Birmingham 3 0 0 1 0 1 0 1 1 1 4 1 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 18th Middlesbrough 3 0 0 1 1 2 0 0 2 2 5 0 19th Blackburn 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 1 5 0 20th Everton 3 0 0 1 1 3 0 0 2 1 7 0 Overall a pretty good start to the season. I'm happy. Not delighted. But content. The win against Leeds was incredible. The point at Fratton Park was important. And I never really expected to get anything at Molineux in the first place. So onwards we march. We look like a Premier League team. And like a pretty solid one at that. I'm most happy with my defence currently, just one goal conceded in three games having played two top 6 teams will do nicely. The Kippe-Browne partnership is working well, Dermitzakis looks like a really good player and Paul Konchesky doesn't look like a complete liability. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
sjg11 Posted September 2, 2016 Author Share Posted September 2, 2016 September 2006 Jamie Browne won Young Player of the Month for his performances last month. Henk Boere also scored a couple of goals for the Dutch U21s. Everton (Walter Smith) vs West Ham Unchanged line-up again for a trip to Goodison Park to face Everton. Harpal Singh put Everton in front after 7 minutes. A run and shot from Ryan Amoo then levelled the match. Unfortunately Mark Kerr headed Everton back in front from a corner just before half-time. We created a couple of chances in the second half but just couldn't find a way back into the match. Everton 2-1 West Ham West Ham vs Chelsea (Steve McClaren) And so we march onto another game against a side in the top 6. Fazlagic in for Whalley, other than that an unchanged side. After an even opening 40 minutes Tommy Smith headed us in front from a Fazlagic corner. Unfortunately Pascal de Vries then got sent off after a second yellow card on 62 minutes. Unbelievably we actually went on to double our lead with Tony Carss smashing in a second goal. Another excellent home win. West Ham 2-0 Chelsea Next up for us a league cup tie at Bristol Rovers. de Vries has picked up an injury that rules him out for 10 days but he'll be suspended for most of that anyway. Hanstveit has, forunately, come back earlier than expected. Bristol Rovers (Brian Little) vs West Ham Time for the reserves to get their first game of the season: (Moberg: Duff, Danny Smith, Tate, Clark: Carss: Whalley, Neil: Tonton, Lindberg: Boere) We take the lead after four minutes with Mattias Lindberg turning in a cross from Tonton to put us in front. Unfortunately Justin Richards quickly levels for them. Fortunately for us Tonton Zola Moukoko scores his first goal of the season, turning in a cross from Gareth Whalley. Whalley himself then drills in a third goal. Henk Boere then heads in a cross from Lindberg to increase our advantage. Michael Dunwell pulled another goal back for them but it was too little too late. Bristol Rovers 2-4 West Ham Manchester City (David Mitchell) vs West Ham (Chiotis: Dermitzakis, Browne, Kippe, Hanstveit: Carss: Fazlagic, Whalley: Tonton, Amoo: Tommy Smith) So we travel to a Manchester City side who have started very strongly this season hoping to get something from a tricky game. Tonton scored a spectacular volley to fire us in front after 23 minutes. He'd started slowly but this, following the Bristol Rovers game, makes me hopeful that he's found his feet at this level. Tonton then doubled our lead after half time, blasting in from a Dermitzakis lay-off. Man City had a flurry of chances as the game drew to a close but they couldn't find a way past Chiotis. In reality City actually slaughtered us in this game but brilliant performances from Chiotis at one end and Tonton at the other gave us the points. Our defence was generally pretty solid too. Manchester City 0-2 West Ham The only negative is that Ryan Amoo suffered an injury which will keep him out of action for 10 days. We also draw Derby away in the next round of the League Cup. West Ham vs Newcastle (Graham Rix) And so onto a home game against a decent Newcastle side. Lindberg replaces Amoo in an otherwise unchanged line-up. Gareth Whalley fired us in front after 11 minutes in the first real opening of the match. Mattias Lindberg then scored a second with a shot that went in off the post. Unfortunately Kieron Dyer almost immediately pulled one back heading in a Luis Boa Morte cross. My heart was in my mouth just after half time when Clarence Seedorf volleyed in for Newcastle. Thankfully it was ruled out for offside. Tony Carss then volleyed in a third goal for us, surely putting the game beyond Newcastle. Chris Beardsley, on for Tommy Smith then scored a fourth after his initial effort was saved. This was our best performance yet this season, we dominated a game against a good Newcastle side from start to finish. This makes it three league wins in a row for us. West Ham 4-1 Newcastle Pos Team Pld Won Drn Lst For Ag Won Drn Lst For Ag Pts -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1st Wolves 7 4 0 0 7 0 3 0 0 6 2 21 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2nd Arsenal 6 2 2 0 7 3 2 0 0 5 2 14 3rd West Ham 7 3 0 0 9 1 1 1 2 3 3 13 4th Sunderland 7 3 0 1 10 5 1 1 1 2 2 13 5th Man Utd 7 2 0 1 3 3 2 1 1 7 3 13 6th Leeds 7 2 1 1 8 6 2 0 1 8 8 13 7th Sheff Wed 7 2 2 0 7 1 1 0 2 1 2 11 8th Man City 7 2 1 1 6 5 1 1 1 7 6 11 9th Tottenham 7 2 1 0 5 2 1 1 2 3 6 11 10th Everton 7 2 0 1 5 5 1 0 3 4 10 9 11th Newcastle 7 3 0 0 4 0 0 0 4 3 13 9 12th Portsmouth 7 1 3 0 6 2 0 2 1 0 1 8 13th Chelsea 7 2 1 1 7 3 0 1 2 2 5 8 14th Liverpool 6 0 1 2 1 6 2 1 0 4 2 8 15th Leicester 6 2 1 0 4 2 0 1 2 2 8 8 16th Blackburn 6 2 0 0 2 0 0 1 3 2 7 7 17th Middlesbrough 7 0 1 2 5 7 1 1 2 4 6 5 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 18th Fulham 7 0 1 2 3 6 1 0 3 4 8 4 19th Birmingham 7 0 0 3 4 7 0 2 2 2 6 2 20th Wigan 7 0 0 4 2 7 0 1 2 2 5 1 Err... we're third. We're currently in the Champions' League places. We're ahead of Manchester United who have won the league three times in a row. We're ahead of Leeds, Chelsea and Liverpool. We've only lost twice and one of those defeats was a narrow defeat at a Wolves side who have started like a train. We've got a 100% record at home so far. We've only conceded 4 goals in 7 games. And we're through to the third round of the League Cup. It's been a brilliant start to the season. And long may it continue. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
sjg11 Posted September 3, 2016 Author Share Posted September 3, 2016 October 2006 West Ham vs Sheffield Wednesday (Sven-Goran Eriksson) Next up a home game against Sven's Sheffield Wednesday side. I name an unchanged line-up. Manolis Dermitzakis put us in front after a Tonton strike was saved by their keeper. Erlend Hanstveit then had a goal disallowed before half-time which was slightly frustrating. Trevor Sinclair then equalised for Sheffield Wednesday. Fortunately I'd brought Chris Beardsley on for Tommy Smith at half-time and Beardsley showed his quality, heading in crosses from Tony Carss and Samir Fazlagic. Tonton Zola Moukoko then volleyed in a fourth and we had three more points. West Ham 4-1 Sheffield Wednesday Unfortunately Manolis Dermitzakis got an injury on international duty ruling him out for three weeks. Samir Fazlagic also picked up an injury which rules him out for 10 days. Have I mentioned yet how much I detest internationals? Tottenham (Billy Davies) vs West Ham Next up a trip to White Hart Lane, which is where we won the League last year. I'm hoping that we can get a repeat result here. (Chiotis: Duff, Browne, Kippe, Hanstveit: Carss: de Vries, Whalley: Tonton, Amoo: Tommy Smith) It was a pretty even first half but Simon Davies fired Spurs in front after 15 minutes and we couldn't get an equaliser before half-time. This was our worst performance of the season, we collapsed after half-time and goals from Titi Camara and Sergei Rebrov completely finished us off. Tottenham 3-0 West Ham West Ham vs Wigan (George Graham) Unchanged line-up for this one against a Wigan side who have caused us problems in the past. I still have nightmares of our trip there at the end of last season. The first half was full but Tonton did have a goal ruled out for offside. The second half was equally dull but then came the turning point. Wigan defender Lenny Webster chopped down Tonton and got a straight red card. Only a few minutes were left though so Wigan just had to hold on. Fortunately Jason Euell, another Wigan player then conceded a free kick on the edge of the box and Tonton fired in the free kick. It deflected off Jervis Drummond (another Latic) and flew in to put us in front in the 89th minute. Jamie Browne then headed in a corner in injury time to double our lead. Three more points for the Hammers. West Ham 2-0 Wigan Derby (Brian Laws) vs West Ham Next we have a League Cup game at Derby. Time for the Reserves to show me what they can do. (Moberg: Clark, Danny Smith, Tate, Konchesky: Carss: Whalley, Neil: Lindberg, Amoo: Boere) Derby started on top but we slowly took control of the game. Alex Neil headed us in front from a corner on the stroke of half-time and Henk Boere doubled the lead from a Ryan Amoo cross. Tonton (on for the injured Gareth Whalley) then
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